Ep. 34: Matt Horan: Professional Development Consultant - a podcast by Peter Margaritis, CPA & C-Suite Radio

Matt Horan is a professional development consultant with experience in engineering, practicing law, the Navy and management. In this episode, he explores why we need to be teaching people leadership skills earlier, before they are leaders. He also offers, possibly for the first time ever in a podcast, a good definition for “adding value.”
Some people naturally want to be leaders and some people are thrust into leadership, but it doesn’t matter which camp you fall under – everybody needs to learn how to be a good leader before they can actually lead effectively.If you have never had the opportunity to lead, where do you start?
Self-awareness. It's understanding your own strengths, skills, priorities, values and expectations.“If you know yourself, then you can start to lead other people because to lead people you need to set expectations with those people.”
Set goals based on what you want to achieve.Find a mentor, and don’t be afraid to ask someone to be your mentor.
Matt rejects the notion of “fake it ‘till you make it.” It’s a bad way to be a leader or a team member. A self-aware and honest leader is able to say they don’t know something in order to better understand it, and they’re able to speak up when they make a mistake.What do you need to learn to be a good leader?
You have to be able to say you made a mistake, when you make a mistake.You have to be able to say you don’t know something.
You have to actively add value to everything you work on.You have to be present, in the moment and focused – just like in Improv!
You have to create a culture where people want to do the same.The Matt Horan School of Adding Value says adding value is basically your thoughts, your perception of how you think this should go, and being able to communicate that in a manner that somebody else can understand. It’s a critical skill for good leaders.
I greatly appreciate Matt coming on to share his insight and wonderful stories – he’lldefinitely be back again soon.
  
Resources:Connect with Matt on LinkedIn
Production&Development for Improv Is No Joke by Podcast Masters
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Further episodes of Change Your Mindset

Further podcasts by Peter Margaritis, CPA & C-Suite Radio

Website of Peter Margaritis, CPA & C-Suite Radio