293. The Leadership Skills We’ll Need Most When Everything Is Changing: Me2We 2026
6/1/202636 min
What it takes to lead as a communicator and communicate as a leader.
Leadership isn’t just about making decisions — it’s about how you communicate them. As Matt Abrahams puts it, “Communication is operationalized leadership.”
At a recent Me2We event, in connection with Stanford GSB's Executive Education LEAD program, Abrahams held a live discussion with four of the podcast’s most popular guests: Celine Teoh, facilitator of the GSB’s famous Interpersonal Dynamics course; Huggy Rao, organizational behavior professor and co-author of The Friction Project; legendary Stanford basketball coach Tara VanDerveer; and Dave Dodson, lecturer and author of The Manager's Handbook.
In this special live episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, the panel shares frameworks and lessons for leading and communicating more effectively. From Teoh’s five A’s for inviting dissent to Rao’s warning against “jargon monoxide,” from VanDerveer’s relationship-first approach to Dodson’s case for leading like a teacher, this conversation explores what it takes to communicate as a leader — and lead as a communicator.
Episode Reference Links:
- Celine Teoh
- Tara VanDerveer
- Huggy Rao
- Huggy’s Book: The Friction Project
- David Dodson
- David’s Book: The Manager’s Handbook
- Ep.194 Live Lessons in Levity and Leadership: Me2We 2025 Part 1
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- Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn
- (00:00) - Introduction
- (04:18) - Encouraging Dissent
- (06:40) - The Addition Bias
- (09:57) - Coaching Through Encouragement
- (12:12) - Leadership in the AI Era
- (16:24) - Teaching vs. Managing
- (17:46) - Making People Feel Appreciated
- (19:06) - Slowing Down Decisions
- (21:24) - Listening More
- (24:24) - Avoiding Jargon
- (26:31) - Giving Better Feedback
- (28:53) - Preparing for Communication
- (29:44) - Using Communication Frameworks
- (31:15) - Skills for Future Leaders
- (37:47) - Conclusion
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMatt Abrahams· Host0:00
It is now my distinct pleasure to host for you a live version of Think Fast, Talk Smart. We have a panel of four amazing GSB faculty, uh, and lecturers, and an added bonus, a coach from at, the athletics department. Let's give a big round of applause to our guests. [applause] Thank you. Communication is operationalized leadership. The best leaders communicate clearly and consistently. My name is Matt Abrahams, and I teach strategic communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Welcome to this special episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, the podcast, recorded live as part of Me To We, which is an on-campus component of Stanford GSB's Executive Education LEAD Program. In front of over 500 people, I had the honor and privilege to host four of our most popular guests in a thoughtful discussion of practical ideas and tools we can all use to become better leaders and communicators. [applause] Thank you. We have Celine Teoh, Huggy Rao, Tara VanDerveer, and Dave Dobson. And for all of you, these are our leaders. [applause] First, thank you all for being here. I'm excited to have our conversation. Uh, we'll start with Celine. Celine is