Live Like a Leader with John Bates

John K. Bates
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Live Like a Leader is where accomplished leaders explore what it takes to communicate with clarity, earn trust, and move people to meaningful action. L=f(c): Leadership is a function of communication. Great leadership is a function of great communication. Hosted by John K. Bates, executive communication coach, keynote speaker, TED/TEDx speaker coach, and founder of Executive Speaking Success, the show features candid conversations with NASA astronauts, Navy SEALs, global executives, entrepreneurs, authors, and other remarkable leaders. Each episode turns lived experience into practical insight you can use to communicate with greater clarity, credibility, humanity, and impact. John’s WHY is to bring out what’s awesome inside every person so it can live in the world and make a real difference.

  1. 1 day ago

    Tracey Ivanyshyn: Turning Grief and Kindness into Leadership Strength

    Today, I sit down with Tracey Ivanyshyn, a serial entrepreneur, culture builder, corporate grief educator, death doula, and co-founder of Kindness at Work. After more than 25 years leading purpose-driven businesses and a team of over 100 people, Tracey has turned her attention to helping organizations build trust, belonging, and the capacity to meet loss with greater humanity. Tracey and I met on Necker Island, where a remarkable group of people came together around Richard Branson and the work of Virgin Unite. We begin with some joyful memories from that time, but our conversation soon becomes deeply personal. I share what it was like to lose my father while I was struggling with clinical depression and anxiety following a serious infection. Tracey offers a thought that’s stayed with me: grief tends to wait. When we can’t face it immediately, it doesn’t disappear. It waits until we’ve got the capacity to feel it. That understanding leads us into Tracey’s work helping companies learn how to support grieving employees. Most leaders haven’t been trained for these moments. They feel responsible for finding an answer, yet grief can’t be fixed. Tracey explains that often, our task isn’t to solve anything. It’s to witness, listen, and build systems that prevent a grieving person or overwhelmed manager from having to invent a response in the middle of a crisis. We also explore her work as a death doula and the “goodbye year” she shared with her mother. Tracey helps families ask the questions we tend to avoid, preserve their love stories, and thoughtfully shape the final days of a person’s life. Her reflections raise two questions worth asking long before the end: Am I loved? Have I loved well? What really stands out to me is how naturally this connects to leadership. Tracey draws a sharp distinction between being nice and being kind: niceness avoids friction, while kindness tells the truth with care. She saw that principle create loyalty, strengthen culture, and increase the value of the companies she eventually sold. Now she and co-founder Fiona Stevenson are bringing that mission to the inaugural Workplace Kindness Awards, hosted at Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City on November 12, 2026, with Claude Silver as keynote speaker.   Key TakeawaysI was struck by Tracey’s insight that grief tends to wait. When other circumstances prevent us from processing a loss, the grief often returns when we’ve finally got room to feel it. I learned that leaders don’t need to fix grief. They need the courage and presence to witness it, ask caring questions, and stay with someone in an experience that doesn’t have a simple answer. Tracey’s framework moves organizations through three stages: grief awareness, grief literacy, and grief readiness supported by training, policies, and practical systems. I loved her idea of creating an employee “operating manual” before a crisis, including how each person prefers to communicate and be supported during difficult times. Small signals can remove enormous uncertainty. A blue or white flag on a desk or video-call background can tell colleagues whether a grieving person needs space or welcomes connection. Tracey showed how remembrance can become part of workplace culture through the story of a two-sided memorial bench: one side for quietly connecting with a colleague’s legacy, the other for signaling a need for companionship. Her work as a death doula demonstrates that thoughtful questions about sights, sounds, people, stories, fears, and unfinished conversations can bring greater intention to the end of life. The questions “Am I loved?” and “Have I loved well?” aren’t just questions for our final days. Asking them now gives us time to change the answers. I came away with an even clearer distinction between niceness and kindness. Niceness avoids discomfort; real kindness means telling the truth with care. Tracey’s business experience shows that a people-first culture isn’t separate from performance. The loyalty and trust her companies created contributed directly to their value when she sold them.   Addressing Relevant IssuesThis conversation matters because grief enters the workplace whether or not our policies, managers, or cultures are prepared for it. People don’t stop being human when they arrive at work, and loss doesn’t remain neatly outside the office. When leaders avoid grief because they’re afraid of saying the wrong thing, grieving employees can experience that silence as isolation. Tracey offers a more capable model of workplace leadership. We can prepare managers, create humane bereavement practices, learn how people want to be supported, and give colleagues simple ways to communicate their emotional capacity. None of this requires lowering standards or avoiding difficult truths. It requires greater skill. The same principle applies to kindness. I don’t see kindness as politeness or conflict avoidance. Real kindness makes honest communication possible while preserving another person’s dignity. In an era of strained trust, uncertainty, and constant organizational change, that’s not a decorative cultural value. It’s part of how strong leaders and resilient organizations function.   Why This Episode MattersThis episode matters to me personally. My father’s death has continued to teach me about love, grief, and the stories we carry about losing someone. Tracey gave me a way to see that grief with more patience and less judgment. It waits for us, and when it arrives, our job isn’t necessarily to make it go away. I also care deeply about Tracey’s work because it connects humanity with effective leadership. She isn’t talking about kindness from the sidelines. She built companies around it, saw it create extraordinary loyalty, and watched it contribute to their value. The Workplace Kindness Awards give us an opportunity to recognize people already leading this way and help make their example more visible. I hope this conversation encourages you to support that mission and to ask some of life’s important questions while there’s still time to act on the answers.   Resources MentionedTracey Ivanyshyn on LinkedInKindness at WorkWorkplace Kindness Awards — November 12, 2026, at Nasdaq MarketSite in New York CityLife Review and Love Story QuestionsReimagine GoodbyeTell Love StoriesKindness.org — charity and science partner for the Workplace Kindness AwardsClaude Silver on LinkedIn — Chief Heart Officer of VaynerX, keynote speaker, and author of Be Yourself at WorkThe Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully by Frank OstaseskiCentre for Sacred Death Care100% Human at Work and Virgin Unite   Connect & SubscribeIf this conversation made a difference for you, please subscribe to Live Like a Leader, follow the show, and share this episode with someone who’d appreciate it. I’d also be grateful if you left a five-star review, along with a short comment about what you enjoy about the show. Reviews help more thoughtful leaders discover these conversations, especially on Apple Podcasts. You can find the show and more episodes at livelikealeader.show.   Next StepsTake a few minutes to explore Tracey’s life review questions. Choose one person you love and ask a question you’ve been postponing. Record the answer if they’re comfortable with that. The conversation may become part of your family’s lasting story. I also invite you to learn more about Kindness at Work and the inaugural Workplace Kindness Awards. Consider who deserves to be recognized for telling the truth with care, creating belonging, or showing up for people when it mattered most.   -----   Tracey Ivanyshyn has spent her life building things that matter—companies, cultures, communities—and most of all, belonging. For over 25 years, she led a group of purpose-driven businesses known as much for their award-winning performance as for the people-first culture she cultivated within them. Leading her team of over 100 employees was a great joy in her life and an incredible teacher. And when approached to sell the companies to a larger aligned competitor, she found her own transition to spaciousness and a new chapter. Now Tracey transforms workplace cultures through the power of kindness. She helps organisations build trust where it's been lost, culture where it's been strained, and emotional safety where it's most needed. As a corporate grief educator, she is also quietly pioneering a new model for how we show up for one another in times of loss—at work, and beyond. She and her co-founder Fiona Stevenson have created the Workplace Kindness Awards - hosted at NASDAQ in NYC in November. Ready to make your communication a match for how good you really are? John K. Bates provides private executive communication coaching and leadership development for accomplished leaders and teams. His programs have earned 92+ Net Promoter Scores with organizations including NASA, Johnson & Johnson, Google, Intuit, and Boston Scientific. Explore private coaching and leadership programs: https://executivespeakingsuccess.com/ Build your communication practice with John’s free weekly mini-trainings: https://johnbates.com/mini-trainings/

    Tracey Ivanyshyn: Turning Grief and Kindness into Leadership Strength

  2. 14 Oct

    From Near-Death, Extreme Sport, and Bullying to Building Character in 10,000 Children a Week with Sebastian Bates

    Today I sit down with my dear friend Sebastian Bates. Seb and I first met when he was a client of mine, and from the beginning, I was deeply impressed by him—by his drive, his heart, his courage, and the sheer scale of what he is building in the world. He is one of those rare people who combine intensity with purpose, and ambition with service. I respect him tremendously. In this conversation, Seb shares the extraordinary story of a wingsuit BASE jumping accident in the Dolomites that nearly killed him and left doctors telling him he would never walk again. He takes us inside the physical agony, the long rehabilitation, the identity shift, and the fierce defiance that helped him come back from one of the lowest points of his life. From there, we go back into his childhood, including years of bullying and the role martial arts played in helping him develop the confidence, discipline, and character to stand up for himself. That early pain became part of the seed for what would later become Warrior Academy—now the largest martial arts academy in the Middle East, serving more than 10,000 children every week. We also talk about fatherhood, purpose, and the moment Seb realized he could no longer live only for adrenaline and adventure. After becoming a dad, he redirected that same intensity into business, leadership, and service. Out of that journey came not only Warrior Academy, but also the Bates Foundation, which now serves thousands of vulnerable and at-risk children each week in some of the toughest environments on earth. One of the most powerful parts of this conversation is Seb’s conviction that everything is downstream from character. If you can help a child build confidence, emotional intelligence, resilience, focus, and self-respect, you can help change the decisions they make—and in many cases, change the course of their lives. That philosophy is now reaching children in slums and deeply impoverished communities, where the Bates Foundation is combining martial arts, mentoring, nourishment, and hope in ways that are deeply moving and profoundly practical. We also spend time talking about communication and storytelling—how Seb refined his message, what happens when a great story is truly shaped to land with an audience, and why the smallest details in delivery can create a nonlinear leap in impact. That part of the conversation meant a lot to me personally. Most of all, this episode is about what can happen when pain becomes purpose, when adventure becomes service, and when leadership becomes something much bigger than personal success.   Key Takeaways A near-fatal accident can become a turning point rather than an ending. Character development shapes decisions, and decisions shape lives. Martial arts can become a vehicle for confidence, self-respect, emotional regulation, and leadership in children. Bullying often cannot be solved for a child; they need support, tools, and character to overcome it themselves. Fatherhood changed Seb’s relationship to risk and redirected his life toward service. The Bates Foundation is built around a powerful idea: help children build character, belonging, and hope—and you help change their future. Great storytelling is not just about having lived through something extraordinary; it is about learning how to bring others into the moment so the story serves them too. Small refinements in communication can create a dramatic increase in impact.   Addressing Relevant Issue This conversation touches on several issues that matter deeply right now: childhood bullying, mentorship, ADHD and identity, emotional resilience, absent support systems, fatherhood, vulnerable youth, and the importance of building strong inner character in a world that often fails children who need support most. It also speaks to a bigger leadership question: how do we turn our pain, our setbacks, and our gifts into something that serves others?   Why This Episode Matters I really, really like Seb, and that comes through here. He has become a dear friend, and I support his mission tremendously. What he is doing through Warrior Academy and the Bates Foundation is not theoretical. It is practical, courageous, compassionate work that is changing real lives. If this episode moves you, I hope you’ll do more than listen. I hope you’ll check out the Foundation and consider contributing to the work.   Next Steps Learn more about Sebastian Bates, Warrior Academy, and especially The Bates Foundation. And if you’re in a position to support meaningful work in the world, I encourage you to take a serious look at what Seb and his team are doing. Connect with Seb on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastian-bates-4b70412b/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Seb_bates Warrior Academy: warrioracademy.ae   Visit livelikealeader.show for more episodes and resources. Ready to make your communication a match for how good you really are? John K. Bates provides private executive communication coaching and leadership development for accomplished leaders and teams. His programs have earned 92+ Net Promoter Scores with organizations including NASA, Johnson & Johnson, Google, Intuit, and Boston Scientific. Explore private coaching and leadership programs: https://executivespeakingsuccess.com/ Build your communication practice with John’s free weekly mini-trainings: https://johnbates.com/mini-trainings/

    From Near-Death, Extreme Sport, and Bullying to Building Character in 10,000 Children a Week with Sebastian Bates

  3. 28 Sept

    Matt Hunter: How to Be Tough Enough Without Becoming a Jerk

    Today, I sit down with Matt Hunter, executive coach and co-author with John Baird of Tough Enough: How to Lead a Team to Greatness Without Being a Jerk. Matt and I met several years ago on Necker Island, and I’ve liked and respected him ever since. When I saw what he and John were taking on with this book, I wanted him on the show. Because they’re walking straight into a leadership question I care about enormously. We’ve all seen the examples: founders and executives who produce extraordinary results while leaving a trail of exhausted, intimidated, or unhappy people behind them. Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and others have reinforced an uncomfortable idea for generations of ambitious leaders: maybe being extraordinarily demanding, even brutal, is simply what greatness requires. Matt doesn’t dismiss that evidence. That’s what makes this conversation interesting. His argument is that toughness really does matter. Bold missions require conviction. High-performance teams require standards. Leaders sometimes need to make difficult decisions, push people beyond comfort, and remain steady when everyone around them is scared. But toughness and cruelty are not the same thing. Matt and John Baird have identified seven habits intended to help leaders become what they call “tough enough”: highly demanding while retaining compassion, respect and humanity. That leads us into one of my favorite parts of the conversation: vulnerability. I’ve spent years thinking about the difference between indiscriminate vulnerability and what I call Insightful Vulnerability™. A leader blurting out every fear before the team charges up the proverbial hill may technically be “authentic,” but that doesn’t necessarily make it good leadership. Vulnerability becomes valuable when it serves the people listening, builds trust, and creates Emotional Credibility™. We also get very personal about the cost of toughness. Matt and I both experienced serious health consequences after intense startup chapters. That takes us into a much more useful question than work-life balance: How do you lead relentlessly without destroying your capacity to keep leading? This conversation isn’t an argument for being softer. It’s an exploration of how to become tougher in the places that matter, compassionate in the places that matter, and intentional enough to know the difference.  Key TakeawaysI think we have to stop treating toughness and compassion as opposites. Matt’s central argument is that leaders can set extremely high standards, pursue bold goals, and make difficult decisions without treating people badly.I came away appreciating the distinction between being “tough” and simply being aggressive. Toughness can mean conviction, endurance, accountability, and an unwillingness to abandon the mission when things get uncomfortable.I believe vulnerability only works in leadership when it serves a purpose beyond relieving the leader’s own emotions. That’s the distinction I make with Insightful Vulnerability™: share something because it helps other people trust, learn or act, not simply because you happen to feel it.I think admitting a mistake can increase rather than diminish a leader’s authority. Saying, “I screwed this up, here’s what I learned, and here’s what I’m changing,” can create trust that defensiveness never will.I was struck by Matt’s framing of relentless leadership as an endurance problem rather than simply a work-life balance problem. Ambitious people will push. The question is whether we understand our capacity, recovery, and rate of exertion well enough to keep going.I know firsthand that there is a danger zone. During my startup years, years of extreme stress and inadequate sleep contributed to a serious autoimmune illness. Matt shares a remarkably similar experience.I think every leader has to choose where they want to operate on the toughness spectrum. There is no requirement that you build your company, career, or life the way Elon Musk does, simply because his approach produces certain kinds of results.I like the high-performance sports team analogy for culture. People can be treated extremely well while still being expected to perform at the level the team requires.What really stands out to me is the false choice Matt is trying to eliminate. Compassionate leaders should not have to choose between being good human beings and being formidable competitors. Addressing Relevant IssuesOne reason I think this conversation matters right now is that leaders are receiving contradictory messages. We’re told to be empathetic, emotionally intelligent, vulnerable, and human. We’re also surrounded by highly visible examples suggesting that extreme demands, relentless pressure, and even fairly awful behavior can produce spectacular business results. I don’t think pretending that contradiction doesn’t exist helps anyone. The more useful question is: How do I lead a high-performance team without becoming someone I don’t respect? That means thinking more precisely about accountability, resilience, trust, executive communication, burnout, and how to lead through pressure without transferring all of that pressure indiscriminately to everyone around us. It also means recognizing that there are costs at both ends of the spectrum. Too little toughness can undermine the mission. Too much can undermine the people, the culture, our families, and eventually ourselves.  Why This Episode MattersI invited Matt onto the show because I want this idea in the world. I work with extraordinarily capable leaders. Many of them are already compassionate, thoughtful people. What they sometimes need is not permission to become softer. They need permission and practical tools to become tougher without believing that toughness requires arrogance, cruelty, or disregard for other people. I also know what happens when relentless pursuit crosses a line. I’ve lived some of those consequences myself. What Matt and John Baird are attempting with Tough Enough is important because they’re not asking good-hearted leaders to lower their ambitions. They’re giving them another way to pursue those ambitions. If we can succeed without becoming jerks in the process, that seems like a considerably better deal to me.  Resources MentionedTough Enough: How to Lead a Team to Greatness Without Being a Jerk — Matt Hunter and John BairdTough Enough Leaders — toughenoughleaders.com (spoken by Matt during the episode; verify URL before making it a live link)Tough Enough leadership assessments — Matt describes two assessments designed to evaluate overall toughness and toughness across the book’s seven habitsTough Enough workbook — Free companion resource mentioned by MattHachette — Publisher of Tough Enough, as identified in the conversationFounders Pledge — Organization Matt previously helped leadCannery Row by John Steinbeck — Source of the Steinbeck passage discussed near the beginning of the conversationTake Breaks Work Better — Book mentioned during our discussion of performance and recovery; the transcript renders the author’s name as “John Briggs,” so I would verify the title and author before publishing a linkConnect with Matt Hunter on LinkedIn and X Connect & SubscribeIf this conversation made you think differently about how you lead, I’d love it if you subscribed to Live Like a Leader and shared this episode with somebody who would appreciate it. And if you enjoy the show, please take a moment to leave us a 5-star review and write a sentence or two about what you enjoy. Those comments genuinely help other people find the conversations we’re having here. Most importantly, keep listening, keep experimenting with what works, and keep becoming the kind of leader people genuinely want to follow.  Next StepsIf this conversation hit home, take a look at where you currently sit on the toughness spectrum. Where are you avoiding a difficult conversation, lowering a standard, or protecting comfort when the mission requires more from you? And where might you be pushing so hard that you’re creating unnecessary costs for yourself or the people around you? Matt’s Tough Enough assessments and workbook could be useful places to continue that examination. And if someone immediately came to mind while you were listening, send them this episode. I suspect this is one of those conversations that gets even more useful when two leaders discuss it together.   ----- Matt Hunter is an executive leadership coach and co-author of the forthcoming book Tough Enough: How to Lead a Team to Greatness Without Being a Jerk. He has two decades of experience founding, leading, and coaching companies, most notably cofounding Turnstyle (acquired by Yelp) and serving as president and US CEO of Founders Pledge, a community of entrepreneurs that has pledged over $13.6 billion to charity, with more than $1.9 billion already deployed. Today, he coaches C-suite executives at Fortune 50 companies as well as founders and CEOs of high-growth tech startups backed by firms such as Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, and NEA, with a combined valuation in the tens of billions. He is also expanding his work to include elite sports teams. He lives in Boulder, Colorado. Ready to make your communication a match for how good you really are? John K. Bates provides private executive communication coaching and leadership development for accomplished leaders and teams. His programs have earned 92+ Net Promoter Scores with organizations including NASA, Johnson & Johnson, Google, Intuit, and Boston Scientific. Explore private coaching and leadership programs: https://executivespeakingsuccess.com/ Build your communication practice with John’s free weekly mini-trainings: https://johnbates.com/mini-trainings/

    Matt Hunter: How to Be Tough Enough Without Becoming a Jerk

  4. 9 Sept

    SHIFT: A Transformational Journey from Playing Small to Unapologetically Thriving with Dr. Nicole Butts

    Today I sit down with Dr. Nicole Butts, best-selling and award-winning author, speaker, and organizational culture strategist and expert, whose new book is SHIFT: A Transformational Journey from Playing Small to Unapologetically Thriving. This conversation is a masterclass in what happens when high-achieving leaders (especially women) finally stop outsourcing their worth to other people’s approval—and start leading from alignment. Nicole opens up about something almost every great leader experiences, but few say out loud: that moment right before a big opportunity where the old story shows up—I’m not worthy. I don’t belong here. She literally started drafting me an email to back out… and then caught herself in the act. That “shrinkage story” (her words) became the doorway into the deeper work—and the reason she wrote SHIFT. We go into: why powerful women still play small in male-dominated systems (and how it shows up in everyday language), how “worker bee syndrome” keeps people doing everything… except being seen as a leader, and Nicole’s core equation for transformation: consciousness + courage = transformation. If you’ve ever felt like your work should “speak for itself,” this episode will challenge you—in the best way.   What You’ll Hear in This Episode   1) The real reason accomplished women still shrink   Nicole breaks it down into three forces: Cultural conditioning: being taught to be “likable,” defer, and not take up space—showing up as hedging language like “I’m not really sure, but…” Structural dynamics: being outnumbered (especially for women of color), which changes how safe it feels to be visible. Internalized stories: “If I just do a really good job and keep my head down, they’ll notice.” Nicole is clear: that’s not reliably true.   2) “Worker bee syndrome” and the promotion you never get   I share a pattern I see constantly: the whole department rides on someone’s back… and then they’re shocked when they’re passed up. Why? Because leadership isn’t only output—leadership is visibility, positioning, and presence. I call it “leadership me time”—stepping back from nonstop doing so people can actually see you leading. Nicole agrees and names it “reactive doing”—being busy, carrying everything, but not intentionally showing up as the leader. And then she drops a line I want you to remember: “By design, the work isn’t the leader. You are the leader.”   3) The SHIFT framework: a roadmap out of “playing small”   Nicole shares the backbone of her book as an acronym: S — Set your North Star H — Here I — Illustrate your path forward F — Forge ahead T — Thrive And she didn’t just write a roadmap—she made it real. After each step, she includes a section called “Follow My Journey” where she shows how she personally moved through that step.   4) The inner equation for leadership: consciousness + courage   Nicole explains why transformation requires two things: Consciousness (awareness): noticing the old pattern in real time so you can interrupt it. Courage: taking aligned action even with fear present—like deleting the email draft and saying yes to the opportunity instead.   Her distinction is sharp: Awareness sets the course. Courage fuels the journey.   Try This After You Listen (Practical Actions)   Audit your language for “softeners.” If you regularly start with “I’m not sure, but…” practice leading with the point first. Schedule “leadership me time." Block time weekly to think, plan, mentor, and communicate—not just execute—so you’re seen leading, not only producing. Name your shrinkage story. When it shows up, don’t argue with it—notice it. That awareness creates choice. Choose one aligned action you’ll take while still nervous. That’s courage—aligned action in the presence of fear.   Resources + Links Dr. Nicole Butts (website + books): NicoleButts.com Connect with Nicole on LinkedIn Book: SHIFT: A Transformational Journey from Playing Small to Unapologetically Thriving   About Dr. Nicole Butts Dr. Nicole Butts is a best-selling and award-winning author, speaker, and organizational culture strategist who helps individuals and institutions unlock transformation.   -----   If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star rating, write a few kind words about the show and our guest, and share it with someone who’s ready to stop shrinking and start leading. Ready to make your communication a match for how good you really are? John K. Bates provides private executive communication coaching and leadership development for accomplished leaders and teams. His programs have earned 92+ Net Promoter Scores with organizations including NASA, Johnson & Johnson, Google, Intuit, and Boston Scientific. Explore private coaching and leadership programs: https://executivespeakingsuccess.com/ Build your communication practice with John’s free weekly mini-trainings: https://johnbates.com/mini-trainings/

    SHIFT: A Transformational Journey from Playing Small to Unapologetically Thriving with Dr. Nicole Butts

  5. 26 Aug

    Potential, Passion, Purpose: Flipping the Switch with Joel Steele

    Today I'm joined by Joel Steele, co-founder of Steele Financial Solutions and author of the powerful new book Life Switch. Joel’s journey from owning a failed healthy fast food restaurant to building a multi-million-dollar financial firm is inspiring, vulnerable, and packed with leadership gold.   We dive into how devastating failures can unlock hidden potential and why Joel refused to declare bankruptcy, even when he was drowning in nearly $500,000 in debt at just 24 years old. He shares the exact mindset shift that reignited his fire—and the three “P”s that form the backbone of his book: Potential, Passion, and Purpose.   This conversation is for anyone who’s ever felt stuck, wondered if they’re enough, or questioned whether their dreams are still possible. Joel is proof that when you flip the switch inside, everything outside begins to change.   In this conversation, Joel and I explore: The story behind Thinkers Grill, Joel’s awesome, yet failed business, and what it taught him about grit and growth How a single decision helped him wipe out massive debt in under two years The million-dollar mission tied to his book sales, and why he’s aching to write a very big check to charity. How to balance success and fulfillment in today’s high-pressure world Why helping others is Joel’s oxygen, and how you can find your own purpose Whether you’re leading a team, building your brand, or climbing back from a setback, this episode is a masterclass in resilience, reinvention, and real leadership. Find Joel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-steele-9685888/   -----   Joel Steele is an entrepreneur, financial expert, and co-founder/owner of a successful financial firm. He has over 22 years of experience helping people build wealth, along with peace of mind. He’s passionate about enhancing health and wealth, the business of sports, and building meaningful relationships, starting at home with family. Steele’s journey — from massive setbacks to personal reinvention and professional success — fuels his mission to inspire others to win in all aspects of life. He is part of the ownership group of two professional sports teams (NBA G-League and USL Championship League), and has inspired thousands nationwide to achieve personal and professional growth. Joel is a former certified personal trainer and created a small chain of healthy fast-food restaurants in the early 2000s. Find his book Life Switch here: https://bookjoelsteele.com/book/ Ready to make your communication a match for how good you really are? John K. Bates provides private executive communication coaching and leadership development for accomplished leaders and teams. His programs have earned 92+ Net Promoter Scores with organizations including NASA, Johnson & Johnson, Google, Intuit, and Boston Scientific. Explore private coaching and leadership programs: https://executivespeakingsuccess.com/ Build your communication practice with John’s free weekly mini-trainings: https://johnbates.com/mini-trainings/

    Potential, Passion, Purpose: Flipping the Switch with Joel Steele

  6. 12 Aug

    How Real Experts Become Recognized (and Paid) Without Selling Their Soul with Freddie Pullen

    Today I sit down with Freddie Pullen—founder of The Healthy Entrepreneur Podcast and the founder of Recognized (recognized.global)—and we go straight at a problem I care about deeply: There are too many truly capable experts who stay invisible… while louder, less-qualified voices dominate the conversation.   Freddie helps experts become recognized for the value they already have—and then monetize that attention in a way that actually feels aligned. We talk about the practical strategies (podcast guesting, LinkedIn, positioning), but we also go deeper into the psychology: what it really takes to earn credibility, build trust, and show up with authority without playing the “look at me” game.     We also start the conversation by honoring the work of Sebastian Bates and the Bates Foundation—because leadership isn’t theory when you’re feeding kids and building character in the toughest environments on Earth. Freddie has been a trustee since the foundation began, and he shares what it was like to see the impact firsthand.    What You’ll Learn in This Episode Why Freddie hates the word “expert”… and the standard most people are skipping. The “puddles → lakes → oceans” model for positioning yourself so the market can actually place you. Why podcast guesting + LinkedIn is still the highest-leverage authority play for most founders and consultants. Freddie’s take on platform ROI: why Meta is “cheap,” why YouTube is powerful but expensive to do well, and what ad pricing signals about authority. Why storytelling is still the #1 leadership tool (and why our brains are built for it). My favorite practical exercise for influence: the “10-one-thousand pause”—and why silence makes people tell you what they weren’t going to tell you. A real-world reminder: if you’ve earned expertise and you’re staying quiet, you may be depriving the world of what it needs from you.   Ideas Worth Stealing (and Using This Week) Fix your positioning before you fix your content. Most people try to post more, podcast more, “be everywhere”… while the market still can’t answer: what exactly do you do, for whom, and why you? Freddie’s puddles→lakes→oceans model is a clean way to build authority without diluting it. If you want authority, use authority platforms. Freddie’s argument is simple: for most founders/experts, podcast guesting + LinkedIn is still the highest ROI move because trust is already built into the medium. Silence isn’t awkward—silence is leverage. Try the “10-one-thousand” pause in one conversation this week. Don’t weaponize it—just watch what happens when you stop filling space. People often reveal what matters most when you let the moment breathe.   Resources Mentioned Freddie Pullen — Recognized: recognized.global The Healthy Entrepreneur Podcast (Freddie’s show) Listen on Spotify or Watch on YouTube Connect with Freddie on LinkedIn   -----   Freddie has worked with 200+ founders to build demand, waiting lists, and revenue directly through LinkedIn. Along the way, one thing became impossible to ignore... All buyers do this one thing before they buy: They educate themselves with content. They want to recognize you first. They discover you through a LinkedIn post. Then consume your POV through longer form content. Then decide whether you’re the person they trust. That’s how modern B2B buying actually works. But this didn’t come from theory.   After leaving his role as Head of Product at the world’s largest media company serving 500M monthly users and generating $300k per day, Freddie built two 6-figure businesses in 8 months and helped 200+ founders do the same. The results: Multi six-figure profit in 8 months Podcast launched to #1 in 9 countries on day one $100k+ per year generated from the podcast alone Built a $3BN+ network starting with under 10k followers 50+ qualified HOT leads every month, predictably Which is why the goal of content is to be obvious.   Freddie helps clients position themselves as the authority people already trust before they ever speak to them.   Today, AI is accelerating this, but only if it’s trained on the right positioning. Freddie and his team use AI to: Encode your POV Multiply what already works Turn LinkedIn posts into sales assets You need a new ocean on LinkedIn - where you’re undeniable to your ideal clients. That’s why Freddie and his team built a positioning first, AI powered approach to LinkedIn.   https://freddiepullen.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/freddie-pullen/ https://www.instagram.com/freddiepullen Ready to make your communication a match for how good you really are? John K. Bates provides private executive communication coaching and leadership development for accomplished leaders and teams. His programs have earned 92+ Net Promoter Scores with organizations including NASA, Johnson & Johnson, Google, Intuit, and Boston Scientific. Explore private coaching and leadership programs: https://executivespeakingsuccess.com/ Build your communication practice with John’s free weekly mini-trainings: https://johnbates.com/mini-trainings/

    How Real Experts Become Recognized (and Paid) Without Selling Their Soul with Freddie Pullen

  7. 29 Jul

    Building the Long Game — From Pandemic Food Relief to NomadAI + “Universe” (LinkedIn for Gen Z) with Camden Francis

    Today I sit down with Camden Francis—a 21-year-old founder in the Boston area who’s already lived a few lifetimes worth of leadership reps.   We talk about the real story behind the highlight reel: how Camden co-founded a pandemic-era food distribution charity that moved $100,000 worth of food and resources, how that experience became a launchpad into the startup world, and why his newest projects—NomadAI (AI-assisted travel planning) and Universe (a career/network platform “for Gen Z,” currently under wraps)—are rooted in something deeper than ambition: service, meaning, and the long game.     A big thread in this conversation is something I care about a lot: your origin story—not as marketing, but as emotional credibility. Who you are. What shaped you. What you’ve survived. What you’re here to build—and why people should trust you enough to follow.    In this episode, Camden and I cover: Starting early: Camden’s “self-starter” drive—and the mentors who helped him learn fast (including Kathleen Walsh, President/CEO of the Metro North YMCA). Beyond the Crisis: how watching families in the Boston area wait in long lines for food during COVID sparked an “Uber Eats-style” nonprofit distribution model—and how they partnered with Catholic Charities of Boston. Momentum and credibility: how the charity’s visibility led to major exposure and new relationships (including appearances on CBS, Bloomberg, PBS, the Drew Barrymore Show, and even White House conferences). NomadAI: why Camden believes travel is a perfect industry for AI disruption—and how NomadAI aims to build itineraries and handle planning like a “24/7 assistant in your back pocket.” Meridian Capital Partners: a founder-focused “hub” that invests very early stage in college founders—especially people who don’t have the usual resume or network. The hard parts: being misunderstood in a high-pressure prep school environment, dealing with racism, isolation, and having to finish part of high school online. The turning point: Universe taking three years to get funded, losing an early investor, and Camden’s “dark night of the soul” moment—where he had to stop chasing comparison and decide what he’s actually committed to. The mission behind Universe: Camden’s focus on helping Gen Z navigate a brutal job/internship market—and building something that serves them in a way he feels LinkedIn doesn’t.   A few lines worth remembering Camden on mission: “I’m really committed to making a difference and solving problems and connecting people.” Camden on perseverance: after setbacks and many calls, they found an accredited investor who put six figures in because he saw the MVP—and the dream. Camden to Gen Z builders: if you’re in a tough season, keep going—try new things—persevere.   Links / Resources Mentioned NomadAI: NomadAI.io Universe (waitlist): UniverseApp.com   About Camden Francis (from this episode) Camden Francis is a Gen Z founder based in the Boston area. He co-founded: Beyond the Crisis, a COVID-era food distribution charity that moved ~$100,000 in food/resources with partners like Catholic Charities of Boston NomadAI, an AI-assisted travel planning and itinerary platform He’s also building Universe, a career/network platform aimed at helping Gen Z navigate internships and jobs.   -----   Camden Francis, a dynamic 21-year-old currently pursuing a degree in Finance and Business Management, seamlessly blends academic prowess with an entrepreneurial spirit. Beyond the confines of his desk, Camden revels in the exhilaration of sports, cherishes quality moments with family and friends, and takes leisurely strolls with his beloved Goldendoodle, Brooks. His summers are often punctuated with escapes to Cape Cod, where he finds solace and inspiration. At the core of Camden's ethos is his commitment to making a positive impact. In 2020, he founded Beyond the Crisis, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the community. Under his leadership, the organization diligently distributes food and resources to housing communities and homeless shelters. Camden's visionary approach extends to the research team at Beyond the Crisis, which collaborates with major organizations to strategically combat food insecurity and enhance nutritional health at a national level. Not content with just one venture, Camden is also the visionary force behind "Univerze," a tech company that has birthed a professional networking mobile application. His multifaceted abilities extend beyond the boardroom; Camden is a captivating public speaker, having appeared on renowned platforms such as the Drew Barrymore Show, CBS, PBS, Bloomberg, and NPR. His insights on entrepreneurship have been shared with a broader audience through various podcasts, while his recently published book further underscores his commitment to knowledge dissemination. Looking ahead, Camden is set to expand his horizons. He envisions penning another influential book, venturing into real estate, and strategically growing his investment portfolio. For interviews or business inquiries, Camden Francis invites you to connect with him at info@camdenfrancis.com. Embrace the opportunity to engage with a young luminary whose charisma, innovation, and commitment to positive change define his journey.   Ready to make your communication a match for how good you really are? John K. Bates provides private executive communication coaching and leadership development for accomplished leaders and teams. His programs have earned 92+ Net Promoter Scores with organizations including NASA, Johnson & Johnson, Google, Intuit, and Boston Scientific. Explore private coaching and leadership programs: https://executivespeakingsuccess.com/ Build your communication practice with John’s free weekly mini-trainings: https://johnbates.com/mini-trainings/

    Building the Long Game — From Pandemic Food Relief to NomadAI + “Universe” (LinkedIn for Gen Z) with Camden Francis

  8. 15 Jul

    AI, White Space Strategy, and the Future of Business Growth with Ryan Edwards

    Some conversations arrive exactly when they’re needed. This is one of them.   In this episode, I sit down with Ryan Edwards, my friend and the co-founder of Camino5, for a conversation that’s been years in the making. Ryan and I first met at one of my live events in Los Angeles, and ever since, he’s been one of those people who quietly shifts how I see the business landscape. He has a rare vantage point: deep experience working with startups, global brands, and billion-dollar companies, and the pattern recognition that comes with it.   Ryan’s work centers on white space strategy... finding the overlooked opportunities where real growth lives, and there couldn’t be a more relevant moment for this conversation. The pace of change has accelerated dramatically, especially with the rise of AI, and many leaders are trying to move faster without losing control.   This episode exists because the rules of business strategy have changed faster in the last year than they did in the previous decade. And most leaders haven’t recalibrated yet.   What we explore here isn’t fear-based. It’s grounded, optimistic, and practical.   Three Operating Principles from This Conversation   1. White space is now dynamic, not static White space used to be analyzed every 18 months. Today, Ryan is seeing strategy cycles compress to quarterly—or even monthly—reviews. Not because leaders love churn, but because technology and culture are moving too fast for set-and-forget thinking. White space isn’t always a massive blue ocean. More often, it’s a small, highly specific intersection of your value proposition, your customer’s real needs, and what you can actually execute well, right now.   2. AI works best when it supports judgment — not when it replaces it Ryan offers one of the clearest, most useful frames I’ve heard for AI and small business: Don’t ask AI for big, sweeping answers. Ask it a series of small questions you can common-sense check, and let those answers ladder up. This takes longer. It requires thinking. And it keeps humans in the loop. That matters because for a small business, one AI mistake isn’t annoying; it’s expensive. One missed email, one misrouted opportunity, one wrong automation can cost real money. Interestingly, Ryan is also seeing large corporations pull back from “AI everywhere” toward controlled automation and fixed workflows. The lesson? We’re not at the point where we can responsibly turn everything over, and pretending we are is risky.   3. Community is now a strategic advantage Ryan makes a compelling case that small business owners should be in their local business community at least once every two weeks, not to network performatively, but to gut-check reality, compare notes, and stay human. Some of the most valuable insights right now are coming from people with just a few years of experience, because they’re in it, learning fast, and willing to share what’s actually working. You never stop learning. And you don’t need decades of experience to contribute. You just need a clear point of view and an open mind.   The Bigger Picture Despite uncertainty, Ryan is seeing more optimism in business than he has in years. Not blind optimism, earned optimism. As he puts it, we have more control than we realized last year. But control only matters if we use it. This is a conversation about: Staying human in an increasingly automated world Using powerful tools wisely instead of stupidly Showing up—locally, imperfectly, consistently—for the world we want to create We’re the ones we’ve been waiting for.   Connect with Ryan Edwards Camino Five: camino5.com Ryan Edwards on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ryanedwards Connect with John Bates johnbates.com executivespeakingsuccess.com livelikealeader.show   This episode makes no difference without you. If you enjoyed the show, please leave a five-star rating and share it with someone who’s navigating leadership, strategy, or AI right now. That’s how we learn from — and support — each other on the journey. Thank you!   -----   Ryan Edwards is the co-founder of Camino5, a strategy consultancy built on a simple belief: insights create strategy and strategy creates growth. With more than 15 years of experience across digital, brand, and customer experience, Ryan’s career began in web design and programming before evolving into creative and CX leadership roles. Over the last decade, his work has focused on understanding how people actually engage with brands across platforms, moments, and decisions, turning that understanding into strategies that move businesses forward. At Camino5, Ryan leads work through Paired Perspective™, the firm’s approach to connecting customer behavior across a fragmented landscape. The goal isn’t channel optimization in isolation, but strategic clarity that enables speed, alignment, and action. Ryan has partnered with global brands including Disney, P&G, NBCUniversal, Unilever, Chase, Nike, and Kaiser Permanente, as well as high-growth startups and emerging category leaders. His work has supported multiple unicorns, driven category-defining launches, and contributed to research that led to $20M-per-month business turnarounds. Ryan works with companies that believe strategy should create momentum and that growth starts with seeing the customer clearly. Ready to make your communication a match for how good you really are? John K. Bates provides private executive communication coaching and leadership development for accomplished leaders and teams. His programs have earned 92+ Net Promoter Scores with organizations including NASA, Johnson & Johnson, Google, Intuit, and Boston Scientific. Explore private coaching and leadership programs: https://executivespeakingsuccess.com/ Build your communication practice with John’s free weekly mini-trainings: https://johnbates.com/mini-trainings/

    AI, White Space Strategy, and the Future of Business Growth with Ryan Edwards
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Live Like a Leader is where accomplished leaders explore what it takes to communicate with clarity, earn trust, and move people to meaningful action. L=f(c): Leadership is a function of communication. Great leadership is a function of great communication. Hosted by John K. Bates, executive communication coach, keynote speaker, TED/TEDx speaker coach, and founder of Executive Speaking Success, the show features candid conversations with NASA astronauts, Navy SEALs, global executives, entrepreneurs, authors, and other remarkable leaders. Each episode turns lived experience into practical insight you can use to communicate with greater clarity, credibility, humanity, and impact. John’s WHY is to bring out what’s awesome inside every person so it can live in the world and make a real difference.

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