Ben Fanning

Ben Fanning Helping the employer and employee boost engagement, increase productivity, and reduce the catastrophic cost of quitting. Ben

In the corporate crucible, I’ve experimented to figure out what lights us all on fire. In my experience, I’ve noticed a common thread for making self discoveries and developed lots of strategies to help others (like you) do the same through coaching. Here are the ideas that drive most of my training:

1.) You don’t have to throw away your current career to have one that’s inspired (most are reliev

ed by this)
2.) Your path to reigniting your career starts by learning something new.
3.) You can have an inspired career, but you have to get around to understanding yourself first (not after the fact)
4.) You can do much, much more than you realize.
5.) There is almost always a better way

If you agree with anything above, you’ll enjoy being a part of this community. Big things are on the way, and I hope you’ll join me on the journey!

08/27/2026

The best leaders never graduate from learning.

CEO of Entrust, Anthony Ball, left me with that idea.

He leads a global organization with thousands of employees, yet he has a reverse mentor.

Every two weeks, Tony meets with a colleague in IT security who helps him learn, particularly around AI and how the next generation is approaching work.

Think about that.

You reach the CEO seat, and instead of assuming your job is to have all the answers, you intentionally put yourself in situations where someone else gets to teach you.

It connects to another lesson Tony shared from earlier in his career too:

Be the last person to speak, not the first.

Our conversation covers some terrific stories about ownership, setbacks, trust, listening, and how leadership needs to evolve in the age of AI.

Thanks to Tony and the Entrust team for a terrific conversation.
🎧 Watch the full episode below.

Ever considered reverse mentoring as a learning accelerator?

08/25/2026

Millions Spent. Nothing Worked.

Then Anthony Woods, Co-Founder of Grafana Labs, got handed the problem.

Most people would try to make the system they inherited work.

Anthony saw something different:

An opportunity to build something better.

That instinct would eventually help lead to Grafana Labs—now at $400M+ ARR, serving 7,000+ organizations, including 70% of the Fortune 50.

Sometimes the problems nobody wants...

create the opportunities nobody else sees.

So many great insights from his conversation with Anthony on Lead the Team.

What do you do when the old solution isn’t working?

08/20/2026

The hardest calls can teach you the most.
Phong Nguyen, CEO of Motus, learned that some of the most valuable feedback comes from conversations leaders might rather avoid.

Because the people willing to tell you the uncomfortable truth can reveal what the data never will.

🎧 New Lead the Team with Phong Nguyen.

Who do you rely on to tell you what you don’t want to hear?

08/18/2026

The numbers couldn’t explain it.
Gong Co-Founder & CEO Amit Bendov was leading a previous company when sales suddenly started nosediving...and he couldn’t figure out why.

The metrics looked reasonable.

The CRM had no answers.

Investors were watching.

That “quarter from hell” sparked a question:

Could AI understand customers better than salespeople could?

That question helped inspire Gong.

Here’s the story behind the idea on Lead the Team.

Ever had plenty of data—but not the data you actually need?

08/13/2026

Threats are speeding up.

Dennis Kozak, CEO of Ivanti, has led through some of the biggest technology shifts of the last two decades.

Cloud. Mobile. Cybersecurity. And now AI.

AI can find software vulnerabilities faster.

Which means vulnerabilities—and the patches needed to fix them—are coming “fast and furious.”

The challenge for leaders?
Keeping up.

🎙️ New Lead the Team with Dennis Kozak.

Where is change moving faster than our ability to keep pace?

08/11/2026

Don’t be a spectator.

Christian Hillabrant, President and CEO of Crown Castle, learned that lesson during one of the most unimaginable crises of his career: September 11.

The network was failing.
His team was new to him.
And there was no playbook for what came next.

They team didn’t stand by and watch.
They acted. They adapted. And they found a way to keep people connected.

This is high-stakes leadership.

What makes a team run toward the problem?

08/06/2026

What shapes a CEO’s leadership philosophy?

Douglas Braun, CEO of ePS (eProductivity Software), one of the world’s leading technology companies serving the packaging industry, shares the experiences that influenced how he approaches strategy, customer relationships, and difficult decisions.

We dig into:
• Why your biggest customer isn’t always your best customer.
• The leadership lesson Doug carried with him from one defining moment early in his career.
• How great leadership teams balance short-term pressure with long-term success.

Do you have an early career experience that shaped the way you lead today?

(This happens to be one of my favorite questions to ask in Lead the Team interviews)

08/04/2026

Experts Said It Was All Over.

Joe Walsh, Chairman & CEO of Thryv, heard the same prediction for decades: every new technology wave would destroy his business.

Instead, he helped grow Yellow Book from $38 million to more than $2 billion and kept reinventing through every major disruption that followed.

Some leaders think disruption is something to survive.

Joe believes it’s something to go all in to prepare for.

This conversation changed the way I think about staying relevant when the rules keep changing.

What’s a prediction everyone is making today that you think will be wrong?

07/30/2026

“Who the hell are these guys?”

Alessio Artuffo CEO of Docebo, shares the story of how a tiny startup walked into a room with the industry’s biggest player—and walked out with the deal.

Have you ever won a deal everyone expected you to lose?

07/24/2026

The first stop.
Shane O’Kelly, President & CEO of Advance Auto Parts, didn’t begin his turnaround of an $11 billion company in the boardroom.

He started in the stores.

That decision says everything about how he leads, and why the best answers are usually found closest to the customer.

Do you intentionally build time into your schedule to visit your frontline teams and customers?

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