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Adam Tarnow is a leadership development specialist, keynote speaker, and author of The Fog of Work. With a unique blend of humor, humility, and hard-won insight, Adam helps professionals get out of their own way, navigate complexity, and lead with confidence.

A recovering CPA and former public accountant, Adam now heads up the Leadership Development Practice at PeopleWorks International, where he equips leaders to thrive in today’s fast-paced, people-driven workplaces. He’s spoken to audiences across industries—from manufacturing to professional services to education—and has a gift for making complex leadership ideas simple, practical, and unforgettable.

He earned his accounting degree from Clemson University and holds a “Ducktorate” from Disney University (yes, it’s real… no, it’s not accredited). He’s been married since 2003, is the proud dad of two teenage boys, and believes any day is better when it starts with coffee and a New York Times crossword puzzle.

Whether he’s speaking about leadership, communication, optimism, or culture, Adam’s goal is always the same: cut through the noise and help good people become great leaders.

A Few Quotes From This Episode

• "You are being held accountable for outcomes you know you do not fully control.”
• “I didn’t need a new job. I needed a new system for handling the inevitable stress that goes with leadership.”
• “Your story doesn’t have a villain. It just has a valley.”

Resources

• Book: The Fog of Work

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Attend The Global Conference in Toronto, October 28-31.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for Leaders

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic.

♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!
⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.
➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.
📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles.
🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website.

Send us Fan Mail

Cameron Mofid is a traveler, social entrepreneur, and speaker who became one of the youngest verified people ever to visit all 195 countries in the world by the age of 25. After struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder for much of his life, Cameron used travel as a form of “real-world exposure therapy,” pushing himself into unfamiliar and uncomfortable environments across the globe. His experiences ultimately inspired him to found Humanity Effect, a nonprofit organization supporting children in Makoko, Nigeria through schools and an orphanage serving hundreds of students. Cameron’s work and story have been featured by Forbes, CNN, People Magazine, and other major media outlets for his message around resilience, uncertainty, gratitude, and service.

A Couple of Quotes From This Episode

• “She wasn’t dancing because everything was okay. She was dancing because it wasn’t.”
• “To become best versions of ourselves, we really have to learn to accept and work on all of those things.”

Resources

• Website - Humanity Effect
• CNN Article - ‘It was a form of healing’: How traveling to every country helped this American cope with a mental health disorder

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Attend The Global Conference in Toronto, October 28-31.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for Leaders

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic.

♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!
⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.
➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.
📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles.
🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website.

Send us Fan Mail

Marshall Ganz is a senior lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and one of the leading thinkers on leadership as collective action.

He began his career as a grassroots organizer during the civil rights era, working with Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and later with the United Farm Workers, where he helped build organizing capacity among farmworkers. That field experience became the foundation for his lifelong focus on leadership, organizing, and social movements.

Ganz later transitioned into academia, where he developed frameworks that bridge practice and theory. He is best known for his work on public narrative, organizing strategy, and leadership development through action. His teaching and research emphasize how leaders mobilize others by linking values to action, building relationships, and creating structures that enable collective effort.

He also played a key role in organizing the grassroots structure of the Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign, demonstrating how his principles could scale in a national political context.

His work continues to influence leaders across sectors, including politics, nonprofits, and increasingly, corporate environments.

A Couple of Quotes From This Episode

• “It’s not enough to have virtuous people. We have to have virtuous institutions.”
• “Leadership is about accepting responsibility for enabling others to achieve shared purpose under conditions of uncertainty.”

Resources

• Book: People, Power, Change: Organizing for Democratic Renewal by Ganz
• Book: Dopamine Nation by Lembke

About The International Leadership Association (ILA)

• The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. Attend The Global Conference in Toronto, October 28-31.

About Scott J. Allen

• Website
• Weekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for Leaders

My Approach to Hosting

• The views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. Nothing can replace your reflection, research, and exploration of the topic.

♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!
⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.
➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.
📜 Subscribe to my weekly newsletter featuring four hand-picked articles.
🌎 You can learn more about my work on my Website.