Inspired Execution
A leadership podcast With Chet Kapoor
Hacking your Emotions & Communicating in the Time of High Stakes with Jennifer Edwards
Jennifer Edwards is a founder, author, and professional coach whose recently published book—Bridge the Gap—is named by Forbes as a must-read business book in 2022. She discusses tips for overcoming Zoom fatigue and forming connections in our digital world, the importance of listening to understand, and so much more.
Episode Transcript
Timestamps:
0:40 - Welcome to today’s episode with guest Jennifer Edwards
2:20 - Jennifer’s career journey
4:45 - The most common challenge leaders are facing
8:27 - Jennifer’s best tips for healthy communication
10:31 - Creating deeper connections in the digital world
13:26 - Tips for communication when the emotions and stakes are high
15:34 - The inspiration behind Jennifer’s book, Bridge the Gap
17:18 - Jennifer shares the advice she would give to her younger self
18:03 - Rapid-fire questions
To kick off the conversation, Jennifer shares about her journey to becoming a speaker, author, professional coach, and communication expert. From the beginning, she has always loved being a leader and engaging in uncomfortable conversations. After college, she took a job as a high school teacher which she loved before beginning her own consulting business. In the end, she has found that she is still a teacher first and foremost.
Then, Jennifer identifies the most common leadership challenge she is currently aware of, which is figuring out how to appropriately show up for this season. She reveals that her favorite saying is when she is leading: “Here’s what I know, here’s what I don’t know, and here’s what you can expect from me during this season.” Throughout all of the coaching she has done in her career, she reveals the one transformative story which has stood out to her the most.
Next, Jennifer shares her best tip for facilitating communication in a healthy and productive way. We are living in a very intense time with many polarizing opinions. It’s important that we all remember that we never really know what the person next to us has going on in their own lives despite the brave faces we wear. Thus, Jennifer believes that the most important things we should all bring into communication are care and compassion. A great leader is someone who paints a vision and creates a container where people can be part of something bigger than themselves.
Digital age or not, Jennifer shares that the one thing we have to do if we want to create connection is to seek first to understand, and then to be understood. Digital fatigue is out of control, and to counteract this, Jennifer recommends asking the person you’re communicating with to take a walk with you or invite them out for coffee. When it comes to coaching people when emotions are high, Jennifer acknowledges that we all experience anger. It is most beneficial to catch the anger before it goes through our entire body. If it has, there are 2 ways to reverse it: give ourselves space and acknowledge the feeling publicly to ask for a time out and regain your thinking.
As the episode draws to a close, Jennifer shares the inspiration behind her book Bridge the Gap. Then, she identifies the one piece of advice she would most like to give her younger self. Finally, she engages in a rapid-fire round of questions.
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Links:
Learn more about Jennifer Edwards.
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