Lead with Empower Podcast

About Lead with Empower Podcast

Great leadership looks, sounds, and feels different based on the leader and the situation. However, there are common threads that connect all tremendous leaders. Our goal is to connect with leaders who are in the trenches each day leading themselves and others; to learn about their unique leadership style, explore their leadership practices, and to provide our listeners with inspiration to lead.

Publisher

Dan Jaskot

Category

business · education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

31 Mar 2020

Latest episode

10 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

93 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   10 Sept 2026

   S2025E19 - 2026 - E19 Lead with Empower Podcast

   Activity Synopsis: Team Memory Challenge This episode of the Lead with Empower Podcast features an in-depth introduction and discussion of the Team Memory Challenge - a staple team building initiative in the Empower Leadership programmatic arsenal. Core Overview & Expectations: The Team Memory Challenge is a highly dynamic, relay-race style team-building activity that looks deceptively simple on paper but serves as a rigorous exercise in communication and planning. Facilitators use the challenge to expose a group's tendency to prioritize immediate gratification and quantity/speed over high-quality execution and detailed preparation. Participants should expect a high-stress environment where they must fight the instinct to rush, instead focusing on meticulous planning and collective accountability. Standard Setup & Rules: ● The Layout: The entire team stands at a starting or staging cone. Across the way (typically 25 to 30 feet away), 20 face-down plaques are arranged in a 4x5 grid. ● The Goal: The grid consists of 10 pairs of matching words, phrases, or numbers. The collective objective is to successfully uncover all 10 matching pairs. ● The Relay: One teammate at a time leaves the staging cone and goes to the grid to flip over two plaques. ● If the plaques match, they stay facing up. ● If they do not match, the player must flip them back face-down exactly as they found them before returning to the cone. ● Strict Communication Rules: When a player is actively at the grid, there is zero communication permitted—no talking, hand signals, or gesturing to the team back at the cone. The team can only strategize and debrief when the active player returns to the staging cone. ● The Mistake Rule: If a player gets frustrated and forgets to flip a non-matching pair back face-down, the next player in line cannot flip new plaques. Their entire turn must be spent fixing their teammate's mistake. Equipment Requirements: Specialized equipment is not required to run this activity. While professional facilitators often use custom-made plastic logos or branded plaques, it can easily be replicated using common items: ● A standard deck of playing cards (e.g., matching red aces or black aces). ● Numbered tennis balls covered by bandanas. ● Old athletic or workspace gear hidden under bandanas. ● Optional Tool: Teams can be given a whiteboard or paper to map out coordinates, which tests their ability to label grids and maintain accurate record-keeping under pressure. Activity Variations: The challenge is highly adaptable to space limitations, age groups, and physical fitness goals: ● Indoor / Limited Space: For tight environments like conference rooms or classrooms, teams can sit just 3 to 4 feet away but must face completely away from the grid so they cannot watch other turns. ● Mega Memory: Scaled up into a larger project using a grid of 40 plaques (20 matches). ● Physical Conditioning: For athletic teams, the grid can be placed at the top of a 100-yard hill or require pairs to "buddy carry" a teammate up to flip the plaques. ● Multi-Player Trips: If group sizes are exceptionally large (e.g., 16 people), participants can go up in pairs or trios to uncover multiple plaques, heavily testing synchronized execution. Find out more at https://lead-with-empower-podcast.pinecast.co (https://lead-with-empower-podcast.pinecast.co) This podcast is powered by Pinecast (https://pinecast.com).

2. 

   10 Sept 2026

   S2025E18 - 2026 - E18 Lead with Empower Podcast

   The core discussion centers on ten leadership lessons extracted from the New York Knicks' unexpected 2025–2026 NBA championship run. The hosts highlight how the team maximized their success by creating a perimeter to block out intense media noise, staying highly adaptable to roster changes, and embracing regular-season challenges as vital playoff preparation. Furthermore, players exemplified selfless servant leadership by sacrificing individual statistics for the collective good, fully embracing specialized roles, and focusing heavily on unglamorous "dirty work" like defense and rebounding. The Knicks ultimately overcame the more physically gifted San Antonio Spurs by maintaining an absolute "no quit" attitude, engineering massive comebacks, and prioritizing complete unity over division or blame. The hosts conclude that these principles of discipline, role ownership, and persistence through necessary but tedious tasks apply directly to achieving long-term success in business and everyday life. 1. Creating a Perimeter: The team successfully tuned out intense media overanalysis and social media distractions to focus entirely on internal relationships and things within their immediate control. 2. Adaptability: The coaching staff and players embraced an iterative mindset of trying new strategies, evaluating the results, making adjustments, and trying again. 3. Embracing Challenges as Preparation: The organization viewed regular-season dry spells and losing streaks not as failures, but as necessary preparation to harden them for the playoffs. 4. Giving of Oneself for the Whole: Superstar players actively sacrificed individual statistics and money to allow the front office to build a better, more unified roster. 5. Embracing Roles: Players did not complain about their playing time or roster placement; instead, they strove for individual greatness within their specific assignments. 6. The Dirty Work Matters: Championship success requires "grindy" behind-the-scenes work, such as tough defense and rebounding, that rarely makes highlight tapes or video games. 7. No Ounce of Quit: The team maintained an absolute "no-quit" attitude, enabling them to execute massive 20- and 30-point comebacks by focusing on taking games one bucket at a time. 8. Selfless/Servant Leadership: Leaders on the team focused entirely on lifting their peers up and maintaining absolute belief in teammates even after poor individual performances. 9. Doing More with Less: Rather than trying to fit a generic mold, individuals maximized and mastered the specific unique physical tools and skills they possessed. 10. Togetherness over Division: Win, lose, or draw, the team refused to engage in finger-pointing, blaming referees, or infighting, choosing instead to own their outcomes collectively. Find out more at https://lead-with-empower-podcast.pinecast.co (https://lead-with-empower-podcast.pinecast.co) This podcast is powered by Pinecast (https://pinecast.com).

3. 

   11 Jun 2026

   S2025E16 - 2026 - E17 Lead with Empower Podcast

   The Empower Leadership Podcast episode #17 focuses on the Pipeline activity, a foundational team-building initiative used to teach leadership, collaboration, trust, and accountability. Activity Overview The primary objective of Pipeline is for a group to transport an object (typically a golf ball) from a starting line into a finishing bucket using sections of halved PVC tubes. ●       Group Size: Ideally suited for teams of 6 to 12 people. ●       Setup: The distance between the start and finish must be greater than the total length of the tubes combined, forcing participants to move and reconnect their sections. ●       Standard Rules: ●       Each participant receives one tube. ●       While the ball is in their tube, a participant can rotate their upper body but cannot move their feet. ●       The ball cannot stop, roll backward, or fall. ●       The ball may only touch the inside of the tubes or the bucket. ●       Any rule break requires the entire team to restart at the beginning. Common Mistakes and Facilitation Points The speakers highlight several common behavioral patterns that emerge during the activity, which serve as key teaching moments: ●       Speed vs. Control: Teams often rush, creating a "rocket launcher" effect that makes the ball impossible to catch. Facilitators use this to teach that control and visibility are often more important than raw speed. ●       The "Observer" Mentality: Participants often watch the ball roll past rather than immediately moving to the end of the line. This highlights a lack of trust and a failure to perform one's specific role. ●       Failure to Plan the Finish: Groups frequently plan for the transport but neglect the actual drop into the bucket, often overshooting it due to excitement or crowding. ●       Credit vs. Team Success: Sometimes an individual will try to "steal the glory" by inserting their tube at the last second, often causing a failure. This leads to discussions on whether the individual's accolades or the team's success is the priority. Modifications and Variations The activity is highly flexible and can be adjusted for different difficulty levels: ●       Terrain: Adding slopes or slalom courses with cones increases the challenge. ●       Objects: Using balls with more friction (whiffle balls) makes it easier, while smaller or faster objects (marbles, super balls) make it harder. ●       Pipeline Pandemonium: A competitive version using multiple objects and targets with varying point values. ●       DIY Options: For those without PVC, the activity can be replicated using pool noodles cut in half or even manila folders. Episode Timeline: ●       Introduction to Pipeline: The speakers introduce "Pipeline" as a staple team-building activity they have referenced many times in previous episodes. (00:01)1 ●       Activity Setup: The goal is to transport an object, usually a golf ball, from a start line to a finish bucket using sections of PVC pipe cut in half. (03:45)2 ●       Core Rules: Participants cannot move their feet while holding the ball, and the ball must never stop, roll backward, or touch anything except the tube. (05:24)3 ●       The "Speed" Trap: A common initial mistake is groups trying to go too fast, which often leads to losing control of the ball. (06:51)4 ●       Trust and Observation: A lack of trust is shown when players watch the ball instead of moving immediately to the end of the line to extend the pipeline. (09:18)5 ●       Operational Breakdowns: Failures at the end of the line are often a result of how the ball was  handled earlier in the pipeline, rather than just the last person's fault. (14:56)6 ●       Planning the Finish: Groups frequently fail because they plan for the start and transport but do not coordinate how to actually drop the ball into the bucket. (18:08)7 ●       Distance and Terrain Mods: The difficulty can be adjusted by changing the distance (from 30 feet to 200 yards) or using sloped terrain. (26:47)8 ●       Equipment Variations: Using different objects like marbles (faster/harder) or tennis balls (slower/easier) can scale the challenge. (31:22)9 ●       Pipeline Pandemonium: A competitive version involves multiple targets and objects with different point values to introduce strategy. (33:18)10 ●       DIY Pipeline: The activity can be replicated cheaply using pool noodles cut into sections or even manila folders in an office setting. (36:47)11 ●       Conclusion: The speakers emphasize that the game's value lies in teaching individual accountability, focus, and setting teammates up for success. (41:24) Find out more at https://lead-with-empower-podcast.pinecast.co (https://lead-with-empower-podcast.pinecast.co) This podcast is powered by Pinecast (https://pinecast.com).

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