
FNDN Series Building Leadership from Scratch (for yourself, and for others) with Shelley Johnson, Founder at Boldside
Description:
Welcome back to the FNDN Series, where we continue our deep dive into startup
compensation with industry leaders from across the startup world. In our conversation with Shelley Johnson, Founder of Boldside and former HR leader, we explore how to build effective leadership capabilities from the ground up - both for developing yourself as a leader and creating systems to develop others.
We dive deep into why most HR issues are actually upstream leadership problems, the importance of leadership onboarding processes, and practical frameworks for having difficult conversations including pay discussions.
Shelley shares her three-pillar approach to building influence as an HR professional and reveals why leadership development doesn't need to be overcomplicated. Keep watching to discover actionable strategies for transforming leadership capability in your organization.
Chapters:
- 00:54 Getting to Know Shelley: From HR Generalist to Leadership Consultant
- 02:59 Why Leadership? The Connection Between Leadership and HR Issues
- 06:00 Making Leadership More Approachable: Small Steps and Consistency
- 08:07 The Upstream Problem: How Poor Leadership Creates People Issues
- 10:09 Building Self-Awareness Through Consistent Reflection
- 12:43 Creating Safe Spaces for Leader Vulnerability and Growth
- 15:09 What Does Good Leadership Look Like? The WAGOLL Framework
- 19:02 Defining Leadership Behaviors: Care, Courage, and Consistency
- 21:46 Lightweight Leadership Development: Monthly Manager Conversations
- 24:42 Why People Don't Want Leadership Roles Anymore
- 27:11 Stopping the Sink or Swim Strategy
- 28:20 Creating Leadership Onboarding Processes
- 30:45 Setting Clear Expectations for New Leaders
- 32:59 Is Management an Add-On or the Core Role?
- 37:47 Having Difficult Conversations: The Pay Discussion Challenge
- 41:38 Preempting Difficult Topics as a Manager 46:51 What Employees Can Do: Starting Pay Conversations
- 48:12 Building Confidence and Influence as an HR Professional
- 51:32 The People, Presence, Problems Framework for HR Influence
- 55:37 Final Thoughts: Start Simple with Leadership Development
Connect with Shelley
Visit: boldside.com.au
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelley-johnson/?originalSubdomain=au
Resources Mentioned:
Leadership Development Concepts:
WAGOLL Framework (What A Good One Looks Like) - Educational approach for showing examples of excellence
The three C's of leadership: Care, Courage, and Consistency
People, Presence, Problems framework for building HR influence
Leadership onboarding processes (similar to new starter onboarding)
Workplace Practices:
Regular one-on-one check-ins (15-30 minutes based on individual needs)
Self-reflection habits for leaders
Proactive pay and career development conversations
Monthly manager learning communities
More FNDN Episodes:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484
