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The Remarkable Leadership Podcast

The Remarkable Leadership Podcast

By: The Kevin Eikenberry Group
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 The Remarkable Leadership Podcast with Kevin Eikenberry is dedicated to all things leadership. Each week Kevin shares his thoughts about leadership development and ideas to help you see the world differently, lead more confidently and make a bigger difference for those you lead. He also has weekly conversations with leadership experts discussing a wide range of topics including teamwork, organizational culture, facilitating change, personal and organizational development, human potential and more. Economics Leadership Management Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups with Colin Fisher

    Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups with Colin Fisher
    Nov 12 2025
    What if understanding group dynamics is the secret to building high-performing teams? In this episode, Kevin speaks with Dr. Colin Fisher about what makes successful teams work. They debunk the myth of the lone genius and explore why collaboration, not individual brilliance, drives real innovation. Dr. Fisher explains when team synergy happens and why so many teams underperform without realizing it. He also shares practical insights on optimal meeting sizes, how remote and hybrid work affects collaboration, and how to harness healthy competition without damaging team performance. Listen For 00:00 Introduction 02:04 Guest introduction – Dr. Colin Fisher 03:23 Colin's background and journey 06:14 The big idea of The Collective Edge 07:05 Groups vs. teams 09:27 Polarization and why it matters 10:17 The myth of the lone genius 13:19 The science of synergy 16:32 When synergy happens 19:30 What people get wrong about teams 23:24 How to launch effective teams 25:59 Healthy competition in teams 31:10 Leading remote and hybrid teams 37:29 Colin's life outside of work 38:52 What Colin is reading 40:02 How to connect with Colin 40:28 Kevin's closing thoughts and call to action Colin's Story: Since his days as a professional jazz trumpet player, Dr. Colin M. Fisher, author of The Collective Edge: Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups, has been fascinated by group dynamics. As Associate Professor of Organizations and Innovation at University College London's School of Management, Colin's research has uncovered the hidden processes of helping groups and teams in situations requiring creativity, improvisation, and complex decision-making. He has written about group dynamics for both popular science and management audiences, and his work has been profiled in prominent media outlets such as BBC, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, NPR, and The Times. Originally from Redmond, Washington, he received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and now lives in North London with his wife and two children. This Episode is brought to you by... Flexible Leadership is every leader's guide to greater success in a world of increasing complexity and chaos. Book Recommendations The Collective Edge: Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups by Colin M. Fisher Beloved by Toni Morrison Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution by Carlo Rovelli Like this? Creating Dream Teams with Mike Zani Nurturing a Team That Flourishes with Dan Pontefract Harnessing the Power of Group Intelligence with Siobhan McHale Leave a Review If you liked this conversation, we'd be thrilled if you'd let others know by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Here's a quick guide for posting a review. Review on Apple: https://remarkablepodcast.com/itunes Join Our Community If you want to view our live podcast episodes, hear about new releases, or chat with others who enjoy this podcast join one of our communities below. Join the Facebook Group Join the LinkedIn Group
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    42 mins
  • Five Minutes to Greater Influence - Thoughts from Kevin

    Five Minutes to Greater Influence - Thoughts from Kevin
    Nov 10 2025

    How can you become more influential—in just five minutes?
    In this episode, Kevin Eikenberry shares five simple actions that can strengthen your influence as a leader, teammate, or friend. These are small, intentional steps that take only minutes but can create lasting impact.

    Leadership isn't about control—it's about connection. Influence grows when we focus on others first, and Kevin walks through how to do exactly that.

    In this episode, you'll learn:

    • Why asking good questions is more powerful than giving good answers

    • How small investments in relationships lead to greater trust

    • The role perspective plays in genuine influence

    • How to cast a vision that others want to be part of

    • The importance of connecting your goals to theirs

    Learn more about our curated learning packages: https://kevineikenberry.com/curated

    My name is Kevin Eikenberry and I'm here to help you reach your goal as a leader and a human being with Remarkable TV and the Remarkable Leadership Podcast.

    I am also the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. We provide speaking, training, consulting, and coaching services to organizations who believe in investing in their most valuable assets – their people. Whether we are leading a training workshop, speaking to a group, facilitating a planning meeting, consulting with a leadership team, helping with team building, writing or developing products, our vision will be clear in everything we do – We want to be Your Leadership Help Button.

    Learn more about our offerings:

    ➡️ FREE NEWSLETTERs: Sign up for any of our newsletters: https://kevineikenberry.com/newsletters
    ➡️ BOOK: Check out my latest book, The Long-Distance Teammate: https://longdistanceteammate.com/
    ➡️ LEADERSHIP WORKSHOPS: Sign up for any of our online workshops to help you become a better leader: https://kevineikenberry.com/store/?product_type=Workshops
    ➡️ SPEAKING: Learn more about our Speaking opportunities for your next event: https://kevineikenberry.com/how-we-can-help-speaking/

    Connect with Kevin Eikenberry on Social Media:
    https://kevineikenberry.com
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevineikenberry
    https://twitter.com/KevinEikenberry
    https://instagram.com/kevineikenberry
    https://www.facebook.com/KevinEikenberryFanPage/

    About Kevin Eikenberry: Kevin Eikenberry is the Chief Potential Officer of the Kevin Eikenberry Group, a world expert on leadership development, best-selling author, sought-after speaker, popular blogger, husband and dad, a fan of Purdue athletics and antique tractors (especially John Deere's).

    About The Remarkable Leadership Podcast: The Remarkable Leadership Podcast with Kevin Eikenberry is dedicated to all things leadership. Twice a week Kevin shares his thoughts about leadership development and ideas to help you lead more confidently and make a bigger difference for those you lead. He also has weekly conversations with leadership experts discussing a wide range of topics including teamwork, organizational culture, facilitating change, personal and organizational development, human potential and more.
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    5 mins
  • Removing Organizational Roadblocks with Don Kieffer and Nelson Repenning

    Removing Organizational Roadblocks with Don Kieffer and Nelson Repenning
    Nov 5 2025
    Have you ever felt like you're constantly putting out fires at work instead of making progress? Kevin welcomes Don Kieffer and Nelson Repenning to discuss why so many workplace processes feel frustrating and ineffective, and what leaders can do about it. Drawing on decades of experience in operations and organizational design, Don and Nelson reveal why quick-fix workarounds backfire, how firefighting becomes the default mode of operation, and the hidden costs of constantly reacting instead of leading. They introduce the concept of dynamic work design and explain why breaking down silos isn't just nice to have, it's essential. Along the way, they share practical tools leaders can use to move from chaos to sustainable success. Listen For 00:00 Introduction and the problem with roadblocks at work 03:33 How they met and started collaborating 06:07 The Harley-Davidson connection 08:32 The big idea behind the book 09:41 Why organizations assume the world is predictable 11:03 What dynamic work design means 12:21 The hidden cost of firefighting and workarounds 13:01 The firefighting trap explained 15:33 How firefighting becomes self-reinforcing 17:36 Why the dynamic appears in every organization 19:12 Leadership behaviors that unintentionally worsen it 21:12 Moving beyond blame to system thinking 21:56 The problem with silos in organizations 23:43 How work actually flows across silos 25:12 Visualizing knowledge work to expose inefficiency 26:04 Silos and identity in organizations 27:22 Why we must focus on system productivity 28:36 The matrix problem in modern organizations 29:12 Five elements of dynamic work design 29:48 Problem formation as an underrated leadership skill 30:24 Why framing the problem matters 31:23 Using conscious thinking to solve the right problems 32:36 Asking "what problem are we trying to solve" 33:20 What leaders can learn from this habit 33:48 Don and Nelson's hobbies outside of work 34:38 What they are reading now 35:35 Where to find their book and connect 37:19 Wrap up and invitation to subscribe Their Story: Nelson P. Repenning and Donald C. Kieffer are the authors of There's Got to Be a Better Way: How to Deliver Results and Get Rid of the Stuff That Gets in the Way of Real Work. Nelson is the School of Management Distinguished Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is currently the director of MIT's Leadership Center and was recently recognized by Poets & Quants as one of the world's top executive MBA instructors. His scholarly work has appeared in Management Science, Organization Science, Administrative Science Quarterly, the Academy of Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, and Research in Organizational Behavior. Donald C. Kieffer is a Senior Lecturer in Operations Management at MIT Sloan. He is a career operations executive and co-creator of Dynamic Work Design. Kieffer started running equipment in factories at age 17. He was VP of operational excellence at Harley-Davidson, where he worked for 15 years. Since 2007, he has been advising leaders in a variety of industries around the globe. His guidance was instrumental in transforming both the production and technical development areas of the Broad Institute, a Cambridge-based genomic sequencing organization, now an industry leader. He is the founder of ShiftGear Work Design, LLC, and teaches Operations Management at AVT in Copenhagen. This Episode is brought to you by... Flexible Leadership is every leader's guide to greater success in a world of increasing complexity and chaos. Book Recommendations There's Got to Be a Better Way: How to Deliver Results and Get Rid of the Stuff That Gets in the Way of Real Work by Nelson P. Repenning and Donald C. Kieffer The Mindful Body: Thinking Our Way to Chronic Health by Ellen J. Langer Murder Mysteries by Lousie Penny Like this? Competing in the New World of Work with Keith Ferrazzi How to Achieve Breakthrough Execution and Accelerate Growth with Patrick Thean Leave a Review If you liked this conversation, we'd be thrilled if you'd let others know by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Here's a quick guide for posting a review. Review on Apple: https://remarkablepodcast.com/itunes Join Our Community If you want to view our live podcast episodes, hear about new releases, or chat with others who enjoy this podcast join one of our communities below. Join the Facebook Group Join the LinkedIn Group Podcast Better! Sign up with Libsyn and get up to 2 months free! Use promo code: RLP
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    38 mins
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