Champions of Risk

This is an encore episode from last season, reissued because it's been a recurring theme in leadership conversations lately.  I love to challenge myself and others to examine where we are playing small in life so we can breakthrough, set the bar a little higher and truly go after what we want in life.  Acknowledging there is an opportunity to step up is the first step. I break down how I caught myself playing small in an arena...

Nearly every professional has felt like a fraud at one time or another and the higher you advance in leadership and responsibility, the more likely moments of inadequacy or "being found out" occur.  While the drive to be confident in professional roles can have its benefits, it also tends to raise the likelihood of imposter syndrome emerging.  Jen Coken  is a comedian, coach, speaker, and Imposter Syndrome expert. She tra...

When does integrity get in the way? I recently had to wrestle with this because of a health episode and it was a knockdown, dragged-out fight with myself. I take it seriously when I say I'm going to do something, show up for someone, or provide a completed product by a certain date. It's far from perfect, but it is a constant driver in my life. The opportunity is to be integral while keeping your sanity and in some cases,...

Nearly 1 in 3 people are perfectionists. While many carry it as a badge of honor, or use it as an explanation as to why they have not completed or started something, it really is a dream killer.  Perfectionism creates unnecessary pressure, amps up worry, fear and doubt.  It is one form of procrastination, something nearly all of us encounter at least occasionally, 20% of us chronically. It is possible, and I'd say necessary, t...

As an independent journalist and two-time Emmy nominee, Georgia Fort is committed to providing visual stories about race and culture that build equity.  She's had plenty of material to work with right here in Minnesota.  She was one of two reporters in the courtroom for the sentencing of Derek Chauvin, the former officer who murdered George Floyd.  She's also covered the Kim Potter trial, and most recently Amir Locke, who...

Chris Olsen and Julie Burton knew when they met that they wanted to find a way to work together. Their combined passions of writing and helping women tell their stories was key. Chris Olsen is dedicated to amplifying women's voices through her social enterprise My Founder Story. Julie Burton is an author, co host of Her Next Chapter podcast and founder of ModernWell, the first female-centered co working collaborative space in ...

People are the biggest asset of any company, but companies don't always provide their people with the greatest experiences or opportunities. As the VP of Growth and Search Practice Lead and Partner at Fahren, a digital leadership company, Susan Rylance has a unique vantage point into the leadership shifts needed to meet today's business environment. She shares
her wisdom about next level leadership and teams, and her...

“Digideck is a cloud-based platform, allowing you to tell your business story in a very
dynamic, movie trailer kind of way.”

From Wallstreet to the hockey rink to the C-Suite, Angelina Lawton took her experiences and opportunities to create a new level of presentation experience with Digideck, the main product at Sportsdigita. As the founder and CEO, Angelina and her team are disrupting how sports teams and big brands ...

What does it mean to be a Ladyboss? Laura Caroon reflects that most women she knows are already leaders in some way, they just might not recognize it. She  shares about co-founding Ladyboss Midwest, which empowers and connects women leaders, and their upcoming FLOW retreat is this March. Additionally, Laura talks about her experience being elected to Moorhead city council and working with She Should Run, a nonprofit that helps give...

Chaz Sandifer set out to test her strength physically, mentally, and emotionally after a challenging life situation. She took back her personal power, became a bodybuilder, and created a business to be able to help others create their new versions of self through fitness and wellness. Chaz is the CEO/Founder of theNEWmpls which focuses on affordable fitness, wellness and nutrition. She shares what made the biggest differences for h...

Planning for the new year doesn't have to be stressful or even time-consuming. You can learn to love numbers and set goals you've never achieved before with confidence. This episode challenges the notion that goal-setting is what creates success and offers a different approach to getting a whole new level of outcome. Make '22 the year that you went for the dream you haven't dared to write down or say out loud. L...

Chances are you identify as a high achiever. You pursue goals, you have high expectations of yourself, you get a lot done in a day and sometimes get irritated with others who don't "do" your same volume. Great. How wiped out are you? How much time do you take care of yourself and spend time with others that give you energy? There is another version of success and in this episode, I dissect the difference between high...

Covid forced Tammy Lee's medical device company to change its sales strategy. Since reps could no longer visit hospitals and clinics, she needed to find other ways to get Opal Cool for women and Onyx Cool for athletes into consumer hands. As the CEO of Xena Therapies, Tammy is creating new product uses as well as retail outlets for the core products, and her small ask, big impact approach to sales is an approach anyone in sale...

In last week's episode I shared about a moment in my life when I took a huge risk. Today, I reveal how that decision was really just the beginning: from that experience, I realized I could do something I'd never done before. In fact, I could do it several times over. In this episode of Champions of RISK, I reflect on the chances I took next: traveling, living abroad, and making big career moves - some of which panned out ...

Nearly two years ago I launched the Champions of RISK podcast because I love hearing how people came to a decision at a particular moment to take action in absence of clarity of the outcome. We all go through phases where we experience an abundance of uncertainty. Sometimes fear stops us in our tracks and other times we don't let anything stop us. In this episode,  I share one of the periods in my life where I took a huge risk...

I love to challenge myself and others to examine where we are playing small in life so we can breakthrough, set the bar a little higher and truly go after what we want in life. So imagine my surprise when I was caught playing small in an arena where I'm actually an expert. Catch my true confession, how I adjusted in the moment, and what I learned from the humbling experience on this week's Champions of Risk episode. 

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Day to day, people exchange information, share perspectives, attempt to persuade one another. What if I told you there was a genuine way you could structure your conversations that would strengthen relationships, improve agreeability, and yield better outcomes for both sides? Would you try it? I lay out four steps that will better prepare you for any conversation personally or professionally. Each step is easily doable, preparation...

Here are the show notes for Getting Your Mojo Back:

What happens when you lose your Mojo? You, know the thing that drives you, keeps you accomplishing and achieving, keeps the energy and enthusiasm firing. So many of us have lost our fire-in-the-belly this year at one time or another. But what do you do if you’ve had the blahs and the mehs for a while and you’d like to get it back? We don’t all work at Axe Capital and have Wendy Rho...

What if you listened to that internal rumble, made the leap, and trusted it would work out? What difference could that make in your life? Whether it’s a career change or launch into entrepreneurship, most people want to know the next move before they take it but what if you decided to just go for it? Shannon Olson loved her career and she was really good at it. At the same time, she knew she needed to keep stretching and growing, a...