Coaching for Leaders 174: Leadership Resources and Listener Questions, with Bonni Stachowiak
Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed
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*.
Question from Michelle:
I’ve recently taken on a Training post…it’s a new post and so I’m making things up as I go along. In episode 30 you recommend that Managers attend the same training as their team. I’m organizing a whole range of training courses in 2015 and at first I agreed with you that the Manager should attend with their team. The feedback I’ve had though is that if the Manager attends then people won’t ask all the questions they should ask to seek clarification. This maybe a cultural point rather than a general training point. Are there some types of training that need the Manager to be present and others where it’s better than they are not present? For example : if it’s about changing behavior then it’s right that they should attend and if it’s about learning something that’s new (new skills to do the job they already do) then the Manager shouldn’t be present.
Question from Amy:
I enjoy listening every morning on my way to work and have applied MANY of your tips to my job. I’ve been through so many podcasts, I’m curious if you could help me with one of your recommendations. You talked about a planner you use that can be specialized — what recommended company/website was this? I’m looking to start the New Year off right! Thanks for your advice!
- Remember the Milk
- OmniFocus (Mac)* (iPhone)* (iPad)*
- LearnOmniFocus.com from our friend Tim Stringer
Question from Brenda:
I am a retreat coordinator at a camp where I work with many different churches and Christian organizations. Most people I work with come 1-2 times a year and come and share their camp space with 2-5 different churches and organizations. I am looking for a way to not only personally connect with the people I work with, but also give them the opportunity to get to know each other as other camp rental leaders and be able bounce ideas off each other and give this group unity by coming to camp together. I also want to build this same unity and community with other retreat coordinators across the US within a online group. But keep the two groups separate from each other. I have seen this done with Stay-at-homes moms on Facebook, but really do not want to use Facebook for this. Would LinkedIn be a good website to use to for this purpose? Is there another social media or website that I should explore that you know of that would work better? What have you found to be the best way to grow your community with Coaching for Leaders?
Audio Question from Hujefa

Question from Lisa:
Quick question – have you ever done a podcast about how to handle a mistake at work? I have made a mistake that has many upset. I scheduled a meeting for next week to discuss and although I’ve already apologized internally, I’m looking for suggestions on how to handle the meeting. I don’t think I want to focus at all on what I “shoulda” done but rather what to do to help alleviate the situation.
Question from Noushin:
I was wondering if you can suggest a program for executives who would like to improve their writing skills for communicating with the investors, CEOs, etc.
- On Writing Well* by William Zissner
- Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing* by Mignon Fogarty
- 108: How To Improve Your Writing With Grammar Girl and Grammar Pop
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