The Balancing Act with Andrew Temte, PhD, CFA

Hosted by Andrew Temte

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Episodes

258

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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About the show

Elevate Your Leadership Journey Through Authentic Conversations with Business Leaders In business, balancing acts are everywhere. Join Dr. Andrew Temte for The Balancing Act Podcast—an award-winning leadership development podcast featuring authentic, in-depth conversations with accomplished business leaders, senior executives, entrepreneurs, and industry experts who share the real stories behind their professional success. What You'll Discover: Each episode explores the critical skills and balancing acts that define exceptional leadership through engaging conversations covering: Leadership development and executive management strategies Organizational health, trust, and workplace accountability Employee engagement and team performance optimization Communication skills and business transformation Financial acumen and business decision-making Career acceleration strategies and professional growth Continuous improvement and lifelong learning principles Diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace Emerging trends in AI, technology, and workforce development The Balancing Act Format: Every episode features four powerful segments: Origin Stories - Discover how today's leaders began their professional journeys Rocket Booster Moments - Learn about the pivotal events that accelerated their careers Deep Dive Conversations - Explore timely business topics with actionable insights you can apply immediately Lightning Round Questions - Quick-fire questions that reveal your guests' perspectives on leadership, success, and life With over 200 episodes, The Balancing Act examines business challenges from multiple perspectives, giving you comprehensive insights into the skills that drive workplace success. Your Host: Dr. Andrew Temte is the former CEO of Kaplan Professional and bestselling author of "Balancing Act: Teach, Coach, Mentor, Inspire" and "The Balanced Business: Building Organizational Trust and Accountability through Smooth Workflows." As a thought leader on leadership development, organizational health, and corporate learning, Andy brings deep expertise in professional education and business management to every conversation. He holds a PhD in finance from the University of Iowa and the CFA designation, with over 15 years of university teaching experience. Who Should Listen: Perfect for aspiring leaders, mid-level managers seeking executive roles, C-suite executives refining their approach, entrepreneurs building their businesses, and anyone committed to continuous improvement and professional growth. New episodes weekly. Subscribe today and elevate your leadership journey.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

August 20, 2026Episode 25929 min

What Leaders Pretend Not to Know with Mike Staver

What are you pretending not to know about your own leadership — and what is it costing you? In this episode of the Balancing Act podcast, Andy speaks with Mike Staver, executive coach, Speaker Hall of Fame inductee, and author of Leadership Isn’t for Cowards and the just-released Navigating Crazy. For more than thirty years, Mike has helped leaders close the gap between their good intentions and their actual results. His case here is that most of the stress we carry doesn’t come from our circumstances at all — it comes from the distance between what we expected and what actually is, and from the things we know to be true but keep living as though we don’t. Tune in to episode 259 to hear the high school choice that cost Mike two brutal weeks and set his work ethic for life, why acceptance and approval are not the same thing and why confusing them keeps capable leaders stuck, and the coaching conversation Mike would have with the person who looks successful from the outside and is quietly running on empty. AndrewTemte.com

August 13, 2026Episode 25837 min

Why Attention Beats Confidence Under Pressure with Justin Anderson

What if the problem isn’t that you’re distracted, but that nobody ever trained you in the one thing you can actually control? In this episode of the Balancing Act podcast, Andy speaks with Dr. Justin Anderson, founder and CEO of Premier Sport Psychology and author of Intentional Attention: The Science and Practice of Focus Under Pressure, a licensed psychologist and certified mental performance consultant who has spent more than twenty years with NFL quarterbacks, Olympians, and executives. His case is that attention is more controllable than confidence or emotion — a trainable skill rather than a fixed trait — and that for people who never really stop, the question is no longer how to find work-life balance but how to recharge while running. Tune in to episode 258 to hear the job Justin didn’t get that redirected his entire career, what context switching is quietly costing you on a day spent bouncing between projects and new tools, and why a book about training focus ends with renewal — and what that actually looks like for someone who can’t simply take more time off. AndrewTemte.com

August 6, 2026Episode 25735 min

Why 80% of AI Projects Fail with Don Gregori

What if the fastest way to fail at AI is to treat it like a race? In this episode of the Balancing Act podcast, Andy speaks with Don Gregori, Chief Operating Officer of First Factory and author of The Emergent Leader: A Guide to Brand Building, Leadership, and Self-Mastery. Don makes the case that leadership starts on the inside and that most AI failures are leadership failures wearing a technology costume — that empathy is operational rather than soft, that bolting AI onto a process you have never questioned is the fastest route to the pile of projects that quietly fail, and that the leader who runs on four hours of sleep is not being tough, just expensive. Tune in to episode 257 to hear the rocket-booster moment Don credits to his wife rather than to any career move, the advice he gives a newly promoted manager who is terrified of breaking the very thing that made them good, and why a book about building durable companies ends with the durability of the leader. AndrewTemte.com

July 30, 2026Episode 25631 min

The Accountant Shortage and the CGMA Credential with Hugh Martin

With a wave of accountants heading for retirement and AI reshaping the profession, is accounting still a smart career bet? In this episode of the Balancing Act podcast, Andy speaks with Hugh Martin — founder of Procountancy and a CIMA Case Study specialist who prepares finance professionals in more than 45 countries to earn the CGMA designation. Together they get behind the acronyms to management accounting itself — the “business partner” role, why a U.S. CPA might add the CGMA, and the human skills no algorithm can replace. Tune in to episode 256 to hear why Hugh tells a nervous twenty-year-old that accounting is still worth it, how the CGMA builds the business acumen that earns a bigger seat at the table, and the two-euro rounding error he’d tell his younger self to stop losing sleep over. AndrewTemte.com

July 23, 2026Episode 25534 min

Talent Is Everywhere, Access Isn’t with Vasanthan Ramakrishnan

What does a country actually lose when it makes it harder for the world’s top talent to build a life there? In this episode of the Balancing Act podcast, Andy speaks with Vasanthan “Vas” Ramakrishnan — founder and principal consultant of Ascend HSI Advisory Partners, who helps high-skilled scientists, engineers, researchers, and founders navigate the extraordinary-ability pathways into the U.S., and who earned his own green card the same way. Together they draw the line between wage arbitrage and genuine talent mobility — and make the case that a freer flow of skilled expertise tends to make economies stronger, not weaker. Tune in to episode 255 to hear how Vas turned a job lost during COVID into an award-winning global nonprofit, why he tells anxious American workers that keeping talent out won’t protect them, and the reframe at the heart of his work: he doesn’t make his clients extraordinary — they already are. AndrewTemte.com

July 16, 2026Episode 25432 min

The Business Case for Joy at Work with Bose Akadiri

What if you've been chasing success backwards? What if joy isn't the reward you earn after hitting your goals — but the foundation that makes hitting them inevitable? In this episode of the Balancing Act podcast, Andy speaks with Bose Akadiri — motivational keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and founder and CEO of Goal and Grind LLC, where she's known as “The Joy Amplifier.” After a decade leading corporate social responsibility at Boeing, Salesforce, and JPMorgan Chase, she wrote The Stay Joyful Method to make the business case for joy — not as a feel-good perk, but as a strategic advantage that drives retention, sharpens clarity, and moves the numbers leaders actually care about. Tune in to episode 254 to hear why the strongest performers spend time backstage before they take the main stage, how the “joy bubble” becomes a force field when work gets hard, and what it looks like to lead with joy that has a spine — joy that's results-driven and impossible to dismiss as soft. AndrewTemte.com

July 9, 2026Episode 25331 min

Situational Leadership for the Modern Workplace, with Suzie Bishop

In this episode of the Balancing Act podcast, Andy speaks with Suzie Bishop, vice president of product development at The Center for Leadership Studies — the global home of the Situational Leadership® Model — and co-author of the newly released Situational Leadership®: The Model for Leading Others, Navigating Change, and Unlocking Performance. A Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coach who has spent more than a decade modernizing the world’s most widely used leadership framework, Suzie makes a deceptively simple case — the best leaders don’t lean on one great style; they read the person in front of them and adapt to what the moment actually requires. Tune in to episode 253 to hear why the well-liked “nice boss” who delegates everything can quietly leave people stranded, the first move for a newly promoted high performer who’s about to fall flat, and the humbling parenting moment that reframed how Suzie thinks about leading people who have already outgrown your instructions. AndrewTemte.com

July 2, 2026Episode 25234 min

Executive Presence and Communication, with Kathryn Janicek

Why do so many brilliant, accomplished leaders freeze the moment the stakes get highest — losing the room before they’ve said a single word? In this episode of the Balancing Act podcast, Andy speaks with Kathryn Janicek — a 3x Emmy Award-winning executive presence strategist, former TV news producer, and founder of Janicek Performance Group, where she coaches Fortune 500 leaders for their highest-stakes moments. Drawing on two decades in live television — including her time as the sole spokesperson during the 2007 I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis — Kathryn makes the case that how you show up matters every bit as much as what you say, and that presence is a skill any leader can build. Tune in to episode 252 to hear why Kathryn calls fear “a terrible creative director,” what a bridge collapse taught her about leading through a crisis, and why, in the age of AI and deepfakes, your audience can tell in an instant when a leader’s words aren’t truly their own. It’s a practical masterclass in showing up when it counts. AndrewTemte.com

June 25, 2026Episode 25126 min

Build a Book of Business One Conversation at a Time, with Deb Feder

What if building a thriving book of business didn’t require working more hours, chasing leads, or scrambling to get yourself out there — but simply getting better at the conversations you’re already having? In this episode of the Balancing Act podcast, Andy speaks with Deb Feder — founder of Feder Development and author of the Client Conversation Series, including After Hello and her latest, Might I Suggest. Deb practiced corporate law for more than fifteen years before turning her attention to how lawyers and professionals actually build lasting practices — and her answer has little to do with the perfect elevator pitch and everything to do with intentional, everyday connection. It’s a refreshingly human take on a skill most professionals are never actually taught. Tune in to episode 251 to hear how caring for her grandmother reshaped the way Deb builds a business, why she pushes back hard on the idea that you’re either a “rainmaker” or you’re not, and her case that the strongest careers are still built one five-minute conversation at a time. AndrewTemte.com

June 18, 2026Episode 25057 min

250 Episodes In: The Story Behind The Balancing Act with Nick Temte

After 250 episodes of the Balancing Act podcast, the host becomes the guest. Producer Nick Temte steps out from behind the glass to interview his dad — and usual host — Andy Temte, in a milestone conversation about where the show started, what 250 episodes have taught him, and where it’s all going. Dr. Andrew (Andy) Temte, CFA, is an author, musician, and the former CEO of Kaplan Professional Education. He’s the author of Balancing Act: Teach, Coach, Mentor, Inspire and The Balanced Business, with two more books on the way — The Modern Golden Rule and Stop Standing Still. He founded the Balancing Act in 2019 as a way to have authentic, non-salesy conversations with business leaders, and he closes every episode with the same three words: grace, dignity, and compassion. Andy traces his own career rocket booster to a sunny August day in 1989, when — rejected by every other Big Ten PhD program — he climbed to the sixth floor of Phillips Hall at the University of Iowa to meet finance department chair Carl Schweser. A scheduled 30-minute interview became a two-hour conversation, and a lifelong mentorship that shaped everything that followed. From there, Nick and Andy retrace the origins of the show, the 2008 Great Recession story behind “grace, dignity, and compassion,” and the home studio where their father-son partnership — and their music — began.