Grounding and Growing Leadership Podcast

Where are you learning and growing right now that is making you uncomfortable? Growth can be super uncomfortable . . .and we are uncomfortable with discomfort.  How long are you willing to stay in that discomfort in order to learn and grow? There is a great quote we learned from our friend Melissa Shanahan by Brooke Costello that says “Discomfort is the currency of your dreams.” Our fixed mindset,...

Today we welcome back Molly McGrath, author of the book “Fix My Boss.” She brings with her an impressive resume and years of experience in building bridges between bosses and employees. In this episode, Molly shares some tips on how employees can take that first step to reduce the toxicity of their work environment. It’s not about running away but running toward a better relationship with your bos...

If you like impressive resumes, you’re really going to enjoy spending time with us today and our guest, Molly McGrath. Molly has coached, consulted, and directed presidents and founders of national organizations and over 4,000 law firms in executive-level leadership and continuous improvement. she’s also the author of the provocative book “Fix My Boss.” We know that title will get your attention!...

Are you living in survival mode? You’re not alone AND it’s unhealthy to stay in survival mode; our bodies need rest to thrive. But how do you get off the treadmill that’s built solely on emergencies and crises?  Coming out of survival mode can seem scary because that’s what got you through the tough times (whether individually or as a business). We hope you’ll listen along today and discover some...

Today we return to the podcast with Tracy Scheifels from the Ellison Center. Tracy is a champion of helping families heal and we know you’re going to enjoy today’s podcast as we dig deeper into infant mental health and how the work she does is directly applicable to the work we do as leaders. Listen along to learn about how the attachment styles we develop as children play an important part in who...

October is National Depression and Mental Health Screening Month so we’re having a special guest today - Tracy Schreifels. She is an Infant Mental Health Clinical Mentor and Executive Director at Ellison Center, where she provides outpatient services to families. Tracy’s journey toward this role of leading a non-profit organization can inspire you wherever you are leading today.  Through her studi...

We know if you listened to Part 1 of our podcasts with Anna Krueger, you’ve been anxiously awaiting this one to publish. Today is the day so get ready for more great wisdom to come your way! Anna is a seasoned sales leader who has been making waves in the industry since 2006. With an impressive track record spanning over 28,000 hours of sales experience, she understands the importance of building...

We love having experts on our podcast who not only know their field but understand the importance of relationship-building. Anna Krueger is that expert. She has mentored almost 40,000 people! You are not going to want to miss this podcast as she shares some of her incredible wisdom. No matter who Anna is coaching, the first thing she teaches revolves around creating “digging” questions and going d...

You need to be grounded to know where you’ll grow. Pause for a moment and ponder that thought.  If you’re a leader who desires to grow, your growth mindset needs to be intentional. Once you’ve paused to consider the progress you have already made (because you have made progress and that’s worth celebrating!), then you can begin to consider the question “What is the story I want to tell in the futu...

Sarah Noble joins us today for Part 2 on Perfectionism and how to shift it toward excellence through authenticity. Sarah is a self-proclaimed recovering perfectionist who has immense wisdom to share with us about her journey. In today’s podcast, Sarah talks about how leaders can strive for excellence without demanding perfection. As a leader, your role is to cast a vision. You can be clear and lea...

We’re thrilled that today’s episode is a listener-requested topic – what is the difference between perfectionism and pursuing excellence? To help us through this conversation, we have an incredible guest joining us. Sarah Noble, a financial advisor, gifted speaker, and “recovering perfectionist” will talk about the pains and fears that stem from perfectionism.  Sarah has traveled her own journey t...

Fall is the season of strategic planning. But we’re here today to say that in addition to strategic planning, you should also consider how you’re prioritizing and investing in culture. Strategic plans are just interesting ideas until you have people who will execute them. Today’s employees want a culture that promotes collaboration, high communication, and passion to go along with the strategy. Th...

Today’s episode welcomes back Michelle Pape, the founder of Next Monday and 2023 recipient of the Athena Award.  Today we talk about Michelle’s Superpower of being able to risk a relationship to help someone grow into the person they can be. She is the epitome of speaking truth in love. It is frightening to some, but the growth can be amazing to both the coach and the mentee. Michelle urges you to...

In this episode, we’re graced with the presence of Michelle Pape, a long-time mentor and friend of ours! Michelle is the founder of Next Monday and has won the 2023 Athena Award – an award for professional women who have achieved excellence in their careers and who inspire others in the community. She has recently (semi) retired and today we celebrate the incredible legacy she has created.  Michel...

Melissa Shanahan from Velocity Work is back! We enjoyed our last podcast with her so much (“ Intentionality: Lessons in Leadership ”) that we had to have her share more of her leadership knowledge with us. Today we’re diving into the work that goes into Leadership. You can’t just have a plan: you need to take action. Melissa shares that sometimes enlisting a third party who can come in and guide y...

The most essential element of any thriving team is trust. Trust is essential because without it, connection and creativity will both get shut down.  In today’s episode, we dive into Charle’s Feltman’s book, The Thin Book of Trust to explore the importance of trust within your team. According to Feltman, there are four distinctions or quadrants of trust. The first is reliability – do you follow thr...

After last week’s podcast asking you to consider if you belong where you are working, we knew this week would be a great time to have our team member, Laura Hammond, a career and transition coach for us here at ALIGN, chat with us about career transitions. It’s not all about writing the perfect resume. In this podcast, Laura shares the need to first pause and determine what brings you joy and how...

It’s not you, it’s me. Or maybe it’s here. Sometimes you find yourself in a role that just doesn’t fit, and it feels like a failure. But you do belong, it might just be somewhere else.  Knowing your Strengths is paramount to learning where you belong. There’s a difference between belonging and fitting in. Fitting in is being accepted if you’re meeting the expected norm. Belonging allows you to be...

We’re back this week with Josh Hoaby. Josh is a young leader and executive director of creative arts at a church who helps his team of more than 70 individuals become their best selves. His leadership wisdom is valuable no matter where you are leading. You don’t need to be leading in a church to learn a lot from this episode.  As a leader, Josh strives for his team to feel seen, heard, and appreci...

Join us this week as we welcome Josh Hoaby, an executive director of creative arts at a church. Josh is a young leader who helps his team of more than 70 individuals become their best selves. In this episode, Josh walks us through the importance for all leaders and teams to Define the Win.  How many teams are lost and tugging in different directions? Keeping your team aligned starts by defining su...

Quiet enemies are sometimes the most dangerous. Quiet quitting and quiet firing are both enemies of a healthy team.  Quiet quitting is the refusal to go above and beyond the basic realm of their job responsibilities and is usually caused by dissatisfaction or burnout.  Quiet firing occurs when managers do the opposite of good management practices in the hope that an employee will quit or move on....

In today’s episode, we are thrilled to have an incredible guest – Melissa Shanahan, Founder of Velocity Work and host of The Law Firm Owner Podcast. Her resume is beyond impressive in helping businesses thrive and her story of how she got where she is today is so inspiring.  With her unique career journey and life experiences, she now helps owners go further faster through a framework for intentio...

All this talk about honoring people’s feelings seems risky. We understand that emotions are a part of the discussion in the workplace now, but are we going to just let them take over?  Because we haven’t learned as leaders or teams how to handle emotions with maturity, they are more likely to derail our progress, whether we acknowledge them or not. Emotional maturity is a spectrum that can show up...

We’re back today with Tim Spiker, the author of “Only Leaders Worth Following.” If you haven’t listened to part 1 yet, feel free to go give it a listen before you join us.  Today we continue to explore the two key principles of effective leadership: Inwardly Sound and Others Focused. And while you may think it’s about learning the right steps and checking the right boxes, it’s really about the for...

In today’s podcast, we excitedly welcome our guest, Tim Spiker, the author of “The Only Leaders Worth Following.” Tim takes us through how his research landed on two key competencies that are paramount in being a good leader.  You might think you have a good guess or two but like Tim, you’ll be surprised at where the research landed. It doesn’t matter so much about what you do, it’s about who you...