There’s a learning curve to running any successful business. But once you begin to rely on past achievements or get stuck in outdated thinking and practices that no longer work, you need to take a step back―and unlearn. This innovative and actionable framework from executive coach Barry O’Reilly shows you how to break the cycle of behaviors that were effective in the past but are no longer relevant in the current business climate, and now limit or may even stand in the way of your success.

Barry O’Reilly is the founder and CEO of ExecCamp, an entrepreneurial experience for executives, and the management consultancy Antennae. A business advisor, entrepreneur, and sought-after speaker, O’Reilly has pioneered the intersection of business model innovation, product development, organizational design, and culture transformation. He works with the world’s leading innovators, from disruptive startups to Fortune 500 companies. He is a frequent writer and contributor to The Economist, Strategy+Business, and MIT Sloan Management Review, as well as a coauthor of the international bestseller Lean Enterprise: How High Performance Organizations Innovate at Scale―included in the Eric Ries Lean series and a Harvard Business Review “must-read” for would-be CEOs and business leaders. He is also an executive advisor and faculty member at Singularity University.

One of the leading business thinkers in the world offers a bold, new theory of advanced leadership for tackling the world's complex, messy, and recalcitrant social and environmental problems. In this episode we have the pleasure of speaking with Harvard Business School's Rosabeth Moss Kanter. Her breakthrough work with hundreds of successful professionals and executives, as well as aspiring young entrepreneurs, identifies the leadership paradigm of the future: the ability to "think outside the building" to overcome establishment paralysis and produce significant innovation for a better world.

More About Rosabeth:
Rosabeth Moss Kanter holds the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professorship at Harvard Business School, where she specializes in strategy, innovation, and leadership for change. Her strategic and practical insights have guided leaders of large and small organizations worldwide for over 25 years, through teaching, writing, and direct consultation to major corporations and governments. The former Editor of Harvard Business Review (1989-1992), Professor Kanter has been named to lists of the "50 most powerful women in the world" (Times of London), and the "50 most influential business thinkers in the world" (Accenture and Thinkers 50 research). In 2001, she received the Academy of Management's Distinguished Career Award for her scholarly contributions to management knowledge, and in 2002 was named "Intelligent Community Visionary of the Year" by the World Teleport Association.

She is the author or co-author of 18 books. Her latest book is SuperCorp: How Vanguard Companies Create Innovation, Profits, Growth, and Social Good, a manifesto for leadership of sustainable enterprises. SuperCorp is based on three years of research and more than 350 interviews in 20 countries.

In this episode, we delve into the transformative power of design thinking and its potential to drive innovation within corporate environments. We explore how organizations can leverage this human-centered approach to foster creativity, solve complex problems, and achieve meaningful breakthroughs.

Our guest expert, Todd McCullough, a renowned design thinking practitioner and innovation strategist, shares insights on the principles and methodologies behind design thinking. 

About Todd:
Todd McCullough is an innovation and growth expert, entrepreneur, and professor at institutions like the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt and the Institute of Design. Over the last 20+ years he has helped over 100 of the Fortune 500 companies with growth strategies. He has been the ‘consultant to the consultant’ for 5 of the world’s largest consulting firms on the topic. 

In this episode we sit down with Aaron Witt, CEO of BuildWitt, to discuss his journey from starting an Instagram account to building a company with a multi-million dollar valuation. In this conversation, Aaron shares how his curiosity, passion, and storytelling skills have led him to the beginning of an epic disruption of the dirt world.

More on Aaron:
Aaron Witt is the self-proclaimed “Chief Dirt Nerd” and CEO of BuildWitt, a services, media, and software business focused on the infrastructure and mining industries. He started the company four years ago after studying engineering and working for companies like Kiewit and Skanska.

As CEO of BuildWitt, Aaron’s role is split between helping to lead the team of over eighty wonderful humans and traveling across America and as far as the Middle East to visit job sites and meeting the people of the Dirt World.

Whether you know it or not, there is a war happening right now for your attention. How are you directing your attention and focus at work and in life? Or are you losing the battle to distractions? Paying attention is a lost art and if you're going to fully engage your day, your goals, and your people, you should employ the intentional strategies from Paul Angone, author of Listen to Your Day. In this episode we discuss what prompted him to write the book, how to pay attention to people, and the different generations in the workforce. 

About Paul Angone
Paul Angone is one of the leading voices in the nation on getting generations to work better together.
He is the best-selling author of the new book 101 Questions You Need to Ask in Your Twenties: (and let’s be honest, your thirties too),  101 Secrets For Your Twenties and All Groan Up: Searching For Self, Faith, and a Freaking Job!, a sought-after national keynote speaker for corporations and keynote speaker for colleges and universities, and the creator of AllGroanUp.com, which has been read by millions of people in 190 countries.
Paul is also an organizational consultant, trainer, and Millennial influencer who specializes in helping companies attract, retain, develop, and harness the best strengths of the Millennial and Gen Z generations. Paul has been honored to work with amazing companies like Intel Security, Wells Fargo, and Aflac through speaking engagements and Millennial influencer branding and awareness campaigns.
Paul also has created a cutting-edge proprietary process to assist organizations in attracting, retaining, and motivating the younger workforce, called “Millennial Mapping”.
Paul is a media spokesperson on the unique challenges facing the Gen Z and Millennial generations, and has done hundreds of radio, TV, and podcast interviews. Paul frequently contributes, and has been featured, in publications such as Bloomberg, Chicago Tribune, Business Insider, Huffington Post, EntreLeadership, Relevant Magazine, etcera.
  

It's not easy leading high performing teams. There's complexity, pressure, stress, and performance milestones you're aiming to achieve. In this episode, we had the pleasure of chatting with one of our own senior consultants, Heather Smith Sawyer, to learn how she builds high performing teams all the while navigating complex projects. 

More About Heather:
Heather Smith Sawyer has 20 years of experience in engineering, project management, and program management. She has extensive experience in managing complex long-term, fast-paced programs that require substantial interaction with multiple stakeholders and regulators. Her technical background combined with program management experience enable her to successfully organize and coordinate multiple, simultaneous projects for the benefit of an overall program.

Prior to joining Thrivence, Heather was the Program Manager for Barge Design Solutions' Mission Critical and Nuclear Power Hydrology and Hydraulics Programs. As program manager, she led the efforts to develop program strategies that provide structure for sustainable support and growth. The depth and breadth of Heather’s experience is demonstrated in the numerous and varied projects she has led across Barge’s Data Center, Federal, Land Planning and Design, and Water Markets.

An active member of the Nashville community, Heather is a current member, and former board member, of Impact 100 Nashville. She chaired the American Council of Engineering Companies Tennessee Leadership PE in 2019 and 2020. Heather has been recognized as a Nashville Emerging Leaders Award Finalist and an Athena Young Professionals Leadership Award Nominee.

Heather received a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She served on the UAB National Alumni Society Board of Directors for three years and founded the UAB Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering Alumni Leadership Council. In 2016, Heather was named one of  the UAB School of Engineering’s 45 Engineers Making a Difference. She received a master’s degree in Civil Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and completed graduate work at Vanderbilt University. Heather currently has an adjunct appointment at Vanderbilt University School of Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

As a leader, emotional intelligence (EQ) is one of the biggest predictors of your personal and professional success, and the key to effectively developing your EQ is tying it to your own personality type. In today's episode we have the privilege of hearing from Scott Allender, author of the brand new book called The Enneagram of Emotional Intelligence. He also provides some practical advice for leaders who need help with managing stress, motivating others, and understanding ourselves.

About Scott Allender
Scott Allender is an expert in global leadership and organizational development. His book is called The Enneagram of Emotional intelligence. Along with cohosting The Evolving Leader podcast, Scott regularly teaches Enneagram workshops and conducts typing interviews and emotional intelligence assessments for individuals and teams who seek to become more radically self-aware and cognizant of the impact they have on the world.  

In today's episode we have the opportunity to hear from someone who works with some of the best innovators in the world. You would think that innovator is someone like Elon Musk, but it's not. Our guest works with people who have been proven by Harvard Business School and other institutions to be the best problem solvers and innovators. These innovators are kids. Our guest is Tara MacDougall, the president and CEO of the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro Tennessee. 

About the Discovery Center
Chartered in 1986 as Children’s Museum Corporation of Rutherford County, the Discovery Center provides hands-on education opportunities for the community. An extensive grassroots campaign orchestrated by young parents led to purchasing a building and creating exhibits and programs. During its first year of operation, over 11,000 visitors came to experience the museum’s exhibits and programs. Now, 30 years after its inception, the Discovery Center serves as a vibrant community and tourism center with over 120,000 children and families exploring the exhibits each year. Their vision is to build a community with the courage to ask thoughtful questions, the drive to find creative solutions, and the confidence to implement positive changes.

If you've ever felt fatigued by your work in leading innovation, it is our hope this episode will be a breath of fresh air. This episode features Alf Rehn, a globally noted thought leader in innovation and author of "Innovation for the Fatigued: How to Build a Culture of Deep Creativity." In our conversation, we discuss the differences between shallow and deep innovation, the importance of diversity to profits, and the 4 R's of innovation. 

About Alf Rehn:
Alf Rehn is a globally noted thought leader in innovation, trends, and creativity; a sought- after speaker, an author and a columnist, as well as a well-regarded commentator on leadership and organizational culture. He has held the Chair of Management and Organization at Åbo Akademi University in Finland, a professorship of innovation and entrepreneurship at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, and is currently a professor of innovation, design, and management at the University of Southern Denmark. His research has spanned numerous fields and has been published in top academic journals as well as in a series of bestselling books, challenging preconceived notions and provoking thought across the world.

Innovative leaders or “intrepreneurs” often experience resistance inside large organizations. After all, leading innovation can be viewed as disruptive, competitive, or even a distraction from a company’s mission. But what if there was a way to successfully get buy-in from others to understand your ideas and support you throughout the process? In today’s episode we’re talking with David Wedemeyer, an expert intrepreneur and SVP of Client Partnerships at Monogram Health. In this episode, David offers advice for innovative leaders and a step-by-step approach for taking an idea to the prototype stage.