Inspirational Leadership for People Managers, Executives & HR Leaders

How Connection Drives Results with Dr. Michelle K. Johnston

For this month’s Inspirational Leadership Podcast I spoke with Dr. Michelle K. Johnston, who's a management professor, executive coach, and leadership expert helping leaders achieve results through meaningful connection. She is an award-winning professor studying leadership and business communication, and her research has shown a clear link between a team’s effective communication and its positive financial performance. 

Michelle is a celebrated keynote speaker presenting at conferences and events nationwide. She received her Ph.D in Communication from Louisiana State University, and she was named to the prestigious 100 Coaches group, which consists of the top executive coaches around the world. 

Michelle serves as the Gaston Chair of Business at Loyola University New Orleans where she teaches in the graduate and undergraduate programs in the College of Business. She lives in her beloved city of New Orleans, Louisiana, with her daughter, Elizabeth. The Seismic Shift in Leadership is her first book. 

In this episode we discuss how to lead with compassion, let go of the mask of perfection, share your story, retain top performers and create meaningful connection.

⇢ Get full show notes and more information here: https://bit.ly/DrMichelleKJohnston

Principles for Sustainable Success with Alan Stein Jr.

For this month's Inspirational Leadership Podcast I spoke with Alan Stein, Jr. who's an experienced keynote speaker and author. At his core, he’s a performance coach with a passion for helping others change behaviors. He spent 15+ years working with the highest performing basketball players on the planet (including NBA superstars Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Kobe Bryant). Through his customized programs, he transfers his unique expertise to maximize both individual and organizational performance.

Alan is a dynamic storyteller who delivers practical, actionable lessons that can be implemented immediately. He teaches proven principles on how to utilize the same approaches in business that elite athletes use to perform at a world-class level. His previous clients include American Express, Pepsi, Sabra, Starbucks, Charles Schwab, Penn State Football, and many more. The strategies from Alan’s books, are implemented by both corporate and sports teams around the world.

In this episode we discuss how to effectively work through stress, stagnation and burnout, honoring your core values, why companies MUST train, develop and coach their workforce and how your emotions are designed to inform you, not direct you.

⇢ Get full show notes and more information here: https://bit.ly/PodcastAlanSteinJr

 

How To Thrive as a Highly Sensitive Person with Clare Kumar

For this week's Inspirational Leadership Podcast I spoke with Clare Kumar, who's a Productivity catalyst and highly sensitive executive coach. Clare helps professionals achieve sustainable performance - improving productivity and well-being while avoiding exhaustion and burnout. She draws on a diverse corporate career that took her from Toronto to Tokyo and Montreal, with equal experience as an entrepreneur. She is a sought-after media contributor to news and lifestyle shows including the Huffington Post, Fast Company, the Globe and Mail, CBC, The Social, and the Marilyn Denis Show. Whether speaking to one person or thousands, Clare loves inspiring massive shifts by inviting you to pay attention to little things that make a big difference.

Clare has become one of Canada's most renowned organizing and productivity thought leaders offering insights, inspiration, strategies, and tools to support leaders, employees, and entrepreneurs have greater efficiency, effectiveness, and... enjoyment. Yes, Clare believes in having fun while getting things done! She welcomes all highly sensitive professionals as well as those who want to love and support them to find community in the Happy Space Pod.

In this episode we discuss what it looks like to be a highly sensitive person, why we need more rest areas in workplaces, how leaders can create more autonomy for their teams, why wellbeing and sustainability need to be cornerstones of productivity and the importance of white space in calendars.

⇢ Get full show notes and more information here: https://bit.ly/ClareKumar

Managing Up and Mastering Assertiveness with Kim Boudreau Smith

For this week's Inspirational Leadership Podcast I spoke with Kim Boudreau Smith who's passionate about helping women find (and use!) their bold voices. A born entrepreneur with 25-years as a leader in Corporate America, Kim rocks at showing female entrepreneurs and high-performing professional women how to develop their speaking confidence, level up their presence, and increase their profitability. Kim’s raw, slightly rebellious, and always riveting speaking style makes her a go-to speaker for women’s business and professional conferences, associations, employee resource groups, and podcasts. Prior to launching her career as a professional speaker and speaking coach, Kim was the head of a radio station and for 25+ years ran a thriving fitness business. Kim is also the co-author of several Amazon bestselling books.

In this episode we discuss how to boldly own your voice, understanding imposter syndrome, asserting from a place of confidence and compassion, how to have more impactful conversations and improving your negotiation skills.

⇢ Get full show notes and more information here: https://bit.ly/KimBoudreauSmith

Mental Health and Wellness with Allan Kehler

For this week’s Inspirational Leadership Podcast I spoke with Allan Kehler, who's a mental health advocate, international keynote speaker, and best-selling author of four books. His writing has been published in countless national magazines and he has been featured on several television and radio programs. He has also instructed various mental health related courses at the college level, and spent years working as an addiction counselor and clinical case manager.

Allan is one of Canada’s most sought-after speakers when it comes to the topic of mental health and wellness. He has stood on more than 500 stages and is recognized for his engaging style and captivating approach. Having persevered through his own mental health issues and substance use, Allan speaks from a place of experience. His moving stories tug on heartstrings, inspire a new perspective, and allow people to connect with themselves and others at a deeper level. He uses humor and compassion to create a safe space where people feel seen, heard and supported.

In this episode we discuss why vulnerability shows immense strength, how to surrender to the things you can't control, why expressing feelings leads to healing, the difference between existing and living and tapping into your resilience.

⇢ Get full show notes and more information here: https://bit.ly/AllanKehler

Amplifying Your Authentic Leadership with Roxanne Derhodge

For this week’s Inspirational Leadership Podcast I spoke with Roxanne Derhodge, who's a registered psychotherapist, corporate consultant, keynote speaker, coach, trainer and author. With over 20 years’ experience, she works with senior leadership to enhance their resilience and assists companies with their corporate mental health strategies. She has presented at national conferences to companies and associations on mental health and wellness. A BIPOC leader, Roxanne is an Amazon best-selling author. Her new book, “ROR – Return on Relationships: Amplify Your Authentic Leadership to Create More Resilient Teams“ is due to be released in May 2022. The book has strategies for authentic leaders to enhance leadership awareness and functionalities in order to create teams with more resilience.

In this episode we discuss how to understand and change core patterns that are no longer serving you, becoming more objective when receiving constructive feedback, getting more attuned to your body's physical intelligence and how to lead from your heart and embrace a more authentic leadership style.

⇢ Get full show notes and more information here: https://bit.ly/RoxanneDerhodge

 

 

How to Become a Human-Centered Leader with Sarah Noll Wilson

For this week’s Inspirational Leadership Podcast I spoke with Sarah Noll Wilson who's on a mission to help leaders build and rebuild teams. Her goal is to empower leaders to understand and honor the beautiful complexity of the humans they serve. Through her work as an Executive Coach, in-demand Keynote Speaker, Researcher, and Author, Sarah helps leaders close the gap between what they intend to do and the actual impact they make. Sarah creates a safe, honest environment, preparing people to deal with real-world conflict, have more meaningful conversations, and create purposeful relationships. Working with CEOs, Human Resources leaders, and organizations that care deeply about their employees and understand the connection between employee development, employee satisfaction and organizational success, Sarah specializes in transforming relationships from good to great.

In this episode we discuss how to create more space for vulnerable discussions at work, the difference between consciously and re-actively avoiding, what gets in the way of psychological safety, the ROI for deeply caring and empathetic workplaces and getting more comfortable with being uncomfortable.

⇢ Get full show notes and more information here: https://bit.ly/SarahNollWilson

The Origin Story Behind Your Superpowers with Corey Blake

For this week’s Inspirational Leadership Podcast I spoke with with Corey Blake who began his storytelling career as an actor, starring in one of the 50 greatest Superbowl ads of all time. In 2006, Corey created Round Table Companies (RTC), which serves CEOs, thought leaders, and organizations in helping them to unpack and share their authentic story through books, film & video, and art installations.

I changed things up in this episode and instead of having Corey "talk" about the art of storytelling I had him unearth part of my story LIVE on the podcast and he gives step by step instructions as we go so you can join in and do the exercise with us. This was a beautiful and moving experience that allowed me to show up with a lot of vulnerability and model it for all of you. It also gave me a chance to lean into my intention for 2022 which is embracing #CourageOverComfort. In this episode we also discuss how to unpack the origin story behind your unique gifts and talents, why storytelling is the most profound way to elevate trust with others and how to create the psychological safety necessary for exploring our stories.

⇢ Get full show notes and more information here: https://bit.ly/PodcastCoreyBlake

 

Elevating Your Confidence, Courage & Career with Rachel Druckenmiller

For this week’s Inspirational Leadership Podcast I spoke with Rachel Druckenmiller who's on a mission to humanize the workplace by igniting resilience, connection, engagement and compassion in organizations, leaders and teams. Recognized by Forbes as a Next1000 honoree in 2021, the #1 Health Promotion Professional in the U.S. by the Wellness Council of America in 2015, a 40 Under 40 Game Changer in 2019, and one of The Daily Record’s Leading Women of 2020, Rachel is a national thought leader in the field of employee engagement and wellbeing. 

In this episode we discuss why you’re blind to your own dysfunction, unapologetically asking for what you need, illuminating toxic leadership behaviors and working through the pain and discomfort that comes with transformation.

⇢ Get full show notes and more information here: https://bit.ly/RachelDruckenmiller

From Diversity and Inclusion to Belonging with Asif Sadiq

For this week’s Inspirational Leadership Podcast I spoke with Asif Sadiq, who's the Senior Vice President at WarnerMedia for Equity and Inclusion, International, he was previously the Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion at adidas and has a long and rich career in the diversity and inclusion space with senior executive roles at The Telegraph Media Group, EY Financial Services and the City of London Police. He is a board member for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and a member of the board of advisors for Hedley May. Over his 20-year career he has worked in Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, Africa and Asia.  

In this episode we discuss how to implement a more effective diversity and inclusion strategy, listening openly without being attached to preconceived judgments, why human-centric leadership is the future of work and how to manage imposter syndrome.

⇢ Get full show notes and more information here: https://bit.ly/AsifSadiq