Susan Leahy, MA, CSP is a dynamic and inspiring speaker, trainer, and coach with over 20 years of experience transforming leaders and boardrooms. As the founder of Robert’s Rules Made Simple, she has trained and coached more than 10,000 board members and meeting chairs across North America, giving them the skills and confidence to run healthy, effective, and engaging meetings.

Susan’s passion for this work is deeply personal. After watching her mother serve five years on a dysfunctional city government board, she saw how toxic meetings don’t just waste time—they drain health, energy, and life. While she doesn’t believe that experience caused her mother’s cancer, she knows it didn’t help. That realization fuels her mission: using Robert’s Rules not just as a productivity tool, but as a pathway to healthier, more respectful, and more human meeting dynamics.

A Certified Speaking Professional and founding member of the Association of Transformational Leaders, Susan brings humor, heart, and practical strategies to every stage. Her message is simple yet profound: Time is life, and your life matters—stop wasting it in poorly run meetings.

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Episode Highlights

• Meet Susan Leahy: Susan shares her unique background growing up with a mother who was a professional clown (yes, really!), and how that early exposure to creativity and joy impacted her approach to life and her business today.
• Origin Story: Susan recounts how, as a teenager, she joined her mother at a junior college class on Robert’s Rules of Order—her first introduction to meeting management that would later shape her career.
• What Are Robert’s Rules of Order?
  • Susan explains the history behind Robert’s Rules, why General Henry M. Robert wrote a parliamentary procedure handbook in 1876, and how it became the gold standard for running board and organizational meetings.
  • She discusses how these rules can help bring order, civility, and effectiveness to meetings of all sizes—whether for large organizations, small nonprofits, HOAs, or even family discussions.
• Modernizing a Classic: Susan reveals how she brings energy, fun, and modern relevance to the (traditionally dry) topic of Robert’s Rules—making the process more accessible, less intimidating, and empowering for today’s leaders.
• From Boardroom to Bedroom: The conversation takes a fascinating turn as Susan talks about how the principles of structure, order, and intention can also be applied to personal relationships—including marriage. She notes that having structure actually frees people up to communicate better and have more fun.
• Practical Wisdom:
  • How understanding just seven fundamental motions can help anyone feel more confident in running or participating in meetings.
  • The importance of having an agenda, setting intention, and valuing everyone’s time and life.
  • Why structure in meetings and relationships creates more “rhythm” and less chaos.
• Empowering Leaders: Susan shares stories from her 20+ years in this field, including helping boards resolve conflict before turning to lawyers, and how simple changes in meeting dynamics can make a world of difference.
• Decision-making in the Age of AI: Both Liz and Susan discuss the irreplaceable human element of group decisions and why, despite advances in technology, real conversations and choices should remain a uniquely human process.
• Resources and How to Work with Susan: Whether for your board, your business, or your personal life, Susan offers online programs and coaching to help you “chair a meeting with confidence” and create healthier dynamics—everywhere.

Links Mentioned

• Visit robertsrulesmadesimple.com for Susan’s online training programs on meeting management and parliamentary procedure.
• For personal/couples coaching and resources: susanleahy.com

Key Takeaway

Effective meetings (and relationships!) thrive on clear structure, intention, and respect for everyone’s time—because “time equals life.” By learning even the basics of Robert’s Rules and bringing purposeful energy into your gatherings, you can create healthier, happier environments at work and at home.

Connect with Susan:

• robertsrulesmadesimple.com
• susanleahy.com