Libsyn Directory

The Secret To Navigating Uncertainty ft. Keith Hopper

Release Date: 10/08/2025

Uncommon Roundtable: How High-Performing Tech Leaders Build Resilience

Uncommon Leadership

Why do we treat joy or happiness as a reward? Something we’re allowed to feel only after the sprint is over, or the code is shipped, or the crisis is averted. When we cut out joy to focus solely on getting it done, we trigger a dangerous biological shift called predatory aggression—a state where our doer brain takes over, shutting down curiosity, connection, and empathy. The very emotions we need to survive the storm and be truly resilient. In this episode of the Uncommon Leadership Roundtable, we explore the true ROI of Joy. Our expert panel brings decades of...

The High Cost of Fitting In: Reclaiming Your Power as a Neurodivergent Leader ft. Rita Ramakrishnan

Uncommon Leadership

For many tech leaders—especially the neurodivergent—success often feels like a performance. You mirror the behaviors you see, fit ourselves into neurotypical boxes, and pay for it with our mental and physical health. But leadership doesn’t have to be a grind. When you stop fighting your own wiring and start leveraging your Pattern Recognition Engine, you don't just work faster—you work with Cognitive Ease. In this episode of Uncommon Leadership Podcast, Michael Hunter sits down with neurodivergent executive coach and researcher Rita Ramakrishnan to debug the Masking Tax...

From Debt to Real Wealth: Debugging Your Financial System ft. Julie Murphy

Uncommon Leadership

You cannot separate your numbers from your nervous system. When you operate from a "hijacked" state—driven by financial pasts, debt snowballs, or "rich but empty" milestones—you’re driving on the rough shoulder of the road. You’re wrecking your suspension (your health and relationships) and wondering why the journey feels like a grind. Success without joy is neither an achievement nor joyful. It’s just a "leaky container" waiting to drain your energy. In this episode of the Uncommon Leadership Podcast, I, Michael Hunter, am joined by Julie Murphy, a...

Moving from Values on the Wall to Authenticity in the Room ft. Henry Suryawirawan

Uncommon Leadership

If you see your team stalling, projects dragging, and an invisible friction you can’t quite name—this podcast is for you. When tech leaders feel a gap between expectations and outcomes, their first natural response is often to withdraw or try to fix the situation with more rules and processes. And without even realizing it, that distance creates a cycle of silence. Your team begins to play it safe, hiding the very "human data" you need to actually move forward. In this episode of the Uncommon Leadership Podcast, I, Michael Hunter, am joined by Henry Suryawirawan—an engineering...

Why Great Leaders Get Stuck [And What Actually Frees Them] ft. Gary Montalvo

Uncommon Leadership

Tech leaders are struggling because they’re carrying too much— too much pressure to have answers, too much responsibility for outcomes, too little space to be human. And it’s exhausting. In the latest episode of the Uncommon Leadership Podcast, I, Michael Hunter from Uncommon Teams, sit down with leadership and mindset coach Gary Montalvo for a deeply honest conversation about what actually blocks leaders from creating healthy teams, resilient cultures, and sustainable results. From his early days as a 22-year-old art director at Sony Music to building his own...

Uncommon Roundtable: How High-Performing Tech Teams Actually Build Resilience

Uncommon Leadership

As leaders, we’re taught to push through. Work harder. Focus longer. Stay disciplined. But what if resilience isn’t built by endurance at all? What if it’s shaped in the small, almost invisible moments—how teams reset, reconnect, and rehumanize their work before exhaustion sets in? In this episode of the Uncommon Leadership Roundtable Podcast, Michael Hunter from Uncommon Teams brings together a group of deeply respected practitioners to explore resilience not as a personal trait—but as a systemic capability. What unfolds is an honest, experience-driven...

The Hidden Dynamics That Make or Break Tech Teams ft. Keith Klain

Uncommon Leadership

Most leaders believe their teams go quiet because people fear conflict, don’t know what to say, or lack confidence. But that’s almost never the real reason. In this episode of Uncommon Leadership, Keith Klain joins me to reveal a harder, more human truth: Teams go quiet when they stop trusting how honest their leaders will be with them. Keith shares the shift that transformed every organization he led—from global banks to fast-paced tech teams. When he stopped treating information as currency and started telling people the real “why” behind decisions,...

Six Pillars of Resilient Leadership ft. Jim Carlough

Uncommon Leadership

What if the real competitive advantage in your organization isn’t your strategy or your technology— but the way you show up for your people when everything feels uncertain? In this episode of the Uncommon Leadership Podcast, I’m joined by Jim Carlough—a veteran healthcare executive, strategist, and author. Jim’s journey spans from captaining sports teams in his youth to helping organizations find their footing again. Through every experience, Jim kept returning to the same anchors: persistence, focus, and a genuine responsibility to his team. And this became the...

How Top Leaders Build Teams That Speak Up ft. Fortune Buchholtz

Uncommon Leadership

Are your teams holding back? Are they experimenting, speaking up, or taking risks when the stakes are high? If not, you're dealing with a problem that hasn't surfaced yet. And it's not a skill problem. Or a process problem. It’s most likely a culture problem. When your people don’t feel safe, they don't take risks. They hide their vulnerabilities. And in an environment like this, even your best talent stays silent — or quietly leaves. Hi there! Welcome back! I’m Michael Hunter from Uncommon Teams, and in this episode of the Uncommon...

The Chiropractic Leadership ft. Rita Malvone

Uncommon Leadership

Why aren't your teams bringing you their best ideas? Why are they silent in meetings? Most likely, they don't feel psychologically safe to speak up. Or they haven't connected with the real you yet. If this sounds true for your team, your leadership approach is heading into isolation, and you are facing a quiet crisis. The good news is that it's not too late, and together—we can fix it! Hi there! I'm Michael Hunter from Uncommon Teams, and welcome to another exciting episode of the Uncommon Leadership Podcast. Joining me today is Rita Malvone, a renowned business...

More Episodes

This story is going to resonate with so many leaders out there:

Once upon a time, you built your career/business on a foundation of expertise and experience. You followed the rules and made sure every plan was perfectly laid out.

But lately, you’ve started to feel stuck.

You're slowly realizing the old playbook no longer works in a world of constant change.

In this episode, I, Michael Hunter, the host of the Uncommon Leadership Podcast, sit down with innovation expert Keith Hopper to expose a rather uncomfortable truth behind this feeling.

The problem isn’t a lack of experience or a bad plan.

It’s a fundamental confusion between risk—something you can prepare for—and uncertainty—the great unknown that you can’t possibly predict.

Relying on an old-school project plan to handle the unpredictable is a trap.

This trap leaves leaders paralyzed on a leadership teeter-totter.

On one side, they make a massive, blind leap of faith that often leads to spectacular failure.

On the other hand, they are so afraid of making the wrong move that they do nothing, allowing great ideas to die and their teams to stagnate.

But what if there was another way?

In this breakthrough conversation, Keith reveals the key to escaping this cycle.

It’s a low-cost and high-reward way to learn exactly what you need to know—allowing you to move forward one small, intentional step at a time.

Your next breakthrough might just be a small experiment away.

So, it's time to stop waiting and start discovering.

Grab a chair. Join the Conversation. Here's why:

So that you finally stop confusing risk with uncertainty. Because the former can be managed with a plan, but the latter requires a renewed mindset.
Learn how to avoid the Teeter-Totter of Leadership. Don't go all-in blindly, and don't let the fear of uncertainty stop you from moving at all.
Understand the true impact of a series of tiny experiments and how it can help you learn and adapt through change.
The concept of true innovation and how it begins the moment you admit you don't know the outcome.

About the Speakers:

Keith Hopper

Founder @Danger Fort Labs | Guest Lecturer @Harvard Business School | Author & Instructor @LinkedIn Learning | LinkedIn Top Voice in Innovation and Discovery

As the founder of Danger Fort Labs, Keith Hopper advises executives and teams on how to drive organizational change and growth. He is also a guest lecturer at Harvard Business School and an author and instructor for LinkedIn Learning, where his course "Business Innovation Foundations" has reached over 80,000 students.

Keith believes the best way to achieve breakthrough solutions is through experimentation and discovery. He helps leaders create work environments that move more quickly and build smarter, happier teams through continuous learning and discovery.

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