Leadership On Purpose

Blake shares some of his personal story you might not know about, and talks about why you should prioritize building assets outside your day job – with 3 examples.

This is one of the craziest business stories you'll ever hear. Blake and Chad host Alan Barnhart, the CEO of Barnhart Crane.

Well over 30 years ago, Alan implemented a self-imposed, extremely conservative limitation on his own income – he's maintained this limitation while giving away millions in profits every year. 

Barnhart Crane went from a small mom and pop business to a $600M revenue company with nearly 2,000 employees. Last year alone, they gave away $35M to help people all over the globe.

In this episode, you'll learn:

→ The power of generosity and faith-driven leadership

→ What it looks like to be a "steward" as a business owner

→ Why PEOPLE are the real product and how to invest in life change as a leader in your organization

→ Why work is not just a necessary evil, and how to shift your team's thinking on the goodness of workAt CoThryve, we help companies find, develop, and keep difference maker talent.

In this episode, hosts Blake Bozarth and Chad Pyke feature Devan Kline, co-founder and CEO of Burn Bootcamp.

Devan shares his life story from abandonment by his parents to running a company with 384 franchises. A key part of his approach involves a decision-making system that includes the '65 percent rule' to avoid analysis paralysis, envisioning two chairs to represent his franchisees and members when making major decisions, and a well-honed skill of asking questions. 

Devan elaborates on the importance of getting small wins during big changes, and the courage to trust and empower employees to build stronger teams. He teases future ambitions with the company, revealing the 'to the moon' theme inspired by Elon Musk.
00:16 Intro & Nuggets to look for
02:11 Interview with Devin Kline
02:31 Devin's Career Journey and Entrepreneurial Spirit
05:21 Devin's Decision Making Process
09:39 The Importance of Trust in Leadership
12:07 The Role of Questions in Decision Making
15:35 The Impact of Empowerment in Leadership
19:39 The Process of Making Big Decisions
23:58 The Importance of Small Wins in Change Management
39:33 Closing Thoughts and Future Goals

We all know the importance of being "customer centric" ... so why is it so easy for people to lose sight of where the money changes hands and what can we do about it as leaders? 

Our featured guest is Barry Mainz, CEO of Forescout Technologies, a cyber security leader with over 1,000 employees.In this episode, you'll learn:

→ Why you can't manage your way to greatness but can HIRE your way to greatness

→ What pace of the change looks like and the skills necessary to flourish in today's world

→ Why the best leaders are not the smartest in the room – they're the best learners

→ How to navigate multiple generations in the workforce and considerations for leading Gen Z

→ Barry's journey from sales leader to CEO and the steps necessary to get there

We all know that leaders are supposed to delegate. But let's be real. It's a lot easier said than done. Our FIRST repeat guest after 55 episodes is Charlie Bailes, senior exec at ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, an iconic family-owned brand.In this episode, you'll learn:

→ The difference between delegation and abdication 

→ How to give your team the clarity + trust they need to truly be empowered

→ Why it's crucial to repel the majority of job candidates

→ How to create multigenerational success in family business

So many people are coasting through life without purpose – not living on purpose, much less leading on purpose. Blake & Chad host Henry Kaestner, an incredibly successful entrepreneur who founded Bandwidth (now public) and later founded and leads Sovereign's Capital. 

Henry's also been one of the leading catalysts in the Faith Driven Entrepreneurship and Investing space. In this episode, where you'll learn:

→ Why being excellent in what you do is what gives you influence

→ How your faith system enables and drives excellence

→ How to build culture by sharing WHY you do what you do

What's it mean to take "Radical Ownership" and how can you foster an ownership culture for your team? Blake & Chad break it down in this Jam Session, where you'll learn:

→ Why passivity kills your career and what it looks like to become the driver

→ What taking extreme responsibility looks like as a leader

→ Why Fault & Responsibility don't go together

→ How to help your team or mentee go from victim to victor mentality 

Every coach and leader wants the most talented team. But "talent without chemistry results in chaos." Hosts Blake Bozarth and Chad Pyke are joined by college basketball legend Matt Doherty (now Executive Coach & Speaker) – a man who won a championship playing alongside Michael Jordan and coached at the highest levels. 

In this episode, you'll learn:

→ How to foster chemistry on your team and get the most out of the talent around you

→ Why you should approach your craft the same way MJ and Kobe did

→ How soft skills lead to hard cash

→ What a personal board of directors is and why you need one

LOP is back ... and it's a Brand. New. Era. In this episode, Blake jams with new co-host, Chad Pyke on all things interview process. 

Get our 2 hottest takes for owning your next interview for that new leadership role, and if you're a hiring manager, 2 bonus tips for locking in the right hire for your team.

When was the last time your team offered to take a 70% pay cut? In this episode, Issa Baluch shares an incredible personal story about how he and his company overcame crisis by making personal sacrifice and embracing what it means to be a team. Issa is a very successful entrepreneur and legend in the Logistics industry.

Issa shares his powerful journey of how moved from refugee from Africa to business tycoon in Dubai.

In this episode, you'll learn:

–> Why being a "self-made" leader is a myth

–> How crisis can set the stage for incredible growth

–> How to connect with anyone no matter their culture or background

–> Why knowing your team & their families is so important

"Culture is not what you do. It's who you are." Our guest is Aaron Burke, businessman turned ministry leader and Founding Pastor of Radiant Church, one of the fastest growing churches in the US.

In this episode, you'll learn how to build a culture YOU want to be part of and what it looks like to create unity in your team.

How do you help someone increase their Emotional Intelligence and develop more of a Growth Mindset? Our guest is Debbie Plager, Chief Talent Officer at HUB International.

As a self-described "Recovering Fixed-Mindsetter," Debbie is the quintessential coach for developing a Growth Mindset and building higher EQ.

Sitting down with the legend of Bob Burg, author of The Go-Giver, a book that's reached millions of people. 

"Leading with value" is a term that gets thrown around a lot these days, but what does it really mean and how can you do it? Bob demystifies it and gives some hard-hitting insights for how to win the hearts and minds of the people around us.

Commitment vs. compliance. Push vs. Pull. Real authenticity. So many nuggets in this episode from a legend.

Atypical episode. Blake shares a pretty cool and crazy personal story that happened to him last week at Chipotle of all places. 

As we enter 2022, how can we react with more grace, compassion, and generosity to those around us, even when we might feel like they don't deserve it?

What's it mean to be relentlessly intentional? ... especially when it comes to your leadership and developing people? Christopher Lind, Chief Learning Officer and Founder of Learning Sharks talks about how to avoid the one-size-fits-all approach to development that so many companies fall into.

Christopher is a husband and dad to SIX kids – he passionately believes you should never have to compromise family for success in career.  In this episode, you'll learn:

–> What it looks like to be relentlessly intentionally in life and leadership  

–> Why a one-size-fits-all approach to leading and developing people does NOT fit all  

–> Where career-pathing discussions with your team go wrong and how to do them right  

–> Where the world's going with talent mobility platforms (leveraging the gig-economy inside your company)

–> How to connect people with opportunities inside the org to practice skills and explore interests (job-share, project-share, etc)

–> How to measure the success of the Learning & Development function

What if there was a book to inspire your kid's inner leader? Lexi turns the table on Blake and interviews him about his recently released kids book about leadership. 

People don't become leaders without doing leadership. Gina Creek is Executive Director of the Leadership Institute at Advent Health. She explains how leadership gets romanticized and how to help others step UP and step IN to what leadership is really all about.

In this episode, you'll learn:

–> Why leadership is NOT the goal and should be a means, not an end

–> What the "Great Corporate Standoff" is all about and how to solve it

–> How to ask people questions that ignites their leadership journey

–> How to spot high potential leaders

–> What it looks like to create real world opportunities to grow and develop leaders in your organization

"Everyone assumes Artificial Intelligence will take your job. That's wrong .. but someone who uses AI better than you, will take your job." Our guest is Alex Collmer, Founder & CEO of VidMob, a fast-growing company recently valued at nearly $300 million.

Alex is a successful entrepreneur who's as purpose-driven as they come. He shares insights on the advance of AI and how to lead in a people-first way.

In this episode, you'll learn:

–> Which sectors of the economy will be impacted the most and the quickest by AI

–> How leaders put PEOPLE in position to win in this new world of AI, automation, and machine learning

–> Why it's scary but healthy to chase the goal of removing your own job

–> How "Expanding Universe Theory" relates to employee growth and development

–> Why you should focus on serving every person you hire (they could be working anywhere, yet they choose to work with you)

What does it look like to innovate inside a non-profit? How would a non-profit shift from fundraising to running as a fully self-sustaining operation? Brian Mosley, President of RightNow Media brings the wisdom in this episode.

RightNow Media has nearly 200 employees and has been described as the Netflix of ministry, and Brian clarifies where this parallel is accurate and where it falls apart.

In this episode, you'll learn:

–> What’s healthy about running a non-profit like a business with a viable revenue-producing product

–> Why deep focus on your core product / service leads to more significant innovation than chasing shiny tangents

–> How to foster a healthy dynamic between management and Board

–> How to ensure your people do NOT become casualties of the mission

As leaders, we care about maximizing our time for the greatest impact. Jordan Raynor is a serial entrepreneur, best selling-author, and his work has been read and consumed by millions of people. 

Jordan's earned his "real-world PhD" in Time Management, and his latest book is Redeeming Your Time. 

In this episode, you'll learn:

–> 3 tangible ways to better protect your time so you can become significantly more productive

–> Why multitasking is the worst and how to be truly present in your work and relationships

–> How to say NO in a generous way so you can yes to the things that matter most

–> Why rest and ambition should go hand in hand

We all know we're supposed to be real and vulnerable as a leader, but what's that really supposed to look like? Casey Graham is a successful entrepreneur, and his latest company is Gravy – a fast-growing payment recovery company that's on track to return $1B to their clients by 2023.

In this episode, you'll learn:

–> Why being real / vulnerable as a leader SHOULD look different depending on the context

–> What it means to be pre vs. post-broken. May have confidence, but they walk with a limp.

–> How pain can become baptized in Purpose

–> What Owner's intent is all about (Casey's is to build an organization where his adult children would want to work at if they chose to ... very powerful)

–> How to let someone else borrow your belief – when someone further along than you on your path, becomes a champion for you and believes in you

–> Why action creates traction + how thoughts and feelings are 2 sides of the same coin

We have another legend of an entrepreneur on the show today in David Heinemeier Hansson, otherwise known as DHH. Our theme is leading with conviction and taking tough stands.

DHH is an incredibly successful tech entrepreneur (creator of Ruby On Rails and Co-Founder of Basecamp), and has an entirely unorthodox approach to business compared to his peers in the tech space ... and he's stuck out for doing it in sometimes controversial ways.

Earmuff warning: there's some language in this episode. If not listening with earbuds, use caution.

In this episode, you'll learn:

–> Why the tech monoculture is wrong about building a business

–> How to grow your influence by mastering a craft ("Competence breeds authority")

–> Why trite axioms are the worst and why leaders should avoid them

–> Why Basecamp places the exact salary figure in the job ad (and why they pay much more than average market rate)

–> What to consider in navigating the political climate at work

In this episode, you're going to hear from a legend – Garry Ridge is the renown Chairman and CEO of WD-40. His accent is Australian, his wit is sharp, and his wisdom is plentiful. 

Garry has led the way fostering a culture at WD-40 that is truly special, and the results to the bottom line for this worldwide brand are unmistakable. The WD-40 company has gone from $350M market cap to $3.5B under Garry's leadership. 

Garry's a practitioner of the leadership concepts you hear about on podcasts and read about in books. He's good friends with Ken Blanchard, Simon Sinek, and he's an influencer in his own right ... but what's special with Garry is the way he's bringing these concepts to LIFE in the real world with an iconic brand and company the size of WD-40. In this episode, you'll learn:

–> How to give people permission to fail ... what Garry calls, "Learning Moments"

–> Who Al, the soul-sucking CEO, is and how to take him down

–> Why WD-40 uses the term "Tribe" for their team and how to build a tribe of your own

–> How to lead a return to work post-pandemic by letting empathy eat ego

–> How your leadership in a private enterprise affects the very fabric of society

Win the morning, win the day. Our guest in Glenn Lundy – he's one of the more inspiring voices you'll come across these days, and he's bringing a few tangible steps to succeed in your morning routine. In this episode, you'll get 5 tangible steps to winning the morning and learn:

–> How the snooze button messes with your energy level the whole day

–> Why your phone is your worst enemy in the morning

–> What you should do in the morning to set yourself up for success

Can strategic perspective be developed and how do you go about doing it?

Our guest is Cissy Williams, Chief Customer Officer at Protective Life, a multi-billion dollar insurance company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Cissy has an inspiring career story and is the perfect person to share insights on how to develop strategic perspective. In this episode, you'll learn:

–> Why breadth of experience and exposure is key to strategic perspective + career growth

–> How to pursue opportunities to develop key relationships across the enterprise

–> Why you should look at your career like a lattice vs. a ladder (valuing lateral moves)

–> When senior leaders should tap talent for new opportunities

–> How to elevate the strategic mindset of your team

What's the future of work look like what are the implications for leaders? Our guest is Lisa McGill, CHRO at Silver Peak and the perfect person to share insights on how to lead in a distributed / hybrid workplace. In this episode, you'll learn:

–> What the "Turnover Tsunami" is all about and how leaders can take advantage

–> How to hire for people who will thrive in the workplace of the future

–> How to handle burnout and why the best leaders focus their teams on the few things that matter most

–> Why you should create a culture where recognition flows peer-to-peer

–> Why it's important to own your voice and be your best advocate

What does it look like to make humility a core value in your organization? How do you hire for humility and cultivate it in your culture? Our guest is Ken McElrath, Founder of Skuid. Ken's scaled a successful company with "Humble Expert" as a core value.

In this episode, you'll learn:

–> What false humility looks like and how to own your strengths while being humble

–> How intensive listening is indistinguishable with humility

–> Why to look for "we" over "me" in new hire interviews

–> How to get your team to call you out in areas you're looking to grow

–> Why you should be driven by what breaks your heart

How do you win the talent battle in a tight labor market? Charlie Bailes talks about how to avoid "warm body syndrome" and attract the right talent to your organization. Charlie is VP of HR & Logistics at ABC Fine Wine & Spirits – an iconic Florida brand with 150+ stores and 1600+ employees.

In this episode you'll learn:

–> how to avoid hiring mistakes by telling candidates why they shouldn't work for you

–> practical examples for authentic and transparent leadership that builds trust and loyalty

–> why it makes sense to not always maximize revenue in favor of creating a place where people love to work

Charlie also has the unique experience of growing up in a large family business, starting his own business, and getting an MBA. He shares the benefits of each and how his side-hustle makes him a better executive at ABC.

Can you have it all – family, community, and work? Our guest is Suneera Madhani, Founder & CEO of Stax by Fattmerchant. Her answer to this question is an unapologetic YES. Suneera shares her powerful personal story as well as a practical framework she calls the "3 Bucket Principle" for integrating work with life and prioritizing the things that matter most.

"Your story is yours to design," and if you care about the goal, you'll focus on the system. Suneera shares how to say NO more often so that you can say YES to the things that matter most. She also talks about how to double down on you strengths and enjoy your work more while driving considerably more value.

How do you build connection and foster relationships in a distributed team environment? Our guest is Hubert Palan, CEO of Productboard, and he shares how to overcome some of the unique challenges of a virtual reality. Trust and connection require knowing one other on a personal level, and Hubert shares some practical insights for building community and stronger bonds among the team.

He also talks about why leaders should stop referring to our company as "family" and what we should say instead. Make sure to listen for a great nugget on why and how to involve your team's spouses and loved ones.

How do you foster a culture where autonomy scales? Our guest is David Cancel, CEO at Drift and Entrepreneur in Residence at Harvard Business School. He is the embodiment of the American success story, and you'll catch a bit of this in the episode. 

Learn how a great culture matches equal parts autonomy + accountability ... people empowered to create and make decisions, matched with a high degree of accountability, ultimately to the customer.

David talks about how leaders should STOP hiring for cultural fit, and what to do instead. He also talks about how you better be willing to not only hire for values, but fire for them as well. You'll also get a fresh take on servant leadership and customer centricity.

How do you build culture from scratch? Our guest is Don Thoma, CEO at Aireon, and the quintessential intrapreneur turned entrepreneur. 

Don shares how important the hiring process is for screening people that will enhance your company's culture and for emphasizing its importance on the front end. He also shares how communication is vital, but walking the talk is even more important in the way you and your leaders live out the values and celebrate team members who are doing the same.

Finally, we talk about talent development in a startup environment. Don is a great example of what it looks like to be a successful intrapreneur who takes initiative and creates opportunities and future roles. The implications for senior leaders: be looking for emerging talent you can empower with greater responsibility.

Have you ever led a team where you had less experience than most of the team? It's not an easy scenario, but it's one that many emerging leaders find themselves in. 

Our guest is Marc Diouane, Chief Business Officer at Checkr. Marc is an experienced senior exec who's led teams all over the globe, and he remembers what it was like when he was first asked to lead a team at 25 years old. 

Marc shares the natural challenges of managing people early in your career, how to build trust quickly, and what senior leaders can do to support emerging leaders.

Want a sure-fire way to enhance your organization's culture? Focus on the positive. As leaders, it's natural to want to please everyone. We should welcome and listen to feedback, but when we cater to the complainers whose problem isn't really all that valid, it makes it worse for everyone.

Our guest is Erik Huberman, CEO of Hawke Media, and we talk about two different "laws of 3" in this episode that will help you be a better leader. Erik also shares his passionately held belief that "hustle isn't scalable" and the implications for leaders. He also talks about how he wants his company to be place where people are proud to be FROM, and he's happy for them when they use what they've gained in a future role. 

How do you attract top talent into your organization? What’s your pitch? Our guest is James Cutrer, a top sales executive at MongoDB, and he shares the 5-point pitch he uses to win top talent.

We also talk specifically about developing sales leaders as well as the concept of “collaborative competition.”

The more senior you grow as a leader and the more your organization grows, the less your voice is heard and the more weight it carries. The implications of this are significant, and Greg Segall, CEO at Alyce, breaks down why it matters and what you can do about it.

Greg also shares how senior leaders set the example for balance at work and how he prioritizes family time and encourages his team to do the same.

Why is it important to stay lean as your company / organization grows? It's not just about the budget savings. Drew Cook, CFO at Pact, shares how staying lean enables better decision making and better business outcomes. Get practical nuggets on hiring, how to creatively solve challenges as you grow without adding new cost, and where staying lean can go wrong.

Do you choose what you want most over what you want right now? This is part 2 of Think Macro Invest Micro – a deep dive with Rocky DeStefano on how the best leaders invest micro to achieve macro impact. Catch the first part "Think Macro" on A Server's Journey podcast. 

It's another fun jam session with practical insights on investing micro in your life and leadership. Learn about the compounding effect and how you can leverage it to enhance your impact, and how to keep choosing the hard thing for the impact you desire most.

This episode tees up a two-part collaboration with Rocky DeStefano, Chic-fil-a owner and host of A Server's Journey. It's a fun jam session that feels much more "talk radio" than a typical LOP episode. Enjoy!

Generational differences can either cause tension in an organization OR with an intentional approach, yield better business outcomes. Gen Z is officially in the workforce, and our guest, Jessica Stollings-Holder shares insights for understanding this generation and some great tips for leading Gen Z employees. Jess is an expert on generational dynamics in the workforce, and this episode is packed with insights to help you lead multiple generations on purpose.

How do you successfully lead transformation and shift an organization into growth mode? Erich Sternberg is an Executive Vice President at Kemper, a publicly traded insurance company headquartered in Chicago. 

Erich shares practical insights for building a culture that encourages smart risk, how to kill analysis paralysis and instill a bias for action, and how to create buy-in by getting your people to own the challenge. We also cover some pitfalls leads should avoid when leading transformation.

Only 8% of people achieve their New Year's resolutions ... we are all about setting big goals. But a goal without a plan is just a dream. And a plan without action is just a waste of time.

Discover the simple system we use to help leaders achieve more than they ever thought possible.

The more senior you become in your organization, the more the quality of your leadership team determines your success. Eric Fuller is the CEO of US Xpress, an innovative logistics and trucking company with nearly $2 Billion in annual revenue. In this episode, discover: 

* Why Eric spends 60-70% of his time focused on his leadership team, making sure he has the right people + they’re playing to their strengths + working well together 

* Why he thinks any people manager should be spending minimum 25–30% of their time on their management team 

* Why you should not focus on fixing your (or your team members) weaknesses + and what to do instead 

* Why “Positive Contrarians” are the most coveted team members

We're all about servant leadership, but it can go wrong. This episode is absolutely packed with wisdom and practical steps you can take to better elevate others. 

Jeremie Kubicek is the Executive Chairman of GiANT Worldwide. He's started 24 different companies, including running well known brands Leadercast, the Catalyst conference, and the John Maxwell companies.

In this episode you'll learn:

–Why the best leaders are like Sherpas ... including why nobody wants to follow an asthmatic sherpa. Sherpas know themselves, they know the people they lead. They're healthy enough to climb and perfectly calibrate support and challenge to elevate others.

-How to call people up vs. call people out.

-How to become a liberating leader who is high support, high challenge. Great leaders are Unbelievably FOR you + will challenge you.

-How great leaders are great at communicating expectations, including practical tips for developing this skill.

All this and so much more. If you love this episode, be a river and not just a reservoir. Share with a friend and help others grow!