Manage Up Without Shutting Down (ft. Sylvia Acevedo)

Manage Up Without Shutting Down (ft. Sylvia Acevedo)

The best leaders face risks head-on without letting them derail progress.

OPENING QUOTE:

“There are people who are really good at managing people and managing up, but not necessarily understanding how to manage risk. And so sometimes, I've seen this over and over, the way they manage risk is to shut something down. ”

—Sylvia Acevedo

GUEST BIO:

Sylvia Acevedo is a scientist who performed vital work on both the Voyager 2 and Solar Probe as well as an executive who has led Apple’s Asia Pacific operations and served in a leadership role at Dell. She’s also an accomplished entrepreneur, having founded two successful tech businesses (CommuniCard and REBA Technologies) on her way to being named one of Forbes Top 50 Women in Tech and Fast Company’s Top 100 Most Creative People in Business. Amidst it all, she advised the Obama White House, became CEO of the U.S. Girl Scouts, and currently serves on the board of Qualcomm. Sylvia was kindly introduced to us by Natfluence, a platform featuring top founders, CEOs and entrepreneurs.

Learn more about Sylvia Acevedo

WebsiteLinkedInInstagramFacebookTwitterPath to the StarsWomen in Leadership Study by Zenger & Folkman

CORE TOPICS + DETAILS:

[07:51] - The Power of Deadlines

Set a date and watch inspiration come

When John F. Kennedy said, “We will reach the moon before the end of the decade,” there was a very crystallizing moment when everyone involved with the project sat a little straighter and focused a little harder. When you’re facing a somewhat amorphous goal, setting a deadline can help create a sense of focus, direction, and positive urgency.

[9:13] - Management vs. Leadership

It’s all about variables

Management involves knowing the variables and constraints and finding ways to help your team achieve the goals within that framework. True leadership comes when you can’t see all of the variables and constraints, but you still must find a way to achieve your end goal. How do you lead through uncertainty toward a desired outcome?

[14:18] - The New Confidence

Don’t know all the answers? Good.

In the traditional hierarchical model of leadership, leaders were supposed to say, “I know all the answers” with confidence. But now, true confidence in leadership is confidence in the people around you who collectively have more specific expertise than you might as their leader. That’s real confidence that leads to real results.

[25:50] - On the Other Side of Risk Lies Inspiration

‘Organizations that don’t risk don’t do anything’

Managing risk as a leader doesn’t mean avoiding it. When entrepreneurs move from the insulation of creative work and development into the world of figures, profit margins, shareholders, salaries, and ongoing growth, they often find themselves desperate to avoid any risk— so they become stagnant. But true leadership involves a great deal of managing risk, not eliminating it.

[36:43] - What You Give When You Ask for Help

It’s not just about hearing other voices

If you are a leader, don't forget to ask people for their ideas and give them space to develop them. If you're not a leader, you can ask colleagues for their ideas and swap ideas with them. This doesn’t just bring new ideas into a project, it also lets the people around you know that what they’re doing matters and their perspectives are valued, which can have measurable impact on their personal investment, productivity, and innovation.

RESOURCES:

[01:26] GirlScouts.org[01:31] Qualcomm[02:34] About Clara Barton[6:00] Voyager II[7:03] Solar Probe

FOLLOW:

We'd love to hear your thoughts on today’s episode. Feel free to DM Chris on social or shoot him an email at [email protected].

Check out more episodes and content on the Perspectives from the Top Website.

Follow Sylvia Acevedo:

WebsiteLinkedInInstagramFacebookTwitterPath to the StarsWomen in Leadership Study by Zenger & Folkman

Follow Chris Roebuck:

WebsiteTwitterLinkedInFacebookPerspectives from the Top

ABOUT PERSPECTIVES FROM THE TOP:

Discover the secrets of success for you and your organization shared by the world’s leading thinkers, doers, and trailblazers. Join Chris Roebuck, Honorary Visiting Professor of transformational leadership, leader in military, business, and government, inspiring global keynote speaker, one of HR’s Most Influential Thinkers, bestselling author, and your host of Perspectives from the Top. The show reveals a treasure trove of insights from mega trends to practical strategies and actions to take your career up a gear. From government world shapers and business mold breakers to evidence driven academics and enthusiastic entrepreneurs, each episode shows you how you can immediately use these new ideas and actions to drive your success.

Learn more at: PerspectivesFromTheTop.com

ABOUT THE HOST:

Chris has shown over 21,000 leaders in over 1500 organizations globally how they can discover their secrets of success in a way that meets and beats their organizations specific challenges.

Chris has done this across sector, culture, and geography - UBS, HSBC, KPMG & London Underground, legal firms to construction, tech and IT, to retail, facilities to scientific research, police to not for profit, pharmaceutical to SMEs. From the UK National Health Service of 1.4m staff and UK Government to the Red Cross in Myanmar, from Investment banks in London to Middle East Telecoms, from the Chinese Space Program leaders to HR Directors in India and global retail CEOs in Rome.

When he was the Global Head of Leadership at UBS, overseeing a staff of 70,000 across 100 countries, his team helped the bank transform organizational performance to increase profitability by 235%, market capitalization by 50% and win numerous awards. This is now a Harvard Case Study.

Chris has been quoted as a business leadership expert globally in the Harvard Business Review China, FT, Wall Street Journal, Le Monde, New York Times, Business Week, Time Magazine, Washington Post, Times of India, Straits & Gulf Times and many others. He judges business awards and has done over 350 TV interviews on leadership and business on BBC, Sky, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, CNBC & CNN. He’s also skied at 60mph by accident. 

Learn more about Chris at ChrisRoebuck.LiveLearn more about the show at PerspectivesFromTheTop.com

ABOUT DETROIT PODCAST STUDIOS:

In Detroit, history was made when Barry Gordy opened Motown Records back in 1960. More than just discovering great talent, Gordy built a systematic approach to launching superstars. His rigorous processes, technology, and development methods were the secret sauce behind legendary acts such as The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.

As a nod to the past, Detroit Podcast Studios leverages modern versions of Motown’s processes to launch today’s most compelling podcasts. What Motown was to musical artists, Detroit Podcast Studios is to podcast artists today. 

With over 75 combined years of experience in content development, audio production, music scoring, storytelling, and digital marketing, Detroit Podcast Studios provides full-service development, training, and production capabilities to take podcasts from messy ideas to finely tuned hits. 

Here’s to making (podcast) history together.

Learn more at: DetroitPodcastStudios.com

CREDITS:

Chris Roebuck: Host | [email protected]Connor Trombley: Executive Producer | [email protected]