Episode
The Leadership Mistake Your Team Never Forgets | Booz Allen CPO Aimee George Leary
- Published
- Sep 20, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1508
- Processing state
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- http://www.benfanning.com/theceosessions/aimee-george-leary
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Summary
What you say as a leader may take them seconds to forget...OR stay with someone on your team for decades. Aimee George Leary is Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer at Booz Allen Hamilton , where she leads the people strategy for more than 35,000 employees . In this episode of Lead The Team , she shares the painful early-career moment that permanently changed how she leads. After honestly telling executives that a critical project was behind schedule, Aimee received a devastatin voicemail from a senior leader. She spent the entire weekend anxious about it. When she returned to work Monday, the leader didn’t remember leaving the message . That experience taught Aimee a lesson she still carries more than 25 years later: Your words as a leader carry. Choose them wisely. Ben and Aimee also explore: • The three things that kept her at Booz Allen for 30+ years • Why doing great work gets noticed—even years later • How to create career opportunities without chasing promotions • What listening and vulnerability look like at the executive level • How Booz Allen is preparing 35,000+ people for AI • The mistake leaders make when using AI to improve existing processes • Why intentionality, optimism, and energy matter in leadership If you lead a team, this conversation is a powerful reminder: You may forget the moment. Your people may never forget how you made them feel. Follow Lead The Team with Ben Fanning for conversations with top executives, CEOs, founders, and business leaders about leadership, high-performance teams, AI transformation, communication, and building organizations that thrive through change. ----- Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben Fanning Speaking and Training inquires Subscribe to my Youtube channel LinkedIn Instagram Twitter