Become The Leader

BECOME THE LEADER PODCAST
Episode 34: Become the Leader You Would Follow

Hosts: Jody Holland, Mike Grigsby, Meghan Slaughter, Maleah Berens

QUICK SUMMARY

Every episode of this show ends the same way: become the kind of leader that you would actually follow. In Episode 34, the team finally turns that closing line into the whole conversation.

They start where it is easiest to be honest, with the deal breakers. The boss who competes against her own people. The one who holds you accountable for standards he will not hold himself to. The micromanager who hired you for a job and then will not let you do it. From there the conversation flips: what actually earns followership?

The answer keeps circling back to credibility. Jody points to three decades of Kouzes and Posner's research, which keeps expecting generational change and keeps finding the same thing. People want a leader they can trust who also knows what they are doing. Around that core, the team builds out the rest: compassionate curiosity, high IQ paired with high EQ, radical self awareness, and the discipline to think with your imagination instead of your memory.

The back half gets practical. Meghan makes the case that you cannot lead until you have been led, including by someone bad, because pain is a clarifying teacher. Maleah pushes on why you want to lead in the first place, and warns that "I just do not like working under people" is the seed of a selfish boss. Mike draws a hard line between positional authority and actual leadership. And Jody closes with the story of Scott Center, a real estate owner making coffee at 7:30 on a Saturday morning, who explained it simply: what I do, they do.

If you are waiting on a title to start leading, this episode is the nudge to stop waiting.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. Credibility is the floor, not the ceiling.
Trust plus competence. "I know you have my best interest at heart, and I know you're not an idiot." Three decades of research keeps landing in the same place, across every generation studied. Everything else you build as a leader sits on top of this.

2. Your deal breakers are your blueprint.
The behaviors that made you say "I could never work for that person," the competitor, the hypocrite, the micromanager, are your clearest instruction manual. Name them honestly, then audit yourself against the list.

3. Think with your imagination, not your memory.
A line from mentor Jim Surbaski. Leaders stuck in a legacy loop keep replaying what used to work, whether or not it still works. The better question is always "what if it did exist?" and then "what would have to happen first?"

4. Radical self awareness comes before everything else.
Mike's non negotiable: whether or not you are at fault, as the leader you contributed something to the outcome. Not blame, understanding. You cannot lead a dynamic you cannot see.

5. Be, then do. Do not do in order to become.
Bad leaders can be organized, keep great calendars, and take excellent notes. Skills are not the differentiator. The leader who shows up needing to be seen as the authority is performing. The leader who shows up settled in who they are gives the room something to orient around.

6. Learning to be led is prerequisite to leading.
Working for a bad boss teaches you what you will never recreate. Working for a good one shows you what is possible. You need both data points, and most people only appreciate the first one in hindsight.

7. Know your why, and check it for selfishness.
"I had to work for myself or become a CEO because I don't like working under people" is not a leadership motive. It is a warning sign. The durable why sounds like this: I believe I can grow this company, grow these people, and leave this community better than I found it.

8. Great leaders do not sell followership. They build belief.
Credibility and character create belief in the leader, which creates belief in self, which creates belief in the team, which creates belief in what is possible. That chain is how culture actually forms.

9. Positional authority is not leadership.
Leading is carving a path and charting a course for the people behind you. If it's all about what you want, you may hold the position, but you are not leading. Jody's friendly amendment: do not promise people easier. Promise them better.

10. You set the tone, whether you mean to or not.
The leader who is chronically late gets a chronically late team. The owner who shows up first on Saturday gets a team that shows up on Saturday. And you are never too senior to make the coffee, pick up the locker room, or clean up your own spill.

11. Develop them well enough to leave. Lead them well enough to stay.
Nobody who works for you is an indentured servant. They can walk out today. That is not a threat. It is the entire case for leading by inspiration instead of mandate.

12. Influence starts now. The title comes later.
You can lead well at any level. If you want to be a great leader, start where you are. The position may follow, but the influence does not have to wait for it.

QUOTABLE MOMENTS

"Anybody who holds others accountable for what they will not hold themselves accountable for."
Mike Grigsby, on the fastest way to lose him

"You hired me for my expertise. Let me go be an expert for you."
Mike Grigsby

"Think with your imagination and not your memory."
Jim Surbaski, quoted by Mike Grigsby

"There's never a point where you know enough. And the moment you believe you know everything you need to know, that's when you have already started going backward."
Jody Holland

"How great is it that you can work for a bad boss, so that you can know what you don't want to be one day?"
Meghan Slaughter's dad, on a rough first job

"Develop your people so well that they could leave, but lead so well that they choose to stay."
Meghan Slaughter

"You should try to do as a result of already being, not do for the purpose of becoming."
Mike Grigsby

"You must be seen as the leader, you must be seen as the know-it-all, you must be seen as the one with all the ideas. That is a very toxic orientation and posture for any leader to have."
Mike Grigsby

"The greatest leaders don't convince people to follow them. They create a belief system."
Jody Holland

"You may be in positional authority, but you're not leading."
Mike Grigsby

"You're never too high up to make coffee."
Maleah Berens

"I'm here because what I do, they do. If I don't show up on a Saturday, a bunch of them won't show up on a Saturday. I set the tone."
Scott Center, as told by Jody Holland

"It was my mess."
President Ronald Reagan, found on his hands and knees cleaning up spilled water the day after being shot

"Your life is not easier when you're in charge. It is lonelier, but it's a tremendously positive and rewarding burden, because you get to bring the best out in people."
Jody Holland

"The position might come later, but the influence starts now."
Meghan Slaughter

"Drown out the noise and figure out how to leave your community a little bit better than you found it."
Maleah Berens

"Success leaves clues."
Meghan Slaughter

"Imagine as a leader, if you leave people so much better than you found them, how much people want to follow you."
Jody Holland

REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE

Kouzes and Posner, The Leadership Challenge. Three decades of research on credibility as the foundation of followership.

Carl Rogers. The evaluated self versus the aspirational self.

Jim Surbaski. Mentor to both Jody and Mike. "Think with your imagination, not your memory."

Scott Center, Center Realtors, Abilene, Texas. The Saturday morning coffee lesson.

Colt McCoy and Connor Williams, University of Texas. Taking pride in the locker room.

Japanese fans at FIFA matches. Cleaning the stands after the game ends.

YOUR TURN

Three questions to sit with this week:

1. What did a bad leader do to you that you have promised yourself you would never do to someone else, and have you actually kept that promise?

2. If your team mirrored your habits exactly for the next 30 days, what would they be doing? Is that the team you want?

3. What is your real why for wanting to lead? Say it out loud. Does it hold up?

SHARE THIS ONE

If this episode made you think about the kind of leader you are becoming, pass it along to someone who is stepping into leadership for the first time, or someone who has been at it long enough to need the reminder.

Share it with a colleague, a new supervisor, or your whole team.
Like and subscribe so you don't miss the next episode.
Leave a comment and tell us: what is the one thing that would make you say "I could never work for that person"?
Send us your show suggestions. We would love to have them.

And never forget to become the kind of leader that you would actually follow.

Hosts: Jody Holland, Mike Grigsby, and Meghan Slaughter

Most organizations have a mission statement. Far fewer actually live it.

In this episode of Become The Leader, Jody Holland, Mike Grigsby, and Meghan Slaughter explore what separates a meaningful mission from a collection of inspirational words hanging on the wall.

A powerful mission should do more than sound good. It should help leaders decide what to pursue, what to reject, how to treat people, what behaviors to reward, and what kind of organization they are trying to build.

The conversation moves beyond corporate mission statements into personal purpose as well. The team discusses how leaders can identify what matters most by examining what puts them into a state of flow, what problems make them disproportionately frustrated, how they want to be remembered, and the values they are unwilling to compromise.

Ultimately, the challenge is simple:

Don't just write the mission. Live the mission.

When values consistently produce the right actions, those actions create results—and those results become what people know you for.

A mission statement has little value if it simply hangs on a wall.

The real test is whether leaders use it when making decisions.

Before pursuing an opportunity, initiative, customer, hire, or strategy, ask:

Does this move us closer to our mission—or simply keep us busy?

Mission creates focus. It helps organizations determine not only what they should do, but also what they should refuse to do.

Employees notice the gap between what leaders say and what leaders actually do.

When an organization claims to value people, service, integrity, or community—and then abandons those values when financial pressure arrives—the damage goes beyond the immediate decision.

People begin to believe that leadership's words cannot be trusted.

Your mission therefore has to survive difficult decisions, not just easy ones.

A meaningful mission does not require a business to ignore profitability.

Business is an exchange of value.

When an organization solves meaningful problems for customers and creates significant value, it deserves to receive value in return.

A strong mission can actually strengthen profitability because it keeps the organization focused on creating outcomes customers genuinely value.

No mission, no margin. And without margin, you won't be able to pursue the mission for very long.

One practical framework discussed in the episode is:

We are here to __________
so that __________
because __________.

This helps leaders identify:

What do we do?

What outcome are we trying to create?

Why does that outcome matter?

That final question—why does it matter?—connects the work to purpose.

Mission isn't limited to organizations.

A personal mission can help you evaluate opportunities, relationships, priorities, and the way you invest your time.

Meghan described her personal mission as leaving people better than she found them by helping them grow, lead intentionally, and recognize their potential.

Jody described his mission as investing in the leadership and growth of others so that he leaves them better than he found them.

A mission becomes powerful when it begins influencing everyday interactions.

One way to discover your personal mission is to ask:

What do I lose track of time doing?

What work absorbs you so completely that hours pass unnoticed?

Those moments of deep engagement may reveal the kinds of problems you naturally want to solve and the contribution you are uniquely energized to make.

Purpose isn't revealed only by what you love.

It can also show up in what bothers you.

Ask:

What problem makes me think, “Somebody needs to do something about this”?

Jody described his frustration with ineffective leadership and leaders who fail to bring out the best in their people.

Sometimes frustration reveals the problem you feel called to solve.

Imagine reaching the end of your life.

What do you hope the people who knew you will say?

Jody shared that he wants people to remember that he left them better than he found them, made a positive impact on the world, and was a good husband, father, and grandfather.

Mike emphasized wanting people to feel seen, acknowledged, treated justly, and confident that he had their best interests at heart.

Meghan spoke about being remembered as kind, compassionate, caring, and someone who helped others grow.

Thinking backward from the legacy you want can clarify how you should live forward.

Organizations often spend significant time selecting values such as integrity, excellence, service, teamwork, or respect.

But a value only becomes meaningful when people know:

What does this value look like in action?

Jody described the V-A-R-Y framework:

Values + Actions + Results = You

Your values determine the behaviors you choose.

Those behaviors create results.

And those repeated results become what people know you for.

If everything is a core value, nothing is truly core.

Jody recommends reducing organizational values to roughly three core values that genuinely distinguish what the organization stands for.

Then identify two or three behaviors that demonstrate each value.

The goal is for employees and customers to recognize your values from your behavior without ever needing to read them on a wall.

A mission statement shouldn't require employees to memorize a paragraph.

The best missions are clear, relevant, and repeatable.

Mike shared an example from Southwest Airlines where employees could connect their individual roles to the simple idea:

“I fly planes.”

Whether someone worked in maintenance, ticketing, operations, or another function, their work ultimately contributed to the same mission.

A strong mission helps every employee answer:

How does my work contribute to what we're trying to accomplish?

There may be a progression in how people internalize a mission:

Create it.
Recite it.
Believe it.
Live it.

Eventually, the mission should become so deeply embedded that you no longer need to consciously repeat it.

It becomes your ethos—the way you naturally operate.

The question then becomes:

Are my decisions still consistent with what I say I believe?

People increasingly want their work to matter.

They want to know that their effort contributes to something meaningful rather than simply completing tasks and collecting a paycheck.

Organizations that clearly communicate why their work matters create a stronger foundation for engagement, alignment, and belonging.

Being the largest company, beating competitors, increasing market share, or achieving a financial target may be strategic objectives.

They are not necessarily a mission.

Mission answers:

Why should this organization exist?

Strategy answers:

How will we succeed?

A clear mission should guide the development of strategy—not be replaced by it.

Great organizations aren't simply trying to win the next quarter.

They're trying to create something sustainable enough to continue making an impact for generations.

That longer horizon changes how leaders think about people, culture, decisions, investment, and success.

Use this formula to begin developing either a personal or organizational mission:

We/I __________
so that __________
because __________.

For example:

We build great leaders
so teams can thrive
because everyone deserves an amazing place to work.

Then test the statement by asking:

Is it simple enough to remember?

Can people use it to make decisions?

Does it describe something we genuinely care about?

Can every employee connect their role to it?

Are our behaviors consistent with it?

Would we protect this mission even when doing so is difficult?

Ask yourself:

What do I lose track of time doing?

What problem makes me disproportionately frustrated?

What makes me think, “Somebody needs to do something about this”?

At the end of my life, what do I want people to say about me?

What three values am I unwilling to compromise?

What actions would prove those values are real?

What results would naturally come from consistently taking those actions?

Does my personal mission align with the mission of the organization where I work?

Can people tell what I stand for without hearing me explain it?

“Your mission statement should be the filter for the decisions that you make.” — Jody Holland

“When the mission is done right, the money chases you down. When the mission is violated, the money runs away.” — Jody Holland

“If you have no mission, you will have no margin.” — Jody Holland

“Sometimes it just takes somebody else seeing it in you first for you to believe in yourself.” — Meghan Slaughter

“Am I doing this with intention, or am I just doing this to be busy?” — Meghan Slaughter

“You can't help people grow if you don't challenge them in some way or another.” — Jody Holland

“Your mission statement should be a lens that you're focusing your life and your activities through.” — Mike Grigsby

“What do you look at and get disproportionately annoyed or angry about?” — Jody Holland

“I am a fan of treating your people in such a way that it inspires greatness in them.” — Jody Holland

“If you have 27 core values, you have no core values.” — Jody Holland

“Your mission statement should be simple enough that you can remember it and relevant enough that you can apply it to everything.” — Meghan Slaughter

“We are longing for purpose and meaning in our lives.” — Jody Holland

“People without ever hearing your mission statement should know what you stand for based on what you do.” — Jody Holland

“Live the mission. Don't just write the mission.” — Jody Holland

Take a fresh look at your mission—personally and professionally.

Don't ask whether it sounds inspiring.

Ask whether it actually changes the way you behave.

If someone followed you around for thirty days without ever seeing your mission statement or core values, could they accurately describe what you stand for simply by watching how you make decisions, treat people, invest your time, and respond when things get difficult?

That is the real test of mission.

Write it.

Believe it.

Protect it.

And most importantly:

What if one of the most overlooked ways to become more resilient isn't simply developing a tougher mindset—but developing better relationships?

In this episode of Become the Leader, Jody Holland sits down with Meghan Slaughter and Maleah Berens to explore the connection between rapport, relationships, rejection, feedback, and resilience.

The conversation begins with something deceptively simple: how we connect with people. Remembering someone's name, noticing what matters to them, asking good questions, listening instead of pitching, and paying attention to the people around us can dramatically change the quality of our relationships.

But rapport isn't simply a networking skill.

When relationships are built on trust, people become better equipped to navigate rejection, receive feedback, adapt to difficult circumstances, and recover when things don't go according to plan. The group explores the idea that rejection doesn't necessarily mean failure—it can simply be redirection toward a better fit.

The conversation ultimately challenges leaders to treat every interaction as an investment. You never know what someone else is carrying, where their journey will take them, or when today's relationship will matter tomorrow.

“Rejection is just redirection.” — Meghan Slaughter

“Sometimes you will be changed by your circumstances, but you never have to be reduced to your circumstances.” — Meghan Slaughter

“You're never done building the relationship. You're always building the relationship.” — Jody Holland

“Treat everybody as if they are rolling a big boulder up a hill and they need your kindness today.” — Jody Holland

“We don't always get to choose who we work with, but we get to choose the relationship that we have with them.” — Meghan Slaughter

“Walk into every room believing that you have something to teach and something to learn from every person that's in the room with you.” — Maleah Berens

Rapport isn't just about getting people to like you. It's about creating relational strength that allows people to navigate difficult moments together.

When trust already exists, feedback doesn't automatically feel like an attack. Rejection doesn't have to feel personal. Differences don't automatically become conflict. And difficult circumstances don't have to destroy the relationship.

That makes rapport more than a communication skill.

Rapport becomes a resilience strategy.

In your next conversation, resist the urge to impress someone.

Instead, notice them.

Remember their name. Ask a question. Listen for something that matters to them. Look for an opportunity to help without expecting anything in return.

And when someone disappoints you, rejects an idea, or gives you difficult feedback, replace the immediate emotional story with curiosity:

“What can I learn from this?”

Because strong leaders don't simply build stronger people.

They build stronger relationships—and those relationships help people become more resilient.

Great leadership begins long before you influence anyone else—it begins with mastering yourself.

In this episode of Become The Leader, Jody Holland, Mike Grigsby, and Meghan Slaughter explore why self-leadership is the foundation of effective leadership. They discuss the power of habits, identity, emotional regulation, discipline, personal growth, and intentional living.

Whether you lead a business, a team, or simply want to become a better version of yourself, this conversation offers practical strategies for developing the mindset and habits that create lasting leadership success.

Leadership begins with managing your own attitudes, habits, emotions, and behaviors.

Reading expands your perspective and equips you to think and lead more effectively.

The stories you tell yourself influence your emotions, decisions, and reactions.

Leaders set the emotional temperature, especially during stressful situations.

Discipline and intentional discomfort build resilience and leadership capacity.

Your habits reinforce your identity, and your identity shapes your behavior.

Small, consistent actions compound into meaningful personal transformation.

Self-awareness must be paired with self-discipline to produce lasting change.

Before you can effectively lead others, you must learn to manage your own attitudes, habits, emotions, and behaviors. Leadership is more than a title—it is the ability to consistently direct yourself toward the person you want to become.

One of the fastest ways to grow as a leader is through intentional learning. Reading expands your perspective, challenges your assumptions, and gives you better ways to think, solve problems, and make decisions.

Great leaders remain lifelong students.

Much of our emotional stress comes from the stories we create rather than the facts of a situation.

Questioning your assumptions before reacting can help you:

Reduce unnecessary conflict

Improve your emotional intelligence

Make better leadership decisions

Remain calm under pressure

Your interpretations shape your reactions.

People watch leaders carefully during stressful situations. They notice how you respond under pressure, whether you follow the standards you expect from others, how you treat people, and how you recover from setbacks.

Leadership by example speaks louder than leadership by instruction.

Successful leaders intentionally do difficult things because discipline builds resilience.

Daily reading, early-morning routines, exercise, martial arts, journaling, meditation, and structured personal challenges can prepare you to handle difficult conversations and leadership challenges.

Your habits are votes for the person you are becoming.

Drawing from the principles in James Clear’s Atomic Habits, lasting change begins when your identity changes. Instead of saying, “I want to become an author,” say, “I am an author,” and then act accordingly.

Identity shapes behavior, and behavior reinforces identity.

People tend to return to the identity they believe about themselves. This can affect weight, income, happiness, stress, achievement, and other areas of life.

Temporary motivation may move you forward, but old patterns often return unless your identity changes. You can raise your personal set point through consistent habits and mastery experiences.

Growth happens through repeated stretching.

That could mean:

Reading five pages

Running one more mile

Having a difficult conversation

Learning a new skill

Completing a task you have been avoiding

Small disciplines, practiced consistently, can become a lifelong identity.

Leadership is not built overnight. Like constructing a building, you must establish the foundation before adding each new floor.

Strong habits create sustainable success. Fast success without character or discipline can disappear just as quickly as it arrives.

Knowing your weaknesses is not enough.

Growth requires:

Awareness

Intentional action

Consistent discipline

Grace for yourself during the process

Self-discipline is the bridge between knowing and becoming.

“If you want to lead, begin to read.”

“Nobody can disturb your peace—you have to give it up.”

“The more I can manage me, the easier it is to manage and lead others.”

“What you do today determines who you get to be next.”

“Every habit is a vote for the person you want to become.”

“Good leadership is an outcome of really good habits.”

“You can’t unlock new potential if you’re not growing and expanding.”

“Celebrate the successes and learn from the failures.”

“The problem with patience and discipline is that developing each of them requires both of them.” — Thomas Sterner

“The greatest promotion you’ll ever receive is becoming the person your future deserves.”

Read at least 10 pages from a leadership or personal-development book each day.

Identify one limiting story you have been telling yourself and intentionally rewrite it.

Choose one difficult task you have been avoiding and complete it this week.

Write a one-year letter from your future self describing who you have become and what you have accomplished.

Develop one daily habit that reinforces the identity of the leader you want to become.

Evaluate your routines by asking, “Are my habits creating the future I want?”

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to Become The Leader so you never miss a conversation designed to help you become the leader others genuinely want to follow.

Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or emerging leader who is committed to personal growth.

Leadership does not begin when someone follows you—it begins when you choose to lead yourself.

When a crisis hits, the event itself rarely determines an organization’s future—its response does. In this episode, Jody Holland is joined by Renae Holland, who specialized in crisis communication during her master’s studies, and Meghan Slaughter, whose journalism background brings a media perspective to the discussion. Together they explore how organizations can prepare before disaster strikes, communicate with honesty during uncertainty, and emerge with stronger trust rather than a damaged reputation. Drawing from research by Matthew Seeger and Timothy Sellnow, along with real-world examples like the Tylenol poisoning crisis, the Maui wildfires, COVID-19, and consumer product safety, the conversation provides practical guidance for leaders who want to protect both people and organizational credibility.

The organizations that perform best during difficult moments have already established a communication plan, assigned responsibilities, and built trust with stakeholders before anything goes wrong. 

Getting information out quickly is important, but rushing incomplete or unverified information damages credibility. Leaders should communicate what is known, acknowledge what is still unknown, and commit to regular updates. 

Saying “no comment” often creates suspicion. Honest, open communication—even when all the answers aren’t available—helps preserve confidence among employees, customers, and the public.

Before the media, customers, or investors evaluate your response, your employees are watching. Internal communication should happen first whenever possible to prevent rumors and uncertainty from spreading.

Facts matter, but people also need reassurance that the organization genuinely cares about those affected. Compassion and transparency together create stronger public support during difficult times.

Research referenced in the episode describes creating a “reservoir of goodwill.” Organizations with a history of integrity and strong stakeholder relationships are more likely to receive grace when unexpected problems occur.

The CEO shouldn’t have to manage every communication personally. Organizations benefit from assigning someone responsible for gathering information, coordinating messaging, and serving as the communication hub during emergencies.

Today’s audiences expect honesty rather than “spin.” Attempts to manipulate the narrative often create greater long-term damage than simply acknowledging uncertainty and communicating openly.

Whether it’s Tylenol introducing tamper-resistant packaging or ice cream companies adding safety seals after viral contamination videos, smart organizations adapt before they’re forced to.

Mission statements and core values are tested when responding becomes expensive or difficult. The public quickly recognizes whether an organization truly lives its stated values.

“It really isn’t the crisis that kills the company. It’s the way they handle the crisis.”

“Get accurate information out—not just quick information.”

“Your first audience that’s judging you is actually your employees.”

“When we find out we’ve been deceived, we’re done.”

“Emotion clouds logic.”

“We love our consumers more than we love money.” (Describing Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol response.)

“A crisis is either going to be a reputation builder or a reputation destroyer.”

“You’re going to either prove or disprove your values based on how you handle when things don’t go the right way.”

Before the next crisis arrives, ask yourself:

Preparation doesn’t eliminate crises—but it determines whether they become defining failures or defining leadership moments.

Work-Life Rhythm

Show Notes

Hosts: Jody Holland, Meghan Slaughter, and Maleah Grigsby

Episode Summary

Forget work-life balance — this episode makes the case for work-life rhythm. Jody, Meghan, and Maleah challenge the idea that there's a universal formula for balancing work and life, arguing instead that every person has a unique rhythm of work, play, and rest, and that feeling "out of balance" is really feeling out of rhythm.

The conversation covers why boundaries and balance must go hand in hand, how technology and social media blur the lines between work and home, the power of physical separation between work and rest spaces, and the unique challenges of working from home. Jody reframes obsession with work — noting we celebrate it in athletes but pathologize it at a desk — and introduces the difference between harmonious passion (chosen) and laborious passion (forced). The episode closes with the "running the bases" goal-setting framework: psychological well-being first, then physical health, then personal relationships, and only then professional goals. You don't score the run by jumping up and down on home plate — you have to run the bases.

Key Learning Points

Quotable Moments

"When you feel right in your work, you do right with your work." — Jody Holland

"There's no set explanation for what balance is for everybody across the board. It's very individualized. You have to find what works for you." — Meghan Slaughter

"We celebrate obsession when it's on the field and we pathologize it when it's at a desk." — Jody Holland

"It's not selfish to take care of yourself." — Meghan Slaughter

"Don't sit at the same place where you do your work to take your brain break. Your brain can't separate the two." — Maleah Grigsby

"I do my best business thinking while exercising... When you're at your desk, you're thinking 'I gotta get this done.' At the gym, you're thinking 'I wonder if...' — and I like the 'I wonder if' stuff." — Jody Holland

"'I'd like to' works so much better than 'I have to.'" — Jody Holland

"Your success is not determined by how many hours you work overtime. Your success is determined directly by the quality of work that you do during that time." — Maleah Grigsby

"You're never perfectly balanced. You're always trying to figure out what you need to be doing to meet the demands on your life — and whether those demands are even realistic." — Jody Holland

"We're measured by our output, not by our input. Nobody cares how long it took you if it got done." — Jody Holland

"You don't score the run until you've run the bases. Your psychological well-being is first base... You have to run the bases to find your rhythm." — Jody Holland

"Do the things that you want to be remembered for, because actions create connection." — Jody Holland

Resources Mentioned

Coming Up

Stay tuned for an upcoming episode on Personal Mission Statements — figuring out who you are at your core and what you hope to achieve.

Enjoyed the show? Leave us a rating — and if you have ideas for future episodes, we'd love to put your ideas on air.

Become The Leader You Would Follow.

Hosts: Jody Holland, Meghan Slaughter, and Mike Grigsby

What comes next for work, leadership, and the people doing both? In this episode, Jody, Meghan, and Mike each stake a prediction for the future — and the conversation gets bigger than any of them expected.

Mike predicts a "Gig Economy 2.0" driven by AI: fractional studios delivering turnkey solutions, curation gurus who make sense of AI's flood of output, and "micro-niche consulting" built on the 5% of knowledge that isn't on the internet. Meghan predicts that younger generations will build power through positive relationships rather than position and title — respect that used to be implicit in authority now has to be earned. And Jody delivers the sobering one: as AI equalizes skill sets, resilience becomes the true competitive advantage — and unless we reverse the trend of removing struggle from our kids' and employees' lives, the next generation of leaders will be too fragile to succeed.

Along the way, the trio digs into the story of the woman fired from three six-figure jobs for doing all of them well, why we still trade dollars for hours when clients only pay for outcomes, how overprotective parenting created the fragility older generations now complain about, Viktor Frankl on meaning through struggle, and the butterfly that never flew because someone cut open its cocoon. The episode closes with a teaser for Jody's upcoming book, *The Struggle Is Necessary*.

1. The gig economy is hitting its next inflection point. AI will push gig work beyond task-based jobs toward fractional studios delivering turnkey solutions, curators who fit AI output into real business needs, and micro-niche consultants selling the personal experience and context you can't find online.

2. Clients pay for outcomes, not hours. The mindset of trading dollars for hours is why a star employee gets fired for excelling at three jobs at once. If someone delivers 40X value, the time it took them shouldn't matter.

3. Use AI to expand people, not replace them. Those who use AI to replace people will regret it; those who use it to expand their people's potential will love it. The difference is whether you see AI as replacing humanity or augmenting it.

4. Efficiency gains rarely become free time. Systems theory says we don't reallocate recovered time to creativity or rest — we just try to do five jobs at the enhanced rate and speed up the machine.

5. We're not going backwards on technology. Every wave of advancement meets resistance, then adoption, then embrace — COVID proved how fast we adapt when we must. You can refuse to get on board, but you do so at your own peril.

6. Relationships are replacing position as the source of power. Younger workers want to feel valued, want relationships with their coworkers and bosses, and are leading through outcomes and influence rather than title. Respect must now be earned, not assumed.

7. The generations complaining about the shift caused it. Each generation conditions its children to expect something better. It's simple cause and effect — and overcorrection in either direction eventually swings back.

8. Focus on outcomes, not the old methods. The paper routes and lawn-mowing jobs that built work ethic are gone. Instead of nostalgia for how we built discipline, ask what will build work ethic, trust, and resilience in today's kids.

9. AI is doing to cognitive struggle what automation did to physical struggle. Just as factories went from 200 workers to nine, AI is removing the mental effort that builds capability — which makes deliberately choosing struggle more important than ever.

10. Removing suffering creates more suffering. There's a direct correlation between engineering struggle out of young people's lives and the rise in stress, anxiety, and the mental health crisis. From Stranger Danger to Life360, protection carries a cognitive and developmental trade-off.

11. Meaning comes from purpose, relationships, and struggle. Viktor Frankl taught that when we find no meaning, we fill our lives with entertainment instead. We're wired for meaning — and struggling for something important is one of the three ways we find it.

12. Resilience is the coming competitive advantage. As skills equalize, the differentiator becomes how many times you can get up after being knocked down. The goal isn't just resilience — it's being anti-fragile: getting stronger through suffering, not just bouncing back from it.

13. It's ridiculously easy to outwork the competition. Show up, have a good attitude, work hard, stay late — and you'll beat almost everyone. Add genuine skill, and people don't stand a chance.

14. Don't quit before the breakthrough. Like the man swinging a sledgehammer at a rock for a thousand days, you never know which swing breaks the rock — you only know that quitting early guarantees it never does. Don't stop three feet from gold.

> "People who use AI to replace people are the ones that will regret it. People who use AI to expand the potential of their people are the ones that will love it." — Jody Holland

> "You can choose to not get on board, but you do so at your own peril." — Mike Grigsby

> "Respect used to be implicit in authority, and now it has to be earned." — Meghan Slaughter

> "The people that are complaining about it are the ones that caused it — they conditioned their children, and now they're mad that it worked." — Jody Holland

> "It's the outcomes we should have been focusing on, not the way we're getting to those outcomes." — Mike Grigsby

> "AI is about to do to cognitive struggle what automation did to physical struggle." — Jody Holland

> "There's a direct correlation between taking away suffering and actually creating more mental and emotional suffering." — Jody Holland

> "The more knowledge you get, the more cognitive load you have. The more cognitive load you have, the less discretionary time you have. The less discretionary time you have, the more stress." — Mike Grigsby

> "When we find no meaning in our lives, we will find entertainment instead. Meaning is what we were wired for." — Jody Holland, on Viktor Frankl

> "It is ridiculously easy to beat everyone you compete with. Show up, have a good attitude, work hard, stay late. I didn't even say be really good at your job." — Jody Holland

> "Sometimes that spark can be found if you just keep hitting the rocks. You just gotta keep working at it." — Meghan Slaughter

> "I have no idea which swing broke the rock. But I know the last one is the one that gave me the outcome. All of the rest were building towards it." — Jody Holland

> "Without that struggle, the butterfly never flies away. The struggle is real, but it's necessary." — Mike Grigsby

> "We need people who are not just resilient. We need people who are anti-fragile — who actually get stronger with suffering, not just bounce back from it." — Jody Holland

-Mike: Don't get paralyzed by the horizon. Keep an eye on what's coming, but build the habit of exploiting the opportunities right in front of you — and you'll be ready for whatever the future holds.
-Meghan: Focus on the impact you have on those around you, not just the work itself. Lead with intention and influence — your reach goes further through relationships than through position.
-Jody: Do something every day that's hard or that scares you. The more you build your resilience, the more valuable you become to the entire world.

The Struggle Is Necessary — Jody Holland's upcoming book on why struggle builds strength (releasing next month)

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl — On finding meaning through purpose, relationships, and struggle

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill — The "three feet from gold" story of R.U. Darby

Jean Piaget** — Concepts of scaffolding and stages of learning and growth

Enjoyed the show? Leave us a rating — and if you have ideas for future episodes, we'd love to put your ideas on air.

Become The Leader You Would Follow.

Being the person everyone depends on might feel rewarding—but what if it’s actually limiting your growth, increasing your stress, and putting your organization at risk?

In this episode, Jody Holland, Meghan Slaughter, Mike Grigsby, and Maleah Grigsby explore the hidden costs of becoming the “go-to person.” Through memorable stories—including the infamous helicopter “Jesus Nut” and the humorous “Dancing Chicken” analogy—they unpack why leaders must shift from being indispensable problem-solvers to developers of people. 

Every organization has people who seem to know everything. They’re the ones everyone relies on for answers, processes, customer relationships, or technical expertise. While that may appear valuable, it often creates a dangerous single point of failure.

The team discusses:

Ultimately, leadership isn’t about becoming the person everyone needs—it’s about creating more people who no longer need you.

Using the helicopter analogy, Jody explains that a helicopter has many redundant systems—but only one critical nut holds the rotor in place. If it fails, everything fails.

Many organizations unknowingly create the same vulnerability by allowing one employee to hold all the institutional knowledge.

Leadership takeaway:

Never allow critical knowledge to exist in only one person.

People often enjoy feeling needed because it reinforces their value.

Unfortunately, that same desire creates:

Feeling important and creating organizational dependency are not the same thing.

Mike introduces an important insight:

People who continually carry everyone else’s workload eventually develop contempt—not only toward the organization, but toward the people who depend on them.

Over time they may even begin unconsciously sabotaging progress simply because they’re exhausted.

One of the most powerful coaching stories comes from a hospital leader who proudly declared:

“I’m irreplaceable.”

Jody’s response:

“Then you’ve made yourself unpromotable.”

Organizations cannot move someone into greater leadership if they cannot replace them where they currently are.

Growth requires developing successors.

Effective delegation requires:

As Jody points out:

Delegation without follow-up is abdication.

Delegation with coaching is leadership.

Meghan explains that prolonged stress isn’t simply emotional—it becomes neurological.

Unchecked stress contributes to:

The solution isn’t waiting for stress to disappear.

The solution is taking manageable action one step at a time.

Maleah offers one of the simplest leadership shifts:

Instead of becoming the endpoint where every question stops…

Become the connector that helps people discover where the answers live.

Great leaders create capability.

Poor leaders create dependency.

Today’s workforce changes jobs far more frequently than previous generations.

Organizations can no longer assume knowledge will naturally transfer over decades.

Modern leaders should intentionally:

Institutional knowledge should belong to the organization—not to individuals.

Rather than solving every problem yourself, use questions.

The team discusses using the Socratic Method to coach employees toward discovering solutions on their own.

This develops:

When delegating:

Expect the first attempt to be imperfect.

No expert started as an expert.

Growth requires practice, mistakes, and coaching.

“If that one nut comes loose, it’s game over.”

“When you become so important that you’re irreplaceable, you often become exhausted—and eventually resentful.” 

“If you’re irreplaceable, you’ve made yourself unpromotable.”

“Delegation without follow-up is abdication. Delegation with follow-up is leadership.”

“Become the connector—not the endpoint.”

“The brain is a muscle. The more you practice letting go, the easier it becomes.”

“You can’t move up if you’re tied down.”

“Just because someone else did it differently doesn’t mean they did it worse.”

“We’re the ones turning up the hot plate underneath ourselves.”

“Don’t be a dancing chicken.”

This week, identify one area where you’ve become the bottleneck and intentionally begin transferring ownership.

Ask yourself:

Leadership isn’t measured by how much you can carry.

It’s measured by how many others you equip to carry it with you.

The strongest leaders aren’t the ones everyone depends on.

They’re the ones who build people, systems, and cultures that continue to thrive long after they’re gone.

When leaders replace dependency with development, they reduce organizational risk, multiply capability, and create lasting impact. 

Check out more great content at: www.jodyholland.com

Episode Summary
In this episode, Jody Holland and Meghan Slaughter explore the critical connection between organizational culture and customer experience. They discuss why culture is more than mission statements and posters—it is the repeated behaviors employees demonstrate every day. Through examples from companies like Wells Fargo, Enron, Zappos, Google, and JC Penney, they reveal how culture directly impacts trust, customer loyalty, employee engagement, and long-term organizational success.  

“Culture is going to happen either way—whether by intention or by accident.” 

“What you recognize, you reinforce.” 

“Your customer is never going to be happier than your employee.” 

“Culture is performance.” 

“Money is a byproduct, but it is not the goal.” 

“The small moments, the positive emotional experiences, make a huge impact.” 

Leadership Challenge:
Deliver on the promise of being the kind of leader you said you were going to be.  

In this episode, Jody Holland, Meghan Slaughter, Maleah Grigsby, and Mike Grigsby discuss how leaders can use the mid-year point to refocus, regain momentum, and finish the year strong. The conversation centers on evaluating progress, simplifying priorities, celebrating wins, removing drag points, and creating daily or weekly habits that move goals forward.

Mid-year is a strategic checkpoint, not a slowdown. Leaders should evaluate where they are, where they intended to be, and what needs to change.

Break annual goals into shorter execution cycles. Ninety-day sprints, weekly check-ins, and daily habits make big goals more manageable.

Momentum requires both celebration and correction. Teams need to recognize what is working while also identifying what is slowing them down.

Success comes from essential habits. Identify the few behaviors that, if done consistently, make progress almost automatic.

Delegation works best with clear expectations. Define what needs to be done, when it is due, and how success will be measured.

Protect your priorities. Saying yes to everything creates confusion, overload, and missed goals.

There is no “done.” Growth, leadership, and improvement are continuous processes.

“Simple is what rules, and simple is what moves the needle.”

“Stop thinking there is a place called done.”

“Priority management is about figuring out what is essential and killing everything else.”

“If you don’t protect your own time, you are giving everybody else permission to violate your boundaries.”

“The mid-year check-in is like halftime. You come back in, evaluate the game, and decide what has to happen next.”

“Do something every day toward your goals.”

“Self-leadership is the first layer of leadership.”

The second half of the year is won by leaders who pause, evaluate honestly, simplify priorities, recommit to the right habits, and take ownership of the outcome.