Stories of Leaders Who Changed Lives

Aug 19

Show Notes

In this episode, I share real stories about the kind of impact you can have as a leader—impact that goes beyond just getting the work done.

This episode isn't about comparing yourself to others, but about showing you what's possible for YOU. You have the power to create a lasting, life-changing impact on your team.

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Check out the edited and oh-so-nicely organized transcript below.

Organized Transcript

Hey, you're here. This is the Change Lives With Your Leadership podcast. And it's for leaders and managers who want to leverage the coolest f*cking thing ever. The fact that as a leader, you get to change people's lives every single day without any of the corporate or toxic f*ckery.

Hey, you made it to the last episode in this series 😄

So let me start by saying thank you!

No one made you listen to this series. (Or at least I don't think anyone's like holding a gun to your head right now.)

This is no accident…

You know, some people might see the title of this podcast series and immediately assume that this is some f*cking idealistic nonsense or even some toxic positivity shenanigans. Or they may be so focused on all the ways their own life isn't what they want and wouldn't even bother trying to do something to change other people's lives.

To be clear, I don't think there's anything wrong with anyone who has those thoughts or reactions or is in that place in life right now. Being a human on this planet, at this moment, isn't a wonderful gift from everyone's perspective.

And they have every right to feel that way.

What I am saying is that it's no accident or coincidence that you're listening to this episode right now.

If you're still here, I have a strong suspicion that at least some part of you already believes or wants to believe that you can change lives with your leadership.

That you want to be proven right…

That it's possible…

And that it's possible for you…

Which it is.

You really can change lives with your leadership.

It's a fact.

Not a thought.

And I hope you can see that by now.

Because it's something that you can specifically do as a leader where you have the power to make decisions that impact your people.

So in this last episode, I want to share with you stories of the kinds of impact that you can have. That you may already have had and just didn't know it. Because we're not always given the chance to hear about the impact that we make.

Why now?

And the reason that I left this for the last episode is that I don't want anyone to think…

“Oh, it's possible for them, but not for me.”

Or…

“I need to know exactly every detail of what these leaders did to make that kind of impact so I can do the exact same thing.”

This isn't about what others have or can do.

This series was about showing you what YOU can be and what YOU can do as a leader.

And that the changes that you make and the impact that you will have is always specific to you and the people on your team and the company that you're with and so many factors that can't be identical to any other leader and their team.

It’s not just the two of us, haha…

So I'm honestly sharing these stories and examples so you can see that you're not alone in this, or at least that it's not just the two of us in this, haha. That would be so much pressure!

No, I want you to see how there are many of us out there taking risks and making decisions to help create more supportive and human-centered workspaces that have a positive and life-changing impact on their people.

And the impact is beyond what happens in the moment or the next day or the next year.

Your impact can last a lifetime for people.

And as you add the positive impact, the life-changing ripples that are being created by so many other leaders, this is where we are making a difference.

This is work worth doing and it matters.

So let's get into it.

A life-saving story (seriously, life-saving)…

First, I want to share a story about something that may seem more extreme, but I believe is far more common than we realize given that most people don't share publicly about these kinds of things.

And this story is written anonymously for a reason.

I do want to give a trigger warning here.

I am going to be sharing a story about someone who was depressed and suicidal. So if that's not something you want to listen to right now, please feel free to skip ahead to the next story section called “Stories of the best bosses…”

So as I mentioned, this story was from someone who chose to be anonymous.

This person was dealing with depression and threw themselves into their work as a way to find stability. But this puts so much pressure on them to perform well at work because their entire worth was tied to their work. And not talking about it or asking for help with their depression kept taking its toll.
Until one day they scheduled a meeting with their boss…
The story doesn't say what they were going to ask their boss for, but it doesn't matter since when the time came for the meeting, they couldn't go through with whatever they wanted to say and they tried coming up with a different excuse.
But their boss saw right through it and so this person ended up telling their boss everything. Now, because their boss listened with such compassion and sincerity, they left the meeting feeling lighter and more optimistic.
However, not long after that, there was an important work inspection and because their sense of worth was so tied to their work, they were so anxious and worried about the inspection that they performed poorly. This is what led them to feeling suicidal. They felt as if they had nothing to live for and that they disappointed their boss, the person who had shown them such support and kindness.
Luckily, at that moment, the boss came to speak to them, not about the failed inspection, but with genuine concern for their welfare. And that made this person realize that they weren't worthless…
It was a turning point for them.
While things didn't get better right away, this interaction is what led to and aided in this person's recovery.
They are now happy to announce that they are successful in their field and a manager themselves, always reminded of the impact that a boss can have to change lives.

I have personally struggled with both depression and suicidal thoughts in the past, so I can tell you from personal experience that the people you spend the most time with absolutely have an impact on how that whole experience goes. And those of us who work tend to spend the most of our time with people at work, so those people have quite the impact.

I've also experienced both myself and have had several people on my teams who focused on their work as a way to make it through tough personal situations.

Work can truly be a lifeline for people.

But it's not just the work itself. It's also the people you interact with at work that leaves a lasting impression.

So here are some more stories and examples.

Stories of the best bosses…

These come from a Reddit thread that was all about people posting about their best bosses.

And what I want you to note here, as I go through these different stories and examples, is that the impact didn't just come from what these leaders did, but it also came from what they didn't do.

So we've got the boss who actively fought for his employees' training and advancement opportunities. That was someone's best boss.
There's the boss who didn't micromanage, who gave people additional responsibilities and fought for a 15% salary increase for this person. They noted that their boss didn't have a huge fragile ego or the need to control. I'm sure we are all familiar with bosses like that and why it would be nice to not have that.
There's also the boss who loved to train her people and didn't gatekeep information. She was very outspoken about salaries and how to negotiate pay and encouraged all of the people on her team to take job offers and focus on growth. She was always appreciative with the work they were doing. She provided feedback that was direct and nice, but not timid or passive-aggressive. She didn't dwell on mistakes and even in the most toxic situations she could maintain her zen, her calm, and never lose her cool. That sounds like a great boss to learn some stuff from for sure.
There was the boss who was so good at shielding their team from office politics and that recognized their strengths and helped this person get into a position where they could capitalize on those strengths, you know get to use their strengths. This boss was honest and open and even blunt, but these were all things that this person considered a plus for their boss.

And then the last story, and I mean there's a bunch in this thread that I will link to in the show notes.

But this last one is about a boss who showed the quality of sincerity. They were a good and honest person who guided their team members for the sake of guiding them. Not because they were specifically trying to achieve a set goal for the company. But just because they cared about their individual people on their team. This was a boss who wanted to help you improve and didn't see you as competition or simply below them.

And hierarchy is something that I notice comes up a lot in these stories. Where bosses don't treat people on their teams like they are above them, superior to them. Or, you know, the opposite. They don't treat their team members like they are inferior to them.

So very important qualities. Not surprised, I'm sure you're not either, that these are the types of bosses that people list as the best bosses that they've had. The ones that have left the most lasting positive impression.

For more stories…

Now there are more stories both in this thread but also from people who I've worked with, either because they were on one of my teams or they were my peers. (Yes, you can even change the lives of your peers who weren't on your teams and weren't directly impacted by your decisions.)

But I don't want to make this an hour-long episode, haha.

So if you're curious, you can find more of these stories about the impact that you can have on your people beyond just getting work done, when you focus on creating supportive spaces and human-centered spaces. Here’s the link if you want to check those out.

Inspired yet?

So I hope that these stories have helped you to see the kind of impact that you can have…

The kind of impact that you may have already had.

And that it inspires you to keep making changes that can create more supportive workspaces, more human-centered workspaces, more compassionate workspaces.

I hope that it inspires you to keep advocating for your people and for yourself.

Listen on those tough days…

Feel free to listen to this episode or any episode in this series on the days where it's tougher for you to see your impact or where you feel like you're not making an impact at all.

Because you are not alone in this.

There are so many of us out there working towards a similar vision of more supportive, compassionate, honest, accepting, understanding, and unabashedly human workspaces for everyone.

You can keep messaging me…

And, as always, if you have any questions, thoughts, ideas, or new things about anything in this series or about leadership in general, message me.

I want to hear from you.

I also like knowing that there are more of us out there and we can grow and learn together and from each other in conversation. So I want us to keep the conversation going.

Join my email list…

I also invite you to join my email list to keep discussing these things, to keep changing lives with our leadership. The link is here: coachodalis.com/subscribe.

Thank you 😊

Thank you again for listening to the series and for every message that you've sent me about it. I truly cherish all of them (and have responded to all of them, haha).

Now more than ever, I know that…

We will continue to change lives with our leadership—together.

Finale

Odalis Salazar Mullins