Everyday Leadership for Smart Women

By Stephanie Pollock

What's Everyday Leadership for Smart Women about?

The Everyday Leadership for Smart Women podcast is here to help you be a better, braver leader.

Each episode we explore leadership insights, ideas and actions you can take to strengthen your courage, develop your capacity and create sustainable growth.

Our mission is to support women entrepreneurs, business owners, professionals and executives with values-driven tools, mindset shifts and skills needed to thrive in an ever-changing world.

*Formerly: The Rise without Compromise podcast

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Everyday Leadership for Smart Women episodes:

11.18.2022
#112 - It's not what you say that matters
“What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.” ~Emerson One of the basic tenets of most parenting advice is that kids will do what you do, not what you tell them to do. If you yell...
11.03.2022
#111 - What's obvious to you may not be to everyone else
Hello Captain Obvious! Four years. Or maybe longer because to be honest, I’ve lost track. Let’s just go with four years. That’s how long I’ve been using Notion to power my…well, everything. Now before you non-Notion users delete this message,...
10.02.2022
BONUS Crossover Episode - Intro to Rest
Welcome to this special crossover episode! Today I bring you an episode of The Happier Approach - an amazing podcast by my dear friend, Nancy Jane Smith. She invited me to her show to kick off a new series about...
09.21.2022
#110 - Great leaders demonstrate these 5 traits
What makes a great leader? You don’t have to look far to find any number of think pieces and social posts declaring the strategies, tactics and traits leaders need to develop and grow to be effective. Today, I’m wading into...
09.13.2022
To everything there is a season
Hello and welcome back to the show! In today's episode, I give you a raw, behind-the-scenes look at leadership in real life -- or put another way, the tricky season I've been navigating lately and why I had to step...
05.02.2022
#108 - "I can't talk about this with just anyone."
In today's episode, we talk about loneliness in leadership. Because it's a real thing, and it's often under-acknowledged. Let's talk about it. Recommended Resources: Join LEAD.Well – a community of practice for women who want to be better, braver leaders...
04.25.2022
#107 - Who gets to be a leader?
Who gets to be a leader? Short answer: you do. More nuanced answer: you do, and here’s why you might not automatically see yourself that way. Recommended Resources: Join LEAD.Well – a community of practice for women who want...
04.22.2022
#106 - Be the author of your own ambition
If I’m honest, a big reason I got (and have stayed) off Instagram since June 2020 is because I’m easily influenced by other’s ambitions. As I would scroll my feed, passively watching post after post go by of someone’s perfectly...
04.01.2022
#105 - A behind-the-scenes look at LEAD.Well
Leadership is a practice, not a position. This is our guiding principle inside LEAD.Well, my community of practice for women looking to become better, braver everyday leaders. What began as essentially a paid newsletter has now become a...
03.18.2022
#104 - Nekolina Lau Gives a Leg Up
"It's not about my ambition for my team members; it's about me supporting them with theirs." Nekolina is the manager any employee would love to have. As the Director of Communications for ATB Financial, Nekolina leads a team of 10....
02.02.2022
#103 - The Counter-Intuitive Case for Slow Leadership
In our fast-paced, 24/7 world of hot takes and endless opportunities, what might be available for us if we slowed everything down and took a moment instead? When we think about leaders, we often think about ambitious, always-on-the go busy...
01.25.2022
#102 - A 3-part framework to create a sustainable plan this year
Tired of setting goals, crafting master plans and elaborate task lists that aren’t sustainable over the long-haul? Over the years I’ve had a love-hate relationship with goal setting. While it’s true that nothing feels better than having a sense of...
01.14.2022
#101 - Leader Spotlight - Heidi Johnson's Journey to Leadership
Not every road to leadership is a straight one. For Heidi Johnson, her journey to leadership took a few twists and turns before she really sunk into seeing herself as a leader. Now, after 10 years in business – including...
01.14.2022
#100 - Celebrating episode #100, a name change and what's ahead
We’re celebrating 100 episodes! It’s a big day over here as we celebrate our 100th episode. It’s been a a winding road to get here, but I’m proud that we’re still going strong considering most podcasts fade after 7-10 episodes....
12.08.2021
We Need a Different Definition of Leadership
We've traditionally defined leadership in too limiting a way for the challenges we face. We now need a different definition of leadership. In today's episode, we talk about a different way of talking about leadership - one that invites everyone...
11.17.2021
#098 - Leader Spotlight: Victoria Smith is Leading in the Margins
Victoria Smith is leading in the margins. Throughout the early months of the pandemic, while most of us were stocking up on toilet paper and watching Tiger King, Victoria was parenting two young children, working a full-time job, running a...
10.14.2021
#097 - Two ways we experience discomfort and how it impacts our leadership
“Taking on a challenge is a lot like riding a horse, isn’t it? If you’re comfortable while you’re doing it, you’re probably doing it wrong.” ~Ted Lasso Let’s talk about being uncomfortable. In my mind, there are...
10.08.2021
#096 - How to be a leader worth following
This is a podcast version of my Leadership Letters, published October 7th, 2021. You can subscribe to get the full letter including additional links, resources and tools for leaders here. *SPECIAL PRE-SALE OFFER: As mentioned in today's episode,...
10.01.2021
#095 - Beyond productivity hacks & pretty planners, focus is really about this.
When we talk about focus, we often talk about strategies and tactics to minimize distraction, clarify priorities and “do the work.” We say to ourselves that if we could just get it together and stay focused on what matters, everything...
09.23.2021
#094 - Leader Spotlight: Kourtney Branagan's Run for Office
In today's episode, I bring you a special Leader Spotlight with community builder and local political candidate, Kourtney Branagan. Listen in as we talk about her journey to running for local office, why more women don't run, and how...
09.20.2021
For the Exhausted
Thanks for listening to the Rise without Compromise Podcast. Today I'm talking to you if you're feeling exhausted, depleted or just plain tired. Here are the links mentioned in today's episode. Recommended Resources: Sign up to...
03.04.2021
Are you following the old rules, or creating new ones?
The show is back! I'm thrilled to be back on the mic, and in your earbuds. This episode is an audio version, with bonus riffs, of my weekly Leadership Letter newsletter. You can sign up to get the full letter,...
05.29.2020
Close the gaps
“The most important possible thing you can do, is do a lot of work.” ~Ira Glass Over my years in coaching, I’ve heard many, many stories about something being ‘too hard’ or ‘too overwhelming’. And I’ve heard stories...
05.22.2020
How to have meaningful online meetings
People will thank you if you created good rules, because otherwise it’s awkward, and you’re leaving everyone to figure them out on their own. ~Priya Parker Over the past few months, tens of thousands of meetings that would...
05.07.2020
Embrace your humanness
“The courage to be vulnerable is not about winning or losing, it’s about the courage to show up when you can’t predict or control the outcome.” Brené Brown Yesterday, while cooking my seven thousandth meal in the past few...
05.05.2020
Notice these moments
Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns. Anne Lamott As we find ourselves in the middle of this global pandemic; past the shock and...
04.30.2020
Use your margins
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. J.R.R. Tolkien As we all navigate working from home, with partners and kids, and new learning curves – it’s easy to find...
04.28.2020
Helping others through uncertain times
In these shorter episodes, I’ve been primarily focusing on how you can better navigate these challenging times. This is the idea of putting our own oxygen masks on first as we can’t give what we don’t have. Today, I’d like...
04.25.2020
Setting Digital Boundaries
Boundaries are a part of self-care. They are healthy, normal, and necessary. Doreen Virtue As we enter wrap up week six of working from home during COVID-19, many of us are looking forward to a weekend...
04.23.2020
Ditch your metrics
Doing nothing is sometimes one of the highest duties of man. G.K. Chesterton Do you worry that you’ve got to make this quarantine count? Are you measuring yourself against what everyone else is getting done while at home? In...
04.20.2020
Find your anchors
We can endure almost anything if we are centered, if we have some focus in our life. You can endure if you have an anchor. Renita J. Weems A reminder that for the next little while, I’ll be publishing...
04.13.2020
In praise of micro moves
As I mentioned in last week’s extra episode, for the near foreseeable future, I’ll be coming to you more often - every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to drop a shorter episode with the hope of helping you navigate these...
04.07.2020
Extra Episode: Podcast Update
A quick note to share a podcast update.
03.31.2020
3 Reminders for Uncertain Times
No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. ~ Hal Borland We are navigating new territory as the world collectively deals with the impact of COVID19. Today, as we all continue to orient...
03.10.2020
[new series]: Masterminds, Communities and Networking
“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” ~Coretta Scott King I’m excited to kick-off a brand new series on the podcast all about masterminds, communities and networking for leaders....
03.04.2020
This one question makes every hard conversation better
Most miscommunications and blow-ups happen because we enter into a tricky conversation without much thought. We’re angry, or frustrated, or overwhelmed – so we fire back words that don’t truly reflect what we feel, nor how we want to show...
02.11.2020
This is one thing every leader must commit to
“Learning is not compulsory…neither is survival.” ~ W. Edwards Deming In 2003, I took part in a program called Leadership Calgary (now called the Human Venture Institute). This program was instrumental in my personal and professional development, and in...
02.05.2020
Gather new evidence
Yeah. No, no, no, wait a minute, I always have tuna on toast. Nothing's ever worked out for me with tuna on toast. I want the complete opposite of on toast. Chicken salad, on rye, untoasted... and a cup of...
01.21.2020
Why it's so hard to get feedback
Can we talk about how hard it is to get feedback? Navigating feedback – both the giving and the receiving – makes up a lot of my coaching work. On any given Tuesday or Friday, clients will come to me...
01.10.2020
10 Questions to Welcome the Year Ahead
Hello and happy new year! This episode is dropping at the end of my first week back post-holidays, and I feel like I’m just getting back into the groove. As I said on Instagram earlier this week, give yourself lots of grace...
12.12.2019
10 Questions to Close out the Year
As we come to the end of the year, let’s all take a collective moment to pause, look backward and reflect on all the ground we’ve covered and lessons we’ve learned. It’s easy to want blow past the past and...
04.10.2019
Truth: good things take more time than we'd like
Yes I’m an overnight success – 11 years in the making. ~Chris Brogan, author and speaker My husband and I were watching TV last week after a very long day. As I searched the PVR for something to...
04.03.2019
A bit of a hodge podge + 3 reminders
Shownotes >> https://stephaniepollock.com/rwc072 A bird sitting in a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because its trust is not in the branch but in its wings. ~Unknown Spring has sprung, quarter two is ahead of us and I’m...
03.13.2019
On showing up and being seen
The willingness to show up changes us. It makes us a little braver each time. ~Brené Brown You may remember that I chose the words “show up” as my focus for 2019. I wanted to show up in...
02.25.2019
MINISODE: Steph over at the Girl Tries Life podcast
Enjoy this short clip of my interview with Victoria Smith in celebration of her 100th episode of the Girl Tries Life podcast. You can listen to the full episode here or by searching for Girl Tries Life in your podcast...
02.14.2019
7 ways to love your work again
SHOWNOTES >> https://stephaniepollock.com/rwc070 Love your work, then you will find pleasure in mastering it. ~H. Jackson Brown Jr. Happy Valentine’s Day! Today I wanted to use Valentine’s Day as a jumping off point to talk about ways you can...
02.02.2019
Why I love getting up at 4:30am every day
>>Show notes: https://stephaniepollock.com/rwc069 With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts. ~Eleanor Roosevelt Rise and shine Ever since I began my (very) early morning routine some nine months ago, I’ve received a lot of questions about it....
01.24.2019
Build better habits (the ones that stick)
Habits are the invisible architecture of daily life. We repeat about 40 percent of our behaviour almost daily, so our habits shape our existence, and our future. ~Gretchen Rubin >> SHOW NOTES: http://stephaniepollock.com/rwc068 Let’s talk habits. There’s a lot...
01.17.2019
Sustainability vs Striving: what's the best way forward?
May all that is unforgiven in you Be released. May your fears yield Their deepest tranquilities. May all that is unlived in you Blossom into a future Graced with love. *Blessing by John O'Donohue Hello and welcome...
11.02.2018
Our Voices Matter. Let's Use Them More.
When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak. ~Audre Lorde Today we’re continuing with our Amplify Your Voice series....

What's Everyday Leadership for Smart Women about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Everyday Leadership for Smart Women episodes:

#112 - It's not what you say that matters

#111 - What's obvious to you may not be to everyone else

BONUS Crossover Episode - Intro to Rest

#110 - Great leaders demonstrate these 5 traits

To everything there is a season

#108 - "I can't talk about this with just anyone."

#107 - Who gets to be a leader?

#106 - Be the author of your own ambition

#105 - A behind-the-scenes look at LEAD.Well

#104 - Nekolina Lau Gives a Leg Up

#103 - The Counter-Intuitive Case for Slow Leadership

#102 - A 3-part framework to create a sustainable plan this year

#101 - Leader Spotlight - Heidi Johnson's Journey to Leadership

#100 - Celebrating episode #100, a name change and what's ahead

We Need a Different Definition of Leadership

#098 - Leader Spotlight: Victoria Smith is Leading in the Margins

#097 - Two ways we experience discomfort and how it impacts our leadership

#096 - How to be a leader worth following

#095 - Beyond productivity hacks & pretty planners, focus is really about this.

#094 - Leader Spotlight: Kourtney Branagan's Run for Office

For the Exhausted

Are you following the old rules, or creating new ones?

Close the gaps

How to have meaningful online meetings

Embrace your humanness

Notice these moments

Use your margins

Helping others through uncertain times

Setting Digital Boundaries

Ditch your metrics

Find your anchors

In praise of micro moves

Extra Episode: Podcast Update

3 Reminders for Uncertain Times

[new series]: Masterminds, Communities and Networking

This one question makes every hard conversation better

This is one thing every leader must commit to

Gather new evidence

Why it's so hard to get feedback

10 Questions to Welcome the Year Ahead

10 Questions to Close out the Year

Truth: good things take more time than we'd like

A bit of a hodge podge + 3 reminders

On showing up and being seen

MINISODE: Steph over at the Girl Tries Life podcast

7 ways to love your work again

Why I love getting up at 4:30am every day

Build better habits (the ones that stick)

Sustainability vs Striving: what's the best way forward?

Our Voices Matter. Let's Use Them More.