Have you ever felt betrayed? Maybe something happens with a colleague at work? Or in a personal relationship? I feel so fortunate to have met Dr. Beth Hedva, author of Betrayal, Trust, and Forgiveness, who joined the Greatness Podcast to share her wisdom on the topic. Beth talks about how we shift from "why did this happen to me?" to "how can I gro…

My good friend Suzanne Arkel is a remarkable woman who has devoted her 25 year career to driving inclusivity in large construction programs. I asked Suzanne, who identifies as African American, to rate the inclusivity of the construction industry on a scale of 1 (low) to 4 (high), and I appreciate her answer - "It's a two-and-a-half . . . if there …

I have a deep appreciation for people who immigrate from one country to another. I've learned, it's hard! I can't imagine doing it as a 17-year-old who doesn't speak the language. Laura Miranda joined the Greatness Podcast to share her journey from Columbia to Australia and how that led her to a two-year technical degree and to co-founding the podc…

Women lifting up other women in the construction industry is critical to our efforts to be a more inclusive industry. As part of my journey of making new construction industry friends in Kansas City I met the amazing Erica Jones, Vice President of MMC Corporation and Founder of On The Rise. This incredible program elevates women in the construction…

I strongly encourage those of you in the construction industry (all genders) to join myself and five other amazing construction industry podcasters for the free inaugural Women in Construction Week Audio Summit 2024! Join creator Barb Allen and myself for a preview of the Audio Summit on the Greatness podcast and sign up here - https://construction…

Bill Proudman co-founded White Men as Full Diversity Partners (WMFDP) 30 years ago to work with leaders at the intersection of equity and inclusion - helping leaders be the stewards of an inclusive culture with courage, consciousness, and competency. Bill is a white man who had the courage to "follow his heart" three decades ago when he realized th…

Have you ever experienced a man apologizing for an all-male panel at a conference? Five years ago while attending my first Australian Pipelines and Gas (APGA) Conference in Darwin I saw APGA CEO Steve Davies do just that. Steve was so proud of the fact that he had convinced many of the industry's top leaders to come to Darwin for a senior leader pa…

Have you ever had someone who saw more in you than you did in yourself? Or been told you're not thinking big enough, aiming high enough with your aspirations? Many people experience these feelings, including many of the women I speak with in various industries. Lisa Mednick Takami joined the Greatness Podcast to share her amazing research and assoc…

My good friend Denise Burgess, a tremendous leader in the construction industry and recent inductee into the National Academy of Construction, joined the Greatness Podcast to talk about her 30-year journey as an African American woman in the industry. Denise candidly shares her experience of frequently being the only woman of color in the room. "Oh…

What distinguishes a great coach from a good coach, either as a professional or as a leader coaching your team? David Goldsmith, Co-founder of the International Coaching Federation and iconic pillar of the executive coaching profession, joined the Greatness podcast to share his invaluable insights on this topic. Key nuggets - how are you, as a coac…

What keeps us in the game - be it life or work? We all know leaders that continue to be curious and "in the game" throughout their lives, but what is it that drives that ongoing curiosity? Dr. Pamela Meyer's latest book, Staying in the Game: Leading and Learning with Agility for a Dynamic Future explores "embodied agile leadership".. According to P…

Do you know what the number one micro-aggression against women is in the workplace? Being talked over. Believe me, I have experienced and witnessed it all too often. So what can we all do about this? How do we actively advocate for underrepresented people at work and make them feel included? Many of us understand that inclusion is important, but ho…

We spend a great deal of time helping leaders understand how to help employees trust them. But what happens when we as leaders lose trust in an employee? How do we understand the source of the breakdown of trust and the steps to repair it? As Dina Denham Smith describes in her HBR article and as a guest on the Greatness podcast, this breakdown in t…

It's so fun to find amazing women who share my passion for the construction industry. As I "co-locate" back to my home town of Kansas City after 40 years it's been fun to meet leaders there in the construction industry. Brandy McCombs, the first female Chair of The Builders, a chapter of AGC in Kansas City, joined the Greatness podcast to share her…

What are your superpowers? Rebecca Saunders joined the greatness podcast to discuss her work in creating a global network of women business owners to feel connected and supported. Rebecca's personal experience as someone with alopecia who spent years covering this up versus owning herself inspires her work. She is bald and beautiful! As she says, "…

I have so much admiration for my good friend Bobbi Mahlab for starting not-for-profit Mentor Walks, a brilliant model that connects mentors and mentees once a month for an hour-long "walk and talk'' in many cities throughout the world. I have participated for years here in Australia and love it because the program is curated to match me as a mentor…

Systems thinking and sustainability are big topics today, and Shaun Deverson, founder of Lighthouse Futures, brought his brilliant thinking on these topics to the Greatness Podcast. Nature-base solutions and "balance" - how are we continuing to evolve our thinking, as global leaders, to focus upon our stewardship of the planet? Leveraging ancient t…

"Any business plan created before 2020 is obsolete." This is the post by my friend Ted Souder, former Google Executive and Global Digital Transformation Expert, that prompted me to invite him onto the Greatness podcast to discuss the future of digital transformation. Ted recommends having a "digital mindset", thinking as a company about how to have…

Are you intimidated by ChatGPT? I am! So I invited Donna McGeorge, author of The ChatGPT Revolution, to the Greatness podcast to help me, and you, understand what Chat GPT can do for us. "Charlie", as Donna calls her ChatGPT, can do many wonderful things, like putting together a meal plan for the week including recipes and an ingredient list, or wr…

Want to know what great questions to ask yourself and your Board/organization to help navigate the volatile, uncertain, and complex world we live in today? Dr. Richard David Hames, philosopher, activist, and strategic foresight practitioner, joined the Greatness Podcast to share his global insights on this. One great question - how can you reassure…

Are you passionate about your work? Do you feel fulfilled in life? For many people I know the answer to this is "no" but they may not know what to do about it, feeling either trapped in a job or unaware of their passions. Christelle Pillot, Owner of Freedom Catcher Academy, joined the Greatness podcast to share her expertise in helping people find …

Howard Ross, author, activist, "builder of innovations in the field of diversity and inclusion", and expert on bias, joins the Greatness Podcast to discuss unconscious bias and inclusion. If you are a student of inclusion and unconscious bias, as am I, this is an important podcast for you. One key point - what would it look like if a construction c…

Do you know how to make an effective point in a meeting or presentation? Have you ever sat in a meeting thinking "is this person ever going to get to the point?"? Joel Schwarzberg, leading public speaking coach, joined the Greatness Podcast to help us understand how to be effective in sharing the "so what" of our idea. The original HBR article I re…

Edgar Schein, one of the most brilliant consultants, researchers, authors, and academics, sadly passed away in January 2023. I was so fortunate to be the recipient of his coaching in the year leading up to that, and I had the bright idea of honouring Ed for the 100th episode of the Greatness podcast. I'm deeply grateful to my good friend and former…

"Life is messy"! Brilliant author and CEO coach Sabina Nawaz joined the Greatness podcast to share her insights on leadership after my LinkedIn post mentioning her HBR article on failure months ago received a record response. "If you're not failing enough, you're not experimenting enough, you're too much in your comfort zone". As leaders, our failu…

Would you like to cut your training costs in half and achieve higher levels of training competency? I work hard to lift up global examples of break-through thinking that lift the entire construction industry, and that also apply to other industries. Adaptive learning applies AI to reduce training time by customizing each person's training to skip w…

If you only listen to one of my podcasts, please pick this one. Why? Because guest Sam Clark, CEO of Clark Construction in Lansing Michigan, candidly shares his organization's six year diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and results in an authentic and meaningful way. Would you like for your organization to have a 99% engagement score? Or to g…

Are you ashamed of something you've done? Most of us are. Few of my guests on the Greatness podcast have so candidly and rawly shared their personal challenges and how their shame and guilt turned into a life passion for helping others. Luke Sniewski, author of Somawise: Get Out of Your Head. Get Into Your Body, shares his research about self care …

Feeling stressed? Donna McGeorge, author of The 25-minute Meeting, The First Two Hours, and The One Day Refund, joined the Greatness podcast to share her great tips for reducing our "addiction to activity" and our stress. One great point - we as leaders need to ensure we are carving time out to "think and breath" in order to show up as the best ver…

I loved studying "agility" during my PhD - how to help organizations be nimble in the face of ever evolving business contexts. In particular, I loved finding people like Mario Moreira who dedicate their lives to helping teams and organizations be more agile. Mario's book, The Agile Enterprise, captures his work in achieving "agile transformations" …

As a member of the National Academy of Construction (NAC) I am so proud of all the ways we strive to share the expertise of our 400+ members as the "virtual mentors of the industry". NAC member Jerry Eyink joined the Greatness Podcast to talk about the wonderful podcast put forth by the NAC - Get the kNACk. The diverse perspectives and areas of exp…

We are all absolutely perfect, brilliant, and capable today just the way we are. It's our perception that we are imperfect that keeps us from realizing this, a simple yet profound message that Rhiannon Heins, author of The Keepers of the Light Codes, shared with me during her visit to the Greatness podcast. One point that really landed for me - we …

Capitalism doesn't work for the masses. Whether you agree or disagree with this statement, listening to Dr. Richard David Hames thoughts on the topic is worth your time. Richard is one of the leading futurists in the world and mentors significant global leaders. Richard argues that the systems designed for two billion people are not working in a wo…

Tuti Scott is an amazing change agent and joined the Greatness podcast to share the source of her inspiration (a resilient single mom raising five kids) and her advocacy for people who are "under-resourced in the world". From supporting women athletes to her current work around gender lens investing, Tuti is making a huge difference. A shocking 1.6…

Back in 2016 I had the good fortune to share the experience of doing my TEDx Talk with my good friend and bestselling author/coach Christy Belz, an amazing experience. Christy utilized our TEDx Talk experiences, and those of 10 other women, to bring her ideas to life in her book, Oh God of Second Chances, Here I Am Again. This book is an amazing ex…

Disrupt or Die: Transforming Australia's Construction Industry - a bold new report from the Australian Constructors Association. CEO Jon Davies joined the Greatness podcast to discuss the report, which delves into the construction industry issues of lagging productivity gains, the cost of conflict and lack of trust, and the challenges associated wi…

Everything changes. It's life's only constant. Even when we say we're willing to adapt, we often fight it. In this episode of the Greatness podcast, change expert and digital transformation pioneer Friska Wirya talks about how adapting to new situations can benefit both individuals and organizations. Having worked with some of the major companies i…

Given the current social, economic, and political climate, our mental health is more important than ever. In this episode of the Greatness podcast, we welcome John Robertson, CEO of Fortlog Services and an expert on workplace wellness, who discusses the importance of employees' mental health and how it affects the success of our business and organi…

Do you find it hard to express yourself at work? For many of us, feeling insecure at work is a continuous challenge. However, it is also a major hurdle to reaching our professional goals and realizing our full potential. Remember that lack of confidence is not a flaw, and that these limitations should not define you. We've invited Mira Parmar, care…

When we start something new in our lives, whether it's a business or a new job, we are often discouraged by our fears of failing or making the wrong decision. Keynote speaker, mentor, and author Janine Garner joined us on the Greatness Podcast to share her insights on how we can all unleash our inner brilliance and overcome our fears. Janine has he…

Life, they say, is a never-ending learning process. And a curious mind is constantly eager to learn. Asking the right questions gets the right answers. In this episode of the Greatness Podcast, master questioner, content curator, and well-known public speaker Holly Ransom shares her motivating force behind human ingenuity, creativity, and progress.…

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, or so the saying goes. A woman's resilience is one of her many admirable qualities. When we've been through adversity, we've strengthened ourselves for the next time something equally or more trying comes our way. I have invited my close friend, author, and engineer Jill Tietjen to discuss her most recent b…

Hope heals.The pandemic created some level of trauma for most of us. But how effective are we at moving past trauma and developing resilience? I would argue that society in many ways trains us to suppress our feelings rather than dealing with trauma and building resilience. Author and speaker Carrington Smith joined the Greatness podcast to share h…

Helen Reddy performed the lyrics "I am a woman, hear me roar" in 1971. Decades later, are women being heard at work? We invited Carrie Arnold, Executive Coach and Principal of The Willow Group, and author of Silence and Sidelined, as a guest on the Greatness Podcast to discuss the topic. Her extensive research underlies her great suggestions for ho…

Have you ever had the feeling that what you're doing isn’t good enough? You might be suffering from Imposter Syndrome, an internal belief that you are not as capable as others believe you to be. Alison Shamir, speaker, coach, and entrepreneur specializing in imposter syndrome and confidence, joined the Greatness podcast to share her expertise. Afte…

Networking is great, but community building to create support, collaboration, mentorship, and accountability is incredibly valuable, especially if you are growing your own business. Kristine Monroe, founder of Business Bosses Who Brunch, joined the Greatness Podcast to talk about the organization she created to build community. I've come to realize…

Leadership is not just a work thing, it's a life thing. I'm fascinated by the science of positive psychology and how to leverage it as a leader. Jackie Insinger joined the Greatness Podcast to discuss her new book, Spark Brilliance, and her extensive research on the topic. Jackie discusses her framework of "platinum leadership", treating other peop…

What would you do with your life if you weren't afraid? A question I've often pondered. Kate Osborne joined the Greatness podcast to discuss her viewpoints on this, shaped by her travel to 36 countries after university and her experience of being mentored by one of the first major Coca-Cola shareholders. Her point - we're here for 4,000 weeks - wha…

Few industries exhibited as much agility during the pandemic as the hospitality industry. As a fifth-generation hospitality/construction leader, Sarah Treadway, President/CEO of Stout Street Hospitality, joined the Greatness podcast to discuss how they kept every hotel open after dropping from 600 to 86 employees in March 2020 in an effort to take …

Few people are as focused upon transforming the leadership and culture of the construction industry as Barb Jackson (www.barbarajackson.com). Barb joined the Greatness podcast to share her observations on an industry that she describes as "full of noble, hardworking, well intended people" but that is at times "visionless", focusing upon management …