In this episode of Assist With Impact, Liz’s guest is Dr. Kirstin Ferguson AM an author, columnist and company director. Liz talks with Kirstin about her experience navigating the career ‘climbing frame’ and her latest book, Head & Heart: The Art of Modern Leadership.
Kirstin shares some pivotal moments in her career, including when she was debating whether to become a journalist or join the military after leaving school. She ultimately chose the military, but her love for writing and journalism remained. She shares that she often suffers from imposter syndrome, but has learned to say yes anyway and trust herself.
Listen to the podcast to hear Kirstin discuss what readers can expect from Head & Heart: The Art of Modern Leadership and why it is different to the many other leadership books that have been published. Kirstin explains that the book is unlike any other book on leadership because it combines her own research and experience with interviews of a diverse range of people, not just corporate leaders. She also talks about the importance of an Australian view on what it means to be a modern leader and how the book covers a mix of theories and research behind leadership.
The Head & Heart Leader Scale™ is a tool developed by Kirstin Ferguson with Lisa Bradley at the QUT Business School to assess leaders' ability to integrate emotional intelligence with their professional skills. The scale is based on the concept that leadership involves not only technical competencies, but also a range of emotional intelligence skills, including empathy, self-awareness, and social skills.
The scale consists of 24 questions that assess a leader's ability to lead with both their head and their heart, with each question assessing a different aspect of leadership. The aim of the scale is to help leaders identify areas where they can improve and develop their emotional intelligence skills to become more effective leaders.
Kirstin and Liz discuss the results of Liz’s Head & Heart Leader Scale Survey and how the results should be interpreted.
Throughout the interview, Liz and Kirstin discuss the various ways Kirstin has advocated for women, including her viral social media campaign called #CelebratingWomen and how Administrative professionals can and do lead from within, and we discuss the contribution of Kirstin’s own Chief of Staff Luisa.
Visit https://headheartleader.com/ to take the 24-question survey and find out where you can order your copy of Head & Heart: The Art of Modern Leadership.
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The Boston Consulting Group I reference can be found here: https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/heart-ceo-effectiveness
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In this episode, Liz shares a simple yet effective framework for assistants to build and maintain their understanding of their manager's needs and priorities. She talks about how managing different needs and priorities across different executives can cause stress and anxiety and contribute to overwhelm.
Liz introduces the 3 Ps - Preferences, Priorities, and Pet Peeves - and explains how they can be used to set up new relationships for success and reset existing relationships.
She emphasizes that assistants are not mind readers and need information, insight, and experience to manage their manager's needs and preferences effectively. Liz breaks down each of the three Ps and provides examples of how assistants can gather information about them, including asking their manager directly.
Liz also emphasizes the importance of ongoing dialogue and structured approaches to checking in with managers as priorities are constantly changing. She suggests documenting the three Ps for managers and keeping the list handy and updated.
Liz highlights the 3 Ps as a dynamic document that can be used as a handover document and shared with other EA colleagues. She encourages assistants to be proactive, curious, and interested in their manager's needs and priorities.
Finally, Liz talks about how to put the 3 Ps into practice, emphasizing the importance of using open-ended questions and fostering curiosity for insights. She also mentions that she provides a workbook for coaching clients and training program attendees that guides them through how to set up a 3 Ps conversation with their manager.
Listeners who want to learn more about Liz's training programs and membership platform can sign up for her email newsletter at myeacareer.com.