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What The Fear?! is a podcast about the fears that drive us, the ones that derail us - and the ones that dare us to do things differently.
Hosted by award-winning author, speaker and productivity expert Grace Marshall, the show explores how High Functioning Fear® hides in plain sight - showing up as busyness, overthinking, people-pleasing, perfectionism, or relentless productivity. It examines how fear shapes the way we work, lead, relate and make decisions - often without ever looking like fear.
Each episode features deep, honest conversations with thinkers, researchers and practitioners about what fear looks like in real life - and how we can move through it with more courage, clarity and connection.
Together, we explore the surprising ways fear shows up in leadership, conflict, communication, trust, innovation, uncertainty, silence, team dynamics and organisational change - and how to meet it with compassion, creativity and strength.
Whether you're leading a team, navigating uncertainty, or figuring out how to be more human at work - this show invites you to rethink your relationship with fear.
Episodes
Monday Sep 22, 2025
Monday Sep 22, 2025
How do we lead when we don’t have the answers? In this episode I chat with Rob Poynton to explore how fear and uncertainty can lead to presence, creativity and connection.
Rob teaches improvisation at Oxford’s Saïd Business School and works with leaders around the world to help them navigate complexity, uncertainty and change with curiosity rather than control.
We explore how improvisational principles like pausing, presence and “yes, and…” offer practical ways to meet fear, navigate change and uncover surprising paths forward. Drawing on leadership, mindfulness, military history and theatre, this conversation is full of unexpected insights and memorable metaphors.
Together we unpack:
- Why fear narrows our focus - and how to shift our perspective
- How overreliance on speed and certainty limits leadership
- What it means to “prepare a territory, not a path”
- How fear can actually lead to energy, joy and creative flow
- What leaders can do when facing resistance, mess or not-knowing
If you’ve ever found yourself stuck in uncertainty or trying to lead through change without a clear plan - this one’s for you.
- Continue the conversation with Grace here: gracemarshall.com
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gracemarshall/
- Instagram: instagram.com/gracemarshallninja/
About Guest
Rob is the author of: ‘Do Conversation’, ‘Do Pause’ (and ‘Do – Improvise’). He divides his time between an off grid house in rural Spain and Oxford, where he is an Associate Fellow at the Saïd Business School.
For Rob, career has always been more a verb than a noun. Probably because he believes in playing around with things (and people) rather than trying to control them. For over twenty years he has designed and facilitated workshops, retreats and pauses.
In 2020, in a bout of invention prompted by the pandemic he founded Yellow (small group, slow burn reflective learning) which, from its virtual beginnings has now migrated into real life, hosting and holding physical events and retreats, often in spectacular places, with remarkably little structure.
Find out more at robertpoynton.com and yellowlearning.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-poynton-169402/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.poynton
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