Episodes
Welcome guest host Jeff Davis! On this podcast Jeff interview's Brian Rabon, founder of the Center For Agile Leadership and owner of SoWal CrossFit. Learn how Brian has employed the values and principles of Agile with his coaching staff. Brian's focus has been on creating a self-organizing and self-managing team who is capable of running the gym without his physical presence 6 months out of the year.
Published 10/29/21
On this podcast we explore the “Leader User Guide” – a brilliant document that allows new team members to view a snapshot of how best to work with their leaders (communication preferences, triggers, idiosyncrasies, etc.). Our esteemed guests today are Lindsey Gray (Regional Director of The Council of State Governments Southern Office and the Southern Legislative Conference) and Michael Bell (co-founder of The Modern Brand Co., a boutique brand consultancy firm in Birmingham, AL).
Published 09/15/21
On this podcast we explore how leaders can foster an environment of “psychological safety” (AKA one that rewards vulnerability). Our esteemed guest is Timothy Clark: Founder/CEO of LeaderFactor in SLC; Global authority in the fields of Snr exec dev., strategy acceleration, and org change; and author of 150 articles (on leadership, change, strategy, culture, and empl engagement) as well as 5 books, including The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety: Defining the path to inclusion and innovation.
Published 07/19/21
On today’s podcast, we’re going to explore building mental, emotional and social resilience at work with physician, educator and leader Parneet Pal (MBBS, MS), Chief Science Officer at Wisdom Labs (wisdomlabs.com), Dr. Pal focuses on solving stress, burnout and loneliness in the workplace at Fortune 500 companies and conferences around the world.
Published 07/01/21
Leaders, are you taking care of yourself? Is it a priority? COVID has stolen our joy, our time and our security; it’s time to get those back!! Today’s expert on mastering self-care is Deborah Crowe, a business and leadership coach, keynote speaker, podcast host, and educator, with over 30 years of global experience offering online courses and working with top Fortune 500 companies in Canada, the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Published 06/01/21
Today we’re going to talk about understanding “Energy Leadership” as it relates to communication and mastering buy-in. Today’s return guest, Greg Ballard, is a Certified Professional Coach, an expert in Patrick Lencioni’s Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team, an authorized Partner for Everything DiSC, and a Master Practitioner in “Energy Leadership”…which is designed to help clients discover their “filters” and how those filters influence their results and achievements.
Published 05/03/21
Today we’re going to talk about Aligning Your Teams with Your Organization’s Mission and Ability to Grow.  Our guest is Greg Ballard, Certified Professional Coach and expert in Patrick Lencioni’s Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team, an authorized Partner for Everything DiSC, and a PXT Select and Energy Leadership Master Practitioner. Listen while Greg dives deep into the purpose and intent of your organization’s mission, and how that feeds into growing your teams
Published 04/15/21
Today we’re examining the Cynefin Framework, used to aid leaders in decision-making. Cynefin (ki-NEV-in) helps leaders to perceive the situations they’re in, and decide what leadership style is appropriate. Our guest today is esteemed colleague/friend Kate Megaw, President/Co-Founder of CFAL’s sister company (Braintrust Consulting Group), CST, PMP, Agile Coach, and Agile Leadership trainer. Many listeners know first-hand Kate’s excellence and popularity as an Agile trainer and Cynefin expert.
Published 03/19/21
To piggy-back onto our Episode #40 interview with Jeff Davis (which beautifully describes the differences between “coaching” and “managing”, we spend this episode with Bill Schaller (recently retired from being an international Agile Trainer, Coach and Facilitator), who shares the inside scoop on what it takes to be a good Agile coach, how Agile coaching has evolved over the years, and what the future of Agile coaching looks like.
Published 03/01/21
Today, we’re looking at the Saboteur Assessment. This free Personal Assessment Tool was created by Stanford/Yale faculty member & prior Chairman of the CTI, Shirzad Chamine; it reveals how our brains work against us. Here to walk us through it is Anu Smalley, Pres/Founder of the Capala Consulting Grp, where she specializes in Exec coaching/Agile Transformations. Anu is also an Enterprise Agile Coach & Certified Scrum Trainer(r)-providing ed, coaching & consulting svcs to clients...
Published 02/15/21
Today we welcome back Jeff Nischwitz from our December 15, 2020 Podcast (Ep. #39), where we continue our conversation about vulnerable leadership. Jeff is an international leadership, team engagement and culture speaker, and the author of four books. Today we revisited the topics of vulnerability vs. authenticity, emotional intelligence vs. emotional awareness, and the link between being vulnerable and being fully present. In addition we did a deep dive into triggers and blind spots.
Published 02/02/21
Today’s podcast explores the difference between “Managing” and “Coaching” (with a sprinkle of “Mentoring” thrown in). Today’s guest is Jeff Davis, Talent Development Manager/Agile Coach at eviCore Healthcare in Franklin TN. Prior to that, he was a Senior Scrum Master at the HealthTrust Purchasing Group in Nashville, and before that he served for 19 years as the DevOps Advocate, Agile Enabler, Iteration Manager and Certified ScrumMaster at IBM.
Published 01/05/21
Today we explore what it means to be a vulnerable leader, and why it is so essential. Today’s guest is Jeff Nischwitz, an international leadership, team engagement and culture speaker, known for challenging traditional thinking, and for delivering tools for leaders to grow people, build businesses and enhance relationships. Jeff is the author of four books and works with a range of organizations to grow their leaders, build engaged and empowered teams, and enhance personal accountability.
Published 12/15/20
Today we examine The Process Communication Model (PCM), a tool that helps leaders to understand/embrace 6 personality types and how they predictably drive behavior/communication. Discussed is how PCM improves leaders, how to work within your personality and why personality diversity is NOT an obstacle. Guest is Nate Regier, Ph.D., expert in emotional IQ, interpersonal communication and leadership, former psychologist, 3x author, and CEO/Founder of global leadership firm “Next Element Consulting”
Published 10/15/20
Today’s guest is Celine Williams, founder of reVisionary where she serves as an executive coach, culture strategist and modern leadership development expert. Today we talked about failure: loving it, discussing it, and changing our mindsets about it. If you’re a True Agile Leader, and/or COVID has left you feeling less-than, listen in to the podcast that Feedspot.com just ranked #1 of the “Top 30 Agile Leadership Podcasts to Follow in 2020” https://blog.feedspot.com/agile_leadership_podcasts.
Published 09/04/20
Today’s guest was J.J. Caffey, MBA graduate of The Wharton School, and founder/CEO of “Order In” -- a digital platform for the leaders of remote work. JJ focuses on using community, connectedness and efficiency to revolutionize the leadership of virtual employees. In this podcast, we address 1) the long-term consequences of disconnectedness and isolation due to working from home, and 2) where leaders often go wrong when it comes to Performance evaluations of remote team-members.
Published 08/04/20
Fresh on the heels of our wildly popular Podcast Episode #30 (an open forum titled “Why aren’t there more women in leadership, and what can we do about it?”), we assembled a smaller group of women to spend an hour each week (for 4 weeks) discussing the leadership challenges they have experienced or witnessed. This week (#4 of 4), we discussed a variety of topics, including Emotional Intelligence, wardrobe and lots of other juicy observations and suggestions.
Published 07/15/20
Fresh on the heels of our wildly popular Podcast Episode #30 (an open forum titled “Why aren’t there more women in leadership, and what can we do about it?”), we assembled a smaller group of women to spend an hour each week (for 4 weeks) discussing the leadership challenges they have experienced or witnessed.  This week (#3 of 4), we discussed a variety of topics, including Emotional Intelligence, wardrobe and lots of other juicy observations and suggestions.
Published 07/01/20
Fresh on the heels of our wildly popular Podcast Episode #30 (an open forum titled “Why aren’t there more women in leadership, and what can we do about it?”), we assembled a smaller group of women to spend an hour each week (for 4 weeks) discussing the leadership challenges they have experienced or witnessed. This week (#2 of 4), we discussed a variety of topics, including Emotional Intelligence, wardrobe and lots of other juicy observations and suggestions.
Published 06/15/20
Fresh on the heels of our wildly popular Podcast Episode #30 (an open forum titled “Why aren’t there more women in leadership, and what can we do about it?”), we assembled a smaller group of women to spend an hour each week (for 4 weeks) discussing the leadership challenges they have experienced or witnessed. This week (#1 of 4), we discussed Emotional Intelligence and its impact on women leader’s authenticity and transparency, in addition to lots of other juicy observations and suggestions.
Published 06/01/20
What is “compassionate leadership”? We posed that question to Dan Egan, world-renowned extreme skier, film producer, television personality, journalist, author, and marketing consultant. Listen in while he gives some amazing insights into what compassionate leadership looks like…and why it’s so important… especially now!
Published 05/15/20
Question: Why Aren’t There More Women in Leadership Positions & What Can We Do About it? We invited 5 prominent female Agile Leaders to weigh-in. Hear what Ursula Adam (Chief Of Staff, Ford), Pamela Good (President and Executive Director, Beyond Basics), Carole Leigh Hutton (Vice President Business Development, Inforum), Kate Megaw (President, The Braintrust Consulting Group), and Windy Nicholson (Vice President of Planning & Execution, Equifax) have to say about it.
Published 05/01/20
In this episode, Rikki Schwartz, President, Center for Agile Leadership, interviews Dr. David Bishop, CEO and Founder of Agile Worx, LLC, a firm that provides program/project management training, and consulting services. David is also the author of several books, including Metagility: Managing Agile Development for Competitive Advantage. Listen in while David discusses how to overcome organizational resistance to Agile.
Published 04/16/20
We are witnessing one of the greatest leadership challenges of our lifetimes so far; there is a tremendous about of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Agile Leadership In A Time Of Crisis is designed to help leaders re-gain some control and support their teams through this troubling time. Get your copy for only $19.99 at store.centerforagileleadership.com. Become a better Agile Leader for cost of a couple lunches.
Published 04/14/20