Building Strategic Teams: Lori Bartle’s System for Empowered, Accountable Leadership

Lori Bartle

Lori Bartle is a veteran marketing and advertising leader whose career spans client-side, agency-side, and media roles. She now works as an agency advisor and creator of the Accountable Leadership System, helping marketing teams shift from reactive service providers to proactive growth drivers. Lori is also the author of The Agency Within Us, a book exploring the power of human agency and leadership in professional roles.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[03:02] Lori’s 30-year journey from advertising executive to agency transformation coach
[04:29] Why reactive work environments inhibit strategic thinking and business growth
[05:01] How Lori defines “human agency” and why it’s the foundation of her leadership framework
[06:41] The link between clear expectations, accountability, and team empowerment
[11:57] How Lori’s mobile learning platform, Funnels, improves business fluency through microlearning
[18:01] Why Lori believes development tools should be financially accessible for all organizations

In this episode:

What if your team wasn’t just checking boxes—but thinking strategically, taking initiative, and driving real growth?

In this engaging interview, Adi Klevit sits down with Lori Bartle to explore how marketers—and professionals of all kinds—can unlock their leadership potential through systems of accountability and clarity. Drawing on 30 years in the advertising world, Lori explains why traditional agency models often default to reactive, service-focused mindsets—and how she helps teams shift into proactive, strategic roles through her Accountable Leadership System.

Lori also introduces her book, The Agency Within Us, which champions the concept of human agency—the power to act with ownership and foresight. She outlines the key principles of proactivity and accountability and explains how these traits create not only better employees but true leaders at every level of an organization.

Later, Lori shares details about her new mobile microlearning app, FUNDLS, which delivers 5-minute training sessions to build business fluency and strategic acumen. Whether you're in marketing or managing any team that needs to shift from chaos to clarity, Lori’s systems-based approach to leadership offers a practical and inspiring path forward.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments:

“When people are in reactive mode, it's very hard to be strategic.”
“Let’s activate the agency within us to unleash the leader within us.”
“Leadership has nothing to do with title—it has everything to do with attitude and approach.”
“Business fluency isn't just nice to have—it's essential to delivering strategic value.”
“If you can find humor in tough situations, you're already ahead of the game.”

Action Steps:

Clarify expectations for every role to empower proactive behavior and accountability.
Document your processes and procedures to create transparency and consistency across teams.
Train employees in business fluency, not just technical or creative skills.
Use microlearning tools like FUNDLS to make training accessible and engaging.
Foster a leadership mindset at every level, regardless of title or tenure.

Sponsor for this episode:

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