Coaching for Leaders

John Dickson: Spokane County, Washington Here's a link to the Lean Fighter article John mentioned about some of the work he contributed to at Boeing John mentioned the learning organization that was articulated by Peter Senge. This model was made popular in Senge's book The Fifth Discipline*, which is a must-read for leaders and also appears on my Top 10 books for leaders list. “The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, and serve first. The conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.” -Robert Greenleaf “Enthusiasm is the little recognized secret of success.” -Dale Carnegie A recent article from the Spokesman-Review on the new utility bill payment system that John spoke of on the show. What’s one shift you could make that would make you more like a servant leader? Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Douglas Conant, former CEO of Campbell Soup and author of the bestselling book TouchPoints, shares valuable insights on leadership. He emphasizes the importance of daily interruptions as opportunities for connection and how to leverage these moments to enhance team dynamics. Conant discusses his experience overcoming setbacks and the significance of building relationships. He also highlights the impact of handwritten notes on fostering appreciation and the balance between empathy and high performance in leadership, urging a 'how can I help?' approach.

This week, we dedicate the entire show to community questions about training. Guest: Bonni Stachowiak (@bonni208) Question from Jordan I am a young manager (mid-20’s). My job requires training large amounts of staff on software and technology. Many of the staff are twice my age, and tend to ignore me when giving trainings. I’m, not sure if this is because of my age, or because I have only been with the organization for 5 years, and many of  them have been here for 20+. Or perhaps it is because of the subject matter of the trainings? Do you have any suggestions on how to get through to them? Is it content or credibility? Seven Principles for Leading People Older Than You [episode #59] Seek out people who are giving you objections and find out how to best serve them. Dave mentioned How To Win Friends And Influence People* Lynda.com* is a good solution for learning popular software online at your pace Adobe Captivate is a good option for creating your own simulations Screenflow for the Mac is great for screencasting Camtasia is another option 2nd Question from Jordan Do you have any suggestions on conferences one can go to, to expand skills on leadership and coaching? Bonni says a conference is a place to build a network, generate new ideas, and learn about new products Dale Carnegie Training provides a great resource for changing behavior, which is a great way to get better and leadership and coaching Question from Kris I am a manager in a large company and managing a global transformation programme. I am at a cross roads and my development plan includes getting more training on the following: (a) Leadership of global teams (physical and virtual) and (b) Strategic planning and organizational development (how does one define and develop a global organization, roles, numbers of people, strategy, governance, teams, processes, etc) to implement a global transformation programme. Do you have recommendations on books, education or coaches for my further development? Good to Great* by Jim Collins Execution* by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan The Fifth Discipline* by Peter Senge Coaches: Bill Bliss, Tom Henschel, Pam Fox Rollin but find someone who’s done what you’ve done and what they’re reading Question from Suzie Audio comment If you are a nurse or know one, check out OneLoveforNurses.com Jane Hart publishes the Top 100 Tools for Learning Poll Everywhere is used by Bonni in her classroom Question from Andres In a world of free online courses and MOOCS (Massive Open Online Course); what type of course would you be willing to pay for? What type of content/delivery would definitely be worth spending your (not your employer’s) money on? Bonni mentioned attending a class from Linda Krall on creativity Dave spoke about Michael Hyatt’s class of 5 Days To Your Best Year Ever Question from Elmer How do you make training accessible to the newest employee while bringing something to the table for the most experienced manager? I usually try to leave the conversation open for the subject matter experts in the room to share their knowledge (within reason and on topic) so there is a feeling of collaboration and not speaking down to them in those situations. Creating a course that is comprehensive is difficult. Dave suggests segmenting the training, if possible. How can you get the subject matter experts engaged in a leadership capacity in the classroom? Use a problem-based or case study approach. This engages the more knowledgable people in the room. 2nd Question from Elmer One of our bosses/stake holders wants us to make our classes archiveable or semi-future proofed so we do not have to constantly go back and re-teach the classes one on one. What are some of the best ways to do that? “If the recording of the class was the equivalent to being there, then why are you holding the class in the first place?” -Bonni

Discover the secret to happiness through a transformative shift in mindset. Learn how rephrasing daily tasks from 'have to' into 'get to' can enhance your appreciation for life. With engaging stories and personal anecdotes, explore the significance of interpersonal relationships in leadership. Delve into the bittersweet balance of family commitments and the joys of spontaneity. Gain insights on professional growth from valuable training experiences that inspire new ideas and enrich your perspective.

We all know what corporate brands are, but do you have clarity on your own, personal brand? Today, we examine the five elements of an effective personal brand with executive coach Heather Backstrom. Guest: Heather Backstrom HeatherBackstrom.com Executive Coach What is a personal brand? Personal brand is who a person is from the inside out. It’s not about external looks - that is personal image (also important, but different). 1. Values Knowing our values can provide clarity on the kind of work and work environment we choose. To help get clarity on your values, you may wish to utilize Dave’s values exercise at this link. Consider experiences in your life that really brought you joy - what values show up? For more on values, check out Coaching for Leaders episode 20. 2. Vision It’s about where you are now and where you wish to go. Create a target for yourself by defining it visually or in writing. “You can’t hit a target you don’t even have.” -Zig Ziglar For a journaling app, check out Day One. For more on vision, check out Coaching for Leaders episode 22. 3. Purpose Vision is where your head is and purpose is how you get there. Vision is the future and purpose is what’s happening in the present. Dave spoke about being a “curator of wisdom about people.” Without purpose, we tend to get caught up in other people’s lives and lose our own way. 4. Authenticity Personal brand is about bringing out the best of who you are. Borrow wisdom from others, but make it your own. 5. Perception We define our world and other people by our perceptions. The language we use can change how people perceive us. Heather and Dave both mentioned that they struggled most with this element. What action will you take enhance one of these five elements of your personal brand? Feedback On this topic: http://coachingforleaders.com/133 Comments, questions, or feedback: http://coachingforleaders.com/feedback A reminder that episode #135 coming up in two weeks is completely focused on training. Submit your question for consideration at this link. Thank you to Maria White, Gail Williams, Linda Eller, Valarie Hogan, Kathleen Wheeler, Sarah Blaise, Coop Cooper, Lisa Stockwell, René Hernandez, Lena Staafgard, Brenda Mundy, Jessie Chen, Dee Maher, Felipe Souza, Vicky Nicolas, Luke Robinson, Cindy Paris, David Rivera, Heath Mullikin, Zulma Monsalve, and Dan Cooke for subscribing to my weekly update this past week. A special than you to Linda for the very kind iTunes review! If this show has been valuable to you as well, please leave a written review on iTunes or Stitcher by visiting http://coachingforleaders.com/itunes or http://coachingforleaders.com/stitcher

Being connected is great, right until it’s not. How to improve the quality of your connectedness with an expert from the Center for Creative Leadership. Guest: Jennifer Deal, Ph.D Center for Creative Leadership Author, Always On, Never Done: Don't Blame The Smartphone Center for Creative Leadership works to help improve leadership. Many people said that staying so connected really started when they received their smartphone. On average, people in the survey were connected to the workplace 72 hours a week, or 13.5 hours a day. Personal tasks done during the workday were accounted for in the research (even people that don’t work these kind of hours still do personal tasks at work) One of the biggest complaints was the number of meetings required in organizations. A major issue is being invited to meetings and then people realizing that they weren’t really needed. Setting clear agendas is key. Be explicit why each person is needed. Another major complaint was too many people making decisions. Be explicit about who has decision-making authority and who needs to be checked with. The intentional use of ambiguity as a management tool is also a challenge. Sometimes people don’t make a decision so they don’t have responsibility for it, so they leave it in ambiguity. Clear agendas and outcomes help prevent this. This leads to crisis mode later on. What Jennifer does differently because of this research She still answers emails early in the morning and late at night. Setting better boundaries about having done enough work today. Being very specific on agendas for meetings. She turns down a lot of meetings that aren’t as high value as the other things she needs to be doing. Check out the Center for Creative Leadership for more resources Also see episode #128, Four Practices For Leading An Effective Meeting What have you seen a leader do to encourage quality connections to the workplace? Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Bonni Stachowiak, an expert in knowledge management and curation, discusses effective strategies for creating a personal knowledge management system. She explores different methods of capturing information, such as using social media and subscriptions, and highlights the importance of curating and organizing this information. The podcast also covers tools for reading and managing RSS feed subscriptions. The episode concludes with resources for staying connected with the community and accessing additional leadership resources.

So you’re in the midst of conflict and frustrated with the other party. What can you do get what you really want? On today’s show, Bonni Stachowiak joins me to discuss the path to get there. Guest: Bonni Stachowiak Bonni and I discussed three steps for getting what you most want out of conflict: Recognize our tendency to focus on ourselves being right and the other party being wrong. Getting clear on the feeling factor: becoming aware of our own feelings and learning to express them accurately to another party Know your short and long-term goal. “Given what has already transpired that you can't change, what do you want to have come out of this situation?” We recommended Difficult Conversations* Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

John Corcoran: Smart Business Revolution Key Points Ursula Burns (CEO of Xerox) and her thoughts on work-life balance, as reported by the Wall Street Journal The Storyline Productivity Schedule (used by John) David Allen's Getting Things Done* (both John and Dave use the philosophy of this system) ProductiveFlourishing.com (John uses) OmniFocus (Dave's task management system) Drafts (how Dave captures thoughts throughout the day) 5 Days To Your Best Year Ever (Dave attended this course over the holidays to set his 2014 goals) iCloud calendars (Dave's family uses this to coordinate family scheduling) Boomerang for Gmail (John uses this to delay sending emails) Coaching for Leaders episode #70: How Three Words Can Drive Your Development This Year (Dave's podcast that aired in early 2013 that John and Dave referenced during the show) Book recommendation: Give and Take by Adam Grant* Book recommendation: How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie* Book recommendation: The Secrets of Happy Families by Bruce Feiler* (mentioned by Dave post-interview) Follow Dave's reading on GoodReads.com by visiting CoachingforLeaders.com/goodreads Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

What if you loved starting your work most days? What if you were able to create a workplace where people felt joy? Our guest today leads a place that Inc. Magazine has called, “The most joyful company in America,” and is here to inspire us to do more for the people we lead. Guest: Richard Sheridan Author of the new book Joy, Inc.* CEO, Menlo Innovations Community Feedback CoachingforLeaders.com/feedback USA: (949) 38-LEARN Episode #125 airing later this month will be an all question and answer show focused on the topic of Time Management. If you have a question relating to time management, please record it for consideration for this episode at this link. Thank you to Juha Ruohola, Mir Ali, Chad Belletete, Donnie Mefford, Simon Cooper, Varun Perla, Sanjay Patel, Craig Strickler, Terry Cao, Melissa Hecht, Hani Alshoulah, Par Hoglund, Reza Ahmadi, Rebecca Mohon, Lynn Schaffer, Teresa Gibson, René Rasmussen, Klaus Feldam, Dick Donovan, Melissa Williams, Sylvia Emery, and Ron Echtenacher who subscribed to my weekly update this past week. What’s one thing you could do today to bring joy into the workplace?