Missing Conversations

Altus Growth Partners
  • 4.5 (15)
  • Business
  • Updated Weekly

How do you create extraordinary and meaningful outcomes that take care of people, your organization and the future you care about? We at Altus believe all results, those that you want and those that you don't, are generated by conversations. When conversations are missing, people and results suffer—learning to see the missing conversations is where to begin. Helping you and your teams have the right conversations with the right people to get the results you desire is what Altus is all about. Through in-depth interviews with incredible guests, we explore the power and practices of conversations. In each interview, you'll learn how to see the missing conversations to enhance your leadership influence and impact and ignite a world of difference, one conversation at a time. If you're aiming for bold change and growing your leadership, teams and organization to create extraordinary results, we want to talk to you! Schedule your confidential conversation. altusgrowth.com/contact.

  1. 6d ago

    Episode #86: Visibility at Work: How Leaders Create Space for Every Person's Unique Contribution

    Your people decide every day how much of themselves to bring to work. What helps them choose to show up fully, and be seen fully as members of your team? In this episode of Missing Conversations, Altus Growth Partners executive coaches Dan Winter, Steven Jones, and Lara Guille guide leaders through that question with insight drawn from their own lives and work, from the career advice Dan once received to "go become invisible," to Steven's early career leading a minority affairs office, to Lara's deep interest in how people become visible to themselves and to others. Together, they explore why capable people hold back, how psychological safety and visibility connect, and how dissent can become a unique contribution. Listen now for practices that equip your team to show up fully and grow stronger together. Key Moments You'll Want to Hear 03:53: Invisibility at work: what it looks like and what it costs. 05:50: Why capable people may choose to stay unseen. 09:19: Leaders as explorers: the curiosity that transforms organizations, systems and society. 11:43: A CFO's standout answer, and what it teaches every executive team. 13:06: The best question you can ask a colleague: How do you like to work? 17:19: How leading with excitement and honoring your unique contribution expands what's possible for the team. 22:22: Dissent as contribution: why a different view, offered with care, makes teams stronger. 25:38: The biggest team breakdowns: the missing conversation and the pressure to have every answer right away. 30:08: Making room for opportunity: staying open to possibilities in whatever form they arrive. 31:23: Connecting psychological safety and visibility by asking, "How am I contributing to this system?" 33:46: The somatics of visibility and how recognizing contraction invites voices to come forward. 36:53: The story you tell yourself shapes the actions you take, including whether you choose to be visible. 39:20: Practices to try this week to help your team become more visible. By the end of this conversation, you'll hear answers to: Why do capable people choose to stay invisible at work?  Altus executive coach Lara Guille sees two patterns. Some people haven't yet realized they're holding back. Others, especially people with minority or outgroup status, deliberately mask parts of themselves because being visible doesn't feel safe. Lara also points to results-driven leaders whose organizations have stated values around inclusivity, yet who move so quickly to decisions that concerns end up in the back channel. When these leaders slow down and welcome disagreement, the team gets to benefit from every perspective. Timestamp: 06:05-06:57 How are visibility and psychological safety connected?  Lara Guille describes them as closely related, because visibility always brings difference into the room, and how a team handles difference either builds trust or wears it down. She notes that psychological safety is built in what happens after an issue surfaces, sometimes even more than in what gets said. One of the biggest moves a leader can make is to put their own impact on the culture up for discussion by asking, "How am I contributing to this system?" Steven Jones adds that people learn the most from what leaders model, like pausing in the moment or bringing an overlooked colleague into the conversation. Timestamp: 29:34-31:23 What can leaders say in meetings to encourage people to speak up?  Dan Winter recommends making "Tell me more" a habit, especially when your first reaction to an idea is doubt. He also suggests turning a quick evaluation into a shared problem, such as "If we only had $5,000, how would we make that work?" instead of saying, "I don't think that will work." For conversations that feel overwhelming, Lara Guille offers a back-pocket response: "I really appreciate having this conversation. I'm going to take some time and think about this. Let's come back to it at a later date." What people need most is connection and care, and following through on that promise to come back shows it. Timestamp: 41:44-43:21 If we're willing to be explorers and get to know people, things transform as an opportunity for organizations, family systems, and society. ~ Steven Jones  About Altus Growth Partners At Altus, we partner with CEOs and leadership teams who are serious about growth and willing to engage in new kinds of conversations to produce better results. We care deeply about helping leaders and teams collaborate more effectively, navigate complexity with confidence, and foster a culture where people thrive. It's in these environments that challenges are met with curiosity, people bring out the best in one another, and progress is anchored in shared purpose. Because when leaders and teams are truly working together, they expand what's possible and the meaningful impact they can make in their lives, their organizations, and the world around them. You can find Altus Growth Partners on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altus-growth-partners/  About the Book  Growing Groups Into Teams: How do you turn a group of individuals into a highly effective, productive team? Growing Groups Into Teams is an unusually useful book written by a team of generative consultants and coaches who have helped thousands of groups become effective teams. Through real-life stories combined with pragmatic advice, this book strengthens your ability to see what's needed and take effective action: What two promises turn a group into a team. How to engage people to make those promises. How to invite responsibility and accountability. How to include and inspire people across differences. How to build and rebuild trust, and more! Regardless of how productive your teams are today, the insights in this book will help you grow to the next level to drive your business or organization forward. Order your copy today! Order from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Groups-into-Teams-Real-life-ebook/dp/B0CJLC23VS   Order directly: https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?l8SxF4Aexn9gq08iz7jFBbwutleujrftoZ2wAOFzCVH   If you're looking to expand your leadership influence, shift your results, and develop a highly engaged, accountable team, we'd love to talk to you. Schedule a conversation with an Altus Team Member here: https://calendly.com/prollin-altusgrowth/zoom-video-30-min. Follow us on social media: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altus-growth-partners https://www.facebook.com/AltusGrowth https://www.instagram.com/altusgrowthpartners/   Keywords:    #Invisibility, #PsychologicalSafety, #Inclusivity

  2. Oct 8

    Episode #85: Leading Without a Script: How to Build Trust in Your Team and in Yourself

    The moments that shape a leader tend to arrive unscripted. Founder of Koppett, Kat Koppett started her career as a classically trained actor, then "serendipitously" discovered improv. Kat found that improv gave her a way to focus, access what she was feeling in her body, and be more present. For nearly 30 years, Kat has brought improvisation into organizations as a leadership practice. In this episode of Missing Conversations, Altus Growth Partners executive coaches Steven Jones and Ellen Burton sit down with Kat to explore how leaders build trust in their teams and in themselves, practice listening and co-creating, and start each day with intention, even when the morning goes sideways. Listen to the full conversation and discover what becomes possible when you lead without a script. Key Moments You'll Want to Hear 03:05: The two capacities that expand a leader's options at any given moment. 06:26: More power, more responsibility: How leaders create space for mutual accountability. 14:26: The moment teams decide whether speaking up is safe. 15:03: Building listening and co-creation muscles before the stakes are high. 18:11: How leaders earn trust by thinking out loud with their team. 27:16: Notice. Accept. Build. How to lead through uncertainty. 32:50: How leaders can build a healthier relationship with failure. 35:03: Morning practices to prepare for the leader you want to be. 40:53: Why we have to intentionally create spaces for human interaction. By the end of this conversation, you'll hear answers to: What responsibility do leaders with more power have for accountability?  Kat shares mutual accountability grows when the leaders who hold the most power take on the most responsibility for making it safe to speak up. Power comes from many sources, including title, ownership, relationships, and expertise. A leader who shapes someone's pay, role, and future carries more of the work of creating a space where people can be open, honest, and willing to take risks. That work starts with talking about power dynamics out loud. Timestamp: 06:26 How can leaders build trust when they don't have all the answers?  Leaders build trust by being honest about how sure they actually are. Kat practices opening up the voices in her head with her team. She'll name a real tension, like the pull between growing revenue and protecting the work her people care most about, and then ask the team what they make of it. Kat found her team trusted her more once she trusted herself enough to lead this way, because it gives everyone a clear place to step in and shape the answer together. Timestamp: 18:11 How should leaders lead when change keeps accelerating?  Leading from knowledge or certainty serves leaders less and less as the pace of change keeps accelerating. What works is being present, taking in what's happening, and responding as it unfolds. Kat also sees human interaction becoming optional in ways it never was before. So leaders need to create space for real conversation on purpose, the same way people learned to make time for exercise once daily life stopped keeping them moving. Timestamp:  40:53 "Notice more of what's there, and then accept what exists and build with it."   ~ Kat Koppett About Kat Koppett Kat Koppett is the Founder of Koppett, a consultancy specializing in the use of improv and storytelling techniques to enhance individual and group performance, and the co-director of the Mopco Improv Theatre. She is the author of Training to Imagine: Improvisational Techniques for Leaders and Educators to Enhance Creativity, Teamwork and Learning, and the co-author of The Facilitation Advantage with Therese Miclot. Her diverse client list includes Apple, Prezi, PwC, NASA, Global Giving, and the U.N.  You can find Kat on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/koppett/  About Altus Growth Partners At Altus, we partner with CEOs and leadership teams who are serious about growth and willing to engage in new kinds of conversations to produce better results. We care deeply about helping leaders and teams collaborate more effectively, navigate complexity with confidence, and foster a culture where people thrive. It's in these environments that challenges are met with curiosity, people bring out the best in one another, and progress is anchored in shared purpose. Because when leaders and teams are truly working together, they expand what's possible and the meaningful impact they can make in their lives, their organizations, and the world around them. You can find Altus Growth Partners on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altus-growth-partners/  About the Book  Growing Groups Into Teams: How do you turn a group of individuals into a highly effective, productive team? Growing Groups Into Teams is an unusually useful book written by a team of generative consultants and coaches who have helped thousands of groups become effective teams. Through real-life stories combined with pragmatic advice, this book strengthens your ability to see what's needed and take effective action: What two promises turn a group into a team. How to engage people to make those promises. How to invite responsibility and accountability. How to include and inspire people across differences. How to build and rebuild trust, and more! Regardless of how productive your teams are today, the insights in this book will help you grow to the next level to drive your business or organization forward. Order your copy today! Order from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Groups-into-Teams-Real-life-ebook/dp/B0CJLC23VS   Order directly: https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?l8SxF4Aexn9gq08iz7jFBbwutleujrftoZ2wAOFzCVH   If you're looking to expand your leadership influence, shift your results, and develop a highly engaged, accountable team, we'd love to talk to you. Schedule a conversation with an Altus Team Member here: https://calendly.com/prollin-altusgrowth/zoom-video-30-min. Follow us on social media: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altus-growth-partners https://www.facebook.com/AltusGrowth https://www.instagram.com/altusgrowthpartners/   Keywords:    #ExecutiveLeadership, #BuildingTrust, #LeadingThroughChange

  3. Oct 1

    Episode #84: Inside the OR: A Surgeon's Guide to Building Trust and High-Performing Teams

    What does it take for a team to earn someone's complete trust? For more than 30 years, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Mark Kelley has answered that question every time a patient places their life in his team's hands. He has led surgical teams in hospitals ranging from 1,000 beds in North Carolina to the smaller setting of Aspirus Keweenaw Hospital in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. On this episode of Missing Conversations, Altus executive coaches Ellen Burton and Amy Vodarek sit down with Mark for a candid conversation about what the operating room teaches every leadership team: how humility builds trust, why every voice in the room matters, when to hold a red line, and how a simple "I don't know" keeps people safe. Mark also shares how he's approaching AI with care, what a heart condition taught him about rest, and the one question his team asks before closing every case. Listen now and bring Mark's lessons from the operating room into your next conversation with your team. Key Moments You'll Want to Hear 03:08: What it takes to join a team as a learner and lead one as a teacher 07:12: Why bringing business leaders into the operating room builds shared understanding of the work 10:27: How leaders earn the trust to push back when quality and safety are on the line 12:06: Why checking your ego at the door earns your team's respect 13:12: What a team owes the people who place complete trust in them 16:31: How a team finds its flow when everyone anticipates what's needed next 18:46: Why no case is routine, and how blame-free reviews make every team better 20:20: How acting quickly on a concern makes it safe for anyone to speak up 22:35: "I want to be the flame." Holding the line between humility and humiliation 24:30: Why "I don't know" belongs in every leader's vocabulary 27:55: How a seasoned leader approaches AI: learn it, check it, and stay honest about what you don't know 31:01: "What kind of robot do you have?" What one question reveals about competing for top talent 33:25: Words of wisdom for rising leaders: remember why you chose this work and learn from those ahead of you 37:22: Why honesty and accountability protect trust across an entire organization 41:26: How a health wake-up call taught a surgeon that rest is part of the job 43:53: Why a rested team makes better decisions, and how to wait without guilt 45:44: The one question that closes every case: "Have we done everything we can?" By the end of this conversation, you'll hear answers to: How do leaders make it safe for everyone on a team to speak up? Leaders make it safe to speak up by building real connection and giving every voice equal weight. Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Mark Kelley builds that connection in simple ways: the surgical tech of the day picks the operating room music, and the team shares lunch and has even gone golfing together. Because every case is different, his team talks openly throughout the day and looks together for ways to do the work better next time. Everyone is free to raise a concern, publicly or privately, whatever their role. When a team member needed support with an uncomfortable situation involving an outside vendor, Kelley stepped in quickly, showing his people that voicing their concerns leads to action. Timestamp: 18:46 How should senior leaders approach AI adoption? Senior leaders can approach AI by learning it well enough to use it responsibly before guiding others with it. Dr. Mark Kelley admits AI feels intimidating, and he studies it anyway. He uses it to pull current research on complex surgical cases, which saves him significant time, and then checks every study to confirm it's reputable. He's careful to avoid acting as if he knows more than he does, because a leader who pretends can lead people down the wrong path. His approach is a useful model for any executive team: stay curious, verify what the technology produces, and be honest about what you're still learning. Timestamp: 27:55  How can leaders sustain their energy and show up at their best? Leaders show up at their best when they treat rest as part of the job. Dr. Mark Kelley learned this through a health wake-up call earlier in his career, and today he leads with a steadiness his whole team can count on. He protects his sleep, and his emergency room colleagues know he'll see non-urgent patients first thing in the morning while he stays reachable for true emergencies. He recharges through exercise and phone-free time in nature, especially along the shores of Lake Superior. Mark explains why a rested surgical team produces better outcomes, and how leaders can choose the right timing with confidence. Timestamps: 41:26, 43:53 "There's a lot more freedom to be able to say, 'Hey, you know that didn't go well. What can you do now?'"   ~ Dr. Mark Kelley About Dr. Mark Kelley Dr. Mark Kelley has spent more than 30 years leading surgical teams in hospitals as small as 20 beds and as large as 1,000. An orthopedic surgeon with Aspirus Medical Group, he cares for patients and families at Aspirus Keweenaw Hospital in Laurium, Michigan. Mark grew up in Ann Arbor as one of six children, studied at the University of Notre Dame, began medical school in Mexico, and completed his orthopedic residency at Mount Sinai in New York. Whether he's joining a large surgical team or leading his own, he stays teachable, keeps everyone talking, and treats each patient's trust as a commitment the whole team shares. He's the father of four sons and grandfather of four, and he recharges through gardening, boating, and carpentry. You can learn more about Mark at: https://providers.aspirus.org/mark-kelley/1851303978  About Altus Growth Partners At Altus, we partner with CEOs and leadership teams who are serious about growth and willing to engage in new kinds of conversations to produce better results. We care deeply about helping leaders and teams collaborate more effectively, navigate complexity with confidence, and foster a culture where people thrive. It's in these environments that challenges are met with curiosity, people bring out the best in one another, and progress is anchored in shared purpose. Because when leaders and teams are truly working together, they expand what's possible and the meaningful impact they can make in their lives, their organizations, and the world around them. You can find Altus Growth Partners on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altus-growth-partners/  About the Book  Growing Groups Into Teams: How do you turn a group of individuals into a highly effective, productive team? Growing Groups Into Teams is an unusually useful book written by a team of generative consultants and coaches who have helped thousands of groups become effective teams. Through real-life stories combined with pragmatic advice, this book strengthens your ability to see what's needed and take effective action: What two promises turn a group into a team. How to engage people to make those promises. How to invite responsibility and accountability. How to include and inspire people across differences. How to build and rebuild trust, and more! Regardless of how productive your teams are today, the insights in this book will help you grow to the next level to drive your business or organization forward. Order your copy today! Order from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Groups-into-Teams-Real-life-ebook/dp/B0CJLC23VS   Order directly: https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?l8SxF4Aexn9gq08iz7jFBbwutleujrftoZ2wAOFzCVH   If you're looking to expand your leadership influence, shift your results, and develop a highly engaged, accountable team, we'd love to talk to you. Schedule a conversation with an Altus Team Member here: https://calendly.com/prollin-altusgrowth/zoom-video-30-min. Follow us on social media: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altus-growth-partners https://www.facebook.com/AltusGrowth https://www.instagram.com/altusgrowthpartners/   Keywords:    #HealthcareLeadership, #TeamCulture, #AIinLeadership

  4. Sep 24

    Episode #83: Human-Centered Leadership Starts Within: How Self-Care Builds a Culture That Performs

    When stepping into executive leadership, elevating an organization begins with caring for yourself so you can authentically care for and empower your people. In this episode Altus executive coaches Amy Vodarek and Heather Neely talk with GuardMe Insurance Europe CEO Mark Sheerin. They explore what it takes to build the foundation for a thriving, person-centered culture and the results produced because of it. Alongside his wife and colleague, Suzanne, Mark seamlessly weaves this deep commitment to people into GuardMe Europe's day-to-day operations, proving that genuine care directly drives trust and team potential. Grounded in practical wisdom and respect for lived experience, Mark's story offers leaders and teams clear insights on cultivating an environment where people flourish. Listen now to discover how self-care and human connection unlock high performance, resilience, and an organizational commitment to showing up at your best. Key Moments You'll Want to Hear 02:24: How caring for yourself is something you owe to yourself and your team 04:07: The uncertainty of stepping into the CEO seat, and what it took to grow into the role 06:06: How fatherhood reshaped the meaning of ambition 08:51: A valuable CEO lesson: fix the inputs and the outputs fix themselves 11:48: How GuardMe stepped out of its parent company's shadow and built its own identity 15:18: Why values guide both your culture and most difficult conversations 22:06: How the Four Disciplines of Execution (4DX) turn big goals into daily accountability 32:17: What it takes to keep your team aligned when everything is moving at lightening speed 36:18: The simple practices that keep your best self showing up under pressure 39:21: Words of wisdom for CEOs and those newly promoted 43:41: Why paired coaching helps CEOs become stronger leaders By the end of this conversation, you'll hear answers to: How does a leader's self-care and inner reflection directly impact organizational culture and performance? Organizational culture and performance begins with the leader's willingness to turn inward. As GuardMe Europe CEO Mark Sheerin shares, stepping into executive leadership requires first taking responsibility for your own well-being and self-awareness because starting from that place is what lets him be his best for everything that comes after. He can't control outcomes, but he can make sure the best version of himself turns up each day, and that person makes better decisions, brings better energy, and influences the results that follow. When a leader does that quiet work, the steadiness, honesty, and care show up in the culture and in what the team is able to produce. Timestamps: 02:24, 08:51, 36:18  What does it mean to build a person-centered culture, and how does it drive operational excellence? A person-centered culture grounds day-to-day operations in a deep respect for human lived experience and authentic connection. It starts by caring about each other first, genuinely, then backing that with practice: understanding how each person communicates, learning their strengths through tools like Working Genius, and returning to shared values during a hard conversation. From there, his job is to put every person in their best position, knowing them inside out and adjusting the work around them until their best comes out, what he calls turning the dials. People who feel known, trusted, and placed well perform better, and the trust they've built lets Mark run a steady rhythm of accountability. The result is a team that can say no to what isn't great, hold each other to their promises, and grow together. Timestamps: 15:18, 22:06, 30:30 How is human-centered leadership maintained during major personal and professional transitions?  When Mark stepped into the CEO role, he was unsure of himself. What carried him through that uncertainty was turning toward himself honestly, asking why he was working so hard and what he actually wanted to build, and treating each hard season as a lesson with one real choice inside it: are you going to learn from it or not. Rather than forcing outcomes, he learned to fix the inputs and let the results follow, and to stop reacting to the good days or the bad ones, because leadership begins and ends with you. He guards that steadiness with simple practices that keep his best self showing up under pressure. Timestamps: 04:07, 08:51, 36:18 "Doing something simple for an extraordinary long period of time very often results in extraordinary results." ~ Mark Sheerin About Mark Sheerin Mark is CEO of GuardMe Insurance Europe, a niche specialist international student insurance provider. He and his wife Suzanne are colleagues as well as parents to three-year-old Sophie, and to a Great Dane and a Rhodesian Ridgeback. The family lives in Wicklow, Ireland. Their extraordinary life experiences have shaped their worldview and contributed to the unique company culture at GuardMe Europe.  You can find Mark on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marksheerin/  About Altus Growth Partners At Altus, we partner with CEOs and leadership teams who are serious about growth and willing to engage in new kinds of conversations to produce better results. We care deeply about helping leaders and teams collaborate more effectively, navigate complexity with confidence, and foster a culture where people thrive. It's in these environments that challenges are met with curiosity, people bring out the best in one another, and progress is anchored in shared purpose. Because when leaders and teams are truly working together, they expand what's possible and the meaningful impact they can make in their lives, their organizations, and the world around them. You can find Altus Growth Partners on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altus-growth-partners/  About the Book  Growing Groups Into Teams: How do you turn a group of individuals into a highly effective, productive team? Growing Groups Into Teams is an unusually useful book written by a team of generative consultants and coaches who have helped thousands of groups become effective teams. Through real-life stories combined with pragmatic advice, this book strengthens your ability to see what's needed and take effective action: What two promises turn a group into a team. How to engage people to make those promises. How to invite responsibility and accountability. How to include and inspire people across differences. How to build and rebuild trust, and more! Regardless of how productive your teams are today, the insights in this book will help you grow to the next level to drive your business or organization forward. Order your copy today! Order from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Groups-into-Teams-Real-life-ebook/dp/B0CJLC23VS   Order directly: https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?l8SxF4Aexn9gq08iz7jFBbwutleujrftoZ2wAOFzCVH   If you're looking to expand your leadership influence, shift your results, and develop a highly engaged, accountable team, we'd love to talk to you. Schedule a conversation with an Altus Team Member here: https://calendly.com/prollin-altusgrowth/zoom-video-30-min. Follow us on social media: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altus-growth-partners https://www.facebook.com/AltusGrowth https://www.instagram.com/altusgrowthpartners/   Keywords:    #HumanCenteredLeadership #WorkplaceCulture #TeamDevelopment

  5. Sep 17

    Episode #82: How to Lead Without Authority: Building Teams Through Shared Commitment

    When Jan Irene Miller flew in from Africa and bought 217 untended acres, she was clueless. She had no familiarity with the land, no team, and no authority. What she did have was a deep love for the earth, a vision, and the wisdom to know she couldn't rebuild the land alone. The first question she asked wasn't "what's the plan?" It was "who shares this with me?" In this episode of Missing Conversations, Altus executive coaches Amy Vodarek and Dan Winter chat with Jan Irene—Altus co-founder, one of 22 children raised on a Minnesota farm, and a decades-long coach in generative leadership—about turning a "beautiful mess" into Bird Haven by leading through relationships rather than control. You'll hear how to build a team when the people you need to get the work done don't report to you, how to lead without authority by coordinating shared commitments, why slowing down the design phase produces better and faster results, and how to approach succession by starting with the question, "What will satisfy you?" Along the way, Jan Irene shows what it looks like to elevate every person's gifts, not just their technical skill, and to keep a vision alive across generations by staying in honest conversation with the people who share it. If you lead a team, steward something you care about, or are navigating a future no one can fully see yet, listen in for a way to lead that honors both the people and the vision.  Key Moments You'll Want to Hear 02:05: How a visionary leader learns to relax into the unknown and build a future of possibilities. 04:51: "Who's on my team?" The question that moves your vision forward. 06:03: How to lead when you don't have authority, but are responsible for getting things done. 17:47: Why your most important collaborators don't report to you, leading across a distributed network. 18:19: The differences between building a team and building a network of commitments and why both matter to your success. 24:39: How to recognize real commitment and what a trustworthy, "I'll get it done" sounds like. 25:38: Why slowing down in the design phase produces faster results and better decisions. 30:06: Beyond technical skill: why the gifts of your team matter just as much as their expertise. 33:43: Planning your succession? Start with "What will satisfy you?" 44:21: How to keep a team aligned over time through a steady rhythm of honest conversations. By the end of this conversation, you'll hear answers to: How can leaders build commitment when they don't have authority or budget? When Jan Irene arrived at Bird Haven with no team and a property out of compliance, she asked one question: "Who shares this with me?" She met people where they were, learned what they already cared about, and made specific requests that connected her vision to their existing commitments. The result was a network of people—regulators, experts, neighbors—moving the same work forward without ever reporting to her. Leaders build and sustain commitment the same way: by defining a shared future clearly enough that others can see themselves in it, and inviting them in. Timestamps: 06:03–17:47, 18:19–24:39  Why should leaders slow down instead of rushing to results? The most effective leaders protect the design phase, because rushing it produces exactly the chaotic rework they're trying to avoid. Drawing on decades in software development, Jan Irene points to a truth that holds whether you're integrating two platforms or stewarding 217 acres: the design phase should be the longest phase, because that's where perspectives get gathered, assumptions get tested, and the right people find their place in the work. When leaders name the early weeks as a time for understanding and alignment rather than quick wins, they give their teams something to build on that lasts. Slowing down isn't a delay before the real work begins. It's the part of the work that makes everything after it faster, sturdier, and better. Timestamps: 25:38–29:01  How do the strongest teams value both skill and care? When Jan Irene had to digitize a document-management process, one team member, the heart of the group, couldn't make the technical leap easily. Rather than default to the efficient-looking decision, she reconfigured the work so that person could keep contributing, recognizing that steadiness, generosity, and the ability to hold others together are gifts a team can't afford to lose. The best leaders look at their people through two lenses at once: the capability they bring and the care they carry. When you honor both, you build the kind of trust that makes people commit fully and you protect the cohesion that helps a team navigate complexity. Timestamps: 30:06–33:07 "We don't act someone out of the team. We look at what gift they bring." ~ Jan Irene Miller About Jan Irene Miller Jan Irene is a teacher and master coach in Generative Leadership and Ontological Coaching. She has spent more than 25 years listening to the aspirations of successful organizational leaders wanting a deeper sense of satisfaction from their leadership and higher levels of performance from their teams. She engages leaders in design conversations, then maps out a path of learning engagement tailored specifically to bridge the gap between their current situation and the future they envision through practice. Her extensive experience in global industry leadership and management, as well as her expertise as a coach in embodied transformation, informs her work with clients to support their success in becoming self-learning and self-generating teams.  You can find Jan Irene on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janirenemiller/.  About Altus Growth Partners At Altus, we partner with CEOs and leadership teams who are serious about growth and willing to engage in new kinds of conversations to produce better results. We care deeply about helping leaders and teams collaborate more effectively, navigate complexity with confidence, and foster a culture where people thrive. It's in these environments that challenges are met with curiosity, people bring out the best in one another, and progress is anchored in shared purpose. Because when leaders and teams are truly working together, they expand what's possible and the meaningful impact they can make in their lives, their organizations, and the world around them. You can find Altus Growth Partners on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altus-growth-partners/  About the Book  Growing Groups Into Teams: How do you turn a group of individuals into a highly effective, productive team? Growing Groups Into Teams is an unusually useful book written by a team of generative consultants and coaches who have helped thousands of groups become effective teams. Through real-life stories combined with pragmatic advice, this book strengthens your ability to see what's needed and take effective action: What two promises turn a group into a team. How to engage people to make those promises. How to invite responsibility and accountability. How to include and inspire people across differences. How to build and rebuild trust, and more! Regardless of how productive your teams are today, the insights in this book will help you grow to the next level to drive your business or organization forward. Order your copy today! Order from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Groups-into-Teams-Real-life-ebook/dp/B0CJLC23VS   Order directly: https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?l8SxF4Aexn9gq08iz7jFBbwutleujrftoZ2wAOFzCVH   If you're looking to expand your leadership influence, shift your results, and develop a highly engaged, accountable team, we'd love to talk to you. Schedule a conversation with an Altus Team Member here: https://calendly.com/prollin-altusgrowth/zoom-video-30-min. Follow us on social media: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altus-growth-partners https://www.facebook.com/AltusGrowth https://www.instagram.com/altusgrowthpartners/   Keywords:    #Leadership #TeamBuilding #Collaboration

  6. Sep 10

    Episode #81: Responsible AI Transformation: How Forward-Thinking Leaders Are Redesigning Workflows and Elevating Human Potential

    How do forward-thinking leaders build a workforce resilient enough to thrive alongside rapid technological change? In this episode of Missing Conversations, hosts Dan Winter and Lynette Winter sit down with Kristi Conlon, a three-time Top 100 Learning Leader and ICF-credentialed executive coach. Drawing on 25 years of experience guiding Fortune 100 and high-growth companies through complex organizational shifts, Kristi explores how leaders responsibly navigate AI transformation, elevate team potential, and honor human dignity while driving business results. Moving beyond transactional training, Kristi shares practical wisdom on task-level workflow redesign, the power of supportive operational systems, and why cultivating high-trust environments rooted in leadership candor is essential for modern business adaptability. Listen in to discover how aligning your people, technology, and shared vision builds a dynamic workforce equipped to solve your toughest operational challenges  Key Moments You'll Want to Hear 01:51: Why learning and development is shifting from HR silos into core business operations 04:43: How flawed operational environments neutralize high-performing employees and what to do to fix them 07:48: How leading organizations build experiential feedback loops over one-off training 11:34: Why senior leadership teams must model the continuous learning they expect from others 12:50: How to measure learning success: practice and application 14:26: Why standardized job rubrics unintentionally overlook individual gifts and emerging leadership talent 17:15: How empowering frontline experiment-driven learning drives organizational resilience 22:09: Building organizational standards through authentic employee commitment and good citizenship 25:30: AI Augmentation:Redesigning task-level workflows to elevate human potential instead of resorting to layoffs 30:40: Structuring adaptive teams around modern AI capabilities to solve complex challenges 34:04: Why executive candor and the courage to admit uncertainty accelerate organizational agility 35:55: High-trust workflows: Eliminating surveillance and fear to unlock performance management based on shared ownership 40:13: Why protecting human dignity, curiosity, and relationship-building remains a company's greatest competitive advantage By the end of this conversation, you'll hear answers to: How is the Chief Learning Officer role evolving in the age of AI?  It starts by recognizing that developing human capacity isn't an isolated HR initiative. It belongs inside core business operations. Learning strategist Kristi Conlon shares that effective learning leaders are moving away from managing static course catalogs and stepping into the role of enterprise performance architects. Rather than delivering one-off events, they work directly within operational teams to analyze task-level workflows, design responsible AI augmentation, and open up clear pathways for talent mobility. When leadership views learning as a continuous process rather than a transactional checkbox, the focus shifts from managing training to expanding the collective capacity of the entire organization. Timestamps: 01:51–04:43, 25:30–29:45  How can executive teams integrate AI without eroding trust and culture?  High-performing organizations integrate AI by viewing it as a tool for human elevation rather than a mechanism for workplace elimination. Kristi emphasizes that the most successful leaders avoid reactive layoffs and instead examine work at the task level, identifying where AI can remove low-value friction so teams can double down on uniquely human strengths like strategic judgment, empathy, and creative problem-solving. When leaders remove surveillance-driven fear, establish clear governance, and offer genuine reskilling pathways, employees stop viewing technology as a threat and begin using it to unlock new business value together. Timestamps: 25:30-35:00 Why does traditional training often fail to deliver real business outcomes?  Performance improvement happens when leaders stop trying to fix system-level challenges with individual skill instruction. Drawing on proven performance frameworks, Kristi points out a fundamental truth: if you put a high-performing person into a broken operational system, the system will win every time. Training alone cannot overcome unclear expectations, unsupportive tools, or misaligned incentive structures. The best leaders look at the entire environment first, adjusting operational levers and fostering genuine psychological safety so that when people learn new skills, they have the support, permission, and context to apply them immediately. Timestamps: 02:47–07:48, 12:50–18:37 Training is an event, learning is a process—and that process includes practice, feedback, and actually learning from our mistakes on the job. ~ Kristi Conlon About Kristi Conlon Kristi Conlon is a learning and talent strategist working at the intersection of people, process, and technology to help HR and learning/talent teams responsibly lead AI transformation. With 25+ years advising Fortune 100 and high-growth companies, she specializes in AI-driven reskilling, job redesign, talent governance, and workforce performance. Kristi is an ICF-credentialed executive coach and three-time Top 100 Learning Leader. You can find Kristi on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristi-conlon-931b5a15/.  About Altus Growth Partners At Altus, we partner with CEOs and leadership teams who are serious about growth and willing to engage in new kinds of conversations to produce better results. We care deeply about helping leaders and teams collaborate more effectively, navigate complexity with confidence, and foster a culture where people thrive. It's in these environments that challenges are met with curiosity, people bring out the best in one another, and progress is anchored in shared purpose. Because when leaders and teams are truly working together, they expand what's possible and the meaningful impact they can make in their lives, their organizations, and the world around them. You can find Altus Growth Partners on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altus-growth-partners/  About the Book  Growing Groups Into Teams: How do you turn a group of individuals into a highly effective, productive team? Growing Groups Into Teams is an unusually useful book written by a team of generative consultants and coaches who have helped thousands of groups become effective teams. Through real-life stories combined with pragmatic advice, this book strengthens your ability to see what's needed and take effective action: What two promises turn a group into a team. How to engage people to make those promises. How to invite responsibility and accountability. How to include and inspire people across differences. How to build and rebuild trust, and more! Regardless of how productive your teams are today, the insights in this book will help you grow to the next level to drive your business or organization forward. Order your copy today! Order from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Groups-into-Teams-Real-life-ebook/dp/B0CJLC23VS   Order directly: https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?l8SxF4Aexn9gq08iz7jFBbwutleujrftoZ2wAOFzCVH   If you're looking to expand your leadership influence, shift your results, and develop a highly engaged, accountable team, we'd love to talk to you. Schedule a conversation with an Altus Team Member here: https://calendly.com/prollin-altusgrowth/zoom-video-30-min. Follow us on social media: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altus-growth-partners https://www.facebook.com/AltusGrowth https://www.instagram.com/altusgrowthpartners/   Keywords:    #Learning #TeamDevelopment #AITransformation

  7. May 28

    Episode #80: What Is Mine to Do: Leading with Purpose, Focus, and Shared Responsibility in Complex Systems

    One of ten children, Altus executive coach Dorothy Lingren grew up inside a large and complex family system. Her early lived experience of figuring out how to find her place, build relationships, and understand what made the whole thing work became the foundation for a career spent partnering with high-potential leaders and organizations navigating some of the most demanding environments in healthcare, government, and beyond. In this episode of Missing Conversations, fellow Altus executive coaches and hosts Amy Vodarek and Dan Winter sit down with Dorothy to explore why successfully navigating systems starts with the leader understanding who they are, how simulations like Breakthrough Learnings, Friday Night in the ER (https://www.blearning.com/fner), reveal what leaders do under pressure versus what they think they do, and what it takes to build teams and avoid burning out. If you feel like you're managing increasing complexity, this episode gives you practical ways to lead with greater purpose, sharper focus, and the one practice that makes both possible. Key Moments You'll Want to Hear 01:49: What growing up in a family of ten taught Dorothy about leading complex systems. 03:33: Three questions that reveal what every leader needs to see in themselves and others. 05:23: Why every systems change initiative has to start with who the leader is. 07:24: The one question that replaces overwhelm with purposeful, focused action. 12:01: What a healthcare simulation reveals about what leaders actually do under real pressure. 16:34: The moment leaders stop blaming the system and start seeing their own role in it. 20:11: What the most impactful leaders do when they stop trying to fix the people around them. 22:52: How to build leadership capacity when in complex environments. 26:41: Culture lives in the stories we tell. Here's how leaders begin writing new ones. 30:47: What it takes to lead teams through complexity. 35:40: The one practice Dorothy recommends for every individual, team, and organization to accept and work within the chaos. By the end of this conversation, you'll hear answers to: How do I lead effectively when my organization feels too complex to manage? Start with yourself before you try to change anything around you. Altus executive coach Dorothy Lingren, shares that the most clarifying question a leader in a complex system can ask is simply: what is mine to do here? Not everything. Not the whole system. Just what belongs to you right now. From there, Dorothy advocates for one meaningful action, not a sweeping initiative, but a single move you can try, learn from, and build on together with your team. Complexity doesn't shrink by pushing harder. It becomes navigable when leaders get honest about where their attention and energy actually belong. Timestamps: 07:24 How do I build a high-performing team that doesn't burn out under pressure? High-performing teams thrive when leaders stop measuring their team's success by individual accountability and start asking a different question altogether: what are we learning together, and how are we building something we all feel responsible for? Dorothy shares the story of a government client who stopped tracking individual deliverables and started asking what each person was learning from their partners. That one change, from accountability to curiosity, transformed how the whole team worked. High-performing teams aren't built by pushing people harder. They're built by creating conditions where people feel genuinely connected to a shared purpose and trusted to contribute their best. Timestamps: 22:52 How do leaders shift organizational culture when it feels stuck or misaligned? Altus executive coach Dorothy Lingren shares that culture lives in the everyday narratives leaders and teams carry about what's allowed, what's rewarded, and what's real. Her approach is to start small and stay curious. Pause a meeting, try a standing check-in, ask a question nobody's been asking. Each small experiment chips away at the old story and begins to write a new one. The leaders who change the culture most effectively are the ones willing to try something different, notice what happens, and invite their teams into that learning alongside them.  Timestamps: 26:47 Resources Mentioned in This Episode Friday Night in the ER is a systems thinking simulation created and distributed by Breakthrough Learning — one of the tools Dorothy uses to help leadership teams see how complex systems actually behave under pressure, and where the real opportunities to lead differently live. Learn more at blearning.com/fner. Experiential and simulation-based learning is a thread that runs through much of the work Altus brings to leadership teams. If this conversation sparked your thinking, you'll also want to hear how Altus colleague Ryan Soares approaches adventure and experiential learning as a leadership development tool — and what happens when leaders are taken entirely out of their familiar environment to discover something new about how they lead. Listen to that conversation here: Missing Conversations Episode 61 — From Mountains to Boardrooms What is mine to do here? What is ours to do? ~ Dorothy Lingren About Dorothy Lingren Altus executive coach, Dorothy Lingren partners with high-potential leaders and visionary organizations to facilitate growth. She is committed to deeply understanding the environment her clients inhabit and co-creating solutions to build on strengths and expand capacity. Dorothy uses her extensive expertise in strategy development, facilitation, and coaching to cultivate holistic, sustainable change.  You can find Dorothy on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorothylingren/.  About Altus Growth Partners At Altus, we partner with CEOs and leadership teams who are serious about growth and willing to engage in new kinds of conversations to produce better results. We care deeply about helping leaders and teams collaborate more effectively, navigate complexity with confidence, and foster a culture where people thrive. It's in these environments that challenges are met with curiosity, people bring out the best in one another, and progress is anchored in shared purpose. Because when leaders and teams are truly working together, they expand what's possible and the meaningful impact they can make in their lives, their organizations, and the world around them. You can find Altus Growth Partners on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altus-growth-partners/  About the Book  Growing Groups Into Teams: How do you turn a group of individuals into a highly effective, productive team? Growing Groups Into Teams is an unusually useful book written by a team of generative consultants and coaches who have helped thousands of groups become effective teams. Through real-life stories combined with pragmatic advice, this book strengthens your ability to see what's needed and take effective action: What two promises turn a group into a team. How to engage people to make those promises. How to invite responsibility and accountability. How to include and inspire people across differences. How to build and rebuild trust, and more! Regardless of how productive your teams are today, the insights in this book will help you grow to the next level to drive your business or organization forward. Order your copy today! Order from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Groups-into-Teams-Real-life-ebook/dp/B0CJLC23VS   Order directly: https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?l8SxF4Aexn9gq08iz7jFBbwutleujrftoZ2wAOFzCVH   If you're looking to expand your leadership influence, shift your results, and develop a highly engaged, accountable team, we'd love to talk to you. Schedule a conversation with an Altus Team Member here: https://calendly.com/prollin-altusgrowth/zoom-video-30-min. Follow us on social media: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altus-growth-partners https://www.facebook.com/AltusGrowth https://www.instagram.com/altusgrowthpartners/   Keywords:    #SystemsThinking #TeamDevelopment #LeadershipCapacity

  8. May 21

    Episode #79: Human-Centered Leadership: What Becomes Possible When You Believe People Are Already Enough

    She was undocumented for 12 years. Now Claudia Arroyo is the Executive Director of Prospera, an organization building Latina economic power through entrepreneurship and leadership development. In this deeply human conversation with Altus executive coaches Eva Orbuch and Pam Fox Rollin, Claudia shows what becomes possible when you choose to give more light to your gifts than your burdens, and when you lead from the belief that the people around you are already powerful, capable, and enough. You'll hear how she turned to community when Prospera lost nearly a million dollars in funding, why collective breaks and radical self-care make her people more engaged and more creative, and how her Triangle of Sustainability keeps individuals, teams, and organizations healthy at the same time. This is a conversation about belonging, trust, and daring to unlearn what we've been taught so we can live more fully and help the people we lead do the same. Key Moments You'll Want to Hear 02:08: How one woman's immigrant story became a source of what's possible. 06:47: Why daring to unlearn what we've been taught reveals the power we already carry. 11:43: What it takes to show others that they are seen, heard, and belong. 18:15: The Triangle of Sustainability: a creative, relationship-centered approach to leadership. 23:20: From transactions to co-creation: engaging stakeholders as human partners. 27:36: Why collective breaks and radical self-care are essential to better performance. 34:06: How Claudia turned a $1M loss into a movement. 39:59: Why building trust on your team starts with trusting yourself first. By the end of this conversation, you'll hear answers to: How do you build a leadership culture where people feel like they truly belong? Belonging begins the moment someone feels genuinely seen and heard. Claudia describes how her own experience of being seen, first by her mother, then by the communities she worked alongside, taught her that belonging isn't a program or a policy. It's what happens when a leader listens fully, co-creates rather than directs, and trusts that every person on the team already has something essential to contribute. At Prospera, this shows up in how they write job descriptions, run focus groups, and invite program participants to sit at the hiring table. The result is a culture where people don't just show up. They bring everything they have. Timestamps: 12:13 What's a practical framework for keeping your team healthy without sacrificing organizational performance? Claudia introduces her Triangle of Sustainability, a three-part balance between what the individual needs, what the team needs, and what the organization needs. Most leadership cultures, she observes, center the organization and ask people to absorb the cost. Claudia flips this: when a team member needs to rest, she clears their priorities and sends them home for the week. The investment pays back in creativity, engagement, and renewed commitment. She's clear that this isn't generosity for its own sake. It's strategy. Creativity, she says, cannot find its way through a stressed amygdala. When people feel cared for, the organization performs. Timestamps: 18:15 How do you rebuild trust on a team, especially when it's been broken? Before a leader can build trust with a team, they have to trust themselves, their instincts, their worth, their inner voice. From there, trust becomes something you offer first, repeatedly, without guarantee of return. Claudia shares how people who have been hurt learn to protect themselves, and why patience is not weakness but wisdom. At Prospera, everyone tends to the organizational culture. And that shared responsibility, she says, is where trust actually lives.  Timestamps: 40:28 We need to be seen. We need to be heard. We need to remember that we deserve (so that) we (know we) belong. ~ Claudia Arroyo   About Claudia Arroyo   Claudia Arroyo leads with her whole heart. As Executive Director of Prospera, she's building Latina economic power through entrepreneurship and leadership development. And she knows it's not just about business. It's about community. Culture. Love. The belief that when we lift each other up, we all rise.  Her journey is rooted in lived experience. As an immigrant woman, she's faced the same challenges as the entrepreneurs she works alongside every day. That's why her approach is always strength-based—honoring the power, wisdom, spirit, and honesty that Latina leaders bring to the table. She doesn't just create programs; she nurtures spaces where people feel seen, heard, and capable of shaping the future. You can find her on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudia-arroyo-prospera/.  About Altus Growth Partners At Altus, we partner with CEOs and leadership teams who are serious about growth and willing to engage in new kinds of conversations to produce better results. We care deeply about helping leaders and teams collaborate more effectively, navigate complexity with confidence, and foster a culture where people thrive. It's in these environments that challenges are met with curiosity, people bring out the best in one another, and progress is anchored in shared purpose. Because when leaders and teams are truly working together, they expand what's possible and the meaningful impact they can make in their lives, their organizations, and the world around them. You can find Altus Growth Partners on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altus-growth-partners/  About the Book  Growing Groups Into Teams: How do you turn a group of individuals into a highly effective, productive team? Growing Groups Into Teams is an unusually useful book written by a team of generative consultants and coaches who have helped thousands of groups become effective teams. Through real-life stories combined with pragmatic advice, this book strengthens your ability to see what's needed and take effective action: What two promises turn a group into a team. How to engage people to make those promises. How to invite responsibility and accountability. How to include and inspire people across differences. How to build and rebuild trust, and more! Regardless of how productive your teams are today, the insights in this book will help you grow to the next level to drive your business or organization forward. Order your copy today! Order from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Groups-into-Teams-Real-life-ebook/dp/B0CJLC23VS   Order directly: https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?l8SxF4Aexn9gq08iz7jFBbwutleujrftoZ2wAOFzCVH   If you're looking to expand your leadership influence, shift your results, and develop a highly engaged, accountable team, we'd love to talk to you. Schedule a conversation with an Altus Team Member here: https://calendly.com/prollin-altusgrowth/zoom-video-30-min. Follow us on social media: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altus-growth-partners https://www.facebook.com/AltusGrowth https://www.instagram.com/altusgrowthpartners/   Keywords:    #HumanCenteredLeadership #Belonging #TeamDevelopment

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4.5
out of 5
15 Ratings

About

How do you create extraordinary and meaningful outcomes that take care of people, your organization and the future you care about? We at Altus believe all results, those that you want and those that you don't, are generated by conversations. When conversations are missing, people and results suffer—learning to see the missing conversations is where to begin. Helping you and your teams have the right conversations with the right people to get the results you desire is what Altus is all about. Through in-depth interviews with incredible guests, we explore the power and practices of conversations. In each interview, you'll learn how to see the missing conversations to enhance your leadership influence and impact and ignite a world of difference, one conversation at a time. If you're aiming for bold change and growing your leadership, teams and organization to create extraordinary results, we want to talk to you! Schedule your confidential conversation. altusgrowth.com/contact.

Information

  • Creator
    Altus Growth Partners
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    86
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2023
  • Show Website
    Missing Conversations

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