Send us a text Having difficult conversations is an inevitable part of life. Whether addressing a sensitive issue with a loved one or discussing a challenging topic with a coworker or employee. However, avoiding these conversations can lead to resentment, misunderstandings, and even damage relationships. That's why mastering the art of having difficult conversations is essential for personal and professional growth. In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Erin Wood about the differe...
Apr 13, 2023•46 min
Send us a text Effective leadership is not just about achieving goals and targets, but it also involves being accountable for your actions and decisions. In today's world, where organizations face constant challenges and changes, we as leaders need to take responsibility for our decisions and their impact on our teams, stakeholders, and the wider community. Today's episode explores leader accountability, its importance, and its benefits for the team and organization. Accountable leaders take res...
Mar 30, 2023•27 min
Send us a text Authenticity in conversations fosters trust, transparency, and vulnerability, which leads to a stronger sense of connection. Effective communication involves creating a clear, concise, and relatable message to the audience. In this week’s episode, I’m having a conversation with Eliza Leoni, a workshop facilitator, coach, and founder of Talk Like a Person, a San Francisco-based communications coaching, training, and consulting company. She has spent over a decade facilitating, desi...
Mar 16, 2023•47 min
Send us a text In today's episode, I dive deep into the world of psychological safety. You're a leader in the business world, and you know that creating a positive workplace culture is essential for success. That includes your people feeling psychologically safe. So, what does it truly mean for you as a leader? In this episode, I discuss various psychological safety aspects and why it's so critical for the modern workplace. Here's what you'll learn: We’ll discuss psychological safety and its imp...
Mar 02, 2023•22 min
Send us a text Do you need help with having difficult conversations in the workplace? Are you tired of avoiding conflicts and seeing them escalate into more significant issues? If so, you're not alone! As a business leader, it's crucial to have practical communication skills, especially when navigating tricky conversations. Join me on Communicate to Lead as I guide you through the challenges of difficult conversations and arm you with the tools you need to succeed. From body language to follow-u...
Feb 09, 2023•25 min
Send us a text Resumes are crucial to our careers and businesses, yet many of us are not good at creating a resume. In this week’s episode, my guest, Lissa Appiah, breaks down the importance of creating a resume that tells your positive story and how to maximize your LinkedIn profile for increased professional visibility. Lissa is a Certified Career & Resume Strategist and the Founder of WeApply Canada. With 10+ years of experience in career coaching and leadership, she now helps organizatio...
Nov 17, 2022•38 min
Send us a text Have you ever asked your team to trust you without actually putting in the work? If your team doesn’t know you or know what to expect from you, they will not trust you. You can kiss collaboration, communication, and innovation goodbye. Teams cannot function effectively or succeed without trust. And as much as we think it’s everyone’s responsibility to build trust, it must start with you as the leader. You need to show your team why they can and should trust you. In today’s episode...
Oct 28, 2022•25 min
Send us a text Taking ownership of your career is possible when you work with a career strategy coach who makes it seem effortless. On today's podcast, my guest, Tiffany Uman, takes us through her journey as a leader at a Fortune 500 company, why she started her business and the strategies you can apply immediately to set yourself up for career success. Here's today's episode at a glance: Tiffany discusses the blind spots we all have that are potentially crippling our career growth. She delves i...
Oct 06, 2022•56 min
Send us a text “If you are not speaking up, you’re making a choice not to speak up.” - Karen Laos. Communication plays an integral part in being successful in the workplace. When you can share your ideas or an opinion that might be different from that of the majority, you’re creating an environment where communication becomes the tool for building trust. This week I’m having a conversation with Karen Laos about her leadership journey, her newly published book, and the importance of learning to t...
Sep 08, 2022•43 min
Send us a text Do you find yourself over-apologizing when you don’t need to? At work or home, constantly saying sorry is a habit you must break. In today’s episode, we talk about why some of us constantly apologize, how it impacts our credibility, and what we should do instead. Check out this Pantene commercial that beautifully illustrates this phenomenon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcGKxLJ4ZGI . I’m not saying that we should never apologize. There are certain instances when a genuine apolo...
Aug 25, 2022•23 min
Send us a text Welcome to the August series! This month we’re focusing on improving your leadership communication. For the last 3 months, I’ve had the pleasure of coaching some strong women on their communication and leadership skills. Some of these women are leaders managing teams of various sizes, and others have the goal of becoming leaders within the next 6-12 months. We work on various skills regarding how they come across as leaders and how they communicate and lead their teams to grow and...
Aug 04, 2022•24 min
Send us a text Bob Jordan is co-founder and head of leadership at interim execs based in Chicago. They specialize in placing leaders in the right positions at the right time. Bob is also co-author of the book Right Leader, Right Time. In our conversation, Bob talks about the importance of having the right people in the right positions and his recently published book, Right Leader, Time which he co-authored with Olivia Wagner. Here's a snapshot of our conversation: Bob discusses why the business ...
Jul 14, 2022•37 min
Send us a text In this week’s episode, Kele has an informative conversation with Naomi Tucker, founder of Planners on Purpose. The company provides event planners with productivity tools and strategies, empowering them to avoid burnout and lead a more balanced life. Naomi Tucker, CMP, is a Customer Success Director at Meetings & Incentives Worldwide, Inc. and a Past President of MPI Wisconsin. She has more than twenty-five years of experience in managing meetings and events. Today, Naomi sup...
Jun 24, 2022•39 min
Send us a text Are you an aspiring leader? This episode is for you. This episode is also for you if you're an experienced leader with a team with lots of potential. Today's episode focuses on those of you who want to move into a leadership position. Partly because I haven't touched on this topic yet, I recently received a question on this issue from one of my coaching clients. Her question was, "How can I show my leadership potential when I'm not in a leadership or managerial role, AND I don't s...
Jun 09, 2022•28 min
Send us a text Whether you call it your saboteur, sabotaging voice, or inner critic, we have all fallen prey to our critical internal voice. There’s so much literature about the effect of ignoring that internal voice, and today, we’re switching things up and giving you tips and strategies to confront that voice head-on and reclaim your power. In my conversation this week, my guest, Sarah Benenson Goldberg, breaks down how to manage your sabotaging voice and the importance of having a vision for ...
May 19, 2022•48 min
Send us a text Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) have been the buzz phrase in the last few years. Today, my guest addresses how this concept plays out in product development and management. Dr. Dédé Tetsubayashi, Founder & CEO of incluu, is an Ethical Technologist and Social Scientist. She synergizes her lived experience as a Black queer woman with an invisible disability with her over 20 years of experience in ethical tech, product equity & inclusion as a catalyst for creating brav...
May 05, 2022•43 min
Send us a text If you’re a leader or aspiring leader wanting to write a book, whether it's a book about your personal life or your expertise, today’s episode is for you. In this week’s episode, Kele has a conversation with Hollis Citron, owner of I am Creative and Express Yourself Publishing. Hollis is on a mission to make creativity accessible to everyone by exposing them to new possibilities. She is passionate about helping people build the confidence to recognize, encourage, and express the i...
Apr 21, 2022•44 min
Send us a text “If people don’t have the willingness to lean into discomfort, to have a hard conversation, the uncertainty, the vulnerability of a hard conversation, it doesn’t matter how skilled they are; they’re not going to do it.” - Katie Fredricksen In this week’s episode, I’m conversing with Katie Fredricksen, a Leadership Development Professional, Executive Coach, and Certified Dare to Lead™ Facilitator. For over 25 years, Katie has worked in partnership with individuals and teams to help...
Mar 17, 2022•32 min
Send us a text When leaders feel burned out, and teams crave connection, psychological safety, and support, being intentional with how we lead is essential to moving everyone forward in a much healthier way. In this week’s episode, Kele has a conversation with Tiffany Castagno, the CEO and founder of CEPHR, LLC, a Human Resources Consulting Firm that supports Small to Mid-sized Businesses to build their infrastructures-to-scale, strong teams, and a strong Employer Brand and culture. Tiffany is a...
Feb 17, 2022•39 min
Send us a text Do you get a knot in your stomach when someone says, “May I give you some feedback?” Maybe you automatically assume the feedback will be negative, and you get ready to defend yourself. Feedback is essential for continued growth, yet so many of us are bad at giving and accepting it. In this week’s episode, Kele discusses the 5 principles that you must keep in mind when giving someone effective feedback and what you need to do to encourage others to provide you with candid feedback....
Feb 03, 2022•19 min
Send us a text In this week’s episode, Kele has a candid conversation with Athena Trede, deputy director of Administrative Services at the City of San José. As the only woman on the executive leadership team of the San José Fire Department, Athena understands the importance of navigating tough conversations with transparency and a significant level of respect. Athena shares the lessons she’s learned in her more than 25 years of experience in public service with the City of San José. She has navi...
Jan 20, 2022•42 min
Send us a text With her thought-provoking statement, Ayana Blount sets the stage for her thought leadership. Ayana, also known as The Passion Strategist , believes that as a leader, there's something you are supposed to do, something you are supposed to give, and something you are supposed to leave behind. When you think of your leadership, what are you doing to transform the lives of those you're leading? Tune in to this week's episode to hear Ayana drop some truths, impart wisdom and inspire u...
Jan 06, 2022•35 min
Send us a text How would you rate your level of self-awareness? Do you know how you come across to your team, or do you assume to know what they think of your communication style? This last week or so, I’ve been intently following a story of what NOT to do when you need to lay off employees. At this point, it seems the CEO of Better.com agrees that he could have handled the entire situation much better. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, a week or so ago, the CEO of Better.com laid off 90...
Dec 09, 2021•11 min
Send us a text Self-awareness Can Help You Be A Better Leader Have you ever thought about why some leaders make leadership seem effortless, and it’s not entirely clear why others have a tough time leading? In this episode, my guest, the amazing Sheetal Sujan, discusses why emotional intelligence is key to being a great leader and breaks down the five pillars of emotionally intelligent leaders. Sheetal has over 12 years of experience as a trainer and coach and is an MBTI Master Practitioner and a...
Nov 25, 2021•34 min
Send us a text Welcome to my conversation with Tracy Smith, founder of Kitchen Table CEOs. Tracy is a professional writer and brand strategist who works with women entrepreneurs to tell their brand story in a way that attracts their ideal client and create content that elevates their business to new levels. Her work has graced pages of more than 50 publications, been read by millions worldwide, and, most importantly, helped a lot of women “CEOs” achieve their goals and follow their dreams to bui...
Nov 11, 2021•29 min
Send us a text Welcome to the very first episode of Communicate to Lead . I bet you know a few leaders who inspire you and who you look to for leadership guidance. I definitely do! When the pandemic hit us last year, there were some great examples of great leaders and those who weren’t ready to lead. I’ve always been passionate about leadership and what makes a truly great leader. I’m talking about those leaders who know when to listen and when to speak, who know their strengths and weaknesses, ...
Nov 11, 2021•10 min
Send us a text This is a new weekly podcast for leaders (and aspiring leaders) who want to clarify their message and communicate with impact. Communicate to Lead provides tips and strategies to help you communicate with confidence and clarity. Join me as we take deep dives into mindset, executive presence, and impactful communication. We'll also have candid conversations with leaders about their journeys. About me: I'm Kele Belton, a former academic and corporate communications trainer turned en...
Oct 29, 2021•2 min
