What if leadership wasn’t just about performance, but about how you show up in your hardest moments?

In this inspiring episode of The Kind Leader Podcast, host Gino Degregori speaks with Lani Phillips, founder of Full Circle Leadership Group and former Vice President at Microsoft, where she spent over 25 years leading global teams, partner ecosystems, and cultural transformation initiatives.

Lani shares why courageous leadership is not about perfection, it’s about clarity, compassion, and the willingness to grow. Drawing from her Full Circle Leadership Framework, she reveals six domains every leader must practice: self-awareness, visionary leadership, connection, role modeling, accountability, and cultivating talent.

She also opens up about her personal journey of resilience, navigating both corporate transitions and major life challenges, and how those experiences shaped her passion for coaching the next generation of leaders.

💡 In this conversation, you’ll discover how to:

• Balance driving results with putting people at the center

• Use clarity, connection, and cultivation to strengthen team trust and loyalty

• Lead with resilience during times of uncertainty and change

• Recognize judgment as a hidden “cancer” in organizations and replace it with growth-focused support

• Redefine kind leadership as strength rooted in empathy and accountability

If you’ve ever questioned how to bring more humanity into leadership without sacrificing results, this episode will give you both the inspiration and the framework to start.

🎧 Listen now and learn how to lead with courage, clarity, and compassion, while building cultures where people and performance thrive.

Key Takeaways

✨ Actionable Steps

• Implement the Three C’s daily: Practice clarity in expectations, connection through authentic conversations, and cultivation by pairing team members’ strengths with growth opportunities.

• Replace judgment with curiosity: When team members struggle, ask “What support do they need?” instead of “Why aren’t they performing?”, shifting from blame to empowerment.

💡 Conceptual Insights

• Redefine kind leadership: Leading with empathy and accountability together creates strength, not weakness, it’s about having both heart and backbone.

• Compassion = Empathy + Action: True compassion means understanding emotional states and taking tangible steps to support success.

🚀 Strategic Applications

• Create operating systems, not just processes: Build comprehensive leadership frameworks that weave together all six domains (self-awareness, vision, connection, role modeling, accountability, and talent cultivation) instead of treating them as isolated tactics.

Important Links & Resources

🔗 Connect with Lani Phillips
Website: fullcircleleadershipgroup.com
LinkedIn: Lani Phillips

📖 Recommended Reading
Dare to Lead - Brené Brown. A guide to leading with courage and vulnerability while building trust and resilience in teams.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction & Welcome to Kind Leadership
02:51 Rediscovering Yourself Beyond Success
03:16 Emotional Honesty as a Leadership Strength
03:18 The Journey Toward Courageous Leadership
06:49 What It Really Means to Lead with Kindness
11:34 Why Investing in People Always Pays Off
18:00 Rebuilding Identity After Personal Loss
23:38 Resilience and Growth Through Adversity
28:01 Building Authentic Connections with Your Team
30:59 How Judgment Undermines Leadership
31:27 The Full Circle Leadership Framework Explained
37:24 Developing the Next Generation of Leaders
41:18 Common Misconceptions About Kind Leadership
44:02 Practicing Empathy and Compassion in Action

What if the foundation of strong leadership isn’t authority, but humility?

In this inspiring episode of The Kind Leader Podcast, host Gino Degregori speaks with Jim Matuga, founder of InnerAction Media, host of Positively West Virginia, and author of Humble Influence. With over 35 years of experience in marketing, media, and leadership development, Jim shares why true influence starts with service, followership, and the courage to stand strong for your people.

From building a purpose-driven agency in West Virginia to mentoring the next generation of leaders, Jim reflects on the lessons of humility, loyalty, and trust that shaped his journey. He explains why kind leadership is not weakness, how followership equips us to become better leaders, and why every act of service creates a ripple effect that can influence generations.

💡 In this conversation, you’ll discover how to:

• Redefine kind leadership as strength rooted in empathy and conviction

• Embrace followership as the essential training ground for great leadership

• Stand up for your team while maintaining humility and respect

• Shift from “hiring” to “selecting” the right people who align with your values

• Build organizational culture on hospitality, integrity, and purpose-driven storytelling

If you’ve ever wondered how humility and service can unlock influence, this episode will show you how to lead with impact by first learning how to follow.

🎧 Listen now and explore how humble influence can transform your leadership and legacy.

Key Takeaways

✨ Actionable Steps

• Shift from “hiring” to “selecting”: Choose people who align with your culture and values, not just those who fill roles.

• Practice defending your team publicly: Stand up for your people when they’re unfairly criticized, while maintaining professional respect.

• Focus customer messaging on the customer as hero: Make your clients the centerpiece of your storytelling by addressing their real challenges.

💡 Conceptual Insights

• Humble influence redefines strength: True leadership power comes from empathy, curiosity, and service, not command-and-control.

• Followership as leadership foundation: Learning how to follow effectively equips leaders with humility, perspective, and authenticity.

🚀 Strategic Applications

• Build a culture of leadership development: Invest in teaching followership skills to create a pipeline of future leaders.

• Establish core values beyond profit: Anchor culture in principles like hospitality, integrity, and service to others.

Important Links & Resources

🔗 Connect with Jim Matuga
Website: inneractionmedia.com
Podcast: Positively West Virginia

📖 Book – Humble Influence
Discover how service and followership create lasting leadership impact.

📚 Recommended Reading

• The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership — John C. Maxwell. Timeless principles that demonstrate how influence, character, and consistency build lasting leaders.

Chapters

00:00 Welcome & Introduction to Kind Leadership
03:54 The Essence of Humility in Leadership
08:49 Redefining What It Means to Lead with Kindness
12:38 Why Followership Builds Stronger Leaders
17:52 Mentorship Lessons & Team Dynamics
22:33 Messaging with Purpose: Storytelling that Connects
28:10 Writing Humble Influence and Its Core Message
37:27 Flip the Mic: A Kind Follower’s Perspective
42:01 Rapid Fire Insights & Closing Thoughts

What if the gap between your potential and your results had nothing to do with talent—and everything to do with your subconscious mind?

In this eye-opening episode of The Kind Leader Podcast, host Gino Degregori speaks with Manny Fiteni, CEO of My Growth Corporation, leadership coach, entrepreneur, and author of The Mind Congruency Effect. Manny has built an ecosystem of brands focused on human potential, including Mind Growth 360 and Creators Agency, all centered around one mission: helping leaders reprogram their subconscious patterns to unlock high performance.

Manny shares how childhood conditioning, subconscious “autopilot,” and inherited beliefs silently shape our leadership. He explains why self-awareness is the first step to transformation, how to retrain the subconscious through repetition and visualization, and how leaders can use storytelling to bypass resistance and inspire real change.

💡 In this conversation, you’ll discover how to:

• Recognize how your subconscious programming drives behavior and results

• Use repetition, visualization, and guided practices to reprogram limiting patterns

• Harness stories as a powerful tool to influence and inspire your teams

• Build environments of trust, safety, and accountability where people can thrive

• Balance firm decision-making with genuine empathy to create high-performing teams

If you’ve ever felt stuck repeating the same patterns—or wondered why talent alone isn’t enough, this episode will show you how congruency between the conscious and subconscious mind can transform both leadership and life.

🎧 Listen now and learn how to stop self-sabotaging and start scaling consciously.

Five Key Takeaways

✨ Actionable Steps

• Practice self-awareness daily: Catch yourself using automatic language or behaviors, then consciously replace them with better alternatives through repetition.

• Use storytelling over commands: Swap direct orders for meaningful stories that let your team’s subconscious absorb the deeper message and motivation.

• Create psychological safety: Reflect on your own experiences as a junior employee and intentionally foster an environment where people feel supported and valued.

💡 Conceptual Insights

• The conscious–subconscious leadership gap: Many leadership failures happen when conscious goals clash with subconscious programming, creating resistance and self-sabotage.

• The autopilot principle: Leaders and teams often run on patterns set early in life, lasting change requires deliberately resetting these unconscious programs.

Important Links & Resources

🔗 Connect with Manny Fiteni
Website: mygrowthcorporation.com

📖 Book – The Mind Congruency Effect
Learn how to align your conscious and subconscious mind to unlock sustainable growth.

📚 Recommended Reading
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. A timeless classic on mindset, belief, and creating success through intention and persistence.

Chapters

00:00 Welcome & Introduction to Mind Congruency
03:05 Manny’s Journey: From Finance to Kind Leadership
05:40 What It Really Means to Be a Kind Leader
08:47 Breaking Down the Mind Congruency Effect
11:43 How to Reprogram the Subconscious Mind
14:45 Why Storytelling Beats Commands in Leadership
17:37 Self-Awareness, Inner Dialogue & Positive Thinking
20:38 Practical Techniques to Reset Subconscious Patterns
23:46 Building a Supportive, Trust-Based Team Environment
26:45 Emotional Content as a Driver of Leadership Influence
29:31 Exploring Different Leadership Styles in Action
32:45 The Importance of Backing Your Team Through Challenges
35:33 Flip the Mic: Gino Reflects on Key Leadership Lessons
38:22 Final Takeaways & How to Connect with Manny

What happens when artificial intelligence begins to automate not just tasks, but human interactions?

In this thought-provoking episode of The Kind Leader Podcast, host Gino Degregori sits down with Peter Swimm, 25-year tech veteran, founder of Toilville, and pioneer in conversational AI and Microsoft Copilot development. Peter has spent his career at the intersection of automation and humanity, building inclusive communities while asking hard questions about ethics, culture, and the future of leadership.

From startups to enterprise AI rollouts, Peter shares stories of how technology exposes company blind spots, reshapes employee experiences, and amplifies both risks and opportunities. He explains why leaders must fight to embed empathy, culture, and ethics into their AI strategies, and why some human skills will never be replaceable.

💡 In this conversation, you’ll discover how to:

• Use AI as a force multiplier without losing the human touch

• Recognize the blind spots automation can create in customer and employee experiences

• Integrate culture and values into AI tools like Microsoft Copilot

• Preserve empathy and accountability in an age of automation

• Reimagine leadership as a balance between innovation, ethics, and kindness

If you’ve ever wondered how to embrace AI without sacrificing humanity, this episode will challenge your thinking and expand your perspective on leadership in the digital age.

🎧 Listen now and explore how to lead with both intelligence and integrity in a world shaped by AI.

Five Key Takeaways

✨ Actionable Steps

• Implement AI auditing systems: Build analytics tools to monitor interactions and catch blind spots or bias before they escalate.

• Use AI as a concierge, not a replacement: Leverage tools like Copilot to filter information, prioritize requests, and automate routine tasks, while keeping humans in charge of complex decisions.

💡 Conceptual Insights

• AI exposes company culture: Automated systems reveal organizational biases and blind spots that leaders must confront proactively.

• Maintain human accountability: Never allow AI to make critical decisions that impact people’s lives without human oversight and responsibility.

🚀 Strategic Applications

• Focus on human–AI collaboration: Train systems to amplify human strengths rather than replace them, embedding company culture and values while preserving empathy, intuition, and creative problem-solving.

Important Links & Resources

🔗 Connect with Peter Swimm
Website: https://peterswimm.com/
LinkedIn: Peter Swimm

📚 Recommended Reading

• The AI Con by ex-Google DeepMind researchers and linguist Emily Bender. A critical look at separating hype from reality in AI, exploring both risks and opportunities.

What if high performance without intention is actually a recipe for burnout?

In this powerful episode of The Kind Leader Podcast, host Gino Degregori sits down with Whitney Faires, internationally recognized executive coach, keynote speaker, and founder of Whitney Faires Coaching, Speaking & Development. With over two decades of corporate leadership experience, Whitney has helped hundreds of leaders transform from underestimated to unstoppable through her signature framework, The Excellence Equation.

Whitney shares how self-awareness, belief, and intentional action can help leaders achieve big goals without losing themselves in the process. From guiding organizations through culture shifts to coaching individuals ready to leap into their next chapter, she reveals practical tools to move from ideation to execution with clarity and confidence.

💡 In this conversation, you’ll discover how to:

• Anchor your goals in a deep “why” that keeps you motivated when challenges arise
• Build readiness by identifying your strengths, gaps, and mindsets that fuel or derail progress
• Turn adversity into growth by reframing setbacks as opportunities to get stronger
• Engage the right people, mentors, energizers, and accountability partners, on your journey
• Believe in yourself enough to bet big on your own potential

If you’re chasing a bold vision, or helping others do the same, this episode will equip you with strategies to dream the dream, build the plan, and bet on yourself.

🎧 Listen now and learn how to pursue high performance without burning out in the process.

Key Takeaways

✨ Actionable Steps

• Identify your anchor: Clarify the deep “why” behind your goals so you stay motivated when challenges hit.

• Engage your people: Build a circle of accountability partners, energizers, mentors, and sounding boards to keep you moving forward.

• Flip the performance switch: Define how you get into your “zone” and learn to activate it intentionally when it matters most.

💡 Conceptual Insights

• High performance without intention = burnout: True success requires balancing ambition with self-awareness, belief, and purpose.

• Resilience is a mindset and a process: Adversity isn’t just an obstacle—it’s a teacher that shapes stronger, more versatile leaders.

🚀 Strategic Applications

• Move from ideation to execution with structure: Use a framework like The Excellence Equation to break big visions into clear, actionable steps.

• Bet on yourself: Progress accelerates when you choose to go all in—declaring your goals and backing them with intentional action.

Important Links & Resources

🔗 Connect with Whitney Faires
Website: whitneyfaires.com
LinkedIn: Whitney Faires
Instagram: @whitney_faires

Recommended Reading

📚 The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni — A classic leadership fable that reveals the root causes of team dysfunction and offers practical strategies to build trust, foster accountability, and achieve collective results.

What if the real edge in leadership isn’t strategy, but consciousness?

In this transformative episode of The Kind Leader Podcast, host Gino Degregori sits down with Charley Johnson, the world’s first Chief Consciousness Officer, former president of the Pay It Forward Foundation, and author of Truth Has No Sides. Charley is pioneering the integration of business, humanity, and higher awareness, helping leaders not just perform better, but become more whole, connected, and clear.

From his early years running a company at 20, to leading a global movement with Pay It Forward, to now training Chief Consciousness Officers, Charley’s journey is proof that neutrality, clarity, and consciousness are the next superpowers in leadership. He explains why businesses need this role in the C-suite, how neutrality expands awareness and innovation, and why clarity is the key to dissolving division and unlocking creativity.

💡 In this conversation, you’ll discover how to:

• Expand leadership beyond reaction into presence, clarity, and connection

• Understand neutrality as the “next superpower” in business and society

• Integrate consciousness into organizations to reduce conflict and burnout

• Strengthen intuition by bringing more clarity into decision-making

• Reimagine leadership roles for a world that’s increasingly divided

If you’ve ever wondered how to bridge profit with purpose, or how to bring more humanity and higher awareness into your leadership—this episode will expand your perspective in ways you didn’t expect.

🎧 Listen now and explore how conscious leadership can reshape the future of business and humanity.

Key Takeaways

✨ Actionable Steps

• Start meetings with presence: Open team discussions with 4–5 minutes of guided meditation or centering practices to align energy and focus.

• Practice neutrality in conflicts: Instead of choosing sides, step back and recognize the “coin” behind the “heads and tails” to see the whole picture.

• Expand awareness daily: Ask questions like “What am I not seeing?” or “What questions aren’t being asked?” to uncover broader solutions.

💡 Conceptual Insights

• Consciousness + Strategy, not either/or: Purpose and profit are not opposites, the most effective leaders integrate both for lasting impact.

• Clarity as a competitive edge: In a divided world, the ability to see without bias or conditioning becomes a superpower that dissolves conflict and reveals new opportunities.

🚀 Strategic Applications

• Create a Chief Consciousness Officer role: A full-time C-suite position to expand organizational awareness, strengthen innovation, and reduce conflict and burnout.

• Address root causes, not symptoms: Recognize that stress, burnout, and division are outcomes of limited awareness, shift focus to practices that expand consciousness across the organization.

Important Links & Resources

🔗 Connect with Charley Johnson
Find him on LinkedIn

📖 Book – Truth Has No Sides
By Charley Johnson – a reflection on personal and collective expansion.

📚 Recommended Reading
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda