IDL120 Season 3: Leadership is Action with Adrian Koehler
What is the cure for impostor syndrome? What makes people stay – happily – in your organization? How willing are you to be upfront, emotionally brave, and culturally strong for the sake of your business and the employees?
Welcome back to the Impact Driven Leader podcast! Today’s guest is Adrian Koehler. He’s a leadership engagement expert and a senior partner at the firm Take New Ground. Together, we reflect on the nature of what it means to be a leader within our generation. We touch on the issues of imposter syndrome, and how to develop the confidence to stand, be seen, and make change happen.
Meet Adrian Koehler
Adrian Koehler is a leadership engagement expert and senior partner at the executive coaching firm, Take New Ground.
He coaches executives and entrepreneurs in the art and science of leadership for themselves, their teams, and clients to create new, unprecedented results and experience fulfillment in their work.
TNG partners with select executives and organizations to get the results they want by creating the culture they need.
Adrian is also the co-host of two engaging podcasts: Raising The Bar with Drybar Founder Alli Webb and The Naked Leadership Podcast.
Visit Take New Ground and connect on Instagram and LinkedIn.
IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:
Curate the future - 05:42
Leadership is action - 10:10
Be willing to be seen - 13:48
You’ll either grow or go - 22:01
What makes people stay - 30:40
Curate the future
“Life is chaos. There are innumerous variables and innumerous possibilities and circumstances and all that [which] might happen, [so] the future belongs to the one that decides. ”
You need to be proactive with your time, energy, and skillset.
If you wait to start then someone will start before you, possibly decide for you, and then you’ll be forced to adjust instead of being the one to make the adjustments.
There’s nothing wrong with being a part of the crowd, and sometimes that is necessary. However, if you are complaining about wanting a change or you know that you need a shift in direction, then it’ll work best if you are the one to step up and do it.
“I realized in myself [that] I could either just wait for life to happen or I could go make life happen, and I realized, for myself, that I liked life better when I was the guy that was curating it because then I was responsible for it, and then if it worked it was great, and if it didn’t work it was great because I could [then] make new choices. If I chose my way into it then I could choose my way out of it. ”
Leadership is action
“Identity and leadership are connected, and leadership is a way to generate an identity.”
Leadership generates identity because if you are a leader and you give someone your word that you will do something, to ensure that leadership position you hold, you will have to adjust your actions so that they fulfill and confirm your words.
In this way, when you align your words with your actions, you align and strengthen your identity.
Remember that your identity can always shift, from good to bad or even bad to good, so be intentional with what you say and what you do, because it all counts together.
“Leadership is action … a leader’s greatest tool to figure out how to lead is by [taking action]. ”
Be willing to take a step to see what works, and what doesn’t, and then have the grace to allow yourself to admit anything that doesn’t work so that it can be fixed or replaced.
If it doesn’t work then just don’t do it again instead of forcing something to work just so that you don’t have to own up to having made a mistake.
Be willing to be seen
To be willing to be seen does not mean to make a spectacle of yourself but rather to step into your authentic self-expression. Say what you mean, let your actions follow your words, and show up with your values and beliefs.
“[Impostor syndrome] is a chronic lack of confidence and lack of willingness to really be seen. ”
Don’t cower behind what you think people expect – what they even do expect – of you. Have the bravery to know where you stand and have the confidence to stand there anyway, even if other people judge you.
So, the cure for impostor syndrome is personal responsibility. Every experience that you have is a created experience because you can always decide how you show up to a situation in life.
Don’t like it? Change it. Can’t change it yet? Change how you respond to it.
Do not identify with or absorb pleasure in misery, because that will leave you morbidly disappointed and even more sour.
You’ll either grow or go
When life gets tough and you need to make some difficult calls or shake up something, you will be faced with a choice: to grow or go.
Whether it’s with a colleague, a business partner, your ego, or even your partner!
“It’s so liberating … because I’m willing to and encourage others [to] be foolish in that situation and say, “Hey, I was dead-wrong … but I can grow from this.””
You need to have authentic and honest conversations because no matter what the outcome is, you will either grow or go, and both are wins. When you look at stressful moments like this, you will realize that there truly is no such thing as failure.
What makes people stay?
Do your employees have the chance to develop themselves and their skills in your organization?
Are they encouraged to do so?
Do they know that they are valued and that their progression is valued?
You need to nurture and support an “always becoming” culture where people, their skills, and their passions are encouraged to evolve into their best forms.
Resources, books, and links mentioned in this episode:
Visit Take New Ground and connect on Instagram and LinkedIn.
Sign up for the roundtable at: hello@theimpactdrivenleader.com
Check out the Practice Of the Practice
About the Impact Driven Leader Podcast
The Impact Driven Leader Podcast, hosted by Tyler Dickerhoof, is for Xillennial leaders who have felt alone and ill-equipped to lead in today's world. Through inspiring interviews with authors from around the world, Tyler uncovers how unique leadership strengths can empower others to achieve so much more, with real impact.
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