Coaching for Leaders

Jason Brooks

Jason Brooks is a member of the Coaching for Leaders Academy and principal of a high school in Los Angeles.

Key Points

People respond to honesty from a leader.

Admitting that you don’t know all the answers helps build bridges and gets your team working together.

Deciding what not to do can actually be harder than deciding what to do.

Working out a vision for your life can reduce the constant anxiety of wondering whether you’re making the best use of your time.

Resources Mentioned

Racism in America, with Jason Brooks

The Power of Vulnerability, with Brené Brown

Related Episodes

How to Get the Ideal Team Player, with Patrick Lencioni (episode 301)

How to Deal With the Diminishers, with Liz Wiseman (episode 305)

How to Create a Vivid Vision, with Cameron Herold (episode 345)

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Howard “H” White: Believe to Achieve

Howard “H” White was an NBA draft pick until knee injuries put a stop to his basketball career. Today he is vice president of Jordan Brand and has been with the company for thirty-five years. With Nike’s support, he founded the Believe to Achieve program, an innovative traveling seminar designed to encourage youth to believe in themselves and adults to mentor them. He’s the author of the book by the same name: Believe to Achieve: See the Invisible, Do the Impossible*.

Key Points

We often set our sights too low.

Others often see things in us that we don’t see ourselves.

How do you make others see the best in themselves?

Everybody wants something in life, but there are very few who are willing to give up anything to get it.

Bonus Audio

Developing realistic expectations

Resources Mentioned

Believe to Achieve: See the Invisible, Do the Impossible* by Howard “H” White

Book Notes

Download my highlights from Believe to Achieve in PDF format (free membership required).

Related Episodes

Sin by Silence, with Olivia Klaus (episode 103)

Find Courage to Speak When It Matters Most, with Allan McDonald (episode 229)

The Way to Grow Your Leadership Career, with Ron Wallace (episode 267)

The Choice for Compassion, with Edith Eger (episode 336)

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Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed

Bonni Stachowiak (web) (Twitter) is Dave’s life partner and best friend, business professor, past executive leader, and the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.

Listener Questions

Andrew asked about dealing with change on a personal level.

Katie asked about inspiring movement for more recognition in her organization.

Thomas asked for suggestions on his new role overseeing two related, but different, departments.

Loveleena was looking for a suggestion for an article on executive presence.

Paul asked for ideas on leading a full commissioned sales team.

Resources Mentioned

Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes by William Bridges*

Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change by William Bridges*

Leading Change by John Kotter*

Our Iceberg is Melting by John Kotter*

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink*

That's Not What I Meant!: How Conversational Style Makes or Breaks Relationships by Debra Tannen*

The Look & Sound of Leadership podcast episodes on executive presence from Tom Henschel

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown*

Related Episodes

Benefits You Get from a Recognition Program, with Michelle Smith (episode 79)

Ten Steps to Create a Recognition Program, with Michelle Smith (episode 80)

The Four Unique Types of Teams, with Susan Gerke (episode 138)

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

Start with Why, with Simon Sinek (episode 223)

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

Enhance Your Executive Presence, with Tom Henschel (episode 316)

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

Executive Presence with Your Elevator Speech, with Tom Henschel (episode 316)

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

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

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Dan Schawbel: Back to Human

Dan Schawbel is a New York Times bestselling author, a partner and research director at Future Workplace, and the founder of both Millennial Branding and WorkplaceTrends.com. He is the bestselling author of two career books, Promote Yourself* and Me 2.0*, and now his newest book, Back to Human: How Great Leaders Create Connection in the Age of Isolation*.

Key Points

We have to learn at the speed of business.

Make learning a central part of what we do.

The best source of knowledge is our coworkers.

People learn by doing.

Make learning a part of your daily routine.

In addition to traditional things like pay and benefits, many prospective employees are also interested in what they’ll learn on a job.

Resources Mentioned

Back to Human: How Great Leaders Create Connection in the Age of Isolation by Dan Schawbel *

Related Episodes

Promote Yourself (and Others) Through Intrapreneurship, with Dan Schawbel (episode 163)

How Superbosses Master the Flow of Talent, with Sydney Finkelstein (episode 236)

Essentials of Adult Development, with Mindy Danna (episode 273)

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Seth Godin: This is Marketing

Seth Godin was recently inducted into the American Marketing Association’s Hall of Fame and is the author of one of the most popular blogs in the world. He founded TheMarketingSeminar.com and the altMBA. Seth is the author of eighteen best‑sellers that have been translated into more than thirty‑five languages, including his newest book, This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See*.

Key Points

The world is fragmented into many groups; there is no more mass market.

Each of us has the ability to market the work we are doing through our actions.

The hard work begins by choosing the smallest group of people you can live with and ignoring everyone else.

Pick ten people. Find something that will amaze and delight the ten. And if you can’t, then start over.

Resources Mentioned

This Is Marketing* by Seth Godin

Tribes* by Seth Godin

Permission Marketing* by Seth Godin

First, ten by Seth Godin

Book Notes

Download my highlights from This is Marketing in PDF format (free membership required).

Related Episodes

Getting Things Done with David Allen (episode 184)

Start With Why Featuring Simon Sinek (episode 223)

How to Be a Non-Conformist, with Adam Grant (episode 238)

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

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Kwame Christian: Negotiate Anything

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*.

Key Points

Three points to the breakdown of communication:

The Frame (the storyline)

The Pace (how fast)

The Direction (what issues you’re talking about)

Three steps of compassionate curiosity:

Acknowledging emotions

Getting curious with compassion

Joint problem solving

Resources Mentioned

Kwame’s Negotiation guide

Negotiate Anything podcast by Kwame Christian

Finding Confidence in Conflict: How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best Life* by Kwame Christian

Anchoring episode on Negotiate Anything

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)

Have Conversations That Matter, with Celeste Headlee (episode 344)

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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 joins me monthly to respond to listener questions.

Listener Questions

Samantha asked about what to do if you have a problem employee that is affecting the team.

Pat asked about how to show respect for difficult work while also setting clear boundaries for ethical behavior.

Ashish asked about using buzzwords and complexity vs. keeping language simple.

Craig wanted to know how to influence people whom you have no direct control.

Resources Mentioned

Theory in Practice* by Chris Argyris

Temple Grandin

Double-loop learning

Team of Teams* by General Stanley McChrystal

Related Episodes

What Search Dogs Can Teach You About Engagement (episode 25)

Use Power for Good and Not Evil (episode 254)

How to Challenge Directly and Care Personally (episode 302)

Five Steps to Hold People Accountable (episode 306)

Executive Presence with Your Elevator Speech (episode 316)

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Parker Palmer: On the Brink of Everything

Parker Palmer is the founder and senior partner emeritus of the Center for Courage & Renewal and is a world-renowned writer, speaker, and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. He is the author of the newly published book, On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old*.

Key Points

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” —Socrates

Encourage people to examine the fears they have about looking inward.

When we befriend what we are afraid of, it will become our friend.

“If you can’t get out of it, get into it.” —Outward Bound motto

Focus on building goodwill in your business because it repays many times over.

Resources Mentioned

On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old* by Parker Palmer

The New Better Off: Reinventing the American Dream* by Courtney Martin

Outward Bound

Book Notes

Download my highlights from On the Brink of Everything in PDF format (free membership required).

Related Episodes

How to Tame Your Inner Critic, with Tara Mohr (episode 232)

The Power of Solitude, with Mike Erwin (episode 308)

The Path of Humble Leadership, with Edgar Schein and Peter Schein (episode 363)

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Tom Henschel: The Look & Sound of Leadership

Executive coach Tom Henschel of Essential Communications grooms senior leaders and executive teams. An internationally recognized expert in the field of workplace communications and self-presentation, he has helped thousands of leaders achieve excellence through his work as an executive coach and his top-rated podcast, The Look & Sound of Leadership.

Key Points

An offsite doesn’t have to actually be offsite, but it needs to be treated like it is.

What do you want the team to know that they don’t know now? Or what do you want them to be able to do that they can’t do now?

An offsite is a great way to just talk and have experiences together that you don’t normally have time for.

Really skilled facilitation is an art, not a science.

Think about the why before the what.

A good offsite is the start of a process, not the end of a process.

If the offsite is really productive, it creates more work.

Leaders should adopt the language of the offsite and use it repeatedly so people don’t forget.

Bonus Audio

How to balance fun versus professional in an offsite

Resources Mentioned

Fieldbook of Team Interventions: Step-by-Step Guide to High Performance Teams* by Harry Eggleton and Judy Rice

Liberating Structures

Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Field Guide for Leaders, Managers, and Facilitators* by Patrick Lencioni

The Thiagi Group

Leading Offsites episode from The Look & Sound of Leadership

Related Episodes

The Four Unique Types of Teams, with Susan Gerke (episode 138)

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

How to Lead Through Uncertainty and Change, with Jacqueline Farrington (episode 224)

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James Clear: Atomic Habits

James Clear is an author and speaker focused on habits, decision-making, and continuous improvement. He is a regular speaker at Fortune 500 companies and his work is used by teams in the NFL, NBA, and MLB. He’s the author of the new book, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones*.

Key Points

Goals are great for deciding what direction you want to head, but to actually get there it’s all about your systems.

Results aren’t what needs to change; the processes and habits are what need to change.

Start with the identity you want for yourself and build your habits to reinforce that identity.

Your habits are what prove your identity to yourself.

Habits are like compound interest for self-improvement.

Bonus Audio

How habits reinforce your identity

Resources Mentioned

Atomic Habits* by James Clear

James Clear on Annual Reviews

Related Episodes

Getting Things Done with David Allen (episode 184)

Create Behavior That Lasts With Marshall Goldsmith (episode 196)

The Best Way to Make New Habits Reality (episode 217)

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