Podcast 607: Sometimes Brilliant with Larry Brilliant

In all my years of conducting interviews with authors, I have probably never come across one like Dr. Larry Brilliant.  He is literally brilliant, authentic and someone who played a major role in eradicating a disease that was killing thousands of people.

In his new book “Sometime Brilliant-The Impossible Adventure of a Spiritual Seeker and Visionary Physician Who Helped Conquer the Worst Disease in History” he tell his story with flair and humor.

In my interview with Larry we get to explore his history as a visionary physician and spiritual seeker.  Larry ended up in India under the guidance of guru named Neem Karoli Baba.  Neem Karoli Baba informed Larry that he would be involved in the work to help eradicate smallpox.  At the time over 43,000 people were affected by this horrible disease, and through Larry’s diligence, persistence and fortitude to bring the doctors and World Health Organization together they accomplished the goal and vision that his guru has envisioned.

Through “Sometimes Brilliant” you are on a journey with Larry and the cast of characters, which include Steve Jobs, Ram Dass, Dalai Lama and many others.  You learn about a man and a life well lived, and a contribution to the world that saved and has saved thousands of lives from the smallpox disease.

I hope you enjoy this great interview with a wonderful humanitarian and physician.  If you want to learn more about Dr. Larry Brilliant please click here to be directed to his website, or click here to be taken to his Facebook page.

 

Podcast 606: Beyond the E-Myth with Michael Gerber

I think this is the fourth time I have interviewed Michael Gerber, and each time I set down to speak with Michael I am amazed as how vibrant and alive he conveys his compelling message about entrepreneurship.   In his newly released book entitled “Beyond The E-Myth”  Michael takes the reader beyond all previous iterations of his E-Myth message to a place that will transform the reader.

Michael states that we need to think of our small business as prodcuts that need to be packaged and sold.  We can no longer be the one man or woman operation expecting to break through the ceilings of complexity.  If we are to grow we need to think of growing our organizations into business with a 1,000 employees, it is not necessary that we accomplish this goal but we need to shift our thinking that we are going to be larger organizations.

Michael know that the best entrepreneurs have a dream, a mission and a vision.  Knowing what they are and remaining focused on your dream, mission and vision are key components in transforming your business and your own personal life.  Michael also believes in having a Great Story and being able to articulate your message is one of the key to success–a Great Story is always about going beyond the ordinary and achieving greatness.

If you have an interest in transforming your business into one that will as some point not need you and will run without you, then you need to listen to my interview with Michael Gerber about his new book “Beyond The E-Myth”  If you want to learn more please click here to be directed to Michael’s website where you can learn more about his workshops and events.

I hope you enjoy this interview with Michael Gerber.

 

Podcast 605: The Innovator’s Mindset with George Couros

I happen to have been in the Amazon Bookstore in La Jolla, CA.  Yes, literally they have a bookstore.  I intuitively got a hunch about this book that was on an endcap display.  The author is George Couros and the title of the book is “The Innovator’s Mindset-Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity”   I knew when I saw the book that I needed to interview the author, so I reached out to George and he gracefully accepted my invitation.

George is an educator with a passion for helping teachers transform their classrooms into creativity and innovation think tanks.  George believes that we need to prepare our kids for jobs that don’t yet exist, and with that mission he became the Division Principal of Innovative Thinking and Learning.

George understand that we need to shift the young minds from that of a fixed mindset to that of a growth mindset, then to that of the innovator’s mindset.  The innovator’s mindset take the growth mindset a step further by focusing on using one’s ability to learn to play the piano but to create music.  The innovator’s mindset can be defined as the belief that the abilities, intelligence, and the talents are developed so that they lead to the creation of new and better ideas.

This book has not only been written for educators, but for anyone who is attempting to create a culture of innovation and creativity.  I highly recommend reading George’s book “The Innovator’s Mindset“.  If you want to learn more about George and his passions please visit his website by clicking here.  I hope you enjoy this wonderful interview with George Couros the author of “The Innovator’s Mindset“.

 

Podcast 604: Disrupt Together with Heather McGowan

I had the privilege of recently interviewing Heather McGowan the co-author of a new book entitled “Disrupt Together-How Teams Consistently Innovate“.  I was truly amazed at the depth and breadth of knowledge Heather has about innovating within organizations.  The book “Disrupt Together” is a compilation of  chapters written by distinguished thought leaders in the field of innovation.

Heather and I had an opportunity to discuss many of the chapters within the book, along with her contribution entitled “Framing the Vision for Engagement”  When you have been handed a strategic directive it is the job of the managers to create an actionable enterprise.  To create that actionable enterprise is requires that we are able to engage the talent responsible for the development of that new product or services being innovated.  As Heather states in the book “The process is a nonlinear, iterative sequence of discover, formulate, develop, and optimize phases. When the directive can be explicitly stated as an actionable vision ,the value creation phase of development and optimize ensue, offering problem solutions and value creation.

This process is at the heart of every organization involved in innovating something new or redesigning a product to improve it.  Disrupt Together is designed for anyone who want to take a deep dive into learning more about the dynamics of teams in the creative and innovative process.  Every chapters provides insight and wisdom from some of the best teachers in the industry.

If you want to learn more about Heather McGowan and her passion, for the future of work and learning I recommend you visit her website by clicking here.  You also might want to watch a very cool video of a presentation she did Redesigning Work by clicking here.

 

Podcast 603: The Science of Selling with David Hoffeld

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing David Hoffeld the author of a newly released book entitled “The Science of Selling“.  If you are someone who is in sales or marketing, then I would highly recommend you reading David’s new book.

David spent ten years studying what effects the buying patterns of consumers.  During this time David learned about the behavioral science behind “why” someone purchases goods or services from you versus from someone else.  He refers to this as the Six Whys, which starts with “Why Change?”, second is “Why Now?, third “Why Your Industry Solution?”, fourth “Why You and Your Company?”, fifth “Why Your Product or Service? sixth “Why Spend the Money“.

These are obviously great questions and throughout the book David answer the questions that will make you a better salesperson.  You will literally learn how to sell the way the brain constructs a buying decision, how to ethically sell to your potential customers emotions , how to ask questions the way our brains intuitively disclose information, how to boost your ability to influence other.

If you want more information about David Hoffeld you can check him out at his website by clicking here, or you can watch a great video at YouTube by clicking here.

I hope you enjoy this great interview with a thought leader in the area of sales and selling.

 

Podcast 602: Intuitive Being with Jill Willard

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Jill Willard the author of a wonderful book on the development of intuition called ” Intuitive Being-Connect with Spirit, Find Your Center and Choose an Intentional Life.”

In our interview together we explore not only Jill’s history as an intuitive medium, but how intuition is a special power we all poses and is just waiting for us to access.  Jill book “Intuitive Being” is written to allow the reader to learn new approaches for learning how to listen to and tune into intuition.  She teaches the reader how to unlock their intuition  and learn how to “trust” what you are feeling, hearing, or sensing when they are open to the intuitive call.

Jill and I discuss the seven energy centers that play a vital role in learning how to open up to intuition, these are the gateways to our inner being to spirit which is at the heart of intuition.  The sixth energy center is the “third eye”.  As Jill states ” Intuition is quite a mystery until it is not. The knowing is like a whisper at time, and this awareness might feel subtle at first. This will be an awareness of self, like our soul and our self are communicating in great partnership.”

If you are at all curious about how to tap into your intuition then I can highly recommend reading Jill’s book ” Intuitive Being“.  If you want to learn more about Jill you can visit her website by clicking here, or go to her Twitter page and connect with her there.

 

Podcast 600: The Geography of Genius with Eric Weiner

In a quest to discover not only where the great geniuses came from, but the environments that stimulated their development author Eric Weiner in the “Geography of Genius” does just that.  In a very lively interview Eric we discuss the conditions, places and circumstances that helped to develop geniuses such as Socrates, Aristotle, Plato and many others.  Erics book is an exploration and travel guide into a look back in history.  Eric actually visits these places and digs into the history of these geniuses, and the stories and tapestry that make for a very interesting read.

Eric writes ” The toddler steps of incremental innovation don’t even earn you a patent, or the title of genius.  Only a leap does.  The question that intrigues someone such as myself, a creature of geography and a student of history, is not simply what these leaps look like but where, and when they take place…certain places, at certain time, producing a bumper crop of brilliant minds and good ideas.  The question is why.”

If you are a history buff, or just interested in what conditions existed to foster the development of “genius” then reading Eric book “Geography of Genius” is a must.  I highly recommend “Geography of Genius” for anyone who wants to learn about the “why” of genius.

For more information about Eric Weiner please click here to be directed to his website.

 

Podcast 597: The Values Driven Organization-Unleashing Human Potential for Performance and Profit with Richard Barrett

I had the pleasure of being able to interview author Richard Barrett about his book entitled ” The Values Driven Organization“.  According to Richard values driven organizations are the most successful organizations on the planet.  So what are values-“they are the ideals and customs of a society toward which the people have an effective regard”.

So why should you care about making your company driven by its values.   The reason is that values driven organizations have employee engagement levels that are significantly higher, and this equates to an earning of 3.9 times the earning per share compared with organization where employees have low engagement. Gallup recently conducted a survey about employee engagement and found that 29% of US employees were actively engaged, 55% were not engaged and 16% were actively disengaged.  The cost to organization of this level of disengagement is about $17, 500 per employee.

So if you want do you have to do to improve the engagement of your employees : 1) make your baseline rewards sufficient and fair. 2) have a congenial working atmosphere 3) give your employees autonomy and freedom 4) give them opportunities to pursue mastery, learn and excel in their field of expertise. 5) allow them to work with purpose.

If you are interested in learning more about creating the best conditions in your organization to improve the performance and profitability of your company please listen to my interview with Richard Barrett one of the foremost experts on organizational and cultural transformation.

To learn more about Richard Barrett his company Values Centre please click here to be directed to his website.

 

Podcast 592: The Metrics of Human Consciousness with Richard Barrett

I recently had the pleasure of conducting another interview with Richard Barrett about his new book entitled “The Metrics of Human Consciousness“.   In our interview we discuss the seven levels model of human consciousness that Richard developed to assist his clients in better understanding their employees as well as helping to move the organizational consciousness in a positive direction.

Richards seven levels are 1 ) Surviving-Satisfying your physiological needs 2) Conforming-Satisfying your needs for love and belonging. 3) Differentiating-Satisfying your need for respect and recognition. 4) Individuating-Satisfying your need for freedom and autonomy.  5) Self-actualizing-Satisfying your need to find meaning and purpose in life 6) Integrating-Satisfying your need to make a difference in the world.7) Serving-Fulfilling your destiny by caring for the well-being of humanity and or the planet.

Richard states that our level of consciousness changes as our values change.  He provides a really cool website where you can take a 5 minute assessment to measure your level of consciousness.  After you complete the assessment his organization sends you a report so you can see where your values lie on the human metrics of consciousness.

I hope you enjoy another great interview with Richard Barrett.  If you want to access the free-assessment please click here to be directed to the assessment page.  If you want to learn more about Richard Barrett and Values Centre please click here to be directed to his website.