What I’ve Learned Managing 17 Direct Reports | Tips for New Managers

How High Performers Overcome Burnout

In this episode of The Manager’s Mic, I sit down with Melissa Coloton, a commercial leadership expert with 20 years of experience and more than $1 billion in new business generated throughout her career. Melissa shares how high performers, sales leaders, executives, and entrepreneurs can pursue success without burning out, abandoning themselves, or sacrificing their health, energy, and relationships. We talk about purpose at work, career identity, self-compassion, sales success, personal connection, and how to stay grounded when life or work becomes unsustainable. This conversation covers burnout, purpose, sales leadership, high-performance habits, emotional resilience, career setbacks, self-leadership, and what it means to honor yourself while still pursuing meaningful results. You will learn how to: * Redefine purpose beyond one title, job, or achievement * Stay connected to yourself during career pressure and uncertainty * Practice self-compassion when success starts to feel heavy * Recognize when ambition is being driven by fear * Build sales success through belief, relationships, and personal connection * Navigate change without losing your health, energy, or identity The goal is simple: build success without losing yourself in the process. Chapters 00:00 Melissa Coloton on Success Without Burnout 02:21 What Purpose Means in Business 05:12 Men, Women, Family, and Purpose at Work 08:34 Career Setbacks, Identity, and Losing Purpose 13:23 Self-Compassion During Hard Seasons 18:01 How to Stay Connected to Purpose 24:31 Practical Ways to Honor Yourself 31:23 The Law of Whatever 34:16 Humor, Improv, and Real Conversations 37:18 How Purpose Drives Sales Success 39:20 Selling With Belief and Personal Connection 43:25 What Baby Biotechs Teach Us About Purpose 50:12 Reverse Engineering $1B in Sales Success 56:38 Burnout, AI Disruption, and Career Identity Follow Melissa Website: https://melissacoloton.com/ [https://melissacoloton.com/]  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissacolton/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissacolton/]  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissa_coloton/ [https://www.instagram.com/melissa_coloton/]  For more tips on leadership, visit The Manager’s Mic:  https://www.themanagersmic.com/ [https://www.themanagersmic.com/] Legal Disclaimer Leonsolutions, LLC, and the content it produces are for educational purposes; your results may vary. No guarantee of results is claimed. The publisher of this content is not responsible for any actions taken or not taken as a result of reading, watching, or listening to our content.

AI Is Coming for Managers, Not Leaders

I sit down with Sean Patton, MBA ACC, a former U.S. Army Ranger and Special Forces Green Beret. Sean is also an executive performance coach, keynote speaker, author, and host of the popular podcast No Limit Leadership. His experience in building trust in teams, creating a compelling vision, and leading through uncertainty will empower you to lead better. Do you want to level up your leadership skills by connecting the principles of military leadership with those of business ownership to shape organizational culture for the better? If yes, then we invite you to join our conversation as we discuss how to: ✅ Build trust across teams with different goals and competing priorities ✅ Create a leadership vision that inspires high performers ✅ Lead through conflict, friction points, and uncertainty ✅ Strengthen workplace culture through communication and feedback ✅ Develop employees so they stay engaged, grow, and perform at a higher level ✅ Understand why human leadership matters more as AI changes management Chapters  00:00 Trailer and Newsletter Plug 01:02 Meet Sean Patton 02:14 Understanding Special Forces and Leadership Dynamics  6:23 Leadership Challenges in Complex Environments  12:01 Building Trust And Relationships in Leadership 17:28 The Importance of Vision and Intensity in Leadership 21:04 Navigating Leadership Transitions  23:36 Lessons From Business Ventures 27:40 Sean Patton’s Journey to Self-Discovery 30:06 The Leadership Trinity Framework 35:53 The Future of Leadership in a Tech-Driven World Follow Sean Patton, MBA: Website:  https://SeanPatton.me [https://SeanPatton.me] Coaching:  https://Novus.Global/seanpatton [https://Novus.Global/seanpatton] Book (A Warrior’s Mindset: The 6 Keys to Greatness):  https://amzn.to/4a6W4r4 [https://amzn.to/4a6W4r4] Podcast (No Limit Leadership):  https://nolimitleadership.buzzsprout.com [https://nolimitleadership.buzzsprout.com] LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolimitleadership [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolimitleadership] Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/nolimitleadership [https://www.instagram.com/nolimitleadership] YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@NoLimitLeadership [https://www.youtube.com/@NoLimitLeadership] For more practical tips on communication, sales enablement, team building, workplace culture, and leadership development, follow The Manager’s Mic Podcast. Legal Disclaimer Leonsolutions, LLC, and the content it produces are for educational purposes; your results may vary. No guarantee of results is claimed. The publisher of this content is not responsible for any actions taken or not taken as a result of reading, watching, or listening to our content.

Why Teams Underperform (and How to Fix It)

This leadership conversation features coaches Brian Powell and Tom Reynolds exploring how effective leadership, coaching, and intentional team development drive organizational effectiveness. They explain how to build high-performing teams through psychological safety, honest communication, and strong collaboration in real workplace conditions. About Bryan Powell Bryan Powell is the co-author of The Efficient Frontier of Teaming™, a number one Amazon Best Seller in three leadership categories. The book offers a practical framework for understanding why capable teams underperform and what it takes to move beyond high performance toward Optimal Performance™. It was built inside real teams operating under real accountability pressure. Alongside Brian’s coaching practice, he is finalizing his doctoral research in performance psychology focused on how psychological safety shapes team performance in results-driven environments. Tom Reynolds   Tom Reynolds is the co-author of The Efficient Frontier of Teaming™ with Brian Powell, where he contributes his expertise around psychological safety and agile goal setting. Specifically, his chapters help teams to see how the right kind of conflict can build psychological safety, and that you can hit a moving target if you plan as though your plan will break down.  With a background in business and clinical psychology, Tom uses a practitioner-scholar approach to design leadership solutions that bridge the divide between research and practical application. He holds a Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Widener University, the only program in the United States to provide integrated training across those two disciplines. Ask about their free team-building tool, the team contract! https://www.theefficientfrontierofteaming.com/contact-us [https://www.theefficientfrontierofteaming.com/contact-us] Buy Their Book https://amzn.to/4fJ7R2i [https://amzn.to/4fJ7R2i]  Chapters 00:00 Trailer 00:50 Meet Bryan Powell & Tom Reynolds 04:04 The Challenge of Team Alignment and Development 05:44 The Role of Authenticity and Disagreement in Teams 07:28 Building Trust Through Tough Conversations 08:56 Frameworks for Psychological Safety Across Industries 12:34 The Team Contract Tool for Engagement 14:10 Workplace Changes and Future Skills with AI 16:06 Essential Competencies for the Next Decade 19:44 Reflections on Using AI in Education and Work 22:03 The Power of Human Judgment in the Age of AI 24:23 Building Authentic Teams and Leadership Mindsets 28:16 The Impact of Authenticity and Engagement on Performance 33:19 Research Insights on High-Performing Teams 36:13 The Partnership and Journey of the Authors 41:02 Final Advice for Leadership Teams Seeking Effectiveness Legal Disclaimer Leonsolutions, LLC, and the content it produces are for educational purposes; your results may vary. No guarantee of results is claimed. The publisher of this content is not responsible for any actions taken or not taken as a result of reading, watching, or listening to our content.

The ADDIE Framework Step Most Companies Miss

The ADDIE model helps managers, trainers, and content creators build training that is structured, useful, and easier to improve. In this video, Paul Leon walks through the five stages of ADDIE and explains the step that many teams underuse after launch. Many organizations analyze, design, develop, and implement training, but stop at rollout or at basic participant feedback, rather than measuring whether people learned, applied the skill, and improved results. This video shows how to use the ADDIE model to strengthen training content, sales enablement, team development, and learning outcomes. You will learn how to: * Analyze learner and performance needs before building content * Design training with clear objectives, structure, assessments, and brand consistency * Develop better content with AI and stakeholder review * Implement training with teams or field reps * Evaluate results through feedback, application, and business-impact data The goal is simple: build training content your team can actually use. Chapters 00:00 Why the ADDIE Model Matters 00:24 Analyze: Start With Learner and Performance Data 02:08 Design: Build With Objectives and Structure 03:01 Develop: Use AI With Stakeholder Review 05:01 Implement: Launch the Training 05:28 Evaluate: The Step Most Teams Underuse For more practical tips on management, training, sales enablement, leadership communication, and building better teams, visit The Manager’s Mic: https://www.themanagersmic.com/ [https://www.themanagersmic.com/] Legal Disclaimer Leonsolutions, LLC, and the content it produces are for educational purposes; your results may vary. No guarantee of results is claimed. The publisher of this content is not responsible for any actions taken or not taken as a result of reading, watching, or listening to our content.

What I’ve Learned Managing 17 Direct Reports | Tips for New Managers

Bad feedback can quietly damage team trust, even when a manager has good intentions. In this episode of The Manager’s Mic, Paul Leon shares lessons from managing 17 direct reports and explains how new managers can give feedback that builds rapport instead of breaking it. This conversation covers why self-awareness matters, how intention and impact are not the same, and why psychological safety is critical when giving feedback. Paul Leon also breaks down a simple feedback framework for managers: be timely, be specific, and stay forward-looking. For new managers, feedback is not just about correcting behavior. It is an opportunity to build trust, improve communication, and create a safer team culture where employees feel comfortable speaking up. Chapters 00:00 Why Bad Feedback Damages Team Trust 03:13 Self-Awareness for Better Manager Feedback 04:23 Fast Feedback Loop: Timely, Specific, Forward-Looking 06:29 Three Feedback Rules for New Managers 07:32 Building Rapport Through Difficult Conversations Watch or listen to more from The Manager’s Mic on tips for new managers * https://www.themanagersmic.com/ [https://www.themanagersmic.com/] Legal Disclaimer Leonsolutions, LLC, and the content it produces are for educational purposes; your results may vary. No guarantee of results is claimed. The publisher of this content is not responsible for any actions taken or not taken as a result of reading, watching, or listening to our content.