A Leader’s Purpose: Navigating Career and Life-Defining Moments with Clarity, Confidence, and Purpose for High-Level Leaders Ready to Lead with Purpose over Pressure

Hosted by Tami Marie Imlay |International Speaker | Executive Leadership Strategist & Advisor

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Nov 2026

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About the show

🎙️ A Leader’s Purpose with Tami Imlay The podcast for leaders who’ve outgrown surface-level success and are ready for soul-level impact. You’ve built the career, led the teams, checked the boxes—and yet, you’re still asking, “Is this really it?” Welcome to the space where high-achieving, faith-driven leaders come to get honest, get clear, and get aligned. Hosted by executive coach, speaker, and Master Certified Enneagram and NeuroCoach Tami Imlay, this show helps you rise into your next season with confidence, clarity, and purpose—without burning out, starting over, or chucking it all and moving to Bali (tempting as that sounds). With 20+ years of leadership experience—including military service, therapy and neuroscience training, and coaching high-level entrepreneurs and executives—Tami brings both strategy and soul to the mic. After becoming a Gold Star Spouse and walking through her own identity shift, she made it her mission to help other leaders do the same: step into a life and leadership that actually feels like you. Each episode blends truth-telling with tangible tools—expect a little sass, a lot of heart, and zero tolerance for performative leadership. We’ll cover topics like: ✨ Identity clarity & self-awareness using the Enneagram 🧠 Neuroscience-backed tools to rewire limiting beliefs 🎯 Purpose-aligned business and leadership strategy 🧭 Navigating transitions, pivots, and legacy-defining moves 🧘 Burnout recovery and sustainable success 💬 Authentic communication & emotional intelligence 🙏 Faith and leadership integration that doesn’t feel cheesy If you’re circling your calling, craving deeper impact, or just tired of pretending everything’s fine when you’re quietly questioning what’s next—this podcast is for you. Because here’s the truth: ✅ You don’t need another strategy. You need identity clarity. ✅ You’re not behind—you’re right on time. ✅ You already have what it takes. You just need to remember who you are. This is your permission to rise—without losing yourself in the process. Hit subscribe and let’s get started

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November 9, 2026Episode 37424 min

How to Motivate an Employee That Doesn't Want a Promotion | 374

You fought for the spot. You already pictured them in it. And your best person looked at you and said, "Thanks for the opportunity. Not interested." I've stood right there. I was a young Air Force captain with 53 airmen, and one I was sure was ready to lead. I was really disappointed, and I had to decide what his no meant. What you'll hear The reward we offer because it's the one we would have wanted What it costs when a good person says yes to a role that doesn't fit The difference between professional growth and upward mobility What a leader can carry for their people, and what has to stay theirs Leadership pattern to notice When someone turns down the next step, the first story in a leader's head is usually about them: they're not ambitious, they're checked out, maybe they're on their way out. The story worth looking at might be the one on your side of the table. Sit With This Who on your team have you already drawn a plan for, without ever asking what growing looks like for them? Connect If your team is capable and something keeps getting in the way, start with the free two-minute assessment. You'll get your team's operating score out of 100 and the pattern most likely shaping how your team communicates, takes ownership, and makes decisions: scoreyourteam.com Want to find me on LinkedIn? @tamiimlay A Leader's Purpose is hosted by Tami Imlay, Executive Advisor and founder of Prism Leadership Advisory, for founders and CEOs whose capable leadership teams aren't yet performing at the level the business needs. Music Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat) Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2026

October 26, 2026Episode 37331 min

The 4 Rules for Leading Without Carrying It All |373

Leaders end up carrying it all when their everyday responses teach the team to bring everything back to them. Four rules shift that: go first, understand before you react, make expectations clear, and build ownership beyond yourself. Each one moves responsibility back toward the people closest to the work. Episode Overview You asked someone to take the lead. Two days later it's back on your desk with three questions attached. Friday comes, your own priorities haven't moved, and you can't say where the week went. Tami starts with a moment from her own sales practice where her response sent the whole conversation in the wrong direction, and what it showed her about how leaders end up carrying more than they should. What You'll Hear Why your team learns how much to carry from how you respond The difference between reading what went wrong and setting work up to go right What a locked door has to do with missed deadlines Why "take the lead" can mean two very different things The real cost of the five-minute rescue Leadership Pattern to Notice Most leaders who carry too much never chose it. It built up one helpful response at a time: the quick answer, the redone draft, the decision taken back because it was faster. Each one made sense in the moment. Together, they taught the team where work goes when it gets hard, and the answer was always the leader's desk. Sit With This Does my response help this person handle more next time, or make them need me again? Want to find me on LI? @tamiimlay A Leader's Purpose is hosted by Tami Imlay, Executive Advisor and founder of Prism Leadership Advisory, for founders and CEOs whose capable leadership teams aren't yet performing at the level the business needs. Music Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat) Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2026

October 19, 2026Episode 37226 min

Why Didn't My Team Do What I Asked? (I Thought I was Clear) |372

When a team misunderstands a clear instruction, the gap usually lives between what the leader meant and what the listener heard. Research from the University of Chicago found speakers thought they were understood 72% of the time, while listeners got the intended meaning only 61% of the time. Words like “ownership” or “be more proactive” feel obvious to the person saying them and can land five different ways with the person hearing them. You handed off the project. Everyone nodded. Friday came, and what you got back wasn’t what you pictured. Tami takes you inside a scene from The Diplomat where everyone read the room wrong, a dinner plan that hit a snag over “that’s fine,” and the seven-word sentence that can leave a capable person wondering if they’re in trouble. Sit With This Think of one thing you said clearly in the last few days that came back differently than you had pictured. Before you decide what that says about the person, get curious about what they heard. Connect If you have a good team and the same things keep coming back differently, let’s talk about what’s happening and whether my advisory is a good fit. Schedule a call: http://tamimariecoaching.com/call Music Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat) Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2026

October 12, 2026Episode 37112 min

Why Does My Team Keep Missing Deadlines? What to Fix Before You Add More Meetings |371

When a team keeps missing deadlines even after you’ve added meetings and reminders, the cause is usually something those fixes never reached, like a decision with no clear owner or an approval nobody knows is theirs. More effort can’t clear a barrier nobody has named. Before you add another solution, find out what your last ones didn’t address. You explained it. Everyone nodded. A few weeks later the deadline slipped and the work landed back on your desk. So you added a check-in, then a training, and you’re still carrying the same problem. You have good people. How are you still here? Sit With This Think about the issue you’re tired of revisiting. What did everything you’ve already tried fail to address? Have a good team, and the same problem keeps coming back? Let’s talk about what’s getting in the way. Schedule a call: http://tamimariecoaching.com/call Want to find me on LI? @tamiimlay A Leader's Purpose is hosted by Tami Imlay, Executive Advisor and founder of Prism Leadership Advisory, for founders and CEOs whose capable leadership teams aren't yet performing at the level the business needs. Music Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat) Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2026

October 5, 2026Episode 37020 min

Do I Have the Right People? What Your Team's Performance Isn't Telling You |370

Do I Have the Right People? When a Good Team Isn't Performing Your team is capable. You picked most of them. So why are you the one finishing their work at 4:30 on a Thursday? When a good team stops performing at the level the business needs, one question shows up fast: do I have the right people? In this episode, Tami explains why answering it too soon can cost you good leaders, and what your team's performance isn't telling you. You'll hear: What the "gauge" over someone's head can't tell you The question Tami asked herself the day she became a commander What changed for one GM's team, even though Tami never worked with the team What she'd want to know before you replace anyone on your leadership team Sit With This What is keeping this particular person, or this particular team, from producing the result the business needs? Connect Have a good team and a gap you can't quite explain? Let's talk. http://tamimariecoaching.com/call Want to find me on LI? @tamiimlay A Leader's Purpose is hosted by Tami Imlay, Executive Advisor and founder of Prism Leadership Advisory, for founders and CEOs whose capable leadership teams aren't yet performing at the level the business needs. Music Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat) Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2026

September 28, 2026Episode 36920 min

Finishing Something Big and Feeling Nothing. |369

Celebrating small wins keeps a capable team moving toward the bigger goal, and your standard stays exactly where it is. The leaders who do it well name what they noticed and why it mattered, then let it stand before adding the next ask. Episode Overview You finish something big and the finish line has already moved. I do this too. A friend asked me how I was celebrating a milestone six months in the making, and I had to think about it. This episode is about the six years I have spent working on that. What You'll Hear What it feels like to hit a milestone and feel nothing What your team hears when you notice good work and say nothing Why recognition and the next assignment should never share a sentence One ordinary win from my own life and what I did with it Leadership Pattern to Notice I see this in the strongest leaders I know, and I see it in me. The win gets noticed and the next thing is already moving before anyone hears a word about it. Then the conclusion shows up that nothing is going fast enough. From the inside, it looks like ambition. Sit With This What have you or someone on your team done recently that deserves more acknowledgement than you've given it? What's Coming Next Next, I am opening a longer series on why so much of what we were taught about leadership runs backwards, and team motivation is on its way. Something I Don't Want You to Miss My standards have not dropped one inch in six years of practicing this. You can recognize meaningful progress and still expect more from yourself and your team. Connect If you are ready to stop waiting for things to happen and your team to take ownership and ready to take action... Let's talk. http://tamimariecoaching.com/call I'm Tami Imlay, Executive Advisor. Come find me on LinkedIn. @tamiimlay Music Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat) Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2026

September 14, 2026Episode 36821 min

368| Why You Don't Have to Get Back to Your Old Routine

A habit can stop fitting your life without ever becoming a bad habit, and you don't have to force the old version back just to prove you're consistent. If a routine built for a different season isn't sticking anymore, that's not you falling behind. That's your life changing faster than the habit did. What You'll Hear Why a good habit can stop fitting without ever becoming a bad one What changes when the question shifts from why can't I get back to this, to what does this need to look like now The three questions Tami uses to decide if a habit stays, changes, or goes Where this shows up in something as ordinary as who talks first in a meeting Leadership Pattern to Notice The habits that build a career don't stay the same shape the whole way through it. The leader who always ran the meeting and brought every answer isn't wrong for having built that habit. She built it for a season that needed her to. The pattern worth noticing is what happens next: whether she keeps running the meeting because it's who she's always been, or lets the habit change shape now that her team is capable of holding it instead. Sit With This If this habit still belongs in your life, what version of it fits the season you're in right now? Find Me LinkedIn: @tamiimlay Email: tami@tamimariecoaching.com Website: www.tamimariecoaching.com Send a DM. I'd love to connect. Music Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat) Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2026

September 7, 2026Episode 36725 min

367| Tami, I Just Need Things to Slow Down.

“Tami, I just need things to slow down. How do we slow things down?” I've heard some version of that question again and again lately. The interesting part? We live in a world that is constantly teaching us to go faster. We listen at 1.5x speed, try to beat the GPS, expect next-day delivery, reach for our phones in every empty moment, and start looking toward the next season before we've finished the one we're in. And then we wonder why life and leadership feel like they're moving so fast. In this episode of A Leader's Purpose, I'm talking about what it looks like to intentionally slow things down without shrinking your ambition, your leadership, or the impact you want to make. We talk about the difference between letting time happen to you and deciding what deserves your full presence, why the things that matter most often aren't getting our best attention, and what it looks like to create room before life fills it for you. Because you worked hard to build the career, business, team, family, and life you have. You should get to be present for it. A few things you'll hear in this episode: The everyday ways we've been trained to hurry without realizing it Why we're so focused on getting to “next” One question to ask yourself about what deserves your full attention this week Why creating room in your leadership has to be intentional What slowing down can make possible for your work, your people, and the life you've built And yes, we talk about Halloween decorations in August, beating the GPS, my love affair with the air fryer, and why my son suddenly became chatty after leaving for college. 😂 If you're ready for more room to lead, more ownership from your team, and more leadership happening around you, schedule a free Your Next Move call with me. Let's talk about what you want to be possible next. Find Me LinkedIn: @tamiimlay Email: tami@tamimariecoaching.com Website: www.tamimariecoaching.com Send a DM. I'd love to connect. Music Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat) Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2026

August 3, 2026Episode 36626 min

366| The Leadership Reset You Keep Postponing and Why You Should Make it a Priority Now

A leadership reset doesn't wait for burnout to make the case for it. It's a scheduled recalibration, sometimes a defined season, sometimes an hour carved out over a month, built to look at what's working, what's stopped working, and where you actually want to go, whether this season is falling apart or things have never been better. EPISODE OVERVIEW I had a different episode planned for today. I scrapped it. This one is about the decision to set something down on purpose, four weeks before anything forces the decision for me, in the middle of a season that includes a son leaving for college, a daughter starting her junior year, and real momentum in the business that makes stepping back feel almost irrational. This isn't for the leader who's already burned out. It's for every leader, whether things are going well right now or not. WHAT YOU'LL HEAR The difference between a vacation and a real recalibration Why the best time to reset is before you think you need one What this season is actually asking of me, and maybe of you LEADERSHIP PATTERN TO NOTICE There is a version of leadership that treats stillness as something to be earned first. Rest gets scheduled for after the goal, after the quarter, after things calm down, except things rarely calm down on their own. This has nothing to do with how close you are to burning out. The leaders who wait for permission usually get it from exhaustion instead of intention, and by then, the reset is not a choice anymore. It is damage control. SIT WITH THIS What could you set down for a season, on purpose, before something forces you to? WHAT'S COMING NEXT I'll be back in September with more intention behind it, and likely some new voices in the room. Connect with me over on Linkedin (@tamiimlay) OR better yet get on my caledar! http://tamimariecoaching.com/call If This Landed Share it with a leader who needs to hear it. Leave a rating and review. It helps more leaders find A Leader's Purpose. Subscribe so you don't miss what's next. Find Me LinkedIn: @tamiimlay Email: tami@tamimariecoaching.com Website: www.tamimariecoaching.com Send a DM. I'd love to connect. Music Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat) Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2026

July 27, 2026Episode 3658 min

365| Why the Strengths That Got You Promoted Are Now Working Against You

The strengths that earned every promotion before this one start working against you at the next level. The job outgrew them, not the other way around. What worked leading ten people can quietly cripple an organization of two hundred until you know what you're still trying to protect instead of trusting what already works. There's a version of you who trusts the harder right answer immediately. No negotiation, no performance, no need to explain it later. You've done it before, probably in a room where the strength that built your career was the same thing quietly working against you. This episode is about what stands between you and that version showing up every time, not just when the stakes make it easy. What You'll Hear Why the strength that got you here doesn't need to be put down, it needs to be reassigned A real moment from leading a team where the easy answer and the right answer weren't the same The difference between proving a strength and trusting it What's running underneath the signals you send without you realizing it Leadership Pattern to Notice The instinct to perform shows up before the instinct to lead. It moves fast because it can be defended later, and trusting a harder answer in the moment cannot. Most leaders never question the order. They call the fast answer good judgment and move on, without ever noticing that the real decision already happened underneath it. Sit With This Where am I still trying to prove a strength that I could be redeploying instead? Connect If you are ready to see what becomes possible when this shifts, the Next Move conversation is your first step. 45 minutes. Personalized. Let's look at what strengths have started getting in your way. http://tamimariecoaching.com/call If This Landed Share it with a leader who needs to hear it. Leave a rating and review. It helps more leaders find A Leader's Purpose. Subscribe so you don't miss what's next. Find Me LinkedIn: @tamiimlay Email: tami@tamimariecoaching.com Website: www.tamimariecoaching.com Send a DM. I'd love to connect. Music Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat) Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2026