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Elevate Your Leadership Journey Through Authentic Conversations with Business Leaders
In business, balancing acts are everywhere. Join Dr. Andrew Temte for The Balancing Act Podcast—an award-winning leadership development podcast featuring authentic, in-depth conversations with accomplished business leaders, senior executives, entrepreneurs, and industry experts who share the real stories behind their professional success.
What You'll Discover:
Each episode explores the critical skills and balancing acts that define exceptional leadership through engaging conversations covering:
- Leadership development and executive management strategies
- Organizational health, trust, and workplace accountability
- Employee engagement and team performance optimization
- Communication skills and business transformation
- Financial acumen and business decision-making
- Career acceleration strategies and professional growth
- Continuous improvement and lifelong learning principles
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace
- Emerging trends in AI, technology, and workforce development
The Balancing Act Format:
Every episode features four powerful segments:
- Origin Stories - Discover how today's leaders began their professional journeys
- Rocket Booster Moments - Learn about the pivotal events that accelerated their careers
- Deep Dive Conversations - Explore timely business topics with actionable insights you can apply immediately
- Lightning Round Questions - Quick-fire questions that reveal your guests' perspectives on leadership, success, and life
With over 200 episodes, The Balancing Act examines business challenges from multiple perspectives, giving you comprehensive insights into the skills that drive workplace success.
Your Host:
Dr. Andrew Temte is the former CEO of Kaplan Professional and bestselling author of "Balancing Act: Teach, Coach, Mentor, Inspire" and "The Balanced Business: Building Organizational Trust and Accountability through Smooth Workflows." As a thought leader on leadership development, organizational health, and corporate learning, Andy brings deep expertise in professional education and business management to every conversation. He holds a PhD in finance from the University of Iowa and the CFA designation, with over 15 years of university teaching experience.
Who Should Listen:
Perfect for aspiring leaders, mid-level managers seeking executive roles, C-suite executives refining their approach, entrepreneurs building their businesses, and anyone committed to continuous improvement and professional growth.
New episodes weekly. Subscribe today and elevate your leadership journey.
Episodes

Thursday Apr 24, 2025
How to Listen (with Oscar Trimboli)
Thursday Apr 24, 2025
Thursday Apr 24, 2025
What does it mean to truly listen? What myths about listening should we debunk? How can you build the skill of active listening? How can we improve the quality of our meetings?
To help answer these questions, we have Oscar Trimboli joining us today on the Balancing Act Podcast. Oscar is an award-winning author, host of the Deep Listening podcast, and a sought-after keynote speaker. His third book is How to Listen – Discover the Hidden Key to Better Communication – the most comprehensive book about listening in the workplace.
Tune into episode 190 to hear Oscar's story, his career rocket-booster moment, and his advice on how to improve the skill of listening and why it matters for life and career success.
Learn more about Oscar Trimboli at: https://www.oscartrimboli.com/
Learn more about Andrew Temte at: https://www.andrewtemte.com

Thursday Apr 17, 2025
From Accidental Salesperson to Entrepreneurial Success (with Ursula Mentjes)
Thursday Apr 17, 2025
Thursday Apr 17, 2025
What's the most important thing a college graduate can do right now to set themselves up for success in a career in sales? How can a corporate warrior make the shift to entrepreneur and business founder? How can a late-stage career professional reignite the passion they once had for their work?
To help answer these questions, we have Ursula Mentjes joining us today on the Balancing Act Podcast. Ursula is a five-time bestselling author, award winning entrepreneur, business growth expert, and is the CEO of Ursula, Inc. in Minneapolis, MN. Our focus today is going to be on building sales expertise and entrepreneurship.
Tune into episode 189 to hear Ursula's story, her career rocket-booster moment, and her advice to pursue and achieve excellence in sales and entrepreneurship.
Learn more about Ursula at: https://www.ursulainc.co/
Learn more about Andrew Temte at: https://www.andrewtemte.com

Thursday Apr 10, 2025
The Amazon PRFAQ Framework (with Marcelo Calbucci)
Thursday Apr 10, 2025
Thursday Apr 10, 2025
How important are storytelling skills for entrepreneurs and business founders? What are the benefits of engaging with a start-up accelerator or incubator? What's the Amazon PRFAQ Framework and why does it matter?
To help answer these questions, we have Marcelo Calbucci joining us today on the Balancing Act Podcast. Marcelo is a founder, product and engineering leader, and an innovator with a passion for solving customers’ biggest pain points. He is also the author of The PRFAQ Framework: Adapting Amazon’s Innovation Framework to Work for You. We’re going to be talking about startups, entrepreneurship, and storytelling.
Tune into episode 188 to hear Marcelo's story, his career rocket-booster moment, and his advice for entrepreneurs and new business founders.
Learn more about Marcelo at: https://calbucci.com/
Learn more about Andrew Temte at: https://www.andrewtemte.com

Thursday Apr 03, 2025
Achieving Excellence in Product Design (with Todd Bracher)
Thursday Apr 03, 2025
Thursday Apr 03, 2025
What happens when businesses don't take product design seriously? What are the benefits of investing in design resources? Why haven't we made more progress toward solving big societal challenges and how can solve them through innovation and design?
To help answer these questions, we have Todd Bracher joining us today on The Balancing Act Podcast. Todd is the founder of BetterLab, a science-based design platform addressing global challenges through innovative solutions. Todd’s work at BetterLab and his award-winning design firm BRACHER has transformed industries, creating impactful products for major brands worldwide.
Tune into episode 187 to hear Todd's story, his career "rocket-booster" moment, and his advice for business leaders on the benefits of investing in product design excellence.
Learn more about Todd Bracher at: https://www.toddbracher.com/
Learn more about Andrew Temte at: https://www.andrewtemte.com

Thursday Mar 27, 2025
Acquisitions and Due Diligence (with Elliott Holland)
Thursday Mar 27, 2025
Thursday Mar 27, 2025
What's the most common mistake first-time business buyers make? What is quality of earnings and why does it matter to both buyers and sellers? What are the psychological traits of successful business buyers?
To help answer these questions, we have Elliott Holland joining us today on The Balancing Act Podcast. Elliott is the managing partner of Guardian Due Diligence and is an expert in the acquisition of small and medium sized businesses. He helps first-time business buyers manage through the challenging and nuanced due diligence process.
Tune into episode 186 to hear Elliott's story, his career "rocket-booster" moment, and his advice for entrepreneurs and buyers of small to midsized businesses.
Learn more about Elliott at: https://www.guardianduediligence.com/
Learn more about Andrew Temte at: https://www.andrewtemte.com

Thursday Mar 20, 2025
How to Deal With Difficult People (with Jonno White)
Thursday Mar 20, 2025
Thursday Mar 20, 2025
Why do so many of us avoid conflict? Why do leaders put up with the "genius jerks" that infect their corporate culture? What are the skills needed to get better results from engaging in challenging conversations?
To help answer these questions, we have Jonno White joining us today on The Balancing Act Podcast. Jonno is the Co-Founder of Clarity Group Global in Brisbane, Australia and is the author of Step Up or Step Out: How to Deal with Difficult People Even If You Hate Conflict. We’re going to be talking about constructive conflict and difficult conversations.
Tune into episode 185 to hear Jonno's story, his career "rocket-booster" moment, and his perspectives on challenging conversations and constructive conflict.
Learn more about Jonno at: https://www.consultclarity.org/
Learn more about Andrew Temte at: https://www.andrewtemte.com

Thursday Mar 13, 2025
Are You Bold? (with Leigh Burgess)
Thursday Mar 13, 2025
Thursday Mar 13, 2025
What is the Believe-Own-Learn-Design framework? What is a "belief conflict?" What holds you back from achieving your goals?
To help answer these questions, we have Leigh Burgess joining us today on The Balancing Act Podcast. Leigh is a former health care and education executive, is the founder of Bold Industries Group, and the author of Be BOLD Today.
Tune into episode 184 to hear Leigh's story, her career "rocket-booster" moment, and her perspectives on helping individuals and teams reach their full potential.
Learn more about Leigh at: https://leighburgess.com/
Learn more about Andrew Temte at: https://www.andrewtemte.com

Thursday Mar 06, 2025
Authenticity, Autonomy & Accountability (with Andrea Wanerstrand)
Thursday Mar 06, 2025
Thursday Mar 06, 2025
What are the primary challenges organizations face as they work to improve their corporate cultures? What does the term "organizational culture" mean? How valuable is coaching to building a positive organizational culture?
To help answer these questions and more, we have Andrea Wanerstrand joining us today on The Balancing Act Podcast. Andrea is ex-Microsoft and is the Founder & CEO of A3 Culture Lab. As a leadership speaker and coach, she collaborates with organizations–from startups to multinational corporations–to accelerate their journey toward creating extraordinary, human-centric cultures.
Tune into episode 183 to hear Andrea's story, her career "rocket-booster" moment, and her perspectives on building positive organizational cultures based on her experience with the International Coaching Federation and her extensive career at Microsoft.
Learn more about Andrea and A3 Culture Lab at: https://a3culturelab.com/
Learn more about Andrew Temte at: www.andrewtemte.com

Thursday Feb 27, 2025
The Power of Modern Corporate Finance (with Don Chew)
Thursday Feb 27, 2025
Thursday Feb 27, 2025
How have modern corporate finance practices and principles changed the world of business? How do we improve the financial acumen of non-financial managers and business stakeholders? What's the most common misperception about the role the finance function plays in business?
To help answer these questions, we have Don Chew joining us today on The Balancing Act Podcast. Don is a world-recognized expert on corporate finance and author of The Making of Modern Corporate Finance: A History of the Ideas and How They Help Build the Wealth of Nations. He is the founding editor and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Applied Corporate Finance (JACF), a publication he started in 1988.
Tune into episode 182 to hear Don's story, his career "rocket-booster" moment, and his perspectives on building financial acumen and the role corporate finance plays in the world of business.
Learn more about The Making of Modern Corporate Finance with this insightful review from CFA Institute at: https://blogs.cfainstitute.org/investor/2025/01/31/book-review-the-making-of-modern-corporate-finance/
Learn more about Andrew Temte at: www.andrewtemte.com.

Thursday Feb 20, 2025
Cultivating Courage (with Tyler Shultz)
Thursday Feb 20, 2025
Thursday Feb 20, 2025
What was it like to be a whistleblower and help expose what was happening at Theranos? How can a conflict-avoider find their voice? How can you navigate the balancing act between saying too much (the complainer) and saying too little (the pushover) at work?
To help answer these questions, we have Tyler Shultz joining us today on The Balancing Act Podcast. Tyler is a keynote speaker, venture partner at Verge HealthTech Fund, an Advisory Board Member at The Signals Network, former CEO/founder of Flux Biosciences, and was a research engineer and whistleblower at Theranos.
Tune into episode 181 to hear Tyler's story, his career "rocket-booster" moment, and his perspectives on cultivating courage, challenging conversations, and his experience as a Theranos whistleblower.
Learn more about Tyler Shultz at: https://www.tyler-shultz.com/
Learn more about Andrew Temte at: www.andrewtemte.com
