314: From Vision to Action: Embracing Change and Driving Success

314: From Vision to Action: Embracing Change and Driving Success

314: From Vision to Action: Embracing Change and Driving Success

Change can be daunting, no matter what size your organization is. Our guest Dr. Mary Lippitt sheds light on the common fears—fear of the future, fear of the process, and fear of unintended consequences—that often accompany new initiatives.

Mary shares how organizations can address complexity through holistic strategies that emphasize listening, collaboration, and adaptability. We also discuss the power of asking the right questions to surface hidden concerns and ensure buy-in from all levels of an organization.

Dr. Lippitt is a renowned thought leader in the field of organizational development. She’s an award-winning author, speaker, and consultant. As President and Founder of Enterprise Management, Mary has more than 30 years of experience implementing change, delivering results, and boosting strategic thinking. As a researcher, Mary has studied the strategic and critical thinking patterns of 6,000 leaders.

She is proud to be a second generation Organizational Development professional, following in the footsteps of her father Gordon and uncle Ron. Her new book Leadersheep: Saving the Herd offers a fable about successfully executing change along with the steps necessary to make change stick.

You’ll discover:

  • Why top-down approaches often fail and how leaders can stay engaged to create lasting change
  • How to achieve a clear and actionable vision by leveraging situational awareness and data-driven decision-making
  • What you can do to identify gaps, monitor progress, and make necessary course corrections when implementing change
  • The benefits of adopting a situational mindset to enhance leadership flexibility

Watch the episode:

 

Connect with Dr. Mary Lippitt

  

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Mastering the Top 10 Communication Skills

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311: Former Amazon VP on Character and Leadership

311: Former Amazon VP on Character and Leadership

311: Former Amazon VP on Character and Leadership

Over the course of his career, Ethan Evans reviewed 10,000+ resumes, conducted over 2,500 interviews, and made more than 1,000 hires. He knows a thing or two about finding, onboarding, AND developing the right people.

In this high-energy conversation, Ethan shares the qualities he looked for and the aspects of character he believes are most important for leaders. You’ll find great value in reflecting on the lessons he learned from a big mistake he made at Amazon that got him in trouble with CEO Jeff Bezos.

Ethan is a former Vice President at Amazon. During his 15 years there, he helped invent many of the offerings that we take for granted today, like Prime Video, Amazon Video, and the Amazon App Store. Prior to Amazon, Ethan spent 12 years at 3 startups.

In September of 2020, Ethan retired from Amazon and made the decision to pay it forward. He devotes time teaching leaders to become true executives through courses he offers and free content he provides on LinkedIn and his website.

You’ll discover:

  • How Ethan added to the Amazon Leadership Principle of Ownership
  • What Ethan looks for when interviewing a candidate or considering someone for a promotion
  • The five steps in Ethan’s Magic Loop for managing up
  • What leaders can do to build trust quickly
  • A big mistake Ethan made at Amazon and the lessons he learned from it

Watch the episode:

 

Connect with Ethan

  

Ethan’s Website

Ethan Evans

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302: Becoming a Generous Leader

 

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Connect with Your Team

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310: Moving Past Perfectionism

310: Moving Past Perfectionism

310: Moving Past Perfectionism

Have you ever taken on a project that you thought would be straightforward…and then discovered it wasn’t?

Sometimes that occurs because of the expectations we put on ourselves to perform at a certain level.

That’s what happened to me when I tried to record a headshot video.

In this solo episode I describe the situation, how I handled the setbacks, and what I learned from the experience that might be helpful for you, too.

I’m the co-founder and president of Grow Strong Leaders. We’ve created online resources that help leaders strengthen their character and communication skills to build strong relationships and inspire others to perform at the highest level.

You’ll discover:

  • The challenge I was given in a LinkedIn course
  • How I define perfectionism
  • Why I struggled initially to complete this assignment
  • What slowing down and reflecting helped me realize
  • 3 insights that allowed me to relax and enjoy the process

Watch the episode:

Connect with Meredith

        

Listen to the GSL Podcast on YouTube
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Connect with Your Team

Mastering the Top 10 Communication Skills

Peer Coaching Made Simple

How to Do the 6 Things That Matter Most When Helping Someone Improve a Skill

308: Remove Chaos and Head Trash from Your Mind

308: Remove Chaos and Head Trash from Your Mind

308: Remove Chaos and Head Trash from Your Mind

Do you ever have thoughts that could be called “head trash”? Very likely, you’ve experienced them, and those thoughts may even keep you awake at night. In this conversation, Dr. Robyn Odegaard provides a concrete, practical tip for getting back to sleep if you wake up at 3:00 am. She also shares her approach to questions and conversations with her clients that you can use yourself for your long-term happiness and success.

Dr. Robyn is a former competitive beach volleyball player turned business psychologist and professional confidante. She did her graduate work in business psychology with a concentration in high performance and sport. She’s been working in the space between executive coach, therapist and best friend for more than fifteen years and has designed her business to support ultra-busy clients who live excessively fast-paced lives.

Dr. Robyn’s expertise has been showcased through her TEDx talk, Creating Success Out of Chaos, the seven books she has authored, co-authored or contributed to, her Five-Point Paradigm for Creating Success Out of Chaos™, and her signature talk: Take Out the Head Trash: How to fight the demons keeping you awake at 3am.

You’ll discover:

  • Robyn’s personal journey as a young adult and what she learned along the way
  • Why she had self-doubts about her ability to succeed in college
  • A 5-point paradigm for creating success out of chaos
  • The #1 question she asks her clients to help them identify what’s holding them back
  • How Dr. Robyn learned to make Big Asks in quoting fees to potential clients

Watch the episode:

Connect with Dr. Robyn

    

Dr. Robyn’s Resources

Website

Mental MacGyver

Other

TEDx Talk

The Head Trash Talk

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Connect with Your Team

Mastering the Top 10 Communication Skills

Peer Coaching Made Simple

How to Do the 6 Things That Matter Most When Helping Someone Improve a Skill

306: How Parents Can Raise Future Leaders Today

306: How Parents Can Raise Future Leaders Today

306: How Parents Can Raise Future Leaders Today

Here’s a startling statistic. Harvard published the results of a survey of 17,000 managers, and one of the questions asked was this: When did you experience your first formal leadership training? The average age was 42.

What would happen if we started with children instead of waiting until someone is so far into their career? You don’t have to wonder what would happen because our guest, Dr. Alan Nelson, has focused on teaching leadership to young people for almost 20 years.

Alan is the Founder of KidLead Academy, the world’s first online course to train parents how to develop their child’s leadership potential. Alan has been passionate about leadership throughout his career.

Alan is the author of 40 books and over 200 articles on personal growth and leadership. He has a doctorate in leadership from the University of San Diego and has taught leadership courses at several universities, including USC’s Marshall School of Business and the Naval Postgraduate School.

In this conversation, we focused on his book for parents, My Kid Leads! A How-to Book for Parents Wanting to Raise Future Leaders Today. Highly recommended!

You’ll discover:

  • The answer to the question of whether leaders are made or born
  • Why Alan says the sweet spot for teaching leadership to kids is ages 10-13
  • The 4 primary indicators of giftedness in leadership in both children and adults
  • What parents can do to help their children develop self-control and critical thinking skills
  • How Alan uses peer-led teams in his programs to teach leadership and followership

Watch the episode:

Connect with Alan

    

Listen to the GSL Podcast on YouTube
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Listen to the GSL Podcast on Spotify
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Connect with Your Team

Mastering the Top 10 Communication Skills

Peer Coaching Made Simple

How to Do the 6 Things That Matter Most When Helping Someone Improve a Skill

310: Moving Past Perfectionism

305: A Flooded Road Released a Flood of Emotions

305: A Flooded Road Released a Flood of Emotions

Have you ever lost your cool when you encountered something unexpected?

In this solo episode, I describe a situation where I witnessed someone who became emotional and took it out on me.

Thankfully, I recognized that she was simply unable to think rationally in the moment, and I didn’t take it personally.

I’m the co-founder and president of Grow Strong Leaders. We’ve created online resources that help leaders strengthen their character and communication skills to build strong relationships and inspire others to perform at the highest level.

You’ll discover:

  • The event that triggered this person’s reaction
  • What I realized about the feelings she was experiencing
  • How I handled the uncertainty of the moment
  • The lessons I took away from that incident
  • Two questions you can ask yourself when you feel fear or uncertainty

Watch the episode:

Connect with Meredith

      

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038: Why Emotional Intelligence Matters

 

Listen to the GSL Podcast on YouTube
Listen to the GSL Podcast on Apple Podcasts
Listen to the GSL Podcast on Pandora
Listen to the GSL Podcast on Spotify
Listen to the GSL Podcast on Amazon
Listen to the Grow Strong Leaders Podcast on iheartradio

Connect with Your Team

Mastering the Top 10 Communication Skills

Peer Coaching Made Simple

How to Do the 6 Things That Matter Most When Helping Someone Improve a Skill