"As a leader, you have to know your people and be aware when their behavior changes." Karl Ahlrichs In today's episode, we are joined by Karl Ahlrichs. Karl specializes in helping professionals make order from chaos. He's a national speaker, author, and consultant presenting on people issues in all industries and is often quoted in the local and national media. Karl's experience is ideally suited for times of organizational change, as he pulls up on risk management and organizational development theories to replace best practices with next practices. He owes much of his communication mastery to working as a writer and editor in daily media, to the on-the-job writing experience, and to the process of becoming a published author. Karl Joined Gregory and Appel insurance in 2010 after serving as the founding partner of Exact Hire, bringing his HR operations diversity and belonging in learning and development skills. Karl's affinity for design, composition, and learning started at a very...
"Every single day in our role as leaders, we encounter situations where empathy would serve us and others well." Peter Margaritis There are dozens of remarkable leaders and scholars singing the praises of empathy in the workplace. For example, in his book, Geoff Colvin, the Fortune Magazine Senior Editor, argues that as workplaces evolve and leadership models change, the most important skill that leaders must possess is empathy. Similarly, an article published in the Harvard Business Review after a survey of 6000 leaders, Jack Singer and Joseph Folkman, revealed that women leaders were more decisive as compared to their male counterparts when it came to empathy. People use the terms sympathy and empathy in overlapping and interchangeable ways, but there's a distinct difference. Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes and feel what they feel, not what you think they feel. It involves grief and pain when and because someone else is feeling it. Every single day i...
‘It's not the people that quit and leave your organization that you have to worry about, it is the people that quit and stay.’ Dr. Hope Zoeller My guests today are Dr. Hope Zoeller and Dr. Joe DeSensei. Dr. Hope is the founder and president of Hope LLC. Hope stands for Helping Other People Excel, and it is a firm that specializes in facilitating leaders’ success at every level of an organization. For 14 years of her professional career. Dr. Zeller worked at UPS in a variety of roles including customer service training and development and employee relations. For16 years she has been consulting with organizations on leadership development. Dr. Joe DeSensi is the president of Educational Directions LLC, an educational consulting firm helping schools around the southeast for over 20 years. He developed custom and enterprise software to help districts track data and target students’ needs. Joe holds patents in school data management software and database integration. Hope and Joe hav...
"Leaders of organizations tend to be controlling, but the ability to let things go and see where the journey takes us can be more powerful." Peter Margaritis This is an excerpt from the book, Off Script: Mastering the Art of Business Improvisation. Leadership is not about self-promotion, being the center of attention, talking as much as you can, speaking in the third person, always being right, even when you're wrong, disrespecting others, or being a narcissist. However, in some organizations, these traits are viewed as effective leadership skills, which is the slippery slope to the leaders and potentially the organization's demise." The one skill that helps to save people's careers and organizations is the art of listening. Leadership is all about becoming a better listener. Leadership is all about listening to understand versus listening to respond. Listening to understand means you genuinely want to understand what is being said to you directly, in the room as you participate in ...
"To get what you want as a sales professional, you have to connect with the person who has it, and that person is your client." Lon Graham My guest is Lon Graham, who's a speaker coaching advocate. Lon speaks to sales teams, coaches, and sales leaders and is an advocate for sales professionals. He is also an award-winning sales and leadership professional. His message of getting the sales you want comes from over 25 years of experience in healthcare, corporate programs, events, and the airline industry. Lon is an active member of the National Speakers Association. Sales are complex, and two statistics prove that. The first statistic is that sales have the highest turnover; a third of the sales force leaves yearly, which is 10 points higher than any other profession. The second statistic is that the average tenure of a sales professional is a year and a half. There is transformational power in being nice to people. If you start by being nice to people, talking to them, and spending a...
"Any gathering of individuals, no matter how large or small, is an opportunity to meet someone." Peter Margaritis If the thought of networking makes you sweat, it's time to rethink what networking is. Anytime you are at an event or even in a meeting where you don't know someone, you have the opportunity to network. It's about introducing yourself and getting to know someone. This involves having the right attitude, believing in yourself, having a plan, and remembering to smile. By taking just a little time to get in the right mindset, you'll have a lot more confidence walking into any event, and simply smiling can make anyone more approachable. Any gathering of individuals, no matter how large or small, is an opportunity to meet someone. Preparation is vital in making connections, and this means doing your homework. Engage people by being curious about them. It is a great way to break the ice and create a rapport with someone. The key to effective implementation is to be a good list...
"We have to do a better job of providing kids with the foundation of financial literacy so we can set them up for success in the future." Rory Henry My guest was Rory Henry has 15 plus years of experience working in tax and, most recently, financial advisory professions. He's built a program AFO Wealth Management Forward, that works with accounting firms to implement holistic Wealth Management Services. Rory is a technology enthusiast at heart and adept at finding ways to improve the client experience using technology to streamline tax, accounting, and wealth management services. Rory is the co-host of a leading accounting and financial podcast, AFO Wealth Management forward. His interviews include the Wall Street Journal, Forbes Fortune Magazine, accounting today, Channing Webb and venture-backed FinTech companies, and nationally recognized thought leaders. In addition, Rory has launched Arrowroot Family Office and Goal Setter Financial Literacy Initiative to help 1 million kids ga...
"By injecting humor and levity into our work lives, we give ourselves an opportunity for human connection." Peter Margaritis According to some recent research, adding more laughter to the workplace helps improve the organization's culture. Humor allows people to cope with stress and build relationships and is associated with intelligence and creativity. Workplace humor is about a positive, light-hearted, open attitude and a playful mindset. One of the best ways to create a competitive advantage is to create a culture that embraces laughter. By injecting humor and levity into our work lives, we give ourselves an opportunity for human connection —something so easily lost in today's pandemic weary and technology-driven world. Humor has not been seen as a top leadership characteristic but rather a secondary leadership behavior. However, there is more research evidence that humor should be one of the top leadership behaviors. Incorporating humor into your company culture isn't that easy...
“The idea of burning the ladder is a shifting mindset, and building bridges is the action that creates opportunities to build relationships.’ Dr. Alan Patterson My guests today are Dr. Alan Patterson and Jenny Knuth. Alan has more than three decades of international business experience. In 2006, he formed Mentore, a consulting practice specializing in leadership and organizational development. Many global and national businesses and organizations have tapped his expertise, including Anheuser Busch, Biogen, Federal Reserve Bank, Johnson and Johnson, Hewlett Packard, Major League Baseball, and the United States Navy. He's the author of 'Leader evolution: From Technical Expertise to Strategic Leadership.' In addition, Alan has been a college lecturer and frequent presenter at several state and national conferences. He released his new book 'Burn ladders, Build Bridges: Pursuing Work with Meaning and Purpose,' on May 6 of this year, and can be found on Amazon. Jenny, Dr. Alan's market...
“People's perceptions of you are their reality, so pay attention to what you want their reality to be.” Peter Margaritis The way we show up does make a big difference, whether in person or virtually. Perception is reality, and the perceptions we create with others, especially with decision-making executives, really matter. People want to interact with humans they can see, hear and experience in person, whether remotely or in person. When we can see and hear each other, we see and feel the energy, engagement, body language, and attitude. According to the Vytopia press release dated April 12, 2022, executives view the lack of employee engagement as a subpar performance. 92% of the executives say employees who turn their cameras off are generally less engaged in the work overall. Having your camera turned off during any virtual event is disengaging, disrespectful, and simply impolite. The world has changed in so many ways since the pandemic began. One of those ways is the increase in...