Lee Povey and Steve Mellor are leadership coaches and hosts of The Founders Catalyst, a podcast dedicated to helping founders, executives, and rising leaders navigate the complexities of personal and professional growth. With decades of combined experience in elite sports, executive coaching, and team development, Lee and Steve offer real-world insights, sharp coaching tools, and thought-provoking conversations for the modern leader.

📝 Episode Summary:

In this milestone 20th episode of The Founders Catalyst, hosts Steve Mellor and Lee Povey dive deep into the power and necessity of emotional regulation for leaders. Building on themes from the previous episode about ego, this conversation explores how unregulated emotions can derail communication, relationships, and business outcomes, and how curiosity, awareness, and conscious choice can lead to more effective leadership.

Lee and Steve share personal stories, coaching insights, and practical tools that help leaders move from reactivity to responsibility. You’ll learn how our evolutionary psychology wires us to react, and how you can rewire those instinctual responses to lead with clarity, compassion, and confidence.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Emotional regulation is a leadership superpower, it's not about suppressing emotion, but understanding and channeling it.
• The fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response is hardwired, but not destiny, you can reprogram your reaction.
• Understand your triggers: texts like “We need to talk” often prompt fear or assumption, but rarely mean what we expect.
• Replacing assumption with curiosity is critical for clear communication and relational trust.
• Leaders must recognize both internal (self-awareness) and external (others’ behavior) influences on emotional responses.
• Emotional regulation is best practiced in community, not in isolation, vulnerability builds trust.
• Coaching provides a powerful container for developing this regulation and improving team dynamics.

Resources & Mentions:

• Lee Povey Coaching
• Steve Mellor – Growth Ready Coaching
• Above and Below the Line model – The Conscious Leadership Group

Thank you for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our podcast. Stay tuned for more insights and discussions to help you thrive in both your personal and professional life.

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In this deeply personal and thought-provoking episode, Lee and Steve dive into the elusive and complex nature of ego... what it really is, how it forms, and why understanding it is essential for great leadership.

They explore how ego shapes our perception of ourselves and others, its conscious vs. unconscious effects, and the journey from defensiveness to authenticity. With real-life stories, candid admissions, and practical insights, this episode unpacks how ego can either hinder or help leadership depending on how well we understand it.

Listeners will walk away with a framework for greater self-awareness, emotional regulation, and authentic leadership, plus a few laughs along the way.

Key Takeaways:

• The ego isn’t just arrogance, it's your self-identity, both conscious and unconscious.
• Leadership starts with self-awareness: know, understand, and then own who you are.
• How “the shadow” (unacknowledged traits) can shape how we lead and relate.
• The power of curiosity as a tool to diffuse ego and invite growth.
• Authenticity builds trust, trying too hard often does the opposite.
• Parallels between elite sports and leadership: the pursuit of self-improvement.
• Personal anecdotes on how unresolved ego issues can show up in coaching, communication, and conflict.
• “Leadership is an act of service”, how humility and vulnerability increase your influence.

Thank you for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our podcast. Stay tuned for more insights and discussions to help you thrive in both your personal and professional life.

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Become a part of The Founders Catalyst, a free community for founders, start-up executives, and high achievers. Network, ask questions, and participate in our free monthly Zoom meetings. Connect with like-minded individuals and expand your professional circle. Join here.

What happens when two high-performance coaches admit they're not walking their own talk? This raw and revealing episode is an honest look into the burnout cycle that even the most disciplined leaders can fall into.

Steve and Lee unpack how their carefully curated schedules have spiraled into overwhelm, despite their best intentions, and what that says about the challenges leaders face in protecting time and energy.

They reflect on personal experiences, cognitive fatigue, perfectionism, and the sneaky belief that high capacity means endless availability. If you've ever felt stretched thin or caught in the trap of productivity guilt, this one will hit home.

Whether you're a founder, coach, or creative, you'll walk away with powerful insights on setting boundaries, embracing rest, and finding the courage to adjust your plans, even when you're the one who made them.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Why high-performing leaders are especially vulnerable to burnout
• The cognitive cost of constant context-switching
• “Borrowing from the future”, the hidden danger of postponing rest
• The difference between time management and energy protection
• How emotional awareness can help you break reactive patterns
• Practical ways to reset, audit your energy, and say “no” with integrity
• Vulnerability as a strength: why sharing struggles helps normalize them

🔗 Resources & Mentions:

• Conscious Leadership Group – The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership
• Lee’s famous smoothie recipe (coming soon in a future episode! 😉)
• Upcoming episode teaser: A follow-up conversation on how Steve and Lee implemented change and restructured their time

Feeling like you're stuck in the overwhelm trap? This episode is a must-listen. 🎧

👉 Tune in now to hear two leadership coaches get radically honest about burnout and recovery
👉 Share this episode with a friend or fellow founder who needs to hear it
👉 Rate & review the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to help others discover The Founders Catalyst

Thank you for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our podcast. Stay tuned for more insights and discussions to help you thrive in both your personal and professional life.

Join Our LinkedIn Group!
Become a part of The Founders Catalyst, a free community for founders, start-up executives, and high achievers. Network, ask questions, and participate in our free monthly Zoom meetings. Connect with like-minded individuals and expand your professional circle. Join here.

In this real and relatable chat, Steve Mellor and Lee Povey get into one of the trickiest, but most important, parts of being a strong leader: giving feedback that actually helps people grow.

They talk about how to share hard truths without breaking trust, and why the relationship behind the message matters just as much as the message itself.

Whether you're leading a team, coaching others, or just trying to communicate better, this episode is packed with down-to-earth advice on how to be more effective, not just more direct.

💡 Key Takeaways:

• Feedback is love. Telling someone what they need to hear—when done well—is one of the most powerful gifts you can give.
• Delivery matters as much as the message. Even the most truthful feedback will fall flat without the right tone, timing, and trust.
• Rapport is the foundation. Build the relationship first. Without it, feedback may feel like an attack, not a gift.
• Ask before you advise. A simple “Are you open to feedback?” can unlock a more productive, respectful exchange.
• Be effective, not just right. Choose the right time and the right words to ensure the feedback can actually be received and acted upon.
• Focus on growth, not ego. Feedback should invite someone into their potential—not trap them in their current limits.
• Zone of Genius vs. Zone of Comfort. Great leadership invites others to take the leap into their true potential.

🔗 Links & Resources:

• 🧠 Free Feedback Guide by Lee Povey: www.leepovey.com (Scroll to the bottom of the homepage to download)
• 💼 Connect with Lee: www.leepovey.com
• 📣 Learn more about Steve: www.growthready.com

Thank you for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our podcast. Stay tuned for more insights and discussions to help you thrive in both your personal and professional life.

Join Our LinkedIn Group!
Become a part of The Founders Catalyst, a free community for founders, start-up executives, and high achievers. Network, ask questions, and participate in our free monthly Zoom meetings. Connect with like-minded individuals and expand your professional circle. Join here.

About the Episode

In this raw and insightful conversation, hosts Steve Mellor and Lee Povey unpack the deeply personal and professional journey of understanding the true value of coaching.

Whether you're a seasoned founder, an emerging leader, or someone curious about personal development, this episode dives into the why, when, and how of finding the right coach for your journey.

From breaking down internal resistance to practical strategies for choosing a coach, Steve and Lee challenge the common misconceptions and highlight how transformative coaching can be when approached with curiosity and intention.

Key Takeaways

• The coaching mindset shift: Coaching isn't just for "fixing problems"—it's about optimizing your potential, like athletes do.
• You need to want it: Coaching only works when there's internal recognition that support is needed or desired.
• Start with your network: Before Googling, reflect on who in your life has grown with coaching and why it worked for them.
• Safety and challenge matter: A good coach helps you feel secure, but also pushes you into uncomfortable (yet essential) growth zones.
• Interview multiple coaches: Chemistry is key, but don’t just go with the nicest coach—choose the one who’s best equipped to serve your goals.
• Resistance is normal: Doubts about coaching often stem from fear of the unknown or past bad experiences. The opportunity cost of not exploring coaching can be significant.
• The coach's role: More than advice-givers, coaches are curious partners who help uncover what you don't know you don't know.

Links & Resources

• 🧠 Episode on the Nine Box Exercise
• 📖 Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers – A foundational personal development book mentioned by Lee.
• 🎯 Learn more about Steve Mellor
• 🧭 Learn more about Lee Povey

Thank you for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our podcast. Stay tuned for more insights and discussions to help you thrive in both your personal and professional life.

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Become a part of The Founders Catalyst, a free community for founders, start-up executives, and high achievers. Network, ask questions, and participate in our free monthly Zoom meetings. Connect with like-minded individuals and expand your professional circle. Join here.

In this episode, Steve and Lee dive deep into the key differences between consultants, mentors, and coaches—three very distinct roles that often get confused.

They explore when and why you might need each, how they can complement one another, and the importance of understanding what kind of support best serves your business, leadership, and personal growth journey.

Key Takeaways:

✅ Consultants: The Problem Solvers

• Hired to identify and fix specific business issues.
• Typically offer a short-term engagement with a clear deliverable (e.g., a report or training).
• Their biggest challenge? Organizations often know the problem but struggle to implement the solution.

✅ Mentors: The Guides & Advisors

• Mentors share their own experiences to help you navigate your journey.
• Often a long-term, relationship-based dynamic that evolves over time.
• Mentorship can be reciprocal, where both people learn from the relationship.
• Not always a formal or paid engagement - many successful professionals mentor to give back.

✅ Coaches: The True Growth Partners

• Coaches don’t tell you what to do - they help you uncover your own answers.
• Focused on personal development, mindset, and leadership.
• Coaching is the most vulnerable and introspective process - it requires honesty and self-reflection.
• A coach doesn’t need to be an industry expert - their expertise is in human behavior and performance.

Most successful people combine all three - they bring in a consultant for expertise, seek out mentors for wisdom, and work with a coach for ongoing personal and professional growth.

The key is knowing when and where each is needed.

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Next Episode Preview: Steve & Lee will break down how to find the right consultant, mentor, or coach—including what to look for, red flags to avoid, and how to maximize the value of these relationships.

Thank you for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our podcast. Stay tuned for more insights and discussions to help you thrive in both your personal and professional life.

Join Our LinkedIn Group!
Become a part of The Founders Catalyst, a free community for founders, start-up executives, and high achievers. Network, ask questions, and participate in our free monthly Zoom meetings. Connect with like-minded individuals and expand your professional circle. Join here.

In this episode of The Founders Catalyst, hosts Steve Mellor and Lee Povey take on a seemingly massive topic - how to live a complete and fulfilling life by breaking it down into a simple yet powerful exercise: the Nine Box Life Framework.

Lee introduces this life-changing tool, inspired by Susan Jeffers’ Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, and explains how it helps individuals create clarity, intentionality, and structure in their personal and professional lives.

Steve and Lee discuss the importance of prioritization, protection, and process over results, sharing personal stories and actionable insights for listeners to start applying immediately.

Key Takeaways:

• Life is a process, not a result. Fulfillment isn’t a destination—it’s the byproduct of intentionality.
• The Nine Box Framework: Draw a 3x3 grid and assign each box to a key area of your life (e.g., relationships, career, health, personal growth, community, etc.).
• Prioritize and protect. It’s not enough to set goals—schedule and safeguard time for what truly matters.
• Boxes evolve over time. Life changes, and so should your priorities. Reassess your nine boxes every few months.
• Measure through alignment, not achievement. Success is about living in alignment with your values, not checking off boxes.

Try the Nine Box Life Framework for yourself! Sketch your 3x3 grid and start defining what matters most.

Share your insights and progress with usb- what did you learn from this exercise?

Follow the podcast to stay inspired and gain more actionable strategies for intentional living.

Thank you for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our podcast. Stay tuned for more insights and discussions to help you thrive in both your personal and professional life.

Join Our LinkedIn Group!
Become a part of The Founders Catalyst, a free community for founders, start-up executives, and high achievers. Network, ask questions, and participate in our free monthly Zoom meetings. Connect with like-minded individuals and expand your professional circle. Join here.

In this episode of Founders Catalyst, Steve Mellor and Lee Povey dive deep into the power of coaching as a leadership style. They explore why the best leaders take a coaching approach, how it fosters ownership and growth, and why adaptability and self-awareness are critical leadership traits.

Steve and Lee also discuss the challenges leaders face when shifting from managing to coaching, the importance of curiosity in leadership, and how to empower individuals to take responsibility for their own development.

Key Takeaways:

• It falls under the broader umbrella of leadership and is a powerful tool for developing people.
• Coaching is about supporting individuals in becoming the best version of themselves, both professionally and personally.
• Effective coaching starts with intentional curiosity—asking the right questions to understand an individual’s goals, emotions, and roadblocks.
• Leaders must resist the urge to dictate outcomes and instead create space for individuals to discover their own paths.
• Investing in building relationships and understanding people deeply at the start leads to long-term benefits and less effort required later.
• The best leaders are chameleons who adjust their style to meet the needs of their team rather than expecting people to conform to them.
• When employees take responsibility for their own growth, they become more engaged, motivated, and productive.
• The difference between a manager and a leader is that a leader takes responsibility for developing those around them.

Resources Mentioned:

• Recommended reading: 10x is Easier Than 2x (on shifting to high-impact leadership and scaling effectively)

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who could benefit from these insights!

Thank you for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our podcast. Stay tuned for more insights and discussions to help you thrive in both your personal and professional life.

Join Our LinkedIn Group!
Become a part of The Founders Catalyst, a free community for founders, start-up executives, and high achievers. Network, ask questions, and participate in our free monthly Zoom meetings. Connect with like-minded individuals and expand your professional circle. Join here.