Take New Ground with Adrian Koehler

“My greatest gift is actually being an advocate versus a champion, which is looking somebody in the eye and believing in them, and then challenging them, and summoning them to the surface and inviting them to have their finest hour,” shares Adrian Koehler, leadership engagement expert and senior partner at the executive coaching firm, Take New Ground. Today, he discusses how to be a more authentic leader through being courageous enough to have difficult conversations and challenging yourself to step beyond your comfort zone.

Being a leader means thinking about more than just your own needs. The complication comes in when entrepreneurs have to step into that management type role that they never really wanted to have to do in the first place. They wanted to found a company, but that does not mean they wanted to have to manage other people. If you always hold your employees to your own really high standards, you are likely to always find them lacking in some way. Instead of seeing conflict with your team as a nuisance, look for the root cause and try to really listen to the complaints rather than just shrugging them off.

Authentic leadership comes down to creating a culture of accountability. It is very important for leaders to take accountability for their actions and for the overall success of their business and not just settle for a culture of complaints.

• “We're always looking for and want to follow the unlikely hero. And, I always want to help people find their own internal hero.” (8:06-8:16 | Adrian)
• “My greatest gift is actually being an advocate versus a champion, which is looking somebody in the eye and believing in them, and then challenging them, and summoning them to the surface and inviting them to have their finest hour.” (9:02-9:14 | Adrian)
• “You get to set your own bar about what your full potential is.” (14:18-14:20 | Adrian)
• “The hard part is most people just settle for complaints and end up having a culture of complaints.” (23:53-23:59 | Adrian)