Transformative Leadership Conversations with Winnie da Silva

Episode Title: Take a Break and Reflect For the last episode of 2020, I’d like to contemplate the value of taking a break and reflecting. Two weeks ago I came across this quote: “Just because you take breaks doesn’t mean you’re broken.” By Curtis Tyrone Jones. I laughed out loud – but I was already feeling a bit broken – broken because I wasn’t taking breaks. Running my own business, launching a podcast and taking care of three daughters with my amazing husband is a pretty full plate. No matter what your situation is, I bet you need a break too. Taking time to rest and reflect enables you to be “the best person you can be” – in your work, with your family, as a friend, as a neighbor. Let’s go back to my guests from the first four episodes who also talked about the value of taking a break and reflecting… Elliot takes time to capture leadership practices every year…  “I have an Evernote that I started seven years ago called leadership. And, and when something goes right, really right, or something goes really wrong, I try and think about it and say, okay, what just happened here? I have this running list of the five or 10 big things I've learned and those are the things that guide me” Kelly took time to think about how to connect with her team during the lockdown… “One of the big breakthrough moments for me, as I would say that the first, five to eight weeks of our national lockdown. I would spend three or four hours a week personally, thinking about what questions I was going to ask my team and how it was both a way to get better information and advice and to learn, to listen better.” Marcel creates space for personal moments and to make sure he’s measuring the right things… “Make sure that I can have in-between space to tackle things which are more interpersonal, Moments versus just quantified KPIs that I've got to meet. I'm always thinking I could be better at being productive but then I realized that. I'm already measuring the wrong things.” And Mandy uses her power of introversion to create personal internal assessment tools… “There's always some way in which you can push yourself further. Achieve more, do more, be more I think figuring out how to develop internal barometers. Yes, I did a good job. No, I didn't do a good job. yes. This situation went well. No, it didn't. those sorts of personal internal assessment tools are worth taking the time to develop.” I love these examples of every day leaders developing different practices to take a break and reflect. And it looks different for all of us. Taking a break allows us to think and visualize new ideas. Instead of being in transactional mode, resting reignites our ability to imagine future possibilities, of what could be – in all areas of our life. There is lots of advice on how to recharge…exercise, read, meditate or pray, go outside, do something you enjoy, help someone, make something, or simply do nothing… For me, I’m going on an 8-day silent retreat at a monastery in Massachusetts. I’ve never done anything like this before. I hope to find rest there. I anticipate time to reflect on many areas of my life. I look forward to letting my mind wander. So what does taking a break and reflecting this season look like for you? What is ONE thing you could do to let your mind wander and refresh? What areas of your life could use some reflection? While most of us are more than happy for 2020 to end, what will make 2021 better? Imagine the ways you can contribute to making 2021 a great year. My hope is that you will carve out time – even if it’s inconvenient and challenging – to think, to rest, to just be. And to be inspired in making 2021 a great year, and a year of reflection throughout the year… 

Episode 4: Only Apologize If You’ve Done Something Wrong with Samantha Pulliam Samantha Pulliam has dedicated her entire career to woman’s health. After a 15-year career in academic medicine she is currently the Chief Medical Officer at Renovia Inc., a digital health start-up located in the Boston area. She is also a renowned doctor in the emerging field of female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery. Entrepreneurial Leadership in Covid-19 o From medical doctor to Chief Medical Officer at a MedTech start-up @3:17 o Conducting clinical research with integrity while facing financial pressures during Covid @6:30, 8:51, 12:06 o Collaborating with clinicians and researchers to innovatively conduct research @13:16 Developing Personal Assessment Tools o Develop personal internal assessment tools @20:22 o Determine what’s your contribution and what’s beyond your control @18:41 o Your ego or sense of self-worth can’t be on the line with every single interaction @27:07 o Seeing things as an experiment makes problem solving easier @26:42 o Learn to think independently while dealing with a difficult “boss” @14:47 o Being new at work and tuning into and navigating new situations @17:01 o Continuously refine your vision of what you want to do @21:04 Don’t Say I’m Sorry o Unlearn the apology reflex – especially for women @19:02 o Only apologize if you’ve done something wrong @32:20 o If you are driven solely by an innate desire to please people you're really at risk @20:03 Leadership as an introvert, a woman and a lesbian  o The challenges of being an introvert and pursuing a career that requires some extroversion @21:43 o Just because you don't see the glass ceiling, doesn't mean it isn’t there @23:09 o Don’t assume your own skillset and giftedness will push you through the glass ceiling @29:13 o The glass ceiling is closely tied to networking; women should focus on developing their own networks and to push each other to grow and get promoted @27:54 o If you’re the only woman in the room, focus on the opportunity to provide a different perspective @24:04 o How being a lesbian has influenced Mandy’s leadership @29:49 To learn more about my work in executive coaching, leadership development and team effectiveness check out my website, connect with me on LinkedIn or email me at winnie@winnifred.org. Reach out and tell me what was helpful about today’s episode or any suggestions you have for my show. Please leave a review and tell someone else about this show.  I look forward to sharing another transformative conversation with you next week!

Marcel Botha is an entrepreneur, architect, and investor. He specializes in guiding product development teams from concept to viable product through experimentation with a focus on product acceleration and digital manufacturing. He has put these talents to work by starting and currently leading five different companies.  One of which is 10XBeta, a product development and engineering firm working in electronics, medical devices and specialized robotics. As the Founder and CEO of 10XBeta, he works to build expert multidisciplinary teams to solve unique, complex problems by leveraging a global network of manufacturing partners that has developed hundreds of products over the last 12 years.  One of these products – and companies he leads called Spiro Wave – co-created innovative low-cost emergency ventilators at breakneck speed right as Covid-19 was shutting down New York City.  Spiro Wave Ventilator Project o Building an emergency ventilator during the peak of Covid-19: compressing 12 to 24 months of work into 30 days @15:04 o What it took to build Spiro and how that created clarity @10:32, 17:42 o Creating a meaningful product under duress and its impact on the team @11:14, 15:04 o When working a hundred hours a week, make sure it's meaningful @9:47, 11:51 Team Wisdom o The job of a leader is not to make people happy, it’s to offer inspiring challenges @29:36 o As a leader it’s important to keep your team focused on the North Star @15:14 o The dynamics, experience and efficacy of a team is critical @7:35 Being a Leader o Being empathetic while making tough decisions @22:42 o The importance of one-on-one conversations to being empathetic @26:25 o Understand your risk profile and how it might impact the people around you @34:00 o How being from South Africa influenced his leadership @37:04 o Marcel’s 6-year-old daughter is worth listening to @41:17 On Being an Entrepreneur  o Balance the euphoria of startup culture - where less than 2% of people are successful - with the discipline of building long-term valuable companies @35:08 o Receiving feedback in a meaningful way is critical to success @35:24 o Marcel’s perspective on leaders dealing with complexity @39:57 o Content and product development is a constant sequential and sometimes parallel, series of failures and experimentation @8:48 o Too much bureaucracy in decision making gets in the way of innovation @13:41 o Leave space for thinking about interpersonal moments, not just KPIs @26:52 o Project selection criteria: meaningful to the world, scalable, will have an impact @12:07 Articles · New York Times: New York Needed Ventilators. So They Developed One in a Month. · The New Yorker: The Engineers Taking on the Ventilator Shortage · Fast Company: How 3 companies joined forces to build the Spiro Wave ventilator in a month · Worth: 15 Entrepreneurs Who Have Thrived During COVID To learn more about my work in executive coaching, leadership development and team effectiveness check out my website, connect with me on LinkedIn or email me at winnie@winnifred.org. Reach out and tell me what was helpful about today’s episode or any suggestions you have for my show. Please leave a review and tell someone else about this show.  I look forward to sharing another transformative conversation with you next week!

Episode 2: Never Waste a Crisis with Kelly Jankowski Kelly Jankowski is a Managing Director at MSL, a global public relations and integrated communications firm. At MSL, she leads the national Corporate Reputation Practice working with organizations and their leaders to build reputations by helping them shape the conversations that matter to their industries and businesses. She also oversees MSL’s Crisis Response Team. Prior to her time at MSL, she held positions at Edelman and DuPont and has worked with incredible clients like PayPal, Deloitte, Regeneron, Gilead and Booking Holdings. As a compelling storyteller with experience as a leader during times of crisis (both professionally and personally) – and guiding hundreds of her clients to do the same – along with Kelly’s thirst to absorb the world around her and the lessons they provide – you too will be drawn into Kelly’s stories and the wisdom you can find here in this transformative conversation. o Never waste a crisis @10:14, 14:52, 15:22 o Leading in a Crisis: Lessons Learned @30:06 · Know when to make decisions with incomplete information · Acknowledge what you know and don’t know · Credibly make promises on things you can deliver on · Balance communicating certainty, while acknowledging the unknowns · Help organize information so people can make the right decisions · Gather more information when possible · Surround yourself with people who will ask questions o Collaborating in Our WFH Covid-19 World @8:21 · Take time to think, to ask good questions and to listen better @11:16 · Empower people while balancing your listening and decision-making approach @12:02 · Smart people want specific goals with flexibility on how to get there @13:51 · Support the different needs people have right now @24:50 o Kelly’s Personal Insights · Choose to be effective rather than being right @18:06, 33:02 · Don’t slip from competent and comfortable into complacency @7:52 · Leave something for a client to do, because then it will feel like it was their plan @16:50 · Accelerate your learning by absorbing other people’s stories and experiences @16:10 · When you’re open to feedback, people give you really good feedback @19:17 · Kelly’s perspective on being a woman and being a leader @27:53 · How Kelly’s experience with her fatally ill child made her more empathetic @19:53, 25:49, 27:39 To learn more about my work in executive coaching, leadership development and team effectiveness check out my website, connect with me on LinkedIn or email me at winnie@winnifred.org. Reach out and tell me what was helpful about today’s episode or any suggestions you have for my show. Please leave a review and tell someone else about this show.  I look forward to sharing another transformative conversation with you next week!

Episode 1: Reducing Uncertainty with Elliot Felix Elliot Felix is the CEO & Founder of brightspot which is a higher education strategy firm on a mission to help colleges and universities create more engaging and equitable student experiences by redesigning student services, enabling active learning in the classroom and online, and rethinking where and how people work. Over the past ten years, Elliot has grown brightspot from one employee to 14 employees and has worked with more than 90 colleges and universities – an industry going through enormous changes right now. My conversation with Elliot provides insights on growing a business and the ways leaders can reduce uncertainty – as challenging as it is during a time like this. These are some of the key topics we examined together… o Change is a disruptor AND an accelerator @15:02, 30:23 o Building trust in times of anxiety and ambiguity @16:08, 26:16 o Leadership as scout and shield @23:18 o Being a reflective leader makes you a better leader @22:37 o Communication and transparency: finding the right balance @18:42 o Bring clients together to solve complex challenges efficiently and effectively @13:57 o Balancing family and work during the pandemic; while building castles with a 5-year old @10:35 References Elliot made during our conversation: o Elliot referenced Paul Pangaro, a cybernetic theorist, who said leadership is reducing uncertainty o When balancing transparency as a leader, Elliot cited an article from McKinsey called The Dark Side of Transparency o Elliot talked about brightspot’s board and how a particular board member, Mark Raheja, is helpful in providing perspective and insight o Here is a coveted list of leadership lessons curated by Elliot over the past several years o Please check out brightspot to find out more about the work Elliot and his team are doing in higher education – and beyond To learn more about my work in executive coaching, leadership development and team effectiveness check out my website, connect with me on LinkedIn or email me at winnie@winnifred.org. Reach out and tell me what was helpful about today’s episode or any suggestions you have for my show. I look forward to sharing another transformative conversation with you next week!

Welcome to Transformative Leadership Conversations. I’ve created this podcast for two reasons. First, I’ve always wanted to share the wisdom and insights from my clients and other amazing people, with everyone else. Second, during these unprecedented times, it’s crystal clear how much leadership matters right now; this is a defining moment for leaders, and for all of us. This podcast brings these two things together: I’m inviting you to listen in on transformative conversations where leaders share their journeys as they work through, overcoming and thriving through adversity and change.  Every episode, you will hear inspiring stories, insider tips and practical ideas you can use to make a difference whoever you are, wherever you are…