A Geek Leader Podcast - inspiring technical and creative leaders around the world

John Rouda: technical leader, author, speaker, educator

The ultimate podcast for aspiring leaders in the creative or technology fields. John Rouda discusses leadership topics, interviews some of the greatest minds today and teaches you practical leadership tips, techniques, tricks and hacks to improve motivation, negotiation, and other much needed skills for leaders today.

  1. 13h ago

    AGL 479: Uma Subramanian on The Sought After Leader

    About Uma Uma Subramanian founded Limitless Leaders to help mid-career tech professionals become confident leaders who inspire trust, build influence, and drive meaningful impact in their careers. With over two decades of experience in the tech industry, including a 20-year tenure at Microsoft, she understands the challenges of stepping into leadership roles, gaining recognition, and thriving in today’s fast-paced workplace. Uma is on a mission to build a community of empowered, sought-after leaders in tech. Her coaching programs provide the mindset, tools, and strategies needed to lead authentically, think strategically, and achieve measurable success—without sacrificing personal well-being. By blending practical strategies with actionable insights, she helps professionals grow into impactful leaders who inspire teams and deliver results. Her expertise spans communication, emotional intelligence, and strategic leadership, enabling her clients to lead with clarity and purpose. Uma brings deep expertise through certifications in Executive Coaching, DISC Behavioral Analysis, and the Corporate Facilitator Program from Maxwell Leadership. She has also completed advanced training in Positive Psychology, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), and Coaching for Leaders through Seattle Coach. Outside of work, Uma is a proud mom of two teenagers and a beloved dog. She enjoys exploring personal development books, traveling to new destinations, and dancing to the vibrant beats of Bollywood music. Uma is deeply committed to balancing a fulfilling career with family life and inspiring others to live with purpose and intention. Today We Talked About Time at Microsoft Individual contributor to Manager Work on yourself first Leadership Coaching Perception Gap Hardwork isn’t enough SOAR Framework Strategic Impact Outstanding Communication and Influence Authroity and Personal Brand Relationship The Value you bring vs. the Value others see Communicate the Value Evaluate the Value Connect with Uma LinkedIn Website Book Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

  2. Jul 17

    AGL 478: Chris Miller on Taxes

    About Chris Chris Miller is the Founder and CEO of One Atlanta Tax Solutions, a firm dedicated to delivering advanced tax strategies for accredited investors, business owners, and high-income professionals. A Certified Tax and Business Advisor (CTBA) with over 16 years of experience, Chris has focused his career on entrepreneurship and tax mitigation—helping clients legally reduce tax exposure while improving overall capital efficiency. Chris built One Atlanta Tax Solutions to address a structural gap in traditional tax planning, where most advisors focus on reactive strategy rather than proactive strategy. Under his leadership, the firm specializes in institutional-grade solutions designed to reduce tax liability and optimize capital deployment, including leveraged charitable structures, alternative investment strategies, and advanced tax mitigation frameworks. He works closely with a national network of CPAs, financial advisors, and strategic partners to source, structure, and implement high-impact opportunities. His approach is centered on preserving client capital and repositioning it for more efficient long-term outcomes. Chris remains actively involved in client strategy, partner development, and firm growth, and has positioned One Atlanta Tax Solutions as a resource for individuals seeking solutions beyond conventional tax planning. Today We Talked About Background Tax savings Big Beautiful Bill Taxes Bonus Planning ahead Exit Strategies W2 strategies 1 year of planning for FREE! (mention you heard about it on A Geek Leader) AI Connect With Chris LinkedIn Website Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

  3. Jul 10

    AGL 477: Chris Hallberg

    About Chris Chris’s passion is helping entrepreneurs achieve their vision by enabling them to get more of what they want from their businesses. He does this by transforming the traditional business mindset into a more disciplined, execution-focused, military-inspired approach. Having spent nine years in military and civilian law enforcement roles—leading others at a young age—he draws on the best of his leadership training and real-world experience across both military and business environments. He is currently authoring his first book, The Business Sergeant’s Field Manual: Military-Grade Business Execution Without All the Yelling and Push-Ups. In it, he outlines a practical framework for building high-performance teams that “re-enlist” every quarter by embracing a structured leadership style and implementing a simple, proven business operating system that keeps all aspects of the organization aligned. At the core of his approach is EOS® (the Entrepreneurial Operating System), created by Gino Wickman. He considers EOS the “silver bullet” for business execution. EOS is a comprehensive, proven system that integrates a holistic business model with a complete set of simple tools designed to align and synchronize every part of an organization—helping businesses achieve the results they’ve always wanted. More than 5,000 companies have used EOS to take their organizations to the next level. Through EOS, leadership teams experience: Vision: Ensuring everyone in the organization is 100% aligned on where the company is going and how it will get there. Traction: Building discipline and accountability so teams consistently execute on that vision. Healthy: Creating a cohesive, functional leadership team—because great organizations require leaders who truly work well together. Today We Talked About Background Military Service Agentic AI EOS – Entrepreneurial Operating System Vision Values Mission Goals Rocks Long-term Issues People right people in the right seats Data What are your metrics?  Weekly, Monthly, Yearly Issues 7 Day Action Items Process Traction Bring the vision down GoExpand – AI Connect with Chris Business Sargent LinkedIn GoExpand Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

  4. Jun 26

    AGL 475: Marissa McCourry

    About Marissa Marissa is an executive coach and leadership development expert who coaches high-achieving senior leaders in need of external perspective. Her career spans academia, consulting, and corporate leadership, giving her a well-rounded point of view on how leaders are groomed and supported for the future. She has designed executive education programs at Thunderbird School of Global Management and the University of Arizona, built large-scale experiential and simulation-based leadership programs with BTS (a global consulting firm), and led enterprise-wide talent and leadership strategies as Director of Global Leadership Development at Vanguard and Visa. Through her firm, mFluence Coaching & Consulting, Marissa partners with leaders to translate insight into action—helping them adopt new mindsets, shift behaviors, and achieve measurable results in both their professional and personal lives. She measures success by her clients’ breakthroughs: the “aha” moments that lead to lasting change. What sets Marissa apart is her ability to bring three lenses to every engagement: academic rigor (for proven, evidence-based science), external consulting expertise, and firsthand corporate experience developing senior leaders. She understands leadership theory and how it works in real organizational life when the rubber meets the road. Today We Talked About Background Leadership Emotional Intelligence What Coaches don’t do What Coaches do EQ Assessments Happiness Improving your EQ Self-Awareness Connect With Marissa LinkedIn Website Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

  5. Jun 19

    AGL 474: Louis Carter

    About Louise Louis Carter is the founder and CEO of Most Loved Workplace® and Best Practice Institute. He’s an organizational psychologist who helps leaders understand what actually makes people love where they work — and how that shows up in performance, reputation, and results. Louis created the Love of Workplace Index™ and SPARK™ framework, which use real employee sentiment and behavioral data to measure trust, respect, and emotional connection at work. His research powers the annual Most Loved Workplaces® rankings featured in The Wall Street Journal and The Economist. Beyond research, Louis builds and advises AI-enabled platforms that translate culture into real-world signals used by leaders, candidates, and modern search and AI systems. He’s the author of In Great Company and a frequent voice on leadership, culture, and the future of work. Today We Talked About Background Most Loved Workplace Volunteering together Culture Equality – know everyone’s name SPARK Love of Workplace Index Courage and Bravery No Brainer Hire In Great Company Fear is a learned behavior Ask for what you want 100% of the time Let go of what you think you know… Mistakes leaders make What you feed, becomes your culture…. acountability Rules Team vs. Family Ray Williams – Springfield Clinic story Doing the right thing Problems are on your shoulders…make peace with that. VISAPAGE Connect with Louise Company Books Website LinkedIn Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

  6. Jun 12

    AGL 473: Dustin Domerese

    About Dustin Dustin Domerese is a thought leader and technology innovator within the Microsoft ecosystem. He delivers his vast technical experience in the CRM, ERP, and Software Development industries to business leaders, end-users, and technical leaders throughout the community. Working for Barclays, EMC2, HP, and Microsoft before his founding of multiple companies has provided a wealth of industry knowledge and expertise. Dustin is a consultant for over three hundred companies across various industries; he is a senior software developer and public speaker. As an entrepreneur, he has founded multiple technology companies in different sectors. As a technology innovator Dustin has trained and worked with hundreds of partners in the Microsoft, SAP, Oracle, and Salesforce ecosystems. His company, Dynamic Consultants Group, has been a finalist in the Microsoft partner channel awards for empowering the Microsoft partner community and advises their clients on all things digital transformation and technology. Dustin has been a speaker worldwide, presenting many technology-focused sessions with Microsoft. As his hobby, Dustin is an accomplished musician, outdoor enthusiast, and a mostly terrible golfer. Today We Talked About Background Digital Transformation Processes and Mistakes Growth Companies Rescue Companies Software selection process Failure to Launch… Clear Requirements Live in a 90 day world Connect with Dustin LinkedIn Website Book   Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

  7. Jun 5

    AGL 472: Ryan Vet

    About Ryan Ryan Vet is a USA Today bestselling author, generational futurist, keynote speaker, and entrepreneur with more than twenty years of experience at the intersection of leadership, technology, and organizational change. He began his entrepreneurial journey as a teenager, legally forming his first company at the courthouse alongside his father. That moment set the tone for everything that followed. Ryan has always believed that building something real requires doing it right, and that commitment to disciplined execution has defined his career. Over the next two decades, Ryan built and scaled businesses across industries, leading organizations from pre-revenue through large-scale operations. He served as President of a company that reached a valuation of over $750 million. He has navigated successful ventures and failed ones, and he is candid about both — because the failures are as instructive as the wins, often more so. Ryan’s operating experience gave him an unusual vantage point: he managed multi-generational teams at scale, in real time, under real pressure. He watched the fractures that form when different generational values collide in hiring, communication, technology adoption, and organizational culture. And he watched those fractures cost companies in ways that never appeared on the P&L. It was in those environments that Ryan developed the frameworks that now anchor his work. The Velocity Gap describes the distance between how fast organizations change and how fast the people inside them can adapt. The Generational Pendulum explains how each generation’s characteristics are a direct response to the generation that raised them. The Generational Prism provides a practical model for leaders who must communicate and lead effectively across fundamentally different value systems. Not in theory, but on Monday morning. Ryan had been writing, researching, and speaking alongside his operating career for years. After a successful exit from a startup in 2021, he devoted his full energy to this work, driven by the conviction that the highest-leverage contribution he could make was not another company, but the synthesis of twenty years of practitioner experience offered to the leaders who need it most. Today, Ryan speaks to corporate leadership teams, HR and L&D organizations, healthcare systems, financial services firms, associations, and universities across 45+ states and four continents. He is a USA Today bestselling author and has been featured in Forbes, ABC, and NBC. He writes the Collide newsletter on generational leadership and the future of work. Ryan continues to manage a portfolio of companies including real estate investment, hospitality, and software ventures. He holds limited partner positions in venture capital funds and is an active angel investor, maintaining his practitioner’s edge not as a credential, but as a discipline. His work as a generational futurist and keynote speaker is grounded in a simple conviction: the organizations that will lead the next decade are not the ones with the best strategy. They are the ones that figure out how to get five generations of people to work toward the same thing. Today We Talked About Background AI for future workforce What is “Not” going to change because of AI Cognative Errosion spell check GPS what’s next ? Removing friction from life 7 factors that make the generational pendilum swing slower Echo chambers Benefits of tech Boundaries History Connect with Ryan LinkedIn Website Books Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

4.9
out of 5
48 Ratings

About

The ultimate podcast for aspiring leaders in the creative or technology fields. John Rouda discusses leadership topics, interviews some of the greatest minds today and teaches you practical leadership tips, techniques, tricks and hacks to improve motivation, negotiation, and other much needed skills for leaders today.