The Visible Leader

Rich Kirkpatrick is a creative leader, author, and speaker who helps people unlock their creative potential.

With a background spanning both business and the arts, he blends science and creativity to guide teams and leaders in fostering innovation. He’s the author of Mind Blown: Unlock Your Creative Genius by Bridging Science and Magic, where he offers practical insights into the creative process.

In this episode, we dive deep into the concept of creativity and how it impacts our personal and professional lives. Here’s a sneak peek at the topics covered:

• What is Creativity?
  We kick things off by questioning the very essence of creativity. Is there a test to measure it, or is it something more intrinsic?
• Leadership and Creativity:
  Explore how creativity manifests in leadership and teams, and what happens when it’s missing.
• Signs of a Creative Team:
  How can a leader tell if their team is creatively thriving or just going through the motions?
• The Wizard vs. The Robot:
  Discover the two types of thinkers in creativity and why both are essential to the process.
• Iterative Improvement vs. Creative Leaps:
  Can creativity be a series of small steps, or are big leaps necessary? What’s the risk involved?
• Creating a Culture for Creativity:
  Learn about fostering an environment where creativity can flourish and the surprising elements that might be holding your team back.
• Constraints as Creativity’s Best Friend:
  Why setting boundaries might actually unlock more creative potential.
• Is Creativity Always Good?
  Can too much creativity be a hindrance? The discussion turns to balance and the importance of execution.
• Top 5 Creativity Killers in Leadership:
  What are leaders doing today that stifles creativity, and how can they turn it around?

Contact me to book your free 30-minute Leading Smarter discovery call on LinkedIn.

Connect with Rich on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richkirkpatrick/

Got a question for me? I'm just a message away on LinkedIn.

Click here to get your free copy of my Leader's Guide to Increasing Your Impact, Influence & Free Time

And if you enjoyed the Podcast please share with someone who might benefit and leave a rating and review.

Mark Graban is an author, speaker, and podcast host specialising in lean management and healthcare improvement. He wrote "The Mistakes That Make Us" and hosts the podcast "My Favourite Mistake." Mark is known for his insights on learning from mistakes and improving organisational processes.

Themes Covered:

• Innovation and Mistakes: Why embracing small mistakes can lead to big breakthroughs.
• Healthcare Errors: The importance of systems and checklists.
• Creating a Safe Space: How this fits with psychological safety
• Leading Through Mistakes: Tips for leaders on how to encourage better mistake making

Connect with Mark here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgraban/

Listen to Mark's podcast, My Favorite Mistake.

Subscribe and Review: Subscribe now and leave a review to help me bring more brilliant people into conversations that help leaders just like you.

Click here to get your free copy of my Leader's Guide to Increasing Your Impact, Influence & Free Time

Got a question for me? I'm just a message away on LinkedIn.

I recently sat down with Samuel Drauschak to explore what process-driven leadership really means – and how you actually build empathy and connection if you get it right.

Listen out for the question he suggests you ask your people if you want to get more of the RIGHT things done.

Highlights:

• What is Process Leadership? Learn the key differences between process-driven and data-driven leadership (and why you should care about either).
• Real-Life Transformations: Hear about how it worked on the ground.
• Practical Tips: Get actionable advice on where to start with process mapping and who to involve.
• Empathy and Efficiency: Understand how connecting with your team is the key to better processes and better business.
• Beyond Business: Find out how process principles can be applied to your personal life – because we’re all trying to improve aren’t we?!

Connect with Sam here:

• Website: Truvel.com
• LinkedIn: Sam Drauschak 

Got a question for me? I’m just a message away on LinkedIn.

Subscribe and Review: Subscribe now and leave a review to help me bring more brilliant people into conversations that help leaders just like you.

Click here to get your free copy of my Leader's Guide to Increasing Your Impact, Influence & Free Time

Got a question for me? I’m just a message away on LinkedIn.

In this episode I chat with Walt Morgan. As a certified coach, former Navy Commander, and university lecturer, Walt specialises in helping people develop their leadership skills on both personal and professional fronts. Walt’s seen it all and has some sharp insights on the common slip-ups leaders make.

What we cover:

• Common Leadership Blunders: Walt lays out the five big missteps he sees leaders making. He’s big on understanding what leadership really means personally and professionally, and he challenges us to redefine it for ourselves.
• Leadership as a Journey: Leadership isn’t a fixed quality but an evolving journey that reflects our actions and intentions. Walt shares his thoughts on how our understanding of leadership can and should change over time.
• The Right Time for Development: We talk about the importance of starting leadership development early. The more set in our ways we are, the harder it is to adapt and grow.
• Getting Help: We discuss the power of coaching to unearth and change deeply ingrained habits and mindsets that hold us back.
• Learning vs. Development: We explore the difference between just learning new things and actually developing as leaders. How to turn knowledge into action to make real changes in how we lead.

Interested in more from Walt? Reach out to him on email at [email protected] or check out his website at www.tliftcoaching.com.

Once you’ve had a listen think about your own leadership style. Are you sticking to old habits? Maybe it’s time for a chat with your team to check out what leadership means to you all.

Got a question for me? I’m just a message away on LinkedIn.

Thanks for listening to The Visible Leader podcast.

Don’t forget to hit subscribe and drop me a review on Apple Podcasts.

Julie Smith is a sought-after coach who has been supporting leaders and teams to grow their impact for three decades. A 15+ year corporate career with Mars and PepsiCo gave Julie first-hand experience of what it takes to succeed in a demanding, fast-paced organization.

Julie is the author of Coach Yourself Confident, an encouraging and supportive guide for professionals who have aspirations to progress further in their careers, and who feel that a lack of confidence is getting in their way.

In this conversation, we covered:

• The cost of the self-doubt tax
• Why you might want to mark down people who regularly go above and beyond
• How to grow your own confidence
• What to do about lack of confidence in people you lead
• And the name Julie gives the nagging negative voice in her head…

You can find more about  Julie Smith on her website: https://talentsprout.co.uk

And find her book here: Coach Yourself Confident: Ditch the self-doubt tax, unlock humble confidence

Click here to get your free copy of my Leader's Guide to Increasing Your Impact, Influence & Free Time

And if you enjoyed the Podcast, please subscribe, share with someone who might benefit  - and if you’re feeling very generous leave a rating and review!

Dr. Steven Rogelberg is an organizational psychologist whose award-winning research into meetings led to the publication of the highly successful book The Surprising Science of Meetings.

And again, he’s taken that research-based approach with his latest book – the excellent Glad We Met: The Art and Science of 1:1 meetings.

In this episode we challenge the idea that 1:1s are an optional extra for team members who ‘need’ them  - and offer a framework for how to get started.

We talk about:

• What the research says and why 121s matter to your team members
• Whether you can be too senior to need a 121.
• What leaders are getting wrong.
• The mechanics of what a good 121 should look like.
• How to get started for leaders and for HR

You can find resources on Dr. Steven Rogelberg’s website: www.stevenrogelberg.com

And find his book here: Glad We Met: The Art and Science of 1:1 Meetings

Click here to get your free copy of my Leader's Guide to Increasing Your Impact, Influence & Free Time [www.visibly-different.co.uk/increasing-your-impact]

And if you enjoyed the Podcast, please share with someone who might benefit and leave a rating and review.

Dr Nia Thomas is a thought leader in self-aware leadership and practices self-aware leadership every single day in her role as Director in a Children’s Charity.

She has an allergic reaction when she hears the phrase ‘you shouldn’t care what anyone else thinks’.

We talked about the perils of heeding that advice and how to avoid going the other way and becoming a total people pleaser!

Topics we covered:

• How to become aware of your blind spots.
• The pros and cons of 360 feedback.
• The cautions around self-awareness. How to avoid overthinking every encounter you have with your team.
• How you can be an authentic leader whilst taking others' opinions into account.
• How to judge when constructive feedback is useful or noise that should be disregarded.
• How can leaders navigate the fine line between caring about others' thoughts and maintaining their authenticity?

Find out more about Dr Nia Thomas: https://knowingselfknowingothers.co.uk/

And connect with her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nia-d-thomas/

Get your free copy of my Leader's Guide to Increasing Your Impact, Influence & Free Time here:  www.visibly-different.co.uk/increasing-your-impact

And if you enjoyed the Podcast, please share with someone who might benefit and leave a rating and review.

Dr Katharina Schmidt completed an executive MBA at Kellogg Business School and then for the next 20 years had an international career with various professional services firms before she started her own business as an Executive Coach & Leadership Team Developer.

She’s lived all over the world and speaks 5 languages fluently. And she had a career as a professional volleyball player!

We talked about Confidence and Vulnerability – and how to show both as a leader to build trust in your team.

We covered:

• The link between vulnerability and psychological safety
• The right balance between confidence and vulnerability
• What being a vulnerable leader actually sounds like
• How imposter syndrome fits into the picture of confidence and vulnerability
• What experiments you can try that will encourage you (and everyone around you) to be more vulnerable and build trust

Find out more about Dr Katharina Schmidt: https://www.inspirationanddiscipline.com

Read more of her articles: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/people/katharinaschmidt1/

And connect with her:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-katharina-schmidt-psyd-343612/

Click here to get your free copy of my Leader's Guide to Increasing Your Impact, Influence & Free Time

Are you struggling to turn your vision into reality? Learn how to become an execution-focused leader and drive results in your organisation.

Monte Pedersen is dedicated to helping organisations manage their strategy execution -  he wants this to be a competency within every one of his clients.

He wants to eliminate all the bad habits they’ve developed over the years so they have a repeatable operating model that will teach their teams how to manage execution and get better at doing it each year.

Discover the key to effective strategy execution in this episode and learn why working longer hours doesn't always equal greater productivity.

Topics we covered:

• Strategy is not a linear process: Why strategy doesn't happen in a straight line and how to communicate and adapt as things change.
• Long hours ≠ greater productivity: Why, contrary to popular belief, working longer hours does not necessarily lead to increased productivity.
• Why effective communication is key: And how to make communication the foundation of successful leadership.
• And why you might be getting it wrong if you’re aiming for a work-life balance.

Connect with Monte on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monte-pedersen-9554a1126/

Click here to get your free copy of my Leader's Guide to Increasing Your Impact, Influence & Free Time

And if you enjoyed the Podcast please share with someone who might benefit and leave a rating and review.

Ben Simpson works with leaders and their teams to create better relationships, improve trust, increase autonomy, ditch bureaucracy. He very much sees that you perform best when you’re happy in your work. And he’s a fierce critic of traditional (command and control) management and prefers a more human-centric way of leading and managing.

He co-founded Organisational Vitality, is the Director and Chairman of the Deming Alliance UK, Co-organiser of Reinventing Work in Bath and is a visiting lecturer on the Bath MBA.

And he has the honour of collaborating with me when we work with clients together!

We geeked out in this episode but also made sure we offered practical advice for rethinking your appraisal system.

We covered:

• Is it true that appraisal processes never work?
• So why do they persist?
• The hidden/unintended consequences of annual appraisals
• If command and control should be a thing of the past – why is Amazon so successful?
• If we ditch the concept of an appraisal system what could you do instead?
• What do we mean by ‘ask better questions’?
• What actions can leaders start taking right now?

If you have any questions as a result of this Podcast you have permission to pick our collective brains! Our e-mail addresses are:

[email protected]

[email protected]

Find out more about Ben here: https://vitalorg.co.uk/

And connect with him here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bensimpsonbath/

Click here to get your free copy of my Leader's Guide to Increasing Your Impact, Influence & Free Time [ www.visibly-different.co.uk/increasing-your-impact ]

And if you enjoyed the Podcast please share with someone who might benefit and leave a rating and review.