Qonversations: Wisdom for Leaders in an AI-Driven World

158: AI, Change, and Human Wisdom

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 07:00:00 -0400

Artificial intelligence is changing how organizations operate. But the real leadership challenge is not the technology. It’s how humans choose to use it. In this episode of Qonversations, host Brian Gorman speaks with Joshua Gould, CEO of The Big Word, a global language services company supporting governments, courts, healthcare systems, and security organizations around the world. Leading an organization with more than 15,000 linguists, Gould has experienced firsthand how waves of technological disruption reshape industries, and what leaders must do to guide people through that change.

Their conversation explores the tension between AI-driven intelligence and human wisdom. While AI can dramatically increase speed, scale, and access to information, Gould argues that successful implementation depends on something machines cannot provide, human judgment. He stresses the importance of leaders balancing efficiency with responsibility, ensuring that technology enhances human decision-making rather than replacing it.

Josh and Brian also discuss the realities many organizations overlook when adopting AI: resistance from stakeholders, the importance of articulating clear value, and the danger of chasing technology without a clear purpose. As Gould notes, the organizations that benefit most from AI are not the ones that adopt it fastest, but the ones that apply it most thoughtfully.

At its core, this conversation asks a deeper leadership question: If intelligence is becoming abundant through machines, how will leaders ensure wisdom remains at the center of their decisions?

157: Leadership Lessons from Nature

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 07:00:00 -0500

In this episode of Qonversations, Ines Garcia, founder and CEO of Get: agile and author of Nature’s Blueprint for Business: Harnessing the Hidden Power of Edges, joins host Brian Gorman to explore what leaders can learn from natural systems. Drawing on her work in circular economy, biomimicry, and organizational coaching, Ines challenges traditional, siloed structures and invites leaders to rethink how organizations are designed.

A central theme is the power of “edges.” In nature, edges—where ecosystems meet—are sites of heightened productivity and resilience. In organizations, however, boundaries often become rigid and divisive. Ines suggests that innovation and adaptability increase when leaders design for interaction and flow rather than hierarchy and containment.

The conversation also highlights diversity and redundancy as strategic strengths, not inefficiencies. Just as biodiversity protects agricultural systems from collapse, varied perspectives and distributed capability strengthen organizations facing disruption. Brian and Ines extend this thinking into the idea of regeneration by design, moving beyond sustainability toward actively improving systems over time.

Throughout the episode, Ines emphasizes a critical leadership shift. Focus on function, not tools. Nature solves for function with remarkable efficiency and elegance. Organizations that obsess over tools without clarifying function risk complexity without coherence. By observing how ecosystems coordinate, renew, and adapt, leaders can design organizations that are more resilient, innovative, and aligned with the realities of a rapidly changing world.

This episode invites decision-makers to reconsider the structures they have inherited and to explore how expanding organizational “edges” may unlock new levels of collaboration, creativity, and long-term value.

156: Creating Human-AI Win-Wins

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 07:00:00 -0500

In this episode of Qonversations, Edosa Odaro joins host Brian Gorman for a clear-eyed conversation about what it actually takes to make AI work for people and performance. Edosa, author of The Values of Artificial Intelligence: How Smart Leaders Capture and Connect AI Value to Human Values, makes a simple but often ignored point. Successful AI initiatives rarely begin with technology. They begin with people. With clarity about purpose. With alignment around what “value” truly means.

Too many organizations rush toward AI for speed, automation, or cost reduction. The technology may function, but the value fails because financial metrics were treated as the only definition of success. Edosa explains how misalignment shows up in predictable ways: when lab performance doesn’t translate to real-world results, when pilots don’t scale, when early wins don’t sustain, and when stakeholders define value in fundamentally different terms.

The conversation explores how leaders can avoid those traps by creating cross-functional value teams, developing tools that translate technical capability into human impact, aligning incentives and metrics across functions, and building a shared language around value before writing a single line of code. They also confront a larger shift: as AI commoditizes intelligence, discernment becomes the differentiator. If machines can optimize decisions, leaders must decide what outcomes are worth optimizing in the first place.

Brian describes Edosa’s framework as the kind of guide every leader should keep on their desk and revisit often not because it simplifies AI, but because it sharpens judgment. This episode is a practical, grounded roadmap for leaders who want AI to create genuine human-AI win-wins rather than expensive lessons.

155: AI Lessons from the Ammonite and the Octopus

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 07:00:00 -0500

In this episode of Qonversations, New Market Advisors Managing Director Steve Wunker joins host Brian Gorman to explore artificial intelligence through an unexpected lens: evolution. Drawing on the book AI and the Octopus Organization: Building the Superintelligent Firm (co-authored by Steve and Amazon Futurist in Residence Jonathan Brill), the conversation uses contrasting stories of the ammonite and the octopus to examine why too many of today’s organizations are at risk of not surviving. The ammonite relied on rigid armor and disappeared when conditions changed. The octopus survived by sensing, learning, and responding quickly, an analogy that becomes a powerful framework for understanding how leaders need to reshape organizations today in response to AI.

Rather than treating AI as a productivity tool or standalone technology, Steve and Brian explore it as a catalyst for deeper systemic change on the scale of the printing press or steam engine. They discuss how AI can decentralize decision-making, improve visibility across organizations, and free people from administrative overload, while also increasing the demand for human judgment, trust, and leadership. The conversation highlights the leadership work required in an AI-infused world: balancing analytical insight with emotional and intuitive intelligence, creating psychological safety during rapid change, and helping people stay anchored when familiar structures no longer hold.

This episode is for leaders who sense that AI is changing everything and know that adaptability, not armor, will determine what comes next.

154: The Leadership Antidote to Burnout

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 07:00:00 -0500

Dr. Trisha Vinatieri, clinical psychologist and Chief Well-Being Officer, joins Brian Gorman for a grounded conversation on burnout not as an individual resilience problem, but as a leadership responsibility. Burnout is often treated as inevitable or as a workload issue to be solved by “doing less.” This conversation challenges that assumption. Trisha and Brian explore how leaders are uniquely positioned to prevent burnout through how work is designed, how purpose is protected, and how people are seen and heard without reducing the work itself. Drawing from Trisha’s work in healthcare systems and Brian’s leadership advisory practice, the episode reframes burnout as a signal of misalignment rather than personal failure. Together, they unpack what leaders can notice earlier, what conversations matter most, and how small shifts in attention, listening, and job design can restore energy and engagement. Burnout is not prevented by doing less. It is prevented when leaders create the conditions for people to do the right work, with clarity, purpose, and dignity. (27 min.)

153: Grief

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 07:00:00 -0500

In this episode of Qonversations, John DeDakis, former Senior Copy Editor for CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer," novelist, and writing coach, joins host Brian Gorman to explore grief. While John shares his personal experiences of loss, the conversation widens to a larger truth: grief is universal. Everyone carries it at some point through loss of people, pets, roles, health, or identity. Because of that, grief inevitably enters the workplace. Brian and John explore how unacknowledged grief affects energy, focus, morale, and engagement, and why leaders can no longer afford to treat grief as something that happens outside of work. This episode challenges traditional ideas about productivity and professionalism, making the case that understanding grief is becoming a critical leadership capability in times of constant change.

152: AI as a Strategic Resource

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 07:00:00 -0500

In this episode of Qonversations, Mike Toguchi, Chief Strategy Officer at Tektonic, sits down with host Brian Gorman for a grounded conversation about AI as a strategic leadership resource, not simply a technology initiative. They explore a growing, unspoken concern among senior leaders: “We’re using AI, but we may not be using it well.” While AI can dramatically expand access to data and insight, Mike and Brian argue that the real challenges aren’t technical. They’re human: how leaders frame outcomes, communicate intent, govern use, and ensure accountability.

The conversation challenges the idea that AI lives primarily within IT. While IT plays a critical role, the most consequential decisions about AI belong with leadership, because AI increasingly shapes workflows, judgment, and organizational behavior. Mike shares what he’s seeing across organizations as they mature in their use of AI, shifting from tool obsession to outcome focus, and creating space for experimentation with oversight.

This episode is an invitation for leaders to pause, reassess how AI is being used today, and recognize when it’s time to seek perspective beyond their own organization—before early choices harden into long-term constraints.

151: Plainspeak for AI Users

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 07:00:00 -0500

In this episode of Qonversations, entrepreneur and AI strategist Chris Carter sits down with host Brian Gorman for a grounded, practical conversation about what AI can and cannot do for leaders. Together, they cut through the noise to explore how AI can support thinking without replacing judgment, why the quality of your questions matters more than the tool you choose, and how leaders can stay firmly in the role that only humans can play. This is not a technical tutorial. It’s a human conversation about discernment, pacing, and responsibility in an AI-enabled world. And it may well provide you with insights that change your entire approach to using artificial intelligence.

150: Simplicity Driven Leadership

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 25 Dec 2025 07:00:00 -0500

In this episode of Qonversations, Brian Gorman sits down with leadership author and advisor David Liddell and President of Liddell Consulting explore what happens when leadership shifts from managing effort to cultivating meaning, alignment, and energy. Through stories from manufacturing, healthcare supply chains, and leadership practice, the conversation surfaces a tension many organizations feel but struggle to name: people are busy, capable, and well-intentioned, yet disconnected from purpose, clarity, and shared outcomes.

Rather than treating this as an engagement problem to fix, Brian and David frame it as a wisdom challenge: helping people understand why their work matters, how success is defined, and where their energy is best applied. They explore moving beyond activity metrics to meaningful outcomes, the role of sense-making and unlearning in leadership, and why people commit differently when the human impact of their work becomes visible.

As organizations move beyond Industrial-Age assumptions about control and productivity, this episode offers a grounded look at leadership guided by wisdom, not just intelligence, for those who sense that work is changing, even if the language for what’s emerging is still taking shape.

149: Change is Conversational

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 07:00:00 -0500

Change doesn’t fail because of bad plans. It fails because of missed conversations. In this episode of Qonversations, Brian Gorman talks with Founder and Principal of MI for Health and behavioral scientist Jeff Wetherhold about why most change initiatives fall short and what actually works. Together, they explore change as a human and emotional process, the limits of top-down approaches, and how leaders can use better conversations to unlock intrinsic motivation and sustainable change. This is a grounded, practical conversation for leaders navigating constant transformation.

148: AI and the Entrepreneur

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 07:00:00 -0500

In this episode, host Brian Gorman talks with Wes Towers, founder of Uplift360, a digital agency in Australia, about what it really means to lead in an AI-shaped world. Brian and Wes explore how AI can boost performance and free up time, but still can’t match human wisdom, intuition, and contextual judgment. Leaders may get faster answers from AI, but the ability to sense what matters and why remains deeply human.

They dig into the risks of relying on AI for complex decisions, including inconsistent or overly generic outputs, and why expertise and discernment are still essential. Wes shares how these gaps show up in real projects and why he advises leaders to pair AI tools with trusted human guidance.

Their conversation moves into creativity, human connection, and the parts of work AI can’t touch. Wes describes how automating technical tasks has allowed him to focus more on listening, relationships, and understanding clients at a deeper level. He also talks about a turning point in his own business that pushed him to elevate relationships over transactions.

Brian and Wes close by comparing different cultural approaches to business, some beginning with relationships, others with deals, and reflect on why the future favors the former. For leaders looking to adopt AI wisely, their advice is simple: choose tools intentionally, stay rooted in your values, and don’t go it alone.

147: Leadership Isn't What It Used to Be

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 07:00:00 -0500

The demands on leaders are changing even more quickly than the worlds that we are leading in. Those leaders who believe that the path through the uncertainty is to “hold the course” on their approach to leadership will not be successful. From engagement rates, to turnover, to failing strategies, and more, the evidence is clear. Leadership needs to change. In this episode, Rob Matzkin, CEO of the Rob Matzkin Group, joins host Brian Gorman to explore some of the more subtle and some of the more profound ways that leaders need to evolve as they seek to bring their organizations into the future.

146: AI and Your Unique Zone of Genius

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 07:00:00 -0500

In this episode of Qonversations, host Brian Gorman sits down with Co-Founder and CEO of FlipWork Nikki Barua for a grounded, future-facing exploration of what sets humans apart in an AI-driven world. Together they get to the heart of why creativity, communication, compassion, adaptability, and self-awareness matter more than ever and why the future belongs to those willing to evolve. Among other things, they unpack the shift from “human doing” to “human being,” the collapse of the old pyramid model of leadership, and the rise of more distributed, values-driven, adaptive ways of working. They explore how culture must behave like a living system, how energy matters more than time, and how diversity and belonging fuel innovation in the age of intelligent machines. At its core, this conversation is about unlocking your unique zone of genius, the human qualities no algorithm can replace. If you’re navigating the intersection of human potential and intelligent technology, this conversation is a reminder: the future isn’t about competing with machines. It’s about becoming more fully, consciously human.

145: Exploring the Age of Wisdom - 2 of 2

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 07:00:00 -0500

This is the second part of leadership advisor and coach Ted Whetstone’s interview with host Brian Gorman based on Brian’s book Leading into the Age of Wisdom: Reimagining the Future of Work. In this episode Brian and Ted explore what is meant when leaders talk about the future of work using terms such as “spirit,” “soul,” and “love.” They discuss Frank Lloyd Wright’s philosophy of architecture and how it applies to organization design. And they challenge traditional approaches to organizational change management, which have a dismal success rate. Together, these two episodes (Episodes 143 and 145) offer a vision of the future of work in which AI serves as the catalyst not for a more dystopian future, but for a future that is more humane.

144: Irresistible Change

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 07:00:00 -0500

How, and why, would you make an organization-wide change optional? What would make people want to opt in, even when doing so would cost their team to do so? When was the last time that you fired a team, telling them that they no longer could participate in a change initiative? These are only a few of the stories that Phil Gilbert shares with host Brian Gorman in this episode. Phil, the author of Irresistible Change: A Blueprint for Earning Buy-In and Breakout Success, tells how he and his team succeeded in achieving a significant culture change across 400,000 IBM employees globally. There are important lessons here for every change leader, and every change practitioner, regardless of the size of your organization or the nature of your change.

143: Exploring the Age of Wisdom - 1 of 2

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 07:00:00 -0500

Host Brian Gorman becomes the guest for this two-part interview that takes a deep dive into the thinking behind Leading Into the Age of Wisdom: Reimagining the Future of Work. Leadership advisor and coach Ted Whetstone joins Brian to dig into a number of topics as we become immersed in a world in which AI continues to play an increasingly powerful role. Among the many questions this conversation addresses are the ways in which human wisdom is at our core, making us uniquely different from AI, what it means to lead with wisdom or not, and what does it take to be a maverick leader finding the way into this new age dominated not by AI but by wisdom.

142: Leading into the Age of Wisdom

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 07:00:00 -0400

What is the future of work? Will it be dominated by AI, as predicted by many of the voices we hear? Or will it be a future of work led by wisdom? In his book Leading into the Age of Wisdom: Reimagining the Future of Work, author and Qonversations host Brian Gorman examines the differences between intelligence and wisdom and calls out the danger of turning our future of work over to AI. In this episode of Qonversations, Brian addresses these challenges and, drawing from his book, discusses the transformational changes required to lead into the Age of Wisdom.

141. The Enduring Core of Leadership

Brian Gorman, Host — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 07:00:00 -0400

It’s easy to make the case that there isn’t much that is constant in the workplace today. Change is no longer just a set of projects and initiatives; it is also an-ever roiling state of being. Today’s workforce, increasingly dominated by Millennials and Gen Z, is not the workforce of even a decade ago. Anyone with access and skill in creating prompts has immediate access to almost unlimited artificial intelligence. All of this and more is placing unprecedented pressure on leaders at all levels of organizational life. Effective leadership today is, by its very nature, different than the leadership of the past. In fact, in many ways, the art of leadership must change in profound ways. In this episode, Jim Carlough, author of The Six Pillars of Effective Leadership, joins host Brian Gorman to explore those foundations of leadership that are unchanging and are, in fact, more important than ever.

140. Getting to Impact

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 07:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Tim Beattie, Founder and CEO of Stellafai, and host Brian Gorman dig into one of today’s more significant leadership challenges: what we measure isn’t always what matters. Productivity metrics like output and velocity don’t equate to impact. Together they explore how leaders can shift focus toward meaningful outcomes, foster psychological safety, and use storytelling to connect with people’s head, heart, and gut. They also discuss AI’s role in coaching and leadership, and how aligning personal purpose with organizational intent can create truly passionate, purpose-driven workforces. (25 minutes)

139. (Artificial) Intelligence. Wisdom. Ethics. The Future of Work.

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 07:00:00 -0400

We are facing an existential choice. Follow the path of allowing artificial intelligence to become more and more dominant in the workplace and our lives. Or bring the wisdom of people to the application of AI. On this episode, Social entrepreneur, author, and activist Shmuly Yanklowitz joins host Brian Gorman to discuss the path forward based on Brian’s upcoming book Leading into the Age of Wisdom: Reimagining the Future of Work. The conversation focuses on the choices leaders have to make as they consider the integration of AI into the workplace, and the implications that those choices have on individuals, organizations, and society.

138: Raising Founders

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 07:00:00 -0400

Carl Gray III, founder of Raising Founders, shares how he’s building an “AAU for entrepreneurship” to empower young people, ages 12–20, to start businesses. He tells the story of Taylor, who turned a Raising Founders project into a thriving baking venture, trained at the American Culinary Institute, and is now interning in France. In this conversation with host Brian Gorman, Carl highlights the vital role of mentorship, the value of industry projects connecting youth with corporations, and his vision for a school dedicated to entrepreneurship and independent thinking. Raising Founders is shaping tomorrow’s innovators today.

137. Suck Less. Do Better.

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 07:00:00 -0400

Nate Green isn’t shy about sharing his stories. His successes, his failures, his opportunities, and his challenges all serve to inform Nate’s path forward. The author of Suck Less, Do Better: The End of Excuses and the Rise of the Unstoppable You, Nate joins host Brian Gorman to share some of the key lessons he has learned on his journey including the importance of self-discovery and understanding one's true identity and purpose. He highlights how upbringing and societal narratives can create cognitive biases, shaping individuals' perceptions of success and their potential. There are important lessons here for all of us.

136: Leadership and Love in the Same Sentence

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 07:00:00 -0400

This episode begins with a few words from his website. “Mark loves leaders who love leaders.” Host Brian Gorman invitation to Mark L. Vincent, Executive Advisor at Teall Vincent Enterprises, to explain this statement leads into a deep exploration of transformational leadership and the importance of developing strong, ethical leadership benches while nurturing authentic relationships with leaders. The conversation concludes with an exploration of ROI, and ways in which to quantify the qualitative data that shows the true value of leadership development.

135: The Wisdom of Ignorance

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 07:00:00 -0400

135: The Wisdom of Ignorance: In this time of unprecedented change, we crave for Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), human or AI, that can give us the answers. Alan Gregerman posits that this is the wrong path to the solution, and that ignorance is the wiser path forward. Alan, author of The Wisdom of Ignorance: Why Not Knowing Can Be the Key to Innovation in an Uncertain World (October 2025), joins host Brian Gorman to discuss the importance of embracing ignorance and the need for leaders to adapt and learn new skills. The ignorance he favors is not contentment in not knowing. Rather, Alan emphasizes the value of “enlightened ignorance,” being passionate and curious when approaching the unknown, which can lead to fresh perspectives and innovative solutions.

134: Leadership in the Trades

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 07:00:00 -0400

Looking for differences somehow makes it easier. From this perspective, leading in white collar organizations must be different than leading blue collar workers. But it's not. In this episode of Qonversations, Traci Austin, Chief Talent Officer of Elevated Talent Consulting, joins host Brian Gorman to share the lessons that she has learned over decades of working with and supporting leaders in the trades. The bottom line: people are people. Whether in the factory, the warehouse, the construction site, the office, or the laboratory, they want the same things for themselves and from their leaders.

133: What Got You Here...

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 07:00:00 -0400

Long ago, Albert Einstein said, “The thinking that got us to where we are is not the thinking that will get us to where we want to be.” Today, that is truer than ever. While his focus is on “scaling businesses and scaling leaders,” the lessons that Loic Potjes shares in this episode are true for any leader looking to take their organization to a different place in the future. Loic, the Managing Partner of Disruptive Leap, joins host Brian Gorman to challenge leaders who think that their current approach will successfully guide their organizations going forward.

132: Leadership That Wins

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 07:00:00 -0400

Leadership that wins is leadership that recognizes, builds relationships with, and values others. While You Win Again, Jack: The Story of a Man Who Stopped Needing to Win, and Finally Did is fiction, it is rich with lessons learned by author Scott DeLong. This is not a book to be read so much as a book to be reflected on. In this episode, Scott joins host Brian Gorman to discuss some of the many lessons he learned on his leadership journey, ranging from the reason that Scott likes meetings, to the sacredness of 1:1 meetings, to the importance of building connections that convey the energy and the soul of the other. This is a podcast that invites you to think about how you are showing up as a leader, and ways in which you might show up differently to offer others the experience of leadership that wins. You Win Again, Jack is scheduled for release November 1, 2025.

131: Perseverance and Grit with Ziah Miller

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 07:00:00 -0400

On Qonversations, we always try to connect our listeners with our guests. After all, conversations don’t happen between a book and the host or a leader and the host; they happen between two people. That said, most of the time the focus of the conversation is not on the guest, but on the topic. On this episode, we turn our attention totally to our guest, Ziah Miller. Because their parents believed the world was going to end, Ziah and his seven siblings were raised without any education. He didn’t learn to read or write until the age of fourteen. Today, Ziah is a successful author, game director, and “digital alchemist.” Ziah and host Brian Gorman take a walk from Ziah’s childhood, to homelessness, to public schools, art school and software engineering certification, to his career today. Whether you are just thinking about a career, well into your working years, or wondering what comes next, Ziah’s very personal story holds lessons to help you along the way.

130: Developing Servant Leaders at Scale

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 08:24:29 -0400

Max Klau, the guest for Qonversations Episode 35, returns to discuss his soon to be published book, Developing Servant Leaders at Scale: How To Do It and Why It Matters. Through his coaching, writing, and speaking, host Brian Gorman often makes the point that one of the responsibilities of leaders is to develop other leaders. Max has spent decades intentionally doing so. In this thought-provoking conversation, Max and Brian explore what is required to develop the knowledge, doing, and especially the being that is at the core of servant leadership. From Max’s experience, reflection is core to the inner work required to become a servant leader. Creating and holding the space for that inner work is only possible when a leader serves as the host to those they are leading rather than as their hero.

129: Leadership, Social Wellbeing, and the Future of Work

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 07:00:00 -0400

In their book Engaging Teams: How to Use Social Wellbeing to Boost Performance, Retention, and Culture, Nick Smallman and Dan Parry dive into the importance of social wellbeing in today’s organizations. Nick and host Brian Gorman explore the importance of leaders knowing the people they are leading, and not just the roles that those people play. The Industrial Age perception of people who are interchangeable and replaceable when they burn out is challenged, as Nick and Brian discuss the leader’s role in creating a culture that fosters wellbeing.

128: Strategy. Culture. Legacy.

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 10:03:58 -0400

Whether you are a solopreneur or the leader of a global enterprise, every day, you are shaping your legacy. Alex Brueckmann, author of Strategy Legacy: How to Future-Proof a Business and Leave Your Mark, sets legacy as the framework for addressing what he identifies as the two primary responsibilities of a leader: strategy and culture. Citing the leader’s role in shaping organizational culture, Alex challenges leaders to not accept the culture that is, but to take responsibility to shape the culture needed to execute true strategy. In his conversation with host Brian Gorman, he also challenges the approach many organizations take to strategy, pointing out that while they label planning and budgeting as strategy, it is not.

127: Clear and Compelling Communication

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 07:00:00 -0400

Today’s guest is Salvatore Manzi, a leadership communications coach with over 20 years of experience helping technical, analytical, and data-driven leaders amplify their impact. With emphasis on frameworks, principles, and techniques, Salvatore empowers leaders to connect authentically and navigate high-stakes engagements with confidence. He’s an introvert who learned how to harness the power of the spotlight and has a passion for building inclusive, high-performing team environments through effective communication. In this episode, Salvatore and host Brian Gorman focus on specific ways in which leaders can either undermine their message or ensure that it is effectively delivered.

126: Leaders Embracing Humanity

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 07:00:00 -0400

Dr. Cynthia Bentzen-Mercer is a human capital strategist, coach, speaker, and author. In her LinkedIn profile, she writes “I work at the intersection of strategy and soul.” In this episode of "Qonversations," host Brian Gorman and Cynthia discuss the critical importance of leaders embracing humanity, aligning individual purpose with organizational roles, the importance of authenticity and psychological safety in leadership, and how leaders can help teams unlock their full potential. Cynthia introduces her concept of "moving the line" to foster greater humanity at work and previews her upcoming book, "Human Capital Investment Strategy."

125: ideas Outside the Box

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 07:00:00 -0400

The world of work is changing at an ever-accelerating rate. In this episode, Ted Whetstone, executive coach, thought leader, and “fellow philosopher on the road of life,” joins host Brian Gorman to explore new ideas on how to successfully lead through the changes we are experiencing. Along the way, they explore organizational design, the work week, innovation, thinking differently about what we sell, the very nature of leadership, and much more.

124: The Next Workplace Revolution

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 29 May 2025 07:00:00 -0400

It isn’t a possibility. It isn’t a probability. It isn’t some far-off science fiction fantasy thing. We are in it now. The challenge, from the C-suite to the front line, is “How do I ensure not just that I (and my organization) survive, but that we thrive?” In this episode, Nicole Doyle, entrepreneur, start-up advisor, and Founder of Aspir joins host Brian Gorman to begin to answer these questions. Along the way, they discuss the disruptors that are on the horizon, the growing importance of investing in people (not just technology), and some of the key actions that organizational leaders as well as individual contributors can take to improve the chances of success moving forward.

Nicole Doyle is a Strategic People Operations leader with over 10 years experience hiring and leading and 6 years experience driving growth at fast-scaling Series A/B startups. Proven track record of building successful teams, developing global compensation strategies that ensure equity, and building scalable HR infrastructures that align with business objectives. Expert in leadership hiring, global expansion, diversity & inclusion initiatives, and data-driven decision-making to foster high-performing cultures.

Brian Gorman is a speaker, author, podcast host and founder and lead coach at TransformingLives.Coach. A maverick coach, Brian guides those who are forging the way forward from the Industrial Age into the Digital Age. You can email Brian (Brian@TransformingLives.Coach) and learn more about his work on his website TransformingLives.Coach.

123: Leader. Communicator. Coach.

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 22 May 2025 07:00:00 -0400

If you are a leader, your success is dependent on your ability to effectively communicate with those who report to you. And your ability to successfully communicate with those who report to you is highly dependent on bringing a coach approach to your leadership. In this episode, communication coach Chris Marr joins host Brian Gorman to explore the changing role of leaders and the importance of coaching as a critical leadership tool.

Chris Marr is the author of Becoming an Authoritative Coach: Stop People Pleasing, Challenge Your Clients, and Be Indispensable. With thousands of hours devoted to coaching an expansive range of companies, from nimble startups to 7 and 8-figure enterprises, he has unequivocally established himself as a leading expert in the field. Beyond his extensive portfolio in coaching, Chris is a dedicated Stoic Practitioner and Philosopher. His fascination with human behaviour is not a mere interest but a lifelong commitment to understanding the intricacies of human potential.

122: Leading Into the Digital Age

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 08 May 2025 07:00:00 -0400

Every day, Liz Weber, Advisor to Executives and Boards, encounters the challenges that leaders are facing as they seek to guide their organizations into the Digital age. In this episode, Liz joins host Brian Gorman to explore those behaviors that continue to serve leaders well as they move out of the Industrial Age model of leadership as well as the significant shifts in mindset and behavior that leaders at all levels – from the front lines to the Boards of Directors – need to make to successfully make this transformational transition.

Liz Weber has been helping businesses strengthen their leadership and improve their processes for over 20 years. She has been named a Top 30 Global Guru on Leadership, a Leadership Influencer to Watch, an HR Influencer to Watch, and a Culture Change Champion. Liz is acutely attuned to the shifting dynamics of Industrial Age to Digital Age leadership, and is intently focused on helping leaders and Boards think differently. Weber Business Services, LLC (WBS) is a management consulting firm that specializes in strategic planning, succession planning and leadership development.

Brian Gorman is a speaker, author, podcast host and founder and lead coach at TransformingLives.Coach. He identifies as a maverick coach, guiding those who are forging the way as leaders in the 21^st century. You can email Brian (Brian@TransformingLives.Coach) and learn more about his work on his website TransformingLives.Coach.

121: Nobody Is Smarter Than Everybody

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 01 May 2025 07:00:00 -0400

In his book Nobody Is Smarter Than Everybody: Why Self-Managing Teams Make Better Decisions and Deliver Extraordinary Results, Rod Collins builds on the premise that “the digital revolution is far more than a technology revolution. It is also a sociological revolution that has generated an unprecedented capacity for mass collaboration and created new possibilities in how humans work together.” Under his leadership as the Chief Operating Executive of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal Employee Program, one of the nation's largest and most successful business alliances, the company experienced its greatest five-year growth period in its 60-year history. Realizing that his title gave him no actual authority over the actions of the various member organizations, Rod developed and evolved a process to draw from their collective wisdom in ways that generated incredible performance improvements. In this episode, Rod and host Brian Gorman explore the organizational implications of the evidence that “no one is smarter than everyone.”

Rod Collins is an author, keynote speaker, and leadership coach. He is a leading expert and thought leader on the future of business transformation. Rod’s books, blogs, and speeches inspire through their use of storytelling and leading-edge ideas.

120: If Your Culture Could Talk

Brian Gorman, Host — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 07:00:00 -0400

Your organization has a culture. You can be intentional about continuously shaping it or allow it to evolve and see what happens. You can also reshape it. In this episode of Qonversations, Tom Krause, Ph.D., and author of If Your Culture Could Talk, joins host Brian Gorman to delve into the hard truths about culture. They explore the cost of misalignment between what is said and the behavior of leaders as well as the five essential building blocks to make culture change efforts more effective. Spoiler alert: they are “soft skills.”

Thomas R. Krause, Ph.D. is a world-renowned thought leader focused on decision making, leadership, and behavior in the creation of positive organizational culture. He has designed culture change interventions in the service of the prevention of catastrophic events, and fatalities, including the space shuttle Columbia disaster. Tom is the founder of Behavioral Science Technology, Inc. and Chairman of the Krause Bell Group.

119: Free Birds Revolution - 2 of 2

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 07:00:00 -0400

Miles Everson, CEO of MBO Partners and author of Free Birds Revolution: The Future of Work and the Independent Mind of a Free Bird, and host Brian Gorman continue their conversation with a focus on the mind of a free bird. This includes an examination of the differences in the mindsets of traditional employees vs. free birds, the differences in how they spend their time on the job, and the differences in how they evaluate such things as their relationship between work and life outside of work, their sense of fulfillment, and even their sense of financial security.

Miles Everson is a proven business builder and industry leader and disrupter of the status quo. Since 2019 he has served as the Chief Executive Officer at MBO Partners, the definitive market leader in enabling the future of work and improving the well-being of professionals and businesses throughout the world. Prior to MBO Partners, Miles held several senior roles with PwC over 30 years as Global Advisory and Consulting CEO, leading the company’s Asia Pacific and Americas Advisory and Consulting businesses, eventually becoming the U.S. Advisory/Consulting Vice Chairman. Miles led the first globalization for the Advisory/Consulting practice across the PwC enterprise.

118: Free Birds Revolution - 1 of 2

Brian Gorman, Host — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 07:00:00 -0400

118: Free Birds Revolution – 1 of 2: Miles Everson, CEO of MBO Partners and author of Free Birds Revolution: The Future of Work and the Independent Mind of a Free Bird, doesn’t mind challenging conventional thinking. And when he does, he has the data, and the examples, to support what he is saying. In this episode of Qonversations, Miles and host Brian Gorman explore Part 1 of Miles’ book, focusing on the six forces driving a larger and larger portion of the workforce, including the best and the brightest, from “employed” to “free bird” status. Miles also discusses the ways in which businesses need to rewrite the contract between those who work for them, whether they are employees on the payroll or contractors.

117: The Power of Quiet People

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 09:54:03 -0400

At nine pages, this may be the smallest business book you ever read. That said, it is also one worth re-reading from time to time. In changing the label from “introverts” to “quiet people,” Luke Tobin opens our eyes to the many powers that these individuals bring to the workplace, and to life more generally.

Luke, author of The Power of Quiet People (In a World That Favours Loudness), focuses on seven such powers. In this episode of Qonversations, Luke and host Brian Gorman (both of whom identify as quiet people themselves) explore those powers from both the perspective of the quiet person and that of the person who tends to be louder. In doing so, they share some of their own stories as they examine ways in which quiet people contribute to better outcomes when invited to do so. (15 minutes)

Luke Tobin is a dynamic entrepreneur and accomplished business leader with a proven track record of success across multiple industries. As a 3x exited founder, Luke has demonstrated his ability to build and scale businesses effectively. Currently, Luke is the driving force behind Tobin Capital, a venture capital firm reshaping the old VC model with a fresh, innovative approach to investing. . Luke Tobin’s entrepreneurial journey is marked by his strategic vision, international growth, and consistent delivery of exceptional business results. You can learn more about Luke on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/luketobin/) and on his websites: www.luketobin.com and www.tobincapital.co.uk The Power of Quiet People is available at no cost here.

116: Analogies for Leaders

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 11:05:31 -0400

Sometimes, we can be our own best teachers. We’ve all had leaders we trust, and those we don’t. If we’re lucky, we’ve had leaders we would follow anywhere, and those we would avoid at all costs the next time around. We’ve all had leaders that nurture us and do everything possible to help us grow and succeed, and leaders who want to ensure their own place on the organization chart by holding us down. Reflecting on our leadership experiences and comparing it to our own leadership approach can be enlightening and help us grow into the leader we want to be.

In his book Don’t Just Have the Soup, Alan Heymann provides 52 analogies “for leadership, coaching, and life.” The analogies touch on everyday experiences such as being brought soup instead of salad at a restaurant, elevator rides, road trips, and even the everything you can eat buffet. As they explore several of Alan’s analogies, he and host Brian Gorman give us something else to reflect on…how these experiences we have every day that can serve as analogies to guide and inform how we lead.

Alan Heymann is a speaker, facilitator, Georgetown faculty member, “introvert whisperer,” and recovering journalist and lawyer. You can find Alan on LinkedIn, as well as his own website: peacefuldirection.com.

115: Rethinking 21st Century Organizational Design and Leadership

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 07:00:00 -0500

The prevailing organizational design model remains the top-down org chart. While some have made adjustments (removing layers, adding “matrixed” relationships), It continues to remain an industrial-age approach to structuring and leading organizations. In today’s episode, Jeffrey Beeson, author of Network Leadership, brings a refreshingly new approach to organizational design and leadership. He and host Brian Gorman explore networked organizations and networked leadership. Drawing on network science, Beeson introduces a few of the underlying principals of the networks we all live and function in every day, and how those apply to organizational life. (30 minutes)

Jeffrey Beeson is a pioneer of Network Leadership - an approach to leadership that relies on the power of connections. He is convinced that groundbreaking innovation can only come from the power of networks. The founder of Ensemble Enabler, he and his team enable companies to leverage the strengths of their employees and gradually transition themselves into network organizations.

(value@ensembleenabler.com)

Brian Gorman is a speaker, author, podcast host and founder and lead coach at TransformingLives.Coach. He identifies as a maverick coach, guiding those who are forging the way as leaders in the 21^st century. TransformingLives.Coach Brian@TransformingLives.Coach

114: Relationships at Work

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 07:00:00 -0500

Morag Barrett (SkyeTeam.com) joins host Brian Gorman to explore the importance of establishing person-to-person relationships across the workplace. Morag shares the results of years of research globally, including “the four yesses.” “Can I count on you?” “Can I depend on you?” “Do I care about you?” and “Do I trust you?” Reflect on someone you have worked with that you would answer yes to each of those four questions. How would you describe that person? What can you learn from that reflection? We can all strengthen our relationships at work. This podcast will help give you the tools to do so.

Morag Barrett is an executive coach and leadership expert who helps leaders achieve outstanding results through the power of their professional relationships. At last count Morag and her company SkyeTeam have supported the development of more than 10,000 leaders from 20 countries and on 6 continents. She’s the award-winning author of three books: Cultivate: The Power of Winning Relationships; The Future-Proof Workplace; and her latest book You, Me, We: Why we all need a friend at work (and how to show up as one!). You can take SkyTeam’s Ally Assessment here.

Brian Gorman is a speaker, author, podcast host and founder and lead coach at TransformingLives.Coach. He identifies as a maverick coach, guiding those who are forging the way as leaders in the 21^st century. TransformingLives.Coach Brian@TransformingLives.Coach (28 minutes)

113: Be Different

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 07:00:00 -0500

Retired Navy SEAL Commander, corporate CEO, and author Marty Strong returns to discuss his recently published book, Be Different: How Navy Seals and Entrepreneurs Bend, Break, or Ignore the Rules to Get Results! Marty and host Brian Gorman explore what it means to be different and why it is so important in today’s turbulent and ever-changing world.

Marty Strong is a combat veteran of the U.S. Navy SEAL Teams and holds an undergraduate degree in Business Administration and a graduate degree in Management. He is also a graduate of Villanova University’s Master Black Belt, Lean Six Sigma program. Aside from his CEO duties, Marty enjoys providing virtual mentoring and coaching services for executives and speaking professionally about crisis leadership, strategic vision, and creativity.

Brian Gorman is a speaker, author, podcast host and founder and lead coach at TransformingLives.Coach. He identifies as a maverick coach, guiding those who are forging the way as leaders in the 21^st century. TransformingLives.Coach Brian@TransformingLives.Coach

112: Change Leadership Is Changing

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 12:11:14 -0500

Despite continuing calls to “return to work,” there is growing evidence that the relationship of people to their work, the nature of that work, and the workplace itself are continuing to change. Guest Serena Diamond and host Brian Gorman bring their decades of experience in organizational change management and leadership to the fore as they look at the impact that these shifting forces are having on what is required to successfully lead change today.

Serena Diamond is the founder of Diamond Solutions Group, LLC. Diamond Solutions Group provides support to leaders as they move their organizations through change. Services include project and program management, facilitation, training, and change management. SDiamond1009@gmail.com

Brian Gorman is a speaker, author, podcast host, and founder and lead coach at TransformingLives.Coach. He identifies as a maverick coach, guiding those who are forging the way as leaders in the 21^st century. Brian@TransformingLives.Coach

111: The Future of Leadership

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 07:00:00 -0500

In his 2015 TEDx talk “Stop Managing, Start Leading,” now viewed over 2.5 million times, Hamza Khan was prescient in how he described the future of leadership. A great deal of how he led then and continues to lead today became common practice during the pandemic. Today, we hear calls to reverse some of those trends. In this episode, Hamza joins host Brian Gorman to revisit that TEDx talk, trace the changes in leadership over the last decade, and discuss what the future of leadership holds.

Hamza Khan is the Co-Founder & Chief Evangelist of SkillsCamp and the best-selling author of "Leadership, Reinvented: How to Foster Empathy, servitude, Diversity, and Innovation in the Workplace." HamzaKhan.Ca Hamza@HamzaKhan.Ca

Brian is a speaker, author, podcast host, and founder and lead coach at TransformingLives.Coach. He identifies as a maverick coach, guiding those who are forging the way as leaders in the 21^st century. TransformingLives.Coach Brian@TransformingLives.Coach

110: When We Turn Weakness Into Strength

Brian Gorman, Host — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 07:00:00 -0500

“I think growing up…stuttering was a massive advantage.” Michael Thompson didn’t think so at the time, but looking back, he realizes it now. In this episode, Michael and host Brian Gorman explore a few of the many lessons that Michael has to offer in his book Shy By Design. Michael tells the story of why he chose to enter sales, and how he responded when, as the new leader of a sales team one of members walked out of the first team meeting he was leading because he didn’t want to work for a stutterer. Michael and Brian discuss the importance of networks and connections at multiple levels and delve into how to leverage those things that can hold us back so that they help to propel us forward.

Michael (Michael.Thompson1978@gmail.com) is the author of Shy by Design: 12 Timeless Principles to Quietly Stand Out. A career coach, leadership lecturer, and communication strategist featured in Business Insider, MSN, and Fast Company, Michael and his family live outside Barcelona. Brian is founder of TransformingLives.Coach. He identifies as a maverick coach, guiding those who are forging the way as leaders in the 21^st century. (Brian@TransformingLives.Coach)

109: Neurodiversity In the Workplace

Brian Gorman, Host — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 07:00:00 -0500

While we too rarely acknowledge it, neurodiversity is already in the workplace. Whether one accepts the data that 20% of the workforce is neurodiverse, or the much higher 52% self-reporting in Gen Z, it is important to become intentional about addressing neurodiversity in the workplace. Stina Borth joins host Brian Gorman to address how to interview neurodivergent individuals, how to set them up for success, and some of the benefits of creating a more neurodiverse team. Every leader can benefit from Stina’s practical counsel.

Stina is Founder and CEO of Keymaker Services (Stina@KeymakerServices.com, https://keymakerservices.com). Brian is founder and leadership and transformation coach at TransformingLives.Coach. (Brian@TransformingLives.Coach)

108: Life Lessons for Leaders

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 07:00:00 -0500

DeVon Hankins journey went from a farm in rural Missouri to college to Washington, DC, Toyota, state and city government, and even passed through the enlisted and officer ranks of the US military. In this episode, Devon joins host Brian Gorman to share her stories and the leadership lessons she has learned, lessons that are important to every leader today.

DeVon is CEO of Ascension Strategies (info@ascensionstrat.com, https://www.ascensionstrat.com). Brian is the founder and leadership coach at TransformingLives.Coach (Brian@Transforminglives.Coach)

107: Running for Success

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 09:23:49 -0500

Luis Hernandez, host of The Wayfinder Show, was a real estate agent when the financial crisis of 2008 hit. It cost Luis his job and his home but helped him find running. In this episode, Luis and host Brian Gorman explore Luis’ journey into running, the lessons he has learned, and how they have helped in turning his life around. This is a personal story and one worth reflecting on. What is your version of “running for success?”

106: Blocked to Unblocked

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 07:00:00 -0400

There are numerous ways an organization can be blocked from achieving its potential. In this episode, Jurriaan Kamer, author of Unblock: Clear the Way for Results and Develop a Thriving Organization, joins host Brian Gorman to discuss three of these: unblocking strategy, unblocking ownership, and unblocking meetings.

105: Cross-Cultural Leadership

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 07:00:00 -0400

The ability to lead across cultures is important to every leader today, whether or not you are leading across borders. In this episode, Quantuvos coach Carmela O’Flaherty joins host Brian Gorman to explore the challenges of cross-cultural leadership and to offer approaches to mitigating those challenges.

104: Be Visionary

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 07:00:00 -0400

The future isn’t what it used to be. In this episode, Marty Strong, retired SEAL commander, corporate executive, and author of Be Visionary: Strategic Leadership in the Age of Optimization, makes the case for visionary leadership at all levels, and in all parts, of organizational life. He and host Brian Gorman discuss the focus on optimization found in most organizations, and how that leaves them unprepared for the inevitable opportunities and disruptions that are on the horizon.

103: Intentional Networking

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 07:00:00 -0400

What is your experience with networking events? For many of us, the experience is rarely what we had hoped it would be, nor are the results. In this episode, Rob Giardinelli, founder of Intentional Networking provides insights to both networkers and leaders as to how to get the most out of these events.

102: Success by Design

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 03 Oct 2024 09:18:07 -0400

You may well see yourself in the life being lived by Stephanie Woodward. Stephanie, author of The Big Scale Back: Success and Balance by Your Own Design, joins host Brian Gorman to describe a work life with few boundaries and many sacrifices. Steph lives a different life now; during this episode she describes why and how she learned to bring both success and balance into her life.

101: Future-Focused Leadership

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 09:56:26 -0400

Guest Louise Mowbray, author of Relevant: Future-Focused Leadership, shares her insights on the changing nature of the workplace, the workforce, and work itself in this conversation with host Brian Gorman.

100: The AI-Human Skills Connection

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 07:00:00 -0400

Nada R. Sanders, co-author of The Humachine: AI, Human Virtues, and the Superintelligent Enterprise (Second Edition) joins host Brian Gorman to explore the integration of artificial intelligence into business. What emerges from the conversation are significant insights into how to successfully achieve the integration of Artificial Intelligence with humans as well as some of the ways in which even now, organizations are heading down the wrong path.

099: Intentional Communication for Leaders

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 09:54:27 -0400

It may be that our old styles of communication in the workplace weren’t as effective as we thought. What is definitely true is, if we are continuing to communicate in those ways today, it is unlikely that they are being received in the way that we intend. Caroline Kealey, international consultant and trainer on corporate communication strategy joins host Brian Gorman to share what she has learned about the changing ways of communication in today’s workplace.

098: The Middle Matters

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 10:13:17 -0400

Jeff Sigel, author of The Middle Matters: A Toolkit for Middle Managers, shares the lessons that he has learned in his years of “middle management.” He defines the role of the middle – ranging from frontline leaders to just below the C-suite – as a blend of doing, leading, and influencing. In this conversation, Jeff and host Brian Gorman explore what it takes to be a successful middle manager.

097: Purpose Matters

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 07:00:00 -0400

Gabe DeRita, a self-described “Goal Whisperer and Connections Nerd,” joins host Brian Gorman to share his unique insights on moving past superficial objectives and discovering goals that resonate deeply with our authentic selves. As a “Connections Nerd” Gabe thrives on helping others create deep, meaningful relationships and understand the dynamics of personal and professional connections. This reflective conversation offers insights for all of us on finding and connecting to our purpose, as well as to others.

096: Storytelling for Leaders

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 07:00:00 -0400

You are an incredible storyteller! We all are. In this episode, Donna Schwarz of Schwarz Consultants joins host Brian Gorman to discuss the importance of story, the role story plays in our relationships and our leadership, and what comprises an effective story. Donna also shares a simple framework that will allow you to craft powerful stories in minutes. You still don’t think you’re a good storyteller? That’s a story you are telling yourself! Change the story and build your storytelling mastery.

095: The Gift In Fear

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 07:00:00 -0400

What is the gift that fear brings? In this episode, Fletcher Ellingson, author of The Practice of Feeling Good: How to Upgrade Your Thinking and Live a Feelgood Life and host Brian Gorman explore ways in which we can take control of our thinking, what is at the core of fear, and much more. They also get into an important discussion on the universality of values and what is really important about them.

094: Toxic Leadership

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 07:00:00 -0400

095: Toxic Leadership – Toxicity in leadership is contagious. In this episode, Sean Lemson, author of One Drop of Poison: How One Bad Leader Can Slowly Kill Your Company, points out that it doesn’t matter that most toxic behavior is not intentional; it’s impact drives up turnover while pulling down engagement, performance, and morale. Sean and host Brian Gorman explore different forms of toxic leadership as well as ways in which it can be turned around. Sean also offers an alternative approach to the role of Human Resources in the future.

093: Leadership Improv

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 07:00:00 -0400

In this episode of Qonversations, host Brian Gorman talks with Betsy Salkind and Amy Warshawsky from BNA Mentor Coaching about the dynamic world of “leadership improv.” Improv, rooted in spontaneity and skillful listening, involves principles like saying "yes and," techniques such as “skillful interrupting,” and embracing mistakes. They emphasized the importance of frameworks and feedback in developing leadership skills, urging leaders to embrace agility and create environments conducive to growth and innovation. Betsy and Brian demonstrate 3-word coaching, a unique approach for leaders to deepen their coaching conversations.

092: Next Level Listening

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 07:00:00 -0400

Hearing and listening are not the same, yet all too often, we act as if they are. Listening is a skill that can be, and deserves to be, intentionally developed. In this episode, Quantuvos coach, speaker, and workshop facilitator Bradley James Davies and host Brian Gorman discuss Bradley’s approach to “next level listening.” Bradley shares important “does and don’ts” of listening that his research and experience have uncovered.

091: The Accessibility Advantage

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 07:00:00 -0400

One place that too many organizations continue to fall short is in their response to those who are differently abled. In this episode, accessibility expert Max Ivey (“the blind blogger”) joins host Brian Gorman to explore the ongoing challenges that those labeled “disabled” face and the costs that they, our organizations, and society pay. They also discuss ways in which providing accessibility can have a significant return on investment.

090: Learning in Today's Work Environment

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 07:00:00 -0400

Author JD Dillon (The Modern Learning Ecosystem) and host Brian Gorman explore ways in which the shifting workforce requires changes in how learning is approached in the workplace. While the role of the Learning and Development (Training and Development) function isn’t diminished, how their services are delivered requires significant recalibration. Likewise, leaders at every level hold a significantly more important role in the development of those who report to them.

089: Well Being in the Workplace

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 07:00:00 -0400

It turns out that well being in the workplace is not about gym memberships and yoga breaks. It is about the organizational culture and the relationships that leaders have with those they are leading. In this episode, Scott Taylor, Professor of Organizational Behavior at Babson College, joins host Brian Gorman to shed light on the role leaders play in ensuring well being in the workplace and the impact that it has on performance. Along the way, they share insights on ways leaders can strengthen the well being of those who report to them.

088: Change That Inspires a Better Future

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 07:00:00 -0400

Discovery is a process, not an event. In her book "The Untapped Power of Discovery: How to Create Change that Inspires a Better Future," Karen Golden-Biddle shares her research on the discovery process as well as case studies on how to successfully make it an integral part of the change process. Karen and host Brian Gorman explore the discovery process at the heart of Karen's work in this thought-provoking episode.

087: Gen Z in the Workplace

Brian Gorman, Host — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 07:00:00 -0400

40% of Gen Z leave their jobs within 2 years, whether or not they have another job offer. As a leader, you can significantly beat these odds with your Gen Z employees. In this episode, Future of Work Expert Luke Goetting joins host Brian Gorman to share significant insights on Gen Z in the workplace, the unique value they bring, and what leaders can do to ensure that they remain engaged and productive.

086: Mental Health at Work

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 07:00:00 -0400

One in five people in North America is living with a mental health issue. These are family members, friends, co-workers, team members, leaders. Mental health is a significant challenge in the workplace. And yet it is a challenge that too often goes unaddressed. In this episode, Christine Burych, founder of StarlingBrook, joins host Brian Gorman to discuss the challenges of mental health in work, the risks of failing to address those challenges, and ways in which to do so.

085: The Power of Choice

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 07:00:00 -0400

Born to a drug-addicted teenage mother, Victoria Pelletier's life could have turned out very differently. In this conversation with host Brian Gorman, she shares stories of the adversities she has faced and the choices she has made. As she learned early in life, sometimes our choices serve as well and sometimes they don't. But there is always choice and opportunity to change the path we are on.

084: The Power of Differentiation

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 29 May 2024 07:00:00 -0400

How do you differentiate your business from the competition? In this episode, Barry LaBov, Founder and CEO of LaBov and author of "The Power of Differentiation" joins host Brian Gorman to explore why differentiation is important, who it is important to, how to discover (not create) your differentiation, and how to leverage it. Whether you are a CEO, a team leader, or anything in between, there are important lessons, and a few surprises, in this episode.

083: Mind Traps

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 22 May 2024 07:00:00 -0400

Whether you call them mind traps, gremlins, saboteurs, or imposter syndrome, we all experience this. And we all can move beyond it. In this episode, Quantuvos coach Paula Halewski joins host Brian Gorman to explore the origins of mind traps, their impact on us and those in our lives, and how to move from the reactive path they put us on to a more intentional, responsive path, changing our mindset and living more fully into our purpose.

082: Mastering Adaptability

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 15 May 2024 07:00:00 -0400

"Is your external environment moving faster than your internal environment?" With this question, Rich Alderton of High Performance Change makes the case for moving beyond change management and agility to create a culture of adaptability. Rich, the author of "Mastering Adaptability," joins host Brian Gorman to examine the importance of adaptability in today's disrupted world, what is required to be adaptable, how adaptability can be developed, and its impact on the bottom line.

081: A First Generation Journey

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 08 May 2024 07:00:00 -0400

When you are an immigrant and your parents are factory workers, your journey to a professional career is not assured. In this episode, Juan Taveres joins host Brian Gorman to tell the story of his journey from the Dominican community in Washington Heights (New York City) to Syracuse University, the hospitality and non-profit industries, and now to entrepreneurship. Along the way, Juan shares how each of us can support others who are on this journey. At Quantuvos, we believe that there is extraordinary in everyone. Juan's journey is testimony that even though it is not always easy, we each can discover and live into our purpose.

080: Leader as Coach

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 01 May 2024 07:00:00 -0400

If it's important for those you work with to do good thinking, bringing coaching skills into your conversations is key. In this episode, Claire Pedrick, Master Certified Coach, Founder of 3D Coaching, and author of "Simplifying Coaching" joins host Brian Gorman to explore the role that coaching skills can play in leadership, how and why to have coaching conversations, the importance of asking powerful questions, and how to coach up to build a coaching culture.

079: Art. Science. Leadership

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 07:00:00 -0400

On this episode, guests Fred Mandell and Harvey Seifter, Founders of Creating Futures That Work, bring to life the relationship between art, science, and leadership. While leadership literature often cites research, it rarely links leadership to art. Yet, in their work, Harvey and Fred connect the three. Great artists are scientists as well; great leaders are both scientists and artists. Each of us is creative. Creating a culture that unleashes the creativity of others will contribute to personal and professional growth as well as organizational success.

078: Leadership and Neuroscience

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 07:00:00 -0400

Burnout. Multi-tasking. Ongoing, long-term stress. Running on autopilot. More and more, these are norms that leaders and their teams experience. In this episode, neurosurgeon Gary Simonds joins host Brian Gorman to discuss the neuroscience behind these leadership challenges, their impacts on our brains, and what we can do to address them.

077: Interior Design of You

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 07:00:00 -0400

We are not just products of nature and nurture. We all have the capability of redesigning ourselves not to be someone else, but to become more fully ourselves. In this episode, Shana Francesca joins host Brian Gorman to share her journey from growing up in a cult to becoming an interior designer to becoming a speaker, consultant, workshop facilitator, and "scholar of intentional & ethical leadership & living." The lessons that Shana shares are ones that we all can benefit from both professionally and personally.

076: A Guide to High Performance

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 07:00:00 -0400

In his book "The 9th Stratum: Your Guide to High Performance," author Aaron Salko provides insights that everyone from the frontline to the C-suite can benefit from. During this episode, Aaron and host Brian Gorman examine the importance of being personal growth driven, disciplined in self-evaluation, altruism motivated, and goal driven in achieving high performance. The skills behind these traits, along with the psychological and physiological factors that make them so important, are also addressed.

075: Character

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 07:00:00 -0400

"To be effective, leaders need to draw on the C's: competencies, commitment, and character." Bill Furlong, co-author of "The Character Compass: Transforming Leadership for the 21st Century," joins host Brian Gorman to discuss what is meant by "character," what makes character so important in today's organizations, and the elements that comprise it. Character is about personal presence, how you show up. With intention and practice, it can be developed.

074: Three Outs for the Win

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 07:00:00 -0400

How do you avoid plateauing out as a leader? Aaron Trahan, Founder of Mindset Performance coaching, spent more than a decade researching that question. In this episode of Qonversations, Aaron and host Brian Gorman discuss the three "outs" Aaron has identified and how any leader can apply each of these in raising their performance: out-prepare, out-work, and out-learn. As Aaron explains, these are not leaders who are on the job 24/7. It is the mindset they bring, and how they live into their roles and relationships, that make the difference.

073: Leadership Is About People

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 07:00:00 -0400

Relationships at work advocate Russel Lolacher joins host Brian Gorman to explore leadership through the lens of relationships. Successfully moving from industrial age leadership to the digital/post-Covid environment requires leaders who understand, leadership is about people. #motivationai

072: DEI. Why?

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 07:00:00 -0500

In today's environment, DEI has once again become a topic of focus for business. Some organizations are cutting back or totally eliminating their DEI programs as others re-commit to building an environment in which every employee feels that they belong and that they have a voice. In this episode, Steve Yacovelli, author of "Pride Leadership: Strategies for the LGBTQ+ Leader to be the King Or Queen of Their Jungle," joins host Brian Gorman to explore the shifting landscape of DEI as well as the business - and human - benefits such programs offer.

071: Working with Resilience

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 07:00:00 -0500

Challenge is a constant in our lives. Resilience is the force that moves us through it. In this episode, Linda Hoopes, author of "Prosilience: Building Your Resilience for a Turbulent World," CEO of Resilience Alliance, and Quantuvos Advisor, joins host Brian Gorman for a practical discussion of resilience. Among the topics explored are the impact that resilience has in all areas of our lives; the energies that fuel resilience; and the ways that leaders can leverage - or disempower - the resilience of those in their teams.

070: Accounting for People

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 07:00:00 -0500

"People are our most valuable asset." Yet the only place people show up in an organization's financial statements is in expenses. Dave Bookbinder, Executive Director of Valuation Services for Haefele Flanagan, is working to change that. In this episode, Dave joins host Brian Gorman to discuss the challenges of accounting for people as well as the importance of doing so.

069: Rising Above What's Holding You Back

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 07:00:00 -0500

Don't judge a book by its cover. While "Level Up: Rise Above the Hidden Forces Holding Your Business Back" sounds like a book for entrepreneurs, it is so much more. Co-author Lara Hodgson, who wrote "Level Up" with Stacey Abrams, joins host Brian Gorman to discuss those aspects of leveling up that might be called "the hidden forces holding you back." Wherever you are in life, there are important lessons in this conversation.

068: Team Habits

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 07:00:00 -0500

In his book Team Habits: How Small Habits Lead to Extraordinary Results, Charlie Gilkey writes, "No matter your role in the company, you have the power to change your team's habits." Charlie joins host Brian Gorman to explore several of the habits that, if changed, will make a significant difference in the lives of those on your team, the impact of your team on the business, and the success that the business is able to achieve. Along the way, he discusses why even changing the habits of individual contributors can change how businesses are led and what they can accomplish.

067: Blending Life and Work

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 07:00:00 -0500

Kayla Ihrig, author of "How to Be a Digital Nomad," shares some important life lessons for all of us in this episode. In this far-ranging conversation with host Brian Gorman, Kayla moves beyond talking about "work-life balance" to discuss how each of us, whether in the workplace, working remotely, in a hybrid work environment, or working from anywhere, can create a richer blend of life and work.

066: Intelligent Innovation

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 07:00:00 -0500

As the world around us continues to change, if you are not innovating, at best you are struggling to keep up. In this episode of Qonversations, Bruno Pesec, Pesec Global, joins host Brian Gorman to discuss the leader's role in innovation along with what contributes to, and what hinders, innovation in the workplace.

065: Tell Your Stories in Your Outside Voice

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 07:00:00 -0500

Sara Lohse, Founder, Favorite Daughter Media, and host Brian Gorman share stories as they explore the power of story to connect us and the misuse of stories to pull us apart. We all have stories, and we are all powerful storytellers, but so often we limit ourselves and our ability to connect by thinking that our stories aren't worthy of sharing. As Sara and Brian discuss, they are, and they can change our lives when we do.

064: Women. Leadership. Success

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 07:00:00 -0500

In too many organizations, the playing field still disadvantages women. Quantuvos coach Daphne Jefferson, Half-Managed Mind CEO Charlotte Rooney, and host Brian Gorman explore the career challenges that women face. From advancing to that first "broken rung" in their careers, to senior-level positions, there are steps that women can take to claim their rightful identity and place. And there is both awareness and action that men can take to ensure the equitable treatment of their female colleagues.

063: Leveraging Belonging Rules

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 07:00:00 -0500

As a leader, how do you cultivate belonging in your organization? Brad Deutser, our guest for Episode 52, returns to discuss the second part of his book "Belonging Rules: Five Crucial Actions that Build Unity and Foster Performance." Brad and host Brian Gorman dig into the practical value of belonging and how you as a leader (even if you are only the "leader of you") can foster belonging for yourself and those around you.

062: Positive Communication

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 07:00:00 -0500

In this episode, Julien C. Mirivel and Alexander Lyon, authors of "Positive Communication for Leaders: Proven Strategies for Inspiring Unity and Effecting Change," join host Brian Gorman to discuss the importance of leadership communication and its impact on both individuals and the organization. Both the book and this conversation take a practical look on how leaders at all levels can shift their conversations to be more positive and more effective.

061: Your Brand at Work

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 07:00:00 -0500

You have a brand at work. Whether intentionally crafted or not, when people hear your name, receive an email or digital message from you, or see you on the screen or in person, your brand comes to mind. Quantuvos coach Rei Perovic joins host Brian Gorman to explore this often-overlooked topic. What goes into a personal brand? How do you shape it? What can you do to break that initial box, stereotype, bias that others project onto you the first time you encounter one another? These questions and more are answered in this insightful conversation.

060: The Next Leadership Team

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 07:00:00 -0500

There is no single solution for the best leadership team. That said, the extensive research of Thomas Keil and Marianna Zangrillo has resulted in important models for leadership teams that are best fitted for different types of organizations and different situations the organization is facing. Host Brian Gorman, Thomas, and Marianna explore several of the key messages that the authors present in "The Next Leadership Team: How to Select, Build, and Optimize Your Top Team."

059: Turning Points

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 07:00:00 -0500

We’ve all heard the saying, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” And we all encounter those forks; sometimes we see them coming, and sometimes we don’t. Janet Redwine, Olympic athlete and Director of Program Success for Executive Education in the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver, joins host Brian Gorman for this inquiry into aspirations vs. goals, recognizing turning points, and reflection on the past as you reach another turning point and move into the future.

058: Dancing with Disruption

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 07:00:00 -0500

The global impact of Covid serves as the backdrop for Jeff Skipper's "Dancing with Disruption: Leading Dramatic Change During Global Transformation." Jeff uses the pandemic and responses to it as a case study of twelve strategies for moving through change. In this conversation, Jeff and host Brian Gorman dive into several of those strategies and why they are so important regardless of the scale of the change being executed.

057: Leadership Development Vertically

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 07:00:00 -0500

When we think of leadership development, our attention turns to the skills that leaders need. But as important as those skills are, their value is limited if they are not applied with an appropriate level of leadership maturity. In this episode, Jessica Bronzert, Founder and CEO of Sparks Group, joins host Brian Gorman to discuss horizontal (skills) vs. vertical (maturity) development. The need for attention to vertical development continues to grow as the forces driving change in the workplace become increasingly powerful.

056: Design Your Life Your Way

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 07:00:00 -0500

We all have choice in how we live our lives; while the choices may not always be what we want, there still is choice. In this episode, Rahul Karan Sharma, author of Habits 4 Miracles: Design Your Life Your Way joins host Brian Gorman in an often-personal conversation about the choices we have and the habits we can develop to foster positive choices. Applying the lessons of this podcast has the potential to change the direction of your life.

055: The Power of Trust

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 07:00:00 -0500

At the heart of business success is trust: trust with those who work for the organization, with vendors, and with customers. In The Pyramid Puzzle, Zain Raj, Co-Founder of Shapiro, Raj, writes an engaging business novel about a long-term business that has lost trust. Raj and host Brian Gorman use The Pyramid Puzzle to discuss how trust can be lost and how it can be regained. Among the key messages: see the business through the lens of others and consistently deliver on your promise as they understand it.

054: What's Success for You

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 07:00:00 -0400

What are you seeking in your life? Grant Muller, author of Top of Heart left high school with the ambition and drive to achieve significance. By his late 20s, he was a tech industry millionaire, an alcoholic, and a junkie. As Grant says of that time in his life, "The success we achieve may not give us the fulfillment we are seeking." In this deeply personal and reflective episode, Grant joins host Brian Gorman to share his journey from a horse stable in Toronto, to an apartment overlooking the mountains of Colorado, to homelessness and living in a crack house he was afraid to leave, and fortunately to the recovery and fulfillment that now give his life meaning. There are lessons here for all of us.

053: Stories and Storytelling

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 07:00:00 -0400

You are an incredible storyteller! Every one of us is. And our brains are story processors, not logic processors. Richard Rosser is a filmmaker, author, and master storyteller. You probably know his work as a writer for 24, This is Us, Gray's Anatomy, the reboot of MacGyver, or elsewhere. Richard and host Brian Gorman explore why stories are so powerful and how to make the stories you tell others as impactful as the stories you tell yourself. Along the way, they share some of their own stories.

052: Belonging Rules

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 07:00:00 -0400

In his recently published book, Brad Deutser, founder and CEO of Deutser, asks leaders to "make cultivating belonging a personal leadership imperative across the world." In discussing "Belonging Rules: Five Crucial Actions that Build Unity and Foster Performance," Brad and host Brian Gorman explore human-centric leadership and the five rules for fostering belonging that Brad and his team have identified through extensive research and engagement with organizations globally.

051: Fixing Work

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 09:00:00 -0400

It's no fiction. Work is broken. We knew this before Covid, especially with low employee engagement. Coming out of Covid, workers told us even more strongly as they left their workplaces in unprecedented numbers. "Fixing Work" by David Henkin and Thomas Bertels is a recently published fictional account of very real problems that permeate today's workplace. David and Thomas join host Brian Gorman to explore how and why work is broken and what can be done to fix it.

050: Giving Voice to Women

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 10:00:00 -0400

Helping women grow their leadership presence is the mission of Sue Reynolds, owner of Carmine Media. Even today, both women and men are receiving messaging about “women’s place in the world.” Sue and host Brian Gorman reflect on the history of this messaging over the last four decades, how pervasive it continues to be, and how great an impact it has. The conversation also addresses ways in which supervisors can give voice not only to women but to any who are seen as “other” in the organization.

049: Jenga Culture

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 09:00:00 -0400

According to Alicia Howard, Founder of The People Scale, “Culture is like Jenga.” As leaders, every single move we make regarding our people is important. In this episode, Alicia and host Brian Gorman explore the important role of leaders in everything from hiring for the culture you are seeking to build or sustain to scaling your people, growing them, creating better leaders to scale profitability and to scale the business. Culture is creating the environment for people to do their best work. Leaders at every level of the organization are culture shapers and culture keepers. They either build the Jenga culture or topple it.

048: Intergenerational Conflict at Work

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 07:02:00 -0400

Everyone experiences friction in the workplace. Often, that friction is generated by the different lenses that different generations bring to work. Chris DeSantis, author of Why I Find You Irritating: Navigating Generational Friction at Work, joins host Brian Gorman to explore the realities and the myths about generational differences. Each generation brings value to the workplace. This conversation brings important insights to everybody who interacts with other generations whether on the job or elsewhere.

047: Speak Like the Leader You Are

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 07:00:00 -0400

What we are thinking affects our body posture, the words that we say, and the tone of our voice. All of these are elements of our speaking! In this episode, Emma Wainer, founder and CEO of Speaking at Work, joins host Brian Gorman in an exploration of what gets in the way of leaders who feel “other than” speaking as the leaders that they are. The conversation also addresses what the leaders of leaders who are “other than” should do to help those leaders speak fully as themselves.

046: Unlocking Potential and Inspiring Greatness

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 08:15:00 -0400

Unlocking Potential and Inspiring Greatness: According to Ben Grimes, Founder of BKG Leadership Coaching, leaders take care of their people, help them see their potential, and guide their growth. Ben and host Brian Gorman draw from their early military careers to discuss the impact a leader can have on the future of even the youngest of people they are leading and those whose lives those young people touch. Serving clients with grace and integrity is another important aspect of leadership explored in this episode.

045: Controlling Your Success at Work

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 07:00:00 -0400

This timely conversation begins with a focus on stress at work, the causes of that stress, and what serves to release it. Carole Stizza, Founder, Owner, and Executive Coach for Relevant Insight, joins host Brian Gorman to explore ways that we can support others in strengthening the control that they have over their success in the workplace. Along the way, they discuss a framework for defining the path to success as well as some of the myths about what success requires of leaders.

044: Culture Virtually

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 07:00:00 -0400

Since Covid, leaders have wrestled with how to sustain, build, and/or redefine a culture that is now either hybrid or fully virtual. Ron Ross, owner of Avant HR Solutions, joins host Brian Gorman to discuss this challenge. Intention, robust connection, listening, effective communication, and coaching are all important elements of leading in virtual cultures. During the conversation, Ron and Brian make the point that leaders need to begin by connecting with, listening to, and grounding themselves.

043: Trauma and the Workplace

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 07:00:00 -0400

Trauma is a real part of the human experience. Whether it happened in our youth or as an adult, in our personal life or our professional life, doesn’t really matter. Whether large or small, we carry our trauma inside us; its impact can be triggered at any time and by anyone. Founder and CEO for the Institute of Trauma and Psychological Safety Dr. Lee Cordell joins host Brian Gorman to reflect on the role of trauma inside of our organizations and how we as leaders can manage the environment as well as the individual and collective response to trauma.

042: Turning Any Workgroup into a High-Performing Team

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 07:00:00 -0400

Kevin Herring, Founder and President of Ascent Management Consulting, joins host Brian Gorman to discuss how to tap into the inherent desire people have to do a good job, generate a great result, and find meaning and purpose at work. While extrinsic motivation varies by individual and generation, intrinsic motivation remains constant. Kevin introduces “the five C’s” that he and his team have discovered: context, connection, control, commitment (vs. compliance), communication, and competence.

041: Success on Your Own Terms

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 07:00:00 -0400

This episode is an invitation for self-reflection. Quantuvos coach Emily Pasnak-Lapchick joins host Brian Gorman, asking listeners to consider the narratives that guide their lives. We all have narratives about career, education, relationship, family, and even where we live. Whether they are narratives of your own choosing or not, they may well be the right ones to live into. Or they may not be. If they are not, it is possible to “shake them off,” and to replace them with those that serve you. As Covid and the Great Resignation have shown so many, it is possible to live into success on your own terms.

040: IQ, EQ, AI, and the Future of Work

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 07:00:00 -0400

“Imagine a world where Artificial Intelligence harmonizes human interaction in workplaces, where technology doesn’t estrange but connects us more profoundly.” This is the future of work as envisioned by Manuj Aggarwal, Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of TetraNoodle Technologies, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity consulting firm. In this episode, Manuj joins host Brian Gorman to explore the present and future of AI. Along the way, they touch on everything from its impact on our daily lives (will driving become a thing of the past?) to our role as leaders in our organizations.

039: Looking at Life Differently

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 07:00:00 -0400

This is a challenging episode, and an episode focused on challenge. Tony Copeland-Parker’s partner of 23 years, Cat (Catherine), was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s and he needed open-heart valve replacement surgery; they were both in their fifties. Anthony’s decision was to look at his life differently. He left his position as a pilot and manager for UPS and Cat retired. They sold their home and began running marathons and half-marathons around the globe. Reflecting on Tony’s message offers you the opportunity to rethink your life’s priorities and to find the path to better live into your purpose.

038: Leadership Integrity

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 12 Jul 2023 07:00:00 -0400

Most would agree that leadership integrity is important to defining an organization’s culture and its future. In this episode, Quantuvos Advisor Donny Askin (Principal: TechTurn Consulting, Inc.; Partner/EVP: Newmine, LLC) joins host Brian Gorman to explore what integrity means and how to test your own integrity. Donny and Brian also discuss the cultural attributes that support integrity across your organization as well as the importance of knowing yourself, and of letting that self be known by those around you.

037: People-Centric Leadership

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 07:00:00 -0400

Very few organizations would disagree with the statement that people are their most important asset. As evidenced by the Great Resignation/Great Reshuffle, all too often, the people in those organizations don’t feel that is how leaders see them. In this episode, Lori Duguay, CEO of People Powered Solutions joins host Brian Gorman to discuss what needs to happen in order to ensure that “people are our most important asset” is at the heart of your organization’s culture. Among the key lessons shared is the importance of moving away from “human resources” and “employees” and working with, and for, people; and moving from command-and-control leadership to coaching, autonomy, and empowerment.

036: Bridging the Past and the Future – Edgewalkers

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 07:00:00 -0400

The past of work, whatever that was, is behind us. The present, with its disrupted work systems and work environments, is here. The future is ahead. For decades, Judi Neal, PhD (Yale, Organizational Behavior) has been a student of how to bridge past, present, and future. In this conversation, Judi and host Brian Gorman discuss “edgewalkers,” those people who are not content with the status quo and are aware of what is emerging. For organizations that want to move into the future in an intentional way, it’s important to welcome and hear your edgewalkers.

035: The Inner Journey of Leadership

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 21 Jun 2023 07:00:00 -0400

Integral Master Coach Max Klau joins host Brian Gorman to explore the relationship between change in the outer world and the change in the inner world. The focus of the conversation is not on leadership behaviors, but on the being of leadership. As Max says, “At the deepest level, our way of being calls forth the dynamic around us.” The inner journey of leadership is deeply personal. It requires courage and integrity. It is a never-ending journey that changes not only how you show up but also the experience of all those around you.

034: To Create the Life You Want

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 07:00:00 -0400

We can’t predict the future. Things happen. For Elizabeth (Ellie) Gould, those things included a home invasion by a psychopath threatening her life as well as the lives of her two- and four-year-old children that left her seriously injured, followed shortly after by a cancer diagnosis. In this science-based conversation, Ellie and host Brian Gorman challenge the focus on positive thinking and goals; Ellie doesn’t believe in either. Rather, she advocates for a focus on aims. The roles that emotions, our unconscious, patterns, and limiting beliefs play in shaping our future – and how to intentionally work with these elements to create the life you want - make this a life-changing episode of Qonversations.

033: Wise Beyond Your Field

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 07:00:00 -0400

What do college football, law enforcement, dance, software development, business school, Shakespearean theatre, healthcare, marketing, and high school have in common? In Boise, Idaho, members of each of these professions came together, learning the value of being “wise beyond your field.” Nancy Napier, Professor of Strategy at Boise State University and a self-described academic entrepreneur, joins host Brian Gorman to discuss how and why she brought this diverse group of professionals together to learn from one another and the value that each one gained from this experience.

032: Holding the Calm

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 31 May 2023 07:00:00 -0400

Our ability to think, problem solve, create, explore, converse, and more is much greater when we are coming from a place of calmness. Mediator and negotiator Hesha Abrams joins host Brian Gorman for this lively exploration of finding and holding the calm, even in challenging situations. Hesha describes ways in which holding the calm allows you to intentionally resolve conflict and defuse tension. Her analogies and stories will remain with you long after the episode ends.

031: Creativity and Leadership

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 24 May 2023 07:00:00 -0400

Creativity is not just for artists. It comes in all flavors. Rich Kirkpatrick, author of Mindblown: Unlock Your Creative Genius by Bridging Science and Magic, joins host Brian Gorman to discuss the integration of leadership and creativity. Creative thought requires both divergent and convergent thinking, as well as lateral thinking, to generate ideas, sort them, and find the integration points that allow us and our organizations to thrive.

030: The Whys and Ways of Group Coaching

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 17 May 2023 07:00:00 -0400

In this episode, Co-Founder and Chief Coaching Officer Margaret Brake and host Brian Gorman discuss Quantuvos’ approach to group coaching along with the benefits it delivers to both the participants and their organizations. Group coaching brings together individuals who share a common thread, whether it’s related to their roles (e.g., first time managers) or areas of leadership development important to the organization (e.g., becoming more skilled at tough conversations). Colleagues supporting one another as they learn to apply new mindsets and skills, as they build networks and community across organizational silos, and as they develop a shared sense of purpose, are just some of the elements of the ROI that is delivered through group coaching. When integrated with training and development and one-on-one coaching, even greater benefits can be attained.

029: Optimizing Virtual Leadership

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 10 May 2023 07:00:00 -0400

In 2008, Smart Destinations employed about 40 employees in HQ and satellite offices when the market crashed. Investors instructed leadership to close physical locations and send everyone home. As the recension ended, Smart Destinations was doing twice as much work with half the people at a significantly lower cost. Today, Smart Destinations co-founder Cecelia Dahl applies the lessons in virtual leadership that she learned during that time to run her businesses from a sailboat three months a year. In this episode, Cecelia and host Brian Gorman discuss what she has learned regarding a “productivity anywhere” leadership mindset and optimizing virtual leadership.

028: Empowered to Live Your Best Life

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 03 May 2023 07:00:00 -0400

Guest Sean Tyler Foley (child and adult actor, photogrammetrist, and serial entrepreneur) and host Brian Gorman (social activist, Air Force drill sergeant, fund raiser, management consultant, coach, and more) explore the importance of finding the common threads in our careers. Even if you have been in a single profession, industry, or with one employer for all your career, knowing what makes one role a grind and another feed your passion is invaluable. Whether considering a new position, a new career, or re-committing to more fully to your current position, there are insights in this podcast that are invaluable.

027: Building and Sustaining Your Networks

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 07:00:00 -0400

As is quoted in the intro to Qonversations, “everything happens through conversations.” Conversations build relationships, and relationships build networks. For extroverts, those conversations (whether at a networking event or elsewhere) come easily; for introverts, not so much. In this episode, Jeff Ton joins host Brian Gorman to explore how to build your professional network both within your organization and outside of it. As Jeff says, “whether in a transition or not, networks pay dividends.”

026: Leadership in the Experience Age

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 07:00:00 -0400

According to Ed Krow (Ed Krow, LLC), we have moved from the Information Age to the Experience Age. In this episode, Ed and host Brian Gorman address how to lead in the Experience Age, from recruiting and hiring (including hiring for the alignment of passion as well as hiring for skills), to becoming the workplace that no one wants to leave, to how to exit those who are ready to move on.

025: Leadership Lessons of a Yogi

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 07:00:00 -0400

Sun salutations. A landslide blocking a national highway. A shattered femur 14,000 feet above sea level. In this episode, Host Brian Gorman revisits these events and many others with Yogi Aaron, his longtime yoga instructor. In doing so, Aaron and Brian draw out leadership lessons that go far beyond the yoga studio and are applicable at all levels of both formal and informal leadership.

024: Working with Polarities

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 05 Apr 2023 07:00:00 -0400

All too often, we try to problem-solve by focusing on one side of the equation. Perhaps the challenge is being too directive, so we try to solve for “how can I be less directive.” The foundation of working with polarities is a recognition that there is a positive side to what is being identified as the problem; for example, being “directive” helps to ensure that the task is completed as needed. It is also acknowledging that there is an alternative pole that has its positive; for example, the other pole for “directive” might be “easy going.” In this episode, Quantuvos coach Cliff Kayser joins host Brian Gorman to discuss ways in which we can identify and then work with polarities to address the challenges that we and members of our teams face.

023: A New Lens on Change Leadership

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 07:00:00 -0400

Although she began her career as an engineer, Edwina (Ed) Pike, creator of Irrational Change, sees beyond organizational structures, systems, and processes. Inspired by Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely, Ed shifted her career and is now an internationally recognized thought leader in the field of change management. In this episode, she and host Brian Gorman explore the concept of irrational change in organizations, bringing non-traditional lenses including cultural anthropology and behavioral science to bear. The result is to offer a deeper understanding of how as leaders, influencers, and change management professionals we can bring about the changes that our organizations need to survive and to thrive.

022: Speaking About Talking

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 07:00:00 -0400

The words don’t always come out the way we want them to. Whether it’s that random conversation with a stranger or the opening to an important meeting, all too often, we find ourselves stumbling or just not saying it with the power and punch that we want to. Like everything else, strengthening our ability to deliver the messages we want orally requires practice. In this episode, Brenden Kumarasamy, Founder of MasterTalk, and host Brian Gorman, explore how to be prepared to answer any question that comes your way; how to speak with authority on all aspects of your work and career; and how to have at the tip of your tongue powerful stories that convey exactly the message that you want.

021: Keys to Catalytic Leadership

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 07:00:00 -0400

In his book Catalytic Leadership: 12 Keys to Becoming an Intentional Leader Who Makes a Difference, William Attaway defines a catalytic leader as “one who sparks or accelerates significant change or action with a powerful impact.” William joins Qonversations host Brian Gorman to discuss some of the less commonly addressed keys to powerful leadership including cultivating a teachable spirit, aspiring for proper productivity, leading yourself well, discovering how you are designed and wired to lead, and choosing to be family focused. Leaders at every level of organizational life can benefit from the insights that are shared during this conversation.

020: Influence and Influencers

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 07:00:00 -0500

Whether consciously or not, whether intentionally or not, each of us is influencing others all the time. Intentional influencers exist at all levels of our organizations, from the front lines to the C-suite. In this episode, Quantuvos coach Rick Cartor joins host Brian Gorman to explore influence and influencers.

019: Disruption, Collaboration, Culture, and Clients

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 07:00:00 -0500

This conversation with Peter Anthony (Peter Anthony Consulting) started with an exploration of the link that Peter makes between disruption and collaboration, but it soon wove in other important concepts that are important to leadership and business success. Peter and host Brian Gorman talk about what it takes to create a collaborative culture and why its important to do so and then move on to client relationships. As Peter points out clients who are satisfied are very willing to change providers; clients with whom relationships have been built based on collaborative intent become advocates, “and there is where the growth happens.”

018: Purpose, Instinct, and Change

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 07:00:00 -0500

It isn’t unusual to consider the relationship between a change and the organization’s purpose. What is unusual is to consider the purpose of the people whose jobs are being changed and to consider the instincts that drew them to those jobs. In this thought-provoking conversation, Beth Banks Cohn, Founder and President of ADRA Change Architects, and Quantuvos coach Brian Gorman explore the importance of understanding the connection between these three elements whether making individual assignment changes or planning significant change initiatives.

017: Coaching Effectiveness

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 07:00:00 -0500

Much like our clients, at Quantuvos we can accept what is, and are driven toward what can be. In 2022, that passion for a better future for coaching led Quantuvos to launch the Center for Coaching Effectiveness. In this episode, Asia Jarosz, PhD, the Center’s Executive Director, talks about her own journey to coaching; the importance of understanding and being able to measure coaching effectiveness; and what her model for measuring coaching effectiveness can contribute to coaches, managers and leaders, and organizations.

016: Courageous Leadership

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 07:00:00 -0500

The workforce has changed. The workplace has changed. Leadership needs to change as well. Quantuvos coach Robert Naylor joins host Brian Gorman to discuss the changes in the workforce and their approach to work, and why it takes courage for leadership to adopt to this new way of being. In their conversation, they highlight some of the shifts in leadership thinking and behaving required to successfully bring organizations and people into the future.

015: Stress Management and Executive Wellness

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 07:00:00 -0500

While John O’Brien’s interest in stress management was in part driven by his executive father’s inability to successfully manage stress, the messages in this podcast are important to people at all levels of organizational life. John, founder of Activate Success, joins host Brian Gorman to discuss the impact that stress can have on our bodies and our lives, ways in which stress can be managed, and what can be done to help reduce the impact that stress can have.

#Managing Stress #Work-Life #Boundaries #Burnout #Stress Management

014: Career Fulfillment, Values, Purpose, and Transitions

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 07:00:00 -0500

In this episode, Quantuvos coach Barbara Blatz-Stone and Qonversations host Brian Gorman get into a lively, and deep, discussion that raises important questions to generate self-awareness for the listener. “What is your connection with purpose?” “Does purpose require a connection outside of self?” “What happens when meaning, values, and purpose are not available in your current role?” If you are approaching a transition, or know someone who is, this episode can be an important catalyst for fostering reflection and clarity.#Career #AlignmentWithPurpose #Transition #PersonalGrowthAndDevelopment #Purpose

013: Intentional Conversations

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 07:00:00 -0500

We talk to one another all the time. We talk with one another much more rarely. Intentional conversations are about aligning intent and talking with. In this episode, Quantuvos coach Harris Ginsberg joins host Brian Gorman to explore the why of intentional conversations and what is required to have a successful one. They also share stories of some of the more surprising intentional conversations that they have had with their clients. #Communication #CommunicatingWithImpact

#IntentionalConversations

012: Purpose, Passion, and Alignment

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 07:00:00 -0500

What do you do if you don’t know your purpose? What’s the value of having those difficult conversations that let you really know your co-workers, and let them really know you? As a leader, what can you do to ensure that your team members’ purpose and passion are in alignment with what you are trying to accomplish? In this highly personal conversation, these are among the questions that Quantuvos coach Whitney Marshall and Qonversations host Brian Gorman explore.

#CareerDirectionAndAdvancement #AlignmentWithPurpose #PerformanceInOne’sRole #LineOfSight #PersonalGrowthAndDevelopment #Purpose #RelationshipsAtWork #Person-To-Person

011: The Leader's Role in Promoting Healthy Conflict

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 07:00:00 -0500

In the right environment, healthy conflict can flourish. And when healthy conflict flourishes, it allows the best of each team member to surface. In this episode, Quantuvos coach Christopher Arnold and host Brian Gorman discuss the role that leaders all too often play in creating the wrong environment through the words that they use. This Qonversation challenges some of the most common mindsets in the workplace including “there’s no ‘I’ in team” and the cultural habit of “we” rather than “I” statements.

#Communication #CommunicatingWithImpact

010: The Value and Impact of Collaborative Teams

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 07:00:00 -0500

For decades, Quantuvos coach Edward Marshall, PhD, has worked with senior leaders seeking to improve the performance of their teams. In this episode, Edward and host Brian Gorman discuss the effects of fear-based vs. trust and principle-based leadership, the impact of each on psychological safety, and – in turn – the formation and successful performance of collaborative. As Edward states during the conversation, “The key distinctive characteristic of collaboration that distinguishes it from every other paradigm of leadership is the construct of ownership.” Collaborative teams own their culture and they own their outcomes.

#Coaching #TeamCoaching #Leadership #TeamsProfessionalGrowthAndDevelopment #Collaboration

009: The Real Reasons People Follow Leaders

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 07:00:00 -0500

When researching leadership, James Kouzes and Barry Posner asked followers, “Why do you follow?” Quantuvos coach David Keating joins host Brian Gorman to discuss the four universal traits of leaders that Kouzes’ and Posner’s research uncovered, some of the actions associated with each of those traits, and how, as coaches, we support leadership growth.

#Leadership #Followers #RelationshipsAtWork #Trust

008: Supporting Leaders of Color

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 07:00:00 -0500

Quantuvos coaches Shannen Coleman Siciliano and Robert Naylor join host Brian Gorman for this deeply personal and insightful conversation. With the question, “Why is it important to support leaders of color any differently than supporting other leaders,” the discussion begins by exploring workplace norms and the impact they can have on those who are outside the norm. Whether it is being seen as “other than” or stereotyped as representative of an entire category of employees, the responsibility of being a leader of color is significant and the support required to succeed cannot be ignored.

#DiversityEquityInclusionAndBelonging #Bias #UnconsciousBias #Race

#Leadership #Empowerment #ServantLeadership #ProfessionalGrowthAndDevelopment #CulturalIntelligence

007: Living with Uncertainty

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 07:00:00 -0500

With our natural desire to feel in control, uncertainty is generally not welcomed. Even for those who seek “high adventure,” a great deal of time and effort goes into establishing control over what to expect and preparing for the unexpected. But uncertainty is an inevitable part of our professional as well as personal lives. In this episode of Qonversations, Quantuvos coach Caryn Anthony and host Brian Gorman explore what can be done to reduce the level of uncertainty in the situations that we face as well as how we can better accept the uncertainty that remains.

#ManagingStress #Work-Life #Anxiety #Boundaries #Family #StressManagement

006: Creating the Energy for Change

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 07:00:00 -0500

The Beckhard-Harris formula for change (D x V x F > R) is at the heart of this conversation between Jackie Sherman and host Brian Gorman. Unpacking each element of the formula (Dissatisfaction, Vision, First Steps, and Risks and Resistance), they explore why each element of the formula is essential and how the formula can be applied to create the energy needed for change to succeed.

#Change #ChangeImpact #ChangeManagement #ChangeLeadership #Planning #ChangeManagementPlanning

005: The Introvert Difference

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 07:00:00 -0500

The world of work tends to favor extraverts. For the introvert, everything from meeting participation to teambuilding to water cooler talk is a much different experience. In this episode, Quantuvos coach Kim Gray (introvert) and host Brian Gorman (introvert) discuss the introvert difference, and ways that managers can elicit the best from their introverted team members.

#GeneralBusinessSkills #Meetings #RelationshipsAtWork #Introvert/Extravert

#InterpersonalRelations #Person-To-Person

004: Imposter Syndrome: Identity, Mission, and Community

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 07:00:00 -0500

It’s likely that you have experienced Imposter Syndrome in the past. It’s even possible that you are experiencing it in your current role and/or will experience it again in the future. Mark Stanifer joins host Brian Gorman to discuss the underlying causes of Imposter Syndrome, and how we can leverage Identity (who we are), Mission (the actions we take), and Community (those we are interacting with) to overcome it.

003: A New Perspective on Feedback

Brian Gorman, Host — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 07:00:00 -0500

“I want to give you some feedback” is one of the most dreaded things to hear, whether in the workplace or elsewhere. Everyone has had feedback sessions that have left them demoralized, disincentivized, and even “feeling crushed.” In this episode, Quantuvos coach Julie Stuart joins host Brian Gorman to bring a new perspective on how to approach giving feedback, and even on what constitutes feedback.

002: Inclusive Leadership, Identity, and Harnessing the Power of Diversity

Brian Gorman, Host — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 09:00:00 -0400

“Inclusivity is about how we bring out the best in others” says Daphne Jefferson. In this episode of Qonversations, she and host Brian Gorman discuss the importance of self-reflection, knowing who you are, your value set, and what you bring to the table. They also explore the cost to you of defining yourself by others standards and the intentional steps leaders can take to harness the power of diversity.

001: Leadership in the 21st Century

Brian Gorman, Host — Sat, 29 Oct 2022 10:40:00 -0400

The nature of work, the workplace, and those who do the work continue to change, yet many organizations continue to be led in a top-down, autocratic, industrial age way. In this conversation, Quantuvos coaches Dave Cain and Brian Gorman explore critical questions around leadership in the 21^st century and identify some of the key characteristics of successful leadership today.

000: Welcome to Qonversations

Brian Gorman, Host — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 15:55:00 -0400

Quantuvos Co-Founders Margaret Brake, Chief Coaching Officer, and Gregg Bedol, Chief Executive Officer, join Quantuvos coach and Qonversations host Brian Gorman to introduce Qonversations: Powered by Quantuvos. This podcast features Quantuvos coaches and other experts sharing their insights for leaders at all organizational levels who are facing the challenges of today’s disrupted work environment.