Season two of The Emblazers Show opened with a clear theme: leading through change. Across four standout conversations, B2B leaders explored how to navigate complexity, connect more deeply with buyers, and equip teams for what’s next.
From redefining the Chief Sales Officer role to modernizing enablement and buyer engagement, these episodes offer practical insight for anyone steering a revenue organization through transformation.
Here’s what you can take away from each conversation.
Larry Shurtz—Redefining the CSO Role for a Complex Era
When Larry Shurtz, Chief Sales Officer at Genesys, sat down with Tim Riesterer, he didn’t mince words: The CSO seat isn’t just about hitting a number anymore. It’s about architecting growth across the entire business.
That shift, he explained, requires alignment across marketing, product, and customer success while staying rooted in what buyers truly value.
“Promotion doesn’t make you a leader—behavior does,” Larry said, emphasizing that servant leadership and clarity of purpose are what sustain teams in complex, fast-moving markets.
For Shurtz, leadership today means extracting insight from data without drowning in it and hiring people who can adapt as fast as the market does. If you lead a team through uncertainty, he suggests focusing less on dashboards and more on direction. Your ability to clarify what matters most will set you apart.
Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.
Betsy Westhafer—Elevating Relationships to the C-Suite
Betsy Westhafer, CEO of The Congruity Group, believes that in-person engagement is the single greatest opportunity most B2B companies overlook.
Her work designing opportunities for strategic customer engagement (such as customer advisory boards) has revealed a truth many leaders forget: Your most valuable market insights are already sitting across the table from your customers.
“We all get so busy that we don’t take time to shine a light on our blind spots,” she said. “And the best way to do that is by talking to your customers.”
Westhafer shared that one client turned a planned defection into a long-term renewal—adding global business and referrals—simply by bringing customers together for a candid, NDA-protected conversation about their shared challenges.
The key, she explained, is to make those forums a ‘no-sell zone,’ where executives can learn from one another and form lasting trust. If you want to de-risk your biggest accounts, she advised to start by giving your senior buyers real access and real dialogue.
Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.
Dr. Howard Dover—Winning the Moment with Relevance
Dr. Howard Dover, professor and author of The Sales Innovation Paradox, joined Tim to challenge how revenue teams think about technology.
He warned that simply automating broken sales processes won’t solve anything, it only makes the problem worse.
“If what you’re doing doesn’t work and you automate it,” he said, “You just speed up the badness.” His research shows that while technology has multiplied sellers’ reach, it has also flooded buyers with noise, creating defensive behavior.
Dover urged leaders to stop chasing efficiency and focus instead on effectiveness, helping sellers carry the moment when they finally get in front of a buyer. He coined the term ‘augment-able’ to describe sellers who are curious, adaptable, and business-fluent enough to be amplified by AI rather than replaced by it.
“You can’t fake relevance,” he said. “If you don’t understand how your customer’s business makes money, you can’t add value.”
For sales leaders, Dover’s message is a wake-up call: Technology can open doors, but only skilled, curious humans can keep them open.
Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.
Eileen Brooker—Building Human-Centered Enablement in a Tech-Driven World
In her role as Vice President of Worldwide GTM Training and Enablement at Palo Alto Networks, Eileen Brooker has witnessed firsthand how fast enablement is changing and how essential it is to keep the human element at the center.
She spoke with Tim about designing adaptive, AI-assisted learning programs that meet sellers where they are, while also teaching timeless skills like discovery, storytelling, and curiosity.
Brooker’s flagship program, a 10-week onboarding experience backed by her CEO, has reduced ramp time by more than 30 percent. But beyond metrics, she said its real success lies in connection. Graduates of the program come back as mentors, creating a culture of shared ownership and continuous learning.
“Stop selling. Start talking,” Brooker said. “When you take the time to understand a customer’s business and speak their language, you’re not selling anything—yet you’re selling everything.”
Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.
Managing the Change
Across these four episodes, it’s clear that change doesn’t wait for comfort. Whether you’re leading global sales teams, building customer relationships, or reshaping enablement for the AI era, success comes down to curiosity, clarity, and connection.
Each of these leaders offered a different angle, but all pointed to the same truth: You lead through change by staying close to your people, and even closer to your buyers.
