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THRIVE: Turning Uncertainty into Competitive Advantage

THRIVE: Turning Uncertainty into Competitive Advantage

By: Meridith Elliott Powell
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THRIVE Turning Uncertainty into Competitive Advantage is where you hear the inspiring stories of how everyday business professionals forged unconventional paths to success. Learn new insights from business thought leaders and visionaries who made dramatic gains in self-awareness, discovered breakthrough new strategies, or blazed whole new trails that shifted and transformed the ways to succeed in today's economy. In the ever-changing, uncertain, crazy rollercoaster of the world of business, you can thrive in ways you may never have imagined before. Put this crisis behind you and emerge successful.All rights 2021 Motion First Economics Leadership Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • Integrity First
    May 26 2026

    With Special Guest: Mark Hunter, "The Sales Hunter" and Author of Integrity Selling

    In a marketplace flooded with noise, shortcuts, and quarterly pressure, integrity has become one of the rarest competitive advantages in sales. And according to Mark Hunter, that's exactly why it's the most powerful one. In this candid and compelling episode of Ask for Change, Meridith sits down with her Sales Logic co-host and one of the most respected voices in professional selling, Mark Hunter, to talk about his newest book Integrity Selling and why he believes now is precisely the right moment to make integrity the foundation of every sales conversation. Mark and Meridith go deep on what integrity actually looks like in practice - from referring a customer to a competitor when you're not the right fit, to showing your homework in a complex sale, to calling out the quarter-end games that quietly destroy trust and long-term revenue. Mark shares a defining personal story about closing a deal he knew was wrong, and the painful consequences that followed years later, a reminder that in sales, you're not closing deals, you're opening relationships. They also tackle the harder question: what do you do when the pressure to hit a number comes from the top and your own integrity is at stake? Mark's answer is uncomfortable and honest. This episode is essential listening for sales leaders, business development professionals, and any executive who wants to build a culture where trust is the strategy, not an afterthought.

    www.TheSalesHunter.com

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    25 mins
  • Action Is How to Push Through Uncertainty
    May 19 2026

    With Special Guest: Dr. Mary Kelly, Co-Author of Leadership is Tough (with Peter Stark)

    Leadership looks easy when the market is good. It's when conditions get hard that you find out who's actually running a great organization - and who's just been riding a favorable tide. In this high-energy episode of Ask for Change, Meridith welcomes back one of the show's most popular guests, Dr. Mary Kelly, to dig into her new book Leadership is Tough, co-authored with business strategist Peter Stark. Mary pulls no punches on what actually separates great leaders from average ones in a change-fatigued, uncertain world: the disciplines they practice daily, the decisions they make before the decision gets made for them, and the accountability they hold even when it's uncomfortable. She and Meridith unpack the real cost of letting uncertainty dictate business decisions, why the best people leave organizations where accountability is selectively enforced, and how leaders who fail to constantly reinforce vision watch their teams revert to old behaviors under pressure. Mary's chapter on holding the line without breaking trust is worth the price of admission alone - it maps out all four layers of accountability and the specific ways organizations erode from the inside out when leaders look the other way. Her closing advice is direct and actionable: action trumps uncertainty. You don't have to have all the answers. You just need to pick a direction and move. If you're a leader who's been waiting for conditions to stabilize before you make your next move, this episode is your wake-up call.

    youtube.com/@MaryKellySpeaker

    linkedin.com/in/drmarykelly/

    x.com/marykellyspeaks

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    25 mins
  • What Top Performers Do Differently
    May 12 2026

    With Special Guest: Steve Bonar, EVP, Conklin Company

    Most leaders coast once they earn the title. The ones who build lasting teams — and lasting results — never do.

    In this episode, Meridith sits down with Steve Bonar, Executive Vice President of the Conklin Company, to talk about what it actually takes to lead, sell, and grow when the pace of change is relentless and uncertainty is the only constant.

    Steve has spent 25 years developing entrepreneurs and leading large sales organizations inside one of the most relationship-driven industries in business. His perspective is practical, proven, and direct.

    What you will take away from this conversation:

    • Why "systems permit ordinary people to achieve extraordinary results" — and what that means for how you build your team

    • The mindset shift that separates leaders who fold under pressure from those who drive performance through it

    • Why obstacles are not blocking your road to success. They are the road.

    • How to keep your people motivated and focused when uncertainty keeps escalating

    • The rearview mirror principle — and why most leaders are looking in the wrong direction

    If you are leading a team, building a business, or trying to find your footing in a marketplace that will not hold still, this episode delivers the strategies you need to stop managing uncertainty and start leveraging it.

    Connect with Steve Bonar: conklin.com

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    28 mins
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