#14 The Dark Side of Your Strengths w/ Nicolai Chen Nielsen, co-author Return on Ambition

Aug 26, 2021

45:51

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In Episode #14, I spoke with Nicolai Chen Nielsen, Co-author of Return on Ambition about what ambition is, how to be intentional with your ambition, how to see yourself as an investment, the dark side of our strengths (in his book he calls them the 7 Frenemies) and how wellbeing and growth are inextricably linked to achievement.

Nicolai is the director of transformation services at Peakon/Workday, where he provides cutting-edge talent analytics and employee engagement tools to empower employees. He is also a Partner at the Supertrends Institute, where he focuses on the intersection of the latest trends and their implications on leaders and organisations. He is also a co-author of Leadership At Scale.

WE DISCUSS:

04:08 - What led Nicolai to write his book

08:30 - The analogy of the tripod (Achievement, Growth, Well-being)

13:04 - The disconnect between ambition and struggle

19:10 - 7 frenemies that need our attention

27:36 - Nicolai’s best return on investment

29:21 - Key leadership qualities

34:32 - The changing nature of organisations

38:36 - What Nicolai learned from writing his book

40:41 - What Nicolai thinks of failure

45:30 - What advice would Nicolai give his younger self?

NICOLAI CHEN NIELSEN