
Practical Wisdom for Leaders with Scott J. Allen, Ph.D.
Practical Wisdom for Leaders is your fast-paced, forward-thinking guide to leadership. Join host Scott J. Allen as he engages with remarkable guests—from former world leaders and nonprofit innovators to renowned professors, CEOs, and authors. Each episode offers timely insights and actionable tips designed to help you lead with impact, grow personally and professionally, and make a meaningful difference in your corner of the world.
Latest episodes

Jan 4, 2023 • 43min
Dr. Harriette Rasmussen, Dr. Mohammed Raei, & Dr. Jonathan Reams - The Diverse Drivers of Trust
Send us a textDr. Harriette Rasmussen is an assistant clinical professor at Drexel University's School of Education, where she teaches doctoral courses in leadership, writing, and qualitative research and supervises doctoral research. Through her firm HTR Consulting, she has consulted internationally about leadership, learning networks, organizational effectiveness, and community engagement. Her clients have included The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Washington State Board of Education, the American Institutes for Research, and school districts ranging from 800 to 50,000. She was a member of the consultant cohort piloting integration of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, Business School, and the Kennedy School for educational leaders and served as a faculty member for the Coach Learning Program of Harvard’s Change Leadership Group. She has been widely published in trade journals and contributed to Change Leadership: A Practical Guide to Transforming Our Schools. Dr. Mohammed Raei is an independent scholar, leadership and organization development consultant, executive coach, and dissertation coach. He has consulted on strategic planning, program evaluation, and 360° feedback. Additionally, he facilitated workshops on trust, adaptive leadership, and immunity to change. He also served as the programming chair for the Pacific Northwest Organizational Development Network (PNODN). He is the co-editor of Adaptive Leadership in a Global Economy. He presented for various professional organizations, including Puget Sound Project Management Institute and the ICF (Jordan and Seattle chapters), and several times at the ILA conference. In addition to adaptive leadership, his other scholarly interest area is spirituality and leadership. He resides in Amman, Jordan.A Quote From This Episode"When you lead, you are going to disappoint people. Change is hard. Loss is challenging...so you can’t ask people to give something up unless they trust that they will be okay."Resources Mentioned in This EpisodeAPA Dictionary of Psychology: Holding EnvironmentBook: Trust in Schools: A Core Resource for Improvement by Bryk & SchneiderBook: The Thin Book of Trust by Chris FeltmanBook: Unleash Your Complexity Genius by Berger & Coughlin Book: Evolving Self by KeganBook: The H-factor by SowcikMore About Series Co-Host, Dr. Jonathan ReamsJonathan's WebsiteBook: ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles.🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website.

Dec 28, 2022 • 48min
Dr. Marianne Roux & Dr. Jonathan Reams - There's More to It
Send us a textDr. Marianne Roux has 30 years of global experience as an HR Executive, Future of Work Strategist, and Professor of Leadership. She holds a Master's degree in HR and Organisational Psychology and is completing her Ph.D. in Leadership in the Future of Work context. She currently runs Roux Consulting, a global niche consulting firm based in Dublin, Ireland, and regularly teaches at Business Schools around the world.She has worked for PWC, Accenture, Deloitte, and Mercer and has held two HR Director roles in two countries - Woolworths Food South Africa and Cricket Australia. Her experience spans several industries, and she focuses mainly on Future of Work Strategy, Leadership Development, Organisation Redesign, and HR transformation.She has recently published a book on Adaptive HR and a Personal Agility reflection journal: Knowing Your Superpowers is the Key to Your Success in a Changing World, and she is featured in Maturing Leadership: How Adult Development Impacts Leadership.She was chosen as one of 52 Inspirational women at work in South Africa in 2004, one of 20 Female Entrepreneurs by Management today in 2011 in Australia, and in 2015 she won the excellence in NFP consulting award from the Worldwide Who’s Who. A Quote From This Episode"The biggest challenge, I can tell you for sure, is keeping the very senior leaders on board for that long journey of lifelong development."Resources Mentioned in This EpisodeArticle: The Many Faces of JEDI: A Developmental ExplorationBook: CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the RestPoet/Author: John O'Donahue More About Series Co-Host, Dr. Jonathan ReamsJonathan's WebsiteBook: Maturing Leadership: How Adult Development Impacts Leadership ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles.🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website.

14 snips
Dec 21, 2022 • 53min
Dr. Jonathan Reams - Adult Development and Leadership: A Primer
Send us a textDr. Jonathan Reams is driven by an insatiable curiosity about the essence of human nature and how to cultivate this essence in the service of leadership.He uses various outlets to achieve this. He currently has a position at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, where he teaches and does research on leadership development, coaching, and counseling. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of Integral Review, A Transdisciplinary and Transcultural Journal for New Thought, Praxis and Research. He is also a co-founder of the Center for Transformative Leadership and the European Center for Leadership Practice. Jonathan’s Ph.D. is in Leadership Studies from Gonzaga University.Jonathan practices the cultivation of leadership through consulting and leadership development program design and delivery. He brings awareness-based technology to this work, focusing on how the inner workings of human nature can develop leadership capacities for today’s complex challenges. Quotes From This Episode"It is the air that we breathe, the water that we swim in it; it’s all around us. It is the essence of our experience. And because of that, it’s often invisible to us. It’s taken as given. It’s just the way we see the world, and that’s how it is. And (Robert) Kegan tries to lift this up and make it visible for us.""Self-awareness is a key foundation for good leadership. Because if you’re not aware of your own shadows, your own tendencies, you will act them out in unconscious ways and project them onto others and create unintended consequences."Resources Mentioned in This EpisodeBook: Noise by Daniel KahnemanBook: Talent Code by Dan CoyleMore About Guest and Series Co-Host, Jonathan ReamsJonathan's WebsiteBook: Maturing Leadership: How Adult Development Impacts LeadershipArticle: A Brief Overview of Developmental TheoryAbout Scott J. AllenWebsiteMy Approach to HostingThe views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are important views to be aware of. Nothing can replace your own research and exploration.About The International Leadership Association (ILA)The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in t ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles.🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website.

Dec 14, 2022 • 36min
Steve Grubbs - Leadership and Metaversities
Send us a textSteve Grubbs is the founder of VictoryXR, VictoryStore.com, ChalkBites, and Victory Enterprises. He is a proud member of the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO). Early in his life, Steve served as Chairman of the House Education Committee in the Iowa House of Representatives and passed the largest technology funding bill in state history. Today, he's working to create a place for a virtual reality curriculum in schools. Steve has degrees in business and law from the University of Iowa. Connecting with SteveLinkedInA Quote From This Episode"This generation of students expects an immersive learning environment...a metaversity is the combination of the metaverse and university."ResourcesVideo: What is a metaversity?Video: Experience you college in VRVideo: Morehouse CollegeConnect with Scott AllenWebsiteMy Approach to HostingThe views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are important views to be aware of. Nothing can replace your own research and exploration.About The International Leadership Association (ILA)The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in the study, practice, and teaching of leadership. ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles.🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website.

Dec 6, 2022 • 42min
Dr. Sara Safari - Every Single Cell In My Body Was Dancing
Send us a textSara Safari is an author, speaker, mountain climber, college professor, electrical engineer, and advocate for women's empowerment. She received the award for The Global Citizen from United Nations Association in 2015 and serves as a board member and development director at Empower Nepali Girls foundation. Sara received the Outstanding Practice with Broad Impact award from the International Leadership Association in 2017. Safari is the founder of Climb Your Everest, a non-profit - and organization dedicated to providing "educational programs that empower marginalized women through collaborative learning of leadership skills."Sara is the first Iranian to climb the Seven Summits, the seven highest peaks in each continent. She is climbing to raise funds for seven organizations that are empowering women. She published her books “Follow my Footsteps,” “Above the Mountain Shadow,” and “Making a Difference” to share her story with the world. She is working on a featured film and a documentary with a talented team of directors and producers with extensive experience working on complex social justice issues.Connecting with SaraLinkedInResourcesDocumentary - Aftershock on NetflixTed Talk - Climb Your EverestSara's first visit to Phronesis - Seven Summits to Empower WomenA Quote From This Episode"It felt like my whole life was summarized into this one second. And these were the most important seconds of my life. Every single cell in my body was dancing. I felt like I was one with the whole world."About The International Leadership Association (ILA)The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in the study, practice, and teaching of leadership. My Approach to HostingThe views of my guests ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles.🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website.

Nov 29, 2022 • 34min
Dr. Hannes Leroy - Walking Our Evidence-Based Talk
Send us a textDr. Hannes Leroy is interested in authentic leadership and how to develop it. That interest includes not only a passionate and critical view of the concept of authenticity but his past work also includes a better understanding of its unique outcomes (e.g., safety, error hiding and work engagement), antecedents (e.g., mindfulness training), and similarities and differences from related concepts (i.e., leader behavioral integrity, leader communication transparency). On the development side he is passionate about authenticity both in terms of developing leaders to use their unique or authentic self as a source of their leadership strength as well as the idea of real (i.e., actually moving the needle) leadership development.Dr. Hannes Leroy's ScholarshipGoogle ScholarA Quote "Academics have lamented that practitioners do not always adopt scientific evidence in practice, yet while academics preach evidence-based management (EBM), they do not always practice it." - Leroy et al. Resources Mentioned in This EpisodeArticle: Walking Our Evidence-Based Talk: The Case of Leadership Development in Business Schools by Leroy et al.Article: Advancing Leadership Education and Development: Integrating Adult Learning Theory by Allen, Rosch, and RiggioHannes' Ted Talk: I was never trained for this! Conference: New Directions in Leadership Research ConferenceGroup: The League of LeadershipAward: Evidence-Based Leadership Development Program AwardAbout The International Leadership Association (ILA)The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in the study, practice, and teaching of leadership. My Approach to HostingThe views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are important views to be aware of. Nothing can replace your own research and exploration.Connect with Scott AllenWebsite ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles.🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website.

Nov 23, 2022 • 48min
Dr. Scott J. Allen & Dr. Tony Middlebrooks - Stay Curious
Send us a textScott J. Allen, Ph.D., is the Robert M. Ginn Institute Professor for Leadership & Social Responsibility at John Carroll University. Allen is an associate professor and teaches courses in leadership, the future of work, and executive communication. He's an award-winning professor passionate about working with people of all ages. Scott has published more than 50 book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles. He is the co-author of The Little Book of Leadership Development: 50 Ways to Bring Out the Leader in Every Employee, Emotionally Intelligent Leadership: A Guide for College Students, and the textbook Discovering Leadership: Designing Your Success (2019). Scott’s most recent publication is Captovation: Online Presentations by Design. In addition to writing and teaching, Scott consults, facilitates workshops, and leads retreats across industries. Recent engagements include Key Bank, EY, Siegfried Group, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Sherwin Williams, Progressive, NASA-Glenn, FedEx Custom Critical, Toyota, Crestron, Endeavor Energy Resources, Thompson Hine LLP, Southern Methodist University, Cleveland Clinic, and Leadership Cleveland. Scott co-founded Captovation, a services firm dedicated to “Presentation Coaching for the Digital Age.” He is also the co-founder and Board Chair of the Collegiate Leadership Competition. He has served on the board of the International Leadership Association, Association of Leadership Educators, and Management and Organizational Behavior Teaching Society. Allen was named an ILA Fellow by the International Leadership Association in 2021.He resides in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, with his wife, Jessica, and three children - Will, Kate & Emily.Articles Google Scholar About The International Leadership Association (ILA)The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in the study, practice, and teaching of leadership. My Approach to HostingThe views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are important views to be aware of. Nothing can replace your own research and exploration.About Dr. Tony Middlebrooks (Guest Host)LinkedIn ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles.🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website.

Nov 16, 2022 • 39min
Robbie Crabtree - The Story is the Strategy
Send us a textRobbie Crabtree spent the first eight years of his career as a trial lawyer. He tried 102 jury trials. This experience helped him take what he learned to coach the national mock trial team at SMU Law School. But he wanted to share what he was learning with others.So he founded Performative Speaking to share what he had learned as a trial lawyer for founders and entrepreneurs in the startup and technology world. Over the past few years, he’s worked with hundreds of founders, helped clients raise millions of dollars, and run his course for more than 300 people.He believes that you have a story inside of you. It’s one worth sharing, and it can change the world. Connecting with Robbie CrabtreeTwitterLinkedInRobbie's WebsiteFounders Fundraising ProgramQuotes About Storytelling"The story is the strategy." - Ben Horowitz"The storyteller is the most important person in the world." - Steve JobsAbout The International Leadership Association (ILA)The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in the study, practice, and teaching of leadership. My Approach to HostingThe views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are important views to be aware of. Nothing can replace your own research and exploration.Connect with Scott AllenWebsite ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles.🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website.

Nov 9, 2022 • 30min
Patti Sanchez - Both Sides of the Equation
Send us a textPatti Sanchez, Duarte’s Chief Strategy Officer, writes books, creates frameworks, and helps clients connect with audiences through persuasive presentations and story-based communications. She is the co-author of the award-winning book, Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols, and the author of Presenting Virtually: Communicate and Connect with Online Audiences. Patti leads an expert team of communication consultants and creative writers who help clients move their audiences in one powerful moment or in a movement over time.A Quote From This EpisodeRegarding effective slides - "We call that the glance test - three seconds or less...If you're zooming down the highway, and you can't figure out what that billboard is saying, then it's not effective at communicating in a glance - and the same is true of a slide."Resources Mentioned in This EpisodeBook: Presenting Virtually: Communicate and Connect with Online Audiences About The International Leadership Association (ILA)The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in the study, practice, and teaching of leadership. My Approach to HostingThe views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are important views to be aware of. Nothing can replace your own research and exploration.Connect with Scott AllenWebsite ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles.🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website.

Nov 2, 2022 • 45min
Dr. Joe Raelin - Finding Leadership in Practice
Dr. Joe Raelin, an expert in collective leadership, discusses leadership as practice, emphasizing group dynamics over individual traits. The podcast explores LAPD for leadership development, real-world education impact, and leadership in varied contexts like crisis situations.