Lead Forward

You make a point. They make a counterpoint. You counter their counterpoint with your original point. They recycle their counterpoint. You both think the other person isn't listening because if the other truly understood you, they would agree with you because you're obviously right. Many of our conflicts turn circular because we get confused about whether we misunderstand one another or whether we...

One of the most important EQ skills for leaders (or for people in general) is differentiation. Differentiation is about learning how to tell the difference between your own emotions, identities, and experiences and those of others so we can stay connected without becoming unproductively enmeshed in other people's stuff. There are a thousand ways it shows up at work, including micromanaging, em...

"How do you handle weaknesses?" It's one of the most common questions from leaders that like the idea of a strengths based perspective, but also have questions about what growth and development look like around the things we're not so good at. This episode shares ideas about how to navigate your weaknesses rather than attempting to eliminate them as you take a strengths based app...

Sustainability in leadership development is a hot topic. How do we avoid losing traction? How do we get everyone on board with practicing great leadership? It's helpful to review concepts. It's important to embed a focus on leadership in our processes and communications. But there's no substitute for top-level leaders walking the talk. Ask questions or learn more about Andy and Lead Fo...

Psychological safety is about teams feeling safe to take interpersonal risks with one another, like giving feedback, disagreeing, or admitting mistakes. But there's a fundamental contradiction between the words "risk" and "safe" that presents a challenge when we really try to understand what psychological safety truly is. Ask questions or learn more about Andy and Lead Forw...

I hear more and more about "flat" organizations. It's a great concept, though flat orgs are often accompanied by an overactive aversion to authority that leads to a lack of clarity and accountability. This episode is about how we can change the way we think and talk to focus less on authority and more on responsibility and leadership skills. Ask questions or learn more about Andy and...

Some problems can be solved once and for all. Some problems are big enough that we exit the situation. But what about the problems that are nether "solvable" or "deal breakers"? In this episode, we ponder the nature of perpetual problems and what it takes to move forward together in spite of persistent differences or disagreements. Ask questions or learn more about Andy and Lea...

It's not what you are on the inside, but what you do that defines you. Leadership isn't so much an identity as it is a set of actions one consistently engages is. And what are these actions? Listen to find out. Ask questions or learn more about Andy and Lead Forward Co. using the information below: Email: andy@leadforwardco.com Website: ⁠LeadForwardCo.com⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/le...

Sometimes change happens to you, and sometimes you're responsible to create it. Part of being a leader is taking responsibility to not only manage change, but to lead people through it. Ask questions or learn more about Andy and Lead Forward Co. using the information below: Email: andy@leadforwardco.com Website: ⁠LeadForwardCo.com⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/lead-forward-co⁠

Confirmation bias means we look for evidence to support what we already believe. When we trust someone's intentions, we interpret their actions generously because it supports our view of them as trustworthy. But what happens when we don't trust their intentions? Can we make room for them to grow? Ask questions or learn more about Andy and Lead Forward Co. using the information below: Email...

Goals are the "what". Values are the "how". And Purpose is the "why". As leaders, we need to stay connected to our own purpose and look for opportunities to connect other people's work with what matters most to them. Ask questions or learn more about Andy and Lead Forward Co. using the information below: Email: andy@leadforwardco.com Website: ⁠LeadForwardCo.com⁠ L...

There are lots of things that need to happen for groups to collaborate, and I've helped groups do many of them. This includes establishing shared goals and priorities, great communication, effective meetings, and even specific collaboration plans. But it all falls apart if leaders and groups can't practice the empathy needed to see things from one another's perspective. Ask questions o...

We all say we want feedback. But do we really, truly show others that we can handle it? Part of being a great leader is developing "very strong ears" that can handle frank criticism Ask questions or learn more about Andy and Lead Forward Co. using the information below: Email: andy@leadforwardco.com Website: ⁠LeadForwardCo.com⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/lead-forward-co⁠

It's well-established that we tend to be more empathetic to people who we see as being "like us" or as part of our group. But in the world of work (and in the world in general) it's critically important to have empathy for people in other groups and people who are different from us in one way or another. Understanding the difference between cognitive empathy and emotional empathy...

A sense of our place in a group, or our status, is something human brains pay attention to. Critical feedback can cause a sense of diminished status, or in other words, that a person is "moving down" in their reputation within. But there are things we can do to not only reduce the experienced loss of status, but to also promote the giving and receiving of critical feedback as part of our...

Rationality and emotions aren't opposites. They're parallel processes. Both are always present, and part of great leadership is acknowledging the legitimacy of emotions rather than pretending they don't exist if one is sufficiently rational. To lead others well, we first have to lead ourselves well. Ask questions or learn more about Andy and Lead Forward Co. using the information below...

In this episode, we'll talk about purpose with the executive director of Leadership Kitsap, Carli Meurs. Ask questions or learn more about Andy and Lead Forward Co. using the information below: Email: andy@leadforwardco.com Website: ⁠LeadForwardCo.com⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/lead-forward-co⁠

Frequent, meaningful conversations with employees leads to engagement. So why do managers and leaders so often fail to have these kinds of conversations regularly? And how can we overcome these obstacles to make work better for ourselves and those around us? Listen to find out. Ask questions or learn more about Andy and Lead Forward Co. using the information below: Email: andy@leadforwardco.com We...

Why can't we all just get along? Having great relationships with the people you work with makes a big difference, but it does take intention and work. If we give importance and intention to emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills, we make work better for everyone. Ask questions or learn more about Andy and Lead Forward Co. using the information below: Email: andy@leadforwardco.com Webs...

Systems need maintenance, especially human systems. Don't wait for problems and catastrophic failures to start thinking about opportunities to build trust and respect. Ask questions or learn more about Andy and Lead Forward Co. using the information below: Email: andy@leadforwardco.com Website: ⁠LeadForwardCo.com⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/lead-forward-co⁠

You don't control the people you lead, and yet their performance is essential to getting the results you're responsible to get. This is one of the great vulnerabilities of leadership, and the way you handle it can be a source of leadership credibility. Ask questions or learn more about Andy and Lead Forward Co. using the information below: Email: andy@leadforwardco.com Website: ⁠LeadForwar...

Teams and leaders really struggle with priorities. Priorities used to be singular, representing only the most important thing. But now we seem to drown in lists of priorities that really aren't priorities at all, but rather a list of important things. Setting priorities isn't about deciding what's important and what's not. It's about deciding which important things you're a...

We know that we need managers to take care of people so people can take care of our customers, our clients, or our patients. But who is taking care of the people who are taking care of the people? The "manager squeeze" is a top issue to solve in the near future. Managers are more stressed than ever, and if you want to retain managers, employees, and customers, start by taking care of man...

Communication is hard when we're using the same word to mean several different things. For example, a common phrase like "You're not listening" could mean that you're interrupting me, that you're not following my instructions, that you're not understanding what I'm saying, or that you're not letting me influence you. Communication gets clearer when we use the...

I'm not into trust falls, but my kids decided that they are. In this episode, we talk about trust and the different ways it starts, the way to build and maintain it over time, and the vulnerable nature of trust itself. Ask questions or learn more about Andy and Lead Forward Co. using the information below: Email: andy@leadforwardco.com Website: ⁠LeadForwardCo.com⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠www.linkedin.com/i...