Episodes

"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.

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.

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 individu...

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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 ...

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."

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.

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.

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 ...

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.

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 under...

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...

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.

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 that Brad and his team have identified through extensive research and engagement with organizations globally.

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.

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.

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. L...

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...

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.