10,000 Swamp Leaders

Tracy Roberts visits the Swamp and shares her story of building her graphic design business. There are lessons here for all of us about the work required to build a successful business. But this is just the beginning of her story. What came next was Tracy’s biggest life challenge. With candor, resolve and determination she reminds us to take nothing for granted. Enjoy the “Art of Stroke.”  Tracy’s...

Dave Cooper returns to the Swamp to explore his Substack post “The Map That Wasn’t.” Dave's post caught my attention because he explores the real challenges the United States government faces as a result of going to war with Iran. Dave is uniquely qualified to comment on this topic. He brings over 20 years of service as a US Navy Seal that is followed up with two Master’s Degrees that focus o...

Janet Hawkes comes to the Swamp to share her insights and experiences from leading for 18 years inside Kent County Council in the United Kingdom. Leading inside Kent taught Jan the art and craft of navigating a political culture while providing services to the citizens of Kent. She managed significant culture change processes and programs. She speaks directly to what she learned from mistakes, how...

Mau Espinosa joins me in the swamp to discuss his point of view on leadership and how he helps others through his “LET” approach to leadership development. Mau has travelled a challenging road to arrive at this moment. He is candid about his journey, how he learned from his mistakes and what he believes it takes to become a resilient leader of people and teams. Mau shares his Logic, Emotion, and T...

Ryan van der Marel comes to the swamp and brings his wisdom and experience facilitating group conversations for deeper understanding and shared meaning. He shares how he coaches, nudges and holds the space so that groups and teams get to the heart of their aspirations, address their blockages and produce new pathways for collective impact. Anyone who facilitates groups will come away with a few ne...

Eula Rohan visits the Swamp and shares how she walks alongside Australia's First Nation communities as they build cross sector leadership capacity. Eula is practicing the “harder craft” of large group facilitation processes that address layers of social complexity, difficult historical challenges and present day aspirations for healthy communities. Eula has a long history of training large ho...

Runa Sabore was raised in a commune. She has carried the communal lessons of caring for community into her work helping design buildings that support how people can live well in the “age of aging.” Runa talks about the potential of “universal design” to keep people living at home and how she has learned to connect silos that form the basis for healthier communities.  Runa's Links NORD Archite...

Kelly Indira Buis comes to the Swamp to discuss the craft of group facilitation. Kelly is the founder of The Adaptation Company in The Hague, Netherlands. The work of facilitating groups of human beings is challenging. There are often multiple agendas and outcomes that need to be navigated for useful outcomes. Then there is the importance of getting all voices and ideas into the room and understoo...

Paolo Quattrone comes to the Swamp and brings his love of accounting as basis for better judgment and decision making. He also re-introduces us to The Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Paolo makes the case that in a globalized world, increasing technology and our faster life-pace are leading to more uncertainty and a misalignment of our purpose. In our conversation, Paolo provides a fresh orientation to...

Graeme Findlay visits the swamp and brings his Differential Voice leadership meta-model. Graeme makes the case that to lead effectively today, a leader needs more than one voice.  Graeme has us covered: his differential voice approach is based on six major ‘modes’ of leading. Take note as Graeme leads us through when and how we use these different leadership voices. Graeme’s Links Website Differen...

Julie Drybrough comes to the Swamp and shares her life wisdom fostering transformation. She is candid about her personal transformational path and how it shapes her coaching and group work. She learned how building a new narrative of trust can produce “magic” and people begin to shine. Hers is a story about how commitment, self-love, service to others and reflection reveal the best of who we can b...

Clif and CK McKenzie come to the Swamp and talk about their generational leadership transition of Watson Furniture. They discuss their different approaches to the work, how they make decisions and how they each lead. Clif has led Watson for a great many years. He didn’t start out loving office furniture. That quickly changed. He sets the high standard for the design and functionality of the Watson...

Wendy Tyner visits the Swamp to share her wisdom gained from leading philanthropic organizations and building communities. She begins our conversation sharing what she learned teaching children with learning disabilities. We then discuss how she guided three not-for-profit organizations to become significant community assets that support bluegrass music, farms and public lands. She often guided al...

Aidan McQuade joins me in the Swamp to discuss his book, Ethical Leadership: Moral Decision-Making Under Pressure and his model “The Cruciform of Agency.” Aidan was born in Northern Ireland and grew up during the period known as “the troubles.” He is wiser for that experience. He has dedicated his life to humanitarian work in some of the most difficult conditions over the last twenty years. Our co...

Benjamin Taylor makes his third appearance in the Swamp and he brings some useful distinctions with him. We discuss the value and importance of understanding the positive and negative dynamics that differentiation and integration have on group dynamics and productivity. But it is not all that simple. There are at least four dynamics at play at any time in your work groups. Benjamin maps these grou...

Joanne Murphy and Keith Grint come to the swamp to discuss their views on leadership and the effort required to do it well. Joanne and Keith are deeply informed on this topic of leading. Their academic background includes teaching, research and writing. We discuss the differences between command, management and leadership. All three approaches matter and we explore the value of each role. The stat...

Three Horizons: The Patterning of Hope  Bill Sharpe visits the swamp and brings his Three Horizon framework for navigating the future. Bill is an independent researcher who helps people work together to create transformational change in the face of an uncertain future. Bill will explain what makes each of the three horizons distinct and necessary for addressing the future. The beauty and significa...

Elvis Fraser comes to the Swamp to share his commitment to helping non-profit organizations realize greater measurable results from their social impact investments through wise monitoring, learning and evaluation strategies. He and his Sanfoka Consulting team align their strategies to advance social justice and equity in all aspects of their work. Elvis has a rich history of leading and mentoring...

Eva Grosman joins me in the swamp to share how her “life factory setting” which is based on hope and courage, has guided her in building the Centre for Democracy and Peacebuilding as well as a community of peacebuilders around the world. Listen close because Eva offers a multitude of specific, actionable moves each of us can take to lead on difficult challenges. Eva’s life work and impact is a mod...

Nick Ellem comes to the Swamp to share a comprehensive exploration of Adaptive Leadership as well as his journey to teach and help people building adaptive capacity. Nick speaks directly to the reasons why many leadership development programs fall short of expectations. He then  introduces his antidote: The Leadership Learning Cycle which is built on four elements:   Academy  Lab Podium Temple  Th...

Joanne Murphy, Professor of Inclusive Leadership at Birmingham Business School comes to the swamp and discusses how we can lead inside volatile environments.  She brings a lifetime of lived experience on this topic.  Joanne was raised in Northern Ireland during the “troubles.” She learned first hand what is required to lead in volatile environments. Joanne is an academic, author and teacher who is...

Ethan Schutz, President and CEO of The Schutz Company pays a visit to the swamp and shares the history and the work that is The Human Element. Ethan takes us back to when his father, Will Schutz developed his thinking and motivation for helping people develop greater self-awareness, aliveness and candor through telling more truth. Will developed FIRO Theory which has become a fundamental philosoph...

Jill Hufnagel comes to the swamp and shares her perspective and experience helping people develop leadership capacity. Jill served as guest faculty on the Harvard Kennedy School’s Art & Practice of Adaptive Leadership program and as a senior associate with Cambridge Leadership Associates, along with running her own consultancy JHC&C. In our conversation, Jill discusses the importance of ha...

Geoff Mead returns to the Swamp to discuss narrative leadership. Often acts of leading begin as a conversation.  A conversation that might be internal or conversations with other people. It is important for people who choose to lead, to understand how to craft and use narrative to mobilize people to take action. Geoff helps us understand how to do this work  in this episode.  Geoff is the founding...

Geoff Mead joins us in the Swamp to explore the significance of the stories we tell ourselves, the narratives we use to guide our life and how they shape our identity. Geoff is the founding director of Narrative Leadership Associates, a consultancy focused on the use of storytelling for sustainable leadership. He is a master guide in the emerging field of narrative leadership and storytelling in o...