Aim Higher: The podcast with purpose

Tim Sanders is a tech pioneer, NYT best-selling author and the former Chief Solutions Officer of Yahoo! In this interview with Skip, he shares the three keys to creating a sales leadership mindset. First, be intensely curious. Second, commit to delivering value with every interaction. Third, answer every question with a “Yes!” Tim also talks about the value of diversity of thought, and why “four i...

In this, the 3rd of 9 panel discussions about the traits of servant leaders, Skip and his three guests talk about how true leaders don’t just lead—they build up other leaders. Why spend time training others to lead? Because the only other option is to be, as Skip puts it, a “superhuman leader” yourself. That’s bad for several reasons. First, it puts all the pressure on you, leaving no room for err...

Amy Blankson is bestselling author of “The Future of Happiness.” A graduate of Harvard and Yale, she focuses on how to achieve happiness in a digital era.  She is a co-founder of the Digital Wellness Collective and most recently has shared her thought leadership as a speaker at TEDx and as a regular contributor for Forbes on Women, Technology, and Leadership, and as a featured professor in Oprah’s...

In this, the 2nd of 9 discussions about the traits of servant leaders, Skip and his panel talk about the importance of building a culture of trust. The conversation touches on the components of trust and how you can quickly identify which cultures are based on trust… and which are based on fear. Why worry about trust? Because, as panelist Drew Bordas puts it, “Trust gives you a shortcut to efficie...

A servant leader is not one who does all the work or who is mild and easily swayed. Servant leaders provide strong guidance and direction by understanding what motivates customers, employees and shareholders. In the first of nine parts on this topic, Skip and his panel discuss how valuing diverse opinions is absolutely mandatory for a successful leader.

In one of the most personal and wide-ranging interviews he’s done, Skip talks with former Dollar General CEO Cal Turner, Jr. Under Turner’s leadership, this global powerhouse grew to 14,000 stores and over $20 billion in sales each year. He’s a servant leadership expert who talks frankly about succession planning and the value of empowering others to set their own goals. And he shares personal sto...

In this episode, Skip and his panel discuss the ways in which courage is necessary for successful leaders and successful organizations. Tammi Spayde (Expert in Human Resources and Marketing), Drew Bordas, (Operations Expert and Customer Service Leader) and Elyse Wampler (Leadership Trainer) discuss the ways that leaders can inspire courage in others and find it within themselves. They share some t...

In this episode, Skip responds to comments and questions from as far away as Dublin, Ireland. The episode on self-awareness resonated strongly with several listeners on a couple levels. For one, it was a question about how to help someone else be more self-aware. To which Skip replies... focus on your best-self, first. Other listeners commented on the power of the question “what brings you joy?” a...

In this interview with Maureen Metcalf, CEO of the Innovative Leadership Institute, Skip Prichard discusses her company’s approach to succeeding in a world where the workplace is changing very rapidly. In her “Innovative Leadership Handbook,” Maureen says that when you look at the stresses that businesses are facing, ideals of leadership really have to change. What’s the answer? She and Skip discu...

July 24th marks the anniversary of Apollo 11 astronauts returning safely to earth after successfully landing and walking on the moon.  In today's quick-hit bonus episode of Aim Higher, Skip discusses how President John F. Kennedy's famous "moonshot" speech that lead to that historical moment uses attributes of classic goal setting by a leader. “I believe that this Nation should commit itself to ac...

What one thing can you do to guarantee failure? Destroy the trust of the people who rely on you. Sometimes the key to getting better at something is first understanding how people fail at it. Skip and his guests—Tammi Spayde (Expert in Human Resources and Marketing), Drew Bordas, (Operations Expert and Customer Service Leader) and Bruce Rhoades, CEO and Strategic Business Adviser—talk through an i...

Cameron Mitchell sits down with Skip to discuss his “people first” model for leadership. A highly-successful, serial restaurant entrepreneur, Mitchell goes into detail about how acknowledging and learning from mistakes is an important ingredient to creating and leading an exceptional enterprise. It’s a values-based leadership success story with some important lessons for anyone seeking to rise abo...

In the last episode, Skip and his panel talked about how important it is for leaders to ask great questions. In this quick-hit bonus episode, Skip points out that asking great questions of *yourself* is important across all fields of endeavor. Do you have a list of questions that you ask yourself regularly? Not just about work, but about your health, home life, spiritual journey and creative outle...

Across several dimensions, all of today’s panelists agree that asking questions is a key skill needed by great leaders. Tammi Spayde (Expert in Human Resources and Marketing), Drew Bordas (Operations Expert and Customer Service Leader) and Bruce Rhoades, CEO and Strategic Business Adviser join Skip to talk about both the practical and personal benefits of asking questions. They touch on using ques...

Richard Sheridan is CEO & Chief Storyteller of the award-winning software development company, Menlo Innovations. He is also author of “Chief Joy Officer,” a book about human-centered values. In this interview, Skip and Richard discuss how authenticity is the key to developing connections between leaders and teams. They also discuss the need to pass along leadership skills, and how teaching became...

Doing what you say you’ll do is critical to leadership and success. In this episode, Skip is joined by Tammi Spayde (Expert in Human Resources and Marketing), Drew Bordas, (Operations Expert and Customer Service Leader) and Elyse Wampler (Leadership Trainer). They all agree that if you can’t be trusted to follow-through on even the small things, why would anyone believe you’ll be dependable on lar...

In this interview with author and former Starbucks President Howard Behar, Skip asks, “What’s the most important ingredient when creating a successful coffee empire?” Howard says that it’s not, in fact, making a great cup of coffee. First comes people. Then performance. Then the coffee. Putting people first and defining the purpose of the organization are the keys to his highly successful leadersh...

In this panel discussion, Skip leads a conversation about the importance of self-awareness to any personal success journey. For this topic, Skip is joined by Tammi Spayde (Expert in Human Resources and Marketing), Drew Bordas, (Operations Expert and Customer Service Leader) and Elyse Wampler (Leadership Trainer). They discuss some practical techniques for improving how you can learn about yourself...

How can we rethink… the way we think about success? Skip Prichard introduces his new podcast, “Aim Higher,” which will offer advice, discussions, techniques and tips to help you reach your full potential. Skip is a leadership blogger who has interviewed more than 1,000 business, political, entertainment and sports leaders. He is the CEO of a global non-profit. And he is author of the recent bestse...