Episode 11: Ron Carucci: Why Leaders Succeed or Fail

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In this episode of The Manage Your Message podcast, host Jim Karrh interviews Ron Carucci. Ron is a bestselling author and executive coach, specializing in issues of personal influence, and executive success. He has worked in more than 30 countries, with heads of state and heads of corporations. Ron is frequently featured in major media outlets such as Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Fortune and BusinessWeek. He is also the co-founder and managing partner at Navalent. He is the author of 8 books including the bestseller, Rising to Power.

The two cover many topics such as personal influence and power. They discuss the greatest misuse of power, the four characteristics to success, and the power of vulnerability.

When it comes to the importance of an executive’s message, Ron says, “I find it fascinating that people who desire to have great impact and influence somehow missed the memo that you are the message.” He shares that 70 percent of what people remember about you is how they experience you, how you make them feel and think.

Ron has found that the greatest misuse of power is the abandonment of it.

If you want to have agency in the world, then you can’t assume people will give you the benefit of the doubt. It takes work, and we all have to articulate and embody our values and messages consistently.

Being passionate about one’s work or a cause is not enough. Ron cites his firm’s ten-year longitudinal study of 2700 business professionals. This study found that more than half of the people who take on positions of greater responsibility within an organization end up failing within the first 18 months.

Which characteristics separate those who succeed in positions of greater responsibility, versus those who fail? Ron found four components things that set apart these successful leaders.

Context- Knowing their audience and being curious
Breadth- Bringing together many people and creating cohesion among them
Choice- Making hard decisions and not being afraid to say no
Connection- Prioritizing their relationships by whom they could help the most rather than how they could be helped

The successful leaders were good in all four components: “It’s one thing in four parts.”

Ron also shares how vulnerability can actually be used as a strength. It is far worse to try to hide one’s shortcomings. He says we are all bad observers of our own reality and need other people in order to develop and grow. Jim and Ron discuss the role of empathy and emotional intelligence in the workplace. Ron shares how at the center of all of us is the desire to be seen and to be known. The episode concludes with final discussion on how leadership and influence are best learned and honed over time.

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Links:

Learn more about Jim Karrh

https://jimkarrh.com/

Follow Jim on Twitter

https://twitter.com/jimkarrh?lang=en

Connect with Jim on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimkarrh

or email jim@jimkarrh.com

Connect with Ron on Twitter

https://twitter.com/RonCarucci

Connect with Ron on LinkedIn