Confidence grows fastest when play is allowed:

“Humor reveals truth before defensiveness can rise.”

“Lightness clears the room for real communication.”

“Laughter gives teams a shortcut to psychological safety.”

Practical creativity & cooperation expands when leaders...

A live improv session to improve teamwork—four performers, two leaders, and zero scripts—turns an interview into a working demo of team trust, timing, and better communication. This is improv inserted as a management tool, seen in real time and explained with precision.

Holly Mandel

Founder of iMergence. Groundlings alum and seasoned improv instructor. Coach to Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, and Will Ferrell. Known for helping leaders unlock courage through play and spontaneity. See: https://www.linkedin.com/in/holly-mandel.

Brian Palermo

Working actor with credits including Modern Family, Will & Grace, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Veteran improv performer and communication trainer. Known for audience connection and fast-listening skill. Translates comedic flow into practical leadership behavior. See: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-palermo-improvtrainingforcommunicationskills/.

James Wilson

Longtime friend of Mark with natural storytelling presence. Steady, grounded, and sincere collaborator. Balances humor with warmth in ensemble settings. Anchors group energy with calm comedic intuition. See: linkedin.com/in/james-wilson-3869827.

Liz Coin

Actor, writer, and corporate facilitator. Blends precision and play in leadership workshops. Known for adaptive thinking and warm, sharp timing. Helps teams shift from rigid to responsive communication. See: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-coin/.

Sarah Hicks

Improviser and performance coach. Expert in emotional awareness and group facilitation. Combines behavioral insight with creative technique. Brings clarity, attention, and surprising comedic instinct. See: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-hicks-corporate/.

Inside This Episode

What happens when an improv ensemble brings its full toolkit into a leadership conversation? They demonstrate it—live, unrehearsed, and with explosive clarity. Holly Mandel returns with the iMergence team—Liz Coin, Sarah Hicks, Brian Palermo, and Mark’s close friend, med-tech leader, James Wilson.

Together they show humor reveals valves for tension, resets communication, and makes collaboration safer. This episode blends laughter with insight, turning improv into a masterclass on presence, timing, and trust for any leader willing to loosen the grip and lead with play.

Go Deeper — Premium Action

Premium action at the end turns the group’s live improvisation into a framework leaders can apply immediately. Learn how to harness lightness to clear tension, develop timing without performing, and use strategic spontaneity to unlock stronger trust. This segment breaks each improv principle into a simple behavioral pattern you can practice daily.

Listen + Connect

iMergence: https://www.imergence.com

Mark S. Cook: BoldEncounters.TV / WindfallPartners.com.

Moments to Revisit

A spontaneous moment that reveals trust before words do. The exercise that exposes communication habits in under 10 seconds. A shift where lightness dissolves tension instantly. Why timing and expression, not content, carry more influence. The ensemble’s final insight on humor as a leadership lever.

Chapters — Free Episode (6)

0:00 Welcome and setup

3:40 Introducing the iMergence ensemble

9:15 First improv exercise and early leadership insight

16:22 How play exposes communication patterns

24:50 Translating improv principles to real teams

32:40 Final takeaways before the premium execution

Final Thought

When leaders allow play, communication opens—and people open with it. Humor isn’t the opposite of professionalism; it’s the catalyst for clarity, courage, and connection.

A thousand people’s moments brought you to today—none of them accidental:

“Clarity appears when you remember who carried you here.”

“Strength grows when pressure is replaced with perspective.”

“Ancient wisdom + portion of adaptation outperforms full switch.”

Your next step comes from honoring...

Inside This Message

Mark shares a private moment of spiritual correction that reframed his understanding of gratitude, joy, and the hidden influence of the people who shaped his life. What begins as a simple holiday reflection becomes a deeper call to revisit your past with honesty, humility, and intention. This message uncovers why leaders lose clarity, how remembering restores direction, and why “count it all joy” becomes a powerful lens for modern decisions.

Go Deeper — Premium Action Plan

Premium listeners receive a short, actionable framework for practicing gratitude as a strategic leadership discipline this week. It includes how to build your personal influence map, how ancient joy reframes modern pressure, and how to transform memory into clarity that strengthens your calling in life.

Listen + ConnectMark S. Cook — https://MarkSpencerCook.comBold Encounters — https://BoldEncounters.TV

Moments to Revisit

• The whispered correction that reshapes a leader’s direction

• A thousand-person gratitude inventory that restores identity

• Why joy expands when it turns outward and upward

• How ancient patterns clarify modern pressure

• The role of memory in building purposeful leadership

Final Thought

Gratitude is deliberate remembering—an intentional return to the people, lessons, and moments that shaped your life. When memory is used with purpose, pressure loses force, identity strengthens, and clarity returns. Joy becomes deeper. Decisions become cleaner. And leadership becomes an act of honoring your past as you step into who you’re meant to become.

Do you feel stuck between where you are today… and who you’re meant to become? Find your next step inside Bold Encounters Premium at: BoldEncounters.TV — you can also give the gift of Premium success to someone else you care about.

Improv leadership in real time:

“Authenticity connects faster than expertise.”

“Perfectionism suffocates the best ideas.”

“Presence unlocks chemistry you can’t manufacture.”

Holly discovers clarity through fearlessness while...

Inside this Episode

What if your strongest leadership moments happened unscripted? Holly Mandel, founder and CEO of iMERGENCE Corporate Improv, brings decades of experience as a Groundlings alum who coached Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, worked with Lisa Kudrow, and taught by Will Ferrell. Holly reveals how the instincts that make iconic performers magnetic also make leaders compelling, trusted, and creatively alive. She and Mark explore how improvisation dismantles perfectionism, how presence builds instant rapport, and why embracing mistakes turns teams into co-creators instead of spectators.

Go Deeper — Premium Action Plan

In the Premium Action Plan, Mark and Holly turn improv’s core principles into a practical weekly leadership upgrade:

• Shift from performing to responding with clarity

• Reframe mistakes as catalysts for connection

• Lead meetings like scenes—listen, build, advance

• Apply humor to unlock collaboration and reduce pressure

You’ll leave with a structured one-week “Presence Drill Set” to replace perfection with responsiveness.

Listen + Connect

Holly Mandel — Website: https://www.imergence.com

Good Girls Aren’t Funny: https://www.goodgirlsarentfunny.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/holly-mandel

Mark S. Cook — Website: https://MarkSpencerCook.com | https://WindfallPartners.com

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/markspencercook

Social: @MarkSpencerCook

Moments to Revisit

• The Groundlings story that revealed the cost of perfection

• Why “Good Girl” conditioning limits leadership potential

• What Holly learned coaching Wiig and McCarthy

• How presence outperforms polish in high-stakes rooms

• The improv exercise that exposes fear and builds trust

Final Thought

Holly Mandel shows that leadership isn’t performance—it’s presence. When we stop trying to be perfect and start responding to the moment, we create teams that trust, collaborate, and innovate with us, not around us.

Do you feel stuck between where you are today… and who you’re meant to become? Find your next step inside Bold Encounters Premium at: https://BoldEncounters.TV — you can also give the gift of Premium success to someone else you care about.