UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders

In this episode of UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders, Ben-Jamin Toy and Dr. Troy Hall chat with Jim Carlough, a seasoned executive and Chief Sales Officer, to discuss one of the most difficult and often most mishandled moments in leadership: downsizing.

Jim shares a candid UH-OH experience from earlier in his career, when following traditional “be firm, be direct, be short” guidance damaged trust, hurt his reputation, and le...

What happens when a six-figure mistake forces a leader to look in the mirror?

In this episode of UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders, Dr. Troy Hall and Ben-Jamin Toy chat with entrepreneur and insurance leader David Price for an honest conversation about accountability, ego, and growth under pressure.

David shares how a $100,000 operational oversight exposed deeper issues around systems, leadership readiness, and removing himse...

In this episode of UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders, Dr. Troy Hall and Ben-Jamin Toy chat with Ryan DuBois. He’s an endurance athlete at heart, a builder by trade, and the kind of leader who’s learned most of his lessons the hard way. From scaling startups across the Southeast to grinding through 20-hour days in manufacturing, Ryan brings a grounded, people-first view of leadership when things stop going according to plan....

What happens when integrity collides with convenience?

In this episode of UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders, Dr. Troy Hall and Trevor Crunelle chat with leadership coach, author, and podcaster Kathy Archer for a refreshingly honest conversation about confidence, competence, and the cost of leadership missteps.

Kathy shares a pivotal UH-OH moment involving AI, trust, and a leadership value she holds deeply: integrity. What fol...

What happens when a leader’s best intentions quietly become a burden?

In this episode of UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders, Dr. Troy Hall and guest host, Trevor Crunelle, chat with Chris Lorence for a candid conversation about ambition, assumptions, and an unexpected leadership blind spot. Chris shares a powerful UH-OH moment that emerged from a leadership 360 assessment. While he was widely seen as capable, reliable, and dr...

This Ground Zero episode sets the tone for UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders.

Before the guests, our hosts made their fair share of mistakes.

Dr. Troy Hall and Ben-Jamin Toy kick things off by sharing their own leadership UH-OH moments. From a simple technical oversight that could have derailed a client experience, to career-limiting behaviors that quietly stalled advancement, this episode gets honest about what mistakes cost...

What happens when a leader wants to be liked more than trusted?

In this episode of UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders, John Little shares a pivotal leadership UH-OH from his early career at CNN. This mistake cost him credibility, confidence, and a leadership role.

At just 27 years old, John stepped into leadership with good intentions and the wrong strategy: trying to be everyone’s friend. What followed was a lesson in account...

What happens when success comes faster than wisdom?

In this episode of UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders, Donzel Leggett shares a powerful early-career UH-OH that many emerging leaders will recognize and few will admit. Thrust into management before he even wanted the role, Donzel felt the pressure to prove himself, deliver results, and not let anyone down.

He did exactly that. And it nearly wrecked his health, his energy, an...

Regina Huber has lived in six countries, speaks multiple languages, knows dances from across Africa, and built businesses on two continents. But her biggest UH-OH didn’t happen on the dance floor. It happened in Brazil when a trusted business partner drained a joint account to buy himself a shiny new car, derailing their entire venture and leaving Regina with a $100,000 loss, an angry neighborhood, and a long road back to confidenc...

In this episode of UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders, Ben-Jamin Toy chats with the endlessly energetic Dr. Danny Brassell, a man who’s lived enough careers to fill a mini-series and enough UH-OH moments to keep it interesting.

Danny opens up about the weekend he and his wife bought ten investment properties across the country, from Phoenix, to Salt Lake City, Mississippi, Indianapolis, and Florida. The deal looked golden… ri...

In this episode of Uh-Oh Conversations with Cohesive Leaders, Dr. Troy and Ben-Jamin welcome the dynamic and deeply authentic Kenya Dunn. Known for her power, influence, and transparency, Kenya brings the kind of honesty leaders rarely show publicly.

From plant lessons to business lessons, Kenya draws unexpected connections between growth, care, and the moments where everything nearly falls apart. You’ll hear the candid UH-OH that s...

In this episode of UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders, hosts Dr. Troy and Ben-Jamin Toy welcome Rosie Zilinskas. Rosie is a Certified High Performance Coach, keynote speaker, and founder of No Woman Left Behind. Rosie shares her powerful journey from surviving a difficult divorce to thriving as a corporate executive and coach dedicated to empowering women in the workplace.

Listeners will hear Rosie’s candid UH-OH moment: the ...

In this episode of UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders, Dr. Troy and Ben-Jamin Toy chat with Jeff Price, CEO of Communications Advisory Service. Jeff opens up about the costly UH-OH that hit his company for $47,000 and the even bigger impact it had on his confidence, delegation habits, and leadership mindset.

From learning to ask the obvious questions to understanding how integrity sometimes comes with a price tag, Jeff walks ...

Even the best leaders have their UH-OH moments. For Danielle Shroyer, a seasoned HR leader turned coach, her big one came down to something deceptively simple: unclear expectations.

In this episode, Dr. Troy and Ben-Jamin Toy chat with Danielle to unpack how a performance improvement plan turned into a lesson in communication, comprehension, and compassion. They talk accountability, silent toxicity, and why Brené Brown's “clear...

In this episode of UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders, Dr. Troy Hall and Ben-Jamin Toy chat with John Knowlton, a seasoned entrepreneur and C12 Coach, who shares the moment he realized that setting big goals without changing behavior is a recipe for frustration.

John opens up about the year his wealth management firm set a $1 billion target... then stalled out. Through a candid discussion about time studies, misplaced priorit...

What happens when everything you’ve built—your reputation, your funding, your credibility—is rooted in the wrong story?

Dr. Deborah Heiser, founder of The Mentor Project and author of The Mentorship Edge, joins Dr. Troy Hall and Ben-Jamin Toy to share the UH-OH moment that completely changed her career.

As a young researcher in the field of aging, Deborah realized she was studying only one side of the coin—frailty, decline, and disea...

When leadership meets culture clash, lessons get learned the hard way.

In this episode of UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders, host Ben-Jamin Toy chats with Kevin Wayne Johnson, founder of The Johnson Leadership Group, to unpack a defining leadership UH-OH.

From his 34-year federal career to leading through union politics and organizational culture, Kevin shares what happens when you step into leadership without understanding t...

What happens when a leadership coach loses everything in one phone call?
Dr. Andy Neillie joins hosts Dr. Troy Hall and Ben-Jamin Toy for a candid, faith-filled conversation about what he learned when the 2008 crash forced him out of consulting and into an unexpected new career—running swim schools.

Andy’s UH-OH moment was humbling. From keynote stages to cleaning up beer bottles by the pool, he learned what servant le...

What happens when you spend nearly three decades ignoring the pull of entrepreneurship? In this episode of UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders, Dr. Troy Hall and Ben-Jamin Toy chat with Yusef Marshall, a leader, coach, musician, author, and man of deep faith, who opens up about his biggest UH-OH — resisting the call to build something of his own.

Yusef reveals how chasing stability cost him relationships, health, and...