36: Sara Canaday: Leadership Unchained
+ FollowOn this episode of The Manage Your Message Podcast host Jim Karrh speaks with Sara Canaday, author of the new book Leadership Unchained: Defy Conventional Wisdom for Breakthrough Performance. Sara is also a keynote speaker and LinkedIn Learning instructor.
She didn’t start out that way—like many of us, Sara came to see her distinctive skills and calling while life was in full motion. As she was climbing the corporate ladder, she kept noticing how the most successful people weren’t necessarily the ones with the most refined skills or highest IQs. Rather, those who advanced showed the capacity to collaborate, communicate, and influence others.
Another thing was going on, too. Sara was being approached consistently by colleagues, subordinates, and even superiors—asking her advice about career challenges and ways to raise their personal market value. So, Sara made her own professional change.
In her new book, Sara outlines six mental shifts that define modern leadership thinking:
- The age-old bias for action
- Actively seeking out cognitive diversity
- Welcoming the insights of soft intelligence
- Dropping routines, letting go of outdated tasks and deliverables
- Defeating the drag on communication
- Approaching tasks with the spirit of a beginner (“breaking free of the expert trap”)
There are, however, some elements of traditional management thinking that are still relevant (and essentially timeless):
- Leaders remain present
- Leaders demonstrate grace and humility
- Leaders develop and inspire others
- Leaders act with integrity
- Leaders contribute on a higher level
Links:
Learn more about Sara Canaday:
Find Sara Canaday on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/saracanaday/
Follow Sara on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/saracanaday
Check out Sara’s books, including her latest Leadership Unchained:
https://saracanaday.com/books/
“The Peculiar Blindness of Experts” (article that Jim mentioned during the interview): https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/06/how-to-predict-the-future/588040/
Learn more about Jim Karrh :
Pre-order Jim’s new book The Science of Customer Connections: Manage Your Message to Grow Your Business:
Barnes & Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1130470908?ean=9781632651532
IndieBound – https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781632651532
Follow Jim on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/jimkarrh?lang=en
Connect with Jim on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimkarrh
Sign up for the Message Manager Memo weekly email:
https://jimkarrh.com/ or email jim@jimkarrh.com