The Change Agent Podcast

The Change Agent Podcast
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Society & Culture
  • Updated Weekly

THE CHANGE AGENT PODCAST Most leadership content is built around the assumption that you have time to reflect, space to course-correct, and a margin for error. This show is for when you don't. The Change Agent is a podcast about leadership in consequential environments where the decisions are hard, the resources are never enough, and getting it wrong means something. Guests aren't theorists. They're operators: people who have actually led through the mess; through failed projects, fractured teams, missed windows, and moments where the only path forward ran straight through the thing they were most afraid to do. Every episode is a real conversation about the real work. Not what the textbook says. Not what the keynote sounds like. What it actually took to hold the line, move the team, and deliver on something that mattered. You'll hear from people who've commanded units under fire and people who've rebuilt cultures from near collapse. From project managers who turned around initiatives written off as lost causes, to executives who've had to make calls that couldn't be undone. What they share isn't a framework. It's the thing they learned after the framework stopped working. The conversation is practical and intentionlly though provoking. We talk about how leaders make decisions when information is incomplete, how you maintain credibility when things are falling apart around you, and what good communication looks like in an environment where trust is thin and stakes are high. How you hold a team together when the mission feels impossible and what you take away from it when you get to the other side. If you've ever led something that genuinely mattered and felt the weight of that, this podcast will feel like a conversation you didn't know you needed. If you're still building toward that kind of leadership this is the map that doesn't get handed out in class. The Change Agent Podcast is hosted by Eric Adams, an experienced leader with more than 26 years in combat, commercial, and senior level leadership experience. His work has been centered in high-pressure, mission-critical environments spanning complex operations, geospatial intelligence programs, and organizational change. He holds the PMP and SAFe Agile certifications. New episodes drop regularly. Subscribe wherever you listen, and if an episode hits, share it with someone in the thick of it. The work continues so stay tuned and make sure you subscribe! Our Website: https://www.thechangeagent.studio Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/thechangeagentpodcast/posts YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheChangeAgentPodcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-change-agent-podcast/id1794550342 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4LoAakYrrg60ld766wKqto?si=OjaQfNF9RbiRH1GCzxOtsw

  1. Jul 20 ·  Video

    Negotiating Ukraine's Economic Future - Dr. Roman Sheremeta

    Dr. Roman Sheremeta, the behavioral economist on Ukraine's National Recovery Council, joins The Change Agent Podcast on rebuilding a country's economy while the war is still being fought. He chairs economics at Case Western Reserve University, ran American University Kyiv through the invasion's opening weeks, and studies the game theory behind Russia's nuclear threats. Consider subscribing and leaving a review helps the show find more people who need to hear it. Sheremeta's path started with chess. Playing semi-professionally as a kid in Ukraine sparked a curiosity about strategic decision making that grew into a career in game theory and behavioral economics. He won the Smith Budding Genius Award, was named a top economist by Forbes, and made the 40 Under 40 list from Poets and Quants. Those credentials got Ukrainian officials calling, first under Poroshenko, later onto Zelensky's advisory board once the war began. In late 2021, he and his wife left a tenured life in Cleveland to open American University Kyiv, which opened its doors in February 2022. Three weeks later, Kyiv was bombed. He talks about a faculty member trapped in Sumy with two disabled parents and no way out, and a live TV interview hours before the invasion where he argued Russia would never attack. As a behavioral economist studying overconfidence and self-confirmation bias, he fell for both himself. The talk then turns to the front lines, where he delivered aid near Kherson, sat in a command center shelled soon after his visit, and lost three friends to the war, one later named a Hero of Ukraine. He talks about going from a bunker to a lecture hall in the same week, why it left him both harsher and more compassionate, and breaks down Russia's nuclear game theory and what his research found about the one message that gets civilians to evacuate a war zone. 00:00 Introduction 06:21 The pull to return home to Ukraine 14:32 Missed signals before the full-scale invasion 23:42 Delivering aid to soldiers on the front line 30:55 How war experience reshaped his teaching 39:37 Where Ukraine's recovery council falls short 45:20 The nudge that actually saved evacuees 51:02 Funding oversight and rebuilding without corruption Dr. Roman Sheremeta's LinkedIn Dr. Sheremeta's Profile at Case Western Our Stuff Our website Patreon Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram Facebook Music licensed via Soundstripe Song: Memory State Artist: REMEDEE ContentID: E58NJX0UONWIEUQU

    Negotiating Ukraine's Economic Future - Dr. Roman Sheremeta

  2. Jul 15 ·  Video

    Cancer Survivor's Invincible Comeback - Roni Millard and Eric Adams at The Change Agent Podcast

    Roni Millard survived executive burnout and breast cancer to build a career on psychological safety and executive wellness. Once one of Australia's Top 50 CMOs, a diagnosis at 44 forced her to rebuild everything she believed about success, and she joins host Eric Adams to break down what it actually takes to lead without burning out. If this conversation resonates with you, subscribing and leaving a review helps the show reach people who need it. Roni was CMO at Equifax and Cuscal when her body was already sending warning signs for nearly a decade: anemia, high cholesterol from processed food eaten at her desk, fertility struggles, and a bone fracture at 39 that revealed osteoporosis usually seen decades later. None of it stopped her, until cancer did. She and Eric talk about treating that diagnosis as something that happened for her rather than to her, the Everlab research showing executives carry worse biomarkers than the people they manage, and how she now tells whether a company's wellbeing program is real or just cover for a lawsuit. Her forthcoming book, Invincible, comes straight out of that reckoning, and she closes with a two column exercise anyone can use to spot what is draining their energy and what is giving it back. 00:00 Introduction 06:42 A decade of ignored warning signs 13:03 Why the diagnosis happened for her 18:04 The executive biomarker research 25:06 How high pressure cultures punish self care 50:35 A two column exercise to reclaim your energy Roni Millard LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roni-millard/ Roni Millard Website: https://thewellbeing-edge.com/ Our Stuff KICKSTARTER: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thechangeagent/amplify-ukraine Our website: https://www.thechangeagent.studio Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheChangeAgentPodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheChangeAgentPodcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-change-agent-podcast/id1794550342 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4LoAakYrrg60ld766wKqto?si=OjaQfNF9RbiRH1GCzxOtsw Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thechangeagentpodcast?igsh=OXRoZmp5Z2FhdjJm Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1WtowvBVkr/?mibextid=wwXIfr Music @Soundstripe Artist: Vanessa Campagna Song: Life is Tough (But So Are You) ContentID: ZKBEMCMB2K1VCQOD

    Cancer Survivor's Invincible Comeback - Roni Millard and Eric Adams at The Change Agent Podcast

  3. Jul 6

    Healing Ukraine's Next Generation - Artem Mazur - CEO Kids of Ukraine

    Artem Mazur, founder of Kids of Ukraine, talks with Eric about children's mental health support in wartime Ukraine, from a bomb shelter idea in the first weeks of the full scale invasion to a nationwide network of trauma care centers four years later. On episode 35, Artem explains what it takes to keep that work funded and effective when the crisis has no clear end date. If this one hits home, subscribing and leaving a review helps the show reach people who need it. Artem walks Eric through the earliest days of Kids of Ukraine, when a group of business partners in a bomb shelter began organizing humanitarian convoys into Lviv. That effort became the Sviti program, now running in four cities and offering trauma informed care, art therapy, and counseling to children carrying the weight of war. He explains why the organization treats mothers as central to a child's recovery, not an afterthought. A therapy and photography initiative called Talk to Me Body helps women who have spent years in survival mode remember who they are outside of it. The centers stay small by design. Artem explains why healing does not scale the way people assume, and how his team tracks recovery through questionnaires taken at intake and every six months. Kids of Ukraine is now partnering with Georgetown University on a multi year study of what works for children living through a full scale war, data few organizations anywhere have. Artem describes bringing children to meet veterans there and watching them connect without hesitation, something adults rarely manage as easily. It says more about Ukraine's civil society than any statistic could. 00:00 Introduction 05:44 How the program helps mothers heal 10:52 Why healing works best in small groups 16:24 Partnering with Georgetown to measure impact 22:18 Bringing wounded veterans and children together 27:41 Scaling support for veterans and their kids 33:58 Preventing burnout among the care teams 40:15 Funding as the biggest barrier to growth 46:06 Healing through nature in the Carpathians 52:39 How to support a child for $21 Please support Kids of Ukraine. Kids of Ukraine Website: https://kidsofua.org/ Our Stuff Our website: https://www.thechangeagent.studio Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheChangeAgentPodcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-change-agent-podcast/id1794550342 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4LoAakYrrg60ld766wKqto?si=OjaQfNF9RbiRH1GCzxOtsw Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thechangeagentpodcast?igsh=OXRoZmp5Z2FhdjJm Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1WtowvBVkr/?mibextid=wwXIfr Music licensed via Soundstripe Song: Moonlight Artist: Lone Canyon ContentID: F33GBKJZZLVTLXFN

    Healing Ukraine's Next Generation - Artem Mazur - CEO Kids of Ukraine

  4. Jul 5

    Healing Ukraine's Next Generation - Artem Mazur and Kids of Ukraine

    Artem Mazur, founder of Kids of Ukraine, talks with Eric about children's mental health support in wartime Ukraine, from a bomb shelter idea in the first weeks of the full scale invasion to a nationwide network of trauma care centers four years later. On episode 35, Artem explains what it takes to keep that work funded and effective when the crisis has no clear end date. If this one hits home, subscribing and leaving a review helps the show reach people who need it. Artem walks Eric through the earliest days of Kids of Ukraine, when a group of business partners in a bomb shelter began organizing humanitarian convoys into Lviv. That effort became the Sviti program, now running in four cities and offering trauma informed care, art therapy, and counseling to children carrying the weight of war. He explains why the organization treats mothers as central to a child's recovery, not an afterthought. A therapy and photography initiative called Talk to Me Body helps women who have spent years in survival mode remember who they are outside of it. The centers stay small by design. Artem explains why healing does not scale the way people assume, and how his team tracks recovery through questionnaires taken at intake and every six months. Kids of Ukraine is now partnering with Georgetown University on a multi year study of what works for children living through a full scale war, data few organizations anywhere have. Artem describes bringing children to meet veterans there and watching them connect without hesitation, something adults rarely manage as easily. It says more about Ukraine's civil society than any statistic could. 00:00 Introduction 05:44 How the program helps mothers heal 10:52 Why healing works best in small groups 16:24 Partnering with Georgetown to measure impact 22:18 Bringing wounded veterans and children together 27:41 Scaling support for veterans and their kids 33:58 Preventing burnout among the care teams 40:15 Funding as the biggest barrier to growth 46:06 Healing through nature in the Carpathians 52:39 How to support a child for $21 Please support Kids of Ukraine. Kids of Ukraine Website: https://kidsofua.org/ Our Stuff Our website: https://www.thechangeagent.studio Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheChangeAgentPodcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-change-agent-podcast/id1794550342 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4LoAakYrrg60ld766wKqto?si=OjaQfNF9RbiRH1GCzxOtsw Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thechangeagentpodcast?igsh=OXRoZmp5Z2FhdjJm Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1WtowvBVkr/?mibextid=wwXIfr Music licensed via Soundstripe Song: Moonlight Artist: Lone Canyon ContentID: F33GBKJZZLVTLXFN

    Healing Ukraine's Next Generation - Artem Mazur and Kids of Ukraine

  5. May 26

    Ukraine's Hidden Resistance - Amber French Griette and The Change Agent Podcast

    Amber French-Griette leads the Organization for Nonviolent Movements in France and has spent more than a decade studying how ordinary people defend freedom without weapons. In this episode she breaks down the discipline behind that work, what over 420 documented nonviolent tactics look like in practice, and why Ukraine's civilian resistance is not a footnote to its military campaign but a second channel of power operating alongside it. She talks through the inaugural issue of the journal Across Fault Lines, published in partnership with Columbia University Press, which makes the case that Europe is leaving real power on the table by not understanding what Ukraine's civic shield is actually doing. The conversation also goes into what leadership feels like eight months into building an organization at the edge of a conflict, working across defense circles where these ideas are still far from mainstream. Hit play if you want a different frame for understanding what is happening in Ukraine. 00:00 Introduction 00:55 How the war in Ukraine reshaped ONM's work 02:34 Defining strategic nonviolent conflict and unarmed civilian defense 05:21 Ukraine's civilian resistance beyond the battlefield 10:16 The 420 documented tactics and how they function 17:25 Preserving Ukrainian cultural heritage as frontline defense 21:14 Across Fault Lines: the inaugural journal and its arguments 28:23 Oleksandra Matviichuk and the human dimension of the war 33:23 Partnering with the countering violent extremism world 47:01 Leading an early-stage organization with a large mission 54:52 How ONM measures impact and what success looks like Amber French-Griette LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amber-french-griette Amber French-Griette at ICNC: https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/contributor/amber-french/ Organization for Nonviolent Movements: https://nonviolent-movements.org/ Our Stuff Our website: https://www.thechangeagent.studio Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheChangeAgentPodcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-change-agent-podcast/id1794550342 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4LoAakYrrg60ld766wKqto?si=OjaQfNF9RbiRH1GCzxOtsw Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thechangeagentpodcast?igsh=OXRoZmp5Z2FhdjJm Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1WtowvBVkr/?mibextid=wwXIfr Music licensed via Soundstripe Song: Healed Artist: Cody Martin ContentID: OGHSFOKWVFH214LU

    Ukraine's Hidden Resistance - Amber French Griette and The Change Agent Podcast

  6. May 22

    Mothers Still Waiting - Ukraine - Mariam Lambert and The Emile Foundation - The Change Agent Podcast

    The Emile Foundation works two cases: 48 infants from the Kherson orphanage and children with disabilities from the Oleshky boarding school, all with living relatives waiting, in many cases without a word, for years. Finding one child can take two months or several years. The Russians are the only ones who can authorise a release. Every country, every institution failed these children. One recent peace proposal offered armistice with no accountability for war crimes. Treating oil access as a higher priority than stolen children is not diplomacy. Childhood has an expiry date. That lands differently once you have heard a mother describe finding a single memory, a ballet lesson her daughter half-remembered, to convince a child she was her mother. 00:00 Introduction 05:10 From volunteer to full-time: the moment Mariam chose this life 10:00 What it costs to walk away from security for a cause 15:30 The scale of Russia's child deportation operation 20:45 How the crime extended to teachers, nurses, and businesses 25:00 The Emile Foundation's two pilot cases and the return process 30:00 What families go through while they wait 36:00 The international community: an honest assessment 42:30 Peace deals, accountability, and why armistice without justice fails victims 48:30 The Seven Women Seven Lives campaign and the mothers still waiting 54:30 Why return and justice must run in parallel 57:00 How Mariam stays in it Mariam Lambert LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariam-lambert-43527a3a/ Emile Foundation Website: https://emilefoundation.org/ Our Stuff Our website: https://www.thechangeagent.studio Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheChangeAgentPodcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-change-agent-podcast/id1794550342 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4LoAakYrrg60ld766wKqto?si=OjaQfNF9RbiRH1GCzxOtsw Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thechangeagentpodcast?igsh=OXRoZmp5Z2FhdjJm Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1WtowvBVkr/?mibextid=wwXIfr Music licensed via Soundstripe Song: Winds of Change Artist: Four Trees ContentID: RKQSKSJCG9XNSTHB

    Mothers Still Waiting - Ukraine - Mariam Lambert and The Emile Foundation - The Change Agent Podcast

  7. May 19

    The Blueprint for Change - Wani Iris Manly

    Wani Iris Manly is an attorney, keynote speaker, and strategic advisor who left a successful law career in Miami to start over in Paris with no contacts, no plan, and no certainty about what came next. In this episode, she explains why most organizations misread resistance as a process problem when it is actually a fear of identity loss, and what leaders should do about it. She walks through her six-part Change Blueprint framework, shares the self-destructive pattern she sees most often in high achievers, and argues that change is a skillset to be built rather than an event to manage. Her closing message is one she developed on the streets of Paris when she had nothing but the decision she had made: success is inevitable, but only if you stop making failure an option. If you are leading people through uncertainty right now, this one is worth your time. Wani Iris Manly Strategic Advisory: https://wanimanly.com/strategic-advisory/ Wani Iris Manly LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wani-iris-manly-esq-44510a5a/ Our Stuff Our website: https://www.thechangeagent.studio Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheChangeAgentPodcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-change-agent-podcast/id1794550342 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4LoAakYrrg60ld766wKqto?si=OjaQfNF9RbiRH1GCzxOtsw Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thechangeagentpodcast?igsh=OXRoZmp5Z2FhdjJm Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1WtowvBVkr/?mibextid=wwXIfr Music licensed via Soundstripe Song: Studied Abroad Artist: Neon Beach ContentID: TMU3DXXJUIZOODH2

    The Blueprint for Change - Wani Iris Manly

  8. Apr 28

    Dr. Kevin Mays - Upgrade Your Leadership

    Dr. Kevin Mays returns to The Change Agent Podcast for a third conversation, and this one gets uncomfortably honest. The episode explores why capable leaders crack under pressure, why authority becomes a trap, and what the inner work of real leadership actually demands. Dr. Mays draws on his new book, Upgrade Your Leadership, to explain the neuroscience behind reactive behavior and the practices that can change it. If this conversation makes you think differently about how you show up as a leader, subscribing and leaving a review helps the show reach more people who need it. The conversation opens with a question Dr. Mays keeps encountering: why do high performers fail the moment they have to lead people? Their identity is built around being right. That attachment blocks curiosity, breeds reactivity, and creates a blind spot no framework fixes. He introduces the robot brain and the caveman brain to explain how neural programming formed in early childhood gets reactivated under pressure decades later, producing the anger and defensiveness that leaders mistake for strength. Disengagement in an organization is a mirror. If people are checked out and the person at the top is pointing fingers, they are looking in the wrong direction. The fear that building capable, independent people makes you redundant is just the old scripting running the show again. The episode closes with the one discipline everything else depends on: presence. Two minutes of focused breathing, done consistently, rewires the circuitry. That is where the upgrade begins 00:00 Introduction and context 05:30 Self-awareness as the prerequisite for leadership 10:07 The genius brain and the caveman brain explained 17:44 Pressure exposes what frameworks cannot fix 22:13 Emotional regulation as a daily practice, not a moment skill 29:00 Why authority produces diminishing returns 33:15 The fear behind failing to develop other leaders 38:00 Executive presence and the practice of presence 46:07 Control masquerading as responsibility 52:00 Planting seeds and the inside job of leadership Dr. Kevin Mays Website: https://www.upgradeyourleadership.com Dr. Kevin Mays Website: https://maysleadership.com/ Dr. Kevin Mays LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-kevin-mays Our Stuff Our website: https://www.thechangeagent.studio Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheChangeAgentPodcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-change-agent-podcast/id1794550342 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4LoAakYrrg60ld766wKqto?si=OjaQfNF9RbiRH1GCzxOtsw Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thechangeagentpodcast?igsh=OXRoZmp5Z2FhdjJm Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1WtowvBVkr/?mibextid=wwXIfr Music licensed via Soundstripe Song: Studied Abroad Artist: Neon Beach ContentID: NEKHIFV6MKWF7OVE

    Dr. Kevin Mays - Upgrade Your Leadership
See All (57)

About

THE CHANGE AGENT PODCAST Most leadership content is built around the assumption that you have time to reflect, space to course-correct, and a margin for error. This show is for when you don't. The Change Agent is a podcast about leadership in consequential environments where the decisions are hard, the resources are never enough, and getting it wrong means something. Guests aren't theorists. They're operators: people who have actually led through the mess; through failed projects, fractured teams, missed windows, and moments where the only path forward ran straight through the thing they were most afraid to do. Every episode is a real conversation about the real work. Not what the textbook says. Not what the keynote sounds like. What it actually took to hold the line, move the team, and deliver on something that mattered. You'll hear from people who've commanded units under fire and people who've rebuilt cultures from near collapse. From project managers who turned around initiatives written off as lost causes, to executives who've had to make calls that couldn't be undone. What they share isn't a framework. It's the thing they learned after the framework stopped working. The conversation is practical and intentionlly though provoking. We talk about how leaders make decisions when information is incomplete, how you maintain credibility when things are falling apart around you, and what good communication looks like in an environment where trust is thin and stakes are high. How you hold a team together when the mission feels impossible and what you take away from it when you get to the other side. If you've ever led something that genuinely mattered and felt the weight of that, this podcast will feel like a conversation you didn't know you needed. If you're still building toward that kind of leadership this is the map that doesn't get handed out in class. The Change Agent Podcast is hosted by Eric Adams, an experienced leader with more than 26 years in combat, commercial, and senior level leadership experience. His work has been centered in high-pressure, mission-critical environments spanning complex operations, geospatial intelligence programs, and organizational change. He holds the PMP and SAFe Agile certifications. New episodes drop regularly. Subscribe wherever you listen, and if an episode hits, share it with someone in the thick of it. The work continues so stay tuned and make sure you subscribe! Our Website: https://www.thechangeagent.studio Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/thechangeagentpodcast/posts YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheChangeAgentPodcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-change-agent-podcast/id1794550342 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4LoAakYrrg60ld766wKqto?si=OjaQfNF9RbiRH1GCzxOtsw

Information

  • Creator
    The Change Agent Podcast
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    57
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Change Agent Podcast
  • Show Website
    The Change Agent Podcast