Love in Action

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!

How do you help people bring their whole selves to work? Just ask Claude Silver, the Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia. She oversees wonderful people and their heartbeats, and the experience they have within the four walls of the office and even in life. What happens when you make people feel like they belong, that they’re appreciated, and that they’re here to do some incredible, innovative work that excites them? More than you can imagine.Connecting one on onePart of the job description of Chief Heart Officer is, naturally, spending time with people. Claude will either proactively reach out to people, or they will reach out to her, and they spend 15 minutes together. She asks how it’s going, what’s going on, what they’re excited about, and, most importantly, if there’s anything she can help them with, because that’s where curiosity and creativity comes into play. Usually, conversations are about challenges they’re facing, so she goes into every conversation holding two things in her hands: in one hand, non-judgment. In the other, action. Killing cultures“On or off the island,” i.e. favoritism, kills cultures. If you’re saying you’re good today, and today you’re on my island, but tomorrow I kick you out for no reason, it breeds toxicity, gossip, cynicism, and negativity that your people will most definitely feel. It affects people.A lot of what drives this is fear that stems from a lack of self-awareness. We’re worried that if we’re ‘found out’ for who we really are, we’ll be made to leave. This situation leads to hostile, secret-keeping behavior, where everyone keeps their guards up because we’re’re in a workplace that won’t accept us. It’s heartbreaking.Long ago, jobs were about muscle. Today, you need brains. But tomorrow, they’ll be about heart. And tomorrow is here.Tough loveWhen there are disciplinary issues and it’s time for tough love, Claude shares that she practices radical candor. She’s going to give it to you straight, and she’s going to give it to you nicely. You can still be a kind human being and tell people specifically what’s up — and then together, work out a specific action plan. If we put our hearts and minds into our human beings, we will have a knock on success. Not just internally, but to our consumers as well. The HumansFirst MovementThe idea of opening your heart at work is very relevant today. It is just what works. And people are clamoring for HumansFirst to come to their cities because they haven’t had the bravery yet: they haven’t found their voices, or they have, and nobody is listening. So a call for HumansFirst is people’s first step in finding ways to have that conversation with their board, CEO, or managers. Final thoughts As leaders, we are guides, not heroes. If you’re in a leadership role, it isn’t your show. You’re there to coach the people around you. Resources for Claude SilverLinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter | Job openings at VaynerMediaSend Marcel a text message!

What if someone tapped you on the shoulder and asked if you liked your job. Would you say you loved it? Today on the podcast we have Bob Chapman, the author of Everybody Matters, and we’re talking about the extraordinary power of caring: what happens to a workplace when people are cared for and care for others in return? What kind of impact will that make? The journey Bob began his career the traditional way. He had a management degree, so thought his job was to manage people and tell them what to do in order to be successful. He was by no means oppressive, but he saw people as functions: operator, assembly worker, store clerk, engineer. And then he asked himself: why can’t business be fun? Why do we call it work? It occurred to him that we have people in our care for 40 hours a week. Everybody is somebody’s precious child placed in our care, and we are the most significant influence on their sense of purpose and self-worth.The busIf you can build a safe bus (your business model), and find drivers who can drive it safely (your leaders), then anybody who gets on that bus is going to be fine. Leadership is about allowing people to rise to the level of their ability and letting them feel appreciated for whatever that is. Business could be the most powerful force for good if we cared about the people we had the opportunity and privilege of leading. Transforming managers Bob’s greatest fear is to create something great, but be too dependent upon him that if something were to happen to him, it would fall apart. So they created a university to transform managers into leaders — because you can’t manage people. But you can care for them and make sure they succeed in the same way a parent would for their child. It’s stewardship of these precious lives that walk into our buildings every day and they simply want to know that who they are and what they do matters. It’s about sending people home fulfilled and cared for. Care is contagious Caring for people has a ripple effect that extends way beyond the office. When people don’t feel cared for, it’s hard for them to care for others. But when they do feel cared for, it’s contagious. Bob shares the personal story of Steve, who said, “My wife is talking to me.” That’s the difference it made in his life. Because when Bob embraced these practices that made people feel like they were being listened to, and that they were contributing, Steve went home feeling better about himself. When he feels better about himself, he’s nicer to his wife. And when he’s nicer to his wife, she talks to him. The way people are treated for 40 hours a week matters. It’s not about pumping fear out of the room — it’s not even thinking of fear in the first place, and leading out inspiration instead.Justifying care Treat people like you would like your son and daughter treated. Even if they’re not your son or daughter, they’re somebody’s son or daughter, and that should make no difference. Someone once asked Bob how they can show a return on investment of caring for people. Incredulous, Bob asked back why they needed a return on investment to start caring for people. What do you mean, how do you justify caring? How can you justify not caring? ResourcesBob Chapman (LinkedIn) | Everybody Matters | The One Minute Manager (Amazon)Send Marcel a text message!

When you think about work, do you think about joy as well? Joining us on this episode is Rich Sheridan, the author of Joy, Inc. and most recently Chief Joy Officer: How Great Leaders Elevate Human Energy and Eliminate Fear. He leads Menlo Innovations as their co-founder and CEO, and the company has won the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility for 11 straight years. Today we’re talking about how you can bring more joy into your work — and what can happen when you do.Defining Joy At Menlo, Rich shares that their mission from day one is to end human suffering in the world as it relates to technology. And their goal inside of that, since their founding, was to return joy to technology. If you’re going to embark on a joyful journey, ask yourself two questions. Who do you serve? And what would delight look like for them? They may look simple, but Rich warns against picking the easy answers. Fear in the workplace The natural fear in the workplace for any employee is that something bad is going to happen to them: they’re going to lose their jobs, miss the next promotion, or be overlooked for a key assignment. There’s a brand of management that sees that as a good thing … but what kind of culture is that creating? With fear, work is no longer about contributing, it’s about being better than the other guy just so you get to stay. That creates a very debilitating culture. Systems, not bureaucracy Bureaucracy manifests itself as a lot of waiting: waiting for decisions to be made, or answers to be had, or a sign off on an approval. All of this waiting weighs an organization down and robs the energy of your team. After a while, they disengage.But Rich shares the story of his eldest child’s pediatrician. A truly wonderful doctor, yet somehow, he had no patients in his waiting room every time they visited. Was he just bad at business? This place should be filled with patients. It turns out no. He was amazing at systems. One of the most important things we can do as joyful leaders is think about the systems that keep chaos out of our world so we can lift the human energy of our team and keep the weight of our human aircraft as light as possible and fly to heights and distances. The competitive advantage of love Think of what you could accomplish if instead of only 30% of your employees were engaged, 70% of them were? If these people came in every day with a spring in their step, a dedication in their energy, and they engaged in a fundamentally different way? Think about the value that would bring to your organization, how much more output you would get, the quality of the output they would produce, and how much better a reputation you would have, not just with your customers but with the others you’re trying to recruit into your organization. LegacyFamily is of the utmost importance. During Rich’s disillusionment days, he was coming home late having accomplished nothing, and realized the thing that mattered most to him was slipping out of his grasp. Time will pass, and it will pass regardless of whether you’ve enjoyed your work life or you haven’t. Rich wants to be a good example to his kids, to show them that it is possible to have the kind of joyous work life that everyone dreams of.Rich Sheridan: LinkedIn | Twitter | Menlo Innovations | Joy, Inc.: How We Built a Workplace | People Love | Chief Joy Officer: How Great Leaders Elevate Human Energy and Eliminate FearSend Marcel a text message!

On this episode of Love in Action, we have Howard Behar, the former president of Starbucks. During his tenure, Howard grew the coffee company from 28 stores to over 50,000 locations, and he’s the author of It’s Not About The Coffee and The Magic Cup. Today we’re talking about servant leadership, how to lead with love, and the power of putting people and values first.The Magic CupThe core message of the book is that, as a leader, you need to be focused on what your values are. Live up to those values no matter what your fears are, and get back on track if you ever lose your way. We all have a magic cup, and the cup represents your life. What you put into your cup is what you get out of it, so do we fill it with greed and ambition? Or are we going to fill it with the things we do to help others?Servant leadershipOur primary responsibility in life no matter what we do is to serve others. And sometimes leaders forget that. The goal of any leader should be to help his or her people achieve what they want in their lives, and in so doing, have the people help you achieve what you want in your organization. But you have to serve your people first. You have to give love before you get love. You have to give trust before you get trust. Some people think servant leadership is a “soft skill” and it’s just “being nice.” It’s anything but that. It's still about holding people accountable for their performance, but doing it in a way that builds people up instead of tearing them down. It’s loving, caring, direct conversations, holding each other accountable, and achieving results.As an example, Howard shares the story of Jim and the daily messages on his cups of coffee — and how something so small can mean so much.Love in businessWhen we talk about love, we’re not talking about the same kind of love you might have for your spouse or children. We’re talking about the love that we give to all human beings because they’re human beings.People lead with fear in the workplace, most likely because they’ve never been loved. That’s how they’ve been treated. They learned that yelling, screaming, and blaming are what get people motivated, and if they create fear in their team, people will produce results. That’s certainly something that can happen in the short term. But over the long term? Impossible.Changing our workplace culturesThe first step is to have a leader who wants to be a servant leader. It’s not an overnight process. You have to practice. You have to allow people to hold you accountable. You have to hold yourself accountable. Change yourself first before changing your organization.AdviceKnow who you are, know what your values are, live your life by those values, and understand that in order to have a productive, fulfilling life, you have to learn to serve yourself first, and then serve others. It’s not about being greedy. It’s about being okay with you. If you’re not okay with you, you can’t be okay with others.ResourcesHoward Behar | Website | hb@howardbehar.com | It’s Not About The Coffee | The Magic CupSend Marcel a text message!

Join us on this episode of Love in Action as we unpack the true meaning of customer service and servant leadership with Ken Blanchard: consultant, speaker, Chief Spiritual Officer and Co-Founder of The Ken Blanchard Companies, and author of the classics The One Minute Manager and The Simple Truth of Service. Creating raving fansKen shares his three secrets to creating raving fans from a customer service-facing role: (1) Decide what experience you want your customers to have. (2) Listen to your customers to discover what else might make them happy. (3) Deliver.He shares two stories: that of Johnny the grocery bagger who proves anybody can make a difference in their customers’ lives, and another illustrating the significant difference between ducks and eagles.Servant leadership There are two parts to servant leadership. The leadership part is about vision, direction, values, and goals, because leadership is about going somewhere else, and the responsibility of that goes with the hierarchy. The servant part is more philosophical. Turn the pyramid upside down: you work for your people, who work for their people, who eventually work for your customers. It’s not about you, it’s about them. When you serve first and lead second, people feel empowered and important, and they will go out of their way to take care of your customers. Or: “profit is the applause you get for creating a motivating environment for your people.” You want your people to win, and Ken tells the story of how he started doing this as a college professor by giving his students the final exam questionnaire on the first day of class.Love in actionWander around and see if you can catch people doing things right, and praise them and encourage them for it. Listen more than you speak. Ask more than you tell. And should anyone question whether this approach is too soft, Ken is writing a new book that asks, why isn’t common sense common practice? If you create an environment where you’re cheering your people on, they’re going to cheer your customers on, and it works. Hence the working title: “Duh.”Leading with love instead of fear The biggest addictions you see in organizations is the human ego, and there are two ways ego usually gets in the way: (1) false pride and thinking you’re smarter than everyone else, and (2) self-doubt, because when you’re doubtful and fearful, you’re focusing on yourself. CS Lewis said it well years ago: “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”People admire your skills, but they love your vulnerability. It’s okay not to have all the answers. And if you need their help — asking for it and giving them a chance to contribute is extremely empowering.Final thoughtsDon’t you act like you’re better than anyone else. But don’t you let anyone else act like they’re better than you. God didn’t make any junk. AndThe most fun in life is when you’re confused about the difference between work and play. ResourcesLinkedInWebsiteThe One Minute ManagerThe Simple Truths of Service: Inspired by Johnny the BaggerSend Marcel a text message!

Welcome to the Love in Action Podcast, and we’re launching today with someone I deeply admire: Erica Keswin, the author of “Bring Your Human to Work.” Join us as we talk about the book, and dive deep into real-life examples of designing workplaces that are good for people, great for business, and just might change the world. The Big Idea When people ask Erica what it means to bring your human to work, she boils it down to this one phrase: honoring relationships. So, the big idea behind the book is that we need to be intentional in honoring these relationships — with our colleagues, with our boss, with ourselves — otherwise, it’s not going to happen. When we invest time to make connections, the science shows that it’s good for us as people, it’s good for business, and it’s good for the world. Erica shares stories of what inspired her to write the book, which drove her to say: I want to look at this in a deeper way and provide a roadmap for leaders. We need strategies and protocols to create a more human workplace for ourselves and for our team. Be Real: Speak in a Human VoiceIf you’re going to start anywhere, Erica recommends starting with Chapter 1, which is the first chapter for a reason. Chapter 1 is divided into three sections: 1) Know your values. 2) Think about communication on a continuum from instant messaging on one end, to picking up the phone, to connecting with people face to face. 3) Empowering people to live the values.Living the values: Jet GrayDuring their employee orientation, JetBlue tells their new hires: Life is not always black and white. It’s often gray, especially when you’re 37,000 feet above ground. They put the idea of Jet Gray into their employee handbook, saying that they trust and are empowering their employees to live the values.Living the values: LyftOne of Lyft’s values is to "uplift others.” Erica shares the story of a Lyft driver who, on Valentine’s Day, pulled the car over to console a weeping passenger for fifteen minutes. A few weeks later, the CEO of Lyft received an email saying that that driver potentially saved her friend’s life because she was depressed and contemplating suicide, but connecting with her in that way kept her alive.Once a month, Lyft shares stories like these to all its employees at their all hands meetings, so they have the opportunity to become uplifted. Living the values: Away The luggage company Away is so focused on culture that they have a Slack channel called #teamlove. They tell people that whenever they see someone living out the values to please share the story in the channel. What that does is create a living repository of all these examples of what it means to live the values and be part of the culture, which is a gold mine for things like hiring and onboarding new people. It’s a very quick way to bring them up to speed on what it looks and feels like — and it costs nothing! Final thoughtsPause and match your message to the medium. Are you running 10 minutes late for lunch? Great, send a text. But do you have an employee who seems off? Or a client who isn’t returning your calls? A family member where you get the feeling that something is going on? Think about the best ways to move your communication goals forward. Don’t default to the tech end of the spectrum. ResourcesErica Keswin | Erica Keswin | Bring Your Human to Work (Amazon) | Back to Human (Amazon)Send Marcel a text message!

Through decades of research, interviews with hundreds of global leaders, and coaching and training his own clients, Marcel Schwantes found that the best organizations on the planet care about and value the whole person — their emotional, mental, physical, financial, and even spiritual well-being — to achieve outstanding business outcomes. In essence, the leaders of these "best places" to work unleash the human spirit to reach its full potential through "Love in Action.”Love in this sense is a verb, not a feeling. It’s packed with pro-social behaviors and positive intent on behalf of serving the needs of all stakeholders, especially employees on the frontlines. The evidence overwhelmingly asserts that a more humane and human-centered approach to leadership — serving the needs of others — will produce great results. This is Love in Action. Subscribe and never miss an episode with the world's top leadership experts and thought-leaders.Send Marcel a text message!