Lead From Here

Stop Training Prompts. Start Training Judgment. - Episode #130

Lead From Here — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 16:52:01 -0100

Everyone's learning prompt engineering. Almost nobody's learning the skill that actually matters: judgment.

In this episode, I break down why prompt skills have a short shelf life, why the best prompt won't save you if you don't know what good looks like, and how to develop the thinking that AI can't replace.

I cover:
- Why prompt engineering is a skill with an expiration date
- The difference between asking AI a question and knowing whether to ask at all
- How confident-sounding outputs fool people who haven't trained their judgment
- Why AI doesn't know what matters to your business, your customer, or your team
- How speed without judgment creates faster mistakes at a bigger scale
- What the leaders who win will actually be good at

If you've been focused on getting better at prompts, this might change your priority.

Building Trust Through Skip Levels (Not Just Gathering Intel) - Episode #129

Lead From Here — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 16:00:00 -0100

Skip levels aren't about gathering intel. They're about building trust two levels down - and that trust compounds over time.

If your only goal is information extraction, people will figure it out fast. In this episode, I break down how to run skip levels that build relationships instead of eroding them, the questions that actually unlock honesty, and why the trust you build now pays off in moments you can't predict.

I cover:

- Why interrogation-style skip levels backfire
- The real purpose of skip levels (hint: it's not going around your managers)
- Why skip levels that only happen during problems create panic
- How to make people feel safe enough to share the unfiltered version
- The one question that opens doors others keep closed
- What it means to leave someone feeling heard, not used

If your skip levels feel awkward or surface-level, this one will help you reset.

Hard Isn't Inherently Bad - Episode #128

Lead From Here — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 16:00:00 -0100

Hard isn't the problem. Avoiding it is. Here's how leaders get this wrong - in both directions.

Somewhere along the way, we started treating discomfort like a warning sign instead of evidence that we're doing something that matters. In this episode, I break down why hard is part of the job, how to calibrate the push for your team, and what to do when someone's struggling not because they're weak - but because they're in the wrong seat.

I cover:
- Why we've been sold a lie about discomfort at work
- The reality that business pressure isn't going away
- How to know when to push and when to let the team breathe
- The difference between stretching someone and breaking them
- Why moving someone out of a role isn't failure - avoiding the conversation is
- How to lead hard conversations without leading with judgment

If you've been wondering whether you're pushing too hard or not hard enough, this one's for you.

The 1:1 That Made Them Stay (And the One That Made Them Leave) - Episode 127

Lead From Here — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 14:20:01 -0100

Your 1:1s are either keeping people or pushing them out the door. Here's how to make those 30 minutes actually count.

Most managers treat 1:1s like status updates. Meanwhile, their direct reports are deciding whether to stay or start job searching. In this episode, I break down what separates the 1:1 that builds loyalty from the one that drives people away.

I cover:

Why status updates don't belong in your 1:1
The 1:1 that made them stay vs. the one that made them leave
Why cancelling sends a louder message than anything you'd say
The questions that actually surface what's really going on
Why the best 1:1s have them talking more than you
How 26 hours a year becomes your biggest investment or your biggest miss

If you're running 1:1s on autopilot, this one might change how you show up next week.

The Trap of Transparency - Episode 126

Lead From Here — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 20:03:00 -0100

Transparency can backfire. Here's how to know when honesty helps - and when it makes everything worse.Everyone tells leaders to be transparent. But there's a line between building trust and creating anxiety, and most leaders don't know where it is.In this episode, I break down the transparency trap - why oversharing often serves you more than your team, and how to be honest without dumping chaos on people who can't do anything about it.I cover:- Why transparency isn't telling your team everything you know- The difference between honesty and premature disclosure- How oversharing makes you feel better while making them feel worse- The one question to ask before sharing anything- Why withholding information isn't always lying- What selectively transparent leadership actually looks likeIf you've ever wondered how much to share with your team - this one's for you.

The Human Skills AI Can't Replace - Episode 125

Lead From Here — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 19:54:00 -0100

Everyone's chasing AI fluency. The leaders who'll win are the ones doubling down on what AI can't do.AI can generate answers faster than you ever will, but it can't tell you if that answer is right for this moment, this team, this context. The more AI handles routine work, the more your value shifts to judgment, trust, and genuine human connection.In this episode, I break down why the scarcest resource in a world of infinite content isn't another tool or prompt, it's someone who actually cares.We cover:→ Why trust is built in small moments no algorithm can replicate→ The skills most leaders avoid that AI will never do for you→ How AI raises the floor, but human skills raise the ceiling→ What makes people actually want to follow youThe question isn't whether you can use AI. It's whether you can do the things AI makes more valuable by contrast.

Your High Performers Don't Want to Be Managed - Episode 124

Lead From Here — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 19:47:00 -0100

Your high performers don't want to be managed. They want autonomy, flexibility, and to be left alone. But you still need to develop them, give feedback, and keep them engaged. Here's the new playbook.In this episode, I break down why high performers resist management, what they actually need from you, and how to keep your best people challenged without driving them away.I cover:- Why "leave me alone" is about their history, not you- The difference between self-sufficient and self-directed- How your job shifts from managing work to managing environment- How to give feedback to people who don't think they need it- Why autonomy without development is neglect dressed up as trust- The real risk with high performers (hint: it's not failure)If you've got someone on your team who's crushing it but pushing back on oversight, this one's for you.

Say Less, Be Heard More - Episode 123

Lead From Here — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 19:32:00 -0100

Your team is drowning in Slack messages, all-hands recordings, and update emails. They're more informed than ever and somehow still confused. Here's why more communication is making things worse - and what actually creates clarity.In this episode, I break down why over-communicating backfires, the real test for whether your communication is working, and how to say less while being understood more.I cover:- Why information overload causes your team to tune out- The clarity test every leader should try- What your team actually needs from youIf your team is overwhelmed but still unclear on priorities, this one's for you.

Leading Through the Pivot (Again) - Episode 122

Lead From Here — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 19:23:00 -0100

Your company pivoted again. Your team is exhausted from whiplash.

The problem isn't change. It's constant change without recovery time.

And when you try to rally the troops, they see through it. They know this is the fourth pivot this year. Your enthusiasm feels dishonest.

Here's what I learned: you may not be able to control the strategy. But you can control how your team experiences the chaos.

Your job isn't to make the pivots make sense. Your job is to help your team stay effective and sane despite them.

Why Your Job Search Feels So Heavy - Episode 121

Lead From Here — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 17:40:33 -0100

You're not just looking for a job. You're mourning an identity, a team, a future you thought you had.I don't see enough people talking about this.Everyone gives you tactics. Update your resume. Optimize LinkedIn. Network harder. But nobody acknowledges you're grieving while doing all of it.And when you skip the grief, it leaks out sideways. You perform confidence in interviews you don't feel. You take the wrong offer just to get your identity back. You network from desperation instead of connection.The goal isn't to stop feeling it. The goal is to stop letting it drive your decisions.

If you're in this right now: it's real, it's hard, and it ends.

Avoid the DOOM LOOP as a Leader - Episode 120

Lead From Here — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 16:49:00 -0100

To maintain a clear mind and make the best decisions daily, it's essential to avoid the doom loop. This involves recognizing negative thought patterns and breaking free from them to foster a more positive and productive mindset.

Leadership Has Change - Episode #119

Lead From Here — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 14:56:35 -0100

I haven't posted in a while.Not because I had nothing to say, but because I felt like I was missing the plot.Leadership content (including mine) was teaching the same 2015 playbook. But the world of work has fundamentally changed.So I took a step back to rethink what actually matters in 2025.Then I got laid off after almost 9 years leading engineering teams.While it sucks to lose the job you love. It was a catalyst.Here's what I'm seeing: → AI eliminating entire layers of talent → Companies restructuring more often → Remote work fundamentally changing teams → The career ladder crumblingTraditional leadership advice doesn't work for this reality.So I'm building something new: Leadership for the AI Era.Real frameworks. Practical tools. A community of leaders navigating this shift together.Watch the video to hear where I've been and what I'm building next.If you're feeling this shift too - follow along.

When Difficult Conversations Go Bad | Lead From Here #118

Lead From Here — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 15:31:28 +0000

Difficult conversations are the worst part of leadership, but they are also the most important conversations you will have in your career. It's imperative that you do your best to make the conversation as effective and helpful as possible to the person on the receiving end. That sounds pretty straightforward, but what about when things go wrong? Whether it's the persons final conversation before being walked out or it's someone you are trying to coach back into solid standing, there will be times where the conversation goes off the rails. When that happens it's up to you as the leader to keep it moving forward in a positive and effective directions. Don't get caught up in the moment, regardless of what they say. You are the person giving them this difficult information, it's natural for them to respond negatively. The key is to stick to the plan, keep your emotions in check and finally remember that you are there to help. Do that and even when things go sideways, you will be able to keep it professional and effective, while also being human. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: https://leadfromhere.co/lead-from-here-monthly-newsletter/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #hardconvos #difficultconversation #toughtopics #hard #difficult #conversations

Be Vulnerable with Your People | Lead From Here #117

Lead From Here — Tue, 21 May 2024 03:48:14 +0000

I received an email from a leader that was asking how he could "fix his team". They are struggling with missing deadlines, complaining/fighting, poor quality and just generally not running as efficiently as he would like. In that email he also let me know how he approaches the team and it involves, "not showing any weaknesses" and "putting up a strong front at all time". From the information I have received, I can deduce that the team doesn't have a quality problem, a deadline problem, they have a leadership problem. That may sound harsh, but all the problems this leader shared were just symptoms of a deeper issue. Your people can see right through your front, your shortcomings and weaknesses are apparent to everyone around you...trying to hide it just breaks trust and makes you look bad. The worst part is it also creates an environment where people try to avoid failure, they as Simon Sinek says "Lie, Hide and Fake". To have healthy teams, that are highly effective for extended periods of time, you have to start with a foundation of trust and empathy...that foundation begins with you being your authentic self, warts and all! Pretending like they don't exist isn't reality and isn't doing you or the team any favors. Your weaknesses and failures, shows your team they can have weaknesses and failures and still find success! That knowledge and comfort in it, it priceless and goes a long way with people. Be yourself. Own your dark as much as you do your light. We all have both. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: https://leadfromhere.co/lead-from-here-monthly-newsletter/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #vulnerable #vulnerability #open #direct #unafraid #authentic

Why is Integrity So Important in Leadership? | Lead From Here #116

Lead From Here — Wed, 15 May 2024 19:03:55 +0000

Integrity is a word people throw around a great deal. A good number of those people that utilize don't live the definition which is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. The foundation of the channel's thesis is to have healthy, effective teams over a long period of time, you need to build that team on a foundation of trust and empathy. To build trust, you have to be honest! To build trust, you have to live up to the standards you preach. If you are a leader that expects employees to do something, they aren't willing to do, you won't build trust. At best, you will build resentment or push employees out. If you are honest and live up to the standards you set for everyone, and be honest when you fall short, you will build a solid reputation and people will not only go to bat for you, they will be asking to join your teams. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: https://leadfromhere.co/lead-from-here-monthly-newsletter/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #integrity #honesty #trust #leadwithintegrity #foundation

When You Fall Short as a Leader | Lead From Here #115

Lead From Here — Wed, 15 May 2024 18:41:35 +0000

Every single person on this planet fails at some point in their life, most of us, at many points. I personally fell short last week and missed a video upload on Friday. My lack of preparedness allowed life to get in the way. I have switched up my game plan to adjust for it going forward and will do better. The failure got me thinking, what are the most important things to do in the middle of failure or falling short? Start with remembering that you are human, this is going to happen, so go gentle. From there, you need to own it and then communicate that you own the miss. Then lastly, learn and grow from it! I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: https://leadfromhere.co/lead-from-here-monthly-newsletter/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #failure #fallingshort #miss #mistake #growth #learning

Leadership is NOT a Solo Venture | Lead From Here #114

Lead From Here — Wed, 08 May 2024 23:17:42 +0000

I am sure you have heard the saying "It takes a village". Most people use it in reference to raising kids, but the concept applies in countless other scenarios, like, leadership. Leadership is not a solo venture. In the last few weeks I have noticed how much I rely on my peers in leadership, looking back it's been a big part of my leadership growth. Whether it's getting feedback on tone, talking through my talking points for a difficult convo or even role playing. If I need support or guidance, they are there for me and I do the same for them. Having an engaged leadership cohort is KEY to being able to grow and support your leaders growth. In the right environments, it can even expedite your growth as a leader. Don't shy away from asking dumb questions, don't be embarrassed because you don't know something. The best way to learn something you don't know is to ask someone who has done it before. You are strong as a group than any one individual ever will be. Lean into each other and grow together. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: https://leadfromhere.co/lead-from-here-monthly-newsletter/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #solo #teamsport #leadsolo #ittakesavillage #cohort #leadercohort

Remembering Your Why in Your Daily Interactions | Lead From Here #113

Lead From Here — Tue, 07 May 2024 00:40:19 +0000

Start with Understanding Your Why as a Leader: https://youtu.be/ehqKBdENcDI Your why isn't just something you write down in a notebook or hang on a wall. It's to be used, every single day in your interactions. No one is perfect, you will have bad days and say things you wish you could take back. I can think of a bunch of times that I wish I could take back what I said...but it's all a good learning opportunity. Whether it's a difficult conversation or you are talking with someone who is frustrated, remembering your why is a good way to focus and filter on what you are saying. Does your frustration level or anger match your why? Should you be utilizing empathy to deescalate the situation or to be direct about a difficult topic? Your why can help you have more effective interactions and build relationships more effectively, because you are consistently doing the right thing based on your why. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: https://leadfromhere.co/lead-from-here-monthly-newsletter/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #why #yourwhy #startwithwhy #whyleadership #rememberyourwhy

Start with Understanding Your Why as a Leader | Lead From Here #112

Lead From Here — Mon, 06 May 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Money isn't the key to happiness, once you have hit a certain level of security. So if you chase money, without a strong why, then you can put yourself in a bad spot. In this video, I talk about my own why, why it's important to have a why and how you can evaluate your why, year over year. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: https://leadfromhere.co/lead-from-here-monthly-newsletter/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #why #yourwhy #startwithwhy #whyleadership

Leaders, Don't Chase the Money! | Lead From Here #111

Lead From Here — Thu, 02 May 2024 00:11:42 +0000

Too often I hear people say the reason they want to get into leadership is the money. You will always be paid your worth to the company you work for, even if it's your own. The key is to understand that regardless of your title, finding something you are good at and can find passion in, will ultimately lead you down the path of the money you desire. Being a leader won't make you lots of money, especially if you aren't a good leader. It's important to focus on your strengths, there are plenty of CEOs, CFOs and the like the are making big money, but that comes with big headaches. For every C-Suite employee, there is a #5 or #9 in the company that will make tons of money because they went all in on their skillset and became invaluable to the company. If you are passionate about leadership, great, do it! If you aren't, your path to more money is probably the one that opened up the leadership opportunity in the first place! I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: https://leadfromhere.co/lead-from-here-monthly-newsletter/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #money #cashmoney #chasemoney #getpaid #leaderdollars

Collecting Data Manually VS Automatically | Lead From Here #110

Lead From Here — Wed, 01 May 2024 23:38:18 +0000

In previous videos we have talked about the importance of using data to Lead. Whether that is to make the case for more resources, for someone to get promoted/fired or to make a case for a pivot in strategy...Data is the key to unlocking the things you need. What I see happen a lot with Leaders, is they decide to start creating metrics or monitoring performance and the first thing they think of is a manual data entry process. You setup a google spreadsheet and ask everyone to fill it out with the information you need from them. Then you do your magic. While fast and easy, it comes with some major risks, like data entered inaccurately, incomplete data, missing data and worse, it can cause burnout in your teams. Finding a way to use the tools they already use on a daily basis, via an API or manual exports (on your part) is a much more stable, reliable and consistent manner. You know the system as is good as the source of truth AND your people don't have to waste their time doing data entry and can focus on the valuable skill you hired them for in the first place. If you have to use manual data entry, remember to keep the data concise, document steps thoroughly AND train people over and over. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: https://leadfromhere.co/lead-from-here-monthly-newsletter/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #dataentry #manualdata #automaticdata #leadwithdata #data

Rest & Recovery Are Important Practices | Lead From Here #109

Lead From Here — Wed, 01 May 2024 15:15:13 +0000

Always remember to push yourself, but never forget to take care of yourself. The best way to do that is to make sure that you take time to rest and recover. These two things aren't talked about enough in today's culture (although it's getting better), they are an afterthought more often than not.

I am here today to remind you, that you can't pour from an empty bucket. I heard that on the Diary of a CEO Podcast and I never forgot it. So take time to take care of yourself.

I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care!

-------------------------------------------------

#leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #rest #recovery #relaxation #relax #recover #randr

Your Life, Career & Success Are Not a Straight Line | Lead From Here #108

Lead From Here — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 04:54:42 +0000

After 7 episodes in a row of Time Management and talking through all the ways to build the perfect plan and schedule, all while being super effective. The reality is, that these are all incredible things to strive for and I would highly recommend pushing yourself to embrace these things as often as possible...but you also have to be realistic with what you can handle in a given day or week. Too often I get emails from people telling me that they are frustrated by their lack of momentum, motivation and not being able to reach for their dreams. While all the tools we talked about over the last couple weeks are important and powerful, it's not the silver bullet to unlimited motivation, energy and productivity. It's one piece of the puzzle. It's important for you to understand your mind, your body and your environment. The same people complaining about their lack of motivation and ability to stick with it...also happen to mention that they are dealing with the loss of a loved one or their kid is in the hospital. Life isn't a straight line, there are hills and valleys, it's important for you to realize where you are in the moment and adjust expectations accordingly. The popular mantra "Give 110% every single day" is often repeated and more often misunderstood. You may wake up feeling 100% and strive for 110% on that day. But what about the days you wake up feeling 30%...110% of 30% is like 33%. You aren't going to find 80%, you focus on what you do have for that day. Consistency is more important than sporadic spurts of high throughput. Ultimately, you have to take care of yourself and understand what you need as an individual. If you are in a valley, don't beat yourself up, focus on what you can do to shorten your time in that valley. Workout, take time off, rest, go out in nature, anything! Whatever helps you and works to get your mind at ease and back to work in a healthy manner. Mine is manual labor, there is nothing that reminds me of how good I have it like manual labor. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: https://leadfromhere.co/lead-from-here-monthly-newsletter/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #110% #life #walkthepath #rollercoasteroflife #upsandowns

How I Manage My Time as a Leader | Essential Time Management Toolkit - Part 7 | Lead From Here #107

Lead From Here — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 21:44:47 +0000

Now that we have covered the top 5 time management techniques, I wanted to wrap up this series by talking you through how I manage my own time on a daily basis. This will be as detailed as I can make it without giving away information I am not allowed to. As I worked my way through those 5 time management techniques, I found that there were bits and pieces of each that I thought were very useful. I enjoyed the quick hit sessions of focus from pomodoro for my daily tasks that were a bit more tedious or admin-ish. I liked the ability to block large chunks of time to do deeper work that came with Time Blocking. Those two systems come together to make my time management system tick. What about the other three techniques? Currently, my focus can be all over the map, I have a full time job a Director, Software Engineering, I am the Host of this Podcast, I help run a Memorial Tournament for my Brother every year, and I have a host of passion projects a various stages of the business lifecycle that I try to give focus to every week. Those come together to build my philosophy of organizing, planning and executing on my work across all of those worlds to avoid them colliding. The Time Management Matrix is used to filter all incoming tasks and prioritize them, while Parkinson's Law and the Pareto Principle come together to help me understand how to do balance and plan the urgent and important work across all my responsibilities. This all culminates in my calendar and task list, which I am still trying to find the right tool for. I was using Google Calendar and Todist for a very long time. Recently, I have been trying out Motion and Google Calendar, with which I have found some success. My system is far from finalized or perfect, but it's constantly evolving and I am trying to find efficiencies and ways to take the manual work out of planning. You are welcome to try my way of planning and organizing, but I challenge you to try and find what works for your workload and mindset. Let me know what works for you. I am excited to see what everyone else is doing as I am always trying to learn more in this space! I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: https://leadfromhere.co/lead-from-here-monthly-newsletter/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #dayinthelife #timemanagement #timemanagementsystem #time #leadertime

The Pareto Principle | Essential Time Management Toolkit - Part 6 | Lead From Here #106

Lead From Here — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 21:34:35 +0000

The last concept we are going to cover is the Pareto Principle (AKA the 80/20 rule). I don't remember when I first heard about it, but I do remember not quiet understanding the rule the first time I did. After listening to Ali Abdaal (https://www.youtube.com/@aliabdaal) and Jim Kwik (https://www.youtube.com/@JimKwik) talk about it more in-depth, I started to get a better understanding of it and how to put it into practice. Essentially, the 80/20 rule states that 20% of the work with produce 80% of the output and to get the remaining 20% of the output, it would take 80% more effort. Which is where I was initially confused, I consider myself very driven and so the idea of not going 100% didn't quiet add up for me. The reality is that the goal is not to minimize the amount of effort, but to focus your effort on a specific portion of work to create a bigger impact. You still have to put 100% of effort into that 20% of focus to achieve 80% of results. Since that confusion and new clarity, I have been able to find ways to utilize this in my daily life as a leader, helping myself and my teams communicate and strategically attack multiple priorities. The goal isn't to ignore the details of the last 20%, it's to prioritize them correctly to still get completed while also creating tremendous impact in other areas. This principle isn't an exact science, but it is incredibly useful to breakdown larger pieces of work or to problem solve big issues in your business. The point is to recognize that most things in life are not distributed evenly, so make decisions on allocating time, resources and efforts based on that. Let me know how you feel about the Pareto Principle and how it works out for you! I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: https://leadfromhere.co/lead-from-here-monthly-newsletter/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #paretoprinciple #8020rule #pareto #8020 #timemanagement #time #leadertime

Parkinson's Law | Essential Time Management Toolkit - Part 5 | Lead From Here #105

Lead From Here — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 21:07:20 +0000

I came across Parkinson's Law fairly recently as I was diving into how to manage my own time on bigger picture passion projects for myself. I was finding myself continually putting off things that I was super passionate about. As I was exploring what might be happening or how I might be unintentionally sabotaging myself, I came across Parkinson's Law from a video by Ali Abdaal his channel is (https://www.youtube.com/@aliabdaal) . The Core Philosophy of Parkinson's Law is that time will expand to fill the time allotted for it's completion. In other words, people's pace will adjust to the time they have given themselves or been given to complete it. Some of the ways to overcome Parkinson's Law are to plan your work strategically, set self-imposed deadlines, track your time or challenge yourself. The quote "People tend to overestimate what they can get done in a day, but drastically underestimate what they can get done in a year" was stuck in my head, so I really latched onto the "challenge yourself" method to overcoming. I think this is the best, lowest touch method of all of them, but that is just me. The downside to this is, I tend to be HIGHLY unrealistic or optimistic at times, which put me in situations where I was never going to win. In a healthy environment, that is ok most of the time, but in an unhealthy environment, like the one I had created for myself, it weighed me down instead of lifting me up and feeling like a challenge. It's tough to find the balance, but if you can, this method can be very beneficial and really test the beliefs you have about what can be accomplished. I still use this on a regular basis, but I use it more as a thought exercise about work I am doing and if I am being too cautious with timelines. I would love to hear how this works for you! Let me know! I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: https://leadfromhere.co/lead-from-here-monthly-newsletter/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #parkinsonslaw #timemanagement #time #leadertime

The Time Management Matrix | Essential Time Management Toolkit - Part 4 | Lead From Here #104

Lead From Here — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 19:38:27 +0000

The Time Management Matrix (AKA Eisenhower Matrix) is a time management method that uses a 4 quadrant matrix to help you understand the importance and urgency of a task. I remember reading about Stephen Covey's Time Management Matrix for the first time and thinking to myself, this doesn't make any sense to me. The Time Management Matrix (TMM) states that all tasks can be categorized based on urgency and importance. Urgency refers to tasks that require immediate attention, while importance focuses on tasks that align with our goals and values. You do this by creating a 4 quadrant matrix with urgency across the top as an x-asis, urgent first, not urgent as the second quadrant up top. Then importance down the side as the y-axis, with important and not important being on the bottom quadrant. That creates a breakdown that looks like: - Urgent & Important tasks/projects to be completed immediately - Not Urgent & Important tasks/projects to be scheduled on your calendar - Urgent & Unimportant tasks/projects to be delegated to someone else - Not Urgent & Unimportant tasks/projects to be deleted Thankfully, when I started getting into the heat of leadership and balancing a lot of things, prioritization of my work, my teams work and my department/business needs, I was able to remember this system. TMM is very powerful for someone that has a lot of different things coming at them, I didn't see the strength of it as someone just writing code, but as a leader it was an easy repeatable way to stay on top of the things that were constantly evolving/changing/new. This by itself isn't enough for me, but it's is VERY powerful...if you can't tell, my end state will be a mixture of a few. :) I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Chasing Pain as a Leader: https://youtu.be/namfrQ8bbNE Sign up for our newsletter: https://leadfromhere.co/lead-from-here-monthly-newsletter/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #timemanagementmatrix #eisenhowermatrix #tmm #timemanagement #time #leadertime

Time Blocking | Essential Time Management Toolkit - Part 3 | Lead From Here #103

Lead From Here — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 20:00:00 +0000

Time Blocking is the next step in my Time Management/Productivity Journey and while I don't remember specifically where I first heard about it, it's hard not to find great content about it on YouTube. After experimenting with Pomodoro, I knew I wanted to create very specific windows of time to do focused work. I just didn't know how I could do this effectively. At this point, I was a full time developer for a marketing agency and had multiple side clients across the country. I was an absolute unorganized mess. Time Blocking involves dividing your day into blocks of time. With each block being dedicated to accomplishing a specific task or group of tasks, and you can't deviate beyond your scheduled block. Instead of a to-do list with a start and no end, you create a very defined schedule of everything you plan to get done that day. This method of time management works very well for me, but it's not enough by itself. It DOES create windows of focused time to perform a very specific task, which worked fantastically when I just had a list of development tasks I had to do...but it is WAY too concrete for a day once I became a leader. The volatility in a day seemed to mess up my plans every time. Once I became a leader, I tried messing around with it and I got it close to workable by make sure that I created more "optional time". So I would schedule about 55%-65% of my day and leave enough whitespace to pivot things around when needed. This got me closer to where I was trying to go, but not all the way. Again, don't let my experience sway you, try it for yourself and let me know what you think! I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: https://leadfromhere.co/lead-from-here-monthly-newsletter/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #timeblocking #timemanagement #time #leadertime

Pomodoro Technique | Essential Time Management Toolkit - Part 2 | Lead From Here #102

Lead From Here — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 17:45:00 +0000

The Pomodoro Technique was my first foray into the Time Management/Productivity space. I remember watching it on Thomas Frank's Channel (https://www.youtube.com/@Thomasfrank) many, many years ago. The concept seemed so simple, I knew it had to be effective and as someone who was struggling to get momentum built up in my career, it felt like a potential quick win. With that, I dove head first into it and converted my to-do list and schedule to pomodoros. A pomodoro is a tomato. Wait, what does that have to do with time management. Nothing really, but Francesco Cirillo who developed this technique named it after the little tomato style kitchen timer he used for a 25 minute timer. In the pure pomodoro technique as Francesco designed it, a Pomodoro is a 25 minute time of hyper focus on a specific task, followed by a 5 minute break. After you had done 4 pomodoro, then you take a 15-30 minute break. For the first couple of weeks, I loved it. I was getting things done, it wasn't difficult to manage and overall, I was very happy. However towards the end of the 3rd week, I started knocking out all the mundane stuff and started getting into deeper, more complex work. At that point, I began to get frustrated when I would start to get into a flow of a complex bit of code and have to take a 5 minute break. Over the next few weeks, I tried to tweak the timing and the breaks to see if I could make it work. It was better, but I was still struggling to get into the "flow state". Overall, it's powerful for non-deep work, but the concept fell apart for me outside of that. Don't let me sway your opinion. Give it a shot! Everyones brain's work different, so what doesn't work for me, might work for you. Let me know how it goes! I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: https://leadfromhere.co/lead-from-here-monthly-newsletter/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #pomodoro #pomodorotechnique #timemanagement #time #leadertime

Essential Time Management Toolkit for Leaders - Part 1 | Lead From Here #101

Lead From Here — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 20:07:04 +0000

Time Management is a core fundamental of being an effective person, employee and most especially a leader. Leaders have a unique position in the company where they have to balance a lot of different things from their people to the business all the way to the customers. Effectively managing your time around that is the difference between a good leader and a great leader. Time management is an interesting topic, because people will swear for and against certain techniques. There is a ton of data about time management, but the three stats that impact me the most are as follows. The first is the typical employee is only productive for 2 hours and 53 minutes per workday and the second ties very directly into the other 5 hours (if you are talking an 8 hour workday) and that is 90% of employees check business messaging tools like Slack or Teams for up to 5 hours daily. That is a lot of time distracted by messaging apps. The last one is around multitasking, which says multitasking costs a person 6 hours of productivity each week. That is 3 business days per month! If you aren't paying attention to your impact on your people, you could exacerbate one or all of those stats in a single decision/email/message. That is why it's important to become intimately familiar with time management. This is the first video in a 6 part series that will dive deeper in the the following time management techniques: - The Pomodoro Technique - Time Blocking - The Time Management Matrix (AKA The Eisenhower Matrix) - Parkinson's Law - Pareto Principle (AKA The 80/20 Rule) We will go through these techniques in the way I learned about them and started exploring Time Management in my own journey. You may find one that fits perfectly with you as an individual or you may find that mixing together a few concepts helps you more than single one could. As you go through this series, think about how you could use these to get control of your own time, but also to build profiles of how your people and teams work from a timeline perspective. This will give you power to not only make good decisions but challenge deadlines when necessary. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #time #timemanagement #manageyourtime #leadertime

100th Episode! Leadership Has Room to Improve | Lead From Here #100

Lead From Here — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 19:09:53 +0000

Today marks our 100th Episode! I cannot put into words how much it means to me that so many of you have decided to join the Leadership Journey. More content is coming, series with tools to help you on your journey, monthly newsletter (link below), a book club and so much more! Leadership continues to evolve and elevate based on the work of people like Simon Sinek, John Maxwell, Gary Vaynerchuk and Steven Bartlett to name a few. With that being said, a large percentage of leaders still think the old provably wrong way of leadership is the best way to "do big things in business." That is why it's so important for anyone that has the interest in being great leaders that care about your people should pick up the torch. We need people that want to do amazing things and help people find new levels to themselves. You don't have to have the title to do that! You just have to care and hold people accountable. It's not an easy balance, but it's a necessary one! Great leaders can truly change the world in the best way possible, join us (and any of the people list above) on this journey. Whether it's Lead From Here, or any New Leadership Advocate, just join the journey and help make the world a better place. I hope this was helpful! Thank you so much for being here, and here is to the next 100 episodes! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: https://leadfromhere.co/lead-from-here-monthly-newsletter/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #leader #100th #episode100 #100 #growthleader #newleader #newleaders #leadersmatter

How to Lead Effective Meetings: Strategies for Productive Collaboration | Lead From Here #99

Lead From Here — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 22:11:59 +0000

Leading effective meetings is a super power for people that want to lead. Meetings that go off track, rabbit hole or don't have a clear goal all drive wasting time. That is the last thing you want as a leader! With that, the MOST important question to ask yourself is...is this meeting needed? If it's something you can handle individually or via email or your company's messenger platform, then do that! Only do the meeting if there is a very clear an concise benefit to pulling all those people together, then make sure you have a specific leader for that meeting! From there it's just about make sure you are inescapably clear on what the meeting is, have a very clear purpose and goal for the meeting. Then verify you have the RIGHT people for the meeting, not the MOST people for the meeting. Anyone that is in a meeting that doesn't need to be not only wastes their time, but it also can add to confusion and lack of focus from other attendees. Keep the list tight and concise. Lastly, make sure that someone is designated as the note taker and have them write down the takeaways and action items. Without those, your meeting was a waste, because there is nothing to check against if things go off track after the meeting. Clear action items and owners for those action items are an integral part of running an effective meeting! I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #meetings #effectivemeetings #meetingculture #leader

Emotional Intelligence in Leadership: Cultivating EQ for Success | Lead From Here #98

Lead From Here — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 19:00:27 +0000

We have covered the importance of emotional intelligence on this channel before, check out that video here: https://youtu.be/kqIjcF3IjjY So today, we are going to talk about how your cultivate your emotional intelligence. It starts with a focus on improving the 5 pillars of Emotional Intelligence, Self-Awareness, Self-Regulation, Motivation, Empathy & Social Skills. Self-awareness is the foundation of being able to improve your EQ. If you aren't aware of your words, tone, body language and facial expressions, it's very difficult to improve. You can improve self-awareness with things like yoga, meditation, mindfulness practices and getting candid feedback about your presence from friends, colleagues and leaders. From there you move into self-regulation. Once you are aware of what you are doing, then you need to get to work on learning how to regulate yourself. You can do that by preparing more for meetings/speeches, holding emotional responses until after the heat of the conversation and generally just learning to stay level (mediation and mindfulness help a ton here). The next pillar is motivation. Make sure you understand why you are doing something and what is motivating you. If you aren't motivated to lead people and care for them, then you might not be a leader...and that's ok! Empathy is one of the most important pillars in my opinion. Being able to put yourself in someone else's shoes really differentiates you as a leader. It allows you to take a step back and evaluate how others might feel. Lastly, social skills are important to have high EQ. To be able to have solid conversations, giving praise, handing conflict...doing those things effectively all require a foundation of solid social skills. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! Links to past videos that support the 5 pillars: #26 Your Words Matter: https://youtu.be/P27sKp2XUMo #5 Difficult Conversations: https://youtu.be/cF9cXP-XwrA #6 Radical Candor: https://youtu.be/4PoPcpIyrJk #80 Leveraging Mindfulness: https://youtu.be/lnp1TfIbke0 ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #emotionalintelligence #eq #mindfulness #leader

How to Lead with Influence, Not Authority: Persuasion Techniques for Leaders | Lead From Here #97

Lead From Here — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 16:25:58 -0100

Leading with influence instead of authority is the main foundation of this channel, it's not about title, it's about taking care of the people around you and helping get things accomplished, regardless of title! How do you influence people? It starts with establishing your credibility. This isn't you talking about it, it's by action and social proof. Whether it's utilizing your skills to respond in chaos, letting the team micro fail even after you told them the risks or being a continuous thought leader in the industry...your credibility will only be realized in action. From there, it's all about building relationships based on trust, respect and empathy. You do that by connecting on a emotional level, this can't be done with surface level discussions. Connecting on that level and building those relationships allows you to truly understand your people! Understanding them allows you to know your motivations, strengths, weaknesses and fears, which allows you to influence change at the group level more effectively. Outside of that, five characteristics that help support your influence as a leader include, active listening, mindfulness of others needs, being able to take feedback/criticism, being a positive energy on your team (not blindly positive) and lastly building strong relationships across the board, not just with your team. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #influence #leader #lead #activelistening #mindfulness #credibility

The Leader's Role in Employee Well-being: Creating a Healthy Workplace Culture | Lead From Here #96

Lead From Here — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 00:37:40 -0100

As a Leader you aren't directly responsible for your employee's well-being, but you absolutely have a role in supporting their well-being. How do you go about supporting their well-being? First off, make sure you are leading by example. Show them what a wellness focused leader looks like, take time off, work reasonable hours and be open with your own well-being journey. Other ways include creating/encouraging policies that support your people, push for better benefits, invest in your people! Show them that they are value and give them room to not only be their best selves, but allow them to handle their life outside of work, be flexible! The last two things that I think are very important for leaders...the first is to make sure you focus and encourage innovation, if you aren't growing your are dying. Lastly, you have to genuinely care about your people. If you don't care...why are you in leadership? I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #wellbeing #wellness #mindfulness #mypeople #care

Leading with Humility: The Power of Authentic Leadership | Lead From Here #95

Lead From Here — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 20:05:42 -0100

Humility is a trait that is often mischaracterized as weak or submissive, but the reality it's takes massive courage and confidence to be humble or act with humility. The key is to lean into your strengths and be open about your weaknesses. Ask for help, don't be afraid to not know the answer, give credit where credit is due, especially when YOU yourself are due the credit. Too often leaders say things like "Just doing my job" or "It was all the team", you are part of that team, own it. Make sure to share the love and don't take all the credit (unless it's something you did solo). Taking credit is something I have always struggled with, I found a simple "thank you" lets people know that you own your part in it and take the compliment. The downside of humility is not letting it impact your teams ability to move forward or to grow. People that are humble or act with humility can be seen as indecisive because they defer to the team or others too much. It's ok to get input and try to drive consensus, but make sure you pull the trigger on a decision before it lingers too long. Lastly, make sure you are delegating effectively...humility strong leaders, tend to not want to overburden their teams, so they don't give them more work, which ends up overburdening the leader and take crucial growth opportunities from their people. Delegate! Overall, humility is a strength and most employees (95%) wish their leaders were humble leaders. 97% of leaders WANT to be that leader, 80% report themselves as being that leader...but sadly, only 37% of employees report having a humble leader. We have to close that gap! I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #humility #humble #leader #credit #givecredit #behumble

When Leadership Demands Decisiveness | Lead From Here #94

Lead From Here — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 20:02:00 -0100

When it comes to Leadership, there will come a time...maybe more often then you would like...you have to just make the call. You may not have all the information you want to have, there not be consensus, there maybe disagreement, from your people, your peers or your leaders. You still have to make the call. It's important to remember that as a leader, you have a unique point of view in that you have a broader understanding of the business. You may have confidential information that isn't ready to be shared, you may see cross functional information or you may not have any of that and you know that a decision needs to be made. Don't make all the calls without including your team, stakeholders and SMEs (Subject Matter Experts), but you also can't sit on decisions too long. Hopefully you get enough information to make the best decision possible, but if you see a decision lingering and you aren't getting the information, it might be time to make the call and then accept the ownership if it isn't the right call in the end. Finding the balance is difficult, but it's one of the most important things you will do as a leader. That is why building teams with a foundation of trust and empathy is key! They trust that you are making the best decision possible for the team and department. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #makethecall #decision #decisionmaking #lead #leader

Putting Collaboration Above Authority as a Leader | Lead From Here #93

Lead From Here — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 21:30:00 -0100

Too often, I hear leaders speak about "the team" or "my people" or "they" or "them". You are part of that team, your authority doesn't create separation, it requires deeper engagement with more responsibility to your teammates! Using terms like they or them when referring to your teams, makes you look bad and create a lack of trust within your team. If your team senses that you think of yourself of separate or different, they won't trust that you won't throw them under the bus when the going gets tough. Building teams on the foundation of trust and empathy, while also being a part of that team, allows you to unlock the best in your people and support the business is the most effective way possible. Don't fall prey to thinking you are better, different or separate from your teams, you are not only a part of it, but you are also accountable and responsible for their success and failure. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #teamwork #team #teamleader #teammate

Don't Chase Pain as a Leader | Lead From Here #92

Lead From Here — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 17:00:00 -0100

Customer pain is an inevitability if you own a business. Pain isn't the problem, it's how your manage and respond to pain that can help your business flourish or fail. When you are a start up, your life is chasing pain, you need to support your customers to build solid relationships and have fantastic references to help build your business larger. The problem I see in most companies that find success and grow from small to medium and beyond...is they keep the same "chasing pain" mindset they had as a start up. You are now in a vicious cycle of the loudest customer, or subset of customers, is getting all the focus and your focused on chasing pain. You lose sight of the much larger percentage of customers who are happy now, but still want to see the product improve and innovate. Over a year or two years, those happy customers now become a risk because they feel ignored. As you grow, it's important to start developing and holding customers accountable to your standards. If you set standards and everyone from CEO to the support person know them and communicate them, it's much easier to tell a loud customer that we are on it, but we have to stick to our plan. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #pain #painful #customerpain #customers #chase #chasing

Understanding Toughness Versus Callousness | Lead From Here #91

Lead From Here — Sat, 16 Mar 2024 01:05:15 -0100

There is an old school view of toughness and a new school view of toughness, the old thinks the new is "softer" but the results don't lie. The old school view of toughness is built on callousness and is NOT a way to build toughness. Pushing people with control, fear and power will not lead to long term results. That CAN be way to break down a group of people to see if they are up to the task of growing and maturing with training and support...but it isn't a way to build long term toughness. You don't build resilience by blindly pushing through adversity. Building toughness through helping people understand how their body and mind react sets them up to keep a clear head and make appropriate decisions, regardless of how stressful or uncomfortable a situation is. It's teaching people to focus on the internal part of stress instead of the external pressure. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #tough #toughness #callous #callousness #oldschool #newschool

Contractor Integration Strategies for Successful Projects | Lead From Here #90

Lead From Here — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 21:41:38 -0100

Contractors is a very interesting topic from a leaders perspective. They can very quickly support one of your initiatives when utilized correctly, but they can also be the downfall of a project when utilized incorrectly. The biggest mistake companies make is over inflate the impact contractors can make. They will hand them highly specialized, full projects or make them the key resources on those projects that have "support" from other people in the department, but aren't dedicated to the project. Contractors should be used to augment your current staff in most scenarios, if you are going to farm out an entire team, make sure the work is as generic as it can be. If you have a highly specialized product, giving contractors with zero experience on your product a project on that product, can lead to misguided or flat out incorrect implementations...that can ultimately hurt your bottom line. The key is to pair up your contractors with your best talent, give them time to acclimate and have reasonable expectations for them from a throughput perspective. They may be paid as much or more than your top talent, but that doesn't mean they will be as fast...especially out of the gate. If your product has any kind of specialization...expect that someone off the street will have a slow ramp up. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #contractor #contractors #outsourcing #contracting

Navigating Ambition and Team Needs | Lead From Here #89

Lead From Here — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 17:31:39 -0100

Ambition at it's core isn't a bad thing and you need a bunch of it to become a leader and thrive as a leader...the key is to understand when to utilize it and when to focus on others. A leader that put their own careers in front of their teams or the business are doomed to fail. The strongest leader, shining brightly will be doomed to fail if their teams and business segment are suffering. The core function of a leader is to create healthy teams that drive positive growth in the business. It's glaringly obvious to most executive teams when a strong leader is flexing, but their teams a faltering. How do you avoid being that leader? Focus on your people first. Build teams that have a foundation of trust and empathy. Then support the individuals on those teams to grow in their career. If you are doing this, you will ultimately support the business, because strong effective teams help the business grow and find success. Once you have stable, effective teams that are supporting the business, THEN it's your time to shine! This is when you get to look for gaps or opportunities to support your teams, the department or the business, by doing things that you are passionate about and have the skills to handle. The key is take care of your foundational responsibilities first, then get your shine on. :) I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #ambition #blindambition #teamfirst #teammate #teamlead #shine #shinebrightly

Consensus Building 101: Techniques for Effective Leadership | Lead From Here #88

Lead From Here — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 14:00:00 -0100

As a leader, consensus is one of the keys to being an effective leader. When you have effective teams full of people that are great at their job, they will inevitably disagree on the path forward. The same goes for your group of peers, whether that is in your department, cross functionally, or both. Building consensus is a skill that must be honed to make sure that we continue to move forward, making the best choice possible with the information we have in front of us. You have to pick a direction, you can't argue a path forever and ever until you get the perfect solution that everyone agrees on. This is where you as a leader have to work together with the people involved and build consensus. You do that by first forming an opinion of your own, hopefully based on all the information both (or all) sides of the debate have put forth. Then from there, you have to ultimately make a call, before that happens, you need to work with the key stakeholders to get them rallied around making the call and moving forward. Building consensus isn't an easy task, people are very opinionated when it comes to things they are passionate about. There is a lot of emotions and they tend to boil over. It's your job as a leader to rally them and get them supporting the path forward, even if they disagree initially. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #consensus #howto #leadershiphowto #buildconsensus

The Endless Journey: Understanding Leadership Beyond Achievements | Lead From Here #87

Lead From Here — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 15:31:01 -0100

Leadership isn't an Achievement...it's a way of life. Viewing Leadership as an achievement makes leaders let their guard down and fall short. Leadership is a journey and if you recently moved into it, you just jumped on that path at the beginning of the journey. From here it continues to bend and curve, with speed bumps randomly placed throughout. You may have been one of the best individual contributor, but now you are the WORST leader. That sounds harsh, but if you aren't willing to join the journey, it will doom you and your teams to a rough path forward. On the other hand, if you are open to the journey, it can be an amazing growth opportunity for you, your teams and your business. If you go into Leadership with the understanding that there is no "end state", no "destination", you will have a much better ability to pivot and evolve as the market or the teams or your executives change. You will have built a team on the foundations of trust and empathy, that can weather the storm of change, failure, loss, etc. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #leader #leaderlife #walkthepath #leadershippath

Unlocking Peak Performance: The Secrets of Deep Work | Lead From Here #86

Lead From Here — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 20:49:35 -0100

Deep Work is exactly what is sounds like...it means doing cognitively demanding tasks that require intense focus. Deep work is becoming increasing rare, yet invaluable. Shallow work is the other side of that coin, emails, texts, instant messenger, etc are all things that CAN take up the majority of your day and your focus, if you let them. The key is creating structured chunks of time to work on critical action items that require intense focus and more than your average amount of cognitive ability. The book outlines plenty of extreme cases where people locked themselves in a cabin or jungle for days on end. Luckily, they also have some very pragmatic examples like blocking time, shutting off your phone and utilizing your some of the strengths that are inherent in your brain/body. If you can structure your time to create chunks of hyper focused time, where you focus on deep work...you will be in a fantastic place and realize the benefits such as improved productivity, increased creativity and high levels of job satisfaction. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #deepwork #focusedwork #deep #work

What is the Three Bars Framework? | Lead From Here #85

Lead From Here — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 16:50:12 -0100

The 3 Bars Framework is something I read about in Steven Bartlett's book, "The Diary of a CEO, The 33 Laws of Business and Life". It's a fantastic book, definitely give it a read (https://www.amazon.com/Diary-CEO-Laws-Business-Life/dp/0593715837)! The 3 Bars For Building Great Teams as it's actually called in the book, is used to evaluate people from a culture fit perspective. It takes the emotions (and avoidance) out of difficult conversations. As I have outlined in previous videos, firing someone is ALWAYS awful, even when they earned it. With that it's easy to avoid, the 3 Bars help simplify the conversation and get to the proper answer in a very quick thought process. The concept is simple, if you have someone that you feel like might be a culture misfit or is struggling in their job...ask yourself this question, "If everyone in the company shared this persons values, standards and attitude, would the company bar be raised, maintained or lowered?" If someone is in the bar raiser category, it is probably time for them to be promoted and on a path to leadership...if they are someone who would lower the bar, it's probably time to fire that person as research shows that the person in the lower the bar category would be a disproportionately toxic influence on the teams culture. As always, there is nuance when it comes to firing people, so it's important to understand the whole picture before making any major decisions. Pull in your team leader, HR and discuss what the options are...perhaps training will help pivot this person. The key is, don't let them linger, they are either improving or it's time for them to move on. I hope this was helpful! Again, check out this book, it's an amazing read and one that I always keep around for inspiration. Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #hiring #firing #culturefit #companyculture #culture

Utilizing Resilience in Your Daily Leadership | Lead From Here #84

Lead From Here — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 14:30:00 -0100

Resilience is the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties. In my opinion, there isn't a better definition of a leaders job than this. Some will say your ability to plan or strategize or coach makes you the best leader possible. I think those things are very important in leadership...but your ability to be resilient tops them all. The mark of a great leader is the ability to take a lickin' and keep on tickin' as the saying goes. They can't linger in their own frustrations or emotions around a misstep or failure, they have to bounce back quickly, make sure learning happens and be ready for the next challenge. How do I add resilience into my repertoire? Make mistakes, failures, missteps, etc not personal. High achieving people tend to take everything personal, because their self belief and confidence is wrapped up in their ability to deliver. The reality is, these things aren't personal, it's purely part of the process. If you can separate yourself and your value from the reality of the process, the gut punch issues don't land so solidly. Being resilient isn't an end state, it's a way of being. Remember that you aren't a failure, you own the failure. Do that and you can be there person that people look to for strength and empathy when things go sideways. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #resilience #resilient #resilientleader #leadershiptips #leadershipcoaching

How to Deal with Conflict in a Team? | Lead From Here #83

Lead From Here — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 14:30:00 -0100

Teams are made up of humans, so conflict is a very normal and natural part of highly effective teams. The key for leaders is to make sure that you harness it, manage it and most importantly don't let it fester. How do you harness conflict? Well, conflict is usually a disagreement about something. Which means that conflict is actually creating a situation where the "best path forward" is being discussed. Harnessing conflict means utilizing the conflict to make sure that as a group you are moving in the right direction. What about managing it? This one is pretty straightforward, listen to both sides and help get to a conclusion that makes the most sense overall and move forward, don't linger, don't overthink it...come to a decision and move forward. Lastly, how do you avoid a conflict festering? When it's done, it's done. It's important to set expectations with people and say something like, "while we might not all be in agreement here, we have to pick a direction. This direction feels like it has a viable direction and enough support to move forward. Let's all move forward together and if it's the wrong direction, it's on me as the leader." It's important to check in with people on the other end of the decision. Help them understand why their way wasn't the right direction or why it wasn't as viable as the other. But more importantly, make sure they know that it's not about them as a person, it's about making a decision and moving forward. Rather than spending multiple meetings spinning on the same topic over and over. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #conflict #conflictresolution #teaminteraction #teamconflict #leadershiptips

How to Effectively Delegate as a Leader | Lead From Here #82

Lead From Here — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 14:00:00 -0100

This topic is a fun one. People are notoriously terrible at this. I am one of those people. Delegation is the single best way to create opportunities for your people! If you aren't delegating, you are actively holding your people back. This statement is contrary to what most people, myself included, think about delegation. Most people feel like, they don't want to overburden their best people with stuff they CAN do on their own. The reality is, delegation helps everyone. It allows you to focus on high priority tasks, while giving your people opportunities for learning AND exposure. Sure you could do the work yourself, but giving your people the opportunity to own something and see it through helps everyone and ultimately drives your company and your people forward! How do I start delegating? Start small. Find someone in your teams you trust to get the job done and look for opportunities on your to-do list that fit their career development. Just giving them a bunch of random tasks that won't help in their career progression may help you, but it isn't helping them. As this isn't their top priority, they will fail, so it's also important to give them specific deadlines and check in regularly. For your own sake, I would give yourself a little padding incase they fail or their output needs tweaking before the ACTUAL deadline. If you give your people specific instructions, timelines and then check in regularly, delegation can be a massive benefit to everyone involved. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #delegation #delegating #leaderdelegation #leadershiptips #leadershipcoaching

Top 5 Leadership Habits That Lead to Success | Lead From Here #81

Lead From Here — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 14:30:00 -0100

I wanted to give you my top 5 Leadership Habits to help set a foundation of strong and healthy leadership. Each item in the top 5 list is VERY important to finding success as a leader. Top 5 Habits:

Be the Last to Speak - This is one of the most important things for leaders to do...if you speak first, you will never get real feedback, even in a healthy culture. Human nature will deflect to the perceived leader.

Embrace Failure/Experimentation - The fastest way for a company to die is to avoid change, failure and experimentation. It's absolutely crucial for leaders to make experimenting and failing a habit.

Lead by Example - The best way to build trust and show people that you truly care about them, it to show them that you are willing to do anything you ask them to do.

Foster Trust and Empathy - It's important to build a healthy foundation of trust and empathy as a Leader. If people trust you and believe that you are doing what is best for them, they will be significantly more impactful in their teams!

Have Regular Skip Levels - Skip Levels are a massive opportunity to show people how much you care and how valued they are. Skip levels get you context that you might be missing as a leader, it also uplifts your people to make them feel valued. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadershiphabits #top5 #habits #leaderhabits #greatleaderhabits

How to Leverage Mindfulness as a Leader | Lead From Here #80

Lead From Here — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 16:06:18 -0100

This weeks episode builds off a recent episode (https://youtu.be/X7OGbqQAmzk) where we covered the topic of "Maintaining Your Well-Being as a Leader". In that episode we talked about Self Care as one of the topics AND that caused a lot of questions...so no time like the present. What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is the ability to be fully present in full awareness of our surrounding, what we are doing and what is happening around us. Some people get there by meditation, others through walks in the wilderness and some by taking a break to just sit somewhere quietly. The benefits of mindfulness include, reduced stress, reduced anxiety and improved mental health. All things that when kept in check will differentiate a boss or manager from a great leader. Once you are comfortable having large blocks of time dedicated to mindfulness, you can really look at your situation with a new lens and problem solve in ways you could never imagine. So how do you practically make this focused time happen? Plan for it. Block time on your calendar, every day to just be with yourself disconnected from the world. Start small, 5 mins, then after a couple weeks go to 10 mins, then up it two weeks later...with the goal of getting to an hour a day of quiet time, alone with your thoughts. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #mindfulness #mindfulleadership #leadershiptips #focusedtime #focus

The Concept of Compounding Works BOTH Ways | Lead From Here #79

Lead From Here — Fri, 16 Feb 2024 19:30:00 -0100

I honestly can't remember where I heard or read this topic...but I think it creates a very impactful picture. Simply put, compounding is the return earned on returns from your original investment. You are probably thinking, Jason, when did this become a finance channel? It's not, I am referring to your investment in you or your team or your company...compounding can be an exponential growth factor if used correctly. The other side of that coin is compounding can also be the path to a quick and painful death. Compounding works both ways, if you are continuing to elevate yourself of your team through development and learning, then you will over time, continue to get better together and the more you do it, the greater the outcomes will be on that learning and development. You will exponentially get stronger and more effective. If on the other hand you continue to reinforce bad habits, chase your tails or ignore growth opportunities and difficult discussions...you will be earning returns on your investment in the negative habits of your company, which will make you exponentially slower, more toxic and less effective. Simply put, you are either growing or you are dying. There is no world where you can just coast and be great at anything. Continually push yourself to get a little better each day...1% better...over time, you will see significant gains in your ability to lead, support, etc. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #compounding #investment #leadershipdevelopment #leadershiptips

How to Maintain Your Well-Being as a Leader | Lead From Here #78

Lead From Here — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 06:45:57 -0100

What does self care look like for a leader? The short answer is it looks very similar to most people's self care. Doing it or not doing it can have a profound impact on your ability to lead effectively and consistently. Why is it so important for leaders? Leaders that actually care about their teams and the business, strive hard to support both and are pulled in a lot of different directions. Late nights, long hours and a good amount of stress surrounding their day to day. That can build up and cause you to be sick, to be emotionally unstable or simply just be less effective at your job. Taking the time to reset and recover as often as possible is the key to a long and prosperous career for anyone, for a leader it is essential. Take the time to disconnect, exercise, meditate, read, write, whatever helps you take the focus off work/stress/issues and allows you to recharge your batteries. Lastly, for goodness sakes...take ALL your PTO. EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. It doesn't mean take a bunch of vacations (if you can, great, do it), it just means don't be at work. Disconnect and do fun things or things that excite you! I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leaderselfcare #selfcare #wellbeing #balancedleader #leadershiptips

Succession Planning is the Key to Healthy, Stable Teams | Lead From Here #77

Lead From Here — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 22:30:00 -0100

Succession Planning is one of those topics that MOST successful teams just don't think about...and they are a top resource or two leaving the company, away from a very unhealthy, ineffective team. Succession Planning is basically your way of shoring up the long term stability of your team. Leaders get into a mode where they think a top performer is just always going to stay, whether it's the money, the flexibility, the control...they just won't leave. Until they do. People getting promoted or switching teams or quitting is always a possibility...so being prepared for what happens if they do, is up to you as a leader. How do you success plan? Start very tactically and create a doc and put your irreplaceable people in that doc. Then right below their names, list the people that could replace them either now (ready) or later (needs development)...if you have an irreplaceable resource without a name under it, find that person now and create a plan with those people and anyone that is marked as needs development to start upping their readiness to take on the roles the irreplaceable people hold. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #succession #successionplanning #nextup #peoplemanagement #leadershiptips

Recovering From a MASSIVE Failure | Lead From Here #76

Lead From Here — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 18:00:00 -0100

We have talked about failure a great deal on this podcast, but I wanted to talk through an email I received from a listener. In the email he talked about a massive failure that he and his team suffered recently. I could hear the pain in his voice and what actually struck me was how much the failure hurt him and his team. Failure is absolutely a part of EVERY highly effective team. You are going to fail. Don't get caught up on the failure. Make sure you learn from the failure and keep moving and growing! If you keep failing in the same way, the failure isn't the problem, it's your response to the failure. The problem is, you aren't learning from it. Utilize the data you get from failure and use that to grow and learn, from there, just keep moving and don't focus on the failure itself. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #failure #failed #fail #leadershipfail

Leveraging AI as a Leader | Lead From Here #75

Lead From Here — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 18:00:00 -0100

There is no shortage of press and youtube videos talking about artificial intelligence, so I am going to keep this brief. I personally wouldn't go ALL IN on AI yet. I would learn it, because it's definitely NOT going anywhere and the people that can leverage it the most effectively, will find success! The thing to be careful on, is make sure before you share proprietary data with these companies, there are very black and white terms on where your data will end up. A lot of people will tell you, it's segmented from the data models...but there is still a lot of gray areas and those can get you in trouble if you aren't careful. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #ai #artificialintellegence #leadershipai #aileadership

Rumination VS Reflection | Lead From Here #74

Lead From Here — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 18:00:00 -0100

Rumination from a mental health perspective means involves repetitive thinking or dwelling on negative feelings and distress and their causes and consequences. Reflection means serious thought or consideration. It's important to make sure you understand what you do in times of chaos, pain and just your daily interactions and situations. If you are ruminating, you are focused on the negatives and the things that cause the most stress. If you continue to ruminate, it can cause tunnel vision on just the negative, which can have an impact on your ability to effectively understand the whole picture. This makes you vulnerable to making decisions based on the wrong things. Reflection on the other hand, allows you to see the good, the bad, the ugly in any situation. The thing that causes the most headache for leadership, might be a non-issue to the actual project. Sure, you probably want to deal with it at some point for your own sake, but there may be things that are significantly more important and reflecting on the entire situation, not just the bad. Keep your mind in check. Reflect on things, make a decision and keep moving. Don't ruminate. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #ruminate #reflection #leadershipreflection

How Do I Rebuild Trust? | Lead From Here #73

Lead From Here — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 18:00:00 -0100

Flipping the script a bit here, instead of know whether you have trust or are trying to build trust...what about when you know you broke your teams trust and now you know they don't trust you and you want to rebuild trust. The first part is the hardest part...you have to just listen and take the heat from whatever happened to break the trust. There could be a lot of frustration and blame and finger pointing, mostly at you, and you just need to be a sounding board for now. The second part depends on what happened to break the trust, but it goes back to building trust...leading by example, doing what you say you are going to do. Then it's up to you to just be patient and be supportive. Set boundaries and hold people to those, but trust is a very delicate feeling and can take significant amount of time to rebuild. Patience is the most important characteristic when you are going through this process. It will take time, every time. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #trust #buildingtrust #trustworthyleader

How to Build Trust in Your Team? | Lead From Here #72

Lead From Here — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 18:00:00 -0100

You have talked with your people, asking what is working, what isn't working, how you can help them, etc...if you don't know what I mean, watch/listen to the last episode. Now it's important for you to get to work on those items. Consistent action and doing what you said you were going to do is the fastest way to build trust. The next biggest piece of building trust is around how you talk about the team outside of team meetings, their successes, their failures and everywhere in between. A great leader that has trust of their team, gives credit and takes blame. If you are always finger pointing or talking bad about your team, you will never build trust. I got pushback in one of my email responses to getting in action and solving problems and/or putting ideas in place. The leader said it was a terrible idea and wouldn't make things worse. Which brings me to my next point, you are the leader, if you ask for ideas or problems and you think the person is way off base, it's important to help them understand why, that also builds trust. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #trust #buildingtrust #trustworthyleader

How Do I Know if My People Trust Me? | Lead From Here #71

Lead From Here — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 18:00:00 -0100

I am getting a lot of emails talking about distrust in peoples teams and asking how to build trust and how to know if your people trust you...so this week will be Trust Week!🙂 Let's start with how do you know if your people trust you? It's important to keep in mind that if you don't have trusting teams, it will be difficult to get a clear answer. You might have a person that will just say what they really think, but MOST won't. Which means, you can't ask "Do you trust me as your leader?" because someone that doesn't trust you won't be honest, they will tell you what you want to hear. It's better to approach it with questions like, "What is working in the team?", "What isn't working in the team?", "Is there anything I can help you with?"...etc. From there, you take their suggestions and ideas and simply get to work. The best way to build trust is to be in action. From there, you have to ask yourself if you are worthy of trust. Do your actions that happen with your leaders or peers that don't involve the team, make you trustworthy? Do you take or give credit? Are you the teams advocate and protector or are they just cogs in a wheel? You have to be really honest with yourself here...otherwise, you aren't putting yourself in the space of gaining and building on someones trust. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #trust #buildingtrust #trustworthyleader

Data is Your Friend as a Leader | Lead From Here #70

Lead From Here — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 18:00:00 -0100

This is building off of episode #67 (https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/leadfromhereco/episodes/How-to-Drive-Change-in-Your-Company--Lead-From-Here-67-e2eljk5) as I got a couple emails from people saying that they have tried change and it didn't work. First off, depending on your company and leadership culture...you may not be able to drive change. If that is the case, it's up to you to either deal with what you have or find somewhere else that has a better culture. More to the point of this video, the message I got all had the same thing in common...they had a feeling and tried to drive change on that alone. Some cultures may be open to this, but MOST won't. They want data to show that there is an opportunity to improve somewhere, and then they want tests that are backed up by data to prove it. Getting comfortable with data is key to being an effective leader. Getting data to support change, isn't just about changing policies, processes or how you do business...it's also about changing perceptions. Perhaps your team is seen as struggling or failing...you need to be able to prove that your team is or isn't. If you can't, people will make assumptions based on what they perceive instead of what the reality is. I hope this was helpful, if you have any questions, hit me up on any social platform or email at the website below! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #failure #listening #activelistening #empathy

Start with Listening and Empathy When Things Go Wrong | Lead From Here #69

Lead From Here — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 18:00:00 -0100

I received an email from a listener and I thought it would be a good topic to cover on today's episode. This person's team had just suffered a major failure. The team is struggling to cope with it, people are wondering where to go from here and ultimately...they want to know how to restart this team effectively. I am going to sound like a broken record here, but you start with listening and empathy. The team is hurting, if you have a good team of solid performers, a big failure truly HURTS. I can cause shame, frustration, anxiety, anger, and a host of other emotions. With that the best thing to do is let them release those emotions. There is a good chance you will take the brunt of the vitriol, and rightfully so, you are the leader, it's your job to take it. The key here is to make sure you keep your boundaries, hate and demeaning talk isn't acceptable...as long as you are good there, the main key is to not let it go one for months and months. I made that mistake before and I thought I was helping by letting them complain and be frustrated for weeks and weeks. Maybe there was a therapeutic aspect to that over time, but whatever I was doing, it wasn't leading. After a few sessions (at most) of frustration and commiserating, where you told them I hear you, I understand how you feel, etc. etc...it's time to start pivoting their negative emotions into things that will bring about a positive outcome for them AND the rest of the team. Venting is great for a spell, but as soon as it drags on, it becomes unhealthy. You can't avoid sitting in the mud with your people, but you can eventually help pull them out and start getting back to a path of balance and fulfillment. I hope this was helpful, if you have any questions, hit me up on any social platform or email at the website below! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #failure #listening #activelistening #empathy

Know Your Audience as a Leader | Lead From Here #68

Lead From Here — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 18:00:00 -0100

In Episode 27 we talked about Executive Presence, this video is a follow up based on a conversation I had in response to the original video wanting me to dive deeper into the layers of communication and how they differ. The three main areas of communication are to your leaders/executives, your peers and finally the people that report to you. They all have differing levels of nuance depending on the situation. When you are speaking with your leaders or executives, it's important to keep the conversation very concise and efficient. They need to know WHAT you are asking for and WHY you need and HOW it will help the business. Make sure you do that in as few words as possible. They have countless people reaching out to them for approval, help, questions, guidance, etc. If you start to ramble on or the ask isn't concise, you have already lost their focus, which means you have lost the room. When it comes to speaking with your peers, it't important to understand the context of the context of the meeting/convo. If you have a trusting peer group and you all get along well, it's good to let your guard down, be vulnerable, ask questions and for help when needed. Given that they are also leaders, leading teams, they have a lot on their plate, so it's important to still stay fairly concise in meetings that aren't happy hours or one on ones. Lastly, how do you show up for your people? It's important to keep your guard down and not be afraid to be vulnerable. With that being said, it's important to be concise in a different way with your team. Make sure you very clearly communicate the goals and strategy for the path ahead. If you ramble on or are not clear and concise, instead of wasting their time like you are with the executives, you are being confusing and unclear in the approach to the upcoming work. Which may seem like not a big deal, until you are halfway done with a project and realize you are on the wrong path. Communication is VERY important and understanding how to approach conversations based on your audience will help you lead your and manage up effectively. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care of youreslf! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #executivepresence #knowyouraudience #communication

How to Drive Change in Your Company | Lead From Here #67

Lead From Here — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 18:00:00 -0100

Driving change at a company can vary depending on the size and maturity of a company. If a company is a small startup, it's likely that change is a part of their DNA. When you are small and just starting out, you are usually more nimble and people have a higher failure rate tolerance than at a major corporation! On the other hand, if you work at a massive corporation, change will be a much more painful and arduous process. They already have documentation and onboarding procedures and best practices and HR. It will take significantly more effort to drive change in a company like that. Great, so you want to drive change...what are the key steps to do so? Gather data and start to build an understanding of the ROI (return on investment) of the change. This will be crucial in getting your idea/change approved by the executive team. Once you have your ROI and your go ahead, it's time to test! Pick a team or a customer or whatever small segment of the business you are planning to change and start testing your change. This step it's important to understand if it's working, so knowing what to measure and measuring it, will allow you to compare current state and your new proposed changes. Your new idea works better than the current state and your bosses all agree to implement...now what? Now you get your key stakeholders within the teams or sales or account managers and you educate them on the change and rally them to be the owners of the new change. Utilizing your data gathered in the testing phase, you can help get them excited about the change, which will help ensure adoption of the change. From there, you just monitor and step in to help when things are going sideways in the process of change. It's not for the faint of heart, but the ability to create effectual change in a company can be the difference between the life and death of the business. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #change #changemanagement #drivingchange

How to Interview Your Next Boss? | Lead From Here #66

Lead From Here — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 17:00:00 -0100

It's important to bring the right attitude and tone to an interview with a potential next boss. If you get the opportunity to interview your next boss, it's important to not make the same mistake I made 10 year ago. I had been working at a company for a couple years and had seen a few bosses leave in my time at the company...they all flamed out and I carried the flame while they were there and after they left. When the time came to replace this role with a new person, I went in and told the potential boss that I didn't know why he was here, he was just going to flame out like the rest of them...stop wasting everyones time. DON'T DO THIS. Instead come in with an open mind and a helpful attitude. There is a good chance that one of these candidate will be your next leader, so it's important that you get it right! Ask them their leadership philosophies, ask them about other places they have led and how that worked out. Ask them how they intend to change things and how they will involve the current leadership group. Give THEM time to ask questions, the questions they ask and the way they respond to your answers can give you some really clear insights into how they will be as a leader. The main goal is to show them that you are key resource for guidance and information. That way when one of them gets hired, you will be top of mind when they need information or want to have help in rolling out changes. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #interviewing #interview #nextboss #interviewboss

How to Interview an Individual Contributor? | Lead From Here #65

Lead From Here — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 02:29:50 -0100

The biggest issue I see amongst leaders as they look at hiring...is wanting to be too involved in the technical details of an interview. You are leader, you aren't in the team. Your job is to figure out if the candidate is the right fit culturally and more generally as a person. Focus on their work ethic, how they learn, their appetite for growth, fixed or growth mindset, what motivates them, who are they.

The technical details should be left to the people that are actually in the teams doing the work. Yes, you are the leader, so you have a clear picture on what is happening in the team. You aren't the one in the team doing the actual day to day technical work of the team. Make sure people that are within the teams are on the panel and have them focus on the more technical side of the interview.

If you take your assessment of the individual from a cultural perspective and pair that up with your teams technical assessment (they will have culture opinions too)...you will be able to develop a complete profile of every candidate that comes through your panel. Which usually will lead to you picking the right person for the job and the culture.

I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care!

-------------------------------------------------

#leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #interviewing #interview #teammemberinterview #individualinterview

How to Interview a Potential Leader? | Lead From Here #64

Lead From Here — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 17:00:00 -0100

Interviewing is something that a lot of people stress over. I am here to tell you that it is important to do your best to hire the right candidate...with that being said, it's ALWAYS a guess. Take the ego out of it and just make the best call you can. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it crashes and burns. When it comes to leaders, it's important to remember that they are also a guess...there is just as much risk as with an individual contributor. So how should you interview a potential leader for your company? Get as specific as you can. It's important for you to get a good understanding of how he responds in high pressure situations, in failure, in success and so on. The best way is to ask very specific questions like, "Tell me about a time when a team you were leading failed. How did that impact you individually and how did you communicate the failure both to the team and your own leaders?" Questions like this get right to the heart of it, you will listen for ownership, humility and team impact. If they blame everyone and don't take ownership, then that is a major red flag. If they take all the blame and don't work to hold people accountable...that is a different red flag. What if the leader has no actual leadership experience? If that is the case, I would recommend hiring someone from within the teams to take on this role. Someone that is ACTUALLY interested in becoming a leader...your best technical resource may be your worst leader. Plus you already know them. If you don't have that person in your teams and you are hiring from outside the company...make sure you ask as many questions around their leadership values as possible. Like "Talk me through what kind of leadership style you work the best with and is that the same way you lead?" If they can't get into specifics on what has worked for them or that they would look to emulate, they probably aren't ready to jump into leadership. The key is to ask as many situational questions you can, even if they have led before. Ask them how their leaders handled difficult situations for the teams they were a part of. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #interviewing #interview #leadershipinterview

Embracing Uncertainty as a Leader? | Lead From Here #63

Lead From Here — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 17:00:00 -0100

Uncertainty as a leader can feel confusing and frustrating, especially when you are new to leadership. When you are in uncertainty or ambiguity as a leader, it's important to protect your team from that. It's your job to understand where the company is going and while there my be uncertainty, understand what you need your team to do in this moment. You won't always be able to keep uncertainty and ambiguity out of the team...but when it needs to be in there, make you explain it very clearly, what the plan is, what the risks are and that you as the leader are ultimately to blame if it's the wrong plan. If you are able to keep the majority of the uncertainty out of the teams, you are doing a fantastic job as a leader. Being able to give your people very clear, tangible goals and next steps is the key to being a successful leader, leading successful teams. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #ambiguity #uncertainty #clarity

How to Drive Collaboration as a Leader? | Lead From Here #62

Lead From Here — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 17:00:00 -0100

If you work in a company of any size above 20 or 30 other people, you have almost certainly heard people talk about the need for a focus on collaboration, or breaking silos...or whatever business buzz word they like. This can make this topic feel a little cringey to some. The reality is collaboration is the key to moving quickly, solving big problems and creating really healthy teams that are less likely to implode when a single point of failure leaves the company. Collaboration takes time to get in a groove and what derails more efforts is that people can slow down a bit out of the gate. So if you aren't preparing your leaders AND your teams for that expectation, people will tend to get nervous about the change in pace and start to opt out of wanting to be involved. Prepare your teams and your executives that you will see a minor slowdown as the teams find a new groove and learn to work in a more connected manner. It will feel clunky and a little redundant, but in the long run it will become an exponential force to be reckoned with. Communicate, build trusting teams and executive groups...then pull your resources together and let them flourish. It won't have the first week or the first month, but eventually, they will more efficient, more stable and generally happier. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #collaboration #breakingsilos #collab

How do People Fit Into Failure? | Lead From Here #61

Lead From Here — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 17:00:00 -0100

Failure is proving to be a topic that isn't going to go away on this channel. People seem to have a lot of concerns about it and how to communicate it. I got an email recently asking for guidance on how to navigate a very large failure by him and his team. They had a big goal that they all set together and they missed in a big way. He wanted to know, how do I communicate the failure and help them understand the weight without making them feel bad or demoralized? I want them to own it, but I want them to focus on improving and learning...not just feeling bad. It always comes down to you, the leader...you failed. It's your fault. That is the core source of the problem when you are talking to peers or your leaders. If you aren't doing that, you aren't leading. If you are pointing at people individually when asked "what happened" by your boss or execs at your company...you failed your team, your people and ultimately your leaders. This doesn't mean you don't handle the miss and you don't coach the people involved...especially if the people involved are repeat offenders in missing goals or deadlines. When you are dealing with the team directly, you should be laying out a path for learning and growth out of the failure and then individually pushing those that dropped the ball to improve and grow. Sometimes it might be it's time for them to move on (I am not saying fire someone on their first mistake because of a big failure), maybe they just need a little push or coaching. There are a lot of ways failure can pan out depending on how healthy your company is, but at the end of the day, any companies doing anything of value are taking risks every single day. Failing, learning and moving forward are signs of a healthy, impactful team. Keep pushing and keep learning from those failures and you will come out the other side better for it! I hope this was helpful, thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #failure #fail #leadershipfailure

Finding Work/Life Balance in 2024 | Lead From Here #60

Lead From Here — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 17:00:00 -0100

The topic of work/life balance tends to start a multitude of conversations depending on who you talk to. Some may say there is no such thing, some may say you gotta hustle until your face falls off...others may say that capitalism is unhealthy and we should all live in harmony. I don't like absolutes, generally, and that goes for this topic as well. My main focus is to help you navigate the realities that come with having a family and a career. I hear you, if you don't have a family or don't plan to, that doesn't allow you to vacate the responsibility of understanding the nuance of it. If you are a leader, if you don't already, you will have people that report to you, that will have to navigate those two things and if you aren't there to support and help them grow through that season of life, you aren't fully living up to your role as their leader. On to the point, I heard a Nick Bare Podcast Episode (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFjN2zwyh-k) where they talked about being all in vs all consumed. I found it fascinating to hear the differences and immediately started to think about how it correlated to my life. I have always struggled with balancing out all the things I am passionate about and that includes my family. I haven't figured it out, so I am certainly not there yet...but the concept of being all in, but not all consumed is a great start. It's really important to learn to manage it all, and if you don't have a family, but there to support your people as they go through this life transition. I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care! ------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #balance #worklife #familylife #worklifebalance

How to Set a Clear Path for Yourself in 2024 | Lead From Here #59

Lead From Here — Mon, 01 Jan 2024 22:16:10 -0100

As we get into the new year, it's important to lay a path for yourself and then share that with your people. It's easy to take the goals handed to you by your leaders or executives and focus solely on those, but it's important to do the same thing for yourself and push beyond your current situation.

A great way to do this is to ask those around you. Maybe it's your people, maybe it's best friends, your boss or your significant others! Ask them to give you candor filled feedback and let them know it's a safe space. This may be more difficult if you don't have the trust of your people, so if you don't have that yet, focus on that first!

Once you have a good understanding of your room for growth, layout the plan and EXECUTE! Goals and ideas mean absolutely nothing without EXECUTION!!!

I hope your 2024 is amazing and you layout a plan to continue to grow! If you aren't growing, you are dying in today's age!

Thanks for being here! Take care of yourself and those around you!

Happy New Year, From Me to You! | Lead From Here 58.1

Lead From Here — Mon, 01 Jan 2024 22:14:55 -0100

Just wanted to take a quick minute on this New Years Eve and say thank you to everyone that has joined in the first few months of Lead From Here!

2023 has been a big year of growth in my life and Lead From Here is a big part of that. 2024 will be more of the same! Growth and expansion, especially on Lead From Here. I have heard you, you have asked that I improve production quality, go deeper on topics and more episodes talking about leading outside of a company!

We will get all of that done and more! I am working on a book club, building out the newsletter and finally, one of the things I am most excited about...an app. The Lead From Here App will be a daily tool for helping manage your people, teams and leaders! More to come very soon, but it's VERY EXCITING!

Ok, this has gone long enough! As always, thank you for being here...I am excited to be a part of this community. I hope you have an amazing 2024 full of everything you want!

Take care of yourselves, your people and your community!

Happy New Year!

How to Know if You Have Recovered from Burnout? | Lead From Here #58

Lead From Here — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 16:00:00 -0100

The best way to know if you have recovered from burnout is have you felt the pain of self reflection? Pain, why pain? Whatever happened, lost your job, took a sabbatical, kept working at a slower, less effective pace, that reality, your burnout...was all because of your actions.

That is a tough thing to hear, you may work for a hard company that doesn't value their employees and you felt that you needed to run yourself into the ground to work there...which led to burnout. That is still on you, you didn't know your limits or didn't communicate your limits or make people respect your limits. You are in control of where you work. I know that isn't easy to hear and is a convoluted statement, but ultimately if a company doesn't align with your values and respect your limits (or you)...then it's time to find a place that will.

Recovering from burnout means that you have a very clear picture of what got you there and consequently what you won't do anymore. You will learn your limits, communicate your limits and make sure people are respecting your limits...and if not, then you will find a place that will be able to challenge you and respect your limits. The pain was there to remind you in moments where you are beyond your limits to come back for a breather, to make sure that you don't make burnout and habit and most importantly you live a life full of contentment and happiness.

I hope this was helpful. If you have any questions or want to dive more into a topic, let me know. Thanks for being here!

-------------------------------------------------

#leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #burnout #recovery #burnoutrecovery

How to Recover From Burnout | Lead From Here #57

Lead From Here — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 16:00:00 -0100

Continuing to build off of the last episode, I want to talk about how to you begin the recovery process with regards to burnout.

You have now communicated that you are burned out and have gotten to the point where you can focus on your recovery. If you quit or lost your job, then the first part should be much easier...if you are on a sabbatical or just taking a chunk of PTO, it will be a bit harder. The first and most important thing to do is disconnect. From work, from thinking about work, from doing work. Focus on friends, family, partner, hobbies, travel, gardening, whatever...anything that allows you to not be in "work mode".

If you quit or lost your job, there is the complication of your next job...so if you are going to apply to jobs or learn a new trade, set aside very focused chunks of time and when you aren't in that mode, don't think about it. Keep moving in those chunks of time, but ONLY during those chunks of time.

The overall keys to recovery are resetting your brain to remember what comfort, joy, balance looks like. It's important to remember this is going to be a SLOW process. It's not like you take a day or two...or even a week off...and you are back to normal. You are going to be processing grief, shame, embarrassment and anger to name just a handful of the emotions involved in recovery.

Shame and embarrassment, why would I feel those? There is nothing wrong with burning yourself out. You are correct, it's very common thing in life...but the shame and embarrassment come near the beginning because you aren't doing your job as you once did and your team suffers and more painfully at the end when you realize that it was you that put you in this state.

Yeah, that is the hardest part to overcome, but the most important part. You ignored your limits for too long and you put yourself into burnout by not knowing your limits or not communicating and living within your limits. If you don't get to this moment of enlightenment...you are doomed to repeat the cycle.

The most important thing in this process is to be kind to yourself, be patient and focus on doing things that set you on fire that aren't work related.

I hope this was helpful. If you have any questions or want to dive more into a topic, let me know. Thanks for being here!

-------------------------------------------------

#leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #burnout #recovery #burnoutrecovery

Communicating That You Have Reached Burnout | Lead From Here #56

Lead From Here — Mon, 25 Dec 2023 16:00:00 -0100

Building off of the last episode, I want to cover what happens when you hit burnout...what do you do first?

The first thing you need to do is talk to someone about it, then you need to figure out your options. I won't say it's impossible to work through burnout while continuing to work full time...it's just infinitely more difficult.

Who do I talk to and what options do I need to figure out?

I would talk to someone in your leadership group, whether that is an HR representative or a leader you trust, is up to you. Tell them where you are at and ask what options are available to you. Every company will have a different level of support, so it's important to understand if long or short term disability is an option, does your company off a leave of absence or a sabbatical? Can you take a chunk of PTO? Will FMLA work for you?

The key thing in this topic is to understand that depending on how healthy your company is, the news of you being burned out could be take the wrong way. There is always risk when asking for large chunks of time out or communicating that you don't have anything left to give at the moment. It can be read as weakness or incompetence by an unhealthy leader.

HR is a good spot because there are usually protections and you can go to them and get your options without your direct leadership core knowing. From there it's up to you how to proceed with communicating to who and when.

Make sure that you take burnout seriously because left un-communicated can also lead to risk. If all of a sudden your delivery or quality drops off, it will raise flags with your leaders and peers...if they don't have the context, you could end up out the door anyway.

I hope this was helpful, it's not legal advice and I suggest you know your states (or country's) rights before pushing to hard on anything with regards to mental health and burnout. If you have any questions or want to dive more into a topic, let me know. Thanks for being here!

-------------------------------------------------

#leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromhere #burnout #communicateburnout #professionalburnout

Knowing Your Limits as a Leader | Lead From Here #55

Lead From Here — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 16:00:00 -0100

This topic is a very important topic with regards to burnout. Limits are a very important part of life and nowhere in your life is it more crucial to understand it than in your career.

It's ok to go beyond your limits to push the boundaries throughout your life. In fact, I would say that it's crucial to do so, as growth, innovation and evolution come from outside your current limits. The thing is, you can't live outside your limits all the time and if you try to, you will most certainly end up in burnout mode.

That all sounds great and understandable...but Jason, how do I know what my limits are? Well, if you feel comfortable and balance, you are inside your limits. If you are feeling anxious, nervous or uncertain, you are outside of your limits. Anxiety, Nervousness and uncertainty are all deemed as negative emotions, but it's really just your body saying we aren't comfortable. That is why it's important to find and expand those boundaries, so you can do more as a human and feel comfortable doing it.

If you are feeling overly tired, stressed out or getting sick often...first go see a doctor...then if all is well there, I would take time to reflect on your career and life. Are you living beyond your limits, in a place where you don't ever feel comfortable or are running yourself into the ground? Then you might be knocking on burnouts door or already in burnout.

It's important to go beyond your limits, but it has to be in short bursts, it's not healthy to live beyond your limits.

I hope this was helpful. If you have any questions or want to dive more into a topic, let me know. Thanks for being here!

-------------------------------------------------

#leadfromhere #limits #knowyourlimits #boundaries #pushpast #burnout

Building a Personal Relationship with Your Boss | Lead From Here #54

Lead From Here — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 16:00:00 -0100

When people talk about bosses or leaders it seems to be in opposite extremes, "they are awesome!" or "they are the worst!". As you get deeper into your career, you will come across leaders that you look up, respect and feel drawn towards. That is a positive thing and will help you grow as a person and as a leader.

Building a relationship with your leader can be a very beneficial thing for both of you. You have someone that is helping you grow, looking out for opportunities for you and pushing you to new heights. They have a person that will help rally people to their cause, will go above and beyond to get the job done and will, in most cases, be a better employee.

The key to building a relationship with your leader is integrity. You may become the best of friends but at the end of the day, you have to remember that there will come a time where they have to put on boss hat. They may have to have difficult convos with you and if things get bad enough may have to fire you. Which is where the integrity comes in...if you are building a relationship with your leader to use that relationship to further your career or save your career ONLY. You aren't building it with integrity.

You want your leader to push you to grow, to call out your weaknesses so they can help you improve and push yourself further. They aren't a get out of jail free card. If you build the relationship on integrity and work hard to grow and push each other, you will absolutely help level each other up over time.

I hope this was helpful. If you have any questions or want to dive more into a topic, let me know. Thanks for being here!

-------------------------------------------------

#leadfromhere #leaderrelationships #bossrelationship #relationshipsatwork #relationships #professionalrelationships

Can You Fake it Until You Make It as a Leader? | Lead From Here #53

Lead From Here — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 16:00:00 -0100

Fake it until you make it is something you hear a lot with regards to career moves and just generally in life. I think it's something that is important for people to do, because we rarely FEEL like we are ready for the next thing.

I get the question a lot...can you fake it until you make it as a leader? It's a good question and the answer is sort of.

The ways you can't EVER fake it until you make it as a leader is around the "soft skills". You can't fake caring. You can't fake wanting to help. You can't fake empathy, sincerity or kindness. A large percentage of people can sense when you aren't being genuine or sincere...so if you have to fake those things, this line of work probably isn't for you.

The ways you can fake and grow into after you have become a leader are the more technical skills. Things like learning excel, how to calculate ROI, public speaking, building presentations, etc. Basically anything that is a tactical part of a leaders job, you can learn as you go. If you are looking to grow in excel, check out Youtube or Udemy for a tutorial. If you are looking to become a better public speaker, try toastmasters or volunteer to present more at meetings.

The bottom line is you can't fake the human pieces of leadership but you can absolutely fake the tactical things.I hope this was helpful. If you have any questions or want to dive more into a topic, let me know. Thanks for being here!

-------------------------------------------------

#leadfromhere #fakeit #fakingit #fakeituntilyoumakeit #fakeittillyoumakeit

What is Your Job as a Leader? | Lead From Here #52

Lead From Here — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 16:00:00 -0100

As a leader you are two things for your team, you are a shield and a sieve.

As a shield, your job is to block out the nonsense that is happening outside the team. Frustrated customers, angry executives, drama, chaos, ambiguous information. There is nothing productive in these things...all they will do is derail, distract and ultimately impact your team negatively. Sure if a customer or executive is frustrated, you need to handle that situation, but you take that to the team as a story of opportunity to help solve pain or get a project back on track. You never go to them and say "The CEO is really frustrated with our delivery as a team." This doesn't mean that you don't coach your team and work through problems that individuals have on the team, it just means that you keep that inside the team and don't let the outside world impact the team negatively.

As a sieve, your job is to filter out the things from outside the team that will be beneficial to the team. Credit, shoutouts, kudos, celebrations, happy customers, happy executives and the like are all things the team should hear about and in an enthusiastic manner. It's important to always make sure they are aware of all the positive impact. As a leader if you are getting credit or kudos, your team is directly responsible for that, so you should be sharing that with them and including them in the conversation in the moment is happens, even if they aren't around.

This may seem a little different, but you are a leader now...your success is based on how successful you can make your team. It's your job now to shield them from blame and pass on the credit to them.

I hope this was helpful. If you have any questions or want to dive more into a topic, let me know. Thanks for being here!

-------------------------------------------------

#leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromhere #leadersjob #howtolead #credit #blame

Find a Way as a Leader | Lead From Here #51

Lead From Here — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 16:00:00 -0100

If you are new to this channel, we focus heavily on building healthy teams that have strong processes, strong relationships and a strong leadership cores that focus on finding the balance between delivery and mental health and contentment.

Which makes this the topic of this episode may feel a bit counterintuitive. Sometimes you just need to pull out all the stops, process and balance to create massive impact. Whether that is saving a customer, pivoting on a project or avoiding a failure to launch, there are rare times when you just simply have to find a way. Notice I said "create massive impact", this isn't something you do often or for no good reason.

If there is a good reason and it is truly impactful, sometimes you have to ask people to work late or over a weekend or at a capacity that isn't sustainable for a short period of time. Initially, there will be pushback, there may be frustration and sometimes even anger. This is all very normal, especially if you are putting in the work to build healthy, balanced and effective teams...they are going to let you know that you are doing the exact opposite.

The two major keys for these moments, make sure you tell a story and layout the WHY behind it and lastly, sit in the mud with them. The worst kind of leader makes their team work late or come in on the weekend and they are home doing their own thing while their people are stuck at work. You may not be able to do the tactical work with them, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be there. Order dinner, help them unblock things and most importantly be there in solidarity and support. Knowing that is enough to keep them in a good headspace.

If you are doing these things and making sure this doesn't become a regular thing for random not massively impactful things...you may actually see a boost in mood and energy in your team after completing the push. People like creating positive impact and superhuman efforts feel good sometimes, just don't make it a habit.

I hope you found this helpful, I appreciate you being here, hit me up with questions!

-------------------------------------------------

#leadership #leadercommunity #leadfromhere #findingaway #findaway #pushthrough

Leveraging Storytelling as a Leader | Lead From Here #50

Lead From Here — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 16:00:00 -0100

First off, 50 episodes! Wow! Wild isn't it. That happened fast! Looking forward to the next 50 and beyond. I sincerely appreciate you being here.

Storytelling is something that isn't used enough in leadership. If you ask most leaders if their people know what they are doing and why they are doing it...they would say yes...but if you ask them how do they know? Most will say that we have goals and milestones they are driving towards so they know what they are driving towards.

They aren't technically wrong...if you have solid goals and milestones, you have done the first (very important) step of creating clarity in the target. You haven't however addressed the "Why" of the situation. Too often people lean on goals/milestones to set the path, which they do to a certain extent, but they are disconnected with the most impactful part of a human...their emotions.

Storytelling allows you to connect your goals and milestones to a why. This creates a crystal clear path of how AND why, while connecting their emotions to that path and the why behind the path. Emotions help people stay focused on where they are going and makes them way more engaged in not just the outcome, but the process to get there. They will call out issues, find innovative ways around problems and pivot quickly because they are not only connected to the milestone, they are connected to the why.

Storytelling also gives your people a story to share, allowing them to invoke emotions in their teams, peers and customers! That increases effectiveness of the team AND helps close deals!

I hope this was helpful, there are tons of tutorials about storytelling on youtube, check them out.

Thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or talking through your specific situation.

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

Is Your Top Talent a Team Player or a Crutch? | Lead From Here #49

Lead From Here — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 14:56:13 -0100

When people think about top talent, there is usually reverence for how good they are for the company. Which is usually true...

Top talent is always sought out, every hire, you hope becomes a top producer. When you hire or develop a top talent, it feels like you have hit the jackpot, whatever they touch turns to gold. If you give them something, you know it's going to get done and it's going to be high quality.

The question in your head right now is probably...when could they ever be bad for a company? If they are, shocker, it's probably your fault as their leader.

As a leader, you need to make sure that your top talent is unlocking the rest of your team as much as they are knocking out high impact/profile work. What does that look like? If you are giving all your most complex or interesting work to your top talent, then the rest of your team is languishing and lagging behind. It may seem counterintuitive to not give your most complex work to your top talent, but overtime, if they are the only resource doing it...at some point, whether they leave the company, move to another project or get promoted out the teams...you will end up with a MASSIVE hole in your teams that will take multiple months or more to fill.

Rather than giving everything to your top talent, spread the love. Get others involved and have the top talent support/mentor them through the complicated, high impact work. This will build up your entire team over time, it won't be as fast out of the gate, but it will eventually start becoming second nature to the entire team instead of just small percentage of the team. If you invest evenly in the growth of your team and company, you will see MAJOR gains in throughput and technical strength.

There are things that can impact that team growth negatively when trying to share the love...maybe your top talent isn't a good mentor or isn't a good culture fit. Those are coachable things in some instances and in other instances, it's simply best to find/develop another top talent and let them carry that torch.

It's important to develop your team from top to bottom...and it's significantly faster to use your best talent to knock it out.

Thanks for being here, let me know if you have questions or disagree!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

Why is EQ Important as a Leader? | Lead From Here #48

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 16:17:35 -0100

EQ is the single most important skill a leader must have. This doesn't mean you are everyones friend, that you wear your emotions on your sleeve all the time or even that you are "in touch with your softer side"...all those things are fine and good, but that isn't what EQ is. EQ is your ability to understand your emotions, using your empathy to pick up emotional cues from those around. This allows you to understand (to an extent) how your actions, emotions and words are impacting the room.

Whether it's a large meeting, a one on one or anywhere in between. If you aren't able to read the room, it's very difficult to lead effectively.

People will say, you don't have to have EQ to lead...and most likely those are the same people that are more "command and control", "iron fist", "do as I say, your opinions don't matter." The reality is, if you can't read a room, you will never know how effectively your conversations, strategic vision or difficult topics are going over. You are blind to how people are understanding what you trying to explain.

Understanding your emotions is the first step to becoming a leader, mix that understanding with empathy and you become a powerful force. Emotional awareness gives you strength, it doesn't create weakness.

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #emotionalintelligence #emotions #eq

Leave It All Out on the Playing Field | Lead From Here #47

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 16:12:40 -0100

Leaving it all out on the field is a phrase that has been used forever on sports teams, companies and schools. It's a bit cliche for the most part, but at the core of it, the message is on point and the best way to be on a day to day basis. This place of giving it your all, is where happiness and contentment are found.

It's also very individualized and depending on who you are talking to, may conjure different responses both positive and negative. It's up to you as a leader to know who to push and how when it comes to this concept. It's also on you to lead by example and do the same, if you aren't all in, people will be hesitant or resistant to do the same. As it was said by Julius in Remember the Titans, "Attitude reflect's leadership, captain."

Your effort and engagement sets the bar for what the team will shoot for, if you set the bar low, they will aim low. It's on you to leave it all out there every day and every project. Work hard. Play hard. Everyday. I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

-------------------------------------------------

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #yourall #goallout #leaveitallonthefield

Why is Trust so Important in Leadership? | Lead From Here #46

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 15:49:53 -0100

Trust is the foundation that a healthy and productive team culture is built upon.

Fear comes with the absence of trust. If everyone is fearful, they will, as Simon Sinek points out, "Lie, hide and fake." They will be in self preservation mode, meaning that they aren't doing what is best for the company, they are doing what is best for themselves or their team. Fear will tear teams and cultures apart over time.

Trust allows teams to be open, honest and have REAL conversations about what is working and what isn't. With that information they are continuously improving, utilizing things like candor and trust to push their own boundaries which inevitably will push the boundaries of the team/company opening up new opportunities.

It's not easy, but building trusting teams is the single most important thing a company must do to find long term sustainable success.

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #trust #importanceoftrust #trustinleadership

Focus on What You Can Control | Lead From Here #45

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 15:39:50 -0100

As a leader you have a lot of context into the business. With that comes the reality of you get to see and feel a lot of frustrations, annoyances and general nonsense. It's important to know that MOST of that is out of your control.

As a leader, your people will feel their own levels of frustration and annoyances...and they will want you to get involved. With all these things swirling, it can feel like you need to engage. I am not discouraging from engaging in areas you can actually control, but if it's out of your control, it's better to coach them through their feelings and help them process/deal with it as opposed to fighting a battle you can't win or impact.

That doesn't mean don't try to solve pain, it means build relationships across and throw ideas/plans out to help. The point is not to burn energy on things that you can't control and certainly don't make promises to your people you can't keep. Be honest, tell them you will try and then put out feelers. If it doesn't pan out, move on and help them work through their emotions instead of hoping for change in a specific area.

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #focus #inyourcontrol #controlledfocus

Dealing with Distractions as a Leader | Lead From Here #44

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 15:31:51 -0100

Understanding distractions and where they are coming from is a very important part of leadership. The reality is that your best people get exposure to multiple parts of the company and once peopel realize how helpful they are, they just start going directly to them. It's important to know how to block your team from those distractions.

The funny part of this thought experiment...sometimes you are the biggest distraction your best people have. Whether it's a slack message, email, got a minute meeting or an unneccesary meeting...you are distracting them. It doesn't matter how small, those small distractions add up over time and depending on how deep the work they are doing is...can derail for 30-45 mins before they are able to get back into flow.

It's important to let them know that they can create chunks of unreachable time and you have to lean into them on that...because that isn't in a high ownership person's comfort zone. Make sure they know that they can redirect all requests to you when they are online AND if they need deep work chunk time to put everything on silent and get into the flow of the deep work.

If you can eliminate distractions and coach your best people to do work in deep chunks, the more work your team will complete and the more quality you will see across the board.

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #distractions #dealingwithdistractions #avoiddistractions

Track Records Matter | Lead From Here #43

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 15:24:10 -0100

When you are evaluating talent, it's important to remember that track records matter. If someone is generally a top talent, they don't just fall off without a very clear reason. What is that reason? That is up to you to understand.

Too often people make a new assumption about someone based on a single situation or action. If you are pushing your teams to deliver at a high level, you are going to push them too far and into failure from time to time...if you let those failures taint the trust in your top prospects, you are missing the point of leadership.

It's important to know who your best people are and let them fail...and fail often. That sounds counter intuitive, but the best people are going to give you the best shot at finding new levels of success. The only way to do that is put yourself at risk of failure. So if someone is a rockstar and they fail, they are still a rockstar, you are just letting them push their boundaries and consequently your companies boundaries.

The reverse side of that coin, if someone fails consistently, you have to own up to the fact the proper coaching needs to happen. You can't ignore it, you can't avoid it...you have to deal with it. If after coaching, you can't pivot them to finding success more often than not...then maybe it's time for them to move on. It sounds harsh, but you impact your rockstars negatively, when you allow sub par employees to linger and bring down the overall team. Give them a fair shake and coach them, but set clear, achievable goals, if they miss, then it's time to pull in HR.

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #trackrecords #yourhistory #workhistory

Stopping the Spiral | Lead From Here #42

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 15:15:55 -0100

There will come a time when your teams are struggling, they can't find stability, they are spiraling and can't pull themselves out. What do you do?

The first thing you might think to try is mixing things up. Try some new things, make some changes to process or team composition or meeting cadence...I caution you not to do that. The first thing you should do is deep dive into the data. Look at team channels, tickets, emails, one on one chats you are a part of, one on one notes, basically anything that you can get your hands on data wise, look at it. Use all that data to try and understand what is happening within the teams. Is it a lack of trust? Lack of clarity on the delivery? Lack of cohesiveness in the plan?

Once you have a clear picture on why the team is hurting, you take the biggest hurt and fix it. Then you start working your way down the list, solving as much pain as possible. Some may make zero impact, that's ok, keep going. The more pain you solve without haven't to lean on your people, the faster they will snap out of the spiral. It's easy when you are in the spiral to think there is no choice, but there definitely is and you taking action will make your teams organically look at themselves to see if they are part of the problem or the solution.

Don't jump into problem solving, take a step back and build as much context as possible. Then take focused action and keep moving.

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #stopspiraling #spiral #goingdownhill

Building Cross Functional Relationships | Lead From Here #41

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 15:09:44 -0100

Cross functional collaboration is such a buzzwordy business term, I realize that. That reality is, it's the single fastest way to create real change in a company.

Without a cross functional support a lot of improvements fail to launch, or launch and fail miserably...because for big initiatives to take hold, it requires that all parties involved have a say in how it's implemented. That isn't easy and this type of work isn't high on anyones priority list.

With that, it's on YOU to build those relationships. Setup monthly syncs, be open to comms about pain points and make sure they know you are there to help, not just drain more of their already limited time. If you make the effort and become a resource they can come to for help, you can start to put yourself in the drivers seat of pulling together good people that want to improve the business, not just their department.

Having cross functional leaders backing any idea or plan, increases it's chance for being implemented AND finding success once it's implemented. It's not easy, but it's worth it!

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #buildingrealtionship #crossfunctionalrelationship #relationships

Separating Negative Impact and Personal Preference | Lead From Here #40

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 14:59:48 -0100

Most leaders, were more often than not at one point or another a solid technician in their field. They were good at their job and developed opinions and best practices on how things should be done. This at the core isn't a bad thing and is a good way to connect with your people and help them build their own careers.

Where this can go wrong is when a leader mistakes what they THINK is the best way to do things...and what ACTUALLY impacts the team negatively. Those are two very different things. They think because the person isn't doing it the way they did it, then something is wrong and it's bad. In reality, if the team isn't noticing it or being impacted by it, there isn't anything for you to push on...make a suggestion, sure, but it's not a scorecard item or a place to have a difficult convo.

Leaders are usually worried that because it's impacting them, it must be impacting the team and they just don't realize it. I can tell you that most teams, if something is negatively impacting them, you as their leader will hear about it, pretty consistently until the problem is solved. So if you feel something is off, the team's sentiment is the best place to start. If you aren't hearing anything about the situation that you are concerned about (and don't lead them to what you want to hear), then it's not worth your time or energy.

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #personalpreference #negativeimpact #impact

Dealing with Confidence as a Leader | Lead From Here #39

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 14:53:31 -0100

Confidence is a slippery slope. There is a difference between confidence and arrogance. Confidence is not having the answers and being an insufferable know it all...it's about pulling all the talent you have around you to create the best possible strategy.

From there, it's all about being confident and making the call...followed by helping and supporting your team/peers/leaders through the process of implementing that strategy. Understand that you will get calls wrong, potentially fairly often. It's important to remember that you aren't looking for perfection, you are looking to make the best decision possible with the information that you have in front of you in that moment.

If you were wrong, own it. Don't mistake arroagance for confidence. Arrogant leaders, don't do the due diligence and put more things at risk than necessary...then also don't take the blame, it's someone elses fault. Own it. Everytime.

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #confidence #confidentleader #leadwithconfidence

Going Over Your Leader's Head | Lead From Here #38

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 03:32:13 -0100

This is a touchy subject, it's important to know that depending on the health of your relationship with your leader, leadership group and company...this could get you in hot water or even worse fired. It SHOULDN'T be that way, but there are a lot of companies out there where this is a reality. This isn't advice specific to your life, take it as information to making your own decision.

The main key for this topic...you need to exhaust ALL options before doing this. You should have multiple documented attempts at getting your plan in place...if after multiple attempts, your leader passes on the opportunity to support you, then you can attempt to setup a skip level with his leader (if you don't already have skip levels).

In this meeting, it's important to not talk negative about your boss. It's important to just layout your request/plan/idea and see how his boss responds. If they ask, why you didn't bring it up to your boss, you can mention that you brought it to them a few times, but that they didn't seem interested in being involved, but that you would love for them to be included.

Here is where it lives on or dies...if your boss passes on it and your bosses boss passes on it...it's probably dead in the water. If you get lucky enough to have a convo with an Executive...then maybe throw the idea out, but I wouldn't schedule time beyond your bosses boss. If you can't get them to buy in, you are probably not going to get anyone else on board and more importantly, they may have context you aren't aware of (feel free to ask them if there are concerns that keep them from backing the idea).

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #bypassingyourleader #aboveyourleader #overyourleader

Sometimes Things Just Go Bad as a Leader | Lead From Here #37

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 03:28:33 -0100

Whether you are a new leader or a seasoned leader, there are going to be times when things just go bad. It can mean a lot of things, but as a leader, it's important not to jump to conclusions.

Most of the time, when things go bad, it's just a fluke. It's something that happened, that no one predicted, and it hurt. Whether that is a missed deadline, a failed launch or a bad strategy...they all started with the best intentions. So how do you respond when this happens?

It's up to you as a leader to not make brash decisions. You need to evaluate the situation and decide whether the issue was preventable, has happened before or was truly just a perfect storm of crap that lead to a bad outcome. If it was preventable, take that learning and make sure there is process to avoid it in the future. If it has happened before, understand what about the process change from before (if it happened) allowed for this to happen again. If it was just a fluke, perfect storm...there is probably nothing you need to do. Use your energy where you can make actionable difference, every issue doesn't require attention.

If through your digging and research you find that a single resource or team is the root cause of multiple similar issues...then perhaps it's time to take action to put coaching place or get HR involved. Whathever the outcome, it's on you to understand what happened and act accordingly.

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #goesbad #roughtimes #resilience

Delivering Bad News as a Leader | Lead From Here #36

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 02:01:37 -0100

Delivering bad news as a leader is an important part of leadership.

It's important because it's unavoidable and the way you deliver bad news can make or break a team. The words you use, the tone, the follow up and ownership all come together to either help or hurt the situation.

When you are delivering bad news, it's important to remember empathy. Your team is hearing bad news for the first time and it's coming from you. You might have had context or your haven't, but as a leader you usually have a bit more awareness than the average employee.

If you lack empathy, you can impact the teams ability to trust you more than necessary. If you are delivering bad news, there is an element of trust that will be broken regardless. With that being said, depending on how you act and communicate, you can dig yourself and your leadership team a bigger hole to dig yourself out of.

The wrong words, being too dismissive or careless can tell the team you really don't care. This is easy to avoid when your team or your department is impacted, but what about when partner orgs are affected? Your teams are all developing relationships cross functionally that you may or may not have awareness of...if you are flippant about bad news from another department, they could read that as careless, ignorant or heartless. All of those are bad when it comes to maintaining trust.

Most of the time bad news comes from sources beyond you, so it's important to make sure you communicate it with the utmost integrity and empathy.

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #Autonomy #agency #autonomyvsagency

Autonomy VS Agency | Lead From Here #35

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 01:54:56 -0100

This topic is a fun one because a lot of people think Autonomy and Agency are the same thing! Spoiler alert, they aren't!

Autonomy means that your leaders give you the freedom and space to execute on what they think is best way for things to work to meet their strategic goals. Agency means your leaders trust you with making the call on what is necessary to deliver on the overall goal, without having a strong opinion on the how.

As you can guess Automony tends to lead to a much slower organization. The leaders that lead the teams, don't actually get to make the call on how to proceed, what to work on and how execute properly. They are being handed decisions and direction on everything and given the space to execute on it. Those decisions and direction are coming from people that have a ton on their plates, whether it's customers, other departments or a lot of reports...they are slower to make decisions and move things forward, simply due to their lack of bandwidth.

Teams that are build and given agency, are typically faster, more able to pivot and change direction if needed. They are also fast, they move quickly because they are more bought into the execution because they own it, from start to finish. They are building a plan to reach the high level executive goals and then owning and executing on a daily basis. Which allows for faster decision making, high levels of clarity and ownership and finally...faster delivery.

It's not easy to let go of the reigns for some executives, but the long term benefits to doing so can be massively beneficial to the business.

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #Autonomy #agency #autonomyvsagency

Balancing Innovation and Progress | Lead From Here #34

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 01:43:35 -0100

Innovation is a word that is thrown around a lot and usually it's in the business setting. Don't get me wrong, innovation is important...but innovation isn't a hall pass to do whatever without oversight or guardrails.

A lot of people will argue that you can't manage innovation. I think it's important to understand that there are parts of the process of innovation that should absolutely be managed. The ideation and creative aspects shouldn't be managed or guardrailed...but the process for executing on a vision, should be. Too often innovative projects spin and spin and spin looking for the perfect execution of the idea instead of focusing on how to get it into the hands of people.

That is how innovation happens, you build something and you give it to people to challenge, give feedback and simply use! It can't be a thought experiment with not actionable outcomes...that is philosophy. As a leader it's your job to make sure that they stay focused on readiness and timelines, all while also challenging assumptions.

This may all feel very micromanagy...but the point is to make sure that we are seeing a return on investment for our projects focused on innovation.

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #innovation #progress #innovationandprogress

Let Your People Know Where They Stand | Lead From Here #33

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 01:36:14 -0100

This definitely fits into the difficult conversations category of Leadership. Essentially, if your people don't know where they are at any given time, your team isn't running as effectively as it could...and it's your fault.

Your job as a leader is to coach and support your team. If someone is struggling or if someone is crushing, it's up to you to tell them! It's up to you to layout the wins or layout the expectations that aren't being met. If you skip this or don't do it often enough (quarterly reviews aren't enough), then you aren't doing your job as a leader. If you aren't having regular one on ones, you should, if you are and multiple of them go by without you communicating the wins or the shortcomings...you aren't leading effectively and your team will suffer for it.

The best way to measure whether you are doing this effectively or not is to think of each of your people...if your boss were to do a skip level with each of them and he would bring up all the negative or positive things you have said about each person to them directly...would they be surprised by any of it? If the answer to any of those people is, yes they would be surprised, this is your opportunity to make a change.

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #directleadership #communication #directfeedback

Chaos is Not a Way of Life for a Team | Lead From Here #32

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 01:20:37 -0100

A lot of people feel that chaos is just a way of life. While it is an inevitability at times, it should NEVER be a way of life.

People are just less effective in extended chaos and it adds the risk of burnout to all parties involved. The reality is, extended periods of chaos a unhealthy for you, your teams and your business. It leads to poor decision making, unclear strategy and sloppy execution.

While there will be times that you need to work with and through chaos, it's important as a leader to take steps to find the source of the chaos and then put an end to it. If not in the immediate, you have to build a plan to have it removed.

This isn't an easy task, especially when partner departments or even company executives live in chaos themselves...they tend to make it more difficult to remove it...but nonetheless, it's up to you as a leader to effectively communicate the shortcomings of the lifestyle with data and insights.

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #chaos #chaoticleadership #chaosinleadership

How to Lead a Report in their First Job | Lead From Here #31

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 01:12:49 -0100

Anytime you are managing someone that hasn't had a job (or a professional job), it can be a unique kind of challenge. You aren't only teaching them how to do the tactical pieces of the job correctly, you are also teaching them how to behave in a workplace, expectations of how to grow in your career (you aren't just waiting for a year or two to get promoted) and how to carry themselves in a team setting.

There are a lot of variables that come with this unique challenge and one of those are the aspirations of that individual. A lot of people that have never had a job before don't understand the time it takes to build a career...so they will come in and expect the world and fast promos and lots of money. It's your job to show them the path to success, set realistic milestones on that path when they can expect to get promoted or pay bumps and then help them walk that path. It's also important to show them how they are diverging from the path.

I recall a person I worked with at one point that wanted to be like the best developer we had at our company...I laid out the path and what that would look like and they quickly realized they didn't want to work that much or hard. So we created a much more realistic path and that was the path they started down. Helping them understand the different routes one can take to success allows them to make the decision that most fits the lifestyle they want.

Just remember that there is a base level of focus, growth and effort an individual has to put in to be a successful, contributing member of the team...and if that doesn't fit their lifestyle, they need to change their lifestyle or change companies.

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #newemployees #firstjob #firstjobleadership

The Importance of Leading by Example | Lead From Here #30

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 01:04:40 -0100

Leading by example is one of the easiest ways to build trust. If you don't ask your team to do anything you wouldn't do, they immediate respect and trust you more, knowing that you will sit in the mud with them when shit hits the fan.

This doesn't have to be a complicated task either...most of the time, it's just showing up. If they are being asked to stay late, stay late with them, order them dinner, be in the mud with them. If they are being asked to take on more, find ways to protect their time more or step in an help take a little bit of that extra load where possible.

The main goal is to show them that you care and that you aren't there to just tell them what to do, you are there to support and work right alongside them. You are not "In Charge" they are "in YOUR Charge"...which means it's up to you to take care of them.

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!
------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #leadbyexample #example #beanexample

Leading Teams Through Good Times | Lead From Here #29

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:52:45 -0100

Leading teams through good times is a topic that most people feel, probably doesn't need to be covered. Times are good, pipelines are full, budgets are solid, teams are probably at a good size, work is getting done...life is good right? So why do we need to focus so much on leadership?

Good times can be a time of progress, innovation and growth...but only if we lead effectively through this time. Just because things are going well, doesn't mean it's time to take your foot off the gas. Set big hairy audacious goals, push your teams to grow and learn, push everyones boundaries...not because we have to, but because it's important to keep everyone sharp and their skills honed.

Whether people want to admit it right now or not, business and markets are very cyclical, so there will be a tough time at some point in the future...continuing to push hard now, will take the sting of the next hard time down a couple notches. Whether you innovated to create new revenue from a different part of the market, or you increased efficiency in a core process that allows you to get more done faster...those wins in times of prosper will lead to greater stability in times of drought.

It's not easy to keep on top of teams when things are going so well...but it's important for the long term strategy of your business and more specifically your teams!

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!
------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #goodtimes #leadingingoodtimes #lazyleadership

You & Your Leadership To-Do List | Lead From Here #28

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:42:51 -0100

Whether you are a leader of teams, leader of a group or a leader of a project...title or no title, your To-Do list will never truly be done.
Your new job as a leader, outside of taking care of your people, is understanding the context of the business/team/project/product current needs and prioritizing the work, your to-do list, etc to match that current need. Like it or not, your most technical task on a daily basis as a leader is managing your to-do list. Prioritizing, re-prioritizing, de-prioritizing, dropping things, adding things and everywhere in between.

Your job isn't to complete you list, that isn't possible...your job is to make sure that your To-Do list matches the current climate in the business and you are working towards the most important things on the list TODAY. That doesn't mean ignore the future, that is another topic for another episode, but you can't be long term strategic all the time. You have to balance long term strategy, with action based on the immediate need of the business/team.
It's a lot to manage and can weigh on you a bit, especially if you are a person that loves to complete your To-Do list everyday. You can find ways to set yourself up to have a daily focused To-Dos...but there isn't ever really a world where you are "Done" and wondering what to do next.

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #todo #todolist #leadershiplist

Building Your Executive Presence | Lead From Here #27

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:39:26 -0100

Excutive Presence is a business term that is thrown around a lot. It sounds like a big deal, it sounds like something that is very ethereal...like you are either born with it or you aren't. The reality is, it's a very tactical, practical understanding of how you carry yourself, the words you choose, the speed at which you talk and efficiency of your communication.

Anyone that has spent anytime around a c-suite leader in a large company knows that, unless it's over dinner or cocktails, they aren't there to waste time and listen to someone talk for the hell of it. They are there to get the job done, which means, get the information, make a decision and move on to the next one. That is why it isn't just how you sound or the words you choose. It's the whole package. Speak with a consistent even tone, make sure your topic is concise (verbally or via email/slack/etc) with a clear problelm statement, ask and potential solution if you have it...and lastly make sure that still sound like yourself.

One other fun will side note, that a lot of people ignore...don't talk to your people (or peers) the same way you talk to your executives. It will make you seem unapproachable, which will make people feel more hesitant to be open and talk freely with you.

Executive presence is important to nail if you want to climb into higher levels of leadership, but at the end of the day, it's more important be yourself and know your weaknesses, than it is to pretend to be somoene you aren't.

Thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #executivepresence #howyoucarryyourself #executive

Your Words Matter as a Leader | Lead From Here #26

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:33:26 -0100

Let's be honest, your words ALWAYS matter. As a leader, they matter just as much, but the impact can be exponentially greater than on an individual basis.

The words you choose, can inpsire, electrify, motivate, tear down, build up, anger, calm, etc...it's up to you to decide how you want to show up for your people. We as leadersare responsible for the words of our voice and I promise you that your people will hold you to what you say. With that, it's very important to have a very clear picture on what you intend to say.

This is never more important than a difficult conversation. Whether it's a coaching situation, a hard topic discussion or a performance improvement plan situation...your words can have very disastorous consequences if you aren't careful. If you choose vague words, or qualifying words, the weight of the message could get lost and people won't know exactly where they stand. Which could put you as a leader in a tough spot because you may think you told them they were going to lose their job if they don't change, but your words led them to believe it was just a warning.

When HR gets involved and they follow up with the individual and they didn't understand the severity of the situation...it can look bad on you as a leader and can also hinder that persons ability to overcome whatever is in front of them. Be concise, be clear and be canderous with them.

You might be wondering...how do I not say the wrong thing? First off, we all make mistakes and say things in ways we don't intend, it's part of our growth as a leader. With the being said, there are ways to improve your chances of saying the right things. Have a plan, role play that plan and if you don't have someone to role play with, talk to yourself in the mirror...it may sound silly, but hearing yourself say the words out loud can be a great way to make sure they make sense and sound correct.

Saying the wrong thing will happen, when it does, own it and learn from it. That is the best way to ensure you continue to improve.

Thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #wordsmatter #whatyousay #chooseyourwordscarefully

How to Manage Up as a Leader | Lead From Here #25

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:26:37 -0100

Managing up is an interesting topic. A lot of people don't realize they are doing it when they do it. Anytime you are taking information to your leader to help drive a project, topic or situation forward...you are managing up.

Let's get this out of the way...this is not an opportunity to manipulate or be shady. This should be a mutually beneficial relationship between two people. Managing up, allows you to support the person, who in the right setup, will in return help support you. Their growth is usually the catalyst for growth of their team.

How exactly do you manage up? Be your leader's eyes and ears in the teams, cross functionaly and in conversations with their leaders. Listen for opportunities for them to step in, be proactive or flat out take over. Help them understand the context of situations, give them information about what is happening in the teams, upcoming issues, whatever information that helps them be in the know and effective...allowing THEM to manage up effectively.
Managing up can be a great place when you have a leader you trust, if you do, lean on them and let them lean on you...you will be amazed at all the amazing things you can get done

Thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #leadyourleader #manageup

When They are Top Performer but a Poor Culture Fit | Lead From Here #24

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:15:39 -0100

This topic is a fun one, because it will usually ruffle some feathers and it's USUALLY (not always) people, that don't value a healthy culture. They are more focused on bottom line, just getting the job done and the immediate outcomes. Those people won't be able to see the long term damage someone that is a poor culture fit, could actually overtime put the project/product/company at risk.

Why would a top performer be anything but a positive for a project/product/company? When they are a poor culture fit, it can stunt the growth of the people around the top performer. It can make people leave, which creates high churn in the team, which puts you as a leader at risk...because if the top performer decides to move on, you are now left with a bunch of people that are either brand new, or have been there for a long time, but have checked out to stay out of the way of the poor culture fit.

The absolute worst case, the poor culture fit actually changes the direction of the culture of your teams. Then it makes it difficult to get people into the company and the few people that do join, will be fast to leave. It's up to you as a leader to protect your culture at all costs...that doesn't mean immediately cut a poor culture fit. It's a coaching opportuntiy and you should be stepping up and coaching the poor culture fit. If you coach well and they don't turn, then it's your job to move them out.

This is a very volatile topic and even people in your company will argue to keep a top performer at all costs...but the reality is, in the long run...if they won't change, it's better to move them on.

Thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #culture #poorculture #notaculturefit

The Leadership Table | Lead From Here #23

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:09:59 -0100

The leadership table is the place where you grow leaders...both current and up and coming leaders!

I learned about the leadership table while I was reading The Leaders Greatest Return, a book by John Maxwell! If you haven't read it, it's a GREAT read, I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone that is leadership and looking to grow as a leader and grow your leaders.

The point of the leadership table is to give your leaders a place to interact, be vulnerable, learn from each other. It also gives people interested in leadership a place to come get a taste of what being a leader looks like. The main focus of the leadership table is to talk about daily, very tactical issues, questions and strategy. There is a place for longer term learning and growth, but the immediate main goal is to unlock real time, tactical solutions to issues!

The leadership table can be weekly, monthly or however often that works for your team...but for your leadership core, you NEED to do it. Check out The Leaders Greatest Return!

Thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #leadershiptable #leadersgreatestreturn #growingleaders

Failure is Not Final | Lead From Here #22

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:02:56 -0100

People are usually afraid of the word failure. We hear about failure a lot. We are taught at a very young age to not fail, whether that is homework, tests, sports or childhood responsibilities. It's no wonder that as adults we are so afraid of failure.

As you become a leader, there are plenty of opportunities to fail. If you are a leader and you aren't at risk of failing SOMEWHERE in your professional life...there is a good chance you aren't growing and your teams aren't operating at peak efficiency. Solid, effectiv, impactful leadership is walking a fine line between burnout and flow, failure and success. Sometimes you will crush it. Sometimes you will fail.

The important part is that you are constantly learning from those failures and missteps. If you are doing that, you and your teams will continue to grow and absolutely crush whatever is put in front of you, regardless of the failures.

Thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

#leadership #leadercommunity #podcast #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #failure #failurenotfinal #fail #leadershipfailure

How Are you Perceived as a Leader? | Lead From Here #21

Lead From Here — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:52 -0100

The old adage "Perception is 9/10s reality" is spot on when it comes to life, but when you put it in the business scenario, it truly is the lens that you have to view things that involve your people. Whether it's rockstars being held back by their lack of interest in inner office politics or poor performers that have a great executive presence...the perception of you, your team or your people, drives your ability to succeed as a leader.

A great leader will help drive perception by setting up their people for success. Whether that is role playing, practice, training or just building them up via indirect convos about their contributions. It's also important to clearly show them the visuals people are creating with their actions (or lackthereof).

It's not always a fun convo or situation, but it cannot be ignored. Help your people keep their outward visuals and perceptions in sight!

Thanks for being here! Reach out for questions or comments!

------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/ #leadfromherepodcast #leadfromhere #failure #leadershipfailure #howtofail #respondingtofailure #fail #respondtofailure

Responding to Failure as a Leader | Lead From Here #20

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 23:35:18 -0100

Failure is a fun topic to talk about. Responses to failure can vary depending on the severity of the failure...but generally speaking, if your first thought is "They should be punished!" you probably need to adjust your thinking...but also, if your first thought is, "Ah, it's not a big deal.", you also need to pivot your thinking.

Failure is a very natural and imporant part of the success cycle of a company. If you are doing anything of value, you will come across failures of all sizes. The key is to show the failure respect, there isn't punishment, there isn't avoidance, there is just understanding and growth. If you seek to understand the failure and act on putting things in place to avoid it in the future, it's now become a positive part of your growth as a company/team/individual.

Thanks for being here, I hope you are finding good information here! If you are looking for more, let me know!

Imposter Syndrome as a Leader | Lead From Here #19

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 23:08:31 -0100

Imposter syndrome is a term that is thrown around a great deal these days. It's important to understand that it's not ALL negative.

Understand that if you got a promotion, you earned it, they don't just randomly promote people for no reason. You earned it. You deserve it. With that, it's important to understand what Imposter Syndrome does for you in the new role...it creates humility. Humility to know that you haven't built mastery yet in this role...how could you? You JUST got promoted!

The key is to keep it in the right frame...it's simply an opportunity to improve and grow. You won't always live there, but at every new level you will experience this again. So don't avoid, embrace it and use it to help you drive humility.

Thanks for being here, I hope you are finding good information here! If you are looking for more, let me know!

------------------------------------------------------

Managing Through Difficult Times | Lead From Here #18

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 23:00:16 -0100

Difficult time is such a vague term, it could be a market downturn, layoffs, loss of a large customer an acquistion or some national tragedy/health emergency. Whatever the reason for these bad times, it's impactful to your teams. Depending on how bad it gets, you have to really understand the impact of the words and the tone you use. Be as transparent as possible without getting yourself or your company in trouble.

If things go really bad and there is a layoff, make sure you understand that no one at the individual contributor level trusts the company. That trust can be rebuilt, but their trust level is back to 0 because, so your actions, words and tone need to align to that fact. The teams are going to slow down, the morale is going to be more negative and it won't turn around quickly. The best way to handle this is show empathy and understanding of the situation and give them space to go through the grief of losing teammates and overall trust...it takes time, but the snapback of the team when they realize that you are who you were as a leader before the layoff and that you just lived what you said through the worst of times...they will come back stronger and your relationship will be bolstered in the long run.

Thanks for being here, I hope you are finding good information here! If you are looking for more, let me know!

----------------------------------------------------

Managing Your Fear of Getting Fired | Lead From Here #17

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 22:40:54 -0100

This topic has a lot of nuance and it's important to understand as a leader. You can't be a good leader and constantly or regularly be worried about getting fired. It's impossible to live in that state and be effective at, taking appropriate risks, pushing for more accountability or taking blame and giving credit. There are countless things that you won't do as effectively in leadership (and life, really) if you are living in a mindset of fear.

You have to know what is best for your team and what isn't. Then go out and fight for those things. Sometimes that means going toe to toe with an executive to get your team what it needs. You won't win all those battle, but that isn't the goal. The goal is to fight, as eloquently and with as much data to set context as possible and then let the chips fall where they lay.

Thanks for being here, I hope you are finding good information here! If you are looking for more, let me know!

-----------------------------------------------------

You Can't Just Say NO as a Leader | Lead From Here #16

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 22:27:26 -0100

This topic is a fun one because when people first hear it or read it...they think, must be nice to think about this, but in reality you can't say no very often. There is some truth to that, but I think people take the word or action of No to the extreme. In business scnearios, no isn't a discussion stopper, it's a discussion starter...so if you just say no and don't say anything else, you aren't doing your job as a leader.

As a leader, you understand that there is almost always a business reason behind an ask...so just saying no, now puts someone on the defensive to get something done for their leader, team, etc. Instead of saying no and ending the conversation, say, no, but...and let people know that you are open to helping, but the no was specifically for the suggestion or request. Then start discussing other options. If you don't have any ideas, ask for more context on where the ask is coming from. Saying no is an art and the leaders that can do it best, can create the most change and success in a company.

Thanks for being here, I hope you are finding good information here! If you are looking for more, let me know!

--------------------------------------------------

You Must Disconnect as a Leader | Lead From Here #15

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 22:07:13 -0100

Disconnecting as a leader sounds super negative...but it's a necessary tool for sustainable effective leadership. Burnout is the fastest way to lose focus or control of a project, team or report. If you are constantly connected, not taking time for yourself and also pushing beyond your boundaries...you will find yourself in burnout town. With that, it's important for you to know when to disconnect and what your current mindset needs from a disconnection standpoint.

For me, I have time where I am "Off Work" but I am still checking Slack and responding to emails. In my current role, that is a necessity in some scenarios to make sure things keep moving. I try to take 4-6 weeks of PTO throughout the year...with 2 of those weeks being totally disconnected, no phone, no laptop, not messages, emails or calls. I don't do those week back to back, because I want to spread out those weeks into different times to spread the impact of that disconnection time. 2 of those weeks are mostly disconnected, where I will check in a couple times during the week to solve any pressing issuse. Then I will have a week or two where I will spend a few hours a day working on top items...no meetings, just focused work and responding some messages.

The actual execution is very individualized, but the point is to make sure that you are taking care of your physical AND mental health. Without both being taken care of, you will not be an effective leader for an extended period of time.

Thanks for being here, I hope you are finding good information here! If you are looking for more, let me know!

--------------------------------------------------

Finding Your Leadership Style | Lead From Here #14

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 21:41:08 -0100

Your leadership style is something that is really good to understand as early in your leadership career as possible. It's not easy, but it's important. If you don't understand how you lead, you will be inconsistent in your actions and emotions. Which can lead your people to feel frustrated, confused or simply lost on how to interact with you. It takes self relection and some research to understand where you feel as a person and a leader, but it's worth the early investment. From there, it's understanding the strengths and weaknesses of that style.

For me, I am fairly laissez-faire, meaning that I trust my teams to do their job. I am around, I am aware of what is happening on a day to day basis...but I am only there to knock out blockers, get answers and help when asked. I stay out of their way and let them do what they are best at! I am also extremely laid back, I don't get too worked up over stressful situations, not because I don't care or don't understand...but because I make worse decisions when I feed into the stress. The problem is my team, my leaders and my peers assumed because I wasn't worked up, I didn't understand the severity. So I have to really focus on explaining the pain and urgency, so people know how to react in their own way. If I don't, I am not be a good leader and letting one of my strengths become a weakness because of perception.

Thanks for being here, I hope you are finding good information here! If you are looking for more, let me know!

-----------------------------------------------------

Finding Your Balance as a Leader | Lead From Here #13

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 21:38:23 -0100

Balance is a topic that I am sure you have heard a TON in your life. Work life balance, balanced mind, balanced workload...the word is very much a buzz word these days. Where it isn't discussed a bunch is in Leadership. As a leader your job is never done. While an individual contributor might have a specific deliverable and due date...a leader's success is driven by their teams overall ability to deliver, specific deliverables for their leaders and their peoples career development.

That means the idea of balance becomes a very important one...you have to know what the top priority is and action on that first and foremost. Then from there, it's getting the next priorities done. All of this while making sure you are understanding your own emotions, awareness and stress level. Do you need to take some time off? Do you need to block some time in your calendar? Never. Ever. Leave personal time unused. Use it, consistently! If your job is never done, taking the time as needed on your path, will keep you balanced and avoid burnout.

Thanks for being here, I hope you are finding good information here! If you are looking for more, let me know!

---------------------------------------------------

Setting Your Boundaries as a Leader | Lead From Here #12

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 21:29:01 -0100

Setting boundaries is a topic that can tend to feel very emotionally charged and potentially point to weakness depending on who you are talking to. The reality is, setting boundaries can be a powerful tool that will not only make you a more effective leader, it will also protect you from burnout and frustration.

The downside to setting boundaries...is knowing what your boundaries are. It take a GREAT DEAL of self reflection and knowing yourself. Most leaders, especially new ones, lack that self reflection muscle. That doesn't mean you can't figure out your boundaries. One way to understand your boundaries, is paying attention to how you feel in certain situations...did something give you anxiety? Did something frustrate you more than normal? Did something just feel off and you don't know why? You probably crossed a boundary you weren't aware of. Understanding this takes time and you will get it wrong sometimes, just adjust that boundary or remove it completely.

The key isn't never crossing a boundary...it's about finding ways to limit your time outside of those boundaries.

Thanks for being here, I hope you are finding good information here! If you are looking for more, let me know!

----------------------------------------------------------------

Transition From Technician to Leader | Lead From Here #11

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 18:19:05 -0100

The transition from technician (individual contributor) to leader can be a painful one. There is a lot of things to celebrate when you get promoted or get offered the job of a leader, you have made a great step in your career. Now what? Where do I start? What does success look like now?

In my own transition from full time developer to full time people leader...I struggled to find my worth, not only as a leader, but more generally as an employee. I had been good at writing code and completing projects...now I am in this spot where my only output is words and reviews. How am I providing value. Eventually after a long 6 months of frustration and pain, I realized that as a leader, your job is to build people and help them find the best versions of themselves. If you do that, they will crush work and find success...and so will you. People first, every. single. time.

Thanks for being here, I hope you are finding good information here! If you are looking for more, let me know!

----------------------------------------------------

How to Respond to Chaos as a Leader | Lead From Here #10

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 18:12:05 -0100

Chaos is a part of every successful company or career. That doesn't mean that is should be a way of life! If you or your team are in chaos, it's important to indentify where it's coming from. Then you need to eliminate it, ASAP. Chaos in short bursts can be managable and motivating if harnessed correctly. Overtime though, it can tear a team down. It's unavoidable in certain situations, but letting it linger is VERY avoidable.

Thanks for being here, I hope you are finding good information here! If you are looking for more, let me know!

-----------------------------------------------------

The Way It's Always Been Done | Lead From Here #9

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 17:55:44 -0100

This topic is the worst thought process in life generally, but in business, it's a plague...avoid it at all costs. Not that change for change sake is a good thing, but you should constantly be evaluating if your systems, processes and norms are serving you and are effective as possible. If they aren't, you need to fix that or if it's not providing value, remove it! The number of times teams do things, just because it's part of the process, is very disconcerting. The best way to keep teams and leaders effective, is to cut down on useless systems and processes. If you can't prove that there is value, then there isn't value and it's time to move on. That sounds harsh, but every time you waste your people's time or your own time, you are driving down your companies value. Keep asking questions! Keep evaluating! It will be worth it!Thanks for being here! Let me know if you have ideas for topics to cover!--------------------------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://leadfromhere.co/

Make Sure You Know Where You Are Going | Lead From Here #8

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 17:38:10 -0100

This topic SEEMS really simple and straightforward, but in practice it isn't. There is a significant difference between parroting what your boss says in the plan...and truly understanding the plan. If you are just parroting the plan with no mastery, you aren't providing value to your team or your leader. Parroting means that you can't recognize issues or pivot when necessary. If you truly understand the nuance, you are able to pivot, call out issues or obstacles in the plan. It makes you valuable.

I hope this is helpful, thanks for being here!

--------------------------------------------------

How You Carry Yourself as a Leader | Lead From Here #7

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 17:33:40 -0100

How you carry yourself is a very nuanced topic, so I am sure we will talk more about this from other angles. It's important to understand how your behavior impacts your team. Do you panic in times of stress? Are you pretty level regardless of the situation? There isn't anything wrong with any response, as long as your are supporting and not manipulating and driving through fear. Some people wear their emotions on their sleeve, some keep them close to the vest...you just have to understand what that means for your team. Myself, I am consistently level regardless of the situation...which some would think is all positive. The reality is, my team, peers and leaders initially thought that my lack of response meant that I didn't understand the impact or urgency. With that, I know I need to focus on explaining with words the urgency and impact to make sure that people understand the scenario regardless of my emotions (or lack thereof).

Thank you for being here! Let me know if I can help you in some way!

-----------------------------------------------------------

Using Radical Candor as a Leader | Lead From Here #6

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 17:30:38 -0100

Radical Candor is that concept that if done right, can be insanely impactful on the culture of your company...sadly, most implementations of Radical Candor lack the foundation of trust and empathy to be successful and create impact. Spoiler alert, it's not giving you carte blance to say whatever you want and just be "real". If you are just being a jerk to people, you are doing it wrong. You have to build a relationship with your people that includes trust and shows them that you have empathy. If you do that, when you talk about topics that are difficult or ask them to do bigger things, they know that you trust them and you are looking out for their best interest. As we get deeper into this podcast, you will see that trust and empathy are core competencies for all things that are involved in a healthy culture.

Thanks for being here, please let me know if there are any questions on this topic, we will talk more about this!

-------------------------------------------------

Difficult Conversations | Lead From Here #5

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 17:27:15 -0100

Difficult conversations are one of the most important pieces of leadership, they can be terrible depending on the issue at hand and the ultimate outcome of the conversation. It's important to have difficult conversations when they need to had...if you let them linger, it gets more difficult and you put those in your charge in a potentially bad space. You aren't being mean or trying to make them feel bad...you are helping them improve some piece of their output (or lack thereof), which assuming they listen and make changes, will help improve their career. If you have done the due diligence of building trust and showing empathy, they will know you are looking out for their best interest! If you aren't sure what that means, check out the Radical Candor episode!

Thanks for watching! Let me know if you want me to dive into more detail in certain parts of this topics!

-------------------------------------------------

Vulnerability is a Superpower | Lead From Here #4

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 17:24:21 -0100

Vulnerability has been considered a "weakness" for a very long time. I think being vulnerable and sharing your experiences, both good and bad is a multiplier for your teams growth. You path to success wasn't easy and it wasn't a straight line with no issues...it's a full of ups and downs, failures and losses...people that are in the process can feel like they are doing something wrong or are failures if they think your path was perfect and all successes. Sharing your lows helps them understand it's part of the process and something we all go through, allows them to remain confident in their lows. That confidence allows them to stay focused and driven in the lows instead of being distracted by concerns of failure or insecurity.

Thanks for being here. Let me know if you agree or disagree!

-----------------------------------------------------

Who Am I to Start Lead From Here? | Lead From Here #3

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 17:22:17 -0100

Who am I and why the heck do I think I have the authority to have a podcast like this? My name is Jason, I have been a dedicated leader for nearly 7 years and a technical leader for a handful of years prior to that...and I have zero authority to do this. My goal isn't to be a guru or a know it all...my goal is to share my experiences in a variety of areas in leadership, pulling on my experiences throughout my career, not just as a leader.

The end goal of Lead From Here is to become a community of leaders, wanting to make a difference and support each others growth. I see the difference leadership can make in a company, family or community.

As always, I appreciate you being here and don't hesitate to reach out to me for specific questions or new topics to discuss!

Who is Lead From Here For? | Lead From Here #2

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 17:19:23 -0100

Who is Lead From Here directed at? You! Literally anyone and everyone, regardless of title. Leader isn't a title, leader is earned through action. If you see something in your company, team, community or family that needs support...it's up to you to take action. We hope to help give you the information and confidence to do just that!

Thank you for being here! Take care of yourself!

Welcome to the Lead From Here Podcast | Lead From Here #1

Lead From Here — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 02:50:37 -0100

I am excited to launch a new podcast called Lead From Here! The focus of the podcast is helping anyone and everyone lead where they are, with what they have...regardless of title! This podcast isn't about what a CEO, VP, Director or manager does, it's actions you can take at any level of an organization to help improve things, create things or fix things.

Thanks for being here and please let me know if you want more information on any of the topics or have topics you would like me to cover.