#14 The Dark Side of Your Strengths w/ Nicolai Chen Nielsen, co-author Return on Ambition

In Episode #14, I spoke with Nicolai Chen Nielsen, Co-author of Return on Ambition about what ambition is, how to be intentional with your ambition, how to see yourself as an investment, the dark side of our strengths (in his book he calls them the 7 Frenemies) and how wellbeing and growth are inextricably linked to achievement. Nicolai is the director of transformation services at Peakon/Workday, where he provides cutting-edge talent analytics and employee engagement tools to empower employees. He is also a Partner at the Supertrends Institute, where he focuses on the intersection of the latest trends and their implications on leaders and organisations. He is also a co-author of Leadership At Scale. WE DISCUSS: 04:08 - What led Nicolai to write his book 08:30 - The analogy of the tripod (Achievement, Growth, Well-being) 13:04 - The disconnect between ambition and struggle 19:10 - 7 frenemies that need our attention 27:36 - Nicolai’s best return on investment 29:21 - Key leadership qualities 34:32 - The changing nature of organisations 38:36 - What Nicolai learned from writing his book 40:41 - What Nicolai thinks of failure 45:30 - What advice would Nicolai give his younger self? NICOLAI CHEN NIELSEN LinkedIn: https://it.linkedin.com/in/nicolaicn Instagram: @Nicolaicn - https://www.instagram.com/nicolaicn Twitter: @NicolaiOne - https://twitter.com/nicolaione RETURN ON AMBITION Website: https://returnonambition.com/ Instagram: @Returnonambition - https://www.instagram.com/returnonambition/ EPISODE #14: You can listen to the full episode here OR WATCH it on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC-YIz5pEMM9vigbYOxK2Kw MARIA HVOROSTOVSKY: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariahvo/ Instagram: @MariaHvo - https://www.instagram.com/mariahvo/?hl=en Clubhouse: @MariaHvo - https://www.clubhouse.com/@mariahvo Get in touch if you need help HIRING your senior leadership team LEAVE A REVIEW: If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts make sure to Subscribe, Rate, and leave a REVIEW. The best review will get a mention in the next episode!