Leadership through Empowering and Connecting People with Mayor Darrell Steinberg


Former President of the California State Senate and current Mayor of Sacramento, Darrell Steinberg, joins Nick on the podcast today to talk about his unique leadership style and philosophy which is characterized by his emphasis on the importance of people, relationships, humility, and the idea that leadership roles are temporary. Darrell shares his perspective on the power of positive change and the importance of organizing a team of talented people instead of slotting individuals into specific titles and responsibilities. Their discussion also explores how lessons in leadership from the public sector can be applied to building relationships and handling disagreements with dignity and mutual respect.


Together, Darrell and Nick emphasize the importance of building goodwill and understanding other people's perspectives, while still being able to fight and stand up for one's own beliefs. They discuss how to navigate through tough situations by depersonalizing disputes and approaching disagreements with kindness and understanding. Steinberg highlights the idea of being tough on issues and easy on people, emphasizing the possibility of being respectful while maintaining integrity. His insights on relationships and mediation underscore the importance of reputation and trust in building successful outcomes, as well as the challenge of balancing the need to move issues forward with the need to slow down and find a better balance in communication. Filled with sage advice borne out of extensive experience, today’s episode proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that leadership’s power to bring about positive change and success is deeply rooted in the consistent and deliberate act of empowering and connecting people.






The Finer Details of This Episode:



• Organizing a team of talented people 


• Discovering the power of positive change


• Leadership and the traits essential to the role 


• Making difficult decisions and taking responsibility for them


• Building consensus and working collaboratively


• Building goodwill and strong relationships


• Being tough on issues and easy on people


• Understanding other people's perspectives


• Depersonalizing disputes


• Being principled and fighting for what you believe in


• The misconception that being nice means you cannot be tough


• The power of respect and finding common ground


• The role of reputation and trust in mediation


• Having a career in public office and some of the challenges that it entails


• Focusing on your beliefs and values


• Maintaining good relations with people with whom you disagree


• Decision-making and implementation


• What Darrell would do differently now







Quotes:


"It is a mistake to decide how you want to organize a team with specific titles and responsibilities and try to slot people into them, as opposed to trying to actually track a great team of talented people."


"I see the roles and the jobs that I have as very important. But it's always important to remember the difference because these jobs of leadership are by definition temporary and we're just people and we're not better than anybody."


"Leadership is about getting people to a better place than where they currently are."


"The beauty of leadership is that it is not just about the leader, it's about the team and the collective effort."


"The more people you connect with on a human level, the more successful you will be as a leader."


"Let's try to work this out. If we can't, then let's have a good fight here and see where it ends up."


"Power is a means of persuasion, not domination."


"You choose to invest yourself in serving the public. You are not going to have some of the flexibilities that you might want in terms of your family life."


"I believe my kids, in the end, gained a lot more than they lost because they see the importance of community and community service."






Links:


Nick Warner Consulting (https://nickwarnerconsulting.com/)






Together at the Top on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@togetheratthetopnickwarner)






Mayor Darrell Steinberg (https://www.cityofsacramento.org/Mayor-Council/Districts/Mayor/Biography)