#EdInfluence podcast (series 5): In conversation with inspiring leaders

09 February 2026

Our #EdInfluence podcast has gone from strength to strength over its four series so far, attracting a diverse range of influential leaders sharing their inspirational stories and insight.

Hosted by our Head of Education and accredited executive coach Nick MacKenzie, #EdInfluence features down-to-earth conversations with leaders from the education sector and beyond, exploring the human side of leadership.

A full episode guide and more information on our guests are available below. You can listen to the podcast here or on your preferred podcast channel, including: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and Amazon Music.

Episode 5: Andy Long

Andy Long, Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of Northumbria University, reflects on how building trust through years of academic networking led to leadership of a major research consortium – and the difficult decision to hand it over when he moved into senior leadership.

As a first-generation university student, Andy discusses how education transformed his life and now drives Northumbria's mission around widening participation and social mobility. He explains how the university works with 40 local schools, runs "into university" centres in areas with low participation rates, and partners with schools like Bede Academy to create seamless pathways into higher education.

Andy shares his engineering approach to leadership – developing plans, monitoring implementation, and making decisions with limited information – drawing on his experience chairing Nottingham University's COVID response. He discusses imposter syndrome, the importance of admitting what you don't know, and why the calmest person in the room isn't always what people need.

On the challenges facing higher education, Andy argues that university leaders must adapt to a less benign political environment and get better at demonstrating value to society. His mission: changing lives through education, ensuring graduates from all backgrounds have an equal chance of success.

Episode 4: Edward Vitalis

Edward Vitalis, CEO of Invictus Education Trust, shares how auditing governance in war-torn Liberia taught him resilience and shaped his leadership approach.

He explains why his finance background is a superpower for education CEOs, breaking down the “modern leadership pie chart" where governance, estates, risk and growth outweigh pedagogy. Edward argues schools should lead innovation like industry, describing AI hackathons where staff and pupils solve real problems, yielding funded app ideas.

He discusses creating sustainable environments where staff can "kick for the top right-hand corner of the net 20 times, fail 19 times, but get that big win on the 20th occasion". His mission: widening life chances.

Episode 3: Charlotte Blant

Charlotte Blant, founder and CEO of Tiro, shares how childhood adversity shaped her leadership approach. A celebrated speaker on apprenticeship development and reform, Charlotte firmly believes that learning and development can make a huge difference to the UK economy.

In this episode she explains how Tiro evolved from Youth Force to a science-focused apprenticeship provider, guided by three core values: think win-win, have a growth mindset, be a pace setter.

Charlotte also discusses practical strategies for maintaining culture in hybrid work, including daily huddles and six-week goal cycles. She explores how psychoanalytic leadership training helped her shift from reaction to reflection, and why courageous, values-led leadership that trusts people to be brilliant is the antidote to fear-based control.

Episode 2: Paul Estes

Paul Estes joins us to trace a line from a high school election loss to leading teams at Dell, Amazon and Microsoft. His lesson: “innovation isn't about the idea - it's about the how”.

We explore what makes organisations perform: a clear mission, an operating rhythm that works, and success signals sharp enough to guide decisions. Paul argues for practical AI experiments - prompt labs, cross-functional hackathons and shared libraries - that build literacy and judgement. We discuss why most AI agents stall at the last mile and why borrowing expertise beats reinventing it.

Paul believes that what keeps leadership human is ritual and care. Real leadership shows up in small acts: recognition, pizza at 9pm, a personal card for a well-earned dinner. Listen to this episode to learn more.

Episode 1: Andrew Warren

How much impact can a simple note have on a troubled child's life? In this conversation, Andrew Warren shares the story of Jordan, a young boy who kept a tattered "Make me proud" note from his headteacher for years, revealing the extraordinary power of authentic connection in education.

Andrew shared experience from his 40-year career, from primary school headteacher to Department for Education regional director, whilst chairing the Teaching Schools Council and being a Founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching along the way.

Having shaped national education policy and worked extensively as a coach and professional mentor with headteachers and senior leaders across the country, Andrew offers valuable insights into leadership that resonate far beyond the education sector.