Mark C. Crowley is a bestselling author and leadership expert. With twenty-five years in the competitive financial services industry, he rose to national roles, earning Leader of the Year for his heart-centered approach. His book Lead from the Heart, challenges conventional management practices that undermine employee success. In Mark’s latest book, The Power of Employee Well-Being, he emphasizes that thriving teams drive organizational success. Mark’s Lead From the Heart Podcast is ranked in the top 2 percent globally, reaching 175+ countries. Mark is also a sought-after speaker, Fast Company contributor, and organizational culture consultant shaping modern workplaces.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• I love Mark’s message, that the best leaders lead from the heart. They care about people, they support people, they trust people, and they have their best interest at heart.
• I thought Mark made a really interesting point that we admire coaches who show that they love their players. But the conventional business leaders shy away from this type of heart-led leadership.
• When we think about the best leaders we know, the ones who we’ll run through a brick wall for, they’re the ones who truly love us. The best leaders lead from the heart.

Adam Wowak is a Professor of Management & Organization in the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame where he teaches strategic management to MBA and Ph.D. students.

Adam's research focuses on strategic leadership and corporate governance. His work has appeared in top-tier academic journals, including Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, and Organization Science. His research has also been profiled in media outlets such as The Atlantic, Financial Times, Forbes, NBC News, New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal, among others.

Adam received both his bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. from Penn State University.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• When Adam graduated college, he had a prestigious job as an investment banker. It paid well. It was intellectually challenging. He liked the people he was working with. But he wasn’t excited to work every day. He didn’t have autonomy. And he didn’t have creative outlets. So he thought about the tradeoffs he was making by staying. He then considered the tradeoffs he would make by leaving. By thinking about tradeoffs, Adam gained clarity on what mattered most to him. He ultimately chose to leave banking and found his way to academia, which has its own set of tradeoffs, but ones that Adam is happier with.
• As Adam tells his students, there are three types of careers people can have. One they love. One they hate. And one they’re okay with, in the murky middle. And it’s this third kind of career that people need to watch out for so that they don’t drift, and wake up 20 years later realizing they should have thought more carefully about the tradeoffs they were making.
• Remember to think about the tradeoffs we’re making, both when we stick with the status quo and when we decide to change.

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Brad Johnson is the Co-founder of Triad Partners, an organization that helps financial advisors grow their businesses. Before co-founding Triad, Brad spent 13 years at Advisors Excel as a VP of Advisor Development, coaching top financial advisors who managed over $1.5 billion in assets. Brad is also the host of the podcast, Do Business. Do Life, where he interviews thought leaders and helps financial advisors integrate their work and personal lives. Raised on a farm in Kansas, Brad’s personal interests include CrossFit, bass fishing, collecting red wine, and supporting children's charities.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• I love the Stoic lesson Brad shared about the prized cup. If we expect our prized cup to never break, we’ll be devastated when it does. But if we’ve already been through the mental exercise of the cup breaking, it can be much easier to stay calm and confident when our prized cups do break.
• Being an entrepreneur is constantly dealing with broken, prized cups.
• I loved hearing how Brad tries to apply Jocko’s advice for dealing with setbacks by responding with a simple “Good.”
• Brad’s emphasis on seeking out mindset coaching stood out. The best athletes get the most coaching. So it makes sense that we too need regular feedback and mindset coaching to reach our potential.
• By jumping into the trench himself, Brad is giving himself more opportunities to deal with broken cups. And I love his advice for how we can deal with the broken cups in our lives.

Connect on Social Media:

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Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nate.meikle