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Doug Thorpe MBA, CLC, CEC

Small business owners will hit an invisible wall that can stall the Growth of the company. The key reason there is a wall is that owners need to shift from manager to leader. The question is, how to do that?

Doug is a coach for CEOs and Senior Leadership Teams with 30 years of leadership experience. He is the president & CEO of Doug Thorpe Group. Doug is also a podcast host.

He helps owners understand the ways they need to reshape their thinking and attitude to make a successful break through the wall.

Books Authored By Doug Thorpe

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Buying A Business The Right Way | Ep 501 &Raquo; Apple Pod Logo 2025
Buying a Business the Right Way | Ep 501

Scott Stirrett on Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Introduction Hello again everyone. If you’re thinking about being an entrepreneur, what do you know about the game? Have you studied anything? …

Scott Stirrett on En…

Scott Stirrett on Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Introduction Hello again everyone. If you’re thinking about being an entrepreneur, what do you know about the game? Have you studied anything? Have you gotten any help or Coaching? Well, I’ve got a guest today who’s been on a journey. He’s done quite a number of wonderful things, primarily […] The post Buying a Business the Right Way | Ep 501 first appeared on Leadership Powered by Common Sense.

Listen · 35:22
The Ai Conversation Most Small Business Owners Are Avoiding (And Why We Found You A Guide) &Raquo; Headway Exec
The AI Conversation Most Small Business Owners Are Avoiding (And Why We Found You a Guide)

Picture the small business owner at 9 PM on a Tuesday. The kids are finally down. The inbox is quiet for once. And there it is again — that nagging voice in the back of the head saying, “You reall…

Picture the small bu…

Picture the small business owner at 9 PM on a Tuesday. The kids are finally down. The inbox is quiet for once. And there it is again — that nagging voice in the back of the head saying, “You really need to figure out this AI thing.” So they open a browser. They type something in. Twenty minutes later they’ve got fourteen tabs open, three of them are demos for tools they don’t understand, one is a YouTube guru promising to “10x your business overnight,” and somewhere in there is a pricing page with the word “Enterprise” on it and no actual number. They close the laptop. The…

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The Mental Health Crisis Among Leaders Nobody Wants To Talk About &Raquo; Apple Pod Logo 2025
The Mental Health Crisis Among Leaders Nobody Wants to Talk About

🎉 A Special Milestone: Episode 500! This episode marks a major milestone for Leadership Powered by Common Sense — our 500th episode. Thank you to every guest, every listener, and everyone who has…

🎉 A Special Miles…

🎉 A Special Milestone: Episode 500! This episode marks a major milestone for Leadership Powered by Common Sense — our 500th episode. Thank you to every guest, every listener, and everyone who has been part of this journey. Here’s to the conversations that have shaped how we lead, and to 500 more. Introduction Today we’re […] The post The Mental Health Crisis Among Leaders Nobody Wants to Talk About first appeared on Leadership Powered by Common Sense.

Listen · 34:24
Build A Business That Runs Without You | Ep 499 &Raquo; Apple Pod Logo 2025
Build a Business That Runs Without You | Ep 499

From Printing to Proptech: 22 Years of Entrepreneurial Grit with Mark Weithorn Introduction Today, I’ve got a gentleman who has a 21 year run of owning his own business. It’s a it’s a founder cr…

From Printing to Pro…

From Printing to Proptech: 22 Years of Entrepreneurial Grit with Mark Weithorn Introduction Today, I’ve got a gentleman who has a 21 year run of owning his own business. It’s a it’s a founder creation story. And he’s actually now helping others learn how to properly start their businesses. His name is Mark Weithorn. Mark, […] The post Build a Business That Runs Without You | Ep 499 first appeared on Leadership Powered by Common Sense.

Listen · 37:22
Why Your Team Pushes Back On New Ideas (And It’s Not Because They Hate Change) &Raquo; 85E75582 Cf20 4A91 Ab59 23D6A25C59Ef
Why Your Team Pushes Back on New Ideas (And It’s Not Because They Hate Change)

By Doug Thorpe You’ve spent weeks thinking about this. Maybe months. You did the research, talked to a few trusted colleagues, sketched it out on a whiteboard at 10 PM. And when you finally b…

By Doug Thorpe …

By Doug Thorpe You’ve spent weeks thinking about this. Maybe months. You did the research, talked to a few trusted colleagues, sketched it out on a whiteboard at 10 PM. And when you finally bring it to the team — excited, prepared, ready — the room goes cold. Someone clears their throat. “I’m not sure that’s going to work here.” Another person glances down at their notebook. A third starts asking questions that feel more like roadblocks than curiosity. By the time you walk out, you feel like you just tried to sell ice to penguins. So what happened? The easy answer…

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Are You A Brave Leader? How To Lead With Courage In The Face Of Fear &Raquo; Apple Pod Logo 2025
Are You a Brave Leader? How to Lead with Courage in the Face of Fear

Episode 498 | Leadership Powered by Common Sense with Doug Thorpe | Guest: Jill Schulman Introduction: Are You a Brave Leader? Hey, are you a brave leader? Have you ever thought about that? And do you…

Episode 498 | Leader…

Episode 498 | Leadership Powered by Common Sense with Doug Thorpe | Guest: Jill Schulman Introduction: Are You a Brave Leader? Hey, are you a brave leader? Have you ever thought about that? And do you have the right definition of what being brave is really about? My guest today is going to help us […] The post Are You a Brave Leader? How to Lead with Courage in the Face of Fear first appeared on Leadership Powered by Common Sense.

Listen · 37:48
Good Intentions Won’t Get You There — But This Will &Raquo; 0C1C8598 Ae19 411D 9F68 D7Ad92D04D30
Good Intentions Won’t Get You There — But This Will

Picture a boat sitting in a harbor. The engine works. The navigation charts are spread across the helm. The captain even knows exactly where he wants to go. But the anchor is still down. That bo…

Picture a boat sitti…

Picture a boat sitting in a harbor. The engine works. The navigation charts are spread across the helm. The captain even knows exactly where he wants to go. But the anchor is still down. That boat isn’t going anywhere. That image has stuck with me for years — because I see it play out constantly in leadership. Good people, smart people, people with genuinely good hearts and clear goals… who never actually move. They’ve got every intention of getting where they want to go. But intentions without action are just an anchor you haven’t lifted yet. Intentions Are Not the P…

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Are You Leading On Purpose — Or Just Reacting? &Raquo; Leader Well Being 1
Are You Leading on Purpose — or Just Reacting?

Most leaders I know are busy. Incredibly busy. Calendars packed. Phones buzzing. Fires to put out before lunch. But here’s a question worth sitting with: Is all that activity actually leadership?…

Most leaders I know …

Most leaders I know are busy. Incredibly busy. Calendars packed. Phones buzzing. Fires to put out before lunch. But here’s a question worth sitting with: Is all that activity actually leadership? There’s a difference — a big one — between a leader who’s constantly in motion and a leader who’s moving with intention. One is running. The other is running somewhere. The Accidental Leader Trap Picture a pinball. From the moment it’s launched, it’s moving fast, bouncing off bumpers, lighting up boards, making a lot of noise. Looks impressive. But it has zero say in wh…

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Leading When Your Inner World Is Broken | Ep 497 &Raquo; Apple Pod Logo 2025
Leading When Your Inner World Is Broken | Ep 497

Leading from the Inside Out: What Every Leader Needs to Know About Relationships, Self-Worth, and Authentic Growth Introduction Well, welcome again everyone. Have you ever struggled with building the …

Leading from the Ins…

Leading from the Inside Out: What Every Leader Needs to Know About Relationships, Self-Worth, and Authentic Growth Introduction Well, welcome again everyone. Have you ever struggled with building the right kind of relationship in your work? If you’re in the role of leadership, the ability to build effective relationships with your people, with stakeholders, and […] The post Leading When Your Inner World Is Broken | Ep 497 first appeared on Leadership Powered by Common Sense.

Listen · 35:56
Too Smart To Be An Umpire | Ep 496 &Raquo; Apple Pod Logo 2025
Too Smart to Be an Umpire | Ep 496

How Jack Oujo Turned a Career Setback Into a Business Success Story Introduction Hello again everyone. This is Doug Thorpe, and today we’re going to ask you the question. If you have had or may have…

How Jack Oujo Turned…

How Jack Oujo Turned a Career Setback Into a Business Success Story Introduction Hello again everyone. This is Doug Thorpe, and today we’re going to ask you the question. If you have had or may have a personal setback in your career, what are you going to do with it? How do you think it […] The post Too Smart to Be an Umpire | Ep 496 first appeared on Leadership Powered by Common Sense.

Listen · 32:34
Why Leaders Struggle With Executive Presence &Raquo; Apple Pod Logo 2025
Why Leaders Struggle with Executive Presence

How to Show Up, Speak Up, and Lead with Impact | Ep 495 A conversation with Carl DuPont, DMA — opera singer, executive coach, and co-author of The Presence Principle Introduction Hey, everybody. If …

How to Show Up, Spea…

How to Show Up, Speak Up, and Lead with Impact | Ep 495 A conversation with Carl DuPont, DMA — opera singer, executive coach, and co-author of The Presence Principle Introduction Hey, everybody. If you have been confronted with the notion that you need to boost your executive presence, I hear that a lot in […] The post Why Leaders Struggle with Executive Presence first appeared on Leadership Powered by Common Sense.

Listen · 36:33
You Don’t Need Everyone To Agree — You Need Everyone Aligned &Raquo; Rowing
You Don’t Need Everyone to Agree — You Need Everyone Aligned

The meeting had gone on for two hours. Eight people around the table, and exactly zero of them had changed their position since the first fifteen minutes. The debate was circular, the energy was dr…

The meeting had gone…

The meeting had gone on for two hours. Eight people around the table, and exactly zero of them had changed their position since the first fifteen minutes. The debate was circular, the energy was draining, and the project — a real business opportunity with real dollars attached — was sitting there collecting dust while everyone tried to win the argument. Finally, the senior leader in the room said what nobody else would: “I don’t need you all to agree. I need us to move.” The room went quiet. And then, slowly, something shifted. That moment stuck with me. Because it captur…

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