Coaching for Leaders

Bill Bliss, Success In the C-Suite, discusses the myths and stopping points of succession planning. He emphasizes the importance of investing time and money in developing leaders and recommends a multi-faceted approach including mentorship, experiential leadership, and coaching. Backup succession plans are necessary, and legacy leaders should develop interests outside the organization. Leaders must subordinate their pride and ego for organizational success. It's crucial to have a clear vision for the organization's future and identify necessary leadership skills.

Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed Bonni is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, she was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. Bonni is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*. Bonni mentioned the This American Life show titled Trends With Benefits, citing a disability story from Hale County, Alabama. Question from Aaron During a one-on-one meeting my boss asked me where I wanted to go in my career, and I didn't have an answer for him. More concerning was that I didn't have an answer for myself. He recommended that I have a five year plan, and he gave me a few ideas to considers. With so many paths - both inside and outside my company - where do I begin? Your 90th birthday party Your ideal day or week What Color Is Your Parachute* by Richard N. Bolles Question from Birger “'After observing O Sensei, the founder of Aikido, sparring with an accomplished fighter, a young student said to the master, 'You never lose your balance. What is your secret?' 'You are wrong,” Ōsensei replied. 'I am constantly losing my balance. My skill lies in my ability to regain it.'” Also see Coaching for Leaders episode #123 with John Corcoran Question from Mike I have started to set expectations and coaching within role, but I am finding it very difficult to get any engagement with anything I do. It feels like I am the outsider and they would quite like to leave it that way. I have looked for quick wins and found a few but again they seems to be disengagement, a different perspective may be good. What your thoughts? Leading Change* by John Kotter Five Dysfunctions of a Team* by Patrick Lencioni Question from Danielle I just started my job and am really excited to hit the ground running with a lot of on-going projects. One theme in particular that is highly important and consistent in my current assignments is the concept of Customer Retention Strategy. I just need to know (1) In your personal/professional experience, have there been any particular practices or techniques you have implemented that have proven successful and (2) are there any resources/materials you may suggest that would prove useful for my research? (e.g. books, articles, videos) Fish!* by Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen Net Promoter Community Crush It!* by Gary Vaynerchuk The Lean Startup* by Eric Ries Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Tim Stringer: Holistic Productivity “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 Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed Bonni is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, she was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. Bonni is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*. 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) 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 Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

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.

Todd Henry: The Accidental Creative “Creativity, at the heart of it, is problem solving.” -Todd Henry “We are creatures of habit and creatures of comfort.” -Todd Henry Focus is a key element of creative work Those who are most effective can define their work very well. Define your work by establishing challenges. “When we start framing up work as problem statements rather than as projects, it completely changes the way that we approach the work itself.” -Todd Henry Hours of work is important element of work and creativity to look at “You’re not being paid for replying to emails quickly. You’re being paid for the value you contribute to the organization.” -Todd Henry Most people don’t make dedicated time to think and process important things. Stimulus makes a big difference in shifting your perspective and tapping into your creativity If you want to have deep thoughts, immerse yourself in the minds of great people. Books are hugs helps to do this, and not just business books. Capture ideas in some way Todd uses notecards to capture his ideas Later, he’ll process which ideas are helpful or actionable Todd has learned to use seasonal rhythms in order to be most effective What’s one action you could take to be more creative? Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Steve Richardson: Become a Better Leader in 30 Days* “All leaders manage, but not all managers lead.” -Steve Richardson Three things not to do when managing people Avoid managing by suggestion Managers do this when they don’t want to be accountable What do people really want from leaders? Direct Decisive Avoid managing by hoping These managers maintain a positive attitude, but don’t really know how things are going Employees learn that managers like this want to hear only good news Avoid managing by redoing Some managers take on the work of employees and will re-do it This is trap for people who were the start performers in the previous role We mentioned episode #117: The Seven Steps You Follow To Delegate Work “Doing something well myself is different than doing something well through other people.” -Steve Richardson Ask: How can I help you? The response “fine” does not necessarily mean fine Ask the next question to find out what’s really going on Steve's triangle of managing people: Fair, Friendly, and Firm One of these will typically take the lead in one situation What does this person most need right now? It takes tension to keep them in balance Let intuition govern what takes the lead in any given situation What should you stop doing? Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

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.