Missing Conversations

Dr. Steven Jones and guest host Sonia Bu catch up with Andrea Bordenca, CEO of DESCO Service and co-author of Growing Groups Into Teams. Andrea shares her personal journey of self-discovery and learning to learn which fundamentally shifted her relationship to leadership and working with others. In this episode, we explore the critical conversations needed around:  Reframing your story and building...

Amy Vodarek and Heather Neely talk with Juliana Vergara, VP of Leadership and Executive Coaching with accounting firm FORVIS and co-author of Growing Groups into Teams. Juliana explains how she came to recognize the distinction between accountability and responsibility.  In today's conversation, we explore: What it looks like to be accountable versus responsible  How a responsibility mindset empow...

Pam Fox Rollin and Elayna Alexandra talk with Papanii Okai, CTO of Venmo Engineering at PayPal, about lessons on leadership from the late Marc Smith Sachs. Marc, a principal of Altus Growth Partners and an extremely valued member of our team, passed away in June 2023.  Over the years, Marc mentored and inspired numerous leaders in many organizations. His memory and legacy lives on through the succ...

Amy Vodarek and Dan Winter talk with Sailaja Manacha, co-author of Growing Groups Into Teams and Leadership Coach at Physis . Sailaja brings her background in psychology to re-humanizing leaders and their teams.   In today's episode, we explore the missing conversations around: Your "relational resume" and the relational patterns leaders exhibit Building relational foundations through leadership c...

Dan Winter and Steven Jones talk about unlocking value in cross-generational teams with Heather Neely, co-author of Growing Groups into Teams and Principal Consultant with Altus Growth Partners. Heather reflects on the generational differences that were present in her early career, and how those differences have persisted and shifted over the years. In today's conversation, we explore the conversa...

Kobe Bogaert and Jan Irene Miller of Altus Growth Partners speak with Bob Dunham, founder of the Institute for Generative Leadership and a contributor to the recently published Growing Groups into Teams. Bob Dunham has years of experience in developing leaders from around the world and supporting them in leading with care, value, and generative leadership.  In today's conversation, we explore the...

Dan Winter and Elayna Alexandra talk with Amy Vodarek, co-author of Growing Groups into Teams and Principal Consultant with Altus Growth Partners. Amy shares one of the most common professional experiences that is an indicator of trust breakdown: side conversations or "the meeting after the meeting."   In today's conversation, we explore the missing conversation about trust (and finally put an end...

Dan Winter and Amy Vodarek talk with Pam Fox Rollin, lead co-author of Growing Groups into Teams and Principal Consultant with Altus Growth Partners. Pam reflects on her commitment to efficiency, strategy consulting, and building teams that truly care about the work they do.   In today's conversation, we explore the conversations your executive team is missing: Ensuring your leadership team is fun...

Heather Neely and Dan Winter talk with Dr. Steven E. Jones, co-author of Growing Groups into Teams and Principal Consultant with Altus Growth Partners. Steven Jones has been a part of many diverse teams, to advocate for diverse communities.    In today's conversation, we explore the qualities that allow team members to be not only diverse, but to be bravely themselves: Leadership, change, and hold...

Heather Neely and Amy Vodarek talk with Kobe Bogaert, co-author of Growing Groups into Teams and Managing Director at Altus, about his insight into teamwork and collaboration based on over a decade of consulting experience. Kobe, Heather, and Amy reflect on the experience of working on a book about teamwork as a team and what they each learned along the way.    In today's conversation, Kobe shares...

Kobe Bogaert talks with Jan Irene Miller, co-author of Growing Groups into Teams and Principal Consultant with Altus Growth Partners, and her colleague, Bridget Meyer, about their experience bringing electricity to a remote village in Zambia.    Jan Irene and Bridget reminisce on the beginnings of the project, and how they brought together a team that could help them reach their goal.   In today's...

Kobe Bogaert and Jon Osborne talk about remote teams and strategies to lead them with Dan Winter, co-author of Growing Groups into Teams and Principal Consultant with Altus Growth Partners. In Dan's experience, all teams—whether they work remotely or not—face the exact same challenges. However, many leaders of remote teams struggle to address those challenges effectively.   In today's conversation...

Kobe Bogaert and Dan Winter meet with Kyra Kennedy, co-founder, former CEO, and culture champion of Baratza, which develops, manufactures, and distributes high quality coffee grinders to consumers and professionals around the world. Kyra shares how Baratza grew its brand and consciously developed an organizational culture to support the switch from being founder-led to being acquired by a major an...

This week, Elayna Alexandra and Lynette Winter met with Phil Harkins, the co-founder and chairman of Prossimo Global Partners and the visionary behind Leaders24, a global summit for leaders.    In today's conversation, we cover: The importance of conversations in leadership and organizational development Team work, performance, and category one teams How trust impacts team work, and how high-perfo...

Kobe Bogaert and Steven E. Jones continue their discussion with Nolitha Tsengiwe, an experienced executive coach and registered psychologist, as well as director and founder of Courage to Lead.    For the full context of this conversation, listen to Part 1 (Episode 15) first.   In today's conversation, we cover: Leadership development and organizational culture Self-awareness and power dynamics in...

This week, Kobe Bogaert and Steven E. Jones talk with Nolitha Tsengiwe, an experienced executive coach and registered psychologist, as well as the director and founder of Courage to Lead.  Nolitha shares her incredible knowledge about the power each of us holds, and how we can use that power to enable the people with whom we work. In today's conversation, we cover: Power dynamics at play in divers...

Dan Winter and Amy Vodarek speak with Ed Kuyper, the co-founder of Agtech Bio, an organization that brings in technology to build a cleaner planet with safer and smarter food systems.   Ed shares his experience transitioning to the industry of agriculture technology, and how he applies his skillset and knowledge to a whole new industry in pursuit of his future vision.   In today's conversation, we...

Elayna Alexandra and Steven Jones talk to John Register, an All-American long jumper and Paralympic Silver medalist. In today's conversation, we cover:  Adapting to change, overcoming adversity, and winning in life Embracing the "new normal" and small wins for success How to have a growth mindset as a leader How to be vulnerable in order to grow, both personally and professionally Overcoming fear...

Steven Jones and Amy Vodarek continue their conversation with Lisa Simms Booth, Executive Director of Smith Center for Healing and the Arts. If you missed Part 1, we highly recommend listening to Episode 11 first for the full context, available here: https://www.podpage.com/missing-conversations/episode-11-the-power-of-healing-and-grieving-in-community-with-lisa-simms-booth-part-1/ In this continu...

Today, Steven Jones and Amy Vodarek host a conversation with Lisa Simms Booth on her personal and professional experience with cancer.  Lisa Simms Booth is the Executive Director at Smith Center for Healing and the Arts. Founded in 1996, Smith Center is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit for individuals living with a cancer diagnosis, their caregivers, and the greater community. Smith Center offers...

Today, Kobe Bogaert and Pam Fox Rollin host a conversation with Alicia Wallace on artisan entrepreneurship in Africa and how accessing the US market can raise living standards for workers in Africa.  Alicia is the co-founder and CEO of All Across Africa,  an organization dedicated to driving social change through the ethical production and distribution of sustainably made artisan goods. All Across...

Today, our hosts, Amy Vodarek and Dan Winter, are speaking with a special guest, Nicole Stibbe, the founder and CEO of the consulting organization Soulwork Alliance. Soulwork helps develop forward-thinking organizations committed to advancing their companies by prioritizing the diversity of thought background and capabilities of their people.   While Nicole enjoyed her early work as a consultant,...

This week, hosts Steven Jones and Amy Vodarek delve into the topic of medical racism and its impact on marginalized communities.  Our guest, Kaytura Felix, is a distinguished scholar in the Department of Health Management at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, focusing on structural racism and health justice. She's a medical doctor trained in health services & community-based particip...

Today, our hosts, Steven E. Jones and Amy Vodarek talk with Martha "Marty" Swaim, founder and retired Executive Director of Challenging Racism. Challenging Racism educates and trains people to face and effectively engage in conversations about racism to address inequities of personal, institutional, and systemic racism. Challenging Racism conversations build knowledge and allow participants to use...

How can care help us navigate and lead teams innovating for the future?  Our hosts Amy Vodarek and Steven Jones, welcome Jason Kessler, the program executive for NASA's Small Business Innovation Research & Small Business Technology Transfer Program. Kessler's team engages small business entrepreneurs and innovators to deliver cutting-edge technology to support NASA missions. He combines his experi...