Leadership Arts Review

In Humanocracy: Creating Organizations as Amazing as the People Inside Them, Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini explore why top-down governance and rule-bound management are liabilities in the modern business world, what organizational changes are needed to equip and enable everyone in organizations to be their best and to do their best, how to manage transitions safely, and what kind of leadership such transformations demand.

K...

Rick Andrews, Corporate Trainer and Improvisation Teacher, joins us for a discussion of Susan Cain's latest book, Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole. We look at how people and organizations are enriched and empowered by embracing grief, sorrow, and longing.

In Bittersweet, Susan Cain looks at the positive side of unpleasant emotions.

We talk about how comfort with unpleasant emotions enables people an...

In Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel H. Pink presents research on effective motivation and the importance of autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Despite the runaway success of the book, corporate management has done a surprisingly poor job of implementing these ideas. 

Alyssa Dickman leads a discussion of Drive with Nitya Shekar and Kate Arms. We talk about how people are motivated and the ways organi...

In Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?: (And How to Fix It), Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic discusses why so many organizations equate leadership potential with destructive personality traits like overconfidence, narcissism, and psychopathy. He shares what qualities we should be looking for and valuing instead and suggests new systems and processes that can help organizations put the right people in charge.

Kate Arms le...

In Rebel Talent: Why It Pays to Break the Rules at Work and in Life, Francesca Gino discusses the importance of defying the status quo for both personal life satisfaction and organizational success.

Nitya Shekar, Kate Arms, and Alyssa Dickman discuss Rebel Talent and the importance of innovation for organizations and the power of defying the status quo to create personal fulfillment.

We discuss risk taking, vulnerability, in...

Sharon Salzberg is a prominent meditation teacher with a specialization in loving-kindness meditation. In Real Change: Mindfulness to Heal Ourselves and the World, she discusses how meditation practices give us the energy and motivation to sustain the hard work of driving change.

Alyssa Dickman leads a discussion with Kate Arms and Nitya Shekar. We talk about the connection between personal development work and leadership i...

In Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change, Stacey Abrams shares her story and the tools she has used to build a movement for change as a black woman.

Kate Arms and Christine Gautreaux lead a discussion about having influence when you start with a disadvantage.

Special guest Christine Gautreaux brings her stories of having worked on campaigns led by Ms. Abrams to this discussion of the special c...

Nitya Shekar leads a discussion of The Power of Us: Harnessing Our Shared Identities to Improve Performance, Increase Cooperation, and Promote Social Harmony by Jay J. Van Bavel, PhD and Dominic J. Packer, PhD. How can leaders harness identity to increase effectiveness?

In The Power of Us, Jay J. Van Bavel and Dominic J. Packer explore the subtle and not-so-subtle ways our sense of identity shapes our perception and behavio...

In Unleashed: The Unapologetic Leader's Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You, Anne Morriss and Frances X. Frei discuss not only how to have leadership impact when you are in the room, but also how to keep having impact in your absence.

Alyssa Dickman leads a discussion with Kate Arms and Nitya Shekar about the trust triangle, supporting inclusion as a leader, and strategic collaboration with outside organizations -- with...

A double-feature discussion of Michael Bungay Stanier's books, The Coaching Habit and The Advice Trap. Two books on leading better through talking less.

Michael Bungay Stanier shares how to empower others through good questions in The Coaching Habit and how to get better results through giving less advice in The Advice Trap.

Kate Arms, Alyssa Dickman, and Nitya Shekar discuss the differences and overlaps between the two book...

In the final episode of Season 1, Nitya Shekar and Alyssa Dickman are joined by special guest Carmen Ekdahl of Cop Coach and the non-profit Transformational Leadership Collaborative to discuss Living With a Seal by Jesse Itzler. 

Jesse Itzler invited a Navy SEAL to live with him for a month and put him through extreme fitness training. Living With a SEAL is that story.

Special guest Carmen Ekdahl, coach to police officers an...

Alyssa Dickman leads a discussion of Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life by Susan David. We look at how to engage effectively with our emotions and why leaders need to develop emotional agility.

Susan David shares why emotional agility is a crucial leadership skill and teaches a four-part process for working with emotions to extract the wisdom they bring without overwhelming us. 

Alyss...

Kate Arms leads a discussion of Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up by Jerry Colonna. We look at what it means as a leader to embrace your demons in service of better relationships and more effective leadership.

Jerry Colonna believes that better humans make better leaders. In Reboot, he shares what that means and how we can all become better humans and better leaders.

Kate, Nitya Shekar, and Alyssa Dickman talk abo...

What would change if you celebrated learning you were wrong about something in service of being right?

Nitya Shekar leads a discussion of Think Again by Adam Grant. We look at how questioning our beliefs makes us more effective leaders.

Nitya, Alyssa Dickman, and Kate Arms, talk about why leaders need to be comfortable changing their minds for the right reasons, how to cultivate a scientific mindset, and why rethinking your...

If you only remembered 10 things about leadership, what should they be?

Alyssa Dickman leads a discussion of The Truth About Leadership by Barry Posner and James M. Kouzes. We look at the ten fundamental truths about leadership that tend to remain constant over time.

Alyssa, Kate Arms, and Nitya Shekar talk about the fundamental truths about leadership that tend not to change over time. We also discuss the three elements tha...

What do you need to do in the first few months in a new leadership role to set yourself up for success?

Kate Arms leads a discussion of The First 90 Days by Michael D. Watkins. We look at the skills and processes you need to get off to a good start in a new leadership role.

Kate, Nitya Shekar, and Alyssa Dickman talk about the process Michael D. Watkins recommends for navigating the first three months on a job without fallin...

What does it mean to take seriously the idea that words matter?

Nitya Shekar leads a discussion of The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. We look at why words matter and how leaders can build presence and trust through these four simple agreements they can make with themselves. Featuring special guest Margaret Leahy.

Nitya, Kate Arms, and special guest Margaret Leahy talk about the four ways Don Miguel Ruiz says serve as gu...

How would you like to have more influence in your organization or in the world?

Alyssa Dickman leads a discussion of The Outward Mindset by The Arbinger Institute. We discuss how looking outside yourself, your team, or your organization and focusing on the impact you have on others makes you more effective and influential.

Alyssa, Nitya Shekar, and Kate Arms talk about how an outward mindset enables individuals, teams, and o...