E12 Blue Ribbons & Bold Moves: Leadership Lessons from the Iowa State Fair

Episode notes

From the Grand Concourse to the boardroom, this leadership podcast episode turns the Iowa State Fair into a practical playbook for women in leadership. Lynsey Mulder weaves three generations of family tradition - Grandma’s one-section-a-day map, Grandpa’s steady hours in the livestock barns, and a new stop at Cowboy Bootcamp with her grandson - into ten blue-ribbon leadership lessons you can apply this week. You’ll learn how to set context before you move, ship a preview version to learn faster, define success upfront so your team has psychological safety, show up with stronger executive presence, protect deep-work priorities, delegate ownership (not chores), make smarter project tradeoffs, ask sharper problem/proof/first-move questions, run a weekly “Sky Glider” review to regain strategic altitude, and make work visible so wins actually get rewarded. If you lead a team, or just your calendar, you’ll leave with practical tools and language you can use immediately. The episode includes a quick “Fair Pass” exercise to choose your top three priorities, set two clear nos, and plan one visibility touchpoint.

• E54 The Tactical Trap: Why Your Competence Is Costing You the Promotion23 / 100
• E53 The Backyard Leadership Filter: What Bees, Barn Swallows, Rabbits, and Deer Taught Me About Leading Well22 / 100
• E52 Your Writing Is Your Brand: How Women Leaders Use AI to Elevate Executive Presence and Reduce Burnout with Grace Aldridge Foster41 / 100
• E51 The Trust Tax: A Three-Layer Framework for Rebuilding Yourself After a Difficult Manager
• E50 Join the Quitters Club: How Quitting on Purpose Makes Your Life Bigger, Not Smaller