Narativ Leadership Story Talks

In this episode, we welcome Heather Walker, PhD, who has made a career of promoting, and implementing levity at work, through a variety of means. Dr. Walker founded Lead with Levity to promote healthy workplaces through survey insights, workshops, and a healthy dose of wisdom from guests on the Lead with Levity Podcast. Her goal is to help people have fun, and get more done. And in this episode, w...

Jerome recently was invited as an expert speaker to appear on a panel along with two other experts to discuss onboarding. The central question posed: How do we make onboarding more impactful and more engaging? Julienne observed the panel as a participant and in this episode, we looked at the main take aways and elaborated on why and how personal stories transformed the onboarding process for the c...

The acronym VUCA stands for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous. Does this resonate with you right now?  How does leadership respond to such an environment?  Julienne and Jerome examine the term but instead of delving into the doom and gloom of current headlines, they look at how you can address these fears through listening and storytelling.  The future is a story, and this episode will give...

Cormac Russell is a social explorer, an author and a much sought-after speaker. He is the Founding Director of Nurture Development and a member of the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute, at DePaul University, Chicago.  Over the last 25 years, Cormac’s work has demonstrated an enduring impact in 35 countries around the world. He has trained communities, agencies, NGOs and government...

Anne Bahr Thompson has a rich and layered background, from business school to banking to branding to research and advertising to purpose. Anne connects the dots between vying for profit and leading a purpose-driven company. The two are not incompatible, quite the opposite! But she also notes that too many companies have gone overboard looking at their "why", and not enough time has been...

In this episode, Jerome and Julienne reflect back on their meeting.  Julienne had reached out to Jerome and members of the Narativ team, that led to a meeting in person (pre-pandemic).  During that first meeting, Julienne noticed that the Narativ team members were walking their talk, meaning they were listening and giving space to Julienne to speak.  A dialogue ensued that mirrored the process tha...

In this episode, we look back to what we were talking about exactly a year ago, when we started the podcast. From a post pandemic return to the office, to the Great Resignation, and now Quiet Quitting in the last few months, we've seen a lot of changes.  But have things really changed that much in terms of our behaviors and interpersonal communications? Were the problems that led to issues wi...

We welcome Aoife O’Brien in this episode. She's the founder of Happier at Work, a business with the mission to support organizations in retaining top talent.  She is passionate about ‘fit’ and specifically how creating the right environment can help individuals to reach their full potential and support organizations to thrive.  She partners with HR and business leaders to focus on four pillar...

In this episode of Story Talks, we welcome Sona Sherratt of Ashridge where she designs, teaches and client directs on several executive education programmes with clients such as SAB Miller, Swarovski, Heineken, Erste Group Bank, Avis, Beazley Insurance Group and Continental. Sona has designed and delivered senior leadership and general management programs for clients around the world. Sona has co-...

In this episode, we welcome Earl Breon, a former active duty United States Marine with over 25 years of experience in coaching and leadership development. He is the CEO and Founder of The Leadership Phalanx where he combines his civilian and military experiences with his love of history to bring his clients what he calls, "The 11 Shields of The Leadership Phalanx". These shields work tog...

In this episode, Julienne and Jerome talk to Zev Shalev, CEO of Narativ Studios and Cool Wolf Inc.  Yes, you read that right, Narativ spelled the same way we do. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to find out what another Narativ is doing out there in the world.  And what a treat to speak to Zev, a former CBS News Executive, and journalist who hails from South Africa. He is the winner of the...

In this episode, Jerome and Julienne are talking with the creator of Answer Intelligence (AQ)™, Dr. Brian Glibkowski. When Dr. Glibkowski wanted to know what skills he could improve when he was a doctoral student, the answer was "communication." This set him on a path to discover how to help organizations and their employees improve the way they communicate by answering 6 questions: What...

In this episode, Jerome and Julienne talk to Jodi Brockington, who is a hiring, career, Diversity & Inclusion, and Corporate Social Responsibility consultant, with many other hats. Jodi has created a framework to help both employers and employees figure out the right combination between their need for a paycheck, their passion (tied to their purpose), and the kind of work environment that fost...

In this episode Jerome and Julienne talk with Sira Abenoza, a professor at ESADE business and law schools in Barcelona, Spain.  She created the Institute for Socratic Dialogue to create conversations between people who sometimes have diametrically opposing points of view. We discussed Sira's experience working with inmates, as well as with factions from both sides of the conflict in Northern...

In this episode of Story Talks, Julienne and Jerome discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine, and what they're learning about leadership, listening and dealing with crises.  The last few years have brought on many global crises that have affected everyone. The war in Ukraine is showing a particular style of leadership, which we believe carry lessons for business leaders.  Listen to this episode to...

Jerome and Julienne talk with Narativ co-founder Dr Paul Browde. Paul is a psychiatrist, a Narativ therapist, a marriage guidance counselor  and an actor.  Paul talks about his early training as a doctor in South Africa and how learning to listen to his patients led him to Narativ and developing a listening and storytelling method. You'll hear Paul's origin story, and what led him to be...

In this episode, Jerome and Julienne talk with Karen Schoellkopf, founder and CEO of Leap Fund .  We look at Karen's journey from MFA to tech to entrepreneur. Karen tells us about something that was obscure to us and, apparently, even members of Congress: The benefits cliff. This is when workers across the country turn down income that they have earned at their jobs, out of fear of losing pub...

In this Story Talks episode Jerome and Julienne talk with George Grombacher who has worked in personal finance for 20 years and has been named a top 100 financial advisor in the US by Investopedia for the past three years. He’s working hard to encourage, empower, and entertain others with critical and compelling information to help them create more financial success and live as they wish to. Georg...

In this short episode, Jerome and Julienne talk about the importance of silence in dialogue. How listening is key to understanding and not to be afraid of the silence in between. Experience The Listening Lab Looking for greater clarity around your own story and purpose? The Listening Lab is a community for leaders, coaches, and professionals who want to think more clearly, communicate more authent...

Here is 2022! Julienne and Jerome discuss the value of setting an intention instead of beating yourself up about not coming through with your New Year resolutions.  Intentions call you into a certain way of being and can help you break old habits, especially when it comes to listening and to the story you tell about yourself and others.  Julienne has some great advice for businesses and leaders ba...

Why are Venture Capitalists not using tech to help them do their work?  That’s where Raized.ai, the company that Penny Schiffer created, comes in.  Penny talks about the origin of her venture and why she went from being a Venture Capitalist to being a CEO of a start up.  She also tells us about what happened after her aha! moment.  We discuss the process by which Penny uses data and AI to help mak...

Jerome and Julienne talk with Matt Bahl - VP and head of workplace financial health, Financial Health Network. In this episode of Story Talks we discover how do we make people’s lives better by improving their financial resilience? That salaries are not determinative of financial health.  How can we make workplace work better for working people?  Matt talks about how the catalytic moment for him w...

In this podcast Jerome Deroy and Julienne Ryan talk about the ways in which leaders can connect with their employees with personal stories in the wake of the events of 2020.In this episode they talk about ~~ Many companies are seriously utilising Diversity, Equity & inclusion.~ Leaders eyes (and ears) opened in hearing employee stories in the wake of George Floyd's death and the personal...

In this episode, Jules and Jerome take a deeper dive into something that they scratched the surface of in episode 1. That thing is knowledge transfer. How do you do it? Why do you need to? Inspiring presentations are not the only outcome of storytelling. Effectively transferring knowledge within your organization is the lesser known, but perhaps more powerful use of storytelling in business. Liste...

What can we learn from first graders and the school system to welcome back our colleagues into an in-person office environment? This episode considers the very practical ways of reentering an in-person office environment, drawing inspiration from the protocols schools have put in place, while acknowledging the social anxieties that both Jerome and Jules themselves have been feeling! Too often, we...