Second Crack — The Leadership Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode, we explore the power and importance of intuition in leadership with Intuition Coach Dr. Charlotte Tamason. Intuition is often an underestimated aspect of leadership, yet it plays a crucial role in decision-making, fostering innovation, and navigating complex situations.

Episode Highlights

• Understanding Intuition: Charlotte demystifies what intuition really means for leaders, explaining how it goes beyond gut feelings to become a reliable inner guide.
• Intuition and Decision-Making: Discover how intuition complements analytical thinking in making fast, effective decisions in high-pressure environments.
• Practical Application: Learn actionable strategies to develop and trust your intuitive abilities as a leader, from creating quiet time for reflection to tuning into your inner signals during meetings.
• Balancing Intuition with Logic: We discuss the balance between intuition and logic, and how leaders can harness both to lead with confidence and authenticity.

Key Moments

    [00:00]   Introduction to Intuition and Leadership
    [03:08]    Meet Dr. Charlotte Tamason, Intuition Coach
    [04:45]    Understanding Intuition in Leadership
    [07:17]     Intuition in Business Decision Making
    [11:16]     Practical Steps to Tap into Intuition
    [26:18]    Debunking Myths About Intuition
    [34:53]    Reflection Questions and Closing Remarks

Reflection Questions

• Reflect on a recent decision where you relied on intuition. How did it influence the outcome? What can you learn from this experience?
• How do you currently balance intuition and logic in your leadership approach? Are there areas where you could trust your intuition more?
• Consider how you create space for intuitive insights. What practices could you adopt to strengthen your connection to your inner guidance?

About Dr. Charlotte Tamason
Charlotte Tamason is an intuition coach who helps leaders tap into their inner wisdom to make more aligned and impactful decisions. Connect with Charlotte on LinkedIn or visit her website Health by Intuition.

About Second Crack
More information about us and our work is available on our website: secondcrackleadership.com

For questions, feedback, or suggestions, or to explore how we can help you develop your leadership, email us at hello@secondcrackleadership.com.

Connect with us on LinkedIn:
Martin Aldergård
Gerrit Pelzer

In a corporate environment, leaders are expected to be achievement-oriented and drive results. However, the relentless pursuit of goals can lead to exhaustion and burnout. Often, both leaders and employees miss out on enjoying the process while working towards the organization’s future vision.

In this episode, Martin Aldergård and Gerrit Pelzer explore how leaders can find a balance between feeling content in the present moment while maintaining a drive for future aspirations.

Key Points:

2:55 - The Importance of Purpose: When your work aligns with your deeper purpose in life, it becomes inherently fulfilling. This alignment can lead to daily satisfaction in your role. However, even when work is aligned with personal values and passions, it does not prevent burnout. Highly engaged individuals can become overwhelmed if their desire to change the world leads to unrealistic expectations.

6:40 - Rethinking Goals and Visions: Setting S.M.A.R.T goals and creating ambitious visions is standard corporate practice. However, if visions are not properly formulated or goals are ill-defined, they can be counterproductive, even when set with the best intentions. In general, direction and purpose are more important than specific, rigid goals. A vision needs to allow room for emergence.

15:10 - Mindfulness and Present Moment Awareness: Drawing on the wisdom of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, true happiness can only be found in the present moment. Being aware of the many conditions that allow you to be happy can enhance well-being while maintaining your aspiration to improve the status quo. Leaders need to create an environment where the right goals can be achieved in a healthy manner.

25:17 - Letting Go of Results: In highly unpredictable business environments, the idea that leaders can control results is an illusion. Rather than being attached to outcomes, leaders need to let go of control. Achievement should not be based on results that are beyond your control. Instead, focus on having the right processes in place and creating conditions for people to be their best. Trust the process, and good results will follow.

As a leader, take a moment to appreciate what you can be grateful for right now, rather than chasing goals and focusing on what is not good enough. Find ways to support your team in finding satisfaction and happiness in their daily work, rather than constantly pushing them to new heights.

About Second Crack

For more information about us and our work, visit our website: secondcrackleadership.com

Would you like to explore how we can help you find more contentment in the present moment without giving up on your aspirations through a company-wide initiative or individual executive coaching? Email us at: hello at secondcrackleadership.com.

To connect with us on LinkedIn:

Martin Aldergård
Gerrit Pelzer

In this episode, we share insights from a 12-month project where we involved all executives, managers and employees in shaping and implementing a new vision and strategy for growth. The project resulted in re-energizing and motivating 700 people at a large chemical manufacturing plant, fostering not only business expansion but also fortifying a sense of ownership and teamwork across the site.

Key takeaways

• Approach vision and strategy as a process, implementation included
• Involve people in co-creating the vision & strategy to cultivate a sense of ownership and use the collective intelligence of the organisation
• While the process requires more time upfront, the investment pays off rapidly during the implementation phase

Key moments

01:28 - Introduction to the case

A brief overview of the case company and the overall approach to the project. 

05:02 - Phase 1: Gathering input

We delve into how we engaged numerous individuals right from the project's inception, seeking their perspectives on the future direction. Our emphasis was on understanding people, their ideas, motivations, hopes, and concerns. Unlike conventional strategy planning, there was minimal focus on data collection and SWOT analysis in this phase.

08:43 - Phase 2: Shaping the initial vision and strategy

We discuss how, through guided conversations, we transformed initially diverse opinions into a shared vision and strategy by the end of the process. Our focus was on creating opportunities for dialogue, ensuring a shared context, and facilitating co-creation.

16:18 - Phase 3: Defining a clear and concise vision & strategy

We address the most challenging phase of the project: transitioning from 'brainstorming' to making decisive choices to arrive at a clear and concise strategy ready for implementation. We share the four pillars of the strategy that were developed, highlighting how it was laser-focused on making the growth vision a reality.

28:02 - Phase 4: Supporting implementation

We explore the structure we established to facilitate follow-up, learning, and adaptation during the project's implementation phase. This included monthly leadership workshops, individual executive coaching, and effective communication and involvement of all employees.

Reflection Questions

• What would I need to consider when designing my strategy process?
• For instance, how long time do I have? Who needs to be involved? What role does my leadership team play in the process? Who owns the process and how are decisions made? How can I engage managers and employees? What role will they assume? How prepared are managers and employees to be involved? How prepared am I and the leadership team for increased involvement in the strategy process?
• Based on this, how can I create the conditions that everybody can be involved? How do I make sure everyone's voice is heard?
• Additionally, how can I, as a leader of a local entity or unit within a larger organization, approach the strategy process differently? How can I drive a growth vision and strategy that doesn't necessarily have to originate from the headquarters?

More info about us and our work is also on our website: secondcrackleadership.com.

Do you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions for us? Would you like to explore how we can help you to drive results in your organisations through a company-wide initiative or individual executive coaching? Then email us at hello@secondcrackleadership.com.

To connect with us on LinkedIn:
Martin Aldergård
Gerrit Pelzer 

In this episode we keep exploring the topic of trust in leadership, today from the perspective of openness and transparency. We are joined by Adam Horne, the co-founder of OpenOrg, a company on a mission to rebuild trust by bringing transparency to the world of work.

We know that being open and transparent as a leader is key to build trust. An article in Harvard Business Review reports 76% higher employee engagement, and Gallup statistics shows 21% higher profit margin, compared to the average transparent company. So what can you do as a leader and what are the dilemmas or questions you are going to face?

Key moments

04:33 Transparency, what does it actually mean? Obviously, different things to different people and organisations. Adam shares his take on what it means and we discuss different areas that could be considered.

10:55 The benefits of openness and transparency is explored, and the link between transparency and performance.

15:51 The dilemmas of transparency and what might block leaders from being more open and transparent, both from the perspective of an individual leader, and from the organisation perspective.

17:28 We discuss where to start when building a more transparent leadership style

24:55 Exploring the balance between ‘being strictly professional’ at work, and ‘being human and personal’ as a leader 

31:26 Potential ethical dilemmas around transparency - Adam retells his experience of sharing tough information with his team

39:04 Reflection questions

Reflection Questions

• As a leader, what don't I share with my team at the moment that I potentially could, and what are the consequences of that? Look not only at “what could go wrong” but also at “what could go right” by sharing.
• As an organisation and leadership team, ask where do we want to be more transparent, and where not? And make this a conscious decision. Also think of how this can help bring clarity, establish trust, and drive motivation in the organisation.
• Go back and look at some of the employee feedback that you are receiving. Think of how might this be related to how I/we build trust? And how might being more transparent and open, help address this feedback? What is it then specifically that I/we can work on as leaders?

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Information about Adam Horne and OpenOrg

Adam is the co-founder of OpenOrg and on a mission to help organisations rebuild trust by bringing transparency to the world of work. Find out more at OpenOrg.fyi and connect on LinkedIn Adam Horne
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More info about us and our work is on our website secondcrackleadership.com
Do you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions for us?  Would you like to explore how we can help you to drive results in your organisations through a company-wide initiative or individual executive coaching? Then email us at  hello@secondcrackleadership.com

To connect on LinkedIn:
Gerrit Pelzer
Martin Aldergård

A 360 Degree Feedback may be the most powerful leadership development tool you will ever use — if you use it correctly.

Feedback holds the key to successful leadership development. Despite our well-intentioned endeavours, our actions may not always align with our intentions in the eyes of others. The most successful leaders understand how they are perceived by others and adjust their actions and manage perception accordingly.

Receiving candid feedback is not always pleasant, but it invariably provides you with an opportunity to improve and develop as a leader.

A 360 Degree Feedback is a multi-rater assessment that weaves together insights from diverse vantage points. These vantage points, ranging from superiors and peers to subordinates and self-assessment, converge to provide a well-rounded picture of how others see you in comparison to how you see yourself.

This powerful tool, however, often falls short of its potential due to oversight in key aspects. A successful 360 journey commences with meticulous pre-process preparation, continues with accurate result interpretation, and ultimately requires taking the right actions to help you grow as a leader and create the desired impact.

Before Embarking on the 360 Degree Feedback Journey:

• Define Your Purpose: Articulate why you are pursuing the 360 Degree Feedback and be clear on the context.
• Curate Your Raters: Enlist a diverse and representative array of raters, not just your best friends.
• Personal Invitations: Extend personalised invitations to your raters, and encourage them to provide ample text answers rather than mere ratings.

Receiving Your 360 Degree Feedback Results:

• Guided Interpretation: Ensure you have a debriefing session with an executive coach certified in the 360 Degree Feedback tool you are using. A professional coach can help you navigate through a complex report and put things into perspective, enabling you to interpret the results correctly and gain the most from your 360  for effective leadership development.
• Attitude is Key: Embrace an open mindset and resist the instinct to be defensive when confronting critiques. Approach feedback as a snapshot of external perception at a particular point in time.
• Explore Alignment an Discrepancies: Explore hidden strengths recognised by others and blind spots wehre your self-assessment overshoots. Look for consistencies and inconsistencies in the ratings and comments. Scrutinise congruences and divergences within and between rater groups.

Take Effective Actions for Your Personal Growth:

• Seek More Feedback: Paradoxically, often the 360 Degree Feedback is only the start for receiving more feedback: engage with selected raters, sharing insights from your report. Seek further clarification and request specific suggestions for improvement.
• Holistic Growth: Development involves more than overcoming weaknesses. Capitalising on your strengths while bridging gaps is the pathway toward exceptional leadership.
• A Coach's Guiding Hand: Collaborating with an executive coach can truly propel your personal growth. For most people, changing behavioural patters and unproductive habits is more difficult and time-consuming than they think. Busy executives tend to focus on their projects and day-to-day work, often neglecting their own development. “A coach really, really helps”, as Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO, famously noted.

Get in touch with us:
web: secondcrackleadership.com
email:  hello@secondcrackleadership.com

Join our conversation with Anu Rathninde, the APAC President of Johnson Controls, and take-away an easy-to-remember guide for how to tackle complexity as a leader. Apply the steps in the “SIILA”-model and directly understand what you need to address, and create positive transformation in your organization.

As a leader, you are expected to deliver predictable results and you are held accountable. It might be tempting to base your decision-making on control and assumed certainty. Yet, an organisation, with its people and stakeholders, is a complex adaptive system that doesn’t operate like a machine, outcomes really can’t be controlled. This is where the steps in the SIILA-model becomes an important guide.

Anu Rathninde is the APAC  President of Johnson Controls. With 30,000 employees across more than 20 sites in Asia, and previously many years as an executive also in North America and Europe, Anu truly combines the best of  both Western and Eastern leadership styles.

Key moments

05:30Introducing the 5-step SIILA model (= Systems thinking, Internalise, Interact, Learn, Adapt).

09:14 Step 1: Systems thinking helps leaders to understand and consider the inter-connectedness inside and outside the organisation, and that change emerges with or without a leader trying to control things.

17:44 Step 2: Internalise. The hardest step in being an effective leader is to personally internalise the purpose and values of the organisation as well as what drives you as a leader, bringing the right mindset and motivation to change.

22:26 Step 3: Interact reminds leaders to interact with everyone in the organisation to gain a true understanding of what is actually going on. Input for decision-making and the trust to implement decisions, can’t be created in the boardroom.

32:13 Step 4: Learn and Step: 5 Adapt are the ‘easy’ ones if you have done steps 1-3, but of course not less important to drive change and results in a complex environment.

33:39 Reflection questions

Reflection Questions

• How do I use my time as a leader to truly understand the system, align with my values, my mindset, and interact with the right people to understand what's actually happening, before making decisions?
• How valuable is it for me to spend that extra effort and make the right decision versus making a quick decision?
• Where might I not understand the system well enough? Where might I oversimplify and what might I overlook in the interactions that people are having, which then impacts outcomes?
• To help yourself with Step 2 internalise, you can ask yourself from 3 perspectives:
    1) Where am I today? What am I doing? Why? How am I doing?
    2) From where I started: How did I get to where I am today? What did I do? Why?
    3) Based on where I want to be in the future: Why do I want to be there? How am I going there? What am I going to do there?

About Anu and his book “Tackling Complexity”

Find more information about Anu and his book on LinkedIn: Anu Rathninde

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More info about us and our work is  on our website secondcrackleadership.com
To explore how we can help you to drive results in your organisations, contact us at hello@secondcrackleadership.com

To connect on LinkedIn:
Gerrit Pelzer
Martin Aldergård

Tho Ha Vinh (bio below) found that one root cause for suffering is our current economic system based on competition and the fundamental contradiction of endless economic growth and the reality of a finite planet. 

It is an illusion that happiness and satisfaction come from more consumption. In effect, the ever-increasing consumption is destroying the planet and thus the very foundation of our human lives.

The goal of economic growth must be to to satisfy legitimate human needs through goods and services. These goods and services are just a part of what enhances happiness and wellbeing. For true happiness, we also need friendship, love, emotional security and many things money can’t buy. 

"The system", of which we often see ourselves as victims, is a manifestation of how we individually and collectively think, feel, and act. We are all part of the system, and thus are co-responsible of changing the system.

True happiness needs living in harmony with oneself (requiring introspection and alignment between aspirations and actions), living in harmony with others (but being too busy working keeps us from taking the time to build and maintain positive relationships) and living in harmony with the planet (we are part of nature, the wider system).

Change is inevitable. The question is: will it come about in a more gentle and inclusive way through mindfulness and compassion? Or will we continue with our blind ways of power, dominance, violence, and competition until the system simply breaks apart?

Leaders who want to positively drive change need to direct the collective attention. This begins with the ability to to direct your own attention. If you are able to do that, then you can also do that for the collective.

Your company’s transformation may begin by redefining its vision, mission, and values towards serving its clients and society by creating goods and services that are useful. Your “key performance indicators” need a more holistic understanding beyond financial impact, including environmental, social, cultural etc. You need to work with the inner dimension, too: how do you consciously develop your insight, your wisdom, your compassion, your mindfulness?

Reflection Questions for Leaders:

• Is my attention aligned with my intentions? Am I clear what my intentions are?
• What steps am I willing to take to create a significant change, even if it feels uncomfortable. And what are the risks that I'm prepared to take to do things differently moving forward? 
• When we have good intentions, how come we cannot manifest that in the way we work? How can we bridge the gap between the knowing (what we know we should do) and doing (what we actually do)?

Tho Ha Vinh, PhD, is the founder and of the Eurasia Learning Institute for Happiness and Wellbeing .  He was the program director of the Gross National Happiness Center of Bhutan. Serving as the Head of Training, Learning, and Development at the International Committee of the Red Cross, he trained humanitarian professionals working in war zones and emergency response in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine, and Darfur. He holds a PhD in psychology and education from Geneva University, Switzerland. He is a Buddhist teacher in the Vietnamese Zen Tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. He is the author of several books including the recent A Culture of Happiness.

More info about Martin Aldergård and Gerrit Pelzer is on our website secondcrackleadership.com. You can also email us at  hello@secondcrackleadership.com

We are joined by Jim Massey, Chief Sustainability Officer at Zai Lab, and former global Vice President of ESG at AstraZeneca. Jim shares his experience as a global sustainability leader, and how he is using the Can, Care, Do model to lead transformation in the healthcare industry. Jim is also the author of the newly launched book "Trust in Action".

Listen and gain insights on how you can build trust: the foundation of all positive action and change. And as always, we end with a few reflection questions for you.

Can, Care, Do is a simple and easy-to-remember guide that you can use to build trust and spark action. And Jim shares stories and practical examples of how he has used the approach to lead change in two organisations under very different circumstances. At AstraZeneca, Jim lead the transformation towards sustainability goals in a large multi-national organisation. At Zai Lab, it is all about scaling sustainability from the start, as the company is growing. In both cases, trust is a fundamental component, but different elements of trust need to be addressed.

Key moments

[05:10] Trust in Action. Trust and action run in parallel.

[09:30] The elements of the Can-Care-Do model and how to use it.

[15:31] How Jim put the Can-Care-Do model into practice, as the newly appointed, ‘outside’ leader, of a highly qualified team of ESG specialists.

[20:17] The biggest challenge? To hold myself accountable.

[26:12] Growing and scaling a global bio-tech start-up, being planet positive from the get-go.

[31:07] Stepping into the BS. Addressing the systems that are getting in the way of trust.

[36:57] From all the things that needs to change, scope out something, and focus on that little piece.

 Reflection Questions: 

• When reflecting, the most powerful actually sits in Can, as in why do I exist. For me as a leader, what is my why? Why am I here, and am I fulfilling that? Or am I distracted with so much of the Doing, that I’m forgetting my greatest impact?
• At work today, did I feel I could be myself, and were there perhaps situations where I felt I couldn’t?  And reflecting on what to do about it: Is it about me to set the intension of behaving differently next time, or is it something ‘in the system’ that allows, or doesn’t allow, me to be my true self?
• As I face a challenging leadership situation, or not seeing the action or results that are needed, how can I use this situation as an opportunity to nurture and build trust? Which of Can, Care, or Do is the area I need to work on?

Information about Jim and his book ‘Trust in Action’

You can find more information about Jim and his book at www.jimmassey.co

Or on LinkedIn Jim Massey

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More info about us and our work is on our website secondcrackleadership.com
Do you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions for us?  Would you like to explore how we can help you to drive results in your organisations through a company-wide initiative or individual executive coaching? Then email us at  hello@secondcrackleadership.com

To connect on LinkedIn:
Gerrit Pelzer
Martin Aldergård

From our experience in executive coaching and leadership development we see again and again that self-awareness is absolutely mission critical for self-development and personal growth. And of course, we can ask the question: Is there a link between a leader's self-awareness and his or her leadership effectiveness?

To help us answer this question, we have a great guest on the show, Dr. Nia Thomas.

Key moments

[05:19] Nia shares what triggered her curiosity about leadership and self-awareness 

[08:04] Most important findings from Nia’s research. The “strategic level disconnect” between what people at the most senior levels of the organizations are setting in motion and what they seem to be thinking, compared to what others are thinking. One element of this is filtered feedback, and regardless of organisation, in a senior leadership position you will get filtered feedback, which means that you are disconnect to the rest of the organisation to a greater or lesser extent.

[16:14] Identified 3 layers of  Leadership Self-awareness

1. Reflection or Internal self-awareness, which is about me looking inward, knowing myself.
2. Recognition or Internal social self-awareness, is about recognising that people are observing me and have opinions about me.
3. Regulation or External social self-awareness, which is about regulating my behavior based on knowing myself, and knowing how others see me.

 [27:40] Is there a correlation between a leader's self-awareness and their effectiveness? 

The answer is a resounding yes - but. Leaders with high degree of self-awareness is an essential component to generate success. However, many organisations say it’s their aspiration, however the reality is, it’s not happening everywhere.

[31:28] What are potential dilemmas or challenges leaders might encounter when developing, or sharpening, their self-awareness?

• Need to recognise that self-awareness is an ongoing journey that you need to invest your time and effort
• The risk of filtered feedback, especially as a more senior leader
• Situations of stress, when we can’t cope to regulate our behavior
• ‘Busyness’ and seen to always be doing something, with no space for reflection

Self-awareness is a journey - “Know thyself, but ensure you keep reacquainting yourself”.

 Reflection Questions: 

• Stop and ask: Can I describe how I think others see me?
   If I can't, how will I develop my antenna, my space, my opportunity to be able to answer that question? 
• What are the situations where I need to be more self-aware of my own behavior and its impact on my effectiveness as a leader?
• What do I need to focus on to increase my self-awareness?
• What are certain circumstances, situations, or people that either enhance or deplete my self-awareness?

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Get in touch with Nia through LinkedIn Dr. Nia Thomas or email at info@knowingselfknowingothers.co.uk
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More info about us and our work on our website: secondcrackleadership.com
Do you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions for us?  Would you like to explore how we can help you to drive results in your organisations through a company-wide initiative or individual executive coaching? Then email us at  hello@secondcrackleadership.com or connect on LinkedIn.

Gerrit Pelzer
Martin Aldergård

On the one hand, ‘every leader knows’ that it’s important to make all voices heard in an organisation, diversity and inclusion is critical. On the other hand, it’s still not uncommon to experience meetings where only a minority of participants is talking. And why is it so difficult to truly listen to opposing viewpoints?

It has a lot to do with dialogue. In this episode we go deeper into the practice of genuin dialogue, its benefits and challenges. And, as always Gerrit and Martin have very different entry-points. Gerrit is sharing his personal observations on why dialogue is so hard, and Martin is sharing tips on how leaders can increase the quality of dialogue in their conversations and team meetings.

Key moments

[08:55] Gerrit shares 3 observations of why dialogue and listening is hard:

• the difference in motivation
• emotions
• own bias

The problem is not so much that ‘the other person is obviously wrong’, but that our underlying world-view is challenged.

[15:24] We don’t give enough time to listen, to let people share what is important to them. We say that we have an ‘open mind’, but suspending judgement and being non-defensive, is not easy. So we need to be aware of our own ‘trigger points’ as leaders by being more aware of:

• What subject or situation might trigger defensiveness?
• When might I raise my voice?
• When might my non-verbal communication change to being more defensive?

[19:21] Leaders must become better in leading group dialogue, not only focus on the content of the conversation but also on the process, switching between wearing the leader-hat and the facilitator hat. Plan your meetings to include time for dialogue and create meeting structure that supports dialogue.

[24:23] Practical examples of easy to apply dialogue structures:

• Equal Voice
• 1-2-4-All

[27:52] Dialogue takes too much time. How to get around it? Put the time invested in the right context:

• You hired all these smart and diverse people - it takes structure and time to help them ‘think together’.
• The cost of failed or delayed transformation projects is larger than the upfront cost of good dialogue.

[32:05] Common misperceptions of ‘dialogue’:

• The process of dialogue and then making decisions can be different. If we use dialogue to involve and let everyone be heard, doesn’t need to be followed by consensus decision making.
• Dialogue doesn’t need to be all harmony and ‘holding hands’. The best dialogue is a safe enough environment to explore conflicting opinions.

 Reflection Questions: 

• How can I use an approach of dialogue to scale up my influence and impact in my organisation? With what people or stakeholders, and for what questions?
• What are the world-views that I hold dearly and that I don't like to see challenged, and in which situations, or what triggers me being defensive, ie. making it more difficult for me to have a dialogue?

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More info about us and our work is also on our website: secondcrackleadership.com

Do you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions for us? Would you like to explore how we can help you to drive results in your organisations through a company-wide initiative or individual executive coaching? Then email us at hello@secondcrackleadership.com

To connect with us on LinkedIn:
Martin Aldergård
Gerrit Pelzer