The Power of 'Yes, And': Enhancing Leadership Communication
In this episode of Leadership With a Twist, Heather McGonigle and Barbara Schindler break down one of the most common leadership communication challenges: what do you do when a team member brings a big, exciting idea at exactly the wrong time?
They emphasize treating yourself and your team as limited resources and making wise choices about focus, time, and talent. Heather introduces the “Impact Script” (the Everyday Leadership Script) to navigate situations where a new, exciting idea could strain capacity or jeopardize results, using a “yes, and” approach instead of pushback. The script focuses on uniting around the desired outcome, mapping the impact on that outcome, exploring mitigations, asking for others’ input, creating a new agreement, and confirming the plan. They stress “solve the impact, not the gap,” and filtering outside advice to fit current team capacity.
00:00 Welcome and Topic Setup 00:57 Three Layers of Teamwork
02:34 People as Resources 06:26 Everyday Impact Script 07:32 Launch Idea Scenario 08:50 Yes And Not Pushback
13:22 Impact Script Steps 18:23 Coaching Example Metrics
20:14 Solve Impact Not Gap 21:26 Outside Influences Filter
25:21 Wrap Up and Next Steps
đź“Ą Download the Impact Script (From our SubStack): https://open.substack.com/pub/leadershipwithatwist/p/the-power-of-yes-and-enhancing-leadership
About the Hosts: Coach Heather and Coach Barbara are the lead Executive Coaches of Empowering Leadership Teams. They specialize in helping entrepreneurial businesses and their teams meet the moment and become the most empowered they can be to work together and achieve optimal results. With deep expertise in leadership development, team dynamics, and navigating organizational transition, they bring practical, actionable wisdom to leaders facing the challenges of today's rapidly changing business environment.
Book a Coffee Chat: https://www.empoweringleadershipteams.com/coffeechat
Subscribe & Review: If you found value in this episode, please subscribe to our podcast and leave us a review.
Your feedback helps us create content that serves entrepreneurial leaders like you, and it helps other leaders discover these conversations. Questions or topics you'd like us to address in future episodes? Send us a message at or leave a comment on our latest post. Cheering You On!
