Leading Transformational Change with Tobias Sturesson

In this exciting and insightful episode, Tonia Ries, responsible for the Edelman Trust Barometer and the leader of the firm's global knowledge agenda, discusses the importance and role of trust within an organization, what it means to be trustworthy, and how to build trust with stakeholders. Indeed, it's not just enough to be seen as competent; we also need to be seen as ethical. Tonia Ries is Executive Director of Intellectual Property for the Edelman Trust Institute, Edelman’s center for the study of trust and a learning laboratory for trust building between companies, institutions, brands and people. Her role includes stewardship of the Edelman Trust Barometer, the largest global survey and foremost authority on trust in institutions and brands. Now in its 21st year, the Trust Barometer surveys more than 34,000 people in 28 countries. Its cross-cultural insights are widely cited in media outlets such as The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Economist, Fortune, Forbes and others. With more than 30 years of experience in marketing, research, strategy and media, Tonia regularly speaks at industry events and has been quoted on the business impact of media transformation by news outlets such as The New York Times and NPR. Duration: 50:47

In this engaging and eye-opening episode, Kevin Oakes, the CEO and co-founder of i4cp (the leading authority on next practices in human capital), and the author of the recently published book, Culture Renovation™, unpacks the strategies and actions that i4cp, through extensive research, has learned are key to successfully renovating culture. As CEO and co-founder of i4cp, Kevin Oakes provides strategic direction and vision, and is responsible for the overall operations of the organization. Kevin is a frequent author and international keynote speaker on next practices in human capital and works with business and HR executives on people practices that drive high performance. Kevin is the author of Culture Renovation™, which was published in January 2021. The book acts as a blueprint for senior leaders to positively change organizational culture and details 18 action steps that companies such as Microsoft, 3M and T-Mobile have followed to successfully renovate their cultures. 

In this informative and helpful episode, Guido Palazzo, a business ethics professor with a passion for examining and understanding unethical decision making, provides profound observations about the current state of society, and how to embrace uncertainty, fear, and irrationality with a sense of hope.  In addition, he shares ways that leaders and HR professionals can create an organizational culture that mitigates ethical tunnel vision.   Guido Palazzo is Professor of Business Ethics at HEC Lausanne, University of Lausanne. In his research, he is passionate about the dark side of the force and examines unethical decision making from various angles. He is mainly known for his studies in globalization, in particular on human rights violations in global value chains, but he also studies the reasons for unethical behavior in organization and the impact of organized crime on business and society. Currently, he is examining the illegal toxic waste business of the Italian Mafia. He studied business administration and has a PhD in philosophy from the University of Marburg in Germany. 

"Think about how you can incorporate the things we do in our daily lives that we enjoy into your training programs - that is how you appeal to my emotional side and then you're more likely to get a change in behavior." Join your host, Tobias Sturesson, and his guest, Kelly Richmond Pope, for this episode on The Leading Transformational Change podcast. In this candid and insightful conversation, Kelly Richmond Pope, a recognized expert in Forensic Accounting and the filmmaker who documented the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history, shares about why people often overlook "red flags" for too long, and how implicit trust in a leader might make us disregard the need for control and accountability systems. In addition, she explains why a compliance mentality doesn’t create an emotional connection to the values of an organization and why we need to tell stories that speak to people’s hearts. Kelly Richmond Pope is an Associate Professor in the School of Accountancy and MIS at DePaul University in Chicago, IL. She received her doctorate in accounting from Virginia Tech and worked in the forensic practice at KPMG. Kelly is a recognized expert in the forensic accounting field and has conducted forensic accounting seminars around the world for universities, corporations and governmental entities. In addition to her academic career, Kelly is a published author and the documentary filmmaker of All the Queens Horses, which chronicles the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history. Duration: 47:04

"We need to invite in the critics. We need to open our doors. We need to listen to them." Join your host, Tobias Sturesson, and his guest, Bob Langert, for this episode on The Leading Transformational Change podcast. In this fascinating and helpful conversation, you will learn how Bob Langert, former VP of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability at McDonald's, shifted from fighting the company's critics to a posture of listening and even collaborating with organizations like Greenpeace and the Environmental Defense Fund to bring change to the company and to the food industry at large. A practice that could be vital to building a culture of trust, purpose and integrity, but that Bob believes is seldom utilized. Bob Langert led McDonald's Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability efforts for more than twenty-five years before retiring in 2015. Currently, he is a columnist and editor-at-large for the GreenBiz Group and Senior Sustainability Advisor for The Context Network, the premier global and agribusiness consulting firm in advancing agriculture. He has been engaged in social responsibility issues at a global level since the late 1980s, leading environmental affairs, animal welfare, and Ronald McDonald Children's Charities' grants. He was appointed McDonald's first vice president to lead sustainability in 2006. In 2007, Langert was named as one of the 100 Most Influential in Business Ethics by Ethisphere. His first book, The Battle To Do Good: Inside McDonald's Sustainability Journey, was published in January 2019. Duration: 50:02

“The best organizations encourage people to work together in teams and groups of people, promoting benefits that can be conferred on other parties – where the benefits are of considerable significance – to not just the customers and those organizations, but society and the natural world at large. That is what we need to be seeking from the organizations that we are creating, throughout the economies and nation-states in which we're operating, to help us address the problems that we're facing.” What does it take for an organization to deliver its purpose? How can we move from nice-sounding statements to putting our purpose into practice? In this fascinating conversation with Professor Colin Mayer, we explore what the best organizations are doing. We also discuss the role of trust and relationships in business, lessons from the financial crisis, how we can communicate trust – and Colin’s definitions of ‘Sin-integrity’ vs. ‘Saint-tegrity’. Colin Peter Mayer is a Professor of Management Studies at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, and is the author of ‘Prosperity’ and ‘Putting Purpose Into Practice’. He is also a Professorial Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford, and an Honorary Fellow of Oriel College and St Anne's College, Oxford. In 2017, he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to business education and the administration of justice in the economic sphere. Duration: 55:13

Our host Tobias Sturesson greets us with some exciting updates on Season 4, launching August 19. We have a number of wonderful, insightful, inspiring, and challenging conversations lined up. Don't miss it!

"I've seen many examples of management by fear in organizations. People become so much less than they could be. Many managers think they are making things happen, but the opposite actually happens - people become less active and take less initiative." Join your host, Tobias Sturesson, and his guest, Louise Bringselius, for this episode on The Leading Transformational Change podcast. In this informative and engaging conversation, you will learn how trust can be an organizational operating system that can transform the way we operate. This episode discusses how organizations often approach values and corporate culture in a way that diminishes trust in organizations, and practical examples of restoring trust within organizational culture. Louise Bringselius is a researcher, lecturer, and author. She heads the Institute for Public Affairs within the Department of Business Adminstration at Lund University, Sweden. Previously, Louise has been the Head of Research at the Swedish Government Commission for Trust-Based Public Management, specializing in the role of trust within the public sector. She is the author of multiple books on trust, culture, and values. Duration: 41:50

"As much as you feel you're trying to do the right thing, the unforseen implications just knock you from every side." Join your host, Tobias Sturesson, and his guests, Bianca Goodson and Mary Inman, for this episode on The Leading Transformational Change podcast. In this vulnerable and compelling conversation, you will learn how most whistleblowers report internally first, without being heard, before choosing to blow the whistle. This episode discusses how organizations can create environments where red flags are addressed instead of hidden. Bianca Goodson served as the CEO of Trillian Management, a South-African consulting firm and a subsidiary of Trillian Capital. In 2017, she blew the whistle on Trillian, which uncovered vast corruption in both government and private sectors. Mary Inman is a lawyer and partner in Constantine Cannon’s London Office. She launched the firm's international whistleblower practice and specializes in representing whistleblowers worldwide under American reward programs. Mary is a recognized expert and frequent author and speaker on areas related to the application of the American whistleblower laws internationally and the use of whistleblower laws worldwide. Duration: 46.09

"We have created contexts where so many everyday behaviors are seen as requiring courage." Join your host, Tobias Sturesson, and his guest, Jim Detert, for this episode on The Leading Transformational Change podcast.    Their informative conversation focuses on how we can learn to be competently courageous in our workplaces, but also why leaders should never encourage courage but instead create an atmosphere where speaking and standing up is the safest thing in the world.   Jim Detert is the John L. Colley Professor of Business Administration in the Leadership and Organizational Behavior area at the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business Administration and a Professor of Public Policy at the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Jim's research focuses on workplace courage, improvement-oriented voice (why people speak up or stay silent at work), ethical decision-making and behavior, and other leadership-related topics. He is a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review, and the author of the book Choosing Courage: The Everyday Guide to Being Brave at Work, published by Harvard Business Review Press.   Duration: 54.20