Podcast appearances and mentions of Don Yaeger

Don Yaeger is an 11-time New York Times bestselling author, award-winning speaker, and longtime associate editor for Sports Illustrated. Over the past 30 years, he's interviewed and profiled the greatest athletes, coaches, and leaders in the world — from Michael Jordan and John Wooden to Nick Saban and Pat Summitt. Today, Don is one of the most trusted voices on high performance, championship culture, and leadership, working with Fortune 500 companies and elite sports programs alike. He's also the host of the popular Corporate Competitor podcast, where he explores the intersection of sports and leadership with world-class performers.Reflection questionsDon shared the powerful story of Warrick Dunn's journey to forgiveness. Reflect on a time when you struggled to forgive someone who wronged you. What steps could you take to move toward forgiveness, and how might this transformation impact your leadership and personal growth?  In our conversation, Don emphasized that great athletes "hate to lose more than they love to win" while taking complete ownership of their results. How do you currently respond to failure or setbacks? What specific changes could you make to embrace radical ownership while maintaining a healthy competitive drive? We discussed how the best leaders and athletes understand their success depends on who they surround themselves with. Evaluate your current "inner circle" - both professionally and personally. Who elevates you, and where might you need to make changes to better support your goals and values? Don highlighted the importance of celebrating "great teammate behaviors" rather than just individual achievements. What specific actions could you implement in your team or organization to recognize and reward those who make others better? The concept of "coaching beyond the scoreboard" was central to our discussion. What does this mean to you personally? Identify three ways you could focus more on process over outcome in your leadership approach this week.Download my FREE 60 minute Mindset Masterclass at www.djhillier.com/masterclassDownload my FREE top 40 book list written by Mindset Advantage guests: www.djhillier.com/40booksSubscribe to our NEW YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MindsetAdvantagePurchase a copy of my book: https://a.co/d/bGok9UdFollow me on Instagram: @deejayhillierConnect with me on my website: www.djhillier.com

  If you're feeling like your team is losing to the competition and you can't figure out why, then you are not alone! Your efforts to build a great team might not be working as expected, and instead of improved performance, you might be experiencing disengagement and frustration among your team members. It's time to turn things around and create a winning team culture that drives success. Uncover the surprising twist that takes employee engagement to the next level. You won't believe how a simple shift in perspective can transform teams from average to extraordinary. And the best part? It's a game-changer for any business, regardless of industry. Stay tuned to find out how this unexpected approach leads to exceptional team performance and leaves your competition in awe. You won't want to miss this! Build Great Teams with Collaboration Creating a culture of collaboration within teams fosters innovation and productivity. By encouraging open communication and teamwork, organizations can leverage the diverse skills and perspectives of their members. Collaborative efforts lead to enhanced problem-solving and creativity, driving the team towards success. This week's special guest is Don Yaeger Don Yaeger, a distinguished journalist and accomplished author, boasts an extensive background in sports and business. As the author of 40 books, including 12 New York Times bestsellers, Don's expertise is widely recognized. With a focus on team dynamics and leadership, his insights are particularly valuable for business leaders and managers seeking to optimize team performance and engagement. Don's in-depth research and comprehensive understanding of high-performance principles make him a respected authority in the realm of team building and organizational excellence. His wealth of experience positions him as a leading figure in providing practical strategies and actionable advice for enhancing team effectiveness and driving overall success in the business landscape. This is his story: Don Yaeger, a seasoned journalist and author, shares his journey of discovering the elements that make great teams in business. With a career spanning big newspapers and Sports Illustrated, Don's insatiable appetite for learning led him to write 40 books, with 12 becoming New York Times bestsellers. His relentless pursuit of knowledge didn't stop there; he also hosts the Corporate Competitor podcast, where he delves into the wisdom of successful individuals. Don's immersion in the world of great teams didn't happen overnight. Over a decade, he meticulously studied top-performing sports teams like Nick Saban's Alabama football team and the mid-90s Chicago Bulls, as well as outstanding businesses like Delta Airlines and Chick Fil A. This deep dive culminated in his book "Great Teams," where he identified 16 key differentiators of exceptional teams. Don's journey is a testament to the power of continuous learning and the relentless pursuit of excellence, inspiring leaders and managers to cultivate a culture of growth and engagement within their teams. Great teams are committed to things that average teams aren't. They're committed to things like creating an environment where employees believe that they're locked into each other and that they're beholden to each other, that they're better because of each other. - Don Yaeger In this episode, you will be able to: Uncover the secrets to building great teams that drive business success. Explore the crucial role of culture in achieving outstanding team performance. Implement powerful strategies to boost employee engagement and motivation. Harness the impactful leadership techniques that drive exceptional team performance. Discover invaluable insights from success stories in sports and business.   The key moments in this episode are: 00:00:00 - The Importance of Having a Sense of Purpose 00:07:36 - What Makes Great Teams Great 00:11:49 - Building a Team Others Want to Join 00:13:07 - Overcoming Complacency 00:14:28 - The Power of Coaching and Success Principles 00:16:06 - Success Leaves Clues 00:17:56 - The Role of Team Behavior 00:21:36 - Culture, Behavior, and Habits 00:27:02 - The Power of Purpose 00:29:14 - The Importance of Team Commitment 00:30:43 - Making a Difference in Business 00:34:48 - Employee Engagement and Impact 00:36:35 - What Makes Great Teams Great 00:40:26 - Don Yaeger's All-Time Favorite Movie Timestamped summary of this episode: 00:00:00 - The Importance of Having a Sense of Purpose Don Yaeger emphasizes the importance of not just knowing, but feeling the sense of purpose within a team. He discusses how the best teams believe they are part of something bigger than themselves. 00:07:36 - What Makes Great Teams Great Don Yaeger shares his insights on what makes great teams stand out, highlighting the importance of continuous learning, mentoring culture, and a strong sense of purpose as key factors in achieving greatness. 00:11:49 - Building a Team Others Want to Join Don Yaeger discusses the significance of being the team that others aspire to join. He emphasizes the importance of being the organization that people are working to figure out how to join, rather than the team losing people to competitors. 00:13:07 - Overcoming Complacency Don Yaeger addresses the issue of complacency and its impact on organizations. He discusses how human nature can lead to complacency, and the importance of staying vigilant and continuously improving, even during times of success. 00:14:28 - The Power of Coaching and Success Principles Don Yaeger shares how he coached his son's losing team and emphasized success principles to turn the team's performance around. 00:16:06 - Success Leaves Clues Don Yaeger discusses the importance of studying successful individuals and teams to learn from their experiences and apply those lessons to achieve greatness. 00:17:56 - The Role of Team Behavior Don Yaeger emphasizes the significance of team behavior, communication, and camaraderie in achieving success, rather than solely crediting coaching for a team's victory. 00:21:36 - Culture, Behavior, and Habits Don Yaeger explains how culture shapes behaviors, which in turn form habits leading to sustained excellence, highlighting the importance of intentionally designing a positive culture within organizations. 00:27:02 - The Power of Purpose Don Yaeger shares how a sense of purpose and belonging to something bigger than oneself is crucial for team success, using the example of USA Basketball's transformation under Coach Mike Krzyzewski. 00:29:14 - The Importance of Team Commitment Don Yaeger discusses the importance of basketball players respecting and honoring members of the United States armed forces, emphasizing the responsibility they have as representatives of their country. 00:30:43 - Making a Difference in Business Yaeger shares a story about Medtronic, showing how bringing in families to thank employees for their work makes them realize the impact they have on people's lives, fostering a sense of purpose in their work. 00:34:48 - Employee Engagement and Impact The conversation highlights the significance of employees believing that their work makes a difference and the impact it has on their engagement and satisfaction, ultimately leading to better outcomes for the organization. 00:36:35 - What Makes Great Teams Great Yaeger emphasizes that great teams are committed to creating an environment where employees feel connected and responsible for each other, believing that their work changes lives and treating them differently than other organizations would. 00:40:26 - Don Yaeger's All-Time Favorite Movie Yaeger shares his favorite sports movie, "Hoosiers," emphasizing the idea of coming together to achieve amazing things, reflecting the themes of teamwork and commitment discussed in the episode. Importance of Culture in Teams Culture forms the foundation of a team, shaping behaviors, attitudes, and values. A positive and inclusive culture cultivates trust and unity among team members, fostering a sense of belonging and shared purpose. Leaders play a crucial role in shaping and nurturing a culture that empowers individuals and drives collective success. Effective Employee Engagement Strategies Engaged employees are more productive, motivated, and committed to the organization's goals. Implementing strategies that recognize and value employees' contributions fosters a sense of ownership and loyalty. By soliciting feedback, offering growth opportunities, and promoting a healthy work-life balance, leaders can create a work environment where employees thrive and contribute their best work. The resources mentioned in this episode are: Connect with Don Yaeger on LinkedIn for more insights and inspiration on building great teams. Visit Don Yaeger's website at donyaeger.com to explore his work, books, and speaking engagements. Check out the Corporate Competitor Podcast at corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for valuable leadership and team-building content. Explore Leadfeeder for real-time website visitor tracking and lead engagement to revolutionize your lead generation and sales efforts. Download Fly Message for free to save time and increase productivity with a personal writing assistant and text expander.

Guest: Don Yaeger,  a Hall of Fame keynote speaker, a business leadership coach, and a 12-time New York Times best-selling author. Don is the host of the highly rated Corporate Competitor Podcast and National Geographic's Storyteller in Residence. He's also a longtime associate editor for Sports Illustrated and one of America's premier thought leaders on storytelling, leadership, and greatness. Overview: Your company's tech stack needs AI integration. But stories are like software for the brain.  Once you've uploaded them, they can be recalled and replayed to inspire action in your audience again and again. On today's show, Don Yaeger discusses the art and impact of storytelling. We explore how mastering this skill can transform your business, your leadership, and your personal life. We also talk about why storytelling is one of the most powerful leadership tools available to you and how it can help drive meaningful action and Make BIG Happen. To get a jump start on improving your own storytelling skills, download Don's 45 Questions to Help You Develop Your Story Bank.

Don Yaeger is someone you would call a master storyteller! In this episode of Tell Us a Good Story, Don shares several unforgettable stories from his career as a New York Times bestselling author and his time at Sports Illustrated. Stories include his incredible relationships with legends like Coach Mike Krzyzewski, Michael Jordan, and Walter... The post Episode 252: Don Yaeger appeared first on Kevin + Steph.

Don Yaeger has built a career on sharing leadership stories from luminaries like basketball coach John Wooden, Hall of Fame football player Walter Payton, and dozens of other world class coaches and athletes. He is an award-winning keynote speaker, business leadership coach, and the author or co-author of eleven New York Times bestselling books, including John Wooden's A Game Plan For Life. Prior to his leadership coaching career, Don was a celebrated journalist, covering presidential candidates, Olympic athletes, sports legends and more. On this classic episode, Don joined host Robert Glazer on the Elevate Podcast to discuss the lessons he's learned in his career, the difference between great performers and great coaches, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this captivating episode of Start With a Win, host Adam Contos invites listeners to explore the profound connection between leadership and the power of sports. Joined by the legendary Don Yaeger, a master storyteller and leadership expert, the discussion delves into how high-performance teamwork in sports can seamlessly translate into the business world. Don, who has worked with iconic figures like Walter Payton and John Wooden, shares insights from his journey and reveals how the best THIS not only captivate but inspire actionable change. This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to harness the power of narrative to lead with impact and connect on a deeper level.Don Yaeger is an award-winning keynote speaker, twelve-time New York Times best-selling author, and host of the top-rated Corporate Competitor Podcast. With a career spanning roles as Storyteller in Residence for National Geographic, Executive Leadership Coach, and longtime Associate Editor for Sports Illustrated, Don is recognized as one of America's most provocative thought leaders. Renowned figures like John Maxwell and Simon Sinek have praised him as the best storyteller they've ever worked with, a reputation that has earned him invitations to major talk shows, including Oprah and Good Morning America.In 2020, Don launched the Corporate Competitor Podcast, which quickly became a top-rated show in America and by 2022, was listed by Spotify in the top five percent of the most followed and shared podcasts worldwide. He has interviewed high-profile guests such as former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and CEOs of major companies like Disney and Delta Airlines. Don resides in Tallahassee, Florida, with his wife, Jeanette, and their two children.⚡️FREE RESOURCE:

Mike "C-Roc" welcomes Don Yaeger, a 12-time New York Times bestselling author, renowned keynote speaker, and former associate editor of Sports Illustrated. Don shares his incredible journey from a high school student reluctantly placed on the school newspaper to becoming one of the most trusted figures in sports journalism. He reflects on the power of curiosity, which has driven his career and helped him build relationships with some of the greatest athletes and business leaders of our time. Don discusses the importance of genuine interest in others, the value of asking meaningful questions, and how these principles have shaped his life and career. He also reveals insights into his work with iconic figures like Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Walter Payton, emphasizing the significance of trust and authenticity in building lasting connections. This conversation is filled with wisdom for anyone looking to unlock their full potential and achieve greatness in their personal and professional lives. Website - https://donyaeger.com/ Social Media Links/Handles- https://www.facebook.com/donyaeger/ https://www.instagram.com/donyaeger https://www.linkedin.com/in/donyaeger https://x.com/donyaeger https://www.youtube.com/@corporatecompetitorpodcast

We've all heard the saying, don't reinvent the wheel. To get from where you are to where you want to be, you need to imitate those who have already achieved greatness.No one embraces that mantra more than our guest, Don Yaeger. He studied the lessons on achieving happiness and success from some of the most iconic sports legends and entrepreneurs in the world. He's now on a mission to share his message and to help guide people in building a culture of greatness. Don is an 11-time New York Times bestselling author and longtime associate editor for Sports Illustrated. His mini media appearances include Oprah Fox and Friends Nightline, CNN, and Good Morning America. He's an award-winning international speaker and host of the popular Corporate Competitor podcast.He regularly speaks to some of the brightest world-class executives on how sports shape their professional trajectory in life. And his latest book is Great Teams 16 Things High-Performing Organizations Do Differently.  

As an award-winning keynote speaker, business leadership coach, a twelve-time New York Times Best-selling author, host of the top-rated Corporate Competitor Podcast, National Geographic's “Storyteller in Residence,” and longtime Associate Editor for Sports Illustrated, Don Yaeger has fashioned a career as one of America's most provocative thought leaders.  As a speaker, he has worked with audiences as diverse as Fortune 500 companies and cancer survivor groups, where he shares his personal story. He is primarily sought to discuss lessons on achieving greatness, learned from first-hand experiences with some of the greatest sports and business legends in the world.  Additionally, Don has been retained by companies and organizations to coach their leaders on building a culture of greatness by looking at Great Teams in sports and discerning the business lessons we can learn from them. In 2023, Real Leaders magazine acknowledged Don as a “Speaker to Watch” because of his success on stage. Throughout his writing career, Don has developed a reputation as a world-class storyteller and has been invited as a guest to every major talk show – from Oprah to Nightline, from CNN to Good Morning America. Few journalists can lay claim to as exciting and colorful a career as Don Yaeger. 

What does it take to be truly great? It's easy to think greatness is only for a lucky few. But that belief will leave you powerless—feeling that without certain natural traits, high levels of success just aren't in the cards for you. But what if the real difference between average and great lies in simple, doable habits and mindsets that anyone can adopt? The truth is, there are some not-so-obvious hacks that can help rewire your brain for greatness.   In this week's episode, host Donald Miller sits down with Don Yaeger, the New York Times bestselling author of over 40 books, including biographies of some of the world's greatest athletes and leaders. Yaeger shares profound insights from his rare interviews with over 2,500 high achievers like Michael Jordan, John Wooden, Walter Payton, and more. He unveils the daily habits and mindsets that have catapulted true legends to the top. Tune in and learn the secrets of the world's most successful people and how you can use these lessons to gain a competitive edge and stay ahead of the pack.   --   STUCK TRYING TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS? SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION FOR A CHANCE TO HAVE US COACH THROUGH IT ON THE SHOW: BusinessMadeSimple.com/Podcast    ORDER COACH BUILDER, DONALD MILLER'S NEW BOOK, AND TRANSFORM YOUR EXPERTISE INTO A LUCRATIVE CONSULTING CAREER: CoachBuilderBook.com/Podcast   IF YOU'RE SERIOUS ABOUT IMPLEMENTING A PLAN TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS AND REVENUE, FLIGHT SCHOOL IS FOR YOU! JOIN NOW: SmallBusinessFlightSchool.com.   FIND AND FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: Instagram.com/BusinessMadeSimple

Ep. 181: Colgate Football shaped this leader whose family of companies serves more than 38.5 million people. You will learn how to model calm presence and total responsibility to your team when these qualities are needed most. Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don's favorite quotes from today's episode and a reflection question so you can apply Pat's insights.  --- Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.  Special thanks to Hannah Edwards and Catherine Pattillo for making this episode possible.

Don Yaeger, longtime Sports Illustrated editor and bestselling author, shares Warrick Dunn's powerful journey. Guided by his late mother's wisdom, Dunn transformed tragedy into triumph, both on and off the field. Hear Darren Hardy recount this moving tale of resilience and the lesson it holds for us all. Get more personal mentoring from Darren each day. Go to DarrenDaily at http://darrendaily.com/join to learn more.

Robert speaks with Don Yaegar, we talk about his corporate competitor podcast and the access the podcast has given him. He shares about how athletic success translate to business success and how so many successful leaders have sports background. He loves to share the greatness of the people he works with both on his podcast and in the books and articles that he writes. As an award-winning keynote speaker, a twelve-time New York Times Best-selling author, host of the top-rated Corporate Competitor Podcast, Storyteller in Residence for National Geographic, Executive Leadership Coach, and longtime Associate Editor for Sports Illustrated, Don Yaeger has fashioned a career as one of America's most provocative thought leaders. He is primarily sought after to discuss lessons on achieving Greatness, learned from first-hand work alongside some of the greatest sports and business legends in the world. Additionally, Don has been retained by companies and organizations to coach their leaders on building a culture of Greatness, using the framework built through his exhaustive study of Great Teams in sports and business, discerning the lessons we can learn from them. Throughout his writing career, Don has developed a reputation as a world-class storyteller, in fact, renowned thought leaders such as John Maxwell and Simon Sinek have called Don the best storyteller they have ever worked with! Because of these achievements, Don has been invited as a guest to every major talk show - from Oprah to Fox Business News, from CNN to Good Morning America.In 2020 Don launched the Corporate Competitor Podcast, which Podcast Magazine quickly recognized as one of the Top 50 Podcasts in America. By 2022 Spotify had listed Corporate Competitor Podcast in the top five percent of the most followed and shared podcasts in the world. Among the guests interviewed by Don for episodes of the podcast have been former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the CEOs of Disney, Delta Airlines, Bank of America, Hendrick Motorsports, KPMG, FanDuel, Chick-fil-A, Insight Enterprises, TopGolf, Mayo Clinic, BET Media and Ritz Carlton. Born and raised in Hawaii, Don has traveled extensively through his career. A graduate of Ball State University where he was selected as one of the university's “50 Graduates of Distinction” over its first century and subsequently was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2022, Don now resides in Tallahassee, Florida. He and his wife, Jeanette, have a son (Will) and a daughter (Madeleine).Learn more at www.donyaeger.com or contact don at donw@greatnessinc.com Subscribe to Don Yaeger's Corporate Competitor Podcast and receive a free chapter of his best-selling book on the habits of Great Teams. https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/ Connect with Don on social media @donyaeger

In the vast ocean of leadership theories and practices, how do we distinguish the strategies that truly make a difference? Among the numerous tools at a leader's disposal, one ancient craft stands out for its unparalleled ability to inspire, motivate, and unify teams: storytelling. The latest episode of Fordify LIVE!, featuring the distinguished Don Yaeger, delves into this very topic, "Mastering Leadership Through the Art of Storytelling." Imagine a workplace where every team member feels deeply connected to the mission, where each goal is vividly brought to life through compelling narratives. This isn't a distant dream but a tangible reality that storytelling in leadership can achieve. Ford Saeks and Don Yaeger take us on a journey to explore how stories have the power to transform abstract concepts into relatable, motivating forces. Stories are more than just entertainment; they are the fabric that can hold teams together, especially in challenging times. They have the unique ability to humanize leaders, making them more approachable and relatable to their teams. But how exactly does storytelling forge stronger connections and foster a sense of belonging among team members? Ford and Don discuss how leaders can utilize storytelling to: Enhance Communication: Complex ideas become engaging and understandable when wrapped in the context of a story. Leaders can use storytelling to clarify visions, strategies, and goals, making them more accessible and compelling. Build Connection and Trust: Stories reveal personal experiences and vulnerabilities, allowing leaders to connect with their teams on a deeper level. This emotional connection fosters trust and encourages a more collaborative and supportive work environment. Inspire and Motivate: The right narrative can act as a powerful motivator, encouraging teams to rally around a common goal. Stories of past successes, challenges overcome, and the journey ahead can inspire action and dedication. Don Yaeger, a maestro in weaving captivating stories from his encounters with sports and business legends, shares insights on how these narratives can be applied in leadership contexts. The episode is rich with examples of how successful leaders have used storytelling to lead their teams to greatness. Beyond individual stories, the episode touches on how leaders can use storytelling to cultivate a culture of excellence within their organizations. Don and Ford discuss the importance of creating narratives that encompass the organization's values, mission, and vision, embedding these principles into the daily lives of team members. In this episode, Ford and Don not only highlight the importance of storytelling in leadership but also provide actionable strategies for incorporating narrative techniques into leadership practices. As we navigate the complexities of modern leadership, embracing the art of storytelling emerges as a powerful tool for creating meaningful connections, driving motivation, and building a culture of greatness. To experience the full depth of this conversation and gain more insights into leveraging the power of storytelling in your leadership journey, watch the full interview on YouTube. About Don Yaeger Don Yaeger is not just an accomplished individual; he is a force of nature in the realms of journalism, authorship, and motivational speaking. His storied career spans decades, during which he has not only rubbed shoulders with the greatest sports legends and business icons but also mastered the art of extracting profound lessons from these encounters. As an eleven-time New York Times Best-selling author, Don has penned narratives that have moved, inspired, and educated millions of people. With a keen eye for the compelling and a heart deeply invested in the narratives of greatness, Don's journey began in the challenging world of journalism. His early days at the San Antonio Light laid the groundwork for a career that would see him seeking stories across the globe—from walking into Afghanistan with the Mujahadeen to delving into the underworld in China. His dedication to uncovering truth and sharing insightful stories catapulted him to the prestigious role of Associate Editor at Sports Illustrated, where his work not only covered the glory of sports but also its impactful intersection with society. Beyond his written contributions, Don hosts the Corporate Competitor Podcast, where his interviews with world-leading executives and coaches unravel the essence of high performance and leadership. This platform, coupled with his engaging keynote speeches and leadership coaching, positions Don as a pivotal figure in guiding leaders towards fostering cultures of excellence. His storytelling prowess, celebrated by figures like John Maxwell and Simon Sinek, has solidified his reputation as one of the most compelling narrators of our time. Find out more about Don at DonYaeger.com. About Ford Saeks Ford Saeks, renowned as a Business Growth Accelerator, has carved a unique niche in the business world with his innovative approaches to driving success. With a career spanning over 20 years, Ford has been instrumental in generating over a billion dollars in sales worldwide, catering to an extensive range of companies from nimble startups to esteemed Fortune 500 corporations. As the visionary President and CEO of Prime Concepts Group, Inc., his expertise in harnessing the power of marketing to attract loyal customers, expand brand awareness, and fuel innovation has set him apart as a leader in his field. Ford's entrepreneurial spirit is unmatched; having founded over ten companies, he brings a wealth of practical experience and insightful strategies to the table. He is also an accomplished author of five books, where he shares his strategies for business growth and personal success. His innovative contributions have not gone unnoticed, with three U.S. patents to his name and a collection of industry accolades that highlight his influence and impact. In the realm of AI prompt engineering, Ford stands out for his adeptness at training AI technologies like ChatGPT to create compelling content that not only engages audiences but also drives tangible business results. His expertise in this area was prominently featured at the “Unleash AI for Business Summit,” where he discussed the transformative potential of AI in revolutionizing business operations, marketing, sales, and enhancing the overall customer experience. Ford's insights and strategies are accessible through his website, ProfitRichResults.com, and his engaging TV Show, Fordify.tv, where he continues to share valuable tips and innovative solutions for business growth and leadership.

You are a product of the people you spend time with, and today's guest has spent hundreds and thousands of hours with some of the most successful coaches and athletes in the world. Don Yaeger is south after for his perspectives on building a championship culture, and today I'm excited to share our conversation on mentorship, building a championship team, developing trust, and how to be a great storyteller.

As an award-winning keynote speaker, an eleven-time New York Times Best-selling author, host of the top-rated Corporate Competitor Podcast, Executive Leadership Coach, and longtime Associate Editor for Sports Illustrated, Don Yaeger has fashioned a career as one of America's most provocative thought leaders. The son of a preacher, Yaeger has earned the trust of some of the biggest names in sports, collaborating on books with Walter Payton, John Wooden, John Smoltz, Warren Moon, Bubba Watson, and Deion Sanders. Today on the podcast, we talk to Don Yaeger about his journey of faith, earning the trust of athletes, personal stories from his time with Walter Payton and John Wooden and the importance of mentoring in life. Sign up for our Sports Spectrum Magazine and receive 15% off a 1-year subscription by using the code PODCAST15 ⁠⁠⁠⁠http://SportsSpectrum.com/magazine⁠⁠⁠⁠  Do you know Christ personally? Click ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn how you can commit your life to Him.

What draws out a good story is if you can ask a good question and you ask a better question if you're a little more well prepared. - Don Yaeger In this episode of Positive University, Jon sits down with Don Yaeger, a seasoned writer and storyteller, to explore the profound impact of sports on leadership success. Yaeger's extensive experience in collaborative writing with sports icons like Walter Payton and Deion Sanders provides unique insights into the intersection of sports and business. With a focus on the importance of sports in shaping leadership skills and preparing individuals for future success, Yaeger's conversation with Gordon delves into the power of storytelling, highlighting the transformative impact of individual actions on collective goals. Through shared stories and lessons, this conversation serves as a reminder of the resilience, belief, and preparation required to achieve one's goals, making it a must-listen for leaders in sports and business seeking to gain enhanced leadership skills and success. About Don: As an award-winning keynote speaker, an eleven-time New York Times Best-selling author, host of the top-rated Corporate Competitor Podcast, Executive Leadership Coach, and longtime Associate Editor for Sports Illustrated, Don Yaeger has fashioned a career as one of America's most provocative thought leaders. He is primarily sought to discuss lessons on achieving Greatness, learned from first-hand work alongside some of the greatest sports and business legends in the world including John Wooden and Walter Payton. Throughout his writing career, Don has developed a reputation as a world-class storyteller, in fact, renowned thought leaders such as John Maxwell and Simon Sinek have called Don the best storyteller they have ever worked with! Because of these achievements, Don has been invited as a guest to every major talk show – from Oprah to Fox Business News, from CNN to Good Morning America.

Leadership Speaker and longtime Associate Editor for Sport Illustrated, Don Yaeger is on on mic at Risky Benefits for Episode 15. Listen in as we talk about the journey to personal greatness. The effect that perspective has on our ability to consider different definitions of greatness, and the goal to be “a river not a reservoir”. This podcast is all about how we can learn from each other's life journeys to understand both ourselves and each other better.MORE ABOUT OUR GUEST:Don YaegerInspirational Keynote Speaker, Team Builder, NY Times Best-selling Author, Host of Corporate Competitor Podcast, Executive Coach, Forbes Senior Contributor, and Maxwell Leadership Thought LeaderIn my 30+ years as an author and journalist for Sports Illustrated, I've had the incredible fortune of spending time with some of the greatest winners of all time. While interviewing legends like Michael Jordan, Coach John Wooden, Michael Oher, Walter Payton and countless others, I've always carved out time to discuss GREATNESS -- and what, specifically, it takes to get from good to GREAT. From these conversations I've developed a “suite” of keynote speeches as well as virtual learning courses that takes a deeper dive into what it takes to Build a Great Team.This suite of speeches is deeply rooted in three of my books GREATNESS: The 16 Characteristics of True Champions, where I discuss high-performing individuals; Great Teams: 16 Things High Performing Organizations Do Differently, lessons learned from the greatest team-builders of all time; and one of my latest New York Times best-sellers, TEAMMATE: My Journey in Baseball and a World Series for the Ages, where I share how to become invaluable without being most valuable.Please stop by my website to learn more: www.donyaeger.com.To listen in and subscribe to more episodes, visit our website: fbmc.com/podcast.

Don Yaeger has built a career on sharing leadership stories from luminaries like basketball coach John Wooden, Hall of Fame football player Walter Payton, and dozens of other world class coaches and athletes. He is an award-winning keynote speaker, business leadership coach, and the author or co-author of eleven New York Times bestselling books, including John Wooden's A Game Plan For Life. Prior to his leadership coaching career, Don was a celebrated journalist, covering presidential candidates, Olympic athletes, sports legends and more. Don joined host Robert Glazer on the Elevate Podcast to discuss the lessons he's learned in his career, the difference between great performers and great coaches, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's time to welcome award winning author and speaker, Don Yaeger, to Linch with a Leader. In this episode, Mike and Don discuss the art of asking great questions, stories from the greatest athletes he's covered, defining greatness, and the role faith plays in all of it. Welcome to the Linch with a Leader Podcast, where you're invited to join the spiritual principles behind big success, with host Mike Linch.Subscribe to the channel so you never miss an episode: youtube.com/@linchwithaleaderPrefer just listening? SUBSCRIBE to the podcast here: Spotify AppleFind show notes and more information at: www.mikelinch.comFollow for EVERYDAY leadership content and interaction:Follow on X: https://twitter.com/mikelinchFollow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikelinch/Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092865145437JOIN Mike for a Sunday at NorthStar Church:www.northstarchurch.orgyoutube.com/@nsckennesawWant More Leadership Content from Don Yaeger:Follow on X: https://x.com/DonYaeger?s=20Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donyaeger/?hl=enFollow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/donyaeger/Subscribe to Don's Podcast, 'Corporate Competitor': https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/Read one of Don's Books: https://donyaeger.com/product-category/books/

High achievers think differently. From athletes like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods to coaches like John Wooden, no one understands the performance mindset of these champions better than Don Yaeger.  Don is the author of 35 books — 11 of which are New York Times Best Sellers — and has interviewed countless athletes and leaders about winning, on and off the field. In this Forward Focused episode, we sat down with Don to talk about the habits of high performers … how they think, live, prepare and work. Spoiler alert: they rarely attribute their success to raw talent. _____ Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:57 - Meeting Up With Don Yaeger 02:38 - The History of Don Yaeger 04:01 - 16 Characteristics of Greatness 07:06 - Lessons From John Wooden 14:29 - Greatness of Michael Jordan 18:53 - Learning from Tiger Woods 23:02 - The Best in Class 25:45 - Actual Alignment 26:36 - The Pyramid of Success 28:26 - Greatness is a Journey! 29:52 - Reminders of What Actually Matters 31:19 - Memorable Share From Don Yaeger 33:07 - The Corporate Competitor Podcast 34:27 - Outro ____  Additional Links:  The Corporate Competitor Podcast -  https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/ 16 Characteristics of Greatness - https://donyaeger.com/characteristics-of-greatness/ Pyramid of SUCCESS -  https://www.thewoodeneffect.com/pyramid-of-success/ ____  Make sure to follow and subscribe to Forward Focused! FF YouTube Channel -  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxtUipNedQ-XqYWLW5d8Bw FF Instagram -  https://www.instagram.com/getforwardfocused/ FF Facebook -  https://www.facebook.com/getforwardfocused/ Jon Reusch LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-reusch-ba29561a --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/get-forward-focused/message

Walter Payton is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time. He played running back for the Chicago Bears for 13 seasons, from 1975 to 1987, even winning a Super Bowl with them. However, despite his family-friendly persona, he had flaws in his marriage and romances, most of which were revealed after his death in 1999. Research and Resources: Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton by Jeff Pearlman - https://tinyurl.com/mjam2cvv Never Die Easy: The Autobiography of Walter Payton by Walter Payton and Don Yaeger - https://tinyurl.com/3k6bfcsf Payton by Connie Payton, Jarrett Payton, and Brittney Payton - https://tinyurl.com/mrxdavxn Walter & Me: Standing in the Shadow of Sweetness by Eddie Payton - https://tinyurl.com/k3a3hvwr "Sweetness left a legacy of love" by Larry Mayer - https://tinyurl.com/27v53d3m "Ebony Visits Payton's Place" - https://tinyurl.com/3veewv3n "Wives of Sports Superstars" by Pamela Noel - https://tinyurl.com/yh3jk6vf "Honoring Walter Payton by Registering as Organ Donors" by Toni Monkovic - https://tinyurl.com/2p8wmw58 "MIKE DITKA DOUBLES DOWN ON WALTER PAYTON SUPER BOWL REGRET: ‘GROSS MISTAKE'" by Zach Dean - https://tinyurl.com/3fp4499d Aisle Tell You What is a deep dive at some of the most epic and memorable weddings and marriages throughout Black History. Our journey down memory lane isn't meant with malintent, but from a place of nostalgia, inspiration, and realism. Aisle Tell You What is brought to you by Hueido. Hueido is a media brand that adds color to Black weddings and marriage from yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Say thank you / donate https://tinyurl.com/5e9b7rtd Get the COZY. shirt - https://tinyurl.com/34zvzfxc Grab merch https://tinyurl.com/shopaisletell Email Aisle Tell You What at aisle[at]hueido.com All other links you want https://msha.ke/aisletell

Whether you're a sports enthusiast, a leader looking for new perspectives, or simply seeking inspiration to become an invaluable leader, this episode is for you. Join Mark Cole as he talks with Don Yaeger on the final stop of our U.S. City Tour. Mark and Don discuss the journey of growth, determination, and the pursuit of excellence.  Key takeaways: -       The role learning plays in being a great team player -       How to be invaluable without being the MVP -       The correlation between success and humility Our BONUS resource for this episode is the “Become an Invaluable Leader Worksheet,” which includes fill-in-the-blank notes from Mark and Don's conversation. You can download the worksheet by visiting MaxwellPodcast.com/Teammate and clicking “Download the Bonus Resource.” References: Watch this episode on YouTube! Teammate by Don Yeager and David Ross (use code PODCAST at checkout for 15% off this week only) Relevant Episode: Journey to Greatness with Don Yaeger Relevant Episode: You Are Worth It with Kyle Carpenter and Don Yaeger Relevant Episode: Why John Wooden's Team Won with Don Yeager Book Don Yaeger to speak for your organization! Listen to the Corporate Competitor Podcast Sign up for the Maxwell Leadership Growth Plan Shop the Maxwell Leadership Online Store

Joel Goldberg is joined by one of the most provocative thought leaders of our generation. As a journalist by trade, evidence of his world-class storytelling can be found everywhere from in front of a camera to holding a mic. But most notably, in black and white font. Don Yaeger is the celebrated Sports Illustrated writer, award-winning speaker and President of Greatness Inc. Thirty years discussing success with America's most distinguished sports legends will teach you a lot about real winning, and now, he shares his all-access point of view with others, to help them in their own pursuit of greatness. Website: https://donyaeger.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donyaeger/?hl=en Twitter: https://twitter.com/DonYaeger Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/donyaeger/

Ep. 148: Equestrian and track & field shaped the leader responsible for Visa's partnerships with the NFL, Olympics, and FIFA.  In the months leading up to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, Andrea's team will launch a marketing campaign based on the premise that “behind every number, there is a story” that will bring the achievements of these world-class athletes to life!! Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource. If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!  Special thanks to Kyle Smedley and David Beira for making this episode possible.

How cool must it be to hang out with sports icons and write about them for a living? Well, Don Yaeger has made a career out of it - making him a sports icon himself. Don shares lessons from legends with us this week. He generously tells us many of the leadership philosophies of the greats - and adds in a fun story about the greatest of all time as well. Not only is Don a Best-Selling author, he is also an Executive Coach and Award-Winning Speaker. And after spending some time with him, we can see why. Learn more about Don: donyaeger.comIn two weeks, we will hit 100 episodes!! Stay tuned on June 14th for the release of a very special 100th episode featuring highlights from the first 99. Thank you for your support, and here's to the next 100!This week's episode is sponsored by Coach Jim Johnson Speaking. Looking for a speaker to motivate, educate, or inspire your organization? Coach's calendar is filling up fast! Learn more at coachjimjohnson.com

Today we're excited to invite Mark Cole and John Maxwell's good friend, Ron Simmons, onto the podcast. Ron has many years of leadership experience, and he shares some of the most important lessons he's learned in his new book, Life Lessons from the Little Red Wagon. You, our listeners, should also be excited about this book because our very own Maxwell Leadership Thought Leader, Don Yaeger, worked on this book with Ron! And, we all know how great of a story-teller Don is.  So, if you want to learn how to take charge and create a path to success in your life and your leadership, don't miss this episode, and be sure to grab your own copy of Ron's book! Our BONUS resource for this episode is “The Little Red Wagon Worksheet,” which includes fill-in-the-blank notes from Mark and Ron's discussion. You can download the worksheet by visiting MaxwellPodcast.com/Wagon and clicking “Download the Bonus Resource.” References: Watch this episode on YouTube! Life Lessons from the Little Red Wagon by Ron Simmons Learn more about Don Yaeger Sign up for the Maxwell Leadership Growth Plan Shop the Maxwell Leadership Online Store

Ep. 144: Jesse is BACK as our first repeat guest to talk about our new book Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas.  Whether at the ballpark, on social media, onstage delivering keynotes, or in features for ESPN, Jesse continues to create fans all over the world. The Bananas have sold out every game since their first season and have a waitlist for tickets in the thousands. They have entertained millions of fans in Savannah and at ballparks all over their country on their Banana Ball Tour. Listen now and take notes on our free BONUS RESOURCE. +If you want to connect with Don Yaeger to next-level your company culture connect with him at maxwellleadership.com/don Special thanks to Lauren Hafner and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.  

Episode Summary: In this episode of the L3 Leadership podcast, Don Yeager joins Doug to talk about what he's learned from influential leaders, storytelling, and his writing career.About Don Yaeger: As an award-winning keynote speaker, an eleven-time New York Times Best-selling author, host of the top-rated Corporate Competitor Podcast, Executive Leadership Coach, and longtime Associate Editor for Sports Illustrated, Don Yaeger has fashioned a career as one of America's most provocative thought leaders.He is primarily sought to discuss lessons on achieving Greatness, learned from first-hand work alongside some of the greatest sports and business legends in the world. Additionally, Don has been retained by companies and organizations to coach their leaders on building a culture of Greatness, using the framework built through his exhaustive study of Great Teams in sports and business, discerning the lessons we can learn from them. Throughout his writing career, Don has developed a reputation as a world-class storyteller, in fact, renowned thought leaders such as John Maxwell and Simon Sinek have called Don the best storyteller they have ever worked with! Because of these achievements, Don has been invited as a guest to every major talk show – from Oprah to Fox Business News, from CNN to Good Morning America.Don began his career as a reporter for the San Antonio Light where he rose through the ranks to pen investigative features for the daily. He later moved on to the Dallas Morning News. Following his stint in Dallas, he worked as a political editor for the Florida Times-Union. After four years, he decided to dedicate himself to the pursuit of writing books. Don's first book, Undue Process: The NCAA's Injustice For All, was published in 1990. In the 30+ years since, he has penned more than three dozen books, including an incredible ELEVEN New York Times Best-sellers.Born and raised in Hawaii, Don has traveled extensively through his career. A graduate of Ball State University where he was selected as one of the university's “50 Graduates of Distinction” over its first century and subsequently was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2022, Don now resides in Tallahassee, Florida. He and his wife, Jeanette, have a son (Will) and a daughter (Madeleine).4 Key Takeaways:1. Don talks about how he's been able to meet with and be mentored by various influential leaders throughout the years and shares some wisdom he's learned about interviewing leaders.2. He shares some tips for leaders who may want to get better at storytelling.3. Don gives advice to people who want to write books.4. He talks about some of the most influential leadership moments he's witnessed and what he's learned from those interactions. Quotes From the Episode:“One thing that I always look for are ways to ask the hard question.”“You need to be really passionate about whatever it is you're going to write about.”“We have to remember that what we do matters, and we have to be reminded who it matters to.”Resources Mentioned:Don's BooksConnect with Don:Website | Instagram | Linkedin | Facebook | Twitter | Youtube

We've all heard the saying, don't reinvent the wheel. To get from where you are to where you want to be, you need to imitate those who have already achieved greatness. No one embraces that mantra more than our guest, Don Yaeger. He studied the lessons on achieving happiness and success from some of the most iconic sports legends and entrepreneurs in the world. He's now on a mission to share his message and to help guide people in building a culture of greatness. SPONSORED BY CARDIOMIRACLE: The most advanced heart-healthy nitric oxide booster in the world, with 50+ whole food nutrients. CardioMiracle.com [use promo code "CardioNow!" for 20% discount] Don is an 11-time New York Times bestselling author and longtime associate editor for Sports Illustrated. His mini media appearances include Oprah Fox and Friends Nightline, CNN, and Good Morning America. He's an award-winning international speaker and host of the popular Corporate Competitor podcast. He regularly speaks to some of the brightest world-class executives on how sports shape their professional trajectory in life. And his latest book is Great Teams 16 Things High-Performing Organizations Do Differently.

Ep. 132: Football shaped the leader in charge of Cigna's U.S. employer group business market strategy, sales, and local community engagement initiatives. Some people view corporate success as climbing a ladder, Mike Triplett views it as crossing a bridge, and he takes special care never to cross a bridge without bringing someone along who contributed to his success. Our BONUS RESOURCE includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions for this episode Click here to download the bonus resource. +You can now bring host Don Yaeger's inspiration and tools for culture transformation to your team! Connect with us here: http://maxwellleadership.com/don Special thanks to Kory Gehring and Brett Rutherford for making this episode possible.

Today on the Montgomery Companies Podcast, we take a seat with 11x New York Times best-selling author, an award-winning keynote speaker, thought leader, speaker, coach, believer, and family man – Don Yaeger. Don, who has made an appearance on major talk shows such as Oprah, CNN, and Good Morning America, has given his life's work to understanding leadership, and figuring out what makes top leaders and top teams tick. In his pursuit of leadership wisdom, Don has studied thought leaders all over the world, and has spent time in and worked in 65 different countries. Perhaps most impressive is that Don is one of 6 people to have ever beat Michael Jordan in a game of one-on-one basketball. But it's not Don's accolades that make this an episode you won't want to miss, it's his stories of - and lessons from - the earth-shaking leaders he has spent time with. Learn the ONE question Don asks of every leader, the question that everyone should be asking, the question that will make YOU better for having asked it. Find out the secrets of top-performing leaders, athletes, and teams, and learn why choosing your inner circle carefully is the most important thing you can do to ensure your personal growth. Finally, prepare for the greatest lesson on forgiveness you will ever learn, as through Don's stories we are able to join Warrick Dunn as he sat down face-to-face with the death row inmate who killed his mother, and hear his response. https://www.instagram.com/donyaeger/ https://twitter.com/donyaeger

Ep. 129: Hockey shaped this cybersecurity executive, an industry with zero unemployment and three million open jobs on any given day. Download our “Make Your Employees Feel Like Superheroes” BONUS RESOURCE for this episode and connect with host Don Yaeger and the Maxwell Leadership Team.  Special thanks to Samuel Manley and Nico Finol for making this episode possible.

In today's episode, I read between the lines with former Sports Illustrated Associate Editor and 11-time New York Times Best Selling author Don Yaeger. Don is an equally powerful leadership speaker and host of the Corporate Competitor Podcast. His sports knowledge is unparalleled, and his book writing process is fascinating. Don has an innate ability to get people to have the courage to open up and be truly vulnerable. To say he is a master at his craft would be an understatement. I first met Don at the National Speakers Associations annual conference in 2018 and have been a huge fan ever since. This season I'm exploring what high performers do behind the scenes. I've been enjoying fascinating conversations with professional stand-up comedians, magicians, actors, rappers, dancers, YouTubers, athletes, coaches, and everything in between to find out exactly what they do behind the curtain – when the cameras are off and the arenas are empty – to work towards mastery of their craft and to prepare themselves to perform at a world class level. I hope you find their insights, perspectives, and personal strategies as helpful as I do and use what they share to continue to Raise Your Game.Thank you so much for investing your time with us. I hope we helped you Raise Your Game and provided useful insight on how you can maximize your time and effort. If you found this episode helpful, would you be open-minded to supporting the show? Would you be kind enough to share it with a friend or colleague? Would you take 30 seconds and leave us a rating and review? Those two things help support the show's mission and message more than you know. And don't ever forget, a candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.Sustain Your Game teaches you how to bring your A game to every area of your life. With advice from top CEOs, journalists, social scientists, and more, you'll learn the framework for how to beat stress, stagnation, and burnout. Sustain Your Game will help you be the best in your arena, wherever that may be.Sustain Your Game if available now at http://www.SustainYourGameBook.comPlease make sure to join the conversations at @AlanSteinJr on all major social platforms, go to AlanSteinJr.com to subscribe to my Game Changer monthly emails.Additionally, you can order the audiobook of Raise Your Game: High Performance Secrets from the Best of the Best at http://www.Audible.com or wherever audiobooks are sold. You can also order paperback or hard copies, for you or your entire team or organization, at http://www.RaiseYourGameBook.com. Lastly, if I can ever be of service to you or your organization, please visit AlanSteinJr.com and StrongerTeam.com for a variety of speaking and coaching resources. 

[From the archives: This episode was originally released on October 12, 2019.] Don Yaeger is an award-winning speaker, a New York Times Bestselling Author, and executive coach. He has spoken to many large businesses and conferences on improving company culture and how to stay productive. In this episode with Don Yaeger: how improving company culture leads to increased productivity, how to overcome a poor company culture, the power of the one-jerk rule, and why empowered teams are important. Overwhelmed? Snag the free guide, 10 Quick Ways to Conquer Overwhelm! It's my gift to you. http://OverwhelmSucks.com WHO IS MARK STRUCZEWSKI? Mark “Ski” Struczewski (also known as Mister Productivity) is a productivity expert that is obsessed with helping 100 million solopreneurs bust through overwhelm by 2032.

Jim and Jan discuss the latest crucible expeditions to hopefully inspire and uplift you! Jan has led 21 crucible expeditions to date, and through the diversity of executives and military veterans, they keep providing new insights. Participants come by invitation (or application), and are selected for selflessness, an adventurous spirit, and possessing heroic aspirations to make a difference in the lives of others. Jan's process is to design the experience, select the participants, get them together, and step back to let them learn and grow as a team, as the magic happens. Participants learn they have more in common than they have differences and strong bonds are formed. Listen in to learn how some of these lessons can apply to your organization.   https://bit.ly/TLP-324   Key Takeaways [2:03] In this episode, Jan and Jim recap some learnings from two recent back-to-back crucible expeditions that Jan completed. A crucible expedition with Jan is a four-day, three-night wilderness expedition with executives who need a digital detox coupled with military veterans who are transitioning to the business world. The veterans are mostly from the Special Operations community. [3:02] Participants go rock-climbing and backpacking in the middle of nowhere. Really great people get together for some great conversations. Jan selects the executives and veterans on three criteria: they are people who are trying to be as selfless as possible for the greater good, are adventurous, and possess heroic aspirations to try and make the world a better place, in things beyond power and money. [3:57] By selecting those criteria, they get a bunch of strangers coming together as a team very quickly. Based on work Jan has done with surveys by PAIRIN, he believes that when people are out there with strangers, unlike with work colleagues, they have nothing to prove, protect, or promote. [4:24] Jim has been on the Patagonia and Moab crucibles and he attests that they are incredible experiences that move you in ways you would never expect. Jan has done 21 crucible expeditions so far. [5:34] Jan has found that his talent lies not in charismatic leadership but in designing the environment and culture for the team, stepping back, staying out of the way, and letting the magic happen. Jan shares his critique of an expedition Jim was on a few years ago. He says he should have stepped away more and guided things and discussions through questions. [7:30] Jan shares a crucible learning for your work. There is one person in charge, and the second person is the accountability partner. If the leader takes a wrong turn, the accountability partner lets them make the mistake and learn from it. We don't grow and develop without making and correcting mistakes. Let your people at work learn and develop from their mistakes. [10:09] On the crucibles, you've got executives that are making the time and space for their improvement. Jan just spoke to someone who loved the outdoor aspect of the crucible and feels like she needs more time off. Jan tells executives to find the sweet spot between sitting on the hill, figuring out what their team needs, and getting with the team, working with them, and coaching them, first-hand. [11:44] Executive coaches work to try to get people to move from being “here,” doing “these things,” to being “there,” doing “those things.” It takes self-discipline, sacrifice, focus, delegation, and trust to get there. That's where accountability partners come in, plus taking time to reflect. Jan tells about the three-hour solo challenge of silent alone-time, thinking for three hours, and reporting on it later. [13:30] The bedrock of the crucible is that people relate to each other as humans, that they're vulnerable. People are dealing with a lot on the homefront and the things they are struggling with come up in their first meeting. Often it is family stuff. The idea that it's OK not to be OK comes through. At work, senior leaders have to be strong and act in a certain way to get performance from other people. [14:49] On a crucible, people let their guard down. They might cry around the campfire or climbing a mountain, even though they never cry. In some ways, their crying and vulnerability bring the team together. It's a gift to show your real emotions. It's not a gift stoic people share at work. And everybody on the crucible is equal. [16:25] Jim summarizes that vulnerability is the resounding theme of a crucible. You are put in a situation where you are physically vulnerable. In the evening discussions, people became more mentally and emotionally vulnerable. Jan believes that whiskey helps. He has seen it. Jim is still close to people from both of his crucible trips in a different way than his golfing buddies. [18:09] When you go out there as a business executive, having little to no experience with veterans, or the elite operators who go on these expeditions, you might think you have nothing in common with them. You come away with respect that goes both ways. You see the military in a different light. The folks in the military now see civilians in a different light. [18:56] Only one percent of the population in America has anything to do with the military. It has become a family business. Most of those families are from the South. The military is very insular. You're around people that think, act, and talk like you. Your world is filled with military acronyms. The military spends money. You're not in the generate revenue, create demand business. [20:03] A lot of the leadership and people challenges are very similar between the military and business. In the past two years, twice, a special operations commando who has carried a flag under his body armor on multiple missions decided to give that flag to executive participants from the crucible — they were flags that could have draped a body if the operator had not survived a mission. [21:37] A crucible changes people's lives. After the Patagonia crucible, Jim took a fork in the road that he might not have taken before the crucible. Jim says when you spend the time and get to know other people, you're much more similar than you think. That kind of experience is something to keep in mind when you look at our divisive society. Take the time to listen to people and gain their perspectives. [22:51] On one trip, sitting around the fire at the end, a leader said it was interesting that “none of us talked about politics or religion. I'm guessing, politically, we go from left to right and in-between. Look how great we got along. This is what Americans should be about.” It was a powerful moment. Each participant was only in the category of human with heroic aspirations beyond power and money. [24:24] The crucible cannot scale. It cannot be done with big groups in wilderness areas and some people couldn't or wouldn't do it. So, Jan is writing a book about it with a co-author who is a past crucible participant and military veteran. [25:01] There was little diversity in the first expeditions. Jan credits Sheryl Tullis with helping him make the teams intentionally diverse and representative of the workforce. Jan believes that the men bring out the best in the women participants and vice versa. Jan marvels at the self-confidence of some of the recent diverse participants. They know who they are and what they bring to the table. [27:52] One reason a recent expedition was so good was that there was diversity of age, gender, geography, and company size. The veterans were thoughtful, deliberate, cerebral people, deeply curious about the business world they were going into. These trips are about what happens in the one-on-one discussions as you're walking down the trail, and in the evening discussions around the fire.  [29:35] U.S. Navy SEAL Master Chief Stephen Drum has been on the podcast. He is writing a book and Jim is reading the preliminary manuscript for him. Stephen writes that when SEALS wash out, it is never about physical fitness. It's always about lacking strength of character, conviction, or values. Some of the strongest people on a crucible are strongest in character. [31:17] Jan mentions Don Yaeger, a Sports Illustrated writer and author of many books about great athletes. Don says all great athletes hate to lose more than they like to win. The reason Jan became a Green Beret is that he did not quit. He was 18 years old. More than he wanted to win, he did not want to fail. [32:32] In the business world, at some point things are going to be hard. There's always something nagging at you that says, “Quit.” If what you are doing is aligned with your values, then you won't quit. If it's not aligned with your values, it doesn't serve you. [33:33] Steve Drotter, a previous guest of the podcast with old-school values, said, “A career is made from having hard jobs that suck and bosses that beat you up. That makes a career!” Today, it seems the job caters to the employee. There is a supply-and-demand issue. The workplace is not as tough as it used to be. [34:50] Jan is hearing from the Army and the Marines that young people entering the services have no outdoor experience; no woodcraft or fieldcraft. Jan wonders what's happening in the business world where people come in without knowing certain things! Jim observes that their writing is atrocious. But now we don't write long business reports, we write Powerpoints. Expectations have changed. [36:54] Job conditions wax and wane, and we may go back to a more tough work environment in a few years, where employers have the upper hand, instead of the employees. These are the leadership challenges we have. [37:38] Jan's last words: The crucibles are a passion and a privilege. The only way you're going to change your narrative is to step out of your comfort zone. Whether you go on a crucible or do something else, Jan and Jim encourage you to think about the things where you find purpose and meaning, where you can make a contribution to the greater good, and be bold and make things happen. [39:14] Closing quote: “Twice and thrice over, as they say, good is it to repeat and review what is good.” — Plato.   Quotable Quotes “We select the executives and the veterans based on three criteria: We're looking for people that are trying to be as selfless as possible, … We look for people that are adventurous, … and … people who possess heroic aspirations, trying to make the world a better place.” — Jan “Most of the time I come back from a trip and I beat myself up. … I evaluate my own leadership, and participation performance, and think, ‘Woulda, coulda, shoulda.' I do think one thing I've gotten better at is doing less.” — Jan “What I have found, at least for me, is my talent isn't necessarily at being the charismatic leader; it's really being a pretty darn good designer. By that I mean if I design the environment, the culture, for the team, and I step back and stay out of the way, magic happens.” — Jan “I will say, even at my advanced age, I'm still a work in progress.” — Jan “The lesson won't be learned the same if you go, ‘Wait, wait, I can fix this!'. I talked to somebody today that said, ‘I do way too many Powerpoints. I should be delegating those and I do way too many because it's just easier and faster for me to do it.'” — Jan “Delegation is usually at the top three of things that people can work on to improve. … People never have the time to delegate. They never have the time and space to do it right or to think they even have the opportunity to do it. And it just is a self-fulfilling prophecy.” — Jim “What we're very intentional about, and what always ends up being the big takeaway, is you've got to slow down to speed up. Especially for executives, you've got to figure out the sweet spot between going and sitting on the hill and figuring things out” — Jan “One of the things that we try to do on every crucible is give people three hours. We call it the solo challenge. In some ways, it's the hardest thing people do is go be by themselves, doing nothing for three hours except thinking.” — Jan “Out there, people just let their guard down. People sometimes will cry around the campfire. Sometimes they'll cry going up the mountain and they'll say, ‘I never cry. I — never — cry.' Did anybody care that you cried? No. … Crying and vulnerability brought the team together.” — Jan “You can really build some warm and strong relationships with people you might think are so different from you that you could never, ever have anything in common with them.” — Jim   Resources Mentioned Theleadershippodcast.com Sponsored by: Darley.com Rafti Advisors. LLC Self-Reliant Leadership. LLC PAIRIN U.S. Army Special Operations Sheryl Tullis Stephen Drum U.S. Navy Warrior Toughness Sports Illustrated Don Yaeger U.S. Army Special Forces — Green Beret Stephen Drotter Jan Rutherford, TEDx Corporate Competitor Podcast, with Don Yaeger  

Joe McCormack is the author of “BRIEF: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less,” and “Noise: Living and Leading When Nobody Can Focus.” He founded the Brief Lab in 2013 after years dedicated to developing and delivering a unique curriculum for US Army Special Operations. He actively counsels military leaders and senior executives on effective, efficient communication, and produces the podcast, “Just Saying.” In this conversation, he shares the keys to thinking clearly to get to the root cause of a problem and explain the way forward, simply, concisely, and effectively.   https://bit.ly/TLP-323   Key Takeaways [2:45] Joe is the sixth of nine children in his Irish Catholic family. His early career includes a period of aerospace marketing in the aviation field before he started a marketing agency. [4:28] Joe's executive message about communication is “Less is more.” You don't need to say much but what you say needs to count. Leaders tend to overwhelm people with information. Be more careful and calculating to be concise. You want to say more but people can't hear it. [6:16] Joe explains why people say too much; a lack of time to prepare, the fear of not giving enough information, the fear of looking stupid, and the fear of failing to handle every contingency. It's never just one of these things; it's all of them. [6:45] People need to consider, “What does my audience need?” They don't need six paragraphs. They're craving brevity. They want two. Give the audience what they want: two well-written paragraphs. More paragraphs will dilute the message and diminish your impact. [7:54] When Joe wrote Brief he considered what was the most essential thing to say in the shortest time given. But don't be too brief. Say what is necessary. When you learn the skills, you can use brevity consistently. There's a payoff for people that have the skillset. [10:30] Joe asks people three questions about executive summaries: “Have you ever heard the term ‘executive summary'?” “Have you ever had a developer deliver one?” “Has anybody ever taught you how to build one?” People's answers are normally, Yes, Yes, and No. If they say Yes to the third, Joe asks them how to build one. They don't get it right. [11:33] Three questions to answer that will make a great executive summary: “What are you talking about?” “Why are we talking about this right now?” “So what now; what next?” [13:26] Joe teaches people the habit of briefly summarizing their message. It's different than just knowing it. It's a habitual way of thinking, speaking, and stopping from talking. [15:09] Fortune 500 corporations and Special Operations are alike in some ways. They both have high standards and expectations and they need to deliver, either for ROI or mission success. In the military, there is a lot of training. Corporations are starting to adopt more training. Since COVID-19 businesses are looking to attract talent. Communication and collaboration are how businesses work. [16:59] Collaboration works in moderation. Microsoft came out with a recent study that shows what people want most from their workplace is autonomy. They want to be left alone to think, and then when they collaborate, it's better. If you don't give people time to think about a problem, they come up with an answer on the fly. Deep problems don't get solved on the fly, but only after thinking and then talking. [22:18] When planning a meeting, take 10 minutes of quiet. Then sit down and create an agenda of what you want to talk about; think about it, write it, and edit it. Then send it and follow it. It works. [23:09] There's a time for collaboration, talking, and doing, and there's a time for thinking. You have to figure out in your role, and what that time allotment is. Once you get that, you're not doing too much or too little, you're doing your job. Joe heard of a CEO who said, “I don't think at work; I'm in meetings all the time.” The CEO needs time to think at work. [25:34] As leaders, you need to make a quiet appointment with yourselves for a set amount of time every day. During the appointment, write down things that you need to be thinking about; “How do I get feedback from my employees?” or “What's wrong with my current work situation?” Make the appointment and don't miss it. [28:42] Joe's 15-minute podcast, Just Saying, comes from the classes he teaches to Special Operations teams about concise communications that are effective. [30:15] Joe's book, Noise, is about the correlation between clear thinking and lowering noise levels. If you don't manage the noise, your thoughts are scattered. If your thoughts are scattered, your speech is scattered. Ineffective leaders are scattered because they haven't thought about what they are doing and why they are doing it. They start by talking. Clear thinking leads to concise communication. [31:56] When addressing a problem, ask yourself how much you think about it and how well you think about it. Do you dedicate enough time to thinking about your business? Are you constantly getting distracted in your thinking time? If you do 20 minutes of quiet every day, your thinking will be better. You won't excel at it at first, but make it a daily habit and you will get better at it and get focused. [34:49] Tips from Brief: You need Awareness: It's important to be clear and concise. Discipline: Talk and stop talking when needed. Decisiveness: Know when to act and then act. Jim calls these traits a virtuous circle and compares them to the skills of a running back in a football game. [39:37] People have different ways of thinking. Some people need to think about stuff more and some people are quick to answer. There are strengths and weaknesses to both types of people. Make sure the people around you know your processing style. [41:15] Joe shares a success story. A client was able to frame and reframe what he was doing, why he was doing it, what the value was to the organization, how he was doing it, and how he was measuring the impact in a presentation to the board. They didn't cut a dime from his budget. If you can't state your work in those clear terms, people will default to thinking it's not that important, and you will get cut. [44:05] Joe tells of a military client. The skill of being clear, concise, easy to understand, and easy to follow is valuable. In the middle of a briefing, a general asked Joe's client, who was presenting, “Where did you learn to brief like that?” If everyone else is terrible at it and you're good at it, all of a sudden, you're the tallest person in the room. It takes time to prepare for that. [46:21] When Joe presents to a group he focuses on the audience and how they are alike. The common denominator is they all want the shorter version! They may want to know more but they all crave a clear and concise answer. He provides a clear and concise answer. If they want more, he provides a clear and longer answer. Then, if they want more, he provides the clearest and longest explanation. [48:06] Jan and Jim spend a lot of time helping people to focus. A previous guest of the podcast, Brian Caulfield told them “Sell the problem, not the solution.” No one has time and everyone is selling a solution. Joe's Brief method is a recipe for managing time and figuring out the root cause of a problem. [49:25] Joe's challenge: Take time and quiet to think about it. Schedule it. Use quiet to your advantage, however much you need. Then talk. Think before you speak. And then do something. Those are separate things. You think about it quietly. You lower the noise. You start to get a root cause. Then you can say the most important thing (not the things). Then watch people say, “I got it! Now I know what to do.” [52:13] Closing quote: “Brevity is the soul of wit.” — William Shakespeare.   Quotable Quotes “To be an elite communicator is to embrace a different standard, which is ‘Less is more. I don't need to say so much but what I say needs to count.'” “It's hard because you want to say more but people can't hear it.” “There's a famous quote, which is, ‘I would have written you a shorter letter if I had more time.” “I wrote a 220-page book on brevity. That almost made me insane. Because you start to think about, what really is the most essential thing to say in the shortest amount of time given? That really takes some thought.” “If you're pitching an investor, that investor has this aperture or window of interest and what you say needs to sit inside that window. And that takes a lot of consideration. What does that person care about? What's the most important thing? Why am I doing this?” “What I teach people is the habit of doing [a summary]. It's different from just knowing it.” “There's quality collaboration and then there's terrible collaboration. [In a meeting] the collaboration is poor. They talk at each other, they don't prepare, it's disorganized, it's scattered, and people don't listen.” “You ask people when do you prepare for meetings and how do you prepare for meetings and often the answer is, ‘I can't because I'm in a meeting. I'm constantly collaborating, leaving me no time to prepare for the next meeting.'” “If you don't give people a chance to think about it, they're coming up with the answer on the fly. Deep problems don't get solved on the fly. They get solved when you actually have to slow down and think about it. And then you say something.” “Great leaders have the humility to say ‘I'm going to think about it. I'm going to have others think about it. I'm going to come up with a solution and then I'm going to explain it in the simplest terms possible and hope it works!'”   Resources Mentioned Theleadershippodcast.com Sponsored by: Darley.com Rafti Advisors. LLC Self-Reliant Leadership. LLC Joe McCormack Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less Noise: Living and Leading When Nobody Can Focus The BRIEF Lab U.S. Army Special Operations Just Saying podcast Michael Dowling, Northwell Health® Steve Justice Skunk Works Brian Caulfield Corporate Competitor Podcast, with Don Yaeger  

Dr. Zoe Chance is a professor at the Yale School of Management, and is the author of Influence Is Your Superpower: The Science of Winning Hearts, Sparking Change, and Making Good Things Happen. Her framework for behavior change is the foundation for Google's global food policy. In this conversation, Zoe describes forms of influence and discusses how good relationships lead to good work. She challenges the people to use influence for the greater good, not just for individual purposes.   https://bit.ly/TLP-322   Key Takeaways [2:11] Zoe, a sci-fi fan, named her daughter Ripley after Ellen Ripley from Aliens. [5:16] Almost all of us, even the most successful, have negative feelings about influence strategies or tactics, but almost all of us would also like to be more influential. Influence has a bad rap. We think of it as distasteful. With new science, Zoe is bringing back the idea of influence as a leadership trait. [7:06] People have different definitions of influence and manipulation. Zoe considers influence to be anything that shifts someone's thinking or behavior, including manipulation, persuasion, behavioral economics, coercion, military might, and incentives. Manipulation is someone trying to influence a person in an underhanded way with a motive that does not align with the well-being of the person. [8:13] Behavioral economics nudges are mostly imperceptible, but would not be upsetting to people being influenced for their best interest, such as attempts to get people to save more for retirement. [9:48] Over the past year, up to the rise of bad inflation, employees have had a lot of power, and companies were desperate to hire. There's been a crisis in the service industry. Now the power is shifting to employers. They want people to be there but, for the most part, they don't have good reasons for wanting people to be there. Humu's Laszlo Bock asks, “Why, to look over their shoulder?” [11:51] Jan, Zoe, and Jim discuss whether most companies need to have their employees in the office, and how the return to the office is being handled. [13:51] Jim finds that in-person meetings are much more effective than online meetings that are filled with side-text meetings within the meeting. Jim also observes the need to train new college graduates in the culture of the organization. A culture needs to be maintained and groomed like a garden and that happens better in person. [15:31] Zoe would like to see leaders be better able to create the culture that they want. Bringing people back to the office to experience a negative culture is a horrible plan. [17:19] Jim contrasts the freedom of travel and the restrictions of the cube farm he experienced early in his career. He didn't like working in a cube and it affected his career. Now, since the pandemic, everyone has enjoyed freedom, and once freedom has been enjoyed it's hard for it to be taken away. Zoe says taking freedoms and privileges away will cause a rebellion; she shares an example from a bank. [20:26] Zoe shares a story featuring the Magic Question “What would it take for that to never happen again?”, and how to use it. It acknowledges that the people you are trying to influence know much more about their life than you do. It's not perceived as pressure to follow your advice and it can lead to a commitment to the positive outcome you want. [26:05] Zoe gives a shoutout to the veterans who come through the Yale School of Management. The professors love to have veterans in their classes because they are good listeners, and pay attention to the professors, their colleagues, and their classmates. They amplify other people's ideas and ask follow-up questions; they only speak when they feel they have something important to share. [28:16] Zoe tells about her TEDx talk, “How to Make a Behavior Addictive.” She tells how a pedometer injured her body, her marriage, and her relationships. She is vulnerable to technology. Social media is addictive because it's designed carefully to keep your attention. There is evidence that social media does much more harm than good. Zoe has studied the psychology that makes people want to come back. [31:28] Zoe explains the manipulative and negative power of variable intermittent rewards. If someone is using variable intermittent rewards to manipulate you, it's an unhealthy relationship. Social media does that to us constantly. [35:38] Zoe shares advice for leaders on having difficult conversations involving challenging feedback. Have these conversations as soon as you realize that there's something amiss, ideally, that day. If you are giving criticism, the longer you wait, the more betrayed the person feels because you've been harboring resentment against them. Having the practice of bringing it up as soon as you can is life-changing. [39:35] How can you have more power within your organization? Internalize the idea that good work comes from good relationships. Reach out to get to know challenging people in other departments and ask questions. “How is this going for you? It's kind of been a struggle for me and I'd like to understand your perspective.” It's hard for people not to like you when you reach out and connect with them. [41:42] Research shows men's social and professional networks overlap a lot while women's social and professional networks do not. If you are a woman, Zoe advises you to reach out to women and men at work, especially if you're not already friends with lots of people at work. You will find a friendly rapport and reciprocity that leads to things happening more easily. Men usually have better networks. [43:41] As Zoe was writing Influence Is Your Superpower, she asked a group of people about negotiations. Only 40% of men and 17% of women said they like or love negotiating. When she asked another group to describe their most recent negotiation, their adjectives were overwhelmingly positive. About 80% of them had had a good result and felt empowered! [47:54] Zoe discusses power in an organization. Influence works the same in leadership and relationships. The idea that a leader should never apologize because apologizing gives up power is wrong to Zoe. You build a lot of social capital by apologizing at the right time, in the right way, and by taking responsibility. That's powerful! [49:44] Zoe provides an anecdote that listeners can copy about a leader raising his status by sharing the spotlight. Jess Cain VP of Customer Service at Eversource has a 96% employee engagement rating by sharing a short weekly voicemail including a spotlight on two different team members. She has 1,500 members on her team. Jan notes also that people support what they help create. [53:27] Zoe's challenge to listeners: Challenge the frame of consumerism. Thinking of ourselves as consumers has caused the climate crisis. Think about using your influence in the grand scheme and not just for your benefit. Be a role model. Zoe is donating half the profits from her book to 350.org. [56:00] Closing quote: “Think twice before you speak because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.” — Napoleon Hill.   Quotable Quotes “Almost all of us, … have mixed feelings about influence. … If I ask people …  what are three adjectives that come to mind when you think of influence tactics, [it's] yucky, greedy, manipulative. … When I ask … ‘Would you like to be more influential?”, all of them say, yes.” “Employees have been more productive at home than they have been at work, … but it hasn't changed the fact that employers want employees to come back.” “Employers that offer more flexibility are going to do much better in the long run, because they'll be able to recruit the best talent.” “As most academics do, we collaborate with people that we never see and that's partly because we're introverted and so we're kind of happy to be in our little cave. But there's no problem with collaborating with people that you don't see.” “If you want to onboard new people and help them make friends; to have informal conversations and collaborations, OK, that's great. We just don't need to all be at the office every single day, or even every single week, right?” “Plenty of surveys have shown that leaders are actually out of touch about the real culture of their company. … the actual reality is kind of a crappy culture. It's horrible to bring people back to the office to experience the crappy culture.” “Bringing people back to the office or allowing people to work remotely has a differential impact on women and people of color and various groups. So there's more equality when we have more flexibility. That's another reason I'm generally in favor of giving people flexibility.” “Every freedom, every privilege, should be so carefully and thoughtfully doled out with the expectation that what you're giving an employee is going to be in perpetuity, or there's going to be a rebellion.” “When she's asking this {Magic Question], she's respectfully acknowledging ‘Listen, you know all kinds of things that I don't know,” which is always the case with the people we're trying to influence. They know all kinds of things about their life that we don't.” “The most addictive piece [of social media] … is called ‘variable intermittent rewards.'” “We also often don't really realize what our expectations are until they get violated.” “Just internalize the idea that good work comes from good relationships.” “There is a ‘liking' gap of 12%, where people like you 12% more than you think that they do. And this very much includes people who you have some bit of conflict or strife with.” “The majority … have this idea of negotiations that … comes from the movies. … We don't directly observe many negotiations and we're just not realizing that in our lives, most of the time when we're negotiating, it goes pretty well. … Negotiation is not as bad as we think."   Resources Mentioned Theleadershippodcast.com Sponsored by: Darley.com Rafti Advisors. LLC Self-Reliant Leadership. LLC Dr. Zoe Chance Dr. Zoe Chance on LinkedIn Yale School of Management Influence Is Your Superpower: The Science of Winning Hearts, Sparking Change, and Making Good Things Happen, by Zoe Chance Google “How Google Optimized Healthy Office Snacks,” by Zoe Chance,  Ravi Dhar,  Michelle Hatzis,  and Michiel Bakker Aliens Resident Alien Robert Cialdini Daniel Kahneman Laszlo Bock from Humu Gloria Steinem “How to Make a Behavior Addictive,” Zoe Chance, TEDxMillRiver Jeffrey Pfeffer 7 Rules of Power: Surprising—but True—Advice on How to Get Things Done and Advance Your Career, by Jeffrey Pfeffer Eversource Energy Jessica Cain 350.org Corporate Competitor Podcast, with Don Yaeger  

Michael Bungay Stanier has written books that have sold about a million copies all told, including The Coaching Habit. He founded a training and development company, Box of Crayons, that has taught coaching skills to hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Listen in to see why Michael has been named the #1 Thought Leader in Coaching; and why his work has resonated with thousands…   https://bit.ly/TLP-320   Key Takeaways [2:00] Jan and Jim met Michael Bungay Stanier through Bobby Herrera, the author of The Gift of Struggle. Michael is the author of the most successful book on coaching of this century, The Coaching Habit. Michael's latest book is How to Begin. [3:06] Little-known facts about Michael: he was banned from his high school graduation for a balloon prank, he was sued by one of his law school professors for defamation, and his first professional writing was The Male Delivery, a romance short story.[6:07] Michael recently wrote on LinkedIn about his mother's 50-year-old garden. It has a series of microclimates: a vegetable garden, a fern garden, a wisteria garden, and a Wollemi pine. Each area is looked after differently. He compares caring for a garden to caring for the microcultures in an organization's culture. [6:18] As a leader you see that things need to change. You're constantly looking to evolve and grow your organization or strategy. The way you think about engaging all the other people is how change happens in an organization. [8:36] In Australia, some trees need to be burned before they will germinate. Sometimes you need to burn some stuff down to allow the culture to germinate, refresh, and regrow. [10:01] Jan quotes a military mantra, “Selection's an ongoing process. Just because you got to come here and be in this organization doesn't mean you get to stay.” Michael notes that our natural wiring is to add. One of the most powerful things to do to drive change is to remove. Michael tells of a study involving adding or removing Lego blocks to make the desired shape. Most people added blocks. [11:05] Most people, when thinking of change in an organization, ask what they need to add. Instead, they would get better changes by asking what 20% of what is happening, what practices, structures, systems, culture,  or people, they need to remove! Michael learned of the study by reading Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less, by Leidy Klotz. [12:15] We are also wired to give advice, even when it's better to ask a question. Michael counsels leaders to stay curious a little bit longer and move to action and advice-giving a little bit more slowly. Michael explains where we go wrong with giving advice. [14:29] One resistance to having coaching be part of your culture is asking who has time for it. Michael says if you can't coach somebody in 10 minutes or less, you do not have time to coach them. Being curious does not take a vast amount of time. Michael defines coaching as being curious just a little bit longer. Being curious allows you to figure out what the real challenge is. [15:28] In most organizations, people are working very hard to solve not the real challenge, but the first challenge. Because we get seduced into thinking that the first challenge is the thing we need to solve. If you build a reputation as the person who always seems to figure out what the real challenge is, you build a reputation as a strategic player. [16:00] Strategy is knowing what the real thing is and being bold enough to go and try to fix that. Organizations are filled with people who are good at coming up with fast, not very good ideas. If you're just one of them, you're not as valuable to your organization. If you're always the person who asks, “What's the real challenge we're trying to solve here?” you become invaluable. Get the diagnosis right. [16:33] Michael just had a free webinar that asked “What's the one question that unlocks everything?” The question is, “If I'm going to say ‘yes' to this, what must I say ‘no' to?” He quotes Michael Porter, who said, “Strategy is choice. It's having the courage to make the choice.” Most of us are afraid of making the choice. [17:21] There are three levels of things you have to say “no” to 1.) Tasks. What are the tasks I need to stop doing? 2.) People. To whom do I need to say no? Whom do I need to disappoint? 3.) The old version of who you are, so you can say yes to the new version of who you are. [19:38] The book, How to Begin, asks if you understand the prizes and punishments of staying committed to the status quo. People often don't understand how much they get from the way things are right now, even though they're overwhelmed. You need to know what you value and hold dear. There is a tension between the work that has impact and work that has meaning. [21:28] You have to ask what has to be done in this organization for this thing to be a success. What is the work you do that unlocks the best of who you are and has the maximal impact within your organization? [23:15] What does it mean to set a worthy goal? How do you set the goals that matter to you? How do you set a goal that claims ambition for yourself and the world? Michael suggests there are three key elements 1.) Is it thrilling? Does it light you up? 2.) Is it important? 3.) Have you picked a worthy goal that is daunting to you? Will it take you to the edge of your sense of self? [25:14] If you have a goal that is thrilling, important, but not daunting, you have plateaued; you are no longer learning. Michael is now an old dog but he still wants to learn new tricks! Neuroplasticity is how you keep your brain alive and push yourself to the edge. [26:44] Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) goals are goals of things for management to track. Leadership goals are harder to measure and track. [30:12] When Michael's father was dying, Michael shared with his father a book chapter he had just written about him, referring to Rilke's poem “The Man Watching,” about Jacob wrestling with the angel. Michael saw his father as Jacob, a very good man wrestling something greater than himself and becoming the best of who he was. [33:37] Michael is writing a book and he is finding a lot of resistance in the writing. He feels he is losing a wrestle with an angel and feels the angel's thumbs pushing him down. He asks himself what is his worthy goal. Right now, it's to be with his mother in Australia, to help her with her grief and mourning, and to let go of his need to write his book or anything else. [36:05] Humility and confidence go hand-in-hand, as Michael explains. [37:48] Coaches must consider for whose sake they are talking. Is it helping the client or the coach? Is it for the coach to figure something out or is it for the client to figure something out? Is the coach's talking the best way to serve the client or is it giving the coach status, authority, gravitas, and added value? [39:09] When should coaches talk? Michael says the more he's been around, the more he says the best thing to do is allow the person to figure their stuff out so that they're creating new neural pathways and gaining competence, confidence, self-sufficiency, and autonomy. That's the better way to coach. [40:00] Are you asking questions in service of the client or in service of the problem? Michael says to test it out. Ask the person you are talking to, “Does this feel helpful? What feels useful here in all of this, if anything?” The client will know the answers to those questions better than you will. Figure it out between the two of you. Coaching is a relationship. Stop trying to figure it out all in your head. [42:41] Michael's closing thoughts: “If you can stay curious and you can stay kind and you can be generous, that just takes you a long way down the path of being a good human being. Curiosity, kindness, and generosity are a really powerful triumvirate.” [48:19] Closing quote: “Coaching's not a job, it's a privilege.” — Lee Corso.   Quotable Quotes “Any dominant culture actually has subcultures and microclimates. And you're not just trying to build a culture, you're [asking], ‘How do I build these microclimates that are all contributors, culture-adds, to the overall culture of my organization?'” “If you're a leader, one of the mantras you have is ‘Stuff needs to change around here.' You're constantly looking to evolve and grow your organization or your strategy in some way. … The way you think about engaging all the other people is how change happens in an organization.” “I'm trying to get people in organizations … to stay curious a little bit longer and rush to action and advice-giving a little bit more slowly because most of us are advice-giving maniacs.” “There is a place for advice-giving. There is absolutely a place for advice-giving! It's an act of civilization to trade information. What kills us is when we have leaping to advice as our default response.” “When you work in an organization, you've got a tension always between work that has impact and the work that has meaning. If you can be really clear on the stuff that matters to you, … then you also have to ask, ‘What needs to be done in this organization for this to be a success?'” “If you're not working on the right thing, it doesn't matter if your goal is specific, measurable, attainable, timely, or whatever else. It's like you're not working on the thing that's going to have the most impact and bring out the best of who you are.” “With a worthy goal, you can do work on one or two worthy goals, not more than that.” “I'm trying to write a book at the moment, and I wrote my words today, but, man, I am finding resistance to this book; the dark force in this book is stronger than usual! … I know how to write a book, but this book, I went, ‘What?! This is really hard!'” “I want people to say, ‘Look, I know where I'm good, and I also know where I'm not good and I don't need to be grandiose about either of those things. That's what I'm working with. That's the reality that I'm playing with.' That, to me, has that kind of confidence and humility.” “The longer I've been around, the more I see that my answers aren't as good as I think they are. And the more I've been around, the more I say the best thing to do is allow that person to figure their stuff out so that they're creating new neural pathways.”   Resources Mentioned Theleadershippodcast.com Sponsored by: Darley.com Rafti Advisors. LLC Self-Reliant Leadership. LLC Michael Bungay Stanier on LinkedIn The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever How to Begin: Start Doing Something That Matters The Gift of Struggle: Life-Changing Lessons About Leading, by Bobby Herrera The Rhodes Scholarship Animal House Wollemi Pine UVA Study involving Legos Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less, by Leidy Klotz Michael Porter SMART Goals Michael Bungay Stanier video: How To Achieve Your Worthy Goals Robin Williams, Dead Poets Society “The Man Watching,” by Rainer Maria Rilke Harry Chapin Corporate Competitor Podcast, with Don Yaeger  

David Smith is a wicked problem-solver, collaborative business leader, technologist, and innovative futurist. He has held executive roles in R&D, government, commercial, and academic organizations. David has been named one of the top seven global futurists in the Millennium issue of Business Week. In this conversation, David shares several concepts to help leaders keep up with the present and prepare for the future. He describes wicked problems, and how to bring a team together with the tools to solve them. He is one of two futurists who have been accurate for the first 22 years of the century and is still on track.     https://bit.ly/TLP-319   Key Takeaways [2:18] David and Jim first met in Austin and found they had a mutual friend in Steve Justice.[3:46] In David's youth, as a long-haired roadie, he ran audio for the Beach Boys, the Carpenters, and others. David shares a story from that era. [6:18] David solves wicked problems, which are complex problems that have no known solution path. He once had a team of about 200 people over a year make a 45-year wicked problem roadmap for high-energy-density storage for the military. We can store energy now, but not yet at the density that we need. [7:53] Sematech was formed to regain the semiconductor industry back in the United States. They did it. Dave was one of the co-leaders of the first industry roadmap done in the United States. They worked with semiconductor manufacturers, suppliers, academia, and the government to create the roadmap. The commercial sector, academic sector, and government sector acted as a technopolis to enact change. [9:16] Solving wicked problems involves pulling the various stakeholders of commerce, academics, and the government to work together. [10:31] David explains the process of seeing fifty years into the future. He was one of seven futurists who predicted that this century would be defined by bio. All technology is becoming biological. At 22 years in, he's been pretty accurate. Only one of the other futurists is accurate for today. All the other five have fallen off the table. David explains how he used a framework. [11:20] A leading futurist has changed his future every 14 to 20 months. That's not forecasting, it's predicting and then changing his prediction. David uses a method that includes six views of the future: as an extrapolator, a pattern analyst, a goal-setter, a counterpuncher, an intuiter, or an artist. Different techniques are used for each of the views. [12:27] Use people who can work in different views to optimize out errors. David shares a story of a satellite phone company that went to market using only an extrapolation view to forecast sales. In 12 months, they asked David to work with them and get them on track, because his multiple-view forecast of their numbers had been right. [15:32] How can global social issues be solved? David explains that his framework can be applied across the U.S. and even as far as Malaysia. People understand the value of different views. He tells why the front windshield of a car is larger than the rear window; where we've been is important but where we're going is more important. You need to know where you've been to be optimized for the future. [18:36] When David interviews people, he asks a standard set of questions and also roleplays. One roleplay involves the interviewee being asked to defend his actions against “one of the world's leading experts” who disagrees with what the interviewee is doing. That shows David the candidate's potential for dealing with human dynamics. It reveals competencies and capabilities. [21:46] David suggests something for leaders: They and everyone in their company need to know that we are in a time of lifelong learning and the way we learn is dramatically changing. David is constantly learning and constantly looking at how to learn. One of the six views of the future is counterpuncher. A counterpuncher does a great job of current awareness.  A counterpuncher works scenarios. [23:28] David looks for weak signals. There's a lag between inventing something at a university and getting it to the marketplace. David uses tools that let him see what research universities are doing. That gives him the advantage of seeing weak, early signals and spending more time researching. He networks with a lot of people in different industries and he's always learning. He connects the dots. [25:12] Leaders sometimes forget that other industries are having to solve many of the same types of problems. Dave suggests looking at horizontal convergence. Often you can connect the solutions and the data well between industries. Follow David on Twitter. He posts several times a day of early indicators of industries, trends, and research. [26:03] It's very important to understand that the world is not static. Ask people to help you learn to do new things and prepare for the future. David tells people around the world that he's an East Texas farm boy. He finds it a great way to get people comfortable talking with him. [27:06] Before going to a research university, David participated in a pilot education program with 21 students at a college outside of Dallas. It was a one-year inquiry program of learning from original source material without textbooks. It forced them to synthesize. Learning to synthesize, plus having great mentors, gave David the greatest advantage in his career. [29:24] We live with “systems of systems.” Your one mobile device has voice communication, data, photography, entertainment, GPS, etc. David suggests thinking of mentors as a system. One mentor for your current role, one mentor for understanding the politics of the company, and one mentor outside your company for understanding entrepreneurship. Make connections and cultivate them as you go. [31:34] Don't look for a mentor to hold your hand, but one to point to the mountain and let you choose how to climb it to reach the top. Ask for help if you need it, but you need to understand the path yourself. You want a mentor to help stretch your brain, your competencies, and your capabilities. Learn intangibles above technical skills. David would hope you mentor others below you, too. It's not one-way. [35:28] David's hiring advice: Hire people who understand the principle of group intelligence. It's one of the strongest things David looks for in capabilities. If a rockstar candidate does not work well with others, the impact of that candidate will not be sustainable or optimal. [36:23] David's six views of the future are one of the ways he builds group intelligence. When he hires people, he wants to see if they're the one who always has to be right or if they play well with others. [36:41] David recommends silent brainstorming to generate ideas. He explains why it brings out better ideas than brainstorming out loud, and how it works, using a customer example. [39:26] Wicked problems are solved using group intelligence, using a technopolis approach, and using the six views approach. The common theme is using the power of people and the power of group intelligence. [40:28] Participation in team sports is an indicator of group intelligence. David looks to see if candidates participate in group hackathons to develop a solution over a weekend with people you don't work with. David also roleplays to see how the candidates get their information and use group intelligence. [42:28] David agrees with Steve Justice that we need to stand in the future. David says he has to live in the future to survive today. A leader's job is to help get the roadmap in place for where the company wants to go. A map has multiple possible routes, and it's not necessarily the leader's role to pick the route and the detours. It's to set the vision and help them understand what the future goals are. [43:28] A leader's role is to help the organization put roadmaps together for technology, services, products, and capabilities. The roadmaps empower the organization to get to its goals. A 100% top-down leadership in today's global, connected world would be too complicated for one leader. He needs the group intelligence of his teams, suppliers, and other stakeholders to help build the roadmaps. [44:52] David's closing thoughts: Since the beginning of recorded data, the amount of data has doubled every two years. Because of the quantity of the data, most legacy tech systems will fail. People need to be in the mode of lifelong learning, or they will be left behind. Twenty years ago, we didn't have web developers or eCommerce. Coming up, robotics and autonomous systems will revolutionize the world. [48:19] Closing quote: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” — Albert Einstein.   Quotable Quotes “When we formed Sematech, our market share in the U.S. had fallen to about 30% globally. That's a danger point for us. Just like today, … you're hearing about how the U.S. must regain its semiconductor industry again. Well, we did it back then and it needs to be done again.” “[For] wicked problems, … you've got to pull these various stakeholders together. And then you have to use approaches to make sure that what you're doing is accurate. And what has caused many of these to fail is the use of only a couple of different … views to make it happen.” “I have a framework where we look at six different views of the future. You're an extrapolator, a pattern analyst, a goal-setter, a counter puncher, an intuiter, or an artist. What makes this system unique is that there are different techniques which go under each of those.” “When we try to tackle hard problems, … we use techniques that go across those different views. … When we do the working groups, I not only want people from the technopolis areas but I want people who have the ability to work in each of the different views of the future.” “Where we've been is important but where we're going is more important.” “One of the first things I want the listeners to understand is that we're in a time of life-long learning. And it's not just for leadership but everyone within your company needs to understand that we're in a time of lifelong learning. And the ways we learn are dramatically changing.” “When you [search], you rarely get any feedback from a university in the search results. But universities are doing a lot of the future science. There's usually a lead-lag relationship between when something's invented in a university before it gets to the … marketplace.” “I learn when I talk to people. … I ask questions. I put a scenario out there and say ‘Does it work here?' and try to understand the answer. The ability for me to be able to work across the different industries I do is, I am a dot-connector.” “Very often, we get so caught up in our vertical industry knowledge, we forget the other industries are having to solve many of the same problems. Maybe a different set of customers, but face the same types of problems. So you need to begin to look at … horizontal convergence.” “We've got to change or we would still be plowing fields with pieces of rock.”   Resources Mentioned Theleadershippodcast.com Sponsored by: Darley.com Rafti Advisors. LLC Self-Reliant Leadership. LLC David Smith on LinkedIn David Smith on Twitter In-Q-Tel CIA NSA SEMATECH Steve Justice Skunkworks The Beach Boys Carpenters Dell Bob Noyce Intel World Economic Forum Microsoft Cisco “What Only the CEO Can Do”, by A.G. Lafley, HBR Peter Drucker Autonomous Systems Corporate Competitor Podcast, with Don Yaeger  

Elliott Bisnow is the Co-Founder of Summit, whose family of organizations includes Powder Mountain, Summit Series, and Summit Junto. He's also a startup investor in 50 companies like Uber, Coinbase, Warby Parker, and Albert. Elliott describes his passion for building companies and cultures, connecting deeply with people on his teams, and building events and communities. He believes that what is good for business should be what is good for the community and the world.     https://bit.ly/TLP-318   Key Takeaways [2:20] Elliott Bisnow is focused on building companies with a great culture, and teams he loves, connecting deeply with the people who work at the Summit businesses, designing and building events and experiences, and meeting the people that come. He loves building communities and getting to understand them. He loves creating teams he wants to be part of. Elliott is a people person. [4:31] The least important part of any business is caring about profits and making money. Those things come from a well-run business with a great product. Good entrepreneurs, good CEOs, and good leaders are obsessed and focused on the thing that their company is making or selling. Consider why you are an entrepreneur. What are you bringing to the world? Elliott loves designing products. [6:239] Elliott recalls growing up watching MTV's Cribs and seeing the Forbes 400 list, which he remembers with negative associations. He remembers the first group of entrepreneurs he met who cared about the product, the customers, and the communities they were serving. He contrasts the old business model of profit-seeking with a new business model focused on the good of the community. [11:09] Are new entrepreneurs better people or do they just talk more about what they do in the community than the CEOs of the '90s talked about? Growing up, Elliott never heard of CEOs doing good in the community. He realized he could build businesses that combine profits and purpose. He says, “Profit Enough. What's good for our business should be good for the community and the world.” [12:46] It's a lot more enjoyable to do business when your team is happy, when your community is happy, and when you feel good about what you're creating. [13:44] Elliott liked college as a place to start a business because you have your dorm, food, and classes even if the business fails. His first two businesses in college didn't work. His third idea did work so he quit college and moved back in with his parents. He made every possible mistake as he learned how to run a startup. The key is to take small risks and make small mistakes and learn from them. [16:56] Elliott builds community by creating things that allow people to self-select into them, being very defined about its mission. However, once people have self-selected into an event, you can find yourself with a lot of similar voices and little diversity. [19:21] Elliott has kept a notepad on his phone for over 10 years. Anytime he hears something or reads something interesting, he writes a note down. He might write one note in a week or three in a day. He has thousands of notes he re-reads. He receives wisdom from other people in two ways: the first way is by reading one book a week; the second is by meeting people in the flow of life and listening to them. [21:45] Elliott has an 80% rule about conversations. In 80% of his conversations, he tries to ask questions. He will ask a question rather than answer one. He finds wisdom from ordinary people. Between his conversations and reading books, he's getting a lot of good ideas. [24:59] When Elliott realized he wanted to be an entrepreneur, he read a lot of very simple books about people's journeys to becoming entrepreneurs. Then he was done reading about entrepreneurs and wanted to go be an entrepreneur. [25:36] Elliott sees that MBA courses would serve people better after the people had experienced some years in business. Elliott spends a lot of time thinking about the books he is going to read. He identifies the types of books he wants to read. He also reads some books for fun. When he meets people that don't read, he suggests books that are just for fun, to get them to fall in love with reading. [27:31] You have to be in a good mindset to sit and read a business book. Elliott will skip a few pages ahead if he gets bored. He doesn't get stuck on pages. Reading is a big part of Elliott's life. [28:30] Elliott discusses the virtues of knowing when to quit and cites Warren Buffet who only makes small mistakes because he knows when to get out of a deal. He's never been in a massive mistake. [29:27] Elliott's view on ideas is that it's quite difficult to come up with good ideas, so you need to create a culture where the most ideas possible can come forward, no matter what they are. That's a hard environment to maintain when people naturally shoot down ideas or want to take credit for them. Elliott says there's no limit to what you can achieve if you give other people credit. [32:03] Elliott describes what it means to be a “favor-economy millionaire.” Build up a network of people with whom you trade for services. Having relationships where you and your network can help each other grow is extremely important. [35:05] Being an entrepreneur or a leader is hard. Making money is hard. Saving money is hard. Bartering makes it easier to do business. Relationships are like muscles and the more that you work with them, the more you nurture the relationships. Give to people and it will come back many times over. [36:32] Elliott's takeaway from his book, Make No Small Plans: Between the life people are living and the life they want to live, there's a lot of white space. Make No Small Plans, is in the context of the life that you want to live. Step out of anything that's held you back. Make plans to get to where you want to be. [40:06] Closing quote: “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald.   Quotable Quotes “When you're an entrepreneur, you get to create your own culture and your own team.” “The least important part of any business is caring about profits and making money. Those things come from a well-run business with a great product. … Good entrepreneurs, good CEOs, and good leaders are obsessed and focused on the thing that their company is making or selling.” “At the crux of entrepreneurship is, ‘What is the thing that you're bringing to the world? Why are you an entrepreneur?'” “Just from a personal, selfish standpoint, it's a lot more enjoyable way to do business when your team is happy, when your community is happy, and when you actually feel really good about what you're creating.” “My main takeaway is that, as long as your mistakes are small, there's not very far to fall. … In the early days, the key is taking lots of small risks.” “There's a lot of emphasis placed on gaining tips and wisdom from super-famous people but I find that there's just as much wisdom to be had from every person in the world.” “The most important thing about reading is falling in love with reading. And so most people who don't read, I give them a few books that are just fun.” “You have to be in a good mindset to be able to sit and read a business book. And then I've developed a couple of tricks when it comes to reading, like skipping forward and if things are boring, don't let it hold you back; don't get stuck on pages.” “There are certain things where quitting is a virtue and it's a good skill to have.” “Between the life people want to live, and the life that they're living, there's a lot of white space. When I think about Make No Small Plans, it's in the context of the life that you want to live.”   Resources Mentioned Theleadershippodcast.com Sponsored by: Darley.com Elliott Bisnow on LinkedIn Make No Small Plans: Lessons on Thinking Big, Chasing Dreams, and Building Community, by Elliott Bisnow,  Brett Leve,  Jeff Rosenthal, and Jeremy Schwartz Summit Powder Mountain Summit Junto Uber Coinbase Warby Parker Albert MTV Cribs Forbes 400 Allen-Bradley Shantaram: A Novel, by Gregory David Roberts  Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, by Barak Obama Decision Points, by George W. Bush James A. Garfield Bubble in the Sun: The Florida Boom of the 1920s and How It Brought on the Great Depression, by Christopher Knowlton The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey, by Candice Millard Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way, by Richard Branson When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead: Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man, by Jerry Weintraub with Rich Cohen Ready Player One: A Novel, by Earnest Cline The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War, by Ben Macintyre Daniel Pink Warren Buffet Google Facebook Gmail Corporate Competitor Podcast, with Don Yaeger  

Kathy Miller is a senior manufacturing executive, professional coach, business transformation advisor, and co-author of “Steel Toes and Stilettos: A True Story of Women Manufacturing Leaders and Lean Transformation Success.” Kathy shares the emotional event that fueled her determination, and the value of prosocial behaviors at work. Kathy also talks about the most meaningful metrics: growth and profitability. She reveals how relationships between leaders and their staff can be maintained, and that showing up authentically is as important to your health as it is for  the health of the organization. https://bit.ly/TLP-317   Key Takeaways [3:40] Kathy Miller and Shannon Karels co-authored Steel Toes and Stilettos, published in late 2021. The book talks about prosocial behaviors, which are socially accepted actions that benefit other individuals or communities. Kathy explains prosocial behavior as you being able to contribute to something larger than yourself in your current role. [5:00] Selflessness at work begins with leaders setting the norms in the organization. As leaders display empathy and compassion and connect with employees, employees want to give back. It's also by taking the workers and connecting them with a larger purpose than the paycheck and benefits, displaying how the work they're doing connects to the community and makes the world a better place. [6:29] Kathy recalls campaigns in her organizations that showed how the parts they made helped to feed the world or how the cars they made provided safe transportation for families. The majority of people respond to that very positively. The book includes a lot about leading with examples and cues in the workplace that say what you are doing is meaningful. [7:14] Peter Drucker wrote that “The purpose of a business is to create a customer.” Workers are here to get and keep customers. Lean manufacturing starts with providing customer value. Whatever the profession, people want to leave the world a better place than they found it, at the end of the day. [10:15] Taking engineering through a co-op school was a practical way for Kathy to fund her way through college. When she first toured a plant with her father, she was exposed to “whooping and hollering and whistling,” but he told her, “People are people,” and “You're going to be fine,” so she wasn't intimidated. She immediately fell in love with the automotive assembly plant. It was challenging for her. [11:52] When Kathy graduated, the plan shut down, after having been in production for 50 years. It was a significant emotional event, very early in her career. All the men followed the last car down the line, not knowing what would happen with their lives. That was one of the things that fueled Kathy to want to go into leadership and help create businesses that wouldn't have to experience that. [13:05] Kathy went into engineering and marketing, but she missed the factory, so she went back into operations. [13:45] When Kathy was young, she was walking in the factory, in the instrument panel area where most of the women worked, and she thought it would be a “safe” place. Some women called her over to show her a box of chocolates shaped like private parts. Later her supervisor saw she was upset and told her that in manufacturing, she could not wear her heart on her sleeve. She learned never to cry at work! [17:26] With great challenges come great rewards. Jan recalls a guest who said, “A career is made from hard bosses that are terrible and challenges that are impossible! It's not made from a nice environment.” He was the HR director for Jack Welch. [18:26] Kathy suggests two fundamental metrics for success: growth and profitability. Growing with your customers means focusing on them and meeting their needs. And you have to be profitable to pay the bills. There are subordinate metrics you have to address, but profitability and growth are the greatest. If they're moving in the right direction with momentum, it shows you have an inclusive environment. [19:49] Whatever metrics you take, boil them down so they are meaningful to the people at their level. You want to drive the right behavior. Any metric can be gamed, so look at an overall business system. Everyone in the organization needs to know how their role contributes to the metrics. [22:14] The almost universal response to the idea of any transformation is, “We are different, unique, and special and that will not work here!” As a leader of a transformation, you have to be able to articulate a vision of the future that people can relate to because most people have not experienced those levels of performance, and those types of systems and processes. [23:43] There is the danger of a “Program of the Month” fatigue in organizations from all the initiatives that come along. Break out of being just another initiative. It takes a lot of perseverance and communication, not varying from your stated goal. The “secret sauce” is that people will implement what they help create. [26:03] It's impossible to personalize the vision to every individual. People have different motivations. When you are the top leader, you are trying to describe what that vision means for the good of the organization. Kathy relates this to her origin story of watching a plant close and how she doesn't want that to happen on her watch. Leaders have to show a little vulnerability and how it is personal to them. [27:11] Kathy explains the formal strategy deployment process where the leader shares the vision for the organization and each leader translates it to be meaningful to their area, cascading down to the level of operators. If you're doing these things correctly, people will see their lives getting better. They're less frustrated; you're supporting them and making their work more manageable or better. [28:02] The chapters in Kathy's book are named after shoes: baby shoes, cowboy boots, steel toes, flip-flops, etc. Kathy explains why different shoes are needed for different stages. With the supply chain challenges and workforce shortages, the working world is at a reset. For Kathy, that means we need cowboy boots (Chapter 2). We need to reset the vision for the next era. [31:24] Kathy tells about her relationship with her co-author, Shannon Karels. Shannon was brought into the team to be a transformation expert. Kathy has seen Shannon grow, contribute, and become highly accomplished. They got to be very close and accomplished things together. Now they talk about how they can model for others the great relationship that they've had. It's the best part of sisterhood! [34:10] Kathy has some guidelines to share on work friendships. The relationship between Shannon and Kathy has grown over time. Now that they do not work together, it has grown a lot more. At work, Kathy is very conscious about not playing favorites. She has great relationships with everybody on her staff and sometimes those involve very hard conversations. Now, Shannon's son calls her “Aunt Kathy.” [36:21] Kathy carefully managed the optics of friendships between herself and her staff. It is lonely at the top. She would only confide in peers at other organizations, not in members of her team. Shannon was a member of Kathy's staff and was treated fairly and equally with the other staff members. They became so much closer when they wrote a book together as equals. [38:05] Leaders today should pay attention to showing up for work with authenticity, in Kathy's view. If you can't show up authentically, ask yourself “why?” Is this a good fit? It's not healthy if you can't show up authentically. It's not healthy for you, your employees, or the company. [41:23] Jim promises to tell a funny story of how he came to interview at Ford with two black eyes and a broken nose if listeners will put 10 new reviews on Apple Podcasts by the end of the month! [43:04] Closing quote: “The only way you survive is you continuously transform into something else. It's this idea of continuous transformation that makes you an innovation company.” — Ginni Rometty.   Quotable Quotes “Prosocial behaviors are a component of meaningful work; taking individuals who are providing roles and making sure that they're connected to the needs of others. It's just a fancy term for being able to contribute to something larger than yourself in the current role that you're in.” “What you're doing is meaningful. You might not be able to see it with that part that you're assembling but you are connected to a greater purpose.” “Engineers are people, too, right? We all want to, at the end of the day, make a difference in the world, through our talents and our skills.” “I immediately fell in love with the automotive assembly plant. I couldn't believe that every 60 seconds, a functioning vehicle came off the end of that line. And then, after I'd worked there five years, I was even more fascinated by it, when you see all the challenges.” “I saw very early in my life, the impact of a failed business on the lives of so many people. And so, it really taught me, ‘You have to produce results; you have to be successful; you have to give back and create these strong manufacturing businesses.'” “If you continue to grow with your customers, it means you're focusing on your customers and their needs and meeting their needs, and other customers are getting attracted to you. And you have to be profitable because you have to pay the bills.” “Metrics need to be visible, and they need to be meaningful, and they need to be connected to the overall mission.” “The strategy deployment process [says] ‘These are the levels we need to be a competitive business,' and then you let the leaders translate that to what that means to their part of the organization, and cascade it … until it gets to a meaningful level at the operator level.” “Understand, what is the current state? What are the variables, right now, that we have to contend with and how are we going to move all those variables in a positive direction in this post-pandemic era?” “If you can't marry the values and actions and behaviors of the company with your own moral compass and show up authentically, it's probably time to ask yourself some hard questions and maybe find somewhere where you can show up … authentically.”   Resources Mentioned Theleadershippodcast.com Sponsored by: Darley.com Kathy Miller on LinkedIn Steel Toes and Stilettos: A True Story of Women Manufacturing Leaders and Lean Transformation Success, by Shannon Karels and Kathy Miller https://opsisters.com Shingo Prize Prosocial behavior Peter Drucker Lean Manufacturing Systems thinking Design thinking Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team, by Simon Sinek, David Mead, and Peter Docker Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, by Daniel Pink Bridgeport milling machine Jack Welch John Wooden EOS Digital transformation Ford Corporate Competitor Podcast, with Don Yaeger

Dr. Laura Bokar is the CEO of Fox Valley Institute for Growth and Wellness and the author of “We Need to Talk: 24 Simple Insights for Relationships.” Laura discusses a variety of relationship topics, and points out that home and business relationships are the same… they are human relationships. Laura discusses the nuances of difficult conversations, how relationships fail, and how they can be repaired.    Listen to this episode to learn to nurture relationships and avoid big problems.   https://bit.ly/TLP-316   Key Takeaways [2:20] Laura credits her fabulous husband, Chuck, for helping her throughout her career and in building Fox Valley Institute as a “silent partner.” [3:47] Difficult conversations create fear and anxiety for some. These conversations are on topics important to us, with high and intense emotions behind them. We have uncertainty about how the other person will respond. Laura suggests staying on track in difficult conversations by first embracing and understanding your emotions, preparing, and practicing. [5:59] Before a difficult conversation, own your emotions, manage them, and understand them. You don't want two emotional people coming into a room. Be clear about what is important to you to bring up and talk about. In the conversation, affirm the person and the relationship, and then let them know what you want to talk about. Be hard on the issue and soft on the person. [7:09] Listen for content and emotions. Respond to emotions with empathy and validation. Sometimes people bring up unresolved issues from the past. These issues will keep resurfacing until they are made the topic of another necessary difficult conversation. When a person gets overwhelmed, they want to shut down and blame or shame themselves. Address what is overwhelming them. [10:39] Can a difficult conversation be avoided? Ask yourself if it will improve the relationship and if the relationship is important enough for you to want to improve it. Knowing the answer, you can decide whether or not to have that difficult conversation. It's an investment. Are both of you invested? [12:53] Relationships usually don't degrade with one big lapse but with a bunch of small paper cuts. Laura shares examples of small injuries that hurt relationships. You may not be paying attention to them but they build up and put distance between people. Justifications and excuses create distance in both personal and business relationships because you lose trust. Apologize for the small things. [16:02] Small things may call for difficult conversations. Many things can be resolved by talking about them. It could be a reason you don't know about, such as having a terminally ill family member. Once you know, you can understand and probably let go of it. The person would probably pivot and get back on track. [17:53] Laura tells how to say you're sorry in a heartfelt way when you understand how you hurt that person. Let them hear that you get it and that you empathize. If the hurt person wants an explanation you can give it; not to satisfy yourself. [19:57] Laura explains primary and secondary emotions. The primary emotion may be sadness, hurt, shame, or loneliness. Shame is an emotion that can't live in the light. We don't want to share it. It's hard to get it into the conversation. It's probably connected to something deep in the past. If the issue is shame, recommend professional help. Bringing it to the light with a therapist will mean freedom. [24:00] Many leaders get to know their people, notice when they have a change in performance, and have conversations with them. If there is a home problem, Laura recommends the person talk to a professional. Let them find someone they can talk to about it who is not their boss. Leaders should also have the experience of talking to a therapist; they can tell the employee they've done it and it is helpful. [28:09] Be aware of changes that might signal depression and recommend the employee talk to a professional therapist if you see the signs. Depression and anxiety are invisible disorders but when they get to the point where you see behavioral changes, it's usually pretty bad. [29:14] Different generations manage online situations differently. If you notice a big gap between a person's personality in person and online, talk with them about it. [31:50] Steven Covey told his divorcing friend to “Love her” instead of divorcing his wife. Laura says that the injuries behind the divorce first have to be identified, understood, and forgiven before love will work. [34:15] We have the Great Resignation. Laura says people needed a change, so they left jobs. Many are going back. The grass wasn't greener on the other side. Laura suggests before leaving a position have a talk with your manager. It's a failure in the relationship if the manager is not aware of your dissatisfaction. Invest in work relationships. There is no replacement for spending time with humans. [36:55] Some companies attempted to give big raises to prevent people from leaving. But it wasn't the money, it was the inadvertent slights that were the problems. Leaders have to be intentional and mindful of those small things. Many slights over a long period will add up. [38:32] Relationships are the most important thing. We need to treasure them, and to do that, we need to spend time with them and commit to them. Understand the person. Ask questions and be curious about who they are, what they like, and what they want to do. [39:06] The important thing about being grateful is to feel it. Laura asks the listener to remember when people were grateful for you and thanked you. Those are thoughts that will create biological change in you and bring out more emotions. Laura says, “So that's my challenge: is to not just make the list anymore about being grateful, just remember when people were grateful for you.”  [41:38] Closing quote: “Assumptions are the termites of relationships.” — Henry Winkler.   Quotable Quotes “So the uncertainty, the high emotions, and knowing that's something big we want to talk about, that matters to us; people usually will shy away from that.” “[A difficult conversation is] not very comfortable. It also creates fear and anxiety for people. But the more important piece about why we avoid it is because we're going to be talking about something that's important to us and with that, usually, we get high, intense emotions.” “The foundation of it is … owning your emotions and managing them and understanding them so you don't bring them into the room. Because you don't want two emotional people coming into a room.” “It's important to notice [the small stuff], apologize for it, and then you can let go. I don't want you to sweat over it. Let's resolve it.” “Many times the grass does look greener on the other side and that is part of the injuries that occur during the relationship. It's those little things, if there wasn't a big thing that you know, like an affair. … To just go love someone is difficult if there are injuries.” “Injuries can only be healed if they're identified, understood, and forgiven as a part of that.” “You need to have those conversations; you need connection. If people aren't feeling connected, whether at work or in your marriage, people will start looking over their shoulder for the grass to be greener.” “Usually, they say to feel better or to help, think of three or five things to be grateful for before you go to bed or when you wake up. But the more important thing about being grateful is to feel it. … Remember the times when people were grateful for you.”   Resources Mentioned Theleadershippodcast.com Sponsored by: Darley.com Dr. Laura L. Bokar on LinkedIn Dr. Laura L. Bokar at Fox Valley Institute Fox Valley Institute We Need to Talk: 24 Simple Insights for Relationships Don't Sweat the Small Stuff . . . and It's All Small Stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life, by Richard Carlson Steven Covey The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Steven Covey Corporate Competitor Podcast, with Don Yaeger  

Podcast family, we have a special bonus episode for you today! Not only is Mark Cole joined live by John Maxwell for this discussion, but our good friend Don Yaeger has invited Scott Drew, coach of the Baylor Bears Men's Basketball team, who won the NCAA Division I Championship in 2021! Don and Scott have recently written a book together entitled The Road to J.O.Y. which is packed full of leadership and coaching lessons that, when embraced, can equip any leader to make their team a championship team! Join Mark, John, and Don, as Scott tells his story of leading an underdog team to victory through leadership, connection, courage, and faith.  Our BONUS resource for this episode is the “Road to J.O.Y. Worksheet,” which includes fill-in-the-blank notes from this discussion. You can download the worksheet by visiting MaxwellPodcast.com/ScottDrew and clicking “Download the Bonus Resource.” References: Watch this episode on YouTube The Road to J.O.Y. by Scott Drew and Don Yaeger Download the new C.L.E.A.R. app by Maxwell Leadership Sign up for our first ever Personal Growth Day in August! Shop at the Maxwell Leadership Online Store

Don Yaeger - The Art of Developing a Great Team  As an award-winning keynote speaker, business leadership coach, eleven-time New York Times best-selling author, and longtime Associate Editor for Sports Illustrated, Don Yaeger has fashioned a career as one of America's most provocative thought leaders. As a speaker, he has worked with audiences as diverse as Fortune 500 companies and cancer survivor groups, where he shares his personal story. -- I am all about wellness hacks, and I truly believe in these products. Make sure to click the links to get my special discounts. #BreakthroughPartners ChiliSleep™ will give you the BEST night of sleep, EVERY night! Honestly, using ChiliSleep products has been a game changer in optimizing my sleep. •Code NURSE20 to get 20% off the Cube Sleep System with Chilipad® Cool Mesh™ •Code NURSE15 to get 15% OOLER® Sleep System with Chilipad® Cool Mesh™ ChiliSleep Discounts  ___________________________  WORKOUT™coffee takes your coffee to another level by integrating TheaFit™, an all natural, high potency, theaflavin-enriched black tea extract, patented and clinically proven to increase exercise performance and reduce recovery time. Since you follow me, you get 20% off with my code Nurse20 to use at checkout. Make sure to follow WORKOUT™coffee on Instagram and Facebook. Buy WORKOUT™ Coffee ____________________________________Luxee is a really awesome seasonal box that caters to performers, athletes, and entrepreneurs. They curate and ship award-winning products directly to your door at over 50% retail value...Ladder Sport, Legends athletic apparel, Manscaped, and HVMN are just a few. Check out their Spring Box now and snag 25% off using my code DAVID25. #ShopLuxee Now!  ____________________________________  H.V.M.N. Ketone-IQ™ - is one of my new favorite products! I love this drinkable ketone which supports mental clarity, athletic performance, and metabolic health. No caffeine. No sugar—just clean, natural energy to power your brain and body. All the gains here! Use my custom code DAVID for 10% off. Buy Ketone-IQ™ here  

This week, we are beyond excited to continue our March Madness series on Coach John Wooden. Mark Cole is once again joined by our special guest, Don Yaeger, who is back to share what he gleaned from his mentorship with Coach Wooden. For those who don't know, Don is the author of more than 35 books, eleven of which have become New York Times Best-sellers. He has written books with NFL icons like Walter Payton, Warrick Dunn, Michael Oher, and even John Wooden himself! He is a dear friend of the Maxwell Leadership Podcast and of John Maxwell, so we are extremely happy to have Don back for our post game discussion. Our BONUS resource for this series is the ‘Why John Wooden's Team Won Worksheet,” which includes fill-in-the-blank notes from John's teaching. You can download the worksheet by visiting MaxwellPodcast.com/Win and clicking “Download the Bonus Resource.” References: Watch this episode on YouTube! Corporate Competitor Podcast The Road to JOY by Scott Drew with Don Yaeger A Game Plan for Life by John Wooden with Don Yaeger Relevant Episode: You Are Worth it With Kyle Carpenter Relevant Episode: John Maxwell on the Corporate Competitor Podcast

As many of our U.S. listeners may know, we are in the middle of the famed March Madness college basketball tournament, where some of the best college athletes and coaches have marked their place in sports history. This week we begin a two-part series in which we celebrate one of the greatest college basketball coaches of all time, John Wooden, who was a friend and mentor of John Maxwell as well as today's guest co-host, Don Yaeger. If that name sounds familiar to you, that's because we've had Don on the podcast before. Don is the author of more than 35 books, eleven of which have become New York Times Best-sellers. He has written books with NFL icons like Walter Payton, Warrick Dunn, and Michael Oher, among many others including, you guessed it, John Wooden! Like John Maxwell, Don was mentored by John Wooden over the span of 12 years. Don is a celebrated storyteller, and you certainly don't want to miss the stories he shares in this series! Our BONUS resource for this series is the “Why John Wooden's Team Won Worksheet,” which includes fill-in-the-blank notes from John's teaching. You can download the worksheet by visiting MaxwellPodcast.com/Win and clicking “Download the Bonus Resource.” References: Watch this episode on YouTube! Corporate Competitor Podcast Relevant Episode: John Maxwell on the Corporate Competitor Podcast Relevant Episode: You Are Worth it With Kyle Carpenter The Road to JOY by Scott Drew with Don Yaeger A Game Plan for Life by John Wooden with Don Yaeger

Don Yaeger has built a career on sharing leadership stories from luminaries like basketball coach John Wooden, Hall of Fame football player Walter Payton, and dozens of other world class coaches and athletes. He is an award-winning keynote speaker, business leadership coach, and the author or co-author of eleven New York Times bestselling books, including John Wooden's A Game Plan For Life. Prior to his leadership coaching career, Don was a celebrated journalist, covering presidential candidates, Olympic athletes, sports legends and more. Don joined host Robert Glazer on the Elevate Podcast to discuss the lessons he's learned in his career, the difference between great performers and great coaches, and more.  The Elevate Club If you enjoy the Elevate Podcast, don't miss the Elevate Club, a new membership community led by Robert Glazer. Members get access to course licenses, private keynotes, monthly office hours and a private Slack community. Sign up at elevate-club.com.

Welcome to another episode of The Radcast! In this week's episode, host Ryan Alford talks to Don Yaeger, Forbes Senior Contributor, Team Builder, Executive Coach, NY Times Best-selling Author and Host of the Corporate Competitor Podcast.Don talks about his inspiration, as well as the path he went through to become a Professional Speaker. He also explains what led him to become an author and shares which book resonated with him the most from all those he has written and co-written.Don elaborates on the difference between writing a book on his own versus collaborating with others, as he points out the challenges faced as a world-class storyteller. He also shares his writing experience with Sports Illustrated and as a Forbes Senior Contributor and gives tips for all aspiring writers.To learn more about Don Yaeger, visit his website https://donyaeger.com/. Follow him on Instagram: @donyaeger and Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donyaeger/.If you enjoyed this episode of The Radcast, let us know by visiting our website www.theradcast.com. Check out www.theradicalformula.com. Like, Share and Subscribe to our YouTube account https://bit.ly/3iHGk44 or leave us a review on Apple Podcast. Be sure to keep up with all that's radical from @ryanalford @radical_results @the.rad.cast

Welcome to this week's episode of The Radcast! In this week's news episode, Host Ryan Alford and Co-Host Joe Hamric discuss the latest trends in the Metaverse, Social Holidays, Winter Olympics, the average Facebook DAUs, next episode's guest Don Yaeger, and more…Take a look at this week's biggest marketing headlines:Pringles Pops Open Refresh With A New CampaignMichelob Ultra's 'superior Bowl' Ad Promotes Gender Equality In SportsCameo Matures Beyond Celebrity Videos With Nft MembershipValentine's Day Ads Can Negatively Impact Mental Health, Particularly Among MenIf you enjoyed this episode of The Radcast, let us know by visiting our website www.theradcast.com. Check out www.theradicalformula.com Like, Share and Subscribe on our YouTube account https://bit.ly/3iHGk44 or leave us a review on Apple Podcast. Be sure to keep up with all that's radical from @ryanalford @radical_results @the.rad.cast