The Leadership Enigma

Matt Abrahams is the host of the globally ranked Podcast 'Think Fast, Talk Smart' and lecturer at the world famous Stanford University Graduate School of Business in California. Matt is passionate about helping people hone and develop their communication skills. Think Fast, Talk Smart started many years ago where Matt began helping students at Stanford to be able to deal with questions from faculty and it has since grown into a global powerhouse of learning fuelled by the rise of podcast consumption during the pandemic.
As fellow podcasters we investigate how the process of humble enquiry and listening has allowed us both to create very real, powerful and intimate connections with our guests.
Public speaking is a ubiquitous fear for many as we risk our status being eroded in a social hierarchy by a poor performance. However the importance of a leaders ability to communicate effectively is clear and we all need to invest the time and effort to practice and hone our communication style for maximum impact.
Matt is full of top tips including helping people deal with the anxiety associated with public speaking using his two pronged approach to managing 'Sources' and 'Symptoms'. Sources are what generate, initiate and exacerbate our anxiety and symptoms are the things we experience. The basis for many nerves if our fear of a potential negative outcome in the future so by being more present and in the moment we can mitigate that fear.
We also discuss how leaders can prepare to speak 'off the cuff' and deal with questions and interventions. Matt's methodology is (1) get out of your own way, don't judge and evaluate yourself all the time. What we need to do is utilise the improvisation technique of 'Dare to be Dull'. As Matt explains, just get it done as opposed to heaping pressure on yourself. This will actually reduce the cognitive load by striving for mediocrity so you can achieve greatness. (2) Structure your content (approach) so you can simply slot your answer or response into a pre determined structure. A good structure to deal with questions Matt uses is A.D.D. as opposed to discovering the answer as you ramble!
Answer the question
Detailed and concrete example must then be provided
Describe relevance or value
Think Fast, Talk Smart is available on all major podcast platforms
www.nofreakingspeaking.com

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This episode was created in collaboration with Heidrick & Struggles. I chat to a panel of young leaders to discover what they want from their leadership and culture and what kinds of leaders they aspire to become in order to shape a World Better Led.

The panel includes Sarah Sage, Floris Hondmann, Lea Evers and Jacob Vincent with huge thanks to TA Mitchell and Luisa Muse. This is an important episode for all leaders in a multigenerational working environment.

All of these young leaders are passionate about a ‘World Better Led’ and how their work can create clarity, purpose, meaning and opportunities for growth and development. Human Centred Leadership has taken pole position and profit now becomes a far more complex and contextualised question for organisational leaders to answer and provide a compelling narrative to those they seek to recruit.

Young talent has an expectation for their leaders to be authentic but not perfect and to take the time to understand, respect, communicate and lead in a personalised way.

Empathy is important to them all, they care. They have a strong bond and sense of collaboration between themselves, and they know more about each other's lives than perhaps was common in early careers just a few decades ago.

The pandemic allowed all of us to reassess priorities and identify our own non-negotiables and the way we work will never be the same. We discuss the idea that working from the office is actually the time that we need to switch on our ‘out of office’ notifications. They want the office to be productive and focus on celebration, connection and education rather than endless meetings, reports and zoom calls which can be done at home.
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Rachele Focardi is a leading expert on the multi generational workforce, author and LinkedIn Top Voice. One of the main questions in this episode is whether 'purpose' remains the great divide or the great connector post pandemic?
A quick guide to the Generations:
The Silent Generation: Born before 1946
Baby Boomers 1946 - 1964
Gen X: 1965 - 1980
Millennials: 1981 - 1995
Gen Z: 1996 - 2010
A leader who can harness diversity of thought and multi generational working across their workforce will see an enhanced competitive advantage.
Rachele describes Purpose as something that is inherently owned by the younger generations who strive for change and want to experience the workplace as an enabler for positive change. We saw Millennials rise up especially after incidents such as 9/11 and the financial crisis and they drove the debate for change as they had seen their parents struggle with work being a pay check as opposed to a meaningful individual and collective sport. They also took a huge amount of criticism for this rising up and Rachele saw an opportunity to start to study these dynamics.
Resilience is a big cause of generational conflict, the reason being a lack of understanding of the others experiences and the difference in parenting styles we were exposed to. Cultural differences have exacerbated these feelings and Rachele describes the differences between hardship and psychological safety.
Rachele carried out the post pandemic workplace study and discovered that the four main ingredients for people feeling purposeful at work were
1. Helping others
2. Making impact
3. Growing and feeling fulfilled
4. Being recognised and appreciated by your colleagues.
42% of employees feel that the only way for them to feel enabled to experience purpose in their job is to change employers.
To view a copy of the results and its impact on purpose visit: www.xyzatwork.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rfocardi/

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Dr Verran Rose is a qualified psychiatrist, therapist and specialist in conscious breath work which allows her to help people identify and alleviate trauma in the body.
Verran is neurodiverse and grew up in a painful set of family circumstances that led to alcohol and drug addiction. Her passion for helping others and her ability of insight are extraordinary.

If leadership is your promise of a lived experience for those around you, what are the consequences if you take no time to understand what your needs are?

This episode was recorded on location in Herceg Novi in Montenegro and if you can hear cars and leaf blowers, I hope it adds to the enjoyment of listening to someone who can help all of us understand the importance of stopping to really know ourselves and embrace vulnerability as a core part of the Human Centred Leader. Ask yourself one question: Do you actually matter to yourself right now?

Verran explains that vulnerability is the ability to identify our own needs and to have the confidence to ask people for what we need. The challenge for many is that we don’t see or even know our own needs, or we see needs as a mental health issue or even a weakness. With a relentless focus on doing and being busy whilst searching for external validation we may feel good about ourselves but what are we ignoring?
Vulnerability is a powerful ally which allows us to identify our needs that will allow us to perform at our best, yet disassociation get in the way. Disassociation is when we only see how we are doing by how people validate us externally as opposed to an ability to sit with ourselves and really know what we need.

Many of us are frightened of being vulnerable and exposing our authentic self and masking who we really are to avoid rejection and disappointment emotionally and professionally. Did you know that by the age of 7 our personal identify is already fully formed from the narrative of our parents or those important and significant people in our lives. If you are also neurodiverse you simply accept this identity without challenge until crisis hits and you either rebel or just suffer.

Quietness and stillness are difficult concepts for a high achiever, and many use being busy as an antidote to truly understanding what personal needs are. In fact, many of us will avoid the stillness because to be with ourselves is not enough. Some of the simplest things such a breathing, joy, happiness, and gratitude are being overlooked but so many each and every day, but to what cost?

The issue of vulnerability is a global, human and connected issue for all of us.

Pt 2 coming soon

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Paul Russo is the CEO of Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB). This episode was recorded in Nairobi on the site of KCB's Leadership Centre. KCB is part of the critical financial infrastructure for 33 million people. They are present in 7 East African countries running over 300 branch networks, over 4000 agency outlets with 12,000 staff and a strong legacy as KCB is over 120 years old.
Paul is a deeply committed CEO who believes passionately that 'people are everything' Paul is a also a very humble leader from humble beginnings which has crafted the human leader he has become. He is from a family of 6 siblings, his parents were nomads from the north and he was the only one to go to school due to the efforts of the Catholic Church and local community and the NGO Indigenous Information Network. Paul is incredibly grateful to the community who ensured he was able to get an education, he therefore uses his role as CEO to lift as many people as possible.
Paul has committed time to continually engage staff across the business as he understands that his leadership must be 'energy expensive.' As the CEO Paul understands that he must absorb the difficulties of the business in order to allow his people the space and time to create the value necessary for success. He is the role model to thousands inside the business and is well known across the country so his actions matter to millions.
The new purpose of KCB if 'For People, For Better' and Paul is committed this will be the North Star for the financial success that the bank must also attain and sustain.
People technology and partnerships are Paul's primary focus yet people remain the paramount consideration. Paul's background is human capital and he leverages that experience to focus and understand his own human centred leadership style.
Paul remembers his late parents and the resilience instilled in him as a child dealing with drought, bandits, disease and disadvantage. He leverages these experiences to harness his own ability to overcome challenge combined with his burning desire to never go back to his old way of life.
Paul is an outstanding example of a Human Centred Leader driving his business as a Force for Good. Paul explains he is paid to care and the results will come and he works tirelessly to provide all of his people the reason to believe.
Additional Heidrick & Struggles article with Paul Russo https://www.heidrick.com/en/insights/leadership-assessment/people-dont-just-matter-they-are-everything_an-interview-with-paul-russo-group-ceo-of-kcb-group

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