In this episode, Neha speaks to Steve Graef, a counseling psychologist with specific expertise in sport and performance psychology. Neha digs into Steve’s background, how he came to found Mindurance, and how he continues to use his guiding principle – LEGS – in his life and work. Their conversation considers both the theoretical and practical aspects of choosing to “dance” on your own terms. A thoroughly engaging, “excellently average” episode, we hope you find it insightful and enjoyable! Steve...
Mar 06, 2025•51 min•Season 2Ep. 7
In this spotlight episode, Tolga shines a light on talent selection with Dr. Richard Hossiep. Richard is the co-founder and managing director of Applysia, a company that supports clients across industries with their unique assessment software. As an organizational psychologist with a diverse set of experiences including academia, consulting, and being a business leader, Richard has developed his keen interest in talent selection. Listen in as Tolga and Richard discuss the importance and impact o...
Nov 19, 2024•49 min•Season 2Ep. 6
This episode is a conversation between Neha and former dancer/current movement teacher Hannah Teutscher. Both Hannah and Neha reflect on the impact of dance and movement in their lives and how movement helps connect our minds to our bodies and unlock new ways of thinking and feeling about ourselves and the world around us. We hope this episode inspires you to think about how movement, in line with your own needs and abilities, can help you tear down your own “armours” and connect to your own aut...
Jul 24, 2024•47 min•Season 2Ep. 5
In this spotlight episode, Tolga shines a light on leadership development journeys with Yang Zhang, a leadership and development coach and facilitator. What are leadership development journeys? What are the different parts of leadership development journeys? What are the key ingredients that set successful leadership development journeys apart? Listen in to all this and more as Tolga and Yang share their expertise, insights, and some of their personal stories as leadership development journey fa...
Jun 11, 2024•41 min•Season 2Ep. 4
In this episode, Neha talks to long-time friend Prakruti Nanda, a neuroscientist with a particular interest in trauma and its impact on our brains (as well as the rest of our body). Starting from what was the collective trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic, Prakruti and Neha examine their personal experiences during that time and the underlying processes in our brains that encode trauma. They finish with reflections on how similar processes are used formally in therapy and informally by as all to cre...
Dec 14, 2023•1 hr 6 min
In this episode, host Tolga catches up with Dinesh Saparamadu, founder of the hSenid Group of Companies, whom Tolga worked with during the 2008 global financial crisis. Dinesh has built multiple companies over the years, and he and Tolga discuss how despite business successes and failures, Dinesh never lost his focus on the greater purpose of helping others develop their full potential through positive societal change. Book mentioned during the episode: Kim, W. C.; Mauborgne, R. (2015). Blue oce...
Nov 21, 2023•52 min•Season 2Ep. 2
No organization evolves faster than its leaders. In today’s spotlight episode, new host Tolga Mahlke talks to two leaders, Joachim (Joe) Stempfle and Chad Luxenburg, the founders of atrain-scitrain. Their “wild ride” of meeting as teenagers, forming a life-long friendship, and building atrain-scitrain was not without challenges. They share how their deep trust and shared values has been the foundation for meeting those challenges and reflect on how they have evolved as leaders and will continue ...
Aug 30, 2023•49 min•Season 2Ep. 2
We are happy to announce that we have a new member of the Dropping your armour team: Tolga Mahlke. He will be sharing the host duties with Neha from now on. If you want to know a little more about who is Tolga, we created a short introduction for you. Enjoy and welcome Tolga! As always please send your feedback to droppingyourarmour@atrain.com Enjoy this episode!
Aug 30, 2023•3 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Welcome to a spotlight episode on wellness in the workplace. Neha and Holly Pederzolli, a licensed clinical therapist, talk about their own struggles and successes with managing distractions, disconnecting, and dealing with stress so they can work at their best. They also consider how the modern, post-pandemic workplace can both contribute to burnout and offer solutions to burnout. We hope this spotlight episode helps you self-reflect on the boundaries and flexibility you might need to keep in a...
Jun 12, 2023•47 min•Season 1Ep. 18
In this episode, Neha talks with Patrick Andrews, a lawyer, facilitator, and entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in advising businesses and not-for-profits on their corporate structures and governance. Patrick goes by the description of “barefoot” lawyer, which to him means someone who makes law accessible, meets people where they are, and is connected to the earth. You know that quote from Joseph Campbell that goes “there is perhaps nothing worse than reaching the top of the ladder an...
Feb 14, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Welcome to our special end-of-year episode, where Neha talks with past colleague and current professional peer Brian Stoll. Together they reflect on what it means to them to drop your armor – at work, at home, and with friends. As part of this conversation, they also dig into sharing on social media, “emotionally unloading” to our friends and loved ones, perfectionism, psychological safety, and how all these different things can support, block, and degrade true vulnerability. Useful resources fo...
Dec 15, 2022•57 min•Season 1Ep. 16
In connection to the episode on creating a compassionate world (link), where we briefly touched on the philosophy of Buddhism, this spotlight episode explores this topic further. Today our guest host Joachim Stempfle is talking with Maurice Jonquet, a practicing Mahayana Buddhist. Together they discuss how we can apply the spiritual teachings in connection with neuropsychological aspects in our modern world and how it can help us on our journey to a more compassionate leadership. As always pleas...
Oct 17, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Guest host Joachim Stempfle speaks with Compassion Focused Therapy founder Paul Gilbert. Paul shares how his early training and experiences helped him appreciate the importance of compassion and explains how Compassion Focused Therapy is linked to both scientific realities and spiritual philosophies. Joachim and Paul also discuss how compassion is not just a therapeutic tool, but something that is essential to thriving schools and workplaces. Paul’s warmth is infectious, and we hope it provides ...
Jun 01, 2022•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 14
This is a Spotlight episode, where the goal is to shine a light on certain topics together with an expert and explore it through different lenses. In this episode, we discuss emotional agility: What it is, why it’s important, and how to develop it as a skill. We speak with Andreia Lungulescu , who is a hands-on people and organizational development consultant and coach with a passion for nurturing and championing human potential. She has a background in clinical psychology and cognitive-behavior...
Apr 03, 2022•49 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Neha has a moving conversation with Maysoun Ramadan, who has forged a long career in the healthcare industry. In this conversation, Maysoun describes how her values have informed and motivated her life and her work and helped her address her own personal experiences with illness and grief. Additional resources and reading related to this episode: There are many charitable organizations worldwide which provide bereavement support. In Europe, your can find a list of potential organizations in your...
Mar 07, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 12
A conversation with Marie-Louise Howett, the Chief Human Resources Officer at Cint. With more than 20 years of experience, Marie-Louise reflects on her career and the choices she made that stretched her out of her comfort zone and have brought her into her current dream job. The dual realities of those choices - the sacrifices, but also the joy - is an important lesson on the myth of "having it all." Further Readings: During the conversation, Neha and Marie-Louise discuss stretch assignments and...
Feb 08, 2022•51 min•Season 1Ep. 11
In this episode, you'll hear the story of Asma Ahmed. She's a clinical psychologist based in Karachi, Pakistan who's an active member of the Autism Spectrum Disorder Welfare Trust. Asma works intensely with children and people with autism and their families. She's extremely passionate about creating inclusive environments at school, in the workplace, and in society. Against this backdrop, we dive into the topic of neurodiversity, including understanding what neurodiversity means, and ways to cre...
Jan 11, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Our spotlight episodes aim to provide a deep, comprehensive view of key topics. For our first spotlight episode, Neha talks with Joachim Stempfle about transformation. Bringing together ideas from philosophy, psychology, and business across two episodes, Neha and Joachim give us a lively and enlightening look at the concept of "organizational transformation" and how a human-centric approach enables both the inner transformation of people in the organization (part one) and the outer transformatio...
Dec 09, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Our spotlight episodes aim to provide a deep, comprehensive view of key topics. For our first spotlight episode, Neha talks with Joachim Stempfle about transformation. Bringing together ideas from philosophy, psychology, and business across two episodes, Neha and Joachim give us a lively and enlightening look at the concept of "organizational transformation" and how a human-centric approach enables both the inner transformation of people in the organization (part one) and the outer transformatio...
Dec 09, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 8
In this episode, we hear from Jochen Goeser. With a background in economics, Jochen worked in consulting for many years, where his curiosity for people helped him develop powerful change management solutions. Today, he brings this knowledge and passion to his role as the Global Project Lead for Agile Transformation at Bosch Power Tools. We talk in-depth about transformations, specifically about how to orchestrate holistic, human-centric, people-led change that radically transforms the DNA of org...
Nov 25, 2021•43 min•Season 1Ep. 7
In this episode our guest Julio Maria Muhorro, a young entrepreneur from Mozambique and founder of "Sharing Knowledge International" dives together with Neha into the topic "integrity". Following this energizing conversation, you can learn more about different aspects of integrity on not only societal and organisational levels, but also on a very personal level. After this thought-provoking discussion, we asked ourselves: What does integrity mean to me and how can I leverage it? We hope you enjo...
Nov 09, 2021•50 min•Season 1Ep. 6
In this episode, Neha talks to Mansi Jasuja , a phenomenal person who brings love, joy, humor, and color to everything she does. She is a coach, a mother, an activist, and she brings all of that to her work at Conscious Business , a company in the Netherlands dedicated to supporting businesses to adopt a more conscious approach that creates true prosperity and harmony for people, communities, and nature. This conversation is both insightful and uplifting. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did. ...
Oct 05, 2021•48 min•Season 1Ep. 5
In this episode, you’ll hear the story of Shruthi Bopaiah. Shruthi is the Head of Client Engagement and Communications at Bridgeweave, an AI fintech company. Previously, she was Global Head of Internal Communication at Infosys, one of the biggest IT companies in India and the world. From talent acquisition to HR consulting to internal communications and now to client engagement, Shruthi is constantly learning and pushing the boundaries of her skills and impact. Outside of work, you can find her ...
Aug 31, 2021•43 min•Season 1Ep. 4
In this short Intro, I will explain what you can expect from the podcast "Dropping your armour". As always please send your feedback to droppingyourarmour@atrain.com Neha As always please send your feedback to droppingyourarmour@atrain.com Enjoy this episode!
Jul 21, 2021•1 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Timm Urschinger from LiveSciences and Teal Network and talk about control and how it manifests in our lives and leadership. We start by following Timm in his life’s journey and along the way, discuss the manner in which our inner world (our needs, motivations, and fear) and outer world (other people, institutions, organizations, and systems) reinforce our need for control. Timm’s experiences of working in a traditional corporate setting as well as leading an organization that prides itself in be...
Jun 24, 2021•39 min•Season 1Ep. 2
In this episode of Dropping Your Armour, we have with us Sonja Sinz, who is a coach, entrepreneur, a cat mom, and above all, a truly inspiring person who is full of joy and on a mission to make the world more human, creative and sustainable. She works closely with several leaders in many different organizations and helps them connect with their inner world to transform the outer world. Today, we’ll be talking about creating inclusive and creative spaces at work that are engaging and fulfilling f...
Jun 22, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 3
