EP 25 - An Organic Path to COO with Founder of Constellary, Suzan Bond
The most organic path to becoming a leader is to follow your values, with no aspirations of leadership.
At least that was my experience, as I found my way into a COO role. What I seldom share on Leaders Unscripted is the path I paved to get there.
In this episode the tables are turned on me, as Extrology podcast host Lee Cooper steps in to interview me on my own journey, uncovering my formative experiences, philosophies and values.
This episode covers:
My early challenges and formative experiences
How the ‘bushwhacking’ career path organically evolved into a COO role
Career influences and books that have guided my journey
The superpower of seeing the world through different perspectives
Listening to instincts and trusting your path
Episode highlights
“I'm always fascinated by when I go to my subway stop, everybody crowds right at that one door because it's the perfect door to get off so you don't have to wait. I love, and am fascinated by, human behaviour.” - Suzan Bond
“What I love about coaching is that it’s centred on their experience, who they are, what they want. I love that - as someone who's such an individual, I don't want to take away your individuality.” - 27:25 - Suzan Bond
“Talk about the talking. We have to have conversations about how we work together, about our relationship. We can't just talk about the work, but we have to talk about how we work with each other.” - 40:05 - Suzan Bond
“Your assets in excess become your liabilities.” - 44:05 - Suzan Bond
“Leaders sit on a constellation, organisations are these really complex things. As leaders, we're a node on that network and we have to figure out how to interact from our node with the rest of that network.” - 57:00 - Suzan Bond
Links & references
Constellary: https://www.constellaryhq.com/
Suzan Bond: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanbond/
Lee Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leecooperrecruiter/
Transitions (by William Bridges): https://wmbridges.com/about/what-is-transition/
Emile Zola quote: “If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud.”
Anais Nin quote: “We don’t see the world the way it is, we see it the way we are.”