Pompoms, Positive Energy & People Development
The Cheer Leadership Playbook
If you've been following along with our podcast conversations, you know we're always looking for fresh takes on leadership that actually work. This week's episode delivered exactly that, and it came with literal pompoms.
Meet Stefanie Adams: keynote speaker, author, leadership consultant, former elected official, and certified energy generator.
Her book Cheer Leadership: Strategies to Build and Support Human-Centric Workplaces for the Future just won a Goodie Business Book Award in HR and Employee Development, and after our conversation, it's easy to see why.
Stefanie brings 20 years of experience leading in corporate, nonprofit, and government settings, plus 15 years as a cheerleader and 5 years coaching college cheerleading. That unique combination creates a leadership philosophy that's equal parts practical and inspiring.
Here's what caught our attention (and why you should grab your metaphorical - or physical - pompoms).
02:00 – From Basket Tosses to Business Strategy
Stefanie's "aha moment" came while coaching college cheerleading and working in HR, simultaneously.
She noticed something striking: in cheerleading, you'd never throw someone in the air on day one without building trust, understanding strengths, and practicing communication. Yet in the workplace? We constantly throw teams together, assume they'll gel, and wonder why projects fail.
She shares, "We put people together. We assume that they're going to be successful and they're not. So your role as the cheerleader or coach of your team is really about bringing your teams together."
The framework that emerged? Five themes of cheer leadership: Connect, Care, Challenge, Celebrate, and Inspire.
08:00 – Strengths-Based Leadership Isn't Just Nice, It's Necessary
The conversation shifted to something many leaders struggle with: truly knowing their people as individuals.
Stefanie emphasized that two team members might excel at the same technical skill but be motivated by completely different things.
Leaders also need to challenge people to step outside their comfort zones. Like a cheerleading coach gradually building a new flyer's skills, workplace leaders should create building blocks that help people achieve things they didn't know they were capable of.
16:00 – The "Burning Issues" Agenda Item
One of Stefanie's most practical tips?
Start every one-on-one meeting with five minutes for "burning issues", anything weighing on the employee's mind, work-related or not. Whether they're nervous about presenting to the C-suite or frustrated because their cat destroyed the carpet, getting it out helps them focus on what matters.
"Work and personal, they are not separate. They overlap. We've got to learn how to make them flow together." Stefanie shared.
This isn't about being nosy; it's about recognizing that distracted team members (like distracted cheerleaders) can't perform at their best and might even create safety issues for the whole team.
18:00 – Changing Energy Changes Everything
Here's where the pompoms literally came out.
Stefanie walked us through how leaders can shift team energy, from choosing bright colors that lift moods to playing hype music during crunch time to having walking meetings when people feel drained.
Her personal strategy?
Keeping pompoms in her office for 15 years. When someone walked in having an awful day, she'd hand them pompoms and say "shake it." Initial confusion turned to movement, then smiling, then actual problem-solving.
When we are in a better head space, we're able to talk through problems and have vulnerable conversations.
24:00 – Not Toxic Positivity but Trust-Building Reality
The conversation addressed a crucial point: cheer leadership isn't about pretending everything's perfect. It's about building connections that allow for honest feedback and brave conversations.
You have to confront the tough stuff and have brave conversations. But if you truly understand each other, then you can have those honest conversations in a way that's not meant to demean.
Stefanie spoke about how this approach helped her navigate being school board chair during COVID, finding learning opportunities even in the darkest moments, not by ignoring problems but by asking "what did we learn?"
Ready to Shake Things Up?
For leaders in "serious" organizations wondering how to implement these ideas, Stefanie's advice is simple: start small and ask your team what "fun" means to them.
It might be PTO, lunch together, or just genuine compliments. Model the behavior you want to see, and watch others follow.
The research backs this up: University of Warwick found happy employees are 12% more productive, and Sean Achor's work shows happy people are more successful, not the other way around.
Catch the full episode for more insights on building human-centric workplaces that actually work, pompoms optional but highly recommended.
Want to connect?
Find Stefanie:
LinkedIn at @stefaniezadams, @wnypeopledevelopment
Instagram: @WnyPeopleDevelopment and @CorporateCheerleader
Grab her book Cheer Leadership on Amazon.
Contact Traci:
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