Productivity Smarts

AI can now do in minutes what used to take a team months, and what it can do next is anyone’s guess. The professionals who stay valuable won’t be the ones who predict AI’s limits. They’ll be the ones who keep building the capabilities AI can’t replace. Dr. Ona Newton is a strategist, educator, entrepreneur, author, and CEO of the Tumbas Group. Her work explores talent, technology, transformation,...

How do you rebuild trust once it has been broken? And what if the first person whose trust you need to repair is you? Drs. Dennis and Michelle Reina are internationally recognized pioneers in organizational trust and co-founders of Reina Trust Building. They have spent more than three decades helping people restore connection and confidence in the workplace. Their work combines research with pract...

Can a symphony orchestra show us how to lead a team? Why do some groups perform brilliantly with one person in front of them and poorly with another? In this episode of Productivity Smarts , Gerald J. Leonard sits down with Charles Grimes , a business psychologist, leadership consultant, lifelong choral singer, and author of A Question of Leadership , to explore what 30 years of working with leade...

What makes someone a leader? Is it their title, their authority, or their ability to help others succeed? And what changes when leadership becomes something everyone on a team can practice? Sal Tagliareni , author of A Roving Leadership , explores a different approach to leadership shaped by his mentorship and coaching with Viktor Frankl. Rather than placing all responsibility on one person, rovin...

What if the biggest thing standing between you and the life you want is the way you think and speak about what is possible? In this episode of Productivity Smarts, host Gerald J. Leonard welcomes back Dr. Kim Nugent , an award-winning leadership expert, Dream Builder Master Coach, best-selling author, and advocate for personal transformation. Dr. Nugent explains why so many adults live on autopilo...

What would you sacrifice to care for a daughter facing Alzheimer's at just 51? What if you moved from your retirement community, lost your wife eighteen months later, and then faced your own cancer diagnosis? And what if, through it all, love refused to let go? In this episode of Productivity Smarts, host Gerald J. Leonard sits down with Dr. James S. Russell and Carol Hosler, authors, educators, m...

How does a lifelong scientist reconcile her love of data with her fascination with ancient myths that defy explanation? And what does it take to turn a retired grandmother into a solo traveler crossing six continents in just 42 days? In this episode of Productivity Smarts , host Gerald J. Leonard sits down with Dr. Imogene Drakes , author of Around the World in 42 Days , for a fascinating conversa...

Do you ever look at those "30 Under 30" lists and feel that little pang of regret, that sinking feeling that whispers, "I should have made my mark by now. Maybe I missed my window?" But the truth is, some of the people who make the biggest impact in the world don't do it in their 20s, 30s, or even their 40s. They find their stride after 50 and 60. Why? In this episode of Productivity Smarts , host...

How do you turn a life shaped by adversity into a legacy of courage, service, and impact? And what can we learn from the people who choose to become better rather than bitter when life gets difficult? In this episode of Productivity Smarts , host Gerald J. Leonard sits down with Sylvia Alvarez , housing advocate, educator, author, and entrepreneur, for a powerful conversation about resilience, fam...

What if the biggest obstacle to your productivity isn't your schedule, your tools, or your willpower, but the stories you've been telling yourself without realizing it? In this episode of Productivity Smarts , host Gerald J. Leonard sits down with Owen Fitzpatrick, CSP, social psychologist, keynote speaker, and author of Inner Propaganda , to explore how the hidden architecture of belief drives be...

How can professionals and creatives transform burnout into sustainable productivity while creating a work life that actually supports the life they want? In this episode of Productivity Smarts , host Gerald J. Leonard sits down with Lindsay Barnett, workplace experience strategist and author of Working Hell to Working Well , to rethink what productivity can look like when doing more is no longer t...

In this compelling episode of Productivity Smarts, host Gerald J. Leonard welcomes James M. Porfido, a certified criminal trial attorney by the Supreme Court of New Jersey, former prosecutor turned defense counsel, legal analyst, and author of Unequal Justice: The Search for Truth to Balance the Scales James brings decades of courtroom experience to the conversation, sharing his remarkable journey...

In this episode of Productivity Smarts, host Gerald J. Leonard sits down with Tonya Comer, one of the top 20 African American interior designers in the United States, winner of the 2024 Nautilus Gold Book Award for Business and Leadership, and author of High Heels on a Ladder: The 7 Power Tools for Designing Your Life . Tonya shares the deeply personal story behind her book, revealing how years of...

In this episode of Productivity Smarts, host Gerald J. Leonard sits down with Dr. Oluyemisi Famuyiwa, a leading reproductive endocrinologist, associate clinical professor at George Washington University, and author of The Quest for Fertility: The Quest for a Long Life . Dr. Oluyemisi shares what inspired her to write the book after years of watching patients struggle with fertility issues that cou...

In this episode of Productivity Smarts, host Gerald J. Leonard welcomes Edi Matsumoto, a visionary artist, former nurse practitioner, and bestselling author of Otter Therapy: 50 Whimsical Whisker Moments for the Soul. After spending nearly 30 years in healthcare, Edi made the courageous decision to leave a career she loved and embrace her true calling as an artist, transforming burnout into a life...

In this episode of Productivity Smarts, host Gerald J. Leonard welcomes Dr. Deane Waldman, a pediatric cardiologist turned healthcare reform advocate and author of Become an Empowered Patient. Drawing on nearly 40 years of clinical experience, Dr. Waldman explains why today's healthcare system often places bureaucracy ahead of patients and what individuals can do to navigate it more effectively. T...

What if the key to better productivity is not doing more, but learning how to manage the stress that quietly controls your day? For many professionals, stress shows up as overwhelm, impatience, anxiety, physical tension, unhealthy habits, or the feeling that life is constantly pulling them out of balance. But according to Dr. Ronald "Ron" Dushkin, MD, stress is not just something to push through....

What does it take to keep a live broadcast on the air when a storm knocks out the antenna, a policeman calls a tow truck, and 2,000 people are waiting for the show to start? Right now, the world is watching the 2026 FIFA World Cup unfold live across three countries and 16 stadiums, with millions tuning in every night without a second thought about how the signal gets from the pitch to their living...

Is complexity really the price of success, or have we simply forgotten the power of simplicity? For Wes Towers, founder of Uplift 360, the answer is clear. A 20-year veteran of the digital marketing industry, Wes built his career through trial and error, learning the hard way what works and what doesn't. From losing a lead developer mid-project to nearly burning out on a job that wasn't the right...

What if one of the most powerful productivity tools wasn't an app, a planner, or a morning routine, but a passport? For Evelyn Kelly and her daughter Natalie Kelly, travel has been far more than a hobby. Over three decades, it has shaped their resilience, adaptability, negotiation skills, and personal growth. What began as a three-week trip to Europe after a disappointing election loss grew into a...

What if the home you lived in was a secret portal to 250 years of American history, connected to the Revolutionary War, the Kennedy assassination, and the Apollo 11 moon launch? For David Deputy, a retired brigadier general, historian, and former state trooper, that's exactly what he discovered when he moved into a 19th-century mill house in Delaware. In this episode of Productivity Smarts, host G...

What if the secret to productivity isn't another to-do list or time‑hack, but a universal map of what it means to be human? In this episode, host Gerald J. Leonard welcomes Dr. James Smith,  systems thinker, author of The Real Map of Life, and a man who has lived every corner of his own framework. From delivering newspapers and working on a farm to becoming a hospice chaplain, a banker, and finall...

What happens when you wake up one day and realize you've been asleep for 20 years successful on paper, but dead inside? For Brian "Dixon" Dixon, that realization came after a near fatal pulmonary embolism. But it didn't have to. In this powerful episode of Productivity Smarts, host Gerald J. Leonard sits down with Brian Dixon, Colorado based adventurer, speaker, and author of the upcoming book Hol...

Most entrepreneurs chase the fast exit. But what if the real reward is building a company so meaningful you would never dream of leaving? In this episode of Productivity Smarts, host Gerald J. Leonard sits down with David B. Hampson, acquisition entrepreneur, aviation insurance leader, and award-winning author of Rainbow Gold. David shares hard-earned lessons from a career that spans from launchin...

Did you know you could read a 200-page book in under 10 minutes and actually retain it? In this episode of Productivity Smarts, host Gerald J. Leonard sits down with Dr. Paul Scheele, PhD, a pioneer in accelerated learning and creator of the Photo Reading Whole Mind System.  Gerald shares how Dr. Paul's work personally transformed his life, from managing the mental and physical challenges of vesti...