S26 Ep2: Thom Dennis - Becoming a Leader of the Future: Learning to let go and trust your gut

Today, Steve is speaking about security leadership with executive coach and CEO and Founder of Serenity in Leadership Thom Dennis. Thom brings his expertise in psychology to bear in their discussion of the role of leaders in culture change, how to let go and trust your workforce, and practical tips for embracing the challenges leaders face day to day.

Key Takeaways:
1. Fast-paced change and unease about people being away from work for extended periods of time are impacting leadership development.
2. Trust and clarity are key to successful remote work, letting go of control and setting clear objectives.
3. Incorporating breaks into work schedules serves to avoid burnout and increase productivity.
4. Thom Dennis predicts a shift in leadership thinking, where society’s demands will be prioritized over corporate standards.


Tune in to hear more about:
1. Trust, fear, and delegation in leadership (3:56)
2. Creating space for focus, trust, and organizational leadership evolution (11:29)
3. Leadership evolution, prioritizing people over analysis, and fostering trust and community in organizations (17:22)


Standout Quotes:

1. Let people go. Tell them what you want them to achieve, tell them what the objectives are, and then let them get on with it. There's this sort of sense of fear that one isn't going to be in control. So I think people have got to learn to trust, and to be very clear about what it is that they're looking for. And then letting go. And I think often, you will get a far better result from that. Above anything else, I think, in forcing the briefer to be absolutely clear about what they want to achieve, that can save an awful lot of time and money in and of itself. -Thom Dennis

2. Some people who write and have incredibly busy jobs, they're up at five o'clock, or even four o'clock, and they’re writing for an hour, and then they go to the gym, and then they … and so on. Whatever your routine is. But if they're doing that, they're probably in bed at eight o'clock in the evening. So look, a part of this is self discipline, isn't it? It’s deciding on your routine, and then doing whatever it is that you can do to keep yourself to it. -Thom Dennis

3. I think we need to create quiet spaces for ourselves so that we can actually hear our inner knowing. They say that there's more signals that go from the heart to the brain than the other way around. And they've identified that there are brain type cells in the heart, and also in the gut. So all these things people have been talking about oh, well, I just go by my gut feelings, well, that's not as silly as it sounds. And I think that leaders of the future have got to become just a little bit less — not totally, but a little bit less cerebral, and more in touch with their inner knowing. — Thom Dennis

Mentioned in this episode:

• ISF Analyst Insight Podcast

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