Speak In Flow

Your team is full of brilliant people. So why does it sometimes feel like everyone is playing a different song? Paul Jan Zdunek spent years as an orchestra conductor before spending 20 years leading organizations through crisis, change, and growth, from a five-star hotel to a private school. In this conversation with Melinda Lee, Paul explains what conducting taught him about alignment: you can’t command people who are smarter than you in their own craft, but you can coach them, trust them, and bring them together as an ensemble.In This Episode, You Will Learn:Coach and Collaborate, Don’t Command and Control“You’re not teaching them the technical skills of their instrument.”Why a conductor leads 80 specialists without playing every instrument, and how that same playbook helped Paul turn around a hotel he had never run before.Responsibility Without Authority Kills Ownership“I have the responsibility, but I don’t have the authority.”Why this is one of the top complaints in organizations that are stuck, how unscheduled check-ins quietly signal distrust, and why micromanaged teams deliver work that is “safe and boring” instead of passionate and risk-taking.Read the Signals Before Anyone Speaks“It could be something like somebody 30 feet away raises an eyebrow.”What conducting teaches about picking up subtle cues, why leaders who talk more miss more, and how recording your own meetings can show you the reaction you’re actually getting.Structure Your Communication, and Know What Not to Send“Being disciplined about what not to communicate is just as important as when to communicate.”Why overloading people with messages makes them shut down, and how mapping your year of communications helps important messages land.Address Molehills Before They Become Mountains“Ice cubes before they become icebergs.”Why real-time feedback beats the once-a-year review, how to handle the brilliant “soloist” who doesn’t play with the team, and why your employees are always watching how you respond.__________________________________Your top performer hits every target. They might also be the reason your best people are quietly leaving. We wrote about the real cost of a toxic star, and what leaders can do about it, only on the blog.__________________________________About the Guest:Paul Jan Zdunek began his career conducting orchestras and has spent more than 20 years since in the executive C-suite, leading organizations where the people doing the work know more about it than the person in charge. He is usually called in when one has stalled. He has served as COO of Miller Kaplan, managing director of advisory services at BDO USA, and CEO of the Pasadena Symphony & POPS, and has stepped in as interim chief executive of a five-star hotel, an independent school, and a performing arts center.A TEDx speaker and keynote speaker, Paul is the author of Conduct the Room: How Brilliant People Become a High-Performing Organization and co-author of Cowboys & Conductors. He holds a Master of Music in conducting and an Executive MBA from the Drucker School of Management.Connect with Paul Jan Zdunek:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauljanzdunek/Website: https://pauljanzdunek.com/Fun Facts:🎼 Once forgot his tuxedo before a concert in Beijing and had to race back to his hotel through packed traffic🎹 Worked with the late Marvin Hamlisch📞 Was an award-winning phone salesman for Olan Mills at 16🍸 Favorite pastime: floating in the pool with a gin and tonic__________________________________About Melinda:Melinda Lee is a Presentation Skills Expert, Speaking Coach and nationally renowned Motivational Speaker. She holds an M.A. in Organizational Psychology, is an Insights Practitioner, and is a Certified Professional in Talent Development as well as Certified in Conflict Resolution. For over a decade, Melinda has researched and studied the state of “flow” and used it as a proven technique to help corporate leaders and business owners amplify their voices, access flow, and present their mission in a more powerful way to achieve results.She has been the TEDx Berkeley Speaker Coach and worked with hundreds of executives and teams from Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Caltrans, Bay Area Rapid Transit System, and more. Currently, she lives in San Francisco, California, and is breaking the ancestral lineage of silence.Website: https://speakinflow.com/Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/speakinflowInstagram: https://instagram.com/speakinflowLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mpowerallThanks for listening!Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!Subscribe to the podcastIf you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.Leave us an Apple Podcasts reviewRatings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

If you look at the work environment globally right now, you’ve surely heard people say things like, “Why would I go the extra mile if this company isn’t even mine?” And they have a point. If employees don’t feel that the company’s growth is their growth, they won’t put their max into it. That’s where ownership comes in. Christine Simmons, entrepreneur, strategist, and self-described recovering C-suite executive, joins Melinda Lee to explain how leaders build an ownership mentality in people who never signed a cap table.In This Episode, You Will Learn:Ownership Is a Mentality Before It’s a Cap Table“There’s a mentality of equity before you get to the cap table.”Why people can think and act like owners without owning a share, and how the shift from checking off KPIs to understanding their impact changes the way someone shows up.Connect the Small Piece to the Big PictureWhy leaders who are too busy to explain the “why” lose the buy-in they need, and how tying a single task, even a two-second edit in a video, to its effect on the team, the company, and the wider ecosystem turns a job into a contribution.Delivered Isn’t the Same as Received“Just because I delivered that message does not mean it was received.”Why a town hall announcement doesn’t create ownership, and how getting to know your people as whole humans lets you adapt the same message so it lands, like one song played in many genres.Ownership Looks Different in Every Person“Throw a piece of trash down in the middle of the room, and wait to see who picks it up.”How to tell project leaders from people leaders, and why building on people’s strengths, instead of forcing them into roles that don’t fit, wins more than fixing weaknesses.Lead So It Thrives Without You“You need to want it to thrive without you.”Why replacing “because I said so” with real dialogue, creating a safe space for feedback, and taking the ego out of the equation is what frees leaders to focus on the creative work only they can do._____________________________________A great person can still be a bad fit. Waiting to find that out is the most expensive way to learn it. Read our guide on how to hire the right people for a startup._____________________________________About the Guest:Christine Simmons is an entrepreneur, strategist, and former C-suite executive with 20+ years of experience leading transformational change across sports, media, and entertainment. She has served as COO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Oscars) and President and COO of the Los Angeles Sparks, and held leadership roles at Magic Johnson Enterprises, Disney, and NBCUniversal.Today, she advises organizations through her consulting firm, Alis Volat Propriis, co-founded 360 Impact Collective to help top athletes turn their platforms into lasting impact, and teaches a course on social impact in sports and entertainment at the University of Miami’s Law School.Connect with Christine Simmons:IG @unapologetically_christinelinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/unapologeticallychristine/FB: https://www.facebook.com/UnapologeticallyChristineNicoleYouTube: @UnapologeticallyChristineFun Facts:🏍️ Grew up water skiing and dirt bike riding🧬 Self-described genealogy nerd who has traced her family history back to 1840👦 Proudest achievement: being mom to her son, Christian_____________________________________About Melinda:Melinda Lee is a Presentation Skills Expert, Speaking Coach and nationally renowned Motivational Speaker. She holds an M.A. in Organizational Psychology, is an Insights Practitioner, and is a Certified Professional in Talent Development as well as Certified in Conflict Resolution. For over a decade, Melinda has researched and studied the state of “flow” and used it as a proven technique to help corporate leaders and business owners amplify their voices, access flow, and present their mission in a more powerful way to achieve results.She has been the TEDx Berkeley Speaker Coach and worked with hundreds of executives and teams from Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Caltrans, Bay Area Rapid Transit System, and more. Currently, she lives in San Francisco, California, and is breaking the ancestral lineage of silence.Website: https://speakinflow.com/Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/speakinflowInstagram: https://instagram.com/speakinflowLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mpowerallThanks for listening!Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!Subscribe to the podcastIf you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.Leave us an Apple Podcasts reviewRatings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

Companies change, and markets shift, but some leadership principles stay the same. In this conversation, Melinda Lee sits down with Kian Alavi, the co-founder and CEO of Mazlo. He talks about the principles that have stayed the same at every stage of his company's growth, explaining why these principles are the key to getting around the “founder's trap.” Basically, when every decision still goes back to the CEO, a team built on trust, ownership, and the right people can carry the mission without you in every room.In This Episode, You Will Learn:Your Inbox can be a Red Flag“If you've got great people on your team, you should be getting fewer emails or having an easier time managing them.”A constant stream of requests that need your response is a symptom of an organization built around one person.Why You Can’t Let GoThe honest answers behind micromanagement are not trusting the person, not setting them up to succeed, and not being clear on what you’re asking and why. “It won’t get done right unless I do it” is almost always false.Delegation vs. Ownership“If you’re delegating appropriately, you’re actually shipping their work to them.”The difference between handing over a task and handing over responsibility shapes whether work gets done well, quickly, and without follow-up. Also, a task that needs chasing usually signals misalignment, not a motivation problem.The Right People and the Courage to Move Quickly“The CEO's job is to be fierce and defend and protect their team.”Why keeping an ill-fitting person in a role costs the whole team, how a great person can still be a bad fit, and why acting early is a form of respect for everyone involved._________________________________In a startup, one hire can represent 5-20% of your entire team. A bad hire can cost 15,000–30,000 and result in months of lost momentum. In our latest article, we explain how to hire based on your company's stage, develop a hiring process that surpasses gut feeling, and take action quickly when a candidate isn't the right fit._________________________________About the Guest:Kian Alavi is the co-founder and CEO of Mazlo, the financial infrastructure for nonprofits and fiscal sponsors. Mazlo brings banking, payments, and accounting into one platform built specifically for the back office of a sector representing 1.5 million U.S. nonprofits.Today, Mazlo serves nonprofits across 47 states and has surpassed a quarter billion dollars in funding volume in under two years. Its platform removes up to 90% of the manual reconciliation work that burdens finance teams, automatically enforces fund restrictions, and replaces month-end guesswork with real-time financial visibility.Connect with Kian Alavi:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kianalavi/?isSelfProfile=falseWebsite: https://www.mazlo.com/Mazlo’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mazlo-official/Fun Facts:👨‍👧‍👦 Dad of two🥾 Enjoys hiking and biking⚽ Coaches youth sports🌱 Mentors young adults_________________________________About Melinda:Melinda Lee is a Presentation Skills Expert, Speaking Coach and nationally renowned Motivational Speaker. She holds an M.A. in Organizational Psychology, is an Insights Practitioner, and is a Certified Professional in Talent Development as well as Certified in Conflict Resolution. For over a decade, Melinda has researched and studied the state of “flow” and used it as a proven technique to help corporate leaders and business owners amplify their voices, access flow, and present their mission in a more powerful way to achieve results.She has been the TEDx Berkeley Speaker Coach and worked with hundreds of executives and teams from Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Caltrans, Bay Area Rapid Transit System, and more. Currently, she lives in San Francisco, California, and is breaking the ancestral lineage of silence.Website: https://speakinflow.com/Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/speakinflowInstagram: https://instagram.com/speakinflowLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mpowerallThanks for listening!Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!Subscribe to the podcastIf you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.Leave us an Apple Podcasts reviewRatings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

“Alignment” may sound like a buzzword until it results in a strike, diminished performance, or unachieved goals. In this episode, Yvonne Cheng, a member benefits consultant at the California Teachers Association, joins Melinda Lee to discuss what effective alignment looks like in practice. With her experience representing a union of over 310,000 members and two decades in corporate retail leadership, Yvonne offers valuable insights into achieving alignment when the stakes are high.In This Episode, You Will Learn:Alignment Starts With Listening, Not AssumingWhy the first step to successful leadership, whether running a company or representing 310,000 educators, is listening to what people actually need rather than assuming you already know.What Happens When Alignment Breaks Down“If they're aligned together, everything could go so much more smoothly.”How misalignment between a school district and its local union escalated into strikes lasting up to twelve days, and what that disruption reveals about the real cost of unresolved disagreement.The CEO Who Knew Her Name“I really felt seen and heard.”A personal story from two decades in corporate retail on the difference between managers who communicated expectations clearly and those who didn't, and how that gap directly shaped success or failure on the job.Shared Understanding as the Real GoalWhy alignment doesn't require everyone to agree on everything, but does require a genuine channel for disagreement, perspective, and feedback to be heard and acted on before it turns into disruption._____________________________________________Your training isn't wrong when it's built. It's outdated by the time it arrives. The half-life of a technical skill is now less than 2.5 years, and static courses can't keep up. Read our latest article to learn how to upgrade your training and increase your ROI._____________________________________________About the Guest: Yvonne Cheng is a benefits professional with more than 10 years of experience in benefits, customer experience, partnerships, and program development. She currently works at the California Teachers Association in the Member Benefits Department, where she helps CTA members access valuable resources, programs, and services that support their financial, personal, and professional well-being.Connect with Yvonne Cheng:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yvonne-cheng-67a3038/ Fun Facts:🎤 Has been to over 12 Backstreet Boys concerts_____________________________________________About Melinda:Melinda Lee is a Presentation Skills Expert, Speaking Coach, and nationally renowned Motivational Speaker. She holds an M.A. in Organizational Psychology, is an Insights Practitioner, and is a Certified Professional in Talent Development as well as Certified in Conflict Resolution. For over a decade, Melinda has researched and studied the state of “flow” and used it as a proven technique to help corporate leaders and business owners amplify their voices, access flow, and present their mission in a more powerful way to achieve results.She has been the TEDx Berkeley Speaker Coach and has worked with hundreds of executives and teams from Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Caltrans, Bay Area Rapid Transit System, and more. Currently, she lives in San Francisco, California, and is breaking the ancestral lineage of silence.Website: https://speakinflow.com/Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/speakinflowInstagram: https://instagram.com/speakinflowLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mpowerallThanks for listening!Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!Subscribe to the podcastIf you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.Leave us an Apple Podcast review.Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

AI is automating the paperwork, the reviews, the endless status meetings. So what's left for leaders to do? Sugata Sanyal, founder and CEO of ZINFI, with over three decades of experience, joins Melinda Lee to make the case that AI isn't replacing leadership, but giving teams a 360-degree view that was impossible a year ago.This episode is a must-listen for anyone wondering what leadership actually looks like once AI takes over the busywork.In This Episode, You Will Learn:From Reviews and Meetings to Human ConversationsWhy AI can eliminate 60-70% of the reviews and status meetings that used to dominate a leader's calendar, and what that time should be redirected toward instead.Alignment Starts With Knowing Who You Serve“A company is a contract through which we work for customers in the end.”Why the first step to organizational alignment isn't a strategy document, it's making sure every team member, technical or not, understands exactly who they're serving and why.From Paperwork to Peoplework“Companies are like families.”Why the real opportunity in this shift isn't efficiency for its own sake, it's giving leaders back the time to notice when a customer or an employee is struggling, something no AI agent can replace.Leading Yourself Through Change“I gotta create a new mirror, and I gotta create that.”Why leading a team through transformation starts with a leader's own willingness to admit what they built yesterday may no longer be relevant, and how identifying early adopters inside the organization accelerates everyone else's ability to change.________________________________________Employees forget 70% of what they learn within 24 hours. So why does most corporate training still run on one-and-done courses?Read our last article to learn the real cost of outdated training, and how to fix it.________________________________________About the Guest:Sugata Sanyal is the founder and CEO of ZINFI, an enterprise software platform that helps Fortune 100 and mid-market companies manage and grow their partner and reseller networks. With over three decades of experience at Honeywell, Philips, and Dell SonicWALL, Sugata has built a career around solving complex industry problems in ways that create hundreds of new jobs and opportunities.Connect with Sugata Sanyal:LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sugatasanyal/Website: http://www.zinfi.com/Fun Facts:💻 Believes everyone should spend at least an hour a day learning on YouTube🤝 Co-founded East Bay Founders, a nonprofit community of 1,600+ founders, CXOs, and contributors📚 Draws leadership philosophy from Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens_________________________________About Melinda:Melinda Lee is a Presentation Skills Expert, Speaking Coach and nationally renowned Motivational Speaker. She holds an M.A. in Organizational Psychology, is an Insights Practitioner, and is a Certified Professional in Talent Development as well as Certified in Conflict Resolution. For over a decade, Melinda has researched and studied the state of “flow” and used it as a proven technique to help corporate leaders and business owners amplify their voices, access flow, and present their mission in a more powerful way to achieve results.She has been the TEDx Berkeley Speaker Coach and worked with hundreds of executives and teams from Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Caltrans, Bay Area Rapid Transit System, and more. Currently, she lives in San Francisco, California, and is breaking the ancestral lineage of silence.Website: https://speakinflow.com/Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/speakinflowInstagram: https://instagram.com/speakinflowLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mpowerallThanks for listening!Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!Subscribe to the podcastIf you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.Leave us an Apple Podcasts reviewRatings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.