I'm Just Getting Started Podcast

About I'm Just Getting Started Podcast

Welcome to I’m Just Getting Started — reflections on leadership, purpose, and the lessons found in everyday life. After decades with students and teams, I’ve learned growth isn’t linear. We’re all still learning, leading, and laughing as we go. imjustgettingstarted1.substack.com (https://imjustgettingstarted1.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

I'm Just Getting Started

Category

business · education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

3 Dec 2025

Latest episode

30 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

41 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   30 Sept 2026

   When Growth Creates a Dam

   Rapid growth feels exciting. New people. New opportunities. New ideas. New problems that feel like good problems to have. But somewhere in the middle of all that growth, something subtle can happen: Decisions start flowing uphill. At first, centralizing decisions feels responsible. Leaders want consistency, accountability, and protection against mistakes. But eventually, the same leaders managing the growth become the funnel for nearly every meaningful choice. The reservoir fills. Small decisions settle like sediment. People wait. Ideas stall. And eventually everything becomes urgent. In this episode of I’m Just Getting Started, I explore how organizations accidentally create decision-making dams — and what supervisors can do to keep the water flowing without abandoning accountability. In This Episode * Why rapid growth naturally pushes organizations toward centralized decision-making * How reasonable attempts to protect consistency can create bottlenecks * The “sediment problem” of small, unresolved decisions * Why smart, capable employees eventually stop bringing forward ideas when everything requires permission * How organizations mistakenly respond to bottlenecks by building even more approval layers * Why growing organizations need river systems instead of bigger dams * The difference between requiring approval and providing certification * How supervisors can use Floodgate Testing Days to quickly surface and release stalled ideas and decisions * Why employees should occasionally be allowed to walk an idea up the ladder with you * How leaders unknowingly create small downstream dams through everyday behaviors * The value of clear decision lanes: decide, consult, or escalate * Why more decisions should fall into the category of “Try it” * How to capture ideas before they become organizational sediment * Why leaders should reward good decisions even when they are different from the decisions they would have made * How to teach people when escalation really is necessary * Why supervisors should be bridges rather than toll booths * How to identify “standing water” inside your organization Key Takeaways Growth does not usually stall because an organization runs out of talented people or good ideas. It stalls because talented people and good ideas get stuck waiting. Leaders who want sustainable growth have to move from: “I make good decisions.” to: “I build people and systems that make good decisions.” Accountability does not require every decision to travel upward. Clear boundaries, decision lanes, coaching, experimentation, and thoughtful escalation can preserve accountability while dramatically increasing capacity. And sometimes the most important question a supervisor can ask is: “What decisions are coming to me that somebody else should already be making?” A Practice to Try: Floodgate Testing Days Every so often, intentionally open the gates. Give your team thirty minutes or an hour to bring forward the small ideas, delayed decisions, irritating processes, or improvements they have been holding because they assumed approval would be difficult. Keep it fast: What is the idea?What problem does it solve?What does it cost?What is the risk?Who should own it? Then answer: Yes.No.Try it.Bring me more information. Or perhaps the most important answer of all: “You don’t need me to decide this.” Sometimes simply discovering how many decisions are unnecessarily flowing upward tells you exactly where the dam has formed. Quote from the Episode “You want to be a bridge, not a toll booth. A bridge helps people get somewhere. A toll booth requires every single person to stop.” Reflection Questions Where is standing water forming in your organization? What decisions have been discussed repeatedly without actually being made? Where are capable people waiting for permission they probably should not need? And perhaps most importantly: What small dams might your own leadership habits be creating downstream? Closing Thought Rapid growth creates pressure. Pressure creates a desire for control. And control can feel responsible. But when every meaningful decision has to travel uphill, eventually the water stops moving. The goal is not less accountability. It is better flow. Open the gates occasionally. Give people real decision lanes. Let them practice judgment. Walk ideas up the ladder with them until they can do it themselves. Use “try it” more often. And build systems where responsibility can move without constantly stopping at your desk. Because organizations rarely slow down because they run out of talent. They slow down because talent gets stuck waiting. The answer isn’t more control. It’s better flow. Get full access to I'm Just Getting Started at imjustgettingstarted1.substack.com/subscribe (https://imjustgettingstarted1.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

2. 

   3 Sept 2026

   Prison Ramen and the Hidden Economy of Work

   A few years ago, I read about how ramen noodles became currency inside prisons. Cheap. Portable. Filling. Always in demand. Ramen became valuable because it met a basic need when the official system was not enough. In this episode of I’m Just Getting Started, I use that image as a leadership metaphor for the hidden economy inside every workplace — the unofficial exchanges of trust, support, information, favors, grace, and encouragement that help people get through hard seasons. Every organization has something people trade when the system does not feed them well enough. The leader’s job is to notice what that currency is, understand what people are hungry for, and shape the culture so people are trading healthy things that help them grow instead of merely survive. In This Episode * Why ramen became a powerful metaphor for workplace survival * How every organization develops an informal economy * What people trade when they are not getting enough clarity, support, trust, or recognition * Why the “ramen of supervision” is often trust, access, support, and grace * How hard seasons reveal what teams are hungry for * Why January often exposes workplace fatigue * The difference between healthy informal support and unhealthy survival systems * How leaders shape what becomes currency inside a team * Why goodwill is not a staffing model * How people-focused work depends on moments of flexibility, care, and being seen * Why leaders should pay attention to what people save, trade, owe, remember, and resent Key Takeaways * Every workplace has an official structure and a real structure. * Informal economies form when the official system does not provide enough of what people need. * If leadership is distant, people may trade in rumors. If leadership is unsafe, people may trade in silence. * If leadership is strong, people are more likely to trade in respect, help, ideas, encouragement, and truth. * The currency people use tells leaders what the team is hungry for. * Goodwill, flexibility, and team spirit matter, but they cannot permanently substitute for healthy systems. * Great leaders do not eliminate the informal economy. They shape it. * When the system is weak, people trade to survive. When the system is strong, people trade to grow. Quote from the Episode “Goodwill is not a staffing model. Team spirit is not a compensation strategy. Encouragement cannot replace clarity forever.” Reflection Questions What are people trading to survive in your organization right now? Are they trading time, energy, patience, emotional labor, silence, or loyalty? What does that tell you they may not be getting enough of? And as a leader, what are you making valuable? Closing Thought Leadership is not just managing the official economy. It is shaping the hidden one. The real structure of work is made of relationships, moments, effort, care, trust, and grace. That is the system that carries people through long weeks and hard seasons. When the system is strong, people trade to grow. When it is not, they trade to survive. And that is when ramen starts to matter. Get full access to I'm Just Getting Started at imjustgettingstarted1.substack.com/subscribe (https://imjustgettingstarted1.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

3. 

   18 Aug 2026

   Leading the Emotionally Messy but Exceptionally Talented

   Some employees are brilliant, creative, insightful, and capable of extraordinary work. They are also exhausting. Not because they lack talent, but because their talent comes bundled with emotional intensity — sometimes unprocessed, sometimes misdirected, and sometimes spilling into places where it makes their ability harder to see. In this episode of I’m Just Getting Started, I explore what it means to lead emotionally messy but exceptionally talented employees. These are the people who feel deeply, react quickly, send the long email, take feedback personally, and still may be capable of becoming extraordinary leaders. The goal is not to fix them, flatten them, or excuse every behavior. The goal is to help their talent shine brighter than their turbulence. In This Episode * Why emotional messiness does not mean someone is untalented * How poor supervision, personal history, instability, youth, or unresolved pain can shape workplace reactions * Why many emotionally messy employees are succeeding despite the weight they carry * The difference between helping someone grow and trying to fix them * How to use “kindful truth” instead of brutal honesty or avoidance * Why emotional regulation matters more than emotional neutrality * How emotional depth can become a leadership asset when it is disciplined * Why emotionally messy employees often need to be outstanding in their strengths and competent in their weak spots * How to build guardrails around emotional challenges * Why leaders must protect their own energy when leading intense people * The importance of understanding without excusing * How sharp edges can become tools instead of weapons Key Takeaways * Messy does not mean untalented. It often means unfinished. * Many emotionally messy employees want to be seen as steady, capable, and professional, but their reactions can work against that goal. * Kindful truth names the behavior without shaming the person. * The goal is not to make emotional people less emotional; it is to help them manage emotion so it does not manage them. * Emotional depth can become empathy, insight, loyalty, courage, and advocacy when it is channeled well. * Talent does not excuse harm. Leaders must support the employee while also protecting the team. * Caring leaders need boundaries. You cannot set yourself on fire to keep someone else’s emotions warm. * Some of the strongest leaders once required more emotional energy than others knew how to give. Quote from the Episode “Messy is not the end of the story. It is often the middle.” Reflection Questions Who on your team has talent that may be hidden behind emotional turbulence? Are you responding only to the mess, or are you also seeing the gift underneath it? Where might kindful truth help someone understand the gap between how they intend to be seen and how they are actually showing up? And where do you need better boundaries so you can lead with care without becoming emotionally depleted? Closing Thought Emotionally messy but talented employees are not automatic liabilities. They are often high-potential people who have not yet learned how to manage the intensity that makes them special. They need truth, but not cruelty. They need support, but not rescue. They need guardrails, but not shame. They need someone steady enough to say, “There is something powerful in you, but you have to learn how to carry it.” Because messy is not always the end of the story. Sometimes it is the middle. Thanks for listening to I’m Just Getting Started. Until next time, keep learning, keep leading, and remember — we’re all just getting started . Get full access to I'm Just Getting Started at imjustgettingstarted1.substack.com/subscribe (https://imjustgettingstarted1.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

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