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Meditations on Leadership with Don Carpenter
Leadership begins within.
In Meditations on Leadership with Don Carpenter, author, youth development pioneer, and relational leadership coach Don Carpenter invites you into a weekly practice of deeper reflection, personal clarity, and meaningful connection.
Each episode begins with a short meditation from Don’s soon to be released book, The Inner Work of Leadership: 52 Meditations for a Life of Meaning, Courage, and Growth. From there, Don offers personal commentary and lived insights before welcoming a guest, leaders from all walks of life, to explore how that week’s theme plays out in their own professional journey. The episode closes with two powerful questions to help you pause, reflect, and grow as a leader from the inside out.
Whether you’re leading a team, a classroom, a nonprofit, or your own life, this podcast is a companion for those committed to doing the inner work that sustains courageous outer change.
Meditations on Leadership with Don Carpenter
Anchor in the Fog
In this episode, Don reflects on what it means to lead through uncertainty, when clarity hasn’t yet come and all you can see is fog. Drawing from the concept of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity), he explores how curiosity, not control, becomes the true anchor in turbulent times.
Joining him is Brandon Leppänen, Town Manager of St. George, Maine, a former mentee, longtime colleague, and now close friend. Together, they talk about learning to trust the process, balancing agency with empathy, and finding calm in the unknown.
Their conversation is a reminder that leadership isn’t about eliminating uncertainty, but about staying grounded enough to move through it one clear insight, one step at a time.
To learn more about Don's work, upcoming offerings, and leadership resources, visit carpentercompanyconsulting.com
If something in today’s episode spoke to you, I hope you’ll subscribe and continue the journey with me — because leadership begins within.