The Remarkable Leadership Podcast

Leadership often feels like a series of competing demands: be confident, but humble. Be decisive, but compassionate. Kevin Eikenberry is joined by leadership coach and author Sally Netherwood to explore the paradox of modern leadership through the lens of her new book, Graceful Power. Together, they discuss the three pillars of graceful power—Congruence, Courage, and Compassion—and why becoming a more effective leader isn't about choosing one over the other, but learning to hold both with intention. If you're looking to lead with greater clarity, confidence, and impact, this conversation is full of practical insights you can apply right away.

Sally's Story: Sally Netherwood is the author of Graceful Power: Solving the Paradox of Modern Leadership, and a world-class leadership coach with over 25 years' experience helping business leaders, entrepreneurs and change-makers feel clearer, braver and more effective. Drawing on tens of thousands of coaching hours, she offers leaders tangible strategies that create immediate improvements in performance, workplace culture and daily working life. After a decade in the fast-paced world of advertising at three of the world's top agencies, she now works with leaders from organizations including Expedia and DoorDash, helping them discover and embrace their Graceful Power, so they achieve far more with significantly less personal cost.

Connect with Sally Netherwood Website: https://www.sallynetherwood.com/graceful-power LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sally-netherwood-85599419/

• Graceful Power: Solving the Paradox of Modern Leadership by Sally Netherwood
• Brilliant Doubt: Harnessing Uncertainty to Lead with Impact by Jenny Williams
• Flexible Leadership: Navigate Uncertainty and Lead with Confidence by Kevin Eikenberry

• Understanding Power with Deborah Gruenfeld
• Creating Human-Powered Leadership with Dr. Christie Smith

TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Introduction 00:38 The paradox of modern leadership 01:31 Meet Sally Netherwood 02:49 Why Sally wrote Graceful Power 05:05 What is graceful power? 06:14 Different kinds of leadership power 08:31 The Three Cs of Graceful Power 08:49 Congruence: leading as your authentic self 11:44 Creating your leadership signature 13:30 Courage is doing what you find difficult 16:14 Understanding fear as a leadership signal 18:30 Leadership is a constant act of becoming 19:36 Compassion as a leadership strategy 21:12 Why self-compassion comes first 23:20 Believing in others' potential 26:00 Reflection as a leadership responsibility 28:12 Helping teams reflect and improve 30:40 What Sally is reading 31:54 Where to learn more 32:22 Now What?

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🎧 Subscribe and Listen to the Remarkable Leadership Podcast Apple Podcasts: https://remarkablepodcast.com/applepodcasts Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4G4KyDG8rvNcvVVbgwKGIl Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/1ad13b5c-68f3-4a03-9a4a-e5f1485c5cb2/the-remarkable-leadership-podcast iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-the-remarkable-leadership-30949517/ RSS: http://remarkablepodcast.libsyn.com/rss

Learn more about our offerings: ➡️ FREE NEWSLETTERS: Sign up for any of our newsletters: https://kevineikenberry.com/newsletters ➡️ BOOK: Check out my latest book, Flexible Leadership: https://flexibleleadershipbook.com/ ➡️ LEADERSHIP WORKSHOPS: Sign up for any of our online workshops to help you become a better leader: https://kevineikenberry.com/store/?product_type=Workshops ➡️ SPEAKING: Learn more about our Speaking opportunities for your next event: https://kevineikenberry.com/how-we-can-help-speaking/

My name is Kevin Eikenberry and I'm here to help you reach your goal as a leader and a human being with Remarkable TV and the Remarkable Leadership Podcast.

I am also the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. We provide speaking, training, consulting, and coaching services to organizations who believe in investing in their most valuable assets – their people. Whether we are leading a training workshop, speaking to a group, facilitating a planning meeting, consulting with a leadership team, helping with team building, writing or developing products, our vision will be clear in everything we do – We want to be Your Leadership Help Button.

Connect with Kevin Eikenberry on Social Media: https://kevineikenberry.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevineikenberry https://instagram.com/kevineikenberry https://www.facebook.com/KevinEikenberryFanPage/

About Kevin Eikenberry: Kevin Eikenberry is the Chief Potential Officer of the Kevin Eikenberry Group, a world expert on leadership development, best-selling author, sought-after speaker, popular blogger, husband and dad, a fan of Purdue athletics and antique tractors (especially John Deere's).

About The Remarkable Leadership Podcast: The Remarkable Leadership Podcast with Kevin Eikenberry is dedicated to all things leadership. Twice a week Kevin shares his thoughts about leadership development and ideas to help you lead more confidently and make a bigger difference for those you lead. He also has weekly conversations with leadership experts discussing a wide range of topics including teamwork, organizational culture, facilitating change, personal and organizational development, human potential and more.

If you liked this conversation, we'd be thrilled if you'd let others know by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Here's a quick guide for posting a review. Review on Apple: https://remarkablepodcast.com/itunes

If you want to view our live podcast episodes, hear about new releases, or chat with others who enjoy this podcast join one of our communities below.

Join the Facebook Group Join the LinkedIn Group

What if you paused?

We live in a world that keeps getting faster — and that speed is exactly why pauses matter more than ever. In this episode I talk about four places pauses make the biggest difference: when we're communicating, when we're listening, before we decide, and as leaders overall. Because here's the thing — the pause is where leadership lives.

I also share a question worth asking about your team's culture: does it reward the quick answer over the right answer? And a few ways to start building pauses into your team's norms.

If you found this useful, you'll probably enjoy my weekly newsletter, Unleashing Your Remarkable Potential. Every Tuesday I share thoughts to help you pause and think about leadership differently. Join us at https://KevinEikenberry.com/newsletters.

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🎧 Subscribe and Listen to the Remarkable Leadership Podcast Apple Podcasts: https://remarkablepodcast.com/applepodcasts Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4G4KyDG8rvNcvVVbgwKGIl Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/1ad13b5c-68f3-4a03-9a4a-e5f1485c5cb2/the-remarkable-leadership-podcast iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-the-remarkable-leadership-30949517/ RSS: http://remarkablepodcast.libsyn.com/rss

Learn more about our offerings: ➡️ FREE NEWSLETTERS: Sign up for any of our newsletters: https://kevineikenberry.com/newsletters ➡️ BOOK: Check out my latest book, Flexible Leadership: https://flexibleleadershipbook.com/ ➡️ LEADERSHIP WORKSHOPS: Sign up for any of our online workshops to help you become a better leader: https://kevineikenberry.com/store/?product_type=Workshops ➡️ SPEAKING: Learn more about our Speaking opportunities for your next event: https://kevineikenberry.com/how-we-can-help-speaking/

My name is Kevin Eikenberry and I'm here to help you reach your goal as a leader and a human being with Remarkable TV and the Remarkable Leadership Podcast.

I am also the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. We provide speaking, training, consulting, and coaching services to organizations who believe in investing in their most valuable assets – their people. Whether we are leading a training workshop, speaking to a group, facilitating a planning meeting, consulting with a leadership team, helping with team building, writing or developing products, our vision will be clear in everything we do – We want to be Your Leadership Help Button.

Connect with Kevin Eikenberry on Social Media: https://kevineikenberry.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevineikenberry https://instagram.com/kevineikenberry https://www.facebook.com/KevinEikenberryFanPage/

About Kevin Eikenberry: Kevin Eikenberry is the Chief Potential Officer of the Kevin Eikenberry Group, a world expert on leadership development, best-selling author, sought-after speaker, popular blogger, husband and dad, a fan of Purdue athletics and antique tractors (especially John Deere's).

About The Remarkable Leadership Podcast: The Remarkable Leadership Podcast with Kevin Eikenberry is dedicated to all things leadership. Twice a week Kevin shares his thoughts about leadership development and ideas to help you lead more confidently and make a bigger difference for those you lead. He also has weekly conversations with leadership experts discussing a wide range of topics including teamwork, organizational culture, facilitating change, personal and organizational development, human potential and more.

If you want to view our live podcast episodes, hear about new releases, or chat with others who enjoy this podcast join one of our communities below.

Join the Facebook Group Join the LinkedIn Group

If you liked this conversation, we'd be thrilled if you'd let others know by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Here's a quick guide for posting a review. Review on Apple: https://remarkablepodcast.com/itunes

To celebrate 10 years of The Remarkable Leadership Podcast, we're revisiting some of our most listened-to and most impactful conversations from the past decade.

How do we use moments of stress to create something better? Ama Marston is co-author (with her mom) of Type R: Transformative Resilience for Thriving in a Turbulent World. She joins Kevin to discuss challenges; personal, professional, and global and skills you need to hone to bounce back. Type-R's look to turn challenges into opportunities and find ways to grow from experiences.

In this episode, learn about:

• Resilience vs. transformative resilience.
• Type-R skill sets.
• How leaders can nurture Type-R skills.
• Global implications.

• Book Recommendations:
  • Still Life by Louise Penny
  • Everybody Matters: My Life Giving Voice by Mary Robinson
  • The Unnatural World: The Race to Remake Civilization in Earth's Newest Age by David Biello

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🎧 Subscribe and Listen to the Remarkable Leadership Podcast Apple Podcasts: https://remarkablepodcast.com/applepodcasts Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4G4KyDG8rvNcvVVbgwKGIl Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/1ad13b5c-68f3-4a03-9a4a-e5f1485c5cb2/the-remarkable-leadership-podcast iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-the-remarkable-leadership-30949517/ RSS: http://remarkablepodcast.libsyn.com/rss

Learn more about our offerings: ➡️ FREE NEWSLETTERS: Sign up for any of our newsletters: https://kevineikenberry.com/newsletters ➡️ BOOK: Check out my latest book, Flexible Leadership: https://flexibleleadershipbook.com/ ➡️ LEADERSHIP WORKSHOPS: Sign up for any of our online workshops to help you become a better leader: https://kevineikenberry.com/store/?product_type=Workshops ➡️ SPEAKING: Learn more about our Speaking opportunities for your next event: https://kevineikenberry.com/how-we-can-help-speaking/

My name is Kevin Eikenberry and I'm here to help you reach your goal as a leader and a human being with Remarkable TV and the Remarkable Leadership Podcast.

I am also the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. We provide speaking, training, consulting, and coaching services to organizations who believe in investing in their most valuable assets – their people. Whether we are leading a training workshop, speaking to a group, facilitating a planning meeting, consulting with a leadership team, helping with team building, writing or developing products, our vision will be clear in everything we do – We want to be Your Leadership Help Button.

Connect with Kevin Eikenberry on Social Media: https://kevineikenberry.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevineikenberry https://instagram.com/kevineikenberry https://www.facebook.com/KevinEikenberryFanPage/

About Kevin Eikenberry: Kevin Eikenberry is the Chief Potential Officer of the Kevin Eikenberry Group, a world expert on leadership development, best-selling author, sought-after speaker, popular blogger, husband and dad, a fan of Purdue athletics and antique tractors (especially John Deere's).

About The Remarkable Leadership Podcast: The Remarkable Leadership Podcast with Kevin Eikenberry is dedicated to all things leadership. Twice a week Kevin shares his thoughts about leadership development and ideas to help you lead more confidently and make a bigger difference for those you lead. He also has weekly conversations with leadership experts discussing a wide range of topics including teamwork, organizational culture, facilitating change, personal and organizational development, human potential and more.

Why do so many organizational change efforts fall short, even when leaders know change is necessary?

In this episode, Kevin talks with Kristy Ellmer about how change actually works and why successful transformation requires more than a plan, a process, or a compelling business case. Kristy explains that leaders often confuse alignment with true agreement, and that real progress begins when teams are willing to slow down, surface disagreement, and clarify how the change will happen. She also shares that involvement alone is not enough; people need agency and ownership to commit to building something new. Kevin and Kristy discuss the role of rituals, stories, and symbols in reducing cognitive load and helping people connect emotionally with the change, as well as why leaders must "earn the take-up" rather than assume people will adopt new behaviors simply because the change makes sense.

About Kristy Ellmer Kristy Ellmer is the co-author of How Change Really Works: Seven Science-Based Principles for Transforming Your Organization. She is a Managing Director and Senior Partner at BCG and a former Chief Transformation Officer, with decades of experience leading multiyear transformations inside global organizations. She leads BCG's Transformation practice and co-founded BCG's Behavioral Science Lab and specializes in translating academic research on human behavior into practical change and transformation programs that deliver sustained results. She has led over 30 transformations in 27 countries in 14 sectors from mining to retail and previously was a manager at Delta Airlines during one of the most exemplary transformations in business history. Kristy's completion of the 29029 Everesting Challenge—climbing the vertical height of Mount Everest 19 times in under 36 hours after months of disciplined training—embodies the same change principles she applies professionally: sustained commitment, deliberate design, support systems, and faith in process over motivation. Her TED Talk on navigating change with confidence has been seen by over half a million people. She has an MBA from Mercer University and a B.A. from Roanoke College. She's based in Boston.

Connect with Kristy Website: https://howchangereallyworks.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristy-r-ellmer-b25b7a23/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristy_ellmer/

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• How Change Really Works: Seven Science-Based Principles for Transforming Your Organization by Julia Dhar, Kristy Ellmer, and Philip Jameson
• The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness by Arthur C. Brooks
• Want help developing the leaders in your organization? Reach out to explore how the Kevin Eikenberry Group can support your team.

TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Why Most Organizational Change Efforts Fail 02:49 Why Kristy Ellmer Wrote "How Change Really Works" 05:29 Why Organizations Aren't Getting Better at Change 06:17 Understanding "Change Distance" 07:15 The Most Common Change Leadership Mistake 08:58 Why Leaders Should Encourage Disagreement 12:28 Moving from Employee Involvement to Ownership 15:52 How Rituals Reduce Cognitive Load During Change 18:48 Using Stories and Symbols to Reinforce Change 21:47 Why Leaders Must Earn Employee Adoption 24:24 How to Stay Persistent Through Transformation 27:41 Successful Change Starts with the Leader 28:53 What Kristy Is Reading 29:16 Where to Learn More 29:48 The Most Important Question: Now What?

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🎧 Subscribe and Listen to the Remarkable Leadership Podcast Apple Podcasts: https://remarkablepodcast.com/applepodcasts Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4G4KyDG8rvNcvVVbgwKGIl Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/1ad13b5c-68f3-4a03-9a4a-e5f1485c5cb2/the-remarkable-leadership-podcast iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-the-remarkable-leadership-30949517/ RSS: http://remarkablepodcast.libsyn.com/rss

Learn more about our offerings: ➡️ FREE NEWSLETTERS: Sign up for any of our newsletters: https://kevineikenberry.com/newsletters ➡️ BOOK: Check out my latest book, Flexible Leadership: https://flexibleleadershipbook.com/ ➡️ LEADERSHIP WORKSHOPS: Sign up for any of our online workshops to help you become a better leader: https://kevineikenberry.com/store/?product_type=Workshops ➡️ SPEAKING: Learn more about our Speaking opportunities for your next event: https://kevineikenberry.com/how-we-can-help-speaking/

My name is Kevin Eikenberry and I'm here to help you reach your goal as a leader and a human being with Remarkable TV and the Remarkable Leadership Podcast.

I am also the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. We provide speaking, training, consulting, and coaching services to organizations who believe in investing in their most valuable assets – their people. Whether we are leading a training workshop, speaking to a group, facilitating a planning meeting, consulting with a leadership team, helping with team building, writing or developing products, our vision will be clear in everything we do – We want to be Your Leadership Help Button.

Connect with Kevin Eikenberry on Social Media: https://kevineikenberry.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevineikenberry https://instagram.com/kevineikenberry https://www.facebook.com/KevinEikenberryFanPage/

About Kevin Eikenberry: Kevin Eikenberry is the Chief Potential Officer of the Kevin Eikenberry Group, a world expert on leadership development, best-selling author, sought-after speaker, popular blogger, husband and dad, a fan of Purdue athletics and antique tractors (especially John Deere's).

About The Remarkable Leadership Podcast: The Remarkable Leadership Podcast with Kevin Eikenberry is dedicated to all things leadership. Twice a week Kevin shares his thoughts about leadership development and ideas to help you lead more confidently and make a bigger difference for those you lead. He also has weekly conversations with leadership experts discussing a wide range of topics including teamwork, organizational culture, facilitating change, personal and organizational development, human potential and more.

If you want to view our live podcast episodes, hear about new releases, or chat with others who enjoy this podcast join one of our communities below.

Join the Facebook Group Join the LinkedIn Group

If you liked this conversation, we'd be thrilled if you'd let others know by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Here's a quick guide for posting a review. Review on Apple: https://remarkablepodcast.com/itunes

Are you what you do? James Clear says identity change is the North Star for habit change — and he's right. But it works the other way too: your habits are quietly shaping your identity.

In this episode, I talk about the two-way loop between habits and identity, why "your labels, your limits" applies to how you see yourself, and what this means for the culture of your team — because culture is really just collective identity, shaped by collective habits.

If you want more questions like this to help you build more remarkable days, I send them three times a week in Your Remarkable Day. Sign up at kevineikenberry.com/newsletters.

🎧 Subscribe and Listen to the Remarkable Leadership Podcast Apple Podcasts: https://remarkablepodcast.com/applepodcasts Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4G4KyDG8rvNcvVVbgwKGIl Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/1ad13b5c-68f3-4a03-9a4a-e5f1485c5cb2/the-remarkable-leadership-podcast iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-the-remarkable-leadership-30949517/ RSS: http://remarkablepodcast.libsyn.com/rss

Learn more about our offerings: ➡️ FREE NEWSLETTERS: Sign up for any of our newsletters: https://kevineikenberry.com/newsletters ➡️ BOOK: Check out my latest book, Flexible Leadership: https://flexibleleadershipbook.com/ ➡️ LEADERSHIP WORKSHOPS: Sign up for any of our online workshops to help you become a better leader: https://kevineikenberry.com/store/?product_type=Workshops ➡️ SPEAKING: Learn more about our Speaking opportunities for your next event: https://kevineikenberry.com/how-we-can-help-speaking/

My name is Kevin Eikenberry and I'm here to help you reach your goal as a leader and a human being with Remarkable TV and the Remarkable Leadership Podcast.

I am also the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. We provide speaking, training, consulting, and coaching services to organizations who believe in investing in their most valuable assets – their people. Whether we are leading a training workshop, speaking to a group, facilitating a planning meeting, consulting with a leadership team, helping with team building, writing or developing products, our vision will be clear in everything we do – We want to be Your Leadership Help Button.

Connect with Kevin Eikenberry on Social Media: https://kevineikenberry.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevineikenberry https://instagram.com/kevineikenberry https://www.facebook.com/KevinEikenberryFanPage/

About Kevin Eikenberry: Kevin Eikenberry is the Chief Potential Officer of the Kevin Eikenberry Group, a world expert on leadership development, best-selling author, sought-after speaker, popular blogger, husband and dad, a fan of Purdue athletics and antique tractors (especially John Deere's).

About The Remarkable Leadership Podcast: The Remarkable Leadership Podcast with Kevin Eikenberry is dedicated to all things leadership. Twice a week Kevin shares his thoughts about leadership development and ideas to help you lead more confidently and make a bigger difference for those you lead. He also has weekly conversations with leadership experts discussing a wide range of topics including teamwork, organizational culture, facilitating change, personal and organizational development, human potential and more.

To celebrate 10 years of The Remarkable Leadership Podcast, we're revisiting some of our most listened-to and most impactful conversations from the past decade.

In our inaugural episode, I'm talking with one of the industry's greatest legends, Jim Kouzes. While he needs no introduction, Jim is a best-selling author, award-winning speaker and co-author of The Leadership Challenge. And according to the Wall Street Journal, he is one of the twelve best executive educators in the United States. If you're eager to learn new techniques to maximize your leadership potential, his is an insightful and powerful conversation that you won't want to miss.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• The five fundamentals of leadership
• Key lessons from Jim's leadership journey
• The #1 thing leaders can do to more intentionally learn on a regular basis

If you want to view our live podcast episodes, hear about new releases, or chat with others who enjoy this podcast join one of our communities below.

Join the Facebook Group Join the LinkedIn Group

If you liked this conversation, we'd be thrilled if you'd let others know by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Here's a quick guide for posting a review. Review on Apple: https://remarkablepodcast.com/itunes

Learn more about our offerings:

➡️ FREE NEWSLETTERs: Sign up for any of our newsletters: https://kevineikenberry.com/newsletters ➡️ BOOK: Check out my latest book, The Long-Distance Teammate: https://longdistanceteammate.com/ ➡️ LEADERSHIP WORKSHOPS: Sign up for any of our online workshops to help you become a better leader: https://kevineikenberry.com/store/?product_type=Workshops ➡️ SPEAKING: Learn more about our Speaking opportunities for your next event: https://kevineikenberry.com/how-we-can-help-speaking/

Connect with Kevin Eikenberry on Social Media: https://kevineikenberry.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevineikenberry https://instagram.com/kevineikenberry https://www.facebook.com/KevinEikenberryFanPage/

About Kevin Eikenberry: Kevin Eikenberry is the Chief Potential Officer of the Kevin Eikenberry Group, a world expert on leadership development, best-selling author, sought-after speaker, popular blogger, husband and dad, a fan of Purdue athletics and antique tractors (especially John Deere's).

About The Remarkable Leadership Podcast: The Remarkable Leadership Podcast with Kevin Eikenberry is dedicated to all things leadership. Twice a week Kevin shares his thoughts about leadership development and ideas to help you lead more confidently and make a bigger difference for those you lead. He also has weekly conversations with leadership experts discussing a wide range of topics including teamwork, organizational culture, facilitating change, personal and organizational development, human potential and more.

What keeps teams stuck in the same conversations without making real progress? In this episode, Kevin talks with Gustavo Razzetti about why teams avoid the conversations that matter most and how leaders can help them move forward. Gustavo shares that silence often happens not just because people feel unsafe, but because speaking up feels pointless when nothing changes. They discuss the difference between backward talk (blame, avoidance, and groupthink) and forward talk, which helps teams address real issues, learn, and act. Gustavo also introduces the idea of conversational debt, the price teams pay for the questions they don't ask, the ideas they don't share, and the issues they avoid. Kevin and Gustavo discuss the three types of this debt: alignment debt, belonging debt, and collaboration debt, and why leaders must continually validate alignment, welcome healthy dissent, and create space for real progress. They also touch on how AI can amplify existing team dynamics, making groupthink and misalignment even more costly.

0:00 Why teams get stuck and stay silent 0:36 Welcome to the Remarkable Leadership Podcast 1:32 Meet Gustavo Razzetti 2:41 Why Gustavo wrote Forward Talk 4:22 The real reason people stay silent 6:30 Forward talk vs. backward talk 9:01 False harmony and psychological safety 10:56 What is conversational debt? 12:45 Alignment debt 16:12 The illusion of alignment 17:24 Belonging debt 19:17 Collaboration debt 21:17 How AI amplifies team dynamics 25:34 One organizational next step 28:09 What Gustavo is reading 29:01 Where to find Gustavo Razzetti 29:58 Now what? Kevin's closing challenge

Gustavo's Story: Gustavo Razzetti is the bestselling author of Remote, Not Distant, Stretch for Change, and his latest book, Forward Talk: The Bold New Method for Getting Teams Unstuck. He is a culture strategist, workshop facilitator, and keynote speaker with over 25 years of experience—first as a marketing and advertising executive, now as CEO of Fearless Culture, a culture design consultancy. He's facilitated more than 1,500 workshops with leadership teams at Mars, Microsoft, Merck, the Inter-American Development Bank, and hundreds of organizations across the world. Razzetti is the creator of the Culture Design Canvas, now used by over 500,000 practitioners worldwide, and the Forward Talk framework. He helps teams surface issues early, challenge groupthink, and turn avoided conversations into decisions that stick. His work has been featured in The New York Times, BBC, Forbes, and Fortune. He's also a regular contributor to Psychology Today.

https://gustavorazzetti.com/about/

https://www.fearlessculture.design/about

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

Want help developing the leaders in your organization? Reach out to explore how the Kevin Eikenberry Group can support your team at [email protected].

• Forward Talk: The Bold New Method for Getting Teams Unstuck by Gustavo Razzetti
• Remote Not Distant: Design a Company Culture That Will Help You Thrive in a Hybrid Workplace by Gustavo Razzetti
• Stretch for Change: How To Improve Your Change Fitness And Thrive In Life by Gustavo Razzetti
• Meaningful Work: How to Ignite Passion and Performance in Every Employee by Wes Adams and Tamara Myles

• The Science of High Performance Teams with Dr. David Burkus
• Building Emotionally Intelligent Teams with Vanessa Druskat

If you want to view our live podcast episodes, hear about new releases, or chat with others who enjoy this podcast join one of our communities below.

Join the Facebook Group Join the LinkedIn Group

If you liked this conversation, we'd be thrilled if you'd let others know by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Here's a quick guide for posting a review. Review on Apple: https://remarkablepodcast.com/itunes

Do you create the right amount of urgency?

Urgency can help us take action, move faster, and get important work done. But too much urgency, or false urgency, can create pressure, confusion, and exhaustion without improving results.

In this episode, Kevin Eikenberry explores the tension leaders face between moving quickly and rushing unnecessarily. You'll learn why context matters, how false urgency weakens real urgency, and why clear communication and timelines help create the right level of focus for the situation.

The key: create urgency when it is needed, but avoid making everything feel like a fire.

Learn more about Kevin's book, Flexible Leadership, at https://FlexibleLeadershipBook.com

My name is Kevin Eikenberry and I'm here to help you reach your goal as a leader and a human being with Remarkable TV and the Remarkable Leadership Podcast.

I am also the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. We provide speaking, training, consulting, and coaching services to organizations who believe in investing in their most valuable assets – their people. Whether we are leading a training workshop, speaking to a group, facilitating a planning meeting, consulting with a leadership team, helping with team building, writing or developing products, our vision will be clear in everything we do – We want to be Your Leadership Help Button.

Learn more about our offerings:

➡️ FREE NEWSLETTERs: Sign up for any of our newsletters: https://kevineikenberry.com/newsletters ➡️ LEADERSHIP WORKSHOPS: Sign up for any of our online workshops to help you become a better leader: https://kevineikenberry.com/store/?product_type=Workshops ➡️ SPEAKING: Learn more about our Speaking opportunities for your next event: https://kevineikenberry.com/how-we-can-help-speaking/

Connect with Kevin Eikenberry on Social Media: https://kevineikenberry.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevineikenberry https://instagram.com/kevineikenberry https://www.facebook.com/KevinEikenberryFanPage/

About Kevin Eikenberry: Kevin Eikenberry is the Chief Potential Officer of the Kevin Eikenberry Group, a world expert on leadership development, best-selling author, sought-after speaker, popular blogger, husband and dad, a fan of Purdue athletics and antique tractors (especially John Deere's).

About The Remarkable Leadership Podcast: The Remarkable Leadership Podcast with Kevin Eikenberry is dedicated to all things leadership. Twice a week Kevin shares his thoughts about leadership development and ideas to help you lead more confidently and make a bigger difference for those you lead. He also has weekly conversations with leadership experts discussing a wide range of topics including teamwork, organizational culture, facilitating change, personal and organizational development, human potential and more.

How can leaders elevate their impact without sacrificing their energy, focus, and quality of life? In this episode, Kevin talks with Laurie Maddalena about what it means to become an elevated leader in today's changing world of work. Laurie challenges the outdated belief that leadership requires constant overwhelm, availability, and personal sacrifice, and instead makes the case for leading with greater intention, self-awareness, reflection, and energy. Kevin and Laurie discuss why many leaders are promoted without real preparation, how the role shifts from doing the work to developing people, and why managers must move from being fixers to facilitators. They also discuss practical ways to protect focus and manage energy rather than just time.

0:00 Intro: Why Leadership Must Elevate 1:36 Meet Laurie Maddalena 2:33 Why She Wrote The Elevated Leader 3:54 The Big Idea Behind the Book 6:08 What Defines an Elevated Leader 7:11 The Starbucks Barista Problem 8:14 Laurie's Own Leadership Wake-Up Call 10:34 Is Everyone Meant to Lead? 13:37 Overview of the Elevated Leadership Model 14:23 Self-Awareness, Sleep, and Energy 15:35 Why Reflection Is Undervalued 18:20 Creating Clarity and Caretaking the Culture 20:24 Energy Patterns and Productivity Sprints 23:57 Treat Your Calendar Like "Cardiologist Time" 26:16 The Problem With Open-Door Policies 27:29 What Organizations Should Do to Support Leaders 29:11 Training Leaders Like a True Profession 31:55 What Laurie Is Reading Right Now 32:43 Where to Find Laurie 33:16 Closing: What Action Will You Take?

Laurie's Story: Laurie Maddalena is the author of The Elevated Leader: Boost Your Confidence and Transform Your Team by Mastering Coaching, Accountability, and Difficult Conversations. She is a leadership provocateur, confronting outdated leadership models that reward exhaustion over effectiveness. As the founder of Envision Excellence, she helps managers go from "The Fixer" to "The Facilitator," enabling high-achieving leaders to deliver elite results without burnout. A former VP of HR by age 30, Laurie is a Certified Speaking Professional and has worked directly with influencers like Brené Brown and Jack Canfield. Laurie intentionally caps her workweek at 40 hours—demonstrating that sustainable success and elite results are not mutually exclusive, but essential to modern leadership.

https://www.lauriemaddalena.com/ https://www.instagram.com/lauriemaddalena/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriemaddalena/ https://www.facebook.com/people/Laurie-Maddalena/100063864253481/ https://www.youtube.com/@lauriemaddalena

• The Elevated Leader: Boost Your Confidence and Transform Your Team by Mastering Coaching, Accountability, and Difficult Conversations by Laurie Maddalena
• The Transformation Economy: Guiding Customers to Achieve Their Aspirations by B. Joseph Pine II

• Solving the Culture Puzzle with Mario Moussa and Derek Newberry
• Bringing the Art of Reflection into Your Busy Life with Joseph Badaracco
• Energy and Leadership with Rick Maurer

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Your brain is in a constant state of change — and I believe you can take a more conscious, intentional role in wiring it to serve you best.

In this episode, I share four practical ways you can start rewiring your brain today for better decisions, more effectiveness, and greater satisfaction in pretty much everything you do.

My name is Kevin Eikenberry and I'm here to help you reach your goal as a leader and a human being with Remarkable TV and the Remarkable Leadership Podcast.

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About The Remarkable Leadership Podcast: The Remarkable Leadership Podcast with Kevin Eikenberry is dedicated to all things leadership. Twice a week Kevin shares his thoughts about leadership development and ideas to help you lead more confidently and make a bigger difference for those you lead. He also has weekly conversations with leadership experts discussing a wide range of topics including teamwork, organizational culture, facilitating change, personal and organizational development, human potential and more.