There’s a perception that a leader should have all the answers, but the truth is, no one knows it all. In fact, leaders need to grow and learn just as much as anyone else. Hiding that fact isn’t being vulnerable with people and being vulnerable is what makes a great leader. On this episode of the podcast we talk about the experience of learning while leading. Our guest, Mike Rolla, Director of U.S. Sales at Becton Dickinson, talks about his experience learning new skills and bringing his team along to learn with him. He shares his efforts in becoming indistractable, how he’s incorporating the practice into his leadership and keeps the learning going with his team. Finally he speaks about the psychology behind his own distractions and offers advice for leaders in all levels of career.
On this episode we talk about:
• Mike’s personal and professional journey
• The first tough lesson he learned about his leadership style early on in his career.
• What it takes to lead and learn at the same time.
• How to develop self-awareness.
• Ego management and vulnerability.
• Learning to be indistractable.
• He shares his own personal challenges with distracts him and the change he’s effecting in himself through learning the psychology behind those distractions.
• When and how he got comfortable with leading while learning.
• What he’s learned about himself as a leader.
• Advices for people at different levels of career.
About our guest:
Mike Rolla is an executive at Becton Dickinson (previously C. R. Bard) responsible for driving growth and expanding market share, while advancing BD’s position as a focused leader in med-tech products & services in the company’s largest market. He leads an organization of 92 employees generating nearly $500 million in revenue. He creates a sustainable environment of innovation, direct communication, growth and high performance is made possible by his relentless belief in the power of collaboration.
Mike has held 7 roles in his 16 year medical device career. Prior to that he worked as an account executive in two divisions of Canon Inc, and the Ayers group.
A New York native, he currently resides in Atlanta GA with his wife and three children.
Resource mentioned in this episode:
Indistractable by Nir Eyal
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