ToddCast - Weekly Leadership Nudge

In this episode of the Toddcast, Todd explores the difference between the “now game” and the “ongoing game” in leadership and life. Using examples from soccer, board games, performance conversations, customer service, and business strategy, Todd challenges us to look beyond immediate wins and consider the long-term impact of our decisions on relationships, growth, and success. Discover how identifying the game you’re playing can help you become a more effective leader and build something that lasts.

(ChatGTP generated and edited by Todd Long)

In this episode of the Toddcast, Game On: Learning About Ourselves and Others, Todd Long explores how playing games can reveal valuable insights about ourselves and the people around us. Discover three key areas where games offer leadership lessons: communication and social interaction, emotional regulation, and how people think and make decisions. Todd also shares personal reflections on his own competitive nature and tendency to bend the rules. Whether playing with family, friends, or your work team, games can be a fun and practical way to build relationships, understand others, and become a more effective leader. So gather some people, play a game, and see what you discover!

(ChatGTP generated and edited by Todd Long)

In this episode of the Toddcast, Todd Long continues his series on defining leadership by exploring what it means to produce good results. Using his humorous “ice cream test,” Todd examines six ways to define good: quality and value, ethics, health and well-being, suitability, skill and competency, and quantity. He then challenges leaders to consider who benefits from their decisions, including customers, employees, managers, investors, organizations, and society. Through examples like remote work and tuition reimbursement, Todd highlights the complexity of competing priorities and reminds us that good leadership requires thoughtful consideration of the impact our decisions have on others. He closes with a practical challenge to evaluate your own leadership results and a reminder that we are made to do good.

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What does it mean to truly thrive?

In this episode of the Toddcast, Todd Long continues his series on defining leadership by exploring the word “thrive” and what it looks like in different areas of our lives, teams, and organizations. Todd challenges us to identify what thriving looks like in our specific context, recognize when we or others are merely surviving, and consider how leaders can come alongside people during difficult seasons.

He also offers practical exercises for teams and individuals to evaluate where they are thriving, what may need to change, and how they can create environments where people flourish.

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What kind of environment are you cultivating as a leader? In this episode of the Toddcast, Todd continues exploring his definition of leadership—“cultivating an environment where people thrive and produce good results”—by focusing on the word environment. He introduces a simple framework that looks at two key dimensions: relationships, ranging from distant to close, and operations, ranging from unstructured to structured. Through relatable examples, Todd explores how these dimensions shape the environments we create and challenges leaders to picture their desired environment, identify what could be better, and take one practical step toward making it a reality.

(ChatGTP generated and edited by Todd Long)

In this week’s Toddcast, Todd explores the meaning of “cultivating” in his definition of leadership: cultivating an environment where people thrive and produce good results. Using the analogy of tending a garden, Todd unpacks four essential leadership practices: till, inhabit, nurture, and protect. He shares practical ways to understand people’s strengths and motivations, build meaningful relationships, provide balanced support, and protect teams through truth and clarity. Listeners are challenged to reflect on their own leadership and identify one actionable step to cultivate the people and environments around them.

(ChatGTP generated and edited by Todd Long)

What is your definition of leadership?

After a white-water rafting adventure in Montana, Todd reflects on how his river guide demonstrated leadership by preparing, guiding, connecting, and caring for the people in his boat. Todd explores several well-known definitions of leadership before sharing his own.

This episode challenges you to think critically about leadership, develop your own definition, and consider how that definition shapes the way you lead.

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In this final episode of the “Time to Lead” series, Todd reflects on the many ways we’ve experienced and measured time. He then shares 15 practical time-management tips leaders can put into action immediately, including creating a simple system, prioritizing, protecting focused time, leaving margin, taking breaks, identifying time leaks, and learning to say no.

The episode concludes with a challenge to choose one or two tips and practice them for two weeks.

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What can Dolly Parton’s iconic song “9 to 5” teach us about leadership and how we invest our time? In this episode of the Toddcast, Todd Long explores the song’s themes of work, frustration, dreams, hope, and possibility—and connects them to the choices we make with our own time. You’ll discover four simple ways to invest your time well: start your day well, find joy in your work, keep learning, and have fun. Todd also challenges you to create a weekly time chart and decide what you want to start, stop, and keep doing. And stick around for a fun Dolly Parton song quiz!

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In this episode of the Toddcast, Todd continues his “Time to Lead” series by exploring the mantras we use about time—the phrases we repeat to ourselves and others that shape our thinking, emotions, behaviors, and even organizational culture.

Through personal stories and workplace examples, Todd highlights how phrases like “I’m too busy,” “Time is money,” or “Good things take time” can reinforce the way we experience and use our time.

He introduces seven categories of time mantras—value, limits, priorities, opportunity, patience, busyness, and reflection—and challenges listeners to become more aware of the messages they are communicating.

The episode concludes with a practical challenge: listen for your own time mantras and those used by people around you, and consider whether they are helping you use your time wisely and lead yourself and others well.

(ChatGTP generated and edited by Todd Long)