The Leadership Athlete with Nicole Soames

Nicole Soames is a best-selling author of four business books, she’s also the CEO of Diadem Performance. In this show we learn how to reframe your role as a leadership athlete. Some great learning including: Why there is nothing “soft” about soft skills Explore the characteristics of a commercial athlete? The difference between Influencing and negotiation The three hats of the Leader - Manage, Lead and Coach Join our Tribe at https://leadership-hacker.com Music: " Upbeat Party " by Scott Holmes courtesy of the Free Music Archive FMA Transcript: Thanks to Jermaine Pinto at JRP Transcribing for being our Partner. Contact Jermaine via LinkedIn or via his site JRP Transcribing Services Find out more about Nicole below: Diadem’s Website https://diademperformance.com Nicole’s Books http://nicolesoamesbooks.com Nicole on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolesoamesatdiadem/ Nicole on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/soamesnicole/ Nicole on Twitter https://twitter.com/diademperform     Full Transcript Below ----more----  Steve Rush: Some call me Steve, dad, husband or friend. Others might call me boss, coach or mentor. Today you can call me The Leadership Hacker.   Thanks for listening in. I really appreciate it. My job as the leadership hacker is to hack into the minds, experiences, habits and learning of great leaders, C-Suite executives, authors and development experts so that I can assist you developing your understanding and awareness of leadership. I am Steve Rush and I am your host today. I am the author of Leadership Cake. I am a transformation consultant and leadership coach. I cannot wait to start sharing all things leadership with you.   Our special guest on today's show is Nicole Soames. She's a best-selling author and CEO of Diadem Performance. Working with over 85 clients across the globe, helping thousands of people become commercial athletes in selling, influencing, account management, marketing strategy, coaching and leadership. But before we get a chance to speak with Nicole, it's The Leadership Hacker News.   The Leadership Hacker News   Steve Rush: In the news today, we'll explore the relationship between leadership and professional athletes. Professional athletes can sometimes have a bad reputation, with stories of out-of-control behavior often seen in the media. This front-page drama in which the media in all facets of news,  can often overshadow great athletic performances. And as such, it's easy to forget the important contribution athletes make consistently to society. Sports nut and journalist James Bailey wrote an article in Bloomberg Businessweek called Athletes: Natural Born Leaders, and he focuses on five reasons why professional athletes will make great leaders. And here are those five reasons.   Reason One. Professional athletes are determined. True, many are endowed with physical gifts, but realizing them as hard work. Progressing in sports means negotiating and increasingly exclusive series of hurdles that can't be cleared without discipline, focus, patients, practice, and then more practice. It takes decades of sweat and investment to bring whatever a leader possesses to fruition. We simply won't follow somebody who hasn't demonstrated determination.   Reason two, Teamwork. These men and women won't just preach teamwork, they practice it. A sports team is just like a jazz band. Integration is necessary to gather a coherent whole, but everybody gets a chance to shine. There may be a most valuable player, but he or she is first among equals. Everybody has a job to do, and nobody gets a ring or trophy. More than ever modern organizations need cross-functional teams to support them.   Reason three, Appreciating fellowship. Professional athletes appreciate fellowship or follow the leader as it's often known. And it's not just a playground game. It's actually an experience in serving greater purpose. Athletes understand the tangible advantages of executing a plan and their goal achiev