Every high-impact leader faces this tension: how do you drive disruption without destabilizing what already delivers results? In this episode of The Game Changer with Dr. Sharalyn, Dr. Sharalyn Payne unpacks the anatomy of a true game changer—those rare leaders who can build the future while honoring the foundation. You'll learn how to introduce bold innovation without burning out your people or breaking the systems that sustain performance. This is disruption by design, not destruction.

What you'll take away from this episode:

• Not all change is progress. Game changers discern before they disrupt.
• Protect the pillars. Don't break systems that sustain performance.
• Sustainable innovation balances risk with rhythm.
• Real influence is measured by stability during change, not just speed.
• Disruption done right builds legacy.

Show Notes

• Go to the Ultra Influential website for show notes.

• Download the Game Changer Leadership Collection

• Subscribe to the Ultra Influential Newsletter

Follow Dr. Sharalyn

• Connect on LinkedIn: Dr. Sharalyn

• Connect on Instagram: Dr. Sharalyn

If this episode challenged how you think about change, share it with a leader who's building the next big thing.

Don't forget to subscribe to The Game Changer with Dr. Sharalyn on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite platform.

For consulting inquiries, speaking engagements, or to bring Dr. Payne into your organization email leadership@smpistrategies.com.

In this episode of The Game Changer with Dr. Sharalyn, we unpack the secret to building resilience at scale. Dr. Sharalyn reveals how high-impact leaders design systems, rhythms, and cultures that sustain performance—no matter the pressure. You’ll discover how to move beyond survival mode and lead teams that not only endure adversity but emerge stronger, sharper, and more unified on the other side.

What you’ll take away from this episode:

• Resilience isn’t individual—it’s institutional. True resilience is a culture, not a personality trait.

• Pressure exposes what systems never supported. What breaks under stress reveals what wasn’t built for scale.

• Recovery is a leadership strategy. The best teams win because they know how to restore, not just respond.

• Cohesion is your multiplier. Trust and communication amplify performance under stress.

• Leaders who normalize recovery create cultures that outperform through chaos.

Show Notes

• Go to the Ultra Influential website for show notes.

• Download the Game Changer Leadership Collection

• Subscribe to the Ultra Influential Newsletter

Follow Dr. Sharalyn

• Connect on LinkedIn: Dr. Sharalyn

• Connect on Instagram: Dr. Sharalyn

If this episode challenged you, share it with one leader you know who’s navigating a season of pain. Because resilience multiplies when we don’t walk through it alone.

Don’t forget to subscribe to The Game Changer with Dr. Sharalyn on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite platform.

For consulting inquiries, speaking engagements, or to bring Dr. Payne into your organization email leadership@smpistrategies.com.

In this episode, Dr. Sharalyn Payne sits down with Michael Dillard—Global Speaker, Executive Coach, and Financial Literacy Advocate—to unpack how one man's unexpected journey from humble beginnings to global diplomacy became a masterclass in resilience, reinvention, and purpose-driven leadership.

Michael's story isn't just inspiring—it's instructional. From growing up on food stamps and grit to serving across six countries as a U.S. diplomat, Michael reveals how to recover from burnout, reclaim your energy, and lead with lasting impact.

If you've ever felt like your path was anything but linear, this episode will remind you that sometimes, the accidental path leads to your authentic calling.

Show Notes

• Go to the Ultra Influential website for show notes.

• Download the Game Changer Leadership Collection

• Subscribe to the Ultra Influential Newsletter

Follow Dr. Sharalyn

• Connect on LinkedIn: Dr. Sharalyn

• Connect on Instagram: Dr. Sharalyn

Follow Michael Dillard

• Connect with Michael Dillard

If this conversation moved you, don't just listen—lead.
Subscribe to The Game Changer with Dr. Sharalyn Podcast and join a global movement of game-changing leaders who lead with conviction, impact with intention, and transcend what's expected.Because influence isn't about titles—it's about transformation.

🎧 Subscribe. Share. Step into your next level of leadership.

Don't forget to subscribe to The Game Changer with Dr. Sharalyn on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite platform.

For consulting inquiries, speaking engagements, or to bring Dr. Payne into your organization email leadership@smpistrategies.com.

In this powerful episode of The Ultra Influential Podcast with Dr. Sharalyn Payne, we sit down with Larry O'Nan — a seasoned leader, consultant, and author whose career in nonprofit leadership and fund development has transformed organizations and lives around the world. Larry shares how "the freedom to fail" became a powerful catalyst for innovation, how understanding and applying stewardship principles can lead to transformation, and how intentional living and giving can turn fear and confusion into clarity and purpose. This episode is a masterclass in stewardship, leadership, and legacy-building from a man who's spent decades helping others live—and lead—with impact.

• Go to the Ultra Influential website for show notes.

• Download the Game Changer Leadership Collection

• Subscribe to the Ultra Influential Newsletter

Follow Dr. Sharalyn

• Connect on LinkedIn: Dr. Sharalyn

• Connect on Instagram: Dr. Sharalyn

Follow Larry O'Nan

• Connect with Larry O'Nan

If this conversation inspired you to lead with more purpose, share this episode with another leader who's ready to elevate their influence.

Don't forget to subscribe to The Game Changer with Dr. Sharalyn on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite platform.

For consulting inquiries, speaking engagements, or to bring Dr. Payne into your organization email leadership@smpistrategies.com.

What if the very thing you've been hiding is the source of your greatest strength?

In this episode, Dr. Sharalyn Payne challenges one of leadership's most damaging myths — that strength means silence. She explores how leading while healing isn't a contradiction, it's a calling. When leaders embrace their humanity, they don't lose influence — they amplify it.

Drawing from research, real-world examples, and her own experience working with world-class executives, Dr. Payne reveals how vulnerability fuels trust, deepens connection, and transforms culture from the inside out.

This conversation will remind you that you don't have to be healed to lead — you just have to be honest while you do.

Show Notes

• Go to the Ultra Influential website for show notes.

• Download the Game Changer Leadership Collection

• Subscribe to the Ultra Influential Newsletter

Follow Dr. Sharalyn

• Connect on LinkedIn: Dr. Sharalyn

• Connect on Instagram: Dr. Sharalyn

If this episode resonated with you, share it with one leader you know who's navigating a season of pain. Because resilience multiplies when we don't walk through it alone.

Don't forget to subscribe to The Game Changer with Dr. Sharalyn on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite platform.

For consulting inquiries, speaking engagements, or to bring Dr. Payne into your organization email leadership@smpistrategies.com

In this powerful conversation, D. Logan shares his raw and inspiring journey—from growing up in the confines of a religious cult to navigating the battlefield of Iraq, and facing the darkest moments of suicidal ideation—twice. What could have broken him instead forged a relentless pursuit of purpose. Today, as a live television Director, he's not just living his dream but also unpacking the very strategies and mindset shifts that made his success possible.

What you'll take away from this episode:

• The hidden cost of survival and how D. Logan turned trauma into resilience.

• The mindset of reinvention—moving from despair to purpose.

• Keys to breakthrough success from military service to directing live TV.

• The power of storytelling in transforming pain into impact.

Show Notes

• Go to the Ultra Influential website for show notes.

• Download the Game Changer Leadership Collection

• Subscribe to the Ultra Influential Newsletter

Follow Dr. Sharalyn

• Connect on LinkedIn: Dr. Sharalyn

• Connect on Instagram: Dr. Sharalyn

Follow D. Logan

• Connect with D. Logan

If this episode challenged you, share it with one leader you know who's navigating a season of pain. Because resilience multiplies when we don't walk through it alone.

Don't forget to subscribe to The Game Changer with Dr. Sharalyn on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite platform.

For consulting inquiries, speaking engagements, or to bring Dr. Payne into your organization email leadership@smpistrategies.com.

Every leader faces pain. But the Game Changer leaders? They don't just survive it—they weaponize it.

In this episode, Dr. Sharalyn Payne unpacks eight powerful ways to transform setbacks into strength, struggles into strategy, and pain into purpose. Whether you're a C-suite executive, middle manager, or change agent, you'll discover how to turn your hardest moments into your greatest credibility.

If this episode challenged you, share it with one leader you know who's navigating a season of pain. Because resilience multiplies when we don't walk through it alone.

Show Notes

Go to the Ultra Influential website for show notes.

• Download the Game Changer Leadership Collection

• Subscribe to the Ultra Influential Newsletter

Follow Dr. Sharalyn

• Connect on LinkedIn: Dr. Sharalyn

• Connect on Instagram: Dr. Sharalyn

If this episode challenged you, share it with one leader you know who's navigating a season of pain. Because resilience multiplies when we don't walk through it alone.

Don't forget to subscribe to The Game Changer with Dr. Sharalyn on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite platform.

For consulting inquiries, speaking engagements, or to bring Dr. Payne into your organization email leadership@smpistrategies.com.

We were told leadership meant having all the answers, driving results at all costs, and never letting them see you sweat.

But no one told us the truth—
that you can hit every metric and still lose the room…
that you can carry the title and have no one truly following you…
that brilliance without credibility burns trust—and trust is the real currency of leadership.

In this powerful solo episode, Dr. Sharalyn pulls back the curtain on the hard-won lessons no one ever told her about leadership—lessons forged in high-stakes boardrooms, billion-dollar transformations, and culture-shaping moments that could have broken her.

This isn't leadership theory.
This is the real playbook elite leaders use to build trust, win loyalty, and create results that last.

Show Notes

Go to the Ultra Influential website for show notes.

• Download the Game Changer Leadership Collection

• Subscribe to the Ultra Influential Newsletter

Follow Dr. Sharalyn

• Connect on LinkedIn: Dr. Sharalyn

• Connect on Instagram: Dr. Sharalyn

If you're ready to uncover your blind spots, elevate your credibility, and build a team that wins under pressure, this is the work Dr. Sharalyn does every day with elite leaders.

Don't forget to subscribe to The Game Changer with Dr. Sharalyn on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite platform.

For consulting inquiries, speaking engagements, or to bring Dr. Payne into your organization email leadership@smpistrategies.com.