How We Could Instead of Why We Can't with Alex Dorr

Every leader has run the meeting where the team can list twenty reasons something won't work and zero ideas for how it could. Alex Dorr has a name for what's happening in that room, and a five step process for getting out of it.

Alex is the CEO of Reality-Based Leadership and the author of How We Could, out September 22, 2026. In this conversation with Brandon Laws, he walks through the Call to Greatness framework: validate the experience, clean up the thinking, find your part in the mess, know your role in the solution, then take next right action. He opens with a day in New York with a group of regional retail directors who were stuck on a decision they didn't like, and the moment one of them looked at a whiteboard full of constraints and said, "I can see it."

The conversation gets practical fast. Alex explains why he thinks empathy has been weaponized at work and how it stalls teams before they reach action. He draws the line between empathy and sympathy with an emergency room story that will stick with you. He makes the case that your most expensive employee might be your best performer, the one who has started judging everyone falling behind. And he breaks down three roles most people confuse: decision maker, consultant, and good person to be informed. His take on that last one is worth the listen on its own.

If you lead people at a small or mid-sized company and you're tired of the same circular conversations, this one gives you something to use in your next one-on-one.

About our guest

Alex Dorr is the CEO of Reality-Based Leadership, where he works with leaders around the world on ditching drama, building alignment, and coaching teams to next right action. He is the author of How We Could: The Framework to Lead Without Drama, Build Alignment, and Call Teams to Greatness, launching September 22, 2026, and the host of the Reality-Based Leadership Podcast. He holds the Certified Speaking Professional designation and a master's in international business from the University of Derby in England.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Welcome and what this episode covers 02:10 Why a room full of retail directors went silent 08:15 How making constraints visual changes the conversation 09:50 Why leaders should spend less time motivating people 12:45 The five steps of the Call to Greatness framework 16:45 What loving people up actually looks like day to day 20:40 Why empathy gets weaponized at work 24:30 How a trip to the ER changed the way Alex solves problems 28:10 Why yo