What if the tension you are feeling right now, whether in your career, business, or life, isn’t a problem to solve, but an invitation to step into flow?
In this episode, Monique sits down with Kathy Keating, a technology executive and bestselling author of Liquid. With more than 30 years of experience as a CTO, founder, board director, and advisor, Kathy has walked leaders through the fire of SaaS, FinTech, HR Tech, and healthcare, always in the moments where growth felt the most complex.
Kathy’s framework is simple yet profound: complexity isn’t something to fix. It’s something to influence. She reveals why speed is an outcome - not a checklist item, why leaders who embrace stretch unlock the deepest growth, and what AI really means for the future of our work. She also shares why discomfort isn’t a threat, but the most powerful signal of expansion.
This episode will shift how you see leadership, growth, and change, not just in your career, but in the way you live your life.
In this episode:(03:27) - Sneak peek of Kathy’s new book, Liquid (04:49) - Complexity, systems theory, and leadership choices (05:59) - Boling, freezing, and liquid: a new metaphor for business (09:47) - The myth of speed, and why chasing it makes you slower (13:18) - Speed as an emergent property (14:35) - The Four Sentinels (18:17) - Stretching into discomfort and rethinking growth (21:50) - Why separating actions from outcomes changes everything (24:16) - Where AI is really heading (29:52) - What leaders get wrong about productivity gains vs workforce cuts (33:06) - Influence, tension, and how mid-level leaders speak truth up (36:52) - Pivots, networks, and the hidden work of building influence (40:35) - Why progress is built on tiny iterations, not one big leap
Grab your copy of Kathy’s Book:- Liquid: How CEOs & CTOs Unlock Flow and Momentum in Complex Systems | https://ctosentinel.com/
- Website | https://kathkeating.com/
- LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathykeating/
- Website | https://www.thegreatlifeexperimentpodcast.com/
- Instagram - thegreatlifeexperiment_podcast | https://www.instagram.com/thegreatlifeexperiment_podcast
- Instagram - @itsmoniqueschafer | https://www.instagram.com/itsmoniqueschafer
- YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@GreatLifeExperiment
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