How can today’s leaders best empower the new generation?
Melissa Smith is a Leadership and Innovation Consultant for a boutique firm in Michigan called Innovatrium, and she joins us today to share her career journey, and key insights she has learned along the way. Join us as Melissa unpacks the four personality categories that guide her as she builds international teams.
We discuss the five things that an idea needs to succeed, which include a birthday, and Melissa shares what she loves most about the new generation and how we can best support them to harness their enthusiasm most effectively. Melissa gives us a glimpse into her interior world with the quotes she lives by, why she would like to be remembered as a try-hard, and more.
Tune in today to hear all this and more.
Key Points From This Episode:.
• The four personality categories that she builds her teams around.
• How her work is structured through the framework, experimentation, and a final step forward.
• The five things that an idea needs to succeed.
• What Melissa believes the next generation needs from us as leaders.
Quotes:
“We create teams around these four different personalities to bring about innovation and new ideas.” — Melissa Smith
“You have to overcome the inertia that is the status quo, and that’s the hardest part.” — Melissa Smith
“What we can give [the next generation] is our ears, to listen to the challenges they have [through] a lens of wisdom and lived experiences, but to have them keep [their] enthusiasm.” — Melissa Smith
“To go at all things with enthusiasm and to put your whole self behind them I think is where I’m at.” — Melissa Smith
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
What is Leadership Blueprints?
Leadership Blueprints is a podcast dedicated to helping leaders align teams, navigate chaos, and accomplish the mission. Hosted by BJ Kraemer—West Point graduate, combat veteran, and President & CEO of MCFA—this show dives into the principles, stories, and strategies behind effective leadership.
With a background in military service and experience leading teams in business, infrastructure, and complex projects, BJ understands that success comes down to execution, adaptability, and leading people well. Through in-depth interviews with accomplished leaders across business, sports, the military, and beyond, Leadership Blueprints will help you bring your vision to reality on projects that shape communities and industries.
Whether you’re leading in the boardroom, on the field, in the military, or within your own organization, this podcast is designed to provide the tools and mindset needed to lead with clarity, resilience, and purpose. Subscribe now and start building your Leadership Blueprint.