Better Bosses

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing @Angela Greenwood, Director of Acquisition and Customer Marketing at Optus, for the Better Bosses Lessons Learnt podcast series.  

In this podcast, Angela answers the Better Bosses Fast Five questions and talks about how important it is to give feedback and that it’s ok not to know it all. 

Angela then shares her story of transitioning from leading a small team to a larger group of 20 and then 58. You’ll hear about:

10:00 How important it is to resist the need to prove yourself and take action as soon as you start a new role. Better to seek to understand and listen, then look to how you can add value 
12:35 How she learnt to overcome the fear of the transition by tackling it head-on, dropping her armour and becoming vulnerable
15:35 How she learnt to let go of the need to be liked at all times so she could have tough but honest conversations with her team
17:35 Tips for hiring the right people

In the Lessons Learnt series, Melissa invites experienced leaders along to answer the Better Bosses Fast Five questions. In this podcast, Melissa answers the 5 questions herself. 

1. What’s one thing you’ve learnt from the best boss you’ve ever had?

2. What’s one thing you’ve learnt from the most challenging boss you’ve ever had? 

3. What’s something you’ve learnt about leading people from a mistake you made?

4. What has been your proudest moment as a people leader? 

5. What would you say to the younger version of yourself taking on a people management role for the first time? 

Melissa explains why she created Better Bosses and where the name came from

In this episode, the founder of Better Bosses, Melissa McCarney, explores the six breakers of trust and the six builders of trust and shares her warts and all stories as she goes. 

Trust breakers

1. Micromanagement
2. Not admitting to your mistakes
3. Throwing someone under the bus
4. Taking credit for someone else's work
5. Not giving a damn 
6. Letting poor behaviour slide 

Trust builders 

1. Give trust generously 
2. Be yourself, be human
3. Show up, be present
4. Publicly give credit where it's due
5. Genuinely care 
6. Have their back 

In this episode, we answer a question about leadership and culture that came from a member of the Better Bosses Community. We discuss the five steps a leader can follow to shift a counter-productive culture and encourage collaboration in a fractured team. 

The 5 steps

1. Create a cause 
2. Agree on how the team is going to work together to achieve it - what's acceptable behaviour and what's not
3. Call each other out on the good and not so good behaviour
4. Build the right team
5. Celebrate wins 

This episode includes some practical advice about defining the team's purpose or cause, creating mantras, finding your captains, and going through the process of working out who is on the bus and who isn't. 

Along the way, Melissa shares her experience of changing a team's culture. 

In this episode, founder of Better Bosses, Melissa McCarney discusses something that everyone grapples with at least once in their career - working for a challenging boss. 

Throughout most of her career, Melissa worked for amazing leaders so she was a bit shocked when she wound up working for a challenging boss. She shares her story, and what she learnt about herself, before discussing the three tools you need in order to lead well - even when you're being led by a challenging boss. 

1. An oxygen mask
2. A filter 
3. A mirror 

Intrigued? If you're struggling to work with your boss, this 18 min podcast will give you some practical advice on how to cope.