Unicorn Leaders – Details, episodes & analysis

In episode 20, Eva shares her use of a product led mindset for developing new strategies of learning and development at Fullscript with about 800 employees. She dives into how the traditional models of learning and development are not always agile or adaptive especially with the rise of AI, remote and hybrid work environments. 

Eva dives into a new strategy she used to build community among teams in her current role. She shares the tools, resources, and approach used in developing opportunities that helped individuals blossom in their own way. 

In episode 19, Andre dives into how he found his way into creating a socially impactful business while sharing valuable lessons and principles that he embraced on his journey to success as a leader. 

From letting go of micro details to building high performing teams and influencing decision making processes, discover some actionable insights that will transform your leadership approach and help you create a meaningful impact. 

Get ready to unleash the unicorn leader within! Tune in to hear about Andre’s experience and journey.

Laura Mindorff is the brilliant COO at Wicket. Laura has developed years of experience under her belt and shares her very tactical advice on how to create effective culture through things like rituals, culture champions, and what metrics to watch out for to check-in on your progress.

I’m so happy to bring you this conversation because of Laura’s purposeful and relentless approach to constantly prioritizing culture and fostering relationships in her own team and how you can borrow her practices to do the same.

When things pile up for leaders, it’s easy to push things that facilitate healthy and positive culture by the wayside. But this episode inspired me on the importance to stay consistent, because that basis, that foundation is also the springboard for good work. For impactful work. For employee happiness. Give it a listen and share your ways on how you work to create a positive culture at work.

In episode 9,  Julia gives us insight into how she uses her humane recruiting approach to create a reputable employment brand that plays big dividends both inside and outside the company.

She offers actionable tips on how to initiate trust on a team, how to lead the recruitment process to attract candidates with best practices, and how to show up in with an effective employer brand no matter the labour market conditions.

Her main piece of advice is to lead the recruitment process in a humane way as at the end of the day - all candidates are people first.

Tune in to hear all about how Julia’s experience and advice can help you improve your recruitment practices!

Shawn MacDonell shares his unconventional story of saying yes to experiences from sports coaching, to facilitating tools for teaching in Columbia, to branding strategy, to professional coaching, to founding a creative agency.

He speaks to how all of these offered him the experience of not being afraid of conflict and instead reframing it to curiosity and exploration. To understand why people make certain decisions and encourage them to learn to ask the same questions.

In episode 8 he shares with us how to reframe conflict from being a dirty word, the importance of believing in yourself to try new things, how illusive giving good feedback actually is through our communication pitfalls, and more.

Tune in to hear some truth bombs from the ultimate holder of the mirror and reflect along on your own beliefs and whether your current actions and practices are holding you back.

What does leadership mean to you?

Ex-Shopify Chief Talent Officer Brittany Forsyth, used to think it was the same thing as management. 

Over the years and various leadership roles she realized it means creating a following and driving that following towards a common shared goal. 

In episode 7 she gives us insight into how she recognized her natural leadership tendencies and how they helped her land different roles - from managing a bar to becoming a C suite executive. She also shares the tricks she learned first hand to manage a team and create the best dynamic possible.

She made lots of mistakes along her leadership journey and doesn’t shy away from sharing what they were and how to eliminate them. 

Her main piece of advice: figure out what’s in your leadership toolbox and constantly add things to it throughout your leadership journey.

Tune in to hear all about how Brittany’s leadership experiences and advice can help you improve your leadership style!

“If you are building a talent strategy that’s based on a sample you saw online or a great book you read, you will not match what your business needs and so I think whenever I’m doing any kind of talent strategy or when I was consulting I was always asking people “what’re your business goals” and it was shocking to me where I would look then at the talent strategy and I couldn’t see the business connect.  I couldn’t see the EVP (the employee value proposition) connect. And I’m like that’s why you’re struggling,  because your programs probably aren’t resonating with people and you’re spending money where you shouldn’t be spending money.”

Have you ever asked yourself “what would have to be true for my company to get to 10 million, 25 million, 50 million, or even 100 million”?

The people on your team are a huge factor.

Amanda Gordon is currently the Vice President People at Rewind, a company with a mission to help businesses protect their SaaS and cloud data. 

In this episode Amanda talks about all things human resources and building a star team of employees starting with three key questions: why did they join, why did they stay, why did they leave?

She also discusses the keys to building a successful talent strategy for your business and being honest with candidates during the interview process.

Lastly, she shares why she advocates for people to take steps before they think they’re ready and why working for small companies isn’t a step backwards in your career journey. 

Tune in to hear all about how Amanda’s leadership experiences and advice can help you improve your leadership style!

Have you ever been in a position where you didn’t feel proud of what you were doing in your career? Has your chosen field ever caused you emotional distress?

Sam Witherspoon is the founder and CEO of IMRSV Data Labs, a company dedicated to increasing the safety and security of Canada and its allies through the effective, transparent use of data.

In episode #5, Sam talks about how important it is to not chase money for the sake of making money and staying true to yourself and your vision. 

He also discusses how the key to a good team is the relationships you make with those around you and how every company working with clients is at the client’s mercy to some extent.

Lastly, Sam shares the biggest mistake he’s made and how “type two fun” is key to entrepreneurship.  

Tune in to hear all about how Sam’s leadership experiences and advice can help you improve your leadership style!

We often have the preconceived notion that leaders have to treat everyone the same in order to be fair. However in truth, managers need to respect everyone’s individual needs and motivators.

On episode #4, Cassy Aite, the co-founder and CEO of Hoppier, shares how different values, environments and involvement can influence your employees’ motivation in the workplace. 

Cassy also discusses the importance of being genuine with your employees and how recognizing an achievement can backfire if you’re not careful.

Lastly, we dive into why he chooses to be transparent with his team and rallies everyone together to be on the same page.

Tune in to hear all about how Cassy’s leadership experiences and advice can help you improve your leadership style!

Did you know that 70% of employee retention is based on their manager and no other factor? People don’t leave jobs, they leave managers.

Aydin Mirzaee  is the co-founder and CEO of Fellow.app, a meeting productivity platform that helps organizations have fewer, better meetings.

In this episode Aydin talks about how managers can influence team performance and shares his thoughts on why he thinks getting advice can be dangerous.

‍He also discusses statistics and studies that help explain why it’s necessary for you to incorporate missions, values and self-reflection in your management journey to improve your team or greater workplace dynamic. 

‍Tune in to hear all about how Aydin’s leadership experiences and advice can help you improve your leadership style!