315: Be a Better Leader By Embracing Radical Humility with Urs Koenig

The Modern Manager

As a manager, you are entrusted to lead and manage your team, but that doesn’t mean you’ll always get things right.

When you have power and authority, it can be challenging to own your shortfalls and mistakes. After all, you are someone that your team members look up to. But our guest thinks otherwise.

He believes that showing up with radical humility builds trust, fosters connection, and creates a psychologically safe environment. So, how do you practice humility as a leader?

Today’s guest is Urs Koenig, a former United Nations military peacekeeper and NATO military peacekeeping commander. He is a highly accomplished ultra-endurance champion, a widely published professor, and a seasoned executive coach and keynote speaker with more than three decades of experience helping hundreds of leaders and dozens of executive teams unlock new levels of achievement across four continents. He is the founder of the Radical Humility Leadership Institute and speaks frequently on the topic of leadership to corporations and associations across the globe.

Urs and I talk about the importance of humility in leadership, emphasizing self-awareness, relational leadership, and a growth mindset.

He also explains the need for modern leadership to depart from the traditional command-and-control model in favor of one that empowers team members and builds trust.

Plus, in the extended episode available to Podcast+members, Urs breaks down the five mental shifts that every leader must make and how to lead like a compass.

Join the conversation now!

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Conversation Topics

• (00:00) Intro
• (02:03) What is radical humility, and why is it important?
• (04:35) Leadership practices that were working before but not anymore
• (06:55) How to encourage honest feedback from your team
• (09:05) Mastering self-awareness to become a better leader
• (12:27) The Ted Lasso technique explained
• (18:38) The quickest way to build trust with your team
• (23:17) The importance of building psychological safety and nurturing a fearless culture
• (27:34) A great manager Urs has worked for
• (28:44) Keep up with Urs
• (29:05) [Extended Episode Only] 5 mental shifts that every leader must make
• (29:58) [Extended Episode Only] How to lead like a compass
• (37:12) [Extended Episode Only] A great example of when leaders lead with radical humility

Additional Resources:

- Get the extended episode by Joining The Modern Manager Podcast+ Community for just $15 per month

- Read the full transcript here

- Follow me on Instagram here

- Visit my website for more here

- Build your team’s skills here

- Subscribe to my YouTube Channel here

Keep up with Urs Koenig

- Grab a copy of Urs book here

- Follow Urs on LinkedIn here

- Check his website for more information here

FREE Radical Humility NOW Leadership Prompts

Urs is providing members of Podcast+ a PDF of the Radical Humility NOW Leadership NOW Prompts. These are exercises from the book that can help you apply Radical Humility in your leadership and life.

To get this bonus and many other member benefits, become a member of The Modern Manager Podcast+ Community.

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The Modern Manager is a leadership podcast for rockstar managers who want to create a working environment where people thrive, and great work gets done.

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