Without question, one of the common tasks organizations everywhere have to deal with is leadership development. Whether it's due to an aging workforce or the growing numbers of Millennials now moving their way through the workplace, there's no question that developing the next group of leaders will play a key role in an organization's growth and success in the coming years.But what measures should organizations be taking to not only create effective leadership development programs, but to support these new leaders to ensure a successful transition into these new roles in the organization? That's the focus of my conversation with Dr. Naphtali Hoff in this episode of my leadership podcast, Leadership Biz Cafe.Naphtali Hoff is an human and organizational psychologist and also President of Impactful Coaching & Consulting, where he works as an organizational consultant.He is also the author of the book “Becoming The New Boss – The New Leader's Guide To Sustained Leadership Success”, which is the focus of this episode.Over the course of our conversation, Naphtali and I discuss a number of key factors around leadership development and succeeding at leadership, including:The key areas organizations should address to help prepare new leaders for what awaits them.How organizations can create mentoring opportunities that benefit both new and experienced leaders.How to help new leaders learn to effectively delegate responsibilities to their team members.How both new and experienced leaders can “think positive and achieve” to drive their organization's vision forward.Why organizations need to move beyond learning and create “a workplace of teachers” and how to go about doing this.I'd appreciate it if you could help your support help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred streaming platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Ufp4H3lP3i3KyTKFr15md?si=4367c1eb091c4d39Noteworthy links:Buy Naphtali Hoff's book “Becoming The New Boss” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Naphtali's work at ImpactfulCoaching.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a common fact of leadership today that if you want to improve productivity and fuel organizational growth, you need to make sure your employees are engaged at work.And yet, despite both the evidence supporting the critical role employee engagement plays to driving your organization's success and most leaders wanting to improve employee engagement levels in their workplace, organizations everywhere are still struggling with this issue. Why is that? This conundrum serves as the basis of my conversation with fellow leadership expert and NYT bestselling author, Kevin Kruse.Kevin is a serial entrepreneur having founded several multi-million dollar companies, and even winning the “Inc 500” and “Best Places To Work” award for company culture.In addition to writing for Forbes, Kevin is the author of several books, including his New York Times bestseller, “We: How to Increase Performance and Profits Through Full Engagement”. Currently, Kevin serves as the Founder and CEO of LEADx, an online leadership learning platform that offers free leadership development to leaders around the world.In this episode, Kevin and I focus on his book “Employee Engagement For Everyone: 4 Keys to Happiness and Fulfillment at Work” and over the course of our conversation, we touch on a number of important insights about employee engagement, including:Why the biggest hurdle we face in improving employee engagement is often due to our not truly understanding what it really means.The surprising finding about who's responsible for driving employee engagement in today's workplaces.How improving employee engagement levels doesn't simply benefit the organization, but also has a positive impact on employees outside of work.What studies have found to be the 4 primary drivers to effectively drive employee engagement, and with it, organizational growth and success.Understanding what building trust really means in terms of driving employee engagement.What leaders get wrong about communicating more to boost employee engagement.What leaders and employees need to understand about recognition and its role in driving employee engagement.I’d appreciate it if you could help your support help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred streaming platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/7sH3tVQ8g8o3TiXsJVfyeJ?si=79293c3ebea6425aNoteworthy links:Buy Kevin Kruse's book “Employee Engagement For Everyone” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Kevin’s work and his writings at kevinkruse.com.Check out Kevin's new online leadership learning platform, LEADx. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's a common saying shared often in our social media streams that you achieve success, we need to take a leap out of our comfort zone in order to access that space 'where the magic happens'.But is this really what we need to do to achieve success and personal fulfillment? That question serves as the starting point of my discussion on the true nature of comfort zones and learning how to grow our competencies with psychology and organizational behaviour professor Andy Molinsky.Andy is a Professor at Brandeis University’s International Business School, with a joint appointment in the Department of Psychology. His research and writing has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Inc. Magazine, Psychology Today, the Financial Times, The Economist, and the New York Times. Andy was awarded as a Top Voice for LinkedIn for his work in education. Andy is the author of two books, including his latest, “Reach: A New Strategy to Help You Step Outside Your Comfort Zone, Rise to the Challenge, and Build Confidence”, which serves as the focus of this episode.In this episode of my leadership podcast, Andy and I discuss the realities of moving outside our comfort zone and how we can effectively accomplish this, and over the course of our conversation, Andy shares a number of valuable insights, including:What's the real difference between between introversion and extroversion (hint: it's now how shy or outgoing we are).The five challenges we face when moving outside our comfort zone – and the ones that most of us struggle with the most.Understanding the many ways that we avoid moving outside our comfort zone and how this can actually create a negative feedback loop that stifles opportunities for growth and success.The three strategies successful people share in common in how they approach moving outside their comfort zone to drive their future successes.The surprising reason why clarity is a key factor to our ability to succeed in moving outside our comfort zone.I’d appreciate it if you could help your support help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a minute to rate my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred streaming platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/3lFlAYGcd1LeUxK1ZvLLgc?si=4fb129f4aef84625Noteworthy links:Buy Andy Molinsky's book “Reach” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Andy’s work and his writings at andymolinsky.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When it comes to our leadership, how generous are we with the knowledge we have and the people we know in terms of helping others to succeed? And why is this so critical to our ability to succeed as leaders? That's the focus of my conversation with best-selling author and former executive Tim Sanders.Tim is a New York Times bestselling author, speaker, and former Yahoo Chief Solutions Officer. Tim has been featured in Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and ABC news. His approach to leadership and business is simple – share what you know and who know you to help others succeed, and do so with compassion towards others. Its those very principles that are the focus of Tim's New York Times best-selling book – and the focus of our discussion in this episode - “Love Is The Killer App: How To Win Business & Influence Friends”.Over the course of our conversation, Tim shares a number of fascinating insights and stories, including:Bizlove is having a genuine desire to see others succeed without expecting anything in return. - @SandersSays [Share on Twitter]Too often we focus on the wrong people: on those who boost our ego instead of those we truly helped. - @SandersSays [Share on Twitter]Use gratitude to drive you forward, but don't treat it as your sole motivator for helping others - @SandersSays [Share on Twitter]When you're generous and effective at growing other people, people will follow you. - @SandersSays [Share on Twitter]Caring leaders are more able to get their employees to take action than leaders who don't care. - @SandersSays [Share on Twitter]There are, of course, many more fascinating and thought-provoking insights shared during this episode – it's just that some can't fit into 140 characters or they're just so much more enjoyable to learn hearing them from Tim himself. This episode also features a number of fun and insightful stories, including a reading trick my middle daughter Malaika – whose not much of a book-reader – uses to capture and recall information she reads in books assigned for school.As I mentioned at the end of this episode, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. Please share your thoughts and ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website.I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred streaming platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/7AVaYZ9WpO3tyrYQq25oYw?si=fb9cdc80f50a4babNoteworthy links:Buy Tim Sanders' book “Love Is The Killer App” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Check out the special Leadership Biz Cafe webpage on Tim's website featuring exclusive content for my listeners at TimSanders.com/LBC.Learn more about Tim’s work and his writings at TimSanders.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As leaders, how aware are we of the obstacles we create for ourselves that impede our ability to achieve our own form of greatness? That's the question that served as the basis of my conversation with my fellow leadership expert and friend, Lolly Daskal.Lolly is the president and CEO of Lead From Within, a global consultancy that specializes in leadership and entrepreneurial development.Lolly is also a prolific writer, not only creating regular content for her award-winning leadership blog, but she also writes a column for Inc.com and Psychology Today, as well as having her work appear in the Harvard Business Review and Fast Company. Although she's the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, the one that probably best describes Lolly is something The Huffington Post once wrote about her, calling her “The Most Inspiring Woman in The World”.For our conversation, Lolly and I discuss her new book called “The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness”.As I mentioned at the end of this episode, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. Please share your thoughts and ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website.I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred streaming platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/1CW7ZnxKTS8OnezWWDABiw?si=05f7f11f72c14db0Noteworthy links:Buy Lolly Daskal's book “Leadership Gap” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Lolly’s work and her writings at lollydaskal.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If there's one thing every leader out there can agree on, it's that the way we work has drastically changed over the past few decades, and in today's interconnected, global environment, that change is now happening at a much more accelerated pace than ever before.In light of these fundamental shifts to the way we work, which 20th century management principles should we stop using, and what do we replace them with in order to ensure we're bringing out the best in those we lead? This question about the changing nature of today's workplace environment and the impact it has on the way we lead is the focus of my conversation with management expert David Burkus.David is a best-selling author, an award-winning podcaster, and an associate management professor at Oral Roberts University. In addition to his first book, “The Myths of Creativity: The Truth About How Innovative Companies and People Generate Great Ideas”, David's writings have been featured in the Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., and Bloomberg BusinessWeek.Listeners of my leadership podcast may also recognize David as the guest host who interviewed me about my book "Leadership Vertigo" as part of the month long celebration here on my website around the release of my first leadership book.His latest book is “Under New Management: How Leading Organizations Are Upending Business As Usual”, which will be the focus of our conversation in this episode.Over the course of this episode, David and I discuss some of the ideas and findings he shares in his book (some which can seem a bit controversial) including:Why we need to rethink the way we use email and how one company's approach actually helps employees to enjoy their vacation and return to work not dreading a backlog.How organizations can move beyond the much maligned annual performance review towards measures that will inspire and motivate their employees to bring their full selves to the work they do.How making salaries transparent – from senior management to the front-line employees – can actually reap unexpected benefits to an organization's growth and ability to improve employee retention.How to drastically shift the role of management in today's organizations by “firing the managers” (trust me when I say it's not what you think it is).Why we need to rethink our current obsession with the open-office workplace design, and what organizations should really be doing in order to promote collaboration and innovation, while at the same time allowing employees to do their best work.As I mentioned at the end of this episode, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. Please share your thoughts and ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website.I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred streaming platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/6NcMW014OjlIQslRc0AP6n?si=a40fa6fa87e84673Noteworthy links:Buy David Burkus' book “Under New Management” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about David's work and his writings at davidburkus.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today's faster paced, interconnected world, there's little doubt that change is the new reality; the new standard by which we now have to operate. But if leaders recognize change as being a new constant in our organization's field of view, why then are so many leaders struggling to effectively drive change in their organization? It's the question that serves as the basis of my talk with innovation expert and author, Braden Kelley.Braden is an experienced innovation speaker, trainer, and digital transformation specialist. In addition to being one of the co-founders of the respected website, InnovationExcellence.com, Braden has published more than 500 articles on innovation as well as being author of the book “Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire”. His latest book is “Charting Change: A Visual Toolkit for Making Change Stick” which will be the focus of our conversation in this episode.Over the course of this episode, Braden and I touch on a number of fascinating insights that he describes in his latest book, including:How leaders can help their employees shift their perception from fearing change to viewing it as an opportunity for learning and growth.Three different types of change and how leaders should shape their message depending on the kind of change they're pushing forward.Two key factors leaders should use to ascertain who needs to be involved in the change initiative.The main reason why a majority of employees resist change in their organization.How leaders can be more effective in not only promoting change, but getting greater support from their employees for the change initiative.As I mentioned at the end of this episode, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. Please share your thoughts and ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website.I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred streaming platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/1MVYN6L4EnXjj5jl2aWJ2w?si=b762731e693b4e33Noteworthy links:Buy Braden Kelley's book “Charting Change” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Braden's work and his writings at bradenkelley.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When it comes to disruptive innovation, the common and natural tendency is to view it from the lens of organizational growth and evolution. But can the power of disruptive innovation also be applied at the individual level to drive personal success and growth, and if so, how exactly do we go about doing that? It's the question that serves as the guiding focus of my talk with management thinker, writer, and author, Whitney Johnson.Whitney is the co-founder of Rose Park Advisors, an investment firm she co-founded with renowned innovation thinker Clayton Christensen. She's also a former award-winning Wall Street analyst and this year she was a finalist in the Best in Talent Category for the Management Thinkers50.In addition to writing for the Harvard Business Review and LinkedInfluencer, Whitney's work has been featured in Fast Company, BBC, CNN, The Guardian, and several other media outlets.Whitney is also the author of two books, the first being “Dare, Dream, Do” and her latest being “Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work”, which is also the focus of this episode's discussion.Over the course of this episode, Whitney and I touch on a number of fascinating and personal insights that she shares in her latest book, including:Understanding what is our distinctive strength and how we can tap into it to drive our professional and organizational growth.How the compliments we receive from others can reveal our path to growth and success.A look at which kind of risk is the key to tapping into the growth and success opportunities often cited in disruptive innovation models.Why constraints are actually beneficial and not a hindrance to our ability to disrupt ourselves, and our perception of what can be done and what opportunities are there to fuel our growth and success.How to leverage failure as a source of feedback to help us chart the best course to achieve success.The “innovation killer” that many of us get caught up in and how it impedes our ability to learn and grow.It's definitely a fun and frank conversation between Whitney and myself – in fact, she even shares an illuminating personal story that really helps us to understand how she learned to make constraints a valuable source of feedback, so be sure to check out that “scoop” found only on this episode of my show.As I mentioned at the end of this episode, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. Please share your thoughts and ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website.I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred streaming platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/0CXYkeVMIAvxMTr2TN71ji?si=444d6d7057d646b4Noteworthy links:Buy Whitney Johnson's book “Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Whitney's work and her writings at whitneyjohnson.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A common theme found among the numerous books and articles on successful leadership is that leaders need to be more open, more transparent with those they lead in order to improve communication channels and drive forward initiatives that are key to an organization's success and growth.But what if we're not as open or as easy to read as we might think that we are? What if the actions we're taking overlook a key aspect of how our brain operates?That's the premise and focus of this new episode of my leadership show, “Leadership Biz Cafe” where I welcome Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson to share her insights from her latest book “No One Understands You And What To Do About It”.Heidi is a social psychologist whose research and writings focus on the science of motivation. She is also the Associate Director of the Motivation Science Center at Columbia Business School and a member of many esteemed scientific communities and organizations. In addition to authoring several books including “Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals” and “Focus”, Heidi is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal, and Psychology Today.You may also recognize her name from some of the guest contributions she's made to my leadership blog as well.Over the course of our conversation, Heidi and I discuss a number of interesting points and insights from various studies shared in her latest book that can help leaders become more effective in their roles, including:Why we're not as well understood as we might think we are, despite our efforts to be more open and more transparent in our leadership.What drives the assumptions we all make about the people we lead and serve, and how stereotyping is only the tip of this sub-conscious iceberg.How our unconscious biases lead us to see creativity as something negative for effective leadership, where the more we see someone as being creative, the less we see them being an effective leader for our organization.Why we're not as good at picking up the context behind most of our interactions because of how our brain processes information and what we can do about it.How even our circadian rhythms – the things that make one leader a “morning person” and another a “night owl” can dramatically impact how we perceive people and situations.How power affects the way leaders view or understand the realities those around them face and what they can do about it to be more effective in their leadership.A powerful question every leader should be asking those in their trusted circle to help them better understand how they are really coming across to those they lead.It's a fascinating conversation and there was certainly more I would've liked to discuss with Heidi in this show to help listeners better understand how we perceive others and how others perceive us, and the impact this has on our ability to successfully lead those under our care.I encourage you to check this episode out as there's so much to learn and benefit from in terms of how you approach your leadership and the conversations you have with your employees.As I mentioned at the end of this episode, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. Please share your thoughts and ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website.I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred streaming platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/1vSRCtzQtH7YVJ3GEFme01?si=b009be349d894c6bNoteworthy links:Buy Heidi Grant Halvorson's book “No One Understands You And What To Do About It” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Heidi's work and her writings at heidigranthalvorson.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With so many books, articles, and studies on how leaders can be more effective guiding their teams in today's faster-paced, global environment, why do leaders still struggle to help their organizations to succeed? That's the basis of the conversation in this VERY special episode of Leadership Biz Cafe which wraps up the month-long celebration of the release of my first leadership book, “Leadership Vertigo”.In this special episode of my show, I'm delighted to hand over hosting duties to my friend David Burkus, author of “The Myths of Creativity” and host of the leadership podcast show, LDRLB, so he can interview me about my new book, as well as asking about my future plans, including a discussion about my next leadership book.Over the course of this discussion, David and I discuss:What is leadership vertigo and how does it impact leaders in today's organizations.Understanding one of the key challenges organizations face in terms of balancing leadership development and retaining key talent.What Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela help us to understand about the importance of community and why it's necessary to rallying employees around our vision or long-term objectives.My experience with a public transit janitor on the Chicago L-Train and what his actions reveal about the true nature of credibility in leadership.What's next in store for me, including a discussion of what the focus of my next leadership book will be.As David mentions at the end of this special episode, I’d love to hear what you think about this conversation about my first leadership book, as well as hearing what other topics this might spur your interest in learning more about in future episodes of my show. To do so, please leave me a comment below or fill out the contact form found on my website.I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred streaming platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/2N3x1FzNQT4GeMLQX9GVLp?si=1890af599da64193Noteworthy links:Check out David Burkus' leadership podcast show, “LDRLB”.Learn more about my new book, “Leadership Vertigo” and where you can buy yourself a copy.I'd like to take this opportunity to once again thank David for agreeing to step in as a special guest host for Leadership Biz Cafe and for the thoughtful discussion around my book, “Leadership Vertigo”.And as this wraps up the month-long celebration of this special event, I'd like to once again thank all of my special guest contributors in this special leadership series – Doug Conant, Liz Wiseman, Jim Kouzes, Barry Posner, and David Burkus. My thanks and gratitude go out to each of you for joining me in the celebration of my first leadership book.I am truly grateful for your generosity, support, and encouragement. Your involvement in this celebration has certainly helped to make this important milestone event a memorable and special one, for both my audience and myself. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.