The Adaptive Journey

Adaptive Leaders

5.0 (3)
Management

The Adaptive Journey is a podcast from Adaptive Leaders, a global team of leadership coaches, exploring how real leaders navigate change with Curiosity, Courage, and Care. Each episode is a candid conversation between practitioners who are living this work. Learn more and explore our resources at www.adaptiveleaders.com.

1d ago

Should Gen Z Be Mentoring You Instead? | 009

In this episode, executive coach and senior writer Albert Wolfe and Adaptive Leaders' Managing Director for India, Aditi Malik, dig into why leaders and their teams so often drive each other crazy, and what that friction actually reveals about leading through generational change. They trace India's demographic dividend, the irony that everyone believes their boss needs a coach but insists they don't need one themselves, and why the next generation is asking for purpose and "life-life balance" instead of the old rules. Albert and Aditi walk through how Curiosity, Courage, and Care apply directly to leading people who think and work differently than you do, including Albert's own "harness the wind" reframe for a team member who won't stop pushing back, and a connection to the EMMA framework (Expectations, Motivations, Measurements, Accountability) for anyone building out a team's performance system. Aditi Malik: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aditimalikarohan/ Music: "Majestic Sky" by Roman Dudchyk via Pixabayhttps://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-majestic-sky-medium-2-361091/ Try the Adaptive Leader Studio: https://studio.adaptiveleaders.com/ The Adaptive Journey is a podcast from Adaptive Leaders, a global team of leadership coaches helping individuals and organizations navigate change with Curiosity, Courage, and Care. Learn more and explore our resources at www.adaptiveleaders.com
Aug 9

"You Have to Drink to Do Business Here" Is a Myth | 008

In this episode, executive coach and senior writer Albert Wolfe sits down with Jonathan Cox, founder, CEO, and director of StratForms, who has spent over 25 years building brands in China -- from helping launch Tupperware there in 2002 to founding his own company 11 years ago. Jonathan talks through how Curiosity, Courage, and Care have shaped his journey, including the unscripted, personal story of why he quit drinking a decade ago to become a better leader, and how a 5 a.m. gym habit became one of his most important self-care tools. Learn more about Jonathan Cox: stratforms.com Music: "Majestic Sky" by Roman Dudchyk via Pixabayhttps://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-majestic-sky-medium-2-361091/ Try the Adaptive Leader Studio: https://studio.adaptiveleaders.com/ The Adaptive Journey is a podcast from Adaptive Leaders, a global team of leadership coaches helping individuals and organizations navigate change with Curiosity, Courage, and Care. Learn more and explore our resources at www.adaptiveleaders.com.
Aug 3

AI Developmental Debt with Dan Strode | 007

In this episode, executive coach and senior writer Albert Wolfe sits down with Daniel Strode, author of The Quiet Reckoning: The Transformation Blueprint for HR in the AI Age and keynote speaker, for a wide-ranging conversation on leading HR and people teams through the AI transformation. Dan introduces his concept of developmental debt -- the hidden cost organizations rack up when AI quietly strips away the repetitive, hands-on work that used to build great leaders and recruiters -- and walks through five shifts HR needs to make, from "work delegator" to "work designer" to "trust architect." Albert and Dan also swap stories on curiosity as a daily practice, why AI-driven cost-cutting keeps quietly backfiring (the Klarna and Air Canada stories), and why deliberately building in unstructured time to play might be one of the highest-leverage things a leader can do. They close on which of Adaptive Leaders' three C's of purposeful adaptivity -- Curiosity, Courage, and Care -- Dan is leaning into most right now. Learn more about Dan Strode: danielstrode.com | LinkedIn Get Dan's book, The Quiet Reckoning: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk Music: "Majestic Sky" by Roman Dudchyk via Pixabayhttps://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-majestic-sky-medium-2-361091/ Try the Adaptive Leader Studio: ⁠https://studio.adaptiveleaders.com/ The Adaptive Journey is a podcast from Adaptive Leaders, a global team of leadership coaches helping individuals and organizations navigate change with Curiosity, Courage, and Care. Learn more and explore our resources at www.adaptiveleaders.com.
Jul 29

Stop Playing, Start Conducting Your Team (The Leadership Orchestra Idea) | 006

In this episode, executive coach and senior writer Albert Wolfe and senior coach J.D. Whitney step back from their deep dives into each piece of the EMMA framework (Expectations, Motivations, Measurements, Accountability) to share an orchestra analogy: performance leadership is like conducting an orchestra. Both trained musicians themselves, they unpack why the conductor is the only person on stage not making a sound — and what that has to teach leaders about knowing when to put an instrument down. Albert and JD swap stories from music education, factory floors, and the C-suite to explore what makes someone stop playing and start conducting: recognizing what you need to stop doing, letting go of being the best at your old craft, and trusting your people to hit notes you can't hear. They close with a favorite quote from conductor Antal Dorati on what it really means to lead: to make an orchestra wish to play well. Try the Adaptive Leader Studio: https://studio.adaptiveleaders.com/ Read the original article: https://www.adaptiveleaders.com/blog/the-leader-as-orchestra-conductor/ Music: "Majestic Sky" by Roman Dudchyk via Pixabayhttps://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-majestic-sky-medium-2-361091/ The Adaptive Journey is a podcast from Adaptive Leaders, a global team of leadership coaches helping individuals and organizations navigate change with Curiosity, Courage, and Care. Learn more and explore our resources at www.adaptiveleaders.com.
Jul 23

Can Clarifying Expectations Make People Like You More? (Expectation Gaps) | 005

In this episode, executive coach and senior writer Albert Wolfe and senior coach J.D. Whitney close out their series on the EMMA framework (Expectations, Motivations, Measurements, Accountability) by tackling its foundation: Expectations. They unpack why the accountability pain leaders feel almost always traces back upstream to unclear expectations, and share a simple adaptive leadership hack — asking "what if the exact opposite were true?" — for surfacing the assumptions that keep expectations vague. Albert and JD explore how expectations go well beyond job performance, covering behavior norms, communication, and collaboration, and why the wider those expectation gaps grow, the more painful accountability becomes. They close with how Curiosity, Courage, and Care can help any leader get specific about what they expect, without damaging the relationship along the way. Try the Adaptive Leader Studio: https://studio.adaptiveleaders.com/ Read the original article: https://www.adaptiveleaders.com/blog/3cs-and-expectations-emma-step-1/ Music: "Majestic Sky" by Roman Dudchyk via Pixabay https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-majestic-sky-medium-2-361091/ The Adaptive Journey is a podcast from Adaptive Leaders, a global team of leadership coaches helping individuals and organizations navigate change with Curiosity, Courage, and Care. Learn more and explore our resources at www.adaptiveleaders.com.
Jul 17

"Give Me a Bigger Puzzle" (Motivations Gaps) | 004

In this episode, executive coach and senior writer Albert Wolfe and senior coach J.D. Whitney tackle the second step of the EMMA model (Expectations, Motivations, Measurements, Accountability): motivations. They open with a striking stat from their own client data: when people are asked how many of their own top five motivators their direct supervisor actually knows, the average answer is two. Albert and JD trade stories, from a family reading-time experiment at home to a senior AI engineer whose real ask wasn't more money but "a bigger puzzle," to show just how individualized motivation really is. The conversation covers why pay and promotion function as hygiene factors rather than true motivators (they can drive someone to leave, but they won't drive someone to perform), how to run a real motivations conversation using Adaptive Leaders' free assessment and conversation map, and how Curiosity, Courage, and Care can help any leader get past the fear of asking and start closing the motivations gap on their team. Try the Performance Leadership Studio: https://studio.adaptiveleaders.com/ Take the free Work Motivations Profile: https://assessment.adaptiveleaders.com/motivational-diagnostic/?lang=en&type=SINGLE_MOTIVATIONAL_DIAGNOSTIC Music: "Majestic Sky" by Roman Dudchyk via Pixabay https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-majestic-sky-medium-2-361091/ The Adaptive Journey is a podcast from Adaptive Leaders, a global team of leadership coaches helping individuals and organizations navigate change with Curiosity, Courage, and Care. Learn more and explore our resources at www.adaptiveleaders.com.
Jul 10

Does Your Team Know They're Winning? (Measurement Gaps) | 003

In this episode, executive coach and senior writer Albert Wolfe and senior coach J.D. Whitney ask a deceptively simple question: does your team actually know if they're winning? Drawing on real client stories from sales, tech, and manufacturing, they dig into Measurements, the third piece of their EMMA (Expectations, Motivations, Measurements, Accountability) performance leadership model, and unpack why the word "measurement" triggers such a polarizing reaction in people. The conversation covers the difference between the one or two KPIs that define winning and the Drivers (the specific, controllable behaviors) that move them, how to turn soft skills like collaboration into something trackable, and the two biggest barriers leaders hit when trying to measure what matters. They close on how Curiosity, Courage, and Care can help any leader build a scoreboard their team trusts instead of resents. Try the Performance Leadership Studio: https://studio.adaptiveleaders.com/ Read the original article: https://www.adaptiveleaders.com/blog/3cs-measurements-emma-step-3/ Music: "Majestic Sky" by Roman Dudchyk via Pixabayhttps://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-majestic-sky-medium-2-361091/ The Adaptive Journey is a podcast from Adaptive Leaders, a global team of leadership coaches helping individuals and organizations navigate change with Curiosity, Courage, and Care. Learn more and explore our resources at www.adaptiveleaders.com.
Jul 3

Accountability Gaps | 002

In this episode, executive coach and senior writer Albert Wolfe and senior coach J.D. Whitney dig into the accountability gap: the space between what leaders assume is happening on their teams and what's actually happening. Drawing on Gallup and Hogan research on leadership competencies, they unpack why accountability is consistently the hardest of these to get right, and why it pays off disproportionately when leaders do. The conversation covers the fourth pillar of the EMMA model (Expectations, Motivations, Measurements, Accountability): the difference between bad Accountability (blindsiding, disproportionate reactions) and good accountability, and how Curiosity, Courage, and Care can help any leader turn accountability into an act of care that builds trust and performance. Read the original article: https://www.adaptiveleaders.com/blog/the-accountability-gap/ Music: "Majestic Sky" by Roman Dudchyk via Pixabay https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-majestic-sky-medium-2-361091/ The Adaptive Journey is a podcast from Adaptive Leaders, a global team of leadership coaches helping individuals and organizations navigate change with Curiosity, Courage, and Care. Learn more and explore our resources at www.adaptiveleaders.com.
Jun 26

The Quiet Skills Nobody Promotes You For | 001

In this episode, executive coach and senior writer Albert Wolfe and senior coach J.D. Whitney react to new research from Hogan Assessments revealing a striking disconnect: the five things that get leaders promoted globally have zero overlap with what employees say they actually want from their leaders. Drawing on decades of coaching experience across industries and continents, Albert and J.D. unpack what this means for leaders who want to do both, get ahead and lead their teams well. The conversation covers accountability, the 360 demands of leadership, and how Curiosity, Courage, and Care can help any leader close the gap. Music: "Majestic Sky" by Roman Dudchyk via Pixabay https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-majestic-sky-medium-2-361091/ The Adaptive Journey is a podcast from Adaptive Leaders, a global team of leadership coaches helping individuals and organizations navigate change with Curiosity, Courage, and Care. Learn more and explore our resources at www.adaptiveleaders.com.

9 Episodes

5

out of 5

3 Ratings

The Adaptive Journey is a podcast from Adaptive Leaders, a global team of leadership coaches, exploring how real leaders navigate change with Curiosity, Courage, and Care. Each episode is a candid conversation between practitioners who are living this work. Learn more and explore our resources at www.adaptiveleaders.com.

Creator

Adaptive Leaders
Years Active

2026
Episodes

9
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© Adaptive Leaders
Show Website

The Adaptive Journey