Next Wave Leadership Podcast

Alina Addison is the Founder, Executive Coach, and Audacious Leadership Facilitator at ADAPTAA, a leadership development company. Alina is an accredited emotional intelligence coach and a chartered accountant with over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, including her role as Managing Director at Rothschild & Co. Originally from Romania, she moved to London with just $100 and built a successful career in investment banking. Alina's coaching philosophy is shaped by her experience raising a son on the autism spectrum, providing her with a unique perspective on adaptability and communication. Her latest book, The Audacity Spectrum, focuses on leading with care, courage, and nonconformity.

Understanding how to tread the fine line between courage and recklessness can define a leader’s success. Great leaders aren't simply distinguished by education or position but by their ability to harness boldness and wisdom. How can you thrive in high-pressure environments, pivot toward a higher purpose, and transform into an impactful leader? 

Alina Addison delves into the nuances of what it means to lead with care and courage, highlighting how her son's autism diagnosis influenced her perspective on leadership and life. Her journey from her roots in communist Romania to the corporate suites of London also serves as the backdrop for her approach, emphasizing attunement, nonconformity, and adaptability. She explores the eight A’s of "The Audacity Spectrum," providing strategies for embracing your quirks and transforming them into strengths. Alina's insights on emotional intelligence, adaptability, and the power of saying “no” challenge conventional wisdom and inspire a new breed of leadership — one that is deeply self-attuned yet boldly outward-facing.

In this episode of the Next Wave Leadership podcast, Dov Pollack interviews Alina Addison, Founder and Executive Coach at ADAPTAA, about leveraging the eight A’s of audacity in leadership. Alina shares insights on the impact of self-attunement in improving emotional intelligence, embracing your superpowers, cultivating courage for bold career decisions, and the value of adaptability.

Wagner Denuzzo is the Founder and CEO of Wagner Denuzzo Consulting, LLC, a company that promotes a multidisciplinary approach to leadership growth by combining psychological insight with practical business foresight. He is a multifaceted professional renowned for his expertise in leadership coaching, HR strategy, and captivating keynote speeches. With a rich career history, including notable roles as Vice President of GBS Talent and Leadership Transformation at IBM and Vice President of Organizational Effectiveness at Prudential, Wagner brings a wealth of experience to the table. His latest venture as an author of Leading to Succeed: Essential Skills for the New Workplace explores the evolving dynamics of modern workplaces. 

Understanding the dynamic nature of organizations as living entities is crucial in today's workplace landscape. As organisms adapt to their environments, they must evolve to thrive amid change, competition, and technological advancements. How can we harness the principles of organizational biology to navigate and lead effectively within professional spaces?

Coach and consultant Wagner Denuzzo recognizes the importance of nurturing an organization's vitality, which is akin to sustaining life itself. Adaptation and growth depend on collective energy from an organization's workforce, just as organisms need energy to thrive. This perspective underscores the significance of fostering an open ecosystem within organizations, where knowledge flows freely and decision-making authority is distributed among dynamic, globally dispersed teams. By embracing this inclusive mindset, we can collectively propel our organizations forward into a future of dynamic growth and success.

In this episode of the Next Wave Leadership podcast, host Dov Pollack sits down with Wagner Denuzzo, Founder and CEO of Wagner Denuzzo Consulting, LLC, to talk about the evolution of organizational dynamics and leadership in the modern workplace. Wagner discusses the transformation of work and organizations, the value of distributive power in the workplace, and the future of HR.

Lan Phan is the Founder and Chief Community Builder of community of SEVEN, an intersectional, purpose-driven executive leadership development program. She is also releasing her guide, Do This Daily, next month. Renowned for her expertise in purpose, mindset, and continuous improvement, she consults for Fortune 500 companies and advises top executives. As a keynote speaker, she captivates global audiences at prestigious venues such as the United Nations and Stanford University. Lan’s been featured in esteemed publications, including Harvard Business Review and Forbes. As a Stanford and Harvard graduate, Lan has received the J.E. Wallace Sterling Award for her impactful leadership and community service.

Understanding, acknowledging, and accepting imperfections is essential for personal growth and emotional well-being. Embracing our shortcomings allows us to cultivate self-compassion and empathy, fostering deeper connections with ourselves and others. What might our lives look like if we treated imperfections as a beautiful aspect of our humanity rather than a flaw?

As a leadership and mindset expert, Lan Phan stresses the importance of aligning personal values with corporate culture. She emphasizes why prioritizing values over short-term gains when tailoring your life or business to match your values is essential. In her up-and-coming book, Do This Daily: Secrets to Finding Success, Happiness, and Purpose at Work and Life,Lan introduces the four secrets for living your best life. She explains you must commit to action-oriented behavior to live the life you envision. However, getting there requires adopting a growth mindset with consistent habits that lead you to a path of fulfillment and purpose to reach desired results. 

In this episode of the Next Wave Leadership podcast, host Dov Pollack sits down with Lan Phan, Founder and Chief Community Builder of community of SEVEN, to talk about how to start living a life that reflects your values. Lan discusses why she started community of SEVEN, the value of the “wabi-sabi” ideology, and why leaders should be open about their mistakes and imperfections.

Sylvia Rohde-Liebenau is the Chief Simplicity Officer at ADAPTAA, a boutique leadership development company focused on improving emotional intelligence and driving high performance in the modern workplace. At ADAPTAA, she leads the groundbreaking leadership program Artemis and serves as an executive coach and facilitator for executives and teams.

Over the last 25-plus years, Sylvia has amassed experience as a leadership development expert and senior professional coach in international and financial institutions, backed by a PhD in international and global studies. She is the former Managerial Advisor of Leadership Development and Coaching at the European Investment Bank, where she advanced leaders for almost 18 years. In addition to authoring her upcoming book, Who’s in Charge?, she is self-employed as an Executive and Team Coach and helps people and organizations emerge and excel as impactful leaders. 

Understanding power dynamics is crucial in navigating complex social and business landscapes and ensuring equitable relationships. Moreover, embracing co-creation fosters collaboration and innovation by leveraging diverse perspectives and expertise. How might integrating these principles enhance decision-making and problem-solving in your personal and professional endeavors?

Author and executive coach Sylvia Rohde-Liebenau discusses the concept of power and its implications for effective leadership, particularly in the context of her book Energy, Power and Legacy. She emphasizes the need to challenge traditional notions of power as hierarchical and instead advocates for shared power and co-creation. Sylvia’s "Smart Power" model delineates five levels of power: intentional, personal, relational, co-creative, and generative. To effectively navigate challenges and catalyze positive transformation, leaders must prioritize cultivating self-awareness, nurturing genuine connections, and embracing collaborative endeavors.

In this episode of the Next Wave Leadership podcast, host Dov Pollack sits down with Sylvia Rohde-Liebenau, the Chief Simplicity Officer at ADAPTAA, to discuss her new book, Energy, Power and Legacy. Sylvia talks about defining power, the value of co-creation, and understanding and leveraging executive presence.

Amy Shoenthal is the Founder of Visionaries Collective, LLC, where she elevates and amplifies the stories of successful founders. She is a journalist, author, and marketing consultant with nearly two decades of experience in social media marketing. She's interviewed hundreds of leaders from politicians, peloton instructors, and fashion icons to founders just starting their journeys. Amy has worked with some of the world's largest brands, including Procter & Gamble and Google, providing strategic marketing and helping them to shape their brand narratives. Her new book, The Setback Cycle, is about how nobody reaches the heights of success without experiencing setbacks and how to overcome them. Additionally, she is a top contributor to Forbes and Harvard Business Review.

Setbacks are an inevitable part of life, testing our resilience and determination. Whether it's a career setback, personal challenge, or unexpected obstacle, overcoming adversity often leads to personal growth and development. How do we harness the power of setbacks to propel us forward instead of holding us back?

Amy Shoenthal, author and marketing consultant, believes that setbacks contain lessons that can help us grow. She emphasizes that embracing failure not only fosters resilience but also cultivates a growth mindset essential for personal and professional development. So viewing setbacks as opportunities for learning helps people refine their strategies, adapt to challenges, and ultimately achieve greater success. To overcome setbacks, Amy advocates for a proactive approach, encouraging people to analyze the root causes of their failures, extract valuable insights, and use them as stepping stones toward future accomplishments.

In this episode of the Next Wave Leadership podcast, host Dov Pollack sits down with Amy Shoenthal, Founder of Visionaries Collective, LLC, to talk about how to overcome setbacks. Amy discusses understanding your identity versus your behavior, acknowledging the setback cycle, and the implications of toxic positivity.

Katie Lacey is a board member for Designer Protein and a founding member of The Band of Sisters, a consulting firm helping leaders leverage diversity to build inclusive and productive cultures. With expertise in brand strategy and consumer insights, she is a professional with more than 28 years of experience driving the growth of various companies and managing large-scale company turnarounds. 

As the former President and CEO of Crane Stationery, she led a management buyout, returned the business to profitability, accelerated e-commerce investment, and acquired Crane's largest competitor, which led to its acquisition by an industry competitor. Before Crane, Katie was the Senior VP at ESPN and held various executive marketing roles at PepsiCo for 13 years.

Effective business leadership comes in various forms and requires diverse skills and approaches. Leaders who have worked in different companies and industries bring unique insights, particularly those with experience with global brands. Their ability to manage multiple stakeholders, navigate cultural differences, and respond to changing market conditions is essential in today's business environment, where agility and responsiveness are critical to success.

Katie Lacey has had an illustrious and diverse career and has amassed a wealth of experience she's refined over the years. Her multifarious background has given her a unique perspective on leadership. Throughout her career, Katie has held leadership roles across various industries, including beauty, fashion, and retail. Her extensive experience has allowed her to develop a versatile and effective leadership approach. Through her work with The Band of Sisters, Katie shares her insights and mentors other women, helping to empower them in their careers. At this career stage, she is dedicated to giving back and sharing her knowledge with others to help them adapt their leadership styles.

In this episode of Next Wave Leadership, Dov Pollack talks with Katie Lacey, a board member for Designer Protein and a founding member of The Band of Sisters, to talk about leadership and lessons from her career. They discuss the importance of a first boss, assessing employee reviews, combatting lazy language, and bringing your whole self to work. They also touch on her experience at male-dominated companies and her current work with The Band of Sisters.

Anastasia Tarpeh-Ellis is the Co-founder of Bosa, a community-driven platform designed to help individuals achieve their goals and aspirations by providing a comprehensive and effective goal management system. Before Bosa, she was instrumental in establishing and managing accelerators for GRID110 and Backstage Capital, in addition to her service in local government.

Anastasia possesses an unwavering passion for cultivating authentic relationships and empowering others to attain financial independence through entrepreneurship. Additionally, she is an amateur real estate investor and angel investor in start-ups.

Embarking upon a startup venture can be an intimidating undertaking. Even the most resolute leaders will likely face a fair share of challenges, such as extended waiting periods and unanticipated obstacles. While acquiring capital is the foremost obstacle, creating a robust and long-lasting enterprise is an even greater challenge that demands a superior level of diligence.

Anastasia Tarpeh-Ellis is a successful entrepreneur who co-founded and developed her business, Bosa, with great dedication. She has been associated with Backstage Capital, a venture capital fund that invests in underrepresented founders' businesses. This affiliation not only provided her with a structured framework and access to funding but also imparted invaluable lessons that influenced her company's growth. As a result of her entrepreneurial journey, she established an organization to assist others in overcoming similar challenges in starting their own businesses.

In this episode of Next Wave Leadership, Dov Pollack interviews Anastasia Tarpeh-Ellis, the Co-founder of Bosa, on her startup journey and business growth. They touch on her personal story, the steps she took to get Bosa off the ground, and the lessons she took from Google and Background Capital. The two also discuss culture and marginalized groups in the business world.

Dave McKeown is a speaker, consultant, and author. As a highly esteemed leadership expert, he helps teams navigate the challenges of rapid growth. He has worked with leaders at companies including Apple, Google, FedEx, Salesforce, and the NYSE. Dave is the author of The Self-Evolved Leader, hosts the popular Lead Like You Give a Damn Podcast, and writes a weekly column for Inc. 

Many companies experience a hyper-growth stage while you face the disarray of leading a rapidly growing team. Do you wonder if your leadership style is effective or if there’s a better approach you can use to unlock your team’s true potential?

Leadership expert Dave McKeown is well-versed on the challenges of overcoming the chaos of fast growth. He explains the concept of adopting a heroic leadership style and how this approach can hinder progress. Leaders should be careful not to create a culture of dependency instead of fostering true leadership and growth. Instead, he suggests that leaders should focus on building strong teams and empowering them to take ownership of their work while providing guidance and support as needed. By doing so, leaders can create a more collaborative and productive workplace culture that benefits everyone involved.

In this episode of Next Wave Leadership, Dov Pollack talks to Dave McKeown, speaker, consultant, author, and leadership expert, who explains heroic leadership and his insights on how to build stronger teams. Dave breaks down what leaders should focus on to foster growth, how to empower employees, and ways to create a culture of trust and collaboration. He also talks about his book and perspective on coaching.

Gabriel Orta is a renowned mixologist and the Co-founder of BarLab, a one-stop-shop consulting agency and internationally recognized hospitality management company developing unique and eclectic food and beverage programs for bars, restaurants, and hotels worldwide. 

Gabe and his business partner, Elad Zvi, launched their first pop-up bar, Broken Shaker, in Miami in 2012, which scaled to major US cities, including New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Fueled by its success, they co-founded many other restaurant concepts. The duo is known for their exceptional concepts and have amassed numerous accolades along the way.

Few industries need immediate and firm leadership, like the restaurant business. Every location is an organization within itself with urgent deadlines, tight working spaces, high expectations, and countless other moving parts. On a macro level, these locations need direction and support to thrive.

Gabe Orta understands the complications of managing the micro and macro levels of the business. Getting his start at 15, he is a veteran of the restaurant business. He’s started, run, and developed numerous restaurants and restaurant concepts. With years of experience under his belt, Gabe understands the challenges that accompany developing a business, creating a positive company culture, and managing day-to-day issues while ensuring long-term success. Gabe’s experiences have propelled his success in the restaurant space. 

In this episode of Next Wave Leadership, Dov Pollack interviews Gabe Orta, the Co-founder of BarLab, to talk about leadership and insights from his life in the restaurant industry. They walk through Gabe’s background, how he works around egos, his time in Venice, and how he fosters company culture. They also touch on the books and advice that impacted and shaped him the most.

Marcus Bullock is the CEO of Flikshop, an innovative mobile app that allows easier communication between families and incarcerated loved ones. To help build reentry ecosystems through entrepreneurship, coding, and mobile app development, he created the Flikshop School of Business.

Marcus’ background extends to sales, contracting, teaching, and sitting on the Board of Directors for the Justice Policy Institute (JPI), a national nonprofit organization dedicated to developing policies and solutions within the criminal justice system. In 2019, he was honored as one of the Root 100 Most Influential African Americans.

The hard reality of both life and entrepreneurship can be circumstances. Much of what defines our success comes from factors outside of our control. However, bad decisions and poor judgment can exacerbate the situation. In the face of adversity, how can you create opportunities that impact the lives of others?

Despite unfavorable odds and big mistakes, Marcus Bullock turned his life around. Now a successful tech entrepreneur and activist, he positively influences other people's lives. His story is the cornerstone of his brand and drives him to help others through difficult times by sharing his hard-won lessons and guiding others through their trials and tribulations. After living through the results of the bad decisions he made at an early age, Marcus was inspired to develop an app that helps families connect with their incarcerated loved ones.

In this episode of Next Wave Leadership, Dov Pollack sits down with Marcus Bullock, the CEO of Flikshop, to discuss his story and his journey to entrepreneurship. They go through his circumstances, what helped him through, and the inspiration that led to his business. He also discusses his business school and how he helps other budding entrepreneurs.