Two Shows. One Channel.
Every Dimension of Risk & Leadership.
Hosted by M.K. Palmore — former FBI cyber leader, Google Cloud executive,
and founder of Apogee Global RMS — our podcast network explores leadership
excellence and the evolving risk landscape from the boardroom to the SOC
LEADERSHIP & GROWTH
Amplified
The Leadership Student 2.0
Conversations with global leaders, executives, and visionaries shaping the future of business and technology.
RISK & CYBERSECURITY
The Risk Apogee
Expert analysis at the nexus of cyber, physical,
and human capital risk. Timely intelligence for
security leaders navigating threats.
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Amplified: Leadership Student 2.0 Podcast, hosted by MK Palmore, is a monthly exploration of the multifaceted world of leadership. Each episode features insightful conversations with guests from diverse industries and backgrounds, delving into the practicalities of leadership, the hard lessons learned, and the deep-water experiences that shape successful leaders.
Leadership expert Russell Davis shares how servant leadership transforms organizations by centering human dignity. From the Peace Corps to the boardroom, he unpacks how ethical leadership, empathy, and resilience fuel high-performing teams. Join MK Palmore in this episode and discover actionable ways to rebuild trust, lead with intention, and redefine success, not through power but through care, clarity, and connection.
Timestamps
00:00 Meet Russell Davis
02:36 Russell’s Mission and Early Path
04:09 Peace Corps Lessons & Early Leadership Challenges
08:49 What Servant Leadership Really Means
12:17 Surviving a Bonfire Explosion and Resilience
17:54 How Positivity Changes Everything
23:29 Russell’s Empowering Leadership Philosophy
27:17 Rebuilding Trust with Wounded Team Members
31:58 Inside Russell’s Leadership Models and Writings
35:39 Why Ethics Is the Cornerstone of Real Leadership
39:50 Final Thoughts and Where to Learn More
🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to The Leadership Student 2.0 Podcast!
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to follow/subscribe so you never miss an inspiring conversation.
✨ Connect with Apogee Global RMS for more leadership insights:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkpalmore/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apogee_rms/
X/Twitter: https://x.com/apogee_rms
💼 This episode is brought to you by Apogee Global RMS – experts in risk management solutions. Check out their website to learn more about how they can support your business.
Let’s keep growing and leading boldly. Until next time!
The Risk Apogee is a 1:1 interview series, sponsored by Apogee Global RMS, featuring candid conversations with risk leaders serving small and mid-sized businesses and public sector organizations. Each episode explores how practitioners translate risk theory into practical action, focusing on real incidents, lessons learned, and frameworks that drive resilience in resource-constrained environments
The CISO role is caught between rising personal liability, tactical overload, and a business landscape that still treats security as a technology function rather than an enterprise risk discipline. Aaron Wurthmann is a fractional security leader with nearly 30 years of experience spanning IT operations, DevOps, and security leadership across Silicon Valley startups and maturing organizations.
In this episode of The Risk Apogee Podcast, Aaron joins host M. K. Palmore to work through the tension between chasing titles and finding the right role, why early-stage companies consistently delay security investment until external forces demand it, and how agentic AI is creating an observability crisis most security teams haven't even begun to address.
Aaron shares how he evaluates talent, why he believes the CISO title should evolve toward a Chief Information Risk Officer model, and what it actually looks like when security leaders align risk registers to budget realities.
Things You Will Learn:
- Why aligning your risk register to your actual budget is the single most revealing test of whether an organization is serious about security.
- How to evaluate when a practitioner is ready for the next level of leadership and why giving titles prematurely does more harm than good.
- What agentic AI and bot-driven tool adoption mean for enterprise observability, and why most security teams are already behind.
Tools & Frameworks Covered:
- People, Process, Things: Aaron's prioritization hierarchy for building security programs: get people bought into the mission first, then establish process, then select technology. Reversal of this order is where most programs break.
- Risk-to-Budget Alignment: The practice of holding organizations accountable by comparing stated security ambitions against actual budget allocation and risk register priorities.
- Least Privilege as an AI Governance Principle: Applying the decades-old principle of least privilege to agentic AI and bot permissions, using the HAL 9000 example as a reference point for over-permissioned autonomous systems.
#CISO#SecurityLeadership#EnterpriseRisk#CyberSecurity#RiskApogee
🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to The Risk Apogee Podcast!
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to follow/subscribe so you never miss an inspiring conversation.
✨ Connect with Apogee Global RMS for more leadership insights:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkpalmore/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apogee_rms/
X/Twitter: https://x.com/apogee_rms
💼 This episode is brought to you by Apogee Global RMS – experts in risk management solutions. Check out their website to learn more about how they can support your business.
Let’s keep growing and leading boldly. Until next time!
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