Inside Out Leadership: Robb Holman Shares the Key to Inspiring Teams

This exclusive interview with Robb Holman was conducted by Sophia Hayes of The Champions Speakers Agency.

Robb Holman is one of the world’s leading inspirational leadership speakers, known globally for his transformative “Inside Out Leadership” philosophy — a powerful approach that places people, purpose and authenticity at the heart of business and organisational culture.

With a career spanning decades, Robb has helped leaders from around the world — across industries and continents — to reconnect with their core values, lead with integrity, and build teams grounded in trust and genuine human connection. He’s authored several influential books including “All In: How Impactful Teams Build Trust from the Inside Out”, “Move the Needle” and “Lead the Way”.

In this exclusive interview with the Mental Health Speakers Agency, Robb shares his insights on why human-centred leadership matters now more than ever — and how organisations can cultivate cultures where people thrive, resilience is built, and mental well-being becomes part of the corporate heartbeat.

Question 1. In your experience, why must leaders place people at the heart of their organisations rather than allowing procedures to take precedence?

Robb Holman: “I love the question of prioritising people over procedures because, in workplace environments all around the world my travels have taken me… my speaking has taken me all around the world. I’ve worked and spoken in the Middle East, I’ve worked in Europe, in the US, etc. And so it’s a common problem. I’ll call it this: a challenge or problem in business.

“Because, you know, business… you’re in business in large part to make money. Many people are, many companies are, many businesses are. And so the trying thing, the challenging thing that happens in many regards is we can view people… we don’t, maybe, we’re not out to do this, it just happens, it finds us.

Oftentimes we make people into projects as opposed to real human beings whose heart beats and comes alive, and people that want to be cheered and encouraged and inspired.

“And I think in the name of reaching our goals, making money, leaders have a wonderful opportunity to change that around — to view it and to experience people more from the inside out. When we can begin to prioritise people for who they are, why they exist, their uniqueness, their gifts, their skill sets, and then attach that to the goal at hand, the project that we want to accomplish… everything.

“We’re actually the starting place — and not just the starting place, really. We should value them throughout the entire process. And when we do so, when we’re intentional and disciplined to do so, again it gets back to the last thing that I brought up with presence: people just feel like they can do anything when they’re celebrated.

“When we focus more on who they are and the good that they bring to a process, to the goal, then it’s going to encourage them, it’s going to empower them to go about it out of a completely different place.

“And so when we do that and really put people themselves as the priority, then procedures are something that, in a sense, you try to wrap your arms around. Celebrating people, encouraging people — you wrap your arms around the productivity that comes in and out of that place and channel that for greater good.

“And we call that, then, procedures and protocols, because now you are channelling the individual, their uniqueness, everything we just talked about, and now you want to create and package it for long-term sustainability.

“And that’s where processes, procedures and protocols come into place. You take the vibrancy, you channel it for long-term sustainability. Any great company, any vibrant and sustainable company, it’s all about vibrancy — in a sense the heartbeat of the company — and it needs to be channelled with sustainability. And that’s what putting people over procedures, or prioritising people over procedures for greater results, is all about.”

Question 2. How do you define a ‘receiving mindset’, and why is it such an important yet overlooked aspect of effective leadership?

Robb Holman: “Receiving mindset is an interesting thing. So many people and so many leaders… how many times have we heard this, Megan? We’ve heard: “Well, you just need to serve people around you. You just need to take care of them. You just need to make sure they’re taken care of.”

“And I know so many leaders that serve, serve, serve, serve, serve — it’s all about other people. And they almost feel like receiving things in a good way — not like receiving things to manipulate people and circumstances for greater benefit, but really receiving in a genuine way, in an authentic sense from others — they can almost feel bad about it.

“Like, who am I to receive from people… like, deeply, authentically? “I’ve got people to take care of, I’ve got to serve them, I want to take care of them to set them up for greater success.”

“But think of it this way: we can only give what we have received. Another, more modern way to put it is: we can only give what we’ve got. And if we’re not positioning ourselves, aligning ourselves to receive from

people around us — receiving help and support, receiving new ideas, receiving praise and compliments very deeply — then what can we really give to others around us?

“But if we, again, can position and posture ourselves to receive authentically, deeply, genuinely, in the purity of our heart and our mind, and we take it deep and we take moments and times to receive, then guess what? We can give to other people. We can give away what we have received.

“Now, when we dive and do a deeper dive into an area like receiving, I know many people — because I get this a lot — they’re like, “Rob, if I’m really honest with you, I struggle. I really struggle as a leader, as a human being, with receiving deeply because it’s a vulnerable place to be, to live and to lead out of.”

“And so when I dig a little deeper, you know, I’ve acknowledged some key areas that are holding people — holding leaders — back from receiving. Things like: “You know what, if I receive from this person… I don’t know, I might get a really big head.

“I might get a larger ego than I already have.” And so what leaders will typically do when they receive a praise or a compliment from a team member or from an outsider, they’ll say: “Hey, thanks a lot, but it was really my team.”

“Now, I get it. It seems really good, it seems humble at first. But in reality we’re deflecting who we are and why we’re there as a leader, as a human being. And so just even taking an appropriate pause to actually receive — and I would encourage you to even say: “Hey, thank you so much for sharing that with me” — and even pause to receive it before you give an answer or even deflect it onto your teammates and team members.

“And what that does: it acknowledges the person actually giving you the compliment, it blesses them because now you’re receiving from them, but it also gives you some time to absorb it, to take it in, not in a prideful arrogant way, but in a way that is filled with humility. That perhaps the way that you are — your purpose in life, your passions in life — was a gift that you’ve been given for other people to unwrap in and through you.

“And there are other things that can hold us back from receiving. I just gave you one, but there are so many more that we don’t have time to talk about right now. But I unveil and I unpack in my talks and in my trainings that people really want to understand the things that are holding them back, so that they can live and lead with greater freedom — receiving good things only to give more of them away.”