Alisa Cohn
The #1 Startup Coach in the World
Secrets of Start Ups

Episode Summary
The Keep Leading!® podcast was LIVE with Alisa Cohn, the #1 Startup Coach in the world, one of the Top 30 Global Gurus for Startups and one of Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches. We discussed leadership during this interesting time, pivots, building your team and all things startups!

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Bio
Alisa Cohn is an executive coach and speaker who helps leaders and teams make permanent positive shifts in their behaviors and the results they achieve. She has been recognized as the #1 Startup Coach in the world at the Thinkers 50 Marshall Goldsmith Global Coaching Awards and as one of top 30 Global Gurus for Startups

Marshall Goldsmith selected her in his first cohort of the 100 Coaches Project, a gathering of the world’s top executive coaches. In naming her a top Executive Coach, Women’s Business described her as “absolutely brilliant, laugh-out-loud hilarious and a superhero.”

Cohn writes regularly for Inc, Forbes, and Worth. She has been a keynote speaker for events hosted by PwC, IBM, Citi, Dell, and Standard Chartered Bank. She has also been featured on Bloomberg TV and BBC World News as an expert on culture, communications, and leadership.

Cohn has taught and developed workshops at the graduate level at Harvard and Cornell Universities and the Naval War College’s accelerated leadership program. She has also coached public figures and political leaders from around the world, including the first female Parliament Minister in Afghanistan and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.

Cohn – a recovering CPA – holds an MBA from Cornell University and earned her BS from Boston University. She has attended Directors’ College at Stanford Law School.

Website
https://www.alisacohn.com/

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

Twitter
https://twitter.com/AlisaCohn

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/alisa.cohn

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/alisacohn/

Leadership Quote
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate.”

“I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.”

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From Start-Up to Grown-Up

alisacohn.com/start-up

Transcript

The key to sustainable leadership lies in the ability to thrive during uncertainty, ambiguity, and change. Grand Heron International brings you the Coaching Assistance Program, giving your employees on-demand coaching to manage through a challenging situation and arrive at a solution. Visit GrandHeronInternational.Ca/Podcast to learn more.

This podcast is part of the C Suite Radio Network, turning the volume up on business.

Welcome to the Keep Leading!® Podcast, the podcast dedicated to promoting leadership development and sharing leadership insights. Here’s your host, The Leadership Excelerator®, Eddie Turner.

Eddie Turner:

So, we are live. This is my second attempt to deliver the Keep Leading!® Podcast to my audience live. And I have another willing participant, willing to test this with me. You’re looking at her, the amazing Alisa Cohn. Alisa is just simply wonderful. I’m excited to have her with me.So, let me begin with the proper introduction and say welcome to the Keep Leading!® Podcast, the podcast dedicated to leadership development and insights. I’m your host Eddie Turner, The Leadership Excelerator®. I work with leaders to accelerate performance and drive impact through the power of executive coaching, facilitation, and professional speaking.

Today is a very special episode. Today, we are talking about leadership during this interesting time in human history. I’ll be talking about how we can pivot, how you can build your team and all things start-up. And I’ve got, as I said, the amazing Alisa Cohn. You see her right there. And Alisa is an executive coach. She’s a speaker and she helps leaders and teams make permanent positive shifts in their behaviors and the results they achieve. She is recognized as the number one start-up coach in the world. And she’s also one of the top 30 global gurus for start-ups. She’s one of Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 coaches. And naming maybe her a top executive coach, Women’s Business described her as absolutely brilliant, laugh-out-loud hilarious, and a superhero. So, without further ado, let me welcome Alisa Cohn.

Alisa, welcome to the Keep Leading!® Podcast Live.

Alisa Cohn:
Hi, Eddie. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. I mean, boy, that is my bio and the way you like delivered that is so inspiring. So, thank you very much. And I think that you’re the amazing Eddie Turner. So, I really appreciate our being able to connect today.
Eddie Turner:
Well, thank you. And that means a lot coming from you, Alisa. Alisa, what did I miss? I didn’t do your bio a justice. Tell us a little bit more about you.
Alisa Cohn:
Well, I guess, I would say I’ve had a passion for start-ups for decades because when I was working to figure out what I wanted to do, I was seeking a whole bunch of things and I landed in start-ups. So, I was a CFO of one start-up, the Head of Strategy of another and that’s kind of where my roots were in terms of loving start-ups. And now, what I really do is I think about helping leaders scale as fast as their high-growth companies, which is particularly important now in the sort of interesting times, as you said, that we live in.
Eddie Turner:
Indeed. Now, for some people it’s hard to distinguish the difference between a start-up and a small business. Can you tell the difference?
Alisa Cohn:
Yeah, that’s a great question. I would think that when we think about start-ups, we really think about hyper growth. We think about the notion of moving quickly and it’s also about not just adding employees or adding employees is a thing, it’s also exponential increase in revenue and that all the problems and challenges and also benefits that accrue to that. We think about a small business as it just tends to be more like a linear growth path, not exponential growth path.
Eddie Turner:
Okay. Now, you’ve done so much in this area, you’ve become identified as the number one start-up coach in the world. And there’s a list of companies behind that. Tell us a little bit about some of the people you’ve worked with and some of the things you’ve done that have made them successful that led to you gaining this recognition globally.
Alisa Cohn:
Wow! I appreciate your acknowledging that and it’s been quite a year, actually, for those kinds of accolades. So, I appreciate that. I can say, generally, that I have worked with Etsy, with Venmo, with Envision, Foursquare, other companies like The Wire Cutter which was acquired by the New York Times. So, companies that, certainly, in some ways, have cachet but I would add that I’ve also worked with other companies I can’t really mention and also small companies right now who are growing again at hyper growth right now. So, now it’s like household word but they will be. Like I always say, you haven’t heard of them yet but you will. And I think when I think about helping those start-ups and helping those CEOs, it’s about how do you really adapt yourself rapidly because the best entrepreneurs are the best learners. And entrepreneurs and founders, really all founders and all people early in the start-up, have to quickly acknowledge the new state they’re in and adapt very quickly even though other people don’t want them to adapt. And so, their team is kind of used to the way things are now. All people, they need to lead the charge in adapting and change and also in really integrating new learnings and new behaviors very quickly.
Eddie Turner:
Indeed. And I like what you said in terms of the companies you work with, the companies we haven’t heard of yet but because of your work, your leadership and your coaching, we will hear of them very soon. I think about the phenomenon we’re all going through right now dealing with Zoom. We have so many zoom meetings, literally our eyeballs are hurt. And that’s not hyperbole. It’s literal but I’ve been using Zoom probably since 2015 and few people had heard of it. I wish I was smart enough to have invested in it because, of course, it exploded and now it’s become a verb. Everyone is using it. So, I can’t wait to see which verbs you’re going to unleash.
Alisa Cohn:
I’m totally excited for that day too.
Eddie Turner:
Not only are the world’s number one start-up coach but you are a prolific author. You have content everywhere. Talk about some of the places where people can get access to your thought leadership.
Alisa Cohn:
Well, I publish regularly on Forbes and also on Inc and also on HBR. And also, I wrote an article a year and a half ago for people at Strategy about the sort of predictable perils that founders will get into and how to avoid them or, as one of my friends said, “What founders are going to do but really shouldn’t?” That’s really what I publish on. I publish on topics of leadership but really from a perspective of what does a start-up uniquely need to think about and what does a start-up founder and even the executives in start-ups uniquely need to think about. So, it’s really about communication. It’s about how do you make sure you are just getting across. How do you understand how you’re coming across as a leader? So, those are the kinds of topics I focus on and I think it’s important for everybody, all leaders have to get excellent at the domain of being a leader. And when I work in tech companies, I think a lot about product development, you just think of yourself as the leader as a product and how are you going to make sure that you’re building your product roadmap as a leader as well.
Eddie Turner:
Get excellent at the domain of being a leader. I like that. I’ve never heard it put that way, Alisa.
Alisa Cohn:
Well, thank you.
Eddie Turner:
Fantastic. And since we’re recording this live, I want to acknowledge that we have Raymond Ray. I appreciate the feedback there. Raymond Ray says “Looking good, brother.” I appreciate that. Very kind of you, Ray. An amazing speaker himself, who works with [inaudible][09:11] organizations. And I want to say thank you to my friend from Azerbaijan who has tuned.
Alisa Cohn:
You international following, Eddie.
Eddie Turner:
We do. The Keep Leading!® Podcast is heard in 70 different countries.
Alisa Cohn:
Amazing!
Eddie Turner:
And I was supposed to be speaking in Azerbaijan but, of course, the world has taken over and I’m not sure that’s going to happen now.
Alisa Cohn:
I will happen soon, I’m sure.
Eddie Turner:

Well, we hope so, right? We hope so.So, when you’re coaching these CEOs and you’re helping them to successfully lead these start-up organizations, I’m sure there’s a list of things that you tell them but can you just share with my listeners one or two things that is the most important thing you think every CEO needs to know.

Alisa Cohn:
Yeah. I think, two things. Every CEO needs to improve his or her own self-awareness. So, the idea of how are you experiencing yourself, are you anxious, are you concerned, are you exuberant because that is going to leak out of you no matter what. And so, just getting tuning in with your own experience of your inner life is a very important role of the CEO and then equally important, getting a sense of how you come across. So, I do 360 feedback for my clients for most of my clients because you want to think about how do you marry your intention, what’s going on inside of you, to your impact, how others experience you. And other people are the expert on your impact. And you want to have some insight about how you come across to others. That is one very key tool.
Eddie Turner:
Other people are the expert of your impact. Now, that really resonates with me as a coach who works with individuals about their emotional intelligence and their level of self-awareness because if that’s missing, you feel you are the indicator of your impact.
Alisa Cohn:
Exactly. So, regularly I’ll say to a CEO “How did that meeting go?” or “How did that [inaudible][11:05] go?” And if they say “Great,” I say “How do you know it was great?” “Oh, because I told them this and I told them this and I told them this.” And I say “How do you know that they received it? What feedback did you get from them? How do you know that message sent equaled message received?” And they don’t often know because they haven’t done that work of kind of trying to figure out how is that coming across to other people.
Eddie Turner:
Exactly. Very nice, very nice.
Alisa Cohn:
And let’s look at a second tool, if I could, or a second thing that’s important.
Eddie Turner:
Absolutely, please. Go right ahead.
Alisa Cohn:
For all CEOs, your suggestions are orders. And you don’t always know how you’re coming across. You might just be brainstorm, you might just be thinking about something but, in fact, as you are expressing yourself, you have to realize the impact your words are having. And when you think “My suggestions are orders,” that is a good way to frame what’s going on and how people are reacting to you.
Eddie Turner:
I’m so glad you said that and it is so true because many leaders feel like “Hey, well, I didn’t tell them to do such and such.” Well, no, you suggested it. When you give your views out loud, it is seen as an order.
Alisa Cohn:
Right, exactly, yes.
Eddie Turner:
I share that often both as a coach but also as a facilitator when facilitating large meetings. Sometimes I might make the suggestion to my senior leaders “Can you consider perhaps going second or going last?” because everybody can get what everybody else is thinking on the table before yours is taken as the final edict.
Alisa Cohn:
Yeah, definitely true, because once you signal where you’re coming from, everybody wants to fall in line with where you’re coming from, as a leader.
Eddie Turner:

Everybody wants to fall in line. Absolutely.Well, since we’re live, we got to just acknowledge a couple more folks who tuned in. We’ve got Ronnie Williams. Appreciate my friend, Ronnie Williams. He says “Good afternoon.” Welcome, Ronnie, to the show. We’re happy to have you.

We also want to show Rhea, my wonderful friend from, I want to say Sweden but it may not be Sweden, but she is also from overseas. I absolutely love Rhea. She is one of the most phenomenal leadership development people you meet in the learning and talent development world. She says about ATD “This is the second best, watching you live.”

Alisa Cohn:
How amazing is that!
Eddie Turner:

Rhea is amazing. Thank You, Rhea.Well, I am talking to the amazing Alisa Cohn and we’re talking live. Alisa is the number one start-up coach in the world, one of the top 30 global gurus for start-ups and one of Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 coaches. And we will take a quick break to have a word from our sponsor.

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This podcast is sponsored by Eddie Turner LLC. Organizations who need to accelerate the development of their leaders call Eddie Turner, The Leadership Excelerator®. Eddie works with leaders to accelerate performance and drive impact. Call Eddie Turner to help your leaders one on one as their coach or to inspire them as a group through the power of facilitation or a keynote address. Visit EddieTurnerLLC.com to learn more.

This is Jeffrey Hayzlett, Chairman and CEO of the C Suite Network and you’re listening to the Keep Leading!® Podcast with Eddie Turner.

Eddie Turner:
All right. So, I appreciate the folks who tuned in live. We have some live viewers and we have some folks who’ve left comments. We appreciate that and for the first time, I’ll take it.
Alisa Cohn:
I know. It’s so great. Eddie, my word for the year is ‘experimentation’. So, I appreciate that you’re letting me fulfill my word for the year by experimenting on this with you.
Eddie Turner:

I appreciate you being able to experiment with me.All right. So, continuing our interview with the amazing Alisa Cohn. The other thing I wanted to ask you about is there’s a lot of hype about start-ups. You work at some of the organizations out there. Can you talk about the impact that this pandemic has had? Will there still be hype after this? I don’t mean to ask you to put you on the spot to say tell us what’s going to happen in the future but tell us what’s going to happen in the future.

Alisa Cohn:
Well, I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future but I can make maybe just an observation on what’s going on right now in the world of start-ups. So, there’s a lot to say about this. I mean, first of all, I would just like say all businesses, there are plenty of start-ups who are accelerating through this curve. So, there’s one company I work with that specifically does remote manager training. You can imagine that’s pretty important right now. Another company that that I work with that supports machine health, so keeping your machines healthy virtually. So, that is a company that, again, is really going to be able to blossom in this kind of environment. And then there’s another start-up that I’ve worked with, which really sadly is quite struggling because they’re exclusively in-person experience. So, it’s not a good time for them. So, just like all businesses, start-ups are either kind of able to be pandemic proof in this case or able to flourish in the pandemic or not able to, unfortunately. So, I think what’s true for everybody is that it’s important to think about crisis management right and having backup plans and having contingency plans and business continuity plans at all stage and this is bringing this to light but I would also say that start-ups right now which are well funded and have cash in the bank or about to close funding rounds, obviously, have a better kind of runway at this point and they have a better ability to weather this storm. So, I think that goes back to, and I think what we’re going to see in start-ups, is a return to some of the basics like balance sheet, like cash, like making sure that you’re being responsible to resources. And I think that some of the excesses that we saw with WeWork and others are going to be absolutely a thing of the past coming out of this pandemic. And I think it’s good. I think discipline is good. I also think that start-ups are just kind of looking at their overall constraints, their budgets in a way that we all should do during good times. And so, the amount of rigor and disciplines being put into the system, I actually think is a good thing. And there will be good businesses, unfortunately, that can’t survive this experience and that is tragic but this will also make some businesses accelerate more quickly, which I think we’ve already seen, as you pointed out, with Zoom. Other companies that I work with, they were not for remote working, overnight they got remote working. So, I think start-ups’ ability to be agile and adaptable is on display right now in a great way. And their ability to sort of adapt to this new working environment is also really sort of showing itself.
Eddie Turner:
Interesting. Now, that reminds me of a different time in my life. I wasn’t always in the leadership space and coaching. I spent over 20 years in IT. Towards the tail end of my IT career, I actually worked for some start-ups. One start-up, they got bought by Dell. And most of the people who I worked with, they gave me a chance because we were headquartered not in Texas where Dell was. The company I was a part of was headquartered in Silicon Valley. Most of the people I worked with, all they ever did was work for start-ups and they were serious. And the story basically, as they explained it to me, was start-up life is a roller coaster life. What do you think about that?
Alisa Cohn:
Start-up life is a roller coaster, right. There’s no question about that. The ups and downs are extremely intense. It’s like “We just got this key executive who signed. We just lost this customer. Oh my god! What are we going to do? We just got this brand new-customer. Oh, this person just quit” or like “We’re going to launch this great product and it’s going to be ready next week. Oh, there’s a miscalculation. It’s not ready next week. It’s going to be ready in a month” or something like that. That is constant. And the issue for a CEO is that the CEO who’s running the entire business gets batted around by all the highs which are extreme and all the lows which are extreme and it can be exhausting because there are times where it could be the good news and the bad news comes five minutes within each other. And so, all those mood swings, of course, that takes place throughout the company as well. It is definitely a roller coaster.
Eddie Turner:
How does an employee or how does a leader specifically maintain their equilibrium throughout all that?
Alisa Cohn:
That is a million-dollar question. It’s not easy. It’s not easy. I think, first, you have to accept that it is that kind of roller coaster and you’ve chosen that. So, hopefully, you’ve chosen something that you’re so passionate about that it’s going to take you through the difficult times because there definitely will be difficult times. And then it’s about finding the practices that work for you to help you keep that even keel like you’re mentioning. By the way, I was going to say, whether it is working out but I want to say working out and feeding yourself nutritiously and getting enough sleep is actually an important part of the process. You have to protect the asset. You have to make sure that you’re okay physically and mentally in order to be okay for everybody. And then it’s finding the practices that ground you. It’s about finding maybe mindfulness, maybe taking walks, finding ways to reflect and calm down and kind of like shake out all the stress throughout the day. And then in the moments of those difficulties, it’s about counting to 10, recognizing there’s a person there, sort of having some empathy. And all those practices together help you keep an even keel when you absolutely need to. And, by the way, I keep talking, but one more thing, practicing that. So, it’s not just like taking a deep breath when you need it, counting to 10 when you need it, having empathy when you need. It’s practicing on a daily basis so when difficult things happen and you’re tempted to sort of show your emotions or run off your emotions, you already have the tools that are working.
Eddie Turner:
Absolutely. I love that point because it is so true. Something I’ve said in this show, when it comes to leadership, it’s not a garment we put on and take off. It must be a part of us and our core so that that is what comes out when we’re under stress. Under stress we reveal who we really are.
Alisa Cohn:
Absolutely. We don’t rise to the level of aspirations. We fall to the level of our training. And so, we need to be training every day for all the things that we really want to do and leadership in the start-up itself is sort of this vocation, this sort of its own kind of entity and that’s what you’re training for. It’s performance that you’re training for and you have to think of it that way.
Eddie Turner:
We don’t rise to the level of our aspirations. We fall to the level of our training. Okay, that’s the quote of the day. I love it. I love it. I’m going to use that someplace. I don’t know where but some place I’m going to use that. My source is going to be Alisa Cohn. That’s it. It’s so very true, right? It’s not something that is just because we wish it that it comes to fruition.
Alisa Cohn:
Absolutely.
Eddie Turner:
Right. If we have not been trained, if we have not been educated to a certain level, we cannot wish it into existence.
Alisa Cohn:
Right. That’s exactly right. And that’s the benefit of daily practice of all these kinds of things. And, yes, how to keep an even keel, it’s really about practicing keeping an even keel. Just like you said, in leadership you practice being the leader. And you can think about a lot of things in your life as a professional, certainly personally, but as a professional that benefit from that kind of daily practice.
Eddie Turner:
Indeed. And I love what you said also in terms of what that secret sauce is sometimes you might think it’s a different program or a different certification or a different level of education but when you get down to the fundamentals and similar to what Dr. Rosenberg said when I interviewed her, you talked about getting more rest, more sleep, the very things that in the past in corporate America we were told “If you needed a lot of sleep, you’re weak. You need to go on two, three hours of sleep a day and grind out 14-hour days.”
Alisa Cohn:
Yeah, sleep is having a comeback.
Eddie Turner:
It will come back and the signs are proving it.
Alisa Cohn:
Yeah, exactly.
Eddie Turner:
What have you found to be the fundamental building blocks to a successful start-up, if someone wants to start one now?
Alisa Cohn:
I think, as a starting point, if you want to start a start-up, you have to have primarily two desires. One is to be the person who builds this entity because you think sometimes, you’re building a thing, building a product, building a service but actually you’re building a business. You have to be the person who’s passionate about the products you want to build, that’s the second thing, very passionate about the products or the services. And equally, you have to be passionate about building a business around those products, not just tinkering with those products. So, that’s kind of the baseline of success as an entrepreneur. And then you have to really assess yourself – “Do I have the characteristics for what it takes? Do I have the grittiness, the persistence, the sort of do it no matter whatever it takes kind of determination?” – and then “Am I the kind of person to build a team around me?” I think more and more you realize we sort of have this myth of the sole entrepreneur, the sole founder but actually it’s really not that. It’s a partnership, it’s co-founders. And then even more importantly, it’s the team or the community you build around you who will be able to fill in the gaps and do the work. Also, because even early-stage start-up, let’s say, it’s 10 people or 20 people that you’ve hired, no matter how great you are, your one brain and two hands will never match the work of multiples of that, of all their brains together, all their hands together. So, it’s thinking about how you build the right people around you and then have them understand the goals, have them understand where we’re going, the direction, help them drive the direction and then able to give them enough rope to go execute and then also find the time to sort of check in with all of them. It’s really complicated, right? If you’re building a team and you’re also having to do your own work as a leader at the same time, it’s very complicated.
Eddie Turner:
Indeed. It’s not easy. So, I want to change gears just a bit and talk about your work. You did a Lynda program, lynda.com. You have a video about how to become a better leader.
Alias Cohn:
Oh yes, that’s right, I do. Yeah along with a few other MG 100 people.
Eddie Turner:
Okay, yes. And then also, something you did, a video with, and for those who may not know this, the MG 100, Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 coaches, you’re one of the original 100 who were selected. Marshall said that “I am not a son. I’m a grandson” since that was not a part of the original 100. I’ll take it. I won’t squabble about what number I am. So, you’re also a part of that. And as a part of that, you did an amazing video with a fellow MG 100 member Dorie Clark. In that video you talked about how to become a coach or how to start a coaching business. You [inaudible][28:13] a couple highlights of that?
Alias Cohn:
Oh, absolutely. So, we did two sets of topics. One, we did a few videos and then we did two different webinars. One was how do you start a successful coaching practice. And the second was as a coach, how do you successfully accelerate and build your practice. And so, I tried to encapsulate all of this in the campaign. Marshall is amazing and my dear friend and dear colleague Dorie Clark is amazing. We together came up with a lot of ideas but it really comes down to as a coach, I think, when people think they have to do “I’ll put them on a sheet and I know I’m good and I don’t have to market. Well, then how come we have marketing departments. I don’t have to market myself. People should just know I’m good and find me” but that’s just a fallacy. That’s just a myth. People will not find. You have to do the work of putting yourself out there, sometimes feeling uncomfortable. So, how do we get started as a coach? Well, first of all, you start coaching people. well, how are you going to start coaching people? You have to engage with them. You have to kind of give them an offer, suggest they be coached, even if you’re starting out, even if for free or as you get a little more advanced, you start taking payment for it but you have to be in sales. You have to ask for the business. People don’t like to do that and they’re uncomfortable and they’re shy. And I understand all of that but the way I think about that is successful people do what unsuccessful people don’t feel like doing, which is something I tell myself all the time.
Eddie Turner:
Successful people do what unsuccessful people don’t feel like doing.
Alias Cohn:
Yes.
Eddie Turner:
Yes, beautiful. I love that as well. Well, you’ve given me so many good quotes. I’m siphoning them for the video we take afterwards. I could talk to you for hours. Tell me how would you summarize our conversation today?
Alias Cohn:
Well, interesting. How would I summarize our conversation? Well, one thing I would say, I’m going to start with the end which is this is true for everybody, not just those of you who are trying to build and start a coaching practice. Always and forever think about the things you know you need to do and you are shying away from doing for your own reasons because you’re uncomfortable, you’re shy, because you don’t want to, because you’re resisting, because it shouldn’t have to be that way. Get all that out of the way and do those things because your life will be a lot better if you constantly challenge yourself and do the things that you know you should do. So, that’s kind of one summary. And I think the second summary around start-ups and leadership is that, I’d love to hear what you think, but it’s like it’s a daily practice and you’ve got to practice and that for all of us, certainly start-up founders but for all of us, we have to accept the new reality, whether it’s in a hyper-growth company, whether it’s in a global pandemic and then think about how you adapt to the situation and move forward no matter what.
Eddie Turner:
Beautiful. Thank you. And on the Keep Leading!® Podcast I always love to get a favorite quote or a best piece of advice that my leaders have received to share with other leaders so they can keep leading.
Alias Cohn:
I mean, I’ve gotten so much good advice. I mean, I kind of come back to, this is an advice that was given to me, is that “We don’t rise to the level of our aspirations. We fall to the level of our training.” I think that’s important advice for me and for everybody. And Marshall Goldsmith once told me “You don’t ask, you don’t get.” And that had also been very important advice for me.
Eddie Turner:
Fantastic. Alisa, thank you for all you’ve shared with me today. How could my listeners get more information about you?
Alias Cohn:
Well, they could definitely go to my website which is AlisaCohn.com and they could find me on Twitter @AlisaCohn. Follow me.
Eddie Turner:
Excellent. We’re going to put that in the show notes so that everyone can reach out to you, connect with you if they want to be able to know what you’re doing, especially all these articles you’ve written, your thought leadership, it’s quite vast. And there’s a lot to learn by following the amazing Alisa Cohn. Thank you for being a guest.
Alias Cohn:
Thank you so much, Eddie. It was so fun.
Eddie Turner:
And thank you for listening. That concludes this episode, everyone. I’m Eddie Turner, The Leadership Excelerator®, reminding you that leadership is not about our title or our position, as we discussed today. Leadership is action. Leadership is an activity. It’s not the case of once a leader, always a leader. It’s not a garment we put on and take off. We must be a leader at our core and allow it to emanate in all we do. So, whatever you’re doing, always keep leading.

Thank you for listening to your host Eddie Turner on the Keep Leading!® Podcast. Please remember to subscribe to the Keep Leading!® Podcast on iTunes or wherever you listen. For more information about Eddie Turner’s work please visit EddieTurnerLLC.com.

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The Keep Leading!® podcast is for people passionate about leadership. It is dedicated to leadership development and insights. Join your host Eddie Turner, The Leadership Excelerator® as he speaks with accomplished leaders and people of influence across the globe as they share their journey to leadership excellence. Listen as they share leadership strategies, techniques and insights. For more information visit eddieturnerllc.com or follow Eddie Turner on Twitter and Instagram at @eddieturnerjr. Like Eddie Turner LLC on Facebook. Connect with Eddie Turner on LinkedIn.