If you want to lead with humility, confidence, and real influence in a distracted world, this is a conversation you don’t want to miss. Sean Patton sits down with Scott Millson — former U.S. Navy Petty Officer, executive leader, and author of Frequency of Excellence — to explore why leadership breaks down when attention fades, how ego quietly erodes trust, and why the smallest behaviors reveal the real standard you’re setting as a leader.

From folding underwear in Navy boot camp to leading high-performing organizations, Scott shares timeless lessons on presence, growth mindset, humility, and human-centered leadership — and how leaders can build cultures that consistently perform at a higher frequency.

⏱ Episode Timestamps

00:00 – Why excellence isn’t about doing more — it’s about paying attention
00:42 – Scott Millson’s leadership journey: Navy, executive life, and beyond
02:09 – Joining the Navy and early lessons in discipline and perseverance
04:01 – “How you do anything is how you do everything”
06:17 – The power of presence and curiosity as a leader
08:15 – Growth mindset in a distracted, fast-moving world
10:58 – Reflection, pausing, and encoding lessons for long-term growth
12:28 – Capturing insights: journaling, notes, and learning systems
14:30 – Being intentional about who you surround yourself with
16:55 – Failure, humility, and learning the hard way
21:02 – Growth mindset vs ego at senior leadership levels
23:07 – Leadership lessons from the USS Benfold turnaround
26:11 – Trust, respect, and why leaders must give it first
30:03 – Why culture is the shadow of leadership
33:54 – The organization’s role in leader development
35:59 – Management vs leadership: tasks vs people
38:55 – Calm, optimism, and leadership as a force multiplier
42:00 – Where to find Scott and learn more

Scott Millson is a former U.S. Navy Petty Officer, seasoned executive, keynote speaker, and author of Frequency of Excellence: Tuning Into the Everyday Excellence of Life and Leadership. After decades in leadership roles across industries, Scott now dedicates his work to helping leaders grow with humility, confidence, and intentionality — focusing on presence, relationships, and continuous learning.

📘 Featured Book

Frequency of Excellence: Tuning Into the Everyday Excellence of Life and Leadership
🔗 https://scottmillson.com

🔗 Connect with Scott Millson

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-millson/
  
  

Interested in exploring a thrilling vision for your life with me or another Novus Global Coach? Go to www.nolimitleaders.com/vision to apply.

No Limit Leadership is the go-to podcast for growth-minded executives, middle managers, and team leaders who want more than surface-level leadership advice. Hosted by executive coach and former Special Forces commander Sean Patton, this show dives deep into modern leadership, self-leadership, and the real-world strategies that build high-performing teams. Whether you're focused on leadership development, building a coaching culture, improving leadership communication, or strengthening team accountability, each episode equips you with actionable insights to unlock leadership potential across your organization. From designing onboarding systems that retain talent to asking better questions that drive clarity and impact, No Limit Leadership helps you lead yourself first so you can lead others better. If you're ready to create a culture of ownership, resilience, and results, this leadership podcast is for you.

From busing tables on the Jones Beach boardwalk to building one of the NHL’s most admired workplace cultures, Sean Henry’s leadership journey is anything but conventional. In this episode, Sean shares how he helped build Smashville by putting culture first—using trust, humility, fun, and servant leadership as a real competitive advantage.

This conversation is packed with hard-earned lessons on motivation, decision-making, culture-building, and why people don’t quit jobs—they quit environments.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why fun is not a perk—but a leadership strategy
• How servant leadership creates trust at every level
• Lessons from bankruptcy, bad bosses, and bold career risks
• How listening to employees transforms culture
• Why great leaders remove silos and lead from the floor
• How Smashville became one of the NHL’s top workplaces

Episode Timestamps / Chapter Markers

00:00 – Why this episode matters & what makes Sean Henry different
01:38 – From busboy to CEO: early lessons in work ethic
03:14 – “Leave it better than you found it”
06:21 – Motivation isn’t money—here’s what actually works
07:42 – Why Sean doesn’t read management books (except one)
10:31 – Leadership mistakes and what not to do
13:45 – Don’t make your passions other people’s burdens
15:31 – Betting everything on a startup—and going bankrupt
18:38 – Choosing who you work with matters more than the job
21:05 – Turning around the Tampa Bay Lightning
24:30 – Trust starts at the top (and goes down)
26:23 – Breaking silos and building one team
30:31 – Confidence, humility, and decisive leadership
33:09 – Innovating when “it’s never been done before”
36:12 – Installing urinals yourself (yes, really)
38:40 – Why Smashville is a top workplace year after year
41:58 – The power of fun, joy, and shared purpose
45:44 – Final thoughts on leadership and service

Links & Resources

• Connect with Sean Henry on LinkedIn:
  https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/all/?keywords=Sean%20Henry%20Nashville%20Predators
  
  
• No Limit Leadership Website:
  https://nolimitleadership.com

Interested in exploring a thrilling vision for your life with me or another Novus Global Coach? Go to www.nolimitleaders.com/vision to apply.

No Limit Leadership is the go-to podcast for growth-minded executives, middle managers, and team leaders who want more than surface-level leadership advice. Hosted by executive coach and former Special Forces commander Sean Patton, this show dives deep into modern leadership, self-leadership, and the real-world strategies that build high-performing teams. Whether you're focused on leadership development, building a coaching culture, improving leadership communication, or strengthening team accountability, each episode equips you with actionable insights to unlock leadership potential across your organization. From designing onboarding systems that retain talent to asking better questions that drive clarity and impact, No Limit Leadership helps you lead yourself first so you can lead others better. If you're ready to create a culture of ownership, resilience, and results, this leadership podcast is for you.

Most leaders are chasing better results by doing more — more strategy, more effort, more discipline. But what if the real breakthrough doesn’t come from doing more… but from changing who you’re being?

In this episode of the No Limit Leadership Podcast, Sean Patton sits down with Joseph King-Barkley, Partner at Novus Global and President of the Meta Performance Institute, to explore the powerful shift from high performance to true transformation.

Together, they unpack identity, failure, vision, feedback, and the internal lenses that shape how leaders see the world — and why those lenses often determine results more than tactics ever could.

This conversation is a deep dive into what it really takes to unlock fulfillment, capacity, and impact at the highest levels of leadership.

⏱️ Episode Chapters

00:00 – Why Doing More Isn’t the Breakthrough
01:20 – Meet Joseph King-Barkley & Meta Performance
03:00 – Why Elite Leaders Thrive on Teams
04:25 – From Pastor to Executive Coach: Joseph’s Journey
06:50 – High Performance vs. Meta Performance
10:55 – Why Leaders Play It “Reasonable”
14:55 – Fear of Failure & Identity
18:25 – The Power of Lenses and Reframing Reality
22:45 – Loss, Perspective, and Choosing a New Story
25:00 – Be → Do → Have (And Why Most Leaders Get It Backwards)
31:20 – Identity Is More Fluid Than You Think
35:20 – Practical Ways to Change How You’re Being
38:50 – Feedback as a Leadership Superpower
41:00 – Why Great Coaches Always Have Coaches
42:25 – How to Work With Novus Global or Become a Coach

🔗 Links & Resources Mentioned

• Novus Global – Executive Coaching Firm
  https://novus.global
  
  
• Meta Performance Institute (MPI) – Coach Training & Certification
  https://mp.institute
  
  
• Free Vision Call with a Novus Global Coach
  https://nolimitleaders.com/vision
  
  
• Book: Beyond High Performance (Joseph King-Barkley & team)
  https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637741581
  
  
• Book: The Three Laws of Performance (Steve Zaffron & Dave Logan)
  https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470193403
  
  
• No Limit Leadership Podcast
  https://nolimitleaders.com

Interested in exploring a thrilling vision for your life with me or another Novus Global Coach? Go to www.nolimitleaders.com/vision to apply.

No Limit Leadership is the go-to podcast for growth-minded executives, middle managers, and team leaders who want more than surface-level leadership advice. Hosted by executive coach and former Special Forces commander Sean Patton, this show dives deep into modern leadership, self-leadership, and the real-world strategies that build high-performing teams. Whether you're focused on leadership development, building a coaching culture, improving leadership communication, or strengthening team accountability, each episode equips you with actionable insights to unlock leadership potential across your organization. From designing onboarding systems that retain talent to asking better questions that drive clarity and impact, No Limit Leadership helps you lead yourself first so you can lead others better. If you're ready to create a culture of ownership, resilience, and results, this leadership podcast is for you.