94. Reflections on Leadership

Jeff Hunt: Hi everyone. Jeff Hunt here, host of the Human Capital Podcast. For nearly five years, I've had the privilege of interviewing some of the most insightful leaders and thinkers in business. These conversations have made me a better coach, consultant, and human. And I hope they've helped you grow in your own leadership journey.

When I launched this podcast during the pandemic, it was a response to a calling to explore the human side of work. We talked about the things that really matter, self-awareness, communication, relationships, and aligning vision and values. I've poured my heart into every episode, but after much reflection, I've decided to pause new recordings. Life has seasons, and this next one is asking me to focus elsewhere for a little while. But before I go, I want to leave you with something meaningful. As I reflected on nearly 100 episodes, I kept returning to 10 core leadership concepts that showed up again and again.

Powerful themes that define not just effective leadership, but deeply human leadership. I'll walk you through each of these today, drawing on some of my favorite guest insights and my own experience coaching leaders and teams. The first one is purpose and vision alignment. If your team isn't clear on where your organization is going, it's hard to expect engagement.

A compelling vision shouldn't just live on a poster. It should be part of your culture's daily rhythm. On episode 28, Daniel Harkavy said it best clarity is the bridge between current reality and future success. In episode 70, Barbara Collins and Louis Atkinson shared how vision alignment is not a one and done exercise. It requires ongoing refinement and communication. And Louis recommended using tools like surveys to uncover gaps and keep clarity alive across the organization. And of course, like most things, it starts at the top, but it doesn't end there. A great vision is co-owned by your leadership team and cascaded throughout the company in a way that connects every individual to the bigger picture.

The second topic that I'd like to share is authenticity and vulnerability. Great leadership isn't about being flawless, it's about being real. When I interviewed Xavier Naville, he shared that when great leaders admit what they don't know, trust grows. And that stuck with me.

Vulnerability isn't weakness, it's actually a leadership strength. In episode 20, when I was interviewing Rebecca Chang, she talked about how modeling vulnerability creates psychological safety. And Jeff Harry, in a different interview pointed out that it even invites play and creativity. So when you drop the superhero act, your team feels more comfortable being themselves, and that's really where the magic happens. Vulnerability creates connection, and connection builds trust and trust fuels performance. The third topic that resonated with me was active and empathic listening. If there's one practice, every leader should master, it's listening. Real present, curious listening. Dr. Amer Kaissi described it as giving a gift, and I couldn't agree more. Beth Collier gave us the pace model purpose, audience curiosity and empathy, which I really appreciated that. And it's a great tool for intentional communication. And when I spoke with Sherry Dunn, she offered this simple but profound advice.

Listen, listen, listen. Don't talk. So thank you, Sherry Chester. Elton added a helpful tip. Start conversations with, I've noticed to show that you care and you're encouraging openness. And Rasmus Hougaard suggested a 75-25% ratio, listening far more than we speak, and its acronyms like WAIT and WAIST. I don't know if you've ever heard of those, but those are great reminders to check our motives.

Before speaking. The WAIT acronym stands for, why am I Talking? And when you're going on in a conversation, the WAIST acronym stands for, why am I still talking? So those are good self-check tools. Good listening changes the tone of meetings. It improves relationships, and ensures your team feels seen and heard. Number four is culture as a strategic asset. Culture isn't a soft thing, it's a strategic asset. When I interviewed Katie Burke a few years ago, she was actually working as the chief human resources officer of the CHRO at HubSpot. And she said, our culture is as important as our product. And she's right. Really, when you think about culture, in my opinion, it's something that is your ultimate differentiator. Competitors can copy your pricing or product, they can move into your market space. They can try to copy your strategies, but they can't copy your culture and ultimately. Culture leads to, so positive culture leads to so many positive things like reduced turnover, increased engagement, increased performance, increased financial results.

Edna Nakamoto, when I interviewed her, she reminded us that culture is built in the hard conversations in the choices leaders make about inclusion, respect, and transparency. And when I spoke with Brian Conner, he was actually a senior executive at Glassdoor at the time, and he talked about how strong culture helps smaller companies compete by offering purpose and growth opportunities. So you don't have to be a well-funded large company to use culture as a differentiator. Culture is what your people experience every day. It either energizes them or it drains them. So be intentional and make your culture intentional.

The fifth topic to share today is values-based leadership. Your values shouldn't just hang on the wall, and unfortunately they do in so many organizations. You walk into the entryway and you see some plaque on the wall, and when you ask employees about it, they roll their eyes in contempt because those words don't mean anything. Real values should guide every decision, every conversation, and every hire that you make. My good friend Rob Gilio, I interviewed him quite a few years ago and he was with DocuSign. Now Rob is doing an incredible job at Canva. But back then he was telling me about the core values of trusted love and responsible, and back then that anchored his company's response during the pandemic. So what did they do when a crisis hit? They immediately went back to their core values, and as a result, they made better decisions. They took care of their customers better. They dramatically increased their market share and ended up with a great result.

And, Susie Quesada, who is the CEO of Ramar Foods, one of the largest and well-respected Filipino food manufacturing companies in the world. She described how values like Ramarkable, which I like, she uses her company's namesake and that core value, how they show up in her company's daily actions and how those actions impact not only the employees and customers, but also the communities that they're in. And Nathan Bourne reminded us that values must be authentic. They can't be aspirational, fluff, which is like what I was referring to. When you walk into the entryway and you see a plaque of values that is meaningless. Jeff Gibson, who I've known for a very long time, is an exceptional consultant at the table group. He emphasized that clear values allow for diversity to thrive, providing a shared language and a sense of belonging. So I love that, Jeff. And when you lead with values, you create alignment, focus, and trust. Okay, so that's what I have to say about values. And next up is feedback rich environments. Feedback is so critical and it's often overlooked because we get bogged down by the tyranny of the urgent, so we don't set aside time to give and receive feedback.

When I interviewed Jason Lauritsen, he put it very simply. Feedback is connection, constructive feedback when delivered well, builds trust and it fuels growth. As I mentioned, many companies avoid it often because leaders haven't modeled how to give or receive it well. So start by asking for feedback yourself. Make it part of regular meetings and frame it around growth. What's one thing we could do better? Focus on feed forward, not feedback, not just what went wrong, but what we can try next. I loved my conversation with Chris Bailey and he reminded me that attention is our most precious resource and feedback helps to focus it.

And Gina Cox was another great episode. Really emphasizing that feedback is also a tool for inclusion, helping all voices to be heard. And ultimately that leads to higher levels of psychological safety. So sometimes the truth is difficult to hear, but if we hear it and we can take action and become better, then everybody benefits as a result. So as I conclude the feedback section here, just think about making feedback a normal, respectful, everyday part of your culture. And if you do, your organization will be much better for it. The seventh topic I'm sharing is about employee engagement and experience. Engagement isn't about perks, it's about meaning, relationships, and growth.

I loved the conversation with Jeannie Meister and she shared a powerful insight. That an employee's best experience anywhere becomes their expectations everywhere, including at work. And so essentially what this means is that if they've had an unbelievable connecting and engaging experience with a vendor that is serving them, they're gonna come back to the office and expect that same type of treatment as an employee. And so we should be aware of that. This means that we need to design employee experiences with intention, just like we do for customers. And going back to Jason Lauritsen again, he noted that when you can't, he noted that you can't scale relationships. You build them one at a time. And in order to do that, leaders must be curious and they must be present.

Dr. Benjamin Ritter emphasized the role of clarity and purpose and engagement. If people don't know why their work matters, they check out emotionally. And Scott Behson made the case that flexibility, feedback, and support are what truly drive retention. So do you want to boost engagement? Of course you do. So ask your team, what does a great day at work look like for you? And then act on what you hear. And by the way, surveying employees regularly on engagement is a great strategy. Obviously my company GoalSpan has a survey module and many of our clients use that. But I will say the caveat is don't survey your employees unless you're willing to share the results that you found in the actions that you're going to take.

Because if you survey your employees and don't do anything, it will reduce morale. Topic number eight is diversity, inclusion and belonging. And boy, this topic is polarizing, especially here in the beginning of 2025. And, but here's the truth. Companies that take DEI seriously end up performing better that, and this is a research based finding. So, I am not here to stoke any sort of division or conflict about this topic, but when you get down to the research, companies that have diverse workforces, financially outperform those that are homogenous, and it kind of makes sense because when you get diverse viewpoints and diverse people together, and you collaborate, they end up making better decisions, they attract better talent, and they ultimately create stronger cultures. This is true whether you're managing this aspect of people in your organization or not. Enrique Rubio, when I spoke with Enrique, he said that diversity without inclusion just creates turnover.

And Erin Dangerfield, the chief Human Resources Officer at the Golden State Warriors, go Warriors, described how belonging is intentionally designed from mentorship to resource groups. And Donna Hamlin, who runs Boardwise and is part of the to go group, the CHR, the CHRO to go. Group, she reminded us that diverse boards perform better. And this is critically important, not just because of representation, but because of richer dialogue that happens. So, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging is not a department or a check the box event. It's a leadership behavior. Define what diversity inclusion and belonging means for your organization.

Get specific about what behaviors support them and which ones undermine them, and you won't always get it right, but the commitment to keep trying is what matters most. Number nine is continuous learning and growth. Having a growth mindset. Great leaders never stop learning. I learned this from my grandfather who picked up the trombone at age, I think 68 that was always a sort of a profound lesson for me. I've tried to stay in the learning mode my entire life, and curiosity has been my superpower. But I believe leaders that are able to stay curious and humble and open to feedback are great leaders. Going back to Xavier Naville, he shared how writing a book helped him reflect and grow after leading a successful business in China. And so he built a very large, formidable food manufacturing company. In China a long time ago and did that amidst incredible amounts of adversity. Dr. Katrina Burrus emphasized on the show that even top performers can stagnate if they stop being coachable, and Janine Turner added that continuous learning isn't just technical, it's about evolving how we connect and communicate.

Encourage your team to ask questions, reward, progress, and normalize learning from failure. Growth mindset is contagious and it's also transformational. Next step is topic 10. The last one I want to share, which is resilience and adaptability. I've saved this one for last because it's foundational to all of the others. The best leaders adapt. They bounce back, they keep going even when it's hard. Over the past few years, we've all been tested in different ways, and we've learned that flexibility, humility, and courage matter just as much as strategy and planning. The future is uncertain, but your mindset can be your anchor.

So lean into change, lead with empathy, and remember that your presence, calm, honest, and grounded, can be the steadying force that your team needs. These 10 concepts aren't just ideas. They're invitations. Invitations to lead with intention, to grow with humility, and to elevate others around you. You don't need to master them all at once.

So pick one that resonates, reflect, experiment, ask your team for input and when it gets messy, which it will come back to your purpose and keep on going. So if you like to learn more about goal span, explore performance management best practices, or work with us on culture and leadership development. You can reach out to us at info@goalspan.com and we would be honored to support you and have a conversation. I'm open to having a conversation that with anyone that listens to this show about ways we might be able to help you to all the guests who share their insights to my GoalSpan team who made this podcast possible, and to you, our listeners. Thank you. This show has been one of the most meaningful chapters of my career, and it's just being paused for now.

But until next time, keep the human at the center of everything you do, lead with clarity, curiosity, and compassion, and never underestimate the ripple effect of one leader showing up with purpose. Thanks for listening.