To Lead Is Human

Welcome to To Lead Is Human. This show helps listeners envision how they can uplevel their leadership and shape cultures of accountability, respect, and candor.

Ajay Varia is the founder and CEO of Growth Nirvana. He has a passion for helping companies grow faster.

“But do they actually have the skills, the mindset, the culture, to drive the impact you want? Because then it's almost like I'm in awe of the team.”  – Ajay Varia

Ajay Varia is the Founder and CEO of Growth Nirvana. Growth Nirvana is a no code growth marketing platform that gets you marketing analytics in minutes, not months. 

Previously, Ajay was Chief Operating Officer at Emeritus where he led global marketing and sales. Prior to Emeritus, he was Vice President of Engineering at MasterClass.

Ajay has a Computer Science degree from the University of Waterloo.

For more than 30 years, Sharon Richmond has partnered with C-level executives from mid-size and small, fast-growing companies who want to up-level their leadership and build companies they are proud of. Clients accelerate their leadership by embracing mindset and behavior changes, building self-awareness and self-management skills, and focusing on the three things all leaders must ensure: focus, energy and delivery.

Sharon’s purpose as an executive coach is to help leaders 10X their impact by leveraging the power afforded by their roles to build organizations that are forces for good, both economically and socially. She also advises CEOs on shaping organization culture and leading change.

Sharon has taught leadership at Stanford GSB, where she now helps leaders increase influence, manage conflict, and prepare to build high-performing teams.

To see a list of Sharon’s clients, please visit https://LeadingLarge.com

Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:

1. Mirasee
2. Sharon’s website
3. Ajay’s Website: https://www.growthnirvana.com/
4. Ajay’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajay-varia-b880812/
5. Ajay’s Culture Doc: https://www.growthnirvana.com/blog/values-culture-matter/

Credits:

• Guest – Ajay Varia
• Producer – Cynthia Lamb
• Executive producer – Danny Iny
• Assembled by – Melissa Deal
• Audio Post Supervisor: Evan Miles, Christopher Martin
• Audio Post Production by Post Office Sound
• Music soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely
• Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio

Music and SFX credits: 

• Track Title: Escaping Light

Artist(s): Aaron Sprinkle

Writer(s): Aaron Sprinkle

Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

• Track Title: Bright Future

Artist(s): Be Still The Earth

Writer: Marshall Usinger

Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

If you don't want to miss future episodes of To Lead Is Human, please subscribe to Apple podcasts or Spotify or wherever you're listening right now. And if you liked the show, please leave us a starred review. It's the best way to help us get these ideas to more people.

Episode transcript: Servant Leadership (Ajay Varia)  Coming soon. 

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Welcome to To Lead Is Human. This show helps listeners envision how they can uplevel their leadership and shape cultures of accountability, respect, and candor.

Jeff Griffiths is a co-founder and Managing Director of WorkForce Strategies International, a leading workforce and organizational development consultancy. He focuses on talent and the critical role that it plays in delivering sustainable organizational performance.

“It's important to not always be right…and rely on the unique expertise that other people around you have.”  – Jeff Griffiths

Jeff Griffiths is a co-founder and Managing Director of WorkForce Strategies International, a leading workforce and organizational development consultancy based in Calgary AB. He is also a senior Fellow at the Canada West Foundation and a member of the Workforce Forum for the North American Strategy for Competitiveness (NASCO).

Jeff’s practice focuses on talent and the critical role that it plays in delivering sustainable organizational performance. After leaving the Canadian military in the late 1990’s, he’s been on a mission to help create talent-first, resilient, agile organizations that can excel against today’s challenges while being adaptable to an uncertain future. He has helped organizations across a wide swath of the economy, including manufacturing, natural resources, transportation/logistics, aerospace, and professional services.

Since 2018, he has been working with the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation to adapt their “Talent Pipeline Management” approach to the Canadian context, bridging the gap between what employers need and what education and training institutions deliver. He’s currently working with international partners to work on comprehensive talent supply solutions for major development projects that deliver real economic benefits to local communities as well as better returns for project owners. 

For more than 30 years, Sharon Richmond has partnered with C-level executives from mid-size and small, fast-growing companies who want to up-level their leadership and build companies they are proud of. Clients accelerate their leadership by embracing mindset and behavior changes, building self-awareness and self-management skills, and focusing on the three things all leaders must ensure: focus, energy and delivery.

Sharon’s purpose as an executive coach is to help leaders 10X their impact by leveraging the power afforded by their roles to build organizations that are forces for good, both economically and socially. She also advises CEOs on shaping organization culture and leading change.

Sharon has taught leadership at Stanford GSB, where she now helps leaders increase influence, manage conflict, and prepare to build high-performing teams.

To see a list of Sharon’s clients, please visit https://LeadingLarge.com

Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:

1. Mirasee
2. Sharon’s website
3. Jeff’s website
4. Jeff’s LinkedIn

Credits:

Guest – Jeff Griffiths

Producer – Cynthia Lamb

Executive producer – Danny Iny

Assembled by – Melissa Deal

Audio Post Supervisor: Evan Miles, Christopher Martin

Audio Post Production by Post Office Sound

Music soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely

Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio

Music and SFX credits: 

• Track Title: Escaping Light

Artist(s): Aaron Sprinkle

Writer(s): Aaron Sprinkle

Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

• Track Title: Bright Future

Artist(s): Be Still The Earth

Writer: Marshall Usinger

Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

If you don't want to miss future episodes of To Lead Is Human, please subscribe to Apple podcasts or Spotify or wherever you're listening right now. And if you liked the show, please leave us a starred review. It's the best way to help us get these ideas to more people.

Episode transcript: Better Together (Jeff Griffiths) Coming soon. 

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Welcome to To Lead Is Human. This show helps listeners envision how they can uplevel their leadership and shape cultures of accountability, respect, and candor.

Shalini Verma is the Director of Program Management at Google. Her passion is to inspire leaders to transform themselves and the world.

“I want to be leading with heart, and I want the mind or the ego to be in service of the heart. I don't want to be leading with my mind and my ego.”  – Shalini Verma

Shalini Verma is a high-energy leader at Google working on software development frameworks that bring Google's products to life. She has a passion for the discovery and development of tools and techniques through cross pollination, collaboration and experimentation. These tools help remove physical and mental pain, foster creativity and innovation, develop decision making and leadership skills, and bring peace of mind.

While she has a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, and a Masters in Business from Harvard, she is continuously humbled and awe-inspired by the education she receives from her two boys and her journey within. Shalini lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her boys and her husband, Rohit Gupta, an Emergency Medicine Physician.

For more than 30 years, Sharon Richmond has partnered with C-level executives from mid-size and small, fast-growing companies who want to up-level their leadership and build companies they are proud of. Clients accelerate their leadership by embracing mindset and behavior changes, building self-awareness and self-management skills, and focusing on the three things all leaders must ensure: focus, energy and delivery.

Sharon’s purpose as an executive coach is to help leaders 10X their impact by leveraging the power afforded by their roles to build organizations that are forces for good, both economically and socially. She also advises CEOs on shaping organization culture and leading change.

Sharon has taught leadership at Stanford GSB, where she now helps leaders increase influence, manage conflict, and prepare to build high-performing teams.

To see a list of Sharon’s clients, please visit https://LeadingLarge.com

Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:

1. Mirasee
2. Sharon’s website
3. Shalini's LinkedIn

Credits:

• Guest – Shalini Verma
• Producer – Cynthia Lamb
• Executive producer – Danny Iny
• Assembled by – Geoff Govertsen
• Audio Post Supervisor: Evan Miles, Christopher Martin
• Audio Post Production by Post Office Sound
• Music soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely
• Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio

Music and SFX credits: 

• Track Title: Escaping Light

Artist(s): Aaron Sprinkle

Writer(s): Aaron Sprinkle

Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

• Track Title: Bright Future

Artist(s): Be Still The Earth

Writer: Marshall Usinger

Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

If you don't want to miss future episodes of To Lead Is Human, please subscribe to Apple podcasts or Spotify or wherever you're listening right now. And if you liked the show, please leave us a starred review. It's the best way to help us get these ideas to more people.

Episode transcript: Self-Aware Leadership (Shalini Verma) Coming soon. 

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Welcome to To Lead Is Human. This show helps listeners envision how they can uplevel their leadership and shape cultures of accountability, respect, and candor.

Eric Edelson is a graduate of Stanford Business School and the CEO of Fireclay Tile. He loves to challenge the status quo and find unique solutions to big problems.

“I think one of my ahas two years ago was, 'Man, I'm really holding this company back. I'm holding it back because we're not being aggressive enough.'”  – Eric Edelson

Eric Edelson is the CEO of Fireclay Tile in San Francisco, CA. He joined Fireclay in January 2009 to help reshape the company into a leading, growing, profitable design brand. Fireclay is an amazing organization that focuses on both residential and commercial projects that span from small decorative pieces to massive projects for folks like Google, Whole Foods, and Starbucks. In this role Eric has had the most fun ever in a job. He runs all aspects of the business and works with an amazing team of people.

Together, they have been able to grow Fireclay from 21 to over 250 team members while helping to disintermediate the tile world by bringing their products direct from maker to your home or project. Fireclay is the only US Certified B Corp tile brand, and Eric is passionate about using Business as Force for Good, local manufacturing, and challenger brands! If you need any tile for any reason, please let him know!

Eric graduated from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He previously specialized in biopharmaceutical and medtech investing at Lehman Brothers as part of a 3-person team making venture capital and special situations investments.

He actively invests in and helps support other small, growing businesses, as well as through his membership of YPO (SFBay Chapter).

He loves to run and is always up for training and competing in crazy races. One day he hopes to get a lottery spot in the Western States 100. Until then he will continue to run the hills of Mill Valley and spend time outside with his two beautiful daughters and amazing wife.

For more than 30 years, Sharon Richmond has partnered with C-level executives from mid-size and small, fast-growing companies who want to up-level their leadership and build companies they are proud of. Clients accelerate their leadership by embracing mindset and behavior changes, building self-awareness and self-management skills, and focusing on the three things all leaders must ensure: focus, energy and delivery.

Sharon’s purpose as an executive coach is to help leaders 10X their impact by leveraging the power afforded by their roles to build organizations that are forces for good, both economically and socially. She also advises CEOs on shaping organization culture and leading change.

Sharon has taught leadership at Stanford GSB, where she now helps leaders increase influence, manage conflict, and prepare to build high-performing teams.

To see a list of Sharon’s clients, please visit https://LeadingLarge.com

Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:

1. Mirasee
2. Sharon’s website
3. Eric's website
4. Eric's LinkedIn
5. Fireclay Tile 
6. B-Corps https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/
7. B-Lab https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/movement/about-b-lab

Credits:

Guest – Eric Edelson

Producer – Cynthia Lamb

Executive producer – Danny Iny

Assembled by – Geoff Govertsen

Audio Post Supervisor: Evan Miles, Christopher Martin

Audio Post Production by Post Office Sound

Music soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely

Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio

Music and SFX credits: 

• Track Title: Escaping Light

Artist(s): Aaron Sprinkle

Writer(s): Aaron Sprinkle

Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

• Track Title: Bright Future

Artist(s): Be Still The Earth

Writer: Marshall Usinger

Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

If you don't want to miss future episodes of To Lead Is Human, please subscribe to Apple podcasts or Spotify or wherever you're listening right now. And if you liked the show, please leave us a starred review. It's the best way to help us get these ideas to more people.

Episode transcript: Will, Hope, Fortitude (Eric Edelson) Coming soon. 

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Welcome to To Lead Is Human. This show helps listeners envision how they can uplevel their leadership and shape cultures of accountability, respect, and candor.

Matthew Louchheim is president of Bobrick Washroom Equipment, Inc.

“Integrity is something that has always been of great value to my family, and leadership always begins with integrity.”  – Matthew Louchheim

Matthew Louchheim is the president of Bobrick Washroom Equipment, Inc., a 100 year-old washroom accessory, toilet partition and child-seating company.  Matt represents the fourth-generation of family leadership and has assumed roles in sales, marketing, corporate development, manufacturing and operations. Prior to joining Bobrick, Matt worked at the Boston Consulting Group and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.  Outside of work, Matt serves as a Governor of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and as a Trustee of the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, where he chairs its Next Stage Grants Committee.  He also is a member of the Young Presidents Organization’s Los Angeles chapter. Matt received his bachelor’s degree in history at Yale University and his M.B.A. at Stanford Graduate School of Business.

For more than 30 years, Sharon Richmond has partnered with C-level executives from mid-size and small, fast-growing companies who want to up-level their leadership and build companies they are proud of. Clients accelerate their leadership by embracing mindset and behavior changes, building self-awareness and self-management skills, and focusing on the three things all leaders must ensure: focus, energy and delivery.

Sharon’s purpose as an executive coach is to help leaders 10X their impact by leveraging the power afforded by their roles to build organizations that are forces for good, both economically and socially. She also advises CEOs on shaping organization culture and leading change.

Sharon has taught leadership at Stanford GSB, where she now helps leaders increase influence, manage conflict, and prepare to build high-performing teams.

To see a list of Sharon’s clients, please visit https://LeadingLarge.com

Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:

1. Mirasee
2. Sharon’s website
3. Matthew’s website
4. Matthew’s LinkedIn

Credits:

• Guest – Matthew Louchheim
• Producer – Cynthia Lamb
• Executive producer – Danny Iny
• Assembled by – Melissa Deal
• Audio Post Supervisor: Evan Miles, Christopher Martin
• Audio Post Production by Post Office Sound
• Music soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely
• Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio

Music and SFX credits: 

• Track Title: 

Artist Name(s): 

Writer Name: 

Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

• Track Title: 

Artist Name(s): 

Writer Name: 

Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

If you don't want to miss future episodes of To Lead Is Human, please subscribe to Apple podcasts or Spotify or wherever you're listening right now. And if you liked the show, please leave us a starred review. It's the best way to help us get these ideas to more people.

Episode transcript: Being Vulnerable (Matthew Louchheim) Coming soon. 

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Welcome to To Lead Is Human. This show helps listeners envision how they can uplevel their leadership and shape cultures of accountability, respect, and candor.

Igor Seletskiy is the founder and CEO of Cloud Linux, a global tech company that's on a mission to make Linux secure, stable and profitable.

“But the point that [was] a turning point for me was when I realized that I want people to tell me what they think. And they're afraid.”  – Igor Seletskiy

Igor Seletskiy is the Founder and CEO of CloudLinux, TuxCare, and AlmaLinux OS Foundation.

Igor launched CloudLinux in 2009, forging it into today’s prominent player in the Linux, Enterprise & service provider ecosystems. In 1997, he formed PSOFT, pioneering products for the service provider market, such as a multi-server commercial control panel, website builder, and one of the first web file managers.

Igor Seletskiy is a respected and accomplished technology guru specializing in Linux, kernel development, cloud, and security. He is a frequent and enthusiastic speaker at industry events worldwide and a passionate commentator on many sector issues.

For more than 30 years, Sharon Richmond has partnered with C-level executives from mid-size and small, fast-growing companies who want to up-level their leadership and build companies they are proud of. Clients accelerate their leadership by embracing mindset and behavior changes, building self-awareness and self-management skills, and focusing on the three things all leaders must ensure: focus, energy and delivery.

Sharon’s purpose as an executive coach is to help leaders 10X their impact by leveraging the power afforded by their roles to build organizations that are forces for good, both economically and socially. She also advises CEOs on shaping organization culture and leading change.

Sharon has taught leadership at Stanford GSB, where she now helps leaders increase influence, manage conflict, and prepare to build high-performing teams.

To see a list of Sharon’s clients, please visit https://LeadingLarge.com

Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:

1. Mirasee
2. Sharon’s website
3. Igor’s website
4. Igor's LinkedIn

Credits:

• Guest – Igor Seletskiy
• Producer – Cynthia Lamb
• Executive producer – Danny Iny
• Assembled by – Geoff Govertsen
• Audio Post Supervisor: Evan Miles, Christopher Martin
• Audio Post Production by Post Office Sound
• Music soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely
• Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio

Music and SFX credits: 

• Track Title: Escaping Light

Artist(s): Aaron Sprinkle

Writer(s): Aaron Sprinkle

Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

• Track Title: Bright Future

Artist(s): Be Still The Earth

Writer: Marshall Usinger

Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

If you don't want to miss future episodes of To Lead Is Human, please subscribe to Apple podcasts or Spotify or wherever you're listening right now. And if you liked the show, please leave us a starred review. It's the best way to help us get these ideas to more people.

Episode transcript: Critical Culture Shift (Igor Seletskiy) Coming soon. 

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Welcome to To Lead Is Human. This show helps listeners envision how they can uplevel their leadership and shape cultures of accountability, respect, and candor.

Dart Lindsley leads Global Process Excellence for People Operations at Google. He has a personal mission to humanize work.

“And so one of my deepest values is to respect the deep dimensionality of every human in that you have to take every human as a unique instance of an entire world.”  – Dart Lindsley

Dart Lindsley leads Global Process Excellence for People Operations at Google. Before joining Google, Dart led the Human Resources Transformation Planning and Analysis organization for Cisco Systems.

Dart founded the Business architecture and Employee Experience Design teams at Cisco. By focusing these two very different disciplines on questions of talent, Dart and his team came to an important insight:  employees are not just inputs to production as they are usually framed, they are customers and work is a product companies sell to them.

Ever since, Dart has been using tools from marketing and product design to delve into what people really want from work (spoiler alert - it's not what you think), and ways in which companies can build and deliver an extraordinary work-experience product. 

For more than 30 years, Sharon Richmond has partnered with C-level executives from mid-size and small, fast-growing companies who want to up-level their leadership and build companies they are proud of. Clients accelerate their leadership by embracing mindset and behavior changes, building self-awareness and self-management skills, and focusing on the three things all leaders must ensure: focus, energy and delivery.

Sharon’s purpose as an executive coach is to help leaders 10X their impact by leveraging the power afforded by their roles to build organizations that are forces for good, both economically and socially. She also advises CEOs on shaping organization culture and leading change.

Sharon has taught leadership at Stanford GSB, where she now helps leaders increase influence, manage conflict, and prepare to build high-performing teams.

To see a list of Sharon’s clients, please visit https://LeadingLarge.com

Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:

1. Mirasee
2. Sharon's website
3. Dart’s LinkedIn
4. Dart's website

Credits:

• Guest – Dart Lindsley
• Producer – Cynthia Lamb
• Executive producer – Danny Iny
• Assembled by – Geoff Govertsen
• Audio Post Supervisor: Evan Miles, Christopher Martin
• Audio Post Production by Post Office Sound
• Music soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely
• Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio

Music and SFX credits: 

• Track Title: Escaping Light

Artist(s): Aaron Sprinkle

Writer(s): Aaron Sprinkle

Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

• Track Title: Bright Future

Artist(s): Be Still The Earth

Writer: Marshall Usinger

Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

If you don't want to miss future episodes of To Lead Is Human, please subscribe to Apple podcasts or Spotify or wherever you're listening right now. And if you liked the show, please leave us a starred review. It's the best way to help us get these ideas to more people.

Episode transcript: Supportive Leadership (Dart Lindsley) Coming soon. 

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Welcome to To Lead Is Human. This podcast aims to help listeners envision how they can uplevel their leadership and shape cultures of accountability, respect, and candor.

Sharon partners with C-level executives from mid-size and small, fast-growing companies who are up-leveling their leadership and building companies they are proud of. Clients boost their leadership by embracing mindset and behavior changes, building self-awareness and self-management skills, and focusing on the three things all leaders must ensure: focus, energy and delivery.

Sharon’s purpose is to help leaders 10X their impact by leveraging the power afforded by their roles to build organizations that are forces for good, both economically and socially.

As a business executive in four different companies, Sharon has developed and mentored thousands of employees directly, through internal communities of practice, or through 1:1 mentor relationships. She’s launched two internal ‘start-up’ organizations, defining their purpose, building support, setting success measures, and accelerating progress toward specific goals.

As a business consultant, Sharon advises and assists organizations in developing aligned, endorsed strategies for business change, building feedback-rich cultures, and improving organizational accountability.

As a consulting practice leader at two different firms, Sharon led teams to design and implement organization effectiveness and change management solutions to a wide range of client organizations. As an instructor, Sharon teaches leaders to increase influence, manage conflict, and build high-performing teams.

Sharon’s clients have included C-suite executives and senior leaders from companies including Adams Street Partners, Aspirion, Bobrick, Cisco, Clover, Epocrates, Google, Masterclass, Roche, Stanford Healthcare, VMWare, and many VC backed companies. She is the author of Introduction to Myers Briggs Type and Leadership (2008, 2016) and has been a popular presenter and keynoter at global conferences.

Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:

1. Mirasee
2. Sharon’s website

Credits:

• Host – Sharon Richmond
• Producer: Cynthia Lamb
• Assembled by: Geoff Govertsen and Cynthia Lamb
• Executive producer: Danny Iny
• Audio Post Supervisor: Evan Miles, Christopher Martin
• Audio Post Production by Post Office Sound
• Music soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely
• Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio

Music and SFX credits: 

• Track Title: Escaping Light

Artist(s): Aaron Sprinkle

Writer(s): Aaron Sprinkle

Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

If you don't want to miss future episodes of To Lead Is Human, please subscribe to Apple podcasts or Spotify or wherever you're listening right now. And if you liked the show, please leave us a starred review. It's the best way to help us get these ideas to more people.

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