Host

Shannon Huffman Polson is the founder of The Grit Institute and host of The Grit Factor Podcast, where she helps purpose-driven leaders build grit, resilience, and purpose in their lives and organizations.

A former U.S. Army Apache helicopter pilot and one of the first women to fly the Apache in the Army, Shannon brings real-world leadership experience from the military and corporate boardroom to her work as an author, speaker, and leadership educator. She is the author of The Grit Factor: Courage, Resilience, and Leadership in the Most Male-Dominated Organization in the World, which distills lessons from elite leaders across industries and the armed forces.

Through The Grit Institute, Shannon combines research, storytelling, and actionable frameworks to help individuals and organizations navigate transitions, overcome challenges, and lead with impact. Her work empowers people to connect with purpose and bring values-based leadership into every facet of life and work.

Whether in the cockpit, the classroom, or the boardroom, Shannon champions a mission to cultivate courage, purpose, and authentic leadership for a better world.

Guest Bio

Dr. Ruth Gotian, Chief Learning Officer and Associate Professor of Education in Anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine, is a globally recognized expert in mentorship and leadership development.

Hailed by Nature, Wall Street Journal, and Columbia University, she was named a top 20 mentor worldwide. Thinkers50 ranked her as the #1 emerging management thinker in 2021, LinkedIn recognized her as a top voice in mentoring in 2023, and she was named a Top 50 Executive Coach in the world in 2024 (Coaches50 list).

A semi-finalist for Forbes 50 Over 50, Dr. Gotian is a prolific contributor to Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Psychology Today, where she shares insights on 'optimizing success.'

With a focus on the mindset and skill set of peak performers, including Nobel Prize winners, astronauts, Olympic and NBA champions, she's also an award-winning author of The Success Factor and The Financial Times Guide to Mentoring.

Summary

In this conversation, Shannon Huffman Polson sits down with Dr. Ruth Gotian, a world-renowned expert in leadership, high performance, and success. Together, they explore what truly sets high achievers apart—from astronauts and Olympic athletes to top-performing leaders. Dr. Gotian shares insights from her groundbreaking research on motivation, resilience, and peak performance, revealing practical strategies anyone can apply to excel in their personal and professional life.

They also discuss the mindsets that drive exceptional achievement, the habits that separate elite performers from the rest, and how purpose, curiosity, and continuous learning fuel long-term success. Whether you're a leader, creator, or someone striving to improve, this conversation offers actionable wisdom to help you elevate your performance and live with intention.

• What Dr. Ruth Gotian has learned from studying the world's highest performers

• The mindsets and daily habits that drive exceptional success

• How purpose fuels resilience and long-term motivation

• The importance of curiosity and continuous learning

• Practical tools you can start using today to elevate your performance

• Why high achievers think differently—and how you can too

Resources

Website: https://ruthgotian.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rgotian

Host: Shannon Huffman Polson

Shannon Huffman Polson is a renowned author and speaker, known for her work on grit and resilience. As the founder of The Grit Institute, she empowers individuals to lead with purpose and determination.

Guest: John Coleman

John Coleman is the co-CEO of Sovereign's Capital and a Harvard Business Review author. He is a thought leader in purpose-driven leadership, offering insights into how individuals can find meaning in their personal and professional lives.

Summary

In this episode, John Coleman discusses the crisis of purpose in modern life, exploring how individuals can find meaning and fulfillment in their personal and professional lives. He shares insights on leadership, the importance of agency, and the myths surrounding purpose.

Highlights

[00:00:46] Introduction to Purpose

John Coleman introduces the concept of a crisis of purpose and its impact on modern life.

[00:32:58] The Myths of Purpose

Discussion on common misconceptions about purpose and how to overcome them.

[01:05:32] Creating Purpose in Life

Insights into how individuals can craft their own purpose and find fulfillment.

[02:18:34] Purpose in Leadership

John Coleman shares how purpose-driven leadership can transform workplace culture.

[03:03:38] Purpose and Service

The role of service in enhancing personal meaning and fulfillment.

Resources

Books by John Coleman:
HBR Guide to Crafting Your Purpose - https://bookshop.org/a/15754/9781633699830

Passion and Purpose - https://bookshop.org/a/15754/9781422142424

Miracles - https://bookshop.org/a/15754/9798987316610

The Grit Institute:

Visit thegritinstitute.com for courses and resources on leading with purpose.

Download The Grit Factor Manifesto - https://training.thegritinstitute.com/the-grit-factor-manifesto

Sarah McArthur is an accomplished editor, writer, and leadership thinker. She worked for over two decades alongside renowned executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, serving as managing editor on dozens of leadership books and co-authoring several works. Sarah was also mentored by the late Frances Hesselbein—one of the most influential leadership figures of the 20th century—becoming a close collaborator and friend. Today, Sarah continues to preserve and share Frances's legacy through writing, editing, and storytelling.

Shannon Huffman Polson is a former Apache helicopter pilot, corporate veteran, keynote speaker, and author of The Grit Factor: Courage, Resilience, and Leadership in the Most Male-Dominated Organization in the World. She is the founder of The Grit Institute, where she equips leaders to build resilience, lead with purpose, and navigate challenges with impact.

In this episode of The Grit Factor, Shannon welcomes Sarah McArthur for a heartfelt conversation about the extraordinary life and leadership of Frances Hesselbein, former CEO of the Girl Scouts and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Sarah shares her personal journey as Frances's mentee, collaborator, and friend, offering stories that illuminate Frances's unwavering humility, love, and commitment to service. Together, Shannon and Sarah explore what makes Frances's leadership so timeless and how her lessons can guide today's leaders through uncertainty, division, and change.

Summary

This episode is both a tribute and a toolkit for values-driven leadership. Listeners will hear:

• Sarah's path to working with Marshall Goldsmith and later meeting Frances Hesselbein.
  
  

• How Frances transformed the Girl Scouts into a thriving, values-centered movement.
  
  

• The power of mentorship, storytelling, and consistency of character.
  
  

• Lessons on resilience, integrity, and servant leadership that remain urgently relevant.
  
  

• How Frances's legacy continues through Sarah's work, including books and a documentary film.
  
  

• (00:00) Opening reflections on Frances Hesselbein's passing and the love she inspired.

• (02:51) Sarah's early work with Marshall Goldsmith and first encounters with Frances's writings.

• (05:54) The book Work Is Love Made Visible and Frances's profound influence.

• (10:54) Frances's vision-driven leadership and transformative years at the Girl Scouts.

• (17:16) The consistency of Frances's character across 107 years of life.

• (21:42) Lessons from the "cookie incident" and transparency in leadership.

• (25:08) Frances's "invisible tattoos" and storytelling as a teaching tool.

• (29:33) Sarah's decision to ask Frances to be her mentor.

• (33:56) Living and learning alongside Frances during her later years.

• (41:34) How Frances commanded respect and credibility across sectors.

• (44:35) Frances's timeless advice for today: We will get through this together.

• (47:27) Meeting Peter Drucker and forming a lifelong leadership partnership.

• (50:50) Three words to capture Frances's legacy: humility, love, and service.

• (53:13) "To serve is to live" — Frances's enduring purpose.

• (54:57) Sarah on carrying forward Frances's story through a documentary film.

Resources

Website:
https://www.sarahmcarthur.com/
https://www.hesselbeinforum.pitt.edu/

Email: sarah@sarahmcarthur.com

Books:
Work Is Love Made Visible: https://bookshop.org/a/15754/9781119513582
Hesselbein on Leadership: https://bookshop.org/a/15754/9781118717622
My Life in Leadership: https://bookshop.org/a/15754/9780470905739

Frances Hesselbein "Defining Moments" Documentary: https://youtu.be/ImQ0zQpTJec?si=Lv6u5il5NBKjN50W

Urs Koenig is a leadership coach, keynote speaker, former NATO peacekeeping commander, and ultra-endurance athlete. With an eclectic background spanning UN peacekeeping missions, military command, competitive cycling, academia, and business coaching, Urs brings a rare blend of lived experience and research-backed insight to leadership. His award-winning book, Radical Humility, challenges the outdated "heroic" leadership model and offers a compelling framework for blending high performance with humanity.

In this episode of The Grit Factor, Shannon Huffman Polson talks with Urs Koenig about his journey from the intense world of ultra-endurance sports to leading international peacekeeping missions—and how those experiences shaped his philosophy of "radical humility." Urs shares how failure in a 3,000-mile race across America became a crucible for growth, why loving people is at the heart of great leadership, and how leaders can be both tough on results and tender on people. They also explore the five shifts in his leadership framework, the importance of self-awareness, and how purpose evolves over time. Urs leaves listeners with practical strategies for managing energy, building agency in teams, and redefining success as being both a badass leader and a good human.

• 00:02:45 – Urs's unconventional journey from academia to ultra-endurance sports to military command.
  
  

• 00:07:20 – The Race Across America failure story and how reframing setbacks fuels growth.
  
  

• 00:11:35 – Why leaders must truly love people to be effective.
  
  

• 00:15:50 – "Tough on results, tender on people" — balancing high standards with deep care.
  
  

• 00:20:12 – The Five Shifts of Radical Humility explained.
  
  

• 00:26:40 – Commander's Intent: how clarity of purpose empowers teams.
  
  

• 00:33:05 – Managing energy like an elite athlete for sustainable performance.
  
  

• 00:37:15 – The confidence vs. competence trap in leadership promotion.
  
  

• 00:42:28 – When transparency becomes oversharing—and the concept of being "translucent."
  
  

• 00:48:00 – Lessons from Urs's father on reinvention and courage.
  
  

• 00:53:22 – Redefining success as being both a badass leader and a good human.

00:07:50 – "That DNF was one of the best things that ever happened to me—it taught me how to reframe failure."

00:11:40 – "You want to be a leader? You have to love people. It's not about being an extrovert—it's about caring deeply."

00:15:55 – "Caring gives you the license to set high standards."

00:22:10 – The Five Shifts:

1. Digging Deep (Self-awareness & self-leadership)
   
   

2. Tough on Results, Tender on People
   
   

3. Leading Like a Compass (Commander's Intent)
   
   

4. Full Transparency
   
   

5. Championing Fearless Culture
   
   

00:33:45 – Why managing energy beats managing time.

00:37:20 – "We often promote the loudest person, not the most competent one."

00:42:40 – Why leaders sometimes need to be "translucent" instead of fully transparent.

00:48:25 – His father's midlife leap from corporate executive to artisan cheesemaker.

00:53:30 – "Success is being a badass and a good human."

Book: https://bookshop.org/a/15754/9781637554050
Website: https://www.urskoenig.com/
Email: urs@urskoenig.com
Phone: 206.372.8626

Professional Summary

Valeria Aloe is an award-winning author, speaker, and high-performance business coach who founded the Rising Together movement to help professionals unlearn limiting mindsets and build the clarity, confidence, and behaviors needed to reach their next level. Her signature work combines mindset transformation with applied behavior change to accelerate individual and team performance. valeriaaloe.com

Born in Argentina, Valeria was the first in her family to graduate from college. She holds undergraduate degrees in Finance and Business Administration and later pursued graduate studies in the U.S., building a global career across corporate, nonprofit, and startup environments. Her corporate experience spans major organizations including Procter & Gamble, Citibank, Reckitt Benckiser, PwC and TIAA, and she has more than two decades of experience helping leaders and teams perform at scale.

In this deeply moving and insightful episode, Shannon Huffman Polson speaks with Valeria Aloe—author, spiritual scientist, and founder of the Rising Together Movement—about the invisible ancestral mindsets that shape our lives, leadership, and wellbeing. From her childhood in rural Argentina to Ivy League classrooms and corporate America, Valeria shares her powerful journey through burnout, healing, and spiritual awakening. Together, they explore how trauma is inherited, how to reverse internalized limitations, and why true leadership starts with self-awareness and micro-steps. This conversation is a must-listen for anyone seeking to live more fully, lead more authentically, and rise with others—especially first-generation professionals and allies.

• From Rural Argentina to Ivy League: Valeria's journey from a dusty town to Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business—and how she overcame fear, culture shock, and the pressure of being first-generation.
  
  

• The Burnout That Sparked a Movement: What led Valeria to collapse emotionally and physically in 2016, and how that turning point inspired her to reexamine everything she believed about success.
  
  

• Unpacking Ancestral Mindsets: How culturally inherited beliefs—about authority, sacrifice, success, and identity—impact professionals, especially in Latino communities, and how to begin healing them.
  
  

• From Trauma to Triumph: Why healing inherited trauma is essential, how colonization affects modern mindsets, and the science behind generational pain and potential.
  
  

• Mentorship vs. Sponsorship: The key difference—and how to overcome the inner voice that says "Don't bother them."
  
  

• Spiritual Science in Leadership: Valeria's journey into spiritual studies and how embracing the identity of a soul having a human experience changed everything.
  
  

• Micro-Steps, Major Shifts: Why transformation doesn't require giant leaps—and how simple breathing exercises and mindset shifts can rewire your professional and personal life.

• Building Bridges: How to create unity in a polarized world, celebrate shared humanity, and foster meaningful connections across diverse identities.
  

• Valeria Aloe's Book: Unbeatable Latinas

• Rising Together Movement: www.valeriaaloe.com — Valeria's platform for empowering first-generation professionals and allies.

• The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey – Where Valeria led entrepreneurship programs.

• Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth – Where Valeria earned her MBA.

• Studies on Epigenetics – Research on how trauma and resilience are passed across generations.

Host: Shannon Huffman Polson

Guest: Alexander Friedman, CEO & Co‑founder of Novata; former CFO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; former CIO of UBS; ex‑White House Fellow; board member at Franklin Templeton

Episode Summary

Join Shannon as she interviews Alexander Friedman, a leader who has navigated high-stakes roles across the highest levels of philanthropy, finance, government, and now tech. In this episode, Alex shares insights into operationalizing purpose, driving change across complex systems, and forging a career of conviction and curiosity.

This conversation brings together personal grit, lessons from mountaineering and family, and hard-earned wisdom on systems change, all with a clear north star in mind.

[00:04] Meet Alex and get a preview of his storied path

[03:37] How the outdoors serve as spiritual grounding for Alex

[06:58] Learning Alex was a White House Fellow—and protégé of General Krulak

[08:46] A Marines' boot incident that sparked leadership lessons

[11:29] The Krulak legacy: from WWII to a fourth star in the Oval Office

[16:17] Balancing tradition and transformation in entrenched institutions

[18:27] The limits of logic: why being right doesn't guarantee change

[21:35] How leaders can wield influence carefully—and not burn it

[22:55] The benefits and questions around the 5% philanthropic payout rule

[25:13] Alex answers: Should foundations give away all assets or exist perpetually?

[25:48] Why the 5% rule may be outdated—and how investment returns challenge it

[26:37] On whether billionaire-backed space ventures serve higher purpose or oligarchy

[28:18] Does purpose come easier in nonprofits vs. for‑profits—and what Alex believes

[29:24] Exploring the distinction—and overlap—between mission and purpose

[31:31] Transcending self to serve something greater: Maslow and Viktor Frankl insights

[33:24] How founding a B Corp, Novata, merges purpose with sustainable business

[36:11] Novata's model: driving impact measurement for private companies globally

[37:49] Why ESG backlash hasn't undermined demand—and what persists beneath politics

[39:10] Alex's confidence in long‑term ESG trends despite short‑term turbulence

[40:08] The importance of overcoming initial inertia—just like Moana crossing the reef

[40:42] Parenting lessons: explaining purpose to a six‑year‑old and why it matters

[41:38] Advice to younger self or child: follow your own compass, not someone else's shiny things

[44:40] A dynamic "three‑body problem" metaphor for balancing work, family, purpose

[47:02] Alex defines success: Try boldly—even if you fail

[47:55] Why repeated failure builds resilience—and fuels new action

• Novata – Platform Alex co-founded to measure ESG and impact outcomes in private markets

• Jackson Hole Economics – A forum Alex helped launch to shape policy and economic discourse

• Council on Foreign Relations – Alex contributes to global policy thought leadership

• B Corp & Public Benefit Corp structures – the organizational form Alex chose for Novata

• Legacy article on General Victor "Brute" Krulak, with family and presidential story

Book: https://bookshop.org/a/15754/9780578683577\

Website: www.novata.com

General Charles C. Krulak Article: https://www.mca-marines.org/wp-content/uploads/Krulak-Jun-2021.pdf