Welcome to How Leaders Lead, where every week you get to listen in while I interview some of the best leaders in the world.

I break down the key learning so that by the end of the episode, you'll have something simple that you can apply as you develop into a better leader.

That's what this podcast is all about.

Today's guest is Ken Chenal, the former chairman and CEO of

American Express and the current chairman and a managing director at General Catalyst, a dynamic

private equity firm. Now, if you run a business or lead a team, you know there are moments when

you need to lean into confrontation. And I don't mean

dance around the confrontation. I'm talking about facing it head on. For a lot of people,

this can be really hard to do, really intimidating. But the great leaders I know have learned to

engage in constructive confrontation. Let me tell you something. If I was working for

Ken and I was going to have a one-on-one conversation with him, I know that I would know exactly

where he's coming from. He's going to listen to me and he'd know what I was thinking, but make no

mistake, I'm going to know how he feels, what his concerns are and what areas me and he'd know what I was thinking, but make no mistake. I'm going to know how he feels

what his concerns are and what areas me and my team need to work on. And here's what I think

makes Ken's approach so effective. After giving you specific feedback, he'll give you input to help

you put a game plan together so that you and your team can move forward and take the

appropriate action. He just doesn't walk in your office and then leave the problem with you.

He helps you work through the problem. He wants you to be successful and he knows that his job

is to add value through his experience and his expertise. That ability to not only engage in confrontation

head on, address the issues that you need to develop either personally or on your team,

well, he does that in a positive and respectful way that sets others up for success. That is a

unique skill set,

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