The Leadership Skills They Never Taught You (Even With an MBA)

0:02Jeannette L. Brown:Feedback is the breakfast of champions and it should be received in silence.

0:11Jeannette L. Brown:Welcome back to Brave Bold Brilliant. I'm Jeannette. I'm the host. And listen, here's a topic that I have wanted to talk about for quite some time. And I think it's so important because when we come into leadership positions, We're not always actually that supported in terms of what it means to become a big leader, you know, or a leader that is going to be able to step into that role with great confidence. And I often see it where people get promoted because they're technically very good, but actually they're not really equipped with any support to lead. And there is a difference between managing and leading as well.

0:50Jeannette L. Brown:They are different skills, although there can be some overlap. So what I'm going to cover in this episode are really the leadership skills that they never taught you, even if you have an MBA. So, you know, I've been in business for over 30 years, both as a corporate CEO running very large global travel businesses for brands such as TUI, First Choice, Saga. You know, and I've had thousands of people on my team during those times. But I also know what it's like to be a business owner. You know, I have a portfolio of different businesses today. And, you know, leadership comes along in all shapes and sizes, to be honest.

1:28Jeannette L. Brown:And, you know, certainly through my 30 plus years in business, you know, I've learned a lot. I've made a lot of mistakes, you know. And today I work with some incredible clients and their businesses to help them really scale up and get to that next level. And there are always three elements to actually running a business. there's leading yourself there's leading the teams and there's leading the business itself but leading yourself is where it starts because quite frankly if you don't pay attention to you and how you can improve and be a better leader then it's almost impossible to be the best leader you can be for your teams and also for the business and where you're trying to take the organization.

2:12Jeannette L. Brown:So I've broken this down into eight easy steps, if you like, eight easy topics. So if you're not doing this already, what I would suggest, grab a pen and paper, make some notes. You know, it is proven that when we write something down, it sticks in our head a little bit more. But of course, you know, you might be watching this on YouTube, in which case you can watch it back as many times as you want. You may be listening to this on Apple or on Spotify on the podcast. So again, a great opportunity to listen back and to actually be able to refresh your memory as I go through these eight key areas.

2:49Jeannette L. Brown:Now, and also what I would say is, you know, at Brave Bold Brilliant, we are all about creating a fantastic environment of business leaders that can support each other and grow. So if you're not part of the community, please, please, please head to the website www.brave-bold-brilliant.com and actually scroll down when you get there you will see there's an opportunity for you to join our community it literally takes 20 seconds you put your first name in your last name and your email address that is it it is done but what that means is that you know we will also be able to send you some great content so every single week for example, I produce a business newsletter.

3:33Jeannette L. Brown:And that means that you can stay up to date with everything that's going on in the world of business on a weekly basis without actually having to do the legwork yourself. So that would land straight in your inbox if you're part of the community. And of course, you know, we're here to add value. So, you know, this is why I do the podcast. This is why I actually, you know, grow the YouTube channel and have lots of resources on the website because it can be very lonely in leadership. So let's get into this. You know, what are the leadership lessons that you're never taught or very rarely taught that you kind of end up having to figure out yourself?

4:10Jeannette L. Brown:So let's shortcut that. Let's absolutely fast track your development as a leader so that you can actually go further faster. So you may be actually leading a team for the first time, or you may be a very experienced leader. But along the way, you know, we can pick up some bad habits. Maybe we haven't always been aware of some of these things. So whether you are new to leadership or you're a very mature leader that has lots of experience, we can still learn and take points from each other. So the first one, point number one, you know, technical excellence actually gets you promoted, but it doesn't make you a good leader necessarily.

4:48Jeannette L. Brown:And I see this a lot. You know, we tend to find in organizations that when someone is doing well at their job, you know we give them some more responsibility then they get a promotion because of their technical expertise and I'm not talking about IT here I'm talking about the area of knowledge and experience it might be marketing it might be products it might be operations it might be finance it might be IT and digital etc so whichever area of the business you're in you tend to get promoted because you're good at what you do but that often then is an assumption that you're just going to naturally step up and be a leader but here's the thing if you are never taught this stuff how are you supposed to know now i certainly you know way back when i got promoted for the first time it seems like such a long time ago now you know i kind of had to figure it out on my own so what we really want to be doing here with brave bob brilliant is helping you through our knowledge and experience so that actually you can learn faster you can learn from the mistakes and all the things that didn't go so well over the years.

5:49Jeannette L. Brown:But, you know, being promoted for your technical ability is great, but it isn't enough. So if the organization is prepared to invest in you, then that is fantastic. You know, absolutely. That is great. And I would push for that as well. You know, I would have those discussions about your development plan. Now you are in a leadership position. And if the organization doesn't provide that for you, then take responsibility yourself. You know, the best investment you will ever make is in yourself. You know, so whether you feel that you want to come and join our Rise Academy, which is the ultimate digital leadership development program, or maybe you want to have one-to-one business mentoring with myself, drop us a line because we're here to help.

6:29Jeannette L. Brown:So either way, you need to have some support in terms of the skills that you need to be a good leader that is over and above your technical ability. All right. So that's point number one. Point number two is really about self-awareness. And, you know, these are the skills that nobody really assesses for. And as you expand your leadership journey, you know, as I say, it's always an inside job. If you are not self-aware about your own blind spots or your super strengths, whatever they may be, then actually, how are you going to learn and develop yourself in terms of all of those softer skills? So self-awareness.

7:10Jeannette L. Brown:Now, when we work with individuals, with teams, with businesses, we bring in psychometric profiling. We actually use a tool called Lumina Spark, which is one of the best psychometric profiling tools out there. I've done so many. I've used so many in all the teams that I've been privileged enough to run. But actually, I find this the best because what it does, it looks at your personality profile in terms of your underlying. so when you're at home relax with friends etc but it also looks when you're every day so how you're showing up to work in the outside world and then really interestingly it looks at what happens when you're overextended when you're under pressure under stress and that really creates amazing self-awareness now there are lots of psychometric tools out there there are lots of free versions you can get online so you know if you don't have a big budget don't worry you can go online and just all go on to chat GPT or Claude or whatever and just put in um psychometric profiling tools available and a whole list will come up and you can get free versions which are less in depth or you can get more extensive ones like Lumina Spot which we we learn we use but learning about yourself self-awareness is absolutely critical you know and I I'm a big believer as well in 360 feedback.

8:26Jeannette L. Brown:And I remember a time in my career and 360 feedback is where you get a perspective from 360 degrees of the people that come into your world from a work perspective that interact with you. So that would typically be your boss. It would be your peer group. It may be people on your team. It could be external stakeholders that you deal with on a daily basis. But you get that perspective and you get the feedback and you know that combination of psychometric profiling external feedback really helps you with that self-awareness piece and don't be afraid of feedback really it can sometimes be a little bit disarming you know and we have to have an open mind and want to actually genuinely improve and learn you know so if we stick our head in the sand and we're not aware of how we're coming across or our communication skills both positive and negative how can you improve so actually feedback is the breakfast of champions and it should be received in silence all right and then you have time to reflect on that and you know say oh that's interesting okay what does that mean how can i improve and grow or maybe it's feedback that you genuinely really don't agree with in which case there's always a choice as to whether you take action or not all right so self-awareness that's point number two So before we continue, I want to speak directly to those of you who are listening and thinking, I know I'm capable of more, but I need structure.

10:01I need some help. Because here's what I've actually learned after, gosh, more than three decades in business. You know, ambition without clarity creates frustration. And motivation, without structure, it really does fade very, very fast. So that's exactly why we created Rise Academy. And Rise Academy, it's not theory. It isn't fluffy motivation, although you will be motivated. And it certainly isn't another online course that you never finish. It's actually a fully structured growth environment for ambitious entrepreneurs, leaders, and founders who absolutely are ready to do all of these things, sharpen their strategy, elevate their leadership, increase revenue with intention, and build businesses that actually support the life that they want.

10:56And inside Rise Academy, we focus on the foundations most people skip, leading yourself, leading your teams, and leading the business. It's about clarity, standards, decision making, commercial intelligence and execution. Because scaling, it really isn't about doing more. It's actually about doing the right things and doing the things right consistently. So if you're serious about stepping up into your next level of your leadership, your business life, and not just consuming content, but actually implementing it, then Rise Academy was absolutely built for you. So you can find all the details on our website, go to www.brave-bold-brilliant.com.

11:42And now let's get back to the show.

11:48Jeannette L. Brown:Point number three, you've got to have the courage to have uncomfortable conversations. Now, this is a favorite topic of mine, because at the end of the day, we are all human beings, right? And most of us, or a lot of us, are people pleasers. We want to be liked, we want to be loved. But here's the thing. In a leadership position, you are not there to be everyone's friend. You want to be respected, of course. You want to have the credibility and create the trust with your team. But you're not there to be everyone's best friend, okay? And sometimes that means that you have to have difficult conversations.

12:25Jeannette L. Brown:It could be with a supplier. It could be with a member of the team. It could be with a colleague. It could even be with your boss. And those conversations, let me tell you, when you know deep down that something is off, trust your gut and you know that you need to address this. This also works on a personal basis as well. You know, you might be in a relationship and there may be things that are happening with that relationship that need to be spoken about, but you've been putting it off. You've been procrastinating. Does anyone recognize that procrastination? Not wanting to have the difficult conversation?

13:00Jeannette L. Brown:Absolutely. So here's the thing. It's not going to go away. It will normally get worse, and then it gets to a point where something may explode. There's a catalyst. Much better to be on the front foot and have those difficult conversations in the right way. Respectfully, plan for them. There's a great book, actually. which I recommend called Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott. If you've not read it, I would recommend you do. You listen to it on audio, but it's a great book that really does allow you to, you know, confront the reality of a situation, plan for those difficult conversations, but really in a way that allows both sides to be walking away with, you know, a positive result, whatever that may look like.

13:46Jeannette L. Brown:So, yes, as a leader, you have to have difficult conversations. and the sooner that you get used to that the better you might have to let someone go you might have to have a performance discussion you might have to renegotiate terms of a contract that goes against the original agreement there's so many examples here but yes it is not easy being a leader but you cannot you know not take on that responsibility so number four decision making under uncertainty. My gosh, well, I have spent 25 years in the corporate world running travel businesses. Talk about uncertainty. You know, a lot can happen.

14:24Jeannette L. Brown:You know, 9-11, ash cloud, COVID, global pandemics, war in the Middle East, you name it, hurricanes, repatriations, we have had so much to deal with, oil price, exchange rate, you name it, anything can go wrong in a business. And you actually have to be able to make decisions in a decisive way with incomplete information okay now it's not easy and I would always encourage you you have to judge how much time you've got is this an urgent scenario where you have to make a decision in a very short space of time with very limited information in which case you have to really look at what you have take into account similar situations you may have been in in the past, even if they're not exactly the same, and draw on that experience in order to make a decision.

15:17Jeannette L. Brown:And, you know, the worst thing you can do is procrastinate and not make a decision because that creates uncertainty. It creates a lack of clarity for the team and the people around you. And ultimately, in certain situations, without wanting to be too drastic here, it can cost lives. Procrastination can cost lives in some situations. So you have to make a decision. You will find out pretty fast whether actually that decision has worked out well or if it hasn't. And if it hasn't, then you make another decision. Okay. But you have to make decision making in these uncertain times and with incomplete information.

15:53Jeannette L. Brown:So, you know, I would always just say to you, you know, surround yourself with the right people, gather as much data as you can. If you have time to be able to get some more information if you feel that there are some significant gaps which means that you are you know potentially at risk of making the wrong decision great use that time wisely get your team around you and draw on the knowledge and experience and also have the right people that you can bounce ideas off in a confidential way so decision making under uncertainty that is point number four of the eight lessons in leadership that I am sharing with you now point number five influence without authority.

16:30Jeannette L. Brown:Oh yes, this is a goodie. So when you have your team, when you have people in your organization that report to you, it's much easier to be able to influence, right? But very often we have to influence across an organization in different departments or externally when we don't actually have direct authority with those individuals or with those teams or with those organizations so how do you do that now this is really about leading peers stakeholders and people who don't report to you you know and and actually when you're looking at your own mindset here it's so important that you actually have the confidence to influence you know and gaining trust gaining buy-in networking really to be honest to build those strong relationships whereby you have influence, you have credibility, even though you don't demand it.

17:24Jeannette L. Brown:You kind of command it because of the credibility that you have in your business, in the organization, in the sector, in the industry that you're in. And that allows you to have influence. So really think about this. Look at your sphere of influence. When we work with organizations and with individuals, we look at a sphere of influence in terms of who sits in the four quadrants. And we look across horizontally the level of direct interest that someone has in the role that you do and also the level of influence that they have, the strong voice. So in the top right, you've got a high level of interest in what you're doing and also a high level of influence.

18:04Jeannette L. Brown:Those are decision makers, obviously a key group to engage with. But the top left box is where people have a high level of influence, but they're not directly involved in your business. They're not so entrenched in being directly interested in it. Those people are advocates for you. So you need to engage with those people in a different way. And this is really where the influence without authority comes in, in particular, that top left hand box. if anyone wants to learn more about this you know then please drop me a line because we do a lot of work in this space if you want to you know as i say work one-to-one you feel you need a business mentor in your life which is the best thing you can do actually that's what i've done throughout my career it's made a massive difference to me well then actually you know let let me know drop me a line we can have a proper conversation about this influence without authority that's point number five.

19:00Jeannette L. Brown:Point number six, resilience and energy management. Yes, as I said, leadership starts with you. But if you haven't got your oxygen mask on first, you know, when you go onto a flight, onto a plane, when they do the safety demonstration, what do they say to you? They always say, put your own oxygen mask on first. And it's the same in leadership. All right. If you are not in good shape mentally physically from a well-being point of view how can you possibly be the best leader the best partner the best friend the best you know for the business or for the team so you have to manage your energy very carefully and you know whether that's diet exercise sleep hydration learning new skills having a you know a mindfulness around what you do you know for me the way I do this is I fiercely protect the first 90 minutes of my day now I'm an early bird so my energy is at the best in the morning some of you may be night owls you know you might actually come to come to life towards the end of the day and in the evening so there's no right or wrong but be aware of your energy and find time in your day for yourself it is not selfish to be selfish in actual fact it's a must an absolute must if you want to be a good leader when I do my miracle morning which actually was inspired by the book of that name by Hal Elrod check that out if you haven't read it the miracle morning so what I do I spend you know I spend the first part of my day in silence you know breathing etc I then do my affirmations you know so I say out loud what is it I practice my gratitude you know this is so so important I visualize I visualize what I want to achieve either for the day or in the long term and I make it so real I can picture myself what when I'm in that place already it is done and I believe all of these tools mean that you actually attract the right energy to you attract opportunities to you it might be a bit woo-woo for some quite frankly it works for me so I love it and that's what I do you know the I also exercise I read 10 pages of the book every morning if you're not a reader maybe you listen to a podcast like Brave Bold Brilliant for some inspiration and guidance and then I write I write down notes when I read something I scribe some people like to journal so from that miracle morning The word savers is the word.

21:40Jeannette L. Brown:And each letter stands for those elements I've just taken you through. So the S stands for silence, you know, where you might do your meditation, your breathing. The A is for affirmations. The V is for visualization. The E is for exercise. The R is for reading. And the S is for scribing, all right, writing, note-taking, journaling. So that's a great way to protect your energy, to set yourself up for the day. but find what's good for you all right because my way won't be your way but I just wanted to share with you a real example as to you know how I do it and why it's so important but let me tell you I have also many times not got it right you know last year I had a massive burnout I crashed I ended up in hospital I got very poorly you know my liver wasn't working I had a blocked bile ducts you know and it was awful I was in so much pain I was in hospital for 10 days now thankfully it wasn't anything overly serious it wasn't cancer which is I think is the go-to worry that you have when you when you get sick um and it was actually a blocked bile duct so they had to take my gall bladder out so I had surgery for that and as I say actually it was the best thing that ever happened to me because it made me stop it made me reconsider what I was doing how I was working you know working extremely hard but was I working smart enough was I focusing on the right things had I got my priorities right it was a big call out so energy I'm really passionate about this because it is absolutely critical so you know if you're finding value in this conversation you know please do hit that subscribe button on YouTube you know follow us on Apple on Spotify if you prefer listening to audio and share this with your friends colleagues people in your network because we are here to help, support and guide.

23:35Jeannette L. Brown:OK, so let's get to the last two before we come to the close. Number seven, what's the seventh leadership lesson that no one tells you or very, very rarely? You've got to read people and situations. You've got to read the room. Now, this is linked to emotional intelligence. It's linked to self-awareness. It's linked to having an open mind. You know, an emotional intelligence is as critical in business, you know, as our technical business experience and knowledge, because people are people. And it always makes me laugh, actually, when people say in business, oh, it's nothing personal, don't take it personally.

24:13Jeannette L. Brown:And I always go rubbish. I can logically understand something, but I am also a human being. So actually being able to read people, understand what's actually going on behind the scenes. You might have someone on your team that isn't performing great and normally they're very good. Maybe there's something going on outside of work that's causing some anxiety for that person. When you're negotiating a deal, look for the body language. there's little cues that allow you to then understand the person on the other side of the table which allows you to have a more a richer conversation you know a negotiation yes for a commercial outcome but of course you're looking for something that's going to win on both sides you know it shouldn't be a win lose but being able to read people is a skill and really the biggest part of this that I can say to you is listen listen you know not listen waiting to speak because that's what most people do actually but genuinely listen because when you listen people give you the answers anyway all right they you will be able to understand that person far better and be able to serve them in a much better way so that's point number seven on the leadership lesson, reading people and situations.

25:40Jeannette L. Brown:We then have number eight, where you actually learn these skills, right? And, you know, it's often rarely in the classroom. It's normally through actually having mentors, coaches, people in your sphere of influence that can support you, you know, Structured leadership development, it's not about technical training. It's actually having a clear focus around your leadership development. And that is what we do at Brave Bold Brilliant. We work with organizations, with individual leaders, with teams to really help them get to the next level. And I always say we bring a lived business experience. This is not theory.

26:28Jeannette L. Brown:It's actual reality. because I know what it's like to build your career from nothing. I know what it's like to lead a team for the first time. I know what it's like to be a CEO with all the pressure that that brings. You know, so when we work with organizations, we really bring the best of what we've learned for the past 30 odd years. But leadership development, it shouldn't be something that you just do, you know, unintentionally. You should be intentional about this. And so whether it's our Rise Academy, which is the digital leadership development program we have, whether it's one to one mentoring, whether it's a leadership mastermind where we bring together a team for six months.

27:13Jeannette L. Brown:we have sessions every single month we keep the accountability we have live business mentoring or it could be our executive edge program where we actually spend two to three days deeply immersed normally off-site with the senior leadership team or with the board and we always cover with all those programs those three elements of leading yourself leading the teams and leading the business all right so here's the truth you know because at the end of the day if you are recognizing and a gap in either yourself or other leaders in your network or with your teams, don't figure it out on your own through trial and error.

27:52Jeannette L. Brown:Don't make that mistake. You know, this is exactly why we do what we do, actually. It's exactly what gets me out of bed in the morning. So, you know, here's the truth. Your qualifications, it'll get you your title, most likely, but it won't make you a great leader. So if you want to get to that next level, it comes from self-awareness, courage, resilience, and the willingness to keep learning long after you've got the promotion or the exams are over, or even if you feel that you're at the top of your game, we can all learn and grow and be better versions of ourselves. So if this episode has resonated with you, please do share it with someone in your network that really would benefit from listening to this.

28:37Jeannette L. Brown:And of course, you know, Please do leave a comment, share, like, give us some feedback. We love feedback. It is the breakfast of champions. And remember, hit subscribe, join our community. We really want you on the journey with us. And let's not forget, it is by being brave and bold that you will absolutely unlock your brilliant. So I will see you next time. Take care. I really hope you've enjoyed this episode of Brave Bold Brilliant. remember check out our new website www.brave-bold-brilliant.com you're going to find loads of resources on there that's going to help you with your leadership journey and with the businesses that you're trying to scale up and grow so take care everyone and remember there are no limits to your growth but it is by being brave and bold that you're going to unlock your brilliant