Unlocking Leadership Through Authentic Communication

Many times leaders avoid conversations with people, be it on their team or those they collaborate with, because they have this vision of a conversation going perfectly. In this episode, I challenge you to look at your true goals when you have high stakes conversations with others. We’ll look at the myth of saying the “wrong” or “right” things, showing up to conversations emotional and thinking qui...

If you grew up in leadership with the belief that you should know everything and be perfect, it’s time to lose that thought process. You don’t need to know everything and guess what, despite your best efforts as a leader, the people you work with already know you’re not perfect. So when you don’t apologize for something you should, it just makes you look untrustworthy and not part of the very team...

We’ve all had weeks where we feel like we’re completely unqualified to do our jobs. And unfortunately, as a leader, those weeks are very visible. People are looking to you for advice and to solve problems but what they may not realize is, it’s just not that easy. So what are your options? Well, you could take a while to think through it or after thinking through it long enough to realize you need...

If you are not connecting with your team, you can be certain of one thing. Other people are. As a leader, the worst position you can be in is where other people (leaders included) know more about your business than you do. In this episode, I’m trying to raise the value of connection as opposed to the tasks leaders are responsible for. And while I don’t disagree that it’s a constant push and pull b...

As a leader, it’s an expectation that you’re coaching and guiding people. But quite honestly, sometimes it doesn’t feel the most genuine and if you’re in introvert, you might downright dread it. But understand this…you’re a leader and you have something to offer. And the people you’re working with have something to offer too. In this episode, I share why it’s important to have a constant cycle of...

Whether you’re comfortable with your leadership style or you know you need to make some changes, this episode is for you. The truth is, we should always be auditing our leadership style so we lose the things that no longer serve us and our team and gain things that are more impactful and feel better. But how do you know what stays, what goes and how to fill in the gaps? I’m no scientist but I reco...

How you work through workplace politics effectively and preserve relationships? As a professional who HATES workplace politics, I’m going to share some tips that have served me well over the years. These tips are not only practical, but they make working through workplace politics more bearable and allow you to put your own feelings aside so you can get other much needed work done so your entire d...

I share a practice I recommend to leaders when they’re anxious about meeting with an employee who documents everything the leader says and does. Leaders dread it. It’s exhausting. Some even describe it as soul sucking. It doesn’t have to be that way. All you need to do is change your practice as a leader and put your emotion to the side for follow-up. In this episode, I show you how to take an eff...

It’s really easy to panic when you know you’re going to be working on something that could generate a lot of positive or negative exposure for you, in circumstances where there may be opposing sides or conflicting values or with a topic that’s gotten a lot of attention but not the most positive and is very polarizing. When you panic, your confidence drops, and you don’t exactly set yourself up for...

I know this title sounds a little devious but I promise it’s not. Because the goal here is to educate, support and develop these applicants. Not to humiliate, alienate and get rid of them. This episode will help you walk through the mindset, process and some messages you can convey to someone when they’re really excited about applying for your role, but quite simply, they’re not the best fit. The...

As a leader and an HR representative, I’ve lead countless investigations. At this point in my career, I know when bias might be playing into the process and impacting my results and/or my recommendation. Here, I share how I know that my investigation might be compromised and what I do to course correct or at the very least double check to make sure my results and recommendations make sense.

Every conversation is an opportunity for a win even if you decide to say no. Many times leaders have angst about not approving someone’s request. In this episode, I’m going to help you change your mindset to switch from dread to curiosity when receiving a request that you suspect you can’t grant. Then I’m going to help you find alternatives that support the employee and the business. And finally,...

I’ve thrown out a lot of ideas over my career and have learned many valuable lessons when I didn’t get the response I was hoping for. In this episode, I give you my tried and true formula to make sure I figure out the best solution to a problem and help you tell a compelling story to get buy-in.

You don’t have to be a CEO or rich and famous to have advisors. In fact, everyone should have an advisor. Even teenagers should have advisors! These are simply people who are experts in their field that you can call upon to give you advice when you need it. In this episode, I’m going to share with you some of the many advisors I have that are my “go to” people that help make my life easier. Make a...

HONEST! Really…really…honest. I get that it’s scary. I get that there’s some risk there. But I’m going to help you find words to have an honest conversation and develop rapport with your leader so when you need to have tough conversations in the future, it’s super easy. You will have developed trust between you and your leader and will be able to take honest feedback from each other like it’s seco...

There is a time where being elected to be a part of a team feels really great and then there are times where it feels like you have to do “one more thing”. Consider how you show up to these teams when you feel like it’s a chore. You probably show up to the meeting, just counting the minutes until it’s over. I’m going to teach you how to invite talent to your project team to ensure everyone shows u...

I share the number one statement a person makes that causes me to automatically disregard someone’s request or complaint. This one statement totally tanks a person’s credibility on a team. I have zero tolerance for entertaining it as a serious concern. In this episode, I teach you as a leader how you should look at this statement, how you should address it and how you can leave the door open for t...

The days where people were just a number at an organization are gone. Now, people want to be treated like people. They have hobbies, personal lives, side-hustles and much more! If you want to keep them, you’re going to have to figure out your values as a leader and those values translate into how you want your team to make decisions and ultimately the decisions you make as a leader when others mig...

I’ve seen some really awful pay increase proposals and I’ve seen some really well thought out intelligent ones. I’m going to teach you how to put together a proposal for a pay increase, when to pitch it, who to pitch it to and what the follow-up commitment should look like. I’m also going to tell you some of the worst components of a pay request so you can stop doing them! Leverage these tips for...

It’s really easy to let others be more knowledgeable than you on your area of oversight. Many times, the information a leader receives is part of their company’s culture and job description. But have you ever considered that not having this information on your areas of oversight isn’t doing you any favors? How will you develop? How will you understand the business? How will you be able to evoke ch...

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 perform...

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 feedbac...

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...

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.