What are the simple leadership strategies that can help you create real results?

On today’s episode, our guest is globally recognized leadership expert Gordon Tredgold. Gordon redefined leadership with his FAST Framework and is known for his no-nonsense, simplified approach to leadership. Simpler doesn’t always mean easier, but it can if you figure out the right way to guide your team. In the episode, Gordon discusses the importance of ownership and accountability, methodology, and data measuring when creating success with your team.

Topics discussed in this episode include:

• What a leader’s job actually is and how to do it well.
• Why it’s important to communicate in a way everybody can understand.
• The gap a lot of leaders need to fill if they truly want to be successful.
• Where accountability starts and what passing ownership effectively looks like.
• How leadership is methodical before it’s mystical (despite what other sources say).
• Where leadership training today is missing the mark.
• How Gordon continues to use the FAST framework in his work and his life.
• What we think success looks like versus what it actually is.
• Why recognizing the efforts of your team is critical to achieving results.
• The common sense ideas about leadership that really aren’t so common.
• Why we need to stop telling people leaders are born rather than made.
• How so many teams struggle with transparency and the impact it has.
• The crucial role reports and data play in defining success and measuring improvements.

Gordon’s website: https://gordontredgold.com

Gordon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordontredgold

The Art of Strategy: https://www.theartofstrategy.ca

Alison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisongeskin

What’s the most effective way to communicate our big ideas and share them with clarity?

On today’s episode we’re joined by sought-after message designer and speaker Tamsen Webster. Tamsen helps organizations (including Johnson & Johnson and Harvard Medical School) craft meaningful messages that inspire long-lasting change. She reveals to us the importance of messaging and the secrets to creating impactful messages that spark action.

Topics discussed in this episode include:

• Why Tamsen describes herself as a situational extrovert and how it influences her work.
• The odd pattern that plays out with many of Tamsen’s clients.
• What Gall’s Law is and how it relates to each individual’s perspective.
• What the “curse of knowledge” says and how it impacts the way we share our ideas.
• Why explaining our multi-dimensional ideas is difficult (and is not a personal failing).
• What Tamsen had to unlearn about her own voice to put herself on stage.
• Why you can’t perfect your ideas on paper.
• Seeing feedback as a gift, and how to frame failure as a part of learning.
• What it means to strategically design internally motivated action.
• How to apply the Overton window to the strategy of expanding ideas.
• Tamsen’s take on the high occurrence of failure in strategic change.
• Why logical and simple frameworks are your friend when crafting messaging.
• The framework Tamsen is working on now and how it supports message creation.

Tamsen’s website: https://tamsenwebster.com

The Art of Strategy: https://www.theartofstrategy.ca

Alison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisongeskin

Why is honest storytelling so important, and how does it intertwine with history?

Our guest today is A'Lelia Bundles, a journalist, author, historian, and more. A'Lelia fell in love with writing at a young age, quickly realizing the power and potential for impact in weaving a story. A'Lelia opens up in our conversarion about the most significant moments in her career, the lessons she’s still realizing today, and the role storytelling has played throughout her life.

Topics discussed in this episode include:

• The throughline that connects the various chapters of A’Lelia’s life together.
• Her parents’ encouragement to do what she loves and why it made a difference.
• What it was like being a female journalist when it was much less common.
• The doors other women had to open so A'Lelia could walk through them.
• How an experience at graduate school inspired her to share her family’s story.
• Why empowering others is so critical in leadership and what that actually looks like.
• The gifts her mother and father shared with others and the ripple effect it had.
• Why she doesn’t 100% approve of the production created about Madam C.J. Walker.
• Her new book, The Joy Goddess, and what it’s all about.
• How joy rises out of difficulty and pain, and how that has played out in history.
• What A'Lelia hopes people are paying attention to and working on now.

A’Lelia’s website: https://aleliabundles.com

A’Lelia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleliabundles

The Art of Strategy: https://www.theartofstrategy.ca

Alison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisongeskin