The Better Conversations Podcast

Nobody hands you a manual for leading a team. Especially when you started your business because you were really good at something, not because you dreamed of managing people!If you've built a successful business, brought on employees, and suddenly find yourself wondering how to lead your team without being in the middle of everything, this episode is for you.The transition from entrepreneur to team leader can be surprisingly challenging. You're confident in your craft, but figuring out how to get the best out of your people? That's a whole different ballgame.In this episode of The Better Conversations Podcast, I'm sharing three practical ways to become a better leader, even if you've never led a team before:Bring your team into your founder story. Your people need to understand the why behind your business and see themselves as part of something bigger than a paycheck.Capitalize on your team's natural gifts. Learn how the Working Genius framework can help you understand how your employees work best, what energizes them, and how to prevent burnout.Use your team as a mirror, not an audience. Stop looking for applause and start inviting honest feedback that makes your ideas, decisions, and business stronger.You don't need years of leadership experience or a fancy management degree to lead well. You need to understand your people, give them a sense of belonging, and create an environment where everyone can do their best work.TAKE THE FREE FOUNDER LEADERSHIP TYPE ASSESSMENT:Discover your founder type and the blind spot that might be keeping you in the middle of everything.https://www.heykaralist.com/typeABOUT THE PODCAST:The Better Conversations Podcast is for founders and business owners who want to build a high-performing team without making management their second job. I'm Kara List, and I help founders navigate the people side of scaling their businesses through better conversations, stronger leadership habits, and healthier team cultures.If you're ready to stop being the bottleneck and start building a team that can thrive alongside you, you're in the right place.

**TAKE THE FREE FOUNDER LEADERSHIP TYPE ASSESSMENT: https://www.heykaralist.com/typeWhat if the reason managing your team feels like a second full-time job isn't because you hired the wrong people, but because you've been trying to control the wrong things?In this 100th episode of The Better Conversations Podcast, I'm getting personal and sharing something I haven't talked about publicly on the podcast before: my experience with anxiety attacks, what the last five years have taught me about control, and how those lessons completely changed the way I think about leadership and scaling a business.Because here's what I've learned: **Control is a lie, and it's a prison.**As a founder, it's easy to believe that if you just explain things better, check in more often, make more decisions, and stay involved in everything, your business and your team will run smoothly.But what happens when you've hired people to create more capacity, and somehow you've just created more people who need YOUR capacity?That's not scaling. That's stacking.In this episode, we're talking about:- What my experience with anxiety taught me about control.- Why trying to control everything in your business will keep you stuck.- Why hiring better employees isn't always the answer to team problems.- The difference between competent employees and capable team members.- How your leadership habits might unintentionally be creating team dependency.- What you can actually control as a founder and leader.- How to develop employees who think, communicate, solve problems, and take ownership.- Why your goal isn't to become indispensable to your team, but to make your team more capable.My hope is that you walk away with a little more freedom, a little more perspective, and a practical next step toward building a team that helps your business grow without managing becoming your whole job.**TAKE THE FREE FOUNDER LEADERSHIP TYPE ASSESSMENT:**Discover the leadership patterns that might be keeping your team dependent on you and where your biggest opportunity for growth is.https://heykaralist.com/type**READY TO FIX YOUR TEAM?**The Fix Your Team Accelerator is a 10-week experience for founders who are ready to build a team that takes ownership, communicates better, and helps move the business forward.https://heykaralist.com/servicesI'm Kara List, leadership coach, speaker, and host of The Better Conversations Podcast. I help founders turn their hires into a high-performing dream team without management becoming a second job.Thanks for being here for episode 100!#Leadership #Entrepreneurship #TeamManagement #BusinessGrowth #Founder

You can't scale your business faster than you can scale your people.You've built a business you love, hired good people to help you grow, and yet somehow, every decision, question, and problem still seems to come back to you. What was supposed to make your life easier has started to feel like another full-time job.Friend, the problem might not be your people. It might be that you haven't yet built the foundation your team needs to grow with your business.In this episode, I'm sharing the two things every founder needs to build a high-performing team: capable people and a connected team. We'll talk about why hiring competent employees isn't the same as developing capable ones, how your own leadership habits might be keeping your team dependent on you, and what you can start doing this week to change that.You'll learn:Why even great hires can leave you feeling overwhelmed and stretched thinWhat it really means to build a connected team that cares about the mission and each otherThe difference between competent employees and capable people who can think, decide, solve problems, and take ownershipSix common founder leadership types that might be getting in the way of your team's growthTwo simple questions to ask when an employee brings you a problemBecause you don't need more people to carry. You need people who can help carry the work.TAKE THE FREE FOUNDER LEADERSHIP TYPE ASSESSMENTAre you a Doer, Decider, Director, Fixer, Accommodator, or Assumer? Discover your natural leadership patterns and where you might be getting in the way of building a more capable team.Take the free five-minute assessment at https://heykaralist.com/typeREADY TO FIX YOUR TEAM?The Fix Your Team Accelerator helps founders develop capable people, build a connected team, and stop being the bottleneck in their own business.Learn more and get on the list for the next round at https://heykaralist.com/servicesI'm Kara List, leadership coach and host of The Better Conversations Podcast. I help founders build the people and leadership skills they need to scale their businesses without making management their second job.You were never supposed to carry the train yourself. Let's get you back in the conductor's seat.

The trust you need for hard conversations, honest feedback, ownership, and connection doesn't magically appear when you need it. It's built through hundreds of small moments where your team gets to experience you — and you get to know them.In this episode, I’m breaking down why small talk matters so much for founders and giving you my simple 2-Minute Talk framework for turning those everyday moments into opportunities for connection and leadership.We’ll talk about:• Why small talk isn't actually shallow• Why the little conversations build the trust equity you need for harder conversations• How casual conversations can give you information you won't find in Slack, Asana, or a team meeting• The Spark, Stretch, Seal framework for better small talk• How to ask better follow-up questions without feeling awkward• Why you don't have to be naturally charismatic or extroverted to be good at this• The power of Circle Back and remembering what your team tells you• How these tiny moments actually shape your team cultureWant more practical leadership help?Get my Better Conversations newsletter — a quick, actionable leadership communication tip every Thursday for founders and business owners:https://www.heykaralist.com/newsletterWant help fixing the communication problems on your team?Learn more about the Fix Your Team Accelerator:https://www.heykaralist.com/servicesI'm Kara List, leadership coach and host of The Better Conversations Podcast. I help founders unlock the people side of scaling a business

Stop struggling with difficult conversations with your team. Learn why you hesitate and how to fix it effectively.If someone on your team isn't working the way you need them to, your first instinct might be: Is it time to let them go?But before you fire someone, there are a few questions you need to ask.In this episode, I’m walking you through what to do when someone on your team isn’t meeting expectations — without immediately jumping to frustration, blame, or termination.We’ll talk about:• How to separate observable behavior from labels like “lazy,” “difficult,” or “unreliable”• The difference between a standard and your personal preference• Why curiosity is one of your most important leadership tools• How to stop avoiding the conversations that need to happen• My CLEAR framework for having difficult feedback conversations• How to coach and empower your team without rescuing them• When a team problem is actually a performance or fit problem• How to know when it’s time to celebrate or separateIf you’re a founder who built a successful business but never got a manual for the people side of leadership, this one is for you.Get the free Better Conversations Leader ToolkitSeven conversations every founder needs to learn how to have with their team: https://www.heykaralist.com/toolkitWant help fixing the people side of your business?Learn about the Fix Your Team Accelerator: https://www.heykaralist.com/servicesYou built the business. Now it’s time to learn how to lead the people inside it.I'm Kara List, leadership coach and host of The Better Conversations Podcast. I help founders unlock the people side of scaling their business.

FREE BETTER CONVERSATIONS FOUNDER'S TOOLKIT: https://www.heykaralist.com/toolkitIn this episode of The Better Conversations Podcast, I’m pulling five leadership lessons from Ted Lasso that every founder can use when making the shift from building the business to actually leading the team.Because the qualities that made you a great founder—decisiveness, expertise, vision, and a willingness to do whatever it takes—can become the very things that keep your team dependent on you.We’re talking about how to:• Get curious before you get corrective• Lead with authenticity instead of performing leadership• Become harder to offend so your team can tell you the truth• Walk toward the hard conversations instead of waiting for them to disappear• Stop trying to be the expert and start leading the experts on your teamAnd underneath all five is one big idea:Your team doesn't need you to know everything. They need you to become the kind of leader who helps other people become better.If you're a founder who has built a business and now finds yourself stuck in the people side of leadership—conflict, feedback, accountability, delegation, underperformance, or being the bottleneck—this episode is for you.Want to fix the tension and underperformance on your team? Book a free call with me at [email protected] and let's talk about what's happening on your team and how I can help.Visit my website: https://www.heykaralist.com

Schedule A Free Call With Kara Today: https://forms.gle/vAD3t3phbgFdKxuD9Download the Free Toolkit: https://www.heykaralist.com/toolkitYou built the business. You hired the team. You figured out the roles, onboarding, and systems.But then… how do you actually lead the people?In this episode of The Better Conversations Podcast, I’m breaking down the 7 conversations every founder needs to have with their team — but that so many founders avoid, skip, or simply don’t know how to have.Because building a great team isn't just about hiring the right people. Culture, trust, ownership, accountability, and performance are built through the conversations you have with your team every single day.And the good news? You don't need another degree in management to do this well. You need better conversations.Here are the 7 conversations we cover:The Upward Conversation — How to create a team where people feel safe giving you feedback.The Delegation Conversation — How to transfer ownership instead of simply handing someone a task.The Empowerment Conversation — How to stop being the bottleneck and teach your team to think for themselves.The Feedback Conversation — How to give clear, caring feedback without avoiding it or resorting to the dreaded feedback sandwich.The One-on-One Conversation — How to turn 1:1s from status updates into actual coaching conversations.The Team Meeting Conversation — How to build connection and culture instead of having meetings that could have been emails.The Hard Conversation — How to address conflict, underperformance, and difficult decisions before they become bigger problems.I'll also walk you through the 4 C's of Better Conversations: Curiosity, Clarity, Courage, and Care, plus the CLEAR feedback framework and BANG team meeting framework that you can start using with your team immediately.🎁 GET THE FREE TOOLKIT: https://www.heykaralist.com/toolkitDon't try to remember all seven conversations.I've put the seven conversations, the CLEAR feedback framework, and the BANG meeting structure into a free toolkit you can use with your team.👉 Get it here: heykaralist.com/toolkit👋 WORK WITH MEIf you're a founder with a small team and you're ready to stop being the bottleneck, improve communication, and build a team that can actually operate without you in every decision, I'd love to help.I'm opening my next 10-week group cohort to five founders this fall, where we'll practice these conversations using real situations from your team — so you aren't trying to figure out the hard conversations for the first time when you're sitting across from your employee.Email me at [email protected] or use the link in the show notes to book a call.You don't have to become a perfect leader.You just have to keep showing up to the conversations — especially the hard ones — and get a little better at them.Curiosity. Clarity. Courage. Care. One conversation at a time.

You built a successful business so you could have more freedom… not so you could spend your days answering questions, approving decisions, and being the person everyone needs before anything can move forward.If you’re a founder who has hired a team but still feels like the business depends on you for every decision, this episode is for you.Many entrepreneurs discover that building a team doesn’t automatically create freedom. Sometimes it creates more meetings, more questions, more decisions, and the frustrating feeling of: “Honestly, it was easier when it was just me.”But the problem usually isn’t that you hired the wrong people.It’s that nobody teaches founders how to make the shift from doing the work to leading the people who do the work.In this episode of The Better Conversations Podcast, I’m breaking down the four reasons building a team can feel harder than building the business itself — and what you can do to create a team that actually gives you back your time.We’ll talk about:• Why founders struggle to let go of control when scaling a team• Why your employees don’t need to work exactly like you do• How different working styles can become your team’s greatest strength• The leadership shift that happens when your role changes from entrepreneur to team leader• Why being needed can secretly keep your business stuckBecause the goal of building a team isn’t to create another job managing people.The goal is to build a business that can thrive with you — and while you’re away.I’m Kara List, a leadership coach for founders and entrepreneurs. I help business owners navigate the people side of scaling: communication, accountability, feedback, culture, and building teams they can actually trust.If you’re growing a business and trying to figure out how to lead a team without losing yourself in the process, you’re in the right place.👋 Connect with Kara:Website: https://www.heykaralist.comPodcast: The Better Conversations PodcastWant support building a team that gives you back your time? Email me at [email protected] and let’s talk.Hey Founder, Do You Want to Unlock the People Side Of Scaling? Book a Free Coaching Call Here: https://forms.gle/pFa3cWG5RiWFrTM36#FounderLeadership #EntrepreneurLeadership #BuildingATeam #SmallBusinessLeadership #LeadershipCoach

Do you have a team member who does great work but is exhausting to manage? Before you decide they're the wrong fit, ask: is this a personality problem, or an expectations problem? In this episode I share the framework I use with coaching clients to tell the difference, so you can lead different personalities without lowering your standards.What you'll learn:How to separate a real team standard from your personal preferenceWhy a standard without accountability is just a suggestionHow to lead people who work nothing like you (without changing the standard)The one question that tells you if you're dealing with a difference or defianceReady To Work With Me To Fix Your Team and Get Back To The Work Only You Can Do? Book a FREE call: https://forms.gle/3uPtZUPKcbk53iDX910-Week Group Coaching Program (next cohort starts September) — we build your team's standards and accountability systems together. VIP Days — one focused day (Zoom or Bend, Oregon) to solve your biggest leadership challenge.Email [email protected] to learn more.

In this episode, I'm breaking down the three mistakes I see founders make with their teams over and over — and the exact shifts that fix them. We'll talk about why "done" and "good" are not the same thing (and why your team can't read your mind), why building roles around tasks instead of outcomes quietly turns owners into order-takers, and why the fastest way to build a feedback culture is to model asking for it — not just giving it.I'm walking through real client stories to show you exactly what this looks like in practice — plus what I want you to do differently starting with your very next project, hire, or 1:1.Want the exact feedback questions and scripts I use with my own clients? Grab my free feedback framework at https://www.heykaralist.com/feedback.