The best leaders don’t move faster. They design better systems.

In this episode, Aaron Kopel sits down with Ting Gootee, Executive Vice President of Digital Adoption & Managing Director of Crossroads Health Ventures at the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP). Ting shares lessons from her journey immigrating to the U.S., building Elevate Ventures, leading TechPoint as CEO, and now driving digital adoption across Indiana’s innovation ecosystem.

Ting reveals a hard-earned realization that leadership isn’t about doing more, it’s about creating clarity. She reflects on the 18-month stretch where she learned that constant motion can actually weaken ownership, and how restraint and system design unlocked stronger accountability and resilience. Ting and Aaron explore the future of middle management in an AI-driven world, explaining why judgment, ownership, and ambiguity tolerance are becoming the most valuable skills in modern organizations.

Key takeaways:

• Sustainable impact comes from system design, not individual heroics
• Clarity creates ownership faster than constant execution
• AI is flattening coordination roles, elevating judgment and accountability

Episode highlights

(00:00) Intro

(01:29) Leading digital adoption and venture capital at CICP

(03:26) Ting’s advice to her younger self on ownership

(04:36) When doing less unlocked more leadership impact

(09:00) The future of middle management in an AI-driven world

(15:22) How to craft systems for impact

(18:43) Rapid fire: passion, influence, and legacy

Ting Gootee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tinggootee 

Aaron Kopel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronkopel

Explore Central Indiana Corporate Partnership: https://www.cicpindiana.com/ 

Explore Project Brilliant: https://projectbrilliant.com

Buy Unlocking Momentum: https://a.co/d/hKPFqoS