Getting More and Better Insights, with Irma Tragesser

Summary

Coaching for Leaders Podcast: Detailed Summary of "Getting More and Better Insights, with Irma Trageser"

Episode Overview In this insightful episode of Coaching for Leaders, host Dave Stachowiak engages in a meaningful conversation with Irma Trageser, a healthcare executive and alumna of the Coaching for Leaders Academy. Released on February 14, 2025, the episode delves into Irma's journey of enhancing her leadership skills, overcoming challenges in her executive role, and the transformative impact of the Academy on her professional and personal growth.

---

1. Introduction to Irma Trageser’s Leadership Journey

Irma begins by sharing her current responsibilities and the challenges she faces as she transitions into a higher executive role within the healthcare sector.

Key Points:

• Expanded Responsibilities: Irma recently acquired a new group, leading to the management of two distinct organizations with varying levels of maturity.
• Balancing Act: She discusses the complexities of juggling different roles and ensuring both organizations continue to thrive despite their divergent stages.

Notable Quote:

“I just have another responsibility. So I just acquired another group... juggling between those two kind of different roles.”
— Irma Trageser [02:28]

---

2. Discovering the Coaching for Leaders Podcast

Irma recounts how she initially discovered Dave's podcast and the profound impact it had on her sense of hope and direction during a challenging period in her career.

Key Points:

• Struggles in the New Role: The first year in her elevated position was fraught with difficulties, including a lack of transitions and feeling isolated in decision-making.
• Finding Hope Through the Podcast: A recommendation from her church's leadership group introduced her to the podcast, which resonated deeply and provided her with much-needed encouragement.

Notable Quotes:

“It made me feel like, okay, well, there is hope, and other people are going through the same things I’m going through.”
— Irma Trageser [04:00]

“Your church is looking at podcasts and recommending resources like that.”
— Dave Stachowiak [04:00]

---

3. Joining the Coaching for Leaders Academy

Transitioning from listener to participant, Irma explains her decision to apply to the Academy and the initial interactions that led to her enrollment.

Key Points:

• Application Process: After being inspired by the podcast, Irma applied to the Academy but did not anticipate an immediate response.
• Personal Connection: Dave’s personal engagement, including a follow-up message, made Irma feel valued and reinforced her decision to join the Academy.

Notable Quotes:

“I was totally starstruck. Whoa. He answered, and he was so kind...”
— Irma Trageser [05:51]

---

4. Defining Vision and Setting Commitments

Irma discusses the structured approach of the Academy in helping her articulate a clear vision for her leadership role and the actionable steps she took to achieve it.

Key Points:

• Vision Articulation: Writing down her vision made her ideas tangible and provided a clear direction.
• Actionable Steps: The Academy emphasized breaking down the vision into specific actions, fostering a focused and disciplined approach.

Notable Quotes:

“Putting it on paper and then socializing it with our cohort just made it real.”
— Irma Trageser [06:31]

---

5. Implementing Leadership Commitments

Irma shares two significant commitments she made to enhance her leadership effectiveness: asking more open-ended questions and practicing compartmentalization.

A. Becoming a Coach-like Leader

Key Points:

• Open-Ended Questions: Irma committed to asking more open-ended questions during one-on-one meetings to better understand her team members.
• Initial Discomfort: The practice felt awkward at first but gradually became second nature, leading to more meaningful interactions.

Notable Quotes:

“The first week was really uncomfortable... but as I started doing it consistently, it just started becoming very interesting, second nature.”
— Irma Trageser [08:27]

“People started noticing and I started noticing that I get more information and better information by doing that.”
— Irma Trageser [09:33]

B. Practicing Compartmentalization

Key Points:

• Managing Multiple Roles: With responsibilities across two organizations, Irma found her mind constantly shifting between different topics.
• Structured Daily Review: She began starting her day by reviewing her calendar to group tasks and took deep breaths between meetings to reset her focus.

Notable Quotes:

“Taking a deep breath, see where I was, what I was feeling, and how I was kind of taking the rest of the day...”
— Irma Trageser [13:11]

“Having the time in that space to collect myself and the intentionality of being present at the next meeting...”
— Irma Trageser [14:14]

---

6. Outcomes and Transformative Insights

Reflecting on her year-long journey with the Academy, Irma highlights the tangible progress she has made and the shift in her leadership mindset.

Key Points:

• Visible Progress: Irma observed significant advancements towards her goals and developed greater confidence in her leadership abilities.
• Opportunity Readiness: The Academy equipped her with the mindset to recognize and seize opportunities as they arose.
• Paradigm Shift: Transitioning from trying to tackle everything at once to embracing small, consistent actions led to sustainable growth.

Notable Quotes:

“It doesn’t apply only to leadership, but to everything in life... if you want to start something, you start small and be consistent.”
— Irma Trageser [19:20]

“Putting the things on paper... having a clear vision... I was able to concentrate on that.”
— Irma Trageser [16:05]

---

7. Key Takeaways and Leadership Lessons

Irma and Dave conclude their conversation by emphasizing the importance of starting small, maintaining consistency, and focusing on what truly matters in leadership roles.

Key Points:

• Start Small, Be Consistent: Avoid the trap of trying to implement massive changes all at once. Small, steady actions lead to lasting impact.
• Focus and Intentionality: Defining clear priorities and staying committed to them ensures progress and minimizes distractions.
• Empathy and Active Listening: Cultivating a coach-like approach enhances team dynamics and fosters a more productive work environment.

Notable Quotes:

“You don’t have to work on everything at the same time... start small and just be consistent.”
— Irma Trageser [18:21]

“Just one more question... it's really fascinating how... people started volunteering more information.”
— Irma Trageser [10:56]

---

8. Conclusion and Invitation

Dave wraps up the episode by encouraging listeners who find themselves at a leadership inflection point to consider joining the Coaching for Leaders Academy, highlighting the structured support and transformative potential it offers.

Notable Quotes:

“If you're at an inflection point right now and ready to get moving, the Coaching for Leaders Academy may be the right fit for you.”
— Dave Stachowiak [20:22]

---

Final Thoughts This episode serves as a testament to the profound impact structured leadership coaching can have on executives navigating complex roles. Irma Trageser's journey underscores the value of clear vision, consistent small actions, and intentional leadership practices in fostering both personal growth and organizational success.

For those interested in embarking on a similar transformation, the Coaching for Leaders Academy offers a comprehensive library and supportive community to guide leaders toward their highest potential.

Transcript

[Irma Trageser]

Foreign.

[Dave Stahoviak]

Hi, Dave Stahoviak here, host of the Coaching for Leaders podcast. I have two really big parts of my work. One is the most visible part you hear on the podcast each week, and second is what you don't hear on the podcast, at least not typically, the work I'm doing each day. To support our members who are navigating inflection points in their leadership today and a few times in the next couple of weeks, I'm going to take you behind the scenes a bit and share a few conversations with our Academy members on how they're moving forward as leaders. We are opening the Academy for applications again on March 7th. You can find more details by going to coaching4leaders.com academy the first chat here is with Irma Trageser on how she started to get more and better insights from her team as she took on a big executive role. Here's our chat. I'm speaking today with Yerma Trageser. She is one of our Academy alums and an executive in healthcare. Irma, hello. It's good to see you.

[Irma Trageser]

It's so good to see you, Dave.

[Dave Stahoviak]

I've been looking forward to this conversation and talking about just where we've been in the last year and working together and your experience in the Academy. But maybe we could just start with a bit about your work and what's keeping you busy right now.

[Irma Trageser]

Yeah, no, thank you. Thank you for the question, Dave, and thank you for having me here. It's such a privilege, really. Yeah. So as you said, I work in healthcare and at the moment there is many things that we're working on to support patients and physicians. And so what keeps me up at night, hopefully not many nights, it's the fact that I have a new responsibility. So I just acquire another group and in a little bit I will explain how I got there and how the Academy helped me get there. But with now two different organizations that I'm leading, I am very busy trying to keep things going at the speed that we're going and also dealing with the different maturities. So one group is a little bit more mature than the other one. So it's a little bit of juggling between those two kind of different roles. And so hopefully to get to any.

[Dave Stahoviak]

Stability here in a few months, two really different organizations. And it's so much the reality of leadership for all of us that we're often working with different teams, different parts of the organization, and maturity, experience. All of that's at a really different level, which is a good lead into maybe how you And I first connected. And first of all, I'm curious, how did you come across the podcast originally? Do you recall how you did?

[Irma Trageser]

Yes, yes. So it was almost three years ago that I got promoted to the level that I'm in, which is higher executive level. And to be honest, I was struggling. The first year was really difficult. Not only I came to a group that was mature and I was very new in the space, but also I didn't have any transitions, so I had to learn a lot of things. And we were having a lot of situations happening at that time. So the first year was really, really a struggle. And so I was looking for resources, right, to help me get through. Through the different situations that I was experiencing. And I was feeling pretty, pretty lonely, you know, in the new level, learning all these new things and feeling that nobody liked me at that moment because I was making decisions. I don't know if they were the right ones. And I go to a large church, and my church has group that dedicates to leadership and, you know, provide leadership tools. And so they put one of your podcasts in one of the newsletters that they send out.

[Dave Stahoviak]

Oh, no kidding.

[Irma Trageser]

I remember that. Yeah. That day I was like, oh, this is great. And I don't even remember which episode was, but I remember how it made me feel. It made me feel like, okay, well, there is hope, and other people is going through the same things I. I'm going through. I probably should go back and look at exactly what it was. But I do remember the feeling. And so from there, I just got hooked.

[Dave Stahoviak]

Wow, how interesting and how cool that your church is looking at podcasts and recommending resources like that. But you said a really key word there, hope. Like how we all need that and we want that in our professional journeys and in our learning and our growth. Right. And that leads to how you and I got connected too, because you had decided at some point to apply for the Academy. When you think about, like, hope, what did you hope to get from this and experience from this?

[Irma Trageser]

That's a great question, Dave. So, yeah, it was like a year in that I, you know, be listening to the podcast and then you in some of the recent ones that I was listening, I just started talking about the Academy, and I was really intrigued. And so I applied. You know, you have the link to save your curious about the Academy. Just send us your email. And so I did that. And honestly, I was not expecting to get anything. And I actually have forgotten that I have sent that. And I think it was a couple of months later, when I got a message from you and I was like, totally starstruck. Whoa. He answered, and he was so kind and, you know, you were. And you asked me, like, what did I learn from. From the podcast? And so, yeah, so it was, it was a really great connection. I felt really good to hear from you. So we start corresponding and then you put me in the, in the list, right, for interest on the Academy on 24. So that was probably in 2023 when.

[Dave Stahoviak]

I contacted you and you did ultimately decide to apply. We talked. We decided it would be the right fit together. And you, you jumped in as you started, I mean, and as we all start in the academy and work together, a big part of it is defining what we want the future to look like two to three years out and getting a vision down on paper, all of us working together to clarify that for each other. So we're a little bit, we're doing it on our own a little bit. We're doing it with the group, a little bit with me. And as you went through that process and started thinking about where you wanted to zero in on, what did you decide that you wanted to shift?

[Irma Trageser]

Yeah, so my vision was, you know, had different dimensions. I said they were dimensions on. I wanted to be a better leader for my people. I also wanted to be a high altitude leader because I aspire to have higher roles in my organization. And so as we started talking, right, like first, I think the most important thing for me was to put that in paper. I mean, I had all these thoughts, I kind of have all these ideas of what I want to be, but once when we had to put it in paper and then socialize it with our cohort, it just made it real. And then the breakdown into what is going to. What are the actions that is going to take me to get there, right. And the period that we, that we established the vision for. So one of the things, my very first one was wanting to be a coach like leader. And I know that's tried because that's one of the examples that you provide, right? Like, oh, well. And I think that is one of the topics that come up more. But for me, it was just so important to start making strides towards that because I started to get more direct reports and I want to make sure that I really understand them and coach them where they want it to be, right. Based on their aspiration, but also on what needs to be done at work. And so that was my first one to be a coach like leader. And my first action was to just very simple to ask more open ended questions to my direct reports one time a day in one, one on one.

[Dave Stahoviak]

Yeah. And one of the really interesting things that I find myself doing in our groups and you experience this too Irma is trying to get people to do less. Right. Not trying to do it in every interaction, not trying to do it all the time, just like once a day. Starting to ask a follow up question, right? How did that work for you? Like as you started to do that, how did that feel initially?

[Irma Trageser]

Well and I think this is going to get into one of the biggest learnings that I had from the academy into, you know exactly what you said. Going big and thinking that you just have to tackle everything all the time. Right. To just not just one time. And it felt like it feels like it's not enough right at the beginning. I think the first week was like really uncomfortable because like really just just one time and just less, less than five minutes that is it was just really interesting. But as we as I'm start started doing it consistently it just started becoming very interesting second nature. So I as intentionally I was doing it once a day right to one of the one on ones. Then I start finding myself doing it in other ones like more naturally. So that was like really, really cool to, to observe and realize, oh wait, I just did it and didn't even think about it.

[Dave Stahoviak]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, cool. And as you started to do that more consistently, you caught yourself doing it a little more even when you weren't thinking about it. How did people respond and what happened as you changed that dynamic a bit?

[Irma Trageser]

Yeah, that was the most amazing thing for me because people actually started noticing and I started noticing that I get more information and better information by doing that. Right. Like when in the past my tendency is to kind of come and you know, I have an idea a little bit more directive. Right. And and when I took a step back and start asking more questions and open ended questions like people like surprise me, right. I start finding things that I'm like oh, I didn't know that. Right. And I would have never thought about asking about that specific thing but they were volunteering information. So that was really cool and helped me, right. Like actually helped me help them better. But yeah I think they, they started feeling more listened to right. And more our meetings were more productive overall I feel cool.

[Dave Stahoviak]

It's really interesting for any of us in any relationship is like we step back a little bit, we create a little bit more space and margin. We ask sometimes. It's so it's really interesting how like just one more question. Like I think back to Michael Bungay Stanier's work and his invitation in the coaching habit. Like, just be curious a moment longer, not 30 minutes longer. Just ask one more question. And how interesting that as you started to do that, not only did you hear more, but then people started volunteering more information of things you didn't even know about going on in the organization. I think it's just really fascinating.

[Irma Trageser]

It is, it is. Yeah. And it's so simple, right. Like it's. The questions don't have to be so complicated, just very simple questions. I think also the thing that was a little bit hard was the silence. Right. Just say the question and then wait. And then people sometimes, like, it needs that time to think. Right. If they are going to say more. And so but yeah, that was another piece that was interesting as I went through that particular commitment.

[Dave Stahoviak]

Yeah. And it is, it is a little awkward at the beginning. It's the getting started. And it's a little awkward sometimes for the other party too, of like, oh, I'm used to you just jumping in and saying things and telling me what to do and all that. And so it takes, it takes a little bit of time just to just one of the reasons we just do it once a day of like it takes a little time just to kind of get used to it on all parties and get comfortable. Comfortable with that dynamic.

[Irma Trageser]

Correct. Yes.

[Dave Stahoviak]

As you went forward, what else did you decide to do?

[Irma Trageser]

Yeah, so after this commitment, I started to look more at the other things that will help me get closer to my vision and so the next one, and that it's dear to my heart because as I said, acquiring a new organization that has a very different remit than the other organization that I am still leading require a lot of jumping. I felt my. At some point, I felt my brain was like going from one topic to another topic that were totally different topics. And so my second commitment was about compartmentalization. And so for that one, I just started the day just looking at my calendar and then just taking the time to just review what was happening in the day and if possible, like grouping things right in different ways or seeing what things can be done later and make sure that I give my brain that space to jump from one to another and taking time in between meetings to take a deep breath, kind of collect myself and be ready for the next topic, which before I was not doing, I was just like meeting, meeting, meeting. And so just having that action once a day to just take a deep breath See where I was, what was I feeling, and how I was kind of taking the rest of the day. It just made a huge difference in how I present myself in the next meeting.

[Dave Stahoviak]

Yeah, it's like one of the realities of leadership I don't think we talk enough about. And especially in the kind of role you have that you might have eight meetings in a day. And it's not just the time. It's one meeting is celebrating someone, like, getting an incredible recognition, and the very next meeting is giving someone difficult feedback. And then three hours later, you're getting some tough feedback yourself. And then. And then later in the day, it's like a celebration and a client initiative. It's. It's so many different kinds of emotions and like, mental states and all of that that so many of us need to jump between each day. And you really zeroed in. I remember us talking about Marshall Goldsmith's concept of singular empathy, of like, okay, there's all this stuff going on, but let me zero in on the here and now. And you created the space to just. To just challenge yourself to do that. And it opened up a bunch.

[Irma Trageser]

It did. And being present. Right. Because I think that was the part that I started feeling I was not doing. I was thinking, oh my gosh, what is the next meeting? Or still bringing what it was in the previous meeting. And so having that time in that space to collect myself and the intentionality, I think, of being present at the next meeting, it just made a big difference on how I felt and how I made others feel as well.

[Dave Stahoviak]

One thing you shared with me recently is coming back now a year later from when you wrote the vision. And usually we think about the vision that we write at the beginning of, like, we do write it future oriented, like two to three years out. And I think it's interesting coming back to it now and looking at it a year later, like how many things have started to happen. Right.

[Irma Trageser]

Yes, yes. It was almost like magic. It was not magic. It was work. But the work didn't felt like work because the progress. I started seeing progress towards certain things and also developing a confidence because as we started with analyzing and recognizing our strengths, also positioning ourselves to the opportunities that happen. So I don't know if I would have not done the Academy. I don't think the opportunity I would seize the opportunities that were passing in front of me, because I think the opportunities are always there. It's when the individuals are ready to take them. Right. And so I think what the Academy did for me was getting me into that Mindset and helping me start changing some things that were critical for me to be ready for when the opportunity presented itself.

[Dave Stahoviak]

It's interesting what you said, that it was work, of course, and yet it didn't really feel like work. And I'm curious about that. Like, what is it that you think made it not feel so much like work?

[Irma Trageser]

Well, I think that to me, putting the things in paper, right? Like, just actually committing to something and having the clear vision. So there were many ideas before the academy. There were many ideas, oh, I want to do this and I want to do that. And, you know, and some of them were related and some of them were not. But once we follow the structure of creating a vision and then committing to it and then doing little things right along the way, I found myself. I was focused on that. That I just didn't even pay attention or the things that were. Like, the noise right around. Around me was not necessarily as loud, so I was able to concentrate on that. And then things start happening. And in talking to my. My peers in the cohort, it was like, for. For everybody. So it's. That's why I said it feels like magic, but it's not magic. It's just, I guess we're focused on. Intentional, on the things that are going to make us have progress, and that is being shown and recognized, I think, by others. Which leads to the opportunities.

[Dave Stahoviak]

Yeah, indeed. And I think many of us have had the experience, I certainly did before doing this, too, of going through an exercise of writing something down, maybe even writing a bit of a vision out of, like, okay, where I want to be professionally, here's what I need to learn. And then so often we end up kind of throwing it in a drawer or digital or file somewhere, and we maybe come back to it once a year or whatever, and we haven't done a lot with it. And I think one of the things that you and everyone else did so well is just, like, the consistency and the environment of doing that. And of course, by design, we write the visions, and then we keep coming back to them and keep talking to them. Every 60 days, we review them, we look at them, we talk about it, we dialogue. And so it's really like very much a living document. And it's something that. It's such power getting down a paper, but then it's the action behind it to make sure it actually happens. Happens.

[Irma Trageser]

Yes. And the direction. Right. We are moving to our direction when before, it felt like many directions.

[Dave Stahoviak]

Yeah, indeed. You've listened to the podcast for a while, so you know, I love to ask people what they've changed their minds on. As you went through this experience over the last year, I'm curious for, for you, what, if anything, did you change your mind on?

[Irma Trageser]

Yeah, so, I mean, I always thought you have to try harder and you have to try bigger. Right. Like, dream big and do big things. So if you have a goal, like, you have to work hard at this goal every day, all the time. Right. And so again, it was a paradigm shift. Just coming back and say, well, you don't, you don't have to work on everything at the same time. For every single time is you can start small and just being consistent. And so that is the thing that I think is going to stay and remain with me the rest of my life, because it doesn't apply only to leadership, but to every. Everything in life. Right. Like, if you want to start something, you start small and be consistent. And so that's, that's where I changed my mind. I. So many times I failed just because I started too big. And, you know, I. My eyes were bigger than my stomach. I guess I wanted to go big and I couldn't sustain it for a long time.

[Dave Stahoviak]

Yeah, I appreciate you sharing that. And I think it is. It's a bit of a trap a lot of us fall into who are high achievers, who want to do well, and, and we tend to set the bar really high for ourselves, like, as we should. Right. We want to challenge ourselves and have ambitious plans, and then we just sort of naturally try to jump in and do it all at once. And I'm speaking to myself here too, and, boy, have I learned to, like, back off for myself. Of like, okay, start small and. Because anytime I start really big on something, I'll get like a couple days into it, a week or two, and I can get the adrenaline and the energy going. But then it's not sustainable.

[Irma Trageser]

Correct.

[Dave Stahoviak]

And I think a lot of us run into that. But just by starting small, making it sustainable, making it something that actually we can do regularly and show up with, it just shifts in so many great ways. Irma, thank you so much for the privilege to work with you and I so appreciate you sharing your story with us. What a pleasure it's been to serve you.

[Irma Trageser]

Thank you, Dave. I appreciate you.

[Dave Stahoviak]

We all want to do it all, don't we? I think about what Irma said of taking on that new position and spending the first year trying to do a lot of everything and not getting a lot of traction. It's exactly why when our academy cohorts begin our work together. We start by getting really clear on what's important to each leader and get it down on paper, and then zero in on three focus areas that will help most. And then we begin, one thing at a time, to do exactly what Irma said. Start small and be consistent. Like her. If you're at an inflection point right now and ready to get moving, the Coaching for Leaders Academy may be the right fit for you. Just go over to coaching4leaders.com academy and you'll find more details there. Plus, you'll see a place on that page to request an invitation when we next open applications on March 7th. If you do that, I'll make sure you get an invitation just like Irma did, and I will consider you if you decide to apply. Thanks so much for listening. And remember, leaders aren't born, they're made.