Leadership NOW with Dan Pontefract
Dan Pontefract
Dan Pontefract is an award-winning author, leadership strategist, and culture change expert. Dan's podcast explores all aspects of leadership, organizational culture, purpose, and professional development. 
 
Dan is the best-selling author of five books: WORK-LIFE BLOOM, LEAD. CARE. WIN., OPEN TO THINK, THE PURPOSE EFFECT, and FLAT ARMY. A renowned speaker, Dan has presented at four different TED events and also writes for Forbes and Harvard Business Review. Dan is an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria, Gustavson School of Business, and has garnered more than 20 industry awards over his career.
 
Previously, as Chief Envisioner and Chief Learning Officer at TELUS—a Canadian telecommunications company with revenues of $14 billion and 50,000 global employees—he launched the Transformation Office, the TELUS MBA, and the TELUS Leadership Philosophy, all award-winning initiatives that dramatically helped to increase the company’s employee engagement to record levels of nearly 90%. Prior to TELUS, he held senior roles at SAP, Business Objects, and BCIT. He is honoured to be on the Thinkers50 radar list.
Dan is the best-selling author of five books: WORK-LIFE BLOOM, LEAD. CARE. WIN., OPEN TO THINK, THE PURPOSE EFFECT, and FLAT ARMY. A renowned speaker, Dan has presented at four different TED events and also writes for Forbes and Harvard Business Review. Dan is an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria, Gustavson School of Business, and has garnered more than 20 industry awards over his career.
Previously, as Chief Envisioner and Chief Learning Officer at TELUS—a Canadian telecommunications company with revenues of $14 billion and 50,000 global employees—he launched the Transformation Office, the TELUS MBA, and the TELUS Leadership Philosophy, all award-winning initiatives that dramatically helped to increase the company’s employee engagement to record levels of nearly 90%. Prior to TELUS, he held senior roles at SAP, Business Objects, and BCIT. He is honoured to be on the Thinkers50 radar list.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 22, 2023 • 48min
INSEAD's Gianpiero Petriglieri - Leadership is an Art
 Gianpiero Petriglieri is Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour at INSEAD. His award-winning research and teaching focus on what it means, and what it takes, to become a leader. He is particularly concerned with leading well in the age of “nomadic professionalism,” in which people have deep bonds to work but loose affiliations to organisations.
In this conversation with Dan Pontefract on Leadership NOW, Gianpiero discusses at length the need (and wish) for leadership to be an art.
Building on two decades of experience studying and working with executives and companies around the world, he has refined a unique approach to experiential leadership development that aims to deepen and accelerate the development of individual leaders, as well as to broaden and strengthen leadership communities within and across organisations.
At INSEAD, Gianpiero directs the Management Acceleration Programme, the school’s flagship executive programme for emerging leaders, and chairs the initiative for Learning innovation and Teaching Excellence. He also designs and directs customized leadership development programmes for multinationals in a variety of industries. He speaks widely on how to develop and exercise leadership in fast-changing, uncertain, and diverse workplaces.
Gianpiero has chaired the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on new models of leadership and has been named one of the 50 most influential management thinkers in the world by Thinkers50. He has held Visiting Professor positions at the Harvard Business School, and at Copenhagen Business School. Prior to joining INSEAD, he contributed to executive programs and to the MBA at IMD and trained as a medical doctor and psychiatrist.
More about Gianpiero at https://gpetriglieri.com/ including his essays, research, and other wonderful goodies.
More about Dan at https://www.danpontefract.com 

Sep 15, 2023 • 36min
Creating a Speak-Up Culture with Stephen Shedletzky
 Stephen “Shed” Shedletzky — or “Shed” to his friends — helps leaders make it safe and worth it for people to speak up. He supports humble leaders — those who know they are both a part of the problems they experience and the solutions they can create — as they put their people and purpose first.
A sought-after speaker, coach, and advisor, Shed has led hundreds of keynote presentations, workshops, and leadership development programs around the world. As a thought leader on psychological safety in the workplace, he supports leaders and organizations in all industries where human beings work. He is the author of Speak-Up Culture: When Leaders Truly Listen, People Step Up (October 2023).
After years on a corporate track, Shed was introduced to and inspired by the work of Simon Sinek and, soon after meeting him, became the fourth person to join his team. For more than a decade, Shed has contributed at Simon Sinek, Inc., where, as Chief of Staff and Head of Brand Experience, Training & Development, he headed a global team of speakers and facilitators. Shed continues to speak and facilitate with Simon Sinek helping to create a more inspired, safe, and fulfilled world.
Shed graduated from the Richard Ivey School of Business with a focus on leadership, communication, and strategy. He also received his coaching certification from The Co-Active Training Institute. He lives in Toronto with his wife and two young children.
More about Stephen and Speak-Up Culture at https://www.shedinspires.com/SUCB
More about Dan Pontefract at https://www.danpontefract.com 

Sep 8, 2023 • 35min
Build a Better Business Book with Josh Bernoff
 Josh Bernoff is an expert on how business books can propel thinkers to prominence. Book projects on which he collaborated have generated more than $20 million for their authors.
Josh’s most recent book is "Build a Better Business Book: How to Plan, Write, and Promote a Book That Matters." He is also the author of "Writing Without Bullshit: Boost Your Career by Saying What You Mean" and the co-author of "Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies." He has authored, coauthored, or ghostwritten an additional eight business books.
Josh works closely with nonfiction authors as an advisor, coach, editor, or ghostwriter. He has collaborated on more than 45 nonfiction books.
He was formerly Senior Vice President, Idea Development at Forrester, where he spent 20 years analyzing technology and business. Prior to Forrester, Josh spent 14 years in start-up companies in the Boston area.
Josh has a mathematics degree from The Pennsylvania State University and studied mathematics in the Ph.D. program at MIT. He lives with his wife, an artist, in Portland, Maine.
More about Josh and his new book at https://bernoff.com/books
More about Dan Pontefract and his work at https://www.danpontefract.com/ 

Jun 30, 2023 • 32min
Chester Elton and How Developing Your People Is A Good Thing
 Chester Elton has spent two decades helping some of the world’s most successful businesses engage their employees to execute on strategy, vision, and values.  He joins Dan Pontefract on Leadership NOW and shares his insights on the current state of leadership and culture.
Dubbed the “Apostle of Appreciation” by Canada’s Globe and Mail, “creative and refreshing‚” by the New York Times, and a “must read for modern managers” by CNN. Elton is co-author of multiple award-winning New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling leadership books including All In, The Carrot Principle, The Best Team Wins, and Anxiety at Work. His books have been translated in more than 30 languages and have sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide.
Elton has appeared on NBC’s The Today Show, CBS 60 Minutes, and is often quoted in Fast Company, Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal. He is a member of Marshall Goldsmith’s #MG100 Global Coaches, member of Fast Company Impact Council, and he serves as a board member for Camp Corral, a non-profit for the children of wounded and fallen military heroes.
Elton also serves as a leadership consultant to firms such as American Express, AT&T, Avis Budget Group, and Procter & Gamble. And, of course, he is the co-founder of the Culture Works with partner Adrian Gostick. For more than 20 years, The Culture Works® has helped organizations of all sizes create workplaces where employees are engaged, enabled, and energized through their books, speaking, coaching, and courses that focus on the employee experience.
More about Chester Elton at https://chesterelton.com/
More about Dan Pontefract at https://www.danpontefract.com 

Jun 22, 2023 • 39min
Michael Bungay Stanier and How to Work with (Almost) Anyone
 Leadership NOW with Dan Pontefract is pleased to invite Michael Bungay Stanier – MBS – but not that MBS – back to the show, the first two-time guest. Michael helps people know they’re awesome and they’re doing great.
He’s perhaps best known for his book “The Coaching Habit,” which is the best-selling book on coaching this century. 
His recent books include “How to Begin,” which helps people find the clarity and courage to start something thrilling, important and daunting; and “The Advice Trap” – tame your inner Advice Monster so you can be more coach-like.
MBS drops by the show to discuss his latest book, “How to Work with (Almost) Anyone,” which pretty much does what it says on the label. 
But wait, there’s more. Michael founded Box of Crayons in 2002, a learning and development company that has trained hundreds of thousands of managers to be more coach-like in organizations from Microsoft to Gucci.
He left Australia about 30 years ago to be a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University … where, as he claims, his only significant achievement was falling in love with a Canadian … which is why he now lives in Toronto.
More about Leadership NOW and Dan Pontefract at http://www.danpontefract.com
More about "How to Work with (Almost) Anyone" and MBS at http://www.bestpossiblerelationship.com 

Jun 19, 2023 • 29min
Having the Courage to Leap and to Lead with Master Coach CB Bowman
 CB Bowman: Known as the Courage Consultant, CB is the host of the very popular "Courage: To Leap & Lead" podcast, and is the CEO of the Association of Corporate Executive Coaches. CB is a global "Certified Master Corporate Executive Coach" with experience working in marketing, coaching, and branding.
CB join Leadership NOW with Dan Pontefract to discuss her latest book, “Courage: to Leap and to Lead.”
CB strongly believes that master-level corporate executive coaches have to be “enterprise-wide business partners™" with their clients, yes, full of courage. 
She is formerly head of branding for ready-to-eat cereals for General Foods. She was responsible for the visual impact of Post Cereals for iconic brands such as Honey Bunches of Oats, Golden Crisps, and Pebbles. CB was also responsible for their classic brands including Post Shredded Wheat, Grape Nuts, Shake N' Bake and Raisin Bran, and won several awards for product marketing and branding. 
Named one of the Power List of the Top 200 Biggest Voices in Leadership by Leadershum; Top 50 coaches in the world by Thinkers50; and Global Gurus also named her as one of the top 15 experts in branding. 
More about Dan Pontefract and Leadership NOW at https://www.danpontefract.com
More about CB Bowman at https://courage-consulting.com/ 

Jun 16, 2023 • 30min
How to 'Work Here Now' with Melissa Swift of Mercer
 As Transformation Leader at Mercer US and Canada, Melissa Swift is responsible for workforce transformation, HR transformation, HR digitization, DEI, and workforce analytics. 
Melissa drops by Leadership NOW with Dan Pontefract to discuss her latest book, “Work Here Now: Think Like a Human and Build a Powerhouse Workplace."
As a recognized thought leader on the subject of the future of work post-covid, Melissa has been quoted on the subject in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The Economist, The Washington Post, Axios, and The Daily Mail, and has appeared on NPR and Al-Jazeera English. Earlier in her career, Swift helped build businesses in the ESG transformation space, including launching the Sustainability Services and Cleantech practices at Deloitte, and conducting two landmark carbon credit derivatives trades at Deutsche Bank. 
Her latest book, "Work Here Now," explores different ways to improve the growth-impeding, borderline inhumane people management practices we’ve created and endured over time. The book contains the following:
50 strategies to create a powerhouse workplace at organizational level
50 strategies to create a powerhouse workplace at team level
A simple framework to help you make people-centered decisions
More about Dan Pontefract and Leadership NOW at https://www.danpontefract.com
More about Melissa Swift and Mercer at https://www.mercer.com/solutions/transformation/ 

May 30, 2023 • 29min
Shell's Rahul Malhotra and the Power of Purpose
 In his nearly 27-year career with Procter & Gamble and Shell, Rahul Malhotra has led several multi-billion dollar, global businesses as P&L head, and helped lead several global brands. 
Rahul is currently the Global Head of Brand Strategy and Stewardship for the Shell Group, managing strategy and operations for a brand valued at US $50 billion. Under his leadership and tenure, Shell's brand value has grown by over +67% in the last 6 years. He is a recognized expert on defining and embedding Purpose into organizations. 
It's exactly why Rahul dropped by the Leadership NOW program -- to chat about all things related to purpose, including insights into Shell's implementation of organizational purpose.
Rahul is a permanent resident of Singapore and active in the community, offering expertise to various organizations. One of his passions and expertise areas is to inspire organizations and young leaders in the private sector to be more purpose driven, leveraging their skills and resources to make a real difference to the people and ecology of the planet.
More about Dan Pontefract and Leadership NOW at http://www.danpontefract.com
More about Shell at http://www.shell.com 

May 26, 2023 • 30min
Warwick Business School's Christian Stadler on Strategy
 Christian Stadler is a Professor in Strategic Management at Warwick Business School. Prior to, he was at University of Bath School of Management, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, and Innsbruck University.
Christian joins Leadership NOW with Dan Pontefract to discuss the relationship between strategy, culture, leadership, job hopping, and hope.
Christian addresses fundamental strategic questions that enable companies to grow, adapt, and consistently beat their competitors. In his book Open Strategy. Mastering Disruption from Outside the C-Suite he explains how companies can craft strategy in a new unconventional way, one tailor-made for today's faster, more volatile business environment. His work has been featured thousands of times in the Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg Business Week, the BBC, amongst others. 
Christian's research examines how organizations can achieve sustainable competitive advantage. He is particularly interested in questions related to 1) learning and innovation, as well as 2) diversification. 
In 2021 Thinkers50 shortlisted Christian for the Strategy Award and in 2013 placed him on the Thinkers50 Radar List.
More about Dan Pontefract at http://www.danpontefract.com
More about Christian Stadler at http://www.christianstadler.org 

May 22, 2023 • 38min
Business Lessons From Entrepreneurial and Branding Wizard Mitch Joel
 Mitch Joel is Co-Founder of ThinkersOne - a platform that empowers companies with personalized and bite-sized thought leadership from the best Thinkers in the world. Mitch joins Leadership NOW with Dan Pontefract to discuss the new platform.
He has been called a visionary, digital expert and community leader. He is also an entrepreneur, investor, author, trusted advisor, chronic reader and passionate speaker who connects with people worldwide by sharing his insights on business transformation, innovation and marketing. 
Prior to ThinkersOne, Mitch spent close to three decades in the technology and media industry as both an executive and entrepreneur. This included publishing music magazines, launching a record label, building out media sales at one of the first search engines, marketing one of the first mobile content publishing platforms, and eventually building, running and selling his own agency to WPP - one of the world's most valuable marketing and communications holding companies. In that role, he was President of a global marketing agency operating in 25 countries with close to 3000 employees.
Mitch is also a bestselling business book author. His first book, Six Pixels of Separation named after his successful blog and podcast is a business bestseller. His second book, CTRL ALT Delete was named one of the best business books of 2013 by Amazon.
More about Dan Pontefract and Leadership NOW at http://www.danpontefract.com
More about ThinkersOne and Mitch at http://www.thinkersone.com and http://www.mitchjoel.com 


