Leadership & Management Episodes

Most leaders are technically brilliant. They work hard. They have good intentions. And they're still just… average. In this episode of Leading Through Growth, Tony Sanders sits down with Josh White, Vice President of Talent Management at Group 1001, to unpack what actually drives performance inside a company. Spoiler: it's probably not what you think. Drawing from Google's Project Oxygen study and Josh's real experience scaling companies, they challenge the leadership philosophy that says,...

Most leaders think vulnerability makes them weak. But what if it's actually the thing that makes them unforgettable? In this episode of Leading Through Growth, Tony Sanders sits down with Chris Rollins, creator of Ripple Effect Leadership™ and former Head of Organizational Development, to unpack the quiet, human moments that shape careers, build trust, and create lasting impact — without trying to. Chris shares the story of a stranger on a jet bridge who asked one simple question that turn...

Invisible friction is the quiet tension that builds when people stop trusting each other and start protecting themselves — and it's silently slowing down fast-growing teams. Chris Rollins, creator of Ripple Effect Leadership™, breaks down how new managers lose team trust and how to rebuild it. When your best individual contributor gets promoted to manager, something quietly breaks. In this episode of Leading Through Growth, Chris — a former Head of Organizational Development — unpacks the min...

Workplace culture gets talked about constantly, but rarely defined — and even more rarely prioritized when a company is scaling fast. In this episode I sit down with Amber Fields, Partner and Chief Culture Officer at trueU, to get specific about what workplace culture actually is, why it matters more than most leaders realize, and what happens when you get it wrong.We cover how to actually define culture (beyond swag bags and events), why it can't get deprioritized during growth, the ripple effe...

Pinky Cole built Slutty Vegan from an apartment Instagram hustle into a $100M brand — then filed for bankruptcy. In this Growth Trap case study, Tony Sanders breaks down the leadership collapse behind the brand using Pinky's own words: "Sometimes you put basketball players on the golf course." You'll walk away with four failure modes that show up in almost every fast-growing company, and three things you can do right now to make sure your leaders are developed for the business you're building...

What does it actually take to get promoted to SVP in a fast-growing company? Nicole Fallowfield didn't follow the traditional HR path — and that's exactly why she got the job.In this episode of Leading Through Growth, I sit down with Nicole Fallowfield, newly appointed Senior Vice President, Talent Business Partner at Unison Risk Advisors. After 17 years of navigating one of the fastest-growing organizations in the industry, Nicole shares the leadership mindset, non-negotiables, and pivotal mome...

Most leaders don’t avoid empathy because they don’t care.They avoid it because they were never taught how to handle it.In this episode of Leading Through Growth, Tony sits down with Workplace Empathy Expert Liesel Mertes to unpack what empathy actually looks like in leadership—and why so many well-intentioned leaders miss the mark.In this episode, we explore:- Why empathy in leadership is about emotion, not shared experience- The common patterns executive leaders fall into (like “fixing” instead...

In this episode, Tony sits down with Michelle Baker, Chief People Officer at Forum Credit Union and co-host of the Career Dreams podcast, to explore what it really means to grow into leadership. Michelle shares the mindset shifts that shape how leaders experience the same challenges differently—why some feel energized while others feel overwhelmed—and how that perspective influences everything from decision-making to team dynamics. They also unpack the tension between speed and effectivene...

What got you here won’t get you there. In this conversation, Kevin Gearheart, President of Rehab Medical, reflects on what leadership must become as an organization grows—especially when the instincts that once drove success begin to create friction. Early in a company’s life, control drives performance. But as complexity increases, that same control can turn leaders into bottlenecks. What replaces it is not less leadership—but a different kind: clarity, structure, and trust. Kevin shares how his role has evolved over two decades of leadership and a decade in the president seat—leading through sustained, rapid growth while maintaining culture, talent quality, and operational discipline. This episode explores: The shift from control to clarity—and why it matters How leaders unintentionally become bottlenecks Why culture at scale requires structure, not just intention The role of purpose in sustaining performance under pressure Balancing transparency with confidentiality as a senior lea…

Growth doesn’t just scale your business. It exposes you. In this episode of Leading Through Growth, Tony sits down with Marcie Anderson to explore what happens when leadership pressure reveals something deeper — ego, resistance, and identity. Marcie shares the pivotal moment when a system implementation forced her to confront her own reaction… and how that shift reshaped how she leads. From learning to operate inside “the sandbox” you’re given, to building trust that lowers fear instead of...

What if the most important leadership lesson starts at the register? In this episode of Leading Through Growth, Tony Sanders sits down with Demekya “Mekey” McAllen, who began her 33-year career at Walmart in an entry-level role and went on to become Chief People Officer at Girl Scouts of Central Indiana. Her story isn’t about titles. It’s about perspective. Mekey reflects on how seeing value in “small” roles shaped her leadership philosophy, why complexity increases as you grow — and how e...