The Evolution of Partnerships and Relationships with Kathy Steele and Roy Stansbury

Kathy Steele is the CEO and Founder of Red Caffeine a growth consultancy that builds brands people want to work with and for. Red Caffeine was in one of the earliest Junto cohorts, going through the program as it continued to grow and evolve as a consultancy. Kathy and Raman dive into how she’s evolved herself as a leader over the last several years, which include difficult topics like a partnership fallout and succession planning.

After Kathy, Raman is joined by Roy Stansbury, long time executive and mentor to Junto. Roy brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to his mentorship opportunities, having seen companies rise and fall during his long and distinguished career. Roy and Raman break down how organizations will naturally grow and evolve over time and the mistakes he’s seen play out as part of those org structure evolutions. 

Lastly, Raman closes the episode by reflecting on key takeaways from both conversations, both reflecting on personal relationships and the impact of the third force in business meetings and conversations.

• [01:23] - Welcoming Junto alumna Kathy Steele to Flourishing Together with the Emotion Wheel
  • [03:01] - First recollection of leadership
  • [04:15] - Advice to Kathy’s past self and to others in a similar phase of life
  • [08:28] - What happens when you have a partnership fallout, and how to mitigate partnership issues
  • [13:30] - Highs and lows in the process of a succession plan
  • [18:16] - How Kathy’s Junto experience impacted her business and life
  • [21:38] - What Kathy is learning about herself today
  • [22:55] - Closing appreciations
• [26:05] - Welcoming mentor Roy Stansbury
  • [29:03] - First recollection of leadership
  • [30:50] - Building consensus and reaching resolutions
  • [32:24] - Other examples of a “third force”
  • [34:57] - The power of the phrase “I’m confused”
  • [36:46] - How Roy defines an org structure
  • [38:16] - Org structures evolving
  • [41:43] - How org structures drive decisions
  • [42:47] - How building a company develops org structures
  • [47:29] - Org structure mistakes
  • [49:47] - Sharing a lesson learned
• [51:22] - Raman’s appreciations to Roy and reflections

The Junto Institute runs a structured, designed Apprenticeship Program that is built on deep mentorship, emotional intelligence training, and teams learning together. Originating in 2012 in Chicago, IL, over 30 companies have participated in the Junto Apprenticeship program.

If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Flourishing Together in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.

This podcast episode was produced by Dante32.