Podcast
Balancing Purpose and Profit: Nima Farshchi on Driving Human-Centric TransformationÂ
- Explore how Nima Farshchi connects purpose, profit, trust, and human-centric leadership to organizational resilience and business success.
About the episode
What does it actually take to lead an organization through constant uncertainty without losing the human element?Â
On this episode of Doing Good by Doing Better, host Margaret Rogers is joined by Nima Farshchi, Executive Director of the Office of Experiential Learning and Director of the Center for Social Value Creation at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. Nima makes the case that long-term corporate survival depends on treating purpose and profit as partners, not competitors, drawing clear lines between human behavior, organizational resilience, and business strategy. From co-founding a charter school to advising the next generation of C-suite leaders, Nima offers a candid look at how leading with people first cuts through short-term pressure and keeps organizations focused on what actually drives results: their people.Â
Margaret and Nima discuss:
- Strategic Transformation as a Mindset: Why treating change management as a temporary project falls short, and how human-centric leadership equips companies to navigate shifts in AI, ESG, and market demands.Â
- Cultivating Trust Across Generations: How executive leadership can manage the “piggy bank of trust,” adapt to evolving workforce expectations from Gen Z to Boomers, and lead with empathy without sacrificing accountability.
- Critical Thinking in the Age of AI: Why prompt engineering will soon be second nature, making critical thinking, authentic communication, and real-time human connection the true differentiators for leaders and organizations alike.Â
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Episode links
About the guest
Nima Farshchi is a Faculty member in the Management and Organization Department at the Robert H. Smith School of Business and serves as Executive Director of the Office of Experiential Learning (OEL) and Director of the Center for Social Value Creation (CSVC) at the University of Maryland. His work sits at the intersection of business education and social impact, with expertise in sustainability, B Corps, corporate social responsibility, and leadership.
About the host
Margaret Rogers, the Host of the Doing Good by Doing Better Podcast, serves as the CEO of Pariveda Solutions, a strategy and technology services firm with a mission to help people develop, catalyze, and discover their potential. She found her way into consulting right out of school, back when dial-up, blinking text, and wallpaper backgrounds defined the web. As User Experience began to emerge, she transitioned from technologist to roles where she was able to explore human-centered design. Margaret is fascinated by the uniqueness of human dynamics in business and is deeply invested in advising leaders on how to design organizations that nurture a strong culture and operational excellence. Her love of learning also extends well beyond the workplace, most recently into the curious behaviors of sourdough starters and backyard hens, who, much like people, have a surprising amount to teach about rhythms, relationships, and the environments they need to thrive.
About the Doing Good by Doing Better podcast
Hosted by Margaret Rogers, CEO of Pariveda, the Doing Good by Doing Better podcast highlights founders, executives, and innovators who share hard lessons, bold ideas, and real strategies for purpose-driven growth.
Every conversation offers practical insights you can use to solve forward. In each episode you’ll meet leaders who prove that being impact-driven and achieving meaningful success are not mutually exclusive.
Follow Doing Good by Doing Better on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join us every other week as we keep learning how to do good by doing better.
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