Thriving Leaders Podcast

Everyone needs to be effective at communication—thriving leaders even more so. It is the most universal skill. Effective communication is how thriving leaders engage and inspire their people to follow them.    In the next 4 episodes, we will be breaking down effective communication.    In this episode, we cover:  What is communication  Identifying the barriers to effective communication  The impact of not having effective communication  How to communicate effectively  Understanding your audience  And we hear from Will Brook, CEO of Brookfarm, on how he effectively communicates with his team and connects them to purpose.    In our next episode, we take communication another step further by connecting it to purpose. Stay tuned. 

As a thriving leader, you need to make decisions that balance the best interests of your team and the organisation. But by instilling a culture where your team members feel equipped to make their own decisions, reduces the need for everything to be ran by you, which is a time-consuming and disempowering process.     In this episode, we cover:  How to avoid decision-fatigue and make effective decisions – even if you tend to be indecisive.  Empowering your team to make their own decisions, by building trust and self-accountability.  How to create a culture of accountability within your team.  Building the systems that support an accountability culture.     To further support communicating with your team, in our next episode we unpack effective Communication – so stay tuned. 

An operating rhythm creates a repeatable cadence, so team members know what to expect week in, week out. It creates certainty and removes ambiguity, which leads to higher performance.  Structure and expectations are important for your team—especially in times of change.     That’s why in this episode, we cover:  The importance of having a transparent and agreed upon operating rhythm.  How to run effective meetings, including team and 1:1s  Transparency, roles and responsibilities and visible work, allowing for the removal and ambiguity and creating a high-performance culture.   We hear from Jimmy Stewart (JVAT) on how they created JVAT Day, their operating rhythm method, which consistently creates structure and focus so they can operate at their best.  We hear from Sandy Morrow (Koala) on how accountability and ownership bought comfort to their team, which ultimately lead to them feeling more valued and engaged.  It might take a couple of iterations to find the operating rhythm that works for your team or organisation, however, don’t let that put you off implementing one.  We work with many clients to design and roll out the right operating rhythm for their business. 

A strategy articulates what makes your organisation unique and different and provides value. It informs what areas to invest your time and money in, the organisation’s structure, resource requirements and how you respond to market and stakeholder needs.    Operationalising strategy is where the rubber hits the road.    In this episode, we take you through exactly how to do that:  The strategic pyramid: how you can build your own organisation strategy.  How to operationalise your strategy to ensure its successfully implemented.  Effective goal setting using Objectives and Key Results (OKRs).  Breakdown of how effective OKRs work.  We hear from Sandy Morrow (Koala) again on how implementing OKRs early on, led to role clarity, accountability and increased productivity.  We also hear from Jimmy Stewart (JVAT) on how they rolled OKRs out at an organisational level, and maintained their flat structure in the process. 

Holding team members accountable and setting goals through clear communication is a skill that many leaders find challenging. When we delay having important conversations, problems escalate, and accountability isn’t addressed.  A thriving leader must build their confidence and comfort level if they want to be high performing.     That’s why, in this episode, we cover:  The underlying issues when there is a lack of accountability  Barriers to holding others accountable  How to hold others accountable  The 4Cs to Accountability model  Jimmy Stewart, Managing Director of JVAT, explains how they’ve created a high-performing accountability culture  I encourage you to check out our 4Cs of Accountability model and to implement with your team, and be sure to let me know how you go. 

Learning when it is an appropriate time to coach takes awareness of the situation, the team member and yourself. Identifying coaching moments is a critical skill for thriving leaders. Situational leadership and understanding the context is important.    That’s why in this episode, we cover:  The difference between informal and formal coaching  How to apply in-the-moment coaching  Coaching for performance and development  Creating a coaching culture within your team and organisation  How coaching ties into the Skill Will Matrix    There is a time and a place to coach. Using your situational awareness, you can gauge if coaching is the right tool to use in that moment. It is a powerful tool in performance, career and development conversations.    How will you apply coaching into your team development and performance conversations? 

Most people naturally like to help others solve their problems. In fact, it is quite likely that you moved into a leadership position because you were a great problem solver and a superstar at delivery.  When you move into a leadership position, you need to help your team members so they can solve problems for themselves. This is a fundamental shift for leaders. It is challenging to move from providing guidance and advice to asking questions and trusting that the individual has the answers. This skill requires you to let go and shift from being directive to empowering your team member to own the outcome.    And that’s where coaching comes in.  In this episode, we dive into:     What actually is coaching?  Types of coaching  The power of coaching and the benefits of taking a coaching approach  How to coach  The four levels of listening  Coaching Models and coaching for different outcomes    In our next episode, we get into When to Coach, so stay tuned!     Where to get the book, Thriving Leaders: Learn the Skills to Lead Confidently:  Physical: Purchase here International: Amazon, Booktopia, Barnes & Noble  Audio: Audible & Spotify  For all other resources:  Learn more about our leadership development programs  Join our fortnightly newsletter  Want to connect directly with Claire? claire.gray@thrivingculture.com.au  Follow along on Linkedin  Check out our website 

When leaders and organisations incorporate feedback into their culture, it increases engagement, retention, productivity and motivation.  Employee recognition increases retention and productivity.  This is just one of the reasons why creating a culture of feedback within your leadership and organisation is so important.   In this episode, we cover:  How to create a culture of feedback.   Tips to receive feedback, including triggers you may experience.   How to effectively ask for feedback.     Where to get the book, Thriving Leaders: Learn the Skills to Lead Confidently:  Physical: Purchase here International: Amazon, Booktopia, Barnes & Noble  Audio: Audible & Spotify  For all other resources:  Learn more about our leadership development programs  Join our fortnightly newsletter  Want to connect directly with Claire? claire.gray@thrivingculture.com.au  Follow along on Linkedin  Check out our website 

As we covered in the previous episode (Feedback Part 1), creating a culture of feedback is vital for any high performing team. So, in this episode, we break down the components required to create a culture of feedback.    In Part 2 of Feedback, we cover:   Tailoring feedback to match the receiver’s personal style.  Tips on how to receive feedback, including navigating triggers while receiving feedback.  How to effectively ask for feedback. Where to get the book, Thriving Leaders: Learn the Skills to Lead Confidently:  Physical: Purchase here International: Amazon, Booktopia, Barnes & Noble  Audio: Audible & Spotify  For all other resources:  Learn more about our leadership development programs  Join our fortnightly newsletter  Want to connect directly with Claire? claire.gray@thrivingculture.com.au  Follow along on Linkedin  Check out our website 

When some people hear the word feedback, the hairs on the back of their neck stand up. You may have had a bad experience receiving feedback or perhaps you gave someone feedback and it didn’t land as you intended.    To nurture a feedback culture, leaders need to create a psychologically safe environment. As a thriving leader, you will need to give and receive feedback.  In Part 1 of Feedback, we cover:  What feedback is?  The barriers to giving quality feedback.  How to give feedback effectively.     Where to get the book, Thriving Leaders: Learn the Skills to Lead Confidently:  Physical: Purchase here International: Amazon, Booktopia, Barnes & Noble  Audio: Audible & Spotify  For all other resources:  Learn more about our leadership development programs (link)  Join our fortnightly newsletter (link)  Want to connect directly with Claire? claire.gray@thrivingculture.com.au  Follow along on Linkedin  Check out our website