Unlock Your Leadership, with Dr Gary Crotaz, PhD

Dr Gary Crotaz PhD
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Management
  • Updated Weekly

Meet the world’s greatest leadership thinkers with executive coach and author Dr Gary Crotaz. In each episode, Gary sits down with global experts — from CEOs to behavioural scientists, authors to changemakers — to explore the ideas shaping modern leadership. Through deep, engaging conversations, you’ll unlock practical insights to lead with clarity, confidence and humanity. From the creator of The Unlock Moment and The Box of Keys, Unlock Your Leadership is your invitation to think bigger, lead wiser, and grow deeper.

  1. 6d ago

    59 What Immigrant-Founded Businesses Teach Us About Resilience: Neri Karra Sillaman on Building Companies That Last

    Close to half of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants. Eighty per cent of billion-dollar startups have an immigrant founder or executive. And businesses founded by immigrants statistically outlast the ones founded by everybody else.   Nobody had properly asked why ... until Dr Neri Karra Sillaman did.   Neri stood at a border at the age of eleven with her nine-year-old brother and her parents, who carried two suitcases and nothing else. She is now a professor at Oxford, the founder of a global luxury brand, and the winner of the Thinkers50 Radar award for the world's most promising emerging management thinker.   In this episode, Neri takes me inside the research behind her book Pioneers ... eight principles she found in the founders of Chobani, Moderna and Calendly, none of whom put profit first. We talk about why the usual paths are often closed to outsiders and what they build instead, why raising money too early can kill a company before it starts, and what happened when the war in Ukraine hit her own business ... and Prada picked up the phone.   Twenty years ago, in a seminar room in London, Neri was told that altruism is not real in business. This is what she found out. Unlock Your Leadership is hosted by Dr Gary Crotaz, PhD — executive coach, speaker and award-winning author. From the creator of The Unlock Moment and The Box of Keys, this show brings you conversations with the world’s greatest leadership thinkers. Follow, subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts — and connect with Dr Gary on LinkedIn for more leadership insights. Part of The Unlock Moment podcast family.

  2. Sep 26

    58 Cognitive Sovereignty: Mohan Nair on How Not To Lose Your Mind In An AI-Obsessed Era

    Every day, most of us drive around the car park of our own brain looking for the closest possible space ... the easiest answer, the fastest shortcut, the machine that will do the thinking for us. Mohan Nair thinks that habit is costing us something we haven't begun to measure.   Mohan is a speaker, author and transformation leader who has spent decades working at the intersection of business, innovation and human experience, as CEO of Emerge, former Chief Innovation Officer at Cambia Health Solutions, and an adjunct professor at Kellogg. He is also a musician, a former TV talk show host, and, by his own description, the first healthcare executive to audition and lose at America's Got Talent.   In this episode, Mohan takes me inside his new book Unreachable, and his argument that insight is biological, not technological ... something a machine can describe but never feel. We talk about the three signs you have become AI-obsessed, why editing your work is a different act from creating it, what "inconvenient learning" is and why the best leaders are forged by it, and the story of a ninety million dollar contract that turned on his refusing to hear a demand literally, which is exactly what AI would have done.   It started with a teacher telling a sixteen-year-old boy he was a disgrace to his family. What Mohan did with that moment ... and what he thinks all of us must now do to stay human in an age of intelligent machines ... is the heart of this conversation. Unlock Your Leadership is hosted by Dr Gary Crotaz, PhD — executive coach, speaker and award-winning author. From the creator of The Unlock Moment and The Box of Keys, this show brings you conversations with the world’s greatest leadership thinkers. Follow, subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts — and connect with Dr Gary on LinkedIn for more leadership insights. Part of The Unlock Moment podcast family.

  3. Sep 2

    57 The Seismic Shift: Michelle Johnston on How Connection Unlocks Purpose

    What happens when success comes at the cost of authenticity?   In this episode of The Unlock Moment, I’m joined by Dr Michelle K. Johnston - Distinguished Professor of Management, executive coach, and co-author with Marshall Goldsmith - to explore the moment that reshaped her leadership, her research, and her life.   At just 28, Michelle was a rising academic star. But sitting alone in her office, reading student feedback she found hurtful, she realised something profound: she was succeeding by pretending to be someone she wasn’t. In trying to fit a command-and-control mould, she had silenced the very strengths that made her exceptional … her warmth, enthusiasm, and humanity.   That moment sparked a seismic internal shift. One that led Michelle to a lifelong exploration of connection: with self, with others, and with the courage required to show up authentically in environments where you feel different or alone.   We talk about growing up constantly adapting, why connection always begins within, the loneliness that often accompanies deep personal change, and why productivity without connection ultimately leads to emptiness. Michelle also shares the core ideas behind her new book The Seismic Shift in You, including why leaders must move from task to people, from control to connection, and why your calendar reveals your true priorities.   This conversation is a powerful reminder that leadership transformation doesn’t start in the boardroom … it starts inside us. If you’ve ever felt like you were performing instead of belonging, this episode will meet you exactly where you are. Unlock Your Leadership is hosted by Dr Gary Crotaz, PhD — executive coach, speaker and award-winning author. From the creator of The Unlock Moment and The Box of Keys, this show brings you conversations with the world’s greatest leadership thinkers. Follow, subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts — and connect with Dr Gary on LinkedIn for more leadership insights. Part of The Unlock Moment podcast family.

  4. Feb 11

    56 Taking Responsibility Before Authority: Tim Lupinacci on How Leadership Really Begins

    Some leadership lessons are learned through achievement. Others are learned when things go wrong … and you choose how to respond.   For Tim Lupinacci, Chairman and CEO of Baker Donelson, one of the United States’ leading law firms, that lesson came early. A late night, a costly mistake, and a leader who chose to see potential rather than failure reshaped how Tim understood responsibility, growth, and what leadership really asks of us.   In this episode of Unlock Your Leadership, Tim reflects on ownership under pressure, showing up when it’s uncomfortable, and how leaders shape their environment through what he calls their “leadership aroma” - the emotional and behavioural residue they leave behind.   He shares practical insight into building trust, creating psychological safety, and sustaining resilience in uncertain times, especially when leaders don’t yet have all the answers.   This conversation is a reminder that leadership isn’t triggered by title or promotion. It begins with how you choose to show up … especially when it would be easier not to. Unlock Your Leadership is hosted by Dr Gary Crotaz, PhD — executive coach, speaker and award-winning author. From the creator of The Unlock Moment and The Box of Keys, this show brings you conversations with the world’s greatest leadership thinkers. Follow, subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts — and connect with Dr Gary on LinkedIn for more leadership insights. Part of The Unlock Moment podcast family.

  5. Feb 4

    55 Leading Culture Intentionally: James D. White and Krista White on What Leaders Must Design

    In organisations where culture is discussed constantly but felt inconsistently, one reality matters more than any slogan: culture is shaped by what leaders choose to design … and what they leave to chance.   James and Krista White bring two generations of leadership perspective to this challenge. James draws on decades advising and leading at the highest levels of global organisations. Krista works at the intersection of purpose, strategy, and social impact. Together, they co-authored Culture by Design, a practical framework for building organisations that are intentional, human, and built to perform over time.   In this episode of Unlock Your Leadership, we explore what it really takes to make culture operational. James and Krista discuss leading across generations, empathy as a core leadership capability, and how leaders close the gap between stated values and everyday experience.   This conversation is a reminder that culture isn’t something leaders inherit or delegate. It’s something they create - moment by moment, decision by decision - through what they model, reinforce, and choose to prioritise. Unlock Your Leadership is hosted by Dr Gary Crotaz, PhD — executive coach, speaker and award-winning author. From the creator of The Unlock Moment and The Box of Keys, this show brings you conversations with the world’s greatest leadership thinkers. Follow, subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts — and connect with Dr Gary on LinkedIn for more leadership insights. Part of The Unlock Moment podcast family.

  6. Jan 28

    54 Leading Conflict Without Losing Yourself: Adam Vane on Self-Mastery Under Pressure

    Some leadership challenges don’t announce themselves gently. They arrive charged, emotional, and already in motion.   For executive coach and conflict mediator Adam Vane, learning how to lead in those moments began far from the boardroom. After leaving the family business, Adam spent years in intensive Zen training, where a moment of stark clarity reshaped how he understood responsibility, self-regulation, and choice under pressure.   In this episode of Unlock Your Leadership, Adam translates that insight into practical leadership skill. He shares how leaders can stay steady when emotions run high, recognise the words that escalate conflict, and guide difficult conversations from confrontation toward understanding and progress.   Drawing on experience from UN crisis zones to high-stakes executive environments, Adam shows that effective conflict leadership isn’t about dominance or control … it’s about presence, attention, and the discipline to listen when it would be easier to react. This conversation is for leaders who want to handle conflict without losing themselves — and turn moments of tension into moments of leadership. Unlock Your Leadership is hosted by Dr Gary Crotaz, PhD — executive coach, speaker and award-winning author. From the creator of The Unlock Moment and The Box of Keys, this show brings you conversations with the world’s greatest leadership thinkers. Follow, subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts — and connect with Dr Gary on LinkedIn for more leadership insights. Part of The Unlock Moment podcast family.

  7. Jan 21

    53 Building Cultures That Truly Perform: Garry Ridge on Trust, Care, and Accountability

    Some leadership lessons come from frameworks and strategy. Others arrive unexpectedly … in a quiet moment that fundamentally reshapes how you lead.   For Garry Ridge, former CEO and Chairman Emeritus of WD-40, that moment changed how he understood culture, accountability, and what leaders are truly responsible for. In this episode of Unlock Your Leadership, Garry reflects on what matters most when you’re shaping an environment where people can learn, contribute, and perform at their best.   Drawing on decades of experience, Garry explores servant leadership, psychological safety, and why fear shuts down growth long before performance suffers. He unpacks the real intent behind his provocatively titled book Any Dumb Ass Can Do It, and explains why effective leadership isn’t about brilliance or charisma … but about care, consistency, and courage, practised daily.   This conversation is a practical reminder that leadership is revealed less by what you control, and more by how you show up - and the conditions you create for others to do their best work. Unlock Your Leadership is hosted by Dr Gary Crotaz, PhD — executive coach, speaker and award-winning author. From the creator of The Unlock Moment and The Box of Keys, this show brings you conversations with the world’s greatest leadership thinkers. Follow, subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts — and connect with Dr Gary on LinkedIn for more leadership insights. Part of The Unlock Moment podcast family.

  8. 11/09/2025

    52 Beyond Networking: David Homan on Orchestrating Human Connection in Leadership

    In this episode of Unlock Your Leadership, Dr Gary Crotaz speaks with David Homan — founder of Orchestrated Connecting, relationship strategist, and champion of building deep, authentic human networks. David shares his philosophy of orchestration — the idea that true connection isn’t transactional, it’s intentional. He and Gary explore how leaders can move beyond surface-level networking to cultivate relationships built on trust, empathy, and shared purpose. They discuss how connection drives influence, why generosity is the foundation of great leadership, and how to create ecosystems where collaboration feels natural, not forced. It’s a rich, soulful conversation about the future of human connection in leadership — and how to lead not by collecting contacts, but by creating communities that thrive. Originally recorded for The Unlock Moment podcast. Unlock Your Leadership is hosted by Dr Gary Crotaz, PhD — executive coach, speaker and award-winning author. From the creator of The Unlock Moment and The Box of Keys, this show brings you conversations with the world’s greatest leadership thinkers. Follow, subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts — and connect with Dr Gary on LinkedIn for more leadership insights. Part of The Unlock Moment podcast family.

See All (59)

About

Meet the world’s greatest leadership thinkers with executive coach and author Dr Gary Crotaz. In each episode, Gary sits down with global experts — from CEOs to behavioural scientists, authors to changemakers — to explore the ideas shaping modern leadership. Through deep, engaging conversations, you’ll unlock practical insights to lead with clarity, confidence and humanity. From the creator of The Unlock Moment and The Box of Keys, Unlock Your Leadership is your invitation to think bigger, lead wiser, and grow deeper.

Information