141. 2023: A Year In Review and What's Ahead

We have had 140 episodes for the past 3 seasons and it would not have been possible if not for your support and valuable feedback. 

Here are the highlights of The Leadership Project Podcast for Season 3, as well as what to expect coming into the next season. We are already halfway through recording Season 4 and we’re excited to share with you more thought leaders such as Richard Flint, Aga Bajer, and Andy Hite, among others.

What topics would you like us to discuss for season 4? And who would you like to hear as a guest on the show? Tag them in this post and share a thought-provoking topic they can share in our podcast. 

Transcript

Mick Spiers: 0:26

Hey everyone, and welcome to Season Four of The Leadership Project. You know, sometimes I have to pinch myself, when I stopped to think about just how far we've come together. We're more than 140 episodes in, and it's your feedback you are to your audience the questions you send us the feedback that you give us. That's what gets us to keep on doing what we're doing. We've absolutely adored this journey, and we couldn't have done it without your support. I also want to give a huge thank you to all of our guests who also gave up their time to come and share their wisdom and insights with us. It's those insights that get us to stop, reflect, and rethink what it means to be a leader. And that has certainly been the case throughout the first three seasons of the program. It's at this time of year, I get to reflect back on the last year, I'm going to give you some of my highlights from Season Three, and then give you a little taste or teaser of some of the guests that we've got coming out. So here are some of my highlights, I would love to hear what your highlights have been as well. We kicked off Season Three really strongly with episode 90 with Dr. Rey Fremista and Dr. Rey had been through his own career change and what it means in terms of the challenge to your own identity, the identity change that you go through as you go through a career change. And he shared with us very openly about that. He also taught us a few lessons about the power of grit and where grit needs to come in and the great work of Dr. Carol Dweck in that regard. So that was a really great way to start the year. We then had episode 91 of Bernard Schmidt, talking to us about the five disciplines of high-performance teams. But that wasn't my highlight of that discussion. My highlight was to dig deeper into some of the famous African sayings and African proverbs. And I'll just mention two at this point. Many of us have heard these terms before, but just stop and really think about what it means was quite impactful. For me. It's a Sawu Bona, I See You, think about that, from a leadership point of view. All of our staff members, all of our team members all want to be seen. They want to be heard and they want to feel like they matter. So think about Sawu Abona I See You and then Ubuntu, Ubuntu, I Am Because We Are, the fact that we exist together, we come into existence because we see each other, we hold space for each other. I Am Because We Are, so Bernard's discussion around the five disciplines of a high-performance team is one that you definitely don't want to miss. But I'd love it if you'd stop and reflect around some of these key terms. Sawu Bona and Ubuntu and think about how you might build that into your leadership. Episode 92, So Rowena Millward joined us, and her topic was around uncomfortable growth. And there's a funny thing, right? If you think back in your life, most true growth came from very uncomfortable moments. It doesn't feel good at the time. But we grow stronger as a result of these challenges that life throws us. So how do we make get intentional about that? How do we create the situation where we step into that discomfort because we know there's going to be growth at the end of it to get out of our comfort zones, to get comfortable with being uncomfortable because we know we're going to get life's greatest lessons through those moments. Episode 93, source joined by Jane Hanson, and Jane is a nine-time Emmy award-winning journalist and the host of New York Live a wonderful program about the life and times of people in New York. And Jane's topic was about communication in a crisis, but also about how to get our message across in the first eight seconds to capture people's attention. And one of the key things about communication from the C suite is being able to give journalists or anyone that we want to cover our business, some really thought-provoking stories that they can follow whether they are good or not so good. We need to capture their attention. And that's what's missing in the communication plans of many companies today, Episode 98, source joined by Helen Appleby, and she spoke about the unwritten laws of women's leadership, and it was quite confronting and quite challenging. And the favorite term that I came from that episode for me was this term called Leaky Language. And all of us can be guilty of this, by the way, but there does seem to be a higher prevalence of this in women leaders. And that's when we use dismissive or diminutive language when we're describing something. I just need five minutes of your time or you almost apologizing before you deliver a message. you're apologizing, I'm sorry, I had to rush this presentation together, you've actually put yourself on the backfoot from the start. And you're not going to be as convincing when you're already being dismissive of your own message. So this concept of Leaky Language for all the women leaders listening to this, have a think about that. Do you use this leaky language? Do you diminish yourself before you go on with your message, and for men, you could be doing it too. So it's not exclusively for women, it just seems to be a higher prevalence there, Episode 100. So Belinda Morgan come in and talk to us about the Part-time Puzzle. But really, this was about productivity. We spoke about the four-day week. And there are lots of experiments going on around the world around what that looks like. But we also spoke about, you know, the thought that there have been many, quite often women, again, that have taken jobs that are three days a week jobs, and somehow they do five days worth of work in that three days, and they bleed their boundaries, etc. So the whole topic was about how do we get more productive. How do we get more out of our time where we could think about gnuine part-time work, and talk about a four-day week for everyone in the office, because we're getting more intentional. And that also uncovered some topics around the hybrid work environment. So where we have the potentially the best of both worlds, if we get intentional about it, what is it that is the benefit that you can do when you're working from home, when you do that deep, intentional work where you want to be not distracted, and you want to do your deepest analysis, that might be a report that you haven't finished whatever the case may be. And then when we're in the office, how do we get intentional about that, where the benefits in the office around collaboration around getting around a whiteboard around some of the social aspects of the workplace? How do we get intentional so we do our best deep work, the work where you don't want to be distracted when you're working from home. But we do our best collaboration and co-creation when we're in the office. So there's some wonderful insights there from Belinada in that episode, Episode 102, source joined by Rich Diviney and Rich is a former trainer of Navy SEALs, he was the one that would select Navy SEALs would put them through their paces, and determine if they passed or not. And he's also the trusted adviser of Simon Sinek. And Rich's organization is called The Attributes. And his lesson for us was about Leadership Attributes, and what they look for in a Navy SEAL. And it's not necessarily the things that you think and we hear this a lot. Do you recruit for skills? Or do you recruit for attitude, and there were a lot of really great insights from Rich about what you do look for in a great leader. Episode 103, source joined by Mark J. Silverman, and he spoke about turning high achievers into effective leaders. And the interesting dichotomy here is that the best individual contributors don't always make the best leaders, right? And that's to be very clear, they might be exceptional at their craft, but it doesn't necessarily make them a great leader. So what intentional steps do you take to help that individual contributor, that high performer out that high achiever if they truly want to become a great leader? How do they get intentional about their leadership development, and what skills they need as a leader that might be very different to the skills that they've embraced as an individual contributor? Episode 119 was a real highlight. For me, it was Patrick Thean. And this lesson has stuck with me ever since I, I'm going to say I must think about this at least once a week, but I'm gonna say even more than once a week. And he is the architect of this concept called a Rhythm System and helping CEOs to ensure that they succeed and to ensure that they don't fail. And if I can just leave this with you this concept of a rhythm of Think, plan, do think plan do a to do so on a scheduled rhythm. For him. It was quarterly and I'm going to say quarterly is probably the right one. So in organizations that are looking to develop an advance quite often the change weary they're trying too many things at once. They are chopping and changing from one week to the next. So the whole idea of putting this into a quarterly sprint, where you think in advance and go, Okay, what are we going to achieve this quarter? To really think it through to plan it, but then to do it, an action is often what's missing in these wonderful change efforts that organizations are trying to implement that great illustrative story that Patrick shared with us about a CEO running into the room. I'm gonna draw up everything. I've got the next best idea, but you haven't finished the last idea. And that's what's holding things back. So when that leader comes in and says, I've got a great idea, it's going to change the business forever. It's to have the discipline to say, That's an excellent idea. And if it's not a emergency firefighting can we put that on the candidate list for next quarter, so that we can finish what we're already midstream on. So think plan do but having the discipline to stay with your quarterly sprints. Episode 110 brought us something very new. And that was Dr. Brian Glibkowski. And his concept of Answer Intelligence or AQ, we often talk about IQ. We talk about EQ, Emotional Intelligence. Dr. Brian's groundbreaking research is on about answer intelligence and how different types of answers are more suitable in different types of circumstances. So it could be some storytelling, it could be some direct answering in other times, it could be answering the question with a question. There's all kinds of techniques that you can use an answer intelligence is about selecting the right technique at the right time for the for the right impact. Episode 112 was another great highlight. For me, this was Danny Langloss. Danny Lang loss is amazing. And if you're not following him on LinkedIn, please go and check. Check him out. Everything that he posts for me screams of making sense. And what he came to tell us about was the Seven Pillars of ownership for people to really make an impact in their business, they need to feel like it's an ownership situation, not a rental situation, they spoke a wonderful metaphor about when you rent a house, you don't actually do things to improve it. It's when you own the house, that's when you take care, that's when you look to what can I do to improve this place to look after it to make it better. So the Seven Pillars of ownership that Danny speaks about psychological safety, a sense of belonging, having an aligned purpose, having the confidence that it's going to work, having the confidence individually, and collectively, empowering people to get on with innovation by looking to do things 1% better every day, and then having the commitment to see things through. And when you listen to those seven pillars that just make sense. If you want to be successful in business, if you want to be successful as a leader, these are the things that you need to take on. And these are the things that you need to inspire in others. Another great, I'm gonna say highlight of my life was episode 115. And the interview with Dr. John Demartini. Dr. John was very famous for being involved in the secret and around this world of manifestation. But Dr. John shared with us the secret behind the secret behind the secret to talk about the Miss Information or misunderstanding about what manifestation is, and how we can reverse that to make manifestation really work. And we spoke about belief, we spoke about getting really aligned and connected with yourself, but then taking prolific action. It's not about sitting back and just having positive thoughts and the world will change for you. It's about alignment, it's about congruence. And it's about prolific action, so don't miss episode 115, Dr. John is the best-selling author of more than 40 books and speaks on keynote stages around the world. You do not want to miss that. The most confronting episode in Season Three was episode 123. And that was with Oscar Trimboli. And Oscar was really talking to us about the art of deep listening, and how to listen and challenging us whether people really do know how to listen. And this one really hit me. I mean, we did live in the episode itself, he challenged me about my own listening skills, and we unpacked what I was good at, and the bits that I wasn't thinking about, it was amazing. And I published the entire episode as it was so that you could see the process that Oscar took me through. And it was just incredible. The things that you're probably not thinking about with listening is that part of your role of listening is to help the person articulate what they're trying to say, people think at like 1400 words per minute, but they can only speak at about 160 words per minute, don't quote me on the numbers, but it's about 14% of what's going through their head is what's coming out of their mouth. And by being a great listener, we're able to help the person draw out coherent thoughts that match what they're trying to say. So our role of the listener is not just to pay attention to what's being said it's actually to help the person articulate what they mean. And then the other part was this role of the third person. If you are watching this conversation from the side, what are the needs of that third? Add Person. So in this conversation, it might seem one on one. But there's a broader world out there. And there is a nother set of stakeholders that aren't directly involved in the conversation. And we need to think about that set of stakeholders whilst we're having that conversation. So the art of deep listening, and I do strongly encourage you to get a copy of Oscars book, how to listen. It's really impactful. It'll talk to you about your own villains of listening. Are you an interrupter? What are the things that are holding you back from being a better listener? Episode 130. So our dear friends Tony and Alisa DiLorenzo, come back on the show, again, they are returning guests. And they spoke to us about breaking the conflict cycle. Now, Tony, and Alisa, the best-selling authors of The Six Pillars of Intimacy, so they really help marriages, they help people in loving relationships, to stay in loving relationships, and help them through different processing of different emotions and different conflicts, etc. That might happen in a marriage. But once again, just like the last time they were on the show, we were able to translate lessons from, let's say, a loving relationship, and then bring that into the workplace. And things like the conflict cycle, yes, it happens at home, but also happens at work. And we can use similar techniques to how we break that conflict cycle in a very virtuous way, a way that adds value for both. Episodes 132, I want to highlight with Jason Shen, the topic was about Cultivating Resilience. And there's amazing lessons in there. The reason why I'm highlighting it is how openly Jason shared his own backstory and that of his father back in China. And there's really something there both culturally and also about this cultivation of resilience. Don't miss that one. Really, if you haven't listened to Episode 132 to go back and listen to Jason's story. There's something in there for everyone. Another recent one, episode 134 source joined by Chris Meroff, and Chris was talking about Empathy. But here's the thing I want you to remember, he spoke to us about three great phrases that all leaders need to have in their kitbag. And I just love

these, phrase 1: 17:48

I'm sorry, phrase 2: I was wrong, and phrase 3, I need your help. So this is about Empathy. But it's also about Humility. It's about being able to communicate effectively with our teams and leaders. These are not signs of weakness, to be absolutely clear, these are not signs of weakness. These are signs of strength when a leader is able to go to their team and say, I'm sorry, I made a mistake, I was wrong. And I need your help. This is a powerful moment in your leadership. And it's very endearing to those that you're trying to lead. Because now they feel part of the problem. They feel trusted because you're asking them to help with a problem that you've created. And they feel empowered because they're now helping you by holding the pen and helping you co-architect the solution to whatever the problem was. So learn these phrases. I'm sorry, I was wrong. I need your help. So wonderful Season Three, there were so many highlights, that I found it very difficult to sit down today and decide which were my highlights. But there are many things there and so many psychological lessons in there about identity about who we are as leaders about what our true role is as a leader, or even as a listener. When you think about Oscar Trimboli lots of great lessons, I'd love to hear what your greatest takeaways were from season three as well. Looking forward into Season Four, and we've recorded about half the season already. By the way, we're well ahead of schedule, I want to highlight 4 upcoming episodes that you don't want to miss. Our very next episode is going to be with Richard Flint. And Richard is another one of these keynote speakers. I've lost count of how many books this guy has written and how he goes around the world giving keynotes to people around the word success around the definition of success and around his concept called our success house and the four houses or the four rooms that you need inside your success house if you're going to truly live a life that's based on fulfillment and joy. Another amazing one, this one's got to be close to my favorite episode that we've done so far, Aga Bajer. Aga Bajer comes to us with a new model of how to give feedback. Now, let's face it, let's be really honest here. Feedback is one of those dichotomies in leadership. Most leaders like receiving feedback, in fact, they thrive on it because they want to know what they're doing well, they want to know what they're not doing well so that they can do something about it. In fact, that'd be mortified if someone didn't tell them something that they were doing that was upsetting others or was ineffective or whatever the case may be. And yet as leaders, and as people, we often have a mental block that stops us from giving feedback to other human beings, some kind of fear that we're going to hurt them. But the reality is, it hurts them not to say it, it's cruel. So to be clear with someone is actually kind to tell them, hey, you know what, when you did that, it didn't work so well. So to be able to give someone feedback, however, I really want you to listen to Aga's interview because she gives a new model on how to give feedback that might help you overcome those hurdles to overcome those fears. So that you can give the feedback to other people, not only the feedback that they deserve but giving the feedback in a way where it's actually going to be impactful and is actually going to land for them in the way that should. Also want to highlight Andy Hite coming up in episode shortly. And he teaches us how to lead powerfully, love deeply, and live fully. And this is a wonderful, life-changing episode for the way that you go about your own life, but also about your leadership. And we speak a lot about this word love is the word love appropriate when you talk about your team members, and you reserve your judgment on that one have a really good listen to Andy when he goes through this. And another one I'm really looking forward to sharing with you is Jesan Sorrells and Jesan shares his leadership lessons from the great books. So this guy's a scholar, he really reads deeply historical books from hundreds of years and unpacks. What are the key leadership lessons in those books? So it's a way to fine-tune his own leadership. But he then also shares it with others on his own podcast and came and shared it with our podcast to work out how we do learn lessons from the past so that we can design and architect a better future. So please don't miss that one with Jesan as well. Now, one more request I'll give you so as we go into season four, please do keep that feedback coming, we'd love to see some more ratings on Apple podcast or on your preferred podcast service. The ratings really do help it helps others to find the show as well. We're so proud of you as our audience and how successful the program has become we sometimes pinch ourselves there's we track the progress every week. And there have been some times that we've been in the top 50 of all leadership podcasts in the world. It just makes us feel wonderful that you're getting great value from our guests and from the wisdom and insights that they're sharing as we go about this mission. And that is our mission. Our mission is to empower you with all of the skills and knowledge that you need. So that you can create amazing teams and amazing workspaces where you can go away and create that environment where people can do their very best work to remember that you're responsible for the place where people are spending up to 1/3 of their lives. So it's on you to keep on developing yourself as a leader. And it's something that never stops. Lifetime learners or lifetime leaders or lifetime leaders are lifetime learners, you can say that either way, it still works. You need to keep working on your leadership everyday, you will not get it right every day either. And that's also okay, as long as you keep striving to be better. So thank you for your support throughout the first three seasons. We look forward to bringing you Season Four. And we know there's some more impactful moments for you as you listen to our show, and most importantly, put in practice the great insights from the wonderful guests that we have. Thank you so much for joining us on this journey. As we learn together and lead together. Have a wonderful day and stay safe