Engaging Leader: Leadership communication principles with Jesse Lahey

Leading talented people in creative fields requires a different skill set than what many management books teach. How do you ensure your team consistently delivers a brilliant work product from an inherently unpredictable creative process? How do you manage pushback from your team of super-smart, headstrong creatives? As a consultant to creative companies, Todd Henry knows firsthand what prevents creative leaders from guiding their teams to success. In his latest book, Herding Tigers: Be the Leader that Creative People Need, Todd provides a blueprint to help you be the leader your team needs to produce awesome work. In this episode, Jesse and Todd discuss: The unique challenges of leading a team made up of creative people, The two things that creatives need most in order to do great work, A three-part framework for the true role of a creative leader, What to focus on when coaching creative staff, How to build time and attention buffers to protect your team’s ability to do its best work, and Why you should still “get your hands dirty” sometimes, even as you remove yourself from the work. Todd Henry teaches leaders and organizations how to establish practices that lead to everyday brilliance. He is the author of three previous books (The Accidental Creative, Die Empty, and Louder Than Words) which have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and he speaks and consults across several industries on creativity, leadership, and passion for work. Resources Mentioned in This Episode Website: www.toddhenry.com Website: www.herdingtigers.net Website: www.accidentalcreative.com Book: Herding Tigers: Be the Leader that Creative People Need LinkedIn: /toddhenry Twitter: @toddhenry The Accidental Creative Podcast Podcast episode 028 – How to be Creative at a Moment’s Notice Podcast episode 040 – 5 Keys to Leading Innovation Podcast episode 056 – Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Everyday Subscription Links iTunes Stitcher RSS Your Feedback If you like our show, please rate us on iTunes. That makes a huge difference in helping more people discover it. We love to know your thoughts about this episode. Please submit your comments below! You can also email comments to Jesse at jesse@engagingleader.com, subscribe to him on 

Leading talented people in creative fields requires a different skill set than what many management books teach. How do you ensure your team consistently delivers a brilliant work product from an inherently unpredictable creative process? How do you manage pushback from your team of super-smart, headstrong creatives? As a consultant to creative companies, Todd Henry […]

When one thing (the right ONE Thing) is set in motion, it can topple many things. Even more significant, a single domino can bring down another domino that is 50% larger. That provides that opportunity not only for linear progress, but exponential progress. Getting extraordinary results is all about creating a domino effect for you (or your team). Successful leaders line up their priorities anew every day, find the lead domino, and whack away at it until it falls. In this episode, Jesse shares what he’s learned from chapter 2 of the book The ONE Thing and provides examples of applying the lessons. In addition, he provides science-based tips from the book Two Awesome Hours to help you stay focused on your ONE Thing and especially your lead domino. Resources Mentioned in This Episode Book: The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller * Book: Two Awesome Hours: Science-Based Strategies to Harness Your Best Time and Get Your Most Important Work Done by Josh Davis Subscription Links iTunes Stitcher RSS Your Feedback If you like our show, please rate us on iTunes. That makes a huge difference in helping more people discover it. We love to know your thoughts about this episode. Please submit your comments below! You can also email comments to Jesse at jesse@engagingleader.com, subscribe to him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter.  

When one thing (the right ONE Thing) is set in motion, it can topple many things. Even more significant, a single domino can bring down another domino that is 50% larger. That provides that opportunity not only for linear progress, but exponential progress. Getting extraordinary results is all about creating a domino effect for you […]

What’s the ONE Thing you (or your team) can do this week such that by doing it, everything else would be easier or unnecessary? Behind every successful person is their ONE Thing. No matter how success is measured, personal or professional, only the ability to dismiss distractions and concentrate on your ONE Thing stands between you and your goals. The ONE Thing is about getting extraordinary results in every situation. In this episode, Jesse shares what he’s learned from chapter 1 of the book The ONE Thing and provides examples of applying the lessons. What is the ONE Thing standing between you and your goals? To help identify your ONE Thing, you may find it helpful to ask yourself (or your team) these additional questions: If you could work only two hours per week, what would you do? What if I could only subtract to solve problems? What should I simplify? What should I put on my not-to-do list? Am I hunting antelope or field mice? When looking at your to-do list, which one to-do would render all the rest either easier or unnecessary? What would this look like if it were easy? Resources Mentioned in This Episode Book: The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller Book: Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Tim Ferriss Subscription Links iTunes Stitcher RSS Your Feedback If you like our show, please rate us on iTunes. That makes a huge difference in helping more people discover it. We love to know your thoughts about this episode. Please submit your comments below! You can also email comments to Jesse at jesse@engagingleader.com, subscribe to him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter.  

What’s the ONE Thing you (or your team) can do this week such that by doing it, everything else would be easier or unnecessary? Behind every successful person is their ONE Thing. No matter how success is measured, personal or professional, only the ability to dismiss distractions and concentrate on your ONE Thing stands between […]

All of us have at least one person or group of people that we work with who has an issue that we really need to address — a performance problem, a behavioral issue, a piece of spinach stuck in their teeth — but for some reason, we avoid bringing up the topic with them. We’ve all been there. Perhaps we’re afraid of hurting their feelings, getting a negative reaction, having our helpful intentions misunderstood, or otherwise causing an unintended consequence. So we don’t bring it up, and the ignored topic becomes the proverbial elephant in the room that gets bigger over time … continuing to hold back that person’s true success and also negatively affecting us and others on the team. We aren’t doing anyone a favor by pretending it doesn’t exist. So how can we address the elephant in a way that we can be confident is likely to bring about a healthy result? That’s where communication expert Dr. Mike Bechtle comes in. You’ve seen his books in airports and other bookstores for years. His best-known book is People Can’t Drive You Crazy If You Don’t Give Them the Keys, and his newest book is Dealing with the Elephant in the Room: Moving from Tough Conversations to Healthy Communication. It’s based on his belief that, with the right tools and skills, individuals can learn to negotiate the toughest conversations without intimidation and frustration. Over the past 29 years as a senior consultant with FranklinCovey, Mike has taught more than 3,000 seminars about productivity and communication, done executive coaching, and written five books to help people at all levels live their lives intentionally (instead of by default). Resources Mentioned in This Episode Website: www.mikebechtle.com Book: Dealing with the Elephant in the Room: Moving from Tough Conversations to Healthy Communication Book: How to Communicate with Confidence LinkedIn: /mikebechtle/ Twitter: @MikeBechtle Instagram: mikebechtle Subscription Links iTunes Stitcher RSS Your Feedback If you like our show, please rate us on iTunes. That makes a huge difference in helping more people discover it. We love to know your thoughts about this episode. Please submit your comments below! You can also email comments to Jesse at jesse@engagingleader.com, subscribe to him on Facebook, or follow him on Twi...

All of us have at least one person or group of people that we work with who has an issue that we really need to address — a performance problem, a behavioral issue, a piece of spinach stuck in their teeth — but for some reason, we avoid bringing up the topic with them. We’ve […]

How many times have you heard a leader say, “Our people are our greatest asset”? You’ve probably even uttered it a few times yourself. It’s a nice sentiment, but really doesn’t tell the full story. Simply having an organization full of stellar individuals is ultimately less important than how they function together. In his new book, Get Better: 15 Proven Practices to Build Effective Relationships at Work, FranklinCovey’s Chief People Officer, Todd Davis, explains that while an organization’s greatest assets are indeed its people, it’s actually the relationships between those people that truly become the organization’s ultimate competitive advantage. Get Better is a practical guide for anyone looking to create a competitive advantage for any size and type of organization by building effective relationships. Davis describes the most common relationship pitfalls that negatively affect personal careers and organizational results. He identifies 15 proven practices that influential leaders use to improve the quality of interactions with others and master the skills of effective relationships. Todd Davis has been with FranklinCovey for over 20 years, and currently serves as chief people officer and executive vice president and is responsible for FranklinCovey’s global talent development. Davis has delivered numerous keynote addresses and speeches at top industry conferences and associations, annual corporate events, and for FranklinCovey clients, many of which are Fortune® 100 and 500 companies. Resources Mentioned in This Episode Website: getbetterbook.com Book: Get Better: 15 Proven Practices to Build Effective Relationships at Work Book by Dr. David Bobb: Humility: An Unlikely Biography of America’s Greatest Virtue Twitter: @ToddDavisFC LinkedIn: /todd-davis Facebook: /ToddDavisFC/ Subscription Links iTunes Stitcher RSS Your Feedback If you like our show, please rate us on iTunes. That makes a huge difference in helping more people discover it. We love to know your thoughts about this episode. Please submit your comments below! You can also email comments to Jesse at jesse@engagingleader.com, subscribe to him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter.

How many times have you heard a leader say, “Our people are our greatest asset”? You’ve probably even uttered it a few times yourself. It’s a nice sentiment, but really doesn’t tell the full story. Simply having an organization full of stellar individuals is ultimately less important than how they function together. In his new […]

Chronic stress takes a toll on the quality of work and life, for both leaders and the people they lead. Stress muddies our thinking, impairs judgment, damages health and relationships, and causes people to burn out and quit their job. The solution, according to Dr. Andrew Shatté, is for leaders to become stress-relient and to teach resilience to their team. Learning resilience gets to the root cause of stress by helping people improve how they respond to adversity. Unfortunately, nearly half of leaders and high-value employees are not resilient, according to a recent study by meQuilibrium. Among other findings, the study revealed: 44% of employees with a master’s degree or higher have below-average resilience — meaning they are at a higher risk for depression, burnout, absenteeism and reduced productivity 54% of employees making between $75,000 and $90,000 yearly have below-average resilience — and of those people, 42% intend to quit their job within the next 6 months In episode 32 of Workforce Health Engagement, Andrew joined Jesse to discuss how to train employees to tackle the seven core components of stress resilience — not by attempting to eliminate stress, but by markedly improving their ability to handle it. In this episode of Engaging Leader, Andrew discusses resilient leadership, including: Developing resilience personally — and modeling it in real life, Mentoring team members to develop their resilience, and Creating a resilient workplace. Andrew Shatté is co-author of two books about resilience and stress management. He is a psychologist and research professor in the College of Medicine at the University of Arizona, a Brookings Institution fellow, and the Chief Science Officer at the online stress management company meQuilibrium. Andrew has spent more than 20 years researching resilience and has established resilience programs that are operating around the world. Andrew’s work has improved productivity and performance at organizations ranging from NASA to Fortune 100 companies. meQuilibrium is a personalized, interactive, coaching system designed to provide people with proven, measurable methods to increase their stress resilience. Large employers, including Comcast and HP, use meQuilibrium as part of their human capital strategies to help their employees to manage stress and boost performance and to make healthier choices. It’s designed for mobile and desktop use. Resources Mentioned in This Episode Podcast WHE32: Boosting Stress Resilience for Employees Website: mequilibrium.com New study: Nearly Half of High-Value Employees Are Not Resilient Book: meQuilibrium: 14 Days to Cooler, Calmer, and Happier Book: The Resilience Factor: 7 Keys to Finding Your Inner Strength and Overcoming Life’s Hurdles LinkedIn: /AndrewShatte Twitter: @meQuilibrium Subscription Links

Chronic stress takes a toll on the quality of work and life, for both leaders and the people they lead. Stress muddies our thinking, impairs judgment, damages health and relationships, and causes people to burn out and quit their job. The solution, according to Dr. Andrew Shatté, is for leaders to become stress-relient and to […]

Trek Bikes grew out of one man’s belief that he could build a different kind of company. In a barn in southern Wisconsin, Dick Burke instilled the simple principles that continue to guide the company as it has grown into a worldwide brand: build things that last and leave a legacy of positive change. Dick’s son John Burke began working at Trek in 1984 and has been president of the company since 1997. Jesse and John discuss: What makes Trek different from other high-end bike makers; How Trek got started; How John joined Trek and eventually came to lead the company; Why John decided to do something to make the country better; The problems-and-solutions approach that John teaches as one way to create a high-performing team; How Trek makes sure it has the best people; How Trek creates a positive culture, including developing its leaders; and Why John decided to create a culture of health within Trek, and how they did it. John Burke is president of Trek Bikes. He is also the author of two books: 12 Simple Solutions to Save America and One Last Great Thing. John served as chairman of President George W. Bush’s President’s Council on Physical Fitness & Sports and is a Founding Board Member of the Bikes Belong Coalition. A native of Madison, Wisconsin, John is an avid cyclist and runner and has finished Ironman Wisconsin as well as the Boston and New York Marathons. This interview originally aired in June 2017 on Jesse’s podcast Workforce Health Engagement. Resources Mentioned in This Episode * Website: https://www.trekbikes.com * Recruiting video: Let Me Show You Our Bicycle Company * Book: 12 Simple Solutions to Save America  * Book: One Last Great Thing * Twitter: @JBTrek08 * Facebook: /12SimpleSolutions  * Website for Great Place To Work Institute: https://www.greatplacetowork.com/ Subscription Links iTunes Stitcher RSS Your Feedback If you like our show, please rate us on iTunes. That makes a huge difference in helping more people discover it. We love to know your thoughts about this episode. Please submit your comments below! You can also email comments to Jesse at jesse@engagingleader.com, subscribe to him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter.  

Trek Bikes grew out of one man’s belief that he could build a different kind of company. In a barn in southern Wisconsin, Dick Burke instilled the simple principles that continue to guide the company as it has grown into a worldwide brand: build things that last and leave a legacy of positive change. Dick’s […]

What does it take to lead a team that builds a startup into a nationally recognized company in less than three years, with an annual growth rate of more than 1,000%? Josh Kent is the CEO and founder of over a dozen startups, including SunFrog Shirts, which launched in 2013 and is currently the largest T-shirt company in the United States. In this interview, Josh shares his personal story of failures, successes, and the lessons learned along the way. Josh will share how he built a winning team, how he uses a combination of high-touch and high-tech to cultivate the company’s culture despite its explosive growth, and how he leads a workforce of not only several hundred employees locally but also 80,000 affiliates globally. In addition, Jesse and Josh discuss: Holding intentional events to strengthen a fun, healthy culture; How new employees are introduced to the culture; Developing leadership skills of managers, including foundational training as well as an ongoing weekly “book club”; How to conduct daily “huddles,” weekly “super huddles,” and monthly town halls; How to take advantage of the affiliation business model; and Managing task lists on a cascading basis, and inspecting what you expect. Josh Kent is listed as one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 25 Entrepreneurs to Watch, and Inc.com recently featured him as an industry disrupter. According to Alexa, SunFrog.com is now one of the 500 most trafficked sites in the world, making it more popular than Mashable, Reuters, and Nordstrom. Resources Mentioned in This Episode Company website: SunFrog.com Personal website: joshkent.com Crowdfunding website for fundraising campaigns: showyourlove.com LinkedIn: /joshkent Twitter: @joshkentceo Instagram: /josh_a_kent YouTube: Josh Kent_Remove the Lid Facebook: /josh.kent Other tools mentioned on the show: shareasale.com affiliate marketing GQueues.com task management system Asana.com task management system Basecamp.com task management system Subscription Links iTunes Stitcher RSS Your Feedback If you like our show, please rate us on iTunes. That makes a huge difference in helping more people discover it.