C-Suite Intelligence

CEOs and executives are facing a tsunami of real-time change – at a pace and velocity never seen before. Stephen Miles and Taylor Griffin discuss the leadership tools needed in today’s environment to create flexible and adaptable companies and cultures, so that change is something leaders can take on successfully and with confidence.

The go-to podcast for high performers and aspiring leaders is back for a third season. Hear CEO Stephen Miles, COO Taylor Griffin, and top executive coaches at The Miles Group and their special guests discuss how to thrive through impending recession and systemic inflation, how to build operating models that are flexible and adaptable, why ultimate high-performing leadership teams reduce friction, and more.

One of the most important elements of being a high performance, high growth executive is identifying ways to reduce behavioral friction. These “low friction” leaders line up to stakeholders’ preferences and styles. Stephen Miles and Taylor Griffin discuss common examples of behaviorial friction, and explain how low friction leadership can lead to exponential growth and create leadership opportunities for executives.

Most founders and executives are so deeply immersed in their business model and products that they forget about themselves – their own personal growth as a leader. Everybody talks about business growth or the exponential growth of an organization, but personal growth is just as important, say Stephen Miles and Taylor Griffin. The research is clear that when a founder can effectively scale with the company, shareholder returns tend to be high. There must be commitment to personal growth. It’s an ongoing and continuous activity, not just for yourself, but also for the organization and the teams you lead.

Even though they can be inspirational, motivational, and passionate, many Silicon Valley leaders lack the right performance-driven toolkit to achieve success in every economic environment. Rob Tarkoff, EVP of Oracle, joins Stephen Miles and Taylor Griffin to describe the kind of “ambidextrous” nature VCs look for in executives – the combination of a potential-driven mindset with the performance-driven aspects of bootstrapping and doing more with less.

Operating in highly complex and dynamic environments, the best CEOs maintain alignment with their teams by communicating frequently, collaborating effectively, and prioritizing routinely. Good process delivers good outcomes, say Stephen Miles and Taylor Griffin, and if you take the time to thoughtfully recalibrate and refocus teams with constant context, you can create a culture and environment where everyone can win together.

As layoffs hit the tech sector, Stephen Miles and Taylor Griffin discuss how companies need to pivot from potential to performance. We’ve seen valuations come down at a catastrophic level that nobody could have ever imagined, say Miles and Griffin. They explain how the sudden change redefines expectations for leaders, who may need to refocus their teams on their core business – that “original wicked idea” that got them there.

Unlocking performance inside an organization requires delivering real outcomes, not just a proliferation of activities, say Stephen Miles and Taylor Griffin.  This can prove difficult in our new multivariate and asynchronous operating environment. Miles and Griffin discuss how “executing for outcomes” can help refocus and reorient teams in turbulent, highly complex times.

There are three levels of leadership awareness that are critical for any leader, or aspiring leader: self-awareness (MeQ), one-to-one leadership (EmQ), and one-to-many leadership (SocQ), which includes the broader social context and environment. Taylor Griffin and Courtney Hamilton discuss why today’s “social economy” compels leaders to develop a more nuanced awareness toward various stakeholders and audiences, both within the company and without.

High-potential employees are easy to spot – they’re usually quick on the uptake, light on their feet, and have a high capacity for growth. Leaders are attracted to hiring people who they believe will grow into roles, however, they don’t always invest the proper training to get them there. Taylor Griffin and Courtney Hamilton discuss how leaders can ultimately build out a mosaic of talent across their team that’s going to meet the needs of the business today and the business of tomorrow.

Conversations around developing an effective executive presence tend to focus heavily on “leadership” but not enough on “followership.” Most executives are followers long before they are leaders. For Stephen Miles and Taylor Griffin, good followership requires understanding your own style and making sure it complements both your boss's and your teammates' styles. And that is critical to becoming a good leader.

Introvert or Extrovert; Thinker or Blinker – one is not better than the other when it comes to elevating your executive presence. Rather, it’s about mastering your personal leadership style to show up as the best version of yourself. Stephen Miles and Taylor Griffin explore the differences between these various styles and discuss how high-performing executives can add range to their style so they can better know themselves and show up appropriately and with confidence.

Many executives who have been working from home during Covid may need a wardrobe and executive appearance refresh. Yet the challenge for most leaders who receive feedback around their executive presence is that their sartorial style is fine. Stephen Miles and Taylor Griffin discuss how real executive presence extends far beyond dress, to the substance of executives’ contributions and their ability to both elevate and adapt their styles to new challenges, reporting relationships, and colleagues.

No matter where you work or whatever industry you are in, being best at the “people business” can help you succeed. When talent management is as critical to your company’s long-term goals as it is to your short-term bottom line, you need a team you can rely on, and one that can rely on you, too. Stephen Miles and Taylor Griffin explain steps leaders can take to set their people up for success.

The job of high-performing leaders isn’t what it used to be. On top of running the company amidst a complex business environment of overlapping crises, CEOs and other C-Suite leaders bear the weight of increasing responsibility, at times defending their companies’ very license to operate. Stephen Miles and Taylor Griffin explain how a new kind of ‘Leader of the Future’ is emerging as we begin to recover from the pandemic despite setback after setback.

What does it mean to successfully reframe “The Great Resignation” into “The Great Transition?" Top executive coaches Stephen Miles and Courtney Hamilton discuss how companies are successfully onboarding new employees; what it's like to welcome someone remotely; and, what the best and worst practices are in this environment for leaders, employees, and those taking on senior roles in new companies. In this important new podcast, Miles and Hamilton share strategic and practical tips for success as the pandemic waxes and wanes, but does not disappear.

As business leaders continue to reimagine the way we work, offices everywhere are getting revamped to support new organizational priorities. For Stephen Miles and Christina Woodard, office density and intentionality top the list. We need to be purposeful about what we’re doing, says Miles, and why we’re asking teams to convene. Working together, colleagues can peel away from virtual meeting rooms to reforge strong connections and trust in person, and then tackle the hard issues with creativity and high performance. In a sense, the office of the future will be like a private club, where employees are the members.

“This is what happens when you put everybody in solitary confinement for an extended period of time,” says Stephen Miles, Founder and CEO of The Miles Group. “Covid quarantines have led to all kinds of strains on individuals’ energy,” adds Taylor Griffin, COO of The Miles Group. "We have a lot of senior executives coming to us and asking how they deal with this for themselves, as well as for their broader teams and employee base. Employees have high expectations of their leadership teams that they are really going to learn something through Covid, and that the future office is going to look different from before. Many people really enjoyed the flexibility of working from home.” Miles and Griffin discuss the high expectations employees have of their leaders, and offer insights, tips and tools on how the future office can look different, and work better, than it did before Covid. Part of getting your mojo back is building relationships, learning lessons, and reestablishing your comfort zone with getting to work

The pandemic lockdown called for CEOs everywhere to transform their businesses to remote operation. Two years in, millions of white-collar workers are returning to the office – an exercise that is playing out in multiple phases and to varying degrees of success. As Stephen Miles and Taylor Griffin explain, since 2020, remote work has gotten very transactional and people are less engaged. With attrition rates at an all-time high, they discuss the importance of meaningful interactions among teams and managers, and how leaders can leverage their virtual toolkit to optimize “Office Next.”

Inflation continues to climb at its fastest pace in decades, but most CEOs and board directors today have never dealt with hyperinflation – that’s when inflation “turns from transitory to intrinsic, affecting every facet of business in the world today.” Stephen Miles and Taylor Griffin discuss how executives can begin to lead – and win – in this new dynamic environment.