Unlocking Leadership Through Authentic Communication

I made a list of things that make a big impact on the team when leaders do them well. It’s been my experience that when a leader is able to perform well in these areas, their team’s performance skyrockets, people are engaged and turnover is low to non-existent. The leader is seen as someone who has a high performing team and let’s be honest, when you have a high performing team, other high performers want to be a part of that too. Think it’s too good to be true? Polish these skills and tell me about your success!

It took me a really long time to change how I viewed receiving performance feedback. I’m going to save you a lot of time. Be prepared to shift your mindset by adopting the way I translate feedback after I ask for it or it’s given unsolicited. And yes…you read that right. I do ask for it! I also share my tips to help you give the most meaningful performance evaluations. Giving and receiving feedback doesn’t have to feel bad. In fact, after this episode, you’ll see the greatest impact is in the words you chose and the spirit of what you’re trying to accomplish.

There’s one phrase a leader uses that communicates that the leader has absolutely no authority whatsoever. In this episode, I share with you what that phrase is and how you can avoid using it. You’ll gain more credibility with your staff and be able to make choices that benefit your areas of oversight and your employees with confidence.

Throughout my career I have seen leaders do some things out of frustration, fear or just lack of leadership knowledge that have tanked their credibility and divided teams. Here, I share my short list of things that will hurt your reputation as a leader and in my opinion should never be done. If you’re doing things on this short list, knock it off! They aren’t doing you any favors and believe it or not, your job will get easier when you stop doing them.

I have a passion for personal and professional development. So much so that I’ve put a lot of thought into what motivates people to develop themselves and how leaders can support them in their development journey. Tune in to get some simple guidelines that will help you support those on your team in maximizing their growth.

It’s easy to get paralyzed by complex issues that are given to you to solve. I use a simple set of steps to help me break down the issue and systematically address it from there. Using this method will not only make addressing issues less daunting, you’ll be able to create efficiency by pulling in the right people the first time and and could possibly solve a whole host of other issues you weren’t aware of in the process.

I HATE disrespectful behavior. But sometimes it comes from people in positions of power. I happen to believe you shouldn’t accept disrespectful behavior from anyone, regardless of their job or leadership level. It’s easy to address and although the first time might give you pit stains and sweaty palms, once you turn a rocky relationship into a collegial one, you’ll never avoid addressing behavior again.

Any time we’re told “no” it’s common to feel rejection. In this episode, I share a trick I use to help me overcome the feeling of rejection to get information I can leverage to get what I want. With this strategic edge you can not only get the things you’re asking for but you can also solve problems efficiently, effectively and strengthen relationships in the process.

In this episode, we’ll go over how we decide who is involved, what roles people play and all of the other important steps to having a robust conversation that results in everyone being on the same page by the time the discussion is over. I’ll also go over how you can change your mindset to look at your role in these conversations in a more realistic way.

My least favorite thing to do at work is attend meetings. I don’t even love organizing them or leading my own! However, it’s a necessary evil in business and this episode is going to help you put a meeting together that will be successful and set the stage for future follow-ups with ease.