The Next Interview Show

Doland White
  • 5.0 (5)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Each week, I pull back the curtain on what it really takes to lead at a higher level. Alongside my guests—expert leaders in their own right—I share modern strategies, hard-earned leadership insights, and real coaching scenarios drawn from the work I do with executives and teams across the country. No theory. No fluff. Just practical guidance you can put to work the moment the episode ends.

  1. 3d ago

    Make AI Work With a Clear Leadership Mindset | Doland White

    Your teams have AI tools. Can they explain what they’re trying to accomplish together? In this solo episode of The Next Interview, executive coach and author Doland White explores the leadership work that connects AI strategy to everyday decisions, team priorities, and coordinated execution. An instruction to “go implement AI” leaves a lot for your Directors and VPs to interpret. Without a clear business purpose, departments can build separate initiatives that pull the organization in different directions. Doland explains how leaders create common meaning so people understand both the intended outcome and why their own contribution matters. If you’re a Director, VP, Founder, or CEO responsible for AI adoption, this conversation gives you a practical place to begin. It connects executive leadership with the conversations teams need before they can act confidently. You’ll also hear five reflection questions covering strategic intent, leadership sense making, common meaning, connection to work, and coordinated direction. You’ll learn how to: • Clarify what AI should accomplish and what progress would look like. • Translate executive intent into priorities your team can use. • Check understanding instead of assuming agreement means alignment. • Connect departmental initiatives, decisions, and process dependencies. • Make progress visible so people can see how their work contributes. Start with one question at your next team meeting: “What are we trying to accomplish with AI, and what does that change about your priorities?” Listen for different interpretations and use them to decide what needs clarification. Estimated chapters — verify against the final recording: 00:00 Why AI implementation requires leadership 02:15 The Director and VP translation challenge 04:20 Why AI needs a meaningful business purpose 05:35 How disconnected initiatives deepen silos 07:25 Define strategic intent and visible progress 10:05 Leadership sense making 11:40 Create common meaning 13:55 Connect AI to decisions and priorities 16:20 Coordinate direction across departments 18:40 Review your scores and choose one action Subscribe to The Next Interview for practical leadership coaching and conversations that help you empower your team and lead with confidence. Share this episode with a leader implementing AI, and comment: Where does your strategy lose clarity? Hosted by Doland White, executive coach, author of Lead With Confidence®, and The Empowerment Guy. Explore Doland’s work: dolandwhite.com Order Lead With Confidence®: https://a.co/d/0hqSy7LA Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dolandwhite/ Tags leadership development, executive leadership, leadership coaching, business leadership, leadership mindset, The Next Interview, Doland White, AI leadership, AI implementation, AI readiness, strategic alignment, leadership communication, common meaning, AI adoption, team alignment, executive coaching, decision making, coordinated action, Lead With Confidence, organizational culture Hashtags #LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveLeadership #LeadershipCoaching #BusinessLeadership #TheNextInterview

    Make AI Work With a Clear Leadership Mindset | Doland White

  2. Sep 8

    Why Identity Comes Before Leadership Strategy | Cassandra Shea

    Your strategy may fail when an outdated identity builds it. Cassandra Shea, founder and Leadership Scaling Consultant at The Possibility Investor, explains why identity must come before strategy—and how that choice accelerates aligned growth. Directors, VPs, founders, and CEOs will connect Leadership Development, Executive Leadership, Leadership Coaching, Business Leadership, and Leadership Mindset to clearer decisions, communication, execution, Workplace Culture, Team Performance, and Accountability in the Workplace. • Future-cast your role before the plan. • Treat imposter syndrome as skill-gap data. • Test in short sprints; share the learning. Why identity first? It shapes what leaders see and choose. How can leaders make change practical? Test one future behavior and measure the signal. How do retrospectives build Leadership Trust? They make learning and commitments visible. 00:00 — Identity first | 13:30 — Imposter syndrome | 30:00 — Lead change | 54:30 — Learn and recalibrate Subscribe, follow, share, and comment with the identity your next season requires. Cassandra Shea — Founder, The Possibility Investor Website: possibilityinvestor.com LinkedIn: Cassandra Shea The Next Interview is hosted by Doland White, executive coach, author of Lead With Confidence®, and known as The Empowerment Guy. Each episode delivers practical insights, powerful stories, and bold conversations designed to help leaders empower their teams, accelerate growth, and lead with confidence. Visit dolandwhite.com/lwc and order your copy of Lead With Confidence® today.

    Why Identity Comes Before Leadership Strategy | Cassandra Shea

  3. Sep 1

    How Leaders Stop Being the Bottleneck | David Schnurman

    What happens when the leader who built the company becomes the person holding it back? David Schnurman, CEO of Lawline and author of 11 Suitcases, joins Doland White to explore the shift from founder dependency to shared leadership. It connects Leadership Development, Executive Leadership, Leadership Coaching, Business Leadership, and Leadership Mindset. This episode is for Directors, VPs, founders, and CEOs building a Workplace Culture of ownership. • Replace founder dependency with trusted leaders and priorities. • Use bounded experiments to strengthen Leadership Trust, Team Performance, and Accountability in the Workplace. • Write the future, then move before certainty arrives. Can a company scale if every decision depends on the founder? No—scale requires distributed leadership. How can leaders reduce fear? Take the smallest credible action that creates learning. 00:00 Fear and leadership | 10:20 The founder bottleneck | 22:10 Barcelona | 31:30 Bounded failure Subscribe, follow, share, and comment with the decision you need to release. David Schnurman — CEO, Lawline | lawline.com | linkedin.com/in/davidschnurman The Next Interview is hosted by Doland White, executive coach, author of Lead With Confidence®, and known as The Empowerment Guy. Each episode delivers practical insights, stories, and conversations designed to help leaders empower teams, accelerate growth, and lead with confidence. Visit: https://www.dolandwhite.com/lwc and order your copy of Lead With Confidence® today. Leadership Development; Executive Leadership; Leadership Coaching; Business Leadership; Leadership Mindset

    How Leaders Stop Being the Bottleneck | David Schnurman

  4. Aug 25

    Build a Team That Can Lead Without You | Mike DeJong

    The skills that made you successful can eventually make you the bottleneck. Entrepreneur, business coach, and Grow Smart author Mike DeJong joins Doland White to explore how Leadership Development turns individual capability into Leadership Trust, better Team Performance, and stronger accountability. If you're a Director, VP, Founder, or CEO who still owns too many decisions, this conversation challenges your Leadership Mindset. Executive Leadership isn't about remaining indispensable—it's about developing people capable of leading. • Identify whether you're operating as a Hunter, Architect, or GSD—and what capabilities your team needs around you. • Use clear guardrails to expand autonomy without abandoning Accountability in the Workplace. • Transfer small decisions first and expand authority as competence grows. • Hire people capable of becoming better than you at work you shouldn't continue owning. How do leaders stop being bottlenecks? Build people and systems that can make decisions without constant escalation. How do you improve Workplace Culture? Pair autonomy with clarity, coaching, and accountability. 00:00 Mike's leadership journey
 13:30 Becoming the bottleneck
 17:30 Three leadership styles
 29:30 Building leaders through guardrails Subscribe, follow, share, and comment for more Leadership Coaching and Business Leadership conversations. Mike DeJong — Entrepreneur, Business Coach & Author of Grow Smart: Your Path to Transformation
 Website: https://mikedejong.com/
 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikedejongspeaker/ The Next Interview is hosted by Doland White, executive coach, author of Lead With Confidence®, and known as The Empowerment Guy. Each episode delivers practical insights, powerful stories, and bold conversations designed to help leaders empower their teams, accelerate growth, and lead with confidence. Visit: https://www.dolandwhite.com/lwc and order your copy of Lead With Confidence® today.

    Build a Team That Can Lead Without You | Mike DeJong

  5. Aug 18

    How Great Leaders Build Trust Without Losing Accountability | David Guttman

    Putting people first doesn't mean lowering the bar. It may actually be one of the smartest ways to raise it. David Guttman is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and CEO mentor with more than 30 years of experience and multiple eight- and nine-figure business exits. In this episode of The Next Interview, David joins Doland White to challenge a common misconception about servant leadership: caring about people doesn't mean avoiding accountability. Their conversation explores Leadership Development, Executive Leadership, Leadership Coaching, Business Leadership, and the Leadership Mindset required to build Leadership Trust without sacrificing performance. They unpack how transparency strengthens Workplace Culture, why autonomy requires responsibility, and how better communication improves Team Performance and Accountability in the Workplace. If you're a Director, VP, Founder, or CEO trying to empower people while maintaining high standards, this episode is for you. • Give people context and ownership—not simply instructions. • Hire for curiosity and humility, not skills alone. • Practice strong opinions, loosely held. • Make accountability continuous so difficult conversations are never a surprise. Q: Does servant leadership mean being soft? No—strong servant leaders combine genuine care with clear expectations. Q: How do leaders build trust? Give people information, autonomy, and responsibility. Q: What strengthens accountability? Consistent, candid feedback before performance becomes a crisis. 00:00 David's journey and facing mortality 15:00 What servant leadership really means 24:00 Transparency, ownership, and trust 38:00 Accountability and difficult conversations Subscribe, follow, share, and comment with the leadership lesson you're putting into action. Guest: David Guttman — Serial Entrepreneur, Investor & CEO Mentor Website: https://www.guttmanmedia.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drguttman YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RealDaveGuttman The Next Interview is hosted by Doland White, executive coach, author of Lead With Confidence®, and known as The Empowerment Guy. Each episode delivers practical insights, powerful stories, and bold conversations designed to help leaders empower their teams, accelerate growth, and lead with confidence. Visit: https://www.dolandwhite.com/lwc and order your copy of Lead With Confidence® today.

    How Great Leaders Build Trust Without Losing Accountability | David Guttman

  6. Aug 11

    AI Fails in the Middle

    Your company chose AI. Now a Director must turn “go figure it out” into results. In Episode 100, executive coach and author Doland White explains why AI strategy succeeds or fails where executive leadership meets operational reality. Directors, VPs, founders, and CEOs will learn how leadership development, leadership coaching, business leadership, and a strong leadership mindset improve decision-making, communication, and execution while strengthening leadership trust, workplace culture, team performance, and accountability in the workplace. • Translate the directive into a clear outcome and defined scope. • Create trust and boundaries for responsible experimentation. • Return operational learning to senior leadership. Why do AI strategies fail? Teams cannot execute a mandate that means something different to everyone. How can leaders reduce resistance? Replace ambiguity with honest communication and clear boundaries. 00:00 Why AI fails in the middle
 08:20 AI reveals leadership problems
 16:05 Translate the directive
 23:30 Close the loop Subscribe, follow, share, and comment. Episode information:
Doland White — Executive coach and author
 Website: Https://www.dolandwhite.com Episode Worksheet: Https://www.dolandwhite.com/aifails LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dolandwhite/ About the Host The Next Interview is hosted by Doland White, executive coach, author of Lead With Confidence®. Each episode delivers practical insights, powerful stories, and bold conversations designed to help leaders empower their teams, accelerate growth, and lead with confidence. Visit www.dolandwhite.com/lwc and order your copy of Lead With Confidence® today.

    AI Fails in the Middle

  7. Jul 28

    Why Great Leaders Multiply People, Not Just Performance | Jim Huling

    What is the true measure of leadership success? According to The Four Disciplines of Execution co-author Jim Huling, it isn't your results—it's the leaders you develop. In Part 2 of this conversation, we explore trust, autonomy, leadership multiplication, and the legacy every great leader leaves behind. Most leaders focus on improving performance. The best leaders focus on multiplying people. In Part Two of this conversation on The Next Interview, executive coach, former CEO, and The Four Disciplines of Execution co-author Jim Huling explores what leadership looks like after the strategy is written and the goals are clear. Together, we discuss why leadership is ultimately measured by the growth of the people who follow you—not simply by the results you achieve. If you're a Director, Vice President, founder, or executive responsible for developing people, this episode offers a practical blueprint for Leadership Development, Executive Leadership, Leadership Coaching, and building a culture where trust, autonomy, and accountability create extraordinary Team Performance. Jim explains why every employee silently asks two questions every day: Am I doing work that matters? Does anybody care? Leaders who answer those questions well don't simply build successful organizations. They build leaders who continue multiplying long after they're gone. Key Insights • Leadership is measured by the growth of people—not simply organizational performance. • Recognition tells people what they did was valuable; leadership helps people believe they are valuable. • Great leaders solve fewer problems so their teams become better problem solvers. • Extraordinary organizations are built through trust, autonomy, and multiplication—not dependence. Leadership FAQ Q: What is the ultimate measure of leadership success? The growth of the people who follow you. Great leaders leave stronger leaders behind. Q: Why is autonomy so important? Because every time leaders solve every problem themselves, they unintentionally weaken their teams instead of strengthening them. Q: How do leaders create extraordinary team performance? By helping people believe their work matters, that they matter, and by creating an environment where discretionary effort becomes a choice rather than an obligation. Key Timestamps (Estimated) 00:00 — Every Employee Asks Two Questions Why meaning and human connection matter more than ever in leadership. 11:30 — Recognition vs. Value The difference between praising performance and helping people see their own worth. 23:00 — The Goal of Leadership Is Multiplication Why great leaders build leaders instead of followers. 35:00 — Why Autonomy Creates Better Organizations How solving every problem yourself slowly weakens your team. 46:30 — Viktor Frankl, Taking a Breath, and Leading with Intention Why transformational leadership begins in the space between stimulus and response. 57:00 — Jim's Next Book The fascinating idea of discretionary effort—and why some teams willingly give more than anyone can require. Call to Action If this episode challenged the way you think about Leadership Development and Executive Leadership, subscribe to The Next Interview, share this episode with another leader, and join the conversation. Every week we move leadership from entertainment into action. Guest Information Jim Huling Executive Coach • Former CEO • Co-author of The Four Disciplines of Execution LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimhuling/ Website: https://www.executioninsights.com/ About the Host The Next Interview is hosted by Doland White, executive coach, author of Lead With Confidence®, and known as The Empowerment Guy. Each episode delivers practical insights, powerful stories, and bold conversations designed to help leaders empower their teams, accelerate growth, and lead with confidence. Visit www.dolandwhite.com/lwc and order your copy of Lead With Confidence® today.

    Why Great Leaders Multiply People, Not Just Performance | Jim Huling

  8. Jul 21

    How Great Leaders Think in the Age of AI | Jim Huling

    Artificial intelligence is changing business faster than most organizations are prepared for—but technology isn't the competitive advantage. Leadership is. In this episode of The Next Interview, executive coach, former CEO, and The Four Disciplines of Execution co-author Jim Huling shares why the future of Executive Leadership depends less on mastering AI and more on strengthening the human qualities technology can never replace. Together, we explore how great leaders develop judgment, curiosity, authenticity, and wisdom while using AI as a strategic tool instead of a substitute for thinking. If you're a Director, Vice President, founder, or executive leading through rapid change, this conversation will challenge how you approach Leadership Development, decision-making, and the future of your organization. AI can increase speed and efficiency, but it cannot replace imagination, experience, or the ability to inspire people. The leaders who thrive won't simply adopt new technology—they'll become better thinkers because of it. Key Insights • Use AI to increase speed—not surrender your judgment. • Authentic leadership is replacing the old model of appearing invulnerable. • The best executive coaches develop better thinking rather than providing better answers. • Human creativity, wisdom, and imagination remain your greatest competitive advantage. Leadership FAQ Q: Can AI replace executive leadership? No. AI enhances productivity, but leadership still depends on human judgment, relationships, and wisdom. Q: What's the biggest leadership risk with AI? Allowing technology to replace independent thinking instead of strengthening it. Q: What skill will matter most in the AI era? The ability to think critically, make sound decisions, and inspire people through change. Key Timestamps 00:00 — Welcome to the Special Two-Part Series Doland introduces Jim Huling and explains why this conversation has been split into two episodes—starting with AI and leadership before moving into trust and people leadership next week. 03:30 — Jim Huling's Leadership Journey From CIO and CEO to FranklinCovey and executive coaching, Jim shares the experiences that shaped his philosophy of leadership and why helping others succeed has become his greatest joy. 10:45 — The Reality of Executive Leadership Why becoming the CEO is far different than most leaders imagine—and why authenticity has replaced the old "never let them see you sweat" model of leadership. 19:00 — AI Is a Tool—Not Your Judgment Jim explains why AI should accelerate thinking rather than replace it, and why leaders must guard against surrendering creativity, wisdom, and independent thought. 28:30 — The Hidden Cost of Over-Reliance on AI A coaching story illustrates what happens when leaders outsource their thinking instead of using AI to strengthen it. 36:00 — Leadership Requires Imagination Why the leaders who thrive in the AI era will be those who continue developing judgment, curiosity, and wisdom while embracing new technology. Call to Action If this conversation challenged the way you think about leadership, follow The Next Interview, subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, and share the episode with another leader. Join the conversation by leaving a comment with your biggest insight, and help us empower more leaders to navigate the future with confidence. Guest Information Jim Huling Executive Coach | Co-author of The Four Disciplines of Execution Website: https://www.executioninsights.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimhuling/ About the Host The Next Interview is hosted by Doland White, executive coach, author of Lead With Confidence®, and known as The Empowerment Guy. Each episode delivers practical insights, powerful stories, and bold conversations designed to help leaders empower their teams, accelerate growth, and lead with confidence. Visit www.dolandwhite.com/lwc and order your copy of Lead With Confidence® today.

    How Great Leaders Think in the Age of AI | Jim Huling
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About

Each week, I pull back the curtain on what it really takes to lead at a higher level. Alongside my guests—expert leaders in their own right—I share modern strategies, hard-earned leadership insights, and real coaching scenarios drawn from the work I do with executives and teams across the country. No theory. No fluff. Just practical guidance you can put to work the moment the episode ends.

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