People Business w/ O'Brien McMahon

Paul A. LaLonde, SHRM-CP, CCAP is a deliberate HR pro, who believes philosophy is a difference-making pursuit in business and life. Paul serves as the VP of People & Culture for CEDA of Cook County in Chicago. CEDA is one of the largest Community Action Agencies in the Country. Paul has won numerous awards including the HR Today MVP Award for his blog HR Philosopher. He is also a bestselling author of the book People Fusion: Best Practices to Build and Retain a Strong Team. Mentioned on the Show:The HR Philosopher (blog): https://hrphilosopher.com/People Fusion (book): https://a.co/d/8nbTBkgThe Art of Living and Finding Happiness translated by Sharon Lebell (book): https://a.co/d/e5lGvcyThe Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday (book): https://a.co/d/gKitXFFMan’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl (book): https://a.co/d/7KWlloqThe Tao of Strategy by L. J. Bourgeois, Serge Eygenson, Kanokrat Namasondhi (book): https://a.co/d/bcvtVIlTimestamps:(1:44) - Welcoming Paul(2:15) - What is philosophy to you?(6:16) - How did you come to philosophy originally?(8:37) - What types of philosophy have you studied the most and which do you think are most relevant to business leaders today?(14:28) - Can you explain the Philosopher Manager concept?(16:41) - Where do people start and what are the basic principles of the Philosopher Manager?(25:13) - What does it mean to lead yourself?(27:28) - What does your journaling practice look like?(28:56) - Will you take a quote or a line and break down what it means to you?(31:05) - What does the personal reflection look like when you don’t act as you think you should have?(40:05) - How do you use philosophy when making decisions?(42:10) - Is there anything you’ve learned from philosophy that's helped you communicate better?(47:11) - What changes have you made in your personal life based on these philosophies?(55:01) - Where is the best place for the newcomer to start?(57:14) - What is the purpose of business?

Casey Jacox is the founder of Winning The Relationship, LLC, a consulting firm providing executive sales leadership and coaching. He is also the author of a book by the same name and host of The Quarterback DadCast, a podcast that offers stories, advice, and wisdom for fathers looking to improve their leadership skills and emotional intelligence. In this episode, he shares the importance of relationships and what it means to "win the relationship, not the deal".  Mentioned on the Show:Win the Relationship, NOT the Deal (book): https://a.co/d/hZstgIbLearn more about Casey: https://www.caseyjacox.com/Connect with Casey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseyjacoxListen to O’Brien on Casey’s podcast, The Quarterback DadCast: https://pod.link/1492347381/episode/a2c5d75f419dd644efc8b88c6c220b81Getting Naked by Patrick Lencioni: https://a.co/d/cWa9vqsTimestamps:(1:34) - Welcoming Casey(2:30) - Who are you and what do you do?(7:11) - Why is your book titled “Win the Relationship, Not the Deal”?(12:11) - Where do we start when building relationships?(14:20) - How do you think about rapport and what makes a good question?(18:45) - Do you have any stories of when it doesn’t work and how you bring it back?(23:17) - Have you always been quick on your feet?(27:55) - What advice do you have for learning to think on your feet?(32:57) - How long does it take to build relationships?(37:42) - What do you say to people who feel like that’s forced?(43:55) - How do you feel about the hustle culture?(47:24) - How do you balance between hustling and taking care of yourself?(50:25) - What is your process for gaining clarity?(56:15) - Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Dan Michelson is the CEO of InCommon and author of Holy Shift! Moving Your Company Forward  to the Future of Work. In addition to his work at InCommon, he is an Adjunct Professor at the Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University. In this conversation, Dan talks about historical shifts that have rocked the workplace and how what we are going through now is just the next wave (one we all need to recognize and adapt to).  Mentioned in this Episode:Holy Shift (book): https://www.theholyshiftbook.com/InCommon: https://incommon.com/Dan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danmichelsonTimestamps(1:51) - Welcoming Dan(2:52) - What shift are you seeing in the workplace?(11:13) - What did you learn from studying past pandemics?(14:45) - What happens after a big change?  (19:48) - How do you readjust and recalibrate your view of the world quickly?(26:07) - How do you teach others to adjust quickly?(31:52) - Do you have a practice for reflecting on how you see the world?(37:25) - How do we create a more human-centric approach to business? (39:50) - How do we foster connection?(46:07) - How can you orchestrate a struggle to bring everyone together in the workplace?(52:06) - What percentage of the population has this agile/shift skill set?(1:00:00) - What is the purpose of business?(1:00:58) - Is there anything you can share to direct us to what you’re doing?

Cece Sykes, LCSW, ACSW, is a consultant and senior trainer with the Internal Family Systems Institute where she specializes in trauma and addiction and educates therapists internationally on how to apply the IFS therapy model to addictive processes. In this episode, she shares ways concerned bosses, colleagues, and friends can broach the subject of addiction to help people get the care they need.   Mentioned in this Episode:Cece Sykes, LCSW: https://www.cecesykeslcsw.com/Internal Family Systems Institute: https://ifs-institute.com/IFS Therapy for Addiction (book): https://a.co/d/ckmh356Befriending Your Inner Critic with Carolyn Sellers: https://peoplebusinesspodcast.com/carolynsellers/Timestamps:(2:52) - Welcoming Cece.(4:32) - What terminology should we use instead of ‘addiction’?(6:18) - Is addiction a disease we can cure or is it with us all the time?(9:13) - What’s a good frame of mind to be in when you have a conversation about addiction with someone?(11:43) - What’s the right way to approach a conversation when something is off with a person?(23:16) - How should someone prepare for this conversation?(24:47) - How do you do this as a therapist when you don’t have people giving you information or examples of negative behavior?(33:40) - Is it fair to say people who are struggling with an addictive process are in some way seeking balance?(36:28) - If someone is struggling and wants help would finding a specialist in Internal Family Systems be a good starting point?(36:43) - How can someone evaluate themselves to know when they’re losing control?(39:40) - What can we do to stop the cycle?(43:50) - How does somebody work through stopping a behavior?(47:19) - What’s the best way to help someone recognize they’re under pressure and need help?(49:43) - Can you talk about how to strike a balance between empathy and having boundaries?(54:42) - Is there anything else we haven’t covered that you think is important?

Pamela Meyer is a leading Agile Innovation expert who works with leaders, teams, and organizations that need to be more agile and innovative to compete in a rapidly changing world. She is the author of five books on agility, innovation, and learning, including her newest book, Staying in the Game: Leading and Learning with Agility for a Dynamic Future as well as The Agility Shift: Creating Agile and Effective Leaders, Teams and Organizations and From Workplace to Playspace: Innovating, Learning and Changing Through Dynamic Engagement. Mentioned in this Episode: Meyer Agile Innovations: https://pamela-meyer.com/meyer-agile-innovation/Staying In The Game (book): https://a.co/d/2Cg32lxThe Agility Shift (book): https://a.co/d/3IYwA3eTim Ferriss podcast with Arthur C Brooks on happiness: https://tim.blog/2023/09/11/arthur-c-brooks/Finite and Infinite Games: https://a.co/d/cOX4j21Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away by Annie Duke: https://a.co/d/9ldS2uYThe Infinite Game by Simon Sinek: https://a.co/d/4znuPkeTimestamps: (2:32) - Introducing Pamela and her work.(3:38) - Why did you write “Staying In The Game” and what is it about?(6:48) - What is a "game"? How should we think about our life in terms of games, and how do we know what game we are actually playing?(8:22) - What are the four ‘P’s?(10:15) - If we aren’t feeling purpose or passion in our career should we find another "game"?(12:15) - How do you take something that's working in one area and transfer it to other areas of your life? (15:55) - How do we balance the hard work and suffering it takes to reach a goal with happiness?(21:47) - How do you think about deciding between "how do I embrace the struggle?" versus "it’s time to move on"?(26:40) - How do we continue to play the game that makes us money while also loosening its grip on us so we can enjoy it?(29:03) - What does it mean to be agile?(29:58) - How does somebody self-assess their agility?(31:30) - Where do we start to improve our agility?(35:44) - Why is slowing down important to agility?(38:06) - Can you talk about the four different kinds of reflection?(43:40) - How do we move from self-confidence to self-awareness?(49:42) - What is the purpose of business?

Megan Lally is the CEO at Highdive, an award-winning advertising firm working with clients like Jeep, Rocket Mortgage, State Farm, Lay's, Beam Suntory. She was recognized in AdAge’s “40 Under 40” list. In this conversation, she shares how Highdive creates better work by focusing on the relationships employees have with each other and with their clients.   Mentioned in this Episode:High Dive: https://highdiveus.com/The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756Brene Brown on Vulnerability (TED Talk): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o The Medici Effect by Frans Johansson: https://www.amazon.com/Medici-Effect-Preface-Discussion-Guide/dp/1633692949Frans Johansson on People Business: https://peoplebusinesspodcast.com/fransjohannson/Timestamps:(2:20) - Welcoming Megan(2:52) - What is High Dive and how did it come to be?(4:47) - What makes a good relationship?(6:57) - What were the conversations like among the six people who founded High Dive at the beginning?(9:05) - Do you have any stories about how you came up with your mission and values?(14:04) - How do you work through disagreements?(17:41) - What do you do when someone behaves in a way that is detrimental to the relationship?(19:48) - Do you coach your people on how to have difficult conversations?(27:46) - How do you balance collaboration with clients and being the experts in the room?(38:13) - What is the process for onboarding new employees into your culture?(43:40) - What have you learned about continuing in a hybrid environment?(47:17) - What’s been the employees' reaction to keeping work and vacation separate?(54:54) - What tips do you have that lead to better creative outcomes?

Meisha-ann Martin is the Senior Director, People Analytics & Research at Workhuman. She has a PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and has spent almost twenty years as a researcher and practitioner on topics like recognition, wellness, inclusion and psychological safety. In this episode, we talk about employee recognition programs and adjust some of O'Brien's preconceived notions.  Mentioned in this Episode:Connect with Meisha-ann on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meisha-ann-martinLearn more about Workhuman: https://www.workhuman.com/Timecodes:(2:20) - Welcoming Meisha-ann(3:05) - What is Workhuman?(4:31) - Why is a company like Workhuman needed in the first place?(6:22) - What is an employee recognition program?(8:02) - Why are we so bad at this?(9:10 ) - What is the power of saying ‘thank you’?(11:03) - The things you acknowledge are the things you reinforce so if you want to see more of something complimenting people gets it done.  Is it that simple?(13:29) - Practical tips for showing gratitude(15:07) - What do you say to nay-sayers who say it’s just about checking off boxes and going through the motions to say the culture is working?(18:50) - How do you balance the line between showing gratitude but not expecting people to over-extend themselves?(21:14) - What does the data look like?(23:45) - Do you have examples of clients who have improved business outcomes and how they’ve demonstrated that?(25:42) - How drastic are the results for this?(27:22 ) - How do you see bias play out in this?(34:03) - How do we think about money in tying money to these programs?(36:41) - How do we avoid bias while still giving managers the ability to adjust compensation?(37:48 ) - Do you see a difference between written recognition and spoken recognition?(41:20) - What do you see in the research from people who say they don’t like public recognition?(44:03) - Do you find feedback has more of an impact in a one-on-one or group setting?(45:20) - What do you say to someone who thinks this is too much work?(47:44) - Can you share some examples of how you’ve made changes with this in your personal life?(50:41) - Anything else we haven’t covered regarding recognition?(52:42) - What is the purpose of business?

Dr. Meghaan Lurtz is a Professor at Kansas State University where she teaches courses for the Advanced Financial Planning Certificate Program, a lecturer at Columbia University where she teaches Financial Psychology, an undergraduate adjunct professor through the University of Maryland system in their CFP program, and a writer and Senior Research Associate with Kitces.com, a financial planning blog. She is also a past president of the Financial Therapy Association. Mentioned in the Episode: Kitces: https://www.kitces.com/Change Your Questions Change Your Life (book): https://www.amazon.com/Change-Your-Questions-Life-4th/dp/1523091037Financial Therapy Association: https://financialtherapyassociation.org/Find out more about Certified Financial Planners: https://www.cfp.net/Mind Over Money by Dr. Brad Klontz: https://www.amazon.com/Mind-over-Money-Overcoming-Disorders-ebook/dp/B002WA4O9EOther books by Dr. Brad Klontz: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Brad-Klontz/author/B001KHI4BOBrene Brown (author): https://brenebrown.com/Changing To Thrive (book): https://www.amazon.com/Changing-Thrive-Overcome-Threats-Happiness/dp/1616496290The Good Life (book): https://www.amazon.com/Good-Life-Lessons-Scientific-Happiness/dp/198216669XTime Codes:(2:09) - Welcoming Meghaan.(2:29) - What is the Financial Therapy Association?(5:05) - Where are we in the spectrum of how we think about money?(13:14) - Why are we so bad with money?(19:40) - Who do we call when we have psychological money questions?(23:27) - Is there a right mindset for money?(26:36) - How do we start to identify our own issues with money?(38:34) - Do you have recommendations to help people with shame around money?(45:12) - What are some tips you can offer to get on the path and stay on the path to dealing with money shame?(53:58) - What are you sick of talking about?(55:28) - What are you most excited to talk about?(58:46) - What is the purpose of money?

As a clinical assistant professor in the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Gina Fong teaches Ethnographic Customer Insights. She was voted "Professor of the Year" by Kellogg's 2023 graduating class. In this conversation, we discuss how her work translates to understanding and improving the employee experience.  Mentioned in this Episode: Gina Fong on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginafonginsight Ethnographic Customer Insights (course, Kellogg Northwestern): https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/directory/fong_gina.aspxFong Insight on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fonginsightTime Codes: (2:01) - Welcoming Gina.(2:12) - What is a consumer anthropologist and what is ethnographic research?(4:10) - Is it fair to say employee anthropology would be a way to apply some of the ethnographic skillset as well?(5:19) - How is ethnography different than the way employees may be surveyed today?(7:54) - What are we looking to learn versus what can’t we learn from ethnographic research?(9:49) - Is there a best practice approach or do you cycle through both options?(12:51) - What are the basics of how to conduct ethnographic research?(18:53) - How do we become better observers?(22:02) - How do we improve our ability to inquire?(23:12) - Is it a myth to help people who are struggling to think of a couple options?(26:15) - What are the actual steps to doing the research?(27:42) - What would be the better research objective(30:02) - Are there any other steps we haven’t covered yet?(32:18) - Have you ever taken improv classes?(40:43) - Do you share your subcultures with students?(43:09) - What are the best ways to keep bias from this type of research?(48:16) - What are the other final steps?(50:28) - How do you help people go deeper when you’re asking questions of them?(54:49) - How do you think about being in the environment changes the environment?(56:18) - Is asking ‘why’ questions, as opposed to ‘what’ or ‘how’ something you do?(57:11) - How can leaders in a business start to practice this?(1:00:26) - How do we get better at giving gifts? 

Jim Suprenant is the Senior Managing Partner at Guggenheim Partners. A career investment banker, Jim joins the show to discuss the ins and outs of buying and selling businesses. Mentioned in this Episode:Guggenheim Partners: https://www.guggenheimpartners.com/Go Big or Go Home (book): https://www.amazon.com/Go-Big-Home-Customer-Experience/dp/1544536364Time Codes(1:48) - Welcoming Jim.(2:12) - What is an investment banker?(6:41) - If I want to sell my business where would I go to find buyers?(10:34) - How do I think about pricing my company?(13:01) - What is an example of constraints an investor would put in to make it harder to turn a profit?(14:21) - How much does the people side of a business weigh into what the price will be for that business?(18:19) - How should sellers think about cutting as much from the business as they can and how do buyers vet to make sure the business they’re buying hasn’t just been gutted?(22:01) - How many companies understand this before you work with them and how many default to a scarcity mindset?(33:02) - How do you manage the human side of a transaction?(35:10) - How do you evaluate a leadership team?(38:21) - How can HR become stronger in these transactions?(39:55) - How often do you see HR having a prominent seat at the table?(42:40) - What are the best practices for making sure from that date forward you have the best odds for success?(48:45) - What are the things that kill deals right at the end?(51:22) -  Do you see management teams when they’re closer to the finish line manage their business ‘not to lose’?(52:59) - What are you sick of talking about?(53:40) - What are you hoping to hear more talk about?(56:18) - What is the purpose of business?