Fault Lines

Holly Morphew built a thriving financial coaching practice and reached early financial independence after spending years unable to look at her own bank statements. In this conversation, Dr. Richard Roman talks with Holly, founder of Financial Impact and accredited financial counselor, about what actually sits between people and their financial lives: not a missing skill, but a missing willingness...

What does trust actually require from a leader? In this solo companion episode following the conversation with Dr. Rae Greiner of Indiana University, Richard unpacks the most under appreciated trust about trust in organizations: it is not a response to evidence, it is an act of imagination.  Drawing on Adam Smith's  Theory of Moral Sentiments and the tradition of the Victorian novel, this episode...

Most leaders treat trust as something earned through track record and verified performance. But what if that model is fundamentally incomplete? Rae Greiner , professor of English literature at Indiana University, argues that sympathy (and by extension, trust) is not a feeling that passes between people. It is an imaginative, speculative act that requires us to reason about another person's situati...

Taking the pioneering work of Dan Doty as his cue, Richard Roman, PhD, examines the collapse of initiation structures in American culture through peer-reviewed research: normative male alexithymia (Levant), gender role conflict and suicide risk (JAMA Psychiatry 2020), rites of passage program outcomes, and the RAND male mentorship deficit data. What does the science say about what boys and men act...

What does it cost an organization (or a family) when the men inside it were never given a threshold to cross? Dan Doty has spent over two decades asking that question. As a wilderness therapy guide, high school teacher in the Bronx, executive coach, and now the creator of a training program for male initiators, Dan has worked with thousands of men across a range of contexts. What he keeps finding...

Most trust-building strategies assume everyone starts from the same baseline. Liberation psychology says that assumption is the problem. In this episode, we explore how liberation psychology reshapes the way leaders understand organizational trust, psychological safety, racial trauma, institutional repair, and collective healing. Drawing on Ignacio Martín-Baró and Amy Edmondson, this episode exami...

A young medical interpreter picks up the phone at 3 AM in a rural Nebraska hospital and hears a parent learn their child is gone. That moment changed everything for Dr. Ayli Carrero Pinedo . Now a trauma psychologist, founder and CEO of In Alignment Wellness Services, and recipient of the 2022 APA Presidential Citation, she joins Dr. Richard Roman to discuss building trust within systems never des...

Every AI tool that observes you is built on a choice: does it serve you, or does it serve someone else? In this solo companion episode, Richard unpacks the trust architecture behind AI systems across three domains: organizational leadership, higher education, and public institutions. Drawing on Gallup's 2025 data showing manager engagement at historic lows, the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer's findi...

Most managers get feedback once or twice a year if they're lucky. Ben Perreau is the founder of Parafoil , an AI-powered leadership intelligence tool that gives managers a real-time mirror after every one-on-one. I In this episode, Ben and Richard dig into the feedback vacuum that stalls most leadership development, why the IC-to-manager transition is where trust breaks down, and what it actually...

What happens in a leader's brain in the moment between a trigger and a response? Why does that moment determine whether teams trust each other or fall apart? In this solo follow-up to the conversation with Andrew McNeill of LX Leaders , Richard examines the neuroscience behind reactive vs. responsive leadership, what Google's Project Aristotle and Amy Edmondson's research reveal about psychologica...

Andrew McNeill is a leadership coach, mindfulness teacher, and co-founder of LX Leaders , a partnership helping leaders and teams thrive under pressure. A veteran of UK central government, Andrew served as one of the directors leading the national response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy. This experience crystallized how mindfulness practice directly sustains leadership performance in crisis. In thi...

Burnout isn't just about being tired. It's a trust crisis, and the most serious damage happens inside. New research shows 55% of the U.S. workforce is experiencing burnout, a six-year high. But the statistics miss something critical: burnout doesn't just exhaust you. It erodes your confidence in your own judgment. Nearly one in four employees reports that workplace stress has significantly reduced...

What happens when a successful career starts to feel hollow, and you actually do something about it? Jeremy Hannah spent 20 years in talent management and leadership development, advising Fortune 500 companies on culture transformation, talent strategy, and building people-centered organizations. Then burnout caught up with him. Instead of pushing through, he and his wife, Valerie, made an unconve...

Why do leaders invest in training and change nothing on Monday morning? The knowing-doing gap (the distance between what leaders know about good leadership and what they actually practice) is one of the most persistent problems in organizational life. In this solo deep-dive, Richard argues the gap isn't a training problem. It's a trust problem. Building on last week's Season 3 premiere with leader...

Why do managers struggle to lead change even when they have authority? In this episode, leadership consultant Marcy Levy Shankman explains the critical difference between positional power and relational trust, and why confusing the two is the most common mistake new leaders make. You'll learn the confidence-comfort framework for closing the knowing-doing gap, how to build trust with remote teams,...

In the Season Two finale, host Richard Roman looks back across the conversations that (on the surface) spanned wildly different worlds: medieval literature, organizational change, intuitive coaching, higher education, trauma-informed yoga, entrepreneurship, branding, and investigative journalism. But beneath these differences, one theme kept emerging: What do we do when the systems meant to help u...

In this cross-published episode from  You’ll Thank Us Later ,  Christine Wilson sits down with Richard for an open, clear-eyed conversation about the college application process, mainly what influences decisions, what applicants should prioritize, and how to navigate a system that often feels opaque or anxiety-inducing. Richard shares practical insights from his experience in admissions and his on...

Richard sits down with Chris Endersby and Mickey Wilson of Firestarter Collective to explore how identity, differentiation, and trust come together to build meaningful brands and empowered entrepreneurs. Chris and Mickey share the story of how their contrasting professional backgrounds, from social work, academia, and leadership (Chris), to early entrepreneurship, design, and creative direction (M...

In this episode of Trust Be Told, Reem Borrows shares her journey from corporate leadership to executive coaching, where she founded Dreem Coaching and Consulting . She emphasizes the importance of heart-centered leadership, resilience, ethical growth, and self-awareness in shaping strong and trustworthy leaders. Reem reflects on her personal experiences as a Palestinian immigrant and how they inf...

In this episode of Trust Be Told, Sara Goldrick-Rab and Richard tackle the pressing issues of inequality and affordability in higher education. Sara shares her personal journey and insights into how public trust in education has shifted over time, raising questions about accessibility and equity across colleges and universities. The conversation highlights the vital role of community colleges, the...

In this episode of Trust Be Told, Shannon Lucas shares her journey in building an innovation program at Vodafone and the challenges that come with driving organizational transformation, including burnout among change-makers. She explores the unique role of catalysts (individuals who spark and sustain change within organizations) and the importance of recognizing, supporting, and empowering them. T...

In this episode of Trust Be Told, Anne Kim , a journalist, lawyer, and public policy expert, discusses the complexities of poverty in America and the systemic issues that perpetuate inequality. She examines how corporate interests in social services profit from public programs, the challenges low-income individuals face in accessing benefits, and the growing problem of youth disconnection from edu...

In this episode of Trust Be Told, Bernadette Marciniak shares her journey from journalism to founding Solhaus Media , a creative agency that specializes in storytelling for nonprofits and social impact organizations. The conversation explores the power of storytelling in building trust, the systemic trust challenges faced by nonprofits, and the role of media in shaping public perceptions and trust...

In this episode of Trust Be Told, Michelle shares her entrepreneurial journey with Richard. It's a journey that began with the founding of a yoga school in 2012. She reflects on the challenges, betrayals, and lessons that shaped her understanding of trust, leadership, and discernment. Michelle explores the intersection of yoga and Christian spirituality, highlighting the transformative impact of f...

Richard Roman sits down with his former professor, Shannon Gayk , to explore her latest research on the intersection of medieval literature, environmental justice, and climate change. Her latest book, Apocalyptic Ecologies , explores the ethical implications of these connections. They discuss how medieval texts provide valuable insights into apocalyptic narratives, catastrophe, and community care,...