Leadership Secrets During Transformative Times with Tracy Nolan

How comfortable are you being authentically you in the workplace and modeling to your team members how to be true to themselves through your own behavior and actions? Today's episode is all about thriving as your authentic self during transformative times, and our guest Tracy Nolan, Senior Vice President at Humana, is a powerhouse Fortune 50 senior executive and board member who have been at the helm of some of the most challenging and rewarding transformations in modern history. From leading through the historic Sprint T-Mobile merger during the chaos of COVID to spearheading hurricane relief in Puerto Rico, Tracy has proven time and time again that resilience and authenticity are the keys to impactful leadership. In this episode, Tracy shares why women don't have to choose between compassion and strength and how embracing both makes you a more impactful leader. The critical leadership skills needed to navigate large-scale crisis and transformations, as well as how to build a strong actionable culture that drives results far beyond PowerPoints and posters, and the power of taking risks leaning into change, and believing in yourself to grow your career and your team. If you've ever wondered how to lead authentically while driving transformation, Tracy's insights will inspire and challenge you to embrace bold opportunities. So grab your notebook and get ready to thrive. Stay with us.

Welcome to Shedding the Corporate Bitch, the podcast that transforms today's managers into tomorrow's powerhouse leaders. Your host, Bernadette Boas, executive coach and author, brings you into a world where the corporate grind meets personal growth and success in each and every episode. With more than 25 years in corporate trenches, Bernadette's own journey from being dismissed as a tyrant boss to becoming a sought-after leadership coach and speaker illustrates the very essence of transformation that she now inspires in others with her tips, strategies, and stories. So, if you're ready to shed the bitches of fear and insecurity, ditch the imposter syndrome, and step into the role of the powerhouse leader you were born to be, this podcast is for you. Let's do this.

Tracy, how are you?

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

Thank you, Bernadette. It's great to be here with you. I've been looking forward to this. So thank you for making time to have me on your show.

I am too, because I really think it is critical nowadays for very busy, chaotic business professionals to really understand what it takes, what it really, really takes to thrive in their career and have the type of career and life that they want and that they're dreaming of. So we'll get into all of that. But before we do, I love our viewers and listeners to get an idea of our guests on a personal level. So could you share a little bit about Tracy?

Absolutely. So Bernadette, I never expected to do what I'm doing professionally and what I'm doing now. I grew up in upstate New York. Had, you know, a very prim and proper mother and father. And I thought I would be teaching school and stay-at-home mom part of the time. And I actually fell in love with challenges and I, it started at an early age for me where I, you know, everything I did, if my family was really big in tennis, I wanted to do something completely opposite because it was different and hard. And I went to my first real outing of that is when I went to college and I went to an engineering school, even knowing I didn't want to be an engineer. It was up in really cold upstate New York in a, in a town, Clarkson University, where it was 6 males to every 1 female. And very few of us that were in, in the, in the management classes. And I really, really fell in love with taking on challenges and throughout my career, whether it be in retail or. Then I got into, through retail, being good in retail. I had to, I got recruited into wireless when it came to, you know, cellular technology and how do you make it consumer friendly. And so I just have always been someone who runs and thrives to challenges in both my personal and my professional life. I take classes constantly. I am one during the pandemic and we're going through a merger acquisition. I'm taking Spanish because 70% of my team spoke Spanish. You are— oh, I'm always taking classes. I'm always challenging myself to do something different. I have, you know, participated in a triathlon, mini triathlon, and I am not really, I would say, active athletic ability, but I'm always doing something. And I just, I just love a challenge and I love— and if I'm not working, I'm with family, I'm at a beach, and I'm giving back. I most recently am very excited about the fact that I just got named to be on the board for Worldwide Dress for Success, which is really giving back to individuals who have had a hard time and helping them reacclimate into the business world. And it's not just about clothing. It's really about all of getting somebody's mental wellbeing, health wellbeing, physical, and getting them confident to get back into the workplace to be able to take care of themselves. So I'm super excited about that.

That's absolutely beautiful. And thank you so much for doing that. Thank you so much for doing that, because serving that community, but serving as a whole, just makes, makes us better people, humans, and even leaders. Wouldn't you agree?

I do. I, you know, I feel like I've been very fortunate with some great mentors and sponsors, which I didn't even know what a sponsor was for a long time, who put me in uncomfort zones or pushed me hard, both personally and professionally, whether it be a coach that got me to do the triathlon or whether it be Ron Boylan, who put me in front of a CEO before I thought I was ever ready to, you know, present to one. But those being able to give back to me is what is so critically important in what I do. So it's one thing to lead, but another to give back. I'm— that is where my passion is.

That's sweet. Now, based on all of that, I have a number of questions I'd love to ask about. We are talking about someone thriving through transformative times. And we'll get into certainly that with your role at Humana and, you know, your past work that you've done in mergers, acquisitions, and just chaos overall. But before we do, let's go back to your love for education or your love for learning. How, what role does that play in a professional's career and their success? When it comes to leadership?

Well, Bernadette, the one thing I've learned as a leader is you're not perfect and you always need to challenge yourself to learn. Some people, you know, reach a— I remember the first time I reached a VP level and I went back to take a basic telecommunications course and then I followed it up by a personal development class. Which I asked for 360 feedback. And when people hear 360 feedback, the first thing that they do is, ooh, I don't want to do one of those, right? Like, ooh, I don't want to hear it. But it is such a gift to learn how you are perceived because there are so many times that you don't realize your impact to others and what it does to the results at the same time that if you're not constantly learning and constantly challenging challenging yourself to learn to be better and show that vulnerability too, that you're willing to take that feedback, I don't think you get to your greatest potential or your organization's greatest potential. So I like to share— I always say I cast the shadow of a leader. I like to try to cast the shadow of a leader. And I make it very public when I'm taking classes and when I earned a certificate or that I'm learning Spanish and I'm willing to be vulnerable if I have to try to have a conversation. I'm really good at understanding Spanish, but speaking it is much harder for me. But like, that's okay. That vulnerability is important in business and in your own personal development.

And isn't that an example of setting an example, being a model for others, you know, especially those that do have aspirations and ambitions. And they're seeking, even though they might be doing it quietly, they're seeking for those examples of what should I be doing? Who should I be doing? What, you know, where should I be doing it? Why should I be doing it? And what you're doing sets that, sets that path, sets that guide for others.

It's so true. And I learned the other thing I learned really is that I always thought, and I, you know, this comes from the background, you know, of how I grew up, but like, everything I needed to be perfect at, right? Like I had that whole perfection complex, right? Like you can't show— don't— when I'm young, when I was younger in my career, it's like, don't show vulnerability, you know, make sure that you're showing up strong in that way. But what I have found is when you're human, like when you, when you show humility and you're showing that you're authentic and that you're not perfect, that helps people at ease and will help them take those risks and help them actually buy in versus looking at a boss and thinking they're, you know, trying to be perfect all the time. Right?

Right. Now, that's an interesting statement coming from a woman. Right? Because we're often ingrained from a very early age that we have to show, you know, so-called strength, you know, and in the mannerisms of the other gender, where a lot of times vulnerability is strength.

It's so true. And I, I'll give you like some of my favorite examples and things that I say when I mentor other women is, so this one, you know, I grew up in the please and thank you. And somebody came to your house, you serve them, whatever. So I early, you know, again, in my career, We would go into a meeting and the first thing, if I went up and got a bottle of water or whatever, I would ask the whole room if they wanted one and I would serve the whole room, right? Because that's what I did at home. Like, that's how I learned. Like, you served it. I would go and sit at the table and I would make sure that I put all my papers in my little area, Bernadette. Like, I would only take up so much space, right? Because that's what you did.. And then I started looking around the room and going, wait a minute, the men in the room, they just get up and get their own bottle of water. And not, not just only men, but a lot of other successful women weren't like serving and being hostess of the mostest. They were in there because they were invited to the meeting. Like I'm invited like everyone else. I don't have to take care of anybody else in a business meeting. And when I go in now, I spread my papers out and I take up my room around the table and I say, hey, if you're invited to the meeting, you're not there to host the meeting. You're there to participate and be present in the meeting. And I learned very early on, like, hey, you gotta show that you own it and it's your space as much as anyone else. And you don't have to take care of every— you don't have to serve everybody and make sure everybody's sitting in the right space, like own it because it's your— you achieved it. But sometimes that whole perfectionism and taking care would come into play. And I would need to be very mindful not to let it take over because you're looked at differently then.

Absolutely. Now, what if someone's been operating in that mode and, you know, and the, and the audience is the same, how can they make changes after they've been accustomed to kind of you know, being insubordinate or serving others? How, what changes can they make that are subtle but yet powerful?

So, you know, for me, I had to do, I do this before I go into a meeting. I set in a very intentional, now I just don't go into the meeting because it's such a natural habit to want to do all those things. And if I have people at my house, it's going to be served and I'm going to do it. But when I'm in business, it's completely different, right? But I have to have that, and I have to have it step back. And I'm very intentional on, hey, what am I going to— why am I, why am I invited to the meeting? What am I— what, you know, obviously I'm here. I have to tell myself because I'm an expert in X, Y, and Z, and I need to be part of this meeting. I'm not here to serve, serve them. So I like have to do some self-talk and I have to set my priorities for the meeting, which is like 1, 2, and 3. And if it's not 1, 2, and 3, then I, then I, then I have, I come out of the meeting and go, I kind of failed because I was doing all this other stuff that doesn't really matter. But it's, it's the way people perceive you that is so like the whole piece. And when I was doing it, what I was finding is I had other women and people who would do it in the next meeting with me. So I might do it in a meeting with my boss. But then I would find Angel Gomez or I'd find Diana Vonderheide following what I was doing. And I'm like, no, we can't do that anymore.

Yes, you have to, you have to carve your path and you have to own the room, as you say. I absolutely love that. Self-talk, just vital, wouldn't you say, to just one's growth and sanity?

It is. And I, you know, self-talk can work 2 ways, and the way that I'm talking now is the way I've done it. But I also was at that old perfectionist stage where I used to judge myself after every meeting and I was critically hard. So, you know, I come out of the meeting and go, well, that was a D, that, you know, and then I would think of all the things that, that went that I didn't think were, were I did right.

And.

That is, that is not great. Like I now subscribe to the thing called best actual. Like I go into a meeting, I have my 3 items or so. I come out and say, you know what? I did my best based on XYZ. And I move on because there's so many people who can do that. But so many of us who are, you know, perfectionism will sit there and we will, we don't thrive when we're looking backwards and looking at all the little things. Like I said too much. Okay. Well, that's. That's something I can work on going forward, but it's not being that critical, right? So that's the other, other piece of it. And you aren't going to thrive if you are going through that negative self-talk.

Right. So we have to rid ourselves of the negative self-talk, talk to ourselves very optimistically, very uplifting, because it'll minimize the negative. Wouldn't you say?

Yes. It's like you move into Everyone has strengths and everyone has weaknesses. There's no one who is perfect. And that, that it is okay to show that, you know, you being authentic and you being you, like I had to get to that stage where I'm Tracy and I am gonna, you know, I'm gonna have a little fun, right? Like I am gonna, you know, joke around a little bit. I'm still gonna accomplish what I'm gonna do. But I'm not going to take it so seriously that, you know, it becomes debilitating to myself or not setting the example that needs to be for others. And when you are real, people will follow and people will, will want to get on board and they're going to want to emulate what you're doing versus not.

Right. Right. And so what would you say if there was someone, because I was that person, who was like a robot, very rigid, scared to open up, scared to be vulnerable. What would you share as far as what they could do easily to kind of start breaking down those walls?

I think first of all, it's self-awareness that you do come across that way, which may take, you know, start getting some direct feedback. So again, I go to the, like, one of the first things is, is to make sure you're getting that real honest feedback. If you ask those that report to you that you're close to, they're probably going to tell you you're perfect, right? It's when you get feedback from others. And, you know, I've had two different examples that I thought were excellent. I had some 360 feedback done when I joined Humana, which I thought, wow, I had only been with the company like 5 months, 4 months. And I thought, wow, I'm surprised that they're investing to do it. But they did 360 feedback by interviewing people. That worked with me that wasn't just a written scenario so they could ask the tough questions. And there were a few things that came back through that that I thought were really impactful for me. The other one I thought was a really great technique that another leader of mine did, which was— it's a little out there, but basically they took all of the senior vice presidents and had us rate each other. On our competency and on our teamwork. So like, how confident are you in the job and teamwork? And then they had to say 2 words about you and just 2 words. And then they did a word cloud or those clouds, and then they rated us so that we could see how we compared. Didn't share it with everybody, only the top few got to see, you know, that they were top few, but it gave you a good feeling of, wow, this is how I'm coming across to my peers that I need to work with. And so also when you do 360 feedback, sometimes you give them the list of who to call. I try to say, you call who you think, you know, and get that feedback because you really do want that honest feedback. So number 1, get feedback. And then number 2, I don't change who I am when I'm at work and then when I'm at home. And if you— what I find people who are rigid, they're not rigid all 24/7, right? So just be yourself, like bring a little bit of that fun into the workplace. And remember that it's not all about you. And I say that often, and I, you know, I think I'm a pretty, you know, humble individual. But when you have a leadership title, people don't see you as humble and you need to make sure that you bring that forward. And it may just be by thanking people every once in a while for a great job. Well done. We always go to the next thing. And thanking, like I did it this morning on a call, the call was just about to end. Bernadette, there was probably 50 people. It was kind of just a half an hour kind of readiness call that another group does, not in my org, but it's cross-functional. And at the end of it, I just took a minute to thank the leader who had been running this meeting for the last 4 weeks to say, you, Missy, you're doing an incredible job. I thank you for holding this meeting. It's very valuable. I know I doubted it in the beginning, but I just think that you're doing a great job. And I think it takes people off guard sometimes that I take that time, but like that meant a lot to her. It meant a lot to, to me. And it's just, it makes, it just brings that humbleness. So you're not shown as so rigid that you actually do, do care.

Right. And again, you're modeling, you're modeling, you're modeling how others can also step up and kind of start breaking down those walls and building really good connections and relationships. With others. I absolutely love that. Well, I definitely want to get into kind of our conversation around transformative times, but you also mentioned the fact that you didn't know what mentors and sponsors were when you were coming up through the, through the ranks. So I can't overlook that comment you made to, to, for them to hear it straight from someone in a senior vice president you know, position as to what are mentors and sponsors and why are they important to any professional listening to this?

I'm so glad you asked this because I grew up thinking that you go find a mentor and you ask that person to be your mentor and they are supposed to help you with your career. I have, and I've been asked, and I get asked all the time, can you mentor me? Can you mentor me? And I do it on one stipulation now. And as I mentioned, I have like a group of women that I love to mentor and have time to talk and give back. But a mentor is someone who is there for your career advice. But I have to mention, I have this one mentor who, Bernadette, he was so afraid to ask me to mentor him. He was, you know, a frontline manager in an organization. He went to HR and said, I would love Tracy to mentor me, but I don't even know how to approach her on it. So the head of HR brought him to me and he said to me, Tracy, I really would like you to mentor me. I'm only asking for 30 minutes every quarter, and I promise that I'm going to add value to you as much as you add value to me. And I was like, hmm, this is interesting. So Bernadette, I, I used his example all the time because every meeting I have with him, he starts with, hey, let me give you an update on what I'm doing and how my role is. He also creates, you know, his calendar for the year or his goals for the year. And he shows both personal and professional goals and shows the path in like where he wants to go. And then he gives me, here's what I'm doing to achieve it. So he's not— he's just asking me for reaffirmation that he's on the path and maybe a question or two. And then he ends the call with, hey, you're the SVP of this organization and here's 2 or 3 ideas that I think can improve the overall culture, the operations. Like he always brings me some information too. And we get on the phone and I'm telling you, he has it timed and he doesn't ever go over. He ends 1 minute ahead of time. Like, it's 1:29, Tracy, we're done. Unless I ask to extend it. And I gotta tell you, I've watched him have 3 different career, you know, move up 3 times within the last 4 years. I've watched him buy a home, start a side business, like He has really shown what a true mentorship is because it's not like, hey, someone's going to own my own career. You're really giving advice. A sponsor to me, I think of— I mentioned Ron Boylott, who was early in my career, who sees potential in you that maybe you don't see in yourself and is willing to take a risk and put you in positions that you go, I don't know if I'm really ready for that role. I don't know if I'm really ready. Like, I don't see myself there, but they are willing to take you and put you in a position or give you— almost believe in you more than you believe in yourself. And there are many times that I've had a role and gone, I don't— like when I turned from sales into operations and I was like, I don't know if I can do that. And I had people who, who believed in me and then were there, you know, to advise if needed. But I just look at a sponsor as someone you don't ask for. They find you because they see the potential and they see the job that you're doing now. And if you're not finding those people, then you need to really look at yourself and say, well, why not? You know, like, why, why isn't somebody willing to sponsor me? And that's where you really take that look at yourself on owning owning your career because you're the only one that— everybody else can give you advice and help you and mentor you, but you need to own your career. And I see too many people today who think their bosses or their leaders own their career.

Right. As if someone's going to come along and tap them on the shoulder and be like, oh, okay.

All right.

Not sure what you do or how you're doing it, but okay. And it's not the way it happens. That's beautiful. It happens. I absolutely, absolutely love, love, love that. So thank you for that. So turning to our, our turbulent times and what leaders really need to do. So what do you see with all the vast experience that you've had? What have you seen of, what have you seen to be the most critical leadership skills that someone needs to have today, especially to work through some, you know, very trying times?

I think I'm going to surprise you by this answer, and I truly mean this, and I will give you multiple examples of it. Everybody always will ask me what my strategic plan is. Like, Tracy, are you putting together your 5-year strategic plan? What's your 3-year strategic plan? Like, what is your, like, Everybody looks at that. And Bernadette, the thing that I would say has been my success in every turbulent times, and I will tell you what they are, is what I call the 6 success ingredients. And it's very basic. It's trust, integrity, commitment, execution, and resiliency, and the right people. And why I say that is I have found, found that the foundation of everything that you can do is built on those key elements. And it's not one way. And, you know, I'll tell you a couple quick stories. So I, we were in a Frontier Cellular. We were at a point where we needed a real culture change, and we needed to be able to really surpass what we saw our competitors doing. And I was head of sales and Carmen DeFeo was head of customer service. And our CEO said, the two of you get together and start a culture program. And so Carmen and I, the cheerleaders, get together and we're like, hey, we're going to do this kaizen, you know, 10 keys of positive change. And, you know, you're either moving forward, you're not moving backwards. You know, you're always moving forward. You're never standing still. All these things. We came up with these crazy sayings, thoughts. And then we went and we put together like, we're going to have— we're going to make keychains and we're going to put posters on the wall and we're going to rah-rah and have this kickoff. So before we did that, we got a group of cross-functional teammates, frontline employees, managers, directors, put them all in a room and we were all excited. Carmen and I are going to go roll this thing out. And we went in and when we went in and we started telling them all about it, We stopped and the team said, hey, that's all great, but that's not going to change how we're doing things today. You can put up all the posters you want. You can put up all those things. But until we trust management and management trusts us, we're not going to be there. Until we see you executing, we're not going to execute to our best. We aren't, you know, once we see you all working together as a team, then we will. And we want to give you feedback. On those things. And it was a big light that went off for me on the overall importance of the key foundation of any business. And not too much longer, you know, we started doing extremely well, then we were bought out. So we're going through turbulent times. That was when Bell Atlantic Mobile and Verizon actually came in and bought our our piece of upstate New York organization, and they made me president of this organization. And that's when I was like, wow, I now run all of it, not just sales. And we were going through new benefit changes, new name changes. Like we were going through more turbulent times. And Bernadette, I established what was a two-way communication, which was I just opened a bridge. And I said, hey, I'm going to have a bridge open every week for an hour. I'll give you a 15-minute update on what's happening from the, you know, for the transition and what's happening there. The rest is for you. And at first, the first week, I had very few comments and I just sat there. I said, I'm just going to sit here until we start having some open, honest conversation. This went on for a couple of weeks and it got to the point where people were telling me, hey, Trace, my medical coverage isn't working. It wasn't all about, like, it wasn't all about work questions about how to take care of members or customers. A lot of this was about things that were impacting them as we were going through it, which was then impacting, you know, our overall results. And then I had someone who asked me, we got to a point where people were really open and honest and they say, hey, Trish, are there going to be layoffs? And I'd say, you know what, I don't know of any today, but I can't guarantee that in the future. And we would just have, like, if there was a question they asked that was a legal question I couldn't answer, I'd say, hey, I don't know and I can't answer that. So I started showing vulnerability. I showed that I was part of the group. I wasn't the president. I was with them and we were going to solve this world together and That year we were number one out of all the 21 regions that Verizon had. We were number one in year-over-year growth and we were number one in year-over-year profitability. And we went through 3 name changes in a very short period of time. I have repeated that in almost that whole process of establishing the key foundations or underpinnings of the business. Before even bringing out a strategic plan of getting the team to rally. And the most recent one prior to coming to Humana was when Sprint and T-Mobile merged during the— during COVID We closed the largest US telecommunications merger ever. We did during COVID I was head of all of sales operations. For Sprint. We were merging with T-Mobile. I had about 12,000 people reporting to me and I'm merging them in the middle of a pandemic. And we continue to see T-Mobile and the new company thrive. But it all started with, let's get grounded on what are the key fundamentals of the business, of how we're going to operate. Establishing trust at all levels of the organization, establishing open communications, establishing what it is going to be to execute, and so on. And so to me, it is— culture can be looked at as kind of one of those warm and fuzzy scenarios. It truly isn't. It is the foundation of how we work. And that is what has worked for me in turbulent times. And I always say, until you're real and people really understand and trust you. Now, do I think everybody who's worked for me, Bernadette, loves me? Do I think everybody always agrees with me? Absolutely not. But I do believe that people who I've even had to let go look at me and say she was fair. She was. You know, someone at that point that I could trust. And, you know, that openness is really critical to all businesses.

Right. And that's what you mean, because I've read it in multiple places when you say going beyond posters and PowerPoint, right?

Yes.

Yes.

Because everybody thinks that's the answer, right? Like that's the answer. Like I, I roll my eyes, which is terrible when people say, oh, here, put this You know, here's our core values, put it on your keychain or it's your screensaver. Like, it's not about that.

Right, right, right. So can you repeat for our listeners those 6 fundamentals?

Yes. So, yes. Trust, integrity, commitment, execution, teamwork, and the right people. And when I mean that, I literally will do this. When I take over an organization, the first thing I do is I go around the room in my head and say, do I, can I trust everyone in the room? And do I think, what do I have to do to build trust with that? Like, how do I build that trust? Are they committed to the goals and the company and our customers and our employees and shareholders? Like, do I think that Are they committed? Do they have integrity in what they do? I literally go through that. And that's how I determine my leadership team. And that's how I coach to those to make sure that we're all there. And it's as much coaching to me because I most recently, when I joined— real interesting, when I joined Humana, I mean, it's a completely different industry than telecom. I had never worked in healthcare before. And a matter of fact, it's the first role since college that someone didn't— I didn't know someone in the company I joined. So it's the first time that I went in. And when I went in, Bernadette, and I'm, you know, an older, older leader, like I'm not, you know, I'm not a spring chicken. I mean, I've been working for a long time. And I walked into this organization that knew nothing about Tracy Nolan. They didn't know anything about how I worked, what I did. Everywhere else, somebody kind of knew who I've who I was because I went to work for someone else who knew me. So I had to really rethink about how do I establish trust with people? How do I establish— how do I know that they think that my integrity is forefront in all that I do? How did I know that I was really, truly about execution and about teamwork and not about what Tracy does? But how do I make sure that they know I want them to shine? Right? It's a, it, it really truly does help me out, but I had a big reality stepping into a different industry and a different organization. And then, you know, our, we have done really well thriving through a lot of change within the healthcare industry too. So, yeah.

And would you, did you kind of take that same approach with these 6 fundamentals with just building slowly, providing that open open forum for people to talk with you?

Totally. I mean, I still do. I, to this day, I remember people saying, why does she do these roundtables? Because I, I stay connected to the folks who I believe there's really two types of people in an organization, those that work with our customers every day, and then those who work for those customers, for those that work for customers. So I don't like to think of— I kind of think of it as a backwards organization. Like, the most important people in the organization are those that are touching our customers every single day. And that's where the truth of what really is happening goes on, right? So I, you know, when I walked in, there was not a lot of that kind of communication. And I see that in every, every organization I've taken on, like, The frontline knowing and getting to know what their problems are are critical to the success of the business because those problems are those of our customers or of them trying to take care of our customers, right? That's— I do town halls. I am very involved in, you know, smaller group, you know, talk with Tracy. I have an open communication line that is an email direct access to me. For anyone in the company to send a message to me about anything that is going on that is a concern. Now, I try to say, hey, if it's an HR issue, go to HR. But if it's anything else, let me know. Because if you send me an HR issue, I'm probably going to have HR get involved. But it's not to tell on— it's really not to tell on what other, you know, their leaders are doing. And I say leaders, this is our email. This is our way of knowing what's going on.

No. Yeah, I absolutely, absolutely love that. And would you say that is how managers to leaders can really help to create positive, transformative cultures as opposed to just the status quo?

Absolutely. Getting— I think one of the things that leaders— leaders like to take on problems and try to solve them all themselves. And there's only so much within a control— within your own control. And you really need to focus on those things that are within your control and do them excellently. And then when you see issues that are rising, you need to make sure that you're bringing them up because so many times, like, hearing about it from a customer is the wrong place to hear it from. We need to hear from our leaders. And a great leader who is going to move and advance in the organization is someone who spots those but also will help us figure out how to come— like, here's maybe a— here's a couple possible solutions to the problem, right? So many times I hear, well, we can't do this, we can't follow. I don't really want to hear about what we can't. I want to hear about, here's the opportunity that we have that is not working for our customers today or our consumers today. And there are things that, you know, that we aren't going to be able to change, but there is certainly a lot out there that we can improve every single day. And if we ever get too comfortable that there isn't something, like I say, fall in love with problems. That's the other thing I say, like, fall in love with the problems. Like, that's what we should be focused on. And, and, and that will make it so much better, a better place to work, a lot more fun. And, you know, it's so much better for our overall customers in any industry anywhere.

Absolutely. And would you say that that's also a kind of a compass that you share when it comes to mentoring others to take risks and put themselves out there, look for those opportunities to solve problems, take on new challenges.

Absolutely. And Bernadette, I've seen so many people who have been afraid to take a risk. And at one point when I was with one company and I made a decision to leave, even without another role, because it was right for my family, which You know, we didn't get into balance, but like, that's something I'm not great at. But like, at one point I made a decision and I got told, you know, you will never find another job at the same level, at the same pay that is as good as this. And I will tell you, I've thrived because I've been willing to take risks. And I've been, because you know what, you, if you believe in yourself As much as mentor or, you know, mentors look to you and, you know, and others, you know, those that have taken risks for you, look at yourself. You're going to be just fine and you're going to thrive when you are challenged. You're not going to thrive when you sit back and get too comfortable in what you're doing. And life is a lot more fun when you challenge yourself.

Yeah. Oh, absolutely. And solve those problems and yeah, yeah. And learn new things and get the education. You know, until the day I die, I want to be learning. I want to be making sure that I am never in a position where I think I know it all, because that's just boring.

It is. My husband will keep saying to me, okay, Trace, so now we're in 2025. You got 2 certificates last year. The year before, you went away to Harvard for a week. For, because you wanted to do this women's onboard scenario. Like, what is it you're going to do for 2025? And I'm like, I still have the end— till the end of January to decide what I'm going to learn this year. But trust me, it's going to be more than one or two things. Like, I definitely am challenging myself because to your point, like, it is, you know, the world around us is not standing still. And if you're not engaging in learning more, especially with things like AI and all that's coming out, risk governance in businesses and that risk is a good thing. I mean, risk-taking should not be thought of as, you know, something bad. Actually, taking risks can turn into something incredibly wonderful. You just need to be able to monitor it and you need to be able to, you know, to course correct and make changes as you go. And that's with life and that's with your career. Absolutely.

So if there was one thing that you would, about everything we've talked about, that you would tell a, you know, professional right now that they should go out and start focusing on in order for them to really transform their leadership, what would you tell them?

Okay. I know you asked for one, but I'm going to give you two if that's okay, Bernadette. Number one is I'd say run to opportunities with significant change. So many people back away from those things that are like, ooh, transformation office. I never want to do that. I would never— like, run to those opportunities because you can make the biggest significant difference when you take on those challenges. And you know what? It's like a puzzle. They're really fun to figure out if you take that positive attitude. And then second, I can't stress enough. And thank you for letting me talk about the strong cultural foundation, because that can make or break leadership success, not only for your organization, but for you too. And that constant reminder that we are not perfect, we should be constantly learning. So thank you for letting me share those two items with you today.

Absolutely. This has been fabulous. Fabulous. Fabulous. I could, we could talk forever. We could just go.

Bernadette, I think we could absolutely do that. And I am so pleased that you allowed me to join you on your show today to just talk a little bit about some of my experiences and, and give back just a little bit.

Yeah. And give back tremendously. And I so appreciate it. So everyone, please check out everything about Tracy. Be sure to follow her also. On LinkedIn and it'll be Tracy E. Nolan on LinkedIn. And of course, Instagram, little different, little different. Look for, and then follow her on Instagram @tenbenarski and you'll be able to see everything else, else that she's up to there. But so great. I am so pleased that you're with us today, Tracy. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Bernadette. Have a fabulous day today.

Thank you. I don't even know where to start. There was so much goodness in that conversation with powerhouse Tracy Nolan. Currently, she's the senior vice president at Humana, but has held some significant roles in her past that have garnered her the tremendous insights, the tremendous tips and experiences that she shared with us. And it was Fabulous. But what I really, really took away from all of it was just how everything she embodies is about modeling strong leadership, bold leadership, authentic leadership to those around her. In everything that she explained, everything was about ensuring that she's showing up as the individual, as the woman, as the leader that she wants others to be as well. And it was just absolutely fabulous. She talked about taking risks, going after bold opportunities, seeking out mentors and sponsors, having those critical leadership skills that will help you get through any type of challenge, chaos, or even transformation. The list goes on and on. So definitely go back and listen to it again. And, and if you didn't have your notepad, bring it out. Share it with your team members, and even kind of have a gathering lunch and learn to both listen to the conversation that I had, as well as make note and discuss some of the tips and the ideas that she shared in regards to how you can be really fostering the type of culture that will rise, help everyone rise up and really be the leader that your people, business, and self want to be. In order to be successful in all aspects of life. I absolutely love this conversation and I so appreciate Tracy being with us in that regard. If you have any questions or need support over and beyond what we talked about today, then feel free to book a call with me. Go to coachmebernadette.com/discoverycall and let's have a brief conversation and let me provide you some tips, strategies, and some guidance as to how you can be moving forward. To be in that powerhouse leader you're meant to be. And don't forget, be sure to follow the show so you don't miss out on any of our conversations with these unbelievable guests. So follow us at ballofirecoaching.com/podcast. I'll look forward to having you and seeing you for another episode of Shedding the Corporate Bitch. Bye.

Thank you for tuning into today's episode of Shedding the Corporate Bitch. Every journey taken together is another step towards unleashing the powerhouse leader within you. Don't miss any of our weekly episodes—subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you love to listen. And for those who thrive on visual content, catch us on our Shedding the Bitch YouTube channel. Want to dive deeper with Bernadette on becoming a powerhouse leader? Visit balloffirecoaching.com to learn more about how she helps professionals, HR executives, and team leaders elevate overall team performance. You've been listening to Shedding the Corporate Bitch with Bernadette Boas. Until next time, keep shedding, keep growing, and keep leading.