Remember Donna the Deer Lady, and her call to a radio talk show that electrified the nation?

To refresh your memory, she was wondering why the highway department place the "Deer Crossing" signs at the busiest sections, where the deer were most likely to get hit by a moving vehicle. “Why are we encouraging deer to cross at the interstate? I don’t get it. That’s a high- traffic area,” she said.

That’s exactly the kind of oddball story that grabbed me from minute one with Todd Cherches — a man equipped to wring out profound and useful truths from tales like that one.

Todd is not your typical leadership guru—he earned his stripes in Hollywood, teaching actors how to deliver scenes, and later as a project manager sketching theme parks in China.

These days, he coaches executives and trains leaders using what he calls visual leadership—a way to help people "see" what you’re talking about, not just hear it.

In this episode, Todd unpacks how metaphors sneak into everyday chat (“Feed me, Seymour!” anyone?), why a CEO fetching potato chips for the staff says more about leadership than a big speech, and how to stay real and connected when half your team is working in slippers on Zoom.

Show Highlights

• How a radio caller’s confusion about a deer crossing sign turned into a killer leadership metaphor
• Why metaphors are baked into 50–70% of our language—and how to notice when you’re spooning them out
• Todd’s Hollywood adventures—including delivering lunches for Aaron Spelling and battling Mt. Hollywood traffic for extra chicken salad
• The three lenses of leadership: microscope, telescope, and kaleidoscope – and why you’ll need ’em all in today’s hybrid, VUCA world
• Digital leadership in 2025: making hybrid teams feel seen when you can’t just pop by their desks
• AI’s place in education and leadership—and how to stay mentally fit in spite of its pull
• The four G’s of leadership everybody can start practicing today: Genuine, Generous, Gracious, and Grateful
• How a single thank-you note from a student or client can become your secret stash of joy
• About Todd Cherches

Todd is the CEO and co-founder of BigBlueGumball, a management and leadership consulting firm. He’s the author of Visual Leadership: Leveraging the Power of Visual Thinking in Leadership and in Life, and a globally recognized speaker and executive coach. A two-time TEDx speaker, Todd teaches at NYU and Columbia University and brings a unique blend of pop culture, practical tools, and visual metaphors to leadership and communication.

Connect with Todd on LinkedIn

Learn more at toddcherches.com and watch his TEDx talk on visual thinking

Get VisuaLeadership at Bookshop.org

Five short years from now, 2030 will be here—and the world of work (and life) is shapeshifting at warp speed.

We're all going to have to do some serious surfing to stay afloat, let alone to participate in creating the world we want.

Executive coach Anna Glynn helps sales leaders, which isn't me and probably isn't you either. But what she teaches them can help us all stay effective, engaged, and sane in the rough seas ahead.

In this conversation we unpack her STRONG framework—six evidence-based levers anyone can pull to build performance, wellbeing, and joy.

• S – Strengths: spotting and flexing what you’re already good at to create robustness
• T – Trust (and psychological safety): the foundation for experimentation, feedback, and growth
• R – Resilience: bouncing forward (not just back) when the unexpected hits
• O – Optimism: the power of realistic optimism to fuel action, not complacency
• N – Networks: cultivating diverse, generous relationships that expand perspective and opportunity

Beth Green has lived many lives: activist, Marxist, spiritual channeler, intuitive counselor, and founder of the Healing Arts Network. In this moving and provocative conversation, she shares stories from her remarkable life—beginning with her expulsion from Smith College for protesting nuclear weapons at age 16—and the wisdom she’s gained through decades of navigating political and spiritual contradictions.

We explore how ego shows up in both activism and spirituality, and how Beth integrates the two by grounding them in a simple yet radical truth: our job is to care for people and the Earth. She challenges the commodification of human creativity, the spiritual bypassing of systemic injustice, and the failure of both capitalism and traditional leftist movements to recognize the deeper roots of human suffering.

This episode also features a powerful (and private) counseling session where Beth guides me through deep personal insight—so powerful that most of it didn't make it into the final cut. What remains, though, is the transformation that session catalyzed, and a conversation that just might do the same for you.

Links and Resources:

• Beth’s counseling and spiritual work: bethgreen.org
• Free books, music, and teachings: healingartsnetwork.org
• Beth’s nonprofit and activist platform: thestream.info
• The New Declaration of Independence: thestream.info/next-steps

Topics We Cover:

• The cost of courage in a conformist world
• The problem with both capitalism and spiritual escapism
• How ego hijacks politics and spirituality alike
• What it means to live “at the intersection of the human and divine”
• A radically compassionate vision for collective thriving