Leadership Sovereignty Podcast: Career Growth and Promotion

On The Leadership Sovereignty Podcast, host Ralph E. Owens II and co-host Terry Baylor sit down with Ja'Quan Lavender — President & CEO of the Ja'Quan Lavender Foundation and The Prudent Man Leadership Academy — for the final conversation in their series to confront the hardest question any leader can face: what are you building, and will it stand when you are no longer in the room?

Ja'Quan shares how patience became his primary scaling strategy, how the Prudent Man ripple effect creates a chain of character that outlasts any individual, and why the program is now international, reaching 50 young men in Nigeria. He delivers a closing charge that reframes career promotion entirely: your position will be filled within a week, but your purpose is the only thing that cannot be replaced. For any professional serious about career growth and leaving a leadership legacy that compounds across generations, this episode is the standard.

WHO IS THIS EPISODE FOR?
  • Corporate professionals who have built successful careers but quietly wonder whether their work will mean anything when they step away
  • Emerging leaders who are chasing a title or promotion without a clear sense of the legacy they are building inside it 
  • Managers and executives who want to develop the people under them in a way that multiplies impact beyond their own tenure 
  • Anyone who has ever watched someone get replaced within a week and realized they do not want that to be their story
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN?
  • Why patience is the most underrated scaling strategy — and how pulling back from aggressive outreach led to international growth 
  • How to build a ripple effect of character inside your organization that continues producing leaders long after you are gone
  • The difference between your position and your purpose — and why only one of them can be replaced in a week
  • What it looks like to build something your children can stand on — and how that standard changes every decision you make today
🧾 Chapters
  • (00:00) -
  • (00:03) - Work Is Not Life
  • (03:29) - Scaling With Patience
  • (05:26) - Legacy Ripple Effect
  • (07:31) - Kingdom Servant Leadership
  • (09:55) - Purpose in the Pressure
  • (11:33) - Generational Impact
  • (13:07) - Rest Over Hustle
  • (14:36) - Final Word on Prudence

 
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📄 Full Episode Transcript



Creators and Guests

Guest
Ja'Quan Lavender
Ja'Quan Lavender is a former collegiate and professional athlete turned leadership developer and nonprofit founder. A track and field standout from Steubenville, Ohio, he earned a scholarship to Tiffin University, where he graduated in 2020 with a degree in Sports Marketing and Management. He pursued the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team in track before earning a spot at the Team USA Rookie Camp for Skeleton. After retiring from competition in 2021, Ja'Quan founded the Ja'Quan Lavender Foundation: The Journey to Gold and The Prudent Man Leadership Academy — both dedicated to mentoring and developing young men into confident, purpose-driven leaders.

What is Leadership Sovereignty Podcast: Career Growth and Promotion?

The Leadership Sovereignty Podcast, hosted by Ralph E. Owens II and co-hosted by Terry Baylor, is a career acceleration platform

Leadership isn’t just a skill — it’s a career strategy for professionals seeking growth, influence, and promotion.

Hosted by Ralph Owens, Chief Information Officer, and Terry Baylor, CEO of a healthcare technology startup, the podcast delivers practical, real-world leadership strategies you can apply immediately. Each episode focuses on increasing visibility, navigating corporate dynamics, preparing for promotion, and leading beyond your title.

Expect short, high-impact conversations designed to help you think, act, and position yourself like a senior leader before you’re given the title.

You’re not just an employee. You’re the CEO of your career.

New episodes are released bi-weekly.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

I see people that die in corporate America and they get replaced within a week. Your work is not your life. Purpose is your life, but your nine to five is not your life. I wash their feet to show that I'm not greater than you. If you really want to be great, love.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

Gotta be your servant.

Ralph Owens:

Welcome back to Leadership Sovereignty Podcast. We are in the final episode with mister JaQuan Lavender. It's been an incredible journey. So, JaQuan, we close the series, what are you building, and will it stand when you're no longer in the room? JaQuan, you're young, you're building fast, but you're already thinking about legacy.

Ralph Owens:

So what does that look like for you?

Ja'Quan Lavender:

What I'm building is something my son, my daughter can have. Because eventually I gotta I gotta pass the mantle as time goes on. But this is something that they can stand on. This is something they don't have to get a nine to five. I'm building that legacy for them right now.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

So they continue to go out and do the same work that I'm doing, but on a greater's height. But the ultimate goal is to help these young men and young women find their purpose in life.

Ralph Owens:

Yeah.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

So through this program, I'm sure it's a good bit of young man and young woman that can say I actually found myself through this program. Because you hear a lot of testimonies, the same testimonies, this program changed my life, and they'll go in detail on how it changed their life.

Terry Baylor:

So JaQuan, we're talking about legacy. And in the first segment, you talked about your mom. What does mom have to say today?

Ja'Quan Lavender:

Proud of me. Proud of me. But I seen them when I was a young kid entrepreneurs. My mom and dad, they was always hustling and telling purses, telling reads, just different things. Just always doing something to take that step higher.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

I seen it at a young age. It was bound to happen, but I didn't know it was gonna be this early on.

Terry Baylor:

That's awesome. That's awesome. So if you don't mind, share me share with us a little just a little something about your dad. I'm always really fascinated about how young men feel about their dad and the relationship with their dad. And the reason that is important to me, at 15, I lost my dad.

Terry Baylor:

So I tend to live through guys like you who still have their dad and and who can share those stories as your dad see you grow from, you know, an adolescent to a teenager to a young adult to a father to an entrepreneur, all those steps. So just just share a little bit about, you know, just how how he sees where you are right now.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

My dad's very chill. He don't say much, always watching. Now I got that same quality, but you can tell when somebody's proud of you just by their actions. Just always wanting to be there for you. He may not say much, but I think the biggest sincerity is dude, your actions speaks louder than words.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

So if he never say much, I know I'm on a good track. Maybe more he may say much, then man, I'm probably doing the wrong thing, but he he didn't have to say much to me. You know, when I was coming up, I may have been a knucklehead. That's simple. Other than that, he just I know he proud of me.

Terry Baylor:

That's awesome, man. I appreciate you sharing that. Thank you.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

Yes, sir.

Ralph Owens:

That's that's so awesome. That's so awesome. Yeah. So so as you you know, let's talk a little bit about scaling. Right?

Ralph Owens:

So you're operating two national organizations with the Foundation of the Prudent Man Leadership Academy. Most people struggle to scale just one thing. You know, what is the leadership discipline that allows you to build at scale without losing the quality of your work?

Ja'Quan Lavender:

Patience. Patience. This is good. Because I was getting antsy before, you know, emailing 200 schools maybe in a week. Just email, I gotta get this program out of there.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

No, I don't. Because if I'm if I'm being patient and having faith, God gonna lead me to the right schools. And the more I scaled back, the more he took a step forward and got me in the right schools. Yeah. And then it led to me at the right time to reach out to people.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

Now the Prudhah man is international, it's in Nigeria. Wow. It's in Nigeria, so we have a leadership summit there where we have 50 young men that teach in Nigeria.

Terry Baylor:

Wow. That is awesome, man.

Ralph Owens:

That's incredible, man.

Terry Baylor:

That is awesome. So how did that actually come about?

Ja'Quan Lavender:

Well, I I don't god, it's crazy. I don't know how he'd be doing it, but it'll just, like, drop in me. So whenever something just dropped in me, when I'm done praying, I was like, okay. I'm gonna do it. So I searched organizations that do this similar work that I do, and I end up finding these organizations.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

So I I reached out to them, had meetings with them. At first, I was skeptical. So I took a step back, I don't know about this. But as I began to do my research, this organization, Agape, NASA Agape Foundation, they are a big organization in Nigeria. So we collabed together, we did multiple work together.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

And she's of course down there, so she will oversee the leadership program, but I would teach these young men. And she's in charge of getting the young people and bringing them to the summit.

Terry Baylor:

That's awesome.

Ralph Owens:

Amazing. Congratulations. Yeah. That's that's amazing, man. You know, you you've talked about creating this ripple effect where today's participants become tomorrow's mentors.

Ralph Owens:

How are you building that into the structure of what you do specifically as it to creating a legacy?

Ja'Quan Lavender:

I would say the biggest ripple effect that I'm creating is a chain effect of character, men of integrity.

Ralph Owens:

Everyone

Ja'Quan Lavender:

that comes in my program, even those that work with me, they're know that one thing the prudent man is gonna teach you about is finding your purpose, character, integrity, and how to carry yourself as a prudent man, but most importantly as a godly man. So we we bring these qualities to light because when I'm done and gone, they gotta be able to do it without Mr. Lavender. And then when they are coming up and those are coming underneath them, they gotta be able to do the same effect. So it's gotta be that same chain going.

Ralph Owens:

Mhmm.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

So I I call it I call it the I can say it's the Prudence Man ripple effect. That's the ripple effect that Prudence Man will give you.

Terry Baylor:

Okay. I love that. Yeah. I love that. Love that.

Ralph Owens:

Me too. And that translates into the corporate world. And when I was in the military, I was in the Navy. And in the Navy, what you do is you get a duty station. And in that duty station, you

Ja'Quan Lavender:

may be there for two years, you may be

Ralph Owens:

there for four years. And you have a specific job that you need to do while you're there. I kinda look at that as the same as our jobs that we have today. Right? You know, typically these these days, you know, you don't stay at one job forever.

Ralph Owens:

You have a role that you play while while you're there. But while you're there, there's a responsibility to to build and to to lead, you know, and to influence others. You don't necessarily have to be in a title, right, but you're gonna be interacting with people that you're meant to connect with and, you know, being able to build something that outlasts you. And so that when you leave, you know, the things that you taught, the impact that you made, it stays even after you're gone. That's a higher form of purpose in living than just existing to go get a paycheck.

Ralph Owens:

So I love that, man. That is fantastic.

Terry Baylor:

So one of the things I love about that is, and JaQuan, I'm sure you're gonna really have something to say on this too, terms of the culture that you're really building is a kingdom culture. So when you hear that, what does that mean for you in terms of the impact, in terms of the, you know, the longevity of it? Like, you know, because Christ really came here to build a a kingdom culture. How do you see what you're doing with your foundation contributing to that kingdom culture?

Ja'Quan Lavender:

The first thing that came to mind was responsibility and just being a kingdom ambassador. What I'm doing is a kingdom work, of course, because I'm taking myself out of it and being a servant as Jesus taught. You know, as I take you through a story, it was a Christian school that I had in Canton, Ohio. And, you know, as we were coming to a close, I was teaching them about how Jesus washed the disciples' feet. Now how can the master do that for his disciples?

Ja'Quan Lavender:

They said that only a slave would do that because when people come off the road to come to eat, that was something slaves would do to wash their feet, that they'll be clean. So I did that as our graduation ceremony. I washed their feet just so that I'm not greater than you. I'm I'm yes. I'm your servant.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

Like, I'm serving you what what I'm offering you as this service as me teaching you, I'm your servant. I'm teaching you something. Mhmm. Because the principle I wanted them to see was being displayed when Jesus said, if anyone wanna be great among you, let him be your servant first. So I displayed that bible verse in action.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

So when they read that verse, they can say, Mr. Lavender actually brought it to light. Yeah. If he really wanna be great, I gotta be your servant.

Terry Baylor:

What I'm hearing is that leadership is not about telling people what to do, about where to go. I'm in charge. I'm the dude. You you gotta get go go grab my bags. But it's like, no.

Terry Baylor:

Let me let me get your bag.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

That we got a responsibility. God said to Adam, tend to the garden and keep it. I gotta cultivate my garden. My garden is my purpose, buildings, young men and men, to fruit of man. When I have a family, I gotta tend to them, tend to my wife, my children.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

That's my responsibility. That's my garden I gotta cultivate. So if I'm not cultivating, what am I doing?

Ralph Owens:

See, that's it. That's so powerful. JaQuan, if you had to define your life's work in one word, what would it be?

Ja'Quan Lavender:

If I could define my life work in one word. Mhmm.

Terry Baylor:

Word or phrase? Word or phrase? Word or phrase?

Ja'Quan Lavender:

Would just say purpose. I just feel like that word is when you think about purpose, you just think about what I'm called to do, what I'm called to do on earth. You know, I I think purpose is all around just the word that every man should know. Because it's it's what you were predestined to do before you even thought of. Yeah.

Terry Baylor:

I was just thinking that. I was just thinking that because it would begin. Right? What's the the the seed has everything contained in it it needs to do what? To grow.

Terry Baylor:

Mhmm. It has everything in it needs. So what you're saying is is when God thought of you, he put it all inside of you. It was in there. But again, your journey, right, all the things that you've gone through has allowed that seed to germinate.

Terry Baylor:

It allowed it to crack the soil, it allowed it to now start it to sprout, but all that pressure, right, the pressure was needed in order for the seed to blossom and do what it needed to do.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

Yes,

Ralph Owens:

sir. That's it. As you get a little, you know, down the road like Terry and I are, you start to thank God for the pressure. You don't think feel that way in the moment. But when you can look back over your life and you say, man, God, I see how he was working there.

Ralph Owens:

How you used that to propel me, to move me, those types of things. That's real. That is that is real life right there. Man, that is fantastic, man. So so what do you want young women and men who go through your program to say, about how it changed them?

Ralph Owens:

You know, like, what what are the things that you're looking to hear?

Ja'Quan Lavender:

I'm looking to hear, of course, number one, it helped me find my purpose. Number two, I wanna hear that they're not the same young man or young woman they were here a year ago. I wanna I wanna hear them not speak with profanity. They're not sacking their pants. These young ladies are dressed in modest, not with tight clothes to get these young men to lust after.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

I don't I don't want that. Again, when I think about a prudent man and a prudent woman, I think of excellence. So everything that we do is with the standard of excellence. So once they have an excellent mindset, they'll be able to do everything with excellence.

Ralph Owens:

This is not a simple, you know, buying somebody lunch. You you are changing generations. Because you think about that. If you if you help impact one young lady or one young man, and they change their lives when they get married and they have kids, they're gonna be teaching their kids what you taught. Right?

Ralph Owens:

Correct. And and and, you know, everybody does not fortunate enough to come up in church or come up in a household where they may have loving parents. So you may be the only voice, you know, that they hear that moves them in that direction. So what you're doing is powerful and is needed. So I just wanna personally thank you for what you're putting into the world and how you're changing lives, because this incredible, man.

Ralph Owens:

This is definitely you. Incredible.

Terry Baylor:

It is. It has been a pleasure meeting you today and just having this dialogue, man. You've inspired me. Man, look. When you're doing the things that we're doing, leading families, you know, starting organizations, encouraging people, every single day, you gotta get in the blocks.

Terry Baylor:

See? Every day. And leaders, you're leading your teams. You know, you're leading families. You know, every single day you show up in the office, every single day you show up in your home office, somebody needs what you have.

Terry Baylor:

And again, if you're not ready that day, it's okay. There's two things impacting my life. Getting on the line. Don't get on unless you're ready. The other thing is I'm still chewing on this.

Terry Baylor:

The rest is more important than the work. That's heavy, man.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

It is.

Terry Baylor:

That's that's heavy. That is heavy. Yeah. Oh, that's heavy.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

Like today, I'm not I'm not working. I'm about to go get a manicure. I'm about to self care. I'm

Terry Baylor:

about Yes, to sir.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

Clean the house. I'm about to go wash my car, watch some videos about what I do for a living. Just things like that. That's that's my downtime. I don't want to be on my phone.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

Don't want nobody coming over here. I need to enjoy my peace.

Terry Baylor:

Yes. Yes, man. God bless you, man. You you are a blessing, bro. You are a blessing.

Terry Baylor:

I'm a find you on all your social stuff. I'm a find you, and I will be following and and connecting you with people that I that I know who will benefit from these services that you bring. So, you've been a blessing to me today. Thank you.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

Thank you. Thank you.

Ralph Owens:

So so over these four conversations, you've taken us from the track to foundation, from the philosophy to the method, and now the legacy. What's the final word you wanna leave with every executive, entrepreneur, and emerging leader listening to this series?

Ja'Quan Lavender:

Okay. I would say prudence. Prudence is attainable. If you want to be a prudent man or a prudent woman, start start small, flexion, reflect. I said, the mirror never lie, your character will never lie.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

So your character is the representation of your heart. So take a look at your heart. Rest, rest, please rest. Because the work is always gonna be there. See people that die in corporate America and they get replaced within a week.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

So the work is always gonna be there and just enjoy life. Your work is not your life. Purpose is your life. But your nine to five is not your life. That's two different things.

Ja'Quan Lavender:

So when you find your purpose, yeah, you're gonna be happy. But even then, Jesus had to take himself back and restrain himself, wake up early, and had a solitude place to pray. So even though he knew his purpose, he still rests. So find find your why, take a break from work, even if it's just a mental health day, and just continue to be in you.

Ralph Owens:

So good. So good. So go ahead.

Terry Baylor:

Yes, sir.

Ralph Owens:

JaQuan, thank you so much, man. We appreciate you. You you and the Leadership Sovereignty family now. Right?

Terry Baylor:

Hey. Hey. You you you you you beyond the grasshopper.

Ralph Owens:

That's a wrap on this episode of the Leadership Sovereignty Podcast. If today's conversation added value, I want you to do three things right now. Number one, subscribe so you never miss an episode. Number two, leave a rating and a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. It only takes sixty seconds, but it really helps more leaders find the show.

Ralph Owens:

And number three, share this episode with someone who's on the rise in their career. Don't forget to connect with us on LinkedIn and visit leadershipsovereignty.com for show notes and the full episode back catalog. Until the next time, continue to lead boldly, lead with purpose, and walk in sovereignty. Take care.