Lead With More: Character-Driven Leadership for Today's Leaders

Episode 45 Would you rather think, or would you rather know? Executive coach Steve Barton says most leaders lead with thought, and that thought is what blocks their awareness. Steve Barton is an executive coach, author, and creator of The Game of Ten®, a powerful awareness-based framework helping leaders operate at their highest level of clarity, confidence, and performance. Steve has over 47 year...

Episode 44 In this episode, Tom shares two back-to-back moments that revealed his own comfort zone: unexplained stress over routine travel, and unease about a speaking topic outside his usual lane. One simple question cracked open the real answer: it was never the logistics. It was the comfort he didn't want to give up. Tom breaks down why avoidance rarely looks like avoidance — it looks like pref...

Episode 43 What can a funeral director teach you about integrity? In this episode, Tom sits down with Jay Jacobson — business owner, consultant, author of Lead by Legendary Example — for a conversation that started as an extension of integrity and opened into something bigger. Jay shares how leading the response to the United Flight 232 crash in Sioux City, Iowa, and later testifying before the U....

Episode 42 In this episode, Tom breaks down a word most leaders think they already understand — integrity — and shows why it's actually three separate qualities, not one: incorruptibility (telling the truth even when a lie would protect you), soundness (holding up under real, sustained pressure), and wholeness (being the same person in every room you walk into). Tom shares a personal story of catc...

Episode 41 This episode of the Lead With More podcast breaks down the difference between healthy solitude and dangerous isolation. It matters because leaders can mistake being thoughtful and independent for being appropriately supported, when they may actually be drifting without anyone close enough to challenge their thinking. Tom shares a personal example of sitting on a high-stakes decision for...

Sudden, disruptive change doesn't always call for a fast decision — and treating it like one can cost you clarity when you need it most. In this episode, Tom breaks down the difference between tactical emergencies that demand immediate action and identity-level disruption — a layoff, a business shift, a life event — that calls for something else entirely: solitude. Tom walks through the exact thre...

Episode 39 Most leaders can name their stated values without hesitation. But there's one value running underneath all of them that rarely gets named — and left unchecked, it can quietly override everything else you claim to stand for: valuing what other people think of you. In this Further episode, Tom returns to the conversation from Episode 6 to name that hidden value directly — and to draw a ha...

Episode 37: In this episode of Lead With More , I give a behind-the-scenes view of my process for building this podcast — and the moment that changed it entirely. After recording an episode using an AI-generated script almost word-for-word, I found I couldn't bring myself to publish it. The content was accurate, but it didn't sound like me. That experience led me to rebuild how I use AI in my cont...

Episode 37 Most leaders know how to spot failure — but the hardest cuts to make are the ones to things that are actually working. In this episode, Tom breaks down three categories of activities every leader needs to evaluate: things producing no results, things producing poor results, and — the hardest one — good things that simply aren't the best use of your time, energy, or money. Drawing on the...

Episode 36 Unlock your leadership potential with actionable insights that elevate your growth journey! In this episode, Tom reveals three powerful ways to invest in your leadership development when you’re ready to take the next step. Whether you’re feeling stuck or simply seeking more, these strategies will guide you toward meaningful transformation. Building on last week's exploration of free res...

Think leadership growth requires a big budget? It doesn't. In this abbreviated episode of Lead With More , Tom DeBell breaks down three free — or nearly free — ways to build your leadership skills starting today. This episode is about more than consuming information; it's about building a system to capture what you learn and apply it. If you've been waiting for the budget or the time to start grow...

Episode #34 The higher you climb in leadership, the less anyone is watching — and most leaders aren't ready for that. In this Further episode, Tom DeBell builds on Episode 5: Turn a Life Plan into Daily Action by going deeper into the connection most leaders miss: the cascade from quarterly goals to weekly priorities to daily action. Tom shares what he discovered after leaving corporate — that he...

Ep.#33 What does it actually mean to lead with a servant's heart, and how do you make it work across military, government, corporate, and nonprofit cultures? In this episode of Lead With More, Tom DeBell sits down with Kevin Wayne Johnson, founder and CEO of The Johnson Leadership Group, to explore what three decades of federal leadership taught him about the difference between leaders who earn lo...

Most leaders have heard the advice: leadership is a marathon, not a sprint. And it's true — but it's not the whole picture. A marathon still has a finish line. Leadership doesn't. In this episode of Lead With More, Tom DeBell unpacks why treating trust-building or results-driving as a phase you eventually complete is one of the most common — and costly — mistakes leaders make. Tom walks through tw...

Leadership isn’t just about what you produce — it’s about who you’re becoming in the process. Lead With More is a practical leadership development podcast for today’s emerging and established leaders who want to grow with clarity, character, and purpose. You’re hitting your goals. Your metrics look clean. Your team is checking boxes. So why does it feel like nothing is actually moving? In this epi...

The era of heroic leadership is over — and today's disruptive environment is why. In this episode of Lead With More , Tom DeBell sits down with international coach, speaker, and award-winning author Daria Rudnik to explore what it actually takes to build and lead teams that survive — and thrive — when everything around them is changing. Daria introduces her CLICK framework, a five-pillar approach...

Most leaders who freeze in conflict aren’t indifferent — they care deeply. That care is exactly what traps them. They’re waiting for a solution where nobody gets hurt, no relationship gets strained, and nobody walks away disappointed. That solution almost never exists. And the longer a leader waits for it, the more their care quietly converts into passivity — and if left long enough, into apathy....

Most leaders only rest when they're forced to — and that reactive pattern is quietly eroding their decision quality, their presence, and their leadership effectiveness. In this episode of Lead With More, Tom DeBell introduces a reframe that changes everything: resting from work is recovery, but working from rest is preparation. Drawing on what elite athletes have always known about peak performanc...

What does it actually take to grow a manager into a leader? In this episode of Lead With More, Tom DeBell sits down with bestselling author, award-winning coach, and business owner Dr. Andy Neillie for an honest, experience-driven conversation about the gap between managing tasks and truly leading people. Dr. Neillie shares his four leadership necessities — conviction, competence, character, and c...

What does it really mean to lead with perspective? In this episode of Lead With More , Tom DeBell sits down with leadership consultant and former CPA firm CEO Dennis Sherrin to unpack one of the most overlooked — and most critical — skills in leadership: the ability to shift perspectives. Using a photography-based framework, Tom and Dennis explore three practical concepts every leader needs to dev...

After 20+ episodes, I almost stopped. Not because something went wrong — but because leading yourself with no external accountability, no visible results, and an easier path available is genuinely hard. And nobody talks about that honestly enough. In this milestone 25th episode, I'm sharing what I've actually learned about leadership through this process — starting with the lesson that hit closest...

Most first-time managers don't fail because they lack talent — they fail due to a lack of clarity about identity, purpose, and execution. In this episode of Lead With More , Tom DeBell sits down with ICF-certified leadership coach and author Alicia Rius to unpack why the transition from individual contributor to manager is one of the most underestimated challenges in the workplace. Alicia helps ne...

What happens when you hit every financial goal — and still feel like you're losing? In this episode, Tom DeBell sits down with entrepreneur, coach, and author Jim Sabellico to unpack the defining moment that changed everything: coming home to a half-eaten birthday cake and realizing he'd been building success on the wrong foundation. Jim shares how high achievers tie their self-worth to financial...

Most leaders aren't failing — and that's exactly the problem. In this episode of Lead With More, Tom DeBell unpacks the hidden plateau that keeps competent leaders from making a lasting impact. If you've been leading well but still feel like something is missing, this episode is for you. Tom explores the difference between transactional respect — which follows your title — and the relational influ...

Most leaders never question whether their influence is real — until the day it vanishes. In this FURTHER episode of Modern Leadership Solutions, host Tom DeBell returns to Episode 3: Influence Beyond Titles to introduce a concept that changes how leaders think about their impact: the difference between borrowed influence and built influence. Borrowed influence belongs to your title. Built influenc...