Leadership Jam Session Rob Fonte

This is part two of a two-part recording where I sit with several coaches that participated in a recent Emerging Leaders program that I create and facilitate. These are seasoned leaders, hand selected by the organization to help coach assigned participants throughout the entire duration of the program. You'll hear perspectives around the importance of people development, different approaches, timing, etc.
If you haven't listened to the previous episode, episode 84, I would encourage you to listen to that one first as this episode dovetails on that conversation where I sit with participants, a.k.a., emerging leaders who went through the program and shared their leadership development journey. Below are key takeaways from the coach’s perspective.
KEY TAKEAWAYSThere’s a misconception that leadership is about having direct reports; it’s really about your ability to influence and coachLeadership skills are developed and cultivated. No one is born a natural leaderCoaches and mentors are also on a continuous learning journeyThere’s tremendous value in have a cross-section of employees in a leadership development program. The varied perspectives from people in different roles is pricelessIf you’re going to build a leadership development program, make it an imperative to have seasoned leaders be part of the program to help shape and mold the next set of future leaders

For many of my clients, I create and facilitate what's called an Emerging Leaders program. It's designed to prepare emerging leaders for their first management positions. Participants learn and apply foundational leadership skills throughout a multi-phased experiential journey.
At the core of the program is the use of internal managers to serve as coaches and mentors. These are seasoned leaders, hand selected by the organization to help coach their assigned participant throughout the entire duration of the program.
As a two-part recording, joining me today are Scott Dumler, Josh Key, Brian Fagan, and Elizabeth Martin, who went through my program as participants and are now leading people. You'll get to hear leadership development from a learner's perspective, and what a participant is going through during their leadership development journey, their ‘aha’ moments, etc.
In the next episode, you'll hear from the coaches who helped shepherd the participants to gain their perspective on mentoring these emerging leaders during the program.
KEY TAKEAWAYSAdapt to different styles when communicating. The same conversation with two different people has a dramatic impact if you’re not meeting their style and what they’re looking to get from the conversationUtilize your peer set and other leaders to gather insight and advice. No one person as all the answersIt’s ok to say, “I don’t know”. You can always figure out how to get the best answers for your peopleConsider developing people by giving them exposure to other teams, functions; people who are not in the same role. This makes the practice of leadership the common denominatorSelf-awareness is key

In this episode, I sit with Rob DiTota, vice president of US commercial for a large medical device organization and has over 25 years of healthcare experience with 15 years of leadership experience. Rob has a unique background where you will hear him talk about his leadership experience as an officer in the fire services, as well as his leadership experience in the corporate world. I think you'll find tremendous value in hearing him talk about his thoughts on team culture and his approach to how he turned around challenged cultures into great ones.
KEY TAKEAWAYSCulture is your values and behaviors. It drives the vision and mission of the organizationTo diagnose cultural issues, first ensure that everyone is on the same page with your definition of cultureTransparency and trust is critically important in building teams, building a culture, and driving performanceWhen working through tasks of turning around culture, decentralize the command. This means give your team the autonomy to make decisions on their own; to leadKeep things simple. The more complexity you add to your strategy and leadership style the higher the likelihood things don't get doneDon't be afraid to own your mistakes. You don't become a strong leader without challenges, obstacles, and failuresAct as one team! 

In this episode, I sit with Michael Lyons, who serves as president and general manager of oncology at Myriad Genetics, where he brings over 20 years of experience in the biotech, MedTech, and pharmaceutical space. Michael was recognized by PharmaVoice Magazine as one of the top 100 most inspiring global leaders, and Pharmaceutical Executive Magazine also named him as one of the top emerging leaders in the world.
KEY TAKEAWAYSTo have leadership, you need to have followership. And that doesn't mean that people report to you in an organization. It means that they'll follow you from organization to organizationWhether there's a reporting structure, dotted line, straight line, up, down, left, right, leadership is about taking the time to listen to your colleagues, making certain that they're okay, being empathetic, understanding their challenges, etc. Our job as leaders is to clear hurdles and have everyone operating at their very bestHave strong work ethic, treat people fair, remain humble, and focus on what's most important Vision and culture can never be just words on a page. It can never be the aspect where you forget about it, or you just say it at your quarterly business reviews. You need to hire against it. You need to onboard against it. You need to do merit evaluations against it. Because if that piece becomes compromised, then everything will fail

In this episode, I sit with Sandy Black who’s Vice President of North America Commercial Operations at LivaNova, a global medical technology company. Sandy's responsible for several departments within the commercial side of the organization including commercial data and analytics, sales incentives, commercial excellence and training, customer service contracts and pricing, as well as case management and clinical nurse education. Sandy shares her journey how solving problems in R&D led her to leading commercial teams.
KEY TAKEAWAYSSeek to understand, ask questions, and don’t make assumptionsYou can't make assumptions about teams just sitting in your office. You must get out there and connect with peopleUsing questions during heated conversations can help deescalate situationsIt's OK to allow teams to fail especially when the decisions aren't business critical.  It can be a great learning experience for allWhen leading large projects, it's critical to have advocates and buy-in at all levels to not only support your mission, but to help with pull-through at the ground level

In this episode, I sit with Edgar Butler Jr. Edgar is a seasoned leader with a background in the insurance industry. Edgar is also a leadership and employee development coach and author of Clarify, Construct, and Control Your Career. We discuss Edgar’s early days that shaped and molded his leadership style with great tips and a framework for leading your people.
KEY TAKEAWAYSManage process. Lead peopleHelp your teams by putting them in the best position to create success for themselves while achieving company goalsYour team, individually, wants to know you care about themThe words you use with your team, and about your team, really do matter so choose wiselyWe’re pouring (ourselves) into individuals because we want to understand who they are as peopleWe’re pulling the ‘greater’ out of people especially when they may not be hitting the markWe’re pushing because we see the potential in them to go on and become successful
LEADERSHIP RESOURCESBook: Clarify, Construct, and Control Your Career: Practical Principles To Help You Develop And Advance Your Careerhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/edgar-butlerhttp://edgarbutlerjr.com/