Coaching for Leaders

• 758: How to See What Others Miss, with Kirstin Ferguson

  Kirstin Ferguson: Blindspotting Kirstin Ferguson has been recognized globally by Thinkers50 as one of the top 50 management thinkers in the world and is the recipient of the 2023 Distinguished Leadership Award. She was an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force, and then went on to lead an international consulting firm as CEO, before serving on the boards of major publicly listed, private, and non-profit organizations. She is the author of Women Kind, Head & Heart, and her newest book Blindspotting: How to See What Others Miss (Amazon, Bookshop)*. If we stop to think about it, almost all of us recognize that we have blind spots. Given that reality, anything we can do that helps us see what others might miss will help us lead better. In this conversation, Kirsten and I explore the mindsets and practices that will help us uncover more of our blind spots. Key Points Experts are better at knowing when they are right, but also less likely to show appropriate doubt when they could be wrong. There’s a time to be a seeker and a time to be a knower. Both are important in different situations, but leaders in many situations would benefit from more seeking. Blindspotting is about calibration, not hesitation. Accept your intellectual limitations. A key way to do this is saying these four words more: “I don’t know yet.” Disentangling your ego will help your blind spot better. Shift away from your pride a bit by separating yourself from your knowledge and expertise. Hunt down your biases. Admitting they exist is step one. Model vulnerability by talking about your past mistakes both with yourself and with others. Resources Mentioned Blindspotting: How to See What Others Miss by Kirstin Ferguson (Amazon, Bookshop)*. Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes Getting Better at Reading the Room, with Kirstin Ferguson (episode 651) How to Find What’s Missing, with Jeff Wetzler (episode 732) How to Teach Your Expertise to Others, with Roger Kneebone (episode 743) 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.

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• 757: The Key Elements of a Powerful Personal Brand, with Goldie Chan

  Goldie Chan: Personal Branding for Introverts Goldie Chan is the founder of Warm Robots, a social media strategy and creative agency, and she is herself a creative, keynote speaker, author, and cancer survivor. She was named the “Oprah of LinkedIn” by Huffington Post, and her creative video channel won LinkedIn Top Voice for Social Media. She is the author of Personal Branding for Introverts (Amazon, Bookshop)*. Many of us aspire to have a powerful personal brand, but it’s not always clear where to start. In this conversation, Goldie and I zero in on the five elements that matter most – and what you can do to get started. Key Points Five C’s of personal branding: Clarity: Surface it by determining three words you want to be associated with. Consistency: The internet is for introverts. Find the medium where you can show up often and that plays to your strengths. Competency: Rather than promoting yourself, promote the ideas and practices you stand for through your experience. Confidence: Ego is when you shout who you are to a room, and confidence is when you know who you are in a room. Community: Join in on conversations with people discussing what you care about. Find these communities or build your own. Resources Mentioned Personal Branding for Introverts by Goldie Chan (Amazon, Bookshop)*. Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes The Four Critical Stories Leaders Need For Influence, with David Hutchens (episode 148) The Way to Get Noticed by Key Stakeholders, with Daphne E. Jones (episode 614) Your Reputation is Your Currency, with Maha Abouelenein (episode 703) 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.

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• 756: When It Feels Like You Don’t Belong, with Muriel Wilkins

  Muriel Wilkins: Leadership Unblocked Muriel Wilkins is the founder and CEO of Paravis Partners and a sought-after C-suite adviser and executive coach with a twenty-year track record of helping senior leaders take their performance to the next level. She is the coauthor of Own the Room and the host of the Harvard Business Review podcast Coaching Real Leaders. She’s just released her newest book, Leadership Unblocked: Break Through the Beliefs That Limit Your Potential (Amazon, Bookshop)*. You may have spent years aiming for the leadership role you now have. But now, once you’re in the job, it can be really disorienting to feel like you don’t belong. In this conversation, Muriel and I explore this reality that a lot of leaders face and what do when you run into it. Key Points Feeling like you don’t belong is a normal and common reality at inflection points in your career. A vicious cycle can emerge: you’re waiting to be included while others are waiting for you to engage. While you can’t control others, you can break the part of the pattern you have control of. Define your value proposition. What gets missed when you don’t show up? Remind yourself of shared goals or values with the group. This prevents the small stuff from distracting you as much. Identify a few supportive people and build relationships with them. Resources Mentioned Leadership Unblocked: Break Through the Beliefs That Limit Your Potential by Muriel Wilkins (Amazon, Bookshop)* Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes How to Start a Big Leadership Role, with Carol Kauffman (episode 617) How to Start Better With Peers, with Michael Bungay Stanier (episode 635) The Habits That Hold Leaders Back, with Marshall Goldsmith (episode 696) 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.

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• 755: How to Lead a Meaningful Cultural Shift, with David Hutchens

  David Hutchens: Story Dash David Hutchens works with leaders around the world to find, craft, and tell their most urgent stories for the purpose of creating shared meaning, preserving culture, disseminating learning, and speeding change in organizations. He has taught the Storytelling Leader program at some of the most influential organizations, including NASA, Paypal, Loreal Paris, Cisco, Walmart, Google, and FedEx. He’s written many books, including the Circle of the 9 Muses, Story Dash, and The Leadership Story Deck. When organizational change is happening, leaders need to be intentional about lining up with culture, especially if it’s the time to shift that culture just a bit. We often do the logistics well, but we miss the power of both the human and emotional connections. In this episode, David and I discuss how story can help us make a meaningful shift. Key Points The organizations that are being intentional about culture are also being intentional about story. Getting beyond the logistics of changes and leaning first into humanity and emotion help people frame cultural shifts. Leaders go first. Embodied stories from leaders are surprising, counter-cultural, and repeatable. Asking for stories is rarely sufficient. Instead, invite stories through intentional prompts like, “Tell me about a time you felt more engaged, alive, and happiest in your work here.” Received stories are the ones told by employees. Adding an emotion word to an invitation such as, “What’s a time you were proud?” often surfaces more genuine stories. David is now a Coaching for Leaders expert partner. Connect with him to discover how he might support your organization in making a meaningful cultural shift via our partners page or email him directly at [email protected]. Resources Mentioned Circle of the 9 Muses: A Storytelling Field Guide for Innovators and Meaning Makers by David Hutchens (Amazon, Bookshop)* Story Dash: Find, Develop, and Activate Your Most Valuable Business Stories…In Just a Few Hours by David Hutchens (Amazon)* Leadership Story Deck by David Hutchens (Amazon)* Related Episodes Leadership Means You Go First, with Keith Ferrazzi (episode 488) How to Start Finding Useful Stories, with David Hutchens (episode 593) How to Bring Out the Best in People, with Donna Hicks (episode 724) 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.

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• 754: Five Steps to Solve a Problem, with Monica Chartier

  Monica Chartier: Coaching for Leaders Fellow Monica Chartier is a group product manager in the technology industry. Her work has centered on supporting a global product experience, getting a million visitors a day. In addition to her e-commerce and technical experience, she indexes heavily on coach-like leadership with her team and also inside our community as one of our Coaching for Leaders Fellows. In this conversation, Monica and I explore a need inside the Coaching for Leaders membership community and how we used the design thinking process to approach it. We outline the five key steps we followed and how you might do the same to address a problem inside your own organization. Key Points Five steps to solve a problem using design thinking: Empathy: Start with Intentional Listening and Observation. Define: Clarify the Real Problem to Solve. Ideate: Co-Create Ideas and Form Testable Hypotheses. Prototype: Start Small, Learn Fast. Test, Learn, and Adapt: Make Iteration a Leadership Habit. Access Monica’s detailed guide (PDF download) Resources Mentioned Monica Chartier on LinkedIn Related Episodes The Way to Make Struggles More Productive, with Sarah Stein Greenberg (episode 569) How to Prevent a Team From Repeating Mistakes, with Robert “Cujo” Teschner (episode 660) How to Lead Engaging Meetings, with Jess Britt (episode 721) 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.

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