Leadership Career Accelerator: Build Executive Presence, Influence With Impact & Get Promoted

Do the people on your team know you believe in them before they’ve fully proven themselves? It’s easy to praise someone after the results are in. The harder leadership actioin is to recognize potential early and say it out loud before everyone else sees it. In this episode, Barry Moline uses Mike Brown’s public belief in Jalen Brunson as a leadership lesson. The point isn’t vague encouragement. It...

What if the biggest thing slowing your career isn’t a lack of talent, opportunity, or experience — but your own comfort zone? Stan Lewis calls it mental captivity : the doubts, limiting beliefs, and familiar routines that keep people tethered to where they are, even when they want something more. In this conversation, we explore how ambitious professionals can change their vantage point, find ment...

What if your organization is moving faster on AI than your people are ready to follow? AI investment keeps climbing, but public sentiment remains divided. That creates an important leadership gap. Organizations can look at adoption rates, pilot participation, productivity gains, and capital spending and conclude that people are on board. But those numbers only tell you what people are doing. They...

What if becoming a better conversationalist has less to do with saying interesting things—and more to do with making other people feel interesting? Small talk can feel awkward because too many people approach it as a performance. They worry about what to say next, whether they sound impressive, or how to keep the conversation going. A better approach is simpler: get curious. In this episode, Barry...

What if you’re not nearly as good a listener as you think you are? Most leaders believe they listen well. The problem is that busy schedules, confidence, authority, and the pressure to respond quickly can quietly work against you. You interrupt because you think you already know where someone is going. You multitask because you believe you can still follow the conversation. You filter what you hea...

What if the secret to building high-performing teams has less to do with talent—and more to do with connection? Winning teams and successful organizations aren't built on skill alone. They're built on trust, relationships, and leaders who invest in people before expecting results. In this episode, Barry Moline sits down with Sacramento State Women's Basketball Head Coach Aaron Kallhoff to explore...

How do you build a strong career when the economy is uncertain, AI is changing work, and the old career path no longer feels reliable? The job market is changing fast. Young professionals are facing more competition, slower hiring, economic uncertainty, and new pressure to understand how AI fits into their work. In this episode, Barry talks with Emma Graham about how professionals can future-proof...

Why do people sometimes accept difficult decisions—but reject others that seem just as reasonable? Fairness is one of leadership's greatest challenges because different people experience the same decision in very different ways. While leaders can't guarantee that every outcome will satisfy everyone, they can build trust by creating a process that is thoughtful, consistent, and transparent. In this...

How do young professionals learn real leadership before they ever get a formal leadership title? In this episode, Barry talks with Sean Phelps, president of College Works Painting, about what happens when college students are trusted with real responsibility to run a business. This isn’t a simulated internship. Students learn sales, customer service, production, hiring, management, accountability,...

Have you ever done outstanding work but still struggled to get people to support your ideas? Talent, preparation, and strong analysis matter—but they're not always enough to influence important decisions. Organizations are built on relationships, trust, and credibility. In this episode, Barry Moline explains why influence isn't office politics; it's understanding how decisions are made and how to...

Why do capable, high-performing people still feel like imposters—even after promotions, praise, and real success? Imposter syndrome often shows up when people are growing, stepping into new responsibilities, or feeling pressure to prove they belong. In this episode, Barry Moline and Ian Clawson explore how workplace fear, rumination, ego, expectations, and growth all shape the way leaders see them...

How do you know when persuasion is ethical—and when it crosses the line into manipulation? Every leader uses influence, but not every leader uses it responsibly. In this episode, Barry Moline shares a simple three-part test for ethical influence that helps leaders build trust instead of skepticism. You'll learn why credibility isn't built by convincing people to say "yes," but by helping them make...

Workplace conflict is unavoidable. People disagree over priorities, budgets, responsibilities, decisions, and even small issues that become bigger than they should. But most conflict gets worse because people frame the issue too narrowly. It becomes my idea versus your idea, or who’s right versus who’s wrong. That’s when people start building a case instead of fixing the problem. In this episode,...

Why do some workplace changes gain support while others create frustration and resistance? Most employees can adapt to change when they understand why it's happening. The real problem isn't change itself—it's decisions that feel arbitrary, inconsistent, or disconnected from the work. In this episode, Barry Moline explains why leadership credibility depends less on the policy you choose and more on...

What happens when AI becomes smarter than humans in some of the world's most important fields? The biggest changes in AI may still be ahead of us. In Part 2 of this conversation, AI expert Austin Ambrozi explores where the technology is heading over the next several years—and why leaders need to start preparing today. You'll hear why artificial general intelligence (AGI) may already be emerging in...

Are you accidentally weakening your negotiations by making the ask before you’ve earned the right to offer a solution? When a negotiation starts too quickly with a pitch, proposal, or scripted discovery questions, trust can disappear before the real conversation begins. This episode shows you how to open negotiations with honest discovery so the other person feels respected, understood, and more w...

Are you keeping up with AI—or are you already falling behind? AI isn't just improving. It's accelerating at a pace that's changing how we work, create, communicate, and compete. In this conversation, AI expert Austin Ambrozi returns to discuss what has changed in the past year—and why many of his predictions are already becoming reality. You'll hear how today's AI systems are becoming dramatically...

What if your next promotion starts long before your title changes? Many strong performers feel stuck when career growth is measured only by promotions. This episode reframes growth as something that begins when your judgment is trusted, your influence expands, and your contribution starts matching the next level before the organization formally recognizes it. Listeners will learn why real career g...

How much trust are you building—or unintentionally breaking—through your everyday leadership behaviors? In a workplace shaped by constant change, uncertainty, AI, and shifting expectations, trust is no longer a “nice to have”—it is essential for collaboration, performance, and resilience. In this episode, Drs. Michelle and Dennis Reina explain why trust is everyone’s responsibility and how leaders...

What if the fastest way to build a high-performing team is to help people know and care about each other first? Many teams want better performance, but they often skip the relational habits that make strong collaboration possible. This episode shows why trust, caring, candor, curiosity, and courage become more than values on a wall when leaders create simple, consistent moments for people to conne...

What if the key to better meetings, stronger teams, and more creative problem-solving was learning how to improvise at work? Most people think improv belongs on a comedy stage, but this episode shows how the same skills apply every day at work—especially when teams need to brainstorm, adapt, communicate, and solve problems together. Jon Colby explains how “yes, and,” the “magic if,” and simple mee...

Are you learning AI fast enough to stay valuable as work changes around you? AI is quickly becoming part of modern professional competence, and this episode speaks to the growing pressure many workers and leaders feel to keep up. It explains why staying relevant now requires a growth mindset, practical experimentation, and a willingness to adapt instead of relying only on past experience. You will...

Could one drink at a work event quietly shape your reputation, credibility, and future leadership opportunities? Work dinners, conferences, happy hours, and client events may feel social—but they’re still professional environments where people notice how you carry yourself. In this episode, we break down the unspoken rules of drinking at work events and explain how emotional control, judgment, and...

What if your greatest influence as a leader has less to do with being persuasive and more to do with being trusted? In today’s workplace, many leaders are expected to move ideas forward without relying on formal authority. This episode speaks to the challenge of influencing peers, senior leaders, and cross-functional teams by showing why trust, clarity, empathy, and consistency often matter more t...

What if the biggest opportunities in your career come from relationships, adaptability, and unexpected moments—not a carefully crafted master plan? Many aspiring leaders believe successful careers follow a predictable roadmap. Yet some of the most accomplished executives arrive at leadership through a combination of preparation, curiosity, continuous learning, and opportunities they never saw comi...