How can disruption become a powerful tool to reshape your future? Patrick Leddin joins Kevin to discuss how leaders and individuals can reframe disruption as an opportunity for growth. Drawing on his collaboration with bestselling author James Patterson and research from hundreds of interviews, Patrick introduces the Positive Disruptor Loop (Discern, Behave, Achieve, and Refine) and explains how to apply it to personal decisions, team dynamics, and organizational challenges. Patrick and Kevin also discuss how our responses to disruption shape our success, why discernment and reflection are crucial leadership practices, and how embracing disruption can unlock both innovation and stability.

Listen For

00:00 Change, resistance, and disruption
01:23 Guest introduction Patrick Leddin
03:30 Big idea of the book purpose plus disruption
04:32 COVID and the origins of the research
06:09 James Patterson and self disruption
08:15 Redefining disruption as opportunity
10:38 Disruption as a life skill and leadership skill
15:19 The Positive Disruptor Loop overview
16:17 Discernment choosing how to respond
18:11 Strengths and behavior in disruption
19:03 Achieving impact at multiple levels
20:31 Refinement and learning through reflection
22:46 Why discernment and reflection matter most
25:25 The five disruption roles explained
27:03 Context and conscious leadership choices
29:56 Resilience built through experience
32:03 Personal insights and fun
34:06 Where to learn more and final thoughts
35:45 Final challenge what action will you take

Patrick's Story: Patrick Leddin, PhD, is the co-author with James Patterson of Disrupt Everything and Win: Take Control of Your Future. He has extensive hands-on leadership experience: in the 82nd Airborne Division as an airborne ranger infantry officer and in the private sector as a senior business consultant at KPMG Consulting and FranklinCovey. He founded and built two successful companies and is a sought-after global speaker, a top-ranked podcast host, and the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller The 5‑Week Leadership Challenge: 35 Action Steps to Become the Leader You Were Meant to Be. While on the faculty at Vanderbilt University, he served as director of the Program of Business Studies and led the Disruption Project, a multiyear study of success in the face of disruption.

https://patrickleddin.com/

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

https://www.facebook.com/patrick.leddin

https://www.instagram.com/patrickleddin

This Episode is brought to you by...

Flexible Leadership is every leader's guide to greater success in a world of increasing complexity and chaos.

Book Recommendations

Disrupt Everything―and Win: Take Control of Your Future by James Patterson, Patrick Leddin PhD
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
12 Months to Live: A Jane Smith Thriller by James Patterson, Mike Lupica

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