Meredith Bell

Helping Organizations Make Principled Leadership Visible, Measurable & Sustainable | Co-founder, Grow Strong Leaders | Top 2.5% Podcast Host

Williamsburg, Virginia, United States

About

Iโ€™ve always believed leadership is less about titles and more about how you show up every dayโ€”with integrity, courage, compassion, and a willingness to listen. Over time, that belief has evolved into a deeper question: ๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—น๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ปโ€™๐˜ ๐—ท๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜€๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑโ€ฆ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ? At Grow Strong Leaders, we help organizations operationalize their values by making Principled Leadership visible, measurable, and sustainable. We partner with organizations committed to embedding their values in everyday decisions. Not as a slogan. Not as a one-time initiative. But as an ongoing standard. That's why our assessment and development system combines meaningful feedback with ongoing reinforcement, helping leaders consistently demonstrate those values. ๐—ข๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—น๐˜€: ๐Ÿ”น๐—š๐—ฆ๐—Ÿ ๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿฌ โ€“ a customizable feedback platform featuring our new ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜†, along with traditional 360 assessments, providing meaningful insight into the individual leadership practices that define an organization's culture. ๐Ÿ”น๐—š๐—ฆ๐—Ÿ ๐—ฆ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—•๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ โ€“ an online development system that helps leaders turn feedback into lasting behavior change through 200+ micro-practices integrated into the workday. Together, these tools help organizations measure, develop, and reinforce the leadership behaviors that sustain a values-driven culture. I also host the ๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฃ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜, where I interview senior executives at organizations like Medtronic, Principal Financial Group, FedEx, Cargill, and UC Berkeley. We explore how organizations make Principled Leadership part of everyday decision-making and sustain it when leaders face pressure, complexity, and difficult decisions. If you're working to make Principled Leadership more visible, measurable, and sustainable in your organization, I'd love to connect and learn what's workingโ€”and what challenges you're trying to solve.

Experience

  • President & Co-Founder | Making Principled Leadership Measurable at Grow Strong Leaders
    Apr 1991 - Present ยท 35 yrs 4 mos

    Grow Strong Leaders exists to help organizations make Principled Leadership visible, measurable, and sustainable throughout the organization. Our assessment and development system helps organizations move beyond simply defining their values to consistently reinforcing the behaviors that reflect those values. Our customizable GSL 360 platformโ€”including our new Principled Leadership Surveyโ€”provides meaningful insight into the leadership practices that define an organization's culture. SkillBuilder then helps leaders translate that feedback into lasting behavior change through 200+ micro-practices integrated into the workday. Together, these tools create a system for measuring, developing, and reinforcing the leadership behaviors that sustain a values-driven culture. For more than three decades, organizations have trusted Grow Strong Leaders to strengthen leadership effectiveness, reinforce ethical culture, and sustain values through systems that become part of everyday workโ€”not one-time training events. The long-term relationships we've built with clients and strategic partners speak to the lasting value of our work. I welcome conversations with leaders who are working to make Principled Leadership more visible, measurable, and sustainable across their organization.

  • Podcast Host | Conversations on Principled Leadership at Grow Strong Leaders Podcast
    Jun 2019 - Present ยท 7 yrs 2 mos

    On the Grow Strong Leaders Podcast, I interview senior executives who are leading organizations where Principled Leadership is visible in everyday decisionsโ€”not just written into mission statements. Together, we explore how organizations operationalize their values through leadership behaviors, feedback systems, accountability, and intentional development. Our conversations go beyond theory to uncover what it really takes to sustain Principled Leadership when leaders face pressure, complexity, and difficult decisions. The goal is simple: to help leaders build organizations where values aren't just definedโ€”they're consistently lived.

  • President and Founder at Transitions, Inc.
    1987 - 1991 ยท 4 yrs

    I created this consulting and training firm to help companies with the "people" side of their operation. I focused on leadership development, people skills, coaching, team building, selling and customer service.

  • Director of Federal Programs at Williamsburg James City County Schools
    Jun 1980 - Aug 1982 ยท 2 yrs 3 mos

    Developed and conducted professional development training for teachers who taught students in federally-funded programs like Title I at elementary and middle school level. Managed and administered budgets for each program. Supervised support staff.