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As the founder of a leadership organization, Ryan Jeffery, Co-CEO of Ignite, knows a thing or two about leadership development. He stopped by the Innovation and the Digital Enterprise podcast to discuss the idea of discretionary effort and action, the difference between leaders and managers, and why organizations need to do a better job of seeing employees on the human level.

Many believe that to succeed in business, you must be a pessimist, always anticipating and preparing for the worst. But according to Kristi Zuhlke, the CEO of Knowledgehound, grit and optimism are not mutually exclusive concepts.

Kristi joins Shelli and Pat and gives listeners a window into the life of a serial entrepreneur. She explains why entrepreneurs are passionate about solving problems, why optimism is underrated in business, and how she thoughtfully adds new members to her team.

After being the only woman in the room for years at her corporate job, a string of tragedies made Alison Vorsatz reconsider her purpose. This led her on a transformational journey to Africa and ended with her finding a job at Fairygodboss where she gets to realize her dream of empowering women.

Alison joins Pat and Shelli to talk about her journey and shares insights on what it means to work on your personal brand and how that brand can open career connections.

The seeds of innovation cannot germinate in a culture in which people feel they need to ask permission. According to today's guest, Gene Kim, the ability to fail — and share that failure — is one of the most important tenets of any company that has a chance to improve.

Gene has been studying high-performing technology companies since 1999 and has authored several books on the topic. In this week’s episode of Innovation and the Digital Enterprise, Gene discusses the five central prerequisites of company innovation as well as the role that ritual can play in de-stigmatizing failure.

Check out this episode for practical tips on how your company can achieve substantial results simply by changing up habits.

In a corporate environment, a leader’s main task is to keep their team running efficiently and productively. However, in the startup world, a leader needs to jump in and help out at every level. It was this kind of environment and mindset that best informed the leadership style of our guest today, David Hoag.

David is the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for OCC, the world’s largest equity derivatives clearing organization. His time working at a startup taught him lessons that he’s carried over to his teams throughout the years. David talks to Patrick and Shelli about why it’s so important to look beyond immediate problems, why egos keep business stuck, and why it’s better for managers to lead through inquiry and questions as opposed to dictates and direction.

Tune in for a masterclass in effective leadership.