Podcasts

Jeremy Utley - How to work with AI as a teammate, not a tool

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 14:54:42 GMT

Why does working with AI as a teammate unlock exponentially better results than treating it as a search engine? And how do you actually build that collaborative relationship?

These are the key questions we discuss in this episode of Changing Conversations with Jeremy Utley.

Jeremy is a leading thinker and speaker within innovation, creativity, and collaboration with AI. He teaches these topics as an Adjunct Professor at Stanford and advises CEOs and leadership teams. Jeremy also shares his expertise more broadly through his writing and podcasting. He is the best-selling author of IdeaFlow and host of the wildly popular podcast "Beyond the Prompt: How to use AI in your company."

In this conversation, we share:

That most people treat AI like a search engine when they should be having real conversations.
How giving AI permission to ask you questions can significantly improve the quality of the output, enhancing (rather than replacing) your human intelligence.
Why leaders need firsthand experience experimenting with AI to imagine the future of their organizations.
The power of starting with personal, emotionally meaningful questions rather than work tasks to overcome fear and build fluency with AI.
How simple questions like "Have you tried AI?" can shift organizational cultures to support the spread of AI collaboration.

We'd love to keep this conversation going. To continue the conversation with us, send your reflections and questions to us at katc@implement.se.

You’re also welcome to use this episode as a conversation starter by sharing it with your colleagues and friends.

Megan Reitz - Why you need to be more spacious as a leader

Tue, 23 Dec 2025 12:11:00 GMT

In a world driven by speed and execution, leaders risk missing what truly matters. This conversation explores how creating space in thinking and dialogue can unlock better decisions, deeper insight and more meaningful collaboration.

What is spaciousness and why it matters
Spaciousness is a different mode of attention that allows leaders to step back, see relationships and uncover insights that remain hidden in constant doing mode. When we slow down and expand our awareness, we become more present, more curious and better equipped to navigate complexity and uncertainty.

The tension between doing and being
Modern organisations reward speed, efficiency and output. While essential, this focus can narrow attention and limit creativity. The conversation highlights how leaders often equate success with activity, even when it leads to doing the wrong things faster. Balancing doing with reflection is key to effective leadership.

How leaders shape conversations and outcomes
The way leaders show up directly impacts the voices around them. Creating psychological safety, inviting reflection and being intentional about attention can open up more meaningful dialogue. Small shifts, such as pausing before meetings or asking better questions, can transform everyday interactions.

Practical ways to create space
Through the SPACE framework, the conversation outlines tangible ways to enable spaciousness, including safety, people, attention, conflict and environment. These elements help leaders and teams pause, reflect and act more deliberately, even in high pressure environments where speed dominates.

Lisa Doig - How to expand your consciousness

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 09:16:00 GMT

True transformation starts with awareness. This episode explores how expanding consciousness helps leaders navigate complexity, overcome fear, and connect deeply with their authentic selves. Discover how self-awareness can spark meaningful growth in both individuals and organizations.

Exploring consciousness in leadership
In this episode of Changing Conversations, hosts from Implement Consulting Group speak with leadership pioneer Lisa Doig about the power of consciousness in business. Together, they unpack how awareness shapes leadership, culture, and the ability to create lasting transformation. Through stories and frameworks, Lisa shows how expanding our awareness can unlock courage and authenticity.

The seven levels of consciousness
Lisa introduces Barrett’s seven levels of consciousness and how they align with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. She explains how our values reflect our level of awareness and how recognizing fears and limiting beliefs can help leaders move from performance-driven mindsets to purpose-driven leadership. The conversation bridges spirituality and practical business growth.

Transforming the inner and outer horizon
The discussion reveals how organizational change depends on personal transformation. By understanding our fears, leaders can shift from reactive patterns to creative awareness. When consciousness expands, collaboration, innovation, and genuine human connection follow. The episode invites listeners to reflect on their own development and bring more authenticity into everyday leadership.

Amy Gallo - How healthy conflict can bring you better business results

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 06:00:00 GMT

To what degree do you lean into conflict at work?

If you’re like most of us, it’s not always the most natural tendency – but there are business results to be gained for getting the balance right.

In this episode we are joined by Amy Gallo. Amy is a workplace expert who writes and speaks about effective communication, interpersonal dynamics, gender, difficult conversations, and feedback. She is the best-selling author of Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People) and the HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict, as well as hundreds of articles for Harvard Business Review.

In this conversation we discuss:

Why both getting along and healthy conflict are important in driving transformation
What level of conflict to strive for in high performing teams
How to surface tensions when you are working together with others

We’d love to keep the conversation alive. Reach out to Katrina and Stig to challenge us, ask a question, recommend a future guest and give us feedback.

Susan David - Why you should embrace emotions at work

Thu, 06 Feb 2025 06:00:00 GMT

How do you find comfort in the discomfort of uncertainty?

In this episode we are joined by Susan David, PHD, and will bring her research and perspective to life on this topic.

Susan David (link: https://www.susandavid.com/) is a renowned psychologist and the author of the best-selling book "Emotional Agility". (link: https://www.susandavid.com/book/) Susan is a co-founder of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School affiliate, and a frequent contributor to publications like the Harvard Business Review. Her groundbreaking work focuses on the role of emotions in psychological resilience, leadership, and personal growth.

As business leaders, most of us operate and lead in complex and uncertain environments – and emotional agility has an important role to play in how to find comfort in the discomfort of uncertainty.

In this conversation, we discuss:

· What it means to be emotionally agile

· How emotions are data points in leading transformation

· How you can authentically be in your emotions without oversharing

We’d love to keep the conversation alive.
Reach out to Katrina and Stig to challenge us, ask a question, recommend a future guest and give us feedback.

Charles Duhigg - How to build stronger connections

Mon, 30 Dec 2024 01:05:00 GMT

How can you build a stronger connection with others during conversation? In this episode, we are joined by guest Charles Duhigg to explore this question and share several practical examples of things you can do to build a deeper connection with the people around you. Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and best-selling author of the books The Power of Habit, Smarter Faster Better, and, most recently, Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection. In this episode, we discuss: Three categories of conversation: Practical (What’s this really about?), Emotional (How do we feel?), and Social (Who are we?) The importance of matching categories to build stronger connections The types of questions that can deepen our conversations and relationships with others We would love to keep the conversation going, so feel free to reach out to Katrina and Stig to challenge us, ask a question, recommend a future guest, or provide feedback.

Professor Brian Cox - What leaders can learn from scientists about facing the...

Thu, 03 Oct 2024 06:00:00 GMT

Professor Brian Cox is a physicist, musician, and a professor of particle physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester, and The Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science.

In this conversation, we talk with Brian Cox about what the scientific community can teach us about dealing with the unknown, and how business leaders can learn to embrace complexity to successfully navigate an ever-evolving business landscape.

The key topics covered in this episode are:

How holding contradictory ideas can be a strength in handling complexity
What business leaders can learn from scientists to embrace complexity and reduce fear of the unknown
How to handle discomfort with the unknown
What characteristics and attitudes are crucial to future leadership when dealing with complex challenges
Finding comfort and curiosity in the unknown

For references, links and other episodes, visit the podcast homepage here.

Zafer Achi - How to lead in complexity

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 06:00:00 GMT

Zafer Achi is an executive coach, a team coach and a designer and facilitator of leadership development interventions. He has 34 years of consulting experience, including 27 years as a partner with McKinsey & Company. We have invited Zafer Achi to talk to us about complexity. He will help us create a language on the different types of challenges we face to enable us to apply the right tools.

The key topics covered in this episode are:

The difference between technical and adaptive challenges, and when something is complicated or complex
How to lead with curiosity and compassion
How to address adaptive challenges
Integrating perspectives to manage complexity better
How to set a direction instead of a destination and lead towards it

For references, links and other episodes, visit the podcast homepage here.

Adam Hede – Shaping a more courageous AI conversation

Sat, 23 Dec 2023 06:00:00 GMT

Jennifer Garvey - Five ways your brain is stopping you from embracing complexity

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 06:00:00 GMT

Jennifer Garvey Berger is the co-founder and CEO of Cultivating Leadership. She holds a master’s degree and a doctorate from Harvard University and is a former associate professor at George Mason University. Jennifer believes that leadership is one of the single most important tools in these times of uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. We have invited Jennifer to introduce us to mindtraps and how they can hinder us when dealing with complexity.

The key topics covered in this episode are:

The five instincts that are most prevailing in our conversations
How our mindtraps lead to corporate theatre
How awareness of our mindtraps can lead to an invitation
How we can dissemble our mindtraps to thrive in complexity

For references, links, and other episodes, visit the podcast homepage here.

Laura Sicola - Speaking to influence

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 06:00:00 GMT

Dr Laura Sicola is a leadership communication and influence expert and the author of “Speaking to Influence: Mastering Your Leadership Voice”. We have invited Laura to talk to us about how you can establish your vocal executive presence through the three C’s: command, connect and close the deal. She also addresses how to remain invitational in conversations even if there is an experience of competing priorities and how to unlock the potential of seemingly opposing views.

The key topics covered in this episode are:

The experts curse and not taking the perspective of the listener
Conversations are not a zero-sum game
People do not listen to process – they listen to respond
The three C’s: command, connect and close the deal
How to be intentional in the way you use your voice

For references, links and other episodes, visit the podcast homepage here.

Eli Buren - How you can practice presence in every meeting

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 06:00:00 GMT

Eli Buren is an expert in embodied presence. Eli has taught workshops and retreats and has worked with clients internationally since 2005, working with thousands of people across the US, Europe and Asia. We have invited Eli to talk about how we can be more present in our conversations by working with embodiment.

The key topics covered in this episode are:

How to bring presence to your conversations
How to practise presence
How to honour the creation cycle
Giving space in the conversation to be more effective
Noticing how your body is reacting in a conversation
Using the body as your anchor

For references, links and other episodes, visit our podcast page here.

Michele Zanini - How conversations change when we cut bureaucracy

Mon, 23 Jan 2023 06:00:00 GMT

Michele Zanini is the co-founder of the management lab and the co-author of the book “Humanocracy: Creating Organizations as Amazing as the People Inside Them”. Michele helps organisations become more resilient, creative and engaging places to work by inventing new management practices. We have invited Michele to talk about how we can unleash people’s potential by introducing a more humanocratic organisational model.

The key topics covered in this episode are:

How organisations can reach their full potential by introducing the right organisational model
How conversations in post-bureaucratic companies are far more lateral than they are vertical
How to transfer knowledge and problem-solving expertise in a very organic way
How to create cross-pollination of expertise within an organisation
The importance of opening up the conversation and giving people the tools to have interesting and productive conversations with each other.

For references, links and other episodes, visit the podcast homepage here.

Wendy Smith - How to create value from competing demands

Thu, 24 Nov 2022 06:00:00 GMT

Wendy Smith is a professor of management at the Alfred Lerner College of Business & Economics, co-founder of the Women’s Leadership Initiative and author of the book Both/And Thinking. She is an advocate for bold leadership, and much of her work focuses on helping leaders and teams navigate paradoxes. We have invited Wendy Smith to talk about how we can get better at embracing paradoxes and go from either/or to both/and thinking.

The key topics covered in this episode are:

How we can embrace and invite tensions into the organisation
How paradox invites us to honour different points of view
How we can capitalise on friction
The importance of being transparent and vulnerable as a leader
Inviting ourselves to think about a different possibility space
How we can change questions from either/or to both/and

For references, links, and other episodes, visit the podcast homepage here.

Sheila Heen - Feedback and why you’re not getting the most out of it

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 06:00:00 GMT

Sheila Heen is the founder of Triad Consulting Group, a lecturer on law at Harvard Law School and Co-Author of “Thanks for the Feedback” and “Difficult Conversations”. She is consulting with companies ranging from Pixar, Hugo Boss to the NBA around difficult conversations, negotiation and sound decision-making. We have invited Sheila Heen to talk about the conversations around feedback and specifically how we can each be better feedback receivers.

The key topics covered in this episode are:

How do we move away from being dismissive in the way we receive feedback to genuinely being grateful and appreciating the feedback
Feedback as a learning and leadership skill
The three types of triggered feedback reactions: Truth triggers, relationship triggers and identity triggers
Asking for the feedback you want
Enabling feedback in your organisation

For references, links, and other episodes, visit the podcast homepage here.

Gail Gallie - Changing a global conversation

Tue, 27 Sep 2022 06:00:00 GMT

Gail Gallie is the co-founder and creative leader of Project Everyone. Project Everyone is the organisation behind the campaign launch of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Previously, Gail has run marketing and advertising practices, but she is now focusing on how to drive solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. In this episode, we have invited Gail Gallie to talk about the conversations that led up to the big success that is the Global Goals and how it changed global conversations.

The key topics covered in this episode are:

The conversations that led up to the creation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The power of conversations, trusting your instinct, keeping it low-fi and listening
How visuals can help fuel a conversation
The importance of making things granular
How we can engage everyone in changing global conversations
How to enable a global ecosystem of changemakers

For references, links, and other episodes, visit the podcast homepage here.

Julie Diamond – How to increase your personal power

Tue, 16 Aug 2022 06:00:00 GMT

Julie Diamond is the founder of Diamond Leadership. She works as an executive coach and international leadership consultant, and she authored the book: “Power - A User’s Guide”. Her focus is on creating transformational learning and leadership solutions across sectors. In this episode, we talk with Julie Diamond about the power of power in conversations and how each of us can become better power users.

Key topics covered in this episode are:

Understanding the difference between social and personal power
Advice on how to be more inclusive as a person with high social power
Speaking up as a person with low social power
Addressing power when it comes to difficult conversations, for example conversations in a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion space

For references, links, and other episodes, visit the podcast homepage here.

Fred Dust – Committing to the conversation

Wed, 25 May 2022 06:00:00 GMT

Fred Dust is the founder of Dust&Co. He works as a designer and advisor to social and business leaders and he authored the book “Making Conversation”. Fred works at the intersection of business, society, and creativity where he tries to implement the craft of humancentric design. In this conversation, we talk with Fred Dust about the importance of committing to the conversation and thinking of conversation as a creative act.

Key topics covered in this episode are:

Building a space for creative conversations
Committing to the conversation first, the people second and your beliefs third
Making friends with the unknown
The importance of being a good listener

For references, links, and other episodes, visit the podcast homepage here.

David Whyte - Courageous conversations

Sun, 22 May 2022 06:00:00 GMT

Elizabeth Stokoe - Effective conversations

Tue, 08 Feb 2022 06:00:00 GMT

Elizabeth Stokoe British is a scientist and Professor of Social Interaction at Loughborough University where she studies conversation analysis. In this conversation, we explore how Elizabeth’s research and experience could be applied to better understand and change conversations.

The key topics covered in this episode are:

Our ability to predict the way a conversation is going to go
The way that one word can change an entire conversation
Mapping conversations to better understand which parts of them work less well
The importance of “recipient design” in shaping great conversations

For references, links, and other episodes, visit the podcast homepage here.

Priya Parker - Gatherings that change us

Tue, 11 Jan 2022 06:00:00 GMT

In this episode we meet with conflict resolution facilitator and author, Priya Parker. We discuss takeaways from her book, “The Art of Gathering” and how to make a gathering meaningful, effective and engaging.

In the pursuit of designing more transformational conversations and meetings, Priya encourages us to address the deepest need of the moment in our gatherings, to name a meeting according to its purpose, and to think about when a conversation or a meeting should take place in the context of the “arch of the week”.

For references and links, visit the podcast homepage here.

Roger Martin - Changing conversations in strategy

Tue, 14 Dec 2021 06:00:00 GMT

Hosts Katrina and Stig are joined by renowned strategy advisor and author Professor Roger Martin. Roger Martin is former Dean and Institute Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto in Canada.

In this episode, we discuss Roger Martin’s 5 strategy questions laid out in his book “Playing to Win”. We talk about a case example from the book through the lens of changing conversations: how strategic conversations might have been problematic in the past, what the resulting conversations looked like, and what it took to change those conversations.

For references, links, and other episodes, visit the podcast homepage here.

Mads Nipper - Leaders in conversation

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 06:00:00 GMT

In this episode, hosts Katrina and Stig are joined by former CEO of Ørsted Mads Nipper. The episode explores how leaders are never not in conversation and Mads’ perspective on how he engages in those hundreds of touchpoints each day.

In conversation, Mads lives by three principles that we can takeaway from the conversation:

Leave people with more energy
Be present
Strive for balance.

For references, links, and other episodes, visit the podcast homepage here.

Stig Albertsen and Katrina Marshall - Change is changing conversations

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 06:00:00 GMT

In this introductory episode, hosts Stig Albertsen and Katrina Marshall Dyrting discuss Changing Conversations in organisations and lay out the foundation for this podcast series: why focus on conversations, what could be possible if we do and who we will meet in the coming episodes?

The key topics covered in this episode are:

Organisations are conversations
If you want real change, change the conversation
That conversations are the smallest biggest thing we can play with when it comes to change.

For references, links, and other episodes, visit the podcast homepage here.