The Leadership Shot Leila Bulling Towne

In this episode I'm sharing the 20 top things that executives coaches do.

If you've ever wondered what working with an executive coach looks like, then today's podcast will give you an inside look at the most common benefits and outcomes you can expect. 

Transitioning from being a peer to becoming a manager of your former friends can be a delicate process, a bit like navigating a minefield of inside jokes and shared memories. 
I’m going to highlight the common pitfalls as you navigate this transformation because let's face it, you don't want to be the manager who's known for the wrong reasons. 

As a leader, you spend a good amount of time talking. But likely (or should) spend even more time listening. And being a good listener doesn’t come naturally to many of us. We think well if we can physically hear--we have the ability to hear--then listening is pretty darn easy. I bet you’ve been in situations where you’ve been passionately speaking, and the person opposite you is there, but you get the sense they’re not listening at all. Let’s talk about how to become a better listener. Better listener--better leader!

Optimism fuels motivation, fosters resilience, and inspires innovation. On the other hand, realism encourages prudent decision-making and helps you and your team manage expectations.

Can you be enthusiastic and realistic at the same time? And be yourself? Yes, you can, and I’ll help you prepare to be optimistic when coaching your team. I’m not going to tell you to fake it until you make it, either. I’ll be realistic about what you can say to cheer on your team and yet remain true to yourself, to your personality and conscience. 

Does venting have a place at work? Is it productive? As a leader, should you encourage or discourage it?

In this episode I'm talking about the positives and negatives of venting in the workplace, what to watch out for, and how it can be done productively.

As a leader, you can strike a good balance when it comes to venting. You want to set boundaries. You want to encourage open communication and expression of feelings and also establish clear guidelines to prevent venting from spiraling into negativity or becoming personal.

It can be really easy (tempting) to dismiss AI as something you don't need to worry about or something that won't impact you or something that can't help you in your role as a leader. In this episode, I ask my friend and collaborator Rick Crisci to start us off on a journey of learning about AI. Rick defines key terms and puts AI in perspective for those of us who aren't technical experts. Rick is an expert in cloud computing and AI and has trained over 300,000 students and is the owner of TrainerTests.com.