Gustavo Razzetti is a culture change instigator, speaker, and
CEO of Fearless Culture, a culture design consultancy. He helps
leaders build teams that talk about what matters—even when it’s
uncomfortable–through his books and tools, including the Culture Design Canvas. He is the author of Forward Talk: The Bold New Method for Getting Teams Unstuck (Amazon, Bookshop)*.

The beauty of a team is that we can get so much more done with collaboration. It also means that sometimes we surrender our responsibility to others. In this conversation, Gustavo and I explore what to do when a team gets stuck.

• Conversations are the foundation of collaboration. Without them, teams quickly build conversational debt.
• We don’t stay silent because we’re scared. Rather, we stay quiet because we surrender our responsibility to others.
• Many of us overestimate our courage. We believe that we’ll say something, but studies show that often we do not.
• Forward Talk accomplishes two things: (1) addresses the real issue and (2) focuses on the future.
• See information as an opportunity instead of an obstacle. Courage can begin with admitting what you don’t know.
• Perspective is the choice to share your views instead of surrendering your judgment to social pressure.
• Responsibility is a commitment to understand the systemic issues instead of entering into blame.

• Forward Talk: The Bold New Method for Getting Teams Unstuck by Gustavo Razzetti (Amazon, Bookshop)*

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

• Getting Better at Internal Communication, with Roy Schwartz (episode 687)
• Help Your Team Coach Each Other, with Keith Ferrazzi (episode 709)
• What Really Matters for Team Success, with Colin Fisher (episode 748)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Bonni is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, she was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. Bonni is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide (Amazon, Bookshop)*.

In this reflection episode, Bonni and I look back on recent past episodes and discuss questions, feedback, and insights that have surfaced from recent conversations.

Dave responded to this question from Margaret Andrews:

• What does success look like for you?

“You can have everything in life you want if you’ll just help enough other people get what they want.” -Zig Ziglar

“Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.” -Earl Nightingale

Bonni responded to this question:

• What feedback have you received over the years about how your actions and behaviors impact others?

• To be of use by Marge Piercy

• How to Get Way Better at Accepting Feedback, with Sheila Heen (episode 143)
• Six Questions Every Leader Should Ask Themselves, with Margaret Andrews (episode 750)
• How to Lead a Meaningful Cultural Shift, with David Hutchens (episode 755)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Shirzad has been the CEO of the largest coach training organization in the world. He has lectured on Positive Intelligence at Stanford University and has trained faculty at Stanford and Yale business schools. He is the author of The New York Times bestseller Positive Intelligence: Why Only 20% of Teams and Individuals Achieve Their True Potential and How You Can Achieve Yours (Amazon, Bookshop)*.

By overusing our strengths, they can become our weakness. It’s just one of the many ways that leaders self-sabotage. In this conversation, Shirzad and I explore how to shift from self-sabotage to self-mastery.

Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them. -Henry David Thoreau

• We are all a mixed bag of Darth Vader (saboteur) and Jedi knight (sage).
• By overusing a strength, you turn it into a weakness.
• Rather than attempting to eliminate all our saboteurs, it’s more helpful to be intentional about quieting them down.
• The four most common saboteurs that show up for leaders are Controller, Stickler, Hyper Achiever, Hyper Rational.
• Sage perspective: Every outcome or circumstance can be turned into an opportunity.
• A 10-second brain shift can help quiet your mind and engage the sage. One way to do this is to rub your fingers together and notice the friction to get your mind out of autopilot.

• Positive Intelligence: Why Only 20% of Teams and Individuals Achieve Their True Potential and How You Can Achieve Yours by Shirzad Chamine (Amazon, Bookshop)*
• Saboteur Assessment
• Dave’s assessment results

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

• How to Tame Your Inner Critic, with Tara Mohr (episode 232)
• The Path to More Joy in Work and Life, with Judith Joseph (episode 734)
• How to See What’s Holding You Back, with Marty Dubin (episode 765)

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.