Coaching for Leaders

Marcus Buckingham: Design Love In

Marcus Buckingham is the author of two of the best-selling business books of all time and has three of Harvard Business Review’s most circulated, industry-changing cover articles. After spending two decades studying excellence at the Gallup Organization and co-creating the StrengthsFinder tool, he built his own Coaching + Education firm and has been a prominent researcher on strengths, love, and leadership at work. He is the author of Design Love In: How to Unleash the Most Powerful Force in Business (Amazon, Bookshop)*.

Most everyone who listens to this podcast wants to go way beyond just hitting numbers and achieving goals. In addition to that, we want so deeply to see the people the work with flourish in their careers. In this conversation, Marcus and I explore the sequence of five feelings that make this work – and why a lot of it comes down to love.

Key Points

Love dies, not from being killed - but from forgetting and neglect.

The difference is massive in what we give a top rating to and everything else.

Love is the deep and unwavering commitment to the flourishing of a human.

Shift from leaders making decisions to leaders making experiences.

The five feelings follow this sequence:

Control

Harmony

Significance

Warmth of others

Growth

Resources Mentioned

Design Love In: How to Unleash the Most Powerful Force in Business by Marcus Buckingham (Amazon, Bookshop)*

Design Love In

Lovethat.com

Interview Notes

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

Related Episodes

How to Lead Top-Line Growth, with Tim Sanders (episode 299)

Transcend Leadership Struggles Through Your Strengths, with Lisa Cummings (episode 692)

Clarifying Values for a Workplace People Love, with Anne Chow (episode 712)

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Anthony Klotz: Jolted

Anthony Klotz is an organizational psychologist and Professor of Management at the UCL School of Management. He is the person who both predicted and coined the term “The Great Resignation,” and his groundbreaking research on quitting, work design, and employee performance has made him a leading voice on the future of work. He is the author of Jolted: Why We Quit, When to Stay, and Why It Matters (Amazon, Bookshop)*.

Most of us have attempted to support an employee dealing with a tough career moment. Not all the time, but certainly sometimes, we see those moments coming. When an employee is dealing with a big jolt – or about to – this conversation with Anthony will show you how to help.

Key Points

Jolts have an outsized influence on people’s overall relationship with their work.

Managers play a deciding role in how people respond to jolts and are in the best position to insulate the negative effects and amplify the positive effects.

Managers can often anticipate and predict jolts to employees. The plans leaders have often become the jolts that others experience.

If people can make sense of a jolting event, they are better able to deal with it constructively.

The perception of how fair an event is and how fair the process was leading up to the event massively impacts how people perceive it.

A clear explanation of why change is happening and what it means can substantially minimize the negative effects of career jolts.

The tendency for organizations to delay bad news often is counterproductive to helping managers and employees navigate jolts.

Partnership with others (managers, friends, family members) helps most of us better process what we might otherwise attempt to do alone.

Resources Mentioned

Jolted: Why We Quit, When to Stay, and Why It Matters (Amazon, Bookshop)* by Anthony Klotz

Interview Notes

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

Related Episodes

Engaging People Through Change, with Cassandra Worthy (episode 571)

How to Quit Bad Stuff Faster, with Annie Duke (episode 607)

Stop Solving Your Team’s Problems, with Elizabeth Lotardo (episode 764)

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Neri Karra Sillaman: Pioneers

Neri Karra Sillaman is a refugee-turned-entrepreneur, academic, and author whose work focuses on the importance of resilience, purpose, and vision in business and in life. She is the recipient of the Thinkers50 Radar Award, an entrepreneurship expert at the University of Oxford, and the founder of Neri Karra, a global luxury leather goods brand. She is the author of Pioneers: 8 Principles of Business Longevity from Immigrant Entrepreneurs (Amazon, Bookshop)*.

We all know that the right connections can help in our careers, but how do we actually get more intentional about forging the connections that will be most meaningful and sustainable? In this conversation, Neri and I explore the key lessons from immigrant entrepreneurs and how their successes can help us all thrive.

Key Points

Robins and titmice have vastly different outcomes because of their divergent abilities for flocking. Social capital is critical for success.

Diversity brings many strengths – and it also introduces new challenges for connection. We can’t as easily rely on connections through traditional cultures or experiences.

All of us have the ability to forge connections based on value. This is perhaps the most powerful homophily tie and accessible to everyone.

The most successful immigrant entrepreneurs don’t rely on connections happening automatically and also don’t assume that relationships will be static.

Focus on what unites you with others. Strengthen ties with other networks to avoid the risk of communities that are too insular.

Be proactive and generous in sharing information and ideas to support others.

Resources Mentioned

Pioneers: 8 Principles of Business Longevity from Immigrant Entrepreneurs by Neri Karra Sillaman (Amazon, Bookshop)*

Interview Notes

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

Related Episodes

Three People Who Will Help You Grow, with Andrew C.M. Cooper (episode 700)

The Way to Build Collective Power, with Ruchika T. Malhotra (episode 759)

Using AI to Make Networking Easier, with Ruth Gotian (episode 766)

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Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

David Yeager: 10 to 25

David Yeager is a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and the cofounder of the Texas Behavioral Science and Policy Institute. He is best known for his research conducted with Carol Dweck, Angela Duckworth, and Greg Walton on short but powerful interventions that influence adolescent behaviors such as motivation, engagement, healthy eating, bullying, stress, mental health, and more. He is the author of 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People (Amazon, Bookshop)*.

Older generations have been complaining about younger generations for all of recorded history. Today is no different, and I often hear how leaders are struggling with motivating their younger employees. In this conversation, David and I explore the most recent research and practice for what actually works.

Key Points

Older generations have been complaining about younger generations for all of recorded history. Often, our complaints are the result of our own past experiences.

Many leaders experience the mentor’s dilemma: being nice and putting up with poor performance, or being critical and demanding higher performance.

Status and respect for a young person are as critical as food and sleep to a baby. When satisfied, they can open up much better motivation and behavior.

The mentor mindset embraces both high standards and high support for the young person you wish to motivate. Because this is a mindset, you can absolutely get better at it.

When giving feedback to a young person, acknowledge the high standard you are setting and also tell the young person that you believe they can meet that standard.

Young people have often experienced a lot of “enforcing” behavior from parents, teachers, and coaches. They assume this in the workplace if you don’t make a point to say otherwise.

Resources Mentioned

10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People by David Yeager (Amazon, Bookshop)*

The Power of Mindset (Masterclass)

Interview Notes

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

Related Episodes

How to Challenge Directly and Care Personally, with Kim Scott (episode 302)

How to Reduce Drama With Kids, with Tina Payne Bryson (episode 310)

How to Solve the Toughest Problems, with Wendy Smith (episode 612)

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Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Are you at an inflection point in your leadership? The Coaching for Leaders Academy helps leaders thrive at key inflection points.

Apply to the Academy by Friday, March 20th.

In this episode, Dave shares the five things that he sees most commonly get in leaders’ ways:

Not asking for help.

Assuming knowledge drives behavior.

Setting the tactical bar too high.

Feeling worse before feeling better.

Not noticing any improvement.

Linda Hill: Genius at Scale

Linda Hill is the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration and Faculty Chair of the Leadership Initiative at Harvard Business School. Globally recognized as a top leadership and innovation expert, Linda has been named by Thinkers50 as one of the world’s top five management thinkers. She is the co-author, along with Emily Tedards and Jason Wild, of Genius at Scale: How Great Leaders Drive Innovation (Amazon, Bookshop)*

We all want to think of ourselves as innovative, but it’s often not easy to know exactly what that means in practice. In this conversation, Linda and I explore what her research shows that leaders do to drive innovation successfully – and how each of us can get just a bit better.

Key Points

Rather than coming up with a vision and asking people to follow it, innovation is about creating the culture and capabilities to create the future together.

Innovation leadership shows up in three ways within organizations: the Architects, the Bridge Builders, and the Catalysts.

Instead of setting the stage for themselves, innovative leaders set the stage for others.

Often, we view horizontal relationships through the lens of organizational politics. The most effective innovation leaders view these relationships as leadership opportunities.

Traditional team structures are a starting point, but not an ending point. Leaders at Mastercard, Pfizer, and Cleveland Clinic all brought in team members from both inside and outside the organization.

Rather than thinking about a decision as final, it’s helpful for innovation leaders to frame it as a “working hypothesis.”

Resources Mentioned

Genius at Scale: How Great Leaders Drive Innovation by Linda Hill, Emily Tedards, and Jason Wild (Amazon, Bookshop)*

Interview Notes

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

Related Episodes

How to Build an Invincible Company, with Alex Osterwalder (episode 470)

The Way Innovators Get Traction, with Tendayi Viki (episode 512)

Doing Better Than Zero-Sum Thinking, with Renée Mauborgne (episode 641)

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Academy alum Marisol Bello of The Housing Narrative Lab joins Dave to share how she made the shift from command and control to serve and support.

Are you at an inflection point? Applications to the Coaching for Leaders Academy are open until Friday, March 20th. Visit the Coaching for Leaders Academy page to apply.

Nir Eyal: Beyond Belief

Nir Eyal writes, consults, and teaches about the intersection of psychology, technology, and business. He is the author of two bestselling books, Hooked and Indistractable, selling more than a million copies and translated in over 30 languages. He is the author of the new book, Beyond Belief: The Science-Backed Way to Stop Limiting Yourself and Achieve Breakthrough Results (Amazon, Bookshop)*.

Most of us recognize that a huge part of what motivates us – or not – is our own thinking. In this conversation, Nir and I explore where our beliefs get in the way and how we can align them just a bit to help us move forward.

Key Points

A sentence starting with “I am…” can be among the most dangerous in any language. Often, our beliefs limit us.

Belief is the foundation of the motivation triangle that includes benefit and behavior. Yet, we often overlook beliefs.

Curt Richter’s study of rats in the 1950s shows how an animal’s belief system can massively influence its behavior.

The real question isn’t “Is this belief true?” but rather, “Does this belief serve me?”

You can choose beliefs based on usefulness, not certainty.

Difficulty may mean we are not cut out for something, but it might also be evidence of growth. Too often, we quit too soon.

Progress comes from consistent action, not perfect plans.

Resources Mentioned

Beyond Belief: The Science-Backed Way to Stop Limiting Yourself and Achieve Breakthrough Results (Amazon, Bookshop)* by Nir Eyal.

Interview Notes

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

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How to Win the Long Game When the Short-Term Seems Bleak, with Dorie Clark (episode 550)

How to Quit Bad Stuff Faster, with Annie Duke (episode 607)

How to Better Manage Your Emotions, with Ethan Kross (episode 719)

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Academy alum Bill Mayo joins Dave to share how he improved his listening skills -- both at work and at home.

Applications to the Coaching for Leaders Academy are open until Friday, March 20th. Visit the Coaching for Leaders Academy page to apply.