In those moments when we want to disagree, why do we often stay silent? At those times when we want to opt out, why do we often just go along?

A key reason is that it’s hard to defy. It’s hard to question the way something’s always been done. To challenge comments, behaviors, and systems. Yet it’s in those moments of defiance that we flex our values and craft an identity.

That’s why I wanted to talk to Sunita Sah, organizational psychologist at Cornell University and author of the book, Defy: The Power of No in a World that Demands Yes. Her research reveals the importance of defiance and the skills we need to do it well. In her book – and in this conversation – she shares ways we can practice it and support others doing the same.

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Interview with Vanessa Patrick, author of The Power of Saying No

Speak up at Thanksgiving. Your Health Demands It.

America Thinks It’s a Country of Free Thinkers. But We’re Actually Compliant

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Making changes in our own lives is hard enough. It’s even more challenging when we need to lead our teams or organizations to do it.

That’s why I invited Dan Heath back to the podcast. Dan is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Made to Stick, Switch, and The Power of Moments. This time he’s here to talk about his latest book, Reset: How to Change What’s Not Working.

Dan shares powerful stories of leaders who’ve helped their teams and organizations make high-impact changes. He discusses the tools they used and leverage points they prioritized. This book takes change management to a whole other level.  

Related Links

What’s the Goal of the Goal?

Dan Heath on Innovative Problem Solving (interview)

Dan Heath on Creating Moments that Matter (interview)

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Most of us dislike networking. At its best, it’s exhausting. At its worst, it can feel inauthentic, even manipulative.

But what if it didn’t have to be that way? What if, instead, we could focus on helping others in ways that, in the long run, benefit us, as well?

Rosalind Chow is an associate professor of organizational behavior and theory at Carnegie Mellon University. She’s learned that when we use our status to sponsor others, we gain status and sponsorship for ourselves. Her findings can fundamentally change how we think – and feel - about networking.

In this conversation, I talk to Rosalind about her book, The Doors You Can Open: A New Way to Network, Build Trust, and Use Your Influence to Create a More Inclusive Workplace. It’s an inspiring playbook for helping others – and ourselves.

Related Links

‘Sponsorship’ – Not Mentorship – Will Help You Land a Job Out of College

Interview with Alison Fragale

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At some point in every leader’s career, they’ll experience a moment of crisis. And in these moments of enormous pressure and uncertainty, a leader’s actions can mean the difference between an organization’s survival or its demise.  

Dan Dworkis is an emergency room physician and professor of emergency medicine who’s built his career on moments like this. He not only understands how to approach them, but also how to learn from them. And his book, The Emergency Mind: Wiring Your Brain for Performance under Pressure captures the wisdom he’s gained.

Related Links

Layer Cake Debriefing: A Smarter Way to Learn from Crisis

Decisions Shape Culture; Culture Shapes Decisions

Interview with Steve Magness on Real Toughness

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As you move up in leadership roles, you gain more power. Initially, you may take it in stride, thinking it’s something you earned and something you’d never let get in the way of being the manager you want to be.

But as the pressure to perform grows, the gap in power between you and your team creates blind spots that can erode these relationships.

Former Microsoft executive and Fortune 500 coach, Sabina Nawaz, experienced these challenges in her own career and, today, she coaches executives working through them. It’s why she wrote the book, You’re the Boss: Become the Manager You Want to Be (and Others Need). And in this conversation, she shares tools to help leaders manage their blind spots.

Related Links

To Make a Habit, Try Micro Habits

How to Build a Relationship between Your Employee and Your Boss

Interview with Mithu Storoni on Working Smarter

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Managing up is crucial for your success. It’s about knowing your career goals and aligning them with your manager’s needs and priorities. Yet it’s a skill we’re rarely taught and one we rarely see done well.  

For Melody Wilding, this gap in how to manage her career became clear when it caused her to lose her job. It’s what made her want to write her latest book, Managing Up: How to Get What You Need from the People in Charge.

In this conversation we talk about how to get aligned with your manager on what’s most important to them in ways that also help you, how to engage in effective networking, and how to promote yourself in the workplace.

Related Links

Why Managing Up is the Most Critical Career Skill in 2025

4 Signs You’re too Emotionally Invested in Your Work (and How to Fix It)

Skip-Level Meeting Success: How to Connect with Your Boss’s Boss

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On the surface, trust seems simple. You either trust someone or you don’t. That’s why I was so intrigued by Charles Feltman’s book, The Thin Book of Trust: An Essential Primer for Building Trust at Work.

Charles is a leadership coach and trust expert. And where others view trust as binary, he sees it in four dimensions.

He describes what each dimension looks like and explains how to assess the gaps. Then he talks about how we can address those gaps in ourselves – and with others, including our managers.

I’m able to see trust in a completely different way and think you will, too.

Related Links

Interview with Michael Wenderoth

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We’re all virtual communicators. Even if we don’t work remotely, we’re texting, using social media, and making phone calls. But the question is, are we good at it? Do we know the best practices that can set us apart?

Andrew Brodsky can teach us. He’s a management professor and virtual communication expert. In this episode, we discuss his book, Ping: The Secrets of Successful Virtual Communication. We talk about ways to build trust, increase likability, and manage digital conflicts. He shares insights we can immediately put into action.

Related Links

Your Company is Watching You. And Probably Doing It All Wrong.

The Rules for Making a Good Impression on Zoom and Emails

No, Remote Employees Aren’t Becoming Less Engaged

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Most advice on power is about why we need it or how we can get it. And it's typically focused on things outside us, like titles or promotions.

While these external markers are important, they can leave us empty inside. 

Advice that focuses solely on external power leaves out how to build and maintain the crucial internal power we need.  That’s why Chris Lipp decided to mine the research on personal power and, ultimately, to write a book on it. In this interview we talk about his latest book, The Science of Personal Power: How to Build Confidence, Create Success, and Obtain Freedom. 

Chris’s book gives us an opportunity to build the inner foundation for success, so we can match it with external achievements. If you're looking for a book with concrete ways to center and inspire you in your work - and in your life - you'll find it here.

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Interview with Mary Anderson on Success without Stress

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Adam Galinsky is a social psychologist and the Paul Calello Professor of Leadership and Ethics at Columbia Business School. He believes leaders are made, not born, and he’s spent decades proving it.

In this interview, we talk about his findings and how they apply to today’s leaders. We also discuss his latest book, Inspire: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others. In it, he shares three characteristics people repeatedly bring up when describing truly great leaders: they act as visionaries, exemplars, and mentors.

Adam’s written an insightful guide for current and aspiring leaders looking to take their craft to the next level.

Related Links

How to be an Inspirational Force in an Infuriating World

One Small and Powerful Thing You Can Do to be a More Inspiring Leader

Interview with leadership expert Frances Frei

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