In this episode, I speak with Dr. Roger Gerard about leadership’s important role in employee engagement. He walks us through 3 types of employees a leader may encounter - the cynic, the apathetic, and the naysayer - and how to lead each.

Roger gives us 5 simple promises leaders need to make and keep to be effective.

There are two basic types of leadership: Positional (it's in your job description to lead others) and Influential (you are leading by influence rather than job title). I talk about why influential leadership is so important, the characteristics of an influential leader, and nine strategies for leading with influence rather than authority.

I have a guest for this episode! Bob Tiede talks with me about how asking great questions can increase your effectiveness as a leader.

Today’s topic is how to become a thought leader on LinkedIn. In this episode, I talk about the reasons you might want to become a thought leader, what constitutes thought leadership on LinkedIn, how much time you can expect this to take, and how to structure that time for maximum efficiency.

Here’s the scenario: You’ve been promoted in your current unit. You are now mnaging people who used to be your peers - at least one of whom may have also applied for the promotion. How do yo transition from a colleague to a manager? Here are nine suggstions for leading those you used to work alongside.

As most of you know, the first 90 days in a new job are critical for your long-term success - not only in that role, but for your future with the organization. Here are key steps to take in the first 90 days to set yourself up for success - at the Individual Contributor, New Manager, New Director/Senior Manager, and VP/C-Suite levels.

Today, I want to give you strategies to improve your verbal communication skills - specifically, with an eye to enhancing your promotability. I’m giving you an assessment of your verbal communication skills, as well as four areas of communication where people tend to struggle, and strategies to help improve each area.

Today’s topic is the most important leadership qualities employers are looking for - and derailers to avoid. I’ve divided the list into leadership skills for leading an organization, leadership skills for leading teams, and leadership skills for leading yourself. I’ve also identified the #1 derailer, which can be a result of a lack of any of the leadership skills I’ve identified.

Once again, I am pulling from the book Leading with Emotional Intelligence by Reldan Nadler. In his book, Nadler talks about “The Perfection Loop” — the fact that success-driven people often set unrealistic goals that set them up for failure or frustration. Today, we’ll break down why people set unrealistic goals, the six stages of the Perfection Loop, some indicators that you’re in one, and how to counter it.

Today, we’re talking about leading through a Reduction in Force, or RIF. This episode isn’t just for people who have managerial duties, but also people who lead by influence.

A RIF period at a company is trying for everyone but it also provides a great opportunity to demonstrate leadership and empathy.

Transitioning from managing yourself to managing others — is this the route for you?

For those becoming first-time managers, there is a learning curve, with the biggest change being a shift to begin thinking about others. Let’s talk about the differences when moving from an individual contributor to a manager, issues that can arise and what to do to help, and how to set yourself up for success.

One of my all-time favorite leadership books – certainly the one with the most sticky tabs in it – is Reldan Nadler’s Leading with Emotional Intelligence. I’ve used this resource for other episodes of the podcast, and today I want to talk about tools for building your self-confidence — specifically, Being on Your Side rather than Being on Your Case. Or, as I like to call it, having your own back. While we’re specifically talking about your relationship with yourself in this episode, understand the consequences of that relationship to all the other relationships in your life. If you lead people, you will likely treat them as you treat yourself.

I have been re-reading the book Quiet Leadership: Six Steps to Transforming Performance at Work, by David Rock. One of his concepts jumped out at me, and I wanted to share it with you. Brain science tells us that, when we focus on a behavior we wish to change, we are actually cementing the neural pathway that was created when we began repeating that behavior in the first place. Once a neural pathway is created in our brain, it will always be there. The challenge is not to remove that pathway – we can’t – but rather create a new neural pathway through our thinking and beliefs. Today, we’ll walk through some examples and discuss how we can do this to improve our professional persona.

Each leadership style has its strengths, although some are seen as more desirable. It’s important to understand and harness the strengths of your leadership style so you can communicate effectively and motivate your team. That’s why this week we are diving into the 9 leadership styles and how to use the strengths of each to boost your leadership skills and, in doing so, helping your team succeed.

My guest this week is Robert Jordan, and we’re talking about the four leadership styles his team has identified. Robert shares how to make sure you land in a “leadership match” position – and how best to leverage your leadership style once you are in your new role.

Carissa and I speak about how to become a fearless speaker. This topic is especially important for women, and Carissa tells us why. She talks specifically about becoming a fearless speaker during job interviews, when giving presentations, and when you are having one-on-one, difficult conversations. She explains how to bring down our anxiety, boost our self-confidence, and be extremely prepared for these conversations.

Determining the organization’s culture (and/or the sub-culture of your specific department or business unit) is key to knowing how to approach your work from day one. A major component of organizational culture is readiness to change. Today we will cover these cultures.

My guest today is Jen Ngozi, founder of NetWerk®, a global women in leadership organization and movement on a mission to help everyday women worldwide build the community, confidence, and skills needed to become leaders. In today’s episode, Jen provides the listeners with invaluable tips to STOP apologizing for everything and how to communicate like a leader.

Today, my guest is Heather Younger, author of The Art of Caring Leadership. In this episode, Heather and I talk about the six areas of self-leadership from her book and why it is so important to lead yourself before you can effectively lead others.