Stop Being the Hero – Andrew Oxley on The Leader’s Mindset

Command-and-control leadership can hit the numbers. Hero leadership can “save” the day. Both quietly train your team to stop thinking.

In this episode of The Leader’s Mindset, Jason LeDuc sits down with Andrew Oxley, nationally recognized author, speaker, and executive coach, and Founder of The Oxley Group.

Andrew breaks down a simple framework leaders can use to diagnose how they are showing up day-to-day: the Hero, the Villain, and the Guide. The punchline is uncomfortable, but freeing. When you play the hero, you steal agency. When you play the villain, you try to “enforce” accountability from the outside. When you play the guide, you build an environment where people choose ownership.

You will also hear Andrew’s take on scaling leadership in fast-growth companies, why adding people increases complexity faster than output, and the moment leaders hit the “ceiling of complexity” and realize: I have no more time.

💡 A conversation for leaders at every level

Andrew’s advice in this episode is great for:

- Founders who feel like the bottleneck in a growing business

- Executives building a leadership bench (without losing culture)

- Managers who keep rescuing their team, then snapping into frustration

- Leaders who want higher accountability without becoming the “hard-ass” boss

🤔 What you will learn:

- The Hero, Villain, and Guide framework

- Hero leadership: how “rescuing” trains dependency

- Villain leadership: why external accountability always breaks

- Guide leadership: the balance of support + standards

- Why leaders bounce between hero and villain when they get tired or stressed

- How to be tough without losing control of your emotions

- The difference between growth and scale (and why “simple” is harder than “complex”)

- A founder’s trap: adding people increases communication complexity exponentially

- The “ceiling of complexity” signal: when you keep saying, “I have no more time”

- A coaching tool for developing leaders: make the subjective objective

- Use the “0–10” rating

- Ask: “What would a 10 look like?”

- Why strategy is more about what you will not do

🔑 Practical ideas you can use this week

1) Audit your default mode: in your last tough conversation, were you the hero, villain, or guide?

2) Pick one place you keep rescuing people. Replace the rescue with a coaching question.

3) When you feel urgency rising, ask: “What are the unintended consequences of this decision?”

4) Make one subjective skill objective (collaboration, ownership, communication). Ask: “What does a 10 look like?”

💬 Question for you:

Where are you still playing the hero — and what ownership are you accidentally taking away from your team?

If you got value from this episode, subscribe for more practical conversations with leaders making an impact in business and our communities.

Share this episode with a founder or manager who is exhausted from carrying the load.

Onward and Upward! 🚀

✅ If you got value from this episode, do these 3 things:

1) Like this video – It helps more people find these insights.

2) Subscribe – New leadership content every week!

3) Share this episode with a leader who needs to hear this!

📌 Exclusive Leadership Programs

Want to take your leadership development to the next level?

📖 Take charge of your own leadership development with our online program: https://www.leducleadership.com/bethebossprogram

🏛️ Leadership Academy for Tech Managers: https://www.leducleadership.com/leadershipacademy

📅 Book a discovery call: https://link.marketingmoneymachine.co/widget/bookings/training-discovery

How to reach Andrew Oxley:

Website: https://transformingresults.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-oxley-tog/

How to reach Jason LeDuc:

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.leducleadership.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-leduc-3469823/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leducleadership

Change fatigue is real—and silence after an announcement is often the warning sign.

If you are leading another change and your team looks exhausted, skeptical, or checked out, you do not need a bigger vision speech. You need a trust-first message that acknowledges what people are feeling and gives them something stable to hold onto.

In this Leadership TTP episode, Jason LeDuc breaks down exactly what to say when your team is tired of change—and how to communicate in a way that lowers defensiveness, builds credibility, and drives adoption.

💡 A conversation for leaders at every level

Jason walks through what to say (and what not to say) when you are asking people to adapt… and shares a simple playbook for:

- People leaders managing teams through constant process shifts

- Managers translating change from the top into clear next steps

- Executives and founders driving transformation without burning people out

- HR / L&D leaders supporting leaders through adoption and follow-through

🤔 What you will learn:

- Why “quiet” in the room is often change fatigue—not agreement

- How to name the fatigue in a way that lowers resistance (without sounding soft)

- How to explain the “why” in plain language people can actually trust

- What to clarify so your team has an anchor: what is changing vs what will not change

- How to run a feedback loop you can close (and why closure is the credibility moment)

- Why managers need a message map—and how to give them one

🔑 Practical ideas you can use this week

1) Start your next change announcement by naming reality: “I know we’ve had a lot of change. It’s normal to feel tired or skeptical.”

2) Explain the why in plain language tied to real pain (customers, quality, cost, time).

3) Clarify what will not change (values, standards, training, respect).

4) Ask for input in a tight format: “One risk you see, and one idea to reduce it.” Then report back with what you heard and what you’re doing.

5) Equip managers with a 3-bullet message map: what’s changing, why it matters, what to do next.

💬 Question for you:

When you announce change, what’s the hardest part—getting buy-in, handling skepticism, or keeping momentum after week one?

If you got value from this episode, subscribe for more practical leadership tactics, techniques, and procedures you can apply immediately—and share it with a manager who is leading change right now.

Onward and Upward! 🚀

✅ If you got value from this episode, do these 3 things:

1) Like this video – It helps more people find these insights.

2) Subscribe – New leadership content every week!

3) Share this episode with a leader who needs to hear this!

📌 Exclusive Leadership Programs

Want to take your leadership development to the next level?

📖 Take charge of your own leadership development with our online program: https://www.leducleadership.com/bethebossprogram

If you’re a Human Resources or Learning and Development professional and have a bunch of leaders you’d like to get trained, check out our corporate Leadership Academy for Tech Managers program: https://www.leducleadership.com/leadershipacademy

📅 Ready to elevate your leadership skills? Book a discovery call: https://link.marketingmoneymachine.co/widget/bookings/training-discovery

About Jason LeDuc:

Jason LeDuc is a seasoned leader and esteemed leadership consultant, drawing from his extensive experience in the U.S. Air Force and beyond. With a passion for empowering individuals to unleash their full potential, Jason is committed to fostering a new generation of visionary leaders. Connect with Jason and embark on a journey of leadership enlightenment today!

How to reach Jason LeDuc:

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.leducleadership.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-leduc-3469823/

Top-down leadership can keep things moving… but it kills ownership. And when you are scaling fast, a single bad leader in the wrong seat can drag down thousands.

In this episode of The Leader’s Mindset, Jason LeDuc sits down with Matt Ebert, Founder and CEO of Crash Champions, to talk about scaling a business without losing your culture.

Matt built Crash Champions from a single shop into a $3B company with 650 locations across 38 states. In this conversation, we break down what changes when you go from “I can do the work” to “I have to build leaders who can do the work without me.” You will hear how Matt thinks about empowering local managers, training people who came up through the trade, and making hard leadership moves faster as the company grows.

💡 A conversation for leaders at every level. This episode is especially for:

- Small business owners who feel their industry consolidating

- Operators scaling from one location to many

- Leaders inheriting teams through acquisitions

- Anyone building managers from the frontline

🤔 What you will learn

- Why Matt started scaling out of survival, not ego, and why that matters for strategy

- The leadership shift from “doing” to “building” as the company grows

- Why “keeping a bad leader too long” becomes a multiplier problem at scale

- How Crash Champions trains managers when most leaders are not college educated

- The 4 traits Matt looks for in emerging leaders

- A simple early framework Matt used to evaluate leaders: the SWAN test

- How to bring acquired shops into one culture when “change for the better” still feels like change

- Matt’s simple “5 buckets” to keep initiatives aligned:

- What Matt learned about private equity: durable, fundable, and able to grow

🔑 Practical ideas you can use this week

1) Audit your leadership seats: identify the one role that is creating the most drag right now.

2) Create a simple leader scorecard: pick 3–5 traits that predict success in your environment and start measuring them.

3) Tighten your vision: describe the “house” you are building with enough detail that the team can picture the same outcome.

4) Reduce initiative noise: define your top 3–5 priorities, then force every new idea to fit inside them.

💬 Question for you:

Where are you being too slow to make a leadership move, and what is it costing your team?

If you got value from this episode, subscribe for more conversations with leaders who are building high-performance teams and real business results. Share this episode with a leader who is scaling fast and needs a stronger leadership bench.

Onward and Upward! 🚀

✅ If you got value from this episode, do these 3 things:

1) Like this video – It helps more leaders find these insights.

2) Subscribe – New leadership content every week!

3) Share this episode with a leader who needs to hear this.

📌 Exclusive Leadership Programs

Want to take charge of your leadership development?

📖 Be the Boss Program: https://www.leducleadership.com/bethebossprogram

If you are developing leaders inside a company, check out the Tech Manager Leadership Academy: https://www.leducleadership.com/leadershipacademy

📅 Book a discovery call: https://link.marketingmoneymachine.co/widget/bookings/training-discovery

How to reach Matt:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-ebert-7169a5180/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattebertcc/

How to reach Jason LeDuc:

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.leducleadership.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-leduc-3469823/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leducleadership

Command-and-control is not the only way leaders lose momentum. Sometimes it is a calendar that looks “productive” while your real priorities starve.

In this Leadership TTP video, Jason LeDuc breaks down why leaders feel busy but do not feel effective, and gives you a simple operating system to move from reactive leadership to intentional execution. He shares five tactics to take back control of your time, attention, and results.

💡 A conversation for leaders at every level.

Jason shares a practical reset for anyone who is tired of spending their day in meetings, messages, and “urgent” fires.

Who this is for — leaders who want to take charge of their day, including:

- Business owners and entrepreneurs who are juggling too many priorities

- New and experienced managers leading teams through constant interruptions

- Senior leaders who need more time for strategic thinking

- Anyone stuck in reactive work instead of outcome-driven work

🤔 What you will learn

- Why leaders do not run out of hours. They run out of attention.

- How the “tyranny of the immediate” pulls you away from what matters most

- The difference between tasks and outcomes, and why that shift changes everything

- How to protect focus time without guilt or long explanations

- How to reduce context switching with simple attention sprints

- Why response windows train your team to think and act independently

- How a 10-minute end-of-day reset becomes your daily mission briefing

- A bonus habit to stay honest about where your time actually goes

🔑 Practical ideas you can use this week

- Pick two outcomes for the week before anything else touches your calendar.

- Block 2–3 focus sessions and treat them like non-negotiable meetings.

- Run 25–45 minute attention sprints, then write the smallest next step before you stop.

- Set 2–3 message response windows per day and tell your team what to expect.

A simple starting move you can use this week:

1) Write your two outcomes for the week on a sticky note.

2) Put three focus blocks on your calendar (even if they are only 30 minutes).

3) Tell your team: “I check messages at 9:00 / 12:00 / 4:00. For anything urgent, call me.”

💬 Question for you:

What is the biggest “time trap” stealing your attention right now: meetings, messages, or constant urgent fires?

If this episode gave you a system you can use, like it, subscribe, and share it with a leader who needs it.

Onward and Upward! 🚀

✅ If you got value from this episode, do these 3 things:

1) Like this video – It helps more people find these insights.

2) Subscribe – New leadership content every week.

3) Share this episode with a leader who needs to hear this.

📌 Exclusive Leadership Programs

Want to take your leadership development to the next level?

📖 Be the Boss (16-week program): https://www.leducleadership.com/bethebossprogram

🏢 Tech Manager Leadership Academy: https://www.leducleadership.com/leadershipacademy

📅 Book a discovery call: https://link.marketingmoneymachine.co/widget/bookings/training-discovery

About Jason LeDuc:

Jason LeDuc is a seasoned leader and esteemed leadership consultant, drawing from his extensive experience in the U.S. Air Force and beyond. With a passion for empowering individuals to unleash their full potential, Jason is committed to fostering a new generation of visionary leaders. Connect with Jason and embark on a journey of leadership enlightenment today!

How to reach Jason LeDuc:

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.leducleadership.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-leduc-3469823/

Leadership gets noisy when the system is crowded. The best leaders still find a way to make the message land.

In this episode of The Leader’s Mindset, Jason LeDuc sits down with Philip Atkinson, founder of Hive Logic, beekeeper, and author of Be Wise: 12 Leadership Lessons from a Busy Beehive.

Philip breaks down a surprising truth: a beehive is a masterclass in leading inside complexity—communication under noise, developing people through progression and mentoring, and making high-stakes decisions without burning trust. If you lead teams in a big, busy organization (and you’re tired of “doing the same stuff faster”), this conversation will give you practical metaphors you can use immediately.

Philip’s insights in this episode are great for:

- Leaders inside complex organizations who need clearer communication

- Managers driving change management without losing people

- HR / L&D professionals building leadership development programs

- Teams that need better decision-making and alignment

- Anyone who wants to slow down and improve the quality of their thinking

In this conversation, you will learn:

- The “waggle dance” lesson: how to communicate with clarity, consistency, and repetition in a noisy system

- Why “sent one email” is not communication (and what to do instead)

- How bees train and mentor each other through a natural progression—and what it teaches emerging leader development

- Why swarms aren’t aggression—they’re a high-stakes decision process (and a model for alignment)

- Decision by consent vs decision by consensus (and which meetings you’re wasting time in)

- How to “read the hive” before making big moves: noticing stress signals before you get stung

- Why diversity of inputs (not monoculture thinking) drives innovation

- Philip’s plea to leaders: stop celebrating “busy” and start celebrating better thinking

A simple starting move you can use this week -

1) Pick one message your team must understand this month.

2) Rewrite it into one clear sentence (no jargon).

3) Repeat it in three places (meeting, written update, 1:1s) and ask people to reflect it back in their own words.

💬 Question for you:

Where is “noise” causing your team to miss the message right now—email, meetings, priorities, or handoffs?

Onward and Upward! 🚀

📌 About Philip Atkinson

Philip Atkinson is the founder of Hive Logic, a beekeeper, and the author of Be Wise: 12 Leadership Lessons from a Busy Beehive. He speaks and consults globally on leadership, communication, and new ways of working—using the beehive as a powerful metaphor for building better teams.

✅ If you got value from this episode, do these 3 things:

1) Like this video – It helps more people find these insights.

2) Subscribe – New leadership content every week!

3) Share this episode with a leader who needs to hear this!

📌 Exclusive Leadership Programs

Want to take your leadership development to the next level?

📖 Take charge of your own leadership development with our online program: https://www.leducleadership.com/bethebossprogram

If you’re a Human Resources or Learning and Development professional and have a bunch of leaders you’d like to get trained, check out our corporate Leadership Academy for Tech Managers program: https://www.leducleadership.com/leadershipacademy

📅 Ready to elevate your leadership skills? Book a discovery call: https://link.marketingmoneymachine.co/widget/bookings/training-discovery

Let’s create the leaders your team deserves.

How to reach Philip:

Website: https://hive-logic.com/

Bees for Development: https://www.beesfordevelopment.org/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipatkinsonhivelogic/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beewisebook/

How to reach Jason LeDuc:

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.leducleadership.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-leduc-3469823/

Conflict is not the problem. The moment it turns personal is when trust starts to break.

If you lead people, you will face disagreement. The question is whether you let it become a relationship fracture… or you turn it into clarity, accountability, and stronger trust.

In this Leadership TTP episode, Jason LeDuc shares 5 practical tactics to de-escalate conflict and keep the conversation focused on the mission and the people — without avoiding hard truths.

💡 A conversation for leaders at every level… to talk about conflict resolution and trust-building for:

- Managers handling tension inside their team

- Team leads working through cross-functional friction

- Executives who want healthy accountability without drama

- Anyone who needs to address conflict before it damages the relationship

🤔 What you will learn:

- How to separate the person from the problem (and reset the frame fast)

- The two-way summary that lowers the temperature in the room

- How to uncover interests (not positions) so solutions become possible

- The 3 closing questions that prevent the same conflict from repeating

- How to use an After-Action Review to turn conflict into a learning asset

- Bonus: how to make disagreement “normal” before it happens

🔑 Practical ideas you can use this week

1) Use the reset phrase: “We are on the same team, and we are here to solve X.”

2) Summarize both sides before proposing any solution: “Here’s what I heard you need…”

3) Ask for interests, not positions: “What do you need to be true so this works?”

4) End every conflict conversation with: what we’re deciding, what’s still open, who owns next step + by when.

💬 Question for you:

What’s the conflict pattern you see most in your organization right now — unclear expectations, missed handoffs, or competing priorities?

If you got value from this episode, subscribe for more practical leadership tactics, techniques, and procedures every week. And share this episode with a leader who wants healthy accountability without burning bridges.

Onward and Upward! 🚀

✅ If you got value from this episode, do these 3 things:

1) Like this video – It helps more people find these insights.

2) Subscribe – New leadership content every week!

3) Share this episode with a leader who needs to hear this!

📌 Exclusive Leadership Programs

Want to take your leadership development to the next level?

📖 Take charge of your own leadership development with our online program: https://www.leducleadership.com/bethebossprogram

If you’re a Human Resources or Learning and Development professional and have a bunch of leaders you’d like to get trained, check out our corporate Leadership Academy for Tech Managers program: https://www.leducleadership.com/leadershipacademy

📅 Ready to elevate your leadership skills? Book a discovery call: https://link.marketingmoneymachine.co/widget/bookings/training-discovery

About Jason LeDuc:

Jason LeDuc is a seasoned leader and esteemed leadership consultant, drawing from his extensive experience in the U.S. Air Force and beyond. With a passion for empowering individuals to unleash their full potential, Jason is committed to fostering a new generation of visionary leaders. Connect with Jason and embark on a journey of leadership enlightenment today!

How to reach Jason LeDuc:

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.leducleadership.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-leduc-3469823/

Leadership is not a title. It is a choice you make before anyone hands you authority.

In this episode of The Leader’s Mindset, host Jason LeDuc sits down with Keith Willis, President and Founder of Core Management Training and a U.S. Army veteran turned entrepreneur.

Keith breaks down a simple truth many people miss: everyone is a leader, whether you want to be or not. If you have ever stepped up in a moment when no one else would, led peers when the manager was not around, or tried to hold yourself to a higher standard when life got hard, you have been practicing leadership.

Jason and Keith also talk about what changes when you transition from the military into corporate leadership, why “rank” and authority only take you so far, and how real leadership is earned through trust, credibility, and consistent results.

Keith’s advice in this episode is great for:

- First-time managers and emerging leaders

- Veteran entrepreneurs building something from scratch

- Corporate leaders who want better engagement and stronger teams

- Anyone who wants to lead themselves with more discipline and clarity

In this conversation, you will learn:

- Why self-leadership is the foundation for leading anyone else

- The entrepreneur reality check: no one is coming to save you

- How to lead without relying on position, rank, or authority

- What corporate leadership development often gets wrong, and what the military gets right

- Why feedback is a missing leadership habit, and how to make it normal (not scary)

- How sales forces you to “lead yourself” differently than the military

- Why networking is a learnable skill, and how leaders can build it in younger professionals

- How to think about AI as an amplifier, without losing the human side of leadership

A simple starting move you can use this week -

1) Pick one area where you have been waiting for someone else to lead.

2) Decide what “good” looks like in that moment.

3) Take one action that makes the situation better, even if it is small.

💬 Question for you:

Where have you seen the strongest leaders earn trust without relying on title or authority?

If you got value from this episode, subscribe for more conversations with leaders making an impact in business and our communities.

Share this episode with a leader, a new manager, or a veteran entrepreneur who needs a practical reset.

Onward and Upward! 🚀

✅ If you got value from this episode, do these 3 things:

1) Like this video – It helps more people find these insights.

2) Subscribe – New leadership content every week!

3) Share this episode with a leader who needs to hear this!

📌 Exclusive Leadership Programs

Want to take your leadership development to the next level?

📖 Take charge of your own leadership development with our online program: https://www.leducleadership.com/bethebossprogram

If you’re a Human Resources or Learning and Development professional and have a bunch of leaders you’d like to get trained, check out our corporate Leadership Academy for Tech Managers program: https://www.leducleadership.com/leadershipacademy

📅 Ready to elevate your leadership skills? Book a discovery call: https://link.marketingmoneymachine.co/widget/bookings/training-discovery

Let’s create the leaders your team deserves.

How to reach Keith:

Website: https://coremanagementtraining.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithawillis/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachtoachieve/

How to reach Jason LeDuc:

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.leducleadership.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-leduc-3469823/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leducleadership

Singular focus on working harder can hit the numbers. But executives do not promote effort. They promote judgment.

If you are an emerging leader trying to move into senior leadership, there is a shift you have to make. Flawless execution and “working harder” might get you noticed early. But at the next level, executives are asking a different question: Can this leader think bigger, stay steady, and build capability beyond themself?

In this Leadership TTP video, Jason LeDuc breaks down 3 traits executives consistently look for in emerging leaders, plus one bonus trait that separates high performers from leaders who actually scale.

💡 A conversation for leaders at every level

Jason shares what senior leaders watch for when deciding who gets more scope, more authority, and the next promotion… and talks about what executives look for in emerging leaders.

🤔 What you will learn:

- Why executives do not promote effort, and what they promote instead

- Strategic perspective

- How to connect your work to the broader mission

- How to anticipate cross-functional impact and downstream effects

- Emotional stability under pressure

- How to respond when things go wrong without blame, drama, or panic

- How calm judgment builds executive trust

- Ownership without excuses

- The simple language that signals maturity: “Here’s what happened, here’s what I learned, here’s what we’ll do differently.”

- Bonus: Developing other leaders

- Why leaders who build autonomy and successors look ready for the next level

🔑 Practical ideas you can use this week

1) In your next update to senior leadership, add one strategic sentence: “Here’s how this impacts the mission, and what it changes for other teams.”

2) The next time something breaks, pause and lead with facts + options: “Here’s what we know, here are 2–3 paths forward, and here’s my recommendation.”

3) Write a short ownership recap after a miss: what happened, what you learned, and what will change.

4) Pick one person on your team and delegate a real outcome, then coach them through decision-making instead of taking it back.

💬 Question for you:

Which trait do you need to strengthen most right now: strategic perspective, emotional stability, ownership, or developing other leaders?

If you got value from this episode, subscribe for more practical leadership tactics, techniques, and procedures every week. And share this episode with an emerging leader who is ready to level up.

Onward and Upward! 🚀

✅ If you got value from this episode, do these 3 things:

1) Like this video – It helps more people find these insights.

2) Subscribe – New leadership content every week!

3) Share this episode with a leader who needs to hear this!

📌 Exclusive Leadership Programs

Want to take your leadership development to the next level?

📖 Take charge of your own leadership development with our online program: https://www.leducleadership.com/bethebossprogram

If you’re a Human Resources or Learning and Development professional and have a bunch of leaders you’d like to get trained, check out our corporate Leadership Academy for Tech Managers program: https://www.leducleadership.com/leadershipacademy

📅 Ready to elevate your leadership skills? Book a discovery call: https://link.marketingmoneymachine.co/widget/bookings/training-discovery

About Jason LeDuc:

Jason LeDuc is a seasoned leader and esteemed leadership consultant, drawing from his extensive experience in the U.S. Air Force and beyond. With a passion for empowering individuals to unleash their full potential, Jason is committed to fostering a new generation of visionary leaders. Connect with Jason and embark on a journey of leadership enlightenment today!

How to reach Jason LeDuc:

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.leducleadership.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-leduc-3469823/

What does it take to turn an awkward first amateur night into a global movement… and become the world’s first pole dancing instructor?

In this episode of The Leader’s Mindset, host Jason LeDuc sits down with Fawnia Mondey—entrepreneur, fitness pioneer, and founder of Pole Fitness Studio in Las Vegas. What started in 1994 as a bold idea in Victoria, British Columbia evolved into the first-ever instructional pole dancing video, one of the earliest e-commerce fitness businesses of the 90s, and eventually an international brand.

Before “online fitness” was a category…

Before YouTube tutorials…

Before influencer culture…

Fawnia was mailing VHS tapes around the world for $49.95 and building a website on Netscape Navigator. Checks in the mail. Four-to-six-week delivery times. And a belief that this wasn’t a fad.

This conversation goes far beyond pole dancing.

We talk about:

• Spotting opportunity where others see stigma

• Building community in a misunderstood industry

• Early-stage entrepreneurship in the pre-social media era

• Pivoting with technology instead of resisting it

• Hiring for character, not just talent

• Diversifying revenue streams (rentals, live events, burlesque bookings)

• Lifelong learning and why credentials still matter

Fawnia shares how she moved to Las Vegas with almost nothing in 2005—no car, no permanent home, limited savings—and built what is now a multi-room studio employing over 40 instructors.

She opens up about leadership, resilience, reinvention, and why doing five things a day for your business compounds into massive momentum over time.

For corporate executives, HR professionals, training managers, and startup founders, there are powerful lessons here about:

• Brand positioning and overcoming perception challenges

• Community-driven business models

• Customer experience as competitive advantage

• Adapting to technological change

• Founder energy and long-term sustainability

We also discuss her new ventures—nutrition coaching certification, podcasting, and the return of Pole Expo under new leadership—proving that true entrepreneurs never stand still.

If you lead teams, build culture, or are thinking about launching your own venture, this episode will challenge you to think bigger about opportunity—and braver about execution.

If you enjoy conversations that blend entrepreneurship, leadership, resilience, and community-building, subscribe to the channel and join us every week for new interviews and leadership insights.

💬 Join the Conversation

What’s one unconventional industry that taught you powerful leadership lessons?

Onward and Upward! 🚀

✅ If you got value from this episode, do these 3 things:

1) Like this video – It helps more people find these insights.

2) Subscribe – New leadership content every week!

3) Share this episode with a leader who needs to hear this!

📌 Exclusive Leadership Programs

Want to take your leadership development to the next level?

📖 Take charge of your own leadership development with our online program: https://www.leducleadership.com/bethebossprogram

If you’re a Human Resources or Learning and Development professional and have a bunch of leaders you’d like to get trained, check out our corporate Leadership Academy for Tech Managers program: https://www.leducleadership.com/leadershipacademy

📅 Ready to elevate your leadership skills? Book a discovery call: https://link.marketingmoneymachine.co/widget/bookings/training-discovery

Let’s create the leaders your team deserves.

How to reach Fawnia:

Website: https://www.polefitnessstudio.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fawnia-mondey-74027816/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officiallyfawnia/

How to reach Jason LeDuc:

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.leducleadership.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-leduc-3469823/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leducleadership

Team building breaks when leaders treat it like an offsite fix.

Most teams don’t need another retreat. They need clarity, healthy accountability, and steady leadership in the moments that happen every day.

In this Leadership TTP video, Jason LeDuc breaks down why “team building” fails when it is only a morale event. Strong teams are not built at lunch tables or in conference room workshops. They are built through daily leadership discipline that reduces friction, strengthens trust, and raises performance.

Jason shares three practical tactics strong leaders use to build real teams, plus a bonus tactic you can apply this week.

💡 A conversation for leaders at every level… to talk about building trust and performance through daily leadership for:

- New managers and first-time people leaders

- Team leads who inherited unclear roles and fuzzy expectations

- Executives who want teams that execute without constant oversight

- HR and Learning and Development leaders building durable culture

🤔 What you will learn:

- Why “one big retreat” can’t fix structural leadership gaps

- How to build clarity before camaraderie

- Define success, standards, boundaries, and decision ownership

- Reduce friction so trust can grow

- How to normalize healthy accountability (without drama)

- Build a culture where peers respectfully challenge each other

- Make feedback normal, not only reserved for when things go wrong

- Why emotional stability under stress is a core team-building skill

- Consistent standards and measured reactions create psychological safety

- The bonus tactic: reward team outcomes, not individual heroics

- Highlight cross-functional wins and shared outcomes

- Reinforce collaboration so it becomes the default behavior

🔑 Practical ideas you can use this week

1) Write down what “success” looks like for your team this week (in plain language). Then clarify who owns the key decisions.

2) Normalize accountability with one simple habit: ask “What standard are we holding?” before you jump to blame or emotion.

3) Pick one high-stress moment where you tend to react. Practice a pause and respond with calm, clear direction.

4) Publicly recognize one cross-functional win and name the shared behavior you want repeated.

💬 Question for you:

What is one daily habit that strengthens your team the most?

If you want practical leadership tactics you can use immediately, subscribe and share this episode with a leader who is tired of “events” and ready to build real teams through daily discipline.

Onward and Upward! 🚀

✅ If you got value from this episode, do these 3 things:

1) Like this video – It helps more people find these insights.

2) Subscribe – New leadership content every week!

3) Share this episode with a leader who needs to hear this!

📌 Exclusive Leadership Programs

Want to take your leadership development to the next level?

📖 Take charge of your own leadership development with our online program: https://www.leducleadership.com/bethebossprogram

If you’re a Human Resources or Learning and Development professional and have a bunch of leaders you’d like to get trained, check out our corporate Leadership Academy for Tech Managers program: https://www.leducleadership.com/leadershipacademy

📅 Ready to elevate your leadership skills? Book a discovery call: https://link.marketingmoneymachine.co/widget/bookings/training-discovery

About Jason LeDuc:

Jason LeDuc is a seasoned leader and esteemed leadership consultant, drawing from his extensive experience in the U.S. Air Force and beyond. With a passion for empowering individuals to unleash their full potential, Jason is committed to fostering a new generation of visionary leaders. Connect with Jason and embark on a journey of leadership enlightenment today!

How to reach Jason LeDuc:

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.leducleadership.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-leduc-3469823/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leducleadership