An end of Season 2 update from Kate Arms.By Kate Arms, Alyssa Dickman, & Nitya Shekar

In Humanocracy: Creating Organizations as Amazing as the People Inside Them, Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini explore why top-down governance and rule-bound management are liabilities in the modern business world, what organizational changes are needed to equip and enable everyone in organizations to be their best and to do their best, how to manage t…

Rick Andrews, Corporate Trainer and Improvisation Teacher, joins us for a discussion of Susan Cain's latest book, Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole. We look at how people and organizations are enriched and empowered by embracing grief, sorrow, and longing. In Bittersweet, Susan Cain looks at the positive side of unpleasant emotions.…

In Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel H. Pink presents research on effective motivation and the importance of autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Despite the runaway success of the book, corporate management has done a surprisingly poor job of implementing these ideas. Alyssa Dickman leads a discussion of Drive with Nitya Sheka…

In Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?: (And How to Fix It), Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic discusses why so many organizations equate leadership potential with destructive personality traits like overconfidence, narcissism, and psychopathy. He shares what qualities we should be looking for and valuing instead and suggests new systems and proce…

In Rebel Talent: Why It Pays to Break the Rules at Work and in Life, Francesca Gino discusses the importance of defying the status quo for both personal life satisfaction and organizational success. Nitya Shekar, Kate Arms, and Alyssa Dickman discuss Rebel Talent and the importance of innovation for organizations and the power of defying the status…

Sharon Salzberg is a prominent meditation teacher with a specialization in loving-kindness meditation. In Real Change: Mindfulness to Heal Ourselves and the World, she discusses how meditation practices give us the energy and motivation to sustain the hard work of driving change. Alyssa Dickman leads a discussion with Kate Arms and Nitya Shekar. We…

In Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change, Stacey Abrams shares her story and the tools she has used to build a movement for change as a black woman. Kate Arms and Christine Gautreaux lead a discussion about having influence when you start with a disadvantage. Special guest Christine Gautreaux brings her stories of hav…

Nitya Shekar leads a discussion of The Power of Us: Harnessing Our Shared Identities to Improve Performance, Increase Cooperation, and Promote Social Harmony by Jay J. Van Bavel, PhD and Dominic J. Packer, PhD. How can leaders harness identity to increase effectiveness? In The Power of Us, Jay J. Van Bavel and Dominic J. Packer explore the subtle a…

In Unleashed: The Unapologetic Leader's Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You, Anne Morriss and Frances X. Frei discuss not only how to have leadership impact when you are in the room, but also how to keep having impact in your absence. Alyssa Dickman leads a discussion with Kate Arms and Nitya Shekar about the trust triangle, supporting inclusio…

A double-feature discussion of Michael Bungay Stanier's books, The Coaching Habit and The Advice Trap. Two books on leading better through talking less. Michael Bungay Stanier shares how to empower others through good questions in The Coaching Habit and how to get better results through giving less advice in The Advice Trap. Kate Arms, Alyssa Dickm…

Alyssa Dickman, Kate Arms, and Nitya Shekar discuss themes from the books we read for Season 1 and give a preview of what's coming in Season 2. Hear us discuss themes that crossed the season, which books we loved most, and which ones we use ourselves. We talk about what we've learned and what we are changing. And just a little about the books we ha…

In the final episode of Season 1, Nitya Shekar and Alyssa Dickman are joined by special guest Carmen Ekdahl of Cop Coach and the non-profit Transformational Leadership Collaborative to discuss Living With a Seal by Jesse Itzler. Jesse Itzler invited a Navy SEAL to live with him for a month and put him through extreme fitness training. Living With a…

Alyssa Dickman leads a discussion of Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life by Susan David. We look at how to engage effectively with our emotions and why leaders need to develop emotional agility. Susan David shares why emotional agility is a crucial leadership skill and teaches a four-part process for working …

Kate Arms leads a discussion of Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up by Jerry Colonna. We look at what it means as a leader to embrace your demons in service of better relationships and more effective leadership. Jerry Colonna believes that better humans make better leaders. In Reboot, he shares what that means and how we can all become bet…

What would change if you celebrated learning you were wrong about something in service of being right? Nitya Shekar leads a discussion of Think Again by Adam Grant. We look at how questioning our beliefs makes us more effective leaders. Nitya, Alyssa Dickman, and Kate Arms, talk about why leaders need to be comfortable changing their minds for the …

If you only remembered 10 things about leadership, what should they be? Alyssa Dickman leads a discussion of The Truth About Leadership by Barry Posner and James M. Kouzes. We look at the ten fundamental truths about leadership that tend to remain constant over time. Alyssa, Kate Arms, and Nitya Shekar talk about the fundamental truths about leader…

What do you need to do in the first few months in a new leadership role to set yourself up for success? Kate Arms leads a discussion of The First 90 Days by Michael D. Watkins. We look at the skills and processes you need to get off to a good start in a new leadership role. Kate, Nitya Shekar, and Alyssa Dickman talk about the process Michael D. Wa…

What does it mean to take seriously the idea that words matter? Nitya Shekar leads a discussion of The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. We look at why words matter and how leaders can build presence and trust through these four simple agreements they can make with themselves. Featuring special guest Margaret Leahy. Nitya, Kate Arms, and special …

How would you like to have more influence in your organization or in the world? Alyssa Dickman leads a discussion of The Outward Mindset by The Arbinger Institute. We discuss how looking outside yourself, your team, or your organization and focusing on the impact you have on others makes you more effective and influential. Alyssa, Nitya Shekar, and…

What is required of leaders when the world feels like it is falling apart? How can facing reality and claiming leadership equip everyone to face the complex problems of the modern world? Kate Arms leads a discussion of Who Do We Choose To Be? by Margaret J. Wheatley. We discuss the leadership challenges of the modern world and Wheatley's call for e…

What goes wrong when we think that having emotions is unprofessional? How can embracing emotions at work make us more effective at our jobs and drive better business results? Nitya Shekar leads a discussion of No Hard Feelings by Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy. We discuss how accepting emotions at work increases productivity and effectiveness f…

How many times have you been through an organizational change that didn't stick? Alyssa Dickman leads a discussion of Managing Transitions by William Bridges and Susan Bridges. We discuss how changing processes and systems is different from leading people through transitions, and why change fails if the transition isn't managed well. Alyssa, Nitya …

Have you ever struggled to get your point across in a conversation? Kate Arms leads a discussion of Say What You Mean by Oren Jay Sofer. We discuss how mindfulness and non-violent communication skills help leaders have more impact and build better relationships through more effective and satisfying conversations. Kate, Nitya Shekar, Margaret Leahy,…

How does spiritual wisdom about the self and the soul turn into real-world leadership advice? Nitya Shekar leads a discussion of The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer. We discuss how mindfulness and self-awareness help leaders increase their options. Nitya, Kate Arms, Margaret Leahy, and Alyssa Dickman have a lively discussion about self-awarene…

Nitya Shekar leads a discussion of Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Nitya, Alyssa Dickman, and Kate Arms talk about the power of intuition, how it fails, and how to train it. We discuss the various cognitive biases that influence how the human brain functions and some ways that we can either counter or "be with" them. We also discuss the…

Alyssa Dickman, Kate Arms, and Nitya Shekar talk about trust-based leadership, the power of taking responsibility for everything that happens to us, the stories we make up, and the importance of play in this discussion of The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, and Kaley Warner Klemp. We share our personal experien…

In this discussion of Brené Brown's Dare to Lead, Alyssa, Kate, and Nitya talk about the myths that persist around vulnerability, how leaders can show up wholeheartedly, and what it means to really show empathy to others. We discuss rumbling with vulnerability, empathy, shame, daring leadership, and more. We also share our favorite tools from the b…