“If you don’t find absolute joy in other people’s success, being a leader’s probably not going to float your boat,” says today’s guest, Laurie Labra.

Daniel and Peter welcome Laurie to this episode of The Leadership Growth Podcast for a fun and insightful conversation about leadership in a highly technical environment. Laurie is a vice president at KBR, Inc., leading the company’s Science & Space Human Exploration Division.

Laurie brings great expertise to this conversation about leadership, and she shares some important insights about decision-making, developing new leaders, and communication.

Tune in to learn:

• How to balance the tension between delivering technical excellence and maintaining strong team relationships
• Why the mirror can be your best friend before a tough conversation
• The one test you can never ace

Plus, the value of meeting new people, and how early career lessons can stick with you for the rest of your life.

In this episode:

0:59 – Introduction and Background

4:28 – Leadership Lessons for the Next Generation

10:39 – Achieving Technical Excellence Without Damaging People

15:51 – Decision Making When You Don’t Have All the Info

21:08 – Communication Tips

27:51 – Lessons from Real Life

32:59 – Meeting People

35:29 – Lightning Round

Resources:

Laurie Labra LinkedIn Profile

KBR, Inc.

Stewart Leadership Insights and Resources:

• 4 Steps to Effective Decision Making
• What Cheetahs Can Teach Us About Decision-Making
• 5 Ways Your Decision-Making Impacts Your Leadership Presence
• 6 Traits of Leaders Who Deliver Excellence
• The 5 Phases of Teaming
• The Nine Dimensions of Successful Teaming
• The 10 Rules for Amazingly High Performing Teams
• The 2 Levels in Every Conversation
• 5 Questions to Answer Before Your Next Hard Conversation
• 6 Tips for Improving Your Active Listening Skills
• High-Performing Team Guide

If you liked this episode, please share it with a friend or colleague, or, better yet, leave a review to help other listeners find our show, and remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

For more great content or to learn about how Stewart Leadership can help you grow your ability to lead effectively, please visit stewartleadership.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.

What can leaders learn from horseshoe crabs, cottonwood trees, and polar bears?

This episode of The Leadership Growth Podcast takes a fascinating dive into the lessons that leaders and organizations can take from nature. Guest Ron Amodeo, Chief Strategy Officer at UC Davis Health, shares some examples and insights from nature that can inform the way leaders direct their organizations.

Join us for this fresh and unique perspective that takes us out of the stale, gray conference room and into the lively and ever-changing world around us.

Tune in to learn:

• How concepts such as evolution and extinction apply to business
• Why operating with new constraints can help innovation
• How a new environment changes everything

In this episode:

2:49 – Topic: How Nature Informs Strategy

Resources:

Ron Amodeo Bio, UC Davis Health

Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History, by Stephen Jay Gould

Burgess Shale

Square-Cube Law

Great Expectations: The Saturn Cars Story

Stewart Leadership Insights and Resources:

• 4 Strategic Planning Pitfalls to Avoid
• 4 Ways to Focus Your Strategic Action Plan
• Scenario Planning for an Uncertain World
• Leading Through Change: How to Future Proof Your Team
• Prescribed Burns
• Processionary Caterpillars
• The Power of Imagination in Planning
• Leadership Lessons

If you liked this episode, please share it with a friend or colleague, or, better yet, leave a review to help other listeners find our show, and remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

For more great content or to learn about how Stewart Leadership can help you grow your ability to lead effectively, please visit stewartleadership.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.

Why do people want to work for you?

And perhaps more importantly, why do they want to continue to work for you?

In this episode of The Leadership Growth Podcast, Daniel and Peter look at how both external and internal onboarding can make or break the employee experience.

As Peter points out, the talent market will continue to experience generational shifts for several years to come, and the number of people entering the workforce isn’t enough to fill all the gaps. Attracting and retaining talent is more important than ever, and a great onboarding process can help everyone avoid unmet expectations, uncertainties, and unknowns.

Tune in to learn:

• The three different levels of onboarding
• The value of a team charter
• The biggest mistake to avoid with onboarding

Plus, wisdom from an old proverb, and how skiing is like many onboarding experiences.

In this episode:

2:11 – Insight of the Week

10:05 – Topic: Onboarding: How to Help Prepare People for Success In Their Roles

37:10 – Lightning Round

Resources:

Stewart Leadership Insights and Resources:

• Employee Retention: Use the First 90 Days to Keep Your Best New Talent
• Employee Experience: It’s the Moments That Matter
• 6 Reasons Employee Retention Should Matter to Your Organization
• Top 10 Reasons Why Your Competitors are Getting Your Candidates
• 5 Takeaways for Improving the Employee Experience Lifecycle
• The 7 Elements of Employee Experience
• 4 Ways to Improve the Onboarding Experience in a Remote Environment
• 4 Vital Considerations for Your Team Charter

If you liked this episode, please share it with a friend or colleague, or, better yet, leave a review to help other listeners find our show, and remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

For more great content or to learn about how Stewart Leadership can help you grow your ability to lead effectively, please visit stewartleadership.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.