WiLD Conversation

Leading others well begins with the work we are willing to do within ourselves.

In this episode of the WiLD Conversation Podcast, Rob McKenna and Sabeth Kapahu sit down with Jenni Catron, leadership expert, author, speaker, and founder of The Foresight Group, for a candid conversation about the human side of leadership and what it takes to build organizations where people and performance can thrive.

Jenni shares a pivotal moment early in her career when a mentor challenged her with a truth that would reshape her understanding of leadership: “If you wanna work with people, you have to learn to love them to lead them.” That insight became the foundation for her conviction that leadership is sacred work. Every day, leaders influence the lives, stories, and experiences of the people around them. The question is not whether we will have an impact, but how we will steward that influence.

The conversation gets personal as Jenni reflects on ambition, stewardship, and the challenge of sustaining meaningful work without running at an unsustainable pace. After taking a four-week sabbatical, she returned to an unexpected wave of pressure and responsibility, prompting an honest examination of how a leader’s internal rhythms inevitably shape the experience of their team. Rob and Jenni explore what it means to lead yourself well, practice discernment, and create a way of working that is life-giving rather than draining.

From there, the conversation turns to the relationship between trust and organizational culture. Why isn't it enough to talk about values, hang them on a wall, or declare that trust matters? Jenni challenges leaders to move beyond good intentions and become intentional about building healthy cultures. That means understanding what people are actually experiencing, getting curious about blind spots, establishing clarity around how people work together, and creating a plan to move from the culture you have to the culture you want.

Together, Rob and Jenni explore why trust and culture are deeply connected but not interchangeable, why vulnerability requires discernment, and why even the most compelling vision needs a practical plan and the right people to bring it to life.

In this conversation, you'll discover:

Healthy leadership doesn't happen by accident, and neither does a healthy culture. Both require humility, self-awareness, intentional action, and a willingness to keep learning.

The Invisible Power behind Corporate Decisions

Industrial-Organizational (I-O) psychology is often described as one of the most powerful guilds in corporate America that standard audiences have never heard of. While many view modern organizational development as a brand-new trend, its foundations—selection and performance management—have been quietly shaping business leaders, cultures, and strategies for decades.

In this episode of the WiLD Conversation podcast, guest Scott Daviesn Founder and CEO of PointLeader joins the conversation to unpack the profound impact I-O psychology has on human systems. From determining who gets through the door to deciding what gets rewarded once they’re inside, the tools of measurement and selection carry massive responsibility.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

In this episode of The WiLD Conversation Podcast, hosts Dr. Rob McKenna and Sabeth sit down with former NFL Seattle Seahawk Jordan Babineaux. The discussion explores metacognition, how our thoughts directly drive our behaviors, and how high achievers can master their self-perception to navigate pressure and life transitions.

Babineaux reflects on his journey from an undrafted Division II college athlete to a 10-year NFL veteran, sharing how mindset and action work together to build confidence. He also opens up about his post-football identity shift, executive coaching, and a pivotal lesson in leadership learned while climbing the Italian Dolomites: real leadership isn't just about reaching the summit first, it's about making sure your entire team gets there together.

Key takeaways from the episode:

In this powerful episode of the WiLD Conversation Podcast, Dr. Rob McKenna sits down with Tim Neville, President and CEO of Echoing Hills, to explore what happens when an organization moves away from quick-fix leadership development and embeds human-centered growth into its core operational strategy.

Starting as a camp counselor before rising to lead a statewide ministry serving over 700 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Tim shares how Echoing Hills integrated the WiLD Way to build high-trust systems from the executive level all the way to frontline caregivers. Discover how measuring trust through data, aligning top-down strategy with whole-person growth, and establishing a multi-year development system transformed their organizational culture, doubled team engagement, and created a sustainable framework that outlives any single leader.

Listen in to learn how your executive team can go beyond offsite workshops, measure what lies beneath the surface, and embed the WiLD Way directly into your organization’s DNA.

Key Takeaways:

In this episode Dr. Rob McKenna sits down with longtime friend, colleague, and strategic partner Dr. Daniel Hallak, an Industrial-Organizational Psychologist and author of the new book, The Trust Circle. Together, they go "off-road" to explore how the landscape of leadership development has shifted, the deep-seated challenges of founder-led businesses, and why true human connection is the ultimate business strategy.

"We need different people for different reasons in different seasons... Isolation does not drift into positive outcomes for people. It will break somebody. But when you get the connection you need, it acts as both an accelerant and a shield." — Dr. Daniel Hallak

In this episode of WiLD Conversation, Dr. Rob McKenna Rob and Sabeth Kapahu sit down with Matt Hangen, President and CEO of Water4, an organization radically reshaping how the world tackles the global water crisis.

Moving past traditional, short-lived charity models, Matt shares how Water4 operates as a nonprofit that wholly owns for-profit water businesses in Africa.

By using donations as catalytic startup capital and shifting the paradigm from "beneficiaries of charity" to "valued customers," Water4 empowers local entrepreneurs to build, scale, and maintain piped-water systems.

The conversation dives deep into the "chemistry of trust," the necessity of human agency, and what happens when leaders stop viewing mistakes as fatal and start viewing individuals through the lens of inherent dignity and potential.

To build unbreakable trust with their market, Matt and his team rely on a simple, non-negotiable equation:

On a personal level, Matt opened up about the internal work required to lead a high-stakes organization:

For more info about Water4: https://www.water4.org/

For more about WiLD Leaders: https://www.wildleaders.org/

What happens when a corporate culture prioritizes operational checklists over human character? In this dynamic episode of the WiLD Conversation Podcast, Dr. Rob McKenna and Sabeth Kapahu sit down with Benj Miller, serial entrepreneur, leadership architect, and co-founder of System and Soul. Together, they unpack a foundational leadership paradox: the constant tension between human being and human doing.

Moving past traditional, box-checking corporate frameworks, this conversation reveals why organizational performance and human empathy are not opposites, but oxygen for one another. Benj opens up about his own humbling entrepreneurial failures, the distinct evolutionary leap required to move from a "renegade founder" to a "renegade leader," and how to implement an intentional strategy for your organizational culture. Tune in to discover how to scale your business operations without losing your humanity.

What if the challenges we label as engagement problems, culture problems, leadership problems, or performance problems are actually trust problems at their core?

In this episode of The WiLD Conversation Podcat, Dr. Rob McKenna and Sabeth Kapahu sit down with trust expert and researcher David Horsager to explore why trust remains the foundational driver behind organizational health, leadership influence, team performance, and human connection.

David shares the story of how a late-night realization transformed his career and led to the development of the Eight Pillars of Trust, a framework now used by leaders and organizations around the world. Together, they discuss the relationship between trust and leadership development, why trust can be measured, the practical behaviors that build credibility, and what it means to cultivate trust in an age shaped by AI, uncertainty, and increasing skepticism.

The conversation moves beyond theory into the deeply personal, touching on family, humility, continual learning, vulnerability, and the responsibility leaders carry to become more trustworthy themselves.

This episode is a powerful reminder that trust is the leading indicator behind every outcome that matters.

What does it take to lead in environments where trust, security, and uncertainty collide?

In this episode of WiLD Conversation, Dr. Rob McKenna sits down with global security strategist and author Christopher Stitt for a thought-provoking conversation on leadership inside complex systems, the paradox of vulnerability, and why trust is never static.

Drawing from his experience in global security and insights from his book Scaling Pyramids, Chris unpacks the realities of leading within bureaucracy and challenges the assumption that organizational systems automatically create trust.

Together, Rob and Chris explore how the hidden “meta” of an organization—the unspoken rules, assumptions, and narratives shaping culture—often determines whether teams operate from fear, transparency, or authentic collaboration. Using everything from Dungeons & Dragons analogies to real-world security leadership examples, this conversation dives deep into the tension between protection and growth, control and vulnerability, structure and humanity.

Key topics include:

Whether you lead a business, a team, a nonprofit, or a family, this episode offers a compelling framework for understanding how trust is built, broken, and restored in today’s rapidly changing world.

Listen now and join the conversation on leadership, security, and the human side of performance.