Leading with Curiosity. A Podcast for Modern Leaders.

Core Values vs. Non-Negotiables: Building a Strong Team Culture | Paul ter Wal | Ep. 43

What if your company’s core values became more than words on a wall?

In Episode 43 of *Leading with Curiosity*, host Nate Leslie speaks with Paul ter Wal of Team Andare in the Netherlands about the difference between traditional company values and the non-negotiable principles that shape a truly aligned workplace.

A former labor lawyer turned organizational culture expert, Paul shares practical insights into company culture, employee engagement, leadership alignment, and building teams around shared values.

In this conversation, discover how the gap between executive leadership and frontline employees can create workplace conflict, why hiring for shared values matters, and how leaders can recognize when a partnership or business culture no longer aligns with their principles.

**In this episode, you’ll learn:**
- Why core values should become everyday non-negotiable principles.
- How to identify and address gaps between leadership and employee values.
- How shared values can improve employee engagement and team alignment.
- Why hiring and making difficult decisions based on values matters.
- How purpose-driven work influences the expectations of younger employees.
- How to use a free engagement benchmark assessment to evaluate your organization.

⏱️ **Chapters**

0:00 – Introduction to Paul ter Wal and Team Andare
2:19 – From labor lawyer to organizational culture expert
3:45 – Core Values vs. Non-Negotiables
8:20 – What to do when company culture loses its direction
11:00 – The disconnect between executive leadership and employees
15:55 – Hiring for shared values: Lessons from Zappos
17:21 – Bringing clarity to your organization
21:20 – Exploring Paul’s four personal core values
28:23 – The power of saying no to misaligned partnerships
31:42 – Why younger generations want purpose-driven work
34:20 – Exploring the free Engagement Benchmark Tool

🔗 **Resources and Links**
Paul ter Wal and Team Andare: https://team-andare.com/
Nate Leslie’s free Leader Self-Assessment: www.nateleslie.ca/gift
Connect with Nate on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelesliecec/
Explore more leadership conversations on the *Leading with Curiosity* channe

🎬 **WATCH MORE FROM LEADING WITH CURIOSITY:**
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🎙️ **About Leading with Curiosity**

*Leading with Curiosity* explores leadership, organizational culture, executive coaching, and the ideas helping leaders build stronger, more effective teams. Through conversations with experienced leaders and business experts, host Nate Leslie challenges traditional leadership thinking and explores practical approaches to meaningful organizational change.

💬 **Join the Conversation**

What is one non-negotiable value that every leader should uphold? Share your thoughts in the comments.

#CoreValues #CompanyCulture #LeadershipDevelopment

How to Take Control of Your Life & Leadership | Stephen Gaffney
Command and control leadership is dead. In this episode of Leading with Curiosity, certified executive coach Nate Leslie sits down with Stephen Gaffney, expert consultant and author of "Unconditional Power."
Drawing from three decades of experience working with organizations like Marriott, NASA, and the U.S. Navy, Stephen reveals why the biggest problem in teams isn't what people say—it's what they don't say. We dive deep into the concept of "unconditional power," why taking care of yourself is the ultimate leadership hack, and how mastering your mood makes you fundamentally smarter.
If you struggle with difficult conversations or find yourself blaming external conditions for your stress, this episode will help you step back into the driver's seat of your life.
Key Takeaways:
Why treating employees like "Associates" built Marriott's empire.
The critical difference between Conditional and Unconditional Power.
How to get the "unsaid said" and navigate uncomfortable conversations safely.
Why dissecting the past is holding you back from future solutions.
Connect with Stephen Gaffney:
Website: https://justbehonest.com (Mention the show for a free copy of "Just Be Honest"!)
Book: Unconditional Power (Released Sept 2023)
Connect with Nate Leslie:
Website: https://nateleslie.caThe brain behaves very differently when encouraged to think rather than told to listen.
Timers (Video Chapters)
0:00 - Intro: Welcome Stephen Gaffney
2:33 - Why Cross-Industry Thinking Solves Major Problems
3:12 - The Marriott Philosophy: Employees First, Customers Second
5:19 - Why Self-Care is Mandatory for Great Leadership
6:50 - Conditional vs. Unconditional Power Explained
10:13 - Mood Mastery: Why Being in a Good Mood Makes You Smarter
12:05 - The Power of Awareness & True Optimism
14:45 - The Biggest Problem in Teams: The Unsaid Stuff
18:59 - The "Studio Apartment" Analogy: Taking Full Responsibility
23:03 - Stop Dissecting the Past & Focus on Moving Forward
27:21 - How to Be Comfortable in the Uncomfortable
31:32 - A Powerful Story About Asking the Hard Questions
34:22 - Where to Find Stephen's Book & Free Resources
📩 BUSINESS CONTACT
[email protected]
🔗 LINKS
Website: nateleslie.ca
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/nate-leslie-executive-coach
Facebook: facebook.com/natelesliecec
Twitter: twitter.com/natelesliecec
Instagram: instagram.com/natelesliecec
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Hashtags
#LeadingWithCuriosity #StephenGaffney #NateLeslie #UnconditionalPower #ExecutiveCoaching #LeadershipDevelopment #TeamBuilding #CommunicationSkills #MindsetShift

How to Build a High-Performance Culture in Sports & Business | Jeff Smith

Is the culture of a high-performance sports team really that different from a corporate boardroom? In this episode of Leading with Curiosity, certified executive coach Nate Leslie sits down with Jeff Smith from the SupportingLines Institute to discuss their groundbreaking findings on the High Performance Index.

After 12 months of gathering data in the sports world, the results are clear: the exact same patterns that drive success in business also build elite sports teams. We dive into the undeniable link between culture and performance, why annual performance appraisals are obsolete, and how a simple "7-minute 1-on-1" can completely transform your team's psychological safety and results.

In this episode, Nate and Jeff cover:

• The linear pattern between team performance and culture scores in sports vs. corporations.

• Why helping people perform and grow beats traditional performance appraisals.

• How coach Nick flipped his team’s record (14-25 to 26-15) with simple tweaks to 1-on-1s and feedback.

• The power of 7-minute 1-on-1 conversations for recognition, growth, and psychological safety.

• Why specific feedback connected to team values is essential.

• 4 factors that destroy team culture (poor coaching, dysfunctional leadership, toxic teammates, outside pressures) and how to fix them early.

• How to use SupportingLines Institute's free tools to start improving your culture today.

Free Leadership Assessments:Curious about your own leadership? Take this Free SupportingLines Institute Free Self Assessment (List Nate Leslie as your 'coach'): https://supportinglines.com/hpi-self-assessment

Curious about what your team would say about your culture? Take the Free Prediction Assessment (List Nate Leslie as your 'coach'): https://supportinglines.com/hpi-prediction

Connect with Nate Leslie:Website: https://nateleslie.caThe brain behaves very differently when encouraged to think rather than told to listen.

Timers (Video Chapters)0:00 - Intro: Welcome Jeff Smith & The High Performance Index1:55 - The Direct Link Between Team Culture & Performance4:37 - Why Sports Culture Mirrors Corporate Leadership6:34 - Why Annual Performance Appraisals Are Dead8:24 - Flipping a Team's Record: The Nick Duchene Example10:57 - Resilience & Making the "Bench" a Safe Space12:52 - The Power of the 7-Minute 1-on-1 Meeting14:49 - Psychological Safety: Asking Questions vs. Giving Orders17:37 - Stop Saying "Good Job": The Importance of Specific Feedback20:13 - The 4 Types of Poor Team Cultures (And How to Fix Them)25:20 - Dealing with Toxic Teammates & Accountability28:05 - How to Access Free Leadership & Culture Assessments

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Hashtags#LeadingWithCuriosity #JeffSmith #TeamCulture #LeadershipDevelopment #HighPerformanceTeams #ExecutiveCoaching #NateLeslie #PsychologicalSafety #SportsLeadership

Connect with Nate Leslie: www.nateleslie.ca

Connect with Genius Unlocked Coaching Institute: www.geniusunlocked.coach

Episode Summary by Fathom AI:

AI Summary

Nate Leslie: Delivering transformational, confidential leadership development experiences: www.nateleslie.ca

Rockdoc - Helping People Navigate Healthcare: https://rockdocinc.ca/

This is a story about innovation and inspiration. It's also a story about doing really hard things against big odds. Sam Gutman who I've known for 15 years has been a doctor for 30 years. And leading into the pandemic had a private business that came to a complete halt in lockdown. The story has completely changed since that data thing shut down. From 4.5 employees, to $0 revenue, to 200+ employees a few months later, this story has all the juice a story of innovation and inspiration needs - including a 'bad guy'. In every good story their is triumph over a challenge.

Rockdoc designs implements and delivers healthcare services to meet our clients’ needs – Motion Picture Studios, Global Apparel Retailers, Food Manufacturers, Police Departments, Municipal Governments, Live Events & Mass Gatherings, VIPs, Business Travellers, and People.

Our services include: Healthcare Management & Safety Consulting, Emergency Response, Personalized Medical Services, Telehealth, Corrections Medicine, Addictions Management, Diagnostic & Point of CareTesting, Laboratory Service, Corporate Health, Travel Medicine, Healthcare Staffing.

On site or online. Anywhere, anytime. Experienced Medical Professionals and the Services you need, the way you want them.

Connect with Nate: www.nateleslie.ca

What's your unique angle on leadership?

What's the most important question I can ask you?

Social/web/contact

Summary

Connect with Nate Leslie on LinkedIn

Connect with Tony Martignetti on LinkedIn

Hey listeners, welcome to Leading with Curiosity. My guest today is Tony Martignetti. Tony's in Canton, Massachusetts is a PCC coach with the International Coach Federation and learned a long time ago that values and our daily work need to be aligned.

By widening his vision to see the new opportunity he was able to then narrow his focus to something new that was more in his calling from biotech financial analyst to PCC coach and leadership development facilitator.

In this interview, we explore the use of metaphor leading from behind horse leadership of all things. We explore the value of deep personal connection and navigating change as a leader and how to engage the team in navigating that change.

As always, I learned a lot. I hope you do too. Here's Tony Martignetti on Leading with Curiosity. Enjoy....

Connect with Lisa Sansom on LinkedIn

Connect with Nate Leslie on LinkedIn

Listeners, you've probably heard me say…”this conversation was fun, inviting you to listen. But today with Lisa Sansom, I swear we thread elements of all the episodes that have preceded this one into this one conversation.

Lisa is a professional certified coach with the ICF and has been for a long time. She has an MBA.

She has a master's in applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, which is where we spend most of our time talking about that thread between coaching with that layer of positive psychology on it. If you lead people, if you aspire to be a leader, if you are at all curious about the value of coaching and what high performance leadership means with a positive view that will actually change your life personally, as well as professionally. Honestly, this is the conversation. I was introduced to Lisa by episode 22's Eileen Schaeffer. Episode 22 was the number one listened to episode in all of 2022. So I think we have two friends competing for the title here in 2023. With no further adieu, the balance and the layering and the correlations between positive psychology and executive coaching, Lisa Sansom.

Enjoy.

Connect with Nate Leslie - www.nateleslie.ca

Connect with Mark Carpenter - www.masterstorytelling.com

 - Mark Carpenter (Master Storytelling)

Thank you so much, Nate. I'm just thrilled to be here with you. As I've listened to a couple of the episodes of your podcast, there's a couple of things that really resonate with me.

The first is in that intro that everybody just heard about how the command and control style of leadership is dead.

When I first heard that on your podcast, I was jumping up and down for joy. And other people see that the same way that I do.

And the other statement is gonna be on the outro that everybody will hear in a little while. And that is about how our brains behave differently when they're invited or encouraged to think rather than told to listen.

And that resonates with my heart because I totally believe that. And that's why I'm in the world that I'm in and teaching people how to use storytelling as a way to teach, lead, and inspire, because that's what's gonna encourage people to think.

And it gets us past that command and control style of leadership. So thank you for the work that you're doing and for setting the foundation that I think is fantastic.

@12:28 - Nate Leslie (nateleslie.ca)

Thanks, Mark, your master storytelling, your book, I can see the cover over your shoulder. We'll link to it in the show notes.

I see this light bulb exploding. Let's go there right off the hop here. The difference between receiving instruction or receiving info from a document or in a course to turning it into a story, what is so compelling for you about it?

@12:51 - Mark Carpenter (Master Storytelling)

And one thing you can't see from this distance with the cover of the book is that little light bulb there.

It's a bunch of people.

@12:58 - Nate Leslie (nateleslie.ca)

It's all made up of little people.

@13:00 - Mark Carpenter (Master Storytelling)

And so it really ties into how our brains work and how our brains think. That idea of inviting people to think rather than telling them to listen, story will do that, think about this, have you been around little children very much, you ever been around like a toddler, an entire career of it for a while?

Amy Eliza Wong is the founder of Always On Purpose®. She is an executive leadership coach, author, and facilitator working with organizations such as Salesforce, Roku, LinkedIn, and more. Amy offers transformative leadership development and cutting-edge communication strategies to executives and corporate teams around the world, as well as institutions including Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley. She pulls from various disciplines, studies, and practices to find a consilient approach to achieve genuine, lasting success - what she refers to as ‘‘the fundamentals of thriving.” Amy's debut book, Living on Purpose, shows readers how to feel more connected to the people around them and be truly satisfied by the life they’re leading. It was released at the end of May 2022, and within less than a week it became an Amazon Bestseller in Work-Life Balance and Business Communication Skills.

@12:08 - Nate Leslie (nateleslie.ca)

When you think about your book, living on purpose, leadership and executive coaching, whose lives do you think will be impacted most, who are going to listen to this conversation today?

@12:24 - Amy Wong (alwaysonpurpose.com)

Yeah, great question. So the book really has been written for and who's going to benefit from this conversation is the individual who really is committed to doing well in the world and whether that's by an external standard, internal standard.

It's that, you know, they're relatively ambitious. They're relatively committed. They do the work to to quote unquote thrive. And really who this book is written for is for all the folks that have done it, quote unquote, right?

And still feel totally unfulfilled. Or you can look at your life on paper and say, wow, I have no reason to be quote unquote unhappy, but yet there's something missing.

And it's definitely for the individual that recognizes it's not going to be doing more of the same. I just don't know what to do different.

And so who's going to really benefit from our conversation today is the individual who feels that way. It's like, gosh, I'm so close to genuine inner peace.

And I know I'm getting in my own way. I get that it's not going to be a bigger title.

I get that it's not going to be more money, even though I swear to God, my head is convincing me that's the case.

I just don't know what it is. And so that's what I think people have to look forward to is what is that and how do we have to come back?