PODCAST · education
Unlocking Leadership Through Authentic Communication
by Kristen Lena
Unlocking Leadership Through Authentic Communication
Episodes
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#94 - How to Sound Confident Without Sounding Aggressive
How many times have you raised your voice and been perceived as confident? Probably never. Confident people normally don’t blow a gasket when they’re trying to be heard. In this episode I explore the real reason we get aggressive during conversations and share an alternative way of getting your...
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#93 - The Power of Saying Less (and Meaning More)
Do you want to hold more authority and have a greater sense of presence during meetings? Say less. I know it’s counter-intuitive but it really makes a big difference. Here we talk about the presence of people who dominate the room with constant contributions versus the presence of people who...
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#92 - Speaking Without Over-Explaining or Apologizing
The more you speak the less credible you may become. If you find yourself working hard to make your point, you’ve likely lost your audience. In this episode, we explore where over-explaining comes from, how you can recognize it and what you can do to establish presence when fear of scrutiny...
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#91 - What Authentic Communication Actually Is (and What It Isn’t)
Trust me when I tell you that your authentic communication is always going to feel better than who you pretend to be to feel safe. Not only is it going to feel better, but people will be more likely to gravitate towards you than want nothing to do with you. Communication likely feels hard because...
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#90 - The Difference Between Clarity and Control
Simply put, control feels hard. Clarity feels remarkably easy. In this episode, I show you how to spot when someone might be acting out of control rather than clarity. We discuss the cost of leveraging control versus clarity. And we discuss the two things you can do when communicating with others...
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#89 - Confidence Is Not Volume Redefining Executive Presence
Calling all quiet leaders! Calling all quiet leaders! You may have more executive presence than you thought. As it turns out, confidence is rooted in steadiness, not volume. So if anyone ever taught you that you’re too quiet to lead, maybe that person has it all wrong. In this episode, we debunk...
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#88 - Why People Don’t Trust Scripts – Even Polished Ones
I LOVE a good outline…especially if I’m going to be in a high stakes situation. When I wasn’t as established in my communication journey, I lived by them. Like…literally read off the script. That approach lead to distrust because people thought I was just checking a box and getting through...
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#87 - How We Were Taught to Communicate – and Why It No Longer Works
We were all taught how to communicate by the experiences we went through the moment we were born. In this episode, I explore how these innate learnings show up in present day leadership and why most of us need to work to make some changes in how you lead. If you freeze when you’re challenged,...
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#86 - The Cost of Politeness When Being Nice Kills Influence
Your team is looking for leadership. When you’re so nice you confuse your audience, your team doesn’t take you seriously and you don’t get results…you need to make some changes. In this episode, I give you a formula that I use when giving feedback that allows you to be direct, create trust,...
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#85 - Why Professionalism Is Often Code for Emotional Suppression
If you shrink when you should be respectfully challenging someone or bite your tongue when something makes you upset, you aren’t necessarily being professional. You very well could be taking valid emotions and shoving them way down so you can keep the peace…and your job. Here, we explore some...
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#84 - A New Introduction To Investigations
Have you ever noticed how “us” versus “them” investigations feel? It’s taken me many years to realize this but I don’t think it has to be that way. In fact, I would go so far to say that we might be setting employees up to fail just because they fear the consequence of being honest more than the...
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#83 - What We Didn’t Say This Year
Communication has a cost. You pay for it if you speak up and you pay for it if you don’t. But the cost is always different. And sometimes, it’s hard to tell which will cost you more. Here we explore the cost of silence versus the cost of honesty, discuss how avoidance masquerades as silence and...
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#82 - Take & Respond To Complaints Like A Pro
I used to get so worked up when someone would message or call me about being unhappy with something I was a part of. Now, I handle things differently. In fact, when I even think someone might be unhappy, I seek them out. In this episode, I reverse engineer complaining like a pro and help you take...
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#81 - Complain Like A Professional
I grappled with this episode title because quite honestly, I hate complainers. But really, what I’m teaching is how to complain but be respectful, professional and move toward change. I help you with mindset and to construct the best “complaint” session so that you create a win not only with the...
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#80 - Solving The Judy Hops Case File
If you haven’t watched Zootopia, you probably won’t understand this reference. The point of this podcast is to stop feeling like a failure when you can’t solve a problem because the information you get is poor. Stop letting these problems consume your day and your thoughts. The harsh reality is...
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#79 - Operate By Being Unbothered
Have you ever worked with someone…or even better for someone who never seems to become ruffled in the face of crisis? Ever wonder how they become this way? I can’t exactly tell you the “how” but I do share a theory, a book and some examples of the rewards of operating as an “unbothered leader”.…
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#78 - You May Be Getting In The Way
Have you ever considered the biggest barrier to a performance conversation might be you? If you show up nervous and can’t get past that, guess what? Communication will be compromised. If you show up with unrealistic expectations or show up like the “boss”...there will be disastrous results. Here…
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#77 - The Keys To Making High Value Decisions
We have all been in situations where people want an answer from us NOW or they interact with us in a way causes us to become nervous, uncertain about our expertise or we may become angry or upset. In this episode, I tell you the key components I use to make decisions that are thoughtful, thorough...
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#76 - Managing Poor Behavior In The Workplace
Do you want to help address poor behavior AND help your team members grow? This approach is not for the weak. It’s uncomfortable. It’s genuine. And it works. In this episode, I give you the basic steps to help shape behavior on your team so your team handles how they want to be treated without...
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#75 - Mindset Is Everything
If you go into a conversation with someone thinking it’s going to be confrontational, you’ve already lost the mindset game. Even though you’re a leader, you’re still a partner with your team. The moment you have a conversation that is anything less than acting like a partner, nothing will get...
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#74 - No Spin Doctors Needed
With good intentions, many leaders are so concerned about getting buy-in from the employee they are giving feedback to, that the conversation ends without discussing the real work to be done. Yes…we want the employee to understand there is a performance concern. BUT…that’s not the point of the...
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#73 - How To Make Peace With Hard Decisions
Sometimes people put us in crappy positions. They don’t mean to but more likely than not, they’re afraid of making a decision and then saddle you with it. Is it fair? No. Does it happen? More than we realize. Does it have to cause emotional turmoil? No. Not if you follow these simple six steps.…
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#72 - What Are Your Standards
Have you ever wondered how some people who are still pleasant to be around are respected all the time? They create standards throughout each area of their life. I’m going to give you some examples of standards/boundaries/expectations in some areas of my life and even share with you the foundation...
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#71 - Conflict Allergies In The Workplace
What do you do when two employees have a falling out and you don’t want to lose the talent? Hopefully you’re comfortable with conflict because in this episode, I’m going to show you how I recommend leaders steer employees who are allergic to conflict through situations where they actually have to...
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#70 - The Scariest Thing To Do As A Leader
In this episode, I give you the scariest piece of advice that I give to every leader I coach. This piece of advice allows you to help those on your team and those you partner with to be the most successful. When you do this well you also develop great relationships with those you practice it…
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#69 - Feedback is Unavoidable
If you’re communicating, you’re giving and receiving feedback. You can’t avoid it. It doesn’t matter if you’re emailing, talking on the phone, or standing in front of someone, messages are being sent and received constantly. But how do you avoid giving crappy feedback and what’s the formula for...
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#68 - What I Tell People When They’re Scared
I recently had a conversation with a leader who was spiraling. They were worried about what the future held for them based on a situation that didn’t have a clear answer. I’m going to share with you what I told this leader and what I often say just in different words, to people I care about so…
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#67 - Breed Trust & Set The Team Up For Success
I share with you one of the meanest (unintentionally of course) things a leader can do to their team members. It’s all about feedback or lack there of. In this episode I give you examples of what happens when we don’t give the feedback that we should. Then, I help you shift your mindset to give...
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#66 - Parenting At Work
Leadership is only as hard as you make it. In this episode, I’m going to help you shift your mindset so you can identify how some of your most “challenging” employees operate, what they’re really communicating when they behave how they do and how you can work with them to leverage their talent,...
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#65 - Stop Settling & Find Your Fit
Stop trying to force yourself into positions, teams and organizations who are too small for you. What do I mean by that? Well I can right away when I’m working with a team whether or not they are operating under antiquated principals that don’t serve them, on pace with the world or looking…
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#64 - I Call You for Your Words…
This episode is the reason I started this podcast. It’s all about communication being genuine. And the genuine communication, coupled with the interest in the person being successful helps with collaboration. And guess what? Collaboration under these circumstances truly solves problems AND…
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#63 - Spend Less Time On Emotions & More Time On Performing
How do high performing teams spend less time on emotions and more time on performing? I believe it has to do with the leader clearly communicating what the team can expect from their leader and what the leader in turn expects from their team. The leader’s job is to model what they commit to and...
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#62 - Earn More Credibility By Doing The Do
It’s not rocket science. You need to do the thing to get the results. Nothing else will get you the results. In this episode, I give you three practical recommendations you can start using today to gain credibility and get results. And the best part? They’re not even hard.
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#61 - Be A Leader…Not A Mediator
Don’t let employees waste your time by asking you to have their conversations for them. In this episode, I’m empowering you as a leader to push back and have your employees resolve their own issues instead of putting you in the middle of them. After all, they have the grown-up title, the grown-up...
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#60 - Indefinite Approval Is Not A Thing
You can still say “no” to an employee and walk away with your relationship intact. But in order for this to happen, you, as a leader, must come to the table prepared to talk…not defend…but truly talk and problem solve. I’m going to show you how to overcome two of the biggest objections leaders…
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#59 - Do NOT Use Promotions as a Retention Tool
One of the worst situations a leader can be in is having to choose between losing an employee if they aren’t promoted or promoting an underprepared employee into a role they’ll likely fail in. Here, I go over why I NEVER recommend promoting people before they’re ready. I give you the steps and...
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#58 - I Conduct Stay Interviews All The Time
When I ask leaders if they have considered conducting “stay interviews” to help them understand how they can retain their top performers, many times I hear that they already do this. But what the leader describes to me is far from a stay interview. Let me help you with three keys to a successful...
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#57 - Don’t Make Their Case For Them
I often hear from leaders that they’re worried about getting sued when it comes to addressing concerns with employees. Oftentimes, these worries aren’t things that will really come true. However, here, I talk about situations leaders unknowingly get themselves into that could put them at more…
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#56 - When To Start A Performance Document
What is the threshold for making a performance conversation more formal? How many times do I need to address a performance issue before moving the discussion to the next disciplinary level? Well I hate to say this but the answer is…it depends. In this episode, I talk you through the rationale I…
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#55 - Selecting a Performance Document Level
In this episode, I’m going to help shift your thinking from a progressive performance document system to a system that meets the development needs of the employee. We’ll review the documentation levels and what we might use each level for. I’ll give you a high-level intro to a system that focuses...
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#54 - Documentation No No’s
When you write a performance document, your first goal should be to write it so it’s a tool for the employee to leverage to improve. Anything outside of that should be for legal or your own record keeping purposes…but really, even legal or record keeping purposes serve for almost none of the...
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#53 - Is Putting A Performance Document Together Your Strong Suit?
Let’s find out if your document drafting skills are as strong as you think they are. Here, I share the mindset I recommend leaders use when drafting the document and the steps that have served me well in creating something meaningful to give to an employee. I give you a few tips to help keep you...
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#52 - Argumentative & Confrontational Employees
It’s been one year since I launched my podcast and today, I’m talking about one of my favorite topics…how to work with people who are argumentative and confrontational. I know, I know…I hear this all the time. Why are these your favorite people to work with? Well, I love working with unpleasant...
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#51 - Can I Get A Witness?
Using witnesses to help you feel more comfortable during a performance conversation may cost you elsewhere. In this episode, I talk about why I’m not a big fan of constantly using a witness when you have performance conversations, how to protect your credibility against liars and when I do...
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#50 - Empaths & Performance Conversations
If you are an empath and struggle when an employee is having performance concerns, you need to listen to this episode. We’re going to shape your mindset when it comes to emotions, performance and partnering with employees. Then we’ll address problem solving as a team and how this shapes your...
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#49 - Anxiety Over Performance Discussions
This month, I’m sharing feedback from leaders who shared what makes them the most anxious about giving performance feedback, what happens to them physically, what happens to them mentally and how they work past their body’s responses to the anxiety they’re feeling. In this episode, we cover…
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#48 - Discover The Truth About How You See Yourself During High Stakes Conversations
I’m going to debunk the biggest lie you were ever told as a leader. Then I’m going to help you shift your mindset by doing some practical things to actually help you feel more comfortable having high stakes conversations with your colleagues. By leveraging these recommendations and reflecting on...
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#47 - Put the Conversation Before the Performance Document
It’s easy to draft the perfect performance document, slide it across the table to the employee and check the box that you’ve taken care of addressing the issue. Unfortunately, no one remembers what’s on the performance document. They do, however, remember how they felt. Here, I break down the…
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#46 - Addressing Bad Behavior
Poor behavior can be one of the hardest things to address. Many times, it’s not blatant and as a leader, you might not see it. Here we discuss how to address behavior to ensure everyone is creating the culture you envision for your team and how to address behavior that you don’t witness but is...
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#45 - How to Reach People Who Have Trouble Taking Feedback
No one likes to be told they aren’t meeting performance expectations. But what if you took your titles and set them to the side and focused on what is actually going on. I guarantee you it’s not whether someone is meeting expectations. That’s the result. Instead of focusing on the outcome, look…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Unlocking Leadership Through Authentic Communication
HOSTED BY
Kristen Lena
CATEGORIES
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Unlocking Leadership Through Authentic Communication currently has 94 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
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Unlocking Leadership Through Authentic Communication
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Unlocking Leadership Through Authentic Communication is created and hosted by Kristen Lena.
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