Life + Leadership

In this episode of Life + Leadership, we're talking with Jess Von Bank, a global thought leader, analyst and advisor on HR transformation, digital experience, and workforce technology at Mercer. She also leads Diverse Daisies, a Minneapolis nonprofit providing enrichment and empowerment activities for young girls. Our conversation highlights the power support systems for young women and at work. Jess also offers valuable lessons for enhancing workplace culture and employee development.

In this episode of Life + Leadership, we're talking with Jason Lauritsen, a keynote speaker, author, co-founder of Check-In To Thrive, about building real human connections at work, the power of check-ins and how leaders can go first in improving human connection. Plus, we discuss how technology is affecting the workplace and how performance management is changing.

In this episode of Life + Leadership, we're diving deep into the topic of grief and its impact on the workplace with Jason Seiden, co-founder of Comfort Communications, which aims to normalize the conversation around grief in the workplace.

A trigger warning for this episode: We candidly discuss sensitive topics related to grief, including illness and suicide.

Jason discusses the journey of grief, how it intersects with the modern organization, and how to support employees experiencing grief while creating a culture that allows space for healing.

Get ready for new episodes of the Life + Leadership podcast, hosted by Tegan Trovato, founder and CEO of Bright Arrow Coaching. Through this podcast, we explore how individuals like you can transform business obstacles into opportunities for personal growth. Stay tuned for our first episode next week — a candid conversation about grief with Jason Seiden. His insights promise to be both enlightening and transformative.

Leadership has become something different.

In light of the pandemic, political turmoil and socioeconomic changes over the last two years, leaders are being asked to develop brand new skills. Employees want us to take a stand on social justice issues and be more emotionally available at work.

So, what does the leader of the future look like? That's the central question of my new podcast, Workplace Forward.

Today, I'm discussing where the idea for Workplace Forward came from and considering what skills the leader of the future needs to be successful.

I name drop some of the authors, thought leaders, innovators and C-level executives I'm interviewing on the new show and share some of the leadership topics covered in both live and upcoming episodes.

Listen in for insight into the themes of embracing desirable difficulty, storytelling to drive action and the business case for empathy we explore on Workplace Forward.

Themes explored in this week's episode:

• Where the idea for the Workplace Forward podcast came from
• How leadership is evolving in light of the pandemic, political turmoil and socioeconomic changes in the last 2 years
• The central question of Workplace Forward: What behaviors, practices, beliefs and skills does the leader of the future need to be successful?
• The authors, thought leaders, innovators and C-level executives I'm interviewing for Workplace Forward
• Some of the topics covered in my live episodes of Workplace Forward—embracing desirable difficulty, leading through liminal space and storytelling to drive action
• What you will learn from Workplace Forward about the business case for empathy and how relationship drives innovation
• Ideas around decision-making, managing risk in crisis and creating psychological safety we explore in upcoming episodes

Resources from this episode:

• Learn more about desirable difficulty with Suzanne Coonan
• Explore the business case for empathy with Leisel Mertes
• Develop your insight muscle with consumer anthropologist Gina Fong
• Discover the transformative power of liminal space with Deb Loftus
• Find out how relationship drives innovation with Sue Bevan Baggett
• Leverage business storytelling to drive action with Esther Choy
• Learn more about high-profile leaders Elaine Boltz, Dane Mathews and Justin Seamonds
• Get to know thought leaders Brett Townsend, Sherianne James and Dorie Clark

I would love to hear from you! Have an idea for a podcast or a question you want me to address? Interested in additional support, resources and workshops? Here are all the ways you can interact with me!

• Tweet me @TeganTrovato
• Email [email protected]
• Follow me on Facebook @BrightArrowCoaching
• Follow me on Instagram @TeganTrovato
• Connect with me on LinkedIn: Tegan Trovato
• Download free tools and sign up for my newsletter, coaching and workshops at https://www.brightarrowcoaching.com/

We all need support and guidance in our personal and professional lives. But how do you build a network of people who will lift you up when you need it? How do you know if your current situation calls for a mentor, a sponsor or a coach? And what if you're ready to BE an advocate for someone else?

Today on the podcast, we're sharing the distinctions among mentoring, sponsorship and coaching and describing how to build a network of supporters who can solve any problem that might come up. We explore what makes an effective mentor and why it's crucial to define what you want the mentoring relationship to look like.

We go on to discuss the connection between doing your job well and finding a sponsor who will advocate on your behalf. Listen in for insight on when it's appropriate to seek help from a mentor, sponsor or coach and learn how YOU can benefit from being a champion for others.

• The distinctions among mentoring, coaching and sponsorship
• What an effective mentor looks like and why it's important for mentees to be clear on what they need
• How to find mentors based on specific needs + how we each select and serve mentees
• The three primary types of mentorship—traditional, peer circles and reverse mentoring
• Why it's crucial to agree on what you want the mentoring relationship to look like
• The relationship between doing your job well and finding a sponsor willing to advocate for you
• Keeping the person you sponsor top-of-mind and speaking up on their behalf
• When you might need a mentor, a sponsor or a coach
• How to build a network of supporters who can solve any problem that might come up

• Watch this episode of the show on the Life & Leadership Podcast YouTube channel
• Read Tegan's blog, 'How the Gift of Mentorship Changed My Life'
• Learn 'How to Be a Next-Level Mentor' in Tegan's Forbes article
• Explore Ed Batista's piece on getting feedback in Harvard Business Review
• Find out 'How to Get the Feedback You Need' in Carolyn O'Hara's HBR article
• Learn more about reverse mentoring in this New York Times piece
• Understand how coaches, mentors and sponsors differ via this Catalyst infographic
• And just for fun, listen to Michael Bolton's hit song, "Soul Provider"

We would love to hear from you! Have an idea for a podcast or a question you want us to address? Interested in additional support, resources and workshops? Here are all the ways you can interact with us!

• Tweet us! @tegantrovato and @TeamAwesomeMKE
• Email us: [email protected] and [email protected]
• Follow us on Facebook @BrightArrowCoaching and @TeamAwesomeCoaching
• Follow us on Instagram @TeganTrovato and @katie_rasoul
• Connect with us on LinkedIn: Tegan Trovato and Katie Rasoul
• Download free tools and sign up for our newsletters, events and workshops by visiting: https://www.brightarrowcoaching.com/ and https://www.teamawesomecoaching.com/

It's easy for entrepreneurs and leaders to get so caught up in the day-to-day that we fall into a kind of sleepiness. And for many, it takes a dark night of the soul to wake us up to what's really important. But what if we'd rather not wait for a crisis to find our way? How can we develop the self-awareness to lead with intention and follow our calling?

Today, we're joined by E. Keller Fitzsimmons, the author of Lost in Startuplandia: Wayfinding for the Weary Entrepreneur. An accomplished tech entrepreneur and artist, she earned the Silvertip PwC Entrepreneurship Award and Speech Technology's Luminary Award. Kelly's VR production company, Custom Reality Services, premiered its first two projects at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, and her work has appeared in Network Computing, InformationWeek and Inc.

Kelly begins by sharing the health crisis that inspired Lost in Startuplandia and helped her step into her role as a creative. She explains how she learned to appreciate her strength of positivity and challenges us to own our strengths—and accept our shadow side. Listen in for Kelly's insight on why entrepreneurs and leaders need support from a 'triad of truth tellers' and learn how to cultivate the self-belief it takes to move through heartbreak and live your purpose.

• How curiosity + creativity serve as the through line in Kelly's eclectic career
• The health crisis that inspired Kelly to write Lost in Startuplandia and redirected her to a path more in line with her purpose
• How Kelly learned to appreciate her strength of positivity and understand how it gave her the fortitude to be an entrepreneur
• The dark night of the soul that helped Kelly get in touch with her shadow side
• How we fall down as leaders when we make decisions to make ourselves look good
• Kelly's strategies for cultivating self-belief through little acts of courage and turning down our inner critic
• Knowing when to 'stay in the game' and when to take a step back and heal
• Why we all need to establish a triad of truth tellers who help us make important decisions
• Kelly's current work with artists and musicians + how she is leaning into her own creativity

• Watch our conversation with Kelly on the Life & Leadership YouTube Channel
• Learn more about Kelly's work at Lost in Startuplandia
• Connect with Kelly on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Get your copy of Lost in Startuplandia: Wayfinding for the Weary Entrepreneur
• Explore Now, Discover Your Strengths or Strengths Finder 2.0
• Discover the Center for Authentic Leadership
• Reframe your inner critic with Katie's Hidden Brilliance + Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic
• Listen to Chip Conley's interview on Sounds True
• Find out more about the Modern Elder Academy
• Explore Daniel Kahneman's work on cognitive biases
• Read about decision-making in Annie Duke's Thinking in Bets

We would love to hear from you! Have an idea for a podcast or a question you want us to address? Interested in additional support, resources and workshops? Here are all the ways you can interact with us!

• Tweet us! @tegantrovato and @TeamAwesomeMKE
• Email us: [email protected] and [email protected]
• Follow us on Facebook @BrightArrowCoaching and @TeamAwesomeCoaching
• Follow us on Instagram @TeganTrovato and @katie_rasoul
• Connect with us on LinkedIn: Tegan Trovato and Katie Rasoul
• Download free tools and sign up for our newsletters, events and workshops by visiting: https://www.brightarrowcoaching.com/ and https://www.teamawesomecoaching.com/

Most of us involved in the practice of leading and coaching teams take a relational approach, focusing on group dynamics and resolving conflicts as they arise. But what if we're treating symptoms without getting to the root cause? All the conflict resolution in the world won't help if a team lacks the underlying conditions necessary to be successful. So, how do we create an environment that puts our teams on a positive trajectory from the start?

Today, we're joined by Dr. Ruth Wageman and Dr. Krister Lowe, part of the core team of Team Diagnostics, LLC and co-hosts of the 6 Conditions Podcast. Ruth is one of the creators of the 6 Team Conditions Framework and Team Diagnostic Survey. She is one of the foremost scholars in the field of team performance, having led original research programs as a professor at Columbia, Dartmouth and Harvard Universities. She co-authored Senior Leadership Teams: What It Takes to Make Them Great. Krister is an organizational psychologist and team coach. He is the founder of the professional training platform The Team Coaching Zone. As a 20-year veteran of the team coaching space, he has developed an expertise in providing learning and development solutions for leading organizations around the globe.

Ruth and Krister begin by walking us through the 6 Team Conditions Framework, explaining what makes their design more effective than a relational approach and what teams can do to assess their standing in each of the 6 areas. Ruth and Krister discuss the most common dysfunctions they encounter among the wide range of teams they coach and share what they are ultimately trying to accomplish through this work in fostering true collaboration. Listen in to understand what trends Ruth and Krister notice in their work with teams, what they are doing to support team leaders in meeting these challenges, and how YOU might benefit from a deeper understanding of the 6 Team Conditions Framework.

• The 3 essentials and the 3 enablers that make up the 6 Team Conditions Framework
• Why conflict resolution fails when we don't create the conditions for a team to be successful
• Ruth and Krister's advice on defining a clear, specific purpose and making sure the whole team is on the same page
• The wide range of teams Ruth and Krister have worked with + the most common dysfunctions they encounter
• What issues SHOULD drive the agenda for senior leadership team meetings (and why it is NOT updates)
• What Ruth and Krister hope to accomplish through their work around team collaboration
• Redesigning organizations around collaboration and distributed authority
• How we can leverage the 60-30-10 Principle to meet the challenge of leading effective teams and bring more joy into the collaborative process
• The trends Ruth and Krister notice around team leaders and why the popular 1:1 management style doesn't promote collaboration
• Who might benefit from pursuing certification in the 6 Team Conditions Framework

• Learn more about the framework at 6 Team Conditions
• Follow Ruth and Krister's work on LinkedIn
• Connect with Ruth on Instagram + Krister on LinkedIn or Twitter
• Read Senior Leadership Teams: What It Takes to Make Them Great and The Practitioner's Handbook of Team Coaching
• Listen to The 6 Conditions Podcast or The Team Coaching Zone Podcast
• Get more information about The Nautilus Experience
• Explore the work of Richard Hackman
• Get certified in the Team Diagnostic Survey
• Enroll in the 6 Team Conditions Advanced or Master Certification Training
• Learn more about The Coaches Training Institute
• Revisit our discussion on community with Lola Wright on The Life & Leadership Podcast

We would love to hear from you! Have an idea for a podcast or a question you want us to address? Interested in additional support, resources and workshops? Here are all the ways you can interact with us!

• Tweet us! @tegantrovato and @TeamAwesomeMKE
• Email us: [email protected] and [email protected]
• Follow us on Facebook @BrightArrowCoaching and @TeamAwesomeCoaching
• Follow us on Instagram @TeganTrovato and @katie_rasoul
• Connect with us on LinkedIn: Tegan Trovato and Katie Rasoul
• Download free tools and sign up for our newsletters, events and workshops by visiting: https://www.brightarrowcoaching.com/ and https://www.teamawesomecoaching.com/

We all assess how we're feeling physically on a daily basis and use that data to inform our decisions. (If our knee hurts, we don't run that day.) But we don't do that with our mental health. Despite the fact that it drives our physical health and the way we see the world, we tend to consider mental wellness a luxury rather than a foundational piece of our wellbeing.

Today, we're joined by Alexa James, the Executive Director of the Chicago Chapter for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), an organization dedicated to providing hope and improving the quality of life for people affected by mental health conditions. A licensed clinical social worker with Master's Degrees in Social Work and Child Development, Alexa has devoted her professional life to serving people living with mental illness as well as those impacted by poverty and trauma.

Alexa begins by explaining how biology, genetics and environment impact our mental health, offering insight into what a toxic community looks like and what we can do to create communities of wellness. She introduces us to the idea of proactively asking employees what accommodations they need to navigate stress and describes how she set the tone for her team by prioritizing her own mental health. Listen in for advice on using person-first language to talk about people living with mental illness and learn what YOU can do to remove the stigma associated with mental health.

• How Alexa defines mental health as the ability to manage stress in a way that doesn't interfere with our relationships, our work or our sense of self
• How our mental health impacts our physical health and guides the way we see the world
• How biology, genetics and environment contribute to the development of mental illness
• The idea of creating treatment declarations around what accommodations we need when we get stressed
• Alexa's insight on what a toxic community looks like
• Alexa's understanding of wellness as the responsibility she has to set the tone in the organizations she works with
• Why NAMI focuses on resources and environment to create communities of wellness
• Alexa's take on the unique mental wellness needs of high-profile leaders and why it's powerful when they acknowledge their challenges
• How the media and our healthcare system perpetuate the stigma around mental health
• Why sharing our lived experiences is the first step in removing the stigma associated with mental illness
• Using person-first language to talk about people living with mental illness

• Learn more about NAMI Chicago at https://www.namichicago.org/
• Reach out to the NAMI Helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264)
• Read E. Keller Fitzsimmons' Lost in Startuplandia
• Find your local chapter of NAMI at https://nami.org/Home
• Access the NAMI Chicago fact sheets
• Explore resources on mental health + mental health stigma
• Get more information about stress management
• Learn how to support a loved one with mental illness

We would love to hear from you! Have an idea for a podcast or a question you want us to address? Interested in additional support, resources and workshops? Here are all the ways you can interact with us!

• Tweet us! @tegantrovato and @TeamAwesomeMKE
• Email us: [email protected] and [email protected]
• Follow us on Facebook @BrightArrowCoaching and @TeamAwesomeCoaching
• Follow us on Instagram @TeganTrovato and @katie_rasoul
• Connect with us on LinkedIn: Tegan Trovato and Katie Rasoul
• Download free tools and sign up for our newsletters, events and workshops by visiting: https://www.brightarrowcoaching.com/ and https://www.teamawesomecoaching.com/

"Anybody can become angry. That is easy. But to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose and in the right way? That is not within everybody's power—and is not easy."

—Aristotle

We've been socialized to see anger as a bad thing. So, we ignore it and let it fester. Or we lose control and unleash it. But what if there's a third option? What if we can learn to work WITH our anger and channel it to, say, solve problems or fight for justice? What if we can use our anger for good?

Today, we're discussing where anger comes from and what purpose it serves. We address the stigma around anger in our culture, reframing it as a neutral emotion that has benefits when we can choose it as a response.

We go on to explore the relationship between the way anger is modeled for us as children and our ability to name and express it as adults. Listen in for insight into the research on gender differences and anger at work and learn how to leverage your anger to take action for the greater good!

Themes explored in this week's episode:

• The definition of anger and what inspired Tegan's deep dive on the subject
• The stigma around anger in our culture and why so many of us try to pretend it doesn't exist
• Where anger comes from and the purpose it serves in removing obstacles
• The questions around whether anger is a primary or secondary emotion
• How the way anger is modeled for us as children impacts our ability to name and express it as adults
• The benefits of anger in terms of motivating us to solve problems and fight for justice
• Choosing anger as a response rather than a reaction that is out of our control
• How our biological perception of men's vs. women's faces influences the way we receive anger based on gender
• Why female leaders who express anger at work are perceived to be less competent than their male counterparts
• Our top strategies for working with your anger and leveraging it for good

Resources from this episode:

• Watch this episode of the podcast on the Life & Leadership YouTube Channel
• Learn more about the Energy Leadership Index Assessment
• Review the 2019 Gallup Global Emotions Report
• Read J. Ruth Gendler's description of anger personified in The Book of Qualities
• Explore Dr. Ursula Hess' research on the communication of emotions
• Discover The Field Guide to Human Emotions by Dan Newby and Curtis Watkins
• Check out the Fall 2019 issue of Tricycle magazine on the topic of anger
• Look at Ursula Hess' chapter on anger in The Positive Side of Negative Emotions
• Study the positive side of anger with these articles in Good Therapy, Emotion Researcher, Psychology Today and Sharecare

We would love to hear from you! Have an idea for a podcast or a question you want us to address? Interested in additional support, resources and workshops? Here are all the ways you can interact with us!

• Tweet us! @tegantrovato and @TeamAwesomeMKE
• Email us: [email protected] and [email protected]
• Follow us on Facebook @BrightArrowCoaching and @TeamAwesomeCoaching
• Follow us on Instagram @TeganTrovato and @katie_rasoul
• Connect with us on LinkedIn: Tegan Trovato and Katie Rasoul
• Download free tools and sign up for our newsletters, events and workshops by visiting: https://www.brightarrowcoaching.com/ and https://www.teamawesomecoaching.com/