About Margaret Graziano:

Magi has spent her life reinventing herself. From a single mother at 19 working at the first Cable TV company, to leading one of the fastest-growing consultancies and becoming a best-selling author in her field of expertise, Magi has continually taken challenges and failure as lessons, and learned to move beyond her limits (both real and perceived) to live a life that inspires and contributes.

Using a unique combination of experiential coaching, science-backed development tools, and actionable strategies, Magi empowers leaders to evolve themselves and their organizational culture to meet the moment. Whether it’s change initiatives, new leadership, or cultural transformation, she partners with teams to catalyze positive change.

In this episode, Dean Newlund and Margaret Graziano discuss:

Key Takeaways:

"It is the ecosystem that turns the organization’s vision into reality.” — Margaret Graziano

Connect with Margaret Graziano:  

Website: https://www.margaretgraziano.com/

Book: Ignite Culture: Empowering and Leading a Healthy, High-Performance Organization from the Inside Out: https://www.amazon.com/Ignite-Culture-Empowering-High-Performance-Organization-ebook/dp/B0BQCZB4HF

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/keenalignmentmg

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaretgraziano/

See Dean’s TedTalk “Why Business Needs Intuition” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEq9IYvgV7I

Connect with Dean:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgqRK8GC8jBIFYPmECUCMkw

Website: https://www.mfileadership.com/

The Mission Statement E-Newsletter: https://www.mfileadership.com/blog/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannewlund/

X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/deannewlund

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MissionFacilitators/

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 1-800-926-7370

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

About Manny Fiteni:

Manny Fiteni, CEO of My Growth Corporation, is a pioneering leadership strategist with 30+ years of corporate experience specializing in transformative personal development. Manny’s breakthrough “Mind Congruency” approach aligns conscious and subconscious minds, enabling individuals to overcome self-limiting beliefs and unlock peak performance, drawing insights from real-world, uncontrolled environments. Founder of Mind Growth 360 and Creators Agency, Manny’s work spans personal development networks and brand elevation platforms. His training programs enhance leadership skills, build organizational resilience, and drive high-performance team dynamics. As an author and international speaker, Manny provides actionable strategies for personal transformation, equipping individuals with practical tools to thrive personally and professionally.

In this episode, Dean Newlund and Manny Fiteni discuss:

• Why information alone rarely produces lasting behavior change
• Mind congruency as a driver of performance and self-sabotage
• Using stories and metaphors to communicate directly with the subconscious mind
• Leadership conditions for change, including rapport, safety, clear expectations, and leading by example
• Replacing habits through awareness, repetition, and a supportive environment

Key Takeaways:

• Listen for repeated language patterns in yourself and your team over time to identify subconscious beliefs that may be shaping behavior and results.
• Use real stories when possible, and well-crafted fictional metaphors when needed, to bypass resistance and reach the subconscious, which does not distinguish between them.
• Practice “catch and replace” by interrupting unhelpful habits in real time, installing a better response, and intentionally tracking repetitions as you rehearse the replacement.
• Build a “focus ensemble” of people who reinforce your new autopilot settings rather than unconsciously pulling you back into old patterns.

"We are the sum of our histories, and our histories are from day of birth, how we are conditioned, how we are trained, how we think.” — Manny Fiteni

Connect with Manny Fiteni:  

Website: https://mannyfiteni.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manny-fiteni-b0173637

See Dean’s TedTalk “Why Business Needs Intuition” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEq9IYvgV7I

Connect with Dean:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgqRK8GC8jBIFYPmECUCMkw

Website: https://www.mfileadership.com/

The Mission Statement E-Newsletter: https://www.mfileadership.com/blog/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannewlund/

X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/deannewlund

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MissionFacilitators/

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 1-800-926-7370

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

About Christine Blosdale:

Christine Blosdale is 'The Expert Authority Coach', with over 25 years of experience helping entrepreneurs stop playing small and start owning their spotlight.

She’s a five-time #1 bestselling author, an internationally recognized media personality, and a powerhouse content creator for brands like America Online and Microsoft.

Christine’s superpower? Helping you become unforgettable through magnetic branding, smart marketing, and podcasting strategies that turn visibility into true authority.

In this episode, Dean Newlund and Christine Blosdale discuss:

• Discovering purpose and voice through radio, storytelling, and media
• Transforming fear and imposter syndrome into creative expression
• Building authentic connections with audiences through vulnerability
• Using media platforms to educate, empower, and influence culture
• Integrating technology and AI as tools for amplifying human presence

Key Takeaways:

• Use curiosity to follow the signal of what feels meaningful rather than chasing trends or validation.
• Treat vulnerability as a bridge for audience trust and emotional resonance in any format: radio, video, speaking, or writing.
• Convert fear into preparation by practicing your voice out loud and refining how you want to be heard.
• Leverage storytelling techniques and media tools (including AI) to expand your reach without compromising authenticity.

"If you're not seen and you're not heard, you're not hired. It's simple, because nobody knows you exist.” — Christine Blosdale

Connect with Christine Blosdale:  

Website: http://www.ExpertAuthorityCoach.com

Books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Christine-Blosdale/author/B088C19Y6K

Show: The Expert Authority Coach Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-expert-authority-coach-podcast/id1073309606

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-blosdale-579697168/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christine.blosdale/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@christineblosdale.com

See Dean’s TedTalk “Why Business Needs Intuition” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEq9IYvgV7I

Connect with Dean:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgqRK8GC8jBIFYPmECUCMkw

Website: https://www.mfileadership.com/

The Mission Statement E-Newsletter: https://www.mfileadership.com/blog/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannewlund/

X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/deannewlund

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MissionFacilitators/

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 1-800-926-7370

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

About Oscar Trimboli:

Oscar Trimboli is an award-winning author, host of the Apple award-winning podcast Deep Listening, and a sought-after keynote speaker. His third book is How to Listen – Discover the Hidden Key to Better Communication, a comprehensive book about listening in the workplace. Along with the Deep Listening Ambassador Community, he is on a quest to create 100 million deep listeners in the workplace. Through his work with chairs, boards of directors, and executive teams, Oscar has experienced first-hand the transformational impact leaders can have when they listen beyond words.

In this episode, Dean Newlund and Oscar Trimboli discuss:

• The organizational cost of incomplete listening and misaligned understanding
• Hearing versus listening and why action is the differentiator
• How role-based seniority correlates with roughly 2.5x more interruptions in meetings
• The cognitive delta between speaking, thinking, and listener processing
• Practical tools for improving meeting outcomes, collaboration, and decision-making

Key Takeaways:

• Begin meetings by asking “What would make this a good meeting?” to align shared outcomes and reduce unspoken assumptions.
• Surface communication and listening preferences early to remove ambiguity and improve contribution equity.
• Write questions down first, shorten them to eight words or fewer, and verify that they serve the shared outcome rather than personal validation.
• Shift default meeting norms: avoid top-of-hour starts and shorten durations to reduce cognitive switching costs and increase presence.

"I think a lot of leaders listen to what's said, and great leaders listen to what's not said.” — Oscar Trimboli

Connect with Oscar Trimboli:  

Website: https://www.oscartrimboli.com
Books: https://www.oscartrimboli.com/shop/ & https://www.amazon.com/stores/Oscar-Trimboli/author/B07R9RP1XZ
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscartrimboli/

See Dean’s TedTalk “Why Business Needs Intuition” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEq9IYvgV7I

Connect with Dean:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgqRK8GC8jBIFYPmECUCMkw

Website: https://www.mfileadership.com/

The Mission Statement E-Newsletter: https://www.mfileadership.com/blog/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannewlund/

X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/deannewlund

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MissionFacilitators/

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 1-800-926-7370

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

About Rasmus Holst:

Rasmus Holst is the CEO of Zensai (formerly LMS365), where he built a learning management business from $0–30M ARR, bootstrapped, completed three acquisitions, and pioneered the “Human Success” category as a replacement for Human Resources. He has been part of management teams delivering exits just shy of $1bn, raised +$50m for companies like Wire and Huddle, and worked across PE-backed (Carlyle, Warburg Pincus) and VC-funded (General Atlantic, Index, Vertex, Morpheus, Iconical) environments.

His experience spans scaling start-ups from zero revenue, operating +$300M Lines of Business at Syniverse, and leading branding and B2B storytelling efforts, including Zensai’s Red Dot Award and Great Place to Work recognition. Rasmus has managed global teams across 14 countries, traveled to +100 nations, and lived in Denmark, Luxembourg, and San Francisco, making him a leader with a uniquely international view on culture, growth, and balance.

In this episode, Dean Newlund and Rasmus Holst discuss:

• Turning HR into Human Success and redefining what organizations measure
• Linking performance, learning, and engagement into one real-time score
• Feedback rituals and kudos culture as engines of team identity
• Measuring soft skills through sentiment and peer behavior
• AI as a teammate that amplifies human contribution instead of replacing it

Key Takeaways:

• Replace annual HR lag metrics with weekly human success check-ins tied to learning, performance, and engagement.
• Institutionalize positive feedback (e.g., weekly kudos) to normalize critique, build confidence, and surface soft-skill leaders.
• Track soft skills through peer sentiment and recognition patterns rather than relying solely on manager evaluations.
• Use generationally agnostic baselines (showing up as a good human and delivering success) to align multicultural/global teams.

"There’s a high correlation between people who get a lot of kudos and those who are really good at a lot of soft skills.” — Rasmus Holst

Connect with Rasmus Holst:  

Website: https://zensai.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rasmusholst/

See Dean’s TedTalk “Why Business Needs Intuition” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEq9IYvgV7I

Connect with Dean:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgqRK8GC8jBIFYPmECUCMkw

Website: https://www.mfileadership.com/

The Mission Statement E-Newsletter: https://www.mfileadership.com/blog/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannewlund/

X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/deannewlund

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MissionFacilitators/

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 1-800-926-7370

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

About Dr. Mary Donohue:

Dr. Mary Donohue is the CEO of the Digital Wellness Center, a three-time entrepreneur, Columbia Business School Lang Center Innovation Fellow, and Fortune Top 100 Businesswoman to Watch. She is the creator of Clean Mental Health™, a science-backed system that delivers instant relief from digital stress—through email, games, and tools that work faster than meditation—and a pioneer in the neuroscience of trust and digital behavior who has helped global brands like Microsoft and Casino.NL build emotionally intelligent platforms that protect users. Called a “modern McLuhan” for her work in media and meaning, her book Message Received is often referred to as the digital communication bible. She has taught burnout recovery to thousands, designed mood-regulating tools for Gen Z, and is currently working with Simon Sinek’s team on a new leadership course for the hybrid era.

In this episode, Dean Newlund and Dr. Mary Donohue discuss:

• Digital overload and dopamine-driven behaviors
• Resetting the brain with playful emotional regulation
• Generational differences in processing technology
• Designing proactive mental health tools for real environments
• Preventing addiction via behavior modification and breaks

Key Takeaways:

• Introduce micro brain-breaks (short, no-signup playful exercises) to reduce stress and improve decision-making while keeping people on their devices.
• Tailor messaging and leadership communication to each generation’s preferred medium and processing style to increase engagement and psychological safety.
• Measure mood shifts before and after interventions to track changes in stress, focus, and emotional regulation using short self-report mood metrics.
• Deploy proactive mental-health micro-interventions in high-stress environments (airports, casinos, transportation, retail) and track uptake rates and mood impact.

"My goal is to move them to happy in less than three minutes, because then we know research tells us you're making better decisions.” — Dr. Mary Donohue

Connect with Dr. Mary Donohue:  

Website: https://thedigitalwellnesscenter.com/

Book: Message Received: https://www.amazon.com/Message-Received-Steps-Communication-Barriers/dp/1260456358

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmarydonohue/ & https://www.linkedin.com/company/72360974/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedigitalwellnesscenter/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedigitalwellnesscenter

See Dean’s TedTalk “Why Business Needs Intuition” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEq9IYvgV7I

Connect with Dean:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgqRK8GC8jBIFYPmECUCMkw

Website: https://www.mfileadership.com/

The Mission Statement E-Newsletter: https://www.mfileadership.com/blog/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannewlund/

X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/deannewlund

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MissionFacilitators/

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 1-800-926-7370

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

About Donna Dupont:

Donna Dupont, Founder and Chief Strategist of Purple Compass, is an award-winning designer and futurist with over 25 years of experience collaborating with leaders. She helps organizations build future literacy, navigate uncertainty, and drive impactful change. Combining systems thinking with strategic foresight, she empowers leaders to mitigate risks, enhance preparedness, and seize opportunities for innovation, transformation, and resilience. Recognized with seven government awards, Donna’s work spans critical areas like climate change, health security, and emergency management, with her futures research earning accolades from the Canadian Defence and Security Network and the Association of Professional Futurists.

In this episode, Dean Newlund and Donna Dupont discuss:

• Short-term problem solving versus long-term foresight
• Weak signals and emerging issues before disruption hits
• Ambidextrous leadership balancing now and next
• Using disruption as fuel for innovation
• Mental models shaping how leaders respond to uncertainty

Key Takeaways:

• Schedule recurring leadership conversations that explore five- to ten-year future scenarios alongside quarterly planning.
• Actively identify weak signals by asking teams what new patterns they are seeing that they have never seen before.
• Create ambidextrous structures that protect business as usual while allowing innovation to be tested safely.
• Build psychological safety so teams feel comfortable sharing unconventional ideas and intuitive hunches.

"When you are working with a future-oriented mindset, you're usually starting not from a management mindset, but more of an innovator or visionary.” — Donna Dupont

Connect with Donna Dupont:  

Website: https://www.purplecompass.ca/

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/donna-dupont

FutureMinds Coaching Collective (free/monthly) - https://www.purplecompass.ca/coaching/

See Dean’s TedTalk “Why Business Needs Intuition” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEq9IYvgV7I

Connect with Dean:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgqRK8GC8jBIFYPmECUCMkw

Website: https://www.mfileadership.com/

The Mission Statement E-Newsletter: https://www.mfileadership.com/blog/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannewlund/

X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/deannewlund

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MissionFacilitators/

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 1-800-926-7370

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

About John Dwyer:

John is a marketing enigma, a “direct response customer attraction expert” who thinks way outside the box, and his marketing consultancy business is called The Institute Of Wow, with John’s mantra being that one’s marketing needs to “wow” prospects. He’s also the guy who shocked the marketing world some years back when he convinced Jerry Seinfeld to come out of retirement to be the spokesman for an Australian banking institution, The Greater Building Society, heading up a “free vacation campaign” which broke home loan lending records and remains folklore in the global banking industry. This was probably one of the most successful “incentive-promotions” in the world, resulting in many billions of dollars in extra home loans. 

John helps business owners understand how to exploit platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn by implementing “incentive-based marketing offers” that can be targeted specifically to certain audiences. His client list reads like a Who’s Who of business and includes the likes of Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd, 7-Eleven, Westfield Shopping Centres, Walt Disney, KFC, and BP, because they acknowledge he is “the master of creating incentives that work.”

In this episode, Dean Newlund and John Dwyer discuss:

• Why most marketing efforts fail to prove real ROI
• How direct response marketing builds brands and drives sales simultaneously
• The role of incentives and sampling in moving customers off the fence
• Using data and statistics to earn credibility with executives
• Translating creative ideas into measurable business outcomes

Key Takeaways:

• Track cost per lead and conversion rates daily so you can identify ad fatigue early and change creative before performance drops.
• Design marketing offers that distract attention from price by using incentives, sampling, or bonuses instead of discounts.
• Present marketing results to executives using statistics and ROI metrics rather than ideas, branding language, or vanity metrics.
• Turn your expertise into a high-converting offer by giving value first, then inviting prospects to engage deeper instead of selling immediately.

"Give, give, give, give before you ask.” — John Dwyer

Connect with John Dwyer:  

Website: https://theinstituteofwow.com

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/instituteofwow/

See how incentive-based vacations can drive instant leads: https://vacationsincentive.com/

Discover how Facebook contests can generate qualified leads fast: https://fbcontestleads.com/

See Dean’s TedTalk “Why Business Needs Intuition” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEq9IYvgV7I

Connect with Dean:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgqRK8GC8jBIFYPmECUCMkw

Website: https://www.mfileadership.com/

The Mission Statement E-Newsletter: https://www.mfileadership.com/blog/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannewlund/

X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/deannewlund

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MissionFacilitators/

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 1-800-926-7370

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

About Luis Garcia:

Luis Garcia is a seasoned international executive with over 25 years of experience in technology, digital media, and education, specializing in driving new ventures and products to rapid growth by building effective teams that harness innovation, technology, and creativity. He is the president of PETE, an Orlando-based tech startup that enables organizations to deliver personalized workforce learning at scale using AI. Before joining PETE, Luis spent nearly twenty years at Full Sail University, where, as VP of Full Sail Online and VP of Emerging Technologies, he helped establish the institution as a pioneer in online education. Earlier in his career, he served as Vice President of Product Development at quepasa.com and holds an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

In this episode, Dean Newlund and Luis Garcia discuss:

• Scalable training challenges in small and mid-sized organizations
• Instructional design versus training delivery roles
• AI-powered learning and simulation technology
• Teaching soft skills through self-paced education
• Balancing technology and human interaction at work

Key Takeaways:

• Replace shadowing-based onboarding with self-paced courses that can stand alone without relying on expert trainers.
• Separate instructional design from subject matter expertise to create training that scales without pulling leaders away from their jobs.
• Use AI-driven simulations to allow employees to practice real conversations like de-escalation and customer objections before facing them in real life.
• Design training around clear learning outcomes so employees can demonstrate applied behavior, not just memorized information.

"AI is an enabler to supercharge the human, and not to replace it.” — Luis Garcia

Connect with Luis Garcia:  

Website: https://www.pete.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luisegarcia/

See Dean’s TedTalk “Why Business Needs Intuition” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEq9IYvgV7I

Connect with Dean:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgqRK8GC8jBIFYPmECUCMkw

Website: https://www.mfileadership.com/

The Mission Statement E-Newsletter: https://www.mfileadership.com/blog/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannewlund/

X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/deannewlund

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MissionFacilitators/

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 1-800-926-7370

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

About Ingrid Dahl:

Ingrid Hu Dahl is an author, speaker, and leadership coach, and the founder of her own coaching and consulting business dedicated to empowering the next generation of leaders. With over two decades of experience in learning and development, she specializes in leadership, inclusion, and belonging across corporate, media, nonprofit, and social justice sectors. A TEDx speaker and founding member of the Willie Mae Rock Camp in Brooklyn, Ingrid has a lifelong passion for amplifying underrepresented voices and has written, filmed, and directed two short films exploring identity, representation, and the mixed-race experience. She is certified by the International Coaching Federation and the Center for Creative Leadership and lives in California with her wife, Courtney, and their dog, Palo Santo.

In this episode, Dean Newlund and Ingrid Dahl discuss:

• Blind spots that influence how leaders show up
• The ego’s role in shaping team dynamics
• Emotional patterns that affect leadership presence
• Challenges of connection in virtual environments
• Rebelliousness as a form of authentic leadership

Key Takeaways:

• Create a practice of noticing ego-driven behaviors—in real time—and redirecting your focus back to purpose, connection, and the team’s shared outcome.
• Reduce trigger-based conflict by acknowledging your emotional reactions, identifying the belief underneath them, and choosing a different behavioral response that aligns with your values.
• Make virtual meetings more engaging by defining a clear purpose, rotating leadership, and setting explicit expectations for camera-on participation and shared contribution.
• Strengthen psychological safety by proactively asking team members about their fears, hopes, and needs, and modeling vulnerability without letting emotions dominate the environment.

"The mundane allows the opportunity to disengage.” — Ingrid Dahl

Connect with Ingrid Dahl:  

Website: https://www.ingridhudahl.com/

Book: Sun Shining on Morning Snow: https://www.sunshiningonmorningsnow.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ingridhudahl

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ingridhudahl/

See Dean’s TedTalk “Why Business Needs Intuition” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEq9IYvgV7I

Connect with Dean:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgqRK8GC8jBIFYPmECUCMkw

Website: https://www.mfileadership.com/

The Mission Statement E-Newsletter: https://www.mfileadership.com/blog/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannewlund/

X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/deannewlund

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MissionFacilitators/

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 1-800-926-7370

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.