Coaching for Leaders

Faisal Hoque is an award-winning entrepreneur and innovator and founder of SHADOKA and NextChapter. He is a three-time Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the books: Reinvent, Everything Connects, and Lift. He has just released his newest book: Transcend: Unlocking Humanity in the Age of AI*.

The most compelling use cases for AI aren’t people OR AI – it’s both. Leaders who learn how to partner with AI will almost certainly open doors that many others don’t. In this episode, Faisal and I explore (a few steps on) how to get started.

• While we think about working with AI as very different than working with people, similar mindsets and skill sets help us with both.
• Partnering well with AI means asking better questions and being genuinely interested in the answers.
• Experts are limited by their perspective. Beginners are open to possibilities. We should approach AI with a beginner’s mindset.
• Using AI well means getting more comfortable with uncertainty. We need to own our ignorance.
• Playful discovery helps with our intrinsic motivation to keep going. When using AI, find the fun that keeps you engaged.
• This technology will do the logical work far better than any human. To partner well, work to increase your emotional intelligence.

• Transcend: Unlocking Humanity in the Age of AI by Faisal Hoque

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• The Way to Be More Self-Aware, with Tasha Eurich (episode 442)
• Principles for Using AI at Work, with Ethan Mollick (episode 674)
• Becoming an AI-Savvy Leader, with David De Cremer (episode 710)

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.

Alice Ferris is the Founding Partner of GoalBusters, a firm working to help small and mighty fundraising teams achieve big impact by planning practical strategies, teaching essential fundraising skills, and doing the hands-on work to turn vision into reality. She has more than 30 years of professional fundraising experience, specializing in strategic and development planning, campaign readiness and development program assessments, board and organizational training, executive leadership coaching, individual giving, and grant proposal evaluation. She’s also a graduate of the Coaching for Leaders Academy.

Fundraising is not a word that sparks joy for most leaders. In fact, many people who do fundraising never planned to have that be part of their career. And yet, almost every leader has an aspect of fundraising in their professional or personal lives. In this conversation, Alice and I explore how to get better at it.

• Almost every leader is involved with fundraising in some capacity, either personally or professionally.
• It’s a myth that fundraising is just asking for money. Most fundraising activities happen outside of the ask.
• Consider fundraising goals for must-do activities, maintaining the current state, and aspirational growth.
• Most people share health issues with their immediate family and close friends. When your organization is facing headwinds, tell your donors how they can help.
• Dedicated attention to fundraising is key for both prioritization and relationship continuity.
• Connectors, experts, and closers are all essential roles in the fundraising process. Play to the strengths of both staff and volunteers to fill these roles well.

• Connect with Alice on LinkedIn
• GoalBusters

• How to Lead Top-Line Growth, with Tim Sanders (episode 299)
• How an Executive Aligns with a Board, with Joan Garry (episode 662)
• The Reason People Make Buying Decisions, with Marcus Collins (episode 664)

Beginning a career transition? Feeling stagnant in your current role? Scott Barlow and his team may be able to help as official partners of Coaching for Leaders. To discover more about how his team can support you, get in touch on our expert partners page.

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.

Matt Dixon is Founding Partner of DCM Insights, a global training and advisory firm, and a leading expert in business development and client experience. His first book The Challenger Sale was a #1 Amazon and Wall Street Journal bestseller, and translated in a dozen languages. His newest book with colleagues Rory Channer, Karen Freeman, and Ted McKenna is The Activator Advantage: What Today’s Rainmakers Do Differently*.

At lot of us know the traits of the kind of person who’s successful at attracting new business. What many of us don’t know, is that what’s working today is actually different than what we traditionally think. In this conversation, Matt and I a take a detailed look at the professionals who are landing the most new business – and what they’re doing that works.

• The loyalty that once existed between professionals and their clients has changed substantially in recent years.
• A type of professional called an activator represents the highest performance in business development.
• Activators assume their best clients will leave at some point and are consistently working to build a pipeline of opportunities.
• Many professionals tend to protect client relationships. In contrast, activators actively bring colleagues into these relationships.
• Activators don’t wait for inquiries. They make opportunities happen by building relationships before paid work begins.
• Activators go way past birthdays and factual knowledge about others. They discover what’s important to their clients as individuals.
• Activators go way past “as is” content and work hard to thoughtfully connect it to a prospect or client’s situation.

• The Activator Advantage: What Today’s Rainmakers Do Differently* by Matt Dixon, Rory Channer, Karen Freeman, and Ted McKenna

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• The Surprising Truth About Influencing Others, with Daniel Pink (episode 84)
• How to Become the Person You Want to Be, with James Clear (episode 376)
• The Way to Earn Attention, with Raja Rajamannar (episode 521)

Finding it hard to make an impression in a noisy marketplace? Many listeners have reached out to David Hutchens to help their organizations get traction through the power of story. If you’re planning an offsite or training to get better, get in touch with us to start the conversation with David or any of our other expert partners.

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.

Wes Adams is the CEO of SV Consulting Group, a firm partnering with Fortune 500s and scaling companies to develop high-impact leaders and support high-performing teams. He is also a positive psychology researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studies the leadership practices and organizational structures that help employees thrive. He’s the author, along with Tamara Myles, of Meaningful Work: How to Ignite Passion and Performance in Every Employee*.

A generation ago, work was just work for a lot of folks. Today, we expect more out of our careers than past generations ever did. That means leaders need to be better at helping people find meaning at work. In this conversation, Wes and I discuss how leaders can do better at being catalysts for connection.

• We expect so much more from work than we did a generation ago. Work is increasingly a place where people seek belonging, purpose, and meaning.
• Supporting community in the workplace is a combination of building trust and designing shared experiences.
• Just like a balanced investment portfolio, community is a combination of diverse avenues that build a strong foundation.
• Consider a simple structure for synchronized breaks to help people connect more intentionally during work.
• Invite team members to share a story of them at their best or reflect on a photo/story that has meaning for them at the start of team meetings.
• When responding to a joy that a colleague shares, ask a follow-up question that engages and elevates.
• Higher difficulty (yet strongly meaningful) activities include shared volunteer work and funding or support for community activities.
• By occasionally sharing personal plans, stories, reading lists, or other activities, the leader sets the tone for others feeling safe to connect in this way.

• Meaningful Work: How to Ignite Passion and Performance in Every Employee* by Wes Adams and Tamara Myles

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• How to Create Meaningful Gatherings, with Priya Parker (episode 395)
• The Beliefs of Inspirational Leaders, with Stephen M. R. Covey (episode 707)
• The Way to Notice People Better, with Zach Mercurio (episode 733)

Are you a talent development or human resources leader seeking a coach for an internal client? Coaching for Leaders has partnered with some of the top coaches in the world, including a number of past podcast guests. Help us make an introduction by visiting our Expert Partners Page and telling us what you’re seeking in a coach.

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.

Judith Joseph is a Columbia-trained psychiatrist and the founder of and chief investigator at Manhattan Behavioral Medicine, New York City’s premier clinical research site. She’s also a clinical assistant professor in child and adolescent psychiatry at NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan, and chairwoman of the Women in Medicine Board at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. She is the author of High Functioning: Overcome Your Hidden Depression and Reclaim Your Joy*.

When we think about successful leaders, we often admire those who are loving towards others, can tolerate painful times, and know how to delay gratification. Those are all such important traits – and when we overindex on them, can become counter-productive. In this conversation, Judith and I explore when it’s no longer working and how to find the joy again.

• Many people who are experiencing high-functioning depression don’t realize it.
• High-functioning depression is often triggered by trauma. That can be major trauma, but it can also be more common forms of trauma like divorce, workplace conflict, legal issues, and many more.
• Anhedonia is one of the most common ways high-functioning depression reveals itself. It looks like not seeking out joyful activities and also not experiencing joy in activities that used to bring joy.
• Masochism is the other common way high-functioning depression shows up. It manifests as a pattern of self-defeating, people-pleasing behavior.
• The “superpowers” that come with high-functioning depression are viewed by others and society as strengths. However, over-indexing on being loving, tolerating pain, and delayed gratification are counter-productive over time.
• Validation is a starting point for healing. Each person is unique and sometimes it’s helpful to begin with movies or other creative works that help you recognize yourself.

• High Functioning: Overcome Your Hidden Depression and Reclaim Your Joy* by Judith Joseph

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• What to Do With Your Feelings, with Lori Gottlieb (episode 438)
• The Mindset Leaders Need to Address Burnout, with Christina Maslach (episode 608)
• Transcend Leadership Struggles Through Your Strengths, with Lisa Cummings (episode 692)

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Zach Mercurio is an author, researcher, and speaker specializing in purposeful leadership, mattering, meaningful work, and positive organizational psychology. He teaches a course with past guest Simon Sinek on how leaders can show everyone how they matter. He is the author of The Power of Mattering: How Leaders Can Create a Culture of Significance*.

When you ask people what mattered in their careers, few cite the bonus, or the stock options, or the employee of the month award. What they do talk about are the times they were remembered, supported, thanked, and seen. In this conversation, Zach and I discuss how to do that better.

• When people are asked about when they mattered, they recall small moments of being remembered, helped, thanked, or seen.
• The behavior of a leader accounts for half of the increased feelings of mattering and meaningfulness at work.
• Rather than identifying with a person’s behavior, identify first with the person.
• Look for the positive traits in a person or identify something that you love.
• Music is the space between the notes. In our informal interactions, we have the choice to turn against, turn away, or turn towards.
• Leaders who notice people well consistently follow three steps: observe, note, and share.

• The Power of Mattering: How Leaders Can Create a Culture of Significance* by Zach Mercurio

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• Start With Why, with Simon Sinek (episode 223)
• How to Shift Behavior for Better Results, with Mitch Warner (episode 690)
• How to Bring Out the Best in People, with Donna Hicks (episode 724)

Are you noticing people communicating in such a way that feels boring or robotic to stakeholders – or perhaps just losing them in the data? David Hutchens, one of our expert partners, helps leaders and organizations develop a more human, engaging voice through the power of storytelling.

To discover more about how his work may support your organization, get in touch on our expert partners page.

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.

Jeff Wetzler is co-Founder of Transcend, a nationally recognized innovation organization, and an expert in learning and human potential. His experience spans 25+ years in business and education, as a management consultant to top corporations, a learning facilitator for leaders, and as Chief Learning Officer at Teach For America. He’s the author of Ask: Tap Into the Hidden Wisdom of People Around You for Unexpected Breakthroughs in Leadership and Life*.

We place our organizations at risk when we miss stuff. Often, the things we miss aren’t what we don’t know. Instead, they are the assumptions we don’t even question. In this conversation, Jeff and I explore the practices that work to find what’s missing.

Hidden feedback cues:

• Repeated questions or suggestions about seemingly small details.
• Increased involvement in tactical decisions.
• Unexpected decreases in engagement.

Benefits of curiosity:

1. When We’re Curious About People, They Like Us More
2. Curiosity begets curiosity.
3. Curiosity creates empathy.
4. Curiosity makes us more resilient.

Curiosity sparks:

• What might I be missing?
• How else might someone interpret the situation?
• How might I be impacting them?
• What can I learn from this person?

• Ask: Tap Into the Hidden Wisdom of People Around You for Unexpected Breakthroughs in Leadership and Life* by Jeff Wetzler
• Ask Approach
• How to Recognize “Hidden Feedback” (Harvard Business Review) by Jeff Wetzler
• The Curiosity Coach In Your Pocket (Psychology Today) by Jeff Wetzler

• How to Inspire More Curiosity, with Shannon Minifie (episode 520)
• How to Help Others Be Seen and Heard, with Scott Shigeoka (episode 654)
• Make it Easier to Discuss Hard Things, with Jeff Wetzler (episode 679)

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Scott Anthony Barlow is CEO of Happen To Your Career and host of the Happen to Your Career podcast. His team and him are focused on helping people find the work they love. He’s also the author of the book, Happen to Your Career: An Unconventional Approach to Career Change and Meaningful Work*.

You’ve been laid off, or someone close to you is navigating that reality right now. A lot of the first things we think to do after a layoff are wrong. In this episode, Scott and I explore what to avoid…and more importantly, where to begin anew.

• Most people underestimate the time it takes to make a transition to the next, right position.
• Submitting tons of applications, networking everywhere, and telling everyone that you’re looking feels productive, but is often either incomplete or a waste of time.
• Give yourself the space to grieve. Spend time with the people who care about you.
• This didn’t happen to you, it happened for you. Whether objectively true or not, this mindset will help you be intentional about next actions.
• Hyperfocus your targeting by creating a master resume and also considering backdoors to opportunities.
• Decide when to hire help by using math – how much will expertise help speed up the process and/or help you land a higher salary?

• Happen to Your Career: An Unconventional Approach to Career Change and Meaningful Work* by Scott Anthony Barlow

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• Craft a Career to Fit Your Strengths, with Scott Anthony Barlow (episode 424)
• How to Nail a Job Transition, with Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (episode 555)
• How to Respond When You Get Triggered, with Sally Helgesen (episode 620)

In this midst of a layoff? Feeling stagnant in your current role? Scott Barlow and his team may be able to help as official partners of Coaching for Leaders. To discover more about how his team can support you, get in touch on our expert partners page.

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.

Tom Henschel of Essential Communications supports 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.

Have you been told you should take more initiative? Or, perhaps you’ve been telling that to someone else? Either way, this conversation with Tom Henschel will outline three key steps to help you get started.

Three steps to taking more initiative:

1. Think and talk about your work. Ideas come through conversation.
2. Execute on your idea. Feel the fear and do it anyway.
3. Communicate what you’ve done.

• Initiative is often in the eye of the beholder.
• Imagine a scale that goes from bold to cautious. There’s probably room for you to be at least 5% bolder.
• Feeling like you are waiting on others may be an indicator to take initiative.
• To calibrate where you land, ask yourself: “What’s my typical pattern?”
• In correspondence, consider asking fewer questions and making more statements.
• Place yourself in situations where you’ll need to show initiative.

• The Look & Sound of Leadership podcast by Tom Henschel
• Feel the Fear…and Do It Anyway* by Susan Jeffers

• Leadership vs. Management (The Look & Sound of Leadership, episode 166)
• 5 Strategies for Dealing with Narcissists (The Look & Sound of Leadership, episode 239)
• How to Answer “Tell Us About Yourself” (The Look & Sound of Leadership, episode 250)
• How to Talk So People Understand You (The Look & Sound of Leadership, episode 254)

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Jon Fogel is a husband, a father of four, and a parenting educator. His goal is to teach how to parent more effectively, with less stress and more success by combining modern neuroscience, developmental psychology, counseling, and positive, gentle parenting wisdom. He is the author of Punishment-­Free Parenting: The Brain-Based Way to Raise Kids Without Raising Your Voice*.

Most of us aspire to lead well in every area of our lives, not just in the workplace. A key place for leadership with many of us is with our kids and the other young people in our lives. In this conversation, Jon and I discuss how to raise kids without raising your voice.

• Consequences and punishment are not the same thing, even if the words are used interchangeably.
• Our kids want us to like them. They are not giving you a hard time; they’re having a hard time.
• Punishment doesn’t “teach kids a lesson.” More often, it crowds out higher-level thinking, and children are unable to remember what they were being punished for.
• Rather than imposing retribution, help children surface the natural and logistical consequences of their behaviors.
• Get curious, not furious. Often, there’s a perfectly rational reason that children are acting the way they are.
• Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate.

• Punishment-­Free Parenting: The Brain-Based Way to Raise Kids Without Raising Your Voice* by Jon Fogel
• Jon Fogel on Instagram

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• How to Reduce Drama With Kids, with Tina Payne Bryson (episode 310)
• The Way Into Better Conversations About Wealth, with Kristin Keffeler (episode 606)
• Supporting Return to Work After Maternity Leave, with Danna Greenberg (episode 639)

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.

Qasim Ijaz is the director of cybersecurity at a leading healthcare organization, overseeing detection, incident response, vulnerability management, purple teaming, and cybersecurity engineering. With a strong background in offensive security and risk management, he has helped organizations strengthen their defenses against evolving threats. He is also a dedicated educator, mentoring professionals and sharing his expertise at conferences such as BSides and Black Hat.

You don’t need to go far in the news these days to find out that another organization was hacked. Data breeches are a nightmare scenario for both leaders and the people they support. In this episode, Qasim and I explore what your team and you can do to be a bit more prepared.

• Use multi-factor authentication, passphrases, and a password manager.
• Freeze your personal credit reports. Do this for free directly with Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.
• Leaders in bigger roles (executives, CEOs, board members) are larger targets for hackers due to their access and also their ability to occasionally side-step organizational guidelines.
• It’s the non-technical pieces of a cyber response that organizations are least prepared for.
• Conduct incident response and disaster recovery tabletop exercises to uncover vulnerabilities before an attack.
• Regardless of organizational policy, employees will use AI. The best prevention assumes the inevitability of human behavior and works with it to improve systems.

• Recommended password managers: 1Password, Apple password app, Proton Pass
• Critical Security Controls by the Center for Internet Security
• Resources for Small and Medium Businesses by the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency
• 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report by Verizon Business

• Dumb Things Smart People Do With Money, with Jill Schlesinger (episode 396)
• Where to Start When Inheriting a Team in Crisis, with Lynn Perry Wooten (episode 603)
• How to Use AI to Think Better, with José Antonio Bowen (episode 689)

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Andrew Brodsky is an award-winning professor, management consultant, and virtual communications expert at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. He is an expert in workplace technology, communication, and productivity, and serves as the CEO of Ping Group. He is the author of Ping: The Secrets of Successful Virtual Communication*.

We’ve all heard the well intended advice that having interactions in person is always best. And that being as close to perfect as possible is ideal. Turns out, not always. In this conversation, Andrew and I explore how adapting to the context of tough situations can help you show up in a way that’s helpful for the other party and for you.

• In virtual interactions, what feels authentic to you may not seem authentic to the person you’re interacting with.
• While video is best for being present, it may not be best when your underlying emotions could leak into a situation.
• Surface acting helps us all land with the other party more authentically. Audio only can help this land better.
• If using a less rich medium to communicate (i.e. email instead of a conversation) it’s helpful to explain why you made that choice.
• People who appear perfectly competent may not be as likable. Consider surfacing blunders that aren’t central to the core expertise of your work.
• We often default to the medium that works best for us. Consider what will land best with the other party.

• Ping: The Secrets of Successful Virtual Communication* by Andrew Brodsky

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• How to Genuinely Show Up for Others, with Marshall Goldsmith (episode 590)
• How to Make a Better Impression on Camera, with Mark Bowden (episode 643)
• How to Grow From Feedback, with Jennifer Garvey Berger (episode 713)

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.

Paul Akers is the founder and president of FastCap, a product development company specializing in woodworking tools and hardware for the professional builder. Through a series of twists and turns he discovered Lean and the Toyota Production System (TPS) which was instrumental in propelling FastCap as an example of Lean manufacturing and culture, now followed by thousands of companies around the world. He is the author of 2 Second Lean: How to Grow People and Build a Fun Lean Culture at Work & at Home*.

We often add more in order to make a system better. The opposite tactic is often more useful: making things simpler. In this conversation, Paul and I explore how to make worker better by starting small.

• Your pride will blind you to what you most need to learn.
• Begin by addressing the things that bug you. Lean is about making things simpler.
• Instead of batching, consider one-piece flow. This helps you improve as you go.
• Set the standard at 2 seconds to try something new. Anybody can achieve that.
• Start in the bathroom. Showing respect in the place everybody visits sets a standard for the rest of the organization.
• To make something stick, (1) set the expectation, (2) inspect the expectation, (3) reinforce the expectation.

• 2 Second Lean: How to Grow People and Build a Fun Lean Culture at Work & at Home* by Paul Akers
• Example of 2 second lean in practice

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• How To Create Joy At Work, with Richard Sheridan (episode 122)
• Engaging People Through Change, with Cassandra Worthy (episode 571)
• How to Change the Way You Think, with Ari Weinzweig (episode 592)

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.

Joel Pérez is an executive and leadership coach, speaker, and consultant who is passionate about helping leaders and organizations achieve their goals and develop a posture of cultural humility. He has over twenty years of experience in higher education, serving in various key leadership roles. He is the author of Dear White Leader: How to Achieve Organizational Excellence through Cultural Humility*.

We could all get a bit better at bringing a dose of humility into our work. Inside organizations, cultural humility starts with how leaders show up each day. In this episode, Joel and I examine three shifts that will help us better empower others.

• While humility starts with an individual, it must move beyond them to improve the organization.
• Maintain high standards while avoiding perfectionism by discussing how mistakes get handled in advance.
• To prevent a sense of urgency from rushing a bad decision, consider who’s missing from the conversation.
• Listen, ask curious questions, and say thank you when receiving criticism.
• Criticism doesn’t need to be addressed in the moment. Consider reflection, other data points, and responding more in a future interaction.

• Dear White Leader: How to Achieve Organizational Excellence through Cultural Humility* by Joel Pérez
• Dear White Leader website

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• The Starting Point for Inclusive Leadership, with Susan MacKenty Brady (episode 584)
• How to Use Power Responsibly, with Vanessa Bohns (episode 551)
• How to Discover What People Want, with Tiziana Casciaro (episode 565)

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.

Donna Hicks is an Associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University and the former Deputy Director of the Program on International Conflict Analysis and Resolution (PICAR). She has facilitated dialogues in numerous unofficial diplomatic efforts and was a consultant to the BBC in Northern Ireland, where she co-facilitated a television series, Facing the Truth, with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. She is the author of Dignity: Its Essential Role in Resolving Conflict and Leading with Dignity: How to Create a Culture That Brings Out the Best in People*.

Everyone wants to be treated in a way that shows they matter. We may differ in status, but we are all equal in dignity. In this episode, Donna and I explore how appreciating dignity can help us bring out the best in people.

• Everyone wants to be treated in a way that shows they matter.
• Dignity is different from respect. Everyone has dignity, but not everyone deserves respect.
• A major misconception of dignity is that we receive our worth from external sources.
• We’re at our best when connected to our own dignity, connected to the dignity of others, and connected to the dignity of something bigger.
• Start with vulnerability and empathy. These open the doors to connecting with your own dignity and the dignity of others.
• We may differ in status, but we are all equal in dignity.

• Dignity: It’s Essential Role in Resolving Conflict* by Donna Hicks
• Leading with Dignity: How to Create a Culture That Brings Out the Best in People* by Donna Hicks

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

• How to Get Way Better at Accepting Feedback, with Sheila Heen (episode 143)
• Use Power for Good and Not Evil, with Dacher Keltner (episode 254)
• Help People Show Up as Themselves, with Frederic Laloux (episode 580)

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.

Melody Wilding is an executive and leadership coach for smart, sensitive high-achievers who are tired of getting in their own way. She teaches human behavior at Hunter College and is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Business Insider, who named her one of the “most innovative coaches.” She is the author of Managing Up: How to Get What You Need from the People in Charge*.

Good work speaks for itself. It’s a lie many of us have wished was true, but found that there’s actually much more work involved. In this conversation, Melody and I discuss what really helps in creating more visibility.

• Good work does not speak for itself.
• Our fear of appearing self-promotional can hinder the visibility conversations that our leaders and team need from us.
• A story will be told about your work. By having stories that you are ready to tell, you get to shape the narrative.
• Instead of listing what you’ve done, highlight what you want to be known for.
• Give visibility to work that is important to your team, puts you in contact with stakeholders, and impacts that bottom line.
• Always have a 3-step pocket update at the ready. Share a (1) project, (2) detail, and (3) result.
• Capitalize on casual conversation. Say yes to the right invitations and be the person that keeps the relationship going.

• Managing Up: How to Get What You Need from the People in Charge* by Melody Wilding

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• Get Noticed Without Selling Out, with Laura Huang (episode 480)
• How to Start Finding Useful Stories, with David Hutchens (episode 593)
• Getting Better at Internal Communication, with Roy Schwartz (episode 687)

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Rebecca Homkes is a high-growth strategy specialist and CEO and executive advisor. She is a Lecturer at the London Business School, Faculty at Duke Corporate Executive Education, and Advisor and Faculty at the Boston Consulting Group focused on AI and Climate and Sustainability. She is the author of Survive, Reset, Thrive: Leading Breakthrough Growth Strategy in Volatile Times*.

Uncertainty seems to be more and more the norm. Sometimes, that leads an organization into survival mode. If that’s where you are now, this conversation is the roadmap for what to do next.

• We default to the assumption that uncertainty is unequivocally bad.
• Executives are often overconfident in their ability to predict the future and get tied into patterns that reward following the plan.
• We tend to adopt the first explanation we hear that makes sense instead of examining our beliefs.
• Make good decisions even when you cannot make good predictions.
• Avoid attempting to predict the end state. Stop planning and start preparing.
• People are often most honest when in survival mode, opening up opportunity for learning and growth.
• Ask these two questions: What could break us? What could make us?

• Survive, Reset, Thrive: Leading Breakthrough Growth Strategy in Volatile Times* by Rebecca Homkes

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

• The Way to Make Better Decisions, with Annie Duke (episode 499)
• Help Your Team Embrace Growth Mindset, with Eduardo Briceño (episode 644)
• How to Handle High-Pressure Situations, with Dan Dworkis (episode 701)

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Jess Britt is an experienced executive and nonprofit board chair. Today as a coach and consultant, she uses a facilitative leadership approach to empower leaders and teams to build collaborative, high-performing, data-driven workplace cultures. She’s an alum of our Academy and for the past two years, has taken a leadership role inside our community as a Coaching for Leaders fellow, providing coaching and facilitation to our members.

While some leaders love to hate meetings, a well-designed meeting can open huge opportunities to connect, engage, and build culture on a team. In this conversation, Jess and I zero in on simple tactics that will help you engage attendees and lead meetings that people actually enjoy. We explore how objectives, facilitation tactics, and adult learning principles can help and invite you to start with one.

• Identifying both shared and non-shared objectives helps you design meetings, informs how you show up, makes meetings less frustrating, and helps you pivot.
• Invite discussion and engagement at the start with a warm-up question. If possible, connect the question to an objective of the meeting.
• Check-out questions are a quick indicator of what worked and what didn’t. Use emojis, voting, or a quick question to assess, and follow up if something didn’t land.
• Adults learn best by drawing on past experiences and taking action. Bring in role plays, think-pair-share, and gallery walks to help engage people.
• Simple debrief questions will open up insights. Consider prompts like: “What came out of this?” “What did you hear?” and “I heard you discussing an idea. Tell us more.”

Reach out to Jess at jess@jessbritt.com and tell her one thing you tried from this conversation and what happened. She’ll respond by sharing her full guide of meeting facilitation ideas we weren’t able to entirely cover in this episode.

• Jess Britt’s website
• Coaching for Leaders Academy

• How to Lead Meetings That Get Results, with Mamie Kanfer Stewart (episode 358)
• Moving Towards Meetings of Significance, with Seth Godin (episode 632)
• Bringing Your Strengths to a Big Job, with General CQ Brown, Jr. (episode 691)

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Margie Warrell is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, leadership coach, and Forbes columnist. With twenty-five years of experience living and working around the world, she has dedicated her life to helping others overcome fear and unlock their potential. She is the author of The Courage Gap: 5 Steps to Braver Action*.

Whether it’s painting a vision of the future or giving feedback on something that didn’t work yesterday, courage is a necessity for leaders. In this episode, Margie and I highlight the way towards just a bit more of it.

• Leaders may rise in the ranks because of what they do, but cap themselves because of who they are.
• The smarter we are, the more our fears work in the background.
• Beware discounting the future. Fear causes us to value the future less than the present.
• Reel in fearcasting worst-case scenarios. These can prevent us from seeing the benefits of action.
• Stop rationalizing inaction and excess caution. An excuse is always there to prevent you from doing what’s right and true.
• Avoid betraying yourself to secure status with others.

• The Courage Gap: 5 Steps to Braver Action* by Margie Warrell

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• How to Protect Your Confidence, with Nate Zinsser (episode 573)
• How to Help People Engage in Growth, with Whitney Johnson (episode 576)
• How to Grow From Feedback, with Jennifer Garvey Berger (episode 713)

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Ethan Kross is the author of the national bestseller Chatter and one of the world’s leading experts on emotion regulation. An award-winning professor in the University of Michigan’s top-ranked Psychology Department and its Ross School of Business, he is the Director of the Emotion and Self-Control Laboratory. He’s the author of the new book, Shift: Managing Your Emotions–So They Don’t Manage You*.

Being a leader means that our emotions get triggered, often many times a day. While none of us can avoid those triggers, how we respond to them can make all the difference. In this conversation, Ethan and I explore his research on how to better manage our emotions.

• We often assume that approaching emotions is universally good and avoiding emotions is universally bad. Reality is much more nuanced.
• We can strategically use our senses to modulate our feelings.
• Music is a simple and powerful way to manage emotions proactively. Use playlists that align with the mood you wish to create.
• Using distancing language when talking to yourself (i.e. saying “you” instead of “I”) can help you regulate.
• Time shifting may help regulate your emotions. Ask yourself, how will I feel about this in a week? A month? A year?
• Different tools work for different people at different times. Experiment to help you determine what works best for you.

• Shift: Managing Your Emotions–So They Don’t Manage You by Ethan Kross

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• How to Find Helpful Advisors, with Ethan Kross (episode 516)
• How to Grow From Your Errors, with Amy Edmondson (episode 663)
• How to Handle High-Pressure Situations, with Dan Dworkis (episode 701)

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Sandra Matz is a Columbia Business School professor, computational social scientist, and pioneering expert in psychological targeting. Her research uncovers the hidden relationships between our digital lives and our psychology with the goal of helping businesses and individuals make better decisions. She is the author of Mindmasters: The Data-Driven Science of Predicting and Changing Human Behavior*.

Algorithms are becoming more influential with each passing day. That’s why leaders must understand their power and then decide how their organizations engage. In this conversation, Sandra and I discuss where psychological targeting is at, where it’s going, and the opportunity you have to make the world a bit better.

• Everyone knows everything in a small town (for better or worse). In the same way, psychological targeting can be used for both evil and good.
• Psychological targeting already is successful at identifying wealth, personality, income level, and sexual orientation – and keeps improving.
• None of this is going away. Understanding how the game of targeting is played can help you make it work to your advantage.
• Leaders and organizations who use targeting responsibly can do tremendous good, including helping people save money and flag early interventions for health crises.
• Be transparent with what data you’re collecting and how you’re using it. Consider newer practices like federated learning that protect privacy and provide permission-based access.
• Design systems and practices that anticipate the reality of future leaders with different values.

• Mindmasters: The Data-Driven Science of Predicting and Changing Human Behavior by Sandra Matz

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

• Serve Others Through Marketing, with Seth Godin (episode 381)
• The Way to Earn Attention, with Raja Rajamannar (episode 521)
• The Reason People Make Buying Decisions, with Marcus Collins (episode 664)

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Alison Wood Brooks is the O’Brien Associate Professor of Business Administration and Hellman Faculty Fellow at the Harvard Business School, where she created and teaches a course called TALK. As a behavioral scientist, she is a leading expert on the science of conversation and her research was referenced in two of the top ten most-viewed TED talks and depicted in Pixar’s Inside Out 2. She is the author of Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves*.

Conversations are the venues where leaders do so much of their work. We all know someone who always can keep a conversation interesting and relevant. In this episode, Alison and I discuss how a key tactic can help you towards more meaningful conversations.

• Healthy relationships are critical for success, and relationships are about talking.
• Good conversation is both instinct and deliberate effort. Preparing topics in advance improves conversation immensely.
• Topics for conversation can be sourced from almost anywhere and help even if we don’t use those topics.
• Good topic management is more important than the right topic. The best conversationalists know when to shift.
• Small talk in an essential exploration ground for getting to bigger, more meaningful conversation.

• Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves* by Alison Wood Brooks

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• The Way Into Difficult Conversations, with Kwame Christian (episode 497)
• How to Help Difficult Conversations Go Better, with Sheila Heen (episode 655)
• How to Connect with People Better, with Charles Duhigg (episode 670)

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Adam Galinsky is the Vice Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Paul Calello Professor of Leadership and Ethics at the Columbia Business School. He co-authored the book Friend & Foe and his TED talk, How to Speak Up for Yourself, is one of the most popular of all time with over 7 million views. He’s the author of Inspire: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others.

Leaders can delegate many things, but vision is not one of them. Most every leader needs to be able to articulate the future. In this conversation, Adam and I explore the building blocks to get better at inspiring others.

• Every leader has the potential to be inspiring. We can choose to get better.
• Whatever a leader says, either positive or negative, will be amplified.
• When values are brought front and center, they inspire behavior that creates a better future.
• Inspiring leaders offer a big picture, optimistic view of the future.
• Make visions simple and vivid. Simplicity is the key to inception. Use strong imagery that brings details to life.
• Repetition is essential for a vision to take hold. The more often we hear something, the more likely it becomes our own truth.

• Inspire: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others* by Adam Galinsky

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• How to Sell Your Vision, with Michael Hyatt (episode 482)
• The Beliefs of Inspirational Leaders, with Stephen M. R. Covey (episode 707)
• How to Create Your Personal Vision (Audio course)

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Sunita Sah is an award-winning professor at Cornell University and an expert in organizational psychology, leading groundbreaking research on influence, authority, compliance, and defiance. A trained physician, her research and analyses have been widely published in leading academic journals and media entities including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Harvard Business Review, and Scientific American. She is the author of Defy: The Power of No in a World That Demands Yes*.

We often think of defiance as a snap judgement. Yet, it’s so much more nuanced and purposeful than it often appears. In this conversation, Sunita and I explore the common patterns of defiance and how we can all do a better job of standing up for ourselves.

• We follow bad advice – even when we know it is obviously bad – to avoid appearing unhelpful.
• Defiance means acting in accordance with your true values when there is pressure to do otherwise.
• True defiance is not a snap judgement; it’s a process.
• Acts of defiance are preceded by many moments of conscious compliance, when defiance is deferred.
• Five stages of defiance often emerge: (1) Tension, (2) Acknowledgement (to ourselves), (3) Escalation (vocalize to others), (4) Threat of non-compliance, and (5) Act of defiance.
• Vocalizing our concern to someone else is a key pivot point on the journey to ultimately saying no.
• Respond explicitly to these questions: (1) Who am I? (2) What type of situation is this? and (3) What does a person like me do in a situation such as this?

• Defy: The Power of No in a World That Demands Yes* by Sunita Sah

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• Find Courage to Speak When It Matters Most, with Allan McDonald (episode 229)
• How to Build Psychological Safety, with Amy Edmondson (episode 404)
• How to Speak Up, with Connson Locke (episode 546)

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

• Josh asked about helpful practices for setting chat groups in the workplace, especially for remote workers.
• Lily was curious about the best way to structure a first session of a new innovation group and also how to help people engage.
• Nicole wondered how she might navigate a situation with a particular donor who is asking for more support than is typical.

• The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters* by Priya Parker
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable* by Patrick Lencioni
• Sunrise, Sunset from Fiddler on the Roof

• How to Create Meaningful Gatherings, with Priya Parker (episode 395)
• Transitioning to Remote Leadership, with Tammy Bjelland (episode 509)
• Transcend Leadership Struggles Through Your Strengths, with Lisa Cummings (episode 692)

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Jennifer Garvey Berger is cofounder and CEO of Cultivating Leadership, a consultancy that serves executives and teams in the private, non-profit, and government sectors. Her clients include Google, Microsoft, Novartis, Wikipedia, and Oxfam International. She is the author of four leadership books, including now in it’s second edition, Changing on the Job: How Leaders Become Courageous, Wise, and Steady in an Anxious World*.

We often think about feedback as something we give to someone else. What if, in addition to that, feedback is an opportunity for both parties to learn and grow? In this conversation, Jennifer and I explore how this can open a door to some of the best leadership work we do.

• If we view feedback as only giving our truth to someone else, we’ve missed a huge opportunity for growth.
• Start by separating what happened from the interpretation of what happened.
• Get curious about your own response: what made you react so strongly?
• Talk it out. You have to welcome someone else into your thinking if you’re going to really learn.
• Invite in how the other person sees the situation. Consider saying, “I’m really interested in what this looked like from your perspective.”
• The process of unwinding what you hear is the good work of leadership and some the best work you can do.
• Build a solution together.

• Changing on the Job: How Leaders Become Courageous, Wise, and Steady in an Anxious World* by Jennifer Garvey Berger

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

• Essentials of Adult Development, with Mindy Danna (episode 273)
• How to Give Feedback, with Russ Laraway (episode 583)
• How to Lead Better Through Complexity, with Jennifer Garvey Berger (episode 613)

Coaching for Leaders is edited by Andrew Kroeger. Production support is provided by Sierra Priest.

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Anne Chow was the CEO of AT&T Business and the first woman of color CEO in AT&T’s 140+ year history, responsible for leading a $35B global operating unit of over 35,000 people. She was named to Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business twice and today serves on a number of boards, including FranklinCovey, 3M, and CSX. She is the author of Lead Bigger: The Transformative Power of Inclusion.

We all know the importance of values, but it’s often hard to know where to begin when clarifying them with a team. In this conversation, Anne and I explore how to align on values that support a great culture and move towards a vision.

• Values and ideologies are distinct. Leading bigger means honoring diverse ideologies while aligning on core values.
• Bigger leaders have the courage to admit and cite situations where they fall short.
• When asking people to craft values, invite them to start by individually considering their personal values.
• When discussing values as a group, highlight both the common agreements and also the outlying ideas.
• Leaders must ultimately decide which values best embody the culture and vision of their organization.
• Bring in different stakeholders to do a gut check on whether the values are legitimate.
• Measure behaviors against values and review and update values and metrics regularly.

• Lead Bigger: The Transformative Power of Inclusion by Anne Chow

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• How to Create Team Guidelines, with Susan Gerke (episode 192)
• How to Discover What Others Value, with Joe Hart (episode 616)
• How to Prevent a Team From Repeating Mistakes, with Robert “Cujo” Teschner (episode 660)

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Karthik Ramanna is a professor of business and public policy at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government, where he has served as director of one of the world’s most diverse leadership programs. Previously a professor at Harvard Business School, he studies how organizations and leaders build trust with stakeholders. He is the author of The Age of Outrage: How to Lead in a Polarized World.

In a lot of ways, leadership is better than it was a generation ago. One way that it isn’t better? Figuring out how to lead effectively in an increasingly polarized world. In this conversation, Karthik and I explore what leaders can do to turn down the temperature on outrage.

• We tend to frame effective leadership as heroic. In times of outrage, the virtue of temperance becomes essential.
• A leader will never fully address the demands made of them, regardless of how well they act.
• Even when a leader resolves problems, they will be viewed as part of the problem.
• Anticipate times of outrage and create spaces that calm people physically and help them connect with each other.
• Establish rules of engagement outside moments of outrage so that you have a starting point.
• Create pre-arranged workgroups that can help illuminate a path forward for the larger organization.

• The Age of Outrage: How to Lead in a Polarized World by Karthik Ramanna

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

• How to Create Team Guidelines, with Susan Gerke (episode 192)
• The Way Out of Major Conflict, with Amanda Ripley (episode 529)
• Three Practices for Thriving in Negotiations, with William Ury (episode 669)

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David De Cremer is the Dunton Family Dean of the D’Amore-McKim School of Business and professor of management and technology at Northeastern University. He’s also an affiliated faculty member at the Institute for Experiential AI at Northeastern University and an affiliated researcher at the Center for Collective Intelligence at MIT. His newest book is titled The AI-Savvy Leader: Nine Ways to Take Back Control and Make AI Work*.

We’ve all heard the warnings that AI is going to take our jobs. That’s certainly a possibility in the long term, but the story emerging, at least for now, is looking a little different. In this episode, David and I discuss how leaders can use AI to augment, not replace, human intelligence.

• AI is substantially different than prior digital transformations, and adoption efforts are failing at alarming rates.
• Instead of leading, too often leaders are being too deferential to data and analytics teams.
• Your expertise is exactly what your organization needs to deploy AI successfully.
• Leaders who learn the fundamentals of AI will play an essential role in narrating dialogue between the technology experts and everyone else.
• Get just enough foundational knowledge with statistics and modeling to communicate with the data and analytics folks better.

• The AI-Savvy Leader: Nine Ways to Take Back Control and Make AI Work* by David De Cremer

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

• How to Solve the Toughest Problems, with Wendy Smith (episode 612)
• How to Begin Leading Through Continuous Change, with David Rogers (episode 649)
• Principles for Using AI at Work, with Ethan Mollick (episode 674)

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Keith Ferrazzi is an entrepreneur and global thought leader in high-performing teams and Chairman of Ferrazzi Greenlight and its Research Institute. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Who’s Got Your Back and bestsellers like Never Eat Alone, Leading Without Authority, and Competing in the New World of Work. His newest book with Paul Hill is titled Never Lead Alone: 10 Shifts from Leadership to Teamship*.

Whenever I’m having a conversation with someone about getting better at coaching, it’s almost always through the lens of, “How do I do it well?” In this conversation, Keith and I explore another perspective most of us miss: how does the team do coaching better for each other.

• Good leaders give feedback and hold people accountable. Great leaders ensure the team gives feedback and holds people accountable.
• Teamship starts right at the start. Organizations like e.l.f. Beauty begin these practices during onboarding.
• We over-index on mindset. Starting with the right practices will shape the beliefs that help teamship emerge.
• Use an open 360 where people share one thing they appreciate/admire/respect and one thing they suggest.
• The 5/5/5 Learning Roadmap invites team members to share a struggle, respond to questions, and receive feedback.
• We’re used to feedback being directive. Feedback from peers is data. We can consider it without acting on it.

• Never Lead Alone: 10 Shifts from Leadership to Teamship* by Keith Ferrazzi

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

• How Top Leaders Influence Great Teamwork, with Scott Keller (episode 585)
• Becoming More Coach-Like, with Michael Bungay Stanier (episode 680)
• Team Collaboration Supports Growth Mindset, with Mary Murphy (episode 695)

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Charles Feltman is the founder of Insight Coaching. He has over 25 years of professional experience coaching, facilitating, consulting to, and training people who lead others. He is the author of The Thin Book of Trust: An Essential Primer for Building Trust at Work*.

It’s a reality of life that we need to interact with some people we’d rather not. And it’s absolutely a reality of leadership, that sometimes we need to have a conversation with someone we don’t quite trust. In this episode, Charles and I explore how to prepare so it goes better for both parties.

• The four assessment domains of trust include care, sincerity, reliability, and competence.

Seven steps to prepare for a conversation:

1. Identify the assessment(s) you are concerned with: care, sincerity, reliability, and/or competence.
2. Define the standard you are using.
3. Identify the specific actions or behaviors that have led to your assessment of distrust.
4. Consider what you are doing that may be contributing to the situation.
5. Determine what you need from them in order for them to regain your trust.
6. Decide if you are willing to talk to the person about it.
7. Ask the other person if they would be willing to have a conversation with you.

• The Thin Book of Trust: An Essential Primer for Building Trust at Work* by Charles Feltman

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

• How to Handle Pushback From Difficult Askers, with Vanessa Patrick (episode 637)
• How to Help Difficult Conversations Go Better, with Sheila Heen (episode 655)
• How to Change People’s Minds, with Michael McQueen (episode 676)

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Stephen M. R. Covey is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and former CEO of Covey Leadership Center. He led the strategy that propelled his father’s book, Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, to become one of the two most influential business books of the 20th Century, according to CEO Magazine. He’s the author The Speed of Trust and more recently Trust & Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others*.

Despite everything we know about good leadership, a lot of places still operate in a command and control mindset. In this conversation, Stephen and I explore the key ways to shift from command and control to trust and inspire.

• In spite of all progress, most leaders today are still operating from a command and control mindset.
• The carrot and stick approach still dominates most organizational cultures and tactics.
• The biggest barrier to becoming a Trust & Inspire leader is when we think we already are one.
• People are whole people. The best leaders care for the body, heart, mind, and spirit.
• There is enough for everyone. Trust & Inspire leaders elevate caring above competition.
• Enduring influence is created from the inside out. The job of the leader is to go first.
• All people have greatness inside them. Trust & Inspire leaders work to unleash potential, not control it.

• Trust & Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others* by Stephen M. R. Covey

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

• How to Build Psychological Safety, with Amy Edmondson (episode 404)
• Leadership Means You Go First, with Keith Ferrazzi (episode 488)
• The Starting Point for Repairing Trust, with Henry Cloud (episode 626)

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Shandy Welch is an executive leadership coach. Her coaching focus is around humanizing leadership and re-engaging individuals and teams to inspire change and innovation. She is also a Coaching for Leaders Fellow.

Most leaders find themselves — at least occasionally — in conversations with people who intimidate them. In this SaturdayCast, Shandy and I share what’s worked for us and how it might help you have better conversations.

• Nervousness is your friend. If you feel it, that means you care. Try to get the butterflies flying in formation.
• You are there because you are the best person to be there. Full stop.
• People with visibility will expect you’ve done your homework. If they’ve put something out into the world, they want you to find it.
• Preparation helps you improvise. “You’ve got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail.” -Charlie Parker
• Always assume there is something you can do to help out someone else. Consider their perspective and what they gain from the meeting with you.
• Everybody has doubts and struggles. Remember the humanity that’s present in every interaction.

What was helpful to you from our conversation? We’d love to know. Share it with Shandy at shandywelch@gmail.com

• How to Talk to People Who Have Power, with Jordan Harbinger (episode 343)
• How to Help People Speak Truth to Power, with Megan Reitz (episode 597)
• Set the Tone for Speaking Up, with Mike Massimino (episode 672)

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Steve Dennis is a strategy consultant, advisor, speaker, and author focused on transformational leadership and the impact of digital disruption. He is the president of SageBerry Consulting and host of the Remarkable Retail podcast. He’s the author of the book Remarkable Retail and his newest book Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption*.

Every leader needs to stay relevant in order to serve well. In this conversation, Steve and I explore the mindset and tactics that will help us lead in the context of an ever-changing world.

• Self-sufficiency is a virtue, until it’s not. Learning to ask for help is a key practice for leaders.
• Be cautious about a deserving attitude. High expectations may be correlated with low resilience.
• Seek insight everywhere. It’s no longer sufficient just to gain ideas from direct competitors.
• Turning pro means showing up and doing the work, especially when we don’t feel like it.
• We must go through discomfort, not around it. Radical acceptance of truth will help you stay relevant in changing times.

• Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption* by Steve Dennis

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

• How to Win the Long Game When the Short-Term Seems Bleak, with Dorie Clark (episode 550)
• How to Help People Engage in Growth, with Whitney Johnson (episode 576)
• How to Keep Improving, with Maurice Ashley (episode 697)

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Seth Godin has published 21 bestselling books that have changed the way people think about work. He writes one of the most popular blogs in the world, and two of his TED talks are among the most popular of all time. His blog is at seths.blog and his newest book is titled This is Strategy*.

Seth writes this: “It’s not clear to me why business plans are the way they are, but they’re often misused to obfuscate, bore, and show an ability to comply with expectations.” In this conversation, Seth and I explore the key components of a modern business plan.

• Big problems require small solutions.
• We often skip strategy because most of us have trained our whole lives for tactics.
• A modern business is clear about systems and the status quo. Use the system if you intend to change the system.
• Assertions are the heart of a business plan. Leaders need to have empathy for someone else’s “better.”
• Articulating alternatives helps you stay resilient when some of your assertions are inevitably wrong.
• Find people to support you who have a track record of shipping.
• A useful business plan gets easier over time and persists (and maybe even thrives) when the world changes.

The six sections of a modern business plan:

1. Truth
2. Assertions
3. Alternatives
4. People
5. Money
6. Time

• This is Strategy* by Seth Godin

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• How Leaders Build, with Guy Raz (episode 491)
• How to Grow Your Business, with Donald Miller (episode 629)
• Doing Better Than Zero Sum-Thinking, with Renée Mauborgne (episode 641)

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Maha Abouelenein is an American Egyptian with more than 30 years of global communications experience advising global corporate giants, startups, governments, CEOs and high-net-worth individuals. She is the CEO of Digital and Savvy, a strategic communications consulting firm with offices in the States and Dubai. Maha is the author of 7 Rules of Self-Reliance: How to Stay Low, Keep Moving, Invest in Yourself and Own Your Future*.

One of the definitions of the word currency in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary is, “General use, acceptance, or prevalence.” All of us want to be both accepted and prevalent in the work we get to do. In this conversation, Maha and I discuss how your reputation is perhaps the most important currency of all.

• Personal brand isn’t about self promotion, it’s about leadership.
• Rather than promoting yourself, promote the ideas that you stand for.
• Reputation is currency. It’s the only thing you truly own and its value comes from how other people perceive it.
• Sometimes it’s the right move to take a job to earn. It’s also important to take jobs to learn.
• Knowing what you stand for is key, but this doesn’t come overnight.
• We all make missteps. What’s often more remembered is how you respond. Apologize and have empathy when things go wrong.

• 7 Rules of Self-Reliance: How to Stay Low, Keep Moving, Invest in Yourself and Own Your Future* by Maha Abouelenein

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• Making the Case for Your Promotion, with May Busch (episode 526)
• How to Tell a Story About Yourself, with David Hutchens (episode 661)
• An Invitation for Kindness in Leadership, with James Rhee (episode 693)

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Jonathan Raymond is the founder of Refound and Ren AI. He helps leaders make work a better place, one conversation at a time. He’s the author of the book Good Authority: How to Become the Leader Your Team Is Waiting for and hosts the podcast of the same name. He’s also the creator of The Accountability Dial, used by many in our community to support healthy accountability in their organizations.

With all the tools and technology we have access to, it’s so easy to fall in the trap of mostly being transactional. Yet, leadership is at its best when it elevates above the transaction and builds the broader relationship. In this conversation, Jonathan and I discuss how to make that shift.

• While the pandemic helped us shift in some helpful ways, it also created an environment where leaders don’t always feel safe with healthy accountability.
• The most healthy conversations have consequences if change does not happen.
• The primary obstacle to holding people accountable is fear. Leaders will find times when then not able to defend themselves.
• Having access to too much detail is a recipe for micromanagement. The best feedback moves away from transitional and towards relational.
• Find places of retreat to spend unstructured, non-transactional time.
• Don’t let the perfect get in the way of the good. Hold people accountable for the qualities of leadership, not the outcomes.

• Ren AI: a platform of AI-powered tools built on the Good Authority methodology
• Good Authority: How to Become the Leader Your Team Is Waiting For* by Jonathan Raymond

• Five Steps to Hold People Accountable, with Jonathan Raymond (episode 306)
• How to Give Feedback, with Russ Laraway (episode 583)
• How to Connect with People Better, with Charles Duhigg (episode 670)

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Dan Dworkis is Chief Medical Officer at The Mission Critical Team Institute. He’s an emergency physician who helps individuals and teams apply knowledge under extreme pressure and perform at their best when it matters the most. He is the author of The Emergency Mind: Wiring Your Brain for Performance Under Pressure*.

Every leader, at least occasionally, faces emergencies. In an emergency, the only way out is through. In this conversation, Dan and I explore the mindsets and tactics that will help us handle the most difficult situations.

• Emergencies are not just worse bad days. They are liminal — the only way out is through.
• Apply graduated pressure. Never allow suffering to be wasted. By going a bit slower, you notice where and why failures happen.
• Label an emergency with language that both recognizes the urgency of the situation and your faith in the team to resolve it.
• The room is always smarter than any one person in it. Tell people what problem they are working and your confidence level in it.
• Staying cool under pressure is not a fixed personality trait. You can get better by noticing and experimenting with what works for you (and doesn’t) to handle high-pressure situations.
• Experience makes working under pressure easier, but you still need to practice for it. Notice what’s effective (and not) in past and new situations before you experiment.
• Use situations in everyday life (a hard workout, an angry customer, getting cut off in traffic) to train yourself for responding in the toughest situations.

• The Emergency Mind: Wiring Your Brain for Performance Under Pressure* by Dan Dworkis

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• How to Become the Person You Want to Be, with James Clear (episode 376)
• How to Build Psychological Safety, with Amy Edmondson (episode 404)
• How to Prevent a Team From Repeating Mistakes, with Robert “Cujo” Teschner (episode 660)

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Andrew C.M. Cooper is an executive leader and apologist for compassionate business practices. He led as a history-making first Millennial and Black executive to serve as General Counsel of UPS Airlines, the world’s largest logistics airline with over 20,000 employees. His team was essential to the success of Operation Warp Speed, the United States’ pandemic vaccine relief effort. He’s the author of The Ethical Imperative: Leading with Conscience to Shape the Future of Business*.

We all know the power of relationships to help us grow. However, we don’t always seek out some of the non-traditional relationships that might help most. In this conversation, Andrew and I discuss three types of people we often overlook that will help us grow.

• Many of us invest in organic, traditional relationships. Those are important, but not sufficient in such a dynamic world.
• Invest 30% of your time into relationships that will add skills, knowledge, or insights you can’t develop yourself.
• Shifters observe well, read between the lines, and help us adapt in uncertain and changing situations.
• Connectors will help your expand professional affiliations. Having a connector in your corner can be as helpful as being a connector yourself.
• People who first appear as sharks may be benevolent antagonists. Listen for what others around them say to determine who might challenge you in healthy ways.

• The Ethical Imperative: Leading with Conscience to Shape the Future of Business* by Andrew C.M. Cooper

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• How to Strengthen Your Network, with Marissa King (episode 525)
• How to Build a Network While Still Doing Everything Else, with Ruth Gotian (episode 591)
• How to Recognize Remarkable People, with Guy Kawasaki (episode 671)

Coaching for Leaders is edited by Andrew Kroeger. Production support is provided by Sierra Priest.

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Laura West is a seasoned leader and researcher with many years experience executing and training others in data analysis and strategy. She’s led large teams across several organizations, holds a Ph.D. in linguistics, and is an alum of the Coaching for Leaders Academy. She was selected as one of our new Coaching for Leaders fellows and has taken on a leadership role in supporting our current Academy members.

What do you do when you get a request from a stakeholder, but don’t have the resources to fulfill it? That’s a reality almost every leader faces. In this conversation, Laura and I discuss both the mindset and tactics that will help you respond well.

• Rather than an immediate “no,” spend an hour working through some steps to creatively problem solve around the request.
• Show your work. When you respond, share who you’ve talked with and what’s already been considered to respond to the request.
• Present options by summarizing 2-4 paths forward and your recommendations.
• Be the data person. Highlight trends over time that help influence different business decisions and maintain your credibility.
• Prioritize. But tell, don’t ask. Take the lead on identifying what’s important on behalf of the stakeholder and begin the work.

• Responding to Stakeholder Requests With Limited Resources by Laura West (free membership required)

• The Way to Turn Followers Into Leaders, with David Marquet (episode 241)
• How to Start Managing Up, with Tom Henschel (episode 433)
• The Way to Influence Executives, with Nancy Duarte (episode 450)

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Steven Rogelberg is an organizational psychologist, holding the title of Chancellor’s Professor at UNC Charlotte for distinguished national, international and interdisciplinary contributions. He is an award-winning teacher and recipient of the Humboldt Award for his research on meetings. He is the author of Glad We Met: The Art and Science of 1:1 Meetings*.

Many us appreciate the value of 1:1 meetings with employees. For a lot of managers, it’s one of their biggest time commitments. And yet, nobody ever taught us how to do it. In this conversation, Steven and I discuss how to actually structure an effective 1:1.

• First and foremost, a 1:1 meeting is for the direct report.
• A set schedule for 1:1’s with your team reduces bias by ensuring you connect with everyone, consistently.
• A loose framework is better than a lock-step agenda. Two approaches help: the manager proposing a core question or listing out topics that the direct report brings.
• Avoid status update meetings by articulating the purpose of 1:1’s and dedicating agenda time (or future meetings) to bigger picture topics.
• Skip-level 1:1’s are valuable for both employees and senior leaders. Avoid undermining another leader by approaching the meeting with the mindset to support the employee, rather than making decisions.

• Glad We Met: The Art and Science of 1:1 Meetings* by Steven Rogelberg

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• How to Lead Meetings That Get Results, with Mamie Kanfer Stewart (episode 358)
• Moving Towards Meetings of Significance, with Seth Godin (episode 632)
• Bringing Your Strengths to a Big Job, with General CQ Brown, Jr. (episode 691)

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Maurice Ashley is a Chess Grandmaster, an ESPN commentator, a three-time national championship coach, and an author. In 1999 he earned the title of Chess Grandmaster, making him the first Black Grandmaster in the game’s history, and in 2016 he was inducted into the US Chess Hall of Fame. He’s the author of Move by Move: Life Lessons on and off the Chessboard*.

There was a time that you could get a degree or a certification and you’ve be set on your learning for awhile. Those days are long gone. With change happening at the speed of thought, we must keep improving. In this conversation, Maurice and I discuss the mindsets and tactics that will help you keep growing.

• Jazz artists don’t think about each note, but instinctively know how to make beautiful music. The best chess players are like this.
• Elite performers constantly look for ways to cultivate the beginner’s mindset.
• Chess players who pay attention to the endgame are less likely to get caught up only in the tactics.
• The most vulnerable time for a chess player is when they have a big lead.
• Poor performers avoid spending time with their mistakes. The best players learn from them through debrief.
• Determine in advance where you need to stay hyper-focused.
• Temper overconfidence by posing additional in-game challenges for yourself and your team.

• Move by Move: Life Lessons on and off the Chessboard* by Maurice Ashley

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• How to Actually Move Numbers, with Chris McChesney (episode 294)
• How to Prevent a Team From Repeating Mistakes, with Robert “Cujo” Teschner (episode 660)
• How to Grow From Your Errors, with Amy Edmondson (episode 663)

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Marshall Goldsmith is one of the world’s leading executive coaches. He’s written 56 books, selling over 3 million copies, including 8 bestsellers and 4 New York Times bestsellers. He’s been ranked twice by Thinkers50 as the #1 leadership thinker in the world and ranked the #1 executive coach in the world for over a decade.

Marshall’s most popular book is What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful*. In this episode, Marshall and I explore the key lessons from this iconic book and the most common habits that hold leaders back.

• The superstition trap: I behave this way and I am successful, therefore I am successful because I behave this way.
• The higher you go, the more your problems are behavioral.
• Winning too much is a trap for successful people. Ask yourself, “Is it worth it?”
• Be aware that your suggestions become orders.
• Avoid starting your responses with “no,” “but,” or “however.” It’s hard to hear things we already know.
• We are not here on Earth to prove how smart we are. Help more, judge less.
• We all reinforce people who reinforce us. We hate obvious suck-ups, but not the good ones. The good suck-ups can easily fool the best leaders.
• Beware an excessive need to “be me.” Instead, be who you want and need to be.

• What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful* by Marshall Goldsmith
• MarshallGoldsmith.ai

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• The Way to Be More Self-Aware, with Tasha Eurich (episode 442)
• The Power of Courage in Leadership Growth, with Jorge Alzate (episode 611)
• What Vulnerable Leadership Sounds Like, with Jacob Morgan (episode 648)

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Mary Murphy is Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University. She is also Founding Director of the Summer Institute on Diversity at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and founder and CEO of the Equity Accelerator, a research and consulting organization that works with schools and companies to create more equitable learning and working environments. She is the author of Cultures of Growth: How the New Science of Mindset Can Transform Individuals, Teams, and Organizations*.

Many of us have heard the distinction between a fixed and a growth mindset. Turns out it’s more of a both/and, especially with our teams. In this conversation, Mary and I discuss how team collaboration can support a growth mindset.

• Nobody has only a fixed or a growth mindset. While we may favor one, all of us shift between them.
• Team culture is so powerful that it can either block or encourage a growth mindset.
• Mindset doesn’t just affect perceptions and behaviors, it shapes the bottom line.
• To support collaboration, begin with a cues audit. Consider starting with affinity groups.
• It’s misperception that cultures of growth are less data-centric than cultures of genius. The opposite is actually true.
• Don’t eliminate competition, recast it. Consider how incentives align with supporting others and the organization as a whole.
• Yes, share outcomes — and also include the distance traveled to achieve them. This supports a culture of growth.
• Traditional rating systems, especially forced-rankings, often reinforce cultures of genius.

• Cultures of Growth: How the New Science of Mindset Can Transform Individuals, Teams, and Organizations* by Mary Murphy
• Culture Cues Assessment

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• Growth Mindset Helps You Rise From the Ashes, with Jeff Hittenberger (episode 326)
• How to Build Psychological Safety, with Amy Edmondson (episode 404)
• Help Your Team Embrace Growth Mindset, with Eduardo Briceño (episode 644)

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Maureen Dunne is a cognitive scientist, neurodiversity expert, global keynote speaker, board director, and business leader with over two decades of experience helping organizations build thriving cultures. She has served as a Senior Advisor to some of the world’s top organization, including the LEGO Foundation, Cornell University, and Members of Congress. She is the author of The Neurodiversity Edge: The Essential Guide to Embracing Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Other Neurological Differences for Any Organization*.

We often don’t notice our deeply held biases — and there’s certainly bias against neurodiversity. In this conversation, Maureen and I discuss the research, mindsets, and contributions relevant to neurodiversity. Plus, how neurodiversity can provide an edge for almost every organization.

• We often don’t see our deeply held biases. As one example, we assume that north is “up” on maps and globes, even though that’s only a construct.
• Research and estimates vary, but at least 20% of the population is neurodivergent.
• Divergent bees in hives find new sources of honey. Instead of viewing neurodivergence from a deficit-based perspective, use a strengths-based approach.
• Intellectual capability is entirely independent of having a neurodivergent profile.
• Rather than maintaining accommodations for “quirky people,” move towards a norm of universal accommodations that benefit the entire employee population.

• The Neurodiversity Edge: The Essential Guide to Embracing Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Other Neurological Differences for Any Organization* by Maureen Dunne

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• How to Begin Difficult Conversations About Race, with Kwame Christian (episode 594)
• Supporting Return to Work After Maternity Leave, with Danna Greenberg (episode 639)
• How to Be a Better Ally, with Lauren Wesley Wilson (episode 675)

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James Rhee is a former high school teacher and Harvard Law School graduate who became a private equity investor and unexpectedly an acclaimed CEO. He bridges math with emotions by marrying capital with purpose, while composing systems that bridge peoples, disciplines, and ideas. James is the author of Red Helicopter: Lead Change With Kindness (Plus a Little Math)*.

Bad news: leaders are often the ones who make the rules that prevent kindness. Good news: leaders are also the ones who can change the rules. In this conversation, James and I explore how leadership (and results) improve when kindness is at the center of our work.

• We all know the power of intuitive, childhood truths. Leaders should champion these, even if that means challenging the establishment.
• Brené Brown says, “Clear is kind.” Clarity emerges by also ensuring an alignment with reality by leveraging math.
• Kindness is not random or entertaining. It’s an intentional, consistent practice.
• Leaders make the rules that encumber kindness — and they have the capacity to change those rules.
• The cost centers of an organization are a creative opportunity for kindness.

• Red Helicopter: Lead Change With Kindness (Plus a Little Math)* by James Rhee
• Arirang Amazing Grace for a Red Helicopter

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• How to Create Meaningful Gatherings, with Priya Parker (episode 395)
• How Leaders Build, with Guy Raz (episode 491)
• The Power of Leadership Through Hospitality, with Will Guidara (episode 688)

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Lisa Cummings is the founder of Lead Through Strengths, a firm supporting building strengths into your team’s culture. She’s also the host of the Lead Through Strengths podcast. Lisa is a Gallup-certified strengths coach and has trained over 20,000 people in 14 countries. Today, she facilitates offsites and retreats to help leaders and their teams go deep on utilizing their strengths well.

When challenges arise in leadership, we sometimes miss what’s right in front of us. In this conversation, Lisa and I discuss how to zero in on your core strengths and utilize them to address new challenges that arise.

• Lisa began her StrengthsFinder journey through the First Break All the Rules book. Dave began his with the Soar With Your Strengths book.
• Many of us value what we’ve worked hardest to achieve, but those areas aren’t typically our core strengths.
• The talents appearing on the bottom of your StrengthsFinder assessment are the approaches that tend to drain you and lead to burnout.
• It’s helpful to focus on removing blind spots. Those are most often hidden in our top strengths.
• When new leadership issues come up, aim your top strengths at them. Often, there’s an opportunity to reframe challenges in the context of your strengths.

• CliftonStrengths (formerly StrengthsFinder) assessment
• StrengthsFinder Talents overview by Lisa Cummings
• Contact Lisa for a question or workshop

• How Teams Use StrengthsFinder Results, with Lisa Cummings (episode 293)
• Craft a Career to Fit Your Strengths, with Scott Anthony Barlow (episode 424)
• Bringing Your Strengths to a Big Job, with General CQ Brown, Jr. (episode 691)

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General CQ Brown, Jr. is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation’s highest-ranking military officer. As Chairman, he is the principal military advisor to the President of the United States, Secretary of Defense, and National Security Council. Prior to this role, he was the first Black officer in American history to head one of our military branches as Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. Time Magazine has named him one of the top 100 most influential people in the world.

Effective leaders discover how to best use their strengths, and of course, champion the strengths of others. In this conversation, General Brown and I discuss how he uses his strengths and what he does to bring those strengths into people development, high-level meetings, and problem-solving.

• If you are well below average at something, don’t spend time and effort trying to improve. Instead, partner with others who have it as a superpower.
• Give people work that is aligned with their strengths.
• Fight for feedback, especially in a top job. Find people who will give it to you straight. Listen well so they keep offering it.
• Leverage your strengths in communication. For General Brown, using his engineering training to solve problems and using metaphors and analogies to create clarity.
• Have the meeting after the meeting in the meeting.
• Tell people where your strengths might get in the way. For General Brown, highlighting that silence that could appear intimidating is often him just listening and thinking.

• Leadership in the Midst of Chaos, with Jim Mattis (episode 440)
• Your Leadership Motive, with Patrick Lencioni (episode 505)
• Engaging People Through Change, with Cassandra Worthy (episode 571)
• How to Connect with People Better, with Charles Duhigg (episode 670)

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Mitch Warner is a managing partner of the Arbinger Institute. The Institute has authored three best-selling books and helps leaders transform their organizations by enabling the fundamental shift in mindset that leads to exceptional results. Now in its fourth edition, Leadership and Self-Deception: The Secret to Transforming Relationships & Unleashing Results*, is today one of the top fifty best-selling leadership books of all time.

Shifting behavior in a sustainable way requires us to change our mindset. In this conversation, Mitch and I explore how self-deception gets in our way and how we can take the first step by seeing others as people.

• In many cases, we are the carriers of the very problems we are complaining about. We often resist this reality.
• We often assume we aren’t the cause of problems because of our good intentions.
• Mindset drives our behaviors and the effectiveness and influence of those behaviors.
• Seeing someone as less than a person causes us to see the world in a way that justifies our judgement.
• Too often, conflicts manifest as people provoking another’s behavior in order to justify themselves.
• Our own justification is an indicator that we may be wrong to begin with.
• Viewing others as either better or worse than ourselves creates justification that prevents awareness and change.
• Get outside of yourself by meeting to learn about them. If the relationship has been strained, consider meeting to give.

• Leadership and Self-Deception: The Secret to Transforming Relationships & Unleashing Results* by The Arbinger Institute
• The Arbinger Institute

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• How to Compare Yourself to Others, with Mollie West Duffy (episode 582)
• Help Your Team Embrace Growth Mindset, with Eduardo Briceño (episode 644)
• The Way to Handle Oblivious Leadership, with Robert Sutton (episode 667)

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José Antonio Bowen has won teaching awards at Stanford and Georgetown and is past president of Goucher College. He has written over 100 scholarly articles and has appeared as a musician with Stan Getz, Bobby McFerrin, and others. He is the author of multiple books in higher education and is a senior fellow for the American Association of Colleges and Universities. He is the author with C. Edward Watson of Teaching With AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning*.

AI will change how we work, but it’s also going to change how we think. In this conversation, José and I explore where to begin working with AI and why those who can use it will serve a critical role in shaping what’s next.

• Physical maps make you smarter than GPS, but GPS is more practical for daily use. AI isn’t inherently good or bad, but like the internet, it will change how we work.
• AI will eliminate some jobs, but it will change every job. Those who can work with AI will replace those who can’t.
• Rather than thinking about creativity through the lens of responses from AI, focus on bringing creativity into your prompts.
• Most of the AI progress for companies is coming from non-tech folks that are figuring out how specific tasks get more efficient.
• AI is very good at some things and not good at others. You’ll discover how this relates to your work by experimenting with different prompts.

• Teaching With AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning* by José Antonio Bowen and C. Edward Watson
• Example AI Prompts by José Antonio Bowen
• The Human Side of Generative AI: Creating a Path to Productivity by Aaron De Smet, Sandra Durth, Bryan Hancock, Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi, and Angelika Reich
• Moderna and OpenAI partner to Accelerate the Development of Life-Saving Treatments
• The State of AI in Early 2024: Gen AI Adoption Spikes and Starts to Generate Value by Alex Singla, Alexander Sukharevsky, Lareina Yee, Michael Chui, and Bryce Hall

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• Make Your Reading More Meaningful, with Sönke Ahrens (episode 564)
• Principles for Using AI at Work, with Ethan Mollick (episode 674)
• How to Enhance Your Credibility (Audio course)

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