Bill Lennan: 40 Percent Better - Turning Leadership Philosophies into Actionable Behaviors

About Bill Lennan:

Bill Lennan is the founder of 40 Percent Better, a performance program that teaches anyone in business to be a more effective leader, create psychological safety, and ultimately improve business performance. Raised on islands and diversely educated, Bill has always focused on solving human as well as technical problems. Over the span of his tech career, he has built products, teams, and solutions for mobile, recruiting, e-commerce, social media, and now education. He has helped companies ranging from Google and Walmart to hotels and restaurants. Building high-functioning teams has been fundamental to Bill’s success.

In this episode, Dean Newlund and Bill Lennan discuss:

• Building and sustaining high-performing teams
• The role of emotional resilience in leadership and teamwork
• Overcoming organizational friction to improve team productivity
• Effective communication and persuasion strategies in professional environments
• Developing habits and processes for long-term team success

Key Takeaways:

• Emotional resilience can be developed by systematically addressing fears through small, manageable actions, building confidence that translates into improved performance in challenging situations.
• Weekly one-on-one sessions where team members can freely voice concerns foster trust, uncover recurring issues, and create an environment where individuals feel psychologically safe and focused.
• Effective persuasion for resources or organizational changes requires aligning proposals with leadership priorities, and using concrete data and success metrics to drive decisions.
• Adopting empowering mental models helps address challenges by encouraging proactive problem-solving, reframing limitations, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

"15-minute one-on-ones with everybody on my team every week... I just listen to their complaints. I don't care what they have to complain about... there's a catharsis in that.” — Bill Lennan

Connect with Bill Lennan:  

Website: https://40pb.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wblennan/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@billlennan

See Dean’s TedTalk “Why Business Needs Intuition” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEq9IYvgV7I

Connect with Dean:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgqRK8GC8jBIFYPmECUCMkw

Website: https://www.mfileadership.com/

The Mission Statement E-Newsletter: https://www.mfileadership.com/blog/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannewlund/

X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/deannewlund

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MissionFacilitators/

Email: dean.newlund@mfileadership.com

Phone: 1-800-926-7370

Show notes by Podcastologist: Hanz Jimuel Alvarez

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.