We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Calle Foster. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Calle below.

Calle, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about the best boss, mentor, or leader you’ve ever worked with.

Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of working with a diverse array of leaders, who collectively shaped the leader I am today. Each experience provided me with invaluable lessons that have transcended my journey in corporate, and have been an inspiration as I help others build their leadership muscle. As I share these leaders, who’s names I will replace, you’ll notice the specific and profound lessons learned, and some context that provided them.

Leader 1, Steve
This was the first leader who taught me lifelong lessons I still use today. He was a sales operations leader, and honestly was learning how to be a leader himself. He provided an environment that allowed his team members to be themselves, me included, and lean into my strengths. There was one caveat, and his message was very clear, “it takes too long for you to get to your point. State your main point first and then give me pertinent details afterward, if I need the extra info, I will ask for it.”
>Lesson: This was my first lesson in executive presence, being clear and concise, which helped me as I moved into executive-facing facilitation, training, and leadership roles.

Leader 2, Ben
This leader took a chance on me. A huge portion of my life’s imposter syndrome happened under this leader, not because he caused it, but because he saw potential in me and challenged me to shift to a corporate professional. This leader validated my experience, gave me impactful feedback, and trusted me so I could flourish.
>Lesson: Be the leader who provides the safe space, normalizing different life/work experiences and focusing on rapport, trust, and kindness as the most foundational element for a fruitful working relationship.

Leader 3, John
This leader and I never saw eye-to-eye. He was analytical, I was a peacock, emotional, expressive. He didn’t understand my motivators, and I didn’t understand his guarded communication and clear lack of trust, which led me to believe he wasn’t a great leader and I was blocked to see how I could benefit from his leadership. After working for him for over a year, I finally realized what I could learn from him…analytics, data approach, you know, all the things an expressive, emotional, creative, peacock doesn’t often know naturally. In my exit interview he asked what he could have done better, I said he could “toot his own horn better”, by telling the world what he does WELL. If he had, maybe I would have been able to break down our barrier and find this beautiful space where I could learn from him. Better believe, I did after that!
>Lesson: Quiet the ego and be open to share your weaknesses and where you could get better so you can get the help. Don’t forget to advocate for yourself by sharing your strengths. I call it “Be Your Own Press”. Ask your leader what they are good at, so you can “swap” strengths with them and support each other.

Leader 4, Kate
This leader was one of my longest leaders. This leader was a confidant, an advocate, and a friend. And in hindsight, so much of a friend that it hindered both of our growth. I learned that tough feedback where I am challenged is more productive and impactful to my growth than friendly feedback that we often hide behind for fear of “conflict”.
>Lesson: Its ok to become friends with your leaders and direct reports, but identify when that is happening so you can check yourself when it comes to getting the critical feedback you need to fix your blind spots, innovate, and enhance your skills.

Leader 5, Dan
This leader saw “the thing” in me that others might not have seen. He gave me the platform I never had. He took risks with me, allowed me to fail, and helped lift me back up when I did. He gave me the tough feedback I had been seeking for years. Told me to invest in my Emotional Intelligence and Executive Presence, because I was “so close”. He recommended books and held me to them. He pushed me to get across the finish line when I was only a few steps away. This leader was profound for me.
>Lesson: Be the leader who knows that business responsibilities take a back seat to leadership responsibilities because THAT is what really drives business forward. Be the leader who fosters a space for growth through allowing creativity, giving deeply helpful and productive feedback & guidance, and giving you the exposure to show off your strengths.

Leader 6, Dave
This was the worst leader I had ever had. This leader was a bully, cocky, and the polar opposite of a psychologically safe person. This leader gaslit, made failure something to fear instead of want to risk, and created a team culture of people that didn’t enjoy their work and were forced to find solace in each other in order to get it done. This leader made me fear for my job daily, to the point where I was crying in my husband’s lap multiple days a week. I hated my job every day, until I moved to a different team. This person taught me about every characteristic I never want to embody as a leader.
>Lesson: Be kind, be authentic, be transparent, attempt consistency, focus on your people, have humanity.

Leader 7, Chris
This person was a senior leader in my org, a peer to “Dave”, and evolved into a mentor who I am lucky enough to still have today. This leader is the definition of a psychologically safe leader. One who acted even in challenging and risky moments, with the utmost integrity. Someone who people enjoyed being around, with magnetic energy. People followed this leader, effortlessly, and trusted his judgment, even when it came to bad news or tough calls.
>Lesson: Act with integrity. Make trust part of your culture by being really present and showing empathy for your people, .

Leader 8, James
This leader trusted me implicitly. This leader gave me every freedom to fail and learn. This leader allowed me to run my team and my projects based on my proven ability to collaborate and leverage resources and relationships. This leader was a “yes-man”, someone who I had to challenge to stand up for us, and when he did it was eye-opening for him, like he understood a whole new side of our business and cared deeply for our success. I grew more under this leader than in my entire corporate career.
>Lesson: Block and tackle for your team, protect them, their bandwidth, and work satisfaction. Allow your teammates to blossom, give them the space to succeed because it feels so great to know “I DID THAT!” and take the lessons with you into the next phase of the journey.

Leader 9: Me
Today, the leader I am is someone who values and acts on transparency, a foundation of trust and friendship, who does my best to swallow my ego when given tough feedback and later reflect on how and where it applies. I challenge my clients, friends, and colleagues through shared observations, evoking new awareness, and entering with a collaborative mindset. I am sarcastic, funny (I think), energetic, overly-talkative, I am myself. I often slip up with work-life balance and time-management. I ask for help from friends and colleagues who are experts, and I still grapple with imposter syndrome, and being humbled by the amount of things I just.don’t.know. I put people at the forefront of what I do, because its not just what I do, its WHY I do it.
>Lesson: There is so much more to learn. Self awareness is a journey, not a destination, and so are the skills I will continue to need as my business evolves and the clients I support continue to grow and change. Its not just about having a growth mindset, its also the desire for lifelong learning, and figuring how how to check-in with yourself to make sure you are being the person you want and need to be for yourself in each phase of your journey, which is a muscle to build.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

After spending 12 years in corporate learning & development, in various roles like sales coaching, training facilitation, training design & strategy, and leadership development, I left to pursue leadership coaching as an entrepreneur in my own private practice.

I help Millennials and Gen-Z enhance and expand their self-leadership and team-leadership capabilities as they step into leadership and early executive roles.

I know if I had these skills earlier on in my career, it would have opened more doors, faster.

I’m a millennial, so who and why I help is based on lived experience. While baby boomers exit the workforce, and gen X (the smallest working generation today) move forward in their careers, Millennials and Gen-Z will take up over 70% of the workforce in just a few short years, dominating and advancing in leadership roles, many without the support to develop into the people-champion and business driver that’s needed.

I provide coaching services for individuals and companies that want to build the self & situational awareness, and leadership capability that is needed in today’s socially-conscious, and highly-sensitive multi-generational workplace.

I am an ICF Certified Professional Coach, and an Energy Leadership Master Practitioner, with expertise in operations, retail, and health and wellness, supporting clients across related AND unrelated industries.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Quiet the ego, and instead have a mindset of lifelong learning, you don’t know what you don’t know, so get your pen and notepad ready and go meet and learn from EVERYONE.

Figure out how to show up authentically, even if you are doing something that feels unfamiliar or new, what does the most authentic version of you look/act/feel like when you are doing “this thing”. Also, just because its unfamiliar doesn’t mean its inauthentic. Don’t mold for others, but figure out how to show up as yourself, based on who you need to be for yourself in that moment, for that potential client, or partner, or colleague.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

People-first, period. When you provide your people with the tools to get their job done, the self-awareness, feedback, coaching, safety, and space, you will win because THEY do.

Do that through these core elements;
1. Foundation of trust
2. Culture of psychological safety (fail+learn)
3. Space to grow+succeed

Be their biggest advocate, authentically, genuinely. Their career is your hands, and YOURS is in theirs.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.CalleFoster.com
• Instagram: @millennialleadershipcoach
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calle-foster

Image Credits

@SamHardyPortraits
@AliRosePhoto
@unapologetically_podcast
@fablearningnerds