The Third Turn

Join Design Group International founder Mark L. Vincent and guest Linda Milanowski-Westdorp as they speak from their experiences with the ever-important topic of identifying and preparing C-suite leadership successors to enable organizational continuity and create value beyond the current leadership tenure.

Your Hosts:

In this episode, co-hosts Linda Milanowski-Westdorp and Mark L. Vincent interview guest Cheryl Edwards-Cannon about the kaleidoscope of experiences that led Cheryl through her three turns of leadership.  Cheryl describes similarities, differences, and best practices for board engagement through three types of transitions. 

Your Hosts:

Christopher Salem joins the Third Turn Podcast to discuss how senior leaders can better guide mindset development in their successors.

Your Hosts:

In today’s episode, co-hosts Mark L. Vincent and Kristin Evenson talk about an array of resources they find helpful, especially for leaders in their third turns—leaders who have to get a hold of future value, envision it, see it, and then start inviting others into that space.

Your Hosts:

In this episode, we're joined by Mark Baker, Founder/CEO, and Chief Psychologist for Mygrow. In our conversation, we discuss empathy, and Mark provides a definition for what he points out are emotional intelligences.

Your Hosts:

Our guest, CEO Marti Nyman, shares his experience and perspective gleaned from taking a long-term, sustainable value approach to a short-term leadership assignment and organizational turnaround, and the pride and joy he finds beyond the numbers and at the core of this success story.

Your Hosts:

Mark L. Vincent is joined by his wife, Patricia Teall Vincent, and business owners Kenny and Kim Cox to talk through meaningful living in one’s third turn of executive leadership.

Your Hosts:

In this episode, Steve Woodworth, CEO of Masterworks, shares the data points and discoveries that fueled his deep commitment to finish well—against the obvious odds. Steve has seen, he’s studied, he’s now stewarding his own leadership transition alongside his successor, and he’s at work writing a book—sharing wisdom and insights of experienced leaders—to serve and inspire others in the commitment to finish well.

Your Hosts:

In today’s episode, we're joined by Linda Maris, a long-time and deeply respected leader within the National Christian Foundation ecosystem, to talk through her leadership journey and her commitment to helping us safely and meaningfully engage in wealth transfer -- a process that often takes five years.  

Your Hosts:

In today’s episode, Mark and Kristin share the what’s and why’s of the four foundational themes or resources that serve as the bedrock of the Maestro-level leader cohort experience and, more importantly than that, serve as contributors to successful leadership transition.

Your Hosts:

Guest Dave Cornell is an author, coach, trainer, and speaker to leaders and organizations, helping them recognize and navigate the ways that fear and courage impact us personally and professionally.  In this episode, he reminds us that we all have fear but seldom admit it, and unpacks fear’s role in practical leadership realities like our struggle to hold people accountable, temptations to command-and-control (versus trust and inspire), and—especially for Third Turn leaders--hanging around too long, not making the leadership handoff, and stepping into the unknowns of life beyond organizational leadership. Join us as Dave reminds us about the unique kind of courage required to lead well, lean into the unknown, and learn as we go.

Your Hosts:

Gifted, articulate, purpose-beyond-profit driven business coach Julaine Smith brings life to the business numbers. In this episode, she shares ways to make those numbers really count—translating a business vision and plan into a compelling financial story and accompanying metrics and resources.

Your Hosts:

Co-hosts Kristin Evenson and Mark L. Vincent reflect in this episode on a pivotal experience in each of their three turns of leadership. The stories they share bring to life the important work for each of us that lies embedded in Turns One, Two, and Three, and the formative experiences that not only transform us as leaders but equip us to increasingly see a broader scope beyond ourselves and a future beyond our own leadership.

Your Hosts:

Our guest Donna Schumell—a Third Turn leader and partner in the firm The Disruptive Element--shares her very serendipitous career journey as well as the surprising shifts that have marked her own Third Turn in leadership. Her story invites us all to consider how to make space for serendipity and surprises in context of an otherwise planful and intentional Third Turn of leadership.

Your Hosts:

This episode presents a unique, roughly 20-minute opportunity to mentally walk through your last four years of organizational leadership—and begin developing a thoughtful, planful approach with the end in mind. Mark L. Vincent delivers a concise and informative audio visual walk-though that allows you as a leader to personally reflect, and/or process with colleagues. What does the last four years of executive leadership look like for you, with the goal of finishing well and with the end in mind, and slingshotting your successors into a thriving future?

Your Hosts:

Linda Milanowski-Westdorp had a long and lauded career through the ranks and divisions of renowned Herman Miller. She joins us in this episode to share how those leadership experiences shaped her and how she’s paying it forward to benefit organizations and leaders—especially in the First and Third Turns.

Your Hosts:

Tom McGehee and Jim Stollberg currently serve as Co-Executive Directors of Halftime Institute, an organization that helped them each navigate their own transition from success to significance, career to calling, and stepping into a new season of Third Turn leadership, vision, and contribution. As they now lead the organization through its own Halftime transformation of sorts--actively working to build a global community of Halftime alums with multiplied impact--they share with us here the deep values and compelling stories that inspire the Halftime mission and their work.

Your Hosts:

In this episode, co-hosts Mark L. Vincent and Kristin Evenson share perspective on the present-day development needs and opportunities for leaders, who are leading through their Third Turn, stepping up to the unique needs of the organization, and doing that all in context of this unique point in time and cultural context.

Your Hosts:

Kendra Fiscelli has been watching over a complex governance system within a healthcare associational system that must satisfy compliance with many outside watchdogs. It hardly gets more complicated than that! In this episode, she provides insight into effective boards, especially their decision-making.

Your Hosts:

Our guest in this episode, Sherry S. Jennings, PhD, is founder and principal of Sound Governance, and has been referred to as a “governance guru.” Sherry started Sound Governance out of the belief that board leaders need a safe space. While Sound Governance is grounded in the solid principles of Policy Governance©, Sherry brings education and practice in psychology and organizational psychology to help an organization move forward quickly. And she shares her unique vantage point and refreshing viewpoints with those of us serving on or working with boards.

Your Hosts:

In this, our 50thpodcast-iversary, Mark L. Vincent and Kristin Evenson celebrate by reflecting on and resharing some meaningful excerpts among the many meaningful Third Turn topics and guests throughout this conversation series. Please join in as they replay and reflect, and enjoy a flyover of key themes covered as we continue to explore what it means to live and lead with a greater good and our grandchildren’s grandchildren in mind.

Your Hosts:

Arnie Hendricks has 30 years of senior financial management experience, with a special focus in the financial and operational management of mid size companies. He currently serves in an exit-planning consultant and in part-time CFO roles through Financial Management Resources. For the past 25 years he’s independently consulted with over 300 companies, helping them solve issues which were hampering their profitable growth and preventing owners from increasing the value of their businesses.

Your Hosts:

Dr. Roger Hall, psychologist, speaker, author, and practitioner, whose work focuses on helping leaders think about their thinking and reevaluate their nutritional needs toward the goal peak mental and whole person performance. He’s well aware of the challenges leaders face and trained and certified in psychological and nutritional strategies to, as he says, “change neurobiology and neurochemistry through words. I help successful people become more successful so they can live the life of their dreams.” In this podcast conversation, Dr. Hall shares insights and wisdom specifically tailored to a leader’s Third Turn challenges and realities. 

Your Hosts:

David S. Bell serves as a Senior Design Partner with Design Group International™. David is an adjunct instructor at United Theological Seminary and currently serves as President and Executive Director with The United Methodist Foundation of Michigan. Our conversation with David S. Bell brings insight into long-term financial management for all of us, and most especially that Third Turn, Maestro-level leader who cares about future value, succession and legacy.

Your Hosts:

Tim & Sid Burkey are brothers and farmers who lead a 130-year family farm in Nebraska that’s prospered through six to seven generations, developed numerous crop and technology products, and experienced both thriving and a near-brush with insolvency. The experiences they share from their agricultural experience provide illustrative examples and refreshing perspective on what it means to live and lead in an enduring, innovative family business with present and future value and stakeholders and partners both close at hand and clearly in view.

Your Hosts:

Drs. Rob McKenna and Daniel Hallak lead WiLD Leaders, with a mission to intentionally prepare a generation of courageous and sacrificial leaders who will lead the way in reflecting light into a world where darkness is the default  — a generation of leaders who will bring thoughtfulness, conviction, hope, resourcing, strategic thinking, and deeply rooted care to the institutions and people they serve. They’re deeply committed to providing a practical structure and process where leaders are deepening in courageous and sacrificial leadership alongside developing in business skills and acumen--all within the context of real-world, everyday business experiences and realities.

Your Hosts:

Phil Bergey is an executive leadership coach who builds on 30 years of diverse leadership experience in business and non-profit roles to form trusted relationships and deliver results with humor, flexibility, and depth. He grew up and was a partner in what is now a three-generation-led family business and has led both start-ups and 300-year-old organizations. Phil has served hundreds of leaders, boards, businesses, and organizations as an executive leadership coach, process consultant, facilitator, and educator. His coaching is focused on helping executives and other senior leaders live with greater effectiveness, more meaning, and increased health as they grow personally and professionally.

Your Hosts:

Kay Edwards, founder and CEO of Outsight Network, is passionate about helping leaders find greater clarity in complex times and believes that asking better questions is the way to get there. In this episode, she shares wisdom on how we can all ask better questions--whether in day-to-day practicalities or longer-term complexities. In either case, better questions yield far better results.

Your Hosts:

In this episode, Mark and Kristin unpack the concept of peer-based advising, why they’ve both long been deeply committed to it, and the unique value it offers leaders--especially at leadership’s Third Turn.

Your Hosts:

Our guest for Episode #40 is Steve Coleman, a partner with Twin Cities-based Platinum Group, who serves small, mid-sized, and family businesses to help them grow, thrive, and transition. Steve shares here helpful insights and inspiring examples of the possibilities that can emerge in places of transition, ambiguity, conflict, and chaos.

Your Hosts:

Our guest in this episode is nutritionist Chelsea Gloeckner. Chelsea helps business leaders and parents strengthen their bodies for living a full abundant life. This episode is helpful to people who work in the gig economy, making themselves available as subject matter experts, specialists, contractors, and consultants. This conversation provides valuable insights for Maestro-level leaders moving into their Third Turn, where they consider future value for their organizations and, subsequently, their lives beyond the C-Suite.

Your Hosts:

Gary Swick founded and grew SWICKtech to help people and companies have a good experience with their computer systems. It’s now grown into a cybersecurity, IT, and compliance firm, and he’s recently retired and turned the company over to others’ leadership. In this episode, Gary shares wisdom from both his entrepreneurial journey and his transition--and numerous counterintuitive surprises along the way.

Your Hosts:

Jodi Hubler, our guest for Episode #37, is a very accomplished leader with deep experience in the C suite, the boardroom and as an investor, all of which give her lots of wisdom, insights, and pitfalls to share about transformational change, executive transition, and board governance. Jodi has held executive positions in both public and private companies, including Cargill, Alcoa, Definity Health and Bind Benefits. She has served as a board director or chair of more than a dozen venture and private equity backed health care companies, particularly as the CEO and Managing Director of Lemhi Ventures, a venture capital firm. Jodi is currently serving as board director or chair of organizations like Caringbridge and Medical Alley Association, as well as the inaugural Chair of the State of Minnesota's Launch MN advisory board; and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz recently appointed Jodi to his Council on Economic Expansion. At the core, Jodi's contributions center on leading and governing in industries facing transformative change. And now in her own Third Turn calling, Jodi is using her passion and expertise to amplify impact for underserved, underrepresented communities--specifically nonprofits, women-led businesses, and entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Your Hosts:

Our guest, Don Bielen--a principal with Perkins & Co.--is a strong advocate and facilitator for a multi-dimensional approach business transition and succession planning for privately-held (the majority of which are family) businesses. Don comes by his passion and prowess naturally--having grown up in a family business and having since trained in finance, financial planning, and as a certified M&A advisor. Listen in as we hear his perspective on what a multi-dimensional approach entails, along with the central question that guides it: How do you create a sustainable organization that perpetuates itself, hopefully into perpetuity--taking an infinite vs. finite view, and making sure you know why you’re doing what you’re doing.

Your Hosts:

Author, speaker, consultant, and executive leadership coach Tod Bolsinger joins us for Episode #35. Tod’s gifts as a pastor, teacher, and his 30 years of leadership experience shine as he brings greater clarity to the rather confounding dynamics of leading adaptive change—especially for Third Turn leaders.

Your Hosts:

Our guest in Episode 34 is Christine Sine - a trained medical doctor from Sydney, Australia, committed to an integrated life of wholeness and inclusivity. Through her experience, we're challenged to be leaders who approach the world with commitment, contribution infused with awe and wonder, all along the way; instruments of God's wholeness in our hurting world.

Your Hosts:

Our guest in Episode 33 is Dacia Coffey - a passionate advocate for “making impact before the invoice” and letting no opportunities for deep connection and service go to waste. So when it comes specifically to “the road to revenue”, Dacia sees and speaks in a singular, integrated way--she doesn’t bifurcate between purpose and practicality, finance and marketing, or current and future revenue.

Your Hosts:

In Episode 32 we have two leaders joining us to help us look more squarely at developing the next generation of organizational leaders. WiLD Leaders and our guests Dr. Rob McKenna and Dr. Daniel Hallack advocate for and resource organizations with a whole and intentional leader development (WiLD) approach.

Your Hosts:

Join Mark & Kristin for the 31st Episode as they discuss the critical role of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). Especially at the Third Turn, as we intentionally peer into the mist of future opportunity, vitality, and value, Subject Matter Experts in areas like trends and innovation, strategic finance modeling, and talent development can bring much-needed perspective to serve and grow the mission in fresh, timely, market-relevant ways. And whether, when, and how we engage them can serve as a litmus test both for the types of leaders we are and for our outcomes and probability of success.

Your Hosts:

Today’s guest, Connie J. Miller, has a keen eye.  And the gifts of observation and strategy have served her well as both a CEO who identified and then led an organizational merger within the credit union industry, and as an accomplished poker player! (She’s won seats to play at the World Poker Tour and the Ladies World Series of Poker.)

Your Hosts:

In this episode we feature a rebroadcast of colleague Phil Bergey’s “Leadership Meets Life” podcast (Episode #2) on this important topic--identifying and managing polarities. The world we live and lead in today has no shortage of problems and polarities on numerous fronts--culturally, organizationally, strategically, and relationally, just to name a few. And certainly, as leaders, a key part of our role is to help our organizations (as well as ourselves!) manage and navigate problems and polarities productively. But are we insightful and objective enough to distinguish between the two?

Your Hosts:

Dr. R. Scott Rodin joins us in Episode 27 of the Third Turn Podcast. He is a well-recognized author, advocate, consultant, and executive coach who has a burden for leaders ‘struggling under the weight of ownership in their approach to work.’  And he recognizes it because he’s lived it.  Scott shares about his own personal and paradigm-shifting journey from leading others with a sense of ownership to leading others with a sense of stewardship, and the freedom and joy that were byproducts of this shift.

Your Hosts:

Join us in Episode 26 as we talk with Della Stanley-Green about her career journey which has been more of a zig-zag path to places others might have gotten to by a more direct route.  Her leadership journey has been marked by seasons of service and shifts between a variety of seats on the bus. This unconventional way hasn’t always been comfortable or easy for her. 

Your Hosts:

The role of the board comes up squarely and consistently in conversations with Third Turn leaders. Readiness to develop future value and succession strategy at the organizational and leadership level does not necessarily translate to board readiness. And oftentimes the board finds itself in catch-up mode. In this episode, we talk about Third Turn governance implications for a board’s legal duties.

Your Hosts:

Future value--a richer, more mission-centric definition plus ways to identify and develop it--is what we dig into in this episode, with the help of our guest, futurist Tom Sine. Tom has great experience and perspective here, holding a PhD in history with a minor in strategic foresight and having worked for more than three decades with a broad range of churches and global non-profit groups.

Your Hosts:

In Episode 23 of The Third Turn Podcast, we speak with Dennis Gingerich, a unique leader with a rich viewpoint on Third Turn living and leading. After an intentional 5-year prep and planning process, Dennis transitioned in title and responsibilities from Senior Pastor to Founding Pastor of Cape Christian Fellowship, the church he’d planted 20+ years earlier. He stayed with the ministry for roughly 12 years since and served alongside three successive successors.

Your Hosts:

Kristin Evenson & Mark Vincent tackle Episode 22 of The Third Turn Podcast. This episode, titled after a relay race, is actually more akin to a volleyball match! But instead of passing batons or spiking balls, they alternate sharing concepts and metaphors that will help bring the three turns of leadership to life.

Your Hosts:

Our guest, Todd Hartch, professor at Eastern Kentucky University, is credentialed at the intersection of history, philosophy, and religion, but also informed by a family history in business. Todd started his studies early!--taking weekly economics lessons from his grandfather at age 10. And now, a student of Catholic social thought, Todd shares a faith-centered perspective on things like:

Your Hosts:

In Episode 20 we talk with Dawn Yoder Graber. She is another great example of how our Third Turn giftedness and calling is oftentimes birthed from our life challenges and crucibles. She’s had a keen eye attuned to women leaders (or the lack thereof!) starting as a young girl, that’s now blossomed into a mission and passion to use her own transforming influence for the benefit of others--equipping and advocating for women in context of today’s leadership roles and realities.

Your Hosts:

Our greatest leadership and life crucibles are often the birthplace of our greatest giftedness and contributions, and Kenneth Cox’s story brings this to life in a powerful way. In fact, Kenny’s leadership journey brings lots of Third Turn principles to life:

Your Hosts:

The battle is real for the Third Turn Leader. In this episode, we hit the hard stuff head-on with reasons and concepts that explain why Third Turn work can feel hard, and with encouragement that a new set of skills and competencies arise right on time.

Your Hosts:

In this episode of the Third Turn Podcast we interview CLA's own Tami Heim as she discussed her own lifelong learning through the Three Turns of Executive Leadership Development.  Tami is one of those persons who lives with this sentiment in the deepest part of her soul. It shows in the way she serves as a Maestro-level leader. 

Your Hosts:

This episode grew from the seed of a personal observation cohost Mark L. Vincent made about the weight of his voice as a Third Turn leader; and sprung fully to life in our interview with Jay Bennett--who not only resonates with a leader’s weight of voice, but literally lost his voice for about 6 years at his Third Turn.

Your Hosts:

Our visit with Kate Frillmann on the Third Turn Podcast emphasizes the importance of being as thoughtful and plan-ful for charitable giving in the Third Turn as for all other aspects of long-term leadership, succession, and legacy. This is especially vital if a leader cares about the direction and impact of their generous response of giving back.

Your Hosts:

In this Episode, Mark L. Vincent and Kristin Evenson discuss three specific cultural trends they've been noticing that have a significant impact on both leaders and those they serve.

"When one door closes another opens; but it can be Hell in the Hallway." - Marilyn Carlson Nelson

Your Hosts:

Mike Tenpas is a Maestro-level leader with a strong history of company growth, building a healthy company culture, and meeting the needs of the UFS marketplace. This conversation covers his journey of coming behind a Founder and entering into his own Third Turn in executive leadership.

Your Host:

In Episode #10 of the Third Turn Podcast, we engage in a twin set of interviews with CEOs who followed strong predecessors. Listen to Lon Swartzentruber, CEO of Design Group International, and Carmen Fowler LaBerge, Host of Reconnect with Carmen, to tackle what worked for them, what didn't, and what they would have done differently.

Your Hosts:

Chelsea Gloeckner is purposeful. And her purpose ties to yours, if you are serious about lifelong excellent leadership and remaining at the top of your game -- not just through the years but in the ups and downs of your daily rhythms. Her insight and practical suggestions are your friends. Join us as we talk through how to be the CEO of Your Body with Chelsea.

Your Hosts:

Episode #5 picks up on musings co-host Jeanette Robért had at the very beginning:  What about those who find themselves at a doorway into their next turn as a leader?  What if they are stuck? How do they get through? How might they recognize that they are approaching their next turn?

Your Hosts:

Episode #2 is a deeper dive into the Three Turns of the Executive Leader. We lay out the map and briefly touch on either making one of those turns a satisfying career, or, alternatively, getting stuck.

Your Hosts:

In this first podcast, we are going to lay the groundwork for what we hope is a long and strong partnership, providing a resource for the advanced executive leader who is focused on developing future value, a strong succession and a lasting legacy.  We use the phrase “for our grandchildren’s grandchildren and the grandchildren’s grandchildren of others” as a way to picture what we are after.

Your Hosts:

Welcome to the Third Turn Podcast! 

Our First Episode will release on September 1st. 

Stay Tuned!

Your Hosts: