What Are the Traps High Performing Leaders Face That No One Discusses?

What Are the Traps High Performing Leaders Face That No One Discusses? In part two of an interview with Kim Baillie and Jamie, we uncover the secret behind why many CEOs find themselves overwhelmed. It may be a major reason many leaders find it lonely at the top. Perhaps the source of that loneliness is related to a past event that shaped their mindset. At the same time, we explored how the CEO’s job may never be replaced by artificial intelligence. Whatever it takes to be a visionary may be beyond AI’s capacity. Therefore, it is important that CEOs develop strong visionary capacities. To do that, there will be many beliefs from the CEO’s personal past that have to be unlearned. In addition, there are societal beliefs that serve as traps in the human paradigm that also need to be unlearned. Do not miss my series of videos on the Disruptive Leadership Model. In those videos, I discuss how organizations use problems, chaos or disruptions to their advantage. Do not forget to like, reblog and comment.

Here’s Why Most Breakthrough Initiatives Fail

In part one of a disruptive and enlightening interview with Kim Baillie and Jamie, we uncover the most common paths companies take when pursuing breakthrough initiatives. It is a path most people have never questioned. In the current human paradigm, there is a relentless belief that has been passed down through generations. That belief says, “change is hard”. Yet, if you look at history, humans have gone from traveling by horse and buggy to cars to planes to spaceships. We also have watch communication go from written letters to telephones, to faxes to emails to instant text messages on cell phones. All of these innovations have been embraced and enjoyed by societies around the world. In fact, younger generations cannot imagine how we survived without them in the past. However, the sentiment continues to be change is hard. Perhaps the very belief that change is hard is what makes it hard. As long as you believe something is true, you will go out of your way to prove what you believe is true. With that said, perhaps it is time to disrupt many common sense belief systems and incorporate training that helps people unlearn what has been imposed on them. One of the beliefs that is inadvertently imposed on people is the belief you are not good enough. People continuously learn and develop. Part of that learning and development includes mistakes and so called failures. Thomas Edison said, “I did not fail over 10,000 times. I found 10,000 ways that did not work”. Discovery is a natural part of a child’s development. There is no reason it is not a part of an adults constant development. As people unlearn what has been imposed, they discover possibilities for themselves that have been blocked by supposed common sense belief systems. If you remember, people once said ‘if man were meant to fly, he would have wings’. Imagine if the Wright Brothers would have allowed that belief to stop them. The Disruptive Leadership Model empowers people to unlearn what derails them and provides tools to invent new possibilities. If you have not seen my series of videos about the Disruptive Leadership Model, you can find them on my page. I would love to hear your thoughts. Do not forget to comment, like and repost.

Here’s Why Transforming Corporate Culture is So Difficult - Part 2

In part two of an interview with Sharmin Prince and Mitzy Dadoun, we go under the sheets to discover the source of why transforming corporate culture is difficult. As it stands, most CEOs say transforming corporate culture is the most difficult thing to do as an executive. Is it difficult because of people or the prevailing culture? Or is it difficult because of the way CEOs view culture and what it is made of. Many transformation initiatives revolve around hiring new people, pay incentives, work from home, game rooms and other tangible things that are thought to alter people’s behavior. At the same time, social anthropologists have a healthy view of culture that makes it easier manage. In the video, I discuss that view as well as examples. Throughout history, there have been leaders who transformed industries by creating a workplace culture that promoted high performance. Their methods have been more elegant than pay incentives. Part of the method revolves around the fearless capacity to disrupt status quo without conflict. Do not miss my series of videos on the Disruptive Leadership Model. In those videos, I discuss how organizations use problems, chaos or disruptions to their advantage. Do not forget to like, share and repost. #disruptiveleadership #corporateculture #breakthroughs #transformation #ceo #changemanagement #corporategovernance #highperformance #mindset #thoughtleadership #innovation #traininganddevelopent #conflictresolution

Ted Santos Reveals How Chaos Fuels Breakthrough Growth in Leadership - 1

Is Chaos the Path to Successfully Completing Breakthrough Initiatives? In part one of a thought provoking interview, Sharmin Prince and Mitzy Dadoun asked me to reveal the hidden reasons most breakthrough initiatives are derailed. Some of the greatest enemies to breakthrough growth are chaos and uncertainty. Uncertainty is not simply about exploring the new. In many cases, it is about dismantling belief systems that were believed to be normal. When we looked at the human element of business, it becomes clear that people can be their own worst enemy. What is not clear is the catalysts that derail individuals or teams. And it is not necessarily chaos that is the problem. It is how we handle ourselves in the face of chaos that makes the difference. As the interview progressed, we uncovered landmines that stop breakthrough initiatives. From there, we looked at practical solutions that can put teams back on track. Do not miss my series of videos on the Disruptive Leadership Model. In those videos, I discuss how organizations use problems, chaos or disruptions to their advantage. Do not forget to like, share and repost.

Stop Following Your Passion, Do this Instead...

Here’s Why You Should Never, Ever Follow Your Passions In this thought provoking interview, True asks me questions that generally have common sense answers. However, when it comes to intentionally creating breakthroughs, common sense answers may not apply. Like all great interviewers, he wants to get to the source of my counterintuitive strategies that apply to one’s personal or professional life. Fasten your seat belts as common sense is disrupted. From following passions to solving problems, he and I uncover many traps in the human paradigm that are disguised as conventional wisdom. I, instead, reveal what is truly behind breakthroughs and high performance. Do not miss my series of videos on the Disruptive Leadership Model. In those videos, I discuss how organizations use problems, chaos or disruptions to their advantage. Do you have a story about how you disrupted your people to intentionally create a breakthrough? Share in the comments. Do not forget to like, share, comment and repost.

Have the Demands for Being CEO Changed in the 21st Century?

Have the Demands for Being CEO Changed in the 21st Century? In this interview with Sean Weisbrot, we discover the multiple benefits of why it is important for leaders to intentionally create problems for the organization to solve. While creating problems can lead to intentional breakthroughs, it can build an innovative culture that solves problems that result from black swans. This kind of culture becomes more important in the 21st Century. As it stands, businesses, the economy, geopolitics and technology are forcing changes that were not anticipated a decade ago. As a result, many enterprises may find it difficult to lead their industries. In this video, we explore tactics that can prepare a company that wants a competitive edge in an era of constant change and disruption. Do not miss my series of videos on the Disruptive Leadership Model. In those videos, I discuss how organizations use problems, chaos or disruptions to their advantage. Do you have a story about how you disrupted your people to intentionally create a breakthrough? Share in the comments. Do not forget to like, share, comment and repost.

Interview: How Can Past Events Sabotage the Future of Your Personal or Professional Life?

How Can Past Events Sabotage the Future of Your Personal or Professional Life? In part two of an interview with Daniel Cianci, we continue to explore how to intentionally create breakthroughs. In this segment, he and I discussed how past events shape how we see ourselves and the world. What is revealed is how those events sabotage some of our best plans. Throughout the interview, I take a counterintuitive approach for how to gain control of your life and produce the outcomes that are most desirable for you. To illustrate, I use real life stories and analogies to provide listeners with tools to transform their lives. You will not want to miss one second of this interview. Do not forget to like, share and repost.

Interview: The Trap Every High Performer Falls Into

Why Is It a Problem to Not Have Problems? In an intereveiw with Daniel Cianci, it almost turned into a workshop for transformation. In the interview, he and I took a deep dive into how self mastery is developed through transformation. He and I also explored how intentionally creating problems can support the average person in day-to-day life. As the conversation progressed, many of the transformational tools are uncovered for how people can become high performers in their business or personal life. Do not forget to like, share and repost.

Can a CEO’s Greatest Strength Be Tied to Their Greatest Weakness?

To become CEO of any significant company, you will have displayed many competencies. Leadership is just one. Effective communication, the ability to read financial statements, intelligence, understanding of the business and competition make up a short list of others. At the same time, while things like bravado, ability to take charge, responsibility and intelligence are important, they may also be the source of a CEO’s limits. In this controversial interview with Michael Levitt, I uncover the source of many executive weaknesses. Those weaknesses can lead to overwhelm because the executive does not delegate. That can lead to missed opportunities because the CEO is not adequately leveraging top talent. Or they are unable to attract and/or retain top talent. In this interview, Michael and I also discuss how saboteur behaviors can be unlearned. This is critical because the mindset of the CEO can become the culture of the entire enterprise. To learn more about leading in a world of constant disruption, view my series of videos on the Disruptive Leadership Model. Do not forget to like, share and repost.

Interview: Can CEOs Drive Innovation by Intentionally Creating Problems?

In this dynamic interview with Dave Gulas, I share counterintuitive ways to drive innovation. I start with how American Express started in 1850 and the ways they have transformed for more than a century. That story influenced me to look at innovation and disruption from new perspectives. One of the important parts of the interview occurred when we discussed how to train and develop people to transform corporate culture. If you do not prepare and develop people for transformation, innovation becomes very hard work. As a fact, most breakthrough initiatives fail. Companies that ignore the importance of transforming culture will instead experience breakthrough initiatives that derail without a logical reason. To learn more about leading in a world of constant disruption, view my series of videos on the Disruptive Leadership Model. Do not forget to like, share and repost.

Leadership isn’t always learned in boardrooms. Sometimes it starts aroun...

The Leadership Disruptor’s Playbook: Turning Uncertainty into Opportunity

What’s the Most Successful Journey to Go From Supervisor to CEO? Most people do not inherit a business where they start as the CEO. Therefore, it is logical to think people rise up through the ranks. To rise through the ranks, there are strategies and tactics one can use on the journey to upper management. In this interview, Bernadette Boas, asks me to address specific challenges faced by supervisors and managers who are committed to rising up through the ranks. She and I look at tactics that allow managers to empower their people while developing new skills and competencies for themselves. Those new skills and competencies make them and their teams more valuable to the enterprise. As a plot twist, some of these tactics will sound counterintuitive at first. As the interview progresses, it becomes apparent how everyone benefits. Join me in this conversation for a transformative approach to leading teams and organizations. Do not forget to like, share and repost.

Interview: Why Most Breakthrough Initiatives Will Fail in Corporate America?

Is Your Corporate Culture Killing Breakthrough Initiatives? A breakthrough is a possibility you don not know how to accomplish with existing resources. However, once achieved, it alters the person’s or corporation’s future forever. For Apple Computer, the iPod altered their future. It allowed the possibility of an iPhone and iPad. Those products were not part of the normal trajectory of a computer manufacturer. At the same time, most breakthrough initiatives in organizations fail. In a very dynamic and challenging conversation I had with Jeff Christian and Mike Sestich, the three of us explore the elements of corporate culture that derail breakthroughs. The interview became challenging because we addressed many of the assumptions that are part of corporate culture. Those assumptions are never challenged. Yet, they dictate what can and cannot be done in the world of business. Afterwards, we addressed the elements of corporate culture that not only empowers people to become high performers we, talked about creating a US culture with a zero divorce rate. That divorce rate would be the result of a transformation of corporate social responsibility. This interview will have you on the edge of your seat. Do not forget to like, comment and repost. Also look for my continued series of videos about the Disruptive Leadership Model.

Interview: How to Create Breakthroughs and Transform Culture with Disruptive Leader...

How Do You Create a Future From the Future? In simple terms, you declare a future that does not exist. That is what JFK did when he declared a man to the moon before the end of the decade. The Founding Fathers did the same when they declared independence from Great Britain. At the same time, it cannot be a pipe dream. It is something for which you commit and put yourself on the line to accomplish it. In slightly more complex terms, you train your mindset to be able to navigate the uncertainty and chaos that accompanies possibilities that have no blue print. People can be easily derailed when they encounter chaos or problems that are beyond anything they have encountered in the past. As a leader, your mindset is best when you can navigate yourself and others through that uncertainty and chaos. Do not forget to like, comment and repost

Can the Top World Class Leaders Lose Confidence?

The magazine Communication Intelligence quoted me in an article about top leaders losing confidence in themselves and what can be done about it. 

 

Leaders: Shaken or Waning Confidence

Discussing what is happening and how to move through and out of it

Jul 17, 2025

The late David Gergen was a presidential adviser and political commentator

The highest-ranking leaders, no matter the success they’ve achieved, are not immune to battles with confidence. What’s most important is what specifically they recall about themselves and what matters, how they learn to best respond and how promptly and successfully they engage in the process to prove resilient.

(To read entire article and see where I was quoted, click here.)

Interview: Why Fixing Your Team Doesn’t Work—Until You Do This

Do Top Leaders Use Counterintuitive Approaches to Run Successful Businesses? 

It's common for many leaders to fix their people when it comes to transforming corporate culture.  As a consequence, the mantra in corporate America is ‘changing corporate culture’ is the most difficult job of a CEO.  What if it is

Interview: Human Behavior, Neuroplasticity, and The Power of Travel with Ted Santos

Is Disruption Mandatory for Businesses That Want to Drive Innovation and New Revenue Growth? 

When people think of disruption, they think of inconvenience. Inconvenience can appear costly because it may be filled with uncertainty. And some may experience

Interview: Exposing the Myths That Destroy High Performance

In an engaging interview with Darren Mitchell, he asks penetrating questions about sales, operations, innovation and disruption.  We thoroughly examine high performers and the mindset they possess.  We also explore commonly held

Interview: Is There a Science Behind the Disruptive Leadership Model?

One of the best paths to building an enterprise that will face distress is to become complacent with success.  Success can be a trap that fills leaderships’ mind with a false sense of security.  In most cases,

Interview: Disrupt or Be Disrupted: How to Future-Proof Your Leadership

How Does Your Company Avoid Being Disrupted? 

Unless you are going on a romantic ride through Central Park, NYC, no one uses the horse and buggy as a mode of transportation.  Now we have planes, trains and automobiles.  When you look at carrier pigeons, you see a similar pattern.  The telegraph disrupted the pigeon's value.  Later the telegraph was disrupted by the phone, then fax and now internet.  What stops

Interview: Can Intentional Disruption Help Small Businesses Grow?

While it may be easier to understand how CEOs, like Steve Jobs, can effectively disrupt large corporations to innovate, can the same mindset be employed in small companies?  In this interview, I address why this counterintuitive approach to creating breakthroughs can apply to an organization of any size.  In fact, because

Interview: Can Leaders Create Problems to Spark Breakthroughs?

In this episode of the Drop In CEO podcast Ted Santos, a leadership disruptor and creator of the Disruptive Leadership Model, discusses strategies for fostering breakthrough growth in organizations. Ted shares his unique approach to advising CEOs, which includes

How Can CEOs Train & Develop to Lead Intentional Disruptions?

While many people hold the title of leader, they are, in reality, serving as a manager.  Why?  Managers control what occurs in time and space, while leaders disrupt what occurs in time and space.  While this may sound counterintuitive, executives can

Did the Pandemic Force Businesses into a New Economic Paradigm? Is Your Organization in a position to Take Advantage of It?

This interview happened approximately 12 months ago.  In the interview, I reveal an intimate phone conversation I had with the former CEO of Dun & Bradstreet.  Over the course of several weeks,he and I discussed a problem corporate America has not

Interview: THE TRUTH BEHIND RELATIONSHIPS AND LEADERSHIP WITH TED SANTOS

In a thought provoking interview, Greg Arden asks me to dive into a conversation about whether or not so-called soft skills are the most critical skills required to be successful in life - personal or professional.  If those critical skills are primarily made up of