Episodes

What if your employees’ lack of trust isn’t a culture problem? What if mistrust is actually a perfectly rational response to the workplace you’ve created? In this solo episode of Ways to Change the Workplace, Prina Shah challenges one of the most common assumptions about workplace culture: that trust is something leaders need to build, demand or manufacture. Instead, Prina argues that trust is an outcome. Employees gather evidence every day about what happens when they take small interpersona...

In this episode of Ways to Change The Workplace, Prina Shah sits down with Petra Zink to unpack a concept most leaders talk about - but few truly understand: trust as a measurable return on investment. Petra challenges the idea that trust is just a “nice-to-have” and instead reframes it as a strategic, compounding asset that directly impacts decision-making, influence, and commercial outcomes. Together, they explore why so many leaders remain “best kept secrets,” how trust is built (and broken...

Tiny Culture Change: Say Thank You in Detail “Thanks, team” is nice. But it’s also easy for people to tune out. In this short episode of Ways to Change Your Workplace, Prina Shah shares a tiny culture change leaders can put into practice immediately: make your thank you specific. Instead of offering generic praise, name three things: The behaviour — what did the person actually do? The effort — what did it require from them? The impact — what difference did their actions make? ...

Loneliness is one of the most overlooked challenges facing today's workplaces. In this solo episode of Ways to Change the Workplace, Prina Shah explores the hidden reality of workplace loneliness and why it affects everyone-from graduates to CEOs. Despite constant communication, many people have never felt more disconnected. Surrounded by colleagues, sitting in packed meetings, or spending the day on Zoom doesn't necessarily create genuine connection. Drawing on research from Dr Vivek Mur...

What if the most important relationship you'll ever build isn't with your partner, your colleagues or your team—but with yourself? In this episode of Ways to Change the Workplace, Prina Shah sits down with psychologist, workplace wellbeing expert and author Dr Marny Lishman for a deeply honest conversation about one of the most overlooked workplace skills: self-awareness. Drawing on her latest book, Only You, Marny challenges the common belief that being alone automatically means being lonely...

Tiny Culture Change: Share a Win That Isn't Yours Leadership isn't just about what you achieve. It's about who you lift along the way. In this short episode of Ways to Change The Workplace, Prina Shah shares one simple leadership habit that has a surprisingly powerful impact on workplace culture. When someone praises your work, resist the temptation to quietly accept all the credit. Instead, intentionally shine the spotlight on someone else who helped make the outcome possible. Recognition is...

What if we've been thinking about work all wrong? We often believe that what we give our employer is our knowledge, our expertise, our creativity or our effort. But beneath all of those lies something even more valuable. Our time. In this reflective solo episode of Ways to Change The Workplace, Prina Shah explores why time - not talent - is the true currency of work. Every working day, we exchange irreplaceable moments of our lives with our organisations. The question is whether those moments...

Leadership Pet Peeves: Prina & Mel's Sh1t List Sometimes the smallest workplace habits create the biggest headaches. In this final episode of our five-part leadership series, I'm joined once again by my brilliant friend Mel Loy - communication strategist, behavioural science practitioner and host of the Less Chatter, More Matter podcast. This episode is exactly what the title suggests... Our leadership sh1t list. The workplace behaviours we've both seen (far too often), experienced oursel...

Professor Steve McKenna joins Prina Shah for a thought-provoking conversation that challenges one of the most entrenched workplace practices: performance management. Together they explore why traditional annual performance reviews are increasingly unfit for today's fast-moving workplaces and why a new approach - what Steve calls performance liberation - may be the future. Connect with Steve McKenna Drawing on decades of experience across corporate, consulting, small business and academia, Steve...

Series: Rethinking Regional Workplaces with Simone Pickering In this episode of Ways to Change Your Workplace, Prina Shah is joined by Simone Pickering, Founder of The People & Culture Office, for a thought-provoking conversation about leadership capability, workforce engagement, and the future of work in regional Australia. Drawing on research, leadership experience, and observations from regional communities, Prina and Simone explore why employee engagement remains stubbornly low, how l...

In this solo episode of Ways to Change Your Workplace, Prina Shah tackles a workplace problem many leaders recognise but often avoid addressing: the brilliant jerk. These are the high performers, the technical experts, the rainmakers and innovators who consistently deliver results, but leave a trail of damaged relationships, disengaged employees and toxic workplace culture behind them. Prina explores why organisations often tolerate brilliant jerks, how they inadvertently reward toxic behaviou...

Send Prina a text to let her know how you'd change the workplace If you are seeking professional advice or would like to change your company culture through training, consulting, speaking and coaching, get in touch, email me. Say hi! Sign up to my monthylish practical newsletter Get in touch with me, Prina Check out my website⁠⁠⁠ - do a professional stalk... Follow me on LinkedIn Find out what I am up to on Instagram⁠⁠⁠ Grab a copy of Make Work Meaningful and start creating your own legacy at wo...

In this episode of Ways to Change Your Workplace, Prina Shah is joined by facilitator, speaker, author and self-confessed “thought breeder” Leanne Hughes for a deeply honest conversation about boredom at work, visibility, career reinvention, and what it really takes to create meaningful opportunities inside organisations. Leanne shares the story behind her upcoming book Work Fame and why she believes so many people quietly sit in workplaces feeling disengaged, unseen, and stuck in what she call...

In this cross-over episode of Ways to Change Your Workplace and Dig Deeper, Prina Shah sits down with leadership expert Digby Scott for a deeply reflective conversation on legacy, energy management, and what it truly means to lead with intention. Connect with Digby! What starts as a shared connection through a former mentor quickly evolves into a rich discussion on impact - not as something distant or end-of-career, but something we shape daily through our decisions, behaviours, and leadership....

In this short but powerful episode of Ways to Change Your Workplace, Prina Shah explores why workplaces often celebrate outcomes while overlooking the growth that made those outcomes possible. Results matter - but they are usually lag indicators. If leaders only recognise the final achievement, people quickly learn that effort, learning, experimentation, and progress do not count unless they produce immediate success. Prina shares a practical culture shift leaders can implement this week: reco...

In this episode of Ways to Change The Workplace, Prina Shah is joined by Dr Vish Ramakonar for a fascinating and thought-provoking conversation on something many leaders feel - but rarely trust enough: Your gut instinct. This episode steps outside traditional workplace conversations and dives into the intersection of intuition, neuroscience, leadership, and decision-making. If you’ve ever thought “I knew that was the right call… why didn’t I trust myself?” — this one is for you. Connect with ...

In this episode, Prina Shah sits down with Mel Loy to unpack what it really takes to lead change in today’s workplace - where change is no longer occasional, it’s constant. Mel Loy – Let’s Chatter Mo Matter Prina Shah – Ways to Change The Workplace Podcast This is not a surface-level conversation about comms plans and training sessions. It’s a deep dive into the human side of change - from psychological contracts and leadership pressure, to why most change efforts fail without genuine leadershi...

In this episode of Ways to Change Your Workplace, Prina Shah is joined by organisational psychologist, executive coach, and global leadership advisor Liz Ryder for a powerful conversation on curiosity, imagination, and the future of work. They explore why curiosity is no longer a “nice-to-have” but a critical leadership capability in a fast-changing, AI-driven world. From the decline of creativity over time to the dominance of short-term thinking in organisations, this episode challenges leader...

Rethinking Change: Leadership, Trust & the Reality of Constant Transformation Rethink Change Conference 2026 More about The Rethink Change Founders Doug Wolfson and Janine Ellison In this episode of Ways to Change Your Workplace, Prina Shah is joined by Doug Wolfson and Janine Ellison, founders of Rethink Change - a conference and community built to bring change practitioners together. What started as a post-lockdown idea over a glass of wine has grown into a thriving ecosystem of learnin...

In this short, sharp culture drop, Prina Shah challenges a common leadership habit that quietly erodes trust: outsourcing feedback. When leaders avoid difficult conversations and pass them to HR or others, they send two unintended messages — I can’t handle hard things and you can’t trust me. This episode is a direct call to action: If you lead people, giving feedback is not optional. It’s the job. Prina breaks down a simple, practical way to approach feedback conversations with clarity, owner...

In this episode, I’m joined again by Simone Pickering, HR consultant and founder of The People & Culture Office, to unpack a reality many small town businesses don’t want to admit: Sometimes the culture is the business owner. And in regional and small town settings, that impact is even stronger. We explore what happens when leadership style, personality, and long-standing habits define the entire workplace culture — and why this often leads to stagnation, turnover, and growth ceilings. This ...

In this episode of Ways to Change the Workplace, I explore something that a lot of people feel… but very few people actually name. Intellectual loneliness. It’s not about being socially isolated. It’s about being surrounded by people, yet rarely having conversations that stretch your thinking. The kind of conversations where ideas are explored, challenged, expanded. Instead, many workplaces unintentionally reward speed, certainty, and simplicity - and over time, deeper thinking starts to disa...

In this short episode of Ways to Change Your Workplace, Prina Shah explores a simple but powerful leadership action: removing one pointless rule from your organisation. Every workplace has them - outdated policies, unnecessary approvals, or processes that exist simply because “that’s how it’s always been done.” While they may seem harmless, these rules quietly send a dangerous message: that bureaucracy matters more than common sense. Prina explains how eliminating even one unnecessary rule can...

Coercive control is one of the most misunderstood forms of abuse. It rarely begins with obvious violence. Instead, it often starts subtly — through behaviours that slowly isolate, manipulate, and erode a person's confidence and independence. In this powerful episode of Ways to Change Your Workplace, Prina Shah is joined by Joelene Ellat, CEO and Founder of the Domestic Abuse Resource and Training Institute (DART Institute). Jolene's the CEO of the Domestic Abuse Resource and Training Group (D...