What 200+ Interviews With Successful Leaders Taught Me

My career has been anything but predictable. From high school tutor and receptionist to marketing consultant and business owner, to swim instructor and copywriter.

In my 20 years of working I've had (at least) 25 different jobs along with the good fortune and great privilege of being involved in countless interesting and meaningful paid and unpaid projects.

As some of you would know, one of the self-appointed jobs I adopted as part of becoming a small business owner was that of podcaster and interview host.

I started podcasting with the strategy that I had found most useful when I was running my first blog: Ask successful people questions that my target audience wants answers to.

What followed was over 4 years of regular interviews with incredible leaders. Incredible because they were smart, but also because they were kind, generous and caring.

When you regularly interview people in this kind of format, you start to pick up on patterns. Patterns of the challenges and insights that are being touched on each time you sit down with a new guest.

If you're a regular listener, viewer or reader of series that explores a topic, or you've conducted interviews for an industry or niche as a researcher, marketer or interview host, you'd also be familiar with how certain connections and pathways become the more established ones.

What I learnt from the 200+ interviews I conducted on behalf of myself and others gave me a close-up look at how successful leaders live, work and play.

The challenges every successful leader faces

My interviews were with leaders across a diverse range of contexts including business, government, education, community, sports, military and thought leadership.

Needless to say there are a variety of challenges that these people have or will face that are unique to their own domain. Having said that, there are a number of challenges that are also common amongst leaders. These include:

Challenge 1: Decision Making

Leaders often face complex problems to solve that have significant consequences. They must balance short-term needs with long-term goals whilst considering multiple perspectives and making tough choices under uncertainty.

Challenge 2: Effective Communication

Ensuring clear and consistent communication across diverse teams, managing conflicts, and addressing sensitive topics can be difficult.

Challenge 3: Managing Change

Change is inevitable, and leaders must navigate their way through necessary transitions. Resistance to change, overcoming inertia, and aligning people around new initiatives can be incredibly daunting.

Challenge 4: Building and Managing Teams & Networks

Leaders face challenges in recruiting top talent, fostering collaboration, building trust, resolving conflicts, and motivating individuals to achieve shared goals.

Challenge 5: Time Management

Leaders often have demanding schedules and multiple priorities. Juggling various tasks, balancing strategic and operational responsibilities, and avoiding burnout can be a constant challenge.

Challenge 6: Adapting to Uncertainty

External factors, such as economic fluctuations or industry disruptions, can create uncertainty. Leaders need to be agile, adaptable, and make informed decisions in rapidly changing environments.

Challenge 7: Developing Leadership Skills

Even experienced leaders face the challenge of continuous self-improvement. Developing and refining leadership skills, staying up-to-date with industry trends, and seeking personal and professional growth is ongoing.

Challenge 8: Managing Stakeholder Expectations

Leaders must navigate relationships with stakeholders such as employees, customers, investors, and regulators. Meeting diverse expectations, building trust, and managing conflicting interests can be... complex to say the least.

Challenge 9: Ethical Problem Solving

Leaders face ethical dilemmas and must make decisions that align with values and integrity. Balancing ethical considerations with business objectives and maintaining a strong ethical culture can be challenging.

Challenge 10: Handling Pressure and Resilience

Leadership roles often come with high-pressure situations, demanding accountability, and the need to stay resilient in the face of adversity. Managing stress, maintaining composure, and finding work-life balance are ongoing challenges.

These challenges along with the high level of risk and responsibility that comes with being in a leadership role places these individuals at high risk of burnout. Successful leaders are not only able to cope but to thrive, even in times of great stress and uncertainty.

Maybe she's born with it...Maybe it's Maybelline?

So what is it about successful leaders? Are they just naturally resilient and great at handling high pressure? Is uncertainty just fun for them?

Well...perhaps maybe, for some - generally speaking our genetics play a role in what comes easy and hard to us. Scientists estimate that?20 to 60 percent?of temperament is determined by genetics (but that still leaves a lot of room for the learning and development side of the equation!)

As anxiety and mental health author Bev Aisbett explains in her book "The Book of Burnout: What it is. Why it happens. Who gets it. And how to stop it before it stops you", some people have personality factors that may put them at greater risk of developing burnout over others.

"Not every CEO, first responder, carer or teacher (for example) becomes burned out... so clearly it's not just the situation that causes burnout." - Bev Aisbett, Anxiety & Mental Health Author

G.R.I.T.T: The 5 key ingredients of successful leaders

In my first article last week I shared The Self-Care Spectrum I designed to help people figure out where they are on the spectrum between burnout to thriving:

As I mentioned in response to Melissa Pepers ' kind and generous comment on this first post, I think it's important that we remember our brain has evolved to enable us to survive...not necessarily thrive (oh and if you don't know Melissa, I highly recommend following her and reaching out to say hello - she is one of the super smart and kind leaders I had the opportunity of interviewing!)

Refuelling our fire and keeping it blazing takes intentional work and practice. I believe this work - the intentional work we do to love and care for ourselves, is the most important occupation we have as human beings.

Our brain has evolved to enable us to survive...not necessarily thrive. Refuelling our fire and keeping it blazing takes intentional work and practice.

So what does this involve? This week I want to introduce the 5 key ingredients that enable successful leaders to keep their fire blazing.

We'll be exploring each aspect of this recipe in greater detail as part of this series so for today's post let's have a brief look at each of these:

Growth Mindset

You embrace challenges and failures by seeing them as an opportunity to learn and develop new skills.

Restorative Fuel

You consume the nutrients, information and ideas your body and brain need to thrive. You establish healthy boundaries so that you can protect the fuel you need to keep your fire blazing.

Inspired Habits

You develop habits that are inspired from within and aligned with your own values and goals. This requires a balance of both thinking and doing - we don't want to underthink or underdo - and we don't want to overthink and overdo either.

Targeted Development

You understand your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and use your time effectively to train your mind and muscles with a laser-focused approach.

Trustworthy Tribe

You cultivate healthy relationships and can recognise when a relationship is hindering your sense of self or wellbeing.?

Next week we'll be exploring how burnout is just the tip of the iceberg and how it relates to a number of underlying and interconnected challenges that can hinder our ability to thrive.

Until then, wishing you health and happiness,

Loz xo