Today’s episode is the third in my series based on a talk that I gave to a group of sixth, seventh and eighth graders.
During the talk, we discussed several of the ideas in the new culture that they are creating at the school. They call it GRIT. And this week, I am focusing on the third letter, I, which stands for Intellectual Curiosity.
Kevin sits down and recaps the 10 most downloaded podcasts of 2018 (as of 10 December). He not only provides background about the episode, he shares what you can expect to learn.
Today’s episode is the second in a series that is based on a recent talk that I gave to a group of sixth, seventh and eighth graders.
During the talk, we discussed several of the ideas in the new culture that they are creating at the school. They call it GRIT. And this week, I am focusing on the second letter, R, which stands for Resilient.
Dr. James Kelley believes there are defining events that cause a fundamental shift in the way leaders (and all of us) do things. This is a crucible moment. James is the author of Crucible's Gift: 5 Lessons from Authentic Leaders Who Thrive in Adversity. For the book, he interviewed over 140 executives from around the world to learn how leaders transform their leadership style after moments of difficulty. James and Kevin dig deeper into adversity, learning, and how these moments cause us to be a better version of ourselves.
I recently spoke to a group of sixth, seventh and eighth graders on their first day of school about the ideas in the new culture that they are creating at the school.
They call it GRIT. And this week, I am focusing on the first letter, G, which stands for Gratitude.
And in today’s episode, I’m sharing the benefits for gratitude and some easy tips to help you show more gratitude.
What difference does JOY make in the workplace and how can you find JOY in leading others? Richard Sheridan joins Kevin to discuss how a joyful culture can bring about business results. He is the CEO and co-founder of Menlo Innovations and author of Joy, Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love and his latest book, Chief Joy Officer: How Great Leaders Elevate Human Energy and Eliminate Fear. Richard recognizes that leadership occurs at every level within an organization and challenges us to become a better version each day. Further, the people we are leading need to know we are real and we support their growth through our vulnerability.
Richard also says that if you are in the Ann Arbor area and want a tour, just reach out.
I often find myself talking about decision-making in my conversations in training workshops and this question usually comes up:
What’s the best way to make decisions in a group, and specifically, what should my role as a leader be?
And to answer this question, I’m going to describe a decision making trade-off that must be considered and weighed before doing anything else.
Sixty-two percent of CEO’s are worried that their employees do not have the skills they need for the company to be successful moving forward. Learning is no a longer a nice to have, it builds a competitive advantage. So how do we have the conversations about skills needed and empower employees to build these skills? Kevin is joined by Kelly Palmer the Chief Learning and Talent Officer at Degreed and co-author of The Expertise Economy. They discuss the rapid changes within workplaces and the paradigm shift needed to make learning proactive to re-skill and upskill the workforce.
In this episode, Kelly:
1. Defines an expertise economy.
2. Shares case studies of organizations closing the learning gap.
3. Outlines the idea of skills quotient.
Resources:
Have you ever had an experience where once you’ve shared an idea that was in your head with another person or group of people and as soon as this idea “out in the open”, there are way more questions than you ever anticipated and suddenly your once-very-clear idea is a bit fuzzier than before?
Yeah, me too.
That’s why in today’s episode, I’m going to talk about the power in WRITING IT DOWN. And yes, I mean with an actual pen or pencil and paper.
Leadership is all about the Golden Rule. Treat others as you would want to be treated. Cameron Mitchell started his career washing dishes for beer money. He had an epiphany one crazy night and graduated from the Culinary Institute of America when he was 22 years old and has developed 18 different restaurant concepts, including Mitchell’s Fish Market. Today Cameron Mitchell Restaurants remains independent and privately held recognizing over $300 million in combined annual revenue from its food service operations consisting of 60 restaurants. Cameron and Kevin discuss his new book, Yes the Answer! What is the Question?: How Faith In People and a Culture Of Hospitality Built A Modern American Restaurant Company. They delve into whether the customer is always right and how your culture and values are what hold folks accountable.
In this episode, I’m talking about a pervasive “B” word in our society that is getting in the way of our success and our results.
And I’m building a case against this word and giving you five reasons why we need to banish it from our vocabulary.
One face to face conversation is more successful than 34 back and forth e-mails, yet we constantly on our “devices”. Dan Scawbel is a New York Times bestselling author, partner, and research director at Future Workplace, and the and the founder of both Millennial Branding and WorkplaceTrends.com. His latest book is Back to Human: How Great Leaders Create Connection in the Age of Isolation. Dan and Kevin talk about how we need to use technology as a bridge to human interaction, not a barrier. People want to bring their full selves to the workplace and Dan explains how a more socially connected workforce saves money long-term.
Seth Godin wants to be ahead of the curve. He believes his role is to notice things and share so individuals can change the culture. Seth is a best-selling author, entrepreneur, blogger, and in the Marketing Hall of Fame. He joins Kevin to discuss marketing, leadership, and thoughts from his most recent book This is Marketing. He believes this is all about doing work that matters for people who care. We need the guts to state our goal and the generosity to share it. Regardless of where we are, we can speak up and make change happen.
Most organizations are trying to grow and change, yet don’t build their leadership to grow and change. You need to know what you need to do to make your team successful and that might not be what you did yesterday. Dr. John Hillen is a leadership and strategy professor in the School of Business at George Mason University and the co-author of What Happens Now? Reinvent Yourself as a Leader Before Your Business Outruns You. John and Kevin talk about the importance of not letting the growth of an organization outgrow your leadership skills. Leaders will stall, and the failure is not recognizing that you need to reinvent yourself and reinvest in new skills, behaviors, and mindsets for a changed organization and higher level of performance.
I recently recorded a podcast with Seth Godin, a really smart and prolific blogger, and in our conversation, I asked him about the discipline it takes him to write a blog post every single day.
Before answering my question, he re-framed it for me, saying that he didn’t like to think of it in terms of discipline but rather intention.
His words have had me thinking ever since.
Intention versus Discipline – this is such an important distinction. So important that in today’s episode, I am taking a deeper dive into this idea and giving you some quick tips and ideas to help you re-frame how you’re distinguishing between the two and how you can decide to be more intentional.
A recent study showed that 2/3 of US workers are disengaged and that number is close to 80% worldwide. This may be, in part, because we are living in a ½ virtual and a ½ face-to-face world. Nick Morgan is a communication coach and author. Nick and Kevin talk about his most recent book, Can You Hear Me? How to connect with people in a virtual world. Body language is important for communication, so what happens when you are working with folks around the globe? Nick explains that communication is an emotional exchange and delves into why online connections are fragile.
Jeffrey Gitomer is the King of Sales and New York Times bestselling author. In his latest book, Truthful Living, Jeffrey compiled, edited and annotated the lectures of Napoleon Hill. He joins Kevin to talk about his access to original course notes and why he thinks Hill’s lessons are more bankable today than they were 100 years ago. He shares Hill’s foundational wisdom and challenges us to think about what we aren’t doing.
In this episode, I am really practicing what I preach by being personally vulnerable and sharing some valuable lessons that leaders can learn when they open themselves up to others and are truly vulnerable.
Legendary service drives business. Legendary service is CONSISTENTLY delivering so your customers come back; both internal and external. Kevin sits down with Vicki Halsey, co- author of Legendary Service Legendary Service: The Key Is to Care, with Ken Blanchard and Kathy Cuff, to discuss connecting with each other to do our best possible work. She challenges us to listen to understand and ask ourselves what a 9 or 10 rating looks like for our customer. You have the power to serve at the highest level.
Despite all our “friends”, “followers” and “users”, we are feeling more isolated than ever. Radha Agrawal calls this “community confusion,” Radha is the author of BELONG: Find Your People, Create Community, and Live a More Connected Life. She chats with Kevin about leadership, gentle self-awareness and community. She believes leaders need to cultivate their personal communities beyond business. When leaders find support, they create connections (both personal and within their teams), which studies show are our key to happiness, fulfillment, and success.
When most people think about “balance”, they think about it in relation to work and life: work/life balance. And while I am going to discuss this in this episode, it’s not where I am going to start. Instead, I’m starting with a bicycle analogy.
Less than ½ of organizations say they have a consistent understanding of what strategy is and have a common language for it. Today Kevin and bestselling author on strategy Rich Horwath, most recently of STRATEGYMAN VS. THE ANTI-STRATEGY SQUAD, chat about how leaders can build their team's strategic capabilities. He believes that many managers are not maximizing the potential in their organization because they are not looking at insights. Everyone can think strategically, and we need to use this power to impact the bottom line.
Understanding your point of view is a launching point to becoming more emotionally intelligent, thereby building better relationships. Guy Harris is part of the Kevin Eikenberry team as a coach and master trainer and co-author of From Bud to Boss. Prior to becoming a trainer and coach, Guy served as a Nuclear Engineering Officer in the U.S. Navy Submarine Force. What he came to discover was that all his technical training did not prepare him to deal with humans. People were more complex than submarines AND if he wanted to make a greater impact he needed to work with others. He joins Kevin, in part, to discuss team building, relationships, and personality testing. Tests, such as DISC, should be used as a tool to build self-awareness, which is a stepping stone to becoming a better leader.
I’ve found that almost all of the successful people that I know, have met or even have read about have at least this one thing in common:
They have a positive perspective.
And while this can mean that they are sometimes optimists, it isn’t necessarily the same thing.
There are 10 positive emotions and when you express them, you open your mind to greater learning and better relationships. Scientifically, positive emotion expands our mental capabilities. Lisa Zigarmi is an organizational psychologist and leadership coach working with Fortune 500 companies and author of #Positivity at Work. Lisa and Kevin discuss positive psychology, esp. as it related to leadership. Leaders can create a culture for their people to flourish by simply helping them find meaning in their work as it relates to their team, their division, and the organization. She feels that emotion needs to be legitimized in the workplace and leaders need to make space for people to express emotion. When we forbid feelings, we see only part of the picture. Leaving them out of decision-making, judgment and interaction is not only impossible, but it’s also imprudent. Discrediting feelings in business blocks access to growth, meaning making and sustainable results.