A Geek Leader Podcast - inspiring technical and creative leaders around the world

About Jim With over two decades of immersive experience in executive development, corporate leadership and human performance, Jim Bishop stands as a beacon of transformative leadership through his business, Conjunction Leadership. Jim's journey has taken him across the globe, coaching executives, diverse teams and orchestrating the modernization of leadership systems for transforming business units. Having collaborated with industry giants like Eli Lilly, Roche, and Elanco, Jim recognized the pivotal role of a visionary leader willing to first work on themselves while revitalizing their culture. This catalyzed the birth of Conjunction Leadership in 2020, where Jim provides executive coaching and team development solutions. As a certified coach by the International Coaching Federation and a Certified Leadership Facilitator with Blanchard, Jim's methods are a blend of science and art. He empowers executives through executive coaching, corporate culture consulting, and team effectiveness programs, focusing on holistic development within volatile contexts. At Conjunction Leadership, transformation starts within. The exclusive DISRUPT, BRIDGE, and GROW process guides leaders on a journey of self-discovery, mindset shifts, and measurable growth. Today We Talked About Jim's background Leadership Remote Leadership Watercooler talk... remotely how the pandemic affected leadership Disruption Phase Bridging Phase Growth Phase One-on-ones Definition of Leadership People Show up differently. Worklife balance... Worklife integration Connect with Jim Website LinkedIn X Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Robert Robert Plotkin is a leading expert in leveraging Al to maximize creativity and innovation. His book, The Genie in the Machine, was the first (and still the only) work to address the impact of generative Al on innovation and the patent system. Recognized as a thought leader in human-Al collaboration, Robert empowers individuals with the essential skills they need to harness Al to supercharge their creative abilities. He addresses the common fear of Al replacement by illustrating how embracing Al allows creatives to concentrate on high-level ideation, strategy, and problem-solving, while relegating the routine details to Al. Having a rare, combined expertise as an MIT-educated computer scientist, an educator, and a seasoned patent attorney, Robert boasts over 25 years of specialized experience in guiding leading tech companies in securing intellectual property protection for their cutting-edge Al innovations. Robert is also an adept communicator, hosting nearly 100 podcast episodes and being a frequent podcast guest on the topic of Al-fueled innovation. Today We Talked About Robert's Background AI Legal Concerns How AI is automating innovation and the implications of this for the patent system Skills that we (especially knowledge workers) need to develop to leverage avoid and avoid being replaced by AI Patent law How to use AI What to be concerned about Accuracy Checking Biases AI for Creative professionals Connect with Robert LinkedIn Website Book X Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

Oscar Santolalla, author and public speaking expert, shares tips for giving engaging technical talks including avoiding common mistakes, using stories, and interacting with the audience. He emphasizes the importance of passion and practicing, and provides insights on structuring presentations and minimizing buzzwords. Oscar also discusses the significance of recording oneself to improve speaking skills and offers resources for further help with public speaking.

About Jon Jon studied Human Sciences at Oxford University, then stepped sideways into business where he worked in information systems as an applications architect, becoming European IT Director for a market-leading multinational.    This career continued with consultant program leadership roles in major UK companies such as British Airways, BAA, Vodafone and O2.   In parallel he continued to study science and human systems, publishing well-regarded and ground-breaking books "The Science of Possibility" and "Reinventing Capitalism". Jon is a generalist in an age of specialists, an out-of-the-box thinker, an expert in mindsets, emotional and spiritual intelligence, systemic perspectives and living-systems approaches.   Now, blending his experience across human behavior and business organizations, he is regarded as a world-class trainer and leader in the socio-psychological development theory known as Spiral Dynamics integral.  He is a Director of the leading-edge organizational development consultancy Future Considerations, working recently with Philips, Arup and Shell.   He is also a leadership and personal development coach and mentor, and an accredited SQ21 spiritual intelligence coach.  Jon has published books on science and spirituality (The Science of Possibility) on our money systems and relationships with money (Reinventing Capitalism) and a spiral-inspired book "7-stage parenting".  For many years he has also been on the Trustee board of a charity providing care and education, officially rated "outstanding", to young people with special needs. Today We Talked About Jon's background Leadership from the bottom up The Future of Organizational Change Listening Flow Teamwork Empathy Business Partnerships Transparency Self Managing Organizations   Connect with Jon www.jonfreeman.co.uk www.spiralfutures.com LinkedIn X Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Marga Marga Hoek is a three-time CEO, Chair, and Board Member. Due to her visionary, purpose-driven leadership, Hoek has gained recognition over the years as a global thought leader on sustainable business and capital. She is a multi-golden-awarded bestselling author of the trailblazing titles New Economy Business (2014) and The Trillion Dollar Shift (2018). Fortune praised The Trillion Dollar Shift, which highlights opportunities the UN's Global Goals hold for business, as "required reading." Recognized by Thinkers50 for her global management thinking, Marga Hoek coined the slogan "Business for Good" in 2014 to emphasize her mission "to make Business for Good the norm, rather than the exception. Today We Talked About Marga's background Fear of AI Difficulty with Change Tech for Good Purpose driven technology 4th Industrial Revolution Sustainable technologies and products Food and product waste Carbon emissions Purpose driven work 3D printing parts from waste Trackless trams in China Moonshot Thinker Connect with Marga LinkedIn X Website Tech for Good Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Ryan Ryan Glasgow is the founder and CEO of Sprig. Sprig is the leading product experience insights platform and works with high-growth companies including Figma, Notion, Loom, and Dropbox. Prior to starting the company, Ryan was Product Manager and early team member at five different companies that he helped scale from startup to successful exit, including Weebly, which was acquired by Square, and Vurb, which was acquired by Snapchat. Today We Talked About Ryan's background Leadership in general Growing up in the Valley Customer Segmentation Hyper Segmentation Win as a Team Never Settle Acknowledge your success Shared Wins AI Design Patterns Product Roadmap Newsfeed https://sprig.com/getstarted/  Connect with Ryan X LinkedIn Website Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Ahmed Ahmed is an experienced engineering leader, having led teams at Microsoft, Amazon and Google. He is currently leading Cloud teams at Google. In addition to his day job, Ahmed also helps engineering managers become effective leaders through his coaching. Today We Talked About Ahmed's background Leadership in general Re-occurring problems for new leaders Feedback loops Dealing with being Overwhelmed Know your own limits Setting Explicit Expectations Knowing what your optimizing for Framework Master yourself Manage People Manage Project Resources, Time and Scope Grumpy Unintentional messages to your team Change the way you show up Lead by Example One-on-Ones Weekly - Don't skip them Don't end them early Follow-up Questions Aligning Incentives Career Focused One-on-ones every 4th one. Connect with Ahmed LinkedIn Website Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Bartosz An entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience, coach, mentor, and public speaker. The founder of G2A.COM, the largest and most dynamically developing global marketplace with vouchers for digital products such as games, gift cards, subscriptions, or software. The marketplace already has had over 25 million users from 180 countries around the world. A winner of the Forbes magazine's BrandMe CEO award given to the best CEOs in the country, as well as of the Digital Shaper Award, the Gold Medal of Polish Academy of Success, and the Manager of the Year title awarded by the government of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship where G2A.COM began its journey. He's also a co-founder and member of many business organizations such as the International Leaders Forum, Google Next Gen CEO Club, Facebook Client Advisory Board, and the Polish Council of Global Businessmen. Speaker for business events such as The Economic Forum, Merchants Payment Ecosystem Conference in Berlin, MIT in Boston, or Gamescom in Cologne. Graduate of the AGH University of Krakow and the SGH Warsaw School of Economics, as well as Executive Education programs on Harvard (Finance), MIT (IT, Blockchain, Platformization, Productivity), and Oxford (Fintech). He also actively participates in society – he initiated the creation of the działajmyrazem.pl platform for organizing aid for Ukraine, with several dozen companies joining in solidarity. He's involved in the SaveTheChildren program and supports local orphanages. Privately, he loves animals and is a fan of tennis. Today We Talked About Bartosz Background G2A.com Gamers Why? Trust Feedback Payments Hard Work Lead by Example Ego Listen, then Respond Global Standups People and Attracting them Learning Connect with Bartosz LinkedIn Website X Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Brian "Tap" Taptich Tap is a seasoned leader with 25+ years of experience leading strategy, technology, business, marketing, and corporate development at worldwide technology companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 100. He is passionate about developing and leading cross-functional teams to achieve bold goals on a global scale. Currently, Tap is VP of Strategic Initiatives. In this role, he designs and implements key initiatives to build and execute AWS growth strategy. Tap leads strategic planning and provides thought leadership to AWS senior executives. He also works with AWS senior leadership to evolve AWS' long-term vision and operational plan, including assessing current strategy, designing optimized solutions, and supporting implementation across the organization. Prior to leading Strategic Initiatives, Tap ran the Worldwide Specialist Organization (WWSO) that builds and executes go-to-market strategies for AWS' multibillion dollar businesses. Under his leadership, the team tripled in size and AWS revenue grew significantly from $41B ARR in 2020 to $85B ARR in 2023. Prior to WWSO, Tap led AWS Game Tech, a vertical strategy that spanned AWS Services, Sales, Solutions Architecture, Business Development, and Marketing. Tap led this team for 3 years and under his leadership, the team doubled the games industry revenue. Before AWS, Tap was the CEO of Bitcasa, a venture-backed cloud file system services company built entirely on AWS. Under his leadership, the company grew the data under their management to over 30 PB, with users in 120+ countries. Bitcasa was sold to Intel at the end of 2016. Prior to Bitcasa, Tap has also held senior executive positions in Business Development and General Management at Zynga, BitTorrent, and Electronic Arts. Tap also spent some time in finance and worked at both Doll Capital Management and Allen & Company. Tap received a BA from Williams College and a MBA from Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management, with a focus on Entrepreneurship/ Entrepreneurial Studies. Today We Talked About Tap's Background 16 leadership principles ownership Bitcasa Turning the ship around Culture Customer focused Solving big problems AWS   Connect with Brian LinkedIn Website Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Kyle Kyle Kiser is Chief Executive Officer at Arrive Health, the leader in delivering real-time cost and coverage data to decision-making workflows. In this role, he focuses on helping providers and care teams improve patient access, affordability, and outcomes while reducing administrative burden. By partnering with health systems, health plans, IT vendors, and pharmacy benefit managers, Arrive Health enables transparency and better patient care nationwide. Since 2013, Kyle has helped grow the company from a vision to a reality, and has been at the forefront of some of the most transformational initiatives in healthcare. In particular, he has focused on projects that lower the cost of care, improve adherence, and enable informed decisionmaking. His focus on interoperability has allowed partners to improve provider workflows and reduce medication costs for millions of patients. Kyle has helped develop incentive strategies for the countryʼs most innovative employers and led product launches with the nationʼs largest payers. Prior to Arrive Health, he was a senior leader at Welltok, Catapult Health, and Principal Wellness Company. Today We Talked About Kyle's background Pricing in Healthcare Automation Laws and regulation HIPPA data Health plan price transparency Future of Healthcare Tech Connect with Kyle X LinkedIn Website   Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!