See It, Shift It, Shape It | Elizabeth Dixon

09/11/2026

Work Positive

0:00

33:35

EP 212 | See It, Shift It, Shape It | Elizabeth Dixon

Elizabeth Dixon keeps a jar on her desk that her daughter made at camp. Rocks go in first, then rice, and everything fits. Rice first, and the rocks overflow out the top. After 20 years at Chick-fil-A and the launch of the Trilith Foundation, Elizabeth knows the story you tell yourself decides which goes in first. In this week’s episode, she shows Dr. Joey how to see it, shift it and shape it. What story does your team hear from you tomorrow?

ABOUT THE GUEST

Elizabeth Dixon helps brands and people leaders create remarkable customer experiences and live with purpose. She brings 20 years of leadership at the Chick-fil-A Support Center and partnerships with brands like Southwest Airlines, the Ritz-Carlton, Zappos and Wegmans. She served as the founding CEO of the Trilith Foundation, a nonprofit that inspires human flourishing across the creative industry. She is the author of The Power of Customer Experience and The Strength of Purpose, and a fellow at Baylor University. She founded two companies: Possibility Co, which helps brands grow their customer experience from mindset and culture outward, and Slumber Sleepwear. She loves to make the daunting doable, and her See It, Shift It, Shape It practice equips people leaders to edit the stories that shape how they show up. She speaks to companies, associations and organizations through elizabethdixonspeaks.com.

Key Insights

Fear and excitement share one core. Elizabeth teaches you to choose how you express it. “I’m afraid to go to that interview” becomes “I’m really excited to go learn more about this job.”
See it, shift it, shape it. Pay attention where there’s tension. See the story you tell yourself, shift it to one that serves you better, and shape how you show up.
Edit the movie. Dr. Joey adds that the reticular activating system holds those stories like movies in your brain, and you edit every one of them.
Purpose is your golden thread. Why you do what you do outlasts what you do. You string that golden thread through every season and every stage.
Model, create and allow. Elizabeth calls negativity “a prison with an open door.” People leaders walk out first, create stability, and empower what reinforces positive narratives.
Put words to your values. At Chick-fil-A, everyone knew you catch up with people on the elevator instead of talking on your phone. Clear values let top talent decide, “Is that for me?”
Keep delivering on the promise. People want purpose, path and paycheck. You deliver on what you promised in the interview, every day, and you keep saying thank you.
Choose value creation over busyness. Put the rocks in the jar first. Your family, your health and your most important work fit, and the rice fits around them.

Your Do One Thing Challenge

Elizabeth’s Do One Thing (DOT) for you this week: Put words to where your culture is today and where you want it to go. “The more that we put words to that and define where we are and where we wanna be, we can naturally start to close that gap,” she says. Write both on one page this week, and share it with your team.

Connect with Elizabeth Dixon