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Season 9 Episode 48

Guests: Hyppolite Ntigurirwa and Mike Hardy

Seeing your family members tortured and murdered will have a major influence on your leadership mindset. But not necessarily in the ways that you think. 

Hyppolite Ntigurirwa survived the Rwandan genocide as a child. Growing up, he thought of vengeance and retribution. But after encountering exceptional kindness, his mindset shifted – and he now leads efforts for peace and reconciliation. As he reveals his gripping story, Mike Hardy joins the conversation to discuss his friendship with Hyppolite, and his own work in pointing leaders to peace. 

Here’s what Hyppolite, Mike, and Maureen cover: 

1. The atrocities young Hyppolite witnessed, and why humanity still practices such hatred; 
2. The simple acts that turned Hyppolite’s heart from revenge to reconciliation; and 
3. Steps leaders at any level can take to help people remember their humanity. 

Trigger Warning: This episode discusses rape, murder, and other atrocities of genocidal acts. 

This episode was produced in partnership with the International Leadership Association: https://ilaglobalnetwork.org. 

Other episodes you’ll enjoy: 

• ShEquity: A Refugee’s Path to Empowering Women & Their Businesses with Pauline Koelbl 
• Finding Peace in Conflict: Northern Ireland and Beyond with Lord John Alderdice 
• Cultivating Empathy through Authenticity with Jason Lioy 

Season 9 Episode 47

Guest: Matthew Griffin

Feeling uncertain about the future as a leader? You have good reason: a staggering 55% of a company’s fate lies beyond the CEO’s grasp. In fact, 40% of CEOs believe their companies won’t survive the next decade. So what can you do?

Futurist Matthew Griffin shares his insights in this episode — with game-changing strategies that will reshape the way you perceive your own future leadership.

Here’s what Matthew and host Maureen Metcalf cover:

1. What the statistics say about the growing irrelevance of today’s type of CEO;
2. The qualities you need to win in the current (and future) climate of business chaos; and
3. How the future of work is shaping up as AI infiltrates the office space.

Other episodes you’ll enjoy:

• Prepare for the Future with Foresight with Dr. Ciela Hartanov
• Is Your Organization Designed for the Future with Mark Palmer & Eddie Moore
• The Future Is Yours to Create with Rebecca Ryan

Season 9 Episode 46

Guest: Alvaro Luque

Innovation is key to success in our changing world. And avocados are the key to innovation!

They’re a superb example, at least. By fostering innovation, Alvaro Luque — president and CEO of Avocados From Mexico — boosted the overall market for avocados in the United States. And that market is still growing.

One major move involved the Super Bowl, a move no one in the produce sector had ever tried before. Learn the results, and Alvaro’s tips for fostering innovation, in this episode!

Here’s what Alvaro and Maureen cover:

1. The role of internal innovation champions within your organization;
2. Why innovation is crucial to brand marketing that makes a difference, and
3. Why boosting an entire market, including your competitors, is more profitable than just focusing on market share.

Other episodes you’ll enjoy:

• Delivering the Future: Amazon’s Innovation Culture with David Carbon, John Love, Dr. Vin Gupta, & Tye Brady
• Winning Digital Customers: The Antidote to Irrelevance with Howard Tiersky
• How to Harness Honesty with Peter Kozodoy

Season 9 Episode 45

Guests: David Carbon, John Love, Dr. Vin Gupta, and Tye Brady

Do you want to foster a work environment that sparks innovation and fuels creativity? You can learn from Amazon’s success!

In this episode, Amazon execs David Carbon, John Love, Dr. Vin Gupta, and Tye Brady discuss how the e-commerce giant delivers the future through its highly successful innovation culture – using examples of new developments in robotics, drones, and a unique patient-centric pharmacy-in-your-pocket. Underneath them all is a common thread of improving customer experience with convenience and speed. Their experience becomes your takeaway to boost your leadership, too!

Here’s what our guests and host Maureen Metcalf cover:

1. The four questions the Amazon Pharmacy team ask to guide developing their new ideas for innovation;
2. What the Golden Window is in healthcare, and why that motivates Amazon’s goal of delivering your prescriptions in less than 30 minutes; and
3. How starting every new initiative from your customer’s perspective reframes your leadership for success.

Other episodes you’ll enjoy:

• Paving the PATH to Customer-Centric Success with Sarah Ahern
• Winning Digital Customers: The Antidote to Irrelevance with Howard Tiersky
• None Shall Pass: Crossing the Deathline with Dr. Karen Tilstra

Season 9 Episode 44

Guest: Paul Gibbons

What happens when you apply hard science to leadership? A lot of truths turn out to be unfounded myths.

Paul Gibbons, who strides both the corporate and consulting worlds, dug deep to uncover those myths, particularly as they affect change management. From flaws in personality assessments to the ineffectiveness of adapting to learning styles, Paul reveals many of the major workplace myths he’s uncovered researching his latest books.

Here’s what Paul and Maureen cover:

1. Why Meyers-Briggs tells you what you already know;
2. Understanding the human element in change management; and
3. Why it’s so important to be a LIAR (and what that really means!).

Language Advisory: The language in this episode is rather salty; s**t is sprinkled liberally throughout.

Other episodes you’ll enjoy:

• Finding Meaning, Joy, & Purpose in What You Do with Paul Gibbons
• Leverage Change with Jake Jacobs
• Joy at Work with Roxanne Brown and Edward Cook

Season 9 Episode 43

Guest: Neil Sahota

You need help with AI. Artificial intelligence requires developing a new set of ten leadership skills. And fast!

Do you know what they are? Neil Sahota and Maureen Metcalf do. They share them in this episode, along with the risks you face if you don’t reskill your leadership team. For example, up to 1/3 of workers using ChatGPT don’t tell their bosses. And that opens your company up to a wide swath of potential liability!

Here’s what Neil and Maureen cover:

1. The most important skills leaders need in this new Age of AI;
2. Why dragging your feet on developing those skills and solid AI policies puts your enterprise at risk; and
3. How the new book Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI is the perfect resource to get you started!

Learn more about AI with these episodes:

• Unleashing the Power of Human-AI Collaboration with Neil Sahota
• How to Own the AI Revolution with Neil Sahota
• The Rise of Humanness (The Role of People in an AI World) with Chris Nolan & Michael Schindler

Guest: Jacob Morgan

Season: 9 Episode: 42

There is strength in vulnerability. It sounds like a Zen master’s saying, but it’s a fundamental truth of today’s workplace: leaders who display vulnerability have greater success.

But there are five different aspects to vulnerability, and Jacob Morgan shares them with host Maureen Metcalf. The loud, short-tempered leader who pretends to know it all is outdated and now hinders the growth of organizations. Jacob helps build stronger connections within your team — and beyond.

Here’s what Jacob and Maureen cover:

1. The common thread of vulnerability Jacob discovered interviewing 100 top CEOs;
2. The big difference between being vulnerable and vulnerability; and
3. The benefits of vulnerability for a leader’s personal growth, professional success, and building a thriving organization.

Other episodes you’ll enjoy:

• The Future Leader: Skills & Mindsets to Succeed in the Next Decade with Jacob Morgan
• Be Human, Lead Human with Jennifer Nash
• To Be Honest: Lead with the Power of Truth, Justice, & Purpose with Ron Carucci

Featured Guest: Evan Sohn

Having trouble filling positions? Brace yourself: the Great Resignation is morphing into the Job Hopper Economy. Evan Sohn, the CEO of Recruiter.com, is in a unique position to see beyond the simplistic explanations of TV pundits. He joins host Maureen Metcalf to share his big-picture view of the state of hiring today…and where it will be tomorrow. Lesson 1: “Money solves all problems” is a pre-pandemic thought that no longer applies. Employees are looking further; in addition to equitable pay, they’re looking for meaningful benefits and companies with conscience. They want their hard work to contribute to more than this quarter’s P&L statement. And they’re willing to hop to the jobs that provide it. Or they job hop to maintain personal freedom and engagement. Whatever the reasons, the talent pool is changing – and your hiring and work culture need to change with it. Evan explains how, as he provides the history of Recruiter.com.

Guest: Kenny McDonald

It takes a village to raise a city.  That twists traditional wisdom, but it’s true: no one leader can improve an urban landscape alone.  It takes a group of leaders in public and private partnership. When they’re united by one vision, their city can grow into a powerhouse.  Kenny McDonald oversees that for Columbus, Ohio – a city that’s launched into a bold future…most recently, as the site for Intel’s newest, largest chip plant.  As president of the Columbus Partnership, McDonald upholds and advances the shared vision of the city’s CEOs.  In this episode, he shares how that works so effectively – and what other urban leaders can learn from the Partnership’s example.

Other episodes you’ll enjoy:

– Hot Topics: A Prime Minister’s Perspective with Kim Campbell

– Growing Up Biden: Family Lessons on Leadership with Valerie Biden Owens

– Empowering Women for the Prosperity of Nations with Amanda Ellis & Augusto Lopez-Claros

Featured Guest: Neil Sahota

Many people fear the Artificial Intelligence revolution that’s underway.  But like every other major societal revolution in human history, you can play it to your favor.  The key?  Innovative thinking.  In reality, these upheavals create newer, better jobs for people – though, from the sabot to the Luddite, people who don’t think differently, innovatively, even disruptively miss the opportunities these advancements create.  IBM Master Inventor Neil Sahota joins host Maureen Metcalf to detail the key strategies for thriving through the AI revolution.

Other episodes you’ll enjoy:

– The Future Is Yours to Create with Rebecca Ryan

– Uncharted: How to Map the Future Together with Margaret Heffernan

– Stewarding the Future of the Planet: Views from the Boardroom with Helle Bank Jorgensen