In this episode Ryan Sullivan and I nerd out about creating and building community that empowers each of us to explore and to be our whole, authentic selves. Especially as parents.Ryan shares his passion about being a father (loving his wife and daughter and soon to arrive newborn with a whole heart), growing his Christian faith, creating a fulfilling career, and staying athletically competitive.Ryan is the founder of Fatherhood On Fire, an organization that Celebrates, Elevates, and...

In episode 18, I nerd out with KJ McGlinn about the importance of having a servant's heart and giving. Per KJ, "those that give, get". Regardless of the size of the gift.As a representative of the Make A Wish organization, KJ helps to bring dreams to life for patients and families facing medical complications. KJ does this by building a community of people who are passionate about granting wishes and providing patients and families with hope.In this episode KJ shares some of her best...

In Episode 17, I nerd out with Karen Valencic about managing conflict and creating flow through her leadership approach called Spiral Impact.Karen Valencic is founder Spiral impact, a Performance Improvement Company specializing in leadership and team development. As a degreed-tenured engineer, effectiveness and practicality informs her work; 30 years of aikido training brings the artistic flare and power to her content. Karen works with leaders and teams through speaking, coaching and...

In Episode 16, Jeremiah and I nerd out about his upcoming book Mental Wealth. Mental Wealth is Jeremiah's approach for helping others achieve financial well-being and freedom.Jeremiah, who grew up a region kid, has overcome the circumstances of a poor school system, having a kid at an early age, and $210,711 worth of debt. Now, Jeremiah has dedicated himself to changing the mindset of others and to help them defeat their financial issues and much more.Jeremiah's Mental Wealth Academy teaches...

Why not have two episodes with Katie Rasoul?In a follow up to Katie's full episode, I wanted to create a bonus episode were all we do is get nerdy about her amazing book Hidden Brilliance: A High-Achieving Introvert's Guide to Self-Discovery, Leadership, and Playing Big.In this bonus episode Katie and I try our best to provide a brief recap of her book. We talk about what it feels like to carry the weight of being a high-achiever. We also talk about imposter syndrome and having an internal...

Episode 15 is a must listen to episode about the importance of creating psychological safety at work. My guest, Katie Rasoul shares a masterful story about how organization’s need to strive to give people more than a job. That they need to give them a purpose.Katie is a leadership coach, keynote speaker and team culture expert helping leaders change the world through her company, Team Awesome. She has led leadership, organizational development and HR best practices for more than a decade,...

Join Andrea Butcher and I for Episode 14 as we nerd out about The Leadership Challenge. Highlighting the specific behaviors that help to create an effective leader.Andrea is a visionary—she knows how to lead organizations from big picture to execution. She is a dynamic speaker, coach, and facilitator. As the President of HRD, she leads the organization’s growth strategy and focuses on executive leadership development.Andrea’s work spans organizations of all sizes and industries all over the...

In Episode 13, Shelley Brown and I nerd out about mindfulness, among other topics -empathy, leadership, self-awareness, compassion, and meditation.Shelley Brown is a Baltimore based mindfulness speaker, webinar, in-person workshop facilitator and the founder of ROI Mindfulness. She facilitates workshops around the United States with leaders from Executive Committee to front-line managers from a variety of industries.As a corporate veteran, Shelley’s mission is to make the invitation to the...

Episode 12 with Travis Lozier was a lot of fun to create. In this episode Travis and I discuss Process Based Management and celebrate the forward-thinking organizations that view their processes as assets.Travis is the Chief Quality Officer at Jordan Johnson Inc. Travis's personal mission is to unlock human potential.Travis claims to be a 100% Certified Improvement Nerd and he has the credentials to prove it. Travis has nearly 20 years of healthcare leadership experience. He is a Certified...

During this episode, Emily and Dane nerd out with me about their process improvement approach, called Enable Management Systems.The Enable Management System is all about helping everyone in the organization to unite around common goals, while engaging in routine dialog about what is working and what is not working. This is a true passion for Emily and Dane. As you listen in, I think you will see why.Dane DeLozier is passionate about implementing Enable™ - a proven model for execution. Through...

Nerding out with Mark Ryan about Lean Coffee was a lot of fun. For several years now, Mark Ryan and Sarah White have been hosting Lean Coffee session in Indianapolis, Indiana. The focus of the sessions are to help bring improvement professionals together to connect, share, and learn.I encourage you t connect with Mark Ryan on LinkedIn. And, to stay up to date on all the Lean Coffee Indy activities by sure to follow the hashtag #leancoffeeindy and join the LinkedIn group, Lean Coffee Indy....

In this episode in #nerdout with a fellow #improvementnerd, Jacqueline Martinez. Be warned, this gets really nerdy, really fast as Jacqueline starts the episode out by talking about the value that HR can create in an organization. As she shares this summary, she talks about the way HR functions as an end-to-end value stream, what she calls "hire to retire".Jacqueline gets way outside of the traditional silos of HR - which is often a collection of different departments with very different...

In this episode, I nerd out with Eric Eicher, co-owner of RightHAND, a consulting company that helps organizations through creative storytelling, brand strategy, and problem definition.

As Nick Smarrelli puts it, "creating a culture that is values-driven is the responsibility for every leader". Organization's values can't be complex, or un-actionable. And that they can't just be a collection of words posted on the wall. Values should serve as the organization's compass. Values should be role modeled by everyone interaction. Values should be integrated. Most importantly, values should be the things that unite people together when times are tough, or when an organization is...

Join Julie Kratz and as we Nerd Out about the importance of Diversity and Inclusion, and a hope for a better and brighter future.

In Episode 6 Amanda Cross and I sit down a discuss how her work has a technical writer has changed over the last 15 years. In this conversation Amanda promotes the importance of becoming a learning organization through sharing knowledge and best practices to elevate everyone's performance.

In this episode Alex Perry asks one of the hardest questions I have ever been asked. "What improvement or important change has ever happened absent of good communication?".

This past week LP and I had the pleasure of attending the Health Systems Process Improvement conference in Savannah, Georgia. In this episode we nerd out about the conference and share some of our key takeaways.

Rachel shares her journey as she nerds out about the Enneagram. Whether you have been typed or have never heard of the tool before - this episode is for you. Rachel gets down and dirty while highlighting some resources to help you get back to your authentic self. To learn more, please connect with Rachel online or on LinkedIn.

Join us for Episode 2 as Travis and I discuss the people who have influenced us and helped us to grow as people. Without these mentors we would have had to figure out a lot of things on our own - and that would have been disastrous, because let's be honest, we were and still are a project.

Join us for Episode 1 as Travis and I get the ball rolling on this podcast idea. The production isn't perfect, but it is definitely nerdy. We were so excited to be embarking on this journey, that we weren't going to let perfect be the enemy of good. So we hit the record button and just started talking about the vision behind the Improvement Nerds podcast.