Out Of The Comfort Zone

Everyone complains about the number of meetings and the ineffectiveness of meetings. What if you had tools and processes that would help you lead more productive meetings? What if those same processes helped make all conversations more effective? Tune in to find out how.

Being a newcomer is daunting – whether it’s a new group, a new team, a new boss or a new company. There are relationships to build from scratch, people to remember, questions to ask and work to be done. What should you do when you are new? How can you build relationships with strangers? How do you manage all these new people if you are more of an introvert than an extrovert?

What impact do you want to have on your organization? What do you want people to say about your leadership? Who do you want to be as a leader? How can you shape the culture around you as a result? How can you be more intentional – every day in every situation? Tune in to hear the answers.

How can you go from one discipline or function to a totally different one and still be effective? How can you move from one country culture to another and adapt quickly enough to be credible? How can you move from one company culture to a radically different one and adjust your approach? Tune in to find out how one executive survived several career transitions and the lessons learned along the way.

What do you need to be doing as a manager to be a fabulous boss? How can you as a manager both get results and inspire the team – what do you do and not do? What are they keys to managing up most effectively? How do you deal with “challenging” managers? In effect, how do you win well - without loosing your soul along the way?

Trust! We know it’s critical, it’s easily broken and societal trust is declining. What does it take to create a culture of trust? How can you repair trust? What’s your legacy? My guest this week, Roy Reid, says that an average level of trust is totally inadequate – we should live our lives with OUTRAGEOUS Trust. To do so, we have to be intentional and mindful about how we earn, build and restore trust. Then, benefits will follow… economic and personal.

Are you managing people in different locations who have little chance to get together in person? Are you struggling to create a virtual team? More and more managers are having to give feedback over the phone. Telepresence is becoming common in offices. With the rise in global projects and the increase in flexible working, learning to manage, lead, build teams that are not co-located is an important skill. Hear expert advise on best practices.

Collaboration is a hot topic among leaders… so is inclusivity. However, few know what to do to truly build a collaborative and inclusive culture – especially when groups start from a position of distrust. Collin Rustin has the answer on to what to do. His process has successfully taken conflict ridden groups through turmoil and on to greater trust, authentic relationships and genuine dialogue. The focus is Collin’s wisdom and experience.

Are you not managing stress as well as you would like to do? Do you question your leadership and your contribution? Do you need to let go of some control? These are the topics for this show based on the principles of Heart-Centered Leadership. brHeart-Centered Leadership is about being more mindful as leaders – understanding the impact of self-care and authenticity on the satisfaction and well-being of the workforce and, by extension, the bottom line.

Do you manage people (or clients) who are in different locations from you? Do you end up having most of your conversations via phone or video conference rather than face-to-face? If so, this show is full of practical tips from a leader who’s clients and teams are distributed. Hear his experiences and the tactics he uses to make virtual interactions highly effective.

As an expert, how do you know if you are ready to manage on a larger scale? Are you prepared for the challenges that come with that step like navigating through customer complaints? How can you prepare to work with the top of the organization? And, how can you tell if it’s time to step back into an individual contributor role? Tune in for the answers to these and other questions.

How do you increase someone else’s receptivity to your message about influence? For starters, be clear about the purpose of your efforts to influence - are you trying to influence action, thinking or fundamental mindset? There is more to do as well. Tune in to hear how to increase receptivity, the differences in influence approaches, the structure of an influence conversation and the 9 principles of influence.

High stakes mean emotions are high, trust is less than ideal, tension is up, there is controversy and often we feel politics have come into play. In those moments how can you engage people, particularly your peers and the CEO, in a constructive conversation that gets a good outcome? What strategies can you use when a hostile question is thrown out in a meeting? What should you do and not do in your delivery? What does the CEO really want to hear from you?

Are you looking for better ways to engage your team? Do you need to change the culture within your team? Do you need to find ways to instill the right leadership behaviors? All of these are dramatically affected by one thing – the stories you and the team tell. Actually, the stories people tell may be more significant than you can imagine. Tune in to hear why and what to do.

Have you ever wondered how to understand your purpose at work or how to find purpose and meaning in your work? As a leader, do you aspire to lead so that others find meaning and purpose in what they do? If so, this show is for you. It’s easy to use the words but not so easy to understand what to do – until you hear from Arthur Woods, this week’s guest.

We know the importance of getting buy-in, getting people on board with your idea, bringing people around on a change initiative, persuading people that your way of thinking is the best way. Yet, it is never an easy thing to do. Laurence Lewis has introduced and sold many initiatives in his career. People describe him as a master at influence. Tune in to hear his experience and his advice for getting people on board.

Negotiation is a important tool – one we typically think of as applicable to sales scenarios. But, negotiation is a powerful and effective way to influence people whether you are trying to influence the price, influence a peer to support you in a project or influence your manager. What are the best practices in negotiation? What should you avoid doing? How can you start to use those tools now? Join us to find out.

Ever wonder how to walk into a room full of people you don’t know and start a conversation – even if you are an introvert? Have you ever searched for a way to end a conversation? And, how do you follow-up with people you just met? Join us for answers to these questions along with other tips from a networking expert.

If you know you haven’t mastered the art of networking, this interview is for you. We focus on why a network is powerful and then how you can extend your network in practical ways, how to find and nurture valuable connections and how to develop sponsorship.

Most people (98%) have better ideas when they are not at work. How can you create an environment at work where ideas come forward? It’s not just about running a brainstorming session. Instead it’s much more about the culture you create and the way you as a leader grow ideas. The good news is that there are clear tips on what to do and what to avoid doing. Tune in to hear the advice.