Episode 210: Leadership in the Boxing Ring, Because Change Fights Back

Grab your boxing gloves. And maybe a helmet.

In Episode 210 of Biz-Souls, Rona Lewis and Jeffrey Hansler step into the leadership ring for a knockout, drag-down discussion about creating change — which sounds noble until you actually try to do it.

Rona opens strong, framing the episode around a leadership system inspired by some of the big-brain thinking you’ll find over at Big Think — you know, the kind of thinking where leadership is expansive, inclusive, visionary, and possibly accompanied by swelling orchestral music.

Jeffrey immediately responds with: “All roses and butterfly’s until you add in people!”

Because here’s the thing. Creating change sounds fantastic on a whiteboard. It’s inspiring in a keynote. It looks terrific in a LinkedIn post. And then reality shows up.

Suddenly, your brilliant strategy meets passive and full contact resistance, and your “clear vision” succumbs to cataracts while your town hall meeting becomes the ambush scene in Mel Gibson’s Braveheart.

Rona wants to stay with the system. Jeffrey wants to discuss the pitfalls. Rona wants to highlight the steps. Jeffrey wants to point out the potholes. Rona adds a thought about politics, and Jeffrey redirects back to the topic. Rona quips, “You brought it up.”

It’s leadership ping-pong at its finest, which illustrates reality, because leadership without sarcasm is just… a staff meeting.

And here’s where it gets interesting. Rona and Jeffrey don’t just spar about the problems. They dig into the tension that lives inside leadership:

• Vision vs. execution

• Inspiration vs. implementation

• Alignment vs. “Why are we doing this again?”

And the age-old question: Is resistance stupidity… or just fear wearing a tie? And then Rona brings in something leaders often forget when they’re busy drafting strategic roadmaps: play. Yes. Play.

Not mandatory fun. No trust falls. Not that awkward icebreaker where you describe yourself as a kitchen appliance. Real play. The kind that allows teams to experiment without feeling like they’re one mistake away from career extinction.

This episode is funny. It’s sharp. It’s slightly sarcastic. And it’s painfully real for anyone who has ever tried to lead human beings who insist on having opinions.

If you’ve ever thought, “Why is this so hard?” This episode is for you. Put up your gloves, bring bandages, and have a sense of humor.

Here are other episodes which might interest you:

Episode 139: Play for Better Living!

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5EOyx44QYvEkrzE6Fg6fA8

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdUd8cU1Xg

Episode 137: Just Say No! Maybe.

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5O9pVnMLtrVRHfSrkE3dZn

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ffpbkA2n8

Episode 136: Mature Gnome with Ego

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4SrTBRzWZ9MbhycJw5Nkwv

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl6sKzNUWTo

Episode 125: How to Retrain Your Brain

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Sl8zVZB6Jx5DMHg8lN9aH

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA4P9HvbKVI

And as always, like, share, subscribe, and follow so we can stay connected.

BTW - The article "The six elements of successful leadership system" by Scott J. Allen, Ph.D & David Day