Growing from founder to CEO: Executive coach Alisa Cohn on how to get better feedback

Today’s episode is with Alisa Cohn, an executive coach with nearly 20 years of experience working with companies like Etsy, Venmo, InVision, The Wirecutter, Google and IBM. Her new book, From Start-Up to Grown-Up: Grow Your Leadership to Grow Your Business, just came out this week. 

In our conversation today, we focus on what founders and startup leaders can learn from Alisa’s experiences as a coach. We start by getting into self-awareness, and how tough it can be for executives to get truly candid feedback. As an expert in the art of conducting 360 feedback, Alisa shares the right questions to ask, as well as tips for getting at the root of what people are actually saying in their feedback. 

We also dive into what to do with what you hear, from why not every piece of feedback is useful, to her tips on how to actually enact change in your day-to-day routine. Next, we tackle the most common opportunities for growth that she’s seen time and time again in her coaching practice, from communication and decision-making, to how the CEO’s own personality is often unconsciously reflected in the company culture.

We wrap up by covering how to have effective conversations about layering and letting people go, as well as the reflection ritual that she recommends every founder incorporate into their daily routine.

This episode will be helpful for those who are making the transition from scrappy founder to established CEO, but it’s a great listen for any startup leader who’s struggling to give away their Legos.

You can follow Alisa on Twitter at @AlisaCohn. 

You can email us questions directly at review@firstround.com or follow us on Twitter @FirstRound and @BrettBerson.