Leadership NOW with Dan Pontefract

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.)

Eric Termuende is a best-selling author who has given over 400 keynote presentations to industry-leading businesses and associations all over the world. He inspires business leaders to prepare for the future of work and make the one-degree shifts that build trust, belonging, and engagement at work. In this episode of Leadership NOW with Dan Pontefract, Eric and Dan get into the realities of the 'future of work.' A life-long entrepreneur, Eric has surveyed and interviewed thousands of employees and leaders in his efforts to put numbers behind the employee experience and understand what separates great teams and leaders from the pack. He brings a fresh perspective to workplace culture and what it takes to build incredible teams. He is the author of the best-selling book "Rethink Work" and is a brilliant commentator on all aspects of The Future of Work, leadership, and workplace culture.

Sarah Wells is an Olympian, a Pan American Silver Medalist, and the founder of the Believe Initiative. In this episode of Leadership NOW, Sarah and Dan Pontefract discuss resilience, pressure, goals, and obstacles. As a 400m hurdler, Sarah's Olympian reputation was forged through overcoming challenges and achieving the incredible. Take her debut at the London Olympics in 2012, which came despite an injury that had her sidelined her for months just the year before. Sarah knows the mindset, grit, and amount of failure that it takes to achieve the highest level. She has worked with organizations such as Salesforce, Deloitte, Proctor and Gamble, Kraft-Heinz, Bell Media, and Google, to help build resilient and inspirational leaders.

Global director of strategy at IDEO, Jennifer Riel, discusses integrative thinking, empathy, and strategy with Dan Pontefract. They explore fostering integrative thinking in organizational culture, the role of questions in decision-making, empathy in organizations, and navigating moral dilemmas through integrative thinking.

Dr. Michelle K. Johnston is the Gaston Chair of Business at Loyola University New Orleans' College of Business. Michelle sits down with Dan on Leadership NOW to discuss her book, "The Seismic Shift in Leadership," as well as all aspects of connection and communication. Michelle is an executive coach with over 20 years' experience, and she was named to the prestigious 100 Coaches Group which consists of the top executive coaches around the world. Michelle has her Ph.D in Communication from Louisiana State University, and her book, "The Seismic Shift in Leadership" shares what she has learned in her years as an executive coach: primarily that connection drives results and is the key to a leader’s success.

Neil Bedwell is a strategic marketing leader with over 20 years’ experience on both agency and client-side — running work, teams, and businesses in London, Amsterdam, and San Francisco. Neil joins Dan Pontefract on Leadership NOW to discuss why there is no difference between an employee and a customer. It's fascinating! Now a “reformed marketer,” Neil is a Founding Partner at LOCAL, a Change Marketing™ company based in Atlanta bringing consumer-grade agency craft to internal audiences to deliver meaningful organizational change. The LOCAL team works with a wide variety of Fortune 500 clients including Capital One, Coca-Cola, Republic Services, UPS, P&G, and Kaiser Permanente. Before co-founding LOCAL, Neil led digital strategy and content for Coca-Cola's Global Content Excellence group. His work included leadership of the digital program for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, developing new ways to create and publish content in real-time across multiple social channels and managing global digital agency relationships.

John Baldoni is an internationally recognized leadership consultant, coach, speaker and author of 15 books on leadership that have been translated into ten languages. John joins Dan Pontefract on Leadership NOW where they discuss grace, purpose, and other facets of leadership. John is a much in demand global presenter and keynote speaker and has been for 30+ years. He is also a member of the renowned Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches, a group of executive coaches and thought leaders from the worlds of business, academia and social service. John is a highly sought after communications consultant and executive coach, where he has had the privilege of working with senior leaders in virtually every industry from pharmaceutical to real estate, packaged goods to automobiles, and finance to health care. John's coaching helps managers to achieve positive results by focusing on communication, influence, motivation and supervision. John specializes in leadership presence, which he defines as "demonstrating earned authority." His client list ranges from Fortune 10 companies to nonprofits and he’s won many awards and distinctions.

Robert Pasin, CEO of Radio Flyer Inc., has embraced innovation and change to elevate the legacy brand synonymous with its little red wagons. Robert joins Dan Pontefract on Leadership NOW to discuss his leadership style and how it has helped to resurrect the Radio Flyer Inc. company and brand. Robert heads Radio Flyer Inc., founded in 1917. Radio Flyer is an iconic brand that holds a special place in people's hearts because it instantly transports them to a happy time — to the best parts of childhood. Robert works with a wonderful group of passionate "Flyers" whose mission is to create products that bring smiles to kids of all ages and to create warm memories that last a lifetime. Company sales have grown significantly because of Robert’s focus on building a highly committed and creative team. The product line has expanded beyond the iconic Little Red Wagon™ to include tricycles, scooters, and other ride-ons featuring innovative, beautiful, playful design. Stemming from his FUNomenal leadership style, Robert has created a culture of highly motivated, creative team members who are passionate and love what they do.