Numerous studies done over the past decade have demonstrated that those who succeed at leadership have not only developed strong technical abilities, but they’ve worked on building their emotional competencies as well.In this latest instalment of my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I share two simple, but powerful steps based on neuroscience and other studies that will help you to build your emotional competencies so you can better understand what your employees need and what would motivate them to deliver their very best.If you haven’t listened to one of these yet, my Leadership Espresso Shots are short, but powerful episodes of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast that provide you with insights to improve the way you lead.And with the world of work in a state of flux right now, this edition offers some practical insights to help you better connect, understand, and lead those under your care as the workplace and the expectations of employees and employers continue to evolve.https://open.spotify.com/episode/4z15M6kzSBhEfzbb0LCVVY?si=QLzGRJePTWK3OrviZR0ZXQ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s hard not to feel as though there’s a growing tide of divisiveness spreading across the world, splitting people into us vs. them camps on a variety of issues. Of course, those divisive issues found in various communities and countries inevitably spill into the workplace. So how can leaders ensure they’re closing the gap between those us and them groups within their workforce?My guest for this episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast, Laura Kriska, not only has the answer, but she has a proven process for how leaders can succeed at creating a more diverse and inclusive organizational culture. And I even apply one of those lessons in my conversation with Laura to prove leaders can start making these efforts right now.Laura is a leading cross-cultural consultant with more than 30 years of experience working with organizations to help them bridge gaps in diverse workplaces. She has worked with Fortune 500 companies around the world helping leaders and their teams overcome us versus them gaps fostered by differences in nationality, ethnicity, race, religion, or other demographic identifiers.In this episode, I talk with Laura about her book “The Business of WE – the proven three-step process for closing the gap between us and them in your workplace” and how leaders can better succeed in their diversity and inclusion initiatives.Over the course of this episode, some of the topics Laura and I discuss include:What’s behind organizations failing to truly embrace diversity and inclusion in the face of a growing talent shortage.What leads to a gap between our awareness and understanding of the different cultural identifiers found within today’s increasingly diverse workforce.5 important rules leaders need to observe when carrying out any kind of diversity and inclusion assessment in their organization.3 types of action leaders can take to close the us versus them gap in their workplace.The unspoken problem behind hiring for “culture fit” when it comes to diversity and inclusion.How to ensure hybrid work arrangements don’t adversely impact career opportunities for minority groups in your workforce.If you enjoy this episode, I’d appreciate it if you could take a moment to rate and review my podcast on your favourite streaming platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/5I9WEqDrMNJAFqm1XObsnG?si=A6ZmEIUKT1WQw4jYRIqjbANoteworthy links:Buy “The Business of WE” on Amazon.*Learn more about Laura’s work (and her free online assessment) at laurakriska.com.*sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Effective communication is a critical cornerstone to succeeding at leadership. And yet, numerous studies have shown that a majority of leaders lack this necessary skill to not only empowering employees, but retaining talent necessary to drive their organization’s growth and long-term prosperity.It’s not surprising then why every month or two we see yet another example of leadership failure where a leader communicates a message that creates outrage, both within and outside their organization.That’s why I wanted to use this latest “Leadership Espresso Shot” on my podcast to provide leaders with the opportunity to consider and reflect on the power of our words, where we can either inspire employees to commit their full potential or extinguish any internal motivation they have to doing more than what’s expected of them.Specifically, I share the examples of two leaders and what you can learn from their communication success – and failure – to help you better understand the power of words and what your employees need from you to truly succeed and thrive under your leadership.https://open.spotify.com/episode/7zL5Iw2wlsrjHzYjMiONsz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the biggest challenges facing leaders and their organizations today is how to adapt the way they work to a growing demand for more flexible work arrangements by employees. But how do leaders make this shift from leading a team of individuals working under one roof, to working either full time or part of the time remotely? That’s the challenge I’ll be discussing with my guest, Kevin Eikenberry, in this episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast.Kevin is the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group, a leadership and learning consulting company. He is the bestselling author of “Remarkable Leadership: Unleashing Your Leadership Potential One Skill at a Time” and the co-author of “From Bud to Boss: Secrets to a Successful Transition to Remarkable Leadership”.His latest book is “The Long-Distance Teammate: Stay Engaged and Connected While Working Anywhere”, which is what I invited Kevin to join me to speak about in this episode.Over the course of this episode, some of the points Kevin and I discuss are:The 3 factors that are critical to remote work success.The mindset changes needed to become a successful hybrid or remote team member.4 questions that will make it easier to determine what you need to prioritize when working remotely.What leaders need to focus on to ensure they’re communicating effectively.How to be better and giving and receiving feedback in remote settings.As I mentioned at the end of the episode, if you enjoy this episode - or have been enjoying my podcast, I’d like to ask you a favour to rate and review my podcast on your preferred podcast platform.https://open.spotify.com/episode/4ZmCw0hWLOKMGu5HiliNqNNoteworthy links:Buy “The Long-Distance Teammate” on Amazon*.Learn more about Kevin’s work at kevineikenberry.com.*sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the past several months, I’ve given a number of keynotes focusing on how leaders can drive employee performance. Given the current talent shortage impacting every industry, it’s not surprising that organizations want to learn how to best empower their employees, both from a retention perspective, but also no doubt in hopes it might also help attract the employees they need to keep things going.But while it’s natural for us to want to understand how we can encourage employees to commit their best efforts to an organization’s vision, it’s also important for leaders to apply the same kind of reflection and review on themselves. Of what you’re doing to challenge yourself to improve, as opposed to simply focusing on getting things done and attempting to get things ‘back to normal.’That’s why in this latest Leadership Espresso Shot edition on my podcast ”Leadership Biz Cafe”, I share four questions every leader should be asking themselves to ensure you are doing what’s necessary to empower your employees to not only succeed, but bring their best efforts to the work they do.These questions are a simple, but powerful way for you to assess how you show up as a leader. So I hope you’ll take 10 minutes to give this a listen to help you improve your leadership craft.https://open.spotify.com/episode/7lFTT2d6Cd3TIr6TC5yveH?si=6qc84mYwRNKmbrfI7WMGIg Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the joys I get from my podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe” is that it provides me with the opportunity to speak with leadership experts and thought leaders I admire and respect. And that’s certainly the case in this very special episode of my podcast where I sit down for my first roundtable discussion with none other than Tom Peters and Jim Kouzes! Over the course of our conversation, Tom, Jim, and I discuss a number of issues that are top of mind for many leaders today, from the ongoing debate over whether to embrace hybrid work opportunities or push a Return To Work (RTO) approach, to why leading with empathy is becoming more and more critical to a leader’s ability to succeed in today’s world. What I love about this conversation with Tom and Jim is not only how illuminating the conversation was about the future of work and with it, the way leaders will be expected to lead, but it’s also a lot of fun. Jim, Tom, and I shared a lot of laughs recording this episode - both on the air and off air. To quote Tom at the end of our conversation, "it was pure, raw, unmitigated fun." So I strongly suggest you do yourself a favour and sit back and be ready to be engaged with a thoughtful, inspiring, humorous, and unexpectedly heartfelt conversation with these two giants in the leadership space. And if you enjoy this episode, please do rate and review my podcast where ever you listen to podcasts so I can continue to bring you these kinds of amazing conversations on how to improve the way you lead. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this latest edition of my “Leadership Espresso Shot” series on my leadership podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”, I wanted to share a simple, but powerful communication tool I shared as part of a leadership keynote I gave two weeks ago.Based on the feedback I got from some of the leaders in attendance for my talk, this leadership guidance I shared really left an impact, not only because of how easily it can be employed by any leader, but for how it helps to illustrate what and how leaders should be communicating to those under their care.At a time when there’s so much uncertainty and doubt, this Leadership Espresso Shot will help you discover how you can improve clarity and drive employee performance despite what’s going on around or within your organization.As I mentioned at the end of the episode, if you enjoyed this episode or if you’re enjoying my podcast, please do me a favour and rate and review my podcast to help support our show.https://open.spotify.com/episode/2uGa5pVRwqGZ4VyJcNNC7a?si=b24fc524a2cd4966 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are certain tasks a leader is expected to do well if they are to help their organization succeed, and developing strategies for how their team will achieve their goals is one of them. And yet, you can walk into any organization and find numerous well-thought out and developed strategies or initiatives that have either stalled or been tossed aside to deal with competing priorities. As my guest, Jim Huling, points out in this episode of my podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe”, the problem is not with the strategy itself, but with how leaders go about executing it.For the past 40 years, Jim has served in various corporate leadership roles, from Fortune 500 organizations to privately held companies. He was also the CEO of a company that was recognized four times for being one of the best companies to work for in the US. Jim is also the co-author of the book “The 4 Disciplines of Execution - Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals”, which has been released as a revised and updated 2nd edition.Over the course of this episode, Jim and I discussed this updated edition of his book, including:Why so many leaders struggle with achieving their strategies and goals.Why leaders need to pivot from having 3-5 key goals to a single wildly important one, and how to balance focusing on that one strategic goal while making time for other competing priorities.What leaders are getting wrong about what they track, and what are the real measures they should be focusing on to succeed.A simple, but powerful tool leaders can use to better engage employees to be invested in these long term goals.How to reframe accountability so that it inspires and motivates employees to bring their best efforts to work every day.It’s a thoughtful and revealing conversation I have with Jim, so I hope you’ll make time to listen to it. And if you enjoy this episode, please do me a favour and rate and review my podcast where ever you listen to podcasts.https://open.spotify.com/episode/1f6RCUScdKGuJTOaxmWUvONoteworthy links:Buy “The 4 Disciplines of Execution” on Amazon.*Learn more about Jim’s work at jimhuling.com.*sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been giving keynotes to a wide range of leaders in different industries. In some cases, the leaders in attendance were front-line managers, while in others, my audience consisted of senior level executives from the C-suite. But while the subject of these various keynotes was different, there was a common thread I addressed in most of them. And that was the need to rethink how they understood leadership, and with it, why they needed to have the courage to change.Granted, I think we can all appreciate that we’ve been living in a state of perpetual change, no doubt a large reason why so many organizations and their leaders are adamant about ‘getting back to work’, where they do away with any notion of a hybrid work environment that eschews the old Monday to Friday, 9-to-5 office work model.But as I point out in this latest edition in my Leadership Espresso Shot series on my podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”, if leaders are to not only help their organizations become more agile and resilient, but attract and retain the people they need to succeed and grow, then they need to have the courage to change. Not just when external forces presses it upon them, but in terms of how to help bring out the best in those they lead.I invite you to give this latest episode a listen for a thought-provoking look at what we need to change about ourselves, and with it, how we approach our leadership today and in the months ahead.https://open.spotify.com/episode/40NZczEOaYE8eYNlaeCSEr Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s two things I love about hosting my podcast, “Leadership Biz Cafe”. First, I get to fulfill my purpose of helping leaders improve their leadership and become the kind of leader their employees need to succeed. And second, I get to talk with some amazing people about how we can go about achieving this. And sometimes I’m lucky enough to get to speak to them a second time.And that’s certainly the case in this latest episode where I welcome back Stephen MR Covey to talk about his brand new book, “Trust and Inspire - How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others”, which is coming out this week. Stephen graciously sent me an advance copy of his book (as well as a signed copy of the final hardcover copy), and as I share with Stephen in this episode, this book is definitely addressing a major need for many leaders and their organizations.Over the course of our conversation (and what a fantastic one it was!), some of the ideas Stephen and I talk about include:How research has shown the command and control style of leadership is still very much in use in many organizations, it’s just wearing a different look.Why the challenges of today require a new approach to leadership that not only starts with fostering a trusting work environment, but one where every leader acts to inspire the best from those they lead.The fundamental beliefs of a trust and inspire leader that any leader can make part of their leadership DNA.Why we need to change our understanding of influence in order to attract and retain employees.A powerful insight that exposes the difference between being a trustworthy leader and a trusting leader.How any leader - whether in a formal or informal position - can inspire greatness in those around them.This was not only such an illuminating conversation, but I can honestly say both Stephen and I had a lot of fun talking about the insights on leadership he shares in this book. And if there’s one book on leadership you should read this year, I can tell you with all sincerity this is the one you want to read. And if you listen to this episode, you’ll understand why. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.