Coaching For Leaders

Todd Rogers: Writing for Busy Readers Todd Rogers is a professor of public policy at Harvard University, where he has won teaching awards for the past seven consecutive years. He is a behavioral scientist and the cofounder of the Analyst Institute and EveryDay Labs. His opinion pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and Politico, among other outlets. He's co-author with Jessica Lasky-Fink of Writing for Busy Readers: Communicate More Effectively in the Real World*. You probably only skimmed that email I spent an hour writing. And let’s be equally honest the other way — I only skimmed the document your team worked on most of last week. This is the reality of how we all read in a busy world. On this episode, Tom and I discuss how to write so that people actually read what you send. Key Points Virtually everyone is a writer in some significant way: emails, text messages, memos, social media posts, and many other daily communications. While your writing is im

Randelle Lenoir Randelle Lenior is a vice president at Fidelity Investments and a graduate of the Coaching for Leaders Academy. In this conversation, Randelle and I discuss how to utilize LinkedIn in order to showcase your team externally. Key Points Start small. Begin by posting about job opportunities or sharing articles and resources that will be useful for others. Even though you are also representing your organization, the relationships you build are yours and stay with you throughout your career. Establishing a larger “why” for a LinkedIn presence is important and invites others to want to join in to support the vision. Ask permission and allow team members to easily opt out — and people who don’t engage initially may decide to later. People are going to look you up anyway. By having a presence on LinkedIn, you set the narrative of what they perceive about you. Related Episodes How to Write a Killer LinkedIn Profile, with Brenda Bernstein (episode 285) How to Get Noticed on LinkedIn, wi

Marcus Collins: For the Culture Marcus Collins is an award-winning marketer and cultural translator. He is a recipient of Advertising Age’s 40 Under 40 award and Crain’s Business 40 Under 40 award and a recent inductee to the American Advertising Federation’s Hall of Achievement. He has worked for several top advertising agencies, and his strategies and creative contributions have led to the success of Budweiser’s Made in America music festival, the launch of the Brooklyn Nets (“Hello Brooklyn!”), and State Farm’s “Cliff Paul” campaign, among others. Prior to his advertising tenure, Marcus worked on iTunes + Nike sport music initiatives at Apple and ran digital strategy for Beyoncé. He is a marketing professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and faculty director for the school’s executive education partnership with Google. Marcus delivers keynote talks across the globe for companies and conferences such as the Cannes Lions International Festival for Creativity, SXSW, Social Media Week

Amy Edmondson: Right Kind of Wrong Amy Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, where she studies people and organizations seeking to make a positive difference in the world through the work they do. She has pioneered the concept of psychological safety for over twenty years and is recognized as number one on the Thinkers50 global ranking of management thinkers. She also received that organization’s Breakthrough Idea Award in 2019 and Talent Award in 2017. In 2019 she was first on HR Magazine’s list of the 20 Most Influential International Thinkers in Human Resources. Her prior book, The Fearless Organization, explains psychological safety and has been translated into fifteen languages. In addition to publishing several books and numerous articles in top academic outlets, Amy has written for, or her work has been covered by, media such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Financial Times, and many others. Her TED Talk on

Joan Garry: Guide to Nonprofit Leadership Joan Garry is an internationally recognized champion for the nonprofit sector and a highly sought after executive coach for CEOs at some of the largest organizations. Joan’s firm offers high-end strategic advisory services with a unique combination of coaching and management consulting. She is the founder of the Nonprofit Leadership Lab, a worldclass online educational membership organization for board and staff leaders of small nonprofits. As a columnist for the Chronicle of Philanthropy, contributor to Harvard Business Review and to Forbes, Joan is a preeminent media spokesperson and thought leader on the role of the nonprofit sector in our society and is a sought after voice on issues facing the sector today. Joan was previously executive director of GLAAD, one of the largest gay rights organizations in the United States. She is the author of Joan Garry's Guide to Nonprofit Leadership: Because the World is Counting on You*. When thinking about executives interact

David Hutchens: Leadership Story Deck David Hutchens helps leaders find and tell their stories. He 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, FedEx — and he’s written many books, including the Circle of the 9 Muses*, Story Dash*, and The Leadership Story Deck*. He is the co-creator with longtime friend of the show Susan Gerke of the GO Team program. Many of us have heard that we should be vulnerable and, at least occasionally, share a story about ourselves. But how do you tell a story about yourself without making the entire interaction about you? In this episode, David and I explore how to best utilize a personal story to help the organization move forward. Key Points While leaders mo

Robert “Cujo” Teschner: Debrief to Win Robert “Cujo” Teschner is a retired F-15 / F-22 fighter pilot. He is also a former F-15 Weapons School Instructor, F-22 Squadron Commander, senior Joint Staff officer, and combat veteran. He holds advanced degrees in Operational Art and Science and National Security Strategy and has extensive experience in tactical planning and execution, and organizational leadership. From 2004 to 2006, he served as the US Air Force’s expert in post-mission debriefing, the methodology used by high-performing military teams to self-correct and improve continuously. Cujo retired immediately after his promotion to full Colonel due to complications from cancer-related care and started an international business consulting practice based in St. Louis, MO. His company is called VMax Group. VMax Group’s mission is to teach, inspire, and nurture teams on how to really “team”, making work more fulfilling, and making teams much more effective. He is the author of Debrief to Win: How America's Top

Jen Byyny Jen Byyny is a senior director of product design in health-tech and a graduate of the Coaching for Leaders Academy. In this conversation, Jen and I discuss how to handle change in your career when things keep shifting around you. Key Points It’s about people, not product. When lots of change is happening, come back to relationships and communication. Pay attention to the people who support you and the ones you look forward to working with. They will be your champions through whatever happens. Provide space for grace during times of change. Others need it as much as you do. It’s helpful to have people in your corner who are pulling for you but who are not tied to the politics or emotion of the situation. Related Episodes The Power of Weak Connections, with David Burkus (episode 347) How to Win the Long Game When the Short-Term Seems Bleak, with Dorie Clark (episode 550) How to Quit Bad Stuff Faster, with Annie Duke (episode 607) Discover More Activate your free membership for full a

Frances Frei: Move Fast & Fix Things Frances Frei is a professor at Harvard Business School. Her research investigates how leaders create the context for organizations and individuals to thrive by designing for excellence in strategy, operations, and culture. She regularly works with companies embarking on large-scale change and organizational transformation, including embracing diversity and inclusion as a lever for improved performance. In 2017, Frances served as Uber’s first senior vice president of leadership and strategy to help the company navigate its very public crisis in leadership and culture. Her partner Anne Morriss and her are the authors of Uncommon Service and The Unapologetic Leader’s Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You. They are also hosts of Fixable, a leadership advice podcast from the TED Audio Collective, and they are recognized by Thinkers50 as among the world’s most influential business thinkers. Their newest book is Move Fast & Fix Things: The Trusted Leader's Guide to Solving Har

David Burkus: Best Team Ever! David Burkus is the bestselling author of four books about business and leadership which have won multiple awards and been translated into dozens of languages. His insights on leadership and teamwork have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, USAToday, Fast Company, the Financial Times, and many other media outlets. Since 2017, David has been ranked multiple times as one of the world’s top business thought leaders. As a sought-after international speaker, his TED Talk has been viewed over two million times. He has worked with leaders from organizations across all industries, including PepsiCo, Fidelity, Clorox, Adobe, and NASA. He's the author of Best Team Ever!: The Surprising Science of High-Performing Teams*. There are many things that help teams work well together, but perhaps you haven’t thought of this one: clarity. Knowing what is being done and who’s doing it often helps a team achieve more. In this conversation, David and I discuss the prac

Heather Younger: The Art of Active Listening Heather Younger is an experienced international keynote speaker, best-selling author, CEO, and Founder of Employee Fanatix. Known as The Employee Whisperer, Heather harnesses humor, warmth, and an instant relatability to engage and uplift audiences and inspire them into action. She is a Certified Diversity Professional, certified in Emotional and Social Intelligence and DiSC, and is also the author of three books. Her previous best-selling book, The Art of Caring Leadership: How Leading with Heart Uplifts Teams and Organizations, was praised for offering powerful insights for developing authentic, thoughtful, and purposeful leaders and change-makers. She's the author of The Art of Active Listening: How People at Work Feel Heard, Valued, and Understood*. When you know how to listen, people will share more. We may or may not always be able to resolve every concern, but we can be sure others are heard. In this conversation, Heather and I discuss how we can shift fro

Sheila Heen: Difficult Conversations Sheila Heen is the Thaddeus R. Beal Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School, a Deputy Director of the Harvard Negotiation Project, and a founder of Triad Consulting Group. She often works with executive teams to engage conflict productively, repair working relationships, and implement change in complex organizations. She has published articles in The New York Times and the Harvard Business Review and appeared on Oprah, CNBC’s Power Lunch, and NPR. She is coauthor along with Douglas Stone of The New York Times bestseller Thanks for the Feedback and also now, in it's third edition, co-author with Douglas Stone and Bruce Patton of the iconic bestseller, Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most*. When our intentions are good, it’s hard to appreciate how we could have had such negative impact on someone else. It’s equally challenging to navigate a tough conversation when someone else’s words or actions have wronged us, even if that’s not what they intende

Scott Shigeoka: Seek Scott Shigeoka is an internationally recognized curiosity expert, speaker, and author. He is known for translating research into strategies that promote positive well-being and connected relationships around the globe, including at the UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and through his popular courses at the University of Texas at Austin. Scott implements his curiosity practices with leaders in the public sector, Fortune 500 companies, Hollywood, media organizations, education institutions, and small businesses. He is the author of Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World*. Often we think about curiosity as a way to get information. And yes, it does do that, but there’s a much bigger opportunity that many leaders miss — taking the next step with curiosity to actually help connect better with others. In this episode, Scott and I highlight four phrases that will help you do that better. Key Points It’s a mistake to limit the purpose of curiosity to only i

Adam Bryant: The Leap to Leader Adam Bryant is Senior Managing Director and Partner at the ExCo Group, where he works with hundreds of senior leaders and high-potential executives. As the creator and former author of the iconic “Corner Office” column in The New York Times, Adam has mastered the art of distilling real-world lessons from his hundreds of interviews and turning them into practical tools, presentations, and exercises to help companies deepen their leadership benches and strengthen their teams. Adam works with executive leadership teams to help drive their transformation strategies, based on a best-practices framework he developed for his widely praised book, The CEO Test. He's also the author of The Leap to Leader: How Ambitious Managers Make the Jump to Leadership*. Many of us have our career trajectories planned out in our minds. While we know it’s not going to happen exactly the way we’ve planned, it’s still is jarring when we find ourselves on a different path — or presented with a different

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*. Listener Questions Tony asked our opinion on his plan to have the team provide feedback to each other directly. Lean wondered about alternatives to the nine box talent mapping framework that some organizations use. Qasim noted that leadership can sometimes feel thankless and asked if we had any rituals to help minimize this. Resources Mentioned FeedForward: Coaching for Behavioral Change by Marshall Goldsmith Succession Planning: What is a 9-box grid? by Society for Human Resources Management Warning: This Is Not Your Grandfather’s Talent Planning featuring Kim Scott Related Episod

Kirsten Ferguson: Head & Heart Kirstin Ferguson is a company director, columnist, keynote speaker, and executive coach. Beginning her career as an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force, Kirstin has held roles that have included chief executive officer of an international consulting firm, and acting chair and deputy chair of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She has sat on boards of both publicly-listed and privately-listed companies for more than a decade. Kirstin has a PhD in leadership and in 2021 was named one of Thinkers50’s top thinkers to watch. In 2023, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for her significant service to business and gender equality. She writes a weekly column on leadership and work in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, and is also a contributor to the Australian Financial Review and to Forbes. She is the author of Head & Heart: The Art of Modern Leadership*. It’s often apparent when someone else doesn’t a read a room, but much harder to see it in oursel

Emily Field: Power to the Middle Emily Field is a partner at McKinsey & Company. She works with leaders to shape data-driven organizational strategies designed to achieve business objectives, establish talent management as a distinctive advantage, and secure the human resources function as a driver of business value. Emily has worked with companies across industries, leading initiatives to transform the way organizations work. She puts particular emphasis on helping to establish a talent-first approach, instilling a high-performance culture, and adopting effective people-analytics approaches. She is the co-author along with Bill Schaninger and Bryan Hancock of Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work*. As anybody who’s worked in middle management can attest, it’s one of the hardest jobs you’ll ever have. Too often we take middle management for granted, but organizations that learn how to better support middle managers can leverage their power and expertise to do a lot of good. I

David Rogers: The Digital Transformation Roadmap David Rogers is the world’s leading expert on digital transformation, a member of the faculty at Columbia Business School, and the author of five books. His previous landmark bestseller, The Digital Transformation Playbook, was the first book on digital transformation and put the topic on the map. David has helped companies around the world transform their business for the digital age, working with senior leaders at many of the largest corporations and he's been featured in The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Economist. In his newest book, The Digital Transformation Roadmap*, David tackles the barriers behind the 70% of businesses that fail in their own digital efforts and offers a five-step roadmap to rebuild any organization for continuous digital change. Most of us have heard that leading change requires highlighting a problem, deciding on a clear vision, and then cascading that vision down. In this conversation, David

Jacob Morgan: Leading With Vulnerability Jacob Morgan is a trained futurist and one of the world’s leading authorities on leadership, the future of work, and employee experience. He speaks in front of tens of thousands of people each year and his content is seen over a million times annually. He is the best-selling author of five books: The Future Leader, The Employee Experience Advantage, The Future of Work, and The Collaborative Organization. He speaks at over 50 conferences a year including TED Academy which is one of the largest TED events in the world. Jacob provides advisory and thought leadership services to organizations around the world. He has created tons of educational videos and articles found at Great Leadership With Jacob Morgan and host of the Great Leadership with Jacob Morgan podcast. He’s the author of the new book, Leading With Vulnerability: How to Unlock Your Greatest Superpower to Transform Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization. Most of us have heard that we should show vulnerabi

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*. Listener Questions Lisa asks about the best ways to hold others accountable when you don’t have positional authority. John wonders about our perspective on dealing with narcissists in the workplace. Patrick is curious how we might (or might not) mediate a conflict between two employees. Priya notices the focus on underperforms in organizations and asks how this tendency might get shifted a bit. Resources Mentioned The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People* by Stephen R. Covey The Success Factor* by Ruth Gotian The 6 Types of Working Genius* by Patrick Lencioni Related Episodes H