Have you seen what's happening in college sports? We could learn a ton in business from what's going on in collegiate athletics right now! In this episode Lone Rock Leadership co-founder Russ Hill dives into why he thinks the rise of the individual in sports is about to spread to business. Here's some of what you'll get in this episode:

• the transfer portal explained and why it maps to work
• coaching moves as a test of loyalty myths
• identity shift from company-first to free agent
• the rise of individual power over firm control
• annual portal mindset for career value checks
• smart compensation linked to contribution
• healthy guardrails without restrictive non-competes
• what winning organizations are doing now
• setting New Year focus on team momentum

Share this episode with a colleague, your team, or a friend. Tap on the share button and text the link

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Visit the Lone Rock Leadership Website:
https://www.lonerock.io

Connect with me on LinkedIn or to send me a DM:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/russleads/

Tap here to check out my first book, Decide to Lead, on Amazon. Thank you so much to the thousands of you who have already purchased it for yourself or your company!

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About the podcast:
The Lead In 30 Podcast with Russ Hill is for leaders of teams who want to grow and accelerate their results. In each episode, Russ Hill shares what he's learned consulting executives. Subscribe to get two new episodes every week. To connect with Russ message him on LinkedIn!

Ever wonder why some leaders seem to always be a step ahead while others keep relearning the same hard lessons? The quiet difference is a system: capture the experience, process it into something useful, and ship it so others move faster. We use a simple Google Maps analogy to make this vivid—data is useless until it becomes direction—and then break down how to build your own engine for turning life and work into assets.

We reflect on the year as a practical frame for review, not a scoreboard for ego. What did the last twelve months teach you about clarity, alignment, and movement? We walk through the habits that make capture effortless, from a living “What Works” document to tagged notes and fast story collection. Then we show how to refine raw thoughts into checklists, prompts, playbooks, and short talks that people can actually use on Monday morning. This is how you grow influence without shouting: by building a body of work that others rely on.

Finally, we map distribution tiers—personal, organizational, and public—so your knowledge reaches the right audience at the right fidelity. You’ll hear how we turned years of consulting into courses, a book, and repeatable tools, and why the market consistently rewards clarity, speed, and usefulness. No fluff, no grandstanding—just a practical path to raising your impact and leaving a real legacy. If you’re ready to stop letting your best insights evaporate and start shipping value, this conversation is your starting line.

If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a teammate, and leave a quick review so more leaders can find it. What’s one insight you’ll capture and ship this week?

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Visit the Lone Rock Leadership Website:
https://www.lonerock.io

Connect with me on LinkedIn or to send me a DM:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/russleads/

Tap here to check out my first book, Decide to Lead, on Amazon. Thank you so much to the thousands of you who have already purchased it for yourself or your company!

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About the podcast:
The Lead In 30 Podcast with Russ Hill is for leaders of teams who want to grow and accelerate their results. In each episode, Russ Hill shares what he's learned consulting executives. Subscribe to get two new episodes every week. To connect with Russ message him on LinkedIn!

You get only 12 days. That's it. We're going to evaluate whether you stay or get fired on how you perform in those 12 days. 

In this episode, Lone Rock Leadership co-founder Russ Hill compares college football coaches to modern day managers. Some organizations reflect winning universities and some look and operate like losers. 

Some of what Russ covers:

• performance as the true end, not engagement
• the twelve-games vs four-quarters mindset
• moving fast on underperformance with clear lifelines
• investing in systems before raising expectations
• customer proximity and market trend awareness
• building feedback loops that drive behavior change
• making metrics visible and acting on misses
• recruiting and retaining talent with a trophy standard

Share this episode with a colleague, your team, or a friend. Tap on the share button and text the link

--
Visit the Lone Rock Leadership Website:
https://www.lonerock.io

Connect with me on LinkedIn or to send me a DM:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/russleads/

Tap here to check out my first book, Decide to Lead, on Amazon. Thank you so much to the thousands of you who have already purchased it for yourself or your company!

--
About the podcast:
The Lead In 30 Podcast with Russ Hill is for leaders of teams who want to grow and accelerate their results. In each episode, Russ Hill shares what he's learned consulting executives. Subscribe to get two new episodes every week. To connect with Russ message him on LinkedIn!

The moment a boulder lands on your path is the moment your leadership shows. Do you freeze and wait for clarity, or move and create it? We dig into the simple but potent idea that action produces information and explore how the best teams keep delivering even when the trail turns steep and the hail starts to fall.

We start by reframing accountability as power. Instead of punishing misses, we coach people to get curious about obstacles: What exactly is in our way, how big is it, and where’s the gap we can exploit in the next 48 hours? That curiosity fuels a tight loop—discover, decide, do—that turns uncertainty into insight. Along the way, we talk about why complexity doesn’t scale, how stories spread faster than slide decks, and what it takes to keep your org’s “foggy middle” aligned on a small set of clear outcomes. Expect practical examples, from piloting small bets to resetting team language so direction and ownership are unmistakable.

We also get candid about human nature. It’s normal to shrink for a moment when the market shifts, budgets tighten, or competitors pounce. The difference-makers don’t stay there. They take the smallest reversible action to learn something real, share that learning so it scales, and repeat the cycle until a path around, over, or through the obstacle appears. If you’re leading a team through change, this conversation gives you language to rally your people, questions to unlock accountability, and steps to make progress without perfect information.

If this resonates, share the episode with your team, subscribe for more practical leadership tools, and leave a quick review with your biggest takeaway—what boulder are you moving today?

--
Visit the Lone Rock Leadership Website:
https://www.lonerock.io

Connect with me on LinkedIn or to send me a DM:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/russleads/

Tap here to check out my first book, Decide to Lead, on Amazon. Thank you so much to the thousands of you who have already purchased it for yourself or your company!

--
About the podcast:
The Lead In 30 Podcast with Russ Hill is for leaders of teams who want to grow and accelerate their results. In each episode, Russ Hill shares what he's learned consulting executives. Subscribe to get two new episodes every week. To connect with Russ message him on LinkedIn!

Strong communicators make strong leaders. In this episode Lone Rock Leadership co founder Russ Hill shares three tips for more efficiently communicating in meetings and in one-on-one chats.

Meetings shouldn’t feel like a maze. We walk you through a simple set of moves that transform wandering discussions into sharp decisions: take a clear, movable position, ask direct questions that reveal where people really stand, and read the story their behavior tells beyond their words. These techniques are built from years of coaching senior executives and observing what actually accelerates results inside complex organizations.

We start by reframing the opening minutes of any meeting. Instead of circling the topic, set a pace by offering a concise position that others can react to. Then prime the room: ask for perspectives, pause to show you’re listening, fill a few seconds while people gather their thoughts, and invite someone to start. When the comments come, validate fast and keep the momentum with Who’s next? This small change expands participation, reduces awkwardness, and prevents the facilitator monologue that quietly shuts a room down.

From there, we show how direct questions cut weeks of guesswork. Whether you’re pricing a keynote, aligning on a product timeline, or negotiating priorities across functions, precision prompts like What range do you need us to be in? and What do you not like about this plan? reveal constraints early and save endless back-and-forth. Finally, we confront a hard truth: most people share only 60 to 75 percent of what they think. To access the rest, ask What else am I missing? and pay close attention to consistent behavior—follow-through, responsiveness, and initiative—as the real signal of commitment.

If you’re ready to lead faster and communicate with less friction, this playbook will help you run better meetings, make cleaner decisions, and raise your value as a leader. If it helps, share it with a teammate, subscribe for more practical tools, and leave a quick review so others can find the show. What’s the first question you’ll ask differently this week?

--
Visit the Lone Rock Leadership Website:
https://www.lonerock.io

Connect with me on LinkedIn or to send me a DM:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/russleads/

Tap here to check out my first book, Decide to Lead, on Amazon. Thank you so much to the thousands of you who have already purchased it for yourself or your company!

--
About the podcast:
The Lead In 30 Podcast with Russ Hill is for leaders of teams who want to grow and accelerate their results. In each episode, Russ Hill shares what he's learned consulting executives. Subscribe to get two new episodes every week. To connect with Russ message him on LinkedIn!

If you’ve ever felt like you’ve hit your ceiling, this conversation is your nudge to test it. We connect three simple moments—a chaotic drive-thru, a standout service interaction, and a gym set that pushed our limits—to the deeper truth that teams mirror their leaders and capacity grows where mindset allows it. You’ll hear how one bad customer experience reveals weak standards at the top, why a single friendly voice can signal a strong system, and how small, consistent stretches rewire what you and your team believe is possible.

We also pull back the curtain on Deliver: Why Some Leaders Get Results and Most Don’t, including an audiobook sneak peek and what it really takes to ship a book that reflects years of field work with executive teams. From edits and early readers to narration and launch, we share how the same principles we coach—clarity, pace, and tolerance for imperfection—show up in the creative process. That behind-the-scenes look sets up the episode’s core theme: stop treating capacity as fixed, and start treating it as a function of standards, coaching, and the example you set every day.

You’ll leave with practical shifts you can use immediately: hire for mindset and train for skill, remove tolerances that quietly drain performance, and set visible stretch goals that raise belief without burning people out. Think of it as a reset on how to lead with energy, ship before perfect, and build a culture that leans into challenge. If you’re ready to expand your impact and help your team do the same, press play, then tell us the one place you’ll add weight—at work or in life.

Enjoyed this conversation? Follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a quick review so more leaders can find it. Your feedback helps us keep raising the bar.

--
Visit the Lone Rock Leadership Website:
https://www.lonerock.io

Connect with me on LinkedIn or to send me a DM:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/russleads/

Tap here to check out my first book, Decide to Lead, on Amazon. Thank you so much to the thousands of you who have already purchased it for yourself or your company!

--
About the podcast:
The Lead In 30 Podcast with Russ Hill is for leaders of teams who want to grow and accelerate their results. In each episode, Russ Hill shares what he's learned consulting executives. Subscribe to get two new episodes every week. To connect with Russ message him on LinkedIn!

Ever feel like your team is living inside a 24-hour breaking news cycle? We’ve been there—where every email, rumor, or policy tweak turns into a fire drill and the loudest voice sets the tone. Today we unpack a simple shift that changes everything: stop breaking glass, and start to breathe and elevate. It’s not about dialing down ambition; it’s about dialing down drama so urgency becomes productive, not performative.

We talk through how media-style panic hijacks leadership judgment and why a smaller, saner information diet actually boosts performance. Then we get practical. Breathe means pause on purpose—step away, regulate, and buy time so your brain can think instead of react. Elevate means zoom out—expand the time horizon, define the real problem, and map options you can’t see when you’re nose-to-glass with the issue. With that reset, you can run two clocks: stabilize quickly on the surface while you work the root under the hood.

Along the way, we share how calm leaders set culture by how they react. Label levels of urgency so not everything becomes a five-alarm. Swap gossip loops for clear ownership and timelines. Use simple, steady language—what changed, what we know, what’s next—to lower heart rates and raise signal. If your org values constant alarms, it might cap your growth; the market increasingly rewards leaders who deliver under pressure without turning every update into a spectacle.

If you’re ready to build trust, retain talent, and make sharper calls when things go sideways, this conversation will be your toolkit. Share it with a colleague who keeps the figurative hammer within reach, and try the breathe and elevate practice on your next “emergency.” Subscribe, leave a quick review, and tell us: what helps you zoom out when the heat rises?

--
Visit the Lone Rock Leadership Website:
https://www.lonerock.io

Connect with me on LinkedIn or to send me a DM:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/russleads/

Tap here to check out my first book, Decide to Lead, on Amazon. Thank you so much to the thousands of you who have already purchased it for yourself or your company!

--
About the podcast:
The Lead In 30 Podcast with Russ Hill is for leaders of teams who want to grow and accelerate their results. In each episode, Russ Hill shares what he's learned consulting executives. Subscribe to get two new episodes every week. To connect with Russ message him on LinkedIn!

They develop hundreds of thousands of leaders. And they were all in one room at Sundance, Utah. In this episode Lone Rock Leadership co-founder Russ Hill takes you inside the executive summit for HR and L&D leaders.

Some highlights:

When managers face a wall of competencies, bloated slide decks, and libraries of courses, they default to noise over clarity. The fix isn’t more content. It’s fewer, simpler systems that tie every action to real outcomes.

We start with a bold reset: lead with results, not soft skills. Soft skills matter, but only as tools to achieve measurable business outcomes like customer satisfaction, retention, and growth. From there, we unpack four core areas that consistently move the needle across industries and org sizes. First, deliver results through clear, memorable team key results everyone can recite. Second, lead through disruption with a practical Change OS: status quo, mourn, adapt, innovate. Third, accelerate decisions with a shared Decide OS so teams move fast, stay aligned, and avoid constant escalation. Fourth, rethink accountability as power—help people shift from helpless to proactive with habits that focus on what they can control.

Along the way, we address why private equity’s content flood often backfires, how environment shapes learning, and why networking across functions expands your playbook. Expect crisp frameworks, plain language, and examples you can deploy today—whether you run a unit of 50 or a division of 50,000. If you’re ready to cut the clutter and build a culture of clarity, alignment, and movement, this conversation is your blueprint.

Want to go deeper or join the next executive summit? Head to LoneRock.io, reserve your spot, and share this episode with a colleague who’s ready to simplify and scale. If one idea landed, leave a quick review and tell us which framework you’ll try first.

--
Visit the Lone Rock Leadership Website:
https://www.lonerock.io

Connect with me on LinkedIn or to send me a DM:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/russleads/

Tap here to check out my first book, Decide to Lead, on Amazon. Thank you so much to the thousands of you who have already purchased it for yourself or your company!

--
About the podcast:
The Lead In 30 Podcast with Russ Hill is for leaders of teams who want to grow and accelerate their results. In each episode, Russ Hill shares what he's learned consulting executives. Subscribe to get two new episodes every week. To connect with Russ message him on LinkedIn!

--
Visit the Lone Rock Leadership Website:
https://www.lonerock.io

Connect with me on LinkedIn or to send me a DM:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/russleads/

Tap here to check out my first book, Decide to Lead, on Amazon. Thank you so much to the thousands of you who have already purchased it for yourself or your company!

--
About the podcast:
The Lead In 30 Podcast with Russ Hill is for leaders of teams who want to grow and accelerate their results. In each episode, Russ Hill shares what he's learned consulting executives. Subscribe to get two new episodes every week. To connect with Russ message him on LinkedIn!

--
Visit the Lone Rock Leadership Website:
https://www.lonerock.io

Connect with me on LinkedIn or to send me a DM:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/russleads/

Tap here to check out my first book, Decide to Lead, on Amazon. Thank you so much to the thousands of you who have already purchased it for yourself or your company!

--
About the podcast:
The Lead In 30 Podcast with Russ Hill is for leaders of teams who want to grow and accelerate their results. In each episode, Russ Hill shares what he's learned consulting executives. Subscribe to get two new episodes every week. To connect with Russ message him on LinkedIn!