When it comes to success, much of the focus tends to be on how do we go about being successful. We read books and watch documentaries about the lives of successful people in the hopes that we might better understand what allowed them to succeed in the hopes that we might achieve a similar result from our efforts. But a recent conversation with my daughter revealed something we don’t tend to think about when it comes to success and that is what lessons can we learn about ourselves when we succeed? That’s why in this edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I share a story about how my daughter overcame an obstacle in achieving success in school and the three important lessons we need to make sure we never lose sight of when we achieve success. Not only to ensure that we might succeed again, but because of the powerful insights we gain about the journey we’re on and will continue to take. https://open.spotify.com/episode/65z2hB6UCixHNQgOcyHE09?si=b67f1621c11e4f95

When it comes to diversity in today’s workplaces, understandably much of the focus is on systemic challenges members of various marginalized groups have to deal with. But as my guest in this episode of my Leadership Biz Cafe podcast points out, that doesn’t mean there aren’t measures Black professionals can take at the individual level so they can succeed and thrive in today’s corporate environment. Carice Anderson is a seasoned corporate leader and executive, having worked at numerous organizations including Deloitte, Korn Ferry, McKinsey & Company, Aon-Hewitt, and has worked with top companies like Google, Bloomberg, JP Morgan Chase and Bain & Company.  I’ve invited Carice to join me on my podcast to talk about her book “Intelligence Isn’t Enough: A Black Professional’s Guide to Thriving in the Workplace” so that Black and non-Black leaders can learn from her insights about how Black employees can be empowered to succeed and thrive as members of their team.  Over the course of my conversation with Carice, we spoke about: What is the Black Tax and how it impacts the productivity and perception of Black and non-Black employees. An examination of the “three major corporate muscle groups” Black professionals need to flex and develop to succeed in the corporate world. The mindset shift Black professionals need to make to have a healthier relationship with failure. How Black professionals tend to prioritize degrees over work relationships and why they need to change their focus to get ahead in the corporate world. The advantages of looking for sponsors and not just mentors to help elevate your career. Why we need to think of “difficult conversations” as “courageous conversations” and how to be more effective in having them.    Noteworthy links: Buy Carice’s book “Intelligence Isn’t Enough” on Amazon.* Learn more about Carice’s work - cariceanderson.com *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

How many of us would be happy knowing the high point of our career was that we were good at just getting through the day? Unfortunately, that’s the reality leaders need to recognize as the focus of today’s leadership becomes less and less about achieving long-term goals and more about just putting out fires and ‘getting things done’. While this certainly makes us look good from a day-to-day perspective, it also leaves us with little to point to as a true accomplishment and reflection of who we were and what we did as a leader. No doubt this is why biographies and stories of successful leaders continue to capture our curiosity and imagination. After all, their leadership example is what we all aspire to be like – in our own way, of course. But how we can be our own version of an exceptional leader when all we focus on are things that while urgent, are not important to achieving something lasting and meaningful? Something that changes things for the better, or at least opens the door for others to affect that kind of change In this edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I describe that one thing exceptional leaders never forget has to be at the forefront of everything they say and do. It’s something that each and every one of us can make a part of our leadership focus, provided that we’re willing to make the effort of not letting the demands of our day-to-day dictate where we put that long-term focus. The lens through which we need to keep looking out through if we are to achieve something remarkable, something great. So I hope you’ll take a short break from dealing with your day-to-day work tasks to listen to this episode, and gain inspiration for how you can be your own version of that exceptional leader your employees and team need you to be. https://open.spotify.com/episode/3LjMifKjHtCioCfGJYkF8Y?si=yq0jIge7QgWqjamSyGWU0g

What do Uber, Apple, Netflix, and AirBnB share in common in terms of the successes they’ve achieved? According to my guest in this episode of my Leadership Biz Cafe podcast, what these and other successful companies share in common is that they’re all experience disruptors. And he has a framework based on studies in consumer behaviour, behavioural psychology, and marketing analytics that can help any organization become their own version of an experience disruptor. Allen Adamson is an expert in branding, experience creation, and innovation strategy. Over the course of his career, he’s worked as a marketing executive at Unilever, held senior management positions at iconic advertising firms, including Ogilvy & Mather and DMB&B, and has worked companies like Accenture, GE, FedEx, HBO, Marriott, MetLife, P&G, Sony, and Verizon. He’s authored four books, and it’s his latest one, “Seeing the How: Achieving Market Advantage by Transforming the Stuff We Do, Not the Stuff We Buy”, that I wanted to talk with Allen about. Over the course of this episode, Allen and I discuss: What is experience innovation and moving past our assumptions of what our customers want. Why a singular focus is the critical key to creating a successful consumer experience. How to use our company’s strengths to meet the unique expectations of our customer base. What kind of partnerships with other companies you should consider to strengthen the consumer experience you can offer. Why getting closer to your customer is less about proximity and more about bringing more empathy to your consumer experience. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4ryxfwjkVDRq8Fq9zL1DKx?si=0fae083670014287 Noteworthy links: Buy Allen’s book “Seeing The How” on Amazon.* Learn more about Allen’s work - allenadamson.com *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

The last few weeks of the year are an ideal time for self-reflection and review as on the one hand, there’s an understandable eagerness to plan and map out goals for the upcoming year. But at the same time, it’s a perfect moment to take note of both the successes earned and lessons gained over the past 12 months. It’s in the vein of the latter that I wanted to look back at the numerous conversations I had with my guests on my Leadership Biz Cafe podcast to select my favourite guest moments and insights from 2023. To be sure, this wasn’t an easy task as I’ve had the privilege of speaking with some insightful and knowledgeable experts over these past 12 months. Combing the perspectives of looking back and looking ahead, here are my favourite highlights from some of the conversations I had on my podcast in 2023: John Baldoni - Why great leaders take care of their employees by creating community and why grace is the how to making that happen. Adam Bryant - Why your ability to offer feedback and give recognition is key to your ability to make the leap to leader and why so many of us struggle with this form of communication. Tamara Sanderson – How leaders can address concerns over loneliness when offering remote work options, and what the shifting dynamics of relationships at work tell us about the future of work. Bertina Ceccarelli and Susanne Tedrick – What leaders should be doing to retain a diverse workforce during today’s uncertain economic conditions to ensure they can attract key talent needed to grow the organization when the economy roars back to life. James Burstall – How creativity can help leaders be better prepared for the next crisis by treating it as an opportunity for growth and not just a time to hunker down. Erika Andersen – What leaders need to do to make their organization more agile and responsive following a major change. If you’re looking for some inspiration and guidance on how to be better prepared to address the challenges your organization will face in 2024, I want to encourage you to listen to this year-end retrospective episode, and to check out upcoming episodes of my podcast that we’ll be releasing in 2024. My thanks to John, Adam, Tamara, Bertina, Susanne, James, and Erika for these insightful moments shared in this last episode of my podcast for 2023. https://open.spotify.com/episode/6FhqaHj6iZO8xYxIlXjFO3?si=6c09551d551b4397 Episode links: John Baldoni | Leading Through Change And Crisis With Grace Adam Bryant | How Managers Can Make The Jump To Leadership Tamara Sanderson | How Leaders Make Remote Work A Success Bertina Ceccarelli & Susanne Tedrick | Innovating For Diversity James Burstall | How Leaders Can Prepare For The Next Major Crisis Erika Andersen | Addressing Change From The Inside Out Noteworthy links: Buy James’ book “The Flexible Method” on Amazon* Buy John Baldoni’s book “Grace Under Pressure” on Amazon*. Buy Adam Bryant’s book “The Leap to Leader” on Amazon* Buy Tamara Sanderson and Ali Greene’s book “Remote Works” on Amazon.* Buy Bertina Ceccarelli and Susanne Tedrick’s book “Innovating For Diversity” on Amazon.* Buy Erika’s book “Change From The Inside Out” on Amazon.* *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

If I were to ask your employees if your organization is ready to navigate the next global crisis, what would they say? As much as we’d like to think we’re prepared for whatever crisis comes our way, the pandemic and subsequent global supply chain crises clearly proved many organizations are vastly under-prepared to handle any kind of global crisis, let alone internal ones that risk upending our well-laid plans. So what can leaders do? How can you ensure your organization will fare better when the next storm arrives at your doorstep? In this episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast, I spoke with a leader who not only successfully navigated his company through two major crises, but who’s developed a practical guide any leader can put into practice right now to help them prepare for the next crisis. James Burstall is the CEO of Argonon, a major international TV production company based in London, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Liverpool, and Glasgow. His company has produced a number of popular shows, including House Hunters International, Hidden Potential, Lost Treasures of Egypt, Attenborough and the Mammoth Grave, and The Masked Singer UK. James has worked as an executive producer and producer-director for broadcasters all over the world, and has been featured in the Financial Times, Guardian, Variety, Deadline and Daily Telegraph to name a few. I’ve invited James to join me on my podcast to talk about his book, “The Flexible Method: Prepare To Prosper In The Next Global Crisis”, which offers a practical guide for leaders based on James’ own experience, as well as the crisis management experience of several other successful leaders, on how to prepare for the next crisis that will inevitably arise. Over the course of our conversation, James and I spoke about: The importance of calm and purposeful leadership and how to accomplish this during a crisis In times of crisis, what and how leaders should be communicating to their team How organizations can become more adaptable to external change while still holding true to their values How to use a crisis as an opportunity to tap into the collective creativity of your employees If you want to make sure your organization is truly prepared for that next global crisis waiting just around the corner, make some in your day to listen and learn how this successful leader helped his organization to not just survive, but thrive under the pressures and fallout of two major global crises. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0RgZscRvdA1nZnpfwxd2E3?si=c436ab7361d3460c Noteworthy links: Buy James' book “The Flexible Method” on Amazon* Learn more about James' work – Argonon *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Have you ever had the experience dealing with after-sales support where you not only get the runaround, but you spend days just trying to get someone on the phone to acknowledge your problem? That’s the situation my wife and I had to content with when we contacted a major retailer about an issue with our newly purchased recliner sofa. While on the surface, this would seem like a problem with customer support, the truth is this experience reveals a far more problematic issue that every leader should be making a concerted effort to avoid. That’s why for this edition in my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I wanted to use this experience to illustrate four questions leaders should be asking themselves to evaluate whether their actions are setting up their employees to succeed … or whether it’s only serving to create silos within their organization. As many of us begin to look ahead to what we want to achieve in 2024, this is the ideal moment to reflect on what you can improve on to better support and empower your employees. Reflecting on these four questions is a great place to begin that process. https://open.spotify.com/episode/3sW5PjEKfOPbUcfZBUsb9F?si=0d84d94a36a04cd7

With the explosive growth of AI and other emergent technologies, it’s not surprising to see many organizations focusing on digital business transformation. Unfortunately, many leaders are making a critical mistake in their strategy, something I discuss and explore with my guest Kamales Lardi in this episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast. Kamales is an award-winning digital transformation expert and the CEO and founder of Lardi & Partner, a global digital and business transformation firm. Kamales is a Teaching Fellow at Durham University Business School and she served as the first Chair of the Forbes Business Council of Women Executives. Kamales is also the author of the best-selling book, “The Human Side Of Digital Business Transformation”. I’ve invited Kamales to join me on the show to talk about what leaders need to do to successfully drive digital transformation in their organization, starting with a better understanding of what digitization, digitalization, and digital transformation really mean. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2YiSRbRw9MO52WCxho7POt?si=9617020b52174b98 Noteworthy links: Buy Kamales’ book “The Human Side of Digital Business Transformation” on Amazon* Check out Kamales’ Digital Transformation School resource: dbxschool.com Learn more about Kamales’ work: kamaleslardi.com Listen to my interview with IMD Director Michael Wade – Successfully Navigating Change In A Digital World *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Does your organization encourage a sense of curiosity? According to a survey in the Harvard Business Review, 83% of leaders say they do, but barely half of their employees would agree. Far from being something that's 'nice to have', encouraging a sense of curiosity in your workplace is going to become increasingly critical, not only to ensure better agility and adaptability in an ever uncertain world, but also because the burgeoning use of AI in organizations will lead to a shift towards more creativity-focused work. Seen from this vantage point, it becomes clear that your ability to promote curiosity in your organization is fast becoming a critical factor to your organization’s long-term success and viability. So how can leaders ensure they are in fact encouraging curiosity in their organization? In this latest instalment in my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I share four steps leaders can take that will help them create a culture of inquisitiveness in their organization. By putting these four steps into practice, you will not only help create conditions that ignite the curiosity and imagination of your employees, but you’ll also have the added bonus of fostering deeper, more meaningful relationships with those you lead. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0pKBIxe9bSIsF1tR13s2h4?si=_GdTbSmVRiCFeF0Oa_yiQg

“One of the biggest stumbling blocks for organizations is an unwillingness to be brutally honest about the challenges they face.” There’s no question leadership is becoming a more challenging role than it was 5-10 years ago. The rapid pace of change, the on-going uncertainties, even the very nature of the way we work have made being a leader a more strenuous and stressful job. But another factor that’s making it challenging for people to succeed at leadership is that many people in leadership roles today haven’t asked themselves a critical question before taking on the role – why do you want to be a leader? This question serves as the starting point for my conversation with best-selling author Adam Bryant about what those interested in taking on the leadership reins need to prepared for in this latest episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast. Adam is probably best known for his New York Times column, “The Corner Office”. He’s also the best-selling author of “The Corner Office: Indispensible and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs on How To Lead and Succeed” as well as “Quick and Nimble - Lessons From Leading CEOs on How To Create a Culture of Innovation”. Adam was a guest on my podcast two years ago when we talked about his book “The CEO Test - Master The Challenges That Make or Break All Leaders” and I’m delighted to welcome him back so we can talk about his latest, “The Leap to Leader: How Ambitious Managers Make the Jump to Leadership”. Adam and I had a frank and fascinating conversation about the realities of what it takes to move into a leadership role. But even those in leadership positions will benefit from hearing what Adam has to say. I hope you’ll make some time to give this episode a listen, and do let me know what you think. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2x8e0p2X20HeVwe63t69NB?si=46193fe60a454f71 Noteworthy links: Buy Adam’s book “The Leap to Leader” on Amazon* Learn more about Adam’s work - adambryantbooks.com Listen to my previous conversation with Adam – Episode #91: Adam Bryant | Mastering Challenges That Make Or Break All Leaders *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Few issues have captured the attention and focus of leaders over the past few years as the ongoing debate over whether to allow employees to work remotely or demand they return to office (RTO). And because it’s a contentious issue, there’s invariably numerous articles and studies out there which are meant to clarify things, but which honestly probably make the situation more ambiguous than it needs to be. But what’s especially troubling about this growing push by many organizations to overlook employee concerns and issue RTO mandates is that leaders are sending out a message that will negatively impact their leadership for many years to come. That’s why in this latest episode in my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I challenge leaders to rethink what they’re focusing on right now if they are to not only help their employees in today’s uncertain economic environment, but create the conditions to ensure their collective growth and success in the future as well. So I hope you’ll take 10 minutes out of your day to give this episode a listen. Although there's a bit of tough love in what I share, I think it's nonetheless something every leader needs to hear right now. And I'd love to know what you think and especially what suggestions you might have for how leaders can better address the growing demands employees have for organizations to adapt and evolve the way they approach work. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2JU7CzlL1RzSkcpWmfeeTS?si=5d4e7808bd974535 Noteworthy link: Listen to Leadership Espresso Shot 29 - Why Leadership Should Be Hard

We’ve all seen the studies that have shown how a diverse workforce leads to better productivity, increased profits and market share, and greater creativity and innovation. But with so many positive outcomes related to diverse workforces, why are so many organizations failing to attract and retain a diversified workforce – including in the senior leadership ranks? What are we getting wrong and what should we be doing differently? According to my guests on this episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast, Bertina Ceccarelli and Susanne Tedrick, the key is understanding how to use innovation principles to drive an organization’s DEI efforts. Bertina is the Chief Executive Officer of NPower, one of the most successful non-profits in North America committed to helping young adults and military-connected individuals launch tech careers. And Susanne is the author of Women of Color in Tech and a cloud computing technical trainer for a Fortune 500 technology company. Together, they co-authored the book “Innovating For Diversity – Lessons from Top Companies Achieving Business Success through Inclusivity”, which makes the compelling case for why diversity and innovation are not just interconnected, but how innovation can actually help organizations succeed in their DEI initiatives. Of course, to succeed in these efforts, we first have to get a better understanding of what these terms of diversity, equity and inclusion really mean. And I’m grateful to Bertina and Susanne for not only helping to bring clarity to this in our conversation, but for also providing practical advice for how leaders can succeed at creating a more diverse workplace that will not only benefit their organization, but also those their organization serves. No matter what you might think about diversity in today’s workplaces, I want to strongly encourage you to give this episode a listen as I’m sure some of what Bertina and Susanne share in this conversation will surprise you and definitely give you some food for thought. https://open.spotify.com/episode/47U7MrcuCKe7ktRhJplt0y?si=0b6b810c9af84b8d Noteworthy links: Buy Bertina and Susanne’s book “Innovating For Diversity” on Amazon.* Learn more about Bertina’s work - npower.org Learn more about Susanne’s work - susannetedrick.com *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

It seems like every day there’s another news report about a company’s decision to have their employees return to the office. Of course, if you’ve been following the leadership space for some time, this isn’t too surprising. After all, it was only a few years ago that organizations were limiting smartphone use in in the workplace to company-approved devices, only for their leaders to turn around and offer bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies to attract and retain employees. Of course, the current debate over when and where employees work is not likely to be resolved as quickly as the BYOD debate. Creating conditions that allow your employees to work whenever and wherever they want is not just about giving employees a choice. It also represents a disruption to how we understand the nature of work, not to mention changing many requirements for what will be needed to succeed at leadership in this new world of work. Seen from that vantage point, it’s not surprising to see such resistance from organizations to offering employees flexible work options. Though that doesn’t mean this resistance and desire to ‘go back to the way things were’ is a good thing – both for the present and future. That’s why in this episode of my “Leadership Espresso Shot” series, I share the story of Kodak and what a critical decision made by the organization’s top leadership can teach us about how leaders should be approaching the current debate over the future of work. Trust me when I say it’s a powerful lesson leaders and their organizations can’t afford to ignore … if they want to ensure their continued growth and success.

If there’s one challenge leaders everywhere share in common right now it’s how to ignite employee commitment. From the Great Resignation to quiet quitting, organizations have been grappling with how to motivate and retain employees who are critical to their long-term success and growth. Fortunately, my guest in this episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast has discovered that there are three important keys that will ignite employee commitment and retention, three keys that every leader and every organization has the ability to employ … provided they’re willing to accept some realities about the new world of work. Joe Mull is a respected authority on what organizations need to do to drive commitment in the workplace. He’s written three books on this subject, including his latest “Employalty: How To Ignite Commitment and Keep Top Talent in the New Age of Work”, where he describes those three keys to igniting employee commitment. And as I told Joe during our conversation, one of them resonated strongly with me as it’s a common theme in many of my keynotes and workshops. So what are these three keys and how do leaders go about employing them? Well to find that out, you’ll have to listen to this episode. And I can tell you, some of them will definitely challenge many people’s thinking around issues like compensation and employee workload. But when you hear what Joe has to say about these topics, I know you’ll come to the same conclusion I did from reading his book that only those organizations that choose to embrace these changes will be the ones who succeed and thrive in the years ahead, while the laggards become this decade’s version of Blockbuster and Kodak. After giving this episode a listen, let me know which key resonated the most with you, and which one challenged you the most in terms of what you need to do to drive employee commitment and strengthen retention. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5q49VBdhE7ul5FPEMShbf1?si=529b7ef619ea4f0d Noteworthy links: Buy Joe Mull’s book “Employalty” on Amazon.* Learn more about Joe Mull’s work – joemull.com *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

This might come as a surprise, but one of my favourite things about delivering a leadership keynote is the Q&A session I have afterwards. I love this part not only because it allows me to hear what key insights or ideas have taken hold with my audience, but also because sometimes the questions I get asked spur on new ideas I want to expand on and explore. For example, my TED talk “Forget Passion - Purpose is the Real Spice of Life” was inspired by a question I was asked after one of my keynotes where one of the attendees wanted to learn more about my own leadership journey and what inspired me to take that particular path. Recently, I delivered another in-person keynote and during the Q&A session I was asked yet another one of those thought-provoking questions whose answer was something I wanted to expand on and share. The question was from a leader who’d been working on becoming more comfortable with asking questions and after hearing my keynote he had a question he wanted to ask me. His question – “How do I encourage my employees to get better at asking questions, too?” It’s such a great question that, just like my TED talk, I wanted to share the ideas it gave rise to with those who weren’t present to hear my answer to this leader's question. And so, in this edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I share four simple steps any leader can implement towards creating an environment where employees feel psychologically safe to ask any question that’s on their mind. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2hg6lmgAQaPEz2eP3IOkug?si=70e380f4c5504d08

To offer remote work opportunities or not to offer remote work opportunities? If you look at the articles found in various business outlets these days, it would seem organizations are facing an existential crisis when it comes to how today’s workplaces should operate. At the heart of this debate is an on-going tug-of-war where leaders on the one hand worry about a loss in productivity and organizational culture, while employees on the other hand want the flexibility to decide when and where they do their work. But in our drive to figure out the future of work, are we focusing more on the symptoms rather than the root causes behind such issues as declining productivity, rising levels of loneliness, and diminished opportunities for career growth that are being linked to remote work? Thankfully, I’ve had the chance to speak to an expert – and seasoned remote leader – to help shine a light on what it really takes to make remote work, well, work and overcome those understandable concerns many leaders have. In addition to being a former Googler, Tamara Sanderson is the co-founder of Remote Works, an organizational design and consulting firm with a mission to liberate teams from the nine-to-five and teach them how to do their best work, anytime, anywhere. Along with her co-author, Ali Greene, Tamara has written a fantastic book called “Remote Works: Managing for Freedom, Flexibility, and Focus” that offers a clear blueprint to help leaders not only get better at leading remote teams, but details the systems and processes you need to have in place to help with onboarding new employees and strengthening your organization’s culture. And over the course of our conversation, Tamara shares a brilliant answer to my question about how should we address the loneliness issue in today’s organizations – whether your employees are working fully remote or in some hybrid work arrangement. If you’re struggling with how to adapt and transform your workplace to address the growing demands of employees for greater flexibility around the way they work, I strongly encourage you to make the time to give this episode a listen. It will give you a better handle on what you need to do to solve this issue in your workplace. https://open.spotify.com/episode/3sOY8opSN8yG5xY0Wh6a2z?si=cbfda8caba6d4586 Noteworthy links: Buy Tamara Sanderson and Ali Greene’s book “Remote Works” on Amazon.* Learn more about Tamara Sanderson’s work: www.remoteworksbook.com. *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

During periods of economic uncertainty, a common response from leaders is streamlining their operations and focusing on what they deem as being essential to their organization’s ability to ride out the storm. Unfortunately, one thing that often is considered in these moments to be a luxury is taking time off work to go on a vacation. At a time where we’re seeing rising levels of employee stress and burnout, there’s certainly an argument to be made for why leaders need to model for their employees the importance of self-care and taking time away from work to spend with their family. But the truth is there are other reasons why leaders should seriously consider making time to go on vacation this year. In this latest edition in my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I share three powerful benefits you get from going on vacation that will make you a better leader. I hope you’ll check it out and that it inspires you to start making plans to block off time in your calendar to take a vacation break from work. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2PNeLXSdP7J8UfQFiZKxQm?si=6d1cb980a70d4fa6

During times of uncertainty, it’s natural for leaders to want to lean into their ‘best practices’; of sticking to what they know and what got them to where they are today. But is this really the smartest and best approach? Or should leaders instead “lean into risk” by embracing different mindsets and conducting experiments to help gain new information and insights? It’s the latter approach that my guest on this episode of Leadership Biz Cafe advocates for, especially if leaders and their employees are to become better problem solvers and innovators during times of uncertainty. Charles Conn is an investor, environmentalist, and entrepreneur.  He is co-founder of Monograph, a venture firm, the founding CEO of Ticketmaster-Citysearch, and was previously CEO of the Rhodes Trust in Oxford. Currently, he is the Chairman of the Board at Patagonia and sits on The Nature Conservancy European Council. Along with Robert McLean, he co-authored “Bulletproof Problem Solving: The One Skill That Changes Everything”. His latest book is “The Imperfectionists: Strategic Mindsets for Uncertain Times”, in which Charles makes the compelling case that there are six distinct, but critical mindsets leaders need to have if they are to become better problem solvers and innovators who embrace periods of uncertainty, while their competition hunkers down to hopefully wait out the storm. It's a fascinating discussion on leadership and uncertain times that not only challenges what many leaders are doing right now, but actually provides some clarity on leaders should be doing to not just how their organization endure periods of uncertainty, but thrive in spite of what’s going on around them. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5A8c5oqKN4Uu3cFbSxRi6J?si=cc67f34a68e74430 Noteworthy links: Learn more about Charles at Monograph. Buy his book “The Imperfectionists” on Amazon.* *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of delivering keynotes to several audiences on a wide range of issues leaders are grappling with today – from how to better navigate the current turbulent waters of change, to how leaders can create impact in a fast evolving and transforming workplace. While the insights and advice I shared varied, what I enjoyed immensely – in addition to being on stage in front of a live audience – was the depth and breadth of conversations I had with the leaders in attendance around what I shared and in particular, with these new insights in mind, where do we go next. It was during one of these conversations with these many leaders that I was asked an intriguing question – which naturally lead to a fascinating discussion – about how leaders go about inspiring their employees to not just deliver on stated targets, but to go beyond them. At a time of rising employee stress and declining trust for those in charge, how do leaders inspire others to do more than just survive the day, but to thrive in spite of what’s going on around our organization and at times, within in? In this latest instalment of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I share two important and powerful truths about leadership and inspiration. And I’m confident once you become aware of them, it will not only change your understanding of what it means to inspire others through your leadership, but of our collective capacity to do so. As I spoke about in a previous episode of Leadership Espresso Shot, leadership is hard and it’s meant to be. But I hope this episode will give you the drive and yes, inspiration to recognize what your employees require from you to not just succeed, but thrive under your care. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2bMqUSVUBKZuvHFoQUCiVq?si=f62c38e44dfa4c7a

If there’s one certainty in leadership these days it’s that you better be comfortable leading through unending change. Key to your ability to succeed under such conditions is making sure you take care of your employees and also yourself, while also helping their organization prepare for the future. And according to my guest for this episode of the “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast, John Baldoni, you have to do all of this with a firm sense of grace. John is a globally recognized executive coach, speaker, and author of 16 books that have been translated into ten languages.  He’s been recognized by Thinkers 360 and Global Gurus as one of the world’s top thought leaders on coaching. And he’s written more than 800 leadership columns for a variety of online publications including Forbes, Harvard Business Review and Inc.com. John and I have been mutual fans of each other’s work, but we’ve never had the chance to sit down and speak about leadership and the current challenges leaders face. That’s why when he released his latest book, “Grace Under Pressure – Leading Through Change and Crisis”, I knew this would be a perfect opportunity for us to meet up and talk about a subject we both care deeply about. And I can definitely say the conversation was worth the wait. I hope you’ll check it out and let me know what you think of some of the ideas John and I talked about in terms of what leaders should be doing to help their organizations not just succeed today, but be prepared for whatever’s to come in the future. https://open.spotify.com/episode/6VSJkeiUhl35yMlHkZCXwS?si=9dccab1d51824419 Noteworthy links: Buy John’s book “Grace Under Pressure” on Amazon*. Learn more about John’s work on his website. *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

There’s a lot of attention and efforts being put forth by organizations and their leaders to promote ‘greater collaboration’ in their workplaces.  This drive has lead some organizations to completely rework their office spaces in order to create “collaboration spaces” that would encourage the exchange and free-flow of ideas and thoughts. While it might be the case for some that this drive is an attempt to rationalize why leaders want more employees to return to the office, the bigger issue at play here is that mandating collaboration is not the same thing as empowering collaboration within the various teams in your organization. Indeed, what leaders should be putting greater focus on – especially as concerns continue to linger about the possibility of difficult economic times ahead – is how to engender and empower team cohesion at a time when an organization's workforce is being disrupted by both employees leaving and being laid off. That’s why in this latest edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I explore three principles leaders in every industry and field should be employing to promote team harmony. At a time when things remain not only uncertain, but in flux thanks to issues as broad as a scarcity of workers to the burgeoning rise of AI, it’s becoming even more critical for leaders to ensure team cohesion no matter how often their team changes or will change in the months ahead. These three principles discussed in this episode of my leadership podcast will help you create conditions to ensure your team can weather any storm that crosses their path. https://open.spotify.com/episode/7A1H2RjwzEbZcpc1lTu9s6?si=1858843a62524689

If you were to ask a random group of leaders if they’d heard of executive presence, almost all of them would answer yes. But if you asked that same group of leaders how many could clearly describe what executive presence is, few if any would answer this question in the affirmative. But if executive presence is key to leadership development and success, why are so few of us capable of explaining it? And if we can’t explain it, how can we develop it? Those are questions I explore with my guest, Joel Garfinkle, in this episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast. Joel is the author of 11 books and over 300 articles on leadership. He’s been recognized by Global Gurus as one of the Top 30 global coaching experts, and his executive coaching clients include Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, Deloitte, Ritz-Carlton, Genetech, NBC, and the NBA. Joel was one of the first guests I spoke to when I started my podcast over a decade ago, which is why I’m delighted to speak with him again, this time about his latest book, “Executive Presence: Step Into Your Power, Convey Confidence, & Lead With Conviction”. It’s a revealing conversation with some practical insights on how every leader – regardless of their gender or race – can develop and strengthen their executive presence and with it, become a better leader in their organization. https://open.spotify.com/episode/35QXOSIRIqwxM3nMZm4CqC?si=ca70672414924e00 Noteworthy links: Buy Joel’s book “Executive Presence” on Amazon*. Learn more about Joel’s work on his website. Listen to Joel’s previous appearance on Leadership Biz Cafe. *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Over the past several months, I’ve noticed the rise of two troubling trends in the leadership space. While much of the focus these days is on the exponential rise and growth of AI, these other two trends will certainly play a bigger role in determining the kind of impact leaders will have on their organizations in the months and years ahead, and no doubt with it, how to address the current transformation to the way we work. I explore these two trends in this latest edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series on my podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”. I hope you’ll check it out as this is an important issue every leader needs to be mindful of if they want to be successful not just in the short-term, but over the long term as well. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Bke4wZNsTfvCCnjVCGAL9

After the murder of George Floyd, the world seemed to rise up collectively to demand an end to racial inequality. And while many organizations openly spoke about commitments to improve racial and gender equality within their workforce, the situation hasn’t improved. In fact, in some cases, it’s actually gotten worse. So how do we move past performative efforts to genuine action to overcome persisting racial and gender inequalities in today’s workplaces? That’s a conversation I’m eager to have with my guest in this episode of Leadership Biz Cafe, Dr. Tina Opie. Tina is an Associate Professor of Management at Babson College and a well-regarded thought leader in the field of organizational behaviour. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Business Insider, O Magazine, Essence Magazine, The Boston Globe, and Harvard Business Review. In fact, Tina’s podcast episode “Lead with Authenticity” was selected as one of Harvard Business Review's Most Influential and Innovative articles from Harvard Business Review’s first century. Tina is also the co-author of “Shared Sisterhood – How To Take Collective Action For Racial And Gender Equity At Work”, which serves as the focus of this episode. I know for many people discussing racial and gender inequality can be uncomfortable, which is why I wanted to have this conversation with Tina – to start that conversation in the hopes it will lessen the discomfort so others can start having it in their workplaces. After all, a problem will not go away if we continue to ignore it. And being a leader means being willing to have tough conversations, and not just those you’re comfortable with having. I want to strongly encourage everyone to take the time to listen to this episode to learn what each of us can do to overcome racial and gender inequalities in our workplace. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4DFOwU4u5n2QUJS8Q4un6v?si=a5d8e91fda8e4a73 Noteworthy links: Learn more about Tina’s work here: drtinaopie.com Buy Tina and Beth’s book “Shared Sisterhood” on Amazon*. Listen to "Why Leadership Should Be Hard | Leadership Espresso Shot 29" *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Last month, I was invited to speak to a group of European leaders about leadership competency and vulnerability. As part of the discussion, I shared a story about some recent decisions returning Disney CEO Bob Iger has made and what we can learn from them in terms of how leaders should address the current economic and organizational challenges many are grappling with today. Since then, I’ve read news reports that demonstrate leaders and their organizations are continuing to face this same challenge that undoubtedly will have long-term repercussions on their organization’s ability to adapt, evolve, and grow. So for this Leadership Espresso Shot, I’d like to share this story about Disney, along with a set of powerful questions leaders need to be asking themselves to ensure their decisions and efforts are not focused on strategies for short-term gains at the expense of long-term growth and success. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to give this episode a listen as I’m sure it will challenge your assumptions and maybe even some of the decisions you might be making right now. But it will also give you some much needed clarity for where you should be putting the focus of your leadership right now to ensure the collective success of your team and organization. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0PtmfaXMaZkRUHg00gI7QG?si=354a9f8d672c479d

Rising employee stress levels and employee burnout are becoming a worrisome trend in today’s workplaces. And yet, despite the wellness economy being estimated to have a value of over $4 trillion, little if any traction is being made on resolving this mental and physical health crisis. Thankfully, it’s not all doom and gloom as my guest on this episode of Leadership Biz Cafe has a prescription that any leader and organization can apply to create a healthier, happier, and more resilient workforce. Dr, Richard Safeer is the Chief Medical Director of Employee Health and Well-Being for Johns Hopkins Medicine where he leads the Healthy at Hopkins employee health and well-being strategy. He also serves on the New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst Insight Council and previously served on the board of directors for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. In his book, “A Cure for the Common Company – A Well-Being Prescription for a Happier, Healthier, and More Resilient Workforce”, Richard shares a simple, but powerful approach for how any organization can address the current workplace health crisis while continuing to achieve your organizational goals. Over the course of our conversation, Richard and I discuss: What organizations are getting wrong in their efforts to address employee wellness. Some simple measures leaders should employ to change the social climate in their organization so it better supports employee wellness and resilience. What are norms and how they impact employee well-being and our efforts to improve working conditions. What leaders need to be doing to create a well-being culture in their organization. Obstacles leaders should be mindful of that can impede their efforts to create a well-being culture. As my background is in the medical sciences, it was truly a pleasure to speak with Richard about this timely subject. And it’s especially encouraging how the ‘prescription’ he shares to build a well-being culture can be employed by any leader in any organization. Given how employee stress and burnout is a growing issue, I strongly encourage you to check out this interview to get some ideas on where to begin on finding a solution to this costly workplace problem. https://open.spotify.com/episode/56WYALsuX73vSVS2IPi89L?si=de60fad37c374336 Noteworthy links: Buy Richard’s book “A Cure for the Common Company” on Amazon*. Learn more about Richard’s work: richardsafeer.com *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

It seems like every day there’s another news report of yet another company mandating employees return to their office, another report of new findings about the consequences of rising employee anxiety and burnout, and more reports warning about the ever impending arrival of another economic downturn. Against that backdrop, I had the pleasure to sit down with a few friends as a guest on their podcast, as well as conversations with various leaders and leadership experts, to talk about these various issues and what it means about the future of work. In this latest episode of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I make the case that what driving all these headlines in our news feeds is a lack of compassion in leadership, but that there’s still hope as we only need to embrace the innate behaviours we’re all hard-wired to express. Take a listen to this episode from my podcast and get inspired to bring more compassion to your leadership to help your employees and your organization at large to succeed. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5omqvHUrfxbaPvEIBX0ovc?si=cb315f504c0d44d6

Navigating change is a reality every leader has to face, and yet despite this truth, 70% of change initiatives end in failure. While we might think this high failure rate reflects a technical deficiency in leaders, Erika Andersen, my guest for this episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast, makes the case that this reflects our innate drive for stability. And only once we adjust this mindset can we effectively lead and navigate change in our organization. Erika is the founding partner of Proteus, a coaching and consulting firm that focuses on leader readiness, and a columnist for Forbes. She’s also the author of four best-selling books, including “Leading So People Will Follow” which I spoke with Erika about in episode #12 of my podcast. In this episode, I welcome Erika back to talk about her latest book, “Change From The Inside Out - Making You, Your Team, and Your Organization Change-Capable”. Over the course of this episode, Erika and I discuss: How do we shift our mindset from seeing change as being costly and weird to being easy and rewarding. A simple, but powerful question that will help create clarity and a sense of direction. The one thing leaders are not addressing that’s not only fuelling organizational resistance but also ensuring a greater likelihood for failure. How to build a “change team” that can oversee and help drive the change initiative forward as things progress and evolve. How to make our new outlook and understanding of change stick to embrace future changes and adaptations. It’s a refreshing and insightful look at change and what leaders should be doing to be more effective change drivers. I hope you'll check it out and let me know about your challenges when dealing with change in your organization. https://open.spotify.com/episode/57KWUxvBtrq8rSUuPNOQb3?si=ea87f4f5e9504707 Noteworthy links: Buy Erika’s book “Change From The Inside Out” on Amazon.* Listen to my interview with Erika about her book “Leading So People Will Follow” *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Over the past several months I’ve had some interesting conversations with leaders who attended one of my keynotes or workshops. In particular, what was noteworthy was this common thread underlining each of these conversations. Whether it was a middle-level manager or an executive from the C-suite, in each of these interactions I couldn’t help but note the sense of self-doubt these leaders expressed about their continued ability to lead. Of course, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, considering what we’ve all had to endure the past two years and now in the face of an ongoing tug-of-war over what the future of work will look like between employers and their employees. While change and uncertainty has been present for several years now, as it many other things, the pandemic has only served to magnify them. Now this isn’t necessarily a bad thing – so long as you view this sense of self-doubt about your ability to lead through the right lens. To that end, in this latest Leadership Espresso Shot I share four simple measures leaders can take to help them overcome  self-doubt about their ability to lead, something that as I’ve seen first hand becomes more pronounced when we’re facing uncertainty and radical change. I hope you’ll check it out and let me know how you’ve dealt with those moments of self-doubt about the ability to lead. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4SJHY42OWKDMJ0V1kUWN2Y?si=14c3960fce854535

The beginning of a new year is always an exciting time because of what it represents – a chance for new beginnings, to start something new, and build on successes gained over the past year. For my podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”, it also means the start of another season of speaking with people with fascinating insights and perspectives on the challenges of leadership today. But before looking ahead to who and what I’ll be talking about in upcoming episodes of my leadership podcast, I wanted to look back at the past 12 months and share my five favourite guest moments and insights from 2022. Now this isn’t one of those Top 5 list that we usually see around this time of the year. Instead, these are moments from the many conversations I had over the course of last year that really stuck with me and I think deserve a second listen, especially in light of various on-going debates and issues around leading today's organizations. Although I’m going to leave it to you to listen to this episode to hear what these favourite moments were, I do want to give a shout-out here to those guests who provided these fascinating insights – Tom Peters and Jim Kouzes, Stephen MR Covey, Dr. Marlette Jackson, Laura Kriska, and Faisal Hoque. And as I mention at the end of this episode, I’d love to hear what were your favourite moments from my podcast episodes of 2022. What stood out for you or maybe had you rethink your understanding of what a leader needs to do? Let me know as I appreciate hearing from my listeners about what resonated with them and why. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2fLO2yCfToni8i2EAkRIDx Noteworthy links: #109 - Tom Peters & Jim Kouzes On Today’s Challenges And The Future Of Leadership #105 - Stephen MR Covey | How To Trust And Inspire Others To Unleash Their Greatness #101 - Dr. Marlette Jackson | Addressing Diversity And Inclusion In Today’s Workplaces #113 - Laura Kriska | How Leaders Close The Us Versus Them Gap In The Workplace #119 - Faisal Hoque | How To Lead Through Revolutionary Global Change

The last few weeks of the year mark a time when most leaders are busy working on getting the last of the year’s projects completed while at the same time looking at developing goals and strategies for the year to come. But this time of the year also marks an important opportunity for leaders to take stock of their leadership performance over the past 12 months. To examine and reflect on what they did well, what they need to change, and what unanswered needs will need to be addressed going forward. Of course, the caveat here is that leaders need to make the time to reflect on their past performance, as well as have a series of questions to help prompt their reflection process. That’s why for this edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I want to share a year-end reflection exercise that every leader who’s interested in improving their craft should take the time to do. This reflection exercise will help you discover insights about your leadership over the past year and where you need to put your time and attention in the months ahead. As you prepare to wind down the year, I hope you’ll take some time to listen to this episode to help you reflect on what you need to address to do better going forward. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4cx5EAzpLw3vndMcjVZ9Ii?si=b2a3e9d3ed784303

I’m delighted and excited to welcome Tom Peters back to my podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe” for a third time, which means Tom now has made the most appearances on my podcast (we had a good laugh over it during our conversation). Tom wanted to come back on my show so we could talk about what will be his last book, “Tom Peters’ Compact Guide To Excellence”*. And as one would expect, during our conversation, Tom shares so many fantastic insights and thought-provoking ideas on a wide variety of timely issues facing leaders today. Just to give you an idea, some of the topics Tom and I discuss this time around include: The on-going battle between employers and employees over hybrid work vs return to office (RTO). The power and importance of kindness in today’s organizations. Why leaders need to pay more attention to hiring. The on-going tug-of-war over short-term earnings vs sustainability and doing something worthwhile. Being able to speak with Tom for a third time is a truly a gift, one that I’m delighted I can share with you as well. So I hope you’ll enjoy the insights – and laughs – to be found in my latest conversation with this leadership giant. https://open.spotify.com/episode/01dU6mKViLFyhUabxkstct?si=hegK9H54Sq2HzHe9BwPlhQ *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Over the course of delivering numerous leadership keynotes and workshops this past year, it’s been interesting to see what themes leaders are looking for answers or guidance on. On a personal note, it’s also been gratifying to return once again to delivering these sessions in person and not just virtually. After all, there’s nothing more rewarding than being in a room full of leaders and watching as those light bulbs go off as they now realize what they need to do differently to address a current issue or problem. One of the common issues I’ve been asked to speak on is how to both re-engage employees and re-ignite team camaraderie after two long years of working apart. In one of the keynotes I gave in person back in March, I shared a personal story that illustrated what leaders need to do to inspire their employees to bring their very best to work every day. Seeing the enthusiastic reactions of the leaders in attendance as I shared this story – not to mention hearing from many of them afterwards about how much this story resonated with them – I made a note that it might make for a good story to share with my podcast audience as well. So in this Leadership Espresso Shot, you’ll hear about one of the best leaders I ever worked for, what he taught me about understanding your real potential, and what leaders need to do to inspire the best in those they lead. His leadership example demonstrates that while this is a simple approach, it has a powerful impact on helping to inspire the best in others. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4OT0wYCTLYbPWRDJ22AEH2?si=RolBNscFRzKs1j9Z0a4pug

There’s no question we’re living through a period of unprecedented change and uncertainty. But is this period of uncertainty something to dread, or does it present an opportunity to transform the way we lead to achieve enduring growth and success? My guest for this episode of “Leadership Biz Cafe”, Faisal Hoque, certainly sees the latter as being true and he presents a compelling case for why the rest of us should, too. Faisal Hoque is an accomplished entrepreneur, author, thought leader, and advisor to management teams and boards with more than 25 years of cross-industry success. He has successfully founded numerous companies, his latest being SHADOKA and NextChapter, where they focus on enabling sustainable and transformational changes. Faisal has worked with many private sector giants including GE, MasterCard, American Express, PepsiCo, IBM, Home Depot, Gartner, JP Morgan Chase, and others. His work has appeared in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Business Insider and Huffington Post among other publications. In this episode, Faisal and I discuss his best-selling book, “Lift – Fostering the Leader in You Amid Revolutionary Global Change”, which leads us to discuss the impacts of not just the pandemic and the on-going debate around Quiet Quitting, the Great Resignation, and the future of remote work, but of also how climate change and the spread of misinformation into numerous facets of society present unique challenges today’s leaders need to be ready to meet head-on. It's a thoughtful and at times very personal, conversation between Faisal and me. And definitely one that will not only have you rethinking your outlook on these pressing issues, but it will also encourage you to embrace the opportunities for improvement and being the kind of leader that brings out the best in those they lead. https://open.spotify.com/episode/06dEN5DJgUkH1c9WJBE82Y Noteworthy links: Buy Faisal’s book “Lift” on Amazon* Learn more about Faisal’s work on his website: faisalhoque.com *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

With the arrival of Fall, it’s only natural that leaders are shifting their focus towards what needs to be done to complete those goals they set out for their team at the start of the year. But this time of year also presents an important opportunity for leaders to energize – or in some cases re-energize – collaboration within their team, as well as help reinforce a sense of belonging and camaraderie that will help keep employees motivated as well as invested in sticking around. As such, in this latest edition in my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I share three easy steps that any leader – regardless your position or what industry you operate in – can employ to energize collaboration to achieve a successful outcome in your year-long goals. As I point out in this episode, this topic for this episode of my podcast was inspired by some of the parallels I’m seeing in conversations I’ve had with leaders about the upcoming leadership keynotes or workshops I’m scheduled to give for their organization. So I imagine this is something that will prove to be timely and instructive for all leaders. So grab a cup of coffee (or tea) and check out this episode for some simple, but powerful steps that will ensure a successful outcome to your collective efforts. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0JwLJjQ3VyV4divPtT2OZc

No matter which industry your organization operates it, there’s a pretty high chance that you’re grappling with how to motivate and engage your employees in the daily work they do. This challenge has manifested itself in various ways – from the Great Resignation to more recently the notion of quiet quitting. Regardless of what we choose to call it, the underlying problem is the same – people don’t feel a strong connection to the work they do, and consequently are not as invested as leaders want them to be. But research done before the pandemic has revealed what’s needed – people need to do purpose-led work if they are to genuinely care about the vision or long-term goals of the organization. Invariably, this leads to the question of how can leaders create purpose-led work for all their employees? Well, my guest for this episode of my podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe” has the answer and it all comes down to the conversations you’re having with your employees. Steve Curtin is an expert on customer service management and leadership. After a 20-year career at Marriott International working in operations, human resources, sales and marketing, Steve launched his own consulting company to help organizations improve their customer service operations. He’s the author of two books, Delight Your Customers: 7 Simple Ways to Raise Your Customer Service from Ordinary to Extraordinary and The Revelation Conversation: Inspire Greater Employee Engagement by Connecting to Purpose, which is the focus of my conversation with Steve. Over the course of this episode, you’ll learn: The common misunderstanding leaders have about purpose at work that impedes their ability to create opportunities for their employees to do meaningful work.Four questions leaders need to ask to help identify what their employee’s work purpose is and how it ties to their everyday responsibilities.What is the Revelation Conversation and how can it help address issues like quiet quitting and the Great Resignation.How leaders can make purpose-led work less fuzzy and more quantifiable to track how it impacts achieving business objectives. If you enjoy this episode, please do take a moment to rate and review my podcast on your favourite streaming platform to help support the podcast. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1tKQpSXrWWEJgMhyIMawBm Noteworthy links: Buy Steve’s book “The Revelation Conversation” on Amazon*Visit Steve’s website: stevecurtin.comWatch my TED talk “Forget Passion - Purpose is the Real Spice of Life” *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Without question, being an effective listener is definitely a critical skill for leaders to demonstrate, especially as workplaces continue to become more demographically diverse. And yet, even the best leaders can fail to truly listen and understand what their employees really need from them, especially during times of uncertainty about the future. It's one of the reasons why in so many of my leadership keynotes and workshops I touch on what leaders need to do to become better listeners. And it was following one of those leadership keynotes that I was asked by one of the leaders in attendance about one of my failures as a leader and what I learned from it going forward. The story I shared was so well received and appreciated by the leaders in attendance that I want to share it in this edition of my Leadership Espresso Short series because I think it really helps to show that even when we have the best intentions, we can fail to show up and really hear what those we lead are trying to tell us. So I hope you’ll check it out as I’m sure like many of the leaders in attendance for my keynote you may find some parallels with your leadership as well. https://open.spotify.com/episode/7Jr6bx7C6dlDUdgMTdeh1U?si=NvlaGOeiSjmzBHvYk1L8Jg Noteworthy links: Watch my TED talk on the power of purpose.Learn more about my speaking work.

If there’s one thing leaders everywhere want to avoid it’s conflict in the workplace. Not only is workplace conflict counterproductive and stressful, but it makes everyone feel uncomfortable. But what if the problem is not with conflict itself, but with how we mismanage conflict? That’s the perspective of conflict expert Marlene Chism, my guest for this episode of “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Marlene is an expert on identifying and stopping workplace drama, and she’s worked with leaders to help them build drama-free workplace cultures that drive growth and long term success. Marlene also happens to be one of the very first guests I had on my podcast over 10 years ago when we talked about her book “Stop Workplace Drama”. This time, I’ve invited Marlene back on my podcast to talk to me about her latest book “From Conflict to Courage: How To Stop Avoiding and Start Leading”*. Over the course of this episode, Marlene and I discuss: What we get wrong about conflict that makes leaders mismanage these situationsThe three distinct elements of conflict capacity and how they can help leaders better manage workplace conflictWhy we need to change the narrative we tell about ourselves if we are to manage conflict more effectivelyThe two types of resistance we should be focusing on to resolve workplace conflictsHow getting out of our comfort zone is key to successfully manage conflict If you’ve been enjoying my podcast, I’d like to ask you to please take a quick moment to rate our podcast on your preferred podcast platform. And if you can, to also write a short review to help others discover my podcast and also benefit from the leadership insights shared on this show. https://open.spotify.com/episode/48DyGZSDx1CiL4s2bhCv0A?si=043db80422ee424e Noteworthy links: Buy Marlene’s book “From Conflict to Courage” on Amazon*Learn more about Marlene’s work - marlenechism.comListen to my interview with Marlene about her book “Stop Workplace Drama” *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Numerous studies done over the past decade have demonstrated that those who succeed at leadership have not only developed strong technical abilities, but they’ve worked on building their emotional competencies as well. In this latest instalment of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I share two simple, but powerful steps based on neuroscience and other studies that will help you to build your emotional competencies so you can better understand what your employees need and what would motivate them to deliver their very best. If you haven’t listened to one of these yet, my Leadership Espresso Shots are short, but powerful episodes of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast that provide you with insights to improve the way you lead. And with the world of work in a state of flux right now, this edition offers some practical insights to help you better connect, understand, and lead those under your care as the workplace and the expectations of employees and employers continue to evolve. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4z15M6kzSBhEfzbb0LCVVY?si=QLzGRJePTWK3OrviZR0ZXQ

It’s hard not to feel as though there’s a growing tide of divisiveness spreading across the world, splitting people into us vs. them camps on a variety of issues. Of course, those divisive issues found in various communities and countries inevitably spill into the workplace. So how can leaders ensure they’re closing the gap between those us and them groups within their workforce? My guest for this episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast, Laura Kriska, not only has the answer, but she has a proven process for how leaders can succeed at creating a more diverse and inclusive organizational culture. And I even apply one of those lessons in my conversation with Laura to prove leaders can start making these efforts right now. Laura is a leading cross-cultural consultant with more than 30 years of experience working with organizations to help them bridge gaps in diverse workplaces. She has worked with Fortune 500 companies around the world helping leaders and their teams overcome us versus them gaps fostered by differences in nationality, ethnicity, race, religion, or other demographic identifiers. In this episode, I talk with Laura about her book “The Business of WE – the proven three-step process for closing the gap between us and them in your workplace” and how leaders can better succeed in their diversity and inclusion initiatives. Over the course of this episode, some of the topics Laura and I discuss include: What’s behind organizations failing to truly embrace diversity and inclusion in the face of a growing talent shortage.What leads to a gap between our awareness and understanding of the different cultural identifiers found within today’s increasingly diverse workforce.5 important rules leaders need to observe when carrying out any kind of diversity and inclusion assessment in their organization.3 types of action leaders can take to close the us versus them gap in their workplace.The unspoken problem behind hiring for “culture fit” when it comes to diversity and inclusion.How to ensure hybrid work arrangements don’t adversely impact career opportunities for minority groups in your workforce. If you enjoy this episode, I’d appreciate it if you could take a moment to rate and review my podcast on your favourite streaming platform. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5I9WEqDrMNJAFqm1XObsnG?si=A6ZmEIUKT1WQw4jYRIqjbA Noteworthy links: Buy “The Business of WE” on Amazon.*Learn more about Laura’s work (and her free online assessment) at laurakriska.com. *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Effective communication is a critical cornerstone to succeeding at leadership. And yet, numerous studies have shown that a majority of leaders lack this necessary skill to not only empowering employees, but retaining talent necessary to drive their organization’s growth and long-term prosperity. It’s not surprising then why every month or two we see yet another example of leadership failure where a leader communicates a message that creates outrage, both within and outside their organization. That’s why I wanted to use this latest “Leadership Espresso Shot” on my podcast to provide leaders with the opportunity to consider and reflect on the power of our words, where we can either inspire employees to commit their full potential or extinguish any internal motivation they have to doing more than what’s expected of them. Specifically, I share the examples of two leaders and what you can learn from their communication success – and failure – to help you better understand the power of words and what your employees need from you to truly succeed and thrive under your leadership. https://open.spotify.com/episode/7zL5Iw2wlsrjHzYjMiONsz

One of the biggest challenges facing leaders and their organizations today is how to adapt the way they work to a growing demand for more flexible work arrangements by employees. But how do leaders make this shift from leading a team of individuals working under one roof, to working either full time or part of the time remotely? That’s the challenge I’ll be discussing with my guest, Kevin Eikenberry, in this episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast. Kevin is the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group, a leadership and learning consulting company. He is the bestselling author of “Remarkable Leadership: Unleashing Your Leadership Potential One Skill at a Time” and the co-author of “From Bud to Boss: Secrets to a Successful Transition to Remarkable Leadership”. His latest book is “The Long-Distance Teammate: Stay Engaged and Connected While Working Anywhere”, which is what I invited Kevin to join me to speak about in this episode. Over the course of this episode, some of the points Kevin and I discuss are: The 3 factors that are critical to remote work success.The mindset changes needed to become a successful hybrid or remote team member.4 questions that will make it easier to determine what you need to prioritize when working remotely.What leaders need to focus on to ensure they’re communicating effectively.How to be better and giving and receiving feedback in remote settings. As I mentioned at the end of the episode, if you enjoy this episode - or have been enjoying my podcast, I’d like to ask you a favour to rate and review my podcast on your preferred podcast platform. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4ZmCw0hWLOKMGu5HiliNqN Noteworthy links: Buy “The Long-Distance Teammate” on Amazon*.Learn more about Kevin’s work at kevineikenberry.com. *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Over the past several months, I’ve given a number of keynotes focusing on how leaders can drive employee performance. Given the current talent shortage impacting every industry, it’s not surprising that organizations want to learn how to best empower their employees, both from a retention perspective, but also no doubt in hopes it might also help attract the employees they need to keep things going. But while it’s natural for us to want to understand how we can encourage employees to commit their best efforts to an organization’s vision, it’s also important for leaders to apply the same kind of reflection and review on themselves. Of what you’re doing to challenge yourself to improve, as opposed to simply focusing on getting things done and attempting to get things ‘back to normal.’ That’s why in this latest Leadership Espresso Shot edition on my podcast ”Leadership Biz Cafe”, I share four questions every leader should be asking themselves to ensure you are doing what’s necessary to empower your employees to not only succeed, but bring their best efforts to the work they do. These questions are a simple, but powerful way for you to assess how you show up as a leader. So I hope you’ll take 10 minutes to give this a listen to help you improve your leadership craft. https://open.spotify.com/episode/7lFTT2d6Cd3TIr6TC5yveH?si=6qc84mYwRNKmbrfI7WMGIg

One of the joys I get from my podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe” is that it provides me with the opportunity to speak with leadership experts and thought leaders I admire and respect. And that’s certainly the case in this very special episode of my podcast where I sit down for my first roundtable discussion with none other than Tom Peters and Jim Kouzes! Over the course of our conversation, Tom, Jim, and I discuss a number of issues that are top of mind for many leaders today, from the ongoing debate over whether to embrace hybrid work opportunities or push a Return To Work (RTO) approach, to why leading with empathy is becoming more and more critical to a leader’s ability to succeed in today’s world. What I love about this conversation with Tom and Jim is not only how illuminating the conversation was about the future of work and with it, the way leaders will be expected to lead, but it’s also a lot of fun. Jim, Tom, and I shared a lot of laughs recording this episode - both on the air and off air. To quote Tom at the end of our conversation, "it was pure, raw, unmitigated fun." So I strongly suggest you do yourself a favour and sit back and be ready to be engaged with a thoughtful, inspiring, humorous, and unexpectedly heartfelt conversation with these two giants in the leadership space. And if you enjoy this episode, please do rate and review my podcast where ever you listen to podcasts so I can continue to bring you these kinds of amazing conversations on how to improve the way you lead. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2w4fl1dgzczZqv7X5UW8Vl?si=kY1qgM9NTka6_raLlyEuXw Noteworthy links: Learn more about Tom’s work here: tompeters.comLearn more about Jim’s work here: www.leadershipchallenge.com/research/meet-jim-kouzes.aspxInteresting in my speaking work? Learn more here: Tanveer's speaking work

In this latest edition of my “Leadership Espresso Shot” series on my leadership podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”, I wanted to share a simple, but powerful communication tool I shared as part of a leadership keynote I gave two weeks ago. Based on the feedback I got from some of the leaders in attendance for my talk, this leadership guidance I shared really left an impact, not only because of how easily it can be employed by any leader, but for how it helps to illustrate what and how leaders should be communicating to those under their care. At a time when there’s so much uncertainty and doubt, this Leadership Espresso Shot will help you discover how you can improve clarity and drive employee performance despite what’s going on around or within your organization. As I mentioned at the end of the episode, if you enjoyed this episode or if you’re enjoying my podcast, please do me a favour and rate and review my podcast to help support our show. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2uGa5pVRwqGZ4VyJcNNC7a?si=b24fc524a2cd4966

There are certain tasks a leader is expected to do well if they are to help their organization succeed, and developing strategies for how their team will achieve their goals is one of them. And yet, you can walk into any organization and find numerous well-thought out and developed strategies or initiatives that have either stalled or been tossed aside to deal with competing priorities. As my guest, Jim Huling, points out in this episode of my podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe”, the problem is not with the strategy itself, but with how leaders go about executing it. For the past 40 years, Jim has served in various corporate leadership roles, from Fortune 500 organizations to privately held companies. He was also the CEO of a company that was recognized four times for being one of the best companies to work for in the US. Jim is also the co-author of the book “The 4 Disciplines of Execution - Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals”, which has been released as a revised and updated 2nd edition. Over the course of this episode, Jim and I discussed this updated edition of his book, including: Why so many leaders struggle with achieving their strategies and goals.Why leaders need to pivot from having 3-5 key goals to a single wildly important one, and how to balance focusing on that one strategic goal while making time for other competing priorities.What leaders are getting wrong about what they track, and what are the real measures they should be focusing on to succeed.A simple, but powerful tool leaders can use to better engage employees to be invested in these long term goals.How to reframe accountability so that it inspires and motivates employees to bring their best efforts to work every day. It’s a thoughtful and revealing conversation I have with Jim, so I hope you’ll make time to listen to it. And if you enjoy this episode, please do me a favour and rate and review my podcast where ever you listen to podcasts. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1f6RCUScdKGuJTOaxmWUvO Noteworthy links: Buy “The 4 Disciplines of Execution” on Amazon.*Learn more about Jim’s work at jimhuling.com. *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been giving keynotes to a wide range of leaders in different industries. In some cases, the leaders in attendance were front-line managers, while in others, my audience consisted of senior level executives from the C-suite. But while the subject of these various keynotes was different, there was a common thread I addressed in most of them. And that was the need to rethink how they understood leadership, and with it, why they needed to have the courage to change. Granted, I think we can all appreciate that we’ve been living in a state of perpetual change, no doubt a large reason why so many organizations and their leaders are adamant about ‘getting back to work’, where they do away with any notion of a hybrid work environment that eschews the old Monday to Friday, 9-to-5 office work model. But as I point out in this latest edition in my Leadership Espresso Shot series on my podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”, if leaders are to not only help their organizations become more agile and resilient, but attract and retain the people they need to succeed and grow, then they need to have the courage to change. Not just when external forces presses it upon them, but in terms of how to help bring out the best in those they lead. I invite you to give this latest episode a listen for a thought-provoking look at what we need to change about ourselves, and with it, how we approach our leadership today and in the months ahead. https://open.spotify.com/episode/40NZczEOaYE8eYNlaeCSEr

There’s two things I love about hosting my podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”. First, I get to fulfill my purpose of helping leaders improve their leadership and become the kind of leader their employees need to succeed. And second, I get to talk with some amazing people about how we can go about achieving this. And sometimes I’m lucky enough to get to speak to them a second time. And that’s certainly the case in this latest episode where I welcome back Stephen MR Covey to talk about his brand new book, “Trust and Inspire - How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others”, which is coming out this week. Stephen graciously sent me an advance copy of his book (as well as a signed copy of the final hardcover copy), and as I share with Stephen in this episode, this book is definitely addressing a major need for many leaders and their organizations. Over the course of our conversation (and what a fantastic one it was!), some of the ideas Stephen and I talk about include: How research has shown the command and control style of leadership is still very much in use in many organizations, it’s just wearing a different look.Why the challenges of today require a new approach to leadership that not only starts with fostering a trusting work environment, but one where every leader acts to inspire the best from those they lead.The fundamental beliefs of a trust and inspire leader that any leader can make part of their leadership DNA.Why we need to change our understanding of influence in order to attract and retain employees.A powerful insight that exposes the difference between being a trustworthy leader and a trusting leader.How any leader - whether in a formal or informal position - can inspire greatness in those around them. This was not only such an illuminating conversation, but I can honestly say both Stephen and I had a lot of fun talking about the insights on leadership he shares in this book. And if there’s one book on leadership you should read this year, I can tell you with all sincerity this is the one you want to read. And if you listen to this episode, you’ll understand why. My thanks again to Stephen for not only wanting to come on my podcast again, but for sharing his new book with me. I’m confident this will easily be my book of the year. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1H2ffqgj4ce7HestbmeuO9 Noteworthy links: Buy Stephen’s book “Trust and Inspire” on Amazon*Watch my TEDx talk "Forget Passion - Purpose is the Real Spice of Life" on the TED YouTube channel.Listen to my podcast interview with Liz Wiseman about her book “Multipliers” *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

In prolonged periods of uncertainty like the one we’re in right now, it’s natural that we take a more cautious approach to things. But what if that fear of the unknown also leads us to avoid failure and the powerful lessons we stand to gain that can help us achieve real success? In this latest edition in my Leadership Espresso Shot series on my podcast "Leadership Biz Cafe", I share 4 steps leaders can use to overcome their risk avoidance by transforming failure into success. As with my leadership keynotes and corporate training sessions, these 4 steps are revealed through a story I share in this episode that reveals a common approach we all take - and how that approach can actually limit our potential to not only find the best path forward, but to discovering new opportunities for growth and success. I’m not going to give away what the story is about, other than to say it’s a personal one that came to mind recently because of a personal milestone for my family. But I can tell you the lessons shared here are very timely, especially as debates continue to rage on over the future of work, when the truth is, the answer has already been spelled out. It’s just that some leaders are just refusing to see it. So do yourself a favour and take a few minutes to listen to this episode. Who knows - it may help you address some of the challenges you’re grappling with, and give you the steps you need to take to transform those setbacks into your next success. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2SEBwBkFyGuxfi8JIz1sCt

With everything we’ve all experienced over the last two years, it can feel more challenging than ever to ask employees to stay the course and trust things will work out. So how do leaders inspire people to deliver their best despite their understandable concerns about the future? That’s what I’ll be exploring with my guest in this episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast, Kim Cameron. Kim is the Professor Emeritus of Management and Organizations in the Ross School of Business and Professor of Higher Education in the School of Education at the University of Michigan. For the past 20 years, he’s been researching the role virtuousness plays in improving employee performance and organizational success. His work has become so popular that he’s been recognized as one of the top ten organizational scholars in the world whose work has been most frequently downloaded on Google. He’s also the author of the book “Positively Energizing Leadership - Virtuous Actions and Relationships That Create High Performance”, which serves as the focus of my conversation with Kim in this episode. Over the course of this episode, some of the points Kim and I discuss include: The science behind positive energy and how it differs from other forms of energy (physical, mental, emotional, psychological).What research has shown the impact positive energy has on employee performance and retention.What attributes do leaders who are positive energizers possess - and how every leader can be like them.How leaders can be positive energizers for every member in their team.A powerful 4-step strategy to deal with employees who are “black holes” that drain energy from the team. Far from being a “nice-to-have” idea, my conversation with Kim here will help you understand why this is a necessity if your organization is to not achieve its objectives, but for your employees to flourish under your leadership. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0BkGrmWgsd9tVtOMq8ea72 Noteworthy links: Buy Kim’s book “Positively Energizing Leadership” on Amazon*Learn more about Kim’s work at University of Michigan *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Over the past two years, we’ve all had to learn how to get better at communicating within a virtual setting. While most of us have become comfortable using platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams in our daily work lives, a common challenge that persists is being able to connect at an emotional level through these digital channels. That’s why in this latest edition in my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I share 5 simple steps that will improve your ability to foster emotional connections in any virtual setting. You’ll also learn about one executive’s strategy he calls “Hump Day Hangouts” that can serve as a bit of inspiration for what you can do to build emotional connections with those you lead and those you serve. I hope you’ll take a few minutes out of your day to give this a listen as you’ll be surprised at how easily you can start applying these 5 steps in your workday. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2GY311eCWRVUAA58OOdFmJ

For the past few years, there’s been a growing focus and demand that organizations address diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Although there’s been numerous studies that have demonstrated how a diverse workforce leads to improved financial performance, productivity, innovation, and overall growth, the numbers of visible minority groups and women in decision-making or leadership roles remains extremely low. So if there’s a clear business case to be made for increasing diversity both in the workplace and in leadership circles, why is there still so little traction to address this, especially when so many organizations are struggling to find talent to help their organization achieve their goals. That’s what I’ll be examining with my guest, Dr. Marlette Jackson, in this episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast. Marlette is a researcher, educator, and cross-functional leader with over 8 years’ experience building and scaling DEI initiatives. She’s also the Global Director of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Virgin Pulse, where her work involves building processes, policies and programs to attract, develop, and retain the best talent from all backgrounds for Virgin Pulse globally. Over the course of this episode, Marlette and I discuss: What leaders and their organizations need to do to make their diversity and inclusion be more than a feel-good measure.How to change the narrative that supporting more visible minorities and women to move into leadership roles means asking others to give up their opportunities.Why we need to reassess how we understand power in the context of diversity and inclusion.What leaders need to do to encourage visible minorities to access their own power for the mutual benefit of the organization and employees.How diversity and inclusion initiatives help to address the growing mental health crisis at work.How we can overcome our blindspots and biases to recognize the role we all need to play to make our workplaces more welcoming and inclusive for everyone.How leaders can start this discussion in their organization and the 4 phases to successful implementation of diversity and inclusion initiatives. This is such an important conversation on a topic that every leader needs to get familiar and comfortable with. So I hope you’ll make time to check this episode out to hopefully get some powerful food for thought on how you can address this issue in your organization. https://open.spotify.com/episode/24YptFbBhT1sOxSv7h3Ute Noteworthy links: Dr. Marlette Jackson’s articles from Harvard Business Review:Woke-Washing” Your Company Won’t Cut ItDoes Your Definition of Leadership Exclude Women of Color?Former Goldman Sachs executive Edith Cooper’s New York Times piece: I Was Told I Have Career Advantages ‘as a Black Woman.’ Here’s How I RepliedDr. Marlette Jackson's website - marlettejackson.com

In some of my leadership keynotes and workshops, I point out how one way to foster a sense of cohesion and community among your employees is to make time to celebrate milestones. What’s important here is not to just have a party where people can feel a sense of completion, but that we also use this moment to highlight the journey we’ve been on and what we’ve accomplished on this journey. It’s in that spirit that I wanted to do something special to celebrate the release of the 100th episode of my podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe”. And in keeping with what I share with leaders on how to best utilize the attainment of key milestones, I wanted to use this episode as an opportunity to look back at the past 99 episodes and first select my 10 favourite guests I’ve spoken with (to date). And then the trickier part - picking one key insight that’s not only worth a second listen, but which is both powerful and timely for helping leaders address the challenges they face today. Now I have to be honest that I had to omit two guests who’d otherwise make my shortlist as I just featured them in the recent episode “My Favourite Guest Moments and Insights From 2021” and as such, I thought it’d be better to feature other guests in their place. Over the course of this 100th episode retrospective, you’ll hear: Guy Kawasaki on why leaders should focus on enchanting employees instead of influencing them.Doug Conant on why leaders need to foster a sense of community and purpose.Liz Wiseman on why some leaders bring out the best in others while other leaders drain the motivation out from their team.Matthew E. May on why “intelligent” constraints are needed to fuel creativity.Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson on how leaders can make sure employees really understand what they want from them.Whitney Johnson on why constraints are beneficial when facing disruption.Tim Sanders on why our attention is getting narrower and what leaders need to do to overcome it to rally their employees around a common vision or goal.Dr. Timothy Clark on why many organizations struggle with creating inclusive workplaces and how to overcome it.Sally Helgesen on what needs to be done to get more women into leadership development pipelines.Stephen MR Covey on why addressing intent is critical to fostering trust in your leadership. Not to mention getting to hear the story behind why I started my popular leadership podcast ... and the key role Guy Kawasaki played in bringing this show to life. Going back to listen to the past conversations was such a delight and so informative about what leaders need to do to succeed. And without question, this retrospective episode provides powerful and timely insights that will help you succeed in your leadership by empowering your employees to do their best work. This is definitely one episode you’re going to want to make time to listen to - and be prepared to take some notes as these guests really provide a lot of food for thought. My thanks to them and to all my guests I’ve had on my show over the past 99 episodes. Here’s looking ahead to the future and that next big milestone of reaching 200 episodes. https://open.spotify.com/episode/3VmC7Zwp1po89nl12q8l0m Noteworthy links: Here are links to listen to the full episodes of the guests I featured in this retrospective episode: How The Power Of Enchantment Can Help Us Succeed | Guy KawasakiHow Successful Leaders Maintain Focus In A Distracted World | Doug ConantHow Leaders Grow Employee Intelligence To Drive Success | Liz WisemanHow Leaders Can Encourage Creativity And Innovation | Matthew E. MayWhy Your Employees Don't Understand You | Heidi Grant HalvorsonUsing Disruptive Innovation To Drive Growth | Whitney JohnsonWhy Bizlove Is Critical For Today's Leadership | Tim SandersHow Psychological Safety Fuels Growth & Innovation | Dr Timothy ClarkHow Women Hold Back Their Leadership Success | Sally HelgesenThe Power of Trust in Leadership | Stephen M.R. Covey

As a leader, you’re responsible for accomplishing many tasks, most critical among them is setting and articulating the strategic goals of your team and organization. Of course, creating goals is not the same thing as achieving them. And most of us have certainly set out goals for ourselves and our employees which we failed to accomplish. As such, in this edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series from my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast, I share 3 strategies that leaders can employ to ensure their employees succeed at achieving the strategic goals assigned to them. Whether you’re in the process of setting these goals or whether you’re deep in the process of reaching those goals, the three strategies I share in this episode will ensure you not only have a strong start setting out to reach these goals, but that you and your employees succeed at attaining them. This is 13 minutes that I promise will be time well spent in terms of helping you achieve your goals for the year. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0L0oWRoPVJYBF4vMwwWzfv

As I mentioned in some of my episodes for my podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe”, 2021 marks the 10th year that I’ve been hosting this podcast. Although this is without question a major milestone to reach for any podcast, I never got around to making plans to celebrate this achievement on my podcast. Thankfully, as luck would have it, I had a number of very special guests who joined me on my show this year who helped to create an impromptu celebration of this major milestone. So both in keeping with a tradition I started last year, but also to show my appreciation for these fantastic guests, for my last episode of 2021, I wanted to look back at my favourite conversations from 2021 that are worth a second listen. To be clear, this isn’t a Top 10 list, but a year-end retrospective where I share my favourite guest moments from five past episodes of 2021. So who were these guests and what were their timeless and timely insights that I’m sure leaders everywhere will benefit from as they plan for 2022? Well, to learn that you’ll just have to listen to this episode. Trust me when I say it’s not only worth the listen, but I expect this year-end retrospective episode will motivate you to take the time to listen to the rest of these 5 episodes - and hopefully to check out the other episodes we released over the past 12 months. As I said at the end of this episode, my thanks to all my guests who came on my show. And I’m looking forward to sharing with you the fantastic conversations and guests we have lined up to appear on the "Leadership Biz Cafe" podcast in 2022. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1da7d9yRbHuwF6DsC8PAfW

Over the course of the pandemic, we’ve all had to get used to dealing with significant changes to the way we work and live. But that doesn’t mean we’ve necessarily become more comfortable with change. So is there some way that leaders can promote change which is both impactful and not as difficult a burden for their employees? According to change expert and guest for this episode of my podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe”, Jake Jacobs, there is and it’s one that any leader in any industry can apply right now. For the past 35 years, Jake has worked in 61 different industries, from high tech to manufacturing, helping organizations and their teams deal with all kinds of change, from culture change to strategy implementation. He’s also written several books on the subject, including his latest “Leverage Change - 8 Ways To Achieve Faster, Easier, Better Results”*, which is what Jake and I talk about in this episode. In this episode, some of the areas Jake and I cover include: What is “leverage change” and how it differs from conventional thinking around change.Why it’s important in any change initiative to balance continuity of what was done in the past with where you need to go next.How to transform your perspective of change resistors so they can help improve and fuel genuine change over incrementalism.How leaders can know when they need to lead from the front and when they need to hand over the lead to their employees to ensure a successful outcome.How to make change part of your employees’ everyday work and not an add-on to their existing tasks/responsibilities. If you enjoy this episode, please do share it with your colleagues and friends. And if you haven’t already done so, I’d appreciate it if you could rate and write a quick review on your favourite podcast platform. It’s a great way to help support this podcast so we can continue to bring you these insightful conversations on how to improve the way you lead. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2dvfsNx0t5KfoKmBisFY4x Noteworthy links: Visit Jake’s website to learn more about his work and to get his offer mentioned during the episode: jakejacobsconsulting.com.Buy Jake’s book “Leverage Change” on Amazon.* *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

There’s an annual tradition that plays out this time of the year for most leaders where they split their focus between making sure they close out whatever goals or plans they had for the last quarter, and looking ahead to the next year and what need to be the new priorities going forward. Thanks to the pandemic, though, there’s been a number of other issues which have understandably drawn a lot of the attention and focus of today’s leaders - from the adverse impacts of on-going supply chain issues to the unrelenting demands for greater control over when and where employees get their work done. But there’s another equally important factor leaders need to be mindful of, something that I explore in detail in this latest edition in my Leadership Espresso Shot series. And that is understanding how we go about fostering relationships and leading people in this digital age. So as you work on winding down your team and organization’s efforts for this year, and mapping out the key areas of focus for your leadership next year, I hope you’ll take a few minutes to listen to this episode from my leadership podcast to gain an appreciation for how to build and sustain relationships with those you lead - whether it’s virtually or in person - to help bring out the best in those you lead. And if you haven’t already done so, I’d appreciate it if you could rate and review my leadership podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe” on your favourite podcast platform to help support my show. https://open.spotify.com/episode/6fPrHjA5Q5dGTWt3LyPufB

Even before the global pandemic struck, many organizations and their leaders were limiting themselves to a short-term view at the expense of achieving any of their long-term goals. So how do leaders move past the current and persistent short-termism that’s often driven by a fear-based mindset, and instead embrace a more long-term, hopeful view for what the future might bring? That’s focus of my conversation with renowned business strategist John Hagel. Over the past 40 years that John has worked in Silicon Valley, John has been a successful entrepreneur, a senior executive at Atari, the founder and leader of the Deloitte Center for the Edge, not to mention also being the co-chair of the Global Future Council on the Future of Platforms and Systems at the World Economic Forum. John’s writings have been published in many respected publications, including The Economist, Fortune, Forbes, The New York Times, and the Harvard Business Review to name but a few. He’s also the author of eight books, including his latest “The Journey Beyond Fear: Leverage The Three Pillars of Positivity To Build Your Success”*, which I sit down with John to speak about in this episode. Over the course of this episode, John and I speak about: Why the personal narrative we create for ourselves about what we want to achieve needs to have an outward focus on what matters to those around us.How an institution’s narrative is different from its stated purpose, and how leaders can go about creating one.The kind of passion leaders should be encouraging to drive success.Why we need to rethink our understanding and approach to learning if we are to fuel innovation and growth. It’s a thought-provoking conversation with someone who’s been on the forefront of looking ahead at what the future might bring, so I hope you’ll check this episode out. And as always, if you enjoyed this or past episodes and you haven’t already done so, I’d like to ask you a favour in rating and reviewing my leadership podcast on your favourite streaming service. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4gqBjfVDr5iumPuxPlDSxg Noteworthy links: Buy John's book "The Journey Beyond Fear" on Amazon.*Learn more about John's work: johnhagel.com. *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

If there’s one consistent thread in the debate over remote work, it’s how leaders who want their employees to return to the office argue that collaboration can’t occur unless people are working in the same space. But in each of these cases, there’s a glaring oversight on the part of these leaders. Namely, what are these leaders committing to doing or creating in order to facilitate a collaborative work environment? In this latest Leadership Espresso Shot, I make the case that leaders can’t just assume that because their employees are working in person that they are working collaboratively. Indeed, most of us are familiar with the problems of organizational silos, which is often driven by ‘office politics’, not to mention internal competition for limited resources or the attention of those in decision-making roles. To that end, I share 3 simple, but critical steps every leader should implement to ensure that their leadership inspires collaboration, and not conflict, within their organization. From the on-going protests to measures being put in place to stem the tide of the COVID-19 pandemic, to the recent revelations from internal Facebook documents of how that platform promoted divisive content for monetary gain, you don’t have to look far to see division and examples of an us vs. them mentality. That’s why I hope you’ll take a few minutes to listen to this latest installment of my Leadership Espresso Shot series to know how you can use your leadership to counter this wave of negativity to drive organizational growth and success for many years to come. And if you enjoyed this episode, I’d like to encourage you to share it with your network, and to also rate and review my podcast on your favourite podcast platform to help support my show. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5V8A9jDjB9ljbChyhhJT8n

If you’re a leader who leads from the so-called messy middle, I'm sure there are times where you feel how the challenges you face are uniquely different from those other leaders have to face. As it turns out, those leading from the middle do face both unique challenges - as well as opportunities other leaders don’t have access to - as a result of their having to lead down, up and at times, across the organization. Thankfully, in this episode of my podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”, I’ll be speaking with a seasoned executive who’s first hand experience and research has lead to a powerful and insightful playbook to help those who lead from the middle. Scott Mautz is not only a former Procter & Gamble senior executive, but he wrote a popular leadership column on Inc.com, serves as faculty at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business for Executive Education, and the CEO/founder of Profound Performance, a keynote, leadership training, and coaching company. Scott is also a good friend of mine who’s written three books, his latest being the brilliant “Leading From The Middle - A Playbook For Mangers To Influence Up, Down, and Across The Organization." Over the course of this episode, Scott and I talk about his latest book “Leading From The Middle” where we look at: The 5 unique challenges those who lead in the middle face and how they can be transformed into opportunities for growth.The limitation that comes from a servant leadership mindset and what leaders in the middle need to adopt instead.The 7 skills those who lead in the middle need to adopt if they are to succeed as leaders.How those who lead in the middle can address the growing issue of employee burnout.A powerful model that will help leaders in the middle to gain more influence with their bosses. As I mentioned at the end of this episode, this year marks the 10th year of my leadership podcast, and it’s been truly gratifying to have so many insightful guests on my show for such a milestone. And I’m sure it won’t be surprising to hear this episode is one of my favourite conversations of this year because I not only got to talk about leadership with an insightful thought leader, but I got to talk to a good friend as well. So I hope you’ll check this episode out and if you enjoy it, please leave a comment here or subscribe, rate, and write a review where you prefer listening to your favourite podcasts. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5eZk6LHdqygmyDWbFZ2W6d Noteworthy links: To get your FREE 30-page companion book to “Leading From The Middle”, visit - scottmautz.com/freetools.Buy Scott’s book “Leading From The Middle” on Amazon.*Learn more about Scott’s work - scottmautz.com. *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

If you’re in the leadership space, it’s hard not to notice the ongoing debate over remote working versus getting everyone to return to the office. While every industry and organization has to decide for themselves what’s the best approach to take for everyone involved, there’s been a number of key points that are glaringly missing from these discussions. In this latest edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I wanted to address one of these, namely what kind of workplace environment are you nurturing through your leadership? Is it one that’s driving future success or is it one moored in pushing mediocrity? In a recent interview on CNBC, Dell Technologies Chairman & CEO Michael Dell made the following statement: “Through this last 18 months, we all sort of learned work is something we do, it’s not a place.” Right now, unfortunately, a lot of the discussion around remote work is focusing on work being about where and when, instead of what and why. I hope you’ll check out this episode to discover why this approach will lead to mediocrity instead of the long-term success we all hope to achieve through our efforts as leaders. https://open.spotify.com/episode/6LVf4VwSCdBlkELys9PI5z

If you enjoy reading interviews of CEOs sharing what shapes their understanding and approach to leadership, chances are you’ve probably read one of the over 500 interviews Adam Bryant wrote for his popular New York Times column, “Corner Office”. I’ve been an avid reader of Adam’s column for many, many years so I was delighted when his publicist reached out to me to say Adam was interested in appearing on my podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”. For those who might not be familiar with Adam’s work, in addition to writing the “Corner Office” column, Adam wrote the New York Times bestseller “The Corner Office: Indispensable and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs on How To Lead and Succeed” as well as “Quick and Nimble - Lessons From Leading CEOs on How To Create a Culture of Innovation”. On this episode of my leadership podcast, Adam and I sit down to talk about his latest book, “The CEO Test - Master The Challenges That Make or Break All Leaders”*, which he he co-wrote with former Amgen CEO Kevin Sharer. Over the course of my conversation with Adam, some of the topics we discuss include: How leaders can create a simple plan that keeps their focus on their “big idea” despite the numerous distractions and demands for their time and attention.How to ensure your organization’s culture and its stated values reflect the everyday reality in your workplace, as opposed to an aspirational concept.4 simple, but powerful questions that lead to more effective team building and collaboration.How to truly listen to others so people are willing to freely share their insights on what’s going right and what’s really going wrong. https://open.spotify.com/episode/21iswjhjWPsz37R31nsguR As I mentioned at the end of this episode, if you enjoy this or past episodes of my podcast, I’d appreciate it if you could subscribe, rate, and review my podcast on the app you use to listen to my podcast. Notable links: Learn more about Adam's current work at The ExCo Group.Buy Adam's book "The CEO Test" on Amazon* *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast.

It seems like every day there’s a new article tackling the issue of work from home (WFH), either focusing on leaders and their organizations who are embracing this new approach to work, or those who insist the only way forward is for all employees to return back to the office. But as these debates continue over WFH, it seems like many have forgotten the real purpose of leadership, which is why I decided to address it in this edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series on my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast. Part of what served as inspiration for this episode has been numerous conversations I’ve had over the past several months with VPs and other senior leaders in various industries as part of a series of leadership roundtable discussions I moderated. Over the course of these discussions, we examined a wide range of issues – from the impact of AI and other emergent technologies on how employees will work and collaborate, to the issue of hybrid work environments. I won’t give away what I share in this episode, but I can tell you that by the end of this episode, it’s my goal that you’ll not only be reminded about what’s the real purpose of leadership, but you’ll have a new sense of motivation and enthusiasm for how to approach your role in these challenging and uncertain times. https://open.spotify.com/episode/3V8o1zelYv9D6fGBiovNLh If you enjoy this or previous episodes of my leadership podcast, I'd like to ask you if you could subscribe, rate, and review my podcast on your preferred platform to help support my show.

When it comes to conversations around curiosity in today’s workplace, the focus tends to be on how it helps to drive innovation. But as my guest Dr. Shannon Minifie points out in this episode of my leadership podcast, when leaders unleash the full power of curiosity in their organization, they can also empower learning and development, as well as strengthening organizational resilience. Shannon is the CEO of Box of Crayons, a Canadian consultancy firm that works with organizations to help them create a curiosity-led organizational culture. Recently, she published the white paper “From Trouble Maker to Change Maker - How To Harness Curiosity To Build Resilience and Innovation”, which provides a framework for how leaders can unleash curiosity in their organization. Over the course of this episode, Shannon and I discuss: Why we need to rethink our understanding of curiosity if we are to successfully tap into it to drive innovation and growth.How embracing a curious mindset can encourage a sustainable learning environment in your workplace.Using curiosity to become more introspective to help us become more empathetic so that our employees feel heard and understood.How to use curiosity to become more resilient and adaptive to unforeseen changes. If you enjoyed this or other episodes of my podcast, I’d like to ask you to rate and review my show on your preferred podcast platform. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4gp6WmFgSU2EYbKjoRysh0 Noteworthy links: Download a copy of Shannon’s white paper - “From Trouble Maker to Change Maker - How To Harness Curiosity To Build Resilience and Innovation”.Listen to - How To Make Learning More Effective | Leadership Espresso Shot #6.

One of the interesting, but not surprising findings to come out of this current global pandemic is how much people have appreciated being able to have breaks in their work day to just take a break, unwind, and maybe spend some time with their family. In fact, a big reason why we’re seeing an unrelenting demand from employees everywhere to have a hybrid work environment is because we’ve all seen how creating flexibility in the way we work benefits us - both professionally and personally. In this episode of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I share 4 key benefits leaders gain by creating space in their workday not just for their mental well-being, but also to help improve the way they lead. Now it’s understandable that so many organizations are struggling with how to create a hybrid work environment in their workplace, in large part because it reflects that internal struggle we’ve all been dealing with for years. Where on the one hand, we feel this need to keep pushing forward, to just get things done, and on the other, this need to just stop a take a moment so we can take stock of things and what we really should be working on, if not simply to catch our breath. It’s my hope that in listening to this episode you’ll appreciate why creating space within your workday is key to ensuring you’re not just moving forward, but moving forward with a true sense of direction and purpose. https://open.spotify.com/episode/7cXO4aDnrdDUWZEfJJfFNV

If there’s one thing we’ve all learned over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic it’s the importance of being adaptive to unexpected and disruptive change. Of course, COVID-19 is not the only external force driving systems-wide change. AI and other emergent technologies are poised to be as if not more disruptive to not only the way we work, but even what kind of work we’ll do going forward. So how can we become more adaptive - and resilient - to whatever change we’ll be required to make in the months and years ahead? To examine this question, I’ll be speaking with innovation, learning, and mindset expert Professor Edward Hess in this episode of my podcast, "Leadership Biz Cafe". Ed is the professor emeritus of Business Administration and Batten Executive-in-Residence at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. Ed has authored over 100 articles and over 60 cases looking at growth, innovation, and learning cultures. His work has appeared in the Harvard Business Review, Fortune, Fast Company, Forbes, Inc and several other publications. Ed is also author of 13 books, including the award winning Smart Growth, Learn or Die, and Humility is the New Smart. In this episode, Ed and I talk about his latest book “Hyper Learning: How to Adapt to the Speed of Change”, where we discuss: What is hyper-learning and why it’s becoming more and more critical to our professional and our organization’s long-term success?How every single one of us is a sub-optimal learner and what we can do to change our understanding about learning.The 4 elements that are critical to our ability to transform the way we learn.The real key to successful collaboration - something very few teams and their leaders know how to do. As I mentioned at the end of this episode, if you enjoy this episode or if you’ve been enjoying my podcast, I’d be grateful if you could take a few minutes to write a review of your favourite podcast listening platform. And my thanks again to everyone who’s already done that. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4laRSFJ4sKVZ5FmQUK5bpk Noteworthy links: Learn more about Ed’s work - and download for free the first chapter of “Hyper-Learning”: EdHess.orgBuy Ed’s book “Hyper Learning: How to Adapt to the Speed of Change” on Amazon* *sponsored link that helps to support this podcast.

When it comes to leadership, there are certain topics that inevitably come up regardless of what industry you operate in. Over the past month, one of the topics I’ve been addressing with leaders is the importance of empathy in leadership, which is why it’s the focus of this edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series. Specifically, something emotionally intelligent leaders recognize as being critical to building relationships with their employees in order to drive success and growth in their organization. A few weeks ago, I gave a two day workshop on the empathy in leadership and this was followed by several conversations with executives from a wide range of industries where the topic of empathy in leadership arose in conversations around how to effectively create a hybrid work environment in their organization. After conducting this workshop and speaking with these VPs, I realized I hadn’t addressed the greater role empathy needs to play in this evolution to how we’ll work going forward post-pandemic. But rather than address some of the ideas I discuss in my workshop or which came up in my conversations with these seasoned leaders, I wanted to instead share an important finding from the neuroscience studies as I think it’s not only important for helping us to understand how we can better connect and relate to those in our team, but how it can help us also understand why we’re seeing so much divisiveness and what role we as leaders can play to help create these spaces for people to listen so others can feel heard. I expect this will be the first of several episodes where I’ll delve into the importance of empathy in leadership. So I hope this first foray into this increasing important topic with regards to how we can succeed at leadership as our workplaces and the way we work continue to evolve and change. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Umz2Ra9JQekQWflLACN6s Noteworthy links: Learn more about my leadership workshop on the power of empathy in leadership.Read my piece: Empathy in Leadership – 10 Reasons Why It Matters.

Next month marks the 10th year that I’ve been doing my podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe”, something that I started as an excuse to talk with some fascinating people about leadership and which has since become one of the most popular leadership podcasts out there. Although I didn’t make any plans to celebrate this milestone, I’m delighted that I’ve been able to welcome such incredible guests as Tom Peters and now with this episode, another one of my leadership heroes, Jim Kouzes. Jim is the Dean’s Executive Fellow of Leadership at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University. But what I’m sure many of you probably know him for is the 30-plus books he’s co-written on leadership, including the international bestseller “The Leadership Challenge”. For this episode, I’ve invited Jim to join me to talk about his latest book, “Everyday People, Extraordinary Leadership: How To Make A Difference Regardless of Your Title, Role, or Authority”. Over the course of this episode, some of the topics Jim and I discuss include: How leaders can avoid losing credibility by claiming they stand for one value, but then do something that goes against that stated value. What behaviours leaders need to tap into to get their employees to buy-in to their vision for their organization, and encourage them to take an active role in. How to take the lessons of the pandemic to encourage more experimentation and taking risks in order to evolve and grow. How leaders without any formal title can help empower their colleagues to bring their best efforts. Why it’s vital for leaders to instill a sense of community and belonging if they are to attract and retain employees. It’s truly an honour to be able to speak with such an esteemed thought leader in the leadership space about something we both care deeply about. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. https://open.spotify.com/episode/30y3ScfQ9YRORBuDGWLqXl Noteworthy links: Buy “Everyday People, Extraordinary Leadership” on Amazon.* Learn more about Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner’s work - www.leadershipchallenge.com *Sponsored link used to support podcast.

As a leader, one of the things expected of you is to be able to make that critical decision of whether to continue to pursue an initiative, or whether to cut your losses and move on to something else. While this skill is key to your ability to succeed at leadership, many leaders nonetheless struggle with making this evaluation about themselves in their current role. Of whether they should continue in their current role, or whether it’s time to pursue other opportunities that would allow them to achieve and be that leader they want to be. It’s a challenge that I explore in this latest edition of “Leadership Espresso Shot” on my leadership podcast. More specifically, I share 4 questions that any leader at any stage of their career can use to evaluate whether they’re still able to accomplish what they set out to achieve when taking on this leadership role, what’s holding them back from meeting their goals, and whether these factors are a good indication that it might be best to move on to a new role and allow someone else the chance to see if they can move things forward. Even if you’re not contemplating whether you’ve done all you can do in your current role, these four questions can still help give you some perspective on how things are going and what things you should look out for going ahead to ensure you are in fact able to be the kind of leader your employees need to succeed. So I hope you’ll check this episode out, and maybe even bookmark it for a future listen when that time inevitably comes when you’ll be look outwards from your role for new opportunities to continue to learn and grow. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4RMDeHasROQDzev6zUvbOe

As we move to a hybrid work environment, the organizational culture we foster both internally and remotely becomes critical to what we’re able to achieve. So how can we ensure we’re creating an environment - both virtually and in-person - that inspires employees to share their ideas and insights on how we can improve what we collectively do? That’s what I’ll be discussing with my guests, Karin Hurt and David Dye, on this episode of my podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Karin and David are the CEO and President of Let’s Grow Leaders, a leadership training and consulting company. In addition, Karin hosts the popular LinkedIn show, Asking for a Friend, which I’ve actually had the pleasure to be a guest on. As for David, he’s no stranger to the podcast world as he hosts his own podcast, “Leadership Without Losing Your Soul”. On top of that, Karin and David have written two books together, including their latest “Courageous Cultures: How to Build Teams of Micro-Innovators, Problem Solvers, and Customer Advocates”, which serves as the focus of our conversation. Over the course of this episode, Karin, David, and I discuss: What makes for a courageous culture and why it’s critical to your organization’s ability to innovate and adapt.Why it’s harder for employees to speak up about making smaller changes than promoting large scale change within the organization.What their research has shown as being the big reason why a majority of employees don’t want to share their ideas with their bosses.The ways leaders respond to their employees which actually leads them to shut down instead of bringing their best efforts to work. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2upIRzIgbrl0DhGkBBGbAY Noteworthy links: Buy Karin and David’s book “Courageous Culture” on Amazon*Learn more about Karin and David’s work - letsgrowleaders.com. *Sponsored link used to support podcast.

In the previous edition of my podcast series “Leadership Espresso Shot”, I mentioned how to better appreciate the journey towards achieving success, we must learn to value failure as that necessary teacher that helps us reach our goals. Of course, if we’re going to delve deeper into understanding failure, I thought it would be a good idea in this installment to explore what success really looks like. On the surface, we all have a general idea of what it means to succeed. And yet, if you were to google “what is success”, what you’d end up with is almost 3 billion search results. What this reveals is that while we might all have an idea of what success looks like, that idea can vary greatly from person to person, from team to team, and from one one organization to another. As such, in this edition of my “Leadership Espresso Shot” series, I share 3 questions you should ask yourself and your team to help clarify and articulate what success would look like for your team. And if you’ve attended one of my leadership keynotes or workshops, you know these kinds of questions I share are not necessarily easy to answer right away, but require some thought and reflection. So I hope you’ll take a few minutes out of your day to give this episode a listen so you can ensure the path you’re currently on will lead you to that kind of success we all aspire to attain. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1JhGo5VFfB535TWv4ksw7c

When I started my leadership podcast almost 10 years ago, I had a very simple goal - I wanted to create a platform where I could get the chance to talk with some very smart and really cool people. That’s why the first guest I had on the “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast was Guy Kawasaki. But I have to admit all these years later, I never thought that the journey I started with this podcast would open the door for me to have a one-on-one conversation with Tom Peters. Without question, Tom is one of the world’s most pre-eminent leadership thinkers, if not also a leadership rebel in his decades-long pursuit to educate and persuade leaders everywhere that at its heart, leadership is all about people under your care and doing right by them. This is a must-listen episode if you want to better understand not only what it takes to lead right now, but in response to the inevitable changes that will completely transform the way we work going forward. And as an extra bonus, you’ll even hear Tom talk about something he hasn’t spoken of before my conversation with him for this podcast (I bet that’s piqued your curiosity!) And to give you a taste of what you’ll find in this episode, here’s some of my favourite Tom Peters gems he shared over the course of our conversation: “You don’t know more than two percent of the person you’re talking about to. And besides they are different on Tuesday than they were on Monday. And it’ll be different again on Wednesday.”“The goal during the pandemic is family and community first, productivity third. And of course, which is true of all the things we’re talking about, if that’s the way I treat you, I’m going to have more productivity coming from you than I would under any other circumstances.”“There are no tombstones with net worth on them. That is not the measure.”“Be kind. Be caring. Be patient. Be forgiving. Be positive. Be present. Walk in the other person’s shoes.”“They are a million strokes of luck along the way, and you do your best and try to be helpful.” When Tom’s assistant reached out to me saying that Tom was interested in appearing on my podcast, I couldn’t believe it. As you listen to this episode, you will no doubt clearly hear the excitement and joy I had of being able to talk about leadership with Tom. So I hope you’ll take the time to check out this episode and please do share me with me your favourite insights you learned from my conversation with Tom. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2kNinn6FVVS9Kypji24Mde Noteworthy links: Buy Tom Peters’ latest (and last) book “Excellence Now - Extreme Humanism” on Amazon*.Learn more about Tom and his work - tompeters.com.Read my piece I talked with Tom about - "What Will Your Leadership Legacy Be?" *Sponsored link used to support this podcast.

During a recent conversation with a group of executives about the growing importance of empathy and leadership, a few leaders brought up the issue of addressing failure and the importance of not only “failing fast”, but making sure efforts are made to understand what can be learned from this setback. As we didn’t delve much further into this subject, it got me thinking that this would be a great topic to bring up in my Leadership Espresso Shot series. Many leaders and organizations openly speak of embracing the idea of “failing fast”, of accepting failure as part of the journey and using that understanding to help get past it and keep going. Unfortunately, as many of us know first hand, not all failures are created equal. So while some failures are easy for us to get over, others can have a palpable impact, not just in terms of our organization’s progress and momentum, but also on our emotional state. That’s why in this edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I share a series of three questions that will help you learn to value failure, questions you should ask yourself not just when those moments of failure occur, but especially in those moments when things are going right. That way you’ll be adequately prepared to respond and deal with that inevitable failure we’ll all experience on that journey to achieving our goals. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2qMOwlv4glYb9bLxqjGz79

Over the many years I’ve been doing this leadership podcast, one of the common themes that comes up in any given episode is the fact that leadership is not about you; it’s about the people you lead. That’s why I’m delighted to speak with my friend (and fellow Canadian) Dan Pontefract about why the most successful leaders are those who care on this episode of "Leadership Biz Cafe". Dan is the founder and CEO of The Pontefract Group, a firm that improves the state of leadership and organizational culture. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria Gustavson School of Business. Prior to this, Dan was the Chief Envisioner and Chief Learning Officer at TELUS—a Canadian telecommunications company. Dan is and the best selling author of four books, including this latest "LEAD. CARE. WIN." which is what Dan and I discuss in this episode. Over the course of our discussion, some of the topics Dan and I talk about include: Why leaders need to be relatable and how the way we view our mistakes is directly connected to it.How so many leaders are poor at managing their time and the critical activity they need to schedule in their work flow.How leaders can be more present in order to better connect with their employees.Why leaders need to make a commitment to balance if they are to both attract and retain the best talent to their teams and organization. https://open.spotify.com/episode/3b4FQb96z48dsnCzUiwTV0 Noteworthy links: Buy Dan Pontefract’s book “Lead. Care. Win.” on Amazon*Learn more about Dan’s work - danpontefract.com *Sponsored link.

These days there’s a lot of discussion around what work will look like in a post-pandemic world. Most of that conversation tends to focus on whether employees will return to the office, continue to work remotely, or opt for a hybrid mix of the two. But in this latest installment of my Leadership Espresso Shot series on my leadership podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”, I make the case that what this past year has revealed is not just the necessity of flexibility in how we approach work, but the critical need to connect what we do to what matters to your employees. As I mention in this episode, I was inspired to talk about this topic after serving as the moderator for a virtual roundtable discussion with VPs and senior executives from the FinTech, multimedia, construction, and retail sectors on how they’ve navigated the past year and where their focus will be this year and beyond. Among the many things these senior leaders agreed on was that the days of everyone working in the office during regular office hours are now over and going forward they need to get comfortable leading a workforce that works both in the office and remotely. And key to that new leadership reality was being more attuned to the needs of their employees and making sure they’re truly present to help them adjust to this new reality to how their organization will operate. And so, in this 23rd edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I make the case for why purpose more than where and when employees work is what will be the critical factor to whether your organization succeeds this year and in the years to come. https://open.spotify.com/episode/54IrILT5EFTUmUbeQBSx5h

Over the past few years, there’s been a growing discussion around artificial intelligence (A.I.) and the potential risks that come with it. Just reading comments from Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates about the potential dangers of AI would certainly seem to be reason to give pause on the continued development of this new technology. And yet, early developments in this realm would seem to demonstrate some genuine game-changers that can actually improve both the way we work and live our lives. So given both the public unease and the positive gains from these early advancements, how should leaders be viewing this technological field and what might its impact be on the way they lead? That’s part of the focus of my conversation with A.I. expert Neil Sahota in this episode of my podcast "Leadership Biz Cafe". Neil serves as the United Nations Artificial Intelligence subject matter expert. He's an IBM Master Inventor, and the Chief Innovation Officer at the Irvine School of Law at the University of California. Neil is also the author of the book “Own The AI Revolution, Unlock Your Artificial Intelligence Strategy To Disrupt Your Competition”. Although a big sci-fi fan, I’m not too familiar with A.I., so I really appreciated this conversation with Neil over which we touched on the following topics: What’s behind our ambivalence and fear about A.I. and the role it might play in our workplaces and society at large.How do you program computers to learn so we can ensure we’re getting the outcomes we need, as opposed to some of the high-profile PR disasters we’ve seen with some A.I. initiatives.How A.I. can disrupt the way we work for the better and how can leaders prepare for this transformation.The early steps leaders can take to bring A.I. into their workplace to benefit both their employees and their organization. Whether A.I. is on your radar or not, what we learned in 2020 is that disruption is going to come whether you’re ready for it or not. And after talking with Neil, it’s become clear that A.I. will indeed be that next big wave of disruption that will soon hit your organization’s shores. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ubqJdeVS6lGZe38OrbdDw Noteworthy links: Buy Neil’s book “Own The A.I. Revolution” on Amazon.*Learn more about Neil’s work in the A.I. field - neilsahota.com. *Affiliate link used to support this podcast.

The success in any change initiative is tied to how well employees are able to learn and adapt. But how can leaders encourage a learning mindset out of these pursuits? In this edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I share three simple measures leaders can employ to promote a continuous learning mindset within their workforce. As I mentioned in this episode of my leadership podcast, the idea behind this episode was inspired by conversations I had with attendees after some of the virtual leadership keynotes I’ve given over the past few months to audiences across Europe and North America. Although these leaders had managed to help their employees adapt and pivot to various external challenges of the past 12 months, the concern was how to not only sustain this agile mindset, but build on their hard-won successes. In one of my talks I do share insights on how leaders can promote a continuous learning environment in their organization. And so, I wanted to explore one of the ideas I share in this keynote, specifically 3 simple measures any leader can take that will help to encourage a continuous learning mindset within their team and organization. As a reminder, these Leadership Espresso Shot episodes are designed to be these short, ‘bite-sized’ episodes which offer an insightful dose of leadership insight or inspiration to improve the way you lead. We’re now heading into our third year of producing these episodes and it’s been gratifying to see how in the last two years, some of these episodes not only end up making it into the top most listened episodes of my podcast in 2019 and 2020, but how it’s also been a favourite for many people who’ve attended some of my leadership keynotes over the past 12 months. So I hope you’ll check this out and as I point out at the end of the episode, if you’d like to contact me about speaking about this topic, fill out the contact form on my website and let’s talk. https://open.spotify.com/episode/72yyR8AILBcCmRKpFqqpb4

There’s no question that our mindset plays a critical role in how we relate to our world and those around us. But how can leaders make sure their mindset is helps bring out the best in others and not impede organizational growth and success? That’s the topic I’ll be exploring with my guest, Dr. Ryan Gottfredson, in this episode of the “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast. Ryan is a mental success coach, leadership development consultant and researcher. Ryan is also a leadership professor at the Mihaylo College of Business and Economics at California State University, Fullerton. He’s also the author of “Success Mindsets: The Key to Unlocking Greater Success in Your Life, Work, & Leadership”*. Over the course of this episode, Ryan and I cover a number of areas around mindset and leadership, including: How a simple shift in our mindset can lead to positive, tangible change.The four specific mindsets you need to develop to improve your ability to lead and succeed.How leaders can develop and strengthen a growth mindset that’s so critical to fostering innovation and agility.What causes some leaders to inadvertently develop a closed mindset and what they can do to become more open-minded in the way they lead. Now if you enjoyed this or any other episode of my leadership podcast, I’d appreciate it if you could rate and review it on your favourite platform to listen to podcasts. And if you’d like to share this or other episodes of my podcast with your colleagues or employees, just share a link to our podcast page where they can listen to episodes, find links to subscribe to our show on some of the top podcast platforms, as well as show notes like this one for past episodes. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1lEF5M86IvW5EwJLypVjm6 Noteworthy links: Buy Ryan’s book “Success Mindsets” on Amazon*.Take Ryan’s personal mindset assessment here. *Affiliate link that’s used to support this podcast.

Have you ever thought about how how you’re communicating progress in your organization? In this latest edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series for my leadership podcast, I share findings from a fascinating study that show this can have a powerful impact on sustaining motivation over the long term. With the start of a new year, there’s naturally a lot of focus on setting goals, developing plans, and executing strategies that will help your organization to succeed over the next 12 months. Now most of us are familiar with that reality of how when we take on learning something new, or making a change to our lifestyle like eating better or exercising more, at the start we tend to do very well at keeping up with this new effort. Unfortunately, there comes a moment where that early motivation we had to commit to this change or to learning this new skill starts to wane and we find ourselves reverting back to the old and familiar. Of course, this behavioural pendulum is not limited to changes we make in our personal lives as the same thing happens when the senior leadership proposes changes that we might at first be excited about and want to dedicate our best efforts to, but then over time, our interest deflates and progress slowly comes to a standstill. And if you encounter this pattern enough times in your workplace, it’s not surprising to find a lot of resistance to any change initiative surface as people have learned not to buy into it as it’ll inevitably end up in that pile of good intentions that amounted to little change. So how do we stop or even avoid this cycle? Well, there’s a fascinating study that looks at what the relationship between progress and motivation and to find out what it says and what we can learn from it in terms of how we lead, just hit the play button below and listen to this latest episode of my podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”, and I’ll share all the details. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4a2Q5aRUsCSftJkDNCDPMU

One of the perks of hosting my leadership podcast is I get to speak with some fascinating and thought-provoking people whose insights help us to learn and grow. So for my last episode for 2020, I wanted to share some of my favourite moments from this past year where my guests shared insights that are both timely to what we’re dealing with right now, and timeless for how it will help us in 2021 and beyond. Now to be clear, this isn’t some kind of Top 10 list of mine, given that I’ll be publishing in mid-January 2021 a list of the most popular episodes from 2020 based on listening/download metrics. Instead, these are moments from conversations I’ve had with some of my guests that in some cases were prescient in addressing the challenges we’re now dealing with, even though at the time of our recording we weren't in the midst of a global pandemic. In other cases, my guests offered insights that can help us to not only get through what we’re facing today and for the next few months in 2021, but even beyond the pandemic when we finally beat this virus once and for all. What I especially like is how despite their focus being on different aspects of leadership, organizational culture, and business strategy, there is a common thread running through each of them that helps to paint a bigger picture of what leaders need to do to not simply get through the challenges of this pandemic, but what they’ll need to prepare for after this pandemic is over if they are to bring out the best in those they lead. It’s my first time putting such an episode together and I do hope to make it an annual tradition for my leadership podcast. So I hope you’ll enjoy this retrospective look at some of my favourite guest moments in 2020, and I look forward to sharing with you the fantastic line up of guests we have in place for 2021. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2kv69PD431Lif9L7oPU0WM Noteworthy links: How Will You Remember 2020? 3 Lessons On How Promoting Sense Of Belonging Can Drive Change

Few words inspire optimism and hope for the future like "opportunity". But as I reveal in this latest installment of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, the truth is our relationship with opportunity is much more complicated and worthy of more reflection and review. Granted, in light of the pandemic, pondering our relationship with opportunity might seem like something that should be examined at a later date, when the situation is calmer or at least more certain. But that’s why in this episode I share quotes from such innovative thinkers and doers as Thomas Edison and Sir Richard Branson to remind us that conditions are always ripe for finding opportunities and that the real challenge is how we understand and evaluate them. Now I don’t want to write anything more as I don’t want to give too much away. But given how my Leadership Espresso Shot series on my leadership podcast is designed to offer these condensed, but thought-provoking insights into how to improve your leadership craft, I can tell you it’s worth taking 10 minutes out of your day and give this episode a listen. https://open.spotify.com/episode/73Rqb4R8ekhoggVAAUZcWW

For most of us, the best leader we ever worked for not only led our team to succeed, but also helped us fulfill our career aspirations. So what is that ‘secret sauce’ that allowed these leaders to not only achieve their organization’s goals, but attract and grow employees under their care? That’s a question I’ll be putting to my guest, Professor Sydney Finkelstein, in this episode of the Leadership Biz Cafe podcast. Sydney is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management and is on the global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus. Sydney has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers “Why Smart Executives Fail” and his latest, “Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent”, which Sydney and I discuss in this episode. Over the course of our conversation, Sydney shares: What traits leaders who are able to attract and build talent within employees share in common. Why superbosses love hiring people more talented and smarter than them, and what prevents other leaders from doing the same. The two things superbosses do to empower their employees to be “super engaged” in the work they do. How superbosses approach delegation differently from other leaders, where they’re a combination of both effective delegator and micromanager, and how this balance actually leads people to deliver their best efforts. If you enjoy the episode, I’d appreciate it if you could share it with your social media networks. The easiest way to do this is to share a link to our podcast page, where people can find links to subscribe to our show on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apply Podcasts, Deezer, Pandora, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher Radio, listen via our media player to every episode of our show, and find links to the show notes for all our episodes. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1IyTCezE5XgJDWgaNjgjGl Noteworthy Links: Buy “Superbosses” on Amazon*. Learn more about Sydney’s work on his website. The Sydcast - Sydney’s podcast where he interviews people from all walks of life. *Affiliate link used to support this podcast.

One of the key responsibilities of leadership is to provide a workplace environment that encourages people to do their best work. In this edition of the Leadership Espresso Shot series for my leadership podcast, I share 4 steps that can help leaders cure a toxic workplace. In my previous piece, I asked the question as to whether your leadership inspires collaboration or conflict amongst your employees and shared strategies for how leaders can not only avoid organizational silos, but the more damaging mindset of seeing people as us vs. them. This piece certainly proved to be popular, with many people reaching out to share with me various measures their organization has had to put into place to ‘keep the peace’. But I also had a few leaders reach out to say how they’re struggling with how to overcome a toxic workplace environment that is not only impacting employee productivity and morale, but understandably leading to higher than normal turnover rates. So to follow up on that piece I mentioned above, I decided to use this Leadership Espresso Shot series in my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast to share a science-based strategy for how leaders can cure a toxic workplace, bearing in mind that no two workplaces are the same. Even if you don’t suffer from this problem, I’d like to encourage you to take the few minutes to listen to this episode as I do believe the strategies I share here can also help prevent the slow creep of workplace toxicity in your organization. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2eUggLin6QJygb9GJT5Rcf Noteworthy links: 3 Steps To Create An Organizational Vision That Energizes Employees Does Your Leadership Inspire Collaboration Or Conflict Inside Your Organization?

If ever there was a singular event that brought to the forefront the influence - if not importance - of good governance, there’s little question the pandemic fits that bill. Indeed, throughout the world, we’re seeing a critical examination of not only how effective governments at all levels are at not only protecting its citizenry from this global pandemic, but doing so in a way that doesn’t create long-term damage to their economies and societies at large. While in some countries this discussion has become highly politicized, the fact is leaders in both the private and public sectors have a vested interest in how well - or how badly - their governments manage this crisis. That’s why I wanted to sit down with Adrian Wooldridge, the political correspondent for The Economist who along with John Mickelthwait, editor in chief of Bloomberg News, have written their 7th book called “The Wake Up Call - Why The Pandemic Has Exposed The Weakness of the West, And How To Fix It”, to talk about what governments in Europe and North America need to be doing to not just beat this health crisis, but ensure we do so in a way that doesn’t permanently damage our economic and social infrastructure at the same time. Admittedly, this is a different conversation from what you usually hear on this podcast. But through my speaking work with leaders and their organizations, it’s become clear how critical this is for leaders in multinational, national, and regional organizations. In fact, I’ve created new keynotes around leading beyond the pandemic, as well as adapting previous leadership keynotes I’ve given to take into account the new realities leaders and their employees are grappling with and will continue to grapple with in the months and years ahead because of the fallout from this pandemic. As such, I invite you to check out this episode because whether your leadership is based in the private or public sectors, we all should be invested in learning what our governments should be focusing on to help overcome this current health crisis, and what role our organizations should play to assist in this fight. https://open.spotify.com/episode/6fA8Tgy4MGxde1qmOccoFL?si=xjcMdxkwRHym7DC8So2uzQ Noteworthy links: Buy Adrian Wooldridge’s book “The Wake Up Call” on Amazon* Is Your Leadership Lacking This Critical Element During The COVID-19 Crisis? 3 Steps To Boost Your Critical Thinking Skills During The COVID-19 Pandemic 3 Important Lessons On Crisis Management From The COVID-19 Pandemic *Sponsored link

During challenging times, it’s critical that leaders boost their communication time to provide clarity and assurance to their employees. In this edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I make the case that it’s equally important for leaders to express more gratitude through their leadership when faced with uncertainty about the future. Now this past Monday was Thanksgiving Day here in Canada which commemorates the end of the harvest season. For my family, this long weekend holiday is our favourite time to visit with our extended family and share laughs, good times, and warm memories. Unfortunately, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadians have been advised to stay home to slow the spread of this virus. But while we weren’t able to visit with family, I still found myself thinking about all the things I’m grateful for, despite all the challenges and problems this global pandemic has given rise to. And this got me thinking about how important it is for leaders to express gratitude through their leadership, especially during challenging times. In fact, there are several studies that demonstrate the numerous benefits leaders can tap into by bringing more gratitude into the way they lead. So what are those benefits and how can leaders express gratitude through their leadership? Well, to learn the answers to those questions, you need to listen to this episode. In the meantime, if you’ve been enjoying my leadership podcast, I’d appreciate it if you could share my show with your colleagues and network. The easiest way to do this is to share a link to our podcast page, where you can listen to ever episode of my show, as well as find links to subscribe on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher Radio. Speaking of different platforms where you can listen to my leadership podcast, you may recall how I shared recently my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast is now on Deezer. Well, I’m happy to share the news that just last week, my podcast was added onto Pandora as well. Now given the topic of this episode, I do have a personal message I share with listeners of my leadership podcast. So I do hope you’ll check this episode out and hopefully gain both insight and inspiration for not only why you should express more gratitude through your leadership, but how to get started right now. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0WO0h345XeFwkdsvfo9Tje?si=f5gs-p2bSjqvZB5Vq1V8zw

With the global pandemic expected to continue well into 2021, pandemic fatigue has become a real issue as prolonged stress has been shown to impact our critical thinking skills. In this special episode of my leadership podcast, I share 3 simple steps that will help you boost your critical thinking skills during this global pandemic. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5wx3RexJpxz0UJG0f6pjCe?si=6CItbQe4SQm4ssx5Tlv3yA

There's no question you'll make mistakes as a leader, no matter how experienced you may be. What really matters is how well you manage mistakes, especially when you're the one responsible for them. In this episode of my leadership podcast, I share 3 questions you should ask yourself to determine how well you manage mistakes. Of course, it's never easy to have discussions around mistakes that were made, regardless of who made them. And so, to help ease ourselves into this conversation, I share in this edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series a personal story about one of my daughters. If you've ever attended one of my leadership keynotes – either in person or lately in one of the virtual conferences I've done online, I'm sure you've noticed how I enjoy sharing stories to help illustrate a point, if not also to make the ideas more memorable. And when you hear how this story ends, I'm sure you'll understand why I enjoy sharing this one. Now as I mentioned at the end of this episode, not only are we hard at work creating more episodes of this podcast to help you learn to improve the way you lead, but we're working on expanding our presence on as many platforms as possible. That's why you can now listen to our show on Deezer, in addition to iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, and many, many more. That's why I'd like to ask for your help in return by sharing this or any other episode of my leadership podcast with your network to help us continue to spread the word about this show and hopefully, help improve the leadership craft. And with that, here's my latest Leadership Espresso Shot, featuring not only a sweet story, but 3 important questions you should ask yourself to ensure you are effectively managing mistakes. https://open.spotify.com/episode/3CfTNiBXgOjmFezkm6Lgwg?si=7bed18dc092b4006 Noteworthy links: How To Use The Power Of Storytelling In Your Leadership In 3 Simple Steps Do You Allow Your Employees To “Own The Suck”? How To Increase Self-Awareness In Our Leadership

In many organizations, it can take up to 10 years before new leaders get leadership development training, leaving most to figure things out on their own. So what should new managers be paying more attention to? And what mistakes are they more likely to make? That's what I'll be discussing with my guest, Inc columnist Peter Economy, in this episode of my leadership podcast, "Leadership Biz Cafe". Peter is a best-selling business author, developmental editor, and publishing consultant. Some of you might know him as The Leadership Guy from his popular column on Inc. He's also the best-selling author of over 100 books, his latest being “Wait, I'm the Boss?!? The Essential Guide for New Managers to Succeed from Day One” which Peter and I will be talking about in this episode. Over the course of our conversation, Peter and I discuss: The key to measuring employee progress and performance that every manager should be employing in their leadership toolkit. 4 factors critical to assessing employee performance. How new managers can ensure they're using delegation as an effective tool for employee growth and retention. How new managers can break down barriers that impede diversity initiatives in their organization. What senior leaders need to be mindful of in terms of developing their leadership pipeline. If you enjoy this or any other episode of my leadership podcast, I'd like to ask you to help support my show by sharing it with others. Best way to do this is to share a link to our podcast page where you can listen to all 65 episodes (and counting!) of my podcast, as well as find links to subscribe to my podcast on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, and Google Podcasts. Speaking of podcast platforms, I'm delighted to announce that you can now listen to my leadership podcast on Deezer! So there's yet another way you can listen to my show and on a personal note, it's gratifying to see my podcast continuing to grow in popularity and finding an audience amongst those eager to learn how they can improve the way they lead. https://open.spotify.com/episode/6f0TscioY1d3iRDSfA1GRQ?si=5386e7b9605746c9 Noteworthy links: Buy Peter's new book “Wait, I'm the Boss?!?” on Amazon (or Amazon.ca for Canadian listeners). Read Peter's “Leadership Guy” column on Inc. Learn more about Peter's work at his website: petereconomy.com.

How can leaders overcome those typical assumptions that not only distort what realities their employees have to deal with, but what their employees really need to be successful in their efforts? In this edition of Leadership Espresso Shot, I share 4 questions leaders can use to gain greater clarity in their leadership. The inspiration for this latest episode of my leadership podcast actually came to me while I was on summer vacation with my family. As an avid reader, I like to bring along books that give me a mental break from the usual material I read either to prep for interviews with my guests on my podcast, for developing content for new leadership keynotes or corporate training events, or even to get inspiration for a new piece for my leadership blog. It was while enjoying one of these summer vacation reads that got my mind thinking about how often leaders confuse how they view their leadership as being the same as the experience their employees have under their leadership, a phenomenon I referred to in my first book as “Leadership Vertigo”. So what's this have to do with the picture of the fish bowl above? Well, you're just going to have to listen to this episode to find out, along with learning about these 4 powerful questions that will help improve your ability to succeed at leadership. Now if you aren't familiar with my Leadership Espresso Shots, as the name infers, these are short episodes that are designed to provide listeners with a strong dose of leadership insight to help improve the way you lead. And trust me when I say I expect this one to give many of you a lot of food for thought – if not also some actionable steps you should be taking on a regular basis to improve your leadership awareness levels. Now if you enjoy this episode, I'd appreciate it if you could share it with others. You can also share a link to our podcast page where you can listen to every past episode as well as find links to subscribe on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, and Google Podcasts. https://open.spotify.com/episode/3RzHsIQPtWYRKjBQsfKJ1O Noteworthy links: Learn more about my book “Leadership Vertigo”Recognizing The Perception Gaps In Your Leadership3 Critical Factors To Help Your Team Stay The Course

There's been a growing demand for leaders to be more 'human' in the way they lead. While this approach offers many benefits, it also can amplify our inner negativity that leaves us doubting our abilities. So how can leaders balance being more human with overcoming these negative elements that can drag us down? That's the focus of this episode of the Leadership Biz Cafe podcast with guest Beth Weissenberger. Beth is the co-founder and President of Corporate Division of Handel Group, an executive life coaching company. Her corporate clients have included Live Nation, Ticket Master, AMC, Core Club, Liberty, Ogilvy, and many more. Beth is also a regular contributor to Business Insider, Forbes, and the Huffington Post. Some of the things Beth and I discuss over the course of our conversation include: Why we should change looking at the word human as a verb instead of just a noun. The 3 distinct inner voices that weigh you down and make you doubt your abilities to succeed. What are “career hauntings” and the 3 steps we can take to resolve them in order to move forward. And as mentioned during our conversation, Beth has arranged a special offer for Leadership Biz Cafe listeners on the various online programs her company offers. Just go to https://www.inneru.coach/ and enter the code LEADERSHIPBIZCAFE75 to get discounts and package offers unique for listeners of my podcast (my thanks again to Beth for the kind offer!) Also, as I've written before, what's critical to our ability to continue to put these shows out for you to learn about how to improve your leadership skills is building our audience and getting the word out about our show. To that end, I'd appreciate it if you could share a link to this or any other episode of my podcast that you've enjoyed. Better still, why not share a link to our podcast page so people can not only check out the episodes they'd like to listen to, but find out where they can subscribe to my leadership podcast. https://open.spotify.com/episode/6wnETeLYu6Geo1BwLFXjIF?si=89b2f8ac82d44a04 Noteworthy links: Why Leaders Should Empower Employees To Bring Their Dreams To Work Do You Have The Courage To Change How You Lead? How To Put A Stop To Negative Self-Talk

Without question, the global pandemic has created unexpected hardships and uncertainty. It's also amplified issues many leaders have failed to adequately address. In this latest edition of Leadership Espresso Shot, I delve into one of these leadership blindspots and reveal why leaders can no longer afford to put it on the back burner. In my previous piece, I shared some strategies based on neuroscience on how leaders can boost their critical thinking in light of the chronic stress environment the current pandemic has created. Based on the overwhelming, positive response to this piece (who knew so many people would be inspired over taking walks to help them boost their critical thinking skills), I wanted to address another critical aspect of leadership that needs to be addressed during this global pandemic. Without question, the current global crisis has not only upended any sense of normalcy, but it has created some wide-ranging economic hardships that many expect will take years to recover from. And while the pandemic has shone a bright light on various discrepancies found in various societies with regards to issues like income disparity and systemic racism, it has also amplified various issues leaders need to address if they are to be successful in their efforts. For this Leadership Espresso Shot, I'd like to focus on one in particular issue in terms of what leaders need to be mindful of in terms of what they're communicating to their employees. Granted, there are many issues and at times fires that leaders everywhere are being expected to address and resolve. But this issue in particular is especially important if you want to make sure you are accessing the full efforts of everyone on your team in order to not just prevail in today's uncertain times, but create the necessary conditions to succeed and thrive when we finally make through to the other side and can begin anew. And as these editions of Leadership Espresso Shot are designed to be short, but powerful episodes of my leadership podcast, they are perfect for many of us who are working remotely and are looking for something to recharge and inspire you in between the various tasks on your To Do list. So I hope you'll check this latest episode out and if you enjoy it, please do share it with others in your network. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0QBnoJppqc4EGtosZjJlj3?si=PgItp5k4SLOUlosmNLxKIQ Noteworthy Links: 3 Steps To Boost Your Critical Thinking Skills During The Pandemic 3 Important Lessons On Crisis Management From The Pandemic

Psychological safety in today's workplaces has been garnering a lot of attention as leaders and organizations look for ways to boost productivity and retention in their workplace. But is our understanding of this concept too narrow? Are we missing out on real opportunities to not just fuel engagement and collaboration, but innovation and untapped growth opportunities? That's some of the areas I'll be exploring with my guest Dr. Timothy Clark in this episode of Leadership Biz Cafe. Tim is the founder and CEO of LeaderFactor, a consulting firm that specializes in organizational change, strategic agility, psychological safety, and emotional intelligence. In addition to attaining his PhD in social science from Oxford University, Tim is a two-time CEO and he has written five books, including his latest, “The Four Stages Of Psychological Safety: Defining the Path to Inclusion and Innovation”, which is what Tim and I discuss in this episode. Over the course of our conversation, Tim and I discuss: What psychological safety really is and the far-reaching implications it has on an organization's capacity to grow, innovate, and remain competitive in today's global environment. What social movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter reveal about the ongoing gaps and failures found in organizations and communities in terms of creating psychologically safe environments that maximize talent access and development. How psychological safety improves employee learning and development by reducing fear which pushes employees into “a defensive mode of performance”. How leaders approach delegation – and with it, the level of accountability they engender – are tied to a stage of psychological safety that is not a right, but something that needs to be earned. How leaders can ensure they're creating that psychologically safe workplace where employees can be genuine change agents who fuel organizational innovation, instead of simply towing the status quo. If you enjoy this or past episodes of my leadership podcast, I'd appreciate your support for this show by sharing it with your colleagues and others who would also enjoy listening to my podcast. The easiest way to do this is to simply share with them our podcast page on my website. On our podcast page, you can listen to every episode of my show, as well as find links to subscribe to listen to my podcast on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, and Google Podcasts. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0FrZREcYiKUwso4tu965Ff?si=983fa51ee36647a3 Noteworthy Links: Buy Timothy Clark's Book "The Four Stages of Psychological Safety" on Amazon (or Amazon.ca for Canadian listeners). Learn more about Timothy's work - Leaderfactor.com Creating A Workplace Environment Where Employees Matter Building Emotional Competencies In Our Leadership Leaders, It’s Time To Make Work Meaningful Again

One of the key metrics to gauge your success as a leader is how well you're able to get your employees to work together as a team. That's why in this latest Leadership Espresso Shot edition of my podcast, Leadership Biz Cafe, I share 4 lessons on successful team-building inspired from an unlikely source. Now there's no question team-building is both an important and often-discussion topic in the leadership space. In fact, doing a google search for team-building will give you over five billion search entries – evidently, there's a lot of team-building going on out there. Granted, most or at least the top search queries are for various team-building exercises and a lot of times that's what we think of when we think of team-building. Of how to create camaraderie amongst your employees to ensure they'll all work together. While this is important, it's not the only thing leaders should be focusing on in terms of not only building their team, but sustaining their ability to continue to collaborate and work off of each other's efforts to help move the team's collective efforts closer to achieving its goal or objective. To that end, I wanted to share 4 important lessons on team-building that will not only ensure team cohesion, but longevity in terms of your collective success. And these lessons were inspired, as I wrote above, from an unlikely source. What is it? Well, to find that out, you'll just have to listen to the episode. And as I mention at the end of this episode, if you enjoyed it and gain some insights from it as I know many of you have from my previous episodes (in fact, a few of you have written to me about how you find yourself taking notes while listening to my podcast), I'd appreciate if you would share it with others – either through your social media channels or emailing it to a colleague or friend who'd also enjoy learning about these 4 lessons. You can also direct them to my podcast page where they can listen to all past episodes of my show as well as find links to subscribe to my show on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher Radio so they can be sure to get my latest episodes when they're released. I hope you enjoy the episode and do let me know what you think. I always enjoy hearing from my audience. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5OSuIc7ZeslrIu1Q5IYvte?si=430da81bee704c14

In today's increasingly complex workplaces, leaders need to be experts who can make the best decisions for their team. But how do you succeed at leadership over areas where your expertise is limited? That's what I'll be asking my guest, Wanda Wallace, in this episode of Leadership Biz Cafe. Wanda is the managing partner of Leadership Forum, where she coaches leaders and works with teams to improve leadership capability. Prior to founding Leadership Forum she was the executive Vice President at Duke Corporate Education, Associate Dean of Executive Education at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, as well as assistant professor in marketing. Wanda has worked with American Express, Deutsche Bank, Ford Motor Company, GlaxoSmithKline, Morgan Stanley, and JP Morgan Chase, and has also written several academic publications. Wanda is also the author of several books, including her latest “You Can't Know It All – Leading In the Age of Deep Expertise”, which serves as the focus of this episode's conversation. Over the course of this episode, some of the things you'll learn include: What signs to look for to help you know when to rely on your own expertise and when you need to reach out and tap into the expertise of your employees. How leaders can redefine the value they create through their leadership when you need to lead a team of experts who know more than you. How to shift from doing things right to doing the right things (and knowing what those are). Why the idea of climbing the career ladder into leadership roles is actually misleading and can lead you to fail at leadership. Why it's critical for leaders to broaden their network beyond the people who rely on them for insights or answers. If you enjoy my conversation with Wanda, please do me a favour and share this episode with your colleagues and employees. You can also share with them our podcast page, where you can not only listen to every episode of my leadership podcast using the built-in player, but you will find links to subscribe to my show on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, and Google Podcasts. https://open.spotify.com/episode/3QbFq9DzOpL5WsBSNeUbCq?si=241da1906f474a40 Noteworthy Links: Buy Wanda's book “You Can't Know It All” on Amazon (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers). Read my article mentioned in the episode - Are You Supporting Your Organization’s New Leaders To Succeed? Learn more about Wanda's work - www.leadership-forum.com

When it comes to leadership success, a key foundational stone is your ability to gain and foster trust within the organization. So why are we continuing to see low trust levels for those in leadership positions? What's missing in our understanding about fostering trust? That's one of the questions I ask my special guest, Stephen M.R. Covey in this episode of Leadership Biz Cafe. Stephen is the cofounder of CoveyLink and the FranklinCovey Speed of Trust Practice, as well as being the former President and CEO of the Covey Leadership Center. Regarded as a global authority on trust, leadership and culture, Stephen has worked with leaders to help them understand what it takes to nurture, extend, and restore trust throughout their organization. Stephen is the author of the New York Times bestseller, “The Speed of Trust – The One Thing That Changes Everything”, which serves as the focus of my conversation with Stephen in this episode. Over the course of this episode, Stephen and I discuss: What's behind the current low levels of trust in today's leadership and what leaders can do about it. The four cores of credibility and how this impacts our ability to not only extend trust to others, but to extend trust to ourselves as well. How leaders can use results to build credibility in their leadership and with it, foster greater trust amongst their employees and stakeholders. The kind of transparency leaders need to demonstrate to build relationships built on trust. Why it's vital that leaders extend trust in their organization to avoid the growing divisiveness and fragmentation we see all around us. I can honestly tell you this is an episode that's worth listening to as Stephen offers a masterclass here on understanding the true nature of trust and how leaders can tap into this critical skill to strengthen their leadership and ability of their organization to succeed and thrive. And if you enjoy this episode, I'd appreciate it if you could share it with your colleagues and employees to help get the word out about our show so I can continue to get such thought-provoking guests as Stephen to help us all learn how to improve the way we lead. A great way to do this is just to direct people to the show's podcast page where they can find links to subscribe to my show, as well use the embedded player to listen to all episodes of this podcast to date. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ExxC1ANTtJTrLmG06DdRH?si=43ca078701c04015 Notable links: Buy Stephen's book “The Speed of Trust” on Amazon (and Amazon.ca for Canadian listeners) Learn more about Stephen's work: www.speedoftrust.com What Happened To Trust And Integrity In Today’s Organizations? What’s The Truth About Your Leadership?

When it comes to managing setbacks, the typical approach focuses on discovering what went wrong to prevent a similar issue from arising. But what we often overlook is the emotional context of managing setbacks, something I explore through a personal example in this latest edition of Leadership Espresso Shot on my leadership podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Now there's no question many of us are grappling with how to manage and lead in this unprecedented time of uncertainty. It's certainly unprecedented in how practically every industry and type of work is grappling with some form of setback and conditions that make it difficult to make concrete plans for how to get back on track. It's not surprising then why there's growing concern and wary, not just over when the pandemic will end, but how the idea of us all merely being on pause is more wishful thinking than a realistic understanding of the long-term impact and fallout from this global health crisis, but economically and socially. That's why as leaders, it's important that we not only manage expectations – and provide clarity on what people can and should expect – but that we're also paying attention to the emotional context we're creating around those expectations. In this latest edition of my ongoing Leadership Espresso Shot series, I share a personal story of something that happened to my wife and I many years ago and what it reveals about the nature of how we perceive people and events and the role our emotional state plays in shaping those understandings and expectations. In light of the numerous setbacks many of us are grappling with right now, I think this story and its message is quite timely and will leave you with much food for thought. And if you enjoy it, please do us a favour and help support this show by sharing it with your colleagues and employees. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0pOyPgJJKDKtWxWtMgXkAg?si=f93c3b286bfb405b

Many of us recognize the importance of storytelling in leadership to improve the way we communicate. But the truth is there's more than one story that a leader should be able to tell at a moment's notice in order to inspire, inform and provide direction to those they lead. So what are those different story types? That's what I'll explore with my guest, Paul Smith, in this episode of Leadership Biz Cafe. Paul is one of the world’s leading experts in business storytelling. A former consultant at Accenture and former executive at Proctor & Gamble, Paul has since done research into storytelling where he's documented over 2,000 individual stories through which he's identified the components of effective storytelling. Paul's work has been featured in Time, Inc Magazine, Forbes, and Fast Company to name a few. He's also the author of 4 books, including “The 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell”, which is the focus of my conversation with Paul in this episode. Over the course of this episode, Paul and I discuss: What are the different types of stories that leaders should have in their leadership toolkit. What kind of story leaders should use to clarify expectations. How to create a story around our organization's values that reinforces what leaders want to see and be seen for. How to craft a story that both attracts and retains employees in your organization. As I mentioned in this episode, if you've been enjoying my podcast, I'd appreciate it if you could support the show by sharing episodes with your colleagues and employees. The easiest way to do that is to share a link to our podcast page here on my website where you can listen to all episodes of the show, as well as get links to subscribe to listen to the show on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, and Google Podcasts. In the meantime, check out this episode and enjoy! https://open.spotify.com/episode/6htL1y2KSBqx9yL6HuAryG?si=dd6141a80cb04409 Noteworthy Links: Buy Paul's book “The 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell” on Amazon (or Amazon.ca). Check out “How To Use The Power Of Storytelling In Your Leadership In 3 Simple Steps”. Check out “3 Steps To Create An Organizational Vision That Energizes Employees”. Learn more about Paul's work at leadwithastory.com.

This pandemic has certainly created an unprecedented global crisis, leading to a wide range of responses and actions. In this special episode of my leadership podcast, I look at how one leader has been successfully managing this crisis and what 3 important lessons on crisis management we can learn from their example. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0GaKc47iJz3xG6gORZ916W?si=ee12b4b82c96499c

If there's one aspect of today's workplaces most of us could do without, it's office politics. And yet, the simple truth is you need to master it to grow your career. Unfortunately, for most women, this is easier said than done. So how can they overcome this hurdle and become more valued contributors to their organization? Renowned executive coach Bonnie Marcus shares how in this episode of Leadership Biz Cafe. Bonnie is a renowned executive coach who specializes in helping women decode their organization's culture in order to not only help them advance in their careers, but become stronger contributors to their organizations goals. In fact, since 2014, Bonnie has been recognized by Global Gurus as one of the top 30 coaches in the world. In addition to her coaching work, Bonnie has been a regular contributor to Forbes, as well as having her work appear in Fortune, Business Insider, Huffington Post, Psychology Today, and Fast Company. In this episode, Bonnie and I talk about her book “The Politics of Promotion: How High-Achieving Women Get Ahead and Stay Ahead”, which although geared towards women, offers some practical insights for men and women leaders who are invested in helping their employees succeed and grow. Over the course of our conversation, Bonnie and I discuss: Why navigating the world of office politics is more challenging for women than it is for men. The 4 stages to becoming more politically savvy at work. Addressing the contradiction between women expecting to be recognized for their work while at the same time not appreciating what unique value proposition they bring to the table. What women get wrong about building relationships and networking. Again, although Bonnie's work is directed at women, I can tell you I found both her book and the insights she shared in this episode illuminating and informative. In fact, I've given my copy of her book to my wife to read and will be getting copies for my daughters as well. So do take the time to check this episode out because as leaders, it's incumbent on us to better understand how we can help all of our employees bring their best and full efforts to the work they do. Also, as I mentioned in the show, I'd would really appreciate it if you could share this episode or any other episode of my leadership podcast with your employees and colleagues. We're looking to grow our audience even more and it would really help in supporting this show if you could help spread the word. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2PB3LuGqb8UG1hjXbREK0X?si=Agc1wyo-SYqzo6ne69C5oQ Noteworthy links: Buy Bonnie's book "The Politics of Promotion" on Amazon (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers). Learn more about Bonnie's work at her website: BonnieMarcusLeadership.com.

When it comes to improving our leadership skills, there's an understandable tendency to seek insights on how to succeed at leadership. But what about taking a closer examination at how we lead to better understand the ways that we fail at leadership? It's something I explore through one leader's example in this episode of the Leadership Biz Cafe podcast. If I were to ask you right now to think of the name of a leader, what names come to mind? Many times when I ask this question in my leadership keynotes or training sessions, the typical answers I get are Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, Malala Yousafzai, Richard Branson, and Mother Teresa. Invariably, the reason why these individuals are on top of mind for so many people is because each of them in their own way serves as inspiration for how to face adversity or challenges and come out stronger and better in the end. Of course, as I remind my audience in this exercise, as much as we should make note of those leaders who overcame various challenges to achieve their vision, we should also be mindful of those leaders whose personal actions and behaviours, and for some outright hubris, lead them astray and ultimately their downfall as leaders of their organization. One of the more recent examples of this kind of leadership failure is former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn. Under Winterkorn's leadership, Volkswagen manipulated their car software to make it appear as though their cars met various international emissions standards. While Winterkorn has claimed he had no knowledge this was going on, the fact remains as CEO, Winterkorn's actions and behaviours lead to a culture where such dishonest practices could be employed, ultimately leading to both financial losses as well as an erosion of consumer trust in the Volkswagen brand. However, in this edition of Leadership Espresso Shot, rather than focus on such a high profile leadership example as Winterkorn's, I'd like to share a more personal example of a leader I once worked with as it will show how it's often not these major violations of trust (and the law) that can lead to us to fail as leaders. Rather, it's often everyday actions and behaviours we are taking that end up taking away any chances we may have to succeed at leadership. So do check out this episode and learn from the example of this leader to make sure you're not just putting measures in to succeed at leadership, but you're also this critical area where so many fail when it comes to effective leadership. Again, as a reminder, if you've been enjoying my podcast, please help support it by sharing this or other episodes with your colleagues or team. One of the easiest ways to do this is simply to share a link to my show's podcast page where they can listen to all of the episodes to date on that page, as well as find links to subscribe to listen to my podcast on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, and Google Podcasts. It's a small ask, but you'll be doing me and this show a big service. Thanks for your help in supporting this leadership podcast. https://open.spotify.com/episode/7GIcsL3mzNedNP1unQXCNZ?si=8db52f3ded274c0a

It's become a reality of today's workplace that many of us feel swamped with demands on both our time and attention. But is the problem less a question of how we manage our time and more about how to better manage what we pay attention to? That's the idea I'll be exploring further with international speaker and trainer Maura Nevel Thomas in this episode of “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Maura is the most widely-cited authority on attention management, in addition to her work on productivity and work-life balance. Her insights on attention management have been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, and Huffington Post, and she's also a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review. She's the author of three books, including her latest “Attention Management – How To Create Success And Gain Productivity Every Day”, which serves as the focus of this episode. Over the course of our conversation, Maura and I talk about: How attention management differs from all the other time management strategies out there – and why this one actually improves productivity in the long run. The four different types of attention management and how to balance when to use them. How being in a state of “flow” allows us to do our best work. Why our ability to do our best work is dependent on allowing our minds to rest and wander. The biggest hurdle leaders face in learning to manage their attention instead of managing their time. Now if you’ve been enjoying my leadership podcast, I’d be grateful if you could share my podcast with your colleagues or your team. The best way to do this is to share a link to the podcast page on my website, where they can find all past episodes of my podcast, as well as links to subscribe on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher Radio. Taking the time to get the word out about my leadership podcast will help me to continue to bring more of these insights into how you can succeed at leadership. https://open.spotify.com/episode/11RmgzEyxxV2MWP0BipYMM?si=3bff10fda5f24ea8 Noteworthy links: Buy “Attention Management – How To Create Success And Gain Productivity Every Day” on Amazon (or Amazon.ca for Canadian listeners). Learn more about Maura's work at maurathomas.com.

Most people who choose to become leaders do so with the best of intentions because they naturally want to succeed. So why is it still common to hear people saying they left not because of their organization, but because of their boss? That's the question I get to the heart of with leadership expert Victoria Roos Olsson in this episode of “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Victoria Roos Olsson is a senior leadership consultant working with FranklinCovey, as well as a keynote speaker and author. She has lead learning and development organisations for large corporations across Europe and the Middle East. In fact, learning is one of her key interests and she loves to learn new things, as well as passing on knowledge to see others grow. She is also the co-author of the book “Everyone Deserves a Great Manager”, which is the focus of this episode. Among the topics Victoria and I discuss: Why one-on-one meetings are so critical to leadership success – provided you have the right mindset about how you approach them. Five energy drivers leaders can employ to boost their energy in meetings in order to be more present and engaged. The importance of taking not just small breaks, but longer ones during our work week so that we can renew and recharge and really bring our best efforts to our leadership. What signs to look out for to know it's time to ease off the drive to get things done and take a moment to catch our breaths before that next big wave of demands hits our shore. The truth about current leadership development practices in most organizations today – and how it's setting up the next generation of leaders to fail. As I mention in this episode, if you've been enjoying my leadership podcast, I'd appreciate it if you could share my show with your colleagues or your team. Just direct them to check out the podcast page on my website, where they can listen to every episode of my podcast, of if they prefer, find links to subscribe on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher Radio. By helping us get the word out about this show, you can help us continue to bring more of these insights into how you can succeed at leadership. https://open.spotify.com/episode/32woFDmHuqK5RSWfx9etj3?si=23cfccaa5c7649bb Noteworthy links: Buy Victoria's book “Everyone Deserves a Great Manager” on Amazon (or Amazon.ca for Canadian listeners). Learn more about Victoria's work.

Have you ever worked for a leader who inspired you to do your best work? Why were they able to? What was their secret? It's a question I aim to answer by sharing a personal story of working for one such leader in this latest installment of Leadership Espresso Shot for this 50th episode of my leadership podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”. If you're like me, you've probably had your share of horrible to mediocre bosses and if you're lucky, you've also had a few bosses who truly exemplified what it means to be a leader. And maybe luckier still, that working for these bosses not only allowed you to do some of your best work, but also helped you learned a little bit about yourself and where your real purpose lies. I can honestly say I've had the good fortune of working for two such leaders and although it's been many, many years since the time I work under their leadership, their example and the lessons they taught me about leadership and how I can make a difference still echo and influence the work I do today. And so, to celebrate the 50th episode of my leadership podcast, I'm not only unveiling a brand new theme for my show, but I'm using this as an opportunity to share a story about one of these leaders and what was his secret to inspiring the best from his employees. Indeed, if I were to put together a list of the best work I've ever done, some of the work I did for this leader would definitely be near the top of that list. And a reminder, these Leadership Espresso Shot installments are exactly what visual this name inspires – these are short, concentrated doses of leadership insights and inspiration that while short in duration, nonetheless pack a powerful punch in helping you to strengthen your leadership craft. So check out the 50th episode of my leadership podcast and if you enjoy it (as well as past episodes of my show), please be sure to share it with others to help spread the word about my podcast. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5avUslXiXME7AljyFMXic2?si=0ba3d15e2f1a4d4b

Digital transformation has become a key focus for many organizations. But is the focus leaders put on digital transformation too limited and consequently leading organizations to miss out on the real potential of digital transformation? That's the focus of my talk with Cisco Chair and IMD Director, Michael Wade in this episode of my podcast, "Leadership Biz Cafe". Michael Wade is the Cisco Chair in Digital Business Transformation and a Professor of Innovation and Strategy at IMD Business School. He is also the Director of the Global Center for Digital Business Transformation, an IMD and Cisco Initiative. Before that, Michael was the Academic Director of the Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA Program in Canada. Michael has been named one of the top ten digital thought leaders in Switzerland and he has published works on a variety of topics, including digital business transformation, innovation, strategy, and digital leadership. He’s the author of more than thirty case studies and eight books, his latest being “Orchestrating Transformation: How To Deliver Winning Performance with a Connected Approach to Change”, which serves as the focus of my conversation with Michael for this episode. Over the course of our conversation, Michael and I discuss: The one mistake a majority of leaders make when it comes to digital transformation. What's behind the high rate of failure seen with most digital transformation initiatives. The four types of change and where digital transformation fits in. What's a transformation orchestra and how it applies to the way today's organization operates. Don't forget to visit my podcast page where you can listen to all episodes of my podcast, as well as find links to subscribe on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher Radio, as well as links to the show notes for every episode. And if you’re enjoying my podcast, please share it with your colleagues, your team and your boss so that others in your organization can benefit from these insights as well. https://open.spotify.com/episode/6QAvqN05fogzahx7S0o01o?si=f4e36ed3cb3f4c41 Noteworthy Links: Buy "Orchestrating Transformation" on Amazon (or Amazon.ca for Canadian listeners). Learn more about Michael's work at orchestratingtransformation.com.

If someone were to ask you what 3 personal lessons do you attribute as being key to your success, what would you say? It's a question I've been asked and I thought it would be fun to share the answers in this 10th edition of Leadership Espresso Shot on my leadership podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Of course, the motivation behind this being the theme of this episode is not simply because this is the 10th episode in this Leadership Espresso Shot series. Rather, as I've mentioned previously here on my blog, I've been in a celebratory mood around the fact that my leadership firm, Tanveer Naseer Leadership, has celebrated its 10 year anniversary alongside reaching the 10 year milestone in writing for my award-winning and internationally acclaimed leadership blog. When we come upon such important milestones, there should naturally be a desire to not only celebrate the achievements, but to also reflect on what it took to get there. Of what hard-earned lessons were revealed that made the journey possible and success attainable. Of course, when you achieve success, it's only natural for people to want to learn what you've learned, of what insights you can impart that might help them better understand and navigate their own path towards their own version of success and fulfillment. And so, given the alignment of so many milestones for my company, my leadership blog, and my leadership podcast, I wanted to share something that's been inspired by the many conversations I've had with attendees of my leadership keynotes and corporate training sessions who were curious to learn the journey I took to get to where I am today professionally. In some ways, one could also say it's a bit of a behind the scenes look at the realities of running a long-running leadership blog and podcast. And rest assured, there's definitely a couple of heaping teaspoons of actionable advice that you can put into use right now. Put altogether, there's no question this episode lives up to that idea of being a concentrated dose of leadership insights and advice, if not also a compelling reason to take a few minutes out of your day to give this a listen to learn how you can improve the way you lead going forward. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0fTZ1FwBs8dewjWd8YSYDU?si=8ccc978063844959

Creating alignment in your organization's various processes is critical to being able to achieve your long term goals? But what about creating alignment in terms of how you relate to one another? And how do you go about achieving that? CEO and author Susan Steinbrecher describes how in this latest episode of my leadership podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Susan is a business consultant, licensed mediator, and the president and CEO of Steinbrecher And Associates, Inc. a management consulting firm. She's an Inc.com columnist and has been featured in The New York Times and Entrepreneur.com. Susan is also the author of 3 books, including her latest “Meaningful Alignment: Mastering Emotionally Intelligent Interactions at Work and in Life”, which is the focus of this episode. Over the course of this episode, Susan and I discuss: What is meaningful alignment and why it's as critical to your success as a leader as achieving alignment in your value chain, business processes, etc. What positive (and negative) impacts arise from addressing meaningful alignment to the way you lead. How to balance the current need for more rapid responses against the competing need for making time to understand why your employees perform/behave the way they do. How a person's intention is different from their behaviour and how you can go about separating our perception of these two. A powerful 6 step technique leaders can use to better manage their employee's emotions in those difficult, but necessary conversations. Check out my podcast page where you can listen to all episodes of my podcast, as well as find links to subscribe to my show on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher Radio, as well as links to the show notes for every episode. And if you're enjoying my podcast, please share it with your colleagues, your team and even your boss so that others in your organization can benefit from these insights as well. https://open.spotify.com/episode/6vlKfyd40cEVl34ghWzVe0?si=f247d1360f4b4435 Noteworthy Links: Buy Susan's book “Meaningful Alignment” on Amazon (or Amazon.ca for Canadian listeners). Take the Interpersonal Dialogue Assessment for free at MeaningfulAlignment.com. Learn more about Susan on her website: steinbrecher.com

Without question, one of the skills to succeed at leadership is being an effective communicator. And one of the best ways to communicate a vision is through the use of storytelling. So how can we use this tool more effectively? That's the focus of this latest episode of my leadership podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Of course, being both a keynote speaker and writer, the art of storytelling and using stories to convey an idea or concept is something I'm quite familiar with. In fact, I've had quite a few conference attendees either email me or come up to me at a conference or meeting and share with me how a particular idea I shared all those months an even years ago that I shared in one of my talks has stuck with them because of the story I used to illustrate the message I wanted to impart to my audience. I even remember a dinner conversation with the CEO of a healthcare organization following my corporate training session with various leaders in his organization and how he complemented me on my use of stories to not simply illustrate a big picture perspective, but to pull out concrete actions his leaders could take today based on what they learned through hearing that story. As he told me 'in my 30 years working as a leader, I don't remember anyone getting excited at the sight of a pie chart or graph. But you share with them a story about how they're helping our company to make a difference and you can't help but feel the energy rise in the room. You can't get them to care unless you talk to them about what they care about.' As such, I'm sure it'll come as no surprise that I've decided to share with you a personal story of a team leader I worked with who's experiences proposing a new change initiative within our organizations reveals 3 simple steps any leader can take to tap into the power of storytelling in this latest installment of my Leadership Espresso Shot feature. And just as a reminder, Leadership Espresso Shot are short episodes that pack a powerful leadership lesson meant to be either a daily dose of leadership inspiration, or practical steps you can put into action today. These segments are inspired by some of the ideas I share in my leadership keynotes or corporate training events. So in addition to giving you a concentrated dose (hence espresso shot) of thought provoking content of ideas to consider, they also give you a glimpse into my offerings through my keynotes and corporate training engagements. And with that, hit the play button below and learn from one leader's experience of how you can use storytelling to improve the way you lead. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2vplva3D5fIprXOWJMuMXw?si=fa8e1bb809344eaa

One of the key responsibilities of leaders is helping their employees to achieve their goals. And yet, with all the distractions and increased demands we face, sometimes this is easier said than done. Thankfully, Warren Buffet has shared a surprisingly simply strategy to successfully achieve our goals, a strategy I share in this episode of my podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Obviously, I don't want to give it away here on my blog as I'd rather you listen to this edition of show's feature “Leadership Espresso Shot”, which as the name infers are these short, but powerful segments that dive right in and give you some wonderful insights to improve the way you lead your team and organization. And at only 11 minutes long, this episode is the perfect length to listen to as you go get a fresh cup of coffee (or tea for those tea drinkers out there) to either start your day or to keep the day going strong. On a side note, I have to say I'm delighted by the response this new feature has been getting from my audience. As we're fast approaching episode #10 of this feature, it's wonderful to see how much listeners are enjoying these segments in between interviews with thought leaders and experts whose insights can help you succeed at leadership. So thanks again for all the notes and comments and especially questions you'd like answered (keep them all coming!) and with that, get ready to hit play on this latest installment of “Leadership Espresso Shot” on my podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Enjoy! https://open.spotify.com/episode/5NsysO7bNI8QcsZOVBFFcM?si=2211d0b9c8094bb2

Conflict is something most of us tend to avoid because we view it as being negative and counter-productive. But what if we're seeing this wrong? Could conflict actually be productive and beneficial for our team? That's the focus of my conversation with organizational psychologist and bestselling author Dr. Liane Davey in this episode of my leadership podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Liane is the New York Times bestselling author of “You First: Inspire Your Team to Grow Up, Get Along, and Get Stuff Done.” She is also a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review and an organizational psychology expert for Quartz magazine. As the co-founder of 3COze, she advises on business strategy and executive team effectiveness and has worked with executives at companies such as Amazon, Walmart, Aviva, TD Bank, 3M, and SONY PlayStation. In this episode, we'll be talking about her book, “The Good Fight: Use Productive Conflict to Get Your Team and Organization Back on Track”. Over the course of this episode, Liane and I discuss: What is “conflict debt” and why we should be doing our best to avoid amassing this kind of debt. The three behaviours we all do that can fuel conflicts instead of addressing the underlying roots. Why it's important to understand the difference between conflict aversion and conflict avoidance. Steps you can take today to reduce unnecessary workplace conflicts. Tapping into the power of connection to transform conflict into an opportunity to learn and understand. So give this episode a listen and if you enjoy it, please do share it with others in our organization or your network so that they might also gain these insights on how to transform conflict from something that harms to something that helps. https://open.spotify.com/episode/6vGNTNww97vLFZK6BbClqo?si=fba455e87f764910 Noteworthy Links: Buy Liane's book “The Good Fight” on Amazon (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers) Visit Liane's company site: 3COze How Leaders Create The Right Environment To Resolve Team Conflicts 4 Keys To Successfully Resolving Conflicts in the Workplace 6 Steps To Strengthen Team Cohesion

In today's competitive market, it's critical that leaders use every tool at their disposal to ensure their organization's success. But how many of us are tapping into the power of expectations and the benefits it gives rise to? It's an idea I explore through a wonderful story I share in this episode of my leadership podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”. When it comes to being effective as a leader, there are many factors that you have to always keep in focus – from communicating a coherent strategy for how your employees will go about achieving the goals you've set out for them, to being consistent in your feedback and guidance about their overall performance and contributions to your organization's shared purpose. Weaving these various aspects of leadership together, of course, is not just how effective you are as a communicator, but also how clear you are about the expectations you have, both in terms of what you are looking for your employees to accomplish, as well as in terms of what your customers should look forward to receiving from your organization in terms of its products and/or services. Now this might seem like a given in the process to defining a goal and setting out a strategy to achieve it, what we expect from others – and what others should expect from us – is often the missing ingredient that's necessary to successfully move from ideation to successful attainment. To help illustrate this point, I share a story in this latest episode of an interaction between an employee and his leader that reveals how the power of expectations can not only ensure our employees sustain their internal motivation to keep showing up to deliver their best, but how this can be achieved simply by recognizing how every contribution matters. I don't want to give away too much as it's a wonderful story that not only reminds us of the power of small gestures, but what we as leaders should be doing to ensure our employees remain committed to the work they need to do to help our organization achieve its goals. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Ezv0edy8azb4fuujuqo7t?si=b3ac09024867413e

For most leaders, improving the way we lead involves developing new strategies and/or processes to be more effective in getting the best out of others. But shouldn't we focusing more on better connecting who we are with how we lead? That's the idea I explore with renowned CEO coach John Mattone in this episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast. John Mattone is a best-selling author and one of the world’s most in-demand CEO coaches and leadership speakers. Since 2017, he has been recognized by Globalgurus.org as one of the top 3 coaching authorities in the world alongside Tony Robbins and Marshall Goldsmith. John Mattone is the former executive coach to the late Steve Jobs and the former legendary CEO of PepsiCo, Roger Enrico. John's work has been featured in several media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CNN, Fast Company, and Thinkers50. He serves on the executive MBA faculty at FAU and is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Hult International School of Business. John is the author of nine books, including 3 best-sellers. On this episode, we'll be diving into his latest book “The Intelligent Leader – Unlocking 7 Secrets To Leading Others and Leaving Your Legacy”. Over the course of this episode, John and I discuss: How the key to improving the way we act and what people see in us as leaders is directly linked to who we are inside, to what John calls our “inner core”. Why leaders need to be more courageous in taking the feedback they get from 360 assessments to heart in order to create lasting change and with it, enduring success. The one thing most leaders fail to do that's so critical to succeeding in today's faster-paced, always on digital world. The power that comes from moving from being vulnerable because of what happens to you to making the decision to bring more vulnerability to the way you lead. Why leaders can no longer afford to make the excuse of being too busy in their work days to make time to connect in a meaningful way with their employees. As I mentioned at the end of this episode, if you enjoy this episode and gained some new insights, why not share this episode with your employees, your colleagues, or maybe even your boss. Just direct them to the podcast page at tanveernaseer.com/lbc where they can find links to listen to this podcast on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher Radio. Thanks and let me know what you think of what John has to say about how to go about improving the way you lead. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2gHko6IEWkA8EJoCxglPry?si=83961155bab24104 Noteworthy links: Learn more about John Mattone's work at JohnMattone.com. Buy John's book “The Intelligent Leader” on Amazon (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).

Key to succeeding at leadership in today is our ability to learn new skills to improve the way we lead. But how can we consistently apply these new skills over the long run, instead of falling back on old habits? In this episode of Leadership Biz Cafe, I share 3 simple steps that will make your learning more effective. As I share in this episode of my leadership podcast, this topic was inspired by a question I got from one of my listeners about how to make sure that when leaders at his organization attend conferences or corporate training events, they take what they've learned and apply it to how they lead their divisions, and not slowly revert back to their previous day-to-day work routines Now I've been asked this question many times at the various leadership keynotes and corporate training events I lead. In fact, I even have a leadership keynote, “Shifting from Training People to Continuously Improving Talent” that I created in response to fielding this question from so many leaders on how to ensure their learning and development initiatives they provide to their employees truly pay off over the long run. Granted, there's no way I can distill an hour leadership keynote into a short 15 minute episode. So what I decided to do was use the wonderful book “Made To Stick” by Chip and Dan Heath, research from a Stanford neuroscientist and a Harvard psychologist who was a guest on a previous episode of my leadership podcast, along with the productivity secret of a well known, highly successful person to create a framework of 3 simple steps that will make the insights and skills you learn stick. (It's so good I'm actually thinking of adapting it into some of my leadership keynotes and corporate training programs). The simple fact is that part of dealing with change and change management is our ability to be adaptive and resilient. And that requires we not only be able to make time to learn about new insights, behaviours and skills that can help facilitate us with these changes, but that we retain that learning so we can change our perception and outlook and with it, how we operate on a given day. While I can't give you a detailed map of how you're going to achieve this from start to finish, the 3 steps I share in this episode will help make sure that whatever skill or behaviour you want to adapt as part of your leadership toolkit not only sticks, but helps you drive the outcomes that will fuel your organization's success and longevity. It's a power-packed 15 minutes that will no doubt change both the way you view learning, as well as how you learn. So be sure to grab a pen and paper and let the learning begin! https://open.spotify.com/episode/2yQZVIlGwMtBn0xjMFWz9p?si=266aa4cd89be4064

One key to succeeding at leadership is creating a workplace environment that empowers employees to commit their best efforts. To that end, shouldn't leaders also be looking at measures to improve employee health and wellness to help attract and retain employees? That's the focus of my conversation with Virgin Pulse CEO David Osborne in this latest episode of my podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”. As CEO of the world’s largest, most comprehensive digital health and well-being provider, David is responsible for optimizing and scaling Virgin Pulse as the company continues an aggressive growth strategy. He is responsible for setting and actualizing the company’s vision – solving the most critical and complex health and well-being challenges faced by employers and employees. David joined Virgin Pulse as chief operating officer in 2016, following the company’s acquisitions of GCC and ShapeUp. As CEO, he has accelerated Virgin Pulse’s growth and expansion, with several successful mergers and acquisitions, all aimed at simplifying and improving the health and well-being journey. Over the course of this episode, David and I discuss: Why leaders need to make employee health and wellness a key leadership focus – and why this strategy can actually improve your organization's profitability. What a recent study reveals as 4 critical steps organizations need to take to establish and sustain health and wellness as a key organizational value and an integral part of an organization's culture. How leaders can ensure their efforts are successful in promoting health and wellness in their organization. The connection behavioural science has shown between taking little steps and changing behaviours and how this can help drive employee health and wellness initiatives. If you'd like to check out previous episodes of my show, check out my podcast page where you can also find links to subscribe to my show on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher Radio, as well as links to the show notes for every episode. And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your colleagues, your team and even your boss so that others in your organization can benefit from these insights. Without question, David is a seasoned and successful CEO having overseen the mergers and acquisitions of over 7 companies at Virgin Pulse. So it's certainly worth taking a half an hour of your time to learn from him why employee health and wellness is fast becoming a critical leadership priority. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1on2bwtshORLg06GeTQPuX?si=59029e93bd9b498e

Driving collaborative efforts in today's workplaces has certainly become a key focus for many leaders. Unfortunately, there's a common mistake many leaders make about promoting collaboration, a mistake that I reveal alongside 3 powerful strategies to boost collaboration in this fifth edition of my podcast feature, Leadership Espresso Shot. My podcast feature, Leadership Espresso Shot, is a new series of episodes that are designed to be short listens that feature a concentrated dose of insights and actionable advice that are typical of what I'd share with leaders who attend my keynotes or corporate training sessions. If you didn’t catch the previous four editions of Leadership Espresso Shot, you can find those along with other past episodes of my podcast on the Leadership Biz Cafe podcast page. You can also find there links to subscribe to my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher Radio, as well as links to the show notes for every episode. And speaking of which, I'm also delighted to announce that you can now also find my show on iHeartRadio! I just got word from the iHeartRadio team yesterday and I can tell you, I'm excited to join the iHeartRadio platform to help continue grow my audience as I can continue to share insights on how to improve the way you lead today. As always, I’d appreciate it if you could subscribe, rate, and comment about my show on your preferred podcasting streaming platform to help continue to support this show. And now, check out my latest Leadership Espresso Shot. Again, it's a short listen, but it will leave you with 3 powerful strategies that you can start using today to help boost collaboration in your organization.

Over the past few years, there's been a greater acceptance that one critical measure to succeeding at leadership is building and nurturing relationships amongst those you lead. Unfortunately, every few months a new study comes out revealing that many organizations continue to lose employees to their competitors because employees don't feel heard and understood. Meanwhile, a majority of leaders still consider themselves to be good listeners. So why are leaders convinced they're good listeners when the evidence says otherwise? And what can they do about it? That's the focus of my conversation with Oscar Trimboli in this episode of my Leadership Biz Cafe podcast. Oscar Trimboli is an author, keynote speaker, and host of the podcast, Deep Listening. Since his time working as a marketing director at Vodafone and Microsoft, Oscar has been driven by both a passion for helping others become better listeners both at work at and home, as well by his goal to create 100 million Deep Listeners across the world. Oscar has worked with executives and teams at Cisco, Google, PayPal, Qantas, and TripAdvisor to learn how to become better listeners for both employees and customers. Over the course of this episode, some of the topics Oscar and I discuss include: Why so many leaders have poor listening skills even though most leaders believe they're good listeners.How our brains set us up to be bad listeners because of a gap between how many words we can speak and how many words we can hear.3 surprisingly simple things you can do right now that will make you a much better listener.The 5 levels of listening that are necessary to become an effective listener.The difference between distracted listening and deep listening.What are the 4 villains of listening and which one you're most likely under the influence of. Don’t forget you can now stream all episodes from my show, and find the show notes for past episodes, as well as find links to listen to my show on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and Stitcher Radio on the podcast page on my website. Finally, I’d appreciate it if you could subscribe, rate, and comment about my show on your preferred podcasting streaming platform to help continue to support this show. Click on the player below to listen to the podcast: Noteworthy links: Visit Oscar Trimboli's website - listeningmyths.com3 Keys For Building Relationships With Those You Lead Why Leadership Should Be Hard How Do You Inspire Others Through Your Leadership?

Earlier this month, my second daughter turned 18 years old. I'll admit it's crazy at times to think the little girl who's artwork used to adorn a previous version of this site is now old enough to vote in Canada's upcoming federal election. But while there are times I miss holding the hand of that little girl who walked alongside me, I must admit I enjoy the conversations I have with her and my other adult daughter about their dreams and aspirations of what type of work they'd like to direct their talents and skills into. Of course, the interesting thing about talking about our dreams for the future is that it seems to be something we think is the sole purview of the young. That at some point in time, we have to let reality in and cast aside those hopeful aspirations of what we can do and who we can become. The irony is that while there may be political and social strife in certain Western countries these days, the fact is that we are living in a time where we can in fact make our dreams a reality. And for leaders of today's organizations, this actually a powerful motivating force that they need to be putting more consideration and thought into how to nurture and empower it within their workforce. It's an idea that I examine in this latest episode of my podcast feature, Leadership Espresso Shot, which are short episodes that pack a powerful leadership lesson or insight that, in this case, is meant to leaders to understand the untapped potential that exists within their workforce and why they shouldn't let it go to waste. These segments are based on some of the lessons and actionable advice I share with leaders who attend my keynotes or corporate training sessions, so in addition to giving you some important insights and ideas to consider, they also give you a glimpse into what I offer through these types of speaking and training engagements. If you didn’t catch the previous ones, you can stream them as well as past episodes of my podcast – as well as find the show notes for all episodes on our Leadership Biz Cafe podcast page. You can also find there links to listen to my show on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and Stitcher Radio. Finally, I’d appreciate it if you could subscribe, rate, and comment about my show on your preferred podcasting streaming platform to help continue to support this show. And with that, please do check out this latest episode. Again, it's a short listen, but I promise you it will leave you with much food for thought. Noteworthy links: My TED talk: Forget Passion - Purpose is the Real Spice of Life Are You Helping Employees Find Purpose In What They Do? 3 Key Steps To Finding Purpose In What You Do 3 Steps To Create An Organizational Vision That Energizes Employees A Powerful Lesson On What It Takes To Succeed At Leadership

There's no question that leadership is hard work and requires a diverse tool kit of skills and abilities to do the job well. But are there actions and behaviours leaders are employing that are actually impeding their ability to succeed in their role? That's the focus of my conversation with this episode's guest, Scott Miller. Scott is the Executive Vice President of Business Development and Chief Marketing Officer for FranklinCovey, a global consulting and training leader in the areas of strategy execution, customer loyalty, leadership and individual effectiveness. Prior to joining FranklinCovey, Scott worked for the Disney Development Company, the real-estate development division of The Walt Disney Company. He has a new book out called “Management Mess to Leadership Success – 30 Challenges To Become the Leader You Would Follow”, which serves as the focus of this episode of my leadership podcast. Over the course of this episode, some of the topics Scott and I discuss include: Why it's important for leaders to 'carry their own weather' Why leaders need to challenge their mindset in order to ensure their ability to drive long-term success and growth.How leaders can approach difficult conversations without the fear most of us have about having these conversations with our employees or colleagues.How “pre-forgiveness” can help leaders right the wrongs we all will inevitably make at some point in our careers.How leaders can strike a balance between sticking to their convictions about what's best for the organization while at the same time allowing employees to feel heard and understood about their concerns/issues?Why leaders really need to make the time to celebrate wins with their employees. Don’t forget you can now stream all episodes from my show, and find the show notes for past episodes, as well as find links to listen to my show on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and Stitcher Radio on the podcast page on my website. Finally, I’d appreciate it if you could subscribe, rate, and comment about my show on your preferred podcasting streaming platform to help continue to support this show. Noteworthy links: Buy Scott Miller's book “Management Mess to Leadership Success – 30 Challenges To Become the Leader You Would Follow” on Amazon (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).A Lesson On Bringing Out The Best In Those You LeadAre You Missing This Critical Element In Your Leadership?The One Thing Exceptional Leaders Never Forget

The arrival of summer-like weather often leads not only to people spending more time outdoors, shaking off the dreariness of the winter months, but also discussions and planning of summer vacation breaks and spending time with family and friends away from work. Or at least it used to be. Every year, there's another study that comes out pointing out how employees are taking less and less time off from work. This year, for example, there was a study that found that only 28% of US employees plan to use all their vacation days, and 4% plan on taking none. And another study by Glassdoor found that 66% of employees admitted that they do work while on vacation. While there are many benefits that we can gain from going on vacation, a study done by researchers at Wharton reveals why taking time off work can help us achieve our goals for this year. It's an idea I explore in this latest episode of my podcast feature, Leadership Espresso Shot, which are short, quick listens that pack a powerful leadership lesson or insight that you can put into action right away to improve the way you lead going forward. These segments are based on some of the lessons and actionable advice I share with leaders who attend my keynotes or corporate training sessions, so in addition to giving you some important insights and ideas to consider, they also give you a glimpse into what I offer through these types of speaking and training engagements. If you didn't catch the previous ones, you can stream them as well as past episodes of my podcast - as well as find the show notes for all episodes on our Leadership Biz Cafe podcast page. You can also find there links to listen to my show on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and Stitcher Radio. Finally, I’d appreciate it if you could subscribe, rate, and comment about my show on your preferred podcasting streaming platform to help continue to support this show. And with that, please do check out this latest episode. If you're debating over whether to take a vacation break at any time this year, I'd like to encourage you to take 16 minutes of your time to listen to this episode and discover the connection science has shown exists between taking time off work and our ability to achieve the goals we set out to attain this year.

These days there's a lot of focus on organizational culture in terms of its ability to attract and retain employees in today's shrinking labour market. Naturally, any discussion of an organization's culture also includes an examination of its values, which serve to articulate what that culture looks like in action. And yet, despite this growing focus on organizational culture and values, we continue to see example after example of companies outwardly claiming their organization stands for one thing, but then being caught doing the exact opposite. So how can leaders not only adopt but promote organizational values that impact every decision, choice and behaviour made in the workplace, as opposed to simply being these lofty ideals we simply pay lip service to? That's the focus of this episode and my conversation with brand and change management expert, Mory Fontanez. Mory Fontanez is the founder and CEO of the Eight 22 Group, a consulting firm that describes their focus as being around value-based transformation. Using her expertise in reputation and change management, Mory has worked with several Fortune 500 companies including Hewlett Packard, Mars, Inc, Royal Dutch Shell, AstraZeneca, J.P. Morgan Chase and GE. Prior to founding her own consultancy firm, Mory served as Managing Director of Global Client Strategy at Edelman where she worked with clients to help develop strategies to achieve their reputational, cultural and marketing objectives. Over the course of this episode, Mory and I discuss: Why an organization's values might not be as clearly understood as leaders might think and what to do about it.How to transform your values from being merely inspirational to actionable ones that become touch points in how your organization operates.How to avoid that issue seen in many organizations where they claim certain organizational values only to be caught violating the very behaviours they claim to be driven by.How leaders can co-create organizational values with employees to ensure these values connect and resonate with what matters to employees.How creating values focused around purpose-driven work can help foster greater diversity and inclusion, something that's known to drive innovation and overall growth.How to balance using organizational values as being cardinal points that direct the way we act and behave against giving room for people to experiment, fail, and learn to help the organization stretch, evolve, and grow. Don’t forget you can now stream all episodes from my show, and find the show notes for past episodes, as well as find links to listen to my show on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and Stitcher Radio on the brand new Leadership Biz Cafe podcast page on my website. Finally, I’d appreciate it if you could subscribe, rate, and comment about my show on your preferred podcasting streaming platform to help continue to support this show. Noteworthy links: Do Your Organization’s Values Reflect What It Stands For? What We Get Wrong About Authenticity In Leadership 3 Steps To Create An Organizational Vision That Energizes Employees What Happened To Trust And Integrity In Today’s Organizations?

If you're a regular reader of my leadership blog, one thing you'll probably notice is how I love to draw inspiration and insight into how we can improve the way we lead from the most unexpected places. And I can't think of a more unexpected place to find an example that can illustrate a valuable lesson on leadership than sharing the story about one comedian's big break and the powerful lesson it reveals about it takes to succeed at leadership. Now I'm not going to give away the punchline here (see what I did there?), but let me just say that this comedian has appeared on The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, as well as the internationally renowned comedy festival, Just For Laughs, held every summer here in Montreal, Canada. And for this comedian, none of these career moments were what he sees as being his big break. I share this and more in this latest episode of my podcast feature, Leadership Espresso Shot. Just a quick reminder, with the Leadership Espresso Shot feature, I’ll select a specific idea around leadership and share with you insights and tools to improve the way you lead going forward. These are typically the kinds of lessons and actionable advice I share with leaders who attend my keynotes or corporate training sessions, which is why I’m excited to now have a new platform to share these with my podcast audience as well. And don’t forget you can now stream all episodes from my show, and find the show notes for past episodes, as well as find links to listen to my show on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and Stitcher Radio on the brand new Leadership Biz Cafe podcast page on my website. Finally, I’d appreciate it if you could subscribe, rate, and comment about my show on your preferred podcasting streaming platform to help continue to support this show. And with that, please do check out this latest episode. Trust me when I say, the lessons this comedian's story helps to illustrate will really help you better appreciate the value you bring as a leader to your organization, something the best leaders out there consistently recognize and focus on in how they lead those around them.

When it comes to leadership, many of us have developed habits or strategies that have served us well in not only achieving our organization's goals, but driving future growth and success. But is it possible that at times the conventional wisdom we've come to rely on about our leadership might actually impede or even derail our efforts going forward? That's the focus of my conversation with leadership development expert and author, Sara Canaday. Sara is, like myself, a leadership speaker and author, and after more than 20 years working in the corporate world, she now runs her own firm Sara Canaday and Associates. Sara has been featured in a number of media outlets, including Forbes, The Huffington Post, Psychology Today, and CNBC. She has also authored her second book called “Leadership Unchained: Defy Conventional Wisdom For Breakthrough Performance.” Some of the topics Sara and I discuss over the course of our conversation include: A simple measure that will help you overcome the bias for action and provide greater clarity for your employees.Why we need to not only rely on experts, but on “outsiders” to help bring greater cognitive diversity to our decision making.A proven strategy Pixar uses that helps leaders to break free from perceptual biases to not only improve decision-making, but foster greater collaboration and sense of belonging amongst employees. What leaders can learn from Nokia's decline about the importance of “soft intelligence” to help better understand and navigate today's ever-changing business landscape. As I mentioned in this episode, I’m delighted to announce that my podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe” is now available for streaming on Spotify, in addition to Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, TuneIn, PlayerFM, and several other podcast streaming platforms. Also, you can now stream all episodes from my show, and find the show notes for past episodes, as well as find links for listen to my show on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and Stitcher Radio on the brand new Leadership Biz Cafe podcast page on my website. Finally, I’d appreciate it if you could subscribe, rate, and comment about my show on your preferred podcasting streaming platform to help continue to support this show. Noteworthy Links: Buy Sara Canaday's book on Amazon (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers) Check out these articles that build on what’s discussed in the show: 3 Easy Steps To Energize Collaboration And Drive Success 4 Steps To Becoming More Inquisitive As Leaders 6 Steps To Strengthen Team Cohesion

Some of you may not know this, but I've been writing this blog for over 10 years now, which of course, means that you end up covering a lot of different topics and ideas around leadership. But what it also means is that after a point, you get the urge to shake things up and try something new. It's with this in mind that I'm pleased to share this latest episode of my leadership podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe” where I inaugurate this brand new feature, Leadership Espresso Shot. With the Leadership Espresso Shot feature, I'll select a specific idea around leadership and share with you insights and tools to improve the way you lead going forward. Normally, these are the kinds of lessons and actionable advice I share with audience members that attend my keynotes or corporate training sessions, which is why I'm excited to now have a new platform to share these with my podcast audience as well. Now if you've had the chance to hear one of my keynotes or corporate training sessions, you probably remember how I love to share stories from which I pull out actionable steps that leaders can start using today. Given how this is the first installment of Leadership Espresso Shot on my podcast, I figure what better way to kickstart this than to share one of these stories, specifically one that will help you learn how to create a compelling organizational vision to energize your employees. Over the course of this episode, you'll learn about: The 4 key elements President Kennedy employed in his famous “We choose to go to the Moon” speech to rally people around his ambitious vision, and one overlooked element behind his famous declaration that was key to igniting a nation's ambition to make his vision a reality.The surprising revelation a manufacturing company about their organizational vision that helped them transform a disengaged workforce with high turnover to a highly motivated employee base that boosted the company's profit margin.What researchers have found as the real character trait that identifies top performers and how this can help leaders communicate a vision that motivates employees to bring their best efforts to an organization's vision. I'm very excited about this new feature and I can't wait to share even more of my leadership insights through my leadership podcast. And don't forget you can now stream all episodes from my show, and find the show notes for past episodes, as well as find links to listen to my show on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and Stitcher Radio on the brand new Leadership Biz Cafe podcast page on my website. Finally, I’d appreciate it if you could subscribe, rate, and comment about my show on your preferred podcasting streaming platform to help continue to support this show.

There's been a number of studies that have illustrated the challenges and obstacles women face that men don't in trying to move into leadership positions. But are there actions and behaviours women are doing that are also impeding their ability to grow into effective leaders? That's the focus of the fascinating conversation I have with my guest in this latest episode of my podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Sally Helgesen is a pioneer researcher, speaker, and consultant on women’s styles of leadership and the unique contributions they make to the workplace. She focuses on honing women’s leadership styles, creating inclusive company cultures, and equipping men in senior positions to fully engage women’s talents and potential. Her work has been featured in Fortune, The New York Times, Fast Company, and Business Week. Sally has served as a consultant for the United Nations, where her pioneering studies on inclusive leadership and the increasing power of individuals was the basis for the creation of a group of “Centers of Experimentation” that administer leadership programs in developing countries. Along with Marshall Goldsmith, she co-authored the book “How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion, or Job”. Although the book's key audience might be women, there's some powerful insights that will without question help male leaders and colleagues better understand what we need to do to help women truly succeed in the workplace and with it, tap into the full potential and talent of everyone we lead today. Over the conversation, Sally and I cover a number of topics, including: How the differences in the way men and women are evaluated for their performance is leading to “stuckness” and with it, lost productivity and opportunities for organizational growth. Why women can have a hard time claiming their achievements and what they can do about (and if you're a dad who has a daughter, how you can help with this as well). A powerful strategy that can help anyone – both men and women – learn to how articulate their career ambitions in a way that not only gets the attention of senior leadership, but helps get them on that course to making those ambitions a reality. What women are failing to capitalize on in terms of their innate ability to build deep, meaningful relationships with those around them and how this can impact their growth potential. The differences in how women and men are evaluated and how this can fuel perfectionism – and why isn't a good thing the more you move up the organizational ladder. As I mentioned in this episode, I’m delighted to announce that my podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe” is now available for streaming on Spotify, in addition to Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, TuneIn, PlayerFM, and several other podcast streaming platforms. Also, you can now stream all episodes from my show, and find the show notes for past episodes, as well as find links for listen to my show on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and Stitcher Radio on the brand new Leadership Biz Cafe podcast page on my website. Finally, I’d appreciate it if you could subscribe, rate, and comment about my show on your preferred podcasting streaming platform to help continue to support this show. Noteworthy Links: Buy Sally Helegesen's book on Amazon (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers)Check out these articles that build on what’s discussed in the show:An Inspiring Example Of The Power Of Our Words Are You Giving The Right Message With Your Leadership? Understanding The Power Of Expectations What’s The Truth About Your Leadership? Special thanks to the sponsors of this episode, UPPcourses.com.

These days it seems like we're seeing more and more high profile leaders being caught taking actions that clearly are meant more to serve themselves and their interests, rather than those they have the responsibility to lead and how they can help their employees, or their citizens, achieve success and prosperity under their leadership. So how do we as everyday leaders ensure we're serving our employees over ourselves, especially in light of the growing war for talent in the face of increasing employee shortages? It's through that lens that I have a thoughtful and uplifting conversation with my colleague and friend, James Strock. James Strock is an award-winning leadership author, entrepreneur, and speaker. He's also a former senior public official, having served as the founding Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, and as the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the US Environmental Protection Agency. He is the author of several books, including his latest “Serve to Lead 2.0 – 21st Century Leadership Manual”, which is the focus of our discussion. Over the course of this episode, James and I discuss what it takes for leaders to effectively lead today's organization's including: 4 questions leaders should ask themselves to ensure they can be successful in leading their organization in today's ever-changing environment. A real world example of how we can apply to scientific mind to experiment and test and use failures and setbacks to give How managers can serve their team members by not only through empowering them, but by giving them greater accountability. Why developing a stronger focus on who we should be serving through our leadership can actually make us more resilient to failure. Why the key to effective communication revolves around our efforts to truly make people feel heard and understood. As I mentioned in this episode, I'm delighted to announce that my podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe” is now available for streaming on Spotify, in addition to Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio and several other podcast streaming platforms. Also, you can now stream all episodes from my show, and find the show notes for past episodes, as well as find links for listen to my show on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and Stitcher Radio on the brand new Leadership Biz Cafe podcast page on my website. Finally, although I have some new developments in store for my podcast, I'd appreciate it if you could subscribe, rate, and comment about my show on your preferred podcasting streaming platform to help continue to support this show. Noteworthy Links: Buy James Strock's book “Serve to Lead 2.0” on Amazon (or Amazon.ca for Canadian listeners) Check out these articles that build on what's discussed in the show:What One Successful Leader Learned About Optimism From FailureHow Failure Taught Me To Become A Better ListenerHow Can We Learn To Value Failure?

Thanks to today's digital technology, we have so many different platforms and communication channels that make it easier to collaborate and connect with people outside of our office walls. But is that same technology making our workplaces feel less human? That's the question I examine in this episode of Leadership Biz Cafe with my guest, Dan Schawbel. Dan is a New York Times bestselling author of two career books, “Promote Yourself” and “Me 2.0”. He is also partner and research director at Future Workplace and founder of both Millennial Branding and WorkplaceTrends.com. Through his companies, he’s conducted dozens of research studies, working with major brands like Microsoft, Virgin, IBM, Coca Cola and Oracle. His latest book is “Back to Human: How Great Leaders Create Connection in the Age of Isolation”, which points out while digital technologies and platforms may allow us to be more connected to our work, it's also causing us to be less connected to the people with work with, and consequently, more lonely in our workplaces. Over the course of this episode, Dan and I talk about: An alarming trend in today's workplaces that leaders need to start paying attention to if they want to avoid growing attrition rates in their organization.How leaders can help their employees find a sense of fulfillment at work, for the benefit of both their employees and the organization's bottom line.How to effectively promote and encourage shared learning in your organization by understanding this critical aspect to how people learn.How to ensure our regular use of digital technologies is not reducing the levels of empathy found in our workplace. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Dan Schawbel's book “Back To Human” on Amazon (or Amazon.ca for Canadian listeners).Check out these articles that build on what's discussed in the show: 3 Key Steps To Finding Purpose In What You DoAre You Helping Employees Find Purpose In What They Do?How To Delegate Purpose In Your Organization3 Powerful Benefits That Come From Empathy In LeadershipA Timely Reminder Of The Power Of Empathy In Leadership Watch my TEDx talk on YouTube.

While there's little question that organizations need to be more responsive change, the real question today's leaders need to address is are they at ease with taking risks, and more importantly, are the risks they're taking the right ones? This question lies at the heart of my conversation with my guest Doug Sundheim in this latest episode of my leadership podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Doug is the president of the The Sundheim Group, a consulting agency that focuses on strategy execution and team development and whose clients include Time Warner, SAP, International Baccalaureate Organization, and Morgan Stanley. In addition to being a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review, Doug is the author the book, “Taking Smart Risks, How Sharp Leaders Win When Stakes Are High”. Over the course of this episode, Doug and I discuss his approach to smart risk-taking, including: What organizations often get wrong with the “innovate or die” approach in terms of what they should be focusing on as the risk they should be taking.How finding something worth finding for, seeing the future now, and acting and learning fast form the foundation for smart risk-taking.The 3 D's that lead us to find what we're willing to fight for and be willing to take a risk on.Why scheduling time in our day for creative thinking can help us be smarter about the risks we choose to take.What are smart failures and why are they important in terms of taking smart risks that drive future growth. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Play, Stitcher Radio, or iTunes. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Doug Sundheim's book “Taking Smart Risks” on Amazon (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Doug’s work at The Sundheim Group.Watch my TEDx talk on YouTube.

Let's face it, all of us want to be inspired at work. So why do studies show that over 70% of us feel uninspired about the work we do? And more importantly, what can we do about it? Those questions serve as the focus of this engaging, insightful, and at times humorous conversation with former Proctor&Gamble executive, Scott Mautz. Scott is the CEO of Profound Performance – a keynote, workshop, coaching, and online training company that helps you “Work, Lead, & Live Fulfilled”. Scott is also a former Procter & Gamble executive who ran several of the company’s largest multi-billion dollar businesses. In addition to writing a weekly column for Inc. Magazine on employee engagement and workplace culture, Scott is the author of two books, his latest being “Find the Fire: Ignite Your Inspiration and Make Work Exciting Again”, which serves as the focus of our conversation. Over the course of the episode, Scott and I discuss a number of ideas and insights from various studies that demonstrate how we can be inspired at work and thrive, including: The one question we should be asking ourselves to truly be inspired at work.How to reframe your fear of failure so that it no longer prevents you from embracing change.How we can overcome our fear of change by finding our anchor.Why only 15% of the criticism we receive is useful in terms of inspiring us to push ourselves to do and be better (and why it's our brains fault that criticism in general is so painful to hear).3 key insights into how we can to fuel enduring learning and growth in our work and personal lives.A simple trick proven by research that can help anyone discover opportunities for learning and growth that will fuel your inspiration.How we can be inspired by an uninspiring boss. I’d appreciate it if you could help your support help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Play, Stitcher Radio, or iTunes. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Scott Mautz’s book “Find the Fire” on Amazon (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Scott’s work (and get a copy of his free workbook gift) at ScottMautz.com.Read my article we discuss during the show “The One Thing Exceptional Leaders Never Forget”.

What would you do if your role as a leader lead to the accidental death of one of your employees? It's a scenario that, thankfully, most of us might never have to consider. And yet, for one leader, this was exactly a situation they faced in their career, and what might have been a career-ending moment turned into one that helped this leader to learn how we can achieve extraordinary outcomes simply by caring for those we lead. The leader in question is Cort Dial, who is also the guest in this episode of my leadership podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Cort is a former manager and executive who now serves as President of Cort Dial Consulting, where he has worked with executives from Chevron, Intel, U.S. Borax, Disney and Apple. Cort is also the author of the book, “Heretics to Heroes: A Memoir on Modern Leadership”, which was recognized by The Globe and Mail as the #1 Business book of 2016 and was awarded the Gold Non-Fiction Award, and serves as the focus of this episode. Over the course of conversation, Cort and I discuss many aspects around leadership, including: Why organizational safety should be viewed as an opportunity to produce extraordinary performance.A powerful story that reveals the true nature of accountability within a team or organization and what it means for today's leaders.Learn why safety is more than just compliance, but an opportunity to play a “big game” that will allow you to inspire the best from those you lead.3 simple questions that leaders can use to encourage their employees to embrace change inside their organization.An important lesson on the real nature of choice and how we can live the lives we want and are meant to live. I’d appreciate it if you could help your support help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Play, Stitcher Radio, or iTunes. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Cort Dial’s book “Heretics to Heroes” on Amazon (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Cort’s work at CortDial.com.Watch my TEDx talk on YouTube.Buy “An Open Life” by Joseph Campbell on Amazon.

Without question, one of the common tasks organizations everywhere have to deal with is leadership development. Whether it's due to an aging workforce or the growing numbers of Millennials now moving their way through the workplace, there's no question that developing the next group of leaders will play a key role in an organization's growth and success in the coming years. But what measures should organizations be taking to not only create effective leadership development programs, but to support these new leaders to ensure a successful transition into these new roles in the organization? That's the focus of my conversation with Dr. Naphtali Hoff in this episode of my leadership podcast, Leadership Biz Cafe. Naphtali Hoff is an human and organizational psychologist and also President of Impactful Coaching & Consulting, where he works as an organizational consultant. He is also the author of the book “Becoming The New Boss – The New Leader's Guide To Sustained Leadership Success”, which is the focus of this episode. Over the course of our conversation, Naphtali and I discuss a number of key factors around leadership development and succeeding at leadership, including: The key areas organizations should address to help prepare new leaders for what awaits them.How organizations can create mentoring opportunities that benefit both new and experienced leaders.How to help new leaders learn to effectively delegate responsibilities to their team members.How both new and experienced leaders can “think positive and achieve” to drive their organization's vision forward.Why organizations need to move beyond learning and create “a workplace of teachers” and how to go about doing this. I'd appreciate it if you could help your support help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Play, Stitcher Radio, or iTunes. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Naphtali Hoff's book “Becoming The New Boss” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Naphtali's work at ImpactfulCoaching.com.

It's a common fact of leadership today that if you want to improve productivity and fuel organizational growth, you need to make sure your employees are engaged at work. And yet, despite both the evidence supporting the critical role employee engagement plays to driving your organization's success and most leaders wanting to improve employee engagement levels in their workplace, organizations everywhere are still struggling with this issue. Why is that? This conundrum serves as the basis of my conversation with fellow leadership expert and NYT bestselling author, Kevin Kruse. Kevin is a serial entrepreneur having founded several multi-million dollar companies, and even winning the “Inc 500” and “Best Places To Work” award for company culture. In addition to writing for Forbes, Kevin is the author of several books, including his New York Times bestseller, “We: How to Increase Performance and Profits Through Full Engagement”. Currently, Kevin serves as the Founder and CEO of LEADx, an online leadership learning platform that offers free leadership development to leaders around the world. In this episode, Kevin and I focus on his book “Employee Engagement For Everyone: 4 Keys to Happiness and Fulfillment at Work” and over the course of our conversation, we touch on a number of important insights about employee engagement, including: Why the biggest hurdle we face in improving employee engagement is often due to our not truly understanding what it really means.The surprising finding about who's responsible for driving employee engagement in today's workplaces.How improving employee engagement levels doesn't simply benefit the organization, but also has a positive impact on employees outside of work.What studies have found to be the 4 primary drivers to effectively drive employee engagement, and with it, organizational growth and success.Understanding what building trust really means in terms of driving employee engagement.What leaders get wrong about communicating more to boost employee engagement.What leaders and employees need to understand about recognition and its role in driving employee engagement. I’d appreciate it if you could help your support help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Play, Stitcher Radio, or iTunes. It's worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Kevin Kruse's book “Employee Engagement For Everyone” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Kevin’s work and his writings at kevinkruse.com.Check out Kevin's new online leadership learning platform, LEADx.

There's a common saying shared often in our social media streams that you achieve success, we need to take a leap out of our comfort zone in order to access that space 'where the magic happens'. But is this really what we need to do to achieve success and personal fulfillment? That question serves as the starting point of my discussion on the true nature of comfort zones and learning how to grow our competencies with psychology and organizational behaviour professor Andy Molinsky. Andy is a Professor at Brandeis University’s International Business School, with a joint appointment in the Department of Psychology. His research and writing has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Inc. Magazine, Psychology Today, the Financial Times, The Economist, and the New York Times. Andy was awarded as a Top Voice for LinkedIn for his work in education. Andy is the author of two books, including his latest, “Reach: A New Strategy to Help You Step Outside Your Comfort Zone, Rise to the Challenge, and Build Confidence”, which serves as the focus of this episode. In this episode of my leadership podcast, Andy and I discuss the realities of moving outside our comfort zone and how we can effectively accomplish this, and over the course of our conversation, Andy shares a number of valuable insights, including: What's the real difference between between introversion and extroversion (hint: it's now how shy or outgoing we are).The five challenges we face when moving outside our comfort zone – and the ones that most of us struggle with the most.Understanding the many ways that we avoid moving outside our comfort zone and how this can actually create a negative feedback loop that stifles opportunities for growth and success.The three strategies successful people share in common in how they approach moving outside their comfort zone to drive their future successes.The surprising reason why clarity is a key factor to our ability to succeed in moving outside our comfort zone. I’d appreciate it if you could help your support help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a minute to rate my show on Google Play, Stitcher Radio, or iTunes. It's worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Andy Molinsky's book “Reach” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Andy’s work and his writings at andymolinsky.com.

When it comes to our leadership, how generous are we with the knowledge we have and the people we know in terms of helping others to succeed? And why is this so critical to our ability to succeed as leaders? That's the focus of my conversation with best-selling author and former executive Tim Sanders. Tim is a New York Times bestselling author, speaker, and former Yahoo Chief Solutions Officer. Tim has been featured in Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and ABC news. His approach to leadership and business is simple – share what you know and who know you to help others succeed, and do so with compassion towards others. Its those very principles that are the focus of Tim's New York Times best-selling book – and the focus of our discussion in this episode - “Love Is The Killer App: How To Win Business & Influence Friends”. Over the course of our conversation, Tim shares a number of fascinating insights and stories, including: Bizlove is having a genuine desire to see others succeed without expecting anything in return. - @SandersSays [Share on Twitter]Too often we focus on the wrong people: on those who boost our ego instead of those we truly helped. - @SandersSays [Share on Twitter]Use gratitude to drive you forward, but don't treat it as your sole motivator for helping others - @SandersSays [Share on Twitter]When you're generous and effective at growing other people, people will follow you. - @SandersSays [Share on Twitter]Caring leaders are more able to get their employees to take action than leaders who don't care. - @SandersSays [Share on Twitter] There are, of course, many more fascinating and thought-provoking insights shared during this episode – it's just that some can't fit into 140 characters or they're just so much more enjoyable to learn hearing them from Tim himself. This episode also features a number of fun and insightful stories, including a reading trick my middle daughter Malaika – whose not much of a book-reader – uses to capture and recall information she reads in books assigned for school. As I mentioned at the end of this episode, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. Please share your thoughts and ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Tim Sanders' book “Love Is The Killer App” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Check out the special Leadership Biz Cafe webpage on Tim's website featuring exclusive content for my listeners at TimSanders.com/LBC.Learn more about Tim’s work and his writings at TimSanders.com.

As leaders, how aware are we of the obstacles we create for ourselves that impede our ability to achieve our own form of greatness? That's the question that served as the basis of my conversation with my fellow leadership expert and friend, Lolly Daskal. Lolly is the president and CEO of Lead From Within, a global consultancy that specializes in leadership and entrepreneurial development. Lolly is also a prolific writer, not only creating regular content for her award-winning leadership blog, but she also writes a column for Inc.com and Psychology Today, as well as having her work appear in the Harvard Business Review and Fast Company. Although she's the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, the one that probably best describes Lolly is something The Huffington Post once wrote about her, calling her “The Most Inspiring Woman in The World”. For our conversation, Lolly and I discuss her new book called “The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness”. As I mentioned at the end of this episode, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. Please share your thoughts and ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Lolly Daskal's book “Leadership Gap” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Lolly’s work and her writings at lollydaskal.com.

If there's one thing every leader out there can agree on, it's that the way we work has drastically changed over the past few decades, and in today's interconnected, global environment, that change is now happening at a much more accelerated pace than ever before. In light of these fundamental shifts to the way we work, which 20th century management principles should we stop using, and what do we replace them with in order to ensure we're bringing out the best in those we lead? This question about the changing nature of today's workplace environment and the impact it has on the way we lead is the focus of my conversation with management expert David Burkus. David is a best-selling author, an award-winning podcaster, and an associate management professor at Oral Roberts University. In addition to his first book, “The Myths of Creativity: The Truth About How Innovative Companies and People Generate Great Ideas”, David's writings have been featured in the Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., and Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Listeners of my leadership podcast may also recognize David as the guest host who interviewed me about my book "Leadership Vertigo" as part of the month long celebration here on my website around the release of my first leadership book. His latest book is “Under New Management: How Leading Organizations Are Upending Business As Usual”, which will be the focus of our conversation in this episode. Over the course of this episode, David and I discuss some of the ideas and findings he shares in his book (some which can seem a bit controversial) including: Why we need to rethink the way we use email and how one company's approach actually helps employees to enjoy their vacation and return to work not dreading a backlog.How organizations can move beyond the much maligned annual performance review towards measures that will inspire and motivate their employees to bring their full selves to the work they do.How making salaries transparent – from senior management to the front-line employees – can actually reap unexpected benefits to an organization's growth and ability to improve employee retention.How to drastically shift the role of management in today's organizations by “firing the managers” (trust me when I say it's not what you think it is).Why we need to rethink our current obsession with the open-office workplace design, and what organizations should really be doing in order to promote collaboration and innovation, while at the same time allowing employees to do their best work. As I mentioned at the end of this episode, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. Please share your thoughts and ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy David Burkus' book “Under New Management” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about David's work and his writings at davidburkus.com.

In today's faster paced, interconnected world, there's little doubt that change is the new reality; the new standard by which we now have to operate. But if leaders recognize change as being a new constant in our organization's field of view, why then are so many leaders struggling to effectively drive change in their organization? It's the question that serves as the basis of my talk with innovation expert and author, Braden Kelley. Braden is an experienced innovation speaker, trainer, and digital transformation specialist. In addition to being one of the co-founders of the respected website, InnovationExcellence.com, Braden has published more than 500 articles on innovation as well as being author of the book “Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire”. His latest book is “Charting Change: A Visual Toolkit for Making Change Stick” which will be the focus of our conversation in this episode. Over the course of this episode, Braden and I touch on a number of fascinating insights that he describes in his latest book, including: How leaders can help their employees shift their perception from fearing change to viewing it as an opportunity for learning and growth.Three different types of change and how leaders should shape their message depending on the kind of change they're pushing forward.Two key factors leaders should use to ascertain who needs to be involved in the change initiative.The main reason why a majority of employees resist change in their organization.How leaders can be more effective in not only promoting change, but getting greater support from their employees for the change initiative. As I mentioned at the end of this episode, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. Please share your thoughts and ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Braden Kelley's book “Charting Change” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Braden's work and his writings at bradenkelley.com.

When it comes to disruptive innovation, the common and natural tendency is to view it from the lens of organizational growth and evolution. But can the power of disruptive innovation also be applied at the individual level to drive personal success and growth, and if so, how exactly do we go about doing that? It's the question that serves as the guiding focus of my talk with management thinker, writer, and author, Whitney Johnson. Whitney is the co-founder of Rose Park Advisors, an investment firm she co-founded with renowned innovation thinker Clayton Christensen. She's also a former award-winning Wall Street analyst and this year she was a finalist in the Best in Talent Category for the Management Thinkers50. In addition to writing for the Harvard Business Review and LinkedInfluencer, Whitney's work has been featured in Fast Company, BBC, CNN, The Guardian, and several other media outlets. Whitney is also the author of two books, the first being “Dare, Dream, Do” and her latest being “Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work”, which is also the focus of this episode's discussion. Over the course of this episode, Whitney and I touch on a number of fascinating and personal insights that she shares in her latest book, including: Understanding what is our distinctive strength and how we can tap into it to drive our professional and organizational growth.How the compliments we receive from others can reveal our path to growth and success.A look at which kind of risk is the key to tapping into the growth and success opportunities often cited in disruptive innovation models.Why constraints are actually beneficial and not a hindrance to our ability to disrupt ourselves, and our perception of what can be done and what opportunities are there to fuel our growth and success.How to leverage failure as a source of feedback to help us chart the best course to achieve success.The “innovation killer” that many of us get caught up in and how it impedes our ability to learn and grow. It's definitely a fun and frank conversation between Whitney and myself – in fact, she even shares an illuminating personal story that really helps us to understand how she learned to make constraints a valuable source of feedback, so be sure to check out that “scoop” found only on this episode of my show. As I mentioned at the end of this episode, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. Please share your thoughts and ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Whitney Johnson's book “Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Whitney's work and her writings at whitneyjohnson.com.

A common theme found among the numerous books and articles on successful leadership is that leaders need to be more open, more transparent with those they lead in order to improve communication channels and drive forward initiatives that are key to an organization's success and growth. But what if we're not as open or as easy to read as we might think that we are? What if the actions we're taking overlook a key aspect of how our brain operates? That's the premise and focus of this new episode of my leadership show, “Leadership Biz Cafe” where I welcome Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson to share her insights from her latest book “No One Understands You And What To Do About It”. Heidi is a social psychologist whose research and writings focus on the science of motivation. She is also the Associate Director of the Motivation Science Center at Columbia Business School and a member of many esteemed scientific communities and organizations. In addition to authoring several books including “Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals” and “Focus”, Heidi is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal, and Psychology Today. You may also recognize her name from some of the guest contributions she's made to my leadership blog as well. Over the course of our conversation, Heidi and I discuss a number of interesting points and insights from various studies shared in her latest book that can help leaders become more effective in their roles, including: Why we're not as well understood as we might think we are, despite our efforts to be more open and more transparent in our leadership.What drives the assumptions we all make about the people we lead and serve, and how stereotyping is only the tip of this sub-conscious iceberg.How our unconscious biases lead us to see creativity as something negative for effective leadership, where the more we see someone as being creative, the less we see them being an effective leader for our organization.Why we're not as good at picking up the context behind most of our interactions because of how our brain processes information and what we can do about it.How even our circadian rhythms – the things that make one leader a “morning person” and another a “night owl” can dramatically impact how we perceive people and situations.How power affects the way leaders view or understand the realities those around them face and what they can do about it to be more effective in their leadership.A powerful question every leader should be asking those in their trusted circle to help them better understand how they are really coming across to those they lead. It's a fascinating conversation and there was certainly more I would've liked to discuss with Heidi in this show to help listeners better understand how we perceive others and how others perceive us, and the impact this has on our ability to successfully lead those under our care. I encourage you to check this episode out as there's so much to learn and benefit from in terms of how you approach your leadership and the conversations you have with your employees. As I mentioned at the end of this episode, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. Please share your thoughts and ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Heidi Grant Halvorson's book “No One Understands You And What To Do About It” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).

With so many books, articles, and studies on how leaders can be more effective guiding their teams in today's faster-paced, global environment, why do leaders still struggle to help their organizations to succeed? That's the basis of the conversation in this VERY special episode of Leadership Biz Cafe which wraps up the month-long celebration of the release of my first leadership book, “Leadership Vertigo”. In this special episode of my show, I'm delighted to hand over hosting duties to my friend David Burkus, author of “The Myths of Creativity” and host of the leadership podcast show, LDRLB, so he can interview me about my new book, as well as asking about my future plans, including a discussion about my next leadership book. Over the course of this discussion, David and I discuss: What is leadership vertigo and how does it impact leaders in today's organizations.Understanding one of the key challenges organizations face in terms of balancing leadership development and retaining key talent.What Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela help us to understand about the importance of community and why it's necessary to rallying employees around our vision or long-term objectives.My experience with a public transit janitor on the Chicago L-Train and what his actions reveal about the true nature of credibility in leadership.What's next in store for me, including a discussion of what the focus of my next leadership book will be. As David mentions at the end of this special episode, I’d love to hear what you think about this conversation about my first leadership book, as well as hearing what other topics this might spur your interest in learning more about in future episodes of my show. To do so, please leave me a comment below or fill out the contact form found on my website. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Check out David Burkus' leadership podcast show, “LDRLB”.Learn more about my new book, “Leadership Vertigo” and where you can buy yourself a copy. I'd like to take this opportunity to once again thank David for agreeing to step in as a special guest host for Leadership Biz Cafe and for the thoughtful discussion around my book, “Leadership Vertigo”. And as this wraps up the month-long celebration of this special event, I'd like to once again thank all of my special guest contributors in this special leadership series – Doug Conant, Liz Wiseman, Jim Kouzes, Barry Posner, and David Burkus. My thanks and gratitude go out to each of you for joining me in the celebration of my first leadership book. I am truly grateful for your generosity, support, and encouragement. Your involvement in this celebration has certainly helped to make this important milestone event a memorable and special one, for both my audience and myself.

In today's increasingly competitive, global market, it's understandable why so many leaders are trying to figure out how to foster innovation in their organizations. So how is it that some organizations seem to thrive on the cutting edge while others can barely get their innovative initiatives off the ground? That's the focus of my discussion with one of the world's top experts on innovation and creativity, Matthew E. May. Matt is a popular speaker, creativity coach, and advisor who has worked with management teams from companies like ADP, Intuit, Edmunds, and Toyota, to help them discover innovative solutions to complex issues. He is also the founder of Edit Innovation, an ideas agency based in Los Angeles, California. In addition to his speaking and consulting work on creativity and innovation, Matt has written and has had his work featured in many respected publications such as Harvard Business Review, University of Toronto's The Rotman Magazine, Fast Company, Thinkers50, TIME, Inc Magazine, strategy+business, Forbes, MIT/Sloan Management Review and American Express OPEN Forum. Matt is also the author of four critically acclaimed, award-winning and bestselling books on creativity and innovation, including his latest book, “The Laws Of Subtraction: 6 Simple Rules for Winning in the Age of Excess Everything”. In this 14th episode of my show, Matt shares his insights into how we can tap into our organization's collective creativity and drive innovation initiatives – including a fun, little exercise whose answer even had me surprised at its simplicity and elegance; you definitely want to check this out and even try it with your team and organization. In addition to this insightful exercise, some of the other ideas and insights Matt and I discuss in our conversation include: The story of a multinational's attempt to sell its soap product in India and what their experience reveals as a key foundation stone to any innovation initiative.The common misunderstanding we have about 'thinking outside the box' that impairs our ability to foster creativity in our organization.The kind of constraints that research has shown fuels organizational creativity and innovation, and the two elements leaders need to articulate to help their employees overcome the obstacles they face.What a new treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can teach us about how we can rewire our brains to embrace change in order to enable innovation in our organization.What we need to do to facilitate more 'a-ha!' moments of creativity and discovery that are the key to our ability to innovate. I do hope you'll check out this insightful and entertaining discussion on creativity, neuroscience, and innovation. And as I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts and ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Matthew E. May's book “The Laws of Subtraction" on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Doug's work and his company Edit Innovation at matthewemay.com.

How does a storied organization like Disney create an engaged, empowered workforce despite the current economic challenges, and what can other organizations learn from their experience? That's the basis of my conversation with international keynote speaker and former Disney executive Doug Lipp in this latest episode of “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Doug began his career at Disney as one of the trainers at the Disney University at Disneyland. This lead to Doug joining the Walt Disney Imagineering team where he not only helped with the creation of Tokyo Disneyland, but also with the creation of the first international version of the Disney University. Doug then went on to lead the training team at the corporate headquarters of The Walt Disney Company, The Walt Disney Studios. Following his time at Disney, Doug co-developed with Stanford University professor C. Clarke the Interculture Relations Institute, where he taught diverse teams of professionals how to better navigate the intercultural waters of the global market. In addition to his work as a keynote speaker and consultant on leadership, culture, and change, Doug is the author of eight books, including his most recent, “Disney U - How Disney University Develops the World's Most Engaged, Loyal, and Customer-Centric Employees”. Over the course of our conversation, Doug shared many wonderful stories about Walt Disney and Van France, the founder of the Disney University, as well as some of his many insights from his time at Disney, including: What are the “Four Circumstances” or organizational values that have been behind Disney's continued success and growth, and what they reveal for other organizations as the keys to thriving in today's challenging environment.Why Disney was able to continue to provide training despite increasing costs and declining revenues and how any organization can accomplish the same.The one thing that Walt Disney did every day that today's leaders need to adopt to ensure their organization's success.How Disney overcame their past problems of high employee turnover and disengagement to become one of today's entertainment juggernauts that continues to evolve and grow.What Disney can teach us about creating an environment where employees feel a sense of shared ownership and accountability, ensuring our organization's continued growth and profitability.Why it's important that we exemplify and apply our cultural values not just within our organization, but also in the actions and efforts we commit to outside our organization's walls. As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website. Tanveer Naseer and Doug Lipp I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Doug Lipp's book “Disney U" on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Doug's work and his company at DougLipp.com.

What does storytelling reveal to us as being the key attributes leaders everywhere need to exhibit to encourage employees to follow them both in good times and in bad? That's the basis of my conversation with Forbes columnist and leadership writer/consultant, Erika Andersen. Erika is the founding partner of Proteus, a coaching, consulting and training firm that focuses on leader readiness. Erika also serves as a consultant and advisor to CEOs and top executives from several organizations including GE, Gannett Corporation, Time Warner Cable, Rockwell Automation, Turner Broadcasting, and Madison Square Garden. In addition to her popular business blog on Forbes, Erika is the author of three books, including her latest one, “Leading So People Will Follow”, which examines the “hero story” motif and what it reveals as the six core attributes successful leaders use to inspire others to follow their leadership. Over the course of our conversation, Erika shares a number of stories and examples to illustrate these key leadership attributes including: How leaders can overcome the current short-term focus in order to motivate and empower their employees to commit to their long-term vision for their organization. Why leaders must be both passionate and dispassionate in order to gain awareness of the concerns and needs of those under their care. The underlying behaviour that helps leaders to understand what's behind the actions and words of those you lead. How leaders can be generous with their limited time and resources in order to ensure the collective success of their employees. What leaders really need to do to exemplify trustworthiness in their leadership. As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0u3bdya06dQAG0IPIQ2mN8?si=1e2eca5adddb48b5 Noteworthy links: Buy Erika Andersen's book “Leading So People Will Follow” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers). Learn more about Liz's work and her company at Proteus-International.com. Read Erika's business blog on Forbes.

Why is it that some leaders are able to stretch and build the intelligence, creativity and motivation of their employees, while other leaders seem only to disengage and drain the collective talent found within their teams? That's the basis of my conversation with leadership researcher and best-selling author Liz Wiseman. Liz is the president of The Wiseman Group, a research and development firm that conducts research in the field of leadership and collective intelligence. Some of her clients include Nike, Apple, PayPal, Genentech, Dubai Bank, Salesforce.com, and Twitter. Prior to founding her research firm, Liz worked for 17 years at Oracle as the Vice President of Oracle University and the global leaders for Human Resource Development. In addition to writing for the Harvard Business Review, Liz co-wrote the Wall Street Journal bestseller, “Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter”, which features some of the research she's done looking at leadership and collective intelligence. Over the course of our conversation, Liz shares a number of stories and research findings that help to illustrate: What's the “dirty little secret of the corporate world” that we don't talk about and how it's impacting employee engagement.How “multiplier” leaders stretch and grow talent to increase team productivity, instead of relying on attaining more resources to achieve goals.Why leaders need to go “public” with their mistakes to engender team success and building community.How encouraging debate can improve both decision-making and employee engagement.What “multiplier” leaders do that motivates their employees to do their best work.What the research findings into “multiplier” leaders reveals about opportunities to improve our education system in order to create leaders and employees that organizations will need in the years ahead. As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Liz Wiseman's book “Multipliers" on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Buy Liz Wiseman's new book “The Multiplier Effect: Tapping the Genius Inside our Schools” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Liz's work and speaking engagements at TheWisemanGroup.com.Take the “Are you an accidental diminisher” quiz on Multipliersbook.com.

How can leaders be attentive to those they serve when their time is becoming increasingly fragmented and demands on it growing? How can recognizing the efforts of our employees lead to a sense of purpose and community and with it, a drive towards achieving excellence? These are a few of the topics I discuss with retired CEO and renowned leadership expert Doug Conant in the 10th episode of my leadership podcast show, “Leadership Biz Cafe”. For the last 10 years, Doug has served as the President and CEO of Campbell Soup Company, which under his stewawdship was transformed from one of the worst Fortune 500 organizations in terms of employee engagement levels to one of the best.  As a result, Campbell's experienced not only improved productivity and profitability under his stewardship, but the company also received numerous awards recognizing the organization as one of the best places to work. Since retiring from Campbell's in 2011, Doug has remained quite active in the leadership field, both through his speaking engagements and his writings in such publications as the Harvard Business Review. Recently, Doug also accepted a position to serve on the Avon corporate board, in addition to serving on the boards of several charitable and other non-profit organizations. Doug also co-authored with Mette Norgaard the New York Times bestseller “TouchPoints: Creating Powerful Leadership Connections in the Smallest of Moments”. Over the course of our conversation, Doug and I discuss: How leaders can transform daily interruptions into opportunities to help others succeed.Why “all leadership models are wrong” and what leaders should use instead.The two traits that successful leaders share and use to navigate today's complex and changing business landscape.What a near-fatal accident revealed to Doug about the power of community and fostering a sense of belonging.The four needs leaders should address to transform their company into a world-class and enduring organization. As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Doug Conant's book “TouchPoints" on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Doug's work and speaking engagements at ConantLeadership.com.

Why do most efforts to improve team or individual performance fall apart within a short period of time? Why is it that our feelings of accomplishment diminish so quickly after we achieve a goal or target? These questions are just some of the topics I discuss with Stanford professor and author Shirzad Chamine in this episode of “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Shirzad is the chairman of CTI, the largest coach-training organization in the world whose clients include managers and executives from Fortune 500 companies, as well as faculty from Stanford and Yale business schools. In addition to his PhD in neuroscience, Shirzad also holds a BA in psychology, an MS in electrical engineering and an MBA from Stanford, where he lectures. Shirzad's first book “Positive Intelligence: Why Only 20% of Teams and Individuals Achieve Their True Potential And How You Can Achieve Yours” has already become a New York Times bestseller, having received critical acclaim in both business and leadership circles. Over the course of our conversation, Shirzad and I discuss: How most of us impair our performance through self-sabotaging thoughts that we mistakenly view as being beneficial.The simple trick that allows us to overcome this self-sabotaging perception in order to improve our performance.How to tap into your higher brain areas to increase your performance by tapping into your real potential.How to determine whether the criticism or feedback you provide to your employees has a negative basis and not a productive one.The lie that pushes high-performers to excel and why we should all avoid it. As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Shirzad Chamine's “Positive Intelligence” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Positive Intelligence and take a free online assessment to determine your individual or team PQ score by visiting Shirzad's website – www.PositiveIntelligence.com.

There's no question that social media is becoming an important channel through which organizations can share and converse with their audience, as well as attract potential new customers for their products/services. But how can organizations successfully navigate this growing field to order to ensure an ROI from their online efforts? That's the basis of my conversation with author and renowned marketing CEO Shama (Kabani) Hyder in this episode of “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Shama is an international speaker, best-selling author and the award-winning CEO of The Marketing Zen Group – a global online marketing and PR firm. Fast Company has called Shama “an online marketing shaman” and Entrepreneur Magazine has dubbed her the “Zen Master of Marketing”. Her best-selling book “The Zen of Social Media Marketing: An Easier Way to Build Credibility, Generate Buzz, and Increase Revenue” was recently re-released as a 2nd edition featuring more hands-on advice and how-to tips on how to be successful in your marketing efforts online. Over the course of our conversation, Shama and I discuss: What's the biggest roadblock organizations face in becoming more active on social media?The online conversions businesses should be aiming to create and the benefits to be gained from this type of social conversion.Is it a good idea for organizations to create a social media policy and if so, what should be the focus of such a policy?What organizations should really be measuring to determine whether their online efforts are paying off.The 3 key points leaders need to take note of to ensure their organization succeeds in social media.What emerging trends organizations and their leaders should be on the lookout for within the social media space. As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Shama’s book “The Zen of Social Media Marketing” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Shama's company “The Marketing Zen Group” by visiting their website - www.marketingzen.com.

Regardless of whether the economy is going well or not, one thing that's remained consistent in the workplace over the last few decades is the reality that each of us is responsible for managing our careers and with it, the opportunities we obtain for professional growth and development. But how exactly do we obtain these opportunities to get ahead in our career? That's the focus of my conversation with executive coach and writer Joel Garfinkle in this episode of "Leadership Biz Cafe". Joel has been recognized as one of the Top 50 leadership coaches in the US, having worked with executives from many leading companies including Oracle, Google, Amazon, Ritz-Carlton, and Gap. He has also been featured in a number of respected media outlets such as ABC News, The New York Times, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal. Joel has written seven books including his latest "Getting Ahead: Three Steps to Take Your Career to the Next Level" in which he discusses the three key steps you should take to ensure you get those opportunities and promotions you need to move ahead in your career. Over the course of our conversation, Joel and I discuss: How to get over our fear of increasing our visibility at work so we can ensure those in charge are aware of the value of our contributions.Why we need to speak up more and share our thoughts and ideas at meetings and the benefits we'll gain from doing so.How we can find out how others perceive us and what we can do to ensure we're creating the perceptions we need to get ahead.The importance and value of getting feedback to help you increase your visibility and influence in your organization.What it means to be influential and how it's not dependent on what title/position you have. As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Joel Garfinkle's book "Getting Ahead: Three Steps to Take Your Career to the Next Level" on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Check out Joel's blog at CareerAdvancementBlog.com to learn more about his insights on leadership, team building, executive presence, and getting ahead at work.

These days, everyone is talking about the importance of innovation to an organization's future, but what exactly does it take to be innovative and how do we start? That's the basis of my conversation with business strategist and author Andrea Kates in this latest episode of “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Andrea is the founder of the Business Genome project and has led more than 250 business innovation initiatives with a variety of organizations, including Royal Dutch Shell (Asia-Pacific), Audi, Allstate, Continental Airlines, KPMG, and OnStar. In her bestselling book “Find Your Next: Using the Business Genome Process to Find Your Company's Next Competitive Edge”, Andrea shares her insights into the various business elements organizations need to employ if they are to create new innovation opportunities in the face of today's competitive, global market. Over the course of our conversation, Andrea and I discuss - What organizations really need to do to be innovative in today's global market.What the creation of the Cool Ranch Doritos brand can teach us about the innovation process.The four steps leaders can implement today to initiative innovation in their organizations.How employee recruitment and culture play a key role in fostering innovation in today's organizations.Why leaders need to look beyond focus groups and market studies to find their next innovation. As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Andrea Kates' book “Find Your Next: Using the Business Genome Process to Find Your Company's Next Competitive Edge” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).

How do we stop or curb drama in the workplace? That's the basis of my conversation with Marlene Chism in the fifth episode of my leadership podcast show, “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Marlene is a speaker, author and founder of The Stop Your Drama Methodology, an eight-part empowerment process to increase clarity and improve productivity and personal effectiveness. Marlene has a master’s degree in HR Development from Webster University and is the author of “Success is a Given: Reading the Signs While Reinventing Your Life”, as well as recently published “Stop Workplace Drama - Train Your Team to Have No Complaints, No Excuses and No Regrets”. Over the course of our conversation about how to manage workplace drama, Marlene and I discuss: Learning to appreciate the difference between the drama that arises at work and the drama that comes out from your reaction to that situation. How a lack of clarity leads to workplace conflict and what we can do to regain clarity when our perspective about what's going on around us becomes obscured. How to identify the gap between your goals and where your team is and the relationship this gap has in creating drama in the workplace. Why we need to take responsibility for what we can control in order to resolve workplace conflict. That workplace drama in itself isn't the real problem; that it's something more personal and more within our control that we can address. As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2LyQuFVnIOcN7rnah5JdG3?si=3a445c8efc2b478e Noteworthy links: Buy Marlene Chism's book “Stop Workplace Drama - Train Your Team to Have No Complaints, No Excuses and No Regrets” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers). To learn more about Marlene's Stop Your Drama Methodology, visit her website at www.stopworkplacedrama.com; you can also check out Marlene's personal website at www.marlenechism.com.

What role does humility play in today's leadership and how does this trait benefit leaders in facing the challenges present in today's global market? That's one of the questions I discuss with CEO Dave Balter in the latest episode of “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Dave is the CEO and founder of the word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing company, BzzAgent, which has been featured on CBS News, the BBC, and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. His company has also been the focus of two case studies done by Harvard Business School. Recently, Dave started a new web project titled “100 Days of Humility” in the hopes of drawing more attention to the need for greater humility in today's leadership. The goal of the project is to encourage people to share their thoughts on humility in leadership, with the community voting for the story or idea which best illustrates the important role humility plays in leading others. Over the course of our conversation about the importance of humility in leadership, Dave and I discuss: The personal experience that lead Dave to recognize why leaders need to embrace humility.The tangible benefits or improvements leaders can create by bringing a greater sense of humility to their leadership.How the level and type of interactions leaders have with their employees affects their ability to be humble.The relationship between how much you trust those you lead and the level of humility you exhibit through your leadership.What a sense of humility reveals about your character and ability to lead others.How humility can keep leaders grounded in their vision in the face of organizational success.Four measures leaders can employ to bring a greater sense of humility to their leadership. I'd like to thank Dave for reaching out and wanting to share his own experiences as a leader coming to terms with the role humility plays in leadership. The experiences and insights he shares helps to shed some light on how humility is not just a nice trait to have, but a critical component to ensuring the success of your team's efforts to reach your organization's goals. As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Dave Balter's Inc. Magazine article on humility in leadership - “The Humility Imperative: CEOs, Keep Your Arrogance in Check”.

Does vision still play a key role for organizations in today's ever-changing world?  That the basis of my conversation with best-selling author and former executive Jesse Lyn Stoner in this episode of my leadership podcast show, "Leadership Biz Cafe". Jesse Lyn Stoner is a business consultant, former executive, and bestselling author. For over 30 years, she has worked with leaders in hundreds of organizations including Honda, Pfizer, Marriott, Edelman Public Relations, Yale University, and SAP. In this episode, we discuss some of the ideas she shares about vision in the international bestseller she co-authored with Ken Blanchard, “Full Steam Ahead: Unleash the Power of Vision In Your Work and Your Life”. Over the course of our conversation, Jesse and I discuss: Why creating a vision remains a critical tool for organizations to navigate the growing competitive market.The key elements necessary for creating an effective vision statement.Why organizations need to not only establish, but rank in importance, the values that define their internal culture.Why leaders need to present their vision in terms of what their employees will gain as opposed to focusing on what they have to give up from implementing this plan.How leaders should go about creating a vision to encourage their employees to embrace it and make it their own.What leaders can do to ensure their vision remains relevant in the face of continual change and increasing global competitiveness. The insights Jesse shared during our conversation illustrate that vision is more relevant than ever and the fact that we continued our discussion about vision long after we finished taping this episode was a clear indication to both of us that this is a topic that deserves another look. Also, as I mentioned at the end of the show, I'd love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you'd be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Jesse Lyn Stoner's book “Full Steam Ahead: Unleash the Power of Vision In Your Work and Your Life” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Check out her blog at SeapointCenter.com to read more of her insights on leadership and vision.

How does creating meaningful work impact an organization's ability to succeed?  That's the basis of my conversation with Dr. Teresa Amabile and Dr. Steven Kramer. Teresa is the Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration and a Director of Research at Harvard Business School. Steven is a developmental psychologist whose writings have appeared in such illustrious publications as the Harvard Business Review and The New York Times. In this episode, we discuss their research findings which serve as the basis for their new book “The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work”. Over the course of the discussion, Teresa, Steven and I discuss: Why leaders need to provide employees with responsibilities that create a sense of purpose or meaning.How experiencing setbacks can be more damaging to employee morale than leaders realize.What leaders should be managing, as opposed to what they think they should be managing, to encourage productivity in their organization.What two other factors leaders can employ to improve employee performance over the long-term.How leaders and employees can help facilitate a shift toward the creation of meaningful work. As I told Teresa and Steven during our conversation, “The Progress Principle” is easily one of the best books I've read this year on leadership and improving an organization's productivity. I invite you both to listen to this podcast and to check out their book to find out why I so thoroughly enjoyed reading "The Progress Principle", as well as talking with them about the discoveries they made through their research on the challenges employees face in today's workplace. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer's book “The Progress Principle” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).

I'm delighted to present a new feature here on my site: a new podcast show called "Leadership Biz Cafe".  Through this new podcast, I plan on inviting business leaders and leadership experts to join me in conversations about their ideas and insights on the challenges and opportunities to be found in today's increasingly competitive and global market. For my first episode, I am pleased to welcome Guy Kawasaki, the best-selling author and former Chief Evangelist at Apple, to the guest chair.  Guy is the co-founder of the popular online content aggregator Alltop.com, as well as one of the founding partners of Garage Technology Ventures.  Earlier this year, he released his latest book called "Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions" which recently made the New York Times bestseller list. I had the opportunity to get an advance copy of Guy's book and after reading it, I invited him to be the first guest on my new podcast series which he graciously accepted. During the podcast, we discuss a number of topics including: What does enchantment mean and what's the first step to take to become more enchantingHow we can develop more trusting and beneficial relationshipsWhy trying to be influential is not the best long-term strategyThe 3 steps every leader can take to enchant their employeesWhy employees need to enchant their boss (one of the unspoken truths many of us don't like to admit) It's a great interview and Guy and I even shared a few laughs along the way as we discuss what it takes to not just influence, but enchant those around us.  So I'd like to invite you to check out this first episode of the "Leadership Biz Cafe" podcast and please let me know what you think of the show by leaving a comment below.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on this new addition to my site and what topics you might be interested in hearing more about in some of upcoming shows for this new series. I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, or your preferred podcast platform. It’s worth noting that my leadership podcast was recognized by Inc. As one of “12 podcasts that will make you a better leader”. So please help me get the word out about my show. Noteworthy links: Buy Guy Kawasaki's book "Enchantment" on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Visit Guy Kawasaki's website to learn more about his book.