Creating a high-performing team that is also human and inclusive is possible! Listen as Akua talks with organization transformation expert Joris Merks-Benjamin about how to balance high-performance standards with inclusivity and humanness in the workplace.

Formerly Head of Google Digital Academy, Joris became one of the highest-scoring managers of all time. After 12 years with Google, Joris has recently gone freelance and developed the Managing Without Power program. He is an award-winning author of several books, his newest being “Managing Without Power.”

In this episode, Akua and Joris talk about the importance of trust, empathy, and communication and how to create a culture of continuous learning and improvement. Learn why the best teams are based on trust and psychological safety and how leaders don’t need the power to be effective, but they need to empower their team.

Networking can elicit groans and dread from even the savviest of business leaders. If you dislike networking or feel like you’re bad at it, or if you believe you don’t NEED to do it, this episode is for you. Akua starts with why networking is important and gives four important things to work on to become better at building connections in business and in life.

Learn why reframing your thinking and becoming self-aware about your beliefs around networking can help you build more authentic relationships. Plus, Akua gives some amazing resources (linked below) where you can find additional information to up your networking game.

Remember that networking is about building connections and engaging with others, and if done well, it can better your reputation, increase visibility, and create a stronger network.

Today, Akua talks about leveraging storytelling to connect and engage with your stakeholders, whether they're clients, team members, employees, or investors.

Engaging with your team is one of the most important things you can do in your role as a leader. Telling stories can be a powerful tool in your engagement toolbox, helping to inspire, build rapport and align and reach goals with your team. Learn the three basic purposes for telling a story, tips on how to incorporate stories into your daily life, and how to know where and when to tell a story.

Reaching peak performance as a leader, manager, or business owner takes practice and training, much like an athlete. This week, Akua welcomes Darcy Luoma, the author of the book "Thoughtfully Fit, Your Training Plan for Life and Business," as she talks about tackling barriers and becoming mentally and emotionally fit.

Darcy is a triathlete, mother, and CEO of Darcy Luoma Coaching and Consulting. A Master Certified Coach, Darcy has worked in 48 industries, with 210 organizations and 500+ individual clients, to create high-performing people and teams.

If you're a leader or manager who feels too busy to strategize, you're stuck in a rut, or wondering what your unique contributions to the world are, this episode is a must-listen.

In order to coach others, you first have to be able to coach yourself. In this episode, Akua dives deeper into the engagement pillar of her three-step leadership framework. Engaging with yourself, also called self-regulation and management, is key to being able to support others as they explore their own areas of growth and boundaries.

As a leader, you want to inspire your employees and motivate them to get their work done by making sure they are excited to come to work and problem-solve. While coaching is not always the right answer, using coaching tools and techniques can go a long way, starting with asking powerful questions.

Akua explains a popular coaching framework that can be used to help people set goals and create a plan of action. Finally, she shares things that held her back from leveraging coaching tools and techniques, which will surely resonate with leaders, managers, and founders in all industries.

Executive presence - all leaders want it, but not all know how to get it. Join Akua as she shares pieces of a recent conversation with Executive and Life Coach Kelly Lynn Adams. They talk about leadership, vulnerability and mindset, and how to regulate and manage your emotions to inspire confidence among your coworkers.

This episode of the Open Door Conversations podcast focuses on the second step in Akua's three-step leadership framework: the importance of engagement. In addition to self-awareness and setting expectations, engagement is a crucial part of becoming a conscious and effective leader in the workplace.

As a business leader, founder, or executive, sometimes your biggest barrier to engaging with your team is staring at you in the mirror. Find out how your own thoughts, emotions, and existing habits could be sabotaging your efforts and some simple ways to self-regulate your way to meaningful engagement, influence, and productivity as a leader.

If you're interested in learning about a framework that can bring your vision, business, or startup to life, you don't want to miss this episode. It is jam-packed with actionable advice from Tomi Davie (T.D.), who was named one of the 100 Most Influential Africans of 2021 by New African Magazine.

Harry ‘Tomi Davies (TD) is Collaborator-in-Chief (CiC)’ at TVC Labs, an entrepreneurship support organization in Lagos, Nigeria which he founded. TD is the co-founder of the Lagos Angel Network (LAN), founding President of the African Business Angel Network (ABAN), and Board Member of the Global Business Angels Network (GBAN).

T.D.'s mission in life is to find, fund, and follow. He is an angel investor, author, public speaker, and a systems analyst turned tech strategy advisor. He is the founder and Collaborator-in-Chief of TDC Labs, an entrepreneur support organization in Lagos, Nigeria.

Akua and T.D. discuss his newest book, Investment Worthy Startup, which he wrote to help founders and investors build successful startups.

Pausing and reflecting is something all leaders should prioritize. That's why Akua is using today's episode as a recap of the last several weeks as she's talked about the first step in her leadership framework: cultivating self-awareness. Learn to understand better your strengths, weaknesses, interests, and preferences so you can be the most impactful leader possible. 

Founders, leaders, and managers will benefit from listening to all the episodes around self-awareness, but If you don't have time to go back, this is where you can catch up and be ready to move on to Akua's second step in her leadership framework: simplifying engagement.

This episode is for leaders who want to have a big impact - and who doesn’t? This is the last in a series about the first of three steps in Akua’s leadership approach: cultivating self-awareness.

Despite what some might think, effective leadership is not only about performance and delivery, or what the sports world would call the “outer game .”Conscious leaders know that self-awareness and mindset, or “inner game,” are just as important and really affect every aspect of their leadership and its impact.