E14:  Who Owns Strategy and What Happens When No One Really Does? with Walter Paulsen

E16: The Renaissance, Not the Revolution: AI, Sales & the Future of Human Impact with Carlos Garrido

Welcome to Confessions of a Vistage Chair, a podcast by Talent Harbor, where we have real, behind-the-scenes conversations with Vistage Chairs. They share honest stories and practical insights on leadership growth, peer advisory groups, and what actually happens in Vistage meetings.   Let's pull back the curtain!   In this episode, Ryan sits down with Carlos Garrido, Vistage Chair, sales consultant, and self-described "trifecta" of the Vistage world (member, speaker, and chair). Carlos shares his refreshingly bold take on AI: "We're not living through an Industrial Revolution, we're living through a Renaissance."   Carlos breaks down the real difference between selling and order-taking, why a great seller's job is to inspire decisions people wouldn't make on their own, and how AI is becoming the ultimate exoskeleton for salespeople by handling the drudgery so humans can focus on high-value impact.   Whether you're leading a sales team, running a Vistage group, or just trying to figure out where AI fits in your business, this one is for you. Timestamps 04:12 AI: Industrial Revolution or Renaissance? 14:44 AI in Sales: Relationship vs. Challenge 17:44 Selling: More Than Order Taking 22:50 Parenting and Sales: An Analogy 36:48 AI: Freedom, Best Practice, and Execution 45:07 Starting Your AI Journey: A Practical Approach 58:04 Navigating AI: Balance and Cohort Learning 01:05:56 Selling the Value of Engagement Guest Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlosgarrido2024/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlosgarrido2024/] https://linktr.ee/sandlermiami [https://linktr.ee/sandlermiami]

E15: The Group Is the Prize with Kirsten Yurich on Building a Vistage Culture Worth Protecting

Welcome to Confessions of a Vistage Chair, a podcast by Talent Harbor, where we have real, behind-the-scenes conversations with Vistage Chairs. They share honest stories and practical insights on leadership growth, peer advisory groups, and what actually happens in Vistage meetings.   Let's pull back the curtain!   In this episode, Ryan sits down with Kirsten Yurich, behavior analyst turned CEO turned Vistage Chair, for a conversation that is equal parts hilarious and genuinely thought-provoking. Kirsten has a gift for cracking a joke and then immediately making you think harder about something that matters. From the fear behind delegation to what actually makes a great manager, to why her group is referral-only and requires no goat sacrifice (mostly), this one covers a lot of ground and does it with a lot of heart.   Check it out! Timestamps 05:53 Instrumental Success in Vistage 08:00 The Founder’s Trap: Letting Go 16:00 Integrating Personal and Professional Life 22:51 Effective Communication & Management 26:46 The Essentials of Great Management 35:40 Defining Success and Delegating Effectively 40:20 Scaling Leadership and Avoiding Micromanagement 42:45 AI: Adoption and Implementation 53:13 The Group is the Prize Guest Links https://www.kirstenyurich.com/ [https://www.kirstenyurich.com/] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstenyurich/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstenyurich/] The Results Center: https://theresultcenter.com/ [https://theresultcenter.com/] Vistage Website: https://app.vistage.com/sites/s/chairs/0032E0000355CfFQAU/kirsten-yurich [https://app.vistage.com/sites/s/chairs/0032E0000355CfFQAU/kirsten-yurich]

E14:  Who Owns Strategy and What Happens When No One Really Does? with Walter Paulsen

Welcome to Confessions of a Vistage Chair, a podcast by Talent Harbor, where we have real, behind-the-scenes conversations with Vistage Chairs. They share honest stories and practical insights on leadership growth, peer advisory groups, and what actually happens in Vistage meetings.   Let's pull back the curtain!   In this episode, Walter Paulsen brings a perspective that is rare in the Vistage world. Walter has spent his career at the intersection of strategy and growth. He was there when Redbox was spinning out of McDonald's. He has watched companies raise too much money too soon and destroy themselves with it. And now he works with mid-market CEOs to help them do the thing most founders never slow down long enough to do: think strategically about the right problems.   In this conversation, Walter breaks down why grit alone will only take you so far, where strategy actually lives inside a growing company, and why culture, strategy, and execution are not competing priorities but a holy trinity that only works when all three are in place. Timestamps 05:07 Redbox Strategy 11:00 The Essence of Strategy 15:47 When Grit Isn't Enough 26:59 The Right Problem and Humble Confidence 38:56 Sequencing Problems: Apollo 13 Mindset 45:21 AI, Urgency, and Strategic Thought 53:03 Trader Joe's and Costco's Distinct Cultures Guest Links Walter.Paulsen@gmail.com [Walter.Paulsen@gmail.com] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walterpaulsen/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/walterpaulsen/] Vistage Website: https://app.vistage.com/sites/s/chairs/0032E0000349Xl5QAE/walter-paulsen [https://app.vistage.com/sites/s/chairs/0032E0000349Xl5QAE/walter-paulsen]

E13: Fear, Identity, and Finding Freedom with Angelo Sisco

Welcome to Confessions of a Vistage Chair, a podcast by Talent Harbor, where we have real, behind-the-scenes conversations with Vistage Chairs. They share honest stories and practical insights on leadership growth, peer advisory groups, and what actually happens in Vistage meetings.   Let's pull back the curtain!   In this episode, Angelo Sisco brings one of the most remarkable life stories we have had on this show. His father went to federal prison when Angelo started kindergarten. He opened his first pizza restaurant at 17. He ran a poker game through his early 20s. He lost 100 pounds in seven months and built a CrossFit empire across multiple gyms, a nutrition company, and an online programming business before selling everything three weeks before the COVID lockdown. Then he moved his family to San Clemente, leveled up his business perspective, returned to Chicago, turned around a friend's $15 million company, joined Vistage, and launched his own group in December of 2025 with 10 members.   But the real story is not any of that. It is how Angelo figured out that his business was just a mirror reflecting back his own internal state, and what happened when he finally stopped operating in fear.    You're not going to want to miss this one! Timestamps 05:39 Lessons from the Pizza Business 15:13 The Power of Feeling Seen 22:02 Coaching Identity and Leadership 26:03 Shifting Away from Fitness 39:54 The Secret Ingredient for Growth 46:37 Detaching Self-Worth from Numbers 52:04 Overcoming Fear Guest Links angelo@siscoadvisors.com https://siscoadvisors.com/ [https://siscoadvisors.com/] https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelosisco/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelosisco/] Vistage Website: https://app.vistage.com/sites/s/chairs/0032E00003Nv9ObQAJ/angelo-sisco [https://app.vistage.com/sites/s/chairs/0032E00003Nv9ObQAJ/angelo-sisco]

E12: The Turnaround Guy: Saving Billion-Dollar Companies by Fixing People First with Bob Murray

Welcome to Confessions of a Vistage Chair, a podcast by Talent Harbor, where we have real, behind-the-scenes conversations with Vistage Chairs. They share honest stories and practical insights on leadership growth, peer advisory groups, and what actually happens in Vistage meetings.   Let's pull back the curtain! Bob Murray is the type of person who went from wiring data centers as an electrician in Saskatchewan to leading billion-dollar turnarounds at one of the world's largest mobile companies. In this episode, Bob unpacks what three decades of turnaround work taught him about fixing people before fixing businesses, why toxic culture almost always comes down to a small handful of people, and how building an organization where people bring their hearts to work is the only strategy that actually scales.   Timestamps 00:00 From Electrician to CEO: Early Culture 02:32 Unexpected Path to Leadership 06:03 Core Excellence and Values Alignment 15:02 Building Culture Through Small Actions 22:07 Vision and Direction in Turnarounds 25:28 Leadership Assessment: Vision & Foxes 31:56 Owner Meddling and Schizophrenic Culture 34:45 Surgical Approach to Toxic Culture 40:28 Unlocking Potential and Life’s Purpose 44:46 Vistage Members and Imposter Syndrome   Guest Links https://robert-murray.com/ [https://robert-murray.com/] https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertsmurray1/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertsmurray1/] https://tec-canada.com/our-speakers/robert-murray/ [https://tec-canada.com/our-speakers/robert-murray/]