Wendy Smith is a management professor at the University of Delaware and the co-author of Both/And Thinking, a book translating 25 years of research into practical tools leaders can apply immediately.
In this conversation:
- Why workplace tensions are a feature, not a bug
- What most business schools are getting wrong about leadership
- The difference between a dilemma (where you choose) and a paradox (where you don't)
- Four types of paradox every leader faces: learning, performing, organising, belonging
- The three traps of either/or thinking: rabbit holes, wrecking balls, trench warfare
- Why King Charles got both sides of the US Congress on their feet
- The X-on-the-hand habit that made Wendy a better listener (and a better leader)
- A preview of her next book on anxiety and finding comfort in the discomfort
Wendy's biggest invitation: notice how often the tensions in your life present themselves as either/or. Then ask one question. What if it's both?
Featuring callbacks to previous Better at Work guests Jennifer Moss and Amy Gallo. Recorded with Wendy in Philadelphia.
Got a career dilemma? Send it in at betteratwork.com
NEXT WEEK: Q&A with Annette on this episode and listener questions.
Making your work life better, one conversation at a time.
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