Welcome to episode 152 with Grayson James.

In this episode of The Executive Edge, I am joined by Grayson James, a highly knowledgeable individual who is the CEO and Founder of Grayson James Consultants, LLC. His business is a globally recognised company that specialises in leadership collaboration and performance improvement. With more than thirty years of expertise in guiding senior executives and their teams, Grayson is a consultant for organisations, aiming to achieve a genuine organisational transformation.

This episode opens with a discussion about his interest in understanding how people collaborate and communicate effectively. Grayson shares his background as a professional mediator and coach, emphasising the importance of awareness in leadership. He believes much of our behaviour is automatic and habitual, making it essential to become aware of our patterns to make positive changes.

What else does he believe is important?

The conversation moves on to how and why people default to conditioned behaviour when under pressure. Grayson feels there is value in learning and practising behaviour. He highlights that enhancing emotional intelligence can help individuals select better responses in challenging situations.

We go on to explore the challenges of working with individuals who may be resistant to change. Then discuss how important it is to encourage self-assessment and reflection, rather than imposing views on others. The discussion closes with the consideration of typical symptoms in dysfunctional teams, such as a lack of listening and ownership.

Grayson has also written an excellent book on the subject called Full Contact Performance. He describes how most of us assume greater collaboration is at the heart of better team dynamic, but this could be an error. Instead, we should think in terms of what each of us can do to alter our behaviour, thereby encouraging greater collaboration. You can buy his book on amazon, and all well known bookstores as well as his site www.fullcontactinstitute.com

That’s all for this week! Thanks again to Grayson for this highly insightful conversation. Stay tuned for the next episode, where we continue to explore cutting-edge topics in business and leadership.