Alisa Cohn

Guest: Alisa Cohn - Executive Coach. Alisa is a renowned executive coach who has worked with C-suite executives at startups like Etsy and Venmo, as well as Fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft and Google. She has been recognized as one of the top 50 coaches globally by Thinkers50. Key Takeaways: Difficult Conversations: When delivering tough feedback, focus on observable facts rather than judgments. Use scripts to prepare, such as starting with, "I want to chat with you about..." and ensuring you provide hope for the future. Promotion Denials: Be upfront about decisions, explain the rationale, and offer a path for future growth. For example, "I know this is challenging, but here's why we made this decision..." Firing Conversations: Ensure it's not a surprise by having clear, prior discussions about performance issues. Use direct language like, "We've decided to part ways." Meeting Effectiveness: End meetings with three questions: What did we decide? Who will do what by when? Who else needs to know? Founder Alignment: Use a "founder prenup" to discuss values, vision, conflict resolution, and decision-making processes to ensure alignment and prevent future conflicts. Topics Covered: Navigating difficult conversations, performance feedback, promotion discussions, firing processes, effective meetings, founder alignment, leadership misconceptions.