Coaching for Leaders

Many of us struggle with being more productive. Here are four steps we can all take to get better results. Guest: Tim Stringer Holistic Productivity Online Courses LearnOmniFocus.com “There’s only two problems in life. Either you don’t know where you’re going or you don’t know the next step.” -Tim Stringer, paraphrasing David Allen Tim recommended Tony Schwartz's book Be Excellent At Anything* Step 1 - Reflection Tim recommends journaling to separate the noise from what’s most important The Day One app* is an excellent resource for this Step 2 - Accepting life as is Step 3 - Focus on one thing A positive shift in one area of life will influence many other areas It’s a lot easier to get early wins by starting with one area first Step 4 - Inspired action Work on a specific action for a 90-day period Think a strategize about your action like it’s already occurred Strategies Name projects the define the objective Due dates only when things are actually due Resources OmniFocus for the Mac* and iPhone* LearnOmniFocus.com Holistic Productivity Courses Holistic Productivity from The Omni Group on Vimeo. Practical action Try journaling for a week Feedback Join the conversation: http://coachingforleaders.com/151 Comments, questions, or feedback for future Q&A shows: http://coachingforleaders.com/feedback Next Q&A show is episode #152 (next week) and the topic is Career Direction Thank you to Tammy Jackson, Chris Fletcher, Matt Terry, Mike Sadlock, Daniel Acosta, Bruno Mauro, Mark Troxel, Kian Yong Soon, Sophie Hsu, Karlo Nocero, Mike Knipstein, Richard McDermott, Rebecca Johnson, and Michelle Bomberger for subscribing to the weekly update. Receive the 10 Leadership Books That Will Help You Get Better Results From Others, including 2 books that I rely on weekly. You can subscribe at http://coachingforleaders.com/subscribe Thank you to Joshua Rivers for the kind review on iTunes. Check out Creative Studio Academy if you are an online content creator. If you'd like to leave a review for this show, please do so on iTunes or Stitcher.

The three key steps to take after you conduct a survey, with the recent Coaching for Leaders listener survey as our case study. Guest: Bonni Stachowiak 1. Thank people Dave used Surveymonkey.com for the listener survey 2. Share the results Resources for visualizing results Column Five Piktochart Demographics Over 100 people participated 40% have graduate degrees 75% of listeners are managers Of those, 60% have managed five years or more Findings Dave needs to be more concise (introductions and show length) People want to continue to hear more advice for practical action People like and want more Q&A 3. Take action Show length will be 30-40 minutes Advice or practical action at the end of each episode Question and answer show the first Monday of the month (submit your question) Products and services Free online resource library is coming Paid monthly membership with access to weekly training videos will start with a private beta test Email Dave at feedback@coachingforleaders.com if you'd like to be considered for the private beta test Bonni started a podcast! The Teaching In Higher Ed podcast is live on iTunes and Stitcher Practical action Thank someone who has completed something for you that has not yet been thanked Feedback Do you agree with the survey results? Join the conversation: http://coachingforleaders.com/150 Comments, questions, or feedback for future Q&A shows: http://coachingforleaders.com/feedback Next question and answer show is episode #152 Topic: Career direction Submit your question Thank you to Chris Burniston, Christa Read, Laura Schiesl, Maria Padilla, Brandon Bentley, Guido Arruabarrena, Lili Li, Noa Ronen, and David York for subscribing to the weekly update. Receive the 10 Leadership Books That Will Help You Get Better Results From Others, including 2 books that I rely on weekly. You can subscribe at http://coachingforleaders.com/subscribe

Chris Hadfield: An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth Author of the New York Times Bestseller: An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: What Going To Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything* “So many people in life, maybe without even acknowledging it to themselves, let fear dictate a lot of their decision-making.” -Chris Hadfield Some keys to balancing sweating the small stuff and avoiding micromanagement Visualize it going perfectly Visualize failure before it has happened What’s the most likely 10 things to go wrong? Let’s simulate them and figure out how we will react to them Then run the simulation again to find the best plan and change behavior Aim to be a zero Begin by soaking up what’s going on and seeing what’s happening Recognize the necessity to become educated and understand the subtleties of the environment How to be successful at work and have a personal and private life that is successful and balanced Clearly understand what people are trying to accomplish in a family Make nobody’s sense of self worth dependent on anyone else’s identity The good intentions of the day are always often sacrificed on the altar of reality How successful people deal with the “what’s next?” question “If I had ever said to myself that the only part about this job that I like, or that is worthwhile, or that is satisfying -- is spaceflight, then I would have hated my life.” -Chris Hadfield What really matters is what I am doing today Question: How will you define success today? Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

David Hutchens: The Storytelling Leaders Leaders often hear about influence through storytelling, but don't know where to start. David Hutchens shares four stories to tell and how to get started. “It’s more important to tell a strategic story, to tell the right story, even if you don’t tell it particularly well.” -David Hutchens The starting point of telling stories is permission Storytelling is a skill that nobody really has to learn since it’s our natural language Leaders needs to give themselves permission to tell a story in their organization The 4 stories leaders need to tell Who we are stories - what it means to be us Think about the stories parents and caregivers told you when you were young about what it was like growing up for them When we do this, we impart information about what we believe and who we are today Every organization and team has an origin story David shared the origin story of General Electric A story from a leader always has a reason for telling it What are the identity and origin stories that you have? Vision stories - the future we desire These stories should be told in present tense language You can tell a story about somebody else that is already doing what it is you envision You might tell a story about someone else if it’s a big jump from where the organization is today Values in action stories - how the espoused values show up in our organization David mentioned Zappos and the stories they create about customer service The stories being told also affect how members of the organization make future choices The right story should reconnect people with why they really care about this work Change and learning stories - the stories about a time we tried something and learned from it This is generally the hardest story to tell Think about the leaders you’ve loved and appreciated the most (the best ones do this well) These stories can build culture and loyalty David shared the failure story of New Coke Here’s the structure: I tried something Here’s the bad result I got Here’s why I got that bad result Here’s how I’m now changing my behavior so I get a better result next time Don’t try to change your voice and be a professional storyteller: talk like you Resources Mentioned GO Team program* Leadership Story Deck* by David Hutchens Circle of the 9 Muses: A Storytelling Field Guide for Innovators and Meaning Makers* by David Hutchens David’s email: David@DavidHutchens.com Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Discover the world of practical typography with expert Matthew Butterick. Learn about font rankings, the impact of typographic choices in communication, and the one space vs. two debate. Explore the nuances of professional fonts and how typography can enhance writing skills.

Kent Rhodes: The Family Business Consulting Group Culture is how we do things around here. The three Levels of Culture from Edgar Schein Artifacts Espoused values Underlying assumptions Culture is difficult to identify when you are inside of it. Organizations confuse climate and culture: Climate comes from the outside and tends to be more temporary Culture is what is happening internally and more difficult to change Resources Books Organizational Culture and Leadership* by Edgar Schein Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture* by Kim Cameron and Robert Quinn Articles The Trader Joe's Experience by Mark Mallinger and Gerry Rossy Recognizing Organizational Culture in Managing Change by Mark Mallinger, Don Goodwin, and Tetsuya O'Hara The Competitive Advantage of Culture in a Family Business by Kelly LeCouvie and Kent Rhodes Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Sheila Heen, a Harvard Law School lecturer and co-author of bestsellers like *Difficult Conversations*, shares her expertise on receiving feedback. She dives into the emotional challenges we face and introduces a six-step framework to enhance feedback reception. Heen emphasizes understanding our tendencies, sorting feedback types, and engaging actively with critiques. Through her insights, listeners learn to separate the 'who' from the 'what' in feedback, fostering personal growth and strengthening relationships.

Andrew Stenhouse, Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies at Vanguard University, specializes in organizational psychology and has experience as a care pastor. He discusses the pervasive nature of loss in the workplace and its emotional impacts: fear, anger, and sadness. Stenhouse emphasizes that leaders should neither impose a timeline on grief nor shy away from facilitating conversations about loss. He advocates for creating stability and safe spaces, helping teams navigate their feelings, and viewing loss as an opportunity for growth.

Susan Gerke: GO Team Resources This model originates with Bruce Tuckman in the 1960’s Forming Storming Norming Performing Susan and I discuss the issues at each stage above and the actions that both team members and leaders can take in order to maximize team performance. There are several options when conflict emerges: Reform the team Do good Feel good Deal with the conflict There are also several ways that change itself can happen to a team: Leadership changes Membership changes Changes to the purpose and goals of the team Resources The I in Team* by Susan Gerke Go Team by Susan Gerke and David Hutchens What’s one action you will take to be more proactive with your team’s development? Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Susan Gerke: GO Team Resources Teams are different and unique Purpose Structure Stage of Development Membership Leadership When you are trying to figure out how to lead a team, 2 models can be very helpful. Types of Teams Interdependence degree of cooperation and coordination Number of meetings Content of meetings Goals —team vs. individual Reward team vs. individual Expertise Training plan Resources The I in Team* by Susan Gerke Go Team* by Susan Gerke and David Hutchens Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.