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781: Bonni and Dave Reflect on Recent Episodes
Brief
Bonni and Dave used episode 781 to step back and reflect on listener feedback and lessons from three prior Coaching for Leaders episodes—750 with Margaret Andrews (Six Questions Every Leader Should Ask), 755 with David Hutchins (leading cultural shifts), and 143 with Sheila Heen (receiving feedback). Dave picked Margaret’s third question—“What does success look like for you?”—and anchored his answer in a Zig Ziglar maxim: help enough people get what they want. He described how that principle shows up professionally through the craft of deep interviews and through work with academy members. Bonni selected Margaret’s sixth question—about how one’s actions impact others—and framed feedback in three buckets: the social norms that separate ideas from identity (psychological safety), clear measures for results set in advance, and ongoing attention to the “how” of behavior as teams move together.
Their conversation moved from theory to practice. Bonni shared a recent, informal 360-style assessment she administered to her leadership team (in the last year), with items such as “I feel safe admitting mistakes” and prompts for one behavior that contributes and one that holds the team back—feedback that surfaced role-clarity issues after sustained organizational change. She also described managing personal critiques (a listener’s negative review of her laugh) by seeking affirming, contextual feedback from a trusted friend rather than letting an isolated comment dominate her thinking. Dave built on this with a cautionary vignette about Garry Ridge’s WD-40 360 (as recounted in episode 755): while transparency can signal leaders going first, distributing full, uncurated 360 reports can let others cherry-pick quotes and create misleading narratives. He advised leaders—especially non-CEOs—to curate feedback, highlight 2–3 strengths and 2–3 development priorities, and commit to visible actions. Both hosts agreed on practical takeaways: cultivate psychological safety, measure results up front, shape the story you tell about your feedback, and translate broad input into a few concrete behavior changes. They closed by situating leadership beyond spreadsheets—Dave pointing to parenting as the ultimate daily leadership test and Bonni invoking Marge Piercy’s “To Be of Use” to emphasize work that is meaningful and in service—then recommended episodes 143, 750, and 755 for deeper study and invited listeners to respond and join the weekly Focus 5 mailer.
Why it matters
Dave Stachowiak (host) revisited episode 750 (published Fall 2025) with Margaret Andrews and chose her third question—“What does success look like for you?”—answering that success for him is helping others get what they want, citing Zig Ziglar’s line and finding joy in deep podcast interviews and supporting academy members.
Key details
- Bonni Stachowiak took Margaret Andrews’ sixth question—“What feedback have you received about how your actions and behaviors impact others?”—and emphasized three feedback domains: separating ideas from people (psychological safety), defining measurable results upfront, and evaluating the “how” (behaviors) as the team travels together.
- Bonni described a recent, informal 360-style instrument she asked her leadership team to complete (within the last year) with items like “I feel safe admitting mistakes” and solicited one behavioral contribution and one behavior that holds the team back; responses highlighted role clarity problems tied to extensive organizational change.
- Both hosts referenced Sheila Heen’s work on receiving feedback (episode 143) and agreed leaders usually teach giving feedback more than receiving it; Bonni used a personal example—an unhelpful podcast review about her laugh—and enlisted a friend (Carrie) for affirming feedback instead of ruminating on the negative comment.
- Dave cautioned against non-CEOs indiscriminately publishing full 360 reports (citing Garry Ridge sending his 360 to WD-40 in episode 755 with David Hutchins) because large uncurated reports invite cherry-picking and narrative-building; his recommendation: curate, summarize 2–3 key strengths and 2–3 improvement targets and commit to specific actions.
- Both agreed on practical feedback practice: make feedback easy to consume (don’t force readers to parse long reports), shape your own narrative when sharing feedback, and translate broad input into a few concrete behavior changes leaders will visibly act on.