What if leadership isn’t primarily about authority, performance, or strategy — but about relationship?

In this episode of Leadership: The Secret Sauce, Matt Dodson and Dave Lipski sit down with leadership coach Mary Azzolini to explore the mindset and practices that help people truly grow.

Mary shares her coaching framework — Sense, Synthesize, Sustain — a practical approach to understanding complex human dynamics and helping people move forward with clarity and intention.

Together, they explore:

Why leadership is fundamentally about relationship

How presence and deep listening unlock insight

What it takes to trust what you sense in coaching conversations

Why self-awareness is the foundation of relevance for coaches

How leaders can move their own “noise” out of the way to truly connect

The courage required to reflect what others may not see

Mary also offers a candid reflection on the vulnerability of sensing what’s happening beneath the surface — and the growth that comes from trusting that instinct.

This conversation is a powerful reminder that leadership effectiveness doesn’t start with control — it starts with connection.

🎧 Listen now and discover how sensing, synthesizing, and sustaining can transform the way you lead.

#Leadership #ExecutiveCoaching #SecretSauce

What if the biggest barrier to leadership growth isn’t lack of skill — but lack of honesty with ourselves?

In this episode of Leadership: The Secret Sauce, Matt Dodson and Dave Lipski sit down with leadership coach and researcher Abhijit Bhattacharya to explore the role of self-honesty, presence, and discomfort in real transformation.

Abhijit shares his personal turning point — walking away from a secure path that didn’t align with who he truly was — and how that experience shaped his work helping leaders make better decisions, especially when clarity is low and stakes are high.

Together, they explore why many leaders unknowingly pursue borrowed aspirations, why coaching is less about tools and more about presence, and how trust and hope form the true foundation of leadership in today’s world.

In this conversation, you’ll discover:

1. Why coaching is a safe space for discomfort — not comfort

2. How radical self-honesty shapes better leadership decisions

3. What leaders must relearn about trust and hope after COVID

4. Why presence matters more than frameworks in coaching conversations

5. The difference between real human relationship and AI simulation

6. How silence and reflection create deeper insight

This episode is a powerful reminder that leadership transformation doesn’t come from more information. It comes from the courage to face what is true.

In this episode of The Secret Sauce, Matt Dodson and Dave Lipski sit down with Lisa Ann Edwards—former executive coach, technology founder, and expert in measuring the ROI of coaching—to explore how leaders make sense of complexity in an increasingly noisy world.

Lisa shares her journey from reluctant coach to building AI-powered coaching solutions, and why her true strength lies in simplifying the complex and identifying the one thread of clarity that drives better decisions. Together, they unpack the future of coaching in an AI-enabled workplace, the difference between supportive and performance coaching, and why empathy alone isn’t enough to lead.

You’ll hear insights on:

Why clarity—not information—is the real leadership advantage

The two distinct lanes of coaching and why knowing yours matters

How AI can augment coaching without replacing human connection

What leaders get wrong about empathy, presence, and hard decisions

Why the best thinking often happens when you stop trying to think

If you’re a coach, leader, or decision-maker navigating change, performance pressure, and uncertainty, this episode will challenge how you think about leadership—and help you find clarity where it matters most.

🎧 Listen now and discover your Secret Sauce.

#Leadership #SecretSauce #ExecutiveCoaching #AI #Coaching #SelfDevelopment #CareerDevelopment

What if leadership isn’t about having better answers, but about helping people see more clearly?

In this episode of Leadership: The Secret Sauce, we sit down with Dr. Marcia Reynolds, globally recognized leadership coach, researcher, and author of Coach the Person, Not the Problem, to explore what truly creates change in leadership and coaching conversations.

Marcia shares why advice rarely sticks, how insight reshapes the brain, and why presence, not technique, is what separates impactful leaders from performative ones. Drawing from neuroscience, emotional intelligence, and decades of coaching experience, she demystifies coaching and leadership in a way that feels both grounded and liberating.

In this conversation, we explore:

1. Why insight creates change more effectively than advice

2. Coaching without overthinking or following formulas

3. How presence sets the emotional tone for growth

4. The courage required to challenge with care

5. Why leaders aren’t here to make people feel better—but to help them see better

6. What will keep leadership and coaching relevant in an AI-driven future

This episode is a powerful reminder that leadership isn’t about fixing problems, but about partnering with people to see themselves and their possibilities more clearly.

🎧 Whether you’re a leader, coach, or anyone responsible for developing others, this episode will fundamentally shift how you think about impact.

👉 Listen now and discover Marcia Reynolds’ secret sauce.

#LeadershipPodcast #ExecutiveLeadership

#CoachingCulture #LeadershipGrowth

#PresenceBasedLeadership #OrganizationalLeadership

#EmotionalIntelligence #LeadershipDevelopment

Leadership doesn’t break down because leaders don’t care. It breaks down in the moments we miss.

In the Season 5 premiere of Leadership: The Secret Sauce, we sit down with Mickey Connolly, Chairman and Founder of Conversant, to explore how presence, language, and timing shape leadership more than authority or strategy ever could.

Mickey shares the moment that changed the trajectory of his life and work, and why he believes language is not just a tool, but the meeting place of our humanity. From high-stakes negotiations to everyday leadership conversations, he explains how weak presence leads to missed signals, missed moments, and missed opportunities to lead.

In this conversation, we explore:

1. Why “the conversations are the work” of leadership

2. How presence determines whether leaders catch critical signals

3. The redemptive power of language in trust, alignment, and action

4. What wise leaders listen for

5. Why human connection matters more (not less) in an AI-driven world

6. How timing, curiosity, and awareness change leadership outcomes

This episode is a reminder that leadership isn’t about saying more, but about noticing more.

🎧 Whether you’re a leader, coach, or executive navigating complexity, this conversation will help you lead more effectively in the moments that matter most.

👉 Listen now and discover why the redemptive power of language is Mickey Connolly’s secret sauce.

#LeadershipTheSecretSauce #LeadershipPodcast #ExecutiveLeadership

#LeadershipDevelopment #CommunicationSkills #Presence

#HumanCenteredLeadership #ExecutiveCoaching

#OrganizationalLeadership #EmotionalIntelligence

#LeadershipConversations #ModernLeadership

What separates leadership that sounds good from leadership that actually works?

In this Season 4 Review and Reflection episode of Leadership: The Secret Sauce, hosts Matt Dodson and Dave Lipski, joined by podcast producer JP, look back on the most meaningful insights and patterns that emerged across Season 4.

As Matt reflects, the leaders and coaches who made the biggest impact weren’t relying on frameworks, but those speaking from lived experience.

In this episode, we explore:

1. Why personal growth and self-awareness aren’t optional for leaders

2. How vulnerability and courage showed up across guest stories

3. What human connection really means in an AI-driven world

4. Why great coaching is about presence, not performance

5. How leaders can move beyond “textbook” leadership

This conversation is an invitation to pause and consider how you’re showing up, not just what you’re doing.

🎧 Whether you’ve listened all season or you’re just discovering the show, this episode offers a grounded, human entry point into modern leadership.

👉 Listen now and reflect on your own leadership journey.

#LeadershipTheSecretSauce #LeadershipDevelopment #AuthenticLeadership #ExecutiveCoaching

#LeadershipReflection #CoachingMindset #HumanCenteredLeadership

#SelfAwareness #VulnerabilityInLeadership #ModernLeadership

#PeopleLeadership #LeadershipGrowth #CoachingCulture

What if leadership isn’t about doing more but about how you show up?

In this episode of Leadership: The Secret Sauce, we sit down with leadership coach Matt Mills to explore his core belief: impactful presence is what truly builds trust, clarity, and momentum inside organizations.

Matt shares what he’s learned from over a decade of coaching leaders—from the C-suite to emerging managers—and why many leaders overcomplicate their role as a way to prove their value. We unpack what it actually looks like to lead simply (not easily), how trust is built in the small, unscheduled moments, and why the best leaders don’t rely on authority or answers—but presence and curiosity.

You’ll hear insights on:

1. Why leadership can be simple without being easy

2. How internal coaching changes trust and culture

3. The power of “in-the-moment” leadership conversations

4. What leaders need more of in an age of AI and uncertainty

5. How coaches and leaders can challenge without controlling

This conversation is honest, practical, and grounded in real leadership work—not theory.

🎧 Whether you’re a leader, coach, or someone responsible for developing others, this episode will help you rethink what actually creates impact.

👉 Listen now and discover why impactful presence may be the secret sauce you’ve been missing.

What if the fastest path to growth isn’t more expertise—but more honesty?

In this episode of Leadership: The Secret Sauce, we sit down with Bob Kunkle to explore vulnerability as a core leadership and coaching competency—not a weakness, but a catalyst for real change.

Bob shares how his journey into coaching revealed a simple truth: when leaders feel safe enough to be fully themselves, the conversation moves past surface-level problems and into what actually matters. We talk about the difference between coaching and consulting, why doing your own inner work is non-negotiable, and how deep care and courage create environments where people can truly grow.

This conversation is especially relevant for leaders, executive coaches, and organizations looking to move beyond performative leadership and into something more human—and more effective.

🎧 Available now on Spotify and YouTube.

#Leadership

#ExecutiveCoaching

#AuthenticLeadership

#VulnerabilityInLeadership

#LeadershipDevelopment

#CoachingCulture

#EmotionalIntelligence

#HumanCenteredLeadership

#LeadershipPodcast

#TheSecretSauce

What if the most effective leaders aren’t the ones driving change — but the ones creating the conditions for it?

In this episode of Leadership: The Secret Sauce, we sit down with Sandra Stewart, longtime executive coach, author, and leader at the intersection of coaching and change management. With over two decades of experience, Sandra shares why sustainable change doesn’t come from control, pressure, or having all the answers — it comes from cultivating safety, learning, and growth.

We explore:

1. Why coaches and leaders are catalysts, not actors

2. The critical overlap between coaching and change management

3. How vulnerability and growth mindset unlock real transformation

4. What it takes to build a true coaching culture inside organizations

5. Where leaders and organizations get stuck during change — and how coaching helps

Whether you’re an executive, coach, HR leader, or change professional, this episode will stretch how you think about leadership, influence, and impact.

#Leadership #CoachingCulture #LeadershipDevelopment #EmotionalIntelligence #HumanCenteredLeadership #FutureOfWork #LeadershipPodcast

In this episode of Leadership: The Secret Sauce, we sit down with Dr. Richard Boyatzis—one of the most influential voices in leadership science, emotional intelligence, and coaching over the last five decades.

Richard shares:

The origin story of the competency movement in the 1970s

The key question that opens the brain for real change

Why vision—not goals—is the real engine of transformation

How supervision can limit coaches (and what works better)

The moment he discovered his own “secret sauce”

A grounded, hopeful take on artificial intelligence and the future of coaching

The neuroscience behind why coaching with compassion works

Why most organizations still misunderstand development

This episode is rich, warm, provocative, and full of the kind of wisdom you can only get from someone who has shaped the field—and is still pushing it forward.

#Leadership #Coaching #EmotionalIntelligence #Neuroscience #IntentionalChangeTheory #CoachingCulture #FutureOfWork #LeadershipDevelopment