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Betsy Myers is on a mission to improve leadership by developing leaders and teams who infuse passion and purpose into their organizations by leading from both the head and the heart.

With over three decades as a thought leader, author, speaker, and consultant, Betsy is a renowned expert on emerging leadership trends and women’s leadership. Her extensive experience includes working with corporate, government, non-profit, and higher education leaders. She is the author of Take the Lead: Motivate, Inspire, and Bring Out the Best in Yourself and Everyone Around You.

Betsy is currently a Senior Advisor at the Warren Bennis Leadership Institute at the University of Cincinnati. She also serves on the Council on Advancing Women in Business for the Export-Import Bank of the United States.

A senior adviser to two U.S. presidents, Betsy served as President Clinton’s Advisor on Women’s Issues, was the first Director of the White House Office for Women’s Initiatives and Outreach, and was Chief Operating Officer of President Obama’s 2008 National Presidential Campaign.

Previously, Betsy was founding director of the Center for Women and Business at Bentley University, a repository of best practices for corporations to recruit and retain women leaders. She was Executive Director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard’s Kennedy School, focusing the Center’s teaching and research around authentic inner leadership. She held leadership roles in the U.S. Small Business Administration, including as the Director of the Office of Women’s Business Ownership at the SBA where she was an advocate for the 9.4 million women entrepreneurs in the United States.

Betsy has a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School.

A Quote From This Episode

• "There's a lot more we agree on than we disagree on...we have to move away from this 'othering.' We 'other' people - 'they're different from me, they're bad.'"

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Book - Take the Lead: Motivate, Inspire, and Bring Out the Best in Yourself and Everyone Around You
• HBR Podcast - Women at Work
• Scholar - Linda Nielsen
• Article - Research: Why Gender Bias Persists Even When Organizations Try to Curb It

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: The Leader's Edge
• Blog

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic.

Send us a text

Dr. Adrian Isabella is a Senior Executive and Chief Innovation Officer at LeaderEdge, a cutting-edge consultancy specializing in leadership development and organizational transformation. With a PhD in Cognitive Science and a deep passion for technology, Dr. Isabella is at the forefront of integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into leadership strategies, helping organizations harness the power of AI to drive innovation and improve decision-making.

A thought leader in AI and leadership, Dr. Isabella’s expertise spans over two decades of research and hands-on application of cognitive and machine learning systems to optimize team performance and organizational design.

Dr. Isabella is a sought-after speaker and consultant. She frequently delivers keynotes at global conferences on AI, leadership, and the future of work.

When she’s not exploring AI's potential, Dr. Isabella enjoys mentoring the next generation of leaders and contributing to research on the ethical implications of AI in leadership. Actually, all of that is false...she is an AI.

Alan Isaccson is a recognized authority in leadership development and adult learning, serving as the Head of Leadership Programs at LeaderEdge. With over 25 years of experience, Alan is dedicated to helping individuals and organizations unlock their full potential by focusing on the core principles of leadership, personal growth, and continuous development.

His expertise lies in adult development, where he integrates cutting-edge research with practical applications to design transformative leadership programs. Alan deeply understands how adults learn and grow, tailoring his coaching and facilitation methods to meet leaders where they are and guide them through their professional and personal evolution.

At LeaderEdge, Alan leads a team that designs and delivers innovative programs to build adaptive, resilient leaders who thrive in complex and changing environments.

Alan is known for his engaging style and ability to inspire leaders to challenge their assumptions and stretch beyond their comfort zones. Actually, all of that is false...he is an AI.


Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Article: NotebookLM
• Gary Lloyd - The Leadership Skills Lab
• Gary Lloyd's website
• Podcast Episode - Deep Mind with Hannah Fry

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Register for ILA's 26th Global Conference in Chicago, IL - November 7-10, 2024.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: The Leader's Edge
• Blog

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective.

Send us a text

Jessica Leving Siegel is an award-winning writer and communications consultant with experience spanning the newspaper and magazine industry, the nonprofit sector, and the disability community. She spent ten years working on internal comms teams for several organizations. Now, she uses her expertise to help other changemakers hone their messaging and amplify their impact. She is also the author of three children’s books, host of The Special Siblings Podcast, and founded her nonprofit organization, The Center for Siblings of People with Disabilities. In 2024, she mobilized the grassroots group North Shore Neighbors Say Bienvenidos to coordinate a humanitarian response to Chicago’s migrant crisis.

Julie Stark owns and manages The Stark Solution, a talent strategy, training design, and coaching firm in Chicago, Illinois. She specializes in helping for-profit, non-profit, and social enterprise teams connect strategic goals with vital performance development. Her areas of expertise include consultative strategy, enterprise culture shift, learning roadmaps facilitated needs assessment with multi-level leaders, end-to-end virtual/in-person training design/deployment, and professional coaching for real-time performance growth.

Dr. Dennis Roberts is an independent consultant, speaker, and author. Roberts’ interest in leadership persisted throughout his forty-one-year career as a student affairs educator. He last served as Assistant Vice President of Education for the Qatar Foundation. During his seven years with QF, he worked with Qatari and expatriate colleagues to create student development and support services for its branch universities at Education City in Doha, Qatar. Roberts has authored six books and over 60 book chapters. One of his most significant books was Deeper Learning in Leadership (Jossey-Bass, 2007).

ILA Cultural Emersion Exeprience

The session is designed for those wanting to learn from changemakers or those working collaboratively on a public issue. Contextualize, explore, and experience a local response to a global issue: an influx of asylum seekers and refugees. In this three-hour session, participants will engage with the community and learn about a humanitarian response from the North Shore of Chicago. What can be learned about the context for leadership and the conditions impacting U.S. immigration practices from the Chicago community leadership effort?

• Sign up - Human on the Move: A Chicago Experience
• Resources - See Transcript

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Register for ILA's 26th Global Conference in Chicago, IL - November 7-10, 2024.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: The Leader's Edge
• Blog

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective.

Send us a text

Dr. Tim O’Brien is a Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School where he teaches Exercising Leadership and Developing People in degree programs and chairs the Leadership for the 21st Century and Art & Practice of Leadership Development executive programs. Tim designs and delivers leadership development programs for government, business, and non-profit organizations across the globe. His research interests focus on the complex challenges people hope to address, the understanding they bring, and the meaning-making they need to address those challenges. This lens on leadership development emphasizes self, group, and organizational awareness over content and discrete skills. How to develop and cultivate that self-awareness is the primary concern of Tim’s research. His teaching methods are experiential, collaborative, and reflective in nature and help participants develop the insight, inquiry, and purpose they need to meet the demands of the challenges they face.

Before his appointment at HKS, Tim was a leadership consultant for INSEAD Business School’s Management Acceleration Program and faculty for the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Programs in Professional Education. Tim graduated from New York University and earned his Ed.D. in Human Development and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He earned his 100-ton captain's license directing sail-training programs aboard traditionally-rigged wooden schooners in the Atlantic and Caribbean.

A Quote From This Episode

• "To really make an organizational-level impact, you've gotta pull the work into the organization."

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Article: Looking for the Development in Leadership Development by O'Brien
• Book: An Everyone Culture by Kegan and Associates
• Book: Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here by Jonathan Blitzer
• Book: Course Design and Assessment by Kathy Lund Dean and Associates

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Register for ILA's 26th Global Conference in Chicago, IL - November 7-10, 2024.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: The Leader's Edge
• Blog

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic.

Send us a text

Dr. David Reyes serves as the Talent & Leadership Development Manager at Southwest Airlines, overseeing the Leadership Development Programs strategy and execution. Before his work in Talent Development, he served in administration in higher education and continues to teach as an adjunct professor for Communication and Leadership classes.

In 2021, David received his Doctorate of Education and studied the social responsibility and the efficacy of Leadership Educators and practitioners. David has been married to Madison for 8 years, and they have two children, Judah (3) and Nora (1 month).

A Quote From This Episode

• "We should not be the sage on the stage but to be the guide on the side."

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Mindset by Carol Dweck
• Learning Leadership by Kouzes and Posner
• The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning Innovation and Growth by Edmonson

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Register for ILA's 26th Global Conference in Chicago, IL - November 7-10, 2024.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: The Leader's Edge
• Blog

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic.

Send us a text

Martin Gonzalez is the creator of Google’s Effective Founders Project, a global research program that uses people analytics to uncover what makes the best startup founders succeed and shares their success formula with the world. He has run leadership courses for thousands of tech startup founders across seventy countries in the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Europe. He is a frequent lecturer on entrepreneurship, organization design, and people analytics at Stanford, Wharton, and INSEAD. He is also the author of the bestselling book, The Bonfire Moment: Bring Your Team Together to Solve the Hardest Issues Startups Face.

Martin is a principal of organization and leadership development at Google. He works with Google’s senior leaders to shape team culture, develop their people, and expand their leadership, so they can build cool things that matter. In his ten years there, he’s worked with leaders across Google Research, DeepMind, Technology & Society, Responsible AI, Pixel, Fitbit, YouTube, Search, Maps, Android, and Chrome, to name a few.

In 2023, The Aspen Institute recognized him as a First Movers Fellow, honoring his pioneering work at Google. In 2024, he was featured on the Thinkers50 Radar List, a prestigious recognition dubbed the "Oscars of management thinking" by the Financial Times, highlighting emerging thinkers expected to significantly influence future management thinking.

Before Google, he was a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group and a product manager at Johnson & Johnson.

Martin has studied organizational psychology and behavioral science at Columbia University and the London School of Economics. He’s a serial immigrant, having lived and worked in New York, Jakarta, Singapore, Taipei, and Manila, where he is originally from. Today, he lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Bea, and three kids: Noelle, Jaime, and Andrea.

A Quote From This Episode

• "Startups have a people problem."

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Website/Book - The Bonfire Moment
• Book - Creative Construction by Gary Pisano

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Register for ILA's 26th Global Conference in Chicago, IL - November 7-10, 2024.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: The Leader's Edge
• Blog

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic.

Send us a text

Dr. Carla Ortega Santori is the Strategic Initiatives Manager at the Doerr Institute for New Leaders. Prior to this, she developed learning and development strategies at a leading healthcare company in Puerto Rico. Carla has worked as an Executive Recruiter and volunteered as an AmeriCorps VISTA.

She holds a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Carlos Albizu University and a B.A. in Psychology from Villanova University. Her doctoral dissertation studied the psychometric properties of the Passion for Work scale in a Puerto Rican population.

Dr. Dennis McCunney works in the Center for Student Success at East Carolina University and serves as an adjunct faculty member in political science and adult education. He started at ECU in 2012 as director of the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center, where he expanded the center’s scope to include leadership education, global learning, and civic engagement programming. He led ECU’s first effort to become classified as a Leadership for Public Purpose university through the American Council on Education.

His professional and research interests include public service and leadership development, organizational development, intercultural/global learning, and campus-community partnerships. He serves on the leadership team for the NASPA Spirituality and Religion Knowledge Community and on the board of directors for Amizade, a fair trade learning nonprofit.

A Quote From This Episode

• "HigherLed is a learning network that creates the conditions for continuous improvement in the areas of leadership education and development (Led) in higher education to help create more and better Leaders for our society."

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Website - HigherLed
• Website - Doerr Institue
• Bog Post - Zone of Proximal Development
• Book - Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter
• Television Show - The Boys
• Television Show - The Bear
• Video - Thriller by Michael Jackson

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Register for ILA's 26th Global Conference in Chicago, IL - November 7-10, 2024.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: The Leader's Edge
• Blog

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic.

Send us a text

As Trove’s Chief Executive Officer, Amjed Saffarini guides the organization from both a growth and customer-centric perspective, building a nationally recognized, award-winning family office that focuses on exceptional outcomes and outstanding client service. As a board member and CEO, he leads a team of experts who serve as trusted advisors for our families and are helping to build, manage, and grow the company.

Amjed’s focus is to deliver a flawless and highly valued experience for our clients by ensuring excellence across all aspects of the company, including family office services, lifestyle management, business advisory, and tax services. By bringing new ideas, processes, and technologies to industries such as education, cybersecurity training, and now family office, Amjed has built a career transforming organizations and delivering successful outcomes.

With experience leading growth teams, companies, and serving on multiple boards, he knows the value of communication, coaching, and mentoring to deliver purposeful and successful companies. Amjed earned a Bachelor of Science in Cell Biology and Neuroscience from Rutgers University. He is a Board Leadership Fellow at the National Association of Corporate Directors.

A Quote From This Episode

• "You give them something really interesting to work on as a problem set, and then you keep making the problems harder and harder and harder...they're always seeking that next challenge. They're leveling up, and we've effectively gamified their work experience because of that. But, at the same time, they're working on projects that are not just gamified, but they're gamified and really interesting."

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Book - Peak by Ericsson & Pool
• Book - Comfort Crisis by Easter
• Concept - Zone of Proximal Development by Vygotsky
  

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Register for ILA's 26th Global Conference in Chicago, IL - November 7-10, 2024.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: The Leader's Edge
• Blog

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic.