Shameless Leadership

Latest Episodes:

952: Themba Dayton: The Power of Diversity In Building Effective and Successful Teams Aug 12, 2025

Show notes

I was thrilled to interview Themba Dayton, whom I was introduced to by Elena Joy Thurston, a past guest of the show and a friend. When I learned about Themba’s track record in building and guiding diverse teams, I immediately had a ton of questions for him. This conversation is a treasure trove of sage advice around the power of diversity in professional environments and why diverse teams will always have a leg up, no matter the state of the world.

Themba Dayton is a 30-year insurance professional in the employee benefits industry, living in the Pacific Northwest. In an industry that is known for being overwhelmingly male, Themba has been a part of and has had the honor of leading extremely diverse and dynamic teams that have been innovative and successful in their roles. Teams at their best are varied, have full engagement, and the group is committed to the success of the whole more often than the success of the individual. In his current role, Themba looks for opportunities to ensure all voices are allowed to be heard, to allow for more robust discussions, and to pave the way for more meaningful outcomes.

Listen in to hear Themba share:

How to leverage diversity to build effective and successful teams
His secret in helping each member of diverse teams feel seen, heard, held, and valued - getting to know each person individually, developing strong 1:1 relationships
How he is sensitive to his industry being “pale, male, and stale” and how he, as a Black man, leads with this sensitivity in mind
How he looks for opportunities to amplify women’s voices
How highlighting someone else not only amplifies their voice but also helps you shine brighter as a strong leader

Links Mentioned:

Connect with Themba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themba-dayton-ab956b5/
Register for Sara’s October Influence & Ignite Retreat for Women Business Owners: saradean.com/retreat
Hire me to speak: saradean.com/speaking
Coach with me: https://saradean.com/executive-coaching-services
Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saradeanspeaks
Watch Shameless Leadership episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@saradeanspeaks

Interested in becoming a sponsor of the Shameless Mom Academy? Email our sales team at sales@adalystmedia.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

951: LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES: 4 Questions to Ask Before Making a Decision Aug 05, 2025

Show notes

Have you ever found yourself staring down a big decision, maybe making a move, a new job offer, a promotion, or even staying in a role that no longer fits — and thought, “How do I know if this is the right move?”

In this episode, I walk you through four powerful questions I ask myself (and my clients) before making a big personal or professional decision. These questions help cut through the noise, slow down the overthinking spiral, and get you grounded in what you truly want and need.

I will walk you through these questions, applying them to an example from my personal life, and then use a professional example that will likely be familiar to you. This episode will help you become a better decision maker and action taker, providing objective clarity to get you through tough decisions. Being able to make value-aligned decisions, guided by simple questions, will enhance your leadership, save you a ton of decision fatigue and mental energy, and open up space for you to do more of your best work.

In this episode, you will learn:

The question I ask that always brings me back to clarity
How to assess if a decision is additive or draining
Why getting honest about the costs of a yes is just as important as the benefits
How to make choices from purpose, not pressure

Whether you’re weighing a big move or a small shift, this episode will help you trust yourself more in the process.

Links Mentioned:

Register for Sara’s October Influence & Ignite Retreat for Women Business Owners: saradean.com/retreat
Hire me to speak: saradean.com/speaking
Coach with me: https://saradean.com/executive-coaching-services
Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saradeanspeaks
Watch Shameless Leadership episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@saradeanspeaks

Interested in becoming a sponsor of the Shameless Mom Academy? Email our sales team at sales@adalystmedia.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

950: Dr. Karen Hills Pruden: What Bad Bosses Teach Us About Great Leadership Jul 29, 2025

Show notes

Having a boss who causes harm or holds leadership values that clash with yours is rarely a positive experience. But time and again, I’ve seen how negative role models can motivate people to lead better and do better. Poor leadership often sparks a commitment to do things differently and more effectively as we grow. So maybe, in the long run, even bad leaders leave us with something valuable?

When I learned of Dr. Karen Hills Pruden’s work in leadership, partly inspired by her experience of having endured two incompetent leaders in close succession, I was eager to hear her story and learn from her. In this episode, she shares her incredibly valuable lessons learned.

Dr. Pruden is the CEO of Pruden Global Business Solutions Consulting (PGBSC), a premier professional development and leadership training company. With over 30 years of experience, Dr. Pruden has created trademarked frameworks that drive transformational change for leaders and organizations worldwide. PGBSC programs are built on powerful, proven methodologies, including the Amplify Your Value framework, which helps leaders leverage their expertise to advance; the LPT (Learn, Practice, Teach) framework, designed to create a continuous cycle of learning and growth; and the PE (Professional Equity) framework, which empowers professionals to convert their experience into measurable business success. Pruden Global specializes in cultivating leadership excellence, ensuring that our clients are not only seen and heard but also positioned to make a lasting impact. Dr. Pruden is a Bestselling Author, published over 30 times, a sought-after Global Leadership Speaker, and a guest on radio, podcasts, and television.

Listen in to hear Karen share:

What women really need to make the leap into the C-suite, and how women sell themselves short when reaching for C-suite roles
What she learned about the “Dos and Don’ts of Leadership” after having two incompetent leaders in two years
Her philosophy that “silence is not a superpower” and how to use your voice in strategic ways when you’re working under an ineffective or incompetent leader
How to maintain your professional integrity and motivation when faced with leadership that doesn’t align with your organization’s values or your own leadership standards
How her experiences with poor leaders allowed her to create her own leadership methodologies and frameworks

Links Mentioned:

Register for Sara’s October Influence & Ignite Retreat for Women Business Owners: saradean.com/retreat
Hire Sara to speak: saradean.com/speaking
Coach with Sara: https://saradean.com/executive-coaching-services
Connect with Dr. Pruden: drkarenhillpruden.com
Get Dr. Pruden’s Free Download: 20 Things to Ask for to Raise Your Total Compensation Package: https://pro.speakerhub.com/speaker-feedback/?qr=d2fcc364-e93d-46fc-9eb3-2d7145a99535
Connect with Dr. Pruden on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkarenhillspruden/
Sister Leaders Community: sistersleadersconference.com

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949: LEADERSHIP MINDSET: How to Own the Room as a Woman Leader Over 40 Jul 22, 2025

Show notes

Last year, Google invited me to come lead trainings for Aging Awareness Week. This was a truly enjoyable opportunity to work with some brilliant leaders. When I asked about who to expect in the audience, I expected to be told, “People over 55.” Instead, I was told, “This ERG is for folks over 40.” 40! I don’t think of 40 as “aging” just yet. But, I guess it is when society and culture start to stigmatize us, isn’t it??

If you are a woman over 40 who is done shrinking and ready to lead with the clarity, power, and confidence that comes from your decades of wisdom, with zero apologies, this episode is for you!

In this episode, I’m speaking directly to women over 40 who are ready to start leading with the full force of their lived experience. I know what it feels like to be in rooms where youth, speed, and loud voices are mistaken for leadership - but I’m here to tell you that your depth, clarity, wisdom, perspective, and emotional intelligence are exactly what’s needed right now. We’re not the past. We are the future of work. And, data backs this up: 42% of labor force growth in the next decade will come from people 55 and older, mostly women.

Together, we’ll explore how to navigate the double bind of age and gender, where you’re expected to stay relevant but not be perceived as “too much.” I identify the forces at play (such as the intersectionality of ageism and sexism) and provide tools to help you reclaim your space with power and intention. You’ll hear how your ability to read a room, speak with clarity, and lead for legacy, not ego, is your greatest asset. Your ability to listen deeply, ask better questions, and build meaningful collaborative (not competitive) relationships? That’s the edge younger leaders are still learning.

This episode is your reminder that you don’t need to fight for a seat at the table—you are the table. Your leadership is expansive, rooted, sturdy, and deeply needed. So if you’ve been waiting for permission to own the room, this is it.

Links Mentioned:

Hire me to speak: saradean.com/speaking
Coach with me: https://saradean.com/executive-coaching-services
Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saradeanspeaks
Watch Shameless Leadership episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@saradeanspeaks
Article: Five Facts on Older Women in the Labor Market

Interested in becoming a sponsor of the Shameless Mom Academy? Email our sales team at sales@adalystmedia.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

948: LEADERSHIP MINDSET: Why You Should Lead with Joy When the World Is on Fire Jul 15, 2025

Show notes

When the world feels heavy and hard, it can feel wrong or even selfish to feel joy amidst the suffering. But in this episode, we explore a powerful reframe: What if joy is not an escape, but an act of resistance or perhaps even revenge? As a leader, what if reclaiming your joy isn’t just allowed—it’s essential?

As I’ve witnessed global unraveling happening alongside so many people’s individual pain and heartbreak, I’ve seen firsthand how joy has shown up not in spite of this season, but through this season and these events. In this episode, we dismantle three major myths about joy and leadership, including the belief that modeling joy is tone-deaf or that it diminishes the seriousness of the world’s pain. Instead, I make a compelling case for why joy is a mental health necessity, a leadership superpower, and a radical tool for personal and collective resilience.

Backed by neuroscience and wisdom from some brilliant people who work in the field of joy and resilience research, this episode explores how joy rewires your brain (literally), boosts your team’s ability to thrive, and helps you lead with more presence, empathy, and clarity, even when everything feels uncertain. You’ll walk away with six tangible joy practices, such as joy hits, daily rituals, and joy-driven leadership tools, that will help you cultivate joy that is not only supportive of your own mental and physical health but contagious to those around you.

Joy is not a betrayal of the pain. It’s a balm. It’s a strategy. It’s your birthright—and it might just be your most powerful form of leadership.

Links Mentioned:

Women Business Owners, join me for a free business-building workshop on July 16th, Focused & Fierce: Lead with Purpose and Build Your Business in a Noisy World:saradean.com/fierce
Hire me to speak: saradean.com/speaking
Coach with me: https://saradean.com/executive-coaching-services
Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saradeanspeaks
Watch Shameless Leadership episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@saradeanspeaks
Book: Joy is My Justice by Tanmeet Sethi
Book: Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit
Book: Ritual Roadmap by Erica Keswin

Interested in becoming a sponsor of the Shameless Mom Academy? Email our sales team at sales@adalystmedia.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

947: Elena Joy Thurston: Burnout, Belonging & Building Brave Leadership Jul 08, 2025

Show notes

When I decided to start inviting guests onto Shameless Leadership, I immediately knew I wanted my dear friend and speaking colleague Elena Joy to join me. The work Elena Joy does around inclusion always captivates me. She is smart, witty, and strategic in all the best ways - as you’ll hear in this conversation. She knows what needs to be done to get the work done. Her unflinching commitment to tackling tough conversations while upholding human dignity always blows me away. While her knowledge around inclusion and its connection to burnout is robust, her methods for tackling challenges where these areas intersect are approachable and welcoming. This is all to say, Elena Joy makes me want to be a better human, and I suspect she will have the same impact on you.

In an official capacity, Elena Joy Thurston, she/her, is the CEO of LATITUDE, a boutique HR consultancy specializing in creating sustainable leadership pipelines through burnout prevention and emerging leader programs. A Mormon mom of four who lost her marriage, her church, and her community when she came out as a lesbian, her viral TEDx talk on surviving conversion therapy has attracted clients such as the Denver Broncos, Peloton, and Planned Parenthood. She is featured in the award-winning documentary CONVERSION, recently launched on AppleTV and Amazon. Elena Joy lives in Arizona with her four children and spends her spare time dreaming of her next fly-fishing trip.

Listen in to hear Elena share:

How she saw the writing on the wall with DEI and made an intentional pivot in her work in order to continue to achieve her goals around inclusion in the workplace
The truth about the state of DEI - what has been taken from us and what we still have to work with, and what it all means in terms of sustainable leadership
How understanding our co-workers' identities opens the door to communication and decreases burnout
What burnout looks like in 2025 and how it looks different for Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z
How burnout is universal and individual at the same time
The importance of creating positive emotional experiences to counter the feelings that trigger your burnout
How to use the Release & Restore Method to shift your energy daily, weekly, monthly, yearly

Links Mentioned:

Women Business Owners, join me for a free business-building workshop on July 16th, Focused & Fierce: Lead with Purpose and Build Your Business in a Noisy World:saradean.com/fierce
Hire me to speak: saradean.com/speaking
Coach with me: https://saradean.com/executive-coaching-services
Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saradeanspeaks
Watch Shameless Leadership episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@saradeanspeaks
Work with Elena Joy: https://latitudeleaders.com/
Get Elena Joy’s Free Burnout Starter Kit: https://latitudeleaders.com/burnoutstarterkit
Attend Elena Joy’s Free Office Hours: http://joyfulofficehours.com
Latitude Leaders on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/latitude-leaders/
Latitude Leaders on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/latitudeleaders
Elena Joy on on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elenajoythurston/
Elena Joy on Instragram https://www.instagram.com/elenajoyspeaks/
Elena Joy’s TEDx talk on Youtube: https://youtu.be/rIhPZMC4UEg

Interested in becoming a sponsor of the Shameless Mom Academy? Email our sales team at sales@adalystmedia.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

946: LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES: 7 Ways to Rise When Your Boss Holds You Down Jul 01, 2025

Show notes

Sometimes your boss is the biggest obstacle to your leadership growth. Whether they’re dismissive, manipulative, or flat-out toxic, their behavior or opinion of you does not define your worth. After watching too many women leaders suffer under harmful male leadership recently, it feels crucial to share actionable strategies to help you trust your instincts and keep your intuition grounded in truth. It’s time for you to reclaim your power even in environments designed to diminish it.When your boss won’t advocate for you, it’s time to advocate for yourself—boldly and strategically. In this episode, I share how to get visible beyond your direct boss, surround yourself with mentors and allies, and cultivate your leadership brand regardless of what your boss says (or doesn’t say) about you. You’ll learn how to set unapologetic boundaries, document manipulative behavior, and protect your emotional safety. We talk about how to navigate power dynamics with intention. By understanding your boss’s motivations and insecurities, you can learn to protect your own energy and make more informed, strategic choices about how to engage. This clarity will allow you to choose your battles wisely, preserve your peace, and lead yourself first. In doing so, you will model a more grounded and powerful style of leadership for those around you, even in the absence of support from above.Remember, you always have a choice. Sometimes, navigating a “strategic stay” is the right move for right now. Other times, the best thing you can do is leave. This episode is an invitation for you to consider what growth, alignment, and success look like on your terms. Because even when you’re being held down, you are still leading. Your job is not to shrink in the shadows of someone else’s smallness. Your job is to stand tall in your truth, build your brand, and be the leader of your life.

Interested in becoming a sponsor of the Shameless Mom Academy? Email our sales team at sales@adalystmedia.com.

Links Mentioned:

Women Business Owners, join me for a free business building workshop on July 16th, Focused & Fierce: Lead with Purpose and Build Your Business in a Noisy World:saradean.com/fierce
Hire me to speak: saradean.com/speaking
Coach with me: https://saradean.com/executive-coaching-services
Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saradeanspeaks
Watch Shameless Leadership episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@saradeanspeaks

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

945: LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES: How Leaders Can Build Team Trust Jun 24, 2025

Show notes

Over the last few years, I’ve been developing curriculum and resources that help leaders establish trust with their teams and enable teammates to build trust with one another. Because different people have different needs around trust, it can feel tricky to know exactly the right formula to help build trust with others. In spite of that, there are plenty of small things you can do every single day to help people understand who you are, how you operate, how you hold space for others, and how you navigate messiness that will inevitably help you build trust in any relationship. When people understand these pieces of you, they have the information they need to know if you are someone they can trust over the long haul. In this episode, we explore what a lack of trust looks like in an organization (perhaps this will look and feel familiar to you?). We talk about why trust is a foundational element required for high performance and a healthy culture, and what outcomes you can expect when you take the time to build trust within a team environment. Then, I give you simple, practical steps you can take to start building more trust today, no matter the current state of your team or organization.

There is a common misconception that trust and the vulnerability required to build it are “soft,” but I would like to invite you to view trust as one of your key strategies for building authentic, meaningful relationships that yield great outcomes.

Episode Highlights:

00:00 Building Trust: An Introduction
02:49 The Importance of Trust in Teams
06:05 Signs of a Lack of Trust
12:06 Leadership's Role in Trust Building
15:51 Practical Steps to Build Trust
21:05 The Outcomes of Teams that Trust
25:47 How to Run Team Trust Diagnostics
29:59 Connecting Values Around Trust to Action

Links Mentioned:

Hire me to speak: saradean.com/speaking
Coach with me: https://saradean.com/executive-coaching-services
Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saradeanspeaks
Watch Shameless Leadership episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@saradeanspeaks

Interested in becoming a sponsor of the Shameless Mom Academy? Email our sales team at sales@adalystmedia.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

944: LEADERSHIP MINDSET: The Gifts of Suspending Certainty Jun 17, 2025

Show notes

I was recently sitting in one of my Change Leadership classes for my Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership, and my teacher asked us, “What would it look like if, as change leaders, we were to suspend certainty more often?” I immediately made a note to myself, “podcast episode on suspending certainty!”

As someone who craves certainty but understands that nothing is certain, I often think about becoming more comfortable with impermanence. I’ve never heard this referred to as “suspending certainty”, but this term struck me, and I knew I wanted to dig into it with you all!

In this episode, we talk about the importance of suspending certainty in leadership and personal growth. We talk through the benefits of embracing uncertainty, including:

Increased curiosity
Access to new perspectives
Openness to learning and new opportunities
Increased surprise, delight, and joy
Gifts that come when we step out of our “I got it all figured out” ego

Resilience, resourcefulness, tenacity, creativity, fun, and JOY are all born out of figuring out new things, embracing new realities, letting go of the old, and stepping into new opportunities where we don’t know exactly how things will go. What might happen for you if you felt prepared to step into uncertainty at any time? Suspending certainty will help you with this preparation.

Episode Highlights:

00:00 Introduction and Exciting Updates
03:35 The Concept of Suspending Certainty
04:03 Understanding the Gifts of Suspending Certainty
11:10 Benefits of Embracing Uncertainty
20:10 Navigating Personal and Collective Uncertainty
30:30 Conclusion and Upcoming Workshop

Links Mentioned:

Attend my free workshop for women small business owners, Focused and Fierce: Lead with Purpose and Build Your Business in a Noisy World:saradean.com/fierce
Watch Shameless Leadership episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@saradeanspeaks
Hire me to speak: saradean.com/speaking
Coach with me: https://saradean.com/executive-coaching-services
Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saradeanspeaks

Interested in becoming a sponsor of the Shameless Mom Academy? Email our sales team at sales@adalystmedia.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

943: Maria Ross: The 5 Pillars of Effective Empathetic Leadership Jun 10, 2025

Show notes

I met Maria Ross 12 years ago when we shared the stage at a women’s event. Her work is centered around human behavior and empathy in the workplace. What I love about talking to Maria is how she can dig into the nuts and bolts of concepts and theory while also making tricky concepts very approachable and applicable to everyone. If you want to cultivate more empathy or help others cultivate more empathy, Maria is your gal.

Maria is a speaker, facilitator, author, strategist, and empathy advocate who believes cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive. She’s spent decades helping forward-thinking leaders, teams, and brands connect and engage through empathy to accelerate growth. Maria has authored multiple books, including her newest, The Empathy Dilemma: How Successful Leaders Balance Performance, People, and Personal Boundaries, Her previous book, The Empathy Edge sparked a movement and she now hosts the top-rated The Empathy Edge podcast, speaking with leaders, changemakers, authors, and activists on how to achieve radical success through empathy.

Listen in to hear Maria share: