{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Lead the People","title":"#188 What 250-Year-Old Companies Know About Surviving Chaos (feat. Meridith Elliott Powell)","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1609,"description":"Most leaders treat uncertainty like a storm to wait out. Meridith Elliott Powell has spent two decades proving that's the wrong instinct. As CEO of MotionFirst, author of a benchmark study spanning more than 800 CEOs, and Hall of Fame speaker with the National Speakers Association, she argues the businesses that come out ahead aren't the ones with the most information. They're the ones who move while everyone else is still waiting for the shoe to drop.\nIn this episode, Matt Poepsel sits down with Meridith to dig into why false bravado isolates leaders rather than protects them, why the most durable companies treat their values as a litmus test, and why the antidote to anxiety is always action, not answers. Meridith draws on her research into nine companies that have thrived for 250 years and on her own experience rebuilding after two hurricanes, tracing what actually separates the businesses that grow through disruption from the ones that just survive it. Together, they explore why uncertainty is a team sport, not a solo climb, and how two simple team exercises can build a workforce that's ready for change before it arrives.\nIn this episode, you'll learn:\nThe Upside of Uncertainty: Every major disruption, from world wars to recessions, has also produced real opportunity for the businesses willing to embrace it instead of resisting it.\nWhy False Bravado Backfires: Leaders who insist on having all the answers isolate themselves and their teams; asking for help instead gives people a sense of control.\nWhat 250-Year-Old Companies Share: Durable companies pair a clearly communicated vision with values so firm they'll turn away a customer, employee, or product that doesn't align.\nThe Real Job of a Leader: Once you're leading, your job isn't to be the best at the work anymore. It's to produce people better than you at it.\nHighlights:\n(00:00) Meet Meridith Elliott Powell\n(02:34) Why uncertainty always has an upside\n(03:50) The fear every leader is wired for\n(05:53)...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/gBXaSS69Fbpxgl9x7Oa1OVHc62HSffiZspToCexfb7k/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8xYmM0/OGUyYTE3ZTcwZDlm/ZWM4YmM3YzI0MWUx/MGZkOC5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}