Future Shapers: Next-Gen Leadership Stories Podcast

A podcast spotlighting the journeys of emerging leaders and told through the stories that shaped them. 

Emerging leaders from BRG, along with rising leaders from our client organizations, explore powerful stories that have influenced their leadership paths. Whether drawn from a personal experience, book, film, or pivotal moment in history, each story offers insight into how leaders can grow, succeed, and adapt in today’s environment. 

Subscribe and listen to all episodes at your convenience via any device at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, and Amazon Music. 

Episode 2.2: There’s No Leadership Playbook

BRG Director Mark Jennings sits down with James Breese, a partner at Stewarts, to discuss:

• what the holiday classic Home Alone can teach us about confidence, determination, resilience, and the instinct to protect
• why leadership isn’t about following a single playbook—and why adaptability matters when managing teams
• how James helped build Stewarts’ policyholder disputes team from the ground up and what he has learned by stepping into partnership along the way

Whether you lead a growing team or are developing your leadership style, this episode reminds us that the best leaders constantly learn, adapt, and create opportunities for others to succeed.

View the selected transcript summary.

Season 2

Episode 2.1: “Measured Sacrifice”: Making Partner at a Leading Law Firm

In a wide-ranging conversation with BRG Director Thanh Do, Gibbs Giden’s Missy L. Griffin discusses what it takes to be a legal leader, drawing on her experiences from negotiating plea bargains in Uganda to becoming a construction law attorney and partner.

Season 1

Episode 1.8: Personal Agency: Leading with Intention

BRG Director Jason Kuckkan and Moyo LaBode, former chief merchandising officer at Leslie’s Pools, discuss the concept of personal agency and its influence on leadership, inspired by ideas in the book Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity.

Episode 1.7: Empowering Strengths through Trust-Based Leadership

Nancy Cherashore and Natalia Zibibbo, counsel at Freshfields, discuss leadership while reflecting on the novel Watership Down, which highlights the power of empathy, trust, and collaboration in guiding teams.

Episode 1.6: Modern Leadership: How Can I Help?

BRG Director Jean-Gabriel Despeyroux and Mathilde Saltiel, a partner at Latham & Watkins LLP, explore key themes of leadership through the lens of lived experience and the television series New Amsterdam.

Episode 1.5: Career Evolution and Leadership Across Cultures

BRG Director Li Li and Michelle Bock, a partner at Squire Patton Boggs, reflect on their global career journeys and leadership lessons they have learned along the way.

Episode 1.4: The Leadership Balance: Opposing Traits That Inspire Trust 

BRG Director Crosby MacDonald and Hugh Meighen, a partner at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, provide an insightful conversation on the leadership qualities of Robert F. Kennedy, drawing inspiration from the book The Last Campaign. 

Episode 1.3: Leading with Purpose: From Educator to Healthcare Executive

BRG Director Garrett Mann sits down with Shannon Cermak, vice president of Ambulatory at Loyola Medicine, to discuss her career journey from teacher to healthcare executive and how her early experiences in education shaped her leadership style.

Episode 1.2: Finding Common Ground through Open-Mindedness and Effective Communication Defines True Leadership

Nelida Abi Saab and Lucy Preston, a senior associate at Mantle Law, explore the book Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know, which centers around open-mindedness, effective communication, and benefits of finding common ground.

Episode 1.1: Discovering Your “Why” and Embracing Leadership as Service to Drive Collective Success

BRG Director Matthew McSheaffrey and Alex Lerner, a partner at Stewarts, explore key insights from the books Start with Why and Leaders Eat Last.