Practical Wisdom for Leaders with Scott J. Allen, Ph.D.

Hosted by Scott J. Allen

Business Technology EducationInterviews guests

Website RSS feed

Episodes

343

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Practical Wisdom for Leaders is your fast-paced, forward-thinking guide to leadership. Join host Scott J. Allen as he engages with remarkable guests—from former world leaders and nonprofit innovators to renowned professors, CEOs, and authors. Each episode offers timely insights and actionable tips designed to help you lead with impact, grow personally and professionally, and make a meaningful difference in your corner of the world.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

August 19, 2026Episode 34442 min

The Versatile Leader with Rob Kaiser

Send us Fan Mail Rob Kaiser is a road-worn veteran of executive selection and development in the C-suite and the author of five books, including The Versatile Leader and Fear Your Strengths (both with Bob Kaplan), along with Executive Selection, Filling the Leadership Pipeline, and The Perils of Accentuating the Positive. His work has also appeared in hundreds of peer-reviewed articles in behavioral science and business press, as well as in professional presentations. In the late 1990s, Rob's research identified versatility, the capacity to balance seemingly opposing leadership behaviors such as forceful and enabling, or strategic and operational, as the single most important capability for leading in a fast-paced world of disruptive change. That insight was ahead of its time and still shapes how he thinks about leadership today. Based on that research, Rob created a suite of tools that place versatility at the core of leadership assessment and development, including the patented Leadership Versatility Index 360, the Integrated Personality Summary, and the Progress Report. He and his firm, Kaiser Leadership Solutions, put these ideas into practice every day, helping companies assess, identify, select, and develop executives who build strong teams and great cultures that deliver outstanding business results. A Few Quotes From This Episode “A strength can become a weakness through overuse." "There's only one person in the world you can't see." (Temple of Apollo) - "Know thyself. Nothing in excess. Surety brings ruin." Resources The Versatile Leader: Make the Most of Your Strengths Without Overdoing It Fear Your Strengths: What You Are Best At Could Be Your Biggest Problem Kaiser Leadership Solutions Leadership Versatility Index (LVI) 360 About The International Leadership Association (ILA) The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Attend The Global Conference in Toronto, October 28-31. About Scott J. Allen Website Weekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for Leaders My Approach to Hosting The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic. ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast! ⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple , Spotify , or your platform of choice. ➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech. 📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles. 🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website .

August 12, 2026Episode 34347 min

Choosing Remarkable with Jon Acuff

Send us Fan Mail Jon Acuff is a New York Times bestselling author of 11 books, including Soundtracks, Finish, and All It Takes Is a Goal, which together have sold more than one million copies. His newest book, Procrastination Proof: Never Get Stuck Again (Baker Books, April 14, 2026), argues that procrastination isn't a character flaw but a learned coping mechanism, drawn from more than a decade of research and testing with over 30,000 participants. Named one of Inc.'s Top 100 Leadership Speakers, Acuff has delivered keynotes for organizations including Microsoft, Walmart, FedEx, Nissan, and Comedy Central. Acuff hosts the podcast All It Takes Is a Goal , where he has helped hundreds of thousands of listeners move past overthinking and finish what matters most to them. On this episode of Practical Wisdom for Leaders, he and host Scott Allen dig into “seven reasons people don't choose remarkable,” drawing on stories from his own career, including his years working alongside Dave Ramsey and starting over in his thirties. Acuff lives outside Nashville with his wife and two daughters. A Few Quotes From This Episode “Procrastination is when your actions don't match your intentions. Remarkable is the opposite, when your actions match your intentions.” “You're the most persuasive person you've ever met. You talked yourself into every decision, often bad ones.” “Most resolutions fail because we try to do something for a year we've never done for a day.” Resources Book: Procrastination Proof: Never Get Stuck Again by Acuff All of Jon's Book s About The International Leadership Association (ILA) The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Attend The Global Conference in Toronto, October 28-31. About Scott J. Allen Website Weekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for Leaders My Approach to Hosting The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic. ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast! ⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple , Spotify , or your platform of choice. ➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech. 📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles. 🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website .

August 5, 2026Episode 34235 min

Say Yes, Be Kind, and Show Up with Jeff Fellows

Send us Fan Mail Jeff Fellows is currently the Business Development Executive for the Naval Air Missiles portfolio at Raytheon, focused on meeting warfighter demands for lethal and survivable mission effectors. With a background in 5th-generation tactics, Jeff has also spearheaded growth strategy and tactical applications for next-generation technology within Raytheon's Advanced Technology Strategic Business Unit. Retiring from active-duty naval service in January 2022, Jeff spent 20 years leading high-velocity organizations as an officer and combat aviator. An experienced carrier pilot with more than 3,300 flight hours and 660 arrested landings in F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets and F-35C Lightning II aircraft, his career highlights include being hand-picked to command the Navy's first operational F-35C Lightning II squadron, graduating TOPGUN (Class 02-09), serving as a TOPGUN instructor and later TOPGUN Training Officer, a peer-selected role leading the entire instructor cadre, and completing three combat tours across Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. A Couple of Quotes From This Episode “If I know something about you, or you know something about me, then it really just kicks off whatever we're gonna go do as our task, our mission, or our job.” “Say yes, be kind, and show up.” "Connection is the weapon of elite leaders.” Resources Article: The Increasing Importance of a Best Friend at Work About The International Leadership Association (ILA) The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Attend The Global Conference in Toronto, October 28-31. About Scott J. Allen Website Weekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for Leaders My Approach to Hosting The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic. ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast! ⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple , Spotify , or your platform of choice. ➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech. 📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles. 🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website .

July 29, 2026Episode 34130 min

Scaling Leadership with Mark Shapiro

Send us Fan Mail Mark Shapiro is an American-born Canadian baseball executive, born April 3, 1967, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Shapiro joined the Cleveland Indians in 1991, rising from an entry-level role to general manager (2001) and then team president (2010). During his 24 years there, the Indians won six division titles and two AL pennants. He was named Sporting News Executive of the Year twice, in 2005 and 2007. In 2015 he became president and CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays, succeeding Paul Beeston. He hired Ross Atkins as GM, oversaw renovations to the Dunedin player development complex and Rogers Centre, and signed a five-year extension in December 2025. Under Shapiro, the Blue Jays have reached the postseason five times, including their first AL pennant in 32 years in 2025. He's also served on several MLB committees, helping introduce the Automated Ball-Strike System, instant replay, and the pitch clock. Personally, he's a dual US-Canadian citizen, has two children, and was portrayed by actor Reed Diamond in the 2011 film Moneyball. A Few Quotes From This Episode “Don't worry about being charismatic. Worry about caring deeply. Don't worry about being a super decision maker. Obsessively focus on the best process and prioritization and understanding leverage.” "The best leaders lead a decision-making process. I'm very rarely making a decision, and if I am, we have a good chance to make a bad decision.” “If you had to say what is the single most important value to building an elite, best-in-class organization, I would say open-mindedness, is where you have to start.” Resources Book: Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World by General Stanley McChrystal Book: Good to Great by Jim Collins About The International Leadership Association (ILA) The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Attend The Global Conference in Toronto, October 28-31. About Scott J. Allen Website Weekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for Leaders My Approach to Hosting The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic. ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast! ⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple , Spotify , or your platform of choice. ➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech. 📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles. 🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website .

July 22, 2026Episode 34031 min

Mandela's Leadership Legacy with Dr. Steven Segal

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Steven Segal is a psychologist, philosophical counsellor, and leadership coach. He is a former Associate Professor at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management and has spent more than two decades working at the intersection of psychology, philosophy, leadership, and organisational life. His work explores how individuals and communities respond to uncertainty, disruption, and existential threats—those moments when people experience a loss of meaning, belonging, identity, or a sense of being at home in the world. Through his therapy, counselling, coaching, teaching, and writing, he helps individuals and organisations navigate complexity, anxiety, and change while remaining connected to what matters most. His most recent book is Mandela's Leadership Legacy: Emotional and Existential Wisdom . The book was written as a kind of conversation between Martin Heidegger’s existential philosophy and Mandela’s way of being a leader. It used Heidegger to shed light on Mandela’s existential journey and used Mandela to provide an accessible introduction to the philosophy of Heidegger. A Couple Quotes From This Episode "Mandela wasn't the kind of motivational speaker who gets people hyped up. His style was much more thoughtful in the sense of working through emotion." "Dialogue across difference, it gets to your identity. And when our identity feels a bit threatened, we tend to become reactive rather than listening. Mandela was able to listen when there were threats to his identity." Resources Book: Business Feel: From the Science of Management to the Philosophy of Leadership Philosophical Reflections and Insights for Psychologists and Psychotherapists (forthcoming) Website - Dr. Steven Segal About The International Leadership Association (ILA) The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Attend The Global Conference in Toronto, October 28-31. About Scott J. Allen Website Weekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for Leaders My Approach to Hosting The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic. ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast! ⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple , Spotify , or your platform of choice. ➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech. 📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles. 🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website .

July 15, 2026Episode 33949 min

A Greater Intelligence Across the System with Dr. Tyson Yunkaporta and Dr. Toby Newstead

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Tyson Yunkaporta is an academic, arts critic, and researcher who is a member of the Apalech Clan in far north Queensland, Australia. He works as a senior lecturer in Indigenous Knowledges at Deakin University in Melbourne, where he also founded the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Lab. He carves traditional tools and weapons alongside his academic work, and his writing process draws on this practice, often beginning with images and carvings rather than words. He is best known as the author of Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World (2019), which won the Small Publishers' Adult Book of the Year at the Australian Book Industry Awards and the Ansari Institute's Randa and Sherif Nasr Book Prize on Religion and the World. He followed it with Right Story, Wrong Story and has a third book, Snake Talk , rounding out what he describes as a trilogy. His work applies Indigenous systems knowledge, not just Indigenous stories or artifacts, to questions of governance, economics, and organizational design. He also co-founded the Indigenous Systems Knowledge Collective, a nonprofit that supports Indigenous systems thinkers and helps organizations apply relational, complexity-based approaches to leadership and strategy. He lives in Melbourne. Dr. Toby Newstead is a respected leadership scholar and practitioner at the University of Tasmania, located in lutruwita on the lands of the palawa and pakana people. With a background in corporate change, leadership development, and professional communications, she brings practical expertise to her academic, coaching, and consulting work. An internationally recognized researcher, Dr. Newstead specializes in virtues-based leadership development, leadership ethics, and leadership in the volunteer sector. Her research appears in top journals. In 2023, she published a book titled Leadership and Virtues: Understanding and Practicing Good Leadership . Dr. Newstead is an established executive leadership coach and deeply engaged with industry and community. She regularly delivers impactful workshops, keynotes, and facilitation sessions. Dr Newstead’s research, teaching, coaching and facilitation has local and international impact, shaping the leaders of today and tomorrow. A Few Quotes From This Episode "We don't say, 'I think, therefore I am,' but we say, 'I am located, therefore I am.'" "Increase isn't about the quantitative growth of the system... Increase is about the growth of complexity and the growth of interconnectedness and interdependencies in the system." "Innovation doesn't come from a singular genius. It comes from the most diverse community possible that you can create, the most diverse networks." Resources Book: Sand Talk Book: Right Story, Wrong Story Book: Snake Talk About The International Leadership Association (ILA) The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Attend The Global Conference in Toronto, October 28-31. About Scott J. Allen Website Weekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for Leaders My Approach to Hosting The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic. ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast! ⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple , Spotify , or your platform of choice. ➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech. 📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles. 🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website .

July 8, 2026Episode 33831 min

Practical Wisdom: It's Caught, Taught, and Sought with Dr. Shane McLoughlin

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Shane McLoughlin is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Birmingham, where he works in the world-leading Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues. He is a leading expert on Aristotle’s concept of practical wisdom, and his work brings together moral philosophy and psychology, character education, behavioural science, differential psychology, clinical psychology, coaching psychology, and psychometrics to explore how people develop the good character and judgement needed to live and act well. Shane is the author of Practical Wisdom Coaching , published by Routledge, and serves as Programme Lead for the MA in Character Education. His research focuses especially on practical wisdom, virtue, flourishing, measurement, and the limits of “one-size-fits-all” approaches to education, coaching, clinical practice, and human development. Across his work, Shane treats wisdom as a practical capacity: the ability to discern what matters, respond proportionately to complexity, and choose well when no rulebook can do the choosing for us. A Couple Quotes From This Episode "Intelligence is knowing how to do things. Wisdom is knowing whether you should do them." "You're finding the right amount at the right time for the context that is conducive to flourishing." Resources Book: Practical Wisdom Coaching About The International Leadership Association (ILA) The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Attend The Global Conference in Toronto, October 28-31. About Scott J. Allen Website Weekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for Leaders My Approach to Hosting The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic. ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast! ⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple , Spotify , or your platform of choice. ➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech. 📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles. 🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website .

July 1, 2026Episode 33723 min

The Leader as System Architect with Dr. Willy Donaldson

Send us Fan Mail Dr. William (Willy) Donaldson has over 35 years of experience as a Board member and President and has been CEO of 8 companies and over 30 years of experience in higher education. Willy is the Founder and President of Strategic Venture Planning, a management consulting firm that assists boards, investors and senior management teams maximize results. Dr. Donaldson is an Assistant Professor in Finance. He teaches Advanced Financial Statement Analysis, Entrepreneurial Finance, Strategic Management, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Systems Thinking, as well as multiple capstone classes. Dr. Donaldson is the Director of the Luter Business Institute. A Few Quotes From This Episode "Managers and leaders don't solve problems, they manage messes." "If you don't see the whole system, you're gonna draw a boundary around your job...and you're gonna start optimizing in that space. And that may be great for finance, but it may be disastrous for the whole system." Resources Book: Simple Complexity: A Management Book For The Rest of Us Resource: OODA Loop by John Boyd About The International Leadership Association (ILA) The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Attend The Global Conference in Toronto, October 28-31. About Scott J. Allen Website Weekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for Leaders My Approach to Hosting The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic. ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast! ⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple , Spotify , or your platform of choice. ➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech. 📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles. 🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website .

June 24, 2026Episode 33635 min

Developmental Fitness with Dr. Keith Eigel

Send us Fan Mail Keith Eigel, Ph.D. is the founder of The Leaders Lyceum (lye-see-um), an organization dedicated to leveraging challenges to accelerate the leaderʼs journey to sustained effectiveness. He is co-author of a forthcoming book on personality, leader effectiveness, and leveraging the diversity of perspective for team performance called The Vehicle. Over the last twenty-five years, his research and writing have had a global reach, being cited in academic and best-selling publications on 5 continents. Keith and his team have honed a developmental curriculum that extends and leverages over sixty years of research to help executive and next-generation leaders measurably advance leader maturity, the best predictor of a leader’s effectiveness. Thousands of leaders from dozens of industries have been transformed by their experiences with The Leaders Lyceum. Additionally, he'sbeen an executive coach to several C-Level Fortune 50 leaders and University Presidents. A Few Quotes From This Episode "I don't want my growth to be determined by the whims of circumstance. I want to have some voice, some proactivity in that." "Developmental maturity, vertical development, is about challenging the lens that we see the world through. This conversation may make the lens we have tomorrow slightly different. And if it has, that's vertical growth." "Learn to embrace your complaint — because it is the thing that we can't help but feel. And wherever our lens is, our pain meets us where we are. Then it opens the door." Resources Book: The Map by Eigel and Kuhnert About The International Leadership Association (ILA) The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Attend The Global Conference in Toronto, October 28-31. About Scott J. Allen Website Weekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for Leaders My Approach to Hosting The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic. ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast! ⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple , Spotify , or your platform of choice. ➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech. 📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles. 🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website .

June 18, 2026Episode 33522 min

There's a Lot of Space For Us to Shift with Dr. Randal Joy Thompson

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Randal Joy Thompson is a scholar-practitioner and global citizen who has assumed leadership positions and led teams in countries around the world including Cameroon, Morocco, Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus, Iraq, Afghanistan, Morocco, Liberia, Nigeria, Ghana, Myanmar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and El Salvador, initially as a Commissioned US Foreign Service Officer and then as independent contractor. Her scholarship has focused primarily on leadership, focusing on women, teams, and the commons. She works with organizations to help facilitate the establishment of autonomous self-led teams as well as to help build relationships among existing team members by creating the environment where they experience the socio-emotional forces connecting them. In addition to her PhD and MA in Human and Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University, she earned an MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, an MA in Political Philosophy from the University of Chicago, an MA in Biblical Exposition from Capitol Bible and Graduate School, and a BA in Philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley. A Few Quotes From This Episode "Relationships, not structure, are what create stability now in organizations.” “The team itself is a leader.” “What binds them together are relationships. Resources Book: The Four Forces: Igniting Emergent Generative Team Leadership in a Complex Perennial World Inspired by Nature and the Dao About The International Leadership Association (ILA) The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Attend The Global Conference in Toronto, October 28-31. About Scott J. Allen Website Weekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for Leaders My Approach to Hosting The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic. ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast! ⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple , Spotify , or your platform of choice. ➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech. 📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles. 🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website .