Lifting Leaders Podcast

The Courage To Name What Is and Is Not Working - with Shirlene Evans

What happens when a successful technology leader feels a spark that simply won’t be ignored? In this inspiring episode of Lifting Leaders Podcast, we welcome Career Coach, Shirlene Evans, ACC, whose thriving career in the tech industry took a powerful turn when she realized her true calling was helping others navigate theirs. That spark shifted her focus from building systems to building people and the ripple effects have been profound.
Listen in as Shirlene shares why one of the most overlooked leadership skills is the courage to pause and identify what is not working before rushing in to fix it. Too often, leaders move straight to solutions without fully naming the real issue. Shirlene unpacks what happens, to leaders, to teams, and to entire systems, when things go unspoken. Silence does not create stability; it stifles creativity, drains energy, and quietly erodes innovation. But when leaders learn to speak up with intention, they open the door to fresh thinking and forward momentum.
You will also hear why honesty alone is not always enough when naming what is not working. It takes imagination. It takes vision. It takes the ability to see beyond the current reality and invite others into what is possible. Shirlene offers practical recommendations to help leaders build the courage and skill to speak up, move forward, and foster an environment where creativity and innovation thrive.
Shirlene’s energy, warmth, and passion for coaching and mentoring shine throughout this conversation. If you have ever felt the tension between staying silent and saying what needs to be said, this episode will light a spark for you.
We think you’re going to love this one.

Spark Episode: What Is Your Leadership Superpower?

In this Lifting Leaders Spark episode, Tricia Rhine invites listeners to explore a powerful leadership question: What is your leadership superpower?
Spark episodes are short leadership reflections designed to help leaders pause, think differently, and apply practical insights in their daily leadership.
In this episode, Tricia explores:
• Identifying your natural leadership strengths• Recognizing the gifts others consistently see in you• How your strengths can build trust, connection, and psychological safety
Through thoughtful questions and relatable insights, this episode encourages leaders to notice the strengths they may be overlooking and to intentionally steward those gifts.
✨ Reflection for listeners:What is the strength people thank you for most often - the one that feels so natural you almost overlook it?

Deep Listening, Curiosity, and More Gems Inspired by Barbara Acevedo Visser, MCC

In this powerful “Gems” episode, we revisit our rich conversation with Barbara Acevedo Visser, Master Certified Coach and uncover some leadership gems we gleaned within her wisdom. If you’ve ever left a conversation thinking, “I could have listened better,” this episode is for you.
We explore what it really means to listen at deeper levels - beyond words, beyond responses, and beyond the internal dialogue that competes for our attention. Barbara reminds us that curiosity is not just a mindset - it’s a disciplined leadership practice. When we intentionally suspend judgment and choose curiosity instead, we create space for trust, insight, and genuine connection.
In the episode, we’re digging into:
How suspending judgment transforms conversations and strengthens rapport
Why curiosity is the antidote to assumption
Simple, practical steps to quiet a busy mind before and during a conversation
How both speaker and listener benefit when presence is intentional
What to consider before a one-on-one conversation when “fixing” isn’t the goal
One of the biggest insights? When leaders enter conversations without the pressure to solve or fix, something powerful happens. Clarity emerges. Trust deepens. And both parties feel heard and valued. Sometimes the most impactful leadership move is not offering the answer - it’s offering your full attention.
Barbara’s sage advice offers practical tools you can apply immediately: pausing before responding, checking your intention, naming what you’re noticing, and consciously choosing curiosity over certainty. These simple shifts can radically improve the quality of your leadership conversations.
There is so much to hear and reflect on in this episode. If you are committed to building trust, strengthening relationships, and leading with intention, you will find this conversation truly insightful.

Deep Listening in Leadership: Curiosity, Self-Awareness, and Sensing the Future with Barbara Acevedo Visser, MCC

What does deep listening in leadership really require, especially during rapid change?
In this episode of the Lifting Leaders Podcast, we welcome Master Certified Coach Barbara Acevedo Visser, MCC, for a powerful conversation about deep listening, curiosity, self-awareness, and sensing emerging possibilities in uncertain times.
Barbara shares how intentional slowing down strengthens executive presence and transforms the way leaders respond to complexity. When leaders choose curiosity over judgment, they create psychological safety, expand perspective, and make wiser decisions. Curiosity becomes a leadership discipline — not just a mindset.
You’ll learn:
How deep listening improves leadership effectiveness and team trust
Why slowing down enhances strategic thinking and innovation
How to sense what is emerging before it is fully visible
Practical ways to respond thoughtfully instead of reacting impulsively
Why self-awareness and clarity of values are essential during rapid change
This episode explores how leaders can stay grounded in who they are while adapting to shifting environments. When leaders are anchored in values and identity, they can navigate uncertainty without losing effectiveness or themselves.
If you are leading through complexity, change, or organizational transformation, this conversation offers practical leadership wisdom, reflective insight, and actionable strategies to help you listen more deeply and lead more intentionally.
Light the Spark. Ignite Genuine Hope. Lead the Change.
 
 

Sharing Some Post-Valentine’s Day Love

We’re taking a short break from our Light the Spark series to share something close to our hearts — love. 💛 In this special post-Valentine’s Day episode of the Lifting Leaders Podcast, we’re sending heartfelt gratitude to you, our listeners, and celebrating the people and places we cherish most — our friends and families, and the breathtaking beauty of the Pacific Northwest we’re blessed to call home.
We also reflect on a powerful “Gist of Things” article by Marilyn Gist, titled The Courage to Let Yourself Be Helped. As we share highlights from her insights, we explore how accepting help is not weakness - it’s love in action.  What goes through your mind when someone offers to help you? Do you worry that they don’t see you are fully capable, on our own?  Just what if you accepted help? 
There’s something profound about this simple exchange. Accepting help can build connection. It can strengthen trust. It can spark community. So, what does that have to do with interdependence? Everything. In this episode, we share stories of when interdependence was simply “the way we did life” - and why it still matters for leaders today.
We hope you love this week’s episode - and that it reminds you that leadership, at its core, is relational. 💕

Building a Culture of Respect: Leadership "Gems" from Julie Pham's Interview

In this Lifting Leaders Podcast Gems episode, we revisit key insights from our conversation with Julie Pham, PhD, author of 7 Forms of Respect and share what we discovered after taking her Respect Assessment.
This brief reflection revealed powerful aha moments about how respect is experienced differently across teams and cultures. We explore what the assessment uncovered for us, how leaders can intentionally build trust and respect, and why co creating team norms and working guidelines is essential for a healthy culture.
If you are a leader looking to strengthen trust belonging and respect on your team, this episode offers practical insight and inspiration to spark meaningful cultural shifts.
✨ We hope this episode lights a spark and supports you in leading with greater awareness and intention to make a better world.

Respect & Leadership: How Culture Shapes Influence, Trust, and Genuine Hope | Dr. Julie Pham

What does respect really mean and why does it look so different across cultures, teams, and leadership contexts?
In this episode of the Lifting Leaders Podcast, we’re joined by Julie Pham, PhD, author of 7 Forms of Respect, to explore how respect shapes leadership effectiveness, influence, trust, and belonging, especially in today’s polarized world.
Julie challenges the assumption that respect is universal, inviting leaders to examine how culture, micro-cultures, hierarchy, and lived experience shape both the respect we expect and the respect we extend to others. Together, we dive deeply into two often overlooked forms of respect and why misunderstanding them can quietly erode trust, collaboration, and inclusion on teams.
Grounded in our 2026 focus on Influencing Genuine Hope, this conversation explores how curiosity about respect can:
Reduce polarized communication
Bridge cultural and relational divides
Strengthen leadership influence without authority
Foster trust, psychological safety, and belonging
Insightful, practical, and deeply human, this episode offers leaders a hope-forward path one where respect becomes an everyday leadership practice that brings people closer together rather than pushing them apart.

Three-Peat Leadership Gems: Intentions, Hope, and How Leaders Ignite Change in 2026

In this special Lifting Leaders Podcast “Gems” episode, we revisit the most powerful insights from our two Three-Peat conversations with Lindsey Godwin, Jeff McAuliffe, and Carla Ondrasik, three voices shaping the future of leadership, hope, and human-centered change.
These conversations were rich with practical wisdom, and today we’re highlighting the moments that truly stood out, the ideas that continue to light the spark, ignite genuine hope, and help leaders lead meaningful change in 2026 and beyond.
In this episode, we explore questions that matter deeply for today’s leaders:
Why does language matter so much in leadership and change?
What’s missing as we look toward the future of our organizations and our world?
How does the way we show up influence whether people resist or embrace change?
What capabilities and mindsets do leaders need to create a hopeful, sustainable future?
As we reflected on these conversations, a powerful meta-message emerged:Slow down. Pay attention. Take intentional steps forward.
You’ll hear our guests’ heartfelt recommendations for leaders, including:
Starting small and building momentum
Noticing where energy and possibility are emerging
Reducing distractions to focus on meaningful action
Reflecting on lessons learned before setting forward-focused intentions
Whether you’re a senior leader, coach, or change agent, this episode offers practical insights and reflective prompts to help you lead with clarity, courage, and hope.
🎧 Listen in—and if you haven’t heard the original Three-Peat episodes yet, be sure to explore them on your favorite podcast platform.

The Three-Peat: Hope-Led Leadership, Commitment & Collective Action (Part 2)

Hope-led leadership. Strategic slowness. Accountability. Collective action.What happens next when The Three-Peat conversation continues?
✨ Deeper reflection. Bolder truth-telling. Practical wisdom for leaders navigating 2026.
In Part 2 of The Three-Peat, Dr. Lindsey Godwin, Jeff McAuliffe, and Carla Ondrasik return to explore the mindsets and behaviors leaders need for sustainable, hope-led leadership in a complex world.
As the year unfolds, this powerful conversation invites leaders to slow down, pay attention, and lead with greater intention. Together, they challenge urgency culture and explore strategic slowness as a leadership practice, one that creates space for wiser decisions, stronger relationships, and long-term impact.
In this episode, we explore:
• Why strategic slowness strengthens leadership rather than weakening it• The importance of clarifying intentions at the start of a new year• How accountability turns intention into action and keeps hope moving• A surprising insight about motivation and leadership behavior• What leaders must stop doing-and start doing-in 2026
This conversation calls leaders to release habits that no longer serve and to choose practices rooted in purpose, responsibility, and hope in action.
✨ Listen in and lead differently.Because hope doesn’t rush.Leadership isn’t performative.And the future we’re creating depends on what we choose - starting now.
🎙️ Lifting Leaders Podcast | The Three-Peat-Part 2Let’s keep lighting the spark.

The Three-Peat: Hope-Led Leadership, Resilience & Courageous Action (Part 1)

Hope-led leadership. Resilience. Courageous action.What happens when three trusted leadership voices come together for the first time?
✨ A Three-Peat—and a powerful conversation to launch the new year with clarity, purpose, and hope.
In this special two-part episode of the Lifting Leaders Podcast, we welcome back three influential leaders and authors Lindsey Godwin, Jeff McAuliffe, and Carla Ondrasik, for a deep conversation about leadership in uncertain times, meaningful change, and what it takes to move from intention to action.
Together, they explore how hope functions as a leadership practice, why curiosity and possibility matter more than ever, and how leaders can break free from unsustainable norms in their organizations, communities, and lives.
In Part 1, we explore:
• Why hope is not passive, but relational and actionable• How resilience and commitment are built over time• Why leaders must create positive visions of the future• How curiosity, purpose, and courageous leadership open new paths forward
This episode is more than a reunion, it’s a call to lead with hope, act with intention, and create meaningful impact.
✨ Join us for Part 1 of The Three-Peat and begin the year with hope-led leadership and real-world action.