Courage to Advance with Kim Bohr

We’ve spent years implementing HR technology to fix workplace problems that technology was never going to fix. Calli Bakken built a career inside that system, watched it fail, and came out the other side with a different answer: if you want employees to show up fully, start by solving the problems they carry through the door.

After 15 years in HR, HR tech, and an employee engagement startup, Calli Bakken reached a conclusion most o...

What if 70% of change initiatives are failing for the exact same reason and your AI rollout is next? 

Ted Wolf, founder of Guidewise AI, has spent decades building businesses and overseeing technology implementations, including 300+ ERP rollouts, watching the same failure pattern repeat. The technology worked. The business case was solid. People just didn't change. After scaling a staffing company from $1,000 to 650 employees and a...

What if your organization’s biggest people problems aren’t a skills issue — they’re an access issue? 

Only 2% of global CEOs have ever been CHROs. Dr. Suzi Potts spent 25 years watching family-owned businesses hit critical moments, generational transitions, restructurings, down markets, without anyone in the room who understood the human side of the decision. So she left a prestigious SVP role and built something different: a fract...

Your policies are not failing because of the 5% who might abuse them, but because they quietly erode trust with the 95% who are doing their best work. When disruption hits, control-heavy policies put managers in an impossible spot and make your top performers feel punished instead of trusted.​

Your leadership skills vanish when fight-or-flight kicks in. Learn how to build trust when your brain screams "run." For executives facing high-stakes pressure. 

Key Takeaways: 

• Why technical competence is useless if you can't access it under pressure 

• The exact moment manager trust collapses—and how to prevent it 

• Strategic NeuroRegulation: training your nervous system like a musician trains their finger...

71% of employees experienced a crisis in the past 24 months, but only 36% of organizations emerged with strengthened trust. The difference? Leaders who understand that rebuilding trust requires listening, not fixing.

When Tammy Green became the third CEO in three years, 160 employees were in survival mode. Physicians were leaving. The board said, "Everything's broken." Most leaders would have arrived with a 90-day turnaround plan. ...

71% of employees experienced a crisis in the past 24 months, but only 36% of organizations emerged with strengthened trust. The difference? Leaders who understand that career transitions trigger real grief. 

Former NFL quarterback BJ Coleman learned this when told to "find your own way home." Now CEO of Pivotal Health Partners and author of The Pivot, he's developed eight rules for navigating identity crises during career shifts. H...

Here's a boardroom paradox: The person who can make or break your organization—your CEO—receives the least comprehensive performance evaluation. Most boards focus narrowly on KPIs and operating objectives, missing the nuanced competencies that truly predict success.

In this conversation, Kim Bohr and SparkEffect Board Chair Mike Humphries reveal why well-intentioned boards still get CEO evaluations wrong. You'll discover the cr...

The traditional change management playbook doesn't work for AI—and most organizations are about to learn this the hard way. 

David Eliot, PhD candidate and author of Artificially Intelligent: The Very Human Story of AI, reveals a critical insight: those building AI systems actively benefit from keeping people confused. When confusion reigns, democratic participation gets deferred to tech executives who have vested interests—not the...

Your best leaders aren't leaving because they lack passion—they're leaving because you're using motivational myths that defy brain science. 

Dr. Bobby Hoffman reveals research on 6 million college students showing extrinsic motivation (money, recognition, status) drives performance—yet we shame people for wanting it. The result? Self-doubt, anxiety, burnout, and during change initiatives, your top talent walks out the door. 

The cu...

Your best employees aren't leaving because they became parents—they're leaving because you don't know how to support them.

Mason Donovan and Mark Kaplan reveal shocking research: 100% of parents believe becoming a parent made them better employees—more empathetic, resilient, and organized. Yet the "motherhood penalty" persists (4% income decrease per ...

In this urgent conversation, Kim Bohr and change management expert Maria Ross reveal why HR has approximately six months to claim their seat at the AI transformation table—or risk watching technology teams make people decisions without you.

Your direct managers are your organization's greatest trust asset—and your most dangerous vulnerability during crisis. New research reveals why.

In partnership with cultural anthropologist Dr. Aaron Delgaty, SparkEffect conducted the most comprehensive study on organizational trust during disruption. The findings flip conventional crisis management wi...

While AI can ask powerful questions and validate feelings, it can't synchronize nervous systems or call your B.S. when you need it most. In this essential conversation, SparkEffect's Chief Coaching Officer Rod Bacon reveals why the most transformative leadership breakthroughs require human connection, productive tension, and biological synchronization that technology cannot replicate. Discover why mirror neurons matter more than al...

Your Gen Z employees aren't difficult. They're revolutionizing how we work. Dr. Meisha Rouser, organizational behavioral scientist with 20+ years experience, reveals groundbreaking research on why this generation's "why" questions are transforming outdated workplace paradigms.

Discover what happens when employees who watched their parents lose homes i...

High-performing organizations are 17 times more likely to train their executives on AI. Yet, most companies are dangerously unprepared for the AI revolution. In this best-of episode from Season 1, i4cp co-founder Kevin Oakes reveals groundbreaking research showing only 11% of organizations are successfully operationalizing AI, while those ignoring it face extinction. Discover why companies like Moderna and Mastercard achieved 80% A...

71% of organizations faced major disruption in the past 24 months, yet only 36% emerged with stronger trust.

Season 2 of Courage to Advance explores how exceptional leaders navigate complexity while maintaining the trust that makes organizations thrive. Host Kim Bohr, President & COO of SparkEffect, brings you candid conversations with executives ...