Lead With More: Character-Driven Leadership for Today's Leaders

Episode 37:

In this episode of Lead With More, I give a behind-the-scenes view of my process for building this podcast — and the moment that changed it entirely. After recording an episode using an AI-generated script almost word-for-word, I found I couldn't bring myself to publish it. The content was accurate, but it didn't sound like me.

That experience led me to rebuild how I use AI in my content creation. I share the difference between technically correct writing and authentic communication, the checkpoints I now use to keep my own voice in every episode, and the production checklists that make the process repeatable rather than accidental.

This conversation goes beyond podcasting. Whether you're using AI for emails, presentations, or reports, my core lesson applies: the tools can help you move faster, but the judgment about what represents you has to stay yours.

Timestamps:

00:00 Why I Couldn't Watch My Own Podcast
00:52 Welcome Back to Lead With More
01:07 The AI Script I Almost Published
02:04 Correct Isn't the Same as Sounding Like You
03:06 How I Rebuilt My AI-Assisted Process
05:25 Editing AI Drafts to Match My Voice
05:56 My Pre- and Post-Production Checklists
06:45 Scrapping This Episode
07:05 The Real Lesson: Don't Outsource Judgement
07:52 Final Thoughts

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Tom DeBell is the founder and president of Modern Leadership Solutions, a Certified Maxwell Coach/Speaker/Trainer, a Full Focus Certified Pro, and a Certified Facilitator in the Six Types of Working Genius. Learn more about Tom and Modern Leadership Solutions here:

https://www.modernleadershipsolutions.com

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Music by HitsLab (https://www.youtube.com/@hitslabmusic)

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Episode 37

Most leaders know how to spot failure — but the hardest cuts to make are the ones to things that are actually working. In this episode, Tom breaks down three categories of activities every leader needs to evaluate: things producing no results, things producing poor results, and — the hardest one — good things that simply aren't the best use of your time, energy, or money.

Drawing on the Double Win”™️ framework from Full Focus (Winning at Work and Succeeding at Life), Tom walks through a simple diagnostic anyone can use this week: if you could only keep three things you're currently doing, would this one make the list? He also shares the honest, in-progress question he's asking about his own projects — including his own podcast — as he works to build a real measuring stick for effectiveness.

Greater productivity just makes you busy. Effectiveness comes from having the courage to focus on your best — and prune the rest.

Timestamps:

00:00 The Hardest Cut Leaders Avoid
00:47 Why Winning At Work Is Only Half The Story
01:36 Category 1 - Stop Doing Things That Produce No Results
02:37 Category 2 - Stop Doing Things That Produce Poor Results
03:35 Category 3 - When the Good Things Keep You From Your Best
04:42 The Diagnostic: The "Only Three Things" Test
05:45 Is There Enough Juice in the Squeeze?
06:27 This Week's Action Step
06:57 Outro - Keep Leading With More

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Tom DeBell, the founder and president of Modern Leadership Solutions, is a Certified Maxwell Coach/Speaker/Trainer, a Full Focus Certified Pro, and a Certified Facilitator in the Six Types of Working Genius.

https://www.modernleadershipsolutions.com

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With permission from:

Music by HitsLab (https://www.youtube.com/@hitslabmusic)

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Episode 36

Unlock your leadership potential with actionable insights that elevate your growth journey! In this episode, Tom reveals three powerful ways to invest in your leadership development when you’re ready to take the next step. Whether you’re feeling stuck or simply seeking more, these strategies will guide you toward meaningful transformation.

Building on last week's exploration of free resources, Tom dives deep into the realm of paid opportunities that can supercharge your skills. Discover the importance of attending structured trainings and workshops that go beyond surface-level learning. You'll learn how to capture and apply what you gain from these experiences, ensuring that your investment translates into real change.

But that’s just the start! Tom shares the benefits of joining a paid mastermind group, emphasizing the value of accountability and a tailored curriculum designed to propel you forward. You’ll understand how this collaborative environment fosters applied learning and helps you connect insights directly to your unique challenges.

Finally, hear Tom’s personal journey about hiring a coach—a decision he delayed for years but ultimately transformed his approach to leadership. He candidly discusses the significance of finding the right fit in a coach, ensuring that your partnership is effective and aligned with your goals.

This episode is not just about spending money; it’s about being intentional with your resources to cultivate character-driven leadership. The stakes are high: without this investment, you risk stagnation in your personal and professional growth. The best leaders are always learning—don't miss this chance to take action!

Perfect for aspiring leaders and seasoned professionals alike, this episode is essential listening if you want to elevate your leadership game. Tune in now and empower yourself to lead with more!

Listen to Episode 35 - https://youtu.be/wWzp4uu-cnM

Timestamps:

00:00 Why Free Resources Only Take You So Far
00:44 Get the Most Out of Leadership Trainings and Workshops
01:31 Why a Paid Mastermind Accelerates Leadership Growth
02:18 Should You Hire a Leadership Coach?
02:50 How to Find the Right Leadership Coach For You
03:41 Invest in Your Leadership With Intention

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Tom DeBell is the founder and president of Modern Leadership Solutions, a Certified Maxwell Coach/Speaker/Trainer, a Full Focus Certified Pro, and a Certified Facilitator in the Six Types of Working Genius. Learn more about Tom and Modern Leadership Solutions here:

https://www.modernleadershipsolutions.com

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With permission from:

Music by HitsLab (https://www.youtube.com/@hitslabmusic)

from Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/)

Think leadership growth requires a big budget? It doesn't. In this abbreviated episode of Lead With More, Tom DeBell breaks down three free — or nearly free — ways to build your leadership skills starting today. This episode is about more than consuming information; it's about building a system to capture what you learn and apply it. If you've been waiting for the budget or the time to start growing as a leader, this episode removes that excuse.

Episode 35

Timestamps:

00:00 Grow as a Leader Without Spending a Dime
00:51 1. Build a Reading Habit for Leadership Growth
02:02 2. Listen and Learn: Podcasts for Leadership Skills
02:52 3. Find a Mentor or Peer Group for Leadership Growth
03:33 BONUS: Free Leadership Content on LinkedIn and YouTube
03:56 Turn Leadership Ideas Into Action Today

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Tom DeBell is the founder and president of Modern Leadership Solutions, a Certified Maxwell Coach/Speaker/Trainer, a Full Focus Certified Pro, and a Certified Facilitator in the Six Types of Working Genius. Learn more about Tom and Modern Leadership Solutions here:

https://www.modernleadershipsolutions.com

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With permission from:

Music by HitsLab (https://www.youtube.com/@hitslabmusic)

from Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/)

Episode #34

The higher you climb in leadership, the less anyone is watching — and most leaders aren't ready for that.

In this Further episode, Tom DeBell builds on Episode 5: Turn a Life Plan into Daily Action by going deeper into the connection most leaders miss: the cascade from quarterly goals to weekly priorities to daily action. Tom shares what he discovered after leaving corporate — that he had been relying on his environment for accountability far more than he realized — and how that struggle led to a practical framework that applies to leaders at every level.

Using the Full Focus system developed by Michael Hyatt, Tom walks through a three-layer structure — the Quarterly Big 3, Weekly Big 3, and Daily Big 3 — and explains how connecting each layer to the one above it replaces external accountability with something far more durable: intentional self-leadership.

Whether you're a solo entrepreneur, a newly promoted manager, or a senior leader with increasing autonomy, this episode gives you a simple, actionable starting point.

Timestamps:

00:00 What Happens When No One Is Holding You Accountable?
00:46 Building on Episode 5: Turn a Life Plan into Daily Action
01:19 The Missing Link: Why the Daily-to-Quarterly Connection Matters
01:58 How Leadership Autonomy Creates an Accountability Gap
03:34 The Full Focus System: A Three-Layer Accountability Framework
04:02 Layer 1: Quarterly Goals That Actually Drive Progress
04:56 Layer 2: Weekly Planning - The Bridge Most Leaders Skip
05:45 Layer 3: Daily Priorities That Connect to Your Bigger Leadership Goals
06:49 Self-Accountability: The Leadership Skill Every Level Needs
08:18 Three Questions to Start Building Your Accountability Cascade
09:05 Why Self-Led Leaders Outperform Everyone Else

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Tom DeBell is the founder and president of Modern Leadership Solutions, a Certified Maxwell Coach/Speaker/Trainer, a Full Focus Certified Pro, and a Certified Facilitator in the Six Types of Working Genius. Click here to learn more:

https://www.modernleadershipsolutions.com

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With permission from:

Music by HitsLab (https://www.youtube.com/@hitslabmusic)

from Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/)

Ep.#33

What does it actually mean to lead with a servant's heart, and how do you make it work across military, government, corporate, and nonprofit cultures? In this episode of Lead With More, Tom DeBell sits down with Kevin Wayne Johnson, founder and CEO of The Johnson Leadership Group, to explore what three decades of federal leadership taught him about the difference between leaders who earn loyalty and leaders who simply demand compliance.

Kevin shares why servant leadership isn't soft leadership — it's strategic. He explains how recognizing people's basic needs, leading with empathy, and adapting your communication style to your audience aren't feel-good extras. They're the conditions that make sustained performance possible.

The conversation also tackles one of the most common failures in leadership development: the training that goes in one ear and out the other. Kevin breaks down why a one-time workshop rarely changes behavior — and what accountability, executive coaching, and measurable follow-through actually look like in practice.

Kevin closes with the framework that drives everything he teaches: Know Better. Do Better. Lead Better.

What you'll take away:

• Why servant leadership is a strategic advantage, not a soft skill
• How to lead effectively across military, civilian, and contractor cultures
• The real reason leadership training fails — and what to do instead
• Why accountability and feedback need to be two-way conversations
• Kevin's "Know Better, Do Better, Lead Better" framework for ongoing growth

Connect with Kevin at thejohnsonleadershipgroup.com — including a complimentary coaching session.

Timestamps:

00:00 Servant Leadership: Lead People, Don't Just Manage Them
00:50 Meet Kevin Wayne Johnson: 34 Years of Federal Leadership
03:23 "Be Prepared": The Leadership Mindset That Starts at Home
05:46 Staying True to Servant Leadership Inside Government
07:01 Leading Across Military, Civilian, and Contractor Cultures
15:03 What People Actually Need From Their Leader
18:55 Leadership With A Servant's Heart: The Book Series
21:52 Why Leadership Growth Never Stops
22:20 Why Training Alone Fails and What to Do Instead
25:56 Accountability and Feedback as Two-Way Leadership Tools
28:14 Connect with The Johnson Leadership Group
30:24 Know Better, Do Better, Lead Better
32:19 Closing Thoughts

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Tom DeBell is the founder and president of Modern Leadership Solutions, a Certified Maxwell Coach/Speaker/Trainer, a Full Focus Certified Pro, and a Certified Facilitator in the Six Types of Working Genius. Learn more about Tom here:

https://www.modernleadershipsolutions.com

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Podcast guests are managed through PodMatch. If you’re a podcast guest or host (or both!), I would encourage you to check it out: https://www.podmatch.com/member/tomdebell (affiliate link).

#PodMatch

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With permission from:

Music by HitsLab (https://www.youtube.com/@hitslabmusic)

from Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/)

Most leaders have heard the advice: leadership is a marathon, not a sprint. And it's true — but it's not the whole picture. A marathon still has a finish line. Leadership doesn't.

In this episode of Lead With More, Tom DeBell unpacks why treating trust-building or results-driving as a phase you eventually complete is one of the most common — and costly — mistakes leaders make. Tom walks through two distinct leadership failure modes: the leader who chases results before building relational trust, and the leader who builds trust but never drives the team toward meaningful outcomes. Both create a ceiling. Neither serves the people being led.

The real key? Trust and results aren't sequential stages — they're a compounding loop. Each one accelerates the other. And the leaders who sustain both, indefinitely, are the ones who build teams that keep getting stronger over time.

If you lead people — at any level — this episode will challenge you to look honestly at which side of that loop you've been neglecting.

Timestamps:

00:00 Why Leadership Is Not a Marathon

00:57 The Networking Insight That Inspired This Episode

01:47 Failure Mode #1: Chasing Results Before Building Trust

02:55 Why Trust Is a Structural Requirement for Leaders

03:07 Failure Mode #2: Building Trust but Never Driving Results

04:30 The Trust and Results Loop That Builds High-Performing Teams

05:55 Why The Marathon Metaphor Finally Breaks Down

06:45 What Character-Driven Leadership Actually Demands

07:31 Reflection: Which Side of the Loop Are You Neglecting?

08:14 The Leadership Truth: No Finish Line, No Competition

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Tom DeBell, the founder and president of Modern Leadership Solutions, is a Certified Maxwell Coach/Speaker/Trainer, a Full Focus Certified Pro, and a Certified Facilitator in the Six Types of Working Genius.

https://www.modernleadershipsolutions.com

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With permission from:

Music by HitsLab (https://www.youtube.com/@hitslabmusic)

from Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/)

Leadership isn’t just about what you produce — it’s about who you’re becoming in the process. Lead With More is a practical leadership development podcast for today’s emerging and established leaders who want to grow with clarity, character, and purpose.

You’re hitting your goals. Your metrics look clean. Your team is checking boxes. So why does it feel like nothing is actually moving? In this episode, Tom DeBell tackles the box-checking trap — the gap between completing a task and satisfying its purpose. It’s a pattern that shows up in personal habits, team accountability structures, and especially in training and development. And it’s costing leaders more than they realize.

In this episode:

• Why high-performing, task-oriented leaders are most at risk for box-checking syndrome
• How completion metrics fail your team — and why the team isn’t to blame
• Why training without coaching leaves a gap that good intentions can’t close
• A practical framework for purpose-first metric design you can apply this week

Done doesn’t mean successful. But with the right metrics, it can.

Timestamps:

00:00 Why Your Metrics May Be Working Against You

01:02 The Box-Checking Trap: A Hidden Risk for High Performers

02:03 Where Box-Checking Shows Up: Habits, Teams, and Training

04:06 Why Smart Leaders Fall Into This Trap (It's a Design Problem)

05:05 Purpose-First Metric Design: How to Build Better Goals

06:49 Your One-Move Action Step for This Week

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Tom DeBell, the founder and president of Modern Leadership Solutions, is a Certified Maxwell Coach/Speaker/Trainer, a Full Focus Certified Pro, and a Certified Facilitator in the Six Types of Working Genius.

https://www.modernleadershipsolutions.com

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With permission from:

Music by HitsLab (https://www.youtube.com/@hitslabmusic)

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The era of heroic leadership is over — and today's disruptive environment is why. In this episode of Lead With More, Tom DeBell sits down with international coach, speaker, and award-winning author Daria Rudnik to explore what it actually takes to build and lead teams that survive — and thrive — when everything around them is changing.

Daria introduces her CLICK framework, a five-pillar approach to building high-performing teams grounded in both practical experience and scientific research. Together, Tom and Daria unpack why well-intentioned leaders become the bottleneck on their own teams, how AI is reshaping the way teams think — not just the way they work — and what cognitive offloading means for human judgment in an AI-driven workplace.

Whether you lead a team of five or fifty, this conversation delivers a practical framework you can start applying immediately.

Connect with Daria: https://dariarudnik.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dariarudnik/

Timestamps:

00:00 Why Strong Teams Survive Disruption, and Weak Ones Disappear

03:02 The CLICK Framework: 5 Pillars for Building a Team That Works

06:44 Team Purpose vs. Company Purpose: Why Leaders Get This Wrong

08:30 The Leadership Bottleneck: How Good Leaders Accidentally Limit Their Teams

13:29 Replacing Heroic Leadership

16:13 How AI Is Changing the Way Teams Think, Not Just How They Work

18:59 Deciding What AI Should and Shouldn't Do

23:37 Cognitive Offloading: Why Letting AI Think for You Is a Leadership Risk

27:19 Leading Through AI Fear and FOMO: What Leaders Need to Tell Their Teams

30:22 Building an AI Governance Structure

36:02 Connect with Daria Rudnik and Key Takeaways

38:42 Wrapup

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Tom DeBell, the founder and president of Modern Leadership Solutions, is a Certified Maxwell Coach/Speaker/Trainer, a Full Focus Certified Pro, and a Certified Facilitator in the Six Types of Working Genius.

https://www.modernleadershipsolutions.com

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Podcast guests managed through PodMatch. If you’re a podcast guest or host (or both!), I would encourage you to check it out: https://www.podmatch.com/member/tomdebell (affiliate link).

#PodMatch

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With permission from:

Music by HitsLab (https://www.youtube.com/@hitslabmusic)

from Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/)

Most leaders who freeze in conflict aren’t indifferent — they care deeply. That care is exactly what traps them. They’re waiting for a solution where nobody gets hurt, no relationship gets strained, and nobody walks away disappointed. That solution almost never exists. And the longer a leader waits for it, the more their care quietly converts into passivity — and if left long enough, into apathy.

In this episode of Lead With More, Tom DeBell breaks down the three responses every leader has available when facing conflict or a difficult situation: Activity, Passivity, and Apathy. You’ll learn why caring leaders freeze, what the drift from passivity to apathy actually looks like from the inside, and what it takes to move forward when no perfect option exists.

Tom closes with two diagnostic questions every leader needs to sit with: What are the things you say you care about — and what are the things you actually show you care about through your behavior? Where those two lists don’t match, your leadership is drifting.

If there’s a situation you’ve been sitting on, this episode will name it — and show you how to move.

Subscribe to Lead With More on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. 

Timestamps:

00:00 Why Caring Leaders Stay Stuck in Conflict

00:47 How Leaders Lose Influence Without Knowing It

02:11 The 3 Ways Leaders Respond to Difficult Situations

03:28 1: Activity - The Leaders Best Response

04:05 2: The Trap of Getting Stuck in Passivity

04:47 3: When Passive Leadership Drifts Into Apathy

05:33 Why Leaders Freeze: The Search for a Perfect Solution

06:30 The Real Cost of Waiting Too Long to Lead

07:37 How to Move Forward When There's No Easy Answer

08:05 The Difference Between Compassion and Avoidance

09:07 Two Questions That Reveal How You Really Lead

10:21 The Mark of a Character-Driven Leader

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Tom DeBell, the founder and president of Modern Leadership Solutions, is a Certified Maxwell Coach/Speaker/Trainer, a Full Focus Certified Pro, and a Certified Facilitator in the Six Types of Working Genius.

https://www.modernleadershipsolutions.com

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With permission from:

Music by HitsLab (https://www.youtube.com/@hitslabmusic)

from Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/)