Genius Leadership: Overcoming Everything Podcast

Leaders We Want to Follow - with Jonas Friberg

I've met Jonas Friberg at one of the webinars where I was a panelist and he moderated the conversation. We clicked instantly due to our passion for leadership and questions about what makes it or breaks it when it comes to leading others.
Jonas has a history as a leader in different organizations from public to private companies, to NGOs. He has been responsible for groups, business units, companies with up to 3000 employees and a turnover of 5 billion SEK. Jonas is also a facilitator for network groups and has facilitated more than 500 network meetings where he had the opportunity to meet more than 1500 leaders in Sweden.
In 2020, Jonas picked 25 leaders that inspired him most and dove deep into what made them so special. The conversations he had with those leaders as research for his book is the foundation for our discussion in this interview.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Is there a specific set of traits that define who will succeed in leading others?
- What's more important: focus on daily operations or visionary communication; awareness of own strengths or weaknesses; curiosity or clarity?
- What can help you as a Leader get people on board and together work towards the company vision?
- Practical tips from us and the Livenar participants on how to actually walk the talk on a daily basis - to be present and to know what your people think, do, and want.
Enjoy and stay Genius,Anna
Connect with Jonas on LinkedIn. If you want to pre-order his book (in Swedish), drop him a message on LinkedIn.
If you want to have invites to the coming Livenars, let me know here. 
Soundtrack copyright:
«Там, куди я йду» (Tam, kudy ya ydu)
Artist: Гурт [О] (Gurt [O])
Music by: Olexander Kasprov, Olga Lytvynenko
Lyrics by: Olga Lytvynenko
(С)&(P) 2020 MASTERSKAYA

Running Towards Challenges and Welcoming Them - with Cynthia Blandford

Cynthia Lynn Blandford is Honorary Consul General for the Republic of Liberia to the State of Georgia and Liberia’s first African American female Honorary Consul General.
Consul General Blandford is highly engaged in different roles in society. Apart from being the Liberian Consul in Atlanta, Georgia, she is a business founder leading Global Strategies for Good LLC. and the founder of University Consortium for Liberia (UCL) - a non-profit providing a framework for colleges, universities, and other educationally oriented organizations with current or future projects in Liberia to “Lift Liberia by coordinating diverse academic efforts for increased impact.”
Cynthia's accomplishments and outstanding leadership have been recognized by Essence Magazine, Tuskegee Airmen as well as Georgia’s Secretary of State.  In January 2010, she received the Martin Luther King Torch of Peace Award from Georgia State University and, in March 2010, the Atlanta Business League’s 100 Most Influential Women Award.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Cynthia's take on leadership being about other people - engaging people to follow your dream and allowing them to grow within your leadership
- Building your legacy where there’s no right or wrong, too small or too big, and where the only two things that matter are whether your legacy gives you drive and strength every day, and whether it creates a positive change in the world
- Finding the power and resilience in your mission. Cynthia believes she was commissioned to do what she does, and that is what drives her to use every day of her life wisely and with an intention to do good
- How self-care is a part of your legacy and why it's not selfish to take time for yourself
- How essential relationships are for your business, especially in times of crisis
- How you can use the crisis to make an essential impact that will last a long time after the crisis
- Revisiting the doors that have been closed in front of you
- And of course, about running towards adversity because it’s not if - it’s when it will happen
Enjoy and stay Genius,Anna
Connect with Cynthia on LinkedIn and learn more about UCL and Global Strategies For Good.
Head over to my webpage to learn more about yours truly.
Soundtrack copyright:
«Там, куди я йду» (Tam, kudy ya ydu)
Artist: Гурт [О] (Gurt [O])
Music by: Olexander Kasprov, Olga Lytvynenko
Lyrics by: Olga Lytvynenko
(С)&(P) 2020 MASTERSKAYA

Fixing People Problems with People Solutions - with Hjalmar Gislason

Hjalmar Gislason is the founder of GRID - the new face of spreadsheets, a software-as-a-service startup that empowers people to turn any spreadsheet into a beautiful web report, dashboard or interactive application.
Hjalmar is a serial entrepreneur with GRID being his fifth startup. He has worked in Iceland, then moved to the US, to later come back. I watched an interview Hjalmar did in the Icelandic Startup community and got very intrigued about several of his decisions in and attitudes towards the business.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Hjalmar's transition from a product focus to people focus
- Thoughts on how to balance being an equal part of the team and being the decision-maker
- Suggestions for to build a culture where “what is right” is more important than “who is right”
- Hjalmar's way to create and nurture a thriving company culture at GRID
- His prediction about the future office - will it be co-located or virtual?
- A decision to hire a coach, the value GRID gets from having a coach in-house, and how do their investors look at spending the cash on the coach
- Hiring mistakes you as a leader will inevitably make and what can you do when people on your team underperform
- How do you draw a line between being professional with your people and having a personal relationship with them
Enjoy and stay Genius,Anna
Learn more about GRID here and connect with Hjalmar on LinkedIn.
Head over to my webpage to learn more about yours truly.
Soundtrack copyright:
«Там, куди я йду» (Tam, kudy ya ydu)
Artist: Гурт [О] (Gurt [O])
Music by: Olexander Kasprov, Olga Lytvynenko
Lyrics by: Olga Lytvynenko
(С)&(P) 2020 MASTERSKAYA

Life Sucks on a Regular Basis, So Be Prepared - with Mia Törnblom

She's been called too blond, too cheerful to be teaching corporate leaders and coaching the National Women's Football team, yet Mia Törnblom kept on going. She has impacted many lives through her openness, vulnerability, engaging way of communication, curiosity, and strong will to not waste her second chance in life.
Young Mia had a drug addiction, was engaged in violent relationships and saw many of her friends disappear, and she often brings that up to the table when working with leaders. "No matter what you have done, the chance is high that I've messed up more in life", she then says. During rehab, Mia got to train her self-esteem, and that seems to have become one of her missions in life - help others strengthen theirs. Yours truly being one of those others - Mia's teachings have helped me become a much better person in all aspects of my life.
Being a huge fan of Mia, I had a short freak out when to my invitation to be the first guest on Genius Leadership show, she simply replied “Sure, let’s do it”. It's been an honor to spend an hour talking to one of my favorite Humans about one of my favorite topics, and I think you Genius Leaders need to hear Mia’s message: Life sucks on a regular basis, so you’d better be prepared.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- The power of self-leadership as a tool for successfully leading others
- Can everyone be a good leader?
- How can we be fine with leading people who are better than us?
- How being weak and vulnerable is a sign of strength?
- What does being uncomfortable about tough conversations have to do with your being selfish?
- The most powerful feedback conversation Mia's had with one of her employees and how the tough love can help us grow and improve.
- How to tackle the issues that our outdated brains create for us on a daily basis.
Enjoy and stay Genius,Anna
Connect with Mia via her email: mia@mtledarskap.se or on Instagram.
Learn more about me: https://annaliebel.com/
Soundtrack copyright:
«Там, куди я йду» (Tam, kudy ya ydu)
Artist: Гурт [О] (Gurt [O])
Music by: Olexander Kasprov, Olga Lytvynenko
Lyrics by: Olga Lytvynenko
(С)&(P) 2020 MASTERSKAYA

Interviewing the Interviewer - with Anna Liebel

In this episode, I am joined by a dear friend Doreen who always asks deep questions and uses her own experiences and observations to create mindshifting conversations. You will hear about:
- My background
- Some of my experiences of leading and being lead
- Why did I start Genius Leadership
- What’s common between shopping at a supermarket and working with other people?
- Setting boundaries as a leader
- Coaching leadership style
Enjoy and stay Genius,Anna
Learn more about me: https://annaliebel.com/
Soundtrack copyright:
«Там, куди я йду» (Tam, kudy ya ydu)
Artist: Гурт [О] (Gurt [O])
Music by: Olexander Kasprov, Olga Lytvynenko
Lyrics by: Olga Lytvynenko
(С)&(P) 2020 MASTERSKAYA

Welcome to Genius Leadership

Genius Leadership Podcast and its host Anna Liebel are inviting you on a rollercoaster ride of leading yourself and others. A leadership journey is often misunderstood and undervalued, appearing to be a tough one. Yet, with the right mindset, tools, and techniques, you can find your zone of genius and start enjoying your leadership ride, meanwhile contributing to healthier and happier workplaces, homes, and communities. Join Anna and her guests to become a Genius Leader.
Subscribe now, enjoy and stay genius!
Learn more about Anna Liebel here. 
 
Soundtrack copyright:
«Там, куди я йду» (Tam, kudy ya ydu)
Artist: Гурт [О] (Gurt [O])
Music by: Olexander Kasprov, Olga Lytvynenko
Lyrics by: Olga Lytvynenko
(С)&(P) 2020 MASTERSKAYA