THIS Leader Podcast

Most of us think we're paying attention to the right things in those conversations. We prepare some points, choose our words carefully, and think about timing and delivery. We care about others and want to have healthy relationships. But even with the best intentions, our language can sometimes send messages we never meant to communicate. A confident, and self-assured opinion can quietly convey cl...

No leader wakes up in the morning hoping their team is confused, misaligned, or operating from different assumptions. And yet clarity has a way of slipping through our fingers. In this episode, I move beyond the idea that clarity is important and explore what it actually takes to create it. Because clarity isn't a destination. It's an ongoing leadership practice. It's a rhythm. It's a habit. Clari...

Your team member walks in frustrated, overwhelmed, resistant to the change you just rolled out and your instinct is to reassure her with logic, data, and a compelling vision of the future. But the harder you push, the more it backfires. Why? It's because change sometimes feels threatening and when people feel threatened, overwhelmed, uncertain, or resistant, they're not processing information the...

When was the last time someone on your team asked a question that made everyone really stop and think? For many teams, those moments feel uncomfortable. There are deadlines to hit, problems to solve, and a never-ending list of priorities competing for attention. So the question gets set aside, and everyone gets back to work. The trouble is that innovation rarely emerges from moving faster through...

What happens when a new employee ignores their own good instincts and follows the wrong advice instead? In this episode, I share a personal story about a new employee who found himself caught between what his gut was telling him and the advice of a more senior team member. It's also the story of a manager whose four simple words changed the way he saw himself and his future. In this episode, you'l...

Even strong teams drift over time. Expectations can become assumptions. Purpose gets overshadowed by deadlines. Relationships become more transactional. And before anyone notices, people are working alongside each other rather than together. It's not a sign that anything is wrong with you or your people. It's just what happens. In this episode, I share a simple framework for bringing your team bac...

Much of our leadership stress doesn't come from big crises. It comes from the constant stream of "quick asks," shifting priorities, vague expectations, and the pressure to keep everyone happy without dropping the ball yourself. In this episode, Claire shares a simple framework to help you respond to those requests and to the people above you with confidence, clarity, and a lot less stress. Instead...

Leadership has a way of pulling us into constant motion. Decisions to make. Problems to solve. Expectations to meet. And over time, it becomes surprisingly easy to lead from urgency instead of intention. Without even realizing it, many of us drift away from the values, strengths, and deeper sense of purpose that once grounded us. We become highly productive, highly responsible… and quietly disconn...

You're a capable, committed leader, but why does it sometimes feel like your best thinking disappears exactly when you need it most? In this episode, I sit down with leadership coach Lisa Alessi to explore what's actually happening in your nervous system when pressure hits and what to do about it.   What you'll learn in this episode: Why you cannot think your way out of a triggered state and what...

Telling your team "it's safe to speak up" isn't enough to create the kind of high-performing teamwork that you're looking for. In this episode, Janet Williams, founder of Progressive Discoveries and a 25-year veteran of complex, high-stakes organizations, joins me to unpack what psychological safety in an organization really is.  Here's what we dig into: Why silence is a signal, not a personality...

We all have our "things" that frustrate us to no end— the slow driver in the fast lane, the dish that's always left in the sink by an inconsiderate co-worker, the skyrocketing grocery bill. And without realizing it, we often retell our frustrating stories, amplify our own indignation, and exaggerate the stress that comes with these experiences time and again. In this episode, Claire explores the h...

You're working hard. You're skilled. You're committed. So why do the same frustrations keep showing up — in your team, in your organization, and if you're honest, in yourself? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Ryan Gottfredson — Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author, professor of leadership at Cal State Fullerton, and global authority on vertical development — to explore the ques...

You invested in someone. You coached them, advocated for them, went to bat for them. And then — they expected more than they'd earned. If that story sounds familiar, this episode is for you. In this episode, you'll hear about: The Three E's Framework — Engagement (the goal), Enablement (your role), and Entitlement (the signal that something needs to shift) — and why knowing the difference changes...

In this Q&A episode, Claire responds to two questions from leaders navigating trust challenges they didn't create — what she calls the Trust Tax. Question 1: The Inherited Accountability Vacuum. A leader inherits a team that has always operated independently — without clear standards or consistent oversight. Now every attempt to introduce accountability is met with resistance and defensiveness. Cl...

What happens when the person who helps organizations develop their people hits a wall of their own? Jeremy Hannah spent 20 years building talent ecosystems inside Fortune 500s and fast-growing companies — then burned out so completely he questioned whether he wanted to do the work at all. What followed was a globe-trotting sabbatical across 21 countries, a rediscovery of his own curiosity, and a r...

We've all been there — a conversation shifts, our chest tightens, and we either shut down or come out swinging. Neither response is what we want, but most of us were never taught how to handle conflict well. That's exactly what this episode is about. Conflict resolution expert Maryse Postlewaite shares her Five Keys to Conflict Resolution — a practical framework built around the internal tools lea...

What if the resistance, disengagement, and burnout you're seeing on your team has nothing to do with your people — and everything to do with what's happening inside their brains?  In this episode, Claire sits down with Dr. Lisa Riegel, brain-based leadership expert and author of Aspirations to Operations, to explore the neuroscience behind why people behave the way they do at work — and what leade...

Low trust doesn't always announce itself. It shows up as Sunday night dread, meetings where the same issues get rehashed without resolution, silos between departments, and difficult behaviors nobody takes the time to address. In this episode — Part 2 of a short Trust Series — we zoom out from individual relationships to look at the bigger picture: what happens when low trust infects an entire team...

In this episode, Claire explores the dynamics of low-trust relationships — what they feel like, how trust gets broken, and the one thing most people get wrong when they try to fix it. The Key Insight: We have a compulsion to blame the trust problem on others. The secret to clarity and the possibility of rebuilding is to bring calm curiosity to the situation and BE the solution yourself. Key Concep...

What if the key to leading your team more effectively wasn't a new strategy — but a new question? In this episode, I talk with Erika Leonard, co-leader of the WorkPower Project at SafetyPowers.org , about what truly connected workplace communication looks like, and what quietly gets in the way. Erika and her team set out to build communication resources for employees with disabilities — and what t...

In this episode, we explore feedback as one of the most loving things you can do in a professional relationship—and why avoiding hard conversations is actually unkind.  In this episode, you'll hear about: Why We Avoid Feedback: The real reasons we stay silent (and why those reasons are usually about protecting ourselves from discomfort, not protecting the other person) The Cost of Silence: How avo...

In this episode, I welcome back Roxanne Harrison to explore how ancient wisdom can help modern leaders break free from the patterns that create burnout. As we enter the Year of the Fire Horse in the Chinese lunar calendar—a year of intense energy and transformation—Roxanne shares how each of the nine Enneagram types can navigate high-energy seasons without exhausting themselves. If you've ever fel...

In this episode, you'll hear about: The Three Types of Clarity Every Leader Needs: Strategic Clarity (what work moves the needle), Responsibility Clarity (who owns what), and Progress Clarity (how we're tracking)—and why Strategic Clarity is the foundation for everything else. Claire's Personal Burnout Story: How working at a job she loved without knowing how she was measured led to exhaustion, an...

You're committed to developing your people, but what happens when a crisis hits and you need results now? This is the tension between being patient and decisive—one of the hardest parts of leadership. My guest, Frances Robustelli, City Manager of St. Pete Beach, Florida, faced this challenge head-on. Just months into her new role, back-to-back hurricanes devastated her community, shutting down 90%...

Welcome to Episode 50! We've made it to the top 1% of podcasters—and in this milestone episode, we're talking about why leadership transitions are so hard and what actually needs to change when you move to a new level.  In this episode, you'll hear about: The Peter Principle: Why people rise to their "level of incompetence" (spoiler: it's not about your capability—it's about operating at the wrong...