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Gary Lloyd is a change leadership practitioner, author of Gardeners Not Mechanics: How to Cultivate Change at Work, and creator of Leadership Skills Lab and Leadership Skill Builder. He has spent much of his career leading complex change and developing leaders, including more than a decade as a mentor and former co-chair of Warwick Business School’s mentoring programme. His current work explores how AI can support safe practice, reflection, and genuinely personalised leadership development.

A Few Quotes From This Episode

• “People are more open to feedback from the AI on the conversation they've had...it feels less threatening, it feels less like a human being."
• "You can read about it till the cows come home...if people want to know what the possibilities are for them reinventing the way that they deliver leadership training, then go and get your hands dirty a bit. It's unbelievably easy."

Resources

• leadershipskillbuilder.ai

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Attend The Global Conference in Toronto, October 28-31.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for Leaders

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic.

♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!
⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.
➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.
📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles.
🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website.

Send us Fan Mail

Rob Kaiser is a road-worn veteran of executive selection and development in the C-suite and the author of five books, including The Versatile Leader and Fear Your Strengths (both with Bob Kaplan), along with Executive Selection, Filling the Leadership Pipeline, and The Perils of Accentuating the Positive. His work has also appeared in hundreds of peer-reviewed articles in behavioral science and business press, as well as in professional presentations. In the late 1990s, Rob's research identified versatility, the capacity to balance seemingly opposing leadership behaviors such as forceful and enabling, or strategic and operational, as the single most important capability for leading in a fast-paced world of disruptive change. That insight was ahead of its time and still shapes how he thinks about leadership today.

Based on that research, Rob created a suite of tools that place versatility at the core of leadership assessment and development, including the patented Leadership Versatility Index 360, the Integrated Personality Summary, and the Progress Report. He and his firm, Kaiser Leadership Solutions, put these ideas into practice every day, helping companies assess, identify, select, and develop executives who build strong teams and great cultures that deliver outstanding business results.

A Few Quotes From This Episode

• “A strength can become a weakness through overuse."
• "There's only one person in the world you can't see."
• (Temple of Apollo) - "Know thyself. Nothing in excess. Surety brings ruin."

Resources

• The Versatile Leader: Make the Most of Your Strengths Without Overdoing It
• Fear Your Strengths: What You Are Best At Could Be Your Biggest Problem
• Kaiser Leadership Solutions
• Leadership Versatility Index (LVI) 360

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Attend The Global Conference in Toronto, October 28-31.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for Leaders

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic.

♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!
⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.
➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.
📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles.
🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website.

Send us Fan Mail

Jon Acuff is a New York Times bestselling author of 11 books, including Soundtracks, Finish, and All It Takes Is a Goal, which together have sold more than one million copies. His newest book, Procrastination Proof: Never Get Stuck Again (Baker Books, April 14, 2026), argues that procrastination isn't a character flaw but a learned coping mechanism, drawn from more than a decade of research and testing with over 30,000 participants. Named one of Inc.'s Top 100 Leadership Speakers, Acuff has delivered keynotes for organizations including Microsoft, Walmart, FedEx, Nissan, and Comedy Central.

Acuff hosts the podcast All It Takes Is a Goal, where he has helped hundreds of thousands of listeners move past overthinking and finish what matters most to them. On this episode of Practical Wisdom for Leaders, he and host Scott Allen dig into “seven reasons people don't choose remarkable,” drawing on stories from his own career, including his years working alongside Dave Ramsey and starting over in his thirties. Acuff lives outside Nashville with his wife and two daughters.

A Few Quotes From This Episode

• “Procrastination is when your actions don't match your intentions. Remarkable is the opposite, when your actions match your intentions.”
• “You're the most persuasive person you've ever met. You talked yourself into every decision, often bad ones.”
• “Most resolutions fail because we try to do something for a year we've never done for a day.”

Resources

• Book: Procrastination Proof: Never Get Stuck Again by Acuff
• All of Jon's Books

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Attend The Global Conference in Toronto, October 28-31.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for Leaders

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic.

♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!
⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.
➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.
📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles.
🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website.

Send us Fan Mail

Jeff Fellows is currently the Business Development Executive for the Naval Air Missiles portfolio at Raytheon, focused on meeting warfighter demands for lethal and survivable mission effectors. With a background in 5th-generation tactics, Jeff has also spearheaded growth strategy and tactical applications for next-generation technology within Raytheon's Advanced Technology Strategic Business Unit.

Retiring from active-duty naval service in January 2022, Jeff spent 20 years leading high-velocity organizations as an officer and combat aviator. An experienced carrier pilot with more than 3,300 flight hours and 660 arrested landings in F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets and F-35C Lightning II aircraft, his career highlights include being hand-picked to command the Navy's first operational F-35C Lightning II squadron, graduating TOPGUN (Class 02-09), serving as a TOPGUN instructor and later TOPGUN Training Officer, a peer-selected role leading the entire instructor cadre, and completing three combat tours across Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

A Couple of Quotes From This Episode

• “If I know something about you, or you know something about me, then it really just kicks off whatever we're gonna go do as our task, our mission, or our job.”
• “Say yes, be kind, and show up.”
• "Connection is the weapon of elite leaders.”

Resources

• Article: The Increasing Importance of a Best Friend at Work

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Attend The Global Conference in Toronto, October 28-31.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for Leaders

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic.

♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!
⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.
➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.
📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles.
🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website.

Send us Fan Mail

Mark Shapiro is an American-born Canadian baseball executive, born April 3, 1967, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Shapiro joined the Cleveland Indians in 1991, rising from an entry-level role to general manager (2001) and then team president (2010). During his 24 years there, the Indians won six division titles and two AL pennants. He was named Sporting News Executive of the Year twice, in 2005 and 2007.

In 2015 he became president and CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays, succeeding Paul Beeston. He hired Ross Atkins as GM, oversaw renovations to the Dunedin player development complex and Rogers Centre, and signed a five-year extension in December 2025. Under Shapiro, the Blue Jays have reached the postseason five times, including their first AL pennant in 32 years in 2025.

He's also served on several MLB committees, helping introduce the Automated Ball-Strike System, instant replay, and the pitch clock. Personally, he's a dual US-Canadian citizen, has two children, and was portrayed by actor Reed Diamond in the 2011 film Moneyball.

A Few Quotes From This Episode

• “Don't worry about being charismatic. Worry about caring deeply. Don't worry about being a super decision maker. Obsessively focus on the best process and prioritization and understanding leverage.”
• "The best leaders lead a decision-making process. I'm very rarely making a decision, and if I am, we have a good chance to make a bad decision.”
• “If you had to say what is the single most important value to building an elite, best-in-class organization, I would say open-mindedness, is where you have to start.”

Resources

• Book: Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World by General Stanley McChrystal
• Book: Good to Great by Jim Collins

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Attend The Global Conference in Toronto, October 28-31.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for Leaders

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic.

♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!
⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.
➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.
📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles.
🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website.

Send us Fan Mail

Dr. Steven Segal is a psychologist, philosophical counsellor, and leadership coach. He is a former Associate Professor at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management and has spent more than two decades working at the intersection of psychology, philosophy, leadership, and organisational life. His work explores how individuals and communities respond to uncertainty, disruption, and existential threats—those moments when people experience a loss of meaning, belonging, identity, or a sense of being at home in the world. Through his therapy, counselling, coaching, teaching, and writing, he helps individuals and organisations navigate complexity, anxiety, and change while remaining connected to what matters most.

His most recent book is Mandela's Leadership Legacy: Emotional and Existential Wisdom. The book was written as a kind of conversation between Martin Heidegger’s existential philosophy and Mandela’s way of being a leader. It used Heidegger to shed light on Mandela’s existential journey and used Mandela to provide an accessible introduction to the philosophy of Heidegger.

A Couple Quotes From This Episode

• "Mandela wasn't the kind of motivational speaker who gets people hyped up. His style was much more thoughtful in the sense of working through emotion."
• "Dialogue across difference, it gets to your identity. And when our identity feels a bit threatened, we tend to become reactive rather than listening. Mandela was able to listen when there were threats to his identity."

Resources

• Book: Business Feel: From the Science of Management to the Philosophy of Leadership
• Philosophical Reflections and Insights for Psychologists and Psychotherapists (forthcoming)
• Website - Dr. Steven Segal

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Attend The Global Conference in Toronto, October 28-31.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for Leaders

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic.

♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!
⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.
➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.
📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles.
🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website.