What does it mean to be a competent leader? In this sobering and deeply vulnerable episode of UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders, Dr. Troy and Ben-Jamin Toy chat with M.K. Palmore, a former US Marine Corps officer, retired FBI Special Agent, and current tech executive. M.K. shares a personal UH-OH from his early days in federal law enforcement: a moment when he allowed a rigid, mission-first institutional culture to silence his own intuition, failing to aggressively advocate for a colleague in distress.

Tune in as M.K. discusses his pivot from strict compliance to becoming a shield for his team, how he learned to balance a get stuff done mentality with deep empathy, and how he now structurally builds grace and human-centric metrics into high-performing organizations. This is an essential listen for any leader operating in a high-pressure, high-stakes environment.

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What happens when your $700 million real estate empire collapses in a high-stakes hostile takeover? In this episode of the UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders podcast, Dr. Troy and Ben-Jamin Toy chat with entrepreneur, former public company CEO, and actor turned performance coach Boaz Gilad. Boaz shares the unfiltered story of the exact moment he realized his New York development company was in the danger zone, the grueling sleepless nights that followed, and the incredible freedom he found after walking away from it all. From a therapeutic solo bicycle journey through the East Coast to founding the Zenith Clubhouse, Boaz opens up about the fine line between hunger and greed, the myth of inspiration, and how developing self-compassion is the ultimate key to a powerhouse rebound. 

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What happens when a 28-year-old Navy nuclear engineer steps in to run a power plant and tries to tell a 40-year veteran how to do his job? In today's episode of the UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders podcast, Dr. Troy and Ben-Jamin Toy chat with David Petrash, veteran, business leader, pastor, and author of "Ripple of Faith". David shares an early-career UH-OH where his personal pride almost cost him the respect of his entire team. Tune in to hear how a moment of deep humility transformed his leadership style, birthed his famous Four-Month Rule, and taught him how to leverage employee clarity, competency, and desire to build a winning workplace culture.

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In this episode of the UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders podcast, Dr. Troy Hall and Ben-Jamin Toy chat with international guest Natalie Bouchard, a self-described cohesion architect from Calgary, Canada. Natalie opens up about a massive, multi-front collapse where she lost her waterfront home, her relationship, hundreds of thousands of dollars to a business scam, and faced a major health scare all within a single year. 

Natalie shares how this devastating UH-OH moment forced her to realize she had spent her life living fragmented and relying on borrowed authority from mentors and frameworks. Listen in as Natalie explains how she used this ultimate life bump to return to her center, reclaim her personal agency, and shift from surviving chaos to authentically leading her life. 

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In this episode of UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders, Dr. Troy and Ben-Jamin Toy chat with John Lowe, the former long-time CEO of Jeni's Ice Creams and current co-founder of Amuck Consumer. John shares his fascinating career trajectory from practicing law and working as general counsel at GE during a global financial crisis to leading a hyper-growth creative ice cream brand.

The heart of the conversation dives into a massive UH-OH moment: waking up to realize that after rapidly scaling into a new production facility, the company's cost accounting and ERP system were completely out of whack with the actual cash coming in. John opens up about the sleepless nights, the vulnerability of calling his private equity investors for help on day one, and why being transparent is always a leader's best asset. Tune in to learn why you do not have to be a lone wolf to be a great leader, how to manage the transition from corporate to creative spaces, and why raising a red flag early can actually save your career.

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What happens when your natural, high-performing, Type-A personality accidentally creates a culture of exclusion? In this episode of UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders, Dr. Troy Hall and Ben-Jamin Toy chat with author, professor, and founder of Coaching for Clarity, Matt Dickerson. Matt vulnerably shares an UH-OH moment from his corporate days: being blindsided by a formal HR complaint that forced him to confront how his hard-driving, extroverted style, and his tendency to favor similar voices, was completely silencing the introverted and deliberate members of his sales team.

Tune in as we unpack the heavy professional and personal costs of equating "value to volume" (the Babel Effect). Matt shares his long, transformative journey toward repairing trust, the profound impact of Susan Cain’s book "Quiet", and the highly practical physical and relational feedback loops he uses today to ensure every voice truly belongs in the room.

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What happens when a lifetime of high-level problem solving meets a year of uncontrollable life events? In this episode, Ben-Jamin Toy interviews Eugene Manley Jr., a mechanical engineer and cell biologist turned nonprofit founder, to discuss the un-plannable side of leadership. Eugene shares his UH-OH moment regarding the steep learning curve of fiscal sponsorship and the high cost of missing out on critical funding.

Beyond the technicalities of grants, Eugene opens up about a year marked by personal loss and physical injury, revealing how he navigated a complete career pivot into his new venture, Innovation for Impact Consulting. Tune in to learn why asking for help isn't a weakness, how to harness ADHD as a professional asset, and why "multiple chickens" are better than one basket.

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In this episode, we sit down with Joseph Zahaitis, a veteran sales leader in the global payments industry and an avid gamer who understands that whether you are in a military simulation or a boardroom, community is everything. Joe shares a vulnerable look at a massive UH-OH moment from early in his tenure at a senior leadership role: losing 50% of his team in one week.

Joe opens up about the mistake of trying to "shield" his remaining team from the workload, the grueling 18-hour days that followed, and the "stinger" feedback from his boss that changed his perspective on leadership forever. Tune in to learn why the highest and best use of a leader’s time isn’t doing the work, but empowering the team to tackle the crisis together.

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In this episode of the UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders podcast, Dr. Troy and Ben-Jamin Toy are joined by Matan Cohen-Citron, a movement expert and hypnotist who shares a harrowing UH-OH moment that transformed his approach to life and business. After a near-death experience left him in a state of trauma and misalignment, Matan had to confront the hard truth that he was prioritizing his business at the expense of his family and his own well-being.

Matan discusses the importance of "play" as a tool for exploration, the role of the unconscious mind in driving our behavior, and why we must develop a deep intimacy with our own somatic signals. Whether you are a high-achieving leader teetering on the edge of burnout or an emerging professional looking to align your career with your core values, this conversation offers a masterclass in emotional intelligence and self-regulation.

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What happens when a Six Sigma Black Belt realizes her processes are working, but her people are walking? 

In today's episode of UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders, co-hosts Dr. Troy and Ben-Jamin Toy chat with Hanna Bauer, founder of Heartnomics and faculty member at the Maxwell Leadership team. 

Hanna shares her honest journey through the 2008 publishing disruption, a time marked by the rise of e-books and the paralyzing fear of the unknown. She opens up about the isolation leadership trap, the danger of saying yes to everything when you’re uncertain, and the epiphany she had while watching a front-line employee find purpose where she had only found stress. 

Tune in to learn why hope is a concrete strategy and how to ensure your pursuit of excellence doesn't cost you your best talent. 

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