Leadership NOW with Dan Pontefract

As a Creative Producer, DK works with a wide range of clients 'crafting delicious learning experiences' either online, in-studio or in person events. He is the 9yr-ex-TEDxWellington / TEDxWellingtonWomen licensee plus founder of the unique video podcast Creative Welly and the annual Creative Leadership NZ conference. DK sits down with Dan Pontefract to discuss several intriguing aspects of what makes a great presentation or speech -- in person or online. He’s also a Speaker Coach, working with CEO’s and senior executives plus a random ex-All Black and Dame thrown into the mix. DK delivers internal masterclasses on the topics of 'purposeful storytelling' to small leadership groups. Previously, DK established Collider, a city-wide programme focussed on transforming Wellington into an internationally recognised Smart Capital (with 200 events in 14 months with over 5000 attendees). He also founded Mediasnackers in 2006 and through it has over a decade of working in the social media space consulting / delivering training & consulting on five continents and to a cross-sector range of clients from UNICEF, Gates Foundation, BBC, Ubisoft, Hasbro plus spent time as a social media manager for a national education company in New Zealand.

Stelio Verzera is passionately curious and fond of value creation and lean thinking. He is an Entrepreneur, Coach, Consultant and Advisor in different scopes of Innovation. In this episode of Leadership NOW with Dan Pontefract, Stelio discusses the LiquidO™ model, the Cocoon Project, and even Conway's Law. Since 1995 Stelio has been supporting organizations in their understanding and navigation of key evolutionary phases.His agile approach of continuous improvement has led him to learn and apply some of the most effective practices for surfing complexity, both on the strategic and on the operational levels. In 2011 he co-founded Cocoon Projects and designed its governance model, today known as LiquidO, a completely emergent, adaptive organizational framework.

Stephanie Neal is director of DDI’s Center for Analytics and Behavioral Research (CABER) where she manages strategic market research and trend studies on leadership and talent. She sits down with Dan Pontefract to discuss DDI’s 2023 Global Leadership Forecast, the world’s largest leadership trend research study. Stephanie works with clients across industries to design and execute analytics initiatives that demonstrate the impact of assessment and development. What is DDI? Founded in 1970, DDI is a leadership consulting firm that offers leadership assessments, consulting courses, development, management services, workshops and more. The DDI 2023 Global Leadership Forecast spans over 50 countries and 24 industry sectors, the study examines responses from 1,827 human resource professionals and 13,695 leaders from 1,556 organizations.

Tanveer Naseer is an internationally acclaimed keynote speaker and award-winning leadership writer – and he’s author of the book "Leadership Vertigo." He is also the Founder and CEO of Tanveer Naseer Leadership, a leadership corporate training and consulting firm that works with executives and managers to help them develop practical leadership and team-building competencies to drive organizational growth and development. Tanveer sits down with Dan Pontefract to talk about the current state of leadership in today's organizations. Tanveer's work and writings have been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, Inc Magazine, The Globe and Mail, The Economist Executive Education Navigator, CBC Radio Daybreak, Global News, and the Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center. Tanveer is the recipient of several awards and recognitions as one of the world's top thinkers in the leadership sphere, including being recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the Top 100 Leadership and Management Experts as well as by Inc. Magazine as one of today’s “100 Great Leadership Speakers”. Tanveer is the host of the popular and long-running "Leadership Biz Cafe" podcast.

Ayse (pronounced Eye-Shay) Birsel is one of the world’s leading industrial designers. She has designed hundreds of products, from toilet seats to office systems to potato peelers to concept cars. You’ve probably held or sat on something she has designed for Herman Miller Knoll, Target or Toyota, among many others. Her work has earned her several nicknames—Queen of Toilets, Queen Bee (for offices), Design Evangelista. Ayse sits down with Dan Pontefract to discuss her latest book, "DESIGN THE LONG LIFE YOU LOVE: A Step-by-Step Guide to Love, Purpose, Well-Being, and Friendship." Interior Design Magazine awarded her Best Of Year Product Designer of 2020. She is one of the Most Creative People In Business according to Fast Company. She was shortlisted among the world’s top 8 coaches by Thinkers50 for Marshall Goldsmith Distinguished Achievement Award for Coaching and Mentoring. She is recognized as "The #1 Coach for Life Design” She was born in Turkey and came to New York City with a Fulbright scholarship, where she now lives and works.

In 2004, after both her parents died of cancer and after 20 years in the fashion business, leading teams to growth and innovation in both Denmark and in the US, Jeanette Bronée decided to leave her career as a burned-out executive and founded Path for Life® to create awareness around how we can do great work, without giving up our health or our joy. Integrating her business background in marketing, retail management, and team development with her studies in mindfulness, health, and wellbeing, Jeanette helps people reclaim agency over their work and lives by understanding themselves and having the tools to use their mindset to work better for them. In sum, Jeanette is rethinking self-care in the workplace as the foundation for peak performance, engagement, and a culture where people belong and work better together. Dan Pontefract sits down with Jeanette on the Leadership NOW show to discuss her new book “The Self-Care Mindset, Rethinking How We Change and Grow, Harness Well-Being and Reclaim Work-Life Quality." It integrates her 20-year background in business, mindfulness, and health, to deliver the C.A.R.E.-driven framework so we can take charge of our well-being as the foundation for personal and professional growth.

Sylvie di Giusto—the wearer of many hats—helps individuals and organizations explore how people make up their minds very quickly about them or their company and either open the door or slam it shut. She has twenty years of corporate experience holding various senior positions, mainly in human resources, at international organizations ranging from 10 to 100,000 employees. In this episode of Leadership NOW, Dan Pontefract and Sylvie discuss the importance of brand and image to one's leadership style and personality. Sylvie uses her corporate experience and multicultural background to help audiences around the world understand how people make up their minds very quickly about them and either open the door or slam it shut. At the core, Sylvie wants her clients to understand how making an impactful first and lasting impression can help attract and keep customers. Sylvie is the author of "The Image of Leadership" and the creator of “How You Impress,” an interactive mobile learning platform for professionals and organizations who place great importance on the impression they make.

Hannah Elsakr is Vice President of Corporate Development, Direct Investing, and M&A Integration at Adobe. Furthermore, Hannah is also the Board President for the Adobe Foundation, which creates positive change through support for creative and digital literacy, social equity and opportunity, and active engagement in the communities where we live and work. In this episode of Leadership NOW with Dan Pontefract, Hannah discusses her non-linear career path, the concept of a 'leadership mosaic,' and the importance of 'safe settings' for team members. Hannah previously served as Adobe CEO’s Chief of Staff – before leading the company’s corporate development and M&A strategy. She has helped to advance new growth areas for Adobe through acquisitions and post-merger integration of companies such as Workfront, Frame.io, and ContentCal.

Josh Bersin is an analyst, author, educator, and thought leader focusing on the global talent market and the challenges and trends impacting business workforces around the world. He studies the world of work, HR and leadership practices, and the broad talent technology market. He is often cited as one of the leading HR and workplace industry analysts in the world. Josh sits down with Dan Pontefract on the Leadership NOW show to discuss a few of the key components from his latest book, “Irresistible: The Seven Secrets of the World’s Most Enduring, Employee-Focused Organizations" and a few 2023 trends. He founded Bersin & Associates in 2001 to provide research and advisory services focused on corporate learning selling the company to Deloitte in 2012. Currently, Bersin is the CEO of The Josh Bersin Company, a research and advisory firm, and dean of the Josh Bersin Academy, the world’s first global development academy for HR and talent professionals at all levels and across all industries. He is committed to providing the relevant research and insights needed by HR and talent professionals to drive success in the modern world of work.

Tom Peters is the coauthor of "In Search of Excellence"—the book that changed the way the world does business and is often tagged as the best business book ever. Tom sits down with Dan Pontefract on Leadership NOW and they get into all sorts of trouble, discussing why leaders are uncaring, unsupportive, and short-term thinkers while providing ample suggestions to fix it all. Twenty books and forty years later, Tom is still at the forefront of the “management guru industry” he single-handedly invented. What’s new? A lot. As CNN said, “While most business gurus milk the same mantra for all it’s worth, the one-man brand called Tom Peters is still reinventing himself.” His most recent effort with coauthor Nancye Green is Tom Peters’ Compact Guide to Excellence (Ideapress Publishing, Nov 2022). Tom’s tireless focus is on putting people first and developing leaders who stay in intimate touch with the front-liners who do the real work. Dan was in the audience in London, November 2017, when Tom received the Thinkers50 Lifetime Achievement Award. They got a selfie together, too. And tickle Dan with glee, Tom endorsed Dan's first book "Flat Army" with one word, Superb! (An exclamation mark, of course.)