Episodes

In this episode of Partnering Leadership , Mahan Tavakoli sits down with Mohammad Anwar, founder and CEO of Softway and co-author of the book Love as a Change Strategy. Together, they take on one of the most misunderstood ideas in leadership: whether love has any place in driving performance, innovation, and large-scale change. Mohammad’s perspective is not theoretical. He shares a deeply personal leadership story, tracing how a fear-driven, control-oriented approach nearly destroyed his company...

In this episode of Partnering Leadership , Mahan Tavakoli is joined by Greg Shove, CEO of Section and a serial entrepreneur with a deep track record of leading transformative growth. Shove’s leadership journey includes multiple successful pivots, and in this conversation, he brings a uniquely grounded perspective on how AI is fundamentally changing the role of leaders and the structure of modern organizations. From board-level decision-making to frontline productivity, he doesn’t just speculate—...

Negotiation and sales are often treated as tactical skills. Something leaders do at the end of the process, armed with tricks, pressure, and leverage. In this conversation, Todd Caponi makes the case that this mindset is outdated—and increasingly damaging for leaders operating in a world of transparency, information abundance, and long-term accountability. Todd draws on his experience as a former Chief Revenue Officer, his deep study of the history of sales and negotiation, and his latest book, ...

In this episode of Partnering Leadership , futurists Bob Johansen and Jamais Cascio join the conversation to explore the ideas behind their new book, The Age of Chaos: A Sense-Making Guide to a BANI World That Doesn’t Make Sense . Both guests bring decades of deep foresight work, scenario planning, and leadership insight—Bob through more than 50 years with the Institute for the Future, and Jamais as the originator of the BANI framework (“brittle, anxious, nonlinear, incomprehensible”). Their com...

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli sits down with Louisa Loran, a seasoned executive advisor whose career spans legacy brands, global industrial giants, and one of the world’s most influential technology companies. Louisa brings a rare perspective shaped by leadership roles at Diageo, Maersk, and Google—giving her a front-row seat to how strategy, operating models, and leadership expectations shift across industries and eras. The conversation centers on a hard truth many le...

In this episode of Partnering Leadership , Mahan Tavakoli sits down with Eric Termuende, leadership thinker, speaker, and author of Rethink Work: Finding & Keeping the Right Talent , for a grounded conversation about what actually holds teams together in times of uncertainty. Rather than focusing on trends or surface-level engagement tactics, the discussion explores why trust, clarity, and human connection remain the real differentiators for leaders trying to reduce friction and sustain performa...

In this episode of Partnering Leadership , Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Les Csorba — senior partner at Heidrick & Struggles and author of Aware: The Power of Seeing Yourself Clearly . Drawing on decades advising CEOs, boards, and leadership teams, Les makes a compelling case that self-awareness is not a soft skill but a strategic differentiator. With leaders facing complexity, speed, and pressure unlike anything in recent memory, Les argues that the ability to see yourself clearly has become a tru...

In this episode of Partnering Leadership , Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Dr. Bernard Harris, a leader whose extraordinary career trajectory—from physician to NASA astronaut to CEO and venture capitalist—offers rare insights into the inner work of leadership. Dr. Harris is the first African American to walk in space, and the author of Embracing Infinite Possibilities: Letting Go of Fear to Find Your Highest Potential . His unique vantage point, shaped by science, space exploration, and C-suite leade...

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli sits down with David Ross, VUCA strategist and author of Confronting the Storm: Regenerating Leadership and Hope in the Age of Uncertainty. David is a renowned expert on VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) environments and has spent his career advising organizations on how to thrive amidst complexity and disruption. With a background as an ecologist, David brings a unique perspective to leadership—one that emphasizes the interco...

In this compelling episode of the Partnering Leadership podcast, Mark Schaefer returns to share fresh, provocative insights from his latest book, Audacious: How Humans Win in an AI Marketing World . A globally respected marketing strategist, bestselling author, and deep observer of technological change, Schaefer brings sharp clarity to a pressing leadership question: what does it take to stay relevant when artificial intelligence makes intelligence itself abundant? Rather than offering a simplis...

In this episode of Partnering Leadership , Mahan Tavakoli is joined by Alan Gregerman, innovation advisor and author of The Wisdom of Ignorance: Why Not Knowing Can Be the Key to Innovation in an Uncertain World . Gregerman has spent his career helping organizations rethink what expertise is, how innovation really happens, and why the answers leaders rely on can quietly become their biggest obstacles. Alan’s core argument is simple but uncomfortable: what leaders don’t know matters more than wha...

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Selena Rezvani invites leaders to rethink some of the most deeply ingrained assumptions about modern management. Drawing from her new book Quick Leadership and years of work with top-performing organizations, Selena challenges CEOs and senior leaders to examine the hidden forces shaping their teams’ behavior—especially the unspoken power dynamics that still drive command-and-control cultures even when leaders insist they’ve moved past them. Her insights ...

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli hosts Andrea Sampson, an expert in strategic storytelling and the co-founder of Talk Boutique. Andrea Sampson talks about the fascinating intersection of brain science and storytelling, emphasizing why humans are hardwired to respond to stories. As an experienced speaker's coach for TEDx Toronto and a thought leader in her own right, Andrea shares her journey from the advertising world to helping change-makers communicate their ideas effec...

In this episode of Partnering Leadership , Mahan Tavakoli sits down with Sangeet Paul Choudary, one of the world’s leading thinkers on digital strategy, platforms, and the future of value creation. Sangeet is the author of the acclaimed new book Reshuffle: Who Wins When AI Transforms the Knowledge Economy , a work that reframes how leaders must think about artificial intelligence—not as a tool for faster workflows, but as a force that will rewrite the foundations of competition. Across the conve...

What if the greatest risk to your organization isn't economic uncertainty, market volatility, or disruptive technology—but the decisions being made in your own boardroom? In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Didier Cossin, IMD professor and global expert in board governance, whose book High Performance Boards has become a must-read for senior leaders looking to elevate board effectiveness. Drawing from decades of research, real-world consulting, and cross-disci...

What if creativity isn’t a gift possessed by a few—but a skill every leader already has? In this episode of Partnering Leadership , Mahan Tavakoli sits down with Tessa Forshaw and Rich Braden, co-authors of Innovation-ish: How Anyone Can Create Breakthrough Solutions to Real Problems in the Real World . Drawing from their work at Stanford and Harvard, they share how innovation is less about genius and more about discipline, collaboration, and the willingness to see differently. Forshaw and Brade...

In this thought-provoking episode of Partnering Leadership , Mahan Tavakoli sits down with futurist and strategist Dr. Mark van Rijmenam to explore how leaders can thrive in an era defined by exponential change. Known for his sharp insights into emerging technologies and their impact on society, van Rijmenam shares a grounded yet urgent view of the transformation reshaping every aspect of our world—from business and education to governance and human interaction. Van Rijmenam argues that the shif...

In this episode of Partnering Leadership , Mahan Tavakoli engages in a powerful conversation with Lior Arussy, renowned author, speaker, and expert in organizational transformation and customer experience. Lior is the author of the thought-provoking book Dare to Author: Take Charge of the Narrative of Your Life . In this episode, he brings his compelling insights to life, challenging leaders to rethink how they approach storytelling, organizational change, and leadership in an era of rapid disru...

What if the greatest leadership blind spot isn’t about people at all, but about the space between them ? In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Jim Ferrell, renowned leadership thinker and author of You and We: The Relational Rethinking of Work, Life, and Leadership . Known for co-authoring the international bestseller Leadership and Self-Deception , Ferrell’s latest work shifts the lens from managing individuals to managing the relationships that determine whether ...

In this episode of Partnering Leadership , Mahan Tavakoli is joined by Benjamin Tasker, an AI learning strategist who has applied artificial intelligence to solve real-world challenges in healthcare and education. From predicting cancer risks in rural communities to improving student success rates through early intervention, Tasker has firsthand experience showing leaders how to harness AI for measurable impact. In their conversation, Tasker pulls back the curtain on what executives need to know...

What happens when the playbook for leadership no longer applies? In this thought-provoking conversation, Mahan Tavakoli is joined by futurist Steve Fisher and behavioral scientist Ja-Nae Duane, co-authors of Super Shifts: Transforming How We Live, Learn, and Work in the Age of Intelligence . With decades of experience in executive foresight, systems thinking, and organizational transformation, the duo brings clarity and urgency to what senior leaders must confront in this new era. Rather than re...

Most executives still chase superstar hires, assuming great individuals will automatically form great teams. In this Partnering Leadership conversation, Dr. Vanessa Druskat brings research depth and field-tested experience to make a different case. She is the author of The Emotionally Intelligent Team: Building Collaborative Groups that Outperform the Rest and a leading voice on how team norms drive performance. Her central claim is practical and testable. Outperformance comes from a clear syste...

What makes a great CEO today won’t be enough tomorrow. In this episode of Partnering Leadership , Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Carolyn Dewar, McKinsey Senior Partner and coauthor of A CEO for All Seasons —a practical, research-backed roadmap for leaders navigating the full arc of CEO leadership. Building on her global work advising top executives and the success of her previous bestseller CEO Excellence , Carolyn offers a candid, timely, and deeply strategic perspective on how CEOs can lead—and le...

What separates truly exceptional leaders from the rest? According to Kurt Strovink, it’s not just strategy, execution, or decision-making—it’s the ability to lead from within. As a senior partner at McKinsey & Company and a global advisor to CEOs, Kurt has spent decades studying the patterns of the most successful executives. In his latest book, The Journey of Leadership: How CEOs Learn to Lead from the Inside Out , he reveals what the best leaders do differently and why self-awareness is at the...