Soft leadership styles can help CEOs build trust, increase accountability, and create healthier teams without sacrificing performance.

In this episode of The CEO Project Podcast, host Jim Schleckser speaks with visionary entrepreneur, inventor, and movement leader Staci Wright about how workplace expectations are changing and why traditional leadership models are struggling to keep up.

Staci explains how trust, collaboration, emotional intelligence, and psychological safety can replace rigid command-and-control leadership. She also discusses why compassionate leadership must still include clear expectations, honest feedback, and accountability.

You'll learn how to:

• Build trust without abandoning performance standards
• Create psychological safety while maintaining accountability
• Recognize how stress affects decision-making and productivity
• Support employee wellbeing without becoming responsible for employees' personal lives
• Address a struggling or toxic workplace culture
• Measure cultural progress through retention, feedback, and employee behavior
• Use soft leadership styles to create healthier, more resilient teams

Staci also introduces a new way to think about organizational structure. Instead of placing leaders at the top of a pyramid, she describes them as the roots of a tree, creating the conditions employees need to thrive and the business needs to produce results.

If your team is experiencing burnout, turnover, distrust, or declining performance, the answer may require more than another employee benefit or team-building exercise. Listen to this conversation to learn how soft leadership styles can help you build a culture where people feel supported, accept accountability, and perform at their best.

Check out:

6:35: Why adding compassion to an old command-and-control model can cause performance to decline

11:48: How leaders can create psychological safety while maintaining accountability

23:42: Three steps for repairing a stressed or toxic workplace culture

About Staci Wright

Staci Wright is a visionary entrepreneur, inventor, and movement leader whose work centers on social impact and the power of business to create meaningful change. With over 20 years of experience, she has founded multiple companies, secured 28 patents, and led ventures that blend innovation, humanity, and purpose.

Across all of her work, the common thread is a commitment to building businesses that serve people, strengthen communities, and support inner and collective transformation. Known for her heart-led leadership and systems-level thinking, Staci believes business can—and must—be a force for healing, sustainability, and hope.

In this episode of The CEO Project Podcast, host Jim Schleckser speaks with fractional CMO, global keynote speaker, and bestselling author Alison Michaels about building a marketing ecosystem that is aligned, strategic, and scalable.

Alison explains why strong marketing starts with more than ads or social media. It requires a clear brand story, a high-performing website, consistent messaging, the right channels, and a customer experience designed around the audience you want to reach. She also shares why many companies struggle when agencies focus on execution without fully understanding the business's revenue drivers.

You'll learn how to:

• Build a connected marketing ecosystem instead of relying on isolated tactics
• Develop an authentic brand story that resonates with the right customers
• Decide which marketing channels deserve your time and investment
• Use people, customer stories, and video to make your brand more relatable
• Simplify your marketing so you can measure what is actually working
• Align marketing investments with leads, revenue, and long-term growth
• Recognize when fractional marketing leadership may be the right fit

Alison also explains why "good enough" marketing rarely supports a company's next stage of growth and how elevating your messaging, imagery, customer experience, and overall brand can help attract more discerning, higher-value buyers.

If your marketing feels fragmented, difficult to measure, or disconnected from revenue, this conversation will help you identify the gaps. Listen now to learn how a stronger marketing ecosystem and a more authentic brand story can give your company a clearer voice, attract the right audience, and support scalable growth.

Check out:

6:42 – Why your website is the foundation of a scalable marketing ecosystem

13:18 – How an authentic brand story helps companies connect with the right customers

20:47 – Why simplifying your marketing makes it easier to measure results

About Allison Michels

Allison Michels is a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer, global keynote speaker, and 6x bestselling author with 15+ years of experience advising CEOs, founders, and senior leaders across for-profit and nonprofit sectors. Her specialty is building marketing ecosystems that are aligned, strategic, and scalable — helping organizations clarify their voice, attract the right audiences, and launch initiatives that move the needle. A certified John Maxwell trainer, Allison has delivered content for global audiences as large as 20,000, worked alongside John Maxwell on transformational leadership in Paraguay, and built a podcast and conference series that have reached over 100 countries. She is the founder of LAUNCH, a strategic marketing practice helping high-achieving leaders create clarity and increase revenue.

What really happens inside a CEO peer group meeting? In this episode, Jim Schleckser and Julie Walker share real-world CEO peer-group case studies involving multimillion-dollar decisions, organizational changes, acquisitions, succession planning, board expectations, and growth strategies.

These confidential examples reveal the complex issues facing CEOs of companies with revenue ranging from hundreds of millions to more than a billion dollars. Jim and Julie explore how CEOs use advice from experienced peers to challenge assumptions, reframe problems, and uncover risks they may not recognize on their own.

Hear how CEOs worked through decisions such as whether to divest an underperforming business unit, pursue a first acquisition, introduce an e-commerce channel without alienating dealers, restructure a leadership team, and reset expectations with a board. These CEO peer group case studies demonstrate how external perspectives can help leaders make better decisions and avoid costly mistakes.

Listen to the full episode for an inside look at the conversations that take place within a CEO peer group and the practical lessons you can apply to your own leadership decisions.

Check out:

9:35 | Preparing for a First Acquisition
Why even a well-planned acquisition can disrupt the core business and why a dedicated integration team matters.

17:50 | Managing a Board Through Strategic Change
How CEOs can protect their credibility by setting realistic expectations and becoming the hero at results time, not budget time.

24:35 | When a New CEO Inherits Unexpected Problems
Why new CEOs should surface bad news early, reset expectations and address every hidden issue before building forward.

Prior to joining The CEO Project, Julie Walker was CEO of Shopper Events, a $300 million marketing agency with operations in US and Canada supporting Walmart, Sam's Club, and more than 600 CPG clients. She led the business through several transitions, including the merger of three companies into one; portfolio expansion, explosive growth, and first-ever price increase on the largest division; introduction of adult beverage and fresh production services supported by an expanded compliance department; investment in technology to automate consistent service and accountability across multi-unit operations; divestiture of a division to one of the two company owners; and loss of contract and office shutdown on smallest division.

Julie also has extensive experience working for Procter & Gamble. Over 24 years, she held various executive positions with functional expertise in brand management, shopper marketing, and customer business development before retiring to diversify her experience and move into the service sector. She's an inspirational leader with a passion for innovation, inclusive cultures, and executive courage.