In this seven‑minute interview, Professor Pete Alexander talks with Tricia Manning, an executive leadership coach who spent 25 years climbing the corporate ladder to the C‑suite before a health scare prompted her to shift to coaching. Tricia describes her passion for helping leaders achieve breakthroughs, emphasizing a "People First, Company Second" mindset as essential in today’s VUCA world, especially given that 85% of jobs in 2030 will be new. She argues that leaders must show vulnerability, compassion, and heart‑led engagement to boost employee motivation and retention, noting declining employee‑engagement scores over the past 15 years. Tricia recommends two fellow women leaders—Dr. Phildra Swager and Tammy Myers—for future podcast appearances. She shares her first jobs, from a Burger King drive‑through cashier to assembling leadership program binders at Eckerd College, which sparked her interest in leadership development. Finally, she provides her website (triciamanning.com), a Heart Leader assessment, and LinkedIn profile as ways to connect.
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This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do.
Well, hello, Professor Pete. I am Tricia Manning, and I am an executive leadership coach. I have been at this for a couple years now. I had previously had a 25-year corporate career where I started in an entry-level position, and I worked my way up to the C-suite. I had various leadership positions over the years and loved my, loved my job, loved my leadership role. I faced a significant health scare in 2016, which had me move away from that 70-hour workweek way of life, and I pursued my passion, which was leadership development. So now, as a Leadership Coach, I get to help smart, successful business leaders who are managing it all personally and professionally, and I get to coach them and help them achieve possibilities in their life and in their career. So that's what I get to do.
Tricia, it's so great to have you on the show, and I can resonate so well with your story. Thank you so much. Question number 2: What's the best thing about working in your industry?
Oh, so I, um, those of you, those people who have worked with me before, maybe shared, you know, an office space with me, know I love to laugh. You know, I love to bring joy and smiles every day. And so one of the things that I just absolutely love about my job is getting to see that in others. So those Leaders that I get to coach and I get to support, when they have those breakthroughs and they progress toward their goals and they have awarenesses around possibilities in what they could do that they really never thought was possible, and it brings that grin from ear to ear. I mean, that really is my work and what fills my heart for them and supporting them.
I love the passion in your voice. So it's contagious. Question number 3: I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business. What chapter would you think most companies should read?
Hmm, so I— this is a great question. I think the chapter that I would recommend would be called People First, Company Second. And really, I believe that those companies, especially in this VUCA world, right? Complex, always-on, everything's urgent world that we live in. Those companies that really find a way right now to put their people first, engage the hearts and minds of their organization, are going to be the companies that are going to be able to be successful. Successful as the world continues to evolve. One quick statistic that I just think is so telling: 85% of the jobs that will— that college students today will be doing in the year 2030 don't even exist. So if your company isn't already going through some kind of transformation, it will be in the next 10 years. And so how are these organizations going to continue to prepare their people when they don't know what these jobs of the future are? We have to really engage them and develop them and really spend the time building the soft skills and the competencies that help those individuals be successful going through this next 10 years. And so putting people first is a way to get the best out of your people so that the company gets the best results.
Very insightful. Thank you so much. Question number 4, other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude, and care for customers, what advice would you give to other business leaders?
Yeah, so this, um, probably along the same lines as putting people first, the, the whole, um, concept of engaging your people, finding what connects them, um, what motivates them. Many business leaders still have that old talk track that showing emotion and showing care in the workplace is weak, when actually it's very courageous to be able to be vulnerable and put yourself out there. And so I'm a big believer in leading with your heart and actually showing that compassion and, and showing that you care. There's an awakening happening, I believe, and people want to be seen, they want to be heard, they want to feel meaning in their work. And so So doing that by connecting in a heartfelt, meaningful way is a differentiator for leaders today.
Uh-huh, uh-huh. And it's interesting too, because if the leaders act in the way that you, you mentioned, especially with being vulnerable, the relationship that they will have with their people will be better. And the assumption, I would believe, would be that the employees are more likely to stay and be motivated and be more productive?
Yes, absolutely. And actually around that, we've, you know, we've all probably been in an organization at some point in our lives where we've participated in some kind of employee opinion survey or employee engagement survey. The last 15 years, employee engagement results continue to decline year over year, and you can't continue to do the same things, right? We have to figure out how to lead differently so that people are more engaged and they're connected to the why, especially when you think about, you know, companies and so many companies going through so much change, especially in the chaotic world that we've been living in the last 6 months. So higher engagement scores, you know, is— should be one of the things that we're working toward. And you do that by connecting and by being authentic and You know, showing people you care.
Absolutely. Couldn't have said it any better. Thank you for that. Question number 5: What other business leader like yourself would you like to acknowledge and invite to be on my podcast?
Ooh, I love this question. So I have 2 people that I would love to introduce you to. One, her name is Dr. Phildra Swager, and she actually has a podcast herself. Swag University. But Phildra spent most of her career in education. She actually started a charter school in our area with Derek Brooks. So, she had a lot of success in education. She recently transitioned to be a Coach herself and her whole mantra and her whole mission is to help you be the CEO of your life. So, she is very motivational and I would love for you to meet her. The second woman who I would love to introduce you to Tammy Myers. So Tammy spent most of her career in corporate America. She recently was an executive in healthcare. She just transitioned to be a CEO of Vibrant Body Company, which is an organization whose mission is to produce women's undergarments that are toxin-free. And so their whole mission is to really help, help bring awareness to the fact that first layer clothing could be toxic in our in our lives, and we need to pay more attention to that. She's a philanthropist at heart, and so she's just a very giving and caring individual. And those would be two amazing women for you to meet.
Wonderful. Thank you for those referrals. I'll reach out to them. And our final question, question number 6, please tell me about your first job.
Oh, my very first job was Burger King, working the cashier in the drive-through before, you know, the the cash machine actually made the change for you. So you actually had to count the change. I'm dating myself. But putting that aside, the one that really sticks out and actually was, I look back now, was like the start of my passion around leadership development. In high school, I worked putting program binders together at Eckerd College for their leadership development program. So this program would attract executives, global executives from all over the world who would come in and for a week they would come to this program and they would just be immersed in 360 feedback and assessments and really dissecting their leadership skills and some of the things that influence their behavior. And I put the program binders together. And then every once in a while, I would get to get behind the camera and actually film these executives as they were getting feedback, you know, on, on their leadership. And that was, that was some of my early memories of like, wow, I couldn't believe that organizations out there were investing this kind of money and time into their leaders, but then also these leaders being so open to accepting of the feedback. And it was just a great way to kind of kick off my career as then I went into my own, you know, down my own path. Circling back eventually to leadership development myself. So it came full circle for me, but that was, that was like my early memories that were so wonderful.
Oh, it's a great story. I appreciate you sharing it with us. And Tricia, thank you so much for being on the show. How could people find you?
You can go to triciamanning.com, my website. I actually have a Heart Leader assessment on that website too that people can take 15 minutes and find your Heart Leader Score. You can also find me on LinkedIn, Tricia Manning, and various other social media outlets. Just look me up. I would love to connect with you in all those different ways. I'm out there making a presence. Haven't quite mastered Twitter. That's one of those ones that I've steered away from, but maybe someone could talk me into it. I don't know.
Well, watch out what you wish for. It's perfect. Plenty of places to get you. Anyway, this is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.
