Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future

Guest: William Smoyer, MD

Healthcare is approaching a breaking point: costs are rising faster than inflation, outcomes remain inconsistent, and the current model is no longer sustainable.

In this episode, Dr. William Smoyer, Vice President for Clinical and Translational Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, shares a breakthrough approach called “Learn from Every Patient.” Instead of separating research from care, this model...

Guest: Maria Angel Ferrero, CEO, Makia Labs

Most organizations are investing heavily in AI, but very few are seeing meaningful results

In this episode, Maria Angel Ferrero challenges one of the most dangerous assumptions leaders are making today: that adopting AI tools is enough to drive transformation. It isn’t.

As Maria makes clear, tools don’t change organizations; systems driven by people do. We explore why companies are st...

Guest: Mike Morrow-Fox, PhD

What if avoiding conflict is the very thing holding your team back?

Most leaders believe great teams minimize workplace conflict. But the reality is far more uncomfortable…and far more powerful.

In this episode, returning guest Mike Morrow-Fox breaks down why one negative team member can reduce productivity by up to 40%, why “bad apple” behavior spreads faster than positive influence, and why the hig...

Guest: Greg Moran, CTO of Pyx Health

The pace of change leaders are reacting to today is only 5% of what’s coming.

In this episode, host Maureen Metcalf sits down with CTO Greg Moran to explore what accelerating technological change actually demands from leaders right now. Moving beyond abstract conversations about disruption, they dig into the practical realities facing organizations: collapsing business models, increasing decisio...

Guests: Jim Grote, founder of Donato’s Pizza, & Tom Grote, Chief Catalyst, Edge Innovation Hub

What if the future of capitalism depends on something most business leaders rarely talk about, and even disdain: love?

In this episode, Jim and Tom Grote, leaders behind Donatos Pizza and the Grote Company, share their decades-long experiment in Agape Capitalism, a business model grounded in the principles of unconditional love, the G...

Guest: Julia Hartz, EventBrite Co-Founder & former CEO

In a matter of days, Eventbrite went from growth to crisis, processing more refunds than revenue as live events canceled worldwide

In this episode, Julia Hartz shares what it really takes to lead when the business you built suddenly stops working.

Drawing on a 20-year journey spanning startup, hypergrowth, IPO, global expansion, and eventual reinvention, Julia reveals t...

Guest: Dr. Marcia Reynolds

Why do difficult conversations so often go wrong, even when you prepare for them?

In this episode, host Maureen Metcalf sits down with Dr. Marcia Reynolds to explore how leaders can turn resistance into meaningful results. While most approaches focus on what to say, Marcia reveals that real change happens when leaders shift mindsets, starting with their own.

Together, they unpack:

• Why knowing wha...

Guest: Lord John Alderdice, House of Lords & Peace Negotiator

What if conflict isn’t driven by rational self-interest, but by something far more human?

In this episode, Lord John Alderdice—psychiatrist, political leader, and key architect of the Good Friday Agreement which brought peace to Northern Ireland—shares a radically different lens on conflict. Drawing from decades of peace negotiations, he explains why people and natio...

Guest: Carla Morelli, Scale and M&A Exec

What really happens when organizations try to grow?

In this episode, Maureen Metcalf speaks with Carla Morelli about why many organizations struggle to scale, even when strategy and market opportunity are strong. They explore how growth exposes weaknesses in leadership, decision architecture, and culture, and why scaling successfully requires more than simply increasing revenue or headco...

Guest: Gary Weber, PhD

Your conscious mind may not be in control. That’s becoming clear to neuroscientists, and it explains why smart, experienced leaders miss obvious issues and disruptions so often.

In this episode, Maureen Metcalf speaks with neuroscience researcher Gary Weber about what modern brain science reveals about decision-making, confirmation bias, and strategic blind spots.

Research shows that most cognitive processing...

Guest: Christopher Washington, Provost Emeritus

The real challenge for leaders facing disruption isn’t technical. It’s psychological.

In this episode, Christopher Washington joins host Maureen Metcalf to explore why transformation efforts fail, even when strategy, data, and logic are sound. Christopher argues that the missing lever in most change efforts is narrative.

Strategy tells people what to do, but stories determine whether ...

Guest: Otto Scharmer

In times of disruption, new strategies are not enough. According to Otto Scharmer, what determines the success of an intervention is the leader's interior condition.

In this episode, Maureen Metcalf sits down with Otto Scharmer, Senior Lecturer at MIT and co-founder of the Presencing Institute, to explore the principles behind Theory U and why traditional change management tools fall short in today’s environm...

Guest: Helle Bank Jørgensen, Global Managing Director of Board Intelligence

What happens when global leaders gather at Davos amid rising geopolitical tension, collapsing trust, and compounding global risk?

In this episode, host Maureen Metcalf is joined by Helle Bank Jørgensen, a global pioneer in board effectiveness and a leading voice on governance, risk, and sustainability. Fresh from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Helle sha...

Guest: Brian Ferguson, CEO, Arena Labs

Burnout is a real and growing issue in the workplace.

The healthcare industry provides a perfect example. It demands life-and-death decisions under relentless pressure…yet doctors, nurses, and frontline teams are rarely equipped the way elite performers are in sports and the military.

In this episode, Maureen Metcalf speaks with Brian Ferguson, founder of Arena Labs and former special oper...

Guest: Robert Bush, Jr., CEO, Mutombo Coffee

Volatility is no longer cyclical. It’s structural.

That’s one takeaway from Davos. In this episode, Maureen Metcalf speaks with global strategist,  board advisor, and CEO Bob Bush Jr. about what leadership looks like when stability is no longer a realistic planning assumption. Drawing on insights from Davos, global operating models, and lived experience building businesses through disr...

Guest: Brian Ferguson, CEO & Founder of Arena Labs

Technology is accelerating faster than most leaders can adapt. But speed isn’t the real challenge. In this episode, Brian Ferguson joins host Maureen Metcalf to explore why human performance matters more, not less, in an era of exponential change.

Drawing on examples from high-stakes environments such as medicine and defense, their conversation examines technology’s true role a...

Guest: George Limbert, former President, Red Roof Inns

In this time defined by AI disruption, post-COVID workforce tension, and growing leadership fatigue, trust has become the most critical (and most fragile) asset leaders hold.

In this episode, George Limbert, new president of Innovative Executive Solutions, joins host Maureen Metcalf to explore why modern leadership is no longer about control, certainty, or rigid playbooks. It...

Guest: Paul Smith, former Procter & Gamble VP

What if the most effective leaders didn’t need to explain more, push harder, or manage excuses?

In this episode, host Maureen Metcalf is joined by leadership storytelling expert Paul Smith for a thought-provoking conversation about how leaders can most effectively influence behavior…and why logic alone so often fail at this.

Drawing on neuroscience, leadership research, and real...

Guest: Christopher Washington, Provost Emeritus

As we look ahead to 2026, one truth is becoming impossible to ignore: the leadership models that built today’s organizations are no longer sufficient for the world we’re entering.

In this annual trends conversation, Maureen Metcalf, our usual host, is interviewed by Christopher Washington, Provost Emeritus of Franklin University, to explore the deeper forces reshaping leadership in ...