The Listening Leader with Stephen Kohler

There is a surprisingly close parallel between music and
leadership. For an ensemble (team) to deliver a great
performance, every member must be skilled, aligned, and follow
their score… and the conductor 


The same for teams in organizations. To reach a common goal
everyone has to have strong communication, collaboration, and
accountability. 


In this episode, Stephen underscores the parallels within his two
passions: music and leadership development highlighting the steps
to deep listening, being fully present, and achieving what
matters most.  


Stephen Kohler is Audira’s Founder & CEO. He brings a
passion for growing people along with 25 years of extensive
corporate experience within organizations ranging from startup to
Fortune 100, across multiple industries.  


His credentials include an MBA from the University of Chicago’s
Booth School of Business, a BA in Philosophy from Northwestern
University, and is a Certified Professional Coach (PCC, CPCC) and
balanced Scorecard Professional (BSP). His passions include
spending time with his wife, two children, and two dogs. He is a
life-long musician, avid BBQ enthusiast, and loves traveling the
world.


What you will learn from this episode: 


Discover the three leadership challenge areas for leaders to
focus on, to create a greater impact within the
organization 

Re-approach leadership communication, collaboration, and
accountability in an insightful, creative, and unique way. 

Find out the three steps of listening to help you identify
what's missing and needed to generate action within the
organization



“Practice the three levels of listening, really getting
present with not only yourself but those around you in the space.
After you practice that listening, identify what's missing or
needed, and then act and create action with intended
impact.”  


- Stephen Kohler


Topics Covered:


01:46 - A musician’s unique approach to leadership training,
coaching, and development 


03:28 - The parallelism of musicianship and leadership in
critical areas of communication, collaboration, and
accountability 


06:07 - Areas of challenges that many of his clients tend to fall
into at some point in their careers 


08:05 - Getting a clear understanding of the mistake of
assumptions that leaders usually commit 


09:31 - Actionable tips that you can apply now: The three steps
of listening 


12:09 - Free resource to help leaders in all situations:
audiralabs.com 


12:58 - Imagine yourself in your final hours on the planet or
perhaps at your retirement party, and you're looking back, what
would you like that impact of your life to have been, what would
you like your legacy to be? 


14:27 - A beautiful quote to live by: "Knowledge speaks, but
wisdom listens."


Key Takeaways:


“A lot of organizations struggle with accountability and learning
what that looks like. And that's no different where we can use
the lens of music, for example, if you're playing in an ensemble,
we all have to play our part.”  


“The first challenge that I help leaders with is really become
more self-aware, in terms of really helping them clarify what
their personal leadership mission-vision values are, and then
also become just aware of what their impact on others is.” 


Connect with Stephen Kohler:


Website: https://audiralabs.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/audiralabs/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kohlerstephen/ 

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8Cz99_OMLkZsqcOnN5FBeg