In this week’s episode, I reconnect with a former colleague of mine, Dr. Mike Smith, to talk about how we should all look at ourselves as leadership athletes & the CEO of our own career.

Dr. Mike Smith is the Founder of Huddle Advisory, a firm that guides leaders & teams to their “Leadership Athlete” potential. Mike founded Huddle after 25+ years in sports & entertainment working with the NFL, NBC, & Deloitte. His unique background includes leadership roles in Human Resources, Finance, Technology, & Administration. He has been repeatedly tapped to lead the most important initiatives ranging from creating a coaching culture at the NFL to Super Bowl weather planning to NBC’s acquisition of Universal.

Having been both a CHRO & CFO, Mike has a special lens to align business & talent strategy. He guides leaders & teams through skilled inquiry, objective data analysis, & practical counsel. His diversified background allows him to work effectively with public company CEO’s, startup founders, & rising talent across consumer-facing and B2B industries.

Mike recently completed his Doctoral degree in Leadership & Learning at Vanderbilt University. He received his executive coaching education at Columbia University & is certified in a number of leadership assessment tools.

Key Takeaways:

• The importance of talent mobility - careers are employee driven & manager supported. You are the Chief Executive of yourself & your own career. Declare what you want, why you want it, & how it’s good for the organization.

• Hold a mirror up to yourself, & get a clear sense of how people are perceiving you, how you are showing up, what your strengths are, & what are your blind spots. Determine these so you can see the entire field clearly.

• Ask people & mentors for advice & to be candid with you - when do they see you at your best & when do they see you not playing to your strengths. Constantly try to learn, grow, see what’s working, what’s not. It’s a cycle of revising that never ends.

• When taking a pause, step back & re-evaluate where you are, what’s important, & how you want to show up in service of others or to benefit others are around you.

• Growth comes from the recovery, your muscles grow back stronger. Think about your personal growth & development the same way as your own work performance.

• If you are thinking about taking a career pivot, identify your “fadeaway jumper” (Michael Jordan) that you are developing, & how do you develop it months or even years in advance, so if and when you make the pivot, you run through it with full confidence.

• You are the CEO of your own career. Make it easy on people, tell people what you want, why you want it, why it’s good for the organization, & start with a conversation. Declare what’s your ambition & what you’re looking for, have people view you in a new light.

• You have to marry up strong performance with navigating & creating your own options, including networking & building strong relationships.

• Relational Leadership Theory - all about the power of relationships, communication, & collaboration in order to achieve a result.

Connect with Kaycee, Host of Hello Flow Podcast:

Website:

https://www.hello-flow.co/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/helloflowcollective/

Connect with Dr. Mike Smith, Ed.D., Executive Coach and Founder of Huddle Advisory:

Website: https://huddleadvisory.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-p-smith/

Donate to Maui

In 2023, Maui experienced devastating wildfires that is considered the most deadliest & destructive in modern US history. The entire town of Lahaina, a historic town & former capital of the Kingdom of Hawai’i, was completely destroyed. To support the relief efforts, see links below to donate:

Donate Directly to Families impacted (locally vetted) - Help Maui Rise

https://www.helpmauirise.org

Hawai’i Community Foundation - Maui Strong Fund

https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/maui-strong

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