Lead From the Heart

    As leaders, we often believe our greatest limitations come from a gap in our skills, knowledge or experience. Pam Manfredo Curtis argues that something we may never have considered likely has even greater influence than any of these. In her work as an executive coach and author of The Origin of a Leader: Transforming Family Patterns Into Leadership Power, she holds that roughly 80 pe...

    For decades, companies have searched for CEOs capable of transforming organizations through their vision, confidence, and force of will. But what if we’ve been looking for the wrong kind of leader? Constantine Alexandrakis  is the CEO of Russell Reynolds Associates and the author of  The Catalyst CEO . Throughout his career, he has worked closely with many of the world’s...

    Paula Goldman has been thinking about the role AI should play in our workplaces long before the current boom. As Salesforce’s first Chief Ethical and Humane Use Officer, she has spent years helping one of the world’s largest technology companies determine how powerful technologies can be developed and deployed in ways that earn trust and serve people. Her work has included building e...

    Sherry Turkle is one of the most influential voices in the study of how humans relate to technology, and this conversation with her covers new ground on that subject. Turkle is the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at MIT, founding director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, and a licensed clinical psychologist. For nearly fiv...

    What happens when the machines we build begin to reshape the way we think about ourselves? For centuries, every major technological revolution has forced humanity to confront the same fundamental question: As our tools become more powerful, what remains uniquely human? Financial Times journalist, Sarah O’Connor has spent years exploring that question. In her remarkable book, We Are N...

    Paul Osterman is Professor Emeritus of Human Resources and Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management and one of the most important scholars examining how the structure of work is profoundly changing in organizations today. His research focuses on a growing and often overlooked shift in employment: the rise of “disposable workers.” Osterman estimates that roughly 35% of today’s...

    In an era marked by rising depression, loneliness, distractibility, burnout and overall declining well-being, many leaders are searching for more effective ways to support their own flourishing and that of their teams. In this compelling conversation, Cortland Dahl, PhD, shares truly transformative insights from his new book, Born to Flourish: How New Science and Ancient Wisdom Revea...

    What if one of the greatest threats to employee well-being isn’t workload, stress or even burnout— but the growing feeling that people simply do not matter where they work? That is the premise behind The Power of Mattering by Zach Mercurio, and the foundation of this compelling conversation about leadership, human significance, and the emotional realities of modern work. At a t...

    What if the way most companies are run today—chasing short-term profits, cutting corners, exploiting customers, and ignoring employee well-being—is actually the opposite of what creates lasting organizational success? Eric Ries, author of the bestselling  The Lean Startup  and in his new book,  Incorruptible , has spent decades studying how organizations can thrive over the long term...

    Beliefs are one of the most powerful—and least examined—forces shaping human life. They determine what we notice, what we ignore, what we attempt, what we avoid, and ultimately what we believe is possible for ourselves and for others. Long before we act, long before we speak, long before we even consciously choose, our beliefs are already organizing our perception of reality. In this...

    In an era marked by remote work, digital convenience, and a documented 24% decline in everyday social interactions, many leaders are noticing a subtle but significant erosion of human connection — both in their personal lives and across their organizations. Our guest is Dr. Gillian Sandstrom, associate professor of psychology at the University of Sussex and author of the new book Onc...

  Leaders who care about employee well-being are facing a hidden challenge that most aren’t talking about enough: widespread disconnection. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Brigham Young University and Director of the Social Connection & Health Lab, has spent more than two decades showing how human connection — or the lack of it — directly shapes our phys...

    A photographic portrait of Julie Claeys When a global professional services firm decides that employee well-being deserves C-suite ownership — complete with metrics, guardrails, and consequences — it signals a major leap from perks to strategy. To that end, Frank Giampietro serves as the Americas Chief Well-Being Officer at Ernst Young (EY), leading well-being strategy across dozens...

    J en Fisher  is a pioneering leader in workplace well-being and human-centered leadership. She became the first  Chief Well – being Officer at Deloitte US , creating a role that, as far as we know, no other major company in the world had ever established. In that role, she helped reshape how one of the largest professional services firms approaches employee wellbeing, connectio...

      How can leaders use emotional intelligence to create workplaces where employees flourish? We explore the science and practice of emotional wisdom, examining how leaders can harness the interplay between emotion and reason to foster well-being, connection, and high performance in their teams. Josh Freedman , named one of the  top 50 management and leadership experts by  Inc. Ma...

    One of our all-time favorite guests, Daniel Coyle returns for a timely and thought-provoking conversation on human flourishing, belonging, and what leaders often misunderstand about employee well-being. Coyle is widely known for his ability to translate rigorous research into clear, actionable insights for leaders, and seven years ago, he joined us to discuss The Culture Code – an ep...

    Some organizations have no heart at all. The best have three! That’s the thesis of the new book,  The Octopus Organization: A Guide to Thriving in a World of Continuous Transformation , co-authored by our guests,  Phil Le Brun and Jana Werner . Both work with leaders operating at global scale—Phil as an  Executive in Residence at Amazon Web Services , and Jana as a  Global Executive...

    F or decades, Wall Street has rewarded short-term thinking: layoffs, cost-cutting, and squeezing employees. Let’s be honest, investors have never been concerned about workers or their well-being. But that era is ending. David Van Adelsberg, CEO and co-founder of Irrational Capital (alongside renowned behavioral economist Dan Ariely), has helped produce some of the most rigorous resea...

  Due to a technical problem with Apple Podcasts, we had to reissue this episode to ensure all subscribers received it.  Sorry if it’s a duplicate for some. For only the second time since launching the Lead From The Heart podcast eight years ago, Mark is opening a new season by speaking directly to you—without a guest. In 2018, Mark used the very first episode to introduce himself and h...

    For only the second time since launching the Lead From The Heart podcast in 2018, Mark is opening a new season by speaking directly to you—without a guest. Eight years ago, Mark used the very first episode to introduce himself and his mission for the show. As this new season begins, he felt it was important to pause again, reflect, and—once more—clearly frame the context for what lie...

    The first chapter of my new book, The Power of Employee Well-Being is titled Know Thyself —and for good reason. I’ve long believed that the most important work a leader can do begins inward, with deeply understanding who you are, how you show up, and the patterns that shape your behavior. That’s exactly what Margaret Andrews explores in Manage Yourself to Lead Others . Leadership, sh...

    Mark Thompson is widely recognized as the world’s #1 CEO coach, bringing more than 30 years of experience preparing top executives and boards — from global corporations to fast-growing startups — to step confidently into their next leadership roles. As founding Chairman of the Chief Executive Alliance and former Chief Experience Officer at Charles Schwab Corporation, he has guided le...

    Have you ever noticed how many people — even highly successful leaders — live in constant overdrive? They’re productive, disciplined, and always “on,” but inside, they’re exhausted. That’s survival mode — and according to Jon Rosemberg, author of  A Guide to Thriving: The Science Behind Breaking Old Patterns, Reclaiming Your Agency, and Finding Meaning , it’s where far too many of us...

    Why Do Smart, Capable Leaders So Often Get In Their Own Way? Muriel M. Wilkins — executive coach, host of the Harvard Business Review podcast  Coaching Real Leaders , and author of the brilliant new book  Leadership Unblocked: Break Through the Beliefs That Limit Your Potential  — has spent her career helping senior leaders uncover the invisible beliefs that quietly sabotage their ef...

    The core message of Colin M. Fisher’s new book,  The Collective Edge: Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups , is simple but profound: we dramatically overestimate the role of individuals in success and underestimate the extraordinary power of groups. History celebrates “great men” like Edison, Jobs, and Musk, but the truth is that real breakthroughs nearly always come from teams—group...