Leadership Gym with Xiao Zhang (Episode 115)

When you become a people leader there is no manual. How can we not only learn leadership skills but practice them and build leadership muscle?

This week I'm joined by Orion Group Limited co-founder Xiao Zhang to discuss...

👑 The challenge of transitioning into people leadership
💪 How we don't get fit by watching other people work out
⌚ Pausing as an act of active leadership
🌌 The power of slack time for creativity and systems thinking
🌊 Going below the waterline

...and much more.

You can find Xiao on:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xiao-zhang-nz/

You can find Orion Group Limited here: https://www.oriongrouplimited.com/

Xiao mentioned Brené Brown's new book Strong Ground https://brenebrown.com/book/strong-ground/

I mentioned The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr and George Spafford https://itrevolution.com/product/the-phoenix-project/

I couldn't find the article on slack time but this is pretty good: https://buildrightside.com/problem-upgrade-chart

You can buy Slight Reliability merch here (Note: you cannot order the mugs outside of New Zealand):

https://slightreliability.digitees.co.nz/

You can find Stephen on:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephentownshend/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/slightreliability.bsky.social
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SlightReliability
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slight_reliability/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_kiwi_sre