The Leadership Trap

As experts in leadership development, executive coaching, strategic human capital, and much more – they are keenly aware that every manager has blind spots. The best workplaces foster high trust and commitment. Leaders who learn from the traps they fall i

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Siobhan McHale – Change Leader and author of The Hive Mind at Work: Harnessing the Power of Group Intelligence to Create Meaningful and Lasting Change

Posted May 4, 202500:48:00

Episode 27: We sit down with Siobhan McHale, change leader and author of The Hive Mind at Work: Harnessing the Power of Group Intelligence to Create Meaningful and Lasting Change and discuss the blinds spots that can cause leaders to fall into their own leadership traps. Siobhan McHale, author of the newly released book,  The Hive Mind at Work: Harnessing the Power of Group Intelligence to Create Meaningful and Lasting Change , has worked across four continents, helping thousands of leaders to create more agile and productive workplaces. She also has been on the “inside” as the executive in charge of culture change in a series of large, multinational organizations. One of these inside jobs was a radical seven-year change initiative at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) Bank that transformed it from the lowest-performing bank in the country into one of the highest-performing and most admired banks in the world. Professor John Kotter used her work with ANZ as a Harvard Business School case study designed to teach MBA students about managing change. Growing up on a farm in Finea, a small village in southern Ireland, McHale watched the bees as they swarmed in the orchard of her family’s farm. This fascination with bees led her to investigate the intricacies of human ecosystems and she would go on to spend three decades studying groups in the workplace. This experience taught her about the power of harnessing the Hive Mind and the group intelligence needed to create meaningful and lasting change. Podcast Hosts: David Hughen and Dr. Kris Potrafka

Willie Pietersen – Professor, The Practice of Management, Columbia Business School

Posted November 29, 202400:49:41

Episode 26: We sit down with Willie Pieterson, Professor, The Practice of Management, Columbia Business School and discuss the blinds spots that can cause leaders to fall into their own leadership traps. Willie Pietersen was raised in South Africa, and received a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University. After practicing law, he embarked on an international business career. Over a period of twenty years he served as the CEO of multibillion-dollar businesses such as Lever Brothers Foods Division, Seagram USA, Tropicana and Sterling Winthrop’s Consumer Health Group. In 1998, Pietersen was named Professor of the Practice of Management at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He specializes in strategy and the leadership of change, and his methods and ideas, especially Strategic Learning, are widely applied within Columbia’s executive education programs, and also in numerous corporations. He has served as a teacher and advisor to many global companies, including CNA Insurance Group, CUBIC, Deloitte, Ericsson, Electrolux, ExxonMobil, First Command, Girl Scouts of America, Henry Schein, Inc., J&J (DePuy), National Council on Aging, Novartis, SAP, SRP, UGI Utilities, United Nations Federal Credit Union, Univation Technologies. His most recent book is Leadership – The Inside Story: Time-Tested Prescriptions for Those Who Seek to Lead.   Podcast Hosts: Dr. Kris Potrafka and David Hughen

Curtis Bateman – VP at Franklin Covey, Best selling author, and former CEO of Redtree Leadership

Posted October 5, 202400:50:12

Episode 25: We sit down with Curtis Bateman, Vice President of direct international offices for FranklinCovey and discuss the blinds spots that can cause leaders to fall into their own leadership traps. Curtis Bateman is the bestselling co-author of Change: How to Turn Uncertainty Into Opportunity and is vice president of direct international offices for FranklinCovey. With over 24 years of experience in the training industry, Curtis is an internationally recognized presenter, content developer, change consultant, business leader, and coach. His passion for enabling organizations “at change” resulted in the co-creation of transformative, industry-leading solutions, including Change Element, Leaders@Change, ManagingMillennials, Millennials@Work, and the Change Practitioner. Formerly the president and CEO at Red Tree Leadership, Curtis managed the world-class brand Who Moved My Cheese? and created a practical approach to help individuals and leaders succeed with an ever-complex world of change in the workplace. Curtis joined FranklinCovey as a senior change consultant and co-practice leader. In 2016, Curtis became managing director of the U.K. and Ireland, in 2018 was asked to assume additional management responsibilities of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, and in 2019 took on additional responsibility for China, Japan, and Australia.   Podcast Hosts: Dr. Kris Potrafka and David Hughen

Marisa Murray Certified Executive Coach, TEDx Speaker and Author

Posted April 20, 202400:45:49

Episode 24: We sit down with Marisa Murray, CEO of Leaderley International and discuss the blinds spots that can cause leaders to fall into their own leadership traps. Marisa has more than two decades of success in leadership roles in business and technology. A former Partner with Accenture and Vice President at Bell, Marisa now applies her extensive executive experience to support the leadership development of her clients and their teams through consulting, coaching and speaking services. Marisa is a Credentialed Professional Coach (PCC) and is certified in Marshall Goldsmith's Stakeholder Centered Coaching,  Emotional Intelligence, Conversational Intelligence and WBECS Coach Master's Toolkit.  She holds an MBA from Queen's University and is a Professional Engineer from the University of Waterloo. Check out Marisa's three Amazon bestselling books:  Work Smart , Iterate! and Blind Spots as well as her TEDx Talk:  Success without Stress.  Podcast Hosts: Dr. Kris Potrafka and David Hughen

Francis Cholle International Consultant, Best-Selling Author, and Entrepreneur

Posted March 14, 202400:50:12

Episode 23: ‘‘Francis Cholle is the ‘Al Gore of Creativity’, evangelizing an ‘inconvenient truth’ of an altogether different kind – that creativity is actually declining at an alarming rate. The Intuitive Compass is a sure path business leaders can use to guide them toward innovation, disruptive thinking and the creative atmosphere necessary to succeed in today’s disorienting business climate.’‘  – Mike Lundgren, Partner and Director of Innovation Strategy, VML (Young & Rubicam) In Francis’ own words… I was born to a family of scientists and raised in Paris, where I received a master’s in science of management at Europe’s leading business school. After two years spent in Frankfurt, Germany in commercial banking, as part of my civil service I was fortunate to start my professional career at the helm of a publishing house. This demanding and thrilling experience took me around the world and through all aspects of producing art books and leading a private company, including becoming one of the main shareholders and millionaire at age 25. Then even more unconventional paths have stretched me and satiated my curiosity for life, the arts and humanities: professional training in theater and opera in New York, professional yoga training in India, and a degree in clinical psychology. All have shaped my personal take on life and provided me with insights into human nature, as well as awakened a concern for the sustainability of the modern world. I couldn’t help but ask myself, “How is it that we were able to get to the moon, and yet are unable to sustain a balanced relationship with nature?” What is the root cause to that split in the human mind? I imagined an answer to this question and a solution to our daunting sustainability challenge. If only we could include instinct (nature in us) in our thought processes and decisions, chances are we would design solutions unavoidably more respectful of nature. To prove that this approach of holistic decision making could help businesses better adapt, innovate, and succeed, I decided to start a consulting practice, The Human Company. We got hired and rehired by some of the most successful global companies because our unique methodology brought them unprecedented success. The time has come for me to help corporations more easily reach their business goals inclusive of all stakeholders, and contribute to systemic change by enriching leadership culture.   Podcast Hosts: Dr. Kris Potrafka and David Hughen