With Special Guest: Steve Bonar, EVP, Conklin Company

Most leaders coast once they earn the title. The ones who build lasting teams — and lasting results — never do.

In this episode, Meridith sits down with Steve Bonar, Executive Vice President of the Conklin Company, to talk about what it actually takes to lead, sell, and grow when the pace of change is relentless and uncertainty is the only constant.

Steve has spent 25 years developing entrepreneurs and leading large sales organizations inside one of the most relationship-driven industries in business. His perspective is practical, proven, and direct.

What you will take away from this conversation:

• Why "systems permit ordinary people to achieve extraordinary results" — and what that means for how you build your team

• The mindset shift that separates leaders who fold under pressure from those who drive performance through it

• Why obstacles are not blocking your road to success. They are the road.

• How to keep your people motivated and focused when uncertainty keeps escalating

• The rearview mirror principle — and why most leaders are looking in the wrong direction

If you are leading a team, building a business, or trying to find your footing in a marketplace that will not hold still, this episode delivers the strategies you need to stop managing uncertainty and start leveraging it.

Connect with Steve Bonar: conklin.com

With Special Guest: Jeannie Walters, Founder of Experience Investigators

Your competitors are not just disrupting your market. They are stealing your customers, one bad experience at a time.

In this episode, Meridith sits down with customer experience pioneer Jeannie Walters to break down why most organizations treat CX like fairy dust — and why that is costing them revenue they cannot see leaving.

Jeannie is the founder of Experience Investigators, creator of the Customer Experience Investigation Framework, and author of the new book Experience Is Everything. She has spent two decades helping organizations turn good intentions into measurable business results.

What you will take away from this conversation:

• Why customer experience is not a department — it is a discipline that lives across every function of your organization

• The three-part framework (mindset, strategy, discipline) that separates companies who talk about CX from the ones who profit from it

• Why your C-suite dashboards are hiding the real cost of poor customer experience

• How uncertainty in the marketplace is actually your window to build deeper customer loyalty — if you move first

If you lead a team, own a business, or sit in the C-suite, this episode will change how you see every customer interaction — and what it is actually worth.

Connect with Jeannie Walters: experienceinvestigators.com | LinkedIn: Jeannie Walters Experience Is Everything — available now at experienceiseverythingbook.com

With Special Guest: Jim Alling, Former President of Starbucks U.S. and COO of T-Mobile

What does it actually look like to lead through uncertainty at the highest levels of corporate America - and never lose yourself in the process? In this rare and candid episode of Ask for Change, Meridith sits down with Jim Alling, a C-suite veteran whose career spans Nestle, Starbucks, T-Mobile, and Tom's Shoes, for a masterclass in values-driven leadership. Jim shares the defining decisions that shaped his career - including walking away from a senior role at Starbucks because his son's health came first, and later leaving the coveted international president role because he was gone 35 weeks a year and losing his joy in the process.

But this episode isn't just personal - it's a playbook. Jim breaks down the servant leadership philosophy he learned from legendary Starbucks executive Howard Behar, including why the org chart should be flipped upside down, why your front-line employees are your most valuable intelligence source, and why trust always grows a business faster than protection. His advice for facing uncertainty is disarmingly direct: your attitude is the most determinant factor in your outcome. Leaders who are navigating pressure from shareholders, managing rapid change, and trying to hold onto their best people will find this conversation both grounding and actionable.

With Special Guest: Michael Neece, President of Our Future Is Kind and Co-Founder of the Human Summit

In a marketplace driven by quarterly results, relentless urgency, and constant disruption, kindness rarely makes the shortlist of competitive strategies. But what if it should?

In this episode of Ask for Change, Meridith sits down with international bestselling author and kindness researcher Michael Neece to challenge the assumption that soft skills are secondary skills. Michael makes a compelling, data-backed case that kindness is not niceness - it's the foundation of psychological safety, the driver of team performance, and a measurable bottom-line differentiator.

They unpack Google's Project Aristotle research on high-performing teams, dig into the real cost of unkind workplace cultures (hint: your best people leave first), and discuss why ego management and focus management are essential components of genuine kindness. Meridith and Michael also address one of the hardest questions leaders face right now: how do you stay kind when uncertainty is fueling fear, anger, and unkindness all around you? The answer will challenge how you think about your daily choices as a leader. If you've been looking for a competitive edge you haven't tried yet, this episode will make you rethink everything.

Connect with Michael Neese:

Linkedin Primary

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yournextkeynotespeaker/

Linkedin Our Future is Kind

https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-future-is-kind

FB

https://www.facebook.com/meteormike/

IG

https://www.instagram.com/michaelgneece/

Youtube

www.youtube.com/@YourNextKeynoteSpeaker

With Special Guest: Ken Hartley, Certified Speaking Professional and Author of Calling the Presidents

History doesn't repeat itself - but it does offer a playbook. In this episode of Ask for Change, Meridith welcomes speaker and author Ken Hartley, whose new book Calling the Presidents goes where most business books don't: straight into the leadership crucibles of every U.S. president to extract timeless lessons on navigating uncertainty, change, and crisis.

What made Washington lay down power when no one in history had done it before? What can Harry Truman's first days in office - inheriting a world war he knew nothing about - teach today's executives about leading blind? And what separated the presidents history remembers from the ones who became trivia questions?

Ken's answer is both simple and unsparing: the leaders who endure are the ones who serve the needs of their people at the moment that matters most, own their mistakes without flinching, and embrace change instead of retreating from it. This episode is a compelling reminder that uncertainty is not a new problem - and that the strategies to turn it into advantage are already written. Meridith and Ken close with a challenge every leader needs to hear: everything you've ever wanted as a leader is waiting on the other side of the fear and uncertainty you've been avoiding.

Ken Hartley:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-hartley/

https://www.facebook.com/kenhartley777

https://www.youtube.com/@kenhartleyspeaks

www.kenhartley.com

With Special Guest: Justin Jones-Fosu, Speaker, Author, and Founder of the Work Meaningful Foundation

Most leaders are chasing meaningful work. Justin Jones-Fosu argues they've got it backwards - meaningful work isn't something you find, it's something you create. In this deeply personal and strategically powerful episode of Ask for Change, Meridith sits down with speaker, author, and accidental foundation-starter Justin Jones-Fosu to explore what it actually takes to thrive - not just survive - in a world of relentless uncertainty and change. Justin's journey is anything but linear: from nearly getting fired while working in HR, to forgiving an absent father, to building schools in Ghana, he's a living case study in the power of choice, ownership, and intentional meaning-making. He introduces listeners to the research-backed framework of Job Crafting and his own "Choose, Commit, Cultivate" model - practical tools senior leaders can use to stop letting uncertainty happen to them and start creating outcomes with intention. This episode hits differently for leaders who feel the weight of what's happening in the world right now and are searching for a way to move forward with clarity and purpose. If you're tired of chasing and ready to start creating, this conversation is your next step.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iworkmeaningful/ (Justin Jones-Fosu)

With Special Guest: Elke Rubach

Episode Description
Uncertainty has a way of paralyzing financial decisions, and doing nothing is often the most expensive choice. In this episode, Meridith Elliott Powell is joined by wealth strategist Elke Rubach to discuss how individuals and families can regain control of their financial future, even in volatile times.

Elke shares why clarity, ownership, and planning matter more than ever, and why wealth management is about far more than investments. From cash flow and risk protection to legacy planning and financial literacy, this conversation breaks down how to move from fear to confidence.

If uncertainty around money is keeping you awake at night, this episode delivers a grounded and empowering roadmap forward.

https://www.elkerubach.com/

With Special Guest: Dr. Mary Kelly

Technology is advancing faster than most organizations are prepared for, and it is creating a dangerous and often invisible risk. In this episode, Meridith Elliott Powell sits down with economist and leadership expert Dr. Mary Kelly to uncover the growing information and knowledge gap inside today's workforce.

As companies rush to cut costs and adopt AI, they are unintentionally losing critical experience, institutional knowledge, and leadership continuity. Dr. Kelly explains why this is not a recession problem but a succession problem, and why short-term thinking is putting long-term sustainability at risk.

This conversation delivers practical insight on how leaders can protect their organizations, retain top talent, and intentionally close the knowledge gap before it becomes a competitive liability.

https://productiveleaders.com/