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Ken Jacobs fills in for Gini Dietrich as Chip Griffin’s co-host on this episode of the Agency Leadership Podcast.

As an executive coach, agency consultant, and trainer, Ken has a passion for leadership issues, so he and Chip share three lessons that each has learned over many decades of management and leadership roles.

Some of the topics covered include:

• The importance of listening
• The value of servant leadership
• The need to customize your leadership style
• The requirement to show (and not just tell)
• The understanding that how you climb the leadership ladder is how you descend it one day
• The significance of the “Washington Post test”

Quotes

• Chip: “A fantastic lesson is the importance of a leader understanding that when they listen and when they speak can impact the outcome of a meeting. Because if you’re not listening, and instead, as a leader, you’re coming out too soon and sharing your views, you may inadvertently stifle creative thought, you may stifle useful opinions and insights that your team has.”
• Ken: “When you put money in the stock market or the bank or wherever, you don’t expect to just get the same thing back, you expect to get more back, you expect to get great ROI. And I know if leaders out there work on their leadership, get trained, get coached, they will get that time back. And, more than that, they’ll have a more impassioned, inspired follower, who is really helping you achieve organizational goals.”
• Chip: “In the PR and marketing community, it is a small world. So your employee today could very well be your client or prospective client tomorrow, your coworker today could be your boss tomorrow, or could be managing that account that you just won last year, but you need to now get through a renewal process. There’s all sorts of ways in which relationships change over time. So you want to make sure that you are generating that kind of respect over time, “
• Ken: “And this, I think, is one of the differences between managing and leading, because we manage programs, projects, budgets, calendars, production schedules, etc. Those are things. But when we’re ready to step up, and step into leadership, and want to have inspired, motivated followers, it is about the human dynamic.”

Resources

• Jacobs Consulting and Executive Coaching
• Ken Jacobs on social: Twitter | LinkedIn

About Ken Jacobs

Ken Jacobs, a certified coach and experienced leadership consultant and trainer, is the principal of Jacobs Consulting & Executive Coaching. For more than 12 years, he has helped senior leaders and executives in public relations and integrated communications achieve and surpass their goals by becoming more inspired and inspiring leaders.

Jacobs has also helped nearly 50 agencies grow and manage business, improve client service and relationships, and enhance staff performance, communications and leadership skills.

Prior to launching his consultancy, Jacobs spent 25 years in management and leadership positions with a number of firms, including Ogilvy & Mather PR; Marina Maher Communications (MMC); and Maloney & Fox. (read more of Ken’s bio)

[read the transcript]

About Chip Griffin

Chip Griffin is the Founder & CEO of the Small Agency Growth Alliance (SAGA) and a longtime agency owner and executive. He helps PR and marketing communications agencies build better businesses. Full bio