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Love in Action

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Aug 1, 2019 • 57min

The Benefits of Love in the Workplace with Renée Smith

What would be the outcome if we all had a more loving, safe and human workplace? Renée Smith is today's guest on the Love in Action Podcast and she is going to share with us the benefits of bringing more love into the workplace. Renée is the founder of A Human Workplace: Make Work More Human. She is a writer and speaker who lectures about the cost of fear and the benefits of love in the workplace. She is also the Director of Workplace Transformation at Results Washington in the Office of the Governor, where she applies these principles to make government more human.Renée talks about the origins of her human-centered philosophy of work. She believes that people need to feel safe and supported and that they belong so that they engage in the way we want them to at work. She was inspired by the words of Chris Lou, who stated that the most important job of a leader is to eliminate fear in the workplace. [05:48]Renée shares the five most common stories of fear in the workplace from her research. She concludes that fear is not a good management strategy. [11:25]Marcel asks Renée, why do leaders lead through fear? She answers that we are conditioned to be afraid of love. From our earliest age, we are trained to think that our humanity needs to be put away in social settings. It is ingrained in us that dominance is how leadership happens. However, we need to feel care and inclusion so that we can speak up and do our very best work. [16:12]Marcel shares his story about when he felt fear at work. He describes the physical and emotional implications of that stressful experience. Renée interjects that humans are resilient and that we draw meanings from these bad experiences: some people go on to become great leaders and others turn a corner and find more satisfying work. [20:10]Marcel shares his story about when he felt love at work. His boss was a servant-leader with a growth mindset. His goal was to make people around him better, so he made himself available and set clear expectations. He stretched Marcel to give him extra exposure but was right there alongside him. Marcel felt set up for success from day one. His performance was top-notch and he was willing to go all out for his boss. [25:00]Renée talks about the three most common stories of love in the workplace. She shares the words of one person who felt loved by her colleagues during a personal crisis. Renée says that the best thing about implementing love in the workplace is that it is simple and does not cost anything. [28:00]If we choose to lead with love and eliminate fear in the workplace, we must choose to show love even in the midst of mistakes and challenges. Renée talks about the responsibility model which is based on commitment. [38:10] Renée shares her thoughts about the role and importance of emotions in the human experience. [52:20]Resources Website (Share your love and fear story): A Human Workplace Email: renee@makeworkmorehuman.com  Send Marcel a text message!
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Jun 27, 2019 • 36min

The Building Blocks of Organizational Culture with Jim Harter

Today Marcel Schwantes gets to talk to one of the legends of the Gallup Organization, Jim Harter to discuss Gallup’s new book: It’s the Manager.This was the largest global study in the future of work. Jim shares that the whole world is interested in and talking about where work is going, and what the new workforce is asking about. With this book, they aimed to really identify what it is that people are looking for.The Role of the ManagerManagers’ jobs are extremely complex, and they have much higher stress than the people they manage. They also tend to have less clear expectations than the people they manage. One of the main reasons people join (or leave!) companies is the availability (or lack thereof) of career development. Managers are in the best position to develop people, but that’s not often a clear instruction. Jim shares what managers can do - and how the priority is going to shift from delegation and review to a coaching model that takes into account the specific needs, talents, and interests of team members. The Building Blocks of CultureJim talks about how critical the executive team is, in terms of creating an organizational culture. It starts with the company's goals and becomes a process of determining what you’re aiming for, and how that compares to what you’re doing. It's what creates a reputation over time. Marcel mentions that people are less interested in climbing the corporate ladder - and Jim explains what that means. The opportunity for development and growth also has a huge impact on people’s perception of their pay. Setting clear expectations, and making growth personal to a specific employee makes a huge difference in employee satisfaction. Remote WorkforcesWhether you’re a remote or on-site worker, you have the same basic needs as an employee. Jim discusses how management can ensure remote team members connect to their colleagues on a personal level.The New Critical SkillsJim talks about the data they’ve gathered, which has resulted in 7 expectations or competencies that all employees need to have, all very important in a changing technological environment. People will come to a role with varying levels of ability in each of these - but can all be improved. Jim talks about what they are, and how people should prioritize improving them. Managers can take regular actions and have specific kinds of conversations to make sure their team members are getting the support and the feedback that they need. Building trust is number one. Patterns for EngagementCompanies with great engagement have 4 things in common. Jim tells us what they are, and how organizations make each of them their own. No matter how employee engagement happens, it needs to come from the top, and be consistently deployed throughout the company. Making sure managers are engaged is important as well! Managers need coaching, the way we expect them to coach. A lot of this requires a real focus on coaching managers and helping them to become coaches. Jim explains what that means, and how it can be executed, as well as the potential obstacles that might be in the way.  People Leading PeopleJim talks about how important it is to avoid leading through fear. People will perform better and be happier when a more human-focused approach is taken. Being in a developmental state rather than one of fear - every metric improves. Getting people in the habit to think about helping, supporting and collaborating with their colleagues, rather than obeying orders and completing tasks. Knowing your strengths those of your team is the most important thing you can do as a manager.Resources:It’s the ManagerSend Marcel a text message!
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Jun 20, 2019 • 48min

The Physiological Impacts of Bad Management with Mark C. Crowley

How do you lead well, or love well, when you come from a dysfunctional home? It isn’t easy - but today’s guest on the Love in Action Podcast, Mark C. Crowley, author of Lead From the Heart knows it’s possible - and knows how to make it happen. From Difficult BeginningsMark’s mother passed away when he was young, and his father seemed intent on destroying Mark’s self-esteem and emotional well-being. It’s hard to imagine a parent treating a child this way - but we all know it *does* happen, and the children have to find their own way forward. After his father kicked him out of the family home, Mark had a few dark years, but a powerful drive to prove his father wrong, succeed and make an impact on the world. While in college, Mark noticed how different his peers were in terms of how they seemed prepared for the world in a way that he wasn’t. Mark turned his own experience around, and realized that if he had had more coaching, support, mentoring and love - his life would have been better and easier - so he decided to give those things to the people he was leading as a manager. Science Meets PhilosophyWhen Mark started writing his book, it was to fulfill a personal dream, to articulate his philosophy, and help other managers. And then a friend asked him if he was going to explain how it works, scientifically. This meant that Mark had to dig into the physiological reasons that, leading from the heart, make you an effective manager. So he wrote to world-class cardiologists to find scientific evidence. They all ignored him, until, while having a test run, he met a new doctor who was able to connect him with the professionals he needed to bring the weight of science to his thesis of management. It’s been found that the human heart has intelligence, of a kind - and this is awesome news for the business community. The cardiac surgeon Mark consulted told him that with his book, he’d figured out something that the medical community was just beginning to understand: your biography - what happens to you, affects your biology. As in medicine, in management: more often than not - it's how we feel that makes us decide how to behave at work. It Isn’t Always An Easy Sell  Love can be evidenced in a lot of ways: setting expectations, sharing heartfelt feedback, getting to know people as people. You can’t manage people if you don’t know their story. How can you support someone, and give them what they need if you don’t know the realities of their life, their motivations, and their priorities? When so many people absolutely dread going to work in the morning, and we KNOW that lack of recognition and appreciation is a huge cause of that, why do so many managers think they need to be sparing with praise, appreciation and great feedback? It should be constant - a part of the culture. Fear Works - But Not ForeverThe people who work for you don’t want you to be the boss ALL the time. Sometimes you should just have a regular, normal conversation. It’s not a waste of time - it’s where the heart gets its energy. But all too often, managers feel like they have to always be authoritative, and use fear to get things done. The thing is - fear works. It helps people hit numbers and milestones. But what’s the coast? Is it sustainable? What is the COST of using fear to lead, and is it worth it?After graduating, Mark’s son told him that there was “no way in hell I want your career.” And while that sounds like the kid is a jerk - what he was actually saying was that “I’ve seen how you were treated and what it did to you. I want something different.” Younger generations are refusing to live and work in fear. That can only be a good thing - and we should do the same. ResourcesLeadfromtheheart.com | Markccrowley.comSend Marcel a text message!
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Jun 13, 2019 • 34min

How to be Happy at Work with Dr. Annie McKee

Being happy at work isn’t something most people expect. But today’s guest, Dr. Annie McKee, believes it’s possible. In fact, she wrote a book on it, called “How to be Happy At Work,” published by Harvard Business Review Press. According to Annie, there are three key factors: hope, purpose, friendship, and in this episode, we dive into how to be happy at work.Why She Wrote the BookAnnie has spent every day after earning her doctorate studying, teaching, and consulting on leadership, although she never intended to write a book on happiness. But then something happened. She and her team helped so many organizations but she could never shake the feeling that something was missing. She Annie and her team went back to the research, reports, and conversations to discover what it was. Regardless of where a person works, they want, beyond a shadow of a doubt, to be happy at work.The Myth About WorkAnnie meets more unhappy people than happy people in her line of work, and to her, it’s unacceptable. So she took a look at why. Annie found that our happiness - or lack thereof - comes from a historic era: the industrial revolution. Bosses then were most concerned with how they could get the most out of every person every day. Annie talks about how this inhumane drive has carried over and how leaders need a new way of thinking.The Definition of Happiness at WorkThe attention on happiness, not just in life, but also in work, has exploded recently. Annie isn’t talking about the hedonistic view of happiness, but rather, what the people she worked with were telling her. Here’s Annie’s take on the definition: a sense of fulfillment as a result of purposeful, meaningful work, a hopeful outlook about the future, and good friends in the workplace. In fact, that’s the framework for her book: hope, purpose, and friendship.The Happiness-Engagement LinkAs you know, employee engagement is low across the board. While there hasn’t been a lot of research on the link between happiness and engagement, there have been many done on engagement and productivity in the workplace. Annie talks about why the link between happiness and engagement leads to greater productivity. She shares some examples of how leaders can build environments that create happiness, and it all comes back to hope, purpose, and friendship. She and Marcel break down each of those. The core of it all is love.Happiness TrapsA lot of people don’t think they SHOULD be happy in the workplace. It’s beliefs like this, paired with outdated management styles, that stand in the way of happiness, and by extension, productivity. Annie reveals other happiness traps, things that prevent us from being happy like bad managers and toxic cultures. But we also set traps for ourselves, and first among those is the ‘overwork’ trap. Annie talks about how to disarm overwork and other traps.Leading Through FearWe’ve made it a point to ask all our guests about the phenomenon of leading through fear and why they think it happens. Annie has a very good idea why: insecurity. It’s an odd thing, she points out, that when people are at the top of their game and the top of their organization, why they’d be insecure. Annie knows the answer to the question: we haven’t been prepared to deal with the grain of insecurity we ALL have.ResourcesWebsite | Annie’s Books | Work is Love Made VisibleSend Marcel a text message!
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Jun 6, 2019 • 42min

The Ladder is Broken with Julie Winkle Giulioni

Career development is broken and our expectations have not kept pace with the reality of today’s workplace, according to today’s guest, Julie Winkle Giulioni. Julie co-authored the book, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go, and works with organizations world-wide to improve performance through leadership and learning. Today, she’s talking about developing and growing employees.Why She Wrote the BookJulie believes one of the primary ways we can put humans first is by recognizing and honoring our human drive to learn, grow, and contribute. Enabling development empowers the whole person, in the workplace and beyond. In this way, career development is broken, and that’s one of the main reasons people join organizations. Julie explains why she wrote Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go, and why it’s like a Swiss Army Knife for leaders.The Nature of Work is ChangingThe way we work is much more organic than ever before. Projects, opportunities, initiatives: they’re all formulated around customer needs and competitive challenges. This makes the workplace very different than 10 or even 5 years ago. The problem lies in the fact that our expectations of what career development should look like are not lining up with the reality of the workplace today. Julie talks about how the ladder is broken and why the word ‘career’ might be a liability.What Employees Really WantThe Millennials aren’t the only ones in the workforce ranks. Generation D is nipping at their heels while Boomers are holding on to management positions far longer than anyone expected. But we’re viewing this through the lens of each generation wanting something different. According to Julie’s research, this just isn’t the case. Employees as a whole want generally the same thing, and it’s very different than what leaders believe they want. Julie shares what leaders and managers can do to make a difference for their employees and keep them longer, and it begins with reviews being an ongoing, more holistic process. She thinks of career development moving from an annual event to a ‘subscription model.’ This moves toward a more agile workforce, which in turn helps create an agile company.Common Career Development MythsThere’s a disconnect between ideation and action in development. An idea may be great and exciting, but the its execution is severely lacking. How do you take a great idea from the head and heart and move it to the hands and feet? Julie says part of it is building a plan collaboratively with employees. The other side of that is accountability and support. Julie shares how she thinks we can revolutionize career development.Fear-Based ManagementWhy do managers and leaders still lead by instilling fear when there is obviously a better way? It comes down to something very mundane: habit. As children, we grew up with fear: don’t touch that, don’t do that, and so we carry that fear into the workplace. Ideas like ‘fear is a motivator that drives results’ are far too prevalent. Julie talks about how this management style is directly linked to overwhelm and how we can start to chip away at it: self-awareness and positive modeling.“People have an innate desire to learn and grow, and organizations face increasing pressures to deliver more. So rather than treating these things as separate, and as competing priorities, it’s time to bring them together. Helping people to develop and grow serves them in their human drive to do and be more, and it also serves the organization as it needs to be and do more as well.”Resources for JulieWebsite | LinkedIn  | Help Them Grow or Watch Them GoSend Marcel a text message!
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May 30, 2019 • 1h 2min

Are Women Better Leaders with Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

Are women better leaders than men? Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is an international authority on psychoanalysis, talent management, leadership development, and people analytics. He’s also an author, and his latest book is rather controversial. He asks the question: Why so many incompetent men become leaders? And why are women so good at it?The Controversy That Isn’tTomas’s book sparks controversy as soon as you read the title: Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders? (and how to fix it). He notes there are 3 general reactions: those who immediately approve, those who are scandalized and defensive, and those who are willing to read and understand the argument, whether they agree or not. Those who read it realize it’s really a book about leadership and competence, and not quite as divisive as the title suggests. It’s about how we mistake confidence for competence, and Tomas explains what that means and how it affects work.Incompetent Leadership TraitsThere are three traits that lead to poor leadership: overconfidence, charisma, and narcissism. Often, there is no skill or ability to back them up, but because we reward these traits by assuming there must be, we end up putting the wrong people in leadership roles. Consider the ‘charisma’ myth. Many leaders have the power of drawing people in and persuading them, but it certainly doesn’t make them good leaders.Mentally Ill LeadershipHow do you recognize when you’re working for a leader with psychopath or narcissist tendencies? These people - in differing degrees - lack empathy, have a strong desire to break rules and defy status quo, are likely to engage in manipulation to advance themselves at the cost of others and are extremely socially skilled with aggressive underpinning motives. There are some surprising qualities here that, when the ‘dark side’ is kept in check, make for great leaders, and Tomas reveals what they are.Replace Men With Women… Or NotIt seems like the easy answer is to remove incompetent men with these traits and replace them with women. But that’s not the correct way to look at solving the problem and for larger corporations, it actually hurts women. Instead, Tomas proposes a true meritocracy where we pay more attention to skills rather than traits, and he explains what that looks like and why more women will naturally rise to the top. He also explains why we’ll have a different type of men rise with them.Universal Qualities of Good LeadersTomas wrote that the very traits that propel more men into leadership are the same traits that get them fired. In other words, what it takes to get a leadership role are nearly opposite of what it takes to do it well and keep the role. Tomas goes into more detail about the universal qualities that make all leaders more effective: competence, people skills, integrity. He also dives into the topic of IQ and how it relates to good leadership.Tools for Selecting Better LeadersDevelopment is super-important for leaders, but selecting good leaders to start with is key. Sure, you can always work with people to make them better, but your return on investment will be substantially higher when you select great people, to begin with. Tomas reveals several of the tools he teaches to other companies, some of which have been around for decades, yet no one uses. He points out an interesting trend: the people who most need coaching and development will be the least likely to accept it.ResourcesWebsite | Twitter | LinkedIn | ForbesSend Marcel a text message!
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May 23, 2019 • 51min

Rebooting Your Company with Doug Conant

What does it take to reboot a company from the ground up? Joining us on this episode is Doug Conant, the Founder of ConantLeadership and Former CEO of the Campbell Soup Company. Today, Doug is sharing about how he turned Campbell around, and how he’s able to create leadership connections in the smallest of moments. Campbell before and afterWhen Doug entered, Campbell had lost half its market value in one year, they were under investigation by the SEC and the Justice Department, and many people were being let go. Business was not good, morale was not good, and it was a toxic environment. Doug’s core belief is that leadership is all about the art and science of influencing others in a specific direction. It’s all about the people and nothing to do with him. He could not expect the employees to value their agenda as a company until they tangibly demonstrate to them that they value their agenda as people. The challenge was to step up and start demonstrating that. They went from having the worst employee engagement in the Fortune 500 to having the best employee engagement — something that had never been done before over that timeframe. Campbell Success ModelYou cannot win in the marketplace if you don’t first create a winning workplace. And when you begin to win in the marketplace, you’re going to be able to win with your community. And underneath winning in the workplace, marketplace, and community, you need to be winning with integrity. Doug quotes Stephen Covey: ‘You cannot talk your way out of things you behaved your way into. You’ve just got to behave your way out.’ And so as a management team, they had to behave their way out with the people that worked there. Play the long gameIn any position you go into, you have three years. The first year, it’s the other guy’s fault, and you’re doing the best you can with what you’ve been dealt with. The second year, you’re learning. And by year three, you’re supposed to have it. With every job you go into, take the long view. It’s never going to be a one-year wonder turnaround; it has to be a culture of continuous improvement.  TouchPointsThe world is now morphing into a place where you have to be very fluent in very small interactions: touchpoints. For the most part, we all do this by the seat of our pants. But we’re best served if we don’t — and we can learn how to be powerful and effective in these micro-moments. There is a simple process for getting good at managing the small moments: enter the moment with a “How can I help?” mentality, and exit with a, “How did it go?” mentality. You can process almost anything in one to two minutes, which is important, because you need to be ready to talk when your people are ready to talk. People have to know you’re really listening, that you understand what they’re saying, and that you want to see them make progress. Head, heart, and hands Be tough-minded on standards, and tender-hearted with people. Head: make sure there is a logic to what you do because your people are hungry for consistent thinking. Heart: show up with great authenticity. Hands: develop the practices that allow you to bring your logic and authenticity to life when you show up in these moments. Resources for Doug ConantTwitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | ConantLeadership | TouchPointsSend Marcel a text message!
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May 16, 2019 • 38min

What You’re Getting Wrong About Leadership with Ashley Goodall

How many conventional leadership ideas do we take as the truth but turn out to be lies? We’re joined today by Ashley Goodall, the author of Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World, and the Senior Vice President Leadership and Team Intelligence at Cisco. Ashley separates fact from fiction in the realm of workplace and leadership misconceptions, and what the truths really are. The premise There are a few themes that run through the book that really resonate with an audience who is jaded about conventional wisdom at work. They can see with their own eyes it’s not true. (1) We’ve lost sight of individual human beings at work. We all feel like we’re meant to be cogs in a machine. (2) Small, good things become big, bad things when we try to scale them and turn them into systems. All of a sudden, the humanness is gone. (3) We seem to pay much more attention to what doesn’t work in the world. But what does work? It’s better to focus on that than on our shortcomings. Lie: people care which company they work for A large company can have tens of thousands of employees. You’re never going to know them all. The reality is, when you join any large group, your experience is always a local experience — and that experience lives in your team. Your company culture is abstract and distant. The experience of the team always trumps the experience in the company. You can’t get work right if you can’t get teams right. Lie: people need feedback This lie comes from the fear that, if we don’t give people feedback, they might not do their job. And if they don’t do their job, our teams will fail, then we as leaders will fail. But when you look at what people do need to get better, feedback does the opposite. When people feel like they’re about to be judged, their brain leaves the conversation and it’s no longer around to do learning. People learn best when you pay attention to them and, especially, to what worked. You should stay on your side of the conversation. React to what they did, without judgment, and it serves to help them uncover what they did well so they can lean into it. Leadership What is the thing we call leadership? We might enumerate characteristics that leaders have, but if we were to look at any accomplished leader in the real world, you’ll find exception after exception. What leaders have in common are not a set of characteristics. There's just one thing: followers. If you want to answer the question, “Am I a leader?” — look behind you. Is there anyone there? If yes, then you’re a leader. If no, you’re not. It’s a very simple test. This means that leadership isn’t about leaders. It’s about followers. We humans are fearful of the future, and we follow people who help lessen that uncertainty. That bit of confidence is worth a lot.The Quote:"The set of characteristics of who you are, what you have to contribute, and how you acknowledge other people around you: those are the characteristics we need to build more of and allow to flourish."Resources LinkedIn | Website | Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World (Amazon)Freethinking Leader CoalitionSend Marcel a text message!
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May 9, 2019 • 49min

We’re All In This Together with Terry Turner

What does “we’re all in this together” look like? Join us on this episode as we sit with Terry Turner, the President and CEO of Pinnacle Financial Partners. Today we’re talking about cultivating a culture of ownership, keeping employees engaged, and how love can still manifest in action — even at companies like banks. Ownership Pinnacle associates are treated like they’re owners — because they are. Everybody wants to feel valued, included, and that they’re part of the company, so it’s been an important concept at Pinnacle to give shares to all associates in the firm. It gives them a sense of being in the game, a part of the family, a part of the team. Everyone is pulling in the same direction. Engagement Engagement begins with who you hire. If you want happy, successful people in your firm, then make it a point to hire happy and successful people. They also have employees go through a three-day orientation process where they take the time to explain the company’s values and what they’re trying to achieve. Another thing they do is hold the leaders accountable for engagement. You can fill a company up with good people, but the question for leaders is: have you done what is necessary to engage your people? That’s a crucial relationship, because people leave managers, not companies. Live life with your associates This idea builds on the sense of family. If we’re all in it together, then I’m excited about what you’re excited about, and hurting and concerned whenever you are. It’s company culture to be in touch with the people you work with and what their life situations are. Leading with love at a bank As mentioned earlier, Pinnacle grants its associates equity — today, to the tune of 400 million dollars. People’s lives have been changed by that, and it’s what Terry calls a compassionate system. They also include 100% of their associates in annual cash incentives, and the way those incentives are earned is based on corporate results, not individual scorecards. If the team succeeds, then everyone succeeds. But what really makes Pinnacle a great place to work is how well you love each other, picking up the phone when somebody needs help. It's not the kind of systems you have running. The Wow Budget You can’t treat your associates like dogs and have them run out and give unparalleled service. That’s not going to happen. One of the things they try to get right is the associate experience, like, for example, with the Wow Budget. It’s money that can be spent to wow a client: no guidelines, no script. They simply hire people who have a heart, tell them to act like it’s their money (“Does this make sense to you? Is this an appropriate amount to spend? If it is, spend it”) and turn them loose. Turn the command and control management style around The first step, says Terry, is to research and find out if leading with care and kindness really works. It sounds counterintuitive, but the reason he says to start there is because you can’t fake it. You have to believe that it works. Invest the time to develop a genuine and firm commitment to it before you launch. Resources M. Terry Turner | Love Works: Seven Timeless Principles for Effective Leaders | Sacred Marriage: What If God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy More Than to Make Us Happy?Send Marcel a text message!
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May 2, 2019 • 39min

Become Part of a Growing Movement with Mike Vacanti

Times are changing. There is a movement happening: are you in? Joining us today is Mike Vacanti, the founder of the HumansFirst Club, and today we’re talking about the hope of being able to create positive change in the workplace, and how to lead from a humans first perspective. The HumansFirst Club Movement:We are at an inflection point where we’re realizing we can do better. The HumansFirst Club is an opportunity to have positive, constructive dialogue around what it is we’re experiencing now in the workplace, and the ideas we can share and build upon as a community to take the steps forward toward a future that really does value people first. What happens at a HumansFirst Club event:At HumansFirst Club events, we have people from all different perspectives and job roles, from business leaders, to HR, to authors, and instructors. They have unique and proven ideas and these ideas are gaining traction. At the center of it all, these people and their audiences have that great need of wanting to be happier and better.Business benefits of the movement:Given the opportunity, people will amaze you. By putting in a lot of the processes and operations and controls we feel are there to drive business results, we’re actually creating barriers to things that would happen naturally if we empowered people to deliver. If we create this transparency where our employees can attach their beliefs to the company beliefs, what they will contribute will far exceed what we could demand that they contribute.Leadership the HumansFirst way:We’re taught to look at the quantitative measures of people: what are they capable of from a statistical standpoint? But what about looking at the core of who our people are? What drives them? What are their true values? How are they influencing other people around them? What type of energy do they show up with during the day? How much do they smile? Do they lift the energy of other people? From a leadership standpoint, one of the most important things we can do is choose what to stop doing. What we stop doing is probably more important than what we do next. Take away the historic processes that may actually be barriers to high achievement — don’t add more to the bucket. Make sure you have the right things in the bucket. Why people lead with fear:Mike puts forward three theories. First, people think: this works because I experienced this, because I’ve now risen to a level of authority. This is the path to leadership and achievement. Second, there’s not much incentive to let go of it. To protect pride and ego, people cast fear so they can’t be challenged on their position and authority. Finally, laziness. It’s just easier to throw fear out there. You can detract, deflect, and don’t ever have to be vulnerable and be exposed for your insecurities. It’s a wall people hide behind.Final thoughts:We all have the ability for deep thinking, higher consciousness, and the opportunity to create positive change for at least one other person. We need to get rid of our limiting beliefs, choose what to stop doing, and fill in those gaps with things we know are important — so we can enhance our lives, and the interactions and relationships we have with others. Know that you’re part of something bigger than yourself. Resources for Mike Vacanti: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Website | HumansFirst Club | Brave LeadershipSend Marcel a text message!

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