Out Of The Comfort Zone

The way we work is changing. What we expect of our employer is changing. “Hot-desking”, where you no longer have a permanently assigned desk at work, is becoming more and more common. Millennials are increasingly satisfied with freelance, temporary employment because it gives them greater control of their time. Robots are being considered for far more jobs that you would expect. How realistic are these trends? What other trends will change the way we work? More importantly, what are their implications for how we lead teams? Tune in to find out.

As a leader, you want creative ideas. You know that without creative solutions, business stagnates and competition gets ahead. At the same time, people, including leaders, resist change – particularly creative change. Those two statements work against each other in ways that are counterproductive to the bottom line, to engagement and to teams. How can we reconcile the two? More importantly, what can you do about it as a leader or as a creative solution provider? Tune in to hear how.

Truly great leadership doesn’t just happen. Great leaders, the ones we admire, know the value of taking time to reflect on their own beliefs and patterns. While the outer work of leadership – looking at behaviors – is critically important; equally, the inner work of leadership is critical. The inner work is about examining ourselves, our beliefs, our expectations and noticing how those impact the outer image – the behaviors. Great leadership is more of a yin and yang process – looking at the inner and the outer, being versatile in what is required of you. Tune in to understand 4 mental models of leading and to see why just playing to your strengths isn't the best course of action.

Collaboration and collaborative leadership are hot topics in the business press today. However, practical realities today also expect leaders to control risk, meet targets and manage the performance of the team. Most of us have a deeply ingrained view that our role as leaders and managers is to be in control of the team we lead, make decisions and drive the team to success. This view leads to a hierarchical perspective of leadership instead of a collaborative one. There is another way and it’s called the Collaborative Operating System. Are you ready to break out of your hierarchical mythology and see the world of leadership in a new, totally different way? Do you want to challenge your thinking and your approach? Do you want to know how to lead in a different way even if your boss is very hierarchical? Tune in to find out.

Are you curious about the experiences of people who successfully navigate career transitions? And, interested in knowing what it takes to create a truly diverse and inclusive culture? Tune in to hear Jennifer’s personal experiences and the insight she has gained.

Everyone wants to know how to have more influence. So many roles require cross team, cross functional, cross divisional or cross border coordination where the leader is accountable but has little formal authority over the resources that are needed. Or, if the leader does use formal authority, reactions are not usually very positive. What is the secret to influencing without using or having authority? How can you influence upwards? What if the influence is through virtual channels only?

Often I talk with authors and consultants about their advice to leaders. In this show, I will be talking with a leader about his experiences - particularly those that involve a transition into unknown territory. Tune in to hear his experiences, insights and advice on influence and politics.

The more successful you are and the more responsibility you take on, the messier the problems that you face. All the “easy” ones can get solved in the layers beneath you. The “tougher” one get escalated – and now that’s you. So how can you manage the areas of gray more constructively? What’s the role of reflection in a world that’s packed with to do’s? How should we think about our view of the leader as the hero? Tune to hear more.

Given the pace of change today, companies need to innovate just to stand still. Whose job is it to drive innovation? Where does it happen? What does it take to innovate as a company? What does innovation mean about how we lead? What should you be thinking about as a leader? Tune in to find out how to drive innovation in your company – and it’s probably not what you are doing now.

Curious about your host? Want to know about her experience and perspective? Tune in to hear why expert leadership is such an important phenomena today along with the key barriers for expert leaders to overcome in moving to the next level, the secret to building dream teams and what it takes to build strong business relationships.

For all of us, the person we do not get along with so well, who gets under our skin, presents the most difficult case for working through conflict and disagreement. It’s not just about the content, it’s also about the personality. Why are these situations so difficult to deal with? What can be done when such conflicts arise? Is mediation something to consider and how does it work? If you need advice on how to work with someone who is fundamentally different in style from you, tune in.

Have questions you want to ask? Need advice about your career? This week, we are hosting a call-in show. Call in to +1-866-472-5790 or email your questions to wanda.wallace@leadershipforuminc.com

Communication is a critical skill to lead people. However, we rarely get advice on how to do two aspects of communication effectively: Handle difficult, loaded or leading questions and interrupt a long-winded or off-point speakers to bring a discussion back on track. Our guest today says we should use all questions as an opportunity to tell our story, promote an agenda and get the outcome we need by using bridging techniques. She will show us how to use bridging to handle tough questions and how to anticipate bridging in others to interrupt other speakers politely and return the focus of a conversation back to the issue at hand. Tune in to learn techniques for doing both and improve your communication as well.

Ever wonder about how much courage it takes to be a great leader or to start a company? Tune to hear how one person quit a successful career to start a company in an area he knew nothing about – going from failure to failure and learning along the way. The Washington Speaker’s Bureau, is now a highly successful business that represents legendary leaders. speakers over the years. Don't miss the opportunity to hear the lessons learned from the leaders and the founder’s own experience.

Taking a stretch role forces you out of your comfort zone, into new territory and growth. For such times, can you practice new leadership skills the way you would practice to acquire any new skill? Theatre may hold the answer and it’s not as far-fetched as it might sound. Tune in to see how the ideas and techniques from the world of theatre helps leaders to grow, safely move out of their comfort zones, and perform in new ways that will grow you, your career, and your organization.

Trust has never been more important. However, our focus on quarterly returns and profits plus the lurch from one crisis to the next has eroded the trust we have in our senior most leaders. In this climate, what can you do as an individual leader in a large (or small) organization to build trust? What are the habits that make trust a fact rather than a wish list? And, how do you change behaviors? Join us to find out.

My guest is an accomplished business woman in financial services who has successfully led teams to generate great results. Tune in to hear her experiences on leading for the first time, going from being a peer to a manager on the team, wining over a new boss, persuading others, navigating politics and advice for men and women.

One of the qualities of admired leaders is their level of energy. Regardless how tough the going gets, these leaders seem to be able to keep their energy up. So what is it that they do that the rest of us don’t do? To answer this question, we are going to look at our sources of energy and at what drains energy. We will focus on what we strategies have proven successful in managing energy zappers. And, we will discuss how all of this affects a leader’s presence.

Relationships are critically important to success at work yet they are fraught with challenges. What is it that makes relationships so complicated? Where do we get stuck? What can we do to make relationships easier? Ultimately, how can we have a more positive impact on the organizational culture?

Some of the trickiest situations to navigate are ones that involve disagreement, conflict, with someone who has more power than you. So how does power alter your approach to conflict? How can you recognize the type of conflict situation you find yourself in? What can you do? Tune in to find out.