Coaching for Leaders

By Dave StachowiakBusiness Careers Management

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Coaching for Leaders episodes

July 08, 2019 418: The Way to Nurture New Ideas, with Safi Bahcall
Safi Bahcall: Loonshots
Safi Bahcall is a second-generation physicist and a biotech entrepreneur. He co-founded a biotechnology company developing new drugs for cancer, leading its IPO and serving as its CEO for 13 years.
He worked with President Obama’s council of science advisors on the future of national research. Safi is the author of the book Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries*.
In this conversation, Safi and I discuss how leaders can work intentionally to nurture new ideas through three key practices. If you are an innovator (or leading an innovation team) and hearing the voices of the naysayers, this framework will help you begin nurturing new ideas more successfully.
Key Points
A loonshot is a neglected project, widely dismissed, its champion written off as unhinged.
The ice cube is an analogy for the soldiers and artists in the organization. This is called phase separation.
The most effective leaders view their work as gardeners, gently cultivating news ideas and investigating with genuine curiosity.
Leaders who have a heart for both their soldiers and their artists will support a dynamic equilibrium in their organizations.
Most innovation fails in the transfer between the artists and the soldiers.
Steve Jobs is an example of a leader who, for many years, refused to show heart — but discovered it later with fantastic success.
Resources Mentioned
Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries* by Safi Bahcall
Book Notes
Download my highlights from Loonshots in PDF format (free membership required).
Related Episodes
The Four Critical Stories Leaders Need For Influence, with David Hutchens (episode 148)
How to Build Psychological Safety, with Amy Edmondson (episode 404)
Get Better at Deep Listening, with Oscar Trimboli (episode 408)
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40 min
July 01, 2019 417: Finding Joy Through Intentional Choices, with Bonni Stachowiak
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 joins me monthly to respond to listener questions.
Key Points
Don’t spend time feeling guilty about things you have to cut.
Focus on quality over quantity.
Your priorities will change over time.
Sometimes even good things can crowd out what is really important.
Resources Mentioned
The Checklist Manifesto* by Atul Gawande
Getting Things Done* by David Allen
TripIt
PackPoint
Ending Human Trafficking podcast
Related Episodes
How Storytelling Helps You Lead, with Sandie Morgan (episode 51)
Getting Things Done, with David Allen (episode 184)
How to Reduce Drama With Kids, with Tina Payne Bryson (episode 310)
How to Be a Happier Person, with Neil Pasricha (episode 334)
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39 min
June 24, 2019 416: How to Negotiate When Others Have Power, with Kwame Christian
Kwame Christian: American Negotiation Institute
Kwame Christian is a business lawyer and the Director of the American Negotiation Institute. His TEDx Talk, Finding Confidence in Conflict, was the most popular TED Talk on the topic of conflict of 2017.
Today, he’s working extensively with procurement departments within companies to help them make better deals. Kwame hosts the top negotiation podcast, Negotiate Anything and is the author of the book Finding Confidence in Conflict: How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best Life*.
In this conversation, Kwame and I discuss walking into a negotiation situation when someone else has more leverage, power, or authority. Yes, there are still many things you can do to influence a positive outcome for both parties — and we detail several practical actions almost anybody can take.
Key Points
Preparation before entering into negotiation is essential. Research supports that you will do better, even if the tables are tilted to one side.
Finding what is publicly available about the other party before you go into a conversation can be very useful to both parties.
Our tendency is to give things away before we are even certain the other party wants them.
Your self-awareness and emotional state are key to acknowledge going into negotiation. Beware feeling too positive about the potential outcome.
Resources Mentioned
Kwame’s Ultimate Negotiation Guide
Negotiate Anything podcast
Finding Confidence in Conflict: How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best Life* by Kwame Christian
Thinking Fast and Slow* by Daniel Kahneman
Book Notes
Download my highlights from Finding Confidence in Conflict in PDF format (free membership required).
Related Episodes
Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It, with Chris Voss (episode 262)
Negotiation Tactics for Results, with Kwame Christian (episode 311)
Enhance Your Self-Awareness, with Daniel Goleman (episode 353)
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39 min
June 17, 2019 415: Employee Retention in Small Business, with Chris Deferio
Chris Deferio: Keys to the Shop
Chris Deferio is a cafe quality specialist who has dedicated 20 years of his life to working in and studying specialty coffee retail. He is also the creator and host of the industry leading podcast, Keys to the Shop, which gives listeners insights, inspiration, and tools to grow as specialty coffee professionals.
Chris previously appeared on the show to help us get more perspective on managing part-time staff. In this conversation, Chris and I explore some of the practical steps that small business owners and general managers can take in order to support employee retention.
Key Points
Be mindful of the realities of turnover in a small business, but don’t let it stop you from thinking about the future and investing in people.
Yes, hire for attitude — and also have an eye to future potential as the business grows.
Ask people this question in interviews: “Where did you contribute to dysfunction in your prior organization?”
Make an investment in people beyond the paycheck. This could be learning, culture, competitions, or more. There are ways to do this without tremendous expense.
Practice intentional breaks in your rhythm, since nobody else in your business is likely to do this.
Resources Mentioned
Keys to the Shop podcast
Good to Great* by Jim Collins
Good Authority* by Jonathan Raymond
Chris Deferio’s consulting
Related Episodes
Three Steps To Soliciting Feedback, with Tom Henschel (episode 107)
How to Lead Part-Time Staff, with Chris Deferio (episode 289)
Six Tactics to Achieve Extraordinary Performance, with Morten Hansen (episode 337)
How to Connect Personal Growth to Business Outcomes, with Jonathon Raymond (episode 373)
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38 min
June 15, 2019 414: Permission to Be Yourself, with Bar Schwartz
Bar Schwartz: Bring Your People Along
Bar Schwartz is a member of the Coaching for Leaders Academy. She’s a software engineer by training and today a consultant and coach who lives and works in Berlin. Bar helps leaders to look differently on how they lead people to create meaningful work — and building structures that put people first.
When Bar joined the Academy last year, she quickly set a goal to capture a few ideas in writing. This goal led to her writing a book in just a few short weeks. More importantly, she discovered the power of consistent movement in creating future opportunities.
Since this episode originally aired, Bar's book has been published as Leadership in a Time of Continuous Technological Change: Align, Strengthen, and Mobilize Your Team*. As a result, it is no longer available as a free download.
Key Points
Your team will be more productive if it feels connected.
It’s not hard to find questions if you listen.
Small, manageable steps are more likely to lead to long-term success.
Bonus Audio
How to work in your strengths
Resources Mentioned
Bar Schwartz on LinkedIn
Leadership in a Time of Continuous Technological Change: Align, Strengthen, and Mobilize Your Team* by Bar Schwartz
Happen to Your Career podcast by Scott Anthony Barlow (bonus audio)
Related Episodes
How to Know When to Move On (episode 175)
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Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.
33 min
June 10, 2019 413: Effective Delegation of Authority, with Hassan Osman
Hassan Osman: Effective Delegation of Authority
Hassan is a project management office leader at Cisco, where he leads a team of over 150 project and program managers on delivering complex projects across the world. He’s also served as a management consultant at Ernst & Young (now EY), where he led projects and programs for the largest enterprises.
He’s the author of Effective Delegation of Authority: A (Really) Short Book for New Managers About How to Delegate Work Using a Simple Delegation Process. In this episode, Hassan and I discuss the three stages of delegation, the critical importance of planning, and how to leverage delegation as a development opportunity.
Also impressive is the ten books Hassan has published while working full-time as a manager at a Fortune 100 company. He teaches others how to do it on his Writer on the Side podcast.
Key Points
Before you begin the delegation process, decide on the outcomes you need and the right person to get you there.
Set expectations for goals, not actions.
Use checkpoints to ensure progress and adjust frequency for experience and visibility.
Summarize delegation meetings in writing after they occur.
The real work of managers is to define the work, before it starts.
Resources Mentioned
Effective Delegation of Authority: A (Really) Short Book for New Managers About How to Delegate Work Using a Simple Delegation Process* by Hassan Osman
Writer on the Side podcast
Book Notes
Download my highlights from Effective Delegation of Authority in PDF format (free membership required).
Related Episodes
Start Influencing Virtual Teams, with Hassan Osman (episode 234)
The Way to Stop Rescuing People From Their Problems, with Michael Bungay Stanier (episode 284)
Five Steps to Hold People Accountable, with Jonathan Raymond (episode 306)
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40 min
June 03, 2019 412: How to Address Underperformance and More Questions, with Bonni Stachowiak
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 joins me monthly to respond to listener questions.
Listener Questions
Elizabeth asked about a tricky issue with an underperforming team member she inherited.
Gordon wondered what he could do to support resilience during a time of massive change.
Leona asked how she might think about the disconnect from what her organization espouses and what she sees in practice.
Anthony was curious about when it’s appropriate to ask “why” and when it’s not.
Resources Mentioned
Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It … and Why the Rest Don’t* by Verne Harnish
Scaling Up Growth Tools
Analyzing Performance Problems* by Robert F. Mager and Peter Pipe
Related Episodes
How to Succeed with Leadership and Management, with John Kotter (episode 249)
How to Build Psychological Safety, with Amy Edmondson (episode 404)
How to Clarify What’s Important, with Ron Williams (episode 410)
Discover More
Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.
36 min
June 01, 2019 411: Seven Tools to Create Margin and a New Podcast
Dave Stachowiak: Coaching for Leaders
I am often asked about the tools and technology behind our work. As we’ve updated our systems over the past year, I’ve identified seven tools that may also be helpful for you in creating more margin.
Used thoughtfully, tools like these help us automate the things we can automate so we can spend more time doing the things we should never automate. Here are seven that may help:
Technology Tools to Create Margin
Acuity Scheduling* powers our all our calendars and serves as a 24/7 scheduling assistant. Automated reminders, time zone adjustments, rescheduling, and video meeting integration happen seamlessly.
TextExpander* saves us tons of time each day to quickly populate documents, emails, forms, and other repeatable typing so we can respond to others faster and with more accuracy. The link above will provide you a 20% discount.
1Password* helps us create unique and strong password for every account. Plus, there families and teams programs allow us to share passwords with others who need access.
Pipedrive* is the customer relationship management system that’s just right for us. Powerful enough to visually help us to track every business conversation, but simple enough to be affordable and practical. The link above will provide access for a free trial.
ConvertKit* gives our listeners a lot more choices on the kind of emails they receive. Plus, it provides its own automation to help your organization build its brand. This link above will provide access for a free trial.
SaneBox* automatically filters our email so we can prioritize what’s most important. Plus, tons of other reminder tools come along with it. The link above will save you $15 if you decide to try it out.
WP Engine* is the leader in WordPress managed hosting and now powers all of our sites. This link above will save you 10% hosting or three months free over a year.
New Podcast: Dave’s Journal
I announced a project titled Dave’s Journal. It’s a new podcast airing episodes of five minutes or less. The goal of each entry is to capture a valuable insight or reflection for leaders.
Subscribe to Dave’s Journal on your favorite platform:
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Overcast
Stitcher
Discover More
Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.
39 min
May 27, 2019 410: How to Clarify What’s Important, with Ron Williams
Ron Williams: Learning to Lead
Ron Williams is a veteran business leader, turn-around expert, and advocate for value creation. Today he is chairman and CEO of RW2 Enterprises and also a member of the board of directors for American Express, The Boeing Company, and Johnson & Johnson.
Ron is the former chairman and CEO of health insurance giant Aetna. When he joined Aetna in 2001, its loss from continuing operations was $292 million, with earnings per share at a loss of $0.46. In 2011, the year he stepped down as Chairman, Aetna’s full-year operating earnings were $2 billion, with operating earnings per share of $5.17.
In this conversation, Ron shares wisdom from his book, Learning to Lead: The Journey to Leading Yourself, Leading Others, and Leading an Organization*. Ron discusses his own leadership journey and how he asked the right questions to inspire a successful turn-around at Aetna. He also shares the reason for avoiding “why” questions and the value that knowledge maps provided at Aetna.
Key Points
Ron’s five kinds of questions that help challenge your organization’s reality:
Highlight key problems
Clarify the facts
Probe an underlying story
Suggest alternatives
Drill down to basics
In addition, Ron suggested:
Ask questions that start with “what” instead of “why.”
Utilize knowledge maps to support business literacy for complex issues.
Make yourself better every year by aiming for 15% improvement.
Resources Mentioned
Learning to Lead: The Journey to Leading Yourself, Leading Others, and Leading an Organization* by Ron Williams
Book Notes
Download my highlights from Learning to Lead in PDF format (free membership required).
Related Episodes
The Way to Grow Your Leadership Career, with Ron Wallace (episode 267)
Executive Presence with Your Elevator Speech, with Tom Henschel (episode 316)
How to Create an Unstoppable Culture, with Ginger Hardage (episode 350)
Discover More
Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.
39 min
May 20, 2019 409: Gallup Findings on the Changing Nature of Work, with Jim Harter
Jim Harter: It’s the Manager
Jim Harter is the Chief Scientist for Workplace at Gallup. He has led more than 1,000 studies of workplace effectiveness, including the largest ongoing meta-analysis of human potential and business unit performance. He is the co-author with Jim Clifton of the new book, It’s the Manager: Gallup Finds That the Quality of Managers and Team Leaders is the Single Biggest Factor in Your Organization’s Long-Term Success*.
Key Points
Millennials and Generation Z have influenced the changing nature of work. Six key findings from Gallup:
People don’t just work for a paycheck — they want a purpose.
People are no longer pursuing job satisfaction — they are pursuing development.
People don’t want bosses — they want coaches.
People don’t want annual reviews — they want ongoing conversations.
People don’t want a manager that fixates on their weaknesses.
People say, it’s not my job — it’s my life.
Resources Mentioned
It's the Manager: Gallup Finds the Quality of Managers and Team Leaders is the Single Biggest Factor in Your Organization's Long-Term Success* by Jim Clifton and Jim Harter
CliftonStrengths (formerly StrengthsFinder) assessment
Gallup Access
Book Notes
Download my highlights from It’s the Manager in PDF format (free membership required).
Related Episodes
These Coaching Questions Get Results, with Michael Bungay Stanier (episode 237)
How Teams Use StrengthsFinder Results, with Lisa Cummings (episode 293)
Three Steps to Great Career Conversations, with Russ Laraway (episode 370)
Discover More
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40 min

About Coaching for Leaders

From the publisher's feed

Leaders aren’t born; they’re made. Many leaders reach points in their careers where what worked yesterday doesn’t work today. This Monday show helps leaders thrive at these key inflection points.…