Coaching for Leaders

Leanne Dzubinski: Glass Walls Leanne Dzubinski is an expert on naming and eliminating gender bias in organizations. She is the Dean of Faculty Development and Global Education at Westmont College and a sought-after speaker, consultant, and expert witness who shares tools and strategies that enable women to thrive and organizations to improve their practices. She is the coauthor, along with Amy Diehl, of Glass Walls: Shattering the Six Gender Bias Barriers Still Holding Women Back at Work (Amazon, Bookshop)*. Most leaders recognize that bias exists in the workplace for many underrepresented leadership groups, including women. In this conversation, Leanne and I explore how devaluation shows up and how leaders can do a better job at removing it from their teams and organizations. Key Points Six bias barriers show up substantially when researching women in the workplace. One of them is devaluation. Office housework is a common way that women’s contributions become devalued. Leaders should be conscious of distributing this work to everyone and/or providing a reward structure for doing it. Diminishment includes pet names like “girl” and “young lady” that some use to refer to women. This includes removing titles of women in places where they appear for men. Leaders should consider asking how people want to be addressed. Benevolent sexism consists of seemingly chivalrous comments and behavior based on stereotypical assumptions about women. Leaders should let women decide what opportunities they participate in and avoid making decisions for them. Salary inequality is well documented in research. Salary transparency helps reduce this inequality, and salary reviews also help correct disparities. Leaders calling attention to injustice, even through rephrasing inappropriate language, sets the tone for a more supportive workplace. Resources Mentioned Glass Walls: Shattering the Six Gender Bias Barriers Still Holding Women Back at Work by Leanne Dzubinski and Amy Diehl (Amazon, Bookshop)* Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes How to Support Women of Color, with Minda Harts (episode 506) The Power in Empowering Differences, with Ashley Brundage (episode 548) How to Address Bad Behavior, with Nilofer Merchant (episode 779) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Robyn Davis: Exhibit Smarter Robyn Davis has been advising exhibitors across industries and around the world on the strategies that work at trade shows since 2009. As an award-winning speaker, trainer, and consultant, Robyn is known for her fresh perspective and process-driven approach to exhibitor success. She is the author of Exhibit Smarter: A Step-by-Step Guide to Trade Show Success (Amazon, Bookshop)*. Almost every professional has been to a trade show. A lot of us have represented our organizations at conferences and shows. And many leaders have trade shows somewhere in their portfolios. In this conversation, Robyn and I explore how to help your team engage the right people at these events to ensure the investment you’ve made is worth it. Key Points Prioritize strategic value over vanity metrics and activities. Tactics that get people into your booth aren’t necessarily the ones that line up with the needs of your organization. The decisions that organizations make about trade show activities are often heavily influenced by what’s been done in the past. Use five steps to lead interactions inside your booth: Welcome visitors with a targeted question that quickly identifies if a conversation is useful for both parties. Create and use a qualification rubric for your team to quickly triage interactions. Ensure smooth handoffs to the right party by making a personal introduction and relying on relevant details of whatever conversation has already taken place. If the next step is an on-site meeting, make it concise (5-10 minutes) and follow up with a longer interaction later. If demoing a product or service, involve the visitor in the demonstration. Close with a thank you, business card, brief review of the notes, next steps, and gracefully saying goodbye. Resources Mentioned Exhibit Smarter: A Step-by-Step Guide to Trade Show Success by Robyn Davis (Amazon, Bookshop)* Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes Serve Others Through Marketing, with Seth Godin (episode 381) The Reason People Make Buying Decisions, with Marcus Collins (episode 664) How High Performers Land New Business, with Matt Dixon (episode 736) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. Go beyond the podcast to find the right ideas and apply them with confidence inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Sebastian Wernicke: Data Inspired For over 20 years, Sebastian Wernicke has guided organizations around the world to harness the power of data and AI to achieve breakthrough transformation. His three acclaimed TED Talks have reached over 5 million viewers. He is the author of Data Inspired: Building an Organizational Culture of Inquiry for Lasting Transformation (Amazon, Bookshop)*. We all have more access to data than ever. That means we should be making better decisions than we ever have before, yes? If only it were that simple. In this conversation, Sebastian and I explore how you can actually use all that data to make better decisions. Key Points Data initiatives don’t necessarily fail, but often do something worse: make your organization stay the same. Better data does not automatically result in better decisions. An organization also needs the cultural maturity to be swayed by the data. Nobody makes decisions that look like the logical decision-making processes we see in books. In addition, the emotions we put into decisions are actually critically helpful. During uncertainty, more data tends to make us more uncertain. Once we’ve decided something, we tend to discount contrary data. Decisions are rarely made entirely by one person and heavily influenced by the team or organization’s culture. Leaders can help integrate helpful data by saying things like, “I’m looking for data to tell me where I am wrong.” Bringing in structure such as written notes or memos before or at the start of meetings can help data be considered before we discount it. Resources Mentioned Data Inspired: Building an Organizational Culture of Inquiry for Lasting Transformation (Amazon, Bookshop)* Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes How to Involve Stakeholders in Decisions, with Eric Pliner (episode 586) How to Change People’s Minds, with Michael McQueen (episode 676) – contradictory data not swaying people How to Lead Engaging Meetings, with Jess Britt (episode 721) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Chris Bailey: Intentional Chris Bailey is an author and lecturer who explores the science behind living a more productive and intentional life. He has written hundreds of articles on the subject and is the bestselling author of The Productivity Project, Hyperfocus, and How to Calm Your Mind. His newest book is Intentional: How to Finish What You Start (Amazon, Bookshop)*. Starting is often a lot easier than finishing. Our mindsets and our tactics can make a big difference in how far we really go. In this conversation, Chris and I discuss the best ways to finish what we begin. Key Points Procrastination is triggered by six characteristics of aversion: boring, unpleasant, frustrating, far off in the future, unstructured, and/or meaningless. The more we activate the logical centers in our brain, the less aversion we run into. Almost everything can be more fun if we put the right structure around it. Gamification, countdown timers, and artificial deadlines can drive our behaviors in substantial ways. Make goals about others. Rather than simply “reading 10 pages,” shift to “reading ten pages to be a better mentor.” Most of us have a preference for either performance goals or learning goals. Identify which works better for you and for the people you lead. Define a target pace and map your progress against it. We often do this with organizational projects, but rarely for our own goals. Pair joyful tasks together with the ones that don’t bring joy as a means to keep you moving. Resources Mentioned Intentional: How to Finish What You Start by Chris Bailey (Amazon, Bookshop)* Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes How to Become the Person You Want to Be, with James Clear (episode 376) How to Change Your Behavior, with BJ Fogg (episode 507) Make Your Task List Work for You, with Liane Davey (episode 785) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.