Leading to Learn with Katie Anderson

Welcome to another episode of Leading to Learn. I am really excited to share my new podcast and where you can find it.Chain of LearningYour Leadership Connection to Create a Culture of Continuous ImprovementThis is your trusted resource for actionable strategies and practices to empower you to build a people-centred learning culture, get results and expand your impact, so that you AND your team, can leave a lasting legacy.This new podcast is hosted by me, Katie Anderson. I’m an internationally recognized leadership consultant, keynote speaker, author of the award-winning book Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn – and learning enthusiast.Katie’s new podcast Chain of Learning for continued leadership and learning insights. ChainOfLearning.comWhere you can find us:Chain of LearningApple PodcastSpotifyGoogle PodcastAudibleTransistor

Welcome to another installment of my author interview series. I am really excited to talk with Dr. Lynn Kelley about her new book “Change Questions” and to explore the writing process. Please enjoy some of the highlights from this interview. How did you and John Shook come to collaborate on creating this book out of the change questions you'd been using? (3:40) The book is inspired by you learning from failure. Could you share with us one of the “failures” that really stuck with you and that helped influence how you lead change? (9:21) Where do you advise change leaders to start with these change questions? (13:50) Could you share a little bit about your personal change experience and how that helped you learn how to lead change even more effectively when working with others? (16:33) What have you learned through the process of writing the book (and perhaps in the collaboration with John as part of that process) that helped you understand the change questions differently? (22:52) How did you resolve that for yourself? (25:50) I love that you have a workbook that accompanies the book to really make it an interactive and reflective learning experience. Can you share with us how you came to integrate the workbook into the book and its purpose? (27:16) What's one question that I haven't asked here, or you're not usually asked about the book or about leading change that you would like to ask yourself and answer? (30:30) You can read the full blog on my website at https://kbjanderson.com/author-interview-lynn-kelley and enter the giveaway if you are tuning in before May 31st, 2023.

I'm happy to host George Saiz as the next guest in my author interview series, and to talk about his new book We Started with Respect, which was released in mid-July 2023. I’ve had the privilege to help support George through the writing and publishing process by providing input from my own experience writing and publishing Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn, and reviewing an early version of the manuscript. George and I initially met when he was the President of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) in 2017 when I was initially launching the AME San Francisco Bay Area Consortium. In We Started with Respect, George demonstrates through stories how leaders can navigate and balance achieving business results with people-centric principles as a comprehensive blueprint for success. In this “business novel”, readers follow the story of a newly appointed President, who inherits a disconnected company that’s struggling from a lack of leadership, alignment, and direction, and by starting with respect, is able to foster a new culture and better outcomes. Here are some of the highlights from the interview: (2:00) What inspired you to write a book and this book in particular? (7:00) What's one thing that you've learned personally about leadership in a different way through the process of writing this story or this book? (9:00) What is the significance of the title? And what are some of the key lessons or stories that come out of that? (11:00) What are some ways that leaders can demonstrate respect and how does that play through some elements of your book? (12:30) What are some challenges you've experienced in your own career or observed in others that have been barriers to creating cultures founded on respect? (18:00) How can people best learn from your book? (19:30) Is there a workbook available? (20:00) When you were writing the book, who did you consider your target audience? (24:30) What's one lesson that stood out that you didn't expect to learn, or that's changed your perspective? (29:00) What's a question that I have not asked you about the book that you would like to answer? What is that question and what's your answer? You can read the full article at: https://kbjanderson.com/author-interview-with-george-saiz And if you are tuning in while the giveaway is live (before July 24th at 11:45pm), be sure to register for your chance to win: https://kbjanderson.com/giveaways/we-started-with-respect/

Dive into my discussion with my longtime colleague and friend Mark Graban about his new book The Mistakes That Make Us. Mark is a longtime friend and colleague (about a decade and a half at the time of this interview) and we’ve collaborated on writing books, hosting each other on our podcasts, making (and learning from) mistakes, and learning how to be better leaders and humans. You can read more in the full blog here: https://kbjanderson.com/author-interview-with-mark-graban We discuss various topics including: Driving continuous improvement in organizations The benefits of having a culture of learning from mistakes The impact of a culture where learning from mistakes is not embraced (I share a personal story of experiencing a medical error) The role of kindness in leadership Plus much more!

Welcome to another installment of my author interview series. I am really excited to talk with Joshua Plenert about his new book, "How We Go: Culture-Centric Leadership, High-Functioning Enterprise" and to explore some of the connections that we share about where we've lived globally and what it means to really be an effective leader, to create a people-centered learning culture of improvement. Please enjoy some of the highlights from this interview. (3:04) What inspired you to write this book in the first place? (5:00) What question does How We Go answer? (6:41) What advice do you have for managers and leaders on how to simplify culture change? (8:13) How did you come up with the title How We Go? And how does it connect to this concept of simplifying culture change? (10:30) How do you define cultural central centric leadership and what makes it so effective? (15:15) What is one thing you learned more clearly through the process of writing the book? (17:30) What is one leadership lesson you’ve personally had to change that has had a huge impact? (20:45) What's one question that you are not usually asked about the book or that I haven't asked today? And what is that question and what is your answer? You can read the full blog on my website at https://kbjanderson.com/author-interview-with-joshua-plenert and enter the giveaway if you are tuning in before May 31st, 2023.

I am so thrilled to be welcoming Elizabeth Swan to my author interview series. Elizabeth and I became fast friends after she joined me on my 2019 Japan study tour. I have been so excited to see Elizabeth start writing this book, and now publishing it, and to be part of the journey. On top of that, Elizabeth was an important part of my writing journey too. She was on my editorial board when I was writing Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn. She read an early version of the manuscript and gave me some really helpful feedback, so I was honored to be able to do the same thing for her, for her new book Picture Yourself a Leader, Illustrated Micro-Lessons in Navigating Change. I invite you to enjoy – and learn from – our discussion on the process of writing and creating books, the impact of having an attitude towards caring and intention, and the importance of learning from failure – plus much more. Our interview questions: How did you come up with the idea for a book? And then how did you think about the structure of the book? (4:30) What are some things that you learned through the process of creating the book? (6:26) What is one of your favorite stories or lessons in the book? (12:23) What was a story that got a lot of responses that surprised you? (19:35) What has been one of the most helpful practices that you have personally discovered and incorporated into your leadership approach? (26:35) What is a question that you haven’t, or are not usually asked about the book? What is that question? And what’s your answer? (28:45)

In his latest book, The Collaboration Equation: Strong Professionals Strong Teams Strong Delivery, Jim Benson highlights the solution to the problems most organizations face in really achieving the outcomes they want: how to foster human collaboration, where individuals work together in teams to create value, where professionals act with confidence, and where work can be visualized. Check out our interview to dive into our rich conversation about collaboration, continuous improvement, and how to create cultures that foster connection and innovation. Jim is a fabulous storyteller and we both share stories of our experiences in working with leadership teams around the world to foster cultures of continuous improvement – and share why it’s about the process, the people and the collaboration – not the tools – that are the key to success. Our discussion questions: What inspired you to write this book? What was the problem you were trying to solve by writing this book? (4:36) On page 30 you talk about “maintaining anti-collaborative cultural patterns without realizing it” – what have you observed and how did this lead to the content of the book? (8:42) On page 130 you write,“Without understanding your culture, you will never obtain a culture of continuous improvement.” What have you come to learn about that value of understanding your culture and how that influences how we create continuous improvement cultures? (17:21) How did you come up with the succinct list of the 5 principles of collaboration? (20:40) What is one thing that you’ve personally had to adjust in your style to become a better collaborative leader? (25:13) What is one thing that you discovered or learned with a new perspective through the process of writing the book? (29:35) What is a question that you haven’t, or are not usually asked about the book? What is that question? And what’s your answer? (35:01)

Recently I sat down with Matthew E. May and Pablo Dominguez to talk about their new book What a Unicorn Knows: How Leading Entrepreneurs Use Lean Principles to Drive Sustainable Growth. In the book – and our interview – Matt and Pablo highlight key principles about lean, strategy development, and continuous improvement – and how to apply them to scale-up businesses no matter what stage of growth they are in. I’m excited to celebrate the book's recent release a few weeks ago and dive into some of its core concepts, what inspired them to write it, and some of the key lessons they've learned through their collaboration. Our interview questions: (4:12) What inspired the two of you to write a book together and what problem were you trying to solve? (6:50) Let’s unpack some of the book’s title. Most people are familiar with a unicorn as a mythical horned horse creature fabled to be real but never seen. What does this mean in a business context? (9:00) What is a Scale Up? (11:23) You talk about these four different forces that work against any object in motion, including a rapidly growing company: drag, inertia, friction, and waste. (11:49) What is the connection between scale ups and Formula One cars? (17:08) The model for overcoming these different forces – the Unicorn Model. (25:29) Matt - you worked with Toyota at the University of Toyota for many years. What is one important concept that you learned from your time that has influenced your thinking and your approach with helping your clients? (27:58) Pablo – what is something you’ve had to unlearn or shift for your own leadership approach to be more effective as you’ve gone through your own learning journey? (29:11) What is something you’ve learned with a new perspective through the process of writing this book together? (31:46) What is a question that you haven’t, or are not usually asked about the book? What is that question? And what’s your answer?