Out Of The Comfort Zone

Great leadership involves a complex set of demands – often ones in conflict with each other. In this episode we begin with the eight biggest paradoxes leaders must learn to balance to be truly exceptional. Then we turn to a more recent paradox – that of trying to understand and manage multiple generations in the workplace while being fair to all and still driving performance. Tune in for insight and tactics.

Getting out of your comfort zone means learning to cope with mistakes and set-backs – in other words being resilient. In fact, senior leaders often give the feedback that people in the organization need to be more resilient particularly given the change, uncertainty and chaos around all of us. But, what does that mean – being resilient? Why? Beyond sleeping well, what else can you do to develop resilience? Tune in to find out.

Nothing seems to raise concerns like pay and benefits. If you think you should be paid more or if you want to ask for a pay increase, this session provides information need to know about how pay systems work.

Advancing your career today is harder than ever for many reasons from economic pressures to competition, uncertainty, changing expectations, leadership commitment – the list is a long one. How do you tackle the problems that plague individuals such as perfectionism, exclusion, aspiration and confidence? And as a leader, how do you navigate the changing expectations of what you should be doing? Tune in for great advice based on an extensive data base analysis.

Respect, being valued, feeling like you belong, appreciating your contribution – these are things all of us want from our employers. Some of us get that respect, too many don’t particularly if you feel like more of an “other”. Why is respect such a key component of motivation? What do you need to be doing as a leader? What should you do if you get it wrong with someone? How does respect create a more inclusive environment? Tune in to learn how to do the right thing.

Who doesn’t want more confidence, especially when you have stepped out of your comfort zone and are trying to do something you haven’t yet mastered! That’s when most of us begin feeling like an imposter. Today’s episode is focused on the 8 confidence super powers – the mindsets that make all the difference to sustaining confidence. Tune in to hear how you can build more confidence.

Do you struggle to frame your thoughts in meetings? Do you avoid speaking up? Do you dread speaking in public? If so, this episode is for you. Tune in to hear the tricks and tactics for managing anxiety, for what to do when your mind goes blank as you are about to speak and for saying what’s on your mind in the moment.

At some point in our careers, all of us have to work with a co-worker or a boss who is “difficult”, from our point of view and who ultimately drains the joy out of work. These are complex situations but there are strategies to help. Tune in to hear about some of the typical challenges and what you can do to make work more satisfying.

You have probably been told that you need to raise your profile or do more self-promotion in order to get the opportunities you want to have. And you probably haven’t done much about it. If so, this episode is for you. How can you brag in a better way – one that is effective as well as true to you and your style? Tune in for very practical advice.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to become truly skilled, an expert, in a new area – that is when “we become the Master of It instead of us being mastered by it”? In this era of change, the ability to learn, to master a topic, has never been more important to all of us throughout our careers in order to stay relevant. Listen in to hear what it takes to develop mastery.

Getting people to listen is step one in persuading them to take an action. That is true whether you are giving a big speech, making a pitch, presenting an idea to your boss or lobbying for a new responsibility. What we used to advise doesn’t work so well today. So, what do you need to do? How can you improve your ability to communicate and persuade even if you don’t like speaking in public? Tune in for practical advice.

Power and influence – two words that are critical in a world that is vastly different from a decade ago even. We often think about hierarchical power as the most important – sometimes the only power we see. While, it’s not to be ignored, that’s insufficient for the way we work today. Our focus today is on what can you do to influence decision making. Listen in to hear more.

Digital transformation, data analytics, AI, ChatGPT are the current headlines. What does it mean for you as a leader? What do you need to know? What do you need to do? How do you lead your team through these transformations in practical terms? Listen to find a path forward.

In the project driven work of today, the ever ominous matrix and the need to manage stakeholders, influence is critical, perhaps more so than ever. How do you influence without manipulating? What are the key steps to influencing? What are the essential ingredients? Listen in to hear how you can expand your influence.

Questions are the most important tools in a leadership toolkit. Questions help you coach effectively as well as delegate, learn, innovate, engage, motivate, cope with uncertainty … well just about everything. What makes a great question? What sorts of questions should you be asking? How do you ask better questions? Listen in for advice from one of the best question askers.

Hear from a leader who has stepped out of her comfort zone and learn what she has done to be successful in those moments, how she prepares for the next level, how she has found the courage to make bold moves and how she stays motivated.

Many writers and consultants have an opinion about what makes for great leadership – usually focused around their main theme. This episode takes a wholistic view by talking to a Chief Human Resource Officer about what key mistakes he sees in leader, the outstanding qualities of the best leaders, what he wish people would do for their development and how to idenitfy great talent for your team. And, we are going to talk about how you can think about the next step in your career and get out of your comfort zone. Listen in for an on the ground perspective.

Some skills are and will be essential in the coming decades and if you want to stay relevant regardless the latest technology or content developments, you should invest now in learning those skills. One such case is design thinking as a way to see the whole system. Listen in to learn what design thinking is, how it will help you do your job and keep your job and what you need to develop in order to master it.

Most of us don’t love self-promotion but we know we need to do it – or rather we think we are supposed to do it. Finally, there is advice on how to bragg without coming across as egotisticial or boastful. Listen in to learn more.

Regardless where you work or how empathetic and caring you are as a person, everyone eventually needs to work with someone where the relationship is less than ideal – where there is tension, diasgreement and maybe even a bit of dislike. How do you work through those occasions without giving up too much of yourself in the process? How do you structure the critical conversations? How do you prepare yourself? Tune in to hear what to do.