034: Leading teams at all levels

In this Jam Session, I sit with Ken Miller, President and CEO at NASCO Healthcare. Ken is a transformational leader with more than 30 years of experience. Ken started his career as a sales representative and worked his way up through various positions of increasing responsibilities with companies such as Upjohn, Roche, and Novo Nordisk, to mention a few. His vast executive experiences landed him leadership positions in both the U.S. and Switzerland.

Key Takeaways:

• You can be successful in business, if in fact you're able to satisfy both needs: the need to satisfy yourself personally (like financially), as well as professionally
• You may get the work done but don’t do it at the expense of losing the team at the same time
• Understand the diversity of your team, and then leverage that to become a high-performing team
• It's ok to take yourself out of your comfort zone and into an environment where you are less familiar. It is a little bit disruptive, and as a result, it teaches you how to be agile and adaptive
• As a senior leader, include your team in the development of strategy. This way, you all believe in it and can hold each other accountable to attain it
• Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and ask for help from your colleagues
• As leader, you may not always have all the facts needed to make decisions. Build trust and empower your team so that they feel safe about bringing you the facts
• Lastly, if you want or need more facts, figure out how to ask the right questions