727: How to Show Up Authentically in Tough Situations, with Andrew Brodsky

Coaching for Leaders

Dave Stachowiak

Education, Business, Management, Self-improvement, Careers

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 31 March 2025

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Andrew Brodsky: Ping
Andrew Brodsky is an award-winning professor, management consultant, and virtual communications expert at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. He is an expert in workplace technology, communication, and productivity, and serves as the CEO of Ping Group. He is the author of Ping: The Secrets of Successful Virtual Communication*.

We’ve all heard the well intended advice that having interactions in person is always best. And that being as close to perfect as possible is ideal. Turns out, not always. In this conversation, Andrew and I explore how adapting to the context of tough situations can help you show up in a way that’s helpful for the other party and for you.
Key Points

In virtual interactions, what feels authentic to you may not seem authentic to the person you’re interacting with.
While video is best for being present, it may not be best when your underlying emotions could leak into a situation.
Surface acting helps us all land with the other party more authentically. Audio only can help this land better.
If using a less rich medium to communicate (i.e. email instead of a conversation) it’s helpful to explain why you made that choice.
People who appear perfectly competent may not be as likable. Consider surfacing blunders that aren’t central to the core expertise of your work.
We often default to the medium that works best for us. Consider what will land best with the other party.

Resources Mentioned

Ping: The Secrets of Successful Virtual Communication* by Andrew Brodsky

Interview Notes
Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).
Related Episodes

How to Genuinely Show Up for Others, with Marshall Goldsmith (episode 590)
How to Make a Better Impression on Camera, with Mark Bowden (episode 643)
How to Grow From Feedback, with Jennifer Garvey Berger (episode 713)

Discover More
Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	We've all heard the well-intended advice that having interactions in person is always best,
0:05.9	and that being as close to perfect as possible is ideal.
0:09.7	Turns out, not always.
0:11.9	In this episode, how adapting to the context of tough situations can help you show up in a way that's helpful for the other party and you.
0:21.6	This is Coaching for Leaders, Episode 727.
0:25.8	Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.
0:34.1	Greetings to you from Orange County, California.
0:37.2	This is Coaching for Leaders, and I'm your host, Dave Stahofiak.
0:42.1	Leaders are born. They're made. And this weekly show helps you discover leadership wisdom through insightful conversations.
0:50.2	Most of us have the goal in almost all of our communications, our presentations, how we show up in
0:56.1	meetings, to show up in our most authentic and likable way. It's a challenge to do on a regular
1:01.5	basis. It's especially hard when the situations are tough, when it's a high visibility interaction,
1:07.9	or maybe we're delivering some difficult news. Today, how we can do a better job at being able to show up in a way that, yes, makes sense for us,
1:16.9	makes sense for the people around us, also helps the organization to continue to move forward.
1:21.2	I'm so pleased to welcome today, Andrew Brodsky.
1:23.7	He is an award-winning professor, management consultant, and virtual communications expert at the McCombes School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.
1:32.3	He is an expert in workplace technology, communication, and productivity, and serves as the CEO of Ping Group.
1:39.2	He is the author of Ping, The Secrets of Successful Virtual Communication.
1:44.3	Andrew, such a pleasure to have you on.
1:46.7	Thanks for having me on the show.
1:48.2	I was really captivated by a story you tell in the book, and I think many people will
1:56.0	probably remember it from a few years ago, a story about a CEO who decided to make a layoff announcement
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dave Stachowiak, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Dave Stachowiak and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.