When people development and business growth happen together, we all win.

In this ROAR Mindset episode, host Peter Brandenburger talks with Delena Gutierrez, a certified coach with 17 years of corporate leadership experience, including senior and executive roles leading teams through growth and transition. She has seen up close what it takes to lead with courage and self-compassion, including her time inside a Deliberately Developmental Organization (DDO) where development was built into everyday work.

Delena helps leaders rethink their approach so both people and organizations can thrive. She shares how DDOs make development part of the operating system itself by integrating feedback, reflection, and shared learning into the flow of work. We explore the courage it takes to share development openly, how teams move past hesitation and expanding work to include individual growth creates thriving teams.

Related books and articles:

Immunity to Change by Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey

An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization by Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey et al

HBR Article on DDO - https://hbr.org/2014/04/making-business-personal

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Episode Highlights

00:00 Introduction to the ROAR Mindset

00:25 Meet Delena Gutiérrez: Leading Through Growth

02:00 What Is a Deliberately Developmental Organization (DDO)?

07:00 Why Development Belongs in Daily Work

10:00 The Cost of Avoiding Difficult Conversations

14:00 Retention, Trust, and Real Collaboration

18:00 Feedback Without Fear: Naming What’s True

22:00 The Fishbowl: Practicing Transparency and Challenge

25:00 Silence as a Leadership Tool

29:00 Integrating DDO Practices in Any Organization

33:00 Courage, Compassion, and Self-Leadership

38:00 Turning Chaos Into Growth

45:00 Leadership Lessons Relearned

48:00 One Word to Describe Her Leadership Mindset