The Leadership Exchange

Send us Fan Mail That gut-drop moment when you think, “I’m not supposed to be here,” can hit even the strongest leaders, and it often shows up right when you are growing. We sit down with executive coach and former military officer Mike Sweeney to talk about imposter syndrome in leadership, why it feels so personal, and why it is also incredibly common. Mike shares a candid story from a demanding,...

Send us Fan Mail Leading without authority is not a soft, vague idea. It’s the reality of modern work, where you’re expected to drive change across teams, influence frontline leaders, and move projects forward without a direct reporting line. We kick off a new three-host format by welcoming Alex Aranda, then get honest about what actually builds influence when you can’t lean on a title. We start w...

Send us Fan Mail What if kindness wasn't a "nice to have," but the backbone of a high-performing company? We sat down with Christy Pretzinger—founder and CEO of WG Content and creator of the Better Leader Project—to unpack how a clear intention, supported by daily attention, can transform culture from a poster on the wall into a competitive advantage.  Christy takes us inside the op...

Send us Fan Mail We look back at season three and connect some of the big lessons we took away: people-first leadership, leading hybrid teams and flow states, better strategy deployment, trust-centered training, clear communication, and culture as the engine of operational excellence. We share what surprised us, what resonated with us, and what we’re building for our next season.  Here are some of...

Send us Fan Mail Think leadership is about having the answers? We take a different path with GBMP president Dan Fleming, unpacking how the Shingo Model helps leaders turn values into daily behaviors that actually move results. Dan shares a relatable early-career story—being “the title” in the room while the people closest to the work were sidelined—and how respect every individual and lead with hu...

Send us Fan Mail Ever feel like your team is playing whack-a-mole with issues that keep coming back? We dive into a practical, leader-ready system for turning chaos into continuous improvement by defining problems clearly, separating facts from opinions, and focusing on prevention instead of blame or endless reminders. Along the way, we unpack Taiichi Ohno’s challenge, “Having no problems is the b...

Send us Fan Mail Safety culture doesn’t live on posters; it lives in what leaders choose to value every day. We sit down to unpack how treating safety as a core value—not a rotating priority—changes everything from trust to engagement to operational excellence. Instead of telling people to “be safe,” we share the specific habits that make safety visible and real: asking open-ended questions that s...

Send us Fan Mail Salvatore Manzi knows firsthand the paralyzing fear of public speaking. As an introverted, analytical-minded person, his first time on stage ended with his voice literally evaporating mid-presentation. That humbling experience launched him on a 20-year journey studying cognitive psychology and neuroscience to develop frameworks that help leaders communicate with clarity and confid...

Send us Fan Mail Derek Crager shares his journey from skilled tradesperson to creating Amazon's highest-rated leadership training program, drawing on his unique perspective as someone diagnosed with autism, ADHD, and dyslexia at age 50. Here are some of the highlights of this episode with Derek. • Building relationships and establishing trust before transferring knowledge is the foundation of...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Mark Reich shares what he learned during his 23 years at Toyota—and why most companies struggle with strategy deployment. Drawing from his new book Managing on Purpose , Mark explains how Toyota's approach, called Hoshin Kanri, focuses on a few clear priorities, aligns teams at every level, and develops people along the way. You’ll hear how techniques like “c...

Send us Fan Mail Steven Puri brings a truly unique perspective to the conversation around hybrid and remote work. Drawing from his extraordinary career spanning visual effects for blockbusters like Independence Day (which won an Academy Award) to executive roles at 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks, Puri reveals how Hollywood has mastered distributed work models long before "remote work" b...

Send us Fan Mail Lupe Munoz and Steve McKeon tackle common misconceptions about servant leadership and provide practical insights for avoiding leadership pitfalls while genuinely serving your team. • Servant leadership is often confused with people-pleasing, but true servant leaders maintain accountability • Holding team members accountable can actually be an act of servant leadership when framed...

Send us Fan Mail Ernesto Gomez, author of "Regrowth: How Organizations Can Overcome Stalling by Unlocking their People's Potential," shares how viewing organizations as living organisms rather than machines creates the conditions for people and teams to achieve peak performance. • Organizations are living organisms that require nurturing, not machines that need optimization • When c...

Send us Fan Mail Organizational transformation requires seeing companies as living organisms rather than machines, with leaders who prioritize empowering teams rather than having all the answers themselves.  • Psychological safety creates an environment where innovative ideas can flourish • Organizations must connect with employees' aspirations beyond just earning a paycheck • Companies shoul...

Send us Fan Mail Join us as we revisit our season-two episodes and guests. Plus, we explain and demonstrate how to use reflection, as a leader, to professionally improve. Do you have the right mindset to improve how you lead? Listen in and find out! Follow us on Instagram or on Threads @LEADERSHIPEXCHANGEPODCAST. We'd love to hear from you! What topics you'd like us to explore with you?...

Send us Fan Mail Join us with Twanda "Tia" Young, BG (Ret.), US Army. We have an excellent discussion with Tia regarding some valuable leadership lessons she has to share with our listeners.  Twanda Young now serves as the CEO of LT3 Leadership Solutions, where she focuses on shaping better leaders for society. Known as the Leadership and Conflict Management Coach, she is a solutions-ori...

Send us Fan Mail Ready to transform how you approach transformation itself? This episode is your essential guide. The world of leadership and organizational change is complex, but Ron Crabtree has distilled decades of experience into a remarkably simple yet powerful formula that predicts the success of any transformation initiative. In this thought-provoking conversation with Steve McKeon and Lupe...

Send us Fan Mail Ready to evolve your leadership approach for today's complex challenges? Listen now and discover how to create an environment where your team can thrive amid constant change. Leadership is evolving at breakneck speed, and Ron Crabtree brings decades of operational excellence expertise to help us navigate these changes. As founder of MetaOps and MetaExperts, Ron shares how the...

Send us Fan Mail Leadership isn't one-size-fits-all—it's a dynamic skill that must adapt to each unique situation. Ben Blaney brings decades of international experience to our conversation about what truly makes leadership effective across different contexts.    "You can never jump in the same river twice. The river is not the same, and you are not the same person." This ancien...

Send us Fan Mail Lydia Peterson, Executive Director for Environmental Health and Safety at V2X, shares her extraordinary leadership journey from Power Rangers auditions to managing 300-person teams in Kuwait, revealing how relational capacity transforms leadership effectiveness.    • Learning that relational capacity is good currency for collaboration and team building  • Pivoting through multiple...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we continue our discussion from our previous episode where we started the discussion on the excellent book, by Patrick Lencioni, titled, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. We review the Five Dysfunctions and what to do to avoid the hazards in how your direct team's behaviors can be destructive to the team culture and result in poor, or reduce...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we review the key points from Patrick Lencioni's book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team . We discuss some of the traps new leaders can fall into when trying to be Servant Leaders . We review Lencioni's pyramid/triangle with the five behaviors critical for a well-functioning team. We share some of our stories about young leaders that made the mistake of thin...

Send us Fan Mail Join us in an engaging discussion, with Mike Sweeney, on Leading High Performance Work Teams. Mike is an executive coach, a team development expert, and a learning & development nerd. He is an organizational psychologist by degree and has spent years studying and practicing the keys to great leadership. His diverse background helps him discover and optimize patterns of organiz...

Send us Fan Mail Join us and our guest Alex Aranda, an HR and Operational Excellence Professional, in our discussion on what leader routines/habits are needed to create and sustain a positive work culture. Our dialogue includes actionable steps by leaders that can get implemented today. We review what important routines will take your leadership and your team to the next level! Reference Informati...

Send us Fan Mail Why is Leadership Standard Work critical to sustaining improvement and a positive culture? What is Leadership Standard Work? We kick off season 2 of our podcast with a focus on three important systems that leaders need to have strong Leadership Standard Work for. Join us in the conversation as we explore leadership through these two lenses! Follow us on Instagram or on Threads @LE...