The Ripple Leader Podcast with Chris Hutchinson & The Trebuchet Group

In our society, it’s so easy to breathe in feelings of self-doubt in our work. In this episode, Chris and Josh explore how to understand your own strengths and limitations to help tackle these tough emotions. As Socrates once said “Know Thyself.” They also offer guidance for leaders to help others overcome strong stories and feelings of ‘not enough’ in their organizations. Remember, you’re not alone. This is a common challenge. When you’re ready for some self-exploration, listen in here.

TAKEAWAYS!

• Imposter syndrome is pervasive in our society. Most of us experience some flavor of worrying if we are going to do a good enough job.

• The place to start for all of this work is self-knowledge. Three questions to start with are:What am I really here for? What’s my purpose? What do I connect around?

• Under current situations, many leaders are asking to be seen as counselors or coaches. At the core, leaders have the opportunity to help people appreciate themselves - especially around how they are showing up, what their strengths are, and where they want to go in the world.

• Healthy discontent is a great prompt to bring your strengths to the forefront. There are spaces for you to untangle and see your ability to do things easily as a strength.

In this episode, Chris and Josh explore the very human need to feel like we belong, especially at work. They unpack a few strategies for both leaders and employees to build cultures where people feel they are seen and their contributions matter. Remember, you’re not alone. This is a common challenge. When you’re ready for some self-exploration, listen in here.

TAKEAWAYS!

• As humans, we are deeply wired to belong. 

• If you are already belonging, it’s difficult to see those who feel like they aren’t belonging.

• Righteous indignation means you’re probably not right ….

• As a leader, you must be aware of power differences that exist. To raise your radar and increase inclusion in your organization, you can examine group interactions, hold individual conversations, and ask the question ‘What can I do to create an environment where you can actively contribute to what we are doing, together?’

• To explore belonging we must examine our biases and find ways to get really curious instead.

In this episode, Chris and Josh explore the common problem leaders experience when they wonder “Hmm, maybe I’m the problem.” They unpack a few indicators that can confirm your role in holding things up, and offer helpful suggestions on determining what’s most important for the business, for the team, and when it might be time for you to just get a hobby. Remember, you’re not alone. This is a common challenge. When you’re ready for some self-exploration, listen in here.

TAKEAWAYS!

• A few things to look for: If work is piling up around you, big hint. If you aren’t available and things are happening faster than usual or people hold back when you ask for their perspective, this can be another indicator that you may be a bottleneck. 

• When a leader perceives this problem to be true, it may be time to explore how you’re feeling valued in your organization. 

• To open up the bottleneck, you can start thinking with end in mind. Start with questions like, What would I do if I have to punch out for awhile? Who is the understudy - either person or process - that can cover the gap? 

• It might be time to do an “ego-ectimy.” The longer you hold onto things you may need to let go of, the longer you’re impacting the team. What’s your responsibility to create stewards beyond you?

In this episode, Chris and Josh explore how teams can break out of silos, successfully navigate challenging conversations, and you can move your organization forward into healthy teamwork by using the cascade of needs.They unpack how to hold tension in the organization and create a bigger picture that everyone is excited to contribute to. 

TAKEAWAYS!

• When you don’t know the bigger picture, you focus on what you can control.

• People working well together doesn’t have to be a fluke. With attention and effort, people can be excited to show up and commit with ease.

• It can be helpful to reframe jobs in a new way - use the formula: What we’re trying to do as a company is … and your role in that mission is …

• When the bigger picture is clear enough, people will tear down the silos. 

GET YOUR Cascade of Needs Resource!

In this episode, Chris and Josh speak to a common human experience - most people want to use their strengths to positively impact others. Many people aren’t sure how to do that at work. Learn a few new strategies for helping your people discover where they are awesome and how they can use their strengths in service of the team. 

TAKEAWAYS!

• If you’ve got a team, you have everything you need right now to move the organization forward. 

• Be discerning and not judgemental - help look into others to identify what they are doing well

• People aren’t puzzle pieces - rather than judging people and putting them in a box, look at their strengths and opportunities with curiosity

• Good leaders partner with their people rather than have all of the answers 

GET YOUR FREE RESOURCE!

In this episode, we explore what it means for a leader to take a sabbatical when business is going great. CEO Chris Hutchinson shares his anxieties and excitements about taking four months away from the business. How can you prepare your team for a similar sort of intentional break that serves you and your organization?

TAKEAWAYS!

• When the CEO steps away from the business, everyone has a chance to thrive a bit more in their own sweet spots.

• Transparency helps everyone in the organization prepare and answer questions they may be making up in their own heads. 

• The world is fragile, and there are chances to be ‘anti-fragile’ by testing things. We can coach ourselves and others to figure out how to move forward with what we want and need with courage.

• You can “take a sabbatical” as a thought exercise. What would you need to explore to be successful? What would the organization need? What would the team need? 

BOOK!

Welcome to the first episode of Season Five of the Ripple Leader Podcast. In this episode, we remind leaders how normal it is for people to be moving in opposite directions. As a leader, you have a clear picture of where the organization and people go, yet no one seems inspired or interested. Tired of pushing sand up a rope? The good news is in this tension is an opportunity for you and your team to figure out what you really want to make happen, together. 

TAKEAWAYS!

• Curiosity can hold your judgment at bay until you have the whole picture

• Bonus: being curious about intent first can open up possibilities you didn't know existed, and allow people to self correct if their actions were reflexive / unhelpful

• People own/support what they help create

• Ideal pictures of the future have inherent tensions in them - polarity management and optimization vs maximization

Email Katie at katie@trebuchetgroup.com to get your own Picturing the Future tool!

BOOK!

In this episode, we are diving further into Chris’s 20 years of leadership coaching. In part one, we focused on leadership and the organization as a whole. But today we’re talking about the lessons Chris has learned related to teams and the individual. You don’t want to miss this!

There are moments in life when things just aren’t fair - you can either spend 20 years in leadership coaching or learn from someone who spent 20 years in leadership coaching. The beauty of books or podcasts is that we have the opportunity to learn from the lessons of someone else, like a cheat sheet. And that’s exactly what this episode is about.

We’re diving into the top things Chris has learned from working with leaders, teams and organizations over the last 20 years.

We are living in interesting times with lots of challenges and lots of opportunities. Part of leadership is figuring out how to overcome the challenges or move aside so they zip by you and seize the opportunities, despite the difficulties everyone is facing.

In the first episode recorded in 2022, we are stepping back and examining how different life and work look now compared to a few years ago and how that affects how we lead in 2022. All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast.

Would you follow you? It can be a challenging question. And the intention is not for this to be an indictment. But more of an opportunity for reflection on what you’ve seen other leaders do that you’d like to emulate. And how are you showing up for others, whether you lead them formally or informally. All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast.

What have we learned as leaders in this past year? Hopefully, there are some real positive things that we have done well. Maybe there's things that you have tried and didn't work so well, and learned a different way to do it. And there might be things we did that at the end of the day just aren’t helpful.

Between what we’ve learned about ourselves or how we interact with our teams, reflection can be a useful and important tool to help move forward as leaders. All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast.

Would you follow you? Everybody needs to face that necessary discomfort of being willing to look in the mirror, especially leaders. It’s a particularly grounding question because if you think about yourself as an effective leader, it's highly likely you’re not seeing the things that you do that are ineffective. It literally gets into your shadow.

So this week we shine a light into our shadows and ask ourselves the question, “would you follow you?” All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast.

Work’s changing, ​​and with that change is what has been called “the Great Resignation.” In the previous episode, we talked about how a lot of people are re-examining what matters and sort of finding their jobs coming up short. What people want in a job is changing.

So then what are we, as leaders, to do about this? What can we do to help support those around us who are going through this shift? As we go through this together? All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast.

Work’s changing, ​​and with that change is what has been called “the Great Resignation.” This collective workplace shift has been a great opportunity in thinking about what we are really doing in our work. Our values and what we want out of our jobs are changing.

But what else has led to such a massive shift and how should leaders respond? All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast.

The last two years have been somewhat of a perfect storm for change, everything from the social unrest and kind of reset that’s been happening. And in terms of work, there are trends that were already burgeoning that the pandemic has significantly accelerated.

But how do we fit into that? And what's the role of the leader in dealing with that change? All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast.

A purpose-less leader is like a rudderless ship, just floating in no particular direction or maybe not even moving at all. When we think of purpose-driven leaders, it is someone who is proactive in their life, who has a North Star, a guiding star they are always checking their course against. Purpose-driven leaders are motivated and focused.

So how do we become purpose-driven leaders? And how can we be more proactive in growing as purpose-driven leaders? All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast.

When building for the future, making sure that you're investing in people is the best way to have them feel like this is a place where they can have a future with you. Trying to figure out how you're building leaders in the organization that not only makes the organization stronger, makes people feel and able to influence more, but it also can take pressure off you as a leader, and feeling like we've got to do so much.

But what if you don’t necessarily feel like you fit into the title of “leader”? And how can you create an environment where people feel like they can develop and step into leadership. All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast.

This week Seth and Chris are joined by Philipp Steger, who is working as a strategy advisor and executive coach. The problem that he keeps running into is that competitive and antagonistic mindsets are all too common. What organizations need is a collaborative mindset and response-able leaders. But what does that really mean and what does that look like in an age where how we collaborate is always changing. All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast.

What is the power of pause? It forces us to stop, take time to reflect, and be present with those around you. Or maybe you need to just take a step back and make sure you’re seeing things for what they really are rather than sort of stumbling forward to what's next. But what does it look like to pause? And how beneficial is it really for a leader? All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast.

What does it look like to empower your team, rather than jumping to the rescue. It’s natural as a leader to want to fix things, but being the “fixer” isn’t always the most productive. How can we help people and coach them to find solutions on their own? All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast.

We are meant to struggle, but we don’t have to struggle alone. Healthy struggle on a team deepens commitment and can make a difference in the energy people bring to working together. But how can leaders enable healthy struggle and what does healthy struggle even look like? All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast.

In times of stress, is our only job to survive? Don’t waste a good crisis. There’s no better time to take a look at what needs to change and change it than when you’re forced to. What do you want to encourage or discourage? All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast.

“It’s Not My Job.” There are so many scenarios that can end with that phrase. It’s not always a bad thing, but it’s not always a good thing - it’s a conversation. It’s a phrase that can teach us things, about ourselves or about the team/company. But how can we use this phrase to respond and move in the right direction? All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast.

Vulnerability is a sensitive issue in the realm of Leadership. It’s not always fun to talk about, but it’s a necessary conversation. Feeling vulnerable can be caused by major personal life events or minor workplace inconveniences, is it possible to separate the two? So how can leaders lead in vulnerability and be what the team needs? All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast.

Uncertainty doesn’t just mean pandemics or catastrophes, although that feels very relevant for today. It can also mean everyday uncertainty, like making calculated guesses without having all the answers. How can we as leaders lead confidently through the fog of uncertainty? All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast.

What are some things you’ve learned because of the pandemic and how are you applying those things to your life now?

This is an important topic because nobody wants to go through a pandemic, challenges, or the hard times in our life, but it is even worse to go through something hard and not learn anything on the other side. All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast.

What is the responsibility of a leader in light of the global pandemic? How can you best lead your team while working remotely? How can you best lead your team during the transition back to the office? Is it your responsibility as a leader to take care of those you work with?

There are some key things that make a good leader, particularly during this challenging time. All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast.

How has working remotely affected your business? There’s no question that working remotely for the last year and a half has brought massive changes and even some struggles. But now as people are returning to the office, how can we lead our teams as they transition back into the workplace and what does the “new normal” look like? All this and more in this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast!

On this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast we talk about the pandemic business survival handbook...that you likely misplaced. The real secret here is that one doesn’t exist...we are learning as we go.

This conversation is our first we have recorded live on Fireside where the podcast is now a conversation. We welcome questions from the audience and have a conversation to learn from what you and others are going through.

On this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast we talk about resilience in leadership vs. change management. When you are a leader in an organization or are a part of a team, how can you best facilitate the necessary change and transformation?

This conversation is our first we have recorded live on Fireside where the podcast is now a conversation. We welcome questions from the audience and have a conversation to learn from what you and others are going through.

In this episode, Chris Hutchinson (CEO of Trebuchet Group) and Seth Silvers (CEO of Story On Media & Marketing) discuss:

* How the Covid-19 is forcing many leaders to clarify their purpose and to refocus on what is valuable.

* How the pandemic really hit home for many people that we aren’t in control of many aspects of our lives.

* How the pandemic is teaching everyone, from business leaders to schoolchildren, about resilience, coping mechanisms, and dealing with stress.

* The benefits of doing weekly 15 minute huddles with your business colleagues. In some of Chris’s recent huddles, he and his team have talked about equity, diversity, and inclusion.

* What’s the role of the leader?

* Patrick Lencioni’s idea of a rallying cry.

* Chris’s hope that people take this time to do some self reflection. And that, instead of justi figuring out something technical, such as “it’s better to do X instead of Y,” Chris hopes that people ask more poignant questions, such as,”How are we working together?”

* The thought experiment of asking yourself: “What would my company have to do in order to still be in business 100 years from now?”

* How the pandemic is providing us an opportunity to choose. In a way, we can either say, “This is a crappy time.Or we can say, “This is helping expose the things that really matter to us.”

* How, as leaders, when we commit to learning, we’ll know what we're going to stumble upon.

LEARN MORE!

On this episode of The Ripple Leader Podcast, Chris Hutchinson and Seth Silvers talk about how to lead through a crisis, even when you don’t have the answers.

It’s no secret that 2020 has been an unprecedented year. There’s no playbook for how to run a business during a pandemic. So as leaders, entrepreneurs, and business owners, how are we to communicate effectively in times of crisis, when we’re unsure of the future and don’t have all the answers?

In this episode, we discuss how leadership in times of crisis requires clarity, communication, and vulnerability.