In this episode of Assist With Impact, Liz’s guest is Dr. Kirstin Ferguson AM an author, columnist and company director. Liz talks with Kirstin about her experience navigating the career ‘climbing frame’ and her latest book, Head & Heart: The Art of Modern Leadership. Kirstin shares some pivotal moments in her career, including when she was debating whether to become a journalist or join the military after leaving school. She ultimately chose the military, but her love for writing and journalism remained. She shares that she often suffers from imposter syndrome, but has learned to say yes anyway and trust herself. Listen to the podcast to hear Kirstin discuss what readers can expect from Head & Heart: The Art of Modern Leadership and why it is different to the many other leadership books that

have been published. Kirstin explains that the book is unlike any other book on leadership because it combines her own research and experience with interviews of a diverse range of people, not just corporate leaders. She also talks about the importance of an Australian view on what it means to be a modern leader and how the book covers a mix of theories and research behind leadership. The Head & Heart Leader Scale™ is a tool developed by Kirstin Ferguson with Lisa Bradley at the QUT Business School to assess leaders’ ability to integrate emotional intelligence with their professional skills. The scale is based on the concept that leadership involves not only technical competencies, but also a range of emotional intelligence skills, including empathy, self-awareness, and social skills.

The scale consists of 24 questions that assess a leader’s ability to lead with both their head and their heart, with each question assessing a different aspect of leadership. The aim of the scale is to help leaders identify areas where they can improve and develop their emotional intelligence skills to become more effective leaders. Kirstin and Liz discuss the results of Liz’s Head & Heart Leader Scale Survey and how the results should be interpreted. Throughout the interview, Liz and Kirstin discuss the various ways Kirstin has advocated for women, including her viral social media campaign called #CelebratingWomen and how Administrative professionals can and do lead from within, and we discuss the contribution of Kirstin’s own Chief of Staff Luisa. Visit https://headheartleader.com/ to take the 24-question survey and find out where you can order your copy of Head & Heart: The Art of Modern Leadership.

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