Leading Without the BS

Podcast

Ep. 20: Rockstar Leadership: Ryan Haas on Blending Music, Hospitality & High Performance

Discover how Ryan Haas, President of Scalzo Hospitality and frontman of The UnderGroove, applies rockstar stage presence to lead high-performing hospitality teams. In this Wingspan Performance episode, Ryan shares powerful lessons on creativity, energy management, crisis leadership in Minneapolis, the "inside game," and building cultures through Advancing Questions® and healthy conflict. Perfect for leaders seeking total performance that boosts both people and the P&L.

Podcast

Ep. 19: Behavioral Performance Secrets with Bruce Stankavage

Discover how former business owner and counseling psychology expert Bruce Stankavage joined Wingspan Performance as a Leadership Performance Advisor. In this candid conversation with Cathy Maday, Wingspan Performance Founder + CEO, shares his powerful transition, the immediate impact of Wingspan’s behavioral performance system on leadership, communication, and family life, plus why mindset, accountability, and intentional leadership drive unstoppable results. Perfect for business owners, CEOs, and leaders seeking real performance breakthroughs beyond traditional coaching.

Podcast

Ep. 18: Leading with Passion & Personality: Taylor Stewart on High-Stakes Leadership at Sandia National Labs

Discover powerful leadership lessons from today's episode with Wingspan Performance Advisor, Mike Johnson, and Taylor Stewart of Sandia National Labs. In this conversation, Taylor shares how she brings calm under pressure, humor, curiosity, and authentic personality to massive-scale national security operations. Learn practical strategies for challenging the status quo, measuring observable behaviors, influencing with data, and staying grounded as a high-level leader.

Podcast

Ep. 17: Mediocre Sucks: Chris Lock on Ownership, CrossFit, and Leading Without the BS

Cathy Maday, Founder of Wingspan Performance, talks with Chris Lock, Siemens Smart Infrastructure leader. Chris shares raw lessons on entrepreneurial grit, risk-taking, and people-first leadership inside a global titan. From breaking sweat in early jobs to building high-performance teams with Wingspan Performance, discover how to lead with ownership, handle consequences, and create meaningful impact. This episode is for leaders seeking unfiltered performance strategies, industrial mindset shifts, and real-world business growth.

Podcast

Ep. 16: Why Leaders Fail at Accountability (And How to Fix It)

Mike Johnson sits down with Wingspan Performance Advisor Bruce Stankavage to unpack one of the most misunderstood leadership skills: exercising accountability. Drawing from 26+ years as an entrepreneur, Bruce shares how avoiding accountability and unclear expectations quietly limit team performance - and what changed when he shifted his mindset.

Podcast

Ep. 15: How “Fuzzy Language” Is Killing Your Team’s Performance

Mike Johnson talks with Danny Curlin, Plant Manager at Koppers Performance Chemicals, about how he overcame fuzzy language like “I’ll try,” “I think,” and “I need” that was quietly sabotaging his leadership and team performance. In this raw conversation on Leading Without the BS, Danny shares his journey from fast-tracked supervisor to plant manager, the costly impact of vague communication in manufacturing, and the practical shifts he made through Wingspan Performance personalized coaching.

Podcast

Ep. 14: Unspoken Expectations: The Real Cost in Safety & Leadership

Mike Johnson talks with Dianne Grote Adams, President & Owner of CFX Inc. and a health and safety expert with over 40 years of experience. They reveal how unspoken or unclear expectations lead to serious safety risks, wasted time and money, team misalignment, and frustration. Discover why leaders struggle to communicate behavioral and technical expectations clearly, the hidden costs of poor performance, and practical ways to fix it through direct conversations, better feedback, and aligned communication styles.

Podcast

Ep. 13: Most Leadership Training is Bullsh*t. What Now?

Most leadership training sounds good in theory and fails in practice. In this episode, Wingspan Performance® Advisors Heather Hopkins and Mike Johnson break down why traditional leadership development doesn’t stick | and what actually changes behavior when leaders are under real pressure.