The Learning To Lead Show with Mark J. Cundiff
The Learning to Lead Show with Mark J. Cundiff
Helping Good Leaders Become Great—One Practical Insight at a Time
You’re busy. The demands are real. But your desire to grow as a leader hasn’t gone anywhere.
That’s why The Learning to Lead Show is designed for leaders like you—driven, growth-minded, and always on the go. Hosted by Executive Leadership Coach Mark J. Cundiff, this podcast delivers practical leadership insights you can use today, not someday.
Each week, you’ll get:
- Short, focused teaching episodes packed with real-world lessons from decades of leadership experience, bestselling books, and proven frameworks.
- Authentic interviews with front-line leaders who share how they’re navigating challenges, building teams, and leading with purpose, right where they are.
Whether you’re commuting, working out, or grabbing a few quiet minutes between meetings, this show helps you invest in your leadership without adding to your already busy schedule.
Because great leadership isn’t about having more time—it’s about using the time you have to lead on purpose.
This show is for growth-minded professionals who want more than titles and tactics. It’s for those who want to lead with purpose, develop a legacy, and make their future bigger than their past.
So whether you're leading a team, a business, or yourself—tune in, take notes, and let’s grow together.
The Learning To Lead Show with Mark J. Cundiff
#23 The Power of Self-Talk: A Leader's Guide to Success. My Reflections on my conversation with Marianne Renner
In this first episode of the New Year 2026, host Mark Cundiff revisits a powerful conversation from a previous episode with Marianne Renner, author of 'Self-Talk: 10 Stories You Tell Yourself That Hold You Back'.
Mark outlines five key takeaways for growth-minded leaders. These include the significance of self-talk, the impact of self-doubt on workplace culture, strategies to challenge negative stories, the importance of differentiating facts from personal narratives, and Marianne’s SEAR framework for rewriting mental scripts.
Listeners are encouraged to read Renner's book for deeper insights and to access LeaderNotes available in the show notes to enhance their leadership journey.
00:00 Introduction to the Learning to Lead Show
00:10 Recap of Marianne Renner's Insights
00:37 Key Takeaways for Growth-Minded Leaders
01:21 Understanding Self-Doubt and Its Impact
02:26 Challenging the Invisible Bubble
03:18 Confusing Facts with Stories
04:12 The SEAR Framework for Rewriting Mental Scripts
05:08 Conclusion and Next Steps
Connect with Marianne Renner:
Email: marianne@mariannerenner.com
Marianne’s Books
Free Learning To Lead Resources
🔎 About LeaderNotes
LeaderNotes is a quick-hit companion to each episode of The Learning to Lead Show. In just 5–10 minutes, Mark Cundiff recaps the top leadership insights, frameworks, and action steps from each interview, designed for busy, growth-minded leaders who want to review and apply the episode’s biggest takeaways on the go. It’s like the highlight reel + playbook—all in one.
Contact Mark at: mark@markjcundiff.com
Hello, welcome to the Learning to Lead Show. This is your host, mark Cundiff and this is the first episode of the New Year 2026. And we're gonna kick it off by talking about our last conversation with Marianne Renner, the author of Self-Talk, 10 Stories You Tell Yourself That Hold You Back. And how you can overcome them. That was a great conversation that we had with SEAR. And if you have not had a chance to listen to that episode, I would encourage you to go back and listen to that and hear the insights and the behind the scenes from the book. I'm gonna relay five key takeaways for growth-minded leaders that I got out of that episode. Number one, your most influential conversation is the one that you're having with yourself. Marianne nailed it when she talked about how your self-talk isn't private, it's predictive. In other words, what's going on inside of your head is gonna show up in your behaviors, your inner narrative. If it is toxic, your behavior's gonna be toxic. If your inner narrative is positive, your behaviors are gonna be positive. It leaks into your leadership through tone, reactions, and relationships. So one way or another, the way that you're talking to yourself will show up in your leadership. Number two, self-doubt doesn't stay inside. It shows up as workplace smoke. Number two, self-doubt doesn't stay inside. It shows up as workplace smoke. She calls out the common leaks like gossip, judgment, backdoor politics, finger pointing, blaming, and complaining as signs of self-talk. That is showing your doubt. The doubt that's going on inside of your head shows up in these different ways. Listen to that list again. Gossip, judgment, backdoor politics, finger pointing, blaming and complaining that these all stem from self-talk. That is based on self-doubt. Self-doubt shows up in these ways. That's not just a culture problem. It's a self-talk problem. It's a problem that comes from the way we speak to ourselves and it shows up in our behaviors and our relationships with others. Number three, the invisible bubble isn't permanent, but you have to challenge the story. The invisible bubble isn't permanent, but you do have to challenge the story. If you keep telling yourself, I'm disconnected, you'll behave disconnected. Two moves to break the bubble. One, reach out. Connection is your responsibility. You have to take ownership for that. Reach out and have good positive connections in your life. Number two, have a reality check. Is it true or is it just a story on repeat? In other words, if the stories in your head are causing you problems and issues and bad behaviors and bad relationships ask, is it really true? Is this story really true or is it just something that I've created as a story and I run it on repeat? Number four, leaders get stuck when they confuse facts with stories. Number four, leaders get stuck when they confuse facts with stories. In other words, listen to this. The situation is the fact I didn't get the meeting invite the story or the interpretation. The way we write a narrative could be, they don't respect me, they don't like me they like somebody else better than me. That story triggers an emotion. That emotion drives an action. That action creates results. Change the direction and when you change the direction, you change the results. In other words, if you didn't get that meeting invite, it could cause you to become angry. That anger could cause you to go and write a nasty email or to confront somebody in a negative way. What you had to do is change the story, then you change the trajectory of your behaviors. Number five, SEAR is a practical way to rewrite the mental script, and this is a good thing to read in her book and to practice in your daily life. Marianne SEAR Framework is a great way to reframe the narrative and it gives you a step-by-step process to do that. We'll go through each of the letters now. Situation is the S, the facts. What are the actual facts of the situation? Number two, emotion. What do you feel? Analyze how you feel about the situation. Number three, actions. What do you do? What are the behaviors that you're going to exhibit as a result of the facts and how you feel? Number three, the result what you get. If you want a different result, you need a different action and that starts with a different story. So it all goes back to your thoughts. So I want you to to challenge you to pick up Marianne's book, Self-Talk. 10 stories that we tell ourselves that hold us back and take a look at that book. It's one of the best written books on the mindset of a leader that I've ever read. It's written in a very good conversational way. A lot of stories used from her. Coaching and counseling with others, and then a lot of personal stories. So I would challenge you to pick up self-talk. I bought it as a gift for a number of folks over Christmas, and everyone that has read this has given me really good positive feedback. Also, make sure you download our leader notes that's in the show notes below, and that'll give you an opportunity to review the content that was discussed on this episode and on the previous episode with Marianne. Until next time, go out and learn, grow, and lead. Take your organization to the next level.