Executive and Leadership expert Akua is celebrating a remarkable milestone of producing 100 podcast episodes of The Open Door Conversation Podcast. In this episode, Akua reflects on her journey of starting her podcast and how her vision has changed. With being 5 years in business, Akua shares the key lessons she learned professionally and personally. While taking a hiatus from social media, Akua looks forward to continuing her leadership framework and hosting People Before Strategy roundtables, providing a safe space for open conversations, which will be a great place for networking, and she will be answering questions. This episode is a testament to five years of growth, learning, and unwavering dedication.

Embracing change can be difficult and uncomfortable, but when it comes to the business world, it's a necessary skill for leaders. Executive and leadership coach Akua Nyame Mensah has recently gone through the rebranding process, and in this episode, she shares the importance of evolving and staying relevant as a business leader. If you don't think you need a brand, or you're thinking of rebranding yourself and/or your business, this episode is for you. Akua dives into the specific reasons she wanted to rebrand, including matching her current look, reflecting her image in the corporate world, and more explicitly presenting her offerings. Learn the importance of evolving in your personal and professional life, how to stay adaptable, and why investing in expert support can be a game changer when it comes to a rebrand.

Executive and leadership coaching, at its core, is about creating ease for you as a high-achieving leader. It's about supporting you in leveraging your innate personality so you can learn how to prioritize and maximize your time as well as the time of your team and stakeholders. In this episode, Akua talks about her coaching program and how one-on-one coaching can be transformational for leaders at any stage of their career. Learn how Akua helps clients become sustainably strategic, learn how to ask for help, and set boundaries so that they can build stronger teams and achieve personal and professional goals. If you're interested in hearing real-world examples of how Akua's coaching helps intentional leaders, listen in as she shares two case studies highlighting her coaching approach and methodology.

If you're a leader considering investing in executive coaching or advisory support, you cannot miss this episode. In it, executive and leadership coach Akua Nyame-Mensah dives into the world of coaching high-performing leaders, founders, and managers and what sets her apart from the rest. Get a clear understanding of the benefits of coaching and why Akua might be a great fit for you and your team. You'll learn about Akua's unique approach, and she even walks you through a recent case study in which she worked with 50 fellows from diverse backgrounds who were building start-up teams. Akua is unique in her extensive first-hand/diverse experience, from tiny start-ups to multinational companies. Her tailored solutions, commitment to your growth and success, project management approach, and direct communication style ensure clarity and progress toward your success as a leader.

Executive and Leadership expert Akua is wrapping up her mini-series on expectation setting and goal setting in the workplace. In this episode, you'll also learn about the different resources that Akua has on the subject of expectation setting, including valuable blog posts and podcast episodes where you can just dip your toe or dive head first into the deep well of insights on expectation setting. As a leader or manager, it is important to set realistic and achievable goals and to provide the resources and support that others need to meet them. Perhaps most importantly, leaders must remember to provide feedback and to continuously communicate their expectations so all team members can be on the same page.

Want to improve on goal-setting or expectation-setting? This episode is for conscious leaders who want to enhance their approach to goal setting and create a positive and productive environment for themselves and their team. Expanding on her third pillar of leadership, expectation setting/goal setting, host Akua builds on themes from episode 93. She unveils the three overlooked aspects of goal setting, including the "when" or timing of the goal, who is responsible for the goal, and the definition of success.

In this episode, Akua explores the third pillar in her three-step leadership framework: setting expectations (sometimes referred to as goals setting, OKRs, or KPIs). Akua uses her own experience as a case study to illustrate the importance of setting expectations for yourself, and she highlights the impact of expectations on personal and professional growth. Whether you're a solopreneur, team leader, or aspiring achiever, this episode will empower you to set clear and realistic expectations for yourself, be consistent, find the right support, and ensure that your projects align with your ultimate vision.

This is the first in a mini-series of episodes that will be based on the final step in Akua's three-step leadership framework: setting expectations. Whether you call it expectation setting, goal setting, or utilizing frameworks like KPIs or OKRs, these episodes will transform the way you approach expectation-setting and communication. Leaders and managers will learn the significance of expectations and their impact on leadership and how to set achievable and realistic goals for their team. Importantly, leaders will also learn the crucial step of communicating expectations to their team, which will cultivate a positive work environment and foster growth and success. Akua also talks about how expectations help with setting boundaries, building more efficient processes, and facilitating ongoing evaluation and adaptation. Setting expectations ensures your team is equipped to succeed, and when employees know what is expected of them, they're more engaged and productive. 

This week, leadership and executive coach Akua Nyame Menasah wraps up her series of episodes dedicated to engagement, the second step in her three-step leadership framework. This is a helpful roundup and summary of six of her past episodes on engagement. Leadership is a habit, a routine that you need to cultivate intentionally. Being self-aware is the first step, then you must decide how to engage with your team. Be inspired and learn how to gain confidence and credibility, how to tell powerful stories that inspire, and so much more when you listen in! Enjoy the main points of each episode and then deep-dive into the episodes you need right now!

Ever been in a meeting that feels like a waste of time? Of course, you have. That's because many leaders and organizations don't know how to effectively facilitate a meeting that engages team members. In this episode, you'll hear portions of a recent training Akua gave on how to be an effective moderator and facilitator. Learn about the three basic types of meetings (and which one isn't really a "meeting") and why a well-moderated meeting actually begins well before the meeting starts. After listening, you'll be well on your way to leading the most effective, efficient, and productive meetings possible so that all your team members will feel like their time is valued and well-spent!

Creating a high-performing team that is also human and inclusive is possible! Listen as Akua talks with organization transformation expert Joris Merks-Benjamin about how to balance high-performance standards with inclusivity and humanness in the workplace. Formerly Head of Google Digital Academy, Joris became one of the highest-scoring managers of all time. After 12 years with Google, Joris has recently gone freelance and developed the Managing Without Power program. He is an award-winning author of several books, his newest being “Managing Without Power.” In this episode, Akua and Joris talk about the importance of trust, empathy, and communication and how to create a culture of continuous learning and improvement. Learn why the best teams are based on trust and psychological safety and how leaders don’t need the power to be effective, but they need to empower their team.

Networking can elicit groans and dread from even the savviest of business leaders. If you dislike networking or feel like you’re bad at it, or if you believe you don’t NEED to do it, this episode is for you. Akua starts with why networking is important and gives four important things to work on to become better at building connections in business and in life. Learn why reframing your thinking and becoming self-aware about your beliefs around networking can help you build more authentic relationships. Plus, Akua gives some amazing resources (linked below) where you can find additional information to up your networking game. Remember that networking is about building connections and engaging with others, and if done well, it can better your reputation, increase visibility, and create a stronger network.

Today, Akua talks about leveraging storytelling to connect and engage with your stakeholders, whether they're clients, team members, employees, or investors. Engaging with your team is one of the most important things you can do in your role as a leader. Telling stories can be a powerful tool in your engagement toolbox, helping to inspire, build rapport and align and reach goals with your team. Learn the three basic purposes for telling a story, tips on how to incorporate stories into your daily life, and how to know where and when to tell a story.

Reaching peak performance as a leader, manager, or business owner takes practice and training, much like an athlete. This week, Akua welcomes Darcy Luoma, the author of the book "Thoughtfully Fit, Your Training Plan for Life and Business," as she talks about tackling barriers and becoming mentally and emotionally fit. Darcy is a triathlete, mother, and CEO of Darcy Luoma Coaching and Consulting. A Master Certified Coach, Darcy has worked in 48 industries, with 210 organizations and 500+ individual clients, to create high-performing people and teams. If you're a leader or manager who feels too busy to strategize, you're stuck in a rut, or wondering what your unique contributions to the world are, this episode is a must-listen.

In order to coach others, you first have to be able to coach yourself. In this episode, Akua dives deeper into the engagement pillar of her three-step leadership framework. Engaging with yourself, also called self-regulation and management, is key to being able to support others as they explore their own areas of growth and boundaries. As a leader, you want to inspire your employees and motivate them to get their work done by making sure they are excited to come to work and problem-solve. While coaching is not always the right answer, using coaching tools and techniques can go a long way, starting with asking powerful questions. Akua explains a popular coaching framework that can be used to help people set goals and create a plan of action. Finally, she shares things that held her back from leveraging coaching tools and techniques, which will surely resonate with leaders, managers, and founders in all industries.

Executive presence - all leaders want it, but not all know how to get it. Join Akua as she shares pieces of a recent conversation with Executive and Life Coach Kelly Lynn Adams. They talk about leadership, vulnerability and mindset, and how to regulate and manage your emotions to inspire confidence among your coworkers.

This episode of the Open Door Conversations podcast focuses on the second step in Akua's three-step leadership framework: the importance of engagement. In addition to self-awareness and setting expectations, engagement is a crucial part of becoming a conscious and effective leader in the workplace. As a business leader, founder, or executive, sometimes your biggest barrier to engaging with your team is staring at you in the mirror. Find out how your own thoughts, emotions, and existing habits could be sabotaging your efforts and some simple ways to self-regulate your way to meaningful engagement, influence, and productivity as a leader.

If you're interested in learning about a framework that can bring your vision, business, or startup to life, you don't want to miss this episode. It is jam-packed with actionable advice from Tomi Davie (T.D.), who was named one of the 100 Most Influential Africans of 2021 by New African Magazine. Harry ‘Tomi Davies (TD) is Collaborator-in-Chief (CiC)’ at TVC Labs, an entrepreneurship support organization in Lagos, Nigeria which he founded. TD is the co-founder of the Lagos Angel Network (LAN), founding President of the African Business Angel Network (ABAN), and Board Member of the Global Business Angels Network (GBAN). T.D.'s mission in life is to find, fund, and follow. He is an angel investor, author, public speaker, and a systems analyst turned tech strategy advisor. He is the founder and Collaborator-in-Chief of TDC Labs, an entrepreneur support organization in Lagos, Nigeria. Akua and T.D. discuss his newest book, Investment Worthy Startup, which he wrote to help founders and investors build successful startups.

Pausing and reflecting is something all leaders should prioritize. That's why Akua is using today's episode as a recap of the last several weeks as she's talked about the first step in her leadership framework: cultivating self-awareness. Learn to understand better your strengths, weaknesses, interests, and preferences so you can be the most impactful leader possible.  Founders, leaders, and managers will benefit from listening to all the episodes around self-awareness, but If you don't have time to go back, this is where you can catch up and be ready to move on to Akua's second step in her leadership framework: simplifying engagement.

This episode is for leaders who want to have a big impact - and who doesn’t? This is the last in a series about the first of three steps in Akua’s leadership approach: cultivating self-awareness. Despite what some might think, effective leadership is not only about performance and delivery, or what the sports world would call the “outer game .”Conscious leaders know that self-awareness and mindset, or “inner game,” are just as important and really affect every aspect of their leadership and its impact.