Becoming a lynchpin and proximity to power. Those were the dominating factors in last week's episode where Softway VP and WSJ bestselling author Chris Pitre tells the story of how a C-Suite executive noticed his talents and abilities and sponsored him into the hallowed halls of power and influence. His big leap was recognizing and accepting that he belonged there. We are bombarded daily with stories about privileged and ignorant people going out of their way to obstruct and disempower women and BIPOC. It's important to hear stories about black men and women being recognized and welcomed into the high-stakes executive ranks to make big impact with their big talents and skills. For those active allies who are serious about making a difference for WOC:Author Minda Harts has you coveredThe Right WithinThe Memo

How did a 20-something  entry-level black male employee get invited to go to NYC on the company dime,  picked up by a limo, stay at the Waldorf Astoria, meet Serena Williams and Billie Jean King at an event before having a seat at the table at an enterprise sales meeting in a sea of C-suite execs? He got recognized, mentored and sponsored by a CSO of one of the largest staffing companies in the US. He got invited to the dance, but he showed up, over-delivered and knocked it out of the park.On this, the final episode of season 1 of the C-Change podcast, Chris speaks very candidly about his unique experience as a black man in the corporate world and how expertise, grace and gratitude paved the way for his meteoric rise to leadership and how other women and people of color can take control of their career trajectory.--> Learn more about SENECA LEADER TRAINING HERE --> Get the book Love As A Business Strategy HERELearn more about CHRIS PITRE here:Chris is a co-author of WSJ Bestseller Love as a Business Strategy and the Co-founder of Culture+, a culture-as-a-service company.  He works with and speaks at companies across Big Tech, energy, healthcare, financial services, and nonprofit sectors to strengthen their culture and organically build inclusive behaviors.Chris is a student of the world and enjoys anthropology, history, travel, and culinary experiences. His interests in global cultures naturally led him to travel around the world co-leading culture and leadership transformations through Culture+.Chris is a native Houstonian who loves everything Beyoncé. He has a BBA with a concentration in marketing from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.“Curiosity over fear.” If my career has a tagline, that’s it. As Vice President at Softway, I oversee HR and business development, and support client projects through strategy, talent management, branding, communications, and tech ideation. Whether it's a talent conversation or helping a client solve a business challenge, my common thread is helping fellow humans get to their next level, and beyond. I lead teams that are consultative, collaborative, and outcome-oriented. My passions have led me to a place where I get to explore, learn, and create in multiple business areas. I've developed specialties in advertising, digital strategy, digital marketing, marketing automation and technology, social media, innovation, sales, HR, change management, and internal communications. In 2018, Softway created a radical and unique leadership transformation experience called Seneca. As a member of the Seneca team, I traveled to 8 countries to facilitate these sessions over 10 months. Developing leaders across so many different cultures was an education in itself, and made us even better at delivering the most empathetic, effective, humans-first products and services for our Softway clients.Most recently, I’ve been able to share my experience as a co-host of Softway’s new podcast, “Love as a Business Strategy” (www.softway.com/laabs). We discuss all the highs and lows and in-betweens of creating human-centric tech, empathetic leadership, diversity and inclusion, and so much more. We often feature friends/special guests— elite-athletes and legendary coaches, business-turnaround experts, and stars from our in-house talent on their superpower techniques we can all borrow.In my career, I have been privileged to work with the following clients and industries:- Tech (HP, Microsoft, Adobe, Uber)- Healthc

Pulling oneself up by the bootstraps is not a level playing field. Generations of obstacles both visible and invisible have conditioned women and BIPOC to hesitate or question their readiness for opportunities. Paul Langlois, VP of Enterprise Learning and the clever HR people at Ecolab have collaborated to overcome this cultural hurdle through L & D and finding passive talent within an enterprise organization. In this highlight episode, I unpack the aspects of inequity that are invisible and the platform that Paul is collaborating on.[Original interview EP 50 aired May 4, 2023] More about Paul Langlois:I am an innovative Leader with a proven ability to implement and enhance learning outcomes to help businesses achieve superior outcomes. I love to help others improve business results by applying proven methodologies and tools. I am a talented speaker and trainer, and love to clearly communicate complex concepts. I am very self-motivated, and have a strong ability to assume multiple responsibilities and remain productive within a fast-paced business environment.Specialties: Program / Project ManagementLearning and Curriculum DevelopmentChange ManagementLean Six SigmaTeam Facilitation and Development

What does L & D have to do with creating inclusive culture? Everything. Paul Langlois, VP of Enterprise Learning at Ecolab discusses how organizations can build inclusion into the employee experience and how to find hidden emerging talent within a company that will increase representation and change people's lives.More about Paul Langlois:I am an innovative Leader with a proven ability to implement and enhance learning outcomes to help businesses achieve superior outcomes. I love to help others improve business results by applying proven methodologies and tools. I am a talented speaker and trainer, and love to clearly communicate complex concepts. I am very self-motivated, and have a strong ability to assume multiple responsibilities and remain productive within a fast-paced business environment.Specialties: Program / Project ManagementLearning and Curriculum DevelopmentChange ManagementLean Six SigmaTeam Facilitation and Development 

Original air date: April 20th, S1 E48When leaders are faced with performance and productivity slumps, what would happen if the first question they asked was, "what signals are we sending?" This week I highlight a key learning from Drew Fortin's episode where we unpack the direct relationship between "people problems" and leadership signals.Find out more about Drew Fortin:Drew is a people-first, values-driven leader with nearly 20 years of growth strategy and team-building experience across retail, marketing technology, local media, and HR tech. He spent 7 years at The Predictive Index, where he was Chief Growth Officer responsible for the company's strategy to build the world's first talent optimization platform. Drew is obsessed with helping leaders everywhere embrace the shift that technology is having on the employee/employer relationship. This led him to founding Lever Talent, where he is now CEO.He believes that you are capable of more than you could ever imagine.I am an extremely passionate growth leader. I started my career impatient, driven, and naive - pushing hard to climb the corporate ladder and eventually found myself fired from a highly coveted growth-stage start-up in my mid-20s. That moment sent me on a journey of self-discovery. I realized I'm a fixer, visionary leader, relationship builder, and goal setter. I'm successful working with people. I’m fascinated by the human condition and discovering how to use personal development and leadership to move the greatest growth lever - people. Over the last 18 years, I've learned that if you paint a vision big enough, vivid enough, surround yourself with people you admire and trust, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can grow. On a macro level, the employee-employer relationship is broken. Thankfully, employees are gaining leverage, and the power dynamic with employers is shifting.I’m now the founder and CEO of Lever Talent, Inc. We’re flipping the script by helping businesses lean into this shift - bringing humanity back to business.We help leaders find leverage in themselves, their teams, and their strategies. And we help companies find leverage by identifying their superpowers and developing complementary processes to spur growth at scale.Join the movement at levertalent.com. I use my LinkedIn to network, learn from others, and share any wisdom I've gained along the way. Let’s grow, always, in all ways. Specialties: Talent Strategy, Growth Leadership, Cultural Transformation, Mission Vision Values, Team Building, Talent Optimization, Go-to-Market Strategy, Digital Transformation, Consulting:

Being inclusive requires leaders to be intentional about setting the tone to create a culture of belonging. Join me this week as CEO Drew Fortin  unpacks proven methods for leaders to present clear signals that you are working in a team-first culture that actually cares about you! If you want to know how to build a world-class employee experience, listen in.More about Drew Fortin:Drew is a people-first, values-driven leader with nearly 20 years of growth strategy and team-building experience across retail, marketing technology, local media, and HR tech. He spent 7 years at The Predictive Index, where he was Chief Growth Officer responsible for the company's strategy to build the world's first talent optimization platform. Drew is obsessed with helping leaders everywhere embrace the shift that technology is having on the employee/employer relationship. This led him to founding Lever Talent, where he is now CEO.He believes that you are capable of more than you could ever imagine.I am an extremely passionate growth leader. I started my career impatient, driven, and naive - pushing hard to climb the corporate ladder and eventually found myself fired from a highly coveted growth-stage start-up in my mid-20s. That moment sent me on a journey of self-discovery. I realized I'm a fixer, visionary leader, relationship builder, and goal setter. I'm successful working with people. I’m fascinated by the human condition and discovering how to use personal development and leadership to move the greatest growth lever - people. Over the last 18 years, I've learned that if you paint a vision big enough, vivid enough, surround yourself with people you admire and trust, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can grow. On a macro level, the employee-employer relationship is broken. Thankfully, employees are gaining leverage, and the power dynamic with employers is shifting.I’m now the founder and CEO of Lever Talent, Inc. We’re flipping the script by helping businesses lean into this shift - bringing humanity back to business.We help leaders find leverage in themselves, their teams, and their strategies. And we help companies find leverage by identifying their superpowers and developing complementary processes to spur growth at scale.Join the movement at levertalent.com. I use my LinkedIn to network, learn from others, and share any wisdom I've gained along the way. Let’s grow, always, in all ways. Specialties: Talent Strategy, Growth Leadership, Cultural Transformation, Mission Vision Values, Team Building, Talent Optimization, Go-to-Market Strategy, Digital Transformation, Consulting

Original air date:  March 9, 2023When you are a leader who KNOWS  a culture change is needed to keep pace with competitors and sustainable growth, the most important question to ask yourself: are you willing to leave?As command and control leaders spend millions on performance trainings, the root of underperformance remains virtually unchanged: toxic culture. In this highlight episode, I pull out a moment in our conversation where Liz gets very specific about the dynamics that traditional leadership styles generate and the inevitable outcomes. Good news is, you don't have to be an executive or even in a leadership position to help turn the tide. #personalculture #microcultureMore about Liz:Join me as the incomparable Liz Kislik discusses the critical steps to  creating real change that impacts engagement, retention and the bottom line.More about Liz Kislik:Liz Kislik is a management consultant and executive coach, and a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review and Forbes. Her TEDx “Why There’s So Much Conflict at Work and What You Can Do to Fix It” has received more than 400,000 views. She specializes in developing high performing leaders and workforces, and for 30 years has helped family-run businesses, national nonprofits, and Fortune 500 companies like American Express, Girl Scouts, Staples, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and Highlights for Children solve their thorniest problems.Liz’s work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal’s Morning Download, the Washington Post, Business Insider, and Bloomberg Businessweek. Her articles have been included in Harvard Business Press books Guide to Motivating People, Dealing with Difficult People, and Guide to Power and Impact, as well as in Entrepreneur, the European Financial Review, and the Forward.She is a member of Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches initiative, which brings together the world’s top coaches and thinkers; has taught at Hofstra University and New York University; and is a frequent podcast guest. She received her BA from Yale University and earned an MBA in Management from NYU.

What do you do when you spend the better part of your career in finance in leadership and realize the culture is toxic and unsustainable? If you are the courageous Wais Achickzad, you start your own consultancy and establish strategic partnerships to help big money shift their culture for GOOD. Learn more about what Wais witnessed and his journey leaving a successful career to venture into the world of solutions that are more impactful when they come from the outside in! Learn more about Wais AchickzadWith over 20 years of experience at top tier investment banks such as JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, Wais Achikzad has a passion to positively impact individuals and organizations to be the best versions of themselves in their careers and as leaders.Through powerful personal experiences in the industry and leading multiple teams, Wais brings a non-traditional but more practical approach to coaching and development training which will have an enduring impact on the individual and organization.With a vast network, a strong partnership with Culture+, a wealth of actual on the ground experience at notable organizations as well as coaching and leadership certifications from Cornell University, Wais is determined to create a “ Xen “ movement of inner peace within individuals and organizations to optimize their potential in achieving their goals.Wais was born in Maryland , USA , lives in Brooklyn New York and is originally from Afghanistan. He is also one of the founders of a non-profit organization, the Homaira Rahman Foundation, which supports orphaned children and provides them with an education.

Original air date: February 23, 2023 S1 E41What is the primary bottlenecks for DEI? Hiring. This week I'm highlighting my interview with conscious capitalist and CEO of Avadel, Dave Valentine. As an owner of multiple businesses, DEI is a mission critical priority and in this episode I expand upon piece of our discussion, unpacking how our natural affinity for those who look and feel familiar to us creates big obstacles to successful DEI. Check it out!Does conscious capitalism really work? Can we honor and respect ourselves AND our employees AND make oodles of cash?? Yes, yes and YES! Join me as I unpack the realities of creating a fulfilling and successful business and shifting the culture of a nation with Dave Valentine,More about Dave Valentine: Dave owns 7 businesses that have generated over ONE BILLION dollars collectively for over 1000 clients, including major brands and Fortune 100 companies like Target, Time magazine, and American Express.At the age of 29, his doctor said, “Are you prepared for your heart attack?” Dave realized he needed to learn how to scale his businesses without being overwhelmed by stress. His life depended on it.Dave now runs multiple companies from the mountains in a house by a river with three waterfalls.Merging conscious capitalism with an unconventional marketing approach, Dave has rapidly grown his businesses by investing money in people rather than paid advertising.After selling his first business, Dave acquired three more companies and has put $3 MILLION into businesses this year. His mission is to employ over 200,000 people and revolutionize the way we reward good talent.Dave wants to be so big that governments can’t ignore him because his companies take up too much of their GDP. Simply put . . . he wants to buy back the freedom that was stolen by greedy individuals and corporations.

From Crypto to Cosmetics to Psychedelics. Meet the young millionaire who was an early crypto investor, has a talent for seeing profitable trends and using his privilege to  "modern men" become for self-aware.More about Jeremy Gardner:Jeremy Gardner is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and venture capitalist with a track record of success operating and investing in frontier industries such as blockchain technology, cosmetics, and psychedelics. He is an early investor in over 100 startups as an angel and VC, worth tens of billions of dollars today. He most recently founded MadeMan, a men's skincare startup, and is the managing partner of Mystic Ventures, a venture fund focused on psychedelic medicine. He also is on the board of NFT Technologies (NEO: $NFT) and an advising partner at Round 13, a $100m crypto fund.