Magic in the Room #149: Strengths: You Have Everything You Need with Guest Dillon Hargrave
May 21, 2023
Today we wrap up our series on knowing and using our strengths with a hopeful message from Dillon Hargrave: we have everything we need. Dillon is an entrepreneur and founder of Sauntermore, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering individuals with disabilities to excel in leadership roles. Unfortunately, if you are hoping that Dillon would use Magic in the Room to announce the return of Baby D's Bee Sting hot sauce, you are going to be disappointed, but you should still listen to the episode!
Listen now on your favorite platform!
Contact Dillon on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/dillon-hargrave-ba358112/
Find out more about Sauntermore at sauntermore.us.
Credits:
- This episode of Magic in the Room was recorded at Story Catcher Studio in Tulsa, OK
- Music by Evan Grim. Find his music on
Apple Music
In this episode of Magic in the Room, Chris Province, Hannah Bratterud, and Luke Freeman reflect on six years of conversations and explore a foundational leadership question: why leadership is ultimately an inside game. Drawing on personal growth, facilitation experiences, and organizational leadership lessons, they argue that effective leadership cannot be reduced to frameworks, checklists, or techniques alone, but instead depends on the ongoing work of self-awareness, discernment, courage, and wisdom. They explore the relationship between courage and conviction, the importance of responding rather than reacting, and the role of personal development in creating positive impact for teams, organizations, and communities. The episode presents leadership as a lifelong practice of leading oneself first, emphasizing that meaningful change begins not with external systems, but with the internal work of becoming more intentional, hopeful, and aligned with one’s values.
In this episode of Magic in the Room, Luke and Hannah explore the concept of polarities. Tensions like purpose and performance, stability and change, or accountability and grace that are often mistaken for problems to solve rather than dynamics to manage. Drawing on insights from Barry Johnson’s work, they explain how these opposing forces are interdependent and must be balanced over time to achieve sustained success. Through practical examples and personal reflections, they show how over-relying on one side of a polarity leads to predictable “shadow sides” such as stagnation, chaos, inefficiency, or burnout, while effective leadership requires recognizing where you are on the cycle and intentionally recalibrating. The episode emphasizes that many recurring organizational frustrations are not failures, but signals of imbalance, and offers a more nuanced approach to leadership. One that replaces rigid either/or thinking with flexible both/and awareness to improve decision-making, team dynamics, and long-term performance.