Leadership With Heart

On this podcast, Heather R. Younger, J.D., podcast host, speaks with Keith Freier, COO at Pacific Northwest Laboratories about what drives him as a leader, his biggest area of improvement and key nuggets all leaders should know and utilize to increase their effectiveness. Keith shares a story from the movie, Remember the Titans, where Denzel Washington, the main actor in the movie, calls one of his players on the carpet for his attitude. The player then says, “With all due respect coach, attitude reflects leadership.” This resonated with Keith and represents his leadership style. He discusses the concept that leaders can’t have a bad day, and must be purposeful in maintain a positive mindset. Another key nugget is that leaders should look to not just one mentor, but a “personal board of directors.” Keith shares with the listeners how to do this and why its important. To reconnect with his team, Keith focuses on introducing humor into the workplace and  making sure to make time to spend time with his people. H

In this podcast episode, podcast host, Heather R. Younger, J.D., speaks with Heather Heebner, former SVP of HR at Instawares Holding Company about leadership from the unique lens of a human resources executive. Heather shares her perspective on “happy employees”, and, instead, focuses on creating an environment that makes people proud to work there and do the work that they do. Heather opens up about an early learning experience with differing communication styles and how she had an awakening after one specific instance that drove her to hold herself and others to a higher standard. She relates stories of leaders who were “in-the-trenches” with their people, and they were much more effective as a result. Heather enlightens listeners on the importance of active listening, serving others first and trusting the silence and allowing others to process what is happening. Her key nugget? Look internally as a leader. Continually development yourself and find people who support you and hold you accountable. This podca

On today's HR podcast, Heather R. Younger, podcast host, speaks with Eric Jacobsen, SVP of Operations for Extraction Oil in Gas, a publicly traded oil and gas company our of Colorado. Heather speaks to Eric about why he chooses to lead, a time when he was not proud of himself as a leader and how he changed that at about the many ways he connects with his team. They also talked about maintaining the proper focus on what is important as a leader and some key ways to reach across the table and collaborate to produce a larger team focus. As the discussion continues, we also learn how sports of extracurricular activities can form us as leaders and expand our view. The most important takeaway was in Eric’s description of how he emulated many of the greatest leaders he worked with to become the leader he is today. In his words, “Look at yourself in the mirror; keep your people at the forefront; Observe others.”

In the podcast episode, Heather R. Younger, podcast host, speaks with Tammy Taylor, about her leadership journey, her style and a little about how she was not always the best leader she could be. Like many leaders, Tammy shares how, at one point, she let her ego get the best of her, but put that aside to become a better listener. Tammy outlines her communication strategy she uses while overseeing a 1300-person organization. She talks about the importance of celebrating successes and being an astute listener. Her final words of wisdom for leaders was very impactful with such words used like “courage”, “imperfection”, and ”status quo”. This is a must-listen.  

On this episode, Podcast host, Heather Younger, speaks with Christinne Johnson. President of HR at First Bank. Christinne shares a lot about her leadership style, what drives her to be a leader, and when she was not the greatest leader.    Parting messages? Leadership is a journey filled with detours. Try to have self-awareness and reaction to a situation happen closely together not way after the fact and show yourself grace just as you might show others grace to make mistakes and then get up and get back to work.   Christinne reflects on one of the greatest things a leader can do in order to keep reputation and integrity in place; pause, reflect and evaluate before responding.    

On this podcast episode, Heather speaks with Megan Wick, Executive Director of Gamma Phi Beta International Sorority. Megan illuminates for listeners that emotional intelligence can be learned and it is an evolving skills. Megan highlights for listeners the importance of self-management when it comes to our emotions. Megan shares stories of times when she was not the Leader with Heart she is today, and that it is a journey to better leadership. She didn’t just arrive, but is growing through hard work. Megan believes in begin present as a leader and in listening to her people and mentoring them. She makes an eye-opening admission about the types of interactions that make her feel threatened. Megan also speaks a lot about value congruency in that she makes this her north start both at home and at work.        

In this podcast episode of Leadership with Heart, Heather speaks with Dirk Frese, Director of Sales and Marketing for Julabo and co-founder of WISDOM. Dirk shares with listeners a powerful north star for why and how he leads others. Dirk says it all starts with love. We need to love our people, our customers, our products and services and all else will follow. Having said that, Dirk makes it quite clear that leaders cannot be soft and must have tough conversation that are not driven by anger, but by compassion. Dirk also reveals some key ways that leaders can re-connect with their people after periods of disconnect. He thinks no matter what, a leader must take the whole person into account if he/she wants to be effective. Finally, Dirks’ pearl of wisdom focuses on courage. Enjoy!  

In this podcast episode podcast host, Heather R. Younger, speaks with Aaron Skogen, General Manager of Aquatix. Aaron admits that his leadership style has evolved over time, but his leadership signature came from a surprising place. Aaron shares with listeners a leadership failure on his part some years back that continued to shape him and teach him value lessons. He credits clear and consistent communication with much of his success. The most compelling part of Aaron’s leadership style if his level of sincerity and genuineness. Your hearts will be touched as you listen to Aaron’s account of a visit to one of his team members. It is obvious how Aaron fulfills his mission of creating a shared sense of purpose amongst his team. Listen and learn!

On this episode podcast host, Heather R. Younger, speaks with Jim Reuter, CEO of First Bank. Jim is deeply driven by the impact he has on others and the legacy he will leave behind Jim shares some great insights about why he rarely leans on his title when interacting with people. Not surprisingly, Jim describes his leadership style as heart-led, vulnerable, authentic and bottom-up collaborative. He focused on walking a different path every day in order to connect with the people he leads. Having said all of this, Jim admits that he has not always been the perfect leader and shares a couples stories to enlighten us. On this show, we also talk about the need to discern how transparent to be. You do not want to miss this conversation.  

In this episode podcast host, Heather R. Younger, speaks with Tim Hinchey III, President & CEO of US Swimming about his role as a leader of this national organization. Tim recounts for Heather the roots of his leadership and that his father formed in all things leadership. He believes that work ethic, discipline and not cutting corners are key tenets of effective leadership. When asked how he connects with his team and the people who work for the organization, Tim chuckled about the fact that he takes walks with them to Starbucks, which is located near their head quarters. He believes in servant leadership and in being authentic to those around him. He seeks to provide utmost transparency with his team and make sure he is accessible to them. In the end, Tim believes in the Golden Rule in business and in life. Treat others how you would like to be treated.

In this podcast episode podcast host, Heather R. Younger, speaks with Mark Nagel, Senior Manager of People at Southwest Airlines about his leadership style, how he connects with his team in a deeper way and the drivers for his current leadership. Mark openly shares a time when he was not the great leader he is today in a way that reveals why he is a leader with heart. He shares his 80/20 rule for getting the most out front line team members. Mark assumes greatness is all around and works hard to make his people feel valued and safe. He recommends that all leaders spend time with their team members daily in informal ways in order to stay connected. Listen all the way to the end as Mark shares some powerful keys to effective leadership.

On this episode, podcast host, Heather R Younger, dives into a powerful set of discussions with Kristi Turner, CMO of Compeat. They discuss the importance of diversity at the executive leadership table, the role that upbringing can play in defining a leadership style and gift of being a leader. One the key discussion circled around the idea of organizations setting standards of ethics and values while, at the same time, allowing for individuality to show through. Kristi evangelized the idea that leaders hire to their weaknesses if they are smart and want to be more effective. One critical piece of Kristi’s learning to be a better leader was to watch the best and worst leaders, and then turn it into her own secret sauce. This episode will get your adrenaline pumping!  

On the podcast call, Heather R Younger, podcast host, speaks with Trent Selbrede about his leadership journey. He reveals to listeners that he struggled to be the best leader he could be, because he was often unhappy and didn’t know why. He highlights that his discovery of self-awareness was the winning piece he was missing. He share a very touching way to connect with team members. Listen on.

On this podcast episode, Heather speaks with Scott McCarthy about his journey as a leader in the Canadian Army. Scott reveals that his motivation for leading his people is really making the lives of his people better. He uses delegation and empowerment as his hallmarks. Scott shares some great stories. Some that are when he was not the most outstanding leader. Some when he found ways to connect with his team even under stressful circumstances. As he said, “Build a team before the crap hits the fan.” This was a fun episode.

In this podcast episode, Heather R. Younger, podcast host, speaks with Nate Iglienski about an emotional event that changed the way that he leads both his family and his team members.  He provides some great practical things he did to turn his team around after being told that they were not a team.   Nate points out that often when something is not right with the team, the leader needs to look inward and work on them. He defines much of his leadership style as empathetic, flexible and transparent. Finally, Nate leaves all leaders with a great message of continuous improvement  

In this podcast episode, podcast host, Heather R. Younger, speaks with Rob Pepper, Marketing and Business Strategy Leader at iStratus, LLC. Rob shares his fundamental leadership style. For Rob, his success strategy is surrounding himself with talented individuals and then letting them do what he hired them to do. His favorite saying, “Get comfortable being uncomfortable” is how he pushed his team to see more in themselves and to challenge themselves to expand their potential. Rob prides himself, too, in getting in the trenches with this team and rolling up his sleeves. He also shares some challenges too.    

In this podcast episode, Heather speaks with Tom Dietzler, Director of Operations at St. Peter Lutheran Church. Tom highlights the importance of walking around daily to connect with his people and just talk to them. He reiterates the importance of consistent communication with his people. He says that if leaders don’t communicate, someone will fill that vacuum with rumors, or worse. His main focus is to empower people and to make them feel important and he tells a story of when he was not the best leader he could be. This was a conversational call like no other.

In this podcast episode, Heather speaks with Rich Todd, Founder and CEO of Innovest. Rich tells a great story of the journey he took to the more humble, other’s focused leader he is today. The road was not a straight one. He is an innovative leader who uses 360 reviews to determine bonuses for his staff of 50. Social responsibility plays a huge role in his firm’s strategy to create a positive culture and feed it. Rich details the tactics behind his culture strategy that will leave listeners wanting more.

  Sarah Bierenbaum is a leader who provides a space for her people to fail. She relays that she is an evolving leader and admits that she is a work in progress. She aspires to be more actively listen to her team members. She works hard to be in alignment with this more evolved leadership style. Sarah is the perfect example of a leader with heart, because she is emotionally self-aware of how her actions affect those around her and bring a potential conflict to the forefront to improve herself and her connection with her team. She shares stories of times when she was not the best version of herself, and some great insights about how she moved to a more effective leader.

When you want to accelerate your growth as a leader and scale to a larger role, Jennifer Butler tells us that we must set clear expectations with our team, be transparent about how we need help and lead with the heart. She cautions us not to let go of the deep connections we have with our team members and to lead with a sense of self. In short, be a leader with emotional intelligence. Jennifer recalls a couple powerful stories when she was not the best leader she could be and how she courageously moved through and past that place to the leader she is today. The end result, she grew her influence with her team and the trust they had in her all at once! Individualization When asked what defines Jennifer as a leader, her answer was, “Doing unto others as done unto you. ” Jennifer had people in her life who decided to coach her as an individual. They looked at Jen and said, “What makes Jen unique and distinctive?” She grew up in a family that didn’t have defined roles. Maybe it was because she grew up with all si