
The Indispensables
Based on Bruce Tulgan's new book, The Art of Being Indispensable at Work, The Indispensables is a podcast series about how real people, in the real world, become indispensable, go-to people who stand the test of time at work.
Featuring conversations with go-to people from organizations of all shapes and sizes, in every industry, Bruce Tulgan drills down into the specifics of what these people do differently to stand out in their jobs and careers. There will be no fads or quick-fix solutions here. This podcast is all about actionable advice that really works.
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Bruce Tulgan is the CEO of RainmakerThinking, the management research, consulting and training firm he founded in 1993. All of his work is based on 27 years of intensive workplace interviews and has been featured in thousands of news stories around the world. You can follow Bruce on Twitter @BruceTulgan or learn more about his work at: https://rainmakerthinking.com/
Latest episodes

Apr 8, 2025 • 40min
Best of The Indispensables: Mary Trout
Next in our revisit of the best of The Indispensables is Mary Trout, Chief Commercial Officer at Candela, the medical laser company.

Mar 25, 2025 • 35min
Best of The Indispensables: Lisa Wolf
Our revisit of the best of The Indispensables continues. In this episode, Bruce chats with Dr. Lisa Wolf about the challenges of leadership as an ER nurse.

Feb 5, 2024 • 35min
Best of The Indispensables: General Dennis Reimer
We're revisiting the best of The Indispensables, starting with Bruce's first guest, General Dennis Reimer.

Aug 9, 2023 • 59min
Brian Colker: Aligning Personal Morals with Management Style
In this episode, I talk with Brian Colker, Principal and Founding Partner of Linea Solutions, Inc.

Jul 26, 2023 • 57min
Craig Price: Leadership Lessons from Law Enforcement
In this episode, I talk with Craig Price, Cabinet Secretary of the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, about public service, expectations for leaders, and the impact of individual actions in law enforcement.

May 9, 2023 • 47min
Wendy Steele: Leading Through Crisis as a Philanthropic Leader
This week on the Indispensables, I am joined by Wendy Steele! Steele is the Founder and CEO of Impact100 and the Author of Invitation to Impact.Wendy lives by the motto “Not I, but we.” She believes that, in order to create a vibrant community, we must understand the community first. For Wendy, the most rewarding part of leading Impact100 is visiting local chapters to celebrate triumphs, big and small, and encouraging more than 30,000 women to make a difference. For more information, please visit https://impact100global.org/.

May 2, 2023 • 58min
Dr. Tom Bigda-Peyton - Transforming the Future of Learning Through Research and Education with Springboard Labs
This week on The Indispensables, I am joined by Dr. Tom Bigda-Peyton of Springboard Labs and Catholic Health!Dr. Tom Bigda-Peyton is Co-founder and Executive Director of Springboard Labs, a social venture organization founded in 2023 to transform corporate learning and organizational development. Dr. Bigda-Peyton is also a Senior Advisor on Organizational Development and Learning at the Center for Performance Excellence, Catholic Health. He joined Catholic Health in 2015 as Chief Learning Officer and VP, of Organizational Development. Prior to that, Tom led several major change initiatives, including the Ontario Health Transformation Learning Partnership, the Safety Across High-Consequence Industries Conference, and the Innovation Expedition in Healthcare. Tom has led several consulting practices and currently serves as a co-facilitator of Learning industry roundtables, cross-industry learning labs, and virtual learning labs for executives. He has an EdD and an EdM from Harvard University, with a concentration in organizational behavior and intervention. www.springboardlabs.org

Apr 25, 2023 • 60min
Wyatt Closs - ‘Too Serious For Artsy People, Too Artsy For Political People’
For Episode 100, I am joined by an old friend of mine Wyatt Closs. Wyatt Closs is Senior Vice President of Creative & Cultural Strategies for Spitfire, based in Los Angeles. He has spent the last 20 years on explorations of art and design for social change, progressive politics, creative advocacy, writing and organizing for social justice. He is considered an early practitioner in a field now known as cultural organizing or culture change work.Most recently, Wyatt served as the creative force behind DearFrontline.com, an interactive property where art honors essential workers; the Strike for Black Lives Murals series in eight cities in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd; and Creative Resilience, a large-scale pop-up art show and community action space about economic justice.In 2013, he founded and served as the creative director of his company, Big Bowl of Ideas, which focused exclusively on the intersection of creativity, arts, politics, digital strategies, and social justice.Prior to his culture for social impact work, Wyatt was a political consultant and strategist for 25 campaigns across the country, including those of the DCCC, NARAL’s first independent expenditure campaign, and an independent expenditure campaign for Kamala Harris for California attorney general. He worked for SEIU (Service Employees International Union) and its locals, wearing a number of hats – civil and human rights director, community partnerships director, government affairs director, and public affairs director.

Apr 11, 2023 • 37min
Rick Kelly: Protecting Your Team’s Productive Capacity
This week on The Indispensables, I am joined by the Chief Strategy Office at Fuel Cycle, Rick Kelly! Kelly and I had the opportunity to discuss his career path and the tools he uses to be a successful leader for his team.Learn more about Fuel Cycle below!https://fuelcycle.com/

Mar 28, 2023 • 46min
Yuchun Lee - How to Successfully Lead in an Economic Downturn
This week on the Indispensables, I am joined by Yuchun Lee, CEO of Allego.Yuchun Lee is CEO and co-founder of Allego, a software company focusing on transforming corporate learning and development. Mr. Lee is also the executive chairman of Clarabridge, a customer-experience management software company. Prior to Allego and Clarabridge, Lee served as vice president and general manager at IBM, with global responsibility for software for chief marketing officers. He joined IBM in 2010 as part of its acquisition of Unica, which Lee co-founded and led from its inception to a successful IPO and subsequent sale to IBM. Prior to Unica, he worked at Digital Equipment Corporation and MIT Lincoln and Media Lab. He holds bachelor’s and master’s of science degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT and a master’s in business administration from Babson College. www.allego.com
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