Coaching for Leaders

Greg McKeown: Effortless Greg McKeown is a speaker, bestselling author, and the host of the popular podcast What’s Essential. He has been covered by The New York Times, Fast Company, Fortune, Politico, and Inc. and has been interviewed on NPR, NBC, Fox, and many others. He is among the most popular bloggers for LinkedIn and also a Young Global Leader for the World Economic Forum. His New York Times bestselling book Essentialism* has sold more than a million copies worldwide. He's the author of the new book, Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most*. In this conversation, Greg and I explore how to simplify by asking key questions of ourselves and others. We discuss the tendency many of us have to work hard, but not necessarily clearly define what we’re trying to achieve. Plus, Greg invites us to look at the minimum steps required to complete what’s most essential. Key Points Take one minute to stop and define what done looks like. Crafting a “done for the day” list can provide clarity and boundaries to help us zero in on what’s most important. Ask yourself: what are the minimum steps required for completion? There’s a key distinction between a minimum number of steps and “phoning it in.” Decide in advance on what kind of work requires A+ effort, and where B effort is sufficient — and perhaps even better. Resources Mentioned Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most* by Greg McKeown Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less* by Greg McKeown What’s Essential podcast by Greg McKeown Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes The Way to Stop Spinning Your Wheels on Planning (episode 319) See What Really Matters, with Greg McKeown (episode 469) How to Change Your Behavior, with BJ Fogg (episode 507) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Michael Hyatt: Win at Work and Succeed at Life Michael is the founder and chairman of Michael Hyatt & Company, which helps leaders get the focus they need to win at work and succeed at life. Formerly chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, Michael is also the creator of the Full Focus Planner*. Michael is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of several books, including Free to Focus*, Your Best Year Ever*, Living Forward*, and Platform*. His work has been featured by the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Businessweek, Entrepreneur, and other publications. He is the author with his daughter Meghan Hyatt Miller of Win at Work and Succeed at Life: 5 Principles to Free Yourself from the Cult of Overwork*. In this conversation, Michael and I discuss the challenge that many leaders face in finding balance. While many of us are motivated by achievement, Michael invites us to consider the value of nonachievment. We explore where to start and the benefits of being a beginner again through hobbies and other activities, unrelated to our careers. Key Points There’s incredible power in nonachievement. Many high-achieving people tend to have two leisure modes: feeling weird, unsettled, and distracted when taking time off — or vegging out on screens after exhaustion. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi advises doing something that’s not related to work at all to get you into a different mindset. Beware the belief that your hobby is your work. Spending more time on a hobby that has nothing to do with work can boost confidence in your ability to perform your job well. The challenge for high achievers in starting a hobby is that they must be a beginner again. Getting coaching to help get through these early stages can help. Resources Mentioned Bonus Resources: Win at Work and Succeed at Life Win at Work and Succeed at Life: 5 Principles to Free Yourself from the Cult of Overwork* by Michael Hyatt and Megan Hyatt Miller Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes How to Transcend Work-Life Balance, with Scott Anthony Barlow (episode 315) How to Reclaim Conversation, with Cal Newport (episode 400) Finding Joy Through Intentional Choices, with Bonni Stachowiak (episode 417) How to Sell Your Vision, with Michael Hyatt (episode 482) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Raja Rajamannar: Quantum Marketing Raja Rajamannar is Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for Mastercard, and president of the company’s healthcare business. He also serves as president of the World Federation of Advertisers. Raja has held C-level roles at firms ranging from Anthem to Humana, and has overseen the successful evolution of Mastercard’s identity for the digital age, from its Priceless experiential platforms to marketing-led business models. Raja’s work has been featured in Harvard Business School and Yale School of management case studies, and been taught at more than 40 top management schools around the world. He is the author of Quantum Marketing: Mastering the New Marketing Mindset for Tomorrow's Consumers*. In this conversation, Raja and I discuss the reality that traditional advertising as we know it is ending. He also invites us to rethink how we’ve traditionally thought about customer loyalty. Instead of telling stories about our brands, we should be doing the work to create stories along with our customers. Key Points Organizations need to engage in permission-based marketing to be credible to consumers. It’s helpful to think about relationships with consumers as affinity instead of loyalty. Most of what we call advertising today is interruptive to consumers and a poor experience. It’s not entirely dead, but certainly heading that way. Invite consumers into unique experiences by making the transition from storytelling to story making. Create experiences that are scalable and economically viable and sustainable. Smaller firms can seek out opportunities to create partnership that will help them make stories that are purposeful. Resources Mentioned Quantum Marketing: Mastering the New Marketing Mindset for Tomorrow's Consumers* by Raja Rajamannar Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes How to Lead Top-Line Growth, with Tim Sanders (episode 299) Serve Others Through Marketing, with Seth Godin (episode 381) Where to Start on Subscriptions, with Robbie Kellman Baxter (episode 484) If You Build It, They Will Come (Dave’s Journal) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Shannon Minifie: Box of Crayons Shannon is the CEO of Box of Crayons, the firm behind the best-selling books The Coaching Habit* and The Advice Trap*. Box of Crayons is a learning and development company that helps unleash the power of curiosity to create connected and engaged company cultures. Shannon followed an unusual path to becoming CEO of Box of Crayons. Her career began in academia, a pursuit driven by her desire to be a part of conversations she thinks are important. In 2016, she embarked on a new path, starting a career in corporate learning and development. She brings to her role more than a decade of experience in education and in practicing incisive investigation. In this conversation, Shannon and I talk about the word curiosity and the reality that not everybody thinks about that word the same way we do. We explore the distinction between troublemakers and changemakers and provide practical suggestions to inspire more curiosity inside your organization. Plus, we highlight many of the common barriers to utilizing curiosity well. Key Points Curiosity is a state, not a trait. Nobody says they are against curiosity. But the truth is that they’re suspicious of it. Four things tend to hold firms back from the benefits of changemaker curiosity: Complacency: being used to the status quo. Delusion: the belief that they are already good at it. Environment: espoused values vs. what’s being done in practice because of real barriers. The Advice Monster: too much a cultural reliance on advice-giving. Resources Mentioned Box of Crayons The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever* by Michael Bungay Stanier The Advice Trap: Be Humble, Stay Curious & Change the Way You Lead Forever* by Michael Bungay Stanier Related Episodes How to Build Psychological Safety, with Amy Edmondson (episode 404) The Way to Be More Coach-Like, with Michael Bungay Stanier (episode 458) How to Build a Coaching Culture, with Andrea Wanerstrand (episode 501) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

David Sparks: MacSparky David Sparks speaks and writes about how to use technology to be more productive. David is a past speaker at Macworld / iWorld and a regular faculty member for the American Bar Association’s TechShow. David has published numerous books and videos on how to use technology including the MacSparky Field Guide series that includes videos and books on managing email, going paperless, and how to make a winning presentation. David is also co-host of the popular Mac Power Users, Automators, and Focused podcasts. When not speaking and writing about technology, he’s a business attorney in Orange County, California. David recently released his Paperless Field Guide*. In this conversation, David and I review the key steps to managing a paperless lifestyle including how to capture, process, edit, and share documents. We share useful hacks to find data in documents, track changes, annotate PDFs, and much more. Key Points The goal of the paperless lifestyle is to provide sanity so you’re not spending time and energy managing paperwork. Scanner Pro is David’s recommended app for most people who want to capture documents easily with optical character recognition (OCR). Getting your documents into PDF format will allow them to be accessible for the future and also protect you from trouble with future software versions. Decide on a personal syntax for how you name files. Including a noun, verb, and date can be useful to surface documents later. Use “track changes” on Microsoft Word or “suggesting” on Google Docs for collaboration, review, and editing. If you use a tablet and do lots of reading or document review, consider utilizing some of the newest features for annotation and markup. Resources Mentioned Paperless Field Guide* by David Sparks LinkedIn Learning is a useful starting point for foundational skills on major software programs like Microsoft Word Mac Power Users podcast Related Episodes How To Get Control Of Your Email, with David Sparks (episode 119) The Way to Stop Spinning Your Wheels on Planning (episode 319) Align Your Calendar to What Matters, with Nir Eyal (episode 431) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Tom Henschel: The Look & Sound of Leadership Tom Henschel of Essential Communications grooms senior leaders and executive teams. An internationally recognized expert in the field of workplace communications and self-presentation, he has helped thousands of leaders achieve excellence through his work as an executive coach and his top-rated podcast, The Look & Sound of Leadership. In this episode Tom and I discuss the common challenge of both making sense to others and making sense of what others say to you. Tom invites us to follow a four step approach of sorting and labeling so that it’s easier for listeners to follow our thinking. Finally, we explore some of the common missteps in communicating with more clarity. Key Points The why behind making sense: it’s better for both the sender and the receiver. There are four key parts to the structure of making sense to others: Create a headline Sort into folders Label each folder Transition with precision Tom shared an example of two different ways to communicate a message about presentation skills, one without sorting and labeling, and one with it. Common mistakes in making sense include the espoused number of items not matching the number of actual items, explaining the folders first before setting the stage, and not transitioning well. Resources Mentioned Sorting & Labeling by Tom Henschel (PDF download) Subscribe to Tom's updates Related Episodes Executive Presence with Your Elevator Speech, with Tom Henschel (episode 316) The Way to Influence Executives, with Nancy Duarte (episode 450) Your Leadership Motive, with Patrick Lencioni (episode 505) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Pat Griffin: Dale Carnegie Pat has been actively engaged in helping organizations achieve greater success through the transformation of their people for almost two decades. He is a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer who helps organizations deliver measurable impact on strategic initiatives. Pat has extensive experience with manufacturing and engineering firms due to his previous career in those industries. He helps leaders zero in on process improvement and how the human side of that effort plays a significant role in its success or failure. Today he's Chief Relationship Officer at Dale Carnegie of Western New York. In this conversation, Pat and I discuss how managers can get alignment with employees about the key outcomes of their jobs. Pat invites us to create a Performance Results Description document, align with employees on the results, and then use it for tracking ongoing. Done well, this allows managers to influence better outcomes and provides more clarity for employees on where to place effort for results. Key Points Move past conversations about simply activities and towards conversations about outcomes. Documenting performance management helps create clarity for all parties on the results that are most critical. Managers and employees should work together to create a Performance Results Description (PRD) that captures the ideal results of the role. Within the PRD, Pat suggests that we identify 5-6 Key Result Areas (KRAs) and prioritize them. Example key result areas could be: quality control, new business development, cost analysis, customer evaluations, staffing, etc. Each Key Result Area (KRA) has at least one, and often more than one, performance standard. This is where specific metrics for outcomes can be tracked. An example is: “25% of sales revenue this year was generated from new customer accounts.” Example section of a Performance Results Description (PRD): Key Result Area (KRA): Staffing Performance Standard #1: 25% of external applicants this year self-identify into an underrepresented group, as defined by our companies diversity and inclusion initiative. Performance Standard #2: Two thirds of open requisitions assigned this year are filled within 90 days of posting. Performance Standard #3: Recruiting events are scheduled with at least two universities this year where existing partnerships were not already in place. Resources Mentioned Dale Carnegie Friday workshop series Related Episodes Three Steps to Great Career Conversations, with Russ Laraway (episode 370) Effective Delegation of Authority, with Hassan Osman (episode 413) How to Balance Care and Accountability When Leading Remotely, with Jonathan Raymond (episode 464) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Ginger Hardage: Unstoppable Cultures Ginger Hardage is the former senior vice president of culture at Southwest Airlines. She led a team responsible for building and sustaining the organization s legendary culture and communications enterprise, resulting in 23 consecutive years on Fortune s list of Top 10 Most Admired Companies in the World. Key Points Three Characteristics of [...]

Beth Garrison: Shaping Development Beth Garrison is the senior consultant of Shaping Development and the owner of Operant Coffee. She is a board certified behavior analyst by training and previously was the CEO of a non-profit services division. She s in her second year of membership in the Coaching for Leaders Academy. Key Points When [...]

Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed Bonni Stachowiak (web) (Twitter) is Dave s life partner and best friend, business professor, past executive leader, and the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. Questions Emily asked about strategies for growing her career while planning for a future family. Patrick asked our advice on how to communicate [...]

David Burkus: Friend of a Friend David Burkus is a best-selling author, a sought-after speaker, and an associate professor of leadership and innovation at Oral Roberts University. His TED talk has been viewed over 1.8 million times, he is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review, and he s now listed on Thinkers50. He s just released his [...]

Robbie Samuels: Croissants vs. Bagels Robbie Samuels has been recognized as a networking expert by Inc. and Lifehacker, and is the author of Croissants vs. Bagels: Strategic, Effective, and Inclusive Networking at Conferences.* He s a member of the National Speakers Association and has been speaking on the topic of inclusive networking for over a decade. Key Points If you re [...]

Cameron Herold: Vivid Vision Cameron Herold is the founder of the COO Alliance and the author of several books including Meetings Suck* and The Miracle Morning for Entrepreneurs*, co-authored with Hal Elrod. His new book is Vivid Vision: A Remarkable Tool For Aligning Your Business Around a Shared Vision of the Future*. Key Points If [...]

Celeste Headlee: We Need to Talk Celeste Headlee is an award-winning journalist who has appeared on NPR, PBS World, PRI, CNN, BBC and other international networks. She hosts a daily talk show called On Second Thought for Georgia Public Broadcasting in Atlanta. She s the author of the book We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter*. [...]

Jordan Harbinger: The Jordan Harbinger Show Jordan Harbinger is the critically acclaimed host of The Jordan Harbinger Show. He interviews legendary musicians to intelligence operatives, iconoclastic writers to visionary change-makers. Then he deconstructs the playbooks of the most successful people and challenges his audience to use those insights in their own lives. Key Points Leaders [...]