The Essentials: Recent Episodes
David Gazek
22 short episodes for leaders of an organization and anyone intent on joining their ranks. These tools are essential for organizational checkups and sustained health because of the vaccine they provide against organizational problems, the high stakes of not using them, and the enormous benefit that flows to the bottom line. Collectively they can be a mainstay of your leadership craft.
In this 8-minute episode on cross-training, we’ll look at the value of cross-training, which at minimum, is a low-cost insurance policy and disaster prevention plan that significantly increases your ability to maintain an effective and efficient organization, when people with key skill sets and institutional knowledge are not available or no longer around.
In this 8-minute episode on vulnerability, the last in this series of Lead with the Essentials, we’ll look at the power of leading by dropping your armor – the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors you use to protect yourself – so you can show up to a conversation with an open heart and an open mind to serve the work and your team, not your ego
In this 9-minute episode on conflict resolution, we’ll look at how resolving conflict is a process of shifting your mindset from an entrenched, “either/or” position to “the relationship”, where you recognize the counterproductive pattern of your actions and reactions, examine the lens through which you both see the issues, and restructure past thinking that no longer serves you so you can reframe your approach, disrupt the pattern, and potentially find common ground.
In this 8-minute episode on the Huh? Moment, we’ll look at what to do at those times when someone’s comment, behavior, action, or even inaction is inappropriate, unexpected, or hard to make sense of, and your instinct is to brush it aside, rather than trust your internal voice and treat it as a warning sign that you take seriously.
In this 8-minute episode on joint accountability, we’ll look at what it takes to be jointly accountable, the signs of accountability gaps that become normalized when we feel helpless and powerless, and what’s at risk when that happens.
In this 8-minute episode on succession planning, we’ll look at how succession planning is a tool for managing risk and protecting company and shareholder value when change occurs in the leadership of your company.
In this 9-minute episode on leadership development, we’ll look at what it takes to become a transformational leader who models behaviors that increase individual and team engagement and their sense of what they can achieve, and that permeate the organization with a mindset for excellence that leads to better performance.
In this 8-minute episode on change management, we’ll look at the preparation and planning, the socializing and implementation, and the embedding and assessment that’s needed for people to fully embrace change and adapt to it, so that change management shifts from a process of hoping for desired results to a plan for meeting and exceeding them.
In this 8-minute episode on problem-solving and decision-making, we’ll look at a reliable way to solve problems and make decisions that brings greater consistency and consensus, and a greater likelihood of achieving desired results, so you and your leadership team aren’t reinventing the wheel with every challenge that arises.
In this 7-minute episode on project management, we’ll look at what it takes to successfully lead a team from planning to execution in a climate of collaboration, where people work together because they want to, not because they must.
In this 7-minute episode on meeting management, we’ll look at how the way you and others manage meetings can be the difference between opportunity seized or lost, productivity gained or stalled, and time well spent or wasted.
In this 8-minute episode on feedback we’ll look at why feedback is necessary to provide your employees with the information and guidance they need to make sure the work stays on track and the work environment is supportive, like a steering wheel is necessary to make sure a car stays in its lane and safety is maintained.
In this 8-minute episode on a difficult conversation we’ll look at what’s at stake when you avoid a difficult conversation, and how your approach to it can shift the anticipation and the conversation from dread and anxt to gratitude and relief.
In this 8-minute episode on communication we’ll look at the irony of communication. We need it more than any other tool and yet we take it the most for granted, even though the way we communicate can make or break a business deal and be the difference between collaboration and chaos, and moving in sync or in circles.
In this 7-minute episode on a reward system we’ll look at the power of monetary and non-monetary rewards to encourage, acknowledge, and reinforce specific performance and behavior that’s aligned with your company’s goals, targeted key results, and culture – and why the payoff is priceless.
In this 7-minute episode on authority, power, and influence, we’ll look at why teams struggle to accomplish their task when they lack the combination of authority power and influence to get it done, and how balancing their scope with the composition of the team so they have all three makes the difference between their success and failure.
In this 8-minute episode on roles, responsibilities, and relationships we’ll look at why clarity and flexibility around the 3Rs are key to a highly functioning organization, no matter what organizational structure you choose, and why you need to give the 3Rs that underpin your structure the same level of thought, care, and attention as the 3Rs that underpinned your education.
An employee-centric mindset is the path to exceptional performance. In this 8-minute episode, we’ll see that there are two essential components of that mindset: a psychologically safe workplace and an understanding of what your employees need to fully engage and succeed along with your commitment to meet those needs, where appropriate and possible.
Strategic planning is not just a box to be checked. It’s a living blueprint for your business. Putting it in the context of The Essentials is meant to give it new meaning. In this 7-minute episode, we’ll learn how the strategic plan becomes a compelling portrait of the vision of the company and a rutter for managing change, guiding decision-making, and steering the organization.
In this 8-minute episode onthe tool of a balanced leadership team, we’ll look inside the formula for a balanced leadership team to see that it must be a complimentary group of individuals who can produce, administer, envision, and integrate – and why you risk being pulled down a path of chaos and compromised productivity if that balance is missing.
Mutual trust and respect is the first tool in the toolbox because none of the other tools work without it. It’s the root and lifeblood of a healthy organization. In this 9-minute episode, we’ll look at how mutual trust and respect bond people together more effectively than the latest perks and enticements, star talent, and workplace trends – and why there’s no stronger recipe for employee engagement and retention.
We start the podcast with number 1 of 22 short episodes on essential tools for leaders of an organization and anyone intent on joining their ranks. In this 8-minute episode, “What’s inside” we’ll get an overview of all the tools in the toolbox and their value to you.