Leaderful

In this episode of The Leaderful Podcast, we sit down with James Docherty, Assistant Deputy Fire Chief at the Calgary Fire Department, to explore what leadership looks like when the stakes are real, the pressure is high, and the margin for error is slim.
Drawing on decades of experience leading in complex, high-risk environments, James shares grounded insights on decision-making, trust, accountability, and culture - and what leaders in any sector can learn from emergency services.
This conversation moves beyond theory and into the lived realities of leadership: the moments that test us, the habits that shape culture, and the responsibilities that come with authority.
In this episode, we explore:
How leaders can balance decisiveness with humanity and care
Why feedback must be normalized long before problems arise
The hidden leadership failures behind many performance issues
How culture change really happens — and why it can’t be forced
The role of humility, awareness, and presence in building trust
If you’re a leader navigating complexity, growth, or change, this episode offers practical wisdom you can apply immediately.
Learn more about The Co. -> a leadership development opportunity for impact-conscious and power-curious leaders.

In this episode of The Leaderful Podcast, we’re joined by Virginia Hervey and Denise Manderson, longtime leaders at Hull Services, for a grounded conversation about trauma-informed leadership, sector capacity, and leading in complex human systems.
Virginia and Denise share Hull’s evolution from a primarily campus-based care model to a broad continuum focused on early intervention, prevention, and building resilience within families, communities, and systems. Rather than positioning Hull as the answer to every challenge, they articulate a clear commitment to building capacity across the sector, so fewer families require intensive interventions.
The conversation also explores Hull’s leadership and culture work with The Ally Co., which began as a search for leadership training and quickly became something deeper. They reflect on the importance of slowing down, co-creating leadership development that truly fits the organization, and having honest conversations about power, intention, and impact. Shared language, reflective practice, and relationship-centred leadership emerge as critical levers for culture change.
Zooming out, the episode tackles persistent nonprofit sector challenges - burnout, retention, system overload, and competing demands - and offers a hopeful, practical case for more intentional, collaborative, and power-conscious leadership.
This episode is a must-listen for leaders working in trauma-exposed, mission-driven environments who want their leadership to reflect the care, dignity, and outcomes they’re striving to create.
🔍 Also covered in this episode:
Translating evidence-based and clinical models into everyday practice
Why intention vs. impact is a core leadership skill
How shared language shapes culture and accountability
The role of leadership development in reducing burnout and supporting retention
Why early intervention and prevention matter for long-term impact
Learn more about The Co. -> a leadership development opportunity for impact-conscious and power-curious leaders. 

In this episode of The Leaderful Podcast, we welcome Ian, a leader, entrepreneur, and founder of Forge Works Advisory. Ian shares the deeply personal and professional journey that led him to leave the company he was leading, sparked by the work of The Ally Co. to uncover deeper organizational truths.
Ian describes how the initial engagement with The Ally Co. was intended to solve for communication and power dynamics within the team. However, the work quickly revealed a more fundamental problem: an artificial alignment and misalignment in the company's direction and people's roles. This revelation forced Ian to confront the brutal facts and make a difficult, but necessary, decision for the good of the organization.
 
Drawing on his philosophy that success hinges on getting the "human bit right" , Ian unpacks the difference between a team that is merely surviving versus one that is truly thriving. He passionately argues against the term "soft skills," noting that they are, in fact, the hardest skills to master and are the fundamental ingredients for business success. This conviction is the driving force behind his new venture, Forge Works Advisory, which helps founders and owners build enduring strength and high-performing human systems.
 
You'll hear a mature perspective on how difficult outcomes—like moving on from a company you love—can often be the right outcomes. This conversation is a must-listen for any founder, CEO, or leader who feels their company isn't "clicking," even with a clear strategy and vision.
 
🔍 Also covered in this episode:
The signs of organizational dysfunction like pre-meetings, water cooler chat, and venting.
 
The difference between a "playbook" consulting approach and a more consultative, human-centric engagement.
 
How to create a "safe space" for team members to share without fear of retribution.
 
The crucial importance of hiring for fit over being 100% technical acumen.
 
Why Ian calls for a new term to replace "soft skills".
 
How Forge Works Advisory helps companies define their needs before making huge investments in full-time roles like a COO.
Learn more about The Co. → a leadership development opportunity for impact-conscious and power-curious leaders.
 

In this episode of the Leaderful Podcast, Pablo is joined by leadership coach and fractional COO Tina Mathas. Together, they unpack the deeply human side of startup scaling—from control and ego to purpose, burnout, and how hard it is to let go of your “business baby.”
Drawing on decades of combined experience, Tina and Pablo explore what keeps founders from scaling effectively, and why bringing in a fractional COO can be a game-changer. You'll hear real stories of founders hitting their limits, the importance of reconnecting to values, and why “being nice” can sometimes be a leadership liability.
They also share how fractional roles—when done right—can bring clarity, structure, and renewed focus to growing teams, and how trusted advisors can serve as the mirror founders often need to move forward.
🔍 Also covered in this episode:
What ego and fear have to do with founder burnout
The value of trusted advisors vs. tactical consultants
How misaligned values create friction—and how to fix it
What it really means to “fall back in love” with your business
The difference between people-pleasing and service-oriented leadership
Signs it might be time to bring in a fractional COO
Whether you’re running a fast-growing startup or supporting one from the inside, this episode is filled with hard truths and compassionate strategies to help you grow—without losing yourself along the way.
Learn more about The Co. → a leadership development opportunity for impact-conscious and power-curious leaders.

In this episode of the Leaderful Podcast, Jeff is joined by Nogol Madani—engineer turned workplace culture strategist and founder of Glee Factor—for a deep dive into psychological safety and why it matters more than ever.
Nogol shares her journey from engineering to exploring what makes teams thrive, and how a pivotal moment sparked her obsession with inclusion, team dynamics, and performance. Together, she and Jeff explore what psychological safety really is (and what it’s not), how it impacts learning and innovation, and how leaders can create conditions for candor, trust, and contribution.
You’ll hear practical tips for fostering psychological safety in meetings, rituals to open space for team voices, and the subtle habits that either build or erode trust on teams. Plus, Nogol shares why human skills are more important than ever in the age of AI—and how leaders can embrace intentional, human-centred transformation.
🔍 Also covered in this episode:
Common myths about psychological safety
What to look for in teams with low safety
Simple meeting rituals that boost trust
The connection between inclusion and innovation
Why culture work is all about daily behaviors, not big pronouncements
Whether you're a CEO, a people manager, or just curious about creating better team environments, this episode offers real-world strategies to bring psychological safety from theory to practice.
Learn more about The Co. → a leadership development opportunity for impact-conscious and power-curious leaders.

In this episode, Jeff Couillard and Pablo Romero dive into The Ally Co.’s Leadership Impact 360°s, powerful experiences designed to support both professional and personal development through a combination of useful feedback, meaningful review, and focused action.
They discuss some of the reasons people struggle to request and receive meaningful feedback through typical performance review processes and present an opportunity to approach this important growth process differently.  
Along the way, Pablo and Jeff take us through TACO’s Leadership Impact 360° client journey, exploring how intentional design and facilitation can help participants: 
Engage in feedback discussions that (truly) help 
Identify alignments and gaps that currently exist in different relationships  
Focus in on what’s most important to them 
Take action to make measurable progress 
Deepen connection and trust in their relationships 
The Leaderful Podcast explores the use of power within teams and organizations, through the stories and perspectives of impact-conscious leaders who are disrupting outdated thinking, systems, and ways of working. 
Have an idea for other topics you think we should be exploring? We’d love to hear it! Here’s where you can find us:  
Website 
Email 
LinkedIn 

In their transition from working women to working mothers, Erin Smith and Saphina Benimadhu-Waters both had unique but challenging return-to-work experiences that didn’t support them in the way they needed. Now, as co-founders of The Debut Co., they provide professional coaching to help parents take charge of their career journey and help organizations champion equity. They describe a truly equitable workplace as one where a person of any gender can be a caregiver and earn equal pay for equal work. 
 
In this episode, Saphina and Erin sit down with Co.CEOs Jeff and Pablo to talk about how they’re working to help people operationalize their power within the workplace to create individual and systemic change.  
 
Mentioned in this episode: 
Power dynamics 
The CLEAR coaching model 
For the Love of Men by Liz Plank (book)  
Pay Up by Reshma Saujani (book) 
Daily Stoic (newsletter) 
Diary of a CEO (podcast) 
 
The Leaderful Podcast explores the use of power within teams and organizations, through the stories and perspectives of impact-conscious leaders who are disrupting outdated thinking, systems, and ways of working. 
 
Have an idea for other topics you think we should be exploring? We’d love to hear it! Here’s where you can find us:  
Website 
Email 
LinkedIn 

Tammy Arseneau is a consultant and coach who takes a science-based, systems-level approach to help leaders at all levels get to the root of common workplace challenges and build resiliency. In this episode, she joins Co.CEOs Jeff and Pablo to discuss: 
Why change can be so hard for individuals, teams and organizations. 
What leaders can do differently to operationalize their leadership and their power. 
How neuroscience can help us build capacity for engaging in crucial conversations that lead to better outcomes.  
 
Also mentioned in this episode: 
Impact assessments (our version of true 360° feedback reviews) 
Trusted advising 
Find Tammy on LinkedIn and learn more about Cortical Consulting and Coaching
 
 
The Leaderful Podcast explores human-centred, systems-conscious approaches to leadership and building high-functioning teams. We focus on the core problems of burnout, disconnection, conflict, misuses of power, unethical leadership and stuckness on teams and within organizations. 
Got an idea for other topics you think we should be exploring? We’d love to hear it! Here’s where you can find us:  
Website 
Email 
LinkedIn 

In this episode of the Leaderful Podcast, Pablo and Jeff are joined by Lindsay Sheldrake to discuss how fractional COOs can help leaders get out of operational quicksand and into their strategic role(s), activate people around vision through focus and with trust, and operationalize power through more conscious ways of working. 
Lindsay Sheldrake is a wife, a mother, a project manager, a purpose-driven leader—and a trusted advisor at The Ally Co. 
Be sure to connect with Lindsay on LinkedIn!
The Leaderful Podcast explores human-centred, systems-conscious approaches to leadership and building high-functioning teams. We focus on the core problems of burnout, disconnection, conflict, misuses of power, unethical leadership and stuckness on teams and within organizations. 
Also mentioned in this episode: 
Leadership support 
The power dynamic (up-power and down-power) 
Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) 
The Four Disciplines of Execution (4DX) framework 
Have suggestions for topics we should be exploring? We’d love to hear them!
Here’s where you can find us:  
Website 
Email (team@theallyco.world)
LinkedIn 

In this episode of The Leaderful Podcast, we reflect on the last three years of The Ally Co.'s purpose and mission to create 'leaderful' teams.
🤔 What does being 'leaderful' mean and what have we been observing (and learning)?
A few insights from our conversation about creating 'leaderfulness' on teams:
🧭 Foundational Alignment -- Leaderful teams are foundationally aligned on the impact (goals, outcomes, objectives) they are seeking to accomplish as a collective, and how their core values are expected to be operationalized through key decisions, actions, and behaviours.
🌟 Power & Communication -- Leaderful teams are aware of the power dynamics and systemic forces at play for them, and therefore regularly create space for engaging in deep listening, meaningful dialogue, and purposeful direction activities.
🎁 Safety & Feedback -- Leaderful teams engage in healthy tension and conflict, by creating inclusive and safe spaces for team members to regularly (and meaningfully) request, provide, and make sense of feedback - for the sake of connection, innovation, and performance.
🛶 Traction & Accountability -- Leaderful teams elevate each other - individually and collectively - by regularly clarifying and recognizing their roles, responsibilities, and contributions. They hold each other accountable, ask for help, and celebrate their learnings (misses and all).
🔒 Connection & Trust -- There is a richness that comes from embracing diverse thoughts and perspectives, particularly from those who have been marginalized. Inclusivity not only drives innovation but also builds deeper connections and trust.
 
Learn more about our work with impact-conscious leaders by visiting our website, joining the conversation on LinkedIn or dropping us a note at team@theallyco.world.