You’ve taken a People Optimization System assessment and you have your result. Now what? In the fourth episode of our POS series, Wes & Cindy Dove walk through what to do next, using the Values pillar as the example. You’ll hear how to read a pillar result (and why your stage is set by your weakest lens, not an average), the five Values stages, why Values Avoidance stalls so many teams, and a simple plan for your next 30 days. We also share a few takeaways from yesterday’s 2026 Executive Summit.

Three takeaways

1. Your result is direction, not a diagnosis. Don’t file it away, and don’t try to fix everything at once.
2. Your stage is set by your weakest lens. A system is only as strong as the part holding it back.
3. The 30-day plan: one stage, one lens, one action. Bring a small group in, and put a date on the calendar to retake the assessment.

Chapters

00:00 Welcome and a recap of the 2026 Executive Summit
01:46 Why leaders learn the most from each other
03:25 Where this fits in our POS series
04:04 The two ways people react to assessment results
06:12 How to read a pillar result
07:05 Honest answers, and why we’re using Values as the example
08:22 How the free Values assessment works
09:48 Stage 1: Values Void
10:46 Stage 2: Stated Values
11:18 Stage 3: Values Avoidance
12:18 Stage 4: Values Disconnect
13:09 Stage 5: Values in Motion
14:10 Back to Values Avoidance: lessons from safety, construction and mining
15:54 What the guide has you do at Stage 3
16:25 Using the Implementation Guide and its back-check questions
17:42 Free printables
18:44 Your 30-day plan: one stage, one lens, one action
19:19 When the gap is a leader, not the system
20:29 Free assessments, the Implementation Guides and the POS Letter
21:27 SHRM and HRCI recertification credit

Links

Free Values assessment (about 5 minutes): https://www.posframework.com/values-assessment
Free POS assessment (about 4 minutes): https://www.posframework.com/pos-assessment
All POS assessments: https://www.posframework.com/assessments
Free Values printables: https://www.posframework.com/values
Subscribe to the POS Letter: https://www.posframework.com/newsletters/2147913357/subscribe
All POS books and guides: https://www.posframework.com/books

The six POS Implementation Guides on Amazon:
Values: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HHQY34RM
Communication: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HJN2DFMC
Direction: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HJ7598WN
Leadership: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HKBCX92M
Growth: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HKGQGJDM
Experience: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HKPSY4XF

Watch the video in the Leading At The Next Level community: https://www.dove-development.net/latnl-community

Need SHRM or HRCI recertification credit? Leading At The Next Level includes 200+ lessons, each approved for credit. Email admin@dove-development.net for a free 14-day trial.

For more than a decade, almost everything we've built has focused on individual leaders. That work matters. But we kept seeing the same thing happen: a great leader grows, goes back into an organization with no system to support what they learned, and when they're promoted or leave, the progress leaves with them.

In this episode, we explain why the People Optimization System (POS) looks at the whole organization, and how the free POS assessments show you where to build first for the best return. We cover the 25-question POS Assessment, the five stages in each pillar assessment, why we never average results, the leader-versus-team gap the Leadership assessment uncovers, and how the Communication assessment works. And as of October 10, all six POS Implementation Guides are available.

In this episode

• 00:00 Welcome, and where this POS series has been
• 01:28 All six POS Implementation Guides are now live
• 02:07 From individual leaders to organizational systems (the "three-month cruise" test)
• 04:39 Why the individual approach alone leaves a gap
• 05:26 Two identical assembly lines, two different results, and the free POS Assessment
• 09:06 Pillar assessments: five stages, never averaged, built on what actually happened
• 10:25 The Leadership assessment: four lenses and the leader-vs-team gap
• 12:21 The Communication assessment, and why answers stay confidential
• 13:05 What happens with the results
• 15:06 Where our individual-leader content still fits
• 16:28 Three steps to start
• 17:03 Wrap-up and continuing education credit

Three steps to start

1. Take the free POS Assessment (about four minutes) to find your starting pillar.
2. Subscribe to The POS Letter, our free monthly newsletter.
3. Pick up the Implementation Guide for your pillar at posframework.com/books.

Links from this episode

• Free POS Assessment (start here): https://www.posframework.com/pos-assessment
• All POS assessments: https://www.posframework.com/assessments
• Subscribe to The POS Letter: https://www.posframework.com/newsletters/2147913357/subscribe
• All POS books and guides: https://www.posframework.com/books
• Values Optimization Implementation Guide: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HHQY34RM
• Communication Optimization Implementation Guide: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HJN2DFMC
• Direction Optimization Implementation Guide: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HJ7598WN
• Leadership Optimization Implementation Guide: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HKBCX92M
• Growth Optimization Implementation Guide: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HKGQGJDM
• Experience Optimization Implementation Guide: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HKPSY4XF
• What an on-site engagement includes: https://www.posframework.com/on-site-dashboard
• The framework: https://www.posframework.com/framework
• Watch the full video in our free community: https://www.dove-development.net/latnl-community

Continuing education credit

Need SHRM or HRCI continuing education credit? Email us at admin@dove-development.net for a 14-day trial of the full Leading At The Next Level program.

Can you name your organization's core values right now, without looking them up? Wes helped write three different employee handbooks and couldn't recite one company's values today. In this episode, Wes and Cindy pull back the curtain on the People Optimization System™ and introduce The POS Letter, a free monthly newsletter that shares one real idea at a time from the Advantage Series.

They also cover the Revised & Expanded Edition of The Values Advantage (now available), the "Values Void" stage most organizations mistake for health, a family business that grew revenue 50% in under two years after naming its values, and the free assessments and printable libraries now live at posframework.com.

In this episode:

• Why most people can't name their own company's values, and why that isn't a failure
• The POS Letter: what it is, why we leaned into the name, and what's in issue one
• The Revised & Expanded Edition of The Values Advantage, and what's new in it
• Values Void: the stage that looks healthy from the outside
• A 75-year family business: 50% revenue growth and about 5% voluntary turnover in two years
• Free printables for every pillar, each labeled to match its chapter
• The assessments: which pillar gives you the fastest return, plus the Communication assessment's four lenses
• Why communication is the "wiring in the walls" of the whole framework
• Clarity, consistency, and momentum: what the system is built to deliver

Links mentioned:

• Sign up for The POS Letter (free, monthly): https://www.posframework.com/newsletters/2147913357/subscribe
• Start here, the POS Assessment (which pillar first, 25 questions): https://www.posframework.com/pos-assessment
• All assessments: https://www.posframework.com/assessments
• Values Optimization Assessment: https://www.posframework.com/values-assessment
• Free Values printables: https://www.posframework.com/values
• The framework: https://www.posframework.com/framework
• The Advantage Series books and Implementation Guides: https://www.posframework.com/books
• The Values Advantage, Revised & Expanded Edition: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HHTL2MZF
• Watch live, with video, in the Leading At The Next Level community: https://www.dove-development.net/latnl-community

Bad Situations Are Leadership’s Best Teacher (Executive Summit Preview Lesson 3)

Wes and Cindy preview the third and final lesson for Dove Development & Consulting’s 2026 Executive Summit (October 16 in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley), following earlier lessons on responsiveness and self-talk. This capstone lesson, titled “Bad Situations Are Leadership’s Best Teacher,” draws from Wes’s upcoming book Making the Best of Your Bad Situations and focuses on reframing setbacks—like layoffs, failed launches, missed deadlines, and broken relationships—as material for growth rather than just damage. Wes shares how difficult layoff conversations taught him to balance candor with care and improved his ability to handle accountability conversations. Cindy outlines the summit format and offers three reflection questions about a recent bad situation: what it revealed about your capabilities, your values, and who showed up for you. They encourage registration and share additional learning options and tools.

00:00 Welcome

00:58 Summit Preview

01:46 Bad Situations Capstone

02:07 Layoffs and Leadership Pain

02:38 Survive or Learn

04:18 Finding the Seed Lesson

05:35 Practical Takeaways Today

06:50 Tough Conversation Story

08:44 What to Expect at Summit

09:26 Three Questions Exercise

10:23 Register and Event Details

11:16 Extra Tools and Credits

12:01 New Tools Sneak Peek

Registration is at www.L2L-Harrisonburg.com

For trial access to our complete Leading At The Next Level program, email us at admin@dove-development.net.

Special Invitation: Join the Advantage Launch Team + Upcoming Book Releases (Nov 2026–Feb 2028)

In this special episode of the Leading at the Next Level podcast, Wes and Cindy Dove share a new invitation for their community: the Advantage Launch Team. They recap how Wes’s three self-published books—What’s Killing Your Profitability, Leading With Clear Purpose, and The Values Advantage—became Amazon #1 bestsellers in 2024–2026 through community support rather than a publisher or big marketing budget. Wes announces his fourth book, Leveraging Leadership Growth, releasing November 19, 2026, and previews Cindy’s first solo book coming February 20, with more books planned at a faster pace through February 2028. The launch team will be asked a handful of times over about 18 months to buy the e-book during specific windows (typically $0.99) and join a free community channel for details and events, with an October 16 event to map out more. Wes also mentions continuing education credits via SHRM/HRCI through their program and a free trial by emailing admin@dove-development.net.

00:00 Welcome and Teaser

00:51 Backstory on Past Books

01:29 Amazon Bestseller Wins

02:31 New Book Release Dates

04:03 Rapid-Fire Book Plan

04:39 Join the Launch Team

05:13 Advantage Series Explained

06:05 How the Launch Works

08:00 Perks and Community Access

09:17 Call to Action and Wrap-Up

10:17 Credits and Final Sign-Off

Learn more at: https://www.dove-development.net/the-advantage-launch-team

Join the Advantage Launch Team at: https://www.dove-development.net/offers/ikw7oUHg/checkout

Preview Lesson 2: The Power of Self-Talk in Leadership | 2026 Executive Summit

Registration is at www.L2L-Harrisonburg.com, and questions/trials can be requested at admin@dove-development.net. Wes and Cindy share the second of three preview lessons for the 2026 Executive Summit (October 16), focusing on how a leader’s self-talk shapes decisions, responsiveness, and team culture. Building on their first preview, “The Art of Responsiveness,” they explain that barriers to responsiveness often come from internal narratives rather than scheduling. Cindy frames self-talk as a trainable leadership skill—not just “positive thinking”—and describes the costs of unmanaged self-talk: increased stress, second-guessing, and emotional tone spreading across teams. They offer a practical starting challenge: notice and write down the sentence running through your mind in hard moments, then reframe it rather than erase it. They preview Summit sessions, tools for auditing self-talk, pricing and limited seating, included resources and lunch, and available HR credits.

00:00 Welcome

00:41 Executive Summit Preview Setup

02:42 Why Self Talk Matters

04:36 Cindy’s Turning Point

05:32 The Cost of Unmanaged Narratives

07:23 Audit and Reframe Your Script

08:23 Barbara Corcoran Example

10:21 Your One Step Challenge

10:42 How the Summit Day Works

11:48 Register Now Seats Limited

13:24 Final Wrap Up

Wes and Cindy Dove preview the second annual full-day Executive Summit (Friday, October 16) for managers, supervisors, executives, and business owners, built around three lessons plus roundtable discussions to practice skills and learn from other leaders. Lesson one, “The Art of Responsiveness,” emphasizes that leadership responsiveness is more than speed—it includes listening, framing, and adapting to others’ communication styles to build influence and relationships that generate honest feedback. They discuss how responsiveness becomes an organizational culture, reference research linking email response time to satisfaction with one’s boss, and share practical systems for staying responsive (acknowledging messages, giving timeframes, lists, calendars, and habit-building). The summit includes rotating table groups to meet many leaders, provides extensive participant resources, and offers SHRM and HRCI continuing education credit, with additional access available through the Leading at the Next Level program. Registration is at www.L2L-Harrisonburg.com, and questions/trials can be requested at admin@dove-development.net.

00:00 Welcome and Setup

01:12 Executive Summit Overview

02:25 Art of Responsiveness Intro

03:23 Beyond Speed and Style

04:51 Relationship Bank Examples

07:12 Research on Response Times

08:52 Building Your Systems

12:04 One Week Action Step

13:19 Summit Culture and Details

15:28 Registration and Credits

16:35 Final Invitation and Close