Flip The Script

My guest today is Vanessa Druskat, the behavioural scientist who pioneered the concept of “team emotional intelligence”. In this episode we flip the script on what sets high-performing teams apart from mediocre ones: - How teams’ emotional intelligence - or lack thereof - has a direct impact on performance- Why having emotionally intelligent team members doesn’t guarantee the team itself will be emotionally intelligent - What explains bad behaviour such as selfishness on a team...- ...and why, when that happens at the very top, that impacts cross-silo collaboration across the entire organisation- The 3 buckets of norms that shape a team’s emotional intelligence- The connection between our sense of inclusion and self-esteemVanessa’s book on emotionally intelligent teams will be published by Harvard Business Press. In the meantime, you can find her Harvard Business Review article on “Building the emotional intelligence of groups” here. Subscribe to this podcast for regular updates!

April Rinne is one of the world’s highest ranked female futurists, author of acclaimed “Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change” and a supreme ‘flipper’ of the linear scripts society has drawn up for us. Best-selling author Michele Wucker coined the term “grey rhino” for obvious risks that we’re likely to ignore — and unwittingly caused a small earthquake. The metaphor has moved markets, shaped financial policies, and made headlines around the world.April and Michele are also friends and on this episode have what they like to call “a mindmeld”, suggesting we should:- Reboot our relationship to change & risk — from the binary “risk averse/prone” to a more dynamic one that sees all change as an opportunity to do things better- Determine our “risk fingerprints” as the unique imprint that's a combination of genetics, experiences and environment- Once we know our inherent bias, we can reshape our “risk ecosystem”: changing your habits and surrounding yourself with people who will help offset that- Choose change and hold the future gently: “No one has ever been able to control the future, but you can control whether and how you contribute to a future you’d like to see”- Run slower in a faster-paced world. We can expect more, not less, risk and change ahead; and we need the clarity and headspace to navigate it skilfullyYou can find April’s mind-bending book “Flux” here. Michele’s powerfully titled book “You Are What You Risk” can be accessed here.

My guests today are Kamila Sip, social and cognitive neuroscientist, as well as consultant with the Neuroleadership Institute; and Lisa Gill, organisational self-management coach, trainer with Tuff Leadership Training and associate with Greaterthan.Together, we debate how much autonomy we have really gained and lost throughout the pandemic; and how we can design a future workplace that’s based on adult-adult relationships, rather than an infantilisation of employees. Some of the topics we explore: - Why we need to #flipthescript on autonomy: it’s not chaos, but it’s not automatic consensus either. It’s a ‘dance’ and delicate balance that needs to be negotiated between managers and employees.- What happens to our brains in relation to the push-and-pull of autonomy & control: We want to have autonomy, but we also want to have some boundaries & guardrails in the workplace.- How too much autonomy creates a similar threat response as too little autonomy; so for it to work, it needs to go hand in hand with self-responsibility, transparency and accountability.- How the pandemic has shortened the distance between the ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ of the hierarchy, as it became apparent that leaders didn’t have all the answers and that exposed the (perceived) vulnerability of “I don’t know.”- The 3 shifts we need to make holistically to create an environment of autonomy:Changing core systems e.g. info-sharing, conflict-management, decision-makingPeople who have structural power need to unlearn the tendency to step in & give solutions automatically; listen more deeply, slow down, ask questions, invite in other perspectivesPeople who haven’t had power have been so conditioned to be passive, defer to a leader and pass the buck >> now need to learn how to take initiative, challenge and propose new things.You can learn more about Kami’s background here; and read this excellent Forbes interview with her. Lisa’s podcasts, Leadermorphosis, is one of my favourites. You can access her book, "Moose Heads on the Table: Stories About Self-Managing Organisations from Sweden", here. If you found this conversation useful, don’t forget to subscribe and pass it on.

My guests today are Laura Delizonna, Stanford instructor and executive coach, and Daniela Landherr, Head of Talent Engagement at Google in EMEA. In this episode we discuss a question that has been preying on mind for quite a while: Why is psychological safety so attractive in theory and yet so rare in practice? Topics we explore:- Why psychological safety is both crucial and fragile and how it’s the answer to an evolutionary-based question: “Are you for me or are you against me?” - The shift we need to make from putting it all on the leader to create psychological safety to “we can all make it or break it” — as individuals we have more power than we think we do to create the feeling of “I feel safe with you” through every interaction we have- How do we actually know how psychologically safe our team is and why as a leader you’re likely the worst judge of that. What are the clues that signal high and low psychological safety? - “The obligation to dissent” as key to psychological safety and how we can approach conflict as a call for curiosity and an opportunity to co-create a new solution vs. a zero-sum game. You can read Laura’s famous Harvard Business Review article about why high-performing teams need psychological safety and how to create it here; and can gather more insights from her website. Check out Daniela’s website, a real source of inspiration and empowerment.

My guests today are Michelle Holliday, author of the book “The Age of Thrivability”, and David Lancefield, strategist and coach to CEOs and executive teams. In this episode we discuss the paradigm shift that leaders need to make in order to navigate complexity skilfully:·      Leaders facing a taller order now than before – higher expectations, competitive pressures, systemic issues and new models of operating·      Complicated vs complex systems and the critical shift leaders need to make from problem-solver to problem-reframer ·      Flipping the script from systems as machine and leaders as narcissistic ‘heroes’ >> to living systems and leaders as stewards and ‘gardeners’ ·      The power of shared leadership and why it’s bad business nowadays when people at the top set the future of the organisation on their own·      Why leadership cannot be truly transformational without attention to self-care and close relationshipsYou can find Michelle’s fantastic book here and learn more about her work on her platform. David Lancefield has a brilliant newsletter, “Flashes + Sparks” and his interview series, “Lancefield on the Line”, featuring some of the world’s best minds, can be followed here. Subscribe to the podcast for weekly episodes.

In this trailer I outline my personal WHY: a burning need to ask the hard questions and get some of the most brilliant minds in science and practice to #flipthescript on conventional wisdom about workplace culture.If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe and follow.