The LEADx Leadership Show with Kevin Kruse

In this episode, Kevin talks to his guest, Paul Marciano, about having difficult conversations with people in your life, whether at work or at home. Paul Marciano travels the world speaking on topics of leadership, culture, and retention and is the author of several books, including SuperTeams and the bestseller, Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work: Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles of Respect. His new book is Let's Talk About It: Turning Confrontation Into Collaboration.

Kevin reunites with his old friend, Meido Moore, who became a Zen monk and now lives in a monastery near Madison, Wisconsin. They discuss unconventional career choices, resiliency, life in a monastery, tips for better meditation, and more.

Jeff Lawson is co-founder and CEO of Silicon Valley-based Twilio, one of the world’s fastest growing technology companies. A lifelong software developer, Jeff founded Twilio in 2008 with the belief that empowering developers was key to unlocking innovation within nearly every kind of business. Millions of software developers and hundreds of thousands of companies use Twilio’s platform to add communications to the websites and apps you use daily.

Jack Curtis is a recently retired Naval Aviator and co-founder of End Speed Group. He brings more than 20 years of hands-on experience building and leading diverse and high performing teams in high-stress environments – culminating with his successful tour as the commanding officer of a half-billion-dollar EA-18 jet squadron. Jack’s writing has been published in Forbes, Strategy Bridge, and War on the Rocks.

Donald "Don" Miller is an American author, public speaker, and business owner. He is the CEO of StoryBrand, a marketing company. Business Made Simple is the must-have guide for anyone who feels lost or overwhelmed by the modern business climate, even if they attended business school. Learn what the most successful business leaders have known for years through the simple but effective secrets Miller shares in his new book.

On today's episode, I interview a 12-year-old novelist, who increased her productivity so much that she now writes over 2500 words per hour and finished the first draft of her book in only one month.

Back by popular demand, Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of National Community Church, recognized as one of the most innovative churches in America. He is a New York Times best-selling author and his new book is Win the Day.

Shaun Cauthen is an independent film maker and the producer and director of the new documentary, Netflix Versus The World. In this interview we explore the early years of Netflix, and what it takes to be an entrepreneurial independent film maker.

Dan Pontefract is on a mission to change the world of work. Previously the CLO of TELUS, and a bestselling author, Dan's new book is Lead. Care. Win. How to Become a Leader Who Matters.

Many leaders are convinced they have an open environment that encourages employees to speak up and are shocked when they learn that employees are holding back. Employees have ideas and want to be heard. Leadership wants to hear them. Too often, however, employees and leaders both feel that no one cares about making things better. The disconnect typically only widens over time, with both sides becoming more firmly entrenched in their viewpoints. 

From executives complaining that their teams don’t contribute ideas to employees throwing up their hands that their input is never sought--company culture is the culprit. Courageous Cultures provides an easy-to-follow road map to build a high-performance, high-engagement culture around sharing ideas, solving problems, and rewarding contributions from all levels. 

Karin Hurt has over two decades of experience in customer service, sales, and human resources. David Dye has over two decades of experience leading teams, building organizations, and working with Boards of Directors to transform their effectiveness.

Neil Pasricha is the author of seven books including The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Awesome Is Everywhere, and You Are Awesome. His books are New York Times and #1 international bestsellers and have spent over 200 weeks on bestseller lists and sold millions of copies. Neil is one of the world's top-ranked speakers and his first TED talk “The 3 A’s of Awesome” is ranked one of the 10 Most Inspiring of all time.

What does it mean to be a leader today? It is a critical question and the global pandemic has put a big spotlight on how leaders are stepping up.

Vince Molinaro, PhD, is a strategic leadership advisor, speaker, and researcher on leadership accountability. As the founder and CEO of Leadership Contract Inc., Dr. Molinaro travels the world helping organizations build vibrant leadership cultures with truly accountable leaders. He is a New York Times best-selling author and has published several books including Accountable Leaders (Wiley, 2020), The Leadership Contract (3rd ed., Wiley, 2018) and The Leadership Contract Field Guide (Wiley, 2018). He has also co-authored two other books: Leadership Solutions (Jossey- Bass, 2007) and The Leadership Gap (Wiley, 2005).

Patrick Veroneau is the founder of Emery Leadership Group (2008). He has combined his deep focus in the areas of influence, emotional intelligence, and personality to help individuals and organizations develop behaviors that inspire, empower, and compel others to follow their lead. He is also a member of the Forbes Coaches Council and Harvard Business Review Advisory Board.

Dr. Jennifer Goldman-Wetzler is founder and CEO of Alignment Strategies Group, the New York-based consulting firm that advises CEOs and their executive teams on how to optimize organizational health and growth. She is the author of OPTIMAL OUTCOMES: Free Yourself from Conflict at Work, at Home, and in Life (HarperBusiness), selected as Financial Times Book of the Month. Jennifer is a keynote speaker at Fortune 500 companies, public institutions and innovative, fast-growing startups, where she inspires audiences of all kinds, including those at Google, Harvard and TEDx, and in her popular course at Columbia. A former counterterrorism research fellow with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, she is a graduate of Tufts University and holds a Ph.D. in Social-Organizational Psychology from Columbia University.

Michael Bungay Stanier is the author of The Coaching Habit (the all-time best selling book on the topic of coaching), and his new book is The Advice Trap: Be Humble, Stay Curious & Change the Way You Lead Forever.

Author, Speaker and Executive Coach, Fatima Doman has motivated audiences across six continents to leverage their authentic strengths for transformation. A globally recognized voice in resilience, well-being, leadership, engagement, and positive change, Doman is passionate about empowering people for sustainable high performance—at work and in life. Doman’s experience fleeing her country of birth in the wake of war informs her work to help people build resilience in the midst of challenges. For decades, Doman has worked successfully with Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 clients representing a variety of industries, and with educators around the world. Her books, Authentic Strengths and True You have been featured by the Huffington Post, Psychology Today, ThriveGlobal, on TV, Radio, e-learning, and her workshops have been licensed globally.

In this episode, we're going to talk about building authentic relationships across differences with our guest, Tiffany Jana. She is the co-founder and CEO of TMI Consulting, a Diversity and Inclusion firm based in Richmond, VA. She has been named to Diversity Journal’s ‘Women Worth Watching list,' 'Metropolitan Business League’s Entrepreneur of the Year,' 'BCorp’s Best for the World,' and 'Enterprising Women’s Enterprising Women of the Year 2017 Award.' She is the author of 'OVERCOMING BIAS: Building Authentic Relationships Across Differences.'

Andrew Sobel is the leading authority on the strategies and skills required to earn lifelong client loyalty and build trusted business relationships. He is the most widely published author in the world on this topic, having written nine acclaimed books on earning clients for life as a trusted advisor. These include the international bestsellers Clients for Life and Power Questions, and the just-released It Starts with Clients, a #1 Amazon bestseller in both Business Consulting and Customer Relations.

Jennifer Eggers is the founder of LeaderShift Insights®. She works with leadership teams facing disruption who want to increase their organization’s capacity to adapt so they can emerge stronger and more effective faster. Jennifer is known for facilitating high-stakes meetings with challenging stakeholders, creating team alignment, and unraveling tough issues that hinder business results.

Champs’ Managing Director and Founder, Ruth Cooper-Dickson, has spoken at hundreds of organizations to help them create a thriving culture of positive wellbeing at work. From organizations in the insurance market and legal sector, to the House of Lords and Expedia, her message is engaging for diverse audiences. Ruth is a patron for the UK anxiety charity, No Panic, and recently completed her MSc in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology, conducting her research in Coaching and Post-Traumatic Growth. A qualified professional coach who also set-up the not for profit organization 'Champs for Change'.

Eliza Wicher is an organizational psychologist and Global Head of Talent Development at Groupon. In this episode she describes how Groupon develops and supports leaders throughout the organization.

Hassan Osman is a Program Management Office (PMO) Director at Cisco Systems* where he leads global virtual teams on delivering large and complex programs. He is the author of several Amazon Bestselling books, including “Influencing Virtual Teams” and “Don’t Reply All.”

Mairi McHaffie is a Personal Impact Expert and CEO of Scene Change Creative Consultants Ltd, global providers of bespoke people development initiatives across the sectors. Founder of the UK Houses of Parliament cross-sector Mentoring Programme, Storytelling Expert for the European Women In Leadership Programme at Coca Cola and founder if the Graduate Professional Consultant Programme for Oracle. Mairi specializes in face to face and online coaching sessions on Communication Skills, Resilience, Confidence and Body Language, Impact and Influencing, Presentation Skills, Coaching, Managing People Through Change, and more.

Jim McKelvey cofounded Square and was chairman of its board until 2010. His book, The Innovation Stack, is an irreverent first-person look at entrepreneurship and how great companies build a cascade of interlocking solutions that create a massive advantage.

Bruce Daisley is the VP of Twitter Europe and host of the top business podcast Eat Sleep Work Repeat. In his new book of the same name, he shares 30 hacks to recharge, makes teams closer, and to energize the workplace.

Maura Nevel Thomas is an award-winning international speaker and trainer on individual and corporate productivity and work-life balance, and the most widely-cited authority on attention management. Her proprietary Empowered ProductivityTM System has been embraced by the likes of the U.S. Army, L’Oreal, and Dell. She is a TEDx Speaker, founder of Regain Your Time, author of three books, and was named a Top Leadership Speaker for 2018 in Inc. Magazine. Maura is frequently cited as an expert in major business outlets including Forbes, Fast Company, and Huffington Post, and she’s also a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review, with articles there viewed over a million times.

Robb Holman is an internationally recognized leadership expert, executive coach, keynote speaker, podcast co-host, and best-selling author who has a heart for authentic relationships and a true talent for equipping people with the skills and knowledge necessary for their success.

With over 10 years in Learning & Development spanning numerous industries, Chris Cassarino is Founder and Managing Director of Starling North a boutique management consultancy helping leaders create team alignment and find their true north.

Marlene Chism is a consultant, international speaker and the author of Stop Workplace Drama. Visit her at MarleneChism.com and StopWorkplaceDrama.com.

As one of the first marketers to work with startups like Facebook in 2005, Chris Tuff has built his career surrounded by Millennials while becoming one of the sought out leaders in the digital marketing space. He’s a partner at the advertising agency 22squared in Atlanta, GA where he successfully attracts, motivates and whispers to Millennials every day. When Chris isn’t working he kiteboards, mountain bikes, runs, and spends quality time with his wife and two daughters.

Susan Fowler has shared her message on optimal motivation, self leadership, and thriving together in all 50 states and over 40 countries. With her latest book, Master Your Motivation: Three Scientific Truths for Achieving Your Goals, Susan is on a mission to help individuals master their own motivation, achieve their goals, and flourish as they succeed. Widely known as one of the foremost experts on motivation and personal empowerment, Susan gained her knowledge through extensive experience in business, advertising, sales, production, marketing, executive and life-style coaching, and leadership training.

Ed Morrison directs the Agile Strategy Lab at Purdue University. Ed has been developing a new approach to strategy for complex collaboration in open, loosely connected networks. Called "Strategic Doing", this methodology emphasizes the strategic value of collaboration in today's global economy. He is the founder of the Strategic Doing Institute (http://strategicdoing.net) which provides a platform that colleges and universities can use to share and expand the Strategic Doing discipline globally. For over twenty-five years, he conducted strategy projects throughout the U.S. His work won the first Arthur D. Little Award for excellence in economic development presented by the American Economic Development Council.

Gabriel Weinberg is the CEO & Founder of DuckDuckGo, the Internet privacy company that empowers you to seamlessly take control of your personal information online, without any tradeoffs. Since 2008, Weinberg has grown DuckDuckGo from a self-funded operation out of his dusty basement into a business with over $25 million in revenue and 50 employees across multiple continents. Weinberg is a serial entrepreneur who previously founded other Internet-related companies; he is also an active angel investor. He is the author of Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models.

Liane Davey is a New York Times Bestselling author of You First: Inspire Your Team to Grow Up, Get Along, and Get Stuff Done. She is also a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review and has been sought by several media outlets, including CNN, NPR, USA Today, The Globe & Mail and Forbes, for her expertise on increasing productivity, enhancing engagement, developing leaders, and as one client put it, “dealing with the damn drama!” She is the author of The Good Fight: Use Productive Conflict to Get Your Team and Organization Back on Track.

David Dye is a keynote speaker, coach, and consultant with Let's Grow Leaders, and is the author of the bestselling book, Winning Well.

Hope Bear is the Chief People Officer at AWeber, a leading email marketing company. She describes how their focus on onboarding, leadership and connection drives engagement and reduces turnover.

Kimberly Currier is Senior Vice President for North Highland’s people team (HR). She has over 20 years of experience leading award-winning talent strategy and development teams. Today, Kimberly leads the people strategy team, driving positive experience and unleashing potential through talent and human resource strategy and practice.

Rick Snyder, an international business coach, writer, speaker, and consultant, has launched several businesses and is an expert in mentoring, training, and teaching others how to utilize the process of bringing intuition into an effective business plan and company culture. He is currently the CEO of Invisible Edge™. His breakthrough strategies have been implemented by executives and businesses in Europe, Canada, Asia and America.

The future belongs to Disruptors. This means you either need to be a Disruptor, work with one or know how to manage them. Mike will talk about three things he learned when interviewing hundreds of ‘the Crazy Ones’.

Sabina Nawaz is a global CEO coach, leadership keynote speaker, and writer working in 26 countries. Her articles can be found in HBR, Inc., Fast Company and Forbes.

Jason Forrest is the owner and CEO of Forrest Performance Group, the nation’s fastest growing sales training company. Jason is a leading authority in culture change programs and an expert at creating high-performance, high-profit, and "Best Place to Work" cultures. The winner of seven international Stevie Awards for his training programs, Jason is also an award-winning author of six books, including Leadership Sales Coaching – rated as one of Selling Power Magazine's Top Sales Books. In 2018, FPG earned a rare honor by being named to the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies list for the third consecutive year, one of just 1,200 companies nationwide to achieve that honor out of a field of more than 7 million.

Bobby Herrera is the founder and CEO of Populus Group, a workforce management company with over $500 million in annual revenue. He is the author of the bestseller, The Gift of Struggle: Life-Changing Lessons About Leading.

Julie Zhuo is VP of Design at Facebook and author of The Making of a Manager.