The Voice of Retail Live from SMU in Dallas, Texas, Steve Dennis & Leaders Leap, Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption (Encore Episode)
In this special encore episode of The Voice of Retail, recorded live at the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, host Michael LeBlanc is joined by longtime Remarkable Retail #podcast collaborator and retail thought leader Steve Dennis to celebrate the launch of Steve’s latest book, Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption.
Best known for his bestselling book Remarkable Retail, Steve steps outside the retail-specific lens to explore a broader question: Why do leaders and companies fail to transform—even when they know they must? Drawing on personal experiences at iconic retailers like Sears and Neiman Marcus, Steve shares how legacy mindsets, fear of risk, and "timid transformations" can doom even the most well-intentioned strategies. He recalls a pivotal moment at Sears when, after 18 months of strategic planning and board approval, a colleague remarked that the new plan was “not a strategy to win—just a strategy to suck less.”
From there, the conversation dives into the key themes of Leaders Leap, including Steve’s concept of “leadership mind leaps”—seven fundamental shifts that leaders must make to truly drive meaningful transformation. These include “Crush Your Ego,” “Open the Aperture,” “Edit to Amplify,” “Start with Wow,” “Think Radically,” “Embrace the Risk of Inaction,” and “Accelerate with Urgency.” Each leap challenges conventional leadership norms and encourages leaders to rethink their roles in the face of fast-paced disruption.
Steve and Michael discuss why merely optimizing the business model isn’t enough in an age defined by exponential change, and how legacy brands can learn from disruptors like Uber, Airbnb, and Netflix—companies that pivoted boldly and often. Using examples from RH (formerly Restoration Hardware) and Vuori, the episode highlights how focus, differentiation, and bold thinking can enable even established players to reinvent themselves.
This episode is a masterclass in leadership transformation for retailers and executives across sectors. Whether you’re a C-suite veteran, a team leader, or an entrepreneur navigating disruption, this conversation offers both strategic frameworks and personal insight that can help you leap forward, not fall behind.
Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.
Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.
Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.