Profit Follows People: Build Belonging, Competence, And Autonomy
Tue Feb 03 2026
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Pressure keeps rising while teams feel less heard, less equipped, and less trusted. We tackle that gap head‑on by breaking down why “leadership development” can’t be a checkbox and how real behavior change, measured over months, transforms culture and profit at the same time.
Rhonda puts Katie in the hot seat to dig into the origin of Catalyst, the skills gap she saw across organizations, and the shift from promoting top performers into people leadership without training to building leaders who actually lead. We walk through research that grounds the work—Self‑Determination Theory—and translate it into daily practice: relatedness that fosters belonging, competence built through clear tools and processes, and autonomy that signals trust. You’ll hear why lunch‑and‑learns rarely move the needle, how to measure impact with confidence and self‑awareness, and what happens when executives chase profit instead of the culture that creates it.
We also open up the toolkit. Katie shares the structure of the Leaders Institute—Lead, Engage, Accept, Develop, Efficient, Resilient—plus the upcoming 52 Weeks of Leadership journal that turns learning into weekly habits with reflection, action, and stretch prompts. The stories are real: managers who lowered turnover and lifted engagement, leaders whose growth strengthened their marriages, and teams who finally got clarity after years of shifting priorities. We talk candidly about executive buy‑in, why cutting coaching backfires, and how to build advancement tracks for experts who don’t want to manage people.
If you’re ready to replace vague slogans with a concrete path—grounded in research, rich with tools, and proven in the field—this conversation is your starting point. Subscribe, share with a leader who needs it, and leave a review with the one behavior you’ll practice this week. Want to go deeper? Apply for the Kansas City cohort at katyervin.com/slash leaders and tell us what culture challenge you’re solving next.
Follow us on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/rhondajhale/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/katieervin/
www.jolyean.com
www.katieervin.com
Check out Rhonda's Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThingsForge
Order Dr. Katie's book: https://a.co/d/5Fv02dP
Learn more about Catalyst LEADERs Institute: www.katieervin.com/leaders
Theme music by Emma Jo https://emmajo.rocks/
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Send us a text Pressure keeps rising while teams feel less heard, less equipped, and less trusted. We tackle that gap head‑on by breaking down why “leadership development” can’t be a checkbox and how real behavior change, measured over months, transforms culture and profit at the same time. Rhonda puts Katie in the hot seat to dig into the origin of Catalyst, the skills gap she saw across organizations, and the shift from promoting top performers into people leadership without training to building leaders who actually lead. We walk through research that grounds the work—Self‑Determination Theory—and translate it into daily practice: relatedness that fosters belonging, competence built through clear tools and processes, and autonomy that signals trust. You’ll hear why lunch‑and‑learns rarely move the needle, how to measure impact with confidence and self‑awareness, and what happens when executives chase profit instead of the culture that creates it. We also open up the toolkit. Katie shares the structure of the Leaders Institute—Lead, Engage, Accept, Develop, Efficient, Resilient—plus the upcoming 52 Weeks of Leadership journal that turns learning into weekly habits with reflection, action, and stretch prompts. The stories are real: managers who lowered turnover and lifted engagement, leaders whose growth strengthened their marriages, and teams who finally got clarity after years of shifting priorities. We talk candidly about executive buy‑in, why cutting coaching backfires, and how to build advancement tracks for experts who don’t want to manage people. If you’re ready to replace vague slogans with a concrete path—grounded in research, rich with tools, and proven in the field—this conversation is your starting point. Subscribe, share with a leader who needs it, and leave a review with the one behavior you’ll practice this week. Want to go deeper? Apply for the Kansas City cohort at katyervin.com/slash leaders and tell us what culture challenge you’re solving next. Follow us on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/rhondajhale/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/katieervin/ www.jolyean.com www.katieervin.com Check out Rhonda's Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThingsForge Order Dr. Katie's book: https://a.co/d/5Fv02dP Learn more about Catalyst LEADERs Institute: www.katieervin.com/leaders Theme music by Emma Jo https://emmajo.rocks/