Becoming Unshakable With Heather R. Younger
Leadership isn't about having all the answers. It's about staying steady when you don't. Becoming Unshakable is about how we actually do it—staying credible, human, and grounded when the stakes are high and the playbook is gone. Through honest conversations with executives, frontline leaders, and people carrying real responsibility, Heather examines how leaders navigate change, build trust, and care for themselves and others without losing authority or effectiveness. This isn't about grit or powering through. It's about strengthening the inner steadiness that allows leaders and the organizations they're part of to function, adapt, and move forward, even when the ground is shifting.
Episodes
In this episode of Becoming Unshakable, I'm joined by my longtime friend Leo Tokar, President of Lockton's Colorado market, for a conversation about leadership, resilience, perspective, and what it takes to keep moving when things don't go according to plan.
Leo talks openly about the importance of having people around us who can challenge our thinking, give honest feedback, and help us regain perspective ...
What happens when we deliberately put ourselves in places where our assumptions no longer work?
In this episode of Becoming Unshakable, I'm joined by Wesley Warshawer to talk about curiosity, discomfort, listening, and what we can learn when we step outside the bubbles that shape how we see the world.
Wesley spent years traveling across the United States and internationally while continuing his work remotely. He wasn't trying to pr...
What does it really take for a CEO to build an organization that can keep moving when the pressure never stops?
In this episode of Becoming Unshakable, I'm joined by Joel Trammell to talk about the unique responsibility CEOs carry in shaping an organization's culture, direction, and steadiness.
Joel has spent decades building companies, leading as a CEO, and training executive teams. He explains why the CEO role differs fundame...
What helps us stay grounded when life or work suddenly feels uncertain?
In this episode of Becoming Unshakable, I'm joined by Dr. Josh Hartzell for a conversation about self-leadership, resilience, support, and the people we need around us when the ground starts to move.
Josh brings a perspective shaped by more than two decades in military medicine, medical education, leadership, and patient care. One lesson from medicine has staye...
What does leadership look like when change never seems to stop?
In this solo episode of Becoming Unshakable, I'm talking about how leaders can create greater steadiness for themselves and their teams when uncertainty, pressure, and disruption become part of everyday work.
Many people are dealing with rapid technological change, organizational uncertainty, heavier workloads, and the feeling tha...
Have you ever wondered why people seem to have plenty to say after a meeting, but very little to say while they are actually in the room?
In this solo episode of Becoming Unshakable, I'm talking about why employees stop speaking up and what that silence may be telling us about trust, psychological safety, and belonging inside a team.
People rarely stop contributing because they suddenly stop c...
What happens when the pressure hits and the plan you carefully put together suddenly changes?
In this episode of Becoming Unshakable, I share a very personal example of what it means to lead from a steady place when things do not go as expected. My new book, The Unshakable Team, was scheduled for release on September 29, but an unexpected decision meant copies started shipping three weeks early.
My first reaction was panic. I had p...
Have you ever worked with a leader whose mood seemed to determine the mood of the entire team?
In this solo episode of Becoming Unshakable, I'm looking at the hidden cost of emotionally unpredictable leadership and why our emotional consistency has such a powerful effect on the people around us.
Teams are constantly reading their leaders, often before a single word is spoken. They notice our t...
What if becoming unshakable has less to do with pushing harder and more to do with learning how to recover?
In this solo episode of Becoming Unshakable, I'm talking about something leaders often undervalue until they have already hit the wall: intentional recovery.
We spend so much time thinking about performance, results, responsibility, and caring for the people around us that it can become ...
Can resilience become the very thing that keeps us in difficult situations longer than we should stay?
In this episode of Becoming Unshakeable, I speak with James Ferguson, an award-winning Culture Pioneer and respected voice in workplace culture. James shares how losing jobs, working under poor leaders, and facing an aggressive cancer treatment shaped the way he thinks about leadership, perspective, and p...
What if trying to keep everyone comfortable is actually making your team less safe?
In this episode of Becoming Unshakable, I tackle one of the biggest misconceptions I see around psychological safety: the idea that good leaders protect people from difficult conversations, disagreement, or discomfort. They don't.
Psychological safety means people can question decisions, admit mistakes, raise c...
Have you ever looked at the person you were becoming and realized you no longer recognized yourself?
Jane Grote Abell grew up inside Donatos Pizza, the family business her father founded with a belief that business could be built on love. After the company was sold to McDonald's, however, Jane found herself working under a leadership style that gradually caused her to operate from fear.
She be...
What does it really take to become unshakeable when life forces you to confront your own mortality?
In this episode of Becoming Unshakeable, I welcome longtime friend, innovation leader, author, and Sustainovation founder Nick Kittle for a deeply personal conversation about resilience, self-leadership, relationships, and what it means to live differently after a life-changing experience.
At 35...
What if the biggest thing holding you back is not failure, but uncertainty?
In this episode of Becoming Unshakable, I explore what I call the Tax of Corporate Uncertainty, the hidden emotional and mental cost we all pay when we delay decisions, avoid difficult conversations, or wait for the "perfect" moment to act. Whether it is in our careers, relationships, finances, or personal growth, uncertainty has a...
What if the strongest leaders are not the ones who keep bouncing back, but the ones who learn how to remain steady when the pressure never stops?
In this special solo episode of Becoming Unshakable, I'm sharing some news that means so much to me: my new book, The Unshakable Team: How Top Leaders Sustain Excellence When the Pressure Never Stops, is officially available for pre-order. But this episode is ab...
What if becoming unshakable requires being shaken first?
In this episode of Becoming Unshakable, I welcome Artesha Moore for a candid conversation about discomfort, failure, grief, identity, and the lifelong process of learning who you are beneath the armor you built to survive.
Artesha believes you cannot understand resilience without experiencing moments that test everything you thought you ...
Have you ever stopped to consider that the missing ingredient in sustainable excellence isn't working harder, but recovering better?In this solo episode of Becoming Unshakable, I explore one of the most overlooked aspects of leadership and personal resilience: intentional recovery. We often celebrate relentless effort, packed calendars, and constant availability, but what if those habits are quietly limiting our abilit...
What helps you keep moving forward when life or work feels harder than you expected?
In this episode of Becoming Unshakable, I'm joined by Wendy-Jo Toyama, CEO of the American Epilepsy Society, for a thoughtful conversation about leadership, resilience, and the moments that shape who we become. Wendy shares how a difficult chapter in her career forced her to rethink what leadership looked like and why tryi...
What does it take to stay steady when life, leadership, and uncertainty seem determined to pull you in every direction? In this episode of Becoming Unshakable, I sit down with Phillip W. Heath, President and CEO of Samaritan Health Care and Hospice, to explore a career built on service, compassion, and resilience. Having dedicated more than three decades to caring for vulnerable populations, Phillip shares why leadersh...
What happens when the life you planned disappears in an instant? And where do you find the strength to keep moving when everything familiar has been taken away?
In this episode of Becoming Unshakable, I welcome John Register, whose life story offers a remarkable perspective on resilience, leadership, and the power of adapting to circumstances beyond our control. As a world-class athlete, Army officer, and ...
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