Coaching for Leaders

Kristen Hadeed is the founder and CEO of Student Maid, a successful cleaning company that hires college students. She is the author of the book Permission To Screw Up*, in which she tells the stories of her biggest mistakes in leadership.

• The best thing you can do when you screw up is to admit it—and then people will start trusting you.
• Failure is the best way to learn.
• If you never admit to your failures, people start to think you’re hiding something and begin to lose trust.
• By admitting your mistakes, you give everyone else the permission to admit theirs.

• Permission To Screw Up* by Kristen Hadeed
• If Love Is a Game, These Are the Rules* by Cherie Carter-Scott

Download my highlights from Permission to Screw Up in PDF format (free membership required).

• How To Lead The Millennials, with Chip Espinoza (episode 158)
• The Way to Stop Rescuing People From Their Problems, with Michael Bungay Stanier (episode 284)
• Four Steps to Get Unstuck and Embrace Change, with Susan David (episode 297)
• Ideas Worth Stealing From Top Entrepreneurs, with Dorie Clark (episode 318)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Morten Hansen is a management professor at University of California, Berkeley. He is the coauthor with Jim Collins of the New York Times bestseller Great by Choice and the author of the new book Great at Work: How Top Performers Do Less, Work Better, and Achieve More*.

The Six Tactics:

1. Carve out the 15
2. Chunk it
3. Measure the soft
4. Get feedback
5. Dig the dip
6. Confront the stall point

Other Points:

• Focus on one skill you want to prove.
• Meetings should only be for debate, not status updates.
• Having a coach is great, but often you can coach yourself if you only focus on one thing at a time.

• Great at Work* by Morten Hansen
• Great by Choice* by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen

Download my highlights from Great at Work in PDF format (free membership required).

• Five Effective Ways to Train the People You Lead (episode 31)
• Why It’s Essential To Struggle With Learning (episode 157)
• Create the Best Place to Work, with Ron Friedman (episode 181)
• Essentials of Adult Development, with Mindy Danna (episode 273)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Edith Eger was one of the last Holocaust survivors to remember the horrors of the camps. She was a renowned psychologist and speaker who specialized in treating patients with traumatic stress disorders. Edith is author of the book, The Choice: Embrace the Possible*.

Edith was 90 years old when this episode was recorded. She passed away in 2026 at age 98.

• It’s not what happens in life, it’s what we do with it.
• The power we have is to choose to respond, not react.
• Sometimes seemingly insignificant worries are emblematic of greater pain.
• If you hate a person, they don’t suffer — you do. There’s nothing wrong with anger, it’s how you channel it.
• Underneath anger is a lot of pain.

• The Choice: Embrace the Possible* by Edith Eger
• Man’s Search for Meaning* by Viktor E. Frankl

Download my highlights from The Choice in PDF format (free membership required).

• Everyday People, Extraordinary Leaders: Olivia Klaus (episode 103)
• Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do, with Amy Morin (episode 204)
• How to Overcome Obstacles, with Collins Osayamwen (episode 281)
• Growth Mindset Helps You Rise From the Ashes, with Jeff Hittenberger (episode 326)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Bonni Stachowiak is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, a professor of business and management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, Bonni was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. She joins me monthly to respond to listener questions.

• Lindsay asked about coaching new leaders to give feedback to former peers.
• Meena asked about how to find her motivation during a difficult time.
• Lana asked about software to track development plans online.
• Stefanie asked about using assessments to uncover blind spots effectively.
• Williams wondered how to end a successful leadership position well.

• Analyzing Performance Problems* by Robert F. Mager and Peter Pipe
• On the folly of rewarding A while expecting B by Steven Kerr
• How to Stop Worrying and Start Living* by Dale Carnegie
• Getting Things Done* by David Allen
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team* by Patrick Lencioni
• DiSC Overview
• StrengthsFinder
• Lead Through Strengths with Lisa Cummings
• Thanks For the Feedback* by Sheila Heen and Douglas Stone
• Managing Transitions* by William Bridges
• Difficult Conversations* Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen

• How to Get Way Better at Accepting Feedback, with Sheila Heen (episode 143)
• Getting Things Done, with David Allen (episode 184)
• How to Manage Former Peers, with Tom Henschel (episode 257)
• Leverage StrengthsFinder for Your Team, with Lisa Cummings (episode 293)
• The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, with Daniel Pink (episode 332)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Neil Pasricha is a top-rated leadership keynote speaker, New York Times bestselling author, and positive psychology researcher focused on the relationship between happiness and leadership in business. He leads The Institute for Global Happiness.

Neil has written five New York Times and #1 international bestsellers including: The Book of Awesome*, Awesome is Everywhere*, and The Happiness Equation*. His books have been on bestseller lists for over 200 weeks and sold millions of copies.

• Retirement can be a shock for people, but having a sense of purpose makes it much easier to handle.
• We need to take the stigma off demotions, because for some people it’s a better match to their stage of life. As people get older, they work less. It shouldn’t be a shame for them to earn less.
• Social media solutions:
  1. No screens in the first or last hour of day.
  2. Put your charger as far away from your bedroom as possible.
  3. Turn off notifications on your phone, or put your phone on airplane mode.
• Happiness should be a starting point, not a destination.
• The best time of day to check email is 9-10 am and 4-5pm.
• If you’re only doing the urgent tasks, your never doing the important ones.

• The Happiness Equation* by Neil Pasricha
• Irresistible* by Adam Alter
• Abundance* by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler

Download my highlights from The Happiness Equation in PDF format (free membership required).

• The Secret To Happiness (episode 134)
• Five Ways to Avoid Living With Regret, with Allison Clarke (episode 171)
• How to Engage With Humor, with David Nihill (episode 245)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Greg Hall has 20 years experience as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Director of Data Analytics for a Fortune 500 company. He coaches business owners and executives to capture personal data analytics to achieve goals and reduce the stress that comes from sustained productivity.

• The more data we can bring to a problem, the better we’re able to see the solution. “A problem well defined is a problem half solved.”
• Before jumping into a problem you need to invest time to gather information about it.
• An easy way to start with personal data analytics is to just write down the time and the activity. And when you switch activities, update the record.
• You can’t create a budget if you don’t know how much you’re spending. It’s the same thing with planning: how can you plan if you don’t where you’re spending your time.
• First, assess how much work you have. Then, honestly ask yourself how much capacity for work you have.
• The hard work of fixing a problem is defining it well.
• You can’t plan out your interruptions, but you can plan for them: you don’t know when they’ll happen, but you do know how often they tend to happen and how long they typically take.

• How to Stop Worrying and Start Living* by Dale Carnegie

• The 5-Step Strategy for Solving Problems, with Michael “Coop” Cooper (episode 160)
• How to Solve a Really Big Problem, with Teresa Chahine (episode 292)
• How to Leverage People Analytics, with Jenny Dearborn (episode 323)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Daniel Pink has been listed by Thinkers50 as one of the top business thinkers in the world. His works include New York Times bestsellers, A Whole New Mind*, Drive*, To Sell is Human* and his new book, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing*.

• Naps boost productivity, but they should be no more than around 20 minutes long.
• Regular nappers get more benefit from naps than occasional nappers.
• We don’t treat breaks with enough seriousness.

We do better on certain types of tasks at certain times of day.

• Peak – Do heavy analytical work in the morning.
• Trough – Do easier administrative work in the early afternoon.
• Recovery – Do work that requires insight in the late afternoon and evening.

Ways to make the most of project midpoints when motivating teams:

• Recognize midpoints.
• Use midpoints to fire up your team.
• Let you team know they are slightly behind when they hit the midpoint.

• Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us* by Daniel Pink
• When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing* by Daniel Pink

Download my highlights from When in PDF format (free membership required).

• The Surprising Truth About Influencing Others, with Daniel Pink (episode 84)
• The Way to Make New Behaviors Stick, with Marshall Goldsmith (episode 196)
• The Best Way to Make New Habits Reality, with Kendra Kinnison (episode 217)
• How to Make Deep Work Happen, with Cal Newport (episode 233)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Tim Stringer of Technically Simple is one of the world’s leading experts on using task management systems and is the founder of Learn OmniFocus*, the premier site for teaching OmniFocus users how to be as productive as possible.

• In general, keep the planning and working tasks separate.
• By planning first, it’s much easier to be productive when you go into worker mode.
• Your task management system should collect your whens, your whats, and your ideas.
• Make your task management system a sacred space.
• Use due dates only when there is a consequence for not finishing something by that date.
• Focus on only doing a few important tasks first, then move on to the rest of the tasks.
• A morning and evening review will help you stay on top of your system.
• Common mistakes: Putting too much into your task management system, overusing due dates, and tasks that aren’t immediately actionable.

• Getting Things Done* by David Allen
• ToDoist
• OmniFocus
• Learn OmniFocus*
• Evernote
• Bullet Journal
• MindNode

• How To Be More Productive, with Tim Stringer (episode 151)
• Do This for a Productive Week (episode 180)
• Getting Things Done, with David Allen (episode 184)
• The Way to Stop Spinning Your Wheels on Planning (episode 319)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Bonni Stachowiak is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, a professor of business and management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, Bonni was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. She joins me monthly to respond to listener questions.

• Katrina asked about the how to get better at influencing and relationships in her leadership development.
• Sara asked about how to be proactive in conversations with an employee who is retiring.
• Zubair wondered about a low-cost way to set up a 360-degree feedback for a leadership team.
• Isaac is thinking about work-life balance early in his career and wanted our input.

• How to Win Friends and Influence People* by Dale Carnegie
• MBTI
• StrengthsFinder (now known as CliftonStrengths)
• DiSC
• The Empowered Manager* by Peter Block

• How to Lead a 100-Year Life, with Lynda Gratton (episode 266)
• How to Transcend Work-Life Balance, with Scott Anthony Barlow (episode 315)
• How to Leverage Differences to Accelerate Results, with Lisa Cummings (episode 320)
• How to Deal with Opponents and Adversaries, with Peter Block (episode 328)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Chip Heath is the co-author, along with his brother Dan Heath, of three bestselling books including Decisive: How to Make Better Decisions in Life*, Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard*, and Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die*. Their new book is The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact*.

• Very few people have a great first day at work.
• Transitions matter to people.
• Creating meaning is something we don’t do nearly enough.
• Good change efforts are elegantly simple.
• “Frankly, there isn’t anyone you couldn’t learn to love once you’ve heard their story.” -Fred Rogers

• The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact* by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
• Decisive: How to Make Better Decisions in Life* by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
• Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard* by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
• Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
• 7 Days of Memories
• Video: How to Write a Mission Statement That Doesn’t Suck

Download my highlights from The Power of Moments in PDF format (free membership required).

• How to Create Leadership Connections In the Smallest of Moments, with Doug Conant (episode 136)
• How to Transform Your Limitations Into Advantages, with Mark Barden (episode 207)
• Get Better at Onboarding Employees, with Amanda Davis (episode 288)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Peter Block is an author, consultant, and citizen of Cincinnati, Ohio. His work is about empowerment, stewardship, chosen accountability, and the reconciliation of community. He is the author of several best-selling books, including Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used*, Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-Interest*, and The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work*.

• We become “political” at the moment we attempt to translate our vision into action.
• Leadership is the capacity to initiate an alternative future.
• Most organizations are conflict-averse.
• Being “political” wasn’t always a bad thing. The meaning has been distorted.
• Pursue your interests but in a way that honors the interests of others.
• Power comes from a willingness to be vulnerable.
• When you’re vulnerable, all you’re doing is acknowledging what the world already knows.
• As soon as people start complaining, they’ve chosen helplessness.
• When we have strong negative reactions to people, it’s our projection.

Types of people in the workplace:

• Allies = high agreement / high trust
• Opponents = high trust / low agreement
• Bedfellows = low trust / high agreement
• Adversaries = low trust / low agreement
• Fence Sitters = low trust / unknown agreement

• The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work* by Peter Block
• Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used* by Peter Block
• The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work* by Peter Block

Download my highlights from The Empowered Manager in PDF format (free membership required).

• How to Handle a Boss Who’s a Jerk, with Tom Henschel (episode 164)
• How to Tame Workplace Incivility, with Sharone Bar-David (episode 210)
• Find Courage to Speak When It Matters Most, with Allan McDonald (episode 229)
• How to Increase Your Conversational Intelligence, with Judith Glaser (episode 271)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Jonathan Raymond is the founder of Refound, where he and his team work with organizations to create a company culture based in personal growth. He’s the author of the book Good Authority: How to Become the Leader Your Team Is Waiting For* and the creator of the The Good Accountability course*.

• We have to shift our mindset from our intentions to our impacts.
• Influential or powerful people tend to get away with worse behavior.
• High performers get away with bad behavior because people are afraid of reducing their performance. But leaders often only look at the revenue high performers bring in without looking at what their bad behavior costs the company in the big picture.
• Personal and professional growth are the same thing.
• Instead of focusing on how to grow someone’s career over a ten-year span, think about what you can do in one year.

• The Good Accountability course*
• Difficult Conversations* by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen
• Good Authority: How to Become the Leader Your Team Is Waiting For* by Jonathan Raymond
• Refound for Individuals

Download my highlights from Good Authority in PDF format (free membership required).

• How We Do Things Around Here To Get Results, with Kent Rhodes (episode 144)
• Use Power for Good and Not Evil, with Dacher Keltner (episode 254)
• Five Steps to Hold People Accountable, with Jonathan Raymond (episode 306)
• How to Make Inclusion Happen, with Deepa Purushothaman (episode 307)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Jeff Hittenberger is the Chief Academic Officer for the Orange County Department of Education. In this conversation, Jeff and Dave discuss the value of growth mindset for leaders, how the Orange County Department of Education is helping employees develop with it, and Jeff’s own personal journey to bring it into his work and life.

• If you don’t deal with things on a personal level, they will oftentimes negatively affect your work.
• It is important to cultivate emotional intelligence in the workplace.
• A growth mindset will help you overcome a sense of despair because it gives you a sense of agency.
• Learning about the growth mindset as a team will give you a common language to communicate with.
• Poor reactions to a problem can make the problem even bigger.
• Learning about emotional intelligence while in the workplace will also help outside of work.
• Learning about a growth mindset and emotional intelligence takes time; it can’t be a one-shot deal.

• The Growth of the Mind* by Stanley Greenspan
• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success* by Carol Dweck
• Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ* by Daniel Goleman
• What Got You Here Won’t Get You There* by Marshall Goldsmith

• Six Mistakes Leaders Make Sending People to Training (episode 30)
• Three Strategies To Build Talent In Your Organization, with Mark Allen (episode 155)
• The Way to Make New Behaviors Stick, with Marshall Goldsmith (episode 196)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Ryan Williams is a media strategist, international speaker, and author of The Influencer Economy*. His work has been featured in Inc. Magazine, Huffington Post, Success Magazine, Social Media Examiner and USA Today.

The Three Anchor Stories:

1. The Tearjerker story
2. The Authority Story
3. The Pay my Bills Story

• Leadership comes from storytelling
• The majority of us have great stories that we undervalue.
• Authenticity is having your actions match your words.
• Make your stories a conversation.
• In your stories, don’t discount your past successes.

• Making Ideas Happen* by Scott Belsky
• How to Win Friends and Influence People* by Dale Carnegie
• Made to Stick* by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
• The Brand Gap* by Marty Neumeier
• The Influencer Economy* by Ryan Williams

• The Four Critical Stories Leaders Need for Influence, with David Hutchens (episode 148)
• Practical Storytelling That Isn’t Awkward, with David Hutchens (episode 228)
• Ignite Change Through Storytelling, with Nancy Duarte (episode 268)
• Executive Presence with Your Elevator Speech, with Tom Henschel (episode 316)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Bonni Stachowiak is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, a professor of business and management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, Bonni was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. She joins me monthly to respond to listener questions.

• Greetabl* (15% off link)
• Blinkist* (free trial)
• Power Your Podcast with Storytelling
• Kindle*
• Audible* (2 free books + 30 days free)
• Amazon Fresh* (free trial)
• Blue Apron*
• Acuity Scheduling* (free trial)
• Sanebox* (free trial and $15 off)
• Apple Watch
• Apple AirPods
• Best Year Ever course*

• How To Create A Personal Knowledge Management System, with Bonni Stachowiak (episode 129)
• Tools for Saving Time and Learning More, with Bonni Stachowiak (episode 298)
• The Way to Stop Spinning Your Wheels on Planning (episode 319)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Jenny Dearborn is Senior Vice President and Chief Learning Officer at SAP. She is the author, with David Swanson, of the new book, The Data Driven Leader: A Powerful Approach to Delivering Measurable Business Impact Through People Analytics.

• There is data in everything.
• It’s not just about customer data, it can be used internally to improve the organization.
• HR professionals should try to be more in tune with the C-Suite and the company’s big picture strategy.
• A lot of organizations think they’re doing analytics but what they’re really doing is reporting.
• The best way to do analysis is to start mapping information against each other.
• Organizations often have enough data but they haven’t thought about ways to utilize it.

• The Data Driven Leader: A Powerful Approach to Delivering Measurable Business Impact Through People Analytics* by Jenny Dearborn and David Swanson

Download my highlights from The Data Driven Leader in PDF format (free membership required).

• Three Steps to Take After You Conduct a Survey, with Bonni Stachowiak (episode 150)
• How to Lead Through Uncertainty and Change, with Jacqueline Farrington (episode 224)
• How to Succeed with Leadership and Management, with John Kotter (episode 249)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Jill Schlesinger is the Emmy-nominated Business Analyst for CBS News, the host of the Jill on Money podcast and of the nationally syndicated radio show, Jill on Money, which won the 2018 Gracie Award for Best National Talk Show. She has been recognized as a Top 10 LinkedIn Influencer and a Top 10 LinkedIn Voice. She’s the author of The Dumb Things Smart People Do with Their Money: Thirteen Ways to Right Your Financial Wrongs*.

• First Three Financial Steps:
  1. Pay off consumer debt
  2. Create emergency fund of 6-12 months of living expenses
  3. Maximize retirement contributions
• You only need a financial advisor once you’ve achieved the first three financial steps.
• Life insurance is a cornerstone of a family’s financial security.
• Think about if your death would result in financial hardship for someone else.
• 90% of people should buy term life insurance.
• Make sure your advisor is held to the fiduciary standard.
• Put a freeze on your credit file for each of the credit bureaus.

• Marilyn Pittman
• letsmakeaplan.org
• napfa.org – National Association of Personal Financial Advisors
• lifehappens.org
• Haven Life
• equifaxsecurity2017.com
• annualcreditreport.com
• The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns by John Bogle*
• Betterment
• Jill on Money

• Improve Your Writing With Practical Typography, with Matthew Butterick (episode 145)
• How to Engage With Humor, with David Nihill (episode 245)
• How to Reduce Drama With Kids, with Tina Payne Bryson (episode 310)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Bonni Stachowiak is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, a professor of business and management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, Bonni was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. She joins me monthly to respond to listener questions.

• Elmer asked about how to use Twitter to help people in his organization stay in touch.
• Andrew asked how he can get coaching and/or leadership development when his organization doesn’t have the funding.
• Anders asked about technology tools that will help leaders influence the hearts and minds of people.
• Roger asked for advice on how to give his manager feedback.
• Jen asked about managing former peers.

• The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work* by Peter Block
• Zoom*
• FeedForward by Marshall Goldsmith

• How Twitter Can Help You Lead, with Joel Comm (episode 242)
• How to Manage Former Peers, with Tom Henschel (episode 257)
• How to Challenge Directly and Care Personally, with Kim Scott (episode 302)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Lisa Cummings is the founder and CEO of Lead Through Strengths, a firm that exists to help people find and use their strengths at work. Lisa and her team serve large teams and organizations to help them leverage the results of the CliftonStrengths (formerly StrengthsFinder) assessment. She is also the host of the popular Lead Through Strengths podcast.

Some leaders see different StrengthsFinder talents as obstacles, but these same difference can make our teams shine. In this conversation, Lisa and I examine the four demands of leadership and how we can honor the talents of each person.

• Our true strengths are the things we don’t often see as strengths because they come easily to us.
• Do the things you do well and find other people are good at the things you aren’t.
• Many people think they’re very similar to others, but there are a lot of underlying differences they don’t give themselves credit for.
• The Four Demands of Leadership are Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building, and Thinking.

• CliftonStrengths (formerly StrengthsFinder) assessment
• Four Demands of Leadership
• Lead Through Strengths podcast
• The Ultimate Guide to Using Your Strengths to Get Hired*
• Soar With Your Strengths* by Donald O. Clifton and Paula Nelson

• How to Interpret Your StrengthsFinder and CliftonStrengths Results, with Steve Dosier (episode 90)
• How to Succeed with Leadership and Management, with John Kotter (episode 249)
• How Teams Use StrengthsFinder Results, with Lisa Cummings (episode 293)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

I am often asked how I produce this show, facilitate the Coaching for Leaders Academy, and still manage to keep work-life balance in check. Like most people, it is a daily struggle and that I error on often. However, I have found a few systems that work well for me.

In this episode, I share why I’ve found quarterly planning to work well for me. In addition, I walk though my planning process in detail, so you can replicate the areas that align best with the context of your work.

• Leaders need to both lead and plan.
• Planning takes discipline.
• Plan out quarterly in addition to, or even instead of, planning annually.
• Take the most important areas of your life and try to find an objective for each one that you can focus on during the quarter.
• Lagging indicators are the results, and leading indicators are the action steps you take to get the results.
• Your life will mostly fill up with day-to-day tasks, but the key is what you do with the remaining time.
• We tend to think we can do it all.
• Have a “next quarter list” easily accessible so you can get things out of your head and clear up mental space.
• Having a quarterly plan will help you make better decisions because you’ve already done the critical thinking about what’s important to you.

• The 12-Week Year* by Brian Moran and Michael Lennington
• The Four Disciplines of Execution* by Chris McChesney and Sean Covey

• Do This for a Productive Week (episode 180)
• How to Actually Move Numbers, with Chris McChesney (episode 294)
• How to Turn Goals Into Results (MemberCast 1)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Dorie Clark is a marketing strategy consultant, professional speaker, and frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review. Recognized as a branding expert by the Associated Press, Fortune, and Inc. magazine, she is the author of the new book, Entrepreneurial You* — and her prior books, Reinventing You* and Stand Out*.

• Even things that seem solid can change at any moment.
• Anybody, in any career, needs to emphasize flexibility and adaptability.
• 35% of Americans are self-employed, projected to be 40% by 2020.
• Entrepreneurial side projects expand your skills for your main career.
• Side projects often create new career opportunities.
• If something is not being done, ask why is it not being done. Because it’s impossible? Or just hard?
• Check for metrics that you’re heading in the right direction.
• Progress might not always come in the form you’re expecting.
• How do you diversify but do it in a way that doesn’t pull you in a million directions?

• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion* by Robert B. Cialdini
• Entrepreneurial You Self-assessment
• Entrepreneurial You: Monetize Your Expertise, Create Multiple Income Streams, and Thrive* by Dorie Clark

• How to Stand Out, with Dorie Clark (episode 189)
• How to Be a Non-Conformist, with Adam Grant (episode 238)
• How to Solve a Really Big Problem, with Teresa Chahine (episode 292)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Bonni Stachowiak is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, a professor of business and management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, Bonni was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. She joins me monthly to respond to listener questions.

• Melvin asked about how to handle a layoff he’s been asked to do.
• Melissa asked about what she should do differently before letting people go.
• Carlos asked about how to change the dynamics on a dysfunctional team.
• Krystal asked about good reading resources for better customer service.
• Jun asked about what he could do to improve his executive presence.

• The Automatic Customer* by John Warrillow
• Good Authority* by Jonathan Raymond
• Radical Candor* by Kim Scott
• The Power of Vulnerability by Brené Brown
• Why Good Leaders Make You Feel Safe by Simon Sinek
• Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach To Customer Service* by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles
• How to Win Friends and Influence People* by Dale Carnegie

• The Power Of Servant Leadership, with John Dickson (episode 137)
• How to Create Team Guidelines, with Susan Gerke (episode 192)
• How to Challenge Directly and Care Personally, with Kim Scott (episode 302)
• Five Steps to Hold People Accountable, with Jonathan Raymond (episode 306)
• Membercast 4: How to Create a Team Vision

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Tom Henschel of Essential Communications grooms senior leaders and executive teams. An internationally recognized expert in the field of workplace communications and self-presentation, he has helped thousands of leaders achieve excellence through his work as an executive coach and his top-rated podcast, The Look & Sound of Leadership.

• An elevator speech is a crisp, concise, high-level summary of a complex, multi-layered topic.
• It can be about whatever you do as a profession, but it can also be about anything else, like your recent vacation.
• Elevator speeches get crafted … it doesn’t happen in the spur of the moment.
• Creating an elevator speech doesn’t take long, but you have to choose to reflect.
• An elevator speech is actually a conversation tailored to the other person.
• Say a little bit, and then test the other person’s level of interest.
• The longer you talk, the less effective you are.

The Three Qualities of a Great Elevator Speech

1. Keep it short
2. Be memorable
3. Tailor it to the listener

• Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office* by Lois P. Frankel

• Enhance Your Executive Presence, with Tom Henschel (episode 272)
• How to Grow Your Professional Network, with Tom Henschel (episode 279)
• Tom Henschel Interviews Dave (episode 300)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Scott Anthony Barlow is the Founder of Happen to Your Career. He’s been featured on CNBC, Yahoo, CareerBuilder, Fast Company and Huffington Post and various colleges and universities as a top expert on career happiness. He’s held roles executive roles in human resources, business development, and career coaching.

Scott is the host of the Happen to Your Career podcast, featuring the career stories of many successful professionals. His team and him have worked with over 25,000 people to help them stop settling, find their signature strengths, and start doing meaningful work they are enamored with.

In this conversation, Scott and I explore the myth of work-life balance and discuss how we should instead be aiming for work-life integration.

• Life doesn’t stop when you’re at work.
• The goal is to build a career that fully integrates with what you want most out of life.
• If you’re around the people you want to be around then you become a happier person.
• When people say they want work-life balance, what they’re really saying is that they want to experience happiness in how they’re spending their time.
• When you do things that other people are not willing to do, you get results that other people don’t get.

• 8-Day Video Course to Figuring Out What You Love*
• The Ultimate Guide to Using Your Strengths to Get Hired*
• Mike Vardy on time theming
• StrengthsFinder training for individuals and teams* (use code CFL10 for a 10% tuition discount)
• The ONE Thing* by Jay Papasan
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People* by Stephen Covey
• The Dip* by Seth Godin

• How to Know When to Move On (episode 175)
• How to Hire a Coach, with Marc Mawhinney (episode 179)
• How to Figure Out Your Career, with Scott Anthony Barlow (episode 259)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Emily Soccorsy and Justin Foster are from Root + River. They are brand strategists and marketers who believe that your brand is how other people experience what you believe. In this episode, Emily and Justin show us the key steps to create a framework for your leadership brand.

• Branding is something that begins inside of you.
• Much of branding is just uncovering what’s inside of you, articulating it, and then reflecting it outward.
• We’re living in a world where we can no longer get away with pretending to be something we’re not, so we have no alternative but to be ourselves.
• If you reverse engineer a brand failure, it’s usually because of a poor leadership decision, not a marketing problem.
• Whenever there is an outward branding problem, look inward.
• The most successful brands are the ones that have a minuscule chasm between their public brand and how they operate internally.
• Most missions come from suffering.
• What problem does the organization solve in the world?
• When there’s a connection to a belief, it becomes the message that then permeates every aspect of an organization.
• Branding becomes an invitation to believe what you believe.
• Our obsession with branding and marketing being finished is part of the problem.
• It’s always good for your brand to take a stand.

Three questions to ask when building a brand:

1. What do you believe in?
2. What’s your mission?
3. How do you create value in the world?

• Root + River
• An Open Letter on Branding
• Oatmeal v Bacon: Oatmeal is Boring, Bacon is Not – The Branding Book for People that Care* by Justin Foster

• The Five Elements Of Your Personal Brand, with Heather Backstrom (episode 133)
• The Four Stories Leaders Need For Influence, with David Hutchens (episode 148)
• How to Stand Out, with Dorie Clark (episode 189)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Bonni Stachowiak is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, a professor of business and management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, Bonni was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. She joins me monthly to respond to listener questions.

• Chris asked for advice on how to begin his leadership development journey, in spite of a lot of current frustrations.
• Warren asked for our perspective on how to handle a problematic situation with two employees he has inherited.
• Malcolm asked about our philosophy of leadership and how much we need to stay true to ourselves.

• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People* by Stephen Covey
  
• How to Win Friends and Influence People* by Dale Carnegie
  
• 11 Crucial Books That Every Leader Should Know
• American Management Association
• Dale Carnegie courses
• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking* by Susan Cain
• Podcast episodes for new leaders
• Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body* by Roxane Gay
  
• The Power of Vulnerability* by Brené Brown

• The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, with Susan Cain (episode 44)
• The Way to Turn Followers Into Leaders, with David Marquet (episode 241)
• Five Steps to Hold People Accountable, with Jonathan Raymond (episode 306)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Jon Lokhorst is a leadership coach and consultant who partners with CPAs, CFOs, and other leaders who face massive change in their industry and recognize the need for a new model of leadership to navigate those challenges.

• Leadership development is often neglected in technical fields.
• We have a tendency to focus more on our clients’ businesses than our own.
• Take a step back and ask yourself, “What are the things that are really important to focus on that aren’t necessarily urgent?”

• Jon’s white paper and e-course on professional development

• How to Influence Numerous Stakeholders, with Andy Kaufman (episode 240)
• How to Figure Out Your Career, with Scott Anthony Barlow (episode 259)
• How to Get Into Leadership Flow, with Croft Edwards (episode 264)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Kwame Christian is a business lawyer and the Director of the American Negotiation Institute. His TEDx Talk, Finding Confidence in Conflict, was the most popular TED Talk on the topic of conflict of 2017.

Today, he’s working extensively with procurement departments within companies to help them make better deals. Kwame hosts the top negotiation podcast, Negotiate Anything and is the author of the book Finding Confidence in Conflict: How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best Life*.

• Margaret asked about how to respond to people when they are asking for a pay raise.
• Kim asked about how to encourage an employee to leave the company.
• Vivian asked about how to handle a situation where an employee isn’t performing but who has a close relationship with a more senior leader.
• Roger asked what wisdom we’d give to leaders on handling tough negotiation situations.

• Download Kwame’s Free Guide
• Finding Confidence in Conflict: How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best Life* by Kwame Christian
• Getting to Yes* by Roger Fisher and William L. Ury
• Five Steps to Hold People Accountable with Jonathan Raymond (episode 306)
• How to Win Friends and Influence People* by Dale Carnegie

• How to Listen When Someone Is Venting, with Mark Goulston (episode 91)
• Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It, with Chris Voss (episode 262)
• How to Benefit From Conflict, with Susan Gerke (episode 263)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Tina Payne Bryson is the co-author, with Dan Siegel, of two New York Times bestsellers, The Whole Brain Child* and No Drama Discipline* — each of which has been translated into over twenty languages. She is a psychotherapist and the Executive Director of The Center for Connection in Pasadena, California, where she offers parenting consultations and provides therapy to children and adolescents.

• Much of what we do in the name of discipline is counter-productive.
• The original meaning of the word “discipline” is to teach.
• To effectively discipline (to teach kids skills to do better in the future), children have to be in a state of mind in which they can learn.
• Consequences can be counter-productive.
• If you’re being an effective disciplinarian, you should be disciplining less over time.
• “Time-outs” don’t teach kids anything, but taking the time to step away from the situation to talk to your kids does teach.

• No-Drama Discipline: The Whole-Brain Way to Calm the Chaos and Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind* by Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson
• The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind* by Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson
• The Yes Brain: How to Cultivate Courage, Curiosity, and Resilience in Your Child* by Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson
• Tina Payne Bryson’s website

Download my highlights from No Drama Discipline in PDF format (free membership required).

• Five Leadership Lessons Learned from Luke (episode 50)
• How to Improve Your Coaching Skills with Tom Henschel (episode 190)
• The Way to Stop Rescuing People From Their Problems, with Michael Bungay Stanier (episode 284)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Bonni Stachowiak is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, a professor of business and management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, Bonni was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. She is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide.

• Michael asked about what you do when you have a follower who has leadership potential but is reluctant to step into leadership shoes.
• Steve asked for suggestions on how to get communication out to a team when email isn’t an option.
• Michal asked about transitioning military leadership experience to a position in the private sector.
• Ricard asked about the discomfort of feeling like you don’t know it all when you’re new in a role.

• Radical Candor* by Kim Scott
• The Servant as Leader* by by Robert Greenleaf
• Scaling Up : How a Few Companies Make It … and Why the Rest Don’t* by Verne Harnish
• The 4 Disciplines of Execution* by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling
• Past Coaching for Leaders episodes on feedback
• Turn the Ship Around!* by David Marquet
• How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile … And 18 Mistakes to Avoid* by Brenda Bernstein

• The Power Of Servant Leadership, with John Dickson (episode 137)
• Where To Start With Succession Planning, with Bill Bliss (episode 153)
• The Way to Turn Followers Into Leaders, with David Marquet (episode 241)
• How to Support Veterans in Your Workplace, with Eugenia Weiss (episode 280)
• How to Write a Killer LinkedIn Profile, with Brenda Bernstein (episode 285)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Mike Erwin is the CEO of the Character & Leadership Center and the Founder and President of The Positivity Project, a non-profit organization with the mission to help America’s youth build stronger relationships by recognizing the character strengths in themselves and others. He is the co-author of the book Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude*.

• Solitude helps both in intense thinking and also in giving the brain a chance to quiet down.
• It’s hard to think intensively with a lot going on around you.
• Even extroverts can benefit from solitude.
• Start small. Just find a few minutes throughout the day to build a habit of solitude.
• Social media and solitude can coexist.

The four ways solitude benefits leaders:

1. Clarity
2. Creativity
3. Moral Courage
4. Emotional Balance

• Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude* by Raymond M. Kethledge and Mike Erwin
• The Character & Leadership Center
• Team Red, White, & Blue
• The Positivity Project

Get immediate access to my free, 10-day audio course, 10 Ways to Empower the People You Lead. Give me 10 minutes a day for 10 days to get the most immediate, practical actions to become a better leader. Join at CoachingforLeaders.com.

• CFL184: Getting Things Done with David Allen
• CFL196: Marshall Goldsmith on Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts
• CFL211: How to Be Present and Productive
• CFL214: Stop Worrying and Start Living

Bonni and I return for the monthly question and answer show. Submit your question for consideration next week or for the first question and answer show the first Monday of every month at http://coachingforleaders.com/feedback

Deepa Purushothaman is a National Managing Principal of Inclusion at Deloitte. She speaks extensively about Deloitte’s focus on women and has been featured at national conferences and in publications like Bloomberg and Harvard Business Review.

• You don’t have to always do things they way they’ve been done before — you can find a new way that is authentic to you.
• As society evolves, companies need to think about how they provide inclusion for their employees.
• People are less worried about seeing a diverse leadership team than they are about feeling like they belong.
• Individuals need to feel a sense of belonging and connection.
• Inclusion is starting to play an important role in talent acquisition and retention.
• One of the biggest mistakes is not knowing where to start and then doing nothing.
• Employees join and leave companies based on whether or not there is an inclusive culture.

• Responding When Your Expertise Is Challenged
• Deepa Purushothaman on Twitter

• How to Handle Workplace Bullying, with Jill Morgenthaler (episode 172)
• How Women Make Stronger, Smarter Choices, with Therese Huston (episode 255)
• How to Help the Underdog Thrive, with Terry Lipovski (episode 275)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Jonathan Raymond is the founder of Refound, a firm that believes we should all be aiming for more Yoda and less Superman. He is the author of the book, Good Authority: How to Become the Leader Your Team Is Waiting For* and the creator of the The Good Accountability course*.

Many managers and leaders recognize when more accountability is needed, but few use a process that invites high performance and embraces the whole person. In his work at Refound, Jonathan invites leaders to imagine a world where personal and professional growth are one thing, and where improving your relationships and owning your strengths translate directly into the rest of your life.

In this conversation, Jonathan teaches us a common language around accountability that works for almost everyone. Plus, he teaches us the five key steps of the accountability dial.

• Micromanagement is focused on tasks, but accountability is focused on relationships.
• Accountability doesn’t work unless there’s a context of personal caring.
• Employees want growth, and growth comes from productive discomfort. If you if you orient your day towards acknowledgment only on the positive side, you’re missing the better part of it.

The 5 Steps of the Accountability Dial:

1. The Mention
2. The Invitation
3. The Conversation
4. The Boundary
5. The Limit

• The Good Accountability course*
• Good Authority: How to Become the Leader Your Team Is Waiting For* by Jonathan Raymond
• Download the Accountability Dial
• Refound (Jonathan’s Firm)

Download my highlights from Good Authority in PDF format (free membership required).

• How to Create Team Guidelines, with Susan Gerke (episode 192)
• New Management Practices of Leading Organizations, with David Burkus (episode 253)
• Moving Beyond Command and Control, with Brian Robertson (episode 258)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Liz Wiseman has been listed on the Thinkers50 ranking and named as one of the top 10 leadership thinkers in the world and recipient of the 2016 ATD Champion of Talent Award. She is the author of three best-selling books, including Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter*.

• Some leaders make the people around them less capable.
• Leaders who diminish others get less than half of their capabilities.
• Diminishing often comes from good intentions.
• Leadership is a skill you can learn.
• A good boss sees the genius in others.
• Find a way to let your boss know what you’re best at.
• By admitting our own mistakes, we create an environment where others are willing to take risks.
• Ask yourself how you might be shutting down people’s ideas and capabilities.

Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter (revised and updated)* by Liz Wiseman

• How to Engage With Humor, with David Nihill (episode 245)
• The Way to Stop Rescuing People From Their Problems, with Michael Bungay Stanier (episode 284)
• What Gets Between You and Greatness, with Lolly Daskal (episode 296)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Bonni Stachowiak is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, a professor of business and management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, Bonni was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. She is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*.

• Kristi asked about how to consistently apply what she’s learning from the show until new habits become unconscious behaviors.
• Kimberly asked for advice on how to handle a situation where she is co-managing a team.
• Bar asked about the best ways to navigate imposter syndrome.
• Jonny asked about avoiding career moves that may be motivated only by status or money.

• 7 Ways to Maximize Misery
• The Power of Habit* by Charles Duhigg
• Radical Candor* by Kim Scott
• Why Is Authenticity So Hard and How Can You Be The Best Kind of Real? – Chris Brogan
• Tom Henschel Interviews Dave (episode 300)
• Coaching for Leaders Academy
• Cars 3
• Very Bad Wizards

• The Way to Make New Behaviors Stick, with Marshall Goldsmith (episode 196)
• The Best Way to Make New Habits Reality, with Kendra Kinnison (episode 217)
• How to Challenge Directly and Care Personally, with Kim Scott (episode 302)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Pete Mockaitis is the host of the How to be Awesome at Your Job podcast, regularly listed as a top careers show on Apple podcasts.

• Your sense of ownership in your work can have huge consequences in how well things unfold.
• Self-efficacy has a large effect on your sense of ownership in your work.
• Try to connect the job someone is doing with the overall mission of the organization.
• The effects of micromanaging can be disastrous for an organization.
• When delegating a job, think about the critical components of the job and what you want the result to be, then let employees get the job done however they see fit.
• Delegation doesn’t have to be an all-in-one-shot type of thing, it can be done in stages.

Steps to delegating:

1. Watch me do this
2. Help me do this
3. Let’s do this together
4. I’ll help you do this
5. I’ll watch you do this.

• Albert Bandura
• The 80/20 Principle* by Richard Koch
• Essentialism* by Greg McKeown
• The ONE Thing* Gary Keller Jay Papasan
• Arthur Woods podcast episode
• Jeff McManus podcast episode
• Financial Intelligence* by Joe Knight
• Improve Your Financial Intelligence, with Joe Knight (episode 244)

Episodes from the How to be Awesome at Your Job podcast that may be of value to your team:

• Increasing Confidence by Increasing Self-Awareness with Dr. Tasha Eurich
• Making Stress Work for You with Dr. Melanie Greenberg
• Overcoming Self-limiting Beliefs with R. Michael Anderson
• Honing Your Persuasive Skills with Kwame Christian
• Communicating with Inspiration and Clarity with Mawi Asgedom

• The Seven Steps You Follow To Delegate Work (episode 117)
• The Four Stories Leaders Need For Influence, with David Hutchens (episode 148)
• How to Challenge Directly and Care Personally, with Kim Scott (episode 302)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Kim Scott is a co-founder of Candor, Inc. She has been an advisor at Dropbox, Kurbo, Qualtrics, ReelGoodApp, Rolltape, Shyp, Twitter, and several other Silicon Valley companies. She is the author of the book Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss without Losing your Humanity*.

• Show you care at a personal level.
• You can’t build a relationship that’s not personal.
• In order to care personally for someone, you have to bring your whole self, not just your “business” persona.
• Sometimes we get so focused on the work that we forget there’s actually a person doing the work.
• Begin by soliciting feedback, not by giving it.
• To get feedback, come up with a go-to question like “Is there anything I could do or stop doing that would make it easier to work with me?”

• Radical Candor* by Kim Scott
• Radical Candor podcast

Download my highlights from Radical Candor in PDF format (free membership required).

• Start With Why, with Simon Sinek (episode 223)
• How to Manage Abrasive Leaders, with Sharone Bar-David (episode 290)
• How to Get the Ideal Team Player, with Patrick Lencioni (episode 301)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Patrick Lencioni is the founder of The Table Group and the author of 11 books which have sold over 5 million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages. He is the author of the blockbuster bestseller The Five Dysfunctions of a Team*, and his most recent bestseller, The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate the Three Essential Virtues*.

• Team players should be humble, hungry, and smart. Of the three, hunger is the hardest to teach later in life.
• Standard interviews don’t work. Think of unconventional ways to really get to know the interviewee.
• All the people interviewing a person need to evaluate the candidate using the same standards.
• There is a very high opportunity cost for hiring someone with values that don’t fit into your organization.

• Table Group Hub
• The Ideal Team Player* by Patrick Lencioni
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team* by Patrick Lencioni
• The Look and Sound of Leadership

Download my highlights from the The Ideal Team Player in PDF format (free membership required).

• Create the Best Place to Work, with Ron Friedman (episode 181)
• Detect and Eliminate Organizational Sabotage, with Bob Frisch and Cary Greene (episode 260)
• How to Motivate People, with Dan Ariely (episode 282)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Tom Henschel, host of The Look & Sound of Leadership podcast, executive coach at Essential Communications, and friend of Dave, interviews him on the growth of Coaching for Leaders and how he developed his voice.

• When trying to do something that helps others, remember that it’s not about you—don’t worry about you, worry about them.
• The best way to build a connection with people is to get really curious about them.
• You have to make the decision to listen.
• If you don’t have a lot of time to listen, figure out how much time you do have and make the decision to be totally present in that short time.
• Listening is an attitude, not a set of skills.
• View failure as data rather than an identity.

• The Look & Sound of Leadership podcast
• The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, with Susan Cain (episode 44)
• How to Steal the Show, with Michael Port (episode 219)
• Failing Forward * by John Maxwell
• Introduction to Powerful Listening (episode 1)
• The Lean Startup* by Eric Ries

• Six Mistakes That I Have Made Podcasting (episode 57)
• Three Steps to Take After You Conduct a Survey, with Bonni Stachowiak (episode 150)
• What This Show is About (episode 197)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Tim Sanders was the Chief Solutions Officer at Yahoo! and later, the company’s leadership coach. He is the author of four books, including the New York Times bestseller Love Is the Killer App: How To Win Business & Influence Friends* and his new book Dealstorming: The Secret Weapon That Can Solve Your Toughest Sales Challenges*.

• Every big thing we try to do is not just the one thing, it’s a lot of smaller things put together.
• You no longer sell to just one decision-maker, you have to sell to an entire team or a committee.
• When selling, you’ll probably never meet most of the people need to influence.
• Somebody in the company you’re selling to needs to be your advocate.
• Leaders should always have a mentee because it’s a great leadership habit, not because it’s an HR program.
• The best mentors expect nothing in return.
• If you assume people are acting with the best intentions, you’re going to be a much happier leader.

• Dealstorming: The Secret Weapon That Can Solve Your Toughest Sales Challenges* by Tim Sanders
• Love Is the Killer App: How To Win Business & Influence Friends * by Tim Sanders

• The Surprising Truth About Influencing Others, with Daniel Pink (episode 84)
• How to Collaborate Across Organizations, with Kirsten Foot (episode 215)
• How to Actually Move Numbers, with Chris McChesney (episode 294)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Bonni Stachowiak is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, a professor of business and management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, Bonni was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. She joins me monthly to respond to listener questions.

• Doodle
• Newsify
• Instapaper
• Blinkist*
• Sanebox*
• Getting Things Done* by David Allen
• Reminders
• Overcast

Since this episode originally aired, we’ve made the following changes:

• We now both use Acuity Scheduling* instead of TimeTrade
• We now both use Raindrop instead of Pinboard
• Bonni nows uses Inoreader and Dave uses Feedbin instead of Feedly

• How To Create a Personal Knowledge Management System, with Bonni Stachowiak (episode 129)
• How Twitter Can Help You Lead, with Joel Comm (episode 242)
• How to Write a Killer LinkedIn Profile, with Brenda Bernstein (episode 285)
• Audio Course: How to Enhance Your Credibility (free membership required)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Susan David is a psychologist on the faculty of Harvard Medical School; cofounder and codirector of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital; and CEO of Evidence Based Psychology. She is the author of the bestselling book Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life*.

1. Showing Up: Instead of ignoring difficult thoughts and emotions or overemphasizing ‘positive thinking’, facing into your thoughts, emotions and behaviors willingly, with curiosity and kindness.
2. Stepping Out: Detaching from, and observing your thoughts and emotions to see them for what they are — just thoughts, just emotions. Essentially, learning to see yourself as the chessboard, filled with possibilities, rather than as any one piece on the board, confined to certain preordained moves.
3. Walking Your Why: Your core values provide the compass that keeps you moving in the right direction. Rather than being abstract ideas, these values are the true path to willpower, resilience and effectiveness.
4. Moving On: Small deliberate tweaks to your mindset, motivation, and habits — in ways that are infused with your values, can make a powerful difference in your life. The idea is to find the balance between challenge and competence, so that you’re neither complacent nor overwhelmed. You’re excited, enthusiastic, invigorated.

• Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life* by Susan David
• Emotional Agility Quiz
• 3 Ways to Better Understand Your Emotions

• Ten Ways to Pick Yourself Up When You’re Beaten Down (episode 85)
• How to Lead Through Uncertainty and Change, with Jacqueline Farrington (episode 224)
• How to Increase Your Conversational Intelligence, with Judith Glaser (episode 271)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Lolly Daskal is the CEO of Lead From Within and was designated a Top-50 Leadership and Management Expert by Inc. magazine. She is the author of the the new book The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness*.

• If the situation isn’t working, what can you change about yourself?
• Ask yourself what type of person you need to be in a situation.
• There are aspects of ourselves that come out in times of stress.
• When you’re aware of your actions, you can choose how you’re going to act in the next moment.
• Allow your employees to teach you.

• The Leadership Gap
• The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness* by Lolly Daskal

• The Way to Make New Behaviors Stick, with Marshall Goldsmith (episode 196)
• How to Tame Your Inner Critic, with Tara Mohr (episode 232)
• Use Power for Good and Not Evil, with Dacher Keltner (episode 254)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Bonni Stachowiak is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, a professor of business and management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, Bonni was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. She is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*.

• Richard asked about how to practically influence on an executive team.
• Edwin asked about how to handle the situation when someone is fired.
• Isabeau asked about considerations to give when leading people who are parents.
• Tad asked about how to improve his skills as a program manager.

• Leadership and Self-Deception* by The Arbinger Institute
• Drive* by Daniel Pink
• The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work* by Peter Block
• Essentialism* by Greg McKewon
• Deep Work* by Cal Newport
• 13 Crucial Books That Every Leader Should Know
• Coaching for Leaders Academy

• Three Steps to Soliciting Feedback, with Tom Henschel (episode 107)
• How to Make Deep Work Happen, with Cal Newport (episode 233)
• How to Succeed with Leadership and Management, with John Kotter (episode 249)

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Chris McChesney is the Global Practice Leader of Execution for FranklinCovey and the co-author of the bestselling book The 4 Disciplines of Execution* with his colleagues Sean Covey and Jim Huling.

The 4 Disciplines:

1. Focus on the wildly important
2. Act on the lead measures
3. Keep a compelling scoreboard
4. Create a cadence of accountability.

• The 4 Disciplines of Execution* by Sean Covey, Chris McChesney, and Jim Huling
• Turn the Ship Around!* by David Marquet
• The 12 Week Year* by Brian Moran and Michael Lennington
• Frederick Herzberg
• HBR: One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees?

• How to Delegate Work Effectively (episode 117)
• How to Transform Your Limitations Into Advantages, with Mark Barden (episode 207)
• The Way to Turn Followers Into Leaders, with David Marquet (episode 241)

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Lisa Cummings is the founder and CEO of Lead Through Strengths, a firm that exists to help people find and use their strengths at work. Lisa and her team serve large teams and organizations to help them leverage the results of the CliftonStrengths (formerly StrengthsFinder) assessment. She is also the host of the popular Lead Through Strengths podcast.

Many organizations utilize the StrengthsFinder assessment, but few leaders go beyond a brief discussion and perhaps asking employees to share their results with peers. In this conversation, Lisa and I discuss how she helps leaders and teams leverage StrengthsFinder results and how to utilize them for ongoing coaching and talent development.

• Understanding another person’s strengths can help you work better with them.
• CliftonStrengths (formerly StrengthsFinder) conversations should not just happen one day a year, they should be discussed and thought about often.
• Ask employees, “How did you use your strengths yesterday?”
• Think of a CliftonStrengths (formerly StrengthsFinder) session as a starting point for an ongoing conversation, not just a one-time event.
• Partner with people who are strong where you’re weak.

• CliftonStrengths (formerly StrengthsFinder) assessment
• Lead Through Strengths podcast
• Lead Through Strengths website resources
• The Ultimate Guide to Using Your Strengths to Get Hired*
• StrengthsFinder 2.0* by Tom Rath
• Soar with Your Strengths* by Donald O. Clifton

• The Value of the StrengthsFinder Assessment, with Steve Dosier (episode 89)
• How to Interpret Your StrengthsFinder and CliftonStrengths Results, with Steve Dosier (episode 90)
• How to Figure Out Your Career, with Scott Anthony Barlow (episode 259)

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Teresa Chahine is the social entrepreneurship program leader at the Harvard School of Public Heath and the Innovation advisor at Alfanar Venture Philanthropy. She’s the author of Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship*, a 12-step guide to building an impactful venture. You can find her on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

• Find the root cause of problems to make sure your solution is not just a band-aid.
• Many leaders make the mistake of reinventing the wheel.
• Find local leaders and build solutions with them.
• Don’t try to solve a problem on your own, work with the people who are impacted by the problem.
• Think of research as a form of action.
• People are more likely to be satisfied with a solution if they feel like they were a part of it.

• BeTheBeacon Campaign
• Food Truck Film
• Kickstarter campaign
• Deconstructing Sticky Problems
• The Tipping Point* by Malcom Gladwell

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Bonni Stachowiak is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, a professor of business and management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, Bonni was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. She is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*.

• Elizabeth asked about how to keep goals front and center with a team throughout the year.
• Allison asked about the best ways to discover more about organizational development.
• Joel asked about the best ways to attract and develop instructors at his martial arts school.
• Phil asked about our recommendations for podcasts.

• The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months* by Brian Moran
• Organization Development Network
• Association for Talent Development
• International Coach Federation
• Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership* by Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal
• Organizational Culture and Leadership* by Edgar Schein
• The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization* by Peter Senge
• Literally Unbelievable* by Bronwyn Harris

• Mac Power Users
• Marketplace
• Smart Business Revolution
• The Look and Sound of Leadership
• Jill on Money
• Teaching in Higher Ed
• Unemployable
• Reply All
• Note to Self
• Code Switch
• On Being
• Podcast Greats for 2017 by Bonni Stachowiak

• How to Lead Through Uncertainty and Change, with Jacqueline Farrington (episode 224)
• How to Create a Team Vision (MemberCast)
• The Value of Coaching Certifications (MemberCast)

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Sharone Bar-David is the author of Trust Your Canary: Every Leader’s Guide to Taming Workplace Incivility* and president at Bar-David Consulting, a company offering solutions for creating a respectful workplace and rehabilitating abrasive leaders.

• Abrasive leaders often don’t realize how they’re acting, or if they do, they don’t realize the negative affects.
• One of the greatest myths is that you can’t do without someone — everyone is replaceable.
• The three steps of SBD:
  1. State the Expectation – What values or behavior you expect?
  2. Behavior – What are the behaviors that are of concern?
  3. Desired Behavior – How do you want the person to act?
• 360 reviews are good for diagnosing a problem with an abrasive leader, but not for solving it.

• Abrasive Leader Risk Assessment
• Trust Your Canary* by Sharone Bar-David
• Abrasive Leaders: Five Mistakes You’ve Made When Managing Them
• Is Your Email Writing Style Putting You at Risk?

• How to Handle a Boss Who’s a Jerk, with Tom Henschel (episode 164)
• How to Tame Workplace Incivility, with Sharone Bar-David (episode 210)

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Chris Deferio is the host of Keys to the Shop, a podcast that helps coffee service professionals to advance their careers by discovering more about barista work, management, leadership, and the operational knowledge to run a coffee shop.

Chris has decades of experience managing teams of part-time staff in a high turnover industry. In this episode, he shares the most practical tips his team has discovered for helping leaders be most effective with part-time employees.

• You can only go so far with positive feedback, you should also seek feedback on how you can improve.
• If you have a failure, just learn the lesson from it and apply that knowledge in the future.
• When hiring, focus on finding people who share your core company values.
• A lot of people know how to give good answers for the normal interview questions, so you have to ask different, more creative questions to really get to know them.
• Rather than view scheduling as a burden, look at it as a way to serve people.
• Doing a great job scheduling employees is a good way to show employees that you care about them.

• The Leadership Challenge* by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner
• Mindset* by Carol Deck
• It’s Okay to Be the Boss* by Bruce Tulgan
• Keys to the Shop podcast
• How to Master Your Workflow on Keys to the Shop
• Leadership & Management Master Class on Keys to the Shop

• How To Lead The Millennials, with Chip Espinoza (episode 158)
• What to Do When Somebody Quits, with Molly Moseley (episode 251)
• How to Manage Former Peers, with Tom Henschel (episode 257)

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