Ripple Effect Leadership – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

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Ripple Effect Leadership

Journey of Grace Coaching

Business

Education

Frequency: 1 episode/16d. Total Eps: 29

The Ripple Effect Leadership Podcast is for leaders at work, at home, and in the community who feel overwhelmed and want to grow with intention. Every other week, hosts Jen Brown and Hugo Rodriguez, drawing on 50+ years of combined leadership experience as U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Officers and as coaches, share real conversations, actionable insights, and practical tools to help you lead with clarity, courage, and connection. If you’re navigating doubt, burnout, or uncertainty, this podcast will help you create the ripple effect your leadership was meant to have.

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Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

🇬🇧 Great Britain - careers
29/08/2026
#89
🇨🇦 Canada - careers
31/08/2025
#61
🇺🇸 USA - careers
30/08/2025
#89

Spotify

No recent rankings available

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

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https://www.positiveintelligence.com/saboteurs/
4 shares
https://www.stevenrogelberg.com/11-meetings-1
2 shares
https://www.melrobbins.com/episode/episode-351/
2 shares

https://www.instagram.com/rebelrootzshow
4 shares
https://www.instagram.com/evonnevarady
2 shares
https://www.instagram.com/houseofpivots
2 shares

https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliananaranjopereira/
2 shares
https://www.linkedin.com/in/blake-k-holman/
2 shares
http://linkedin.com/in/hfrodriguezjr
2 shares

RSS feed quality and score

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RSS feed quality

To improve

Score global : 58%

Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

Year

Latest published episodes

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Trailer | Ripple Effect Leadership

Tuesday, August 19, 2025 • Duration 00:31

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28 | You’re Not Starting Over: Juliana Pereira on Finding Yourself Through Career Pivots

Episode 28

Monday, August 24, 2026 • Duration 01:01:11

What happens when the career you built no longer fits — or life decides for you?

In this episode of Ripple Effect Leadership, Jen Brown and Hugo Rodriguez sit down with Juliana Pereira — former CMO, TEDx speaker, Harvard Business Review contributor, and co-author of Pivot-Quest — to explore what really happens when we change direction.

After more than seven career pivots of her own and interviews with more than 100 pivoters around the world, Juliana discovered that a pivot is rarely just about finding the next job. It can challenge our identity, relationships, financial security, and courage — while creating an opportunity to reconnect with who we are and what gives us energy.

Pivot-Quest, co-authored with Luis R. Baptista, launches August 25, 2026.

IN THIS EPISODE
• The four crises of a pivot — identity, social, financial & courage
• Why you're not starting from scratch — you're starting from experience
• Finding transferable skills beyond your job title
• How your energy can reveal what you want next
• Mourning the identity and community attached to a role
• Networking vs. building genuine community
• Why opportunities often come through people, not platforms
• Why courage can look as small as asking someone for coffee
• How to test a pivot before making the leap

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction
01:55 Seven pivots — New York to Madrid
09:30 When life forces the pivot
19:35 The four crises of a pivot
20:35 “You are not starting from scratch. You are starting from experience.”
25:49 Forced transitions & transferable skills
31:10 “What brings you energy?”
33:17 Mourning the identity you leave behind
35:04 Networking vs. genuine community
42:09 Doing one thing a year that scares you
52:02 Pivot-Quest: book, workbook & community
57:40 The freedom on the other side — testing before you leap

Whether you're choosing your next chapter, navigating a transition you didn't choose, or wondering whether your work still fits who you've become, remember:

You are not starting from scratch. You are starting from experience.

Sometimes a pivot isn't about becoming someone new. It's about finding your way back to more of who you already are.

CONNECT WITH JULIANA + PIVOT-QUEST

Pivot-Quest: https://www.pivot-quest.com
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GR5H99G8
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pivot-quest-luis-r-baptista/1150502507?ean=9798995027928
Launch events: https://linktr.ee/pivot_quest_book
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliananaranjopereira/
House of Pivots: https://www.instagram.com/houseofpivots/

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27 | Leadership Lessons from the Wilderness: “There Is No Cavalry”

Monday, August 10, 2026 • Duration 48:34

Leadership isn’t a title — it’s service under pressure. Former U.S. diplomat, leadership coach, and Hampden-Sydney College professor Hugo Rodriguez joins Jen Brown to share the leadership lessons from co-teaching Expeditionary Leadership: a ten-day backcountry course that takes ten young men deep into Idaho’s Sawtooth wilderness carrying 50-pound packs. It’s a vivid, real-world look at followership, servant leadership, and leading when the stakes are real.

Hugo walks through the full arc: rotating daily leadership teams (leader, deputy, medic, navigator), blistered feet and heavy packs, nightly debriefs around the fire, and the messy, honest work of a group learning that leadership is service, not status. The turning point is a mid-week “storming” session where the young men asked the professors to step away so they could confront themselves and build their own norms — moving from criticism to accountability, from followership as complaint to ownership. It all culminates in a flash flood on the final day that tests everything they’d built.

Along the way, Jen and Hugo connect the experience to the Tuckman model of team development (forming, storming, norming, performing), the real difference between teaching, mentoring, and coaching, and a message that lands hard: you’re never too old to find a new calling, and leadership is learned by doing.

Key Takeaways

- Leadership isn’t the glory of the title — it’s “stinky feet”: inspecting everyone’s blisters, matching the pace of your least-experienced teammate, and doing the unglamorous work that keeps the team moving. - No plan survives first contact. Blisters, hills, uneven experience, and bad maps force leaders to adapt in real time.

- Followers make or break a team. The breakthrough came when they stopped critiquing the leader and started asking, “What could I have done to help my leader succeed?”

- “There is no cavalry.” A leader asked the professors to eat alone so the team could confront itself, set new norms, and own the outcome.

- You learn leadership by doing — the deepest lessons came from what didn’t work.

18 | Difficult Conversations at Work: How Great Leaders Address What Others Avoid

Monday, April 6, 2026 • Duration 38:34

In this episode of the Ripple Effect Leadership Podcast, we dive into one of the most avoided—and most essential—skills in leadership: having difficult personnel conversations.

The reality? Most leaders know they should address performance gaps, behavior issues, or team conflict… but they don’t. And that avoidance doesn’t stay contained—it creates a ripple effect across the entire team.

In this conversation, we explore:
• Why leaders avoid difficult conversations (and the real cost of that avoidance)
• How lack of communication impacts team morale, trust, and performance
• The importance of building trust before a hard conversation is ever needed
• How to prepare: facts, timing, mindset, and emotional regulation
• The power of open-ended questions to create ownership and growth
• Practical strategies for delivering clear, direct, and constructive feedback
• Why documentation and follow-up matter more than you think
• How to navigate team dynamics and tension without breaking trust

We also share real-world leadership insights from our time as U.S. diplomats and from coaching leaders across industries.

These conversations may never feel easy… but they do get easier—and they are one of the most powerful ways you shape your team, your culture, and your impact as a leader.

👉 Reflection: What conversation have you been avoiding—and what is it costing you right now?

If you’d like support, send us a message. We may feature your situation in a future episode or invite you for live coaching around a real leadership challenge.

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17 | AI-Enabled Leadership: Using AI Without Losing the Human Element with Blake Holman

Episode 17

Monday, March 23, 2026 • Duration 48:21

How can leaders use AI without losing their judgment, ethics, or human connection?

In today’s fast-moving digital landscape, many professionals feel both excited and overwhelmed by artificial intelligence. The real leadership challenge isn’t whether to use AI — it’s how to use it wisely.

In this episode of Ripple Effect Leadership, Jen Brown and Hugo Rodriguez sit down with leadership and technology executive Blake Holman to explore what it truly means to lead in an AI-enabled world.

Rather than treating AI as a magic answer machine, Blake challenges leaders to see it as a thought partner — one that can help us think more clearly, communicate more effectively, and expand our capacity, without replacing the wisdom, ethics, and human connection that leadership requires.

Together, they unpack:

why AI should be approached more like a “para-human” partner than a simple tool
how leaders can use AI to prepare for difficult conversations, sharpen communication, and strengthen decision-making
the risks of outsourcing too much thinking to technology
why ethics, discernment, and ownership still matter more than ever
how coaches, educators, and leaders can help others use AI to grow stronger rather than become more dependent

This conversation is thoughtful, practical, and deeply relevant for leaders navigating change, complexity, and the growing gap between information and wisdom.

Guest spotlight

Blake Holman is a seasoned technology and leadership executive with over 20 years of experience as a CIO and trusted advisor to mid-market and growth-oriented organizations. He works at the intersection of technology, leadership, and influence, helping leaders navigate complexity, make better decisions, and lead ethically in an AI-enabled world.

🔗 Connect with Blake:LinkedIn:Instagram:

15 | Strategic Humanity: Leading with Calm, Courage, & Ethical Influence (with Carrie Muntean)

Episode 15

Monday, February 23, 2026 • Duration 44:45

In this episode of the Ripple Effect Leadership Podcast, Jen Brown and Hugo Rodriguez welcome special guest Carrie Muntean—former U.S. diplomat, executive coach, and author of the forthcoming book The Art of Strategic Humanity—for a powerful conversation on what leadership looks like when pressure is high and stakes are real.

Together, they explore The Art of Strategic Humanity as a leadership framework that integrates analytical thinking (the head), compassion (the heart), and courage with boundaries (the spine). Carrie shares insights drawn from diplomacy, coaching, and her upcoming book—offering leaders a grounded way to lead ethically without losing effectiveness.

This episode dives into calmness in crisis, emotional intelligence, ethical influence versus manipulation, and the often-overlooked leadership skill of the diplomatic apology. The conversation also highlights the importance of boundaries, self-reflection, and well-being as essential—not optional—components of sustainable leadership.

Whether you’re navigating complex team dynamics, organizational change, or high-pressure decisions, this episode invites you to lead with clarity, humanity, and trust.

🎧 Leadership isn’t just about control—it’s about calm, courage, and character.

Reach out to Carrie on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/carriemuntean

The Art of Strategic Humanity coming soon on Amazon!

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14 | From Widget Mastery to Transformational Leadership: Making the Shift That Scales Your Impact

Episode 14

Monday, February 9, 2026 • Duration 39:22

In this episode of the Ripple Effect Leadership Podcast, we unpack one of the most critical—and misunderstood—transitions in leadership: the shift from doing the work to leading the people who do the work.

High-performing professionals are often promoted because they’re excellent at execution. But staying stuck in “widget mastery” comes at a cost—burnout, bottlenecks, and teams that never fully step into their potential. True leadership requires a new skill set: strategic thinking, intentional communication, delegation, and people development.

Using real-world examples (including the orchestra conductor metaphor), we explore how leaders learn to change hats—moving fluidly between management and leadership—while building trust, clarity, and long-term capacity on their teams.

This episode goes beyond theory and into transformation. You’ll walk away with practical frameworks to:

Communicate vision instead of just tasks
Delegate without micromanaging
Develop future leaders instead of doing it all yourself
Navigate tough people decisions with integrity and confidence

Whether you’re an emerging leader, a seasoned manager, or an entrepreneur scaling an organization, this conversation will challenge you to lead more intentionally—and with greater impact.

🎧 Lead smarter. Manage better. Build something that lasts.

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16 | Say What Needs to Be Said: Communication, EQ, and the Courage to Lead

Episode 16

Monday, March 9, 2026 • Duration 36:03

In this episode of the Ripple Effect Leadership Podcast, Jen Brown and Hugo Rodriguez explore why communication isn’t just a leadership skill—it is leadership.

They unpack how emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and adaptability shape the way leaders connect with their teams, especially in moments of tension, feedback, and change. Together, they examine common communication breakdowns, the hidden cost of assumptions, and why asking better questions matters more than having the right answers.

This conversation invites leaders to move beyond control and perfection and into humility, vulnerability, and growth—because trust isn’t built through authority, but through understanding.

If you lead people, this episode will change how you listen, speak, and show up.

Key themes include:

Why communication is a continuous leadership practice
How emotional intelligence strengthens trust and clarity
Adapting your communication style without losing authenticity
Using feedback as a bridge—not a weapon
Vulnerability as a leadership strength, not a liability

Send us your feedback and let us know how you're communicating with your team and those around you!

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13 | Leading in the Middle: The Art of Mid-Level Leadership

Episode 13

Monday, January 26, 2026 • Duration 39:13

In this episode of the Ripple Effect Leadership Podcast, Jen Brown and Hugo Rodriguez go beyond talking about mid-level leadership—they model it in real time.

Mid-level leaders often sit in the most complex seat in an organization, navigating pressure from senior leadership while carrying responsibility for their teams. In this episode, Jen coaches Hugo through the lived experience of being a mid-level leader, using vulnerability, reflection, and honest dialogue to bring the challenges—and solutions—into focus.

Together, they explore why communication is the cornerstone of effective leadership, how vulnerability strengthens trust, and why clarity matters even when certainty is unavailable. Listeners also hear how strong mid-level leaders build influence by bringing solutions—not just problems—up the chain, while steadying morale below.

This episode offers both insight and embodiment—a powerful reminder that leadership growth doesn’t just happen in theory, but in brave, real conversations.

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12 | Leading From Within: From Autopilot to Intentional Leadership

Episode 12

Monday, January 12, 2026 • Duration 38:22

So many leaders are successful on paper — yet feel reactive, exhausted, or disconnected on the inside.

In this episode, Jen Brown and Hugo Rodriguez explore what it really means to lead from within by breaking free from autopilot reactions and shifting into intentional, present leadership — at work and in life.

We unpack how common patterns like people-pleasing, perfectionism, harsh self-criticism, overachieving, and avoidance are often driven by inner “saboteur” voices — not character flaws. Drawing from Positive Intelligence®, we talk about how these patterns get wired in the brain, how they show up under pressure, and—most importantly—how leaders can disrupt them and rewire their thinking.

This conversation offers both insight and hope. With greater awareness and simple mental fitness tools, leaders can quiet the inner critic, respond with intention instead of reactivity, and lead with more clarity, presence, and resilience.

If you’ve ever felt stuck in autopilot or pressure to constantly prove yourself, this episode is for you.

Resources

Take the free Positive Intelligence® Saboteur Assessment:
https://www.positiveintelligence.com/saboteurs/

Jen and Hugo also share how they support leaders in taking a deeper dive into intentional leadership and mental fitness.

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Ripple Effect Leadership – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

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Ripple Effect Leadership – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other12

Instagram6

LinkedIn6

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

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Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other12

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LinkedIn6