Talking Leaders

In Speaking to Influence, Laura Sicola defines three key elements of developing a strong leadership voice: Verbal (what you say), Vocal (how you say it) and Visual (how you look). In the third extract of my conversation with Laura, we take a look at Vocal, including avoiding ‘vocal fry’, the dreaded “up-speak” and why watching and listening to recordings of yourself is so important. 21 mins 51 sec...

In Speaking to Influence, Laura Sicola defines three key elements of developing a strong leadership voice: Verbal (what you say), Vocal (how you say it) and Visual (how you look). In the second extract of my conversation with Laura, we take a look at Verbal, including the power of stories and how not to get lost in the weeds (which you’ll hear me admit to being guilty of. But if you'll let me expl...

I recently listened to an online update given by a pharmaceutical company reporting on the progress of the development of its new drug. Afterwards, there was much discussion on the investor bulletin boards. One comment (here paraphrased) captured much of the sentiment of those who had listened – “…the data do look strong, but that guy (the CEO) really does not inspire me with confidence. Makes you...

In the third and final extract from our interview with Richard Ingram, we look at leading experts. This can be particularly challenging if you are a senior leader in a complex, technical sector. How do you ensure that you can have meaningful conversations with and win the respect of experts? How important is it to do this as a leader? 9 mins 48 secs https://www.talkingleaders.com  

In the second extract from our interview with @Richard Ingram we discuss the importance of transparency. As a leader you need to be sure that the picture presented to you is true and not a slick façade hiding problems. 7 mins 19 secs. https://www.talkingleaders.com  

Richard Ingram started out as an engineer in the oil and gas industry, moving on through a career in aerospace, defence, and security to the position of CEO with a number of companies. In this first extract from his interview with Talking Leaders, Richard tells some great stories (listen out for the one about the “convenient loop of failure”) that illustrate subjects such as: The Importance of peo...

Do you work hard? When you do work hard, how does it feel? Tough, difficult? Paul explains his dislike of the phrase ‘hard work’ and describes how the concept of ‘Flow’ helped him with the idea that it’s ok to want work to be fun most of the time. And how he used the idea of Flow to make a major career decision. 21 mins 12 secs. For more on Flow go here Follow Talking Leaders here https://www.talk...

In a further extract from our conversation with Scott Eblin, leadership coach and author of "The Next Level", we asked for Scott's thoughts on how leaders really learn and how they can best use books like "The Next Level" in their development. 5 mins 00 secs https://www.talkingleaders.com  

Ever heard of the Peter Principle? Basically, it's the idea that people are promoted to their own level of incompetence. It’s a real thing and happens when someone fails to rise to the challenges that their new position demands. Scott Eblin is a leadership coach who understands this situation well. As a new edition of his book The Next Level: What Insiders Know About Executive Success hits the she...

How do you really learn? A nice bit of feedback reminds Paul and Kurt that applying newfound knowledge in meeting a real need is one of the best ways to consolidate learning.  6 mins 55 secs https://www.talkingleaders.com  

Developing yourself as a leader, like improving in almost any skill, is an ongoing, iterative process. Kurt talks about a particular book, The Leadership Pipeline, that he found helpful. He also shares the fact that even though the book provided many ideas useful to his development, it wasn’t a case of once learned never forgotten. Each situation where leadership is needed is different in its own...

You are in the middle of working on something for a tight deadline, and one of your direct reports pops in with a question. How tempted are you to put them off? Or maybe quickly problem solve and send them on their way? Understandable reactions, but it can be too easy to prioritize day-to-day leadership. Paul and Kurt share their experience of dealing with this kind of challenge. 4 mins 55 secs ht...

There has never been more material available on the topic of leadership development. In particular, there is now a lot of advice on leadership hacks. Spoiler alert - we don't believe that there are shortcuts to significantly boosting your leadership skills. Kurt shares his realisation about what it takes to grow as a leader and how that affected his career choice. And Paul shares an example of how...

Even if you know that change is a part of working life and you think you are prepared for its arrival, it can still leave wounds. And sometimes it can be tough to find the route to recovery. 28 mins 06 secs https://www.talkingleaders.com  

Paul tells the story of his most difficult interviewee ever and how just walking out might have helped. 4 mins 58 secs https://www.talkingleaders.com  

Although our name these days is Talking Leaders, we used to be called Voquinexus. This is why. How did the company Voquinexus get its name? It's actually a combination of three Latin words. Some aren't sure about it, but it's what we're called and we love it. 4 mins 08 secs. https://www.talkingleaders.com  

Some leadership conversations can have such an impact that they can influence someone for their entire career. In this episode, we break our five-minute length rule to bring you a story of such a conversation. Two minutes was all it took, but the result has stayed with Kurt to this day. 17 mins 42 secs https://www.talkingleaders.com  

Introverts are people who don't like talking, right? They're shy, aren't they? Think again. How do you interview an introvert? Let's ask one. Turns out it's an energy thing. 4 mins 38 secs. https://www.talkingleaders.com  

Podcast fans often talk about how they love the "intimacy" of listening to a podcast. There certainly is a special pleasure to be had from the way a podcast can draw you into a story or give you a sense of connection with a celebrity revealing inner feelings. But is this kind of intimacy a useful quality in a business setting? Come closer and we'll tell you what we think. 4 mins 51 secs. https://w...

Sometimes you can get the impression that your interviewee would rather be having root canal surgery than be in a podcast. They know their stuff, they can become animated and passionate when talking about it, but once you turn up with your microphone reluctance even dread can take over. When this happens then it's time to chill out. Relax. Chat about anything. Ease your way into a gentle conversat...

It's never been easier to make a podcast. It's like baking a cake; get the ingredients, follow the standard recipe and voila! So if you fancy doing it yourself, then our message is "go for it!" Will your podcast be great? Maybe. Is every cake baked Cordon Bleu standard? Some yes, others... Nonetheless, we are keen to promote the use of podcasting as a leadership tool in any way we can. So if your...

The secret to a great leadership podcast? It's actually no different to communicating via any medium - start with a clear communication strategy. Sounds obvious, but it's commonly missed. 3 mins 32 secs https://www.talkingleaders.com  

Regular podcast listeners love long ones. Some will not listen if there's less than 30 minutes content. But in business it can be a very different story - time is precious and listeners need to be sure that listening is going to be worth it. 4 mins 35 secs. https://www.talkingleaders.com  

People want to get to know their leaders. They want to understand where leaders are coming from and hear how they arrived at ideas and decisions. They want to know the person behind the message. Podcasting is the perfect way to do this. 04 mins 16 secs https://www.talkingleaders.com  

A key advantage of modern open-plan office design is cross-team, cross-functional interaction and idea-sharing. But what about extending these conversations globally? Maybe podcasting can help. 03 mins 20 secs https://www.talkingleaders.com