Self-Leadership for Sustainable Success, with Dr. Kate McCombs (The Price and Value Journey, Episode 132)
In this episode of The Price and Value Journey, host John Ray discusses the often-overlooked aspect of self-leadership with Dr. Kate McCombs, assistant professor of management at Samford University and founder of RH Leadership. Kate defines self-leadership as the practice of influencing one’s own thoughts, behaviors, and motivations to achieve goals. She explains its critical importance for solo and small firm professionals, emphasizing that self-leadership is not a personality trait but a learned skill set. Kate shares her personal journey in leadership, particularly highlighting how becoming a mother taught her the vital need for self-leading in everyday life. She also discusses how self-leadership can prevent burnout, foster employee engagement, and ensure sustainable personal and organizational growth. Practical tips on setting intentional goals, self-observation, and balancing efficiency with effectiveness are also explored.
The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of the Business RadioX® podcast network.
Dr. Kate McCombs, Samford University and RH Leadership
Kate McCombs, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Management at Samford University’s Brock School of Business in Birmingham, Alabama. She joined the faculty in 2021 and teaches courses in leadership, human resource and organizational management, and entrepreneurship. In addition to her academic role, Kate is the founder of RH Leadership, where she provides leadership coaching, workshops, and training for businesses, with a focus on developing emerging leaders.
Kate holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration and Management from Florida Atlantic University, a master’s degree in international business, and a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Florida. Before entering academia, she worked in finance with Siemens Healthcare in New York City and Raleigh, North Carolina, and later in sales in Nashville, Tennessee.
Her research explores leadership, identity work, and gender roles, with recent publications on topics such as narcissism, charisma, and character in U.S. presidential elections. She has also co-authored studies on self-leadership strategies and work-life conflict.
Kate is actively involved in professional development organizations. She completed Momentum’s Upward Early Career Program, which supports the growth of female leaders in Alabama, and currently serves as the 2023–2024 Rotary Transition Chair for the Rotaract Club of Birmingham.
Her work has been recognized with several honors, including the inaugural Brock School of Business Mission Impact Award and the Professor Larron C. (Larry) Harper Service Award for her integration of community service into leadership education.
LinkedIn | RH Leadership website | Samford University website
Key Takeaways from Kate McCombs in this Episode
Self-leadership is a skill, not a personality trait. You don’t have to be naturally confident or extroverted to lead yourself well. You just need to build habits and stay intentional.
You can look successful on the outside and still feel like you’re falling apart. Many professionals appear to be thriving while quietly burning out. Kate emphasizes the importance of aligning your business with your energy and values.
Consistent, intentional action matters more than doing more. Instead of chasing productivity, Kate encourages professionals to choose one focus, track it, and reflect on how it’s working.
Topics Discussed in this Episode
00:00 Introduction and Welcome to The Price and Value Journey
01:18 Meet Kate McCombs: Leadership Expert
02:43 Kate’s Journey to Self-Leadership
04:42 Understanding Self-Leadership
09:43 Self-Leadership for Solopreneurs
12:37 The Importance of Self-Leadership in Business
21:03 Engagement and Personal Agency
26:53 The Importance of Pausing and Intentional Reactions
29:35 Balancing Efficiency and Effectiveness
31:55 Self-Leadership Skills and Technology
36:44 Overcoming Overwhelm with Intentionality
42:12 Advice for Emerging Leaders
45:05 Practical Tips for Self-Leadership
46:50 Conclusion and Contact Information
About The Price and Value Journey Podcast
The Price and Value Journey is a show for expert-service professionals who want more than formulas and quick fixes. If you’re a solo or small-firm provider—consultant, coach, attorney, CPA, or fractional executive—you know the real work of building a practice goes far beyond pricing. It’s about finding clarity, showing up with confidence, and learning how to express the full value of what you do in ways that clients understand and appreciate.
Hosted by John Ray, business advisor and author of The Generosity Mindset, this podcast explores the deeper journey behind running a services business: how you think about your work, how you relate to clients, and how you sustain a business that’s not only profitable but deeply fulfilling. Yes, we talk pricing, but we also talk mindset, business development, trust, empathy, positioning, and all the intangible ingredients that make a practice thrive.
With solo episodes and conversations featuring thoughtful guests, The Price and Value Journey is a companion for professionals who are building something meaningful. Produced in partnership with North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, the podcast is accessible on all major podcast platforms. The complete show archive is here.
John Ray, Host of The Price and Value Journey
John Ray is the host of The Price and Value Journey.
John owns Ray Business Advisors, a business advisory practice. John’s services include business coaching and advisory work, as well as advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their pricing. John is passionate about the power of pricing for business owners, as changing pricing is the fastest way to change the profitability of a business. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, consultants, coaches, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.
In his other business, John is a podcast show host, strategist, and the owner of North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®. John and his team work with B2B professionals to create and conduct their podcast using The Generosity Mindset® Method: building and deepening relationships in a non-salesy way that translates into revenue for their business.
John is also the host of North Fulton Business Radio. With over 850 shows and having featured over 1,300 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in its region like no one else.
John’s book, The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices
John is the #1 national best-selling author of The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices.
If you are a professional services provider, your goal is to do transformative work for clients you love working with and get paid commensurate with the value you deliver to them. While negative mindsets can inhibit your growth, adopting a different mindset, The Generosity Mindset™, can replace those self-limiting beliefs. The Generosity Mindset enables you to diagnose and communicate the value you deliver to clients and, in turn, more effectively price to receive a portion of that value.
Whether you’re a consultant, coach, marketing or branding professional, business advisor, attorney, CPA, or work in virtually any other professional services discipline, your content and technical expertise are not proprietary. What’s unique, though, is your experience and how you synthesize and deliver your knowledge. What’s special is your demeanor or the way you deal with your best-fit clients. What’s invaluable is how you deliver outstanding value by guiding people through massive changes in their personal lives and in their businesses that bring them to a place they never thought possible.
Your combination of these elements is unique in your industry. There lies your value, but it’s not the value you see. It’s the value your best-fit customers see in you.
If pricing your value feels uncomfortable or unfamiliar to you, this book will teach you why putting a price on the value your clients perceive and identify serves both them and you, and you’ll learn the factors involved in getting your price right.
The book is available at all major physical and online book retailers worldwide. Follow this link for further details.
Austin Peterson is a Comprehensive Financial Planner and owner of Backbone Financial in Scottsdale, AZ. Austin is a registered rep and investment advisor representative with Lincoln Financial Advisors. Prior to joining Lincoln Financial Advisors, Austin worked in a variety of roles in the financial services industry.
After Pacific Life, Austin formed his own financial planning company in Southern California that he built and ran for 6 years and eventually sold when he moved his family to Salt Lake City to pursue his MBA.
Landon Mance is a Financial Planner and founder of 
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