The Look & Sound of Leadership
The Look & Sound of Leadership is an ongoing series of executive coaching tips designed to help you be perceived in the workplace the way you want to be perceived. Hosted by Tom Henschel of Essential Communications, the podcast offers practical advice on leadership presence, communication, and professional development. Each episode provides actionable insights for managers and executives looking to enhance their impact and effectiveness at work.
Episodes
Managing Emotions
A chief officer finds himself repeatedly triggered by a peer. Afraid he’s going to say or do something he’ll regret, he asks his coach for tools.Three categories of self-regulation tools:PhysicalInternalExternalA visual tool with specific tools in each category is in our Tool bin. Ready for coaching? Reach out to Tom here.There are always more resources in our monthly email. Hear Tom’s most recent
Getting Your Voice Heard
A brilliant but rather shy leader is challenged by her management to be bigger, more executive, speak up more. She is grateful to work with a coach.You can build muscle around getting your voice heard by creating homework for yourself. Think of it like going to the gym: working out regularly helps you build muscle. When creating homework, ask yourself three questions:What am I going to pay atten
Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office
Tom interviews Dr. Lois Frankel about women in the workplace and other ideas in the just-published third edition of Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office. Listen to the full, unedited conversation here.Get the “Nice Girls” book, here.If you’re curious about a chemistry call, pop Tom an email.There are always more resources in our monthly email. COACHES!You are always welcome at the Executive Coac
How to Conquer Nervousness
Before testifying in a high-stakes case, a theorist and his coach swap horror stories about their nerves hijacking them and the lessons they learned.Tom’s top four idea for conquering nervousness:Write happy endingsCelebrate incremental improvementExternalize your nasty voiceIgnore your nervesApplying these techniques using our free PDF about mastering nerves. The clip of Emma Stone battling her a
Humility as Strength
A leader is getting pressured to stop being so prickly and gain some humility. With her coach, she explores whether it’s even possible for humility to ever be a strength. Core concepts in this episode:Humility is confidence without defensiveness.Assess yourself on the humility scale. “How do I respond to challenges?”Humble leaders are confident in their authority.Ask frequently: “How might I be wr
Leading When Ego at the Top Is Unchecked
A chief officer is infuriated by the behavior of his egomaniacal CEO. With his coach, he explores how to be a healthy leader while reporting to a boss he doesn’t respect.Core concepts in this episode:Egomaniacs rattle our sense of self.They will not change.Worrying does not help.Be accountable for how you show up. Manage yourself.Don’t take anything personally. They’re just a piece on a chess boar
How to Grow Your People
A senior vice-president worries that attention on his people’s development will get overwhelmed in the volume of work. He asks his coach for tools to make the process effective and efficient. Download our free tool that maps the Three Conversations Development Plan.Core Concepts Prioritizing professional development is hard.The 3-Conversation model makes development easy for the leader and meaning
How to Motivate and Inspire
After a leader turns around the performance of one of his direct reports, he and his coach explore how it happened. And how to make it stick. Core ideas in the episode:Workplaces improve when positive feedback is presentOur natural human negative bias is a barrier to giving positive feedback.Learn to notice when things go well.Tell people how they are helping solve the puzzle that is work.Researc
How to Guarantee Psychological Safety
A toxic boss destroys psychological safety on her team. One of her direct reports talks to his coach about how to survive. And how to keep his own team safe. Core ideas in the episode:Don’t take other people’s bad behavior personally.You are not a victim. You have choice.Document repeated bad behavior.Openly discussing mistakes without blame creates safety on a team.As the leader, be willing to ad
How to Supercharge Introversion
Concerned his introversion makes him less effective, a corporate vice president asks for coaching – from an extrovert! Together, the coach and client explore ways to assure his introversion is a strength.Myers Briggs Type Indicator assesses four preferences. One is Introversion and Extroversion. Download a free sample of the profile report here. The six tools unpacked in this episode are:Manag
How to Manage Defensive People
A leader with a direct report who is, she says, the most defensive person she’s ever known, devotes an entire coaching session to gathering tools to help her cope. All the tools and ideas and scripts in this episode are in an easy-to-understand infographic. Download it for free here. To work on “deserving” dive into The Four Agreements.Dig into more tools for managing defensive people in our podca
How to Own Healthy Assertion
Still traumatized over an angry explosion she’d aimed at an abusive leader years before, a leader asks her coach to help her access healthy assertion to use during moments of conflict.Where are you on the assertion scale? Our assessments will tell you.In the episode, ASSERTION got divided into two skills: AWARENESS and EXPRESSION.The four-step script to build healthy ASSERTION is:SituationFeelingW
How to Create Engagement Online
Convinced that participants need to engage in order to learn, a leader is discouraged after the cheerless rollout of her online learning program. She turns to her coach for help facilitating virtual groups.Tools in this episode:Tone-setting at the opening:Get people engaged by using the chat to think together;Get people engaged by thinking about how they will show up (ground rules);Ask: “How engag
How to Deepen Relationships at Work
Knowing she’s never been good with people, a leader seeks coaching to her deepen relationships in ways she can tolerate.Two ways to deepen workplace relationships:Matching & Curiosity4 Ways to Match:Match Purpose Match Energy Match Conversations Match Vulnerability Express Curiosity by Asking Deep QuestionsMake sure your questions are open-endedInvite reflectionKeep the other person talkingAns
How to Talk so People Understand You
A leader is losing credibility with her senior leaders. Her boss thinks she can turn it around by learning the sorting tool that transformed him as a communicator, so he brings in the coach who taught him.Sorting & Labeling! The grandaddy of all communication tools. If you can sort and label you will sound like a leader.The four steps in Sorting & Labeling:Use a headlineUse a numberLabel e
How to Answer Questions Powerfully
A leader was given one goal for his coaching: improve how he answered questions. Knowing he struggled with this not only at work, but at home, he asked his coach for tools. Our free PDF shows the two scripts: one for closed-ended questions, one for open-ended. Download it here.Don’t assume you know why people ask what they ask. You don’t. Ever. The closed-ended script:Answer what’s askedMatch L
How to Build Self-Esteem
A leader suddenly hears how harshly she speaks to herself. Wanting help, she turns to her coach who gives her tools to build a practice of self-esteem. The three self-esteem practices are:Self-Acceptance: Practice being FOR yourselfSelf-Worth & Happiness: Practice saying, “I am worthy of being happy”Live in Reality: Practice acknowledging what is and what is not.Download our free Feeling W
How to Build an Executive
A coaching client wonders what elements need to be present for someone to appear ‘executive.’ Two executive coaches ponder this question and come up with five elements they deem essential.Categories in the archive to explore:Developing New BehaviorsExecutive PresencePerception – How You’re PerceivedSix episodes to dive into:189 - Don’t Take Anything Personally178 - Executive Presence – Three Pilla
How to Answer “Tell Us About Yourself”
A senior leader, upset about having flubbed her reply to ‘Tell us about yourself’ during a high-stakes interview, talks with her coach about how to prepare for what she considers to be an incredibly stupid question. Categories in the archive to explore:Communication SkillsExecutive PresencePresentation SkillsSix episodes to dive into:34 - Keeping Repeated Materials Fresh77 - The Power of Rehearsal
How to Tackle Overtalking
A chief officer had known for years he was an over talker. His CEO, desperate for improvement, gave him a coach. This episode highlights their first coaching conversation. Two mindsets from this episode:When you speak, have a destination in mind. Ask yourself: “What is my point exactly?” and “Why is this something they need to know?”Pay attention to your listeners. Respond to their interests.Ask y
Building Listening
A vice-president gets kudos for likability but knocks for her inability to listen. With her coach, she talks about listening repeatedly. This episode features one of those conversations. The 3 listening mindsets:Listen to learnFeelings are naturalStay separateDownload the free multi-page learning tool about listening here. This episode is tagged in three categories in our podcast archive:Communica
Mastering Anxiety
Battling perfectionism and anxiety, a leader asks her coach for help and learns a tool that helps her tame her terrors. This episode dovetails with many ideas in last month’s episode about Coaching versus Therapy.Tom talks about his own bout with anxiety and a near career-ending attack of nervousness in this episode from April. https://essentialcomm.com/podcast/mastering-nerves/Pixar’s Inside Out
Coaching versus Therapy
Tired of feeling like a fraud, a leader searches for help down different paths. She and her coach talk about how coaching is, and is not, like therapy.The leader in this episode wrestles with feelings of being a fraud. Tom talks about three resources to help manage that feeling:“The Executive Impostor” Episode #176 of “The Look & Sound of Leadership”Self-Esteem at Work by Nathaniel Branden &a
Giving Upward Feedback
A leader and her coach discuss a three-step model for turning upward feedback into a learning conversation that might allow the boss to hear the message. This month’s coaching conversation explores whether feedback should be given upwards in the first place. If so, are there ways to deliver the feedback effectively? Download the free “Giving Upward Feedback” PDF.In the commentary, Tom tells a stor
Networking Conversations – Part Two
Knowing she’ll need to network to achieve her career goals, an ambitious leader asks her coach what a good networking conversation actually sounds like.Resources for Building Your Networking SkillsLeverage the latest algorithm on LinkedIn with this research report.Coaching For Leaders podcast: “How to Grow Your Professional Network”Coaching For Leaders podcast: “Executive Presence with Your Elevat
Networking Conversations – Part 1
An ambitious leader knows she’ll need to network to achieve her career goals. But, to her, networking feels slimy, so she asks her coach for help. Some core concepts from this episode:The purpose of networking is to know people.Don’t target people. Nurture a relationship.Make networking 5% of your job every week.Networking makes you a more valuable employee.Show interest in the other person. No mo
Mastering Nerves
Before testifying in a high-stakes case, a theorist and his coach swap horror stories about their nerves hijacking them and the lessons they learned. Tom’s Top Three Ideas for Mastering Nerves:Celebrate Incremental ImprovementWrite Happy EndingsIgnore Your NervesHere is the clip of Emma Stone battling her anxiety.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkN0sPQ76E0Email Tom and tell him he’s crazy here.For
Conquering People Pleasing
Angry at himself for continually putting others’ needs before his own, a leader turns to his coach for tools. He learns a new way to think and a behavior to try. Be in touch with Tom here.Listen to Tom’s conversations with Neha on “Bridge to Leadership” podcast here and here.Our Essential Tools bin has free resources to help you build your look and sound of leadership. G.W. Bailey’s imdb page is h
Finding Management Courage
A vice president, struggling to control his team of artists, learns a technique for managing bad behavior from his coach. He likes it so much, he uses it with his high performers, too.The tool described in this episode is simple to understand but may take a bit of courage to implement.Courage can be taught. Brené Brown created her Dare to Lead course for exactly that purpose. Ready to build your c
5 Strategies for Dealing with Narcissists
A leader is so furious with his self-absorbed boss, he considers quitting the company. He asks his coach to help him manage himself and defuse his triggers.In addition to the five strategies Tom talks about in this episode, there are lots more strategies in his conversation with Dave Stachowiak on Coaching For Leaders “How to Deal with a Boss Who’s a Jerk.” Tom’s wide-ranging conversation with Jos
Leading with Political Savvy – Part 2
Tired of losing to more savvy players, a leader seeks to decode the secrets of playing politics, focusing particularly on company culture. Download our free Political Style Chart here.“The Secret Handshake” is a great tool for mastering workplace politics. Looking for a transcript of the show? Read it here.More tools are in our podcast library. This episode is in three categories:For WomenPercept
Leading with Political Savvy – Part 1
A leader feels stuck. She sees others winning resources she felt should have been hers, but she hates playing politics. What to do? Download our free Political Style Chart here.“The Secret Handshake” is a great tool for mastering workplace politics. Many more tools are in our podcast library. This episode is in three categories:Self-TalkLeadershipFor WomenHere are five episodes to help develop you
Building Consensus – Savvy or Sin?
A leader, surrounded by people she knows and trusts, can’t seem to get traction with them. In conversation with her coach, she discovers an unexpected cause.Tools for teams abound in this episode. The four tools Tom suggests as first steps for helping your team openly discuss ideas are:Say ‘thank you’ when people offer an idea;Be curious; don’t dismiss ideas or people;Don’t take differences person
The Conflict Resolution Wheel
A co-founder, at odds with his partner (also his best friend!), reaches out to his coach for help saving the business and the friendship. The episode introduces The Conflict Resolution Wheel. Download it for free from our Essential Tools bin along with other communication tools like the Feeling Words Grid.The Wheel is based on a tool in the Couple Communication course, a program to help you unders
Essential Skills that Shaped a Leader
A senior leader, having risen through the ranks, ends her coaching engagement by comparing notes with her coach about the skills that have helped her most. This episode identified seven essential leadership skills:Conquer catastrophic thinking;Use fewer words;Value relationships as highly as results;Don’t take anything personally;Commitment to Development;Reflection;Speak for Yourself.Resources to
Taming the Defensiveness Dragon
At the end of her rope, a leader asks her coach for help managing a direct report who, she says, is the most defensive person she’s ever met. This episode was packed with tools. We’ve put them into an easy-to-understand infographic. Download it for free here. Kim Scott, the best-selling author of the electric book Radical Candor, wrote a short, friendly guide with tools for handling defensive empl
Unlocking Executive Presence through Emotional Intelligence
During her first C-suite years, a leader burned a lot of bridges. Her boss, who’d traveled a similar path, gets her a coach and sets only one goal: repair relations through emotional intelligence.Lots and lots of tools and resources this month:Free downloads:The Feeling Words GridEQ ModelBooks and papers to sharpen your skills“Executive Presence: The Missing Link between Merit and Success” “The EQ
Staying Afloat in a Shitstorm
A highly effective leader finds herself in the middle of a terrible mess, not of her own making. When her coach marvels at her ability to stay calm amidst the chaos, she shares a lesson she learned from her dad.In addition to the tools discussed during this episode, Tom also talks about:“Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High.”Conversations with Coaches – Episode #184Executi
How to Command a Room
Wanting to command rooms with her voice, a team leader turned to her coach for exercises. She learned the secrets of “RVP.”In this episode, five practices to help you develop a voice that will command a room are discussed:Vocal varietyExpect resistanceRhythmVolumePitchThis episode has multiple tips and tools for each of those five development areas.The Zootopia clip that gets so much attention is
The Sound of Leadership & Management - 2023
In conversation with her coach, an executive explores whether leaders and managers use language differently in order to be effective in their roles.There are lots of ideas in this episode. To help you sort the tools and put them into practice, we’ve created an infographic for you to download. It’s in the Essential Tools bin along with all the others. Help yourself!This episode is tagged in three c
Leadership v Management - 2023
An executive, in conversation with her coach, wonders if leaders and managers are different. And whether it matters.This episode has lots of ideas flying around. To help you sort the tools and put them into practice, we’ve created an infographic for you to download. It’s in the Essential Tools bin along with all the others. Help yourself! This episode is tagged in three categories in the Podcast L
Finding a Lighter Path
A leader, stuck in an unhealthy cycle, searches for a way out. In conversation with his coach, he learns a four-square tool that just might work.A new free Essential Tool illustrating the four-square model is available for download in the Essential Tools bin. No login required. Help yourself.The model in this month’s episode is a variation on The ACT Matrix. Here’s our favorite YouTube video about
How to Act in Your Own Best Interest
A team leader had a habit of jumping to conclusions. His most recent leap landed him in hot water. In conversation with his coach, he learns a tool for making better choices.We created a new free Essential Tool illustrating The Ladder of Inference. It’s in the Essential Tools bin along with all the others. Please help yourself.The “Don’t Judge Too Quickly” ads are on YouTube here:https://www.youtu
How to Turn on Your Executive Thinking
A senior executive worries that his lieutenants are not being taken seriously by the senior leadership team. He discusses with a coach how to help his rising leaders accelerate their growth. This is that conversation. We created a new free Essential Tool for you called “Executive Thinking.” It illustrates the “altitude” analogy Tom told during the episode. It also supports one of the four exer
How to Disarm a Trigger
A leader causing upset among her people is given a coach. In conversation, they examine what might be triggering people to be upset with her. The exploration leads to a simple, yet difficult, idea.Transcripts of every episode are available for download in our library. Tom mentioned two episodes with mindfulness tools. They are: The Mindful ExecutiveThe Focused Executive.This episode is filed in th
Responsibility Charting
A team leader is tired of kerfuffles. In conversation with her coach, she learns to use a simple chart that generates almost miraculous results.The chart is available to you here. Please, help yourself.Other tools for leading your team that Tom mentioned in this episode include The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. You can download a sample of the team development tool based on the
The Conflict Conversation
What’s helpful to say when you’re in an argument? How can you prepare to have an argument? This month’s coaching conversation dives deeper into the topic of “Conflict” which began last month. This episode has scripts and concepts for mastering The Conflict Conversation. We’ve created another PDF to support your leadership development. It’s a feedback model detailing actions and intentions for you.
Conflict
Conflict is inevitable, but most of us were never taught skills to help us find our way through the dark corridors of this house called “Conflict.” This month’s coaching conversation illuminates predictable patterns and practical tools to navigate successfully through Conflict House. If you’re looking to develop your executive presence, our latest PDF is for you. It talks about the four factors ev
Holding Boundaries
A leader, often reticent to speak up on her own behalf, learns tools to help her ask for what she wants without worrying she’ll incite a battle.This month we’ve created another free PDF for you in our Tools bin. This one is to help you use video playback to achieve The Look & Sound of Leadership.This month’s episode is tagged in the Podcast Library in these three categories:AssertivenessCommun
How to Set Boundaries
Kindness is killing a leader’s ability to set and hold effective boundaries. She works with her coach to find her voice and along the way discovers an empowering image about boundaries.We’ve put lots of free PDFs in our Tools bin to help you achieve The Look & Sound of Leadership.This episode is tagged in three categories in the Podcast Library:AssertivenessManaging YourselfSelf-TalkFive relat
Two Paths to Flow
A worried leader seeks help finding balance between going with the flow and giving himself a larger voice.Visit our Tools bin for free PDFs to help you achieve The Look & Sound of Leadership.This episode is tagged in three categories in the Podcast Library:AssertivenessManaging YourselfRelationship BuildingFive related episodes you might listen to are: 21Eliminating Distractions59 Focus in th
How Leaders Can ‘Play Better Poker’
A missed promotion prompts a leader to complain to her CEO. The CEO responds by getting her a coach, which results in explorations of authenticity, self-awareness and self-management.Visit our Tools bin for free PDFs to help you achieve The Look & Sound of Leadership.This episode is tagged in three categories in the Podcast Library:Managing YourselfPerception - How You Perceive YourselfPercept
7 Steps to Stop Emotional Hijacks
A leader, ashamed of hurtful words she spoke to a colleague, explores what happened with her coach. She learns seven techniques for keeping herself from future emotional hijacks. Download a free PDF about the seven steps to help you stop emotional hijacks here.This episode is tagged in five categories in the Podcast Library: Managing YourselfPerception - How You Perceive YourselfPerception
How To Stay Calm Under Fire
A leader is given a presentation coach and two goals: ‘tell a better story’ and ‘be more responsive in the moment.’ This episode is the coaching conversation about the second goal: be responsive in the moment.This episode is tagged in four categories in the Podcast Library:Communication SkillsExecutive PresencePresentation Skills Self-TalkSix related episodes you might listen to are: #214 How to T
How To Turn Data into Stories
A leader is given a presentation coach and two goals: ‘tell a better story’ and ‘be more responsive in the moment.’ This episode is the coaching conversation about telling a better story. There are four tools in the episode:1. Grab our list of questions [please link to the PDF]2. Build a puzzle for your listeners3. Create a hero in jeopardy4. Work with a partner – cautiously!This episode is tagg
How to Re-engage a Team
Worried that working remotely has disconnected her team, a leader asks her coach for help and learns a powerful tool.Being able to lead your team in growth exercises is a critical leadership skill. This episode is full of tips and guidance for strengthening that muscle.Tom strongly endorses the Liberating Structures website. Lots of amazing free resources there.He also recommends a conversation wi
How To Coach Your People
A no-nonsense leader is asked to add coaching to her list of duties. She turns to the coach who’d coached her for a quick immersion course. Coaching your people requires a shift in thinking and a specific set of behaviors. These ideas are captured in a PDF about the GROW model. It’s available to you for free here.This month we are offering three free mini-courses. Come join us!Demystifying Workpla
How To Show Up
Frustrated at not showing up the way she wants to, a leader, in conversation with her coach, explores ways to integrate her values into her behavior.To show up as more of whatever you want to be, ask yourself: What would be different if I were a little braver right now?What would a brave person do right now?What would I think, or what would I feel, if I were my bravest self right now?How is my sel
How To Grow Your Self-Management
In this episode, a leader feels she lacks courage. She engages her coach in a conversation about how to use self-awareness and self-management as tools to help her become a little bolder.The self-talk scripts discussed in this episode, plus the four-box process Tom described, are available to you in a PDF. You can request it in an email to Tom here or you can download the PDF here.Other resources
How To Build Self-Awareness
Self-awareness, like any muscle, can be built through discipline.In this episode, a leader learns two exercises to help build awareness of her thoughts and feelings.The two exercises discussed in this episode are detailed in a PDF that we’d love to send you. Send us an email and we’ll send back the PDF. The PDF also contains the Feeling Words Grid.Other resources mentioned in this episode: E.Q. Ap
The Democratic Leader
A new leader worries about having to become a dictator in order to meet her goals. She and her coach explore the challenges inherent in trying to be a truly democratic leader.Core concepts in this episode:When pressured, many leaders revert to giving orders.People need time to feel safe speaking up to a new leader.A democratic leader doesn’t have to give everyone their way, just give everyone thei
Tough Conversations
A leader, initially described to his coach as clueless, confronts a hard truth about himself. In the process, he gains a four-step tool to guide him through tough conversations. Core Concepts in this episode: To convey a tough message and maintain a positive relationship: 1. Start with a full-stop. Act, don’t RE-act. Identify why this conversation is important. 2. Express intention. Say why you’re
Understanding Feedback
This month’s coaching conversation explores ways to make feedback more palatable. The secret: sort the feedback you receive into three distinct categories. Many ideas in this episode and last month’s episode are explained more fully in the book: ‘Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well – even when it is off base, unfair, poorly delivered and, frankly, you’re not in
Unblocking Feedback
This month’s coaching conversation follows a client as he works to shrink his blind spot through feedback. He and Tom discuss lowering the barriers that stop us all from taking in feedback. In the episode Tom mentions “Thanks for the Feedback” by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen. Tom also mentioned the PDF showing The Johari Window. Related episodes are: Feedback Leadership Managing Yourself Per
Blind Spots
This month’s coaching conversation features a leader too talented to lose but too troublesome to keep. Tom talks with him about blind spots and how he might reduce his. PDFs for you: The Johari Window Who’s Coachable Win an hour of free coaching with Tom. Complete our survey. The full archive is at: https://essentialcomm.com/podcast Related Archive Categories: Perception – How You Perceive Your
The Show Must Go On
In this special episode, Tom tells a story of being onstage one night in front of a packed theatre audience when the show most definitely did NOT go on. He also shares the lesson he learned from that calamity — a lesson he has subsequently shared with the hundreds of leaders he’s coached who need confidence as presenters. The archive of all the past episodes is available at: http://essentialcomm
The Executive Executive
This month’s coaching conversation is between Tom and Courtney, another executive coach. What traits, they wonder, do effective executives share? If rising leaders wanted to reverse engineer what it means to be executives, what would they put in the mix? The five qualities Tom and Courtney identify are: Resilience -- get over hurts and setbacks Influence – build a natural reserve of strong relati
The Rising Executive
This month’s coaching conversation features a newly promoted leader. He and Tom explore the tools needed to build a strong team quickly. Lots of links this month! At one point in the episode, Rafael mentions his impostor syndrome. For tools about impostor syndrome, check out: The Executive Impostor In the commentary, I mention two books: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and Overcoming The Five Dy
Two dates & a gift — A bonus episode!
Two dates: Monday, November 30, 2020 The survey closes. Complete four questions to be entered to win an hour of free coaching with Tom https://essentialcomm.com/survey Thursday, December 3, 2020 Registration closes for “Leveraging Your Strengths and the Strengths of Others.” After decades delivering courses for our corporate clients, we finally created a course for you. Register at: https://essent
Style Conversations
This month’s coaching conversation is about creating a script called ‘Style.’ The script helps make difficult conversations easier. Complete this month’s four-question survey and be entered to win an hour of free coaching with Tom. essentialcomm.com/survey Sign-up for a small-group, highly interactive Zoom course about the DiSC Behavioral Self-Assessment. This course is available to the first 12 p
Personal Connections
This month’s coaching conversation follows a leader who worries that he’s not very adept when it comes to creating personal connections. He and Tom explore two skills and one mindset that will help ease his way. Related episodes: Dynamic One-on-ones Facilitating Open Dialogue Inviting Dialogue Questions as Leadership The Human Element In the archive, this episode is tagged in three categories R
Psychological Safety
This month’s coaching conversation explores how leaders can foster psychological safety. Teams high in both safety and accountability enter a “Learning Zone” where high performance follows naturally. In this month’s conversation, Tom and his client mentioned “The Checklist Manifesto” by Atul Gawande. His proposition is a great formula for creating psychological safety. Related episodes are: Agreea
Giving Upward Feedback
This month’s coaching conversation explores whether feedback should be given upwards in the first place. If so, are there ways to deliver upward feedback effectively? In the commentary, Tom tells a story about the famous Marshmallow Test being debunked. Here's the column he mentions: https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/06/marshmallow-test/561779/?utm_source=atl&utm_medium=ema
Learnings From Video
This month’s coaching conversation follows a client exploring a surprising use for video, plus a game of imagination. The Marshmallow Test is explained in “Self-Awareness & Self-Management” Core Concepts in this episode: Video provides distance that can help break old patterns. Some people are highly agitated these days. Their agitation is not about you. Don’t take it personally. You might fi
The Intentional Leader
This month’s coaching conversation wrestles with the obstacles that arise when you try listening to people who think out loud – often at great length! This month’s coaching conversation is wide-ranging. It includes a leader’s story about being buoyed by her team. She and Tom also swap answers to a favorite question of her team’s: “How’re ya coping?” They then explore managing stress through being
Connecting Over Video
SHOWNOTES: This month’s coaching conversation is with a leader who wants to keep strong connections despite the quarantine. She and Tom explore the barriers that make connecting over video so difficult. Four essentials to attend to on video: Angle Lighting Background Sound From Tom to you: These difficult times can create a lot of fear. An antidote is to be curious. Curiosity is at the very hear
Branding Yourself
This month’s coaching conversation explores how to project your personal brand into the workplace. When done well it can seem like a Jedi mind trick – but it’s really just personal branding. Here are the five links Tom mentioned in the episode. Looking good in video conferencing https://medium.com/@bobsacha/a-cinematographers-guide-to-looking-good-in-web-based-video-conferencing-fb6cf651714c 4
Pursuing A Promotion 2020
This month’s coaching conversation is with a high-performer who was passed over for a promotion. Together, she and Tom identify tools to make sure she doesn’t get passed over again. Core Concepts in this episode: > Aisha chose to NOT be self-promotional. In your organization, a more vocal approach may be effective. > Click out. Think from a higher altitude. Give yourself the promotion. >
Coaching Under Attack
This month’s coaching conversation isn’t so much a conversation as a fencing match. A newly installed president grills Tom about the coaching he’s been delivering at her company for years. There are two different strands you might follow from this episode. One is about coaching. You might listen to these episodes: Coaching Your People Coaching Versus Therapy Readiness in Coaching Another strand yo
Thinking Errors
This month’s coaching conversation examines phrases we use that lead us into self-deception. Tom and his client explore why thinking errors so often remain invisible and, once revealed, what other words might be possible substitutions.SHOW NOTES: Tom mentions two books in this episode: “How To Raise Your Self-Esteem” by Nathaniel Branden https://www.amazon.com/Raise-Your-Self-Esteem-Action-Orient
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