Partnering Leadership

Get ready for a fascinating discussion on the overlooked leadership skill of listening, featuring Oscar Trimboli, author of the book How to Listen: Discover the Hidden Key to Better Communication. Oscar Trimboli draws on decades of research and over 24,000 workplace interviews to provide science-backed insights on how leaders can become exceptional listeners. You'll discover why most of us are only hearing 14% of what people actually say and how to tap into the other 86%. Learn simple but powerful techniques to tune into conversations, avoid assumptions, and strengthen relationships through mindful listening. Whether leading teams or tackling complex challenges, this episode provides leaders the tools to listen their way to better outcomes.  

Actionable Takeaways:

- Hear Oscar's origin story and how a jaw condition as a teenager shaped his listening superpower.

- Learn why listening starts with focusing on yourself first, not the speaker. 

- Discover Oscar's "listening battery" technique and how to recharge before conversations.

- Get simple meeting tweaks to arrive fully present and boost listening.

- Find out the three magic numbers behind listening dilemmas at work.

- Learn to recognize your listening orientation and when to shift approaches.  

- Hear how self-assessment biases hinder our listening abilities.

- Discover questions to uncover what hasn't been said.

- Get Oscar's top recommended practice for better listening right away.

Recommended Resources 

How to Listen: Discover the Hidden Key to Better Communication 

The Listening Quiz  

How to Use Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas with the Author of A More Beautiful Question & The Book of Beautiful Questions with Warren Berger 

Connect with Oscar Trimboli

Oscar Trimboli Website 

Oscar Trimboli LinkedIn 

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website 

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn 

Partnering Leadership Website

Leaders today face a barrage of daily decisions that shape careers and brands. In this episode of Partnering Leadership, veteran business leader Richard Moran makes the case that our constant minor choices represent pivotal moments. Drawing on decades of experience as a CEO, college president, venture capitalist, and corporate consultant, he explains why small decisions about “extra” tasks or meetings signal commitment. You’ll learn why Richard Moran believes accountability is a cure for organizational “whatevers” that drive talent away. Discover how self-awareness helps leaders know when to reinvent themselves professionally. Richard Moran offers insights on clarifying intentions so actions follow, and shares what every employee wants to know. Tune in for practical steps to build your leadership and avoid “never saying whatever” from Richard Moran’s book Never Say Whatever: How Small Decisions Make a Big Difference.  

You’ll learn:

- Why Richard believes Covid made us apathetic in decision-making. 

- How to avoid decision fatigue by tackling choices promptly.  

- Why leaders need to be brutally honest about their strengths.

- How clarifying intentions eliminates ambiguity about actions.

- The three basic things every employee wants to know.  

- Why accountability cures organizational “whatevers.”

- How self-awareness enables reinvention as a leader.

Connect with Richard Moran:

Richard Moran Website 

Recommended Resources:

The Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner  

Partnering Leadership podcast episode with Patrick McGinnis on Decision Making 

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website 

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn 

Partnering Leadership Website

Get ready for a fascinating conversation on artificial empathy and putting more heart into business and AI. In this Partnering Leadership conversation, Minter Dial, award-winning author and renowned international keynote speaker, shares insights from the significantly expanded and modified edition of his award-winning book Heartificial Empathy, 2nd Edition: Putting Heart into Business and Artificial Intelligence. In the conversation, Minter reflects on essential developments in artificial intelligence and the new context post-pandemic of the future of work. He shares why empathy can be a competitive advantage, how to cultivate it authentically in your organization, and the right mindset for leveraging AI. Minter Dial goes on to explain the evolution of AI and the rise of generative AI. He discusses the need for empathy in our lives and workplaces and how empathy and ethics must be intertwined in AI systems. You'll hear unique perspectives on how reading fiction develops empathy muscles and Minter's illuminating experience bonding with an empathetic AI named JJ.

If you want to foster more meaningful connections and inject heart into your leadership and business, this episode is for you!

Actionable Takeaways

• Hear how generative AI like ChatGPT reflects humanity based on the data we provide it.
• Learn why Minter focuses on embedding cognitive empathy versus emotional empathy in AI systems. 
• Understand the difference between the deliverer and receiver of empathy.
• Discover how reading fiction helps build empathy by seeing through someone else's eyes. 
•  Find out why Minter believes we must get back to more human interactions versus purely digital relationships.

Connect with Minter Dial

Minter Dial Website 

Minter Dial LinkedIn 

Heartificial Empathy: Putting Heart into Business and Artificial Intelligence  

Additional Conversations

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website 

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn 

Partnering Leadership Website

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Ken Blanchard and Randy Conley. Ken is the founder of the Ken Blanchard Companies and has co-authored more than 65 books on leadership, including all-time classics such as The One Minute Manager and Who Moved My Cheese, each with over 20 million copies sold. In this conversation, Ken Blanchard is joined by Randy Conley, Vice President of global professional services for the Ken Blanchard Companies. The discussion focuses on the leadership lessons from Ken Blancard and Randy Conley's latest book:   Simple Truths of Leadership: 52 Ways to Be a Servant Leader and Build Trust, which he co-wrote with Randy Conley. Ken and Randy share how to apply the leadership principles to build trust and become the kind of leader others would want to follow.  

Some Highlights:

- Ken Blanchard on the impact of his upbringing on his leadership thinking and approach

- Randy Conley on models for servant leadership

- The importance of humility in leadership

- Randy Conley on the complexity of leadership and the need to focus on fundamental principles

- Ken Blanchard on how to build on your team's desire to contribute 

- Randy Conley on authenticity and its importance to servant leadership 

- Ken Blanchard on why "love" powers leadership

- Randy Conley on extending trust 

- How leaders can encourage feedback from their teams

- The ABCD model of trust 

- Ken Blanchard's breakdown of the servant leadership mindset

- Putting situational leadership into practice

- Ken Blanchard on having the reflective self versus the task-oriented self 

- Ken Blanchard and Randy Conley on the future of work 

Also mentioned in this episode:

- Jim Collins, Level 5 Leadership

- Garry O. Ridge, Chairman of the Board and chief executive officer of the WD-40 Company

- Dale Carnegie, author

- Rick Tate, author

Books Mentioned:

- Simple Truths of Leadership: 52 Ways to Be a Servant Leader and Build Trust by Ken Blanchard and Randy Conley

- The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

- The Power of Ethical Management by Ken Blanchard & Norman Vincent Peale

- 10 Leadership Virtues for Disruptive Times: Coaching Your Team Through Immense Change and Challenge by Ken Blanchard and Zig Ziglar

- Everyone's a Coach by Ken Blanchard and Don Shula

Connect with Ken Blanchard and Randy Conley:

Ken Blanchard Official Website

Randy Conley’s Blog

The Ken Blanchard Companies on LinkedIn

The Ken Blanchard on Facebook

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website 

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn 

Partnering Leadership Website

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, host Mahan Tavakoli reconnects with his longtime friend Howard Ross, renowned thought leader and author of the acclaimed books Our Search for Belonging: How Our Need to Connect is Tearing Us Apart and Everyday Bias: Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives. With over 25 years of collaborating to help organizations foster inclusion, they have a powerful discussion on Ross' motivations for driving positive change, his wisdom on belonging versus polarization, and practical ways leaders can sustain diversity progress. 

Some Actionable Takeaways:

- Hear Howard Ross' guidance to leaders in balancing employee belonging with complex stakeholder needs.

- Discover how storytelling and sharing narratives can strengthen connections and understanding.

- Find out Howard Ross' perspective on political polarization, social media impacts, and having courageous conversations across divides.

- Get Howard Ross' advice on sustaining organizational diversity progress rather than short-lived reactions.

Recommended Resources: 

- Our Search for Belonging: How Our Need to Connect is Tearing Us Apart by Howard Ross

- Everyday Bias: Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives by Howard Ross 

- Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald 

-Partnering Leadership conversation with Howard Ross on his leadership journey 

Connect with Howard Ross:

Howard Ross Website 

Howard Ross on LinkedIn 

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website 

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn 

Partnering Leadership Website

Get ready to climb the mountain of vulnerability in leadership. In this engaging discussion with Jacob Morgan, author of Leading with Vulnerability: Unlock Your Greatest Superpower to Transform Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization, you’ll learn why vulnerability plus leadership can transform organizations. In the conversation, Jacob Morgan shares his personal journey of grappling with vulnerability, from a childhood with a “tough guy” father to panic attacks while writing this transformative book. His research includes interviews with 100 CEOs and a survey of 14,000 employees worldwide. Hear Jacob Morgan’s insights on the ROI of leading with vulnerability, how to “level the playing field” between leaders and employees, and practical ways to get started on your vulnerability journey. You’ll be convinced that, with intention and when done well, vulnerability in leadership is a superpower.  

Some Actionable Takeaways:

• Learn the key distinction between vulnerability and leading with vulnerability.
• Hear why self-awareness is crucial for leading with vulnerability and how to become a more self-aware leader.
• Find out how leading with vulnerability can help you overcome imposter syndrome. 
• Understand Jacob Morgan's metaphor of the "vulnerability mountain" and how to start small and build up to transform yourself and your organization.
• Learn why leading with vulnerability can "level the playing field" between leaders and employees. 
• Understand the "Pratfall Effect" and its role in vulnerability in leadership.

Connect with Jacob Morgan

Jacob Morgan Website 

Jacob Morgan LinkedIn

Leading with Vulnerability: Unlock Your Greatest Superpower to Transform Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization on Amazon

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website 

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn 

Partnering Leadership Website

Are you strategic enough to survive the digital future? In this Partnering Leadership episode, global strategy expert Michael Lenox, UVA Professor and author of Strategy in the Digital Age: Mastering Digital Transformation shares indispensable insights to help leaders craft agile strategies in the age of AI. Drawing from decades of research and firsthand experience steering his own business school’s digital transformation, Mike Lenox reveals how to spot exponential change before it disrupts you, why strategy must drive technology (not vice versa), how to identify your unique competitive advantage, and the critical human skills machines will never replicate. If you’re anxious about AI, automation, and competing in the digital age, don’t miss Michael Lenox’s thoughtful perspectives and advice to help any organization build a strategy for long-term resilience.

Some Actionable Takeaways:

• Learn why starting digital transformation with IT upgrades can run you into an iceberg quicker.
• Gain insights on monitoring technology adoption S-curves to see disruptive exponential change coming.
• Find out what competitive moves historically resilient companies make and how you can do the same.
• Discover how to empower “digital champions” throughout your organization to drive strategic adoption.
• Listen to discover which human skills will remain uniquely valuable in an AI-powered world.
• Learn how to combine judgment with data to avoid over-indexing on an unknowable future.

Connect with Michael Lenox

Michael Lenox Website 

Michael Lenox on LinkedIn 

Strategy in the Digital Age: Mastering Digital Transformation on Amazon  

Resources

Partnering Leadership conversation with Ajay Agrawal on Prediction Machines and Power & Prediction 

Partnering Leadership conversation with Azeem Azhar on the Exponential Age 

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website 

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn 

Partnering Leadership Website

This episode of Partnering Leadership features Mahan Tavakoli being interviewed on AI and its potential impact by David Gardner on the Rule Breaker Investing podcast.  In the conversation, David and Mahan talk about the growing influence of artificial intelligence; they explore where we are on the AI exponential growth curve, how organizations can leverage AI strategically and operationally, and share predictions for AI's transformative impact and how individuals and organizations can take advantage of the opportunities ahead.

Some of The Insights You will Gain from This Episode:

• Hear Mahan's answer to the question he has asked every one of his 250+ podcast guests (upbringing and its impact)
• Learn prompting strategies to unlock AI's true potential for your organization
• Find out how to leverage AI to democratize information understanding, not just access
• Use AI to future-proof your team through constant learning and skill development 
• How AI could replace the web and change how you distribute information
• Learn how to use AI to stress-test ideas and strengthen arguments
• Hear about resources to start experimenting with AI systems

Recommended Resources:

Partnering Leadership Conversation with Ajay Agrawal, coauthor of Prediction Machines and Power & Prediction

Partnering Leadership Conversation with Paul Daugherty, coauthor of Human + Machine and Radically Human

Partnering Leadership Conversation with Azeem Azhar, author of The Exponential Age

Rule Breaker Investing Podcast 

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website 

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn 

Partnering Leadership Website

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Stephen M.R. Covey. Stephen M.R. Covey is the New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author of The Speed Of Trust,  former CEO of Covey Leadership Center, and author of Trust And Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others. Stephen shares why many leaders are still operating with a command and control mindset and the need to develop the mindset and capabilities of becoming trusting and inspiring leaders. Stephen M.R. Covey shares stories and frameworks on how we can better understand trust in leadership and how trust and inspire leaders can unleash the potential of their teams and organizations.   

Some highlights:

-Stephen M.R. Covey on the crucial role that parents play in teaching responsibility, commitment, and initiative and how his father, Stephen Covey, applied trust and inspire principles in his parenting

-On why traditional leadership models do not work with the changing world and in the new work environment

-Stephen M.R. Covey on the stewardships of leadership

-How leaders can lead behavior change in their organizations 

-Stephen M.R. Covey on the role trust plays in leadership and how leaders can become more trusting 

-The power of inspiring others and its impact on leadership

-What it takes to become a trust inspire leader

Mentioned:

- Dr. Stephen R. Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

- David Marquet (Listen to David Marquet episode on Partnering Leadership)

- Frances Frei and Anne Morriss, author of Unleashed: The Unapologetic Leader's Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You

- Jim Collins, author of Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't 

Connect with Stephen M.R. Covey:

Trust and Inspire

Trust and Inspire on Amazon

Speed of Trust 

The Speed of Trust on Amazon

Stephen M.R. Covey on Facebook

Stephen M.R. Covey on Twitter

Stephen M.R. Covey on LinkedIn

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website 

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn 

Partnering Leadership Website

Middle managers often get a bad rap, seen as roadblocks to change and innovation. But Emily Field flips this narrative on its head. As a McKinsey partner, Emily saw firsthand how empowering middle managers unlocks an organization’s potential. In this insightful interview, Emily Field, McKinsey & Company partner and coauthor of Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work, debunks the middle manager myth. Hear why managers, not senior execs, hold the keys to the future of work. Emily shares research on the untapped power of middle managers to drive strategy, culture, and innovation. With compelling stories and data, Emily reveals how organizations can rethink the manager role for the future. You’ll learn how to remove bureaucracy, rebundle work, and achieve the “yin and yang” of performance and people.

By listening to this conversation, you will

• Discover how managers, not senior execs, execute strategy day-to-day through their teams. 
• Learn why managers are burning out from misaligned priorities and administrative burdens. 
• Find out how to measure and incentivize both performance and people leadership. 
• Hear how managers can “rebundle” roles to navigate automation and AI. 
• Get Emily Field’s framework to eliminate bureaucracy. 

Recommended Resources

McKinsey & Company Power to the Middle 

Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work on Amazon 

Connect with Emily Field

Emily Field McKinsey & Company 

Emily Field LinkedIn 

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website 

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn 

Partnering Leadership Website