Leading When No One’s Watching (with guests Mike Ashie & Jim Burgoon) | The Leadership Toolkit

What defines real leadership? Not the stage, the title, or the metrics, it’s the choices you make when nobody’s looking. In this powerhouse panel, host Mike Phillips is joined by returning friends of the show Mike Ashie (Leadership with Mike) and Jim Burgoon (Lead with Jim / The Unshakable Life Podcast) for an honest conversation about the unseen side of leadership: character in the dark, daily discipline, tough truth-telling, and building a legacy that outlasts your role.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• Invisible leadership: how private integrity fuels public impact

• Consistency > Intensity: why habits beat hype (and how to build them)

• Courageous conversations: framing hard feedback with respect and clarity

• Leading through uncertainty: being the calm, present leader your team needs

• Legacy leadership: leaving principles in people, not just things for people

🔑 My Top 5 Takeaways

1. Invisible Leadership = Character Development: Leadership is forged in private — through unseen effort, integrity, and resilience.

   “True leadership is built in the shadows long before it shines in the spotlight.” — Mike Phillips

2. Consistency Outlasts Intensity: Big bursts of effort may impress, but steady habits create lasting impact.

   “Intensity impresses people; consistency impacts them.” — Mike Phillips

3. Give Yourself Grace: Progress over perfection. Even leaders need room to breathe, recalibrate, and grow.

   “We need to give ourselves grace, you can’t earn it; you just have to accept it.” — Mike Ashie

4. Courageous Conversations Define Culture: Hard talks done with respect strengthen relationships.

   “Courageous conversations don’t divide teams; they define them.” — Mike Phillips

5. Legacy is Built on Impact, Not Ego: People remember how you made them feel; not your title or your metrics.

   “Are you more interested in your name being remembered, or your impact?” — Jim Burgoon

Action challenge: Ask daily—"Who did I serve today, and how?" Write it down and grow from this daily reflection!

Contact Information:

Mike Phillips

Email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠[e-mail]⁠⁠⁠⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin.com/in/LeadTheTeam⁠⁠⁠⁠

Twitter: ⁠⁠@LeadershipTLT⁠

YouTube: ⁠YouTube.com/@MikePhillips

Credits:

Hosted by Mike Phillips

Produced by The Leadership Toolkit Team

Guests: Mike Ashie, who went from baggage handler to people builder offering real-world leadership unapologetically & Jim Burgoon who's a faith-fueled growth coach that offers strategies that work in real life.

Watch more episodes of the Leadership Toolkit at https://spotify.TheLeadershipToolkit.com

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