Tasha Pineda’s path kept putting her at tables where decisions shape real lives.
In this conversation, Tasha and I talk about leadership in the moments that actually matter: when things are messy, uncertain, and human. 
From growing up around foster care systems to leading through earthquakes, pandemics, and now statewide grantmaking strategy, her story is about learning to influence without needing to be “right,” and creating environments where people can think, decide, and grow.
We explore what it means to say hard things in ways people can hear, why leaders sometimes become accidental bottlenecks, and how ego sneaks into “helping.” 
Tasha shares how crisis leadership accelerated her ability to delegate, trust, and let people struggle just enough to grow, without letting them fail in ways that cause real harm.
This is a conversation about leadership maturity, community responsibility, and the discipline of letting go of perfection.
Connect with Tasha:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tashapineda/

My free PDF, “The 5 Secrets of Impossibly Effective Teams,” will show you the simple leadership moves that help teams unlock their full potential and deliver outsized results, without burning out. Grab your copy now at geoffwelch.com/secrets

My wife and I genuinely like each other.

So, obviously, our relationship is perfect and there are never any tense or complicated moments between us.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Like any couple, we overreact and underreact and misunderstand and miss-speak and forget we are on the same team.

But we figured something out that makes being consistently copacetic more likely: everything just works better between us when we thank each other for the small things.

Thank you for taking the trash out…Thank you for making the bed…Thank you for making dinner…Thank you for picking up popcorn from the movie theater on your way home…

Thank you is disproportionately powerful. It costs nearly nothing to deploy, but earns miles of goodwill.

The thing about “thank you” is that the subject of the gratitude doesn’t need to be grandiose for it to matter, your expression just has to be genuine.

That’s it.

Sharing genuine gratitude for any number of silly things with the people you lead is the single easiest way to deepen connection, build trust, and help them feel valued.

TRY THIS: Say THANK YOU to as many people as you can this week. Don’t pander or flatter, just share as much genuine gratitude as you possibly can and see what happens.
My free PDF, “The 5 Secrets of Impossibly Effective Teams,” will show you the simple leadership moves that help teams unlock their full potential and deliver outsized results, without burning out. Grab your copy now at geoffwelch.com/secrets

It’s rare for a 43-year old to have had only one employer. And rarer still for that employer be the same employer his father and grandfather had.

In this episode, I sit down with Wade Binkley, President of Riverboat Discovery, to explore what it really means to lead a legacy business in Alaska. We talk about growing up inside a family operation, carrying 75 years of reputation on every departure from the dock, and running a company that reinvents itself every summer.

Wade shares how he thinks about responsibility, to family, employees, guests, and community, and what it’s like to lead hundreds of mostly young, first-time employees in an environment where safety and hospitality have to coexist. 

We dig into empowering people at the front lines, setting standards without micromanaging, and why “bias toward action” has been one of his biggest leadership growth edges.

This is a conversation about stewardship, trust, and doing the right thing consistently, especially when the river, the weather, and the calendar don’t care how prepared you feel.

Connect with Wade:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wadebinkley/
Web Site: http://riverboatdiscovery.com

My free PDF, “The 5 Secrets of Impossibly Effective Teams,” will show you the simple leadership moves that help teams unlock their full potential and deliver outsized results, without burning out. Grab your copy now at geoffwelch.com/secrets

Have you ever had to have a difficult conversation with someone on your team?

Maybe they screwed something up, or were behaving poorly. Maybe you had to deliver some news they weren’t likely to enjoy.

I know a few people who genuinely relish diving into a challenging conversation, but most of the people I know would wish them all away if they could.

Here’s the thing: I can’t make difficult conversations go away, but I do know the secret to making them more manageable. 

Also, you aren’t going to like it.

The secret is not a conversational tactic in a book. Those can be helpful, but that’s not the real game changer.

What fundamentally changes these conversations is developing the trust-rich relationships that are necessary to be heard.

This isn’t an elixir. This isn’t a foolproof way to make sure the other person doesn’t get defensive or even angry. This is a way of establishing – in the days, weeks, and months prior to the conversation – that you care about their success and are going to give them the encouragement and correction necessary to help them win.

You can’t control how someone will react in a tension-filled moment, but you can cement in their mind that you are FOR them through your actions TOWARD them on all the days when a difficult conversation isn’t necessary.

Take an interest in the things that are important to them. Be honest with them about their performance over and over again. Offer routine encouragement and correction (Batting Practice Feedback) to help them grow. Ask for their input and feedback. Be willing to admit your own mistakes. Be honest with yourself about their capabilities and your tolerances. Resenting them for not being able to live up to your expectations is unfair. If they can’t win where they are, help them find a new path.

Generally, treat them like someone you care about.

If you can’t do that, they might not be the problem after all.
TRY THIS: Offer someone on your team encouragement this week about something they are doing well. Offer someone on your team correction this week about how they could improve something that isn’t really working. One is not good and the other bad, both are just levers to help your people WIN.
My free PDF, “The 5 Secrets of Impossibly Effective Teams,” will show you the simple leadership moves that help teams unlock their full potential and deliver outsized results, without burning out. Grab your copy now at geoffwelch.com/secrets

When you start off as a professional hip hop dancer, you naturally expect to become one of the most thoughtful facilitators in corporate America. Right?

Well, in this episode, I sit down with Frank Ziede, founder of Common Ground Consulting, to talk about his wild evolution, explore what truly great facilitation looks like, and why most “mandatory training” feels like bamboo under the fingernails.

Frank brings a rare blend of performance, psychology, and real-world leadership experience to his work. We talk about why the smartest person in the room is the room, how trust is the foundation of every effective culture, and why leaders should stop trying to have all the answers and start asking better questions.

This conversation is a masterclass in engagement, ownership, and designing experiences that respect people’s time and intelligence. If you’ve ever led a meeting or attended a training you secretly dreaded, this one’s for you.

Connect with Frank:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-t-ziede-b4907931/
Website: http://ftzinc.com

My free PDF, “The 5 Secrets of Impossibly Effective Teams,” will show you the simple leadership moves that help teams unlock their full potential and deliver outsized results—without burning out. Grab your copy now at geoffwelch.com/secrets

In my 5 Secrets of Impossibly Effective Teams workshops we do an exercise in which participant leaders write a “movie synopsis” for the projects their team is involved in.

The goal is to accurately describe the project in the shortest, simplest language so it can be easily understood by anyone on the team.

Team members will still need Puzzle Box Clarity about the detail and minutiae, but this synopsis is a way of encapsulating what DONE looks like in a way that is intentionally shareable. 

And a funny thing happens as these leaders are crafting these short, punchy summaries: they realize they don’t have the clarity they need to do it well.

The exercise is designed to get them to break the project down to its essence, but that process often reveals that they need more clarity from their own leaders.

Your people will never have more clarity about what DONE looks like than you do.

That makes it incumbent upon you to ask the smart (and “dumb”) questions of those above you to ensure you are crystal clear about what you are asking of your team.

TRY THIS: Ask your people, “Can you describe what DONE looks like for project X in one sentence?” Don’t expect eloquent answers, it’s your job to give them an eloquent synopsis, but pay attention to what they seem sure of and where they seem hesitant. You’ll know exactly where you need to increase clarity pretty quickly.
My free PDF, “The 5 Secrets of Impossibly Effective Teams,” will show you the simple leadership moves that help teams unlock their full potential and deliver outsized results, without burning out. Grab your copy now at geoffwelch.com/secrets

I don’t think I’ve ever had someone tell me that a major inflection point in their career was the desire to wear slacks to work.

But here we are.

In this conversation, I sit down with Erika Smith, Chief Operating Officer at Credit Union 1, to explore the unlikely, adventurous arc of her leadership journey. 

From small-town barista to executive, from detours to Australia to “mad scientist mode,” and from overthinker to someone who intentionally creates space for others to grow.

Erika shares how cross-country skiing became both therapy and metaphor, why vulnerability is the real engine of leadership, and how she uses personality frameworks to better understand her team (and herself).

We dig into what it means to lead with clarity during transformation, why connection is the heartbeat of her work, and the moment she realized her job is ultimately about creating opportunities for others to thrive.

This episode is a powerful reminder of what’s possible when you pair thoughtful speed with deep authenticity.

Connect on LinkedIn

My free PDF, “The 5 Secrets of Impossibly Effective Teams,” will show you the simple leadership moves that help teams unlock their full potential and deliver outsized results, without burning out. Grab your copy now at geoffwelch.com/secrets

Leah Boltz was never going to accept that her daughter wouldn’t be able to play at the neighborhood park. So she led a charge that resulted in more than 25 accessible parks across her city. 

Leah Boltz, is the Principal for Marketing, Business Development & Community Outreach at Bettisworth North, and in this conversation we talk about how one inaccessible park turned into a citywide movement, how a terrifying TEDx talk became a launchpad for her career, and what it means to be a non-technical principal in a highly technical firm.

Leah shares candid insights on saying yes to the right things, aligning your work with what you care about most, and giving feedback that actually helps people grow. 

We also dig into visionary leadership in uncertain times and how she’s helping guide a firm celebrating its 50th anniversary into its next chapter. 

If you care about community, clarity, and courageous leadership, this conversation is for you.

Connect with Leah on LinkedIn
My free PDF, “The 5 Secrets of Impossibly Effective Teams,” will show you the simple leadership moves that help teams unlock their full potential and deliver outsized results, without burning out. Grab your copy now at geoffwelch.com/secrets

I’m sure someone has sorted out how many people John Wick kills across his cinematic run, but I fear I can’t count that high.

I know the violence in these movies is severe and ever present, but I think about John Wick every single day when I dive into my work around leadership and building teams that produce outsized results.

After all, John Wick might be the poster child for producing outsized results.

During the opening sequence of the second movie, one crime boss is talking to another crime boss, describing exactly why John Wick is such an interminable force.

“John Wick is a man of focus, commitment, and sheer [censored] will.”

And that’s the crux of it all, right there.

Did John Wick have what Liam Neeson would call “a very particular set of skills”? Absolutely.

But the thing that made him terrifying was his focus, commitment, and will.

He proved himself to be a wholly unstoppable force along the way and every day I want to capture just a fraction of that relentlessness.

When you think of John Wick, you might think of a guy who dispatched scores of enemies.

But I think of a model of unyielding focus and persistence. 

TRY THIS: How would adopting John Wick’s focus, commitment, and sheer will change the outcomes you experience? What would be different if you adopted just a trace of his relentlessness? When you get knocked down those merciless Montmartre steps, get back up and keep climbing.”
My free PDF, “The 5 Secrets of Impossibly Effective Teams,” will show you the simple leadership moves that help teams unlock their full potential and deliver outsized results, without burning out. Grab your copy now at geoffwelch.com/secrets

Sara Berry knew that the corporate world wasn’t meeting all of her creative needs, but she didn’t know what to do about it.

And then the dots connected and she discovered her super power.

Sara is the owner of Out of Office Studio and her background in corporate learning gives her a unique vantage point. She’s lived on both sides of the “I know I should… but ugh, do I have to?” dilemma faced by people trying to leverage video to build their businesses and grow their brands. 

In this conversation we dig into what really holds people back from getting on camera and why video has become the fastest path to building trust in a noisy digital world.

She breaks down the mental movies people play before pressing record, the surprising fears that derail even the most capable leaders, and why our scrappy, imperfect attempts matter so much more than polished production.

We talk storytelling, leadership, mindset, and how creating 100 pieces of content changed her business (and her confidence) forever. 

If you’ve been overthinking your way out of visibility and connection, this episode will feel like someone turned the lights on.

I love all my guests, but Sara just might take the prize for the most gracious guest ever. We were disconnected no less than 3 times during this chat, all due to my internet, and she rolled with the punches like a pro.

Connect with Sara on LinkedIn

My free PDF, “The 5 Secrets of Impossibly Effective Teams,” will show you the simple leadership moves that help teams unlock their full potential and deliver outsized results, without burning out. Grab your copy now at geoffwelch.com/secrets