

Saqib Rasool: An Engineer's Approach to 21st Century Leadership Development
The skills and sensibilities we needed in the industrial age are no longer working. But according to my guest today, Saqib Rasool, we are approaching skills development as if we were machines - just sprinkle some knowledge or insert some new information and BAM we will transform our leadership style. Instead, he offers a different way to navigate these new skills and improve performance.
Today, we discuss how the leadership paradigm has changed and why our approaches to skill development often fail, because they rely on people fitting into rational machine models - which they do not! We discuss examples of how one crucial mindset shift works better, and why breakdowns are not a bad thing, but an opportunity for leaders to shift their mindset, engage in tough conversations, and listen to what is important to others - thus building the new leadership skills you need to succeed. We discuss how even the field of change management has changed and how you can shift from “power over” leadership models to “power with” models that lead to better results.
To access the episode transcript, please search for the episode at TheEmpathyEdge.com
Key Takeaways:
- Humans don’t give feedback; machines give feedback. Humans give opinions, both good and bad.
- The most dangerous and unproductive leader is the one who believes they have nothing else to learn.
- Be willing to set aside what you believe as true. Breakdowns can only be solved by being willing to hear the truth, no matter what it is.
"Even in industrial environments, the value is created in our ability to coordinate action with each other in conversations, to deal with breakdowns with each other, and to really see possibilities for innovation might exist in the breakdowns." — Saqib Rasool
Episode References:
- The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
From Our Partner:
SparkEffect partners with organizations to unlock the full potential of their greatest asset: their people. Through their tailored assessments and expert coaching at every level, SparkEffect helps organizations manage change, sustain growth, and chart a path to a brighter future.
Go to sparkeffect.com/edge now and download your complimentary Professional and Organizational Alignment Review today.
Saqib Rasool, CEO, Conceivian
Saqib is a serial entrepreneur, coach, and author. Starting his career at Microsoft, he later built several startups and founded a start-up accelerator. Saqib’s passion for cultivating leaders and entrepreneurs led him to study human potential, teamwork, innovation, entrepreneurship, and communications. Saqib has coached countless changemakers to unfold their potential, see the breakdowns ripe with opportunities, and set bold missions. He lives in the Seattle area and travels globally for work.
Connect with Saqib:
Conceivian: conceivian.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/saqibrasool
Facebook: facebook.com/saqibrasool
Instagram: instagram.com/saqibrasoolofficial
Conceivian's Emerging Leaders Program. A Revolutionary Approach To Building Leadership, Management, and Communication Capacities for Upward Mobility In Career & Performance in Enterprises: conceivian.com/elp
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