Coaching For Leaders

Judith Joseph: High Functioning Judith Joseph is a Columbia-trained psychiatrist and the founder of and chief investigator at Manhattan Behavioral Medicine, New York City’s premier clinical research site. She’s also a clinical assistant professor in child and adolescent psychiatry at NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan, and chairwoman of the Women in Medicine Board at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. She is the author of High Functioning: Overcome Your Hidden Depression and Reclaim Your Joy*. When we think about successful leaders, we often admire those who are loving towards others, can tolerate painful times, and know how to delay gratification. Those are all such important traits – and when we overindex on them, can become counter-productive. In this conversation, (Judith and I explore) when it’s no longer working and how to find the joy again. Key Points Many people who are experiencing high-functioning depression don’t realize it. High-functioning depression is

Zach Mercurio: The Power of Mattering Zach Mercurio is an author, researcher, and speaker specializing in purposeful leadership, mattering, meaningful work, and positive organizational psychology. He teaches a course with past guest Simon Sinek on how leaders can show everyone how they matter. He is the author of The Power of Mattering: How Leaders Can Create a Culture of Significance*. When you ask people what mattered in their careers, few cite the bonus, or the stock options, or the employee of the month award. What they do talk about are the times they were remembered, supported, thanked, and seen. In this conversation, Zach and I discuss how to do that better. Key Points When people are asked about when they mattered, they recall small moments of being remembered, helped, thanked, or seen. The behavior of a leader accounts for half of increased feelings of mattering and meaningfulness at work. Rather than identifying with a person’s behavior identify first with the person. Look for the positive

Jeff Wetzler: Ask Jeff Wetzler is co-Founder Transcend, a nationally recognized innovation organization, and an expert in learning and human potential. His experience spans 25+ years in business and education, as a management consultant to top corporations, a learning facilitator for leaders, and as Chief Learning Officer at Teach For America. He's the author of Ask: Tap Into the Hidden Wisdom of People Around You for Unexpected Breakthroughs in Leadership and Life*. We place our organizations at risk when we miss stuff. Often, the things we miss aren’t what we don’t know. Instead, they are the assumptions we don’t even question. In this conversation, Jeff and I explore the practices that work to find what’s missing. Key Points Hidden feedback cues: Repeated questions or suggestions about seemingly small details. Increased involvement in tactical decisions. Unexpected decreases in engagement. Benefits of curiosity: When We’re Curious About People, They Like Us More Curiosity begets curiosity.

Scott Anthony Barlow: Happen to Your Career Scott Anthony Barlow is CEO of Happen To Your Career and host of the Happen to Your Career podcast. His team and him are focused on helping people find the work they love. He’s also the author of the book, Happen to Your Career: An Unconventional Approach to Career Change and Meaningful Work*. You’ve been laid off, or someone close to you is navigating that reality right now. A lot of the first things we think to do after a layoff are wrong. In this episode, Scott and I explore what to avoid…and more importantly, where to begin anew. Key Points Most people underestimate the time it takes to mean a transition to the next, right position. Submitting tons of applications, networking everywhere, and telling everyone that you’re looking feels productive, but is often either incomplete or a waste of time. Give yourself the space to grieve. Spend time with the people who care about you. This didn’t happen to you, it happened for you. Whether objectively true or n

Tom Henschel: The Look & Sound of Leadership Tom Henschel of Essential Communications supports senior leaders and executive teams. An internationally recognized expert in the field of workplace communications and self-presentation, he has helped thousands of leaders achieve excellence through his work as an executive coach and his top-rated podcast, The Look & Sound of Leadership. Have you been told you should take more initiative? Or, perhaps you’ve been telling that to someone else? Either way, this conversation with Tom Henschel will outline three key steps to help you get started. Key Points Three steps to taking more initiative: Think and talk about your work. Ideas come through conversation. Execute on your idea. Feel the fear and do it anyway. Communicate what you’ve done. Initiative is often in the eye of the beholder. Imagine a scale that goes from bold to cautious. There’s probably room for you to be at least 5% bolder. Feeling like you are waiting on others may be an indicator to ta

Jon Fogel: Punishment-­Free Parenting Jon Fogel is a husband, a father of four, and a parenting educator. His goal is to teach how to parent more effectively, with less stress and more success by combining modern neuroscience, developmental psychology, counseling, and positive, gentle parenting wisdom. He is the author of Punishment-­Free Parenting: The Brain-Based Way to Raise Kids Without Raising Your Voice*. Most of us aspire to lead well in every area of our lives, not just in the workplace. A key place for leadership with many of us is with our kids and the other young people in our lives. In this conversation, Jon and I discuss how to raise kids without raising your voice. Key Points Consequences and punishment are not the same thing, even if the words are used interchangeably. Our kids want us to like them. They are not giving you a hard time; they’re having a hard time. Punishment doesn’t “teach kids a lesson.” More often, it crowds out higher level thinking and children are unable to remember

Qasim Ijaz Qasim Ijaz is the director of cybersecurity at a leading healthcare organization, overseeing detection, incident response, vulnerability management, purple teaming, and cybersecurity engineering. With a strong background in offensive security and risk management, he has helped organizations strengthen their defenses against evolving threats. He is also a dedicated educator, mentoring professionals and sharing his expertise at conferences such as BSides and Black Hat. You don’t need to go far in the news these days to find out that another organization was hacked. Data breeches are a nightmare scenario for both leaders and the people they support. In this episode, Qasim and I explore what your team and you can do to be a bit more prepared. Key Points Use multi-factor authentication, passphrases, and a password manager. Freeze your personal credit reports. Do this for free directly with Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Leaders in bigger roles (executives, CEOs, board members) are larger tar

Andrew Brodsky: Ping Andrew Brodsky is an award-winning professor, management consultant, and virtual communications expert at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. He is an expert in workplace technology, communication, and productivity, and serves as the CEO of Ping Group. He is the author of Ping: The Secrets of Successful Virtual Communication*. We’ve all heard the well intended advice that having interactions in person is always best. And that being as close to perfect as possible is ideal. Turns out, not always. In this conversation, Andrew and I explore how adapting to the context of tough situations can help you show up in a way that’s helpful for the other party and for you. Key Points In virtual interactions, what feels authentic to you may not seem authentic to the person you’re interacting with. While video is best for being present, it may not be best when your underlying emotions could leak into a situation. Surface acting helps us all land with the other p

Paul Akers: 2 Second Lean Paul Akers is the founder and president of FastCap, a product development company specializing in woodworking tools and hardware for the professional builder. Through a series of twists and turns he discovered Lean and the Toyota Production System (TPS) which was instrumental in propelling FastCap as an example of Lean manufacturing and culture, now followed by thousands of companies around the world. He is the author of 2 Second Lean: How to Grow People and Build a Fun Lean Culture at Work & at Home*. We often add more in order to make a system better. The opposite tactic is often more useful: making things simpler. In this conversation, Paul and I explore how to make worker better by starting small. Key Points Your pride will blind you to what you most need to learn. Begin by addressing the things that bug you. Lean is about making things simpler. Instead of batching, consider one-piece flow. This helps you improve as you go. Set the standard at 2 seconds to try something

Joel Pérez: Dear White Leader Joel Pérez is an executive and leadership coach, speaker, and consultant who is passionate about helping leaders and organizations achieve their goals and develop a posture of cultural humility. He has over twenty years of experience in higher education, serving in various key leadership roles. He is the author of Dear White Leader: How to Achieve Organizational Excellence through Cultural Humility*. We could all get a bit better at bringing a dose of humility into our work. Inside organizations, cultural humility starts with how leaders show up each day. In this episode, Joel and I examine three shifts that will help us better empower others. Key Points While humility starts with an individual, it must move beyond them to improve the organization. Maintain high standards while avoiding perfectionism by discussing how mistakes get handled in advance. To prevent a sense of urgency from rushing a bad decision, consider who’s missing from the conversation. Listen, ask curi

Dave speaks with Brooks Bradford, an alum of the Coaching for Leaders Academy, on how he got intentional about motivating people – and himself – towards an important vision. Applications to the Coaching for Leaders Academy will close on Friday, March 14, 2025. Visit the Academy page for details and to apply.

Donna Hicks: Leading with Dignity Donna Hicks is an Associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University and the former Deputy Director of the Program on International Conflict Analysis and Resolution (PICAR). She has facilitated dialogues in numerous unofficial diplomatic efforts and was a consultant to the BBC in Northern Ireland, where she co-facilitated a television series, Facing the Truth, with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. She is the author of Dignity: It’s Essential Role in Resolving Conflict and Leading with Dignity: How to Create a Culture That Brings Out the Best in People*. Everyone wants to be treated in a way that shows they matter. We may differ in status, but we are all equal in dignity. In this episode, Donna and I explore how appreciating dignity can help us bring out the best in people. Key Points Everyone wants to be treated in a way that shows they matter. Dignity is different than respect. Everyone has dignity, but not everyone deserves respect. A major

Dave speaks with Nanette Metzger, an alum of the Coaching for Leaders Academy, on how she helped her team start bringing solutions to new problems. Applications to the Coaching for Leaders Academy will close on March 14, 2025. Visit the Academy page for details and to apply.

Dave speaks with Hayley Park, an alum of the Coaching for Leaders Academy, on how she got to altitude for better perspective on what's happening in the organization. Applications to the Coaching for Leaders Academy will close on March 14, 2025. Visit the Academy page for details and to apply.

Melody Wilding: Managing Up Melody Wilding is an executive and leadership coach for smart, sensitive high-achievers who are tired of getting in their own way. She teaches human behavior at Hunter College and is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Business Insider, who named her one the “most innovative coaches.” She is the author of Managing Up: How To Get What You Need from the People in Charge*. Good work speaks for itself. It’s a lie many of us have wished was true, but found that there’s actually much more work involved. In this conversation, Melody and I discuss what really helps in creating more visibility. Key Points Good work does not speak for itself. Our fear of appearing self-promotional can hinder the visibility conversations that our leaders and team need from us. A story will be told about your work. By having stories that you are ready to tell, you get to shape the narrative. Instead of listing what you’ve done, highlight what you want to be known for. Give

Dave speaks with Raj Bawa, an alum of the Coaching for Leaders Academy, on how he focused his attention on creating better relationships with peer executives. Applications to the Coaching for Leaders Academy open on March 7, 2025. Visit the Academy page to receive an invitation to apply.

Rebecca Homkes: Survive, Reset, Thrive Rebecca Homkes is a high-growth strategy specialist and CEO and executive advisor. She is a Lecturer at the London Business School, Faculty at Duke Corporate Executive Education, and Advisor and Faculty at the Boston Consulting Group focused on AI and Climate and Sustainability. She is the author of Survive, Reset, Thrive: Leading Breakthrough Growth Strategy in Volatile Times*. Uncertainty seems to be more and more the norm. Sometimes, that leads an organization into survival mode. If that’s where you are now, this conversation is the roadmap for what to do next. Key Points We default to the assumption that uncertainly is unequivocally bad. Executives are often overconfident in their ability to predict the future and get tied into patterns that reward following the plan. We tend to adopt the first explanation we hear that makes sense instead of examining our beliefs. Make good decisions even when you cannot make good predictions. Avoid attempting to predict

Jess Britt Jess Britt is an experienced executive and nonprofit board chair. Today as a coach and consultant, she uses a facilitative leadership approach to empower leaders and teams to build collaborative, high-performing, data-driven workplace cultures. She’s an alum of our Academy and for the past two years, has taken a leadership role inside our community as a Coaching for Leaders fellow, providing coaching and facilitation to our members. While some leaders love to hate meetings, a well-designed meeting can open huge opportunities to connect, engage, and build culture on a team. In this conversation, Jess and I zero in on simple tactics that will help you engage attendees and lead meetings that people actually enjoy. We explore how objectives, facilitation tactics, and adult learning principles can help and invite you to start with one. Key Points Identifying both shared and non-shared objectives helps you design meetings, informs how you show up, makes meetings less frustrating, and helps you pivot.

Margie Warrell: The Courage Gap Margie Warrell is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, leadership coach, and Forbes columnist. With twenty-five years of experience living and working around the world, she has dedicated her life to helping others overcome fear and unlock their potential. She is the author of The Courage Gap: 5 Steps to Braver Action*. Whether it’s painting a vision of the future or giving feedback on something that didn’t work yesterday, courage is a necessity for leaders. In this episode, Margie and I highlight the way towards just a bit more of it. Key Points Leaders may rise in the ranks because of what they do, but cap themselves because of who they are. The smarter we are, the more our fears work in the background. Beware discounting the future. Fear causes us to value the future less than the present. Reel in fearcasting worst-case scenarios. These can prevent us from seeing the benefits of action. Stop rationalizing inaction and excess caution. An excuse is always there t

Dave speaks with Irma Tragesser, an alum of the Coaching for Leaders Academy, on how she shifted her approach to get more and better insights from her team. Applications to the Coaching for Leaders Academy open on March 7, 2025. Visit the Academy page to receive an invitation to apply.