Fast Leader Show | Customer Experience Leadership
150 episodes listed below
Practical leadership for complex customer experience work.
The gist
Fast Leader Show treats leadership as a performance discipline, not a slogan. Through interviews with customer experience operators, authors, researchers, and change leaders, it turns messy workplace problems into usable ideas about trust, engagement, planning, and better decisions.
PRESS PLAY
Find your next episode
About Fast Leader Show | Customer Experience Leadership
Fast Leader Show is a leadership interview podcast with a strong customer experience spine. It is practical first. The show spends much of its time with people who think about contact centers, customer care, emotional intelligence, change, and execution in organizations where the human details matter. Jim Rembach's interviews move quickly, but they are rarely shallow. Guests are asked to connect models and research to everyday leadership choices: how remote teams stay engaged, where AI belongs in a patient support journey, why goal-setting fails when leaders ignore risk, and how trust changes the pace of transformation. The show is comfortable with business language. It is also comfortable challenging it. Leadership frameworks are useful here only when they help someone make a better decision, protect a team, or improve a customer or patient experience. Episodes often blend biography, management philosophy, and operational detail. A guest may begin with a personal origin story, then shift into the realities of construction, research, or contact center strategy. The recurring emphasis is that leaders are human beings working inside pressure, complexity, and consequences. That gives the show a grounded tone. It respects ambition, but it does not pretend desire alone changes outcomes. Success is discussed as planning, probability, habits, feedback, and better odds. Change is discussed as preparation, closure, relationship, and trust. Contact center engagement is framed through managers, flexibility, career paths, and retention rather than quick rewards. AI is treated carefully, especially when the work involves patients and support agents. The best episodes feel like coaching conversations for people who are responsible for both numbers and morale. The pace is upbeat, sometimes folksy, and often framed around helping leaders get over the hump. Underneath that energy is a clear editorial promise: leadership gets better when people examine the assumptions, systems, and behaviors that shape results.
Made for: The show suits contact center leaders, customer experience managers, supervisors, consultants, and business operators who want practical language for leading teams through change, pressure, and performance goals. It also fits listeners interested in emotional intelligence as a management skill.
What sets it apart: Its edge is the combination of customer experience operations and personal leadership reflection. Few business interview shows spend this much time connecting contact center realities, human fallibility, trust, AI adoption, and execution discipline.
In their own words
Grow the power of Customer Experience with new leadership skills with this innovative and unique podcast that dives into the lives of some of the world's brightest minds. And have a hoot with the Hump Day Hoedown with Jim Rembach, President of Call Center Coach. Create dynamic customer experience strategies, improve employee engagement, and develop stronger leadership skills with practical advice that you can use immediately.
Why you'd press play
Jim Rembach turns leadership theory into questions you can take straight to Monday's team meeting.
Press play if you want
- to map the risks hiding between your ambition and the odds of actually succeeding
- to lead change without pretending your team's past work never mattered
Talks about
Podcasts like Fast Leader Show | Customer Experience Leadership
EntreLeadershipBlunt business coaching for leaders carrying payroll.
Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael GervaisPerformance psychology without the noise.
The Josh Bersin CompanyWorkforce strategy for the AI enterprise.
Modern MentorBetter work, by design.
Burnout Proof Leadership: Shift Your Identity, Develop New Skills & Leverage Workplace Tensions to Unlock your Next LevelDr. Tracy Christopherson and Michelle TrosethLeadership balance before burnout takes over.
Episodes
- 1
319: Nick Jankel – Transformational Leadership: Changing the World by Changing Myself
·51m - 2
Unlock Your Potential: A Numbers Game to Success
·45m - 3
555 Dina Denham Smith - The Creative Leaders Mindset
·44m - 4
554 John Fisher - Embracing Change One Step at a Time
·47m - 5
553 Jeff Eschliman - Blueprints for Success in Work and Life
·49m - 6
552 Joshua Freedman - Embracing Emotional Intelligence
·46m - 7
551 Jim Rembach - Unleashing Strategic Success
·39m - 8
450 Adam Bryant - Leading Through Contradictions
·54m - 9
449 Laura McGuire - Creating Cultures of Consent at Work
·38m - 10
448 Nicole Kyle - 3 Seismic Challenges Facing Contact Centers
·36m - 11
447 Tom Schmitt - Flexibility and Empathy: Key Lessons for Business Leaders in the Post-COVID World
·46m - 12
446 Oded Netzer - Data-Driven Decision Making and the Biases That Affect Our Choices
·43m - 13
445 Chuck Mollor - Agile Leadership: Adapting to Changing Needs and Complex Challenges
·40m - 14
444 Donald Thompson - DEI Strategies 101: The Power of Brief and Concise Data-Backed Insights
·37m - 15
443 Mike Watson - Resilient Leadership: Thriving in the Face of Adversity
·45m - 16
442 Lee Colan - Becoming a Better Leader in an Ultra-Competitive World
·44m - 17
441 David Avrin - Must Have Customer Experience Conversations
·50m - 18
440 Dan Hill - The Emotions that Attract and Retain Top Talent
·1h 8m - 19
339 Bill Price - How to Deliver Great Customer Experiences with Less Effort
·48m - 20
338 Stephen McGarvey - Ignite a Shift to Achieve Greater Results
·54m - 21
337 Steve White - 7 Pathways to Success and Fulfillment
·43m - 22
336 Diane Primo - Using Purpose to Transform Your Business
·47m - 23
335: Steve Curtin - How to Use Purpose to Engage Employees
·44m - 24
334: Kelly McDonald - How to Talk About Race at Work
·1h 8m - 25
333: Brian Dodd - Leadership Lessons from 2021
·54m - 26
332: Darja Gutnick - Bite-Size Learning for First-Time Leaders
·38m - 27
331: Donato Tramuto - Compassionate Leadership: How To Lead With Compassion
·44m - 28
330: Mark Briggs - Work-Life Balance Lies and Secrets for Today
·39m - 29
329: Richard Medcalf - 4 Shifts You Need to Make In Order to Break Through the Ceiling of Complexity
·47m - 30
326: Wayne Washington - Company Alignment: How to Bring Your Company\'s Strategy, Culture, and Operations Together
·41m - 31
325: Judy Ryan - How To Develop Intrinsic Motivation In The Human System: A Responsibility-Based Framework
·47m - 32
324: Omar L. Harris - Why is Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Important in the Workplace?
·44m - 33
323: Jim Kouzes - Five Exemplary Leadership Practices: How To Be an Exemplary Leader
·48m - 34
322: Walt Rakowich - Transformative Influence: How to Build Trust and Lead Others in Today\'s Climates of Change
·45m - 35
321: Adam Bryant - The CEO Test: 7 Things to Determine How Well You are Leading Your Companye
·44m - 36
320: Kent Billingsley - Develop an Entrepreneurial Mindset: How to Think Like a Real Entrepreneur
·1h 9m - 37
Remote Contact Center Engagement: Beating the Industry by 11 Points and Crawling with AI
·41m - 38
318: Jonathan Raymond – People Leadership: How the Employee Experience Impacts the Customer Experience
·51m - 39
317: Cheryl China – 9 Pieces of Career Advice Wisdom for Leaders and CX Professionals
·41m - 40
316: Glenn Parker – How to Become a Positive Influence Leader and Inspire Others in CX
·47m - 41
315: Edward Marshall – What is Collaborative Leadership and How to Apply it in Customer Experience?
·47m - 42
314: Dr. David Arrington – Why Leadership is Important in Creating Really Wonderful Customer Experience
·41m - 43
313: Jeff Harry – Playing at Work (Enhancing CX with Play)
·45m - 44
312: Jim Loehr – Character Development in CX
·49m - 45
311: Dennis Geelen - Customer-Centric Innovation
·29m - 46
310: Nir Bashan – Filling the Creativity Gap in CX
·43m - 47
309: Bill Eckstrom – Coaching for Leaders and Managers
·45m - 48
308: Sean T. Ryan – Strategic Plan That Drives Results
·50m - 49
297: David Wachs – Enhancing the Customer Experience with Handwritten Notes
·41m - 50
307: Cliff Goldmacher – Songwriting and Innovation for Business
·31m - 51
306: Greg Ablett – How Organizational Health Can Benefit Your Company
·44m - 52
305: Tom Connally – Coaching Leaders to Improve Their Performance
·42m - 53
304: Robert E. Quinn – Inspiring Positive Change
·44m - 54
303: Dave McKeown - Moving from Execution to Excellence
·39m - 55
302: Nathanael Zurbruegg – Overcoming Life\'s Greatest Challenges
·37m - 56
301: Patrick S. Frazer – Helping Small and Medium-Sized Businesses Win
·44m - 57
300: Ty Montague – Reinventing Capitalism
·41m - 58
299: Ryan Coon – Delivering Top-Tier Customer Experience for Renters
·33m - 59
298: Dan Bruder – Unlocking Potential through Culture, Strategy, and Execution
·46m - 60
296: Jan-Benedict Steenkamp – Leadership Lessons from History
·47m - 61
295: Nate Regier – Unleashing the Potential in Each Person
·35m - 62
294: Neil Sahota – Artificial Intelligence for Good
·38m - 63
292: Jeff DeGraff – Becoming More Creative in Your Ability to Innovate
·43m - 64
291: Aaron McHugh – Transforming Disengaged Leaders into Hopeful Leaders
·45m - 65
290: Gregg Ward – Leadership is About Respect
·44m - 66
289: Alan Willett – Leading with Speed
·42m - 67
288: Louis Carter – Leading Great Companies and Sparking Peak Performance
·46m - 68
287: Lolly Daskal – Leading From Within
·30m - 69
286: Luis Pedroza – How to Develop a Winning Brand
·44m - 70
285: Amy Posey – Why Weirdness Works in Leadership
·49m - 71
284: David Dye – Taking Action in Creating a Courageous Culture
·43m - 72
283: David Finkel – Learning to Manage More Intelligently
·40m - 73
282: Peter Economy – Being a Good Boss
·32m - 74
281: Tim Clark – The Importance of Psychological Safety in the Workplace
·47m - 75
280: Vince Molinaro – Helping Leaders Be the Best They Can Be
·50m - 76
279: Kevin Vallely – Facing the Unknown
·39m - 77
278: Karin Hurt – Promoting a Courageous Culture in the Workplace
·35m - 78
277: Patrick Schwerdtfeger – Emerging Anarchy in a Decentralized World
·42m - 79
276: Doug Conant – Become the Leader You Want to Be
·43m - 80
275: Annette Franz – Customer-Centric Leadership and Culture
·34m - 81
274: Tamara Ghandour – People-First Innovation
·43m - 82
273 Steve Brown: The Future is Now
·40m - 83
272 Chuck Swoboda: Never Stop Innovating
·45m - 84
271: Paul Pagnato: Transparency Brings Trust into the Customer Experience
·39m - 85
270: Mark W. Johnson: Bringing the Future Alive
·44m - 86
269: John Eades: Elevating Others to Success
·40m - 87
268: JT McCormick: How To Get There
·45m - 88
267: Chester Elton: Lead with gratitude
·40m - 89
266: Dan Hill: Read their face to succeed
·50m - 90
265: Ryan Gottfredson: I shifted from my negative mindsets
·46m - 91
264: Pam McLean: Who you are is how you coach
·38m - 92
263: Alex Castro: What’s your readiness score?
·45m - 93
262: Emilia DiMenco: Our reputation is at stake
·39m - 94
261: Stan Silverman: Be different through your power skills
·43m - 95
260: Rishad Tobaccowala: Data can remove your soul
·39m - 96
259: Susan Fowler: Let go of the junk food motivation
·51m - 97
258: David McCourt: Blow up the model and start over
·39m - 98
257: Colin D Ellis: You need great subcultures
·33m - 99
327: Dan Gingiss - How to Create Remarkable Customer Experience Your Customers Can’t Wait to Share
Dan Gingiss discusses how to create remarkable customer experiences that customers eagerly share, drawing from his marketing and psychology background.
·42m - 100
328: David Wood - How to Address the Mice in the Room and Deal with the Subtle Things in Life
Jim Grimbach interviews David Wood about his journey from suppressing emotions after his sister's death to developing soft skills and authentic leadership.
·46m - 101
Remote Contact Center Engagement: Beating the Industry by 11 Points and Crawling with AI
Hidden gemJim Rembach interviews Jason Mercer Pottinger, Vantiv's senior director of customer care for the Americas, about a fully remote patient-support operation whose manager-effectiveness score exceeded the industry norm by 11 points.
Mar 4, 2026·41m·2 clips - 102
Unlock Your Potential: A Numbers Game to Success
Hidden gemJim Rembach interviews Kyle Austin Young about his book 'Success is a Numbers Game,' exploring how understanding probabilities and decision patterns can improve leadership outcomes and reduce bias in complex environments like contact centers.
Jan 21, 2026·45m·2 clips - 103
555 Dina Denham Smith - The Creative Leaders Mindset
Dina Denham-Smith tells Jim Rimbach that modern leaders face four accelerated workplace trends: virtual and hybrid work, AI adoption, diversity and inclusion, and demand for mentally healthy workplaces.
Apr 29, 2024·44m·3 clips - 104
554 John Fisher - Embracing Change One Step at a Time
Hidden gemFast Leader Show host Jim Rimbach interviews John Fisher about putting the “I” into change and helping call-center employees adapt one person at a time.
Apr 3, 2024·47m·3 clips - 105
553 Jeff Eschliman - Blueprints for Success in Work and Life
Jeff Eschliman shares his journey from a childhood in construction to building a successful career, emphasizing the values and work ethic that shaped his path.
Mar 6, 2024·49m - 106
552 Joshua Freedman - Embracing Emotional Intelligence
Jim Grimbach interviews Joshua Freedman about emotional intelligence and its impact on leadership, based on a large global study.
Feb 7, 2024·46m - 107
551 Jim Rembach - Unleashing Strategic Success
Jan 10, 2024·39m - 108
450 Adam Bryant - Leading Through Contradictions
Hidden gemAdam Bryant, interviewed by Jim Grimbach on Fast Leader Podcast, says his New York Times "Corner Office" work led to more than 1,000 CEO interviews and four books, including "The Leap to Leader." He argues that people should ask why they really want to lead, because roles that look like "title" and "money" become "three shift jobs" with constant trade-offs.
Dec 6, 2023·54m·2 clips - 109
449 Laura McGuire - Creating Cultures of Consent at Work
Nov 1, 2023·38m - 110
448 Nicole Kyle - 3 Seismic Challenges Facing Contact Centers
Hidden gemNicole Kyle says the biggest manager competency is "autonomy," not empathy training.
Oct 4, 2023·36m·2 clips - 111
447 Tom Schmitt - Flexibility and Empathy: Key Lessons for Business Leaders in the Post-COVID World
Sep 6, 2023·46m - 112
446 Oded Netzer - Data-Driven Decision Making and the Biases That Affect Our Choices
Jul 5, 2023·43m - 113
445 Chuck Mollor - Agile Leadership: Adapting to Changing Needs and Complex Challenges
Jun 7, 2023·40m - 114
444 Donald Thompson - DEI Strategies 101: The Power of Brief and Concise Data-Backed Insights
May 3, 2023·37m - 115
443 Mike Watson - Resilient Leadership: Thriving in the Face of Adversity
Apr 5, 2023·45m - 116
442 Lee Colan - Becoming a Better Leader in an Ultra-Competitive World
Mar 1, 2023·44m - 117
441 David Avrin - Must Have Customer Experience Conversations
Feb 1, 2023·50m - 118
440 Dan Hill - The Emotions that Attract and Retain Top Talent
Jan 4, 2023·1h 8m - 119
339 Bill Price - How to Deliver Great Customer Experiences with Less Effort
Dec 7, 2022·48m - 120
338 Stephen McGarvey - Ignite a Shift to Achieve Greater Results
Nov 2, 2022·54m - 121
337 Steve White - 7 Pathways to Success and Fulfillment
Oct 5, 2022·43m - 122
336 Diane Primo - Using Purpose to Transform Your Business
Sep 7, 2022·47m - 123
335: Steve Curtin - How to Use Purpose to Engage Employees
Aug 3, 2022·44m - 124
334: Kelly McDonald - How to Talk About Race at Work
Jul 6, 2022·1h 8m - 125
333: Brian Dodd - Leadership Lessons from 2021
Jun 1, 2022·54m - 126
332: Darja Gutnick - Bite-Size Learning for First-Time Leaders
May 4, 2022·38m - 127
331: Donato Tramuto - Compassionate Leadership: How To Lead With Compassion
Apr 6, 2022·44m - 128
330: Mark Briggs - Work-Life Balance Lies and Secrets for Today
Feb 2, 2022·39m - 129
329: Richard Medcalf - 4 Shifts You Need to Make In Order to Break Through the Ceiling of Complexity
Jan 5, 2022·47m - 130
328: David Wood - How to Address the Mice in the Room and Deal with the Subtle Things in Life
Dec 1, 2021·46m - 131
327: Dan Gingiss - How to Create Remarkable Customer Experience Your Customers Can’t Wait to Share
Nov 3, 2021·42m - 132
326: Wayne Washington - Company Alignment: How to Bring Your Company\'s Strategy, Culture, and Operations Together
Oct 6, 2021·41m - 133
325: Judy Ryan - How To Develop Intrinsic Motivation In The Human System: A Responsibility-Based Framework
Sep 1, 2021·47m - 134
324: Omar L. Harris - Why is Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Important in the Workplace?
Aug 4, 2021·44m - 135
323: Jim Kouzes - Five Exemplary Leadership Practices: How To Be an Exemplary Leader
Jun 30, 2021·48m - 136
322: Walt Rakowich - Transformative Influence: How to Build Trust and Lead Others in Today\'s Climates of Change
Jun 2, 2021·45m - 137
321: Adam Bryant - The CEO Test: 7 Things to Determine How Well You are Leading Your Companye
May 5, 2021·44m - 138
320: Kent Billingsley - Develop an Entrepreneurial Mindset: How to Think Like a Real Entrepreneur
Apr 6, 2021·1h 9m - 139
319: Nick Jankel – Transformational Leadership: Changing the World by Changing Myself
Mar 3, 2021·51m - 140
318: Jonathan Raymond – People Leadership: How the Employee Experience Impacts the Customer Experience
Feb 24, 2021·51m - 141
317: Cheryl China – 9 Pieces of Career Advice Wisdom for Leaders and CX Professionals
Feb 17, 2021·41m - 142
316: Glenn Parker – How to Become a Positive Influence Leader and Inspire Others in CX
Feb 10, 2021·47m - 143
315: Edward Marshall – What is Collaborative Leadership and How to Apply it in Customer Experience?
Edward Marshall discusses his background and the concept of collaborative leadership applied to customer experience.
Feb 3, 2021·47m - 144
314: Dr. David Arrington – Why Leadership is Important in Creating Really Wonderful Customer Experience
Jan 27, 2021·41m - 145
313: Jeff Harry – Playing at Work (Enhancing CX with Play)
Jeff Harry discusses how incorporating play into the workplace can enhance customer experience and leadership.
Jan 20, 2021·45m - 146
312: Jim Loehr – Character Development in CX
Jan 13, 2021·49m - 147
311: Dennis Geelen - Customer-Centric Innovation
Jan 6, 2021·29m - 148
310: Nir Bashan – Filling the Creativity Gap in CX
Dec 30, 2020·43m - 149
309: Bill Eckstrom – Coaching for Leaders and Managers
Dec 23, 2020·45m - 150
308: Sean T. Ryan – Strategic Plan That Drives Results
Dec 16, 2020·50m