Why Smart Leaders Struggle - Alma Derricks & Eliza VanCort

Hey, welcome to the CMO Whisper Show.

I'm your host, Steve Olenski, part marketing practitioner, part ad agency veteran, part journalist.

I was a writer for Forbes for 10 years.

I've had so many insightful conversations over the years with business leaders, to athletes, to celebrities, to, of course, CMOs.

The only difference now is instead of sharing those insights through written form, I'm doing it this way.

Today, I welcome two guests to the show, Alma Derricks and Eliza VanCourt, the co-creators of Ignite, a leadership experience built around a simple but incredibly timely idea.

As technology and AI continue to reshape the workplace, the human skills that drive great leadership have never been more important.

Now, these two came to this work from very different directions.

Alma has spent her time for more than three decades building businesses, launching brands, and leading commercial strategy for organizations including Deloitte, HBO, Paramount, and Cirque du Soleil.

Today, she's the founder and managing partner of Rev, where she helps organizations navigate moments of growth, reinvention, and transformation.

On the other hand, Eliza is a best-selling author, communication strategist, Cornell University fellow, TED speaker, and former acting instructor whose work has helped executives and leadership teams become more confident, influential communicators in the moments that matter most.

Now, one of the things I've always believed, and these two guests know that better as well as anybody, is great things happen when you connect great people.

Now, I known Alma for years before I met Eliza, and once I got to know Eliza, Full disclosure, we dated for a while.

I couldn't shake the feeling that these two needed to meet.

And you're not seeing it, but Elias is laughing hysterically.

So I made the introduction.

And if

you're

old enough to remember

the Chuck Woolery, I'm the love connector, right? So what started as a conversation became a collaboration.

That collaboration became Ignite.

And today I want to spend less time talking about the program itself.

I want to spend more time talking about why it exists.

What are they seeing inside executive teams? Why do communication and influence seem harder than ever? And most important, what human skills are becoming more valuable because of AI, not despite it? I'm a Derek's Eliza van court.

Welcome to the CMO whisper show.