In this final episode of season 2, Ken and Seth discuss the value of touching into our own ambition and our relationship to it. Perhaps you have something inside of you that wants to be expressed, and it's important that you take the time and the energy to express that thing. Toxic ambition is about thinking that you're inherently a better human being than someone else. Positive ambition is in believing that we can be better at who we are and how we do things. It takes ambition to achieve great things in this world, and we need solid leaders who are willing to do this work collaboratively and with humility. Read more about us at https://www.itsnotpersonal.net/episodes or https://sethrigoletti.com/its-not-personal/

In this episode, Ken and Seth talk about the value of feedback and how it can change your life. The three types of feedback that are most common are appreciation, coaching, and evaluation. It's so important to be clear on what you want to hear and how you want to hear it. Thanks for the Feedback, by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen. The gift of feedback is when you can be specific and help the receiver understand themselves a little more. Find out more at https://www.itsnotpersonal.net/ or at https://sethrigoletti.com/

What if you could manage your worry and the worry of your team more effectively by both planning and trusting that you will figure it out? The ability of leaders to meet the worries and concerns of their teams with compassion and a sense of purpose makes the difference between a team that is built on self trust or one that's based on fear and control. Ken and Seth talk about how leaders can learn to trust themselves and build trust in their teams by doing a better job of managing their own worries and concerns. Self trust and trust in your teams are the two most important components of a good culture. As usual, Ken and Seth talk about how vulnerability is the path forward to this.

We can train ourselves to be more comfortable with discomfort and get more out of our own experiences and the experiences of those around us. Being a leader means being uncomfortable most of the time. If you are avoiding that discomfort or if you're trying to manage your team away from discomfort, then you're going to create problems for yourself and others. In this episode, Ken and Seth dive deep into the ways that leaders can lean into change and discomfort with their teams and their organizations.

In this episode Ken and Seth talk about the value of accepting that a career does not have to follow a straight path. Perhaps, it's even better if it doesn't. Ken shares how many of the successful people he works with in IT don't even have a computer science background. As a leader, you can provoke your team to think different about their own career path and how they might be able to support people to discover their talents. Whenever we think that careers have to go in a specific direction, we might be limiting ourselves from seeing opportunities as they appear.

In this episode, Ken and Seth talk about the importance of treating your teams, your employees, and your managers like adults so that they behave like adults. When we treat people like children, they tend to behave like children. When asked why he's willing to let his team decide whether to work remotely or come into the office, he says, "I have a fundamental principle, I only hire adults." Ken and Seth share their perspective on what it takes to build a culture of adults and cultivate an organization that's mature and responsible.

How do you feel about conflict? What does it mean to be a "tough boss?" How do we hold ourselves accountable and why?

It's important to bring feedback to people that removes the personal out of it. Why? It's because when we feel judged, we tend to shut down. Even so, it's crucial that leaders see the people who worked for them. The more you see them, the easier it is to motivate them and to help them improve how they develop. Being a "tough boss" isn't about being a jerk, rather it's about being clear, direct, and honest.

Can we find the fun and the spontaneity in our work? What would it look like if people were willing to use a little playfulness in their job? Ken shares how he uses humor and playfulness with his group, and how these things help to create engagement and develop relationships. Sometimes little things like turning presentation slides into a game of finding little hidden jokes for his Executive Leadership Team.

The more confident the organization is, the safer that they feel, the easier it will be to have fun and express ideas with honesty and humanity. Any job, no matter how great it is, can become monotonous or boring if it doesn't have some spontaneity and joy.