In this timely and compelling episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli welcomes back Rich Diviney, retired Navy SEAL Commander and bestselling author of The Attributes. This conversation focuses on Rich’s latest book, Mastering Uncertainty, and delivers insights highly relevant to leaders navigating today’s volatile, complex environment.

With more than 20 years of experience in the SEAL teams—including leading training within SEAL Team Six—Rich draws from intense operational settings to explain how high performers build the ability to stay composed, decisive, and effective when the plan breaks down. But this isn’t just about special forces. It’s a conversation about how CEOs and senior leaders can rewire how they think about pressure, performance, and leadership itself.

Rich introduces powerful concepts, including the brain’s need for Duration, Pathway, and Outcome (DPO) to maintain composure in chaos. He breaks down how stress affects decision-making, why “calm is contagious,” and how great teams shift leadership dynamically to the person best positioned to lead in the moment. These lessons are deeply human and directly applicable to organizational leadership.

This episode goes beyond resilience into practical training for leaders who want to move through uncertainty with clarity and help their teams do the same. Whether you're leading a fast-scaling business, a mission-driven nonprofit, or a complex enterprise under stress, this conversation offers actionable perspective and tools for performing when nothing goes as planned.

Actionable Takeaways

• Hear how Rich Diviney defines mastery of uncertainty—and why it starts with managing your own physiological stress response.
  
  
  
• Learn how elite performers prepare for unpredictable environments and why your team can develop that same capability.
  
  
  
• Discover why the brain’s search for Duration, Pathway, and Outcome is the key to clarity in moments of stress.
  
  
  
• Explore the concept of dynamic subordination and how the best teams allow leadership to shift based on proximity to the problem.
  
  
  
• Understand the limits of traditional planning—and why too much planning can become a form of leadership paralysis.
  
  
  
• Gain perspective on why attempts to control more tightly often erode trust, especially in high-stakes or ambiguous situations.
  
  
  
• Examine how the identities leaders carry—consciously or not—shape how they respond under pressure.
  
  
  
• Learn why building trust requires more than competence and consistency—and how character and compassion complete the equation.
  
  
  
• Find out how focusing your team on smaller, achievable horizons (instead of long-range uncertainty) improves decision-making and morale.
  
  
  
• Get practical strategies for applying these tools immediately—both in your own leadership and across your team.
  
  
  

Connect with Rich Diviney

The Attributes Website

Rich Diviney LinkedIn

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn

Partnering Leadership Website

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 simplistic take on AI, Schaefer challenges leaders to confront a more nuanced truth: AI doesn’t just change how we work—it redefines where we create value. In a world where intelligence is cheap and accessible to everyone, he argues, leaders must shift their organizations from knowledge accumulation to human differentiation.

The conversation dives into what “out-humaning” AI actually looks like. From designing moments of awe to fostering fearless creativity, Schaefer offers examples and frameworks that push beyond theory. He connects storytelling, community-building, and emotional resonance not just as marketing strategies—but as core leadership capabilities that machines can’t replicate.

This episode is a must-listen for CEOs, board members, and senior executives grappling with the implications of AI. It’s not about resisting the future—it’s about recognizing what only humans can do, and leading teams to do it with more clarity, urgency, and creativity than ever before.

Actionable Takeaways

• You'll learn why intelligence is no longer a competitive advantage—and what replaces it at the leadership level.
  
  
  
• Hear how to reframe your organizational structure and decision-making in a world where AI handles most of the “smart work.”
  
  
  
• Discover what Mark Schaefer means by “out-humaning AI” and why that’s now your most important leadership mandate.
  
  
  
• You'll learn why competence is no longer enough—and how leaders who rely on it alone risk irrelevance.
  
  
  
• Hear how to use awe, authenticity, and community as strategic tools to build trust and emotional engagement that AI can’t touch.
  
  
  
• You'll learn how to think about brand relevance and personal credibility when your audience knows AI could have written your content.
  
  
  
• Hear how to identify and overcome the fear that’s keeping your organization stuck in mediocrity.
  
  
  
• You'll learn what makes bold storytelling and immersive experience design the next frontier in business leadership.
  
  
• Hear how to embrace AI as a creative partner without outsourcing your strategic soul.
  
  

Connect with Mark Schaefer :

• Website: Businesses Grow
• Social Media: Twitter | LinkedIn

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn

Partnering Leadership Website

In this Partnering Leadership conversation, Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Eduardo Briceño, author of The Performance Paradox: Turning the Power of Mindset into Action. In the discussion, Eduardo dives into the transformative power of a growth mindset and how we can apply it to unlock our potential. He shares how a crippling physical injury early in his career led him to Carol Dweck's pioneering work on a growth mindset. This proved life-changing for Eduardo, setting him on a path to teaching individuals, teams, and organizations how to break free of chronic stagnation. In the conversation, Eduardo Briceno explains the performance paradox, where focusing solely on performing without learning leads to poor results. He offers strategies for leaders to get their teams to embrace a growth mindset.

Some of the Growth Mindset Takeaways That Will Get You Thinking:

• Why integrating micro-learning into daily work trumps sporadic learning sessions.
• Learn how to distinguish positive stretch mistakes from dangerous high-stakes ones.
• How leaders can model a growth mindset openly to influence their teams.
• The role a culture alignment and tweaking existing systems plays in helping teams adopt a growth mindset.
• The type of accountability that matters for both learning and performing.

Connect with Eduardo Briceño

Eduardo Briceno Website

Eduardo Briceno LinkedIn

The Performance Paradox: Turning the Power of Mindset into Action on Amazon

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn

Partnering Leadership Website