Unleashed - How to Thrive as an Independent Professional

Our guest today is Cyndi Freeman, who has 20 years of experience as a storyteller and 8 years of experience as a storytelling instructor.  At The Story Studio, she leads classes in storytelling for business, among other courses.  In this episode Cyndi shares some of her own stories and we discuss the key elements that every story ought to have. You can learn more – and register for upcoming courses – at https://thestorystudio.org/corporate/ To ask me a question, download transcripts of past episodes, or sign up for the weekly Unleashed email which includes summaries of each show and other bonus features, visit askunleashed.com  

Our guest today is Afua Branoah Banful, an Umbrex member and McKinsey alum with a PhD in Economics from Harvard. We discuss the spreading adoption of tele-health and other transformational medical technology. To learn more about Afua (who goes by B.B.), visit her firms' website: http://soundhealthadvisory.com/ To ask me a question, download transcripts of past episodes, or sign up for the weekly Unleashed email that includes bonus features of summaries of the latest episodes, go to askunleashed.com  

The 70-30 squared rule says that when you are in an initial context discussion with a client, the client should do 70% of the talking, and you should do 30%. And of the time you spend talking, 70% of the time should be you asking questions, and 30% of your 30% should be you speaking declarative sentences. Visit askunleashed.com to sign up for the weekly Unleashed email - summaries of each episode and bonus features.

Time to make your April Fool's Resolution.  

A listener asked me if I recommend independent professionals get disability insurance, and this short episode is my response. Short answer: yes, I encourage independent professionals to get long term disability insurance. In this episode I discuss short term and long term disability insurance, six different aspects of coverage, and the process to expect to go through to obtain insurance. Links I mention in the episode: Show notes: https://www.policygenius.com/disability-insurance/#whatislongtermdisabilityinsurance https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/06/your-money/life-and-disability-insurance/06money.html You can sign up for the weekly Unleashed email (summary of each new episode, links to download full transcripts, other bonus features) at  askunleashed.com  

Use this episode for meditation or perhaps just as some white noise when you need to focus: ten minutes of the waves lapping on the beach at Chuburná, Yucatan, Mexico, where we stayed for a few days in July 2018. Ask me a question, view transcripts of past episodes, and sign up for the weekly Unleashed email at: askunleashed.com  

That is Matt Johnson, who runs a podcast production agency. If you have thought about starting a podcast, but don’t want to deal with all the logistics and the marketing, his firm will take care of all the details so all you need to do is show up and share your wisdom, or interview the guests that Matt’s firm will book for you. To learn more about Matt, visit his firm’s website http://pursuingresults.com/ where there is also a link to schedule time to speak with Matt. Ask a question, download transcripts of past episodes, and sign up for our weekly email at: askunleashed.com  

Our guest today is Kevin Stoneham, an independent consultant who is the former COO of PwC IT Services. Kevin's current focus, DigiServ LLC, focuses on digital transformation, and we discuss in particular Kevin's experience with robotic process automation. Learn more about Kevin at:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinstoneham/ Ask a question, download transcripts of previous episodes, and sign up for the weekly Unleashed email at: askunleashed.com  

Our guest today is Peter Winick, who runs a firm called Thought Leadership Leverage. His firm enables thought leaders, authors and gurus to monetize their content through books, keynote speaking, the creation of training services and products and consulting and assessment tools. In our discussion, we start with the mistakes that people most often make when they think about building a thought leadership platform.  And then we go through Peter’s process step by step, from setting a strategy for your thought leadership, to product design and monetization. To learn more about Peter’s work, visit https://thoughtleadershipleverage.com/ To ask a question or subscribe to the weekly Unleashed email, visit askunleashed.com  

Our guest today is Matt LeMay, the author of Product Management in Practice and his most recent book: Agile for Everybody: Creating Fast, Flexible, and Customer First Organizations. In this episode, Matt discusses Agile for Everybody, which shows how to apply the principles of agile development from the world of software to the world of consulting and knowledge work. You can find out more about Matt on his personal website: mattlemay.com Matt is partners with Sunny Bates and Tricia Wang in a consulting firm named Sudden Compass, and you can learn about their work at https://www.suddencompass.com/ Sunny Bates is one of the master connectors of the 21st century, and you can hear from Sunny on Episode 64 of this show. Sign up for the weekly Unleashed email at: askunleashed.com