Lead & Follow

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Full transcript and show notes: https://www.sharnafabiano.com/2026/07/29/constructive-feedback-how-to-give-it-and-receive-it-janice-shack-marquez/

Rather than something to be anxious about, this episode demonstrates how giving and receiving constructive feedback can be a powerful tool for growth and learning, and even make relationships stronger over time. Sharna speaks with Dr. Janice Shack-Marquez about how individuals and organizations can create cultures where feedback becomes a comfortable and predictable pathway to improvement rather than a source of conflict.

Janice Shack-Marquez completed a 30-year career at the Federal Reserve, helping new managers in particular learn how to lead in all directions: up, down, sideways and diagonally! She now teaches and coaches at George Washington University, the University of Maryland and for several federal agencies.

You'll learn:

• How to make feedback a two-way process rather than a management task
• How to deliver constructive feedback in ways that build trust
• How to receive feedback without becoming defensive
• How precise feedback helps people understand their impact and develop new skills
• How organizations can create healthier feedback cultures

Learn more about Janice's leadership work
www.shackmarquez.com

Episode References
Fierce Conversations, Susan Scott
The Courageous Follower, Ira Chaleff

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Sharna Fabiano is the author of Lead & Follow: The Dance of Inspired Teamwork and host of the Lead & Follow Podcast. She helps founders, solopreneurs, and new leaders build strong collaborative relationships and successful teams. 

Get a discounted coach session with Sharna with promo code PODCAST
https://www.sharnafabiano.com/coaching/

Order the book: Lead & Follow
https://www.amazon.com/Lead-Follow-Dance-Inspired-Teamwork/dp/1646632796/

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Full transcript and show notes: https://www.sharnafabiano.com/2026/07/29/leadership-influence-why-authority-alone-doesnt-earn-commitment-lew-steinhoff/

A job title may give someone authority, but it doesn't guarantee influence. Dr. Lewis Steinhoff explains why effective leadership depends on something every manager must earn: the willingness of other people to accept, respond to, and act on their guidance. Drawing from his work in high-stakes government organizations, he demonstrates through concrete examples how formal authority alone does not guarantee commitment or trust.

Dr. Lewis Steinhoff directs the Nuclear Weapon Acquisition Professional Certification Program at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. His work developing leaders in complex, mission-critical environments has led him to study how authority, trust, and human behavior shape organizational effectiveness far beyond what organizational charts can dictate.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why positional authority has limits in every organization.
• How leaders can build influence beyond job titles.
• What determines whether employees accept or resist a manager's direction.
• Why understanding human power dynamics results in better outcomes.
• How these principles apply from everyday workplaces to high-level government negotiations.

Connect with Dr. Steinhoff on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-lewis-steinhoff-a9751147/

References

Ira Chaleff, The Courageous Follower

Gaski, John, "'Volume of Power: A New Conceptualization of the Power Construct", Sociological Spectrum, 15, 1995 

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, In the First Circle (1968) 
“You only have power over people as long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything he's no longer in your power — he's free again.” 

Steinhoff, R.L. (2021), "Assessing leaders’ power limits over followers", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 53 No. 2, pp. 107-116.  

Support the show

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Sharna Fabiano is the author of Lead & Follow: The Dance of Inspired Teamwork and host of the Lead & Follow Podcast. She helps founders, solopreneurs, and new leaders build strong collaborative relationships and successful teams. 

Get a discounted coach session with Sharna with promo code PODCAST
https://www.sharnafabiano.com/coaching/

Order the book: Lead & Follow
https://www.amazon.com/Lead-Follow-Dance-Inspired-Teamwork/dp/1646632796/

Support the Show!
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Full transcript and show notes: https://www.sharnafabiano.com/2026/07/29/preventing-toxic-leadership-steps-any-employee-can-take-today-alain-de-sales/

Sharna speaks with Dr. Alain de Sales on how employees can stop patterns of destructive leadership. Alain describes the toxic triangle framework made up of leaders, susceptible followers and context. Through several case studies, he shows how specific, methodical, and sequential acts of courage can interrupt harm and take down abusive power structures at any scale and in any domain, including business, politics, and social movements.

Alain de Sales is a Senior Lecturer in Queensland University of Technology’s Graduate School of Business. His PhD examined how courageous followers stand up to destructive leadership. Some of his previous consulting clients include the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and Development Victoria.

You’ll learn:

• Why it’s necessary to understand courage as a functional skill that can be practiced
• When and how to build coalitions both inside and outside your domain
• Why documenting destructive behavior matters

Connect with Alain on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaindesales

 References in this Episode

Mary Parker Follett was a management theorist who introduced the concept of followers as distinct from leaders in the 1920s.

Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon papers revealing the atrocities of the Vietnam war. 

The courageous actions of several people during the Watergate scandal ultimately contributed to President Richard Nixon’s resignation just before he could be impeached.
 
 Gaslit Nation is co-hosted by independent journalists Sarah Kendzior & Andrea Chalupa
www.gaslitnationpod.com

Ira Chaleff, The Courageous Follower
 
 M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth
 
"You can’t be neutral on a moving train." – Howard Zinn

Support the show

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Sharna Fabiano is the author of Lead & Follow: The Dance of Inspired Teamwork and host of the Lead & Follow Podcast. She helps founders, solopreneurs, and new leaders build strong collaborative relationships and successful teams. 

Get a discounted coach session with Sharna with promo code PODCAST
https://www.sharnafabiano.com/coaching/

Order the book: Lead & Follow
https://www.amazon.com/Lead-Follow-Dance-Inspired-Teamwork/dp/1646632796/

Support the Show!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1735834/support

Send Fan Mail by Text!

Full transcript and show notes: https://www.sharnafabiano.com/2026/07/29/constructive-dialogue-how-listening-leads-to-better-decisions-ryan-moody/

Listening is often treated as a passive skill, but Ryan Moody argues that choosing to listen can be one of the most influential decisions we make. Drawing on her experience building and maintaining hydrogen fuel cell stations, she explores how collaboration depends on consent, trust, and the willingness to be changed by what other people contribute. Those same principles, she suggests, apply just as much to social justice conversations and personal relationships.

Ryan Moody is a chemical engineer who works on hydrogen fuel cell infrastructure throughout Southern California. Her work in complex technical systems has shaped a practical perspective on collaboration, communication, and shared responsibility—one that extends well beyond engineering into everyday interactions.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why active listening is an essential skill for effective collaboration.
• How consent influences healthy working relationships and shared decision-making.
• What engineering projects can teach us about effective communication.
• Why accountability requires conversation, not just public criticism.
• How choosing to step back and listen can strengthen both professional and personal relationships.

Support the show

*
Sharna Fabiano is the author of Lead & Follow: The Dance of Inspired Teamwork and host of the Lead & Follow Podcast. She helps founders, solopreneurs, and new leaders build strong collaborative relationships and successful teams. 

Get a discounted coach session with Sharna with promo code PODCAST
https://www.sharnafabiano.com/coaching/

Order the book: Lead & Follow
https://www.amazon.com/Lead-Follow-Dance-Inspired-Teamwork/dp/1646632796/

Support the Show!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1735834/support

Send Fan Mail by Text!

Full transcript and show notes: https://www.sharnafabiano.com/2026/07/29/conflict-management-what-martial-arts-teaches-about-staying-calm-under-pressure-jonathan-han/

In martial arts, receiving an opponent’s movement is not a sign of weakness—it is a skill that requires awareness, control, and strength. Jonathan explores how martial arts training develops the ability to stay present under pressure, adapt in real time, and respond effectively instead of relying on force or control. These same principles apply to difficult conversations, leadership, and everyday conflict.

Jonathan draws from his experience in martial arts training to examine how physical techniques reveal deeper lessons about human interaction. Through the practice of receiving, adjusting, and responding, he challenges the assumption that strength always comes from taking charge and offers a different perspective on humility, resilience, and effective influence.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why receiving and adapting can be signs of strength rather than weakness.
• How martial arts training develops calmness and awareness during conflict.
• Why trying to control every outcome can reduce your ability to respond effectively.
• What leaders can learn from the martial arts principle of adjustment and timing.
• How humility and flexibility can improve communication and relationships.

References in this episode

“ We don’t rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training.”
Archilochus, Greek poet, c. 650 BC

Kasia Urbaniak, Unbound

Support the show

*
Sharna Fabiano is the author of Lead & Follow: The Dance of Inspired Teamwork and host of the Lead & Follow Podcast. She helps founders, solopreneurs, and new leaders build strong collaborative relationships and successful teams. 

Get a discounted coach session with Sharna with promo code PODCAST
https://www.sharnafabiano.com/coaching/

Order the book: Lead & Follow
https://www.amazon.com/Lead-Follow-Dance-Inspired-Teamwork/dp/1646632796/

Support the Show!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1735834/support

Send Fan Mail by Text!

Full transcript and show notes: https://www.sharnafabiano.com/2026/07/29/coaching-skills-how-to-balance-guidance-with-client-autonomy-amy-lombardo/

Great coaching is not about having all the answers—it is about creating the conditions for someone else to discover their own. Amy Lombardo explores how the coaching relationship requires a constant balance between offering guidance and making space for another person’s insight, agency, and growth. Through this lens, coaching becomes a practice of both influence and deep listening.

Amy Lombardo is a coach and teacher of coaches specializing in human potential. She is the author of Brilliance and founder of the Brilliance Academy for Personal Transformation and Social Change in Los Angeles, where she trains coaches and explores new approaches to personal and collective transformation.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How coaches balance guidance with allowing clients to lead their own process.
• Why authentic coaching requires both confidence and openness.
• How the coaching relationship creates trust, possibility, and meaningful change.
• What it means to lead and follow yourself more effectively.
• Why serving others—not controlling outcomes—is at the heart of transformational relationships.

Amy’s website
www.amylombardo.com 

Amy’s book Brilliance
https://www.amazon.com/Brilliance-Coaching-Clearing-Obstacles-Authenticity/dp/1928055478/

The Brilliance Academy for Personal Transformation and Social Change
www.brilliancecoachingacademy.com

Support the show

*
Sharna Fabiano is the author of Lead & Follow: The Dance of Inspired Teamwork and host of the Lead & Follow Podcast. She helps founders, solopreneurs, and new leaders build strong collaborative relationships and successful teams. 

Get a discounted coach session with Sharna with promo code PODCAST
https://www.sharnafabiano.com/coaching/

Order the book: Lead & Follow
https://www.amazon.com/Lead-Follow-Dance-Inspired-Teamwork/dp/1646632796/

Support the Show!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1735834/support

Send Fan Mail by Text!

Full transcript and show notes: https://www.sharnafabiano.com/2026/07/29/team-effectiveness-how-employees-shape-success-without-leadership-roles-ruth-sims/

Organizations often assume success depends primarily on the quality of their leaders. Ruth Sims challenges that assumption by exploring a different question: what role do people play in creating successful outcomes when they are not the ones with formal authority? Drawing from her research and decades of experience in higher education administration, she examines how employees influence teams through initiative, judgment, and intentional participation.

Ruth Sims is a long-time higher education administrator and PhD researcher at the University of South Australia Business School, where she studies followership and organizational behavior. Her experience on the organizational side of academia gives her a practical perspective on how leadership and employee contributions interact in real workplaces.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why organizations succeed because of employee contributions as well as formal leadership.
• Why effective participation requires understanding the purpose behind your work.
• How teams create space for different people to contribute at different moments.
• What researchers are discovering about the relationship between leadership, followership, and organizational effectiveness.

References in this episode:

Carsten, M.K, Uhl-Bien, M., West, B.J., Patera, J.L, McGregor, R., (2010) 'Exploring social constructions of followership: A qualitative study.' The Leadership Quarterly 2, 543–562.

Uhl-Bien, M., Riggio, R.E., Lowe, K.B., Carsten, M.K. (2014). 'Followership theory: A review and research agenda', The Leadership Quarterly, 25th Anniversary Issue 25, 83–104.

Connect with Ruth 

Followership Whisperer

https://www.linkedin/in/ruthsims1

Support the show

*
Sharna Fabiano is the author of Lead & Follow: The Dance of Inspired Teamwork and host of the Lead & Follow Podcast. She helps founders, solopreneurs, and new leaders build strong collaborative relationships and successful teams. 

Get a discounted coach session with Sharna with promo code PODCAST
https://www.sharnafabiano.com/coaching/

Order the book: Lead & Follow
https://www.amazon.com/Lead-Follow-Dance-Inspired-Teamwork/dp/1646632796/

Support the Show!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1735834/support

Send Fan Mail by Text!

Full transcript and show notes: https://www.sharnafabiano.com/2026/07/29/creative-partnerships-how-two-artists-make-decisions-together-laurie-ann-greenberg-blaise-barshaw/

Creating something together requires more than having good ideas—it requires knowing when to advocate for your vision and when to make space for someone else’s. Artists Laurie Ann Greenberg and Blaise Barshaw explore how they navigate creative collaboration in projects like the Camp Taps Beer Trailer, where ideas evolve through listening, experimentation, and the willingness to let go of control.

Based in Spokane, Washington, Laurie Ann Greenberg and Blaise Barshaw are artists who collaborate professionally while also building a life together. Their creative partnership offers a practical look at how shared projects succeed when both people contribute their strengths, respond to unexpected outcomes, and stay open to each other’s perspectives.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How creative partners make decisions when both people have strong ideas.
• Why an initial “no” can become part of the creative process rather than the end of it.
• How listening helps collaborators avoid getting ahead of the work.
• What artists can teach us about sharing ownership and responsibility.
• How the skills of creative collaboration apply to both projects and personal relationships.

Laurie Ann Greenberg
IG @cordandclay.co
Etsy Store

Blaise Barshaw
IG @blaisebarshawart

Support the show

*
Sharna Fabiano is the author of Lead & Follow: The Dance of Inspired Teamwork and host of the Lead & Follow Podcast. She helps founders, solopreneurs, and new leaders build strong collaborative relationships and successful teams. 

Get a discounted coach session with Sharna with promo code PODCAST
https://www.sharnafabiano.com/coaching/

Order the book: Lead & Follow
https://www.amazon.com/Lead-Follow-Dance-Inspired-Teamwork/dp/1646632796/

Support the Show!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1735834/support

Send Fan Mail by Text!

Full transcript and show notes: https://www.sharnafabiano.com/2026/07/29/stage-management-how-opera-teams-coordinate-under-pressure-tilla-foljanty/

Behind every successful opera performance is a complex network of people, information, and decisions that must come together in real time. Stage manager Tilla Foljanty explains how the backstage role requires both clear direction and deep receptivity—creating structure while staying ready to receive new information and adapt as the production unfolds.

Tilla Foljanty is a stage manager based in Bonn, Germany, working in the world of professional opera production. Through her experience coordinating artists, directors, and production teams, she has developed a nuanced understanding of how effective collaboration depends on knowing when to step forward, when to step back, and how to support others in doing their best work.

Whether you work in the arts, manage complex projects, or coordinate people behind the scenes, this conversation offers a unique look at the skills required to guide a process while remaining open to what emerges.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What stage managers teach us about coordinating complex creative projects.
• How backstage professionals balance authority, support, and flexibility.
• Why receiving information is an essential skill in high-pressure environments.
• How leaders create the conditions for others to contribute confidently.
• What opera production reveals about communication and teamwork.

**
Connect with your host Sharna Fabiano
www.sharnafabiano.com

Support the show

*
Sharna Fabiano is the author of Lead & Follow: The Dance of Inspired Teamwork and host of the Lead & Follow Podcast. She helps founders, solopreneurs, and new leaders build strong collaborative relationships and successful teams. 

Get a discounted coach session with Sharna with promo code PODCAST
https://www.sharnafabiano.com/coaching/

Order the book: Lead & Follow
https://www.amazon.com/Lead-Follow-Dance-Inspired-Teamwork/dp/1646632796/

Support the Show!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1735834/support

Send Fan Mail by Text!

Full transcript and show notes: https://www.sharnafabiano.com/2026/07/29/argentine-tango-the-art-of-leading-responding-and-creating-together-valeria-solomonoff/

In tango, the person who follows is not simply waiting for direction—they are listening, interpreting, and actively shaping the dance. Professional tango dancer and teacher Valeria Solomonoff explores how partner dance reveals a deeper understanding of connection, communication, and the constant exchange between initiating and responding.

Valeria Solomonoff is a professional tango dancer and educator based in New York City. Through her performance career and her work teaching tango students, she has developed a nuanced understanding of how dancers build trust, communicate without words, and create something together in real time.

Whether you dance tango, teach others, or are interested in how people create together, this conversation offers a unique perspective on communication, connection, and shared leadership.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How tango partners communicate through movement, attention, and responsiveness.
• Why following in dance requires creativity, preparation, and presence.
• What tango can teach us about collaboration in education and relationships.
• How teachers learn from their students while guiding the learning process.
• Why strong partnerships require both initiative and receptivity.

Valeria Solomonoff - Broadway Tango Classes
www.bwaytango.com

Valeria Solomonoff - Professional Site
www.valetango.com

Irene Dowd, Taking Root to Fly
https://movementresearch.org/people/irene-dowd

Marta Savigliano, Tango and the Political Economy of Passion
https://dance.ucr.edu/faculty/marta-savigliano/

**
Connect with your host Sharna Fabiano
www.sharnafabiano.com

Support the show

*
Sharna Fabiano is the author of Lead & Follow: The Dance of Inspired Teamwork and host of the Lead & Follow Podcast. She helps founders, solopreneurs, and new leaders build strong collaborative relationships and successful teams. 

Get a discounted coach session with Sharna with promo code PODCAST
https://www.sharnafabiano.com/coaching/

Order the book: Lead & Follow
https://www.amazon.com/Lead-Follow-Dance-Inspired-Teamwork/dp/1646632796/

Support the Show!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1735834/support