Out of the Comfort Zone

Send us Fan Mail Most companies measure engagement at least once a year and the more senior managers typically receive a report about how engaged their business area is. And, most worry about what to do to bring engagement up, seeing this as a proxy for how strong their culture is and how much effort people are putting into their work. What if we are measuring this all wrong? What if there is a be...

Send us Fan Mail Judging by the number of talks and books on culture, many people must be thinking about what defines an organization's culture, how to change it and what advantage culture really offers. If those are your questions, then listen in. Plus, we will talk about cultural betrayal and a few myths about culture such as hiring for cultural fit. ⬇️ Connect with me! ► LinkedIn: https://...

Send us Fan Mail In these times, so many people are seeking how to drive change – whether at work or in the community. Too often, while very well intentioned, too many of us approach change with too narrow an understanding of what it really takes to achieve and sustain meaningful change. What do you need to do to lead change? Who should you involve, why, when and how? Listen in for insights from r...

Send us Fan Mail It’s easy to feel you have no, or perhaps not enough, power. However, you have more power than you realize. How do you tap into your own power? That’s the topic of this conversation. Three strategies can make all the difference. ⬇️ Connect with me! ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wanda-wallace-publicspeaker-author-podcasthost/ ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wandatw...

Send us Fan Mail Everything that happens in business is wrapped up in a conversation of one form or another. Therefore it seems wise to spend a bit more time understanding the types of conversations we have, our role in moving each type of conversation forward or backward along with what we can do to have better conversations. Listen in for practices that will elevate your conversations! ⬇️ Connec...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever been asked to co-lead a business, a function or even a project? Did it work out as you had hoped? Most co-head structures fail to deliver on their potential. What can you do to make co-leading effective? Listen in for practical advice and a few examples. ⬇️ Connect with me! ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wanda-wallace-publicspeaker-author-podcasthost/ ► Inst...

Send us Fan Mail Uncertainty is at an all time high or so it seems and senior leaders are encouraging their organizations to get more comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. Sounds great but what can you do for yourself and for your team? Who manages uncertainty, not knowing, experimenting better than artists and what can we learn from artists to inform our working lives? Listen in for great s...

Send us Fan Mail Innovation or rather the habit of innovating is a key to sustained success in every organization. What does it take to truly create a culture of innovation that builds success upon success? What do you need to do to lead teams that innovate? We explore a few examples from Microsoft that highlight best practices you can use.  ⬇️ Connect with me! ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com...

Send us Fan Mail The expectations of employees have changed and that means you cannot manage the way you were managed.  What are these new expectations? Are they reasonable or not? How can you manage your best talent in a way that makes them want to stay longer? How do you become an employer and manager of choice? What is a struggling manager to do? Listen in for great tips and a different perspec...

Send us Fan Mail Work loads are out of control with the number of projects, the inability to stop or finish anything and relentless demands. All of which adds enormous stress for you as a leader and for your team. How can you think about work/load sustainability? What can you do for your team and yourself? How can you build team resilience? And, how can you keep your team motivated? Listen in for...

Send us Fan Mail Most leaders believe that their teams are totally aligned behind the stated strategy. However, when you ask more specific questions of team members, the misalignment becomes apparent. In principle, they may agree but in the details they don’t agree. How does this happen? How can you determine how aligned your team is with your strategy? What are the steps to move towards real alig...

Send us Fan Mail With workload demands and AI tools, what it means to work efficiently needs a revamp. How can we help our brains work best on the work that matters most? How do we change gears? How do we work most efficiently? ⬇️ Connect with me! ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wanda-wallace-publicspeaker-author-podcasthost/ ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wandatwallace/ ► Main You...

Send us Fan Mail In any organization, if you want opportunities to advance, you need people who will help you open doors that matter to you. Those people become sponsors – but it’s not just the senior most leaders that can help you open doors, peers can as well. How? What can you do to foster better sponsorship at all levels? How do you build an authentic network that works for you? Listen in for...

Send us Fan Mail Systems are usually well intended but over time create more hassle than value. Often we think there is nothing we can do as an individual to change the systems that frustrate us – whether that is at work or in society. However, there are things you can do. In fact, there are 7 habits you can deploy. Listen in for what they are and how to use them, from the person who helps enemies...

Send us Fan Mail We see people that we say have great “wisdom”. What gives them wisdom, what does it mean to have wisdom? And, how can you develop more wisdom for yourself? We will tackle those questions via a fascinating research project that interviewed people others say have wisdom. What do they hold in common? Listen in to understand the 8 dimensions of wisdom and how to develop these in yours...

Send us Fan Mail As a manager, you have to deliver bad news – probably more of it than you would like to deliver. If you like making people happy, delivering bad news is probably even more difficult. So how can you say no, deliver negative feedback, go back on a promise or any other difficult news and survive, whether you are talking to senior leaders, your manager, your team or your customers? Li...

Send us Fan Mail Trying to persuade someone to change their mind isn’t for the faint of heart. Some days it seems nearly impossible. You could be trying to persuade someone that the path you have outlined as the best way forward, or that the change program is “right” for the company, or that facts align with your view. Regardless of the circumstance, how can you more effectively get someone to cha...

Send us Fan Mail It seems every organization is expecting it’s leaders to be more agile, flexible, versatile, adaptable, “anti-fragile” – choose your favorite word. What does it mean to be more flexible? How do you get to that state of being? What behaviors should you focus on? How do you change your mindset and your habits? ⬇️ Connect with me! ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wanda-wallace...

Send us Fan Mail Let’s say you have just been promoted at any level. How do you manage the pressure and the power as you go up the hierarchy? How do you manage up? What traps do you need to watch for and how do you avoid them? ⬇️ Connect with me! ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wanda-wallace-publicspeaker-author-podcasthost/ ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wandatwallace/ ► Main YouT...

Send us Fan Mail If you follow my work, then you know that I am a massive fan of having great questions for any occasion. They are every leader’s secret arsenal. When you step out of your comfort zone, you have to ask even more. And, asking questions will lead to greater ability to persuade, to solve problems and to deliver results. How do you ask? What can you do to make sure people tell you what...

Send us Fan Mail No doubt you have heard that 20% of your team delivers 80% of the results. But just how true is the adage? And how deep does it run? What if it is a fundamental law by which most of the world is organized? If it were universally true, what would you do differently in your work to maximize your impact? In a world where it seems everyone is overwhelmed by the volume of work, perhaps...

Send us Fan Mail You may believe that only the rare, unique individuals like Steve Jobs or Elon Musk can innovate. And you may believe that only the radial, industry disruptions really count as innovation. Neither are true. Innovation can be big or small, radical or incremental.  Anyone can innovate and anyone can learn to be more innovative. How? That’s the topic for this episode. How can you enc...

Send us Fan Mail Impact is the watchword lately. In a jammed schedule, with extensive demands, how do you make sure you have the right kind of impact and in the right places? Which decisions do you need to focus on? How can you avoid the micromanagement trap? How do you create the right kind of transparency? How do all of those help you have a greater impact? Those are the questions we are address...

Send us Fan Mail Pressure is a double edged sword. It can spur you to get things done, push yourself to new heights and it can damage your motivation and your health. How can we be smarter about pressure – applying pressure or navigating pressure filled moments – whether that is for ourselves or our teams? What have we learned from sports coaches that we can apply to our business teams? And how ca...

Send us Fan Mail Have you been thinking about how to better motivate your team? Do you believe money is the primary driver for engagement and performance? Do you wonder how to make work more human and why you should try to do so? We have answers.  Listen in for a lively discussion on what truly motivates people at work and why employees are the “new customer”. ⬇️ Connect with me! ► LinkedIn: https...