On this episode of Adapt or Die: Transformative Leadership Conversations, former tech-CEO-turned-executive-coach Andreas Pettersson sits down with Julie Stone, Director of Human Experience at Milestone Systems and co-author of Power Without Permission. With over two decades of experience in human-centered business transformation, Julie has built her career on turning empathy into action—mentoring emerging leaders, driving customer experience programs, and leading go-to-market strategies that prioritize people at the core. Her leadership superpower? Radical self-awareness. From feeling invisible in early sales meetings to intentionally rewriting how she shows up in every room, Julie shares the tactical mindset shifts that helped her stop waiting for a seat at the table—and start owning it.

Challenge →
Despite being confident and outgoing, Julie found herself sidelined in critical business settings—standing at the edge of the room (literally and metaphorically), unsure of how to step into her own authority. Internally, she knew she had something to say. But her instincts told her to defer, not disrupt.

Adaptation →
Julie began intentionally preparing for discomfort: visualizing room layouts, setting bold intentions, and asking for feedback she once avoided. She shifted her mindset from “don’t take up space” to “lead with purpose”—and started owning her seat at the table.

Success →
She successfully pivoted from top salesperson to customer experience leader—rebirthing her career with more impact, alignment, and joy. Now, Julie mentors others through self-doubt, leads with clarity, and builds customer-first cultures grounded in human connection.

🔥 60-Second Hot Seat:
Julie retired the belief that some things are just “not for her,” prep-games hard conversations by understanding her own discomfort, and once viewed divorce as a “broken rule”—until it became the gateway to reinvention. Her motto? You don’t wait for permission to lead—you do it with power and presence.

📘 Power Without Permission
Julie is a co-author in Power Without Permission. Get your copy at leadersadapt.com/book and join the community of women building unapologetic leadership from the inside out.

Visit www.leadersadapt.com/adaptordie for show notes, free resources, and coaching programs.

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/andreas-pettersson

On this episode of Adapt or Die: Transformative Leadership Conversations, Andreas Pettersson sits down with Cheryl Strizelka, a neurodivergent mother, wife, and thought leader in the HR field. Known for her gift of reading the room and making people feel seen, Cheryl shares the raw, honest journey from people-pleasing and self-doubt to calm, confident leadership. After two decades in HR and a personal reckoning with imposter syndrome, Cheryl has become a powerful advocate for working women—helping them challenge limiting beliefs, stop over-apologizing, and reclaim their voice. From cutting her own hair to cutting ties with toxic leadership, Cheryl’s story proves that real power starts with giving yourself permission.

Challenge → Cheryl found herself stuck in a dream job with a CEO she admired—but who undermined her from day one. As a new mom navigating pandemic-era pressure, her confidence unraveled. The deeper she tried to earn approval, the more invisible she became—even to herself.

Adaptation → The turning point came not from a single outburst, but a series of quiet wake-up calls—especially from her husband, who saw how the stress was transforming her at home. A brave career pivot, a better network, and inner work helped Cheryl shift her mindset from “prove your worth” to “own your power.”

Success → Today, Cheryl speaks with clarity and leads without apology. She’s helping other women escape the “insecure overachiever” trap and guiding them to reframe success—not as perfection, but as showing up fully, honestly, and with intention.

🔥 60-Second Hot Seat:
Cheryl let go of the myth of perfection (“version one is better than version never”), stopped over-apologizing, and started walking into every room—literal and metaphorical—as if she already belonged. Because she does.

📘 Power Without Permission
Cheryl is a co-author in Power Without Permission. Get your copy at leadersadapt.com/book and join the community of women building unapologetic leadership from the inside out.

Visit www.leadersadapt.com/adaptordie for show notes, free resources, and coaching programs.

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/andreas-pettersson

On this episode of Adapt or Die, executive coach Andreas Pettersson talks with Martha Chrisander—former journalist, B2B SaaS leader, and co-author of Power Without Permission. From quietly crying off-camera at a company-wide kickoff to winning “Employee of the Year” moments later, Martha takes us inside her transformation from insecure overachiever to confident leader. She shares how imposter syndrome, internalized perfectionism, and generational pressure nearly stole her joy—and how a bold coaching exercise finally shattered the negative self-talk. The result: a more open, grounded leadership style and a generational pattern broken for her sons.

Challenge → Despite external success, Martha was unraveling inside—plagued by perfectionism, self-doubt, and stress symptoms that disrupted both her work and home life. Her inner critic ran the show, and she feared the cost of trying (and failing) to fix it might outweigh the pain of staying stuck.

Adaptation → With the support of a perceptive manager and a brave leap into coaching, Martha cracked open her armor. A powerful exercise confronting her own negative self-talk shifted her mindset from fear to possibility—and taught her how to lead with evidence instead of anxiety.

Success → Today, Martha brings radical honesty and vulnerability into every leadership room. She champions psychological safety for her teams and shows up fully at home—watching her 12-year-old son begin to rewrite his own story with resilience and confidence.

🔥 60-Second Hot Seat:
Martha shares why she stopped treating compliments like lies, what breaking an egg taught her son about self-talk, and how she turned her inner critic into a creative motivator. Her biggest belief shift? You don’t need outside permission to take up space—you just need proof that you already belong.

Think high achievers don’t struggle with self-doubt? Martha proves the fiercest growth happens when you stop hiding from your own story.

📘 Power Without Permission
Martha is a co-author in Power Without Permission. Get your copy at leadersadapt.com book and join the community of women building unapologetic leadership from the inside out.

Visit www.leadersadapt.com/adaptordie for show notes, free resources, and coaching programs.

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/andreas-pettersson

On this episode of Adapt or Die, executive coach Andreas Pettersson sits down with Theresa Bassett, CEO of The Diamond Group—a digital marketing and sales strategy firm that’s helped clients generate over $550 million in revenue. Theresa recounts a defining moment in 2015 when a legal settlement demanded she grow revenue by 80% in under 100 days—or risk losing everything. From launching 27 websites in four weeks to winning an international airport contract with no prior experience, she unpacks how grit, clarity, and a proprietary roadmap called Momentum helped her turn chaos into a thriving, scalable agency.

Challenge → A crushing settlement required massive cash payments every six months for four years—more than the business even made in a year. With bankruptcy off the table and legal constraints in place, Theresa had no choice but to transform a project-based model into a sustainable, retainer-driven business—fast.

Adaptation → Theresa leaned into scrappy execution, hiring quickly, saying yes to everything (including airport RFPs she’d never touched), and pivoting The Diamond Group into a full-service agency overnight. With help from her husband—and a growth mindset shaped by Fortune 500 experience—she scaled the team from 3 to 25 in 18 months.

Success → Theresa not only met the cash demands, but eventually scaled back to rebuild systems more intentionally. Her Momentum framework now helps other founders build sustainable marketing systems, and she’s grown a team-managed business that no longer depends on her wearing all the hats.

🔥 60-Second Hot Seat:
Theresa shares why “clarity is king,” how she embraces productive tension with her husband and co-founder, and why scaling a service business is like raising kids—progress isn’t linear. Her favorite leadership mantra? Get specific, get committed, and never rely on referrals alone to grow.

Think a crushing settlement means the end of the road? Theresa proves it can be the rocket fuel that launches your next era.

Visit www.leadersadapt.com/adaptordie for show notes, free resources, and coaching programs.

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/andreas-pettersson

On this episode of Adapt or Die: Transformative Leadership Conversations, Andreas Pettersson sits down with award-winning educator, consultant, and podcast host Scott J. Allen, Ph.D.—a leadership expert who’s trained organizations like NASA, Cleveland Clinic, and Toyota. Scott unpacks why most leaders fail not because of change, but because they cling to control. From psychological safety to adaptive leadership, this conversation rewires how we think about effective teams and decision-making in complexity.

Challenge → Too many leaders believe they must have the answers—creating environments where silence, blame, and outdated mindsets prevent growth.

Adaptation → Scott leans on strategic vulnerability, curiosity, and co-creation to build organizations that solve real problems instead of protecting egos.

Success → A culture of experimentation, breakthrough thinking, and empowered teams—backed by 60+ peer-reviewed publications and global impact across education and executive leadership.

🔥 60-Second Hot Seat:
 The two leaders Scott admires most? John Wooden and Terry Francona—for winning with humility, constraints, and constant reinvention. His must-read book for leaders is Mindset by Carol Dweck. And his definition of real leadership? Vulnerability, humility, curiosity, intention, and consistency.

Want more Scott?
 🔗 LinkedIn
🔗 scottjallen.net
🎙️ Practical Wisdom for Leaders – Ranked in the top 2.5% of podcasts globally

Visit www.leadersadapt.com/adaptordie for show notes, free resources, and coaching programs.

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/andreas-pettersson

On this episode of ADAPT or Die: Transformative Leadership Conversations, tech CEO-turned-coach Andreas Pettersson sits down with Michel Langlois, one of the most respected CTOs in the U.S. and author of Beyond the Code. Michel shares how he helped transform Calix from a struggling hardware company into the #1 rural fiber provider in America. With zero safety nets and a bold vision, he led the company through a radical seven-year reinvention that scaled market cap 8X—and reshaped an entire industry.

Challenge → A collapsing hardware model, legacy resistance, and the sudden loss of 40% of revenue as the company bet everything on a vision years ahead of its time.

Adaptation → Michel restructured engineering from 100 to 1,000+, pioneered a self-assembling virtual test lab, and pushed a new Wi-Fi gateway class that prioritized user experience over speed and feeds.

Success → Calix emerged with 95% of revenue tied to its new product suite, enabling critical broadband access during COVID—and Michel’s team rewrote the playbook for rural connectivity.

🔥 60-Second Hot Seat:
 Michel reveals why being a CTO is more about seeing the future than selling the now, recommends Geoffrey Moore's Crossing the Chasm, and defines leadership in just three words: “providing the context.”

If you think it’s too late to pivot big, Michel’s story proves you can lead from any starting point—even a chicken farm in Quebec—and still change the game.

📘 Learn more and grab Michel’s book Beyond the Code

Visit www.leadersadapt.com/adaptordie for show notes, free resources, and coaching programs.

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/andreas-pettersson

On this episode of Adapt or Die: Transformative Leadership Conversations, Andreas Pettersson welcomes Spencer Horn, President & CEO of Altium Leadership & Coaching and former NASDAQ company executive. Spencer reveals the hard-earned leadership lessons behind his “Delegate to Elevate” philosophy—helping overwhelmed leaders escape bottleneck mode and build high-functioning teams that think, act, and lead. He unpacks how micromanagement nearly cost him everything and why vulnerability and accountability are now his greatest strengths.

Challenge → Spencer went from running a struggling training firm during the 2008 recession to becoming CEO—with no budget, rising pressure, and a command-and-control style that backfired, fast.

Adaptation → Fired after trying to preserve the old culture, he rebuilt himself and his approach—shifting from control to trust, asking “Whose job am I doing right now?” and empowering teams to think critically and take ownership.

Success → Spencer now helps senior leaders dismantle self-imposed limitations, transform team culture, and create organizations where employees want to work—not just have to. His formula has driven 50% productivity gains and lasting culture change at fast-growing companies.

🔥 60-Second Hot Seat:
 Spencer shares why letting go isn’t just about task lists, how conflict done right is a sign of real teamwork, and the surprising truth behind delegation: it’s not what you hand off, it’s what you invite people into. His go-to mindset shift? “Leadership isn’t about doing more—it’s about helping others think more.”

Tired of being the bottleneck? Spencer’s playbook will help you build teams that lead with you, not wait on you.

🔗 Learn More: altiumleadership.com

Visit www.leadersadapt.com/adaptordie for show notes, free resources, and coaching programs.

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/andreas-pettersson

On this episode of Adapt or Die: Transformative Leadership Conversations, Andreas Pettersson sits down with Nicolas Pokorny, neuroscientist, global executive, and Founder & CEO of Mammoth Leadership Sciences. With over 30 years of experience leading multicultural teams, Nicolas unpacks a pivotal leap: moving from managing a small group of direct reports to guiding a large, layered organization. His approach—rooted in neuroscience, organizational behavior, and strategic transformation—has helped shape cultures so strong, one was accused of being “too good to be true.”

Challenge → Nicolas went from leading a team of 8 to overseeing a 100-person department through multiple leadership layers, cultural tensions, and post-merger complexity—without a roadmap for scaling human behavior.

Adaptation → He let go of control and shifted his mindset from “How do I do this?” to “Who can do this with us?”—investing real time in understanding his managers’ personal lives, motivators, and blind spots to build a high-functioning leadership ecosystem.

Success → Nicolas built a culture so unified and high-performing that it raised eyebrows during an internal audit. That success sparked his book The Mammoth in the Room, a podcast, and now a global leadership academy helping others transform chaos into coherence.

🔥 60-Second Hot Seat:
Nicolas breaks down why new leaders often feel overwhelmed, the emotional cost of control, and why understanding human drivers—not just P&Ls—is the fastest route to scalable leadership. His golden rule? You don’t lead the business. You lead the people who do the business.

Great leadership isn’t about doing more. It’s about knowing who to grow—and letting go so they can lead.

📘 Learn More: The Mammoth in the Room – Book & Resources

Visit www.leadersadapt.com/adaptordie for show notes, free resources, and coaching programs.

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/andreas-pettersson

When COVID shut down every client contract and wiped out his production pipeline, Graeme Watt—Principal and Lead Strategist of the award-winning agency Anthem Creative—faced an unthinkable leadership moment. On this episode of Adapt or Die: Transformative Leadership Conversations, host Andreas Pettersson unpacks how Graeme chose purpose over panic and commissioned a self-funded storytelling project that became a viral beacon of hope.

From launching grassroots nonprofits to helping organizations like World Vision and The Chosen raise over $50 million, Graeme’s career has centered on human flourishing. But when the pandemic struck, his team’s future was at risk—until a 7-year-old narrator, a bold script, and a bet on creativity changed everything.

Challenge → In March 2020, COVID-19 brought Anthem’s entire film production slate to a standstill. Within 48 hours, client work vanished, and the team had no projects, no revenue, and no certainty.

Adaptation → Rather than lay off staff, Graeme and his brother lit their cash reserves on fire and doubled down on purpose. They wrote and produced Dear COVID-19—a no-budget, heart-first anthem of resilience voiced by Graeme’s 7-year-old niece, stitched together from archived client footage and crafted in lockdown.

Success → The film won multiple global film festival awards, reached people across the world in lockdown, and brought in a wave of new clients—helping to reignite Anthem’s momentum and pivot the business toward long-form, original storytelling. Today, the agency is producing docu-series for platforms like Prime and pitching seven-figure projects to Netflix.

🔥 60-Second Hot Seat:
 Graeme shares why “empathetic imagination” drives his leadership style, why ruthless prioritization is the real definition of strategy, and how asking what will be more human in an AI-powered world is the key to future-proofing any business.

When the world hit pause, Graeme hit record—and proved that storytelling isn’t just branding, it’s survival.

Visit www.leadersadapt.com/adaptordie for show notes, free resources, and coaching programs.

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/andreas-pettersson

On this episode of ADAPT or Die: Transformative Leadership Conversations, Andreas Pettersson speaks with Tom Galido—5x founder, 3x CEO, and heart transplant survivor—about what it really takes to scale businesses and survive life-altering adversity. From collapsing in the CEO seat to rebooting his life during COVID lockdown, Tom shares raw truths about operational risk, startup culture traps, and why resilience is the most undervalued trait in business.

Challenge → A life-threatening heart condition hit just as Tom was leading a turnaround—forcing him to balance hospital stays with board meetings, succession planning, and shielding his kids from fear.

Adaptation → Tom handed off leadership with grace, rebuilt his strength through disciplined recovery, and returned to the trenches—taking another company through rapid growth while uncovering hidden risks others had missed.

Success → A thriving second act as an advisor, novelist, and operator—helping founders scale smarter, raise capital cleaner, and avoid the landmines buried in HR, culture, and leadership.

🔥 60-Second Hot Seat: Tom shares why most startup cultures self-destruct without early intentionality, how founder health and isolation kill more companies than competition, and why MBA programs don’t teach you how to survive 100+ heartbeats per minute while running a board meeting. His top advice? Build networks before you need them—and write your story while you still can.

Think you're under pressure? Tom's comeback will make you rethink resilience, leadership—and what it truly means to live.

Visit www.leadersadapt.com/adaptordie for show notes, free resources, and coaching programs.

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/andreas-pettersson