TRAITS podcast: Building Higher Performing Organizations

In this third conversation with Dave Bulloch, Mark and Dave focus on the challenges that show up when scaling your business into medium to large territory. Dave outlines three consistent patterns he sees in businesses approaching and surpassing $100 million in revenue, and explains why getting these wrong at this stage is far more costly than most leaders realize.

Strategic HR for Growing Businesses: Inside the System Jeff Calibaba Built to Fix What Most Companies Get Wrong Tune in to our latest episode as Jeff Calibaba returns for Part 2, this time pulling back the curtain on Game Plan HR — the company and operating system he built after seeing the same gap in nearly every organization he worked with. Most companies treat HR as an administrative function b...

Founder Mistakes That Slow Business Growth: Dave Bulloch on the 3 Behaviors Every Owner Must Change Tune in to our latest episode as Dave Bulloch returns for Part 2 of his business life cycle series, this time focused on what happens after a business starts to grow. While Episode 1 covered what founders need to get right before launching, this conversation goes deeper into the behavioral patterns...

https://youtu.be/4pYEKTv_0FU Tune in to our latest episode as Jeff Calibaba, serial entrepreneur and CEO of Game Plan HR, shares a career story that most people would struggle to fit into three lifetimes. From small-town Saskatchewan to becoming the first licensed paramedic in the province, Jeff has never approached a challenge the way everyone else does. Stop Selling. Start Solving. The thread th...

https://youtu.be/NunYnItDvV4?si=W8BrcPbfefFG0m45 Why Traditional Recruiting Is Broken — and What 13 Years in Hospitality HR Taught Bryan Lee Why traditional recruiting is broken is the central question in Episode 9, as host Mark sits down with Bryan Lee, business manager and executive recruiter at Concord Consulting. After 23 years in hotels and resorts — 13 of them in HR — Bryan has seen first-ha...

https://youtu.be/ITBNKLUrgAc?si=2odn_FGV63XBKpqP Organizational Culture and Belonging: The Secret Behind one of Canada’s Most Admired Mortgage Companies Organizational culture and belonging are not just HR buzzwords at Calvert Home Mortgage — they are the foundation of everything the company does. In Season 2, Episode 8, host Mark sits down with Dean Koeller, CEO of Calvert Home Mortgage, a...

https://youtu.be/484BYF192Qw?si=Ac2Zk7remJ4RX5vY Business Succession Planning Starts on Day One — Not the Day You Want to Leave Business succession planning is not an exit conversation — it is a starting conversation. In Season 2, Episode 7, host Mark sits down with Dave Bulloch, a fractional executive with decades of experience leading organizations across multiple industries. Dave’s messag...

https://youtu.be/_Ki_euh9NJI?si=81fSZHTMyCCrqUqB AI Disruption in Business: Are You Ready for What’s Coming? AI disruption in business is no longer a future concern — it is happening right now, and the organizations that fail to prepare will be left behind. In Season 2, Episode 6 of the podcast, Mark sits down with Joel Thompson, a CPA turned business optimization consultant and founder of R...

https://youtu.be/sNrdH3s06-Q DeWayne shares how decades of experience shaped the science behind leadership and why strategy, people, and structure must evolve together for organizations to endure . In the Season 2 of The TRAITS Podcast , host Mark Frentz and DeWayne Fliss , founder of Concord Consulting, bring the story full circle: exploring the science behind leadership and how decades of resear...

https://youtu.be/3dG7sfGrPsg DeWayne Fliss explores why companies struggle to scale—and how leaders can fix what’s beneath the surface before growth collapses it. In Season 2, Episode 4 of The TRAITS Podcast , host Mark Frentz and DeWayne Fliss , founder of Concord Consulting, take a hard look at one of the most common problems growing organizations face: why companies struggle to scale . Building...

https://youtu.be/CQf-I6xHW9Q Why role fit in leadership matters more than experience, effort, or good intentions Role fit in leadership is one of the most overlooked — and most costly — issues inside organizations. In this episode of the TRAITS Podcast, we explore why capable, hardworking people often fail in roles that simply don’t fit how they’re wired to work. Host Mark sits down with Mike More...

https://youtu.be/H9EaCf6VsgI?si=OMLb1P2A9JiPu6gt How systems thinking and engineering logic shaped DeWayne Fliss’s leadership philosophy—and the lessons that inspired the next step toward TRAITS. Leadership Lessons from Engineering: The Human Equation In Season 2, Episode 2 of The TRAITS Podcast , host Mark Frentz continues the conversation with DeWayne Fliss , founder of Concord Consulting, to ex...

https://youtu.be/z5KTyjdVEWI?si=tWwePr8mzCNFfMNr How one engineer’s search for better performance revealed the early foundations of TRAITS and a new way to understand people at work. In the Season 2 premiere of The TRAITS Podcast , host Mark Frentz sits down with DeWayne Fliss , founder of Concord Consulting and the visionary mind behind the TRAITS Assessment, to uncover the early foundations of T...

Transformative Power: Leadership Willingness to Change In this episode of The TRAITS Podcast , host Mark sits down with Bob Outhwaite , a seasoned leader with a career spanning law enforcement, oil and gas, and executive forums for top CEOs. Together, they explore what truly drives leadership willingness to change —and why this single quality often separates good leaders from great ones. Bob’s lea...

Why great hires start long before the offer letter In this episode, recruitment expert Steve Jones dives deep into the costly pitfalls that many organizations face when hiring and shares how Behavioral Interviewing can be a game changer. Steve explains why traditional interviews often miss the real picture—leading to false positives, where candidates seem perfect on paper but don’t deliver, and fa...

Creating Culture in Organizations: Leadership Lessons from Chaos to Clarity In this episode of the Concord Podcast , host Mark Frentz sits down with Rick Hays to explore one of the most pressing challenges leaders face today: creating culture in organizations . Too often, leaders focus narrowly on processes, profits, or short-term fixes, while overlooking the cultural foundations that drive sustai...

Why Intentional Succession Planning is Essential for Family Businesses and Long-Term Leadership Success In this episode of the TRAITS Podcast, host Mark Frentz welcomes Roberta MacGillivray , President of BGE, a company rooted in quality air filtration in Western Canada. Together, they dive into the critical topic of intentional succession planning , exploring how organizations—especially family b...

How Language in Leadership Shapes Culture, Influences Others, and Strengthens Organizational Clarity In this episode of the TRAITS Podcast, host Mark Frentz sits down with Susan McGee , a seasoned leader who has spent her career shaping organizations and influencing people through the power of words. The focus keyword— language in leadership —frames the entire conversation, as Susan shares how the...

In this episode of the TRAITS Podcast, Carmine Militano unpacks what it means to be a T-shaped leader and how this leadership model can transform a company’s ability to grow through uncertainty. He shares personal insights from leading in family-owned businesses, facilitating culture shifts, and navigating the complexities of scaling a team. You’ll hear how to identify and develop leaders with bot...

How to eliminate bias, identify the right roles, and use behavioural insights to create long-term team success. In this powerful follow-up conversation, host Mark Frentz and Jason Woodard dive deeper into one of the most overlooked aspects of leadership hiring — using behavioural traits to build high-performing teams . They begin by exposing a common leadership pitfall: positive bias toward your e...

Hiring the Right People isn’t just about filling a vacancy—it’s about avoiding costly mistakes, reducing turnover, and building a stronger, more resilient team. In this episode of the TRAITS Podcast, Mark sits down with Jason Woodard to explore one of the most pressing challenges in business today: hiring the right people . Drawing from decades of experience, Jason offers hard-earned insights into...

Identifying and Eliminating Business Inefficiencies for Sustainable Growth Business inefficiencies can quietly erode profit margins, stall growth, and create unnecessary chaos within organizations. In this episode of our business podcast, Dave Bulloch joins us to break down the root causes of inefficiency and share actionable strategies for turning operational blind spots into competitive advantag...

How Business Crisis Management Strategies Can Save Your Company from Hidden Risks and Unlock Long-Term Growth In this episode of our podcast, we dive deep into Business Crisis Management Strategies with seasoned entrepreneur and business advisor, Corey Smith. Corey shares candid insights from his own experience navigating the highs and lows of business, including the unexpected “valleys” that can...

How to build stronger leadership teams by avoiding over-promotion pitfalls and focusing on the right development strategies. Overcoming Leadership Challenges is one of the most critical priorities for any growing organization—and in this episode, Stephen Smith, President & CEO of Strike Group, shares a wealth of hard-earned wisdom on how to do it right. Drawing on years of leading a large, com...

How leadership transitions and strategic hiring can make or break your team’s success When leadership changes happen, the ripple effects can make or break an organization. In this episode of the TRAITS Podcast, we dive into the challenges and opportunities of leadership transitions and strategic hiring with guest Chris DeCock, whose career spans the demanding restaurant industry and executive lead...