Rise Leaders Radio

This series began with a conversation with my client, Jennifer Bartkowski, and we’re concluding the same way. Jennifer is the ‘very proud’ CEO of Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas.  In Fall of 2022 we launched a multi-month, cohort- and practice-based leadership program:  Reimagine Girl Scouts Leadership Academy.  We’ve tracked the journey and interviewed subject matter experts in key&...

We have constant demands on our attention, energy and time.  If we don’t have strategies for staying focused on what is most important we will almost certainly lose the battle and succumb to distractions that leave us feeling depleted and frustrated.  My friend and colleague, Dr. Chris Johnson has literally written a book on how to stay present.  And me?  I created a worksheet...

I’ve worked with a lot of organizations in my time as a coach and leadership consultant and the issue of trust is almost always at or near the center of concern.  You’re never done building and nurturing trust.  As one of my guests today quotes, “trust is the only thing that affects everything” (Stephen M.R. Covey). We gave it a great deal of air time in the Reimagine Leadership program....

When I ask experts in the leadership field what the most important attribute for effective leadership today is, I get some version of adaptability or agility .  In other words, what is most important is that we’re able to read a context and shift our approach to meet circumstances and challenges with new thinking and behaviors. My guest today, Pam Boney, is so passionate about this that she c...

As part of the Reimagine Leadership limited series, this is the first episode where we dig into content that we actually threaded throughout the program I developed for the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas. Jim Fallon is an Executive Coach for The Conscious Leadership Group and a Strategic Advisor for many organizations.  He spent decades as an executive for many organizations across various in...

Transformation Happens in Community. We don’t reach our potential alone.  Without conversation, without rubbing up against each others’ nervous systems.  Without vulnerability, self-awareness, being mirrored by others and without engaging to support their development as well. I knew this episode would be special and it was, because I was engaging with deep thinking, big hearted people wh...

Jennifer Bartkowski, CEO of Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas, and Cris Lopez, Senior Vice President at Village MD join me today and we talk about the various and important perspectives to consider when providing development to current and future leaders in your organization.   Cris sits on the Board for the Girl Sounds of Northeast Texas and played a key role in advising Jennifer on select...

In this first episode of Reimagine Leadership, I’m joined by Jennifer Bartkowski, the “very proud CEO of Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas”. This is the episode where we make strong links to organizational vision, mission and strategy and how leadership development is critical to an organization’s ability to thrive. It is the thread that connects strategy to execution to the fulfillment of the missio...

Welcome to the first episode of Reimagine Leadership, a limited series podcast on Rise Leaders Radio. In this episode, I introduce you to the leadership program I was invited to create and deliver for the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas. This transformational program was focused on developing the leadership capabilities required to build an organizational culture internally that could meet the...

“I bet half of our anxiety is the energy of trying to remember which hat to put on in my relationship with [others]…And people end up becoming a less real version of themselves. …Why can't we be fully present to this process, and not have to put anything on the side - not try to take away the personal parts of who we are?” Showing up fully human What if I told you it’s possible to bring your full...

“ Business is the social institution that that makes the world go ‘round. At one point in time, it was government and monarchies, and another point in time, it was religion. Now, it's businesses. So if we want to change the world, we have to change business.” – Nathan Havey 3D Business: A force for positive change In the 1970s, Milton Friedman said that the only responsibility of business is to in...

Do you ever feel overwhelmed and even stuck by situations that feel complex, uncertain and ambiguous? I certainly do. My guest today, Jay Cone, tells us that there's a surprising power in not knowing what to do. He believes that if we can boost our immunity to feeling the chaos, we can respond with creativity and compassion rather than paralysis and tribalism. Does expanding your repertoire a...

“ If we focus on goals alone, without being tethered into this beingness, [it] can activate and trigger us, and we see those goals as our persecutor…‘Was the goal big enough? Did I do it fast enough?’ So the goal-setting can actually become a persecutor. And in our own mind, we feel victim to that .” – Donna Zajonc   Are your goals also your persecutor? Working toward a goal or vision is impo...

 “ Imagine if we could all show up in more, if not all, places in life fully ourselves - that we could fully open ourselves to learning, making mistakes, taking feedback, taking risks, and be being fully seen for our humanity and our potential without the fear of embarrassment or retribution .” Move from socially defined to self-authored Have you ever felt that internal tug-of-war where you y...

“Can you discern between resistance and fear and strategic changes in direction? …not giving up and changing direction because something is hard or scary, yet being willing to change your mind even when something you really wanted to pursue is no longer a good investment of your precious resources?” Reflect, refresh, and recalibrate The change in seasons reminds us that it's time to pause and refl...

“ [In contrast to] the ‘either/or’, ‘right/wrong’ mindset where there's nothing in between - paradoxical thinking would say, ‘What if it's both? What if there’s value in understanding the first path, and value in equally understanding the other path, and even the third?’ … It’s about being able to hold that tension between paths.” – Renee Moorefield Finding comfort in the contradiction When we exp...

“Respect yourself, respect others – respect the people you're working with. When you have those two ingredients, that will drive authentic communication among you and will be a part of your everyday working environment.” – Treg Manning Wholehearted Leadership When Treg reached out to me for leadership coaching, he was facing what he referred to as a crisis of confidence. Trust had been breached on...

“ Is our life an illustration of the ideals that we hold dear? Are we a living example of our personal philosophies for how to live meaningfully?” Letting your life speak As Maya Angelou famously said, "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”   As conscious and conscientious leaders, we not only strive for busine...

“ What if life was a place full of possibilities for us to get better at the things that we care about? Instead of a place where we need to prove that we’re great and perfect? ” – Fran Cherny If we expect ourselves to master new skills easily and in short time, we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment and very likely a resistance to future change efforts. To give ourselves the best chance for...

“When we focus on outcomes and take creative steps to go after that, we solve problems in service to those. It’s not that the Outcome Orientation is all goodness and light and problem free, but that we can tackle the problems that stand in the way of we really want and really care about.” – David Emerald Womeldorff A 2022 Mindset Goal: An Outcome Orientation As we dive into a new year, David Emera...

“’Do Something New’ is about having the courage to take a moment and celebrate it. And finding a way … to move beyond simply seeing and looking to deep observation, or deep listening. It’s about going further than I normally would.”  – Bonnie Pitman The power of observation: Transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary We get stuck and can't see new possibilities. We interact with the sam...

“ Don’t tell me what you value; show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.” –Joe Biden Put your values into action A lot of energy goes into defining an organization's Vision, Mission and Values. It's an exciting time and an inspiring exercise. Usually, steps are taken to put this Core Ideology into action but it often remains separate from the hard core center of the business. It does...

“This book is a love letter to any fellow humans who have felt like they were the underdogs for deeply caring about people and their wellbeing at work.” – MaryBeth Hyland, Permission to Be Human: A Conscious Leader’s Guide to Creating a Values-Driven Culture Wellbeing at work Just as we go to a doctor if we break an arm, we should treat ourselves with the same level of respect when it comes to our...

We will all grapple with trauma in some form. If you haven’t experienced it yet personally, then as a leader, mentor, friend, or loved one, you’ll be with someone who has. Drawing from my own recent experience, I want to share what I’ve learned from an event that rattled my nervous system. We'll all get shaken by life, and whether it’s a heated argument, natural disaster, or a dog attack (like min...

“ We want to inspire a change in the social currency to be not one of status or prestige, but one around what it is that we're doing for others…we think a lot can happen from making small everyday changes or actions .” – Cory Ames, CEO of Grow Ensemble Using Business as a Force for Good   Inspiring and generous. When I think of my interactions with CEO of Grow Ensemble Cory Ames, he embodies...