In this episode of The Better Leadership Team Show, I sit down with negotiation expert Rick Czaplewski to explore how leaders can turn difficult conversations into winning outcomes.

Rick shares lessons from a remarkable career spanning finance, operations, project management, and high-stakes negotiations that have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in closed deals and cost savings. We discuss why negotiation is about far more than price, how leaders negotiate every day without realizing it, and the common mistakes that cause organizations to leave value on the table.

Rick introduces his OPERATE negotiation framework, explains the four major sources of leverage using his DEAL model, and shares practical strategies for building trust, improving outcomes, and preserving relationships during challenging conversations.

Whether you’re negotiating with customers, vendors, employees, or business partners, this episode provides actionable tools to help you prepare effectively, communicate with confidence, and create win-win outcomes.

Website: https://noonewalksalone.com

Thanks for listening! Connect with us at mike-goldman.com/blog and on Instagram@mikegoldmancoach and on YouTube @Mikegoldmancoach

In this episode of The Better Leadership Team Show, I sit down with Jaime Taets, CEO and Founder of Keystone Group International, to discuss what it really takes to build an agile organization in today’s rapidly changing business environment.

We explore why many leadership teams struggle with execution, how decision rights and decision speed impact organizational performance, and why executive operating models may be the missing ingredient behind successful strategy implementation.

Jaime shares insights on strategic agility, AI’s growing impact on business, risk tolerance, talent development, leadership activation, and how organizations can better engage the next generation of employees. We also discuss why traditional leadership development programs often fail and what companies can do to create lasting behavior change.

Finally, Jaime shares powerful lessons learned from climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and how adversity can shape stronger leaders.

If you’re looking to improve decision-making, increase organizational agility, develop stronger leaders, and prepare your company for the future, this episode is packed with practical insights you can apply immediately.

Website: https://keystonegroupintl.com

Thanks for listening! Connect with us at mike-goldman.com/blog and on Instagram@mikegoldmancoach and on YouTube @Mikegoldmancoach

In this episode of The Better Leadership Team Show, I speak with David Goldberg, CEO of The Prosody Center and one of the leading experts on wording, speaking, and presence.

Born hearing impaired with delayed speech, David developed an extraordinary sensitivity to sound, voice, tone, and communication that eventually led him to coach CEOs, politicians, entrepreneurs, athletes, speakers, and performers on how to communicate with greater authority and impact.

We explore why leaders often spend so much time thinking about branding, visuals, and presentations while overlooking one of the most important parts of influence: how they sound. David shares practical insights on hedge words, pacing, pauses, vocal tone, positive language, Zoom presence, and the subtle communication habits that either strengthen or weaken credibility.

This conversation is packed with immediately actionable communication strategies leaders can use in presentations, meetings, interviews, sales conversations, investor pitches, and everyday interactions.

Website: https://prosody.center
 Email: [email protected]

Thanks for listening! Connect with us at mike-goldman.com/blog and on Instagram@mikegoldmancoach and on YouTube @Mikegoldmancoach

n this episode of The Better Leadership Team Show, I sit down with Elizabeth Rosenberg, founder of The Good Advice Company, to talk about the future of leadership, authenticity, intuition, personal branding, and workplace culture in an AI-driven world.

We explore why accountability remains one of the most important traits of strong leadership teams, how intuition can become a competitive advantage, and why leaders are struggling to balance data, AI, and human judgment.

Elizabeth also shares insights on C-suite personal branding, the risks of inauthentic leadership, how executives can build trust through vulnerability, and why employees increasingly want to work for leaders who genuinely care about people.

We also dive into:

• The role of intuition in decision-making
• AI as a creative collaborator instead of a replacement for thought leadership
• Why authenticity matters more than perfection
• Managing personal brands inside organizations
• Mentorship, remote work, and the loss of informal leadership development
• The importance of spiritual health and human connection in leadership

This conversation challenges traditional ideas about leadership while offering practical insights for executives, founders, and leadership teams trying to navigate an increasingly fast-moving and polarized world.

Website: https://thegoodadvicecompany.com
 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-rosenberg/

Thanks for listening! Connect with us at mike-goldman.com/blog and on Instagram@mikegoldmancoach and on YouTube @Mikegoldmancoach

On this episode of The Better Leadership Team Show, I sit down with leadership expert, psychologist, and certified improv facilitator Nicole Eull to explore how improv principles can transform leadership teams and workplace culture.

We dive into concepts like “Yes, And,” psychological safety, support versus autonomy, moments of mastery, and the difference between cultural fit and cultural contribution. Nicole shares how leaders can create environments where innovation, collaboration, and creativity thrive while avoiding the reactive habits that shut people down.

This conversation is packed with practical leadership strategies, mindset shifts, and communication tools that leaders can immediately apply to build stronger, more engaged teams.

Thanks for listening! Connect with us at mike-goldman.com/blog and on Instagram@mikegoldmancoach and on YouTube @Mikegoldmancoach

In this episode of The Better Leadership Team Show, I sit down with Rob Levin, entrepreneur, author, and co-founder of Work Better Now, to talk about the dramatic shift happening in talent, hiring, and leadership.

We explore why hiring great people feels harder than ever, what today’s workforce expects from leadership, and why culture has become one of the biggest competitive advantages a business can have.

Rob shares practical insights on building a culture that attracts top talent, making core values actually matter, managing remote teams effectively, and how AI is changing the hiring process.

If you’re leading a team, hiring talent, or trying to build a stronger organization in today’s evolving workplace, this conversation is packed with actionable ideas.

Thanks for listening! Connect with us at mike-goldman.com/blog and on Instagram@mikegoldmancoach and on YouTube @Mikegoldmancoach

In this episode of The Better Leadership Team Show, I sit down with Josh Zolin, entrepreneur, keynote speaker, founder of BITNW Academy, and author of Blue Is the New White, to talk about one of the biggest leadership challenges many organizations face today: the divide between white-collar leadership and blue-collar frontline teams.

We discuss why so many office leaders unintentionally lose credibility with field employees, how assumptions create resentment, and why respect is built through curiosity, transparency, and shared experience. Josh shares lessons from scaling a service business, leading technicians in the field, and helping companies create stronger cultures through better communication and leadership development.

We also dive into financial transparency, leadership coaching, investing in employees, and why the future of the skilled trades deserves far more attention and respect than it often receives.

If your organization has office teams, field teams, operations staff, technicians, drivers, or frontline employees, this conversation offers practical ways to close communication gaps and build a healthier, more unified culture.

Thanks for listening! Connect with us at mike-goldman.com/blog and on Instagram@mikegoldmancoach and on YouTube @Mikegoldmancoach

In this episode of The Better Leadership Team Show, I talk with Buddy Teaster, President and CEO of Soles4Souls, about turning adversity into opportunity, leading with transparency, and building a mission-driven leadership team that performs.

Buddy shares the story of how Soles4Souls moved through financial crisis, bad press, COVID, personal loss, and major organizational transformation by staying committed to truth, accountability, and purpose. We also explore the TEAM values framework, what for-profit leaders can learn from nonprofits, how social enterprise can create lasting impact, and why leadership requires both business discipline and heart.

This conversation is a powerful reminder that great leadership teams are not built only in moments of success. They are revealed and strengthened in moments of pressure, uncertainty, and adversity.

Thanks for listening! Connect with us at mike-goldman.com/blog and on Instagram@mikegoldmancoach and on YouTube @Mikegoldmancoach

In this episode of The Better Leadership Team Show, I talk with Simmy Kustanowitz, founder of Clock Tower Innovation and an Emmy-nominated television producer turned corporate showrunner.

Simmy spent more than 20 years producing hit television shows like Impractical Jokers and Adam Ruins Everything. Today, he helps companies apply entertainment-style thinking to leadership, communication, innovation, and problem-solving.

We talk about what business can learn from show business, why clarity is one of the most important characteristics of a great leadership team, and how leaders can use time pressure as a tool instead of treating it like the enemy. Simmy also shares his Clock Tower Method, built around time, volume, creativity, and repetition.

This conversation is packed with practical ideas for leadership teams that want to move faster, think more creatively, and turn complex challenges into clear, engaging action.

Thanks for listening! Connect with us at mike-goldman.com/blog and on Instagram@mikegoldmancoach and on YouTube @Mikegoldmancoach

On this episode, I sat down with Richard Bistrong to talk about the pressures that can lead good people to make bad decisions and what leadership teams can do to prevent that from happening. Richard shares his extraordinary journey from international sales executive to federal investigation, prison, and eventually becoming a trusted advisor to companies on ethics, compliance, and anti-bribery.

In this conversation, we explore how pressure, silence, unclear guardrails, and “win at all costs” cultures can create real risk inside organizations of any size. Richard also breaks down practical steps leaders can take to build a culture where people speak up, ethical behavior is clearly defined, and doing the right thing becomes part of how the business grows.

Thanks for listening! Connect with us at mike-goldman.com/blog and on Instagram@mikegoldmancoach and on YouTube @Mikegoldmancoach