Spark Leadership

In this episode, Maria Guimaraes and host Lisa Tomlin discuss how to empower high performers in organizations as well as ways that coaching can support cultural organizational transformations.Maria Guimaraes is a purpose-driven leadership coach who supports extraordinary visionaries to lead with purpose, build thriving businesses, and ignite action that positively impacts people and planet. Over the past 18 years, she has worked with some of the biggest advocates of change worldwide, such as UNICEF, UN Women, and others to mobilize leaders, CEOs and entrepreneurs to lead with purpose, heart and authenticity. She grew up in Mozambique, and has lived and worked in numerous countries - including China, Thailand, South Africa, the Netherlands and USA - where she partnered with visionaries and entrepreneurs to catalyze real transformation and change. Maria is currently based in Panama, where she is heading the United Nations World Food Programme's Partnerships division in Latin America and the Caribbean. She leads a team of inspiring change-makers to galvanize governments, the private sector, philanthropists, foundations and the public at large to end hunger, further gender equality and address the root causes of poverty.

In this episode, Fergus Connolly, PhD. and host Yannis Niebelschuetz discuss what top business executives can learn from leaders in sports and the military, and explore how coaching can take "the best to better."Dr. Fergus Connolly is one of the world’s foremost human performance thought leaders and influencers, and has applied performance science with leading sports, military, and business teams. He is the only coach to have full times roles in every major sport. Fergus has served as Director of Elite Performance for the San Francisco 49ers, Sports Science Director with the Welsh Rugby Union, and Performance Director for University of Michigan Football. He has guided coaches, support staff and players in the NBA, Australian Rules Football and international cricket. Fergus has also trained world boxing champions and advises elite military units and companies across the globe.You can find Fergus’ books including 59 Lessons: Working with the World's Elite Coaches, Athletes and Special Forces and The Process Level III: The Methodology, Philosophy & Principles of Coaching Winning Teams on Amazon.

In this episode, Valeria Cardillo Piccolino and host Kate Leismer unpack headwinds women face in the workplace and how coaching can help them to thrive at all levels of their careers. Valeria Cardillo Piccolino is a psychologist, coach and senior behavioral scientist with CoachHub. She is an organizational psychologist and ICF-accredited business coach whose main expertise lies in supporting the talent, organizational and leadership development strategy of big corporates, especially during delicate phases of cultural and organizational change. She has a background in HR consulting, coaching and training in various industries, from the United Nations to banking, from retail to no-profit, at an international level for more than 10 years. Her main mission is related to the development of ethical, green and inclusive leadership, in which ideally every employee can become a sustainability-oriented decision maker.Valeria’s new eBook “Supporting Women Leaders Through the Employee Lifecycle” was just released by CoahHub on International Women’s Day.

Hi everyone, I'm your host Windy Tshepiso Maledu. As we head off to the holidays and wrap up the year, I personally would like to thank each and every one of you for listening to the *Spark Leadership Podcast. I hope that you found these last two seasons insightful, inspiring and empowering in your career path as I have. *Spark Leadership will be returning with a brand new season and new host in 2023 after a winter break. We are very excited to introduce you to the new host next year as we bring new guests discussing key business issues that HR and L&D Leaders face today. It's been my greatest pleasure and privilege to have been your host this year and to share thought provoking, insightful conversations with coaching thought leaders, authors and business pioneers. Let's continue to cultivate the knowledge we learned. As the African proverb says, "Knowledge is like a garden. If it's not cultivated, it cannot be harvested."Wishing you all the best for the new year. Happiness! 

In this episode, host Windy and Haesun Moon, Ph.D., explore the power of words, how to better curate conversations and how ordinary words can alter perspectives, thinking patterns and behaviors.Haesun Moon, Ph.D., is a communication scientist, an educator, and author of Coaching A to Z: The Extraordinary Use of Ordinary Words. Haesun received her Ph.D. in Adult Education and Community Development from University of Toronto. She believes that conversations can change the world, and she defines this process as hosting dialogic conditions in which people participate to imagineer and perform their preferred change. Her research led to development of a simple coaching model, Dialogic Orientation Quadrant (DOQ), which has transformed the way people coach and learn coaching worldwide. Haesun teaches Brief Coaching at the University of Toronto and serves as Executive Director at the Canadian Centre for Brief Coaching, and Principal at The Human Learning Institute. You can visit her online at www.briefcoaching.ca and www.coachingatoz.com.

In this episode, host Windy and Haesun Moon, Ph.D., explore the power of words, how to better curate conversations and how ordinary words can alter perspectives, thinking patterns and behaviors.Haesun Moon, Ph.D., is a communication scientist, an educator, and author of Coaching A to Z: The Extraordinary Use of Ordinary Words. Haesun received her Ph.D. in Adult Education and Community Development from University of Toronto. She believes that conversations can change the world, and she defines this process as hosting dialogic conditions in which people participate to imagineer and perform their preferred change. Her research led to development of a simple coaching model, Dialogic Orientation Quadrant (DOQ), which has transformed the way people coach and learn coaching worldwide. Haesun teaches Brief Coaching at the University of Toronto and serves as Executive Director at the Canadian Centre for Brief Coaching, and Principal at The Human Learning Institute. You can visit her online at www.briefcoaching.ca and www.coachingatoz.com.

In this episode, host Windy and John Mattone discuss how to unlock your leadership potential through "intelligent leadership", why vulnerability is a leadership strength, and why leaders need to focus on developing their inner core.John Mattone is the author of 10 books including 5 bestsellers. The Intelligent Leader (2019) was recognized by Forbes as a top leadership book of 2019 and Bookauthority.org has this book ranked as one of the best leadership books ever written. John’s latest work, The Executive Coach’s Handbook-Volume I, was released in August 2022 and became an Amazon best-seller and #1 Amazon best-selling new release in multiple categories. Since 2019, John Mattone has been ranked as the World’s #1 Executive Coach (Globalgurus Research Organization). Learn more about his organization, Intelligent Leadership Movement: https://ilmovement.com/.

In this episode, host Windy and John Mattone discuss how to unlock your leadership potential through "intelligent leadership", why vulnerability is a leadership strength, and why leaders need to focus on developing their inner core.John Mattone is the author of 10 books including 5 bestsellers. The Intelligent Leader (2019) was recognized by Forbes as a top leadership book of 2019 and Bookauthority.org has this book ranked as one of the best leadership books ever written. John’s latest work, The Executive Coach’s Handbook-Volume I, was released in August 2022 and became an Amazon best-seller and #1 Amazon best-selling new release in multiple categories. Since 2019, John Mattone has been ranked as the World’s #1 Executive Coach (Globalgurus Research Organization). Learn more about his organization, Intelligent Leadership Movement: https://ilmovement.com/.

In this episode, host Windy and Nicholas Janni, theater director turned coaching and leadership thought leader, discuss his book, "Leader as Healer." In his book, Janni pushes back against the left-brain dominance in today’s culture and seeks to re-introduce our often dismissed capacities for feeling, sensation, mindfulness and intuition. Their conversation will explore how these qualities are essential in facing the challenges of our times.Nicholas Janni has devoted his life to the study of human potential. Over the last 20 years he has gained an international reputation for his transformational coaching and leadership development seminars. He works with organisations, NGO’s and senior leaders worldwide and teaches at the IMD Business School in Switzerland. He bridges the worlds of creative, personal, spiritual and professional development in a uniquely powerful, relevant and accessible way. In his first career he was a theatre director. He taught acting at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and directed his own theatre company. He has spent over 30 years researching the theory and the practice of ‘the zone’ of peak performance in art, life and work, and has studied and practiced multiple mind/body disciplines. He co-founded the arts-based consultancy Olivier Mythodrama in 2001, and teaches at the IMD Business School in Lausanne, and the University of Oxford Said Business School.His book “Leader as Healer, a new paradigm for 21st century leadership” was published in March 2022.