Engaging Leader

Welcome to Engaging Leader, your source for principles to communicate, engage, and lead with greater impact. This podcast will help you inspire trust, passion, and action.

#186: 4 Tips from Brain Science for Communications That Boost Attention and Learning 01/02/2019

#185: How Great Leaders Create Connection in the Age of Isolation 12/15/2018

#184: Using Storytelling to Lead a Transformation 10/23/2018

#183: Using the Fogg Behavior Model to Drive Change 09/09/2018

#182: The Art and Science of Workforce Communication 08/20/2018

#181: The Art and Science of Workforce Communication 08/20/2018

#180: Performance Management Truth & Lies 07/20/2018

#179: Leading with Emotional Courage 06/18/2018

#178: How to Succeed at Work/Life Balance 06/18/2018

#177: Meaningful Work 05/21/2018

#177: Meaningful Work This episode is about a true story that is interesting and well told — a story that is important for all leaders and entrepreneurs ... especially those of us who aspire to use business not only to make a living for ourselves but to help make the world a better place. Everyone wants to be fulfilled by their work. We want to feel like we're doing something valuable and making the world a better place. And if we can live out our passion too, well, that's the dream. We want to work with a team that's engaged, in a place where we can come alive, and contribute to something bigger than ourselves. In Meaningful Work: A Quest To Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, And Feed Your Soul, Shawn Askinosie shares that not only is all of this possible, it's imperative for the success of our economy, our businesses, and ourselves. Whether you're an entrepreneur, executive, or team leader, it's possible to imbue your organization — and employees — with purpose. In 2005, Shawn Askinosie left a highly successful career as a criminal defense lawyer to start a bean-to-bar chocolate factory and never looked back. Askinosie Chocolate is a small-batch, award-winning chocolate factory, sourcing 100% of their beans directly from farmers. Recently named by Forbes “One of the 25 Best Small Companies in America,” Askinosie’s business model has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and numerous other media. Shawn was named by O, The Oprah Magazine, “One of 15 Guys Who Are Saving the World.” For his efforts in “Advancing food standards… by creating social, economic, and environmental impact”, Shawn was awarded Top Business Leader of the Year in 2013 by the Specialty Food Association. Shawn has been awarded honorary doctorates from University of Missouri-Columbia and Missouri State University. In 2015, Askinosie Chocolate was awarded a complimentary membership to the Clinton Global Initiative for the company’s social efforts around the world. /episode/index/show/wfc/id/6619261

#176: Stop Networking 04/30/2018

#176: Stop Networking How to Be a Decent Human Being to Friends (and Friends of Friends) This is a conversation about a book that’s not like any networking book you have read (or ignored) before. In fact, it’s not about networking; it’s about how networks actually work. Networking seems to many of us to be an insincere way to manipulate relationships for personal gain. And yet there is a significant body of research that demonstrates that making and strengthening connections to others is vitally important for professional success. Being connected to a strong network provides major advantages — shots at key career opportunities, access to diverse skills and perspectives, the ability to learn private information, and the type of expertise and influence that makes it easier to attain power. What if the advice we’ve all heard about networking was wrong? What if it ISN’T about introducing yourself to strangers at cocktail parties, handing out business cards, or signing up for the latest online tool, but by getting the full picture of the existing network that’s already around you? David Burkus returns to Engaging Leader to talk to Jesse about tips from his latest book, Friend of a Friend: Understanding the Hidden Networks That Can Transform Your Life and Your Career. Based upon entertaining case studies and scientific research, this practical and revelatory guide shares what leads to true success. (Hint: It looks a lot less like collecting business cards and making random introductions … and a lot more like fostering authentic connections and seeking out diverse new voices.) David is a best-selling author, a sought after speaker, and an associate professor of leadership and innovation at Oral Roberts University. He’s delivered keynotes to the leaders of Fortune 500 companies and the future leaders of the United States Naval Academy. His TED talk has been viewed over 1.8 million times, and he is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review. /episode/index/show/wfc/id/6540631

#175: The Excellence Dividend 04/25/2018

WHE033 - Engaging Wellness Solutions for an On-Demand World 04/10/2018

#174: Managing Willpower for What Matters Most 03/16/2018

#173: Clarity First 03/16/2018

#173: Clarity First Ambiguity -- in the form of uncertainty or conflicting priorities -- has become the default state for organizations of all types. It lurks in the background when leaders can’t explain what success looks like, or what aspects of performance matter most for achieving it. It saps energy from talented team members operating in the dark about how their work contributes to the organization’s goals. In this episode, Jesse talks to Karen Martin about how to eliminate the ambiguity in your organization by starting with clarity. Drawing on her work with hundreds of organizations, Karen identifies and offers practical advice to perfect the "Six P’s” of organizational clarity: •Purpose: Understand why the organization exists. •Priorities: Define what matters now. •Process: Design and manage how the work gets done — with excellence and precision. •Performance: Know how the organization is doing on all fronts. •Problem solving: Surface problems and use a disciplined method for solving them. •People: Lead with clarity of thought, word, and action. This conversation includes: •Why some organizations don’t have clarity — and even accept ambiguity as an unavoidable fact of life •The difference between ambiguity and uncertainty •Why having clarity doesn’t mean you can’t have flexibility too •The pitfalls of not setting a clear foundation and relying on ambiguous goals •A quick and easy method for assessing your team’s clarity •Tips for achieving better clarity for your team •The CLEAR approach to disciplined problem-solving Karen Martin is an author, speaker, and president of the global consulting firm The Karen Martin Group, Inc. She is a leading authority on lean management and performance improvement for businesses, government agencies, and the not-for-profit sector. Her newest book is CLARITY FIRST: How Smart Leaders and Organizations Achieve Outstanding Performance. Her previous books include The Outstanding Organization and Value Stream Mapping, both Shingo Research Award winners. Karen and her team have worked with clients such as AT&T, Chevron, Epson, GlaxoSmithKline, International Monetary Fund, Lenovo, Mayo Clinic, and many more. /episode/index/show/wfc/id/6373661

#172: Build One Powerful Habit at a Time 02/28/2018

#171: Stop Trying to Multitask 02/13/2018

#171: Stop Trying to Multitask Multitasking doesn’t save time -- it wastes time. When you try to do two things at once, you either can’t or won’t do either well. If you think multitasking is an effective way to get more done, you’ve got it backward. It’s an effective way to get less done. Every time we try to do two or more things at once, we’re simply dividing up our focus and dumbing down all of the outcomes in the process. “Multitasking is merely the opportunity to screw up more than one thing at a time.” ~ Steve Uzzell Researchers have found these surprising facts about multitasking: •People can actually do two things at once, such as walk and talk, but they can’t focus on two things at once. Their attention actually bounces back and forth. •Bounce between one activity and another, and you lose time as your brain reorients to the new task. We lose 28 percent of an average workday to multitasking ineffectiveness. •The more time you spend switched to another task, the less likely you are to get back to your original task. (This is how loose ends pile up.) •Chronic multitaskers develop a distorted sense of how long it takes to do things. They almost always believe tasks take longer to complete than is actually required. •Multitaskers make more mistakes than non-multitaskers. They often make poorer decisions because they favor new information over old, even if the older information is more valuable. •Multitaskers experience more life-reducing, happiness-squelching stress. Distraction undermines results. When you try to do too much at once, you can end up doing nothing well. Figure out what matters most in the moment and give it your undivided attention. In this episode, Jesse shares what he’s learned from chapter 5 of the book The ONE Thing and provides examples of applying the lessons. His personal tips include: •Jedi mind training (also known as mindfulness meditation) to improve focus and resist distraction •Minimal smartphone notifications •Going off-grid for deep work •Email hacks to minimize distractions /episode/index/show/wfc/id/6254104

#170: Transforming Resistance to Change 02/13/2018

#169: Use a Success List 02/05/2018

#169: Use a Success List Instead of a to-do list, you need a success list -- a list that is purposefully created around extraordinary results. A to-do list becomes a success list when you apply Pareto’s Principle to it. Does it seem like every day you and your team have more and more that “simply must get done”? Do you often feel overbooked, overextended, overcommitted, and “in the weeds”? Do you (or your direct reports) feel like a human pinball, bouncing from task to task throughout the day, hoping to check as many things as possible off your to-do list -- but later realizing you didn’t actually accomplish anything that truly matters? To-do lists (whether in our head, on paper, or in an electronic system) can help collect our best intentions, but they also tyrannize us with trivial, unimportant stuff that we feel obligated to get done. If allowed, a to-do list or inbox can dictate our priorities -- keeping us busy but not letting us achieve real success for ourselves and our organization. Activity is not related to productivity or success -- and certainly not to extraordinary results. So how do you decide what to do, or what to do first? Successful people have an eye for the essential. They: •Pause long enough to decide what matters. •Do sooner what others plan to do later. •Defer to later (or indefinitely) what others do sooner. •Work from a clear sense of priority. In this episode, Jesse shares what he’s learned from chapter 4 of the book The ONE Thing and provides examples of applying the lessons. His personal tips include: •Success list: At the end of each day, selecting and writing down the ONE Thing you will do tomorrow that will make it a successful day for you; any other to-dos are relegated to a different list and generally not worked on until the ONE Thing is done. •Cerato or Scleranthus: Gentle herbs in the family of Bach remedies; these two options can, help your mind be more clear and decisive about setting priorities. They are inexpensive, available many places online or in many health food stores. •Decision points: As discussed in episode 165 [link], these are moments in your day when you have the opportunity to decide what to work on next, based on your priorities, your energy, and the amount of available time. •Mindfulness meditation and prayer: Helps you become more aware of what really matters in your work and personal life; helps improve your focus and resistance to distractions throughout the day; helps you make the most of each moment for maximum effectiveness, satisfaction, and fulfillment. •Pareto’s Principle, also known as 80/20 Rule: Apply this lens to your to-do list to identify the few things that matter more than the rest. Then with your shorter list, apply it again, and again, until you identify the essential, imperative ONE Thing that matters the most. /episode/index/show/wfc/id/6226431

#168: Singleness of Purpose 02/05/2018

#167: Work Less and Achieve More 01/22/2018

#167: Work Less and Achieve More Why do some people perform better at work than others? This deceptively simple question continues to confound leaders, as well as all professionals who want to advance and succeed while maintaining balance and wellbeing. We often equate working longer hours with success, but the fact is that type of work leads to stress, burnout, and overall inferior work performance. A new, groundbreaking study of more than 5,000 managers and employees shows that top performers actually work less -- and it reveals the tricks they use to accomplish much more. The newest book from Morten Hansen is GREAT AT WORK: How Top Performers Do Less, Work Better, and Achieve More. In the book, he provides key practices that emerged from the study’s data -- “work smarter” practices that overturn many of our basic “work harder” conventions. In this episode, Jesse and Morten discuss: •How people who “work less, then obsess” outperform people who work longer hours •Why applying intense effort in a few chosen areas leads to greater success •How top performers decide what will be the critical few tasks or goals they will focus on •How to say “No” to your boss, when a longer to-do list would hurt your performance •How to avoid being a pesky, “do-more” boss who lacks direction and sets too many priorities •How “disciplined collaboration” produces much higher results than either under- or over-collaboration •How to lead better (and fewer) meetings and stop wasting time Morten T. Hansen is a management professor at University of California, Berkeley. He is the coauthor (with Jim Collins) of the New York Times bestseller Great by Choice and the author of the highly acclaimed Collaboration. Formerly a professor at Harvard Business School and INSEAD (France), Professor Hansen holds a PhD from Stanford Business School, where he was a Fulbright scholar. His academic research has won several prestigious awards, and he is ranked one of the world’s most influential management thinkers by Thinkers50. Hansen was also a manager at the Boston Consulting Group, where he advised corporate clients worldwide. /episode/index/show/wfc/id/6175724

#166: Herding Tigers 01/22/2018

#165: The Domino Effect 01/08/2018

#164: The ONE Thing 01/08/2018

#163: Elephant in the Room 10/26/2017

#162: Competitive Advantage 10/26/2017

#161: Becoming a Stress-Resilient Leader 10/03/2017

#161: Becoming a Stress-Resilient Leader Chronic stress takes a toll on the quality of work and life, for both leaders and the people they lead. Stress muddies our thinking, impairs judgment, damages health and relationships, and causes people to burn out and quit their job. The solution, according to Dr. Andrew Shatté, is for leaders to become stress-relient and to teach resilience to their team. Learning resilience gets to the root cause of stress by helping people improve how they respond to adversity. Unfortunately, nearly half of leaders and high-value employees are not resilient, according to a recent study by meQuilibrium. Among other findings, the study revealed: 44% of employees with a master’s degree or higher have below-average resilience — meaning they are at a higher risk for depression, burnout, absenteeism and reduced productivity 54% of employees making between $75,000 and $90,000 yearly have below-average resilience — and of those people, 42% intend to quit their job within the next 6 months In episode 32 of Workforce Health Engagement, Andrew joined Jesse to discuss how to train employees to tackle the seven core components of stress resilience — not by attempting to eliminate stress, but by markedly improving their ability to handle it. In this episode of Engaging Leader, Andrew discusses resilient leadership, including: •Developing resilience personally — and modeling it in real life, •Mentoring team members to develop their resilience, and •Creating a resilient workplace. Andrew Shatté is co-author of two books about resilience and stress management. He is a psychologist and research professor in the College of Medicine at the University of Arizona, a Brookings Institution fellow, and the Chief Science Officer at the online stress management company meQuilibrium. Andrew has spent more than 20 years researching resilience and has established resilience programs that are operating around the world. Andrew’s work has improved productivity and performance at organizations ranging from NASA to Fortune 100 companies. meQuilibrium is a personalized, interactive, coaching system designed to provide people with proven, measurable methods to increase their stress resilience. Large employers, including Comcast and HP, use meQuilibrium as part of their human capital strategies to help their employees to manage stress and boost performance and to make healthier choices. It’s designed for mobile and desktop use. /episode/index/show/wfc/id/5801502

#160: Building a High-Performing and Health-Driven Culture 09/12/2017

WHE032 - Boosting Stress Resilience for Employees 07/18/2017

WHE032 - Boosting Stress Resilience for Employees Just like managing weight, managing stress is about becoming aware of personal choices and making better ones, and rewiring thought patterns so that an individual’s habits sustain well-being rather than sabotage it. Learning resilience gets to the root cause of stress and unhealthy behaviors by helping people challenge and adapt their thinking. Dr. Andrew Shatté joins Jesse to discuss how to train employees to tackle the seven core components of stress management — not by attempting to eliminate stress, but by markedly improving their ability to handle it. Third-party research shows that people who develop stress resilience based on the meQuilibrium approach are: •4x more likely to have high job satisfaction. •5x as likely to have very good or excellent health. •47% less likely to miss at least one day of work per month. •Half as likely to quit. Even though 75% of people say they are overloaded by stress, only 3-5% take advantage of employee assistance programs (EAPs). At organizations that implement meQuilibrium, Andrew reports that 60-70% of employees give the program a try, and 88% of them complete the program. Andrew Shatté is co-author of two books about resilience and stress management. He is a psychologist and research professor in the College of Medicine at the University of Arizona, a Brookings Institution fellow, and the Chief Science Officer at the online stress management company meQuilibrium. Andrew has spent more than 20 years researching resilience and has established resilience programs that are operating around the world. Andrew’s work has improved productivity and performance at organizations ranging from NASA to Fortune 100 companies. meQuilibrium is a personalized, interactive, coaching system designed to provide people with proven, measurable methods to increase their stress resilience. Large employers, including Comcast and HP, use meQuilibrium as part of their human capital strategies to help their employees to manage stress and boost performance and to make healthier choices. It’s designed for mobile and desktop use. /episode/index/show/wfc/id/5549429

#159: Multipliers-How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter 06/10/2017

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