In prolonged periods of uncertainty like the one we’re in right now, it’s natural that we take a more cautious approach to things. But what if that fear of the unknown also leads us to avoid failure and the powerful lessons we stand to gain that can help us achieve real success? In this latest edition in my Leadership Espresso Shot series on my podcast "Leadership Biz Cafe", I share 4 steps leaders can use to overcome their risk avoidance by transforming failure into success.As with my leadership keynotes and corporate training sessions, these 4 steps are revealed through a story I share in this episode that reveals a common approach we all take - and how that approach can actually limit our potential to not only find the best path forward, but to discovering new opportunities for growth and success.I’m not going to give away what the story is about, other than to say it’s a personal one that came to mind recently because of a personal milestone for my family. But I can tell you the lessons shared here are very timely, especially as debates continue to rage on over the future of work, when the truth is, the answer has already been spelled out. It’s just that some leaders are just refusing to see it.So do yourself a favour and take a few minutes to listen to this episode. Who knows - it may help you address some of the challenges you’re grappling with, and give you the steps you need to take to transform those setbacks into your next success.https://open.spotify.com/episode/2SEBwBkFyGuxfi8JIz1sCt Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With everything we’ve all experienced over the last two years, it can feel more challenging than ever to ask employees to stay the course and trust things will work out. So how do leaders inspire people to deliver their best despite their understandable concerns about the future? That’s what I’ll be exploring with my guest in this episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast, Kim Cameron.Kim is the Professor Emeritus of Management and Organizations in the Ross School of Business and Professor of Higher Education in the School of Education at the University of Michigan. For the past 20 years, he’s been researching the role virtuousness plays in improving employee performance and organizational success. His work has become so popular that he’s been recognized as one of the top ten organizational scholars in the world whose work has been most frequently downloaded on Google.He’s also the author of the book “Positively Energizing Leadership - Virtuous Actions and Relationships That Create High Performance”, which serves as the focus of my conversation with Kim in this episode.Over the course of this episode, some of the points Kim and I discuss include:The science behind positive energy and how it differs from other forms of energy (physical, mental, emotional, psychological).What research has shown the impact positive energy has on employee performance and retention.What attributes do leaders who are positive energizers possess - and how every leader can be like them.How leaders can be positive energizers for every member in their team.A powerful 4-step strategy to deal with employees who are “black holes” that drain energy from the team.Far from being a “nice-to-have” idea, my conversation with Kim here will help you understand why this is a necessity if your organization is to not achieve its objectives, but for your employees to flourish under your leadership.https://open.spotify.com/episode/0BkGrmWgsd9tVtOMq8ea72Noteworthy links:Buy Kim’s book “Positively Energizing Leadership” on Amazon*Learn more about Kim’s work at University of Michigan*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 two years, we’ve all had to learn how to get better at communicating within a virtual setting. While most of us have become comfortable using platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams in our daily work lives, a common challenge that persists is being able to connect at an emotional level through these digital channels.That’s why in this latest edition in my Leadership Espresso Shot series, I share 5 simple steps that will improve your ability to foster emotional connections in any virtual setting. You’ll also learn about one executive’s strategy he calls “Hump Day Hangouts” that can serve as a bit of inspiration for what you can do to build emotional connections with those you lead and those you serve.I hope you’ll take a few minutes out of your day to give this a listen as you’ll be surprised at how easily you can start applying these 5 steps in your workday.https://open.spotify.com/episode/2GY311eCWRVUAA58OOdFmJ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the past few years, there’s been a growing focus and demand that organizations address diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Although there’s been numerous studies that have demonstrated how a diverse workforce leads to improved financial performance, productivity, innovation, and overall growth, the numbers of visible minority groups and women in decision-making or leadership roles remains extremely low.So if there’s a clear business case to be made for increasing diversity both in the workplace and in leadership circles, why is there still so little traction to address this, especially when so many organizations are struggling to find talent to help their organization achieve their goals. That’s what I’ll be examining with my guest, Dr. Marlette Jackson, in this episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast.Marlette is a researcher, educator, and cross-functional leader with over 8 years’ experience building and scaling DEI initiatives. She’s also the Global Director of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Virgin Pulse, where her work involves building processes, policies and programs to attract, develop, and retain the best talent from all backgrounds for Virgin Pulse globally.Over the course of this episode, Marlette and I discuss:What leaders and their organizations need to do to make their diversity and inclusion be more than a feel-good measure.How to change the narrative that supporting more visible minorities and women to move into leadership roles means asking others to give up their opportunities.Why we need to reassess how we understand power in the context of diversity and inclusion.What leaders need to do to encourage visible minorities to access their own power for the mutual benefit of the organization and employees.How diversity and inclusion initiatives help to address the growing mental health crisis at work.How we can overcome our blindspots and biases to recognize the role we all need to play to make our workplaces more welcoming and inclusive for everyone.How leaders can start this discussion in their organization and the 4 phases to successful implementation of diversity and inclusion initiatives.This is such an important conversation on a topic that every leader needs to get familiar and comfortable with. So I hope you’ll make time to check this episode out to hopefully get some powerful food for thought on how you can address this issue in your organization.https://open.spotify.com/episode/24YptFbBhT1sOxSv7h3UteNoteworthy links:Dr. Marlette Jackson’s articles from Harvard Business Review:Woke-Washing” Your Company Won’t Cut ItDoes Your Definition of Leadership Exclude Women of Color?Former Goldman Sachs executive Edith Cooper’s New York Times piece: I Was Told I Have Career Advantages ‘as a Black Woman.’ Here’s How I RepliedDr. Marlette Jackson's website - marlettejackson.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In some of my leadership keynotes and workshops, I point out how one way to foster a sense of cohesion and community among your employees is to make time to celebrate milestones. What’s important here is not to just have a party where people can feel a sense of completion, but that we also use this moment to highlight the journey we’ve been on and what we’ve accomplished on this journey.It’s in that spirit that I wanted to do something special to celebrate the release of the 100th episode of my podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe”. And in keeping with what I share with leaders on how to best utilize the attainment of key milestones, I wanted to use this episode as an opportunity to look back at the past 99 episodes and first select my 10 favourite guests I’ve spoken with (to date).And then the trickier part - picking one key insight that’s not only worth a second listen, but which is both powerful and timely for helping leaders address the challenges they face today.Now I have to be honest that I had to omit two guests who’d otherwise make my shortlist as I just featured them in the recent episode “My Favourite Guest Moments and Insights From 2021” and as such, I thought it’d be better to feature other guests in their place.Over the course of this 100th episode retrospective, you’ll hear:Guy Kawasaki on why leaders should focus on enchanting employees instead of influencing them.Doug Conant on why leaders need to foster a sense of community and purpose.Liz Wiseman on why some leaders bring out the best in others while other leaders drain the motivation out from their team.Matthew E. May on why “intelligent” constraints are needed to fuel creativity.Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson on how leaders can make sure employees really understand what they want from them.Whitney Johnson on why constraints are beneficial when facing disruption.Tim Sanders on why our attention is getting narrower and what leaders need to do to overcome it to rally their employees around a common vision or goal.Dr. Timothy Clark on why many organizations struggle with creating inclusive workplaces and how to overcome it.Sally Helgesen on what needs to be done to get more women into leadership development pipelines.Stephen MR Covey on why addressing intent is critical to fostering trust in your leadership.Not to mention getting to hear the story behind why I started my popular leadership podcast ... and the key role Guy Kawasaki played in bringing this show to life.Going back to listen to the past conversations was such a delight and so informative about what leaders need to do to succeed. And without question, this retrospective episode provides powerful and timely insights that will help you succeed in your leadership by empowering your employees to do their best work.This is definitely one episode you’re going to want to make time to listen to - and be prepared to take some notes as these guests really provide a lot of food for thought. My thanks to them and to all my guests I’ve had on my show over the past 99 episodes. Here’s looking ahead to the future and that next big milestone of reaching 200 episodes.https://open.spotify.com/episode/3VmC7Zwp1po89nl12q8l0mNoteworthy links:Here are links to listen to the full episodes of the guests I featured in this retrospective episode:How The Power Of Enchantment Can Help Us Succeed | Guy KawasakiHow Successful Leaders Maintain Focus In A Distracted World | Doug ConantHow Leaders Grow Employee Intelligence To Drive Success | Liz WisemanHow Leaders Can Encourage Creativity And Innovation | Matthew E. MayWhy Your Employees Don't Understand You | Heidi Grant HalvorsonUsing Disruptive Innovation To Drive Growth | Whitney JohnsonWhy Bizlove Is Critical For Today's Leadership | Tim SandersHow Psychological Safety Fuels Growth & Innovation | Dr Timothy ClarkHow Women Hold Back Their Leadership Success | Sally HelgesenThe Power of Trust in Leadership | Stephen M.R. Covey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As a leader, you’re responsible for accomplishing many tasks, most critical among them is setting and articulating the strategic goals of your team and organization. Of course, creating goals is not the same thing as achieving them. And most of us have certainly set out goals for ourselves and our employees which we failed to accomplish.As such, in this edition of my Leadership Espresso Shot series from my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast, I share 3 strategies that leaders can employ to ensure their employees succeed at achieving the strategic goals assigned to them. Whether you’re in the process of setting these goals or whether you’re deep in the process of reaching those goals, the three strategies I share in this episode will ensure you not only have a strong start setting out to reach these goals, but that you and your employees succeed at attaining them.This is 13 minutes that I promise will be time well spent in terms of helping you achieve your goals for the year.https://open.spotify.com/episode/0L0oWRoPVJYBF4vMwwWzfv Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As I mentioned in some of my episodes for my podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe”, 2021 marks the 10th year that I’ve been hosting this podcast. Although this is without question a major milestone to reach for any podcast, I never got around to making plans to celebrate this achievement on my podcast.Thankfully, as luck would have it, I had a number of very special guests who joined me on my show this year who helped to create an impromptu celebration of this major milestone.So both in keeping with a tradition I started last year, but also to show my appreciation for these fantastic guests, for my last episode of 2021, I wanted to look back at my favourite conversations from 2021 that are worth a second listen. To be clear, this isn’t a Top 10 list, but a year-end retrospective where I share my favourite guest moments from five past episodes of 2021.So who were these guests and what were their timeless and timely insights that I’m sure leaders everywhere will benefit from as they plan for 2022? Well, to learn that you’ll just have to listen to this episode. Trust me when I say it’s not only worth the listen, but I expect this year-end retrospective episode will motivate you to take the time to listen to the rest of these 5 episodes - and hopefully to check out the other episodes we released over the past 12 months.As I said at the end of this episode, my thanks to all my guests who came on my show. And I’m looking forward to sharing with you the fantastic conversations and guests we have lined up to appear on the "Leadership Biz Cafe" podcast in 2022.https://open.spotify.com/episode/1da7d9yRbHuwF6DsC8PAfW Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the course of the pandemic, we’ve all had to get used to dealing with significant changes to the way we work and live. But that doesn’t mean we’ve necessarily become more comfortable with change. So is there some way that leaders can promote change which is both impactful and not as difficult a burden for their employees? According to change expert and guest for this episode of my podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe”, Jake Jacobs, there is and it’s one that any leader in any industry can apply right now.For the past 35 years, Jake has worked in 61 different industries, from high tech to manufacturing, helping organizations and their teams deal with all kinds of change, from culture change to strategy implementation. He’s also written several books on the subject, including his latest “Leverage Change - 8 Ways To Achieve Faster, Easier, Better Results”*, which is what Jake and I talk about in this episode.In this episode, some of the areas Jake and I cover include:What is “leverage change” and how it differs from conventional thinking around change.Why it’s important in any change initiative to balance continuity of what was done in the past with where you need to go next.How to transform your perspective of change resistors so they can help improve and fuel genuine change over incrementalism.How leaders can know when they need to lead from the front and when they need to hand over the lead to their employees to ensure a successful outcome.How to make change part of your employees’ everyday work and not an add-on to their existing tasks/responsibilities.If you enjoy this episode, please do share it with your colleagues and friends. And if you haven’t already done so, I’d appreciate it if you could rate and write a quick review on your favourite podcast platform. It’s a great way to help support this podcast so we can continue to bring you these insightful conversations on how to improve the way you lead.https://open.spotify.com/episode/2dvfsNx0t5KfoKmBisFY4xNoteworthy links:Visit Jake’s website to learn more about his work and to get his offer mentioned during the episode: jakejacobsconsulting.com.Buy Jake’s book “Leverage Change” on Amazon.**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.

There’s an annual tradition that plays out this time of the year for most leaders where they split their focus between making sure they close out whatever goals or plans they had for the last quarter, and looking ahead to the next year and what need to be the new priorities going forward. Thanks to the pandemic, though, there’s been a number of other issues which have understandably drawn a lot of the attention and focus of today’s leaders - from the adverse impacts of on-going supply chain issues to the unrelenting demands for greater control over when and where employees get their work done.But there’s another equally important factor leaders need to be mindful of, something that I explore in detail in this latest edition in my Leadership Espresso Shot series. And that is understanding how we go about fostering relationships and leading people in this digital age.So as you work on winding down your team and organization’s efforts for this year, and mapping out the key areas of focus for your leadership next year, I hope you’ll take a few minutes to listen to this episode from my leadership podcast to gain an appreciation for how to build and sustain relationships with those you lead - whether it’s virtually or in person - to help bring out the best in those you lead.And if you haven’t already done so, I’d appreciate it if you could rate and review my leadership podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe” on your favourite podcast platform to help support my show.https://open.spotify.com/episode/6fPrHjA5Q5dGTWt3LyPufB Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Even before the global pandemic struck, many organizations and their leaders were limiting themselves to a short-term view at the expense of achieving any of their long-term goals. So how do leaders move past the current and persistent short-termism that’s often driven by a fear-based mindset, and instead embrace a more long-term, hopeful view for what the future might bring? That’s focus of my conversation with renowned business strategist John Hagel.Over the past 40 years that John has worked in Silicon Valley, John has been a successful entrepreneur, a senior executive at Atari, the founder and leader of the Deloitte Center for the Edge, not to mention also being the co-chair of the Global Future Council on the Future of Platforms and Systems at the World Economic Forum.John’s writings have been published in many respected publications, including The Economist, Fortune, Forbes, The New York Times, and the Harvard Business Review to name but a few. He’s also the author of eight books, including his latest “The Journey Beyond Fear: Leverage The Three Pillars of Positivity To Build Your Success”*, which I sit down with John to speak about in this episode.Over the course of this episode, John and I speak about:Why the personal narrative we create for ourselves about what we want to achieve needs to have an outward focus on what matters to those around us.How an institution’s narrative is different from its stated purpose, and how leaders can go about creating one.The kind of passion leaders should be encouraging to drive success.Why we need to rethink our understanding and approach to learning if we are to fuel innovation and growth.It’s a thought-provoking conversation with someone who’s been on the forefront of looking ahead at what the future might bring, so I hope you’ll check this episode out. And as always, if you enjoyed this or past episodes and you haven’t already done so, I’d like to ask you a favour in rating and reviewing my leadership podcast on your favourite streaming service.https://open.spotify.com/episode/4gqBjfVDr5iumPuxPlDSxgNoteworthy links:Buy John's book "The Journey Beyond Fear" on Amazon.*Learn more about John's work: johnhagel.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.