Success Secrets and Stories

What If The Real Measure Of Success Is Who Listens?

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2220934/fan_mail/new] Time is the one thing even the richest people can’t buy more of, and that truth changes how we think about leadership. Greg and I dig into why “more valuable than gold” isn’t a slogan, it’s a real compass for your career, your family, and the choices you make when nobody is watching. If you’ve ever felt the middle of life speeding up while you’re just trying to keep up, this conversation is for you. We walk through a simple approach to career planning that starts with priorities and turns into a five-year plan you can actually use. We talk about why communication is the connector for everything that matters, how telling the right people your goals creates support and accountability, and why your plan should be revisited every few years instead of parked in a drawer. We also share how Management By Responsibility (MBR) from Dr. Durst ties purpose, focus, and leadership responsibility back to the moment you’re living right now. Then we get practical about setbacks. John shares what it feels like to be unemployed after decades of work and the mindset shift that finally helped, including a job search move that goes beyond sending resumes into the void. Greg adds the HR perspective on what organizations notice when you interact with front desk staff and how your “personal culture” shows up before the interview even starts. If you want to use time better, lead with more intention, and build a career plan that fits your real life, listen now. Subscribe, share this with someone who’s at a crossroads, and leave a review so more leaders can find the show. Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SuccessStories] Presented by John Wandolowski and Greg Powell

100% Responsibility Stops Super Managers Syndrome

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2220934/fan_mail/new] Being a manager right now can feel like getting squeezed from every direction: bigger goals, tighter budgets, fewer people, and a job description that quietly expands until it’s impossible. We talk about that reality head-on and name what so many leaders are living through: super manager syndrome, where you become strategist, coach, analyst, motivator, crisis manager, and the person answering emails late at night because “someone has to.” Greg and I also get honest about AI in management. Yes, data and automation can surface patterns, speed up reporting, and clarify standards. But data isn’t leadership, and AI doesn’t carry human limitations like emotional fatigue, family stress, or the weight of being accountable for a team. When executives treat metrics as the full story, managers inherit a new burden: not only solving problems, but also sanity-checking whether AI outputs reflect real-world conditions. From there, we share a framework we’ve found practical: Management by Responsibility (MBR) from Dr. G. Michael Durst. We walk through how MBR shifts the focus from controlling tasks to developing people through clear accountability, better delegation, and trust that still works in hybrid and remote work. A key takeaway is simple but hard: you can only do 100% responsibility. When you try to do 150%, burnout is the predictable result. If you lead a team and want a better way to build capability without becoming the default doer, listen now, subscribe for more leadership tools, and share this with a manager who needs a reset. After you listen, leave a review and tell us: where are you being asked to carry more than 100%? Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SuccessStories] Presented by John Wandolowski and Greg Powell

Stop Saying: "It’s Not My Fault"

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2220934/fan_mail/new] “It’s not my fault” can be a fact, but it’s also a trap. When teams lead with explanations instead of ownership, responsibility gets diluted, problems get escalated, and leaders turn into bottlenecks. John Wondolowski and Greg Powell break down how that pattern forms and why it’s so common in otherwise smart, hardworking organizations. Greg and I use Dr. Durst’s Management By Responsibility (MBR) model to translate the behavior into something you can coach. You’ll hear what the conformance level sounds like in real workplace language, why the core motivation is often safety and approval, and how an external locus of control fuels blame shifting. Then we contrast it with the achievement level, where people still acknowledge obstacles but stop hiding behind them and start taking initiative, stating intent, and delivering results. We also get practical about what leaders can do next: replacing blame questions with coaching questions that drive action, using SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) to turn long explanations into clear recommendations, and building psychological safety that holds up under pressure. The takeaway we keep coming back to is simple: responsibility is not about blame, it’s about power. If you want your meetings to shift from excuses to plans and your culture to reward accountability, listen now, share it with a manager on your team, and subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next. If it resonates, leave a review and tell us: where does “it’s not my fault” show up most in your world? Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SuccessStories] Presented by John Wandolowski and Greg Powell

Career Development Means Growing Your People

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2220934/fan_mail/new] Your team is telling you the truth every day, but not always with words. When leaders treat silence as satisfaction, careers stall, engagement drops, and “development” turns into a once-a-year checkbox. Greg and I talk through the Management by Responsibility (MBR) mindset and why leadership is about accountability for employee growth, safety, and long-term well-being. From there, we make the case for a simple shift that changes everything: stop framing the conversation as a performance review and start treating it as a career review. That one change moves the tone from judging the past to building a future, even in small organizations where promotions may be limited but coaching, mentoring, and skill growth are always possible. We also dig into 360-degree feedback done right. Used ethically, 360 feedback becomes a powerful development tool that surfaces patterns across communication, collaboration, follow-through, and leadership presence. Used poorly, it becomes a scorecard or a weapon. We share how HR and leaders can shape clear, behavior-based questions, then “test” feedback with real observation and follow-up so it turns into learning instead of defensiveness. Finally, we connect the dots with Individual Development Plans (IDPs) and SMART goals, showing how to translate feedback into a practical roadmap with regular check-ins. You’ll hear a mentoring story where one small behavior change reshaped perception and helped a young manager grow into a VP, proving that tiny actions can change trajectories. If you found value here, subscribe, share the show with a leader you care about, and leave a review so more people can build careers the right way. Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SuccessStories] Presented by John Wandolowski and Greg Powell

Resume Gets You Hired And Character Gets You Fired

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2220934/fan_mail/new] The resume is neat, confident, and full of bullet points. The reality is a human being who shows up on Monday morning, and sometimes that gap is not a gap at all, it is a canyon. Greg and I talk about why skills may get someone hired, but character is what decides whether they last, especially once the pressure hits and the probationary period ends. We dig into “interview theater,” the buzzword-heavy game of keyword bingo, and how vague claims like “team player” or “highly coachable” can hide a lack of ownership. Then we map out the workplace types most leaders eventually recognize, from the calm delegator who dodges accountability/ to the professor who filibusters meetings/ the missing-in-action avoider/ the chaos-loving crisis manager/ the historian who blocks new ideas, and the idea thief who drains trust. None of these patterns are about raw incompetence. They are about misalignment, inconsistency, and the behaviors that quietly damage culture. We also get practical with character-based hiring. We share simple tools like the receptionist test, the mistake probe, and how to listen for a clear career narrative, execution proof, business acumen, and adaptability. We even pull leadership examples from pop culture, contrasting the dysfunction of Michael Scott with the people-first steadiness of Ted Lasso. If you want better hiring decisions, fewer “how did we miss this?” moments, and a stronger leadership toolbox, press play, then subscribe, share, and leave us a review with your biggest hiring red flag. Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SuccessStories] Presented by John Wandolowski and Greg Powell