Truly Human Leadership

Episode

• Pat Berges, CEO of Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute 01.07.2026 44mnt

  Shortly after BW Chairman Bob Chapman passing in March 2026, it was announced that Pat Berges had been named CEO and Managing Partner of Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute. Chapman & Co. was founded by Bob to bring Truly Human Leadership to organizations around the world, improving their leadership, culture and performance.  Pat was a longtime friend and colleague of Bob's, bringing more than 25 years of global leadership experience to Chapman & Co. He shares the convictions that drove Bob's legacy. Pat is the founder of H3 Leadership, now part of Chapman & Co., and has held senior leadership roles at Covidien and Medtronic. He previously served as executive director of The Curve Initiative, a nonprofit founded by bestselling author Simon Sinek, and has led large-scale leadership development and culture transformation efforts across more than 100 countries. On this episode of the Truly Human Leadership Podcast, Pat talks about his friendship with Bob and how his mentorship was inspiring and challenging. Pat talks about his leadership journey, the future of Chapman & Co. and why their work is more important now than ever.  
• If a Leadership Program Does Not Change Behavior, What is it Actually Changing? 24.06.2026 20mnt

  A couple of episodes ago, we talked about the $60 billion problem. That is the amount of money organizations spend on leadership training a year, although recent reports say that number may be as high as $100 billion a year. But are organizations really seeing the ROI on that money and if not, why? This is another installment of the People and Performance Playbook where the experts at Chapman & Co. share their knowledge on leadership development. This episode is an discussion of a recent article in the People and Performance Playbook Newsletter by Theresa Carik, PhD titled: "If a Leadership Program Does Not Change Behavior, What is it Actually Changing?" Joining Theresa in this discussion is Chapman & Co.'s Gunnar Millot. You can subscribe to the People and Performance Playbook Newsletter when you follow Chapman and Co on Linkedin.
• Kyle Chapman, Carrying the Torch 17.06.2026 41mnt

  Last fall, an episode of this podcast featured a discussion between Bob and Kyle Chapman.  They talked about the legacy of the Chapman family in Barry-Wehmiller with an eye toward the future as Bob passed the mantle of CEO onto Kyle after 50 years in that role. It was a touching, heartfelt conversation between father and son, worth going back to listen, especially in light of Bob's passing on March 19, 2026 after a 16-month battle with leukemia. A little more than a month later, Kyle Chapman sat down for a wide-ranging conversation with our video producer, Chad Harris. Kyle reflects on the loss of his father, but also talks about how to channel that loss into action in carrying Bob's legacy forward. He talks about the future of Barry-Wehmiller, and lays out very clearly Barry-Wehmiller's intent to redefine success in business by demonstrating how human and economic vibrancy work in harmony. Continuing, expanding and fulfilling the work his dad started.  
• What Most Organizations Get Wrong About Leadership Development 09.06.2026 30mnt

  Did you know that globally, organizations spend more than $60 billion annually on leadership development and training?  $60 billion in seminars, workshops, coaches, certifications, assessments, subscriptions, books and much, much more.  A lot of money spent, but then your leaders are still micromanaging, avoiding difficult conversations and solving every problem themselves. You might as well have just set those dollars on fire. But, here's the thing, the training didn't fail, the approach did. On this episode of our People and Performance Playbook series, which features the experts of Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute, Jami Dix and Praisy Isaac discuss why leadership development should be like Russian nesting dolls. Layered, that addresses the heartset and mindset, as well as the skillset of leaders.  You can learn more about Chapman & Co., founded by the late Bob Chapman to bring Truly Human Leadership to companies around the world at www.ccoleadership.com. 
• The Four Types of Leadership 27.05.2026 28mnt

  We recently started a series within the larger episode of the podcast called the People and Performance Playbook. The episodes are a little shorter, but packed filled with insight from the experts at Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute. Chapman & Co. was founded by our late CEO and Chairman Bob Chapman to bring Truly Human Leadership to organizations around the world. You can learn more about them at ccoleadership.com. On this installment, we hear again from Andrew Barenz and Mike Budden as they expand upon the most recent newsletter article, "What is the Cost of One-Dimensional Leadership in Your Organization?" Chapman & Co. has identified four styes of leadership, which Andrew and  Mike discuss. You can subscribe to the People and Performance Playbook Newsletter when you follow Chapman and Co. on Linkedin.
• Flashback: Bob Chapman Talks Everybody Matters to a Virtual Book Club 20.05.2026 42mnt

  We continue to honor the late Chairman and CEO of Barry-Wehmiller, Bob Chapman and his legacy on the podcast. This episode is a virtual talk Bob gave to a book club in 2020, during the pandemic. The club was made up of people around Aspen, Colorado, where Bob lived and they had read his book, Everybody Matters The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family. It is an interesting discussion, as Bob is in a relaxed environment talking about his life and sharing the insights he had learned throughout his career, which are the basis of his book. As you may recall, one of Bob's last projects before his passing in March 2026 was the re-release of Everybody Matters, in a 10th anniversary revised and expanded edition. You can find out more about this new version at: everybodymattersbook.com
• The Shift in Leadership Norms 12.05.2026 19mnt

  On this episode, we're introducing a new regular installment of the podcast, the People and Performance Playbook.  Each one of these episodes will be shorter bits of insight from experts at Chapman &Co. Leadership Institute as they share stories from their work and the thinking and methodology they use to help organizations understand and put into practice the idea that people and performance, or human vibrancy and economic growth, can exist in harmony, not in conflict with one another. These episodes are also a deeper dive into issues written about in Chapman & Co.'s People and Performance Playbook Newsletter, to which you can subscribe when you find them on LinkedIn. Today's topic is The Shift in Leadership Norms. If you want to implement the principles discussed on this podcast within your organization to improve its leadership, culture and performance, check out Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute at ccoleadership.com, founded by Barry-Wehmiller' late CEO and Chairman, Bob Chapman, to bring Truly Human Leadership to organizations around the world.
• Rhonda Spencer, BW CPO, on Fostering People and Performance in Harmony 06.05.2026 35mnt

  A few weeks ago, Barry-Wehmiller's Chief People Officer, Rhonda Spencer spoke at the 2026 i4CP Next Practices Now Conference. Rhonda was a featured speaker, sharing our message of Truly Human Leadership alongside CEOs and other Chief People Officers from companies such as John Deere, Dick's Sporting Goods, Lumen, Northwestern Mutual, Accenture, Microsoft, FedEx and many more. Originally, Barry-Wehmiller's Chairman, Bob Chapman was supposed to be part of the presentation alongside Rhonda, but he passed away a week before the conference. However, Rhonda was able to incorporate Bob's thoughts through a series of video clips. As you've heard on episodes in the past, Rhonda was one of the architects of our culture at Barry-Wehmiller and as you'll hear her tell, she was often charged with implementing and putting structure around Bob's ideas. Rhonda offers an interesting, insightful and candid perspective for anyone who wants to understand more about Barry-Wehmiller's cultural journey. One that we're still on, every day, one step at a time.
• Remembering Bob Chapman pt.2 23.04.2026 40mnt

  On this Truly Human Leadership Podcast where we continue to pay tribute to Bob Chapman, our leader and mentor who passed away on March 19, 2026. All of us at Barry-Wehmiller are very appreciative of all the tributes, condolences and kind words that have come in over the last few weeks. If you'd like to send your own tribute, condolence or remembrance of Bob, we have a page to do so at bobchapman.co. When you submit it, we'll make sure it gets to Bob's family. On our last episode, we paid tribute to Bob Chapman in his own words. On this episode, we want to hear from some of his friends, colleagues and admirers. Last fall, there was a dinner held at Barry-Wehmiller's St. Louis office to honor Bob's 50 years as CEO of our company and to also celebrate his 80th birthday. Bob and his entire family were there to enjoy the evening and we're incredibly thankful Bob got to experience this tribute while he was with us. On this podcast, we want to feature the speeches that were given that evening. We share them not only to remember Bob, but to share the lessons all of these folks learned from him. They include: Raj Sisodia, the co-founder of Conscious Capitalism and the co-author of Bob's book, Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family Tim Sullivan, Barry-Wehmiller board member and longtime part of Bob's leadership team  Rhonda Spencer, Barry-Wehmiller's Chief People Officer Steve Gund, who is the CEO of the Gund Company Simon Sinek, speaker and author, Bob's close friend and one of the biggest champions of Bob's message on leadership
• Remembering Bob Chapman pt.1 08.04.2026 41mnt

  On this episode, we remember BW Chairman Bob Chapman, who passed away on March 19, 2026. Bob Chapman was more than a business leader, author and speaker, he was a relentless optimist who dedicated his life to building a better world. He worked to redefine what it meant to be a leader in business, to further the understanding that it was an awesome responsibility because the way we lead impacts the way people live. He worked tirelessly to bring more caring to business and built the foundation for Barry-Wehmiller to champion new definitions for success in business: by demonstrating that economic growth and human vibrancy can exist in harmony. Bob became CEO of a struggling Barry-Wehmiller in 1975 upon the death of his father, William Chapman. At the time, the company was a $20 million supplier of equipment for the brewing industry. As of 2025, when Bob handed the reigns of the business to his son Kyle, the current President and CEO, Barry-Wehmiller had become a $3.6 billion-plus global powerhouse with 12,000 team members and a portfolio spanning industrial and packaging automation, professional services, and life sciences technology. Beyond his business acumen, in the late 1990s into the 2000s, Bob underwent a personal transformation that changed his thinking from that of traditional "management" to what would later be called Truly Human Leadership.  He then spent the last 15 years of his life sharing the lessons of his transformation by writing prolifically and speaking to audiences around the world.  Although there's no way we could encapsulate the whole of Bob and what he has meant to so many, on this episode, we want to try to pay tribute to Bob through a clips of a number of interviews we've featured with Bob over the duration of the podcast. Clips that we selected that not only pay tribute to his ideas and insight, but that hopefully showcase the person he was.
• The Gund Company, a Truly Human Leadership Case Study 11.03.2026 47mnt

  For more than 75 years, The Gund Company has grown into one of the largest manufacturers and fabricators of composite materials, thermoplastic materials, and elastomeric materials. They have 12 manufacturing locations in five countries and have seen a tremendous amount of growth in the past few years. Like Barry-Wehmiller, the Gund Company is based in St. Louis and also like Barry-Wehmiller, they are a family business. On this podcast, we're featuring the Gund Company as Truly Human Leadership Case Study. A few weeks ago, Steve Gund, CEO of the Gund Company gave a presentation at Washington University here in St. Louis to students in their business school. Steve was joined by Brian Wellinghoff, Barry-Wehmiller's Director of Outreach, who you've heard several times before on this show. Steve talked about the Gund company's leadership journey and the part Barry-Wehmiller played in helping them along the road to becoming a Truly Human company. Brian provides some additional context from Barry-Wehmiller's own story. We hope you're inspired by this story that shows how human and economic vibrancy can exist in harmony and how business can be a force for good.
• Bonus Episode: Raj Sisodia and Nilima Bhat on Shakti Leadership 05.03.2026 21mnt

  Our last episode featured an interview with Raj Sisodia and Nilima Bhat on their new book, Healing Leaders: 7 Steps to Recovery of Self. In that discussion, we talk about their previous book collaboration, Shakti Leadership: Embracing Feminine and Masculine Power in Business.  To compliment the discussion of Healing Leaders, we're going to re-release a podcast episode from 2016 where Raj and Nilima talk about Shakti Leadership in more depth.  Raj once said, "Vulnerability is not a liability, it's an ability. He was speaking about the benefits of bringing both the masculine and feminine sides of our psyche that exists inside every one of us to our leadership every day. Moving from leadership that is about acquiring power to leadership that nurtures and inspires people. We at Barry-Wehmiller have long believed that there's room for emotion and caring in business. And that's why these two conversations with our friends Raj and Nilima are important insights into how leaders can bring those attributes into their stewardship of those within their span of care. 
• Healing Leaders w/ Raj Sisodia and Nilima Bhat 19.02.2026 41mnt

  Raj Sisodia is the co-founder of Conscious Capitalism and, with BW Chairman Bob Chapman, the co-writer of Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family. Raj is a frequent guest on this podcast. For one, he's a very insightful friend and secondly, he's a prolific writer. Raj has co-authored a new book, Healing Leaders: 7 Steps to Recovery of Self with his friend and fellow conscious leader, Nilima Bhat. Nilima is a pioneer in integrating Indian wisdom traditions with modern leadership practice, she has trained leaders at organizations such as Microsoft, Etsy, and Tata. Nilima and Raj previously co-authored the book Shakti Leadership, which took a transformative look at the notion of power and business and how leaders can balance all of their inherent traits to lead with their whole self. As you'll hear on this podcast, Healing Leaders continues that journey. But it isn't just another leadership book—it's a spiritual and emotional roadmap for reclaiming your humanity in a world that asks you to perform, produce, and pretend. You can find out more about the book and get your copy at rajsisodia.com.  
• The Powerful Impact of Listening 04.02.2026 22mnt

  Barry-Wehmiller Chairman Bob Chapman has said this about the importance of listening: Time and again, I've written that listening is the most important thing a leader can do. But it transcends the leader role. Listening is the most important thing we, as humans, can do for one another. It shows empathy, it shows you care, and most importantly, it shows the person you are listening to that they matter. We are not taught to listen in our society. So much value is placed on speaking, but not listening. How many listening classes do you see in schools or colleges? They have "speech" classes and debate teams. The skill of listening is special and we need to be taught how to do it well. Learning the skills to become an effective listener will not only make you a better leader, but a better human being as well Listening is something we talk about often at Barry Wehmiller, and you've probably heard a lot about it on this very podcast. It's the foundational class of Barry Wehmiller University, our internal school for our team members. We call this class Listen Like a Leader. It's also one of the most important offerings of our consulting company, Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute, as they bring Truly Human Leadership to their clients. And it was the reason Bob and his wife Cynthia created their non-profit, Chapman Foundation for Caring Communities, who brings our listening curriculum to municipal and non profits organizations under the name Our Community Listens. On this podcast, we want to feature an interview with someone our listening curruculm has had a large impact on, Gregory Bulanow, a retired a fire chief in North Charleston, South Carolina. In 2014, Chief Bulanow was looking for training for the leadership of his department and heard about Our Community Listens through word of mouth. After he attended, the chief knew this was something that could make a huge impact on his department and on the North Charleston community. In his retirement, Chief Bulanow is still a professor bringing our listening curruculm to his community. His story was featured in the revised and expanded 10th anniversary edition of Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia's book, Everybody Matters the Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family. This interview with Chief Bulanow was dome several years ago before his retirement and he talked about the significance of listening in his work, and he starts off talking about why a class such as this would apply to his department.
• Kyle Chapman at Gonzaga University 21.01.2026 37mnt

  A few months ago, we were honored that Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, named the week of October 13, 2025 "Chapman Leadership Week." That week, their School of Business Administration hosted the inaugural Chapman Lecture on Truly Human Leadership, named in honor of Barry-Wehmiller Chairman Bob Chapman. It was the culmination of a partnership our outreach team has had with the university to bring the principles of Truly Human Leadership to their classrooms, as well as their training of educators and staff.   The speaker at this inaugural Chapman Lecture was, fittingly, Kyle Chapman, Barry-Wehmiller President and CEO and Bob's son. Kyle used this opportunity to talk about how Barry-Wehmiller is changing the game of business by showing that economic and human vibrancy can exist in harmony. And he issued a challenge to these future leaders at Gonzaga to demand more from their future workplaces and join us in our goal of building a better world through business. So on this podcast, we want you to hear Kyle's challenge at Gonzaga and give you the opportunity to join us as well. In addition to this podcast, which you can watch the the link in the header image or through your favorite podcast host, you can watch a video summary of Chapman Leadership Week through the video below:
• Jan Rivkin of Harvard on the Barry-Wehmiller Case Study, Layoffs and Teaching Leadership 17.12.2025 45mnt

  Over the years, we've talked about the Harvard Case Study that was written about Barry-Wehmiller in 2016. It's a best seller, taught in over 200 universities to more than 30,000 students. On an earlier podcast, we talked to the authors of the case study, one of which is our guest today, Harvard Professor Jan Rivkin. The earlier episode kind of dealt with the how and why the case study was written, but on this episode, we want to go a little deeper. The Harvard Case Study of Barry-Wehmiller deals with layoffs, a subject that is very prominent in people's minds today. So, on today's episode, we talk with Professor Jan Rivkin about this issue and we also dive into the subject of business education and how leadership is taught and how students are thinking about leadership and how they react to the Barry-Wehmiller case study. It's a wide-ranging discussion, but one that is very pertinent to many issues we are facing today.
• Aaron Witt, Building a Better Dirt World 03.12.2025 37mnt

  Aaron Witt started his career as a kid who loved construction. But over the years, he's built something bigger than he could have ever envisioned to support the industry he loves. Aaron is the founder of Build Witt. You can find out more about them at buildwitt.com and Aaron has his own website at aaron-witt.com. Build Witt is a company that creates microlearning software for the critical infrastructure industries, they operate the online community Connect and they host the Ariat Dirt World Summit. BW Chairman Bob Chapman was actually a speaker at the first Dirt World Summit. Aaron invited Bob to speak after reading the original version of Bob's book, Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family. In fact, here's what Aaron had to say when he endorsed the recently released revised and expanded edition of the book: "Discovering Everybody Matters as a 20-something business leader has saved me heartache and, more importantly, given me a roadmap to make an enormous difference in countless lives. This book is a MUST-READ for anyone leading people, especially up-and-coming leaders!" Just as Barry-Wehmiller has shown that you can have Truly Human Leadership in the manufacturing industry, Aaron Witt wants to show that the same can exist in the construction and infrastructure industries and that it can also help those businesses flourish. On this episode, we have a conversation with Aaron about how he is trying to make this happen.
• Simon Sinek and Bob Chapman, An Experiment in Humanity 12.11.2025 33mnt

  A few months ago, our friend Simon Sinek visited our BW Papersystems location in Phillips, WI to record an episode of his "A Bit of Optimism" podcast with Barry-Wehmiller Chairman Bob Chapman. It wasn't the first time Simon had been to Phillips, WI, as you'll soon hear, and for his podcast, Simon not only wanted to talk to his good friend Bob, but other BW teammates in Phillips, some he had met almost 15 years ago. That episode of Simon's podcast is out now. I highly encourage you to listen to it or watch the video version on You Tube, which is almost a mini documentary. You can find this and all things Simon at his website SimonSinek.com On this episode of our podcast, we want to bring you something special. While in Phillips to record, Simon and Bob held a Town Hall for the team members there as a thank you and to recognize them for the inspiration they have been, not only to Simon but countless others. We're going to bring you that Town Hall, which is a great dialogue between Bob and Simon, but also includes a couple questions from the audience, including the high school aged son of one of our team members that is a big fan of Simon's and was very excited to talk to him. Also, Simon and Bob talk about the 10th anniversary revised and expanded edition of Bob and Raj Sisodia's book, Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family, which is available now. Find out more about that at everybodymattersbook.com. So, here is a companion piece to Simon Sinek's A Bit of Optimism podcast featuring Bob Chapman and Barry-Wehmiller. Here's a Town Hall with Simon Sinek and Bob Chapman.  
• Randall Fleming and the Power of Caring in the Workplace 05.11.2025 41mnt

  You may have heard Simon Sinek's recent "A Bit of Optimism" podcast that featured Barry-Wehmiller Chairman Bob Chapman and a number of BW team member from our BW Papersystems company in Phillips, WI.  One particular team member that was interviewed was Randall Fleming, who was a welder when we aquired (or adopted) Marquip, the company that would become BW Papersystems.  While presenting our message of Truly Human Leadership, our CEO Bob Chapman is often asked: What about the people who don't get it? What about the people who actively work against positive change? Barry-Wehmiller has adopted more than 150 companies and as Bob once wrote: We realize that when we acquire a company, the people within that company are a product of their experiences. They may have experienced great leaders in their past or, more likely, they have had some negative experiences. Consequently, some have difficulty trusting our leadership message. That's okay. We're all at a different point on this journey, and we have to be patient and trust that the skeptics will eventually see the transformative power it can have—on both their work lives and their personal lives. On this podcast, you'll hear the story of Randall Fleming, who was one of those people who resisted change at first, but then experienced a radical transformation. He told Simon a part of his story, but we wanted to give you a deeper dive. This episode is Randall's story, told by Randall. It also features BW team members Ken Coppens and Maureen Schloskey. Randall's story is testament to the life-changing power of meaningful work and the power of what happens when people care in business. It's what happens when you establish a workplace culture of empathy and shared purpose as opposed to the "command and control" atmosphere of most traditional management environments. Randall's story is an illustration of when we say that the way we lead impacts the way people live. He not only found more fulfillment in his work, his whole life completely changed. And Randall then became a leader, mentor and inspiration to others.
• Jason Lippert, President & CEO of Lippert Components 23.10.2025 36mnt

  This week, we are celebrating the release of the new revised and expanded edition of Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family, Barry-Wehmiller Chairman Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia's book on Bob and Barry-Wehmiller's journey to Truly Human Leadership. On today's podcast, we want to share a story of Bob and the book's impact on one particular leader. Jason Lippert is the President and CEO of Lippert Components, a global supplier of a broad array of highly engineered components for the leading manufacturers of recreational vehicles, automobiles, watercraft and prefab homes. They also operate in adjacent markets, including hospitality, transportation, construction and agriculture. Lippert and Barry-Wehmiller are very similar in size, both are on their third generation of family leadership. And they both have similar values when it comes to stewarding the lives in their span of care. On this episode, I have a conversation with Jason about his leadership journey. How he became a Truly Human Leader and what that meant for Lippert Components. How they approach leadership and personal development. How they approach community service and why that's important to their company culture. We also talk about the impact Bob and Everybody Matters had on his leadership and his company.