952: Themba Dayton: The Power of Diversity In Building Effective and Successful Teams

Shameless Leadership

Sara Dean

Self-improvement, How To, Business, Management, Education

4.7 • 800 Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

I was thrilled to interview Themba Dayton, whom I was introduced to by Elena Joy Thurston, a past guest of the show and a friend. When I learned about Themba’s track record in building and guiding diverse teams, I immediately had a ton of questions for him. This conversation is a treasure trove of sage advice around the power of diversity in professional environments and why diverse teams will always have a leg up, no matter the state of the world. Themba Dayton is a 30-year insurance professional in the employee benefits industry, living in the Pacific Northwest. In an industry that is known for being overwhelmingly male, Themba has been a part of and has had the honor of leading extremely diverse and dynamic teams that have been innovative and successful in their roles. Teams at their best are varied, have full engagement, and the group is committed to the success of the whole more often than the success of the individual. In his current role, Themba looks for opportunities to ensure all voices are allowed to be heard, to allow for more robust discussions, and to pave the way for more meaningful outcomes. Listen in to hear Themba share: How to leverage diversity to build effective and successful teams His secret in helping each member of diverse teams feel seen, heard, held, and valued - getting to know each person individually, developing strong 1:1 relationships How he is sensitive to his industry being “pale, male, and stale” and how he, as a Black man, leads with this sensitivity in mind How he looks for opportunities to amplify women’s voices How highlighting someone else not only amplifies their voice but also helps you shine brighter as a strong leader Links Mentioned: Connect with Themba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themba-dayton-ab956b5/ Register for Sara’s October Influence & Ignite Retreat for Women Business Owners: saradean.com/retreat Hire me to speak: saradean.com/speaking Coach with me: https://saradean.com/executive-coaching-services Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saradeanspeaks Watch Shameless Leadership episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@saradeanspeaks Interested in becoming a sponsor of the Shameless Mom Academy? Email our sales team at sales@adalystmedia.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to shameless leadership. I'm your host, Sarah Dean. This show is for women, transgender people, non-binary folks, as well as allies, who are committed to advancing their leadership while also advancing the leadership of those around them. In each episode, we will offer practical tips, leadership strategies, and inspiring
0:21.9	stories to help you become a more confident, compassionate, and inclusive leader. The truth is,
0:27.5	you were born to lead. What might happen for you if you were to wholeheartedly embrace that
0:32.2	part of yourself? So let's start now, together. Hello,eless Leaders. Today we have a fun episode.
0:38.9	I have to say this episode happened because of a friend of the show and three-time guest
0:44.4	of the show, Elena Joy Thurston, mentioned to me, hey, I should introduce you to my friend
0:49.5	Temba.
0:50.1	And whenever Elena says this, I'm like, yes, send me this person.
0:53.9	I need to know them because
0:54.9	Elena only knows the most incredible people. So Elena connected Temba and I via email. We had a chat.
1:00.9	I was like, yes, please come on the show. Do me the honor. And he said yes. And so here we go.
1:06.7	A male on shameless leadership, not a super common experience. So I'm pretty picky about male voices on the show.
1:14.2	And Temba was just an exceptional guest.
1:16.5	You're going to love this interview.
1:17.6	You're going to learn from him.
1:18.4	And it's always really helpful to get just different people's perspective, whether it's
1:21.3	across race or gender or ability or anything else that's just different than our own
1:25.0	perspective.
1:25.4	So you're going to love this conversation.
1:28.1	So Temba Dayton is a 30-year insurance professional in the employment benefits industry living in the
1:33.2	Pacific Northwest. In an industry that is known for being overwhelmingly male, Temba has been part of
1:38.5	and had the honor of leading extremely diverse and dynamic teams that have been innovative and
	...

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