Grounding and Growing Leadership Podcast

We only operate out of two modes - a place of fear or a place of security. When we realize that, we can quickly see what’s driving us.  Fear at work can become your work-driving culture if you don’t choose security instead. A fear-based culture can show up in multiple ways - from overextending everyone to micro-managing to an inability to speak freely.  How do you shift into a workplace led by sec...

We are giddy to have one of our favorite people on the podcast. Randy Olson is an incredible human who is a results-driven senior sales and business development leader who develops global sales and distribution channels to deliver business growth. He is embarking on a new career journey and we are so lucky to spend some time with him. Randy leads with his Positivity Strength, and today he shares h...

When the pressure builds, how you react, and how you project those stressful emotions can impact your team. Pressure can create a hot potato that you might toss to someone else (either intentionally or unintentionally) who doesn’t have the tools or ability to do anything with that hot potato.  Since we all know that the pressure at work will eventually grow,  proactively preparing ahead of time by...

Today we’re going international by having Marta Galacka as a guest. Joining us from the Netherlands, Marta is the founder of Atomic Organizations, where they redefine the future of businesses through innovative behavior engineering. Through an extremely diverse background, Marta has developed a mental toughness that she can now educate others on how to develop. Mental toughness is similar to being...

Do you have past workplace traumas that still influence how you make decisions today? Having a coworker or manager mistreat you at work is not that uncommon, and even once you move on from that environment, it can affect your future workplace relationships. And it’s not just you who has had traumatic experiences in the workplace - this is true to just about anyone you hire for your team as well. ...

Growing fast can feel a lot like drowning in business.  Suddenly our systems, processes and leadership aren’t keeping pace with the growth we’re experiencing and then what do we do? When leadership is so busy in with the day to day, they may need to bring in a fractional or outsourced COO to help them get systems and structure in place to support the growth—they bring in someone like our dear frie...

Are you ready to fly? In today’s episode, we are thrilled to share our experience of going on a hot air balloon ride and how it helped us gain some insights into conquering those fears that hold you back. (You’re going to need to listen to discover who is deathly afraid of heights and still rode in the balloon.) Facing a fear can give you a whole new perspective on your environment and open up new...

What does it mean to coach and lead with an abundance mindset instead of a scarcity mindset? When you hear the word abundance, do you think about only what you have, or do you think about what the community shares? In today’s podcast, Katie Christensen is back with her refreshing view about living with an abundance mindset. Her credentials are impressive, to say the least: Katie is a Gallup-Certif...

We’re back in our Strength Series as we wrap it up today. Are you ready to go deep with us as we discuss how Negative Core Beliefs hold us back from thriving in our Strengths?   Core Beliefs can often feel like gospel truth to us and affect how we react and respond to things around us. Negative Core Beliefs tend to stay with us no matter where we are and what we’re trying to navigate.  Understandi...

We are honored to have Simon Hurry from South Africa here today! He is the founder of Play Nicely, a Strengths-based Strategic consulting company that has helped many individuals lean into their strengths to enrich their lives and reach their full potential.  His story about how he became an accidental entrepreneur is fascinating all on its own but you’re going to want to join in and hear what he’...

We are thrilled that this dream has come true and our Podcast has hit its first anniversary. We couldn’t have done it without all of you joining us along this journey! We didn’t really know what to expect when we started out and here we are one year later, still discovering so much about you, ourselves and so many others. It has been an incredible blessing.  To help us celebrate, listen along toda...

Our guest today has a unique skill set that affects 100% of all our lives. He’s the one who leads the team of product placement at grocery stores. He’s here today not because he knows where to place the Cocoa Puffs so that you’ll purchase them, but because he’s one of the biggest advocates for using Strengths to help build his teams and shape cultures of accountability.  Changing his leadership st...

Today we are continuing with our Strengths Series and pulling in our Mindset Shift Series to talk about blindspots and balance. Our desire is to help you live in balance in all areas of your lives when possible, and understanding your blindspots can help you find that balance.   Learning from your blindspots is a critical part of growing in your Strengths and creating balance. One way to achieve t...

On today’s podcast, we welcome Katie Christensen. Katie is a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, an e2grow-certified High-Performing Team Coach, and the CEO and Founder of Beekuba. Beekuba provides transforming, sustainable talent and leadership development solutions to help individuals, teams, and organizations THRIVE. Katie has learned how seeing people through their Strengths provides a wonderful...

We are thrilled to announce our next series, and today’s podcast kicks it off.  Pamela is a newly certified CliftonStrengths coach and Tara has been a coach for more than a decade, so today we’re starting a series of podcasts where we get to share the insights and guidance that knowing your Strengths can offer you in your leadership (and life)!   We hope you’ll join us on this journey. We are so e...

This week we’re welcoming back Anthony Nelson. As a quick reminder, Anthony is the director of the Glacier Institute, a national non-profit organization that strives to connect people to the natural world at Glacier National Park.   Becoming director of the Glacier Institute was a terrifying thought when Anthony started and he admits, he made a lot of mistakes along the way. But one thing that sav...

We have a special guest today! Anthony Nelson is the Director of The Glacier Institute and is here to share his leadership experience working with Glacier National Park. The Glacier Institute's mission is to "Strengthen Connections to the Natural World Through Guided Hikes and Education Programs in Glacier National Park." Anthony shares his tips for the long and sometimes tiring work...

Today we get to share our third podcast about scarcity mindset shifts and how they can help you lead yourself into a better tomorrow. Everyone wrestles with a scarcity mindset in one or more areas of their life. We’re not immune to that here at ALIGN either. Shifting to an abundance mindset will help you turn off that old soundtrack playing in your head about failure and let you turn on a new soun...

Stephanie Theisen from Leighton Broadcasting is back this week and we hope you’ll listen along to her wisdom about how to keep growing as a leader.  Knowing that she’s a constant work in progress, she embraces change and growth and then encourages her employees to do the same. One of the ways she’s found success is through CliftonStrengths and helping everyone understand not only their own Strengt...

We’re excited that the first guest podcast of 2024 features one of our favorite people - Stephanie Theisen. Stephanie started as an intern in 2004 at Leighton Broadcasting and has risen through the ranks to Chief Operating Officer today. She is a champion for growth and empowerment. One of her many superpowers is the ability to consistently embrace a growth mindset.  Sometimes growth mindset isn’t...

How do you face the new year? Is it with excitement and energy? Or is there a bit of trepidation and nervousness when you peek at that calendar? January presents us with the perfect opportunity to reflect on past accomplishments and plan for future successes. Like most things, it requires intentionality as your gaze focuses on the future. It might be choosing a word or setting goals, but whatever...

 Happy Holidays! It is the week between Christmas and New Year's, and that means we don't know what day it is, we're not sure where we're supposed to be, and we're full of sugar and cheese. Instead of a new episode this week, we're doing something a little bit different. We're going to replay one of our favorite episodes from 2023 called Braving Boundaries. It's one...

“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens Brown paper packages tied up with strings These are a few of my favorite things.” Happy Holidays! Now that we have you humming along to that classic holiday song, we invite you to join us today as we share some of our favorite things with our favorite people - you!  From tips to get you through the holidays t...

It’s time for part two with business consultant Kathy Wulf Tays. Make sure you listen to last week’s episode so you’re ready to hop back into this sticky topic of gossip. While often formed from our own anxiety and fear, gossip causes damage to all parties. So, what can you as a leader do to reduce gossip in your workplace or rebuild the damage it has caused? The first step involves actively pursu...

Gossip–we’ve all done it and we’ve all seen the damage it can do to culture. Today we’re joined by business consultant and our friend, Kathy Wulf Tays. Kathy helps us define what gossip is, who suffers from it in the workplace, and how you can work on eliminating it before it destroys your team. While developing a culture that doesn’t tolerate gossip is paramount to a healthy team, your first step...