Many of our favorite movies and TV shows portray jerks at work. From droning Lumbergh in Office Space, clueless Michael in The Office, to sleazy Mr. Hart in 9 to 5, we find these characters so funny because they’re true. It isn’t funny, however, actually working with these jerks. According to a recent study, 75% of workers deal with bullies in the workplace. This has a huge effect on the economy, your workplace, and your health. So, what can you do? Robert Sutton sets out to answer that question in his new book, The A--hole Survival Guide (his book just says the word). His strategies will provide relief to anyone who feels pushed around by a jerk. You can avoid them, outwit them, disarm them, send them packing, and develop protective psychological armor. Finally, at the end of this post, you can see if you might be adding to the jerk population. Nobody wants to lose life hours to a bully. Listen to this episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast. You’ll preserve your sanity and have a plan of action to deal with that jerk at the office. http://buildingastorybrand.com/59

Do you and your team members suffer from DSD — Distracted, Stressed, and Disconnected?  Sure, you believe in what your team is doing. And you believe in the people on your team. But it feels like no matter how hard you all work, the results keep eluding you. Worse, you go home exhausted and give your family the only thing you’ve got … leftovers. You’d love to find a way to turn your team around, but how? On the podcast this week, Donald Miller interviews Craig Ross, one of the authors of Do Big Things: The Simple Steps Teams Can Take to Mobilize Hearts and Minds, and Make an Epic Impact.   Craig is wanting teams to get big results without losing their souls. He’ll take you through 7 essential steps teams must execute to do extraordinary things while making DSD a thing of the past. When your team has heart, you’ll not only get the job done, you’ll become legendary within your company and your family. http://buildingastorybrand.com/58

Are you in a sales slump? What if I told you the reason for your lagging sales isn’t the fluctuating market. Neither is it your product or company. It’s not even the competition. Top sellers across various industries and companies prove that sales performance isn’t situational. The key to sales success is you. This is good news because you can start making money right away with some key adjustments to how you sell. By learning the behaviors, attitudes and a few vital skills of the aces in the industry, your revenue stream will skyrocket. Sales expert Anthony Iannarino joins Donald Miller this week on the Building a StoryBrand podcast. As author of The Only Sales Guide You’ll Ever Need, Anthony is going to reveal the secrets of star salespeople who consistently outperform their peers. If you’re tired of wasting time at the office and are ready to become a true sales pro, listen to this episode and take your sales abilities to the next level. http://buildingastorybrand.com/57

Running a company can sometimes feel like a treacherous journey. A bad financial decision will cost you a ton of money. If you don’t give enough attention to your relationships, you might lose your family. And a lack of focus sucks away precious time. It’d be so much simpler if you had a map to guide you through it. Some sort of blueprint to show you where you might fall so you can avoid the hassle of trying to dig your way out. That’s why I’m thrilled about this episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast with David Covey and Stephan Mardyks, co-authors of Trap Tales: Outsmarting the 7 Hidden Obstacles to Success. In this episode, they highlight the major traps business leaders slip into and show you how to steer clear of them. Listen now so you can avoid these common pitfalls and save time, money and your relationships. http://buildingastorybrand.com/56

This week, we’re honored to welcome Seth Godin to the Building a StoryBrand podcast. Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the last fifteen years, you recognize Seth Godin as a preeminent influencer in the marketing world. And in an industry that can be so noisy, cheesy, and in-your-face, Seth’s thinking stands out. It’s deep and it’s well-reasoned. And it’s humanistic, affirming at its core that marketing is ultimately about people and the relationships we build with them. In this conversation, Donald Miller and Seth Godin cover a lot of ground, including: *How to ship your projects quickly without sacrificing quality *Why the old models of marketing are failing and what it takes to succeed today *The psychology behind why people buy (most of us miss it) *The perils of not understanding the world we’re marketing in *Why now is an ideal time to be a creative person At every point in the conversation, Seth challenges us to think differently about marketing. And when we do, we’ll find a massive opportunity to set our businesses apart and make more meaningful connections with our customers. Listen now! http://buildingastorybrand.com/55

If you want to grow your business, of course you’ve got to get the everyday stuff right: product quality, customer satisfaction, marketing, personnel, logistics, etc. But there’s more to success than those elements. To see the right kind of growth in our business, we also need to focus on our personal growth. That’s why this week’s episode is designed to give you a moment of reflection this summer. In our second of two podcasts featuring The Best of 2017 (So Far), we’ve compiled the most powerful advice from our podcast guests for staying balanced and healthy while your business grows. This week, listen to Part 2 of The Best of 2017 (So Far) as we highlight 5 key ways you can move forward professionally while staying balanced personally. http://buildingastorybrand.com/54

For these next two episodes, we’ve selected several excellent clips for you to revisit or catch up on what you may have missed. Summer is a time for recreation, rest and reflection. Because we’ve covered so much great content, we wanted to take some time to think back on what we’ve learned. Whether you’re on a vacation or staycation, mull over the highlights of what we’ve covered in 2017 and evaluate whether you’ve incorporated them into your business and your life. Some principles are so essential, they need repetition and time to sink in. This is our way of making space for that to happen. Listen to this week’s episode as we recap the most important ideas from 5 of our most popular interviews. http://buildingastorybrand.com/53

Why does trust matter so much in business? In this episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast, we’re going to show you how to build trust in your company. Donald Miller interviews David Horsager, leadership speaker and author of The Trust Edge. David tells us that loss of trust costs us a lot, bringing skepticism, frustration, low productivity, lost sales, and turnover into our business. Trust affects a leader’s impact and the company’s bottom line more than any other single thing. The good news is you can earn trust over time by building and maintaining these eight key pillars. Listen to this episode, learn how to form a trusting relationship with your team and your customers, and watch your bottom line increase. http://buildingastorybrand.com/52

What do elite athletes have that business leaders need? A fearless mindset. In this episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast, Donald Miller sits down with Molly Fletcher, a former sports agent who has taken what she’s learned from leaders in the world of sports to leaders in the workplace. Representing elite athletes during their sports careers has given Molly an insider view of what drives them to surpass the rest. She reveals that the best-of-the-best athletes have a fearless mindset. Listen to this episode and put some of these same fundamental habits to work for you in your business so you can achieve your maximum potential. http://buildingastorybrand.com

How did you get to where you are now in your business? I’m sure you could list a lot of factors. But every successful business leader will always point to specific people in their lives who mentored them along the way. Books and classes are powerful, but nothing can replace actual people stepping into your life to guide you. In this episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast, Ken Blanchard and Claire Diaz-Ortiz join Donald Miller to talk about mentorship. They share a process for mentoring that will help you begin a strong mentoring relationship, whether you need a mentor or want to become one. The six elements they outline in their process (forming the acronym MENTOR) will show you how to begin a mentoring relationship that could make all the difference in another person’s life -- and in your own. http://buildingastorybrand.com/50