EntreAnswers's podcast

My salute to the brave men and women who protect you and me!

Both golf and business present us with some very unique opportunities.  And when they do...we need to make not good, but great decisions.

In sports and life there are winners and losers.  But when it comes to your organization and your staff...do you want winners and losers or do you want a culture that focuses on resolution

TRIGGER ALERT!!!  Today we're using politics for our example.   We're talking leadership and leadership optics with examples from Senator Ted Cruise and President Joe Biden.

A shout out this week to two businesses in my area that absolutely owned the moment in both customer service and experience!

Hello and thank you Gaana for allowing the Entre-Answers Podcast to become part of you platform. We offer business and motivational information on Leadership, Management, Customer Service and much more, along with guests who discuss those topics and Entrepreneurship. Please take a moment to subscribe and begin listening to Entre-Answers.  

Sometimes forward thinking can get you into trouble.  When you take time to make time for planning, re-charging or making key decisions...live in that moment.  Don't get too far ahead. All that stuff...it will be there when you get back.  Focus on the fix!

You probably know Chip Gaines as one half and Waco's #1 power couple and star of the hit show Fixer Upper.  But do you know Chip Gaines the runner? These are some of my takeaways from an episode on the Magnolia Network called, "The Courage To Run".  I hope you enjoy it.

Let's face it...2020 absolutely tested our heart as a business owner or entrepreneur. So, how's your heart?   Not from a physical standpoint, but what did it do for your personal and business values?  Did you find out who you really are?

There are several ways for us to become peacemakers.  First and foremost, make peace with God. And after that, make sure you make peace with yourself, then with family and finally with those you are around every day.   If we know anything today, it's this...we really don't know what tomorrow may bring.  So, as much as it is in your power to do so...be a peacemaker today.

Today, I am grateful for several groups of real hero's in our country.  Our Military, Police and Sheriff's Deputies, EMS, Fire Fighters and our Front Line Healthcare Workers.  God Bless You!!!

I believe there are seven different life lessons we can learn from watching the 2020 Masters Champion.  They are: Dreams can create Passion.  For those to become reality, it takes Sacrifice and Hard Work.  But not just hard work, the right kind of hard work.  Then there will be Success and Failures; and knowing how to deal with each.  Next there must be a No Quit attitude in life.  And finally when the time comes Seize the opportunity and Focus to make it a reality

Today we discuss the importance of not just running your race, but doing so with endurance. There will be hardships, stress, pain and other adverse conditions as you navigate your race in life.  So where do we focus?  Let's talk about it!

If you really want to run our race...follow our dreams...the one that is uniquely ours, we must lay aside the things that slow us down and take us out. Today, we discuss laying aside the weight, sin, bad habits and frankly stupid stuff that can kill our dreams.

Most of us have at least one ghost that haunts us as we try to move forward in life.  Take a few minutes today and see which one is taunting you and how to rid yourself of this foul specter.  

As we run our race, it's so important to define who our witnesses are and how they help us achieve success in life. Each is critical to your success in very unique and specific ways.

Covid has taught us one thing...we can't depend on anything like we did before.   So, if you've decided to set your sights on a new venture, a new calling, that dream you want to aspire to...this is the series for you. You have people watching, cheering you on.  So what do you do? Listen and find out!

What seems like a simple, easy weekend project turns in to more than you bargained for...why??  Simple.  To bring in the new, you have to get rid of the old.  You have to get rid of your stuff. My PSA for today is simple...your spouse, your kids really don't want most of your old stuff. So junk it, give it away or better yet sell it.  Make this the best project of COVID 19...and lay aside the weight of your stuff.

Every dreamer...every visionary...every "Walt Disney" in this world, needs a Roy. So many of us have these big dreams and aspirations about what we want to do in life.  But we need a Roy Disney along side, to challenge, to help keep our feet on the ground, and find the capital to make it all happen. Dreamers need doers.  Who's yours???

A wise man once said, "At some point you have to stop dreaming and start doing".  So...are you?  Are you doing or have your dreams become paralyzed due to over analysis? Today we talk about knowing when it's time to launch and went it's time to let go.

One of the first things Walt Disney did as he built Disneyland, was to surround it with a high dirt wall called "The Berm".  The reason...to keep the magic in and the distractions out.   The same is true with your schedule.  There's very important magic that needs to be on or in your schedule, while keeping the distractions out. 

Is it true that all we have to do is simply dream it and then do it?  Mom and dad told us we could become anything we wanted when we grew up...how did that work out for you? Let's take a few minutes and separate fact from fiction so that our dreams can have a much better chance of coming true!

So what do you do when you're so close to the finish line...you push through and get it done. Muster the troops, explain the plan...and go!

It all started with a small crack...and the rest is history.  If your home isn't built on a solid foundation, you're destined for trouble.  And if your business or organization is not built on a solid foundation, it too can be destroyed.

It is possible to turn why into why not...from why not into now what...and from now what into what if...and what if into that Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow. Let your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight ahead.  Ponder the path of your feet, then all your ways will be sure.  Proverbs 4: 25-26

Reverence is defined as a deep respect for someone or something.  But in todays episode, I'm flipping the script and looking at how others have revered Walt over the years. Thanks for being part of this bonus series...Words About Walt!

As we continue to adapt, adjust and overcome through COVID 19, are you asking yourself this question...How can I use this time to get better at something in life? Well todays guess is a leading voice in helping us understand that now is the time to not just think about it, but it's time to do it!

Last week I was back on the road for the first time in over 4 months.  This gave me the opportunity to see first hand Customer Experience during COVID 19, and examples of service recovery when things didn't go quite right.

In our final episode on Culture Matters we discuss two organizations that understand the value of virus proofing their culture.

Faith is complete trust or confidence in someone or something.  But, it can also be a pretty curious partner when broken. Still in all, he had faith in us...the public, and he stayed faithful to the vision and culture that is the Walt Disney Company.

In our final episode on SHOTS, we look at the last two vaccines...Take Time To Praise and Stay On Purpose. Praise means to express warm appreciation or admiration to and about someone. Staying on Purpose is all about being intentional with nurturing and protecting the vision and culture you've worked so hard to infuse into the organization.

Hope is defined as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.  But you can't just hope for hope. It must be intentional.  For Walt to believe those things would happen, he took time to instill in his leaders the values and vision he had for the company and Disneyland.  That's why it lived on...long after Disney.

Have you been to the doctor lately?  If so, I bet part of the exam had to do with prevention.  And just like our personal health, the health of our business requires a dose of prevention...those shots that help our culture survive.  So lets begin taking a look at: S standardize the experience H hold leaders accountable O obsess about the details T take time to praise S stay on purpose

Two words that have captured the headlines for 2020, have been fear and failure.  But, could 2020, also be a year of unusual opportunity? Brand strategist Jack Fussell helps lay out the fact that fear can lead to clarity of next steps, and failure becomes opportunity.

There are so many ways to describe excellence in the life of Walt Disney, but one of the best is their development of the multiplane camera.  The ability to shoot up to 7 frames of artwork under one vertical moving camera changed animated films for ever.

The next word that best describes the man Walt Disney is, perseverance.  It's the act of doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. And all we need do is look at the example of "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" to see this lived out in Walt.

Boldness is the characteristic of a willingness to take risks and act with innovation.  To show confidence and courage. And there is no better example of this in Walt's life than his first full length animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

We're half way home!  Today is number 6 and it's all about courage. Courage is defined as the ability to do something, even when that thing is scaring you to death!  And Walt Disney knew a thing or two about courage. So...is there something in your life that is absolutely scaring you to death?  Great!!  Why?  Because your greatest success, your Disneyland story, may well be just on the other side of your greatest fear.  Today...Be Courageous!!!

In our Culture Matters series we discussed the concept of careless leadership in the last episode.  Today, we're expanding this idea and looking at two types of careless leaders, and the importance of culture.

Integrity is defined as the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. It is impossible to separate your moral compass from that of your organization.  In times or crisis or big decisions, the "real" you, will alway emerge.   Always be the leader they follow because what you say and what you do never change!

For a virus to survive, to grow and multiply, it must have a living host.  So, how about it business leader, are you a living host providing space for one of these to invade your organization? Are you expressing CARELESS communication? Are you COMFORTABLE with the status quo? Are you simply a CARELESS leader? Well just like any good physician, we are Entre-Answers and Mike Sizemore Consulting have a great Rx for that problem.  Contact me at www.mikesizemorellc.com or email mike@mikesizemorellc.com 

It's best to define leadership as a verb.  It means action.  In fact the most accurate definition goes like this...Leadership is not a title or position you hold...it's the sum total of the actions you take. So are you a leader defined by action?

Creativity is the use of imagination or original ideas especially in the production of an artistic idea. How did we get the term "audio-animatronics"?  It started in a New Orleans shop when Walt Disney purchased a couple of mechanical birds.  And the rest....is history

Was there ever a more imaginative mind than that of Walt Disney?  For Snow White to EPCOT, he was never afraid to chase an idea from concept to reality. All the way to his last day on planet Earth, he never stopped imagining.  How about you?  

It's 1928, and sitting in an office in New York City, Walt Disney discovers he has lost his most profitable cartoon character and most of his best animators.  Once again he's facing the possibility of bankruptcy.   I takes 3 days and one simple drawing...now Walt is on his way to the most recognizable, successful and iconic brand on the planet. It doesn't have to be complicated to be great!  

In Pat Williams best seller, "How To Be Like Walt", he describes 12 attributes that personify the life of Walt Disney.  And over the next couple of weeks, we'll be taking a look at each one and how they apply to his life and ours. Today's word...Optimism.  It describes the quality of hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something. What about you?  What are you optimistic about in your life?

I know you want to hear this coming from your customers...."I always do business with them, because I can't get service like this anywhere else." 30 year Disney Veteran and the most sought after Disney Institute Keynote Speaker Jeff Noel and I sit down for a conversation today on excellence in the area of customer experience.    

If you're in the consulting arena, this is the expert you need to be listening to.  Paul Klein knows how to help position your organization for maximum success. Today we discuss his concept call, "The Three Pillars of Revenue".  Enjoy!!!

My guest, Penn State Professor and Cyber Security expert Fred Aebli shares some important tips on Internet safety every parent or adult raising kids needs to know.  

Day 7 of our series on the life of Walt Disney.

Day 6 in our series on the life of Walt Disney.