MPWR Podcast | Become The Leader YOU Want To Follow

At 19, Derek Bareman was leading 30 to 40 volunteers twice his age, with no paycheck to offer and no playbook. Today he’s the chief of staff of a large Nashville organization with more than 120 staff, leading its executive team. In the first-ever client conversation on the MPWR Podcast, Eric Pfeiffer walks with his friend of nearly 20 years through four seasons of leadership growth, and the hard lessons in each one.

You’ll learn:
How to motivate people when money isn’t the lever, and why that matters for the next generation of talent
How to lead friends and former peers without losing the relationship or the results
Why “know your tendency” and “turn signals” make hard conversations easier
How to stop sacrificing relationships for success, and choose both/and over either/or
What “humble assertiveness” is, and how quieter leaders can own their authority

As Derek puts it, “I care about what you do, but I care more about who you are becoming.” And as Eric reminds us, “Too often we get so caught up in trying to be something and not doing the work to become something.”
If you lead people, this conversation will help you lead them, and yourself, with more clarity and less drama.
Listen now and share it with a leader who needs it. Then join Eric live at the free monthly MPWR masterclass: mpwrcoaching.com/masterclass

🎧 Listen now and start leading the way you were meant to.
Stay connected with us:
🌐 Learn More: https://MPWRcoaching.com
📩 Contact: Admin@MPWRcoaching.com
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Low Character, High Talent: The Leadership Blind Spot

Most leaders know the rule: tolerate low performers and your best people walk. But the reverse is just as true. When you excuse toxic behavior from talented people, or from yourself, trust erodes and the culture follows. In this episode of the MPWR Podcast, Eric Pfeiffer and Dawn Neldon continue their self-leadership series with Radical Minimum Standards: the floor for both what your team delivers and how they deliver it.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
Why leaders make exceptions for high performers, and what it quietly costs the team
How to give your core values teeth with one simple formula: We value X, by practicing Y, because Z
The research showing teams led by consistent leaders had 23% higher retention than teams led by talented but inconsistent ones
The one word that ruins a leader’s apology
Why owning your mistakes builds trust instead of eroding it

As Dawn puts it, “The how is part of the job.” And as Eric reminds leaders who fear looking weak, owning the gap between who you want to be and how you showed up “is not hypocrisy. That’s called humility.”
If you lead a team, a company, or a family, this conversation will change how you think about standards, starting with your own.
Listen now, then share it with a leader who needs it. Join Eric and Dawn live at the free monthly MPWR masterclass: mpwrcoaching.com/masterclass
Find out where your culture is breaking down with the free Culture Assessment: assessment.mpwrcoaching.com

🎧 Listen now and start leading the way you were meant to.
Stay connected with us:
🌐 Learn More: https://MPWRcoaching.com
📩 Contact: Admin@MPWRcoaching.com
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What do great leaders do in the split second after they’re triggered?

In Part 3 of our self-leadership series, Eric Pfeiffer and Dawn Neldon dig into the emotional intelligence skill that separates good executives from great ones: coaching yourself through trigger moments under pressure.
A tense board meeting. An email that feels unfair. A setback you didn’t see coming. Most leaders were never taught how to handle these moments, so they fall back on one of two unskilled defaults: they suppress it, or they let emotion take the wheel. Either way, the cost shows up in your decisions, your team, and your life at home.
“Your drunk self hopped in the driver’s seat and is now in control.”

In this episode, you’ll learn:
Why emotional triggers make you “un-sober,” and how that distorts your judgment
Why buzzed emotions are just as dangerous as a full-blown hijack
The two faces of a triggered leader: the aggressor and the withdrawer
How to take an honest inventory of your default reactions, and who to ask for feedback
The dashboard lights that signal you’re about to react instead of respond
A simple mind, emotions, body self-check to use before, during, and after high-stakes meetings
Why rescuing your team makes them weaker, and why your brain prefers a bad story over no answer

“Self-leadership is self-coaching. The best leaders are coaches of themselves and others.”
Imagine walking into your next hard conversation with clarity instead of chaos. Your team gets the best version of you, and so does your family.
Listen now, then follow the MPWR Podcast and leave a 5-star review to help more leaders find these tools. Want to go deeper? Eric’s books, Leadership Gravitas, Upgrade Your Leadership, and Transform Your Trajectory, are available on Amazon.

🎧 Listen now and start leading the way you were meant to.
Stay connected with us:
🌐 Learn More: https://MPWRcoaching.com
📩 Contact: Admin@MPWRcoaching.com
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Success Didn't Silence the Voice in My Head: Matthew Ferry on Enlightened Prosperity

What if everything you achieved still didn't bring you peace?
Matthew Ferry had it all: a $40 million a year family company, private jets, a thriving family, and a clear path to take over the business. And yet the voice in his head kept saying, "You're a fraud. You're a loser. Nobody loves you." So he handed the keys back and spent 15 years developing a way to stay at peace in the middle of chaos. The result is the Rapid Enlightenment Process, now peer reviewed and published.
In this episode, Eric Pfeiffer sits down with Matthew, a spiritual teacher, master coach, author of Quiet Mind Epic Life, and 2x TEDx speaker, to unpack why stability won't regulate your nervous system, and what will.

You'll learn:
Why optimism and happiness are skills you can build, not personality traits
How negativity breaks things down, and why optimism builds
The four relationship types on every team, and how well-meaning leaders end up as martyrs
What Matthew means when he says "nothing matters," and why that is so freeing
Why enlightenment and prosperity are two separate disciplines, and why the most fulfilled leaders practice both
Why he's aiming to live to 120, and why getting older can make you more valuable, not less

If you're a leader who has built something real but still feels the noise inside, this conversation will change how you think about peace, purpose, and performance.
Listen now, then share it with a leader who needs to hear it.

Connect with Matthew Ferry: matthewferry.com
Learn more about MPWR Coaching: mpwrcoaching.com

Each week on the MPWR Podcast, we dive deep into real-world strategies, expert insights, and actionable takeaways to help you lead with confidence and clarity, even under pressure. Whether you're an executive, an entrepreneur, or someone striving to lead yourself better, this podcast is for you.

🎧 Listen now and start leading the way you were meant to.
Stay connected with us:
🌐 Learn More: https://MPWRcoaching.com
📩 Contact: Admin@MPWRcoaching.com
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ninety-five percent of people believe they're self-aware. The real number? Closer to 10 to 15 percent. That gap might be the most expensive blind spot in your leadership.
As the fourth quarter ramps up, deals need closing, targets need hitting, and pressure pulls every leader's attention outward. In this episode, the first in a new miniseries on self-awareness and self-leadership, Eric Pfeiffer and Dawn Neldon make the case for turning inward when everything around you is demanding the opposite. As Eric puts it, "We can only give to others what we first cultivate internally."
The research backs it up. A landmark Cornell and Green Peak Partners study found that self-awareness is the single strongest predictor of overall leadership effectiveness, outperforming IQ and technical skill. Emotional intelligence is estimated to explain roughly 67 percent of what makes leaders effective, and 90 percent of top performers score high in it. Yet most leaders have never been taught how to actually practice it.

In this episode, you'll discover:
A simple, practical definition of emotional intelligence: bringing the best version of yourself to any context, especially under pressure
The four muscle groups of emotional intelligence, and why most leaders overtrain the top two and neglect the "legs" that hold everything up
The three sources of internal noise (mental, emotional, and physical) behind the 50,000 to 70,000 self-talk moments you experience every day
Why 100 percent personal responsibility is the foundation every other leadership skill stands on

Dawn doesn't sugarcoat it: "The bad news is it's you. You're the problem. The good news is, it's you." Because the one thing you have the most power over is your own attitudes and behaviors.
Imagine walking into your next high-stakes meeting in control of your reactions instead of controlled by them. Imagine finishing 2026 with clarity, steadiness, and decisions you won't regret. As Eric reminds us, "You can't regulate what you've never examined," and "you can't lead people past a place that you've not gone yourself."
This week, take the first step. Start noticing the voices, then ask yourself one question: who's in the driver's seat?
Listen now, then share this episode with a leader who needs it (or yes, even that friend you think needs it most). Watch for Eric and Dawn's upcoming book, Fix Your Culture, Grow Your Business, featuring their complete leadership operating system, and join their free live masterclasses relaunching this month to get coached in real time. Subscribe so you don't miss the rest of this miniseries.

Each week on the MPWR Podcast, we dive deep into real-world strategies, expert insights, and actionable takeaways to help you lead with confidence and clarity, even under pressure. Whether you're an executive, an entrepreneur, or someone striving to lead yourself better, this podcast is for you.
🎧 Listen now and start leading the way you were meant to.
Stay connected with us:
🌐 Learn More: https://MPWRcoaching.com
📩 Contact: Admin@MPWRcoaching.com
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.