Feb. 24, 2026

The Great Millennial Career Crisis

The Great Millennial Career Crisis
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Meet Zachary Ames a master at developing leaders. With a track record of outstanding success. He is an expert in organizational behavior. We’ll be talking about career crisis and what is next for him.

NEXT! is broadcast live Tuesdays at 9AM ET and Music on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). NEXT!  is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).

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The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are

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solely those of the hosts and their guests and not

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be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing

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W FOURCY Radio.

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Good morning, good afternoon, good evening for anyone who is

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tapping in from around the globe. Actually, I just got

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back from South America, which was incredible, and seeing the

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glaciers and the mountains and the power of nature was unbelievable.

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And that's why I'm one of the reasons why I'm

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excited to have my guest today, Zachary Aimes. Zachary is

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a phenomenal leader. He has done many, many great things.

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And I guess the reference to the mountains is he's

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a fabulous downhill skier in the Wasatch Mountains in Utah,

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which I happen to love. And Zachary is also a

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global executive coach. He works with the Marshall Goldsmith Group,

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He's developed a local leadership program, He's worked with Bloomberg.

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He's just done some phenomenal, phenomenal stuff and he continues

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to serve as clients, which is great. So with that,

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I'd like to invite Zachary on the show.

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Thank you for having me.

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What made you work?

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Move to wasatch Utah? What made you go out there?

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So it's not that big of a surprise.

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I do think many people wonder why or how I

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ended up here, but I was born and raised here,

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so that was not an unusual place for me to

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eventually land. But in terms of why I'm here now,

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after about fifteen years in corporate leadership talent development roles,

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about ten years in New York, four years in Singapore,

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I was there part of what we're talking about with

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the great millennial career crisis. So I had been in

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my roles at Bloomberg, as you mentioned for a minute,

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took me all over and had a great opportunity while

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in Singapore to be a regional talent partner and it

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was also mid COVID and so I left both my

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career back and as well as Asia left the corporate

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side of things and decided to start my own practice

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of coaching and consulting, and came here thought it would

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be a safe soft landing mid COVID. What actually ended

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up happening was I have now a dog, a house,

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and as you did a ski pass.

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So Zach great.

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Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, what you know,

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what really drew you to leadership development and coaching?

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What was the what was the real draw for you?

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It's interesting many people in our field of work that

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both you and I do. Someone will maybe rise through

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the ranks and come in sideways and realize later on

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that they were a great mentor, or maybe they were

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great at sales. And I came and did some sales

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training my experience, I knew that this is the work

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I always wanted to do. I think that sits kind

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of in two spaces. One from a younger age. I

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was doing leadership talent development, unaware that it was a career,

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and just loved going to junior leadership conferences. I was

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able to travel the country and I'm very used to

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standing in a room with you know, four flip charts

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and markers and just loved that world and again, but

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didn't know that this was a thing I could eventually

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do over time. The other piece of it, in terms

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of why I've also dedicated my life to it. The

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more that I continued down the path and read those books,

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I was a total nerd, and as you can see,

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I'm surrounded by them.

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That was what I would ask for.

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For Christmas and birthdays was you know, Jim Collins, good

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to great, pretty dense for a teenager, But that's what

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I thought was some fun literature.

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But I think for me, the through line.

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Has always been, when I think about it, there's been

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no great thing accomplished in this world without leadership. So

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for me, it's my ability to not just help individuals,

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which is highly rewarding, but also recognizing that my small

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little pebble in the lake is also wildly helpful in

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terms of the larger ripple effect that it can have

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in the world.

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Wow, So what did you see?

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Are the biggest gaps in leaders that you found are

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sort of consistent across the board or aren't there any?

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I mean, I think there are plenty in some way, right.

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I think everyone myself included, and knowing the career you've had,

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none of us are without some sort of gap, right.

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I think that is part of the beauty of the

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process of leadership and our growth and development throughout it,

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and that ability, I think is what gives many of

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us our empathy to understand how to help and grow

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and develop others.

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I do think there are some.

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Unique challenges that are being faced right now within our

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current environment with the onslaught of things like AI and

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the massive, massive or rapid I guess pace of technology

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changes that sometimes the old rules so no longer fit

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our modern environment. I think that's one of the bigger

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challenges is the expectations of Again, each of the different

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generations coming into the workplace have looked different, and therefore

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the leadership requirements to help those behind them have had

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to look different as well. So I think there's a

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lot of things, and we could pick in, you know,

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a number of them to deep dive, But yeah, I

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think everyone faces some unique challenges based on the current

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environment and more importantly their relationship to it.

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Did you see any you know, I know you've worked

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in Singapore, and I know you've worked in the US,

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and you know, around the world, But do you see

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any major differences that come about as a result of

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either country culture or organizational culture.

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Yeah, I think it's an interesting one where we are

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getting I think, more and more streamlined in terms of

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our access and capabilities with each other across the world,

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which in many ways is fantastic. And then I also

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really love the fact that there are some differences. One

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of the things I noted, even for myself, was needing

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to make some adjustments in my own communication style coming

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from New York headquarters, where it was loud and bustling

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and very direct and what's the next thing, and jump

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in and say your piece, right, and then Singapore in particular,

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but you know, not hopefully too broad of a suite,

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but across most of Asia, right, the style of communication

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is a little slower. It's a lot more listening, it's

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taking your turn. It has different nuances to it, which

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were critical even for my own success. To make sure

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that during the day I approached my colleagues in a

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certain manner, and then when I would get on those

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late night phone calls back with my team in New York,

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I made sure I jumped in. It was one of

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my rules. In the first two to three minutes, I

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had to make sure my voice was heard on a

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call because it would be easy to get lost in

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the background, And so that knee and mix for approaching

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our styles and our cultures and our communities differently was

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vastly critical. And it was also really fun in my

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role to help teach other people how to be successful

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on that global stage.

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So what did it mean to speak up?

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What did it mean to fight for your ideas and

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your opinions, and even quite frankly, sometimes how to be

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comfortable cutting somebody off.

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So, so you know you are a millennial, I mean

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you say that, do you find that any challenges for

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you when you're coaching older executives?

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Or you know, has that been a challenge for you?

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And the second part of that question is do you

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coach any other millennials or people that are younger?

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So two questions.

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Yeah, so for those that are a bit older than me,

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I personally have not found it to be that big

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of a difference. I think the beauty of the container

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of coaching is it's not my job to give you answers.

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So if the question is right, do I have I

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been in your shoes? Or do I know your challenges?

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Or what's the advice I would give quite often that's

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not part of the agreement anyway, But I can say

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what's coming to mind actually, for one in particular individual,

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is that was a lot of the initial idea of

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their coaching was they were concerned about how to work

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with and manage a younger generation, the needs and demands

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and you know, not wanting to say the wrong thing

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at the wrong time, and feeling that younger generations might

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be a bit more sensitive and was really open and

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receptive to certain perspectives. But what was interesting is by

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the end of that coaching engagement, that was his number

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one piece of feedback was Wow, I thought we were

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going to talk about this, and we talked about all

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these other things. And I think that goes back to

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this idea that yes, we all might have some gaps

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in our leadership, but for most, for most of us, right,

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I think leadership is is really very very similar and

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mostly the same. It's one of the things I used

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to joke with one of my old HR colleagues, right

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that people are people, and as long as there are

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people in the workforce, you're going to need leadership, and

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there's going to be some of those challenges. And then yes,

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I think I've also been really lucky in the sense

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of helping. Actually, I'm about to just finish a six

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month coaching engagement with a fellow millennial pivoting in their

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career as well and really identifying again some of these

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big moments that they're tackling within this millennial career crisis

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of what do I do next? Here is what I

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thought was going to be and I don't know how

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to manage certain things. So yeah, it's been a fun

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experience being able to help on both sides.

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Wow, what do you think is from your experience is

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the secret sauce of great leadership?

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What is really that secret sauce?

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Yeah? For me, I think there's two things I will

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comment on. The first is recognizing, again as noted, that

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people are people. When you really stop and think about

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the best leader you've ever had. This is actually a

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fun exercise I will often do in groups is talk

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about the best boss and the worst boss. And when

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we think about these great leaders, the list is rarely,

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rarely does it include great project management skills, delivered everything

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on time, we were under budget, right, That is not

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the things that people list. What they really say is

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that they were open, they were listening, They cared about me,

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They respected who I was, They were open to ideas

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right they themselves were a person. But more importantly, they

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recognized their team members as people and these human needs

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that we have. And then the second one I will

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note from zooming out, not necessarily from their direct reports,

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but in terms of what the conditions and the environment

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are currently asking for. I've been doing a lot of

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work in adaptability, shifting away from the traditional change management,

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recognizing that things are constantly happening, constantly in change and influx.

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And so the main characteristic we are seeing, and there's

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a lot of different research out there that's supporting this

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right now, is the idea of adaptability, that characteristic of

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can I pivot, I've got new information, how do we

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move forward? And that idea or concept I think has

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been quite revolutionary, especially in the face of what many

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are you know, considering this idea of burnout we're seeing

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in big numbers and stress. But a lot of that,

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again is the condition assuming we're going from X and

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now we're going to Y, and now we have you know,

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sub bullets and dot point O and all these things

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in between that X and the Y, and sometimes we decide,

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you know what, we don't want to go to Y.

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We're going to leak frog and get to Z. So

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those two things I think would be the most import

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and that I'm seeing consistently around what makes a great leader?

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Yeah, I mean you may have already answered this, but

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what do you think the biggest mistake? Well, it's two

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parts to this question. What do you think is the

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biggest mistake that leaders make? And what do you think

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is the hardest thing that leaders have to do to change?

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That is a very good and difficult question. Obviously, I

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think many of those things might be highly individualistic. That said,

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I do think quite often leaders can get in their

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own way, especially if they think they need to have

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all the answers. I think that is one of the

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most difficult transitions for a leader from that, you know,

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not just from the high performing individual contributor into a

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management role. That's kind of that first step of the ladder.

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But even when you're in that middle ground, you are

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in that player coach space and relying on that player

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component of delivering things or assuming my team is stressed

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or frustrated and so therefore I need to be able

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to give them the answers. It feels good to be

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wanted and needed, and it does not feel good to

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be vulnerable. And so oftentimes the idea of if I

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have the answers, I'm going to be strong, and the

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reality is our best leaders often don't have the answers.

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That's why we need the leadership. We're going into unmarked territory,

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we're climbing new heights. So yes, it's valuable and important

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that you've climbed the mountain before you know how to

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transition that into the one we're going into.

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But it's okay if.

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You haven't been on this exact one either, and to

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share that, but having the confidence to say not just

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that I don't necessarily know, but here's how I think

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we can get there, or here's all the resources, and

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how do I manage the team and the time and

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everything else effectively to get us to accomplish that. So

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to the second part, then how what's difficult or how

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do we make that change?

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For me?

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It's all around coachability, that idea that you can be open,

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that you can listen, that you can receive feedback. Ideally

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you have a mentor or you know, maybe an internal

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coach or even someone externally to help you look at

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those problems, understand why is that important to me?

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Why might I.

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Have a challenge over here? And most importantly again, even

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in some of that question mark or unknown space, how

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do I communicate effectively and get the team to really

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rally and trust around not only me, but the idea

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for us to move forward?

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Wow?

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Wow, So tell me, Zachary, what do you think your

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personal secret sauce is.

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I think it depends on a little bit of the conditions.

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I think when I'm in group format and setting, I

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have a bit of a higher pace. I think that's

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always been helpful to have some energy. I also really

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believe in some pragmatism.

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One of the big.

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Changes I've had over my career was, as I mentioned

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right Jim Collins, as a teenager reading all the books

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and thinking that there's this really core philosophy or framework

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or I needed to be. You know, leadership was very

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academic for a while, and I learned that really leadership

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again is human. So there might be some academic principles,

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there might be some frameworks in the background that I'm

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considering or talking through. But where my real secret sauce

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comes is my ability to connect one on one, understand

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the individual in front of me, and really empathize and

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try to help then guide in shape or reframe some

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of the conditions or problems that are there. But by

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establishing that trust first, I'm able then to challenge the

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ideas or advise differently as we're moving forward.

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So, I know you called your organization the x y

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Zee Leadership.

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What's the story behind that? Why did you choose that?

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It's a good question. It is short for expand your zone.

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So when I think of the idea and the philosophy

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that kind of came from, it was, you know, oftentimes

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someone will turn forty and throw themselves out of a plane,

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or run a marathon, or do something big and different.

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But what I found is I was watching people do

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those things, is it didn't translate back to their lives.

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They would go and do one big thing and then

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jump right back into that comfort zone, if you will.

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And the research, especially again is noting around adaptability and

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future states and whatnot, that the more experiences we have

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and if we can actually take that moment and apply

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the lessons learned from stepping out and rather than just

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stepping back in the idea is actually, how do I

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make that space bigger? How do I have more experiences

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to call upon something that I call bright spot. When

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I work with a team, even they call me in

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and say, Zach, got this problem. The team's not doing

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this or that, And I always stop and think to myself, well,

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they can't be in complete disarray. They're all still hired.

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The project might be stalled, but it doesn't mean it's

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off track completely. So I often will ask people where

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is it working? What is the team doing well, what's

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a previous project that went well with this group of individuals?

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And that really gives us insight to the things that

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are not only in our control, but things we can

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focus on or work backwards and identify where some of

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the breakdowns have happened. And I find that even with

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my own self, I try to get similar to the

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old days of college kind of spring and fall semesters,

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learn a new skill, keep my brain fresh in many

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of those ways as well. But it's also a great

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way to think about, not only for your team but

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for yourself as a leader, is how do I go

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and acquire and get that space bigger? Which and the

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last point on it is I find that because when

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we go and hit up against that bear, if it's larger,

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what used to be a barrier for me or against

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my competition, what might be a barrier for them is

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no longer the case, and I can move up against

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what that old line used to be with a lot

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more confidence and a lot more capability.

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So question for you, when did you meet Marshall?

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I always ask everybody that he's such a collector of

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great people.

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He is indeed, and I was very lucky and fortunate

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as you know Dorry Clark. I was in Singapore at

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the time and got a text from someone saying, hey,

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do you mind meeting Dorry. She's got an idea for you.

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And it was the conversation between Dorry and Marshall actually

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that led to this of her saying we want to

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build a pay it forward, next gen leadership and coaching

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development program. So from that conversation she was kind enough

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and then I got time with So that's now been

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almost over four years. I suppose where I met with

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him and we talked about the potential for that future

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leader's program and he said yes, or rather I guess

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I said yes to him. It was his program and

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helped build what's now called Forefront, which is the real

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premier leadership accelerator for coaches and leader folks and leadership

359
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and talent development.

360
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Well, you know, all the stuff you talk about and

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all the stuff we talk about and leadership, it all

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sounds so easy on the.

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Surface, doesn't it.

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But we're talking about behavior change, and we're talking about

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really being willing to be introspective about yourself and really

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face into the things that you may not personally recognize,

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or the things that you don't agree with, and or

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the things that you know are really.

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Difficult for people.

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So how do you deal with that difficult individual that

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you can I know, Marshall says, if somebody doesn't want

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to be coached, walk away, But how do you deal

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with that, you know, difficult person that you know can

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change but is really struggling.

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Yeah.

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I think part of that, again, as noted, is some

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of that empathy in recognizing that there are days that.

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I don't want to change, right.

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The ability to say that when we do some of

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this introspection, our little protectors, those defense mechanisms come out

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pretty strong. They don't want to change, they don't want

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to be something different. They've worked really hard to keep

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us safe, to keep us successful, and so the idea

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that we have to change some of that is it

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can be very tough. So I think on one hand,

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Marshall is correct, at least to the top of maybe

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a coaching engagement. I rarely go in and try to

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do any sort of fixes or turnarounds or if you know,

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HR thinks someone needs to be coached to be fixed,

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that's rarely going to be a successful engagement. But if

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the person can see that there's an opportunity, or I

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can see that little glimmer in their eye that they

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know this just because it's hard doesn't mean it's not

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worth some of that. And so I think one is

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a bit of empathy in recognizing that I've had this

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with other clients or I've even had this with myself

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is sometimes helpful for them to hear and then really

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connecting to the larger why if they understand that there

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is a payoff and a benefit to where they want

400
00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:34.359
to go, that is always a horror foundation to our

401
00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:38.240
ability to then make behavior change happen. Right, And so

402
00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:40.960
if they as a really simple thing, right, if someone

403
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wants to get that next promotion or whatever it is,

404
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and they recognize, Wow, the way that I'm currently communicating

405
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with others I don't have seem to have many allies

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or wow, my team in the three sixty feedback says,

407
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I need to work on this or that, and it's like, okay,

408
00:22:55.680 --> 00:22:59.720
if you don't, what's the inevitable outcome? What is the

409
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end that path? And most of them are able to

410
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articulate it. They just don't want to acknowledge that there

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is another route or another possibility. But once we uncover

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that and give them enough of a benefit to change,

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then it definitely doesn't make it smooth, but it definitely

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makes it easier.

415
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You know, I have kept a client or two a

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little too long hoping that I could, you know, eventually

417
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break through and make the change.

418
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And it never worked out.

419
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And I knew it right from the very beginning that

420
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I should have just you know, turned the other way,

421
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and I didn't.

422
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But you know, live and learn. What can I say?

423
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Live and learn?

424
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So tell me, Zach, what's next for you? And then

425
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I have my final question, which is three pieces of

426
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advice you have for everyone, but what's next for you?

427
00:23:49.480 --> 00:23:49.559
So?

428
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I think, what's interesting as I start to look ahead

429
00:23:53.319 --> 00:23:57.799
and the day that we're recording. This is the lunar

430
00:23:57.799 --> 00:24:00.480
in New Year. The snake has shut it skin and

431
00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:03.640
the fire horses on its way in. So I'm definitely

432
00:24:03.640 --> 00:24:07.200
feeling some of that momentum and missing my Singapore colleagues

433
00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:10.359
today and tossing the noodles in the air and everything.

434
00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:15.200
I'm really excited for the opportunities that I have to

435
00:24:15.319 --> 00:24:19.319
continue with both my coaching and consulting clients. I'm also

436
00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:23.079
expanding into speaking of expand your zone, adding in some

437
00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:26.640
keynote speaking which I'm really excited about, particularly on this

438
00:24:26.759 --> 00:24:30.400
topic of adaptability as noted. And I'm also really excited

439
00:24:30.839 --> 00:24:35.799
by the reinvigoration of another opportunity and program that I

440
00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:40.519
have of PRISM Leadership helping advance and accelerate the careers

441
00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:45.039
of LGBT individuals, recognizing that there is such a low

442
00:24:45.079 --> 00:24:48.519
representation the higher you get up in the chain. And

443
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so a few people have been able to go through

444
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that coaching process and program last year, and really excited

445
00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:58.240
for a group cohort in this year ahead.

446
00:25:00.279 --> 00:25:02.759
The final And you may have answered this already, but.

447
00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:06.119
What's your biggest piece.

448
00:25:06.039 --> 00:25:07.759
Of advice to a leader?

449
00:25:09.119 --> 00:25:12.119
I think the biggest piece of advice. I think I

450
00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:14.599
may have just subconsciously done it myself. Right there is

451
00:25:14.839 --> 00:25:20.079
breathe take that second. Oftentimes we are moving so fast

452
00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:26.400
we forget that opportunity that sometimes it's even just you know, three, five,

453
00:25:26.920 --> 00:25:30.160
maybe thirty seconds before a meeting and just collecting your

454
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thoughts or identifying and saying, Okay, what does this person

455
00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:35.480
need for me, or what's the most important component of

456
00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:39.640
today's agenda or whatever that moment is. That ability to

457
00:25:39.720 --> 00:25:43.599
slow down, even in a micro moment, really can help

458
00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:48.160
you be much more sustainable, help reduce that burnout, and

459
00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:52.119
more importantly, ideally help you move further faster.

460
00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:53.240
Wow.

461
00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:56.960
Well, well now you can see why I asked Zachary

462
00:25:57.000 --> 00:26:00.759
to join the show today. I mean, it just just brilliant,

463
00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:06.759
brilliant advice. It was really great. Thank you so much

464
00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:10.440
Zachary for being part of the show, and I thank

465
00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:12.759
you for all the advice and all the insights that

466
00:26:12.799 --> 00:26:15.440
you've provided for people. And I hope you have a

467
00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:17.079
are you are you going skiing today?

468
00:26:17.160 --> 00:26:19.000
Is it good out there?

469
00:26:18.480 --> 00:26:21.640
The storm is just about to roll in and we'll

470
00:26:21.640 --> 00:26:24.400
see if I can't cut meeting or two and get

471
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up there.

472
00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:29.400
Okay, So one final thing. How can people get a

473
00:26:29.400 --> 00:26:32.720
hold of you, because clearly you're a kind of individual

474
00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:35.799
that executives should call into their organization.

475
00:26:36.440 --> 00:26:39.160
I greatly appreciate that it's been wonderful talking to you

476
00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:43.039
as well. You've definitely been a great mentor and someone

477
00:26:43.079 --> 00:26:44.480
I've looked up to for a long time.

478
00:26:45.079 --> 00:26:46.640
For those that want to get in touch with me.

479
00:26:47.400 --> 00:26:53.000
My website Zacharyaims dot com or xyz Leadership dot xyz.

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00:26:53.839 --> 00:26:57.440
Great, great, thank you, zach. It was a pleasure and

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I hope to see you soon. Are you going in

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New York for Marshall's birthday?

483
00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:06.640
I think it should be in the agenda. Yes, all right.

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Have a great rest of your day, and thank you

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00:27:10.759 --> 00:27:15.640
so much and to you bye bye. Well, thank you

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00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:20.119
for joining another episode of Next and we will continue

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00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:24.200
to have some interesting people from whom you can get

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00:27:24.519 --> 00:27:29.559
pretty good insights on how to develop your leadership practices,

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00:27:29.839 --> 00:27:33.440
your own leadership style, and get insights into people that

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00:27:33.720 --> 00:27:35.960
could help you become a better leader.

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Thanks everybody. Bye,