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We are addicted to prediction, desperate for certainty about the future. But the complexity of modern life won’t provide that; experts in forecasting are reluctant to look more than 400 days out. History doesn’t repeat itself and even genetics won’t tell you everything you want to know. Today Margaret joins the show to discuss her new book, Uncharted, How to Navigate the Future, in which she drew on a wide array of people and places, to look at long-term projects developed over generations that could never have been planned the way that they have been run.

There has been a lot written about leadership for the present day, but the world is changing quickly. What worked in the past won’t work in the future. We need to know how to prepare leaders who can successfully navigate and guide us through the next decade and beyond. How is leadership changing, and why? How ready are leaders today for these changes? What should leaders do now? To answer these questions, Jacob interviewed over 140 CEOs and partnered with LinkedIn to survey almost 14,000 of their members around the globe to see how CEO insights align with employee perspectives. Jacob joins the show to share insights he gained from this research.

Sustainability is now a business-critical issue. Those companies and industries that don't embrace it will be left behind. In fact, we are already starting to see signs of this. Trista and Donald join the show today to discuss their new book “Leading Sustainability: The Path to Sustainable Business and How the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) Changed Everything,” which is the culmination of 18 months of research from around the world. In their research, they have found that bold leadership and innovation are two key common elements that enable the success of sustainability strategies and actions.

We are facing unprecedented changes in our world today. These changes range from geopolitical changes to the impact the pandemic has had on everything from how we work to technology acceleration and corresponding need to change leadership. Today Christopher Washington joins Maureen to discuss the top seven Leadership Trends for 2021 and Beyond.

Thriving during a crisis is a challenging feat for any leader. Aline Kamakian shares with listeners not only how she encountered the difficult decisions that many faced in the hospitality industry due to the pandemic but she was also forced to deal with the destruction of one of her restaurants during the massive blast that occurred in Beirut, Lebanon, in August of 2020. Aline joins the show to share her story, how she adapted to the crises her business endured and advice for leaders she has gleaned from her experiences.

Mindsets are the most foundational element for why leaders do what they do. Unfortunately, most leaders are not conscious of their mindsets, and their negative mindsets wreak havoc on their effectiveness. Ryan Gottfredson joins the show to discuss his new book “Success Mindsets: The Key to Unlocking Greater Success in Your Life, Work and Leadership” and what leaders can do to awaken to their mindsets and develop Success Mindsets, so they can unlock much more effective leadership.

A change mindset is here to stay. Implementing change takes high energy, an abundance of patience and extreme flexibility. United States Navy Rear Admiral Deborah Haven, Retired joins the show to discuss her experience in leading change and working in an uncertain environment as well as the lessons she has learned that can be translated to situations all leaders face.

Today’s most successful companies and leaders are StoryDoers, not storytellers. These leaders have clearly defined a higher purpose that frames their ultimate ambition and desired contribution to the world - and they orient every action they take in service of achieving this goal. Ty Montague joins the show to discuss what makes someone a Storydoer, why Storydoers are better leaders and tools leaders can use to become a Storydoer.

We all want positive, productive, and genuine relationships—whether it’s with our family, friends, peers, coworkers, or romantic partners. And yet, time and time again, we all seem to make the same thinking errors that threaten or sabotage these relationships. These errors are called cognitive bias, and they happen when our brain attempts to simplify information by making assumptions. Today, Gleb joins Maureen to discuss his book The Blindspots Between Us: How to Overcome Unconscious Cognitive Bias and Build Better Relationships and the skills to help you debias—to stop, pause, and objectively observe situations before jumping to conclusions about others’ motives.

Founder and former rue21 CEO, Bob Fisch works towards creating a new level of understanding between Millennials and Baby Boomers that is built on a spirit of respect and mutual mentoring. Bob wrote Fisch Tales: The Making of a Millennial Baby Boomer to bring those two distinct demographic groups together to illustrate how they can learn valuable lessons from each other simply by listening more closely and sharing more freely. Bob is quoted as saying “I believe that which year you were born or which generation you belong to doesn’t matter. What matters to me is who you are, what you do, and how young you allow yourself to be.”

Better leadership, like peace, is a critical factor for human flourishing –with better leadership societies can begin to address many of the sources of human insecurity- but often, just as with peace, we remain more aware of its absence than its existence. Mike Hardy, Founding Director of the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations at Coventry University in the UK, joins Maureen to discuss his current work, trends in democracy and what leaders can be doing to make a difference through better leadership for a more peaceful existence for us all.

Marcia Daszko joins Maureen to share 3 pieces of advice for leaders. 1. STOP using management fads and best practices”. These cause internal competition and dysfunctional work environments full of blame and finger-pointing 2. START thinking differently by learning about systems and statistical thinking. If leaders want better outcomes, they need to create a new System that will deliver it and help them make better decisions. And 3. TRANSFORM/Change what they do and how they lead to transform their organization and create amazing customer experiences.

People are the crux of any organization’s success, but many businesses don’t take any intentional steps to create an energetic, positive work environment that spirals people’s attitudes upward. Yet, the right culture can help you create a ‘cycle-proof’ business that can grow even during your industry’s bust cycles that inflict economic pain on competitors. Bill Higgs joins Maureen to share the costs of bad company culture and the ways leaders can build great company cultures.

The fact of the matter is that effective leadership insists on constant rejection of the status quo. True leaders demand continuous reflection and improvement of those around them, and even more importantly, of themselves. Deke Copenhaver joins the show to discuss how leaders can be a changemaker in business, government, and their families to make a difference in the world.

For most people and businesses, growth is linear, but some relationships can dramatically change our direction and ultimate destination - these are the Curve benders. How does strategic business relationships enable business model innovation? How does unplanned events such as COVID-19 become an impetus to rethink, reimagine, if not reinvent key parts of your business? How is agile alignment critical for leaders to balance speed and agility with patience to make the best decisions possible with their available data? David Nour joins Maureen to discuss these pressing questions leaders are facing in our rapidly changing environment.

Current research has found that companies with a gender-diverse workforce at all levels experience better financial performance. Taryn joins the show today to share research her and her team at Training Industry have conducted that reveals that the leadership development provided to women is not equitable to the leadership development provided to their male peers. She will discuss the conclusions of the research and how employers can overcome this inequality in training to ensure a gender-diverse workforce at all levels.

We are in a major shift in a fundamental aspect of how businesses grow, how buyers purchase, and how businesses build meaningful conversations and customer relationships. Companies who align their mission, strategies, action plans, and tools with the way buyers think, learn, discover, and purchase will have a huge competitive advantage. Organizations need to adjust their mindset and build a strategic foundation to deal with these facts and not just update a business plan. Todd joins Maureen to discuss his book, Inbound Organization: How to Build and Strengthen Your Company’s Future Using Inbound Principles and how leaders can focus their business on the customer and succeed at attracting and keeping the ideal customers.

Nashater Deu Solheim joins Maureen to share with our listeners how to use the power of psychology to get what we need from every interaction, while also maintaining positive, win-win team relationships. The hope is that we will walk away with new tips to inspire trust, easily navigate conflict, and create value every day -- and that will help us gain traction and develop high-performing, fully engaged teams.

In our current world, businesses are operating in a constantly changing environment and leaders are facing situations they have never had to deal with before. Having a Learning Mindset, an attitude that predisposes you to be open to new experiences, to believe you can and will learn, and to intentionally grow and develop from your experience, and exercising the Learning Practices are essential to becoming an innovative leader in today’s highly chaotic environment. By doing so, leaders can create an ongoing positive cycle of learning and performance that creates better performance and higher levels of learning. Steve Terrell, President of Aspire Consulting, joins Maureen to discuss the Learning Mindset and the Learning Practices from his book Learning Mindset for Leaders.

The Pandemic, Activism, and Workforce Dynamics due to Political Decisions are three of the top issues leaders of today’s organizations must be considering as each can have major implications on the organization if not handled properly. Dr. Dale Meyerrose joins me today to provide guidance to today’s leaders through some of the points leaders must be aware of when facing each of these three hot issues.