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Vera Quinn joins top business podcast hosts to discuss leadership, her entrepreneurial journey and more. Here are our three favorite takeaways!
Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric, once said “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”
And no matter where you are in that journey — whether you’re taking the first step into entrepreneurship and trying to grow yourself, or you’re leading a team you want to develop, it’s important to examine the advice that has made other leaders successful.
Our CEO, Vera Quinn, has recently joined a few top podcasts to discuss the Cydcor approach to leadership — and how Vera continues to develop the team.
While a lot was discussed on these shows, we’ve highlighted a few of our favorite takeaways — which will expand your definition of leadership and teach you how grow the people around you.
Culture is a bit of a buzzword in most corporate circles — with many leaders taking a “do as I say, not as I do” approach to their values.
But in discussion with Chris Waters on To Lead is to Learn, Vera presents a different way to go about culture:
Lead by example.
“I can say whatever I want to say, but it’s about my actions,” Vera says. “If we’re in a meeting and I’m not modeling the culture, someone on the team will speak up. We hold each other accountable. We call each other out.”
Vera and Chris go on to discuss the self-awareness and courage this requires as a leader.
We may think of the “courageous” leader as someone who’s always right and becomes a poster-child for the company’s values. But we are all human — and true courage comes from a leader willing to put themselves on the same level as their team.
Vera explains that if we shed the idea that we have to be “perfect” and instead make ourselves an ingrained part of the culture (just like everyone else), we can attract a team that enhances our strengths and sures up our weaknesses.
So, as you lead and build culture with your team — remember this:
A good leader is someone who allows their team to hold them accountable.
That takes courage.
To listen to the full episode, click here.
On the Leadership is Female podcast, Vera and host Emily Jaenson discuss strategic leadership.
To break the concept down, Vera highlights the two things a leader has to do:
At a glance, this may just sound like “telling people what to do.” But that’s what a boss does, while leaders take a different approach.
The keyword for Vera is “point.”
The leader can guide a team to where it needs to go — but it is by everyone’s own volition that the actually work gets done. As Vera and Emily discuss, it takes empathy to lead this way.
Vera explains that the best way to do that “pointing” is to “match opportunity with ambition.”
By taking the time to learn the individual goals of your team, you can align their ambition to the opportunities that need to be captured within the business.
Then, the team member can be personally invested in taking on that responsibility, rather than being forced to do it.
That’s how you end up with a team that you are leading, rather than having a group of people you are bossing around. Big difference.
To listen to the full episode, click here.
You may have read the last point and wondered:
“Ok… how do I empathize with my team and learn what their ambitions really are?”
And that’s exactly the topic that Vera dives into with Teri Schmidt, host of Strong Leaders Serve.
Vera tells Teri about her rise to leadership — and how a coach once told her that she needed to transition from “being interesting to being interested.”
“At the time,” she recalls, “I wanted to be the best. I wanted to be the bright, shining star.”
But a leader who tries to do that will not be a leader for long.
Vera highlights the importance of attracting talent around you — and moving from being the person everyone wants to learn about to being the leader who’s actively invested in learning more about their team.
“It changed my paradigm of being a leader,” Vera says, “and it even changed how I approached being a spouse, mother, and friend.”
Funnily enough, when you put the focus on “being interested,” you’ll draw more people to you compared to when you’re trying to be the most “interesting.”
People want to follow a leader that’s invested in their interests, story, and expertise. They don’t want to follow someone that makes it all about themselves. And while building rapport with your team is a big benefit to this mindset shift — doing this also sets you up to learn more than you ever could before.
To listen to the full episode, click here.
And when it’s all said and done, learning is the number one thing that a leader should be doing. That’s why we always get excited when Vera gets on a podcast to share some of the lessons, she’s learned at Cydcor.
You now have three actionable insights that you can act on today. So, get out there, keep growing as a leader and developing your team!
Professional development is a process that improves your job skills through ongoing education and training. As you study and as your skills improve, you will have greater mastery over your assignments. Cydcor encourages investing in professional growth for our employees and sales associates. Your confidence will grow and you will become a better and more valuable employee.
Download a podcast application to your phone to make it easier to find, subscribe, and listen to your podcasts. Several podcast apps are available for iPhones and Androids. Imagine having an entire professional development library on your phone! Here are some of our favorite podcasts for professional development:
Todd Henry has spoken to tens of thousands of people around the globe in a range of industries. He and his guests will teach you how to bring creativity and passion to your work. You will learn new strategies for solving problems while achieving a healthy work and life balance.
Erik Fisher interviews experts who have solutions for problems you face every day. If you’re determined to complete your to-do lists, then this podcast is for you. Recent guests include Chris Brogan, a bestselling business strategy author, and Dave Delaney, an authority on problem-solving skills.
Michael Auzenne and Mark Horstman are management experts. Career Tools will teach you how to build business relationships and networks. You’ll discover your leadership skills and you will learn to use them wisely. You’ll learn practical suggestions for gaining recognition and career advancement.
Harvard Business Review IdeaCast
Hear cutting edge ideas about management and innovation from Sarah Green, the editor of Harvard Business Review. Her Harvard connection gives her the clout to attract guests like Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet, Inc., Google’s parent company.
Podcasts for professional development are an inspiring resource. Try to have a pen and notebook nearby while you’re listening. You never know when inspiration may strike—and you don’t want to lose a great idea.
What are your favorite professional development podcasts? Listen to those that we’ve suggested and then let us know which ones you like best. Post your story on Twitter, follow us @Cydcor, and share this article with your friends to start a conversation with your community.
We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales services. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company based in Canada to garnering a reputation as the global leader in outsourced sales, Cydcor has come a long way. We’ve done this by having exceptional sales professionals and providing our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.