The role of the manager is becoming more complex, and the ability to adapt in the moment is what sets effective leaders apart. In episode 255 of The Mindset Game® podcast, Vered Kogan speaks with Suzie Bishop, Vice President of Product Development at The Center for Leadership Studies, about how leaders can adapt in the moment to bring out the best in people and effectively drive behavior change. Drawing on the Situational Leadership® Model, Suzie explains why effective leadership starts with understanding where someone is—both in their ability and their willingness—and then adjusting your approach in response. When leaders meet people where they are, they create the conditions for development, trust, and stronger results. You can view a visual of the Situational Leadership® Model HERE. Together, they explore what it really takes to lead effectively in dynamic environments. In this conversation, you'll learn:

• Why leadership effectiveness depends on matching your style to the situation
• How misalignment between leadership style and readiness can create stress, disengagement, or missed performance
• What it means to build trust and create safety, especially during change

To learn more about the Situational Leadership® Model, visit situational.com or find Suzie on LinkedIn. To subscribe to The Mindset Game® podcast or leave a review, visit TheMindsetGame.com or click HERE.

Kindness is far from a soft skill — it's a strategic asset. Leaders and professionals who practice genuine kindness foster deeper trust, stronger team cohesion, and higher employee engagement, all of which translate directly into productivity and retention.

In Episode 254 of The Mindset Game® podcast, Vered Kogan speaks with Linda Cohen, international keynote speaker and author of The Economy of Kindness, about how everyday acts of kindness shape workplace culture, leadership effectiveness, and customer experience.

Drawing on decades of work with corporate teams and frontline organizations, Linda shares practical insights including:

• Why employees often leave managers, not organizations
• How curiosity can transform difficult conversations
• What spectrum thinking offers in place of binary reactions
• Why consistent acknowledgment strengthens engagement and trust
• How small moments of kindness influence customer loyalty and brand perception

To learn more about Linda's work, visit lindacohenconsulting.com or find her on LinkedIn. To subscribe to The Mindset Game podcast or leave a review, visit TheMindsetGame.com or click HERE.

AI is no longer a future conversation. It is already changing how decisions are made, how work gets done, and what leaders are being asked to navigate in real time. The challenge is no longer whether to adopt AI, but how to lead people through the uncertainty it introduces. In this episode of The Mindset Game® podcast, Vered Kogan speaks with Tim Creasey, Chief Innovation Officer at Prosci and an internationally recognized authority on change management. With more than two decades at Prosci, Tim has helped shape the organization's research-based methodologies used by leaders around the world to drive adoption and results, with a deep focus on the intersection of individual and organizational change.

Together, they explore what makes AI-driven change fundamentally different and what leaders need to focus on now. In this conversation, you'll learn:

• Why AI adoption does not have a clearly defined future state
• How ongoing learning and uncertainty affect how people engage with AI
• Why AI is best treated as a collaborator rather than a source of answers

To learn more about Tim's work, visit prosci.com or find him on LinkedIn. To subscribe to The Mindset Game podcast or leave a review, visit TheMindsetGame.com or click HERE.

Change rarely fails because the strategy is wrong. More often, it slows or stalls because the human side of change is underestimated. In Episode 252 of The Mindset Game podcast, Vered Kogan speaks with Julie Whitten, a seasoned change leader, about the psychology of pushback and what helps change move forward. Drawing on more than two decades of experience supporting large-scale transformations across complex industries, Julie explains why resistance is a natural part of change and what leaders can learn by paying attention to it. Together, they explore how leaders can reduce friction, build trust, and create momentum by focusing on how change is experienced. In this conversation, you'll learn:

• Why pushback often reflects uncertainty or care, not opposition
• How urgency and pressure can unintentionally slow adoption
• What helps people feel clearer and more willing to engage

To learn more about Julie's work, visit juliewhittenconsulting.com or find her on LinkedIn. To subscribe to The Mindset Game podcast or leave a review, visit TheMindsetGame.com or click HERE.

Awkward moments are often treated as something to avoid. But what if they are actually a doorway to growth, connection, and influence?

In Episode 251 of The Mindset Game podcast, Vered Kogan sits down with Henna Pryor, workplace performance expert, keynote speaker, and author of Good Awkward, to explore why awkwardness is not a weakness to eliminate, but a skill leaders can develop. Drawing on her research and real-world experience, Henna shares practical insights including:

• Why awkward moments are often signals of growth rather than failure
• How the stories we tell ourselves after awkward interactions shape future behavior
• How to improve your "comeback rate" and recover more quickly from social discomfort

To connect with Henna or learn more about her work, visit hennapryor.com or find her on LinkedIn.

To subscribe to The Mindset Game podcast or leave a review, visit TheMindsetGame.com or click HERE.

Every major decision in an organization sits inside a web of competing demands. Leaders are often pulled between stability and change, structure and flexibility, and clarity and complexity. When leaders learn to work with these tensions instead of treating them as problems, they open up more creative, resilient, and human ways of leading. In Episode 250 of The Mindset Game podcast, Wendy Smith, thought leader at Harvard Business Publishing and co-author of Both And Thinking, explores how leaders can navigate paradox and make better decisions in complex environments. Drawing on her research and experience studying how organizations handle competing priorities, she shares practical insights including:

• How to move beyond either-or thinking toward more expansive both-and solutions
• Why opposing demands are not problems to eliminate but realities to manage
• How leaders can build the emotional and relational capacity to hold tension well

To connect with Wendy or learn more about her work, visit wendykmsmith.com or find her on LinkedIn. To subscribe to The Mindset Game podcast or leave a review, visit TheMindsetGame.com or click HERE.

Every organizational change is also a personal one. It affects how people work, how they see themselves, what they feel confident about, and what feels uncertain. When leaders understand this, they can better support their teams through the transition. In Episode 249 of The Mindset Game podcast, change management expert Kate DeGon, Founder and CEO of ChangeSync, shares what it takes to effectively lead change and how leaders can create conditions that make change feel safer, clearer, and more sustainable for the people involved. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience guiding Fortune 500 companies through major transformations, she offers valuable insights including:

• How change champions can help people feel informed, included, and supported
• Why transparency matters even when leaders don't yet have all the answers
• How to prevent change fatigue and support people through transitions

To connect with Kate or learn more about her work and upcoming events, visit changesync.com or find her on LinkedIn. To subscribe to The Mindset Game® podcast or leave a review, visit TheMindsetGame.com or click HERE.

Many leaders move through their days in constant motion — responding, deciding, fixing, and moving on to the next thing. Radical presence offers a different way. It is the practice of being fully with another person while staying calm and grounded within yourself. Joy Lubeck, our guest in this episode of The Mindset Game® podcast, embodies and teaches this approach. Joy is the founder of Lead Fully and a presence-based coach trained in the Time to Think approach, developed by Nancy Kline. In this episode, Joy explains how to be present and shares powerful ideas that reshape everyday conversations:

• Why radical presence helps people access their best thinking
• How slowing down conversations can actually accelerate alignment and results
• Simple ways leaders can practice radical presence in meetings and daily interactions

To learn more about Joy and her work, visit https://lead-fully.com. To subscribe to The Mindset Game® podcast or leave a review, visit TheMindsetGame.com or click HERE.

Many leaders focus on what to say, but overlook something even more powerful. Before words are spoken, the mind is already forming impressions and preparing its response. The moments before communication begins is where influence truly starts. Dr. Robert Cialdini, our guest in Episode 247 of The Mindset Game® podcast, is the world's leading authority on ethical persuasion and author of two best-selling books, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion and Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade. His research shows that people do not just respond to messages — they respond to the cues, emotions and expectations already in play before a message arrives.

In this episode, Dr. Cialdini reveals powerful principles that amplify influence:

• Why most persuasion fails before the message is ever delivered
• A single word that increases collaboration and buy-in
• The counterintuitive way leaders build trust and credibility faster
• How subtle cues shape creativity, openness and decision-making

To learn more about Dr. Robert Cialdini and programs offered through The Cialdini Institute, visit cialdini.com. To subscribe to The Mindset Game® podcast or leave a review, visit TheMindsetGame.com or click HERE.

Many organizations invest heavily in systems, strategies, and tools—yet overlook the one factor that most powerfully determines performance: the quality of relationships at work. When connection is missing, even the best plans struggle. When connection is strong, challenges become easier to navigate, trust grows, and teams flourish. Morag Barrett, founder and CEO of SkyTeam, has spent more than two decades helping over 15,000 leaders across 20 countries transform workplace relationships into a strategic asset. She is the bestselling author of Cultivate: The Power of Winning Relationships and You, Me, We: Why We All Need a Friend at Work, and was recently recognized among the Top 50 Leadership and Management Experts in 2025. In Episode 246 of The Mindset Game® Podcast, Morag shares:

• How loneliness and disconnection show up silently in organizations, eroding engagement, trust, and performance
• What it means to lead with an Ally Mindset, and how generosity, curiosity, courage, and accountability can transform culture
• The business case for friendship at work—and why belonging isn't a "nice-to-have," but a driver of results

To learn more about Morag Barrett and her work with SkyTeam, visit skyeteam.com or connect with her on LinkedIn.

To subscribe to The Mindset Game® podcast or leave a review, visit https://apple.co/3oAnR8I.