She Admitted She Was a Toxic Leader. Here’s What Changed.

Ever looked around your workplace and wondered, "Why does joy feel so rare here?"In this episode of Building Thinkers, I dive into that question with someone who’s been on both sides of the leadership spectrum: Gretchen Fox Palmer. We unpack one of my twelve favorite problems: how might we increase flow and creativity to bring joy to work?Gretchen’s story is incredibly personal and powerful. She opens up about her journey from being a self-described “toxic executive” to becoming a conscious leader. Her transformation began when she started to untangle the patterns of hypervigilance she had internalized at work. What followed was a ripple effect of positive change within her team, real shifts in culture that came from her doing the inner work first.Now, through her EQ @ Work program, Gretchen equips performance-driven teams and leaders with emotional intelligence skills that actually rescue people from burnout. We talk about how these five core EQ skills, centered on emotional regulation and resilience, can take someone from just surviving to truly thriving.This conversation goes deep. We explore the role of vulnerability in leadership, and why it has to be approached with intention, not as a buzzword, but as a true tool for connection. And we talk about how prioritizing flow and creativity isn’t just good for business, it’s what makes work joyful and sustainable.If you’ve ever felt the tension between high performance and emotional well-being (or you’re leading a team and want to build something more human), this episode is for you.Key Takeaways: Emotional intelligence skills are easy to learn and have quick transformative outcomes.Leaders need to prioritize emotional intelligence to create emotionally healthy performance-driven cultures.Feedback and vulnerability are essential in creating a culture of growth and productivity.Joy can be structured and designed for organizations by tying it to well-being, fostering connection, and prioritizing people's livelihoods.Emotional capacity plays a crucial role in individual and organizational well-being.Resources Mentioned:Books: The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron: https://tinyurl.com/zvrwp6jkThe Presence Process by Michael Brown: https://tinyurl.com/3ya9ke2aPodcasts: Satsang with Mooji: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/satsang-with-mooji/id1134425259Connect with Gretchen: MTO Agency: https://mtoagency.com/More About Building Thinkers: I'm your host, Tracy Clark, and this is where potential becomes reality through deliberate curiosity, reflection, practice, and play. The Building Thinkers podcast is based on the realization that there's exponential potential in the things we build.And so, in my little corner of the internet and podcasting land, I want to take my 12 favorite problems, these are my constant curiosities, and I want to go deeper. I want to build thinkers. This is a community of multi-potentialites who may be disoriented by all the possibilities of success we envision but haven't yet achieved.If any of that sounds like you, come listen in. Welcome to the Building Thinkers podcast.