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David Rock is a bridge builder. He’s connected the amazing developments in neuroscience that have occurred in the last ten years, and brought them to the disciplines of leadership and coaching. Neuroleadership is the new frontier for how we think – literally – about leadership. David’s a prolific author. Following Quiet Leadership a couple of years ago, he’s put out two truly excellent books in late 2009, Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long and, as a co-author with Linda Page a text book on coaching called Coaching with the Brain in Mind. He is the founder of the Neuro Leadership Institute and his coaching company, Results Coaching Systems. And he’s an Aussie to boot, which is just an added bonus.

In this interview we talk about:

• The two fundamental states of the brain – and the impact they have on engagement
• Why the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is flawed
• The SCARF model, which David calls the most important work he’s done
• And why high (but not too high) stress situations can actually bring out your best work.

You can follow David on Twitter at @DavidRock101 and on his blog.

Listen to my interview with David Rock

Kevin Cashman’s Leadership from the Inside Out was published in 1998 and has firmly established itself as a classic in the leadership genre. It really covers a wide approach to thinking about what are the areas of mastery you need to look at and approach to step into your full power as a leader, whether you’re at the top of the tree or just starting out on your career. Kevin is the Senior Partner of Leadership and Talent Consulting at Korn/Ferry International, one of the really big players in the HR and executive and talent consultancies in the world. He and his team have done coaching work for thousands of senior executives and senior teams in more than 50 countries world wide and Kevin was recently named one of the top 15 leaders in the world by Executive Excellence magazine.

In this interview we discuss:

• The one question at the one moment that gave Kevin clarity and focus
• How our accomplishments can obscure something more important about who we really are
• Why managing your energy is so critical
• And meditation as a leadership tool.

Listen to my interview with Kevin Cashman

You can learn more about Kevin’s work at the Korn Ferry workshop here.

I saw Tom Peters speak recently – yes, Tom Peters the uber-guru – and he said that the greatest influence on his thinking about the role of managers in organizations has been Professor Henry Mintzberg, Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at McGill University. He is the author of numerous books including Managers not MBAs and most recently Managing, and  has won prizes from the Harvard Business Review for the quality of his articles.  He’s also the man behind the IMPM: The International Masters in Practicing Management, an alternative take on the MBA, and the founder of CoachingOurselves.com, a company helping managers tap into their own wisdom.

In this interview we discuss:

• How ego trips might be the biggest barrier to Great Work flourishing in organizations
• The difference between networks and communities – and why we need to focus more on the latter
• The inescapable conundrums of managing
• And why we should abandon the term ‘leadership’

You can learn more about Henry at his website

Listen to my interview with Henry Mintzberg

Dr. Lance Secretan is one of the world’s foremost thinkers about leadership.
He weaves together different strands of experience to bring his knowledge to the world, having been a CEO of a Fortune 100 company, an acclaimed business school professor and an accomplished skier.  Of his fourteen books, I’ve been most influenced by his recent ones, Inspire! and One: The Art and Practice of Conscious Leadership and the way they have focused on the concept of higher ground leadership.  Lance has won the International Caring Award and the McFeely Leadership Award.

In this interview Lance and I talk about:

• The CASTLE principles – six fundamentals concepts that underlie higher ground leadership
• The power of love in organizations – and why it’s not “California woo-woo” stuff
• How to harness the art of focus to tackle big challenges
• What it means to unlearn – and why it’s critical for future success

You can follow Lance at his blog

Listen to my interview with Lance Secretan