Partnering Leadership – Détails, épisodes et analyse

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, host Mahan Tavakoli engages in a dynamic conversation with Jan Rutherford, a seasoned leadership expert and author of Becoming a Self-Reliant Leader: How Grit and Disciplined Duty Forge Indomitable Teams. With a rich background that includes serving as a Green Beret, leading Crucible expeditions, and coaching executives, Jan brings a unique perspective on leadership that combines military rigor with a deep understanding of human behavior.

Jan shares compelling stories from his own journey, from his humble beginnings and his time with the Green Berets to the profound lessons he learned about leadership in the wilderness and the boardroom. Throughout the discussion, Jan emphasizes the importance of perseverance, adaptability, and authenticity in leading teams, drawing on real-world experiences and thoughtful reflections. He offers a fresh take on what it means to lead in today’s fast-paced, ever-evolving world.

Listeners will gain insight into Jan's philosophy on leadership, which challenges conventional wisdom and encourages leaders to rethink their approach. He explores critical questions like: What truly makes a leader? How can you build a team that is not only high-performing but also resilient and adaptable? And, why is it more important to select the right people over the best people?

Jan’s practical advice and unique approach, rooted in his own experiences and supported by his book, provide actionable strategies for CEOs and senior executives. 

Actionable Takeaways:

• Discover the Real Difference Between Rank and Influence: Hear Jan's take on why true leadership is not about titles but about how effectively you can inspire and mobilize others.

• Learn the Power of Perseverance in Leadership: Jan shares a compelling story about how persistence and not quitting in the face of adversity can define your success.

• Understand the Concept of ‘Slowing Down to Speed Up: Find out why Jan believes that leaders must take time to reflect and prioritize to create sustainable success in a fast-moving world.

• Explore How to Involve Your Team for Maximum Commitment: Jan discusses how giving up control and allowing your team to participate in decision-making can foster loyalty and engagement.

• Find Out Why Selecting the Right People is More Important than the Best People: Get insights into how aligning team members with your organization’s values can drive transformation and growth.

• Hear How to Define Your Organization’s Values Through Observable Behaviors: Jan explains the practical steps for making your core values meaningful and actionable within your team.

• Learn Why Personalized Leadership is Critical Today: Jan dives into the importance of tailoring leadership approaches to individual team members while maintaining fairness and consistency.

• Gain Insight into Building a Culture of Trust and Authenticity: Discover how creating an environment where people feel safe to be vulnerable can lead to stronger team dynamics and performance.

Connect with Jan Rutherford

Jan Rutherford Website 

Jan Rutherford LinkedIn 

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn

Partnering Leadership Website

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Carmine Gallo. Carmine Gallo is a three-time Wall Street Journal bestselling author. His books include Talk Like TED, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs, The Storyteller's Secret, Five Stars, and his latest, The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World's Greatest Salesman. In the conversation, Carmine Gallo shared why many leaders struggle with telling their stories and why his latest research involved looking into how Jeff Bezos became such a powerful communicator and the lessons all leaders can learn from his communication practices. Carmine also shared how Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs became better communicators, why storytelling is not a soft skill, and how to become a better storyteller. Finally, Carmine shared communications practices that can help all leaders communicate more effectively and have a more significant impact.

Some Highlights:

- The importance of communication skills in leadership

- The power of storytelling and why the human brain seeks narrative 

- Carmine Gallo on why executives struggle with storytelling and how to do it well

- How Jeff Bezos communicated and reinforced his vision for Amazon

- The Bezos shareholder letters and the power of simplicity

- Carmine Gallo on the CEO and leader as a repeater in chief

- How metaphors and symbols can play a role in supporting strategy

- Why Amazon became a writing culture rather than one reliant on Powerpoint presentations

Mentioned:

Partnering Leadership conversation with David Rubenstein, Founder of the Carlyle Group David Rubenstein  

Partnering Leadership conversation with John Rossman, author of The Amazon Way

Partnering Leadership conversation with Ann Hiatt, author of Bet on Yourself

Partnering Leadership conversation with Park Howell, author of Brand Bewitchery & The Narrative Gym for Business

Connect with Carmine Gallo

Carmine Gallo Website  

Carmine Gallo LinkedIn 

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn

Partnering Leadership Website

In this special episode of the Partnering Leadership podcast, Mahan Tavakoli, usually the host, is in the spotlight as he is interviewed by Enrique Acosta Gonzalez for the Developing the Leader Within podcast. Mahan, CEO of Strategic Leadership Ventures and a highly regarded thought leader shares profound insights on leadership, drawing from his extensive experience working with top executives and CEOs globally. The conversation explores the nuances of effective leadership, emphasizing the shift from positional power to influence in driving organizational success.

Mahan discusses the critical role of trust, authenticity, and vulnerability in leadership. He highlights the necessity for leaders to set an example by acknowledging their blind spots and actively seeking feedback, thereby creating an environment where team members feel safe to express their thoughts openly. This approach fosters team synergy and innovation, making it essential for modern leadership.

The interview also explores practical strategies for handling conflicts and disagreements within leadership teams. Mahan shares his admiration for the "disagree and commit" principle popularized by Jeff Bezos, underscoring its importance in achieving productive collaboration without the need for consensus. He emphasizes the significance of building strong relationships and trust among team members to facilitate constructive conflict resolution.

Furthermore, Mahan illuminates the transformative impact of generative AI and asynchronous communication tools in contemporary organizations. He advocates leveraging these technologies to streamline communication, reduce meeting inefficiencies, and promote a culture of continuous learning and experimentation. By integrating these tools, leaders can foster a more agile and responsive organizational environment.

Actionable Takeaways:

• Unlock the Power of Influence: Discover why influence has become more crucial than positional power in modern leadership and how to cultivate it effectively.
• Embrace Authenticity and Vulnerability: Learn how showing authenticity and vulnerability can build trust and foster open communication within your team.
• Address Blind Spots: Hear strategies for recognizing and addressing your blind spots to enhance leadership transparency and effectiveness.
• Adopt the 'Disagree and Commit' Principle: Understand how this approach, championed by Jeff Bezos, can improve decision-making and collaboration in your leadership team.
• Build Strong Relationships: Find out why building trust and strong relationships among team members is vital for resolving conflicts and achieving team synergy.
• Utilize Generative AI: Explore practical ways to use generative AI as a cognitive sparring partner to enhance strategic discussions and decision-making.
• Implement Asynchronous Communication Tools: Learn how tools like Slack and Asana can reduce meeting overload and increase organizational efficiency.
• Encourage Continuous Experimentation: Discover the benefits of adopting a mindset of continuous learning and low-risk experimentation to stay competitive in a fast-paced environment.
• Challenge Traditional Meeting Norms: Get inspired by innovative strategies like 'meeting bankruptcy' to rethink and optimize your organization’s meeting culture.
• Cultivate a Growth Mindset: Understand the transformative impact of a growth mindset on organizational success, illustrated by Satya Nadella’s leadership at Microsoft.

This episode is a treasure tro

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn

Partnering Leadership Website

In this Partnering Leadership conversation, Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Jonah Berger, Wharton School professor and internationally bestselling author of Magic Words, Contagious, Invisible Influence, and The Catalyst. In the conversation, Jonah Berger talked about the role of influence in our lives and leadership. He explained why influence is a tool and how to use it for positive impact. Jonah Berger then addressed the role of language in influencing others, and the six types of research supported magic words for influence. Next, Jonah Beger shared the role of confidence in influence and how to use it appropriately, depending on the situation. Finally, Jonah Berger talked about the power of storytelling, the language of similarity and difference, and how to use personal hedges to show openness to other perspectives.

Some highlights:

- Why influence is neither positive nor negative

- How words influence behavior

- The research behind the power of 'because'

- How leaders can use influence for good

- The six types of magic words to influence

- How our environment impacts our behaviors

- How the language used in emails can predict whether you are likely going to get promoted or get fired

- The role that words can play in identity and agency

- The importance of certainty to influence and how to do it right

- How leaders can use influence to move their organization in a good direction. 

- The one type of question that makes you seem more intelligent and competent.

- The Power of words in influencing others

- Leaders should be aware of the power of words and their use in influencing others 

- The importance of follow-up questions and how to do them well

- What do the best storytellers do differently than the others

- How to lead for positive influence 

Connect with Jonah Berger:

Jonah Berger Website 

Jonah Berger on LinkedIn 

Magic Words on Amazon 

Mentioned:

Partnering Leadership conversation with Warren Berger on the Power of Questions and Questioning 

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn

Partnering Leadership Website

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli speaks about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can transform the future of work and leadership. Mahan first addresses the hype around AI and urges caution while also mentioning the long-term transformative impact of AI on organizations and the future of work. Next, Mahan shares why he believes the future of work will be an augmented one where human intelligence will be augmented through the use of Artificial Intelligence. Then, to help listeners visualize the potential applications of AI, Mahan shares ten AI tools and their current applications. Finally, Mahan reiterates the exponential changes that we will see as a result of AI and urges listeners to look at potential uses of AI in their organizations and daily workflow, highlighting the many more Partnering Leadership conversations with leading practitioners and thinkers in AI ahead.  

Some highlights:

- Why we should be mindful of the hype cycle and stay focused on the substantial changes brought about by the use of artificial intelligence  

- The side hustle phenomenon around ChatGPT

- How using AI tools can help us see potential applications for augmenting our work and leading our teams and organizations 

- Why AI will be more transformative than the internet 

- Ten AI tools for possible experimentation

- Mahan on why the future of work is going to be augmented with AI

Mentioned:

Partnering Leadership podcast conversation with Dan Turchin, CEO of PeopleReign and host of AI and the Future of Work Podcast

AI tools:

Notion: a single space where you can think, write, and plan. 

Tome : AI-Powered Storytelling App creating visually stunning and engaging presentations with ease

Spirit Me: Instant video production with digital avatars

AskAI: Build your own AI Q&A with any content in minutes

WithDelphi: Talk to your favorite experts

Jasper: AI Copywriter and content generator

Tool Tips: Get simple, contextual explanations of any highlighted text on the web and PDFs

Rationale: AI decision-making tool

Fireflies: AI meeting assistant 

Boomy: AI generative music creator

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn

Partnering Leadership Website

In this Partnering Leadership conversation, Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Caren Kenney. Caren Kenney is the CEO and Founder of Evolve Leadership and coauthor of Leading with Character: 10 Minutes a Day to a Brilliant Legacy. In the conversation, Caren shared why she cofounded a business focused on wellness and mental health, which was then bought by Johnson & Johnson and became part of their Human Performance Institute. Next, Caren Kenney spoke about how leaders can develop their skills and become more capable leaders and balance that with their emotional well-being to avoid burnout. Caren Kenney shared why character can be developed like a muscle and how leaders can better develop their leadership character. Finally, Caren Kenney shared thoughts on how leaders can build their purpose in alignment with their organization's purpose for better results with less anxiety and pressure.  

Some Highlights:

-How Caren Kenney's personal challenges made her a better leader by increasing her empathy and understanding of people 

-Cofounding a business focused on developing digital health coaching programs for people with mental health issues.

-Caren Kenney on the importance of leading with character, having a growth mindset, and maintaining emotional well-being and flexibility

-How to better tap into our experiences to better understand and relate to others.

-How leaders can communicate to build greater trust, and collaboration in their teams and organizations

-Caren Kenney on creating an environment of trust and respect to encourage open dialogue and collaboration.

-The importance of aligning personal purpose with organizational purpose

-Why leaders are feeling more anxiety and stress than ever before and what to do about it

-Caren Kenney on practices that contribute to improvement in mental health and well-being of leaders

-The most significant contributors to imposter syndrome and how to overcome them 

Connect with Caren Kenney:

Evolve Leadership Website 

Caren Kenney on LinkedIn 

Leading with Character on Amazon 

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn

Partnering Leadership Website

In this Partnering Leadership conversation, Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Debbi Jarvis, Vice President & Chief Communications Officer at AltaGas.  Debbi Jarvis talked about the impact of her upbringing as a Midwestern girl from Kalamazoo, Michigan. How her sales career led her to pursue journalism and becoming a TV anchor, eventually bringing her to Washington, DC. Debbi Jarvis went on to share about her transition to Pepco, why she was asked to start a Corporate Social Responsibility group while there, and the need for CSR in organizations. Debbi Jarvis eventually went on to create Howard University's Office of Corporate Relations to focus on corporate relationship building and then was recruited as Chief Communications Officer of AltaGas, responsible for all corporate communications functions, focusing on the design and execution of a multifaceted communications strategy to promote Washington Gas and the broader AltaGas enterprise. Finally, Debbi shared the need for community engagement for leaders and organizations and how she prioritizes her community involvement to have the most significant impact possible.  

Some Highlights:

- Debbi Jarvis on how she ended up in sales and the lessons learned from her early sales career

- Cheerleading in roles, including as a professional cheerleader for the Cincinnati Bengals

- Transferring sales skills to the newsroom and becoming an anchor

- Debbi Jarvis on her move to DC, interviewing Charlene Drew Jarvis and meeting Ernie Jarvis

- Helping establish Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Pepco

- Establishing Howard University's Office of Corporate Relations to focus on corporate relationship building 

- Communications at Washington Gas (AltaGas)

- Why and how to prioritize needs in the community

Mentioned:

Partnering Leadership conversation with Dr. Charlene Drew Jarvis

Partnering Leadership conversation with Ernie Jarvis 

Connect with Debbi Jarvis:

Debbi Jarvis on LinkedIn 

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn

Partnering Leadership Website

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Dan Turchin. Dan Turchin is the CEO of the AI company PeopleReign and host of the podcast AI & The Future of Work. First, Dan shared thoughts on the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Silicon Valley and the potential of hybrid or fully remote work in organizations. Next, Dan Turchin mentioned a Worknet future where organizations hire the best talent and create a fluid work structure. The conversation then turned to AI advancements and applications in organizations, including PeopleReign, the world's smartest virtual agent for IT and HR employee service. Dan Turchin also shared his thought on why humanity and empathy are essential in the age of AI. Finally, Dan shared potential applications of AI in the workplace and resources for organizational leaders to stay on top of the fast-moving developments in the field.  

Some Highlights:

- The impact of remote work on the tech ecosystem and the future of work

- The necessity to rethink education and invest in human skills as a 

- Dan Turchin on the impact of AI on the future of work

- How AI can enhance employee productivity

- The vision behind PeopleReign, the intelligent virtual agent for IT and HR employee services 

- Dan Turchin on the Turning Test and whether it's still relevant

- The potential of AI technologies to benefit humans

- The need to set guardrails for AI to ensure responsible AI practices

- Limitations of AI technology and the need for responsible use, including facial recognition

- Dan Turchin on the use of AI for augmenting human intelligence

- The power of data and the power of algorithms to make human life better

- What organizations and policymakers need to consider before blessing AI models and sending them off into the wild 

Mentioned in the episode:

Partnering Leadership conversation with Gary Bolles on The Future of Work

Partnering Leadership conversation with John Rossman on The Amazon Way

Partnering Leadership conversation with Ed Hess on How to Adapt to the Speed of Change

Partnering Leadership conversation with Tom Tully on Artificial Intelligence Basics

Partnering Leadership episode on The Future is Now: Open AI's Chat GPT and the Exponential Changes Ahead

Partnering Leadership episode on Three mindsets of Top CEOs, Thoughts on Team Alignment & Collaboration, and a Strateg

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn

Partnering Leadership Website

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Khari Brown, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Spark the Journey. In the conversation, Khari Brown shared the impact of his upbringing, what drew him to basketball, and the leadership lessons he learned in playing the game.    Khari shared the origin of his passion for educating youth and his involvement in Capital Partners for Education, rebranded last year as Spark the Journey. Khari Brown talked about the impact of the organization and the need for the community to rethink the approach to education for greater equity and access to opportunities for all. Finally, Khari Brown shared thoughts on the necessity for and benefits of sabbaticals by leaders, especially leaders in the nonprofit sector, who work tirelessly to meet the community's needs.  

Some highlights:

- Khari Brown on why investing in youth sports matters

- Playing professional basketball in Finland and the lessons learned from the experience

- The challenges of the education system, especially when it comes to students of color

- Khari Brown's strategies for growing a nonprofit and scaling its impact

- Spark the Journey's focus on supporting the "academic middle" students in low-income communities

- The value of upstream thinking in tackling issues in the community

- Why Khari Brown led the effort to rebrand Capital Partners for Education to Spark the Journey 

- Business's role in the community to service and making a difference

- The need for sabbaticals, especially in the nonprofit sector

- Khari Brown on playing basketball with President Barack Obama at Camp David

- The need for lifelong learning and education for organizational leaders

Connect with Khari Brown

Spark the Journey Website 

Khari Brown on LinkedIn 

Khari Brown on Twitter 

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn

Partnering Leadership Website

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Mark C Crowley, author of Lead From The Heart: Transformational Leadership For The 21st Century. In the conversation, Mark C Crowley shared how his tough childhood contributed to his leadership practice of leading from the heart. Mark also shared why the heart is more than just a muscle and how leaders can balance mind and heart in their leadership. Mark C Crowley finally shared how leaders can encourage leading from the heart in their teams and organizations as well as practices to help make a more balanced leadership, including leading from the heart of the organization's culture.  

Some highlights:

- How Mark C Crowley's upbringing shaped his view of leadership

- The results of leading from the heart in the financial services sector

- The science behind the heart's role in leadership

- Mark C Crowley on the need for balance between the brain and the heart

- How leaders can nurture an organizational culture that encourages leading from the heart

Connect with Mark C Crowley:

Mark C Crowley Website 

Mark C Crowley on LinkedIn 

Mark C Crowley on Twitter 

Lead From The Heart: Transformational Leadership For The 21st Century on Amazon 

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn

Partnering Leadership Website