Leadership Today - Practical Tips For Leaders

Andrew Beveridge
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Leadership Today - Practical Tips For Leaders Podcast

Practical tips for leaders. Hosted by psychologist and founder of Leadership Today - Andrew Beveridge. Go to www.leadership.today for episodes and more information.

  1. 22 HR. AGO

    The Leader’s Mindset - Part Three - Optimistic Outlook

    Summary We each have mindsets that we bring to our leadership. In this third of a five part series, we explore Optimistic Outlook and the role it plays in The Leader’s Mindset.   Transcript Hello and welcome to episode 223 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we share practical tips to improve your leadership. In this third of a five part series, we explore Optimistic Outlook and the role it plays in The Leader’s Mindset. We are continuing to explore The Leader’s Mindset which has four elements: Goal Orientation, Optimistic Outlook, Options Thinking and Drive for Growth. I encourage you to listen to the two previous episodes first and also take the time to complete our free Mindset to Action assessment. This provides detailed feedback on all four areas along with development suggestions. Just go to https://leadership.today/mta When I talk about mindsets, the most common one that people think of is optimism and pessimism. Optimism has lots of positive benefits, particularly when you combine it with the three elements of hope theory covered in the Mindset to Action assessment. Combining the two overcomes the main shortcoming of optimism, which is its lack of direction and momentum. Just looking at the world in a positive way and expecting good things to happen doesn’t take you anywhere - you need clear goals, openness to options, and the drive to push you forward. Continuing our journey metaphor, Optimistic Outlook is like the perspective you bring to the journey. A person with an Optimistic Outlook thinks positively about the future, expecting things to go their way. They see the future as positive. A person without an Optimistic Outlook mindset focuses on the negatives and what can go wrong. They anticipate more bad things to happen than good things. I’m often asked if it’s possible to have too much optimism. The research suggests this is the case, but that it’s pretty rare. For example, with extremely high levels of optimism I may be reluctant to take personal responsibility when things go wrong. What is more common is so-called toxic positivity, which describes a culture where people only focus on the positive and ignore challenges, criticisms and issues. The Leader’s Mindset is all about tackling challenges and making progress, therefore avoiding this potential trap. The Mindset to Action report provides five ways of building and maintaining an Optimistic Outlook. Gratitude Journal: Write down three new things that you are grateful for each day. This will help you to focus on the positive things happening around you that are so easy to miss. Before long, you will have trained yourself to focus more on the positive than the negative in your work and life. Consider the Three P’s: Martin Seligman describes three ways in which optimists and pessimists think differently in both good and bad situations - personal, permanent and pervasive. When things go wrong, an Optimistic Outlook involves: Personal - not automatically blaming ourselves, but rather accepting the outside forces that have contributed to the situation Permanent - not extending the bad situation out, but realistically appreciating that this will pass and that other good things are probably happening Pervasive - not extending the challenging event to all aspects of our life, but rather compartmentalising it to one aspect of our life When things go right, an Optimistic Outlook includes: Personal - seeing the role that we played in achieving a good outcome Permanent - extending out the good result over time, and making sure we reflect on the good things that are happening in our lives Pervasive - using the good result to flow into other aspects of our life Tame How You Speak To Yourself: Often the way we speak to ourselves is not very kind. When things go wrong we can quickly become our own worst critic. If a friend spoke to us the way we speak to ourselves in those moments, they probably wouldn’t be a friend for ver

    5 min

  2. SEP 6

    The Leader’s Mindset - Part Two - Goal Orientation

    Summary We each have mindsets that we bring to our leadership. In this second of a five part series, we explore Goal Orientation and the role it plays in The Leader’s Mindset.   Transcript Hello and welcome to episode 222 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we share practical tips to improve your leadership. In this second of a five part series, we explore Goal Orientation and the role it plays in The Leader’s Mindset. In the last episode we introduced The Leader’s Mindset which has four elements: Goal Orientation, Optimistic Outlook, Options Thinking and Drive for Growth. I encourage you to listen to that episode first and also take the time to complete our free Mindset to Action assessment. This provides detailed feedback on all four areas along with development suggestions. Just go to https://leadership.today/mta Snyder’s hope theory, which the Leader’s Mindset is partly based on, indicates that setting and pursuing meaningful goals is a core element of satisfaction, well-being and general health. Yet we’re typically not great at setting and achieving goals. Research reveals that of the roughly 50% of people that set a New Year resolution, only 8% achieve the goal they set. Research from Strava, the fitness tracking company, reveals that of those who set a clear fitness goal for the new year, a full 80% have given up within two weeks. That’s people who are motivated to make a change and encouraged to set a structured goal. So what goes wrong? Setting a goal is a rewarding activity, but working toward a goal requires effort. This shift from reward to effort is where many people give up. We also know that development and growth is uncomfortable. It’s typically more comfortable to just let the goal go and stay where we are. We also often express our goals as a general desire rather than a decision. Compare “I want to improve my public speaking” with “I will improve my public speaking”. The second statement demonstrates a decision to change. If we use the metaphor of a journey, Goal Orientation is like identifying a destination point on a map. With a Goal Orientation mindset a person is clear about what success looks like in their own terms. They have a clear vision for the future and regularly set goals towards that vision. They know where they’re headed and why that’s important to them. Without a Goal Orientation mindset, a person isn’t clear about their future direction and where they want to head. They become directionless in their lives and therefore may struggle to make progress. Goal Orientation is where a Leader’s Mindset begins. And like any mindset, you can develop Goal Orientation with intention, practice and time. Here are four practical strategies to develop your Goal Orientation. Define What Success Means To You: It's important to have your own vision of what success looks like for you. It can be easy to end up chasing others' ideas of success, or to become directionless without a clear vision of who we want to be. Consider the following questions to develop your own definition of success for your life. What are two or three key values for you? What three things would you want people to say about you at your retirement party? How would you spend your time if you no longer needed to work for money? What matters most to you? How do you define success for your life? Make Sure Your Goals Are SMART: SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This framework provides a set of criteria for goal setting that ensures clarity and accountability. Specific: Define goals clearly and precisely. The more specific the goal, the easier it is to understand and work towards. Measurable: Set concrete metrics to track progress. Measurement adds objectivity to the process and enables you to assess whether the goal has been achieved. Achievable: Goals should be challenging yet realistic. Ensure that the goal can be accomplished with the available

    6 min

  3. AUG 30

    The Leader's Mindset - Part One - Introduction

    Summary  We each have mindsets that we bring to our leadership. In this first of a five part series, we introduce The Leader’s Mindset and how it will help you to lead more effectively in all areas of your life. This is part one of a five part series.   Transcript Hello and welcome to episode 221 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we share practical tips to improve your leadership. This week we are commencing a five part series on The Leader’s Mindset. As we start our series on The Leader’s Mindset, it’s important to step back and remind ourselves about what leadership is and isn’t. Importantly, leadership isn’t a role. Someone doesn’t demonstrate leadership just because they have the title of leader. And people who don’t have a team reporting into them can absolutely demonstrate leadership. I think it’s more helpful to think of leadership as how you approach your work and life. Great leadership is about achieving sustainable results through people and, with a little effort and practice, we can all do that. There are four domains of leadership:  Behaviour – what we say and do, the actions we take Thoughts – conscious ideas, perspectives and opinions Emotions – physical state reactions and responses Context – the environment in which we are operating Each of these influences the others. For example, our thoughts shape our behaviour and how we feel. Likewise, how we feel influences our thoughts and behaviour. And our behaviour shapes our thoughts and emotions. All of this happens in a context which can impact our behaviour, thoughts and emotions.  The Leader’s Mindset focuses primarily on our thoughts - the mindset we bring to our leadership. Some important points about mindset: A mindset is how we think about the world in which we live Our mindsets influence our feelings and behaviour Mindsets change over time based on our experiences and context We can change our mindsets through conscious effort and attention When we think about mindsets, the one that most frequently comes to mind is optimism. We all vary in the amount of optimism we bring to our lives. Optimism is a positive outlook about the future, and expectation that things will generally go our way. With optimism we expand positive events and minimise negative events. An additional areas of mindset research over the past 30 years has focused on hope. In psychology as defined by Snyder, hope is “the process of thinking about one’s goals along with the motivation to move towards those goals (agency) and the ways to achieve those goals (pathways)”. We have brought the theories of hope and optimism together to identify four elements of a leader’s mindset - Goal Orientation, Optimistic Outlook, Options Thinking and Drive for Growth. Goal Orientation is like identifying a destination point on a map. With a Goal Orientation mindset a person is clear about what success looks like in their own terms. They have a clear vision for the future and regularly set goals towards that vision. They know where they’re headed and why that’s important to them. Without a Goal Orientation mindset, a person isn’t clear about their future direction and where they want to head. They become directionless in their lives and therefore may struggle to make progress. Optimistic Outlook is like the perspective you bring to the journey. A person with an Optimistic Outlook thinks positively about the future, expecting things to go their way. They see the future as positive. A person without an Optimistic Outlook mindset focuses on the negatives and what can go wrong. They anticipate more bad things to happen than good things. Options Thinking is like identifying various pathways to the destination on your journey. With Options Thinking, a person identifies ways around emerging challenges and problems. They are confident in their ability to come up with another way around obstacles they might face. Withou

    6 min

  4. APR 5

    Interview - Alexa Chilcutt - Executive Communication and Public Speaking

    Summary In this conversation, Dr. Alexa Chilcutt (www.linkedin.com/in/alexa-chilcutt-phd/) discusses the importance of executive communication and public speaking skills. She explains that anxiety around public speaking stems from the fear of being judged and evaluated. However, she emphasises that with practice and a clear process, individuals can become more confident and effective communicators. Dr. Chilcutt also provides tips for structuring a message, including identifying the purpose, understanding the audience, and breaking the information into three main points. Additionally, she highlights the significance of executive presence in career advancement and outlines the 10 characteristics of executive presence, which include confidence, communication ability, appearance, and values in action. In this conversation, Alexa Chilcutt and Andrew Beveridge discuss various aspects of leadership and communication. They explore topics such as executive presence, effective communication for technical professionals, and the challenges faced by women in leadership roles. Alexa emphasises the importance of intention and preparation in developing executive presence and highlights the need for technical professionals to simplify complex information for their audience. She also discusses the significance of leaders communicating directly with their teams and the broader organization. Finally, she addresses the challenges faced by women in leadership and the importance of empowering women to overcome imposter syndrome and advocate for themselves.   Takeaways Anxiety around public speaking is common and stems from the fear of being judged and evaluated. However, with practice and a clear process, individuals can become more confident and effective communicators. When structuring a message, it is important to identify the purpose, understand the audience, and break the information into three main points. This helps to captivate the audience and increase memory retention. Executive presence is crucial for career advancement. It encompasses characteristics such as confidence, communication ability, appearance, and values in action. Building executive presence involves being self-aware, authentic, and aligning actions with values. To improve executive presence, individuals can ask for feedback, record themselves presenting, and focus on creating meaningful connections with the audience. Developing executive presence requires intention and preparation. Technical professionals should simplify complex information for their audience and use relatable language. Leaders should communicate directly with their teams and the broader organization to ensure effective communication. Women in leadership face challenges such as imposter syndrome and should be empowered to advocate for themselves.   Chapters 00:10 Introduction and Background 01:19 Interest in Executive Communication 05:09 Structuring a Message 09:01 Finding Your Authentic Style 11:38 Understanding the Audience 14:21 Avoiding Imitation and Finding Your Own Style 23:24 Characteristics of Executive Presence 25:11 Self-Reflection Exercise 27:10 Shifting Perceptions and Elevating Adjectives 29:12 Communicating Complex Technical Information 33:41 Effective Communication in Leadership 36:28 Building Connections and Getting Accurate Information 43:48 Challenges and Empowerment for Women in Leadership 49:21 Creating a Supportive and Diverse Organisational Culture 51:18 Connecting with Alexa Chilcutt   References and Resources Dagley, G. R., & Gaskin, C. J. (2014). Understanding executive presence: Perspectives of business professionals. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 66(3), 197–211. https://doi.org/10.1037/cpb0000011 Body Language Expert Explains How to Show Confidence | WIRED - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRJzvJ5XPQI   Leadership Today On-Demand Special Offer We have a great deal for podcast listeners on our Leadership Today On-D

    52 min

  5. MAR 1

    How To Bend The Rules With Integrity

    Summary  Rules can be frustrating. It can be tempting to bend the rules or ignore them altogether, but this can lead to negative outcomes. This week we explore how to work around rules but maintain your integrity.   Transcript Hello and welcome to episode 220 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we share practical tips to improve your leadership. This week we explore how to work around rules but maintain your integrity. Lapses in integrity have ended many leaders’ careers. Breaking the rules is never a good idea. But we often need to be creative and flexible to get things done. Blindly sticking to out of date rules can mean we miss opportunities. Organisations can become overrun with excessive bureaucracy if we don’t challenge the rules. Sometimes we need to bend the rules, change the rules, or work around them. But how do we do that with integrity? Research demonstrates that while rule-breakers may be seen as more dominant, they generally have less respect from others and are seen as having reduced leadership potential. The research also shows that rule-benders can be seen as having more leadership potential, but only in competitive situations. Generally, rule-abiders were viewed most positively in cooperative settings. So while bending the rules may work when we need to win against a competitor, we need to be careful bending the rules in most other settings. We also need to be careful about the example we set for others. If we bend the rules as a leader, we can expect those who follow us to do the same. This can lead to adverse outcomes if people bend rules without fully understanding the consequences. Here are five tips to help you bend the rules while maintaining integrity: Understand why the rules exist. Take the time to research why rules were put in place originally. Speak to those responsible for the rule and find out the history behind them. You might uncover specific reasons why the rule is in place, or you might find that the rule can be changed. Confirm the constraints. Sometimes rules are shared from person to person with slight variations. What someone might share as a steadfast rule might actually be quite different to the actual rule. Explore the constraints and where there might be flexibility. Get creative. Look for innovative ways to either work around the rule or reduce its impact on your work. Brainstorm with your team to come up with creative solutions. Get a second opinion. Before you take action, check in with someone else you respect to confirm your approach.  Inform others. You don’t want to be taking innovative action without letting others know. You don’t want to be seen as being deceptive or sneaky in your approach. And if you do discover a rule that no longer makes sense for your organisation, mount the case to have it removed. That will help others to be more effective as well.   Research Rule benders make more appealing leaders than rule abiders - https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/rule-benders-make-more-appealing-leaders-rule-abiders   Leadership Today On-Demand Special Offer We have a great deal for podcast listeners on our Leadership Today On-Demand subscription. Just go to www.leadershiptoday.com and checkout using the promo code PODCAST for 25% off an annual subscription.  Leadership Today On-Demand is a video subscription service that allows you to work on your leadership in your own time and at your own pace. It is available online and through our Apple iOS and Android apps for phones and tablets. Our mission is to help you to become an even better leader. Your subscription brings together all of our video content in one place including: - Five online courses with workbooks  - Five five day challenges with workbooks - Nineteen recorded webinars  - A searchable library of 170+ "how to" quick videos on a range of leadership challenges  That's over $4,500 of content for less than the price of a single online course. And t

    4 min

  6. FEB 16

    How To Appear Less Nervous in Meetings and Interviews

    Summary Interviewers place a strong emphasis on perceptions of nervousness. But there are practical steps we can take to appear less nervous in meetings and interviews.   Transcript Hello and welcome to episode 219 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we share practical tips to improve your leadership. This week we work through ways to appear less nervous in meetings and interviews. Research demonstrates that anxious candidates perform worse at job interviews, even when their skills and experience align well with the role. Interviewers place an oversized importance to the appearance of anxiety when making judgements. And this tendency can extend to other important meetings. To avoid this, we might consider visible signs of nervousness such as shaky hands or nervous laughter. We might then focus on the use of our hands, slowing our speech or avoiding fidgeting. We can risk becoming overly sensitive to how our behaviours are coming across. However, In the research, the only consistent behavioural indicator of nervousness that the interviewers focused on was long pauses before responding to questions. This was potentially seen as the candidate being less prepared and less assertive than if they answered questions directly. Negative perceptions of anxiety in meetings and interviews was less about nervous signs, and more to do with perceptions of assertiveness and warmth as traits. Those who were perceived as less warm and less assertive were also rated as more anxious. Those who came across as friendly and assertive were seen as less anxious. It appears the overall impression we leave is far more important than any nervous tics that we might show. So what can we do to appear less nervous in meetings and interviews? To increase others’ perceptions of our warmth and assertiveness, you can try these techniques: Plan for first impressions. We want to demonstrate warmth from the very start of the meeting or interview. Research who will be there. Prepare and practice what you will do and say when you first arrive. Listen to others. When we’re nervous we can focus too much on ourselves and not enough on others. Demonstrate you’re listening by taking notes, restating their perspectives, and clarifying their views. Be prepared. There’s no substitute for preparation. It will help you to avoid lengthy pauses before responding. Remember to smile. When we’re nervous we can forget about our facial expressions, but they’re an important indicator of our confidence and friendliness. Video yourself. Have someone ask you some practice questions, and video your responses. This can help you to uncover unconscious signs of nervousness. Seek feedback. After the meeting or interview, explore how you came across. Ask about anything you could have done to appear more confident and engaged. We often feel more nervous than we appear. Focus on the overall impression of warmth and assertiveness that you give to others. Apply these tips in your next meeting or interview.   Research Feiler, A.R., Powell, D.M. Behavioral Expression of Job Interview Anxiety. J Bus Psychol 31, 155–171 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-015-9403-z   Leadership Today On-Demand Special Offer We have a great deal for podcast listeners on our Leadership Today On-Demand subscription. Just go to www.leadershiptoday.com and checkout using the promo code PODCAST for 25% off an annual subscription. Leadership Today On-Demand is a video subscription service that allows you to work on your leadership in your own time and at your own pace. It is available online and through our Apple iOS and Android apps for phones and tablets. Our mission is to help you to become an even better leader. Your subscription brings together all of our video content in one place including: - Five online courses with workbooks - Five five day challenges with workbooks - Nineteen recorded webinars - A searchable library of 170+ "how to" quick videos on a rang

    4 min

  7. FEB 9

    How To Boost First Impressions on Zoom

    Summary Research demonstrates the background we choose for video calls has a significant impact on how trustworthy and competent we appear. This week we explore how to boost your first impressions on a video call in three simple ways.   Transcript Hello and welcome to episode 218 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we share practical tips to improve your leadership. This week we explore how to boost your first impressions on a video call in three simple ways. Your choice of background on a video call has a greater impact on how you’re perceived by others than you might expect. You might be tempted to choose a novelty background to communicate a sense of fun, or a home background to reflect that you’re not in the office. But there are risks with these choices. Selecting a novelty background or a simulated home background saw ratings of trustworthiness drop. Blurring a home background resulted in better ratings of trustworthiness for the person, but the best ratings were for a background with plants or a bookcase. The research also found that facial expressions, not surprisingly, also mattered. Happy faces were rated as more trustworthy than neutral or sad faces. Ratings of competence also varied by background, with bookcases, plants and blank walls leading to the highest ratings. Novelty backgrounds, home backgrounds, and blurred backgrounds saw lower ratings. Again, happy facial expressions resulted in more positive ratings of competence. Interestingly, women were seen as more trustworthy and more competent than men across all backgrounds in the experiment. Our gender impacts the first impressions we make on a video meeting. Men will likely benefit from additional efforts to demonstrate trustworthiness and competence during the meeting. Here are three simple ways to boost your first impressions on a video call: Keep backgrounds professional.  Avoid a home or novelty background when you can. Blurring a background is better, but choosing a virtual background with a bookcase or plants helps to boost first impressions. Demonstrate warmth. Smiling helps perceptions of both trustworthiness and competence. Try to maintain your interest in others on the call and keep your facial expressions positive and engaged. Build confidence in your competence. Research suggests it’s always best to start with warmth and build perceptions of your competence over time. Being helpful, responsive, on-time, and interested can all boost how confident you appear. Give these practical ideas a try on your next video call.   Research - https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0291444     Leadership Today On-Demand Special Offer We have a great deal for podcast listeners on our Leadership Today On-Demand subscription. Just go to www.leadershiptoday.com and checkout using the promo code PODCAST for 25% off an annual subscription. Leadership Today On-Demand is a video subscription service that allows you to work on your leadership in your own time and at your own pace. It is available online and through our Apple iOS and Android apps for phones and tablets. Our mission is to help you to become an even better leader. Your subscription brings together all of our video content in one place including: - Five online courses with workbooks - Five five day challenges with workbooks - Nineteen recorded webinars - A searchable library of 170+ "how to" quick videos on a range of leadership challenges That's over $4,500 of content for less than the price of a single online course. And there are more videos added each week.   Get Connected Find out ways to get connected here: https://leadership.today/connect

    3 min

  8. FEB 2

    How to Be More Real on Video Calls

    Summary Research demonstrates a risk of detachment and reduced connection on video calls. This week we explore ways to be more real when we’re not meeting in-person.   Transcript Hello and welcome to episode 217 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we share practical tips to improve your leadership. This week we look at how to be more real on video calls. We make rapid judgements about people based on visual and other information we receive. While this can lead to us making incorrect judgements when we meet people in-person, the risk is increased through video calls. Research demonstrates an increased risk that we treat a visual representation of someone as less real than if we meet them in-person. On a video call we can treat other people as abstract rather than real. This effect is likely increased on a call that has audio and video challenges. In experiments, participants viewed others as having fewer conscious feelings and less ability to make free choices than when meeting in-person. As a leader, this could make us seem detached and lacking empathy during the conversation. It can, in turn, lead us to give less ethical consideration to the person on the other end of the video call. Our decision making may lack the warmth, concern and consideration that we would normally provide. So what can we do about this? When making video calls, we need to be conscious of the risk of detachment and make conscious effort to see people as real human beings. Here are some tips to try: Connect as human beings first. Rather than just getting straight down to business, spend a few minutes enquiring about the other person, how they are, and what they have been doing. You might share something personal about yourself to enhance this connection. Ask open questions. When we treat people as an object rather than a person, we can tend to “talk at” people rather than “talk with” people. Asking open questions helps avoid this trap. Increase your ethical consideration. Explore the impact of any decisions you are making upon people. Great decisions are a combination of logic and emotion. Acknowledge the challenge. You might share this research with your team members. This will help everyone to manage the risk of detachment. Make the most of in-person opportunities. When you do meet together in-person, use this time to connect on a personal level. Save more administrative activities to video calls and don’t waste the time you have physically together. Give these tips a try on your next video call, and we can all become more real.   Research summary - https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/medusa-effect     Leadership Today On-Demand Special Offer We have a great deal for podcast listeners on our Leadership Today On-Demand subscription. Just go to www.leadershiptoday.com and checkout using the promo code PODCAST for 25% off an annual subscription. Leadership Today On-Demand is a video subscription service that allows you to work on your leadership in your own time and at your own pace. It is available online and through our Apple iOS and Android apps for phones and tablets. Our mission is to help you to become an even better leader. Your subscription brings together all of our video content in one place including: - Five online courses with workbooks - Five five day challenges with workbooks - Nineteen recorded webinars - A searchable library of 170+ "how to" quick videos on a range of leadership challenges That's over $4,500 of content for less than the price of a single online course. And there are more videos added each week.   Get Connected Find out ways to get connected here: https://leadership.today/connect

    4 min
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Practical tips for leaders. Hosted by psychologist and founder of Leadership Today - Andrew Beveridge. Go to www.leadership.today for episodes and more information.

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