Partnering Leadership

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439 Thursday Refresh: Alfredo De Massis on Designing What Lasts: How Great Leaders Reimagine Ownership, Innovation, and Legacy

2026-03-0545:41

What does it take to build something that lasts—not just for years, but across generations? In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli is joined by Alfredo De Massis, a globally recognized expert on family enterprise and author of The Family Business Book: A Roadmap for Entrepreneurial Families to Prosper Across Generations. As one of the most cited scholars in the field and a trusted advisor to multi-generational family businesses around the world, De Massis offers a rare combi...

438 Hope Is the Strategy: What It Means to Lead When You Don’t Have All the Answers with Jen Fisher

2026-03-0337:17

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli is joined by Jen Fisher, one of the most influential voices shaping how leaders think about work, wellbeing, and human sustainability. Jen is the former Chief Wellbeing Officer at Deloitte, where she spent more than two decades helping leaders confront burnout, redesign work, and rethink what success actually means inside large, complex organizations. The conversation centers on the ideas behind Jen’s book, Hope Is the Strategy, and cha...

437 If AI Keeps Getting Smarter, What’s the Leader’s Real Job Now and Where Human Judgment Still Matters with Andrea Iorio

2026-02-2459:10

As AI accelerates, many leadership conversations focus on tools, efficiency, and productivity. This episode of Partnering Leadership takes a different approach. Host Mahan Tavakoli is joined by Andrea Iorio, a global AI thought leader, former senior executive at Tinder and L’Oréal, and the author of Between You and AI. Andrea brings a rare combination of global operating experience, deep technology fluency, and philosophical clarity to the conversation. Rather than asking how leaders can use ...

436 Closing the Courage Gap: How Leaders Act Bravely in Uncertain Times with Margie Warrell

2026-02-1744:39

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli is joined by Margie Warrell, a global leadership advisor and the author of The Courage Gap. The conversation goes beyond familiar ideas about confidence and resilience to explore what courage really looks like when leaders are facing uncertainty, fear, and high-stakes decisions. Drawing on her upbringing on a small dairy farm in Australia and decades of work with senior leaders, Margie reframes courage not as bravado or fearlessness, bu...

435 Love as a Change Strategy: Why Most Change Efforts Fail and What Builds Real Commitment with Mohammad F. Anwar

2026-02-1038:27

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli sits down with Mohammad Anwar, founder and CEO of Softway and co-author of the book Love as a Change Strategy. Together, they take on one of the most misunderstood ideas in leadership: whether love has any place in driving performance, innovation, and large-scale change. Mohammad’s perspective is not theoretical. He shares a deeply personal leadership story, tracing how a fear-driven, control-oriented approach nearly destroyed his compa...

434 Thursday Refresh: Greg Shove on Leading Through AI

2026-02-0556:57

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli is joined by Greg Shove, CEO of Section and a serial entrepreneur with a deep track record of leading transformative growth. Shove’s leadership journey includes multiple successful pivots, and in this conversation, he brings a uniquely grounded perspective on how AI is fundamentally changing the role of leaders and the structure of modern organizations. From board-level decision-making to frontline productivity, he doesn’t just speculat...

433 Negotiating Without Games: The Four Levers That Create Trust and Higher Deal Value With Todd Caponi

2026-02-0340:55

Negotiation and sales are often treated as tactical skills. Something leaders do at the end of the process, armed with tricks, pressure, and leverage. In this conversation, Todd Caponi makes the case that this mindset is outdated—and increasingly damaging for leaders operating in a world of transparency, information abundance, and long-term accountability. Todd draws on his experience as a former Chief Revenue Officer, his deep study of the history of sales and negotiation, and his latest boo...

432 Leading in a BANI World: Making Sense of Chaos with Bob Johansen and Jamais Cascio

2026-01-2758:141

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, futurists Bob Johansen and Jamais Cascio join the conversation to explore the ideas behind their new book, The Age of Chaos: A Sense-Making Guide to a BANI World That Doesn’t Make Sense. Both guests bring decades of deep foresight work, scenario planning, and leadership insight—Bob through more than 50 years with the Institute for the Future, and Jamais as the originator of the BANI framework (“brittle, anxious, nonlinear, incomprehensible”). Their co...

431 What It Takes to Lead When the Rules Keep Changing: Strategy, Identity, and the Real Work of Transformation with Louisa Loran

2026-01-2042:46

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli sits down with Louisa Loran, a seasoned executive advisor whose career spans legacy brands, global industrial giants, and one of the world’s most influential technology companies. Louisa brings a rare perspective shaped by leadership roles at Diageo, Maersk, and Google—giving her a front-row seat to how strategy, operating models, and leadership expectations shift across industries and eras. The conversation centers on a hard truth many...

430 Unwavering Teams: How Leaders Reduce Friction and Build Trust That Lasts with Eric Termuende

2026-01-1336:59

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli sits down with Eric Termuende, leadership thinker, speaker, and author of Rethink Work: Finding & Keeping the Right Talent, for a grounded conversation about what actually holds teams together in times of uncertainty. Rather than focusing on trends or surface-level engagement tactics, the discussion explores why trust, clarity, and human connection remain the real differentiators for leaders trying to reduce friction and sustain per...

429 Why Self-Awareness Is a CEO’s Real Competitive Edge: Lessons from Les Csorba, Author of Aware

2026-01-0632:19

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Les Csorba — senior partner at Heidrick & Struggles and author of Aware: The Power of Seeing Yourself Clearly. Drawing on decades advising CEOs, boards, and leadership teams, Les makes a compelling case that self-awareness is not a soft skill but a strategic differentiator. With leaders facing complexity, speed, and pressure unlike anything in recent memory, Les argues that the ability to see yourself clearly has become ...

428 Thursday Refresh: Dr. Bernard Harris, Embracing Infinite Possibilities

2026-01-0142:48

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Dr. Bernard Harris, a leader whose extraordinary career trajectory—from physician to NASA astronaut to CEO and venture capitalist—offers rare insights into the inner work of leadership. Dr. Harris is the first African American to walk in space, and the author of Embracing Infinite Possibilities: Letting Go of Fear to Find Your Highest Potential. His unique vantage point, shaped by science, space exploration, and C-suite lead...

427 [BEST OF] David Ross on Confronting the Storm - Leadership, Hope, and Navigating Wicked Problems in the Age of Uncertainty

2025-12-3040:46

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli sits down with David Ross, VUCA strategist and author of Confronting the Storm: Regenerating Leadership and Hope in the Age of Uncertainty. David is a renowned expert on VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) environments and has spent his career advising organizations on how to thrive amidst complexity and disruption. With a background as an ecologist, David brings a unique perspective to leadership—one that emphasizes the inte...

426 [BEST OF] Mark Schaefer on How Humans Win in an AI Marketing World

2025-12-2351:20

In this compelling episode of the Partnering Leadership podcast, Mark Schaefer returns to share fresh, provocative insights from his latest book, Audacious: How Humans Win in an AI Marketing World. A globally respected marketing strategist, bestselling author, and deep observer of technological change, Schaefer brings sharp clarity to a pressing leadership question: what does it take to stay relevant when artificial intelligence makes intelligence itself abundant? Rather than offering a simpl...

425 How to Build a Culture of Innovation That Actually Works with Alan Gregerman

2025-12-1650:32

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli is joined by Alan Gregerman, innovation advisor and author of The Wisdom of Ignorance: Why Not Knowing Can Be the Key to Innovation in an Uncertain World. Gregerman has spent his career helping organizations rethink what expertise is, how innovation really happens, and why the answers leaders rely on can quietly become their biggest obstacles. Alan’s core argument is simple but uncomfortable: what leaders don’t know matters more than wh...

424 Quick Leadership in a Distracted World: Trust, Power, and the New Rules of Leading Teams with Selena Rezvani

2025-12-0944:05

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Selena Rezvani invites leaders to rethink some of the most deeply ingrained assumptions about modern management. Drawing from her new book Quick Leadership and years of work with top-performing organizations, Selena challenges CEOs and senior leaders to examine the hidden forces shaping their teams’ behavior—especially the unspoken power dynamics that still drive command-and-control cultures even when leaders insist they’ve moved past them. Her insigh...

423 Thursday Refresh: Andrea Sampson on The Power of Strategic Storytelling in Leadership: Making Your Messages Memorable

2025-12-0449:23

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli hosts Andrea Sampson, an expert in strategic storytelling and the co-founder of Talk Boutique. Andrea Sampson talks about the fascinating intersection of brain science and storytelling, emphasizing why humans are hardwired to respond to stories. As an experienced speaker's coach for TEDx Toronto and a thought leader in her own right, Andrea shares her journey from the advertising world to helping change-makers communicate their ideas ef...

422 How AI Is Reshaping the Knowledge Economy, And What Leaders Need to Do Now with Sangeet Paul Choudary

2025-12-0255:09

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli sits down with Sangeet Paul Choudary, one of the world’s leading thinkers on digital strategy, platforms, and the future of value creation. Sangeet is the author of the acclaimed new book Reshuffle: Who Wins When AI Transforms the Knowledge Economy, a work that reframes how leaders must think about artificial intelligence—not as a tool for faster workflows, but as a force that will rewrite the foundations of competition. Across the conv...

421 [BEST OF] Why Strategy Fails Without the Right Board: Didier Cossin on High Performance Boards & Decision-Making at the Top

2025-11-2547:32

What if the greatest risk to your organization isn't economic uncertainty, market volatility, or disruptive technology—but the decisions being made in your own boardroom? In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Didier Cossin, IMD professor and global expert in board governance, whose book High Performance Boards has become a must-read for senior leaders looking to elevate board effectiveness. Drawing from decades of research, real-world consulting, and cross-disci...

420 Why Every Leader Needs to Rethink Innovation with Rich Braden and Tessa Forshaw

2025-11-1801:01:22

What if creativity isn’t a gift possessed by a few—but a skill every leader already has? In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli sits down with Tessa Forshaw and Rich Braden, co-authors of Innovation-ish: How Anyone Can Create Breakthrough Solutions to Real Problems in the Real World. Drawing from their work at Stanford and Harvard, they share how innovation is less about genius and more about discipline, collaboration, and the willingness to see differently. Forshaw and Brad...

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