What does it take to lead when you don't have the title? Julia Elliott, Director of Product Strategy and Operations at Google, shares her unconventional path from electrical engineering to enterprise product leadership.

In this episode, you will discover:

• How an engineering mindset translates to business leadership

• The art of influencing without authority across startups and big tech

• Why understanding motivations is the key to stakeholder alignment

• How to scale from 10 to 600 people without losing agility

• The role of purpose in building legendary leadership

Leadership isn't about the title on your business card—it's about the clarity you bring and the purpose you inspire. Julia Elliott proved that influence comes from understanding people, empowering teams, and leading with intention.

So here's the question: What's the one thing you bring to the table that no one else does? Once you know that answer, you're already leading.

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Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction: Meet Julia Elliott

01:18 - Leading Without Authority: What We're Covering Today

03:26 - From Engineering to Product Leadership

05:18 - Why Engineers Struggle with Communication (And How Julia Bridged the Gap)

07:12 - The Group Project Advantage: Organizing Chaos Early

08:29 - Influencing Without a Title: Finding Your Brand

10:07 - Taking Enterprise to Upwork: Convincing a Consumer Company

11:21 - Advice for Early Leaders: Know Yourself First

14:17 - The Google Transition: Startup Agility Meets Tech Giant

16:35 - Navigating the Sea of Stakeholders

18:20 - Understanding Motivations: The WIIFM Principle

21:03 - Shaping Your Leadership Identity Through Purpose

23:17 - Drive: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose

24:29 - Engaging Talent at Scale: Empowerment Through Clarity

26:18 - Growing Up in Hershey: The Immigrant Legacy

28:15 - Carrying Forward the Legacy of Gratitude

30:24 - Parenting with Purpose: Teaching Kindness and Community

31:17 - Final Takeaway: Lead with Purpose

32:58 - How to Connect with Julia Elliott

#Leadership #ProductManagement #GoogleCareers #CareerAdvice #TechLeadership

What does it take to build a telehealth empire from scratch? Dr. Pamela Ograbisz, VP of Clinical Operations at Locum Tenens, shares the unfiltered truth about hiring, firing, and leading teams through explosive growth.

In this comprehensive episode of Building Legendary Leaders, Dr. Ograbisz takes us behind the scenes of building a multimillion-dollar-per-month telehealth division that now serves six states. From her first hire that didn't work out to successfully merging teams from an acquired company, she reveals the leadership lessons most executives learn the hard way.

Key Timestamps:

00:02:33 - How the telehealth division started and building from a team of one

00:03:23 - The story of the first hire and what went wrong

00:05:51 - The three questions every hiring manager needs to answer

00:07:03 - When to recognize a hire isn't the right fit

00:08:47 - How team dynamics change when scaling from 1 to 6 people

00:10:50 - Successfully merging teams from a sister company without losing anyone

00:14:17 - The biggest hurdle: managing a client panel in disarray

00:17:18 - The experiment that failed: unspoken expectations breeding resentment

00:19:06 - Setting clear career paths and making promotions transparent

00:22:47 - Working across multi-functional teams and becoming a better leader

00:24:02 - The evolution from telling to asking questions

00:26:21 - Why asking questions gets more buy-in than giving orders

00:28;46 - Advice for leaders starting out: get honest 360 feedback

00:30:25 - Childhood lessons: watching mom lead with grace and accountability

00:33:04 - Balancing career and family with two daughters

00:36:08 - How to connect with Dr. Pamela Ograbisz

What You'll Learn:

Dr. Ograbisz shares the three-question framework for evaluating every hire: Can they do the job? Will they love the job? Can you stand working with them? She explains why cultural fit often matters more than credentials and how to spot the warning signs when someone isn't adapting to your business model.

You'll hear the honest story of her first hire that didn't work out after a year, and why making an internal hire proved more successful. She breaks down the concept of ROI for team members—every person is an investment that needs to produce returns.

Learn how small teams evolve as they grow, the challenges of maintaining friendships while respecting hierarchy, and why change management is the hardest part of leadership. Dr. Ograbisz successfully absorbed a sister company's team without losing a single person using a "push and pull" feedback system.

Discover what happens when expectations are left unspoken during rapid growth, why even successful teams need clear North Star vision, and how to create transparent promotion paths that eliminate favoritism.

The most powerful shift in Dr. Ograbisz' leadership? Moving from telling to asking. Coming from high-pressure cardiothoracic surgery where answers needed to be immediate, she learned that asking probing questions gets more buy-in and develops stronger leaders. Her favorite question: "I know you've been thinking about this—catch me up on your thoughts."

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#Leadership #TeamBuilding #ExecutiveLeadership #Telehealth #HealthcareLeadership #ManagementTips #CareerGrowth #BusinessStrategy #WomenInLeadership #HiringTips #ScalingTeams #ChangeManagement #LeadershipDevelopment #NursePractitioner #BuildingLegendaryLeaders

Welcome to the very first episode of Building Legendary Leaders! In this special debut episode, host Jim Saliba gets put in the hot seat as producer Nick asks the questions. Discover the inspiration behind the podcast, Jim's unique approach to leadership development, and the personal journey that shaped his philosophy on building legendary leaders.

What You'll Learn:

• The Leadership Impact Ladder: The 3 levels that matter more than your title

• Why it takes 10 years for most leaders to get proper training (and what they're doing wrong)

• The 4 fears of leadership that every leader faces

• How to turn childhood fears into leadership superpowers

• The experiment-based approach to leadership development

• Real case studies from telehealth, tech, and healthcare industries

Chapters

01:25 - The shocking 10-year leadership training gap

03:58 - Introduction to the Leadership Impact Ladder

08:18 - Team building challenges in growing companies

18:21 - The risk-taking revelation from college friends

25:39 - The scientific approach to leadership experiments

33:05 - From fear to lifelong learning transformation

Jim Saliba is a leadership expert, executive coach, and author of the upcoming book "Leading Like a CEO." With decades of experience in transformation and change management, Jim specializes in helping directors, VPs, and C-suite executives navigate the messy reality of leadership growth.

"Your Leadership Journey Starts Monday Morning"

🎯 Ready to stop struggling and start leading like a legend?

SUBSCRIBE to Building Legendary Leaders and DOWNLOAD my free Leadership Impact Assessment at jamessaliba.com/assessment

Your team is waiting for the leader you're becoming. Let's build something legendary together! 🚀