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Guest: Rini Das

Simplify. Streamline. Succeed. Seems simple enough, but most big organizations do the opposite, bogging teams down with more and more complexity. But as the world itself becomes more complex and changes (like AI) arrive more rapidly, resilience is absolutely key for any organization’s survival – much less success!

Rini Das knows complexity; she worked in healthcare early in her career, which has layers upon layers of processes. Fortunately, she knows simplicity and resilience, too. In this episode, she reveals the ironies and challenges faced by leaders striving to create simpler, more adaptable companies in the face of VUCA. She shares solutions, too!

Here’s what Rini and host Maureen Metcalf cover:

How to foster resilience – making your organization strong against the unpredictable;
Dissecting the potentials and pitfalls of using AI to revolutionize your operations; and
Your role in confidently steering your team through changing tides.

Other episodes you’ll enjoy:

Simplify Work: Crushing Complexity with Jesse W. Newton
Facing Uncertainty: It’s VUCA with Chris Nolan
Uncharted: How to Map the Future Together with Margaret Heffernan

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Season 9 Episode 49

Guest: Greg Moran

When your competitor’s (or CEO’s) decisions don’t make sense, pause: there’s something to learn there. What do they know that you don’t?

That’s just one insight guest Greg Moran offers about dealing with the irrational in your organization. Sometimes a decision is just bad; but more often than not, it’s been made from a perspective or with information you don’t see. And that perspective might just be the missing key to your success!

Here’s what Greg and Maureen cover:

1. The impact of rational and irrational decision-making on your organization’s success;
2. How your company’s structural incentives might be the cause of some of the worst decisions your peers (and maybe you!) make; and
3. The changing dynamics of the employer-employee relationship as society changes.

Enjoy your own Moran-athon with:

• Working Together: Leading a Hybrid AI-Human Workforce with Greg Moran
• What Leaders Won’t Talk About (When Scaling their Business) with Greg Moran
• What Your Team REALLY Thinks with Greg Moran

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.