Be Fearful and Wonderful: Dr. Tonya Jackman Hampton

Episode Description

In this episode of Leadership Matters, Dr. Tonya Jackman Hampton, CEO and Fractional CHRO/CPO at Sequel Consulting Group, executive coach, keynote speaker, and author of The Myth of the Fearless Leader, joins host Kaylee Thomsen for a powerful conversation on fear, leadership, and what it really means to move forward. Tonya shares how early experiences with belonging and loss shaped her relationship with fear, how a breast cancer diagnosis became a defining moment in her own Engage, Explore, Execute framework, and why the idea of the fearless leader is holding organizations back. She also unpacks how psychological safety, inclusion, and honest conversations about worry and doubt unlock higher performance and better cultures. If you believe great leadership starts with knowing your fear, this one is for you.

Chapters

00:00 Intro: Meet Dr. Tonya Jackman Hampton
00:33 The Roots of "The Myth of the Fearless Leader"
01:38 Feeling Like an Outsider in High School
04:39 The Fear of Grass and Overcoming It
06:22 How Unaware She Was of Her Own Fear
08:16 Losing People Early in Life
10:29 Moving Beyond Fight, Flight, or Freeze
11:43 The Engage, Explore, Execute Framework
14:06 Naming Fear to Rewire the Brain
15:47 Building a "Board of Directors" for Support
18:42 Applying the Framework to Tomatoes
20:29 The Breast Cancer Diagnosis
23:29 Deciding on a Double Mastectomy
25:51 Bringing the Framework Into Healthcare
28:13 Leading Yourself First
29:15 Her Relationship With Fear Today
31:34 Singing to Her Dying Mother
34:59 Trying New Things to Build the Muscle
36:59 Grief, Loss, and Leadership
39:29 Where the "Fearless Leader" Myth Comes From
41:39 The Four Universal Fear Buckets: Feud
44:59 What Changes When Leaders Embrace Fear
47:22 Psychological Safety and Organizational Outcomes
50:37 Fear as the Intersection of Inclusion

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