Frank Danna S1 EP 39 original air date February 9th 2023. How do we actually create culture and shift our 2-D core values off of the pages of employee handbooks and into 3-D embodied behavioral norms? In this episode, I spill the tea. Need help implementing? Let's talk: cutlureworks@maurabarclay.comMore about Frank Danna:Frank is the co-creator & facilitator of Seneca, a radical culture and transformation product. As Softway’s Director of Culture and Seneca, he’s taught culture change all over the world to over 1000 leaders from 46 different countries.  Previously, Frank the was Co-founder of Parabox Creative, a social media-focused creative agency, where he led creative execution & content development for dozens of agencies and nearly 100 global brands, with over 65 million video views across social platforms, until they were acquired by Softway in 2014. In his tenure as a creative director, he has worked with global brands such as Amazon, Butterfinger, CISCO, AT&T, HBO, ESPN, and Coca-Cola to name but a few of the household name companies that have sought his expertise and vision. Currently, he is the co-host of Softway’s podcast, “Love as a Business Strategy.” Yes, they use the “L” word—something most businesses shy away from. And he hosts a regular live webinar series on linkedin called Innovating Teams.  

When 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? 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.

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.

Original air date: January 26, 2023, S1 E37Jason had incredible experience that put him and an entire senior executive team in an impossible position. It's about unconscious bias and having the courage and EQ chops to have those difficult conversations with people who could have you fired.  --What do you do when you are a black consultant, with a Master's degree and a best selling book, who is being paid the big bucks to deliver a keynote, and as you walk through the ballroom after the meal service, when you pass by the executive leadership table, the CEO hands you his empty plate?  Find out how Jason Greer handled this very tricky moment in his career.More About Jason:Jason Greer has been recognized as an Employee Relations and Diversity expert by Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, ABC, CBS and Fox News. Jason was named one of the Top Entrepreneurs To Watch in 2020 by Thrive Global. He is also the author of the Amazon #1 Best Selling Book “People Matter Most”.Jason's unique ability to marry his background in Labor Relations, Counseling, Psychology and Organizational Development has made him one of the most sought-after Labor and Employee Relations Consultants.He created proprietary process called The Employee Whisperer and through this unique methodology, he is able to gain an in depth understanding of the issues and challenges facing Physicians, Nurses and Healthcare Professionals which helps him facilitate powerful solutions.He previously served as a Board Agent with the National Labor Relations Board where he managed private sector labor relations’ issues and worked to improve the labor petition filing process and he is the Host of his own podcast called: the "Employee Whisperer"

How does an unsafe culture contribute  to dips in performance?  When people are being asked to prove they belong, it drains vital performance energy out of the individual and the company --even for tall, deep-voiced, athletic, cis-gender white men with a heads full of hair! Hear how  Frank Danna, Director at Softway, conquered his own imposter syndrome and helped grow a psychologically safe culture of love. More about Frank Danna:Frank is the co-creator & facilitator of Seneca, a radical culture and transformation product. As Softway’s Director of Culture and Seneca, he’s taught culture change all over the world to over 1000 leaders from 46 different countries.  Previously, Frank the was Co-founder of Parabox Creative, a social media-focused creative agency, where he led creative execution & content development for dozens of agencies and nearly 100 global brands, with over 65 million video views across social platforms, until they were acquired by Softway in 2014. In his tenure as a creative director, he has worked with global brands such as Amazon, Butterfinger, CISCO, AT&T, HBO, ESPN, and Coca-Cola to name but a few of the household name companies that have sought his expertise and vision. Currently, he is the co-host of Softway’s podcast, “Love as a Business Strategy.” Yes, they use the “L” word—something most businesses shy away from. And he hosts a regular live webinar series on linkedin called Innovating Teams.  

When discrimination and bias confront you at every turn as a woman or BIPOC, how do you handle the fire of that frustration?  You could burn the house down OR transform it into fuel to launch your career into the stratosphere with a company that sees, supports and appreciates your talent. Join me this week for a HIGHLIGHT of my  conversation with Bridgette McAdoo, the Chief Sustainability Officer for Genesys where we cover topics ranging from sustainable leadership, sustainable business practices and how to navigate change management  as a Black female executive. More about Bridgette HERE:Bridgette McAdoo leads the Global Sustainability practice at Genesys. As thecompany’s first Chief Sustainability Officer, she has built a holisticsustainability management approach for Genesys from the ground up. The goal: To make sustainability an organic extension of how each employee works and lives at Genesys.Bridgette has more than 20 years of experience in leadership roles where sheutilized her expertise in sustainability, operations, and engineering. This experience spans multiple sectors, including the international non-governmental operation (NGO and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). ThereBridgette led corporate strategy and engagement for WWF’s Freshwater and Food goals. Previously, she was Global Director of Sustainability for Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). There she led sustainability issues for the brand, both internally as well as with various external stakeholders. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and an MBA in Strategy from Claremont Graduate University. 

What do you do when you are a black consultant, with a Master's degree and a best selling book, who is being paid the big bucks to deliver a keynote, and as you walk through the ballroom after the meal service, when you pass by the executive leadership table, the CEO hands you his empty plate?  Find out how Jason Greer handled this very tricky moment in his career.More About Jason:Jason Greer has been recognized as an Employee Relations and Diversity expert by Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, ABC, CBS and Fox News. Jason was named one of the Top Entrepreneurs To Watch in 2020 by Thrive Global. He is also the author of the Amazon #1 Best Selling Book “People Matter Most”.Jason's unique ability to marry his background in Labor Relations, Counseling, Psychology and Organizational Development has made him one of the most sought-after Labor and Employee Relations Consultants.He created proprietary process called The Employee Whisperer and through this unique methodology, he is able to gain an in depth understanding of the issues and challenges facing Physicians, Nurses and Healthcare Professionals which helps him facilitate powerful solutions.He previously served as a Board Agent with the National Labor Relations Board where he managed private sector labor relations’ issues and worked to improve the labor petition filing process and he is the Host of his own podcast called: the "Employee Whisperer"

Originally aired on Dec. 29, 2022, EP 33 with Nicole Smart walked us through how to bring successful DEIB to mono-culture leadership teams. Key thinking: meet people where they are and don't force feed the vegetables .Nicole Smart has been helping de-homogenize leadership teams for 15+ years and found the meeting people where they are is step one for meaningful and lasting change. More about Nicole:Nicole Smart is the founder and principal of Smart EDI Solutions, LLC.   Throughout her 15+ year career span, Smart has evolved within a variety of roles that helped build upon her professional expertise within diversity, equity & inclusion, global human resources, labor relations and leadership development.  She has led, managed and facilitated strategic, operational and cultural objectives for national and global organizations in professional sports and professional live theatre. she received her bachelors in Leadership and Management Studies with a concentration in Organizational Management and Development from New York University and a masters Degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. She is also a certified talent optimization consultant for Predictive Index (PI).Nicole Smart is a courageous and studious champion for change, She  supports organizations by providing strategic guidance, best practice recommendations and data-driven solutions to power up diversity, equity and inclusion programs and initiatives to achieve optimal business results.

What do you do when you are a whip-smart industrial engineer with an MBA in strategy and a seasoned veteran of organizational change and sustainability who happens to be a Black woman? You turn the fire from bias and discrimination into fuel to launch your career into the stratosphere with a company that sees, supports and appreciates your talent. Join me this week for an in-depth and honest conversation with Bridgette McAdoo, the Chief Sustainability Officer for Genesys where we cover topics ranging from sustainable leadership, sustainable business practices and how to navigate change management  as a Black female executive. More about Bridgette HERE:Bridgette McAdoo leads the Global Sustainability practice at Genesys. As thecompany’s first Chief Sustainability Officer, she has built a holisticsustainability management approach for Genesys from the ground up. The goal: To make sustainability an organic extension of how each employee works and lives at Genesys.Bridgette has more than 20 years of experience in leadership roles where sheutilized her expertise in sustainability, operations, and engineering. This experience spans multiple sectors, including the international non-governmental operation (NGO and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). ThereBridgette led corporate strategy and engagement for WWF’s Freshwater and Food goals. Previously, she was Global Director of Sustainability for Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). There she led sustainability issues for the brand, both internally as well as with various external stakeholders. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and an MBA in Strategy from Claremont Graduate University. 

In the original episode (S1 E31 aired December 15, 2022), we hear from Jeff Ma, the director at Softway who has been on the ride of moving from a logic first leadership approach to  team-first. In this highlight episode, I focus on the realities of change, the current statistics that reflect the cost of stagnation to the bottom line and what is possible when leaders are courageous enough to shift their world view for the greater good of all... especially the bottom line. More about Jeff:Director at Softway & Culture+Follow Softway on LinkedIn to attend their Innovating Teams Webinar (sooo good)Jeff Ma is the Director of Product Development at Culture+, co-creator of the Seneca suite of products and services, host of the ‘Love As A Business Strategy’ podcast, and WSJ Best Selling Author of 'Love as a Business Strategy.’ As someone who thrived as a Command and Control leader, Jeff helps us understand the realities about shifting into a compassion-based Servant leadership style. Don't miss this. Oh, and buy the book (it's incredible!): Love As A Business StrategyAnd don't miss their podcast: LAABS Coming up through a decade in the gaming industry, Jeff eventually found his niche in project management and agile coaching at Softway. As he continued working with teams and clients in scrum and agile environments, however, he started seeing the stronger underlying importance of culture in truly high performing teams. Pushed by a combination of his own introspection, feedback from his colleagues, and a whole lot of uncomfortable practice - Jeff shifted head-first into a new mission that he shares with his team: to bring humanity back to the workplace. Nowadays, he’s hyper-focused on helping people find a workplace culture that allows them to be their whole selves - their best selves. Jeff is leading the development of various products and tools that are crafted with a culture of love at its center. As a co-facilitator of Seneca Leaders and the other experiences in the Seneca suite, he is also connecting and transforming leaders around the world directly - helping them improve their mindsets, behaviors, and leadership capabilities.