Heart of Leaders

The goal of great leadership is to lead your team, as a team, to accomplish extraordinary results, far faster than they would have without your leadership, (Otherwise, why have a leader?). Accomplishing the extraordinary requires effort far above the normal effort required to merely keep one’s job. The measure of an extraordinary leader is their ability to entice the greatest discretionary effort from each team member.

In this episode, Eric discusses going from a very diligent farm boy and football player growing up to getting frustrated with college and deciding he was going to work to become a Navy Seal. Sure enough, he did it and became apart of an elite Navy Seal team even why being married and eventually having four children. Listen to Eric discuss life's transitions from farm to war and back to home.

People don’t quit companies, they quit bad bosses. The inverse is also true. People will provide exceptional discretionary effort for leaders and teammates they care about precisely because they know that they are cared about by their leader and their team. It is the leader’s responsibility to ensure all team relationships improve and deepen.

Amy discusses the issues she has experienced in the work place as a woman as well as the things she has loved about working at DaVita. We get an inside look into the ideas that go on in the brain of someone that isn't paralyzed by metrics and is catalyzed by effective teams and momentum. She says frequently to always bring your "hands, heart and head." Amy is a leader that runs teams, trains leaders and brings people together effectively with love and not fear.

Listen to Amy discuss her "Growth Mindset" and her predisposition to confidence. Growing up, Amy was a polymath and learned how to do everything her brothers did. Later in life she eventually found her niche through jobs her peers didn't have and that led her to the amazing work she has done at DaVita Clinical Research since! Amy Young also talks about her experience being a Heart of Leaders Program Explorer. You too can become an explorer, and even meet Amy Young in person, visit HeartofLeadersPodcast.com/program for more information or contact Rick Barrera.

When you are stripped of tools and resources, the ultimate determiner of team results will be the daily behaviors of the team members. Acceptable and non-acceptable team behaviors should be spelled out clearly by the team and agreed upon by all team members. When the right behaviors are in place, tools and resources become powerful multipliers for success.

Follow various projects that FirstBank CEO, Jim Reuter, funds and builds in his spare time. We get to follow the story of the development of Zelle, the struggles of changing a business, evolving a company technologically, and his time in the Heart of Leaders Program. Jim is also the first graduate of the Heart of Leaders Program and talks about the walls that Rick broke down with him.

Listen to Jim Reuter's journey climbing up the FirstBank ladder through philanthropic mindset. As CEO of the 'Largest Philanthropic Bank' in Colorado, he is the man that developed the slogan "Banking for Good." You get to hear the stories of him loving every job he had from the floor of FirstBank to the HQ. Jim's roots started on a farm with his brothers and father, and it was there he complained about the snow- so he got a job with FirstBank in California to get away from brutal Midwest winters. Now Jim is a proud Coloradan and family man with two sons and two grandchildren.

For any team to understand their progress toward the Daring Destination, they must know and understand the metrics that matter and have a clear view of those metrics at all times to enable mid-course corrections to the Daring Destination.

Todd Musselman hones in on victim mentality versus having an ownership mindset. With are particular focus on the vocabulary you use and how it either hinders or encourages growth, Todd will show you how to manage life when you feel defeated and stuck. Todd will also take you through personal examples in his life where growth seemed pointless and when he didn't want to keep fighting, all the while he still did and does not regret a single day of developing himself. Take this new perspective this week and run with it!

Todd Musselman takes us deep into his struggles with both sides of family business. He shows us what it was like to loose a family business and how he handled the aftershock. However, with the loss brought him great things. Todd discusses victim versus leadership mindset and how he got back into the flow and followed his heart and friends into the business of giving to others-- public speaking. Follow this fantastic journey with pain, plight and pity that leads to hope, harmony and heaven.

The team is there to accomplish the goal. The leader is there to support the team. If the team reaches their goals, profits will quickly follow. Your team will only treat your customers as well as they are treated. Download the practice sheet at HeartofLeadersPodcast.com

Cathy sunshine talks in depth about relationships within a company alongside how costumers control the company. She goes into detail about how chaos on the outside will reflect the inside and vice versa. Listen for more details on reflecting the image your customers want to get the results you were hoping for.

Cathy Sunshine talks about her life and her morals. What made her into the leader she is today and what she does today as a Heart Led Leader.

For the team to excel and adapt to a relentlessly changing environment and competitive landscape, each member must take responsibility for their own personal and professional growth and leaders must proactively invest time and money into the growth of their teams. The stronger each member becomes, the stronger the team becomes. Download the practice sheet at HeartofLeadersPodcast.com

135 Shuttle Missions, a lot on the line, and a focus on each team member- Rick Searfoss goes into the depth of the importance of having your matrix of relationships with your team and how this crucial aspect of Heart Led Leadership brought him to having been part of the most successful shuttle mission of all time. Listen to Rick talk about having fun and building up those around you and why you need to pay attention to the little things.

One of our most beloved faculty members, Rick Searfoss, passed away on September 29th. This was shocking news to all of us who knew him well. Rick was 62 years old and he might have been our most in shape faculty member. Because he was an active test pilot for the U.S. Military, he received regular physicals... we thought Rick was immortal. In this episode we go back a few months and listen to the interview we had already recorded with Rick Searfoss and listen to his adventures and life as a Heart Led Leader. Godspeed Colonel Searfoss.

The Grand Story for the organization describes what has come before, what the current state is and why the organization must change and grow to succeed. It spells out the DESTINY of the organization, its purpose, why getting to the Daring Destination is critical, why it must be done quickly, and why we are the only team that can possibly accomplish this mission. It engages each team member in finding their role in the story and discovering their unique contribution to the outcome. The Grand Story imbues the Daring Destination with meaning for each team member. Download the practice sheet at HeartofLeadersPodcast.com

Rick Tetzeli thinks differently from other journalists and he writes from a different perspective. So, its not surprising that he seeks out business leaders who think differently. In this session, we go inside his coolest assignments to learn more about these uncommon leaders. 

Rick Tetzeli has been the Executive Editor of at Fast Company, Deputy Editor at Fortune and Editor of Entertainment Weekly. He has been covering the biggest names in business for decades. In this session, we learn about Rick’s roots and where he got his passion for business and how he chooses his subjects. 

Each team member commits a portion of their life and their emotional bandwidth to the team. They commit to doing whatever it takes (that is legal and moral) to get to the Daring Destination. Because of their commitment, they deserve to win. The leader must act to clear obstacles and team members who are in the way of accomplishing the goal, because the team deserves to win. Download the practice sheet at HeartofLeadersPodcast.com

Colleen’s turnaround is almost a textbook case of a Heart Led Turnaround. She poured love and training on her teams to earn their engagement and the team figured out everything they needed to do to win. 

Colleen’s career was not a predictable one. She took chances and changed countries. She shrewdly but lovingly made her breaks until she got the CEO job she wanted. Then she showed them what she could do when she had free reign to do it her way. 

With a clear destination, the team can accelerate the pace of their accomplishment because they can clearly see which decisions will result in getting closer to the destination and which will hinder their progress toward the goal. The destination must be Daring because it must inspire the discretionary effort required to get there. Download the practice sheet at HeartofLeadersPodcast.com

In this episode, we go more in-depth in Walt Rakowich’s story. Walt shares the keys to one of the biggest turn arounds in corporate history, and the incredible need on having transparency as a heart led leader. There is a need for more heart led leaders, and Walt Rakowich emphasizes how important it is for you, the listener to take your journey as a heart led leader seriously.

Meet Walt Rakowich and learn about his climb to being known for one of the biggest turn arounds in corporoate history. Walt discusses his journey from humble beginnings, through Harvard Business School and then to being a leader in commercial real estate and his graciousness for having those experiences under his belt. In this episode, Walt will give you his advice for being a heart led leader through the lens of what he went through to become a leader in his industry.

Organizations are not about individuals, they are about teams and the accomplishment of the collective goals of those teams. Therefore, team goals (especially the organization’s vision) take priority over individual desires. Selfish behaviors of any kind diminish team success. When selfish behaviors cannot be corrected quickly, the selfish team member must go because they will endanger the team, damage team results and cause the defection of the team’s highest performing members. Download the practice sheet at HeartofLeadersPodcast.com

At the Heart of Leaders, we believe that putting your people first is the transformational strategy that will enable any organization to accomplish its mission faster and more profitably, with less stress and happier customers.