Leveraging Leadership
Are you ready to up your leadership game? Tune in to Leveraging Leadership, where Chiefs of Staff, executives, and business professionals find the tools, strategies, and insights they need to excel. Hosted by Emily Sander, a C-suite executive turned leadership coach, this podcast delivers practical and tactical takeaways every week.
Whether you're tackling tough conversations, fine-tuning your KPIs, or mastering delegation, this show offers new perspectives and actionable advice to help you feel confident and thrive in your role.
Each Monday, enjoy interviews with leaders from diverse fields—primarily business, but also from military, politics, and higher education. Every Wednesday, catch a solo episode where Emily shares concise, actionable insights on a specific topic you can apply immediately.
If you appreciate relatable, informal conversations that pack a punch with no fluff, you’re in the right place. While especially valuable for Chiefs of Staff and their Principals, the insights are useful for any leader aiming to grow.
Don’t miss your chance to advance as a leader.
Episodes
252 episodes
Judgement vs Assessment: Creating a Positive and Productive Leadership Culture
This episode lays out the difference between judgment and assessment at work, especially for leaders like the Chief of Staff. Emily shares real examples, from firing and hiring decisions to handling challenging team meeting behavior, showing ho...
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Season 1
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Episode 252
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13:41
Running Better Meetings with Improv: Fix Wasteful Meetings and Team Disconnect
Andrew Davies shares how his theater and improv background helps teams run better meetings and build trust. He explains practical improv games like “Breaking News” and “Speech” that boost listening and support. Andrew also talks about tailoring...
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Season 1
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Episode 251
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37:30
Designing the SYSTEM for Achieving Your Goals (Part 3)
Emily Sander explains how to set up systems that make it easier to stick to New Year's goals, like laying out workout clothes by the door or using food tracking apps with preloaded meals. She shares personal examples, including her efforts to i...
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Season 1
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Episode 250
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15:09
Fitness, Finance, and Leadership: A Blueprint for Effective Chief of Staff Roles
Jared Stein shares his unconventional path from running CrossFit and Orange Theory gyms to becoming a Chief of Staff at a virtual investment firm. He talks about managing operations, streamlining team roles, and implementing the Entrepreneurial...
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Season 1
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Episode 249
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34:39
Prioritizing Time, Energy, and Attention for Leadership Growth (Part 2)
Emily Sander explains the "wheel of life" exercise, a tool to review different areas like career, relationships, community, hobbies, and physical or spiritual life. She gives examples of focusing on being a better parent, manager, or entreprene...
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Season 1
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Episode 248
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6:45
How Municipal Leaders Foster Community Impact and Build Effective City Governance
Nicholas Richard-Thompson shares his journey from creative intern to Deputy Chief of Staff for Aurora, Illinois, discussing the importance of building relationships, working with nonprofits, and navigating local government. He gives examples li...
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Season 1
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Episode 247
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44:40
SMART Goals or Mantras? Choosing Your Approach to New Year’s Success (Part 1)
This episode talks about how to set New Year's goals by comparing specific targets like losing 15 pounds by June 1st with broader intentions such as choosing a word for the year like "hello" or "lightness." Emily Sander shares how different peo...
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Season 1
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Episode 246
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6:52
The Power of Purposeful Success: Insights for Business Leaders
Emily Sander talks with John Knowlton about what real success means, why it's an ongoing process, and how to use your natural talents at work. They share practical ideas for Chiefs of Staff, like focusing on tasks that give you energy, trimming...
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Season 1
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Episode 245
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36:55
The True Causes of Burnout: Beyond Workload and What Leaders Can Do About It
This episode breaks down practical ways to diagnose burnout beyond just heavy workloads, like checking if team members actually have the right training or system access, clarifying real versus perceived expectations, and considering outside-of-...
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Season 1
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Episode 244
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17:32
Building Trust and Leadership Lessons from the World of Baseball
Joel Goldberg shares stories from over 30 years in broadcasting with the Kansas City Royals, focusing on how small actions and building trust lead to big results. He explains the importance of routines and relationships, gives insight into work...
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Season 1
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Episode 243
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41:31
Q&A: How to Delegate Without Guilt and Still Get Promoted
A Chief of Staff named Samir asks for advice about being overloaded at a startup, struggling to delegate, and never taking real breaks. Emily Sander suggests Samir update his boss on his workload, start delegating in small steps, and actually s...
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Season 1
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Episode 242
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12:48
Building Trust and Delivering Excellence for High Net Worth Individuals
Nashid Braswell shares how he became a Chief of Staff, starting with personal shopping for friends in Italy and moving on to high-stakes roles supporting executives and managing billion-dollar projects. He explains building trust with his princ...
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Season 1
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Episode 241
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30:19
Clarifying Your Role and Goal for Leadership Success
This episode breaks down the "What's your role, what's your goal" framework, with Emily Sander sharing practical examples like a Chief of Staff running a post-mortem, facilitating meetings, or just observing and debriefing with their principal....
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Season 1
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Episode 240
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8:48
Practical Ways to Protect Your Time and Energy
Emily Sander and Sophia Mikelionis talk about practical self-leadership for Chiefs of Staff, covering how to build microhabits like walking during phone meetings, using a regular coffee mug instead of an insulated cup to encourage breaks, and p...
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Season 1
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Episode 239
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36:44
From Helpless to Hopeful: Leading Teams with Accurate Data and a Progress Mindset
This episode talks about moving teams from feeling stuck to making progress by first getting accurate data. Emily Sander shares an example of advising a Chief of Staff to use surveys to clarify vague complaints about “culture problems” and expl...
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Season 1
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Episode 238
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13:33
How Nonprofits Can Scale with Better Fundraising Processes
James Misner talks about why only a small percentage of nonprofits break $1 million in revenue and explains that many struggle because they don’t know how to fundraise effectively or are fearful of dealing with money. He shares practical advice...
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Season 1
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Episode 237
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34:54
Q&A: How to Guide Leaders Without Telling Them How to Do Their Jobs
Lisa D. asks how to guide leaders to their next step without telling them how to do their job. Emily suggests agreeing on the project’s end goal, asking questions like “what’s a fair and reasonable way to start?” and having departments explain ...
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Season 1
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Episode 236
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5:43
Mastering Power, Office Politics, and Leadership in Modern Organizations
Emily Sander talks with Tinna Jackson about navigating power dynamics as a Chief of Staff in the U.S. Senate, handling office politics, and the importance of emotional intelligence and trust in leadership. Tinna shares tips on building relation...
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Season 1
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Episode 235
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35:11
Listener Q&A: Managing Sales Reps Who Focus on Rebranding Over Revenue
Emily Sander talks about what to do when a Business Development Rep starts doing graphic design, website tweaks, and HubSpot updates instead of making calls. She shares ways to set clear expectations, give frequent feedback, and explains when i...
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Season 1
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Episode 234
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13:50
Balancing MBA Studies with a Chief of Staff Startup Internship Experience
Conghao Tian shares how he landed a Chief of Staff internship at Zenblen while studying for his MBA at Chicago Booth, starting with a background in music and art history. He talks about building KPI systems for the startup’s robotic smoothie ki...
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Season 1
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Episode 233
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31:47
Listener Question: Why Your Boss Wants Results, Not Databases
Emily Sander answers a listener’s question about how to get through to a boss who says, “I don’t care about the database, I care about results.” She talks about reframing communication to focus on the boss’s priorities, suggests offering option...
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Season 1
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Episode 232
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13:38
From Google to Coaching: Supporting Leaders and Building Relationships in Business
Emily Sander talks with Katie Rohn about her journey from sales to strategy at Google and her time as a Chief of Staff. They share stories about the different versions of the Chief of Staff role, how relationships shape the job, and why self-re...
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Season 1
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Episode 231
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44:16
The Key Question to Propel Yourself Through Challenges
Emily shares a practical question prompt to help you focus on what matters most when facing challenges at work or in life. She gives real examples, like choosing between launching a product on time and not burning out, getting out of your comfo...
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Season 1
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Episode 230
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6:51
Mediation Strategies Every Chief of Staff Should Know
Alex Yaroslavsky talks about his journey from navigating conflict as a kid new to the U.S. to building a career in mediation and executive coaching. He shares how Chiefs of Staff can handle disagreements between colleagues, coach their principa...
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Season 1
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Episode 229
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39:28
Overcoming Presentation Anxiety: Focus on Meaning and Emotion, Not Perfection
Emily answers a listener’s question about feeling stuck to a script during presentations. She explains how to focus on key points instead of memorizing every word, suggests adding emotion and attitude to messages, and demonstrates this techniqu...
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Season 1
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Episode 228
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22:10