From busing tables on the Jones Beach boardwalk to building one of the NHL’s most admired workplace cultures, Sean Henry’s leadership journey is anything but conventional. In this episode, Sean shares how he helped build Smashville by putting culture first—using trust, humility, fun, and servant leadership as a real competitive advantage.

This conversation is packed with hard-earned lessons on motivation, decision-making, culture-building, and why people don’t quit jobs—they quit environments.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why fun is not a perk—but a leadership strategy
• How servant leadership creates trust at every level
• Lessons from bankruptcy, bad bosses, and bold career risks
• How listening to employees transforms culture
• Why great leaders remove silos and lead from the floor
• How Smashville became one of the NHL’s top workplaces

Episode Timestamps / Chapter Markers

00:00 – Why this episode matters & what makes Sean Henry different
01:38 – From busboy to CEO: early lessons in work ethic
03:14 – “Leave it better than you found it”
06:21 – Motivation isn’t money—here’s what actually works
07:42 – Why Sean doesn’t read management books (except one)
10:31 – Leadership mistakes and what not to do
13:45 – Don’t make your passions other people’s burdens
15:31 – Betting everything on a startup—and going bankrupt
18:38 – Choosing who you work with matters more than the job
21:05 – Turning around the Tampa Bay Lightning
24:30 – Trust starts at the top (and goes down)
26:23 – Breaking silos and building one team
30:31 – Confidence, humility, and decisive leadership
33:09 – Innovating when “it’s never been done before”
36:12 – Installing urinals yourself (yes, really)
38:40 – Why Smashville is a top workplace year after year
41:58 – The power of fun, joy, and shared purpose
45:44 – Final thoughts on leadership and service

Links & Resources

• Connect with Sean Henry on LinkedIn:
  https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/all/?keywords=Sean%20Henry%20Nashville%20Predators
  
  
• No Limit Leadership Website:
  https://nolimitleadership.com

Interested in exploring a thrilling vision for your life with me or another Novus Global Coach? Go to www.nolimitleaders.com/vision to apply.

No Limit Leadership is the go-to podcast for growth-minded executives, middle managers, and team leaders who want more than surface-level leadership advice. Hosted by executive coach and former Special Forces commander Sean Patton, this show dives deep into modern leadership, self-leadership, and the real-world strategies that build high-performing teams. Whether you're focused on leadership development, building a coaching culture, improving leadership communication, or strengthening team accountability, each episode equips you with actionable insights to unlock leadership potential across your organization. From designing onboarding systems that retain talent to asking better questions that drive clarity and impact, No Limit Leadership helps you lead yourself first so you can lead others better. If you're ready to create a culture of ownership, resilience, and results, this leadership podcast is for you.

Most leaders are chasing better results by doing more — more strategy, more effort, more discipline. But what if the real breakthrough doesn’t come from doing more… but from changing who you’re being?

In this episode of the No Limit Leadership Podcast, Sean Patton sits down with Joseph King-Barkley, Partner at Novus Global and President of the Meta Performance Institute, to explore the powerful shift from high performance to true transformation.

Together, they unpack identity, failure, vision, feedback, and the internal lenses that shape how leaders see the world — and why those lenses often determine results more than tactics ever could.

This conversation is a deep dive into what it really takes to unlock fulfillment, capacity, and impact at the highest levels of leadership.

⏱️ Episode Chapters

00:00 – Why Doing More Isn’t the Breakthrough
01:20 – Meet Joseph King-Barkley & Meta Performance
03:00 – Why Elite Leaders Thrive on Teams
04:25 – From Pastor to Executive Coach: Joseph’s Journey
06:50 – High Performance vs. Meta Performance
10:55 – Why Leaders Play It “Reasonable”
14:55 – Fear of Failure & Identity
18:25 – The Power of Lenses and Reframing Reality
22:45 – Loss, Perspective, and Choosing a New Story
25:00 – Be → Do → Have (And Why Most Leaders Get It Backwards)
31:20 – Identity Is More Fluid Than You Think
35:20 – Practical Ways to Change How You’re Being
38:50 – Feedback as a Leadership Superpower
41:00 – Why Great Coaches Always Have Coaches
42:25 – How to Work With Novus Global or Become a Coach

🔗 Links & Resources Mentioned

• Novus Global – Executive Coaching Firm
  https://novus.global
  
  
• Meta Performance Institute (MPI) – Coach Training & Certification
  https://mp.institute
  
  
• Free Vision Call with a Novus Global Coach
  https://nolimitleaders.com/vision
  
  
• Book: Beyond High Performance (Joseph King-Barkley & team)
  https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637741581
  
  
• Book: The Three Laws of Performance (Steve Zaffron & Dave Logan)
  https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470193403
  
  
• No Limit Leadership Podcast
  https://nolimitleaders.com

Interested in exploring a thrilling vision for your life with me or another Novus Global Coach? Go to www.nolimitleaders.com/vision to apply.

No Limit Leadership is the go-to podcast for growth-minded executives, middle managers, and team leaders who want more than surface-level leadership advice. Hosted by executive coach and former Special Forces commander Sean Patton, this show dives deep into modern leadership, self-leadership, and the real-world strategies that build high-performing teams. Whether you're focused on leadership development, building a coaching culture, improving leadership communication, or strengthening team accountability, each episode equips you with actionable insights to unlock leadership potential across your organization. From designing onboarding systems that retain talent to asking better questions that drive clarity and impact, No Limit Leadership helps you lead yourself first so you can lead others better. If you're ready to create a culture of ownership, resilience, and results, this leadership podcast is for you.

In this powerful episode, Sean sits down with Danilda Polanco, architect, developer, and founder of Dope Architecture, to unpack what it really takes to build a life and business on your own terms.

Danilda shares her journey from immigrating to the U.S. at 19 with no English, to becoming a 7-figure solopreneur leading a respected design-build firm in Denver. Together, they explore identity, leadership, motherhood, and what it means to stop chasing balance and start designing your life with intention.

This conversation is a masterclass in resilience, self-trust, and redefining leadership — especially for women, immigrants, and anyone who’s ever felt boxed in by expectations.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• How limiting beliefs shape our reality — and how to break them
• Why representation matters, but preparation matters more
• What leadership looks like in male-dominated industries
• How motherhood and entrepreneurship can coexist without guilt
• Why setting boundaries actually earns respect
• How to build a business that reflects your values, not industry norms

Chapters

00:00 – Danilda’s immigrant journey and early ambition
04:30 – Learning English, finding mentors, and building confidence
08:45 – Identity, mindset, and rewriting the story in your head
12:40 – Motherhood, sacrifice, and redefining success
17:00 – Why she stopped chasing balance
20:45 – Leading crews and building respect in construction
26:30 – Setting boundaries and owning leadership
30:10 – The vision behind Dope Architecture
34:00 – Representation, women in construction, and legacy
38:00 – Designing a business — and life — with intention
41:30 – Final leadership lessons and mic-drop moment

About the Guest

Danilda Polanco is an architect, developer, and founder of Dope Architecture, a Denver-based residential design-build firm known for excellence, integrity, and transformational spaces. With nearly two decades in the industry, Danilda is on a mission to open doors for women and minorities in construction — and to prove that you don’t need permission to build something extraordinary.

Connect With Danilda

🌐 Website: https://dopearch.com/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dope.arch/

No Limit Leadership is the go-to podcast for growth-minded executives, middle managers, and team leaders who want more than surface-level leadership advice. Hosted by executive coach and former Special Forces commander Sean Patton, this show dives deep into modern leadership, self-leadership, and the real-world strategies that build high-performing teams. Whether you're focused on leadership development, building a coaching culture, improving leadership communication, or strengthening team accountability, each episode equips you with actionable insights to unlock leadership potential across your organization. From designing onboarding systems that retain talent to asking better questions that drive clarity and impact, No Limit Leadership helps you lead yourself first so you can lead others better. If you're ready to create a culture of ownership, resilience, and results, this leadership podcast is for you.

This episode is required listening for high performers.

During seasons of stress, travel, and constant social pressure—especially around alcohol—many leaders begin to experience a quiet erosion of energy, clarity, consistency, and relationships. What feels normal or even expected can slowly undermine leadership from the inside out.

Sean Patton sits down with Amber Hollingsworth, Licensed Professional Counselor, Master Addiction Counselor, and creator of the YouTube channel Put the Shovel Down, to unpack how high-performing leaders often drift into unhealthy coping patterns without realizing it. Amber explains why addiction often hides behind success, how ambition and addiction come from the same drive, and why the issue isn’t how much you drink—but how much space it takes up in your mind and life.

This conversation challenges black-and-white thinking around addiction and reframes recovery, presence, and rest as essential components of elite performance and self-leadership.

If you’re committed to showing up as your best self—in your work, your relationships, and your life—this episode will change how you think about performance.

⏱️Timestamps

00:00 – Why this episode is required listening
02:00 – Meet Amber Hollingsworth
04:15 – Why high performers are vulnerable to addiction
06:00 – The inability to “turn it off”
08:05 – Why addiction isn’t about the number
10:45 – Superpowers, kryptonite, and ambition
14:05 – Performance vs presence at home
18:40 – Alcohol culture in leadership and business
21:20 – Inconsistency as a hidden warning sign
24:10 – Anxiety, dopamine, and rebound effects
27:45 – Navigating conferences and social pressure
30:00 – THC, marijuana, and the slow drift
33:45 – Leading a team through performance decline
38:50 – Ownership, accountability, and real change
39:55 – Where to find Amber’s work

🔗 Links

• Amber Hollingsworth’s Website:
  https://hopeforfamiliesrecoverycenter.com
  
  
• YouTube Channel – Put the Shovel Down:
  https://www.youtube.com/@PutTheShovelDown

No Limit Leadership is the go-to podcast for growth-minded executives, middle managers, and team leaders who want more than surface-level leadership advice. Hosted by executive coach and former Special Forces commander Sean Patton, this show dives deep into modern leadership, self-leadership, and the real-world strategies that build high-performing teams. Whether you're focused on leadership development, building a coaching culture, improving leadership communication, or strengthening team accountability, each episode equips you with actionable insights to unlock leadership potential across your organization. From designing onboarding systems that retain talent to asking better questions that drive clarity and impact, No Limit Leadership helps you lead yourself first so you can lead others better. If you're ready to create a culture of ownership, resilience, and results, this leadership podcast is for you.

If you’ve ever struggled to understand why different generations communicate, work, and clash so differently, this episode will give you a new lens on leadership.

In this conversation, Sean Patton sits down with Gabby Rosely, keynote speaker, leadership trainer, and host of The Gabby Rosely Podcast. Gabby stepped into leadership at just 21 years old, managing boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z simultaneously—an experience that shaped her expertise in multi-generational communication and leadership.

Together, Sean and Gabby unpack what it really takes to build trust, accountability, and strong culture across age groups. They explore the challenges of moving from individual performance to leadership, the difference between being nice and being kind as a leader, and how generational blind spots can quietly derail teams.

This episode is a must-listen for leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs who want to communicate better, retain top talent, and create workplaces where every generation can thrive.

Chapters

• 00:00 – Why Generations Clash at Work
• 02:00 – Stepping Into Leadership at 21
• 04:30 – From Individual Performer to Team Leader
• 07:30 – Leading by Example vs. Taking Charge
• 10:30 – Kind vs. Nice Leadership
• 14:00 – Blind Spots and Why Leaders Need Coaches
• 18:30 – Developing Leaders, Not Just Performers
• 22:30 – Understanding Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z
• 27:00 – Keeping Gen Z Engaged at Work
• 32:00 – Vision, Alignment, and Team Buy-In
• 35:30 – Leveraging Multi-Generational Strengths
• 40:00 – Culture Shifts and the Search for Structure
• 45:00 – Where to Connect with Gabby Rosely

Guest Links

• Gabby Rosely – LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabbyrosely
  
  
• Gabby Rosely Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-gabby-rosely-podcast/id1681507089
• https://open.spotify.com/show/26HaB2hjLj0R1YrWLoHW5F?si=KKnhURrXSKi4tKkYEyYSxg&nd=1&dlsi=93bed0d235794479
• YouTube (Speaking Videos): https://www.youtube.com/@GabbyRosely
  
  

No Limit Leadership is the go-to podcast for growth-minded executives, middle managers, and team leaders who want more than surface-level leadership advice. Hosted by executive coach and former Special Forces commander Sean Patton, this show dives deep into modern leadership, self-leadership, and the real-world strategies that build high-performing teams. Whether you're focused on leadership development, building a coaching culture, improving leadership communication, or strengthening team accountability, each episode equips you with actionable insights to unlock leadership potential across your organization. From designing onboarding systems that retain talent to asking better questions that drive clarity and impact, No Limit Leadership helps you lead yourself first so you can lead others better. If you're ready to create a culture of ownership, resilience, and results, this leadership podcast is for you.

In this episode, Sean sits down with Dean Wegner — West Point graduate, former Army Aviation officer, corporate leader (Procter & Gamble, Mars), and founder/CEO of Authentically American, one of the fastest-growing veteran-owned apparel brands in the country. Dean shares how values, service, and purpose shaped his leadership journey from the military to corporate America to entrepreneurship.

Together, they explore what it takes to build a mission-driven business, the challenges of scaling an American-made brand, how veterans can thrive in entrepreneurship, and why leadership always comes back to people.

00:00 – Purpose-Driven Business & Dean’s Story
00:39 – West Point, Army Aviation & Corporate Beginnings
01:22 – Leadership Lessons: Duty, Honor, Country
04:06 – Finding Meaning After the Military
05:12 – Entering Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition
06:52 – The 3% Wake-Up Call: U.S. Apparel Manufacturing
08:38 – Leadership in Corporate vs. Military
11:22 – Why Veterans Need Support in Entrepreneurship
13:24 – The Two-Part Formula for Career Transitions
17:19 – Burnout, Overwork & Veteran Mindsets
20:07 – Birth of Authentically American & Job Creation Mission
21:33 – Ranger School Lesson: You Can’t Lead Alone
24:47 – Delegation & CEO Time Allocation
26:37 – The Future of U.S. Manufacturing
31:36 – Scaling Through Earned Media & Storytelling
33:53 – What’s Next: Sustainability & Carbon Impact
35:26 – Final Wisdom: Find Your Ranger Buddy

🔗 Authentically American Website

https://www.authenticallyamerican.us

🔗 Dean Wegner (LinkedIn)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanwegner93/

No Limit Leadership is the go-to podcast for growth-minded executives, middle managers, and team leaders who want more than surface-level leadership advice. Hosted by executive coach and former Special Forces commander Sean Patton, this show dives deep into modern leadership, self-leadership, and the real-world strategies that build high-performing teams. Whether you're focused on leadership development, building a coaching culture, improving leadership communication, or strengthening team accountability, each episode equips you with actionable insights to unlock leadership potential across your organization. From designing onboarding systems that retain talent to asking better questions that drive clarity and impact, No Limit Leadership helps you lead yourself first so you can lead others better. If you're ready to create a culture of ownership, resilience, and results, this leadership podcast is for you.

In this episode, Sean sits down with Michael King — an executive coach, keynote speaker, and founder of Teams.Coach, where he helps CEOs and senior leadership teams transform strategy into execution. Before coaching, Michael spent years as a recording artist, worship pastor, and executive pastor within some of the fastest-growing churches in the country. His background blends organizational leadership, systems design, emotional intelligence, and real-world business execution.

Michael opens up about building large-scale church systems, leading massive volunteer and staff teams, and eventually burning out inside the very machine he helped create. He shares how he walked away from full-time ministry to save his family and rebuild his life, what leadership clarity really means, how AI is impacting organizational culture, why saying “NOPE” is essential for purpose, and how shame—not failure—robs leaders of their ability to dream.

This is one of the most honest leadership conversations you’ll hear this year.

00:00 — When the System You Built Starts Consuming You

00:46 — Who Is Michael King?

01:22 — From Recording Artist to Leadership Strategist

02:05 — Building One of the Fastest-Growing Churches in the U.S.

04:48 — “The Machine Ate Me Alive”

08:26 — Leadership Is Love & Emotional Proximity

11:05 — AI, Mass Layoffs & the Myth of Optimization

14:03 — Authentic Intelligence vs. Artificial Intelligence

18:26 — Scarcity vs. Abundance in Leadership

22:12 — The Power of NOPE

25:22 — Arby’s and the Deep-Fried Hamburger: A Lesson in Clarity

29:51 — Leadership, Discipline, and the Right Constructs

35:38 — Failure Doesn’t Steal Your Dream — Shame Does

38:26 — Losing Everything and Starting Again

41:12 — Living With the Residue of the Past While Building the Future

43:23 — Where to Find Michael King

📌 Resources & Links

• Michael King: https://michaelkingjr.com
• Teams.Coach — Leadership & Organizational Consulting

No Limit Leadership is the go-to podcast for growth-minded executives, middle managers, and team leaders who want more than surface-level leadership advice. Hosted by executive coach and former Special Forces commander Sean Patton, this show dives deep into modern leadership, self-leadership, and the real-world strategies that build high-performing teams. Whether you're focused on leadership development, building a coaching culture, improving leadership communication, or strengthening team accountability, each episode equips you with actionable insights to unlock leadership potential across your organization. From designing onboarding systems that retain talent to asking better questions that drive clarity and impact, No Limit Leadership helps you lead yourself first so you can lead others better. If you're ready to create a culture of ownership, resilience, and results, this leadership podcast is for you.

In this powerful episode of the No Limit Leadership Podcast, Sean sits down with global leadership expert Dr. Damian Goldvarg — former President of the International Coaching Federation, master certified coach, and author of Lead With a Coaching Mindset. With 30+ years of coaching experience across 50+ countries, Damian breaks down the real reason coaching transforms leaders, organizations, and entire cultures.

You’ll learn why today’s workforce values growth over compensation, how coaching creates an engagement-driven culture, and the crucial difference between mentoring, managing, and true coaching. Damian also shares tactical strategies leaders can use today — including how to ask better questions, how to create psychological safety, and why silence is one of the most underrated coaching tools.

And yes… we even go there: AI, coaching, connection, and whether tech can replace human-to-human development.

This episode is your blueprint for building a coaching culture that people trust, believe in, and want to be part of.

🔖 CHAPTER MARKERS

00:44 — Introducing Dr. Damian Goldvarg and his global leadership impact
02:33 — What coaching looked like 30 years ago
04:27 — What a “coaching mindset” actually means
07:01 — Coaching vs. mentoring vs. managing
10:05 — The power of silence & letting people think
14:07 — How to ask deeper, more effective coaching questions
17:52 — Bringing coaching into organizations
22:10 — Making coaching part of daily leadership
23:58 — HR + Operations: Creating alignment for cultural change
26:37 — Why leaders need their own coach
31:59 — How leaders know whether trust actually exists
33:41 — Just Culture, mistakes & psychological safety
34:43 — Coaching, AI, and the future of leadership
40:30 — Where to find Dr. Goldvarg’s work

📚 RESOURCES

• Dr. Damian Goldvarg’s Book: Lead with a Coaching Mindset
• Website: goldvargconsulting.com
• LinkedIn: Damian Goldvarg https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiangoldvarg/

No Limit Leadership is the go-to podcast for growth-minded executives, middle managers, and team leaders who want more than surface-level leadership advice. Hosted by executive coach and former Special Forces commander Sean Patton, this show dives deep into modern leadership, self-leadership, and the real-world strategies that build high-performing teams. Whether you're focused on leadership development, building a coaching culture, improving leadership communication, or strengthening team accountability, each episode equips you with actionable insights to unlock leadership potential across your organization. From designing onboarding systems that retain talent to asking better questions that drive clarity and impact, No Limit Leadership helps you lead yourself first so you can lead others better. If you're ready to create a culture of ownership, resilience, and results, this leadership podcast is for you.