Leadership Jam Session

In this episode, I sit with several leaders during a Leaders Jam Session monthly call. Our discussion focused on employees who tender their resignation because they’ve received an offer for another job that pays more. How would you handle this situation? 

• Very rarely does someone leave a job strictly based on money. Ask good questions to understand motivations
• Keep in mind, while this is about them, it may also be about you, so take time to reflect when appropriate
• Consider how this event will impact the rest of your team
• Approximately 50% of employees who accept a counteroffer leave their job within 12 months

• https://hbr.org/2016/09/why-people-quit-their-jobs

In this episode, I sit with Dr. Matt Sowcik, Assistant Professor of Leadership Education at the University of Florida, and author of a new book titled, “The H Factor: The intersection between humility and great leadership”. Dr. Matt and I talk about humility as key factor in leadership, some of its underpinnings, and how to overcome the widely felt notion that having humility in leadership is a sign of weakness.

• Three things can fly in the face of humility – our apprehension to be imperfect, to be incomplete, and that we are permanent
• There is a sweet spot where we can be seen as not overconfident as leaders, but we’re not underconfident either
• Humility is that characteristic that brings us to the middle. It’s our counterbalancing trait
• Things that help us develop humility is our experiences and our ability to reflect, make changes, and grow
• Humility helps you realize the importance of others

• Book - The H Factor: The intersection between humility and great leadership”, Matthew Sowcik, Ph.D. https://www.amazon.com/H-Factor-intersection-between-humility-leadership-ebook/dp/B0B5FSSVCY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2QBN401U36BGZ&keywords=the+H+factor&qid=1657370968&sprefix=the+h+factor%2Caps%2C82&sr=8-1 
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-sowcik-192b236/ 

In this episode, I sit with the Chief of Police for the Yardley Borough (Pennsylvania) police department, Joe Kelly. Prior to joining the Yardley police department, he spent 23 years with the New Jersey transit police retiring at the rank of a deputy. 

Chief Kelly and I talk about his leadership journey, his approach, and what leadership looks like within the police organization. I think you might be surprised to hear some of the similar approaches and challenges that we come up against in the private sector. His leadership journey also includes how he survived a shooting incident last year. 

• Center all discussions, both positive and negative, around your organizations’ core values, as they will be your guiding light 
• The job of a leader is to make people better. If your employee is operating at 65%, get them to 75%. Don’t push unrealistic expectations 
• Care for your team as individuals, not just as co-workers 
• Understand that the difference between supervision and leadership takes time and experience to develop  

• linkedin.com/in/joseph-kelly-iii-39677249 

In this episode, I sit with leadership expert and organizational psychologist, Dr. Ciela Hartanov, who was part of the founding team of the Google School for Leaders as well as Head of Next Practice, Innovation and Strategy at Google, where she developed projects designed to shape the future of leadership and work.  

Dr. Ciela currently runs humcollective, a boutique strategy and innovation firm that helps companies, executives, and teams make sense of the forces, shaping the future and helps them prepare strategically. Her book, Reclaiming Sensitivity, will be out in 2023.  

• Leadership is an act, and not a personality. It’s the act of wayfinding  
• Sensitive Leadership – the ability to sense and respond to emergent terrain in a more humane way; one that isn’t always driven by data  
• Sensitive leaders are those who lead from behind, step forward when required, but are not the center of attention 
• Become great at asking effective questions. If you’re not questioning then you’re just stating, and then you only know what you know 
• Become a sense giver – share something that the rest of your team isn’t always privy to and help them make sense of the information with the right context. This helps others also become sense givers 

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/cielahartanov/ 
• humcollective.co  

In this episode, I sit with experienced neuropsychologist Dr. Julia DiGangi, who shows you how to expand the power of your nervous system to hold more emotional voltage. As a brain scientist, Dr. Julia knows that your nervous system is your portal to power. She will show you how to take the pain in your life - your stress, your struggle, your suffering - and transform it into your power. 

Dr. Julia brings tremendous expertise and decades of applied experience serving leaders at the highest levels of power, including The White House, top leadership at global companies, and Special Forces. 

Having worked with leaders who’ve endured some of the highest-stakes, highest-stress situations on the planet, Dr. Julia will show you what it takes to unlock new dimensions of your emotional power as you face defining challenges in your own life.

• We know, scientifically, that the brain wants to avoid the very thing that will set you free. To overcome our experience of emotional pain, our anxiety, or fear of stress, etc., we must do the counter intuitive
• Emotional Intelligence first starts with understanding yourself and how you might react or behave in times of uncertainty
• If you want to be a strong, emotionally intelligent leader, figure out how to work with your triggers until you aren’t triggered anymore
• In times of leadership uncertainty, contextual cues have gone away, so all eyes are always now on the leader
• The days that make you grow are the same days that put you in your ‘pain’

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliadigangi/
• www.neurohealthpartners.com

In this episode, I am in the middle of a Leaders Jam Session – a monthly group jam session that I host where participants get to share and learn from one another on how to tackle daily leadership challenges. Here, we’re talking about best practices for how to plan and run a successful team meeting, whether it’s a one or multi-day meeting. 

• Today, there’s even greater value in bringing everyone together 
• Set Goals and Objectives, for example, 1) build team bonds, 2) learn from each other, and 3) have fun 
• Get feedback on your agenda from your team, including your boss 
• Include just the right amount of content for the length of your meeting. Trying to cram too much into your meeting will make you run over on time, potentially wear people out, and have an opposite effect on what you’re trying to accomplish 
• Guests – consider having them, but keep in mind, will the guest fit into the overall meeting objectives, or will this idea be disruptive 
• Team building activities – you want to have them, but you also need to know when to push back on ideas that your experience says ‘maybe we shouldn’t do this’ 

 HBR article: Off-sites that work. https://hbr.org/2006/06/off-sites-that-work 

In this episode, I sit with two-time guest Major General (ret.) Craig B. Whelden. General Whelden spent 30 years in the U.S. Army, followed by seven in the private sector, and another nine as a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES) with the U.S. Marine Corps. General Whelden has had a very interesting military career including being present when the Berlin Wall fell. We spend some time talking about the war between Russia and Ukraine, where he provides an interesting perspective.

General Whelden is also a motivational speaker on leadership and performance excellence, and an award-winning, best-selling author of Leadership: The Art of Inspiring People to Be Their Best. General Whelden is also President at Velontra, a company focused on transporting satellites into Low Earth Orbit.

• Leadership: The Art of Inspiring People to Be Their Best, by Craig B. Whelden
• https://www.craigwhelden.com/
• Andy Milburn, Chief Executive Officer at The Mozart Group, https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewmilburn2020/
• Debtbook Diplomacy - https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/debtbook-diplomacy

The topic of work-life balance is always top of mind for new and tenured leaders, and it means something different to all of us. In this episode, James and I tackle this topic which was inspired by some dialogue from a LinkedIn post I was tagged in. Tune in for a tips and advice on how to encourage work-life balance with your teams (and with yourself)!

• Lead by example and sending the right message to your people (2:14) 
• We all think about work-life balance differently so do what works for you (3:51)
• Two questions you can ask yourself as a leader; what do I control, and can I mitigate burnout with what I can control? (5:31)
• Get to know your people, both personally and professionally (6:06)
• Pick up on the flags that say your people take on too much (10:33)
• Take a beat; re-evaluate your priorities and implement changes (11:05)  

• Episode 27: Do Less and Think More, with Tracey DeSilva

In this episode I sit with Brad Dalton. Brad is a motivational and inspirational speaker, an empowerment and success coach, and a lifelong educator. We discuss his best-selling book DNA of a winner, eight steps to building the soul print of a winner. Warning - Brad’s positivity and energy are contagious!

• Great leaders are great teachers (5:02) 
• Stay out of the weeds and feed the P’s; positive people (11:46) 
• Success is a choice (13:55)
• The importance of positive communication (16:14) 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradtdalton/
• Book: DNA of a winner, eight steps to building the soul print of a winner

In this episode, I sit with previous guests Kim Metcalf and Paul Catanzaro to discuss leadership lessons from the hit series, Ted Lasso. There are so many leadership learnings and awesome quotes from this show, we thought we should take the time to unpack a few.

• Know and respect your people (3:29)
• Trust and Accountability (5:17)
• Competence and Commitment (6:33)
• Optimism and Positivity (8:46)
• Don’t treat everyone the same (11:22)
• Why every leader needs a Coach Beard (12:09)
• Motivation (13:38)
• Creating Psychological Safety (15:44)
• Active Listening (20:14)
• Authenticity (20:43)
• Favorite Ted Lasso quotes (26:52)