The Escalation Podcast

In this episode of The Escalation Podcast, I sit down with Chris Ballantyne (‪@chrisballantyne‬), ex-City lawyer, former Vice President at Deutsche Bank, and now a high-performance coach working with lawyers, bankers and executives across the corporate world.

Chris spent nearly a decade advising on multi-billion-dollar restructurings before leaving corporate law and finance to help ambitious professionals perform at the highest l...

What if some of the traits we claim to dislike are actually the ones we reward most? What if narcissism, ruthlessness, manipulation and a lack of empathy aren't flaws in the system but features of it? In this episode of ‪@escalationpodcast‬ I sit down with Geraint Anderson — former City insider, bestselling author of Cityboy, satirist, broadcaster and one of the sharpest observers of modern business culture. Nearly twenty ...

On this episode of The Escalation Podcast, I’m joined by Sol Kuckelman, who most recently served as General Counsel for the Americas and APAC at Man Group plc, the world’s largest publicly listed asset manager - a role that placed him right at the intersection of financial markets, regulation, and strategy. We first crossed paths years ago when I was at Man, and I remember how clearly his reputation stood out - calm un...

On this episode of The Escalation Podcast, I’m joined by Pascale Lebaillif - a woman who’s lived at the very heart of global finance and now reshapes how leaders rise within it. Over two decades, Pascale climbed through the ranks of the world’s most powerful institutions - Crédit Agricole CIB, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and J.P. Morgan - leading global teams, steering strategy, and shaping the leadership pipe...

Corporate emails: the rules everyone knows, but nobody writes down … and the ones that can make or break your career. From CAPS LOCK panic to CC chaos, “Quick Question” subject lines that are never quick, and the dreaded “As per my last email”, this episode of The Escalation Podcast dives into the unspoken rules of email culture. We all know it’s not just what you write — it’s how ...

Few leaders leave a mark on your career forever — Simon Welch is one of them. His CV is remarkable: senior roles spanning private banking, asset management, and investment banking. Most recently, he served as Global Head of Legal Sustainability at Credit Suisse AG, shaping the bank’s ESG strategy. Before that, he led global legal & compliance teams supporting more than 18,000 employees worldwide. Behind every big ...

Is Gen Z breaking the hustle culture? For decades, we were taught to measure ambition by hours worked, emails sent, and meetings survived. But a new generation is flipping the script: freedom, flexibility, and purpose now outrank burnout-as-a-badge. If hustle was engineered to keep us running, maybe the real success is in choosing when and why we run at all. ⏱ Episode Chapters 00:00 Introduction — Your First Week at a Top ...

Your body knows before your brain does. The meeting hasn't started, but something in the room already tells you it's not safe to speak. In this episode, I sit down with Kerry-Lyn Stanton-Downes - relationship psychotherapist, advisor, TEDx speaker, and author of the forthcoming "Beyond Words: How to Lead People from Survival to Success" (May 2026) - to explore why workplace mental health can't be fixed with individual coping tools ...

On this week's episode of The Escalation Podcast, I’m joined by Gabino Roche Jr., CEO and Founder of Saphyre — a true visionary and fintech innovator, transforming how global financial institutions connect, trade, and share data.

With over twenty years of experience at the intersection of finance and technology, Gabino’s journey spans senior leadership roles at the NYSE, J.P. Morgan, and McKinsey & Company.&n...

Imposter syndrome is often framed as a weakness - something to fix, silence, or overcome. But in high-performance careers, that narrative misses something important.

In this episode of The Escalation Podcast, I explore imposter syndrome through a different lens: not as a flaw in confidence, but as a psychological signal that often appears at the edges of growth.

Drawing on psychology, behavioral research, and real-world experienc...

At some point in your career, success stops being about capability

and starts being about capacity.

Capacity to think clearly.

Capacity to lead.

Capacity to stay grounded under pressure.

In today’s episode of The Escalation Podcast, I sit down with Tom Ungi to explore what really sits behind performance in high-pressure environments - leadership, identity, resilience, and the human cost of always operating at the top.

This...

In January 2025, Forbes named managing upwards the number one skill for surviving—and thriving—in corporate life.

And they were on to something. Your career isn’t built on output alone; it’s built on perceived value — on how effectively you translate your work into the language leadership understands and responds to.

In this episode of The Escalation Podcast, I unpack the art of managing up.

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In this episode of The Escalation Podcast, I sit down with Allan Yip, a derivatives lawyer whose career spans more than three decades across private practice and global investment banks.

Allan began at the Bar before moving into banking and finance law at Clifford Chance during the industry’s expansion years. He later moved in-house at JPMorgan Chase and Bear Stearns, experiencing first-hand the shockwaves of the 2008 crisis...

We shape-shift daily. It's almost a reflex - an on-demand habit we've been building and perfecting over the years. As we grow, so do the expectations. And in our industry that growth, that constant climb, is the game.

The better we get at it—chasing the next promotion, collecting new titles—the more eyes are on us. We crave admiration and recognition, but with that often comes exposure and judgment.

Welcome to The Esc...