Guest: James Robbins, Nine Minutes on Monday creator
Your team knows the targets. You’ve clarified expectations. Why does getting results still require so much pushing?
Leadership expert James Robbins joins Maureen Metcalf to explore how demands for greater accountability can backfire when employees already feel undervalued,and what leaders can do to change that dynamic.
Drawing on his work with a manufacturing leadership team, James introduces the relationship “bank account”: the everyday actions that build connection and trust, and the demands that draw on them. He explains how leaders began making their own behavior accountable through daily conversations, peer feedback, and leadership performance indicators.
The conversation also explores why psychological safety can initially make a workplace messier, how assumptions keep difficult conversations from happening, and why protecting individual metrics can undermine collaboration.
James closes with the practical discipline behind his book Nine Minutes on Monday: a brief weekly planning ritual that turns leadership intentions into specific commitments to recognize, develop, and support people.
For executives and managers under pressure to deliver more, this episode offers a practical question: Are your leadership habits creating the conditions for the performance you expect?
Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future is hosted by Maureen Metcalf, founder and CEO of the Innovative Leadership Institute. Explore more leadership development: https://innovativeleadershipinstitute.com/
This episode is sponsored by James Madison University's School of Strategic Leadership Studies.
Other episodes you'll enjoy:
- Leadership, Power, & the Psychology of Better Decisions with Manfred Kets de Vries
- Beyond Process: Developing Better Decisions with Jonathan Reams
- Leading on Overload: Managing Stress & Focus with Maryanna Klatt
For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.
RESOURCES:
Learn more about James on his website: https://www.jamesrobbins.com/. You’ll find his podcast there, too. His book, The Call to Climb, is available at https://amzn.to/4yPSj3E. His seminal book, Nine Minutes on Monday, is at https://amzn.to/4yu5eqW.
Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here.
Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.
Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here.
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OUR PODCAST TEAM:
Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf
Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko
Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan
Booking Producer: Jenna Reik (Jreik@innovativeleadership.com)
Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.
CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership
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Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com
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About Our Guest:
James Robbins is a management consultant, keynote speaker, and author who helps leaders turn good intentions into consistent leadership behavior. His book Nine Minutes on Monday is a widely used framework for people leadership; his latest, The Call to Climb, is published by Wiley. He has delivered keynotes to audiences across North America and works with executives on the inner discipline that practical leadership depends on.
