Dennis LaRue, LDR – Leaders Develop Relationships, on Leading by Influence Instead of Rank or Title (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 982)
On this episode of North Fulton Business Radio, host John Ray welcomes Dennis LaRue, founder of LDR, Leaders Develop Relationships, to discuss leading by influence, not rank, and closing the gap between good intentions and daily practice. Dennis is a retired U.S. Air Force officer who spent 23 years in leadership roles before turning what he calls his most-used military skill, coaching, into a full-time executive coaching practice.
Dennis explained that influence, more than rank or title, is what earns people’s trust and willingness to follow. He recalled supervisors during his military career who leaned on their title rather than genuine connection and how that left him searching for purpose in his own work. He shared his working definition of leadership: meet people where they are, love them for who they are, and don’t leave them there. He also described how he spells love for the people a leader serves, T-I-M-E, and closed with a story about a client once written off as toxic who instead asked for coaching, rebuilt trust with the team, and earned a promotion within six months.
John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is produced by John Ray and North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, and is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.
Key Takeaways from This Episode
- Leading by influence, not rank, is what earns people’s trust and willingness to follow, a lesson Dennis learned watching supervisors lean on their title instead.
- Dennis defines leadership in three moves: meet people where they are, value them for who they are, and help them grow.
- Time is how leaders show people they matter, echoed in Dennis’s reminder that love is spelled T-I-M-E.
- Coaching starts with listening rather than diagnosing, giving leaders a confidential space to examine, not just perform, their leadership.
Topics Discussed in this Episode
00:20 John Ray introduces the show and guest Dennis LaRue
01:40 Dennis LaRue joins to discuss LDR, Leaders Develop Relationships
02:19 His 23-year Air Force career and the shift into coaching
03:50 How rank and title differ from real influence in leadership
06:27 Defining influence and what makes someone the go-to person on a team
08:11 Dennis’s definition of leadership: meet people where they are, love them, and don’t leave them there
10:08 Why the gap between good intentions and good leadership persists
13:12 How the drive for efficiency can crowd out leadership and connection
15:22 The challenge of investing time in people without it reading as favoritism
18:09 What experience has taught Dennis that a book can’t
20:06 How he spells love: T-I-M-E
21:09 What a genuinely developed leadership relationship looks like
23:35 Coaching leaders who feel too busy to build relationships
26:12 How he starts with a new client, and why coaching doesn’t diagnose
28:30 Breaking leadership problems down and starting with one relationship
31:04 Common symptoms he looks for: isolation, silence in the room, and talk of toxicity or micromanagement
33:12 A success story of restored trust and a saved career
35:10 How to connect with Dennis on LinkedIn and Steel Toes Required
Dennis LaRue, Founder, LDR – Leaders Develop Relationships
Dennis LaRue Jr. is an executive coach, leadership professor, speaker, and founder of LDR – Leaders Develop Relationships. An ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with more than 1,700 hours of coaching experience, Dennis helps executives and emerging senior leaders reconnect with their people, realign with their purpose, and become the leaders their teams deserve.
At the heart of Dennis’s work is a simple belief: leadership is about relationships. He challenges leaders to intentionally develop four relationships: their relationship with themselves, with the people they lead, with those who lead them, and with the Lord. His approach to developing people is equally straightforward: meet them where they are, love them for who they are, and help them grow.
Before launching LDR, Dennis served 23 years in the United States Air Force, where his leadership experience included high-stakes work involving Department of Defense and presidential budgets, congressional inquiries, and leading through significant organizational change. Today, he brings those experiences to his work with leaders and organizations navigating growth, trust, alignment, and the realities of leading people well.
Dennis serves as an adjunct professor/coach with the University of Denver and is a member of the Maxwell Leadership Certified Team. He has coached and developed leaders across corporate, government, education, nonprofit, and entrepreneurial environments and has shared the stage with leadership expert John C. Maxwell.
He is also the writer of #STEELTOESREQUIRED, his weekly leadership newsletter read by executives and emerging senior leaders. Through his writing, speaking, teaching, and coaching, Dennis challenges leaders to examine what they accomplish, who they are becoming, and what their people experience because of their leadership.
For Dennis, leadership development is about becoming the person and leader God has called you to be and using that growth to help others become who they were created to be.
LDR – Leaders Develop Relationships
LDR – Leaders Develop Relationships is an executive coaching practice founded by Dennis LaRue that helps executives and emerging senior leaders build trust-based relationships with the people they lead. The firm’s approach centers on Dennis’s founding philosophy: meet people where they are, love them for who they are, and don’t leave them there. That philosophy extends into coaching, mastermind groups, keynote speaking, and workshops for corporate, government, education, nonprofit, and entrepreneurial organizations. Dennis also writes #STEELTOESREQUIRED, LDR’s weekly leadership newsletter for executives and emerging senior leaders.
Renasant Bank supports North Fulton Business Radio
Renasant Bank has humble roots, having started in 1904 as a $100,000 bank located in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown into one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, boasting over $26 billion in assets and more than 280 offices offering banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services throughout the region. All of Renasant’s success stems from the commitment of each banker to invest in the communities they serve, which in turn helps them better understand the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, their banking professionals understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.
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Beyond Computer Solutions supports North Fulton Business Radio
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About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray
Approaching 1,000 episodes and having featured over 1,400 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in our community like no one else. We are the undisputed “Voice of Business” in North Fulton!
The show invites a diverse range of business, non-profit, and community leaders to share their significant contributions to their respective markets, communities, and professions. There is no discrimination based on company size, and there is never any “pay to play.” North Fulton Business Radio supports and celebrates businesses by sharing positive stories that traditional media ignore. Some media lean left. Some media lean right. We lean business.
John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. John and the team at North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, produce the show, which is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.
The studio is located at 275 South Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.
You can find the entire archive of shows by following this link. The show is accessible on all major podcast apps, such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.
John Ray also operates his own business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants, bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.
John is the author of the five-star-rated book The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices, praised by readers for its practical insights on raising confidence, value, and prices.
