Sep 21

90 Days: Why We Pivot Too Soon and Hold On Too Long | EP22

The same number kept finding Lisa: 90 days. A women’s organization told members to wait 90 days before they pivot. Online ads promised a new life in 90 days. A pastor at a revival said the next 90 days is where it turns. Same number, opposite advice. In this solo episode, Lisa explains why both camps miss the point. Ninety days isn’t about speed. It’s how long it takes to get a real answer instead of a feeling. She walks through the two ways we get it wrong, leaving too early and staying too late, and why neither one looks at the evidence. She closes with one assignment: name one thing, give it 90 days, and decide how you’ll measure it. Key Topics We Explored * Two opposite rules: Why “transform in 90 days” and “wait 90 days” can’t both be the rule. * Pivoting too soon: Perfectionism, comparison, and releasing work before the data has time to arrive. * Discomfort isn’t data: How fear of rejection passes itself off as a strategy decision. * Staying too long: When holding on looks like commitment but is avoidance. * 90 days in organizations: How consulting work moves a company from “we want to be” to “we are.” * Your one thing: Naming it, measuring it, and giving it a real window. Chapters 00:00 The Power of 90 Days 01:19 Revealing Hidden Insights 01:50 Navigating the 90-Day Dilemma 09:30 The Power of 90 Days in Personal Growth 10:55 Unveiling What’s Hidden 11:22 The Power of 90 Days Commitment Join the Community! Subscribe to Substack: leadershipstory.substack.com · Follow on Instagram: @theleadershipstory Work with Lisa: 1-on-1 strategy sessions (90 minutes) on leadership, and resilience. Book your session → https://cal.com/connectblackgirlcollc/strategy-session Shop the Black Girl Co collection: https://black-girl-co.printify.me/ Connect with Lisa LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lisa-jones-mbcp-mbci-57872823 Email: connect@leadershipstory.co Get full access to The Leadership Story at leadershipstory.substack.com/subscribe

Sep 8

Midlife Career Change: Giving Yourself Permission | EP21

Lisa Jones sits down with career coach, speaker, and learning and development facilitator Kay Kirkman to unpack why so many people feel stuck in careers that no longer fit, especially in midlife. Kay shares how her own nontraditional path, broadcast journalism background, and experience getting fired from her dream radio job shaped the way she now helps people reimagine work and reclaim the parts of themselves they set aside. Key Topics We Explored * Permission to Dream: Why giving yourself permission matters more than having a practical plan. * Identity Over Job Title: Why the real block in midlife is identity, not ability. * Reclaiming Dormant Selves: Reinvention as returning to the versions of you left in the basement. * Making Time with Intention: Finding the hour a week your dream needs, honestly. * Framing Your Vision: Kay’s first coaching step, getting quiet before getting a plan. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Leadership and Resilience 03:00 The Journey into Career Coaching 05:52 Permission to Dream 08:34 Breaking the Cycle of Career Expectations 11:40 The Birth of the Gen X Career Show 15:59 Relaunching the Podcast: A New Focus 20:57 Identity and Career Transitions 21:58 Reclaiming Our True Selves 28:14 Finding Time for Personal Growth 35:16 The Journey to Coaching 37:17 Defining Leadership Through Resilience 39:43 Reclaiming Your True Self Join the Community! Work with Lisa: 1-on-1 strategy sessions (90 minutes) on leadership, and resilience. Book your session → https://cal.com/connectblackgirlcollc/strategy-session Shop the collection: Tools for The Story is live: https://black-girl-co.printify.me/ Connect with Kay Podcast: The GenX Career Show https://pod.link/1530650736 Website: www.kirkmancommunications.com Midlife Reinvention roadmap: https://preview.mailerlite.io/forms/2514632/193188166691194183/share Email: kay@kaykirkman.com Connect with Lisa LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lisa-jones-mbcp-mbci-57872823 Email: connect@leadershipstory.co Get full access to The Leadership Story at leadershipstory.substack.com/subscribe

Aug 17

The Surplus Problem: What Burnout Is Really Costing High-Performing Women | EP20

Burnout does not come from having too little. It comes from gathering more than the day requires. In this solo episode, Lisa Jones revisits the story of manna and surplus through a resilience lens links it to one word: capacity. She shares how a routine walk helped her identify her own burnout, clarifies the difference from stress, and explains why the surplus we keep carrying has a real cost. Supported by research on the invisible work women absorb, the hours lost to low-value tasks, and why women are taught to carry more in the first place, this episode gives you the next move after naming your depletion: figure out what today actually requires and stop gathering past it. Key Topics Explored * The manna principle: why the rule was not just gather daily, but do not store it up. * Stress versus burnout: stress is load, burnout is load beyond capacity, and rest is not the answer * Over-gathering as the hidden load: saying yes to everything you can do without asking whether you have room for it. * The single point of failure: why the thing you would flag in a client’s assessment is the thing you call reliability in your own life. * The supply you don’t count: how the small things that fill you are the source of the capacity you spend everywhere else. * “The No Club”: women spend roughly 200 more hours a year than men on work nobody gets promoted for. * What just enough is not: sufficiency as a higher standard, not a lower one. * Employee Assistance Programs: why a wellness program can’t fix a capacity problem. * The assignment: what does today actually require? Chapters 0:00 Manna: Not Scarcity, Surplus 2:20 When Burnout Finally Had a Name 4:05 Stress Is Not Burnout 9:48 Over-Gathering and the Cost of Being Reliable 13:30 The Supply You Don’t Count 18:00 The No Club: 200 Hours a Year 21:49 What Just Enough Actually Looks Like 25:10 If You Run a Team 27:21 Stockpiling Is Not Redundancy 28:22 The Assignment: What Does Today Require? 30:30 Work with Me: One-on-One Strategy Sessions Join the Community! Work with Lisa: 1-on-1 strategy sessions (90 minutes) on capacity, leadership, and resilience. Book your session → https://cal.com/connectblackgirlcollc/strategy-session Shop the collection: Tools for The Story is live: https://black-girl-co.printify.me/ Read the companion newsletter — Strategy, Unscripted: “You Can’t Scale Yourself on Empty“ Connect with Lisa: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lisa-jones-mbcp-mbci-57872823 Email: Connect@leadershipstory.com Sources: Read the companion newsletter — Strategy, Unscripted: “You Can’t Scale Yourself on Empty Babcock, Peyser, Vesterlund & Weingart, The No Club (research coverage, 2022) https://noclub.com McKinsey survey on recognition of collaborative work https://womenintheworkplace.com/2021 Eagle Hill Consulting employee survey, March 2025 https://www.eaglehillconsulting.com/news/workers-say-they-regularly-spend-time-on-low-value-inefficient-tasks/ Get full access to The Leadership Story at leadershipstory.substack.com/subscribe

Aug 3

Self-Care as Leadership: Boundaries and Reclaiming You | EP19

Elethia S. Gay explains why self-care is a core strategic decision for high performance, focusing on setting boundaries and converting fear into courage. Originally released earlier this year, and back in the feed for a reason. Elethia makes an argument that reframes the whole conversation: your body is one member. It travels with you into every role, every goal, every promotion — which means health goals and career goals were never two separate lists. They are one vision for who you are becoming. This conversation sets up the new episode releasing August 17. Key Topics We Explored * Why self-care is strategy, not recovery and what it costs to treat it as the thing you get to afterward. * Your body is one member: why work-life balance splits something that was never actually separate. * Being in love with yourself; not selfishly, but strategically and how that changes what you bring into a role. * Why the oxygen mask metaphor breaks down when you have already waited too long to put it on. * Start with one thing, not seven resolutions, and how to find the one thing that is actually the roadblock. * Getting to the source rather than the symptom: if your feet hurt, the problem is not your discipline. * Rest, spirituality, and surrender as the practical foundation underneath sustainable leadership. * Roots to Wellness and Hiking for Hope: building community and self-expression out of hard seasons. * The signature question: the one word Elethia uses to define her leadership story. Chapters 00:00 - Why I Am Bringing This Episode Back 00:57 - Welcome: Self-Care Is Not Separate From Your Strategy 02:16 - Meet Elethia Gay 03:12 - How We Met: A Birthday Party and a Beyoncé Song 04:24 - The Leadership Journey: Training Manager to Wellness Coach 05:49 - Mom, Tony Little, and the Seed That Got Planted 08:29 - Walking Into the Room That Felt Like It Was For Everyone Else 09:24 - The Spin Class Moment: Why Not You? 13:05 - Roots to Wellness: Journaling as Self-Expression 16:03 - Hiking for Hope: Turning Loss Into a Mission 21:36 - The Shift: Why Health Goals and Career Goals Are the Same Goal 22:24 - Your Body Is One Member 24:19 - Be In Love With Yourself 25:09 - Why Women Put Themselves Last 26:12 - Getting Practical: Where to Actually Start 27:05 - Rest, Spirituality, and Surrender 31:16 - Choose One Thing, Not Seven Resolutions 33:31 - “I Do Not Have Time for Self-Care” 35:46 - The Signature Question: Be Unafraid 36:45 - Where to Find Elethia 38:15 - Closing Reflection Join the Community: Subscribe on Substack for exclusive content: leadershipstory.substack.com Now on YouTube: @LeadershipStoryPodcast Shop the collection: Tools for The Story is live: https://black-girl-co.printify.me/ Connect with Elethia: Follow on Instagram: @elethiagay Website: elethiagay.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/elethiagaycoach Hiking for Hope: hikes supporting domestic abuse survivors Book: Roots to Wellness — self-expression journal Connect with Lisa: Follow on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lisa-jones-mbcp-mbci-57872823 Email: connect@leadershipstory.co Get full access to The Leadership Story at leadershipstory.substack.com/subscribe

Jul 20

How to Lead, Mentor, and Manage Up |EP18

Kate Lunger, Director of Workforce Initiatives at the Philadelphia Energy Authority, leads programs that expand equitable career pathways for adult learners, re-entry individuals, and marginalized youth in clean energy. In this conversation, she and Lisa talk about what it takes to lead a young team, providing structure without stifling growth, addressing conflict in real time instead of letting it linger, and teaching people the difference between something being personal and something just being the job. Kate also opens up about leading as a woman, and specifically as a Black woman, in spaces where her leadership has been questioned or under-valued and what it looks like to keep going anyway. She traces her own path through learning challenges, the sudden loss of someone she loved during undergrad, raising a son through grad school, and a stretch of unemployment, to the leadership style she brings to her team today: direction paired with motivation, real talk paired with real support. This is a conversation about perseverance that doesn’t sugarcoat the cost of it and about what it means to keep showing up for your people even when no one is asking what you need. Key Topics We Explored * Leadership as direction plus motivation: Kate’s approach centers on giving her team clear direction while actively motivating them toward growth, not just task completion. * Structure in nonprofit spaces: how Kate builds structure and accountability in an environment that can otherwise feel looser than corporate — without losing the flexibility that makes nonprofit work valuable. * Leading a young team through reactivity: teaching a generation that’s grown up reactive how to pause, document their feelings, and respond intentionally instead of firing off the first email. * Women leading differently: Kate’s take on how women lead with more compassion and nurture, and the added weight of being underestimated or intimidating as a woman — and a Black woman — in leadership. * Managing up: what it looks like to lead a team while also having to educate and humble the leadership above you. Chapters 01:16 Kate Lunger: Leadership and Mentorship 07:05 Women’s Leadership and Nonprofit Culture 15:22 Leading a Young Team with Structure 24:22 Helping a Team Grow and Thrive 28:37 Resilience, Confidence, and Adversity 38:47 Perseverance: Kate’s Leadership Story 43:52 Closing and How to Connect 44:51 The Journey of Perseverance 45:32 Leadership Through Adversity Join the Community! Subscribe on Substack for exclusive content: 🚨Now on YouTube: @LeadershipStoryPodcast🚨 Subscribe to Substack: leadershipstory.substack.com Follow on Instagram: @theleadershipstory Shop the collection: Tools for The Story is live: https://black-girl-co.printify.me/ Connect with Kate: Follow on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kate-lungerEmail: lungerkate@gmail.com Connect with Lisa Follow on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lisa-jones Email: connect@leadershipstory.co Get full access to The Leadership Story at leadershipstory.substack.com/subscribe

Jul 6

I Built Resilience Programs, Then Got Laid Off: Job Loss After 40 | EP17

You can spend your whole career helping other people through crisis — and still not see your own coming. This is about what happens when the person who builds resilience programs becomes the one who needs them. In this solo episode, Lisa Jones gets honest about unexpected job loss: the grief no one gives you permission to feel, the pressure to bounce back before you’re ready, and the harder reality facing women over 40 in this market. Part lived experience, part strategy, all real. This episode first aired in April 2026. It’s the first to land here on YouTube — and there’s more coming this fall. New here? Subscribe so you don’t miss it. Key Topics We Explored * The grief of job loss: Why losing a job you didn’t see coming is a real loss — and why you don’t have to be productive in it. * Managing everyone else’s discomfort: You’re not obligated to perform optimism so other people feel better about your crisis. * The 2026 market, honestly: What a “low-hire, low-fire” environment means for how you actually search. * Gendered ageism: What the data says about women facing age bias earlier and harder than men. * Faith and the hard feelings: Why grief, anger, and belief can live in the same room. * The first 48 hours: Unemployment, COBRA, and a survival budget before anything glamorous. * Rebuilding your narrative: A calm, confident answer to “what happened?” — and how to lean on your network without it feeling awful. Chapters 00:00 Facing Unexpected Job Loss 08:32 Navigating the Job Market Challenges 16:42 The Emotional Impact of Job Loss 24:48 Strategic Job Searching and Networking 32:37 Moving Forward with Resilience Join the Community! Subscribe on Substack for exclusive content: Subscribe on Substack: leadershipstory.substack.comFollow on Instagram: @theleadershipstory Shop the collection: Tools for The Story is live: https://black-girl-co.printify.me/ Connect with LisaFollow on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lisa-jonesEmail: leadershipstory@substack.com ResourcesLisa’s article “Congratulations, You’ve Been Restructured” Get full access to The Leadership Story at leadershipstory.substack.com/subscribe

Jun 15

Layoff-Proof Career Strategies: Building Resilience for Women Leaders | EP15

The ground genuinely got less stable, and noticing it isn’t anxiety—it’s an accurate working instinct. In this solo episode, Lisa Jones brings two decades of business continuity expertise to the exact question women leaders are privately wrestling with right now: how do you build career security and survive corporate layoffs when the old corporate promises have quietly expired? Reframing career instability not as a personal failure but as a system design problem you can solve, Lisa shares how to apply real operational resilience tools directly to your life. Learn how to spot your career’s single point of failure, deliberately build income redundancy, and execute the one career transition planning exercise most professionals avoid. If you have been over-performing for a deal that no longer exists, this episode provides a strategic, clear-eyed roadmap to stop living in fear and start building a backup plan for your future. Key Topics We Explored * The Broken Corporate Promise: Why the Sunday-night hum isn’t fragility—it’s perception. * Your Single Point of Failure: The systemic risk of running your income, healthcare, identity, and network through one employer. * Building Career Redundancy: Lessons from Gen Z on managing single-paycheck panic and engineering portable skills. * The Career Tabletop Exercise: How to walk through a 90-day income disruption on paper so you are never deciding in a free fall. * The Carer’s Gap: Navigating the predictable, plannable financial exposure that impacts women leaders during peak earning years. Chapters 00:00 The Broken Promise 02:55 The Feeling You’ve Been Carrying 05:05 Single Point of Failure 07:54 Redundancy 12:18 The Tabletop 18:40 What this Looks Like as a Practice 21:00 Planning for Tomorrow Join the Community! Subscribe on Substack for exclusive content: Subscribe to Substack: leadershipstory.substack.com Follow on Instagram: @theleadershipstory Real Women. Real Leadership. Real Resilience!™ Shop the collection: Tools for The Story is live: black-girl-co.printify.me/ Connect with Lisa Follow on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lisa-jones Resources & sources Gen Z and multiple income streams: * Block / Cash App: ~54 million Americans now hold more than one income stream, up from 41 million two years prior; Gen Z drives the growth at roughly five times the rate of Baby Boomers (Bloomberg / Staffing Industry Review, June 2026). * Deputy “Big Shift” report: Gen Z makes up 55% of all workers holding multiple jobs simultaneously — the highest poly-employment rate in over a decade. * Fiverr “Next Gen of Work” report: 67% of Gen Z say multiple income streams are essential for financial security; 56% believe traditional employment will eventually become obsolete. Origin of the “single-paycheck panic” framing (Oct 2025). * Context / nuance: Gen Z switchers’ wage gains have fallen roughly 20 percentage points since 2022 — the old job-hopping playbook returns less now (Fortune, June 2026). The Carer’s Gap and women’s financial exposure: * PensionBee: a one-year pause in retirement contributions can compound to nearly $79,000 in lost savings; a five-year break, about $346,000 less at retirement (Oct 2025). * Women’s earnings track close to men’s early, then diverge during prime career years before narrowing after 55 — meaning women often enter peak earning years with lower lifetime earnings (Carry / BLS, Feb 2026). * Women’s longer life expectancy leaves fewer resources to stretch over more years (National Partnership for Women & Families). Get full access to The Leadership Story at leadershipstory.substack.com/subscribe

Jun 1

Stop Overthinking, Start Moving: How Women Leaders Move to Execution | EP14

Stop overthinking and start leading! Most women leaders aren’t missing the answer; they’re missing the move. In this solo episode, Lisa Jones breaks down the leadership strategy to move from analysis paralysis to decisive action. Learn the decision-making framework Lisa uses to break the overthinking loop with three core questions: * What’s the smallest version I can test? * What if it fails? So what? * What can I control to lower the risk? If you’ve ever confused more thinking with more progress, this episode provides the tools to get unstuck, improve your leadership mindset, and start moving. Key Topics We Explored * Why overthinking feels like diligence but functions as a stall * What the research says: the 99.5% finding and why women ruminate more * The belief that quietly feeds overthinking instead of solving it * The three-question framework for moving from analysis to action Chapters 00:00 The Journey of Self-Discovery 01:23 Overcoming Overthinking 05:25 Taking Action: The Small Steps 09:29 Moving Forward with Courage Join the Community! Subscribe on Substack for exclusive content: Subscribe to Substack: leadershipstory.substack.com Follow on Instagram: @theleadershipstory Connect with Lisa Follow on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lisa-jones Shop the Collection: 🚨“Tools for The Story” is live! Black Girl Co Store Real Women. Real Leadership. Real Resilience!™ Get full access to The Leadership Story at leadershipstory.substack.com/subscribe

The Leadership Story Podcast

90 Days: Why We Pivot Too Soon and Hold On Too Long | EP22

Midlife Career Change: Giving Yourself Permission | EP21

The Surplus Problem: What Burnout Is Really Costing High-Performing Women | EP20

Self-Care as Leadership: Boundaries and Reclaiming You | EP19

How to Lead, Mentor, and Manage Up |EP18

I Built Resilience Programs, Then Got Laid Off: Job Loss After 40 | EP17

Layoff-Proof Career Strategies: Building Resilience for Women Leaders | EP15

Stop Overthinking, Start Moving: How Women Leaders Move to Execution | EP14

Ratings & Reviews

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The Leadership Story Podcast

Episodes

90 Days: Why We Pivot Too Soon and Hold On Too Long | EP22

Midlife Career Change: Giving Yourself Permission | EP21

The Surplus Problem: What Burnout Is Really Costing High-Performing Women | EP20

Self-Care as Leadership: Boundaries and Reclaiming You | EP19

How to Lead, Mentor, and Manage Up |EP18

I Built Resilience Programs, Then Got Laid Off: Job Loss After 40 | EP17

Layoff-Proof Career Strategies: Building Resilience for Women Leaders | EP15

Stop Overthinking, Start Moving: How Women Leaders Move to Execution | EP14

Ratings & Reviews

About

Information