How does Aussie tech giant superhero, Atlassian, run its teams? Bernie Ferguson is an R & D Team Coach who makes a living helping teams become high performers. We talk about human dynamics as key to effective process, how to define and measure success in team performance, the Atlassian Team Health Monitor as the starting point for building team performance, the fact that lack of team clarity is a chief derailer, currency of coaching is questions not opinions, the responsibility for getting meaningful feedback from people other than your boss, asking ‘how easy are you to do business with as a team?’, and Atlassian’s approach to culture through living real values.
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Read MoreYenn Purkis is a non-binary gender person with Asperger’s syndrome. They are an author of 6 books, a TED X speaker, and a passionate advocate for autistic people and their families. From an early age, Yenn knew they weren’t like other folks, and was bullied mercilessly for being different. Academically brilliant, they were dux of the school, but not fitting in and being ostracised for it led to several early adulthood years spent in self destruction. Yenn emerged from this determined to be successful and fulfil professional ambition. With a published book in hand, they applied to many jobs and was successful to land one. This is the origin story of a remarkable individual who overcame being singled out for difference to becoming a public champion for inclusion.
In this interview we explore what it means to be non binary gender, how to be aware of privilege as a generator of bias, how reading books is an excellent way to expand perspective and understanding of others, how becoming comfortable and aware of who we are drops anxiety about status, why diversity is a noun and inclusion is the verb or responsibility in leadership, how the intersection of elements of difference (like being non binary gender AND autistic) multiplies the challenge effect for inclusion, and how it is PRIVILEGE and not ‘norm’ that measures distance from center and influence. Reason to listen: learn about life from a different lens.
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Read MoreDiversity and inclusion are hot topics right now. The research says it is good for business. Common sense says it’s good for humans. But how do we do it? What are some considerations? Should we have targets? How do we measure success with it? In this interview with Sydney manager, Rory Waddell, an engineering people person at global consulting firm GHD, we explore what it means in practical terms with staff. We look at questions like how do you discover your blindspots? How do you surface and deal with your bias? How do people respond to diversity programs? What signs should we put on toilets?
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Read MoreHow do you see the world? What’s your point of you? How we see the world, how we see ourselves, is terribly important. Perspective is powerful: how we see ourselves and how we see the world determines the action we take and therefore the results we get. So it makes sense that we pay a lot more attention to a point of view. This podcast series is about exploring points of view. We will be interviewing a number of different leaders in various industries to explore how they see the world, and how they see themselves.
As a good starting point though it’s important to see how we author ourselves, how we develop stories about who we are and how we operate. In this podcast episode we go through some typical negative stories and how we can turn those around and to create better narratives, or points of view, that make us powerful agents in creating our own reality.
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Read MoreComplexity and the rapid rate of change demands a new kind of leadership - a next level leadership. Next level is about shifting perspective to be an Amplifier - someone focused on impact and not just results. When we expand our perspective we can have greater positive contribution. There are common blocks to this kind of boundless leadership:
Limited awareness about the future, trends, and our own internal operating systems - our beliefs. We need to develop this awareness for the core reason that visionaries attract people.
Taking culture for granted. Many leaders smugly think their culture is doing great (because they of course are leading it). Culture runs companies. It is the operating system for people, and you need to program it well.
Procrastination around new technologies. Technology drives change and many leaders hesitate to implement.
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Read MoreHow do you convince someone to change their perspective? If you want to move hearts and minds for a cause that is deeply meaningful to you, how do you do that? Sometimes the most passionate advocates end up doing more harm than good.
Don't be fooled: passion is the worst form of persuasion
Pressure does nothing for changing opinions. All it does is push people farther in to their own perspective.
Curiosity and compassionate inquiry leads to persuasion.
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Read MoreLeadership can be a volatile experience. There are some seriously difficult situations - and people - to contend with.
Cockups are what we fear most: failing and letting people down. Mistakes that are costly. Hurting people inadvertently. Perspective is the gateway to compassion: just because you cock things up, doesn’t make you a c*ck - at least not permanently!
Crackpots are a bigger concern. The biggest challenges is dealing with PSYCHOPATHS. Not all psychopaths are violent! Many are successful players in the corporate world. We need to know how to spot them, and how to deal with them.
Conniptions are a surprise when they happen. When a crackpot pushes our buttons and all of a sudden we lose the plot, and default to behaviour that is out of the norm. Conniptions are rare occurrences, and yet we can learn from them.
#boundlessleadership
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Read More‘You don’t know how good you have it until it changes’. This was a CEO talking about his culture after a new Chairman is on the scene. A change at the top can certainly spell doom (or boom!) for culture. There are other aspects at play too: systems and shadow. We go through two recent articles - one on Facebook and how its culture is slipping, and one from the Navy SEALs - a Special Operations Chief is arrested for war crimes.
Culture is your operating system for people. Know and set the code.
Systems drive behaviour - review yours.
Every strength has a shadow - are you aware of your own culture shadow?
#boundlessleadership
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Read MoreWARNING: This solocast is a bit of a rant. A call to action. To do more. To do better. To have a bigger impact. There’s a lot going on. There’s more work to do than ever before. There are more problems to solve. We need to work BETTER. We also need to avoid the traps of Achiever: achiever disease and overwork, goal sickness and sacrificing our values at the altar of results.
Signs and symptoms of Achiever Disease
As an Amplifier we can amplify message, motivation, and results
How perspective is the key to empathy, and how empathy expands perspective
#boundlessleadership
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Read MoreAre you a crazy risk taker? Do you jump in, boots and all, without considering the consequences? Or are you overly cautious? There can be a balance! As Boundless Leaders we want to maximise fun and opportunity, all while considering the consequences. Risk management in decision-making however does not need to be a total downer. In this interview with Bryan Whitefield we discover how to have fun without regret, why the gut instinct is rarely a good source for decision-making, and what we need to be mindful of in the big-consequences decisions we make.
Why mindset determines motivation and our blockers in decision-making
How to use the MCI model - motivation, clarification, and implementation for risk checking on big decisions
Check your VEG - values, environment, and genes while pondering what questions needs answering
#boundlessleadership
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Read MoreEdge of Leadership UnConference speaker Daniel Kilov reveals some amazing tips and tricks to enhance memory for reading books, recalling information, committing information to knowledge, and remembering names at networking functions.
Daniel shares critical mnemonics (memory) techniques, explains how these techniques are the single best predictor of top performance in any field and how we can create generations of geniuses.
How memory is the alchemy for human creativity
Using ‘memory palaces’ to retain vasts amount of knowledge quickly
Why memory is the true distinguishing feature for people at the very top of their game - geniuses - and an even better predictor than IQ
#boundlessleadership
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Read MoreTired, wired, and frustrated? Having trouble sleeping? Health expert Alessandra Edwards reveals latest research on what we can do to improve sleep and achieve ULTRA-WELLNESS. We talk sleep strategies, how genetics affect the usefulness of sleep hygiene habits, rules for meal timing, infrared saunas and cryotherapy.
Sleep architecture and how other factors like genetics may impede your results
Optimum timing of meals to ensure the best night sleep
Fasting for beginners and how it can turn us into fat burners - yeah!
#boundlessleadership
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Read MoreSome experiences are pretty awful. We can’t wish them away. We can’t pivot from them. We can’t reframe them. We can however learn something from them, make use of them, and grow stronger as a result. Strategic planning, and the core of what we leaders need to do in current times of tension.
Positive thinking can be good. It’s just not everything.
#boundlessleadership
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Read MoreDo you use your intuition in leadership? Would you like to develop your inner knowing to a greater level? How about a 30-second hack to change your brain waves into a meditative state? Speaker, author, and advisor Scott Stein shares his insights and practical tips on these, delegation, strategic planning, and the core of what we leaders need to do in current times of tension.
Native American ancient wisdom: using the Fox Walk to change brain waves for movement meditation
Compression planning and how it saves tons of time and avoids ‘talk fest’ in strategic planning
The four levels of delegating and mistakes to avoid
#boundlessleadership
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Read MoreAre you happy with your culture at work? Do things need changing? How do you get started? Do you focus on big picture? Or is the smaller things that count? It turns out you start with the change you want, and hearts and minds come afterwards.
Why you should start with actions and not beliefs when it comes to changing culture
The three actions that set AMPLIFIERS apart from ACHIEVERS (and why you want to do these)
What kind of movement you may want to drive in your culture
#boundlessleadership
Read MoreWhat KPIs should CEOs have? Should they have KPIs at all? Performance measurement specialist and business consultant Mark Hocknell says they shouldn’t. At least not in the way we currently understand KPIs - ones developed by gut feel instead of a thorough and rigorous process. We also talk about the perils of performance bonuses and why legal and accounting firms should stop measuring staff performance based on billings alone.
How giving people targets to meet is a surefire way for people to manipulate numbers or jimmy the system
How a CEO increased a company’s bottom line by multiple BILLIONS by focusing on safety, not revenue
The best way to develop comprehensive measurement plan that generates teamwork instead of divides it.
#boundlessleadership
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Read MoreHow do you move from management to leadership? It’s a key question for every emerging leader, and for every Boundless Leader to keep in mind. There are key distinctions as well as overlaps in management and leadership. The key things are ripples, questions, and frames.
How simple decisions can have a cascading effect
How questions might have prevented unwanted repercussions
Sample questions to guide you into the leadership space
#boundlessleadership
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Read MoreHabits and meetings: how we can move the dial 1% for more energy and more time. An update on implementing James Clear’s Atomic Habits and a book summary and review of Donna McGeorge’s 25 Minute Meeting.
Cement identity with visual cues and celebrating small wins.
Meetings for business as usual: 25 minutes,no more than 5 people, no more than 3 agenda items.
Use Scan, Focus, Act as the formula for meetings.
#boundlessleadership
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Read MoreHow do you deal with failure? Do you have a bunch of motivational quotes to help you reframe the experience? How do you process the deep shame and anxiety you feel with it? I think we need to RETHINK FAILURE. It’s not just feedback. We need to fail with a framework.
Give yourself permission to fail
How rejection is akin to physical trauma
Two frameworks we need for failure: external risks like financials and safety, and one for ego and reputation.
#boundlessleadership
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Read MoreDo you have any bad habits? How many times have you tried to break them? New book by James Clear is an awesome antidote to intractable bad habits, and creating ones that nudge us towards what we really want. I walk you through the key points, and use myself as a guinea pig. (Nothing like fear of public shaming to create accountability!)
How to avoid being a Sea Squirt and not eat your own brain
Real behaviour change is identity change
Four steps to real change: cue, craving, response, and reward.
#boundlessleadership
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