Lesson 4: Keep Yourself Motivated
Indicators can help keep you determine if you’re on the right track. This lesson helps you create these indicators that are critical for your success.
Examples of Indicators

 	I’m starting to hear things I wasn’t hearing before.
 	I’m getting fewer questions asking for my input or clarification.
 	I’m noticing employees taking the first step to solve a problem, before coming to me.

Academy Applications Close Friday, March 24th
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How to Get Traction With a New Habit (4 of 5)

Lesson 3: Take Action, Joyfully
Changing behavior is hard in the midst of busy schedules. In this lesson, I invite you to create an anchor that will trigger the daily action you want.
Academy Applications Close Friday, March 24th
The Academy is an intimate cohort of participant leaders who work personally with me to accelerate their leadership development and organizational results. Discover more and submit your application by Friday, March 24th.
Resources

 	Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything by BJ Fogg

Related Episodes

 	How to Change Your Behavior, with BJ Fogg (episode 507)

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How to Get Traction With a New Habit (3 of 5)

Lesson 2: Plan Daily Movement
Behavior change works best when we work to create small wins, consistently. In this lesson, I invite you plan out a 5-minute daily action that will support who you are becoming.
Academy Applications Close Friday, March 24th
The Academy is an intimate cohort of participant leaders who work personally with me to accelerate their leadership development and organizational results. Discover more and submit your application by Friday, March 24th.
Resources

 	Great at Work: The Hidden Habits of Top Performers* by Morten Hansen
 	The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals* by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling

Related Episodes

 	How to Actually Move Numbers, with Chris McChesney (episode 294)
 	Six Tactics for Extraordinary Performance, with Morten Hansen (episode 337)

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How to Get Traction With a New Habit (2 of 5)

Lesson 1: Decide Who You Are Becoming
The first step in getting traction with a new habit is deciding who you are becoming. In this lesson, you’ll discover the distinction between goals and identities and how to get started.
Academy Applications Close Friday, March 24th
The Academy is an intimate cohort of participant leaders who work personally with me to accelerate their leadership development and organizational results. Discover more and submit your application by Friday, March 24th.
Resources

 	Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
 	Smart Growth: How to Grow Your People to Grow Your Company by Whitney Johnson

Related Episodes

 	How to Become the Person You Want to Be, with James Clear (episode 376)
 	How to Help People Engage in Growth, with Whitney Johnson (episode 576)

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How to Get Traction With a New Habit (1 of 5)

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

 	Susan asked about assessing the difference between an employee who has addressable gaps in their skills and knowledge versus when they are in over their head.
 	Elizabeth asked our advice on managing a team member who appears over-confident in their abilities…and how to hold them accountable.
 	Steve wondered how we handle household tasks between the two of us in the midst of our busy schedules.

Resources Mentioned

 	Analyzing Performance Problems* by Robert Mager and Peter Pipe
 	The Alignment Problem by Brian Christian
 	Wonder Tools by Jeremy Kaplan
 	The Home Edit by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin

Related Episodes

 	The Way to Stop Rescuing People From Their Problems, with Michael Bungay Stanier (episode 284)
 	How to Challenge Directly and Care Personally, with Kim Scott (episode 302)
 	Five Steps to Hold People Accountable, with Jonathan Raymond (episode 306)
 	Finding Joy Through Intentional Choices, with Bonni Stachowiak (episode 417)

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622: The Way to Manage an Over-Confident Team Member, with Bonni Stachowiak

Claire Hughes Johnson: Scaling People
Claire Hughes Johnson is a corporate officer and advisor for Stripe, a global technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet. She previously served as Stripe’s Chief Operating Officer, helping the company grow from fewer than 200 employees to more than 8,000.

Prior to Stripe, Claire spent 10 years at Google leading various business teams, including overseeing aspects of Gmail, Google Apps, and consumer operations. She is a board member at Hallmark Cards, The Atlantic, Ameresco, and HubSpot. Claire also serves as a trustee and the current board president of Milton Academy. She is the author of Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building*.

You are charged with leading a reorg, but do you know the mindset, actions, and steps to take? In this conversation, Claire and I explore some of the key lessons she’s discovered as an executive leader in a quickly growing enterprise. We discuss the key triggers for a reorg, the three phases of reorganization, and common pitfalls leaders should avoid.
Key Points

 	Reorganizations or restructurings and often seen as a sign of a problem, but that's not always the case.
 	Why reorganize? Two triggers: (1) your team structure doesn't match your strategy and/or (2) you have a talent issue.
 	While there are times to go slower, the bias should be to move with haste. Don't leave ice cream on the counter for too long.
 	Be very cautious about creating structure around a single individual.

Three phases of a reorg:

 	Phase 0: Decide whether you need a reorg and determine your new structure.
 	Phase 1: Get buy-in from the key people who need to be involved.
 	Phase 2: Create a communications plan and inform all of those affected.

Resources Mentioned

 	Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building* by Claire Hughes Johnson
 	Transitions* by William Bridges

Interview Notes
Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).
Related Episodes

 	How to Manage Former Peers, with Tom Henschel (episode 257)
 	Three Steps to Great Career Conversations, with Russ Laraway (episode 370)
 	How to Solve the Toughest Problems, with Wendy Smith (episode 612)

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621: How to Approach a Reorg, with Claire Hughes Johnson

Sally Helgesen: Rising Together
Sally Helgesen has been cited by Forbes as the world’s premier expert on women’s leadership. She is a best-selling author, speaker and leadership coach. She has been named by Thinkers50 as one of the world’s top 20 coaches and ranked number 6 among the world’s thought leaders by Global Gurus. She is the author of several books, including The Female Advantage: Women’s Ways of Leadership and The Female Vision: Women’s Real Power at Work.

Her book The Web of Inclusion: A New Architecture for Building Great Organizations, was cited in The Wall Street Journal as one of the best books on leadership of all time and is credited with bringing the language of inclusion into business. She co-authored How Women Rise, with executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, examining the behaviors most likely to get in the way of successful women. Her newest book is Rising Together: How We Can Bridge Divides and Create a More Inclusive Workplace*.

When we get triggered, our default response tends to be either venting about it to others or suffering in silence. In this conversation, Sally and I explore how to respond in a more useful way. She invites us to consider being less invested in our initial response, creating an alternative script, and finding a path forward to influence different behavior.
Key Points

 	When we get triggered, our tendency is to either vent about it or suffer in silence.
 	Being overly invested in our first response limits our ability to respond better. This is the authenticity trap.
 	Create an alternative, positive script that helps your own mental well-being and precipitates a more helpful action.
 	Whether the alternative script is true or not isn’t the point. The aim is to find the line between not humiliating the other party and also not letting a poor behavior be unaddressed.
 	Wisdom from Sun Tzu: indirection or redirection to disarm an opponent is preferable to the direct engagement of combat.

Resources Mentioned

 	Rising Together: How We Can Bridge Divides and Create a More Inclusive Workplace by Sally Helgesen

Interview Notes
Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).
Related Episodes

 	The Way Out of Major Conflict, with Amanda Ripley (episode 529)
 	End Imposter Syndrome in Your Organization, with Jodi-Ann Burey (episode 556)
 	How to Create Inclusive Hiring Practices, with Ruchika Tulshyan (episode 589)
 	How to Respond Better When Challenged, with Dolly Chugh (episode 615)

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620: How to Respond When You Get Triggered, with Sally Helgesen

Kathy Fiddler: TidalHealth
Kathy Fiddler is the Vice President of Population Health for TidalHealth, a non-profit two hospital health care system on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. She has been instrumental in building community programs supporting improved access to healthcare services on the lower shore.

Kathy is a registered nurse and a retired Major in the United States Air Force Reserve. She served for 26 years in the US and abroad and supported Operation Restore Hope, Operation Desert Storm, and Operation Enduring Freedom. She is also a lifetime member of the Reserve Officers Association and a board member for the United Way of the Lower Eastern Shore. In 2019, she was recognized as one of the Top 100 Women in Maryland. She's also an alum of the Coaching for Leaders Academy.

In this conversation, Kathy and I discuss her career growth over time from mostly clinical and operational work to leading at the executive level. We explore how being intentional about surrounding oneself with a diverse set of voices helps to both build confidence and surface better outcomes. Finally, we look at how working through discomfort in service of others can help us to make the world better through our work.
Key Points

 	The work of a leader is very different than the operational and technical work most of us did earlier in our careers.
 	Having a smaller meeting before a larger meeting can help a more introverted leader engage in the way they want.
 	We sometimes sell ourselves short by concluding we won’t add value. By leaning into that discomfort, we find it’s often the case that others struggle with similar fears.
 	Shifting from having the right answers to asking the right questions will help a leader to uncover what may have been unsaid that’s critical.
 	Finding communities of other leaders helps you to find the diversity of perspective to support you building your own confidence.

Related Episodes

 	Create Margin Through Intentional Leadership, with Amy McPherson (episode 429)
 	Personal Leadership is a Journey, with Michal Holliday (episode 436)
 	Lead Best by Being You, with Elena Kornoff (episode 474)

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619: Finding Leadership Confidence Through Diverse Perspectives, with Kathy Fiddler

Adi Ignatius: Harvard Business Review
Adi Ignatius is Editor in Chief of the Harvard Business Review Group, where he oversees the editorial activities of Harvard Business Review, hbr.org, and HBR’s book-publishing unit. Prior to joining Harvard Business Review in 2009, he was the No. 2 editor at TIME. He is the editor of two books: President Obama: The Path to the White House and Prisoner of the State: The Secret Diaries of Premier Zhao Ziyang. Both made The New York Times Bestseller List.

Adi lived and worked for nearly 20 years overseas. He was Editor of Time’s Asian edition and earlier served as Beijing Bureau Chief and Moscow Bureau Chief for The Wall Street Journal. He is also host of the HBR Channel. It is the 100th anniversary of Harvard Business Review.

Should leaders and organizations take a stand on current events, politics, or causes? Adi and I discuss this tough question in detail. While the answer will be different for every leader, we invite you to begin thinking about how you might approach this in your work.
Key Points

 	The traditional advice of “Don’t talk about politics and religion” is still the norm in some places, but increasingly leaders and being more vocal.
 	Silence used to be the default. Silence now many send a message that leaders and organizations don't intend to convey.
 	While every leader needs to decide how they will navigate this, beware your feelings of certainty.

Resources Mentioned

 	Harvard Business Review

Related Episodes

 	Start With Why, with Simon Sinek (episode 223)
 	Handling a Difficult Stakeholder, with Nick Timiraos (episode 581)
 	How to Begin Difficult Conversations About Race, with Kwame Christian (episode 594)

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618: Leadership Through the Complexity of Current Events, with Adi Ignatius

Carol Kauffman: Real-Time Leadership
Carol Kauffman is an international leader in the field of coaching and has more than 40,000 hours of practice. Her clients are C-level leaders and their teams or elite athletes and creatives. She was shortlisted by Thinkers 50 as one of the top eight coaches around the globe for her thought leadership, entrepreneurial spirit, and contribution to coaching best practices. She is a founding member of the Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches and ranked the number one leadership coach in the world. She founded the Institute of Coaching with a $2 million gift from the Harnisch Foundation.

Carol is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, a visiting professor at Henley Business School, and a senior leadership adviser at Egon Zehnder. At Harvard she launched the annual Coaching in Leadership and Healthcare Conference, one of the school's most highly attended events. Her professional development program, Leader as Coach, won Harvard’s inaugural Program Award for Culture of Excellence in Mentoring and has been rolled out throughout the United States. She was also the founding editor-in-chief of Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice. Carol is co-author with David Noble of Real-Time Leadership: Find Your Winning Moves When the Stakes are High*.

In this conversation, Carol and I explore the mindsets and tactics that are helpful when taking on a new, big leadership role. We discuss how vision, resolution, scope, and altitude play a key role in your success early on. Plus, we invite listeners to consider the importance of peer relationships and recognizing how others see you as your role begins.
Key Points

 	Having the right altitude often means looking much more broadly at the organization and moving past a subconscious bias towards your old role or department.
 	The “subject matter expert trap” is a common one. Your awareness will help you avoid it — or recognize it faster.
 	Good peer relationships are one of the strongest predicators of success in a new role. Make time to build these critical connections.
 	Learning to accept recognition is a key competency for an executive leader. Treat it as you would receiving any kind of gift.
 	Have an enterprise mindset and remember that people perceive you as representing the organization vs. just yourself. Thinking like the entity can help you show up in the way you intend.

Resources Mentioned

 	Real-Time Leadership: Find Your Winning Moves When the Stakes are High* by Carol Kauffman and David Noble

Interview Notes
Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).
Related Episodes

 	How to Manage Former Peers, with Tom Henschel (episode 257)
 	How to Nail a Job Transition, with Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (episode 555)
 	How to Genuinely Show Up for Others, with Marshall Goldsmith (episode 590)

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617: How to Start a Big Leadership Role, with Carol Kauffman

Joe Hart: Take Command
Joe Hart began his career as a practicing attorney. After taking a Dale Carnegie Course, Joe reassessed his career path and future, ultimately leaving the practice of law, going to work for a top real estate company, and then founding an innovative e-learning company and serving as president of health and wellness company. In 2015, Joe was named president and CEO of Dale Carnegie.

The CEO Forum Group named Joe as one of twelve transformative leaders, giving him the Transformative CEO Leadership Award in the category of the People. He is the host of a top global podcast, Take Command: A Dale Carnegie Podcast, and he speaks around the world on topics such as leadership, resilience, and innovation. He is the author with Michael Crom of Take Command: Find Your Inner Strength, Build Enduring Relationships, and Live the Life You Want*.

In this conversation, Joe and I explore how to discover another person’s values through meaningful conversation. We examine three types of questions to ask that gradually illuminate what’s important to another person. By knowing what to ask and what to listen for, we can uncover values without asking a more awkward question like, “What are your values?”
Key Points
Dale Carnegie invited us to, “Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view.” Use three types of questions to frame a conversation that uncovers another person’s values:

 	Examples of factual questions:


 	How did you first find out about…?
 	What keeps you busy during the week?
 	What do you like to do for fun?
 	What hobby or activity holds your interest?


 	Examples of causative questions:


 	What got you interesting in doing this kind of work?
 	How did you get involved in that hobby?
 	What do you like about…?
 	What caused you to enter into this industry?


 	Examples of values-based questions:


 	Tell me about someone who’s had a major impact on your life.
 	If you had to do it over again, what — if anything — would you do differently?
 	Tell me about a turning point in your career.
 	Tell about about something that you look back on as a high point or moment of pride.
 	How did you get through a major challenge in the past?
 	How would you describe your personal philosophy in a sentence or two?

Resources Mentioned

 	Take Command: Find Your Inner Strength, Build Enduring Relationships, and Live the Life You Want* by Joe Hart and Michael Crom

Related Episodes

 	Three Steps to Great Career Conversations, with Russ Laraway (episode 370)
 	Discover Who You Are, with Hortense le Gentil (episode 459)
 	How to Genuinely Show Up for Others, with Marshall Goldsmith (episode 590)

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616: How to Discover What Others Value, with Joe Hart

Dolly Chugh: A More Just Future
Dolly Chugh is a social psychologist and management professor at the New York University Stern School of Business where she teaches MBA courses in leadership and management. She was one of six professors chosen from thousands at NYU to receive the Distinguished Teaching Award in 2020 and one of five to receive the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Faculty Award in 2013.

She has been named an SPSP Fellow, received the Academy of Management Best Paper award, and been named one of the top 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics by Ethisphere Magazine. Her first book, The Person You Mean to Be has received rave praise from Adam Grant, Angela Duckworth, Liz Wiseman, Billie Jean King, and many others. She is the author of A More Just Future: Psychological Tools for Reckoning with our Past and Driving Social Change.

All of us know that we will be challenged by others. Sometimes how we see ourselves limits what we could do to change our behavior. In this conversation, Dolly and I discuss how we can do better and the mindset and actions that will help us move forward.
Key Points

 	There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.
 	Nostalgia feels good to many of us, but can get in the way of us seeing the “ands” in situations and experiences.
 	When we are challenged, especially in the context of identity, our tendency is either to deny, distance, or dismantle.
 	Feeling of guilt and shame are indicators that there is an opportunity to change. The goal is not to avoid them, but to use them as a starting point for different behavior.
 	Use values affirmations to give you a booster shot to prepare for the inevitable challenges ahead. These affirmations will help you respond in a more healthy way for everyone.

Resources Mentioned

 	Dear Good People newsletter by Dolly Chugh
 	TED talk: How to let go of being a "good" person -- and become a better person by Dolly Chugh
 	The Person You Mean to Be* by Dolly Chugh
 	A More Just Future* by Dolly Chugh

Interview Notes
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Related Episodes

 	The Way Managers Can be Champions for Justice, with Minda Harts (episode 552)
 	How to Help People Engage in Growth, with Whitney Johnson (episode 576)
 	How to Solve the Toughest Problems, with Wendy Smith (episode 612)

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615: How to Respond Better When Challenged, with Dolly Chugh

Daphne E. Jones: Win When They Say You Won't
Daphne E. Jones has 30 years of experience in general management and executive level roles at IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Hospira, and General Electric but began her career as a secretary. At GE, she served as Senior Vice President for Future of Work, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer for Product Engineering, Imaging, and Ultrasound, and as Senior Executive & Chief Information Officer for Global Services, all of which composed a $13 billion segment of GE Healthcare.

She serves on the board of directors for AMN Healthcare, Inc., Barnes Group Inc., and Masonite International Corp. She is the recipient of numerous domestic and international awards and recently started a company that teaches leaders how to prepare to serve on boards. She is the author of Win When They Say You Won't: Break Through Barriers and Keep Leveling Up Your Success*.

In this conversation, Daphne invites us to look at ourselves through the lens of a product, just as others will view us. We discuss the three critical elements of how stakeholders view you. Plus, Daphne and I explore the steps you can take to improve how you’re perceived through the different lenses that stakeholders see us through.
Key Points

 	Stakeholders are crucial for your success and it’s helpful for you to view yourself in their eyes (and yours) as a product.
 	Three elements are key: performance is doing your job well, image is how people describe you, and exposure is who knows you.
 	When you get radio silence in the context of happenings inside of your organization, that’s an indicator you are underexposed. Caution: you can also be overexposed.
 	Map your stakeholders in the context of their influence in your work and their interest in how it support their own objectives.
 	Mentors will make suggestions of things you should try. Find the part that will work for you and move on the advice.

Resources Mentioned

 	Win When They Say You Won't: Break Through Barriers and Keep Leveling Up Your Success* by Daphne E. Jones
 	To receive a free workbook, send receipt of your book purchase to daphne@daphneejones.com

Interview Notes
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Related Episodes

 	How to Deal with Opponents and Adversaries, with Peter Block (episode 328)
 	What You Gain By Sponsoring People, with Julia Taylor Kennedy (episode 398)
 	How to Support Women of Color, with Minda Harts (episode 506)
 	The Art of Mentoring Well, with Robert Lefkowitz (episode 599)

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614: The Way to Get Noticed by Key Stakeholders, with Daphne E. Jones

Jennifer Garvey Berger: Unleashing Your Complexity Genius
Jennifer believes that leadership is one of the most vital renewable resources in the world. She designs and teaches leadership programs, coaches senior teams, and supports new ways of thinking about strategy and people. In her three highly acclaimed books, Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps, Simple Habits for Complex Times (co-authored with Keith Johnston), and Changing on the Job, she builds on deep theoretical knowledge to offer practical ways to make leaders’ work more meaningful and their lives more fun. She has worked with senior leaders in the private, non-profit, and government sectors around the world with organizations like Novartis, Google, KPMG, Intel, Microsoft, Wikimedia, and the New Zealand Department of Conservation.

Jennifer also supports executives one-on-one as a leadership coach. Over the last decade, she has developed the Growth Edge Coaching approach. She supports clients to find their current growing edge and then make choices about how they want to develop. She teaches coaches around the world transformational and developmental coaching approaches in her Growth Edge Coaching certification series. Jennifer speaks at leadership and coaching conferences, and she offers courses for coaches at universities all over the world. She is the co-author with Carolyn Coughlin of Unleash Your Complexity Genius: Growing Your Inner Capacity to Lead*.

In this conversation, Jennifer and I discuss the reality that most of us don’t like uncertainty. That makes experimenting with new ideas and actions in complex environments very challenging. We uncover several practices that can help us benefit from experimentation in the midst of complexity and grow from these experiences.
Key Points

 	Complicated situations are hard, but have a clear answer (such as how to send humans to the moon). In contract, complex situations are dynamic; yesterday’s answer may not work tomorrow.
 	Most of us really dislike complexity, to the extent that that people with terminal diseases are happier than those who will likely recover.
 	Step-by-step approaches don’t work in very complex situations. Instead, take action through thoughtful experimentation.
 	When experimenting, release your attachment to outcomes.
 	Lean into humility and don’t shy away from endings. Putting end dates on experiments helps us move forward — and sometimes remove what isn’t working.

Resources Mentioned

 	Unleash Your Complexity Genius: Growing Your Inner Capacity to Lead* by Jennifer Garvey Berger and Carolyn Coughlin

Interview Notes
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Related Episodes

 	Essentials of Adult Development, with Mindy Danna (episode 273)
 	How to Pivot Quickly, with Steve Blank (episode 476)
 	Help Your Brain Learn, with Lisa Feldman Barrett (episode 513)

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613: How to Lead Better Through Complexity, with Jennifer Garvey Berger

Wendy Smith: Both/And Thinking
Wendy Smith is the Dana J. Johnson Professor of Management and faculty director of the Women’s Leadership Initiative at the Lerner College of Business and Economics, University of Delaware. She earned her PhD in organizational behavior at Harvard Business School, where she began her intensive research on strategic paradoxes—how leaders and senior teams effectively respond to contradictory, yet interdependent demands. She has received the Web of Science Highly Cited Research Award for being among the 1 percent most-cited researchers in her field and received the Decade Award from the Academy of Management Review for the most cited paper in the past 10 years.

Her work has been published in such journals as Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Harvard Business Review, Organization Science, and Management Science. She has taught at the University of Delaware, Harvard, and Wharton while helping senior leaders and middle managers all over the world address issues of interpersonal dynamics, team performance, organizational change, and innovation. She is the author with Marianne Lewis of Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems.

In this episode, Wendy and I discuss the dangers of either/or thinking and how that tendency limits our effectiveness. We explore how to shift to both/and thinking in order to resolve the most challenging problems. Plus, we share key tactics that will help us do this in more practical ways.
Key Points

 	Framing a decision as an either/or will often minimize short-term anxiety, but limits creative and innovative long-term possibilities.
 	While easy to see both/and opportunities for others, we’re likely to approach things as either/or when it’s ourselves. An outside perspective from someone who’s not emotionally connected is helpful.
 	Changing the question we are asking is the most powerful to navigate paradoxes.
 	Moving up a level when facing tough decisions can help us see the big picture.
 	Consider shifting from “making a choice” to “choosing” in order to lead us towards better outcomes.

Resources Mentioned

 	Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems* by Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis

Interview Notes
Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).
Related Episodes

 	How to Ask Better Questions, with David Marquet (episode 454)
 	How to Win the Long Game When the Short-Term Seems Bleak, with Dorie Clark (episode 550)
 	The Leadership Struggles We See, with Muriel Wilkins (episode 559)
 	How to Quit Bad Stuff Faster, with Annie Duke (episode 607)

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612: How to Solve the Toughest Problems, with Wendy Smith

Jorge Alzate
Jorge Alzate is a senior R&D manager at PepsiCo, an active leader in Toastmasters, and an alum of the Coaching for Leaders Academy. In this conversation, Jorge and I discuss what brought him to the podcast, how he utilized the Academy to help his career move forward, and the critical nature of courage for leadership growth.
Key Points

 	One action a day (the blue marbles for Jorge) is the way to create a new habit that can develops into a skill.
 	Accountability is key to move us forward, even if it does not feel comfortable in the moment.
 	Courage is the ability to act in spite of fear — and almost always necessary before confidence.

Resources Mentioned

 	Feel the Fear...and Do It Anyway* by Susan Jeffers
 	Winning Conditions: How to Achieve the Professional Success You Deserve by Managing the Details That Matter* by Christine Hofbeck

Related Episodes

 	Leadership Through Consistency, with Joseph Getuno (episode 490)
 	How to Build Confidence, with Katy Milkman (episode 533)
 	How to Protect Your Confidence, with Nate Zinsser (episode 573)

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611: The Power of Courage in Leadership Growth, with Jorge Alzate

Patrick Lencioni: The 6 Types of Working Genius
Patrick Lencioni is founder and president of The Table Group, a firm dedicated to protecting human dignity in the world of work, personal development, and faith. Pat’s passion for organizations and teams is reflected in his writing, speaking, executive consulting, and most recently his three podcasts, At the Table with Patrick Lencioni, The Working Genius Podcast, and The Simple Reminder.

Pat is the author of twelve best-selling books with over seven million copies sold. After twenty years in print, his classic book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team remains a weekly fixture on national best-seller lists. He has been featured in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, USA Today, Inc. magazine, and Chief Executive magazine. He is the author of The 6 Types of Working Genius: A Better Way to Understand Your Gifts, Your Frustrations, and Your Team.

Many of us have heard the invitation from Jim Collin’s book Good to Great to get the right people on the bus. But once the right people are on the bus, how to do you find the right seat for each person? On this episode, Pat and I discuss how to utilize the Working Genius model to find the right work for the right team members.
Key Points

 	When addressing burnout, the type of work someone does is more significant than the volume of work.
 	Three stages of work are present for almost every team: ideation, activation, and implementation.
 	A cup of coffee in an excellent thermos can stay hot an entire day — that’s true of us when we’re aligned with our working geniuses.
 	Finding the right work for a team member is far easier than finding the right person culturally. Before you look elsewhere, be sure they are in the right seat.
 	To fill gaps in your team’s geniuses, you can hire, borrow, or find people where competence will suffice for now. Resist the temptation to immediately jump to hiring.

Resources Mentioned

 	The 6 Types of Working Genius assessment
 	The 6 Types of Working Genius: A Better Way to Understand Your Gifts, Your Frustrations, and Your Team by Patrick Lencioni

Interview Notes
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Related Episodes

 	How to Get the Ideal Team Player, with Patrick Lencioni (episode 301)
 	How to Lead an Offsite, with Tom Henschel (episode 377)
 	The Mindset Leaders Need to Address Burnout, with Christina Maslach (episode 609)

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610: How to Help Team Members Find the Right Work, with Patrick Lencioni

Ram Charan: Leading Through Inflation
Ram Charan is a bestselling author, teacher, and world-renowned advisor to CEOs and other business leaders of some of the world’s best-known companies. His work is often behind the scenes and focused on highly sensitive and fate-making issues. Fortune magazine published a profile of Ram in which it called him “the most influential consultant alive.” His book Execution, lauded for its practicality, spent more than 150 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.

Ram’s energetic, interactive teaching style has won him several awards, including from GE’s famous Crotonville Institute and Northwestern. Ram was elected a Distinguished Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources and was named one of the most influential people in corporate governance and the board room by Directorship magazine. He has served on the Blue Ribbon Commission on Corporate Governance and serves or has served on a dozen boards in the U.S., Brazil, China, India, Canada, and Dubai. He is the author with Geri Willigan of Leading Through Inflation: And Recession And Stagflation.

In this conversation, Ram and I explore the changing macroeconomic environment and what leaders can do to address it. We discuss the importance of managing cash well and how pricing decisions can be made effectively. Plus, we discuss the critical nature of partnerships throughout the supply chain — and where the opportunities may be in the midst of challenge.
Key Points

 	Inflation consumes cash. Cash management is the number one risk to an organization during this time.
 	The way to get ahead of the curve is to be predictive vs. reactive. This may be a time the existing business model needs to change.
 	Inflation creates an illusion of growth. It’s important to adjust for this in all reporting and planning.
 	Work with all sides of the value chain. Help customers deal with rising costs while also working closely with suppliers. Regular communication is essential.
 	Smaller, regular price adjustments are better than less frequent, larger increases. Resist the temptation to offer less for the same price.

Resources Mentioned

 	Leading Through Inflation: And Recession And Stagflation* by Ram Charan and Geri Willigan.

Interview Notes
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Related Episodes

 	Improve Your Financial Intelligence, with Joe Knight (episode 244)
 	How to Approach Corporate Budgeting, with Jody Wodrich (episode 355)
 	How to Multiply Your Impact, with Liz Wiseman (episode 554)

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609: How Proactive Leadership Can Navigate Inflation, with Ram Charan

Christina Maslach: The Burnout Challenge
Christina Maslach is the pioneer of research on job burnout, producing the standard assessment tool called the Maslach Burnout Inventory, award-winning articles, and several books, beginning with Burnout: The Cost of Caring, in 1982. Her research achievements over the past five decades have led to multiple awards from the National Academy of Sciences, Western Psychological Association, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and many others.

Christina has received awards for her outstanding teaching, including USA Professor of the Year in 1997. She has been a Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley since 1971. Christina is now a core researcher at the Healthy Workplaces Center, at Berkeley, and the author along with Michael Leiter of The Burnout Challenge: Managing People's Relationships With Their Jobs*.

In this conversation, Christina and I address the reality that burnout is often perceived as an issue with just the individual. We explore how leaders can begin to look at the larger picture: context, culture, and management, in order to address burnout more proactively. We discuss key mindsets that will help and a few tactics that almost every leader can use to get started.
Key Points

 	The canary in the coal mine is an indicator of a problem, not the source of it.
 	Our tendency is to focus on the person (the figure) and to miss all the context and environment factors (the ground).
 	Burnout is first and foremost a management issue. “Fixing” the person should not be the focus — instead, get curious about where there is a mismatch.
 	Instead of focusing on what’s wrong with the person, shift to what may be wrong in the relationship between the person and situation.
 	Ensure you have a plan for communicated survey results. If you’d done surveys previously, share those results and also the actions the organization had taken before engaging in more surveys.

Resources Mentioned

 	The Burnout Challenge: Managing People's Relationships With Their Jobs* by Christina Maslach and Michael Leiter

Interview Notes
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Related Episodes

 	Gallup Findings on the Changing Nature of Work, with Jim Harter (episode 409)
 	How to Reduce Burnout, with Jennifer Moss (episode 561)
 	How to Compare Yourself to Others, with Mollie West Duffy (episode 582)

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608: The Mindset Leaders Need to Address Burnout, with Christina Maslach

Annie Duke: Quit
Annie Duke is an author, corporate speaker, and consultant in the decision-making space, as well as Special Partner focused on Decision Science at First Round Capital Partners, a seed stage venture fund. Her previous book, Thinking in Bets, is a national bestseller. As a former professional poker player, she has won more than $4 million in tournament poker. During her career, Annie won a World Series of Poker bracelet and is the only woman to have won the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions and the NBC National Poker Heads-Up Championship. She retired from the game in 2012. Prior to becoming a professional poker player, she was awarded a National Science Foundation Fellowship to study Cognitive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.

Annie is the co-founder of The Alliance for Decision Education, a non-profit whose mission is to improve lives by empowering students through decision skills education. She is a member of the National Board of After-School All-Stars and the Board of Directors of the Franklin Institute. She also serves on the board of the Renew Democracy Initiative. Annie is the author of Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away*.

We’ve all heard the lie that, “Winners never quit and quitters never win.” In reality, one of the best practices to develop is how to recognize more quickly when you should quit something that’s not working. In this conversation, Annie and I discuss how to set kill criteria for yourself and frame goals in more helpful ways to know when quitting is the best answer.
Key Points

 	Kenny Rogers was right; professional poker players know that a big part of success is quitting approximately 75% of the time.
 	“Quit while you’re ahead” is often poor advice since we tend to quit too early when good things are happening. On the contrary, we tend to quit too late when we’ve accumulated sunk cost.
 	Determine kill criteria in advance when you’re not as likely to be swayed by the emotions of the moment. The best criteria contain both a state and a date.
 	Find someone who loves you but doesn’t care about your feelings. Trust and permission are essential to open up these kinds of conversations.
 	Effective goals include at least one “unless…”

Resources Mentioned

 	Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away* by Annie Duke

Interview Notes
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Related Episodes

 	How to Pivot Quickly, with Steve Blank (episode 476)
 	The Way to Make Better Decisions, with Annie Duke (episode 499)
 	How to Build Confidence, with Katy Milkman (episode 533)

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