Episodes
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What if your culture isn't defined by your values, but by the behavior you're willing to tolerate? Steve Harris has spent decades helping organizations create environments where employees feel safe speaking up, leaders model the right behaviors, and ethics become part of everyday decision-making. As Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer at Lincoln Financial, Steve shares practical examples of how organizations can build trust, strengthen accountability, and help managers create psychological safety within their teams.
You'll hear how Lincoln reframed speaking up from a compliance obligation to a business imperative, why frontline managers have such a powerful influence on culture, and how one difficult experience early in Steve's career shaped his view of the difference between what is legal and what is ethical. His stories offer valuable lessons for any leader who wants values to guide behavior when decisions become difficult.
In his role as Senior Vice President and Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer at Lincoln Financial, Steve leads the company's enterprise compliance and sustainability programs and helps shape a culture of ethical decision-making across more than 11,000 employees. Under Steve’s leadership, Lincoln Financial has been recognized five times as one of Ethisphere's World's Most Ethical Companies. Before joining Lincoln, Steve spent more than a decade at The Hartford, another long-time Ethisphere honoree, and he’s built a reputation for helping organizations integrate ethics into business strategy, leadership, and culture. He's also a frequent speaker on ethics and compliance and serves on several industry and academic advisory boards.
You'll discover:
Why speaking up drives business success How managers create psychological safety What trust looks like in practice Why listening builds stronger cultures The difference between law and ethicsConnect with Steve Harris on Social Media
LinkedIn
Website
Lincoln Financial
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What if your desire to help is actually getting in someone else's way? You may think you're supporting, protecting, or guiding others, but sometimes your good intentions can unintentionally limit their growth, confidence, and sense of purpose.
Drawing from a deeply personal experience with my father, I explore how helping can cross the line into rescuing, controlling, or satisfying our own need to be right. You'll discover why this lesson matters not only in your personal relationships but also in your role as a leader, where the urge to solve problems can prevent others from developing their own capabilities and strengths.
I’m the co-founder and president of Grow Strong Leaders. We provide assessment and development systems that help leaders strengthen their character and communication skills so they can consistently live their values and sustain strong, high-trust cultures—especially under pressure.
You'll discover:
Why helping can sometimes feel controlling How rescuing prevents growth and confidence What your need to be right costs Why leaders should ask more questions The difference between support and interferenceConnect with Meredith on Social Media
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredithmbell
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MeredithMBell
Twitter https://x.com/meredithmbell
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/meredithmbell/
Website
Grow Strong Leaders https://growstrongleaders.com/
Books
Connect with Your Team: Mastering the Top 10 Communication Skills: https://amzn.to/3jL0pEI
Grow Strong Character https://tinyurl.com/3zwcanxa
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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 from Ethisphere 19 times as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies. She explains how ethics becomes more than a policy or annual training requirement when leaders consistently reinforce trust, transparency, accountability, and speaking up.
Kendall also shares a defining moment early in her career when she was pressured to alter an investigation report, and the decision she made that shaped her approach to leadership. Throughout our conversation, she reveals how organizations can operationalize integrity, create psychological safety, build trust at scale, and help employees make the right decisions even when nobody is watching.
Kendall is a licensed attorney and Certified Information Privacy Professional. She started her career at a Fortune 100 insurance company where she led more than 250 internal investigations, including matters involving C-suite executives. Today, she serves as Executive Director of Ethics & Compliance for the Americas at JLL, a Fortune 200 commercial real estate firm, where she also has global oversight for the ethics program spanning the Americas, EMEA, and APAC.
Kendall is known for translating complex regulatory issues into practical guidance, implementing compliance programs that work in the real world, and partnering with leadership to strengthen cultures of integrity and accountability. Her team develops the investigation trends and risk insights that go directly to JLL's Board, giving senior leadership clear visibility into where the risks are and what's being done about them. A Fellow of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, Kendall is passionate about elevating compliance as a strategic function and developing a high-performing, globally aligned team.You’ll discover:
How JLL scales ethics across 80+ countriesWhy integrity starts with small decisions What builds trust in speaking-up culturesHow leaders create psychological safetyWhy accountability strengthens organizational trustConnect with Kendall on Social Media
LinkedIn
Resources
JLL Ethics Everywhere Annual Report
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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 trust, credibility, and engagement without relying on authority or having all the answers.
As Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary at Itron, Chris shares lessons from his experiences as a federal prosecutor, business leader, and legal executive. You'll hear memorable stories about learning from failure, making ethical decisions under pressure, understanding the "why" behind people's actions, and creating cultures where communication, trust, and speaking up are part of everyday leadership.
You’ll discover:
Why leaders need a viewpoint earlyHow grace strengthens trust and credibilityWhat failure taught Chris about listeningWhy ethical decisions rarely require speedHow simple habits build strong culturesConnect with Chris Ware on Social Media
LinkedIn
Website
Chris’s employer Itron
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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 and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer at Marvell Technology, Eva offers a behind-the-scenes look at how their culture shapes employee behavior far beyond policies and compliance training.
You’ll hear how Marvell’s leadership team reinforces ethical decision-making across a global organization, why middle managers are critical to sustaining trust, and how employees are empowered to raise concerns without fear. Eva also shares personal reflections about the difficult moments leaders face when values are tested, and why courage, empathy, and support from leadership matter so much in those situations.
You’ll discover:
Why employees hesitate to speak upHow leaders reinforce ethical culture dailyWhat builds trust across global organizationsWhy managers are the ones shaping workplace microculturesHow Marvell approaches responsible AI governanceConnect with Eva Lehman on Social Media
LinkedIn
Website
Eva’s employer, Marvell Technology
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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-building and professional development fall away, and why ethical culture depends on much more than policies and compliance training. Drawing on nearly 30 years in ethics and compliance leadership, Jennifer shares why she believes compliance is fundamentally a relationship business and how organizations can move from being the “office of no” to becoming strategic partners in building a healthy culture.
Jennifer also shares a powerful story from her university compliance work that shaped her “yes and” philosophy, revealing how trust, collaboration, and creative problem-solving can help organizations navigate difficult tensions without losing sight of innovation or integrity. This conversation is a timely exploration of leadership, accountability, AI, and the human skills organizations cannot afford to lose.
Jennifer founded May Solutions Group to help companies make ethics practical, human, and actionable. She helps organizations build systems that people actually trust by replacing complexity with clarity and making ethical decision-making easier in day-to-day work.
You’ll discover:
Why AI may weaken judgment development The growing squeeze on middle managers Why compliance is a relationship business How ethical cultures are strengthened over time The “yes and” mindset that builds trustConnect with on Social Media
LinkedIn
Website
May Consulting Group
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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 organizations like Deloitte, Accenture, Meta, and Upwork. Drawing from her upcoming book, Reclaim the Plot, Kelly explains how leaders and organizations gradually “drift” away from the human purpose of work, often without realizing it.
We explore the pressures leaders face today, including complexity, investor expectations, technological disruption, burnout, and the temptation to prioritize performance over people. Kelly also shares a deeply personal story about recognizing her own leadership drift during the pandemic and the intentional steps she took to reconnect with her team. This conversation offers both a warning and a hopeful vision for leaders who want to strengthen human judgment, curiosity, wisdom, and principled leadership in an AI-driven world.
You’ll discover:
Why leadership drift happens slowly and invisibly inside organizationsHow pressure, complexity, and exhaustion can cause leaders to lose empathy and perspectiveThe difference between using AI to augment people versus replace themPractical ways leaders can rebuild trust, psychological safety, and human connectionWhy curiosity and feedback are essential for avoiding leadership driftConnect with Kelly Monahan on Social Media
LinkedIn
Instagram
Websites
Dr. Kelly Monahan
Beyond the DeskBook
Reclaim the Plot – (release date September 2026)
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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 treated as a compliance exercise or a checklist after decisions are made. True governance requires courage, dissent, and a willingness to examine what leaders may prefer not to see.
We explore her concept of FOFO—fear of finding out—and how it keeps boards from asking difficult questions that could expose risk, protect reputation, and strengthen trust. Vera also shares how silence, conformity, and the absence of real challenge can quietly erode culture from the top down. If values are meant to guide decisions, then boards must create the conditions where truth can be spoken and principled leadership can thrive.
Vera is the Executive Director of Boards of the Future, a nonprofit advancing ethical leadership and integrity at the highest levels of corporate power. Vera serves as a chair, director, and ethics advisor to global professional bodies, corporations, and international nonprofits. She has authored the guide, How Boards Should Oversee Ethics: A Ten-Practice Guide for Modern Boards, challenging boards to move beyond compliance checklists. Her latest work focuses on how boards oversee ethics, cultivate dissent, and create the conditions for principled leadership when pressure is highest.
You’ll discover:
Why compliance and ethics are not the same thingHow fear of finding out creates costly leadership blind spotsWhat makes people stay silent when they should speak upSimple ways leaders can create safer spaces for dissentHow boardroom behavior shapes culture across the organizationConnect with Vera Cherepanova on Social Media
LinkedIn
Websites
Vera Cherepanova
Boards of the Future
Guide
How Boards Should Oversee Ethics: A Ten-Practice Guide for Modern Boards
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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 leadership actually looks like inside a global company where decisions can impact millions of lives. You’ll hear how leaders navigate pressure, disagreement, and uncertainty while staying grounded in values that guide both business and patient care.
Tara shares powerful real-world examples of principled leadership in action, including Medtronic’s decision to open source ventilator technology during the pandemic, the systems they use to strengthen speak-up culture across global teams, and the daily leadership behaviors that build trust over time. This conversation goes far beyond compliance and policies. It’s about how leaders create cultures where integrity becomes part of how people think, decide, and act every day.
You’ll discover:
Why ethical culture must be intentionally built every day How leaders create safety for people to speak up What Medtronic did when profit conflicted with patient care How ethics circles strengthen decision-making across teams Why authenticity and vulnerability make leaders strongerConnect with Tara Shewchuk on Social Media
LinkedIn
Website
Tara’s employer, Medtronic
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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 taught him about values, leadership, and the cost of staying disconnected.
As Kevin reflects on leading through rapid growth, personal upheaval, and critical business decisions, you’ll see how clarity around values like integrity, resilience, and connection changed how he shows up as a leader and a father. This conversation will challenge you to examine where you may be operating on autopilot and how intentionality and presence can transform both your work and your relationships.
Kevin co-founded Hathway straight out of college and grew it from a garage-stage startup into a 200+ person company before its acquisition in 2021. Today, he leads Theorem One Capital and is focused on helping leaders scale companies without losing themselves in the process. Kevin is also the host of the CEOs and ABCs Podcast, a show for ambitious professionals navigating both career and family.
You’ll discover:
How “robot mode” impacts your leadership and decision-making Why disconnecting from emotions weakens your intuition A defining moment that reshaped Kevin’s understanding of integrity How values guide tough decisions with clients and team members Practical ways to model values at home with your childrenConnect with Kevin Rice on Social Media
LinkedIn
Podcast
CEOs & ABCs Podcast
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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 leaders think, act, and lead every day.
As you listen, you’ll discover how those principles are reinforced from day one, how employees at every level use them to evaluate decisions, and why trust becomes a competitive advantage in uncertain times. You’ll also gain practical insight into handling difficult conversations, making values-based decisions under pressure, and understanding why at Cargill, how you achieve results matters just as much as what you achieve.
Christopher leads a global team of compliance professionals across multiple regions, helping ensure that the company’s guiding principles are not only understood but also lived. He joined Cargill to help build and scale its compliance organization, and over time has played a key role in embedding those principles into how leaders operate across cultures and business units. What makes this conversation especially compelling is that at Cargill, values don’t sit on the wall. They shape decisions, they guide behavior, and they influence who gets to lead—and who doesn’t.
You’ll discover:
How Cargill embeds values into daily decisions Why trust is the foundation of leadership A practical framework for making tough decisions How to handle emotional employee conversations effectively Why “how you achieve results” matters as much as outcomesConnect with Christopher Social Media
LinkedIn
Website
Cargill
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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 line.
You’ll hear how John built and scaled ethics and compliance at ServiceNow and now navigates high-stakes decisions as General Counsel at Promise. Through real stories, you’ll discover how small compromises become major failures, why trust is the foundation of every organization, and what it takes to lead with clarity when speed, growth, and pressure collide.
John is General Counsel at Promise. Before that he built and led ethics and compliance at scale as SVP, Legal – Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer at ServiceNow. He has deep knowledge and experience as a senior executive on issues concerning risk assessment, fraud prevention, compliance practices, supervision, industry rules, regulations, and policies.
You’ll discover:
How small “harmless” choices can lead to major ethical failures Why defining your values before a crisis is essential What it takes to build trust as the foundation of culture How to balance speed and risk in high-growth environments Practical ways to create a culture where people speak upConnect with John Castelly on Social Media
LinkedIn
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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 strategic thinking partner, I uncovered patterns that were limiting my impact and began operating with greater clarity, precision, and intention.
You’ll hear how these shifts are changing the way I lead conversations, make decisions, and show up with others. More importantly, I’ll challenge you to look at where these same patterns may be showing up in your leadership, especially under pressure. This episode will invite you to examine where you may be staying vague, avoiding direct conversations, or moving too quickly to create real impact.
I’m the co-founder and president of Grow Strong Leaders. We provide assessment and development systems that help leaders strengthen their character and communication skills so they can consistently live their values and sustain strong, high-trust cultures, especially under pressure.
You’ll discover:
Why “generosity without clear intent” limits your impact How avoiding “the ask” weakens relationshipsThe hidden cost of moving conversations forward too quickly What strong leaders do to create clarity and real progress Three powerful questions to elevate your leadership immediatelyConnect with Meredith on Social Media
LinkedIn
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Website
Grow Strong Leaders
Books
Connect with Your Team: Mastering the Top 10 Communication Skills
Grow Strong Character
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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 personal and professional pressures sent her on a 15-week stress-induced medical leave. That experience opened her eyes to what most leadership development overlooks: the powerful role your nervous system plays in how you show up under pressure. Now, as founder of the Pressure Ready Method™, she teaches leaders simple, body-based practices that restore composure in seconds.
Kimberly reveals the neuroscience behind why your body reacts before your mind even catches up—and why that matters for every decision you make. You’ll hear how she walked into a room of 12 distraught stakeholders at Salesforce and used a quick physical reset to stay open, curious, and collaborative when blame was flying in every direction. She shares her PACE framework (Pause, Acknowledge, Center, Engage) and practical techniques you can use in minutes to interrupt stress reactions, prevent cortisol buildup, and lead from a place of clarity rather than reactivity.
Kimberly helps leaders and teams build high performance under pressure without compromising their relationships or their health. As founder of the Pressure Ready Method™, she teaches repeatable tools leaders apply to interrupt reactive patterns and reset in minutes. Drawing on decades of leadership at PwC, Salesforce, and Blue Shield of California, plus 15 years as a certified somatic teacher, Kimberly brings lived experience to turning high-pressure moments into clear thinking, sound judgment, and collaborative solutions.
You’ll discover:
Why your body signals danger before your mind doesHow the PACE framework interrupts stress in secondsWhat pushing harder actually costs your leadership credibilityThe simple posture shift that boosts your confidenceHow a long exhale can prevent cortisol from building upConnect with Kimberly Arnold on Social Media
LinkedIn
YouTube
Kimberly's Resources
Resilient Reset
Newsletter
Meet with KimberlyCheck out all the episodes
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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, responsibility, and ethical leadership. Deploying staff into high-risk areas forced him to wrestle with the weight of decisions that could either expose people to harm or help save lives.
You’ll hear how Brian moved from chasing titles to chasing impact, why principles at the top prevent chaos across 100,000+ employees, and how values must be embedded—not just stated—to withstand pressure. From education initiatives that change life trajectories to his belief that compassion drifts first when guardrails disappear, this conversation will challenge you to examine how you show up when it matters most.
Brian Aquart is a healthcare executive, advisor, and storyteller whose work sits at the intersection of leadership, workforce development, and human transition. He currently serves as Vice President of Workforce & Community Education at Northwell Health, where he helps design and scale education-to-career pathways that strengthen communities and future-ready systems.
He is also the creator and host of Why I Left, a podcast exploring the pivotal moments when leaders choose to evolve, and the founder of Storyline by Kingswood, where he works with executives and organizations to develop narrative clarity, strengthen leadership presence, and align how they show up with the impact they want to make. Across all of his work, Brian is driven by a core belief: when leaders change how they show up, they change what’s possible for the people and systems they serve.You’ll discover:
How ethical leadership becomes clear when lives are on the lineWhy principles at the top determine culture at scaleWhat happens inside an organization when values aren’t reinforcedHow showing up physically signals integrity and careWhy purpose, not prestige, sustains leaders long termConnect with Brian on Social Media
LinkedIn
YouTube
WebsitesWhy I Left
Website: https://whyileft.co/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@whyileftStoryline by Kingswood
Website: https://www.kingswoodforestllc.com/storyline-by-kingswood/Check out all the episodes
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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 projects with clarity and confidence. That moment of public criticism—driven by unclear expectations—sparked what she now calls Executagility and shaped her definition of DONE leaders: those who take ownership, stay organized, follow through without excuses, and lead with empathy.
You’ll hear why teams struggle with scattered priorities, overloaded employees, and unclear ownership, especially in smaller companies. Andrea outlines the four pillars of Executagility: alignment, competence, available time, and structure. She also connects transparency and prioritization to ethical leadership—because when work stays “in the light,” integrity follows. And she shares how Women Plus Workplaces connects experienced women seeking flexible roles with companies that value their talent.
Andrea is one of those gifted entrepreneurs who sees an issue and then forms a company to address it. It all started when she was at Intel in her role as a Process Engineer in the factory. After years of running growth projects full-time, Andrea went to MIT Sloan, where she earned an MBA, and then completed a Systems Engineering Master's at MIT. For more than 20 years she has focused on efficient and effective project execution.
Andrea is the founder of AJC Company and The Executagility® Company, helping SMBs internalize their own project execution capability with the same team that runs their daily operations. In 2025, she co-founded Women+Workplaces, an online community whose mission is to normalize part-time work when caregiving makes full-time roles challenging. Andrea is the author of two books: The Executagility Field Guide and Stop Starting. Start Finishing: How Executagility Goes the Last Mile.
You’ll discover:
Why growth projects stall even with strong teamsThe four pillars that determine execution successHow unclear priorities overload your best employeesWhat the DONE acronym reveals about great project managersWhy transparency is a powerful ethical safeguardConnect with Andrea Jones on Social Media
LinkedIn
Facebook
Instagram
Andrea's Websites
The Executagility® Company
AJC Company
Women+Workplaces
Books
The Executagility Field Guide
Stop Starting. Start Finishing. How Executagility Goes the Last Mile.
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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 didn’t always align with her values. Those early mistakes became the foundation for a powerful leadership principle: meet people where they are, especially when it’s hardest to do so.
You’ll hear how Steph navigated impostor syndrome, scaled a company from $40 million to $250 million, and built cultures rooted in values alignment, even as demands intensified. Her approach to difficult conversations, hiring, and leadership development centers on clarity, calmness, and intentional action under pressure. If you want to lead with integrity when it matters most, her insights will challenge how you think about leadership.
Steph is a strategic HR, change, and transformation consultant who helps organizations and leaders navigate complexity with clarity and confidence. She’s the former Head of HR, with senior experience across global technology, retail, aviation, and facilities. Steph has a real gift for blending behavioral science, psychology, and neuroscience-informed coaching with real-world business insights. She’s known for warmth, sharp humor, and the rare ability to make complex “people challenges” feel human, doable, and grounded.
You’ll discover:
How to meet people where they are, especially under stressWhy impostor syndrome intensifies under pressure—and how to manage itA simple framework for navigating difficult conversations when stakes are highHow values-based hiring holds up during rapid growthWhy clarity and calmness determine team performance in high-pressure situationsConnect with Steph Brady
Social Media
LinkedIn
Instagram
Steph's Website
StephBe
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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 administration and later being laid off while finishing her doctorate, she turned her gift for connecting people to resources into a thriving consulting firm with 14 team members serving nonprofits across the country.
You’ll hear how Sharon built a culture grounded in follow-through, accountability, and professional excellence—and why she insists that mission-driven leaders must embrace financial literacy, systems, and quality control. She also shares how she intentionally prepared her team for her 3–6 month maternity leave by developing emerging leaders, transferring ownership of client relationships, and installing processes that allowed her to step away with confidence. If you care about impact, this conversation will challenge you to strengthen the business behind your mission.
Sharon is a nationally recognized nonprofit strategist, educator, and community advocate, serving as the Founder and CEO of The Nonprofit Plug LLC and The Nonprofit Plug Foundation Inc. With over a decade of experience in nonprofit leadership, compliance, financial management, grant writing, and capacity building, she has supported the formation and sustainability of hundreds of nonprofit organizations across the country.
You’ll discover:
How consistent follow-through becomes the foundation of trustWhy nonprofits must operate like businesses to thriveThe systems Sharon uses to ensure 100% quality controlHow to develop emerging leaders through intentional shadowingPractical ways to prepare your team for your temporary absenceConnect with Dr. Sharon Elefant
Social Media
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsharonelefant/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thenonprofitplug
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenonprofitplug/
Website
The Nonprofit Plug https://thenonprofitplug.com/
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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 what leadership can feel like when it’s rooted in humanity, courage, and care.
As you listen, you’re invited to slow down and reflect on who you are beneath the roles you play, especially in moments when pressure makes it tempting to hide behind them. Claude shares how self-awareness, calmness, and intentional kindness help leaders stay grounded when challenges arise, creating workplaces where people don’t have to contort themselves to belong. You’ll hear why leading from the heart isn’t soft—it’s steady—and how the leaders who bring calm, authenticity, and empathy into difficult moments are the ones who build the strongest cultures.
You’ll discover:
How self-awareness becomes the gateway to authentic leadershipWhy belonging matters more than “culture fit”The difference between being nice and practicing real kindnessHow calm leadership steadies teams in uncertain momentsWhat it means to lead with heart—without losing strengthConnect with Claude Silver
LinkedIn
Instagram
Website
Claude Silver
Book
Be Yourself at Work: The Groundbreaking Power of Showing Up, Standing Out, and Leading from the Heart
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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, character, and everyday leadership behaviors shape cultures where people can thrive, no matter their differences.
You’ll hear why great leadership isn’t about perks or slogans, but about how consistently leaders listen, speak, thank, and show respect. Michael shares data-backed insights from decades of employee experience research, explains how companies earn Great Place to Work certification, and makes a compelling case that organizations that care for people—across demographics, beliefs, and roles—don’t just feel better to work in; they also perform better.
Michael is CEO of Great Place To Work, the global research and analytics firm that produces annual distinguished workplace rankings around the world, such as Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For, the World’s Best Workplaces, and the 100 Best Workplaces for Women. Michael joined Great Place To Work as CEO in 2015, bringing 30 years of experience leading and growing organizations. Michael is driven by a love of business and an unwavering commitment to fair and equitable treatment.
You’ll discover:
Why trust is the foundation of every great workplaceThe leadership behaviors that matter most to employeesHow Great Place to Work measures fairness for allWhat leaders must do differently in polarized timesWhy people-centered companies outperform long-termConnect with Michael C. Bush
LinkedIn
Website
Great Place to Work
Book
A Great Place to Work for All
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