Your People Strategy Is Your Business Strategy with Howard Cleveland and Meg Crosby
Show Up as a Leader with Dr. Rosie Ward
Release Date: 09/25/2025
The Courageous Leadership Series: From Stuck to Sustainable: Future-Ready Leaders for Human-Centered Cultures
Show Up as a Leader with Dr. Rosie Ward
đ¨ The leadership pipeline is crumbling. Gen Z doesnât want in. Current leaders want out. So⌠what now? In this episode of the Courageous Leadership Series, Dr. Rosie Ward brings it all home with urgent, research-backed insights into what it truly takes to become a future-ready, human-centered leader. This isnât just another chat. Rosie unpacks the "why" behind her years of research and gives a bold reality check: without rethinking how we lead, workplaces will continue to feel lonely, disconnected, and unsustainable With Nikki Lewallen Gregory guiding the conversation, Rosie dives...
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Rosie in My Pocket: Giving Extra Grace
Show Up as a Leader with Dr. Rosie Ward
What if the key to stronger leadership isnât pushing through, but slowing down? Rosie gets personal about what it really takes to lead well when life gets messy. From unexpected stressors to brain fog and simple mistakes, Rosie shares how sheâs learning to extend more grace, to herself and others, and how that shift is actually making her more effective. She explores how to move from judgment to curiosity, chaos to clarity, and exhaustion to empowerment. By applying leadership tools like âabove the lineâ thinking to her own challenges, Rosie models what it looks like to recalibrate...
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Mattering Is the Future of Leadership with Zach Mercurio
Show Up as a Leader with Dr. Rosie Ward
What if the key to transforming workplace culture isnât perks or programs, but one powerful, overlooked human need? Rosie sits down with Zach Mercurio, author of âThe Power of Matteringâ and one of Inc.'s top 50 leadership experts, to explore why mattering might just be the most important leadership skill of our time. Together, they unpack how feeling seen, valued, and essential isnât just a ânice-to-have,â itâs a basic human need that directly impacts engagement, trust, and performance. Zach gives insights on why intuition doesnât scale, how âsoftâ skills are now...
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Redefining Leadership Through Love with Gretchen Schott
Show Up as a Leader with Dr. Rosie Ward
What if loving your job wasnât a luxury, but your right? Rosie sits down with growth strategist, executive coach, and keynote speaker Gretchen Schott to unpack the powerful idea of leading with love and why joy at work isnât just possible, itâs a choice. They dive into what it really means to feel affirmed and significant in your role, the difference between being nice and kind, and why being a loving leader doesnât mean being soft. Gretchen shares her framework for leadership rooted in humility, confidence, and motivation, and offers practical, real-world ways to bring more meaning,...
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Rosie in My Pocket: Turning to Wonder
Show Up as a Leader with Dr. Rosie Ward
How often do you find yourself thinking, âThey should know better,â or âWhy would they do it that way?â Rosie gets real about our human tendency to judge, and how that instinct quietly blocks us from truly showing up for others. She shares a transformative mindset shift inspired by the Center for Courage and Renewalâs Circle of Trust touchstone: When the going gets rough, turn to wonder. đ⨠Rosie invites us to pause judgment and instead lean into curiosity. What might be happening beneath the surface? What if thereâs more to the story? These small shifts can dramatically...
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Every Leader Needs a Personal Board of Directors with Melanie Stuber
Show Up as a Leader with Dr. Rosie Ward
What if the key to leadership isnât having all the answers, but being brave enough to show up without them? Rosie sits down with Melanie Stuber, former corporate exec turned culture guide and CEO of Cultivate and Thrive, to talk about the real work behind authentic leadership. From shedding the pressure to be âperfectâ in a male-dominated industry to building a personal board of directors that actually fuels your growth, Melanie shares her journey of choosing courage over control and presence over polish. đŹ Together, they unpack what it truly means to thrive as a leader in todayâs...
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Rosie in My Pocket: Bucketing Your Time
Show Up as a Leader with Dr. Rosie Ward
Feeling overwhelmed by your never-ending to-do list? Rosie introduces a powerful four-bucket framework that helps you sort your work into what energizes you, whatâs just neutral, what drains you, and what you wish you had time for. This isnât just about productivity. Itâs about clarity, boundaries, and aligning with your strengths. Whether youâre a leader ready to optimize your team's gifts or simply craving more fulfillment in your day-to-day, Rosie shows you how this simple reflection exercise can open up honest conversations and create space for everyoneâs sparkle to shine â¨....
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Scaling Culture Without Losing Soul with Tim Leman
Show Up as a Leader with Dr. Rosie Ward
How do you scale a people-first culture without sacrificing speed or consistency? Rosie dives into a real, transparent conversation with Tim Leman, CEO of Gibson, as he shares how embracing process became the unexpected accelerator for growth, speed, and consistency across a multi-location business. From recruiting top talent using assessments like Kolbe and Working Genius to creating psychological safety through team-based transparency, Tim breaks down exactly how theyâve built a high-performance culture without losing their heart. He even gets vulnerable about ego, stepping back from a big...
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Rosie in My Pocket: Put People First
Show Up as a Leader with Dr. Rosie Ward
What if the way you label people is quietly eroding trust, connection, and collaboration in your workplace? Rosie unpacks a powerful truth many leaders overlook: when we define people by their roles, titles, or conditions, we strip away their humanity. Whether itâs calling someone âa diabeticâ or placing a CEO on a pedestal, these seemingly small habits can create distance and reinforce hierarchy. Rosie invites us to pause and shift our lens, and to see the person first. 𫶠This isnât about theory. Itâs a real-world challenge to catch ourselves in those micro-moments when judgment...
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Leading with Heart at Global Scale with Brian Garish
Show Up as a Leader with Dr. Rosie Ward
What if the secret to scaling leadership across 70,000 people wasnât strategy, but staying human? Rosie catches up with Brian Garish, an unapologetically people-first leader who brings equal parts strategy, humility, and heart. From mopping floors at Walgreens at 16 to guiding global teams across 20+ countries, Brian shares real talk about staying grounded, leading with courage, and putting purpose over ego. They dive into the art of listening at scale, why leadership is about how you make people feel, and how culture isnât whatâs on the wall, itâs what happens in the halls. Laughter,...
info_outlineEver feel like your org is sprinting toward growth... but nobody packed the map? đ
Rosie is joined by Howard Cleveland and Meg Crosby, co-founders of PeopleCap Advisors and co-authors of âRunning the Gauntlet,â to unpack the real (and often messy) dynamics of leading through change. With decades of experience helping high-growth companies, they reveal the six imperatives every leader needs to scale effectively and stay human in the process.
From the power of context to why process is really just trust in disguise, and how to tell when someone just isnât a fit for the next leg of the journey, this conversation is packed with sharp insights, personal stories, and practical takeaways youâll actually want to use.
Whether you're leading a 5-person startup or a 100-year-old org, youâll leave this episode feeling seen, equipped, and ready to lead with clarity.
Additional Resources:
Get their book: âRunning the Gauntlet: Proven Strategies for High Growth Leadersâ
Connect with Howard on LinkedIn
Learn more about PeopleCap Advisors
Connect with Rosie on LinkedIn
Learn more about Salveo Partners
Follow PeopleForward Network on LinkedIn
Learn more about PeopleForward Network
Key Takeaways:
- Know your growth stage: Align decisions with your organization's stage of development.
- Align culture with strategy: Your culture must evolve to support your current goals.
- Grow leaders to grow the org: Leadership development is essential for scaling.
- Trust lives in process: Clear systems create consistency and reliability.
- Right people, right stage: Not everyone will (or should) grow with the organization.