Leadership in Quarters: Leadership and Culture Insights

"Trust isn't a soft skill, it's the foundation of great relationships, and great relationships are the key to success." In this episode of Leadership in Quarters, host Josh Seldin sits down with executive coach, keynote speaker, and author Ken Sher to explore how leaders can build authentic trust, transform organizational culture, and drive peak team performance. Drawing from 30 years of experience developing leaders at Johnson & Johnson and Bristol Myers Squibb, Ken breaks down his actionable TRUST Success Model. He reveals why transparency in chaotic times builds unshakeable credibility, how to satisfy core human psychological needs, and why autonomy is the ultimate demonstration of executive trust. In this deep dive into modern organizational health, you'll discover: ✅ The TRUST Success Model: A practical 5-part framework—Transparency, Results, Understanding, Simplicity, and Teams—to elevate leadership performance. ✅ Soft Skill vs. Core Foundation: Why trust drives tangible business outcomes despite being hard to measure. ✅ Leading Through Uncertainty: How being vulnerable and transparent during high-stakes disruption builds team buy-in. ✅ Self-Determination Theory in Action: Supporting the 3 basic human needs—Autonomy, Relatedness, and Competence—to eliminate micromanagement. ✅ Spotting Trust in Hiring: How to evaluate EQ, self-awareness, and cultural fit during executive interviews. ✅ High-Trust Organizational Markers: What healthy, autonomous, and high-performing teams look like from the inside out. TIMESTAMPS & CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Introduction: Welcome Ken Sher to Leadership in Quarters 01:10 - What is the TRUST Success Model? Lessons from Johnson & Johnson 02:50 - Is Trust Really a "Soft Skill"? Measuring Its Business Impact 04:15 - Transparency in Crisis: Communicating When You Don't Have All the Answers 07:10 - Ego, Vulnerability, and Building Real Credibility as a Leader 08:25 - The Breakdown of the TRUST Acronym: Results, Understanding, Simplicity, Teams 10:45 - Autonomy vs. Micromanagement: Giving Teams Room to Execute 12:00 - Self-Determination Theory: Meeting the 3 Core Human Needs at Work 14:35 - What a High-Trust Culture Looks Like from the Outside 17:00 - Constructive Conflict: Why Healthy Teams Challenge Ideas 18:20 - Hiring for Trust: Uncovering EQ and Authenticity in Interviews 20:15 - Final Takeaways & How to Connect with Ken Sher 🔗 Connect with Ken Sher: Website: https://www.kensher.com/ Book: What's Trust Got to Do With It?: Transforming Leadership, Culture, and the Job Search LinkedIn: / kensher Facebook: / shercoaching IG: / shercoaching 📬 Contact Josh: [email protected] 📱 Follow Leadership in Quarters: @leadinquarters on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok Artwork: Adam Powell #KenSher #TRUSTSuccessModel #LeadershipDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture #ExecutiveCoaching #AutonomyInLeadership #JoshSeldin #LeadershipInQuarters #YourGrowthAscent

"We listen to respond, we don't listen to understand." In this episode of Leadership in Quarters, host Josh Seldin sits down with award-winning personality strategist, keynote speaker, and bestselling author Angel Tucker to break down how leaders and sales professionals can translate personality intelligence into instant trust, psychological safety, and meaningful connection. With nearly 30 years of experience helping organizations like Walmart, Exit Realty, and the U.S. Air Force, Angel shares her proprietary GLOW Connection Method—a simple, repeatable four-step framework designed to eliminate friction, speed-read behavioral cues, and adapt your communication style without losing your authenticity. In this masterclass on behavioral intelligence and human connection, you'll discover: ✅ The GLOW Connection Method: How Gain awareness, Lock on, Operate accordingly, and Win the connection transforms workplace communication. ✅ Speed-Reading Personality Cues: Micro-signals in handshakes, speech pace, and pauses that reveal DISC personality types in under 60 seconds. ✅ Moving Beyond Mechanical Active Listening: Shifting focus from repeating content to understanding context, cognitive pace, and emotional bandwidth. ✅ The Authenticity Myth: Why adapting your style to speak someone else's "personality language" is the ultimate form of courtesy, not being fake. ✅ Redefining "Winning" in Leadership: How to create forward-moving alignment where both parties feel understood, respected, and valued. ✅ Decoding DISC Behavior under Stress: How Dominant, Inspiring, Supportive, and Conscientious types process problems, build trust, and make decisions. TIMESTAMPS & CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Introduction: Welcome Personality Strategist Angel Tucker 01:10 - Introducing the GLOW Connection Method: G-L-O-W Breakdown 03:00 - Traditional Active Listening vs. True Personality Intelligence 04:15 - Overcoming Modern Distractions & Consciously Paying Attention 05:30 - Speed-Reading People: Decoding Speech Pace & Handshakes in 60 Seconds 08:20 - Locking On to What Others Need: D vs. I Interaction Styles 09:45 - The Authenticity Trap: Why Adapting Your Style Isn't Being Fake 11:55 - Miscommunications & The "Blow It Off" Lesson 13:40 - Redefining "Winning" the Connection: Trust vs. Transactions 16:10 - Moving from Assumed Alignment to True Interactive Buy-In 17:40 - How D, I, S, and C Personality Types Signal Trust 19:15 - The Neuroscience & Psychological Safety of Aligned Interactions 20:45 - Applying Personality Intelligence at Home & Final Takeaways 🔗 Connect with Angel Tucker: Website: https://personalityspeaker.com Book: Stop Squatting With Your Spurs On 📬 Contact Josh: [email protected] 📱 Follow Leadership in Quarters: @leadinquarters on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok Artwork: Adam Powell #AngelTucker #PersonalityIntelligence #GLOWMethod #LeadershipDevelopment #DISCProfile #ExecutiveCoaching #ActiveListening #CommunicationSkills #JoshSeldin #LeadershipInQuarters

"Experience tells you where they've been, readiness tells you where they can go." In this episode of Leadership in Quarters, host Josh Seldin sits down with Logan Yonavjak, Co-founder and CEO of The Readiness Engine, to explore how modern organizations can move beyond traditional personality assessments and start quantitatively measuring human capacity, emotional resilience, and leadership potential in an increasingly AI-driven workforce. With over two years of experience moving hundreds of millions in institutional capital across climate strategies and holding an MBA and MF from Yale, Logan shares how quantitative linguistics, developmental psychology, and AI-driven transcript analysis can illuminate hidden behavioral patterns, eliminate unconscious hiring biases, and help leaders build higher-performing, more adaptable teams. In this masterclass on modern leadership intelligence, you'll discover: ✅ The Limits of Traditional Assessments: Why Myers-Briggs, personality profiles, and EQ tests miss critical markers of leadership capability. ✅ Personality vs. Behaviors vs. Capacity: How to distinguish between self-reported preference masks, situational behaviors, and a leader's true operating system. ✅ Overcoming the 40% Promotion Failure Rate: Why technical high achievers often struggle when transitioning into people leadership roles, and how objective data prevents burnout. ✅ AI as a Technical Tool & Human Skill Catalyst: How automating execution-based tasks elevates the strategic need for developmental capacity, active listening, and relationship-building. ✅ Quantitative Linguistics & Transcript Analytics: How objective sentence structure analysis uncovers a leader’s ability to manage complexity without relying on tone or sentiment. ✅ Assessing True Coachability: How to evaluate a team member's willingness to adapt, accept direct feedback, and stretch beyond their current comfort zones. TIMESTAMPS & CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Introduction: Welcome Logan Yonavjak to Leadership in Quarters 01:10 - Defining Leadership Capacity vs. Personality & Behaviors 03:40 - Measuring Development through Quantitative Linguistics & Transcript Data 05:15 - Moving Beyond Experience: Predicting Where Leaders Can Go Next 06:50 - Why 40% of Promotions Fail: Unconscious Bias & System Overload 09:20 - Augmenting Human Decision-Making to Reduce Leadership Fatigue 11:35 - Rebranding "Soft Skills" in an AI-Driven Business Environment 14:10 - Extracting Objective Data Across Diverse Communication Styles 16:25 - Measuring Coachability & Navigating the Discomfort of Growth 18:50 - Overcoming Ego in Self-Assessments: How Third-Party Data Creates Clarity 22:10 - Ripping Off the Band-Aid: Building Feedback Cultures & Psychological Safety 25:00 - Final Takeaways & Where to Connect with Logan Yonavjak 🔗 Connect with Logan Yonavjak: Website: https://www.readinessengine.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loganyonavjak LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/readinessengine 📬 Contact Josh: [email protected] 📱 Follow Leadership in Quarters: @leadinquarters on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok Artwork: Adam Powell #LoganYonavjak #LeadershipInQuarters #LeadershipReadiness #HumanCapacity #PeopleAnalytics #AIandLeadership #DevelopmentalPsychology #ExecutiveCoaching #JoshSeldin #YourGrowthAscent

"Everyone has a strategy until chaos hits, then people revert to their default training." In this episode of Leadership in Quarters, host Josh Seldin sits down with leadership consultant, executive coach, and US Army infantry veteran Ed Brzychcy to explore how leaders can close the gap between having a plan and executing when everything is on the line. Drawing from 12 years in the US Army, including three combat deployments to Iraq, Ed breaks down why business strategy taught in boardrooms breaks down under pressure, how centralizing command creates operational bottlenecks, and how to build a resilient execution culture that thrives through ambiguity, crisis, and change. In this masterclass on modern leadership execution, you'll discover: ✅ The Intent-to-Execution Gap: Why knowing strategy on paper fails during high-pressure chaos and how to build trained operational reflexes. ✅ Military vs. Business Training: Shifting from an "execute always" mindset to baking deliberate practice and scenario playgrounds into daily operations. ✅ The PACE Planning Framework: Implementing Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency plans to navigate unexpected operational friction. ✅ Eliminating the Bottleneck Trap: How over-centralizing decisions drives executive burnout, limits team autonomy, and slows growth. ✅ Leading vs. Lagging Metrics: How to read early warning indicators before operational breakdowns show up on lagging dashboards. ✅ Diagnosing System Breakdowns: Differentiating between process failures, people challenges, and structural misalignment to fix root causes. TIMESTAMPS & CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Introduction: Welcome Ed Brzychcy to Leadership in Quarters 01:10 - The Intent-to-Execution Gap: Why Good Plans Fail Under Chaos 03:00 - Military vs. Business: Training for Mayhem vs. Just Executing 05:15 - Building "Playgrounds" for Safe Failure & Developing True EQ 07:40 - Leading Indicators & Early Warnings: Cultivating Open Communication 10:20 - Eliminating the Bottleneck: Why Centralized Command Drives Burnout 12:50 - Interview Red Flags: Assessing an Organization’s Execution Culture 15:15 - Leading vs. Lagging Metrics: Shifting from Reactive to Proactive 17:30 - Leadership Comfort Zones & Adapting Styles in Times of Crisis 20:45 - The PACE Framework: Primary, Alternate, Contingency & Emergency Planning 24:10 - Leveraging Peer Networks & Breaking Down Cross-Functional Silos 26:50 - Diagnosing Operational Failure: Is it People, Process, or Strategy? 30:15 - Aligning Organizational Incentives for Sustainable Execution 🔗 Connect with Ed Brzychcy: Website: www.ebmeridian.com Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ebrzychcy 📬 Contact Josh: [email protected] 📱 Follow Leadership in Quarters: @leadinquarters on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok Artwork: Adam Powell #EdBrzychcy #MilitaryLeadership #StrategyExecution #LeadershipDevelopment #BusinessOperations #PACEFramework #ExecutiveCoaching #JoshSeldin #YourGrowthAscent

"Humanizing leadership isn't about being less professional—it's about acknowledging that the person leading is actually still a person." In this episode of Leadership in Quarters, host Josh Seldin sits down with executive psychotherapist, faculty lecturer, and business owner Tanna Brodbar to explore how leaders can break free from corporate detachment, manage high-stakes pressures, and show up authentically without compromising accountability. Drawing from over 25 years of experience across finance, technology, risk management, and clinical psychotherapy, Tanna exposes the unspoken psychological toll of climbing the corporate ladder. She breaks down the critical distinction between containing emotions versus denying them, revealing how standard workplace coping mechanisms can quietly fuel executive burnout. In this masterclass on leadership dynamics, you'll discover: ✅ Containing vs. Denying Emotion: How to process executive anxiety and stress without unloading burdens onto your team. ✅ The "Severance" Effect: Why attempting to compartmentalize work and personal identity creates defensive, unsustainable leadership habits. ✅ Defenses Rewarded as Strengths: Recognizing how perfectionism, over-intellectualization, and data reliance mask underlying leadership vulnerabilities. ✅ Cultivating Curiosity Over Judgment: How adopting a curious mindset diffuses team defensiveness and deepens strategic feedback conversations. ✅ Psychological Safety & Accountability: Why human-centered leaders build stronger trust and higher team performance than traditional command-and-control executives. ✅ Role Modeling Authentic Leadership: Practical steps for setting healthy professional boundaries while giving your team permission to be human. TIMESTAMPS & CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Introduction: Welcome Tanna Brodbar to Leadership in Quarters 01:30 - Defining "Humanizing Leadership" in Modern Business 03:00 - The Myth of Leaving Emotions at the Door (The Severance Effect) 05:30 - Containing vs. Denying Emotions under High Pressure 07:45 - How Dehumanization Shapes Senior Executive Identity 09:10 - Recognizing Defensive Mechanisms: Intellectualization & Perfectionism 12:15 - Why Corporate Culture Rewards Maladaptive Coping Strategies 14:05 - Using Curiosity to Navigate Defensive Team Dynamics 17:35 - Balancing Authentic Human Connection with Professional Boundaries 21:10 - How Humanized Leadership Drives Real Business Accountability 23:40 - Final Takeaways & Where to Connect with Tanna Brodbar 🔗 Connect with Tanna Brodbar: Percepta Leadership: https://perceptaleadership.com For Psychotherapy Services: https://perceptaleadership.com/psychotherapy-for-professionals/ Center for Applied Psychodynamics: https://perceptaleadership.com/center-for-applied-psychodynamics/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tannabrodbar 📬 Contact Josh: [email protected] 📱 Follow Leadership in Quarters: @leadinquarters on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok Artwork: Adam Powell #TannaBrodbar #HumanizingLeadership #ExecutiveCoaching #LeadershipDevelopment #Psychodynamics #MentalHealthInLeadership #CorporateCulture #JoshSeldin #YourGrowthAscent