Chatting About Change with Dr. Jim Maddox

My guest this week is Dr. Kimberley Barker, who is on the faculty of Eastern Michigan University, is the author of the book, “You Can Create Positive Change at Work!”  Kim shares her experience and passion for helping each individual find their purpose in their work and helping guide positive culture change.  We discuss her extensive role in the International Society of Organization Development and Change (ISODC) and she shares strategies which everyone can employ in creating positive change. In addition to her recent book, you can find lots of great content on Dr. Barker's YouTube Channel, where she hosts some great guests and insightful and meaning content.

My guest this week is Tony Martin, a People Analytics Consultant for a large multinational company.  Tony shares how he moved into the field by combining his psychology and social work background with his organization development training to bring a human-centered approach to change management and organizational performance.  Tony and I discuss how he has combined his unique skill set to go beyond the numbers, by asking meaningful questions, and engaging in conversations to uncover what data really matters.  He discusses how he is passionate about helping develop organizations and crafting stories that engage others.

My guest this episode is Greg Collier, who is from New South Wales, in Australia.  Greg is an experienced senior executive who is motivated by the potential of people, specializing in organization development, and is highly skilled at driving people-focused solutions that achieve positive cultural change.  Greg shares some fascinating cultural aspects of Australia in terms of leadership and organizational life, as well as some of his consulting experiences from around the globe. He highlights some of the unique cultural nuances that influence how leaders function and how culture is shaped and changed.  Greg shares some fascinating research from Dr. John Evans and understanding leadership in an Australian context, particularly around the important role volunteering plays in Australian culture.  Greg closes our podcast with a powerful and simple job description for leaders; to care for your people and support them in doing what they need to do.  Nothing else.  When a leader cares and supports their people, they play the role of a teacher, a security giver, an encourager, and a nurturer.  If an organization does those things, great things will happen, and you'll get great culture.  

My guest this episode is Eric Lynn, a consultant, facilitator, and coach, focused on cultivating healthy organizations and generating meaningful conversations about life, culture, and change.  Eric is the creator of cultureQs, a Change and Integration Accelerator that that uses powerful questions to inspire participants to reflect on the foundations of their beliefs, attitudes and behaviors.  Eric is also the author of the book, Dancing with Change:  Cultivating Healthy Organizations.  Eric and I discuss his passion and unique approach to doing meaningful organizational work, and he shares his unique international perspective, having lived and consulted on four different continents.  Our discussion really high lights the unique aspect of doing organization development work and how it is difficult to define and does not fit neatly into any boxes or match any easy labels, and this is the richness and value of what we do.You can find more information about Eric Lynn and his resources he offers at https://cultureqs.com/

My guest this episode is Peter Kalmar, Founding and Managing Partner of Flow International, and former President of IODA, the International OD Association.  Peter shares his story of his consulting firm, and how it evolved from the work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who wrote the book, Finding Flow.  Peter describes how his consulting firm uses the concept of Flow in developing leaders and in guiding organizational change, particularly around culture change.  We discuss the role of balance between challenges and skills to create optimum conditions for achieving flow.  

My guest this episode is Angie Keister, Ph.D., from Colorado.  Dr. Keister shares her professional journey from her beginnings as an internal Organization Development consultant to her transition as an external consultant.  She offers some great insights about what she has learned from both perspectives and how it has helped in her consulting practice. We discuss some of her current projects and she shares useful approaches to getting employees engaged in change efforts.

My guests for this episode are Kristin and Ted Skantze, joining me from shores of Lake Michigan.  Ted is the former director of the non-profit organization Re-Member and former director of their board, and Kristin is a Nurse Practitioner who has worked for the past 20 years with Pine Ridge Indian Health Service on the Pine Ridge Reservation, in South Dakota.  They share their personal story of their involvement on the reservation, and discuss the impact around cultural understanding, and the importance of listening in helping to heal broken relationships and build connections and bring to attention to the truly resilient spirit of the indigenous people.  The term, Re-Member, refers to the idea of putting back together that which is broken, to re-member.  What has been broken is a trust, and the treatment and relationship with the Oglala Lakota people.  Through the work of Re-Member, volunteers have the opportunity to learn, and listen, and offer hope to those who have been marginalized, through relationship building and cultural understanding.  Rather than attempting to fix or change what those from outside the culture perceive needs to be changed, the focus is on understanding and appreciating the diversity of cultures.  I am reminded of the work of Edgar Schein, who developed the concept of Process Consultancy, which is built upon the foundation that assumes that “one can only help a human system to help itself”.  To learn more about volunteer opportunities with Re-Member, check out this link:  https://www.re-member.org/volunteering 

My guest this episode is Will Peters, a professional musician, high school teacher, community activist, and advocate for Native American youth.  Will, a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe, teaches and lives on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.  Will shares his stories of the struggles and triumphs of life on the reservation and shares passionately about his work with the young people, who are struggling with generational trauma, and efforts to combat the suicide epidemic affecting the native youth on Pine Ridge.  I first met will about 10 years ago while volunteering with the organization Re-Member.  Re-Member is an independent, non-profit organization working with the Oglala Lakota Nation on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota https://www.re-member.org/Will speaks from the heart and his stories are powerful, challenging, and full of hope.  

My guest this episode is Kayshia Kruger, who is the organization development director for a small organization in North Carolina.  She shares how she has created, from the ground up, the organization development function in her organization of about 300 employees.  We discuss some of the interesting projects she is engaged in currently such as employee engagement, learning & development, leadership development, and change management.  A fascinating aspect of her role is how progressive her organization has been in terms of leveraging Organization Development.  She also shares how the Organization Development function is a completely separate function and is not part of the Human Resource department, which is somewhat unique, especially for a smaller organization.  

My guest this episode is Jackie Stavros, keynote speaker, professor, consultant, author, and creator of the SOAR methodology. Dr. Stavros shares how she developed the SOAR methodology, which has revolutionized strategic planning and organization development, by bringing to the forefront a strengths-based approach to guiding strategy and organizational change.  Jackie offers practical tips on how to successfully use the SOAR approach and how to facilitate conversations that create the space for organizations to create their own futures and grow and improve.  She also shares ideas from her latest book, “Conversations Worth Having:  Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement”.  We discuss the key distinctions between mechanistic systems and human systems and the crucial role that engaging people in conversations plays in addressing human centered challenges.  At the heart of this is the notion of dialogue and dialogic organization development.

My guest this episode is Sara Bishop, a strategic communications consultant and runs her own organization, Orchid Communications.  She is also a faculty member at the University of Arkansas.  She shares her story of how she launched a communications business focused on working with nonprofits.  She shares her passion for helping organizations to bring awareness and social impact centered around authentic and aspirational stories that often involve difficult conversations about race and wealth.  With her strong background in communications, she describes the powerful role stories play in bringing awareness and facilitating social change and flipping the narrative around poverty and the culture that perpetuates false stories.

My guest this week is Joella Walker, a a licensed psychotherapist, Certified Spiritual Director, and shamanic practitioner.  She shares both her personal career journey and path as well as offers insights into helping others explore careers and life's purpose.  Joella shares how she works from a strengths perspective and helps adults navigate anxiety, life transitions, relationships, loss, addiction and recovery, and personal growth.  We discuss how she helps her clients create balance, be their authentic selves, and get back in the driver's seat of their lives.  

My guest for this episode is Dr. Eileen Borris, who is a global consultant in political forgiveness, multi-track diplomacy, leadership, and conflict resolution, and noted author and keynote speaker.  Dr. Borris describes her work in changing society's vision of peacekeeping by working unyieldingly towards reconciling world conflicts.  We discuss her work around the globe and the challenges humanity is facing today given the level of violence and war.  She talks about the need for a change in mindset, shifting towards a mindset of tolerance, patience, and understanding, and the healing that needs to take place.  Dr. Borris describes how if we continue to see the world through a mindset of anger and hatred, we are going to get more violence, and we know that violence begets more violence, and we get trapped in this viscous cycle.  And this is a choice that we all need to make, because how we see the world and each other is a choice.  She describes the work of Nelson Mandela as a perfect example of how we can approach peace building and political forgiveness, and reconciliation.  Do learn more about this vitally important challenge, you can read her newsletter, Political Forgiveness Monthly, via her LinkedIn page.

My guest this week is Jenny Wiley, Community Manager Lead at Zencity.  She is a certified life coach and specializes in Community Coaching, partnering with groups who desire to connect and expand together. She is an experienced facilitator and relationship builder, and a strong believer in building social capital in all interactions and experiences.  She shares how she uses her coaching skills and facilitation expertise to help groups thrive and connect.  Her passion for helping others is contagious and she offers a refreshing perspective on how we chose to show up in the work we do, the questions we ask, and the relationships we nurture. 

My guest this week is Kelli Grant, owner and CEO at Grant Consulting and Coaching.  Kelli shares her fascinating story and how she has combined her background in public service, training, health & wellness coaching, and criminal justice, in helping others embrace healthy lifestyles and choices. She discusses her current journey in her doctoral program as she works on her dissertation in the field of sociology.  Her passion is around combining her coaching experiences with her interest in qualitative research and bringing this skill set to the intersection of food and women who are serving time in a residential facility.  Her passion around studying food and the criminal justice system is inspiring and has the potential to transform lives and our society.  Understanding the role food plays in our socialization process is important for creating healthy communities and has the potential to transform lives.  Kelli's doctoral journey is fascinating and inspiring!

My guest this week is Jesse Ross.  Jesse is a professional speaker, executive coach, and consultant.  Jesse shares his story, and we discuss his work around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.  Growing up and living in Minneapolis, he shares his powerful story and his perspective on race and DEI efforts occurring in organizations across the country.  Jesse breaks down exactly what is meant by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, particularly the critical differences between equality and equity.

My guest this week is Scott Spradlin, a licensed Dialectic Behavior Therapist, consultant, educator, and Media Developer at Wise Mind, Wise Life.  Scott's passion is centered around mindfulness-based counseling.  The pandemic has heightened the need of therapists and counselors and the need for self-care has never been greater.We discuss this idea of mindfulness along with how it plays an important role in managing our emotions and helps bring clarity to self-awareness and personal growth and embodying what one truly values.  We talk about ADD (attention deficit disorder) and the growing body of neuroscience evidence behind it and Scott shares some helpful tips and strategies for working effectively with ADD and how to manage relationships impacted by ADD.  Scott and I both share some of our own personal challenges around both have been diagnosed with ADD.  

MY guest this week is Dr. Michael T. Miller, who currently serves as Professor of Higher Education in the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas.  He previously was the Dean of the college and has been in several other leadership roles throughout his career in Higher Education.  Mike and I discuss the changing landscape of higher education and the tremendous changes occurring and the increased pressure from diverse stakeholder groups on what colleges and universities should be about.  Mike shares his vast leadership experience and his research knowledge to discuss some of the trends shaping the field of higher education, including the changing nature of 2-year institutions and community colleges.

 My guest is Dr. Steven Cady.  Steven is a Professor of Management and Director of the DODC Program at Bowling Green State University.  Steve is also one of the co-authors of the book, The Change Handbook.  He is the founder of NEXUS4 Change.world.  Steve shares is ideas around the topic of professional joy.  He raises the question, is it possible to experience joy in work and organizational life, just like we experience it in other aspects of our lives.  We discuss how our passion and purpose can allow us to experience joy in the work we do.  We discuss how individuals in our field of organization development and change are driven to make things better, to make a difference.  We discuss the intersection of avocation and vocation in being mindful of how we show up at work and in life.  He also shares about his latest work project, the creation of the Collaborative Change Library.  He is creating an online collaborative space of resources, approaches, and ideas in a creative platform:  https://nexus4change.com/library 

My guest this episode is Sommer Keplar, who is a organization/change management consultant, with a background in both internal and external business consulting.  Sommer shares her career journey and describes how she has leveraged her communication and psychology background to work in a variety of business spaces doing large-scale systems change, ranging from healthcare to the finance world.  We discuss some of the challenges and rewards of consulting work, and especially the central role of communication and communication strategy in effectively guiding change.  Sommer offers some keen insights around careers and balance, and following your passion, along with some fun conversation on what has been on our reading lists lately.  

My guest this episode is Jamie Pearson, who is a Surgical Neurophysiologist and former business consultant for family-owned businesses.  Jamie shares her fascinating career journey and her current role in the emerging field of intra operative neural monitoring.  We discuss the challenges and opportunities surrounding personal growth and career evolution.  We discuss how each individual has the potential and opportunity to bring all aspects of themselves to whatever job or career path they pursue.  Jamie shares insights regarding trusting the process and avoiding comparing your career journey with others.  Life is all about putting yourself out there and embracing change.

My guest this episode is Dr. Matt Kutz, leadership catalyst, talent developer, professor, and award winning author.  Matt shares his fascinating story of how he has combined his expertise as a certified, licensed athletic trainer with the world of global leadership development and organization development.  We take a deep dive into his book, Contextual Intelligence and the role of insight, foresight, and hindsight.  We talk about the importance of understanding context and contextual cues and being able to adapt our behavior to match our environment.  We discuss the role of mental models and schema and how to use his Contextual Intelligence and his 3D thinking model to solve problems around complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity.  Matt takes us through the 12 behaviors of contextually intelligent people and shares the empirical research behind his ideas.  http://www.matthewkutz.com/

My guest this episode is Khafre Jay, Executive Director on Fire, Hip Hop Organizer, Entrepreneur, and Pedagogist; Nonprofit Strategist, Speaker, DOPE MC, Songwriter, & Best Dad Ever.  Khafre heads up the nonprofit, Hip Hop for Change and shares his powerful story of growing up in San Francisco Hunter's Point, and how he is using his platform as an artist and social activist to bring awareness and change around racism and racial injustice.  He has spoken to over 20,000 youth across the globe and shares his passion and anger around the problems facing our society.  He is fighting to change dangerous stereotypes and is driven to make the world just a little bit easier for kids to walk through this earth being who they are.  We discuss the importance of owning one's narrative and claiming your own voice and the importance of authenticity. 

My guest this episode is Dr. Will Sparks, who currently serves as the Dennis Thompson Chair and Professor of Leadership at the McCall's School of Business at Queen's University in Charlotte, North Carolina.   He is a best-selling author and consultant in the area of leadership and organization development.  We discuss his newest book, entitled Actualized Leadership:  Meeting your Shadow and Maximizing your Potential, that was published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in June of 2019.  The book is based upon the work of Carl Jung and his concept of the shadow.  Will describes how each of three needs identified by David McClelland, the need for achievement, the need for affiliation, and the need for power, and how each of these translates into different leadership styles and how each has an accompanying shadow. In a similar manner, Will discusses Viktor Frankl, author of Man's Search for Meaning, and his concept of “paradoxical intent”.  That the more you fear something the more likely you are to experience it, when you let fear drive your behavior.  For more on his work on actualized leadership, you can check out Dr. Sparks' free leadership profile assessment at https://alpfree.com/Be sure and check out some of the artists and songs we discuss near the end of the podcast!

My guest this episode is Dr. Paul Cadario, Distinguished Fellow in Global Innovation at the University of Toronto.  Paul shares his insights and experiences from his 37-year career at the World Bank, where he served World Bank clients on five continents, and helped the Bank prepare for and live in the world of transparency and accountability.  Paul discusses how he continues to leverage his background as a civil engineer along with his education and experience in organization development to focus on global development, governance and accountability, and helping develop the next generation of thought leaders, innovators and practitioners in civil engineering, global affairs and public policy.

My guest this episode is Dr. Corrie Voss, who is an Organization Development Scholar-Practitioner.  Dr. Voss focuses on leadership development and helping organizations and leaders practice what she refers to as “conscious capitalism” and “conscious leadership”.  We discuss how COVID-19 has turned the volume up on the challenges organizations were already facing prior to the pandemic.  Corrie shares that “whatever you were saying to your employees about COVID, you might as well make it your marketing strategy for the next 20 years, because everyone is going to remember what you chose to do.” In terms of leadership development trends, we discuss how leaders are tending to focus more inward and focusing more on themselves rather than focusing on how to fix ‘them'.  She shares how this is a reflection of a couple of areas of her deep expertise, and that is the concept of conscious leadership and conscious capitalism (an authentic focus on the triple-bottom-line.  A key dimension around this notion of consciousness is the question of what behaviors are you choosing to starve and which behaviors are you choosing to feed?

Global Leadership Coaching:  A fascinating journey into coaching and consulting for a speech language therapist and world explorer.   My guest this episode is Fiona Fraser, who is a leadership coach from Scotland, who currently lives in Chile.  She shares her fascinating story of how she came to find herself working as a coach and consultant, after spending years in Chile working with NGOs as a speech and language specialist working with deaf children and preteens.  She soon found herself spending more and more time being asked deep questions from leaders about their teams and organizational culture.  With her background in psychology and neuroscience, she began to connect the dots with leadership needs and challenges and began to study in-depth the coaching profession.  She describes her training and practice in ontological coaching and its connection to her expertise in neuroscience.  We discuss how the concept of neuroplasticity is really about hope; that our brains can change, that we can grow and develop healthier habits.  She shares some of her insights from working with clients from across the globe. 

My guest this episode is Scott Span.  Scott helps individuals and organizations overcome obstacles, accelerate performance, and getting stuff done.  He recently was a part of a group of world-class experts on focus, drive, and mindset to help individuals live their best life who have authored a new book, “The Successful Spirit.”  We talk about his ideas around balance, mindfulness, and commonsense ways you can take control of your life by harnessing your inner spirit.  Scott's focus is on authenticity and how to be you and bring you. He shares his professional experiences around the critical role of authenticity in leaders successfully leading change efforts.

My guest this episode is Terry Bohn, who is a clinical consultant, supervisor, coach, and counselor.  Terry is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Mental Health Counselor. We discuss central role of curiosity in change, the need to have an open mind and a growth mindset.  With Terry's strong background in mental health and counseling, we discuss the importance of personal growth and meaning through life's change inflection points, doing the work that matters to people.

My guest this week is Linda Ackerman Anderson, Ed.D.  Linda is a coach who develops senior leaders and change consultants in how to consciously succeed in organization transformation.  With over 40 years of experience as a change consultant, Linda discusses her current work and passion around Transformational Change, particularly as it pertains to social justice, diversity and inclusion, and police reform with a current large community client.  A key part of this work is centered around culture change. 

My guest this week is Suzanna Mathews, who is a dating & relationship coach and ‘mindful matchmaker.'  She helps individuals create mindset tools, social strategies, and digital tactics to help her clients elevate dating and deepen connection.  She shares how she brings business acumen to the building of healthy, meaningful relationships.  We talk about how having a relationship coach can be invaluable in helping personal growth, increasing self-awareness and developing greater fulfillment with meaningful connections. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1123070 

This week, I am joined by Dr. Nate Regier, an author, consultant and public speaker and the Owner of Next Element, a global training and advisory firm specializing in leadership communication.  Nate helps people-focused leaders re-imagine compassion at work by implementing The Compassion Mindset Framework.  Nate shares his ideas around inclusion and particularly his focus on personality inclusion and what this means for organizations to grow and thrive.  His book, Conflict Without Casualties, is a great illustration of Nate's passion around helping leaders and organizations, particularly how to manage conflict with different personality types, beyond the typical quick personality surveys we are all familiar with.  The following link will take you to his survey, the Personality Inclusive Workplace Survey, this is part of a large research project Nate is working on.  The link also takes you to some free workshops that Nate offers.https://www.next-element.com/workshops/ 

My guest for this episode is Dr. Roni Reitter-Palmon, who is the Director of the Industrial/Organizational Psychology Graduate program and Director of Innovation, Center for Collaboration Science at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.  She shares her research and consulting experience around creativity and innovation.  We discuss how all creativity is change, but not all change is creativity.  In helping organizations grow and improve, she shares her insights around the role of novelty and usefulness in creative problem solving.  With the level of unprecedented change and challenges facing our world, creativity and innovative thinking are needed more than ever. 

My guest is Nikki Beyrle, the Senior Director of Human Resources for the LDF organization.  She works with a variety of large beverage companies and their HR and talent development teams.  She talks about the need as an HR professional to integratively use both sides of her brain; using the left side for the transactional/analytical aspect of HR and using the right side of the brain for the transformational/strategic side of HR.  We talk about the challenges of this type of diverse thinking and offers tips on how to effectively juggle both divergent types of activities.  We discuss the need to create learning cultures to adapt to ongoing change and the ideas around creating leaders within the organization to be fluid and adaptable.  We take a deep dive into what shapes culture and strategies for translating values into actual everyday behaviors to intentionally create a desired culture.

My guest is Jennifer Freeman, a shaman who helps empower individuals and organizations through her company, Quantum Coaching and Consulting.  She shares her own personal journey and transformation and how this led to her coaching and consulting practice where she helps others shift from a Newtonian perspective, where they see themselves as an object or problem to be solved, and instead, see themselves as a process of mystery, wonder, and possibilities.   She focuses on helping her clients to bring forth their authentic self and truly embrace their gifts.  She describes how we are experiencing this global shift, and we are the medicine.  She explains the phenomenon of vibrational energy within each of us.  “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us….There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. ….As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”― Marianne Williamson.

My guest for this episode is Dr. Tojo Thatchenkery, Professor and director of the Organization Development and Knowledge Management graduate program at the Schar School of Policy & Government, at George Mason University. He is also a member of the Taos Institute and the NTL Institute. He is a leading change thinker, and the author of over a dozen books including Appreciative Intelligence: Seeing the Mighty Oak in the Acorn and Appreciative Sharing of Knowledge.  He shares his ideas and insights around the concept of using appreciative intelligence for innovation.  He shares some great examples of using reframing to rethink various paradigms.  Reframing to see the positive, and then acting on the reframing, bringing the future to the present.  Great examples of this approach include Amazon, Apple, and many other innovators around Silicon Valley.  He shares his thoughts around how some organizations are using this approach to survive and thrive during COVID. 

My guest this episode is Dave Jamieson, who is the president of the Jamieson Consulting Group, a visiting professor at a number of universities.  He is the author of multiple books including the Handbook for Strategic HR: Best Practices in OD, The Facilitator's Fieldbook and Consultation for Organizational Change Revisited. The companies that are thriving and growing are having to make significant changes.  No organization really knows what is on the other side of the bridge.  We discuss the role of creativity and innovation in creating a business in a new way.  We aren't going back to normal.  A lot of the population doesn't want to go back to normal.  Normal was not working for a lot of individuals.  Dave shares his ideas around the need for companies to have inclusive participation, because leaders can't know it all.  “There used to be a lot more that was known by somebody and now, there's a lot less that is known by anybody.”  The need has never been greater for all organizational members to have ownership in the changes occurring and be co-creators of their shared futures.

Episode 25My guest this episode is Dr. Dorothy Siminovitch, from Toronto, Canada.  Dr. Siminovitch is a global executive coach, speaker, author, Director of Coach Training, presence, awareness & somatic coaching.  She is the co-founder of the Gestalt Center for Coaching and author of the book, Gestalt Coaching Primer.  She has her Ph.D. from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.  We discuss the concept of vertical development and how we use ourselves to recognize when something is disrupting us or catching our attention that requires adaptability, creativity, and innovation.  She talks about Gestalt and using the “now” in adaptive ways, remaining grounded in the present moment.  We discuss the global need to be resilient and agile and how to use Gestalt principles for personal and organizational development and growth.

My guest this episode is Dr. Russell Fox, political scientist and professor.  Russell considers himself an idea person and his research is centered around local politics and the politics of place.  We discuss the increased polarization of politics and how polarization is now sociological and the impact of technological change.  The increased technological means of information sorting and its impact and implications is still unfolding.  My guest this episode is Dr. Russell Fox, political scientist and professor.  Russell considers himself an idea person and his research is centered around local politics and the politics of place.  We discuss the increased polarization of politics and how polarization is now sociological and the impact of technological change.  The increased technological means of information sorting and its impact and implications is still unfolding.  

My guest this episode is Noble Kumawu from Accra, Ghana.  Noble is the President of the Organisation Development Institute and Chief Executive Officer of the Organisation Development (OD) Consultancy firm, Organisation Capacity Improvement Consultants (OCIC).  Noble established the first African educational graduate program in Organization Development.  He is the author of two books, “Global OD: A Model for Africa and the World” (2007) and “The Father of Organisation Development in Africa: The Journey, The Struggles and The Career” (2020).  He shares his international OD consulting insights from his 40-year career (of which 30 were spent in England).  He shares his insights and challenges of transitioning his OD graduate program and his consulting practice both to a virtual environment.  We discuss the wide range of Noble's experiences training OD practitioners across the continent of Africa.

My guest for this episode is Michelle Clarke, who is a Global Leadership Coach & Facilitator, Coach Trainer, and Improv Coach - YES!  She describes her fascinating journey from South Africa to Santiago, Chili. We discuss the challenges and opportunities of using the cloud to deliver leadership coaching and group facilitation.  She describes how she provides cross-cultural facilitation virtually around the globe. Michelle also shares how she conducts Improv workshops to develop leaders, increase group creativity, and improve listening and communication skills.   

My guest for this episode is Angela Nan, who is a consultant and professor in Myanmar.  She is a recent graduate of Assumption University with her Ph.D. in Organization Development.  She talks about her recently launched consulting practice and her work with empowering and training female leaders in her country.  She is part of a growing presence of new OD practitioners introducing OD and expanding its use across their region.

My guests for this episode are two of the authors of the soon to be released book, Syngineering; Building Agility into Any Organization, Bill Zybac and Richard Thayer.  Bill poses a powerful question, “How do we deal with the volatility and complexity all around us, and all kinds of unintended consequences playing out all over the globe?”  Our conversation explores the field of organization design and some of the book's ideas and strategies to help design organizations to adapt and manage change.  A core approach is to bring all voices together to work across silos, applying Gestalt theories and an organic approach.

My guest for this episode is Dr. Brian Primack, who is the Dean of the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas.  He has a unique skillset with a background in both human development and psychology along with an M.D. in Family Medicine.  He shares his perspective on the impact of the changes in technology (especially social media) on health outcomes.  We discuss how during the pandemic, technology and social media are providing a lifeline for those who are isolated, and at the same time how the use of social media is linked to mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. 

Using organization development and poetry for changing and saving lives. My guest this week is Manish Srivastava, who shares his journey from the director of learning and development for Unilever into working globally with such issues as child malnutrition with UNICEF in Ethiopia and Human Capital efforts and engaging the youth around sustainable change in Cambodia.  He has been a consultant with the Presencing Institute at MIT University for a number of years.  He shares his stories around Awareness Based Systems Change and how unintended consequences impact broader system components.  He describes his work around using poetry, theater, and mindfulness to help leaders and organizations to become more self-aware – not just systems thinking but also systems feelings.  During this pandemic with physical isolation, he is helping people to reframe their reality around possibilities, empathy, and recognizing the helplessness of the current situation which provides the potential to find our deeper connections, from sitting with our brokenness, and experiencing these realities together.  

My guest this week is Rod Barnett who does consulting in organization development and people development with his consulting firm, Salient Management Consulting.  He currently resides in Australia, just outside of Sidney.He shares his thoughts around the role of leadership in adaptation and resiliency.  We discuss the shifting notion of the purpose for organizations and the connection to the larger community.  He talks about the concept of dissonance and how organizations and individuals are experiencing a real sense of dissonance and disruption and this is creating the opportunity for meaningful change.

My guest is Angela Springer, who is a regional director of HR for a media company.  She shares the increased need for HR to help the organization focus on employee health and safety.  HR is helping organizations to make decisions around the needs and perspective of employees.  We also discuss the nature of virtual workspaces.  She shares her perspective around maintaining relationships with remote employees and the impact on organizational culture.

My guest this episode is Michael Broom, the CEO at the Center for Human Systems.  Michael shares his deep systems thinking skills and insights as we discuss the challenges around doing OD work in non-face-to-face settings.  He shares some thoughts around some current projects with Google and NASA on helping these organizations to build OD capacity and approach challenges from a systems perspective.

Economic and Workforce Development during COVID 19My guest this episode is Renee Duxler, the Director of Economic & Workforce Development at the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce.  Renee shares her passion for community engagement during our conversation centering on her new role with the Chamber and the challenges and opportunities with small Midwest cities.  Renee's background in social work and community activism is proving useful in creating awareness on the broader community challenges and needs facing many small towns.

My guest this episode is Gözde Berber Özbalaban, Associate Partner at Management Centre Turkiye and owner of the consulting firm, “Lead Fit”.  She lives in Istanbul, Turkey.  We talk about the need for resilience, and that to have resilient organizations, you must first have resilient leaders.  Gozde shares her insights around the role of self-care and personal habits around fitness for effective leadership.   We talk about the challenges and opportunities around leading remotely and how to create trust in this day of Zoom.

My guest this episode is Peggy Holman, best selling author of The Change Handbook and Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity.  She shares her insights around how we can connect across differences by moving from debate to dialogue.  We talk about the tremendous change and turmoil all around us and the incredible opportunity this affords us to create something new.  Included in our conversation are Peggy's insights around the art of hosting and the power of such methods as Open Space Technology for bringing together divergent views and reimagining our shared future.