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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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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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Why Your Business Can’t Grow Without You | Ep 494 &Raquo; Apple Pod Logo 2025
Why Your Business Can’t Grow Without You | Ep 494

From Startup Survival to PR Empire: Jennifer Kaplan on 22 Years of Building Evolve PR Introduction Hello again everyone. This is Doug, and you’re listening to Leadership Powered by Common Sense. Hey…

From Startup Surviva…

From Startup Survival to PR Empire: Jennifer Kaplan on 22 Years of Building Evolve PR Introduction Hello again everyone. This is Doug, and you’re listening to Leadership Powered by Common Sense. Hey, have you started a business out there? Was your dream enough to get you over the goal line, to get you started and […] The post Why Your Business Can’t Grow Without You | Ep 494 first appeared on Leadership Powered by Common Sense.

Listen · 36:33
Stop Problem-Solving Everything — Your People Need A Coach, Not An Answer Machine &Raquo; Featured Coaching Moment
Stop Problem-Solving Everything — Your People Need a Coach, Not an Answer Machine

Your team member walks into your office — or pings you on Teams — and says the four words that trigger something primal in almost every leader I know: “I have a problem.” And before they…

Your team member wal…

Your team member walks into your office — or pings you on Teams — and says the four words that trigger something primal in almost every leader I know: “I have a problem.” And before they finish the second sentence, your brain is already three steps ahead, sorting through solutions, cross-referencing past experience, preparing to deliver the answer. You know how this story ends. You’ve lived this before. You know what to do. So you tell them. And here’s the part nobody talks about: in that moment, you just accidentally trained them to keep coming back to you with every p…

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How To Cut Costs Without Cutting The Heart Out Of Your Business &Raquo; Apple Pod Logo 2025
How to Cut Costs Without Cutting the Heart Out of Your Business

Leadership Powered by Common Sense | Episode 493 | Guest: Duane Deason Introduction Hello again everyone. Doug Thorpe here. And this is Leadership Powered by Common Sense. Have you ever struggled with…

Leadership Powered b…

Leadership Powered by Common Sense | Episode 493 | Guest: Duane Deason Introduction Hello again everyone. Doug Thorpe here. And this is Leadership Powered by Common Sense. Have you ever struggled with administering a cost cutting measure? Well, today we’re going to dive into that topic. It’s a sensitive one — a tough one to […] The post How to Cut Costs Without Cutting the Heart Out of Your Business first appeared on Leadership Powered by Common Sense.

Listen · 39:45
Your People Aren’t Broken — But Your System Might Be | Ep. 492 &Raquo; Apple Pod Logo 2025
Your People Aren’t Broken — But Your System Might Be | Ep. 492

Introduction Hello again everyone. Doug Thorpe here. And you are listening to Leadership Powered by Common Sense. My guest is going to help us look at how do you fix your business. And a lot of times …

Introduction Hello a…

Introduction Hello again everyone. Doug Thorpe here. And you are listening to Leadership Powered by Common Sense. My guest is going to help us look at how do you fix your business. And a lot of times people, founders, owners and leaders think that maybe their people are broken. But guess what? There’s a whole […] The post Your People Aren’t Broken — But Your System Might Be | Ep. 492 first appeared on Leadership Powered by Common Sense.

Listen · 34:38
Leadership Unplugged: Practical Common Sense For Business Leaders &Raquo; Apple Pod Logo 2025
Leadership Unplugged: Practical Common Sense for Business Leaders

Leadership Powered by Common Sense – Episode 491 Introduction Hey, everybody. Doug Thorpe here again. You are listening to Leadership Powered by Common Sense. My guest today is a fellow military vet…

Leadership Powered b…

Leadership Powered by Common Sense – Episode 491 Introduction Hey, everybody. Doug Thorpe here again. You are listening to Leadership Powered by Common Sense. My guest today is a fellow military veteran and now a consultant and coach. He shares a common thread with me. We like to look at the world in a more […] The post Leadership Unplugged: Practical Common Sense for Business Leaders first appeared on Leadership Powered by Common Sense.

Listen · 35:59
The Future Of Hiring And Leadership: Self-Awareness Plus Behavioral Science &Raquo; Apple Pod Logo 2025
The Future of Hiring and Leadership: Self-Awareness Plus Behavioral Science

Episode 490: Hiring, Self-Awareness, and the Behavioral Science Behind Better Leadership — with Jason Carroll Introduction Hey, everybody, Doug Thorpe here. Today we’re going to talk about one of …

Episode 490: Hiring,…

Episode 490: Hiring, Self-Awareness, and the Behavioral Science Behind Better Leadership — with Jason Carroll Introduction Hey, everybody, Doug Thorpe here. Today we’re going to talk about one of the biggest challenges that business leaders have. And that’s hiring and finding the right people. And there are a lot of abused phrases out there that […] The post The Future of Hiring and Leadership: Self-Awareness Plus Behavioral Science first appeared on Leadership Powered by Common Sense.

Listen · 35:15
When Nobody Knows What’s Coming: How To Lead Your Team Through The Ai Storm &Raquo; Captain 1
When Nobody Knows What’s Coming: How to Lead Your Team Through the AI Storm

The meeting ended twenty minutes ago, but Sarah is still sitting at her desk, staring at her monitor. Three of her best people stopped by her office this week with the same look on their faces — …

The meeting ended tw…

The meeting ended twenty minutes ago, but Sarah is still sitting at her desk, staring at her monitor. Three of her best people stopped by her office this week with the same look on their faces — that mix of Anxiety and unasked questions that she knows all too well. They’ve heard the company is “evaluating AI solutions.” They’ve read the headlines. They’ve seen the LinkedIn posts. And now they want answers from their manager. The only problem? Sarah doesn’t have any. No rollout date. No policy. No clear directive from the top. Just a vague memo about “exploring opportun…

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Is Your Organizational Culture A Family? The Hidden Truth Leaders Miss &Raquo; Apple Pod Logo 2025
Is Your Organizational Culture a Family? The Hidden Truth Leaders Miss

Leadership Powered by Common Sense | Episode 489 | Guest: Dr. Wayne Wilson Introduction Hey. Hello again, everyone. Doug Thorpe here. Today we’re going to talk about your organizational culture as a…

Leadership Powered b…

Leadership Powered by Common Sense | Episode 489 | Guest: Dr. Wayne Wilson Introduction Hey. Hello again, everyone. Doug Thorpe here. Today we’re going to talk about your organizational culture as a Family unit. And maybe you’ve heard that before, or maybe you shudder to think about that. But the reality is there’s some truth […] The post Is Your Organizational Culture a Family? The Hidden Truth Leaders Miss first appeared on Leadership Powered by Common Sense.

Listen · 31:51
The Authority You Carry Vs. The Authority You’ve Earned &Raquo; Positional Power
The Authority You Carry vs. The Authority You’ve Earned

The room has eight people in it. A vice president is running the meeting. Two directors are nodding along. And then there’s you — maybe you’re a project lead, a subject matter expert, a senior a…

The room has eight p…

The room has eight people in it. A vice president is running the meeting. Two directors are nodding along. And then there’s you — maybe you’re a project lead, a subject matter expert, a senior analyst — and you can see, plain as day, that the plan on the whiteboard is going to fail. You’ve been in this exact situation before. You watched a nearly identical project go sideways three years ago. You know where the landmines are buried. You have the data. You have the scars. But you stay quiet. Because who are you to push back on the VP? If you’ve ever sat in that room — …

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Buying Vs. Starting A Business: The Truth About Small Business Exits &Raquo; Apple Pod Logo 2025
Buying vs. Starting a Business: The Truth About Small Business Exits

Small Business Exit Plans Are Broken | Episode 488 — Leadership Powered by Common Sense with Doug Thorpe Introduction Well, hello again, everyone. This is Doug Thorpe, and you are listening to Leade…

Small Business Exit …

Small Business Exit Plans Are Broken | Episode 488 — Leadership Powered by Common Sense with Doug Thorpe Introduction Well, hello again, everyone. This is Doug Thorpe, and you are listening to Leadership Powered by Common Sense. I’m excited today for two reasons. I’ve got two guests with me, Mark Willis, who you might have […] The post Buying vs. Starting a Business: The Truth About Small Business Exits first appeared on Leadership Powered by Common Sense.

Listen · 32:43