Let's Fix Leadership

We interrupt your regularly scheduled podcast for a history lesson - a history lesson on leadership, that is. Ever wondered why I called this show Let's Fix Leadership? Or why every generation in the workplace feels like the next one "just doesn't get it"?  Well, that's because leadership isn't static, it's always evolving. It doesn't look the same from generation to generation.  First, we had the...

Who says you have to be a Fortune 500 company to have a board of directors? After all, you are the CEO of your own career, why wouldn't you want a team of intelligent, dynamic, and talented people in your corner?  Especially in today's evolving world. It's like having The Avengers assembling for the good of your professional life… How do we build a board of directors, and how do we enrich and nurt...

Employee benefits used to be pretty standard, boilerplate stuff. A 401k here, health insurance there and maybe a generous time off allowance thrown into the mix. Today, we recognize that we're humans (shocker, right?) and that work and life have become so intertwined. We need benefits programs that actually serve the whole person and enhance their entire lives.  Enter lifestyle accounts, flexible...

Remember when we could leave our personal lives at home, and leave work at the office? Simpler times, am I right… Then came technology, laptops, phones, and watches that give you meeting reminders and email notifications and it became impossible to separate professional you from the other parts of your life. Back then, work had no interest in our lives outside of our working hours - we had two liv...

When it comes to communicating at work, long gone are the days where leaders had to be perfectly polished, overly formal, and cold. People want authenticity from their leaders - they want to hear your unique voice and feel their unique voice is being heard too.  As leaders, we might not be aware of how we're coming across and how that's impacting our teams. When we become aware of this, we can mak...

Once upon a working world, the best person doing a job was consistently promoted to the boss of others doing that same job. Now…well, it's a lot more complex.  Conventional wisdom used to be that a leader must possess mastery in the fields they oversee. The world is evolving fast, and that norm is gradually giving way to something more flexible - where leaders must adapt. Ultimately, who knows if...

"That wasn't my fault". Or how about, "I didn't do it." Or maybe "that mistake is totally on that coworker." We play the blame a lot at work, and though we don't like to admit it, we like it.  We sit in blame because it feels pretty darn good for something to be someone else's fault. What a relief it can be. Here's the problem though, blame makes for bad work environments. It kills collaboration a...

Remember how I said that our brain loves to play tricks on us, and how fear is its device of choice?  Well, that shows up all over our careers, and if we're not careful, that big mean old liar could set us on a downward spiral of paranoia, making assumptions and acting out in ways we aren't proud of.  What if you could short-circuit all this drama and tell yourself something more constructive? In...

"How did I become so bad at a game I was doing so well at just a second ago?" That's what it feels like when you start a new level in a video game….or when a new career opportunity challenges you. It's daunting and discouraging at first, even downright terrifying, but that doesn't mean we can't master this new level.  After all, fear is nothing more than a chemical reaction, and when we refuse to...

Alcohol, nicotine, coffee, sugar, and….being right. Yes, being right is something you can be addicted to and unfortunately, a lot of leaders are. You could hold a blue crayon in front of them and they'd swear it's yellow. You can never introduce a fresh thought or new idea. They are never open to learning from their teams. If it's not their way, it's wrong.  You don't want to be addicted to being...

Here's a scenario that plays out far too often in our organizations. A resignation letter lands on your desk, and you're surprised: a top performer is leaving.    Wait, what? All this time you thought they were happy, doing great work, here for the long haul. They're paid well, advancing in your organization, so what gives?    Well, dear leader, you're losing them because you've failed to invest i...

"Communication is key." It's a statement we hear so often, it borders on cliche. Well, in the workplace, the power of communication can never be overstated.  It can be overwhelming to think about all the different ways and different reasons we are required to communicate to be successful leaders.  What if we looked at competencies we can leverage across all types of communication?  That's what we'...

Do you create an environment where it's cool to learn or do you shut down learning and discovery? Software, business trends, consumer habits, books, podcasts, legal requirements, and more. Keeping up with all the new things we need to learn is like an Olympic sport, but it's a *must* if we want to run great teams.  If we and our teams aren't learning, we aren't growing. If we're not leaders who le...

Where humans are involved, conflict is sure to be present. On a team, conflict not addressed becomes a toxic, invisible coworker no one wants to be around but is forced to work with.  As a leader, you might think conflict is a normal part of running a team, but this could be hampering innovation and growth.  What effect does unchecked conflict have on team dynamics? How do we mitigate conflict or...

Remember when executive leadership was all the rage? It was the one-size-fits-all attribute that was necessary to advance in an organization. Well…I think it's time we retire executive presence for something more fitting of today's dynamic world.  You see, in today's rapidly evolving world, there are endless types of companies with endless types of culture. One type of leadership just won't cut it...

"That's not how I remember the conversation……"  "I forgot that we made that decision…..."  If you've ever said any of these statements to your team, you may have a case of executive amnesia.  Many leaders struggle to remember every detail, decision, and piece of information they encounter, and who can blame them? You have to wrap your mind around so much data and make so many decisions, it leads t...

Let me paint an all too familiar picture for you. A new leader comes into your organization, you're so excited to work with them and learn from them. Then you discover they don't have the leadership skills you thought they would have. We've all been there.  Maybe they lack vision or they are terrible with accountability or they don't take responsibility for their actions. Either way, a disappointi...

A few weeks ago, I shared 15 questions that drive innovation, and y'all loved them. (If you missed them, you can check them out here ) I wanted to share more powerful questions that will change perspectives, challenge assumptions, instill trust, and get you out of trapped thinking.  Whether you're a leader or a team member, these questions will pull your organization forward.  In this episode, I'l...

When things go wrong in our organizations, the common immediate reaction is panic… and when we are in a state of panic, we stop thinking clearly, and then we react.  Unfortunately, this sequence of events doesn't make for a good outcome. Because, when we react, we aren't in a place to make the best decisions. We're more likely to act in fight or flight mode. If we respond, we are able to self-auth...

Feedback, they say, is always good for us. It's necessary, strengthens our weaknesses, and makes us better, right? Well…not always.  Sometimes feedback, even if it's well-meaning, can do more harm than good. It can inadvertently make us suppress our superpowers, and no one wants that!  Whether you're giving or getting it, be careful not to kill all the goodness with feedback. In this episode, I ta...

As leaders, we can either have a team full of innovative thinkers or a team too scared to share their thoughts and ideas. This distinction is driven entirely by the kinds of questions we're asking.  We can stifle creativity or encourage it based solely on what we say. As a gift to you, I've compiled a list of 15 questions that will create tons of creativity and innovation, while fostering the kind...

There are two ways to lead - from a place of purpose or from a fight-or-flight place where you're just doing everything you can to not lose.  Newsflash: one way sets your organization up for bigger and better outcomes, and the other one…well, let's just say, it causes chaos, division, and many other issues that make for a toxic work environment.  Now, you might be asking; How do I know if I'm lead...

This episode goes out to all my perfectionists out there (you know who you are). Everything you do needs to be A+++ work and nothing less, and you're constantly stressed, burnt out, and overwhelmed because of it. Here's a controversial thought that will surely scare that high-performing brain of yours: what if you turned in B work or even C work (gulp)? Not all your work has to be absolutely perfe...

Are false priorities holding you back from what you truly want? Do you find that the thing you should be focused on gets overshadowed by something not as important?  I can give you countless examples of areas where this shows up...choosing social approval over honesty from our teams. Allowing underperformers to negatively impact the organization instead of having the tough conversations. Choosing...

Spending hours on busy work that doesn't impact the business? Attending meetings we shouldn't be in because our ego wants us there? Filling our to-do lists with meaningless tasks because we *have* to? These, my friends, are all the height of vanity work, and we're all guilty of it, maybe by choice or by association.  Not all work is created equal - some is vital to the success of the organization...