In today's increasingly competitive, global market, it's understandable why so many leaders are trying to figure out how to foster innovation in their organizations. So how is it that some organizations seem to thrive on the cutting edge while others can barely get their innovative initiatives off the ground? That's the focus of my discussion with one of the world's top experts on innovation and creativity, Matthew E. May.Matt is a popular speaker, creativity coach, and advisor who has worked with management teams from companies like ADP, Intuit, Edmunds, and Toyota, to help them discover innovative solutions to complex issues. He is also the founder of Edit Innovation, an ideas agency based in Los Angeles, California.Matt is also the author of four critically acclaimed, award-winning and bestselling books on creativity and innovation, including his latest book, “The Laws Of Subtraction: 6 Simple Rules for Winning in the Age of Excess Everything”.In this episode of my podcast, Matt shares his insights into how we can tap into our organization's collective creativity and drive innovation initiatives – including a fun, little exercise whose answer even had me surprised at its simplicity and elegance; you definitely want to check this out and even try it with your team and organization. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How does a storied organization like Disney create an engaged, empowered workforce despite the current economic challenges, and what can other organizations learn from their experience? That's the basis of my conversation with international keynote speaker and former Disney executive Doug Lipp in this latest episode of “Leadership Biz Cafe”.Doug began his career at Disney as one of the trainers at the Disney University at Disneyland. This lead to Doug joining the Walt Disney Imagineering team where he not only helped with the creation of Tokyo Disneyland, but also with the creation of the first international version of the Disney University.Doug then went on to lead the training team at the corporate headquarters of The Walt Disney Company, The Walt Disney Studios.Following his time at Disney, Doug co-developed with Stanford University professor C. Clarke the Interculture Relations Institute, where he taught diverse teams of professionals how to better navigate the intercultural waters of the global market.In addition to his work as a keynote speaker and consultant on leadership, culture, and change, Doug is the author of eight books, including his most recent, “Disney U - How Disney University Develops the World's Most Engaged, Loyal, and Customer-Centric Employees”.Over the course of our conversation, Doug shared many wonderful stories about Walt Disney and Van France, the founder of the Disney University, as well as some of his many insights from his time at Disney, including:What are the “Four Circumstances” or organizational values that have been behind Disney's continued success and growth, and what they reveal for other organizations as the keys to thriving in today's challenging environment.Why Disney was able to continue to provide training despite increasing costs and declining revenues and how any organization can accomplish the same.The one thing that Walt Disney did every day that today's leaders need to adopt to ensure their organization's success.How Disney overcame their past problems of high employee turnover and disengagement to become one of today's entertainment juggernauts that continues to evolve and grow.What Disney can teach us about creating an environment where employees feel a sense of shared ownership and accountability, ensuring our organization's continued growth and profitability.Why it's important that we exemplify and apply our cultural values not just within our organization, but also in the actions and efforts we commit to outside our organization's walls.As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website.Tanveer Naseer and Doug LippI’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred streaming platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/7EwAUHReTj65hAl2kNl6hK?si=9bed9bdb82f34d27Noteworthy links:Buy Doug Lipp's book “Disney U" on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Doug's work and his company at DougLipp.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does storytelling reveal to us as being the key attributes leaders everywhere need to exhibit to encourage employees to follow them both in good times and in bad? That's the basis of my conversation with Forbes columnist and leadership writer/consultant, Erika Andersen.Erika is the founding partner of Proteus, a coaching, consulting and training firm that focuses on leader readiness. Erika also serves as a consultant and advisor to CEOs and top executives from several organizations including GE, Gannett Corporation, Time Warner Cable, Rockwell Automation, Turner Broadcasting, and Madison Square Garden.In addition to her popular business blog on Forbes, Erika is the author of three books, including her latest one, “Leading So People Will Follow”, which examines the “hero story” motif and what it reveals as the six core attributes successful leaders use to inspire others to follow their leadership.Over the course of our conversation, Erika shares a number of stories and examples to illustrate these key leadership attributes including:How leaders can overcome the current short-term focus in order to motivate and empower their employees to commit to their long-term vision for their organization.Why leaders must be both passionate and dispassionate in order to gain awareness of the concerns and needs of those under their care.The underlying behaviour that helps leaders to understand what's behind the actions and words of those you lead.How leaders can be generous with their limited time and resources in order to ensure the collective success of their employees.What leaders really need to do to exemplify trustworthiness in their leadership.As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website.I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred streaming platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/0u3bdya06dQAG0IPIQ2mN8?si=1e2eca5adddb48b5Noteworthy links:Buy Erika Andersen's book “Leading So People Will Follow” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Liz's work and her company at Proteus-International.com.Read Erika's business blog on Forbes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why is it that some leaders are able to stretch and build the intelligence, creativity and motivation of their employees, while other leaders seem only to disengage and drain the collective talent found within their teams? That's the basis of my conversation with leadership researcher and best-selling author Liz Wiseman.Liz is the president of The Wiseman Group, a research and development firm that conducts research in the field of leadership and collective intelligence. Some of her clients include Nike, Apple, PayPal, Genentech, Dubai Bank, Salesforce.com, and Twitter. Prior to founding her research firm, Liz worked for 17 years at Oracle as the Vice President of Oracle University and the global leaders for Human Resource Development.In addition to writing for the Harvard Business Review, Liz co-wrote the Wall Street Journal bestseller, “Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter”, which features some of the research she's done looking at leadership and collective intelligence.Over the course of our conversation, Liz shares a number of stories and research findings that help to illustrate:What's the “dirty little secret of the corporate world” that we don't talk about and how it's impacting employee engagement.How “multiplier” leaders stretch and grow talent to increase team productivity, instead of relying on attaining more resources to achieve goals.Why leaders need to go “public” with their mistakes to engender team success and building community.How encouraging debate can improve both decision-making and employee engagement.What “multiplier” leaders do that motivates their employees to do their best work.What the research findings into “multiplier” leaders reveals about opportunities to improve our education system in order to create leaders and employees that organizations will need in the years ahead.As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website.I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred streaming platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/1JUh5pwi1RG7v01ihlKhxc?si=69e97da3d79043d0Noteworthy links:Buy Liz Wiseman's book “Multipliers" on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Buy Liz Wiseman's new book “The Multiplier Effect: Tapping the Genius Inside our Schools” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Liz's work and speaking engagements at TheWisemanGroup.com.Take the “Are you an accidental diminisher” quiz on Multipliersbook.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How can leaders be attentive to those they serve when their time is becoming increasingly fragmented and demands on it growing? How can recognizing the efforts of our employees lead to a sense of purpose and community and with it, a drive towards achieving excellence? These are a few of the topics I discuss with retired CEO and renowned leadership expert Doug Conant in the 10th episode of my leadership podcast show, “Leadership Biz Cafe”.For the last 10 years, Doug has served as the President and CEO of Campbell Soup Company, which under his stewawdship was transformed from one of the worst Fortune 500 organizations in terms of employee engagement levels to one of the best.  As a result, Campbell's experienced not only improved productivity and profitability under his stewardship, but the company also received numerous awards recognizing the organization as one of the best places to work.Since retiring from Campbell's in 2011, Doug has remained quite active in the leadership field, both through his speaking engagements and his writings in such publications as the Harvard Business Review. Recently, Doug also accepted a position to serve on the Avon corporate board, in addition to serving on the boards of several charitable and other non-profit organizations.Doug also co-authored with Mette Norgaard the New York Times bestseller “TouchPoints: Creating Powerful Leadership Connections in the Smallest of Moments”.Over the course of our conversation, Doug and I discuss:How leaders can transform daily interruptions into opportunities to help others succeed.Why “all leadership models are wrong” and what leaders should use instead.The two traits that successful leaders share and use to navigate today's complex and changing business landscape.What a near-fatal accident revealed to Doug about the power of community and fostering a sense of belonging.The four needs leaders should address to transform their company into a world-class and enduring organization.As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website.I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred streaming platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/2ZV0NlSFqI2SOJahwppo54?si=007c6111b50343ccNoteworthy links:Buy Doug Conant's book “TouchPoints" on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Doug's work and speaking engagements at ConantLeadership.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why do most efforts to improve team or individual performance fall apart within a short period of time? Why is it that our feelings of accomplishment diminish so quickly after we achieve a goal or target? These questions are just some of the topics I discuss with Stanford professor and author Shirzad Chamine in this episode of “Leadership Biz Cafe”.Shirzad is the chairman of CTI, the largest coach-training organization in the world whose clients include managers and executives from Fortune 500 companies, as well as faculty from Stanford and Yale business schools. In addition to his PhD in neuroscience, Shirzad also holds a BA in psychology, an MS in electrical engineering and an MBA from Stanford, where he lectures.Shirzad's first book “Positive Intelligence: Why Only 20% of Teams and Individuals Achieve Their True Potential And How You Can Achieve Yours” has already become a New York Times bestseller, having received critical acclaim in both business and leadership circles.Over the course of our conversation, Shirzad and I discuss:How most of us impair our performance through self-sabotaging thoughts that we mistakenly view as being beneficial.The simple trick that allows us to overcome this self-sabotaging perception in order to improve our performance.How to tap into your higher brain areas to increase your performance by tapping into your real potential.How to determine whether the criticism or feedback you provide to your employees has a negative basis and not a productive one.The lie that pushes high-performers to excel and why we should all avoid it.As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website.I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred streaming platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/5lXNa7uLKQIs6fjtyhGYXH?si=94047a79bb114e5fNoteworthy links:Buy Shirzad Chamine's “Positive Intelligence” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Positive Intelligence and take a free online assessment to determine your individual or team PQ score by visiting Shirzad's website – www.PositiveIntelligence.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's no question that social media is becoming an important channel through which organizations can share and converse with their audience, as well as attract potential new customers for their products/services. But how can organizations successfully navigate this growing field to order to ensure an ROI from their online efforts? That's the basis of my conversation with author and renowned marketing CEO Shama (Kabani) Hyder in this episode of “Leadership Biz Cafe”.Shama is an international speaker, best-selling author and the award-winning CEO of The Marketing Zen Group – a global online marketing and PR firm. Fast Company has called Shama “an online marketing shaman” and Entrepreneur Magazine has dubbed her the “Zen Master of Marketing”. Her best-selling book “The Zen of Social Media Marketing: An Easier Way to Build Credibility, Generate Buzz, and Increase Revenue” was recently re-released as a 2nd edition featuring more hands-on advice and how-to tips on how to be successful in your marketing efforts online.Over the course of our conversation, Shama and I discuss:What's the biggest roadblock organizations face in becoming more active on social media?The online conversions businesses should be aiming to create and the benefits to be gained from this type of social conversion.Is it a good idea for organizations to create a social media policy and if so, what should be the focus of such a policy?What organizations should really be measuring to determine whether their online efforts are paying off.The 3 key points leaders need to take note of to ensure their organization succeeds in social media.What emerging trends organizations and their leaders should be on the lookout for within the social media space.As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website.I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/68MKJm5zKfNJGT1aqA7EAf?si=d9d305cff7ea4468Noteworthy links:Buy Shama’s book “The Zen of Social Media Marketing” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Learn more about Shama's company “The Marketing Zen Group” by visiting their website - www.marketingzen.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Regardless of whether the economy is going well or not, one thing that's remained consistent in the workplace over the last few decades is the reality that each of us is responsible for managing our careers and with it, the opportunities we obtain for professional growth and development. But how exactly do we obtain these opportunities to get ahead in our career? That's the focus of my conversation with executive coach and writer Joel Garfinkle in this episode of "Leadership Biz Cafe".Joel has been recognized as one of the Top 50 leadership coaches in the US, having worked with executives from many leading companies including Oracle, Google, Amazon, Ritz-Carlton, and Gap. He has also been featured in a number of respected media outlets such as ABC News, The New York Times, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal.Joel has written seven books including his latest "Getting Ahead: Three Steps to Take Your Career to the Next Level" in which he discusses the three key steps you should take to ensure you get those opportunities and promotions you need to move ahead in your career.Over the course of our conversation, Joel and I discuss:How to get over our fear of increasing our visibility at work so we can ensure those in charge are aware of the value of our contributions.Why we need to speak up more and share our thoughts and ideas at meetings and the benefits we'll gain from doing so.How we can find out how others perceive us and what we can do to ensure we're creating the perceptions we need to get ahead.The importance and value of getting feedback to help you increase your visibility and influence in your organization.What it means to be influential and how it's not dependent on what title/position you have.As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website.I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred streaming platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/1kA5TALQqlYigimJfsQ5tY?si=17113d3486014d7bNoteworthy links:Buy Joel Garfinkle's book "Getting Ahead: Three Steps to Take Your Career to the Next Level" on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).Check out Joel's blog at CareerAdvancementBlog.com to learn more about his insights on leadership, team building, executive presence, and getting ahead at work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

These days, everyone is talking about the importance of innovation to an organization's future, but what exactly does it take to be innovative and how do we start? That's the basis of my conversation with business strategist and author Andrea Kates in this latest episode of “Leadership Biz Cafe”.Andrea is the founder of the Business Genome project and has led more than 250 business innovation initiatives with a variety of organizations, including Royal Dutch Shell (Asia-Pacific), Audi, Allstate, Continental Airlines, KPMG, and OnStar. In her bestselling book “Find Your Next: Using the Business Genome Process to Find Your Company's Next Competitive Edge”, Andrea shares her insights into the various business elements organizations need to employ if they are to create new innovation opportunities in the face of today's competitive, global market.Over the course of our conversation, Andrea and I discuss -What organizations really need to do to be innovative in today's global market.What the creation of the Cool Ranch Doritos brand can teach us about the innovation process.The four steps leaders can implement today to initiative innovation in their organizations.How employee recruitment and culture play a key role in fostering innovation in today's organizations.Why leaders need to look beyond focus groups and market studies to find their next innovation.As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website.I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred streaming platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/0HumImAMcyDyChDR5gap0S?si=5bd9fd9083ff4605Noteworthy links:Buy Andrea Kates' book “Find Your Next: Using the Business Genome Process to Find Your Company's Next Competitive Edge” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do we stop or curb drama in the workplace? That's the basis of my conversation with Marlene Chism in the fifth episode of my leadership podcast show, “Leadership Biz Cafe”.Marlene is a speaker, author and founder of The Stop Your Drama Methodology, an eight-part empowerment process to increase clarity and improve productivity and personal effectiveness. Marlene has a master’s degree in HR Development from Webster University and is the author of “Success is a Given: Reading the Signs While Reinventing Your Life”, as well as recently published “Stop Workplace Drama - Train Your Team to Have No Complaints, No Excuses and No Regrets”.Over the course of our conversation about how to manage workplace drama, Marlene and I discuss:Learning to appreciate the difference between the drama that arises at work and the drama that comes out from your reaction to that situation.How a lack of clarity leads to workplace conflict and what we can do to regain clarity when our perspective about what's going on around us becomes obscured.How to identify the gap between your goals and where your team is and the relationship this gap has in creating drama in the workplace.Why we need to take responsibility for what we can control in order to resolve workplace conflict.That workplace drama in itself isn't the real problem; that it's something more personal and more within our control that we can address.As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website.I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred streaming platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/2LyQuFVnIOcN7rnah5JdG3?si=3a445c8efc2b478eNoteworthy links:Buy Marlene Chism's book “Stop Workplace Drama - Train Your Team to Have No Complaints, No Excuses and No Regrets” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).To learn more about Marlene's Stop Your Drama Methodology, visit her website at www.stopworkplacedrama.com; you can also check out Marlene's personal website at www.marlenechism.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.