When pressure comes, we don’t rise to the level of our values — we fall to the level of our standards.

In this deeply personal episode, Jim Huling shares the story of a leader who discovered the powerful difference between what we believe and how we live. Through real-world lessons and hard-won insights, Jim reveals why values alone aren’t enough to shape culture — and how clear, consistent standards become the true anchors of leadership.

You’ll learn:

The life-changing distinction between values (the what) and standards (the how)

How to turn belief into behavior that endures under pressure

Why culture cracks the moment we compromise our standards — even once

Three practical ways to build and sustain a culture of standards, not slogans

Jim also shares his own journey of defining six personal standards — the code of honor that has guided his leadership and life through every storm.

Whether you lead a team, a company, or your own life, this episode will challenge and inspire you to define the standards that will hold you steady when the pressure comes.

📩 Want Jim’s free “From Values to Standards” Guide to help you create your own personal and team standards?
Email him at [email protected]
 — he’ll gladly send it to you.

Enjoyed the episode? Have questions or a personal story to relate? Send a text!

Every leader eventually faces a moment when the storm hits —
 when pressure rises, mistakes come to light, and everyone’s watching to see what you’ll do.

In those moments, the easiest thing to do is protect yourself.
 But leadership doesn’t ask for protection.
 It asks for presence.

In this episode, Jim Huling shares one of the hardest storms of his career — a moment that tested his courage, integrity, and the quiet voice inside that said, “Step forward.”

This is not a story about success.
 It’s a story about choice — and what it means to stand firm when every instinct says to step back.

You’ll learn how:

• True leadership begins with showing up when it’s hardest.
• Calm isn’t the absence of fear — it’s the discipline of steadiness.
• Presence and commitment can rebuild trust faster than perfection ever could.

If you’ve ever felt the weight of leading through crisis — when people look to you for clarity you don’t yet have — this episode is for you.

Enjoyed the episode? Have questions or a personal story to relate? Send a text!

Claiming the Gap: The Leader’s Power of Patience

Most leaders think of patience as waiting. But in leadership, patience is something far more powerful.

In this episode of Execution Insights™, Jim Huling shares the story of a senior executive under intense pressure—facing doubt from her team, her CEO, and even herself. Quick reactions were leaving scars, and her career was at risk.

What turned it around wasn’t speed, strategy, or spreadsheets. It was discovering the discipline of patience.

You’ll learn:

• Why patience isn’t passive waiting, but a discipline of readiness, timing, and commitment
• How Viktor Frankl’s famous insight—“Between stimulus and response, there is a space”—can transform your leadership
• Why rushing into decisions undermines trust, while claiming the gap builds clarity and steadiness

Three reflection questions you can use this week to put patience into practice

Patience isn’t weakness. It’s one of the strongest disciplines a leader can develop.

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Enjoyed the episode? Have questions or a personal story to relate? Send a text!

What do you do when the path ahead isn’t clear, the data isn’t complete, and the outcome isn’t guaranteed?

In this episode of Execution Insights™: The Podcast, Jim Huling explores one of the most underestimated forces in leadership: faith expressed as belief.

Drawing inspiration from the unforgettable “bridge of faith” scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Jim shares how belief transforms the way leaders show up in uncertain times:

• Belief in your team ignites performance and resilience.
• Belief in your purpose steadies you when plans fall apart.
• Belief in yourself creates the confidence your people need most.

Through powerful stories—including a leader’s dramatic turnaround and Jim’s own leap from technology to the CEO role—you’ll discover why belief is the most transformative tool a leader can wield.

If you’ve ever faced the weight of leading without all the answers, this conversation will remind you of a simple, life-changing truth: The bridge doesn’t just appear when you step—it appears because you step.

Enjoyed the episode? Have questions or a personal story to relate? Send a text!

In this inaugural episode of Execution Insights™: The Podcast, Jim Huling invites listeners into a different kind of leadership conversation—one that doesn’t begin with strategies, spreadsheets, or performance metrics, but with something far more lasting: the inner life of a leader.

Every leader knows the demands of the outer life—delivering results, hitting deadlines, producing outcomes. These things matter. But what truly sustains leaders—and what their teams remember most—comes from a deeper place inside.

To illustrate this, Jim shares a deeply personal story from his time as a CIO. Nearly two decades ago, he wrote a short handwritten note of encouragement to a young woman on his team. Eighteen years later, in a chance encounter, she walked up to him and said, “I still have the note you wrote me.” That simple act of presence and belief had stayed with her through different jobs and different seasons of life—not because it was a clever strategy, but because it spoke to her heart.

This is the essence of the inner life of leadership.

In this episode, listeners will discover three foundational dimensions that shape the leader they become:

• Faith – Not necessarily religious faith, but the trust leaders place in their vision, in their people, and in a future they can’t yet see.
• Humility – The quiet strength that puts the mission and the team above ego, creating space for others to thrive.
• Presence – The rare but transformative gift of giving someone full attention in a world that constantly pulls everyone toward distraction.

Jim doesn’t present these qualities as abstract ideals, but as the everyday practices that make the difference between leadership that is temporary and leadership that lasts.

Throughout the conversation, listeners are invited to reflect on powerful questions:

• What sustains you when the pressure mounts?
• What practices keep your inner life strong?
• What will people remember as the lasting impact of being led by you?

The Inner Life of a Leader is more than an introduction to a podcast. It is a call to slow down, to look inward, and to cultivate the qualities that make leadership not just effective, but unforgettable.

If you’ve ever wondered what separates leaders who leave a legacy from those who simply produce results, this episode will give you both the answer and the inspiration to begin building it in your own life.

Enjoyed the episode? Have questions or a personal story to relate? Send a text!