Every entrepreneur knows the cost of team drama, but few realize how much they’re unconsciously feeding it. In this conversation, Shannon Waller explains how to move from victim-based reactions to an empowerment mindset, using simple coaching questions that turn conflict into progress and leave your team more capable after every challenge.

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Show Notes:

• The classic Drama Triangle shows up anytime people fall into the roles of victim, persecutor, and rescuer in their relationships and workplaces.
• Entrepreneurs are especially vulnerable to the rescuer role because they see people struggling and want to jump in and fix things.
• Rescuing feels helpful in the moment but quietly reinforces victimhood and keeps team members dependent on your time, energy, and problem solving.
• The Empowerment Dynamic replaces victim, persecutor, and rescuer with creator, challenger, and coach so everyone gains more agency and responsibility.
• Seeing yourself as a creator means owning your part in any situation and focusing on the outcome you want instead of the problem you’re facing.
• Framing people or circumstances as challengers turns “persecution” into a stretch opportunity that provokes learning, growth, and better thinking.
• Showing up as a coach means asking provocative questions and offering support instead of taking over and doing the work for someone else.
• The core messages of the empowerment roles are “I can do it,” “You can do it,” and “How will you do it?”, which keep power and action with the individual or team.
• Great entrepreneurial coaching is “bossy with love”: direct, future-focused, and challenging, but delivered with genuine care and confidence in the other person.
• Language is a useful early-warning system; victim, persecutor, and rescuer thinking all show up first in how people describe what is happening.
• When someone puts all the authority outside themselves, you have an opening to coach them back into ownership.
• Asking “What would you be willing to do differently next time?” shifts people out of blame and into practical, self-chosen next actions.
• Your real job as a leader is not to solve every problem but to help other people take effective action toward the bigger future you’re building together.
• Taking responsibility does not mean being perfect; it means being able to respond, own your contribution, and commit to a better approach next time.
• Most people are quick to extend grace once someone has fully owned their part in a breakdown and clearly stated what they will do differently.
• Coaching yourself first—especially where you feel like a victim or persecutor—makes your leadership more authentic and significantly reduces drama in your company.
• Asking for help is not weakness; it’s a courageous form of self-coaching that brings in the right “Who” before small issues become full-blown drama.
• ​Moving from the Drama Triangle to The Empowerment Dynamic creates a culture where people expect challenges, learn quickly, and solve problems together.
• An empowered team that sees itself as creative, challenged, and coachable will occasionally fail but can rapidly diagnose what happened and come back stronger.

Resources:

The Karpman Drama Triangle

The Power of TED by David Emerald

Kolbe A™ Index

Shifting From Victim To Creator with The Power of TED Author David Emerald

Are you treating your team like a line item—or like your greatest multiplier? In this episode, Shannon Waller shares why a small, smart investment in your team’s self-awareness and capabilities can pay off in better decisions, less drama, and a lot more freedom for you as the entrepreneur.

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Show Notes:

• Investing in your team’s growth is one of the simplest ways to hit bigger goals without working harder yourself.
• Profiles like Kolbe and Working Genius® give team members self-knowledge that leads to greater confidence, mutual understanding, and improved communication.
• When people feel like an investment instead of a cost, they naturally bring more creativity, commitment, and initiative to the business.
• Entrepreneurs who invest in their team create multipliers who run with ideas instead of dependents who wait to be told what to do.
• The right kind of training gives you clear thinkers, confident decision makers, and proactive problem solvers instead of order takers.
• Knowing your team’s strengths and striving instincts makes leadership feel lighter and more natural because you stop trying to force people into the wrong roles.
• Role alignment protects you from one of the most expensive entrepreneurial mistakes: smart people stuck in the wrong seats.
• When team members spend most of their time in their Unique Ability®, your culture gets more energized, collaborative, and attractive to top talent.
• Focusing on strengths instead of fixing weaknesses speeds up progress and keeps your best people excited about growing with you.
• Using profiles strategically shows you exactly where you need complementary capabilities instead of pushing yourself to be good at everything.
• When people are self-aware, they move through tough moments with less drama and more clarity, so the team can stay focused on results.
• Developing “leaderful” team members means people at every level provide direction in their area of expertise instead of waiting for permission.
• Treating people as entrepreneurial partners rather than employees shifts them into owner-like thinking about results and client impact.
• A well-developed team is a safer and more predictable investment than a marketing campaign because you can see the behavior and results up close.
• Capability-building gives you back time as team members take on complex, draining tasks and solve problems without escalating everything to you.
• Networked, interdependent teams allow capable people to act autonomously within clear roles.
• Investing in your team is one of the most powerful retention strategies because people stay where they feel seen, valued, and developed.
• Even simple, low-cost assessments can quickly pay for themselves in better decisions, saved time, and fresh opportunities.
• You don’t need to implement every profile or tool at once; pacing your investments keeps the focus on doing great work, not constant workshops.
• Bringing in experts to deliver assessments and coaching lets you upgrade your team quickly and efficiently without derailing daily operations.
• Building a Self-Managing Company® requires self-managing, self-aware people who are well-trained, trusted, and energized by the roles they play.​

Resources:

Kolbe A™ Index

Working Genius®

CliftonStrengths®

DiSC® Profile

PRINT®

The Predictive Index

Unique Ability®

The Team Success Handbook by Shannon Waller

The Self-Managing Company by Dan Sullivan