Life As Leadership

David teaches leaders how to love, learn, and let go so they can create a workplace that fully engages the creative and productive power of people. He has learned how to do this through 20 years of service in the Army and continues to learn today. He has shared what he has learned with thousands of students and clients since he retired, and his message will inspire you and your team to obliterate obstacles, accelerate innovation, and elevate performance leaving everyone motivated and engaged for the future. He has written multiple books, including his most recent, Leadersights: Creating Great Leaders Who Create Great Workplaces.

Andy Wallace believes deeply in the possibility of a world where people with power use it to raise others up. But Andy also knows the dark side of power. He has interviewed more than 250 perpetrators of power-based crimes and worked with their victims to put the pieces of their broken lives back together. Drawing on more than a decade in senior leadership in the nonprofit and corporate worlds, Andy teaches organizations who they should give power to and helps them train their leaders to use power well.

Bill Kurzeja is the owner and founder of Professional Success South, a sales training and business consulting firm. Bill learned leadership, discipline, the importance of strict attention to detail, and the importance of clear, effective communication while serving in the United States Army. After his time in the military, he transitioned to the retail automotive industry, where he worked up to upper management positions. Bill now follows his passion in training and coaching, specializing in the basics of communication and how paying attention to detail will build a strong foundation in whatever you do.

Atta Tarki is the CEO of ECA Partners, where he leads the Private Equity and Venture Capital practice that supports high growth companies with filling C-level positions. His primary focus is on CEO, COO, President, CFO, and Chief Strategy Officer roles. He regularly contributes to Harvard Business Review and Forbes and has just released a new book, Evidence Based Recruiting: How to Build a Company of Star Performers through Systematic and Repeatable Hiring Practices.

Nashater Deu Solheim is the CEO of Progressing Minds. She has 23 years of practical business experience across diverse sectors including government, NGOs, healthcare, and oil and gas. Nashater has held executive leadership positions at international corporations in competence and learning roles and leadership development. She holds a doctorate in Psychology from the University of Surrey and trained as an Expert Negotiator from Harvard Law School. Her first book, The Leadership PIN Code: Unlocking the Key to Willing and Winning Relationships, has been recognized by Forbes and is already a best-seller.

Dr. Peter McGraw is a behavioral economist and global expert in the scientific study of humor. He directs The Humor Research Lab (HuRL) and hosts the podcast I’M NOT JOKING. He is also the co-author of The Humor Code: A Global Search for What Makes Things Funny and the author of his recent book Shtick to Business: What the Masters of Comedy can Teach You about Breaking Rules, Being Fearless, and Building a Serious Career. He’s a sought-after speaker and professor who teaches MBA courses for the University of Colorado Boulder, University of California San Diego, and London Business School.

Steve Sims’s day job is to make the impossible possible. A few of the projects he has made possible for others include getting married by the Pope in the Vatican, being serenaded by Andrea Bocelli, and connecting with powerful business moguls like Elon Musk and Sir Elton John. Steve has been called “The Real Life Wizard of Oz" by Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazine and is a best-selling author of Bluefishing: The Art of Making Things Happen. He is a sought-after consultant and a speaker at a variety of networks, groups and associations as well as the Pentagon and Harvard.

Kevin Hancock is CEO of Hancock Lumber Company, one of the oldest companies in America and six-time recipient of the “Best Places to Work in Maine” award. In 2010, at the peak of the national housing and mortgage market collapse, Kevin acquired a rare neurological voice disorder called Spasmodic Dysphonia (SD). When his own voice became weakened, he developed a new leadership style focused on strengthening the voices of others. He is now a champion of a work culture where everyone leads and every voice is trusted, respected, and heard. His new book, The Seventh Power: One CEO’s Journey into the Business of Shared Leadership, shares the philosophy, values, and strategies Hancock Lumber Company has embraced on its journey toward becoming an employee-centric company.

Martin Conway is a former professional soccer player originally from Great Britain. He is a leader, a business builder, and an advocate for personal accountability. Martin is a healthcare and self-care leader focused on promoting conversation, understanding, and community. Jerry Rosenthal is the author of Small Doses: Common Sense to Common Practice, which focuses on the intersection of life, leadership and process improvement. Jerry has spent most of his career in Pharma and Healthcare doing business process improvement work with a focus on improving both internal and external customer experience. Together, Martin and Jerry have started an initiative called “The Easily Offended Club,” which focuses on educating and empowering people to move beyond simply being offended and towards accountability, courage and respect.

Jacqueline Throop-Robinson is the founder of Spark Engagement Inc., a global analytics company focusing on employee engagement. Throughout her 30-year career, Jacqueline has focused on uplifting leaders and inspiring passionate engagement at all levels of an organization. Jacqueline is the best-selling author of Fire Up Your Team: 50 Ways for Leaders to Connect, Collaborate and Create with their Teams, and she strives to create cultures of passion, productivity, and performance.

James Carbary's podcast, B2B Growth, has been downloaded more than 3 million times and is a top-ranked podcast according to Forbes. He's the best-selling author of Content-Based Networking: How to Instantly Connect with Anyone You Want to Know, and he's been a contributor for Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, and Business Insider.

Amy Posey is a leadership facilitator, keynote speaker, and former CEO of The AIP Group, a leadership development firm that combines insights from the adventure, science, and business worlds for unique and effective leadership training. Kevin Vallely is a leadership facilitator and the Expedition Manager for The AIP Group. A world-class explorer and leadership mentor, he is a member of the elite Explorer’s Club and was honored as an Explorer’s Club Flag recipient for his expedition to the Northwest Passage in 2013. In 2009, he and two teammates broke the world record for the fastest unsupported trek to the Geographic South Pole. Together, they’ve written the recently released book, Wild Success: 7 Key Lessons Business Leaders Can Learn from Extreme Adventurers.

Celeste Headlee is an award-winning journalist, professional speaker, and author. In her 20-year career in public radio, she has been an executive producer and has anchored programs including Tell Me More, Talk of the Nation, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. She also anchored presidential coverage in 2012 for the PBS World Channel. Celeste’s TEDx Talk sharing 10 ways to have a better conversation has over 23 million total views to date. Celeste’s newest book, Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving, has just been released.

Douglas Conant is the CEO and Founder of ConantLeadership, a mission-driven community of leaders and learners who are championing leadership that works. He is the former CEO of Campbell Soup and former President of Nabisco, as well as author of the new book The Blueprint: 6 Practical Steps to Lift Your Leadership to New Heights. He is the only former Fortune 500 CEO who is a New York Times bestselling author, a top 50 leadership innovator, a top 100 leadership speaker, and a top 100 most influential author in the world. LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS - A good book needs to be aspirational and approachable. It needs to help the reader lift their sights while also still being touchable. - The key to becoming the leader you are meant to be is your life story. You need to learn how to access this and bring it to life. - Your leadership approach must be developed and implemented in a way that will fit into the culture where you are leading. - Forget perfection. Try. Learn. Iterate. - The best way to be a more effective lea

Eliza Lay Ryan is the author of Supermindful: How to Tap into Your Creativity. She is also the founder of a business that shares the same name as her book. Her work promotes the cultivation of curiosity for more resilience, better collaborations, and more creativity. She has worked with leaders in neuroscience, business, and wellness to learn from the practices that actors use in their craft. Her goal is to use these findings so that anyone become more present, authentic, flexible, and empathetic in their own life.

Tom Rath is an author and researcher who has spent the past two decades studying how work can improve human health and well-being. His 10 books have sold more than 10 million copies and have made hundreds of appearances on global bestseller lists. Tom was the Program Leader for the development of Clifton StrengthsFinder, which has helped millions uncover their talents. His book StrengthsFinder 2.0 is Amazon’s top selling non-fiction book of all time. Today’s interview focuses on Tom’s newest book, Life’s Great Question, which focuses on how you can use your individual style to contribute to teams and the lives of others, and how you can find the energy to be your best.

Col. John O’Grady is the founder and owner of O’Grady Leadership Consulting Services. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, where we also played NCAA Division 1 Lacrosse. During John’s military career, he served a year-long combat deployment where he trained and led a 500-person unit that earned the Presidential Unit Award for extraordinary performance and heroism. He has worked with U.S. Special Operations Forces on missions in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and he has served as a senior advisor to executive-level military leaders where he was relied upon to provide confidential, expert, advice on topics as diverse as culture, strategic direction, and managing fiscal and operational portfolios in excess of $14 Billion.

Amber Hurdle is the CEO of Amber Hurdle Consulting, a multi-award-winning talent optimization firm that pioneers using both science and marketing principles to strengthen customers’ brands from the inside out. She helps overcome costly business problems like ineffective recruiting, turnover, underperformance, declining morale and leadership gaps by clearly connecting her clients’ people strategy to their business strategy. Amber understands how to accelerate success. She is a teen mom turned powerhouse businesswoman who has worked with celebrities, executives and Fortune 100 companies. Amber loves uniting the power of personal, employer, and business brands.

Richard Milligan is an accomplished speaker, author, podcast host, strategist, and executive coach who started and runs 4C Recruiting. As a leader, Richard built 21 teams inside one industry across 15 years. Richard speaks at leadership events throughout the United States helping leaders understand how to become the best recruiting leader possible. His podcast, Recruiting Conversations, regularly tops the iTunes top 100 inside their Marketing category. He is the creator of the Recruiting Made Simple 12-week intensive coaching program that takes recruiting leaders through the process of building a personal recruiting system. Richard’s book, The Attractive Leader: Where Leading and Recruiting Overlap, lays out a simple plan for leaders who recruit to dominate their market, and it will be published in 2020.

Kirby Hasseman is an entrepreneur, marketer and author. He is the owner of Hasseman Marketing, a full-service marketing agency, and Hasseman Properties. He has been named an influencer in the promo world and has just authored his fourth book called The Give First Economy.