Relearning Leadership

Last episode we talked about why supply chain leadership has to change. This time, we go inside a company that's doing something about it. Schneider Electric is one of our clients — 160,000 people globally, one of the most complex supply chains in the world Paul Stonehouse works inside that organization, not as an external consultant brought in to run a program, but as an internal catalyst trained and licensed through Agile Leadership Journey, embedded in the culture he’s working to shift. What I love about this conversation is Paul's honesty about the tension, and his way of making you see what's usually invisible. He talks about empowerment like a blindfolded walk through an electric fence. About culture like a reef you've been swimming in so long you forgot it was there. About why you can't just cut a flower off someone else's plant and expect it to grow. If you've ever wondered what leadership culture change actually looks like inside a large, complex organization — not in theory, but in practice — this is worth a listen.

Is your leadership keeping pace with your technology? In this episode of Relearning Leadership, host Pete Behrens lifts the hood on the modern supply chain—a "digital marvel" of AI, robotics, and 10-minute "Quick Commerce" deliveries. But beneath the high-def monitors and automated movers lies a sobering reality: a massive leadership gap that is stretching the global workforce to its breaking point.With over 10 million manufacturing positions unfilled globally, the bottleneck isn't the technology—it's the "command-and-control" mindset of the past. Pete explores why operational mastery is no longer enough to navigate a world of geopolitical disruptions, climate events, and compressed time.In this episode, we discuss:The 10-Minute Reality: How "Quick Commerce" in India is redefining customer expectations and putting immense pressure on leadership.The Digital Divide: Why the World Economic Forum estimates a 10-million-person talent gap driven by a lack of digital leadership skills.The Schneider Electric Story: How Chief Supply Chain Officer Mourad Tamoud recognized that technology is only as strong as the people who use it.The 3 Shifts of Catalyst Leadership:Directing to Developing: Investing in human growth over mere task performance.Controlling to Enabling: Gaining control by distributing it to the teams closest to the work.Reacting to Resiliency: Moving from "heroic firefighting" to building organizational muscle and psychological safety.Key Quotes:"Technology is advancing faster than the leadership that manages it... the real bottleneck isn’t the supply chain engine itself. It’s the people responsible for operating it." — Pete Behrens"Our Catalyst Leadership program is in fact an ongoing cultural change effort rather than a series of training events." — Mourad Tamoud, CSCO, Schneider ElectricAbout Pete Behrens:Pete Behrens is a leadership coach, author of Into the Fog, and the founder of the Agile Leadership Journey. He has spent decades helping global industrial leaders move from traditional management to a "Catalyst" mindset capable of navigating complexity and disruption.Next Episode Teaser:Stay tuned for our next conversation with Paul Stonehouse from Schneider Electric, where we dive into the "electric fences" and "ocean reefs" of global cultural transformation.Learn more at: https://relearningleadership.show Visit the Agile Leadership Journey: https://agileleadershipjourney.com#SupplyChain #Leadership #DigitalTransformation #AgileLeadership #SchneiderElectric #QuickCommerce #CatalystLeadership #PeteBehrens

Pete shares one of his compelling stories from his debut book, Into the Fog: Leadership Stories from the Edge of Uncertainty.Peak Leadership lives at the intersection of authority and respect. In the telling of his ski adventures in the mountains of Canada, peak finds a surprising leadership lesson in the guides who ushered their trip.======================================📕  Order Pete Behrens' new book, Into the Fog: Leadership Stories from the Edge of Uncertainty: https://bit.ly/intothefogbook🔊  Listen to the Relearning Leadership podcast: https://www.agileleadershipjourney.com/podcast📰. Sign up to receive the ALJ newsletter: bit.ly/alj-news Follow ALJ on social media:📌  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/agile-leadership-journey📌  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/agileleadershipjourney/

In this special episode of Relearning Leadership, host Pete Behrens shares the story behind his new book, Into the Fog: Leadership Stories from the Edge of Uncertainty. Through personal reflection and honest storytelling, Pete reveals how uncertainty, community, and courage have shaped his 20-year leadership journey—from losing his corporate role to founding Trail Ridge Consulting and finally, founding Agile Leadership Journey. Learn how the “fog” became his most enduring metaphor for leadership and why no one makes it through alone.

How will leaders leverage AI, data, and human insight?In this episode of Relearning Leadership, host Pete Behrens welcomes guest Eric Kihn, PhD, who leads AI strategy for the U.S. government in environmental sciences. Dr. Kihn shares insights from his decades-long journey in artificial intelligence and discusses how these technologies are lowering the “cost of curiosity,” uncovering unseen patterns and changing leadership practices. Join Eric and Pete Behrens as they discuss the profound impact AI is having across fields, from weather forecasting to leadership approaches – and the essential mindset shifts leaders must adopt to harness the full power of AI. 

How can you set a transformation team up for success? Dive into the change leadership with this episode of the Relearning Leadership podcast, featuring Alena Keck, head of Vodafone’s Lean-Agile Center of Excellence. Discover the pivotal role of emotions in driving organizational change, the journey of transforming leadership mindsets, and the innovative strategies behind Vodafone's agile evolution. Keck, along with host Pete Behrens, discusses the complexities of leading change, nurturing a culture of agility, and fostering resilience amidst challenges.

How are CEOs viewing the impact of AI? In this episode of (Re)Learning Leadership, host Pete Behrens is joined by Agile pioneer Jim Highsmith to dig deeper into the impact of AI on leadership and organizational dynamics. Drawing from the IBM CEO's Guide to Generative AI report, they explore how Agile principles are increasingly integral to effective AI utilization. Pete and Jim both offer perspectives for leaders aiming to navigate the challenges and opportunities presented by AI in a rapidly evolving environment. Whether you're a seasoned executive or an emerging leader, this episode provides crucial insights into leveraging AI for strategic advantage while maintaining a human-centric approach to leadership.

Is there an industry that AI hasn’t touched? Let’s dive into the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence and its implications for leadership with expert Henrik Kniberg.  Known for his transformative work in Agile and organizational change, Kniberg joins Pete Behrens to explore AI's potential to revolutionize leadership, innovation, and personal growth. Through a blend of anecdotes and expert analysis, Henrik and Pete discuss how AI can be a powerful ally for leaders seeking to navigate the complexities of modern organizational dynamics. 

How are you investing in your personal and professional growth?Discover the power of self-investment in leadership on the latest episode of the Relearning Leadership podcast. Host Pete Behrens delves into the journeys of Kasey Rivas, Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships at March of Dimes, and Sonny Mendoza, IT Transformation Manager at Open Dealer Exchange. Kasey and Sonny reveal the profound personal and professional growth they achieved through a comprehensive nine-month leadership program. Listeners will hear how embracing vulnerability, fostering a growth mindset, and investing in oneself can lead to remarkable leadership evolution.

Do our leaders give enough of the right kind of feedback? In this episode of the Relearning Leadership podcast, host Pete Behrens is joined by special guest Frank Fitzlaff, a Zurich-based Agile Coach and Agile Leadership Journey Guide. Pete and Frank discuss how to foster a culture of continuous improvement through feedback. Discover why feedback is not just a skill but a muscle that requires regular exercise, the crucial role of psychological safety in effective feedback, and the transformative power of positive reinforcement in the workplace. Whether you're an experienced leader or just starting your leadership journey, this episode offers valuable insights and practical tips for making feedback a powerful tool for growth and collaboration. Tune in to learn how effective feedback – both positive and constructive – can transform the way you lead and communicate!

What leadership skills will make you stand out in 2024? Laura Powers and Evan Leybourn of the Business Agility Institute discuss their recent research findings about the skills necessary for success in today's workforce. 

What does it mean when somebody asks you to be more strategic? In this episode of the Relearning Leadership podcast, Pete and ALJ Guide and leadership coach Christina Carlson discuss the difference between strategy and strategic thinking, and how leaders can execute the day-to-day while keeping an eye on the big picture.

For better or worse, all types of changes – personal and professional, big and small – impact our lives. In this episode of Relearning Leadership, Pete talks about his own experience managing change fatigue as well as how he has seen its effects in our communities, workplaces, and personal lives. Listen to hear his three ways in which we can acknowledge and manage how change can be tiring – and how it can be reframed as reinvigorating. 

In this episode of (Re)Learning Leadership, Pete welcomes a true agile pioneer, Jim Highsmith. Jim shares how his career has evolved from NASA engineer to ThoughtWorks alum, as well as being a co-author of the Agile Manifesto. In their conversation, Pete and Jim explore the fusion of agile and adaptive principles, shedding light on how these concepts can revolutionize leadership in a rapidly changing world. 

In this episode of (Re)Learning Leadership, Pete discusses the topic of agile transformations with Boston Consulting Group’s David Ritter. David shares insights and expertise from his 40-year career, including the difficulties around implementing agile transformation at large organizations, the courage required of those organizations’ executives, and why it is so crucial to define goals and outcomes before applying agile practices. 

In this episode of (Re)Learning Leadership, Pete delves into the topic of Gen Z entering the workforce. He is joined by Tammy Dowley-Blackman, a culture and leadership expert who shares her insights and expertise on this unique generation’s strengths and characteristics, how leaders can help them grow, as well as the challenges that come with five generations inhabiting a workforce. 

What does it take to become an agile leader?Agility is a competency of change and adaptation. The word is often defined as the ability to move quickly and easily, but there’s a second half of the definition. It is also the ability to think and understand quickly.  With this in mind, let's explore the four key competencies in becoming a more agile leader. 

In part 2 of this series on scaling agile ways of working, Pete describes how agile scaling frameworks that may help start an agile journey are limiting more impactful organizational and business agility. Like recipes that help us create more flavorful dishes, agile frameworks like Scrum and Kanban are good starting points for teams to learn to deliver value more effectively.However, the best chefs in the world don't follow recipes, they make recipes. And the best agile organizations in the world are not following agile frameworks, they are making their own.It's time leaders get past the frameworks and become more like a chef of their organization.

Pete Behrens provides a history lesson on scaling agile and the key lessons  challenging all organizations - getting leaders and teams to play the same game.Pete shares some personal success and failure stories in scaling agile from his own journey as well as others, and the secrets to enabling more effective agility at scale.This is part 1 of a 2-part series exploring agile at scale.In part 2, we explore how agile scaling frameworks are not enough.

Luke Hohmann joins Pete to share insights into one of the most under-focused aspects of software development - the profit factor.Luke provides insights for leaders to bring profit into their strategic decision making and the 6 ways to trade value for money.Visit the (Re)Learning Leadership website to learn more about Luke's book with a discount code to purchase.#leadership #agile #productowner #software

What does it take to influence others without the authority of title or position?Pete talks with Brad Swanson who shares his insights on impacting change without "pushing the command button" . The techniques we discuss apply equally to leaders who do not have authority and those who do but wish to avoid using it.  Brad Swanson is an organizational systems coach and Agile Leadership Journey Guide based in Denver, Colorado.Explore more about this episode on the Agile Leadership Journey (Re)Learning Leadership Podcast Website.

Can being too good be bad? Welcome to the Perfection Trap, where seeking to be better may not be in your best interest. Rashmi Fernandes, Agile Leadership Journey Guide and Leadership Coach shares the difference between seeking improvement and striving for perfection and why you should know the difference.

Pete shares what is likely the most important and least understood aspect of leadership - presence. What is it? How does a leader activate it?Pete goes back to the basics to provide a clear definition of leadership presence and through story share how leaders can improve their presence.

Professional athletes and artists practice more than they perform to achieve and maintain their peak performance. Licensed professionals like doctors, nurses, pilots, lawyers and teachers practice *alot* to even be granted their license, and their tested. But what about leaders?Unfortunately leaders are not required to practice to either achieve their title nor to achieve peak performance. Why is that?Pete explores the concept and the importance of practice for leaders and shares the stage with a few leaders and guides who share the value they've received from practice.

Pete explores the concept of leadership power and how to improve leadership effectiveness through balancing it.(Re)Learning Leadership Podcast Website contains details, transcript and more.

What is self-leadership and why is it so important to you as a leader?Pete speaks with Nick Jonsson, the co-founder and Managing Director of one of Asia's premiere networking organizations, Executives' Global Network (EGN) Singapore, Malaysia & Indonesia about the importance of leading yourself before leading others.(Re)Learning Leadership Website 

Exactly one year following two of the most significant personal life events, Pete is back with another personal story, this time with the passing of his father.In this episode Pete celebrates his father's life and the influence it had on Pete as a person, husband, father and leader. He also explores the challenge in choosing for others once they lose the capacity to do so on their own.Related Episodes:A Time to Decide Part I: The End of Life - shares the story of his mother's fight with cancer and her final choice to end her life. A Time to Decide Part II: The Marshall Fire - shares the story of the most catastrophic wildfire in Colorado's history destroying over 1,000 homes and literally coming up to the doorstep of Pete's home. 

Pete continues his exploration of the leader's focus in part II of this series, by tapping into one of the most difficult aspects of blending your focus - letting go.However, through this episode, we learn that letting go is only half of the problem, watch and listen to learn the other half.

Pete Behrens exposes the light on a common myth in leadership focus - that leaders need to shift their focus from doing work to leading others to do that work to coaching others to develop their competency in that work.

-Why is it so hard to achieve personal improvement goals?In this video, Pete Behrens, founder of the Agile Leadership Journey, walks us through some of the challenges and techniques to overcome them when setting and seeking to accomplish personal improvement goals.A few key links referenced in the video...Brain Statistics Research on setting and achieving goals, as well as debunking some of the myths around the Harvard and Yale "studies" on goal setting found here - https://www.wanderlustworker.com/the-harvard-mba-business-school-study-on-goal-setting/OKR Example taken from the founder of OKRs, Andy Grove and referenced on this website - https://www.whatmatters.com/faqs/okrs-for-fitness-weight-lossSalesforce V2MOM Information with many examples can be found on their education website - https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/manage_the_sfdc_organizational_alignment_v2mom

You may have heard of a DAO (sound it out, don't spell it out :) but are wondering what it really is, how it works and why you should be more aware of them?Now is your chance to learn with an experienced DAO leader, Josh Forman.Pete and Josh discuss what a DAO is, what benefits it provides, the challenges they face and some real-life examples.

Daniel Gagon joins Pete Behrens to help surface a common organizational challenge - doing agile without actually being agile. A phrase used to describe this is "Fake Agile" or "Agile in Name Only".Daniel and Pete briefly lay out the landscape of fake agile, how to spot it, its root causes, how to prevent it, and finally what to do if you are already infected with it.

Pete builds on the Catalyst Conversation Framework with a focus on differences which quite typically emerge in more pivotal conversations. However, in this episode, we explore two mentors who reshape what difference is, how it evokes an emotional conflict, and how as leaders we can reshape conversations to influence others towards a different outcome.

Wouldn't we all like a silver bullet to make every conversation and better conversation? Of course. And there is such a thing! In part two of this 3-part series, Pete builds on threats and rewards to provide you a framework to structure virtually all of your conversations. Dance moves to follow to delay and avoid threat, prioritize and give rewards, and indeed to spark insight and understanding.

Wouldn't we all like a silver bullet to make every conversation and better conversation? Of course. And there is such a thing! Pete shares two examples of failed conversations he had with his partner Jana and uses those to diagnose and correct how every conversation can be improved. Intrigued? Listen and learn...

Welcome to Season 3!We appreciate your patience as we have taken some time to refactor our podcast.For season 3, Pete shares what we are doing different and why. We hope you join us for the journey. We know it will be educational and hopefully you'll have as much fun listening (or watching) as we have in curating the episodes!Visit the podcast website (now re-hosted on Agile Leadership Journey) for guest profiles, key learning, transcripts and more.Also check out our YouTube Channel for Video episodes.

What is the role of a leader to shape the balance of power?Deanna Singh, author and social entrepreneur, shares the role leaders play in shaping and sharing power along with her experience as a human, mother, coach, leader and catalyst in role modeling this behavior for others.Pete and Deanna discuss how leaders can be more aware and actively use their power to catalyze their goals and the people engaged with them.Visit the (Re)Learning Leadership website for more about our guest, transcript, comments and more.

What does it take to guide a multi-year transformation?Amerisure Insurance has been on a 3-year culture-shaping journey to improve their speed of innovation. Amjed Al-Zoubi, the CIO of Amerisure and Pete co-presented their case study at the Business Agility Conference in NYC. For this episode, Pete sat down with Amjed to discuss a bit more about the leader behind the title and about what it’s like to be on such a journey.Visit the (Re)Learning Leadership website for a guest profile, transcript, comments and more.

What can leaders learn from other species?Humans can be difficult. They judge others, hold their own agenda, and talk back. So maybe an easier way to learn leadership is through other species.Executive coach and animal advocate Shawna Schuh joins Pete to discuss what leaders can learn and relearn by spending more time with other species.Visit the (Re)Learning Leadership website to learn more about our guest, read the transcript, share a comment, and more.

How can leaders tap into the power of community?Community is much more than social gatherings and shared learning paths. Community kept us connected and engaged through the pandemic. And following it, community might likely spark your next life or work adventure.David Siegel, CEO of Meetup which hosts the largest community platform, shares how leaders can leverage the power of community to improve themselves and their organizations.Visit the (Re)Learning Leadership website for information on this episode including a guest profile, transcript, comments and more.

What will the post-pandemic office culture be like?Most tech-enabled office cultures pivoted to work-from-home during the pandemic. As the impacts of COVID wanes, employees are being called back to the office. Although there is no standard, leaders are searching for the right balance between in-person collaboration and at-home flexibility.Franco Chiaravalloti, Project Manager at Hitachi Rail Systems based in Brussels, and Von Rhea, Vice President of Software Engineering at Trimble based in Denver, join Pete to discuss aspects of post-pandemic office culture. Visit the (Re)Learning Leadership Podcast Website.

Why do leaders need to be aware of their illusion of control?Mette Bjerrekaer, Head of Transformation Office at Grundfos, shares how the illusion of control has impacted her as a leader and her journey in letting go of it.Bent Myllerup, Change Agent and Founder of Better Change, interviews Mette and joins Pete to share what we can all (re)learn about the illusion of control and letting go.Visit the (Re)Learning Leadership Website.

Pete shares the second reason he paused the podcast in January.Pete experienced two lightning bolts life threw at him at the end of December - the end of his mother’s fight with cancer, and a catastrophic fire that displaced his family from their home.In Part II, Pete shares the journey he and Jana experienced through the evacuation and aftermath of the most destructive fire in Colorado’s history - The Marshall Fire that destroyed over 1,000 homes in their small towns of Louisville & Superior, CO. Visit the (Re)Learning Leadership Website

Pete shares one of the two reasons he paused the podcast in January.Pete experienced two lightning bolts life threw at him at the end of December - the end of his mother’s fight with cancer, and a catastrophic fire that displaced his family from their home.In Part I, Pete shares walking alongside his mother’s end-of-life journey fighting leukemia and pneumonia. Through his journey, he hopes leaders are better able to connect to the human side of all of their employees, family members and friends.Visit the (Re)Learning Leadership Website to see pictures of Pete's mom, view the transcript, comment and more.

Predictability through improvisation - what project management can learn from jazz.Rob Tieman is the Director of the Project Management Office at the Virginia Department of Transportation. Gerald Leonard is a Strategic PMO Advisor for the government, Juilliard-trained musician, and author of Workplace Jazz.Together with Pete, they explore how insights from jazz have helped improve project predictability and workplace culture.Visit the (Re)Learning Leadership website for guest profiles, reference links, transcripts and more.

Why leaders need to celebrate continuity and stand up for status quo!Susan Schmitt Winchester is a Senior Vice President and Chief HR Officer for Applied Materials. Jake Jacobs is a principal change consultant and author of Leverage Change. Together with Pete they explore the paradox of change.In today’s fast-paced work world, leaders are rightly focused on change. But are leaders too  focused on change?  This episode explores the paradox of change where leaders need to raise their game in celebrating continuity and stand up for the status quo! Listen to relearn more.Visit the (Re)Learning Leadership  website for author biographies, links to their books, a full transcript, comments and more.

Why leaders need to learn to let go, and why letting go is only half of the solution.Jon Christensen, founder and president of Kelsus helping startups build products, shares his leadership journey and stresses the importance he learned in letting go in order to grow as a leader.Brad Swanson, leadership and organizational coach, interviews Jon and discusses with Pete on what all leaders can learn why and how to let go in order to become better leaders, only to discover that letting go is only half of the solution!Visit (Re)Learning Leadership Website for author biographies, links, transcript, comments and more.

Why, and how, should leaders acknowledge identity in the workplace?Pete is joined by Wendy Ryan - a CEO, author and trauma survivor exploring identity in the workplace and the leader’s role not only to acknowledge it, but to actively lift others up.Wendy Ryan is the CEO of Kadabara, author of Learn Lead Lift, and advocate for expanding diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility at work. Together they explore identity in the workplace, how culture and trauma impacts identity, and the role leaders play in creating space for employees to bring their whole selves to the workplace.Visit the (Re)Learning Leadership website for more on Wendy Ryan, Kadabra, her book Learn Lead Lift, the transcript and more 

What does it take to succeed as a leader?Nick Berendt shares his journey from drug dealer serving time to HVAC business owner reaching $2M revenue. His mentor, and former circus performer, Shawn Thomas shares how leaders like Nick are only limited by their own thinking and environment, and by hacking into them can place us on a new growth trajectory.Through combining Nick and Shawn's story we can learn what it takes to succeed as a leader.Learn more about Nick, Shawn, and the Accelerators Organization on our website.

Two-thirds of leaders receive little to no education, coaching or mentoring. We can do something about this. Pete Behrens welcomes us back to season 2 with a personal story of his own accidental leadership journey as a student, employee and founder. Through his story he hopes to connect, inspire, and challenge us all to become a better leader, a more adaptive leader, a more diverse leader, and a more humane leader.Visit (Re)Learning Leadership to explore this episode further.