Stop Controlling, Start Influencing: The Leadership Mindset Shift w/ Katie Anderson

Most companies copy Toyota’s tools. Almost none of them copy the mindset.

In my latest conversation with Katie Anderson (author of Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn), we explored why the "secret" to Toyota isn't a process—it's an attitude toward learning.

We covered:

The Daruma Concept: Why a weighted Japanese doll is the perfect metaphor for leadership (Fall down seven times, get up eight).

The "Plan-Do" Trap: Why we get stuck in a loop of execution and skip the "Study-Adjust" phase where the actual growth happens.

Control vs. Influence: You can’t command an empowered culture into existence. You have to build the conditions for people to choose it.

Katie also shared how she’s using AI to accelerate her thinking for her upcoming book, posing a vital question: Are we using these tools to elevate humans, or diminish them?

This was a deep dive into what it actually means to lead with humility.