How can leaders support their teams effectively without falling into the trap of fixing everything themselves?

Leah Marone is a psychotherapist with expertise in treating anxiety and mood disorders. She also works with athletes on performance anxiety issues, demonstrating her ability to understand and manage high-stress situations.

If you can relate, there are a ton of gems in this show, including:

1. What are some of the problems or ways that leaders lead that is the opposite of creating authentic spaces and solving?
2. How can leaders balance the need to control and deliver results with the approach of validating and empowering their employees?
3. What are the steps involved in transitioning from being a solver to a supporter as a leader, and how can these steps be applied in real-world scenarios?
4. How can leaders effectively inquire and motivate their employees while ensuring that they maintain ownership of their tasks?

And hey, did you catch our role-play experiment? That was like a masterclass in what not to do—Leah's advice saved the day by turning a "Ron-ian disaster" into a pathway to peace.

Meet Leah

Leah Marone, MSW, LCSW, is a seasoned psychotherapist and corporate mental wellness consultant based in Charlotte, NC, with over 20 years of extensive experience. Leah received her Master's degree in clinical social work from the University of Texas at Austin, a top-ranked institution in social work education. She has conducted over 20,000 therapy sessions and contributed articles to reputable publications such as Psychology Today, The Atlantic, and Newsweek, earning recognition for her expertise in mental health.

Leah's personal journey as a former anxiety-ridden Division 1 basketball player fuels her passion for working with high-achieving individuals, often described as type A go-getters. She specializes in addressing internal pressures, imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and performance anxiety.

In her dual role as a mental wellness consultant and board member, Leah collaborates with both companies and nonprofits. Her areas of focus include anxiety and stress management, burnout prevention, boundary setting, mindfulness practices, effective communication, and emotional intelligence. Leah's holistic approach involves a thorough assessment of company culture to tailor her services, meeting organizations where they are and addressing their specific needs.

Leah's innovative 5-step initiative underscores the significance of mental wellness organization-wide, identifying areas for growth and connection. This initiative aims to prevent high turnover, address burnout, and enhance overall collaboration and productivity.

Leah has facilitated dozens wellness workshops for educators, leaders, and healthcare providers and has presented her acclaimed "Support, Don’t Solve" framework on prominent stages. Her inspirational keynotes provide practical tools for self-awareness that can be seamlessly integrated into busy schedules. Renowned for her expertise in boundary setting and resilience, Leah is a sought-after speaker for leadership groups. She addresses individuals navigating perpetual burnout, often fueled by relentless inner critics and the challenges of people-pleasing. Her insights offer a transformative guide for cultivating resilience and establishing healthy boundaries in demanding professional environments.

Beyond her professional commitments, Leah enjoys traveling, hiking, exercising, and working on her upcoming book slated for publication early next year. Additionally, she actively contributes as a coach for her daughter's club soccer team, showcasing her dedication to both personal and community well-being.

https://www.leahmarone.com/

Brad Smith, CCXP, who brings his extensive experience from working with major companies like Symantec, Yahoo, and Sage. Mark and Brad delve into the future of customer experience (CX) management and explore a variety of valuable tools that can be applied to enhance CX.

Brad shares actionable insights on hidden value, value realization versus value erosion, and introduces the concept of value mapping. He also discusses the importance of having a clear brand promise and how it plays a crucial role in delivering a cohesive customer experience.

Key topics covered in this episode include:

• The importance of leveraging a comprehensive CX toolkit, including techniques like empathy maps, journey maps, and value mapping.

• A detailed discussion on identifying and unlocking hidden value within a company by examining areas with high customer traffic, and differentiating between value realization and value erosion.

• A fascinating case study on Brad's work with AARP, showcasing how to diagnose and rectify systemic issues that lead to customer churn and operational inefficiencies.

• The concept of value mapping, its significance, and how it helps in uncovering friction points in customer experiences.

• The critical role of brand promises and how they should guide every interaction to ensure consistency and memorability.

• Insights into the symbiotic relationship between marketing and CX in delivering on the brand promise.

Meet Brad

Brad has had the privilege of leading organizations in their
customer-centric transformation at Symantec, Yahoo!, and Sage as
their CCO/CMO. Across his 30+ years of leadership, Brad has led
global support and service functions for Oracle, Openwave, and
Verisign as well as small start-ups. Leveraging decades of experience
and insights gained from over 50 client engagements, he knows how to
quickly identify, unlock and realize the trapped value concealed across
any organization.

Currently, Brad is the President & Chairman of the Board of the
Consortium for Service Innovation and through the work of the
Consortium, has helped 100’s of customer service organizations
innovate better business models to deliver deep value to their
customers while better engaging their employees to grow their
businesses. He is also one of their recognized Innovators.

Brad is also a Co-Founder and Tribal Advisor at TribeCX Ltd, an alumni
member of the Forrester Chief Customer Executive Council, and the
Chief Customer Officer (CCO) council, and a alumni Board Member
(2018-2021) & recognized Innovator of Customer Experience
Professional Association (CXPA). He is also a Certified Customer
Experience Professional (CCXP).

He is a recognized thought leader in the Customer Experience and
Service Innovation space and has published dozens of articles for
various online publications including Forbes, New York Times, Fox
Business, and Entrepreneur. He is a frequent keynote speaker across
the CX and Customer Service industries.

Brad is home based in Irvine CA and is the Founder/President of Vector
Business Navigation, Inc. – A customer experience/customer success
transformation consulting provider - committed to mentoring inspired
leaders to successfully navigate their CX ecosystems since 2015.

You can learn more about Brad here:

All things CX Considered Podcast with Bob Azman

The Conversational Podcast with Julie Roehm

Reasoned Podcast with Sabrina Meditz