In this episode, Jenni talks with leadership development specialist and author Adam Tarnow about why middle management feels like an impossible role, and why it may actually be the most important one in an organization. They unpack the tension of carrying responsibility without full control, and Adam shares a practical framework for navigating the stress of leadership without burning out. In this episode, Adam explains why the middle is where execution happens, why so many managers feel stuck in a “valley,” and how leaders can regain a sense of agency by focusing on what they can control. He also offe...

In this episode, Jenni Catron and her 11-year-old nephew River explore the fundamentals of team culture through engaging stories and insights. River shares his unique perspective on support, communication, focus, and the impact of individual roles in shaping a positive culture.

Takeaways:

Support is the most important aspect of culture.Effective communication is crucial for team success.Focus and commitment drive team performance.Everyone has a role in shaping culture, regardless of age.Positive culture can be maintained or ruined by individual actions.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to the episode...

In this episode of Lead Culture, Jenni Catron shares what she learned during an extended summer break and why stepping back can be essential for sustainable leadership. She reflects on the tension between doing and being, the challenge of slowing down, and how time away revealed deeper questions about purpose, significance, and identity.Jenni opens with a reminder that culture does not take care of itself and that leaders must lead with intention. She then shares how her sabbatical included time with friends and family, reading, rest, and intentional disconnection from social media, email, and Slack. Even though the...

As the 4Sight Group celebrates its 10th anniversary and Jenni Catron marks a personal milestone year, she shares why she is stepping away for a four-week sabbatical for the first time in her career.

In this honest conversation, Jenni reflects on nearly three decades of nonstop work, the lessons she has learned about burnout, and the importance of creating margin before exhaustion forces it. She discusses what led her to make this decision, what she hopes to gain from the experience, and how intentional rest can help leaders gain perspective, renew their energy, and lead well for...

In this episode, Jenni sits down with Dr. William Attaway, CEO of Appreciation at Work, for a conversation about what it really means to help people feel seen, known, and valued at work.

Drawing from decades of leadership coaching and his work with organizations across a wide range of industries, William shares why appreciation is different from recognition—and why that distinction matters more than most leaders realize. Together, Jenni and William explore how appreciation impacts employee engagement, retention, productivity, and trust, while offering practical ways leaders can build cultures where people thrive.

You'll hear in...

What happens to workplace culture during the summer? 

In this episode, Jenni Catron explores how leaders can work with the rhythms of summer instead of fighting against them. 

Learn practical ways to improve employee engagement, prevent team disengagement, and strengthen organizational culture through intentional leadership. 

Jenni shares five simple but powerful strategies including flexible schedules, smarter meetings, summer team activities, and prioritizing high-impact work that can help leaders boost morale and maintain momentum during the busiest vacation season of the year.

Download the Summer Engagement Conversation Guide

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What does it actually take to build a remarkable team?

In this episode, Jenni Catron talks with Slingshot Group CEO Tim Foot about the patterns they’ve both seen across hundreds of teams including what works, what doesn’t, and where things tend to break down.

Tim shares the seven key signatures of remarkable teams, along with the common traps that quietly stall progress. From misalignment and unclear messaging to avoiding healthy conflict, this conversation helps you see where your team may be getting stuck and what to do about it.

At the cent...

What if the biggest problem in your organization isn’t strategy—but culture?

In this episode, leadership and culture expert Jenni Catron unpacks a shocking reality: only 31% of U.S. employees are engaged at work—and most leaders don’t know how to fix it. 

You’ll discover why traditional “core values” exercises fail, how culture is actually formed, and the powerful (often overlooked) role language plays in shaping team behavior. Through a fascinating example from The Masters golf tournament, Jenni reveals how intentional language reflects deeper values—and how you can apply the sam...

What if the biggest barrier to your leadership isn’t what you see, but what you hide?

In this episode, Jenni Catron sits down with leadership mentor Tyler Dickerhoof to unpack a reality every leader faces: unresolved fears and insecurities don’t disappear—they show up in how we lead.

Through honest storytelling and hard-earned insight, Tyler shares how these hidden patterns often surface as intensity, isolation, inactivity, or insensitivity—behaviors that quietly undermine trust, relationships, and culture.

This isn’t just a conversation about awareness. It’s about ownership.

Jenni and Tyler ch...

If you’ve ever wondered “How can I influence company culture if I’m not in senior leadership?”—this episode is for you.

In this episode of the Lead Culture Podcast, Jenni Catron breaks down one of the most common leadership challenges: how to improve team culture from any role, not just the top. Whether you’re a mid-level manager, emerging leader, or executive trying to activate your team, you’ll learn practical, proven ways to shape a healthy, high-performing workplace culture.

Jenni shares 5 essential leadership behaviors that drive culture, including how to:

 Influence c...

What does it really take to build a culture people want to be part of? In this conversation, Jenni Catron sits down with Heather Broeder, Executive VP at Refined Technologies, to explore how intentional culture-building drives healthier leaders, stronger teams, and better business outcomes. Heather shares how her company has made culture a true differentiator through leader development, shared language, meaningful recognition, second-chance hiring, and a deep commitment to purpose. This episode is full of practical wisdom for leaders who want to move culture from a nice idea to a daily reality.

Don't miss...

In this episode of the Lead Culture Podcast, Jenni Catron sits down with renowned leadership expert and bestselling author Patrick Lencioni to explore his groundbreaking framework, The Six Types of Working Genius.

Lencioni—best known for The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and his work on organizational health—shares how the Working Genius model helps leaders and teams understand the kinds of work that energize them and the tasks that drain them. When teams gain a shared language for how people are wired to contribute, collaboration improves, frustration decreases, and culture becomes healthier.

In this special anniversary episode of the Lead Culture Podcast, Jenni Catron celebrates one year of Culture Matters, her USA Today bestselling book on building healthy organizational culture. If you’re a leader looking for practical tools to strengthen your team culture, improve workplace alignment, and create a clear culture strategy, this episode is for you.

Jenni revisits the core principles of the Lead Culture Framework—a five-phase leadership framework designed to help leaders assess their current culture, define their desired culture, build a strategic culture plan, equip their teams, and commit to ongoing culture development. Leaders acro...

AI isn’t just a tech conversation—it’s a leadership conversation.

In this episode, Jenni welcomes AI strategist Jackie Celske for a timely discussion on leading with wisdom, clarity, and conviction in a rapidly evolving digital world. As AI moves from novelty to necessity, leaders are faced with real questions: How do we reduce fear? How do we protect our culture? How do we ensure innovation makes us more human—not less?

Jackie shares practical insights on AI training, governance, team readiness, and the widening talent gap—along with a powerful reminder that empathy, discernmen...

Culture doesn’t break down because leaders lack effort or good intentions—it breaks down when there’s a gap between how leaders show up and how teams experience that leadership.

In this episode, Jenni Catron builds on last week’s conversation about the Clarity Cascade—mission, vision, strategy, and structure—and takes it one level deeper. The focus shifts from who is on the team to how well leaders are equipping people to fully engage once clarity is in place.

Jenni unpacks why self-awareness is one of the strongest predictors of leadership success and how emotiona...

You’ve done the work.
You cast the vision.
You built the strategy.

So why does execution still feel slow, stalled, or stuck?

In this episode of the Lead Culture Podcast, Jenni Catron unpacks a challenge leaders face every year—especially as they move from strategic planning into real-world execution. Teams aren’t failing because they don’t care. They’re struggling because clarity is breaking down in the system.

Jenni introduces a powerful framework she calls The Clarity Cascade, showing how results depend on more than...

What if building a great culture isn’t about perks, personalities, or one big initiative—but about the small, intentional choices leaders make every single day?

In this episode of the LeadCulture Podcast, Jenni Catron sits down with Anthony Lambatos, President of Footers Catering & Events and founder of MIBE (Make It Better Every Day), to unpack what it really takes to create a workplace where people thrive—and why culture must be treated as a daily discipline, not a one-time project.

Anthony shares the behind-the-scenes story of transforming Footers from a high-stress, old-school hospitality environment into o...

Trust is at the center of everything leaders want—but in today’s skeptical, information-saturated world, trust is harder to earn than ever.

In this episode of the LeadCulture Podcast, Jenni Catron sits down with financial coach, business owner, and speaker MJ Pittman for a timely conversation on what he calls the trust recession—and why it places an even greater responsibility on leaders. Together, they unpack why likability isn’t the same as trust, how predictability creates psychological safety, and what leaders often overlook when they assume trust should already exist.

MJ brings a fresh le...

In this episode, Jenni Catron explores five leadership and culture trends shaping 2026 and what they mean for leaders in organizations of every size. She begins with a conviction that development is now a non-negotiable—for employers investing in their people as a core retention strategy and for employees staying competitive in a rapidly evolving workplace. Jenni also addresses the growing need for human-AI synergy, helping leaders discern where AI can accelerate results and where cultures must double down on the uniquely human elements of work.

From shifting dynamics in the job market to the competitive advantage of he...

We’ve gathered some of the best moments from our live LeadCulture Network trainings and compiled them into this episode—giving you an exclusive look at what it means to lead with clarity, build unstoppable teams, and create a culture that thrives.

In this episode, you’ll hear highlights from sessions that tackle the real challenges leaders face every day:

Clarity vs. Confusion: How small gaps in role definition, priorities, or expectations quietly erode culture—and what you can do to stop it.The Unseen Work of Culture: Why building high-per...

In this week’s episode of the Lead Culture Podcast, Jenni sits down with Peter Ostapko—founder of Kinsman and publisher of Kinsman Journal—to explore the unexpected paths that shape our leadership journeys. Peter shares the formative moments that sparked his vision, from an early encounter with leadership thought-leader Tim Elmore to a decade spent “successfully drowning” in work that looked great on paper but left him searching for meaning.

Together, Jenni and Peter unpack the tension leaders feel when they know they’re capable, but not yet aligned with their calling. They talk honestly about comparison...

In this episode of the LeadCulture Podcast, Jenni Catron explores the importance of starting where you are in building a thriving organizational culture. She emphasizes that leadership and culture are not “back burner” priorities—they directly impact engagement, productivity, and mission achievement. Jenni shares her guiding principle: simple and consistent—small, steady actions over time create lasting culture and leadership growth.

She breaks down her definition of culture—clarity of who we are and how we work together to achieve our mission—and explains why clarity is the foundation of a healthy culture. Jenni highlights that people, not just goa...

On this episode of the Lead Culture Podcast, Jenni Catron uncovers a critical mistake many organizations make: promoting top performers into management roles without preparing them for leadership. What seems like a reward can actually set both the employee and their team up for unnecessary struggle—and costly consequences.

Jenni walks through:

The mindset shift from doer to leader: Why effective managers lead through others rather than just completing tasks themselves.Why not everyone should be promoted into people management: Sometimes the greatest impact comes from leveraging an employee’s stre...

In this episode of the Lead Culture Podcast, Jenni Catron sits down with Randy Cochran, Senior Executive Pastor of Central Pastoral Development and Worship at Victory Church in Atlanta. Randy shares how his team has intentionally assessed and strengthened their organizational culture, especially during leadership transitions and in a multi-cultural, multi-site church environment with over 200 staff members and 140 nations represented.

They dive into the power of taking a hard look at your culture, the importance of building cross-functional culture teams, and the lessons learned from assessing staff experiences. Randy candidly discusses the surprises and insights from their...

In this episode of the LeadCulture Podcast, Jenni Catron unpacks a surprising new Gallup study revealing what she calls “the remote work paradox.” While fully remote employees report the highest levels of engagement, they’re also less likely to be thriving in life overall—experiencing more stress, loneliness, and emotional fatigue than their hybrid or in-office peers.

Drawing from her own work-from-home reflections and years of coaching leaders, Jenni explores the delicate balance between autonomy and connection in today’s hybrid workplaces. She highlights three key leadership takeaways from Gallup’s findings:

Physical distance cre...