Episode #297 // “If you ever find yourself thinking, "How could the company possibly do without me?" Well, trust me, they'll work it out!”

For as long as I can remember, the business media has been awash with stories about the job market… how to get a job, how to keep a job, how to juggle your job with other demands, and how to climb the corporate ladder.

Since the Covid pandemic, it seems as though the volume of this advice has grown exponentially.

The most recent article to catch my eye, from the Wall Street Journal, discusses the concept of indispensability… it exposes the startling revelation that being indispensable might not necessarily provide you with the bulletproof job security that you thought it would.

For leaders, the indispensability landscape is very different. How should you approach this conundrum? What does it mean for you and your team?

In this episode, I take a look at the WSJ article, bringing some practical balance and perspective, and then I give you my 3 hot tips for making yourself invaluable, without trying to be indispensable.

Source Material

Wall Street Journal article:

The Big Work Lie: Being Indispensable WIll Save Your Job

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Moment #67 // You’ll often hear people explain away someone else’s success by saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know!”

It’s easy to discount another person’s achievement by putting it down to their position of privilege… to believe that the only reason they made it was because they received a leg-up, or a head start… to succumb to the dangerous thinking that says, “they have something that I don’t”.

Don’t lull yourself into surrender. Don’t wait until you’re in a rocking chair, saying “I could have been a contender”… it’s never too late to work on building your success ecosystem!

If you want to take a deep dive into my 10 key principles of career success, have a listen to Ep.138: It's Not What You Know.

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You can connect with me at:

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Our mission here at Your CEO Mentor is to improve the quality of leaders, globally.

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Episode #296 // "Middle management is the engine room of performance. This is where you are closest to the work, and you can make some real inroads into performance improvement."

I produced a podcast episode over 4 years ago, titled “The Curse of the Middle Manager”. So, when I recently came across an HBR article that signaled a resurgence in middle management roles, I figured it was time to take another look!

In many businesses, the role of the middle manager is by far the toughest. If you’re in that position now, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

You’re effectively the meat in the sandwich — the punching bag for both your team (who often don’t want to change the way they do things), and the senior leaders above you (who sometimes just want you to do as you’re told, without discussion).

Middle managers are often the most unloved (and unrewarded) people in an organization. But here’s the essential lens you need to look through: middle management is the petri dish in which senior leaders are identified, developed, and hatched.

I’m dedicating today’s episode to the middle manager, so that you can not just learn how to survive the cauldron, but to grow, thrive, and move onto bigger and better things!

No Bullsh!t Leadership podcast:

Ep.74: The Curse of the Middle Manager

Ep.267: Management vs Leadership

Ep.53: Don’t Overdo Collaboration

HBR Working Knowledge article:

The Middle Manager of the Future: More Coaching, Less Commanding

Clay Christensen books:

The Innovator’s Dilemma

The Innovator’s Solution

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Moment #66 // Leaders who have been passed over for promotion are often told, “You need to be more strategic”... whatever that means!

There could be a number of possible explanations for this… but you can’t always rely on your boss to explain exactly what she means!

In this Moment, I give you a few suggestions for how you might be able to interpret this feedback, and use it to work on the things that will better prepare you for the next level.

You can take a deeper dive into these insights by listening to Ep.134: Being More Strategic.

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You can connect with me at:

Website: https://www.yourceomentor.com

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourceomentor

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-moore-075b001/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@YourCEOMentor

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Our mission here at Your CEO Mentor is to improve the quality of leaders, globally.

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Episode #295 // “We make mistakes, at each new level that we move to – it's an essential part of our growth and development. But the higher up you go, the bigger the impact that those mistakes have.”

One of my recent social media posts went viral (this one - 2.7mill views as of writing this), as I outlined the three biggest mistakes I made when I was finding my feet in my first few senior leadership roles.

The good news is that, once I was aware of them, I was able to put some strategies in place to fill the holes. This had the surprising outcome of turning some of my biggest mistakes into genuine strengths.

They became part of the rock solid foundations of my leadership repertoire and, for at least one of these weaknesses, it became an unqualified strength, which gave me a competitive edge over my peers.

In this episode, I take a closer look at the three biggest mistakes I was still making when I stepped into senior leadership roles, and how I managed to turn these around.

I’d love you to be able to do the same, without having to get quite as many scars as I did!

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You can connect with me at:

Website: https://www.yourceomentor.com

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Our mission here at Your CEO Mentor is to improve the quality of leaders, globally.

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Moment #65 // If you want to be a great leader, you have to learn to read the play – to know when it’s appropriate to push one of your people harder, when it’s appropriate to work more closely with them, and when it’s appropriate to stand back and let them get on with it.

In this Moment, I take a look at Situational Leadership Theory (SLT). This model gives us guidance for how to adapt our style so that we have the best chance of getting through to our people, and enabling them to be successful.

Of course, the world isn’t clear cut… there’s 1,000 shades of gray, and every individual is different. Your style will never be as definitive as the SLT model might suggest. But it’s a really good mental frame to remind us to adapt our style for the individual, rather than pursuing a one-size-fits-all strategy.

You can take a deeper dive into these insights by listening to Ep.63: Reading the Play.

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FREE QUIZ: I’ve developed a 3-question quiz that’ll give you a free personalized podcast playlist tailored to where you are right now in your leadership career!

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You can connect with me at:

Website: https://www.yourceomentor.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourceomentor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourceomentor

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-moore-075b001/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@YourCEOMentor

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Our mission here at Your CEO Mentor is to improve the quality of leaders, globally.

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Episode #294 // “If you can create a culture that values momentum, you will almost always outperform teams that don't!”

I often talk about the need for speed. As a leader, placing a premium on forward progress is one of the most reliable tools you have to achieve execution excellence in your team.

If you can create a culture that values momentum, you will almost always outperform teams that don’t.

Teams that don’t value speed just seem to stagnate. I’ve seen lots of them over the years, and whenever that level of stagnation is present, it’s generally accompanied by other undesirable characteristics, like:

• A high level of conservatism
• A perfectionistic culture
• Low productivity
• Lack of challenge between team members
• Knowledge hoarding
• Lack of initiative and innovation
• Decision-making by consensus
• Over-indexing on process, and under-indexing on results

That’s why I was interested to read an article a little while back in the Wall Street Journal, which was titled, Why Bosses Should Tell Employees to Slow Down More Often.

It led me to wonder if there’s a case for deliberately slowing the tempo of the team, and under what circumstances that might make sense?

In this episode, I share some of my experiences on the virtues of speed, momentum, and forward progress. I take a good look at the findings of the WSJ article. And I offer my suggestions for the areas where I think speed is essential, and where it might be better to tell your team to back off and cool their jets.

Source Material:

Wall Street Journal article:

Why Bosses Should Tell Employees to Slow Down More Often

The Guardian article:

Sacking, revolt, return: how crisis at OpenAI over Sam Altman unfolded

Asana article:

What is Agile Methodology?

London Business School study:

The motivation of mission statements: How regulatory mode influences workplace discrimination

No Bullsh!t Leadership podcast:

Ep.266: What the Best CEOs Do

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Our mission here at Your CEO Mentor is to improve the quality of leaders, globally.

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Moment #64 // Many CEOs and senior executives talk a good game when it comes to culture change and transformation… it’s almost expected. But, even though they might make the right noises, it doesn’t necessarily mean they have the commitment to set a higher standard, or generate the level of momentum it would take to lead the change successfully.

Pretty much every senior leader says they want a constructive, high performance culture. But very few can clearly articulate what this means… and even fewer are prepared to do what it takes to affect any lasting change.

It doesn’t mean they’re bad people, or even that they’re ineffective leaders… What it does mean is that many senior leaders are only prepared to go so far in the quest for culture change. It’s the elephant in the room that no one really talks about.

You can take a deeper dive into these insights by listening to Ep.37: The CEO Wants Culture Change… or does he?.

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You can connect with me at:

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Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-moore-075b001/

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Our mission here at Your CEO Mentor is to improve the quality of leaders, globally.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.