318: The Power of Speaking Up: Turning Fear into Strength

318: The Power of Speaking Up: Turning Fear into Strength

318: The Power of Speaking Up: Turning Fear into Strength

 

Have you ever found yourself not speaking up, whether it’s in a 1:1 situation or in a group? For a variety of reasons, women often hold back instead of using their voice. Jennifer Wilkov, founder and CEO of Speak Up Women, learned to speak up in a powerful way herself and now teaches other women to do the same. Whether you’re looking to build confidence, advocate for yourself, or become a more effective leader, you’ll take away actionable strategies to amplify your own voice.

Jennifer shares her personal journey, from a successful career as a certified financial planner to an unexpected wrongful conviction that tested her resilience. Rather than staying silent, she turned her experience into a movement—empowering women to embrace their self-worth and use their voice with confidence.

Speak Up Women is a community that’s cultivating women’s self-expression and empowerment. Jennifer speaks to women through her inspiring personal message, “You have the right to remain fabulous! – regardless of any situation, circumstance or condition.” She is passionate about elevating the self-esteem of women everywhere and encouraging their self-worth.

You’ll discover:

  • What a wrongful conviction taught Jennifer about speaking up
  • Why women hesitate to speak up…and the situations where they often hold back
  • What Speak Up Women is…and is not
  • How you can speak up for others who don’t have a voice
  • Jennifer’s work with interns to develop future leaders

Watch the episode:

Connect with Jennifer Wilkov

      

Jennifer Wilkov’s Resources

Websites

Jennifer S. Wilkov

Speak Up Women

Your Book Is Your Hook

TED Talk

I Survived Prison

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316: What Will Be Your Leadership Legacy?

316: What Will Be Your Leadership Legacy?

316: What Will Be Your Leadership Legacy?

What wisdom could you extract from someone who’s had over 40 years of experience as a leader? An amazing amount if that leader is Oakland McCulloch. You’ll hear practical ideas and stories that will inspire you to elevate your own leadership.

Better known as Oak, our guest’s 40-plus years of leadership experience includes 23 in the U.S. Army, followed by various civilian positions. While in the Army, he was deployed overseas multiple times. Oak’s last position in the Army was a three-year tour as Professor of Military Science at the University of South Alabama, where he led the training and commissioning of Lieutenants and tripled the size of the program.

Oak is the author of an excellent book, Your Leadership Legacy: Becoming the Leader You Were Meant to Be, and he’s now an internationally recognized keynote speaker on leadership and success. As you listen to this conversation, you’ll see that Oak is a true servant leader.

You’ll discover:

  • What two high school mentors taught Oak about leadership
  • How Oak defines leadership
  • What’s required to build a culture of trust
  • Why Oak says, “Becoming a micromanager is the #1 mistake a leader can make.”
  • The importance of preparing young people for leadership roles—and what to focus on

Watch the episode:

 

Connect with Oak

      

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315: The Lens You Choose Shapes Your Life

315: The Lens You Choose Shapes Your Life

315: The Lens You Choose Shapes Your Life

Have you ever noticed how two people can experience the same event but walk away with entirely different perspectives?

In this episode, I share a striking contrast between two individuals on a birdwatching trip.

Their reactions caused me to reflect on how our attitudes shape our experiences and the energy we bring to those around us.

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:

  • How your words and reactions influence those around you
  • The key mindset shift that leads to greater joy and connection
  • How to become more intentional about the perspective you bring to every situation
  • A simple yet powerful way to enhance your leadership and relationships

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312: Aligning the Dots to Accelerate Business Growth

312: Aligning the Dots to Accelerate Business Growth

312: Aligning the Dots to Accelerate Business Growth

What causes companies to experience rapid top-line revenue growth? Philippe Bouissou, PhD, provides the answer in this impactful conversation. His framework is brilliantly simple. Identify the four possible areas of misalignment between the company and the customer, then make changes to create alignment.

Philippe outlines the four areas and provides concrete examples of each. He also describes one of the world’s most successful companies that excels in aligning all four.

Philippe has been in Silicon Valley for 33 years. He launched and scaled Apple’s eCommerce business from zero to $350 million, working closely with Steve Jobs. Since leaving Apple, he’s had success as a CEO, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist, and he’s served on the board of 23 companies. He is a growth expert, a TEDx speaker with over one million views, and the author of the bestseller book Aligning the Dots.

Today, Philippe is Managing Partner at Blue Dots Partners LLC, a Palo Alto-based advisory firm he founded. The firm is dedicated to solving one problem: helping companies grow faster.

If you’re responsible for any part of top-line revenue growth in your company, this episode is a must-listen. And you’ll want to pick up a copy of Aligning the Dots, too!

You’ll discover

  • Why Philippe said Steve Jobs was the best leader he ever worked with
  • Key lessons Philippe has learned in his leadership journey
  • The one question he asks CEOs about their business (and it’s not, “What do you do?”)
  • The four axes of alignment required to grow a business
  • Why there’s a 5th axis that determines the execution of the other four

Watch the episode:

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Phillipe’s Resources

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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
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  • A big mistake Ethan made at Amazon and the lessons he learned from it

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Connect with Ethan

  

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309: Coaching at the Intersection of Love, Language, and Leadership

309: Coaching at the Intersection of Love, Language, and Leadership

309: Coaching at the Intersection of Love, Language, and Leadership

Have you thought about how your words create you and your world? No matter what you answer, Trevor Timbeck will help you gain a better understanding of this power we all have if we choose to use it well.

Trevor co-authored The Power of Systems with Steve Chandler. You’ll recognize the book and Steve’s name from episode 300 of the podcast. In this episode, we discussed the book and how it ties in with who you are BEING and what you’re CREATING in the world.

Trevor is an absolutely remarkable human being, with important insights not just on the power of systems, but on life itself. You’re going to want to give this your full attention because you’ll hear many valuable ideas to reflect on.

Trevor has a deep technical background and started his career as a software engineer. He was promoted to leadership roles and eventually became head of Sales and then Chief Talent Officer with a large IT company. Today Trevor is a very successful leadership coach.

You’ll discover:

  • Significant lessons Trevor learned in his leadership journey
  • How Trevor weaves together love, language, and leadership when coaching his clients
  • What he learned from his first coach that transformed the way he led
  • The difference between language as coordinating behavior and language as communicating information
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