Driven to Lead

In this episode of Driven to Lead, our guest Rich Brady, CEO of the Society of Defense Financial Management, shares lessons from a 32-year career in the United States Marine Corps, his current work leading a professional association serving defense finance and accounting professionals, and a deeply personal story of resilience after losing his wife in 2022. Rich explains how Marine Corps discipline helped him focus on the immediate priorities in front of him, how a strong support system gave him space to recover and re-engage, and why leaders must learn to meet both triumph and disaster with perspective. His story is a powerful reminder that leadership is not only tested in moments of success, but also in moments of grief, uncertainty, and profound personal change.

 Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly.
 – Wayne and the Driven to Lead podcast team

Contact Wayne here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wayne-brannon-792b0536/
Visit the gr8road website here: https://www.gr8road.com/

Listen to Driven to Lead on these podcast platforms:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/161InPnNaM5p1H1zERQrxm
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/driven-to-lead/id1819958647 
Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/582480a2-36bc-42ab-b010-f57d9c9279fe/driven-to-lead

#Leadership #BusinessLeadership #ExecutiveLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #TeamBuilding #ManagementSkills #LeadershipTips #PersonalGrowth #ProfessionalDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture #CareerGrowth #Entrepreneurship #SuccessMindset #Motivation #DrivenToLead #WayneBrannon #LeadershipPodcast #Inspiration #LeadershipJourney
Driven to Lead is a podcast dedicated to inspiring and empowering business leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs to reach their full potential. Hosted by Wayne Brannon, each episode dives deep into leadership strategies, personal growth, team management, and real-world business challenges. Whether you’re leading a startup or a large organization, Driven to Lead offers actionable insights to help you build strong teams, develop your leadership skills, and create a positive impact in your workplace. Tune in weekly to unlock your leadership potential and drive success.

In this episode of Driven to Lead, Michael Swigunski—Founder of Dividends Capital, in St. Louis, Mo.  — shares the details of his journey in building, growing, selling and buying remote online businesses.  Mike is living this reality himself by building multiple six, seven & eight figure remote companies while traveling to more than 100 countries.  Mike shares hard lessons around validating consumer demand before charging ahead into business and also describes the opportunities for acquiring successful businesses that are ready to scale.   Mike is currently presenting investment opportunities in remote online businesses via “We Funder” at https://wefunder.com/dividends   An interesting conversation — enjoy!   

 Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly.
 – Wayne and the Driven to Lead podcast team

Contact Wayne here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wayne-brannon-792b0536/
Visit the gr8road website here: https://www.gr8road.com/

Listen to Driven to Lead on these podcast platforms:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/161InPnNaM5p1H1zERQrxm
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/driven-to-lead/id1819958647 
Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/582480a2-36bc-42ab-b010-f57d9c9279fe/driven-to-lead

#Leadership #BusinessLeadership #ExecutiveLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #TeamBuilding #ManagementSkills #LeadershipTips #PersonalGrowth #ProfessionalDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture #CareerGrowth #Entrepreneurship #SuccessMindset #Motivation #DrivenToLead #WayneBrannon #LeadershipPodcast #Inspiration #LeadershipJourney
Driven to Lead is a podcast dedicated to inspiring and empowering business leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs to reach their full potential. Hosted by Wayne Brannon, each episode dives deep into leadership strategies, personal growth, team management, and real-world business challenges. Whether you’re leading a startup or a large organization, Driven to Lead offers actionable insights to help you build strong teams, develop your leadership skills, and create a positive impact in your workplace. Tune in weekly to unlock your leadership potential and drive success.

iven-to-lead

#Leadership #BusinessLeadership #ExecutiveLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #TeamBuilding #ManagementSkills #LeadershipTips #PersonalGrowth #ProfessionalDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture #CareerGrowth #Entrepreneurship #SuccessMindset #Motivation #DrivenToLead #WayneBrannon #LeadershipPodcast #Inspiration #LeadershipJourney
Driven to Lead is a podcast dedicated to inspiring and empowering business leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs to reach their full potential. Hosted by Wayne Brannon, each episode dives deep into leadership strategies, personal growth, team management, and real-world business challenges. Whether you’re leading a startup or a large organization, Driven to Lead offers actionable insights to help you build strong teams, develop your leadership skills, and create a positive impact in your workplace. Tune in weekly to unlock your leadership potential and drive success.

In this episode of Driven to Lead, Bryant Grigsby — CEO & Board Member of PDV, Silicon Valley, CA — shares his experience of being acquired by a much larger firm in the medical technology space.  Not only is the new parent company (INDO -MIM) much larger, it is also a non-US company twelve time zones away.  Bryant describes the process leading up to the merger as being one where both INDO -MIM and his previous company (Phoenix DeVentures) realized early on that they were not posturing for a financial transaction as much as they were truly trying to understand each other.  This led to a due-diligence process that was non-combative and negotiated directly instead of through a rigorous investment banker process.  Fortunately, this collaborative spirit has lived through the first year of the merger with the most difficult parts of the transition simply being communication terminology and time zone management.  A great model for consideration when possible.  Check it out…..  

 Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly.
 – Wayne and the Driven to Lead podcast team

Contact Wayne here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wayne-brannon-792b0536/
Visit the gr8road website here: https://www.gr8road.com/

Listen to Driven to Lead on these podcast platforms:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/161InPnNaM5p1H1zERQrxm
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/driven-to-lead/id1819958647 
Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/582480a2-36bc-42ab-b010-f57d9c9279fe/driven-to-lead

#Leadership #BusinessLeadership #ExecutiveLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #TeamBuilding #ManagementSkills #LeadershipTips #PersonalGrowth #ProfessionalDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture #CareerGrowth #Entrepreneurship #SuccessMindset #Motivation #DrivenToLead #WayneBrannon #LeadershipPodcast #Inspiration #LeadershipJourney
Driven to Lead is a podcast dedicated to inspiring and empowering business leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs to reach their full potential. Hosted by Wayne Brannon, each episode dives deep into leadership strategies, personal growth, team management, and real-world business challenges. Whether you’re leading a startup or a large organization, Driven to Lead offers actionable insights to help you build strong teams, develop your leadership skills, and create a positive impact in your workplace. Tune in weekly to unlock your leadership potential and drive success.

In this episode of Driven to Lead, Johnathan Grzybowski — Co Founder & CMO of Penji in Philadelphia, PA — shares his experience bootstrapping his business from scratch and growing into an Inc. 5000 player.  Leveraging and coordinating creative talent from around the world to provide the Penji subscription service, his team consistently delivers high-quality creative ideas and assets, with high-speed to market and great value for the money.  This podcast conversation follows  Johanathan’s humble, down-to-earth style and reveals that his own passion for innovation and excellence has driven his selection process for key team members and continues to shape his aspirations for taking the company to even higher levels.  

 Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly.
 – Wayne and the Driven to Lead podcast team

Contact Wayne here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wayne-brannon-792b0536/
Visit the gr8road website here: https://www.gr8road.com/

Listen to Driven to Lead on these podcast platforms:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/161InPnNaM5p1H1zERQrxm
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/driven-to-lead/id1819958647 
Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/582480a2-36bc-42ab-b010-f57d9c9279fe/driven-to-lead

#Leadership #BusinessLeadership #ExecutiveLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #TeamBuilding #ManagementSkills #LeadershipTips #PersonalGrowth #ProfessionalDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture #CareerGrowth #Entrepreneurship #SuccessMindset #Motivation #DrivenToLead #WayneBrannon #LeadershipPodcast #Inspiration #LeadershipJourney
Driven to Lead is a podcast dedicated to inspiring and empowering business leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs to reach their full potential. Hosted by Wayne Brannon, each episode dives deep into leadership strategies, personal growth, team management, and real-world business challenges. Whether you’re leading a startup or a large organization, Driven to Lead offers actionable insights to help you build strong teams, develop your leadership skills, and create a positive impact in your workplace. Tune in weekly to unlock your leadership potential and drive success.

In this episode of Driven to Lead, Siobhan James-Alexander — CEO of One Communications, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands — shares her experience around a business transformation during of a difficult period of deep headcount reduction.  Siobhan talks about the challenges for a leader to show genuine compassion and support for those who must leave the team, while also providing encouragement and hope for those who remain.  The two challenges actually dove-tail more than might be expected to help create a positive business environment in tough times.  Don’t miss this exceptional story!

 Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly.
 – Wayne and the Driven to Lead podcast team

Contact Wayne here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wayne-brannon-792b0536/
Visit the gr8road website here: https://www.gr8road.com/

Listen to Driven to Lead on these podcast platforms:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/161InPnNaM5p1H1zERQrxm
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/driven-to-lead/id1819958647 
Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/582480a2-36bc-42ab-b010-f57d9c9279fe/driven-to-lead

#Leadership #BusinessLeadership #ExecutiveLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #TeamBuilding #ManagementSkills #LeadershipTips #PersonalGrowth #ProfessionalDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture #CareerGrowth #Entrepreneurship #SuccessMindset #Motivation #DrivenToLead #WayneBrannon #LeadershipPodcast #Inspiration #LeadershipJourney
Driven to Lead is a podcast dedicated to inspiring and empowering business leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs to reach their full potential. Hosted by Wayne Brannon, each episode dives deep into leadership strategies, personal growth, team management, and real-world business challenges. Whether you’re leading a startup or a large organization, Driven to Lead offers actionable insights to help you build strong teams, develop your leadership skills, and create a positive impact in your workplace. Tune in weekly to unlock your leadership potential and drive success.

In this episode of Driven to Lead, Scott Summerville, former President & CEO of Mitsubishi Electric Automation, Chicago, IL — shares his experience of leading his business through the recent COVID crisis.  With the team suddenly working remote and uncertainty abounding with respect to every topic — about the pandemic, about which colleagues have been directly effected, about project statues and even about the ongoing viability of the company, Scott instituted a brilliant video communication to keep the team informed.  With this he confronted the organization and assured them that they were all moving forward and that they will continue to work together to define what that looks like.  This “level-setting” of the entire organization proved so successful in driving unity and supporting positive business performance, that a version of it is still in-play, long after the crisis has passed.   

 Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly.
 – Wayne and the Driven to Lead podcast team

Contact Wayne here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wayne-brannon-792b0536/
Visit the gr8road website here: https://www.gr8road.com/

Listen to Driven to Lead on these podcast platforms:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/161InPnNaM5p1H1zERQrxm
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/driven-to-lead/id1819958647 
Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/582480a2-36bc-42ab-b010-f57d9c9279fe/driven-to-lead

#Leadership #BusinessLeadership #ExecutiveLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #TeamBuilding #ManagementSkills #LeadershipTips #PersonalGrowth #ProfessionalDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture #CareerGrowth #Entrepreneurship #SuccessMindset #Motivation #DrivenToLead #WayneBrannon #LeadershipPodcast #Inspiration #LeadershipJourney
Driven to Lead is a podcast dedicated to inspiring and empowering business leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs to reach their full potential. Hosted by Wayne Brannon, each episode dives deep into leadership strategies, personal growth, team management, and real-world business challenges. Whether you’re leading a startup or a large organization, Driven to Lead offers actionable insights to help you build strong teams, develop your leadership skills, and create a positive impact in your workplace. Tune in weekly to unlock your leadership potential and drive success.

In this episode of Driven to Lead, Kendra Reichenau, CEO of Heartland America, Chaska, MN — shares her experience of being a new CEO and experiencing a business crisis with little or no experience with cash flow management.  With no money in the bank, and no reports tracking cash inflows and outflows, she was flying blind. Rather than becoming frozen by a lack of knowledge or embarrassment, she immediately applied common sense, escalated the issue in the organization, learned fast on the fly and saved the company from financial ruin.  Her approach demonstrates exactly what a leader must do — solve problems and win, regardless of your own personal experience or knowledge base.  You'll love her optimistic, no nonsense approach to business and admire her for her humility.  Take a look.

 Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly.
 – Wayne and the Driven to Lead podcast team

Contact Wayne here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wayne-brannon-792b0536/
Visit the gr8road website here: https://www.gr8road.com/

Listen to Driven to Lead on these podcast platforms:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/161InPnNaM5p1H1zERQrxm
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/driven-to-lead/id1819958647 
Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/582480a2-36bc-42ab-b010-f57d9c9279fe/driven-to-lead

#Leadership #BusinessLeadership #ExecutiveLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #TeamBuilding #ManagementSkills #LeadershipTips #PersonalGrowth #ProfessionalDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture #CareerGrowth #Entrepreneurship #SuccessMindset #Motivation #DrivenToLead #WayneBrannon #LeadershipPodcast #Inspiration #LeadershipJourney
Driven to Lead is a podcast dedicated to inspiring and empowering business leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs to reach their full potential. Hosted by Wayne Brannon, each episode dives deep into leadership strategies, personal growth, team management, and real-world business challenges. Whether you’re leading a startup or a large organization, Driven to Lead offers actionable insights to help you build strong teams, develop your leadership skills, and create a positive impact in your workplace. Tune in weekly to unlock your leadership potential and drive success.

In this episode of Driven to Lead, John Walsh, Founder & CEO of Endera out of Ottawa, OH shares his perspective about what it takes to survive in a crisis scenario during COVID.  John talks about how he was looking the death of his company right in the face with only a few weeks of cash remaining and a capital market that was very difficult to motivate at that time.  That said, John and his team built a compelling investment thesis for his current investors to increase their stake in the company in an emergency round to keep the company solvent.  Their belief in the company’s value proposition and in each other drove this inspiring story of success.

 Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly.
 – Wayne and the Driven to Lead podcast team

Contact Wayne here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wayne-brannon-792b0536/
Visit the gr8road website here: https://www.gr8road.com/

Listen to Driven to Lead on these podcast platforms:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/161InPnNaM5p1H1zERQrxm
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/driven-to-lead/id1819958647 
Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/582480a2-36bc-42ab-b010-f57d9c9279fe/driven-to-lead

#Leadership #BusinessLeadership #ExecutiveLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #TeamBuilding #ManagementSkills #LeadershipTips #PersonalGrowth #ProfessionalDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture #CareerGrowth #Entrepreneurship #SuccessMindset #Motivation #DrivenToLead #WayneBrannon #LeadershipPodcast #Inspiration #LeadershipJourney
Driven to Lead is a podcast dedicated to inspiring and empowering business leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs to reach their full potential. Hosted by Wayne Brannon, each episode dives deep into leadership strategies, personal growth, team management, and real-world business challenges. Whether you’re leading a startup or a large organization, Driven to Lead offers actionable insights to help you build strong teams, develop your leadership skills, and create a positive impact in your workplace. Tune in weekly to unlock your leadership potential and drive success.

In this episode of Driven to Lead, Janet Grondin — CEO of Stellar Solutions out of Los Alamos, CA — shares her perspective about taking full responsibility and ownership as a leader for problems that sometimes occur within our organizations.  Janet talks about the testing and validation necessary to execute complex space projects, and about how even the most rigorous processes can still have issues.  The key is to be open and honest with yourself, take ownership, dig into the issue in an open & honest way and find solutions.  Great lesson for us all!
 Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly.
 – Wayne and the Driven to Lead podcast team

Contact Wayne here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wayne-brannon-792b0536/
Visit the gr8road website here: https://www.gr8road.com/

Listen to Driven to Lead on these podcast platforms:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/161InPnNaM5p1H1zERQrxm
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/driven-to-lead/id1819958647 
Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/582480a2-36bc-42ab-b010-f57d9c9279fe/driven-to-lead

#Leadership #BusinessLeadership #ExecutiveLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #TeamBuilding #ManagementSkills #LeadershipTips #PersonalGrowth #ProfessionalDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture #CareerGrowth #Entrepreneurship #SuccessMindset #Motivation #DrivenToLead #WayneBrannon #LeadershipPodcast #Inspiration #LeadershipJourney
Driven to Lead is a podcast dedicated to inspiring and empowering business leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs to reach their full potential. Hosted by Wayne Brannon, each episode dives deep into leadership strategies, personal growth, team management, and real-world business challenges. Whether you’re leading a startup or a large organization, Driven to Lead offers actionable insights to help you build strong teams, develop your leadership skills, and create a positive impact in your workplace. Tune in weekly to unlock your leadership potential and drive success.