Unlocking Leadership Through Authentic Communication

Many times leaders avoid conversations with people, be it on their team or those they collaborate with, because they have this vision of a conversation going perfectly. In this episode, I challenge you to look at your true goals when you have high stakes conversations with others. We’ll look at the myth of saying the “wrong” or “right” things, showing up to conversations emotional and thinking quickly on the spot. Get ready for a total mindset overhaul!!

If you grew up in leadership with the belief that you should know everything and be perfect, it’s time to lose that thought process. You don’t need to know everything and guess what, despite your best efforts as a leader, the people you work with already know you’re not perfect. So when you don’t apologize for something you should, it just makes you look untrustworthy and not part of the very team you manage. Here, I highlight the benefits of a heartfelt apology for both you and those you work with.

We’ve all had weeks where we feel like we’re completely unqualified to do our jobs. And unfortunately, as a leader, those weeks are very visible. People are looking to you for advice and to solve problems but what they may not realize is, it’s just not that easy. So what are your options? Well, you could take a while to think through it or after thinking through it long enough to realize you need a fresh perspective, you could seek out others’ opinions. In this episode, I share the groups I tap when I’m stuck. So take some notes and create your own list of people to turn to. It will make the most daunting situations much more manageable.

If you are not connecting with your team, you can be certain of one thing. Other people are. As a leader, the worst position you can be in is where other people (leaders included) know more about your business than you do. In this episode, I’m trying to raise the value of connection as opposed to the tasks leaders are responsible for. And while I don’t disagree that it’s a constant push and pull between the two needs, one thing is for sure. Connecting with people in any area of business is not optional.

As a leader, it’s an expectation that you’re coaching and guiding people. But quite honestly, sometimes it doesn’t feel the most genuine and if you’re in introvert, you might downright dread it. But understand this…you’re a leader and you have something to offer. And the people you’re working with have something to offer too. In this episode, I share why it’s important to have a constant cycle of assessment and discussion with those you work closest with and how you can do this to create natural, productive conversations where mutual learnings are shared.

Whether you’re comfortable with your leadership style or you know you need to make some changes, this episode is for you. The truth is, we should always be auditing our leadership style so we lose the things that no longer serve us and our team and gain things that are more impactful and feel better. But how do you know what stays, what goes and how to fill in the gaps? I’m no scientist but I recommend some things that will probably help you get closer to finding your leadership style than you are today. And if you don’t get closer, at the very least, you’ll know what you don’t like!

How you work through workplace politics effectively and preserve relationships? As a professional who HATES workplace politics, I’m going to share some tips that have served me well over the years. These tips are not only practical, but they make working through workplace politics more bearable and allow you to put your own feelings aside so you can get other much needed work done so your entire day or workweek isn’t monopolized by one issue.

I share a practice I recommend to leaders when they’re anxious about meeting with an employee who documents everything the leader says and does. Leaders dread it. It’s exhausting. Some even describe it as soul sucking. It doesn’t have to be that way. All you need to do is change your practice as a leader and put your emotion to the side for follow-up. In this episode, I show you how to take an effective approach to leading these employees and help you set up a conversation where you can start rebuilding trust between you both. 

It’s really easy to panic when you know you’re going to be working on something that could generate a lot of positive or negative exposure for you, in circumstances where there may be opposing sides or conflicting values or with a topic that’s gotten a lot of attention but not the most positive and is very polarizing. When you panic, your confidence drops, and you don’t exactly set yourself up for success. In this episode, I give you the process I use when I’m in one of these situations or a situation where I’m not feeling the most confident at the onset of my task. This process helps me move from being underconfident to being a confident facilitator. And guess what? The steps are super simple.

I know this title sounds a little devious but I promise it’s not. Because the goal here is to educate, support and develop these applicants. Not to humiliate, alienate and get rid of them. This episode will help you walk through the mindset, process and some messages you can convey to someone when they’re really excited about applying for your role, but quite simply, they’re not the best fit. The goal is that someday with your help, they will be.