Trench Leadership: A Podcast From the Front
Are you tired of surface-level leadership podcast that offer quick platitudes but lack the substance and depth to solve the bigger challenges?
If so, welcome to Trench Leadership: A Podcast From the Front, where we offer battle-tested strategies that are used in the front lines of leadership RIGHT NOW.
Hosted by Simon Kardynal, a 29-year Canadian Armed Forces veteran and Chief Warrant Officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force, this internationally acclaimed podcast delivers the raw, real-world insights leaders need to thrive on the leadership battlefield.
With 169 episodes, Trench Leadership bridges the gap between leadership development theory and the reality of employing tactics 'in the field'. Simon brings his Master of Arts in Leadership and decades of military experience to deep-dive conversations with global experts across leadership, well-being, and professional development.
Our guests don't just share success stories; they pull back the curtain on their surprising wins, their most epic mistakes, and the agonizing moments of self-doubt they had to overcome to keep going.
Every episode of Trench Leadership empowers leaders with strategic, actionable, battle-tested 'Trench Tools', that enrich your leadership toolkits to strengthen yourself, your team, and your organization.
Join the Trench Leadership community and connect with other listeners who are choosing to do more than just survive the battle, they are choosing to win the war.
Whether you are a seasoned executive or an emerging manager, Trench Leadership provides the insights you need to stay in the fight and come out ahead.
Trench Leadership: A Podcast From the Front
The Leadership Lightning Round – From Bud to Boss featuring Kevin Eikenberry
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Welcome to Episode 111!!
In this episode, you’ll hear from Kevin Eikenberry, Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group and host of The Remarkable Leadership Podcast. Kevin will offer advice and inspiration for front-line leaders to be their most remarkable selves during the transition from Bud to Boss.
But first, let's dive into The Leadership Liightning round! These five quick questions will give you a fun peek into Kevin's world.
Let's see how he answers and get to know him a little better!
Trench Leadership: A Podcast From the Front is humbled to have been named #5 in the Top 20 for Best Canadian Leadership-themed podcasts for 2025.
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It's the Lightning Round reflective and connect with the listeners on a more personal level. And, without further ado, let's get to the questions.
Favorite Leadership Word and Inspiration
Speaker 2Listen, kevin, we have had a fantastic conversation talking about all the different ways that people can go from being part of the team to all of a sudden being the boss, and we actually did a fantastic closeout, which I think is a great way for us to roll into the lightning round. What do you think about that? I'm sitting down. Let's do this. You're going to be fantastic. Let's go, let's go. Question number one what is your favorite leadership word?
Speaker 3I'll go with learning, okay.
Speaker 2Question number two who do you look to for leadership inspiration?
Speaker 3It's a long list, it's an ever-changing list, because of, maybe, what I've recently read, or this, that or the next thing, but I'll put two people at sort of at the top of the ongoing hit parade. One is my father, because he was the first leader I learned from laws and all, and the other is Lincoln, um, because and one of the things I love about Lincoln, both his persistence, uh, and his vision, but also his willingness to do what so few seem to be willing to do today, which is to put together a team of people who don't always agree with him, didn't always agree with him, sorry.
Speaker 2Absolutely. Question three cup half full or cup half empty?
Speaker 3Oh, half full. The world is an abundant place. The opportunities for us to grow and improve and change are great. Take people that have a doomsday look at the future of our world, have not looked at history to say what have we overcome in the past? We will overcome the challenges that we see today in the future. I am confident of it. Confident of it.
Speaker 2Perfect Question, number four what would you like to improve about your leadership style?
Speaker 3This was supposed to be a lightning round, so I will say one of the things and I didn't do it very well today on this, on this interview is I need to get I need to keep getting better at not interrupting others. So one of the things I need to do is continue to work on being a better listener.
Speaker 2And question five what do you think is your leadership strength?
Speaker 3I think one of my strengths is that I am a learner, and I think another one of my strengths is that I work hard to understand and empathize with others and take their perspective into account when we're making decisions.
Speaker 2And that's it. That's the lightning round. No problem at all. You did fantastic.
Speaker 3You got through it.
Speaker 2No trouble.
Lightning Round Conclusion
Speaker 1That's it. That's all you have been treated to five leadership-related questions and the responses from this week's guest. We hope you have enjoyed this edition of the Lightning Round Brought to you by Trench Leadership, a podcast from the front. Take care and remember leadership without passion limits the depth of your vision.
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