In this thought-provoking solo episode of The Empowered Team Podcast, Kari Schneider dives into a powerful leadership paradox: why embracing both your inner champion and devil’s advocate is the key to high-stakes decision-making, resilient confidence, and empowered leadership.

🌉 Through a vivid parable and practical strategies, you’ll discover:

• How to challenge ideas without spiraling into self-doubt.
• Why belief without testing leads to failure—and how to avoid it.
• Tools to self-regulate and stay clear under pressure.
• How to create a culture that fosters innovation and accountability.

You’ll walk away with practical tips to:

• Tap into emotional agility
• Make bolder, smarter decisions
• Cultivate high-performing, psychologically safe teams

🎧 Whether you're leading a business, a team, or your own life—this episode is your bridge between vision and reality. Listen now and master the art of leading with both heart and strategy.

💬 Start a conversation with Kari’s AI → https://www.delphi.ai/karischneider

👉 Ready to go deeper? Join the Empowered Team and take your leadership to the next level: https://theempowered.ca/team-learn-more

👉 Want to use AI to amplify your leadership? Grab our free guide “The 50 Best AI Prompts for Executives” → https://thehumanalgorithm.ai/free-ai-guide

Curiosity isn’t just a personality trait. It’s the currency of leadership influence in today’s uncertain world.

In this solo episode, Kari unpacks why curiosity is a game-changer in a VUCA world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) and how you can harness it to fuel innovation, strengthen connection, and build trust in every part of your life and leadership.

You’ll discover:

• The 3 elements of powerful curiosity: Compassionate, Intelligent, and Creative

• How curiosity boosts psychological safety and elevates team performance

• The science behind leadership multipliers (yes, it’s research-backed)

• Real-world ways to make your conversations more impactful

• Courageous questions that can shift the entire room

Plus, Kari shares the true story of a leadership meeting she completely transformed by ditching the slides and leading with one bold question.

Whether you’re running a team or navigating tough conversations at home, this episode gives you the mindset and tools to lead with presence, not persuasion.

💬 Start a conversation with Kari’s AI → https://www.delphi.ai/karischneider

👉 Ready to go deeper? Join the Empowered Team and take your leadership to the next level: https://theempowered.ca/team-learn-more

👉 Want to use AI to amplify your leadership? Grab our free guide “The 50 Best AI Prompts for Executives” → https://thehumanalgorithm.ai/free-ai-guide

In this empowering solo episode of The Empowered Team Podcast, host Kari Schneider unpacks one of the most requested leadership topics: Confidence and why most of us are doing it wrong.

Using humor, a deeply relatable (and slightly humbling) story about weed-eating 😅, and the psychology behind the Dunning-Kruger effect, Kari breaks down the real journey of confidence from overconfidence and the Valley of Despair to sustainable self-belief.

You’ll learn:

• Why knowledge alone doesn’t lead to true confidence

• How overconfidence keeps you “stranded on Mount Stupid”

• The 5 key elements that create lasting, humble confidence

• What “cross-confidence” is and how to use it when you're in a new zone

• Why serving others might be the ultimate confidence hack

This episode is a must-listen for leaders, entrepreneurs, and growth-minded individuals ready to shift from shaky self-doubt to solid self-trust.

🔑 Key takeaway: Confidence isn’t something you “get” it’s something you create.

👉 Ready to go deeper? Join the Empowered Team and take your leadership to the next level: https://theempowered.ca/team-learn-more

👉 Ready to use AI to support your leadership? Grab our free guide “the 50 best AI prompts for executives” https://thehumanalgorithm.ai/free-ai-guide

In this powerful episode of The Empowered Team Podcast, Kari Schneider sits down with executive coach and leadership mentor Valarie Sandjivy, founder of Ellipsus. With over 20 years of experience coaching C-suite leaders and entrepreneurs, Valarie offers a rare glimpse into the inner world of high-performing leaders.

Together, they explore:

• Why “it’s lonely at the top” and how to find space for your own evolution.
• The true role of emotional intelligence in hitting key performance outcomes.
• What “emotional mastery” really means — and how it helps leaders hold more without burning out.
• Why innovation starts with the inner game.
• How to shift from survival mode to possibility thinking.
• The overlooked power of presence and the subtle difference between fighting and surrendering.

Valarie shares personal stories, bold truths, and a surprisingly grounded approach to leadership that challenges conventional hustle culture. Whether you’re leading a business, a team, or just your own life — this conversation will expand what you think is possible.

🎯 Key takeaway: The most powerful leaders are not the ones who do more — they’re the ones who can hold more with clarity, calm, and emotional coherence.

Take Valarie’s FREE Leadership Assessment: https://www.ellips.us.com/quiz Connect with Valarie:

• Website: https://www.ellips.us.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeriesandjivy/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valarie_sandjivy/
• Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/valarie.sandjivy

👉 Ready to go deeper? Join the Empowered Team and take your leadership to the next level: https://theempowered.ca/team-learn-more

👉 Ready to use AI to support your leadership? Grab our free guide “the 50 best AI prompts for executives” https://thehumanalgorithm.ai/free-ai-guide

In this solo episode of the Empowered Team Podcast, host Kari Schneider issues a heartfelt and powerful call for presence. In a world dominated by tech, AI, and endless distractions, why do we feel more disconnected than ever before?

She explores why presence is the most critical leadership skill today and how it fuels trust, creativity, and authentic connection.

You’ll learn the 4 dimensions of presence that top leaders and extraordinary humans use to inspire, influence, and connect on a deeper level:

• Connection
• Calm
• Captivated attention
• Curiosity

This episode is for leaders, parents, partners anyone who wants to show up more powerfully in their life. With real-life stories, scientific insights (like social presence theory and mirror neurons), and simple practices you can start today, this is your guide to cultivating meaningful impact in a noisy world.

🎧 Don’t miss this one - your presence could be your greatest legacy.

👉 Ready to go deeper? Join the Empowered Team and take your leadership to the next level: https://theempowered.ca/team-learn-more

👉 Ready to use AI to support your leadership? Grab our free guide “the 50 best AI prompts for executives” https://thehumanalgorithm.ai/free-ai-guide

In this solo episode of The Empowered Team Podcast, Kari Schneider reveals the five non-negotiable habits she commits to every single morning, no matter the time zone, weather, or environment. Whether she’s in a cabin by a frozen lake or traveling internationally, these core practices set the foundation for her mental clarity, physical energy, and laser-sharp focus.

Kari dives deep into how these morning habits from hydration to daylight exposure to brain-fueling nutrition, create a domino effect for peak performance. She also shares personal stories of sleep struggles, circadian rhythm mistakes, and how science-backed strategies have helped her and her clients build unshakable energy.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• How to ditch the alarm clock dread and wake up with natural energy
• Why early daylight is your secret weapon for mental clarity and better sleep
• The underestimated power of movement first thing in the morning
• What your brain is desperately craving before breakfast
• Supplements Kari swears by for cognitive performance and recovery

Take what works, leave what doesn’t but build a morning routine that’s so good, you’ll keep doing it on holidays.

📌 This one’s for you if you’re a: High performer, heart-led leader, or anyone craving calm, clarity, and confidence to lead the day.

Listen now and start creating your morning magic before 8am! 🌅

👉 Ready to go deeper? Join the Empowered Team and take your leadership to the next level: https://theempowered.ca/team-learn-more

👉 Ready to use AI to support your leadership? Grab our free guide “the 50 best AI prompts for executives” https://thehumanalgorithm.ai/free-ai-guide

In this solo episode, Kari unpacks the Motivational Triad - a powerful psychological model explaining why we avoid things we want to do. We’re wired to avoid pain, seek pleasure, and stay comfortable. But here's the twist: that wiring often sabotages our goals, habits, and even our identities.

Kari shares:

• How our brain’s default setting creates resistance—even to the things we love
• The effort paradox and why pleasure isn’t enough to motivate us
• What “activation energy” is and how to lower it to make change easier
• Why values and identity are the real keys to overriding your brain’s ancient programming
• Real-life strategies to set up “easy wins” and overcome resistance in your daily life

This episode is a must-listen for anyone feeling stuck, procrastinating on goals, or craving greater consistency in the areas that matter most.

Key takeaway: Your brain is doing what it's designed to do. But when you understand the Motivational Triad and lower the activation energy, you take the power back.

Subscribe and listen now!

👉 Ready to go deeper? Join the Empowered Team and take your leadership to the next level: https://theempowered.ca/team-learn-more

👉 Ready to use AI to support your leadership? Grab our free guide “the 50 best AI prompts for executives” https://thehumanalgorithm.ai/free-ai-guide

This week on The Empowered Team Podcast, Kari is joined by one of the most sought-after leadership experts in North America—Steven Gaffney, CEO of The Steven Gaffney Company and author of Unconditional Power.

With 30+ years of experience advising Fortune 500 companies and organizations ranked #1 in their industries, Steven reveals what it actually takes to build consistently high-achieving teams.

They dig deep into:

• Why emotional safety is the #1 leadership skill (and why most leaders miss it)
• The real problem with “honest communication” — it’s not what you think
• A 9-step formula to have difficult conversations that actually move the needle
• Why psychological safety isn’t enough — and what emotional safety looks like in action
• How leaders accidentally train people to lie to them (and how to reverse it)

Plus: why AI is not your enemy in leadership, how to rebuild team norms even after years of dysfunction, and the crossover lessons that can transform not just your team—but your marriage, too.

🎁 BONUS: Listen in to hear how to get a FREE digital copy of Steven’s book Just Be Honest and access his AI-powered leadership tool for building elite teams.

www.StevenGaffney.com

www.JustBeHonest.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevengaffneycompany/

https://www.instagram.com/stevengaffneydc/

👉 Ready to go deeper? Join the Empowered Team and take your leadership to the next level: https://theempowered.ca/team-learn-more

👉 Ready to use AI to support your leadership? Grab our free guide “the 50 best AI prompts for executives” https://thehumanalgorithm.ai/free-ai-guide