In this episode, Judith M. von Seldeneck and Aileen K. Alexander explore what it takes to be a leader in today’s workplace. Aileen is CEO of the executive search firm DSG Global, which Judee founded in 1974 and has since grown into a top-10 firm. The two women shared their candid conversations about leadership in their book Deliberately Different: Fifty Years. Two Generations. Leading in a Changing World. 



You’ll leave with concrete advice on how to be an authentic, clear, and effective leader.







Celeste Headlee







Celeste Headlee is a communication and human nature expert, and an award-winning journalist. She is a professional speaker, and also the author of Speaking of Race: Why Everybody Needs to Talk About Racism—and How to Do It, Do Nothing, Heard Mentality, and We Need to Talk. In her twenty-year career in public radio, she has been the executive producer of On Second Thought at Georgia Public Radio, and anchored programs including Tell Me More, Talk of the Nation, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. She also served as cohost of the national morning news show The Takeaway from PRI and WNYC, and anchored presidential coverage in 2012 for PBS World Channel. Headlee’s TEDx talk sharing ten ways to have a better conversation has over twenty million total views to date.







Judith M. “Judee” von Seldeneck



Judith M. “Judee” von Seldeneck, is the founder and chair of Diversified Search Group (DSG). She was executive assistant to US Senator Walter F. Mondale before buying into and then acquiring a small Philadelphia firm founded to help women find professional roles. Over five decades, Judee built it into a national top ten executive search firm and the largest such woman-founded one in the world.



A longtime advocate for women, she recently established the JVS Philadelphia Fund for Women, which provides funding for women entrepreneurs. She’s served on numerous public company boards, has been named to the 2022 Forbes 50 Over 50 list, and is the only two-time Lifetime Achievement Award winner from the Association of Executive Search Consultants.







Aileen K. Alexander



Aileen K. Alexander is CEO of Diversified Search Group (DSG). She advises boards and executives from Fortune 500 to private-equity-backed and mid-market companies.



Alieen’s career spans the public and private sectors. She began in the military, where she became a US Army captain. She’s also served in government, working on national security policy at the Department of Defense and in the US House of Representatives. Aileen is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School and Johns Hopkins University. She has received numerous awards and has been quoted as a thought leader in various publications, including Barrons, Bloomberg, Forbes, and Fortune.