Creating Us - A podcast for Texas Tech University System & beyond

Hosted by Office of Leader and Culture Development

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Episodes

149

Latest episode

Oct 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

A learning and development podcast focused on bringing the Texas Tech University System Values Based Culture to life.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

October 26, 2026Episode 3848 min

The Leader Fast Lane, Episode 38 - with Permian Strategic Partnership President & CEO Tracee Bentley

Send us Fan Mail Tracee Bentley, President and CEO of the Permian Strategic Partnership, joins The Leader Fast Lane to share lessons from a career spanning public policy, energy, and community development. From bringing competitors together around shared goals to building trust through difficult conversations, she explores how leaders turn ambitious visions into collective action. She also shares her commitment to mentoring future leaders and a memorable lesson from her grandmother about moving forward after setbacks.

October 19, 2026Episode 3755 min

The Leader Fast Lane, Episode 37 - with Lubbock Economic Development Alliance CEO John Osborne

Send us Fan Mail John Osborne, President and CEO of the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance and Visit Lubbock, joins me on The Leader Fast Lane to discuss the people and experiences that shaped his leadership. We talk about building trust through follow-through, sustaining progress on projects that take decades, and making organizational values part of everyday decisions.

October 5, 2026Episode 3553 min

The Leader Fast Lane, Episode 35 - with Leslie Reed, former USAID Mission Director

Send us Fan Mail Leslie Reed draws on three decades of public service—including five assignments as a USAID Mission Director—to explain why effective leadership begins with listening, trust, and a willingness to hear difficult feedback. She shares lessons from leading across cultures, developing leaders at every level, navigating complex organizations, and sustaining communication and community during the extraordinarily difficult final months of USAID.

September 28, 2026Episode 3452 min

The Leader Fast Lane, Episode 34 - with Will Rodriguez, VP of Strategic Initiatives at TTUHSC

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I speak with Will Rodriguez, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, as he shares how lessons from the Marine Corps, manufacturing, healthcare, and higher education shaped his approach to servant leadership, adaptability, and data-informed decision-making. He offers practical insights on making difficult decisions, creating room for people to learn from mistakes, building relationships across an organization, and leading with fairness, consistency, and humility.

September 21, 2026Episode 3354 min

The Leader Fast Lane, Episode 33 - with TTUS CFO James Mauldin

Send us Fan Mail James Mauldin, Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer for the Texas Tech University System, shares leadership lessons drawn from a career spanning corporate operations, municipal government, aviation, higher education, and the Navy Reserves. He discusses leading through uncertainty, building trust before difficult decisions arise, creating a culture where bad news travels quickly, and developing people by giving them meaningful opportunities to stretch.

September 14, 2026Episode 3255 min

The Leader Fast Lane, Episode 32 - with Ryan Walther

Send us Fan Mail A former colleague Ryan Walther joins The Leader Fast Lane to share lessons from two decades of international development work across countries, cultures, and functions. Drawing on his leadership at USAID, Ryan explores how leaders can pursue demanding results while investing in people, remain steady amid uncertainty, build trust across cultural and professional boundaries, and combine evidence with sound judgment.

September 7, 2026Episode 3150 min

The Leader Fast Lane, Episode 31 - with TTUS Chancellor Emeritus Dr. Tedd Mitchell

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Leader Fast Lane , Texas Tech University System Chancellor Emeritus Dr. Tedd Mitchell reflects on a leadership journey spanning medicine, business, higher education, and public service. He shares practical insights on building a values-based culture, earning trust, making consequential decisions with incomplete information, and developing leaders whose influence extends far beyond the organization.

August 31, 2026Episode 3049 min

The Leader Fast Lane, Episode 30 - with Ambassador (ret.) Art Brown

Send us Fan Mail Retired U.S. Ambassador Art Brown joins The Leader Fast Lane to share lessons from a 34-year public-service career that took him from Peace Corps volunteer in Benin to USAID Mission Director and U.S. Ambassador. We discuss leading across cultures, listening before acting, emotional intelligence, making consequential decisions with incomplete information, developing future leaders, and why Art believes effective leadership “takes elbow grease.”

August 24, 2026Episode 2943 min

The Leader Fast Lane, Episode 29 - with Andrea Sparks, Dir. of Government & Strategic Relations with Buckner International

Send us Fan Mail Andrea Sparks joins The Leader Fast Lane to share leadership lessons from a career devoted to protecting vulnerable children, including her work helping build Texas’ response to child sex trafficking. We discuss servant leadership, the importance of listening and collaboration when tackling complex problems, having the humility to pivot when an approach isn’t working, and sustaining yourself while doing difficult, high-stakes work.

August 17, 2026Episode 2847 min

The Leader Fast Lane - Episode 28 - with Dr. Rick Lange, President of Texas Tech Health Sciences Center El Paso

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Leader Fast Lane , Dr. Rick Lange, founding president of Texas Tech Health El Paso, shares lessons from building a university, leading through failure, and creating a culture of excellence from the ground up. We explore why the best leaders embrace humility, build trust, develop great teams, and practice servant leadership—offering practical insights that leaders in any field can apply immediately.

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