Out Of The Comfort Zone

Most of us believe that collaboration is the ideal path forward; however, this is far easier said than done particularly for very complex problems. Typically the parties that need to collaborate do not trust each other, do not agree on the solution and do not want to talk with each other. This week’s guest, Angela Knight, has been very successful in bringing together groups of people who have very different, often competing, interests. IN a very politically astute way, she has a method for getting these groups to agree on policy and a way forward. Tune in to hear how she accomplishes this feat.

This week’s show highlights the career, experience and lessons learned of a leader in the biotech industry. Beginning his career as deep expert in science, Doug Williams transitioned to leading companies and departments. Doug’s experiences in managing the transition, becoming more of a leader than a scientist, building teams and maintaining confidence when he was out of his comfort zone have great insights for all of us. In addition, Doug has a perspective on the role of emotions in motivating people as well as great advice on delegating and managing your time.

Many leaders are talking about coaches – either because they have one or they have been told they should have one. But, when does a coach really help? How should you use a coach? How do you select a coach (or know if the one you are working with is doing the best job for you)? Stephen Marshall, this week's guest, has been on both sides of the divide. He was responsible for hiring coaches when he worked at Siemens and he is now coaching executives.

Tom Wilson, Chief Risk Officer at Allianz, will be my guest this week. Tom is the ultimate expert leader and he has a valuable perspective on the additional skills that expert leaders need to acquire to be most effective. Join us to hear his perspective on the mistakes deep experts make along with his advice on delegating, choosing what to get involved in and what to let go, communication and being commercially savvy.

All organizations, regardless of the size, have conflict – meaning one person or group wants to go in one direction, another person or group wants to go in another direction. Learning to manage conflict in a constructive manner is thus a core skill for leaders. But managing conflict does not mean having the best intellectual argument and “winning” the case. It is much more complex than just being right. Craig Runde, a recognized expert on conflict, will join us to talk about what goes wrong, what to do and how to manage emotions in the midst of conflict.

We will be talking about the things leaders do that stall careers – what goes wrong, the warning signs, how to prevent those mistakes. These are the actions that cause followers to loose confidence in a leader and to resist a leader’s direction. In addition, we will offer real-world, practical advice on developing leadership capability and assessing that capability – both for your self and for others. Paul Minx, former global head of talent and leadership development, and Rob Kaiser, coach, researcher and assessor of top talent, will be this week’s guests.

Elizabeth Kuhnke, my guest this week, specializes in coaching leaders on improving presence, confidence and gravitas through the way they use their physical presence. Elizabeth will be talking about the mistakes a leader can make in using his/her voice as well as body language cues that signal a lack of confidence. More importantly, she will be giving advice about what to do to improve presence, confidence and authenticity. She is the author Body Language for Dummies.

Peter Wright, my guest this week, has been under lots of fire both literally and figuratively. He was in the British army in active duty and he was at BP just after the Texas City oil refinery explosion. This list goes on - one could almost say that challenges follow him. One of the key components, in his view, is for leaders to become more comfortable devolved leadership – meaning the willingness to let ideas come from the most unlikely places in the organization and to not have all the answers yourself. Peter will be describing his experiences under fire, the leaders who inspired others during tough times, what makes people follow in times of crisis other than necessity and how we can better prepare leaders.

Do think leaders need to know at least as much as their direct reports? Or do you doubt how leaders can make critical decisions without full information. Then this week’s show is for you. John Murphey, former CEO of Bell Helicopter and my guest for this week, has been in the leadership seat under trying circumstances. When he took over as CEO, the company was loosing money, customers were very unhappy, he had major surgery and 9/11 happened – all in the space of about 30 days. How do you lead with confidence and integrity under those conditions when you are not in your comfort zone? We will talk about how John led when he didn’t have all the answers, what he said to the organization, how he gained credibility, how he built his team and how he made decisions.