What No One Teaches You About Leading People: Jim Willenbring
“WHEN YOU SAVE THEM FROM THE STRUGGLE, YOU SAVE THEM FROM THE LEARNING.”
Episode Description
In this episode of Leadership Matters, Jim Willenbring, Partner, Board Director, and Executive Coach at The Bailey Group, joins host Kaylee Thomsen for a candid conversation on what it really takes to lead people well. Jim explores why most leaders learn to lead by osmosis, picking up both good and bad habits along the way, and what it looks like to treat leadership as a true professional discipline. He digs into the shift from being the expert problem solver to developing expert problem solvers, the science behind giving and receiving feedback, and why avoiding difficult conversations always costs more than having them. If you lead people at any level, this one is worth your time.
Chapters
- 00:00 Intro: Meet Jim Willenbring
- 01:04 Treating Leadership as a Professional Discipline
- 04:47 How Most People Actually Learn to Lead
- 06:47 What It Means to Practice Leadership as a Craft
- 09:39 The Fundamentals of Effective People Leadership
- 11:26 Where Leaders Get Tripped Up: The Expert Problem Solver Trap
- 13:19 Shifting From Solving Problems to Developing Solvers
- 16:38 Building Trust Through Struggle and Silence
- 19:00 Ignoring the Motivational Opportunity in Front of You
- 20:56 A Story About His Father's Cancer Diagnosis
- 24:38 Why Engagement With Your Manager Drives Retention
- 25:38 The Science and Power of Feedback
- 28:01 Why Specific Feedback Changes Behavior
- 32:44 Constructive Criticism and Interpersonal Sensitivity
- 35:06 Why Leaders Avoid Difficult Conversations
- 37:23 Getting Specific, Sharing Perspective, Solving Together
- 39:48 Critiquing the Behavior, Not the Person
- 41:59 Setting High Expectations While Giving Feedback
- 43:59 Getting a "10 Out of 10" at Receiving Feedback
- 44:24 Feedback vs. Feed Forward
- 45:44 The Core Mindset Shifts of Leveled-Up Leadership
- 48:35 Final Reflection: Presence as a Gift
More In The Series
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