Building Better Managers

Every business is invested in growing and developing its leaders. If they can be taught, they can lead. And, good leadership has a ripple effect.

While the need for greater leadership development has never been more critical, determining what kind of solution will best equip your team to lead successfully—today and into the future—remains a difficult task. The corporate learning industry is filled with different L&D offerings, but what really sets them apart?

BetterManager practices Directed Coaching, where our coaches and facilitators bring their real-world business and people management experience, their professional coaching expertise, and their wisdom into every 1:1 engagement.

Unlike traditional approaches to coaching, where the focus is primarily on asking powerful questions to enable individuals to find their own answers, BetterManager coaches act as true thought partners, brainstorming ideas and offering guidance when asked.

Karen Benz is the Vice President of Coaching at BetterManager and an experienced executive coach herself with an extensive background in leadership and management. In this episode, she brings her firsthand insight into this important distinction and "pulls back the curtain" on BetterManager's unique and personalized approach to effective leadership development.

If you've ever been curious about why we've grown into the top-rated leadership development platform, this is the episode you've been waiting for.

For transcripts and other available downloads, please visit the BetterManager website.

© 2019 - 2023 BetterManager

The very best leaders and managers, at every level, carry a a presence about them. Whether among a small team or an entire organization, that presence can draw people to you. And your role as a leader, of course, is not just to bring people together through your actions and ideas, but to move them toward a common goal or cause.

Being a thought leader is a time-tested, effective way of harnessing your expertise, experience, and your networks to influence others, but most companies have no idea how to leverage it. On this episode, BetterManager co-founder Wendy Hanson brings back Denise Brosseau, the founder and CEO of Thought Leadership Lab and best-selling author of "Ready to Be a Thought Leader?," to discuss how better understanding the dynamics of thought leadership can prove to be a difference-maker for any business.

Denise has worked with tens of thousands of leaders and their teams across the globe for over 20 years, helping them to accelerate their journey from leaders to thought leaders.

You'll learn the three steps to put you on the road to becoming a successful thought leader:

• Crafting your brand. Have you differentiated yourself from others with similar backgrounds?
• Making sure people know what you know. Do people know what your expertise is? Have your defined and clarified that?
• Developing a unique point of view and perspective of where the world is going.

For transcripts and other available downloads, please visit the BetterManager website.

Use specific link: https://bit.ly/bettermanager-e70-ls

© 2019 - 2023 BetterManager

At BetterManager, we consistently see the importance of interpersonal communication skills as the top topic being discussed in 1:1 coaching – no matter what role individuals and managers play within an organization.

Developing the skills to persuade and influence others will open doors in your professional, as well as your personal life, as you're able to better communicate with others and lead them with integrity toward your desired goals, as well as theirs.

Stephen McGarvey is the author of the USA Today and Wall Street Journal #1 Best Seller "Ignite a Shift: Engaging Minds, Guiding Emotions and Driving Behavior," the founder & president of Solutions in Mind, and a world-leading authority on unconscious communication, persuasion, and influence.

He has worked with businesses around the world to optimize their performance by helping them understand how their staff and their customers think, and what unconscious elements and patterns drive their behavior.

In today's episode, Stephen brings his unique perspective and these practical recommendations:

• How you can benefit from prioritizing listening over convincing;
• How to stop catastrophizing and deal with anxiety in productive ways;
• How to see selling as a consultative partnership (instead of a strictly self-serving one);
• The relevance and importance of rapport, and how to foster and engage it.

For transcripts and other available downloads, please visit the BetterManager website.

© 2019 - 2023 BetterManager

The business world is in a state of great change and opportunity. With an ever-growing remote and hybrid workforce, an increasing emphasis on DEI, sustainability, and technology, the "command and control" style of leadership has become more or less obsolete.

The future success of your company relies on managers that lead with values and vision, and work together as super-collaborators solving problems up, down and across your organization.

Today's guest, Daniel Truran is the Director General at Ethical Business Building the Future, and has dedicated the last 20 years to promoting the connection between values, purpose and actions of people and companies. Daniel has demonstrated over and over his talent for creating communities that help build a better, more prosperous, sustainable, and just future.

In this episode, he'll cover:

• The two most important changes in the current business landscape
• The Super Powers of co-creating and collaboration
• Why Building Community beats relying solely on marketing
• Why "command-and-control" leadership is outdated - and the better way forward!

For transcripts and other available downloads, please visit the BetterManager website.

© 2022 - 2023 BetterManager

Your first 30-to-90 days as a new leader in an organization can make or break you. It's so easy to get caught up in "Here's how I'm going to fix things!" But do you really know the situation well enough? It's often much better to align with your team on a general vision and direction first, and use that first month to listen, observe, and assess why things are the way they are. This puts you in a great position to build and execute a successful plan based on what's actually happening.

This week's guest is Charley Longfellow, former Head of International Sales for Momentive (formerly SurveyMonkey) and current Chief Revenue Officer at Channelsight, an industry-leading insights portal that connects all points of the customer journey.

In this conversation, Charley shares insights from his personal experience on:

• How to prepare for your transition like a pro
• Finding your "North Star" for the first 90 Days
• How to have greater success by honoring your authentic self
• The First 30 Days: Resistance to change and The Beckhard-Harris Change Model (DxVxF > R)

For transcripts and other available downloads, please visit the BetterManager website.

© 2022 BetterManager

Remote and hybrid working environments, in some form, are here to stay. Understanding how to maintain well-being, increase employee engagement, and strengthen connections in professional contexts as our interactions become more and more remote can be a game changer for managers and leaders at any organization.

Today's guests, Dr. Amy Mednick and Dr. Diane Lennard are the authors of the deeply-researched new book, Humanizing the Remote Experience through Leadership and Coaching: Strategies for Better Virtual Connections. They're here to share the findings of their research, case studies, and practical strategies you can start using right away in your workplace.

In this conversation, we cover:

• Concrete, actionable ways to appreciate the convenience and efficiency of remote work while still maintaining our human needs for connection.
• How to get the most out of your work breaks: the optimal schedule, length, and activities (Pro Tip: Doing different work doesn't count!).
• The importance of understanding how to read body language and non-verbal cues in a virtual world.
• Zoom fatigue, the pros and cons of the stress response, and the neuroscience you need to know when working in a remote environment.

For transcripts and other available downloads, please visit the BetterManager website.

Use specific link: https://bit.ly/bettermanager-e66-ls

© 2022 BetterManager

People with invisible illnesses may look fine, but that doesn't mean they aren't struggling. When Harper Spero was diagnosed with an extremely rare immunodeficiency disorder, she was determined to create her own narrative. And not only has Harper learned to embrace her invisible illness, but now she's on a mission to provide resources and hope to others who are silently struggling.

Harper Spero is a business coach and consultant working with companies to create inclusivity and connection for their employees living with invisible illnesses through content, community, classes and workshops. After years of not finding content related to her own rare condition, Harper launched Made Visible, a 100-episode podcast dedicated to sharing the stories of individuals living with invisible illnesses and their caregivers, as well as doctors, therapists, healers, and business owners devoting their professional lives to people with invisible illnesses.

In this episode, Harper joins us to discuss:

• What it's like to live with an invisible illness, and how that's evolved amid the pandemic
• What employees with invisible illnesses can do to share their story and better advocate for themselves at work
• The invisible barriers to your diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts and how to make people feel less alone and more seen and heard
• Best practices for organizations looking to foster a more welcoming and inclusive environment for team members with disabilities, whether visible or not

For transcripts and other available downloads, please visit the BetterManager website.

© 2022 BetterManager

Does your company work hard to identify and get the most from each individual's unique talents? Or does it just accept talent flight, "The Great Resignation" and "quiet quitting" as unavoidable? The truth is that all your leaders from the C-Suite to your frontline managers can benefit from recognizing the signs and helping people out when they get stuck.

Mpume Ncube-Daka is an internationally-accredited career coach, business mentor, and the Founder and CEO of About Change Conversations. Earning her stripes in the corporate world with Unilever, Nestle, and Ericsson, Mpume has developed practical ways for organizations to benefit immensely by facilitating personal growth and avoiding burnout.

In this conversation, she covers:

• How understanding the company's "Big Why" helps motivate the entire staff
• The signs of being stuck: feeling unhappy & unfulfilled, procrastinating, and not speaking up.
• The first steps to freedom: understanding your individual situation, creating goals that get you out of your comfort zone, and taking action!
• Celebrating even small wins as important steps in the bigger journey
• How today's career development is more like a climbing wall than a ladder

For transcripts and other available downloads, please visit the BetterManager website.

© 2022 BetterManager

Hope is more than a "nice to have"; it can play a central role in business, as it drives resilient behavior, engagement, and innovation. In this episode, we explore the neuroscience behind hope and mindfulness, and the discuss benefits of applying the learnings in the workplace with forensic neuropsychiatrist Dr. George Woods.

Dr. Woods is an accomplished physician, specializing in neuropsychiatry, is the Chief Science Officer at Crestwood Behavioral Health, and also serves as a member of the Board of Advisors at BetterManager. His work has brought him to believe that both successful organizations and leaders must be very good at inspiring hope among their teams.

Dr. Woods talks us through the differences between Medical and the Rehabilitation models (and which is better for your business), the origins and story of Hope House, and practical mindfulness techniques that every manager can begin applying to engage and re-energize their teams.

Please click the button to subscribe so you don't miss any episodes and leave a review if your favorite podcast app has that ability. Thank you!

For transcripts and other available downloads, please visit the BetterManager website.

© 2022 BetterManager

We've all heard the expression "culture eats strategy for breakfast." But what does a strong organizational culture actually look like? It's about a lot more than just occasional happy hours, pool tables, or free snacks.

When your culture comes from living your core values, it will be the guiding star for your actions and how you attack each day with your team.

Marc Reifenrath is the co-founder and CEO of Spinutech, a company that began as a dorm room start-up and is now an award-winning multinational digital agency. Marc takes culture seriously and attributes much of his company's success to it.

Marc believes that you manage, lead, hire, fire, and solve problems using your core values. When a problem pops up, you evaluate it through this lens: which core value is misaligned here? This extremely quick and effective tactic often gets right to the root cause of the problem – and solutions suggest themselves almost automatically.

Please click the button to subscribe so you don't miss any episodes and leave a review if your favorite podcast app has that ability. Thank you!

For transcripts and other available downloads, please visit the BetterManager website.

© 2022 BetterManager