Temporary Leave without Permanent Setbacks, with Beth Wanner

In this podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Rebecca Homkes about why uncertainty is the defining leadership skill of this decade.Dr. Rebecca Homkes is high-growth strategy specialist and the founder of a boutique consultancy firm, advising CEOs and executive teams focused on growth and success through uncertainty. She is a Faculty at Duke Corporate Executive Education, Lecturer at the London Business School (LBS) Executive Education, Advisor and Faculty at BCGU (Boston Consulting Group), and previous Fellow at the London School of Economics (LSE)’s Centre for Economic Performance. Dr. Homkes is also the director of the Young President’s Organization (YPO) global Active Learning Program (ALP); a former partner with GrowthX, a Silicon Valley investment ecosystem and innovation consultancy; and the faculty lead of fintech scaleup accelerators. A global keynote speaker, she is a member of several advisory boards, directed the joint McKinsey & Co and LSE Centre for Economic Performance Global Management Project from 2007-2014 and has regularly been featured in Harvard Business Review, CNBC, Bloomberg, Fortune, and Forbes. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Luis Garcia about personalized adaptive workplace learning and assessment.Luis Garcia is a seasoned international executive with over 25 years of experience in technology, digital media, and education. He specializes in driving new ventures and products to rapid growth by building effective teams that harness innovation, technology, and creativity to solve complex problems. He is the president of PETE, an Orlando-based tech startup that offers a suite of cost-effective and customizable solutions that enable organizations to deliver personalized workforce learning at scale. The PETE team is dedicated to harnessing the power of AI to help organizations of all sizes optimize their training initiatives, spanning from onboarding to regulatory compliance, product knowledge, technical skills, and more, without hiring additional training resources.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Tom Ulbrich about the intersection between for-profit and non-profit organizations and leadership.Tom Ulbrich is an entrepreneur, educator, speaker, author, social sector CEO at Goodwill of Western New York, a member of the Forbes Non-Profit Council and Executive in Residence for Entrepreneurship at the University at Buffalo School of Management. He is an entrepreneurial leader with broad-based management experience in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. His passion for social innovation is focused on nurturing strong relationships and building consensus across diverse groups of stakeholders in the academic, for-profit, non-profit and government sectors.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Derrick Mains about returning to the fundamentals of leadership.Derrick Mains is an Emmy Award-winning content creator, four-time author, operations podcaster with more than 160,000 monthly listeners, and optimization consultant renowned for his pioneering work in process engineering, design, and transformation. Mains work spans more than 20 years and 150 companies across nearly every industry, from early-stage companies on through the Fortune 10. Mains approach melds essentialism with a keen focus on human-centric system design, emphasizing the need for regular audits, reflection, and reinvestment to achieve optimization. Mains believes that all organizational systems share a fundamental purpose: transforming the input of resources into value, through outputs. He highlights how, without active management, systems degrade, leading to inefficiency and value and margin fade. His philosophy underscores the criticality of understanding the interconnectedness of systems and their natural progression towards entropy.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Sheri Jacobs about her book, The Unexpected Power of Boundaries.Sheri Jacobs is a keynote speaker, and innovation strategist who helps organizations unlock their creative potential by rethinking boundaries, risks, and leadership. As the founder of Avenue M Group, she has partnered with over three hundred organizations and surveyed over half a million people to uncover what drives real transformation and growth.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Kyle Harkema about his new book, Strategic Clarity.Dr. Kyle Harkema, DBA, MBA, is a distinguished scholar-practitioner with a wealth of experience at the intersection of academia and industry. With an academic foundation built on rigorous study and research, combined with extensive practical experience in the business world, Dr. Harkema epitomizes the modern scholar-practitioner—a professional who not only understands theoretical frameworks but also knows how to apply them in real-world contexts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Dallin Cooper about leading through conflict in the workplace.Dallin Cooper is an author, entrepreneur, and award-winning shepherd. From small Wyoming towns to one of the largest cities in China, Dallin has helped audiences challenge their assumptions to understand perspectives outside their own.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Dr. Meghan Grace about generational differences in the workforce and how leaders can better understand and balance the different needs and interests of their workers.Dr. Meghan Grace is a leading generational expert whose research on Generation Z spans the last decade and has helped companies, universities, and associations understand generations to work better together. In speaking with groups around the world, Meghan prioritizes understanding the human experience while providing data-informed insights about generations. Guided by multiple studies, Dr. Grace helps connect the dots between getting to know a generation and knowing what makes them tick. She is the host of the podcast, #GenZ and has co-authored three books on Generation Z with a new book on generations in the workplace coming later this year. When she isn’t researching, speaking, writing, or podcasting about generations, she co-leads the Institute for Generational Research and Education.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Beth Wanner about providing temporary leave options within your organization.Beth Wanner is the founder and CEO of Mother Cover, an agency providing interim and fractional coverage that helps companies across the U.S. and Canada maintain momentum while supporting employees through parental and caregiver leave. A former tech executive, she launched Mother Cover after her own experience of being terminated at 8-months pregnant exposed critical gaps in how workplaces support parents. She has become a vocal advocate for women and parents in the workplace, focused on changing how leave is handled operationally—not just in policy.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Deborah Huber and Willow Older about their book, Today I Noticed: A Little Book of Mindfulness that Will Change the Way You See the World.Deborah has spent her career in creative and management positions in the tech industry, designing and managing the development of digital products. She holds a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley and an M.A. from Stanford University. Willow holds a B.A. from the University of Vermont and an M.A. from the Breadloaf School of English at Middlebury College. Willow is an internationally published writer who runs her own editorial services business, including ghostwriting for executive leaders. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.