Allowing Humans to be Human with Mark LeBusque
Higher Purpose Podcast
Joining us for another session on what it means to live, love, work, and lead in a humans first kind of way is Mark LeBusque. He describes his work as allowing humans to be human, whether that’s in the workplace, outside of the workplace, or in their communities. We talk about the magic that happens when you allow humans to get back to connecting, and why we need to be human beings before we can become human doings.
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Everybody Matters with Bob Chapman
Higher Purpose Podcast
Adding to this series of conversations we’re having about what it means to approach business from a people first focus is today’s episode with Bob Chapman. Bob is the author of Everybody Matters, and today we’re talking about creating work cultures where people flourish, how that impacts our lives outside of work, and what it means to care about and be a steward for your organization.
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The 7 Laws of Employee Loyalty with Heather Younger
Higher Purpose Podcast
With more and more people switching jobs every few years, how can you as a leader cultivate loyalty in a humans first kind of way? Join us on this episode with Heather Younger, the host of the podcast Leadership with Heart, the author of The 7 Intuitive Laws of Employee Loyalty, and, in her words, an employee advocate.
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Being a Brave Leader with Kimberly Davis
Higher Purpose Podcast
What does it mean to be a brave leader? This is our 10th installment in our HumansFirst series of heart-to-heart discussions on what it means to live, love, lead, and work in a humans first way. Today we’re joined by Kimberly Davis, the author of Brave Leadership and the Founder and Director of OnStage Leadership, and on this episode she talks about showing up as our best selves, making our impact, and leading from the heart.
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How Leadership is Evolving with Sesil Pir
Higher Purpose Podcast
Is there a magic pill to make your team and organization work? Welcome to another installment in what it means to live, love, lead, and work in a humans first way. Today we have Sesil Pir, an organizational psychologist and a leading researcher on workplaces and workplace culture. She’s here to share her keen insights on the future of work and human resources, and why we need to challenge the status quo of work to suit the way we’re built as human beings.
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Finding Real Happiness at Work with Brooke Erol
Higher Purpose Podcast
There’s job satisfaction, and then there’s the real happiness that comes from working at a company whose purpose aligns with yours AND where your job has meaning. We continue our HumansFirst series with Brooke Erol, the founder of Purposeful Business, and she shares how we can become more engaged at work, so we can become more engaged in life.
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The 7 Simple Superpowers of the HumansFirst Heroes
Higher Purpose Podcast
Today, we’re talking superpowers. We’re midstream in a series of conversations on what it means to live, love, and lead in a HumansFirst kind of way, and for this special solo episode, I want to talk to you about some important simple skills. Now, don’t confuse simple for easy. These skills require us to put someone else ahead of ourselves, which is difficult and doesn’t come naturally to many of us. I call them: The 7 Simple Superpowers of the HumansFirst Heroes.
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Being a Chief Heart Officer with Claude Silver
Higher Purpose Podcast
What is it like to mentor almost 800 people? Claude Silver is the Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia, a global digital advertising agency. She was previously the company’s Senior Vice President, and was handpicked for the role three years ago by the CEO himself, Gary Vaynerchuk. Today on the show she’s talking about the immense ability we have to touch people’s lives, even in the smallest of ways.
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The Future of Work with Dr. Heather Hanson Wickman
Higher Purpose Podcast
What does the future of work look like? According to our guest, the future of work is ‘Love in Action.’ Heather Hanson Wickman is the co-founder of Untethered Consulting and the author of “The Evolved Executive,” and today we’re talking about what it means to lead with love, not fear. Heather shares that her purpose is to awaken the souls of leaders to create soulful organizations. So how can we do that?
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Making Work More Human with Renée Smith
Higher Purpose Podcast
What does it look like when we make work more human? Renée Smith serves as the Director of Workplace Transformation for Washington State as part of the Governor’s Results Washington Office. She leads the ‘Make Work More Human’ project, and she’s here to answer the question: “What’s love got to do with it?”
info_outlineWith more and more people switching jobs every few years, how can you as a leader cultivate loyalty in a humans first kind of way? Join us on this episode with Heather Younger, the host of the podcast Leadership with Heart, the author of The 7 Intuitive Laws of Employee Loyalty, and, in her words, an employee advocate.
Employee loyalty in today’s business world
From Heather’s perspective, employee loyalty is more about the bond between the leader and those being led, rather than being bonded to the organization. So the question is: how do we bond people to people? How can leaders create experiences and environments that help bond people to you for the long term?
Even if people aren’t staying in the company for the next few decades, how can we extend their tour of duty? And while they’re with us, what can they achieve for us, and how can we help them get closer to their goals?
Employee loyalty vs. employee engagement
Loyalty is an individual thing. People are loyal usually because they feel there’s loyalty on the other end. There’s reciprocity: I’ll give my all to you, and you give me what I need to excel. Because of that, I’m sticking with you. This can begin from way before they’re even an employee (e.g. from hearing about your company on the news or your website), to well after they’ve left you (e.g. will they refer people to you?).
Engagement is how employees feel at work. Do they feel like their work is meaningful? Are they invested in the company and its mission? Are they willing to go over and above for that mission?
Resonance
Loyalty assumes the work resonates with you in some way, and you’re not just there to get a check. It’s that resonance that’s keeping you bonded with the organization. So organizations can curate touch points that make people feel a certain way and get them to stay longer and do more for the organization. These feelings aren’t accidental — they’re created in the back end by processes and systems. These allow you to maintain these “moments of truth” and keep them positive and consistent. This is impact by design, translating the high-level vision into specific actions.
The 7 Intuitive Laws in a humans first context
1. Give them great supportive managers.
This is about relationship, connection, transparency, and vulnerability. When we look at humans first, we’re talking about meeting people where they’re at: imperfect leaders and imperfect employees coming together, and that’s where true humanity comes from.
2. Recognize your employees often.
There is an innate need for us to feel appreciated and valued as people.
3. Give them a voice and do something about it.
Make sure that you hear them, and respond to what they need. Listen, repeat back what you heard, and then act upon it.
4. Grow and promote their talents
As a leader, you should be able to pull out the gifts that each person inherently has, and leverage them. Make sure they’re living up to their higher purpose.
5 & 6. Foster deep connections with them / Make teamwork the focus
Make the team your focus. Through teams, people are able to exhibit their own humanity: they can innovate, collaborate, discover each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and make a lot of great things happen. So you’re connecting with your team and helping them connect with one another, but this idea of connection also means connection with the mission vision and the executive leadership.
7. Pay them equitably
People need to be paid well for the work they do. They need to feel like it’s fair and equitable and that they can feed their families. There’s no greater humanity than that — being able to take care of your family.
Final thoughts
Employee experience is powered by emotions, and leaders get to choose which emotions they unleash from the people they lead.
Want to grow as a HumansFirst leader and connect in meaningful conversations with other HumansFirst leaders?
Join me for the HumansFirst Book Club, where we do a deep dive into a book a month and often engage the authors in conversation.
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