Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future

Guest: Michael Morrow-Fox, Organizational Development & Leadership Consultant They say talk is cheap, but not listening can be very expensive. Yet many leaders don’t listen to their teams, especially in today’s climate of disagreements and divisiveness. So how can you have these difficult conversations, and keep your team running smoothly?   Our guest, Mike Morrow-Fox, has the answer: conversa...

Guests: Ambassador Thomas Greminger & Peter Cunningham (Geneva Center for Security Policy) War in Ukraine and Gaza.  Disunity on climate change. Human trafficking. Water shortages. The list of international crises is growing. So where is the leadership to solve these global crises? It seems sadly lacking, but the qualities for this new kind of leader are well studied and defined at the Geneva...

Guests: Chris Nolan, Director/Writer, & Michael Schindler, Writer/Exec. Producer, It’s VUCA documentary Do you face uncertainty with fear…or with confidence? In the 1980s, the US military began developing the concept of VUCA: ways to deal with Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. Today, as change happens at an exponentially accelerating pace, anti-fragility is a key concept in n...

Guests: Faris Alami, CEO of International Strategic Management, & Christopher Washington, Provost & EVP for Academic Affairs at Franklin University   You already know the workplace has changed. But have workers changed?   Some have, but not enough. That’s where leaders come in. With AI, WFH, and more, work will continue changing at an ever faster pace, so leaders must provide ways for thei...

Guest: Shruti Gandhi Buckley, SVP of Hampton by Hilton & Spark by Hilton How do you survive a disaster? Or, like Hilton, how do you thrive after one? The answer is: great leadership. The COVID pandemic devastated the hospitality industry, but Hilton’s leadership adapted to this new world. As guest Shruti Gandhi Buckley reveals, the hotelier’s leadership resiliently embraced change, risk, and d...

Guests: Cynthia Cherrey (CEO) & Mike Hardy (board chair), International Leadership Association Leadership theory is one thing; real-world leadership practice is another. But the International Leadership Association does both: taking cutting-edge leadership research from academics and incorporating them in the ILA's daily operations. Their goal is to identify and find solutions for the global c...

Guest: Steve Robinson, former Chief Marketing Officer, Chick-fil-A Chick-fil-A – and their cows – are now an iconic fast food brand. That type of brand recognition doesn’t happen by accident: it requires great leadership creating a culture of innovation. What can you learn from their success?   Steve Robinson unfolds the layers of leadership principles with real stories from Chick-fil-A’s history...

Guest: Leah Lizarondo, Entrepreneur-in-Residence (Carnegie Mellon University) & Co-Founder of 412 Food Rescue When an organization truly understands a problem and an innovative solution is implemented, people get behind it and true change happens. That’s the story of 412 Food Rescue.   Leah Lizarondo saw massive food insecurity, and food waste recovery was the solution. Moreover, she reimagine...

Guest: Dave Levy, Vice President of Amazon Web Services (AWS) Worldwide Public Sector (WWPS) AI is all the buzz — but how do you lead your team through all the noise to find what works for you? Dave Levy clears the noise in this episode. By helping governments discern the best AI tools to serve their communities, he sees the qualities any leader needs to look for…and security is right at the top o...

Guest: Helle Bank Jorgensen, CEO & Founder, Competent Boards Is your board ready to steer your business into the future? Probably not… Your board of directors must have several critical competencies to truly benefit your organization. Competent Boards CEO Helle Bank Jorgensen goes through those requirements with host Maureen Metcalf. They start with a primer on ESG – a concept some US politici...

Guest: Sander van ‘t Noordende, CEO, Randstad The world is becoming talent-led. The talent pool is shrinking, which means leaders must radically shift their thinking on how to recruit — and retain — top performers.   Fortunately, Sander van ‘t Noordende sees a number of solid solutions arising from his vantage as CEO of multinational HR firm Ranstad. He shares them with host Maureen Metcalf in thi...

Guest: Mike Hardy, Founding Director, Centre for Trust, Peace, & Social Relations (Coventry University) Ukraine. Gaza. Myanmar. As wars continue raging across the globe, we strive to understand the roots of conflict. Mike Hardy finds one tap root is bad leadership.   In this rediscovered episode, Mike shares the role of poor leadership — more encouragingly, he also identifies the elements in b...

Guest: Greg Moran, C-level leadership executive & consultant The business landscape is littered with fallen firms of questionable ethics. Enron is just one example. But the stumbles of today’s organisations — from Boeing to Columbia University — may be rooted in the lack of a clear ethical framework from the top.   That’s the thesis of guest Greg Moran, who lays out the evidence with host Maur...

Guest: Carrie Spell-Hansson, CEO, The Folke Institute DEI has been around for nearly 80 years, which makes recent attacks against it seem a little odd. DEI germinated on July 26, 1948 with Harry Truman’s Executive Order 9981, which abolished racial discrimination in America’s military.   Our guest, Carrie Spell-Hansson, talks with Maureen about the continuing relevance of Diversity, Equity, and In...

Guest: Tammy Alvarez, CEO of Career Winners Circle Isn’t it time you did a little something for yourself? We usually talk about leadership in terms of how it helps your team or organization. In this episode, guest Tammy Alvarez shines the spotlight on you instead. Specifically, she talks about taking control of your leadership career path. As leaders, we set the tone for our teams. If you don’t lo...

Guests: Anie Rouleau & Danièle Henkel (CEOs of The Unscented Company & Daniele Henkel Enterprises respectively) This episode is a goldmine of tips, knowledge, and inspiration for entrepreneurs. CEOs Anie Rouleau and Danièle Henkel start by explaining what a B-Corporation is, and why it provided the perfect framework for their companies. But they quickly delve into their own drives to becom...

Guest: Shaan Patel, CEO of Prep Expert Here’s an unexpected formula for success. Step 1: Get a lower score than expected on your SAT. Step 2: Parlay your disappointment into a multimillion dollar company.   That’s how Shaan Patel’s leadership journey began. It included a victory on Shark Tank, mentoring from Mark Cuban, and earning an M.D. It’s not the typical path to industry-leading CEO, but the...

Guest: Danièle Henkel, Knight of the Order of Merit & CEO of Daniele Henkel Enterprises What’s love got to do with leadership? Turns out: quite a lot!   Danièle Henkel sees love in many ways: from passion for your work to genuine respect for the people around you. It’s another facet in building trust; in this case, though, the trust is in people rather than institutions. In a world where leade...

Guest: Stephanie Lemek, Founder: The Wounded Workforce Your staff are probably dealing with trauma: in the U.S. alone, 70% of adults faced at least one traumatic experience. Those experiences manifest in different ways in the workplace, from perfectionism to absenteeism. Our trauma reactions are as unique as our fingerprints.   Being a trauma-informed leader can help your team – and, ultimately, y...

Guest: Nancy Adler, S. Bronfman Chair in Management at McGill University There’s not just an art to leadership; art improves leadership!   That’s the core point of Dr. Nancy Adler’s discussion in this episode. A consultant and professor at McGill University, she’s found that art enables leaders to shift perspectives more readily, thus seeing solutions more effectively. That broadness of thought is...

Guest: Mike Morrow-Fox, Organizational Development Consultant Many leaders plateau: they hit a certain level, then stop growing or maturing as a leader. But even into late adulthood, we remain able to grow and develop. Indeed, some people thirst for that growth!   Mike Morrow-Fox joins host Maureen Metcalf to discuss post-conventional leaders – people who have grown to a point where they can easil...

Guest: Chris Henderson, President of Lumos Clean Energy Advisors Indigenous voices are often left out of conversations on clean energy and climate change. Yet, their generations of environmental stewardship make them pivotal players in our energy future.   Chris Henderson, a Canadian eco-entrepreneur and community leader, discusses the role of Indigenous communities in Canada's shift towards clean...

Guest: Paul F. Austin, CEO of Third Wave Why are C-suites adopting psychedelics? Some leaders say it gives them a competitive edge in innovation and thinking; others use psychedelics for stress relief and general mental health.   Paul F. Austin reviews the science and the trends behind this movement. He joins host Maureen Metcalf to discuss both how and why senior executives are moving these subst...

Guest: Mike Gerbis, CEO of Delphi Politics and megaweather get all the attention on climate change, but the impacts on business are profound. The liabilities for business may rise faster than the temperature! So why are so many business leaders so far behind in dealing with it?   As Oz’s Lion would say, it boils down to courage. The climate issue means challenging the status quo, which upsets stoc...

Guest: Amiel Handelsman, Elite Executive Coach We all know communication is key for leadership. But HOW we communicate is tougher. And one simple misunderstanding can make the difference between success and disaster.   Guest Amiel Handelsman has observed and codified eleven concepts that will move your communications from good to great. He shares them with host Maureen Metcalf in this episode. Her...