Denise Cooper on 30 Years of Executive Level Talent Development with ”Remarkable Leadership Lessons”

Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #115, with Denise Cooper[i], the author of the book, Remarkable Leadership Lessons[ii], with 30 Years of executive level Talent Development experience.

Watch the interview on YouTube here.

On this episode you will learn:

✔︎ After 30 years of teaching leadership to executives, what are the most important lessons that we should all know and practice?

✔︎ How can leaders incorporate social and emotional skills into the workplace to improve communication with their team?

✔︎ How can we ensure that all team members hold the same vision?

✔︎ How can we help diverse groups to feel included and help them to step to their next level?

✔︎ How can behavior change happen within an organization? What are the best ways to introduce new ideas for change?

✔︎ Why is collaborative thinking such an important problem-solving skill?

Hello and Welcome back! I’m Andrea Samadi, a former educator who has been fascinated with learning the science behind high performance strategies in schools, sports and the workplace, for the past 20 plus years. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to introducing you to Denise Cooper. When I first was introduced to Denise, it was through email, and I took one look at her media kit, and wrote back immediately (within seconds) to her team that I would love to speak with her. I didn’t need an intro phone call to know that Denise Cooper exuded leadership. We set up a call anyway, and I learned so much from our chat together.

Denise

• Serves corporate clients of large, midsize, and smaller companies
• Coaches senior level executives to continue to succeed in a new or different role
• Assists high performers struggling with a new scope of responsibility
• Helps companies develop new leadership strategies during times of management, performance, structural, or business change
• Works with individuals, departments, or management teams to enable them simply to perform better

Through one-on-one coaching, structured leadership training, coursework, team or group workshops, or tailor-made curricula, Denise guides companies and individuals to elevate their game and maximize their company's performance.

A review of her book says it all- “Her book answers the hard questions we all ask ourselves in our careers. How do I influence others? How do I get my colleagues to respect me? How do I present with confidence, even if I don't feel it? No one in my life has given me these answers, which makes this book worth its weight in gold to me.”

During these times of change, I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t benefit from hearing what Denise has to say. I will create some questions for her, so you can dig a bit deeper into her book, trainings and coursework to help shift your mindset to possibility thinking, and perhaps some breakthroughs of your own.

Be sure to look in the show notes for the link to her Masterclass that begins May 17th called “Change Terrifies Us” and without further ado, here’s Denise Cooper.

Welcome Denise, thank you for coming on the podcast today to share your knowledge and expertise in the field of leadership, at a time when everyone could do with a refresher course on communication, or thinking differently to hit those breakthroughs we all are looking for.

Q1:  Denise, when we first spoke, you mentioned where your work began in the area of leadership. Whether we are leading team in the corporate world, working as a school admin, or superintendent, or even leading ourselves in business, what are some of the most important leadership lessons from your book that we should all know about to become better leaders? (leadership is more about you than the other person).

Q2: In section 1 of your book, you talk about becoming a Change Leader. How can a leader incorporate some of these important social and emotional skills that I’ve built this podcast on (like self-awareness—the importance of knowing ourselves, or social awareness—getting to know our team members) to create change in their organization?

2B: How do we make sure everyone on our team holds the same vision?

Q3: As we grow older, and can look back at our path, it’s interesting to see where we all started, but also recognize that there are many marginalized groups (women, people of color, the LGBT community (others I haven’t mentioned?) that have been left out of the picture. How do you help diverse groups like this to feel included, and help them to step to their next level? (I know it took me some time to gain the confidence that I knew was missing for some time as a woman in business). I know this message would help those who might feel that stepping up another level might not be for them, (like maybe they don’t belong, or it’s for someone else whose more connected or something). I know you can show them this is not the case.

Q4: Most of us has experienced a toxic work environment at some point in our career. I always offered to be on the committee for impacting change within our teams at work and was always suggesting ideas from the years of seminars and personal growth workshops I had attended prior to working the corporate space with the hopes that change would occur. I remember the look of shock on many people’s faces when I suggested some ideas that are now considered mainstream in schools and workplaces (like energy tapping or breathing techniques to reduce stress).  Where do you think self-help has gone wrong, and how do you see behavior change happening within organizations when there are clear problems?

Q5: Why is Collaborative Thinking a Leader’s best problem-solving skill?

Q6: Now that we’ve dove a bit deeper into the topic of leadership in the workplace, what would you say would be an important call to action for us all to think about?

Q7-Final Thoughts, or anything I’ve missed that you think is important?

Thank you so much Denise, for sharing 3 decades of your experience with us.

 If anyone wants to learn more about your book, leadership training and coursework, is the best place https://rllessons.com/ Denise also has a Masterclass coming up on May 17th.[iii] It is titled "Change Terrifies Us!"

https://rllessons.com/masterclass/

Attendees will learn how to overcome fear and build a thriving culture through collective ownership, focus, and measuring the cycles of change. You can access the link to this class in the show notes.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisecooper/ LinkedIn

https://www.facebook.com/CoachDJCooper/ Facebook

RESOURCES:

Tina Turner https://nypost.com/2021/03/16/tina-turner-says-goodbye-to-fans-with-doc-amid-ptsd-stroke-cancer/

Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #66 with the Legendary Bob Proctor https://www.achieveit360.com/the-legendary-bob-proctor-on-social-and-emotional-learning-where-it-all-started/

REFERENCES:

[i] https://www.denisecooperinc.com/about-denise-cooper

[ii] Remarkable Leadership Lessons: Change Results One Conversation at a Time by Denise Cooper https://www.amazon.com/Remarkable-Leadership-Lessons-Results-Conversation-ebook/dp/B08QXGQT31

[iii] May 17th Masterclass https://rllessons.com/masterclass/