Podcast 589: Scrappy-A Little Book about Choosing to Play Big with Terri Sjodin

Terri Sjodin is not only a great author, but is scrappy. I recently interviewed her for her new book entitled “Scrappy-A Little Book About Choosing to Play Big“. I am sure that most of you know what scrappy means, but just in case: scrappy is someone who is full of fighting spirit-synonymous with having moxie, being feisty, enthusiastic. So how many of you choose to play big when is comes to trying to meet someone new you really want to meet? Someone that might make a difference if you met them both personally and professionally? Terri’s book is loaded with amazingly courageous people with great stories about how they went the extra mile to meet that someone special, or did something out of the ordinary to capture the attention of their customers or investors.

Terri has three pillars of scrappiness: 1) Attitude 2) Strategy 3) Execution. I know it sounds simple, and it really is–it just takes lots of courage to act on the things in life that can make a significant difference. What is holding you back? Fear and Uncertainty? If so I encourage you to listen to my interview with Terri Sjodin and get yourself a copy of “Scrappy” you will be glad that you did, you just might break a cycle of belief that is holding you back. If you want to learn more about Terri and the book Scrappy just click here. Thanks for listening.

Podcast 574: The Art of Authenticity with Karissa Thacker

There is lots of talk today about the power of authenticity, and rightfully so.  We see the topic being discussed throughout the political campaigning that we are experiencing, and unfortunately we don’t see our current top running candidates for the presidential election showing high levels of authenticity.   As sad as that might seem, “authenticity” seems to be conspicuously absent from this presidential campaign.

In my recent interview with author Karissa Thacker about her book “The Art of Authenticity” we discuss the four components that form the basis of authenticity as a leader.

First, is self-awareness-motivation and values are individual and distinctive.  This level of authenticity requires that one really wants, what is important and why.  The second is “balanced processing–this is a skill of blending thought process with the thought processes of others without a bias one’s own view. ( I really believe this is missing with that unnamed candidate for president.)  Third, is relational transparency–when it comes to building a genuine relationship with people, transparency is critical.  Authentic leaders allow themselves to evolve, grow, and experiment regarding their personal transparency.  Lastly, is internal moral perspective–authentic leaders are students of human nature in general and experts on the peculiarities of their own particular more nature. The keep their own unique internal GPS system activated as they deal with day-to-day pressures.

If you are a leader in your organization and wanting to learn more about the keys to being more authentic then I would highly recommend that you read Karissa Thacker new book “The Art of Authenticity“.  You can learn more by visiting her website by clicking here, or you can go to the book Facebook page by clicking here.

I hope you enjoy this lively interview with Karissa Thacker about “The Art of Authenticity“.

 

Podcast 562: Impact Code with Simon Tyler

Calling all leaders–your current leadership impact is a result of many factors.  Author Simon Tyler in his new book entitled ” Impact Code 50 Way to Enhance Your Presence and Impact at Work“, states that there are five (5) fundamental aspects of leadership.

1) Your Visual Impact, no this is not about the great clothes you wear it is about your visual messaging, and how people around you perceive your message.  2) Presence, this is that special something that you possess that draws people to you.  They want to hear what you have to say, and they are willing to follow you.  3) Connection, this is the factor relating to how well you connect with others, how they respond and if they are motivated by you written and spoken word.  4) Verbal Impact, how you make people feel when you give them a task to do.  Do they feel valued and empowered.  5) Your Leadership Footprint, do you leave others with a call-to-action or a high degree of interest and motivation.

Author Simon Tyler provides the reader with 50 short and well articulated lessons on how to make a greater impact in the workplace.  I highly recommend anyone in management read Simon’s book “Impact Code” to better understand what will make you a better leader in your organization.

If you want more information about Simon please visit his website by clicking here.

I hope you enjoy this interview with author Simon Tyler.

Podcast 558: Shareology-How Sharing is Powering the Human Economy with Bryan Kramer

I had the pleasure of interviewing Bryan Kramer about his newest book, “Shareology-How Sharing is Powering the Human Economy.”  In his book, Bryan talks about how to figure out what kind of sharer you are and how you can connect with others like you.  He also tells us that you need to speak “human” to become a better sharer.

Bryan Kramer is a renowned global speaker, consultant and trainer.  He is also one of the world’s foremost leaders in the art and science of sharing, with over 300,ooo social fans and followers.

Find out more about Bryan Kramer and his book “Shareology-How Sharing is Powering the Human Economy” here.  You can also follow Bryan on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Podcast 539: The Fear Free Organization with Joan Kingsley

Every organization today is attempting to get the greatest engagement and productivity from their employees.  In my recent interview with author Joan Kingsley the author of ” The Fear-Free Organization” we discuss the important characteristics required to create a fear free organization.

Leadership and trust are obviously a key characteristics that that help to build confidence in the employees, but  neuroscience shows that individuals and organizations are more successful when people are encouraged to take risks, to explore new ideas, and to channel their energies in ways that work for them.  In my interview with author Joan Kingsley we explore how to make your organization less fear driven and more fearless.

I hope you enjoy this wonderful interview with Joan Kingsley about her new book entitled ” The Fear-Free Organization”  You can learn more about Joan and the book by clicking here to be taken to her consulting organization website.

Podcast 534: Business Storytelling for Dummies with Karen Dietz

How many of you have had an opportunity to speak before a group of people and wished you could have conveyed your message in a more compelling way?  I know that this has happened to my several times, and while I have known about the impact a good storyteller can make on an audience I never felt that I was very proficient at the storytelling process.

In my interview with my friend and author Karen Dietz, we discuss her new book entitled “Business Storytelling for Dummies“.   We explore some of the mistakes that many of us make in developing our story as well as practices for organizing a great story.  So just what is a story as defined by the authors : ” A story provides packets of sensory language presented in a particular way that allows the listeners to quickly and easily internalize the material, comprehend it, and create meaning from it.”   Easier said than done, right!!

I must say that “Business Storytelling for Dummies”  is very well organized, and provides the reader with an opportunity to explore, understand and practice new skills in storytelling.   It takes the reader through a step by step process in developing their story no matter what the circumstance.  If you are interested in developing new business opportunities, working on sales and meeting presentations or improving customer service within your organization, then learning how to organize and tell a great story will improve your odds of getting your point across and with excitement, engagement and interest by your audience.

If you want to learn more about business storytelling then I would recommend that you read “Business Storytelling for Dummies” and listen to this podcast.  You can also check out Karen’s website Just Story It by clicking the link, or the Facebook page by clicking here, and Twitter by clicking here.   I hope you enjoy this great interview with author Karen Dietz about her new book “Business Storytelling for Dummies”

 

Podcast 527: Captivology: The Science of Capturing People’s Attention with Ben Parr

Have you tried to capture someone’s attention these days? Do feel like to have to set off a flair in front of their face just to get a few minutes of their focused attention? That is the way that I feel sometimes.

I am certain that in our world today many of us has a bad case of Attention Deficit Disorder, and it is not all the fault of the individuals.  Our world and the things in it that require our attention has increased exponentially.  As a matter of fact we use to speak about Moore’s Law and that the computing power would double every two years, now who know how frequently it is doubling today?

Google receives 4,000,000 searches every minute.  For more fun stats on the amount of data we deal with daily,  just click here to be directed to Data Never Sleeps 2.0 graphic and article. 

Ben Parr the author of Captivology: The Science of Capturing People’s Attention has been studying how to capture people’s attention.  He has come up with some very interesting facts, there are three types of attention-immediate, short and long term attention.  He also states that you can capture all three of these types of attention with what Ben refers to as the “seven captivation triggers.  In my interview with Ben we explore the captivation triggers and the research behind them.

I recommend that you listen to and get a copy of Ben’s book if you are in the business trying to capture the attention of your customers, or just your fellow workers.

I hope you enjoy this wonderful interview with Ben Parr on his new book “Captivology“.   You can learn more by visiting his website by clicking here, or Facebook or Twitter.

Podcast 486: Value Proposition Design with Alan Smith

You might be familiar with all the buzz around something called the “Business Model Canvas”.  There are currently three books in the series which started with “Business Model Generation” then “Business Model You” now a new book ” Value Proposition Design“.  So why the interest from the business communities in this interesting way of developing a business model.  Simply put, it is engaging, inclusive ,compelling and it works.

Authors Alex Osterwalder, Yves Pingeur, Greg Bernarda and Alan Smith are the dynamic team behind the business model canvas.  I recently had the pleasure of having a dialogue with Alex Smith the brains behind the book designs, which I might add are a big reason for the success of the books.

During our dialogue we discuss the key elements in creating a great value for customers, we also get into the steps necessary to create the value proposition canvas: Customer Profile, Value Map and Fit all  extremely important considerations in the developing a any new product design.  Alan and his colleagues refer to gain creators, and pain relievers as one of the most important elements in developing great designs.

While this all might sound simple it is daunting to create a new product, test it and know that you are creating something that is really needed and wanted by your customers.  Developing something in a vacuum is crazy,  where your perception of what will relieve your customers pains is exactly that a perception and not the reality of the situation.  Developing then testing your product is so important, I speak from experience I have developed a few products and testing is so important so you can gain feedback.

Alan and his team have recently released a cloud based software system allowing teams to collaborate on developing a business model canvases, it is called Strategyzer.  In my humble opinion I have never seen software as simple as Strategyzer, providing results in minutes.  If you work with a team and you are in the process of developing a new product or service I would highly recommend checking out this amazing new cloud based software.

I encourage you to listen closely to Alan Smith as he guides the listener to a better understanding of Business Model Canvas and Value Proposition Design.  If you want to just click on the links provided below that will take you to the related websites associated with Value Proposition Design.

Value Proposition Design

Strategyzer

Podcast 485: Lead with Humility-12 Leadership Lessons from Pope Francis with Jeffrey Krames

I am certain that the talk around the water cooler doesn’t default to leadership in this country, but I am certain that it is a topic of discussion more than we think.  It seems like everywhere we turn we see leaders falling from grace due to improprieties in their judgement and or just not doing an adequate job.  What is happening?  Is there a lack of competent leaders with great skills and strong emotional intelligence.

In my recent interview with author Jeffrey Krames we discuss his new book entitled ” Lead with Humility-12 Leadership Lessons from Pope Francis”.   What is it about the new Pope that is attracting lost Catholics back to the church, and his acceptance by the congregation at one of the highest in history.  According to Jeffrey Krames Pope Francis possess amazing leadership skills such as  1) Leading with Humility, he states that authentic humility empowers leaders like no other leadership quality.  How this translates for business leaders is never use you position of leadership for selfish reasons, and make yourself accessible to your employees.   2) Smell Like Your Flock: which means to immerse yourself deeply into whatever group you lead to aspire to lead, in a meaningful way.

I know you are going to thoroughly enjoy my interview with author Jeffrey Krames, you will also learn more about the traits and qualities that Pope Francis possess that make him one of the greatest leaders in modern history of the Catholic Church.

To learn more about Jeffrey Krames and his other books please click here to learn more, you can also learn more about the book by clicking here to be directed to the Facebook landing page.