Hello and a very warm welcome to Cultural Communication Confidence with me, Victoria Rennoldson. and welcome to this very special episode. In fact, this episode is celebrating my 10th anniversary in business running this work, helping global leaders current and future to develop their communication skills and cultural skills to become the global leaders of today and tomorrow. Now, 10 years is amazing, when I look back things have changed so much over that time. But what I thought I would do in this special episode is really focus in on what I think the top areas are for global leadership today. What are the key skills, the strategies, the lessons and insights that I think you should be thinking about right now at the time of recording in 2025, to make sure that you have everything you need to become that global leader yourself. So it’s really about bringing together everything that I do, my expertise and my knowledge, some of the insights from these podcasts over the last two years I’ve been running this podcast, but also from all of my conversations and talks, the interactions I have with you, the podcast listeners, but also my clients and people who I meet in various environments in different networks. 

So this episode is going to be a quick fire overview of those top 10 leadership skills, strategies and insights that I think you need right here today in 2025, in celebration of my 10th anniversary in business. But that’s not all. I’m also going to be celebrating with you by offering a very special birthday gift. I work with talented, capable and ambitious leaders and, future leaders. They are people who are determined to make it to the next level, to get promoted, to achieve that career move. And it’s more important than ever right now, in this year, 2025, when so many people are experiencing large amounts of change, large amounts of transformation, whether that is something they are in charge of or whether it’s happening to them. So if that is you, and you know this is the year for you, the year when you want to really step it up and make it to that promotion, make it to that leadership level that you’ve been aspiring to for a while, then now is the time to get in touch. If you’ve been listening to me, following me, watching my videos, then I want to give you a very special birthday gift this March 2025. If you meet me and we have a conversation and we decide it’s the right fit to work together, and we go ahead and book you in, then I’ll be giving you that very special gift as part of my thank you and celebration for 10 years in business. So, if that is something that is exciting to you, if you’re thinking right, yes, this is it, then do get in touch. You can message me over on LinkedIn and I’ll put all my contact details in the show notes as well.

But let’s come back to today’s episode. I promised you top 10 leadership strategies, skills and insights that I think you need to know. And I’m bringing together everything that I have covered and thought about, particularly in the last 10 years. So let’s start with number one. The first area is Clarity. Communication Clarity is for everyone. No matter what stage of career you’re at, the way that we say things, the way we articulate our thoughts and viewpoints is critical. And I know that it’s not easy, it’s almost easier to say too much, to over explain, to over say what you want to say. There is an art to this, there is a real focus if you want to make sure that you’re sounding very concise, crisp and to the point. So the first area I want you to think about in your leadership skill set is Clarity. The second area is Connection. And, this is a massive theme for me, both personally and in my business as well. Connection is what is so important right now, being able to connect with people, not literally through a collaboration tool or hopping on another Teams call or a Zoom call, but truly connecting human to human. We have a drive and a need more than ever, I think, to create good quality conversations to be listened to as a human, but also the skill as a leader will be to see others in their humanness, vulnerability, what’s going on for them. Connection requires intention. It’s easy to be busy and to jump from one meeting to the next. Connection requires your real intention and attention to make it happen. So that’s the second skill. 

The third skill is Cultural Intelligence. And this, in some ways, has a interrelationship with Connection. Cultural Intelligence is a core part of my work, and of course the name of this podcast is Cultural Communication Confidence. For me, Cultural Intelligence is really about understanding: how do you not only think about the environments you’re working in, the teams that you’re working in, and how do you adapt your own behaviours and communication approaches to help others and help them feel included and part of the team and part of the workplace, but also how do you do that in a way so that you can be more successful in what you do, in that you can achieve the results because you bring yourself closer to others. Now, I do this in my work through helping people understand their behavioural preferences, giving them a language to describe the differences that they come across and why those frustrations and challenges come up. But also helping people to develop the capabilities in Cultural Intelligence so they can develop in this and progress. So Cultural Intelligence is a key leadership skill. The fourth area is Confidence. I think Confidence is not just something that happens once, but is a choice again and again and again. As we expand and you expand your comfort zone, as you step into new areas of leadership, you step up in your role and responsibility, it will require more confidence from you. You’ll be in new situations and contexts, which you are not familiar with, and so that requires you to also step up and expand your confidence zone. Sometimes people don’t recognise this and feel that sense of imposter syndrome. And I talked about this on a podcast about six months ago, the twin problems that we have with perfectionism and imposter syndrome. But just to reassure you, everybody has challenges with confidence at times. Confidence is a journey that we go on. And as we expand our context, our leadership, as you expand what you’re about and what you do, your confidence also has to evolve as well. So that is why I’ve identified it as one of the key skills. 

Number five, Leadership Presence. Now, this is sometimes known as Executive Presence. And, people also have very set views about what it is about. They think you have to be loud, extrovert, you have to do it in a certain way. I have a really strong philosophy around Leadership Presence, which is about you doing you, but just expand that version of it. And I have particular ways that I help the people that I work with to tap into their own version of leadership presence so they can do it in a way that’s true and authentic to them, rather than them pretending to be somebody else, acting as if they’re somebody else. And I think this is also a very important part of your leadership skill set. Be able to expand your presence so people feel you, whether you are in the room and you can command and hold the attention, or whether you’re not even in the room at all. The sixth area is Influence. This is a topic I get asked about a lot. Influence is, of course, sometimes the difference between us performing and not achieving the results we desire. It’s a difference between getting projects approved, our recommendations agreed to, and being able to be seen as the leader who has that influence and impact with the senior and, most senior members of the teams. Influence is not easy. And yet there are some ways and approaches as a leader that you can use to really help you up your influence. One key way of doing this is really thinking about it more from the perspective of others. Not thinking about what you want to say, but how do you want it to be received, how is it they are thinking about the topic you’re talking about, how can you frame it in a way that makes sense to them and that lands the message well? That for me is about influence and that is why it’s one of my key leadership skills. 

Number seven is Challenging Conversations. This is another topic I get asked about a lot with my clients. Challenging conversations of course are reality, and the aim as a leader is not to avoid these or to move around them, but sometimes we have to lean into them. But it is about how you approach that challenging conversation. Understanding the style you want to bring to it, having the emotional intelligence to understand what the other people or person is feeling, what you might need to bring into the conversation to help move it through and get to a successful result. Challenging conversations is a very big topic and I think as a leader you need to be very skillful in this area. Eight is Self-leadership. This is a topic that I have really thought about a lot recently and I think in times of uncertainty and great change, we need more self-leadership. The concept of this for me and the definition of it is really understanding that nobody else can own your career path for you, whatever that looks like for you, whether you consider yourself developing that career in corporate life, whether you consider yourself developing that career in a variety of organisations, whether you’re developing a portfolio career, or even want to run your own business. Whatever the combination looks like to you, I believe that one of the key elements of leadership is self-leadership, taking ownership of your own path, recognising that yes, there are factors beyond your control, but you always get to choose how you respond to those factors. You get to choose what your next step is, and you know how to keep yourself energised and resilient through the big changes of life. This is not easy, and I’m not going to pretend it is. In fact, you know, at this time of recording, I’m going through my own challenges and questions, which means my self- leadership is needed as well. So I don’t, again, I don’t think we have to be perfect at this. It’s a messy world. Life is messy. Careers are not always as we planned them, and that is why we need self-leadership. 

Number nine, almost there now – number nine is about Personal Branding. So for me, personal branding is really understanding what makes you unique. It actually ties up really nicely with self-leadership. If you’ll know what you’re about, if you’re aware enough to understand your unique value in the world and how you bring your strengths to the fore and add value to organisations that you work with, then this is really what personal branding is about. Once you have that deep understanding, then you know how to project it. Then you know how to step into making that more visible, making yourself more visible. And you recognise why that’s important, to be seen as part of your career development and to step into thought leadership. Thought leadership isn’t just for people who want to step up on the stage and do TED talks, although that might be your plan. It is for people however, who are really willing to be seen as an expert in something, to be seen as standing for something. And that I think is an exciting space to own for your leadership. It’s an exciting space to own for your personal brand. And then number 10, coming to the end of these top 10 leadership skills, strategies and insights that I think are critical for you. 

Number 10 for me is ‘you are a leader now’. Why am I saying this to you? Well, so many people think becoming a leader is a faraway goal. It sits up there somewhere in the air, in the ether, and it’s beyond your fingertips, it’s beyond your current scope of what you do. It doesn’t matter what stage of career you’re at, whether you are really early in your career or whether you have been working 30 plus years. If you want to be a leader, choose to be a leader. Lead from right now, this moment, today. Step into that and know you can be a leader already. The title of course is nice, the pay grade of course is nice, but these things are just validations. Validate yourself, step into your own leadership, and recognise you are a leader now. So there you have it. These are the 10, in celebration of my 10th anniversary in business, running this business Culture Cuppa. These are the 10 leadership skills that I think are critical for you right now. I’m really interested to know: which one of these resonates for you? Maybe you need to work on a few of these. Maybe there has been a massive ‘aha’, about which one is the one that you need to work on. I would love to know. So why don’t you reach out to me over on LinkedIn, message me, I’m really interested in what you are working on and what you identify as the gaps in your leadership skill set, the top 10. 

This episode, as I said, was, in celebration of my 10th anniversary in business, and I’m really excited to be celebrating this with you. Don’t forget, as part of these celebrations, I have a very special birthday gift for you. Now, I haven’t told you what it is, but if you are thinking about working with me, you would love to get my support to help you achieve your very ambitious goals in your career to step into your leadership, now is the time. In March 2025, if you start working with me and we book and we move forward, then I will be offering you a special birthday gift. But you’ll have to be in touch to find out what that is. So if that is something that intrigues you, you’re curious to know what it is, make sure you do get in touch by 31st March, 2025. Thank you so much for celebrating my business birthday with me, I’ve greatly enjoyed the last 10 years. I’m incredibly excited to see what comes next, and what the next 10 years bring. And, I very much look forward to seeing you next time, on Cultural Communication Confidence.