The lesson was Fuel Your Faith In Yourself. John Lewis was the leader. Now meet someone who didn't just study that faith from the outside — he witnessed it firsthand.

This episode, Elaine sits down with Dr. Robert Traynham — President and CEO of the Faith and Politics Institute — for one of the most moving and memorable conversations of the entire season.

Dr. Traynham brings something to this episode that no book, no biography and no history class ever could. Personal memories. Real moments. The lived experience of working alongside one of the most extraordinary human beings in American history and watching up close what it actually looked like when John Lewis fuelled his faith in himself every single day.

But this conversation goes beyond memory and into framework. Dr. Traynham shares what he calls his Robertisms — three powerful principles of leadership that sit at the very heart of everything John Lewis embodied:

Leading from within. Knowing who you are and what you stand for so deeply that nothing external can shake it.

Leading across. Building bridges across every divide — political, cultural, generational — with grace, purpose and an unshakeable belief in the humanity of every person in the room.

Leading through. Having the courage and the faith to keep moving forward even when the road is at its hardest and the outcome is far from certain.

Three principles. One extraordinary life. And a conversation that is going to stay with you long after the episode ends.

Season 1: Self Leadership continues — and this episode is proof that the most powerful leadership lessons don't just come from history. Sometimes they come from the people who were privileged enough to walk alongside it.

📚 Learn More About Dr. Robert Traynham & The Faith and Politics Institute:

• 🔗 Dr. Robert Traynham — LinkedIn
• 📷 Faith and Politics Institute — Instagram
• 🔗 Faith and Politics Institute — LinkedIn
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From Their Story To Yours — because the best leadership lessons aren't new. They're just waiting to be rediscovered.

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You waited. You wondered. The moment is here.

Welcome back to From Their Story To Yours — and to the reveal behind Lesson 6: Fuel Your Faith In Yourself.

The historical leader behind this lesson?

John Lewis.

A man who from the very beginning was told that what he was doing was impossible. That the system was too powerful. That the odds were too great. That the price was too high. And who showed up anyway again and again and again with a faith in himself and in the righteousness of his cause that nothing and nobody could extinguish.

Born the son of sharecroppers in Pike County, Alabama, John Lewis went on to become one of the most courageous and consequential figures in American history. As a young man he was beaten, arrested and threatened — and he kept going. He stood on the Edmund Pettus Bridge at Selma knowing what was coming — and he kept going. He dedicated his entire life to what he called getting into good trouble — the kind of trouble that bends the arc of history toward justice.

John Lewis didn't fuel his faith in himself by waiting until the road was safe. He fuelled it by walking the road anyway. By believing so deeply in who he was and what he stood for that fear simply could not get the final word.

That is what it looks like to truly fuel your faith in yourself. And there has never been a more important time to learn from it.

Season 1: Self Leadership continues — and this story is proof that the most powerful thing you can do as a leader is refuse to let the world's doubts become your own.

And speaking of going deeper — we have a very special expert interview coming up in the next episode. We're not ready to reveal who just yet… but trust us, you are going to want to come back for this one.

🔔 Hit subscribe so you don't miss the announcement.

✨ Outfit Links from This Episode:

• 🧣 Scarf: Madigan Cashmere
• 💎 Earrings: Ten Thousand Villages

From Their Story To Yours — because the best leadership lessons aren't new. They're just waiting to be rediscovered.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do you do when every voice around you says you can't — and the only voice telling you otherwise is your own?

Welcome back to From Their Story To Yours — where history's greatest leaders hand you the playbook, one lesson at a time. Your host Elaine McLoughlin is back with Lesson 6 of Season 1: Self Leadership — and this one is deeply personal, profoundly human and absolutely essential.

Lesson 6: Fuel Your Faith In Yourself.

This episode, Elaine introduces us to a historical figure who faced doubt from every direction. From the people around them. From the institutions above them. From a world that had already decided who they were and what they were capable of. And yet they kept going. Not because the path was clear. Not because success was guaranteed. But because somewhere deep down they had an unshakeable faith in themselves and the importance of what they were doing.

That faith didn't just sustain them. It changed history.

But who are we talking about? That's the reveal — and it's coming in the next episode. Trust us, this one is going to move you in ways you didn't expect. Come back and find out. 🎙️

Season 1: Self Leadership is in full swing — and the deeper we go, the clearer it becomes. The leaders who changed the world were always the ones who believed in themselves first.

✨ Outfit Links from This Episode:

• 💎 Earrings: Barry Doyle Design
• 📿 Necklace: Naiomi Glasses

From Their Story To Yours — because the best leadership lessons aren't new. They're just waiting to be rediscovered.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bonus Episode — The World They Inherited: Young People, Complex Challenges and Symphonic Strategies with Alonford James Robinson Jr., PhD.

What does it really take to prepare the next generation for a world that none of us have ever navigated before?

Welcome back to From Their Story To Yours — and to a bonus conversation that is as honest, challenging and deeply necessary as any we have had this season. Elaine sits down once again with Alonford James Robinson Jr., PhD. to go deeper on one of the most important threads from their last conversation — the very real and very unique challenges facing young people today.

Because here is the uncomfortable truth. The world young people are inheriting is fundamentally different from the one their parents and mentors grew up in. The complexity is greater. The uncertainty is deeper. The pace of change is relentless. And yet so many of the frameworks, expectations and advice being handed down to them were built for a world that no longer exists.

In one of the most refreshingly honest moments of the episode Elaine catches herself falling into exactly that trap — defaulting to traditional thinking. And Dr. Robinson does what the best mentors do. He gently but firmly reality-checks the tone. Because the conversation young people need isn't the one we were given. It is something altogether different.

Dr. Robinson shares the work he is doing through his company Symphonic Strategies — building the tools, frameworks and conversations that help young people find their footing in a complex new world. Not by handing them a fixed score to play from. But by helping them learn to improvise, listen and lead with confidence in the middle of the most beautifully complicated jazz session any generation has ever faced. 🎷

This is a conversation about empathy, responsibility and what it truly means to show up for the next generation — not with the answers we wish they needed, but with the tools they actually do.

📚 Learn More:

• 🔗 Symphonic Strategies
• 📖 Watch Your Tone — coming soon

From Their Story To Yours — because the best leadership lessons aren't new. They're just waiting to be rediscovered.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if everything you've been told about leadership is playing the wrong tune?

Welcome to one of the most special episodes of From Their Story To Yours yet. Elaine sits down with Alonford James Robinson Jr., PhD. — one of her very first mentors and the author of the extraordinary new book Watch Your Tone: Leadership Strategies to Restore Relational Intelligence — for a conversation that is as warm, wide ranging and genuinely illuminating as it gets.

Dr. Robinson opens with an analogy that reframes everything. The difference between an orchestra and a jazz band. In an orchestra, everyone plays from the same score — precise, disciplined, and directed from the front. In jazz? The musicians listen to each other in real time. They respond. They adapt. They create something together that no single conductor could have planned. And according to Dr. Robinson, that is exactly what modern leadership demands.

Because the world has changed. And the leaders who are thriving are the ones who have learned to listen while they play.

Dr. Robinson makes a compelling and passionate case for something that too many organisations still dismiss — that the so called soft skills of leadership are not soft at all. They are a science. Backed by research, grounded in evidence, and more urgently needed today than ever before.

From the very real challenges facing younger generations navigating the modern workplace, to the deeper meaning of the American Experiment and what it truly asks of its leaders — this conversation covers extraordinary ground. And yes, Gettysburg makes an appearance too. Because of course it does.

This is a conversation between a mentor and a student who has become a peer — and the depth, warmth and wisdom in it is something truly special.

📚 Learn More About Alonford James Robinson Jr., PhD.:

• 🔗 Dr. Robinson
• 📖 Watch Your Tone

From Their Story To Yours — because the best leadership lessons aren't new. They're just waiting to be rediscovered.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does it really mean to build a career that is truly yours?

Welcome to a very special bonus episode of From Their Story To Yours. This time Elaine steps away from the history books for a conversation that is deeply personal, refreshingly honest, and immediately relevant to anyone who has ever wondered whether the path they are on is really the right one.

Elaine sits down with Kip Ephraim — a former colleague from their time together at KPMG — for a conversation about one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of self leadership: navigating your authentic career.

Because here is the truth. So many of us spend years building careers that look impressive from the outside but feel misaligned on the inside. We follow the expected path. We chase the next title, the next salary, the next logical step. And somewhere along the way we lose sight of the most important question of all — is this actually me?

Kip and Elaine dig into what it really takes to build a career with authenticity at its core. The moments of doubt. The pivots that felt terrifying and turned out to be transformative. The courage it takes to back yourself when the conventional path is pulling you in a different direction.

This is one of those conversations that reminds you that self leadership isn't just about the big historical moments — it is about the quiet, courageous choices we make every single day about who we want to be and how we want to show up in the world.

From Their Story To Yours — because the best leadership lessons aren't new. They're just waiting to be rediscovered.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if one of the most powerful places in the world to learn about leadership isn't a boardroom, a business school, or a conference centre — but a battlefield?

Welcome to a very special standalone bonus episode of From Their Story To Yours. Your host Elaine McLoughlin sits down with Nancy Barr, Ph.D., NREMT — Leadership Program Director at the Gettysburg Foundation — to explore one of the most unique and extraordinary leadership development programmes: Higher Ground Leadership at Gettysburg.

Gettysburg is not just a place of profound historical significance. It is a living classroom. A place where the decisions made under unimaginable pressure, the sacrifices of ordinary people doing extraordinary things, and the leadership lessons forged in the most defining moments of American history come alive in a way that no book, no lecture, and no seminar ever could.

Nancy brings decades of expertise to this conversation — and her passion for what Gettysburg has to teach us about leadership today is both infectious and deeply inspiring. From the hills and fields where history was made to the leaders who walk them today, Higher Ground Leadership at Gettysburg offers an experience that changes the way you think about who you are as a leader and who you want to become.

Throughout Season 1 of From Their Story To Yours, the Gettysburg Foundation has been a proud partner — and this episode is Elaine's opportunity to shine a well deserved spotlight on the remarkable work they do and the incredible people behind it.

Because leadership isn't just something you read about. Sometimes you have to walk the ground where it happened.

📚 Learn More:

• 🔗 Higher Ground Leadership at Gettysburg

From Their Story To Yours — because the best leadership lessons aren't new. They're just waiting to be rediscovered.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some stories deserve to be set in stone. 🕊️

Welcome back to From Their Story To Yours — and to a very special bonus episode. Elaine sits down once again with Eric Federing — former press secretary, speechwriter and senior congressional advisor to Norman Y. Mineta — to talk about one of the most moving and significant monuments in Washington D.C.: the National Japanese American Memorial.

A memorial that exists in no small part because of the tireless work of Norman Mineta and the allies he spent a lifetime creating.

Because that is what lasting change truly looks like. Not just in the moment. Not just in the legislation. But in the stone and steel of a permanent place of remembrance that ensures the story of 120,000 Japanese American families — their sacrifice, their resilience, and their extraordinary contribution to American life — will never be forgotten.

From an internment camp in San Jose to a permanent place of remembrance in the heart of the nation's capital — this is the full arc of what it means to create allies, build bridges and refuse to let injustice have the final word. And Eric Federing, who was there for so much of that journey, brings it to life with a warmth, detail and depth that will stay with you long after the episode ends.

Season 1: Self Leadership continues — and this bonus episode is proof that the most powerful leaders don't just change the present. They shape how history remembers the past.

📚 Learn More:

• 🔗 National Japanese American Memorial Foundation

From Their Story To Yours — because the best leadership lessons aren't new. They're just waiting to be rediscovered.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The lesson was Change Comes From Creating Allies. Mineta was the leader. Now meet someone who didn't just study that leadership from the outside — he lived it from the inside.

This episode, Elaine sits down with Eric Federing — who served as press secretary, speechwriter, and senior congressional advisor to Representative Norman Y. Mineta beginning in 1987, later transitioning to serve as Democratic communications director when Mineta chaired the House Public Works and Transportation Committee.

This is not a conversation about history from a distance. This is a firsthand account of what it actually looked like to work alongside one of the most remarkable alliance builders in American political history. Eric was in the room. He saw how Mineta operated — how he spoke, how he listened, how he brought people together across every divide with a sincerity and purpose that left a lasting mark on everyone around him.

What does it actually look like when a leader creates allies in real time? How did Mineta navigate the corridors of power with such grace and effectiveness? And what can the way he led teach us about how we show up for the people and causes we care about today?

Eric Federing answers all of that and more — and this conversation is as warm, candid and illuminating as it gets.

Season 1: Self Leadership continues — and this episode is proof that the most powerful leadership lessons don't just come from history books. Sometimes they come from the people who were right there beside the leader when it mattered most.

From Their Story To Yours — because the best leadership lessons aren't new. They're just waiting to be rediscovered.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 18 — The Reveal: Change Comes From Creating Allies

You waited. You wondered. The moment is here.

Welcome back to From Their Story To Yours — and to the reveal behind Lesson 5: Change Comes From Creating Allies.

The historical leader behind this lesson?

Norman Mineta.

A name that deserves to be far better known than it is.

Norman Mineta's story is one of the most remarkable in American political history. As a child, he was one of the 120,000 Japanese Americans forcibly relocated to internment camps during World War II — a moment of profound injustice that could have defined him in bitterness and anger. Instead it defined him in purpose.

Mineta went on to become a trailblazing congressman, the first Asian American mayor of a major American city, and a Cabinet member who served under both Republican and Democratic presidents. And at the heart of everything he achieved was an extraordinary ability to create allies across the deepest of divides.

His most unlikely alliance? A friendship forged in an internment camp with a young boy named Alan Simpson — who would grow up to become a Republican senator. Together, decades later, they fought side by side to pass the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, securing a formal apology and reparations for Japanese American internment survivors.

That is what it looks like when change comes from creating allies. Not just networking. Not just diplomacy. But a deep, human belief that the right relationships — built with sincerity and purpose across every divide — can change the world.

And they did.

Season 1: Self Leadership continues — and this story is proof that the most lasting change never comes from going it alone. It comes from bringing the right people with you.

And speaking of going deeper — we have a very special expert interview coming up in the next episode. We're not ready to reveal who just yet… but trust us, you are going to want to come back for this one. 👀

🔔 Hit subscribe so you don't miss the announcement.

✨ Outfit Links from This Episode:

• 💎 Earrings: Barry Doyle Design
• 📿 Necklace: Naiomi Glasses

From Their Story To Yours — because the best leadership lessons aren't new. They're just waiting to be rediscovered.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.