The Climb: Leadership Development and Confident Leader Podcast

You explained it clearly. So why aren't people listening or taking action?For leaders, communicating the message is often the easy part. Getting people to trust it, buy into it, and act on it is much harder—especially when you don't have the authority to simply tell them what to do.In this episode of The CLIMB: Leadership Development & Confident Leader Podcast, Rahul Karan Sharma sits down with entrepreneur, author, and human behavior expert Joe Rocky Jr. to explore how to influence people without authority, communicate with different personalities, build trust, and turn a message into action.And Joe challenges a piece of advice almost every leader has heard:“Treat others the way you want to be treated.”What if that's part of the problem?Leaders can unknowingly communicate based on how they think, what motivates them, and what worked for them. But the person on the other side may think, respond, and make decisions very differently.Rahul and Joe explore:How to influence people without title or authorityWhy people don't listen—even when your message makes senseWhy the Golden Rule can become a leadership blind spotHow curiosity and better questions create influenceWhy assumptions can weaken communication and trustHow to communicate with different personalitiesWhy listening can be more powerful than speakingHow ownership creates stronger buy-in during changeHow genuine relationships can strengthen teams and performanceOne idea captures the conversation:Authority may get you compliance. Influence earns commitment.Because leadership isn't simply about making people hear your message.It's to understand people well enough that the message matters to them.So the next time your team isn't responding the way you expected, instead of asking:“Why aren't they listening?”Try asking:“Do I understand them well enough for my message to land?”About Joe Rocky Jr. Joe Rocky Jr. is an entrepreneur, author, sales and human behavior expert, and owner of Elite Business Cruises. He has built 29 businesses and focuses his work on understanding what motivates people and strengthening relationships with employees and customers. Connect with Joe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joerockey/About Rahul Karan SharmaRahul Karan Sharma is a Leadership Advisor to Staffing CEOs, organizational development strategist, keynote speaker, author, and host of The CLIMB. His work focuses on strengthening leadership capacity, accountability, and the organizational systems companies need to grow.Connect with Rahul: https://linkedin.com/in/rahulkaransharma#LeadershipDevelopment #InfluenceWithoutAuthority #LeadershipCommunication #ConfidentLeadership #TheCLIMB

What if employee turnover isn't the real problem—but a symptom of something deeper inside the organization?When people keep leaving, the typical response is to recruit faster. But hiring more people into the same environment others have already rejected doesn't solve the problem. It simply continues the cycle.In this episode of The CLIMB: Leadership Development & Confident Leader Podcast, Rahul Karan Sharma sits down with Clark Ingram, Founder and President of People Profits and author of CHURN, to challenge some conventional thinking around employee turnover, retention, and leadership.Clark brings an unusual perspective. He began his career in finance before his CEO asked him to take over HR during a serious workforce-retention problem. That experience changed how he thought about people, performance, and the systems behind both.In this conversation:Why you can't recruit your way out of a turnover problemWhy turnover needs an organization-specific diagnosisThe hidden business cost of an unstable workforceWhy people and profits aren't competing prioritiesWhat Clark calls the “VP disease”Why industry-average turnover can create false comfortHow HR leaders can speak the language of the businessWhy listening to employees matters only when leaders actOne of the most important ideas from our conversation:People don't always leave because of one bad manager. Sometimes they leave because the system around them no longer works.And when leaders stop chasing symptoms and start fixing the system, retention can become an outcome—not another initiative.About Clark Ingram:Founder and President of People Profits, executive consultant, keynote speaker, and author of CHURN: Proven Strategies to Overcome Failing Conventional Talent Management and Achieve Zero Turnover.Connect with Clark: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clark-ingram-mba-shrm-scp-cebs-cpcu-06385111/About Rahul Karan Sharma:Leadership Advisor to Staffing CEOs, organizational development strategist, author, and host of The CLIMB and the Staffing Truth.Connect with Rahul: https://linkedin.com/in/rahulkaransharma🎙️ What would you fix inside your organization before hiring the next person?#LeadershipDevelopment #EmployeeRetention #TheCLIMB

What if leadership confidence isn't something you either have or don't have but something you can intentionally build?And what if one of the biggest differences between confident leaders and everyone else is their ability to see patterns others miss?In this episode of The CLIMB: Leadership Development and Confident Leader Podcast, leadership advisor Rahul Karan Sharma sits down with leadership educator, organizational consultant and Sheppard Partners founder Charlie Sheppard to explore where real confidence comes from—and why it goes much deeper than appearing certain.Charlie makes an important distinction: genuine confidence isn't false bravado. It develops as leaders expand their capabilities, understand their patterns and become more intentional about how they respond.One of the most interesting ideas in the conversation is the connection between confidence and systems thinking.Rahul and Charlie also explore why leadership is a choice, how presence affects leadership, why ownership matters more than blame, and what organizations can learn by studying low performers instead of only trying to replicate high performers.In this episode:Why confidence can be intentionally developedThe difference between genuine confidence and projected confidenceWhy competence often comes before confidenceHow systems thinking helps leaders navigate complexityWhy seeing patterns can increase leadership confidenceWhat organizations can learn from studying low performers?Why presence gives leaders greater choice in how they respondInternal vs. external locus of controlHow our stories and unconscious patterns can either serve or sabotage usWhy taking ownership changes the way we leadEpisode Highlights:00:00 What If Confidence Begins With a Choice?01:55 Can Confidence Actually Be Developed?03:55 Charlie's Journey Into Leadership Development06:41 Why Charlie Started Studying Low Performers09:28 Leadership Is a Choice12:33 Why Presence Matters in Leadership15:15 Creating the Human Presence Institute19:46 Are Our Stories Sabotaging Our Confidence?23:22 Why Leaders Need to Take Ownership27:38 Internal vs. External Locus of Control28:24 What Makes Someone Genuinely Confident?28:41 The Connection Between Confidence and Systems Thinking30:55 Seeing What Others Miss31:25 How Sheppard Partners Develops Leaders34:08 Rapid-Fire Leadership Round35:40 Rahul's Biggest TakeawaysAbout Charlie SheppardCharlie Sheppard is the founder of Sheppard Partners and an experienced leadership educator and organizational-development practitioner. His work includes behavioral modeling, leadership development, organizational culture, influence and performance. He is also the author of Save Your Drama for Your Mama: Drama or Leadership Is a Choice.Connect with Charlie:🌐 Website: https://www.sheppardpartners.com/💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charliesheppard/About Rahul Karan SharmaRahul Karan Sharma is a Leadership Advisor to Staffing CEOs, organizational development strategist, author and host of The CLIMB: Leadership Development & Confident Leader Podcast. His work focuses on helping organizations develop confident leaders who can influence, take ownership and create sustainable performance.Connect with Rahul:🌐 Website: https://rahulkaransharma.com💼 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/rahulkaransharmaQuestion for you:What has built more confidence in your career—learning something new or successfully navigating something difficult?#LeadershipDevelopment #ConfidentLeadership #SystemsThinking #TheCLIMB #rahulkaransharma

A great résumé can tell you where someone has been. It can't tell you whether they can lead your company where it's going.So why do so many founders still make one of their most important leadership decisions based primarily on experience, interviews and gut instinct?In this episode of The CLIMB: Leadership Development & Confident Leader Podcast, leadership strategist Rahul Karan Sharma sits down with Alec Broadfoot, Founder & CEO of VisionSpark and author of Hiring Your Right #2 Leader, to explore why hiring the wrong leader can quietly become one of the biggest constraints on growth.Alec learned this lesson through experience. In an earlier business, he was firing 7 out of every 10 people he hired. Introducing structured assessments helped completely change his approach to hiring—and eventually contributed to the creation of VisionSpark. But this conversation goes beyond recruiting.Rahul and Alec explore a question every growing founder eventually faces:Can you build an organization that performs without you being involved in everything?In this episode, you'll learn:Why experience and a strong résumé aren't enough when hiring leadersWhat founders should evaluate beyond qualifications?Why mental acuity, adaptability, and people skills matterHow hiring the wrong leader creates invisible organizational costsWhy founders struggle to delegate and how trust affects delegationHow to determine whether a leader can support 3X or 5X growthWhy your best salesperson may not be your best managerWhat to look for in a strong #2, COO or IntegratorWhy being indispensable may actually limit your organization's growthAbout our Guest:Alec Broadfoot is Founder & CEO of VisionSpark, an executive search firm focused on helping entrepreneurial and growth-oriented companies hire critical leaders. He is also the author of Hiring Your Right #2 Leader. Connect on LinkedIn with Alec: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alecbroadfoot/About our HostRahul Karan Sharma is a leadership strategist, organizational development practitioner, author, and host of The CLIMB. Through Steady Steps and the CLIMB Framework™, his work focuses on developing confident leaders and helping organizations strengthen leadership capability and performance. Connect on LinkedIn with Rahul: https://linkedin.com/in/rahulkaransharmaKey Highlights from the episode:00:00 The Leadership Mistake That Can Change Everything01:48 Alec Broadfoot's Entrepreneurial Journey03:25 The Hiring Failure That Changed Alec's Career04:40 When the Assessment Said “Don't Hire Her”07:23 The Invisible Cost of a Bad Hire09:13 Why Founders Struggle to Delegate10:31 Will Your Leaders Handle 3X–5X Growth?11:00 Why a Résumé Isn't Enough12:28 Are You Hiring Through the Halo Effect?13:48 What If the Right Person Is in the Wrong Seat?17:23 Authority vs. Influence18:53 Why Founders Need the Right #222:06 The Hidden Cost of Doing Everything Yourself26:01 What Founders Should Stop Doing29:07 Rapid-Fire Leadership Round30:08 Rahul's Biggest Leadership TakeawaysQuestion for you: If you disappeared from your business for two weeks, would your leadership team keep moving or would decisions start waiting for you?#LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveHiring #FounderLeadership #TheCLIMB

A leadership setback doesn't have to destroy your confidence. What if failure isn't evidence that you're failing—but feedback showing you what to do differently?In this episode of The CLIMB: Leadership Development & Confident Leader Podcast, leadership advisor Rahul Karan Sharma sits down with entrepreneur, leadership teacher and A Mindful CEO host Aaron Hendon to explore how leaders recover from failure, rebuild confidence and use mindfulness to respond rather than react.Aaron offers a powerful reframe:Failure is feedback.An action may fail to produce the result you wanted. But that doesn't make you a failure. It gives you information—and the opportunity to choose a different action. Rahul and Aaron take that idea into the realities leaders face every day: a presentation that goes badly, a business decision that doesn't work, a first-time manager trying to prove themselves, or a mistake made in front of the team.And sometimes, trying to hide the mistake creates more damage than the mistake itself.In this episode, you'll discover:Why failure should be treated as feedbackHow leaders can rebuild confidence after a setbackWhy adaptability matters more than getting everything rightHow mindfulness can become a leadership performance toolWhy leaders should own mistakes instead of hiding themHow self-kindness can strengthen leadershipWhy meditation isn't about “emptying your mind”What first-time managers can learn before trying to reinvent the wheelHow to stay centered when things don't go according to planEpisode Highlights00:00 – Why Leaders Need to Talk About Failure02:17 – Aaron's Biggest Business Failure03:40 – Stop Reinventing the Wheel Too Early06:50 – Why Failure Doesn't Mean You're Incapable07:12 – Failure Is Feedback09:25 – Mindfulness as a Leadership Performance Tool12:00 – How to Rebuild Confidence After Failure14:49 – What Successful Leaders Understand About Mindfulness16:40 – How to Start Practicing Mindfulness18:49 – Why Owning Mistakes Builds Credibility20:11 – You Can't Give What You Don't Have21:23 – Aaron's Work & Upcoming Book22:59 – Inside A Mindful CEO Podcast24:04 – Rapid-Fire Leadership Round24:38 – Rahul's Biggest Leadership TakeawaysAbout Guest Aaron HendonAaron Hendon is an entrepreneur, leadership teacher, speaker and host of A Mindful CEO Podcast. His work explores the intersection between mindfulness, leadership performance, business results, and living intentionally.Connect with Aaron:🌐 Website: https://www.thegratefulbreath.com/💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhendon/About our HostRahul Karan Sharma is a leadership advisor, organizational development strategist, keynote speaker, author, and host of The CLIMB: Leadership Development & Confident Leader Podcast.Rahul's work focuses on developing confident leaders, strengthening leadership pipelines, and helping organizations build leaders who can create influence, accountability, and sustainable performance.Connect with Rahul:🌐 Website: https://rahulkaransharma.com💼 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/rahulkaransharma🎙️ What's one failure that ultimately taught you something success couldn't?Share your perspective in the comments.Keep learning. Keep evolving. Keep climbing.#LeadershipDevelopment #ConfidentLeadership #LeadershipMindset #Mindfulness #TheCLIMB