The Compassionate Leader School Podcast

"I've mentioned it. I've been consistent about this. Why isn't it landing?" It sounds like patience. It sounds like leadership that respects the other person's capability. It sounds like giving someone the space to correct course on their own. So why are you not getting the result you're expecting? In this episode, I share the story of a senior team member I'll call Lily and what I had to learn, through real trial and error, about what a coaching conversation requires. Not a single mention. N...

"She has so much potential. I just have a good feeling about her." It sounds like leadership. It sounds like generosity. It isn't. In this episode, I share a client story about a leader who hired the most energetic person in the room and spent the next three months doing two jobs. And a story from my own early career, sitting on a hiring panel at a post-secondary institution, watching a room of intelligent people convince themselves that enthusiasm was enough to teach and that we could ...

"I just need to give it more time." It sounds like patience. It sounds like fairness. It sounds like the kind of measured leadership you're supposed to model. And yet it isn't. In this episode, I share the story of a community committee I stayed on four months longer than I should have while telling myself a different story every single month. It was a pattern I lived from the inside, until a very patient friend sat across from me and named it out loud. This episode names the pattern clearly:...

"We're like a family here." I spent 18 years inside a family-owned business saying those words. Believing them. I thought I was building culture and leading with care. I thought that was exactly the kind of leader I was supposed to be. I was wrong. In this episode, I share what I learned from the inside — 18 years of believing the family premise, then carrying it forward into my own leadership, and then having to unlearn all of it when I finally saw what it was doing to the people I was leadi...

You've probably expressed your desire not to micromanage. I get it. It sounds like trust. It sounds like empowerment. It sounds like the kind of confident leadership that gives people room to grow. It isn't. In this episode, I share Paula's story — four words, one upset client, and a Friday afternoon that unraveled a week of assumed alignment. Then I tell you mine. Twice. Because I learned the delegation lesson the hard way with Calvin (who you heard about in last week's episode), and then ma...

How many times have you said: "I just need to find the right way to say this so nobody feels uncomfortable." It sounds like empathy. It sounds like self-awareness. It sounds like the emotional intelligence good leaders are supposed to have. It isn't. In this episode, I share the story of Lisa, a senior leader with ten years in her role, a growing client base, and an exhaustion she couldn't explain. Then I tell you why. Her male colleague made the same decision she did. His was called leadersh...

When it comes to boundaries, many people are frustrated, hurt and fed up because there are people in their lives - at work, at home, amongst friends, in their volunteer work, in their neighbourhood - who do not respect their boundaries. Well, there may be many reasons why this is happening including these top seven! In this episode I draw back the curtain on what they are and how you can course correct so that you can begin to set boundaries and finally have others respect them.

Do you long for the best summer ever? Do you want to look back and feel proud of how you chose to spend your time, what you were able to accomplish, the fun you had, and the sense that you really spent your time well? That's exactly where I was a couple of months ago as I began to up-level my planning for the summer of 2021 so I could enjoy time freedom and use a 10% intentional margin to allow for flexibility so that I didn't put myself into exhaustion and overwhelm - and the early rev...

Do you have an IEA? One of the hot topics in business these days is centered around building a marketing strategy based on a company’s ICA, which stands for Ideal Customer Avatar. More detailed and sophisticated than the typical target market analysis, the ICA work is making cash registers ring and companies are benefiting from more engagement from these loyal customers in all areas of their business. In that spirit, I’m asking the question about the other group of people who are key t...

Have you heard of the ‘one minute or less rule’ and how to practice it as the fuel for the Law of Action? In this episode of the Compassionate Leader School Podcast, you’ll learn about the Law of Action and have a list of 25 micro-habits to draw from to improve your workplace productivity and keep you on top of the things that can otherwise be stressors.

Listening with empathy is a skill we all need if we want to be compassionate communicators. In this episode I talk about how we typically listen and respond autobiographically, when that's okay, and when we need to step up our listening skills and lean in with empathy. Learn about the three worst things to say; and at least three responses that will leave the other person feeling heard, respected and validated every single time. Here we go!

Which camp do you typically hang out in - camp scarcity or camp abundance? I called my business Abundant Living because I inherently believe in the principle of abundance. In this episode I talk about how I believe there is enough for everyone and share examples of leaders who reached out to colleagues and competitors alike and asked them to join forces for everyone's benefit. If you tend to slide into thinking it's detrimental to collaborate with others for fear it will result in less ...

As a follow-up to episode #9, this episode comes back to the topic of setting clear and strong boundaries. Starting with how to know the warning signs when someone is crossing or pushing a boundary, I offer a 4-part formula for dealing with boundary crossers as well as a strategy for having a compassionate conversation with boundary pushers. This is another opportunity to build your skills as a candid and compassionate communicator as well as supporting you in your efforts to cultivate a heal...