August 7, 2025 • 14 mins
Caroline Biesalski kicks off the episode by welcoming guest Robin Camarote, diving into a discussion on leadership centered around heart and service. They explore overcoming leadership challenges and the critical role of coaches and mentors in this journey. Robin shares a key habit essential for transformational leadership and the balance between personal feedback and organizational change. The conversation deepens as they connect with Robin's experiences, discuss setting goals, and planning future projects. Caroline wraps up with final encouragement and takeaways, closing with remarks and a special offer for listeners.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
It would be, and it's so hard, as you know, tonarrow it down to just one thing.
(00:03):
But I think for me, it would be to sit down andreally listen.
To open up a conversation, ask people whatthey're thinking, what they're feeling, what
their dreams are, and listen and not be afraidof whatever they say, because, you know, if
they're able to be honest with you and withthemselves, that is such a gift.
(00:27):
So for me, it would be to create opportunitiesto listen and get curious about what your
individual team members and kind of what theteam as a whole needs from you.
Welcome to Inspired Choice Today.
I'm your host, Caroline Biesalski, here tobring you authentic stories, surprising
lessons, and powerful takeaways to fuel yourjourney in business and life.
(00:50):
In each episode, I'll take you from oneinspiring guest to the next, blending their
experiences with my expertise to uncoverpractical strategies you can use right away.
Whether you're starting out or stepping up,stay tuned for insights and actionable tips
that make a difference.
And stick around until the end for a specialfreebie just for our listeners.
(01:16):
Hello and welcome, inspired podcast community.
This is your new episode.
My name is Caroline, and my today's guest isRobin Camarote, and I'm so happy that she said
yes to our interview.
How are you doing today?
I am doing so well.
It is so nice to meet you.
Thank you for having me.
(01:37):
Oh, thank you so much.
I'm honored and blessed by your presence, and Iwould like to introduce you to the audience.
Of course, you empower leaders to inspire theirteams and drive meaningful change.
Through coaching, speaking, and workshops, youhelp leaders make small but powerful shifts
that spark exponential growth.
(01:58):
Welcome to the Inspired Choice Today podcast,Robin Camarote.
Thank you.
Yes.
Thank you so much.
It's a delight to be here.
Thank you so much.
And my first question is leadership isn't justabout strategy.
It's about heart.
What's the most profound lesson you've learnedabout inspiring people to rise to their full
(02:22):
Oh my gosh.
I, you know, I think sometimes as leaders, weforget that it's not about us, and it's really
about our teams.
And that was a really tough lesson for me earlyon becoming a manager and a leader and feeling
this weight of the responsibility of what Ineeded to do for our team, for our business,
(02:44):
for our client, and too often making it aboutme and not about them.
And so I got a lot of feedback from them earlyon, you know, really asking kind of for me to
refocus.
I didn't really, I couldn't really hear it thatway.
And sadly, over time, the relationship reallydeteriorated to the point where I had to make a
(03:04):
change.
I absolutely had to make a change.
So, a number of people left the team, and itwas just devastating to me, but it was a huge
wake-up call that I couldn't go on like this.
That really what our teams need from us is thefocus to be in part on them and to really
understand what they want and what they need sothat they can do their best work.
(03:29):
Oh, what a great answer.
Thank you so much for sharing, and this is agreat lesson as well.
So what I understood is that leadership isabout serving the team.
Yes.
Indeed.
I think that's perfectly summed up.
Yes.
Oh, I love that so much.
Okay.
My next question is, we all experience momentsof doubt.
(03:50):
Can you share a time when you faced aleadership challenge and had to shift your
mindset to overcome it?
Oh my gosh.
Well, to be honest, this happens for me on adaily basis.
So, but to your question, picking one, I feellike doubts are so normal.
They're so human.
And when we're trying to do big things, all ofour doubts come up.
(04:14):
And, actually, you know, I think it's a goodquestion for us all to reflect on.
If we're at a point in our career where we feellike, oh, I got this.
Like, you know, I'm not struggling at all.
Then it might be a signal that it's time totake on you know, you kind of mastered your
current state, and it's time to take onsomething new.
But for me, I feel like I'm often experiencingsome amount of doubt.
(04:35):
So the first part for me was I used to thinkthat was a problem I had to solve.
I'm feeling doubt.
This is bad.
This is wrong, and I need to make this go away.
And so the mindset shift has been, okay.
No.
I'm recognizing I'm feeling some doubt.
This is totally normal and human.
Let me understand a little bit and get curiousabout what's going on.
(04:56):
And so when you get curious with yourself aboutwhat you know, where is this coming from?
Then you can address it more directly.
Wow.
Yeah.
That's so true.
Facing it, becoming aware, and then make thoseshifts.
Yes.
You talked about it, starts in the mind first,of course.
And you are, are you a coach?
(05:18):
I don't know.
You are a leader, certainly.
And I would like to know about your coaches andmentors.
Do you have coaches and mentors for yourself,and who was the best coach you ever had?
Oh my gosh.
I love this.
So, yes, I am, I am a certified coach now.
It is some of the just most fulfilling workthat I do.
I absolutely love that work.
(05:39):
So I work with individuals and I work withteams, but I came to that because I was the
beneficiary of so much good coaching andmentorship early in my career.
So I would say there's a couple of coaches thatthey probably wouldn't call themselves coaches
to me, but they were.
And I had a boss at one point for many yearsearly in my career that I had tremendous
(06:03):
respect for.
He was incredibly patient and always kind ofmade time to kind of talk things through with
me.
And he brought a perspective that when I wouldget very concerned and upset in the moment, he
was able to kind of, like, let's take a stepback and look at the big picture.
(06:23):
And once you kind of get out of, like, the muckof whatever is going on right now and are able
to step back, he really taught me that abilityto get a bigger perspective.
The other person that was so influentialactually was a client, a senior client who led
with tremendous kindness and generosity.
And he often made time for people.
(06:45):
He was gentle, and he showed me that strongleadership didn't have to look one way.
He really had a tremendous style andpersonality and was beloved because of that.
People really liked working with him, but hewas incredibly effective because they felt like
he knew them and he understood them.
(07:07):
Yes.
I totally understand, and I know those peoplemyself.
I love that kind of style of leadership whenyou don't notice that you are guided.
It just happens naturally, I would say.
Yes.
And, of course, I have another question foryou.
If you could give every leader onetransformational habit that would immediately
(07:32):
elevate their impact, what would it be and why?
It would be, and it's so hard, as you know, tonarrow it down to just one thing, but I think
for me it would be to sit down and reallylisten.
To open up a conversation, ask people whatthey're thinking, what they're feeling, what
their dreams are, and listen and not be afraidof whatever they say because, you know, if
(07:59):
they're able to be honest with you and withthemselves, that is such a gift.
So for me, it would be to create opportunitiesto listen and get curious about what your
individual team members and kind of what theteam as a whole needs from you.
Oh, I understand.
Thank you so much for sharing.
And when I visualize this situation, someone istelling you the truth, so to say, and you are
(08:25):
not ready to receive it yet.
So how can you differentiate between this isone person who wants you to change or this is
really a character trait you have to get rid offor the sake of, you know, the whole company?
Yeah.
So if I'm understanding your question, so,like, to go to the visualization, you're
(08:49):
sitting down with a team member and they areconfident enough and they feel safe enough to
speak the truth to you, and they may saysomething like, you know, you've used some
really harsh tones with us in meetings and youseem maybe you're micromanaging a little bit or
something.
They may say something like that.
And so then I think your question is, okay.
If you're on the receiving end of thatinformation, what do you do with it?
(09:11):
Is that just one data point, or is thatsomething you really need to consider?
I think it's a great question, and I wish therewas one answer.
But I would go to kind of something, a way Ithink about feedback just in general, whether
it's in that scenario or just more broadly, is,first of all, to the extent we can just let it
be and not, and avoid that urge to react in themoment because it would be normal for it to
(09:37):
feel defensive.
It's like, wait.
No.
I'm not.
I didn't do, you know, that would be verynormal.
So right in the moment, resist the urge to bedefensive and just say, okay.
Thank you for your perspective.
And then with a little time, you can sit withit and say, what's useful here for me?
If you think after a couple of days, you think,alright.
(09:58):
Well, maybe I don't see it exactly the sameway.
But if somebody's feeling like that, then Iwanna pay some attention to it.
Okay.
Great.
Then you go down that path.
Sometimes people say things that it's oftenreally more about, you know, them or their
perspective and you say, you know what?
I respect their opinion, but that doesn't—it'snot useful for me.
And so you get to decide.
You always get to decide what you do withfeedback.
(10:19):
Whether you're in that leadership situation oryou're a team member or even with a client.
So I just encourage people to really kind ofsit with it and then decide what's useful.
Oh, what great advice.
Thank you so much.
So it is about responding instead of reacting.
And as far as I understood, when someone getstriggered by what someone else is telling them,
(10:43):
then a trigger is always something like, lookat me, and there's something to change or to
take into consideration to change.
Right?
Yeah.
And that's beautifully said.
Yes.
A trigger is something that is a cue to us tosay, wait a second.
There's something here I need to pay attentionto.
Yeah.
I love that.
(11:04):
Sure.
Thank you so much.
I would like to know where can we find you whenpeople want to reach out to you after listening
to this episode?
Well, I love to connect on LinkedIn.
So if you're listening and you want to connectthere, please just, you know, send me a note
and follow or connect.
I would love to see you there.
(11:24):
You can also find me on my website atrobincamarote.com just to understand a little
bit more about my perspective and what I do.
But I'd love to meet people, especially peoplefrom other countries.
So to the extent that your audience is inEurope or in Germany, I would love to meet
them.
And I love playing around with GoogleTranslate.
So I may just try to send a couple of messagesin other languages.
(11:47):
Wow.
I never did this before, so thank you so muchfor giving me the idea to do that.
I can tell you I have 73% of U.S.
listeners with this podcast, and the other 27%are all around the globe.
Yes.
Please connect to Robin.
(12:08):
She's amazing.
She shares her knowledge and wisdom, and I haveso many takeaways, so I have to relisten to
this episode again.
Of course.
My next question is about your goals.
Do you set goals for yourself or intentions,and what is one of your next projects?
Oh, yes.
So I am a goal junkie.
(12:30):
I just love setting a goal, you know, reallybreaking it down, working towards it, and then
setting the next thing.
So, yes, I do have a number of goals in mind.
On the professional side, I recently completeda public speaking program that was just so
(12:51):
transformational, and I really enjoyed it.
So my goal is to continue to hone and polishthat speech and then find some opportunities to
deliver it and engage in a different way.
I love these one-on-one conversations onpodcasts.
I also love engaging with groups in a meetingsetting or in a conference.
(13:11):
So that's my next goal.
Oh, I love that.
That means we will hear from you a lot on theapproaches of the work.
Yes.
And I follow you, of course, everywhere, and Ilove LinkedIn as well.
Thank you so much for our interview, and nowit's time for your final thoughts to the
audience, please.
(13:32):
Oh, well, thank you so much.
Well, this has just been delightful, and Ireally appreciate everybody listening.
I would just encourage everyone to continue onthe journey.
Leadership is just tremendously rewarding, andit's so hard.
And I think partly the reason it is sorewarding is because it is so difficult at
(13:52):
times.
Keep going.
You know, find your community to reach out foradditional resources like this and keep going
because the world needs more people who arethoughtful, curious, dedicated leaders.
Wow.
Thank you so much.
I'm inspired now.
Thank you, Caroline.
(14:13):
It's so nice to meet you.
Oh, likewise.
And I'll see you in the next.
Thank you for listening to Inspired ChoiceToday.
I'm thrilled to have you on this journey ofgrowth and transformation.
Don't forget to hit follow or subscribe to stayconnected and never miss an episode.
And here's something special.
(14:34):
Grab your free 20-minute breakthrough sessionwith me.
It's designed to help you kick-start or levelup your business.
Just check out the show notes for more.
Until next time, keep making those inspiredchoices.
See you in the next episode.
It would be, and it's so hard, as you know, tonarrow it down to just one thing.
(00:03):
But I think for me, it would be to sit down andreally listen.
To open up a conversation, ask people whatthey're thinking, what they're feeling, what
their dreams are, and listen and not be afraidof whatever they say, because, you know, if
they're able to be honest with you and withthemselves, that is such a gift.
(00:27):
So for me, it would be to create opportunitiesto listen and get curious about what your
individual team members and kind of what theteam as a whole needs from you.
Welcome to Inspired Choice Today.
I'm your host, Caroline Biesalski, here tobring you authentic stories, surprising
lessons, and powerful takeaways to fuel yourjourney in business and life.
(00:50):
In each episode, I'll take you from oneinspiring guest to the next, blending their
experiences with my expertise to uncoverpractical strategies you can use right away.
Whether you're starting out or stepping up,stay tuned for insights and actionable tips
that make a difference.
And stick around until the end for a specialfreebie just for our listeners.
(01:16):
Hello and welcome, inspired podcast community.
This is your new episode.
My name is Caroline, and my today's guest isRobin Camarote, and I'm so happy that she said
yes to our interview.
How are you doing today?
I am doing so well.
It is so nice to meet you.
Thank you for having me.
(01:37):
Oh, thank you so much.
I'm honored and blessed by your presence, and Iwould like to introduce you to the audience.
Of course, you empower leaders to inspire theirteams and drive meaningful change.
Through coaching, speaking, and workshops, youhelp leaders make small but powerful shifts
that spark exponential growth.
(01:58):
Welcome to the Inspired Choice Today podcast,Robin Camarote.
Thank you.
Yes.
Thank you so much.
It's a delight to be here.
Thank you so much.
And my first question is leadership isn't justabout strategy.
It's about heart.
What's the most profound lesson you've learnedabout inspiring people to rise to their full
(02:22):
Oh my gosh.
I, you know, I think sometimes as leaders, weforget that it's not about us, and it's really
about our teams.
And that was a really tough lesson for me earlyon becoming a manager and a leader and feeling
this weight of the responsibility of what Ineeded to do for our team, for our business,
(02:44):
for our client, and too often making it aboutme and not about them.
And so I got a lot of feedback from them earlyon, you know, really asking kind of for me to
refocus.
I didn't really, I couldn't really hear it thatway.
And sadly, over time, the relationship reallydeteriorated to the point where I had to make a
(03:04):
change.
I absolutely had to make a change.
So, a number of people left the team, and itwas just devastating to me, but it was a huge
wake-up call that I couldn't go on like this.
That really what our teams need from us is thefocus to be in part on them and to really
understand what they want and what they need sothat they can do their best work.
(03:29):
Oh, what a great answer.
Thank you so much for sharing, and this is agreat lesson as well.
So what I understood is that leadership isabout serving the team.
Yes.
Indeed.
I think that's perfectly summed up.
Yes.
Oh, I love that so much.
Okay.
My next question is, we all experience momentsof doubt.
(03:50):
Can you share a time when you faced aleadership challenge and had to shift your
mindset to overcome it?
Oh my gosh.
Well, to be honest, this happens for me on adaily basis.
So, but to your question, picking one, I feellike doubts are so normal.
They're so human.
And when we're trying to do big things, all ofour doubts come up.
(04:14):
And, actually, you know, I think it's a goodquestion for us all to reflect on.
If we're at a point in our career where we feellike, oh, I got this.
Like, you know, I'm not struggling at all.
Then it might be a signal that it's time totake on you know, you kind of mastered your
current state, and it's time to take onsomething new.
But for me, I feel like I'm often experiencingsome amount of doubt.
(04:35):
So the first part for me was I used to thinkthat was a problem I had to solve.
I'm feeling doubt.
This is bad.
This is wrong, and I need to make this go away.
And so the mindset shift has been, okay.
No.
I'm recognizing I'm feeling some doubt.
This is totally normal and human.
Let me understand a little bit and get curiousabout what's going on.
(04:56):
And so when you get curious with yourself aboutwhat you know, where is this coming from?
Then you can address it more directly.
Wow.
Yeah.
That's so true.
Facing it, becoming aware, and then make thoseshifts.
Yes.
You talked about it, starts in the mind first,of course.
And you are, are you a coach?
(05:18):
I don't know.
You are a leader, certainly.
And I would like to know about your coaches andmentors.
Do you have coaches and mentors for yourself,and who was the best coach you ever had?
Oh my gosh.
I love this.
So, yes, I am, I am a certified coach now.
It is some of the just most fulfilling workthat I do.
I absolutely love that work.
(05:39):
So I work with individuals and I work withteams, but I came to that because I was the
beneficiary of so much good coaching andmentorship early in my career.
So I would say there's a couple of coaches thatthey probably wouldn't call themselves coaches
to me, but they were.
And I had a boss at one point for many yearsearly in my career that I had tremendous
(06:03):
respect for.
He was incredibly patient and always kind ofmade time to kind of talk things through with
me.
And he brought a perspective that when I wouldget very concerned and upset in the moment, he
was able to kind of, like, let's take a stepback and look at the big picture.
(06:23):
And once you kind of get out of, like, the muckof whatever is going on right now and are able
to step back, he really taught me that abilityto get a bigger perspective.
The other person that was so influentialactually was a client, a senior client who led
with tremendous kindness and generosity.
And he often made time for people.
(06:45):
He was gentle, and he showed me that strongleadership didn't have to look one way.
He really had a tremendous style andpersonality and was beloved because of that.
People really liked working with him, but hewas incredibly effective because they felt like
he knew them and he understood them.
(07:07):
Yes.
I totally understand, and I know those peoplemyself.
I love that kind of style of leadership whenyou don't notice that you are guided.
It just happens naturally, I would say.
Yes.
And, of course, I have another question foryou.
If you could give every leader onetransformational habit that would immediately
(07:32):
elevate their impact, what would it be and why?
It would be, and it's so hard, as you know, tonarrow it down to just one thing, but I think
for me it would be to sit down and reallylisten.
To open up a conversation, ask people whatthey're thinking, what they're feeling, what
their dreams are, and listen and not be afraidof whatever they say because, you know, if
(07:59):
they're able to be honest with you and withthemselves, that is such a gift.
So for me, it would be to create opportunitiesto listen and get curious about what your
individual team members and kind of what theteam as a whole needs from you.
Oh, I understand.
Thank you so much for sharing.
And when I visualize this situation, someone istelling you the truth, so to say, and you are
(08:25):
not ready to receive it yet.
So how can you differentiate between this isone person who wants you to change or this is
really a character trait you have to get rid offor the sake of, you know, the whole company?
Yeah.
So if I'm understanding your question, so,like, to go to the visualization, you're
(08:49):
sitting down with a team member and they areconfident enough and they feel safe enough to
speak the truth to you, and they may saysomething like, you know, you've used some
really harsh tones with us in meetings and youseem maybe you're micromanaging a little bit or
something.
They may say something like that.
And so then I think your question is, okay.
If you're on the receiving end of thatinformation, what do you do with it?
(09:11):
Is that just one data point, or is thatsomething you really need to consider?
I think it's a great question, and I wish therewas one answer.
But I would go to kind of something, a way Ithink about feedback just in general, whether
it's in that scenario or just more broadly, is,first of all, to the extent we can just let it
be and not, and avoid that urge to react in themoment because it would be normal for it to
(09:37):
feel defensive.
It's like, wait.
No.
I'm not.
I didn't do, you know, that would be verynormal.
So right in the moment, resist the urge to bedefensive and just say, okay.
Thank you for your perspective.
And then with a little time, you can sit withit and say, what's useful here for me?
If you think after a couple of days, you think,alright.
(09:58):
Well, maybe I don't see it exactly the sameway.
But if somebody's feeling like that, then Iwanna pay some attention to it.
Okay.
Great.
Then you go down that path.
Sometimes people say things that it's oftenreally more about, you know, them or their
perspective and you say, you know what?
I respect their opinion, but that doesn't—it'snot useful for me.
And so you get to decide.
You always get to decide what you do withfeedback.
(10:19):
Whether you're in that leadership situation oryou're a team member or even with a client.
So I just encourage people to really kind ofsit with it and then decide what's useful.
Oh, what great advice.
Thank you so much.
So it is about responding instead of reacting.
And as far as I understood, when someone getstriggered by what someone else is telling them,
(10:43):
then a trigger is always something like, lookat me, and there's something to change or to
take into consideration to change.
Right?
Yeah.
And that's beautifully said.
Yes.
A trigger is something that is a cue to us tosay, wait a second.
There's something here I need to pay attentionto.
Yeah.
I love that.
(11:04):
Sure.
Thank you so much.
I would like to know where can we find you whenpeople want to reach out to you after listening
to this episode?
Well, I love to connect on LinkedIn.
So if you're listening and you want to connectthere, please just, you know, send me a note
and follow or connect.
I would love to see you there.
(11:24):
You can also find me on my website atrobincamarote.com just to understand a little
bit more about my perspective and what I do.
But I'd love to meet people, especially peoplefrom other countries.
So to the extent that your audience is inEurope or in Germany, I would love to meet
them.
And I love playing around with GoogleTranslate.
So I may just try to send a couple of messagesin other languages.
(11:47):
Wow.
I never did this before, so thank you so muchfor giving me the idea to do that.
I can tell you I have 73% of U.S.
listeners with this podcast, and the other 27%are all around the globe.
Yes.
Please connect to Robin.
(12:08):
She's amazing.
She shares her knowledge and wisdom, and I haveso many takeaways, so I have to relisten to
this episode again.
Of course.
My next question is about your goals.
Do you set goals for yourself or intentions,and what is one of your next projects?
Oh, yes.
So I am a goal junkie.
(12:30):
I just love setting a goal, you know, reallybreaking it down, working towards it, and then
setting the next thing.
So, yes, I do have a number of goals in mind.
On the professional side, I recently completeda public speaking program that was just so
(12:51):
transformational, and I really enjoyed it.
So my goal is to continue to hone and polishthat speech and then find some opportunities to
deliver it and engage in a different way.
I love these one-on-one conversations onpodcasts.
I also love engaging with groups in a meetingsetting or in a conference.
(13:11):
So that's my next goal.
Oh, I love that.
That means we will hear from you a lot on theapproaches of the work.
Yes.
And I follow you, of course, everywhere, and Ilove LinkedIn as well.
Thank you so much for our interview, and nowit's time for your final thoughts to the
audience, please.
(13:32):
Oh, well, thank you so much.
Well, this has just been delightful, and Ireally appreciate everybody listening.
I would just encourage everyone to continue onthe journey.
Leadership is just tremendously rewarding, andit's so hard.
And I think partly the reason it is sorewarding is because it is so difficult at
(13:52):
times.
Keep going.
You know, find your community to reach out foradditional resources like this and keep going
because the world needs more people who arethoughtful, curious, dedicated leaders.
Wow.
Thank you so much.
I'm inspired now.
Thank you, Caroline.
(14:13):
It's so nice to meet you.
Oh, likewise.
And I'll see you in the next.
Thank you for listening to Inspired ChoiceToday.
I'm thrilled to have you on this journey ofgrowth and transformation.
Don't forget to hit follow or subscribe to stayconnected and never miss an episode.
And here's something special.
(14:34):
Grab your free 20-minute breakthrough sessionwith me.
It's designed to help you kick-start or levelup your business.
Just check out the show notes for more.
Until next time, keep making those inspiredchoices.
See you in the next episode.
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New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!