Why do intelligent leaders approve sound change initiatives, then struggle to turn them into action? 

In this episode, host Maureen Metcalf speaks with Paul Gibbons, organizational change expert and author of The Science of Successful Organizational Change. Drawing on behavioral science, philosophy, and decades of business experience, Paul explains why facts and rational arguments alone rarely produce lasting change. 

The conversation explores the hidden psychological forces that shape major initiatives. Planning bias causes leaders to underestimate complexity, while sunk-cost bias keeps organizations investing in projects that should be dropped. Habits and automatic behaviors can defeat even the strongest intentions, and repeated, poorly coordinated transformations leave employees exhausted. 

Listeners will gain insights on: 

• Why knowing what should change does not guarantee action 

• How simple habits influence behavior 

• How change fatigue undermines organizational performance 

• How change agility can be developed throughout an organization, and 

• What evidence-based management reveals about common business practices. 

Paul also challenges conventional “carrot and stick” approaches to motivation and explains how choice architecture can influence behavior without coercion. 

This conversation offers you a more rigorous way to understand organizational change...and a practical foundation for building organizations capable of learning, adapting, and thriving under pressure. 

Other episodes with Paul you'll enjoy: 

- Finding Meaning, Joy, & Purpose in What You Do 

- Leadership Myths & the War on Truth 

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn. 

RESOURCES:   

Paul's book, The Science of Organizational Change, is available in paperback at https://amzn.to/4wMwlNY. 

The book Nudge he referenced, by Thaler & Sunstein, about changing behaviors is available in paperback at https://amzn.to/4fPeEHE, and as an audiobook at https://amzn.to/4g0AeaP.   

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here.  

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8 . The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ. 

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here.  

-----------------------   

OUR PODCAST TEAM:   

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf 

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko 

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan 

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik 

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay. 

CONNECT WITH US:  

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership  

LinkedIn: www.bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2  

Loved this episode? Like and subscribe!  

-----------------------   

About Our Guest:   

Paul Gibbons is an AI-adoption strategist, leadership thinker, author, and keynote speaker working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, organizational change, and human behavior. During more than three decades in strategy, leadership, and transformation, he has held roles with IBM Consulting, Deloitte, and PwC and advised organizations including Google, Microsoft, HSBC, Barclays, Comcast, and KPMG. He founded Future Considerations, a prominent European leadership-development firm, and wrote The Science of Organizational Change, which introduced behavioral science more fully into change-management practice. His current work focuses on people-first AI adoption, leadership capability, behavioral governance, and helping organizations adapt continuously as technology evolves. His latest book is Adopting AI: The People-First Approach.

Every executive has experienced it.

A strategy looked sound. The data was convincing. The leadership team agreed. Yet the outcome still fell short.

Why?

According to renowned leadership scholar Manfred Kets de Vries, the answer isn't in the strategy itself, but in the psychology of the people making decisions.

In this thought-provoking episode, Maureen Metcalf sits down with one of the world's foremost experts on leadership psychology to explore how unconscious patterns, executive blind spots, and the dynamics of power quietly shape organizations.

Together they discuss:

• Why self-awareness is one of a leader's greatest competitive advantages
• How micromanagement, hubris, and executive blind spots spread throughout an organization
• Why many executive teams remain misaligned despite strong talent
• The hidden cost of leaders who stop receiving honest feedback
• Practical ways boards and executive teams can build trust, alignment, and psychological safety.

T his conversation offers powerful insights into the human dynamics that determine whether strategies ultimately succeed or fail.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- (Henry Mintsberg episodes – Manfred worked with him)

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Learn more about Manfred and his work at his Institute’s website: https://kdvi.com/.

To learn more about his academic work and case studies, read his faculty page at https://www.insead.edu/faculty/manfred-f-r-kets-de-vries.

His many books include the titles he mentioned in the interview, including: The Neurotic Organization (available in hardback at https://amzn.to/4wauotJ).

And his Medium channel is at Manfred Kets de Vries – Medium.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik (Jreik@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries is Distinguished Clinical Professor of Leadership Development and Organizational Change at INSEAD and the Raoul de Vitry d'Avaucourt Chaired Professor of Leadership Development, Emeritus. A pioneer in applying psychology and psychoanalysis to leadership and organizational behavior, he founded INSEAD's Global Leadership Centre and has spent decades helping senior executives and boards become more reflective, effective leaders. Recognized as one of the world's leading management thinkers, he has authored nearly 50 books and more than 400 articles on leadership, executive coaching, organizational transformation, and the dynamics of human behavior.

Can leaders continue to grow after mastering emotional intelligence?

For years, leadership development has emphasized IQ and Emotional Intelligence (EQ) as essential capabilities. But there is another dimension that separates good leaders from truly exceptional ones.

In this episode, Maureen Metcalf welcomes Cindy Wigglesworth, founder of Deep Change and creator of the groundbreaking SQ21® Spiritual Intelligence assessment, to explore how leaders can cultivate greater wisdom, compassion, and self-awareness without sacrificing practical business results.

Rather than discussing spirituality as religion or philosophy, Cindy presents Spiritual Intelligence (SQ) as a measurable, learnable set of leadership skills that help people move beyond reactive decision-making toward wiser, more thoughtful leadership.

Together, they explore:

• Why IQ and EQ alone are no longer enough for today's leaders
• The four intelligences that support effective leadership
• How Spiritual Intelligence helps leaders move beyond ego and emotional triggers
• Why wisdom and compassion are practical leadership competencies
• The relationship between adult development, leadership maturity, and SQ
• The SOUL framework for making better decisions under pressure.

Whether you lead an organization, a team, or simply want to become a wiser version of yourself, this conversation offers practical insights for navigating today's increasingly complex world.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- How Inner Work Transforms Your Leadership: Tools for Growth with Jonathan Reams

- Leading from Within - A Former Navy SEAL on Transforming Yourself to Lead Others with Diego Ugalde

- Working & Living in Joy with Pamela Larde

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Cindy’s groundbreaking book is SQ21: The Twnety-One Skills of Spiritual Intelligence. It’s available in paperback at https://amzn.to/4yLi3hW. The audiobook version is at https://amzn.to/3Tgqphw.

You can also learn more at her website: https://deepchange.com/.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8 . The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

Instagram: @innovativeleader 

Loved this episode? Like and subscribe! 

-----------------------  

About Our Guest:  

Cindy Wigglesworth, MA, is the Founder and President of Deep Change, Inc. and a recognized pioneer in the field of Spiritual Intelligence (SQ). She developed the SQ21® Spiritual Intelligence Assessment, a research-based, skills-focused framework that helps individuals and organizations cultivate greater wisdom, compassion, and leadership effectiveness. Her practical, faith-neutral approach has made Spiritual Intelligence accessible for executive leadership development, organizational transformation, diversity initiatives, and personal growth.

Cindy created SQ21® in collaboration with researchers and psychometric experts to provide a measurable pathway for developing Spiritual Intelligence. She is the author of the bestselling SQ21: The Twenty-One Skills of Spiritual Intelligence and co-author (as Cynthia S. Graves) of Grown-Up Children Who Won't Grow Up.

Many organizations are investing heavily in leadership development while watching their leadership pipelines grow weaker. Why? According to Gallagher's latest research, talented employees are looking at leadership roles and deciding they don't want them.

In this episode, Maureen Metcalf speaks with Steve Dion, National Managing Director of Leadership and Organizational Development at Gallagher, about why traditional leadership systems are struggling to meet today's realities, and what organizations can do to reverse the trend.

Together they explore:

• How burnout, workload, and outdated role design discourage future leaders
• Why leadership pipelines reflect leadership systems, not just talent availability
• Why succession planning must become an ongoing organizational capability instead of an annual exercise
• Practical steps CEOs and boards can take today to strengthen leadership capacity for the future.

Rather than asking how to train better leaders, this conversation asks a more important question: How do we create leadership roles that talented people genuinely want to fill?

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Leading to Shape the Future: Theory U with Otto Scharmer

- Rethinking Leadership for the Future with Cynthia Cherrey

- Back to the Future…of Work with Jim Ritchie-Dunham, Suzie Lewis, & David Dinwoodie

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Learn more about Gallagher’s leadership research at https://www.ajg.com/. 

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik (Jreik@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Steve Dion is National Managing Director of Leadership and Organizational Development at Gallagher, where he leads a team helping organizations strengthen culture, develop leaders at every level, and improve organizational performance. With more than 30 years of HR, executive leadership, and consulting experience, he previously founded and served as CEO of Dion Leadership, an award-winning leadership development and executive coaching firm that joined Gallagher in 2025. He is widely recognized for helping organizations translate complex people challenges into practical strategies that improve engagement, retention, leadership effectiveness, and business results.

What if your labor shortage isn't really a hiring problem?

When workers are scarce, the conventional responses are predictable: raise wages, offer bonuses, hire earlier, add temporary labor, and hope you make it through the next peak. But what if those tactics are treating the symptoms while leaving the real problem untouched?

Supply chain leaders Will O'Brien and Dave DuBose join Maureen Metcalf to challenge the way leaders think about workforce shortages. Drawing on decades of experience in operations, supply chain, and organizational transformation, they argue that lasting solutions begin by asking a more fundamental question: Does the work itself need to be redesigned?

The conversation explores how organizations can reduce unnecessary labor, use technology more strategically, rethink fulfillment and operating models, expand the pool of people they can successfully employ, and become “sticky employers”: organizations that create enough genuine value for employees that leaving becomes unthinkable.

You'll also hear why wage increases alone rarely create a sustainable advantage, how benefits such as childcare can become hard business investments, why yesterday's most efficient operating model may become today's vulnerability, and how reactive workforce planning can reveal a deeper leadership problem.

When the environment changes structurally, working harder inside the old system isn't a strategy. Sometimes the system itself has to change.

This conversation begins in supply chain, but its implications reach any leader facing talent scarcity, retention challenges, rising costs, technological disruption, or an operating model built for a world that no longer exists.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Looking at Labor Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow with Kevin Cassidy & Christopher Washington

- What Leaders Miss in the Talent Shortage Myth with Doug McCollough

- Developing Future-Fit Employees with Faris Alami and Christopher Washington

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES: 

Learn more about Dave & Will’s work at their company website, https://truenorthgrowthpartners.com/.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here.

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here.

----------------------- 

OUR PODCAST TEAM: 

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (Kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik (Jreik@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US:

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating!

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About Our Guests: 

Will O'Brien is a Partner at True North Growth Partners and an executive leader and advisor with more than 30 years of experience in operations, supply chain, and business transformation. His career includes executive leadership roles in industry and consulting, including Lowe's and Sedlak Supply Chain Consultants. Will helps organizations improve operational performance, align people, processes, and technology, and build the capabilities needed for sustainable growth.

Dave DuBose is a Partner at True North Growth Partners and an executive advisor and transformation leader with more than 30 years of experience. His career includes leadership roles with Pepsi Bottling Group, Accenture, Limited Brands, IBM, and Sedlak. Dave helps organizations align strategy, operations, people, and technology to execute complex transformations, improve performance, and achieve sustainable business results.

What if your organization's biggest competitive disadvantage isn't your strategy; it's how long it takes to turn insight into action?

Many leadership teams are filled with smart, experienced people, yet they still struggle to respond quickly to problems. The issue is rarely the quality of their leaders. It's the system those leaders are working within.

In this episode, Dr. Christopher Washington and Greg Moran introduce Decision Velocity, a practical leadership framework designed to help organizations move from recognizing important signals to taking coordinated action before opportunity becomes crisis.

Together, they explore the six capabilities that determine whether organizations adapt effectively:

• Sensing meaningful change before it becomes a crisis • Building shared understanding across leadership teams • Aligning organizations through effective sense-giving • Making better strategic decisions • Activating coordinated execution • Creating learning systems that continuously improve organizational performance.

Drawing on executive experience, governance expertise, systems thinking, and real-world examples from Ford and Toyota, Christopher and Greg demonstrate why adaptive organizations consistently outperform those that simply try to make decisions faster.

What You'll Discover: • Why decision velocity is not the same as decision speed • The hidden leadership systems that create organizational friction • How high-performing organizations detect and respond to change sooner • Why shared understanding matters more than perfect agreement • The leadership discipline that separates adaptive organizations from everyone else.

Decision Velocity isn't simply about making better decisions. It's about building organizations that continuously sense, interpret, decide, execute, learn, and adapt.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Why Smart Companies Make Bad Decisions with Mats Alvesson

- When Leaders Put Life on the Line: Navigating Tough Decisions with Judge Beverley McLachlin

- How AI Preserves Humanity at Ancestry with Howard Hochhauser

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Learn more about our new Think Tank at https://bit.ly/ILI-ThinkTank.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (Kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik (Jreik@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guests:  

Dr. Christopher Washington is the president of the Innovative Leadership Institute Think Tank. A strategic leader, systems thinker, and seasoned academic executive with over three decades of experience strengthening nonprofit and educational organizations, he served as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Franklin University and is a long-standing contributor to the Forbes Nonprofit Council. He previously served as CEO of Urbana University and has held leadership roles on numerous national and international nonprofit boards. 

Greg Moran is the CTO of Pyx Health, the female-led and LGBTQI+ founded working with national health insurance plans to improve access to quality care. Through his extensive career, Greg has been a director, founder, advisor and operating executive with extensive global operations experience (U.S., Europe and Asia). He holds a strong market focus with deep technology experience, including start-up, scaling, restructuring, sales, finance, and operations.

As organizations race to adopt AI and automation, many leaders are asking the wrong question. The challenge isn't how to deploy better technology. It's how to build human-centered systems that allow people and technology to thrive together.

In this special episode, Maureen Metcalf speaks with two Amazon executives responsible for making one of the world's most complex organizations work at extraordinary scale. Sandy Gordon, Vice President of Global Operations Employee Experience & Relations, shares how Amazon builds trust, develops talent, and creates systems that empower more than one million employees. Scott Dresser, Vice President of Amazon Robotics, explains how robotics, AI, and automation are designed to improve safety, increase capability, and support—NOT replace—the human workforce.

Together, these conversations reveal that sustainable innovation isn't driven by technology alone. It depends on thoughtful leadership, continuous learning, and a commitment to keeping people at the center of organizational transformation.

Whether you're leading AI initiatives, organizational change, digital transformation, or simply trying to build a stronger organization, you'll discover practical leadership lessons that extend far beyond Amazon…applying to any organization preparing for the future of work.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- With Great Success Comes Great Responsibility with Holly Sullivan

- Building the Systems (and People) That Sustain Growth with Carla Morelli

- AI, Your Story, & the Professional Identity Crisis with Christopher Washington

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

To learn more about the Career Choice program Sandy discussed, check https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/workplace/career-choice-free-education-for-amazon-employees.

For more about the robotics developments Scott talked about, read the stories at https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/tag/robotics.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (Kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik (Jreik@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guests:  

This episode brings together two leaders responsible for different (but deeply connected) parts of Amazon's global operations. Sandy Gordon leads the employee experience systems that support more than one million frontline employees, while Scott Dresser leads the robotics and AI systems that power Amazon's fulfillment network. Together, they offer complementary perspectives on a single leadership challenge: how organizations can scale technology without losing sight of the people who make that technology successful.

Sandy is Vice President of Global Operations Employee Experience & Relations at Amazon; her organization focuses on employee engagement, workplace experience, leadership communications, career development, and policies that help create a safe, inclusive, and high-performing work environment. She also oversees initiatives such as Amazon's Career Choice program, which invests in employee education and workforce development.

Scott is Vice President of Amazon Robotics. His organization designs autonomous mobile robots, robotic manipulation systems, AI-driven automation, and intelligent warehouse technologies that improve safety, operational efficiency, and customer delivery performance. He has been instrumental in the development and deployment of technologies including Proteus, Sequoia, Sparrow, Robin, and Amazon's next generation of AI-enabled robotics.

If your organization is full of smart people, why does it keep making bad decisions?

In this thought-provoking episode, Maureen Metcalf and Christopher Washington are joined by Professor Mats Alvesson, one of the world's leading organizational scholars and author of The Stupidity Paradox.

Alvesson introduces the concept of “functional stupidity”—the tendency for intelligent individuals and organizations to stop questioning assumptions, rely on familiar routines, and prioritize conformity over critical thinking. Mats explores how bureaucracy, excessive processes, organizational rituals, and the desire to preserve social harmony can unintentionally suppress good judgment and slow organizational learning.

Alvesson also offers practical ideas for creating cultures that encourage reflection, initiative, and thoughtful challenge without sacrificing organizational effectiveness.

This episode offers valuable insights into how organizations can become smarter by questioning more, and doing less of what no longer serves them.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- How Inner Work Transforms Your Leadership: Tools for Growth with Jonathan Reams

- How to Avoid the Bad Leader Trap with Harvard fellow Barbara Kellerman

- Navigating the Global Storm with Cynthia Cherrey

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Mats’ book, The Stupidity Paradox, is available in paperback at https://amzn.to/3SaNWzU.

The other book he mentioned, The Art of Less: How to Focus on What Really Matters at Work, is available in hardback at https://amzn.to/4a7yOt9 and on Kindle at https://amzn.to/4eANySA.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (Kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik (Jreik@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

-----------------------  

About Our Guest:  

Professor Mats Alvesson is a Swedish management scholar and Professor of Organizational Studies at Lund University. Widely regarded as one of the most influential thinkers in organization and management studies, his work focuses on leadership, organizational culture, identity, power, critical management studies, and organizational irrationality. He is best known for developing the concept of functional stupidity: the tendency of organizations to suppress critical thinking and reflection despite employing highly intelligent people. Alvesson has authored more than 30 books and hundreds of scholarly publications, including The Stupidity Paradox, The Art of Less, Changing Organizational Culture, and Constructing Research Questions. He was elected an International Fellow of the British Academy in recognition of his contributions to management and organization studies.

Many leaders believe their job is to deliver results, not to be liked. But what if that assumption is limiting their effectiveness?

In this episode, Maureen Metcalf welcomes back Brian Ahearn to explore the leadership power of liking and reciprocity. Drawing on decades of research in influence, Brian explains why people are more willing to support leaders they trust, how small acts of generosity create lasting professional relationships, and why fear-based leadership is increasingly ineffective in today's workplace.

It all reveals the underlying, surprising business value of genuine human connection. Through practical examples and real-world leadership stories, Brian demonstrates how leaders can build stronger cultures, improve performance, and create workplaces where people genuinely want to contribute.

Whether you lead a team of five or an organization of five thousand, this conversation offers insights for becoming a more influential, trusted, and effective leader.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- How Great Leaders Influence (without Manipulating) with Briah Ahearn

- How Influence Leads to Great Influence with Brian Ahearn

- How AI Preserves Humanity with Ancestry CEO Howard Hochhauser

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

The website for Brian’s company, Influence People, is https://influencepeople.biz/. He has a regular blog there at https://influencepeople.biz/blog/.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8 . The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

Loved this episode? Like and subscribe! 

-----------------------  

About Our Guests:  

Brian Ahearn is the Chief Influence Officer at Influence PEOPLE and a faculty member at The Cialdini Institute. An international keynote speaker and TEDx presenter, Brian is an expert in the science of influence, certified in the Cialdini Method for Persuasion and Pre-suasion. Brian is the author of "Influence PEOPLE" and "Persuasive Selling for Relationship Driven Insurance Agents." His insights have reached over 700,000 people through his LinkedIn courses and more than a million views on his TEDx Talk. Brian’s latest work, "The Influencer: Secrets to Success & Happiness," weaves these teachings into an engaging business parable.

What happens when leadership decisions affect not just an organization, but entire communities?

In this episode, Maureen Metcalf speaks with Holly Sullivan, Vice President of Worldwide Economic Development at Amazon. Holly oversees initiatives that influence billions of dollars in investment, workforce development, infrastructure, and community partnerships across the United States and beyond.

Their conversation explores how organizations can create lasting value while balancing growth, responsibility, and community impact. Holly shares lessons from Amazon's investments in rural communities, workforce development programs, affordable housing initiatives, disaster relief efforts, and efforts to expand economic opportunity through education and broadband access.

Together, they discuss what it means to lead responsibly at scale, why trust and community engagement matter, how organizations can become better corporate citizens, and the role leaders play in creating opportunities that extend far beyond their own businesses.

This episode offers practical insights on building stronger communities while creating sustainable growth.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Building Communities within Your Business with Alice Yoo LeClair

- Inside Amazon’s Big Bets: Leading on Climate and Delivery with Kara Hurst and Sarah Matthew

- Four Key Lessons on Trust & Safety with Catherine Teitelbaum, Amazon’s Head of Family Trust

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Learn more about the community development work Holly oversees for Amazon at https://bit.ly/Amazon-Community.

The study on the impact of distribution centers on their local communities is at https://www.oxfordeconomics.com/resource/the-socioeconomic-impacts-of-amazon-investments-on-local-communities/.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (Kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik (Jreik@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Holly Sullivan is Vice President of Worldwide Economic Development at Amazon, where she leads global economic development strategy and investment initiatives focused on job creation, workforce development, and community impact. During her tenure, she spearheaded Amazon's search for its second headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, led development of the company's Nashville operations hub, and helped drive expansion across North America's technology footprint. Prior to joining Amazon, Holly served as President and CEO of the Montgomery Business Development Corporation in Maryland. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Tennessee and is widely recognized for her work at the intersection of economic growth, community development, and corporate investment.

Today's leaders face a paradox: the problems confronting organizations are increasingly complex, yet the leadership approaches we've relied on for decades are producing diminishing returns.

In this episode, Maureen Metcalf is joined by Christopher and Sheila Cooke, founders of Five Deep and pioneers in the study of human emergence, developmental leadership, and systems awareness. Together, they explore why meaningful transformation requires more than new strategies; it requires access to human capacities we already have (but haven’t fully developed).

Through examples ranging from organizational change initiatives to community transformation efforts in Africa, Christopher and Sheila demonstrate how leaders can create the conditions that allow innovation, adaptability, and sustainable change to emerge naturally.

They discuss: • Why people cannot absorb solutions they are not ready to receive • The hidden capacities that enable leaders to navigate complexity • How systems awareness leads to better decisions and better outcomes • Why forcing change often creates resistance while creating conditions for change unlocks possibility, and • The relationship between leadership development, organizational effectiveness, and human potential.

If you've ever wondered why some transformation efforts succeed while others stall, this conversation offers a powerful new lens.

"The change has already happened. You're just learning to grow into it."

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Growing Up and Out: Development for Modern Leaders with Mike Morrow-Fox

- Becoming a Better Leader: Daily Leadership Development with Ron Riggio

- Amplifying Human Potential with Seth Casden

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Learn more about 5 Deep, the company Christopher founded, at https://www.5deep.net/.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8 . The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

Instagram: @innovativeleader 

Loved this episode? Like and subscribe! 

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About Our Guests:  

Sheila Cooke holds an MBA in International Business and a BA in Sociology/Anthropology. She spent approximately 20 years in international business, including five years as a general manager in Japan, before moving into facilitation, education, and organizational development. She is a qualified trainer with the Institute of Cultural Affairs and has designed and facilitated programs for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome. Today, Sheila serves as Director and lead consultant within 5 Deep Limited and leads 3LM (Land and Livestock Management for Life), the Savory Institute hub for the United Kingdom and Ireland. As a Savory Institute Accredited Educator and Field Professional, she advises farmers, organizations, and business leaders in Holistic Management and regenerative agriculture, helping them develop decision-making capabilities that align economic, ecological, and social outcomes.

Christopher Cooke is the founder of 5 Deep Limited, a consultancy focused on human development, leadership, cultural transformation, complexity, and change. He has worked internationally for nearly three decades as a consultant, coach, mentor, trainer, and change-management specialist.

Prior to founding 5 Deep, Christopher worked in the United Kingdom water industry, where he participated in major transformation efforts associated with privatization and organizational change. Through 5 Deep and 3LM, he has focused on helping individuals, organizations, and communities increase their capacity to navigate complexity through integrative and holistic approaches to human behavior, culture, leadership, and decision-making. His work spans business, agriculture, community development, and regenerative land management across multiple continents.

Many organizations are rushing to embrace AI, launch new initiatives, and pursue growth. But in the process, they’re losing sight of the very things that made them successful in the first place: their mission, their customers, and their identity.

In this episode, Maureen Metcalf sits down with Howard Hochhauser, CEO of Ancestry, to explore how he helped return the company to growth by refocusing on its core customers, clarifying its mission, and using artificial intelligence to deepen human connection rather than replace it.

Howard shares leadership lessons from his experiences working with legendary entrepreneurs such as Martha Stewart, explains why he uses his mother as a decision-making North Star, and discusses how Ancestry is transforming billions of historical records into meaningful family stories. The conversation also explores ethical AI, organizational focus, customer-centered leadership, and the power of understanding where we come from.

This episode offers practical insights on how to innovate without losing the soul of your organization.

Topics include:

• Customer-centered leadership • Strategic focus in the age of AI • Ethical and human-centered AI • Organizational culture and transparency • Building customer loyalty and trust • Family history, resilience, and legacy • Mission-driven growth • Leadership lessons from transformation.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Looking Back to Look Ahead: Leadership, Tech, & Knowing Your Roots with Deb Liu

- The Leadership Skill AI Can’t Replace: Super Creativity with James Taylor

- How Great Leaders Influence (without Manipulating) with Brian Ahearn

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

There’s a wealth of information on Howard’s company at https://www.ancestry.com/. You can also follow him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/howard-hochhauser-5791b810/.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (Kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik (Jreik@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Howard Hochhauser was named President & CEO of Ancestry, the global leader in family history and consumer genomics, in February 2025. Howard joined Ancestry in 2009 as Chief Financial Officer and in February 2012 added the position of Chief Operating Officer. Howard also served as interim CEO of Ancestry from October 2017 to May 2018 while the Board conducted a comprehensive search for a permanent CEO. 

During his tenure, Howard has helped lead the company’s initial 2009 public offering, its go-private transaction in 2012, multiple acquisitions, and all of its public equity and debt financings. He was part of the team that grew the company from approximately $200 million in revenue in 2008 to more than $1.3 billion in revenue in 2024, a compound annual growth rate of 12.5. 

Prior to joining Ancestry, Howard served as Chief Financial Officer of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, and earlier in his career was a Vice President of Equity Research at Bear Stearns & Co. and a Staff Accountant at KPMG Peat Marwick.

Most leaders assume their biggest challenge is strategy. In reality, the greater challenge is getting people to willingly move with you.

In this episode, Maureen Metcalf speaks with persuasion expert Brian Ahearn about the psychology of persuasion and why ethical influence has become one of the defining leadership capabilities of our time.

Drawing on the work of Dr. Robert Cialdini, Brian explores the six principles of influence and explains how leaders can build trust, create buy-in, strengthen relationships, and communicate more effectively without relying on manipulation or positional authority.

The conversation examines:

• the difference between persuasion and manipulation
• why reciprocity and trust matter in leadership
• how leaders create voluntary alignment
• the role of social proof and credibility
• why influence is fundamentally tied to human psychology
• and how leaders can practice persuasion ethically in everyday interactions.

This episode is especially relevant for executives navigating organizational change, stakeholder alignment, cultural complexity, and leadership communication in high-pressure environments.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- How Influence Leads to Great Leadership with Brian Ahearn

- Super Creativity: The Leadership Skill AI Can’t Replace with James Taylor

- Agape Capitalism: Can Ethics & Profit Coexist? With Jim & Tom Grote

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

The website for Brian’s company, Influence People, is https://influencepeople.biz/. He has a regular blog there at https://influencepeople.biz/blog/.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (Kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik (Jreik@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Brian Ahearn is the Chief Influence Officer at Influence PEOPLE and a faculty member at The Cialdini Institute. An international keynote speaker and TEDx presenter, Brian is an expert in the science of influence, certified in the Cialdini Method for Persuasion and Pre-suasion. Brian is the author of "Influence PEOPLE" and "Persuasive Selling for Relationship Driven Insurance Agents." His insights have reached over 700,000 people through his LinkedIn courses and more than a million views on his TEDx Talk. Brian’s latest work, "The Influencer: Secrets to Success & Happiness," weaves these teachings into an engaging business parable.

In this thought-provoking episode, we sit down with global creativity and innovation expert James Taylor to explore one of the defining leadership questions of our time:

As AI automates more routine work, what becomes uniquely human — and uniquely valuable?

James introduces the concept of “super creativity”: the amplification of human creativity through collaboration with both people and intelligent machines. Together, Maureen and James unpack why creativity, curiosity, imagination, and psychological safety are rapidly becoming core executive capabilities in the AI era.

They explore:

• The rise of one-person billion-dollar companies
• The hidden cultural barriers quietly derailing AI adoption
• Why organizational values may become the most important AI governance framework, and
• Why the future belongs to leaders who amplify human potential rather than simply automate labor.

This conversation is especially relevant for CEOs, boards, senior executives, innovation leaders, and anyone navigating the intersection of leadership, technology, and organizational transformation.

James also shares practical frameworks leaders can use immediately to:

• foster creativity,
• redesign work,
• identify hidden talent,
• and build cultures capable of thriving through accelerating disruption.

If you’ve been asking, “What is the role of human leadership in the age of AI?” this episode is for you.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- The Creative Mindset: Mastering Skills that Empower Innovation with Jeff DeGraff

- Cultivating WONDER: Unleashing Innovation in Your Business with Theo Edmonds

- Greater than Fact: The Power of Leading with Stories with Paul Smith

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

 Learn more about James on his website at https://www.jamestaylor.me/. His book, Supercreativity, is available at local booksellers and on Amazon at https://amzn.to/4fhIioW.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (Kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik (Jreik@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

James Taylor is an award-winning keynote speaker and internationally recognized authority on creativity, innovation, and artificial intelligence. He started his career managing high-profile rock stars and has since become a global thought leader in business creativity and AI-driven innovation. James is on a mission to help individuals and organizations unlock their creative potential, accelerate innovation, and build a sustainable future. Believing that the greatest competitive advantage comes from creative collaboration between humans and technology, he champions strategies to future-proof businesses in this age of disruption. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Healthcare is approaching a breaking point: costs are rising faster than inflation, outcomes remain inconsistent, and the current model is no longer sustainable.

In this episode, Dr. William Smoyer, Vice President for Clinical and Translational Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, shares a breakthrough approach called “Learn from Every Patient.” Instead of separating research from care, this model integrates them, turning every patient interaction into a source of insight that improves future treatment.

The results are compelling: in a pilot program, this approach reduced hospital visits and cut total healthcare costs by 25%, while improving patient outcomes.

This conversation explores:

• Why traditional clinical trials only capture 1–3% of patients…and what happens when that becomes 100%
• How data from everyday care can drive faster, more effective evidence-based medicine
• The leadership challenge of implementing disruptive change in high-stakes environments
• Why physician resistance is rational, and how to align it with transformation, and
• What it will take to scale this model across health systems nationally, if not globally.

For leaders inside and outside healthcare, this episode offers a powerful lens on how to redesign complex systems, use data more intelligently, and lead change when the stakes are high.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- High-Performance Medicine: Healthcare’s Lessons for Your Elite Teams with Brian Ferguson

- Pets, Purpose, & Power: The Animal Science of Leadership with Rustin Moore

- From Data to Dialogue: Why Leaders Need More than Numbers with Rens van Loon

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Bill invites physicians and others in the healthcare industry to learn more about the Learn from Every Patient program by emailing him at William.Smoyer@NationwideChildrens.org.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

Sponsorship Manager: Kristine Gross

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

IWebsite: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

William Smoyer, MD, is a member of the Section of Nephrology and Hypertension at Nationwide Children's Hospital, vice president and director for the Center for Clinical and Translational Research at the Abigail Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Robert Kidder chair in Clinical and Translational Research, and a professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Prior to joining Nationwide Children’s Hospital, he served as both the Pediatric Nephrology Division Director and Fellowship Program Director at the University of Michigan, which also included extensive mentoring of both fellows and junior faculty members regarding career and research program development.

Most organizations are investing heavily in AI, but very few are seeing meaningful results

In this episode, Maria Angel Ferrero challenges one of the most dangerous assumptions leaders are making today: that adopting AI tools is enough to drive transformation. It isn’t.

As Maria makes clear, tools don’t change organizations; systems driven by people do. We explore why companies are stuck in AI experimentation without measurable impact, and what’s actually missing: a clear problem-first strategy, governance and accountability, and the human-centered design required to drive adoption.

You’ll learn:

• Why most AI failures are human, not technical
• How to close the gap between AI investment and business outcomes
• What “human-in-the-loop” really means for leadership and risk
• Why starting with the problem, not the tool,is critical to success,and
• How to move from scattered experimentation to scalable innovation.

If you’re responsible for AI strategy, transformation, or performance outcomes, this conversation will challenge how you think…and how you lead.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- AI, Your Story, & the Professional Identity Crisis with Christopher Washington

- Leading When We’ve Stopped Thinking: AI’s Red Flag with Srini Koushik

- AI at Work: The Human Side of Tech Transformation with Neil Sahota

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (Kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik (Jreik@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Maria Angel Ferrero is an innovation and responsible AI strategist, entrepreneur, and academic. She is the founder and CEO of Makia Labs, where she works with organizations to design AI-driven innovation ecosystems that integrate technology, people, and purpose. She is also a PhD, researcher, and professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Montpellier, with a background in design thinking and user-centered innovation.

Ferrero’s work focuses on helping leaders move beyond AI experimentation to measurable impact, emphasizing governance, human-centered adoption, and ethical AI integration.

In addition to her advisory work, she creates educational content on AI and innovation across platforms, including LinkedIn and social media, where she shares practical guidance on applying AI in professional and academic contexts.

What if avoiding conflict is the very thing holding your team back?

Most leaders believe great teams minimize workplace conflict. But the reality is far more uncomfortable…and far more powerful.

In this episode, returning guest Mike Morrow-Fox breaks down why one negative team member can reduce productivity by up to 40%, why “bad apple” behavior spreads faster than positive influence, and why the highest-performing teams don’t avoid conflict -- they design for it. This is conflict management from a completely new perspective.

You’ll learn:

• Why psychological safety, not harmony, is the foundation of performance
• How the brain’s threat response shuts down creativity in seconds
• The SCARF model for building environments where people can actually think, contribute, and collaborate, and
• Practical tools to turn tension into creative conflict that drives results.

If your team feels polite, but not fully honest, aligned, or even committed, this conversation will challenge how you lead.

Because the goal isn’t less conflict. It’s better conflict.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- The Good Fight: Using Productive Conflict with Liane Davey

- Addressing Values Conflicts with John Heiser

- Work, War, & In-Between: Lessons from a Peace Negotiator with Lord John Alderdice

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

Sponsorship Manager: Kristine Gross

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Michael Morrow-Fox, PhD, is a highly-skilled consultant experienced in health care, education, banking, and non-profit management. Michael has over 20 years of experience in leading technology and human resources operations, and several years of full-time university teaching. Michael uses this background to blend his real-world understanding with current theoretical models, helping clients reach goals beyond their current thinking. Michael’s project management, process excellence, problem-solving, and human performance management skills help companies form truly innovative strategies. He’s a valued member of the ILI team.

The pace of change leaders are reacting to today is only 5% of what’s coming.

In this episode, host Maureen Metcalf sits down with CTO Greg Moran to explore what accelerating technological change actually demands from leaders right now. Moving beyond abstract conversations about disruption, they dig into the practical realities facing organizations: collapsing business models, increasing decision pressure, and the growing gap between how companies are structured and what the environment now requires.

They examine why traditional management systems may now be the very barriers preventing adaptation. And they offer a clear-eyed look at what must shift, including how leaders think about constraints, how decisions are made, and how organizations prepare for a future defined by volatility.

This conversation is especially relevant for senior leaders who sense that incremental change is no longer sufficient…and who are ready to rethink leadership at a systemic level.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- The End of Stability: Leading in a Disrupted World with Bob Bush, Jr.

- Are You Disrupting or Being Disrupted with Mark Kvamme

- Facing Uncertainty: It’s VUCA with Chris Nolan

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Learn more about Greg Moran on his LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/in/gsmoran/. Information on Pyx Health is on their website at https://www.pyxhealth.com/.  

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (Kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik (Jreik@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Greg Moran is the CTO of Pyx Health, the female-led and LGBTQI+ founded working with national health insurance plans to improve access to quality care. Through his extensive career, Greg has been a director, founder, advisor and operating executive with extensive global operations experience (U.S., Europe and Asia). He holds a strong market focus with deep technology experience, including start-up, scaling, restructuring, sales, finance, and operations.

What if the future of capitalism depends on something most business leaders rarely talk about, and even disdain: love?

In this episode, Jim and Tom Grote, leaders behind Donatos Pizza and the Grote Company, share their decades-long experiment in Agape Capitalism, a business model grounded in the principles of unconditional love, the Golden Rule, and long-term responsibility.

This isn’t theory. Over multiple industries—including food service and global manufacturing—they’ve built highly profitable organizations while prioritizing people, community, and purpose.

In this episode, we explore:

• What “love” actually means in a business context—and how to operationalize it
• Why ethical leadership becomes essential during disruption and uncertainty
• How companies can navigate automation and AI without leaving people behind
• The shift from competition to “coopetition” and industry-wide responsibility, and
• The evolving role of business in feeding the world and supporting planetary health.

We also dive into one of the most provocative ideas of the episode: Can we program artificial intelligence with the principles of unconditional love, and should we?

As disruption accelerates across industries, this conversation challenges leaders to rethink not just strategy, but the values that guide it, too.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Our Emotional Recession: How to Lead When People Are Depleted with Joshua Freedman

- Why Corporate Social Purpose Also Means Profit with John Heiser

- Why Principle Beats Process: Inside the Koch Leadership Framework with Steve Daley

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES: 

Learn more about Agape Capitalism and the Grotes’ Edge Innovation Hub – with businesses practicing this principle – at https://www.edgeinnovationhub.com/agape.  

The book Jim Grote referenced, Evolutionary Love and the Ravages of Greed, is available in paperback at https://amzn.to/4tD2N3v.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here.

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here.

----------------------- 

OUR PODCAST TEAM: 

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (Kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik (Jreik@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US:

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating!

----------------------- 

About Our Guests: 

Based on the power of positive thinking and the Golden Rule, Jim Grote founded Donatos Pizza in 1963 in Columbus, Ohio. Sfter years of applying sliced pepperoni by hand in the pizza shop, he went on to invent and patent the Pepp-a-matic, a machine to slice and apply pepperoni directly to pizza. He founded The JE Grote Company on this invention in 1972, which manufactures food processing equipment globally. Grote recently founded the Edge Innovation Hub, a center for creativity, where forward thinking companies can innovate at the edge of possibility.

Grote’s moonshot is to instill unconditional love into artificial intelligence, countering the apocalyptic predictions surrounding AI.After growing up in the Catholic tradition, Grote began his search for a deeper understanding of the golden rule, loving your neighbor as you love yourself. He learned about the Christian traditions of unconditional love, eastern traditions of yoga philosophy, meditation and the teaching of Buddhism on loving kindness and compassion.

Jim’s massive transformative purpose is to help evolve the American capitalist system to a profitable model based on the power of love and the Golden Rule, which he calls Agápe Capitalism.

 -----

Thomas Grote grew up on Columbus Ohio's south side, working at the original Donatos Pizza and later rising to the post of Chief Operating Officer as the business grew from seven restaurants to over 150.

He graduated with a finance degree from Miami University, and his MBA with honors from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

He opened the groundbreaking Out On Main, a casual fine dining restaurant which celebrated the lives of gays and lesbians. Thomas became chief financial officer for Green Biologics, a UK based biotech company, and continues to consult in business development and brand strategy. Thomas is and has been a tireless advocate for LGBTQ equality.

Tom lives with his husband and two daughters in German Village, Ohio.

In a matter of days, Eventbrite went from growth to crisis, processing more refunds than revenue as live events canceled worldwide

In this episode, Julia Hartz shares what it really takes to lead when the business you built suddenly stops working.

Drawing on a 20-year journey spanning startup, hypergrowth, IPO, global expansion, and eventual reinvention, Julia reveals the leadership systems that sustained Eventbrite through massive technological shifts, from social media to AI.

More importantly, she offers a candid look at the hardest decisions leaders face:

• Acting decisively with incomplete but critical information
• Making painful calls to protect long-term viability
• Rebuilding culture and trust after disruption, and
• Leading teams through uncertainty, layoffs, and transformation.

At the core of her approach is a simple but powerful principle: care for people first, and build systems that make that real.

This episode is essential listening for CEOs, senior executives, and leaders navigating rapid change, high-stakes decisions, and the human realities behind them. If you’re leading through uncertainty (and who isn’t?), this conversation will challenge how you think about culture, resilience, and what leadership really demands when everything is on the line.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- AI, Your Story, & the Professional Identity Crisis with Christopher Washington

- Thriving During Crisis in the Middle East with Aline Kamakian

- The Human Energy Crisis at Work with Joshua Freedman

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

 Learn more about Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.com/about/.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

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OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (Kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik (Jreik@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Julia Hartz is the Co-Founder, former CEO, and Executive Chair of Eventbrite. Under her leadership, Eventbrite grew from an innovative idea into one of the world’s largest marketplaces for shared experiences, powering more than five million events annually across the globe. Since its founding in 2006, the company has generated billions in gross ticket sales and processes over two million tickets each week.

Julia has prioritized building a strong organizational culture alongside business performance, scaling Eventbrite to more than 700 employees across nine countries. The company has been recognized on Fortune’s 100 Best Workplaces for Women and for Millennials, and has been named one of the Best Places to Work in the San Francisco Bay Area.

She has received numerous accolades, including Fortune’s 40 Under 40, Inc.’s 35 Under 35, Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs, and Inc.’s 500 Female Founders (2026). Her leadership and impact have been featured in leading global publications.

Julia began her career as a development executive at MTV and FX Networks before moving to Silicon Valley. She believes that real-life human experiences foster individual happiness and stronger global communities—a conviction that continues to shape Eventbrite’s mission.

Why do difficult conversations so often go wrong, even when you prepare for them?

In this episode, host Maureen Metcalf sits down with Dr. Marcia Reynolds to explore how leaders can turn resistance into meaningful results. While most approaches focus on what to say, Marcia reveals that real change happens when leaders shift mindsets, starting with their own.

Together, they unpack:

• Why knowing what to do rarely leads to behavior change,
• How emotional reactions (both yours and theirs) shape the outcome of every conversation, and
• Why psychological safety is the foundation for honest dialogue and high performance.

You’ll learn how to mentally prepare for difficult conversations, manage your emotional state in the moment, and use a coaching approach that helps others see differently so they can act differently.

This episode offers practical tools for navigating high-stakes conversations with clarity, courage, and care…whether you’re giving feedback, addressing conflict, or guiding someone through change.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Why You Fight Against Your Own Interests with Lord John Alderdice

- Our Emotional Recession: How to Lead When People Are Depleted with Joshua Freedman

- Let’s Talk: Four Steps to Bridging Disagreements with Michael Morrow-Fox

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Marcia’s book is Coach the Person, Not the Problem. It’s available in paperback at https://amzn.to/4sEWtIo, and as an audiobook at https://amzn.to/4uMnbR5.

Her prior book is The Discomfort Zone: How Leaders Turn Difficult Conversations into Breakthroughs. You can find it in paperback at https://amzn.to/40PluVk, and as an audiobook at https://amzn.to/4dGfe9L. 

You can also learn a lot more about her work online at https://covisioning.com/.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. The Kindle version is available at https://amzn.to/44buVz8 .You’ll find further details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI. Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

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OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Video & Graphics Editor: Devon Mushalko

Assistant Editor & Raconteur: Luigi Morelli

(Information requiring higher security clearance than you have): Jenna Reik & Mike Morrow-Fox

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Like and subscribe!

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About Our Guest:  

Dr. Marcia Reynolds, president of Covisioning LLC, is endlessly curious about how humans learn and grow. She found coaching to be the best technology we have for accelerating the process of change. She has coached and trained leaders and coaches in 41 countries and has presented at the Harvard Kennedy School, Cornell University, and The National Research University in Moscow. Dr. Reynolds is a pioneer in the coaching profession. She is a founding member and 5th global president of the International Coach Federation. She returned to the board for two years in 2016 where she focused on credentialing requirements and strengthening relationships with coach training schools. She is the Training Director for the Healthcare Coaching Institute and on faculty for the International Coach Academy in Russia and Create China Coaching in China. Global Gurus recognizes her as one of the top 5 coaches in the world. Dr. Reynolds has published 5 books.

What if conflict isn’t driven by rational self-interest, but by something far more human?

In this episode, Lord John Alderdice—psychiatrist, political leader, and key architect of the Good Friday Agreement which brought peace to Northern Ireland—shares a radically different lens on conflict. Drawing from decades of peace negotiations, he explains why people and nations often act against their own interests, and what leaders must understand to move from division to resolution.

You’ll learn why listening is more powerful than persuasion, why the real issue is often the relationship (not the opposing sides), and how identity, history, and fear shape decisions in ways logic cannot. Alderdice also explores how these lessons apply to today’s global polarization, from geopolitics to corporations.

This conversation offers a profound reframe for leaders navigating complexity, conflict, and change in an increasingly uncertain world.

Produced in partnership with the International Leadership Association: https://ilaglobalnetwork.org/

Other episodes you’ll enjoy:

- The Accidental Peacemaker: How a Philanthropist Pursues Peace in a Complex World with Mike Hardy & Steve Killelea

- 11 Steps to Help You Heal Divides with Mike Hardy

- Peace through Better Leaders with Mike Hardy

- A Genocide Survivor’s Path To Leadership: Turning Trauma into Peace with Hyppolite Ntigurirwa & Mike Hardy

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Lord Alderdice’s website has a wealth of information on his work: https://lordalderdice.com/.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (Kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik (Jreik@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Lord John Alderdice is a psychiatrist, political leader, and internationally recognized peace negotiator who played a key role in the Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement. A former leader of the Alliance Party and Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, he has spent decades applying psychological insight to resolving complex political conflicts. His work now spans global peacebuilding, advising on issues of polarization, extremism, and leadership in deeply divided societies.

“If you come into a conflict and take a side, you are no longer part of the solution—you are part of the conflict.”  — Lord John Alderdice

What really happens when organizations try to grow?

In this episode, Maureen Metcalf speaks with Carla Morelli about why many organizations struggle to scale, even when strategy and market opportunity are strong. They explore how growth exposes weaknesses in leadership, decision architecture, and culture, and why scaling successfully requires more than simply increasing revenue or headcount.

You’ll discover the leadership mindset required to sustain growth, the human dynamics that often derail mergers and acquisitions, and the systems leaders must build to ensure organizations scale without losing trust, execution discipline, or long-term value.

If you’re leading organizational growth, acquisitions, or major transformation, this conversation offers practical insights into how leaders can design organizations that grow stronger as they scale.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- AI, Your Story, & the Professional Identity Crisis with Christopher Washington

- To Stop a Tyrant: The Power of Followers with Ira Chaleff

- In It Together: How Boston Consulting Group Combines Strengths from Every Generation with Alicia Pittman

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn. We’re onTikTok, Threads, and Twitter, too!

RESOURCES:  

Carla’s website is https://www.gobluechair.com/.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (Kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik (Jreik@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Carla Morelli is a seasoned M&A and strategy advisor with extensive experience across startups, Fortune 200 companies, private equity-backed businesses, and global transactions. With deep expertise in deal execution, transformation, and post-merger integration, she brings a unique blend of financial acumen, strategic insight, and human-centered leadership. A Wharton Online-trained capability builder, Carla has led nine-figure P&Ls and advised on strategy and M&A across the Americas, Europe, and India. She is also an experienced executive coach and counselor, guiding CEOs and boards through growth, M&A readiness, and cultural alignment. Co-authoring key ILI content on merger success, Carla champions authentic, sustainable outcomes that align business objectives with human values.

Your conscious mind may not be in control. That’s becoming clear to neuroscientists, and it explains why smart, experienced leaders miss obvious issues and disruptions so often.

In this episode, Maureen Metcalf speaks with neuroscience researcher Gary Weber about what modern brain science reveals about decision-making, confirmation bias, and strategic blind spots.

Research shows that most cognitive processing happens outside your conscious awareness. That has profound implications for leadership. If our brains are wired to reinforce existing beliefs, then even high-performing executives are vulnerable to dismissing emerging risks, filtering contrary information, and operating within narrowing feedback loops.

Together, Maureen and Gary explore:

• The neuroscience of decision-making
• The “elephant and rider” model of the brain
• Why confirmation bias is structural, not personal
• How hierarchy amplifies blind spots in the C-suite, and
• Practical ways leaders can design dissent into their organizations.

This conversation challenges one of leadership’s most deeply held assumptions: that effectiveness comes from control. Instead, it suggests that adaptability, cognitive humility, and exposure to contrary input may be the true competitive advantages in volatile markets.

If you are a senior executive, board member, or transformation leader navigating rapid change, this episode offers both a neuroscience foundation and practical guidance for protecting your strategy from your own success.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Self-Awareness: The #1 Predictor of Leadership Success with Belinda Gore

- Our Emotional Recession: How to Lead When People Are Depleted with Joshua Freedman

- From Stress to Strength: How to Rewire Your Brain for Resilience with Jon Wortmann

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

One of Gary’s seminal works is Evolving Beyond Thought: Updating Your Brain’s Software. It’s available in paperback at https://amzn.to/4u3qXFh.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8 . The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales: Kristine Gross

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Gary Weber is an American author and teacher known for integrating neuroscience, meditation, and nondual inquiry. With a background in science, military service, and senior executive leadership, Weber brings a research-informed lens to questions of consciousness and decision-making. He is the author of Happiness Beyond Thought and Evolving Beyond Thought, where he explores the nature of thinking, identity, and well-being through both contemplative practice and cognitive science. His work bridges rigorous analysis with experiential insight, offering practical approaches to understanding how the brain shapes perception, belief, and behavior.

The real challenge for leaders facing disruption isn’t technical. It’s psychological.

In this episode, Christopher Washington joins host Maureen Metcalf to explore why transformation efforts fail, even when strategy, data, and logic are sound. Christopher argues that the missing lever in most change efforts is narrative.

Strategy tells people what to do, but stories determine whether they actually do it.

As AI, economic volatility, and policy shifts create a cascade of “disorienting dilemmas,” leaders are confronting a deeper issue: identity disruption. When professionals fear that their expertise—or even their entire role—may become obsolete, resistance is rarely about logic. It is about belonging, self-worth, and survival.

In this conversation, you’ll explore:

• Why highly intelligent people use their intelligence to defend the status quo
• How culture is shaped more by repeated sentences than by strategy decks
• Why anxiety reduces adaptability in times of rapid change
• The Four Ps of transition narratives: Purpose, Picture, Plan, and Part to Play, and
• How leaders can honor legacy while guiding reinvention.

Christopher also discusses the importance of listening for the stories already circulating inside your organization because those narratives may be doing more work than formal policies or incentives.

For leaders navigating AI adoption, workforce anxiety, and enterprise transformation, this episode offers both a diagnostic lens and a practical framework for shaping change that people can believe in.

Binge on these other great episodes with Christopher:

- The End of Control: Leadership Trends for 2026

- Developing Future-Fit Employees – Christopher is joined by Faris Alami

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Learn more about Christopher on our website at https://bit.ly/CWatILI.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (Kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik (JReik@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Dr. Christopher Washington is a strategic leader, systems thinker, and seasoned academic executive with over three decades of experience strengthening nonprofit and educational organizations. He served as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Franklin University and is a long-standing contributor to the Forbes Nonprofit Council. He previously served as CEO of Urbana University and has held leadership roles on numerous national and international nonprofit boards.

Now, as an IES Principal, Christopher focuses on:

• Developing intrapreneurs who strengthen organizations through creativity, adaptability, and proactive innovation and designing workplace cultures that support experimentation, learning, and resilience
• Guiding executives in building antifragile systems capable of leveraging stress and volatility as sources of growth
• Supporting leaders in responsibly adopting generative and agentic AI
• Advising nonprofits and educational institutions on leadership development, culture redesign, and system transformation.

As a Fellow of the Innovative Leadership Institute for six years, he will continue to partner with ILI founder Maureen Metcalf to explore emerging trends and co-create influential thought leadership and foundation programs, including their annual podcast interviews on leadership disruptions and opportunities.

In times of disruption, new strategies are not enough. According to Otto Scharmer, what determines the success of an intervention is the leader's interior condition.

In this episode, Maureen Metcalf sits down with Otto Scharmer, Senior Lecturer at MIT and co-founder of the Presencing Institute, to explore the principles behind Theory U and why traditional change management tools fall short in today’s environment.

Together they examine:

• Why disruption exposes the limits of analytical leadership
• The gap between traditional change management and emerging realities
• The four levels of listening — and how they transform decision-making
• The role of empathy, courage, and “open will” in executive leadership
• How leaders can create holding spaces that elevate performance and trust, and
• Why leadership failure often begins with a disconnect from reality.

Scharmer challenges leaders to move beyond reacting to the past, and instead learn to sense and shape emerging future possibilities. This conversation bridges philosophy, systems thinking, and practical application, offering tools leaders can use immediately in their organizations.

If you’re leading through uncertainty, this episode offers both clarity and direction.

Produced in association with the International Leadership Association: https://ilaglobalnetwork.org/ .

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Leadership at the Edge of Uncertainty with Helle Bank Jorgensen

- The End of Stability: Leading in a Disrupted World with Bob Bush, Jr.

- Leaders Need More Values with George Limbert

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn. We’re on Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Twitter, too!

RESOURCES:  

Otto’s landmark book is The Essentials of Theory U; it’s available in paperback at https://amzn.to/4aA4N4v, and as an audiobook at https://amzn.to/4tH38mu.

You can also learn more about Otto on his website at https://ottoscharmer.com/, or through his nonprofit at https://www.presencing.org/.  

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. The Kindle version is available at https://amzn.to/44buVz8 .You’ll find further details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI. Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales: Kristine Gross (KGross@innovativeleadership.com)

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Otto Scharmer, a Senior Lecturer at MIT and Founding Chair of the Presencing Institute, has dedicated the past 20 years to helping leaders embrace cross-sector systems transformation. 

Through his bestselling books Theory U and Presence (the latter co-authored with Peter Senge and others), Otto introduced the groundbreaking concept of "presencing" — learning from the emerging future.

He co-founded the MITx u-lab, which has activated a vibrant worldwide ecosystem of transformational change involving more than 260,000 users from 194 countries. In collaboration with colleagues, he co-created global Action Learning Labs for UN agencies and SDG Leadership Labs for UN Country Teams in 26 countries, which support cross-sector initiatives for addressing urgent humanitarian crises.

Born and raised near Hamburg, Germany, Otto’s early experiences on his family farm profoundly shaped his vision. From his father, a pioneer of regenerative farming, Otto learned the significance of the living quality of the soil in organic agriculture, which inspired his thinking about social fields as the grounding condition from which visible transformations emerge. Like a good farmer who cares for the soil, Otto believes responsible leaders must nurture the social field in which they operate. He emphasizes that shifting our economic operating systems from extractive to regenerative requires innovations in leadership support structures for shifting mindsets from ego to eco. Building that infrastructure is the purpose of the u-school for Transformation.

What happens when global leaders gather at Davos amid rising geopolitical tension, collapsing trust, and compounding global risk?

In this episode, host Maureen Metcalf is joined by Helle Bank Jørgensen, a global pioneer in board effectiveness and a leading voice on governance, risk, and sustainability. Fresh from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Helle shares firsthand insights into what felt different this year, and why leaders should be paying close attention.

Together, they explore the growing sense of fear and uncertainty shaping global decision-making, the World Economic Forum’s global risk outlook, and why today’s most dangerous challenges are no longer isolated, but stacked and interconnected. From geopolitical instability and misinformation to climate risk, trust erosion, and AI-driven disruption, this conversation examines what boards and executive teams must do differently to run companies and other organizations effectively in a volatile world.

The discussion also draws on recent Board Intelligence survey findings, revealing that many boards believe they are leaving significant value on the table, even as they see traditional governance models are struggling to keep pace with the realities leaders now face.

This episode is a candid, forward-looking exploration of:

• Why global risk is compounding rather than occurring in silos
• How fear, polarization, and trust collapse are reshaping leadership
• What boards must do to move from oversight to foresight
• Why waiting for perfect information is no longer a viable strategy, and
• How leaders can prepare organizations—and society—for what lies ahead.

For board members, senior executives, and leaders responsible for long-term value creation, this conversation offers critical perspective on what leadership requires now, and what the next decade may demand of us all.

Binge-listen to Helle’s wisdom with these other episodes:

- How to Keep the Boardroom Stable in Turbulent Times

- The Future-Ready Board Member

- Stewarding the Future of the Planet: Views from the Boardroom

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Learn more about Helle’s company at https://www.boardintelligence.com/. Read her insights on her blogs at https://www.boardintelligence.com/blog/author/helle-bank-jorgensen. Her book, The Future Boardroom: How to Transform in Turbulent Times, is available in hardback at https://amzn.to/4tb73rx or Kindle at https://amzn.to/3M0MKMM.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (Kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Helle Bank Jørgensen is an internationally recognised voice on governance, board effectiveness, and sustainability. She leads Board Intelligence’s Board Development practice globally, empowering boards and leadership teams around the world to enhance their impact through the science of board effectiveness.

Helle is the founder and previous CEO of Competent Boards, the world-renowned education platform which was acquired by Board Intelligence in 2025.

Beyond her work with Competent Boards and Board Intelligence, Helle is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Nature and Climate Governance, and has initiated several pioneering projects. These include the world’s first green account, the first integrated report, the first holistic supply chain program, and many other innovative business solutions, including the Amazon bestseller, The Future Boardroom: How to Transform in Turbulent Times.

Helle is a regular contributor to governance and board-focused publications such as Financial Times’ Agenda, Board Agenda, and Thomson Reuters and in 2025 contributed to guidance published by the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)

She is an in-demand keynote speaker and has won numerous awards, including the Corporate Governance Lifetime Achievement Award 2024, the Peter Dey Governance Achievement Award from the Governance Professionals of Canada 2024, and the Globe and Mail’s 50 Changemakers for 2023. In 2024, she was inducted into the Corporate Governance Hall of Fame by IR (Investor Relations) Magazine and named Board Stewardship's Steward of Sustainability.

Burnout is a real and growing issue in the workplace.

The healthcare industry provides a perfect example. It demands life-and-death decisions under relentless pressure…yet doctors, nurses, and frontline teams are rarely equipped the way elite performers are in sports and the military.

In this episode, Maureen Metcalf speaks with Brian Ferguson, founder of Arena Labs and former special operations officer, about high-performance medicine, a new way of thinking about leadership, resilience, and team effectiveness in healthcare that has direct application across all workplaces. Drawing on lessons from elite military units, professional sports, and high-stakes operating rooms, Brian explains:

• Why burnout is not an individual weakness but a system design problem
• How firms underinvest in human performance
• The role of humility, learning cultures, and after-action reviews in preventing failure
• What COVID revealed about leadership, stress, and organizational fragility, and
• Why resilience must be built at the individual, team, and family level.

This conversation goes beyond wellness slogans to address the real structural changes required to sustain excellence, and what leaders in any high-pressure industry can learn from it.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Leveraging Tech to Deepen Human Performance with Brian Ferguson

- The End of Stability: Leading in a Disrupted World with Robert Bush, Jr.

- The End of Control: Leadership Trends for 2026 with Christopher Washington

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Brian’s company, Arena Labs, has more information on their high performance work at https://arenalabs.co/.

The company Brian referenced with whom Arena Labs works to help organizations optimize is McChrystal Group: https://www.mcchrystalgroup.com/. The Santa Fe Institute, which developed the concept of consilience, has more information at https://www.santafe.edu/. And the wearables Arena Labs worked with to gather sleep and other health data on hospital staff is Whoop; learn more at https://www.whoop.com/us/en/.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8 . The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

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OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales: Kristine Gross

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Brian Ferguson has spent his career working in high-performance organizations, learning from leaders and decision-makers in national security, the military, and technology. He used those experiences to build Arena Labs, a company pioneering the field of High Performance Medicine®️. Arena Labs uses state-of-the-art training and technology solutions to bring the science of peak performance, creative mastery, and elite teams to modern healthcare and surgical teams.

Before founding Arena Labs, Brian served in the military as a Navy SEAL and as a civilian in national security working on matters of global security policy. He received an MSc from the London School of Economics.

Volatility is no longer cyclical. It’s structural.

That’s one takeaway from Davos. In this episode, Maureen Metcalf speaks with global strategist,  board advisor, and CEO Bob Bush Jr. about what leadership looks like when stability is no longer a realistic planning assumption. Drawing on insights from Davos, global operating models, and lived experience building businesses through disruption, Bob challenges leaders to move beyond prediction and toward preparedness.

This conversation explores why foresight matters more than forecasting, how optionality becomes a strategic discipline, and why orchestration (not optimization) is the defining leadership capability of our time. Leaders will gain practical ways to distinguish real risk from noise, rethink resilience as a growth driver, and operate effectively inside evolving global ecosystems.

If your best plans keep breaking, this episode offers a clearer way forward.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- More than Experience, More than Degrees: Leaders Need More Values with George Limbert

- The End of Control: Leadership Trends for 2026 with Christopher Washington

- Leading Smart Cities: Transforming Work & Life with Nikki Greenberg & Ugo Valenti

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

 Learn more about Bob’s company at https://www.mutombocoffee.com/.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (Kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Robert Bush, Jr., is the president and CEO of Mutombo Coffee, a purpose-driven company elevating women coffee farmers. He’s a senior investment executive with experience across industries, geographies, and asset classes (venture capital, private equity, Islamic Finance).

Bob speaks frequently to corporates and governments on issues related to innovation, social impact, sustainability, global investing, and international trade. He also provides commentary on international media, including Bloomberg, CNN International, Euromoney, and Fox Business News, as well as speaking at global conferences, including the UAE’s Annual Investment Meeting (AIM), Milken Conference, Institutional Investor, Business Week CEO Forum, and GAIM.

Technology is accelerating faster than most leaders can adapt. But speed isn’t the real challenge. In this episode, Brian Ferguson joins host Maureen Metcalf to explore why human performance matters more, not less, in an era of exponential change.

Drawing on examples from high-stakes environments such as medicine and defense, their conversation examines technology’s true role as an amplifier of human systems. They unpack:

• Why humility, learning, and disciplined execution remain the foundation of high performance,
• How expertise is eroding as change outpaces learning, and
• What senior leaders must do to lead effectively when tools evolve faster than organizations.

This episode offers a grounded leadership reality check for those navigating complexity, technology fatigue, and the pressure to “keep up”—without losing judgment, clarity, or purpose.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

• The End of Control: The Leadership Trends of 2026 with Christopher Washington
• Leading When We’ve Stopped Thinking: AI’s Red Flag with Srini Koushik
• More Than Experience, More Than Degrees: Leaders Need More Values with George Limbert

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn. We’re onTikTok, Threads, and Twitter, too!

RESOURCES:  

Arena Labs’ website is https://arenalabs.co/. You’ll find more about Brian and the company’s human potential work there.

The groundbreaking books Brian mentioned are Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast & Slow (paperback at https://amzn.to/3ZnEKIy or audiobook at https://amzn.to/4sQJ0xG) and Ray Kurzweil’s The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology (paperback at https://amzn.to/4r4Muet or audiobook at https://amzn.to/4qXFdNq).

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (Kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

-----------------------  

About Our Guest:  

Brian Ferguson has spent his career working in high-performance organizations, learning from leaders and decision-makers in national security, the military, and technology. He used those experiences to build Arena Labs, a company pioneering the field of High Performance Medicine®️. Arena Labs uses state-of-the-art training and technology solutions to bring the science of peak performance, creative mastery, and elite teams to modern healthcare and surgical teams.

Before founding Arena Labs, Brian served in the military as a Navy SEAL and as a civilian in national security working on matters of global security policy. He received an MSc from the London School of Economics.

In this time defined by AI disruption, post-COVID workforce tension, and growing leadership fatigue, trust has become the most critical (and most fragile) asset leaders hold.

In this episode, George Limbert, new president of Innovative Executive Solutions, joins host Maureen Metcalf to explore why modern leadership is no longer about control, certainty, or rigid playbooks. It’s about judgment, humility, and doing the right thing, even when it’s hard.

Drawing on his experience as a CEO, attorney, and advisor across industries, George unpacks:

• Why many leadership challenges today are actually trust failures
• How judicial temperament helps leaders make better decisions under pressure
• The difference between what’s legally safe and what’s ethically right
• Why return-to-office and AI debates often reveal management gaps, not employee problems
• How leaders can find their “North Star” amid career transitions and uncertainty.

This conversation is for experienced leaders who aren’t looking for shortcuts, but for coherence, integrity, and leadership that holds up over time.

Binge-listen to George’s other episodes:

• Leading with Character: A Real-Life Red Roof Report
• Red Roof: Revisioning the Future
• Expecting the Unexpected: VUCA in Action at Red Roof

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn. We’re onTikTok, Threads, and Twitter, too!

RESOURCES:  

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (Kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

George B. Limbert is a visionary executive and transformational leader with a proven track record of driving organizational growth and operational excellence. As President of ILI’s Innovative Executive Solutions, George partners directly with boards and executive teams to accelerate strategic transformation, deliver measurable performance, and implement world-class leadership frameworks. 

George’s executive leadership is distinguished by his tenure as President and CEO of Red Roof Franchising, where he led a dramatic financial turnaround, tripling EBITDA in just 12 months during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. He has built scalable infrastructure and operational processes for multi-million-dollar organizations, consistently delivering results in complex, challenging environments.

What if the most effective leaders didn’t need to explain more, push harder, or manage excuses?

In this episode, host Maureen Metcalf is joined by leadership storytelling expert Paul Smith for a thought-provoking conversation about how leaders can most effectively influence behavior…and why logic alone so often fail at this.

Drawing on neuroscience, leadership research, and real-world examples, Paul explains why people don’t change simply because they understand more, and how stories fill that need by helping leaders create accountability without blame, pressure, or defensiveness.

You’ll learn:

• Why accountability works best when it’s chosen, not enforced;
• How emotion—not logic—drives decisions and follow-through;
• Why stories replace lecturing as a leadership tool;
• How leaders can reduce defensiveness while raising standards; and
• What the real test of leadership is when you’re not in the room.

This is not an episode about storytelling as a communication technique. It’s about storytelling as a behavior-change lever…and a more human, sustainable way to lead.

If you’re a seasoned leader who’s tired of explaining and ready to create real ownership, this episode offers a powerful reframe.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Tales from the Top: How Leaders Use Stories with Tanvi Gautam

- Using Storytelling to Elevate Leadership with Chris Nolan

- How Great Leaders Are Made: Insights from “The Economist” with Andrew Palmer

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

To learn more about Paul and access his free resources for leading (and for parenting) using story, check his website at https://leadwithastory.com/.

Paul’s books include:

• Lead with a Story (paperback at https://amzn.to/4quEDq4, audiobook at https://amzn.to/4quEDq4)
• Sell with a Story (paperback at https://amzn.to/4q5MWJc, audiobook at https://amzn.to/4qFG4SN) and
• Parenting with a Story (paperback at https://amzn.to/3N2HBE1, audiobook at https://amzn.to/4q3JdM9).

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik

Sponsorship Sales: Kristine Gross (kgross@worldtreeproductions.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

TikTok: @innovativeleadership

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Subscribe and leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Paul Smith is one of the world’s leading experts in business storytelling. He’s one of Inc. Magazine’s Top 100 Leadership Speakers of 2018, a storytelling coach, and bestselling author of several books on the art and science of storytelling. As part of his research on the effectiveness of storytelling, Paul has personally interviewed over 300 CEOs and executives in 25 countries, and documented over 3,000 individual business stories. That has allowed him to reverse-engineer what works in storytelling and what doesn’t.

He’s a former executive at The Procter & Gamble Company and a consultant with Accenture prior to that. A 20-year veteran of P&G, Paul worked most recently as vice president of consumer and communications research for the company’s $6 billion global paper business where he led a research team across four continents. He also held leadership positions in corporate finance, and at manufacturing plants and sales offices working closely with major global retailers like Walmart, Costco, Asda, and Sam’s Club.

Paul holds bachelor’s degrees in both astrophysics and economics and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

As we look ahead to 2026, one truth is becoming impossible to ignore: the leadership models that built today’s organizations are no longer sufficient for the world we’re entering.

In this annual trends conversation, Maureen Metcalf, our usual host, is interviewed by Christopher Washington, Provost Emeritus of Franklin University, to explore the deeper forces reshaping leadership in the coming year…from AI fluency and human-centered leadership to agility, sustainability, and organizational cohesion.

What emerges is a unifying insight: power is no longer the primary currency of effective leadership. Together, they examine:

• Why AI is forcing leaders to rethink how they make decisions
• How human energy, not time or talent, has become the scarcest resource
• Why agility is about disciplined adaptation, not speed, and
• Why leaders must act as unifiers in an increasingly fragmented world.

This episode is not about trends as tactics. It’s about the evolution of leadership itself, and what it takes to lead without breaking people, organizations, or yourself. If you’re a senior leader sensing that “business as usual” no longer works (but unsure what replaces it), this conversation offers the clarity, language, and direction you need now.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Leading When We’ve Stopped Thinking: AI’s Red Flag with Srini Koushik

- When Women Lead: Courage, Change, & Representation with Congressperson Joyce Beatty

- To Stop a Tyrant: The Power of Followers with Ira Chaleff

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

You can read Christopher’s columns for Forbes’ Nonprofit Council at https://bit.ly/ChrisOnForbes. To learn more about what Christopher and the rest of ILI’s special Executive Solutions team offer, check https://bit.ly/ExecutiveSolutions.

Maureen’s article detailing the trends discussed in this episode is available through the Forbes Coaches Council at https://bit.ly/ForbesSixTrends. The free leadership mindsets assessment she offers is at https://bit.ly/Leadership-7.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Dr. Christopher Washington is a strategic leader, systems thinker, and seasoned academic executive with over three decades of experience strengthening nonprofit and educational organizations. Before joining ILI’s new Innovative Executive Solutions team, he was Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Franklin University. He’s also a long-standing contributor to the Forbes Nonprofit Council. He previously served as CEO of Urbana University and has held leadership roles on numerous national and international nonprofit boards.

Christopher has dedicated his career to helping mission-driven institutions build adaptive, high-performing systems. His work integrates resilience, organizational systems design, innovative leadership practice, and human performance and work process transformation to help leaders navigate complexity and build thriving cultures.

What if the greatest risk of artificial intelligence isn’t that machines become too human, but that humans stop thinking?

In this episode, Maureen Metcalf sits down with veteran technology leader Srini Koushik to explore why AI represents not just a technological shift, but a fundamental change in how humans think, decide, and lead.

Drawing on decades of experience spanning IBM, large enterprises, startups, and AI-focused innovation, this conversation reframes AI as a cognitive partner, not a tool…and warns that leaders who rely on AI for answers risk drifting toward mediocrity.

The discussion explores:

• Why AI fluency, not just AI literacy, is becoming a core leadership competency
• How over-reliance on AI quietly erodes critical thinking and creativity
• The five human capabilities leaders must actively strengthen to remain effective
• How leaders can use AI to amplify human judgment rather than replace it.

This is a candid, forward-looking conversation for leaders responsible for strategy, talent, ethics, and long-term enterprise health.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Tech with Purpose: Protecting People with Innovation at Amazon with Aaron Parness & Beryl Tomay

- What’s the Point? Why Your Leadership Needs Purpose with Ryan Gottfredson

- To Stop a Tyrant: The Power of Followers with Ira Chaleff

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Learn more about Srini’s firm, Right Brain Labs, at https://www.rightbrainlabs.ai/.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross (kgross@innovativeleadership.com)

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

IWebsite: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Srini Koushik is a 3-time Fortune 500 CIO who has led technology at IBM, Nationwide, and Magellan. Srini isn't just a technologist; he's a practitioner-coach building a "Legacy Project" to correct the failures in how companies adopt AI. He believes in "teaching people to fish" and ensuring technology serves the human spirit.

What does leadership require once you have real influence? Then how do you attract top talent to your team?

In this episode, Maureen Metcalf is joined by Doug McCullough, a senior technology leader working across smart cities, workforce development, and community-based talent pipelines.Their conversation moves beyond surface-level discussions of diversity and inclusion to examine leadership as a system. Together, they explore how power changes obligation, why many talent pipelines remain broken despite high demand, and what it means for leaders to “get out of the room.”

You’ll learn:

• How the power dynamic in hiring has changed
• The role of reputation, sponsorship, and presence in attracting and developing talent
• How leaders can extend influence beyond their organizations
• What senior leaders inherit—and reinforce—when they don’t intervene.

This is a candid, practical conversation for leaders thinking seriously about talent, succession, and the long-term impact of their leadership.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Self-Awareness: The #1 Predictor of Leadership Success with Belinda Gore

- When Women Lead: Courage, Change, & Representation with Congressperson Joyce Beatty

- What’s the Point? Why Your Leadership Needs Purpose with Ryan Gottfredson

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

For more on Doug’s organization, Color Coded Labs, check their website at https://www.colorcodedlabs.com/.

The interview Doug referenced which featured Joyce Beatty is on Podbean at https://innovatingleadership.podbean.com/e/joycebeatty/.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8 . The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales: Kristine Gross

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

-----------------------  

About Our Guest:  

Doug McCollough has established himself as an advocate for diversity in technology. With over 20 years in technical and leadership roles in state government, Smart Cities, and nonprofits, Doug now serves as CEO of coding bootcamp Color Coded Labs and Executive Director of The Beta District, where he is a thought leader on initiatives as varied as smart mobility, broadband expansion, and blockchain in government. As a cofounder of Black Tech Columbus, he is passionate about extending the many opportunities of the technology industry to the pool of under-tapped talent sitting under our noses.

How do you lead responsibly at scale in a world defined by complexity?

In this episode, Amazon executives Kara Hurst and Sarah Mathew share how they approach some of the most pressing challenges in global business today: climate impact, water scarcity, customer expectations, AI-driven energy demands, and improving delivery across thousands of communities.

Drawing on real examples from Amazon’s climate pledge, same-day delivery expansion, and customer-driven innovation, Kara and Sarah illuminate three capabilities every future-ready leader must master:

• Innovating at scale to create real-world impact
• Using customer signals to drive operational and strategic decisions
• Leading with transparency to accelerate trust and cross-industry progress.

You’ll hear how Amazon uses sustainability as a strategic lever, why anecdotes often reveal enterprise-level problems, how new features reached 50+ million uses in a month, and why transparency (NOT secrecy) is becoming a defining leadership advantage.

If you’re an executive navigating transformation, ESG expectations, or large-scale systems change, this episode offers a rare inside look at leadership in a decisive decade.

Other episodes exploring Amazon:

- Logistics as Lifelines: Amazon’s Disaster Relief Programs with Bettina Stix & Andrea Fava

- Tech with Purpose: Protecting People with Innovation with Aaron Parness & Beryl Tomay

- How Moonshots & Robots Put Packages on Your Porch with Steve Armato

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Learn more about Amazon’s sustainability initiatives at https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

IWebsite: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guests:  

Kara Hurst is the Chief Sustainability Officer at Amazon. In this role, she leads the worldwide teams working on environmental sustainability, human rights and social impact across the company. Kara joined Amazon in 2014 to build its sustainability roadmap and led the company’s evolution toward more sustainable operations, transportation, products, and packaging. She also oversees changes in Amazon’s carbon-free energy strategy and efforts around water stewardship, reduced waste, and biodiversity. Under her leadership, Amazon announced its commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2040 and co-founded The Climate Pledge, which now has over 550 signatories. Kara holds an undergraduate degree from Barnard College of Columbia University and a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from the University of California, Berkeley. She serves on the Board of Directors of Water.org and Stolen Youth.

Sarah Mathew is Amazon’s Delivery Experience Vice President, leading a worldwide product and technology organization that builds and enables products, programs, and services that make it easier for customers to control when, where, and how they receive earth’s largest selection. Her team owns all delivery-related CX throughout the customer shopping journey, including the Your Orders page and all delivery-related notifications, and leads programs like Same Day delivery, Amazon Day delivery, No-Rush shipping, and non-Prime shipping. Sarah joined Amazon in 2013 and has held a number of roles within the company, including being part of the founding team for Amazon’s first physical stores and helping launch and lead the free on-site COVID testing program for Amazon frontline employees. Prior to joining Amazon.com, Sarah spent six years in brand management at Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies. She received her undergraduate degree from Harvard College and an MBA and an MS in Environmental Science from the University of Michigan.

Joyce Beatty joins host Maureen Metcalf for a powerful conversation on leadership, resilience, and advancing equity in a rapidly changing world.

From growing up in segregated America to becoming an influential voice in Congress, Beatty shares the defining moments that shaped her leadership, including navigating bias, breaking barriers, and pushing for systemic change across government, finance, and education. Those inspiring moments provide lessons for women leaders today.

Her candid stories of adversity and triumph include:

• How early experiences with discrimination fueled her commitment to justice
• What it felt like to be the only woman in rooms of power
• The behind-the-scenes story of how “When women succeed, America succeeds” made its way into a State of the Union address
• Why visibility, mentorship, and representation remain essential for the next generation of women leaders.

Beatty’s insights offer both inspiration and practical guidance for anyone navigating leadership challenges today. Her message is clear: your story, your courage, and your persistence can change communities…and even change a country.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

-  Self-Awareness: The #1 Predictor of Leadership Success with Belinda Gore

- From Stress to Strength: How to Rewire Your Brain for Resilience with Jon Wortmann

- How Inner Work Transforms Your Leadership with Jonathan Reams

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Learn more about Congresswoman Beatty on her website: https://beatty.house.gov/. 

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8 . The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales: Kristine Gross

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Congresswoman Joyce Beatty is a native Ohioan with a strong history of connecting people, policy, and politics to make a difference. Since 2013, Beatty has proudly represented Ohio’s Third Congressional District.

Prior to her service in the U.S. House of Representatives, Beatty was senior vice president of outreach and engagement at The Ohio State University and a member of the Ohio House of Representatives for five terms.

Beatty received her Bachelor of Arts from Central State University, her Master of Science from Wright State University, and completed all requirements but her dissertation for a doctorate at the University of Cincinnati. In addition, she has been awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Ohio Dominican University, Central State University, Capital University, and The Ohio State University.

How do we build cities—and organizations—that can thrive amid AI disruption, climate pressure, demographic shifts, and rising expectations for livability?

In this episode, futurist Nikki Greenberg and Smart City Expo World Congress managing director Ugo Valenti reveal how urban design, public–private collaboration, and visionary leadership shape the cities—and organizations—of tomorrow. From affordable housing to autonomous mobility to circularity, they share practical insights for leaders in business, government, and nonprofits navigating a fast-changing world.

Here's what Nikki, Ugo and Maureen cover:

• Why cities matter for every business, not just for planners;
• The edge AI gives urban infrastructure (from snowplow routing to master planning); and
• The leadership traits you need to run a business in an increasingly complex urban landscape!

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Back to the Future…of Work with Jim Ritchie-Dunham, Suzie Lewis, & David Dinwoodie

- Prepare for the Future with Foresight with Dr. Ciela Hartanov

- The Future Is Yours to Create with Rebecca Ryan

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Find out more about Ugo’s work with Smart City at https://www.smartcityexpo.com/. You can learn more about Nikki’s work as a futurist at https://www.nikkigreenberg.com/.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

IWebsite: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

-----------------------  

About Our Guests:  

Ugo Valenti is a Barcelona-based leader in the global smart-cities and urban innovation space. He currently serves as Business Unit Director for the Cities & Society portfolio at Fira Barcelona and is the Managing Director of Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC), the flagship event that has become one of the world’s largest convenings for city transformation. In this role, Ugo helps connect governments, corporations, startups, and academia through large-scale events and digital platforms designed to accelerate the adoption of solutions that make cities more sustainable, inclusive, and livable.

He has directed SCEWC since 2014, overseeing its evolution into a truly global platform—drawing tens of thousands of attendees from well over 100 countries and more than a thousand exhibitors annually. His broader portfolio includes Tomorrow Mobility World Congress, Tomorrow Building World Congress, Tomorrow Blue Economy World Congress, and Tomorrow.City, reflecting a focus on the future of urban life across transportation, infrastructure, climate resilience, and digital innovation.

Nikki Greenberg is a futurist and multi-award-winning keynote speaker, focused on preparing organizations for a tech-enabled future. She helps leaders reimagine their businesses to bring them into alignment with the increasingly digitized way that people live, work, and communicate today. ​

She has held leadership positions with Fortune 500s, and most recently served as the Head of Technology Strategy for Real Estate at QIC, an Australian investment manager with a $70 billion portfolio of assets under management. She is the founder and global ambassador of Women in PropTech and former three-term co-chair of the Technology & Innovation Council for ULI in New York City.

Your leadership style affects everything: your decisions, your culture, your team, your impact. But most leaders operate on autopilot, unaware of the unconscious patterns shaping their choices.

In this conversation, host Maureen Metcalf talks with psychologist and Enneagram expert Belinda Gore about the importance of self-awareness, the nine leadership personality types, and how knowing yours can dramatically upgrade how you lead.

Here's what Belinda and Maureen cover:

1. Why self-awareness is the strongest predictor of leadership success;
2. How your personality type impacts your team and strategy; and
3. The nine Enneagram leadership styles (and their blind spots)!

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- How Inner Work Transforms Your Leadership: Tools for Growth with Jonathan Reams

- Bringing Clarity to Confusion: Self-Awareness with Terri O’Fallon & Kim Barta

- To Stop a Tyrant: How 5 Types of Followers Make (or Brake) a Toxic Leader with Ira Chaleff

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Learn more about Belinda and her Enneagram work at https://belindagore.com/.

Belinda also has a book offering a deeper understanding of personality types, Finding Freedom: Understanding Our Relationships Using Object Relations and the Enneagram. It’s available in paperback at https://amzn.to/4r5AXwh.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

Sponsorship Manager: Kristine Gross

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

-----------------------  

About Our Guest:  

Belinda is an inspired teacher, author, artist and psychologist. A native of Ohio, Belinda attended university in Columbus, Ohio, and was also a student and later a staff member with World Campus Afloat, a shipboard university that traveled to Asia, Africa, and southern Europe. H

In affiliation with The Enneagram Institute,Belinda founded The Enneagram Institute of Central Ohio (EICO) in 2000 to train professionals in the use of the Enneagram system for facilitating personal and professional development. Today she is recognized as a leader in using the Enneagram in coaching.

In 2021, Belinda and Marcus Boroughs founded The Great Circle Alliance, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to offer public programs and exhibits to raise awareness of the ancient monumental indigenous sites of Ohio. Their work includes a residency for contemporary Native artists to bring an indigenous presence back to the once vibrant sophisticated culture who created these monuments.

How can large organizations use their core capabilities to solve real community needs? In this episode, we explore how Amazon applies its logistics network, technology, and innovation to support communities during disasters and address food insecurity at scale.

The first segment features Bettina Stix, Director of Amazon Community Impact, discussing how Amazon responds to global crises—from wildfires and hurricanes to earthquakes and humanitarian emergencies—by providing rapid disaster relief using the same systems that enable global delivery.

Then Andrea Fava joins Bettina for a panel at the San Francisco–Marin Food Bank, where Amazon partnered with the Food Bank to bring fresh groceries directly to households facing mobility, health, or transportation barriers.

Together, Bettina and Andrea demonstrate that meaningful social impact is not about charitable side projects; it’s about aligning what you do best with what communities need most.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Tech with Purpose: Protecting People with Innovation with Aaron Parness & Beryl Tomay

- Our Emotional Recession: How to Lead When People Are Depleted with Josua Freedman

- Pets, Purpose, & Power: The Animal Science of Leadership with Rustin Moore, DVM

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Learn more about Amazon’s disaster relief work at https://bit.ly/AmazonRelief.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

IWebsite: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

-----------------------  

About Our Guests:  

Bettina Stix founded Amazon’s disaster relief program in 2017. Her experience at Amazon spans more than 26 years, and she's held leadership positions across international websites, customer service, and membership programs. Bettina now oversees Amazon's volunteering, disaster relief, food security, and education impact programs, leveraging Amazon's logistics and innovation and engaging employees to support communities worldwide. She serves on the board of Farestart, a Seattle nonprofit transforming homelessness and hunger into human potential. Stix holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature and a master's degree in history from the University of Stuttgart, Germany.

Andrea Fava is Vice President, US Public Policy, for Amazon. In this role, she leads state and local public policy across the United States. Andrea has been at Amazon for nine years. Prior to joining Amazon, Andrea directed Intel’s global public policy in the areas of environment, employment, and human rights policy. She served as the Environmental Director for the U.S. Council for International Business, a trade advocacy organization, and a consultant for the United Nations Environment Programme. Andrea holds an MA in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin, where her research focused on African politics, and a BA from the University of Delaware.

Is your dog trying to teach you how to lead better?

Dr. Rustin Moore joins host Maureen Metcalf to explore the profound connection between human physiology, emotional steadiness, and effective leadership. From the biochemical power of oxytocin to the social wisdom of packs, hives, and herds, Moore draws parallels between nature and modern organizations. Together they discuss how compassion, boundaries, and trust emerge naturally in healthy ecosystems, and how leaders can recreate that same balance in teams and workplaces.

Here's what Rustin and Maureen cover:

• How leaders can cultivate calm and compassion under pressure;
• The neuroscience behind building trust and resilient teams; and
• Why interacting with animals reduces stress.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- The Bonobo Sisterhood: Ape Society’s Lessons for Leadership with Diane Rosenfeld

- Why Pet-Friendly Means Productivity-Friendly with Lisa Campbell

- Our Emotional Recession: How to Lead When People Are Depleted with Joshua Freedman

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Rustin’s book is Unleashing the Bond: Harnessing the Power of Human-Animal Interactions. It’s in paperback at https://amzn.to/47D25d1.

His follow-up book is Unlocking the Bond: The Power & Paradox of Human-Animal Interactions; it will be available in January.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

IWebsite: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

-----------------------  

About Our Guest:  

Dr. Rustin M. Moore, professor and the Rita Jean Wolfe Endowed Dean in Veterinary Medicine, is the 11th dean of The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine having served in this role since September 2015.

A two-time graduate of the college, Dr. Moore returned to the college in 2006 and served as the chair of the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, executive director of the Veterinary Medical Center, associate dean for Clinical and Outreach Programs, and associate executive dean before becoming dean.

He has taught both at Ohio State and at Louisiana State University (LSU)

A native of Spencer, WV, he earned a BS degree (1986), summa cum laude, from West Virginia University; a DVM (1989), summa cum laude, and a PhD (1994) from The Ohio State University. He became a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1994.

He is the author of Unleashing the Bond: Harnessing the Power of Human-Animal Interactions, a comprehensive work that delves into the profound human-animal connection, weaving together history, science, culture, demographic and socioeconomic data, and compelling stories from over 100 interviews into an informative and captivating narrative. His follow-up book, Unlocking the Bond: The Power and Paradox of Human-Animal Interactions, builds upon the foundation of Unleashing the Bond, focusing on and raising awareness about the impact and contradictions of the human-animal bond.

Amazon is reinventing the future of work. with robots that can feel, AI smart glasses for delivery drivers, and new safety-first systems that transform how millions of packages move every day. In this episode, we go behind the scenes at Amazon’s “Delivering the Future” event to explore how technology, robotics, and human-centered leadership are transforming work at massive scale.

First, Aaron Parness, Director of Applied Science in Robotics & AI, reveals how his team built Vulcan — a robot with a sense of touch — and what it teaches us about experimentation, iteration, and designing technology that elevates human workers instead of replacing them.

Then, Beryl Tomay, Vice President of Transportation at Amazon, shares how innovations like AI-driven smart glasses, hazard detection, and advanced driver training are making frontline work safer, more dignified, and more sustainable…all while getting packages to your porch quickly. You’ll learn:

✅ How human–robot collaboration actually works ✅ Why Amazon isn’t aiming for “100% automation” ✅ How AI smart glasses increase safety in the field ✅ What it really takes to scale innovation to millions of deliveries a day.

This episode is a masterclass in leading innovation with clarity, courage, and humanity.

Related episodes you'll enjoy:

• Amazon’s Innovation Secret: Look to Failure for Success with Beryl Tomay
• Delivering the Future: Why Amazon Execs Lead Beyond Retail with Kara Hurst & Ryan Redington
• Four Key Lessons from Amazon’s Head of Family Trust with Catherine Teitelbaum
• How Moonshots & Robots Put Packages on Your Porch with Steve Armato

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Learn more about the new delivery technologies Beryl mentioned at https://bit.ly/DeliveryTech. To discover more about Amazon’s robotics, check out https://bit.ly/RobotsAtAmazon.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

IWebsite: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

-----------------------  

About Our Guests:  

Aaron Parness works as a Director of Applied Science in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence at Amazon. His teams in Seattle and Berlin build robotic work cells to increase delivery speed and reduce the cost of order fulfillment for Amazon customers. Specializing in high contact and high clutter applications, he has led advances in giving robots a sense of touch by incorporating force and torque sensors into the robots’ motion plans and control loops. From 2010 to 2019, Aaron worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he founded and led the Robotic Rapid Prototyping Laboratory specializing in grippers and wall climbing robots. He received his PhD from Stanford in 2009 advised by Mark Cutkosky; and earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering and BS in Creative Writing from MIT in 2004.

Beryl Tomay has been at Amazon for 20 years having joined in 2005 as a Software Development Engineer. She was part of the small team that launched the original Kindle device and remained in the Devices organization for the subsequent 8 years. She joined the nascent Last Mile organization, the logistics business that gets packages through the final steps on their way to customers’ doorsteps, in early 2014 as one of its first employees. Today, she is responsible for Amazon’s Last Mile delivery technology and businesses as well as Amazon’s customer delivery and returns experiences. Prior to Amazon, Beryl received her undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Waterloo in Canada. Beryl and her husband love going to Kraken hockey games, walking their dog Luna, and visiting new and diverse restaurants.

Around the world, people are emotionally exhausted, socially polarized, and struggling to stay engaged at work. Global emotional intelligence scores have declined for several years, and leaders today face an unseen burden: an emotional tax on every interaction, decision, and relationship.

In this episode, emotional intelligence expert Joshua Freedman joins Maureen Metcalf to explore how leaders can reduce the hidden emotional tax in organizations, rebuild trust, and create healthier workplaces.

Discover how EQ drives performance, why trust is a leader’s greatest currency, and what practical steps you can take to lead with clarity and humanity in turbulent times.

Here's what Joshua and Maureen discuss:

• The hidden emotional tax draining teams and cultures
• The business case for EQ (and how it improves performance)
• Why trust is now a leader’s most critical output.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- The Human Energy Crisis at Work with Joshua Freedman

- What’s the Point: Why Your Leadership Needs Purpose with Ryan Gottfredson

- To Stop a Tyrant: The Power of Followers with Ira Chaleff

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Learn more about Joshua’s work at https://6seconds.org. His many books are available on Amazon.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

IWebsite: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

-----------------------  

About Our Guest:  

A staggering finding emerged from over a million emotional intelligence assessments: the world is in an emotional recession. Burnout, falling empathy, and disengagement are draining performance and wellbeing. Joshua Freedman, CEO and cofounder of Six Seconds, is on a mission to reverse the trend. For 25+ years, he has led the world’s largest EQ study (State of the Heart), advised global brands like FedEx, Shell, and the UN, and developed practical tools used in 150+ countries. A bestselling author; his 8th book, Emotion Rules (2026) equips leaders to transform emotions into actionable data that fuels trust, resilience, and results.

AI can see. But can it hear?

Meet Brad Diskin, CEO of Sound Genetics Inc. (SGI), the company teaching machines to listen. In this interview with host Maureen Metcalf, you’ll explore how acoustic intelligence is transforming security, leadership, and innovation across industries.

From detecting deepfakes and authenticating human voices to predicting infrastructure failures and even diagnosing disease through audio patterns, SGI’s technology is expanding how leaders think about AI, risk, and trust.

Here's what Brad and Maureen cover:

• How “sound DNA” is transforming authentication, fraud prevention, and cybersecurity
• Why AI’s next frontier isn’t vision; it’s hearing
• What “digital audio imaging” means for infrastructure, health, and smart cities
• The leadership mindset required to responsibly integrate next-generation AI.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Fear Less, Shine More: Build Confidence in Your Leadership (and Life) with Tonjia Coverdale

- To Stop a Tyrant: The Power of Followers with Ira Chaleff

- Forget Power: How to Lead in a World of Chaos & Complexity with Michelle Harrison

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Learn more about the work of Brad’s company on their website,

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

IWebsite: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

-----------------------  

About Our Guest:  

Brad Diskin was CEO of UROK Learning Institute for 20 years. The firm specialized in teaching students with learning deficits to read, write and do math. The firm taught students to read nationwide utilizing the company's proprietary reading program Literacy Links. One of the tools became the genesis of Sound Genetics Inc. The company received a United States Patent on August 22, 2023 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PRE - FILTERING AUDIO CONTENT BASED ON PROMINENCE OF FREQUENCY CONTENT.

What makes some overloaded leaders bounce back stronger, while others burn out?

In this episode, host Maureen Metcalf talks with executive coach and resilience author Jon Wortmann about how leaders can train their brains to stay calm, clear, and focused, even in chaos.

Wortmann draws from neuroscience, mindfulness research, and real-world leadership practice to reveal how resilience is more than “bouncing back.” It’s a trainable skill that rewires your stress response through deliberate habits: breathwork, focus, movement, and meaningful connection.

Learn how to:

• Shift from the “short loop” of stress reactivity to the “long loop” of intentional thinking.
• Use quick switching to get your brain back online in seconds.
• Build resilience across four domains: physical, cognitive, emotional, and relational.
• Lead teams more effectively by managing your own emotional and physiological state.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- How Purpose-Driven Women Redefine What It Means to Lead with Dr. Karen Longman

- How Inner Work Transforms Your Leadership with Jonathan Reams

- Leading from Within – A Former Navy SEAL on Transforming Yourself to Lead Others with Diego Ugalde

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn. We’re onTikTok, Threads, and Twitter, too!

RESOURCES:  

For great tips on reducing stress and boosting your brain skills, pop over to Jon’s Quickswitching website at https://quickswitching.com/.

Jon has several excellent books. Hijacked by Your Brain is about dealing with stress; it’s in paperback at https://amzn.to/4o3pvin.

For better leadership, he’s cowritten Three Commitments of Leadership: How Clarity, Stability, and Rhythm Create Great Leaders; it’s in hardback at https://amzn.to/4nXD8zq.

And if you just want to improve your golf game (using neuroscience & psychology), be sure to read Your Brain on Golf: How to Turn Frustration, Fear, and Anger into Better Scores. It’s in paperback at https://amzn.to/4pULk5x.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8 . The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

NOTE: As an Amazon partner, we may make a small commission from books you buy through these links.

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales: Kristine Gross

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

-----------------------  

About Our Guest:  

Jon Wortmann is an executive & mental coach and speaker. A graduate of Carleton College and Harvard, his books have been #1 best sellers in 22 categories on Amazon. His work has been featured in O Magazine, Elle, The Huffington Post, Fox, Fast Company, and Psychology Today.

He began his training career in 2005 with a division of Time Warner, and has since worked with Fortune 500 firms, start-ups, universities, and non-profits to improve resilience, executive and board communication, client relationships, and leadership.

What do you do when logic and data aren’t enough? Today’s biggest leadership challenges—culture change, systemic disruption, complex decision-making—are wicked problems. They can’t be solved with old habits.

In this interview, Professor Rens van Loon, the world’s first Professor of Dialogical Leadership, explains how generative dialogue empowers leaders to navigate complexity, build trust, and create authentic change.

In this episode you’ll discover:

• Why truth and data are relational, not absolute.
• How to integrate multiple roles (CEO, parent, coach, human) into one authentic leadership.
• The practice of : suspending judgment, asking better questions, and co-creating new meaning.
• The Japanese concept of Ma as a tool for reflection and transformation.
• How leaders and teams can solve their wicked problemse.

If you’re a leader ready to move beyond old habits and create lasting impact, this conversation will reshape how you approach complexity.

Produced in partnership with the International Leadership Association: https://ilaglobalnetwork.org/.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

• Let’s Talk: Four Steps to Bridging Workplace, Political, & Family Disagreements with Mike Morrow-Fox
• Empathy, Dialogue, & a Good Mood: What Leaders Need in Crisis with Ambassador Thomas Greminger & Peter Cunningham
• Work, War, & In-Between: An International Peace Negotiator’s Top Tips for Resolving Conflict with John, Lord Alderdice

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn. We’re onTikTok, Threads, and Twitter, too!

RESOURCES:  

You can learn more about Rens and his firm, &Dialogue, on their websites: https://ac3.788.myftpupload.com/ and https://dialogischleiderschap.com/ .

Rens’ book is Creating Organizational Value through Dialogical Leadership. It’s on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3VIicAx. His most recent book is Understanding Dialogical Leadership; it’s available at https://amzn.to/3Krhvt6.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8 . The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

NOTE: As an Amazon partner, we may make a small commission from books you buy through these links.

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales: Kristine Gross

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

-----------------------  

About Our Guest:  

Rens van Loon is a philosopher and personality psychologist who has been a professor of Dialogical Leadership at Tilburg University, within the Humanities and Digital Sciences faculty, since 2014. He supervises PhD students and teaches Dialogical Leadership and Dialogical Self Theory at institutions including TIAS, VU, and in the Comenius program. From 2015 to 2019, he served as a board member of the International Leadership Association (ILA), and for several years, he has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board (WAR) of the Titus Brandsma Institute (TBI) (Radboud University). He is one of the authors of the frequently cited first article on Dialogical Self Theory in the American Psychologist in 1992. His work as a scientist, educator, and teacher primarily involves developing and applying this theory in the practice of leadership and organizational development.

From 2009 to 2018, Van Loon worked as Director of Human Capital at Deloitte Consulting as a leadership expert. Besides client work, his focus was also on internal guidance and training within Deloitte University and Deloitte Academy.

Fearless leadership doesn’t mean living without fear; it means learning to fear less.

In this episode, Dr. Tonjia Coverdale shares her seven-level framework that helps leaders align who they are with how they lead. Together with host Maureen Metcalf, she explores how to create clarity and confidence in yourself, and high-performing teams as a result.

If you’ve ever wondered how to strengthen your leadership presence and speak with authentic clarity—even in uncertain times—this conversation is for you.

Here's what Tonjia and Maureen cover:

• Find your authentic leadership voice
• Overcome fear and self-doubt in tough moments
• Use wellness practices to boost leadership performance, and
• Inspire trust, clarity, and innovation in your team.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

• What’s the Point? Why Your Leadership Needs Purpose with Ryan Gottfredson
• Reinvent, Collaborate, Succeed: A CEO’s Winning Leadership Formula with Susan Howe
• How Great Leaders Are Made: Insights from The Economist’s “Boss Class” with Andrew Palmer

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Tonjia Coverdale, PhD, is a three-time CXO and seasoned technology executive with 28 years of experience leading enterprise data strategy, architecture, and AI-driven transformation across Fortune 100 financial services, higher education, government, and consulting. As Principal & CEO of Lambiante, she helps organizations harness technology — with architecture, data, and AI at the core — to align business, people, and purpose for transformational outcomes. A 500-hour certified yoga teacher, Tonjia brings a wellness-informed approach to leadership, known for her high energy, bold presence, and visionary leadership.

Can a business make money AND make the world better? John Heiser says yes.

John, the former president/COO of Magnetrol, shares powerful stories about transforming the manufacturing company into a true social institution. He discovered that for-profit companies really can thrive when they also embrace their role in helping their communities flourish.

Here's what John and Maureen cover:

1. Why hiring employees on the autism spectrum boosted business performance AND created life-changing opportunities;
2. How apprenticeships for at-risk high school students built a new talent pipeline;
3. Why defining purpose as “flourishing” changed how employees connect with their work.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- What’s the Point? Why Your Leadership Needs Purpose – with Ryan Gottfredson

- Why Principle Beats Process: Inside the Koch Leadership Framework with Steve Daley

- Forget Power: How to Lead in a World of Chaos & Complexity with Michelle Harrison

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Learn more about John and his current company, TRG Management Solutions, at https://trgtransforms.com/. For more about Magnetrol, where he pioneered his flourishing policies, check their website at https://www.ametek-measurement.com/magnetrol.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8 . The audiobook version is  available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

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OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales: Kristine Gross

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

In addition to being the Founder and CEO of TRG, John has completed an Executive in Residence Fellowship with the International Leadership Association, the largest global community dedicated to leadership theory and practice.

Most recently, John was CEO of LabVantage Solutions, Inc., a laboratory informatics technology company. As CEO, he spearheaded the creation and execution of the company’s global strategy, innovative culture, and financial management, leading to unprecedented revenue and profit growth.

Prior to his role at LabVantage, John served as the President & COO of Magnetrol International, Inc., a global leader in level and flow process control instrumentation.

John began his career as an attorney in private practice before transitioning into business, where he has held numerous leadership positions in legal, government affairs, sales, and marketing with DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Company, DuPont Pharmaceuticals, Merck & Co., Inc., and Bausch & Lomb.

Most leadership development fails because it focuses only on skills and knowledge, but real transformation happens deeper…all the way down to upgrading your mental operating system.

Professor and researcher Ryan Gottfredson explains how upgrading your inner operating system (not just adding new “apps” of skills) shifts leaders from self-protection toward value creation. Together, Maureen and Ryan unpack his framework of Awareness, Altitude, and Upgrade, showing how leaders can move from being dependent thinkers toward truly interdependent leadership. Here's what Neil and Maureen cover:

- Why only 1% of leaders reach the highest level of maturity;

- Why 98% of leadership programs fail to create transformation; and

- What Jack Welch, Alan Mulally, and Satya Nadella can teach us about long-term impact..

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Bringing Clarity to Confusion with Terri O’Fallon & Kim Barta

- Do It on Purpose with Nell Derick Debevoise

- Leading with Care & Purpose with Raj Sisodia & Sudhanshu Palsule

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn. We’re onTikTok, Threads, and Twitter, too!

RESOURCES:  

Ryan’s new book is Becoming Better: The Groundbreaking Science of Personal Transformation. It’s in paperback at https://amzn.to/42iMLAp, and audiobook at https://amzn.to/4pazdkh.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

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OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik

Sponsorship Sales: Kristine Gross

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Ryan Gottfredson, Ph.D. is a cutting-edge leadership development author, researcher, and consultant. He helps organizations vertically develop their leaders primarily through a focus on mindsets. Ryan is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling author of Success Mindsets: The Key to Unlocking Greater Success in Your Life, Work, & Leadership, The Elevated Leader: Leveling Up Your Leadership Through Vertical Development, and Becoming Better: The Groundbreaking Science of Personal Transformation.  

He is the founder and owner of his consulting company, Ryan Gottfredson LLC, where he specializes in elevating leaders and executive teams in a manner that elevates the organization and its culture. He has worked with top leadership teams at CVS Health (top 130 leaders), Deutsche Telekom (500+ of their top 2,000 leaders), Experian, and others. He has also partnered with dozens of organizations (e.g., Federal Reserve Bank, Nationwide Insurance, Cook Medical) to develop thousands of mid-level managers and high-level leaders.

He is also a leadership professor at the College of Business and Economics at California State University-Fullerton. He holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Human Resources from Indiana University, and a B.A. from Brigham Young University. His research has been cited over 4,600 times since 2019.

What if leadership really isn’t about leaders anymore?

We revisit our eye-opening conversation with the late Dr. Gama Perruci — former Dean of the McDonough Leadership Center — as he challenged the “lone leader” and “hero leader” narratives we love so much. Instead, he found what works best for business is a powerful five-component leadership model: Leader, Follower, Goal, Context, and Culture.

Here's what Gama and Maureen covered:

1. Why context determines the most effective leadership style, far and above personality;
2. What the difference between the American and French Revolutions teach us about better leadership today; and
3. The true business imperative for our dynamic, interconnected world.

Produced in collaboration with the International Leadership Association: https://ilaglobalnetwork.org/.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Forget Power: How to Lead in a World of Chaos & Complexity – with CEO Michelle Harrison

- Cultivating Cross-Cultural Leadership with Bjorn Ekelund

- To Stop a Tyrant: How Five Types of Followers Make (or Brake) a Toxic Leader with Ira Chaleff

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

The book Gama and Maureen referenced is Understanding Leadership: An Arts & Humanities Perspective. It’s in paperback at https://amzn.to/3JBRpTT, and Kindle at https://amzn.to/3JBRpTT.

Another book you’ll enjoy from Gama is Global Leadership: A Transnational Perspective. It’s in paperback at https://amzn.to/4nftSGS, and Kindle at https://amzn.to/41xsZRq.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

We may earn a small commission from Amazon when you purchase from these links.

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OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik

Sponsorship Sales: Kristine Gross

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Dr. Gama Perruci was Dean of the McDonough Center at Marietta College in Ohio and served as a leadership education consultant for The New York Times, a facilitator for the Young African Leaders Initiative, and a facilitator and the leadership programs at Dartmouth College’s Rockefeller Center.

Gama was a frequent guest on the BBC and the Paris-based Radio France International broadcast to Brazil, his country of birth. He served as a member of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library’s Academic Advisory Council and as the Board Chair of the International Leadership Association. Notably, he also served as a consultant for the review of the Department of Leadership, Ethics and Law at the United States Naval Academy and as an evaluator of Zayed University’s leadership program in Dubai, UAE.

Sadly, Dr. Perruci passed away in 2021.

What does it take to lead a global organization through constant change? In this conversation, host Maureen Metcalf sits down with Susan Howe, CEO of Weber Shandwick, to explore the leadership strategies behind one of the world’s leading PR firms.

Howe offers practical strategies for executives navigating organizational transformation, AI-driven change, and the accelerating pace of business. Learn how leaders can engineer collaboration, sustain innovation, and remain grounded in uncertain times…and why reinvention must now be a way of life for leaders to maintain a competitive advantage.

Here's what Susan and Maureen cover:

• How to lead in a world reshaped by disruption;
• Why trust is earned through contribution, not messaging; and
• Practical ways to build an organizational culture that will adapt…and thrive!

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Forget Power: How to Lead in a World of Chaos & Complexity with Michelle Harrison

- How Great Leaders Are Made: Insights from The Economist’s “Boss Class” – with Andrew Palmer

- To Stop a Tyrant: The Power of Followers with Ira Chaleff

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:  

Weber Shandwick’s website has a wealth of information at https://webershandwick.com/.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

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OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik

Sponsorship Sales: Kristine Gross

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Instagram: @innovativeleader 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Susan Howe is Chief Executive Officer of The Weber Shandwick Collective (TWSC), the leading earned-first strategic communications and consulting network spanning 60+ global markets. Under her leadership, TWSC serves Fortune 500 companies across every major industry sector, earning coveted recognition such as PRWeek’s Global Agency of the Year and PRovoke’s Global Agency of the Decade, as well as being named to Ad Age’s Agency A-list and Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies. TWSC has 225+ Cannes Lions and counting.

With more than two decades of leadership at TWSC, Susan has been a key driver of its growth in her roles as President, Chief Growth Officer and Chief Collaboration Officer, overseeing global operations and fostering collaboration across regions and practices.

As a passionate advocate for inclusion and women in business, Susan is a member of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women community. She also serves on the boards of the Sheppard Pratt Foundation and the Northwestern Alumni Association. Susan is a graduate of Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism and was recently inducted into the Medill Hall of Achievement, the highest honor awarded to Medill graduates.

What does climbing K2 – the world’s second-highest and deadliest mountain – teach about leadership?

Pretty much everything, according to guest Aldo Boitano. The CEO, founder, consultant, and former International Leadership Association board member reveals how his mountain climbing and Antarctic expeditions taught him the most critical skills modern leaders need.

Here's what Aldo and Maureen cover:

1. How mountaineering builds resilience, adaptability, and (increasingly rare in today’s leaders) patience;
2. Why exposure to uncomfortable perspectives provides hidden power; and
3. How stepping outside your comfort zone sparks your own development.

TRIGGER WARNING: The topic of suicide arises in the conversation around the seven-minute point.

Produced in collaboration with the International Leadership Association: https://ilaglobalnetwork.org/.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Leading from Within: A Former Navy SEAL on Transforming Yourself to Lead Others – with Diego Ugalde

- How Great Leaders Are Made: Insights from The Economist’s “Boss Class” – with Andrew Palmer

- Leading through Difference with Mike Hardy

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn. We’re onTikTok, Threads, and Twitter, too!

RESOURCES:  

The book Aldo mentioned is Breaking the Zero-Sum Game: Transforming Societies through Inclusive Leadership. It’s available on Amazon in paperback at https://amzn.to/3VbDpSZ and on Kindle at https://amzn.to/3VbDpSZ. Learn more about Aldo on his LinkedIn page: linkedin.com/in/aldoboitano .

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

-----------------------  

OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Booking Producer: Jenna Reik

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! 

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About Our Guest:  

Dr. Aldo Boitano is the former CEO and Co-Founder at CleanTech Lithium, a carbon neutral lithium development company in Chile. Its mission is to be the greenest lithium supplier to the EV market. In addition to his decades of broad international leadership experience, Aldo is a world class mountaineer and active philanthropist, designing and executing curricula for internal training courses and outdoor leadership experiential programs to be used in an educational sequence (5th grade - senior classes) for empowering low-income school students.