Ruby Wax: Humour, Vulnerability & Rewriting the Rules of Leadership - Icons of Influence - A Business Book Club Series
Descripción del Episodio
In this episode of Icons of Influence, host Hannah Hally explores the influence and cultural impact of Ruby Wax — a comedian, author, and mental health campaigner whose leadership challenges traditional ideas of authority, resilience, and success.
Ruby Wax built her early career in television and comedy at a time when the media rewarded sharpness, dominance, and emotional armour. Known for her rapid wit and confrontational interviewing style, she quickly became a powerful presence in high-pressure, male-dominated environments. But her influence was never rooted in humour alone. It was grounded in intelligence, psychological insight, and an ability to read people with precision.
At the height of her professional success, Wax was struggling privately with severe depression. Like many high-performing leaders and creatives, she was rewarded for output while carrying the emotional cost of constant performance. The industry valued toughness and productivity — not honesty or vulnerability.
Eventually, that model became unsustainable.
Rather than hiding her experience or stepping away quietly, Ruby Wax chose a radically different path. She sought understanding. She studied psychotherapy and neuroscience, completing a master’s degree at Oxford, equipping herself with both lived experience and academic grounding.
This decision transformed her influence.
Wax became a translator — able to bridge complex science with humour, humanity, and accessibility. She spoke about mental health not as a personal weakness, but as a shared human reality that required better language, better systems, and better leadership.
Using her platform, Wax began challenging stigma around depression, anxiety, and emotional overwhelm long before these conversations were mainstream. Through books, talks, campaigns, and advocacy, she made mental health speakable — particularly in environments that previously demanded silence.
Humour became her strategic tool. Not to trivialise pain, but to lower defences. Laughter opened doors that fear and shame kept closed.
This approach reshaped her authority. Ruby Wax’s influence does not come from appearing fixed, healed, or perfected. It comes from modelling management rather than mastery. Honesty rather than heroism.
In a modern leadership context — where burnout, emotional strain, and psychological safety are increasingly recognised — her work reframes vulnerability as competence. Understanding your own mind becomes a leadership skill.
Ruby Wax’s journey offers powerful lessons for leaders, founders, and organisations:
- Humour can carry serious truth
- Vulnerability builds trust faster than authority
- Lived experience becomes influence when paired with understanding
- Performance has limits — honesty sustains
- Leadership does not require perfection, only awareness
This episode is not about comedy alone. It is a strategic exploration of how influence evolves when leaders stop performing strength and start practising understanding.
🎧 Listen now to Icons of Influence: Ruby Wax — Humour, Vulnerability & Rewriting the Rules of Leadership.
Hosted by Hannah Hally, The Business Book Club brings together three empowering podcast series — 5-Minute Book Summaries, Icons of Influence, and Leadership Unpacked — sharing practical lessons, success stories, and leadership insights from the world’s most inspiring thinkers. Explore more episodes and resources at www.thebusinessbookclub.online. Visit thebusinessbookclub.online to explore every episode, join our leadership community, and grow your business mindset.
Episodios Recientes
Más podcasts de Sociedad y Cultura
Ver toda la categoría →
The Last 12 Weeks
By shows
In 1992, David Wood was convicted of murdering young women and girls and burying them in the desert outside El Paso, earning him the nickname the Desert Killer. More than 30 years later, his lawyers have one last chance to argue his innocence and stop his execution. “The Last 12 Weeks” follows a team of capital defense lawyers as they try to save their client’s life. The series, produced by Serial Productions and The New York Times in collaboration with The Marshall Project, focuses on the high stakes and at times bizarre work involved in trying to halt an execution. With an extraordinary level of access to a capital case in its final stretch, the longtime death penalty reporter Maurice Chammah takes listeners into the room with the lawyers as the clock ticks down. Maurice and Alvin Melathe, a producer, follow members of the defense team as they look for alternate suspects, try to find new evidence to poke holes in the case, and track down hard-to-find witnesses. In the end, will the lawyers’ efforts be enough to persuade a deeply skeptical court system — and stop an execution three decades in the making? “The Last 12 Weeks.” A five-part series … on a deadline.
Rotten Mango
By shows
Rotten but still a little sweet! Rotten Mango is a true crime + all things spooky podcast. We love doing deep dives into the darkest crimes and we tend to not leave out any details - which can get a little rotten at times. If you want deep dives in the psychology of killers, no holding back storytelling of crimes, and stories of lesser known criminals from around the world this is the place for you. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of Rotten Mango ad-free. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.
Palabras Mayores - Carlos Antonio Vélez
By shows
Hablamos de lo que más nos gusta; el fútbol. No somos hinchas de nadie, tampoco hacemos parte de las relaciones publicas de un club, de una selección, de algún dirigente, de algún técnico o de algunos jugadores.
Passion Struck with John R. Miles
By shows
You built the life you were supposed to want. So why doesn't it feel like enough?<br /><br />Passion Struck with John R. Miles is the #1 alternative health podcast exploring the deepest questions of human well-being — how we think, how we feel, how we connect, and how we build lives that don't quietly hollow us out from the inside. Hosted by bestselling author, Navy veteran, and former Fortune 50 executive John R. Miles, this is the show for anyone who wants to understand themselves more deeply and live more fully.<br /><br />Every week, John sits down with the world's leading voices across neuroscience, psychology, medicine, philosophy, sports, business, and the arts — guests like Seth Godin, Ryan Holiday, Susan Cain, Mark Hyman, Angela Duckworth, and Arthur Brooks. Together, they explore what it actually takes to build a life that feels like yours—how to strengthen your mind and body, build relationships that sustain you, find purpose before you’ve lost it or reclaim it after you have, and break free from stress, numbness, and the quiet drift of going through the motions.<br /><br />Whether you're 26 and trying to build your life the right way from the start, or 43 and wondering why the life you built doesn't feel like yours, this show meets you exactly where you are. Because the questions you're carrying deserve real answers.<br /><br />New episodes every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.<br /><br />85 Million Downloads | Gold Stevie Award | Davey Gold for Social Impact
Dumb Blonde
By shows
<p>Asking the questions others are afraid to. Bunnie XO host of the Dumb Blonde podcast – the ultimate destination for comedy, trending and lifestyle. Get ready to dive into hilarious discussions about relationships, trauma, embarrassing moments, and all the realness life throws at us. Join Bunnie every week to laugh, relate, and embrace your inner healing.</p>
The Snare
By shows
In 1996, 18-year-old Angie Dodge is found brutally murdered in her Idaho Falls home. Police zero in on a suspect and put a man behind bars. But as the years pass, doubts emerge about whether the real killer was ever caught. Leading the fight for answers is an unlikely advocate: Angie’s own mother, who embarks on a decades-long mission to uncover the truth. A six-part series from 20/20 and ABC Audio, hosted by Maggie Rulli. New episodes Tuesdays.
Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb
By shows
<p>Joy is essential.</p> <p>And it's also elusive. You can't order it, borrow it, or simply hope it into life.</p> <p>But now, there's a new and exciting way to start your journey toward a more joyful existence: The Joy 101 Podcast with Hoda!</p> <p>Best known for her Emmy-winning work and co-anchoring <em>Today,</em> Hoda Kotb infuses her authenticity, curiosity, and warmth into conversations with the world’s most fascinating people. Entertainment legends, sport icons, wellness experts, and everyday folks will share how they find, allow, and experience joy. Hoda will offer her own tips and takes on seeking a more balanced, harmonious life. </p> <p>If you're craving inspiration, support, and useful tools to maximize your joy, tune in to these candid, uplifting, and moving on-air chats.</p> <p>Joy after a breakup, joy as an empty-nester, joy after loss, joy as a caretaker — Hoda's new podcast will speak to you.</p> <p>Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb, an iHeartPodcast.</p>