Limitless Leadership Lounge

Limitless Leadership Lounge

by StoryTrust Media
Self-Improvement
The Four Things Every Great Teammate Does
What actually separates the teammates everyone wants to play with from the ones everyone quietly dreads? Jon and Coach Jim break it down in four keys, and every one of them applies just as much in a boardroom as it does in a locker room. This week on a solo episode they cover integrity and why you are always on stage even when you think you are not, the we over me mindset and how to actually tell if someone means it, controlling the controllables so you stop wasting energy on what you cannot change, and the difference between people who identify problems and people who solve them. If you are building a team or trying to be a better one, this one is worth your time. The Limitless Leadership Lounge was selected by MillionPodcasts as one of the Top 100 Leadership Development Podcasts in the world: millionpodcasts.com/leadership-development-podcasts
Aug 26, 2026
13:24
Carpe WOO: Brian Biro on Energy, Presence, and Breakthrough Leadership
What if your phone is your biggest competition for being a great leader, and you do not even realize it? Brian Biro's two daughters once asked him a question that changed everything. This week Brian joins Jon and Coach Jim for a conversation packed with energy, both literal and figurative. He has delivered over 2,000 presentations, written 16 books, coached Olympic swimmers, and counted John Wooden as a close friend and mentor. His framework for breakthrough leadership comes down to three controllables, and one surprising acronym he calls the WOO. He also tells a story about his father, fourteen years of silence, and the last words he ever heard him say. This one moves fast and hits hard. Connect with Brian: brianbiro.com The Limitless Leadership Lounge was selected by MillionPodcasts as one of the Top 100 Leadership Development Podcasts in the world: millionpodcasts.com/leadership-development-podcasts
Aug 22, 2026
43:40
The Most Successful Leaders Are Also the Most Vulnerable. Here's Why.
What if everything holding you back as a leader is actually preparing you to lead at a level you cannot yet imagine? This week, Jon Goehring and Coach Jim Johnson welcome Andre Thornton, CEO of Whitman Consulting, keynote speaker, former Lockheed Martin engineer who helped capture over a billion dollars in new business, Division One athlete at VMI in both football and track, and author of Disrupted, for one of the most thought provoking and counterintuitive leadership conversations the Lounge has ever had. Andre opens with a disarming admission: everything he is about to share, he personally wished were not true. As an engineer, he wanted leadership to be logical, diagrams and processes and measurable outcomes. What the research kept telling him instead is that the most important leadership moves are almost always the ones that feel the most unnatural in the moment. That tension between what feels right and what the science says is right is the thread that runs through this entire conversation. The conversation goes deep on vulnerability as a trust building tool, including a powerful contrast between a leader who opened up with something small and a pastor who shared something deeply personal, and what each moment did to the culture of the room. Andre explains the right kind of vulnerability, why it must come from the leader first, and why a Fortune 100 CEO who cried on company all-hands calls created more cultural cohesion than almost any initiative his company could have launched. Andre also introduces the concept at the heart of his book: fall down, grow up. Not bounce back, not get back up, but actually grow from the fall in a way that makes you better than you were before. He shares the story of a $250 million contract negotiation that hit an impasse on day eight and the counterintuitive decision his team made that got it signed on day nine, and explains why loosening control at the hardest possible moment is what great leaders actually do. Jon and Coach also draw out Andre's 1440 method, built on the reality that every person gets 1,440 minutes every day and how we spend our days is how we spend our lives, and his practical framework for moving from spending 20 percent of your time intentionally to 90 percent or more. The episode closes with Andre sharing the personal faith story behind the most important decision of his professional life, leaving an 18 year career at Lockheed Martin on the same month his son was born, and the clarity that made it possible. Whether you are navigating a fall down moment right now, trying to build more trust on your team, or simply looking for a framework to spend your 1,440 minutes with more intention, this episode will challenge you in the best possible way. Connect with Andre: https://www.andrewhitmanthornton.com/ Find him on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook Grab Disrupted wherever books are sold or here: a.co/d/0hKC2lvM
Aug 20, 2026
41:11
The Generosity Mindset: How Putting Others First Changes Everything About Your Business
What if the reason you hesitate to name your price has nothing to do with confidence and everything to do with how clearly you understand your own value? This week, Jon Goehring and Coach Jim Johnson welcome John Ray, pricing strategist, host of the Price and Value Journey podcast with over 1,200 episodes across radio and podcasting, and author of The Generosity Mindset, for a conversation that will change how you think about pricing, influence, trust, and the way you communicate with everyone around you. John opens with a reframe that hits immediately: if you hesitate when it is time to name your fee, you do not have a confidence problem. You have a value definition problem. He walks through the mindsets that hold most professionals back, including imposter syndrome, comparison, and a tendency to define value by what they do rather than what they deliver, and explains why clients almost always see more value in your work than you do. The conversation gets rich with practical storytelling. John shares the story of a senior move management company that was pricing itself like a typical moving company until a simple reframe around emotional care and security helped them become the most expensive option and still win the business. He also unpacks the concept of generosity mindset not as a soft idea but as a genuine competitive advantage, and explains why the Go-Giver principle of being ready to receive is just as important as being ready to give. Jon and Coach draw out some of the sharpest moments of the episode when John talks about trust building through great questions, including his favorite two word follow up: say more about that. He also shares a counterintuitive approach to getting more testimonials, including why offering to draft the review yourself actually produces better results and is completely ethical, and why most professionals leave dozens of glowing endorsements on the table simply because they never ask. The episode also covers how to build genuine presence with clients and team members in unexpected ways, why the phrase feel welcome to reach out will always outperform don't hesitate to contact me, and John's specific system for tracking connections and touches to make sure relationships stay warm without feeling transactional. Whether you are a business owner trying to price with confidence, a leader trying to build trust with your team, or simply someone who wants to communicate with more authenticity and impact, this episode is packed with immediately applicable ideas. Connect with John: johnray.co Find John on LinkedIn: Listen to the Price and Value Journey podcast at: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-price-and-value-journey/id1606521863 Free value conversation resources available at johnray.co
Aug 12, 2026
36:56
The Real Ted Lasso: How Coach Donnie Campbell Inspired Jason Sudeikis & The Popular Show
Jason Sudeikis once told Stephen Colbert that his high school basketball coach was part of the inspiration for Ted Lasso. That coach was Donnie Campbell, a math teacher and basketball coach from Kansas who found out the news walking to his classroom one morning. This week Coach Campbell joins Jon and Coach Jim for a conversation about what he actually taught Jason, why he never felt like a leader who coached but a coach who happened to lead, and the MVP framework he built his entire program around that has nothing to do with most valuable player. He also shares the goldfish story. And once you hear it, you will not forget it. Connect with Coach Campbell: coachdonniecampbell.com Booking: upsidespeakers.com The Limitless Leadership Lounge was selected by MillionPodcasts as one of the Top 100 Leadership Development Podcasts in the world: millionpodcasts.com/leadership-development-podcasts
Aug 8, 2026
46:10
High Expectations, High Support: The Leadership Framework Every Generation Needs
What if the biggest challenge facing your organization right now is not strategy, not technology, and not the economy, but the fact that 38 percent of your Gen Z employees have taken a mental health day after receiving feedback? This week, Jon Goehring and Coach Jim Johnson welcome Dr. Andrea Mata, known as Dr. Dre, clinical psychologist, speaker, high school football coach, adjunct professor, and author of a parenting book, for one of the most direct, practical, and genuinely eye opening conversations the Lounge has ever had. Dr. Dre opens with a reframe that every leader working with younger employees needs to hear: Gen Z is not broken. They are under equipped. She traces the root of the problem back two decades to a well-intentioned but consequential shift in parenting philosophy, explains how those patterns then carried into schools, and shows exactly why so many Gen Z employees arrive in the workforce without the adaptability and accountability skills that previous generations took for granted. The conversation gets immediately practical when Dr. Dre shares her three keys for leaders working with Gen Z employees. Move from annual reviews to 12 week evaluations built around specific behavioral expectations. Diagnose where your team members are under equipped and get them targeted support. And stop assuming basic professional skills are common knowledge, because for a generation that never had a landline, many of them simply are not. Jon and Coach also draw out Dr. Dre's framework for building culture from within, including the story of the high school football leadership group she facilitated where the players themselves debated over exactly how to visually represent the phrase we over me, and what that kind of ownership does for team culture at any level. The episode also covers the four Rs of logical consequences and why running sprints as punishment is one of the most common leadership mistakes coaches and managers both make, the five fundamentals of mental health that Dr. Dre uses with clients, and why she believes we are talking more about mental health than ever without actually understanding it any better. The episode closes with Dr. Dre's take on why traditional leadership is not landing with younger employees, and her answer comes back to the same principle she returns to throughout: high expectations and high support together are not a Gen Z accommodation. They are simply what great leadership has always looked like. Connect with Dr. Dre: andreadmata.com Grab her book on Amazon or visit her site for an autographed copy: https://www.amazon.com/No-Parenting-Book-Practical-Pooped/dp/B0CQVLC2YT
Aug 5, 2026
44:21
Overcoming Negativity: Four Proven Strategies to Defeat the Mental Madness
The world is noisier and more negative than ever. Jon and Coach Jim are not pretending otherwise. This week on a solo episode they share four proven strategies to help you fight back. First up is what Coach calls the cancel cancel technique. When negative self-talk creeps in, you say cancel and immediately reframe the statement in a positive direction. It sounds simple but the key is detaching the negative statement from your identity. There is a big difference between saying I stink and saying I did something that did not go well. Second is breathing, specifically box breathing. When everything around you feels out of control, your breath is the one thing you always have control over. Jon and Coach walk through the basics of the 4-4-4 method and explain why slowing your exhale is just as important as slowing your inhale. Third is affirmations paired with visualization. Coach starts every morning in front of the mirror with affirmation cards, using the words I am to anchor the statements to his identity. Jon shares the surprising research behind why this actually works even for people who find it awkward at first, and Coach shares how his players unanimously voted to keep visualization in the program after he retired. Finally they close with the power of prayer, gratitude, and reconnecting to your why. Jon makes the point that a lot of our prayer time is spent asking God for things and almost none of it thanking him for what we already have. That shift toward gratitude, he argues, is one of the fastest ways to break out of a negative spiral. Four practical tools. All of them available to you today. The Limitless Leadership Lounge was selected by MillionPodcasts as one of the Top 100 Leadership Development Podcasts in the world: millionpodcasts.com/leadership-development-podcasts
Jul 29, 2026
13:11
The Price of Becoming: Ryan Hawk on Compounding, Curiosity, and Core Values
Ryan Hawk has interviewed over 700 people for one of the top podcasts in the world. He has a five to one secret behind his best questions, a one in 25 ratio that turned a no-name show into a top 50 podcast, and a story about a quarterback he once beat out for a job who went on to win Super Bowls. This week Ryan returns for an unprecedented third appearance to talk about his new book The Price of Becoming, the power of compounding small habits, and why almost nobody, not even the most accomplished people he works with, has ever actually defined their own core values. He also shares how building a cold email muscle works exactly like building a real one, and what it means to never peak. Connect with Ryan: learningleader.com GRAB HIS NEW BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/Price-Becoming-Compounding-Practices-Performance/dp/0063483912 The Limitless Leadership Lounge was selected by MillionPodcasts as one of the Top 100 Leadership Development Podcasts in the world: millionpodcasts.com/leadership-development-podcasts
Jul 25, 2026
58:06
Fall in Love with the Process: Brad Dufrane on Hiring, Legacy, and Leading Well
What would it look like if your family had a constitution, a shared document of values, mission, and legacy that guided every generation after you? This week, Jon Goehring and Coach Jim Johnson welcome Brad Dufrane, managing partner of New York Life's Finger Lakes office, 30 year veteran of the financial services industry, marathon and Spartan race finisher, and one of the most genuinely warm and thoughtful leaders the Lounge has had the pleasure of hosting. Brad opens with the three things he wishes someone had told him on day one of his leadership journey, humility, gratitude, and servant leadership, and makes the case that these are not soft skills but the foundation everything else is built on. He is candid about the fact that none of them came naturally to him early in his career, and shares how intentional work with a positive psychology coach transformed the way he leads both at the office and at home. The conversation goes deep on hiring and team building, including Brad's powerful reframe of the classic people-first hiring approach. Rather than falling in love with a candidate, he coaches his emerging leaders to fall in love with the process, because a great process filters for the right people every time. He also shares three interview questions he swears by, including one that almost always catches candidates off guard and one that opens the door to the most authentic conversation of the entire interview. Brad then unpacks the concept of the family constitution, inspired by the book What Would the Rockefellers Do, and explains how his family built a living document around shared values, giving, and generational legacy. He shares the origin story of his family's annual giving tradition, which started with a Saturday morning he almost resented and turned into a 30 year practice now carried on independently by his own children. Jon and Coach also draw out the connection between Brad's physical discipline, running marathons and completing Spartan races alongside his wife Wendy, and his professional and personal effectiveness. His answer brings the conversation back to the same idea that runs through everything he shares: the difference between living life by default and living life by design. The episode closes beautifully with Brad answering the same question he asks every candidate he interviews, and his answer is worth staying for. Whether you are a young leader trying to find your footing, a seasoned leader looking to be more intentional at home as well as at work, or simply someone who wants to build a life and a legacy worth passing on, this episode will challenge and inspire you. Connect with Brad: LinkedIn at Brad Dufrane: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradley-dufrane-fscp-chfc-clu-clf-lutcf-86499194/ Email bdufrane@newyorklife.com Grab Little Billy and Beans on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Billy-Beans-Brad-Dufrane/dp/B0C5P7VXN7
Jul 22, 2026
35:16
The Trust Gap: What the Data Says About Why Teams Stop Believing in Their Leaders
What does the research actually say about why people trust their leaders, and why do so many well-intentioned leaders still get it wrong? This week, Jon Goehring and Coach Jim Johnson welcome Dr. Ben Granger, chief workplace psychologist at Qualtrics, organizational psychology doctorate from the University of South Florida, and author of A Leader Worth Following, for one of the most research-backed and practically useful conversations the Lounge has ever had. Dr. Ben opens with a breakdown of VUCA, the framework originally developed by the Army War College to describe volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environments, and makes the case that we are not just in a VUCA moment but a perennial VUCA reality that is only accelerating. His advice for leaders navigating it is both counterintuitive and immediately actionable: give people more grace, and communicate more, not less, especially when you do not have all the answers yet. The conversation goes deep on trust, one of the most talked about and least understood concepts in leadership. Dr. Ben shares data from 80,000 leadership assessments showing that the number one driver of trust is simply the quality of the personal relationship between a leader and their people. He also breaks down the three lenses employees use to evaluate whether they trust their leaders, competence, integrity, and benevolence, and reveals that only about half of global employees believe their leaders make decisions for the benefit of the group rather than themselves. That third lens, he argues, is where most leaders quietly lose their people without ever knowing it. Jon and Coach draw out some of the sharpest moments of the episode when Dr. Ben shares the story of an executive who got up in front of his company right after a major layoff and delivered an overly optimistic message that completely missed where his people were emotionally. Dr. Ben walks through exactly how that 15 minute misstep eroded trust on a massive scale, what it took to rebuild it, and why the Stockdale Paradox is one of the most important leadership frameworks any leader can internalize. The episode also covers the science of effective one-on-one meetings, why the agenda should belong to the employee rather than the manager, and what Dr. Ben did early in his career that quietly sent the wrong signal to his whole team every time he showed up late or cancelled. He closes with sharp advice on hiring for diversity of thought, building teams where task conflict is welcomed, and the critical distinction between interpersonal conflict that destroys performance and productive disagreement that drives better decisions. Whether you are just stepping into leadership or looking to understand why your team is not as all in as you need them to be, this episode will give you both the research and the practical tools to close that gap. Grab A Leader Worth Following wherever books are sold or on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Leader-Worth-Following-Benjamin-Granger/dp/1394402562 Connect With Dr. Ben: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-granger-7147991b/
Jul 15, 2026
45:28
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