Grow Strong Leaders Podcast
I’m fascinated by what it takes for leaders to live their values consistently, especially when it’s hard.
On the Grow Strong Leaders Podcast, I have candid conversations with senior executives who are sustaining principled leadership inside complex organizations. We explore how leadership capability, organizational systems, and the everyday decisions reinforce values.
Our discussions also explore what gets tested when pressure rises—and the personal guardrails leaders rely on to stay aligned.
If you believe values should guide real decisions—not just appear on the wall—you'll feel right at home here.
Episodes
383 episodes
383: How JLL Practices Integrity Every Day
How do you sustain an ethical culture across 113,000 employees in more than 80 countries with a team of just four ethics professionals? Kendall Mills shares how JLL has built one of the world's most enduring ethics programs, earning recognition...
382: Leading with a Viewpoint and Grace
Do you need to know more than everyone else to be an effective leader? Chris Ware believes the answer is no. Throughout his career, he has repeatedly stepped into leadership roles where others had deeper expertise, yet he learned how to build t...
381: Why Marvell Employees Actually Speak Up
What makes employees feel safe enough to speak up when something feels wrong? Eva Lehman shares how ethical cultures are built through leadership behaviors, trust, consistency, and systems that reinforce integrity every day. As Vice President a...
380: Who’s Developing Human Judgment?
AI can accelerate answers. But what happens when it weakens the development of judgment, critical thinking, and human connection? Jennifer May explores the growing pressure facing middle managers, the risks organizations face when relationship-...
379: When Performance Replaces People
What happens when organizations become so focused on speed, efficiency, and AI that they slowly lose sight of people? In this thought-provoking conversation, Dr. Kelly Monahan shares insights from her years studying the future of work inside or...
378: The Best Boards Ask the Hardest Questions
Vera Cherepanova, Executive Director of Boards of the Future, believes the strongest boards are not the ones with the best reports, but the ones willing to ask the hardest questions. In this conversation, she explains why ethics cannot be treat...
377: How Medtronic Turns Values Into Action
What happens when doing the right thing costs money, creates tension, or slows results? Tara Shewchuk, Senior Vice President and Global Chief Privacy, Integrity, and Compliance Officer at Medtronic, pulls back the curtain on what ethical leader...
376: When Ambition Disconnects You From Life
What happens when your drive to succeed begins to disconnect you from yourself and the people who matter most? You’ll hear how Kevin Rice navigated extreme personal and professional pressure while building and scaling a company, and what it tau...
375: How Cargill Turns Values Into Daily Decisions
What if your company’s stated values actually guided every decision you make? Christopher Annand, Senior Director of Ethics, Compliance, and Security, shares how Cargill brings this standard to life, where seven guiding principles shape how lea...
374: The Line You Never Cross
Pressure doesn’t reveal your values. It exposes whether you’ve defined them at all. In this conversation with John Castelly, you’re challenged to think about who you are as a leader before the moment arrives when everything is on the l...
373: When Growth Forces an Identity Shift
What happens when you set a bigger goal and it forces you to rethink who you are? In this solo episode, I share how one decision exposed gaps in my leadership approach and led to a series of identity-level shifts. Through working with AI as a s...
372: Your Body Decides Before Your Brain Does
What happens when a high-performing leader hits a wall they never saw coming? Kimberly Arnold knows firsthand. After she spent decades leading large-scale transformations at PwC, Salesforce, and Blue Shield of California, a perfect storm of per...
371: The Weight of Doing the Right Thing
Pressure reveals who you really are as a leader. Brian Aquart, Vice President of Workforce and Community Education at Northwell Health, shares how a defining moment during the first wave of COVID reshaped his understanding of purpose, re...
370: DONE Leaders Finish What Matters Most
Growth doesn’t stall because leaders lack ideas. It stalls because execution gets messy. Andrea Jones, former Intel process engineer and MIT Sloan MBA, turned a painful early career experience into a mission: help organizations execute growth p...
369: Leading Without Judgment When It Counts
Great leadership is revealed in the moments when pressure makes it easiest to abandon your values. Steph Brady shares how falling into management at 21—without training or support—forced her to lead in high-stress situations where her instincts...
368: Why Nonprofits Must Think Like Businesses
Most nonprofits fail for one simple reason: they don’t run like businesses. Dr. Sharon Elefant learned this firsthand and built her company, The Nonprofit Plug, to help founders close that gap. After beginning her career in hospital administrat...
367: Be Yourself at Work
What if being yourself at work wasn’t a risk—but your greatest strength? In this deeply moving conversation, you’ll meet Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX and author of Be Yourself at Work. Her presence alone reminds you wh...
366: Creating a Great Place to Work For All
What does it really take to lead well when the world—and the workplace—feels deeply divided? You’re invited into a thoughtful, grounded conversation with Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work, as we explore how trust, charac...
365: What Really Builds (or Breaks) Trust
What does it really mean to trust someone—and how intentional are you about the choices you make every day? You’ll rethink trust from the inside out as Charles Feltman challenges the idea that trust is vague or emotional and reframes it ...
364: Making Global Learning Truly Accessible
What if leadership isn’t about confidence or visibility—but about building systems that expand access for others? In this episode, you’ll meet Jiayuan Tian, a social entrepreneur and graduate student at Columbia University SIPA, whose journey t...
363: Human-First Leadership in the AI Era
What if the future of leadership isn’t about choosing between people or technology, but learning how to lead both with intention? In this episode, you’ll hear from Gena Hoxha, PhD, Chief People & AI Officer at Ignitium, who is help...
362: Thriving Starts from Within
What does it really mean to thrive, especially when success still doesn’t feel satisfying? Kamin Samuel, PhD, brings a grounded, deeply human perspective to thriving—one rooted in self-leadership, self-trust, and releasing the quiet belief that...
361: Women Leading Change in Construction
What does it really take to lead with courage in environments that were not built for you? Gretchen Gagel, PhD, a trailblazer with four decades of experience in the construction industry, shares what she has learned about unconscious bias, the ...
360: When 360 Feedback Becomes a Gift
What if the feedback you’re most hesitant to receive is actually a gift? In this solo episode, I share what 360-degree feedback really is—and what it is not—drawing on more than 30 years of experience helping leaders use feedback as a tool for ...
359: Own Your Stuff and Elevate Your Impact
What if the greatest leadership breakthroughs begin with owning your truth? In this conversation with Joe Machicote about his book, Own Thy Stuff, we explore what it really means to take responsibility for your impact—on yourself, your...
