The Remarkable Leadership Podcast

“The great resignation.” It’s a hot topic right now and it’s mostly been discussed as as a macroeconomic concept. What is it doing to organizations? What’s causing it? What can organizations do about it? In this episode of Remarkable TV, I want to talk about “the great resignation” as a microeconomic concept, really more as a personal concept. And I’m starting with the question: why did people resign? I’m going to give you a simple and nonpolitical answer. People resigned and the great resignation started simply because people weren’t finding what they wanted from their work or career. And while I don’t know your situation, it’s highly likely that if you haven’t joined “the great resignation”, there’s a chance you’re either thinking of it or will be in the future – either for yourself personally or as to how it will affect your organization and your team. And I’m starting with three important questions for you to think about: 1. What do I love about my work? 2. Where can I find more of that? 3. what are my priorities related to life and work? As I said above, these questions are important whether you’re thinking of “the great resignation” personally or organizationally. Check out this episode. Tweet it out: The Great Resignation matters to everyone — even if you love your job and don’t plan to resign. Time spent thinking about what you want from your work will always be valuable and never go out of style. @KevinEikenberry In this episode: Subscribe to the Future of Work Newsletter.

The frontline is where the work happens. When you get the work done correctly and on time (if not faster), your organization is successful. If there are too many layers of leadership and you are waiting for directions from the top, you may miss opportunities. Eric Strafel joins Kevin to discuss the importance of empowering your frontline team to make decisions. If they understand the why, and if they know where the organization is going, they will make the best decisions for your organization. Key Points Eric defines his meaning of a frontline CEO. He shares his thoughts around empowerment and why it seems like few organizations or leaders do it. He discusses the role of radical transparency. He also discusses the importance of creating a learning organization. Meet Eric Name: Eric Strafel His Story: Eric Strafel is the author of The Frontline CEO: Turn Employees into Decision Makers Who Innovate Solutions, Win Customers, and Boost Profits. He is also the founder of the consulting firm SUMMi7, which helps businesses grow profits and scale innovation with mission-driven purposes. Worth Mentioning: Eric holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University and a B.S in Mechanical Engineering from Binghamton University. In addition to his writings on leadership and experience leading diverse teams, Eric is an advisor to The Study USA, where he works to empower women-led businesses and next-generation entrepreneurs through collaboration with academic partners, companies, and the local community. This episode is brought to you by… Unleashing Your Remarkable Potential, Kevin’s free weekly e-newsletter. It’s full of articles and resources to help you become a more confident and successful leader.   Book Recommendations The Frontline CEO: Turn Employees into Decision Makers Who Innovate Solutions, Win Customers, and Boost Profits by Eric Strafel Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs by John Doerr Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear Related Podcast Episodes Leading Through Core Values with Dina Dwyer-Owens . Unleashing Empowerment Leadership with Frances Frei.

How we think about mental health and mental illness has changed a lot in my lifetime societally. More and more awareness of mental illness is emerging, and while this is really good, unfortunately, there’s actually more mental illness than ever. People are willing to talk about it, but there’s all sorts of factors like anxiety and loneliness and other factors that are causing the amount of mental illness to grow or the level of mental illness across society to grow. In this episode of Remarkable TV, I’m talking about a related topic: mental fitness. Just like we think about physical fitness as a way to help us be more physically healthy and avoid physical illness, we can do the same with mental fitness. In the episode I’m sharing four ways to help you do this. Tweet it out: What will you do today to become more mentally fit? @KevinEikenberry In this episode: Subscribe to the Future of Work Newsletter.

We are living in uncertain times. This is true and we could probably say this of any time we have lived in. The difference is we are more connected now and we see more information. So, the risk and uncertainty that seemed to be episodic were always there and we need to accept this reality. Larry Robertson joins Kevin to talk about risk, uncertainty, leadership, and mindsets. We need to recognize the status quo is harder to come by and we should use uncertainty as the secret ingredient to shake things up. Key Points Larry shares his thoughts as to why things seem more uncertain than before. He describes the new normal. He discusses a rebel leadership mindset and how it helps us thrive. He talks about the stability of organizational culture. Meet Larry Name: Larry Robertson His Story: Larry Robertson is the author of Rebel Leadership: How to Thrive in Uncertain Times in addition to The Language of Man and A Deliberate Pause. He is a Fulbright Scholar, and a popular columnist with Inc. Magazine, The Creativity Post, CEOWorld Magazine, and SmartBrief Worth Mentioning: From a leadership standpoint, Larry offers a distinct 360-degree perspective on the topic. He has been a leader or part of leader teams; invested in and/or advised leaders; done deep research into not just leadership, but the closely related areas of creativity and entrepreneurship. This episode is brought to you by… The Daily Email, daily inspiration for leaders sent Monday-Friday every week. Kevin writes a short message to inform, inspire, engage, and focus you on becoming the best you and the best leader you can be. Book Recommendations Rebel Leadership: How to Thrive in Uncertain Times by Larry Robertson Beyond the Trees: A Journey Alone Across Canada’s Arctic by Adam Shoalts Life Lived Wild: Adventures at the Edge of the Map by Rick Ridgeway Related Podcast Episodes Leading Change Intelligently with Barbara Trautlein. Helping People Change with Melvin Smith. Growing People and Companies Through Change with Stacy Henry.

Atticus Finch, Atticus Finch, you might immediately know who I mean and you might be thinking, I should know that name, shouldn’t I? Well, Atticus Finch is the protagonist in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. If you haven’t read it, you’ve probably seen the movie. If you haven’t done either, you should go watch it or go read it now. But there’s a line in the book, and I believe in the movie as well, where Atticus Finch says you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. You never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view. How often do you do that? I mean, how often do you step back from your own perspective and look at it from someone else’s perspective? This is a very powerful lesson for us to consider. And in this episode here, I’m sharing two different ways to help broaden your perspective. Tweet it out: Remember and apply the lesson of Atticus Finch – ‘You never really understand a person until you consider their point of view.’ @KevinEikenberry In this episode: Subscribe to the Remarkable Leadership Podcast.

When we talk about organizational change, we think about long meetings, lots of slides, and confusion on the goals. Further, we often default to how long will it take and how much will it cost me? Not to mention the change leaders are left to find for themselves. Brendon Baker shares with Kevin that to be successful, we need to ask different questions and continue to monitor and nurture the change. Key Points Brendon discusses why many change efforts fail. He shares the 3 valuable questions we should be asking. Why are we doing this? What does success look like? What are we exactly doing? Discusses scope creep and why. He share the 5 stages of momentum. Meet Brendon Name: Brendon Baker His Story: Brendon is the author of the best-seller Valuable Change: What You Need to Know to Ensure Your Change Pays Off, and has consulted on over $10 Billion in key transformation projects and programs across a range of industries and organizational sizes Worth Mentioning: Brendon established the Valuable Change Co. with one central mission in mind: to Help Change Leaders Drive Real Value, but on his way found his secondary mission: Fight Unnecessary Complexity. Brendon is based on the rural outskirts of Canberra, Australia and has a degree in Business Management. This episode is brought to you by… Future of Work Newsletter, a free weekly e-newsletter. It’s full of articles and resources to help you, your team and your organization be more successful in the ever-changing remote work environment. Book Recommendations Valuable Change: What You Need to Know to Ensure Your Change Pays Off by Brendon Baker Related Podcast Episodes Leading Change Intelligently with Barbara Trautlein. Leading Large-Scale Change with Bill Schaninger. Leading in a World of Explosive Change with Henry De Sio, Jr.

This is the last and fourth in a series of episodes about four-letter words. But don’t worry – this and all the other episodes carry a G rating. You can watch the other episodes here. As the title of this post says, I am talking about the longest four-letter word. So technically, it’s not a four-letter word. But since this series is about “dirty” words, and we often think of dirty words as four-letter words, we are including it in this series. The longest four-letter word is accountable. And I’m considering it a four-letter word here because most of the time when we hear it, it’s associated with things going wrong. And as a leader, it’s up to us to change this bad association/assumption and help empower our team instead. But this won’t happen overnight. We’ve heard this word used negatively for a long time and if we’re going to change its connotation, we must change the way we use it. You must not only use it when things are going badly, you must not only use it with the word “hold” in front of it. Not I’m going to hold you accountable, but rather I’m going to help you be accountable. I’m going to help you take ownership. I’m going to help you be empowered. Changing it and using it carefully. Changing it and using it differently. Tweet it out: Accountability isn’t a dirty word – though some act like it is. Being accountable is simply taking ownership and responsibility. When we talk about it all the time – and not just when things go badly – people won’t think accountable is a dirty word after all. @KevinEikenberry In this episode: Subscribe to the Remarkable Leadership Podcast.

Most of the problems we face today are messy, complex, and have no correct answer. Further, we have no precedence of how to solve them. Kevin chats with Sarah Stein Greenberg, who shares practical and maybe unusual ways to help you tackle the challenges you face. It is critical to have a curious mind and be intentional with your actions. Key Points Sarah shares her thoughts about design and risk. She discusses how to extend our curiosity. She shares examples of paths to creativity including: Come up with ideas. Locate your own voice. Tell a compelling story. Slow down and focus. Meet Sarah Name: Sarah Stein Greenberg Her Story: Sarah is the author of Creative Acts for Curious People: How to Think, Create, and Lead in Unconventional Ways. She is also the Executive Director of the Stanford d.school. She leads a community of designers, faculty, and other innovative thinkers who help people unlock their creative abilities and apply them to the world. Worth Mentioning: Sarah holds an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and a BA in history from Oberlin College. She also serves as a trustee for the global conservation organization Rare. This episode is brought to you by… Unleashing Your Remarkable Potential, Kevin’s free weekly e-newsletter. It’s full of articles and resources to help you become a more confident and successful leader. Book Recommendations Creative Acts for Curious People: : How to Think, Create, and Lead in Unconventional Ways by Sarah Stein Greenberg System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot by Rob Reich, Mehran Sahami, Jeremy M. Weinstein Related Podcast Episodes Innovation is Everybody’s Business with Tamara Ghandour. Making Creativity an Everyday Habit with Scott Anthony.

In this episode, we’re talking about a four letter word, a four letter word to be careful with. And that word is lazy. Lazy is a word of judgment. It’s something that we see inside of their behavior. It’s something that we infer about their intentions. Like just because someone’s laying on their couch right now, does that necessarily mean they’re lazy? I don’t know. All I know is there’s a difference between judging and observing, and the word lazy is typically used as a word of judgment. So we use it on others. And then once we’ve labeled them as lazy, it changes our perspective about them and we use it on ourselves. Now, I used to say to myself, if I didn’t get up, when I’d plan to that I’m lazy. Now I try to remember to say not that I’m lazy but that I didn’t get up when I planned to. Those are two different things. They have two different inferences about myself. And so here’s my point. The word lazy is a label that rarely serves us, whether we’re thinking about ourselves or whether we’re thinking about someone else. Because the fact is, we’ve all been lazy. But no one is always lazy. Lazy is a choice or maybe a habit, but it’s not a character trait. Tweet it out: Be careful with using the word ‘lazy’ – because it places judgment that could be incorrect and is seldom helpful for anyone. @KevinEikenberry In this episode: Subscribe to the Future of Work Newsletter.

We are social beings and our relationships with others are critical to our happiness. That is just one of the ways that Beverly Jones shares on how we can get unstuck and create fulfillment and happiness. She tells Kevin that what works for us as individuals is just as important for leaders. When you manage your happiness, you are more empathetic and better able to motivate your team. Key Points Beverly Jones offers practical strategies to create joy and meaning at work (or home). The include: Making better use of your calendar. The importance of networking and what it is and isn’t. Learning something new; when you are in learning mode you are more creative. The “engagement triangle”: by managing 3 factors you can increase awareness and motivate yourself and team members. Meet Beverly Name: Beverly Jones Her Story: Beverly is the author of Find Your Happy at Work: 50 Ways to Get Unstuck, Move Past Boredom, and Discover Fulfillment. She works with leaders to spark engagement and productivity in their teams and helps professionals to thrive in their careers. She is a Visiting Fellow at the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service at Ohio University. Worth Mentioning: Beverly started working at 13 She was a Washington lawyer, and then an energy company executive, before women were always welcome, and learned career and leadership lessons the hard way, a little at a time. She is a born pessimist who learned optimism by trial and error. This episode is brought to you by… Future of Work Newsletter, a free weekly e-newsletter. It’s full of articles and resources to help you, your team and your organization be more successful in the ever-changing remote work environment. Book Recommendations Find Your Happy at Work by Beverly E. Jones Finding Comfort During Hard Times: A Guide to Healing after Disaster, Violence, and Other Community Trauma by Earl Johnson Related Podcast Episodes Creating Happiness in the Workplace with Kris Boesch. Networking for People Who Hate Networking with Devora Zack. Putting Happiness to Work with Eric Karpinski. Getting Unstuck with Craig Lemasters.