The Experimental Leader
Are you a business owner, executive, leader, team leader, aspiring future leader, leadership junkie, a scientist, a design thinker, or simply the leader of your own life? If you are, then you are a leader, and as such, you should be experimenting! Welcome to The Experimental Leader, a podcast where we tackle the ways leaders are experimenting in their own work. Hosted by Melanie Parish and Dr. Mel Rutherford, we dive into the most interesting questions about leaders and get into real-life conversations about how people might be experimenting with their leadership. What they are trying? How they are leading and managing their flow of work and throughput? How are they managing bottlenecks, mission, vision, strategic, operational, and tactical intents? How do they organize experiments? How do they succeed? How do they fail? How do they collect data? The loneliness of leadership can be overwhelming, especially when a leader gets promoted and doesn’t have a roadmap for how to lead. They might feel like they are supposed to have the answers, and yet they have to figure out what that really means. The hardest part can be not having anyone to talk to about their leadership journey. Fear not. Let Melanie Parish and Mel Rutherford be your guide to becoming the leader you were meant to be – an experimental leader! A public speaker, consultant, workshop leader, author, and Master Certified Coach through the International Coach Federation, from whom she received the Prism Award, Melanie is an expert in problem-solving, constraints management, operations, strategic hiring, and brand development. She has consulted and coached organizations ranging from a Fortune 50 company to IT start-ups receiving their first round of funding. Her individual clients include those in FAANG and other top global IT companies. Melanie is a Certified Professional Coactive Coach and, Organization and Relationship Systems Certified Coach, and a Theory of Constraints Certified Jonah. As an author, educator, and creator of The Experimental Leader program, Melanie shows people new ways of thinking about their leadership, informed by her understanding of the fast-paced ride of technology innovation. A professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, and Canada Research Chair in Social Perception. Dr. Mel Rutherford graduated from Yale University and earned a Ph.D. in Psychology with an emphasis in Human Development from the University of California at Santa Barbara. A Fulbright Fellowship allowed Dr. Rutherford to study and collaborate with the well-known Simon Baron-Cohen in Cambridge, England. Dr. Rutherford also worked with Bruce Pennington and Sally Rogers at the University of Denver as a postdoctoral fellow. He now heads a dynamic research laboratory at McMaster University. Dr. Rutherford is well-known for research in the field of psychology and has been interviewed and quoted in The Globe and Mail, The London Times, The Chicago Times, CBC Radio, Quirks and Quarks, and The Discovery Channel, as well as many AP newspapers around the world. Get rid of the fear and doubt, and shift your leadership into something that works better. Every week, learn from top leaders about how they’re experimenting, how they’re leading, and how they’re doing the things that they do. Join us here on The Experimental Leader and step into leadership with confidence and the knowledge to start leading the experiment today!
Episodes
In this episode of The Experimental Leader Podcast, Melanie Parish and Dr. Mel Rutherford explore how communication is a leadership skill we can continually develop to navigate different priorities, expectations, and responsibilities.
From coordinating family holiday plans to managing workplace schedules and holiday coverage, clear communication helps prevent misunderstandings, reduce tension, and ensure everyone feels heard and inc...
When should a leader ask for input, and when is it better to simply make the decision?
In this episode of The Experimental Leader Podcast, Melanie Parish and Mel Rutherford explore one of the trickier parts of leadership: knowing when collaboration is helpful and when asking for input can actually create confusion, frustration, or a false sense of shared decision-making.
They unpack the difference between consulting, collaborating, a...
What if one of the biggest untapped resources in today’s workplace isn’t technology, but experience?
In this episode of The Experimental Leader, Melanie Parish and Mel Rutherford sit down with leadership strategist and author Dan Pontefract to rethink age, experience, longevity, and the future of work.
This conversation invites leaders to ask an important question: What could your organization gain if you stopped treating...
Leadership doesn’t stop when the meeting ends. Sometimes, it shows up around the dinner table.
In this episode of The Experimental Leader, Melanie Parish and Dr. Mel Rutherford explore how leaders can intentionally shape informal gatherings, business dinners, and social events to create connection, inclusion, and meaningful conversation.
From choosing the right seating arrangement to managing alcohol, guiding table etiquette, a...
What happens to your organizational culture when a valued employee leaves?
In this episode of The Experimental Leader, Melanie Parish and Mel Rutherford explore one of the often-overlooked moments in leadership: how we handle employee departures. Even when an exit is complicated by frustration, conflict, or disappointment, the way leaders respond sends a powerful message to the people who remain.
Mel and Melanie discuss why failing t...
What if feeling overwhelmed isn’t really about your workload but your thought load?
In this episode of The Experimental Leader, Melanie Parish and Mel Rutherford sit down with leadership expert Liane Davey to explore the invisible mental and emotional demands that can leave leaders and teams feeling depleted, distracted, and overwhelmed.
Liane introduces the concept of thought load, which goes beyond the traditional idea of wor...
Are you hiring people who truly fit the role or simply people who feel familiar?
In this episode of The Experimental Leader Podcast, Mel Rutherford and Melanie Parish explore one of the most common leadership traps: hiring people who think, work, and lead just like you. While it may feel comfortable, it can limit innovation, collaboration, and long-term organizational success.
Melanie shares how leaders can make more intentional hiri...
What happens when everything is a priority?
In this episode of The Experimental Leader, Melanie Parish and Mel Rutherford explore one of the most common leadership traps: creating urgency without providing clarity. When leaders assign too much work without clear priorities, employees are left to sort through competing demands, often leading to stress, rework, and reduced productivity.
Melanie shares practical strategies for shifting ...
Unclear expectations can quietly undermine even the strongest teams. Miscommunication, frustration, reduced accountability, and stalled growth often stem from one overlooked leadership challenge: a lack of clarity.
In this episode of The Experimental Leader Podcast, Melanie Parish, MCC, and Dr. Mel Rutherford, PCC, welcome Georgia Thomas, former corporate lawyer, entrepreneur, and multi-business founder, to explore how leaders can b...
What if your biggest leadership challenge becomes your greatest opportunity?
In this episode of The Experimental Leader Podcast, Melanie Parish and Mel Rutherford explore how unexpected setbacks can become "lucky disasters" when leaders approach them with curiosity, resilience, and a willingness to adapt. Through personal stories—including an ice storm that sent a tree crashing into a swimming pool and a cross-country camping ...
In this episode of The Experimental Leader Podcast, Melanie Parish speaks with Dr. Mel Rutherford about leading through crisis, identity, and organizational transformation, drawing from his book The Glass Cliff: One Trans Man’s Leadership Odyssey.
The conversation explores the “glass cliff” phenomenon, where leaders from marginalized groups are often placed into high-risk leadership roles during periods of instabil...
In this episode of Traps and Tricks, Melanie Parish and Mel Rutherford explore two leadership challenges that often go hand in hand: criticism and emotions.
Why do leaders become defensive when receiving feedback? What happens when emotions are ignored in the workplace? And how can leaders respond with empathy while still maintaining accountability?
Melanie and Mel discuss how criticism can be valuable information, the impact of emot...
Welcome to Skill Up, the newest segment of The Experimental Leader Podcast, where Melanie Parish and Mel Rutherford break down practical leadership skills that help leaders grow, develop teams, and create lasting impact.
In this episode, Skill Up: Developing People, Melanie and Mel explore why employee development is one of the most powerful tools in leadership today. They discuss how strong leaders create opportunities for growth, ...
In this episode of The Experimental Leader Podcast, Melanie Parish and Mel Rutherford are joined by Jacob Chase, CEO of Infin, for a strategic exploration of leadership, accountability, and the future of human performance.
The discussion examines how organizations can evolve beyond traditional performance management systems and succession planning models that often fail to capture the full scope of individual and team contribution. ...
What makes people truly engaged at work? In this episode of The Experimental Leader, Dr. Roz Cohen joins the conversation to explore the power of connection, belonging, and human-centred leadership in today’s workplace.
As an inclusion strategist and founder of Socius Strategies, Dr. Roz shares insights from her work helping organizations build cultures rooted in trust, psychological safety, and meaningful relationships. Toget...
Burnout is not the cost of leadership. It is a signal.
In this episode of The Experimental Leader, we explore a more sustainable way to lead by moving beyond either or thinking and learning how to manage competing priorities more effectively.
This conversation focuses on balancing results and relationships, performance and well being, and leadership and personal life through a concept known as Polarity Intelligence.
Instead of chasing...
In this episode of The Experimental Leader, the show explores a trauma-sensitive perspective on leadership, examining how early relational experiences shape executive behaviour, emotional triggers, and decision-making patterns. The conversation highlights how fight, flight, freeze, and fawn responses show up in the workplace—and what leaders can do to manage them effectively.
Start 2026 with a fresh take on leadership.
In this episode of The Experimental Leader, Mel Rutherford and Melanie Parish are joined by designer and community builder Paulo Gregory to explore leading through collective wisdom. They discuss the power of soft skills, non-hierarchical leadership, and collaboration, and how experimentation and trust can unlock innovation and shared ownership in teams.
A must-listen for leaders ready to r...
This episode dives into how leaders can use experimentation to navigate the intensity of the December season with more clarity, efficiency, and humanity. The conversation explores practical strategies for running purposeful meetings, setting clear expectations, and respecting time during a high-pressure month.
You’ll also hear fresh perspectives on blending personal and professional traditions, fostering cultural inclusivity, ...
In this episode, Dr. Torben Noerby—CEO of People & Performance, author of The Contextual Leader, and creator of the Contextual Leadership AI Bot (CLAI)—explores how leaders can adapt to their organizational context to drive performance, accountability, and collaboration.
Discover how contextual leadership helps shape culture and strengthen inclusivity, and learn how AI can become a powerful ally in navigating modern ...
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