The Pivot Effect: From theater, to seminary to corporate boardrooms, Communication is the common thread in Peter Novak's pivots

On this episode of The Pivot Effect, hosts Teri Zipper and Susan Richards sit down with Peter Novak, founder and CEO of Strictly Speaking Group, for a conversation that spans seven years in a Jesuit seminary, a rare doctorate in dramaturgy, twenty-two years teaching at the University of San Francisco, and a second career coaching some of the world's biggest corporations on high-stakes communication. 

Peter shares how his winding path from theater to the priesthood to academia to executive coaching taught him that every human problem is, at its core, a communication problem. He dives into the unique challenges non-native English speakers face in the workplace from accent bias to phrasal verbs to the surprising research on what "confidence" actually sounds like in English and makes the case for keeping the human at the center of communication in an increasingly AI-driven world. 

Whether you're navigating your own career pivot, leading a global team, or just curious how a Jesuit seminarian ends up coaching Fortune 500 executives, this episode is full of insight on the skills that transfer across any career and why it's never too late to pivot.