Your Seat at the Table - Real Conversations on Leadership and Growth

Change is speeding up, and the leaders who thrive aren’t the ones pretending to be certain—they’re the ones staying curious, staying human, and staying grounded in what they value when the plan breaks.For decision-makers dealing with constant uncertainty—and for any leader who’s ever felt alone in tough calls when the future won’t sit still—we’re joined by Cameron Atlas, leadership speaker, musician, and National Geographic Explorer, to explore what adaptability really looks like in practice. His approach is deeply question-driven: if it all ended today, what haven’t I done yet that I wish I had?Cameron traces the experiences that shaped this mindset—from growing up on a remote farm in Outback Australia to discovering how early technology expanded his world. That blend of isolation and possibility became the foundation for a leadership style rooted in curiosity, resilience, and continuous improvement—one that enables peer-powered disruption by encouraging teams to think, act, and adapt together rather than wait for perfect direction.From there, we get practical. We talk about why CEOs feel stuck when the world changes faster than forecasting models, and how clarity often comes not from better predictions, but from stronger alignment to values, mission, and identity. Cameron shares a gripping Colombia river story that becomes a simple resilience playbook you can use immediately: POGO (Perspective, Ownership, Gratitude, Opportunity). It’s a reminder that sometimes the path forward is found when you choose to run toward the roar instead of resisting uncertainty.We also take on the AI reality head-on: agentic AI, guardrails, critical thinking, and what it means to remain human when tools can do more and more of the work. We explore the growing risks around mental health and loneliness, and why replacing real, friction-filled relationships with AI companionship may solve for convenience while creating deeper leadership blind spots. In a world of accelerating capability, knowing what’s not your problem—and what still deeply is—becomes a defining leadership skill.For anyone ready to challenge their comfort zone and lead with clarity in an AI-driven world, this episode offers a grounded path forward. Real leaders. Real stories. Real action.If you care about leadership, adaptability, resilience, curiosity, and better decision-making, hit subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review. What’s one guardrail you think every team should set before adopting more AI?🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

A butterfly struggles in its cocoon, and a coach resists the urge to cut it open. That image becomes our compass in The Twin Thieves of Leadership as Coach Steve Jones—record-setting high school football coach, educator, and executive coach—unpacks how resilience is built, how culture actually wins, and why fear steals more potential than failure ever could.For decision-makers dealing with pressure to perform—and for any leader who’s ever felt alone in tough calls—Steve offers a question-driven path to stronger teams: Are we building comfort or capacity? Are we rescuing too quickly? Are we rewarding effort or just outcomes? His approach turns culture into a form of peer-powered disruption, where teammates—not titles—protect the ship from ego, entitlement, and complacency.We start with the moments that shape a leader: a hungry new kid, a teacher who noticed, and a quiet act of kindness that changed a life. From there, Steve maps the practices that turned a public school program into a 70-game dynasty and now power executive teams: design culture to drive consistent winning behaviors, make love synonymous with accountability, and build connection through stories, service, and shared struggle. The best cultures aren’t top down—they’re owned horizontally.Then we name the invisible opponents: fear of failure and fear of judgment. Steve has seen them stall high schoolers and CEOs alike. His tools are simple and actionable: create psychological safety for well-earned risk, challenge catastrophic thinking (“Is that 100% true?”), act as your own best coach, and adopt an internal scoreboard that rewards growth and consistency. Sometimes leadership means learning to run toward the roar instead of protecting comfort.Sustained success brings new pressure—Steve calls it a privilege. He explains how to keep noise out of the hull, why trust is a trainable skill built on authenticity and consistency, and why “clear is kind” when fit fails. For anyone ready to challenge their comfort zone as a parent, coach, or executive, this episode is a reminder that productive struggle builds strength—and that sometimes what feels like help is actually harm.Real leaders. Real stories. Real action. If you felt a nudge while listening, follow it. Subscribe, share this with a parent or leader who needs it, and leave a review telling us which tool you’ll try first.🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

What if the fastest path to scaling your company isn’t a new strategy—but a new you? In Lessons You Can Only Learn the Hard Way, we sit down with Rand Stagen—entrepreneur, educator, and founder of the Stegen Leadership Academy—to unpack why companies don’t grow; people do.For decision-makers dealing with stalled growth—and for any leader who’s ever felt alone in tough calls at the top—Rand offers a question-driven lens on development: What part of me is capping the business? What discomfort am I avoiding? What’s not your problem anymore that you’re still carrying?We dig into the heart of adult development: growth happens where support and challenge meet. Drawing on research and decades of coaching CEOs, Rand shows how the right kind of discomfort rewires habits, expands leadership range, and reduces reactivity. He surfaces the quiet question leaders rarely say aloud—“What if I don’t know?”—and reframes vulnerability as a strategic capability. Context matters. Sometimes armor protects the mission; sometimes taking it off creates the clarity your team needs.The conversation turns candid when Rand admits how founder heroics kept his company small. Fear of losing soul created a growth “governor,” until trusted peers stepped in—an act of peer-powered disruption that forced reinvention. By codifying first principles and designing constraints that scale beyond personality, his team doubled impact without diluting purpose. It’s a powerful example of learning to run toward the roar instead of managing around it.We also explore long-term culture building, why short investor horizons sabotage real transformation, and how turning alumni into coaches creates a multiplier effect that outlives any single initiative. Through multiple lenses—self-awareness, accountability, culture, capital, and courage—Rand shows that sustainable growth is less about tactics and more about disciplined inner work.For anyone ready to challenge their comfort zone, this episode is a reset. Write down your non-negotiables. Own development at the top. Seek rooms that expose blind spots. True friends stab you in the front—invite them in, learn fast, and keep practicing.Real leaders. Real stories. Real action. Subscribe, share this with a leader who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway—where will you add more challenge or more support this week?🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

What actually makes a company keep climbing when so many stall on a tidy plateau? We sat down with Kevin Lawrence—CEO coach, Scaling Up contributor, and author of The Four Forces of Growth—to unpack why well-run organizations quietly stop growing and how leaders can reignite momentum without blowing up what works.For decision-makers dealing with stalled momentum—and for any leader who’s ever felt alone in tough calls about people, structure, or strategy—Kevin brings a question-driven approach to growth. Where exactly did the plateau begin? What changed in behavior, not just metrics? And what’s become not your problem that you’re still carrying anyway?Kevin’s path from kid entrepreneur to global coach sets the stage for a candid look at the “loyalty liability,” where founders hold on to beloved executives long after the role has outgrown them. He describes the leap from pond hockey to the NHL of leadership, embracing Jim Collins’ “first who, then what,” and building the courage muscle that turns smart opportunities into real thrust. Sometimes growth requires you to run toward the roar—making the people call you’ve been postponing or confronting the comfort that’s quietly calcifying culture.We also unpack the seduction of streamlining: the drift toward problem-solving that polishes margins while starving expansion. Kevin reframes sustainable scaling through practical lenses—economic drivers, talent intensity, cultural clarity, market relevance, and disciplined execution—showing how focused alignment can create peer-powered disruption inside the organization without chaos.You’ll leave with tools you can use this quarter:Find your X—the core unit that drives your economics—and make it visible so pricing and mix don’t mask decay.Protect new X by tracking new accounts and adjacencies, turning farmers back into hunters.Set your smack list of non-negotiables to avoid a common trap: hiring an impressive president, then abdicating the operating system that made you great.Keep founder mojo inside the company by carving a lane for intuition and asymmetric bets instead of letting that creative spark drift away.For anyone ready to challenge their comfort zone and move from playing not to lose back to playing to win, this episode is a reset. Kevin blends servant leadership with productive paranoia—and reminds us that listening beats selling, and clarity beats charisma.Real leaders. Real stories. Real action. Subscribe, share this episode with your team, and leave a review with one insight you’ll act on this month.🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

A desperate prayer under a desk. A supplier call about a giant dorm whiteboard. A flash of insight that the margins lived in the ad space, not the plastic. That’s the unlikely pivot that took Kayvon from a failing dot-com idea to a product on 200 campuses—and it’s just the start of a bigger story about building companies where purpose isn’t a post-exit rebrand, it’s the operating system.For decision-makers dealing with high-stakes pivots and founder pressure, Kayvon’s story is a reminder that the best strategy often starts as a question-driven moment: What’s the real business here? What are we actually selling? And what are we willing to compromise to survive? That early shift became a form of peer-powered disruption—rethinking the model, the value, and the customer in a way competitors never saw coming.We dig into the early sparks: an immigrant dad who turned “we love you, we can’t afford it” into grit and gross-margin math at Price Club, and a mom who modeled service in shelters. Those twin forces shaped a founder who later walked away from a growing venture because a cofounder’s values didn’t align—and who now stress-tests partners through time, references, family circles, and pressure moments. Along the way, Kayvon flips a leadership myth: tactics matter, but character and nervous-system regulation win in real crises. He also admits his hardest delayed decision—firing a brilliant executive who was toxic to the culture—and what it taught him about non-negotiables.For any leader who’s ever felt alone in tough calls, this episode hits home: the hardest moves aren’t strategic—they’re personal. Sometimes the clearest leadership moment is deciding what’s not your problem anymore, and protecting the culture even when the numbers look good.The conversation gets especially candid on selling a business without selling out. Most mid-market founders don’t realize their M&A advisors often serve buyers first. We break down the incentives and the fix: run a true market with 20–40 qualified buyers, surface the non-obvious acquirers whose strategy demands your company, and put the seller back in control. Then we widen the lens beyond price. We map offers across two axes—financial terms and employee care—so founders can choose the best total outcome.We also tackle the silent risk of liquidity: family fractures. With upfront alignment on mission, roles, and expectations—and smart timing for donor-advised giving—a sale can strengthen relationships and fuel multi-generational generosity. For anyone ready to challenge their comfort zone around exits, wealth, and legacy, Kayvon offers a grounded way to run toward the roar instead of avoiding the hard conversations.If you care about legacy that includes your people, your family, and your impact—without leaving money on the table—this conversation delivers. Real leaders. Real stories. Real action. Subscribe, share this with a founder who’s thinking about an exit, and leave a review with your top non-negotiable when selling a company.🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

What happens when an engineer-turned-marketer takes the wheel of a consumer brand inside a 175-year-old, family-owned enterprise—and decides focus is the strategy? Tim joins us to share how a “fewer, bigger, longer” philosophy transformed a sleepy category, why he tested a bold spin-mop bet online, and how Amazon visibility quietly lifted Walmart sales. The story isn’t just about product wins; it’s about the discipline to say no, retire legacy SKUs, and build a flywheel that compounds with every cycle.For decision-makers dealing with complexity, sprawl, and pressure to do more, Tim makes the case for a question-driven approach to growth: What actually matters to the consumer? What deserves long-term investment? And just as important—what’s not your problem anymore? Those answers fueled a form of peer-powered disruption inside the organization, aligning teams around a flagship strategy instead of chasing every opportunity.We dig into the realities of leading in a privately held company owned by 400 descendants, where patient capital enables long-term bets but profitable growth still sets the pace. Tim contrasts private and public pressures, explaining how slower decision cycles can create stronger outcomes when leaders prioritize relevance over distribution games. Through these six lenses—focus, talent, timing, culture, capital, and consumer memory—he shows how strategy travels when it’s simple enough to survive real life.Tim also opens up about the hardest lessons: delaying tough personnel moves in the name of empathy, underestimating culture during a merger, and the subtle drift that happens when success crowds out personal life. For any leader who’s ever felt alone in tough calls, his reflections are a reminder that leadership often means choosing clarity over comfort—and learning when to run toward the roar instead of avoiding it.For anyone ready to challenge their comfort zone around strategy, focus, and leadership habits, this episode delivers a practical playbook: hiring experts who think beyond their silo, simplifying assortments around a hero product, and using online demand signals to fuel retail velocity without gimmicks. Stick around for a sharp lightning round on leadership regrets, rearview-mirror management, and the one voice Tim trusts to tell him the unvarnished truth.Real leaders. Real stories. Real action. Enjoyed this conversation? Follow the show, share it with a friend who leads a product portfolio, and leave a review with your biggest “great big no” from the episode.🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

Ever notice how money advice often tells you to wait—save more, take more risk, and hope it all works out decades from now? We flip that script. With Garrett Gunderson, we explore how to break scarcity thinking, redefine wealth as the power to be present, and design a life you don’t want to retire from. For decision-makers dealing with financial anxiety—and for any leader who’s ever felt alone in tough calls about money—this conversation reframes wealth as stewardship, not accumulation.Garrett shares the family stories that seeded his early money fears, the hard-earned lessons from 2008, and the shift from hoarding to intentional design that changed his marriage, health, and business. The throughline is question-driven: instead of asking how much you can pile up later, ask what your money should be doing for your life right now.We dig into three sticky myths—“it takes money to make money,” “high risk equals high return,” and “you’re in it for the long haul”—and show how each one quietly asks you to outsource agency and delay joy. Garrett introduces investor DNA: risk lives in the investor, not the investment. Focus builds wealth; diversification preserves it. It’s a form of peer-powered disruption in personal finance—less hype, more clarity, and decisions you can actually explain.We also unpack fee blindness and why a single percentage point over decades can erase hundreds of thousands, making transparency and low-cost structures non-negotiable. From there, we move into the systems that protect what money is meant to serve: weekly marriage check-ins, vision sessions, and family traditions that anchor presence. Sometimes the most powerful move is deciding what’s not your problem—and letting money stop stealing attention from what matters most.Garrett also reveals how he simplified his portfolio to align with his values and built a modern, accessible family office model for entrepreneurs on the rise—pairing coordinated legal and tax strategy with AI-powered workflows to save time, cut costs, and increase accuracy. For anyone ready to challenge their comfort zone around wealth and run toward the roar of financial truth, this episode offers a practical path to cash flow, resilience, and meaning—without “set it and forget it.”Real leaders. Real stories. Real action. If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a founder who needs it, and leave a review with the money myth you’re letting go of next.🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

You know that tense moment when everyone swears they’re aligned—and then the work tells a different story? We sit down with Brent Tadsen, former GE master black belt and combat engineer, to unpack why teams miss the mark and how simple, disciplined moves restore clarity, speed, and trust. For decision-makers dealing with execution gaps—and for any leader who’s ever felt alone in tough calls about accountability—this conversation cuts straight to what actually works.Brent takes us from Notre Dame ROTC to the factory floor to the C-suite, showing how his early love for Lean and Six Sigma collided with a harsh 360 review that labeled him a poor listener. That wake-up call reshaped his leadership through a question-driven mindset: invite problems on purpose, define success in plain language, and treat feedback as a gift. His wiffle ball exercise proves the point in minutes—when leaders set clear outcomes and rules, performance improves without dashboards, committees, or heroics.We dig into the traps that derail alignment: town-hall-only communication, the quiet ways 360s get gamed, and deflection patterns that stall cross-functional work. Brent shares a striking alignment test—seven executives, note cards, and twenty-two different “top three” priorities—and explains how to cascade goals so everyone can tell the same story. It’s peer-powered disruption without theatrics: clarity beats charisma every time.Brent also opens up about launching Adaptive after a decade of preparation, why 95% of his work comes from referrals, and how career capital and social trust matter more than any pitch deck. For anyone ready to challenge their comfort zone as a leader, this episode shows when to run toward the roar—and when to decide what’s not your problem so the system can perform.If you lead a team, you’ll walk away with practical moves you can use immediately: audit alignment monthly, listen until it hurts, and make execution visible. Real leaders. Real stories. Real action. We close with where Brent sees the next edge—using AI and copilots to amplify continuous improvement without sacrificing judgment. Subscribe, share with a teammate who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

Stop treating conferences like lectures and start treating them like catalysts. We sit down with Carol, a Detroit-based entrepreneur who left a secure GM career to build a national event agency that designs gatherings people still talk about years later. For decision-makers dealing with disengaged audiences—and for any leader who’s ever felt alone in tough calls about budget, flow, or impact—Carol reframes event design through a question-driven lens. She believes the real ROI happens in hallways: those unscripted, peer-powered moments where ideas stick and new partners meet.Carol walks us through her proudest builds, including a centennial celebration for the Kresge Foundation that brought Detroit’s culture to the stage and quietly welcomed President Obama. She opens the curtain on production truths: why you should thank the AV crew when nothing goes wrong, how to rehearse for the “what if” moments, and how on-the-fly recoveries often become the most human stories attendees remember. There’s humor too—live tigers, accidental blackouts, and the delicate art of making a big entrance that actually works.At the center of this conversation is impact. Events generate waste, especially food. Carol shares a simple, scalable tactic: redirect catering minimums into pre-packaged items and donate them to local food banks. No new budget. No extra logistics. Just asking the right question at the right time. That one shift sparked national interest and reflects a broader mandate: design gatherings that feed minds and communities.We also unpack resilience. When COVID shut down live events, Carol split a lean team, earned virtual certifications, protected the brand, and later folded those skills into hybrid strategies for global niche groups. Earlier downturns pushed her to launch a consulting arm that transforms corporate anniversaries into yearlong engines for culture, PR, and growth. For anyone ready to challenge their comfort zone in leadership or creative industries, Carol’s story shows how to run toward the roar when uncertainty hits—and how clarity emerges when you decide what’s not your problem.If you care about event design, audience engagement, sustainability, or leadership under pressure, this episode is full of practical plays you can use next week. Real leaders. Real stories. Real action. Listen, share with a teammate, and tell us your best hallway-moment tactic—and if you try the donation move, report back so others can follow. Subscribe for more candid conversations with leaders who build things that last.🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

What if your product lives in a world people need but don’t want? That single question reframes how we think about life insurance, sales, and innovation. With Maria Ferrante Sheppis, we unpack the hard truth: protection is a negative demand category—more like TSA than a car lot—and the playbook must honor that reality. Fear tactics backfire; trust, clarity, and frictionless design win.For decision-makers dealing with skeptical markets, and for any leader who’s ever felt alone in tough calls, Maria offers a question-driven approach to transformation—less about loud disruption, more about peer-powered disruption built on empathy, experimentation, and data that earns belief.Maria’s journey—from teen anxiety to CMO to innovation strategist—brings rare empathy and edge. She explains why power doesn’t increase with title, how the “currency buffet” beats salary alone for retaining talent, and why disciplined portfolios outperform heroic moonshots. Through the six lenses of innovation—human need, timing, risk, emotion, story, and scale—she helps leaders see what others miss.We explore the blind spots most leaders avoid: longevity hitting escape velocity, essentials trending toward near-zero cost, and what happens to the very idea of life insurance if death recedes and work becomes optional. Instead of hand-waving at AI, we get practical about scenario bets and evidence-based learning—how to run toward the roar when uncertainty grows loud.We dig into solutions that start with human problems, not industry defaults: cure futures that pool risk to fund access to breakthrough therapies; fertility-linked benefits built on a life insurance chassis for Gen Z; and a better narrative that frames agents as protectors, not fear merchants. Creativity thrives under constraints, and this episode shows how to use them—design journeys for reluctant buyers, test fast with small checks, and size your bets like a portfolio manager.For anyone ready to challenge their comfort zone—and turn “not your problem” into an opportunity to lead—this conversation delivers clarity and courage in equal measure. Real leaders. Real stories. Real action.If you lead in a sold-not-bought category, this is your field guide to selling virtue without manipulation and innovating without theater. Listen, share with your team, and tell us: what’s the one blind spot you’ll challenge this quarter? Subscribe for more conversations that turn hard problems into practical plays.🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

What turns a promising team into a durable company? John Connors—former Microsoft controller, CIO, CFO, and long-time VC—joins us to dive into the mechanics that actually move the needle: recruiting exceptional people, making clear calls under pressure, and scaling only after the signals are real. From a Montana upbringing marked by hard work on farms and railroads to high-stakes meetings with Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, John shows how resilience and curiosity become a leader’s edge.For decision-makers dealing with high-stakes growth and for any leader who’s ever felt alone in tough calls, John opens the door to the Microsoft engine room during hypergrowth: consolidating onto a single SAP instance, building analytics muscle, and transforming IT from a cost center into a strategic proving ground. The dogfooding era comes alive—why no enterprise release shipped without IT’s signoff—and how that cultural shift became peer-powered disruption that reduced downtime, boosted credibility, and gave sales a living case study for enterprise computing.We also examine leadership tone in a culture obsessed with lowlights over highlights, pointing to Bob Herbold’s calm predictability as a model for keeping the room cool while standards stay high. Sometimes, the most effective call is “not your problem”—focusing leaders where they can make the greatest impact.Then we get practical about venture and entrepreneurship. John explains why overinvesting early is a trap, how to incubate cheaply until product-market fit shows up, and why timing—catching the right wave—can outweigh raw horsepower. He breaks down the harsh math of VC, the compassion required when it’s time to stop funding the dream, and the three founder traits that matter most: recruit A players, be relentlessly optimistic, and get comfortable being unpopular.For anyone ready to challenge their comfort zone in venture, corporate leadership, or team-building, this conversation is a masterclass in clarity, courage, and compounding judgment. Real leaders. Real stories. Real action.If it resonates, follow the show, share it with a builder who needs it today, and leave a review to help more people find these conversations.🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

What if the most valuable seconds of your life aren’t the longest ones—but the ones that ripple the farthest? In this episode, we sit down with Olympian and design thinking expert John Coyle to rethink how performance, memory, and time actually work, and how a few well-designed moments can reshape a career, a team, or a family.For decision-makers dealing with impossible trade-offs, and for any leader who’s ever felt alone in tough calls, John shares what happens when you stop trying to “fix weaknesses” and instead “run toward the roar.” From Stanford’s product design program to the Olympic Training Center, he discovered that true design thinking means redefining the problem, racing your strengths, and embracing a question-driven approach. That shift not only saved his career but also became a blueprint for business: reorganize teams by talent, detach from first ideas, and commit only once reality proves the fit.Along the way, we explore the six lenses that real leaders use to unlock outsized outcomes—showing why strengths are specific, weaknesses are broad, and why “not your problem” can actually be a catalyst for growth. The result is peer-powered disruption: a fresh model of leadership built on collaboration, clarity, and courage.Then we take on time itself. Drawing on neuroscience, John explains why memory is the real currency of time and how to “buy” more of it. The formula is practical and bold: stack risk and uncertainty, uniqueness, emotional intensity, beauty, and flow to wake the amygdala and write thicker memories. From running into storms with your kid, to designing surprise rites of passage, to building travel itineraries that leave room for serendipity—you’ll learn how to create moments that feel bigger and last longer.For anyone ready to challenge their comfort zone and perform better under pressure, this conversation delivers both mindset and method. Real leaders. Real stories. Real action.If you’re ready to stop counting hours and start crafting experiences that matter, tune in, subscribe, share with a friend who needs a nudge toward their strengths, and leave a review with one moment you’ll design this week.🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

Martha McSally's life story reads like an action-packed novel—from losing her father at 12 to becoming America's first female fighter pilot in combat to serving as a U.S. Senator. But beneath these remarkable achievements lies a profound journey of self-discovery that offers wisdom for anyone struggling with identity, purpose, and leadership.For anyone ready to challenge their comfort zone or confront what’s holding them back, this conversation is an invitation to run toward the roar—to face the hard stuff head-on with courage and clarity.Martha reflects on the sudden loss of her father and his final words to “make him proud”—a mission that propelled her forward but eventually became a weight she had to release. With rare candor, she reveals how grief, grit, and rebellion shaped her path to the Air Force Academy, where she was told women were legally barred from becoming fighter pilots. Her reaction: “That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”Martha’s approach to leadership—whether commanding fighter missions or navigating Washington’s political turbulence—centers on authenticity, resilience, and mission-focus. She doesn’t sugarcoat her Senate experience, describing Congress as “a different combat zone” where she fought to lead with integrity despite a frustrating environment. “It was one of the highest honors of my life to be a U.S. Senator... and also the most frustrating thing I’ve done in my life.”Through the six lenses of identity, courage, purpose, leadership, failure, and freedom, Martha challenges leaders to strip away external expectations and get clear on who they really are. Her “I am” statements—unbreakable, courageous, generous—aren’t just affirmations, they’re anchors for decision-making in uncertain times.For leaders navigating post-pandemic complexities, Martha offers straight talk: your team has to “show up and work,” but leadership today also means creating spaces where creativity and sustainability coexist. She draws a powerful distinction between “whatever it takes” seasons and “good enough” rhythms—an essential mindset shift for long-term impact.Real leaders. Real stories. Real action. Martha’s journey is more than inspirational—it’s instructional. Her story proves that the most effective leadership isn’t about status or control; it’s about showing up with clarity, conviction, and compassion.Ready to explore your own edge? Connect with Martha through her adventure experiences or speaking engagements. Visit her website to discover how her unique blend of military discipline, political insight, and soul-deep authenticity can help transform your leadership and your life.🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

There's nothing quite like a family recipe passed down through generations. When that recipe becomes the foundation of a thriving business that spans restaurants and nationwide retail distribution, the story gets even more fascinating.Dan Costello, CEO of Home Run Inn Pizza and fourth-generation family member, joins us to share the remarkable journey of this iconic Chicago brand. From humble beginnings on 31st Street where his Italian immigrant grandparents hosted Sunday family dinners, to now being available in grocery stores across all 50 states, the Home Run Inn story exemplifies how staying true to your roots while embracing innovation can lead to lasting success.What started accidentally in the 1950s when a customer requested partially-baked pizzas to take to his Wisconsin summer home has evolved into a frozen pizza powerhouse. Today, the CPG side represents 85–90% of the business, but the restaurants remain vital to their identity and serve as living laboratories for authentic Chicago-style pizza.Costello candidly discusses the challenges unique to family businesses, including a difficult succession process that ultimately led to one branch of the family exiting the business entirely. He shares how the company's core values of Family, Pride, Grit, and Courage guide decision-making through tough times, including the pandemic when protecting employees while meeting surging demand required transparent leadership.For any leader who’s ever felt alone in tough calls, Costello’s story offers a grounded look at what it means to run toward the roar—leaning into discomfort and uncertainty with clarity and conviction. His simple but powerful business philosophy: identify what you do that others can't or won't do. For Home Run Inn, it's their dough-aging process—a technique passed down from his grandfather that creates a distinctive taste competitors can't replicate in the frozen pizza market. While other brands develop products in R&D labs, Home Run Inn remains committed to recipes “born in a kitchen.”This is peer-powered disruption at its most personal—where family legacy meets operational excellence, and tradition fuels innovation.Ready to taste the difference four generations of pizza-making expertise brings to the table? Look for Home Run Inn in your local grocery freezer or visit one of their Chicago restaurants to experience this family legacy firsthand.🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

Financial leadership isn't just about managing numbers—it's about navigating uncertainty and building resilience. In this candid conversation, Tom Casey draws from his remarkable journey as CFO at institutions including GE Capital, Washington Mutual, Clear Channel, and Lending Club to reveal what truly matters when steering organizations through transformation and crisis.Casey shares how his blue-collar upbringing instilled the relentless work ethic that became his professional signature. "No one's going to outwork me," he states, explaining how grit propelled him from humble beginnings to executive leadership. His evolution from an intense young professional who could "wear people out" to a strategic leader who builds high-performing teams offers powerful lessons in self-awareness and adaptation.At the heart of Casey's approach is what he calls the "competency wheel"—the expanding set of skills that exceptional CFOs develop throughout their careers. Early-career financial leaders might master only a quarter of these competencies, while seasoned executives learn to excel across the spectrum from technical accounting to strategic risk management. For companies seeking financial leadership, Casey emphasizes matching specific competencies to current business needs rather than expecting universal expertise.The relationship between financial leaders and their organizations takes center stage as Casey compares effective finance teams to a race car's braking system. "Why does a race car have big brakes? So it can go fast," he explains, challenging the notion that financial conservatism inherently restricts growth. For anyone ready to challenge their comfort zone, this perspective reframes robust financial controls as tools for confident acceleration—enabling leaders to speed ahead while retaining the ability to adjust course when necessary. In this light, the finance function is no longer the department of "no," but the enabler of strategic acceleration.Whether you're leading through uncertainty, building financial leadership capabilities, or seeking to strengthen decision-making processes, Casey's framework provides invaluable guidance for navigating today's complex business landscape with confidence and clarity. Real leaders. Real stories. Real action. This is more than theory—it's practical advice for those determined to make an impact.🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

Terry Hill shares her journey from HR professional to C-suite executive, revealing how she learned the "fine art of approximation" after watching male colleagues confidently present rough estimates while she felt compelled to provide decimal-point precision.• Early career path from retail to American Express to Nationwide Insurance• Moving from HR into business leadership and the challenges of that transition• The importance of building strong peer relationships across organizations• Learning that authenticity is more valuable than trying to fit an executive stereotype• Managing down versus managing up as a leadership philosophy• Making tough business decisions with values-based principles• Creating goals that prioritize people even during difficult business transitions• The value of having a trusted chief of staff who can provide honest feedback• Common executive challenges around communication and difficult conversations• The permanent state of uncertainty in today's business environment• Advice to take more vacation and build confidence earlier in your careerIf you're interested in executive coaching, Terry now works with clients to increase self-awareness and improve leadership effectiveness through mostly referral-based relationships.🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

Troy Johnson, co-founder of Slalom Consulting, shares the power of gratitude and how simple moments of appreciation can transform our outlook in both work and life. From his beginnings in Iowa to building a global consulting powerhouse, Troy reveals how authentic connection with people has been the cornerstone of his leadership philosophy and Slalom's phenomenal growth.• Troy's journey from small-town Iowa to co-founding what would become an 11,000-person global consulting firm• The serendipitous failed sales call that turned into a 30-year career when Troy met Slalom's founder Brad Jackson• How Troy transformed traditional recruiting by focusing on relationships first and hiring as a natural byproduct• The creation of "Slalom buzz" through personal connections rather than traditional marketing• Troy's evolution as a leader, including the pivotal moment when he overcame his biases against "fluffy" leadership training• The power of personal mantras like "Everything always works out" and "What's the worst that could happen?"• Why gratitude remains one of the most powerful tools for transforming our mindset and relationships• The importance of getting out in the world and making in-person connections in an increasingly digital age🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

What happens when a natural-born entrepreneur with a "Pied Piper" gift for leading others transitions into corporate America? In this episode of Your Seat at the Table, hosts Mike Maddock and John Tobin talk with serial entrepreneur and technology visionary Marty Renkis.Marty shares his incredible journey from lemonade stands and selling scrap paper as a kid to founding multiple successful tech companies — including TrainerSoft (sold to Outstart) and Smartvue (acquired by Johnson Controls). He opens up about the exhilarating highs and gut-wrenching lows of startup life, the difficult decisions that shaped his path, and the lessons learned about trust, humility, and teamwork.Now an executive at a Fortune 150 company, Marty reflects on what it really means to lead at scale: shifting from lone visionary to empowering teams, embracing patience, and learning to whisper ideas instead of shouting them.About the guest: Marty Renkis is a serial entrepreneur, innovator, and executive at Johnson Controls. He has led groundbreaking work in e-learning, cloud video surveillance, and smart building technologies — holding a robust patent portfolio and scaling businesses to global impact.About the hosts: Mike Maddock is the founder of Flourish Advisory Boards, a public speaker, and a serial entrepreneur known for helping leaders turn big ideas into reality.John Tobin is the co-founder and Executive President of Slalom Consulting, a global consulting firm helping organizations tackle their most ambitious projects and build cultures of trust and innovation.Follow for more honest leadership stories and guest insights!#Leadership #Leadership #Culture #FlourishadvisoryBoards #MartyRenkis #MartinRenkis #YourSeatAtTheTable #MikeMaddock #JohnTobin🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

In this episode of Your Seat at the Table, hosts Mike Maddock and John Tobin sit down with entrepreneur, culture expert, and author Darius Mirshahzadeh to explore a deep leadership question: how do you stay ambitious and driven without losing joy and fulfillment along the way?Darius shares his journey as a high-achieving CEO who learned that chasing "more" doesn’t always lead to happiness — and that truly understanding what is "enough" can change your entire leadership approach.They discuss the power of core values, learning to appreciate the present, and why so many driven leaders struggle to feel satisfied even when they "make it."About the guest: Darius Mirshahzadeh is a serial entrepreneur, former CEO, and author of The Core Value Equation. Named a top-rated CEO by Glassdoor, he helps leaders build core-value-driven cultures and find deeper meaning in their work and lives.About the hosts: Mike Maddock is the founder of Flourish Advisory Boards, a public speaker, and a serial entrepreneur known for helping leaders transform big ideas into reality.John Tobin is the co-founder and president of Slalom Consulting, a global consulting firm helping organizations tackle their most ambitious projects and build cultures of trust and innovation.Timestamps: 0:00 — Introduction and meeting Darius 2:15 — Why high achievers always want more 7:30 — Darius’s personal story: redefining "success" and "enough" 13:40 — How core values guide fulfillment (and business decisions) 19:20 — Balancing ambition with joy and presence 24:30 — Advice for leaders feeling restless or stuck 28:00 — Closing reflections: living a more fulfilled lifeFollow for more real leadership conversations and strategies!#Leadership #TeamCulture #Ambition #dariusMirshahzadeh #FlourishAdvisoryBoards #Slalom #YourSeatAtTheTable #MikeMaddock #JohnTobin🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

In this inspiring episode, hosts Mike Maddock and John Tobin talk with Ken Sim — entrepreneur, founder of Nurse Next Door, and Mayor of Vancouver. Ken shares how his entrepreneurial mindset shaped his approach to public service and why core values like kindness, compassion, and optimism guide every big decision.From growing a healthcare company with 16,000 employees to running one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Ken explains how to build a team you deserve, the importance of firing clients (and even half your staff) to protect values, and the lessons he’s learned navigating politics and human nature.We explore servant leadership, sustaining optimism in difficult roles, fostering the next generation, and what it really means to leave a legacy beyond your term.A must-listen for anyone curious about entrepreneurship, civic leadership, or leading with heart.About the hosts: Mike Maddock is the founder of Flourish Advisory Boards, a public speaker, and a serial entrepreneur known for helping leaders transform big ideas into reality.John Tobin is the co-founder and president of Slalom Consulting, a global consulting firm helping organizations tackle their most ambitious projects and build a culture of innovation and trust.Timestamps: 00:00 — Introduction to Ken Sim02:00 — Growing up in Vancouver and early challenges05:00 — From chartered accountant to entrepreneur09:00 — Founding Nurse Next Door and defining core values13:00 — Firing clients and protecting culture17:00 — Transitioning into politics: why Ken ran for mayor22:00 — Leading Vancouver and tackling big challenges27:00 — Balancing quick start energy with building consensus32:00 — Bringing core business values into government38:00 — Addressing homelessness, Chinatown’s future, and city unity45:00 — Sustaining optimism and self-care as a leader52:00 — Ken’s five big goals for his time as mayor58:00 — Advice for entrepreneurs entering politics1:02:00 — Raising kids and showing them purpose in service1:06:00 — Closing reflections and final gratitudeSubscribe for more leadership stories and strategies!#Leadership #DecisionMaking #QuietQuitting #ExecutiveCoaching #YourSeatAtTheTable #MikeMaddock #JohnTobin🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

In this powerful episode of Your Seat at the Table, hosts Mike Maddock and John Tobin sit down with best-selling author, entrepreneur, and business mentor Mike Michalowicz.Mike opens up about his dramatic journey from a financially driven entrepreneur — complete with luxury cars and big ego — to losing everything during the 2008 financial crisis. He shares how hitting rock bottom led him to rediscover his true purpose: to eradicate entrepreneurial poverty.You’ll hear candid stories of how his daughter tried to rescue him with her piggy bank, how he wrestled with shame and perfectionism, and how these experiences fueled his iconic books, including Profit First, The Pumpkin Plan, and Clockwork.Mike also breaks down what makes a great book, the importance of an identity shift for authors, and his philosophy of using money as a tool for service rather than self-worth."This episode contains some mild language."About the guest: Mike Michalowicz is the author of multiple best-selling business books, including Profit First, The Pumpkin Plan, Fix This Next, and more. He is a sought-after speaker, mentor, and the creator of Profit First Professionals, an organization dedicated to helping entrepreneurs achieve financial health and freedom.About the hosts: Mike Maddock is the founder of Flourish Advisory Boards, a public speaker, and a serial entrepreneur known for helping leaders transform big ideas into reality.John Tobin is the co-founder and president of Slalom Consulting, a global consulting firm helping organizations tackle their most ambitious projects and build a culture of innovation and trust.Timestamps: 0:00 — Introduction and meeting Mike Michalowicz 3:00 — From starter to author: the evolution of Mike's career 8:00 — Hitting rock bottom and losing everything 15:00 — Discovering a new purpose: eradicating entrepreneurial poverty 21:00 — Writing Profit First and finding his calling 27:00 — Using books as powerful tools for service 33:00 — How identity shifts transform entrepreneurs and authors 41:00 — Money as a tool for good vs. ego-driven wealth 48:00 — Advice on writing impactful books and building community 55:00 — The ghost that drives Mike and how he keeps moving forwardFollow for more raw, honest leadership and entrepreneurship stories!#Entrepreneurship #ProfitFirst #MikeMichalowicz #Leadership #AuthorLife #BusinessBooks #YourSeatAtTheTable #MikeMaddock #JohnTobin🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

What does it take to truly see the future — and help others act on it?In this lively episode, hosts Mike Maddock and John Tobin sit down with Mike Bechtel, Chief Futurist at Deloitte. Mike shares his fascinating journey from ska bands to anthropology, consulting, venture capital, and teaching at Notre Dame.They discuss the power of curiosity, why expertise can sometimes be a liability, how to stay relevant, and what it means to be a "dot connector" in a world dominated by AI.Mike also gives us a bold (and fun!) prediction about where brain-computer interfaces could take us next.Packed with laughs, sharp insights, and inspiring stories, this episode is a must-listen for anyone who wants to understand what’s coming — and how to lead in times of rapid change.About the hosts: Mike Maddock is the founder of Flourish Advisory Boards, a public speaker, and a serial entrepreneur known for helping leaders transform big ideas into reality.John Tobin is the co-founder and president of Slalom Consulting, a global consulting firm helping organizations tackle their most ambitious projects and build a culture of innovation and trust.Timestamps: 00:00 — Intro and welcome to Mike Bechtel02:00 — Growing up between a landfill and a steel mill05:30 — From ska bands to anthropology to consulting12:00 — Dot connectors vs. dot perfectors18:00 — Is expertise a liability?24:30 — Advice to the next generation32:00 — The importance of curiosity and humility39:00 — Staying young and relevant47:00 — Bridging the gap between future ideas and practical action54:00 — Teaching at Notre Dame and empowering liberal arts students1:02:00 — Humbling career lessons and learning to care1:12:00 — Mike’s bold prediction for the future1:17:00 — What is Mike’s seat at the table?1:23:00 — Final reflections and thanksFollow for more authentic leadership stories and strategies!#Leadership #Authenticity #Vulnerability #ExecutiveCoaching #YourSeatAtTheTable #MikeMaddock #JohnTobin🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.

In this premiere episode of Your Seat at the Table, hosts Mike Maddock and John Tobin dive into the most important — and often overlooked — topic for CEOs and executive leaders: trust. Discover why choosing who to listen to is critical for growth, how to avoid dangerous "echo chambers," and what great leaders really look for in feedback. Whether you're a CEO, entrepreneur, or aspiring leader, this conversation will give you actionable insights into building stronger advisory circles, asking better questions, and accelerating personal and professional growth.About the hosts: Mike Maddock is the founder of Flourish Advisory Boards, a public speaker, and a serial entrepreneur known for helping leaders transform big ideas into reality.John Tobin is the co-founder and president of Slalom Consulting, a global consulting firm helping organizations tackle their most ambitious projects and build a culture of innovation and trust.Timestamps: 00:00 — Welcome & what this podcast is all about 02:10 — Why John wanted to start the show 05:05 — Why Mike wanted to do this together 08:00 — How they see the world differently 12:15 — John’s story: building teams & attracting talent 21:00 — Mike’s story: early sparks & entrepreneurial roots 27:30 — The ghosts that drive leaders 32:50 — Pivotal feedback that changed John’s path 40:20 — The power of culture & humility 48:00 — Big decisions during crises 55:00 — Lessons learned & core values 1:04:00 — Failures we’re grateful for 1:12:00 — What to expect from future episodes 1:17:00 — Final reflections & closing🔗 Subscribe for more leadership insights and CEO stories!#CEO #Leadership #ExecutiveCoaching #YourSeatAtTheTable #MikeMaddock #JohnTobin🎙️ Enjoyed this conversation? Subscribe to Your Seat at the Table for more candid discussions on leadership, growth, and the real stories behind the decisions that shape great organizations.💬 We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments — or let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@YourSeatatTheTablePodcast 👉 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1826002539https://open.spotify.com/show/0fDDb1gvrvsttm4nInRL8Y 👉 Connect with us: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelmaddock/https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tobin-a54225/https://flourishadvisoryboards.com/https://www.mike-maddock.com/Pull up a chair. There’s always room for your seat at the table.