Podcast
Coaching for Leaders
Hosted by Dave Stachowiak · EN
Leaders aren’t born; they’re made. Many leaders reach points in their careers where what worked yesterday doesn’t work today. This Monday show helps leaders thrive at these key inflection points. Independently produced weekly since 2011, Dr. Dave Stachowiak shares insights from a decade of leading a global leadership academy, plus more than 15 years of leadership at Dale Carnegie. Bestselling authors, proven leaders, expert thinkers, and deep conversation have attracted 50 million downloads and over 300,000 followers. Join the FREE membership to search the entire leadership and management library by topic at CoachingforLeaders.com
185episodes
Episodes
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769: How to Connect Better with Remote Colleagues, with Charles Duhigg
Feb 900:38:56Summary readyCharles Duhigg: Supercommunicators Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist and the author of The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better. He is a winner of the National Academies of Sciences, National Journalism, and George Polk awards. He writes for The New Yorker and other publications and is the author of Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection (Amazon, Bookshop)*. A lot of us grew up in a world where most of our relationships started in person. That means many of us are beautifully equipped for a world that no longer exists. In this conversation, Charles and I discuss how to get better at connecting in a remote-first world. Key Points When the telephone first became popular, people had to learn how to communicate with it. We’re at a similar inflection point with digital communication. We all have three kinds of conversations: (1) What’s this really about? (practical/decision-making), (2) How do we feel? (emotional), and (3) Who are we? (identity). Many of us tend to default to practical/decision-making conversations online and miss conversations about emotion and identity. Ask questions that invite an emotional or identity response. Instead of, “Where do you live?” consider a shift like, “What do you love about where you live?” Notice when people bring elements into a conversation that aren’t related to the topic. These clues, especially online, can point to entry points for emotional connection. Supercommunicators pay just a bit more attention to how people communicate than the rest of us. A slight shift can make a big difference. Resources Mentioned Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection by Charles Duhigg (Amazon, Bookshop)* Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes The Way to Get People Talking, with Andrew Warner (episode 560) How to Lead Engaging Meetings, with Jess Britt (episode 721) How to Show Up Authentically in Tough Situations, with Andrew Brodsky (episode 727) Discover More 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.
Summary768: Evolving from Business Partner to Value Creator, with JP Elliott
Feb 200:39:57Summary readyJP Elliott: Future of HR JP Elliott has decades of experience as a Talent and HR executive at companies like DICK’S Sporting Goods, McAfee, and Lenovo. He’s seen the challenges HR professionals face in growing their careers and increasing their impact. He is the host of the Future of HR podcast and on a mission to help HR professionals increase their business impact and accelerate their careers. Leadership looks a little different if you head up a support role: human resources, IT, marketing, or finance. Often, we hear the term “business partner” used to describe what these leaders should be aiming for. In this conversation, JP and I explore how to shift from simply a “business partner” to a value creator. Key Points You’re not just an HR leader. You’re a business leader with HR expertise. Think like a CEO even if you’re in HR. Do this to be moving beyond an execution-only mindset. Design talent strategies based on the future, not on the past. Build systems that reward outcomes, not bureaucracy. Build talent strategies that differentiate your business. Forecast leadership needs 3-5 years out and build a pipeline for critical roles. Four questions that CEOs are asking: Are we focused on the right strategic imperatives? Are we operating effectively and efficiently? Are we optimizing our business model to create competitive advantage? Do we have a plan for sustainable and profitable growth? Resources Mentioned Future of HR podcast by JP Elliott Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes How to Start Managing Up, with Tom Henschel (episode 433) How to Solve the Toughest Problems, with Wendy Smith (episode 612) The Mindset to Help Your Organization Grow, with Tiffani Bova (episode 633) Discover More 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.
Summary767: Being Nice May Not Be Kind, with Graham Allcott
Jan 2600:37:26Summary readyGraham Allcott: KIND Graham Allcott is an author, speaker, entrepreneur, and the founder of Think Productive, a leading provider of training and consultancy. He is the author of multiple books, including the bestseller How to Be a Productivity Ninja and his latest book, KIND: The Quiet Power of Kindness at Work (Amazon, Bookshop)*. “Nice” means telling people what they want to hear. “Kind” means telling them what they need to hear. The best leaders are kind. In this conversation, Graham and I explore how we can do a better job of following through. Key Points “Nice” means telling people what they want to hear, whereas “kind” means telling them what they need to hear. Kindness is both concern for others and concern for self. Just like with salted caramel, it’s best with the right balance. Leaders often do better articulating vision and values than they do with getting clear on expectations of value each person should provide. Being clear is an act of kindness in itself because it drives psychological safety. Use a personal mantra as a concise and powerful way to consistently remind people about what’s most important. Invite others to “give the last 20%” in feedback to uncover areas where clarity would help. Resources Mentioned KIND: The Quiet Power of Kindness at Work by Graham Allcott (Amazon, Bookshop)* Rev Up for the Week (Graham’s newsletter) Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes Five Steps to Hold People Accountable, with Jonathan Raymond (episode 306) How to Build Psychological Safety, with Amy Edmondson (episode 404) How to Give Feedback, with Russ Laraway (episode 583) Discover More 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.
Summary766: Using AI to Make Networking Easier, with Ruth Gotian
Jan 1900:39:07Summary readyRuth Gotian: Networking in the Age of AI Ruth Gotian is the former Chief Learning Officer and Associate Professor of Education in Anaesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine. Thinkers50 has ranked her the #1 emerging management thinker in the world, and she’s a top LinkedIn voice in mentoring. She’s the author of The Success Factor and, with Andy Lopata, The Financial Times Guide to Mentoring. Most of us recognize the value of building a better network, but we also know the time and dedication it takes. In this conversation, Ruth and I explore how we can use AI tools to do some of the administrative legwork so that we can spend more time on the real relationship-building. Key Points McKinsey reports that since the pandemic, most people’s networks have shrunk or stalled. Consider the 90/9/1 rule: 90% of people lurk in online communities, 9% interact somewhat regularly, 1% post and lead the conversation. Use AI to enhance, not replace, your communications. Invite AI to do the administrative legwork (i.e. brainstorming, proofreading) so you focus on the human aspects. Ask AI to analyze speaker and attendee lists in advance at conferences in the context of your goals. Consider being the person that puts together an in-person dinner or gathering at a conference. Use AI to help you prep questions and discover the best people to invite. Ask AI to help complete your LinkedIn profile. An All-Star LinkedIn profile makes it substantially more likely that you’ll get surfaced to others. Resources Mentioned Networking in the Age of AI by Ruth Gotian Related Episodes How to Grow Your Professional Network, with Tom Henschel* (episode 279) How to Build a Network While Still Doing Everything Else, with Ruth Gotian* (episode 591) The Key Elements of a Powerful Personal Brand, with Goldie Chan* (episode 757) Discover More 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.
Summary765: How to See What’s Holding You Back, with Marty Dubin
Jan 1200:36:34Summary readyMarty Dubin: Blindspotting Martin Dubin is a clinical psychologist, serial entrepreneur, business coach, and adviser to C-suite executives and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. He has founded several companies, including a multimillion-dollar health-care company where he also served as CEO. He is the author of Blindspotting: How to See What’s Holding You Back as a Leader (Amazon, Bookshop)*. Whenever I ask leaders, “What’s getting in the way of you moving forward?” the most common answer I hear is, “Myself.” In this episode, Marty and I explore what’s likely holding you back and how you can take the first steps to get traction. Key Points Many leaders don’t recognize the need for change and succumb to an identity blindspot. You don’t have to change your identity, but there’s a mismatch between role and identity, that’s a major problem. Shifting your identity is not changing who you are. Identities help us to sort through people and situations so we know who we are in relation to them. An identity that many have worked before can get in the way today. Common ones are: imposter, independent thinker, rule follower, unworthy, entitled, rebel, and peacemaker. Look back through your calendar over the past three months and determine how well your activities match up with the identity your role demands. Embody the new identity you are aiming to shift to, even if you’re not yet feeling it. Resources Mentioned Blindspotting: How to See What’s Holding You Back as a Leader by Marty Dubin (Amazon, Bookshop)* Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes Six Questions Every Leader Should Ask Themselves, with Margaret Andrews (episode 750) How to See What Others Miss, with Kirstin Ferguson (episode 758) Show Up Better, Faster, with Claude Silver (episode 762) Discover More 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.
Summary764: Stop Solving Your Team’s Problems, with Elizabeth Lotardo
Jan 500:30:53Summary readyElizabeth Lotardo: Stop Solving Your Team’s Problems for Them Elizabeth Lotardo is a consultant, writer, and online instructor who helps organizations drive emotional engagement. Elizabeth writes for Harvard Business Review, is a Top Voice on LinkedIn, and the author of Leading Yourself: Find More Joy, Meaning, and Opportunities in the Job You Already Have. She’s also the author of the Harvard Business Review article, Stop Solving Your Team’s Problems for Them. Jumping in to solve problems feels like we’re doing important work. The issue is that leaders need to be enabling work – both for scale and to grow the skills of others. In this conversation, Elizabeth and I detailed how to get out of the trap of solving your team’s problems for them. Key Points Jumping in to solve a problem feels good in the moment for both parties, but creates long-term obstacles. The other extreme, asking people to only come with solutions, often shuts down learning for both parties. Shifting a habit of solving your team’s problems will feel awkward at first – both for your team and you. Rather than solving the problem for them, help remove the obstacle. Support doesn’t just have to come from the manager. Often, looking at the situation together will help surface what kind of support would actually help. We often assume that people are coming to us for answers. Sometimes, they just need to be heard. Five questions that will help your team step up: What have you tried? What–or who–is getting in the way of tackling this? What support do you need? What would you do if you were in my seat? Is there anything else I should know? Resources Mentioned Stop Solving Your Team’s Problems for Them by Elizabeth Lotardo Leading Yourself: Find More Joy, Meaning, and Opportunities in the Job You Already Have by Elizabeth Lotardo (Amazon, Bookshop)* Related Episodes The Way to Stop Rescuing People From Their Problems, with Michael Bungay Stanier (episode 284) Where Senior Leaders Can Better Support Middle Managers, with Emily Field (episode 650) The Key Norm of a High-Performing Team, with Vanessa Druskat (episode 753) Discover More 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.
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585R: How Top Leaders Influence Great Teamwork, with Scott Keller
Dec 2900:38:40Summary readyScott Keller: CEO Excellence Scott is a senior partner in McKinsey’s Southern California office. He co-leads the firm’s global CEO Excellence service line and is the author of six books, including the bestseller Beyond Performance. Scott spent his early consulting years working on business strategy and operational topics until his life was turned upside down when his second child was born with profound special needs. After taking time off to attend to his family, Scott returned to McKinsey with the desire to bring the best of psychology, social science, and the study of human potential into the workplace. He is a cofounder of Digital Divide Data and one of a few hundred people in history known to have traveled to every country in the world. His most recent book written with Carolyn Dewar and Vikram Malhotra is titled CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest. In this conversation, Scott and I examine McKinsey’s research on what the top CEOs do (and avoid) when building great teams. We look at a few of the key mindsets that the best CEOs bring to their organizations — and how teamwork plays into this. Plus, we explore some of the key questions top leaders should ask when determining if it’s time to exit someone from the team. Key Points Top leaders staff for both aptitude and attitude. The have an eye to both the short and long term. The most successful CEOs have a mindset of “first team” and expect leaders in the organization to prioritize serving the whole team/organization over any functional area. New CEOs are often known for acting quickly on staffing, but the most successful leaders also temper this with fairness. They use the four questions below to act with both fairness and speed. Top leaders stay connected with people throughout the organization, but also keep some distance. There’s a key distinction between being friendly and making friends. The best CEO’s ensure that have positively addressed all four questions below before removing somebody: Does the team member know exactly what’s expected of them: i.e., what the agenda is and what jobs need to be done to drive that agenda? Have they been given the needed tools and resources, and a chance to build the necessary skills and confidence to use them effectively? Are they surrounded by others (including the CEO) who are aligned on a common direction and who display the desired mindsets and behaviors? Is it clear what the consequences are if they don’t get on board and deliver? Resources Mentioned CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest by Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.
Summary658R: How to Help Change Happen Faster, with Frances Frei
Dec 2200:34:11Summary readyFrances Frei: Move Fast & Fix Things Frances Frei is a professor at Harvard Business School. Her research investigates how leaders create the context for organizations and individuals to thrive by designing for excellence in strategy, operations, and culture. She regularly works with companies embarking on large-scale change and organizational transformation, including embracing diversity and inclusion as a lever for improved performance. In 2017, Frances served as Uber’s first senior vice president of leadership and strategy to help the company navigate its very public crisis in leadership and culture. Her partner Anne Morriss and her are the authors of Uncommon Service and The Unapologetic Leader’s Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You. They are also hosts of Fixable, a leadership advice podcast from the TED Audio Collective, and they are recognized by Thinkers50 as among the world’s most influential business thinkers. Their newest book is Move Fast & Fix Things: The Trusted Leader’s Guide to Solving Hard Problems. A lot of us assume that going fast is reckless. There are certainly times when that’s the case, but it’s also true that leaders going too slow at the wrong time can make things worse. In this conversation, Frances and I discuss how to do a better job of moving quickly when it’s time to address the toughest problems. Key Points Many of us believe that going fast is reckless and going slow is righteous. While there are times that is true, there are many examples where it’s not. The fastest way to speed up your company is to empower more people to make more decisions. Dare to be bad at something. Deciding what not to address allows you to go faster at what you’re best at. Two key elements of completing work are work-in-progress and cycle time. Most leaders address cycle time first and miss the more substantial work-in-progress opportunities. Create a way to fast-track projects that become important and build this into the culture of the organization. Resources Mentioned Move Fast & Fix Things: The Trusted Leader’s Guide to Solving Hard Problems by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Discover More 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.
Summary763: Leading with Poise When the Stakes are High, with Eileen Collins
Dec 1500:39:09Summary readyEileen Collins: Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars Colonel Eileen M. Collins, USAF (retired), earned a place in history as the first American woman to pilot, and later to command, a space mission. She flew on the space shuttle four times, twice as commander – including the 2005 “return to flight” mission after the tragic Columbia accident. She is the subject of the documentary movie Spacewoman and author of the book Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars: The Story of the First American Woman to Command a Space Mission (Amazon, Bookshop)*. We all have times in our careers where all eyes are on us. In this conversation, Eileen and I explore the critical moments of her career and how she stayed grounded while soaring among the stars. Key Points Until we are tested, we don’t know what we are capable of. Nerves creep in at times for all of us. When they do, it’s helpful to think about representing your role instead of representing yourself. When decisions become difficult, always come back to, “What’s the mission?” Train for the skill, not for the task. During high-stakes times, remember your family and personal life. They will help you stay grounded. Resources Mentioned Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars: The Story of the First American Woman to Command a Space Mission by Eileen Collins (Amazon, Bookshop)* Spacewoman documentary, featuring Eileen Collins Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes How to Lead and Retain High Performers, with Ruth Gotian (episode 567) The Way to Handle Q&A, with Matt Abrahams (episode 681) How to Start the Top Job, with Scott Keller (episode 752) Discover More 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.
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762: Show Up Better, Faster, with Claude Silver
Dec 800:37:03Summary readyClaude Silver: Be Yourself at Work Claude Silver is on a mission to revolutionize leadership, talent, and workplace culture. She is Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX and partners with CEO Gary Vaynerchuk to drive their success. Claude has earned Campaign US’s Female Frontier Award, and AdWeek’s Changing the Game Award and she’s the author of Be Yourself at Work: The Groundbreaking Power of Showing Up, Standing Out, and Leading from the Heart (Amazon, Bookshop)*. We’ve all heard the advice to be ourselves at work. It’s easier said than done. In this conversation, Claude and I explore how we can actually move past some of the unhelpful self-talk so that we can show up better, faster. Key Points We all have songs that play in our heads. When the song isn’t working, it’s time to change it. Labels are for soup cans, not people. Stop treating negative self-talk as gospel. Begin by identifying the label you’ve put on yourself that’s harming you. When it’s hard to see a harmful label, use times of either reflection or agitation to help surface it. Find the internal evidence for this label and record what confirms this belief and also what challenges it. If that’s hard, invite someone else (a partner, friend, or therapist) to help you see it more objectively. Evolve by creating a new mantra for who you are becoming. If it doesn’t seem doable today, ask yourself if you can envision it being true in the future. Resources Mentioned Be Yourself at Work: The Groundbreaking Power of Showing Up, Standing Out, and Leading from the Heart by Claude Silver (Amazon, Bookshop)*. Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes How to Tame Your Inner Critic, with Tara Mohr (episode 232) How to Stand Up for Yourself, with Sunita Sah (episode 715) When It Feels Like You Don’t Belong, with Muriel Wilkins (episode 756) Discover More 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.
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