LEADERS GROWING LEADERS | Ryan Smith episode artwork

EPISODE · Oct 15, 2025 · 26 MIN

LEADERS GROWING LEADERS | Ryan Smith

from Success is a Choice · host Jamy Bechler

Ryan Smith is today's guest on the "Leaders Growing Leaders" series of the SUCCESS IS A CHOICE PODCAST NETWORK. He is currently the President of the University of Rio Grande and Rio Grande CC. Prior to this role, he served as the Speaker of the House in the Ohio Legislature.  🌐 WEBSITE: Rio.edu 🌐 TWITTER: X.com/ryansmithoh 🌐 LINKEDIN: Linkedin.com/in/ryan-smith-85809b11 Ryan Smith became President in October 2019 after spending the first 23 years of his career working as a VP and partner with Smith financial advisors. In 2012 he won the election to be State Representative for the 93rd District of Ohio. He served as Finance Chairman, and in 2018, Ryan was elected to serve as the 103rd Speaker of the Ohio House until stepping down from his post in October 2019. Timestamps of Topics for the Episode ... 1:30 - Non-traditional road to college presidency 2:56 - Running a University and Community College at the same time 5:18 - Definition of success 6:10 - Successful growth of Rio Grande 8:08 - The importance of sports for small colleges 9:45 - Developing leaders 11:32 - How politics prepared him for presidency 14:18 - Parallels to Jim Tressell 16:30 - Handling setbacks, adversity, and challenges 21:00 - Surprising thing(s) about him 22:30 - Caring about people 24:00 - Mistakes leaders make "The windshield is lot bigger than the rear view mirror." (Ryan Smith quoting Jelly Roll) - - - - During the "Leaders Growing Leaders" series on the Success is a Choice Podcast Network, Jamy Bechler talks with leaders about how they are growing and developing other leaders. The series tries to examine how various leaders are making the people around them better and building a stronger, healthier culture. - - - - Please check out our virtual sessions for parents, coaches, students, and administrators at FreeLeadershipWorkshop.com. These sessions are free and cover a variety of topics.  - - - -  Jamy Bechler is the author of 9 books including "The Captain" and "The Bus Trip", host of the "Success is a Choice Podcast", professional speaker, and trains organizations on creating championship cultures. He previously spent 20 years as a college basketball coach and administrator. TheLeadershipPlaybook.com is Bechler's online program that helps athletes become better teammates and more positive leaders while strengthening a team's culture. As a certified John Maxwell leadership coach, Bechler has worked with businesses and teams, including the NBA. Follow him on Twitter at @CoachBechler. To connect with him via email or find out about his services, please contact [email protected]. You can also subscribe to his insights on success and leadership by visiting JamyBechler.com/newsletter

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LEADERS GROWING LEADERS | Ryan Smith

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This episode was published on October 15, 2025.

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Ryan Smith is today's guest on the "Leaders Growing Leaders" series of the SUCCESS IS A CHOICE PODCAST NETWORK. He is currently the President of the University of Rio Grande and Rio Grande CC. Prior to this role, he served as the Speaker of the...

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