Courage to Advance with Kim Bohr

Most leadership podcasts talk about strategy. Courage to Advance talks about trust, the real, measurable kind that determines whether organizations survive disruption or get crushed by it.Hosted by Kim Bohr, President & CEO of SparkEffect, each episode features executives who are redesigning work from the inside out. Leaders who have rejected legacy systems, built human-centered cultures, and proven that bold leadership actually works. We go beyond the highlight reel into the messy, operational depth of how courageous leadership gets done.Backed by SparkEffect’s proprietary Trust in Turbulence research, every conversation connects real executive stories to the data on what actually makes organizations resilient. If you’re a senior leader who knows something has to change, this is where you’ll find the permission and the playbook to do it differently.

Courage to Advance with Kim Bohr is a business podcast hosted by SparkEffect, with 30 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

SparkEffect hosts Courage to Advance with Kim Bohr, a business show with 30 episodes published.

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  Episode #27

  The Real Driver of Profit Growth Isn't Your Strategy

  Aug 18, 202636 minS2

  Only 2% of leaders believe their performance management process adds any real value. That is a problem, because the number one driver of profit growth in any company is people growth. When the system built to grow people is broken, growth stalls. On this episode of Courage to Advance, host Kim Bohr talks with leadership team coach Mike Goldman about what actually holds teams back. It is rarely strategy or product. It is the wrong people, or good people no one is developing, papered over with annual reviews and core values that live on a website. Mike Goldman is a leadership team coach and USA Today bestselling author of The Strength of Talent. Over close to 20 years working with small and mid-market leadership teams, he built the Talent Density Framework and its companion metric, the Talent Density Indicator, to help leaders grow people the way they grow revenue. What You'll Discover Why annual reviews fail as a growth tool, and what replaces them How to tell whether your expectations are actually clear The test that separates a real core value from website copy Why protecting a high-producing culture violator costs more than the revenue they bring How to make a difficult exit a kindness From the Conversation Mike Goldman: “The number one driver of profit growth is people growth.” Kim Bohr: “There's a lot of scary stuff coming at us and we can put our head in the sand or we could embrace it and just step forward and take it on.” About the Podcast Courage to Advance explores how visionary leaders build the organizations they wish existed through trust, transparency, and the willingness to challenge what no longer works. Hosted by Kim Bohr, CEO of SparkEffect, it brings senior HR and business leaders into honest conversation about leading people through real complexity. Subscribe for new episodes every second, third, and fourth Tuesday of each month at https://sparkeffect.com/sparkeffect-podcast-courage-to-advance/

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  Episode #26

  The Apology That Rebuilds Trust After You Break It

  Aug 11, 202631 minS2

  Most leaders are taught that apologizing is a legal risk and a sign of weakness. So they avoid the conversations that would repair a broken relationship at work, and the damage compounds. Jon Bui, J.D., makes the opposite case: apology is a skill leaders can learn, and avoidance is the costly choice. Where most conflict resolution runs on the force of law and a monetary settlement, Jon saw a set of workplace problems that call for a relationship outcome resolved long before anyone hires an attorney. His fix is to treat apology as a structured process rather than a feeling: acknowledge the harm and your role in it, then make restitution that either restores the person or fixes the trait that caused the harm in the first place. On this episode of Courage to Advance, host Kim Bohr , CEO of SparkEffect , talks with Jon Bui, an attorney, mediator, and founder of The Negotiated Apology Project. A graduate of Lewis & Clark School of Law and a former legal recruiter, Jon now teaches leaders how to turn mistakes into stronger relationships. What You'll Discover Why the legal-risk view of apology misses what actually repairs trust The two kinds of restitution that repair harm, and the performative one that does not Why rebuilt trust takes a new shape instead of returning to what it was What low trust costs, from turnover to a $250,000 lawsuit Why confidence, not technique, is what stops people from starting Notable Quotes Kim Bohr: “Most leaders are coached to treat apology as a legal risk.” Jon Bui: “It’s better to permeate your organization with people who are comfortable having these tough conversations when the stakes are at their lowest.” About the Podcast Courage to Advance brings senior HR and business leaders into honest conversation about leading people through real complexity. Hosted by Kim Bohr, CEO of SparkEffect. New episodes drop every second, third, and fourth Tuesday of each month. Subscribe at https://sparkeffect.com/sparkeffect-podcast-courage-to-advance/

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  Episode #25

  The Business That Can’t Run Without You Won’t Sell

  Jul 21, 202630 minS2

  If you stepped away from your business tomorrow, not for a week or a quarter but for good, would it still run? Most owners cannot say yes, and on this episode of Courage to Advance, host Kim Bohr and Ted Wolf dig into why that answer is also the reason so many businesses never sell. A company that depends on one person is not an asset yet. It is a job that ends when they walk away. Most owners never see the trap coming. They fall in love with what they built, they reward the person who is great at putting out fires without asking why the fires keep starting, and they treat "someone will buy it someday" as a plan. Kim and Ted put real numbers to it: take a business to market today and you have about a 30 percent chance of selling it, which means roughly 70 percent of owners never find a buyer. Ted Wolf knows both sides of that math. He and his brother started a technology staffing company with 500 dollars each, grew it to 650 billable people, and sold it to Iron Mountain, going through the full private equity process himself. He is the author of The Intelligent Business Equation and the Co-Founder and CEO of Guidewise.ai, where he helps leaders close the gap between what they expect and what actually gets done as AI reshapes work. What you'll discover: Why a business that depends on one person reads as risk to a buyer, and what makes cash flow transferable What optionality means, and the five choices it gives an owner instead of a forced sale The five closes Ted runs every month and quarter, and how they feed the next 90 days Why adopting AI and planning your exit are the same governance question How to bring AI in without breaking trust, and what not to do Why resistance to change is usually protective rather than irrational Kim Bohr: "If you stepped away from your business tomorrow, would it still run? Not for a week, not for a quarter, but for good." Ted Wolf: "You don't grow a business just to sell it." Courage to Advance brings senior HR and business leaders into honest conversation about leading people through real complexity, hosted by Kim Bohr, President and CEO of SparkEffect. New episodes drop every second, third, and fourth Tuesday of each month. Subscribe at https://sparkeffect.com/sparkeffect-podcast-courage-to-advance/

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  Episode #24

  Invest in Your Gen Z Talent and They’ll Invest Back

  Jul 14, 202630 minS2

  Senior leaders tend to hold two stories about Gen Z at once. One says they are lazy and entitled. The other says they are digital natives who will figure the rest out on their own. On this episode of Courage to Advance, host Kim Bohr and guest Ashlynne Valdez , PHR, make the case that both are wrong, and that the cost of believing either one shows up in the same place: retention, the hiring pipeline, and the talent you cannot seem to keep. The problem Ashlynne names is not a generation. It is what happens on day one and every day after. Too many new hires are handed a laptop and a desk and told good luck, with no clear deliverables, no KPIs, and no picture of what success looks like. She lived it before founding her firm, and the realization that reframed her career was that the failure was not hers, and it was not unique to her. Ashlynne is a Gen Z professional and a certified HR practitioner, the founder of SoundHR, the organizer of DisruptHR Las Vegas, and the president and founder of the People & Profits Association. She speaks from inside the generation and inside the function where assumptions about that generation meet payroll. WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER Why the "lazy" and "tech native" stories about Gen Z both damage retention What breaks trust on day one, and why "good luck, you'll do great" lands as abandonment The questions to coach any new hire to ask, and what the answers reveal about a company Low-cost moves that build loyalty, including bringing outside specialists in to educate employees for free How to use AI to build structure so leaders get time back for the human work Why HR belongs in the revenue conversation, and what happens to the pipeline when entry-level roles disappear Ashlynne Valdez: "When you invest in your people, your profits will follow." Kim Bohr: "Shifting that time into understanding one another and building trust instead of just the tasks and the to dos." Courage to Advance is hosted by Kim Bohr, President and CEO of SparkEffect. New episodes drop every second, third, and fourth Tuesday of each month. Subscribe wherever you listen: https://sparkeffect.com/sparkeffect-podcast-courage-to-advance/

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  Episode #23

  Why “Fearless” Is the Wrong Goal for Women Leaders

  Jun 16, 202631 minS2

  The confidence gap that holds women back in leadership doesn't start in the workplace. It starts around age 14, and most organizations spend years trying to coach the symptom without ever naming where it began. That's the throughline Kim Bohr , CEO of SparkEffect, and guest Jilyne Jarvis follow in this episode. The hesitation leaders see in capable women, the reluctance to take the role, raise the hand, or apply before meeting every requirement, traces back to a middle-school pattern that never got named. Jilyne diagnoses it from the inside: she was a ski racer who looked unshakable on the podium and had no idea what she was worth the moment she stepped off it. Jilyne is a seven-time NCAA All-American and retired U.S. Ski Team member. In 2014 she founded ZGiRLS to teach girls 11 to 14 the same mental tools elite athletes use to handle pressure and self-doubt, delivered by Olympic, collegiate, and professional women athletes who admit, out loud, that they feel fear too. WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER ► Why confidence is a skill you build through action, not a trait you're born with ► Why "fearless" is the wrong goal, and what elite athletes do with fear that never goes away ► How the confidence decline at 11 to 14 resurfaces in women leaders as hesitation around risk, visibility, and self-advocacy ► Why ages 11 to 14 are the window when a young brain can grasp "I have thoughts, but I'm not my thoughts" ► The "yet" move parents and leaders can use to model a healthier relationship with fear ► Why a leader who admits "I'm working on this too" sets what's safe to say on a team ► What nearly walking away from her own organization taught Jilyne about the labels that quietly cap a career Jilyne Jarvis: "When I was standing on the top of a podium, I did. But when I wasn't, I had absolutely no idea what my value was in the world. All my self worth was wrapped up in achievement." Kim Bohr: "We're doing a lot of these things as women leaders and not even recognizing it." Courage to Advance explores how visionary leaders build the organizations they wish existed through trust, transparency, and the willingness to challenge what no longer works. Hosted by Kim Bohr, CEO of SparkEffect, the show brings senior HR and business leaders into honest conversation about leading people through real complexity. Subscribe wherever you listen: https://sparkeffect.com/sparkeffect-podcast-courage-to-advance/

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