How to Move From Victimhood to Agency in Leadership and Life with Shawn Quinn

Leaders often assume transformation comes from learning new skills or following the latest management trend. But real change begins when we confront our own beliefs, reflect deeply, and choose to step out of victimhood into agency. That inner work is what lays the foundation for lasting growth in how we lead and live. Only then can leaders create change that resonates far beyond the workplace.

In this episode of the Happiness Squad Podcast, Ashish Kothari and Shawn Quinn talk about the deep reflection leaders need to build their own reality and move from victimhood to agency in life and leadership.

Shawn Quinn is the Managing Partner of Lift Consulting and Faculty Director of the Positive Leadership program at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. A leading voice in positive leadership and organizational transformation, he has advised global companies including GE, Coca-Cola, American Express, and the U.S. Army. Shawn is also co-author of Leading Innovation: How to Jumpstart Your Organization’s Growth Engine.

Shawn and Ashish explored how transformation doesn’t come from another training, another framework, or another leadership fad. It happens when we pause, reflect, and face the beliefs that hold us back.

Things you will also learn in this episode:

• Breaking free from a victim mindset

• Why belief shifts matter more than skills in true transformation

• The power of small experiments, reflection, and awareness to spark change

• How leaders at any level—not just executives—can create meaningful impact

• How workplace behaviors ripple outward into family, children, and community

• The challenge of systems and people resisting change

Tune in now and see for yourself how this shift unlocks the kind of transformation no trend or tactic can deliver.

✅Resources:

• Related episode: (Robert Quinn) https://player.captivate.fm/episode/1b7c5df6-06e1-4929-83d3-5849caa6b9b5 

• Strengthsfinder by Gallup: https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/254033/strengthsfinder.aspx 

• A Fundamental State of Leadership Approach: https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1444&context=jvbl 

• Charles Snyder’s Hope Theory: https://www.mindtools.com/aov3izj/snyders-hope-theory 

• The Sunflower Model: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/ee784c9c-cf26-48df-b07f-b4c0dcc638f3 

• The Sunflower Model: https://happinesssquad.com/the-sunflower-model-career-transition-guide-with-ashish-kothari/ 

• The Power of the 5:1 Ratio: https://michiganvirtual.org/blog/the-power-of-the-51-ratio-in-the-classroom-how-fostering-positive-interactions-can-transform-student-learning/ 

• Martin Seligman’s Learned Helplessness: https://www.simplypsychology.org/learned-helplessness.html 

✅Books:

• Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within by Robert E. Quinn: https://a.co/d/dDxJb77 

• Hardwired for Happiness by Ashish Kothari: https://a.co/d/fpmucOP