Episode Summary

Lisseth Zouhbi is a Chief Human Resources Officer with 25 years of experience, a coauthor of multiple leadership anthologies—including Leadership Voices—a speaker, and a mother of two. In this conversation on Leadership Portraits, she shares the philosophy and frameworks that have shaped her career and her approach to developing leaders at every level.

At the center of this conversation is Lisseth’s concept of the Emotional Compass—a five-step framework for navigating emotional intelligence in the workplace. The steps move from self-awareness (identifying what triggers your emotions) through understanding the “why,” reading the situation and those around you, responding with intention, and finally reflecting on what you learned. In hybrid and remote work environments where reading tone and body language is harder than ever, she argues this skill is becoming non-negotiable for effective leadership.

Lisseth also speaks candidly about change management in the age of AI—a topic she sees as fundamentally a people challenge, not a technology one. For her, soft skills like critical thinking, communication, and emotional intelligence are more essential now than ever, precisely because AI cannot replace the human judgment required to validate, question, and act on its outputs.

She shares how her organization built a tiered leadership development program covering senior executives, middle managers, and emerging leaders—and what skills she believes every aspiring leader must prioritize. Her advice to her younger self is both simple and powerful: make mistakes, don’t be hard on yourself, and never stop pushing forward.

Lisseth Zouhbi embodies the kind of leader she encourages others to become—one who never stops learning, invests deeply in the people around her, and leads with curiosity, resilience, and heart.

“I tell my kids and I tell my team: never stop learning. Always be curious, because no one’s going to take that away from you.”

On continuous learning and curiosity

“It’s like having your own personal compass—because you need to understand how to navigate your personal emotions to drive whatever outcome that you are seeking.”

On the Emotional Compass concept

“Always persevere. Continue to push yourself, regardless of what the outcome is, because it just helps to continue to build who you are and who you’re going to be.”

Closing message

Learn more about Leadership Voices - the book that Lisseth recently co-authored.

www.LeadershipVoicesBook.com or

on Amazon at: https://a.co/d/0gA6vRwF

Connect With Us and Learn More about Leadership Portraits

• Host: Jennifer Wright
• Podcast: Leadership Portraits
• Description: Leadership Portraits is a gallery that pays homage to the exceptional individuals who have not only led great teams but have also ignited inspiration and motivation in the hearts of their followers. This unique collection of portraits delves into the core qualities that define extraordinary leadership, capturing the essence of those who have left an indelible mark on their respective fields
• Follow for more conversations that explore the stories, struggles, and insights behind modern leaders

www.LeadershipPortraits.com

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

Structure and Soul The case for human-first operational leadership

If you've ever felt like you're holding your entire business together with sheer willpower — this episode is for you.

Jen Wyatt is the founder of Elite BizOps and has spent over eleven years helping business owners build the operational systems that let them breathe again. She's a fractional operations expert, a soon-to-be author, and someone who brings a genuinely unique perspective to leadership — one shaped by an art and fashion design background, an MBA, life as a military spouse, and more than a decade of figuring out how people actually work best.

In this conversation, we get into all of it — the messy, the practical, and the refreshingly honest.

In this episode we talk about:

• Why her art background made her a sharper operational thinker
• The "my way or the highway" mindset and why it no longer works
• How to lead remote and hybrid teams with fairness and flexibility
• Using AI responsibly without losing the human touch
• What fractional leadership really looks like day-to-day
• The boundaries and systems she uses to protect her own time and energy
• Why her biggest leadership goal is to work herself out of a job

A few of our favorite moments: "Collaboration fosters innovation. The 'my way or the highway' mindset just fosters the status quo."

"The key commodity moving forward is going to be the human touch."

"In a vacuum, we can create any kind of story we want about any situation. Stop the stories. Keep it simple."

Connect with Jen: Find Jen Wyatt on LinkedIn and follow her newsletter on operational leadership. Her book on operational leadership is coming soon — one you'll want to watch for.

https://www.elite-biz-ops.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennferwyattmba/Connect With Us and Learn More about Leadership Portraits

Connect With Us and Learn More about Leadership Portraits

• Host: Jennifer Wright
• Podcast: Leadership Portraits
• Follow for more conversations that explore the stories, struggles, and insights behind modern leaders

www.LeadershipPortraits.com

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

In this episode, Jennifer sits down with Lauren Fox, a seasoned project management leader whose path to leadership looks nothing like a straight line. Lauren opens up about her unexpected entry into project management, the challenges of leading high‑performing teams, and the personal work required to grow beyond people‑pleasing into a grounded, confident leadership style.

Together, they explore the realities of leadership — the emotional load, the role of boundaries, the messy middle of growth, and the courage required to hold space for both yourself and your team. Lauren shares how listening more deeply, understanding what people truly need, and redefining fairness transformed the way she leads. She also speaks candidly about therapy, grace, and the internal journey that’s shaped her more than any job title ever could.

This episode is full of heart, honesty, and practical wisdom for leaders at every stage — especially women who are unlearning old rules and choosing healthier, more sustainable ways to show up at work and in life.

• How Lauren “fell into” project management — and why it stuck
• Leadership growing pains and navigating strong personalities
• Setting boundaries at work without losing compassion
• Fairness vs. sameness: learning what each person truly needs
• Why listening is a leader’s most underrated skill
• How therapy and self-awareness shaped her confidence
• The power of genuine women’s networks
• What’s next as Lauren steps outside her comfort zone

• “People needed to be heard. They didn’t need me to assess it — they needed me to understand.”
• “Fairness isn’t giving everyone the same thing. It’s giving people what they need.”
• “If you’re walking around with yourself all day, don’t be the meanest voice in your own head.”
• “I’m not here to tell my team what to do — I’m here to make it possible for them to do what they do best.”

Lauren Fox is a seasoned project management leader with more than a decade of experience guiding teams and navigating complex transitions in the medical device industry. Though she leads today with clarity and steadiness, her path didn’t begin that way. She spent years overextending herself — saying yes, carrying others’ emotions, and pushing past her limits — until burnout forced her to rebuild her approach from the inside out.

Now, she brings that hard-earned wisdom into her work and her writing, including her chapter Boundaries Don’t Make You a B‑!$@& Word in Leadership Voices. She hopes her journey helps other women reclaim their energy, confidence, and boundaries one brave decision at a time.

Connect with Lauren:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/-lauren-fox/

• Host: Jennifer Wright
• Podcast: Leadership Voices
• Follow for more conversations that explore the stories, struggles, and insights behind modern leaders

www.LeadershipVoices.com

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