My guest in this episode is Jennifer Berger, the CEO of Cultivating Leadership, an organization that helps leaders use complexity as the key that unlocks new possibilities for a better future.
Jennifer has worked with senior leaders in companies like Google, KPMG, Lion, Microsoft and Wikimedia. She is the author of three books, the latest one being Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps: How to Thrive in Complexity which we talk about in this interview.
She speaks at leadership and coaching conferences, and offers occasional courses for coaches at Harvard University, the University of Sydney, and Oxford Brookes University.
What was covered:
- What is unique about complexity today that many leaders are experiencing in their world
- Five key mindtraps to recognize and avoid in dealing with complexity: the desire for simple stories, the sense of rightness, the need for agreement, the need for control, and protecting our egos
- Useful practices to engage with, and questions to ask, in order to overcome these mindtraps
Key Takeaways and Learnings:
- Harnessing complexity as a force and a competitive advantage in today’s world
- The rewards of looking at situations from multiple perspectives and learning to disagree better
- Everyone is subjected to mind traps - the more you feel certain about something, the more likely you are falling into a mind trap
Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: