Centaur Stage
Centaur Stage is a podcast by Cosmic Centaurs exploring bold ideas about the future of work and learning. In each episode, podcast host, CEO & Founder of Cosmic Centaurs Marilyn Zakhour is joined by incredible guests to share insights, opinions, and perspectives about the future of how we work and learn.
Episodes
104 episodes
Self & System | When the Ground Moves: Leading Across Different Realities in the GCC with Ghida Barakat | 2026 Cosmic Conference
What does it mean to lead when everything around you is shifting, and not everyone is experiencing it the same way?In this episode, Marilyn Zakhour is joined by Ghida Barakat to explore how leaders in the GCC are navigating...
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1:01:06
Food & Solidarity: Responding to Crisis One Meal at a Time with Aline Kamakian | 2026 Cosmic Conference
What does leadership look like when crisis is not an exception, but a constant?In this episode, Aline Kamakian, Founder of Mayrig and Batchig, joins us to share her experience leading through decades of instability in Lebanon—where crise...
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52:07
Decisive & Compassionate Leadership in Downsizing with Rabih Brair | 2026 Cosmic Conference
Decisive & Compassionate: Leadership in DownsizingIn times of uncertainty, leaders are often forced to make decisions they never hoped to face.Reduce costs. Restructure teams. Protect the business. All while re...
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1:00:00
Indigenous Wisdom for Uncertain Times with Rama Chakaki: 2026 Cosmic Conference
What if the leadership wisdom we need today has always been part of our cultures?In this episode, Rama Chakaki joins Marilyn Zakhour to explore leadership through a regional lens, one that moves beyond imported frameworks and reconnects ...
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54:44
Present & Connected: Human Connection in Uncertain Times with Connie Hadley | 2026 Cosmic Conference
In times of prolonged uncertainty, leadership is often framed as a question of strategy, decision-making, and execution.But what if one of the most critical levers is something less visible—human connection?In this episode,...
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1:01:48
Empathy & Direction: Leadership Communication in Uncertainty - Claire Furlong Cosmic Conference 2026
What do leaders say when they don’t have all the answers?In moments of uncertainty, communication carries a different weight. It’s no longer just about sharing information, it’s about steadying people, building trust, and creating direct...
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54:19
CLARITY & COURAGE: Emotional Regulation in a Crisis with Sandra Salame | Cosmic Conference 2026
What does it really take to stay steady when everything around you isn’t?In this episode, we explored how leaders navigated the emotional weight of uncertainty — balancing fear, responsibility, and constant change, often all at once. Whi...
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59:22
2026 Cosmic Conference - Opening Keynote | Grounded & Limitless: Leading Organizations that Survive & Thrive
Opening Keynote | Cosmic Conference 2026 Grounded & Limitless: Leading Through UncertaintyToday’s leaders are navigating a level of uncertainty that is layered, prolonged, and constantly shifting. Decisions are bein...
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Season 9
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Episode 3
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31:34
Leadership as Service | أمانة
What does it mean to lead not as a career, but as a form of service?In this episode of Center Stage, Marilyn Zakhour sits down with Muna AbuSulayman, one of the most influential voices in the Arab world across media, philanthropy, leade...
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Season 9
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Episode 2
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1:00:53
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Leading from the Arab World | Season IV Premiere
In this Season IV premiere of Center Stage, Marilyn Zakhour, CEO of Cosmic Centaurs opens a bold new chapter. After years of exploring global case studies and leadership lessons from around the world, this season turns the lens inward. It asks ...
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Season 9
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Episode 1
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14:13
Psychological Safety: Inclusion and Diversity in Practice
In this episode of our Psych Safety in Focus webinar series, Marie Nakhle and Tala Odeh dive into the first of 4 Domains that shape whether teams can truly perform, learn, and adapt together: Inclusion & Diversity Too often, in...
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Season 8
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Episode 4
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54:18
Why and How Leaders in the GCC Build Meaningful Public Presence
What if visibility is not ego, but leadership?In this episode, we turn the mic on Cosmic Centaurs’ founder and CEO, Marilyn Zakhour, in a candid conversation about why leaders in the GCC and wider MENA region must step into public presen...
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Season 8
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Episode 3
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58:37
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What Leaders Learn When They Measure Psychological Safety
What really happens when leaders pause long enough to measure psychological safety—and then dare to talk about what they find?In this episode of Psychological Safety in Focus, we sit down with Mazuba Hainama, indep...
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Season 7
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Episode 3
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56:54
Key Insights from Psych Safety Day 2025
As part of our Psych Safety in Focus webinar series, this is a special follow-up session to unpack the biggest insights, themes, and breakthroughs from the global event.Marilyn Zakhour, CEO of Cosmic Centaurs, and Marie Nakhle, Psycholo...
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Season 7
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Episode 2
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49:17
Psychological Safety in the MENA Region
This is the first of our Cosmic Centaurs Psychological Safety webinar series with a deep dive into the insights uncovered during our recent roundtable in Dubai, held in partnership with Sander Hoeken, Co-founder of The Fearless Organization Sca...
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Season 7
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Episode 1
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47:05
Understanding Neuroinclusion in the Workplace with Dr. Molly Taylore
Workplaces are at their best when every individual’s strengths are recognized and supported. Together, Dr Molly Taylor & Tala Odeh will explore what neurodivergence truly means, the strengths it brings, and the misconceptions that limit pro...
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Season 8
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Episode 2
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1:03:41
How AI is Redefining the Future of Workforce Learning with Russell John Cailey
A conversation with Russell John Cailey, CEO and Founder of Elham Studio and Almach AI, and Tala Odeh, Capability Development Lead at Cosmic Centaurs.As AI accelerates, collapses time, and democratizes knowledge, the world of work is un...
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Season 8
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Episode 1
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55:35
Conference Closing Is the System the Strategy?
After seven weeks of exploring systems thinking through the lens of leadership, culture, and transformation, the 2025 Cosmic Conference comes full circle with a powerful closing conversation.Professor José Santos, Affiliate...
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Season 6
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Episode 16
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1:36:40
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Building Systems to Bring Culture to Life with Tala Odeh & Marilyn Zakhour
Culture isn’t the soft stuff, it’s the system that makes everything else work.In this lively conversation, Marilyn Zakhour and Tala Ode from Cosmic Centaurs unpack how culture shows up not in slogans or posters, but ...
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Season 6
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Episode 15
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1:03:23
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Building Systems to Reclaim Your Time with Dhiren Bhatia
Time is the one system every leader struggles to manage — and the one that reveals how well all the others work.In this energizing conversation, Diren Bhatia, entrepreneur, coach, and founder of Cloudscape Technologies, joi...
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Season 6
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Episode 14
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1:02:13
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Building Systems to Transform at Scale with Ibraheem Sheerah
What does it take to lead transformation across one of the region’s most complex organizations, and make it human?In this powerful conversation, Ibraheem Sheerah, Chief Transformation Officer at Saudia Group, joins Maril...
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Season 6
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Episode 13
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1:52:52
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Building Systems to Transform Large Companies with Breeze Dong
How do you nudge a 13,000-person organization to move from managing change to creating the conditions for change?In this conversation, Chun Feng “Breeze” Dong, Associate Director of Organizational Development at Roche<...
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Season 6
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Episode 12
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57:13
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Building Systems to Balance Parenthood & Work
Parenthood is one of the most complex systems we’ll ever navigate — and for working parents, it often runs in parallel with another: work.In this heartfelt conversation Faten Fathallah, Marie Nakhle, Marilyn Zakhour,...
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Season 6
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Episode 11
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54:15
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Weaving the Human into the System (& Vice Versa) with Dr. José-Rodrigo Córdoba-Pachón
What does it mean to bring humanity back into our systems, and to see ourselves as part of them?In this conversation, Dr. José-Rodrigo Córdoba-Pachón, Associate Professor at Royal Holloway, University of London, joins Marilyn Z...
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Season 6
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Episode 10
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1:07:09
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Building Systems to Innovate with Wissam Adib
Innovation rarely fails because of a lack of ideas. It fails because the systems around it are built for compliance, not experimentation.In this episode, Wissam Adib, Executive Coach and former Advisor at the UAE Prime Minister’s ...
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Season 6
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Episode 9
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59:22
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