Love in Action

As Chief Strategy Officer at Duck Creek Technologies, Eva Huston is responsible for building value for the technology and spearheading corporate strategy on a global scale. She is also an independent board member at E2open and previously served as CFO at Verisk Analytics, as well as Managing Director at JPMorgan. Eva is Marcel Schwantes’s guest on this episode of Love In Action. “I think that whenever you can bring your whole self [to work] ... you're just going to be better. Regardless of your background, everybody has something special to bring to the table,” Eva comments. [7:10]Marcel asks Eva to share lessons she learned moving up the ranks as a woman in a male dominated industry. “You'll hear that a theme in my career is that I would create a role that didn’t exist... It's finding new ways to bring value to a company,” she replies. “I tried to look for creative ways to approach things and some ways that might be more traditionally female.” [10:11]Leading with love starts by seeing and honoring the people on your team, Eva says. You would think that you would automatically do that while spending time with them, but it’s common to be around someone for a long time and still not truly see or honor them. Practical love starts when you look at who your team is, what motivates them, and what lies in their hearts. By doing that, you validate them as people. [17:37]“As you go up the leadership ranks, I think that you have to find ways to show your strength that are more indirect so people feel like they have that freedom to grow and flourish,” Eva shares. [21:38]Marcel asks Eva what leadership trait is the hardest to internalize and carry out. “Patience,” she responds. “It's hard for leaders because a person who views themselves as a leader wants to run forward and go fast and get things done. You almost have to counterbalance that with that patience and say like ‘Who's on my team? What do they have to bring?,’ and ‘Let's not start running at a target before we know what we've got here.’” [26:32]It’s hard to be soft, Eva claims, which is why soft skills are so hard to grasp. “That's just something that we as leaders have to realize: that being soft, being human, and being down to earth and approachable is what's going to make our businesses perform the best.” [30:42]A special thanks to our sponsor, Duck Creek Technologies for making the episode possible. Built for insurance, by insurance. Duck Creek Technologies offers the vision and tools you need to drive your business in 2021 and beyond. Visit www.duckcreek.com to learn more.ResourcesEva Huston on LinkedInDuck Creek Technologies | LinkedIn | TwitterSend Marcel a text message!

Marcel Schwantes’ guest on this episode of Love In Action is Susan McPherson, founder, and CEO of McPherson Strategies. A renowned keynote speaker and facilitator at American Speakers Bureau, Susan is also a founding member of Kindred, and a board member at THE LIST and The 19th. She has over 25 years of experience in marketing, PR, and sustainability communications. Her most recent book - The Lost Art of Connecting: The Gather, Ask, Do Method for Building Meaningful Business Relationships - provides insights on how to forge lasting relationships and foster value-based connections. Technology is a tool that helps us connect, but we tend to measure connection by clicks, likes, and followers, according to Susan. [9:06]Marcel shares his experience of seemingly genuine attempts at connection which turned out to be someone trying to sell him something. “When we reach out to others,” Susan advises, “lead with how you can be helpful; go as far as doing a little bit of research about the person before you reach out to them.” [12:49]We are now more wired than ever before, but somehow we're more disconnected from each other, Marcel claims. He asks Susan how we can address the current ‘loneliness epidemic.’ "I think intentionality has broken down the loneliness during this pandemic,” Susan replies. “One of the ways we can help ourselves be less lonely is by reaching out to the people that we know.” [19:05]“From a professional perspective, I learned early on that if you don’t have a seat at the table, you have to make your own. If you invite two people and ask them to bring two people, guess what: you're the convener, you're bringing the people together.  There’s joy, love, and power in that,” Susan remarks. [23:30]Research shows that friendships and meaningful connections at work directly impact an organization’s performance. Productivity skyrockets, turnover rates decrease, and people are more likely to recommend the company to someone they know and admire, Susan shares. [27:02]Marcel asks Susan how leaders can show love in the workplace. “I think we have to look inside ourselves and think about what our superpowers are, what our strengths are, and what we can do to help others. When we can find that, then we can share those with the people that we care about, the people that help us succeed,” she says. [31:59]ResourcesSusan McPherson on LinkedIn | Twitter | InstagramThe Lost Art of Connecting: The Gather, Ask, Do Method for Building Meaningful Business RelationshipsSend Marcel a text message!

On this episode of the Love in Action Podcast, Marcel Schwantes is talking to Helena Clayton, a researcher who focuses on the practical application of love in the workplace. Helena has been working as a coach and facilitator for 25 years, helping organizations through struggles and challenges from a foundation of love. They talk about what is possible in organizations when you lead with love – and what it looks like when you do.·    Helena has found that as a coach, you get access and information about difficulties and pain that people usually keep to themselves – and when you approach them with love, and bring them to the group, healing can happen. She eventually asked: “How can the love in practice that happens individually find its way into organizations?” Marcel notes that this is critical because fear, pain and toxicity at work can lead to poor health outcomes for workers [03:25]·    Marcel asks Helena what made her decide that her research was really needed now, and she shares that when she told her colleagues she was going to be focused on love, people were skeptical. Although the idea has gained more traction, there is still resistance to the concept. “The word love comes with connotations of religion, romance, inappropriate sexual conduct, or sentiment.” Different definitions are needed, and she has uncovered several high-level strands of how people think about love in the workplace: care, listening, holding strong boundaries, and acceptance. [06:00]·    One of the questions Helene explored in her research was “What would it be like if love were present in the workplace?” She and Marcel discuss the responses to that question, noting that people believe they would benefit hugely if it was the case – bringing their best selves to work, being less fearful, being more able to collaborate, and ultimately be more creative and innovative. [12:10]·    Getting down to brass tacks, Marcel points out that there are still many people who say: “This will never work for my company,” and asks Helena what she would say to those people about the difference that love can make. She says it’s a question of leadership philosophy, what are the assumptions we make about what work is? [18:40]·    Helena and Marcel talk about masculine vs. feminine traits in leadership, and how they don’t really align with gender – all people have the capacity for all traits, even if they display some more than others. Helena reminds us that “Love is a core human need,” and Marcel adds that we have the capacity to love people at work – it’s only that modern workplace culture dictates we suppress it. [25:20]·    If we talk about love, we might end up developing practices that are about empathy, compassion and nurturing. If we start with a big word like love, we end up with that, but if we start with a smaller word like compassion we get something watered down. This is why intentionally talking about love is so important. Helena recommends just start the conversations: “what we think about, we bring about.” [31:20]Resources:Twitter: @HelenaClaytonHelenaClayton.co.ukSend Marcel a text message!

Marcel Schwantes’ guest on this week’s episode of Love In Action is Erica Dhawan, founder and CEO of Cotential Group, a global consulting firm that transforms the way companies work through 21st-century collaboration. She is a keynote speaker and expert on 21st-century collaboration skills and behaviors. Her most recent book, Digital Body Language: How to Build Trust and Connection, No Matter the Distance, educates and instructs readers on how to translate traditional body language to the digital world. Currently, body language is a popular topic among leaders. They want to know how to communicate better nonverbally. There are many subtle things that leaders do or neglect to do that send messages, whether they want to or not. For example, Marcel shares, leaning forward when someone is speaking to you conveys that you are listening attentively to what they are saying. [1:22]“You have to build trust in order to have a healthy culture and high performing organization,” Marcel says. “I think that in a virtual setting especially, trust can make or break teams.” Erica talks about the current crisis of misunderstanding that the virtual nature of the workplace is creating, and how it impacts productivity, collaboration, and profits. [8:10]People read and interpret messages very differently, so we need a new set of common rules to root out miscommunication. According to Erica, research has shown that placing a period at the end of a sentence can signify frustration or anger for the younger generation, but people who learned digital communication in adulthood may interpret it as good grammar. [12:36]“[A] key piece of misunderstanding is how much it's shaped by the power and trust gaps with the other person,” Erica claims. “We are always reading into others’ digital body language based on two questions: ‘Who has more or less power?’ and ‘How much do you trust each other?’” [18:20]Erica shares things you consider when conducting a virtual meeting. Leaders should be mindful of the various personality types in their teams. The extroverts of the team may find it easy to speak up and contribute to discussions, but the introverts may face difficulties and will subsequently be spoken over. Facilitating accommodations like chat tools and small breakout rooms to combat this issue will ensure that everyone has an opportunity to let their voice be heard. [27:07]“Listening [as a skill] today is not only being thoughtful and responsive, but it's also being conscious and careful in the words…” Erica remarks. “Reading carefully is about taking the time to make sure you're reading by assuming good intent, you're reading for how you can add value and respond to them thoughtfully.” [33:34]“I think what is most exciting about leadership in a digital era is how much more geographically inclusive and less visually biased we can be,” Erica comments. “We can truly allow anyone into our space and I think that is the full extension of love and the human spirit.” [40:38]ResourcesErica Dhawan on LinkedIn | TwitterEricaDhawan.comDigital Body Language: How to Build Trust and Connection, No Matter the DistanceSend Marcel a text message!

Marcel Schwantes’ guest on this episode of Love In Action is Sabrina Horn, an award-winning CEO, communications expert, and author. Sabrina is an advisory board member to several organizations and founded Horn Group, becoming one of the few female CEOs in Silicon Valley in the early 90’s. Her most recent book, Make It, Don't Fake It: Leading with Authenticity for Real Business Success, aims to help executives make the right decisions as they start and grow their businesses for long term success.The phrase ‘fake it til you make it’ has bred and normalized dishonesty to get ahead, Marcel says. It encourages people to lie or twist the truth for personal gain, which sabotages your success and destroys your reputation. [3:04]“Technology is often misunderstood or not understood,” Sabrina claims. “I made a living out of helping people who would otherwise never meet, connect with each other; and making complex things simple to move things forward. That’s essentially an act of love to me because you're making the world a better place that way.” [7:28]Running a business with integrity and authenticity is difficult because taking the shortcuts to avoid that is easier, Sabrina says. By definition, integrity means truth, but the reality is that sometimes truth hurts. “If your product has a flaw and you have to do a recall or if the market's turning sour and you have to do a layoff, that’s hard to face,” she remarks. [12:26]Marcel asks Sabrina to discuss why core values and transforming your workplace and brand are important. “My advice to every entrepreneur is to determine what you stand for and what your company has to offer before you start,” she replies. “Think about every business process you’ll have in your company and how your values will integrate into them.” [20:43]In recreating and revamping your company culture, you should first elaborate on how your values manifest through the culture and what you will and will not tolerate. You must also lead by example. “I also suggest that leaders overcommunicate with their teams, especially coming out of the pandemic,” she adds. “In the midst of all this uncertainty and doubt, you need to know what is unknown. You need to acquire a bias for information and overcommunicate with your people to remove that uncertainty and doubt.” [25:33]Marcel asks Sabrina how leaders can show love at work. “A leader loves well by creating an environment where values and culture matter, where people feel like they can stay and grow and build their careers, where they feel like they can be themselves… when you give that kind of care [to your people], that ultimately translates into better financial performance, more employee retention, and a stronger brand; all of it pointing to a more successful business,” she responds. [33:22]ResourcesSabrina Horn on LinkedInSabrinaHorn.comMake It, Don't Fake It: Leading with Authenticity for Real Business SuccessSend Marcel a text message!

This week’s show is one of the best yet! Dr. Nate Regier gives Marcel Schwantes and listeners a new way to think about conflict, calling it the greatest untapped energy resource in the world. Considering that Gallup estimates that negative conflict costs the US economy $350 billion a year, Nate’s statement seems doubly shocking. He joins Marcel to discuss this counterintuitive idea as well as his new book, Conflict Without Casualties: A Field Guide For Compassionate Accountability.Dr. Nate Regier is the co-founder and CEO of Next Element, a global leadership training and certification company specializing in communication and conflict skills. He is an expert in positive conflict, social and emotional intelligence and leadership, neuropsychology, and group dynamics. [2:00]Conflict Without Casualties is a field guide that covers actionable techniques and strategies to deal with conflict, based on Nate’s years of research and experience. [4:42]Mediation, management and reduction are some of the most popular terms associated with conflict, Nate says. This implies that conflict is the bad guy. Quite the opposite, he believes that conflict is simply a gap between what we want and what we’re experiencing. It’s neither good nor bad. [6:45]Conflict is like the grain of sand in an oyster shell, Nate says. Without it there wouldn’t be a pearl. Conflict has a purpose and a reason so it can have a productive outcome. As such, conflict should be stewarded and leveraged. [9:19]Marcel asks Nate to talk about the drama triangle. Nate describes the three roles in the drama triangle and argues that it’s actually the rescuer who does the most harm. [12:52]Diversity is part of the grand design of the universe, and where there is diversity there will be conflict. Therefore, conflict must be by design as well, Nate posits. The only question is how are we going to use it. [17:35]Conflict is the energy source, but compassion is how we turn that energy into something positive. Compassion means to struggle with, to be with people in the suffering. Our purpose is not to alleviate suffering, but to struggle purposefully with others to create amazing things, Nate says. That’s when conflict can do miracles. [18:05]Compassionate accountability is the art and science of struggling with people in a spirit of dignity to create something amazing. Compassion drives inclusion and engagement, and coupled with accountability, it helps people achieve. [19:53]Compassion is a cycle of three interrelated skills that happen in order. These skills are openness, resourcefulness and persistence. The most effective strategy for communicating through conflict is the ORPO (open, resourceful, persistent, open) strategy. Nate describes the ORPO strategy and explains how it works in everyday practice. [21:50]Marcel comments that this approach to conflict is based on authentic communication. When leaders model it, it filters down throughout the organization and creates a positive culture. [28:00]Nate’s mission is to bring compassion to every workplace in the world through simple, elegant, powerful and scalable methodologies that anybody can learn and use. [31:05]One of the most powerful things leaders can do is to start at open by disclosing their motives. [34:46]ResourcesTheCompassionMindset.comNext-Element.comDr. Nate Regier on LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | InstagramSend Marcel a text message!

The Los Angeles Times describes Frances Frei as “the go-to woman for companies like Uber who are looking to improve their image.” Frances is a Harvard Business School (HBS) professor who is credited with making HBS more gender-inclusive. She also served recently as Uber’s first VP of Leadership and Strategy, brought in to turn around its toxic culture. Along with co-author Anne Morriss, she has written Unleashed: The Unapologetic Leaders Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You. She chats with Marcel Schwantes about her book and how to unleash the potential of those you lead by applying practical love.Marcel quotes Frances’ book: “Leadership is about empowering other people as a result of your presence and making sure that impact continues into your absence.” [5:46]Empowerment leadership can be represented by a target, the bullseye of which is trust. As a leader moves outward with each ring, they gain the skills to empower more and more people. The next ring is love: How can I set up one other person for success? Belonging is next: What can I do for a varied group? Influencing others is the next step, which entails combining strategy and culture to influence people even in your absence. [6:52]Frances recounts how she helped change the culture of Uber. [9:50]If your culture is broken, start with trust. [18:00]“The reason that people haven't been able to make much progress on trust is they kept trying to move to trust without understanding its very different but comprehensive component parts,” Frances explains. These components are authenticity, logic and empathy. She describes the role of each component in building a trustworthy culture. [18:40]Love is empowering people by setting high standards and revealing deep devotion to them. To bring out someone’s best, they have to feel your high standards as much as your devotion to them. Marcel comments that people often forget the leadership part of servant leadership: high standards and accountability are as important as caring. Both are necessary in a great leader. [23:20]Two practical ways to be more loving by setting high standards are: set better goals and celebrate wins. Two ways to show devotion are: proactively help, and fulfill people’s basic needs. [25:05]Marcel and Frances talk about how she helped make HBS more gender-inclusive. [28:39]“If there are demographic tendencies associated with who's thriving, your culture is broken,” Frances says. [30:54]“If you only give me an hour to diagnose whether the culture has a problem, I'm going to do two things. I'm going to listen to see if any of the cultural values are weaponized, and I'm going to look at the data to see if women and men are thriving at the same rates,” says Frances.Marcel asks, “One of the strategies that often fails in making a workplace more diverse and inclusive - especially for women looking to move up into the higher ranks - is the recruitment process. So what are some ways we can improve it to promote more diversity?” Frances responds with practical advice. [41:20]The most important thing to do for our employees during this pandemic, Frances says, is to enrich them by helping them develop. [46:48]Frances wants leaders to take away this point: if you notice something wrong, address it now. “Meaningful change only happens quickly,” she argues. “Meaningful change happens when the thing you want to change is your number one priority… So when you see something, address it; address it with all your might, close it, and move on to the next thing.” [51:06]Marcel walks listeners through the Leadership Performance Curve exercise from Frances’ book. [53:36]ResourcesFrances Frei on LinkedInTheLeadersGuide.comUnleashed: The Unapologetic Leaders Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You TED Talk: How to Build (and Rebuild) TrustMarcelShwantes.com Send Marcel a text message!

Marcel Schwantes calls this episode “one of the most authentic and real and raw conversations” he has ever had. His guest, JT McCormick, is the CEO of Scribe Media, a multimillion-dollar publishing company that has been ranked the number one Top Company Culture in America by Entrepreneur magazine, and number two Best Place to Work in Texas. JT is the author of I Got There: How a Mixed Race Kid Overcame Racism, Poverty and Abuse to Arrive at The American Dream. He joins Marcel to chat about his amazing life story - his journey from scrubbing toilets at a restaurant to becoming President of a million-dollar software company, and now CEO of Scribe Media - and to share the lessons he learned along the way.JT says, “If you wake up in the morning and your feet hit the ground, you’ve got to be excellent… Anything that’s not excellent in my life I’m the only one that can change it, so there’s no need to complain about it, just get to work.” [3:45]“My why is to be a phenomenal husband, a phenomenal father, a phenomenal CEO. And then I would say fourth on the list is to give back to the communities which I came from.” [5:07]Marcel asks JT how he overcame all the adversity of his early life. He replies that he refused to be a victim. He decided, at age eight, not to spend his time trying to get everyone to like him, because some people just would not. This early lesson spared him years of grief. Another fundamental lesson he learned was to believe in himself. [8:38]“I just tend to look at things from a positive standpoint… I choose to figure out, How can we make a positive out of a negative situation?” [10:20]JT shares his journey from scrubbing toilets to President of a software company. Two lessons he learned were to be the best at whatever he did, and the magic of compound interest. [12:22]When JT was promoted to President, it struck him that he was only as good as the people he surrounded himself with. As such, his focus shifted to finding the greatest people to surround the company and himself with. [17:03]“If you are in a leadership position, you're only a leader if you serve,” JT argues. He describes how the principle of putting people first is lived out at Scribe Media. [18:05]Marcel asks, “How does a company become number one in the category of culture?” JT responds that it’s a matter of the little actions taken every day to live out your principles. At Scribe Media, they work with each other, not for JT. They bring their whole selves to work: he doesn’t believe in a work self vs a home self. He shares several practices they adopt at the company that build the culture. [22:37]JT and Marcel discuss Scribe Media’s Culture Bible, which is freely accessible to the public. They talk about three of the principles listed in the Culture Bible: Do right by people;Bring your whole self to work;Ask questions. [26:46]“A lot of times you can eliminate questions in transparency,” JT points out. [33:21]JT explains why he disagrees with the remote work trend. [35:37]“What’s your best advice for business owners trying to stay resilient during these crazy stressful times?” Marcel asks. JT advises leaders to put their people first, be transparent, be visible and let people know where they stand. Let people feel safe, he adds, and if you have to pivot or make other tough decisions, make them early and let people know so that you can set their expectations. [39:35]JT teaches through sharing his mistakes. [44:19]“I can't become something that I don't even know exists,” JT says. “...I believe if people just know what's possible they can strive to achieve that.” [46:19]“I live by a formula: Mindset, choices and hard work equals success.” [48:48]ResourcesJT McCormick on LinkedInJT@ScribeMedia.comI Got There: How a Mixed Race Kid Overcame Racism, Poverty and Abuse to Arrive at The American DreamSend Marcel a text message!

Walt Rakowich is the former CEO of Prologis. He is a member of the Board of Directors at Host Hotels & Resorts, Iron Mountain and Ventas, Inc., and an Advisory Council member at Gender Fair. He is also an author, and a speaker at The Center for Heart Led Leadership. Walt joins Marcel Schwantes to discuss how he managed to keep his former company afloat during the great recession of 2008. Walt’s book, Transfluence: How to Lead with Transformative Influence in Today's Climates of Change, is a practical guide teaching leaders how to overcome the obstacles that prevent them from having transformative influence in the workplace. [4:17]Leaders often wonder whether they are capable enough to lead and/or turn a company around from low to high success. However, Walt believes the real focus should be on how they can work with their fellow employees. “The most important thing you have to remember is that it’s not about you, it’s about the influence you have on other people.” [11:52]Marcel asks Walt about his experience with fear. Walt shares how his imposter syndrome impacted his professional life, and made his employees wary of approaching him. A coach he hired made him realize that he was taking on too much of the burdens of work by himself. [19:14]According to Walt, leaders must build a strong microclimate to set themselves up for success and destroy the fear and pride that hold them back. A strong microclimate consists of the three-H core: humility, honesty, and heart. [27:59]Walt shares how he managed to turn the organizational culture of Prologis around from toxic to uplifting. He comments that COVID-19 presents many challenges for leadership and managing that challenge starts from the heart. [38:11]“Consider this [crisis] your crucible moment and step up to become the best leader you can be,” Walt advises listeners. “I know it’s not fun, it never is, but make it about other people. If you do that, you will build trust in your organization.” [48:25]ResourcesWalt Rakowich on LinkedIn | TwitterWaltRakowich.comTransfluence: How to Lead with Transformative Influence in Today's Climates of ChangeSend Marcel a text message!

Hubert Joly is a senior lecturer of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and former Chairman and CEO of Best Buy. He is also a member on the board of directors at Johnson & Johnson and at Ralph Lauren. He has been recognized as one of the top 100 CEOs in the world by Harvard Business Review, one of the top 30 by Barron’s, and one of the 10 in the US by Glassdoor. His most recent book, The Heart of Business: Leadership Principles for the Next Era of Capitalism, is a playbook for facilitating the re-foundation of business and capitalism. It chronicles his journey turning Best Buy around from the brink of extinction to being ranked 75 on the Fortune 500 list. Hubert joins Marcel Schwantes to discuss what lies at the heart of business, and how to foster a good work environment.Marcel asks Hubert what he believes business is about. “At the heart of business… is the pursuit of a noble purpose, putting people at the center, embracing all stakeholders, and treating profit as an outcome, not the goal,” Hubert responds. [2:56]There are three imperatives to an organization and tackling them in the correct sequence leads to optimal outcomes: a people imperative - having the right teams properly motivated and equipped; a business imperative - having happy customers who you sell good products to;a financial imperative - about profit. [9:35]“The old model of leadership portrayed a leader as a superhero here to save the day, probably the smartest person in the room, and, unfortunately, too driven by power, fame, money or glory,” Hubert claims. “This [type of leadership] doesn’t work… [people] want to be part of the journey and the solution.” [15:45]Hubert debunks the concept of perfectionism as a key to success; he shares how demonstrating his imperfection actually helped create the right environment for optimal performance at work. “The quest for perfection is evil. Seeing imperfections as an obstacle to perfection, which was the goal, creates an inhuman environment that destroys the heart of your business,” he remarks. [19:04]Marcel asks Hubert about the formula for turning around a company in financial distress. Hubert breaks down his strategy for rescuing Best Buy. “Sometimes the approach to change management is to change [the] management,” he adds. [26:58]“Operational progress creates routine degrees of freedom, so sometimes you have to start with the basics before you think about creating an amazing future,'' Hubert advises. He describes the five ingredients for creating a fabulous work environment, which are: connecting dreams, developing authentic human connections, fostering autonomy, achieving mastery, and putting the wind at your back. [31:52]Marcel asks Hubert how he thinks a leader loves. “Work is love made visible… Business is about embracing all stakeholders… This is a beautiful friendship you’re building with all stakeholders, treating all of them, in a sense, as customers.” [45:15]ResourcesHubert Joly on LinkedIn The Heart of Business: Leadership Principles for the Next Era of CapitalismSend Marcel a text message!