Leaders and Consultants: How to Find the Best Answers Together

The Coaching Sugars are back for their final close-out-the-year show! Next week, December 12 at 11 am EST, the Coaching Sugars, Mike McGinley and Kirsten Olson, will consider 'Compromises, Earning A Living, and Being The Coach I Want To Be.' The Sugars think about the ways new structures at the International Coaching Federation, used for evaluating coaching, are necessary and important, and may also constrict the artistry of coaching, in a letter from an experienced coach. Next they listen in on a letter from a coach who considers whether to cancel a big contract to be the coach they dream of being. As always, The Coaching Sugars offer responses to coaching and leadership dilemmas that are not about giving the right answers with a lot of certainty and authority, but instead offering truthful, thoughtful, heart-full advice based on their own coaching and leadership. Real, compassionate coaching and leadership talk, served up straight on December 12. Join us!

The Coaching Sugars are back for two close-out-the-year shows! Next week, December 5, 2016 at 11 am EST, the Coaching Sugars, Mike McGinley and Kirsten Olson, will chew on something at the center of many of our lives right now: “Hearing and Honoring Difference, And Remaining True To You.” This week's show will kick off with some powerful, searching letters from our listeners. The Coaching Sugars will candidly consider how to hold space and be present with clients and colleagues when our belief systems are very different and what to do what to do when you feel overwhelmed in the face of national contraction. As always, The Coaching Sugars offer responses to coaching and leadership dilemmas that are not about giving the right answers with a lot of certainty and authority, but instead offering truthful, thoughtful, heart-full advice based on their own coaching and leadership. Real, compassionate coaching and leadership talk, served up straight on December 5. Join us!

Gary Corless, chief development officer of the Wounded Warrior Project and former CEO, has an ability we sometimes view as rare; the ability to really reflect on his experiences and to share the lessons he has learned back with the world. In the final show in our three-part series on culture in organizations, with guest host Randy Chittum, we talk with Gary about some of those lessons. We will hear how a leader actually creates and maintains culture. We will explore the benefits of a strong culture and the challenges of being a culture leader. Gary will also share his experiences of where culture comes from, how it can be implemented to be more than words on paper, and what happens when culture is “pressure tested.” Tapping into themes from the last two weeks, we will pull through threads about what happens when culture is overdone and what it means to attend to culture. As always, the focus is on leadership. We discuss all this and much more on November 28 at 11am EST, join us.

How do we know when we tip into an unconscious bias that excludes others? Do we use culture as the rationale? In the second show in a three-part series about culture in organizations with guest host Randy Chittum, we talk with Jackie Cranford about how unconscious bias is present in how we create culture. Join us as we talk with Jackie, adviser and talent strategist, about how culture may perpetuate some biases and how culture can also serve to interrupt the damage done by unconscious bias. We will revisit some of the topics addressed in last week’s episode, with Gerry McDonough, such as the “walking around definition” of culture and “how people survive, thrive, and fit in,” and get Jackie’s take on the subject. All of this, and more, will be discussed on November 21, 11am EST. Join Randy Chittum and Jackie Cranford for what promises to be an enlightening discussion.

According to Deloitte’s 2015 Global Human Capital Trends survey, organizational culture issues are now the number one challenge companies face around the world. The survey found that more than half of respondents say their organizations have either a poor program or no program at all to measure and improve culture. As coaches, we very often find leading culture to be a core challenge faced by the leaders we are coaching. We further find that leaders often operate with assumptions about culture that turn out to be inaccurate. In this week’s episode, guest host Randy Chittum will talk with Gerry McDonough, CEO of LeadFirst, a human capital consulting firm in DC. In this conversation, we will learn from LeadFirst’s culture studies now spanning more than thirty years, with almost 650 cultures studied and developed. Another key topic for discussion will be the impact of culture on performance and if there are cultural factors that indicate a greater likelihood of success.

There is a new world coming, a world that doesn’t exist yet, but one that we can prepare for all the same. It is a world that is even more fast-paced, interdependent and complex than we’ve ever seen before. It is a world that will need to be approached in a new way. This week’s guest, Neil Richardson, believes it is possible to prepare for this new world. Neil is a strategist and a public servant specializing in smart government advocacy and integral thinking. He is also the co-author of the recently released book, Preparing For A World That Doesn’t Exist-Yet. In this episode, join our host, Kate Ebner, for a conversation with Neil about his new book and how leaders can prepare for a world unlike any we’ve seen before.

When Netflix started out, it leased a warehouse from the US Postal Service for its inventory of movies and TV shows. Today, content is provided online. Regarded as a leader of innovation in the entertainment industry, Netflix has disrupted not only its business model and an entire industry, but also its own thinking. No longer is Netflix just streaming content--its creating its own shows. And just last week, Netflix expanded from 60 to 190 countries, streaming its content to the whole world. As vice president of product innovation, it is Todd Yellin's job to understand what Netflix's 70 million global members are watching. Offering thousands of titles, Netflix works hard to make content discovery easy, putting the right title in front of each member at the right time. Join Host Kate Ebner as she explores with Todd how to understand disruption as a catalyst for creativity, innovation and breakthroughs--and what he has learned about the power of disruption for a leadership team.

When you’re faced with a tough problem, great leadership skills become essential. This has never been more true as in the case of the DC Metro. In the 1970’s, the DC Metro was a modern marvel – an architectural and engineering masterpiece. But overtime, the quality of the metro has declined. Today, the DC metro faces many issues, such as regular train delays, faulty equipment, decreasing ridership and a lack of funding. Enter Paul Wiedefeld, a leader with over 35 years of experience in managing transportation systems. Since starting as GM of the DC metro last winter, Paul has already implemented various plans to improve the overall quality of the metro, and to ensure it continues to safely transport DC residents long into the future. Join us on Monday, October 17th at 11am EST, as host Kate Ebner talks to Paul about what it takes to be a strong leader in the face of a very challenging assignment.

What if someone offered you a blueprint for success? What if someone could give you a set of simple yet powerful tools that would enable you think and act more effectively, in order to achieve your most important Results and improve your overall well-being. The book, 'Language and the Pursuit of Leadership Excellence: How Extraordinary Leaders Build Relationships, Shape Culture, and Drive Breakthrough Results' offers this blueprint. Written by this week’s guests, Vinay Kumar and Chalmers Brothers, the book outlines the tools and how to use them to excel as a leader. Join us on Monday at 11pm EST to uncover how exactly we can empower ourselves to become great leaders.

Over the past thirty five years, mindfulness and meditation have gone from being seen as out there to being practiced by everyone from professional athletes, like Michael Jordan, to soldiers in the U.S. Military to business leaders. In the fast-paced world of today, mindfulness and meditation are fast becoming mainstream in the world of work and leadership, practiced by organizations from Google to Goldman Sachs. Step back with us to explore what these concepts really mean in theory and in practice and why these practices for leaders are here to stay. Join Host Sheryl Phillips for an in-depth conversation with the renowned mindfulness teacher, Tara Brach, clinical psychologist and founder of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, DC (IMCW), to learn strategies that will support your growth as a transformational leader. In addition to numerous articles, videos, and hundreds of recorded talks, Tara Brach is the author of the book Radical Acceptance and True Refuge: Finding Peace and Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart.