You know going through change in an organization can be difficult. Sometimes, change can feel like complete chaos. Even if it seems like a small change, sometimes it can feel overwhelming. Your productivity plummets and so does your teammates'. Here's the good news. You have the power to create order from the chaos of change. This week's guest, Rachel Berbiglia, is an expert on helping businesses manage change. She shares her best tips on how to recover and maintain your productivity during a...

No one wants to attend a bad meeting. And, you definitely don't want to lead a meeting people complain about. Here's the problem. You may not know how to make them better. Don't worry. You're not alone. Many leaders want to make the meetings they lead and attend better. But, they don't know where to start. If that describes you, relax. In less time than you wasted in your last bad meeting, you'll be done with this episode. And, you'll know how to get started creating exceptional meetings. You...

You may feel more comfortable using these 3 words away from work than in your career. That awkwardness you feel is natural. But, it doesn't have to stop you from incorporating 3 powerful words into your work vocabulary to set yourself apart as a leader. A leader who is kind and confident. And, highly effective. In this week's episode, we'll talk about how to be a better leader using 3 awkward words. You'll Learn Why leadership experts recommend being gentle, gracious, and kind to lead teams...

Krissy Buck knows how to build connections and community. It's what she does best. In her personal life and her career. And, these communities lead to deeper, more meaningful relationships. Relationships with people you can serve and support. They will do the same for you too. If you're building a business, you need these type of relationships for your business to grow. Especially if your customers are online. Krissy has turned the skills she's honed for decades into a process you can...

This might be the best way to create an exceptional meeting when you’re not the official leader. You can actually lead a meeting as a participant. And, not many people want to do this. That’s why you need to know this strategy. Perhaps the most powerful role in a meeting is the note taker. The scribe. Yet few people volunteer to take notes during a meeting. In fact, most will find some way to avoid this dreaded task. They run away from it like they flee a typical boring, inefficient...

Have you ever piloted a plane? You have? Okay. But have you ever refueled an Air Force F-16 jet flying at 500 knots? And, not just any F-16 fighter jet, but one of the elite Air Force Thunderbirds squadron you may have seen at air shows? I haven't.  But, that would be so cool! Today's guest, Aaron Stark, has done those amazing things in his career.  And a whole lot more. Aaron no longer flies planes for a living. Instead, he helps his clients get where they want to go with their money. He...

No one wants another boring meeting that wastes their time. And, you certainly don't want to lead a meeting like that. You want to plan and run meetings that aren't like all the other meetings you and your coworkers can't stand to attend. You want to create exceptional meetings.  And, you can! By following these 7 steps, your meetings will stand out.  They will be different.  Better.  In a good way. And, you'll stand out as a leader too. One who shows respect for every person you invite to...

Having your creations evaluated and judged by other people is hard. And, sometimes critiquing another person's work is even more difficult. This process of giving and receiving critique is a regular part of an artist's world. And, there are many lessons non-artists can learn from this practice. Today's guest is visual artist and professor, Shannon Johnston. Shannon shares from an artist's perspective what she's learned in her career about giving and receiving critique. It's a valuable process...

You may love your career. But, do you want to have an even bigger impact on people's lives, but you're not sure where to start? Here's the good news. You can. And, you can do it by connecting with your community. Your local schools to be specific. Today's guest, Brandt Wilson, of Love Schools in Wichita, Kansas shares how he is using the skills he learned in his career to connect people, mobilize them for action, and deliver results. He shares how you can do the same thing by joining with him...

Have you had a rambler wreck a meeting you were leading? If you have, you know exactly who I'm describing as a "rambler". They usually don't mean to destroy the meeting you planned so well.  But they do. It's hard to know what to do to regain control. You have to protect your meeting from a rambler. In this episode, we'll cover a set of tips, techniques, and strategies that I've seen used successfully throughout my career. The best part is this. None of them require you to be rude. In fact,...

Mental health. We shouldn't be afraid to talk about this important subject. But, the reality is sometimes we are. Today's guest, Christa Vanzant, and host, Greg Harrod, want to change that. They want to normalize mental health in the workplace. So in this episode, Christa will share how to do just that. She shares her wisdom and recommendations based on her extensive experience as an executive coach, a corporate veteran, a business owner, a wife, and a mother. Christa has a wealth of...

Disconnected. Isolated. Separated. Who do those words describe? Unfortunately, many workers today would use those harsh adjectives to capture how they feel. That's true now more than ever. With more and more people working remotely or in a hybrid model, it's hard for leaders to stay connected with their teams. And, even harder for team members to stay connected with one another. Thankfully, today's guest has a proven solution. Showing appreciation, using the appropriate language of...

Giving someone a casual, thoughtless “Do you need any help?” offer for assistance is easy. But, if you want to actually help your teammate, there’s a better way. In fact, there are five better ways. And, we’ll cover each of them in this episode. We’ll also discuss some conversation scripts you can start using immediately so you can actually help others as soon as you’re done listening. And, before we get into the five better ways to offer assistance, we’ll talk about five tips on how to avoid...

"Do you need any help?" Wow! Did that question trigger me a while back! I tell that personal story in this episode to explain how this simple question can be interpreted (or misinterpreted) in many different ways. I'm sure you've been asked this question more times than you can remember. And, you've probably asked it hundreds of times too. It seems like a useful question. But in some cases, asking "Do you need any help?" may not really help at all. In fact, instead of helping your teammate,...

What does the Wichita Flag have to do with the Connect Mobilize Deliver podcast? The city of Wichita, Kansas and the fans of this great community proudly display the flag today because of the work of Angie Prather and Courtney Sendall to connect and mobilize a team of people to deliver the results of a united and inspired city. Angie and Courtney tell the story of how they did it with basically no budget but filled with passion, enthusiasm, and commitment. And, supported by a team of...

If you would like to make more money and continue to be successful in your nine-to-five job, you will like this episode. Stephen A. Hart, joins me to share how you can build your personal brand, generate more income, and build your career. He shares his perspective as a Black man from Jamaica and explains how we each have a unique background that can be a powerful tool to help us stand out from the crowd. We get personal as we talk about the joys and challenges of life, finding purpose, and...

Compassion is not only a fundamental life skill. It's a fundamental career skill too. That's true regardless of the industry or field you're in. That's according to today's guest, Dr. Nate Regier of Next Element Consulting, an organization with a mission to bring more compassion to every workplace in the world. A lack of compassion in a company undermines productivity and makes retaining talent ever harder than it already is. This is why being a compassionate leader will bring career...

Saying thank you isn’t quite as easy as it seems. Well it can be easy, but if you want to say thank you in a way that’s really meaningful and has a deep and lasting impact, it takes some effort. Some up front planning.  You actually have to think about it. That effort is totally worth it if you want to have a positive impact on the person you’re thanking. And, isn’t that the reason you’re saying thank you? To positively impact another person? To let them know they’ve done something that has...

What do spreadsheets and data visualization have to do with being a kind and confident leader? Today's guest, Ann K. Emery, explains how those things fit together. And, she gives us 5 specific ways to be kind with data visualization. She also shares her process for giving your manager what they need instead of what they ask for. Without getting fired! You don't want to miss that clever tip or any of the other wisdom from Ann on how to be more effective and efficient when communicating using...

Sometimes our professional lives (and our personal lives for that matter) can cause us to have a crappy attitude.  But, what if I told you that thinking about poop could actually be a good mindset to have? It may seem odd, but I explain in this episode how you can be a better leader using a manure mindset. That's right setting your mind on livestock waste can actually help you lead your teams and yourself more effectively. And, I use a proverb from the Bible to make my case. If that sounds...

Krissy Buck built a rewarding, and highly successful career in digital marketing travelling the world while having just a two-year degree. If you've been discouraged when others have told you a four-year degree is required to be successful, Krissy's story will encourage and motivate you. She's been an entrepreneur, helped build a startup technology company, and taught others how to achieve success through careers in digital marketing. And, she's done even more. Each of us has a unique career...

Learn how you can get what you want without being a jerk from expert negotiators, Dan Oblinger and Allan Tsang. You may not think you don't negotiate in your career, but the truth is you do.  Not only that, you also engage in negotiations continually in your personal life, even with your family members. And, these can be the most difficult negotiation challenges of all. So how do you engage in these business and personal interactions in a kind and effective way? Dan and Allan share their...

Delivering results is an absolute requirement to be a successful leader of a successful team. Even if your team members love you and everyone wants to be on the teams you lead, you still have to get things done.  So, how does that fit in with being a kind leader? That's what we talk about in this episode of Connect Mobilize Deliver. In part one of this two-part series (click here to listen), I explained why I use a framework of Connect Mobilize Deliver when leading teams.  I also talked about...

If you're new to this podcast and my blog, you may be wondering about the title, "Connect Mobilize Deliver". You know it's about connecting people, mobilizing them for action, and delivering results. But, why are those three words the foundation to my approach to leadership? In this two-part series, I'll explain why I use a framework of Connect Mobilize Deliver when leading teams.  And, I'll share some super simple techniques you can use so you'll know how to connect, mobilize, and deliver...