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 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.

 

Podcast 591: Get A Grip with Mike Paton

I recently sat down to conduct an interview with author Mike Paton about his book entitled “Get A Grip” which is the companion to the bestselling book “Traction”  We discuss both books in this interview, because the content  of “Get A Grip compliments the content in “Traction”.

If you are like most entrepreneurs your daily life is filled with new challenges and opportunities.  It is not an easy job to juggle everything and keep your sanity.  I personally know because I am an entrepreneur and I have worked with hundreds of visionaries with similar challenges .  What I appreciate about “Get A Grip” is that the book provides the reader with tools and practices which if followed will make their life simpler and more efficient.

An important point that Mike Paton makes during our interview , is that many visionaries/entrepreneurs don’t have an integrator in their business.  So just what is an integrator?  This is someone who compliments the visionaries role by who’s role is to guide, direct the organization while seizing the opportunities.

The integrators role is to analyze the P&L, remove obstacles, work on legal and compliance issues and overall handle the daily operations of the business.  A visionary can not operate their business without an integrator.   Now while this may sound obvious to many of you reading this, believe me many businesses have not identified who the integrator is, or they don’t have one and this can lead to chaos.  The visionary is not the right person to be playing this kind of role, nor do they usually have the business acumen for the role of a integrator.

Mike spoke about the Six Key Components  and  the philosophy of EOS Worldwide the company behind both books.  Mike stated that “First is that there is a “Vision” shared by all in the organization, Second is that of “People” putting the right people in the right seats. Third, track the “Issues” keep an issues list. Forth, is Traction to keep momentum you need to have meetings that Mike refers to as “Rocks”, Fifth is Process that is the documentation followed by all.   Sixth and lastly is Data, keep a scorecard and measure the progress of the organization in the critical areas.”

If you are really interested in simplifying your business and being provided with great tools and techniques I highly recommend reading “Get A Grip” and “Traction” both great books on business growth and organization.

To learn more about the processes and tools discuss in “Get a Grip” please click here to be directed to the EOS Worldwide website.

I hope you enjoy this great interview with Mike Paton, author and EOS Worldwide Integrator.

 

Podcast 578: Rocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want From Your Business with Mark C. Winters

I really love business books that provide value to the reader, and this book “Rocket Fuel” is an easy to read book that is chalk full of value.

In my interview with author Mark C. Winter we explore one of the most important realizations by successful entrepreneurs and that if you want to develop a business it takes someone in the passenger seat, and that person is called an Integrator.  An “Integrator” compliments a “Visionary” and the right combination of these two people is imperative for the success of any business.

What you will learn by reading “Rocket Fuel” is that “Visionaries” have certain characteristics as do “Integrators”. When each person knows and plays their role in the organization you obtain “Rocket Fuel” as the book suggests.

Mark also discusses with me something he refers to as the “Accountability Chart”.  This is not just a normal organizational chart, the “Accountability Chart” helps you define the functions of the organization but to compliment that is defines the five (5) major roles of each of the people in the organization.  When you accomplish this task, it make everything much clearer and allows for leadership team to function with clear lines of communication.

What I appreciate most about “Rocket Fuel” and Mark C. Winters is the fact that all the techniques and tools outlined in the the book are tried and true tools.  Mark’s co-author Gino Wickman is the founder of EOS (Entrepreneur Operating System) out of Detroit Michigan.  EOS Worldwide provides the reader with amazing free resources as well as an opportunity to hire a business coach called an Implementer.

If you want to learn more about Rocket Fuel please click here to be directed to the book website, if you want to learn more about EOS Worldwide please click here to be directed to their website.  

I particularly enjoyed this animated YouTube Video titled “Why Entrepreneurial Companies Need a Visionary and an Integrator.”  I hope you enjoy my interview with Mark C. Winters.

 

Podcast 572: World Famous How to Create a Kick-Ass Brand with David Tyreman

Most of us are aware that branding ourselves  or our companies can be a challenging task.  It is as if there is a magic formula that when you have the correct ingredients your company can blast off into the stratosphere where customers are clamoring to subscribe to your service or purchase your products.

David Tyreman has authored a book entitled “World Famous-How to Create a Kick-Ass Brand.  David has worked with some of the biggest companies like Banana Republic, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Nike and many others.  In my interview with David we explore the components that are required to create a kick-ass brand.  David explains there are five of them and they are:  1) Dare 2) Learn Why People Buy 3) A Defined Differentiation 4) Adding Value 5) Ready, Set Engage.  These steps make up the roadmap for someone wanting to develop their brand.

We also discuss the power of a super niche, defining what you do best and not spreading yourself too thin that your customers are confused by your offering or service.   You also need to be concerned and do you research on the demographics and psychographics of your target customer.  Remember not everyone is your customer, so develop a plan and research your customer profile so you know what makes them tick.

David is a master at helping people brand themselves or their company.  His book “World Famous-How to Create a Kick-Ass Brand” is loaded with stories, examples and advice that can assist both the newbie or the experienced marketer.

I would recommend that you check out David Tyremen at his website by clicking here.  World Famous also has a great branding course that you might want to consider taking.  If you are interested finding out more about the course please email David at david@worldfamouscompany.com.

 

Podcast 563: Enabling Collaboration with Martin Echavarria

Collaboration is something that is the buzzword in today’s business world.  Everyone is looking to collaborate and develop stronger strategic alliances that will result being greater innovation, profits and synergy.  Most executives would like to find out the magic ingredients on how collaboration and strategic alliances are developed, nurtured and successfully implemented.

Author Martin Echavarria has studied how collaboration and strategic alliances are successfully developed and result in a positive synergy for all parties involved.  In our interview together about his new book entitled ” Enabling Collaboration-Achieving Success Through Strategic Alliances and Partnership” he explains how any business can gain traction and better develop these all important relationships.

Martin states that certain key skills employed across the alliance development process are important regardless of alliance type.  These skills consist of emotional intelligence, relationship intelligence, perspective taking, systems thinking, cognitive intelligence and somatic intelligence.

To learn more about successful collaboration and alliance development please listen to my interview with Martin.  If you want to check out Martin’s website you can click here.

I hope you enjoy this great interview with Martin Echavarria the author of “Enabling Collaboration“

Podcast 561: Plus Change-Genesis of Innovation with Moe Glenner

Change is everywhere, change is the only constant and it certainly is not going away.  What do we do, how do we manage change?  You and your fellow workers learn how to live with it, cope and make it your ally.

As the author Moe Glenner states in his new book “Plus Change-Genesis of Innovation” “Since life will frequently take us to the intersection of creativity, change and innovation, how do we successfully navigate the junction?  Now, that is the question of the millennial?

In Moe’s book “Plus Change” he navigates us through the elements of change and unlocks the secrets to turning that change into growth, potential and profits.  Moe has what he refers to as the “Nifty-Nine Principles to the creative process.  These principles are wonderful ways to move change into creativity, and they are 1) Release the endorphins 2) Separate idea generation from idea evaluation 3) Always test assumptions 4) Avoid patterned thinking 5) Create new perspectives 6) Minimize negative thinking 7) Take (prudent) risks 8) Get lost! 9) Turn Out the lights.

If you want to get more context regarding these principles click on this Youtube interview that Moe did about the book.  It provides the viewer with an overview of the book and its contents as well as more insight into the principles.  I hope you enjoy this interview with author Moe Glenner, please visit his website by clicking here.

 

Podcast 554: The New Corporate Facts of Life with Diana Rivenburgh

This interview is with the remarkable Diana Rivenburgh on here most recent book “The New Corporate Facts of Life.”  In this book, Diana can show business leaders how to seize and profit from the opportunities born every day in this new era of catalytic change.  This book will arm readers with practical models and tools in order to rid your business of outdated and useless practices and to bring it up to speed with modern influences.

Diana Rivenburgh has 25+ years  experience with organizational and leadership development, change, consulting and strategy creation.  She has her M.S. in Positive Organizational Development and Change from Case Western Reserve University and her B.S. in Business Administration from New York Institute of Technology.

Learn more about Diana Rivenburgh at strategic-imperatives.com.  You can also purchase “The New Corporate Facts of Life” here.