Authority Optional: Leadership Beyond the Rulebook

In this season premiere of their second year recording Authority Optional, Max and Josh discuss their most heavily influential team principle, Leave it Better Than You Found it. They talk about how valuable it is when everybody buys in and, of course, tell some stories on how it works. If you've listened to our first season, thank you. If not, this season kicks off an attempt to get less high-level concept and more detailed, so it could be worth going back for some older episodes if you crave the background.

Max and Josh tackle the difficult subject of being an unemployed leader, what the market seems to bear these days, as well as how challenging it can be to get through the first few steps of applying to a new company- or even your current one if you’re being laid off. They share their experience with it and offer some suggestions for anybody in the position themselves.

Max and Josh discuss another one of the Team Principles utilized in their corporate life, one that Max admits contributing directly to their common language. Eliminating aggravation ranges from not dodging accountability to doing things outside the scope of your job role, and invites everyone to imagine a world where everyone else is trying to improve the lives of those around them.

Max and Josh field a question about taking an employee engagement survey, whether one should bother or, if bothering, the merits of answering truthfully. They cover the ins and outs of making the best decision for yourself by way of their own experiences with surveys in a BDC, and explore the options.

Max and Josh discuss a principle that was part of their team culture when they worked together in a BDC. Fighting for the moral high ground captures both being imperfect humans and trying to do the right thing. They provide the backstory as to where it came from, explore the benefits of utilizing it, and finally offer some implementation tips if you find you’d like to see this in your own culture.

Max and Josh continue the series on Enneagram with Courtney returning as a registered IE9 practitioner and guide. In this episode they cover the Heart/Feeling Triad. Numbers 2, 3, and 4: The Active Controller, The Considerate Helper, Competitive Achiever, and Intense Creative, respectively. The fellas identify some traits they've seen in others and dive in with some questions to tap into Courtney's knowledge. Enneagram is an extremely comprehensive and nuanced look into our core motivations, how it looks when we're healthy and unhealthy, and includes methods to be the best version of yourself.

Max and Josh break down a process where they worked shorter weeks without taking pay cuts, and were even more productive than teams working standard or longer weeks. There's some high level concepts as well as pinpointed steps in this retelling with the idea that some of it could still be useful to others.

Max and Josh break down “Workplace Wellness.” They go into what it actually means as well as some steps frontline and middle managers can take to implement productive methods of increasing wellness. Specifically they dive into Holistic Wellness with some stories of their own to show ways they’ve excelled in creating excellent work environments.

Max and Josh launch a series on Enneagram with Courtney returning as a registered IE9 practitioner and guide, in this episode diving into the Action/Body Triad. Numbers 8, 9, and 1: The Active Controller, The Adaptive Peacemaker, and The Strict Perfectionist, respectively. If you've been a listener so far you know that the fellas are very on board with assessments that help people learn about themselves, Enneagram is an extremely comprehensive and nuanced look into our core motivations, how it looks when we're healthy and unhealthy, and includes methods to be the best version of yourself.

In the third and final part of their interview with Rob, they explore the value of going outside of the team whether it's for new ideas or fresh perspective, both for a single challenge and to improve the ongoing strength of the team. They discuss how leadership is a craft and should be treated accordingly, how much of it is talent acquisition, and wrap up with leveraging strengths to optimize a team and ourselves.