In today's episode of Real Talk: Leadership Lessons fromthe Field, I am thrilled to introduce Dr. Kristine Lombardozzi and Jaime Barajas to discuss transitioning into that first job out of college and looking ahead towards a future career.

We talked about the importance of staying open-mindedearly in your career and trying as many new things as possible. As Kristine put it, “Go all in where you are and trust that you will find the right path.”

We discussed the importance of identifying specificskills and competencies that you want to develop and seeking out opportunities expand your skill set and demonstrate a growth mindset. We also talked about takingnote of the things that you are not interested in and using those lessons to help hone your career path.

Kristine and I could both relate to Jaime’s feeling ofbeing overwhelmed with all the options ahead of him and trying to figure out the right steps. We both remember being in our first jobs and wanting to have it all figured out but reassured Jaime that he has plenty of time to discernhis future.

Many thanks to Jaime and Christine for this importantconversation!

In this episode of Real Talk: Leadership Lessons from theField, I am excited to introduce Matt Kueker, CEO of Kenway Consulting, and Apurva Bhagali, Program Manager at Microsoft.

Matt and Apurva are both immersed in the technology field in different ways, which enabled a robust conversation about the various paths that rising leaders can take in their careers. Matt and Apurva have had very different career trajectories, demonstrating how each of us can find our own way and end up exactly where we're supposed to be.

Beyond the discussion about working in the technology field,Matt and Apurva provided helpful insights into key strategies for rising leaders from any industry. They shared their approaches to networking with other leaders, their strategies for choosing how to focus their time, and the steps they take to develop themselves and others.

We also discussed the benefits of working in small andmid-size versus large enterprise organizations. Each has different advantages that rising leaders should consider when determining the type of organization that is the best fit for them.

Take a listen to hear about these topics and more, includingMatt's view on the importance of humility in leadership and Apurva’s thoughts on being authentic and on demonstrating your value.

Many thanks to Matt and Apurva for sharing these valuablelessons!

In this episode, I am thrilled to introduce Brenda Asare, President and CEO of The Alford Group and Chanita Jones, who identifies as a Teacher, Speaker, Liberator, and new Entrepreneur. They both have unique stories and career trajectories that illustrate uncommon options that rising leaders should consider when exploring their own career paths.

Brenda spent 10 years working her way up at The Alford Group before ultimately buying the company from its previous owner. She brings a unique perspective to leadership development, and we had a candid conversation around practicalities of business ownership as well as differences between leading and owning a company.

I have known Chanita as an exceptional special education leader and powerful public speaker, and I was thrilled to see her expand into owning her own business as well. She is leveraging her leadership in special education to push for changes that need to be made to best serve diverse learners.

Both Brenda and Chanita are largely driven by their passion and commitment to making a difference in the community. They also share a love of learning and a growth mindset that have served them well in their careers.

Take a listen to hear about these topics plus learning to recognize when leaders should let their teams operate without them and options for funding a company launch or purchase.

Many thanks to Brenda and Chanita for sharing so many important insights!

In this episode of real talk, I am happy to introduce ourspecial guest Kendall Mallette, who is an education leader, coach, and community leader along with my co-host Jamarius Jennings, a nonprofit professional, coach, and community leader in his own right.

Our conversation focused on the idea of leadership as aform of service. Both Kendall and Jamarius are servant leaders, and their careers have both been mission focused. As Kendall put it, she believes it is imperative to tap into your passion and your purpose to be the most effectiveleader you can be.

We also discussed the importance of understanding yourselfand the type of leader you are. Knowing yourself lets you build on passion and purpose to tap into your authenticity, which is where you can be the highest and most effective version of yourself.

Watch or listen to hear about these topics as well as Kendall'sadvice on controlling what you can and creating your own peace, and the life mantra that's Jamarius lives by that he learned from his grandmother at a youngage.

In this episode of Real Talk, I am happy to introduce Mindy Rapp, Chief Operating Officer of Standard Iron &Wire Works and Destiny Lara, a Civil Engineer at Burns and McDonnell. We had an insightful conversation about a number of topics including the importance of establishing trust, the value of feedback, and the lessons that we can learn from exposing ourselves to new challenges, like when Mindy moved to new places to learn different cultures and when Destiny elevated her work when day-to-day tasks were getting easier and she started to get comfortable.

I was especially impressed with both Mindy and Destiny’s approach to feedback. Mindy sees feedback as agift to help others grow and believes deeply in providing those growth opportunities. She talked about the importance of building trust with her team and how she is mindful about how she delivers feedback, taking time to plan for those conversations in advance. Destiny shared her initial fear of feedback when she first started her career, which so many of us feel, but she learned quickly that when her managers and coworkers were giving her feedback it showed that they wanted her to grow. As a result of that understanding, she haslearned to be vulnerable and accept feedback in the spirit in which it is intended.

Take a listen to hear about these topics as well as the importance of mentoring and advocacy, Destiny’sthoughts on how to approach work in her twenties, and Mindy’s mantra, “There is more to life than…”.

Many thanks to Mindy and Destiny for their thoughtful input.

In today’s episode of Real Talk, I am thrilled to welcometwo longtime friends, Maureen Mohlenkamp, VP, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer & Chief Human Rights Officer for DXC Technology and Silvia Gonzalez, Human Resource Business Partner at PepsiCo.

Maureen and Sylvia are both driven by a baseline desireto help others. A few key takeaways from our conversation:

Both Maureen and Silvia believe an important part ofleadership is to develop others. We had a rich conversation about their approaches to helping others grow, including strategies for adopting a continuous improvement mindset and remaining adaptable.

We discussed fear and failure and how to channel both tocreate opportunities to develop ourselves. That can be easier said than done, which is where mindset comes into play yet again.

We also had a robust conversation about balancing workand family. As a newlywed(!), Silvia asked about this, and Maureen and I shared our strategies for integrating parenting and high-demand jobs.

Take a listen to hear about these topics and more, including how Silvia thinks managers should connect with employees and how Maureen and I both managed to coach our kids sports teams at busy points in our careers.

In this episode of Real Talk, I am excited to introduce Chuck Zich, owner of Tera Logistics and Ashley Plump, healthcare professional and licensed realtor.

I wanted to have Chuck and Ashley on the show for tworeasons. They have both been on unique career paths that I thought others would be interested in learning about, and they both exemplify a hustle mentality.

Chuck grew up working in his father's manufacturing business, eventually becoming CEO, and then he pivoted to purchasing his own logistics company and challenging himself in new ways.

Ashley has leveraged her skills and demeanor to findsuccess both as a healthcare professional and as a realtor. The connections between those roles might not be obvious on the surface, and she shared how she saw the link between them and created her own opportunity.

I was excited to pair Chuck and Ashley for this conversation. Take a listen to learn about how they have each made their way and to hear their advice to others looking to create their own path.

In this episode of Real Talk, I am pleased to introduce my Co-host DeJah Broaster, a public health advocate, and Dr. Caprice Greenberg, Chair of Surgery for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Co-Founder ofthe Academy for Surgical Coaching.

It was fascinating to hear how Caprice has approached hercareer development and how DeJah is setting out on her career path. A few keytakeaways:

· Caprice shares her unique journey to her currentrole as Chair of Surgery. While she worked for prestigious organizations as onemight expect, her path included time off from surgery to focus on research, and outside efforts to launch the Academy for Surgical Coaching, a nonprofit she cofounded to help support surgeon development and effect patient care. Herstory is an excellent reminder that not all paths are linear.

· DeJah discusses how she became Interested inpublic health through her own life experience of witnessing the disparities between those who have access to quality healthcare and those who lack access to healthresources, depending on the neighborhood. DeJah shares how she witnessed communities that are considered food deserts that also have overgrown lots that could become community gardens, and how she wants to be part of creating safe and fruitful places. DeJah’s passion was on full display when discussing this topic, driving home the importance of value fit in choosing a career path.

· When sharing their ideas of leadership, both Caprice and DeJah talk about the importance of building great teams. Caprice and DeJah discuss the importance of mentorship in career development, with Caprice emphasizing the need to find a team of mentors in order to learn different things from different people.

· When I asked them what they want their leadership legacies to be, Caprice shared her hope that she can help change theway surgeons think about learning and continuous quality improvement that affects patient care, and DeJah talked about striving to be a person that others could turn to for learning and mentoring once she is established in hercareer.

My sincere thanks to DeJah and Caprice for sharing theirtime and insights. Listen to the episode to hear about the topics above plus how Caprice leverages Ted Lasso (hint- it involves a goldfish) and how DeJah addresses overthinking and the fear of failure.