The People Playbook with Jason Taylor
Better People Decisions. Stronger Teams. Scalable Results.
The People Playbook is your weekly guide to building high-performing teams and cultures that scale. Hosted by leadership coach and executive advisor Jason Taylor, this podcast features raw, insightful conversations with CEOs, founders, and culture builders who know what it really takes to lead in today’s world.
From mindset to execution, every episode unpacks the strategies, missteps, and breakthroughs behind exceptional leadership - and how to align your people, purpose, and performance for lasting impact.
Whether you're a CEO scaling fast, a senior leader navigating change, or a builder at heart - this is your playbook for becoming the leader your team needs.
🎯 New episodes weekly
🔥 Real talk. No fluff.
🧠 Actionable insights you can use today
Because growth doesn’t start with strategy - it starts with people.
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The People Playbook with Jason Taylor
Jeremy Harvey: Why Trust (Not Control) is the Leadership Superpower
What holds most leaders back isn’t strategy - it’s trust.
In this episode of The People Playbook, Jason Taylor sits down with Jeremy Harvey - strategist, leadership coach, and former Unilever exec - to talk about how leaders can unlock momentum through better people decisions. From Oxford to the Middle East, from billion-dollar brands to peer groups in Canada, Jeremy’s leadership lens has been shaped by decades of global insight.
They discuss:
- The underrated skill leaders avoid (but desperately need)
- Why “balance” is overrated - and how discomfort drives growth
- How to foster buy-in from high-performing teams
- And why curiosity - not certainty - is what keeps great leaders going
Whether you're scaling a business or just trying to stop doing your team's job for them, this episode is a must-listen.
Follow for more unfiltered conversations from The People Playbook Podcast - where leadership meets real life.
00:00 – Jason Taylor: Welcome and intro to Jeremy Harvey’s career
00:34 – Jeremy Harvey: Thanks, Jason. It's great to be here.
00:36 – Jason Taylor: How did your time at Oxford and studying history shape the way you lead and coach today?
00:54 – Jeremy Harvey:
Oxford taught me the value of diversity—surprisingly, since I was in a single-sex college. But the collegiate system exposed me to people from all backgrounds and disciplines. That diversity of thought really shaped how I see problems and solutions.
History, on the other hand, teaches you how to find relevance in data and form arguments—just like in business strategy.
02:09 – Jason Taylor: You’ve worked across Europe, North America, and the Middle East. What’s the biggest leadership challenge you've seen that’s common across all those geographies?
02:46 – Jeremy Harvey:
Trust. Leaders struggle to trust their teams. They don’t always define the criteria for trust, and that lack of trust creates a bottleneck. But when trust is present, it creates a virtuous spiral—leaders can delegate, focus on bigger priorities, and teams step up.
03:28 – Jason Taylor: Why do you think leaders have such a hard time giving up trust?
03:33 – Jeremy Harvey:
Often, they think they’re the only ones who can do it “right.” It takes time to realize that if someone does it 80–90% the way you would, that’s actually good enough.
04:09 – Jason Taylor: You were in corporate at Unilever, and then you jumped to start your own business. What made you take that leap?
04:12 – Jeremy Harvey:
It wasn’t a leap—it was more like jumping off a cliff. I wanted a role in France that never materialized, so I resigned on the spot. It was impulsive, but I’ve never regretted it.
04:46 – Jason Taylor: What’s the biggest thing you’ve seen in the leaders you coach through Tech Canada?
04:59 – Jeremy Harvey:
That I can learn as much from them as they learn from me. It’s humbling and energizing. Coaching is a two-way street.
05:42 – Jason Taylor: What’s the one overlooked factor that drives sustainable growth in your experience?
05:44 – Jeremy Harvey:
Momentum. And not just from leadership—momentum can come from anyone in the company. When people believe in the vision and see how they contribute to it, progress accelerates.
06:35 – Jason Taylor: How do you think leaders can help their teams buy into that momentum?
06:37 – Jeremy Harvey:
By communicating the vision with passion and in a way that the team wants to hear it—not just how the leader wants to say it.
07:26 – Jason Taylor: Your mantra is ‘We only succeed when we all succeed.’ What does that mean to you, and how do you live it out day to day?
07:56 – Jeremy Harvey:
It’s not just a phrase—it’s about building community. We share wins and losses in my peer groups. I might rephrase it as: “We only succeed when our community succeeds.” That’s what drives me.
08:48 – Jason Taylor: How do you foster that sense of community and support among Type A leaders?
09:04 – Jeremy Harvey:
It starts with who you bring into the group—people who genuinely want to support others. We celebrate wins, we support struggles. Over time, it becomes a true community.
09:45 – Jason Taylor: How do you help leaders balance strategy with the emotional side of the business?
10:15 – Jeremy Harvey:
I hate the word “balance” because it suggests stasis. Being off balance creates growth. Great leadership blends strategy (logic, vision, decisions) with emotional intelligence (empathy, self-awareness). When you combine the two, you get better decisions, better communication, and a more adaptable business.
12:23 – Jason Taylor: If you could invite one historical figure to your Tech peer session, who would it be and why?
12:38 – Jeremy Harvey:
Galileo. He didn’t invent the theory or telescope, but he was the one who took the risk to spread the truth. He changed the way we saw the universe—and humanity’s place in it. I’d love to know what drove him to risk so much to do that.
14:30 – Jason Taylor: After decades in business, what keeps you curious and motivated every day?
14:51 – Jeremy Harvey:
There’s always something more to learn. Every day I realize how much I still don’t know. That’s motivating. I want to learn and contribute as much as I can with the time I have left.
16:03 – Jason Taylor: Have you always been curious — even earlier in your career?
16:08 – Jeremy Harvey:
Not really. Early on, I thought I knew everything that mattered. It took time and experience—and some mistakes—to realize how little I knew. That’s when curiosity kicked in.
16:55 – Jason Taylor: Final reflections and gratitude
17:17 – Jeremy Harvey: Thank you for having me. I really enjoyed every moment.
17:22 – Jason Taylor: Thanks, Jeremy.
