Darn Good Leadership

Feeling overwhelmed in life and work is a common experience for any leader. It can be caused by having too many responsibilities, not delegating enough, having a tight deadline, or having unclear or unrealistic expectations set on you.   In today's show we are talking through 6 simple steps when you feel overwhelmed so you can take control of your day and your head:

1. Acknowledge it 
2. Step back and assess it 
3. Prioritize it 
4. Practice positive self-care
5. Practice effective time management 
6. Communicate 

Contact Darn Good Leadership:

• Email [email protected]

When was the last time you’ve been face-to-face, in-person with your employees or team? 

I'm a huge supporter of virtual work, asynchronously work, and empowering individuals to get work done at a time and place that fits their needs…but working this way is only effective when teams have high trust and strong rapport.  This is where face-to-face onsites comes into play.

Join me as I share the benefits of bringing your people together and outline 5 steps for creating a successful onsite:

1. Make the objectives, agenda and pre reads available to everyone
2. Get cross-functional
3. Bake in breaks and fun
4. Start start and end the day strong
5. Share your outcomes, outputs, and next steps with everyone

Contact Darn Good Leadership:

• Email [email protected]

Who doesn't love a good story?!  Today's show centers around several of them.  The first story is about one of my professional heroes...Josh Kerievsky.   And then 6 quick stories that tie back to the 6 Agile mantras outlined in Josh's new book, Joy of Agility.
(Spoiler alert- I love this book!)

If you've struggled with understanding Agile, this show will help you move from Agile as just a buzzword, to discovering how you might put agility into practice.

Join me as I review the 6 Agile mantras from Joy of Agility:

1. Be quick, but don’t hurry 
2. Be balanced and graceful
3. Be poised to adapt
4. Start minimal and evolve
5. Drive out fear
6. Be readily resourceful

Show Notes:

• Joy of Agility book
• CNN Article - What to Expect from Work in 2023

Contact Darn Good Leadership:

• Email [email protected]

It doesn't matter what stage you are in your career, you can start laying the foundation and the groundwork for being a darn good leader today!  All of us can be leaders at any point in our career. Today we're discussing eight practices I personally use to maintain and grow my proficiency as a darn good leader:

1. Find a mentor
2. Get involved with the community
3. Read, read, and read some more
4. Build strong rapport with your peers
5. Take care of your people
6. Be transparent about your work and your value
7. Make a difference and get involved at work
8. Take ownership of your brand

Show Notes:

• How to be a great mentee (Forbes article)
• What Mentors Wish Their Mentees Knew (HBR article)
• Finding your Personal Leadership Style (DGL podcast episode)

Contact Darn Good Leadership:

• Email [email protected]

How often do you think about future you...and not future you in 5-10 years, but future you as in 1 week from now or at the end of the day?  Are your daily habits and practices helping your more immediate future or hurting it?  And what about your teams?  Intentionally thinking about the future can help you and your teams make better decisions in the here and now.

In this episode we will:

• Reflect on our habits 
• Discuss 2 futurespectives for your teams
• Learn a daily practice you can implement today to help improve and shape the life of your future-self

Contact Darn Good Leadership:

• Email [email protected]

Want to be more productive but not sure how to focus your time and efforts?  Just ask yourself "what would Vilfredo Pareto do?"

In this episode I'm taking about the Pareto Principle, otherwise known as the 80/20 rule.  I'll review what the principle is all about, how you can leverage it to become more productive, and how you can use it with your teams to enable them to become more productive as well.

Show notes:

• The 80/20 Principle: Achieve More with Less: The NEW 2022 Edition of the Bestseller

Contact Darn Good Leadership:

• Email [email protected]

Who's ready to be happier at work?!  If you are,  then join me as I discuss 6 areas that can help you take control of your own happiness at work...and in turn hopefully have much more good days:

1. Take charge of your professional development & responsibility for knowing what is going on what work
2. Make progress on the things that matter most
3. Have a great work life balance 
4. Recognize & praise people for their good work  
5. Have an organized workspace
6. Be socially connected

Show notes:

• How to Be Happy at Work: The Power of Purpose, Hope, and Friendship, by Annie McKee
• The longest study on human happiness
• The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work, by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer

Contact Darn Good Leadership:

• Email [email protected]

Let me ask you as question...do you swoop and poop?  

Join me as I answer what that means and take you through five evaluations areas to help you reflect on how are you showing up as a leader:

1. How do you work with teams? Are you a swoop in pooper, or an aligner and calibrator. 
2. What's your typical energy as a leader? Are you a bring- it-downer, or a lift-it-upper 
3. How do you communicate with teams? Are you talking at your people or are you actively listening and having conversations with them? 
4. How do you operate as a leader? Are you a complain, blame and ignore, or are you coming with constructive honesty and solutions? 
5. What results are you generating with teams? Are you a waster, or a creator?
    

Contact Darn Good Leadership:

• Email [email protected]

To be the savviest of leaders we must refuse to just be busy, we must push back on burnout, we must say no to the things that aren't enabling our goals, and we must be unapologetic about it.  If you want to work savvier in 2023, then you need to understand the importance of strategy and time management.   Join me as I break down these areas and offer tips on how you can lead and win in 2023.

Show notes:

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
• Mental toughness challenge: 75-hard

Contact Darn Good Leadership:

• Email [email protected]

It's a new year and in  2023 we are taking the driver's seat, we are taking extreme ownership, and we are going to hold ourselves accountable for our own happiness, our own growth, and we are setting the example for those around us.   

In today's episode we are discussing why you work, where you work.   Maybe you just started somewhere new and it was a great opportunity, maybe you've been at your company so long, you can't even remember why you started in the first place.

You owe it to yourself to answer that question...why do you work where you work?  Join the conversation so you can reflect on your why, and determine if your work is enabling you to thrive and helping you moving towards the best version of your professional self. 

Contact Darn Good Leadership:

• Email [email protected]