Management Muse

Most leadership problems are framed too narrowly.
A culture problem gets handed to HR. AI becomes a technology initiative. Operations get optimized in a vacuum of spreadsheets. But organizations don’t experience strategy, culture, technology, or people separately…and that may be exactly why so many well-intended transformations fail.
This week, Cindi Baldi talks with Dr. Timothy Tiryaki, systems leadership expert and author of Leading with Strategy, about what changes when leaders stop treating organizational challenges as isolated problems and start leading the tensions between them.
They explore why the hardest leadership challenges are often dilemmas rather than problems, why organizations need stability management alongside change management, and why AI adoption becomes dangerous when it is treated as a headcount exercise.
If you’re trying to lead through disruption without destabilizing your team, culture, or strategy in the process, this episode is for you.
Episode Highlights:
Why the hardest leadership problems often exist between sectors
How to recognize when you are facing a dilemma instead of a problem
Why change management fails when leaders ignore the equally important work of stability management
Why purpose statements are losing meaning with employees and what to focus on instead
How authenticity, inclusion, and empathy can become liabilities when leaders use them without judgment
Watch This Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/B7v8oKoX_kk
About Timothy Tiryaki:
Dr. Timothy Tiryaki is a venture-building entrepreneur, author, and executive advisor helping leaders think strategically about AI, culture, and transformation. As founder of Maslow Research Center and co-founder of Strategy.Inc, he developed research-backed frameworks including the Big 5 of Strategy assessment to elevate strategic clarity across organizations. 
He is the author of Leading with Strategy and Leading with Culture, bridging rigorous research with practical leadership tools. Drawing on experience across Fortune 500 companies, government institutions, and entrepreneurial ventures, Dr. Tim equips executive teams to align strategy, culture, and technology, moving from complexity to clarity in the AI era.  
Connect with Dr. Tim:
Linkedin | Website
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Want to Go Deeper? Check Out Our Recommended Reading:
Covey, Stephen R. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Free Press, 2004, https://a.co/d/0j9eJWoA 
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A team finally clicks. People trust each other. Communication flows. Performance increases.
So why can that same team eventually start getting worse?
In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin unpack the surprising downside of team stability. One mechanism behind this is group polarization: the tendency for a group's distinctive characteristics and beliefs to become more extreme over time. What begins as a constructive team identity can eventually become an "us versus them" worldview that makes newcomers harder to integrate, collaboration harder to sustain, and contrary information easier to dismiss.
Drawing on examples from fire departments, elite military units, office design, and consulting engagements, Cindi and Geoff illustrate why longevity doesn’t automatically produce better teamwork. Tune in to learn how organizational silos form, and what leaders should do to stop separate teams from becoming separate realities.
Episode Highlights:
The surprising point where team stability can stop helping performance and start working against it
The high-performing “go-to” team that became so protective of its reputation that its members stopped catching each other’s mistakes
Why the characteristics that make a team distinctive can become more extreme over time
The overlooked role of office layout and proximity in creating organizational silos
What elite military units and fire departments reveal about organizational tribalism
The question leaders need to ask themselves to stop the “us vs. them” mindset in its tracks
Watch This Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/h2EPEVPBlTA
Get your copy of The Uncertainty Playbook: 14 Strategies for Work Success in a Chaotic World here. 
→ Use code PLAYBOOK20 for 20% off.
Get Science-Backed Insights and Exclusive Perks Straight to Your Inbox:
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Want to Go Deeper? Check Out Our Recommended Reading:
General Stanley McChrystal et al. Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World, Portfolio, May 2015, https://a.co/d/0fJrwKxG
Wise, Sean. “Can a team have too much cohesion? The dark side to network density,” European Management Journal, 32 (5), Oct. 2014, pp. 703-711. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2013.12.005
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You can be excellent at your job and still be overlooked if you cannot communicate your ideas when it matters.
Speaking skills affect far more than stages and TED Talks. They shape who gets heard in meetings, trusted with responsibility, remembered by decision-makers, and considered for the next opportunity.
In this episode, former Procter & Gamble communications trainer and filmmaker turned public speaking coach Nausheen Chen joins Cindi Baldi to explore what helps people communicate clearly and confidently under pressure.
Together, they break powerful communication into three separate skills: confidence, messaging, and delivery, and discuss why learning to communicate under pressure can change the trajectory of a career. Nausheen shares the speaking techniques she uses with overthinkers and perfectionists, how to pull a distracted audience back, and the Stanford research that explains why some people build confidence faster than others after the exact same experience.
Whether you are leading a meeting, presenting to executives, appearing on camera, or stepping onto a stage, this episode offers practical tools to help you sound as capable and credible as you already are.
Episode Highlights:
Why confidence and speaking skill must be built separately
How improv helps perfectionists stop overthinking
What to do when you realize you have lost the audience
What body language reveals and the first steps to mastering it
The one question every speaker should ask themselves about the audience
How to turn past speaking experiences into future confidence
About Nausheen Chen:
Nausheen I. Chen is a 3-time TEDx speaker, a Public Speaking instructor for the Executive MBA program at Central European University and Wesleyan and a content creator with 500,000+ followers across LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.
Nausheen coaches leaders at Google, Amazon, NASA and the UN as well as startup founders to speak fearlessly. Her clients have raised more than $115 million through winning investor pitches and successful exits.
Connect with Nausheen: Website | Linkedin
Watch This Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/gK7racEvoW0
Get your copy of The Uncertainty Playbook: 14 Strategies for Work Success in a Chaotic World here. 
→ Use code PLAYBOOK20 for 20% off.
Get Science-Backed Insights and Exclusive Perks Straight to Your Inbox:
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Want to Go Deeper? Check Out Our Recommended Reading:
Monarth, Harrison. "The Irresistible Power of Storytelling as a Strategic Business Tool." Harvard Business Review, March 2014. https://hbr.org/2014/03/the-irresistible-power-of-storytelling-as-a-strategic-business-tool
Stephens, Greg J., Lauren J. Silbert, and Uri Hasson. "Speaker-Listener Neural Coupling Underlies Successful Communication." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 107, no. 32, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1008662107
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Leaders often confuse three different things: a goal, a strategy, and motivation.
A goal describes the result. A strategy explains how the organization will achieve it. Motivation may help people execute the plan…but it cannot replace one.
In this episode, Cindi and Geoff examine why ambitious targets, pep talks, and motivational speakers can backfire when employees are not given a credible path forward. They discuss how leaders can connect strategy to employees’ daily decisions, reduce uncertainty, and create genuine motivation through clarity and useful ideas.
They then turn to individual career strategy and the limitations of the advice to “follow your passion.” Passion can support persistence, but competitive dreams also require a real advantage and a parallel plan.
The conversation offers a practical test for organizations and individuals alike: Do you have an advantage and a plan, or are you hoping enthusiasm will carry you?
Episode Highlights:
The mistake leaders make when setting growth targets
Why bringing in a motivational speaker may signal a deeper leadership problem
How to tell whether inspiration is creating real value or just a temporary high
What “follow your passion” leaves out of the career equation
How leaders can make strategy feel relevant to an employee’s everyday work
The advantage successful organizations and individuals have that motivation alone cannot produce
Watch This Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/1cFY9iwIiPA
Get your copy of The Uncertainty Playbook: 14 Strategies for Work Success in a Chaotic World here. 
→ Use code PLAYBOOK20 for 20% off.
Get Science-Backed Insights and Exclusive Perks Straight to Your Inbox:
→ Sign up for our newsletter and get a FREE chapter of The Uncertainty Playbook.
Want to Go Deeper? Check Out Our Recommended Reading:
Rumelt, Richard. Good Strategy Bad Strategy, Crown Currency, 19 Jul. 2011, https://a.co/d/013vvcgF 
Ordóñez, Lisa et al. “Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Over-Prescribing Goal Setting,” Academy of Management Perspectives, Jan. 2009, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1332071 
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Why do great entrepreneurs sometimes struggle to become great leaders?
Entrepreneurs tend to be comfortable with risk. They chase ideas, trust their instincts, and see opportunities other people miss. That is often exactly what it takes to get a company off the ground. But once employees, customers, systems, and growth enter the picture, the job changes. 
In this episode, Cindi Baldi talks with best-selling author and small-business expert Steve Strauss about one of the hardest transitions in entrepreneurship: going from founder to leader. 
They explore what separates great entrepreneurs from great managers, how a founder’s personality can shape company culture for years, why some startups become unnecessarily chaotic, and why successful founders need people around them who complement their weaknesses. Steve shares stories from entrepreneurs including Tommy Hilfiger, Martha Stewart, and Walt Disney to show how risk, partnerships, and management decisions can determine whether a business grows or stalls.
They discuss what good bosses do differently, what leaders should be careful about outsourcing to AI, and why uncertainty may actually make this one of the most exciting times to build something new.
Episode Highlights:
How a person’s tolerance for risk and uncertainty shapes their career choices
Why the skills that make someone a great founder can make leadership harder
How a founder’s personality becomes embedded in company culture
What the most successful franchise owners do differently as leaders
The billboard stunt that helped turn Tommy Hilfiger into a household name
Why most family businesses don't survive a third generation, and the one that did
What Walt Disney, Martha Stewart, and other iconic entrepreneurs understood about complementary partnerships
Why this is the best time to start a new business and resources to help
Watch This Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/NJiNn3MKCo4
About Steve Strauss:
Steve Strauss is the country's leading small business expert. A non-practicing attorney and author of 18 books, including the bestselling Small Business Bible, Steve is also an in-demand speaker and brand ambassador. 
Connect with Steve:
Website | Newsletter: Notes to An Entrepreneur | Latest book
*Bonus resource: Find a free mentor: https://www.score.org/
Get your copy of The Uncertainty Playbook: 14 Strategies for Work Success in a Chaotic World here. 
→ Use code PLAYBOOK20 for 20% off.
Get Science-Backed Insights and Exclusive Perks Straight to Your Inbox:
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Want to Go Deeper? Check Out Our Recommended Reading:
Stanford Seed. “It Starts With You: Evolving Your Leadership as Your Company Grows,” Stanford Graduate School of Business, 28 Sep. 2022, https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/it-starts-you-evolving-your-leadership-your-company-grows 
Zook, Chris. “Founder-Led Companies Outperform the Rest – Here’s Why,” Harvard Business Review, 24 Mar. 2016, https://hbr.org/2016/03/founder-led-companies-outperform-the-rest-heres-why 
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Employee complaints are often a sign of organizational health. The more dangerous signal may be when people stop complaining altogether.
Complaints often come from people who care deeply about the organization and want it to improve. The challenge for leaders is distinguishing those committed truth-tellers from the person who will remain unhappy no matter what.
In this episode, Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin introduce two types of complainers: the “heartbroken lover,” who speaks up because they care, and the chronic scrooge who is never satisfied. They explore how a small number of negative employees can disproportionately influence a team, how leaders can respond without promising to fix everything, and a simple management tactic that turns complaints into ownership.
Whether you manage people or you’re the employee who keeps raising an issue and hearing nothing back, this episode will change how you think about the next complaint that lands on your desk.
Episode Highlights:
Why complainers are often your most engaged employees, not your biggest problem
How to distinguish a productive complaint from one that will never end
What the research reveals about how one unhappy employee can influence 25% of an organization
The simple question that can turn a complainer into a problem-solver
Why silence may be the real warning sign inside an organization
How leaders accidentally train employees to stop speaking up
Watch This Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VjZTIo4RpiA
Get your copy of The Uncertainty Playbook: 14 Strategies for Work Success in a Chaotic World here. 
→ Use code PLAYBOOK20 for 20% off.
Get Science-Backed Insights and Exclusive Perks Straight to Your Inbox:
→ Sign up for our newsletter and get a FREE chapter of The Uncertainty Playbook.
Want to Go Deeper? Check Out Our Recommended Reading:
Goldsmith, Marshall, and Mark Reiter. What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful. Hyperion, 2007. https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/marshall-goldsmith/what-got-you-here-wont-get-you-there/9781401301309/
Felps, Will, Terence R. Mitchell, and Eliza Byington. "How, When, and Why Bad Apples Spoil the Barrel: Negative Group Members and Dysfunctional Groups." Research in Organizational Behavior, vol. 27, 2006, pp. 175–222. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191308506270059
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Being good at the work is not the same as knowing how to run the business.
In part two of Cindi Baldi’s conversation with Kelly Kennedy, founder of Capital Business Development and host of The Business Development Podcast, the discussion moves from podcasting as business development to the realities of entrepreneurship.
They talk through the pricing mistake that sinks most new businesses, the mental gymnastics of going from employee to business owner, and the role of community and generosity in building a business that lasts.
Kelly's rule for service-based businesses is simple: figure out how to be profitable on day one, and start by pricing yourself at what the market charges, not below it.
If you are building a business around your expertise or thinking about leaving employment to start your own company, this episode brings key lessons on making entrepreneurship feasible.
Episode Highlights
Why version one of your business probably will not be perfect
The mindset shift from employee to entrepreneur
Why $30 an hour as a business owner is not the same as $30 an hour as an employee
How pricing can signal quality before a client ever works with you
Why community, referrals, and reputation matter more than most marketing
How generosity can create long-term business value
Watch Part 1 here
About Kelly Kennedy:
Kelly Kennedy is a Canadian business development strategist, founder of Capital Business Development, and host of The Business Development Podcast, a globally recognized show with over 300 episodes and listeners in more than 150 countries.
He is also the creator of The Catalyst Club, a private community for leaders focused on connection and results, and the host of I Used To Work There podcast. With nearly two decades in sales and business development, Kelly helps entrepreneurs, executives, and sales professionals turn strategy into consistent revenue through proven business development systems.
Connect with Kelly:
Linkedin | Instagram
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellykennedyofficial/, https://www.instagram.com/thebusinessdevelopmentpodcast
The Catalyst Club Community: www.kellykennedyofficial.com/thecatalystclub
The Business Development Podcast: www.businessdevelopmentpodcast.ca
I Used To Work There: www.iusedtoworkthere.com
Watch This Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Rvc0cXRvizM
Get your copy of The Uncertainty Playbook: 14 Strategies for Work Success in a Chaotic World here. 
→ Use code PLAYBOOK20 for 20% off.
Get Science-Backed Insights and Exclusive Perks Straight to Your Inbox:
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Want to Go Deeper? Check Out Our Recommended Reading:
Burg, Bob and John David Mann. The Go-Giver, Portfolio, 2015, https://a.co/d/05zaxTPw
Gerber, Michael E. The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It, Harper Business, 1995, https://a.co/d/01cwxszb 
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What if the smartest business development move you could make isn't a sales call, but a microphone?
In this episode, Cindi Baldi talks with Kelly Kennedy, founder of Capital Business Development and host of The Business Development Podcast, about the role podcasting can play in building trust, authority, and business relationships. From parking cars to building a 300+ episode show that's become required listening in his industry, Kelly shares how a business podcast can create authority, clarify expertise, and gives potential clinets a sense of how you think before they decide to work with you.
As two business podcasters, Cindi and Kelly compare notes on what they've learned building shows in the business sector, from the awkward early episodes to the value of clear positioning, and why reputation is becoming more valuable, not less, as AI floods the internet with generic content.
If you've ever wondered whether starting a podcast is worth it for your business, this is the conversation to listen to before you decide.
Episode Highlights:
Why business development isn't just sales, and what most people get wrong about the difference
Why a podcast can close the trust gap before a sales conversation even starts
How to expand your network, build authority, and differentiate yourself
What two podcasters learned from building shows in the business sector
The increasing power of reputation and what that means for your business
Watch This Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Rvc0cXRvizM
About Kelly Kennedy:
Kelly Kennedy is a Canadian business development strategist, founder of Capital Business Development, and host of The Business Development Podcast, a globally recognized show with over 300 episodes and listeners in more than 150 countries.
He is also the creator of The Catalyst Club, a private community for leaders focused on connection and results, and the host of I Used To Work There podcast. With nearly two decades in sales and business development, Kelly helps entrepreneurs, executives, and sales professionals turn strategy into consistent revenue through proven business development systems.
Connect with Kelly:
Linkedin | Instagram
Get your copy of The Uncertainty Playbook: 14 Strategies for Work Success in a Chaotic World here. 
→ Use code PLAYBOOK20 for 20% off.
Get Science-Backed Insights and Exclusive Perks Straight to Your Inbox:
→ Sign up for our newsletter and get a FREE chapter of The Uncertainty Playbook.
Want to Go Deeper? Check Out Our Recommended Reading:
Mildren, Andrew. “The Battle for B2B Influence is Won Before Sales Walks In: Shaping Perception and Engaging Hidden Buyers,” Edelman, 26 Jun. 2025, https://www.edelman.com/insights/battle-b2b-influence
Miller, Donald. Building a StoryBrand 2.0. HarperCollins Leadership, 7 Jan. 2025, https://a.co/d/08Nb5uEG
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Chasing happiness directly might be one of the worst ways to find it.
In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin unpack why happiness is better understood as a byproduct than a destination. A lot of what shapes our happiness is either built into our baseline or fades faster than we expect. The part we can influence has less to do with perfect circumstances and more to do with how we think, what we protect, and where we put our attention.
From Disney World meltdowns to late-life reinvention, Cindi and Geoff make the case for three things worth chasing instead: meaningful relationships, a sense of purpose, and a little novelty.
If you’ve ever caught yourself thinking, “I’ll be happy when…,” this conversation offers a helpful reset: what are you building that happiness can come from?
Episode Highlights:
Why happiness is actually a byproduct of something else and the 3 things to chase instead
The 50/10/40 equation: what the science says actually determines your happiness level
What 85 years of Harvard research says about relationships and longevity
Why retirement can be harder than many people expect
The happiness “set point” and why people tend to bounce back to a baseline
Social comparison traps and how to break them
Watch This Episode on YouTube: 
Get your copy of The Uncertainty Playbook: 14 Strategies for Work Success in a Chaotic World here. 
→ Use code PLAYBOOK20 for 20% off.
Get Science-Backed Insights and Exclusive Perks Straight to Your Inbox:
→ Sign up for our newsletter and get a FREE chapter of The Uncertainty Playbook.
Want to Go Deeper? Check Out Our Recommended Reading:
Waldinger, Robert J., and Marc Schulz. The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness. Simon & Schuster, 2023. https://a.co/d/00Zx1PXg 
Lyubomirsky, Sonja, Kennon M. Sheldon, and David Schkade. "Pursuing Happiness: The Architecture of Sustainable Change." Review of General Psychology, 9(2), 2005. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.9.2.111
Schkade, David A., and Daniel Kahneman. "Does Living in California Make People Happy? A Focusing Illusion in Judgments of Life Satisfaction." Psychological Science, 9(5), 1998, pp. 340-346. https://web.mit.edu/curhan/www/docs/Articles/biases/9_Psychological_Science_340_(Schkade).pdf 
Adam Sandler “Same Sad You” SNL Skit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbwlC2B-BIg 
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What is more important: people or profits? 
This week’s guest thinks that question is part of the problem.
In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi sits down with longtime HR executive and author Clark Ingram to unpack the HR myths he's spent decades dismantling. From the false binary of "people vs. profits" to the idea that zero turnover is impossible (spoiler alert: it isn't), Clark makes the case that HR has been asking the wrong questions, chasing the wrong metrics, and settling for the wrong goals. 
Drawing from his experience in manufacturing, healthcare, and hard-to-fill roles, Clark explains why employee turnover, compensation, recruiting, and workplace culture are all connected. He shares stories about fixing the real reasons people leave, designing pay systems employees can understand, and building an employer brand that reflects why people actually want to work there.
This conversation is a practical look at what happens when HR focuses less on activity and more on results.
Episode Highlights:
Why "people first vs. profits first" is a false choice, and the third option that changes everything
The organizational-specific root cause approach to cutting turnover
Why engagement surveys are only as good as what you do after them
The Walmart driver story: how understanding what workers really want beats every hiring bonus you'll ever offer
Why compensation tied to time served is lazy, and what to measure instead
The case for zero: why employee turnover should be held to the same standard as customer experience
How to identify what actually makes your organization worth working for
About Clark Ingram:
Clark A. Ingram, is the Founder and President of People Profits, LLC - a financially focused Human Capital management consulting firm. We focus on Employee Turnover, Chronically Open Positions and Skills Gap. Over the next 30+ years he was the Chief Human Resources Officer for four companies, in four different industries from publicly to privately held. 
Connect with Clark:
Churn: Proven Strategies to Achieve Zero Turnover | Linkedin
Watch This Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/75EtkifhfyY
Get your copy of The Uncertainty Playbook: 14 Strategies for Work Success in a Chaotic World here. 
→ Use code PLAYBOOK20 for 20% off.
Get Science-Backed Insights and Exclusive Perks Straight to Your Inbox:
→ Sign up for our newsletter and get a FREE chapter of The Uncertainty Playbook.
Want to Go Deeper? Check Out Our Recommended Reading:
Sull, Donald, Charles Sull, and Ben Zweig. "Toxic Culture Is Driving the Great Resignation." MIT Sloan Management Review, January 2022. https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/toxic-culture-is-driving-the-great-resignation/ 
Mitchell, Terence R., Brooks C. Holtom, and Thomas W. Lee. "How to Keep Your Best Employees: Developing an Effective Retention Policy." Academy of Management Perspectives, vol. 15, no. 4, 2001. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.2001.5897929 
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