storytelling Archives - Elite Leadership Academy

December 19, 2025December 19, 2025

Don’t Let a Toxic Grinch Steal Your Christmas or Your 2026 Profitability!

Every year, I enjoy watching TV shows and movies about the holiday season. It’s a tradition I started with my kids when they were young and continue to this day either by myself or when they arrive for the holidays. Some of my favorites include, “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, “It’s a Wonderful Life” and even “Die Hard.” I also like to watch the animated “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” but this year, I decided to also watch the 2000 live version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” with Jim Carrey. The animated version is my favorite, as I’ve read the book to my kids several times when they were young and even tried to imitate Boris Karloff at times. As I was watching it, I saw several parallels to toxic leadership that I’ve been writing and speaking about lately. There are 4 points about the similarities to the Grinch and a toxic leader that I would like to share with you.

December 2, 2025December 2, 2025

The Leadership Alignment Prescription

TALES FROM THE LEADERSHIP FRONT
Sofia had been the Chief Operating Officer at a west coast hospital system for just six months when she noticed a troubling pattern: department performance varied wildly, and leaders seemed overwhelmed, misplaced, or simply mismatched for the challenges they faced. Nursing supervisors with strong clinical skills were buried in administrative tasks. Tech-savvy managers were stuck in departments resistant to digital change. And rising leaders with incredible people skills were stuck behind data dashboards instead of leading teams.

November 18, 2025November 18, 2025

Aligning for the Future: How One Biotech Leader Transformed His Organization

TALES FROM THE LEADERSHIP FRONT
Daniel Ruiz had spent twenty years climbing the ranks of the biotech industry, but nothing prepared him for the leadership fractures he discovered when he stepped in as CEO of Genexra Labs. Projects stalled, teams second-guessed direction, and turnover quietly bled talent from critical departments. The company’s science was cutting-edge—its leadership alignment was not.

August 25, 2025August 26, 2025

Leadership Visioning from The Broadway Stage

In the Leadership Visioning chapter in my book, The “Path to Elite Level Leadership,” I discuss the vision it took for Lin-Manuel Miranda to bring Hamilton to the stage using multiple musical genres and a multi-ethnic cast to create a transformative musical based on a person barely mentioned in history books, based on events that took place over 200 years ago?

August 19, 2025August 26, 2025

Don’t Throw Away Your Shot!

We’re just 1 week away from the webinar, “Don’t Throw Away Your Shot: 10 Leadership Lessons from the Hamilton Musical.” In this webinar, we count the leadership lessons “Ten Duel Commandment” style, like in the musical.

April 16, 2025December 2, 2025

The Mentor at the Helm

TALES FROM THE LEADERSHIP FRONT
Elena, the Chief Operating Officer of a top strategy consulting firm, thrived in high-stakes decision-making. She navigated complex client challenges daily, but her true passion lay in developing her team.

January 20, 2025January 27, 2025

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Was Also a Master Storyteller

In this Special Edition of our newsletter, we honor Dr. Martin Luther King’s life and legacy. We all recognize him as a great leader and a great orator, but he was also a master storyteller.

January 16, 2025December 2, 2025

The CIO Who Built Futures, Not Just Cars

TALES FROM THE LEADERSHIP FRONT
Amara, the CIO of a major automobile manufacturer, navigated her days balancing the fast-paced world of automotive innovation with her true passion: mentoring. Known for her brilliance in driving the company’s digital transformation, she was equally admired for her ability to spark transformation in people.

February 13, 2020February 15, 2020

To Be a Great Storyteller, Start by Being a Story Collector

To be a great storyteller, you have to have stories to tell. The more stories you have at your disposal, the easier it is to match the right story to the right situation for the right audience.

February 10, 2020July 2, 2024

Tell Oscar-Worthy Stories

During the Academy Awards ceremony, I noticed a common theme from the presenters and winners, which was the importance of telling a good story. No matter what kind of movie, the best movies have the best stories. The best actors typically come from the best movies.