Grown to Lead

Jackie Carpenter, CCM has spent more than twenty years inside the private club industry, turning around struggling clubs by challenging the one assumption most leaders never question: that the members come first. Her answer is employees first, every time. As co-author of People First and founder of Notable , she makes a simple case. Your people are the biggest line item on the budget and the only...

Communication is the one leadership skill almost everyone assumes they've mastered. Most haven't. Shannon GaNun has spent more than 30 years helping people communicate clearly, concisely, and confidently. She has worked with corporations, associations, government agencies, nonprofits, and Congress, and she teaches public speaking and leadership at Georgia Southern University. Today she run...

Most leaders assume executive presence is about how they show up on the outside. The tailored suit. The commanding voice. The big energy in the room. Elle Zimmerman has spent over 20 years helping leaders unlearn that assumption. A former Broadway leading lady turned Fortune 100 leadership coach, Elle brings a rare combination of performance expertise and emotional intelligence training to executi...

Four generations. One team. And most leaders are winging it. Kelly Lannan has spent nearly 13 years at Fidelity Investments, most of it focused on what younger generations actually need from their employers and their money. Now leading Fidelity's flagship Boston branch, she manages a team that spans every generation in the workforce and a client base to match. She breaks down how each generati...

Most leaders want to be inclusive. But good intentions and genuine inclusion are not the same thing. With expertise at the intersection of neuroscience, neurodiversity, and real-world work demands, Dr. Áine O'Dea helps leaders move from performative awareness to practical, high-performing inclusion. She is an Occupational Therapist, Coach, and Founder of Radiance Consulting. Áine breaks down w...

Betsy Gregory spent nearly a decade as Head of People and Culture at Congressional Country Club, led HR and talent development at the executive level, and then did something that took everything she preaches — she left it all to start over. Now, as Founder of Unbridled Courage Consulting, she works with CEOs and leadership teams to build the systems, culture, and people strategies that actually ho...

Most leaders know psychological safety matters. Few know how to actually build it. In this episode of Grown to Lead, Joe Reid, VP of Wealth Management and Impact Investing at Vancity, breaks down what it takes to create teams where people show up, speak up, and do their best work. With 30 years in financial services and accountability for 220+ employees and $68M in revenue, Joe has tested these id...

Before she was coaching leaders, Andrea Ross was falling off things for a living. As a stunt double, competitive wrestler, and gymnast, she learned that the body knows how to perform under pressure before the brain catches up. In this episode of Grown to Lead , she makes the case that the fastest path to leadership presence starts below the neck.

Most leaders struggle with imposter syndrome — but what if understanding and managing that internal voice could unlock your full potential? Meredith Harvey, an executive coach with 15 years at Google, reveals counterintuitive strategies to conquer self-doubt and foster genuine confidence. In this episode, discover the power of naming your inner saboteur and practical tools like “name it to tame it...

In this episode of Grown To Lead, Lindsay Zubek sits down with Paul Wolfe, author of Human Beings First, to explore what empathetic leadership actually looks like in practice. Paul shares why curiosity and listening are often the most overlooked leadership skills, how trust and psychological safety shape performance, and why middle managers play a critical role in workplace culture. The conversati...

Ever feel like a career is stuck, even though on paper everything looks fine? This conversation with Tonya Drummonds explores a pattern many leaders experience. The assumption that fulfillment requires a new role, a new company, or a major pivot. Sometimes that is true. Often it is not. More often, the work starts with perspective. Clarifying values. Naming strengths. Being honest about what is dr...

New managers shape performance, retention, and team culture faster than most organizations expect. Yet many are promoted without any real onboarding into people leadership. This episode looks at the practices that make the biggest difference early on. Feedback, one on one meetings, and coaching. The conversation focuses on how these practices reduce avoidable people issues and support new managers...