Lead & Follow
Lead & Follow offers a candid discussion of teamwork, collaboration, and professional development. Host Sharna Fabiano talks with scholars, educators, and artists to explore the relational dance between people who work together, and what actually makes for extraordinary outcomes.
Lead & Follow
Managing Up: The 4 Levels of Help Your Boss Actually Wants - Eric McDermott
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Full transcript and show notes: https://www.sharnafabiano.com/2026/07/29/managing-up-the-4-levels-of-help-your-boss-actually-wants-eric-mcdermott/
What does it mean to be a truly effective contributor? In this episode, Sharna speaks with Eric McDermott about his innovative 4 Tiers of Help framework—a model of learnable behaviors that immediately show you how to become genuinely more helpful to others, not by working more, but by noticing different things and making different choices. Eric developed this framework through decades of his own work in a variety of businesses, including as an equity partner in the financial services industry.
By day, Eric is an equity partner at a financial services firm with more than 60,000 clients. But behind the suit, in his other company, Eric was named "Best Business Influencer of the Year" winning two Stevies (the Oscars of the business world) for his social media channels. He is also a USA Today and Amazon best-selling author, and has numerous published Forbes articles.
You'll learn:
- Why helping others succeed is a direct way to be recognized and promoted
- What help looks like from the leading role vs from the following role
- How to decide what kind of help is most appropriate in the moment
Episode References
- S2 E21 – Natural Followership with Chris Monö
- https://leadfollow.buzzsprout.com/1735834/13838983-natural-followership-christian-mono
- Leadership is Only Half the Equation, Forbes
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2023/08/14/leadership-is-only-half-the-equation/
- Four Tiers of Help, Forbes
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/07/19/four-tiers-of-help-for-unlocking-career-and-team-success/
- Eric McDermott, Team Amplifiers: 8 Ways Teams Thrive in Rapid Change
- https://www.amazon.com/Team-Amplifiers-Teams-Thrive-Change-ebook/dp/B0BWXGD1P9
- Eric McDermott, Career Amplifiers: A Field Guide for Getting Ahead
- https://www.amazon.com/Career-Amplifiers-Field-Guide-Getting-ebook/dp/B0CLGLJK1M
Connect with Eric McDermott
Nextpectations
https://access.nextpectations.com/
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Sharna Fabiano is the author of Lead & Follow: The Dance of Inspired Teamwork and host of the Lead & Follow Podcast. She helps founders, solopreneurs, and new leaders build strong collaborative relationships and successful teams.
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