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Courage is not about not having fear. Courage is having fear and doing something anyway. At a recent leadership intensive, we split a room full of leaders into teams and asked who wanted to lead. Almost nobody raised their hand. These are leaders, at a leadership event, and still most of them sat on their hands. In this episode you'll learn;- Why so many capable leaders avoid raising their hand for the role, and what is actually happening underneath the excuses like I'm too busy or somebody else would do it better - The real difference between courage and confidence, and why waiting until you feel ready is the one thing guaranteed to keep you waiting forever - Why people want to be led by someone who actually wants to lead, and what a reluctant leader costs their team even when they are technically doing the job - The specific moments in leadership that demand courage, from having the hard conversation you keep avoiding to simply saying I don't know, and why each one builds the muscle for the next - A story about a cold call I avoided for four straight days, and the one I almost avoided the same way, and what changed when I didn't YOUR CHALLENGE:This week, find the one place where you are playing it safe, whether that is a conversation you are avoiding, a hand you have not raised, or a risk you keep putting off, and do the thing anyway. Questions on this episode?Ask me in the Leadership Mindset 2.0 community on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8944058/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadershipmindsetgroup

The manager everyone thinks is incompetent probably isn't. She just never got trained. 82% of UK managers are what's called accidental managers, promoted without ever getting the skills or training to actually do the job…so what do you do about it? You’ll learn everything you need to know about leadership training & development for your team including; - Why what looks like incompetence in a struggling manager is almost always a training gap instead, and how that one reframe changes the entire conversation you need to have with them - The six main ways to invest in leadership development, what problem each one actually solves, and how to know which one your team needs right now - Why the old week-away training model barely works, and what the research actually says you need instead to get people to change their behavior and keep it - How to build the business case that gets your leadership training budget approved, by tying it directly to a business objective the person signing off on it already cares about - The one leadership myth from your MBA that's wrong, and why what looks like the Peter Principle is actually just leaders never getting the training they needed to succeed at the next level YOUR CHALLENGE:This week, figure out what leadership development you, your team, or your organization actually needs, check whether it is already in next year's plan, and if it is not, start building the case for how it gets there. Questions on this episode?Ask me in the Leadership Mindset 2.0 community on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8944058/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadershipmindsetgroup

Your mind messes with you, and until you know that, it's going to keep holding you back. Today, you're going to learn exactly how it does this and how to make it work for you instead of against you. In this episode you'll learn;- The simple fact versus fiction tool for catching the exact moment your brain starts inventing a story that has nothing to do with reality - Why a great presentation, a good piece of feedback, or a clear win can still get twisted into self doubt, and how to stop that story before it takes hold - How to rewrite the story you are telling yourself about someone who seems distant or hard to read, and why that one shift changes how you actually show up with them - What to do the next time your ego tells you that you are not qualified, not ready, or not the right person, and why that story is almost always the least accurate one available to you - How to teach this same tool to the people you lead, so you can catch them in their own made up stories and help them get back to what is actually true YOUR CHALLENGE:This week, find one story you are telling yourself that is causing you stress, draw a line down the middle of a page, write fact on one side and fiction on the other, and be honest about which side each thought actually belongs on. Questions on this episode?Ask me in the Leadership Mindset 2.0 community on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8944058/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadershipmindsetgroup

A tool every leader needs is the ability to turn negative, complaining people into a positive, effective member of the team. The problem is, if you don't know how to do this, you often make it worse. Here's a simple yet powerful model you can use that does just that. In fact, as you’ll hear, it even works inside of a prison. In this episode you'll learn;- The three roles in the drama triangle, victim, persecutor, and rescuer, and why you are probably playing one of them right now without realizing it - Why rescuing someone in a victim mindset actually validates their negativity instead of fixing it, and what that costs you as a leader over time - The exact questions that move someone from complaining about the past to creating a positive future, and why "what is your desired outcome" works better than almost anything else you can say - How to be firm with someone who is venting without becoming cold or dismissive, and where the real line is between consoling someone and enabling them - Why catching yourself in victim mode is harder than spotting it in someone else, and the one question that exposes where your own ego is hiding it from you YOUR CHALLENGE:This week, find one place where you or someone around you is playing the victim, identify who the persecutor is in that story, notice if you have been stepping in as the rescuer, and then ask the one question that starts moving things forward: what is the outcome you actually want here. Questions on this episode?Ask me in the Leadership Mindset 2.0 community on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8944058/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadershipmindsetgroup

One of the most frustrating things for a manager is that their team's not performing, and they don't know what to do about it. The pressure starts mounting more and more. They start to doubt themselves, and things get worse and worse for everybody involved. The solution is to evaluate your team on these five pillars and then put in a strategy to solve it. In this episode you'll learn;- The five pillars that separate high-performing teams from the ones stuck firefighting, and the one score you'll walk away with that tells you exactly where to focus first - Why hiring your way out of a broken culture never works, and what actually happens when you throw a new headcount at a team with no clear expectations - The real cost of keeping a B-minus player on an A-player team, and why it’s causing your best people to check out or leave - What separates a leader who manages from one who actually leads, and why AI is about to make that gap the only thing that matters - How to build a culture that runs on its own momentum instead of one you have to hold together by sheer will every single day Scorecard Download: https://rmichaelanderson.com/teams-scorecard YOUR CHALLENGE:This week, score your team honestly across the five pillars, culture, purpose and vision, team makeup, engagement, and leadership, and identify the one pillar that's actually holding you back…because here's the thing, it's usually not the one you've been working on. Questions on this episode?Ask me in the Leadership Mindset 2.0 community on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8944058/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadershipmindsetgroup

When trust disappears from a team, even small disagreements can turn into defensiveness, gossip, blame, and conflict...so how do you turn it around? In this episode, Michael breaks down a five-step process for helping a team move out of dysfunction and start rebuilding trust. And it doesn't begin with forcing everyone to get along. It begins with understanding why people are defensive in the first place, including how you might be contributing to the dynamic as their leader. Michael walks through what to address, what to say, and how to set clear expectations so you're not simply hoping the conflict will resolve itself. In this episode, you'll learn:- How to recognize when ego and defensiveness are driving conflict, including when your own reactions may be adding to the problem. - Why leaders need to bring unspoken tension into the open before a team can actually work through it. - How to set clear expectations, get genuine agreement, and hold people accountable for rebuilding trust over time. Leadership ChallengeLook at the conflict or lack of trust on your team and ask yourself which part of the five-step process needs your attention right now. Do you need to understand where ego is showing up? Name a problem that everyone is avoiding? Set clearer expectations? Get agreement from your team? Or start holding people accountable? Choose the step your team needs most and put it into action. Questions on this episode?Ask me in the Leadership Mindset 2.0 community on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8944058/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadershipmindsetgroup

Never let someone come to you with just a problem. They need one to three solutions already worked out, because that is the moment a follower starts becoming a leader. Here's the thing. A VP I coach ran a time audit and found he was spending five hours a week with one newer team member. His first instinct was to just cut that time back. That would have backfired. In this episode you'll learn;- Why cutting back time with someone you have been over-supporting can blow up in your face if you handle it wrong, and the simple reframe that gets their buy-in instead of their anxiety - The real difference between internal and external processors. One of your team members might be talking too much simply because that is how they think, not because they cannot decide - The exact standard to set so people stop bringing you problems and start bringing you solutions. This one shift does more for someone's leadership growth than almost anything else you can teach them - How to use phases to structure your relationship with a growing team member, so every stage has a clear, motivating focus instead of feeling like an open ended obligation - The coaching questions that push someone to actually decide instead of staying stuck. Sometimes the most helpful thing you can do is refuse to decide for them YOUR CHALLENGE:This week, the next time someone comes to you with a problem, ask for their one to three options before you help solve it. If they do not have any, send them back to think it through first. That one habit is what starts turning a follower into a leader. Questions on this episode?Ask me in the Leadership Mindset 2.0 community on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8944058/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadershipmindsetgroup

A burned out team does not need better processes. It needs a leader who knows where they are going. The thing keeping your people stuck has nothing to do with their workload. In this episode- Why the loudest negative person on your team is currently setting the tone for everyone else, and what you have to do about it before anything else can shift - The difference between empathy and direction, and why leading with one while missing the other leaves your team feeling unled no matter how hard you are working - Why workload data and process improvements cannot fix a burned out team culture, and what your people are actually waiting for from you - How to show up to your boss with a plan and a specific ask instead of a list of problems, and why that one shift changes what help you can get - The exact moves to make in the next two weeks to start turning the energy in your department around YOUR CHALLENGE, DEAR LEADER This week, write the one paragraph narrative of where your team is going in the next 12 months and schedule the one conversation you have been putting off with the person whose energy is pulling the room in the wrong direction, because those two things together will move more than any process improvement you could make. Questions on this episode?Ask me in the Leadership Mindset 2.0 community on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8944058/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadershipmindsetgroup

I'm away for a couple of weeks, so we're going back into the archive. New episodes return on 26 August. "The real job of a CEO is to go from one uncomfortable conversation to another." If you are procrastinating a phone call, letting a deadline slide, or avoiding an underperforming employee because you don't want to "rock the boat," you are not protecting the team - you are hurting them. Many leaders suffer from "Nice Guy Syndrome." We think that by avoiding conflict, we are keeping the peace. But in reality, we are losing respect. In this episode, we break down why your brain is neurologically wired to avoid these conversations and how to overcome it every time. In this episode, you will learn:-The "Nice Guy" Trap: Why trying to be liked usually results in being disrespected, and why your team actually caves accountability . -The Psychology of Avoidance: How "Conditional Parenting" and the ego's need for safety cause us to procrastinate on high-value conversations . -The ARC Framework: A 3-step process (Awareness, Response, Compassion) to navigate conflict without blowing up. -Curiosity vs. Blame: How to start a difficult conversation so the other person doesn't get defensive (hint: be specific, not general) . -The "Silence" Trick: Why you must stop talking after asking a hard question and let the silence do the heavy lifting . 💪 The Challenge for This Week:-Identify: Who is the one person you have been avoiding? (A peer, an underperformer, or even a boss). -Compose: How do you want your energy to be? (Curious, not accusing). -Schedule: Put it on the calendar today. Do not wait for the "right time." . Questions on this episode?Ask me in the Leadership Mindset 2.0 community on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8944058/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadershipmindsetgroup

Leadership isn't just about making the right decisions. It's about having the difficult conversations, earning trust, and showing up with confidence when it matters most. In this episode, Michael answers questions from leaders who are facing challenges many of us eventually run into. -What do you do when someone on your team isn't improving? -How do you lead people who used to be your peers? -And how do you walk into a room with confidence when everyone seems to be judging you before you've even spoken? If you've ever struggled with any of those situations, this episode is packed with practical advice you can put to work right away. In this episode, you'll learn:- When it's time to put someone on a Performance Improvement Plan and why avoiding the conversation usually makes things worse. - How to earn the respect of former peers after stepping into a leadership role. - A simple routine you can use before any meeting or presentation to feel calmer, more confident, and more present. - Why the first few moments of your presentation matter more than you think and how to make them count. Leadership ChallengeBefore your next meeting or presentation, don't jump straight into your content. Pause, get grounded, and think about what your audience needs from you. Then start with an opening that grabs their attention and sets the tone for the conversation. Questions on this episode?Ask me in the Leadership Mindset 2.0 community on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8944058/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadershipmindsetgroup Join the Growth Leaders Collectivehttp://rmichaelanderson.com/glc-join

Most leaders spend their careers trying to get rid of fear. The highest performers have a completely different relationship with it. “The day you are not afraid going into a fire is the day you should retire. Because fear is what keeps you aware, keeps you sharp, and keeps you alive.” -Shannon Sedlacek, former attorney and Lieutenant firefighter, my guest for the episode In this episode you'll learn; - Why fear is not a stop sign and never was, and what it is actually trying to tell you in the moments it shows up most powerfully in your leadership - What a career as a litigator and then a firefighter taught Shannon Sedlacek about performing under pressure, and why the skill that transfers is not courage but self-trust - Why self-abandonment is the hidden cost of leadership at the highest levels, and how it shows up in ways most leaders never connect back to themselves - What the relationship between fear, doubt, and self-trust actually looks like in practice, and why building that relationship is the only thing that lets you keep taking on harder challenges - Why your team is watching how you relate to fear more than they are listening to what you say about it, and what you are modeling whether you know it or not Bravest Room in MontrealFind out more: https://rmichaelanderson.com/intensive Questions on this episode?Ask me in the Leadership Mindset 2.0 community on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8944058/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadershipmindsetgroup

If your business depends on you for every major decision, you've built a bottleneck, not a scalable company. In this episode, Michael answers a question from a founder who has successfully grown his business to $4 million but finds himself involved in every deal, every decision, and every problem. The challenge isn't working harder. It's making the transition from being the person who does everything to becoming the leader who builds leaders. Michael shares the practical mindset shifts, leadership frameworks, and coaching strategies that help founders, executives, and managers let go of control, develop stronger teams, and create organizations that can continue growing without depending on them every step of the way. In this episode, you'll learn:- How to identify whether your team is truly capable of taking ownership or if you need stronger leadership talent. - Why hiring and coaching become your most important responsibilities as your organization grows. - A simple Before and After leadership mapping exercise that creates a clear roadmap for moving from operator to strategic leader. - How your past experiences may be shaping your leadership style and what it takes to intentionally rewire habits that no longer serve you. Leadership ChallengeComplete your own Before and After leadership map. Write down the responsibilities you're handling today, define the leader you want to become in the future, and identify the specific changes that will help you bridge the gap. Use it as your roadmap for becoming more strategic and less dependent on doing everything yourself. Questions on this episode?Ask me in the Leadership Mindset 2.0 community on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8944058/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadershipmindsetgroup Episodes mentionedMasterclass on Hiring (1/3): Mindset & Preparation https://player.captivate.fm/episode/3591e99b-6973-4726-8930-5890166a694e/ Masterclass on Hiring (2/3): Sourcing & Interviewing https://player.captivate.fm/episode/ee63178d-6d2f-4ce2-999e-3b723db692fc/ Masterclass on Hiring (3/3): The Offer & Onboarding https://player.captivate.fm/episode/0c27ad8c-3202-4c51-a8c3-e6c7c965c2d2/

Everyone is talking about AI. Very few leaders are talking about what actually makes AI successful. In this special crossover episode, Michael joins Bart on the Human2Human podcast to explore why so many AI initiatives fail despite massive investment. The answer isn't better technology. It's better leadership. Together, they unpack the leadership challenges that organizations are facing as AI transforms the workplace, from fear and resistance to culture, trust, and change management. Michael also shares practical strategies leaders can use to help their teams embrace AI while keeping the human side of leadership front and center. In this episode, you'll learn:Why most AI initiatives fail before the technology ever has a chance to succeed.How great leaders reduce fear, build trust, and create buy-in during AI transformation.A simple framework for identifying the best AI opportunities by solving your team's biggest frustrations first.Why leadership, communication, and culture are becoming the true competitive advantages in an AI-driven world. Leadership ChallengeSet aside 90 minutes with your team and ask one simple question: "What are the two or three most repetitive, frustrating, or time-consuming parts of your job?" Choose one challenge to solve with AI over the next two weeks, then come back together to review what you learned and how it improved the way your team works. Questions on this?Ask me in the Leadership Mindset 2.0 community on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8944058/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadershipmindsetgroup Connect with Bart:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bart-kowalczyk/ H2H Sales Automation Podcast: https://www.automatenow.uk/podcast

This is the fifth and final episode in our series on the four leadership types, and this is the one where everything comes together. Two people on the same team, both good at their jobs, who cannot work together and have no idea why. It is not a personality clash. It is two completely different operating systems running side by side. In this episode you'll learn; - How the four leadership types map against each other, and why some pairings create instant friction while others can become each other's greatest strength - Why a Dominant Commander and a Supportive Collaborator can trigger each other constantly, and what changes when they actually understand each other - Why a Visionary Influencer and a Logical Creator so often talk past each other in meetings, and how each one is exactly what the other is missing - How to identify someone else's leadership type in a single conversation, even if they have never taken the quiz - What changes in your relationships, your team, and your own leadership the moment you stop seeing friction as a personality clash and start seeing it as two different operating systems TAKE THE QUIZ rmichaelanderson.com/leadershipquiz YOUR CHALLENGE: This week, think of one relationship in your work or life that has some friction in it, identify both your leadership type and theirs, and ask yourself what that person is actually driven by and what they might need from you that is completely different from what you would need from them, because that one shift in perspective can change the entire relationship. Questions on this? Ask me in the Leadership Mindset 2.0 community on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8944058/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadershipmindsetgroup

This is the fourth in our five part series on the four leadership types, and this one explains why the most trusted person on your team might be carrying the most unspoken tension. The same instinct that makes someone the glue of their team is the instinct that keeps them quiet when something actually needs to be said. In this episode you'll learn; - What actually drives a Supportive Collaborator, and why harmony matters to them in a way that goes far deeper than just being nice - The specific reason Supportive Collaborators struggle the most with accountability conversations, and why avoiding them costs more than having them - How to work with a Supportive Collaborator so they feel safe enough to tell you what they actually think instead of what they think you want to hear - Why Supportive Collaborators are often overlooked for leadership roles despite being some of the most respected people on the team, and what changes that - The one self promotion shift that helps a Supportive Collaborator be seen for the value they already bring without it feeling fake or uncomfortable TAKE THE QUIZ rmichaelanderson.com/leadershipquiz YOUR CHALLENGE: This week, identify whether you recognize yourself in the Supportive Collaborator, or whether someone in your life fits this, and if it is you, identify the one conversation you have been avoiding because it might disrupt the harmony and have it this week, and if it is someone else, ask them directly what they think and create the space for them to actually say it. Questions on this? Ask me in the Leadership Mindset 2.0 community on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8944058/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadershipmindsetgroup