There's a difference between performing leadership and actually practicing it. In this episode of Uncover the Human, we sat down with executive leadership coach Renee Stewart to explore what that distinction really looks like in practice — and why the cost of performative leadership doesn't show up immediately, but always shows up eventually. Renee shares four intentional shifts leaders can make right now: moving from control to connection, from image to impact, from having all the answers to building awareness, and from silence to safety.

We also get into the role of energy, body language, and what it means to be the culture — not just set it. Renee brings 20+ years of HR and coaching experience, a love of candid conversation, and a few new acronyms we definitely didn't plan (you'll have to listen for those). If you've ever wondered whether your team is disengaging and why, this episode is worth your time.

What if the problems plaguing your organization — low engagement, poor collaboration, stalled projects — aren't people problems at all? In this host episode, Cristina and Alex unpack one of the most misunderstood truths in leadership: the outcomes you're seeing are a direct result of the system you've built, not the humans inside it. Drawing on Stafford Beer's principle that "the purpose of a system is what it does," they challenge leaders to stop blaming people and start examining the structures, incentives, and practices that shape behavior in the first place.

From organizational reshuffles that never fix the real problem, to the telling moment when employees start demanding "role clarity" (spoiler: it's never actually about the job description), Cristina and Alex trace how surface-level fixes leave root causes untouched. They also explore what happens when AI implementations suddenly expose the leadership gaps that humans had quietly been covering up for years — and why the real cost of a broken system only becomes visible when it's almost too late. If you're ready to stop plugging the nose and start asking what's actually causing the symptoms, this episode is your organizational Claritin.

AI is everywhere — but are we actually using it well? In this episode, Cristina and Alex welcome back return guest Joe Messina, an enterprise technology leader with 20+ years of experience navigating complex transformations. Together, they unpack why so many organizations are rushing into AI adoption without asking the most important questions first: What problem are we actually solving? And are we making things better for our people, or just moving faster toward a cliff? Drawing sharp parallels to the cloud migration era and the dot-com boom, Joe and the team make the case that history is repeating itself — and that the real risk isn't AI itself, but the absence of strategy behind it.

The conversation goes deep on what authentic, courageous leadership looks like in the middle of an AI transformation — from setting up meaningful gates and guardrails, to listening to your people before rolling anything out, to measuring what actually matters instead of just tracking adoption. Joe offers a refreshingly grounded perspective: AI should be in service of humans, not the other way around. If you're a leader trying to figure out how to cut through the hype, bring your team along, and actually do this right, this episode is your roadmap.

What's actually draining your bottom line? In this host episode, Cristina and Alex take a hard look at what happens when businesses forget the humans behind the numbers. From layoffs that quietly destroy institutional knowledge, to spreadsheets designed to tell whatever story someone needs them to tell, to AI-generated data points that are simply made up — the episode makes a compelling case that the leaks most organizations ignore are the ones costing them the most.

The conversation moves from diagnosis to direction: what does it actually look like to lead with the human experience at the center? Cristina and Alex explore how qualitative measures like cross-team collaboration, trust, and psychological safety show up on the bottom line in ways a P&L statement will never capture — and why investing in humans isn't a soft choice, but the highest-ROI decision a leader can make.

What does a peer-reviewed study on aging have to do with your workplace culture — and what does any of it have to do with a dog coding a video game? In this episode of Uncover the Human, hosts Cristina Amigoni and Alex Cullimore are joined by returning guest Chuck DeVries, a self-described "explorer in the land of whimsy," for a wide-ranging conversation that connects cutting-edge science to everyday leadership. They dive into new research showing that toxic relationships don't just feel bad — they literally accelerate aging at the DNA level, with "hasslers" in your personal and professional life acting as biological risk multipliers. The conversation explores how this plays out on teams, in organizations, and even in our own nervous systems, and what leaders can actually do about it.

From there, the trio turns to AI — its promise, its risks, and the very human questions it forces us to confront. Chuck offers a grounded, nuanced take on how companies should think about integrating AI without hollowing out the human value that makes businesses worth building in the first place. He draws unexpected parallels between AI disruption and the discovery of fire, challenges the idea of universal basic income as a band-aid solution, and makes a compelling case for keeping the customer — not the algorithm — at the center of every decision. And just when you think it can't get any more interesting, the conversation ends with a dog who coded a playable video game using Claude. Seriously.

Links:

Chuck Chats: https://www.youtube.com/@ChuckChatChannel

Studies mentioned:

Dog builds video game : https://www.calebleak.com/posts/dog-game/

Negative social ties as emerging risk factors dor accelerate aging, inflammation, and multimorbidity: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2515331123.

What if the conflict you've been avoiding is costing you more than the conversation itself? In this episode of Uncover the Human, hosts Alex Cullimore and Cristina Amigoni dig into why conflict feels so loaded — and why that fear is often worse than the conflict itself. From the tendency to weight negative experiences more heavily than positive ones, to the hidden costs of saying "yes" when you mean "no," they unpack the psychology behind avoidance and challenge listeners to flip the script: instead of asking "what happens if I speak up?", ask "what happens if I don't?"

Drawing on real stories — including Cristina's memorable moment of telling her boss's boss "no" at 10 p.m. and watching jaws drop — the episode makes the case that conflict isn't something that happens to us, but a muscle we can learn to use. The more we build a "data bucket" of conversations that didn't go as badly as feared, the easier it becomes to step into the next one. Whether you're conflict-avoidant or just looking for tools to navigate hard conversations more skillfully, this episode offers a grounded, relatable starting point.

In this episode of Uncover the Human, hosts Alex Cullimore and Cristina Amigoni sit down with Peter Georgariou, CEO of Karmadharma — a B-corp agency in Canada blending strategy, marketing, and people and culture work. Peter shares the winding path that led him to build a company grounded in his core belief that putting good into the world and helping people find their own path are the highest callings in business. From weekly gratitude check-ins with his team to resisting the pressure of vanity KPIs, Peter makes a compelling case that the "soft" stuff — presence, compassion, vulnerability — is actually the hardest and most important work any leader can do.

The conversation digs into why the best consultants and coaches ask better questions rather than offer ready-made answers, why human connection can't be measured on a dashboard, and how radical transparency from a leader can be the most liberating gift a team receives. Whether you're a founder wrestling with self-doubt, a people leader trying to justify culture investments, or just someone curious about living more authentically, this episode is a refreshingly honest and energizing reminder that the messiness of humanity is where all the good stuff happens.

What separates a true leader from someone who simply holds a title? According to Cristina and Alex, it often comes down to one underrated skill: listening. In this episode, they unpack why listening is the foundation of effective leadership — from building psychological safety to making better decisions — and introduce their LAVA framework (Listen, Acknowledge, Validate, Ask open-ended questions) as a practical tool for creating space where people can actually show up and contribute their best.

But this conversation goes deeper than workplace dynamics. Cristina and Alex explore how listening starts with self-awareness — the ability to hear your own internal dialogue honestly — and how that inner work ripples outward into every relationship you lead. They get real about the difference between a leader and what they call a "person of title" (yes, the acronym is intentional), why confidence looks like silence more often than speech, and how curiosity can completely transform a hard conversation — whether it's in the boardroom or at the kitchen table. Equal parts insightful and laugh-out-loud funny, this episode is a reminder that the most powerful thing you can do in any room is stop talking and start listening.