Podcasts about conversant

Episode 2: The Law of Listening - "The test for listening is learning."In today's fast-paced, high-stakes environments, leaders are expected to drive results while fostering alignment, trust, and engagement. But one of the most underleveraged tools in that effort is also one of the most human: listening.This episode introduces the second Law of High-Performance Collaboration: Listening. When leaders listen to learn, they create space for contribution and build the credibility and trust that enables teams to perform at their best. In the episode we discuss: The difference between listening to learn and listening to respond or defendWhy leaders who listen well cultivate trust and psychological safetyWhy learning from others is a powerful act of leadershipFor any leader navigating complexity, change, or growth, this conversation offers practical insight into how a commitment to listening transforms not just communication, but culture.

Episode 1: The Law of Teamwork — "The Source of Teamwork is a Common Future"What makes a group of people into a team?Not just shared tasks—but a shared future.In this opening episode of The 10 Laws of High-Performance Collaboration, we explore what it takes to cultivate a team that's grounded in shared purpose, common values, and commitments to measurable goals. We also discuss three factors contributing to the strength of your team and their ability to collaborate effectively and efficiently - community, contribution, and choice. Caring for these elements set the foundation for addressing challenges relating to: Generating shared understanding of goalsBuilding trust and psychological safetyClear roles, communication, and conflict normsAccountability and commitmentQuestions to explore with your team:

The most powerful tool a leader has? The next conversation.Welcome to the first episode of our new series, The 10 Laws of High-Performance Collaboration—a series designed for leaders at all levels who want to unlock better communication, alignment, and performance in their teams. In this opening episode, we explore what makes collaboration valuable (and what makes it wasteful), the hidden power dynamics in team interactions, and why rethinking how we coordinate might be the key to getting better results—with less friction.Whether you lead a team of five or five hundred, this series is your guide to the human side of leadership, and the universal principles that lead to breakthroughs in collaboration.Resources mentioned in the episode: Overview of the 10 Laws of High-Performance Collaboration: Use this as a cheat sheet as you follow along with the series or practice the principles with your team Overview on Power: A quick reference on the relationship of power to valuable and wasteful expressions of leadership WATCH this episode on YouTubeLearn more about Conversant at https://www.conversant.com/ Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/conversant

Balancing work and well-being is a constant challenge for many, particularly for leaders who are managing both people and organizational commitments. Well-being easily slips down the priority list when pressing accountabilities come up, and it can feel like a “nice-to-have” rather than a necessity. However, well-being is a critical foundation for productivity, engagement, collaboration, and leadership, and research increasingly shows that when this foundation is lacking, it affects the overall health of the business. In today's episode, Emma Rose is joined by Conversant consultant and partner Kell Delaney and guest Eleanor Allen. Eleanor is CEO of Catapult for Change, focusing on empowering other leaders and organizations to overcome challenges and ignite innovative ideas that enable success. Having worked across the corporate and nonprofit sectors she brings a practical but whole-hearted perspective to the question of what it takes for businesses and people to thrive. She has recently been working to bring science-based tools to organizations that support workplace experience and peak performance. You can connect with Eleanor and learn more about her work below. Eleanor Allen is a visionary catalyst for positive change, dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for both people and the planet. As a humanist, environmentalist, and versatile force in corporate and nonprofit sectors, she brings a wealth of experience as a CEO, business leader, board member, technical expert, consultant, and professional engineer. Eleanor's impressive career includes leadership roles in various organizations such as CEO of B Lab Global and Water For People, Global Water Leader at Arcadis, and Latin America Water Leader at CH2M (now Jacobs). Her contributions to the engineering profession led to her induction into the National Academy of Engineering in 2020. Through her executive coaching and consulting business, Catapult For Change, Eleanor now focuses on empowering other leaders and organizations to overcome challenges and ignite innovative ideas that enable success. As a Certified Coach and registered Professional Engineer with global experience in over 50 countries, Eleanor is passionate about championing workplace well-being, organizational flourishing, and justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) principles.

Organizations rely on leaders to effectively direct action and inspire collaborative work even when they don't have direct authority over everyone they need to influence. Often, these are leaders a few rungs below senior leadership that are responsible for driving strategic priorities forward, influencing across a matrix, and doing so without relying on title or reporting structure. There are effective strategies for inspiring authentic commitment and engagement even when you can't demand compliance, and it's worthwhile for any leader to learn how to leverage this skillset. In this episode, Robin and Emma Rose are joined by Conversant consultant Roger Henderson to offer practical areas of focus to become an effective and purposeful leader, with or without authority. Now enrolling: The Purposeful Leader program, January 2025 Read: Standing in Purpose to Lead & Collaborate Without Authority

UC Today's Kieran Devlin speaks to Ads Khan, Head of Service Delivery at Conversant.In this session, we discuss the following:The key challenges facing contact centres in 2024What is Conversant's C360 solution and how can it empower customers?C360's Contact Centre module and how its flexibility and depth supports contact centres

On this episode, independent journalist Terrell Jermaine Starr shares his experiences covering Ukraine since Russia's invasion in 2022 and explaining to Americans the importance of the nation for global security, democracy, and humanity broadly. "We all need to be invested in each other's safety and security... Ukraine is the exact place I feel that I need to be to tell the story of how we can be better human beings to one another, and that's what my journalism is about." The #Connexions Experts speaker series is dedicated to providing accessible and engaging discussions for a general audience on critical issues pertaining to media, technology, and information globally. ABOUT THE GUEST Detroit native Terrell Jermaine Starr is an independent American journalist widely known for his coverage of the current Russian invasion of Ukraine. He is the founder and host of Black Diplomats, a weekly podcast reporting on foreign affairs and Eastern European politics. A former Fulbright grantee, Terrell is currently a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center. Conversant in Russian, Ukrainian, and Georgian, he is a recognized authority on Ukraine-U.S. relations, Georgian politics, Central Asia, and American democracy. Visit his website https://terrellstarr.com/ and follow him on Twitter @terrelljstarr. PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on March 6, 2024 at The University of Texas at Austin. If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavxradio@utexas.edu and we will be in touch! PRODUCTION CREDITS Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy) Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana) Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar Assistant Producer: Basil Fedun Assistant Producer: Taylor Helmcamp Production Assistant: Faith VanVleet Production Assistant: Eliza Fisher Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish Main Theme by Charlie Harper Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@MSDaniel) www.msdaniel.com DISCLAIMER: Texas Podcast Network is brought to you by The University of Texas at Austin. Podcasts are produced by faculty members and staffers at UT Austin who work with University Communications to craft content that adheres to journalistic best practices. The University of Texas at Austin offers these podcasts at no charge. Podcasts appearing on the network and this webpage represent the views of the hosts, not of The University of Texas at Austin. https://files.fireside.fm/file/fireside-uploads/images/9/9a59b135-7876-4254-b600-3839b3aa3ab1/P1EKcswq.png

After the ceremony, the newly named Outcasts tackle their first Conversant mission.---WafflesMapleSyrup presents an actual play Pathfinder2e podcast, authentic, uncut, and hilarious from our live stream for your enjoyment!So come join us at our table as we fly by the seat of our pants. The way TTRPGs are intended!Want to say hi? You can catch us on Twitter & Instagram! For visual reference of our maps, check out our YouTube.Please accept this formal invite to our Discord to join an amazing community of kind hearts!And of course, here's the link to our Patreon & Ko-Fi! Your support helps us grow and get more of that sweet content out to you.As always, we want to hear how we're doing. So please make sure to leave a review, subscribe for future episodes, and show us your kind hearts!The best way to help is to tell a friend :)---Addtl. Music and Sound by Syrinscapehttps://syrinscape.com/?att_wafflesmaplesyrup

We know that influence is not limited to those with tenure, title, or hierarchy. Every member of an organization has the capacity to influence those around them, the quality of work, the collective understanding of challenges, and much more. Choosing to develop influence as a skill is a worthwhile investment not only for senior leaders but also for leaders and contributors of all levels. We recently released an episode devoted to that topic, and this one expands on that conversation with a focus on non-executive audiences. Conversant consultants Katie Mingo and Patrick Kennedy join Emma Rose to share what they've learned from their personal experiences and those with other leaders about developing influence and growing your impact without tenure or role-related authority. On Connection: Leadership Influence

Dr. Hanna Reichel's new book, After Method: Queer Grace, Conceptual Design, and the Possibility of Theology, is called by some the “best book on theological method in a generation.” Reichel brings creativity, rigor, compassion, and creates needed space beyond absolutes. Conversant in Reformed, Lutheran, queer, and Latin American liberation theologies, Reichel breaks new ground. Don't' miss this rich theological conversation!

My guest today is Michael Simanovsky. Mike is the Managing Partner of Conversant Capital, a real estate investment firm he founded in early 2020. Conversant aims to be the most flexible capital provider in real estate, investing across public and private markets as well as equities and credit. The firm will also incubate platforms where they see an opportunity to take advantage of a compelling theme that lacks existing business models for investment. We cover the most undersupplied part of the market, why he's building Conversant to be so flexible, and the surprising appeal of billboards. Please enjoy my conversation with Mike Simanovsky. Listen to Founders Podcast Join Colossus live in NYC with Patrick O'Shaughnessy and David Senra on Oct. 19. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors, and provider of Canalyst. Tired of calculating fully-diluted shares outstanding? Access every publicly-reported datapoint and industry-specific KPI through their database of over 4,000 drivable global models hand-built by a team of sector-focused analysts, 35+ industry comp sheets, and Excel add-ins that let you use their industry-leading data in your own spreadsheets. Tegus' models automatically update each quarter, including hard to calculate KPIs like stock-based compensation and organic growth rates, empowering investors to bypass the friction of sourcing, building and updating models. Make efficiency your competitive advantage and take back your time today. As a listener, you can trial Canalyst by Tegus for free by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes (00:03:32) (First question) - Real estate investing through the lens of the capital cycle (00:06:50) - The capital cycle in practice (00:12:07) - Using evaluation of supply to determine where you are in a capital cycle (00:13:16) - Why real estate drew Mike in  (00:15:35) - The quality of investors in real estate (00:16:41) - What the US market needs most (00:20:26) - The range of returns in real estate (00:23:01) - Insights that stand out (00:26:45) - Starting a new company vs. building a portfolio of assets (00:28:46) - Key trade-offs and choices when building a firm (00:31:10) - Where things go wrong (00:33:59) - Best investment decision he ever made (00:38:06) - Philosophy on CapEx (00:39:52) - Misconceptions about real estate investing  (00:41:31) - Cold storage real estate (00:43:13) - The most interesting corners of the real estate market (00:46:13) - AI and its impact on the future (00:48:30) - Common investor missteps  (00:50:51) - Three guests Mike would invite to a dinner party  (00:52:34) - The most impactful questions to ask a real estate investor (00:53:17) - A defining moment of his career (00:53:17) - The premise of the platform approach (00:56:20) - Possible opportunities and an understanding of the current landscape (01:03:38) - Lessons Mike learned from basketball coach John Wooden's philosophies  (01:04:30) - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

Adolescence is considered a critical period in our society because teenagers' development can be impacted in so many ways. This is one reason why it is important to provide firm, flexible, conversant, and accountable parenting during these years. Learn how to successfully apply this form of parent leadership and feel more confident with your teens. Visit FirstAnswers.com to find more about the podcast and tons of resources for families and mental health.

Bill Boyar, Founding Shareholder of BoyarMiller, joins the podcast. Bill shares his fascinating story of going from a summer associate at a law firm to ultimately forming BoyarMiller with the help of two of his partners. Through his experiences, Bill shares the importance of focusing on people and building a strong foundation for a professional services practice, rather than solely chasing growth and money. Listen as Bill explores leadership transitions and entrepreneurial advice for those looking to build successful businesses. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS Bill Boyar, a founding shareholder of BoyarMiller, shares his journey from being a summer associate at Chamberlain Hrdlicka to starting his own firm with Gary Miller and Lynn Simon. Boyar emphasizes the importance of focusing on people and building a strong foundation for a professional services practice rather than just focusing on growth and making money. Creating a culture based on core values has been instrumental in the firm's growth over the past 33 years. Taking care of people in terms of hiring and firing decisions has shaped the firm into what it is today. Investing in technology and setting a 10-year vision for the firm were pivotal moments that contributed to BoyarMiller's success. Leadership succession and remaining independently owned were also key factors in the firm's growth and sustainability. The importance of purpose, method, and outcome in organizational development is discussed, as well as the firm's continuous engagement with all of its lawyers. Boyar reflects on the leadership transition to the current leader, who embraced the firm's mission and values, rather than bringing in their own ideas. Entrepreneurial advice is shared, such as setting standards for how to treat people and dreaming big. Boyar's first job experiences, the Tex-Mex vs. barbecue debate, and the journey of building BoyarMiller from the ground up are also discussed. LINKSShow Notes Previous Episodes About BoyarMiller GUESTS Bill Boyar About Bill TRANSCRIPT Chris Hanslik Alright, so I'm excited to start what is our 50th episode of Building Texas Business, and a very special guest, the founder of our firm, Boyar Miller, and happy to call in my law partner. So, bill, welcome to the show. Bill Boyar Thanks, Chris. I'm really excited to actually finally be here. Chris Hanslik Yes, so I think the story of our firm is a pretty special one. Obviously it's near and near to my heart. Maybe start by telling the listeners a little bit about what led you to the firm that became Boyar, simon and Miller at the time in 1990, and kind of that journey that brought you in to the firm and how that influenced where you went from there. Bill Boyar Sure, My story begins. And this journey begins the campus of Tulane Law School in New Orleans when Bob Waters from Chamberlain Herlica Whiten Waters, came to interview for a summer associate when I was in my second year. We had an amazing interview experience. It was supposed to be the last interview of the day when they were 20 minutes and we spent two hours together And that ended up resulting in me coming to Houston for my summer associate experience, and back in those days it was 12 weeks, one firm. You basically put all your chips on one number and hope it worked out. It worked out great for me. So after I graduated I came to Houston. I didn't know anybody. I had dated a girl in college who was from Houston. She was the only person. So it was really quite an adventure, Started at Chamberlain and I was there for four years. After three years, Bob, who was my boss, my mentor, my friend, my running buddy, left to become a principal with a group that developed the Houstonian And he wanted to start a little law firm when he left and took one other guy with him and a year later I joined him. So we had a little three person law firm. About six months into that experience. He came to me and he said I've got too much to do and on the principal side of this relationship so I'm not going to practice alone anymore. So I was 29 years old and the guy who had all the business was not going to be practicing law anymore and my partner was a tax lawyer who read the Wall Street Journal and tax periodicals and so I woke up one day and had a law firm to figure out how to run and manage A little bit of a cold shower. It was crazy. So I had some guys that I practiced law with at Chamberlain and over time they joined me and we went from three lawyers to ten lawyers. We moved to a facility at Five Post Oak Park. We had twenty lawyers and we had thirty lawyers and we were on opening up an office in Austin. And this was over a ten year period. And the last three or four years of that experience I was unhappy and had a hard time sort of rolling out of bed in the morning. I didn't know why, other than I didn't like the way that we were so focused on growth and making money and not really taking care of our people. So I had two little kids and in 1990 I told my wife that I was going to do something different. I didn't know what I was going to do, so I resigned from that firm and I had learned a lot. I learned a lot about running law firms and marketing and we were way ahead of the game in terms of creating a brand and doing marketing before it was sort of popular. But I didn't like the way we were treating people. It sounds like the lesson there was. Chris Hanslik You said it. You were focused on making money, not your people kind of on the wrong things that led ultimately what made look successful to unhappiness. Bill Boyar Yeah, i think the fundamental lesson I learned that you and I have talked about this a lot is that growing a professional services practice and making money is the result of doing a lot of things right. If you can figure out what that is, what are those things that you have to do right and the outcome is growth and making money. It's just a much more fulfilling way to be in this business. So I decided to leave. I didn't know what I was going to do. Fast forward, i had a client that went to high school in Waco, texas, with Gary Miller. Gary was trying to poach my client. My client said you should talk to Bill Boyar. He just resigned from his firm and Gary was like no way. So Gary and Lynn Simon had a small firm, seven lawyers. I did a bunch of interviewing. I interviewed and what I thought I was going to do was tuck into one of the big firms. I had a good size practice. I was still in my 30s. I could bring two or three lawyers and some assistance and paralegal so I could pick up a practice and take it. I did all that interviewing with all those big regional firms When I got introduced to Gary and Leonard and they were like they opened their arms. And ultimately was my wife, pam, who helped me figure out what I wanted to do with my life, because every time I came home from interviewing with one of the large firms I sort of was unhappy and couldn't see myself doing that. And when I came home from talking with Gary and Leonard, i was energized and excited. And so she's the one who pointed out to me you need to go do that. So I'd say I've had two great mulligans in my life. One was Pam, was my second marriage We've been married for 40 years But two, the opportunity to start another firm, essentially, and take the lessons from that first experience. I don't think I could spell business when waters came in and told me that I, it was my firm to run and lead and do whatever I wanted with. By the time I got a chance to partner with Gary and Leonard and start what is now Boyar-Miller, i had a better sense of what it took to be successful in this industry, but not in a traditional way. So, if you think about it, there was no internet, we weren't operating on computers, barely had cell phones. We had the big ones just stacked in your car and plugged into your lighter. But we didn't have all the technology to be connected, so we had to work harder for people to know who we were and are. But they just gave me the opportunity. They plugged my name first on the door so felt like continuity in my practice And we started and we had 10 lawyers in 1990. I think that the what brings us to today, chris, is we never really have cared how big we were or are. We've never measured our value to this industry or to our clients or to our people, to each other, by profits per partner or how many lawyers we have. We've always really focused on what's the value we contribute, and I think that makes us different. Chris Hanslik I agree There will be a lot of agreement in this episode, for obvious reasons, but I think one of the things that I've always liked about that story, and can relate to it as well, is not only you're not from Houston, you're from Texas. In a lot of ways, i think it's a testament to the welcoming nature of the Houston business community. You don't have to be from here to be successful if you want to work hard and do what you say you're going to do. Bill Boyar Yeah, i've got people all the time that we couldn't have done what we've done with this law firm, with particularly me as the sort of the first name on the door and one of the founders, anywhere in the world but Houston, texas. I'm from Philadelphia, i went to school in New Orleans, i came here, i didn't know anybody And you know, here we are 45 years later, 47 years later now, enjoying the, you know, the organization that we've built together. Chris Hanslik No, So, 1990, you get settled in this new firm, based on what you had learned over that prior 10 years. What vision did you have, or at what point did you start to develop a vision of what Boyar Miller? Bill Boyar could be. So I said I think starting out I knew that you know you learn a lot from mistakes you make. I always tell people you don't learn by doing things right, you learn by doing things wrong. So the learning for me about the previous firm was you take care of your people and you focus on the right things. But I didn't under. I had no sort of connection with the concepts of mission or purpose or vision or value. I had the things that we sort of have built the foundation of this law firm on it. When I started with Gary Leonard, i was just trying to sort of rebuild my practice. I was very, very fortunate. I brought 100% of my business with me and some really good young lawyers and support team, but I didn't really know how to actually build it. Chris Hanslik Right. How did that evolve? Where did the learning come from? Bill Boyar So we started out and because of the similarity in the names of the two firms the one I left and the one that we started together there was a lot of confusion in the marketplace And we had some young lawyers that we hired And really our journey to build a culture started with sort of sourced out of the confusion we created in the market and our young lawyers not being able to describe who we were as a firm. So a couple of really young lawyers came in. One in particular said I was at a cocktail party and people asked me about where I worked and they said tell me about the firm and I couldn't answer the question. So one of my dearest friends in the world was starting a consulting practice about the same time we started the firm and he was really focused on communication, culture building things that were. You know, it was not popular, there was no internet, people weren't doing this, so they could stick something on the internet and it has a sort of a marketing, you know tool. Chris Hanslik It's more genuine right. It's like does it matter. Bill Boyar Yeah, And his name is Mickey Conley, has a group out of Boulder called Conversant, you know, really a terrific firm. But back then he was sort of just starting to develop his own body of knowledge and the way of thinking about organizational hygiene, organizational development. So I asked him to come down. We got all our lawyers in the room and we were just wrestling with who do we want to be and how do we want to behave and what's going to define us in terms of the sort of the cultural foundation of this firm. And we sat around and I intentionally sat in the back of the room and led I think we had a dozen lawyers at the time and I let it evolve and we came up with at the time five, what we call core values. To this day four of them have survived. This is probably 1992 or three. Of those five core values, Four are still core to our being and we said, okay, this is who we're going to be. And organizations evolve, as you and I have talked about a lot. You start with nothing and something is non-existent and then you start to evolve. You start thinking and developing your way of leading to what you want as your foundation. Then something becomes reliable where you have a leader who is like the cop and I was the cop of the core values from the day that we generated them and then ultimately, something becomes institutionalized. And the first thing that became institutionalized in this firm was core values, and what defines something becoming institutionalized is when that one leader is no longer the cop and everybody is given the space and everybody agrees to hold each other accountable for the behavior. So probably the thing I'm most proud of is the way that we actually work through. It developed our core values, had them evolve, had them become reliable and now as part of our DNA. Chris Hanslik Yeah, what I love about our values here is that they have become institutional. I was here at the time where I feel like that really solidified in itself. It's when we started hiring and firing from culture and it sent a message to people that this is really real. It's not no one's above the culture or the values, and it's a game-changing moment for an organization. There was not just marketing stuff for the website, but it's really, as you just said, in the DNA. Bill Boyar Well, i think a defining moment for us was we do off-sites twice a year and we do them in June and November, and we were in an off-site in, i think, san Antonio and we sat around the room and we were having some challenges with some people, including one or two that were in the room who were our fellow shareholders and we posed the question are we willing to declare that if you cannot live consistent with our values, you cannot work here, regardless of your position of firm, and unanimously around the room everybody said yes, and soon thereafter one of the people in the room was no longer in the room for that very reason, and the message that that sent to our organization was a game-changer. Chris Hanslik I think that's a good lesson for the listeners is the culture building, setting some values and starting to hold people to account for those behaviors. To define and build a culture isn't easy. It's messy work, it's bumpy, but if you stay diligent and consistent with it and committed to it, it will play out. Bill Boyar Absolutely. I mean we evolved in terms of the behavior. Some people call them core values, some people call them pillars, some people call them standards, i don't care what you call them. What ultimately is how we can treat each other, our colleagues, our friends, people on the other side of deals, and I think that defines us. The other piece of that puzzle is purpose Right, and we struggled with how to articulate purpose. And I traveled a lot, as you know. I was on airplanes a lot, i was in hotels a lot, i was in airplane lounges a lot. My travel was long distance and I was a voracious reader of business books and I wanted to use this firm as a sort of a lab experiment of can you take principles from great companies? and I never read anything about law firms, anything about the industry. I was all. My study was what can I find from lessons from great companies and great leaders that I can see whether or not it works in a flat, horizontal organization with a bunch of Taipei people? And so I would experiment. And because we struggled so much to sort of articulate a mission statement, we pulled everybody together, as you know, in a room and the question was when you get up in the morning. What are you excited about related to coming to work? You might be excited about a lot of stuff, but I was really more focused on what are you excited about about this firm, and that's how we evolved our mission statement. I don't know how many years ago that's been now. I think it was 2007. Chris Hanslik What's really? that's such a great story and I tell it as you do all the time. There was no outside consultant, there was no prompts. It was the owners of the organization answering that question for about 45 minutes and a bunch of words on the board and three themes fell out that we then kind of worked. Smith and that mission everyone here, i think, can quote it. We check in on it, as you said, at our off-sites twice a year and it still resonates and everyone's hard to get here. Bill Boyar Yeah, and it's the. You know, it's the. You asked me early what was the vision? and you know how we think and talk around here about. You know purpose, method and outcome, and I mean my philosophy of leadership or organizational development, organizational hygiene, whatever you want to call it is. You start with purpose, which is mission. You set a direction, a vision for what you want to be when you grow up, and then you connect that with method, which is really. You know who you are, what you do and how you do it, and that's where sort of values reside. And strategy and action. And if you don't, if you can have all the strategy in the world but if you're not in action, it's meaningless. But and I think we've done a pretty good job here of trying to look forward and listen to our people you know that. You know and engage everybody who's in this firm, every lawyer who's in this firm, in the process. You sit around and think and you know somebody who's a first year associate today, 10 years from now, is if they're gonna, if they last through the experience, they're gonna be a partner here, and so we let them have influence over their own destiny, their own experience and what this firm is gonna look like for them 10 years from now. Chris Hanslik So, Like I said there's pivotal moments in organizations, right If they're going to survive, and this firm's now. I guess it's about to finish year 33. Let's talk about some of the things, when you look back, that you think in the moment we're innovative, we're pivotal to keeping the firm going in its independent state, and it has helped to get us where we sit today. Bill Boyar So several. I think the first one is our acceptance of technology. So early on, when we started, I had a very large client who let me do very large deals, international deals, that I was probably less prepared for than he was but was prepared for me to do, But I did it anyway. And I had one deal where I lived in the Regency Hotel in New York for two and a half months While I was up there and this is in 1991, while I was up there I connected with a lawyer who was part of our group And he was running his practice on a little Dell laptop computer And I was handwriting things on a yellow pad and faxing them to my assistant at Houston who was typing and then faxing back to me. And he's there on this computer And I'm like I've got to be able to do this. So I got the specs for his laptop, faxed them, Faxed them to Houston And if we looked at it today, it wouldn't be that small right Chunky. It was chunky. Yeah, it was chunky, but I had it drop shipped to me in New York And I'd work all day and teach myself how to operate that computer all night. And when I came back we finished the deal very successful. I gathered all of the lawyers in the firm in a room And I said see this One year from now, every one of you is going to be operating your practice on one of these or you won't be working here anymore. And I had one. That's a big moment. Yeah, that was a moment And one of my partners said I got a D in typing, it's not going to happen. And I laughed and I said well, you're going to have to learn how to pack, because that's the way we're going to do it. And we made the investment And it started a path for us that we were not leading edge but were right behind. We can't afford to be leading edge, but we've made tremendous investments in technology And we've continued to do that ever since. I guess the other thing I would say is in 2006, which I think was another watershed moment in our firm's history. We had 20 lawyers at the time, if you remember. We had 10 shareholders, 10 associates, the firm divided in perfect quadrants senior shareholders, junior shareholders, senior associates, junior associates And we set a 10-year vision for the firm, broke up in groups and it was amazing how consistent everybody's view was. 2006, and some of the critical things that came out of that work was in 10 years. We had to be in a new facility And the lesson I got out of it was we had to look at leadership succession. So we did a SWAT analysis, if you remember, and I was a strength, a weakness, an opportunity and a threat, right right. So I listened to that And we did a lot of work that culminated in this beautiful facility that we've now been in for seven years And you succeeding me as chairman of the firm. Chris Hanslik Yeah, i think I remember that meeting well and some of the other meetings we had, about everyone wanting to remain independent at the shareholder level and then doing the work at every level of the organization, and the input was consistent about being independent, investing in the future. One of the first things that needed to happen was leadership succession, and you, i think, took a huge moment. no reason to step aside, but put in place a plan to step aside by the time you were 60. And then we embarked on a couple years of trying to figure out who that person would be. Bill Boyar Well, we didn't spend a couple years figuring out who the person was. We spent a couple years executing. Yeah Well, look, i laugh to myself when I have friends of mine who are in their 70s, who are trying to run law firms And they're recruiting and hiring professionals who are 45 years, their junior, younger than their children. The real sort of wake up for me is when we started having my kids' friends come across as candidates And I've always been open door first name. We're all colleagues. There is some hierarchy because it's natural with experience, but I've tried to always try to break that hierarchy down. We're all a team, right, And you know, i just, i just knew that part of that that if you didn't study generational differences and then respond to those differences intelligently, that we were never gonna be a multi-generational firm. I could not do that. I could get this firm. I was chair for 20 years and I got it to a place where I thought I had exceeded my ability to drive it to the next level, and that's where you came along and you've done a phenomenal job with this firm since, which is now a dozen years. I guess It's crazy, but you know, people get entrenched in positions and it's about power. I've never felt like being chairman was the source of power for me. I always felt like trying to be a great lawyer was the source of power for me, and it still is to this day. So I never. This was not about I had to retain a title. It's why I don't have a title. I always felt like the. The ability to sort of sit in the middle generationally, be able to connect with the more senior generations and be able to connect with the more junior generations, is the sort of the perfect place to be in the leadership of any organization. And when you lose sight of that, you get myopic and you rely on sort of history versus being connected to the present. And I mean God knows. The changes we've experienced in the last five years, both generationally and socially, have been tremendous. Chris Hanslik No questions. You know there's gotta be a lot of organizations out there facing that challenge. Leaders out there in organizations, the challenge of succession. Do I do it? How do I do it? Maybe let's just talk a little bit about what that process looked like for you and in us, because, yeah, i was right there with you. It was very thoughtful and disciplined about how we went about that And it. I think the results would suggest it was executed. Thought out a great plan and executed beautifully, because it was a very seamless thing for our organization. Bill Boyar So that in 2006 I was 55. So that when we had that meeting I was 55. And it took me a little while to completely digest the message from that meeting. But the message was clearly that in 10 years from that moment there needed to be another leader. And as I thought about it, i determined that 60, 860 was the sort of the tip. That was the breakpoint that the leader of this organization and all of the leaders of this organization in each of the practice groups, needed to be younger than 60. So I counseled with some of my particularly with my friend at Conversant and talked about how best to think about this. And so at the next meeting of our shareholders, i asked the group who wants my job? And there were three of you. So we did a about a one-year program where I would ask each of you to read a particular book that I thought was reflective of my philosophy of business and leadership, and we'd go out to dinner and drink really nice wine and sit around and talk about and what was the learning and how did you apply it to the firm and the future of the firm. And you know, over a short period of time I realized that you were the logical person to take that on. So I went to the shareholders and said, chris, it's my choice, and you were unanimously endorsed. And so we created a role as vice chairman for a year where the promise was, and this was when I was closing in on 60. The promise was that by the end of that year, my responsibilities in running this firm would be transitioned to you, So that by the time I was no longer chairman and you were gentlemen that you would have been doing the job. And, as it worked out, the person who was our executive director made a decision to retire, had health issues, so you were able to then recruit your own partner in the operations, which turned out to be fantastic. So by the time it was time to make the move. Now the biggest challenge is I didn't go anywhere. Chris Hanslik Right, i was still there It was very unique. Bill Boyar Yeah, i wasn't going anywhere and we had to convince our team that Bill's not retiring. We had to also convince client base, the marketplace, our friends, that Bill wasn't retiring. But here's what I did do. I made you a promise that I would stay away for about six months, as much as I could, and let you sort of find your way, because it's different when you say you're going to be the leader and the day you wake up and you are the leader. And I think the first year was a little bumpy for me because I'd been running law firms for 30 years Even though I was sort of in denial that that was part of my identity. It obviously was. But I look back now it was one of the smartest business moves I've ever made. It freed me up to do other things, do a lot of work in the community, continue to grow my practice, be a better father, because I had more time. So it worked out really great And I think that I've counseled a lot of people on succession and it's hard to let go, but what the key to it is to build the foundation. And one thing I sort of love about the way you took it on is we talked about the name and agree it wouldn't change, and you embraced the culture of this place. You took on the mission as your own, the values as your own, and you've done nothing but build on what was there. I think the risk that people see in succession in organizations like this is that the next guy is going to come in and tear up all the work and bring their own. I've got my own ideas about what the culture should be and what the vision should be, and you didn't do that. You had a strong foundation and built on it, and that's where we are today. Chris Hanslik I get asked a lot of questions about that and did at the time. So one, they're retiring. Two, so your name's going on the door. And I'd say no. And as I experienced the culture and grew here, what I tell people, told them, then tell them today is, in our business any lawyer can have their name on the door. So there's nothing unique or special about that. I've always been a team player on teams my whole life. So being a part of a really well-known, high-functioning team is really cool and unique in my view, and to be able to have the opportunity and the privilege to be the leader of that team. So I was like I want to make that brand of Order Miller something special And if I'm known as the leader of that, that's more important than having my name on the door, because there's 80-something thousand licensed lawyers in Texas that make it each go out and hang a shingle. There's nothing unique about that. The other thing I think we've proven even though I think it's a little unique because you're right, most succession plans there's a retirement involved. We've proven you can do it without the retirement If everyone involved in those leadership roles stays focused on what's important and that's the health and well-being of the organization. Bill Boyar So I think if I had to point to one thing that made it work is the promise I made to you and to myself is that I would never contradict you in public, that I would bring to you my ideas, my concerns, whatever thoughts I had, and you could take them and do with them what you wanted. I don't think I've ever mandated anything, but I've never wanted to contradict you or take you on Shareholders meeting, lawyers meeting, how I talk about our relationship in the public, so that there's no question who's the boss, who's the chairman, who's the leader of the firm. And yeah, i think people respect what I've contributed over the last 33 years to this place and the contribution I made to the foundation. But I think there's no question about who's on first. Chris Hanslik Yeah Well, it's been great. The other thing I would add to that is in our transition. You're right that first year is almost a reverse transition. I was still learning, and always am, and there was transition for you not actually being the guy in that seat. But again, there may have been a little bumpy, but it wasn't anything that felt natural and it's proven itself, i think, so far to be successful. Bill Boyar Well, i will tell you, i made a liar out of a lot of people who doubted I could do it. Chris Hanslik I should have placed a bet. So I always like guests that have had the success like you've had and through failures and learning, And you get to, and I'll say this, and anybody that knows you know you. One of the things that drives you is the opportunity to work with entrepreneurs every day and make it their dreams happen. So what are two or three things that a listener out there that has just started a business or thinking about it, what are some of the nuggets of wisdom you'd say? keep this in mind as you start that journey, or if you're in that journey and you're questioning why. Bill Boyar I'd say so. I tell people all the time It's never too early to start thinking about the purpose for which you're doing this business and it's not making money. So what is the other, what's the real purpose? It's never too early to set standards of how you want your people to be, to treat each other. And it's never too early to dream big, think big and work backwards. I'm a sort of a classic reach out, look back, thinker, set the bar, the peg in the sand, whatever you want to call it. Look back to today and really think about what do I have to do? Too many young entrepreneurs just get up, put their clothes on and take one step forward, and another step forward, and another step forward, and it can be directionless and that can create a lot of dysfunction and failure. So it's never too early to try to actually have organizational hygiene. It's also never too early to figure out who you can get around the table, who has experience, who's been through what you're trying to go through, to coach you, counsel you. That's why organizations like YPO and EO and Vistage are so valuable, because you could find a place to have, you know, get counsel or coaching from people who have been there, who are trying, who have already accomplished what you're trying to do, or all who are similarly situated, experiencing the same challenges as you're challenging. Well, bill, this has been great. Chris Hanslik You know. Love the story. Knew most of it, you know, but just love that giving you the opportunity to be able to tell it so everyone else can hear it. So let's wrap up on some personal things. What was your first job? Bill Boyar So my first real job other than catting, when I was a kid, my first real job was working in summers in residential construction. I did sheathing and roofing for houses on a non-union crew. I did it, you know, for four summers, made my way from the guy on the ground hoisting up the four by eight to the guy up on the first story, pulling him up to the guy on the roof, laying him to the guy on the roof, being the supervisor and the hammer, until it rained one day and I'd slid off the second story of a roof. And the next summer I was on a landscaping crew. Chris Hanslik Literally boots on the ground. Bill Boyar Yeah, and I've stayed on the ground since Wisely All right. Chris Hanslik Famous question Tex-Max or barbecue? Oh, Tex-Max, Yeah, you raised the kids at Nifas, right? Bill Boyar Well, you know, i got engaged at Nifas. I celebrated every birthday there, you know, between Nifas and El Tiempo, it's yeah, i love it If you could take a 30-day sabbatical. Chris Hanslik Where would you go? what would you do? Bill Boyar You know, I knew you were going to ask me this question because I listened to all your podcasts and I think I would probably go hang out in Italy. Chris Hanslik That's a pretty popular question or answer, excuse me, i mean and it sounded like to split it They say maybe two there, two somewhere else. Bill Boyar You know, so much of my travel is three days here or four days there or a week there, but it's never really immersed. I went to school in Wales my junior year in college and I really immersed. I didn't do the year-rail pass and go to every country I could go to. I actually spent a year in the UK and in Wales and something that you know a mini version of immersion is really sounds great to me, but I got a boss who won't let me leave for 30 days. Chris Hanslik I'll see if I can talk to him about that. Bill, this has been wonderful. Thanks for telling your story, Thanks for being the kind of milestone marker for us at the 50th episode. I think we've you know, hopefully proven and validated this concept and that the listeners enjoy the content. Bill Boyar So it's a pleasure to be on this and I'm proud of what you've done with this. Thank you, Thank you. Special Guest: Bill Boyar.

Language changes how we perceive the world around us, and Scott Fisher is no stranger to that concept. Conversant in the Hawaiin language, Scott's work centers community involvement with the intention of cultivating a loving and caring relationship of the land. His work at the Hawaiʻi Land Trust (HILT) combines sustainable indigineous land management techniques and research on natural bioshields.  In this miniseries, ELI's Georgia Ray sits down with each of the 2023 National Wetlands Awardees.    ★ Support this podcast ★

Asha Palmer is on a mission to revolutionize the ethics and compliance profession. She joins Tom Fox in this episode of Innovation in Compliance to discuss how marrying technology with ethics and compliance can lead to unprecedented strides in the profession. She shares her new role at Skillsoft, insights on leveraging technology to support learning objectives, and why it's important to understand different learning styles for more effective training outcomes. Asha Palmer is the Senior Vice President of Compliance Solutions at Skillsoft, where she leads the strategy and product roadmap, delivering transformative learning experiences. She has a wealth of experience from her previous roles, including her time in the U.S. Attorney's office, as well as working at Conversant and OneTrust. A seasoned compliance professional, Asha is applying the skills she's honed throughout her career to enhance the ethics and compliance profession. You'll hear Tom and Asha discuss: Technology plays a crucial role in the scalability and sustainability of the ethics and compliance profession. Asha advocates for an understanding of different learning styles to deliver more effective training and compliance communications. It's important to understand the ‘why' behind business operations to drive meaningful outcomes for both administrators and learners. Trainers need to provide a varied learning experience to cater to different types of learners, fighting the forgetting curve and ensuring information retention. Asha stresses the importance of delivering compliance training in a way that is tailored to the audience's comfort, language, and culture.  The speed of delivery can affect comprehension, especially for non-native English speakers. As such, training should be delivered at a pace that enables learners to retain and apply the information. Asha discusses the challenge of delivering compliance learning globally. It involves adapting to various languages, cultures, and legal and regulatory requirements. Skillsoft updates training modules in response to new or changing regulations, and emerging risks. Their strategy includes listening to customer needs and creating a roadmap to meet those needs. It's important to create a sustainable ethical and compliant culture within organizations. Asha encourages open conversation and learning from successes and failures in order to improve the effectiveness of ethics and compliance programs. KEY QUOTES: "I have a hashtag, don't lose the learner. Because if you lose the learner, you'll never get them back." - Asha Palmer "One of the great things I've learned is that we can't be sustainable or scalable without the help and benefit of technology." - Asha Palmer "We listen to our customers. I talk to customers a lot. As I said earlier, if there is something that they need to educate on that we haven't thought about, we go think about it and we think about how we can effectively then present learning and engagement so that they are able to educate their employee population on that." - Asha Palmer Resources: Asha Palmer on Skillsoft | LinkedIn  Skillsoft

The crime of Christianity, in Nietzsche's view, was its renunciation of life. He declared God dead and sought to sweep away the continuing influence of Christian morality. But as Cameron argues in a recent essay published on his site Conversant, the resurrection offers a powerful response to this criticism. As Easter approaches, Mark asks Cameron to share how the theological and philosophical implications of the resurrection come to our aid in answering Nietzsche, and what we still might have to learn from his critique. Mentioned in this episode:Why Nietzsche Loathed Christianity, by Cameron D. Brooks (via Conversant)Culture and the Death of God, by Terry Eagleton

The world is constantly changing and businesses need to adapt. It's getting harder because customers talk online a lot. What are strategies you can formulate to promote your brand well? Partnering with influencers to attract customers is a great way to build your business and widen your reach. Join your host Hanna Hasl-Kelchner as she talks with https://www.linkedin.com/in/dyovanno/ (David Yovanno) on how you can choose the right influencers for your organization. David is the CEO ofhttp://impact.com/ ( impact.com), the global standard partnership management platform that makes it easy for businesses to create, manage, and scale an ecosystem of partnerships. In this episode, he shares in-depth insights on buyer decisions and delivering value through advertising. Learn how to grow your business and revenue far beyond expectations!   What You'll Discover About Partnering With Influencers Is traditional advertising dead? How social publishing platforms changed consumer behavior How to find the right influencers to partner with and how to create partner programs Why partnering with influencers is becoming mainstream and how you can find opportunities in this space Why partnerships are a third category next to sales and marketing How to respect creators/influencers in your partnership   Guest Bio: David A. Yovanno is the CEO of http://impact.com/ (impact.com), the global standard partnership management platform that makes it easy for businesses to create, manage, and scale an ecosystem of partnerships with the brands and communities that customers trust to make purchases, get information, and entertain themselves at home, at work, or on the go. Dave and http://impact.com/ (impact.com) have been pioneers in establishing partnerships as a third channel for scalable and resilient revenue growth alongside sales and marketing. Dave has provided strategic leadership to SaaS companies in the technology vertical for more than two decades, previously serving as CEO of Marin Software, a San Francisco-based global leader in paid search SaaS technology; as president of technology solutions at Conversant, a diversified marketing services company; and as CEO of Gigya, a customer identity management platform. He has also served on the board of the Interactive Advertising Bureau and as a lieutenant and CIO in the United States Navy.   Related Resources: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dyovanno/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dyovanno/)  https://twitter.com/impactdotcom (https://twitter.com/impactdotcom)  https://impact.com/ (https://impact.com)  https://www.amazon.com/Partnership-Economy-Businesses-Exceptional-Experiences/dp/1119819709/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2X1XJZFIBN0R4&keywords=yovanno+and+partnership+economy&qid=1656357317&s=books&sprefix=yovanno+and+partnership+economy%2Cstripbooks%2C51&sr=1-1 (https://www.amazon.com/Partnership-Economy-Businesses-Exceptional-Experiences/dp/1119819709/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2X1XJZFIBN0R4&keywords=yovanno+and+partnership+economy&qid=1656357317&s=books&sprefix=yovanno+and+partnership+economy%2Cstripbooks%2C51&sr=1-1)   SUBSCRIBE, RATE AND REVIEW: Subscribing is easy and lets you have instant access to the latest tactics, strategies and tips. Become a https://businessconfidentialradio.com/preferred-listener-signup (Preferred Listener) or https://businessconfidentialradio.com/subscribe-to-podcast/ (subscribe) to the show through your favorite podcast feed. Rating and reviewing the show helps us grow our audience and allows us to bring you more of the information you need to succeed from our high-powered guests. Download ♥ Subscribe ♥ Listen ♥ Learn ♥ Share ♥ Review ♥ Enjoy

In this episode of Revenue Rehab, Brandi Starr is joined by Angus Robertson. Angus is a fractional  CMO  with  Chief Outsiders and co-chair  of  the  Comp  TIA  business applications and advisory council. Chief Outsiders consists of more than 100 fractional CMOs, who help companies grow through best-in class marketing strategy and execution. Previously, Angus was CRO at a business continuity firm Axcient where he managed sales, marketing and partner success.  Angus was also EVP  of  Marketing  at  Conversant  acquired  by OneTrust, CMO at insightsoftware and VP of Product Marketing at public telecoms company Spirent. On the couch, Angus and Brandi will discuss the pros and cons of the Fractional CMO role, as well as delving into some deciding factors when making the move. Links: Get in touch with Angus Robertson on LinkedIn Learn more about Chief Outsiders Subscribe, listen, and rate/review Revenue Rehab Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts , Amazon Music, or iHeart Radio and find more episodes on our website RevenueRehab.live

In this HCI Podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with David Yovanno about thriving in the partnership economy. David Yovanno (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dyovanno/) is responsible for Marin's overall strategic direction and execution. Prior to joining Marin in May 2014, Dave first joined Conversant, Inc. (formerly ValueClick, Inc.) in 2000 and held a number of leadership positions for U.S. media including executive vice president of sales and marketing, general manager and chief operating officer until2008. Dave left Conversant in 2008 to be CEO of Gigya, a high-growth social technology SaaS company based in Silicon Valley, and then rejoined Conversant in 2011. Most recently, Dave served as President, Technology Solutions (formerly Mediaplex) for Conversant from 2011-2014 and was responsible for the company's Technology Solutions globally, Media Solutions internationally, the company's DSP solution, driving cross-solution synergies and assisting with the Company's corporate development program. Please consider supporting the podcast on Patreon and leaving a review wherever you listen to your podcasts! Head over to setapp.com/podcast to listen to Ahead of Its Time. Check out BetterHelp.com/HCI to explore plans and options! Go to cardiotabs.com/innovations and use code innovations to get a free Mental Health Pack featuring Cardiotabs Omega-3 Lemon Minis and Curcumin when you sign up for a subscription. Check out Zapier.com/HCI to explore their business automations! Check out the HCI Academy: Courses, Micro-Credentials, and Certificates to Upskill and Reskill for the Future of Work! Check out the LinkedIn Alchemizing Human Capital Newsletter. Check out Dr. Westover's book, The Future Leader. Check out Dr. Westover's book, 'Bluer than Indigo' Leadership. Check out Dr. Westover's book, The Alchemy of Truly Remarkable Leadership. Check out the latest issue of the Human Capital Leadership magazine. Each HCI Podcast episode (Program, ID No. 592296) has been approved for 0.50 HR (General) recertification credit hours toward aPHR™, aPHRi™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™ and SPHRi™ recertification through HR Certification Institute® (HRCI®). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's not uncommon today for leaders and employees to place significant importance on workplace culture. Culture and work environment is a major deciding factor for job hunters, hiring managers are tasked with assessing “culture fit” when hunting for talent, and increasingly caring for culture is considered a strategic imperative for business success. This word gets used so often and is weighted so heavily in the working world today, we thought it wise to take a pause and ask… what is culture? Robin and Conversant colleague Katie Mingo join Emma Rose for that conversation, having worked with many leaders and organizations on projects relating to culture and culture change, and the role of leadership in cultivating workplace culture.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion has made its way into the priorities and public commitments of countless organizations across the US and globally, with more and more companies creating jobs and initiatives dedicated to the challenge. While this may show up as progress on paper, the reality is that most of those efforts have failed to make a meaningful impact. As the world continues to learn what works and what doesn't with regard to DEIJ, Conversant is evolving into its own perspective and approach, which we are calling Inclusive Leadership Design. The word “evolve” is purposeful, as this is an ongoing process that we are engaging our own organization in. For this episode, we invite you into that conversation – what is Inclusive Leadership Design? How can we make DEI efforts more impactful? Who do we need to be, as leaders, to cause the change we want to see?

Today we chatted with Andrew Lindsay and learned about his approach towards building out design teams and integrating them across organizations at different stages of growth.   Andrew has recently joined KraftHeinz as their Head of Design and User Experience on the Digital Revolution team. He has recently served as the Vice President, Head of Design and User Experience at HomeX, a Chicago-based start-up focused on radically improving the home services industry. While there he was responsible for building out a cross-disciplinary design practice of visual designers and UX professionals, catering to both B2B and B2C software, services, and application design and development. Prior to joining HomeX, Andrew was the Head of Design at Syniverse, "The World's Most Connected Company", where he was responsible for overseeing their flagship digital transformation program focused on delivering a significantly improved customer experience, in partnership with some of the world's most recognized telecom companies. Earlier, he was focused on bringing disruptive, data-driven user-level personalization software and solutions to the ad-tech space as the Vice President of Creative, at Conversant. In this role, he had the opportunity to build out and oversee practice areas across a number of disciplines: User Experience, Creative Technology, Digital Production, Creative Operations, and Front-end Engineering. A native of Chicago, Andrew received his MA from the Cambridge School of Art at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK and his BFA from the Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design in Vancouver, CA. His free time is spent in the suburbs of Chicago either with his wife and children or tackling DIY projects on his 1929 bungalow, one nail at a time.

The work of linguists, sociologists, and psychologists reveals just how complex the science of language can be, but to be essential: it matters. It's a powerful thing that we tend to take for granted. How we speak, what words we choose, and how we listen and interpret are all important parts of human interaction, and no less important at work. At the heart of truly valuable communication is an awareness of and mutual respect for how we as humans make sense of the world. We have to be able to engage with one another's stories, listen for what matters and get curious about better understanding another's world. We have to ask great questions, and give honest answers. That all happens through language, and through presence. Katie Mingo, Associate Consultant at Conversant, joins Mickey and Emma Rose for this episode about the power (and responsibility) of language.

Frankie Boyer is an award winning talk show host that empowers listeners to live healthy vibrant lives http://www.frankieboyer.comGuests:David A. Yovannois a seasoned media and technology executive and former CEO of Marin Software and former president of technology solutions of Conversant and CEO of Gigya prior to joining Impact.com in February 2017. David has been providing strategic leadership to premier SaaS companies in the MarTech space for 20 years. He has also served on the board of the Interactive Advertising Bureau and as a lieutenant and CIO in the United States Navy. David's book, The Partnership Economy details how businesses can find new audiences, grow revenue, and deliver exceptional customer experiences.https://thepartnershipbook.com/https://impact.com/Scott Ryan on the Oscars 2022host of The Red Room Podcast, joins us to discuss the 2022 Oscars! Scott is the author of Moonlighting: An Oral History, The Last Days of Letterman, and thirtysomething at thirty. He is the managing editor of the Twin Peaks magazine, The Blue Rose and the co-president of Fayetteville Mafia Press. https://www.scottryanproductions.com/

A leader's ability to make a meaningful difference rises and falls with the quality of their presence. Presence dictates how much of our mental, emotional, and physical talents are available to us at a given moment. By presence, we do not mean charisma; we mean awareness. This awareness improves insight and action, but a lack of awareness assures that you are not fully connected to yourself, to reality, or to others—dangerous territory for a leader. In this episode, Emma Rose is joined by Richard McDonald and Roger Henderson, two of Conversant's resident “presence gurus.” They talk about why presence matters, practical ways to support greater presence in your professional and personal lives, and why it's a critical ingredient to healthy relationships, both at the office and at home. Show notes & resources: https://bit.ly/3Lf4Yoy

On today's episode of Renew Your Mind, Special Guest Jennifer VanRyckeghem, Pastor Paul Gruenberg, Youth & Family Director Jeremy Touroo and moderator Dana Hall discuss the book by Jason Jimenez, "Challenging Conversations." Today's topics include: If a Christian avoids a controversial conversation, what does that portray to others? They are too afraid to stand up for God's Truth? Says we don't care? What are 3 Excuses that we give so that we can AVOID a controversial topic? Not Smart enough p. 24-5 We Get too defensive p. 26-7 (what is real issue behind defensiveness = PRIDE) We get uncomfortable p. 27-8 Face it and ask for God's help Learn tactics to feel more comfortable What types of characters do the 3 excuses break down into? -Aggressor or Avoider How do we break through these excuses? -Become an advocator Thanks for listening and we hope this discussion helps grow your walk with Christ!

..if YOU ARE in Christ, saved from your sins and from the captivity of Satan, you should always have a good store of good treasure- -fresh- -knowledge and wisdom from the Holy Scriptures in your heart so that you can teach and instruct others about Christ, and how they might be freed from the Kingdom of darkness.

A new MP3 sermon from Grace Fellowship Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Conversant in the Things of the Kingdom of God! Subtitle: Ecclesiastes Speaker: James Downing Broadcaster: Grace Fellowship Baptist Church Event: Midweek Service Date: 12/8/2021 Bible: Ecclesiastes 12:9-12 Length: 34 min.

“Flow state” has been a popular area of interest since it was studied by positive psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi over 40 years ago. To experience flow is to be fully immersed in an activity, engaged to the point of hyper focus—being “in the zone.” Whether you're in the business world, an artist, or an athlete, that level of productivity is something we'd all love to get the secret recipe for. While primarily studied in individuals, we started wondering—can you achieve interpersonal flow? Can a team be in flow? What can leaders do to make it more accessible for those they lead? Emma Rose is joined by her Conversant colleagues Kell Delaney and Roger Henderson to share from their experience what we can do to encourage interpersonal and team flow. Find show notes for this episode here: https://bit.ly/3EOxfyG

At Conversant we often say “joy belongs at work.” Not only do we believe work can be joyful, we believe joy belongs at work. These two words, however, feel counter to one another more often than not. How many of us describe our workdays as "joyful"? Juan Mobili, leadership development consultant, executive coach, and long-time friend of Conversant, has recently reflected on joy in his poetry. Juan joined Robin and Emma Rose to explore this concept of joy a bit more: How is joy different from being happy? What is work without joy? How does joy relate to authentic leadership? How does joy contribute to organizational success? In this episode we tackle those questions and more, and get to hear some of Juan's poetry which we hope will inspire similar reflections in all of you. You can find show notes and learn more about Juan here: https://bit.ly/3na45lT

Should we engage the culture (and if so, how)? That's the question we're discussing on The Hero of the Story. Listen in as we discuss: How we see Paul use Greek philosophy and culture to proclaim the gospel in Acts 17What the public religious practices of the people of Athens revealWhat it means to be... The post The Value of Being Culturally Conversant [Ep. 249] appeared first on The Gospel Project.

Faizun Kamal is an award-winning franchise coach, nationally renowned public speaker, and best selling author. As CEO of The Franchise Pros, Faizun coaches people nationwide on making the transition from employee to entrepreneur. Her best selling book, “The Right Franchise for You: Escape the 9 to 5, Generate Wealth, & Live Life on Your Terms”, is the guide that thousands of clients have used to find their “perfect fit” franchise! Forbes nominated this book for inclusion into their Executive Library for executives. Her unique style of inspirational coaching coupled with swift doses of tough love encourages clients to embrace chaos, fear, insecurity and uncertainty as doorways of opportunity. She has helped countless individuals find their perfect fit franchise based on individualized assessments of their personal, lifestyle and income goals. She guides clients to proactively move beyond career burnout to build a sustainable career that they love! Faizun's drive to create significant life changes through entrepreneurship stems from her own personal experience as a corporate refugee. As an executive in the high-stakes, high-stress world of corporate America, she found herself living an increasingly unhealthy, unbalanced life with little time for family. In 2015, after almost a decade in corporate America, she got her break by getting laid off. Instead of immediately jumping back, Faizun began a deeply introspective journey to intentionally redesign her career, and her life. As a former Fortune 15 Executive with 20+ years of experience in entrepreneurial, corporate, multinational & nonprofit settings on three continents, Faizun tackles the topics of taking responsible risks to create career pivots, the art of finding the “perfect fit” business, and strategically making the leap from executive to entrepreneur. Her down-to-earth, self-deprecating humorous style of story-telling has made her an inspirational speaker to audiences worldwide. Her unusual career trajectory has been described by one corporate leader as “strategically coloring outside the (career) lines to leverage opportunities and maximize impact.” Faizun's relatability and authenticity has led her to grow an engaged following of thousands on social media. Faizun received her BA in Women's Studies and Environmental Studies from Mount Holyoke College. She holds a Master's degree in Public Policy and a Master's in Business Administration from the Johns Hopkins University. She is also a graduate of Stanford University's acclaimed Social Entrepreneurship Program. The recipient of many honors, Faizun was nominated to Global Franchise Magazines' Top 100 Influential Women in Franchising and designated by designer Tory Burch as “a woman to watch”, Kamal has been featured extensively by the Tory Burch Foundation, Forbes, Franchise Journal, and Huffington Post, among others. She is a frequent guest on nationally syndicated radio shows and podcasts speaking on the topic of entrepreneurship. Conversant in multiple languages, Kamal has been described as the “consummate connector”. Coming from an unusual mix of work background and life experiences, she is able to see patterns in seemingly unconnected things and forge connections in the most unlikely places. An accomplished speaker, Kamal brings her unique brand of wisdom, wit and entrepreneurial chutzpah to colleges, universities and leading business conferences. Kamal enjoys mentoring and inspiring people to use their unique skills to make a difference in the world. Connect with Faizun: On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faizunkamal/ On Twitter: https://twitter.com/faizun_kamal On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/faizunkamalFRANCHISE/ By email: Faizun@thefranchiseconsultingcompany.com “Set the world on fire by being authentically YOU!” – Faizun Kamal --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kwallerspeaks/message

Durant el tram final de la conversa amb Ramon Besa irromp una trucada, la del nostre estimat Jaume Creixell. Amb tots dos analitzem l'estat d'ànim del culer envers als resultats i el joc del Barça de Koeman. Dues pinzellades del mestre Besa i l'explosió de caràcter d'un Jaume Creixell que ja ho tenia clar abans del partit davant del Cadis.

Johanna Garton is a mother, proud Wisconsin girl, writer and cross country coach. In writing Edge of the Map, she interviewed more than 75 friends and family of Christine Boskoff and Charlie Fowler, including notable climbers such as Peter Habeler, Nazir Sabir, Willie Benegas, Phil Powers, Mark Gunlogson (current owner of Mountain Madness), Hector Ponce de Leon, Steve Swenson, and Conrad Anker. Conversant in Mandarin, Garton conducted several weeks of research and interviews near the site of Boskoff's death in China. Not a mountaineer herself, Garton was drawn to Boskoff's story for deeply personal reasons: hailing from the same small Midwestern hometown, and in fact, attending high school together, though they never met. Their paths seemed destined to intersect. When Boskoff went missing in 2006, Garton's mother, also a journalist, began a ten-year deep dive into Boskoff's story as well as a close friendship with Boskoff's mother. She devoted herself to this project until a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease made it clear that Garton was meant to pick up where she left off and ensure Boskoff's story was told. Before the publication of her book, she dabbled in nonprofit consulting, college teaching and a brief, but quickly extinguished career as a lawyer. She's moved her family to China, been charged by an elephant, and has completed over 20 marathons. She and her husband share their home in Denver with two bright children who are much wiser than she is and the inspiration of her storytelling. WEBSITE: johannagarton.com FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/johannagarton INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/johannagartonbooks   Visit WomenEntrepreneursRadio.com for information about online courses, articles & interviews of interest to women business owners.  Deborah Bailey is a writer and host of Women Entrepreneurs Radio podcast. Learn more about her and her books and courses at: https://DBaileycoach.com For Deborah's paranormal and fantasy romance fiction, visit: https://dbaileycoach.com/brightbooks

Johanna Garton is a mother, proud Wisconsin girl, writer and cross country coach. In writing Edge of the Map, she interviewed more than 75 friends and family of Christine Boskoff and Charlie Fowler, including notable climbers such as Peter Habeler, Nazir Sabir, Willie Benegas, Phil Powers, Mark Gunlogson (current owner of Mountain Madness), Hector Ponce de Leon, Steve Swenson, and Conrad Anker. Conversant in Mandarin, Garton conducted several weeks of research and interviews near the site of Boskoff's death in China. Not a mountaineer herself, Garton was drawn to Boskoff's story for deeply personal reasons: hailing from the same small Midwestern hometown, and in fact, attending high school together, though they never met. Their paths seemed destined to intersect. When Boskoff went missing in 2006, Garton's mother, also a journalist, began a ten-year deep dive into Boskoff's story as well as a close friendship with Boskoff's mother. She devoted herself to this project until a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease made it clear that Garton was meant to pick up where she left off and ensure Boskoff's story was told. Before the publication of her book, she dabbled in nonprofit consulting, college teaching and a brief, but quickly extinguished career as a lawyer. She's moved her family to China, been charged by an elephant, and has completed over 20 marathons. She and her husband share their home in Denver with two bright children who are much wiser than she is and the inspiration of her storytelling. WEBSITE: johannagarton.com FACEBOOK: /johannagarton INSTAGRAM: /johannagartonbooks   Visit WomenEntrepreneursRadio.com for information about online courses, articles & interviews of interest to women business owners.   Deborah Bailey is a writer and host of Women Entrepreneurs Radio podcast. Learn more about her and her books and courses at: https://DBaileycoach.com  For Deborah's paranormal and fantasy romance fiction, visit: https://dbaileycoach.com/brightbooks

Game changers have been on the bench for so long and were becoming Conversant with the tag “benchwarmers” but all that has changed now. There's a major substitution happening as we speak in the realms of The Spirit and the on-field players who were quite comfortable & complacent with their roles & responsibilities are being replaced by players who might be rusty at introduction but with a little time, will turn out to be MVPs for Jesus. I'm one of them & so are you. Thanks You Jesus

Do you experience frustration that no matter how much you encourage people to speak up you still feel that you’re not hearing everything you need to hear? You’re not alone. Megan Reitz, author of “Speak Up”, visited the Greatness podcast to share her research about the conversational patters we become stuck within both as people and as organizations; and how power and labels, real and imagined, filter what we hear and what we say. Megan shares research-based tips for how to listen with curiosity, not just a skill but a philosophy and one that is central to our work at Conversant.

New to Bollywood and don't know where to start? Here's a primer to ease you into it! Conversant with Bollywood but looking for reviews and recommendations? We got you covered! Listen to this episode to get painless recommendations to your favorite Bollywood movies! Never watch another bad Hindi film again! To read this on my blog, go to: http://www.fridaynirvana.com/film/bollywood-for-beginners

Community – what does that word mean to you? To our team, community is critical to the vitality of an organization. It’s about focusing our energy and our actions to achieve a mutually important purpose. It’s about aligning our strategies and tactics based upon our common values. It’s about looking out for one another on the way to extraordinary success. Conversant Founder and Chairman Mickey Connolly shares great tips for how “connected leaders” effectively build community and unleash brilliance.

Avui hem acompanyat al Ramon Besa al 'Quiosc Toni', on habitualment hi remena les portades, xerra amb el quiosquer i acaba comprant un fotimer de diaris. A casa hi dedica unes 2 hores repassant premsa cada dia.D'entre els temes d'actualitat que hem analitzat amb el Ramon, les paraules de Messi, el futur de Dembélé, la irrupció d'Ansu Fati, la gestió de Koeman... Aquí alguna de les seves frases destacades:"Sembla que el Barça ara corre, es parla de transicions i  moviments. La defensa està molt més entonada, veurem ara amb Dest""És un equip fet per competir i donar alguna alegria. Koeman pot motivar als jugadors per sortir-se'n""M'agradaria veure com aquell traspàs de Ronaldinho a Messi ara es fa de Messi a Ansu Fati"

How can leaders create learning organizations that enable people to achieve their greatest personal contribution? How can we as leaders not allow the stress of today’s situation to drive us back to the learned behaviors of a heroic culture? These are the strategic concerns of today’s world discussed by Jim Motroni, Senior Partner with Conversant, during this compelling conversation on the Greatness podcast. Jim shares concrete tips for how leaders can create vibrant environments of innovation and co-creation.

Today we have Nick Reid - Chief Puzzle Solver - Travel Staff - Recruitment - Talent broker for the travel & hospitality industries. Bio: Highly experienced Corporate Executive with a proven track record of achieving results - B2B and B2C sales and online digital marketing strategies. Genuine, inclusive and known for managing excellent relationships. Conversant with multiple cultures and workplaces having lived and worked in Australia, the USA and Japan with extensive travel globally. Adept at managing complex challenges, skilled in strategy, logistics, staff recruitment, training and management and able to work confidently with all parts of a business to achieve growth. • Proven business development specialist with strong leadership skills. • Excellent communicator to executives, employees and partners. • International experience with a strong network of contacts in Australia, USA, Japan & France. • Management and organizational ability with good attention to detail. • Proactive in situations of shifting priorities and rapid change. • Experienced with managing conflicting business goals in dynamic environments. • Strategic thinker. • Experienced in working with teams virtually and remotely. Find Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickreid/ www.travelstaff.net Michael and Eric Okon operate a global transportation business that is 100% family owned. With locations in multiple states and 100's of employees, the Okon Bros. talk about navigating life, growing up in a family business, writing books, content creation, self-help, law of attraction and more... Here are our websites: Our main company, BLS - https://www.blsco.com Michaels self-help books - https://www.samuelsbooks.com Michaels fiction books - https://www.michaelokon.com Eric Okon LinkedIN - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericokon Michael Okon LinkedIN - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-okon-b02b60162

Conversant Wireless Licensing v. Apple Inc.

On this Authentic Leadership podcast series, Gabrielle speaks to Gretchen Gagel. Gretchen previously lived and worked in the USA as a leading expert in the construction industry. Two years ago, she moved to Australia and was appointed the Managing Director, Asia Pacific at Conversant. Gretchen is an affiliate Professor for the Australian National University in Canberra and the University of Denver. Together with these accomplishments, she also runs her own consultancy and Greatness Podcast. Recently Gretchen completed her PhD on Organisational Learning, Performance and Change. This led them to discuss the difference in leadership styles between Australia and America. The podcast also covered the importance of emotional intelligence when it comes to authentic leadership and performance. Listeners will be surprised to hear what the research shows about emotional intelligence when people hit the age of 55. During the conversation they also discovered that they run for the same reasons and both dislike raw tomato ...riveting conversation.

On the 25th episode of Fast Break, Mark and Nick finally have the Great Tony Allen debate to settle once and for all if there really are 5 NBA players who have demonstrated better perimeter defense than Tony Allen from 2009-2019 (Could it get any more specific??). Will Stangler joins the fellas to moderate the debate and ultimately determine the winner. Kick off your 4th of July Celebration by tuning into the greatest, and most random, sports debate you'll ever hear.   Will Stangler is the founder and editor-in-chief of Conversant, which is an online magazine and podcast network about all the things in which adults should be conversant. Learn more about Conversant by clicking here.   The podcast has gone global. Thank you all for bringing us into your homes, phones, and cars. Email the fellas questions, comments, and ideas at FastBreakwithMarkandNick@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter @Fast_Break_M_N. Don't forget to subscribe and leave those 5-star reviews!   Credits: Intro Music: Epic Trailer by Serge Narcissoff | https://soundcloud.com/sergenarcissoff Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US

How can we have productive conversations with no visual cues? And, what does that tell us about how to thrive amid the big crisis-driven move to virtual communication? Mickey Connolly, Founder and Chairman of Conversant, joined the Greatness podcast to talk about one of the foundational tools of the organization, the “conversation meter”. When used, this powerful tool elevates our conversations to a place of finding mutual purposes that drives productivity, collaboration, innovation and success. With many of us facing more virtual conversations, I think you will like the simple, powerful questions that drive conversations towards authenticity and trust.

What could be more interesting that 30 minutes on the phone with acclaimed Harvard professor, consultant and author Michael Beer? Not much and he has offered just that during this Greatness podcast. In his latest book, Fit to Compete, Mike states that most strategic failures spring from an organization’s inability to have honest conversations. It was one of the most important factors in my decision to join Conversant. The underpinnings of our strategic advisement hinge on this critical ability – how to build transparent cultures with systems of human connectedness that unleash brilliance. Mike has many sound tips for any leader interested in achieving transparency and alignment within their organization.

How do you effectively engage a system of stakeholders for an extraordinary outcome? How do you create a “system of human connectedness” versus “disjointed simultaneous monologues”? Anne Murray Allen of Conversant joined the Greatness Podcast to discuss how The Nature Conservancy took a systems approach in addressing water quality on the Mississippi River. Key to their success was framing the issue in a manner that united the various stakeholders along the river to build community and co-create innovative solutions that met their unique needs. This is a great story of success in changing the way people accomplish work and creating a system of learning to achieve a “moon shot”

#COVID19 Série spéciale avec One to One Retail E-commerce Monaco. Interview de Redouane Bellani, SVP France & Europe du Sud chez Conversant. Filiale de Publcis, Conversant est un spécialiste de la personnalisation publicitaire qui permet aux marques ou aux retailers de créer et maintenir le lien conversationnel avec leurs clients. C’est un enjeux clé dans cette période post confinement où tout le monde cherche à reprendre la parole. Dans cet échange, nous abordons les modifications que la crise a engendré sur les attentes des consommateurs et sur la manière dont les retailers doivent aborder leur communication. Les aspects de l’omnicanalité sont plus que jamais présents. Bonne écoute à vous tous, toujours sans coupure !

The UK Supreme Court is soon expected to hand down its judgment in the appeals of Unwired Planet v Huawei and ZTE v Conversant concerning FRAND, which were heard together. In advance of the decision itself, this podcast provides a reminder of what FRAND is all about (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms required in the licensing of standard essential patents) and what issues are before the Court, as well as some background to the individual disputes. We will provide updates on our blog (Intellectual Property Notes www.hsfnotes.com/ip/) and publish a further podcast once the Supreme Court has given its judgment. Speakers: Rachel Montagnon, Professional Support Consultant and David Webb, Associate, Intellectual Property Group, London For more information on these issues and regular updates on IP developments, subscribe to our blog: Intellectual Property Notes at www.hsfnotes.com/ip/

Impact CEO Dave Yovanno recalls how Valueclick, later Conversant, helped invent the performance model for digital advertising, and discusses the neglected opportunity in marketing partnerships.

In this episode of the Fully Integrated Leadership Podcast I welcome my friend, former colleague, and Chief People Officer of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Mike Tetreault.  For the past four years, Mike has been leading a team that is responsible for scaling VUCA leadership skills and competencies across the 4300 employees of one of the world's largest nonprofit organizations.  Mike shares his own learning journey as he discovered the VUCA concept and how it informed his personal and leadership development.  We then talk about the seven competencies he and others are focusing on in developing leaders at TNC, and then he talks about how they are designing learning and development to grow these competencies to help them tackle complex challenges like climate change.  He finishes off the interview giving us a practice called the After Action Review, something teams can use to ensure learning is a continuous process.   There are a number of concepts, models, and frameworks that Mike and I refer to during the conversation.  I encourage you to explore the following resources prior to listening to the interview: The Cynefin Framework is an explanatory model that helps leaders identify which of four realms they are operating in...simple, complicated, complex, and chaotic.  To learn more about this framework and its use, check out the following video: You Tube Cynefin Framework Explanation Mike refers to "Adult Developmental Stages" and the name Torbert at one point in the interview.  Here is more on what he is referring to: Seven Transformations of Leadership Article In different parts of the interview Mike refers to an organization called Conversant.  Here is a link to their website: Conversant Website This is an awesome conversation with a wise and caring man who is leading amazing work in an organization that is trying to tackle VUCA challenges.  

In this episode of “Marketing Today,” Alan interviews David Yovanno, CEO of Impact, a company operating in the partnership economy. David has spent 19 years in martech and adtech companies such Conversant, Gigya and Marin. Yovanno shares not just his experience with Impact, but also what exactly the “partnership economy” is and how business partnerships and trusted referral networks can drive revenue. The partnership economy is the formation of alliances with businesses and individuals that have a trusted relationship with customers that you want to acquire. We also have time to talk about the state of martech and adtech industries. Yovanno added, “consolidation is accelerating. All the new money is going to two companies, Facebook and Google.” Highlights from this week’s Marketing Today: 01:50 – David Yovanno discusses how he got his start in his career. 06:01 – What are David’s concerns with the current state of the marketing agency? 10:15 – What is the partnership economy and where does it sit in the industry? 14:18 – How can companies get the most out of their partnerships? 19:30 – What has David seen work with incentivizing advertising? 22:06 – What are some interesting cases of partnerships growing on the Impact platform?  25:51 – Has there been an experience in David’s past that made him who he is today? 31:15 – What advice would David Yovanno give to his younger self 32:17 – What drives David Yovanno these days? 33:40 – Are there any companies, brands, or organizations that David believes marketers should pay attention to? 35:59 – What does David Yovanno see for the future of marketing?  Resources Mentioned: BOOST Military Program Let My People Go Surfing – Book by Patagonia CEO Support the show.

This week on The Easy Chair, I celebrate my 200th episode milestone with an original short story, “Conversant”. Celia is a woman who has been raised by an emotionally abusive mother to believe she's a terrible conversationalist. After Celia's boyfriend Joaquin leaves her, she is convinced of the truth of her mother's words: that she'll always be alone, a fate she deserves. But life goes on to surprise Celia in unexpected ways: a quirky co-worker, a serendipitous apricot jumpsuit, a guy named Darius who may just be true love at first sight, and how about the threat of sudden, violent death? Can the worst mother be the best teacher? Tune in to a story I loved writing, and I hope you'll love. Thank you to my faithful listeners, loyal sponsors, and of course, the Headgum Podcast Network. Also, my amazing husband Sam, who has formatted The Easy Chair for your listening pleasure lo these many years. You all have been there for me, and I am eternally grateful. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After several years of different career paths, Kathy unexpectedly fell into something she loves to do — helping people find jobs. Kathy is an award-winning trainer, skilled in the design and presentation of seminars and workshops that have helped thousands of job seekers secure excellent career opportunities. She is the creator and facilitator of Launch Pad Job Club, Austin’s largest nonprofit networking and support group for job seekers, through which members are informed, motivated, and entertained through the job search process.   Key Takeaways: [1:44] Marc welcomes you to Episode 126 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. CareerPivot.com brings you this podcast; it is one of the very few websites dedicated to those of us in the second half of life and our careers. Take a moment to check out the blog and the other resources delivered to you, free of charge. [2:12] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your neighbors, and colleagues, to help more people. Thank you for helping expand the reach of this podcast! [2:37] Marc is recording this introduction on April 30. There were over 8,000 downloads of the Repurpose Your Career podcast in April. That is triple the number of downloads from April 2018. Thank you! [2:54] Next week, Marc will interview Andrew Scott, co-author of The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity. What will you do with all that extra time? [3:08] This week, Marc is speaking with Kathy Lansford, the founder of Launch Pad Job Club, the first and one of the largest job clubs in Texas, founded in 2001. They are discussing current and future job prospects for 50+ workers. [3:27] Marc shares Kathy’s bio and welcomes her to Repurpose Your Career. [4:32] Kathy was a job search skills trainer for many years at the Workforce Solutions office. After a break, she went to Austin Community College at the tail end of an AARP grant to help people over 50 find jobs. After the grant ended, ACC took over the project, expanding the services to the general ACC population, as well. [5:29] Marc met Kathy in 2006 after leaving his teaching job, when he got involved in Launch Pad Job Club. Later that year, Marc joined the board. Kathy is an expert on job search for people over 50. Marc introduces the topic of today’s episode: “Got Hope? Current and Future Job Prospects for 50+ Workers.” [6:17] Kathy describes negative job trends for those over 50. Ageism is rampant, especially in a youth-oriented city like Austin, where Kathy lives. The skill sets of older workers are not wanted. Age discrimination is illegal but age questions are often asked. [9:03] Kathy attends a group where people share their frustration at having their age used against them in the job search process before they can present their skills. [9:37] Ten years ago, the Supreme Court made a decision that makes it harder to prove age discrimination than for other forms of discrimination. [10:15] In the dotcom crash in 2001, in Austin, the first big layoff was at Dell. The laid-off workers had to sign waivers they would not sue for being laid off to get a severance package. [13:27] If a company lays off evenly across all age groups, and then hires back only younger workers, that is the basis of a lawsuit. [13:40] Recently a discrimination suit was settled against Facebook for only showing job postings to young people. Facebook ads allow a variety of targeting. Sellers can provide an email list and ask Facebook to find people who “look like these people.” [15:29] A Bloomberg podcast recently stated that for some platforms, like Facebook, a $3 billion fine is inconsequential. They will keep doing what they do. [15:59] Application tracking systems can screen for years of experience to target age ranges. The older job seeker never knows that their resume is never seen. [16:54] “Conversant in digital speak” and “digital native” are codes for “young.” [17:41] Kathy points out areas of hope. Lots of big companies are finding that they have gone too far to the young end of the spectrum. Kathy heard from her son in the semiconductor industry that young people don’t want to spend the time to be trained in processes. They quit after 12 to 18 months and move on to the next gig. [20:31] AARP is an advocate for older workers. Kathy talks about their five-year grant, open to anyone over 50 and their one-year WESI grant open to women over 50. Women over 50 make up the largest-growing poverty group in the country. The AARP Austin five-year grant was successful in getting a lot of people to work. [22:49] People over 50 stay unemployed longer. Kathy cites a statistic that job seekers 55 to 64 are out of work 34 weeks, on average. Job hunters 20 to 24 are out of work 15 weeks, on average. [23:46] Marc had Carol Fishman Cohen on the podcast from iRelaunch some months ago. Kathy talks about the iRelaunch program, aimed largely at caregivers re-joining the technological workforce. GM has had several of these initiatives in conjunction with the American Society of Women Engineers and they hired many of the participants. [25:32] Because the economy is so strong, with such low unemployment, companies are looking for talent anywhere; they are even willing to look in the “gray-haired world.” [25:57] Kathy remembers a program from years ago with Eli Lilly and another pharmaceutical firm who created a pool of their retirees to call in for specific big projects at a good salary on a temporary basis. [27:05] Companies with a strong diversity program are adding older workers to their diversity list. [27:55] Marc will have Tami Forman of Path Forward on the Repurpose Your Career podcast in about a month to talk about helping companies create re-entry programs for professionals. [28:29] Kathy mentions the Candice Bergen of the Murphy Brown show coming back as a relaunched career. Isabella Rosellini was long the face of Lancôme until they no longer needed her services due to age. In her 60s, they hired her again to represent older women who want to be beautiful. [29:40] One of Kathy’s clients’ ex-husband has a Ph.D. in optical engineering. After working in startups for years, he taught high school math and physics for 15 years. At age 66, he has just started up with defense contractor BAE Systems who appreciates his expertise and experience. [30:47] People have to be tenacious to get a good job in tech. One of Kathy’s clients with a Masters’ degree used Jobscan for LinkedIn. Jobscan scores your resume by the keywords in a job posting. They suggest having a keyword score of at least 80% before submitting a resume. The premium version of Jobscan also scans your LinkedIn profile. [33:17] Kathy’s client made the changes to his LinkedIn profile suggested by Jobscan. He had the premium version of LinkedIn so he could track traffic. Very quickly, the traffic to his profile increased by 300%. A recruiter who visited his profile helped him get a senior-level position with the city of Austin. He is close to 60 and in a wheelchair. [34:21] Public sector jobs tend not to discriminate by age. They look at your skills, background, and what you have to offer. [34:49] Kathy shares a case study of a woman unemployed for a year. Kathy helped her with the state application and mock interview through the Back to Work 50+ program. [35:47] Kathy’s client was turned down for different state positions until she networked with two friends who were at NXP (formerly Freescale and Motorola). Her friends got her connected there. She ended up with a $63K career job at NXP. [37:23] Tenacity is incredibly important. Older people tend to be tenacious. Pro Publica had an article that half of us over 50 will be forced into retirement, not by choice. [38:49] Austin now has some of the lowest mobility rates in the last 50 years. People don’t want to move. People are willing to work for less to stay. Some people are tethered by conditions; where they want to live, base salary, or base position wanted. [40:48] Consider taking a step down the career ladder, or changing industries. Could you get a job if you loosened your requirements? Kathy shares case studies of people who expanded the scope of their search. Be open-minded and flexible. [43:53] Marc gives a case study of a woman who drove for Lyft and got multiple contract gigs from passengers. Getting out and meeting people got her out of her funk. [44:55] Volunteering is another way to feel fulfilled by sharing skills you have that others need and value. Sometimes a non-profit will hire people from among their volunteers who are mission-driven. [46:07] Marc tells of his image consultant, Jean, who has launched a Fulfillment by Amazon business for a pierced earring back for women with sagging earlobes. She sources them in China and sells them on Amazon. [47:04] There are all types of things you can do to make money these days. [47:15] Kathy’s closing thoughts: everybody who wants to go to work, goes to work, whether at a job with benefits or a gig. The only people who don’t get a job are people who quit looking and quit believing in themselves. Reach out. Surround yourself with people who are energetic, positive, supportive, and excited. Help each other succeed! [48:23] Marc thanks Kathy and hopes you enjoyed this episode. Marc has known Kathy for over a decade. Her dedication to helping older workers find jobs is remarkable. Marc wants you to remember the word ‘tenacity.’ [48:47] The Career Pivot Community website has become a valuable resource for more than 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project. Marc is recruiting new members for the next cohort. [48:59] If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community. When you sign up you’ll receive information about the community as it evolves. [49:14] Those who are in these initial cohorts set the direction of this endeavor. Right now they are forming a writers’ guild. This is a paid membership community with group coaching and special content. More importantly, it’s a community where you can seek help. Go to CareerPivot.com/Community to learn more. [49:43] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you heard Marc on this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter. [50:09] Please come back next week, when Marc will speak with Andrew Scott, co-author of The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity, on what you are going to do with all that extra time in your life. [50:21] Marc thanks you for listening to the Repurpose Your Career podcast. [50:25] You will find the show notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-126. [50:34] Please hop over to CareerPivot.com and subscribe to get updates on this podcast and all the other happenings at Career Pivot. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Podcasts app, Podbean, the Overcast app, or the Spotify app.

Beth Anne Stuebe ILTA, Senior Content Manager, Publications, reports live from ILTA's inaugural Women Who Lead event in NYC. Tune in as she interviews Michael Williams from the Conversant Group, LLC to gain a perspective on why this event is important and what it feels like to be a male attendee.

Build stronger connections with your customers. Convey is a powerful connection platform that replaces business cards and static contacts with live, dynamic connections so you and your team can build stronger, more valuable professional and personal relationships. Never again worry about running out of business cards, manually entering info, or having out-of-date and inaccurate information. Share cards with ANYONE for FREE! Instantly connect and exchange digital business cards with confidence knowing that your connections’ information will always be safe, secure, and up-to-date. • Live Connections – Connect with anyone quickly and easily, once connected you always have up-to-date info (any changes are automatically and immediately updated) • Multiple Cards - Create and share cards for every part of your busy life (business, personal, family, go wild!) • Send - Send cards to anyone for FREE even if they don’t have Convey, they will get an easy to download file they can add to their contacts • Instant Share - Share cards in person with other Convey users in an instant (it's magic!) I am a five-time tech entrepreneur – the founding CEO of Convey™, Veritix®, Be Free® (Nasdaq:BFRE), PCXIS, and PCX Consulting Inc. Veritix is a sports and live-entertainment SaaS platform company processing over $1 billion in commerce transactions annually; Befree is a digital marketing platform company processing over $2 billion in commerce transactions annually; PCXIS®, Inc. produced public utility marketing software; and PCX Consulting, Inc., offered plant and executive information systems for heavy industry. (Veritix was acquired by AEG/AXS, Be Free was acquired by Conversant.) I have raised over $2M in angel capital, $76M in venture capital/private equity, and over $200M in the public markets for those companies. I am a Director Boxcast, and a former Director of ValueClick (NASDAQ:VCLK) and Be Free (NASDAQ:BFRE). I work to build the growth stage ecosystem in Northeast Ohio through entrepreneurial mentoring programs at Jumpstart, Inc., Flash Starts, and in the Entrepreneurial Studies program at Hawken School; through ad hoc mentoring; and by serving on the board of the Ohio Venture Association. https://conveyapp.io https://twitter.com/MyConveyApp https://www.facebook.com/MyConveyApp

“Transferring from a world class athlete to a world class CEO, is my primary focus.” Being Conversant in Many Things Leads to Peak Maximization In 2010, Jesse started training for his first Triathlon, while training he needed a bar to satisfy his nutritional and training needs but wasn’t able to find one.  His wife, Lauren wanted to see her husband succeed so she went into the kitchen and worked on creating a bar that would help Jesse. 8 years later their company, Picky Bars is now sold in stores all over the world!   In this episode, Nick and Jesse discuss how his stomach pains led to the start of Picky Bars and how he balances his life of being a CEO, Husband, Dad and World Class Athlete. Learn all about Jesse's story and what's next for him and Picky Bars. LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Follow Jesse on Instagram and Twitter Follow Picky Bars on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook Check out the Work, Play, Love Podcast FREE RESOURCE - Download Nick's Run The Day Block Scheduler HOW TO LISTEN iTunes Stitcher Others Thanks for Listening! To share your thoughts: Ask a question on Messenger. Share this show on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest. To help out the show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really do help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes or download our mobile app. Special thanks to Jesse Thomas for joining me this week. Until next time!

What is arts writing beyond the idea of conventional critique? How can writers respond to artistic experiences in ways that expand and extend the value and impact of the artistic work? Meet Piriye Altraide, Jini Maxwell and Adalya Nash Hussein, three outstanding and diverse emerging female writers taking part in Melbourne Recital Centre’s 2018 Writers-in-Residence program at Melbourne Recital Centre. Through their experimental modes of criticism poetry including hybrid non-fiction, cross-platform multimedia and illustrated hypertext, these three impressive creative writers share their responses and interpretations to a range of music experiences at the Centre across the year. Piriye, Jini and Adalya are joined by acclaimed Australian author, journalist and 2017 Writer-in-Residence at Melbourne Recital Centre, Chloe Hooper to discuss their approaches to and influences for arts writing and criticism. If you’re interested in traditional arts writing and the art of critique, listen in and get a fresh perspective on how writers can blur, bend and break the rules of critical writing in the arts.

For this seventh episode, I had a chat with Russ Heddleston, Co-Founder of DocSend, the leading document tracking company. After growing up in South Dakota, and prior to starting DocSend, Russ had quite the track record. He worked at Microsoft, Dropbox, and Conversant. And he sold a company to Facebook. I first heard about Russ and DocSend when he was featured on TechCrunch. During our chat, we talk about what TechCrunch meant for him, building a great product, how to hire a VP of sales, and how he refused to join the Bachelorette when starting off with DocSend. Read the transcript here: https://blog.salesflare.com/russ-heddleston-of-docsend-b7a4c0cb2b8b

Since 2010, under Pablo's leadership, Antidote has raised $26 million in venture capital and grown to become a leading player within the digital health sector, empowering thousands of patients worldwide to discover and access potential new treatment options through clinical trials. Pablo is a seasoned entrepreneur and manager of internet companies. He's been building high-scale businesses in online retail, travel, mobile, media, and now health sectors since the late 1990s, including firms such as NetJuice, DondeComprar.com, Kelkoo (acquired by Yahoo!), Kayak (acquired by Priceline), and ValueClick (acquired by Conversant). Pablo has spoken about technology, health care, and innovation at Harvard Medical School, DIA, Disruptive Innovations, Health 2.0, Digital Health Forum, and many others. He has been included in the “100 Club” by SVC2UK and the “Ones to Watch” list by The Sunday Times's Tech Track 100 and was recently named one of MM&M's Healthcare Transformers of 2018. He's also been featured in Wired, the Financial Times, and Forbes; on CNBC, TechCrunch, and Re/code; and more. In addition to his focus on digital health, Pablo is also passionate about sharing the stories of patients who have benefited from clinical trials. The powerful videos featured on the Antidote home page are a testament to this. Pablo graduated with a bachelor in business studies at Universidad Antonio de Nebrija and studied biology at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. 00:00 What the problem is with clinical trials today. 03:20 The lack of reporting failures in trials and how this creates more issues with clinical trials. 04:15 EP148 and AEE2 with Dr. Jennifer Miller, Creator of Good Pharma Scorecard. 05:30 The current state of clinical trials. 06:15 The changing state of clinical trials, for better and for worse. 07:10 Making patient participation easier and more fair. 08:00 The double-edged sword of advancements in technology and precision medicine. 08:30 “We are able to create more and more effective treatments for a smaller and smaller subset of the population.” 10:30 The participation angle of clinical trials. 11:00 “Orphan drugs.” 14:40 “It's not an easy thing to design a trial that's going to give conclusive results.” 17:30 Real-world evidence vs clinical trial data. 20:00 Patient interest in clinical trials. 25:00 How most patients get recruited for clinical trials. 35:00 Antidote's business model. 41:00 “Every clinical trial is a trial of 1.” 44:00 You can sign up for the Antidote platform by going to antidote.me. You can also learn more by emailing hello@antidote.me.

Matt Martella is the Senior Vice President of Business Development at Conversant. About 12 years ago, Matt and his wife Jenny, a Financial Planner, realized that owning real estate might be a good investment and a way for them to earn additional income while continuing to work. After researching markets across the country, they sold their home in the San Francisco Bay area and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. Their side business became a reality with the purchase of several condos. Today, Matt and Jenny own 8 residential units generating $4,000 per month in net income and are working towards fulfilling their goal of creating sufficient income outside of their jobs to gain financial independence and save for retirement.

Data Security with Elizabeth Zalman Elizabeth Zalman is the Co-founder & CEO of strongDM, the definitive data security product. Previously she was Co-Founder and CEO of the cross-device profile company Media Armor. After its acquisition, she served as VP of Analytics at the acquirer, Nomi. Prior to Media Armor, she led the client analytics and media optimization team at Dotomi (now Conversant), generating an annual $500M in incremental revenue for 50 of the IR Top 100. With over 15 years' experience leading data-driven organizations, she is an expert in analytics, data privacy, and security. Contact Elizabeth: Web: https://www.strongdm.com/ Email: liz@strongdm.com Twitter: @strongdatam Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth... Contact Avrohom: web: http://asktheceo.biz email: avrohomg@asktheceo.biz Twitter: @avrohomg Instagram: @avrohomg Phone: +1 (845) 418-5340 Phone: +972-72-224-4449 Avrohom is a Cybersecurity advisor who specializes in security solutions for Telecom Providers and Contact Centers in Global Organizations. He comes from a 20+ year career in Telecom, where he helped businesses around the world install and maintain their communication systems and contact centers. He is a Top-ranked global IoT expert by Postscapes.com, followed worldwide on Twitter, and a frequent speaker on using technology to accelerate revenue growth. Avrohom is also the founder of #AskTheCEO, an online technology thought leadership community, whose mission is to create an online platform where people can go to learn about the latest in technology, without a sales pitch, jargon, or call to action. Listen to him share the latest technology trends, tools, and best practices, on #AskTheCEO — broadcasted on YouTube, with all shows available on iTunes and Sound Cloud.

The Philanthropy Podcast Website Email Sean at The Philanthropy Podcast   This week on The Philanthropy Podcast, we're joined by Jeff Cosgrove, Director of Politics, Advocacy, and Nonprofits at Conversant. Jeff and I discuss online advertising and cover a broad range of topics including: how nonprofits can cut through the noise in online advertising, what messaging is leading to increased fundraising success, how to help boards and directors believe in and invest in online advertising, segmenting and oversegmenting, how gift attribution policies need to be redefined to catch up with an online and social platform, how organizations can make the leap from being good in this area to great, and more.     This week, I encourage you to subscribe to The Philanthropy Podcast if you haven't already. You can visit www.thephilanthropypodcast.com/subscribe for links to help you subscribe on iTunes, Android phones, or Windows phone.    Remember, you can connect with me and our listeners on Twitter at @PhilanthropyPod or at our LinkedIn Group here to join in conversations with our show listeners   If you think The Philanthropy Podcast has helped you or others in your work, then please visit and support my effort to bring high quality content in our field with a gift of $1 per month or more. Be part of the community of people dedicated to helping share the message of new and innovative ways to better support the causes you support and the values you hold. Visit thephilanthropypodcast.com/awesome to support the show.   Links in this week's episode: Jeff Cosgrove (LinkedIn) SAIH (Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund Radi-Aid Awards Rusty Radiator Golden Radiator Conversant Media Conversant Media (Twitter) Conversant Media (LInkedIn) Conversant Media (Facebook) Abacus - Epsilon Data Collaborative Epsilon Epsilon (Twitter) Epsilon (LinkedIn) The Data and Marketing Association The Data and Marketing Association NonProfit Federation

It all started in with a simple blog. Zac Zavos and his brother, Zolton, wanted to set up a platform for their father, Spiro, a prominent Rugby writer. A little more than a decade later, that blog has become the voice of Australian sports fans. The Roar now features thousands of top quality fan articles along with world class content from over 50 renowned journalists, commentators and athletes. Engagement is huge, with over 120,000 article comments posted by fans each month. The Roar sits under Zac and Zolton's company Conversant Media, along with websites Techly and Lost at E Minor. The success of the Roar along with Conversant's other platforms led to an acquisition deal of around $12 million by HT&E, formerly APN, last year. Zac Zavos, co-founder of Conversant Media, talks about his story, the evolution of the Roar, engaging Australia's most passionate sports fans, the changing face of sports media and much more. The Roar - http://www.theroar.com.au/ Conversant Media - http://www.conversant-media.com Want to book Zac Zavos for an event or other opportunity?Our Off-Field podcast is produced by PickStar, the best place to book sports stars and influencers for any event, campaign or engagement you can imagine. Choose from over 700 sports stars past and present, PickStar works fast with ANY budget. Visit the PickStar website now - http://pickstar.com.auOff-Field focuses on the world of sport outside of the arena with the people who make it happen. Hosted by James Begley and Andrew Montesi.Find out more:Sign up to our mailing list and contact us here - http://off-field.coJoin us on Facebook - http://facebook.com/offfieldpodcastSend us an email - amontesi@pickstar.com.au

One on One with Ric Elert of Conversant by DMN One-on-One

  December of 2016 saw the arrival of the first ever Pacific Women’s Sports Leadership Program, held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The event was designed for women involved in sports as administrators, managers, volunteers, employees, or board members. The event was planned and held to empower and enable those women through providing practical tools to address the challenges that women in particular face in the Pacific region. This episode features Jane Livesey and Olivia Philpott, the two women who were the catalysts and visionaries behind making the event happen. You'll also hear from Colin Pidd of Conversant, one of the supporters of the event. You’ll be inspired and encouraged by what happened and learn about plans for future events.   Events are about connections and relationships as much as they are about learning.   Twenty women from around the Pacific came together for the Pacific Women’s Sports Leadership Program. These amazing women were from 13 different sports organizations and brought a great diversity to the event. And though they learned a great deal about how to amplify and expand their leadership, they also enjoyed the connections with others who filled similar roles to theirs. It was a great sense of relief and encouragement to know that they were not alone and that other women are in the region, seeking to make the same kinds of contributions they are. You can hear how the organizers, Jane Livesay and Olivia Philpott saw the women come together at the event and learn how the support and relationships born there are being carried on beyond the event. It's on this episode of Leaders, Bosses, and Bastards.   Women in sports leadership: A growing tribe that is making a difference in the Pacific   When Jane and Olivia envisioned the Pacific Women’s Sports Leadership Program, they had an idea of the kinds of things they wanted to see come from the event. But both of them say that the event exceeded their expectations. They were incredibly impressed by how generous the 20 participants were in sharing themselves and their experiences. Together they all grew and learned, but more importantly, they found inspiration in each other’s stories and perspectives. Participants left the event with encouragement to return to their respective roles and apply their lessons-learned to motivate more women into sports leadership. This episode is a recap of the event as told by its organizers. You’ll be encouraged and inspired.   When women in sports leadership come together, it’s an amazing thing.   This conversation with some of the people behind the Pacific Women’s Sports Leadership Program shows what can happen when people with a vision join together to stir up something more. The women who came together did so to develop their leadership skills through sport and to encourage more women to move into leadership roles for the sake of combating issues such as gender-based violence, gender norms, and gender equality. Their impact did not go unnoticed and will continue to be felt.   The growing number of women in sports leadership in the Pacific demonstrates that change is coming.   Currently, women are underrepresented when it comes to politics and overall leadership positions in the Pacific region. This leadership program is poised to become an integral part of providing positive female role models in the Pacific region. One of the organizers, Olivia Philpott says, "It is important for us to see more women moving into leadership roles, to improve diversity in decision-making, investment in targeted programs for women’s sport, health and well-being, and to provide role models for young girls.” Sport is one of the primary areas in which these kinds of changes will be sparked - and that’s a good thing for everyone.   Outline of This Episode Colin’s introduction to this episode about developing women leaders in sport. How the Pacific Women’s event came about. The ways the PNG facilitated great conversations about women’s issues. The hardest parts and biggest challenges of being a facilitator at the event. Adding color and local flavor to the event. Why the event went so well: the passion of those involved in putting it on. How Olivia and Jane contrast their leadership experiences to those of the women who attended their event. Why the event was so important and the reason its organizers say it was worth the effort.  Resources & People Mentioned Pacific Women’s Sports Leadership Program Connect With Conversant On Twitter On LinkedIn

In today’s episode, Mickey is joined by senior Conversant consultant, Robin Anselmi, to discuss the importance apology plays within the realm of leadership, as well as how to gracefully execute an apology rather than bastardize it. Because humans are innately imperfect, as Robin points out, apologies will be necessary, and they need to happen in a way that offers connection and learning. Mickey and Robin lay out the anatomy of an apology that a connected leader should strive for and discuss the opportunities for growth available to individuals and businesses that adopt this model. Highlights Apologies are inevitable, because humans are fallible. You might as well learn to get good at saying them, because they will happen. The anatomy of an apology from a place of connection consists of a genuine and specific acknowledgement of what happened, a responsible promise to correct the mistake and a request for forgiveness. Apology and forgiveness are inextricably linked. If you’re not receiving the forgiveness you want, first examine the quality of your own apology. Illegitimate apologies shift blame; well-executed apologies take ownership of being in something together. If your idea of an “apology” is finding someone who you say is worse than you are to turn attention away from you, you’re bastardizing the collective opportunity for learning and moving forward. Rather than evading apology, why not approach them as openings for conversation, tools for understanding and the roadmap for next steps? The Strength of a Well-Executed Apology 0:45 Mickey: We have with us Robin Anselmi, a senior member of Conversant, a trusted colleague and someone I admire in the way she thinks and the way she acts. Robin’s background is in engineering, at Corning and Capital One, where she provided leadership before she came to us. We love having someone with that technical design who also has a respect for the design of human connection. 1:27 Robin Anselmi: I love being in conversation about the design of human beings and how we work together, and I always love being in conversation with you, so this is a pleasure to spend my afternoon this way. 1:59 Robin: I’ve been thinking about the role of apology when it comes to leaders. Some use apology from a place of leadership and some do it as bastards. 2:25 Robin: Right around now, for those of us who are in the United States, there has been a lot in our media of bad role modeling on what an apology actually looks like. “I’m sorry if my words offended someone,” is not an actual apology. 12:47 Robin: A lot of leaders think that is an apology, that it comes from a position of strength, but it actually causes way more harm than good in our politics, our families and organizations. Correction, Not Perfection 2:59 Mickey: Given that you and I both care deeply about how the quality of connection affects the way organizations perform, what do you think apology has to do with that? 3:30 Robin: The last time I checked, none of us were walking around perfect on this earth. We often say that conversation is the art of correction, not perfection. That’s also true in leadership. 3:55 Robin: For any individual, team or organization to expect to be perfect sets us up for grave disappointment, and it sets up an environment where it’s really hard to raise and resolve issues. 4:18 Mickey: As you and I know, often these things we know to be inevitable about humans, we still try to design our organizations without taking that into account. One of the things that is inevitable about humans is we are going to have aspirations that we do not always stay true to, we will have values we don’t always adhere to and we’re going to have ambitions that don’t always succeed. 4:48 Mickey: One of the things we can absolutely guarantee are occasional bouts of disappointment, so apologies make sense. Apologies Should Not Be a Welcome Surprise—But They Are 5:01 Mickey: You’ve worked in so many organizations and you’ve been an organizational leader yourself. What’s an example of the kind of thing that happens that has you think apology is an issue for leadership? 5:20 Robin: I had done some work alongside an insurance company, and in one of their divisions, they had been doing an upgrade to one of their technical platforms that had involved a large number of people putting in a lot of extra hours. It had not gone well. 5:47 Robin: I was on-site one day when the COO and CTO of that division had an all-staff meeting with 100 people and they said, “We apologize. We got into this without knowing all of the ramifications. We did not predict that it could have gone this way and we did not give you the resources you needed to be successful.” That entire organization was abuzz that these two gentleman stood up, took responsibility and they didn’t blame on anyone else. I can’t tell you how many people came up to me and said, “We’ve never had anyone do that here before. 6:28 Robin: In an organization that had so many problems over a long period of time, those two people were held in extremely high regard. And the regard for them went up as a result of those words: “I am sorry.” 6:48 Mickey: The fact that they were specific about the consequences of the people they were talking to was particularly important. They said, “We did not give you the resources you needed to succeed.” The Three Components of a Well-Received Apology 7:06 Mickey: When it comes to the nature of apology, there are a few things that have been on my mind since you mentioned this earlier. Apology is inevitable, like you were talking about earlier. There are times when our best intentions are going to go unachieved, so we might as well get good at it since it is inevitable. If you’re looking at the domain of leader, apology starts with a genuine and specific acknowledgement of what you did or didn’t do that caused a problem, who was harmed, and how. 7:54 Mickey: Specifics are really important, because if you make an apology generic, it doesn’t land. It occurs to people as inauthentic. It’s pretty obvious to people when someone is saying the words but they’re not standing behind the words they’re saying. 8:27 Mickey: After the genuine and specific acknowledgement, there’s a responsible promise to correct. There were consequences for what went wrong. Like your example: “What resources do we need to provide to whom, by when?” The promise is how people take the apology seriously because you’re actually responsible for the mistake. If you don’t do that, the apology comes out hollow. 9:12 Mickey: Lastly—very few people do this—you request forgiveness. You look at the people who were involved and you say, “Please tell me, if I keep the promise I just made, is that enough for us to be back on track? Will you please forgive this mistake so we can move on together?” 9:40 Mickey: You ask that not only of the people who were damaged but everybody who witnessed the damage. You’re taking care of a network of relationships, not just the people who might have been hurt. 9:56 Mickey: And then, of course, you have to actually go keep the promises. If you go out and execute, then usually things get right back on track. It’s not an accident that some of the most famous and enduring stories in the history of humankind are redemption stories. 10:53 Mickey: People really do want to have us own up to mistakes and move on. Not apologizing wholeheartedly and genuinely causes a deep disease of disconnection. 11:03 Robin: I love the three components you just put together. That specificity provides plausibility. It shows it’s plausible that you are sorry for what happened. Too often our apologies come across as superficial or as a way to get out of a particular situation. 11:36 Robin: Making a promise is recognizing that you have contributed to the mistake. If you say, “I’m sorry you feel that way,” it doesn’t recognize your contribution to the situation. The request for forgiveness is a way of re-forging the community. It’s all of us in something together. The Connection of Apology and Forgiveness 12:22 Mickey: Apology and forgiveness are so connected. I think of them like my eyeglass lenses—concave on one side and convex on the other. You can’t separate one from the other. 12:40 Mickey: I have a lot of experience with hearing complaints: “People just won’t forgive and forget. They won’t just move on.” Well, I wonder if that’s somehow related to the quality of your apology… The real bastards are introspectively impotent. They don’t see that the lack of forgiveness they’re receiving is related to their own conduct. 13:10 Robin: The lack of the apology in an organization sets up a mood of people being afraid to fail and try things out on the edge or, maybe even more dangerously, afraid to talk about failure. 13:33 Robin: That’s how we wind up with cover-ups in organizations. People can’t raise an issue of something that hasn’t gone as planned. Leader who apologize create way more transparency in the entire organization. 13:55 Robin: We hear that word over and over again: “Is the organization transparent enough?” Are you as a leader setting up a mood that allows for transparency? If you haven’t modeled apology or forgiveness yourself, how can you expect others around you to do it? 14:14 Mickey: You just reminded me of a documentary I saw years ago called “Long Night’s Journey Into Today,” about the South African reconciliation putting the country back together after apartheid. In the documentary, there are two different policemen who are asking for clemency from the reconciliation commission. They had proven to be a part of the deaths of seven young men. 14:58 Mickey: One of the policemen got no interest in clemency for how he handled himself, only justifying what happened. The other one was deeply and emotionally feeling the damage that he’d caused. It was extraordinary how his remorse hit the same group of people who rejected the first policeman but supported the second. There are other examples in that film where people were forgiven and caused that kind of connectivity is re-strengthened. And examples of ways people conducted themselves in a way that the community was weakened. 15:50 Mickey: When you’re recovering from death, that takes a lot of forgiveness. But there are people who have been powerfully apologetic, responsible, honorable who evoke that kind of forgiveness. Bastardizing the Apology 16:03 Mickey: I want to go back to the notion of bastards. What do you think is going on when someone is really, wickedly bad at apology and the way they handle it hurts the community instead of helping it? 16:15 Robin: The biggest problem is they do not recognize their own contribution. “I’m sorry you feel that way” or “I’m sorry if people were offended,” are probably some of the most damaging apologies someone can make. It’s a false apology. Shifting the blame back on someone else is a bastard move to make, because you’re not owning that we’re in something together. 16:43 Mickey: It’s funny that you said “bastard move to make.” It is an illegitimate apology. 17:06 Mickey: Especially during the 2016 presidential campaign this year, one of the things I’ve gotten hypersensitive to is all of the times in our lives that we see this achingly bad version of apology: where people think, “I can say I’m sorry, then find someone who I say is worse than me and somehow identifying that villain makes me a hero.” 17:36 Mickey: How do you work that out, rationally? If there’s enough blame on someone else, somehow my behavior is permitted. It’s like they never got that lesson our mothers told us so young that “two wrongs don’t make a right.” 17:54 Mickey: The rampant irresponsibility that comes to mind is startling. The complaints that you might hear from someone who is making weak apologies that have not been well received might have people on his side who ask, “What happened to forgiveness? What happened to forgive and forget?” 18:29 Mickey: I don’t think they realize that this person is getting a response befitting of the way they’re operating. It’s not, “I said I’m sorry; what’s wrong with all you people?!” Go back and examine yourself before you complain about anyone else. When forgiveness happens, it’s important to realize that forgiveness is not approval. Forgiveness is the desire to redeem the past by learning from it and starting over. 19:09 Mickey: The way people interact with us after we make mistakes either calls us to learn and move forward…or not. I know I have dearly needed people to forgive me. I’ve had to learn the hard way that some of my apologies have been irresponsible, blame-filled, justifying, veiled attempts to evade. I’m glad I have people like you around me to not let me get away with that anymore. 19:58 Robin: To be fair, we need each other in that. If we see apology as a way to learn and move forward, does that really change the way we think to approach it? What if apology is really a way to hold up the mistakes we’ve made so we can learn from them as a community and figure out the way to heal and move forward? 20:37 Robin: The apologies that go really badly, we don’t have that opportunity to learn either individually or collectively. There’s no learning in what they care about or what we care about. There’s no way to move forward. 21:03 Mickey: That’s a beautiful summary of the challenge: apology is where things go wrong. We’ve made mistakes, some wittingly, some unwittingly. We’ve caused damage. Take responsibility for it and invite people into a conversation about what we can learn and what I can do to get back on the road to doing things we want to see happen. Then apology is just an occasion for us to reconnect, recommit and go make some good things occur. 21:35 Mickey: I just would like to see people be wholehearted in their apologies, more conscious of this tendency we have to be right and make others wrong and to have an apology yield to that desire to blame. Just accept it, learn from it, fix it and ask for people to forgive. 22:14 Robin: This is the exploration of what it means to be human together. Like I said at the start, being human means none of us are perfect, so learning how to apologize better serves all of us.  

In this episode, Mickey interviews a senior leader of Conversant, Jim Motroni, on his thoughts of why annual performance reviews might actually decrease performance. Leaders must learn hot to be partners for improvement. Learn more about how leaders influence the performance and wellbeing of other people. Working with humans can be unpredictable, but the outcomes are sure to be much more positive through open lines of communication between leaders and the people they work with. Highlights The only people who should care about learning how to influence are people who have ever been responsible for others. So basically, everyone. Dominating in the moment may seem like the easiest possibility, but it means backward growth in the long run that impedes productive aims. The antidote to the misguided use power is connecting people from your own humanity and the humanity of the people around you. The fundamental role of leaders is to create self-supervising, committed people in action. Have conversations as soon as the need is apparent, because the longer you wait, the greater the risk of having an easier conversation turns into a more difficult—or even crisis—conversation. Seek to inspire open, frequent dialogue rather than avoid the difficult conversations.  Instead of punitive assessment measures that may actually hinder growth and productivity, reviews can be an invitation to work in partnership toward collective improvement. The Responsibility of Leaders to Influence 0:59 Mickey Connolly: Today I have with me one of our esteemed colleagues, James Joseph Motroni. Jim and I have known each other for 22 years. It was March of 1994, and in all that time I’ve known you, you’ve had a varied career including being a bank executive and then counsel to over 75 CEOs. Jim is a senior leader here at Conversant, where we work on how the human interactions and big systems affect the quality of people’s lives and the results they produce. 1:56 Mickey: A particular area of interest for you is how leaders influence the performance of other people. 2:10 Jim Motroni: This idea is one of the first challenges I was introduced to when I was in a leadership role. I thought, “There has to be a secret formula for how this happens.” A lot of what we do in business is anticipatable that yields to formula approaches and standard ways of doing things, but the challenge of working with human beings never really changes. 2:50 Jim: Since then, I’ve been a student of what it takes to create great results, but it is a never ending challenge to look at how this happens. I’m in that game from a personal and professional point of view. 3:23 Mickey: It’s interesting that we bring our families into the conversation, because the desire to influence the impact of others is also deeply embedded in the notion of parenting. The only people who should care about this are people who have ever been responsible for others. When we have the responsibility for the wellbeing and performance of other people, we can take that on in ways that are constructive and ways that are destructive. Human Connection as the Antidote to Corruption 4:05 Mickey: In our leaders, bosses and bastards trio of ways of being, leaders evoke contribution. They bring out the best in people and they help them operate at the top of their talents. Bosses issue instructions, which may or may not help someone operate. Bastards issue demands and provide no support whatsoever. 4:42 Jim: There’s something that encourages us to ignore what we know about how human beings coordinate and inspire each other. Something gets lost when we take on authority. When we have power over someone, we can act like the rules don’t apply to us. Sometimes we forgot the basic principles of how humans get things done, inspire others, evoke the best in each other, create the kind of ongoing relationships that can handle increasingly difficult breakdowns. 5:21 Jim: Sometimes we rely on what looks to be the easy way out, which is to be a boss or a bastard. We may put up this veneer of, “I told you to do it, I dominated you or I had authority so I could make you do it.” 5:42 Jim: Those of us who have ever been parents or had parents will attest that sometimes that feels like the easiest way. But that’s one of those times when fast becomes slow. It actually moves us backwards in terms of our long-term ability to turn things out. 6:02 Jim: Leaders understand that they can use authority and power, but they use it judiciously and they use it inside of the desire to grow a relationship and evoke the best of what each person brings to the table. 6:26 Mickey: Jim is the co-author of The Vitality Imperative: How Connected Leaders and Their Teams Achieve More with Less Time, Money and Stress. You just reminded me of the Lord Acton quote that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The antidote to power is community—connecting people from their humanity and the humanity of others. 7:02 Mickey: Senior leaders can create development community around them, where people are free to give feedback, say what they see and report the impact the leader is having (whether it’s positive or negative). If leaders promote an environment where leadership occurs in an open network of relationships and everyone has a right to give their view, that helps us maintain the humility that ought to come with the opportunity to be that influential in the lives of other people. 7:46 Jim: As we work inside of organizations that are attempting to manage that dynamic, part of the structure of how they manage it actually works against that sense of community you’re talking about. I’m referring to the challenge of having quarterly or annual performance reviews. There’s too much time between when we talk about how things are going. 8:17 Jim: One thing we talk about here at Conversant is how we can have conversations early and often that keep us at “Point Easy,” the time when it’s relatively easy to have a conversation to bring us back on track. Community is built piece by piece with frequent interactions. If you try to build it on a quarterly or annual basis, it works against how humans operate. 8:46 Jim: Humans like to be at Point Easy, where small adjustments add up to big adjustments over a long term, and where talking about where we are frequently takes out the sting, fear and disconnection the times when we look to adjust performance. 9:00 Jim: This is adjusting performance and results in both directions: I want feedback from people who work with and for me and I want to give feedback to the people I work with and for. Building community sometimes flies in the face of the structures that we’ve set up in organizations that no longer scale or work for how we work anymore. Inspiring Contribution through Autonomy and Transparency 9:27 Mickey: Over the years that you’ve counseled CEOs, it’s likely really frequent that leaders want to talk about the influence they have over others. What have you found over the years about how senior leaders can inspire the contribution of others and cause improvement without domination? 10:30 Jim: One is to have a sense of how I can connect a person to what our largest purposes are. There is an idea I reflect back on a lot that our colleague, Tom Knighton, introduced me to in a slightly different way: The role of leaders fundamentally is to create self-supervising, committed people in action. 10:58 Jim: If create people that are self-supervising, they don’t need to keep coming back to us. If people are committed, they’re personally inspired and in the game so that when they run into a roadblock, they’re still disciplined and resilient enough to work through it. When they’re in action, people aren’t waiting to be told what to do. 11:22 Jim: If you look at that as a framework for how to create self-supervising, committed people in action, part of it is that they know what we’re trying to do as an organization so their efforts can move in that direction. 11:42 Jim: The second thing that leaders need to be able to do is to understand this unique individual in front of them and what inspires him or her and what support he or she needs to make this work. 12:00 Jim: The third thing is that leadership is a reciprocal arrangement. We are both getting smarter as we work together. I’m as interested in what you see that informs my leadership as I am with my capacity to tell you what to do. 12:20 Mickey: That’s an interesting triad to connect people to a purpose that’s important to the enterprise and one they can admire, to look at how their unique needs are and how that person can contribute to that purpose and to contribute to one another. That’s a pretty good recipe. Open Conversation Rather Than Avoidance 12:24 Mickey: I’m going to look at the other side of the coin. Those are things to be for. I think there are also things to be against and I’d like to look at the relationship between them and see how they apply to each other. 12:59 Mickey: Our friend David Dotlich talks about a senior executive he knows, the CEO of a global corporation who could not bring himself to tell his executive assistant that his personal hygiene was so bad people didn’t want to be in meetings with him because of the smell, which had been going on for months. 13:29 Mickey: That story reminds me of how many things we see and don’t act on. You were talking about Point Easy earlier, and there are so many things we avoid. 13:43 Mickey: I was with some executives last week and I had to manage my own reactions. There is part of their company that is not going well relative to their strategic commitments and the people who can make the difference don’t have all the facts. They don’t want to “be negative.” Senior executives saying, “Well, we could just hurt everyone’s motivation.” Okay, so keep everyone feeling good while the place goes bankrupt… 14:14 Jim: “We’ll be the happiest people in the unemployment line.” 14:18 Mickey: It’s amazing how many people who are sophisticated and successful enough to get into these senior leadership positions who then shrink away from actually having open conversations with people. 14:34 Mickey: What do you say to these senior executives who seem to be otherwise competent but are afraid to actually give their people complete awareness of what is going on around them that might affect their ability to contribute? 15:30 Jim: Part of what these executives are holding as a false equivalent is that the pain of having the conversation is the flip side of the gain we have short and long term. There’s confronting that falsity. And also asking, “How do I have a conversation with this person that forwards what they care about and what we all care about together?” 16:18 Jim: That’s a different question than, “How do I give them some feedback that only hurts them in the smallest way possible?” That’s preparing for a different conversation than: “How do I give them the feedback they need to be effective in their job and satisfied in a way that has them be appreciative of the risk I took and the amount of information they get?” 16:58 Jim: It’s a more sophisticated understanding of the leader’s role than just, “My job is to do the best I can to avoid all possibility of having to stand up to fear.” No, fear and the challenges of it are the natural outgrowth of the position you’re in. 17:15 Jim: Not everyone is up for the level of leadership they’re being asked for. People aren’t always confronting what it’s really going to take to be a leader. It has them shrink from the opportunity that’s in front of them. 17:37 Mickey: One of the things we’ve seen in the nearly thirty years we’ve been looking at how leaders produce the most results per unit of time, money and stress, there are many people who get in positions of leadership and then shrink from the challenges that come with that position. 18:03 Mickey: One of the challenges of being a leader is your job is to get people connected to reality and give them the information they need to know how they’re doing relative to their own desire to make a difference. And then, provide an environment where they have access to all of the people and resources they need to improve. Moving from Formal Review to Frequent Conversation 18:24 Mickey: These are really important, informal conversational skills you were referring to. You can be with someone, can understand they’re frightened and disappointed because the results aren’t good. You can connect with someone on what is deeply important to them and help them recover their whole self, not just the scared part. 18:51 Mickey: There are some skills there. You mentioned earlier the issue about formal reviews and there are some companies doing some experiments to move away from these mid-year and end-of-year formal reviews. They’re now betting the everyday conversations are the leverage point for performance improvement. There was a study we used some years ago that showed formal performance conversations actually decreased performance. 19:32 Mickey: What is it about the formal conversations that doesn’t improve performance and what do you think is crucial for leaders if we’re going to move to this reliance on informal discussion to make a difference in the success of our organizations? 19:51 Jim: The structure that is used for a lot of these conversations actually prevent the conversations from happening. The idea is fill out this form, mark these numbers and somehow handing people the paperwork that’s headed to HR is the review and will cause the change you want. That’s nonsensical. 20:27 Jim: The preparation is great as a starting point for conversations; they are not the conversation. For people to move from annual or quarterly to way more frequent, highly leveraged conversations and discussions, it means a shift in how the conversation takes place so it really is more of a dialogue. It doesn’t depend on written sheets or checking boxes. 21:05 Jim: The second thing is to treat a review as a discussion. It goes both directions. What do you see that I don’t see? Where do I have points of view that I’m interested in getting informed and educated? How can I help shape what I see you doing as a person who works for me in a way that evokes and invites more of what you want to be excited about? Leadership as Partnership 21:30 Mickey: The formal environment creates this spirit of assessment, where you are now called into the principal’s office to be told if you are good or bad from someone who sits on high and can tell the difference. 21:50 Mickey: The reality of doing great work is we’re in it together. The way you’re speaking, it’s we are partners in improvement. Our best day is still to come, not behind us. We need each other because together we see things we can’t see by ourselves. 22:13 Mickey: That spirit you have of someone in a senior executive position an open partnership of improvement that allows all parties to contribute to one another is an act of leadership. 22:30 Mickey: The boss just fills in the forms the way you were talking about. The bastard is just annoyed and wants better people. 22:40 Jim: That’s right. “How did I get stuck with all these losers?!” 22:44 Mickey: “It’s amazing. There were a lot of these at my last company too; they must follow me.” The bastards don’t realize what they are actually procreating. 23:02 Jim: That kind of conversation doesn’t preclude the importance of corrective conversations. It’s not all a “Kumbaya” moment. 23:11 Mickey: Absolutely not. I’ve seen so many leaders do a terrific job of bringing up very difficult issues but they bring them up in the context of a purpose all parties care about, and being there to help the person make a bigger difference in they’re currently making. 23:57 Jim: Where it’s necessary, bad news doesn’t get better over time. What is important for leaders is to recognize that every day they delay moves them from Point Easy to Point Difficult to Point Crisis. 24:18 Jim: How can I engage in the conversation without having to know how it’s going to turn out and without having a clear sense of how I’m going to make difficult conversations easy. Sometimes difficult conversations are just difficult. My strong encouragement is having tough conversations is rarely as bad as we think it’s going to be, but I can almost guarantee you, not having them pushes it to a time that makes it even harder to have an outcome we can all be proud of.

Leaders, Bosses & Bastards: Episode Title What does it take for two very different, large organizations, with very different company cultures, to come together under the same overarching vision? Mickey interviews Bob Johnson, the Chief Executive Officer of Conversant, about all the conversational ins-and-outs that are involved in mergers, acquisitions and major organizational changes. Highlights As a leader, don’t assume that because you know where the organization is headed that everyone alongside you does as well. Smoothly navigating organizational change requires transparent and genuine conversation, showing your people what is happening and what decisions made it happen the way it is. Rather than just issue demands and later let employees know whether they met your undisclosed standards, be open about the needs of the company and offer the necessary tools to achieve those aims. To ensure you’re legacy is that of a leader rather than a bastard, follow up each interaction with the question: “What is the story people will tell about the conversation they just had with me?” Openly focus on what changes your leadership needs to make to benefit the company, and people will naturally begin to ask themselves that question about their own contribution. Rather than viewing organizational obstacles as mechanical or process problems to be fixed, approach them as human challenges that require specific conversations to be had. Navigating Organizational Changes 0:51 Mickey: We have with us the CEO of Conversant, Bob Johnson. Today we want to talk about mergers, acquisitions and other big, tumultuous organizational changes. What makes you someone we should listen to about that? 1:12 Bob Johnson: Well, I’m just a fascinating person, is one reason. But probably the more valid reason is, having been involved as far back as the Hewlett Packard and Compaq merger, I have a lot of experience directly in what is involved when we have two big organizations that have very different cultures and are coming together around what they think is the same aspiration. 1:52 Bob: Since then, I’ve been involved in a number of organizations that are going through mergers or acquisitions, or often just having to evolve and significantly disrupt their business model so they can, in some cases, survive, and in other cases, make a bigger difference. 2:22 Mickey: You were a senior executive with big accountabilities during the merger of Hewlett Packard and Compaq some years ago (Sept. 3, 2001). What were the biggest lessons that you’ve taken to all of these other companies you’ve supported since then? 2:42 Bob: Among the lessons is to be careful what your assumptions are going in—by that I mean: “I assume people see the benefit of two big companies coming together. I assume people will work hard to make this come together as quickly as possible. I assume that they will understand and act upon what we tell them.” 3:10 Bob: What I tell them is they’re merging because there’s a change they want to happen in their culture to have better business results and make a greater impact. While those words sound good, people have a real need to be in dialogue about understanding what they mean. 3:36 Bob: There are a series of conversations that are important that tend to be overlooked, causing rework and slowness later on. Are you involved in a dialogue so they sufficiently understand the purpose of the merger? Then they get to state what their purpose is inside of it as well. What is that intersection of where we’re going with this and what people are together on? 4:02 Bob: Given this change we’re trying to make, let’s be clear what that is and let’s look at our existing culture, behaviors and organization. There are some things we want to conserve, to honor and respect and bring forward. And there are some things we really know we need to change. 4:22 Bob: Change is going to involve our capability building and questioning models we’ve been operating under. Those are examples of phases that sometimes don’t get the attention they need and later on require a lot of work to go back and do better. Listen, Rather than Assume 3:37 Mickey: You were talking about assumptions and one of the biggest assumptions people have is, “Because I understand the reason we’re making a big change, you should be able to understand.” 4:49 Mickey: We frequently see senior leaders who have been involved in months (in some cases, a couple years) of conversations that lead to a major organizational acquisition or merger or divestiture. These leaders have become so intimately familiar with the change themselves that they forget it took then that long to get that familiar. 5:21 Mickey: They talk to other people about it, and as soon as they understand their own voice in their own head, they think they just made the point they want to make and assume everyone else just got it. 5:39 Bob: In one of the mergers, the leader was very clear on why it was important. I was part of a group she pulled together of 80 global leaders to launch this work. Someone raised their hand and said, “I still don’t completely understand what or why we’re doing this.” The leader just blew up and said, “I’ve distributed those plans. You have a very compelling slide deck that describes the path we’re on. I would have assumed you’d read this, and you obviously haven’t. That tells me you aren’t the leaders to do this.” And she left the meeting. 6:35 Bob: She eventually came back, acknowledging that we hadn’t had the sufficient conversations and that we were the people she wanted to be on this journey with. She realized she needed to listen and make sure it was clear. Leaders Respect, Bastards Demand 6:49 Mickey: You can think of it in terms of leaders, bosses and bastards. We say that a genuine, powerful leader is orchestrating the contribution of others, and they’re doing it in a way that people know they’re respected and cared for. 7:19 Mickey: The bosses just leave people instructions. The person you were talking about sounded like that. The bastards don’t even do that. Bastards just issue demands and let you know later whether you met undisclosed standards. 7:57 Bob: Bastards. There are plenty of them and they don’t know it. They would be stunned to think that people thought that of them, because it’s so obvious to them what’s happening. In some cases they just don’t engage. And then they wonder a year later why more progress isn’t made. 8:35 Mickey: And why some of their best and brightest decided to go somewhere else. You made an important point: people who are occurring as bastards are not that in their own minds. It really has to do with extraordinary insensitivity. 9:04 Mickey: On a particular merger, one leader from one side held a meeting with leaders from the two companies. He said, “Let’s get something very, very clear. This keeps getting written about as a ‘merger’. I want it to be clear: this is an acquisition. We have paid $X billion dollars for this company. We’re in charge of what happens next.” 9:45 Mickey: The toxic gossip and the number of people who began to polish resumes that came out of that meeting were extraordinary. That guy definitely occurred to people as a bastard. Writing the Stories We Want to Be a Part Of 10:08 Mickey: So much of the breakdown is people don’t do the patient and time-consuming work to understand who all of the different groups of people are who are crucial to the success of this combination. What are each of those groups’ distinct purposes, worries and circumstances? How do we engage them in conversation to clarify the reason for doing this that is actually sensitive to all of those purposes, concerns and circumstances? 10:46 Bob: Every organization has a story that is in continual motion and continually sharing. The story based on what you shared, is what’s the story about that leader who acted like a bastard? 11:19 Bob: Or do you create a story that has hope and aspiration in it? This is where I think we get in and really make a difference: creating the kinds of conversations you want with different people in the organization, who you know are highly connected to other people, that will generate a positive story. There’s still a lot of work to do, but do we have a good story from the beginning that people feel they want to be a part of? 11:54 Mickey: I love that as a way for really effective leaders to think about how to manage this kind of seismic change. You get a microcosm of that system together and ask, “What is the story that this merger or acquisition is a central moment in?” 12:30 Mickey: Having a positive story is exciting to people, because then the purpose becomes meaningful. Things become clear, in a way that people can share it, because it’s a story not a Powerpoint deck. 12:46 Mickey: Each senior leader in these organizations could ask him or herself after every meeting or significant interaction: “What story do I think people are telling about the conversation they just had with me? And how does that story fit with the story we say we’re writing for this change in organization?” 13:07 Bob: Leaders can take that analogy and think about, “What is the next chapter we want to write? What will it take for that story to be complete, whole, and inspire people to move into the next phase?” Self-Change Leads the Organizational Change 13:27 Bob: The other caution is you might have done a really good job to start, but you let it go. People are always looking for that indicator of where they won’t be allowed to be involved and they’ll get dominated. You have to be vigilant to avoid that. 13:47 Mickey: Be responsible for your assumptions and turn them into clear, open conversation. We spoke about that conversation being sensitive to the purposes, concerns and circumstances of the people you actually need to pull this off. It’s startling how often leaders are not sensitive to that. 14:06 Mickey: A word that gets used so much that it has become trivialized is “authenticity.” How open, transparent, genuine and human are the people responsible for this major organization change happening? 14:29 Mickey: How often are the leaders in an open, genuine conversation with other people? How do we make this something human that we are in together, rather than some formal set of manuals about how things are supposed to be? 14:47 Mickey: At another company we’re supporting and doing significant work, they’re expanding globally at a rate where their underlying processes have to evolve in huge, dramatic and rapid ways. The current processes cannot support the level of growth they’re having globally. 15:09 Mickey: The CEO has been there for the ride for over 10 years—very successful, very well thought of. He shared his concerns with people that the changes they were going through were not just the underlying processes of the company. They had to be changes in how he led. 15:35 Mickey: He was confronting that as an important question that he asked people to talk to him about. He said, “I want to know what you think this company needs from me in the new era that it didn’t need before? And what did it need in the past that it doesn’t need now?” He got extraordinary input. 16:06 Mickey: What happened after that is that people began to ask those questions about themselves: “As the company changes, what changes in me in order to make that successful?” Having someone that senior orchestrate development instead of asking for it from other people—that’s a leader. 16:27 Mickey: That’s someone really eliciting the interest, connection, contribution of others that really inspirits this kind of change. 16:37 Bob: I was in a conversation this morning with the top leader of an organization, who acknowledged that his leadership needs to shift for the organization to be able to have the impact they want. He asked a group of people to give him feedback, such as, “What is the unique contribution that this person and only this person can make?” 17:12 Bob: Part of the conversation from the group that was helping him was they came to the understanding that this change was not just about him as a leader. “This is about us as well.” 17:25 Bob: “However we answer the leadership at the top, what does that say about our leadership and how we engage the rest of our organization?” 17:39 Mickey: That does fit with our definition of leader, contrasted with boss or bastard. The boss would tell other people what they need to do that’s different. The leaders actually demonstrate that the changes in our enterprise call for me to evolve my own leadership. That naturally attracts other people in the same conversation. Make It Easy for People to See The New Direction 18:03 Mickey: It’s amazing to me in how many of these major organizational changes, people do not communicate enough about what is happening, why it’s happening and what criteria we used to decide what to say no and yes to. 18:33 Mickey: I’ve heard some people say, “We don’t have time for all of that.” And yet they end up having time for the disappointing execution and the failed meeting that people walk away from with stories that are not helpful to the future of the enterprise. They come with false cause like, “We don’t have the right people.” 18:55 Mickey: But they just didn’t manage to stay in an open, complete conversation so people could see where we’re going and what we’re doing. 19:05 Mickey: As I was driving in this morning, I was on a four-lane road and in a hurry. I was trying to make sure I was in the right lane for moving most quickly. I noticed that I wanted to change lanes because there was a big truck ahead and I couldn’t see what was in front of me. I had to keep myself from changing lanes. It turned out that the truck lane was much faster than the others, but everything in me wanted to move just because I couldn’t see. That’s what happens to people in these big companies; if they can’t see what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and why we made these choices, then people end up making up all sorts of fearful stories. 19:54 Mickey: Investing in clear, chronic communication, being the source of information versus the subject of worried gossip is a crucial part of change. 20:10 Bob: If you take it back to the leaders, bosses and bastards, I’ve just come out of an experience from the last couple months with a person I’d say is a bastard (“I’m the smartest one here. Just do what I said. Make sure people do what I say and we’ll get where we want to go”). A year and a half later, they’re nowhere near where they need to go. The question he was unwilling to confront was “Why is that the case?” 20:44 Bob: How is happened is that he didn’t engage people. There was no element of co-creation. There was no transparency of the “why” they were making changes and the facts that contributed to them. 21:04 Bob: If you want to shift it, it requires your leadership and your stewardship of dialogue in the organization to shift the story they have about you, the lack of trust they have for you and their willingness to step into something they’ve clearly stepped out of. That’s a huge disruption. 21:22 Mickey: While it took him a year and a half to be open to having that conversation, that shows up on the P&L, the balance sheet and the cash flow. 21:32 Bob: It’s almost like, “What would be an effective transition for you from bastard to leader, and are you interested?” 21:42 Mickey: And what could that mean to the commercial success of the enterprise? Or, if it was not a for-profit, what could that mean for the mission success of the enterprise? Depending on the speed at which people own that something is not working well, what does my conduct have to do with that? 22:07 Mickey: Answering and asking that question is an act of leadership. For him, that the lag time was so long. In your future work with him, I hope he’ll work on reducing the time lag between when things are not going as planned and what his personal role might be in that. 22:29 Bob: In this case, he has been confronted with that and open to accepting it. One of the results of being a bastard is a year and a half of no progress. A leader really opens that up as transparent, invites people in and is interested in their point of view. What’s the possible result of being a leader? 23:03 Bob: In this case, setting a six month timeline of new ways to engage the organization in the hopes and dreams you have for yourself as a leader and them. And he’s in it. But it takes a shift. 23:16 Bob: As you can imagine, people are like, “Is this real?” Engaging Humans, Not Just Fixing Mechanics 23:40 Mickey: You relate to these really large organizational challenges as more human challenges than they are mechanical or process challenges—because the mechanics and the processes are invented and led by human beings. 24:02 Mickey: Most people do financial due diligence and all of this work on making plans that people are just supposed to follow. You actually relate to it more like engaging human beings early in conversation. 24:17 Mickey: You help solve challenges rather than just follow instructions and have them participate in what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. This approach fuels change so well, it’s shocking how many companies don’t do this. 24:50 Bob: Words matter. You’re a champion of that. The distinction inside of what you just described is: leaders who say, “I want you to follow me,” versus leaders who say, “I want you to join me.” 25:10 Bob: Following has a certain set of behaviors. Joining has a set of conversations, invitations and co-creations that need to occur. I know between the impact of being a followed leader versus a joined leader, joined leading gets you a lot further down the road, a lot faster, with better results and greater fulfillment. 25:25 Mickey: That’s a beautiful example of getting more done with less time, money and stress.

Matt Perry, the VP of Global Talent Acquisition for Conversant, and Tenny Poole, the Principal and Founder of Positive Talent Strategies talk with Chris Dyer about their experiences in leadership, talent management and how to positively impact an organizations culture.This show is brought to you by Talk 4 Radio (http://www.talk4radio.com/) on the Talk 4 Media Network (http://www.talk4media.com/).

Matt Perry, the VP of Global Talent Acquisition for Conversant, and Tenny Poole, the Principal and Founder of Positive Talent Strategies talk with Chris Dyer about their experiences in leadership, talent management and how to positively impact an organizations culture.

Be conversant in the basic option terminology and the mechanics of the options markets.

Be conversant in the basic option terminology and the mechanics of the options markets.