You Can Build Better Leadership Habits One Week At A Time

A lot of leadership advice sounds great and then disappears the moment your calendar gets chaotic. We wanted something sturdier than motivation, so we’re sharing the story behind Dr. Katie Urban’s newest release: 52 Weeks of Leadership, a guided hardcover journal built to turn leadership development into a weekly practice you can actually keep.

We talk through what makes the journal different from a typical workbook or inspirational read. Each week focuses on a leadership skill and moves you through a simple sequence: a clear definition, reflection prompts, an action to practice in real life, and a stretch that nudges you into the conversation you’ve been avoiding. Katie shares a concrete example from the Respect week, including how to name the boundary, value, or need that gets violated when you feel disrespected, and how to turn that moment into better communication, stronger relationships, and more confident leadership.

We also get practical about format and access. The book is available on Amazon (including Amazon International), and you don’t need to be in Katie’s Catalyst Development programs or the Kansas City Leaders Institute to use it. Organizations can buy copies for employees, run book studies, and even explore bulk pricing through Katie. Because the journal is independently published, there’s flexibility for special prints for schools or teams while keeping the core leadership content intact. 

If you’re ready for a leadership journal that blends emotional intelligence, growth mindset, active listening, and bias awareness into weekly reps, press play and join us. Subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review so more leaders can find the community.

Follow us on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/rhondajhale/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/katieervin/

www.jolyean.com

www.katieervin.com

Check out Rhonda's Etsy shop:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThingsForge

Order Dr. Katie's book: https://a.co/d/5Fv02dP

Learn more about Catalyst LEADERs Institute:  www.katieervin.com/leaders

 
Theme music by Emma Jo https://emmajo.rocks/

Transcript

Welcome Back And Showing Up Sick

Rhonda Jolyean 0:32

Hi everyone and welcome back to the Path of Leadership. I'm Dr. Katie. And I'm Rhonda Jolene.

Dr. Katie 0:39

And we're back together.

Rhonda Jolyean 0:42

Thankfully.

Dr. Katie 0:44

Right. The solo episodes were kind of fun because we were just kind of talking. And I loved listening to yours and your vulnerability of like, oh, what am I doing? How am I feeling? I know.

Rhonda Jolyean 0:57

And then ironically, sadly, I got completely sick the week after and couldn't show up and had to have conversations with people where I was vulnerable and said, My mind is here. I want to show up. And sometimes your body can't show up. So that's a whole other episode that we can talk about.

Dr. Katie 1:18

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's so true. And it's those times. It's funny, I tell, especially women, but I tell everyone all the time, like, we've got to put our own oxy mask on, but we're afraid to do that. I know. Uh, we don't want to not show up. So then we're kind of like, I'm gonna show up but not be my best self. So rescheduling.

Rhonda Jolyean 1:38

Thanks. And I mean, you and I can have talked about this before, especially when you and I did say this last week of when you have that identity of Midwest, be a good girl, but also you just part of your identity as perfectionist. And us were Capricorns, although I'm part Libra, so I'm half. I'm like half want to do the right thing and show up, and you're more of a Capricorn than I am, which by the way, we should do an episode where we bring in an astrologer, which I have a friend who he might do it. And then he could tell us, yeah, he could tell us why we are the way we are and why we, you know, we have to do our list and things like that. Anyway, when you have those types of identities, it's very hard to say, oh, I just need to rest and I need self-care and all of that. So thanks to all of the people listening who I couldn't shop for this past week in real life, R R I or I R L as the kids say the cool kids, yeah.

Dr. Katie 2:49

Yeah, well, and I will say before we jumped on, I pulled last week's episode. And I mean, you pulled in some new new people. I mean, we had someone on there, we had four downloads from Ashburn, Virginia, which is new. Frankfurt is always showing up. Thank you. Helsinki, okay, right? Boise, Idaho, and then Adelaide, South Australia.

Rhonda Jolyean 3:17

How that's so amazing. I would say I might know the Boise one, although they don't live in Boise. One of my best friends lives in Idaho, but she doesn't live in Boise. And she was in Maryland last week, so I don't know. And then I do have friends in Australia, but they don't live in Adelaide, and they don't know I do a podcast, I don't think. So but hey, so we shout we shout you out, Australia and Idaho and Helsinki and everywhere.

Dr. Katie 3:43

Yeah, everyone who listens. I mean, it's just so fun to every week to be logging in and to see, you know, like last week we had, I mean, some massive, massive downloads. Like someone, whoever you are, we love you. Like, I think they went in like downloaded the whole hundred episodes because we had over, you know, 300 new downloads last week.

SPEAKER_01 4:07

And it's like okay, outside of the the norm.

Announcing 52 Weeks Of Leadership

Dr. Katie 4:11

So yeah, it's it's exciting to to continue to watch this grow, especially as we figure this out, you know, how it works for us and our crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy busy lives.

Rhonda Jolyean 4:22

Well, you especially, and that is a good transition to what we wanted to talk about today. Um, you have had what, and I'm taking your word. I'm not saying this. I don't like to put things onto people, but you have been using the word chaotic, although I will say you've also been giving a lot of gratitude to your life lately. You've been saying it's wonderful chaos, lots of chaos, but you have been shouting out lots of things you're grateful for and people you're grateful for, me personally, and I really appreciate that, along with so many other wonderful people. And today we want to tee up a really exciting thing that you manifested, worked hard for, took action on. I'm getting chills right now in my legs because it is so such a huge accomplishment. And we are gonna talk about your latest book that you are putting out into the world.

Dr. Katie 5:24

Yeah, I know. It's so funny. I'm sitting here about to cry because You should. Yeah, I mean, the day after this comes out, so April 1st, 52 weeks of leadership will be available on Amazon. I actually have a box that I just got shipping notification that will be coming. Yeah, I've been working on this. It's it's it's really been working hard on it for the last three years. I really started this project probably about six years ago. So yeah, 52 weeks of leadership is going to be available and and um coming to mailboxes soon.

Rhonda Jolyean 5:59

I remember when I first met you over a year ago now. One day we'll be able to say more than we'll be able to say multiple years. Um, but it feels like more than a year. When I first met you, you were working on was it this or was it something similar? Was it it was this? It was this, okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

It was this, yeah.

Rhonda Jolyean 6:22

And you were, and it was, I mean, just even the slices of it working on it was a big undertaking. And you had a team back then who was helping you, and you still, I mean, and that people who do this type of thing don't always have 14 other things that they're doing in their life, which if people don't know, you do workshops, you speak, you volunteer, you head up different boards and different volunteer initiatives, plus you go and watch your daughter with golf, you know, you you are a member of the community, so many things. And you have now birthed this new product. So for me, being able to watch you do this is one inspiring, but two really fun because it's a dream that you've put out tangibly in the world and also as a tangible book. Now, tell everybody I have seen the not in person, I'm excited to see it in person, but I have seen in pictures the actual tangible product. Is this also going to be available digital copy?

Dr. Katie 7:39

Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's so interesting because when we first talked, and initially it was going to be seven-minute audio recordings and I recorded recorded kind of the first three months. They're still recorded, they're ready to go, but it was going to be these audio recordings with gen, then these just kind of little like journal reflections. And so when I was creating this, it was, you know, is it gonna be a fillable PDF? Because all of my leaders' programs, all of my stuff had these like fillable PDF toolkits. So there was no like hold on to journal. And so it was gonna kind of be that. And then it was kind of and and I got to a point, just like when I wrote my first book, like this has got to be something that I would do. Yes. I I am not, I envy the people that buy a journal and sit there and crank it out. I buy every journal that's available thinking, this is gonna be the this is the one. This is the one. But I'm so busy and I am, you know, so focused on other things. And so I needed a product that I would do. And so that's where it turned into this like physical hardback. I was really nervous about hardback too, because I never printed in hardback, hardback journal that people can go into. And so whether they come through one of my leadership programs or whether they just buy it on Amazon themselves, they can they can go in and do. And so, will it eventually come out in a PDF form? No, probably not because it's trademarked and and copyright. I did have this fear of there's a lot of really great people in the world that will respect the trademark and the copyright. And there's a lot of other people in the world that will just print and make copies for all their friends. And that's that's not what that's not what it's about. Will it ever turn into the rest of the audio recording? Potentially, will it eventually become an app? Potentially. Yeah, yeah. So there's some of those kind of like still marinating, but I I had to get the journal out because people were were asking for it.

Rhonda Jolyean 9:54

The app idea is so great. Okay. For people who don't know, talk about the origination of this because yes, you had this idea, but you also had people asking you about it as well. Yeah. So tell everybody how you came up with this idea.

Dr. Katie 10:11

Yeah. And it's so funny because it kind of, I mean, it goes back to like my origin story of why I started catalyst, which was we talk about leadership development. I sat on committees for 26, 27 plus years talking about leadership development, but no one was doing the so what of it. I always say there's that little ass that so what. And so as I was creating what eventually became catalyst development, was what is the so what? What are the things we were doing? And as I was producing these so what activities and behaviors, uh, Jenna Scott and and Emma Kaufman, I will forever to the end of the earth be grateful for them. I told them one day they're just gonna wake up and have like this massive deposit in in their cash accounts because one of these days I'm gonna be able to, I it I I know I can never repay them for the inspiration and encouragement they've been. But I I sure would hope that one day$10 or$15,000 would do it. Like, wouldn't that be such a gift that you just wake up one day and be like, what the hell is this? Um it for tax purposes, it would never be that amount, right? But IRS, if you're listening, mind your business. But Jenna said to me one time, like, there is no, and she's the journal person. She is the like, buy every journal, do every journal. And she said, Katie, there's nothing like this in the world. There is just nothing like this. And so I started doing research, and legitimately, there is nothing like this. And so that's where it took a while to get the trademark because there's a process for that. But you know, it was just this constant inspiration from them. And then when I started telling people about it, and then when I told you about it, you're like, here's what we can do, and this and this and this. And that just gives you energy because it's like, yes, this is needed in the world, which is pretty cool.

Rhonda Jolyean 12:03

Absolutely. And I know that our listeners, even new listeners, they know that you have this catalyst development program. And some people might be listening and thinking, Well, do I have to go through her program to get anything out of this? Do I have to, you know, have familiarity with her work to get anything out of this? Talk a little bit about why somebody would buy this and how much familiarity they need to have with your work or what type of leader might buy this.

Dr. Katie 12:42

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I love that question. And and the the answer is, you know, anyone can benefit from this. And it's it's really fun because I've been having some really neat conversations in the last day, quite frankly, from everywhere from an organization that sports teen young women to a university that is very close to my heart to an executive, and they all can see how we can implement it in different ways in their organizations. And so anyone who comes through my leaders program, whether it be my corporate leaders or my Kansas City Leaders Institute, where people just come in and go through the program, they'll get it and I'll guide them through it. But a random person that finds it on Amazon that wants to go through it, no problem can pick it up and like I just opened it randomly. And so week 15 is respect. Um, and so I define what it is. So in order to respect someone, it must be recognized that a person is worthy of high regard. It means to treat someone with dignity and concern to admire them. And then there's a reflect section. And so the reflection section for this week is think about someone you deeply respect, what behaviors earn your respect. And then I identified one recent moment where you felt disrespected, what boundary value or need was violated? So then you go down to act and it's practice one respect building behavior this week, whether it be active listening without interrupting, whether it be expressing appreciation. So there's a list there, and then note the impact. And then there's a stretch. So, what is that stretch point? So have a respectful, truth-telling conversation. And so I give some prompts. I want to share something because I value our working relationship, focus on the issue, not the person, and reflect afterwards. And then each week I have a quote from me. So this quote this week is respect is not earned by title, it is earned by how we treat people. So you can see, even if you've never come through my program, and no matter whether you're 14, 47, or 74, you know, and so I'm not gonna go, but like week 38 is interpersonal skills. Right, there's kindness, there's you know, active listening, there's just all kinds of different growth mindset. There's all kinds of fun activities in here for people to do at all stages of life.

Rhonda Jolyean 15:16

Right. So, and I hear a lot of things that we've talked about, emotional intelligence, personal development theories like growth mindset, yeah, things that I know that you speak about in class, but also things that you've studied in your master's program, your PhD program, things that you speak about. It seems like this is a culmination of all of your work put into action-based text, which I very much appreciate. Yeah, as a consultant, that is one of my biggest pet peeves, is when people talk theory and leave clients and then just don't tell me even, just tell me what to do to fix it. You know, the why is great, but tell me what to do to fix it. And I really liked when you said in that reflection, giving people the whys and examples, because especially even if you think it doesn't matter if you're 14 or 57, sometimes we don't know those, like I wouldn't know some of the respect examples, you know. And then, but I immediately came up with I know lately a time I've felt disrespected and what that felt like, you know. Could I put words to it? Probably not without your list. So that's I think something that's very helpful and we can all relate to. And yeah, that just sounds to me like something that I would do. This is one of those books that I find, first of all, I love that it's in hardback because hardback books to me are precious and something that are keepsakes. And I'm that person though that doesn't write in workbooks like that because at different times in my life I want to come back to it. And so I because they're so precious, I probably won't write in my book. So I will take a piece of paper and put it in there and then probably come back to it and take a piece of paper and put it in there. So I will literally use it like a journal and add to it. I love that.

Dr. Katie 17:29

I love that. And that is such a good, like you just gave me a because people who come to my leaders institute right now get just a blank, like it's not as fancy as a mole skin, but like a mole skin kind of journal.

unknown 17:39

Right.

Dr. Katie 17:40

But yeah, to give both, like that would be a really good, like buy this with this. Yeah, because then because my goal for this is you go through it at one stage and then you come back through it. You know, we're gonna look at emotional intelligence different at different stages. We're going to, you know, look at our own leadership. Like one of the first couple of weeks, I have people write a leadership philosophy. I have people do it all the time. Right. Our leadership philosophy changes as we grow as a leader and and just as a human.

Rhonda Jolyean 18:14

Yeah. And like we've talked about, I mean, I'm going back to all the podcasts we've discussed. How do you define success as a leader? Well, that's gonna change when you're middle manager in one company versus an exec in a different company, especially at a different age, especially in a different societal climate, etc. And if I'm keeping your journal, I mean, and some people don't care, you know, they'll probably just scratch things out or maybe make notes everywhere, and that's fine. But for me, books are living artifacts. So I just don't like to write them, but or actually I do. I'm a marginalia person, but when it comes to journals, I don't like to write in like set journals like that. And so I like the idea of people having that extra piece that they can write in, but that might be a good just tidbit for people listening when they buy their copy. Yeah, yeah. And it's funny you can buy multiple copies at multiple times in your life.

Dr. Katie 19:11

Yeah. Listen. Well, and it's fun because at the very beginning, um, like before you jump into week one, it's a vision board, you know. So where do you see yourself? And it's this health, travel, career, finances, relationships. And then it has my goal, so goal planner. And so it's like six goals, and it's like, what are your action that what what are your action steps? But then each week, so you do it, and then you have a weekly reflection kind of area. And and then you have line note pages, but it's like, what's your weekly overview? So summarize key events and accomplishments for the week. Uh, what are your major achievements, right? Let's focus on the positive, growth mindset, gratitude list three things that you're grateful for, and then priorities for next week. So, what are you focused on? Um, and so that's every every week. And then there's these these extra note pages, and then there are extra note pages in the back. But it's just it's getting people to think about, you know, what is what does success look like at the end of the year? So what's my vision? And then what am I doing each week to work towards that success?

What Success Feedback Sounds Like

Rhonda Jolyean 20:21

I mean, anytime you throw a vision board at me, I'm gonna love it. I was already in love with this book and now I love it even more. What do you hope to hear when it comes to feedback from people in this next year? What would be what it would be your definition of success from people?

Dr. Katie 20:44

Yeah, um, you know, I think there's a couple things. I think, you know, one gift I get from my first book, You Might Be an Asshole, is people say, I hate reading and I love the book, right? Nice. But it's such a gift where people are like, I am such a bad reader, and people ask me all the time, is it an audiobook? And I'm like, I'm so bad. I've I've started and stopped audiobooks recording several times. Like the reading of a script to me, I'm so off the cuff that so people say, Well, I just bought the book and I got through it. And so one thing is people will say, you know, I did the 52 weeks. I did it. I worked through it. I didn't stop. It was engaging, it got me where I wanted to be. But I will say the biggest gift will be people saying, you know, Katie, it it was all good, but week 18, I just popped it over. Week 18 on active listening, this is how it impacted me. This is how it helped my relationships. Like, you know, giving me examples, week 25 on unconscious bias. You know, I opened up this week and I hated the idea of unconscious bias because I fight against it. But then when I realized what it really was and realized that we all had it. And you know, so that's kind of the uh I can't wait to hear people's nuggets from the different weeks. And I hope people will not wait till the end of 52 weeks to share with me. I hope they'll be like, shit. Okay, this one hit me deep.

Where To Buy And Bulk Orders

Rhonda Jolyean 22:06

Yeah, I can't wait to see that feedback too. I can't wait to yeah, just get into that and see that. And speaking of that, so you said that people can find it on Amazon. Where else can they find it?

Dr. Katie 22:20

Yeah, so they can find it on Amazon. Well, once it's live, we'll have a link on my website as well. Okay. Um, anyone who comes to my Leaders Institute, which the Kans City Leaders Institute is actually, it was going to Launch in April. It's now launching in May because of publication of the journal and some other scheduling stuff. But then the other really cool thing is I've had a couple organizations ask, like, can we buy the journal for our employees? Yes, you can buy it by the case through me. You'll get it, you'll get it cheaper. Cool. Um, and you guys can do book studies. And the other thing too is when I do speaking engagements, sometimes they will want to buy my book for the audience because my book says asshole in it, it makes people like there's this little hesitation. I'm like, oh boy. So the cool thing too is now when I speak, like when they book me, if they want to buy the journal for the audience, they can absolutely do that and get it at a cheaper rate as well.

Rhonda Jolyean 23:19

Yes, you'll have the secondary thing. Yeah, I really like that. And because we have so many international listeners, which we love.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Yeah.

Rhonda Jolyean 23:29

And having had to deal with Amazon International lately, um, will it be available on Amazon International? Okay, cool. Yeah, great.

Dr. Katie 23:40

That's what it's that's another fun part about my first book is when I like see one going to, you know, just ran insert random, you know, Thailand or you know, someplace in Africa. Like it it's my my book has sold internationally. Last week I sold eight to Canada, like and you might be an asshole is going to be three April 1st, which is the same day. I know you're not supposed to have your babies have the same birthdays, but it just publishing worked out that way. But so yeah, to see it going to Canada. So yep, it'll be available all over the world. And then if there's any independent bookstores or Burns and Noble or anyone listening that are like, hey, we wanna, we want these, my publisher is able to get them that way as well. So and and because it's a I'm I'm independently published, which is really nice. So my printers can print, I can also personalize them. So the university I'm talking to, it's like we can add pages, we can take out pages, we can, I mean, not to change the the idea of the journal, but you know, we can add their logo on the front. We can't, you know, we can do a special print just for them, which will be really fun.

Rhonda Jolyean 24:56

That is great. Yeah, I would love to see it in some, especially Kansas City or Lawrence or Manhattan or Pittsburgh, um local bookstores. So if anyone's listening and has connections, please message us because I would love to have that happen for you. And I'll go, of course. And once I'm feeling better, and then also, yeah, everyone, I can't vouch for this enough. I love this journal. I love all of your information that you put out into the world. And if people haven't, if some of our new listeners, if you haven't experienced some of Katie's information, she has a lot of free resources on her website, which is linked in the show notes and on her LinkedIn, Dr. Katie Urban. So please go to that and you can experience that before you buy. And this is no April Fool's prank either. On April 1st, okay. Katie is confident enough to put it out on April 1st, which I love. So and yeah, I'm just so proud of you. And this is huge. Book number two. I have a lot to catch up on. I haven't even done my first book, but I'm gonna get there.

Dr. Katie 26:16

Yeah, yeah. Well, and I can't wait for your first book because I know it is gonna be a good one. And it's so funny. I never thought I'd be an author, and then I wrote my doctoral dissertation, and then I wrote a chapter in an academic textbook, and then it was like now it's flown. Like there's this third one already, like characters are built and everything. And I can't wait to hear about it. Yeah, yeah. So, so yeah, it's gonna be fun. So thank you for allowing this episode to be all about the the journal. And I just I'm so excited to give this gift to leaders at all levels. I just really think it's going to be a game changer for them.

Future Guests And How To Support

Rhonda Jolyean 26:53

Yeah, well, again, it's a culmination of a lot that you of all of your work, but also so many things that you talk about and the gift that you give to our listeners of your ideas. And I know you work out a lot of your ideas on the podcast. So if you have loved Katie's work and her amazing theories and her research on this podcast, I just know that you will love this journal. And I, yeah, these are our people, this is our audience. So I know that they will support us. And speaking of, I did kind of tease it last week, but we do want to have more guests coming up. And I know we have a couple of ideas, but if anybody has any suggestions, please write in and let us know about any topic and also just any guests that are coming out with some new cool products, like Katie. And yeah, because we want to support people in this audience in this community and lift each other up because, especially as women business leaders, that's what we got to do.

Dr. Katie 28:01

Yeah, and we got a couple cool ones coming up. Um we're gonna talk about generation, generation differences, and so that'll be a great one. While I was on the cruise ship, I've got a text from a friend that said, Hey, side note, this is a hot topic that I would love you and Rhonda to talk about. So, I mean it's it's it's AI adjacent, but it's more about the you know, the skills that AI can't replace and how we lean in. So it's yeah it's kind of taking our conversations deeper. So I love that she was like, please, please do this. So she's pretty much outlined it. Yeah, which is cool. So yeah, I'm excited for that. And I'm excited to see where the new downloads are this week. So please, please, please continue to share the podcast. We're so thankful for the people that are around the world that are just like, hey, friends, you need to listen to this. So please share the podcast, reach out to us, give us feedback. It is a gift for us, but it's also we want this to be a gift for for other people as well.

Rhonda Jolyean 29:08

A hundred percent. I can't wait to see what people's feedback is about the journal, reach out. Katie loves the feedback, and thank you all so much for everything. I love this community. And yeah, I'm just so proud of you, Katie.

Dr. Katie 29:27

Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, and please too, like as you're reading the journal, if you find a typo, no matter how much editing you go through, no matter how much editing you go through, you you miss it. And so send me a note if there's a typo or spacing error. I love you know, growth is growth is is it comes when people give you that kind feedback. So yeah, well, thank you. Good to see you. Feel better. Um get get a nap and we'll see everyone next week on the path to leadership. Bye, everyone. Bye.