Unleashing True Leadership: The Co-Creative Journey with Steffan Surdek

Episode Links:

Steffan Surdek's Book: The Way of the Co-Creative Leader - https://www.amazon.com/Way-Co-Creative-Leader-leadership-everywhere/dp/103917034X

Brené Brown's Book: The Gifts of Imperfection - https://www.amazon.com/Gifts-Imperfection-Think-Supposed-Embrace/dp/159285849X

Steffan's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steffansurdek

Steffan's Company Website: https://www.surdek.com/

Steffan's Personal Website: https://www.steffansurdek.com/

Summary:

In this episode of The Corvus Effect, Steffan Surdek, author of 'The Way of the Co-Creative Leader,' shares his transformative journey from software development to becoming a leadership innovator. The discussion delves into the principles of co-creative leadership, emphasizing the importance of vulnerability, collaboration, and sustainability in leading teams. Steffan outlines five key skills integral to co-creative leadership, including being a voice among many, unleashing the leaders around you, developing team capacity, dancing with the system, and fostering learning by doing. Through insightful anecdotes and practical advice, Steffan highlights how these skills can create lasting organizational change and can be applied in personal life for a more fulfilled existence.

Show Notes:

00:32 Meet Steffan Surdek: From Software Developer to Leadership Innovator

03:08 The Moses Effect: Creating Sustainable Change

07:58 Co-Creative Leadership: Key Principles and Skills

14:31 Building Capacity and Developing Leaders

19:54 Conversational Debt: Addressing Unspoken Issues

22:43 The Unmade Bed Dilemma

23:38 Addressing the Issue

24:56 Self-Awareness in Leadership

26:02 Conversational Debt in Teams

27:06 Dancing with the System

32:20 Fostering Learning by Doing

37:36 Applying Leadership Lessons to Personal Life

40:53 Final Thoughts and Takeaways

Transcript: