Leadership Quotient

In this episode of Leadership Quotient, Lindsay Guzowski, CEO of The Crucible, speaks with Billy Goldberg, Founding Partners of The Buckeye Group, about the complexities of leadership transitions in middle-market and investor-backed companies. Drawing on his experience advising founders and executive teams, Billy shares why succession planning requires more than identifying the next leader, how curiosity, adaptability, and communication contribute to successful transitions, and why preparing the broader organization is just as important as developing the incoming executive. They also discuss the challenges of transferring authority, the distinction between confidence and arrogance, and how intentional onboarding and leadership development can reduce disruption and protect value during periods of change.

In this episode of Leadership Quotient, Lindsay Guzowski, CEO of The Crucible, speaks with Seth Garber, CEO of Pest Daily, about what it takes to lead through growth and investment. Drawing on his experience building and exiting businesses across multiple industries, Seth shares how adaptability, pattern recognition, and a willingness to keep learning shaped his approach to leadership. He and Lindsay discuss why successful founders can struggle after taking on outside investment, the balance between conviction and adaptability, how fear of failure can undermine performance, and why strong leadership is critical to turning an investment thesis into value creation.

In this episode of Leadership Quotient, Lindsay Guzowski, CEO of The Crucible, speaks with Sarah Jakle, founder of DemocraShe, about developing the next generation of leaders and why leadership development may need to begin much earlier than we think. Sarah shares how DemocraShe works with young women to build the confidence, resilience, and practical tools required to navigate self-doubt, failure, disagreement, and high-pressure situations. She and Lindsay explore the difference between genuine inner confidence and arrogance, why fear of failure can be both motivating and limiting, and how learning to move through discomfort can shape stronger leaders. The conversation also examines why many of the skills required in public leadership are equally important in the boardroom: advocating for ideas, collaborating across differences, recovering from setbacks, and learning to disagree without making disagreement personal. Ultimately, leadership isn't simply about having the confidence to enter the room. It's about developing the resilience and self-awareness to contribute once you're there.

In this episode of Leadership Quotient, Lindsay Guzowski, CEO of The Crucible, speaks with Larry and Cheri Salazar of NestSTEPS about the connection between leadership, employee well-being, and retention.

Larry and Cheri share why they built NestSTEPS to turn homeownership into an employee benefit and how investing in employees beyond the workplace can strengthen loyalty, productivity, and financial well-being. The conversation explores why leaders need to see employees as whole people, what entrepreneurship has taught them about resilience and adaptability, and how passion, purpose, and accountability shape growing organizations.

They also discuss what founders should look for as they build out their leadership teams, why scaling requires both flexibility and process, the importance of productive disagreement, and why building a committed workforce requires understanding what actually drives people.

In this episode of Leadership Quotient, Lindsay Guzowski, CEO of The Crucible, speaks with Heather Barber, co-founder of Buy-Scale-Sell, about building, scaling, and ultimately selling a business to private equity. Heather shares the lessons she learned growing Queen of Wraps from an emerging concept into a highly recognizable brand, including why developing talent from within became critical to the company's growth and how building a versatile, high-performing team ultimately differentiated the business during private equity due diligence. The conversation also explores the emotional realities of exiting a founder-led business, preparing a company for sale, creating a business that can operate beyond its founders, and why owners should begin thinking about exit readiness long before a transaction is on the table.

The Silver Tsunami: Buying Businesses From the Retiring Generation 

The Due Diligence Bible: How to Buy Better Businesses at Lower Prices  

That's a Wrap: Strategies for Anchoring and Achieving Your Goals from the Queen

In this episode of Leadership Quotient, Lindsay Guzowski, CEO of The Crucible, speaks with Dr. Kelly Kinnebrew, Lead Assessor and Team Coach at K2 Organizational Psychology, about what effective leadership assessment actually requires. Drawing on her work across organizational psychology, executive assessment, and cross-cultural leadership, Kelly explores the balance between confidence and humility, why charisma can be mistaken for leadership capability, and how cultural context influences the way leaders behave and are perceived. The conversation also examines the danger of “pendulum hiring” after an executive fails, why private equity firms need relevant comparison data when assessing leaders, and why the right executive should be evaluated against the future needs of the business and leadership team—not simply a resume of past success.

In this episode of Leadership Quotient, Lindsay Guzowski, CEO of The Crucible, speaks with Alex Garcia-Ingrisano, Co-founder & Managing Partner at Avantgard Group, about leadership, team construction, and navigating complexity across private equity, venture capital, and cross-border M&A. Drawing on his experience as a founder, investor, and M&A advisor, Alex explores why venture capital and private equity often optimize for different types of leaders, how cultural differences shape communication and decision-making, and why adaptability and honesty become increasingly important when working across borders. The conversation also examines the growing value of comfort with complexity in an AI-driven world and why building a high-performing leadership team requires understanding how people work together—not simply maximizing individual talent.

In this episode of Leadership Quotient, Lindsay Guzowski, CEO of The Crucible, speaks with Cassandra Shea, founder of GSCG.AI, about developing leaders for where a company is going rather than where it has been. Cassandra shares how leaders can shorten time to value by connecting individual growth with business strategy, why identity and capacity shape a person’s ability to change, and how greater transparency around revenue can create more ownership throughout an organization. The conversation also explores intellectual honesty, employee engagement, the changing meaning of work, and how leaders can reverse engineer the future to make better decisions today. 

In this episode of Leadership Quotient, Lindsay Guzowski, CEO of The Crucible, speaks with Robert Garcia Checchia, CFO at Benzinga, about the evolving role of the CFO in private equity-backed companies and why financial expertise alone is not enough to drive value. Drawing on a career spanning operations, investment banking, M&A, and private equity-backed businesses, Robert discusses the importance of trust, loyalty, and integrity in leadership; why CFOs need to understand how the business actually operates; and how behavioral dynamics influence decision-making. The conversation also explores M&A integration, why cultural fit should come before projected synergies, and how holding firmly to your values can create better outcomes over the long term. 

In this episode of Leadership Quotient, Lindsay Guzowski, CEO of The Crucible, speaks with Andrew Henry, Managing Partner at JM Search, about executive talent as a critical lever for value creation in private equity-backed companies. Andrew shares why cultural fit can matter more than direct experience, how the operating demands of PE-backed businesses differ from those of public companies, and why hiring should begin with the value creation plan rather than an ideal résumé. The conversation also explores team construction, the growing need to consider talent from adjacent industries, and why AI can strengthen an executive’s work—but cannot replace their own thinking and conviction.