Coaching for Leaders

Jim Harter: Wellbeing at Work

Jim Harter is Chief Scientist for Gallup’s workplace management and wellbeing practices. He has led more than 1,000 studies of workplace effectiveness and is the bestselling coauthor of It’s the Manager, 12: The Elements of Great Managing, and Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements. Jim has also published articles in many prominent business and academic journals and he's the author with Jim Clifton of Wellbeing at Work: How to Build Resilient and Thriving Teams*.

In this conversation, Jim and I discuss Gallup’s recent research findings on what managers and organizations can do to support wellbeing at work. We highlight the five key elements of wellbeing from the research and the obstacles that managers and organizations face in supporting these. Plus, we share practical steps that each of us can take to support wellbeing among the people in our organizations.

Key Points

People report that their strongest links to net thriving are “my job” and “my manager.”

The five key elements of wellbeing are, in this order: Career, Social, Financial, Physical, and Community.

Many people report that “time with a manager” is the worst part of the day.

To support better wellbeing, make it a part of regular career conversations.

Have open conversations about pay philosophies. Data shows this is even more important than the actual salary.

Giving meaningful feedback every week is a basic requirement of management.

Gallup’s data shows that only half of employees worldwide know what is expected of that at work, a significant contributor to stress and anxiety.

Resources Mentioned

Wellbeing at Work: How to Build Resilient and Thriving Teams* by Jim Clifton and Jim Harter

Interview Notes

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

Related Episodes

These Coaching Questions Get Results, with Michael Bungay Stanier (episode 237)

How to Manage Abrasive Leaders, with Sharone Bar-David (episode 290)

How Teams Use StrengthsFinder Results, with Lisa Cummings (episode 293)

Three Steps to Great Career Conversations, with Russ Laraway (episode 370)

Gallup Findings on the Changing Nature of Work, with Jim Harter (episode 409)

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Manu Mazzanti

Manu Mazzanti is an energy giver who brings focus and resilience to bold and daring transformative journeys. As a regional talent development leader for a global consulting firm, Manu is committed to enabling talent potential through coaching, facilitation, and leadership development. He is out there to make an impact as a father, conscious leader, and marathon runner. Manu is also an alum of the Coaching for Leaders Academy.

Key Points

Ken Coleman’s analogy of climbing the mountain (and realizing you might be on the wrong one) was helpful to identify what was next.

Keith Ferrazzi says that leadership starts with us. In addition, we all have the opportunity to do a lot of leading without authority.

James Clear’s work was helpful to make habit changes easily instead of trying to make major changes, at all at once.

The Academy helped provide a framework for the 2-3 year vision and take daily actions to bring it into reality.

Resources Mentioned

Manu Mazzanti on LinkedIn

Coaching for Leaders Academy

Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work and in the World* by Carley Hauck

Create a World That Works: Tools for Personal and Global Transformation* by Alan Seale and Cheryl Dorsey

Related Episodes

How to Find Your Calling, with Ken Coleman (episode 352)

How to Become the Person You Want to Be, with James Clear (episode 376)

Leadership Means You Go First, with Keith Ferrazzi (episode 488)

The Way to Make Sense to Others, with Tom Henschel (episode 518)

Making the Case for Your Promotion, with May Busch (episode 526)

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Amy Gallo: HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict

Amy Gallo is an expert in conflict, communication, and workplace dynamics. She combines the latest management research with practical advice to deliver evidence-based ideas on how to improve relationships and excel at work. She is the author of the Harvard Business Review Guide to Dealing with Conflict*, a how-to guidebook about handling conflict professionally and productively.

In her role as a contributing editor at Harvard Business Review, Amy writes frequently about a range of topics with a focus on interpersonal dynamics, communicating ideas, leading and influencing people, and building your career. She is also co-host of Harvard Business Review’s Women at Work podcast, which is in its sixth season.

In this conversation, Amy and I discuss some of the key strategies that have emerged from her research on the most effective ways to prepare for conflict. We explore why a larger strategy is more important than a script, how to plan out your message, and the value of taking the other side’s perspective.

Key Points

Be honest with yourself that a conversation may be difficult, but also seek a constructive way to frame it.

Take your counterpart’s perspective, but don’t assume you know everything they are thinking.

Plan your message by appealing to a shared goal.

Focus your efforts on framing the larger strategy and outcome rather than a specific script or phrases.

Avoid scripting out a conversation, but have clarity on how you will start and the 2-3 points you need to convey.

When conflict emerges in the organization, leaders are wise to lean into it rather than shutting it down in the moment.

Resources Mentioned

Harvard Business Review Guide to Dealing with Conflict* by Amy Gallo

Harvard Business Review’s Women at Work podcast

Amy Gallo’s website

Related Episodes

How to Manage Abrasive Leaders, with Sharone Bar-David (episode 290)

The Way Into Difficult Conversations, with Kwame Christian (episode 497)

The Way Out of Major Conflict, with Amanda Ripley (episode 529)

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Amanda Ripley: High Conflict

Amanda Ripley is an investigative journalist and a New York Times bestselling author. She’s spent her career trying to make sense of complicated human mysteries, from what happens to our brains in a disaster to how some countries manage to educate virtually all their kids to think for themselves.

Her first book, The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes—and Why*, was published in 15 countries and turned into a PBS documentary. Her next book, The Smartest Kids in the World—and How They Got That Way*, was a New York Times bestseller. Her most recent book is High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out*.

In this conversation, Amanda and I discuss the distinction between good, healthy conflict — and high conflict that becomes unproductive for almost everybody. We discuss how humiliation is often such a strong catalyst for high conflict. Finally, we explore many of the practical steps to take in order to avoid the worst conflicts and do better for ourselves and our organizations.

Key Points

Good conflict often brings surprises, but high conflict is surprisingly predictable.

Humiliation is one of the most powerful fire starters in triggering high conflict.

Limit humiliation by avoiding attacks on someone’s identity, especially in a public forum.

Distancing yourself from “conflict entrepreneurs” can help provide the space to emerge from high conflict.

Resist binaries and us vs. them language. When people get sorted into two groups, that can lay a foundation for high conflict.

Slowing down conflict can often provide the opportunity to emerge with productive dialogue.

Resources Mentioned

High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out* by Amanda Ripley

Related Episodes

How to Listen When Someone Is Venting, with Mark Goulston (episode 91)

How to Deal with Opponents and Adversaries, with Peter Block (episode 328)

How to Find Confidence in Conflict, with Kwame Christian (episode 380)

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Erica Dhawan: Digital Body Language

Erica Dhawan is a globally recognized leadership expert and keynote speaker helping organizations and leaders innovate faster and further, together. Named as one of the top management professionals around the world by Global Gurus, she is the founder and CEO of Cotential, a company that has helped leaders and teams leverage twenty-first-century collaboration skills.

Erica’s writing has appeared in dozens of publications, including Fast Company and Harvard Business Review. She is the co-author of Get Big Things Done* and the author of the new book, Digital Body Language: How to Build Trust and Connection, No Matter the Distance*.

In this conversation, Erica and I highlight common missteps that cause leaders to generate unnecessary anxiety from their communication. We discuss how brevity, response time, passive aggressiveness, and formality can work against us — and what we can adjust on our own behaviors to do better.

Key Points

In a way, all of us are now immigrants, processing more interactions in a digital world that is less familiar.

Excessive brevity may save a few keystrokes or seconds in the moment, but can generate lots of extra work for the team and organization.

Reduce anxiety by being explicit about our expectations on response time and teaching others what to expect from us.

Changing tone and formality without explanation can be jarring.

Seemingly unimportant choices like who we list first on emails can generate assumptions from those we’re communicating to.

Resources Mentioned

Digital Body Language: How to Build Trust and Connection, No Matter the Distance* by Erica Dhawan

The Digital Body Language Expert Course

Related Episodes

How to Balance Care and Accountability When Leading Remotely, with Jonathan Raymond (episode 464)

How to Run an Online Meeting, with Bonni Stachowiak (episode 472)

How to Be Present, with Dave Crenshaw (episode 511)

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Glenn Parker: Positive Influence

Glenn Parker is a team building and organizational consultant to many of the world's leading corporations, including Novartis, Merck, Lucent, and Accenture. He is the author of 15 books, including the bestsellers, Team Players and Teamwork: New Strategies for Developing Successful Collaboration* and Cross-Functional Teams: Working with Allies, Enemies, and Other Strangers*.

Glenn's assessment survey, the Parker Team Player Survey, published by CPP, has sold more than one million copies. He is the author with his son Michael Parker of the book, Positive Influence: The Leader Who Helps People Become Their Best Self*.

In this episode, Glenn and I discuss the importance of leaders recognizing the contributions of other leaders in our careers — and the ways we can become positive influences for others. We detail the four different ways to be a supportive leader and the first steps that each of us can take to do this more consistently.

Key Points

Four different ways to be a leader who has a positive influence on others:

The Supportive Positive Influence Leader: the one who believes in you

The Teacher Positive Influence Leader: the one who helps you develop the skills you need

The Motivating Positive Influence Leader: the one who shows you why you need to do something and helps you believe that you can do it

The Role Model Positive Influence Leader: the one who demonstrates through their actions how you can be successful

Resources Mentioned

Positive Influence: The Leader Who Helps People Become Their Best Self* by Glenn Parker and Michael Parker

Related Episodes

Help People Learn Through Powerful Teaching, with Pooja Agarwal (episode 421)

Your Leadership Motive, with Patrick Lencioni (episode 505)

How to Be Present, with Dave Crenshaw (episode 511)

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May Busch: How to Get Promoted

May Busch is the former Chief Operating Officer of Morgan Stanley Europe. She was promoted 10 times during her 24-year career at Morgan Stanley. Today, she's an executive coach and mentor, helping professionals overcome (often hidden) obstacles, advance to the next level in their careers, and reach their full potential.

May is the author of Accelerate: 9 Capabilities to Achieve Success at Any Career Stage and the creator of the How to Get Promoted Course*.

In this conversation, May and I discuss the key principles that professionals should consider when advocating for their next promotion. We explore a few of the mistakes that some people rely on — and how to do better through your track record, business case, and future thinking. Plus, May shares several tactics that will help you get visibility on what senior leaders are thinking.

Key Points

Being a culture carrier is a wonderful place to be in an organization, but it’s not enough for promotion.

Threatening to leave can work in some cases, but it’s not laying the groundwork for long-term trust.

Your track record should include your accomplishments, experiences, strengths, and skills. Others who are close to you can often help you be more objective on what these are.

Ultimately a promotion is a business decision. Help more senior leaders make the business case for why you are the right decision.

Perceived risks about you might be fair or not. Regardless, responding in a matter-of-fact manner to concerns is more likely to help you alleviate them.

Resources Mentioned

Discover What It Really Takes to Get a Promotion*, a free training series by May Busch

Accelerate: 9 Capabilities to Achieve Success at Any Career Stage by May Busch

Related Episodes

Move From Caretaker to Rainmaker, with May Busch (episode 390)

How to Work With an Executive Recruiter, with Becky deSouza (episode 406)

Craft a Career to Fit Your Strengths, with Scott Anthony Barlow (episode 424)

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Marissa King: Social Chemistry

Marissa King is professor of Organizational Behavior at the Yale School of Management, where she developed and teaches a popular course entitled Managing Strategic Networks. Over the past fifteen years, she has studied how people's social networks evolve, what they look like, and why that's significant.

Her most recent line of research analyzes the individual and group-level behaviors that are necessary for large-scale organizational change. She is the author of Social Chemistry: Decoding the Patterns of Human Connection*.

In this conversation, Marissa and I explore the three major categories of personal networks — along with the strengths and challenges of each one. We make the invitation to strengthen your existing network instead of trying to further expand it. Plus, Marissa highlights several practical tips to more fully leverage the power of your own network.

Key Points

There are three types of networks:

Expansionists have extraordinarily large networks and tend to be well known. They tend to be inspiring in both social and professional settings.

Brokers generate value by bringing together from different social spaces. Their networks have large information benefits and are innovative. They are adaptive and have better work-life balance.

Conveners build dense networks where all theirs friends are also friends. They enjoy deep trust and reputation benefits. Conveners tend to be great listeners.

Maintaining great relationships with your existing network is often more productive than attempting to grow entirely new relationships.

Those with very close relationships have been able to weather the storm of the pandemic with little impact on loneliness.

We tend to underestimate both the strength of our networks and the willingness of others to help us.

A starting point to improve the strength of your exiting network is either to be generous to someone by helping them in some way or to ask for support with something that might be helpful to us.

Resources Mentioned

Social Chemistry: Decoding the Patterns of Human Connection* by Marissa King

Assess Your Network

Related Episodes

Use Power for Good and Not Evil, with Dacher Keltner (episode 254)

The Power of Weak Connections, with David Burkus (episode 347)

Four Habits That Derail Listening, with Oscar Trimboli (episode 500)

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Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed

Bonni Stachowiak is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, a professor of business and management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, Bonni was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. She is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*.

Listener Questions

Linda asks advice on how to respond to burnout in her organization.

Taylor wonders about the best time to create team expectations.

Robert asks how to move forward when his manager doesn’t provide any meaningful feedback.

Related Episodes

The Way to Lead After a Workplace Loss, with Andrew Stenhouse (episode 142)

How to Create Team Guidelines, with Susan Gerke (episode 192)

How to Succeed with Leadership and Management, with John Kotter (episode 249)

The Path to Start Leading Your Team, with John Piñeiro (episode 349)

How to Find Helpful Advisors, with Ethan Kross (episode 516)

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Greg McKeown: Effortless

Greg McKeown is a speaker, bestselling author, and the host of the popular podcast What’s Essential. He has been covered by The New York Times, Fast Company, Fortune, Politico, and Inc. and has been interviewed on NPR, NBC, Fox, and many others.

He is among the most popular bloggers for LinkedIn and also a Young Global Leader for the World Economic Forum. His New York Times bestselling book Essentialism* has sold more than a million copies worldwide. He's the author of the new book, Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most*.

In this conversation, Greg and I explore how to simplify by asking key questions of ourselves and others. We discuss the tendency many of us have to work hard, but not necessarily clearly define what we’re trying to achieve. Plus, Greg invites us to look at the minimum steps required to complete what’s most essential.

Key Points

Take one minute to stop and define what done looks like.

Crafting a “done for the day” list can provide clarity and boundaries to help us zero in on what’s most important.

Ask yourself: what are the minimum steps required for completion?

There’s a key distinction between a minimum number of steps and “phoning it in.”

Decide in advance on what kind of work requires A+ effort, and where B effort is sufficient — and perhaps even better.

Resources Mentioned

Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most* by Greg McKeown

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less* by Greg McKeown

What’s Essential podcast by Greg McKeown

Interview Notes

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

Related Episodes

The Way to Stop Spinning Your Wheels on Planning (episode 319)

See What Really Matters, with Greg McKeown (episode 469)

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

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