In this live Q&A session, moderator Shane Rogers brings together leadership coach Brian Jones and finance executive Nikki Mamedova for an engaging, candid conversation about the realities of modern leadership.

The discussion covers the value of coaching, why culture “eats strategy for breakfast,” and how leaders can reset disengaged or underperforming teams. The panel also dives into the evolving role of AI, exploring how leaders can embrace emerging technology while staying grounded in human behaviours, influence, and communication.

Packed with practical insights, honest reflections, and memorable takeaways, this episode brings the entire leadership series together in a dynamic and relatable way.

In this episode, we hear from assurance leader Shane Rogers, who draws on experience in internal audit, public accounting, sales, strategy, and risk management to explore what leadership really looks like in assurance functions. Shane unpacks the importance of challenge, trust, informal influence, communication, and how assurance teams can become catalysts for positive change across the business.

Global leader Nancy Chakabuda delivers a thoughtful and practical session on cultural leadership in multinational teams. Nancy breaks down why culture is “a shadow of its leader” and outlines the communication differences, value conflicts, stereotypes, and societal influences that make global leadership uniquely complex.

She introduces cultural intelligence and cultural adaptability as essential competencies, explaining how leaders can intentionally build knowledge, demonstrate sensitivity, and leverage shared values to unite diverse teams.

Nancy also shares a practical framework — Invest, Clarify, Exchange — for embedding cultural awareness into team structures, decision-making, and daily interactions. She closes with a deep dive into bias, offering tangible practices for self-reflection, feedback, diverse hiring, ideation, and making inclusiveness a measurable KPI.

A vivid and actionable exploration of what modern global leaders need to thrive.