In this episode of Qonversations, Brian Gorman sits down with leadership author and advisor David Liddell (https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidliddell/) and President of Liddell Consulting explore what happens when leadership shifts from managing effort to cultivating meaning, alignment, and energy. Through stories from manufacturing, healthcare supply chains, and leadership practice, the conversation surfaces a tension many organizations feel but struggle to name: people are busy, capable, and well-intentioned, yet disconnected from purpose, clarity, and shared outcomes.Rather than treating this as an engagement problem to fix, Brian and David frame it as a wisdom challenge: helping people understand why their work matters, how success is defined, and where their energy is best applied. They explore moving beyond activity metrics to meaningful outcomes, the role of sense-making and unlearning in leadership, and why people commit differently when the human impact of their work becomes visible.As organizations move beyond Industrial-Age assumptions about control and productivity, this episode offers a grounded look at leadership guided by wisdom, not just intelligence, for those who sense that work is changing, even if the language for what’s emerging is still taking shape.

Change doesn’t fail because of bad plans. It fails because of missed conversations. In this episode of Qonversations, Brian Gorman talks with Founder and Principal of MI for Health and behavioral scientist Jeff Wetherhold (https://www.linkedin.com/in/wetherhold/) about why most change initiatives fall short and what actually works. Together, they explore change as a human and emotional process, the limits of top-down approaches, and how leaders can use better conversations to unlock intrinsic motivation and sustainable change. This is a grounded, practical conversation for leaders navigating constant transformation.

In this episode, host Brian Gorman talks with Wes Towers (https://www.linkedin.com/in/westowers/), founder of Uplift360, a digital agency in Australia, about what it really means to lead in an AI-shaped world. Brian and Wes explore how AI can boost performance and free up time, but still can’t match human wisdom, intuition, and contextual judgment. Leaders may get faster answers from AI, but the ability to sense what matters and why remains deeply human. They dig into the risks of relying on AI for complex decisions, including inconsistent or overly generic outputs, and why expertise and discernment are still essential. Wes shares how these gaps show up in real projects and why he advises leaders to pair AI tools with trusted human guidance. Their conversation moves into creativity, human connection, and the parts of work AI can’t touch. Wes describes how automating technical tasks has allowed him to focus more on listening, relationships, and understanding clients at a deeper level. He also talks about a turning point in his own business that pushed him to elevate relationships over transactions.Brian and Wes close by comparing different cultural approaches to business, some beginning with relationships, others with deals, and reflect on why the future favors the former. For leaders looking to adopt AI wisely, their advice is simple: choose tools intentionally, stay rooted in your values, and don’t go it alone.

The demands on leaders are changing even more quickly than the worlds that we are leading in. Those leaders who believe that the path through the uncertainty is to “hold the course” on their approach to leadership will not be successful. From engagement rates, to turnover, to failing strategies, and more, the evidence is clear. Leadership needs to change. In this episode, Rob Matzkin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-j-matzkin-06027634/), CEO of the Rob Matzkin Group, joins host Brian Gorman to explore some of the more subtle and some of the more profound ways that leaders need to evolve as they seek to bring their organizations into the future.

In this episode of Qonversations, host Brian Gorman sits down with Co-Founder and CEO of FlipWork (https://www.flipwork.ai/) Nikki Barua for a grounded, future-facing exploration of what sets humans apart in an AI-driven world. Together they get to the heart of why creativity, communication, compassion, adaptability, and self-awareness matter more than ever and why the future belongs to those willing to evolve. Among other things, they unpack the shift from “human doing” to “human being,” the collapse of the old pyramid model of leadership, and the rise of more distributed, values-driven, adaptive ways of working. They explore how culture must behave like a living system, how energy matters more than time, and how diversity and belonging fuel innovation in the age of intelligent machines. At its core, this conversation is about unlocking your unique zone of genius, the human qualities no algorithm can replace. If you’re navigating the intersection of human potential and intelligent technology, this conversation is a reminder: the future isn’t about competing with machines. It’s about becoming more fully, consciously human.

This is the second part of leadership advisor and coach Ted Whetstone’s interview with host Brian Gorman based on Brian’s book Leading into the Age of Wisdom: Reimagining the Future of Work. In this episode Brian and Ted explore what is meant when leaders talk about the future of work using terms such as “spirit,” “soul,” and “love.” They discuss Frank Lloyd Wright’s philosophy of architecture and how it applies to organization design. And they challenge traditional approaches to organizational change management, which have a dismal success rate. Together, these two episodes (Episodes 143 and 145) offer a vision of the future of work in which AI serves as the catalyst not for a more dystopian future, but for a future that is more humane. 

How, and why, would you make an organization-wide change optional? What would make people want to opt in, even when doing so would cost their team to do so? When was the last time that you fired a team, telling them that they no longer could participate in a change initiative? These are only a few of the stories that Phil Gilbert shares with host Brian Gorman in this episode. Phil, the author of Irresistible Change: A Blueprint for Earning Buy-In and Breakout Success, tells how he and his team succeeded in achieving a significant culture change across 400,000 IBM employees globally. There are important lessons here for every change leader, and every change practitioner, regardless of the size of your organization or the nature of your change. 

Host Brian Gorman becomes the guest for this two-part interview that takes a deep dive into the thinking behind Leading Into the Age of Wisdom: Reimagining the Future of Work. Leadership advisor and coach Ted Whetstone (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tedwhetstone/) joins Brian to dig into a number of topics as we become immersed in a world in which AI continues to play an increasingly powerful role. Among the many questions this conversation addresses are the ways in which human wisdom is at our core, making us uniquely different from AI, what it means to lead with wisdom or not, and what does it take to be a maverick leader finding the way into this new age dominated not by AI but by wisdom. 

What is the future of work? Will it be dominated by AI, as predicted by many of the voices we hear? Or will it be a future of work led by wisdom? In his book Leading into the Age of Wisdom: Reimagining the Future of Work, author and Qonversations host Brian Gorman examines the differences between intelligence and wisdom and calls out the danger of turning our future of work over to AI. In this episode of Qonversations, Brian addresses these challenges and, drawing from his book, discusses the transformational changes required to lead into the Age of Wisdom. 

It’s easy to make the case that there isn’t much that is constant in the workplace today. Change is no longer just a set of projects and initiatives; it is also an-ever roiling state of being. Today’s workforce, increasingly dominated by Millennials and Gen Z, is not the workforce of even a decade ago. Anyone with access and skill in creating prompts has immediate access to almost unlimited artificial intelligence. All of this and more is placing unprecedented pressure on leaders at all levels of organizational life. Effective leadership today is, by its very nature, different than the leadership of the past. In fact, in many ways, the art of leadership must change in profound ways. In this episode, Jim Carlough, author of The Six Pillars of Effective Leadership, joins host Brian Gorman to explore those foundations of leadership that are unchanging and are, in fact, more important than ever. 

In this episode, Tim Beattie, Founder and CEO of Stellafie (https://stellafie.com/), and host Brian Gorman dig into one of today’s more significant leadership challenges: what we measure isn’t always what matters. Productivity metrics like output and velocity don’t equate to impact. Together they explore how leaders can shift focus toward meaningful outcomes, foster psychological safety, and use storytelling to connect with people’s head, heart, and gut. They also discuss AI’s role in coaching and leadership, and how aligning personal purpose with organizational intent can create truly passionate, purpose-driven workforces. (25 minutes) 

We are facing an existential choice. Follow the path of allowing artificial intelligence to become more and more dominant in the workplace and our lives. Or bring the wisdom of people to the application of AI. On this episode, Social entrepreneur, author, and activist Shmuly Yanklowitz joins host Brian Gorman to discuss the path forward based on Brian’s upcoming book Leading into the Age of Wisdom: Reimagining the Future of Work. The conversation focuses on the choices leaders have to make as they consider the integration of AI into the workplace, and the implications that those choices have on individuals, organizations, and society. 

Carl Gray III, founder of Raising Founders, shares how he’s building an “AAU for entrepreneurship” to empower young people, ages 12–20, to start businesses. He tells the story of Taylor, who turned a Raising Founders project into a thriving baking venture, trained at the American Culinary Institute, and is now interning in France. In this conversation with host Brian Gorman, Carl highlights the vital role of mentorship, the value of industry projects connecting youth with corporations, and his vision for a school dedicated to entrepreneurship and independent thinking. Raising Founders is shaping tomorrow’s innovators today.

Nate Green isn’t shy about sharing his stories. His successes, his failures, his opportunities, and his challenges all serve to inform Nate’s path forward. The author of Suck Less, Do Better: The End of Excuses and the Rise of the Unstoppable You, Nate joins host Brian Gorman to share some of the key lessons he has learned on his journey including the importance of self-discovery and understanding one's true identity and purpose. He highlights how upbringing and societal narratives can create cognitive biases, shaping individuals' perceptions of success and their potential. There are important lessons here for all of us. 

This episode begins with a few words from his website. “Mark loves leaders who love leaders.” Host Brian Gorman invitation to Mark L. Vincent, Executive Advisor at Teall Vincent Enterprises, to explain this statement leads into a deep exploration of transformational leadership and the importance of developing strong, ethical leadership benches while nurturing authentic relationships with leaders. The conversation concludes with an exploration of ROI, and ways in which to quantify the qualitative data that shows the true value of leadership development. 

135: The Wisdom of Ignorance: In this time of unprecedented change, we crave for Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), human or AI, that can give us the answers. Alan Gregerman (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-gregerman-a33b236/) posits that this is the wrong path to the solution, and that ignorance is the wiser path forward. Alan, author of The Wisdom of Ignorance: Why Not Knowing Can Be the Key to Innovation in an Uncertain World (October 2025), joins host Brian Gorman to discuss the importance of embracing ignorance and the need for leaders to adapt and learn new skills. The ignorance he favors is not contentment in not knowing. Rather, Alan emphasizes the value of “enlightened ignorance,” being passionate and curious when approaching the unknown, which can lead to fresh perspectives and innovative solutions. 

Looking for differences somehow makes it easier. From this perspective, leading in white collar organizations must be different than leading blue collar workers. But it's not. In this episode of Qonversations, Traci Austin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/traci-austin/), Chief Talent Officer of Elevated Talent Consulting, joins host Brian Gorman to share the lessons that she has learned over decades of working with and supporting leaders in the trades. The bottom line: people are people. Whether in the factory, the warehouse, the construction site, the office, or the laboratory, they want the same things for themselves and from their leaders. 

Long ago, Albert Einstein said, “The thinking that got us to where we are is not the thinking that will get us to where we want to be.” Today, that is truer than ever. While his focus is on “scaling businesses and scaling leaders,” the lessons that Loic Potjes (https://www.linkedin.com/in/loicpotjes/) shares in this episode are true for any leader looking to take their organization to a different place in the future. Loic, the Managing Partner of Disruptive Leap, joins host Brian Gorman to challenge leaders who think that their current approach will successfully guide their organizations going forward. 

Leadership that wins is leadership that recognizes, builds relationships with, and values others. While You Win Again, Jack: The Story of a Man Who Stopped Needing to Win, and Finally Did is fiction, it is rich with lessons learned by author Scott DeLong (https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__lead2goals.com_scott-2Dde-2Dlong-2Dphd_&d=DwMGaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=I3xw2e3QYI_MlNvjqr_u3yrAuYs_OI3RY8DzC9fzW-A&m=2ZwWxHeeF13hYGIoQ6UIHK_kkdXmQL9UDo5iYFWMvzzFLZoOQgBJL_fHvsK0LRe-&s=vjh7BIkHSTmABmuN6H8KMW50hg3l9HGEPPUfogaXTgc&e=). This is not a book to be read so much as a book to be reflected on. In this episode, Scott joins host Brian Gorman to discuss some of the many lessons he learned on his leadership journey, ranging from the reason that Scott likes meetings, to the sacredness of 1:1 meetings, to the importance of building connections that convey the energy and the soul of the other. This is a podcast that invites you to think about how you are showing up as a leader, and ways in which you might show up differently to offer others the experience of leadership that wins. You Win Again, Jack is scheduled for release November 1, 2025. 

On Qonversations, we always try to connect our listeners with our guests. After all, conversations don’t happen between a book and the host or a leader and the host; they happen between two people. That said, most of the time the focus of the conversation is not on the guest, but on the topic. On this episode, we turn our attention totally to our guest, Ziah Miller (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ziah-miller/). Because their parents believed the world was going to end, Ziah and his seven siblings were raised without any education. He didn’t learn to read or write until the age of fourteen. Today, Ziah is a successful author, game director, and “digital alchemist.” Ziah and host Brian Gorman take a walk from Ziah’s childhood, to homelessness, to public schools, art school and software engineering certification, to his career today. Whether you are just thinking about a career, well into your working years, or wondering what comes next, Ziah’s very personal story holds lessons to help you along the way.