Season Kickoff: Walking the tightrope as a compassionate, driven leader

Leading in a way that meets the demands for fast results at the same time as you develop those around you is not easy.

 In this episode, host Teri Schmidt kicks off the new season in which she will be diving into the paradoxes of strong leadership and how to balance achieving results with genuinely caring for your team. From dealing with a stifling workload and disconnection to mastering delegation and difficult conversations, this season will deliver with insights that dig deeper than your average leadership tips. 

Join us for a journey to becoming the successful leader you set out to be—one who serves with strength and empathy.

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teri-m-schmidt/

Get 1-on-1 leadership support from Teri here: https://www.strongleadersserve.com/coaching

Set up an intro call with Teri: https://calendly.com/terischmidt/discoverycall

Transcript

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back to another season of Strong Leader Serve. I am so excited to be back with you. I had a nice break from podcasting, But I was really excited to get back with you and talk about how you can be that leader that you set out to be when you originally got into people leadership. That compassionate leader that not only got results for the team and for the business, but also helped other people grow. So I'm so excited to jump into this season and do just that. If you don't know me, I'm Terry Schmitt, Executive and Leadership Coach at Strong Leaders Serve, where we partner with compassionate, driven leaders just like you. Leaders who not only want to deliver results, like I said, but also care about the humans that they work with. The reason that I do this is because I know that is an incredibly fine line to walk

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To deal with all the pressures around you that are telling you, go faster, go faster, go faster. We need the results, but yet to do it in a way that shows that you care about and want to build up those that you are working with and those that you are leading.

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So that's why this season in particular, we're really going to hone in on what some of the most common challenges are that I hear from my clients. And we're going to start with the top two. The top two that I've been hearing recently are number one, stifling workload. And number two, a sense of disconnection, whether that be with people or whether that be disconnection from the mission. How has that been going for you? Do those two challenges rise to the top of your list too, in terms of obstacles that sometimes get in the way of you leading from the way that you want to? If that's the case, the upcoming episodes will be extremely helpful for you. I'm so excited to dig into them. We are going to start with talking to An expert in neuroscience, Ursula Pottinger, about how our brain actually makes it more difficult for us to make positive changes in ourselves. So for those of you who set out this year with great plans for making some changes that you really felt would help you to lead your team more effectively, and you just feel a sense of struggle in terms of following through on those, this is the conversation for you. We're also going to talk about how you can delegate more effectively. And no, this is not going to be your cookie cutter conversation around finding your zone of genius and making sure that you are going through all your tasks and figuring out which ones you really have to do and which ones you have to delegate. But we're going to dig in a lot deeper than that. As you know, I always like to get under the surface and not just give you tips that you could hear pretty much anywhere on LinkedIn or on any leadership podcast, but really dig into what makes some of those tips maybe difficult to follow at times. So we'll be digging into delegation and how through some self examination, you can do that more effectively with your team. So that that can help with your stifling workload in those conversations We will of course be talking about what it actually means to serve as a leader That's a topic that we've hit on before But we'll be digging deeper and we'll be talking again about how serving does not mean Rescuing your team and how that goes together with delegation So through those conversations you should be set up to Take some of the workload off yourself, but also empower and strengthen your team. We'll also be talking about how to act as a detective to discover your team's unique strengths and motivators. This can make all of the difference, particularly when you are looking about how to delegate effectively in a way that does help those you lead to use their talents and to grow as people. If Urs Koenig talked about being a strong leader means Developing a bench strength of leaders behind you. And this tactic of being a detective with your teams not only helps to motivate the team to get the work done and get the results that you want to achieve, but also grow that leadership bench strength behind you. Lastly, in terms of how to deal effectively or how to approach that stifling workload that gets in your way of being the leader that you want to be, We'll be talking about resisting that urge to take those small, easy actions when you should be thinking strategically. It can be so tempting, I know, to just get in there and just keep going. Instead of taking a step back and thinking about what you and the team are doing. But it can make all the difference if you take that time to really direct yourself and direct your team. And we'll be talking about some examples of clients that have been able to do that and the difference that it has made in their lives. And finally, one that hits close to home for me. We'll be talking how to know when it's time to say no, and to do it without feeling like you don't value or trust the person you're saying no to. That can be a big struggle for me. Sometimes I don't want to say no or I don't want to speak up against something because I don't want people to think that I don't trust them or that I don't respect their strengths and respect their opinions. But we'll talk about what it means to get past that anxiety and to speak up when you need to speak up. And this often happens, I know, a lot with managing up. Talking to your leader when you don't think the organization or the team is headed in the direction that it should be headed. So we'll be focusing in on managing up and how to effectively manage that relationship and even the relationship with your peers and how to have the courage to be authentic to who you are so that the team and your department and your organization can be headed in a positive direction. Then on to the topic of disconnection, that other challenge that I would say is taking the number one or number two place in the lives of many of my clients who are feeling a little bit stuck in being able to lead the way that they want to. We'll talk about how to deal with who maybe don't share your level of commitment to both leading compassionately and delivering results. I'll also share a conversation that I had with INSEAD professor Henrik Bressman. We discussed how to build connection in our world of fuzzy team boundaries. I know a lot of organizations are becoming more flat and teams aren't necessarily hierarchical as they were before. And you may be. I'm wondering how you can create a sense of belonging in this reality where there may be a lot of dotted line reporting. If that's you and you're struggling with that, this conversation will really be a benefit to you. We'll also talk about courage in difficult conversations. I know how uncomfortable those can be. And like I talked about before, particularly for me, I often don't want to bring up something that I think is wrong because I worry that other people will think that I don't trust them. But we'll talk about how to get past that and how to get past some of the other challenges with difficult conversations and approach them with empathy and effectiveness. I'll share a conversation that Dr. Debra Ankova from MIT and I had where we discussed one of the top four leadership skills in her model, relating, and how leaders can balance inquiry and advocacy when managing up, across, and down. And lastly, of course, we will touch on connecting with remote and hybrid employees. I know this one hits home for many of you, whether you're managing a hybrid workforce or a completely remote one, keeping that connection strong can feel like an uphill battle, but it is possible and it is a working model that can be so powerful for many reasons. So we'll touch on that as well. So I just wanted to jump on today to give you a little bit of information about what's coming up next for this season as always, if there is a challenge that you are dealing with that you want to hear me talk about or you have a guest that you'd really like to hear me speak to, please reach out and let me know. Input from listeners is one of my favorite things to hear because it helps me to make sure that this podcast is as of much value as possible for you.

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And if you haven't already subscribed, please do so to make sure that you don't miss an episode.

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Thank you for being here and I can't wait to continue to partner with you on this journey As you discover how to navigate and succeed in our current workplaces as a compassionate driven leader.