EP 156: Ryan Leak on How Failure Has Been His Best Teacher

Whitney Putnam

Global Leadership Network

Whitney Putnam is the Vice President of Marketing at the Global Leadership Network. She is passionate about men and women working together to expand their influence so that many more people come to know Jesus. As a builder, Whitney cares deeply about building healthy and holistic communities of people, from the team she has the joy of working with at the GLN to those in her neighborhood. She is a well-respected leader and innovator having served as an executive leader at several global non-profits. She’s a mom to three little girls and married to a tall redhead named Michael. They can most often be found dancing in their kitchen and occasionally sprinkling confetti in greeting cards, all while living in Dallas, Texas.

Ryan Leak

The Ryan Leak Group

Ryan Leak is an executive coach and best-selling author who’s widely known for two documentaries: The Surprise Wedding and Chasing Failure. He is also the CEO of the Ryan Leak Group, a leadership development firm that has the privilege of working with leaders and teams all over the world, from NBA teams to Fortune 500 companies. Known as a deeply aware coach and connector who can seamlessly operate across the spectrum of a business, Leak helps leaders better understand the potential of their teams by addressing the friction that stands in their way. He trains 15,000+ entrepreneurial leaders and speaks to over 200,000 people each year as a curator of relevant leadership content and transformational storytelling. Leak teaches that being a great leader is not about having all the answers but asking the right questions. His latest book, Leveling Up: 12 Questions to Elevate Your Personal and Professional Development helps you focus on the leader you're becoming and think about the goals you want to accomplish.

Lori Hermann

Global Leadership Network

Lori is the Executive Producer at the Global Leadership Network. The GLN is a community committed to learning from each other and using their influence to inspire and equip world-class leadership that ignites transformation. Lori leads a team of content curators and developers, producers and artists as they design and execute the Global Leadership Summit and year-round leadership development events, tools and resources. The GLS reaches more than 400,000 individuals around the globe each year with world-class leadership development. Lori has a passion to create opportunities that help others develop into the best version of themselves and has done that from the beginning of her career in health education at an HMO, the Arthritis Foundation and American Heart Association. She then brought her strategic gifts and event experience to Willow Creek Community Church where she led creative teams to produce weekend services, special events, conferences and church resources. In 2000 she transitioned to the Willow Creek Association (now known as the Global Leadership Network) to lead the Arts Ministry Business Segment and in 2013 became the Executive Producer of the Global Leadership Summit, as well as the year-round resources and events.