Posts by James Christie

As the Leadership Jam Session Podcast is approaching its 50th episode, I want to thank all of my listeners for investing your time to tune in and listen to my podcast.

In this episode I share a little bit about my time as an officer in the Fire Department of my hometown, Kenilworth, New Jersey, and some of the valuable lessons on leadership I got to learn during those years.

The fantastic people working in this department were all volunteers, from the firefighters up to the chief. It was a very humbling experience to be there, and the experience deeply impacted me and shaped my entire approach to leadership.

So, this episode of the Leadership Jam Session Podcast, along with the next episode, are dedicated to the 20th anniversary of 9/11, and I hope I also serves as a reminder that we should never forget what happened that day, especially for those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

How do you handle getting directions passed down from your boss that you don’t necessarily agree with? And how do you communicate these decisions to your team?

In this week’s episode of the Leadership Jam Session Podcast, seasoned leaders Cherie Tofthagen, Brian Reardon, and Mike Sabol join me to discuss the best strategies to adopt in these scenarios. We’ll talk about why transparency and communication are crucial, how to give ownership to your team, and the importance of mentorship and building advocates.

The COVID pandemic drastically changed the way we think about business and community-building. Virtual environments have practically become the new workspace for a significant part of the worldwide workforce. As a leader, building and maintaining your team’s trust in such strange times can be challenging to get right. Perhaps your team doesn’t get along too…

Regardless of the industry you come from, trying to lead your teams through a restructuring or a merger acquisition while keeping them focused can be daunting. Problems such as a lack of communication among the team or a shared frustration over a slow transitional process can quickly arise. The difference between success and failure will…

What happens when you’ve had multiple coaching discussions with your employee, and you haven’t seen any progress made against the expectations that you previously set for them?  Situations like these are never easy, but the best way to deal with them is to have a particular and direct conversation with your employee. In business, we…