Podcasts about five dysfunctions

What Helped Me Trust My Team, Protect My Energy, and Step Into True Leadership I'll be honest—this conversation with Patrick Lencioni shook me (in the best way). If you've ever felt like running your business is way harder than it should be, or like you're carrying the weight of every single task on your back, this episode is going to be a game changer. Patrick introduces his powerful framework called the Six Types of Working Genius. It helped me understand why certain parts of my business drain me, and why trying to be “good at everything” was actually slowing me down. In this episode, we explore how to build a team that complements your strengths, how to identify the work that energizes you, and why letting go doesn't mean losing control—it means finally creating the business you thought you were building all along. If you're tired of feeling stretched thin, second-guessing your hires, or silently resenting tasks that suck the life out of you, this one's for you. HERE ARE THE 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE: 1️⃣ Your Genius Isn't What You're Good At—It's What Energizes You – Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Patrick explains how working in your genius fuels your joy, while living in your “competency” or “frustration” zones can quickly burn you out. 2️⃣ You Weren't Meant to Do It All—And That's Not a Flaw, It's the Fix – We dive into how trying to wear every hat as your business grows actually holds you back. The magic starts when you let your team do what they do best so you can lead from where you thrive. 3️⃣ Self-Awareness Is the Shortcut to Better Hires, Better Systems & Better Leadership – This framework isn't another personality quiz like Enneagram or Myers Briggs. It's a strategic tool that helps you make smarter hires, build a team that fits, and finally stop micromanaging things that were never yours to own. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Take the Working Genius Assessment: workinggenius.com Get your copy of The 6 Types of Working Genius: The Working Genius Book  Get your copy of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: The Five Dysfunctions Book MORE FROM PATRICK Learn more about Patrick tablegroup.com/pat  Follow Patrick on LinkedIn @patrick-lencioni MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram @amyporterfield SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more entrepreneurs who need these insights.

Send Jackie A Message!You've hired the help. You've delegated the tasks. So why does it still feel like you're the only one actually carrying the vision? In this episode, we're breaking down why your team might be checking boxes—but not moving the business forward—and how to fix it with one simple shift: getting everyone aligned around one clear, specific goal.You'll learn how to lead your team with clarity, what the real cost of vague direction is, and how to create team-wide momentum using the 4R framework and principles from The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. If you're a business owner ready to stop micromanaging and start multiplying, this episode is for you.What You'll Learn:The hidden reason your team might be stalling progressWhat Patrick Lencioni's model teaches us about shared goalsHow to make the business goal clear, public, and repeatableWhy clarity creates accountability (and what to say in every meeting)How to connect day-to-day tasks to the big visionKey Quote:“A clear goal, owned by the whole team, is the fastest path to results.”Resources & Links:→ DM me the word GOAL to join the Grow Mastermind waitlist→ Click Here to sign up or learn moreWork with Jackie MurphySay Hi on Instagram @studioceoofficialLearn about The Studio CEO Program

Tabatha Jones spent 20 years in the corporate world which she joined right out of high school. Soon after beginning work in a call center she began to discover her own leadership skills and began forging her own path in the corporate environment. Tabatha found that she could empower others to be better than they thought by providing a natural, honest and positive leadership style.   As Tabatha describes, she learned how to communicate and help connect the C Suite leaders in companies to those they lead. She learned to be a positive conduit to help all parts of companies where she served to learn and grow. She tells us stories about how she thrived as a leader and how she created positive change wherever she worked. She provides us with some really good leadership tips.   While Tabatha says her programs today are mainly to help women who more often do not have the confidence to lead, she states emphatically that her teachings do help men as well and she has male clients to prove it.   As Tabatha says, while she was a corporate leader for many years, she also used that time to coach and help others to learn leadership skills. Seven years ago Tabatha decided to leave working for others to form her own coaching firm, Empowered Leadership Coaching, LLC. She helps people learn how they can positively grow and advance in their own careers.   I very much enjoyed this episode and found that Tabatha and I have a lot of leadership views in common. For example, we discuss trust and the need for real trust in work environments. She tells a story about a mistake she made as a leader and how she dealt with it to keep the trust of all persons involved. I think you have a lot to gain from Tabatha. At the end of this episode she tells us how to get a free eBook that provides invaluable lessons to help you in your own efforts to rise in the work world.       About the Guest:   Tabatha Jones is the CEO of Empowered Leadership Coaching, LLC, a Career Advancement & Leadership Coach, author, and keynote speaker based in the SF Bay Area, working with clients nationwide. With over 20 years of experience leading high-performing technical teams in Corporate America, she transitioned into coaching at the age of 50, driven by her passion for helping women break through career barriers and achieve leadership success. Tabatha specializes in working with ambitious Gen-X women who are ready to stop playing small and make the next years the most impactful of their careers. Through her personalized coaching programs, she empowers her clients to develop strategic career plans, build unshakable confidence, elevate their visibility, and secure significant promotions. Her clients, including leaders at companies like Comcast, Cisco, Abbvie, PG&E, and Tyson, have successfully climbed the corporate ladder, developed standout leadership skills, and positioned themselves as top candidates for advancement. As a sought-after keynote speaker, Tabatha inspires audiences with actionable insights on leadership, career advancement, and empowerment. She is also the author of Promotion Ready in 3 Months: The Women's Guide to Career Advancement, available on Amazon.   Ways to connect Tabatha:   Website: https://www.empowered-leader.com/   Connect with me on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tabatha-jones-4485854/   Grab a Free Resource: GenX Promotion Planning Assessment: https://www.empowered-leader.com/promotionassessment   Purchase a copy of my book on Amazon: https://a.co/d/gpoqjNw   About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/   https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Well, hi everyone, and welcome to another edition, an exciting edition of unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet, and the unexpected is everything that doesn't have anything to do with inclusion or diversity, which is most things, according to my diversity friends, but that's okay, our guest today. How do I do this? Okay, I'll just be up front. As many of you know, I use a screen reader, which is a piece of software to verbalize whatever comes across the screen. And when my screen reader finds my guest today's name, it pronounces it Tabatha. Don't you like that? Of course, it's Tabitha, but Tabata, so, so Tabitha. Tabatha Jones, welcome you to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're here.   Tabatha Jones ** 02:09 Oh, thank you so much for having me here. And Tabatha sounds fairly International, and maybe I'll take it, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 02:16 well, you can have it. It's yours. I don't think that the screen reader will mind a whole lot. But But what we're glad you're here now. I met Tabitha, as I have mentioned in the past with others, through an event that I attend, pada palooza. And Tabitha and I were both at the most recent pot of palooza. So what took you there? Are you starting a podcast, or are you just wanting to be interviewed by podcasters, or do you already have a podcast and you've done 1000s of episodes already?   Tabatha Jones ** 02:46 Well, I haven't done 1000s of episodes. I'm a fairly new podcaster. I've launched my own it's called the Gen X, free mix life, laughs and next acts. I think we're at about Episode 11. I was actually really interested in joining pada palusa to meet other podcasters. Here's some success stories and learn some great tips and tricks as I'm continuing to build mine out and and engage my audience well. So if there's   Michael Hingson ** 03:11 any way I can help, you, just need to shout out and glad to do it. And if you ever need a guest, and if I can fit the mold, I'm also glad to do that. It's always fun to to be a guest. When people want to come on unstoppable mindset, and I discover that they have a podcast, I always tell them, Well, you know, and many of them say, Well, do you charge for guests? And I say, Yes, I do. The charges you have to let me be a guest on your podcast, or if I go on to their podcast. I say I charge for that, and the charges that you have to come on my cop podcast to be a guest. So it works out.   Tabatha Jones ** 03:47 It's a fantastic tip. I'm taking that down and definitely having you on the podcast. Oh my gosh, yeah, that'd be fun.   Michael Hingson ** 03:53 Well, it it is cute. Actually, last week of a couple in Australia, a couple people emailed me and they they want to come on unstoppable mindset. And I was glad to do that. And they said, you know, but, but what's your charge? And I said, Well, I know you have a podcast. I have to be on yours. They said, Oh, we can, we can pay that. So it's fine. It is. You know, podcasting is so, so much fun. I did radio for years at the University of California at Irvine, and I like radio. Radio is a wonderful thing, but you're more structured because you have a limited amount of time. You've got to do certain things, you've got commercials you got to do, and sponsors that you have to satisfy, and some of that can happen with the podcast, but it's still not nearly as rigid, which makes it a lot of fun.   Tabatha Jones ** 04:45 Yeah, absolutely. And there's so much variety out there. One of the coolest things for me about starting a podcast is it's led me to so many other podcast shows that I had never listened to before, yours included. So now I think I'm following maybe. 30 to 40 different shows that I hadn't heard of until very recently, I'd say, probably the last six to eight months, and I'm loving it. I learned something new every single day. I learned something about someone's experience that leads me to check more into what they've shared. And it's really been fun. It's been a much more fun adventure for me than the social media that I was kind of, kind of dabbling in a little bit, but podcasts, it's just so much more personal and fun. It   Michael Hingson ** 05:27 is. It's much more connectional. And social media is just so impersonal, and people spend so much time doing it, and I'm amazed at some of the people who spend so many hours on it. I could, I don't do a lot of stuff on social media. I will post things occasionally, and I'm amazed at how fast some people, as soon as they as soon as I post, within minutes, they're responding to it. And I'm going, how do you do that? But anyway, it's people focus on that. But it's so impersonal compared to doing things like podcasting, because you do get to know people. You get to learn about people. And as I tell people constantly, if I'm not learning at least as much as anybody else who listens to this podcast, then I'm not doing my job well, which is kind of the way I look at it. And I always like to learn things from everyone who comes on and who I get to interact with because of the podcast.   Tabatha Jones ** 06:21 Yeah, so much fun. It is. You know, one of the things when we met that really connected me to you was just your story and sharing your author journey on top of it. So, yeah, you're kind of stuck with me in your fan club for a little bit following   Michael Hingson ** 06:40 you Well, thank you. And it is, it is fun to do that and following you back. It's, it's a lot of fun. And as I said, I enjoy getting to know people and connecting and learning which is cool, and to introduce you a little bit more to people, and I'll get to letting you do some of that too. But Tabitha is the CEO of empowered leadership coaching LLC, which is obviously a coaching organization, and you started doing that when you were 50. Of course I could, I could, circuitously get to and and how long ago was that, which would then tell us your age, but I won't that's   Tabatha Jones ** 07:25 all right. As a career advancement coach, I tell people all the time, don't put those long dates on your resume. People will start guessing your age, and then we've got another whole situation. I think the good thing with coaching is age and experience go together, and people see that a little bit differently, which has been fun. Yeah, I left it, you know, corporate at 50, and started my own business. I had been doing it on the side, but now I get to do it every day, and it's so   Michael Hingson ** 07:50 much fun. Well, seriously, how long have you been doing it?   Tabatha Jones ** 07:54 You know, for officially. Oh, I gotta do math. 2017. Is when I started. So,   Michael Hingson ** 08:01 oh, okay, well, there you go. So, 10 years, okay, yeah, and then   Tabatha Jones ** 08:04 I had been doing it as part of my job for more than 20 years. So as a leader in corporate, more than 20 years of coaching experience came from that sure   Michael Hingson ** 08:13 when you've got seven years of official long term, real life, constant experience, which is, which is great too. Well, tell us about the early Tabitha growing up and some of those kinds of things that would get us to know you better.   Tabatha Jones ** 08:28 Well, I grew up in a little town called Livermore. It's not so little anymore out here in California, in the East Bay, I am the oldest of four, and you   Michael Hingson ** 08:37 were never irradiated by the the accelerators, or any of the things that Livermore Labs.   Tabatha Jones ** 08:41 No, there was so much Hush, hush, secret stuff going on out there. But, you know, it was always very cool. They had a swimming pool you could go swim at. I think it was 75 cents to go swim for the whole day at the pool. And, you know, as a grown up, I'm all, should we really have been swimming there? I don't   Michael Hingson ** 08:58 know. Oh, it was safe. Well, it was absolutely Were you ever there after dark? No, so you don't know whether anything glowed in the dark or not. So you didn't probably you were safe.   Tabatha Jones ** 09:07 Probably safe. Yeah, nope. Genetics kids, when the street lights came on, we went home.   Michael Hingson ** 09:11 There you go. But anyway, so Livermore, yeah,   Tabatha Jones ** 09:15 Livermore, and then let's see. So I finished high school. Didn't really know what I was going to do. I stuck a little toe in the telecommunications industry at AT and T and got a job there right out of high school, answering phones and learning all kinds of great things. Did a lot of growing up in that space. Gosh, it was a it was an interesting journey. I actually was sitting in a call center taking phone calls during the 1989 earthquake, which, oh, boy, you may remember, right? I know I was training somebody, and I just looked at the person. I said, we're gonna hang up and go under the desk. That's what we're doing. And that was the day before my birthday. So I got my birthday off that year, which. You know, as they planned   10:00 out very well,   Tabatha Jones ** 10:02 yeah. But terrible, terrible, tragic earthquake, unfortunately. But, you know, I do just kind of try to make a little lighter of it with that. You know, the birthday off, but it is. It was an interesting time, for sure. I lived   Michael Hingson ** 10:16 in Vista, California at the time. Well, actually, I take it back. I lived in Mission Viejo. We hadn't moved to VISTA yet, although I had a job in Carlsbad, and I remember coming out to get on a bus to go from Carlsbad back up to Mission Viejo. And I was going to listen to the World Series, and it wasn't on, and it took me about 15 minutes before, I finally found a radio station that announced that there had been an earthquake. And then we got home, and then we started. We just Karen was was at home, and we just started watching it on TV, and they had all the the live shots and all that, and the freeway collapse and so on. It was, needless to say, quite the event. Karen and I survived. We were in, not married yet in, well, 19, whatever that would have been, 69 or 70 or 71 the Sylmar quake. I don't think it was in 74 I think it was earlier than that. But there was a big earthquake up in Sylmar, and we felt it at UC Irvine, and then we had the Whittier Narrows and Northridge quakes, so we felt those as well. But yeah, that had to be pretty rough in 89 for all of you up there.   Tabatha Jones ** 11:38 Yeah, it was pretty, pretty interesting. You know, from that point, you know, I just was training somebody as I as I mentioned, and, you know, we, we took that next day and couple of days kind of getting things together, working through the call center, handling a lot of emergency calls and things that were going on. And I'd say that's probably the first time I felt that call to leadership, you know, and realized I wanted to do more than being a call center, answering phones. There's nothing wrong with that, but for me, it wasn't the end all. And I started working on mapping out, how am I going to build my career here? Managed to advance a couple of times, and then went through a major layoff. So AT and T we all know, went through a lot of change over the years, but in the 80s and early 90s, there was a lot. So I did a couple of different things in between, and then one day, I walked into what was the Viacom cable office and decided I'm going to apply for a job here. It's just six months for experience, and we'll see where it goes. I fell in love with the cable industry. As weird as it sounds, I loved it, so I worked up really quickly into a lead role, and then started shifting into technology, which is where I spent most of my career, leading those technical teams and just really loving it. But yeah, yeah, that's kind of the journey from the early life into the career side of things. But   Michael Hingson ** 13:05 what kind of things did you do in as a leader for Viacom?   Tabatha Jones ** 13:09 So Viacom was where you in, went through. So I was in the call center. Initially became a lead there, moved into credit and collections and learned everything there was to learn there. It wasn't really my jam, but it was a great place to be. And then I moved into the Information Services Department, and you probably remember this back in the day of punching down phone lines in the little box, in different I don't know if you ever did that, but yeah, soldering cat five lines, crawling under desk, climbing up ladders, doing all those things. So that was early. It days before the internet. Still, I think crazy to say,   Michael Hingson ** 13:48 so did you do that? Or did you lead people who did that? So I   Tabatha Jones ** 13:52 did that early on. I learned everything I could in that department. I learned how to print reports. I knew learned how to compile data. I learned how to code the billing system, moved into project management from there, still on the information services side, and led some really huge projects through that time. We went through three companies. We landed at Comcast. That was where I was for the longest, but never really left, you know, my role, and just fell in love with the technology, because it changes all the time. It's never the same day twice. I loved working with technical people, and learned really quickly that one of my gifts was being able to translate between the Technical Suite and the C suite. So taking those great ideas and going and securing the budget or coming in with here's what the leadership team is thinking. Here's how I think we can do it. What are your thoughts and being able to translate and move things forward really fast. That's where I joined the leadership team and stayed, and I loved it. Climbing the ladder at Comcast was a lot of fun for me. Yeah. Do   Michael Hingson ** 15:00 you think that really taking the time to get that technical knowledge and learn those various jobs, even though you necessarily didn't do them all the time, but learning how to do those jobs? Do you think that was a valuable thing for you, looking back on it now,   Tabatha Jones ** 15:19 yeah, I do in some ways. And I spoke at a women in telecom sorry, it's women in tech and telecom seminar a few years back. And one of the things that we know is women don't advance as quickly into technical leadership roles, and being able to say in that room, leadership is not a technical skill. Just let the light bulbs off for people, because we hold ourselves back. And it's not just women, but it definitely happens in the female space, where we will hold ourselves back. Oh, I'm not technical enough, oh, I don't know enough. Oh, I can't code Python. It. It doesn't always matter for me, having the basis helped because I understood the work the team was doing. I understood quicker ways to do things. I had done them myself the hard way, but it gave me a little bit more, I'd say, street cred with the team, not that they ever expected me to code a macro or build an automation program, but because I could come and speak to them in a language that made sense, then they could go build the thing and do their jobs. So I do think it helped. It helped give me really great insight to what could be and let us really drive innovation quickly, which was super fun. I   Michael Hingson ** 16:41 agree with you on that I felt in everything that I did as a as a leader, working in a variety of different kinds of roles, I felt it necessary to learn the things that the people who worked for me and with me did because at least I could then articulate them. I could talk about them. I didn't necessarily have to do them all the time, and there were some things that I wasn't going to be able to do, for example, for four years or three and a half years, four I owned a company that sold PC based CAD systems to architects, computer aided design systems, for those who don't know, to architects and engineers and so on. And they were some of the early PC based CAD systems. We started in 1985 doing that. And needless to say, that was and and still is very much a highly graphic environment. And that isn't something that I'm going to be able to sit down in front of a computer terminal and do, because the technology, even today, doesn't exist to describe all of that information for me, so that I have access to it as quickly and as efficiently as a person who can see but even though I wouldn't be able to run a CAD system, I knew how to do it. So I could then sit down with an architect in front of a machine and ask them what they wanted to do, and then described them what they needed to do to make it happen. So I actually made them part of the process of showing themselves how the cast system worked by them actually working it. Now I also have people who work for me, but I did know how to do that, and I think that was extremely important. And I've always felt that having that knowledge is is helpful. I do tend to be very technical. I've got a master's degree in physics and so on. And I I think that having that technical knowledge is kind of part of the way I operate, which is fine, but still, I think that having that technical knowledge, really, even if it's only to be able to talk about it at the right times, was a very helpful thing and made me a better leader.   Tabatha Jones ** 18:59 Yeah, absolutely would agree with that, and understanding just the basics of what can and can't be done, or, you know, what my limitations were, and being vulnerable with going back to my team and saying, This is as far as I know how to take it. I need you to walk me through what the next steps are, or what your ideas are, or what your thoughts are. And I had a wonderful team. I'd say one of the benefits of not being the most technical person on the team is then I'm not seen as someone who's micromanaging. I'm not seen as someone who has all the answers. And for my teams, that worked out great because they loved showing their innovation. They loved showing ideas and bringing new technology, tools and things to the forefront, which made it a lot more fun for them, too. And I'd say one of the coolest things I did with my team was I was given, you know, in corporate world, you're sometimes gifted new responsibilities, and one of the new responsibilities. I was gifted with, was creating a quality control team, and this team was going to validate all of the data that the Information Services coding team was developing in the billing system. And it was needed the error rate, I mean, the accuracy rate, rather, was only about 70 ish percent. Wow. So it needed to change. It was impacting our frontline, impacting our techs. It was causing revenue gaps, right, customer experience problems. The vision that was given to me is we want you to hire three people, and they're going to manually validate this data all day long, and me being a hybrid technical people person said, Hold the phone. We're not doing that. So I went and hired someone who was an expert at SQL and Tableau. We then hired someone who was an expert at Quality Assurance, because that's what she had been doing in the call center, was validating orders and making sure the billing their statements were going out correct. So she had the manual aspect. And then we hired a third person who wasn't quite as technical as the first, but definitely a really good balance between the two and between the three of them and their ideas and their skills, and then my abilities as a leader to guide them through. You know, this is what we need. This is the vision. This is the budget, this is the the outcome that we want to get to. We were able to build something that was automated, that drove accuracy up to 98.1% Wow, and it's probably better today, but it's just because that the ability to see people who can bring in the best parts of their knowledge and then work together to build something. That's what helps technology advance so much faster.   Michael Hingson ** 21:44 Yeah, but it's but it's important to be able to do that. And you you learn to have the vision, or innately, you have the vision to to bring that about. And it sounds to me like all of the people that that you were leading really respected you, because you were, first of all, you were not a threat to them, and you clearly showed an interest in what they did, and you loved to hear them talk about it, because that taught you things that you didn't know   Tabatha Jones ** 22:17 exactly, oh my gosh, and they were great about what I'd say is dumbing things down. I'd sit there sometimes and would be listening to somebody, an analyst, who was excited and explaining all these great things they were doing. And finally, my face would say, okay, hold the phone. We need to step back just a teeny bit. I needed to bring it down, maybe just a little bit more. And once I got it, then everybody would be just jazzed and so excited and out to share, and, you know, made sure that they were getting to do part of the presenting when it went to higher levels, so that they could get credit and feel that value, which is so, so critical to help, you know, just boost that morale and keep inspiring people.   Michael Hingson ** 22:53 The other part of that, though, is you are also teaching them some probably sorely needed communication skills, because they're used to just talking very technical, and they're used to just talking to each other, and everybody gets it right away. But the reality is that I would think that they came to realize, well, maybe we need to present it in a little bit different way, because not everybody looks at it the way we do   Tabatha Jones ** 23:21 exactly that's where a lot of coaching came in and helping people work together better in the communication space, and then bringing it forward in a way that people understood. We did a really cool program. It was called insights. It exists out there, and there are people who are certified to administer it, but it basically is a personality assessment based on colors. So red, yellow, blue, green, and blue is generally your very technical, more introverted detail specific people. The Office of that is yellow, and I am very high yellow, which is your, include me. Bring me in. Let's have a party. Let's talk about it. So it was good for me, because it caused me to bring that yellow energy down a bit, which kept the, you know, the conversations going and the conversations open, and they learned to elevate that yellow energy a little bit so we could meet in the middle really well. And some of them had different, you know, red or green in there. But it was really interesting to be leading a team with such opposite energy. From that perspective,   Michael Hingson ** 24:27 did you ever find people who just resisted learning to meet in the middle or learning to do some of the things that you really wanted them to do, and they just didn't want to do that at all?   Tabatha Jones ** 24:41 Oh yes, yes, there were a couple, and that required more coaching, right? So one who had been used to working in a very specific way before we were reorganized and he was moved under me, it took multiple times and finally, a mild threat to. Get him to come forward and come on board with the new process, because sometimes it's really easy to stick in doing things the old way. He had been doing it for 1520, years. And I joke when I say threats. I don't threaten people, but you know, it was kind of a I need you to come up with the rest of the team. Here's what you're doing and how it's impacting the team, and even though it feels like it's making your customer happy in the long run, it's not because they're going to have to work with other people, and we need to make sure that they understand that this has changed, and then another who was more my way or the highway, and that took, you know, again, a bit of coaching. So his leader worked for me, and so his leader and I would come up with different plans and different strategies to put him in positions where he had to stay a little bit more quiet and let the team members bring forward their ideas. And rather than him jumping to a no, it was, we want you to start asking these three questions, and, you know, whatever the questions were to get the conversation going, and then the light bulb started going off for him. Like, wow. Some of these individuals have definitely had different training on, you know, whatever type of technology it is that makes perfect sense. What if we combine this so he was able to actually help us bring out the best in everyone, once he took that step back and really started listening and getting a bit more curious.   Michael Hingson ** 26:30 Well, that that's, you know, of course, a wonderful skill to have, because people need to recognize that not everybody is where they are   Tabatha Jones ** 26:42 exactly. It's true. And you know, I kind of think back when we were talking about the leadership aspect and leading technical teams, I coach a lot of people on interview skills and helping them present their best selves for the job that they're interviewing for. And one thing that seems to be a habit for people who are very technical and are also leaders is deferring so much their technical skills, and it's good, but you've got to have that balance. When you're applying for a leadership role, what happens that is very disappointing, is they'll be told, Well, we're not really seeing your leadership skills or your leadership qualities or not feeling like you're a good fit with this team. Usually, when a company is hiring a technical people leader, they want to know you can lead people, because not everybody can do both,   Michael Hingson ** 27:40 right, or they haven't learned how to   Tabatha Jones ** 27:43 right. It's true. Not everybody wants to. Sometimes they think they do because it's the next logical step, but sometimes people are just really happy being hands on others. To your point, you can learn. You can step into maybe a lead role, and start learning how to let go of some things and and get more comfortable with not being the smartest person in the room, because once you're the leader, you've got to have that balance and, and it's a learning a learning curve, for sure,   Michael Hingson ** 28:09 yeah. And unfortunately, there are way too many people, certainly, a lot of them are technical who think they're the smartest person in the room, whether they are not, and then some of them are. But still, that's not always the solution to making things work, especially if you're working in a team.   Tabatha Jones ** 28:29 Absolutely, yeah, it's all about the team. And it can't be. They always say there's no me and team. But technically, if you rearrange the letters there, kind of is that's maybe snow i Maybe it's No, I in team. No, I in team.   Michael Hingson ** 28:43 Yeah, there's no i That's true. But you know, one of my favorite books I enjoy reading it often, is actually the Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. Have you ever read that?   Tabatha Jones ** 28:55 I have not read that. I am aware of it. I have not bought it yet. It's a   Michael Hingson ** 29:00 short book, relatively speaking, but it's great because it really puts teamwork in perspective, and it really defines what should happen in a well functioning team, including the fact that members of the team can hold each other accountable when the team is comfortable with each other. And then, of course, it's all the team leader who has to really bring people together and meld the team into a cohesive working group. But the good team leaders can do that and understand what their role has to be in getting everybody to operate at peak performance.   Tabatha Jones ** 29:39 Love that. I will get that back on my list. Radical candor is kind of similar, as far as you know, being able to say what needs to be said and feeling like you're in a safe space to say it. Yeah, that's one of the things that I always found a little, I guess, frightening as a leader, is when I would talk to another leader and say, What feedback have you given this person? Well. Feedback is so negative, like no feedback given with love is there with the intention of helping the person grow and do better and understand what they're doing really well so they can keep doing that. So yeah, being able to let the team members or ask the team members hold each other accountable, be honest with each other, this isn't about feelings. This is about respect, and sometimes it's a hard conversation. It's really crunchy and uncomfortable. But once it happens, the trust that is built is it's unstoppable, well,   Michael Hingson ** 30:30 but feedback can also be a very positive thing. And it can be that you're doing a great job. Here's what you're doing. It isn't necessarily but you're not doing this right? It, it can be exactly a very positive thing. And there, there are certainly times that we all like to get that as well.   Tabatha Jones ** 30:47 Absolutely feedback is my favorite F word. I always say it is just, it's so important. And I've worked with people who have said, you know, I can't get feedback from my boss. I said, Well, what do you mean? And they said, Well, he All he says is just, you're doing a good job. Keep doing that. Yeah. Well, what specifically am i doing that's a good job. So feedback in itself is a skill, both giving it in a positive way and giving it in a constructive way. But all feedback is good when it's given with the right intention and it's given with, you know, just honesty and love. And   Michael Hingson ** 31:20 there's a skill in receiving feedback too and recognizing if you trust the feedback, the feeder backer, if you trust the person giving you the feedback, then you know that they're not out to get you. Yeah. And that's part of it is breaking through the usual shell that most of us probably a build up. Well, that person has some sort of alternative agenda they're out to get me. And that isn't always the case. And, oh, absolutely, unfortunately, sometimes it is, but it doesn't necessarily mean it always is. Yeah, I agree.   Tabatha Jones ** 31:54 You know, if you think back to feedback that you've been given throughout your life, is there a piece of feedback that you were given that really changed the way you do things. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 32:06 I can think of some, and I think that most of us can, because the people giving us the feedback were concerned about trying to help and concerned to try to get us to hear what others in the world are are saying or thinking. And if we take that to heart, that can be a very positive thing.   Tabatha Jones ** 32:32 Yeah, absolutely. One of the biggest foundations for me as a leader is trust and trust with my team, both going both directions to them, from me and from them to to from me to them, and from them to me. So complete trust. It's so important. And you know, knowing that I've had employees come and give me feedback, and it doesn't matter what level I was at or what level they were at, once, I knew that they were comfortable giving me feedback. I knew our relationship was strong, yeah, and, you know, I've had people come and say, I didn't really like the way that you said that. It would have been more impactful if you had done this. I've had clients come and say, you know, when you said that, I really reflected on it. And maybe we're not in the same spot. So let me say this again and see if you can, you can address it a different way. Great. If we don't have trust, we're not going to go anywhere. So it's such an important piece of of building trust. In   Michael Hingson ** 33:26 my new book, live like a guide dog, true stories from a blind man and his dog about being brave, overcoming adversity and moving forward in faith. Long title, well at the end, the subtitle, but one of the things that I talk about is that I've learned a lot of lessons about dealing with fear and dealing with people from my dogs, because dogs do things differently than we do and don't have any near, anywhere near the stress that We do. For example, dogs are, I think, creatures that do love unconditionally, but they don't trust unconditionally. What dogs do, however, is that they tend to be less something is really hurt a dog. They tend to be more open to trust, and they want to build a trusting relationship with us if we're open to it, because they are, and when we recognize that and we truly build the trusting relationship, it's second to none. So then you've got the love part that is there, but the trusting part, it's a whole different story. And I know that when I start working with every guide dog and people say, Oh, how long does it take to really get used to a dog? My response is, it takes roughly a year. Because it takes a long time for both sides of the team to truly recognize and have enough confidence in the other that they have that trust that they need to have.   Tabatha Jones ** 34:59 Yeah. Dogs are so much better than people. I will tell you their behavior is so much better, but I get that and you know someone who adopted my last two dogs. One was three years old when I got her from the pound, and she lived to be 15, and my other one is she's eight. I got her when she was three from someone that was re homing her. But they do. They they teach you that I can love you, but I don't know that I trust you yet. I've got to build this up like I will lick you and throw a party when you come home, but don't be trying to pick me up yet. We're not there. Yeah. So, you know, I can imagine, with a guide dog, it's even more elevated, and I can't write to read your that book, because I just finished underdog. I did. I don't know why the name just went blank. I posted it on my Facebook and Instagram. I was so excited, but yeah, oh my gosh. I can't wait to read the new one. If you   Michael Hingson ** 35:48 get a chance with both of them, go review them at Amazon. So lovely. Get a we always appreciate reviews. So Amazon and Goodreads are the best places to go to go do reviews, and they're very helpful. But when you read, live like a guide dog, love to get your thoughts, and you're welcome to email me and love to chat about it as well. But you're right that there are so many things about dogs that really teach us a lot. One of my favorite things that I talk about a lot, and we deal with it and live like a guide dog is we, as people tend to what if everything to death. We What if everything well, what if this? What if that? And the reality is, most of the things that we're dealing with, what if about are things over which we have absolutely no control, and all we're doing is building up our own internal Sears, and we need to learn to get away from that. If we could just learn to focus on the things that we have control over and not worry about the rest. And of course, people will say, Well, but, but all this stuff is going on we gotta worry about. No, you don't. You can be aware of it without worrying about it. You can be aware of it without it interfering with your life. But you have control over that, but there are so many things in your life that you don't have control over. And my, my premier example of that, of course, is the World Trade Center. I am not convinced that all of the government departments working together would have been able to figure out what was happening and stop the attacks from half from occurring. But the result of that is, of course, that we had no control over the events occurring. What we absolutely have total control over is how we individually choose to deal with those events and how we choose to move forward.   Tabatha Jones ** 37:36 Yeah, absolutely, oh my gosh, it's so powerful and so true. And I'd say too with dogs is they don't let that little thing that bothered them four hours ago eat them up, or four days ago or four months ago. They don't generally hold a grudge unless something was pretty atrocious, where we will ruminate on a story or a conversation over and over and over again, sometimes it's just solved by a simple Hey, what did you mean when you said that? Or we'll just go and keep thinking about it and keep thinking about it. Dogs moved on. They're like, I've already had my snack in my walk, like we're good again. There's no grudge, there's no past concern, or I made a mistake this day. I'm never gonna cross that line again, because, you know, I did this thing, but humans are so are just wired so differently, just from, I'm sure, our life lessons and all the things that we've been through. But if we could live a little more like a dog, that would be kind of amazing. That guide dogs specifically,   Michael Hingson ** 38:35 I agree. And you know, the reality is that dogs do make mistakes, and one of the things that we learned to put it in terms of what we're talking about today, one of the things that we learn as guide dog handlers is how to give appropriate feedback, and that process has changed over the years, so now it's a much more positive process. We don't tend to yell at dogs, we don't tend to try to give sharp leash corrections, but rather, when they do it right, that's the time to truly reinforce it and say, what a good job you did it. And if you're training a dog to do a new thing or give them a new skill, reinforcing the time that they succeed is so much more powerful than ever saying you didn't do that right? And I think that's as true for humans as it is for dogs, but humans just don't tend to for all the reasons that you said, Trust like, like, maybe they should, but we always think that everybody has a hidden agenda, which is unfortunate, because we don't always necessarily have a hidden agenda. And even if we do, and if you feel like you can't trust me because you think I have a hidden agenda, you can always ask me about it, or you should, and that's something we just tend not to feel that much that we can do, because those aren't skills that we're taught when we're growing up.   Tabatha Jones ** 39:56 Yeah, it's very true, and you. Know when you mentioned the mistakes even thinking about that from a leadership perspective. When I first started leading in my last team, we had reorganized into a corporate structure, so I had new employees sitting across 40 some odd states. It was a big a big reorg, and I would be talking to people about different things. And I said, Well, why did you, you know, why did you do it this way? Oh, well, I realized I made a mistake, so I didn't want to get in trouble. So I thought if I went and I did this, then that would I'm like, wait a minute, stop. Let's let's pause, let's go back to get in trouble. Tell me about that. And I would hear, and I heard it from multiple people across the team that there was such a level of fear over making a mistake. And I said, you know, you're not coming to work with somebody's heart transplant in an ice chest, like, if you make a mistake, nobody's gonna die. Yeah, somebody's gonna get a little maybe mad because we're gonna hit a little bit of a revenue hiccup, or maybe have to send an apology notice to some customers that have a mistake on their bill. But nothing's that big that we can't learn from it, fix it correctly and make sure it doesn't happen again. And that was a huge shift, and that's something you know, where a dog will make a mistake they get through the correction to your point, positive reinforcement. We've got jerky treats, kind of redirect. If people only could take a jerky treat, that'd be great, but they don't. But you know, when a mistake happens, teaching people, teaching our kids, like it's okay to make a mistake, but let's talk about what we learned from it. Make a plan to do better, and figure out how we just don't let that happen again, and then if it happens again, okay, let's have a different conversation. What? What did you notice? Did we miss something in the process? Less last time? Let's fix that, and then let's take the next steps forward, and let's go back and present to the team how we can improve this process and what we've learned from this mistake, like we can make it positive and as leaders, we can help our employees go faster. We can help our dogs learn faster. Can help our kids learn faster by just being a leader and managing mistakes correctly.   Michael Hingson ** 42:06 How do we get that process kind of more into the mainstream of society? How do we get people to recognize that it's okay when you make a mistake, we'll fix it and really give them and teach people to give the positive reinforcement that we need to do. Because I think it's, it's very true. We don't teach it.   Tabatha Jones ** 42:27 We don't teach it. I feel like younger parents that I'm seeing, in some ways, are getting there, you know, I remember back in the day when we would accidentally break something, or, you know, be roughhousing a little, and the glass would get knocked off the counter, and it was a huge thing, right? You're going to clean it up. You're going to go to your room. You're going to stop playing around in the house. And, you know, with my son, I know when He would break something and be like, Hey, let's clean this up. I need you to be more careful. You know, it's not you need to go sit in your room. You made a mistake. It's okay. And I see the difference in myself. Still, when I make a mistake, I beat myself up when he makes a mistake, he cleans it up and moves forward. So it's definitely happening through parenting and the way that we handle it as parents. We have that great opportunity as leaders once adults are full grown and in the workforce and still have those tendencies of fear and oh my gosh, I need to cover it up, teaching them, I had a situation where I made a mistake, shocking. I know I made a mistake, just kidding. I do it all the time, but I had made a mistake with some data that I collected from my team, I'd had individual skip level meetings, and decided kept all the notes in a spreadsheet, and I had told the team as I spoke with them. Whatever you tell me, it's in confidence. I'm taking themes of the conversation and I'll present it back to your leaders. They're not going to have names. We're not going to know who said what. That's not what this is about. It's about me helping drive improvements through my leadership team so that it's better for you. And they were really open, and it was amazing. It was such a gift to have that trust from the team. Well, I went and took my compilations, put all my notes together on a spreadsheet, sent it to my leadership team, and never took off the original notes. And I was like, shoot, now, what do I do? So I asked a peer. I said, Hey, this is what I did. What would you do? And she said, Well, I would tell my leaders, they need to be leaders, and they need to keep it confidential. And I was like, oh, not good enough. I'm not doing that. So I thought about it, yeah. And I said, You know what? This is a teachable moment. This is the opportunity I've been given to practice what I preach. So I pulled my entire team, 50 some odd people on the phone, on a teams call. So we were on camera, and I said, I need to talk to you about something. And I said, I made a mistake, and because of that mistake, I have let you down, and I've broken my word. And I explained what I did. I explained, you know, I got really excited by the information, because I saw things we could do, which then led me to moving way too fast, and I completely sent your comment. Comments with your names to your leaders, and I apologize. And going forward, when I take data and information from you, I will be learning from this mistake. I will keep two separate spreadsheets. I will not be, you know, just adding to the individual spreadsheet, I will quality control, check it before I send it out, and I will make sure that I do better. And I just ask that you forget me. On this one, I got so many texts and emails and instant messages that just said, Thank you so much, and someone that said, thank you, it helps to see that a leader owned up to a mistake, and I'm like, that's that was a teachable moment so nobody died. I didn't lose a heart. I broke a little confidence and a little trust. But we can fix things, and that's how,   Michael Hingson ** 45:46 yeah, and, and that makes a lot of sense, and we, we just tend to, oftentimes do knee jerk reactions. I was sitting here thinking about sometime after we moved to New Jersey in 1996 my wife and I were in our living room, and I don't remember what was going on. We were having a great time, and we each had, each had a glass of champagne, and my fourth guide dog, Lenny, was with us. And Lenny, like any good lab has a tail that never stops. And Karen, I think it was Karen, I don't even remember, sure. I think it was. Had put her glass down on the coffee table, and tail hit glass, glass, which was crystal, went all over floor, hardwood floor, you know, and I can think of so many people who would blame the dog. And actually, I think Lenny blamed herself for a little while, and we kept saying it wasn't your fault we screwed up. And eventually, you know, she well within, within an hour, she was mostly Okay, but, but the bottom line is that she, she, she knew that something happened, but it wasn't her fault, and it is important to own up to to things and and as I said, I think it was Karen, because I think Karen said I should never have put my glass down, or I should have put it back further away from her tail, because she was So excited. You know those   Tabatha Jones ** 47:21 tails, lab tails are crazy things, yeah, oh my gosh, right, but Lenny didn't stop wagging her tail because of that little mistake, right? It's something that Karen was able to own up to. You two were able to clean it up, and then Lenny was able to go on and keep wagging her tail. Everyone's being more careful. Now,   Michael Hingson ** 47:39 what's really funny is that, because it was a hardwood floor and crystal, there were her pieces that we found days later, but   Tabatha Jones ** 47:47 really years later, oh my gosh. But   Michael Hingson ** 47:50 you know what Lenny was? Was, was a cutie, and Lenny was the, probably the most empathetic dog that I've ever had. We had a pastor, and we had who we had come to know, and we were at a party, and she was at this party, and she came up to us and she said, we let Lenny visit everybody, but we just let her loose. Um, Lenny is the most empathetic dog I've ever seen, because you let her loose. And she went to the person who was feeling the most pain first, and then she worked the rest of the room, and we're talking emotional pain, but Lenny could sense that and and she did. She went to the person who was hurting the most for whatever reason. And then after she felt she had done all she could with that person, then she went around to the rest of the room. Oh, what a wonderful experience that was. Yeah, I know, and we hadn't noticed it, but sharee told it to us, and we we realized it from then on, yeah, she's right. I   Tabatha Jones ** 48:52 always think that the companies that allow people to bring their dogs to work are probably the companies that have the highest performance and productivity. I can't prove this yet, but there is something about having a warm, fuzzy little Snuggler with a cold nose right next to you that makes such a difference. Yeah, like I said, you know, mine's by me all the time, but they're just so intuitive. They pick up on your moods. They pick up on what's going on when you've had a bad day, you know, when you're feeling unconfident. I've worked with people a lot on helping them build confidence. And she'll even come around like, Hey, why you down? Like, what's going on? Let's go play. Go play. And then, you know, they're always so excited when you just do the smallest things. It's like, you know what? All right, I am making somebody, somebody happy today. It's just not that, maybe that other person, or whatever it is. But, yeah, oh my gosh. What made   Michael Hingson ** 49:40 you decide? What Madeline just caused you to decide to go from working for other companies in the corporate world to starting your own coaching career full time.   Tabatha Jones ** 49:52 You know, I just love the coaching aspect, helping people who struggle to speak up for themselves or who. Struggle to recognize the value that they bring to the workplace or to the world in general, just really lights my fire. I work mostly with women in their 50s, mostly with women who are already leaders but feel a bit stuck, and help them just remember who they are. Help them remember you know you are a leader. This is how you can set yourself apart, and this is how we can start preparing for your next promotion. I wrote my book promotion ready in three months, the Women's Guide to career advancement, which was released in August. Just because the concerns were so similar, I thought, you know, I'm going to put these specific the specific framework together in a book so that women who maybe don't have time for coaching right now, or they don't have the means, for whatever reason, they can get that framework in this book and get started on setting themselves apart and rebuilding that confidence. And I just love it. I feel like we tend to play really small, especially after a simple mistake or a simple breach of trust or a simple someone said something, and it just really stuck in our head for whatever reason. So I want women to stop. I want them to start feeling more empowered and start going after those things that they want. Because I don't know if you've seen the movie The longest game. But one of the quotes is the, you know, the field isn't the golfing green. The field is the five inches between your ears. And that's life. It is a fact. It is whatever is going on in that space between your ears is what's going to tell you you can and it's going to tell you what you can't do. So we want to only five inches. They say five inches. I haven't actually measured mine either. I say it and I touch it every time, because I'm like, I don't know if it's really five inches. Maybe it's, maybe it's four and a half. I don't know. I've always prided myself on having, you know, a skinny forehead.   Michael Hingson ** 51:57 Well, you know, but, but it's interesting and and, of course, sort of on principle, just for fun. I'll ask, do you ever find that that men read it or that that you coach men as well? Do you find that there are men that will benefit, or choose to benefit from the same things that you're talking about with most women? Absolutely,   Tabatha Jones ** 52:15 I say I work mostly with women and a few lucky men, because there are men who don't feel as confident or who might be a little bit more of that quieter later, and the strategies in there are obvious. Is probably not the right word. But there are things that are really simple and easy to do, but so often overlooked. So for anyone who finds themselves really kind of hiding behind the keyboard, not getting out and about and working on their visibility and relationship building. There are a lot of great strategies for that. The worst thing to do is wait until the promotion opportunity posts to start getting out there and building your brand. It doesn't serve anyone, and it's going to keep you behind. So, yeah, absolutely, that's a great question. If you   Michael Hingson ** 53:05 want to be noticed, then you have to work at what you need to do to be noticed. And that is a an important skill to learn. And it is all about brand, which doesn't mean you're trying to be so calculating that you're trying to do in other people, it is all about doing the things that you need to do, both to learn and to be able to advance in a positive way.   Tabatha Jones ** 53:30 Yeah, exactly. And there are strategies just for even man, even managing your time, because that's so obvious to some of us who have been there, but to others, they'll allow their calendar to be blocked from 7am to 7pm with everyone else's priorities, and it's important to make yourself a priority so that you can start standing out before the job posts. And that's kind of the secret sauce. A lot of people, like I said, they wait until the job posts and they've just been working hard and then can't figure out why they're not getting ahead. So we want to start doing things, taking action every day before that position posts, one   Michael Hingson ** 54:09 of the things that that I do is on my calendar page, I have time blocked out every day and and people will say, Well, I want to schedule something, but this time isn't available, and this is the only time that I can do it. And what I tell people is I have the time blocked out so that I can do the things that I need to do or that I might want to do. And one of them is responding positively to the fact that you need a certain time to meet, and that time is in one of my block times, but I block times so that I have free time to do what needs to be done. So let's schedule it, and, you know, and I, and I find that that works really well, because it gives me the time to make choices and do the things that I want to do. And I think it's so important to be able to do that. So.   Tabatha Jones ** 55:00 Yeah, the calendar is key. I always say your calendar equals clarity equals confidence. I mean, it just it builds that confidence. What I see happen a lot in the corporate space is the calendar gets booked for again, everybody else's priorities, 7am to 7pm I will see someone sitting in a meeting, totally disengaged. And when I would say, What are you doing? And I ask clients now too, so how do you prepare for this meeting? Because almost always the answer is, oh, I have a big meeting coming up in a couple of hours, and I'm not ready yet. Like, well, why are you in this meeting? If that meeting matters so much, why are you here? Because you're hurting your brand here, looking disengaged, asking, Can you repeat that 72 times where you could have just sent a delegate, or you could have blocked that time to think and prepare, which is so important, the calendar blocks. I don't think I could live without them. They're critical, right? That's how we get things done. That's how we make sure we're focused on the right things. That's how I prepare for clients. I don't just get on and wing it, because that's not going to go well, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 56:02 and that's why on, on unstoppable mindset. I asked people to send me some things because I want to appropriately prepare, because if, if I'm doing my job right, I learn all I can to be able to be involved in an intelligent conversation, and people have so many skills that I haven't learned or don't have, I get to use the information that they send to prepare and learn about some of those skills, which is part of why I say if I'm not learning at least as much as anyone else who is listening To the podcast, and I'm not doing my job right? Because it's so much fun to be able to explore and talk with people, and it's and it is so much fun. So I I appreciate exactly what you're saying. Well,   Tabatha Jones ** 56:53 thank you. Yeah, it's, it's a, I mean, tooting my own horn a little bit. It's a great book full of strategy. And if you just took it, take it and start implementing those small changes, you'll see a huge difference. And I say that you'll see it, but not only you, your leader will see and your team will see that you're making changes and and making a difference. So yeah, it's just that calendar is so helpful.   Michael Hingson ** 57:16 Life is is an adventure, as far as I'm concerned. And if we're not always learning we're not doing our job right exactly which is so important? Well, do you have any kind of last thoughts of things that you want people to to think about, as far as leadership or as far as moving forward in the corporate world, or or any of those kinds of things? Yeah,   Tabatha Jones ** 57:40 absolutely. And thank you so much for asking. I do want to tie it back to unstoppable mindset, because you are absolutely unstoppable. It's a matter of clearing those blocks, the things that are in your way, the things that are in that five inches, or whatever it really is between your ears that is getting in the way and telling you you can't do something. And I encourage you if you're struggling, if you want to get ahead, if you've had some bad experiences when trying to get ahead, connect with me on LinkedIn. You can find me at Tabitha Jones and D, H, A Jones, thank you. Yes, all A's, Tabata, Tabatha. You can call me what you want. Just spell it right so you can find me. But absolutely connect with me there, and let's talk about what's going on and see how we can help you start moving forward again. Absolutely, we'll share strategies to give at least a little bit of a boost and kind of start relieving some of the discomfort that may be going on, but kind of back to that point you are completely unstoppable. It's just about investing in yourself, and that may look like time, energy or financially, just to get yourself out of, out of where you're at and into that next thing.   Michael Hingson ** 58:52 What's your website? You must I assume you have a website. I   Tabatha Jones ** 58:55 do have a website. It is empowered. Dash leader.com, and if you go out there, I actually have a free gift. I've recently published an ebook which is a career confidence playbook for women over 50, and that also has some great strategies, as well as workbook and journaling pages to help you really flesh out those goals and start taking those small action steps,   Michael Hingson ** 59:21 and guys, the concepts are the same. So don't think it's just for women. Otherwise, learn nearly as much on this podcast as you   Tabatha Jones ** 59:29 should. That is true. That's very true. The color is a little purple and black. Don't let that send you anywhere. Just it's perfect. Come on in. Let's talk   Michael Hingson ** 59:39 colors. Don't bother me.   59:42 Outstanding.   Michael Hingson ** 59:44 Well, I want to thank you for being here. This has been really fun. I knew it was going to be, and it was every bit as fun and and informative as as I thought it would be. So I hope people will reach out to you on LinkedIn and go off and. Uh, go to the website as well. Get your free ebook. I'm going to go get it and and I really think that you've offered a lot of good insights that will be helpful for people. I hope all of you listening and watching out there agree. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Please email me. Let me know what you think of our episode today. You can email me at Michael M, I C H, A, E, L, H i at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S,

What do you do when a team hits its numbers—but the culture is crumbling from the inside? In this candid roundtable episode, Christine Courtney is joined live in the studio by longtime collaborators Blanca and Tom to tackle two leadership conundrums that managers everywhere will recognize: the high-performing but toxic team, and the rock-solid employee who's resisting growth.Together, they explore how leaders can shift team dynamics without compromising results, the difference between healthy banter and harmful behavior, and how to handle employees who just want to “stay in their lane.” With stories, frameworks, and plenty of laughter, this conversation is full of the kind of honest, practical insights Christine is known for.If you've ever wondered how to nurture both performance and psychological safety—or how to handle a steady employee who's hit their ceiling—you won't want to miss this one.

How would you know if your studio's culture is toxic—before it's too late? In this exclusive conversation, we talk with Charlie Sull, co-founder of CultureX and researcher with MIT, about how to spot, measure, and fix toxic workplace culture—especially in the high-stakes world of game development. Forget ping pong tables and free snacks. Culture is your operating system, and if leaders don't prioritize it, dysfunction spreads fast. We break down: What creates a toxic culture The Toxic Five behaviors that damage morale and hurt retention Why standard employee surveys fail—and what to do instead How AI and Glassdoor data can tell you some hard truths about your company Real stats on game studios vs. other industries—who's getting it right? If you're a studio head, team lead, or future cultural change-maker, this episode will challenge your assumptions and give you new tools to build a better workplace. What You'll Learn: Why culture is more than perks—it's your company's operating system The Toxic Five traits that silently destroy trust and retention How Glassdoor + AI reveal the truth about your team's culture Why top leadership, not HR, is key to lasting culture change What game dev studios like EA and Blizzard can teach us about reform How to apply the Will + Knowledge formula to lead cultural transformation Books & Authors Mentioned (and Must-Reads!) from This Episode The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni        - Focuses on the "heart" vs. "science" sides of business—emphasizing the value of culture Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni        - Referenced for understanding team behavior and dysfunction Works by Charles O'Reilly        - Recommended by Charlie Sull for understanding organizational culture and leadership        - Notable titles include Winning Through Innovation and Lead and Disrupt Research & insights from CultureX (Charlie Sull's organization)        - Practical tools and AI-driven metrics for measuring and improving workplace culture

"If I wanna have the kind of influence that I need to be an effective leader, I need trust. And in order to trust me, they're going to have to see me being vulnerable."Karen & Paul explore why leaders in hierarchical organizations often hesitate to admit mistakes. They discuss how this reluctance can harm trust and influence.Book mentioned in this episode:The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

Kiera is a guest on the Dentalligenstia Podcast, hosted by Nick Zagar and Remy Isdaner. She talks about the connection between success and knowing your practice's numbers for the following: Production Overhead Collection New patients Case acceptance Kiera also gives tips on streamlining workflow, working through scratch starts, startup versus seasoned practice needs, and more. Episode resources: Sign up for Dental A-Team's Virtual Summit 2025! Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00.16) Hello Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera and today I am so excited. I did an incredible podcast and I just thought it'd be fun for you guys to hear it, to listen to it. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast. Welcome to the Dentalligentsia podcast. I'm Nick Zager and we have Remy Isdaner, my partner, and we are Mirlo Real Estate Partners. Today we have a special guest, Kiera Dent from the Dental A Team. Welcome Kiera. Thanks guys. I'm super excited to be here.   I love what you guys are doing. I'm just jazz. And I'm glad that I didn't have to say the name of your podcast because I would have totally botched that. So thank you for taking that on for me. I love what you guys are doing. And I'm just super, super excited to be here. I love geeking about dentistry and business and all things. So thank you guys. I'm really honored to be here. We appreciate that. you know, our favorite clients are typically early to mid-career dentists. And we love what you do to support.   our mutual clients and really want to know a little bit more about you and why you do what you do. How did you get into this? Yeah, for sure. Well, luckily for both of us, we love the same type of clients. So it's really fun. I actually started my career in dentistry in high school. I was offered an opportunity to either go into nursing or dentistry. And I thought, hmm, I want to wear scrubs. Like that was my end goal. And I thought, learn the whole body or learn the mouth. I'm surely going dental route. So that was honest to goodness. The reason why I got into dentistry.   I was a dental assistant for years and then became office manager, treatment coordinator, scheduler, biller, you name it. I have not been a hygienist and I'm not a dentist, but my husband, he went to pharmacy school at Midwestern Arizona. And during that time, I'm a little hustler. I found out if I could work at the college, I'd get a discount on his tuition. And so I knew there was a dental college and so I found out, got a job at the dental college.   And I was super blessed, super fortunate. And I worked there for three years with dental students. And one of the students asked me while we were in school, she said, hey, Kiera, do you want to come help me open my practice in Colorado? And I was like, heck yeah. Dental assistant to practice owner. Like, this is a great plan. I never knew how I'd be able to do this. I'm not a dentist. And I'm like, I see what you guys do in dental school. Yes, I want to say yes to this. So I went and helped her open the practice in Colorado. And we took our office from 500,000 to 2.4 million.   The Dental A Team (02:25.773) in nine months and opened our second location. And what I found from that was I learned a lot. We built a pretty big group of practices and I learned so much from that of what not to do. My marriage was about in shambles. Her marriage was about in shambles. My health was deteriorating. I was working from 2 a.m. till 10 p.m. trying to make these practices grow and I thought, well, shoot, one, if I could help her grow a practice, I wonder all my other students that I love.   Could I help them grow their practices and give them the confidence as well? And two, there's got to be a better way to do this than what I've been doing and what she's been doing. Like, yes, we have success on paper, but behind the scenes, we're deteriorating as human beings. And so that's really what spurred my passion. I never worked with a consulting company. Everything that Dental A Team's consulting is are things that I wish I would have had when I was a practice owner, things that I wish I would have known.   things to help all of my dental students. It's fun because it's becoming full circle. A lot of those students are now buying practices and coming and working with me, which is super fun. But really the passion comes from how can I help these dentists live their best lives, get the profitability they want, but also get their team bought in because most consulting companies work with just the dentist or just the team. And I thought, but if I can get the team on board, these dentists lives become a lot easier. And so it's really fun to talk about both sides of the coin.   And shoot my last name is Dent. So I think I was destined for this career path. It's not a stage name It's just the third fiance finally like I didn't get married I just took three fiancees to get a better last name So that's kind of my story and how I got into it and truly just love love this industry and love helping dentists Flourish and succeed and help more people But nursing never had a chance Yeah, I mean the scrubs if it would if they would have cuter scrubs than maybe but   The fact that I had the short path didn't just the mouth, but it's funny. I don't even get to wear scrubs anymore. like, man, that was a short lived moment. yeah, nursing. don't think I could do rectal trumpets. That's just like, I mean, I'll take the mouth all day long versus that. I don't think I could. I have such a gag reflex. I don't think I could honestly do it. Well, talk to us about some of your favorite client stories. gosh.   The Dental A Team (04:39.725) So knowing that like the startup to the mid range are kind of the ideal clients, I was thinking of a couple and one comes to mind. He attended one of our summits. We have one in April every year for doctors and teams. And so he attended it. And I remember he had like a really funny name on his screen because I see all the participants. I really try to make our summits really engaging and active. And I remember it was iPhone. And so I just kept calling this person out. was like, hey, iPhone, how you doing over there?   just kept kind of like razz and I had no clue there's no camera on it just says iPhone and lo and behold iPhone decides to sign up with us and he had just bought his practice and paid in full for consulting which I was always like man that's a pretty like gutsy move you just bought a practice but I also like people that are gutsy and this committed to it and what was interesting is we'll call him iPhone if you listen to this you'll know exactly who I'm talking about but over the course it's been about two years now iPhone has gone from   Being a practice owner who literally knew nothing about ownership had a pretty seasoned team when they bought their practice And went through all these hard transitions like I'm telling you this was a labor of love on both sides the consulting side and his side from needing to transition out his office manager who was really really causing a lot of like Shakes within the practice and and driving the team in a direction. He didn't want to go   So learning how to hire, learning how to lead, learning how to present treatment plans, learning how to put KPIs into the practice. Like you want to talk about a jumpstart to business ownership. And I remember he's like, Kiera, I'm not even taking home a paycheck. And those moments always rock me because this is real life for a lot of dentists. And my goal is to help them get to taking home their paychecks quickly. And so about six months, he was taking a little bit, but we started like at six months, he was able to take his full paycheck and then fast forward to   I just saw him actually last weekend and he was sharing that now he's producing over 250,000 a month in his practice, collecting home a paycheck, has a new office manager that was sitting next to him. They've shifted the culture. This office manager said that this doctor like makes for Phil Seen, Heard and appreciated. He understands his KPIs. He's got a profitability margin of 60%, which makes me so proud.   The Dental A Team (06:59.629) excuse me, his overhead 60 % profit margin of 40%. He knows his numbers. He knows how to look at it, getting ready to possibly expand his practice. But he said, we were just meeting last week and he said, Kiera, I want to give back because Dental A Team's given me so much. so having him help coach other practices now of things that he's learned really just inspires me. But I think about this man of...   like the rocky road he went on to get there. And I think that his journey is not unique. I think this is so common for so many owners who buy practices two, three, four years in, but to be able to have him be an example of what can happen and for him to be going from about 150,000 when he first bought the practice to now doing 250,000 a month, just to give him the confidence, I think as a leader, as a dentist, to get a team bought in and on board.   the fact that he knew his numbers and it's been, it'll be two years in April since he bought his practice and joined. And I think that is one of my most favorite stories because to see him excited about life, to see him excited about his practice when there were some dark days, I remember like his name, we'll just say iPhone was on our schedule a lot of times to give more support and to review resumes and to teach him how to hire for culture and to build a culture.   That is a magical experience. And there's, like I said, so many things from KPIs to numbers to culture to hiring to diagnosing and getting patients to accept you when the other dentist was still a part of the practice and moving on. He's honestly one of my favorite clients because I think his story is so relatable to how so many other people feel. And to see him now on the other side of it, truly beaming, I think is honestly one of my favorite stories. I have so many favorite stories.   But I think he's a really recent telling one that is just a fun success story to share with people. That's super cool. And he's got a great name. I know, right? iPhone. I'm like, it's easy because I was like, who is this? Who shows up? Like, I hate it on meetings. Like, get your name of who you really are because I want to call you. There's another, she's now a client. And I was speaking in person and, you know, front row, was like, hey, what's your name? And she's like, I'm going to be anonymous.   The Dental A Team (09:13.803) So we have a running joke now that she's just anonymous, even though she's a client now. And she's like, I'm so glad. But now she's like, secretly optimistic anonymous. So, you know, we've kind of changed that around, but yeah, it's fun to have clients show their personalities. But yeah, if you're on an event, put your dang name on there. Otherwise, maybe you'll be iPhone forever. Fair enough. I'd rather be iPhone than anonymous, but point taken. I've got a serious question.   for you based on that great story, but first I'm gonna joke. So it's on record in our company, there's a iPhone, Samsung battle and I'm on the iPhone side and Nick's on the other side. And we have it on record here on this podcast that Nick said something to the effect of, that sounds awesome being iPhone or iPhones are awesome.   So just just want to make sure that that we're all in the same page there, you know, Remy I'm happy in our company. It's the same. It's like Apple versus HP I'm diehard Apple everything connects in so seamlessly. So Remy we're on the same. Yep. I phone over here It's definitely definitely for the Samsung. I'm sick of the green bubbles, but they are getting better now I can see that you're writing I can see that it's been read. So I mean, hey, they are making some progress, but that's been like, you know decades in the making speaking the same language   Okay, as promised, I'd start with jokes and then, you know, that was a great success story and your passion is clear. Let's talk about those KPIs. So what are some of the KPIs that young dentists, newer dentists should be looking for? And I asked that question and then also add a preface. We talk to doctors all the time who have no, it's clear they have no...   connection to what the business side of dentistry is doing in their own practice. And I get it, we get it, that they didn't set out to run a business necessarily. They set out to provide the best oral health to their community. But it is a business after all. And so what are some of the things that those young dentists should be looking for? Remy, I'm so grateful you asked this question. It was not pre-planned.   The Dental A Team (11:36.073) My passion came actually from teaching people how to run successful businesses because as a business owner myself, profits seemed elusive. I remember like, what the heck is a freaking KPI? I didn't even know what that meant. And I really love in dental hygiene, there's no judgment. And I just want people to feel safe and confident to ask those questions. And I think dentists really feel this need to know everything because you are a doctor. And I just want to highlight that, guess what? None of them know it. Like 99 % of dentists that we work with   don't understand the business, but yet understanding the business and the numbers, I feel is like your treasure map to success. It helps you see where are broken systems in your practice to fix. So rather than just trying to pump a bunch of systems, let's look at the numbers to see which system we really can impact. Also, when you know your numbers, you can make smarter decisions of who to hire, when to hire, things like that. And so for people who don't understand KPIs, like I said, someone told me that I was a Dr. Seuss of systems. So I take that.   as a huge compliment to try and make it so simple for people. I believe KPIs are like the vitals of your practice. It's like when you go to the doctor, they always check your like height, weight, your blood pressure, your temperature. They're gonna check those things because if any of those things are out of whack, we're gonna have like an immediate plan. And I feel like that's similar to KPIs within a practice and KPIs can get a little extensive. So if we're talking about a brand new practice, things I start small and then we get bigger.   And so like main things that are really going to give you a nice suck on your business, if you're not careful are going to be your cashflow. So that's going to be your overhead. I'm watching your production and your collections because oftentimes the practice is producing enough, but your team's not collecting that money. So we want to make sure we have a 98 % collections ratio. I'm also going to watch your AR. So AR is your accounts receivable, checking from patient portion and insurance portion, because a lot of times practices actually have the money in their practice.   but they're not collecting, it's just kind of sitting there in overdue payments that are due to you, whether that's from patient or insurance. If we can look at those, we can figure out where's our collection problem. it we don't have clean claims sending to insurance or we're not collecting from patients and we're sending statements or we're not even calling. So I'm really gonna watch those super, super tight. And then if you want to go, excuse me, further down the line and things that I'll watch are gonna be like your lab costs, your supply costs, marketing can come into place.   The Dental A Team (14:00.685) scheduling, we can look at your scheduling and see like number of new patients coming in. That's a big one that I really like to watch because if we're not getting enough new patients or on the flip side, we're attritioning, AKA we're not keeping them in for re-care and reappointment percentages. We can get a leaky bucket and just keep filling with new patients but not retaining the ones that we have. So I like to watch your attrition rate. I also like to look at your case acceptance. So what are you diagnosing and what's being accepted to see is it a diagnosis problem?   or is it an acceptance problem? Whatever doctors wanna make, there is a study and a standard of three times what you wanna produce is what you need to be diagnosing. So if you're not watching this diagnosis amount, you might not be diagnosing enough to be able to get what you want on your schedule for your production. So I like to watch that. And I like to watch your case acceptance of dollar for dollar. So if you're presenting a thousand dollar treatment plan, how much of that thousand is actually being accepted? Are we accepting 100 % of that? Are we accepting 50 % of that?   and then asking questions of why, because case acceptance is usually one or two words from our exam to our treatment coordinator. And then I like to watch your hygiene percentages. So what's your hygienist producing per hour? I like three times pay for PPO practices, and I like four times pay for fee for service practices, and that's on adjusted production. So let's not go off of gross, let's go off of adjusted. Gross feeds the ego, net feeds the family.   So let's not be feeding our egos. I know it feels really good to say you're producing 260, but if you can only collect 150 of that, let's live in real life world. So those would be some zones. And then like, again, if you want to go like next level, you're already doing that. Some things we found over the last year of tracking hundreds of offices were open time in a schedule and your dollar per hour production, because a lot of times just open time in schedules, we found you could actually hit your goal.   if we could fill those spaces and then figuring out protocols for your team just to keep that schedule full. So I said a lot of KPIs for you, but really your main ones, you've got to be watching our production, collection, overhead, new patients and case acceptance. If I could only pick five, those would be my top five that I would start with. And I'm going to give six, like your reappointment percentages. Cause if we're not reappointing, that's really going to kick you down later on. And it's going to make a lot more work for you. And I think those are some pretty easy ones to watch pretty quickly.   The Dental A Team (16:18.733) but then also hopefully giving a lot of other ones for you to be able to watch in addition to that, that depending upon where you are in the journey of your practice, things to be looking at and doctors, you don't have to track all this. You get your team to track this for you. And then you get this lovely report that comes to your desk every week or every month. You review it, you assess it, and then you make the changes accordingly.   How do you help the practices that you're working with refine their systems to streamline their workflows to ultimately maximize their productivity? So Nick, on that, I'm just going to sound like a broken record. I literally look at their numbers, because whatever their numbers are looking at, these KPIs, that's going to tell us where the system's broken in addition to what your team is saying is a problem. So usually it's like communication or it's   low case acceptance or overhead or cashflow issues. And so what we're gonna do from there is we're gonna look to see what is the system in place. So if we're having an overhead issue and cashflow issue, well, I'm gonna look at the billing system. Like, let's look there, because that's where the money's at. So let's figure out what is our process, who's doing what, and where is the breakdown, and then we're gonna refine the system. I don't believe teams like to do hard things, and I don't like to do hard things, and so.   everything we implement should be easy because teams will gravitate towards ease and also not making someone remember things. So that's a true system. So we'll put in things like we can put automated notes or we can change our note templates if we're consistently missing something on our claims, we're gonna fix and adjust that system. We're also gonna look to see running certain reports that we put on an automated system for them. It's on a sheet for them. That way they don't have to remember to do this.   We create handoffs where it's on their route slip. So no one has to remember, like just with your memory, it's already built as a true system. And I think a lot about like McDonald's or Chick-fil-A or some of these companies that are able to mass produce and give you the same experience wherever you go. Well, let's build that and let's make a very simple system that everybody can follow rather than hoping and praying our team members remember and they don't drop the ball. So I'm going to look at those numbers. I'm going to look to see where the gap is and then dig deeper to find   The Dental A Team (18:33.461) root problem and then add an automatic system as much as we can to fix that problem forever. Are you dealing, how much of your business are startups, scratch startups versus acquisitions, also new practice owners through acquisition versus, you know, I guess that's the question, those two paths.   I tend, and I think it's just due to who I am and the things I did, I tend to attract more acquisitions in our company. So we're probably 75 % acquisitions, 25 % scratch start. We've worked with a lot of scratch starts. We've done a lot of pieces with scratch starts. But for me, I'm of the opinion, it's already there. My job is just to come and be the miracle girl on a practice that's already there. I know that I can successfully add hundreds of thousands to a practice very quickly.   adjust their overhead and make them profitable within just a couple of months. Scratch starts, we can do the same thing, but there is more of building that base to get more people in to build it. However, you don't buy someone else's problems when you do a scratch start. So in Dental A team, again, I think it's due to my experience, the things I've done. Like I said, I took a practice from 500,000 to 2.4 million in nine months. I know which systems to quickly shift and adjust. I like to say that we're...   We're a miracle girl for practices. You just sprinkle us on and we watch it bloom. Scratch starts, like I said, usually I'm about six months to a year before we're gonna start to see that churn and burn. And it's just due to building that patient base, which doesn't exist in the scratch start typically. But again, we've had several scratch starts. We've had several be a very successful, but that would be the reason I think why. But again, I don't shy away from scratch starts. I've done plenty of scratch starts and I do love that you get to build everything that you want and it's brand new.   You get to set the systems up from day one. I just think I like to. It's already in place and now my job's just to optimize and magnify it and make it even stronger for them very quickly. But I'm a fast results person. I like to see results quickly. Scratch starts long term have amazing results. Short term they're a little bit harder to get that churn on. Sure. Are people, are dentists typically onboarding you during the acquisition process so you're already known to them and their, you know, their,   The Dental A Team (20:55.281) They're acquiring with you on board versus an acquisition where things are just not, things don't feel right and they're not turning out the way the doctor planned or not as fast as they had hoped and then they're onboarding. So I think the doctors who do the best are the ones who bring us on usually month one or two before they open a practice. And I always say when you open a practice, it's like having a baby.   people nest the two months before they have the baby and then baby comes in, it's like screaming mayhem for about six months until you figure this out. And I really do believe that that's how practice ownership is. So the offices who I found do really, really, really well are the ones who bring us in one to two months before they actually add us into their loan of their additional cashflow that they need. So it's part of their purchase. That makes sense. Versus the ones that are like, Hey, I don't have cash, but I need help.   because every office does this, literally every single one of them they're in and I call it the six months shakeout. As soon as you buy a practice, it is bananas for six months. Like you have high costs, you have high expenses, nothing shaking out. You're trying to win over all these patients or bring in new patients. Like it's mayhem. And that's actually when you need consulting the most. Like you need someone to pull your head out of the sand, tell you do step one, step two, step three. This is where you actually need to focus rather than just being psycho and trying to like do all the things, but never getting anything done.   So I really love when they come. Otherwise, and I'll say, I'm really pro, of course, being a consultant, I'm pro this, I'm really pro hiring a consultant that can actually like put money on your books. So a lot of things people buy when they're buying a startup, they actually don't add revenue for them. So it's just a lot of cost without a lot of adding to it. And so there's lots of great consultants out there, but I'm really pro find someone who's done what you need to do successfully multiple times.   and bring them in because a consultant for us, our fee is guaranteed covered every single month. Like I'm never worried about that, but we tend to do two, three, four, five times our fee, adding that in in production and reduction of overhead for a practice very quickly. So I never worry about, I understand the owners do worry about fees because it can feel scary with everything you're adding on, but be intentional with what you're purchasing, what can add money to your books rather than just taking money off of your books.   The Dental A Team (23:19.462) Go ahead, Nick. Well, I was going to switch gears into talking about building and developing a strong team, since you just mentioned that. And I wanted to start by actually saying that when we're working with a client and they're looking for, you know, to a relocation option or they're looking to buy a building or just a general lease, mean, these are all super negotiable things inside, you know, inside of their   you know their business world but you know the the You know the highest expense that they likely have is payroll and so they can't really That's not something you're not gonna retain high-level talent by you know negotiating like a like like a madman like you would with a landlord for example, and so I wanted to talk to you about what are key qualities that a you know a dental practice owner should look for when hiring   key team members. For sure. I'm so glad that you said that rented landlords are negotiable because I think people feel like it's fixed. And I'm like, no, listen, listen, this is why you need Nick and Remy. Talk to them. They'll help me negotiate this down. Agreed teams are a bit trickier to negotiate down here. You're not going to probably get the best people. No one wants to feel like they're being bought on sale to come onto your practice. but as a landlord, yeah, I want the best deal. My labs and my supplies, I want the best deal.   But for teams, so I'm gonna kind of give two different answers because I think startup practices versus maybe a little bit more seasoned in their career actually have two different needs typically. As a startup, I'm really pro them hiring basically an office manager that knows how to do a lot of the things that they don't know how to do. So we need someone who's strong with case acceptance, strong with billing, strong with leadership, strong with hiring, and it's going to be an expensive hire. But what that...   that expensive hire is going to do is going to exponentially grow your practice for you. While dentists are in the back doing dentistry, you have someone who's really your yin to yang in the front office for you. So I'm really pro and I'm really pro not hiring just one person, but two people in the front office. I've seen a lot of embezzlement in my time. I've seen a lot of just funny things going on in the front office. And also if you only have one person up front, you're literally like SOL, which stands for so out of luck.   The Dental A Team (25:38.758) Um, in my opinion, like you really will be S O L if that one person leaves because you know nothing in the front office. So I'm super pro hiring those people and hiring really good talent when you're a startup. Now, if you're a little more seasoned, figure out what's going to be your yin and yang. If you've got a good biller or you can outsource your billing, um, maybe you don't need as high quality of, or as expensive of an hire that way. But what I have found is typically I like to see payroll around 30 % of your collection. So we're collecting a hundred thousand.   about is going to be spent for payroll costs, not including doctors. And so for that, that's also your fringe benefits, your 401k. And what I've seen with a lot of doctors is team members are only listening to their dollar per hour, but doctors, you're paying a lot more than just a dollar per hour. So we've actually created a really beautiful form for our offices that's kind of like their total compensation package that we recommend giving like once or twice a year to your team so they actually see what they're producing.   Now, hygienists are coming in as a really hot topic, depending upon the area you're in. And a lot of those are like, they're kicking that overhead, the payroll amount really high, but you need a hygienist because they're a producer. And so what's happening, we have a couple of hygienists on our team as consultants. And what they're recommending is let's have a really good base, base plus commission. And then looking back at your hygiene schedule to show this hygienist based on what we've already done. I don't like to live in like theories.   because no one wants to live in theories. They want to feel confident. So if I can hire hygienists for X amount that is fair within the market rate, but give them a commission, so anything they produce over that, showing on historical trends of what my practice has been doing, that's gonna help me keep my payroll costs lower, but I'm gonna be able to pay this hygienist more and be able to actually offset my payroll costs because they're producing more, but I can keep my payroll lower. So that's where I do think you can quote unquote negotiate.   But I really feel strongly, you've got to show them with confidence that they can do this and you've got to have an incredible culture. Culture and time tend to be the currency of hiring great team members right now. And so if you don't have a great culture, if you're not a great boss, you're not gonna hire great talent. I've seen offices paying their employees less than other people in the market, but they have such a great culture that team members want to stay. And then also looking at this time off, PTO is becoming a really hot topic and I feel like since 2020,   The Dental A Team (27:57.872) We're seeing more of this lifestyle that people want to be living more so than like the 401k traditional benefits, depending upon the age of the person you're hiring. Cause I do think there's two different age groups that want two different things. And so being aware of that and cognitive, think you can get creative with what you're doing. So I think that's a lot of great ways to bring it on, but you've also got to be clear on what your culture is and what your tip is. And you've got to be careful not to hold onto those sour apples that are truly destroying your practice.   One of the best quotes I heard is, the worst thing you can do to your best employees is tolerate the poor performance of your worst employee. And so really being cognitive, and I know that's hard, but trusting and believing that you can bring these great people in. So we put awesome ads out. I tell people to write to their ideal person, figure out who they want of their ideal person, and then posting those ads consistently and following up can be really good ways to get it. And then like,   Great culture does not mean you give everything to your team. It also means that we hold them accountable, that we have structure, that we have systems in place, but giving them the autonomy within that to create what they want to. I think are some hopefully simple pieces based on where you are, of who to hire, how to keep those costs lower. Also, what a good framework of what your payroll should be. And then also realizing the amount of payroll you've got, that should be producing. So make sure that you're.   payroll dollars are actually giving you the production that you should be getting from it. And if not, maybe it's time to make a couple of changes that way too. Yeah, one, one always is, is trying to kind of create a culture that promotes accountability and collaboration and continuous improvement. And you can probably, you know, inside the mission statement of the, of the, of the practice kind of address some of those things so that you have some ground rules. But ultimately at the end of the day, it's about   the leadership and also needs to live those values as well. Yeah. And on that Nick, am really pro core values. When I first started, I heard a explanation of core values and they said, usually when you start a practice, you have three core things that really were the core of why you started this practice. So think back to what those three, those are like your true core. And when I thought back, I was like, yeah, for me it was do the right thing.   The Dental A Team (30:16.272) have a ton of fun and make it easy for clients. So like those are my three. it's do the right thing, fun and ease. And then we have aspirational ones in addition to that, but really truly like our core values go on our job board. So like when we're hiring people, we say these are our core values, this is our company. Every Wednesday we're highlighting out team members that have been exhibiting core values within our company. So each team member shouts someone out about the core values. And I really have found that   That's how you build culture. Culture is a slow burn, but it's a consistent burn. And so if you have that and you really live, breathe and bring that in, your culture, it will take a little bit of time. say it's kind of like moving the Titanic, but the consistency piece will start to shift it to where you have that incredible culture. And then if you have someone who's not, have the one-on-one conversations rather than the full team conversation. Get really, really good at having uncomfortable conversations. I love the quote. I've added my own little.   sprinkles to it. I say your success and happiness that's care is added is directly proportional to the number of uncomfortable conversations you're willing to have. And I like adding happiness to it because I think like my success is one thing, but my success and my happiness, I want to be happy when I go to work. I want to have a great time. And so just getting really good with those uncomfortable conversations. And I say, it's a conversation. It's not a confrontation. And like, let's get to the root cause. Let's solve the problem rather than the person.   and let's move that forward. I think those are some hopeful quick tips for people to start to change that culture because it can be done and it's paramount for bringing in great team members as well. Well, that's a really important piece of the puzzle is communication, especially since everybody has a different communication style. you know, I wonder what your guidance is about how somebody who owns a practice can, you know,   can become a better communicator or overcome some of those challenges to be able to kind of understand how to communicate to different members of their staff or what have you. For sure. I'll give a couple of books. I believe there's so much wisdom found in the minds of men and authors. And so The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lanzione I think is a great one to figure out how to build that trust and healthy debate between you and your team members. so encouraging that.   The Dental A Team (32:43.974) and digging down deep into that. Also, there's a lot of personality traits, tests that are out there. I really am pro disc. There's also a company called Culture Index, and I think they teach you a lot of how to communicate. And something I learned early in my career that I try to pass on to our clients is hire people who are complimentary to you, not necessarily the same as you. Your biller is going to have a very different personality than your scheduler.   I want a bubbly outgoing scheduler who just makes my patients feel incredible. And my biller, do not want them being the party scene. I want them to be the person who's so detailed on every single number. Well, those two personalities are also going to be different communication styles. My biller, can probably be a bit more direct with. My scheduler, might need to have a little more finesse with. The five love languages at work is another great way to see how do people prefer to be communicated with. And then also just asking. I think asking people of,   hey, like some people really wanna be direct and just told directly, other people need like the sandwich, the compliment, here's what we need to work on, the compliment, because otherwise they're gonna feel like they're an utter failure. And so I think as leaders learning, I used to always communicate the way I like to be communicated too. And I feel like that was so naive on my part, because that's how I prefer, does not mean that's how other people prefer. we have, when we hire new hires and we recommend this for our offices,   We actually have them take a quiz within our practice and it tells me their favorite things for appreciation. What is it? If I was to get them a gift, what would be something very meaningful to them? How do they prefer to be communicated with? Is it direct? Is it collaborative? And then we have them read the same book so that way we can speak in the same communication language with each other. And then coming in to when it's an uncomfortable conversation, owning that and saying, hey, like this is uncomfortable for me to say.   We address the root problem and then we ask for feedback of, Remy, how did that land? I want to make sure that what I was trying to convey is actually how you heard it. Then Remy can come back and say, Kiera, I felt like you thought I was a jerk and that I'm not working. And I'm like, my gosh, thank you for saying that. That's not at all how I was saying it. What did you hear? That way I can change this to make sure we're on the same page. That communication takes finesse, takes time, but I will say I would rather invest in that skill than having the constant turnover.   The Dental A Team (35:06.96) train that's going on. And if you're in maybe a bad culture right now and you don't know how to fix it, anonymous surveys, we send them out for a lot of our clients when they're in this particular spot and start to ask honest feedback of what does this doctor or team need to do to change? What's causing the turnover? What's causing the breaks in the practice from the team members perspective? And then adjusting our communication styles accordingly to really try and help that communication. But I really love asking for feedback of how that landed.   I think that's one of the easiest ways to get that feedback very quickly on communication. So we've talked a bit about communication, I guess, with your own staff, but paramount to any successful dental practice, they need to have strong communication with their patients because enhancing a patient experience, I think, really kind of goes hand in hand with growth and all the other   types of things you need to consider to raise the, do better, I guess, for lack of better word. So. I think patient communication, you're right, it's paramount. And learning, I think that's handoffs. I think that's having everybody speaking the same thing, doctors giving good exams on that. But then also finding out what your patient drivers are similar to a team driver. What is ultimately their number one objective? Is it cosmetic?   Is it function, is it cost, or is it longevity? I said those in a very important order. believe order matters. Because if I put cost first, I'm highlighting cost. But if I put these in a very strategic way, I've done this with hundreds of offices, and we've asked thousands of patients, I will tell you 99 % the time it's not cost. It's usually function, it's longevity, cosmetic, how it looks. And then of course, figuring out within cost. But if you can figure that out from your patients and learn to communicate with them in their style, utilizing disc profiles as well.   You're exactly right, Nick. You'll get higher case acceptance, you'll have a better patient exam. If you have handoffs where everybody's speaking the same language and we're passing the baton off from person to person so that way nothing gets dropped, you will be shocked. We've increased case acceptance. I had a practice, they were getting about 25 to 30 % case acceptance and we literally got 100 % case acceptance that day just by changing a little bit of how we communicate in our handoffs.   The Dental A Team (37:27.462) The patients would walk up to the front and say, doctor wants to see me back in two weeks for a crown for an hour, I need to get that scheduled. And if your patient is that clear and your communication is that clear, you can only imagine what that does for your practice and your production and your reviews, because that patient's not confused anymore, they literally know what to do.   The Dental A Team (37:50.822) Can you share any practical tips on how dental teams can educate their patients more effectively about their oral health and treatment plans? Yeah. So I'm really pro hygiene. The hygienists have hopefully an hour with them. And so I'm really big on visuals. And so we work with our practices to build kind of like explaining it helping these patients see like on x-rays where you can use, there's a lot of AI softwares out there. I love Pearl. I love Overjet. They can help educate the patients of what's going on in their mouth.   And what I found for patients is there's a lot of mistrust. And I know dentists hate this analogy, but it is kind of like a mechanic. And so we're looking under the hood and the patient's like, I see nothing but black and white up on there, but you're telling me to like squint my eyes and there's a little cavity right here. So I think also helping train your patients of like, this is a good tooth. And this is a tooth where there is decay, showing intraoral photos for them, helping them so that way when they're going through their teeth, it's like, okay, tell me what you see on this tooth.   the more the patient can actually grasp it and understand it, the more they're going to actually accept that treatment. But in addition to that, one of my hygienists that's a consultant on our team, she gave me some really good advice and she said, never ever, ever use little league words for major league problems. I think oftentimes we don't want to offend the patient or want to make it feel better. And so we're like, well, there's this like little cavity. The tooth is bombed out. Like, why are we saying it's a little cavity rather than telling them like, this is what's going on now.   Yes, they're still finessed, so we don't wanna make them feel bad about it, but we also need to help them see the severity. And what I found is when you're confident in your diagnosis, when you're confident in how you're presenting treatment, your patients are actually buying your confidence, they're not buying the treatment. And so you being confident, and I've helped hundreds of them practice, I literally have an office and we've added multiple millions to their five locations by simply helping them present treatment better and stronger and more confidently, because truly the patient is buying your confidence. And so now, never over diagnosing.   but getting that patient to see it and truly telling them what's going on. And then I always love to say like, here's a comprehensive exam and the good news is, this is how we're going to get you like great back to great oral health and using the good news is, or the great news is that way the patient feels like there's hope and optimism and then giving them a really clear plan of where you want them to start. That way it doesn't feel overwhelming or daunting. Cause you can teach a patient all these things.   The Dental A Team (40:14.448) They just need to know where to start and how you're gonna be able to help them get the success that they're looking for and to get back to oral health. Not all patients have it. And I say that not like these problems did not happen overnight. So it's not gonna get fixed overnight. Our bodies are always decaying. Like we're always like aging is as fun and thrilling as that is. Same thing with our teeth. And the great news is this is how we're gonna get you healthy.   We've talked a bit about, you know, communication and creating a strong relationship, I guess, with your patients. Talk to us a little bit about how dental practices can develop a strong presence inside their local community to build trust and attract more patients. Yeah, there's an office that I really love. We were just chatting with them and something that I think this office did so well is they have the goal to be   the hometown dentist in their city. That's the vision of their practice. They want all of their patients to feel that way. So it's a very large practice. They have 15 operatories and they've still been able to maintain that hometown feel and they're very connected to their community. Another practice they said that our goal is to change the way people feel about going to the dentist within our community. And so I think the way that you can get this like stamp in your community is one, having that be part of your vision where you want to be   that local dentist to your patients where it's that hometown dentist feel in your practice, then your practice, your patient experience will feel that way. But then these offices, the two that I explained, they're very involved in the Chamber of Commerce. They're very involved in the little league sports. They're very involved in giving back and providing for these communities. I have another dentist and she created what's called the Thrive Home, where it's literally being able to give back to the community with all the different specialties like OT.   PT, dentistry, to give back within the community. And I really think if that is something that is your MO, treating your patients that way, asking for their referrals and their reviews, and then also being able to have that presence. I know growing up, for me, our chiropractor was so well known, that chiropractor was everywhere. They were at all the football games, they were all the high school events, they were at the town hall, the chamber of commerce, like.   The Dental A Team (42:30.106) Everybody knows that Ellison Chiropractic is the number one chiropractor in the area. And I will say it's because this family was so involved in the community. We saw them everywhere. And so I think how can you also do that and giving back to it? But I think my biggest recommendation, if you want to grow patients based on your community, I think it comes from genuine care and genuine authenticity that you actually love this community that you want to give back. If it's just to pull new patients in, there's other ways to do it.   But I think really, truly, you want to give back to that community you want to serve. I think patients will feel that when it's true and genuine and authentic. We understand how important marketing is to a practice and how it gets teeth through the door. And it's expensive, and it's money we're spending. But I think you hit the nail on the head. In addition to traditional marketing, there's so much more you can be doing in   involvement really is the key. The more involved you can be in your community, the better. Whether you want that hometown feel or you're focusing on productivity and efficiency and I think getting yourself out there and being a part of something is invaluable. That's great advice. When our clients hire us, it's normally because they   They feel totally lost. They're beginning the journey of practice ownership or real estate ownership. They have a lot of student debt. They are about to borrow a lot more money. And it's really scary. we try to really hold their hand through that process to kind of give them those tools so that they can ultimately make the right decisions.   for their practices real estate. And so it's really cool to hear you and how infectious your energy is and you have really good support systems for your clients to really ensure that they're not missing anything and are really maximizing their potential. And so that's really cool to...   The Dental A Team (44:54.078) to hear from you. Switching gears a little bit, I want to talk about the future and industry trends to see if there's anything that you're seeing or anything that you think your clients are going to face in the next five to 10 years that they should be preparing for. Yeah. And Nick, thank you. I just wanted to highlight what you said because you're right, it's terrifying. It's terrifying to go into that much debt.   I remember I used to call my dentist 2.5 because we were 2.5 million debt. And I was like, that back straight because you need to keep these hands and that back good. And I would just always say like 2.5, 2.5 because we were 2.5 million debt. And I think that that's where my passion comes from profitability overhead systems because I know how daunting it can be to be an incredible clinician, to be an incredible business, to be an amazing practice, but not to have the cashflow to support what you just went into debt for.   And so that's really where I'm pro like know your numbers, use the systems, utilize your team because, and I will say this again and again and again, a dentist who is financially successful and secure is the best boss to have. And health health teams, want your dentist to be successful and profitable because they're more solid, they're more stable and they're not stressed out, which is going to make a better boss for you. And so agreed. It's very daunting. It feels very scary, but I will promise you if you know your numbers,   It can feel awful at the beginning, but it can actually make it so much better for you. So thank you for highlighting that Nick, because I think I've just seen so many students so stressed about cash and staying up at night. I've had it myself. And so speaking from real life experience, giving you the tools out of that dark hole, I think is one of the greatest gifts we can give to these dentists who are already giving the gift of smiles and confidence to all their patients. Being able to do that same for dentists is such an amazing thing. And now,   Speaking of like what's in the future, shoot, DSOs are on the horizon. I think an AI, like these are two hot conversations. My doctors tell me that they are probably getting a DSO offer at least three to four times a day. And that is ratcheting up. They're getting so many offers constantly from DSOs. They're finding them. And I don't blame them. I think Wall Street is smart. They've realized that dentistry is a great business to invest in. mean, we're hearing 50 % overhead. So we've got exponential profit within.   The Dental A Team (47:19.474) Dental practices are profitable, typically speaking. And so I think that these are some things for doctors to be aware of. And I think educating yourself on making sure that you're selling or you're living your life the way you want to, rather than like just getting an offer on a bad day. So I think the DSO offers are dangerous because when you have a bad day in dentistry, it's very easy to look at that EBITDA number and say, I just want to sell. I want to get rid of all my problems, but I want to also caution and advise.   to know exactly what you're getting into because I've had some dentists sell. I think DSOs can be great for a lot of practices. I think MSOs can be great. I can see legacy practice and partnerships being great. There's so many amazing things and I don't think there's really a wrong route to go in dentistry. The wrong route I think is when you make an emotional decision that's not going to impact your life the way you want to. And so being very cautious, I think of when do I wanna sell and also what really is a good deal because I had a doctor and their epita,   They talked to some DSOs and he's like, cure it. It's going to be great. I'm going to get five mil for this. And I said, we'll call this one hometown. Like he's not the hometown, but like, we'll just call him. I got iPhone anonymous hometown now. So I was like hometown. I just want to point out that next year you're going to produce 5 million based on our block scheduling and also on the expansion of your practice that we just did. You are going to produce 5 million and they did. So I said, you're going to actually get short changed on this DSO deal. If you're like.   But if you're done with dentistry, it's a great deal. But also you're going to have to work for this person as an associate when you're going to make five mil next year, just in producing on your own and you don't even need to sell. This hometown does not want to be done with dentistry for about 10 years. So I said, you are shortchanging yourself where you can build this. You can exponentially expand into this, but you've got to make the decision of where you want to go and what you want to do. But the five million sounded so attractive to this doctor.   when they didn't realize that their practice was already producing that and would produce that with ease the next year. So I think like being really cautious of that, that you're not making, I feel like I'm so passionate because I feel like your business not only is providing for your life right now, but it's a long-term asset. And like what you guys do with the real estate, these are long-term assets that are building their wealth portfolios. Let's not, let's not do botchy investments, kind of like stocks, right? The stocks we all know just like dropped like, shoot, if you're watching that, you're going to freak out and you're going to want to sell everything.   The Dental A Team (49:40.68) but they know be stable through your investments, stay steady and not make those irrational decisions I think is so paramount because the DSO offer seem very appealing right now, especially on those like hard dental days. So that's one that I think dentists really need to be cognitive and aware of and knowing what your end goal is, what your retirement goal is, what you ultimately wanna sell out for. So that way when these offers come through, you can be educated and educating yourself more because I promise you.   I do not believe DSOs are going away. think in the next decade to two decades, we will see dentistry become more similar to healthcare. I know I'm like very hated about this. I've had this opinion for several years. My husband works in standard medicine. He works for hospitals and I'm like, gosh, like what was going on in the hospital scene is now what we're starting to see in dentistry. It's not gonna be too long before they're all bought up, but I'm also watching standardized healthcare now trying to shift into private practices and get out of the DSO.   like with air quotes around it. So I think just being cognitive of what you want to do and what you want your legacy to be. But also I don't fault you. I mean, a lot of these dentists are going to be able to get incredible retirements that they may never have been able to get similar to people buying homes in COVID. Like they're getting insane value, insane interest rates. it can be a very wise financial investment deal for you, but just do your homework. Cause I've seen some DSOs go under and people have lost pretty much their entire retirement. So that would be something I definitely highlight on. And then also watching AI.   The doctors are not into AI, they've got to get into AI. That's where I mentioned Pearl and Overjet, they're helping with diagnosis. I can already see they're riding on the wall that insurance companies, guarantee you, are probably already using AI. And so making sure that you are staying at least up to par with insurance companies, if not further ahead. Utilizing virtual assistance, think staffing costs are going to continue to be skyrocketing. And so for that, what other things can we do? like...   Opportunities force innovation. And I think we're in an opportunity zone to force some innovation and to be on the cutting edge of that. I do think right now, doctors who are not online, depending upon where you are in your career, if you're not online, having a presence on social media, if you're not getting involved in AI, I am going to caution that I think those practices very easily could get left behind unintentionally to where it might be hard for them to come back. So just even dabbling in it, getting some team members that could help you with that, I think is super important. And I would say this year,   The Dental A Team (52:04.51) I would add some sort of AI to your practice. Whatever you choose to do, just so you start to experience it, use it. There's so many things and I think honest in the next five years, I think AI is going to radically disrupt how practices are operating that I think it's important to like at least be dabbling so you're not completely left behind on accident.   You think the AI is, I mean, it's mind blowing and the applications just seem endless and hard to keep up with. you, so are you, if I hear you correctly, you're talking about AI integrations on like the practice management side of things versus patient care, right? Like patient care, so yeah. Yeah.   I think patient care is going to be tricky. I think until they get robots who are amazing, do think like the clinical side of dentistry probably will maintain pretty accurate. But I do think your front office and a lot of your systems will get changed. And I'll just highlight, there's a practice that we work with and she has, it's a pediatric practice. She's got incredible- call them? Sorry, what? What are we gonna call them? this one, we're gonna call this one, we'll just say jammin'.   so this one's jammin. I do like that we're naming all my offices. right. So jammin jammin has a pediatric practice. She's got an entire amazing team, but she has like eight support virtual assistants behind the scene for this practice. In addition, she has made her own AI bot called Amy and Amy. That's actual name of the AI bots. That one's real. didn't change it. mean, I should have called it like Joker, but like that's not really going to work jammin and Joker. This was actually called Amy. but Amy.   responds to to Jammin's practices day in and day out to make sure patients are happy. Now they live in a very affluent area, so it's very fast paced. But what I love about this doctor is she realized in order for me to keep my patients happy and to meet their demands, there's AI and I can create an AI bot that responds exactly how our practice would, but I'm actually not having to pay a team member, an actual human being to do this. And they're able to get all the needs met. That's what I mean by.   The Dental A Team (54:13.37) looking to see where can AI integrate. And I think it's going to hit your front office faster. But I think like software is meh, like that one's tricky. Software's are tricky to me, but I'm like billing. I guarantee you AI is going to take that over for sure. Hands down. It's going to take it over. I think answering phones and scheduling phones, I think are, the way we send out claims for sure. Like that's all within your billing realm. there's some softwares that are trying to act as office managers. think reading X-rays are going to definitely be taken over by AI.   hands down and I am curious and I don't have an answer for it, but I'm super curious. How is that going to impact diagnosis? I work with some practices in Canada and Australia and they're more streamlined. There's not really a lot of change. Like it is what it is. It's standardized healthcare over there. And I'm curious with AI coming in and I know I'm going to be like, I might get ripped on this. I'm welcoming the reviews because I think it's worthwhile to talk about. I'm curious how AI is going to impact diagnosis.   And what can be diagnosed and what can be actually built out which leads me to believe similar to medicine That's why there's bill like they bill out every single possible code that they can't I mean for the gauze for the cotton and I'm super curious that I don't know I think it's worthwhile to look into is that gonna impact our diagnosis and how we're billing should I maybe be looking and knowing those codes more thoroughly? Depending upon how it's gonna be. I don't know. I think that that's huge speculation on my part, but I   I can't help but think that AI is going to impact our diagnosis in a big way. We're insurance companies, which then leads me to think companies might be leaving insurance. right, like we might be going more fee for service. So then you got to ramp up your marketing. But I think that's going to be a big spin that's probably going to be hitting us in the next couple of years.   The Dental A Team (56:02.27) It's scary and exciting. don't know what else to Scary and exciting. It feels wild, right? But I'm like, don't think dentistry itself is going to change much. I still think we're going to have our craft. It's a very, very humanistic, very crafting. But I'm super intrigued. And I think for me, I'd rather take it on as like, let's be excited about it. Let's get into it. Let's see. How can we dabble? How can we influence it rather than being told like, is what's going to happen now?   I would prefer to be a pioneer through it and I think first office is to innovate. I I prefer to be like second, third, like I'm not gonna be like right on the first in case everything botches, but like second, third, get in there because these things, I don't think it's going to go away. I think it will adapt and morph, but I think it's here for a while. I hate that I didn't ask you this way earlier, but are you also, are you working with all different specialties or are you strictly general?   That's a great question. We actually work with all. So we have pediatric, GP, oral surgery. The only one we don't dabble in is ortho. I think there are some incredible consultants out there that do ortho. Ortho has its own software. It's its own beast. It's its own animal. I do work with ortho and GP, so we're very familiar with it. But ortho, I just think there's consultants that rock the ortho world, but all other specialties. We have clients within all of those and really love them in all their areas. We tend to specialize GP and pediatric, but we have clients of all.   all specialties minus ortho. Yeah, I The reason I asked is that I was speaking to, you know, an endo group who was actually starting to transition to fee for service. And I don't know, maybe that'd be a good introduction. Yeah. The fee for service world is weird. I really, offices want to cut. They want to just cut the insurance right now. And I'm like, hold please, before you do that, realize it's a retention piece for your patients. And if you don't have a great experience and you also don't have great systems in place,   and you also don't know how to maintain these patients, I had a practice to do this and they almost lost 50 % of their entire practice. So I'm really pro, like you can drop insurance and I'm not here to say not to, but I want you to be very thorough and educated on it and know worst case scenario, best case scenario. I think fee-for-service is gonna dip in a lot more, but if you're not careful, fee-for-service patients are free agents and never forget that. So they can go anywhere at any time. They're not tethered to you like they are with insurance. So making sure.   The Dental A Team (58:25.202) before you start cutting and get all excited about fee-for-service, I'm here to say do it, but do it correctly. Because I think there's a right way and a wrong way to do it. And I've seen it hit practices really hard if they don't do it correctly. Good to know. The time we spend with people like you is meant to help dentists and really end support staff all around. And they all offer different types of great information and fe

Welcome to Season 13 of Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning. Join Andrea Samadi as she wraps up a year-long exploration of Grant Bosnick's book on self-leadership, diving into the final chapters focused on the neuroscience of resilience, authenticity, and bias. Discover practical strategies and insights from the latest neuroscience research to enhance your self-awareness, build authentic relationships, and overcome biases for personal growth and improved well-being. Don't miss this final installment filled with expert knowledge and actionable steps to transform your daily life. And we will now resume PART 4, the final part of our review, to sum up last year, 2024, and our entire year studying one book, Grant Bosnick's “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] the end of January 2024. The goal was that each week, we focused on learning something new, (from Grant's book) tied to the most current neuroscience research, that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights this year. It honestly shocked me that this series took the entire year. We began with PART 1[ii] and the first 5 chapters of the book. PART 2[iii] we reviewed chapters 6-9 of Grant Bosnick's Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, PART 3[iv], we reviewed chapters 10-13, and finally, today, we will finish with PART 4, Chapters 14-16.                                                                                         ((On today's EPISODE #360 PART 4 of our review of Grant Bosnick's Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, we will cover)): ✔ EP 344 Chapter 14[v] “The Neuroscience of Resilience” ✔ EP 345 Chapter 15[vi] “Unlocking Authenticity: The Neuroscience of Relationships” ✔ EP 347 Chapter 16[vii] “The Science of Bias” If you have not yet taken the leadership self-assessment, or if you would like to re-take it to see if the results are different for you than last year, you can click the link here to find the quick test. I re-took the assessment for 2025, and did notice some similarities and some differences from last year. If you can, retake the assessment and see what you notice about yourself. I noticed that pathways 2 and 3 are my high areas of focus this year, and that I can drop pathway 6 from my focus. What about you? If you have a few minutes to spare, take this leadership self-assessment again, and see if you notice any changes in your areas of focus for 2025. This is an incredible way to remain laser focused on pathways that will move the needle of success for YOU this year. EP 344 Chapter 14 “The Neuroscience of Resilience: Building Stronger Minds and Teams” If you were to ask me which episode is my favorite out of the 16 chapters, I would have to say this topic is at the top of the list, even though this pathway came out as a 0% for me to focus on in 2025. It's not because I'll be brushing resilience under the rug this year, as it's an area of focus I work on daily, without even thinking about it. Who doesn't want to become more resilient, or understand how to build a stronger mind, and then translate this strength to others for predictable results in 2025? What drew me to this episode was learning about the fascinating new neuroscience behind the part of our brain called the anterior mid cingulate cortex that becomes bigger when we use our will power to do those things we just don't want to do. Scientists believe this ability to use our will power to do difficult things, which builds our resiliency, is what's really behind the will to live. Stop and think for a minute here. Does this resonate with you? If you enjoy doing difficult things, and you would describe yourself as being “resilient” doesn't it make your mind spin to think that you are actually building a bigger, and stronger brain with this trait? Dr. Amen from Amen Clinics does remind us that when it comes to our brain, that bigger is better and that “a larger, more active brain is associated with better cognitive performance and overall well-being.”[viii] On this episode we also covered: A review of EP 74 and 286 where we covered the Neuroscience of Resilience with Horacio Sanchez's work reminding us that our protective or risk factors in our lifetime, will determine how resilient we will be throughout our life. While 25% of the population are naturally resilient, Horacio asserts that “if you have little risk, it takes less to be resilient. But—if you have a lot of risk, it takes a lot more protective factors to offset the scale.” Horacio has dedicated his life to helping our next generation become more resilient. If you love Horacio Sanchez's work as much as I do, stay tuned, as we will be featuring him soon with his new book, Unlocking School Bias: Using Neuroscience to Improve Student Outcomes[ix]. Stay tuned for this episode that will be scheduled as soon as I finish reading his book. Next we looked at Grant Bosnick's book, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership (Chapter 14) where he gave us the analogy of the donkey who fell into the well, and demonstrated resiliency when he used the dirt shoveled on him, to climb out. This example taught us that we all will have dirt shoveled on our backs in our life, and “that we can either get buried in the dirt or shake it off and take a step up. Each adversity we face is a stepping stone, and we can get out of the deepest wells by shaking off the dirt and taking a step up.” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 160). Another analogy we learned was through the mother and daughter story, and that when adversity faces you, Bosnick asks us to reflect. “Are you the carrot that seems strong but with pain and adversity (wilted) and became soft, losing its strength? Are you the egg that starts with a soft heart, but hardens with the heat? Or are you like the coffee bean that actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that (brought) the pain?” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 161). I'm hoping that we all desire to experience change with the adversity we face, like the coffee bean and use our difficult experiences in life to build a better, and stronger version of ourselves. After learning about building resiliency in ourselves, we learned about building resiliency within our teams, and looked at Patrick Lencioni's The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. The absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results. Then we learned to turn this around, using the five functions of a high performing team: trust, absence of fear of conflict, commitment, accountability and attention to results.” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 170). Finally, we looked at how we develop resiliency, using our Will Power from EP 294 where I shared an activity to strengthen this faculty of our mind either through meditation, or with an activity of staring at a candle flame, and with time, effort and sheer will power, blocking out everything else around you, until you and the candle flame become one. REVISIT THIS EPISODE TO REVIEW THIS CONCEPT IN DEPTH EP 345 Chapter 15 on “Unlocking Authenticity: The Neuroscience of Relationships“ we covered:  ✔ Author Mo Issa's definition of authenticity from his book The Shift: How to Awaken the Aliveness from Within. We met Mo Issa on EP 346[x]) We learned that Mo believes that “true authenticity means being ourselves—not an imitation of what we think we should be or what others want us to be. We all have a unique gift, and we must find and nurture it.” (Mo Issa, The Shift). ✔ Andrea's reflection from 2021 when Mo Issa asked her “what does authenticity mean to you?” What's authentic for me—it's living life according to my values. Living who I am by design. If I'm not putting health first, (for myself and my family) or learning, growing, researching, and then disseminating/sharing what I've learned, I'm not living my true authentic self. It will hurt my productivity if I compromise who I am, at this granular level. ✔ We ask the reader to consider: What makes YOU authentic? ✔ How do you know when you are living a truly authentic life? ✔ Have you identified your unique gifts or talents that make you stand out from others? ✔ Do you know what might be holding you back from being truly authentic? ✔ The Neuroscience of Our Social Brain “We have two systems in our brain: the X-system and the C-system. The X-system (or reflexive system) is automatic, responsive, like/dislike, reward/threat. The C-system (or reflective system) is controlled, conscious, with executive function and executive control.” (Chapter 15, Bosnick, Page 186). Motivation and effort are required to engage this part of the brain. The story of Phineas Gage who destroyed the C-system, in his brain and was operating on X-system only. In other words he had no control over his automatic, reflexive system, and his behavior became unbearable as a result. The C-system, (that requires motivation and effort to activate) we learned, is important for self-reflection and understanding self/other. We know this part of our brain as the Default Mode Network[xvi], and the part of our brain where we take breaks for creativity, thinking and learning to occur. “When the brain is at a resting state, this specific system kicks in, which is focused around social understanding (thinking about yourself, others' thoughts, others' actions etc.).” We learned to get into this resting state by “staring out of a window and do nothing (except reflecting on what else we can do to improve our relationships) and this knowledge that we uncover will help us to build more authentic relationships. We learned to slow down the conversation with people, truly listen to them empathetically and be fully present with them. This will build the relationship to be deeper…go slow with the conversation and communication in order to go fast with the depth of the relationship.” (Chapter 15, Bosnick, Page 186). ✔ 4 Steps to Building More Authentic Relationships Think of a person in your business, or personal life, that you would like to build a more authentic relationship with. Get to know them on a deeper level. How would you describe them? Are they introverted/extroverted? How do they approach authenticity and relationships? Let your brain go into your Default Mode Network. Stare out of a window and think: what could you do to build a more authentic relationship with each of the people you are thinking of? How can you go slow with your conversation to go fast with the depth of the relationship? And finally, we looked at the quote from Mo Issa that suggests that once we have done the work ourselves, and know what makes us truly authentic, once we know our own unique gifts and talents, and we continue to nurture and grow them, next, we can look outward, and recognize the unique talents and gifts in others. REVISIT THIS EPISODE TO REVIEW THIS CONCEPT IN DEPTH Finally, we covered EP 347 Chapter 16 “The Science of Bias“  where we ✔ Reviewed past episodes where we covered this topic of cognitive biases. ✔ Chapter 16 of Grant Bosnick's Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership on The Neuroscience of Bias. ✔ A review of our two types of thinking (X-system=reflexive/automatic and C-system=reflective/intentional). ✔ 3 Steps to Understand and Manage our Biases from Grant Bosnick's book: Accept and admit we are all biased. It's a natural part of being human. The exercise from Daniel Kahnaman's book showed me how quickly I reverted back to system x, reflexive, automatic thinking. This self-awareness has helped me to consider where else I make quick judgments, without thinking reflectively. Label the Bias. While Bosnick covered three examples, similarity bias (making quick conclusions about people similar to you), urgency bias (where we put non-urgent tasks on hold to push through to do something that requires our immediate attention), or experience bias (where we believe our perception is the truth and that others who see things differently from us are wrong, knowing there are close to 200 different biases, it's a start to be aware that our thinking could possibly be flawed. Mitigate the Bias. We aren't going to solve all of our biases at once, but once we are aware that's it's human to have them, we can begin with looking at strategies to mitigate each. I'm looking forward to diving deeper into the neuroscience of Biases with Horacio Sanchez's new book. Stay tuned for this interview coming this Spring. ✔ 4 Strategies for Mitigating our Biases SLOW DOWN: Bosnick goes into detail on how to mitigate the top three biases that he listed. The strategy that he used was to step back, slow down and access your Systems 2 reflective thinking to see what you notice. The maze exercise showed me I could benefit from slowing down my thinking and not jump to conclusions. BE MINDFUL: When talking to others, work on “engaging our System 2 (reflective) thinking…the more mindful we are, the more we can engage our mental brakes, increase self-awareness, reduce emotional impulses, and reduce our susceptibility to unconscious bias.” (Ch 16, Biases, Bosnick, Page 212). Being mindful of others will help us to learn to appreciate different perspectives, as well, other people will connect more to us when they can sense we are thinking from their point of view. LEARN FROM OTHER PEOPLE: Talk to others so you can learn “how to get out of our own experience bias and appreciate other people's perspectives. This will help us to get out of our autopilot, easy route thinking of the urgency bias to have deeper, more robust and deliberate thinking.” (Ch 16, Biases, Bosnick, Page 212). ASK FOR OUTSIDE OPINIONS: Find others you can brainstorm with to come up with fresh ideas to help you to think in a different way. Ask for feedback to gain a new perspective. This is just the beginning of this topic for us here on the podcast. While writing this episode, I had a message from our good friend Horacio Sanchez, third time returning guest from EP 111[vi] and we will have him back on for a 4th time, to dive deeper into this topic. REVISIT THIS EPISODE TO REVIEW THIS CONCEPT IN DEPTH REVIEW and CONCLUSION: To review and conclude this week's episode #360, PART 4, our final piece of our review of Grant Bosnick's Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, where we covered a review of the final chapters of his book, with strategies that can help us to implement each concept, from chapters 14, 15, and 16. EPISODE #360 PART 4 of our review of Grant Bosnick's Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, we covered: ✔ EP 344 Chapter 14 “The Neuroscience of Resilience” ✔ EP 345 Chapter 15 “Unlocking Authenticity: The Neuroscience of Relationships” ✔ EP 347 Chapter 16 “The Science of Bias” We will see you next time, with some returning guests, Dr. Sui Wong (coming up in April) and Horacio Sanchez. See you next time. REFERENCES: [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat' Bosnick  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/   [ii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #355 Mastering Self-Leadership REVIEW PART 1 (Grant Bosnick) https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/mastering-self-leadership-with-neuroscience/   [iii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #356 Mastering Self-Leadership REVIEW PART 2 (Grant Bosnick)https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/unlocking-the-secrets-of-self-leadership-chapters-6-to-9-review/   [iv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #357 Mastering Self-Leadership REVIEW PART 3 (Grant Bosnick) https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/unlocking-the-power-of-persuasion-time-management-and-change/   [v] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #344 “The Neuroscience of Resilience”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-of-resilience-building-stronger-minds-and-teams/   [vi] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #345  “ Unlocking Authenticity” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/unlocking-authenticity-the-neuroscience-of-relationships/   [vii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #347 “The Science of Bias”   https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/unlocking-the-science-of-bias-mastering-self-leadership-and-cognitive-awareness/   [viii] https://www.amenclinics.com/conditions/brain-optimization-peak-performance/   [ix]Unlocking School Bias: Using Neuroscience to Improve Student Outcomes by Horacio Sanchez published Feb. 12th 2025 by Corwin Press https://www.corwin.com/books/unlocking-bias-292586   [x]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #346 with “Mo Issa: The Midlife Shift: Discovering Authenticity and Vulnerability”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-midlife-shift-discovering-authenticity-and-vulnerability-with-mo-issa/  

Yuval Yeret has been "tweaking systems" his entire life. From modifying computer operating systems as a teenager to optimizing organizational structures as a leadership coach, his journey reveals the powerful parallels between technological and human systems.In this deeply insightful conversation, Yuval shares how his early exposure to psychology (through typing his mother's academic papers) subtly prepared him for understanding human dynamics in organizational settings. His pivotal moment came while listening to Patrick Lencioni's "Five Dysfunctions of a Team" during a vacation on the French Riviera—a book he couldn't put down because it crystallized what was missing in his struggling leadership team: vulnerability-based trust.The heart of Yuval's approach centers on creating environments where genuine connection can flourish. His practical wisdom shines through in simple yet profound guidance like "do food"—emphasizing how breaking bread together creates essential human connections that virtual environments cannot replicate. Even more transformative is his distinction between giving advice versus sharing experiences. When we tell others what they "should" do, we strip away their agency and autonomy. By contrast, sharing our experiences leaves space for others to make their own choices while still benefiting from our perspective.Yuval's metaphor of shifting from rigid roadmaps to flexible "trail maps" perfectly captures how effective facilitation works—providing options and context without dictating the exact path forward. As he looks toward integrating peer group methodologies into his organizational work, he envisions creating spaces where leaders can share experiences and navigate complex changes together, from agile transformations to adapting to AI integration.Whether you're a leader, facilitator, or simply someone interested in more meaningful conversations, this episode offers practical insights on building trust, preserving agency, and creating the conditions for human systems to thrive. How might your conversations change if you focused more on sharing experiences rather than giving advice?Please visit www.internationalfacilitatorsorganization.com to learn more about Mo Fathelbab and International Facilitators Organization (IFO), a leading provider of facilitators and related group facilitation services, providing training, certification, marketing services, education, and community for peer group facilitators at all stages of their career.

Marina Lazovic: How Limiting Work-in-Progress Saved a Struggling Agile Team Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Marina shares the story of a small team of three developers who were struggling with multiple challenges. The team was primarily working on front-end fixes but faced persistent environment issues that kept breaking their work. Under pressure from a Product Owner pushing for delivery, the team fell into the trap of working on too many things simultaneously, resulting in items staying perpetually "in progress" and never reaching "done." As the situation deteriorated, the PO began micromanaging the team in attempts to unblock work. Marina explains how she helped the team understand the value of limiting work-in-progress (WIP), even when initially both developers and the PO were resistant to the idea. Through experimentation over several sprints, they discovered that limiting WIP actually increased their completion rate rather than reducing it. Self-reflection Question: What work-in-progress limits might benefit your current team, and how could you experiment with implementing them in a way that addresses stakeholder concerns? Featured Book of the Week: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Marina recommends "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" as an essential read for Scrum Masters. She describes it as a book filled with valuable lessons and examples that she could easily identify in her workplace. Marina finds particular value in sharing the concepts with her teams and using the book as a framework to discuss dysfunction patterns they might be experiencing. The practical examples provided in the book serve as excellent conversation starters to help teams recognize and address their own challenges. About Marina Lazovic Marina is a Scrum Master and Kanban Trainer from Belgrade, Serbia, with nearly a decade in the IT industry. Though not from a technical background, she is passionate about helping development teams and organizations optimize processes and build great products using Agile. She thrives on driving efficiency and fostering collaboration. You can link with Marina Lazovic on LinkedIn.

Kiera touches base with doctors on how the first quarter of 2025 has gone. Ask yourself: Are we tracking key performance indicators? How's the team efficiency and morale looking? Do we need to adjust and refocus our annual goals? Episode resources: Sign up for Dental A-Team's Virtual Summit 2025! Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript Kiera Dent (00:00.908) Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera, and I hope you're having just an incredible day. I hope life is incredible for you. And today, I just wanna highlight that Q1 is almost over. Can you believe it? We're almost a fourth of the way through 2025. And today, I wanted to ask you, are you on track for your best year yet? Because I wanna make sure that we break this down to ensure that you are thriving in 2025 and that success is predictable for you rather than just happenstance. So today, you guys, if we go through...   that reviewing our Q1 of what we did well, what we missed, how we can improve, are we on track, are we off track? This is gonna really be able to help you find the opportunities for growth to make sure that you are thriving in 2025. Today, I'm gonna break it down into three simple steps for you, tactical, practical, as always. You guys know I'm Kiera Dent, owner and CEO of Dental A Team, where we are a consulting company founded upon making your life easy, more fun, and more fulfilled.   We do that through you as a person. We also do that through making sure you're profitable. Let's cut the stress. Let's make sure you're profitable. Aiming for at least 20 to 30 % true profit, post everything else. And then we also do it with system and team engagement and top to bottom systems for your team to thrive. Truly, it's what we're about. We love working with teams. We love working with dentists. Our consultants are experts in the field. They have been in every single position in the practice, making sure that your life is easy.   fun and that you feel like you have someone in your court with you that has the answers for you, has the solutions for you, and ensure that you are successful and profitable. So today, you guys, we are going to go through this. is going to be a concise action packed episode. cannot wait. So let's dive in. Step number one to make sure you are on track through Q1 is I want you to actually go back through and assess how do we do based on our metrics this year. If you are not tracking KPIs, key performance indicators, today is a great day to start that.   Your team should be tracking. We should be able to look at Q1 and see where were we on track, where were we off track, why were we off track and what's going forward. I love to be doing this every single week and then really assessing every single month. If you haven't gone to do that, rock on. It's the time to do it. You still have three quarters left. Let's make sure that you're super successful for that. So things that I like to look at are production, collections, new patients, case acceptance. We wanna make sure we've got our hygiene reappointment. What's our hygiene percentage?   Kiera Dent (02:16.354) We wanna make sure we're looking, those are like the main key things. And then I really always dig into profitability. I, like I said, we aim for our offices to be at a 20 to 30 % profit margin, post paying their doctors. I like you to have free cashflow in there. And so really looking at that, but also if we can dig into the nitty gritties of how's our AR, how are our cases coming across? What are we presenting? What are we closing? How is our hygiene team producing? How are we doing with our new patient count? Are we getting those raving fan referrals?   And if not, what's the one area that we're gonna highlight or two or three in Q2 to make sure that we actually get on track. Also, we look at our annual goal, which I hope that you have said, because it gives us kind of the benchmarks. To me, these are like the mile markers. Q1 is a mile marker, Q2 is a mile marker, Q3 is a mile marker. To make sure in Q4, we actually hit where we were trying to go, we are at mile marker one of the year. Where are we at? What needs to be adjusted to make sure by Q4, we actually crush our goals and we do it with ease.   Did we maybe get hit with some snow? Did we maybe get hit with some sick days? What was it? Let's not make excuses. Let's learn from it and project and move forward. So right now I want you all to block out 30 minutes this week to go look through Q1 metrics and compare them to where we wanna be by the end of the year. I recommend doctors and office managers do this. Go and look at it separately and then come together collectively. You can also do this with your leadership team. It's a really great time for you to block that time out right now and make sure you're on track. All right, step number two.   evaluate our team's efficiency and morale. Why? Why? because if we don't have a team that's synergistic, we actually are not able to have long-term success. Think about when we watch sports. mean, hello, March Madness. Hello, football season. Hello, all of them. You can tell teams that are synergistic and working well together, and you can tell teams that aren't. And something that's really paramount in team synergy is can we tell each other when we're off track and not have it be eggshells? I really love the book, Five Dysfunctions by Patrick Lenziani.   It's really a great way for you to see your team health. There's also difficult conversations don't have to be hard. There's ways that we can, crucial conversations if we're struggling with this, but really how do we actually do this? And are we checking in one-on-one monthly with each of our team members and getting honest feedback? Are we celebrating the wins and acknowledging the shortcomings? Are we looking for support and training that we need to have? Where are we at? But this is something that's so important to have really truly team efficiency and morale, because if we're not operating as a strong team,   Kiera Dent (04:40.942) we're not gonna make it to the finish line. And so having that like true focus right now on it is going to honestly be able to help you all truly flourish and thrive in 2025. All right, step three, I want you to adjust and refocus our annual goals. Looking at where we are, where we need to go, what do we need to be changing or adjusting to make sure that we're there? We might need to adjust right now. We might need to say like, we gotta be a little more flexible here.   This is something we didn't plan for. Maybe we lost an associate. Maybe we lost a hygienist. Maybe we lost an office manager. Some of those things, if they're out of our control and they truly will impact us, we do need to adjust. If we lost a provider, we've got to adjust those goals. Otherwise, we're chasing a dream that we can't quite get. And so I don't like to create excuses, but I also want to make sure that we have flexibility within the rigidity. So we've got the strong goals that we've set. We also have the flexibility of if life happens, we're not making excuses.   but we're actually coming to the table. So what do we actually need to do? Where are we at? What are the top priorities that we did really well in Q1? And what do we need to be setting up for Q2? I love the model of traction by Gina Wickman. This is something we work with a lot of our offices on. It's what we were building within our in-person community where we really are helping you assess your business every single quarter, just these simple three points. We have a deeper dive that we do within our teams to make sure that we're...   quickly adjusting, but not adjusting too quickly that we're able to give them the momentum and the traction that our teams need. So for this, like I said, we need to assess where we are, take 30 minutes and look to see where we are, what did we do well in Q1, where are we off track that we need to get back on track? Two, look at our team efficiency. How are we working together as a team and what do we need to change? And then three, adjust and refocus our goals to make sure moving into Q2 that we are actually set up for success.   I love this, so I want you to revisit your annual goals, break them into Q2 action steps. Like I said, I love to do it in traction. I love to do this with our offices. It's something very fun and fulfilling for me. We do it as a team. We have a coach that comes and meets our leadership team. We break it down to our departments and make it really easy. So three steps, you've got them. You know where we need to set the time aside now. Wherever you are on the journey, high five. This is where we are. We got here. And this is also, if there was a hard quarter, Tony Robbins is one of my favorites.   Kiera Dent (06:59.574) And he says, if it's a hard quarter, something that's just really beaten us down, we just look at that and say, well, hello, we finally have a worthy opponent. If we're riding high, we're doing everything, we're on such a good roll. Amazing, ride that high, ride that wave because a worthy opponent will show up at some point. We do not fall apart, we do not break down. We look at it, we face it, we figure it out, and we rise again with a true plan.   You guys, it's truly so important for you to assess where we at. We have three more quarters. Let's make them the best quarters. Let's make sure you're thriving in 2025. I am happy to share with you a Q1 checklist, whatever we can do for you. DM us, email us, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com You guys, please subscribe. We have newsletters every single week that come out to you. So if you want, head on over to our website, TheDentalATeam.com for more dental leadership insights.   Dental A Team is truly committed to you thriving in 2025. And if you're like, Hey, I could really benefit from one-on-one of having someone there with me benefiting from a community that started to support you having a structure that, that air quotes forces, but we really do. hold you accountable to it to make sure you're deep diving on your business. Reach out. This is what we do. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com as always. Thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.  

Trust is the foundation of every successful team, but do we truly understand what it takes to build and maintain it? In this episode, we dive deep into the concept of trust, inspired by Patrick Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team. From the difference between predictive and vulnerability-based trust to the dynamics of leadership teams versus the teams we lead, we explore what it really means to cultivate trust in the workplace. We also discuss real-life challenges, including how to navigate relationships with untrustworthy peers while maintaining professionalism and integrity. Plus, we uncover powerful lessons from nature—like the "death spiral" of eagles—that reveal the depth of trust required for strong partnerships. Join us as we break down practical strategies for fostering trust, strengthening leadership teams, and operating with authenticity in every professional and personal relationship. Don't miss this insightful conversation! 

In this episode of the Building Texas Business Podcast, I spoke with James Dieter, Chairman and CEO of Principle Health Systems. James shared his journey from orthopedic and interventional pain specialist to healthcare entrepreneur. Motivated by inefficiencies he witnessed firsthand, he created a more efficient healthcare model focused on mobile diagnostic services. Principle Health Systems has now conducted over 3.2 million mobile lab tests in 2024, demonstrating the success of his patient-centered approach. James opened up about leadership challenges and the importance of self-awareness when managing strengths and weaknesses as a CEO. By redefining Principle Health's mission, vision, and core values, his team created a unified direction that improved employee satisfaction and strengthened company identity. His insights on strategic partnerships showed how the right team can transform an organization. We explored their innovative "daily DON" program, an AI tool that helps Directors of Nursing prioritize patient care in long-term facilities. This technology enhances clinical decision-making while serving as a distinctive marketing asset for the company. James also discussed the Texas healthcare landscape, including Medicare conditions and reimbursement rates. Throughout our conversation, James shared practical advice on informed risk-taking and learning from setbacks. His experience navigating the healthcare industry offers valuable lessons for leaders and entrepreneurs looking to make an impact in this complex field. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS I explore James Dieter's journey from an orthopedic and interventional pain specialist to a leader in healthcare entrepreneurship, emphasizing his efforts to address inefficiencies in the healthcare system through mobile diagnostic services. We discuss the transformation of Principle Health Systems, highlighting its achievement of conducting over 3.2 million mobile lab tests in 2024, with a focus on patient-centric care. James shares insights on balancing strengths and weaknesses as a CEO, stressing the importance of self-awareness and strategic partnerships in building a thriving organizational culture. We delve into the development of a strong company culture at Principle Health Systems, driven by redefining mission, vision, and core values, which has enhanced employee satisfaction and strengthened company identity. The episode covers the innovative "daily DON" program, an AI-driven tool that aids Directors of Nursing in prioritizing patient care, which has been recognized for its impact on clinical decision-making and marketing. We examine the challenges and opportunities in the Texas healthcare landscape, including favorable Medicare conditions and low reimbursement rates, alongside the growing role of AI in insurance claims processing. James reflects on leadership and problem-solving, emphasizing the need for quick decision-making, informed risk-taking, and learning from setbacks to drive business growth and sustainability. LINKSShow Notes Previous Episodes About BoyarMiller About Principle Health Systems GUESTS James DieterAbout James TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Chris: James, welcome to Building Texas Business. Thanks for taking the time to come on the show. James: Glad to be here. Thanks so much for having me. Chris: Yeah. So let's start at the beginning. Just tell us a little bit about your company and what it does and what it's known for. James: Yeah, so Principle Health Systems has evolved over the years. When we started out we really had multiple directions. We were going in just as a healthcare services company. So a little background on me. I started out in orthopedics and interventional pain. I was really just dedicated to practice inpatient, outpatient and surgery. So going through that for my first decade of work, I saw a lot of inefficiencies in the healthcare, outpatient and surgery. So going through that for my first decade of work saw a lot of inefficiencies in the healthcare services sector, specifically in the Southeast region of Houston where I worked. So I wanted to build a better system right. Our lab results took too long to get back. Our pharmaceuticals weren't in stock at the pharmacies we'd send our patients to. Mri results took too long and started to, through my entrepreneurship journey, go out and started to build little sectors of where I could have influence really over my own practice to have a better outcome and through that over time started over 20 businesses in the first 10 years Just had numerous pharmacies, laboratories, diagnostic facilities, did three surgery centers. I was involved in one large hospital system and then got to a point where I said, hey, let's wrap this thing together, let's put it together. I want to have really just one source solution where we could come in and work with physicians and provide a host of different services. That went fairly well. The service level was outstanding. The most difficult aspect for us was really the payers actually having reimbursements without being contracted with certain individuals. From there, we really, about six, seven years ago, found a niche and that was called long-term care. So we define long-term care as skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities and home health facilities and we provide laboratory and diagnostic services to those guys. So, in-house, you call it your house if you live in a skilled nursing facility or assisted living facility, or at home, but we provide mobile diagnostic services. So we go out and we offer labs, x-rays, ultrasounds, echocardiograms and ekgs in the home. So you bring it to the patient. Bring it to the patient, that's right. That's right. And last year, 2024, we performed over 3.2 million lab tests mobile. So, with a large amount of those being for stat tests, right? So tens of thousands of stat tests per month where somebody needs something in four to six hours and we get us turned around for them. Chris: Okay, so it sounds like the inspiration for you was maybe frustration born out of frustration, for sure, and a gap in our healthcare delivery service, so he's shedding more light on that. I mean, you've mentioned this entrepreneurial journey. I mean most physicians and doctors don't have that. So what was it for you that you kind of took frustration and turned it into action? James: Yeah, I mean just a matter of you know, I'd have a patient that was really suffering right, specifically on the interventional pain side. This is not uncommon. You have a patient who's in a very bad position and you're already jumping through hoops with insurance companies. So it might take three to four weeks to get something approved. And then you're in, then you set them up for surgery. Well, you, the assumption is okay, we're going to have the lab work back, we're going to have the MRI back in time, and then it just wasn't happening. So you're pushing off surgery, you're pushing off procedures and just over time it's just a great deal of frustration. At the end of the day, the mission was always to help the patient, and if it's all about the patient, we've got to do something different here. And that was the biggest frustration for us was just the delays and turnaround times on the imaging and laboratory specifically, but then also getting medications, you know, sending patients out and having sometimes three, four, five phone calls come back up. The pharmacy didn't have my medication, the pharmacy didn't have my medication, the pharmacy didn't have my medication. So that's when we started opening up our own pharmacies back then as well. Chris: So just there, right, you said we. Who did you partner with? How did you go about finding a business partner? If that's the case, going about setting up a business, because you don't just turn on a switch right. There's planning, there's financing. Entrepreneurs in any industry, in all industries, go through that when they're starting a business. Let's talk a little bit about that journey in the beginning, of how you got it going and some of the lessons learned in that process. James: Lots of lessons learned in that process. You know, speaking of that, we call it chewing glass, right, okay, I? heard that one. So much of it's just a grind right and just figuring it out. But as far as partnering goes, I've had numerous partners in different individual business units over the years. When I formed Principle Health Systems in March of 2016, I had to get really specific on who am I going to allow on the bus, who do I really want to partner with on the bus? So I pulled away from certain partners, left goes, let go of certain businesses and then brought some together. So, in total, I believe we started out with there were three of us on day one that we brought in, you know. But I had different skill sets, right. I mean, I was trying to always try to be very honest with myself about where are my weaknesses right. I'm I would say I'm highly visionary. I like to think big. I like to have that 50,000 foot view of where we're going, set goals, set mission, set vision. Big culture guy. I love to talk about culture and instill culture throughout the organization. Chris: We'll get to that in a minute. James: Cool yeah, but just frankly, I would say weaknesses are on details, right. So I've just always been someone who likes to move forward and not analyze every aspect of it. So partnering with some people that were strong in an analytics and detail side of the business was really important for me, and I still have some just phenomenal business partners today in that regard. Chris: That's great. You touched on two things that I think are very common, some of which when we're advising clients. The first is choosing your partners right and being clear about expectations, documenting what the deal is on the front end and making sure you know that where everyone's going and what the roles are. The second is understanding, especially when you're the leader, your weaknesses in hiring around that, because you can't do it all and you're not going to be good at everything, and so I think everyone that I've met that's been successful has that self-awareness Right. How did you go about getting comfortable letting go of some of those job responsibilities and whether it was a good hire or a partner that you chose. James: That's a tough one. I mean, some of it was truly difficult to let go of. And then other pieces. You know you tend to be good at what I would say you tend to enjoy what you're good at. Sure, yeah, and that's one of the so to really convince yourself like, let's go spend more time at what we're good at, more time at what we enjoy, I would say I didn't focus so much on letting go as focused I wasn't spending so much time focused on what I'm not good at as what I was good at right. So it was just a matter of, by virtue, of spending more time on what I enjoy, doing less and less of what I don't enjoy. And that was easier for me to let go. It was almost to to to let it slip to let it slip away rather than to give it away and know that because you weren't giving it attention. Chris: someone needed to Right. James: Right. And then you know, obviously just helping to build folks up I mean, we have right now an unbelievable director of human resources who was in project management at one point and just understanding the value of different people in the organization that you already have built trust and rapport and you believe in them. and then to find, hey, I really think they'd be good at this and then move them into these roles to fill gaps was so important and just finding, really analyzing the people that are around you to understand what are they great at and what might else they do from where they are today, that could be a greater opportunity and bring greater value to the company and organization. Chris: Yeah, so you touched on culture, let's go ahead and go there. Anybody you talk to at a CEO, entrepreneur, business owner, leader will say, right, culture's king. We believe it a hundred percent. We talk about that constantly around here. It's just part of our DNA. We believe it 100%. We talk about that constantly around here. It's just part of our DNA. So everyone goes about it differently. Let's talk about how you have gone about building the culture at Principal Health. How would you describe it first? And then, how have you gone about building it and nurturing it? James: Yeah, so great question. I mean, starting out, I couldn't tell you when we started the organization what was our mission, what were our core values. I couldn't even tell you what they were. There was something we came up with. I think two of us came up with one day, in a couple hours, some marketing stuff yeah marketing stuff. We hung it on the wall, just like you would expect right from most organizations to do most organizations do. And we had a phenomenal, you know, I would say the top 20 people in the organization just had a great relationship together and I would say that we thought culture was very strong. Four years in we polled the entire company and it was pretty, pretty terrible. I mean, it was like a 60% satisfaction, maybe even in the fifties, and we were kind of horrified like wow, we thought we had this great culture and everybody loved this company and it was. You know what it was. Well, I decided a couple of months later I did an offsite. So we did a two day offsite and kind of big hotel room, you know, or I guess I said conference room, with these big windows overlooking clear lake, and you know it know, the whole idea was like let's think big, and we brought in just management. So I think there was 46 managers at that time in the organization and we all came in the room we said, hey, we're here for two days to figure out three things Our mission, our vision and our core values. And we're going to sit together and this isn't going to be the C-suite telling everybody what we're about as a company. We as a people, as a community, are going to discuss what is this company? Who are we Not? What are we? Who are we? Chris: And what do you want to? James: be Exactly, and we did come up with a BHAG. We ended up throwing in a BHAG as well there. But where do we want to go? Classic Jim Collins. So we did get through that two-day period and we came out with a really strong mission, vision, core values. Our mission is to improve patient outcomes and experiences. Relatively simple, very difficult to do in healthcare. We decided our core values would be URPHS Principle Health System the acronym I should say is URPHS. Understand the mission, respect everyone. Patients are our purpose, happy to help and step up. So and we talk about simple, right, exactly, I would believe at this point, 90% of any you know we're approaching, I think, right, right, 500 employees today. I would think 90% of those folks could tell you that and not just tell you what they are, but give you examples of how they've done those things. We live culture. We no longer talk about it. We did that in the beginning. Now we live it. It's brought up in every management meeting. It's brought up in all the leadership training sessions, all the offsites and it's kind of what I call the North Star. So we look at culture as the direction. If you're not sure about a decision that you're going to make in any regard. I want you to think about the North Star. Is it in alignment with, are you walking towards, the culture, are you walking towards the mission of this company? And that helps to drive behaviors so important. Chris: I mean, that is the true key to the kingdom. I think the word I would use is it sounds like your culture has become institutionalized. Right, it starts out where it is you as the culture cop or maybe the C-suite, and getting it deeper in the organization. But once you've done that and everyone knows it and everyone lives it and everyone can hold each other accountable to it, then you've got a true directional tool To your point. I think the more you can tie behaviors to those values that's when they become real the more you can tie behaviors to those values. That's when they become real. And so when you're praising people because whatever they did connects with these two of our six or whatever number is of our values, it becomes real to them and they know how to repeat it A hundred percent. James: Yeah, I'm fairly unapologetic about the culture, so I would say it's even unusual Some of the things I'll say when I'm in management meetings or even when I do a quarterly coffee and conversation. So I meet with the entire company. It's usually takes six or seven sessions, but I go company wide, we bring the big groups and I'll sit down with the entire company for an hour every quarter and what I'll typically say when it comes to culture is that it's up to you to you know we can't police it from management. It's up to the people to police the culture. So one of our core values is respect everyone. So if there's someone who's not respecting everyone, I expect that the people of the company will kick that person out, go after them, make sure they don't work here, and I'll literally look out and I regularly look out across when I'm talking to the whole team. Chris: And I tell them. James: If you really can't say that you're here for the patient, if you can't say that you're really here to serve our mission, I was like I really don't want you here. I was like I prefer you to quit. I was like we will replace you and I would prefer to go without somebody for a short period of time. I'm unapologetic about it. We truly believe it. That's what we're about above all things. The rest of it, because at the end of the day, in our business, if we do a really great job treating patients, everything else will follow. Yeah, the doctors want to work with us, the facilities want to spend time with us, the payers will respect us. It's really about the patients. So we put patients first. Everything else comes next and if you can't get behind that, we don't want you. Chris: Yeah, I think that's a great point. Some of the words we use here, right. We're passionate about our mission and our values, which means they resonate in our heart and our gut. Right, we just it's in our fiber. If they don't resonate with you, it's really okay, because it means it's not the right organization for you, right there's a different organization out there that you're going to be happier with, you'll connect with and we'll go find someone that connects with us. Happier with you will connect with and we'll go find someone that connects with us, because they're going to be the better performer, the self-policer, the self-motivator. They're going to be the ones that connect with for us, similar to patient care, client service, right and mutual respect amongst everyone. So I agree with you it's okay to tell people if you don't connect with this. Actually, I use it in interviews when I'm interviewing someone. Here's who we are, we're very clear about it. And if you don't connect, it doesn't make you a bad person 100% doesn't. It just means it's in the right organization for you and there's a gazillion other organizations. Advert Hello friends, this is Chris Hanslick, your Building Texas business host. You're a Building Texas business host. Did you know that Boyer Miller, the producer of this podcast, is a business law firm that works with entrepreneurs, corporations and business leaders? Our team of attorneys serve as strategic partners to businesses by providing legal guidance to organizations of all sizes. Get to know the firm at boyermillercom and thanks for listening to the show. James: There's another team, there's another team that'll work just well for you. Yeah, totally. Chris: No, let's switch a little bit because I want to get back into kind of the business I'm always interested to ask about, like innovations and technologies I mean no-transcript. James: Yeah, I mean, you know, obviously, with the increased levels of compute, you know, now you have the large language models, you have artificial intelligence and that has already made an impact for us. So I would say that we are the next 18 months are going to be very interesting, but we are already using automation from AI that is changing the way we do things and I can give you one example in particular. Well, two really good examples. One in the back office, we have a team of I believe it's three ladies total. Still we had three ladies that would handle all of our facility invoicing right and it's very complex. We have the decipher between patient to patient each day who's part A, who's part B and how we do the billing, and some of it gets billed to facilities. Some of it's billed to without getting too much in the weeds. Some of it gets billed into the insurance company and we've been able to quadruple our volume with still having the same amount of people and not have to scale payroll because of implementing automation techniques through AI that help to decipher where those go. These get scanned in and it all gets brought up. Still have a little bit of a you know, a people component to it. But, just you know, we would be sitting here with and one division. It's just a great example, because that one division would probably be 10, 11 people, yeah, and the cost increase Exactly. Chris: That's an amazing statistic. James: So that is kind of a back office area that we're really focused on going. Where else can we, where else can we look at the bringing in this technology to help as we continue to scale, so that we don't have to just keep hiring bodies? which is you know, from a real estate perspective even difficult. So we're, you know, we're, we've been tapped out on space for two years and we're it's been very challenging. Where do you just put you know, where do you keep putting people Right? So, but on the I guess I'd say on the actual business, well, that's the back office on the front of the house. We've got a program. We call it the daily DON. So, right, so it's a DON is a director of nursing. A lot of the facilities we work within, you know, skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, they have someone who really oversees the house. They're the clinical expert in there that makes sure that all the patients are taken care of. That's called the DON. So we have a form that's. Thousands of these go out every morning to all of our facilities and it's an AI program that picks out the most important things that happened the prior day. So here's, you know, bobby Sue had a stat test performed at X time and here's the result. Here's a critical result or whatever is most important. They kind of have a clinical mind and says, hey, this is where we think you should pay attention to your patients today. These people are trending in the wrong direction. These people if they're doing just fine, they're at the bottom of the page. The things that are most important are highlighted at the top of the page, but it's really helping us provide better healthcare diagnostics for our providers so that they can treat the patients better. So it's right, in line with our mission, but it's really just automation and again, it would take an army of people to do this. Chris: Yeah, that's really cool stuff. I have to believe that is also, if not already, will become a huge marketing tool. Oh, it's a big marketing tool. Right, people are worried about the family mergers they're putting in there, where they're really going to get care, because, you already know this, your industry doesn't have a great reputation as a whole. No for sure. James: And so the more you can say no, this is what we do to make sure we're taking care of your loved one, yeah, so there's a huge journal publication called McKnight's and it is the, you know, the premier publication for the long-term care space and you know, all over the country, the daily DON. We actually won a bronze medal this year against thousands of applicants for innovation. So it was actually yeah, we were awarded. Chris: I guess that was 2024, but last year yeah, close enough, yeah, so let's talk a little bit just about, you know, being in Texas, being a business, primarily in Texas. What are some of the advantages that you have experienced being here, not just in Houston, but taking advantage being in Texas? For us is related to the Medicare Advantage plan, right so? James: or, excuse me, the MAC right so? Different Medicare has Medicare administrative plans and they actually carry out Medicare's will in an area. Texas has a MAC that is somewhat more favorable than the rest of the country. Now there's a few states that share that, but just in general, for us, from a standpoint of clarity they're a little bit more clear. There's a lot of bureaucracy that goes on in just getting paid, so this might be surprising to people outside of health care, but today I believe we are paid on 61% of the business we do and we're actually probably one of the really high end. We've run studies on this and we're we are, better reimbursed than most companies out there in our space, and so we still, you know, roughly four out of 10 patients that we treat, we get paid $0. Chris: It's just fascinating to me that it's that poor it is very poor. James: However, we are in one of the more favorable areas, so I can only imagine if you don't have a lot of clarity and guidance on how to bill, it just becomes more and more challenging for you. Chris: Yeah, this may be one of those, but I'm just interested as you kind of look out going forward, what are some of the challenges or headwinds you see maybe coming at your industry? Some of the challenges or headwinds you see maybe coming at your industry, lots of changes going on in Washington right now will have an effect, I'm sure, on your business but maybe also affect what goes on at the state level. James: So one thing you're kind of worried about as you kind of look out, I would say just one of the concerns, and I mean I think again, everybody likes to point the finger to the big bad guys and I really look at them more as a partner than they're not a, you know, an adversary to us or more of a partner. But the insurance companies have become more active in utilizing ai to to identify discrepancies within chart notes to deny claims. So that's something where, you know, recently went to, one of the conferences I attended was for health care payers and they have booths set up, you know, trying to sell to the health insurance companies of how to use artificial intelligence to identify the to not pay. They're already not paying much and you know they're now. In reality, the reason they are not paying is because the notes are lacking in something. So, rather than paying a person to go and evaluate each note, which is very expensive, you think about the health insurance companies if they have to hire thousands of people to evaluate the charts, or they can use AI programs to evaluate the charts it's going to save them money and hopefully that money gets passed on to the consumer. So I actually don't think it's a long-term a bad thing, but I do expect in the meantime it's going to just decrease even further, decrease the amount of claims that get paid. Chris: Right, it sounds like it would be incumbent upon companies like you to kind of push back a little more in the short term. James: to be able to take advantage of those efficiencies later. Absolutely yeah, and I look at it from our perspective. We're in a really good spot. We're pretty developed to where we can handle those kinds of headwinds. Chris: So let's switch again a little bit. Just talk about leadership. How would you describe your leadership style? How do you think it's evolved over the past, you know, 12 to 15 years since you've kind of been moving forward with this company? James: Yeah, I mean. So starting out with a group, I think, start with five people and 500 folks. So leadership looks very differently as business scales. And, to start right, I mean I used to take out the trash and do the accounting. I mean I've worked every job in the company personally and in the beginning, worked with a lot of people who were for lack of a better, better word incompetent at what they did, and today, having been able to develop people and hire and bring in and partner with incredible people that are, frankly, better than I am, a lot of things it allows me to go and do what I'm really good at and, from a leadership perspective, I've probably, if I've, believed in you from the beginning. I've always given you. I'm not a micromanager. I don't believe you can't really grow a large company if you're watching over everything going on. So you have to truly, just, I would say, collaborate with those around you and I guess, if I had to define it who I am, I try to be a great collaborator, right. I try to really help, provide as many resources for the people around me as possible so that they can be successful. Chris: That's good. Let's talk about problem solving right. Especially where you are today and probably have been in your role, probably more of what you do is facing issues, and how are we going to work through this and solve an issue, solve a problem? What have you found to be the most effective way to kind of get the information you need to make those informed decisions that you believe would be in the best interest of the company? James: Yeah, I mean. So again, that's something that over time, has become, I would say, much more of a process, right? So now we have data analytics and we have incredible CFO that's been coming in and able to provide information. There. We have all these additional resources, from accountants to lawyers, to folks. We sit down. I like to surround myself with the right group. We try to sit in a room with the right people at the right time and analyze all the information, but very quickly. I do not like the old analysis paralysis. That's not us at all. I move very quick, I like to make decisions very fast and I don't look in the rear view mirror very often. I'm always looking out the front window and just moving forward. So when there's challenges that are hitting us, it's just a relatively. Let's get as much information as we can today, let's analyze it and let's go. Chris: Yeah, I love that because I agree, I think, the idea that stagnation will kill the company right, and so I think you try to get as much information as you can, knowing it's never going to be perfect. But I think the key then is, I agree with the mindset of kind of move quick. To me, the next piece of that is to evaluate the decision as it's implemented, because then you're continuing to learn and gather information. If you're doing that so that you can adjust right, Because the plan goes out the window as soon as you start to act right, so some people will act and then ignore, and I think that's a mistake. I think if you act, continue to analyze and then align behind what you've learned, it may not be a pivot, it may just be a tweak, but you've got to keep moving. James: I totally agree and you really touched on a great point that I like to speak about. Often and it plays a little bit in the culture. I tell people, guys, we've got to make mistakes here. If we're not making mistakes, we're trying nothing new. So I hesitate to say I encourage mistakes, but to some extent I think I did in my last meeting ask for mistakes directly. So the idea here is that it's okay to make mistakes, it's not okay to make the same mistake over and over again. But if we're not trying, we're not growing. If we're not growing, we're dying. So we've got to continue to move forward. And the culture is that if you are focused and I mentioned that North Star earlier but if you're heading towards the North Star and you make a mistake, you're okay, there's no problem If you're doing something new and you're trying something for the good of the company and the good of the patient, that's okay. Let's learn from it. Let's learn from it, let's change course and let's keep moving. Chris: Yeah, that's right. Comfort and complacency aren't good, and I think that that freedom to take risk as long as it's an informed risk, as long as it aligns with our mission and values, is the type of risk you want to encourage your people to be doing and learn from it 100%. So that's good. People always learn from setbacks. So let's talk about a failure or setback you've experienced, and I know there's probably two or three examples from yesterday. James: No, but yeah, I mean, where do we start here? Chris: But what was it you know, and how did you learn from it, and how did it make you better? How did it improve you or the company, whatever the example may be? James: Yeah. I think geez, you know, this is only a tough question because I have so many. Chris: Yeah, I think geez, this is only a tough question because I have so many. You're not alone in it. A lot of guests say the same thing and I can identify with that. James: Yeah, so. I think for one this just comes to mind somewhat early on in our business we had just one massive customer. We had a great deal of revenue concentration in one customer who ultimately had a bankruptcy and put us in a really bad financial position when we lost out on. You know they were way behind on paying their bills and you know such and such. You've heard the story. Chris: Oh sure. So not only did you not get paid. If you were that beholden to them, you didn't have a lot of other things coming in Correct. James: Correct, correct. And just to learn from that example of not letting yourself get too far out over your skis for one, but also just to diversify, not just the customer base. We were actually diversified in our revenue and how we were paid, but it was all one customer. So you've got to diversify your revenue base and your customer base and not have too much concentration. That was a really early on lesson that just comes to mind. That, I feel like, was still one of the most painful. I think I laid off 40 or 50 people that day and it was just a tremendous. That one scarred me pretty bad. Chris: Layoffs are never easy. Those are ones you'll remember. James: Yeah, that one still haunts me, so again I've. Which mistake would you like to talk about? Chris: we could do a whole show. Yeah, you really could, but yeah so kind of you know, bringing this more to a close, any advice you would share with our listeners, entrepreneurs and business owners out there that you know, if there's one thing you're if you're thinking about, if you've just started the journey or you're thinking about it, here's one or two things that you would kind of want to pass along. James: Yeah, I mean I just, you know, from an entrepreneurial standpoint, I had a one of my, one of my father's good friends when I was a young kid, you know, probably high school. He told me at one point he said, hey, your business really isn't going to fail unless it runs out of time or money. And just kind of keep that in the back of your head, because I can think of at least six or seven times that we were done, you know, and I had to sit there and go well, hold on, you know, we haven't completely, we're not completely done because we haven't run out of time or money. And that was how, you know, I spoke about chewing glass earlier. I think you know one of my buddies, he's a new entrepreneur. I always I tell him ready, shoot, aim. You know, at some point you can analyze all the data. And if you do analyze all the data, you're probably never going to start Right, because the odds are of starting a new business are challenging. Chris: For sure, as everyone says, it's not for the faint of heart. James: It For sure, as everyone says, it's not for the faint of heart. It's not for the faint of heart. And everyone will run into a lot of problems and challenges. And that's why because if it was easy, everybody would do this Correct, and so just I would. Just it might sound a little silly, but just don't give up. I mean, if it's something you believe in, if it's really a great cause, if your heart's in it, just keep your head down and push on, because you will be successful. Chris: That's great, and perseverance and grit is what it takes if you're going to be a true entrepreneur 100%. But the ready shoot aim is kind of like you were saying earlier, in decision making, at some point you got to make a decision, absolutely you got to go. James: Yeah, I see that as just a big mistake that folks are making over and over again is sitting around just waiting and by the time they actually make the decision, the opportunities passed. Chris: yeah well, let's, we're going to close with some more fun stuff. Talk a little bit more about texas, any favorite vacation spots within the state. James: Things you like to do in your spare time you know we have a little piece of land up in west texas so we're out in the lakey area okay it's kind of kind of over there by Garner State Park for those that know the river and just absolutely love. We go out there probably every month. You know I have two boys and a little girl so I spend a lot of time out there. The family makes it out there every now and then, but I definitely try to grab a boy and go out there every month. How fun is that? We just go and shoot guns and hang out and, you know, take the kids and their friends over to the Garner State Park, dance and do all that kind of stuff. Chris: God's country over there. James: It is God's country. It's fantastic. That was my favorite place. Chris: It's just beautiful out there, yeah, so any like books or anything that you've read lately that you might pass on to a listener as something to go spend some time reading or learning from. Reading or learning from. James: Jeez, you know I'm actually doing 10 books with my kids right now, so there's nothing new and exciting, but they're all you know. I've got them reading Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, so that was the book they read last week. They're reading a book a week, so this week they're on the Five Dysfunctions of a Team Peter Lencioni. Chris: Yeah. James: So those are kind of what's going on. That's what's on my mind at the minute. I like it At the moment, yeah. Chris: And teaching them young. James: I love that, yeah, I mean well, they're 15, 13, not too young. Chris: Right. James: But kind of when I was reading those books and trying to. So a bunch of oldies but goodies. Yeah, we're going through right now. Chris: We're doing Rich Dad, poor Dad world from that perspective. Last question do you prefer tex-mex or barbecue? James: barbecue, all right, yeah I guess you can't go out to lakey and and not have barbecue in that area or on the road trip to and from no, I mean I it's. Chris: That's a tough question I always save it for last and everyone says the same thing. It's a trick question what's yours? People turn that on me and I think I it's a tough one that they. You know, once it's turned on me and I think it's a tough one Once it's turned on me, I realize how unfair it is. Yeah, I think my answer has always been I love barbecue, but my go-to is probably Tex-Mex more than barbecue. James: So if I was going to say Tex-Mex with a margarita, that might go above barbecue For sure, but if it's just food, it's barbecue Okay. Chris: Yeah, because it's hard to have Tex-Mex without a margarita. James: Yeah. Chris: And then, of course, you have places now, especially here in Houston, I'm sure, other places where they're combining, you know, like the brisket into the Tex-Mex. James: so brisket, burritos or tacos, and that, to me, is probably the penultimate, it's fantastic. Chris: Yeah, there really is. It's challenging when it comes to healthcare. So, James, this has been great man. I really appreciate you coming on and sharing your story. It's pretty fascinating, and congratulations for all the success and what I know will be successful in the future. James: Awesome, thanks so much for having me, Chris: you bet. And there we have it another great episode. Don't forget to check out the show notes at boyermillercom forward slash podcast and you can find out more about all the ways our firm can help you at boyermillercom. That's it for this episode. Have a great week and we'll talk to you next time. Special Guest: James Dieter.

In today's episode, Dr. Killeen dives into The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni and explores why trust is the key to a high-performing team. Addison shares insights from Dr. Jason Tanoory on two simple yet powerful ways to build trust—social activities outside the office and meaningful team meeting questions. From casual get-togethers to deeper conversations, these strategies help break down barriers, strengthen connections, and create a more cohesive team. Tune in to learn how to foster trust and transform your practice culture!

Why have an administrator? What can an administrator do in terms of the relationships around the school? Steve Brubaker makes the case that administrators inhabit and manage the complex meeting place of all the people involved in a school. It's a position of influence to be used not to lord it over others but to serve them. “Administrators exist to serve the servants,” says Steven. And schools that lack these people are hampered in their efforts to grow. Specifically, administrators are in a position to nurture growth in these two ways: Valuing the diversity – each person with whom or for whom we labor is worthwhile, and it is one of the administrator's primary roles to reveal and maximize that worth. Promoting the unity – helping all our people speak a common language, doing a lot of listening (which includes creating opportunities for listening), doing a lot of communicating (before, around, and during decision-making), and fostering shared experiences makes this a potent second role for an administrator. Steven develops both of those roles and also provides practical elaboration on the admin/board relationship and the admin/teacher relationship. Bonus: (from the discussion time in the original presentation) How can you go about growing into these responsibilities as an administrator if you're in a situation where the board currently has those responsibilities? Patience, build trust Appeal, ask to be involved/participate rather than trying to change the process Clarify, discuss job description/expectations Links Administrator's Conference: https://www.fbep.org/attend/events/administrators-conference-and-retreat/  The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick M. Lencioni: https://a.co/d/2dkE4wu Doing Good Even Better by Edgar Stoesz: https://a.co/d/ilJRVb2 This recording was originally published on The Dock as "Loving Those We Serve": https://thedockforlearning.org/lecture/loving-those-we-serve/  More Recordings from 2017 Administrators Conference and Retreat: https://thedockforlearning.org/series/administrators-conference-and-retreat/ 

 Andy and Mon-Chaio explore Patrick Lencioni's concept of the five dysfunctions of a team, discussing how absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results interrelate to impact team performance. They reflect on their own experiences and the importance of productive conflict, peer accountability, and commitment to collective success. Listeners will learn how examining organizational structure and culture can address these dysfunctions and improve team dynamics. Andy and Mon-Chaio also stumble upon the topic for the next episode on holding individuals accountable in areas outside one's expertise.Transcript: https://thettlpodcast.com/2025/03/04/s3e8-5-dysfunctions-of-a-team/References: 5 Dysfunctions of a Team PDF resource - https://files.tablegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/11224029/FiveDysfunctions.pdf 5 Dysfunctions of a Team - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Five_Dysfunctions_of_a_Team Team Effectiveness: A Validation Study of Lencioni's Five Functions of a Team - https://lib.manaraa.com/books/A%20validation%20study%20of%20Lencioni's%20five%20functions%20of%20a%20team.pdf

Often I tell you about guests I first met at the podcast event known as Podapalooza. This time we have another such guest. He is Jessper Maquindang. He tells us that, although he doesn't remember the event, his mother tells him that at the age of five he told her that when he grew up he wanted to be a leader. He tells us that he always had a fascination for leaders and the study of leadership. When he attended USC he attained an Executive Master's degree in leadership. Jessper was born and raised in California and lives in the state today.   Since graduating he has experienced observing and working in large and small companies. A number of years ago he formed his own consulting company, FamiLEAD  Management Consulting.   During our episode Jessper and I talk a great deal about leadership. He describes what makes a good leader in today's corporate and thriving world. His observations and lessons are quite poignant and I would say relevant to all of us. Jessper discusses how leadership has evolved and how today good leaders consciously work to build solid teams and spend much less time bossing people around and flaunting their power.   Another fact about Jessper is that he grew up with Asthma. Even so, he worked through the condition and today has run a number of full marathons. He also loves to travel and has visited all fifty states in the U.S.   Clearly Jessper is quite unstoppable and as you listen to our conversation he will tell you how you can become more unstoppable too.       About the Guest:   Jessper Maquindang, a seasoned leader with a rich experience spanning over 12 years, is the owner of FamiLEAD Management Consulting, helping leaders and managers build effective teams. His leadership journey is marked by his commitment to fostering workplace cultures that champion collaboration and innovation. Driven by a passion for creative brainstorming and continuous improvement, Jessper is always on the lookout for fresh ideas and novel approaches.   As an alumnus of the University of Southern California, Jessper holds an Executive Master's Degree in Leadership.  His leadership impact has been recognized with the “40 Under Forty” award in Santa Clarita Valley, a testament to his significant contributions to the community.   Jessper's influence extends beyond his immediate professional sphere. Jessper has served on the executive board of JCI USA (Junior Chamber International, USA), a national organization dedicated to providing leadership development opportunities for young people. He continues to guide future leaders as a mentor at his alma mater, the University of Southern California. Jessper has also served on the boards of an advanced Toastmasters club and the Southern California chapter of the National Speakers Association (NSA SoCal).   When he's not leading teams or coaching leaders, Jessper immerses himself in training for marathons, delving into business books, and traveling around the country. In spite of growing up with asthma, Jessper has become a 15-time marathon runner. His story is one of passion, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of excellence.   Ways to connect with Jessper:   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmaquindang Website: https://www.famileadconsulting.com Jessper's personal story: https://signalscv.com/2024/07/once-an-asthma-victim-now-a-marathon-runner/   About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/   https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well, a pleasant hello to you, wherever you happen to be today. Welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected, which is more fun. Meet I am your host. Mike Hingson, we're really glad that you're here with us today and today, well, we're going to what, what has to be a California podcast, because our guest jes Jessper Maquindang is from California. He's a USC graduate. So was my wife. He lives in Santa Clarita, so he's over the mountains from where we live. He has degrees in leadership. He's a marathon runner, and that, after a story that he'll tell you in just a little bit growing up, had some challenges regarding that, but nevertheless, he is here, and we're here, and we're glad that all of you are here with us. So Jessper, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're really glad you're here. Michael,   Jessper Maquindang ** 02:22 thank you for having me. I'm excited to join you today. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 02:26 glad you're really here. Well, why don't we start by you telling us a little bit about kind of the early Jessper growing up and all that sort of thing. Absolutely,   Jessper Maquindang ** 02:34 it starts with a memory, and a memory from my mother, and she shared it a few years ago, and I myself don't remember that memory myself, but she told me when I was about five or six, I went up to her and said, When I grow up, I want to be a leader. When I grow up, I want to be a leader. Now, when you think about it, it sounds really neat for a five or six year old to want to be a leader when they grow up, but when you reflect deeply, what does a five or six year old know about leadership? It's such an advanced topic for someone that age, I might as well said mom, when I grow up, I want to study microeconomics, but that was my journey. I don't remember that memory, but she had shared it with me a few years ago, but I realized over the years, various leadership opportunities just fell into my lap. I remember at a young age, serving the community, volunteering that was ingrained within me so supporting nonprofits as I grew older. When I went to college, I was involved in extracurricular activities such as student government and new student orientation. And after I graduated, I landed in a travel company where I was promoted to a supervisory role, where I did get first hand experience in leading a team. And then over the years, I was just so inspired by what I did, I went back to school, went to USC for my Executive Master's degree in leadership, learn more about those best practices in the field. And after I graduated, I landed in a fortune 500 management development program where I had the opportunity to get a peek of what the operations look like for a larger company, and I can take those insights and pretty much share them anywhere. But overall, just looking at my background and the experiences that I've gained over the years, I've come to learn that leadership is really that opportunity to learn and grow from your experiences and share that experience with others. So I would say that's the early journey of the younger Jasper McCune,   Michael Hingson ** 04:50 well, certainly relevant by any standard. I I love talking about leadership. I've been very deeply involved. With it most of my life, starting in sales and then sales management and owning my own company and being a senior manager for other companies as well. And one of the things that I love to say is and I've read about leaders, and I've read books about leadership and studied them and so on, but I love to say that I have learned more about leadership and teamwork and trust and motivation from working with eight guide dogs than I've ever learned from Ken Blanchard and Tony Robbins and all those folks, because it becomes very personal and the additional challenge that someone like I have is that I work with and build a team with someone who doesn't speak the same language I do. And we have to learn to communicate, and we have to learn to build trust. The value is and the the wonderful part of it is working with dogs, they're more open to trust than we tend to be, and so I can see how to develop a trusting relationship and then make it happen. Dogs love unconditionally, I do believe that, but they don't trust unconditionally. And I was even asked yesterday, how long does it take to really develop a good, strong relationship with your guide dogs? And I'd say it takes a good year to truly develop the seamless, teaming relationship that one wants, and it takes a lot of work. So I stand by I learn more from dogs than I have from other sources. Michael, that   Jessper Maquindang ** 06:40 is such an interesting insight. I didn't even think about the leadership connection between dog and humans, and when you brought that up, that gave me another perspective to think about.   Michael Hingson ** 06:52 And well, the the issue is that the purpose of a guide dog is to make sure that we walk safely. It's my job to know where to go and how to get there. So we each have a job to do, and our jobs, although they interrelate, are different, and so someone has to be the leader of the team. And dogs really want us to be the leaders. They look to us. They recognize that value when we carry it out. Well, it works in a wonderful way. So for me, working with a guide dog and developing that relationship means that I need to be confident and tell the dog what I want the dog to do, like turn left, right, go forward, or whatever, and also recognize that the dog has some authority to do things such as, let's say we're at a street corner and I suddenly tell the dog to go forward, and the dog doesn't go. I need to respect the fact that there's probably a reason that the dog didn't go. That is to say, very rarely do guide dogs really get distracted. And when they do get distracted, I mean, if a bird flies right in front of their nose, they're going to see it, but I can tell that, and I know what's happening. But primarily, when a dog doesn't do what I expect it to do, it's because of a service called Intelligent Disobedience. That is to say, the dog has the authority not to do what I want if it feels it's going to put us in danger. So I'm at the street corner and I tell the dog to go forward, and the dog won't go probably today, that is because there's a quiet car or hybrid vehicle coming down the road, and I don't hear it, but the dog sees it, and the dog going, on, I'm not going to get out there and get either of us hit, and they have the authority to do that. So as I said, we each have a job to do in the process, and we have to carry out those those processes well. And the dog looks to Me for guidance, to know when it's doing its job well. And likewise, I have to observe the dog communicate with the dog when the dog's not feeling well, or feeling unhappy, or whatever. I'm the one that has to interpret that and act as the team leader, the confess II, the spiritual guide, if you will, for the for the team, and so many other things. And there is also so much to learn from working with dogs like dogs don't do, what if, when a dog works or does whatever it does, is doing it in the moment. So dogs don't do a lot of what if, hence, they don't tend to have the same kind of fears that we do, because we What if everything, and we never seem to learn how to be introspective and recognize that we should really only worry about the things that we can control and stop worrying about everything else, because it's not going to do us any good. And so we worry about everything. And we develop so many fears that really are a problem. I talk about that in the new book that's that I've written, called Live like a guide dog. It's all about learning to control fear, but it's about the lessons I learned in that regard from eight dogs. And it is fascinating. Yeah, there's a lot to learn from dogs, if we would, but try   Jessper Maquindang ** 10:21 very great insight and leadership well, so you wanted   Michael Hingson ** 10:25 to be a leader from five or six years old, and you obviously did things to kind of make that happen or get attracted to it. So tell me about when you went to USC or your college days, and how did leadership interact or become a part of what you did there? That's   Jessper Maquindang ** 10:46 right. So when I went to USC, I wanted to learn more about the field, because when I was a supervisor at my first job, I had the opportunity to really learn what works and what doesn't work, and I wanted to expand on that. And when I was at USC, we were reading books from such great authors like Marshall Goldsmith, other sources that give us another perspective of what leadership really means. And in today's world, we've moved on from traditional leadership, where you see a manager being very demanding and showing high levels of authority. We want to moved on to that today, leadership is more about empathy and really supporting the growth and development of the people that work for you, the people that report to you. It's all about making sure as a team, we're all working together to achieve our goals, instead of having one person send their demands and expect everyone to follow those days are not effective today and as we move forward into the future, what I've learned about leadership, and especially at USC, leadership, is being more adaptable and supportive with the people that we work with.   Michael Hingson ** 12:12 How many leaders or what kind of percentage of people do you think really understand that, as opposed to being a boss and continuing to just try to exert their authority. Based   Jessper Maquindang ** 12:25 on my experience, I would say more and more people are embracing this new form of leadership where we are supportive, there are still leaders and managers that are attracted to their power. They're not effective as they could be. But on the other hand, the leaders who are embracing this constructive form of leadership where other people are getting the opportunity to share their voices, they're getting better results compared to managers who are showing off their authority and being bossy and stepping on the foot of other people and not really giving them a voice. So I would say there are more people who are embracing more adaptable and supportive form of leadership.   Michael Hingson ** 13:13 What are some of the basic characteristics that you would define that exist in leaders today, what makes you a leader?   Jessper Maquindang ** 13:23 So with leadership, there are four Super skills that make a leader effective, and the four Super skills are public speaking, public listening, private speaking and private listening. So for public speaking, it's what we do know about people going up on stage, not literally, but they can be in front of the boardroom at a meeting and really sharing the direction of where everyone needs to go. I know there are some people who are nervous about the idea of public speaking. You don't have to necessarily like it. You don't have to Love Public Speaking. You can even despise it. But as a leader, it does get to a point where other people look up to you to display and promote the vision and direction of where the team is going, and that's where people will depend on you as a leader to really express that direction, and the next one is public listening, and that is where a leader has the courage to step aside and give other people the stage, and again, not the literal stage, but they could be At the office in front of everyone else or along the same table, but the idea behind public listening is to give your team members the opportunity to share their voice, share their perspectives, share their thoughts. Because when it comes to leadership, the leader does not. Really have to be the only one throwing all those ideas out there and perspectives demands. It's important to give other people that opportunity to really share what's on their mind. And then next is private speaking. And for that, I know, when people hear private speaking, does that mean a leader hides in the corner and start talking? Starts talking to themselves? No, not necessarily. What private speaking means to me is it's a phrase I use for coaching and mentoring, those one on one conversations with your employers, with your team members, with your staff. I call it private speaking because those conversations should be held in private. Whatever you and your team member shares with you, for example, it's it wouldn't be fair to say, oh, everyone did you? Did you know what Michael told me today? He said, this, this and this, again, when it comes to coaching and mentoring, you want to respect the privacy of those conversations, because your employees will share information that you would not get publicly. And lastly, it is private listening, and for this, a leader is really spending the time to discover their capabilities from within. So for some people, that comes in the form of meditation, where they're really being in the moment, present and just listening to the voice within themselves, also an effective way for private listening to occur and learn more about yourself is to take leadership development assistance, where you are seeing firsthand the strengths and the areas that you can work on, giving you the opportunity to really reflect and see how you can be a more effective leader. So the four Super skills of an effective leader is public speaking, public listening, private speaking and private listening.   Michael Hingson ** 16:56 I like the way you put all of that, and I like especially when you're talking about private listening, meditating, and really stepping back and becoming more self, analytical and introspective. That's something that we talk about a lot in live like a guide dog, because you will develop your mind. I guess the best way to put is heal developing your mind if you use it, and one of the best ways to use it is to look at what you do. Look at yourself. I encourage people at the end of the day to take a step back and look at what happened today, and look at what worked what didn't work. Don't ever regard something as a failure. It's a learning experience. But I think we gotta get away from negativity. For years, I used to use the term, I'm my own worst critic, and I realized literally, just over the last year, wrong thing to say, I'm my own best teacher, because I'm the only one who can really teach me. Other people can give me information, but I'm the one that has to internalize it. And so the fact is that I would rather look at it from a positive standpoint. That is, I'm my own best teacher than anything else, and I should look at everything that happens during the day to see what I can learn from and even the things that went well, could I have done it even better? And look at how all of that comes together? And I think that it's it's so important that we deal with ourselves in that way, because that helps us develop a much better mindset of how to move forward in the future, and it also helps cut back on fears, because invariably, you're going to think about things like, Why was I afraid of that today? Oh, maybe I really shouldn't have been because I didn't really have any influence over that. It's just something that occurred, and people can start to learn that they don't need to fear everything that they fear.   Jessper Maquindang ** 19:06 That's right. When it comes to private listening, it's all about that self awareness and overall, over all awareness and turning problems into opportunities. So you did bring up a excellent perspective. Michael, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 19:22 we should. We should really always look at what goes on and again. We should always look for ways to hone our skills and improve ourselves, because we're the best ones at making that happen, if we're open to really listening to our inner voice that is ready to guide us anytime that we will allow it to do. So it's not a noisy voice, it's a quiet voice, but it's there if we would learn to listen to it   Jessper Maquindang ** 19:53 absolutely and when it comes to taking that moment to really reflect, you can come up with. So many ideas that you would not have discovered if you were in a rush and just moving in a fast paced world and getting lost in into it. But when you take a moment to step back, take a deep breath and really slow down, it gives you an opportunity to come up with new insights that you wouldn't have discovered otherwise,   Michael Hingson ** 20:24 yeah, and it's so important to do that, and the insights were always there, but you weren't paying attention to them. You were just running around crazy. So you do need to take the time to stop and listen and learn. And it's amazing what will happen. One of the things that that I've always felt as as a leader, my job was, and I would always tell people I hired about this, my job is to not boss you around. I hired you because I assumed that you could do the job. You can miss me, that you could do the job that I want you to do. My job is to add value to you, to help you. And what that really means is that you and I need to work to see how we blend our skills so that I can better enhance what you do, because I want you to be successful.   Jessper Maquindang ** 21:17 That's right, that reminds me of a quote that I was as I was scrolling through LinkedIn, there was a quote that I saw that you hired smart people, let them do their job, trust them to do their job. And it was something along those lines, but Right, yes,   Michael Hingson ** 21:31 but even so, you do trust them to do their job. But the other part about it is, can you help them do their job better, and that's a that's a skill that I think a lot of people still really need to learn. On both sides, I have had people who I've said that to who never really figured it out, and they weren't really great listeners at sales, and they didn't do some of the things that they needed to do to be more successful at selling, but they also weren't willing to explore how to to better themselves and send and hence, they didn't necessarily stay at the company as long as they might have. But the people who really got it and who discovered that I, for example, am very technical, I listen. I'm unique being blind in the kind of world where we were selling high tech products to Wall Street, I was was enough of a unique individual that it was worth taking me along and letting me do demonstrations and product discussions. Again, my master's degree is in physics, so I'm pretty technical anyway. But one of the fun things that happened after one of those presentations was my sales guy, who was my best sales guy, said, How come, you know, all this stuff, and I don't, and I said, Did you read the product bulletin that came out last week? Well, no, I didn't have time. I said, there you go. If you had, you might have known more than what you would have known more than you do, which doesn't necessarily, in of itself, mean that you're would be better at presenting it. I didn't say that part, but, but the reality is that it is what I knew how to do. And we fed off each other very well, and we were both able to make him more successful than he otherwise would have been, which is really what it's all about,   Jessper Maquindang ** 23:27 that's right. It reminds me of the writings from Brian Tracy, where he would remind us that the people who really take an effective approach in their learning and personal growth, those are the ones who are more likely to succeed in this world,   Michael Hingson ** 23:44 yeah, which is very true. You've got to take responsibility for and take charge of your own growth and recognize that there's always stuff to learn there. There's always stuff that somebody else knows that would be helpful for you to get to know as well. And you should never resent people just because they know something you didn't know. It's cool when you get to learn it, and then you get to use it, and probably will impress them, because then they see you using and they go, I you caught on that, huh? So it is what we have to do that we don't do nearly as much as we should.   Jessper Maquindang ** 24:26 That's right, that reminds me of the world of coaching and mentoring too. There are so many more experienced professionals in the world that when we learn from them, that gives us the opportunity to really take in their insights, and when we use their insights that'll accelerate our process in becoming more successful in our journey of Professor professional development.   Michael Hingson ** 24:49 Yeah, our leaders, or should leaders be pretty resilient people?   Jessper Maquindang ** 24:55 I believe so. Because when you think about it, in today's world of leadership, there's. Just so much going on, especially in our fast paced society. When you look at working with teams, people have different perspectives. When you look at projects, there are so many items that just go into a project, and so many moving parts. And when you look at change itself, it's disruption, interruption, you name it. It's moving in all directions. And as a leader, sometimes something somewhere can knock you off course or knock you down. But you have a choice. You can stay down and worry, but that's not very productive, or you can get back up again. And when you do get back up, you get another chance to really find ways to whatever you were working on. You can make that better. It's a much more productive process when you're when you continue to get back up and really challenge yourself to find new ways to move forward. So it is important to be resilient, because there's when you look, look at change itself and how it's just shifting so many things around. If you're not as resilient, you're not going to be able to adapt to that change. But if you continue to get back up, roll your sleeves up, you'll be in a much better position as you really find new ways to build on yourself and move forward.   Michael Hingson ** 26:26 But a resilient leader isn't someone who is so stubborn that they think that they've got the only solution. It's really getting back up and looking at what happened and then moving forward in whatever way is the most appropriate to really make progress for you as the leader and your team.   Jessper Maquindang ** 26:48 That's an excellent insight, especially when a leader is so stuck in one way, it's really going to present challenges. It reminds me of the quote we've always done it that way, if a leader sticks to that message, they're going to get lost in the past, and they're not really going to be able to adapt to the future, or at the same time, their team members might not really relate well to that leader who just sticks with one idea. Because in today's world, if you want to be more successful in the projects and the processes that you're trying to build. It really helps to get the perspectives and insights of everyone on your team, instead of that one person who's just promoting one idea. It's not going to get very far. I think   Michael Hingson ** 27:37 one of the characteristics of a good leader is also knowing when to relinquish leadership because someone else has a skill that maybe they are able to do something better than you, and you've got to allow them to help guide the team, because they've got the particular skill that's necessary to do That.   Jessper Maquindang ** 28:01 That reminds me of two things. The first thing is that leaders should not be intimidated by other people who have a skill that they're lacking. They should actually embrace that opportunity, because our skills are complimentary when we work with our teams, someone has a certain ability or skill set that when we're all working together, it's like a puzzle piece, and when all the puzzle all puzzle pieces fit together, you'll be able to solve whatever you were working on. And the second part that this reminds me of is the idea of servant leadership for a leader, gone are the days where a leader should be demanding and be the best in terms of thinking they know everything and have everything. In today's world, a leader should be in a more servant leadership role, where they're supporting the growth and development of their team members and accepting that other people have skills that they might not have, because, as I mentioned earlier, working in a team is like having different puzzle pieces, and when it all fits together, you're solving that puzzle piece faster.   Michael Hingson ** 29:17 And you know, we talked about introspection and looking at the end of the day and analyzing what goes on. The more of that that you do, and the more time, as every day as you can and should do, every time you do that, your mind muscle develops more. And the more of it you do, the faster you'll be able to do it, and the faster you'll be able to then analyze and make decisions. So that the whole idea, though, is that you've got to train yourself to do that, and that's not something that anyone can do for you, but you can certainly learn to recognize a lot of the different kinds of things that we're both talking about, and you. Can work faster and smarter if you take the time to teach yourself how to deal with all that. That's   Jessper Maquindang ** 30:07 right. And then I know one way for leaders who have implemented that idea is journaling, just that open flow of getting your thoughts on a page that really helps, because you're getting the opportunity to really look at the ideas that you're writing down, positive or negative, and once those ideas are on the page, you can reflect deeper on each item that you've written down, giving you a much better understanding of how you can really improve that process or project or task that you were working on. So journaling really does help in really building your perspective someone   Michael Hingson ** 30:50 who really does that well and who journals, or however you do it. I tend not to journal a lot, but I've got other ways of recording information. So, so I do that. But the point is, then five years later, you go back and look at some of those early journal things, and you go, Oh my gosh, look what I've learned. Or, oh my gosh, I forgot all about that. What a neat thing I got to pick that up and do that again, journaling and having a way to record and be able to look back at what your thoughts are is extremely important, and it again, adds another dimension and a lot of value to you as an effective leader,   Jessper Maquindang ** 31:36 absolutely, because when you're journaling, you're writing down a lot of the ideas that have been on your mind. And for me, I use a more free flowing type of journaling where I'm really just dumping whatever I have on my mind and just throwing it out there. Because although there are no connections at that moment over time, I realized that there are certain themes that I can connect, and start to really see where all the dots are connecting, and find certain ideas and similar similarities and maybe even contrast, but working with those ideas and seeing what I can do and how I can actually use those ideas in Some of the future projects that I'm working on. So it really helps to get your thoughts out there. When   Michael Hingson ** 32:25 I was at UC Irvine, I actually went and took a course in transcendental meditation, and one of the things that they said is, when you're meditating, you need to let your mind just flow. You don't want to write things down, because it might very well be nonsense and and so on. But at the end, you can learn and remember and then write down ideas that came to you during the time that you meditate. And the reality is that the free flowing kind of technique that you're talking about makes a lot of sense, because what you want to do is get the thoughts down. There's no such thing as a good idea or a bad idea, they're all ideas. You may find that it won't work or some idea won't work today, but that doesn't make it a bad idea, because in five years, it might just be the way to go. But if you don't write it down and you forget it, then you've lost it.   Jessper Maquindang ** 33:17 That's right, that also works with a team in the form of brainstorming, I've seen situations where someone leading the team, where another team member will share an idea, and that leader of that team will say, well, that's not really realistic. When it comes to brainstorming, it is important to let all ideas flow. You don't want to turn anyone down, because, as you said, maybe a unique idea today will be useful and valuable in the future.   Michael Hingson ** 33:45 My typical reaction when I even think that something might not be overly realistic, it means to me, somebody's thought about something and I don't really understand it. So my immediate response would be, tell me more about that. And a lot of times that request leads to insights that I never had that make for a better situation all the way around. And it turns out, the idea wasn't really such a horrible and unrealistic idea at all, but you're right being negative. That's not realistic. That's not a good way to support a team, and I think it's very important that we recognize that it's all about supporting the team. So tell me a little bit about your thoughts about unstoppable perseverance and why that helps to make a good leader. Oh, that's right, I guess that goes into a little bit resilience. But, yeah, go ahead. Similar   Jessper Maquindang ** 34:47 with resilience. It's the opportunity when you get knocked down. It's that opportunity to get back up. And for perseverance, very similar for unstoppable perseverance, for a leader to not give up in. Keep pushing through, because with the situations that I shared earlier, the teams that you work with, the projects even change itself. In today's fast paced world, it's going to push you aside and maybe push you down. But if you're going to be worried about all these changes, it's not productive. It's not going to get you anywhere. But if you continue to push through and really show your perseverance and take charge and just really push forward, you'll get much better results when you continue to have that energy to just never get knocked down.   Michael Hingson ** 35:41 Of course, taking charge also means taking charge in a in a positive way, and not in a bossy way. That's right, yeah, and that's that's really crucial,   Jessper Maquindang ** 35:51 yes. So when it comes to taking charge, it's really being proactive about growing and your well being, and really understanding what you can do better. And again, it's not about that manager having too much power when it comes to taking charge. It's about being proactive about your personal growth.   Michael Hingson ** 36:14 So kind of summing up some of this in a bit. What is the most effective style of leadership. You think the   Jessper Maquindang ** 36:21 effective style of leadership that I've learned based on my experience is servant leadership, and I've learned of two different major definitions. I like one better than the other, and I'll explain why, but the first definition that I've heard about servant leadership is putting the needs of others above yourself. And the second definition of servant leadership is serving in the sense of supporting the growth and well being of others. And what I like is that growth and well being, because when it comes to supporting other people, you don't necessarily have to lower your own priority of yourself. When it comes to servant leadership, you're part of a team. You're on the same level as everyone else. You want to share your voice, and at the same time, you don't want to be the one taking all the all the power you want to share it. And when it comes to servant leadership, you're really giving other people the opportunity to share what's on their mind and what they'd like to do to become more effective in themselves. So servant leadership is supporting that journey of helping other people succeed?   Michael Hingson ** 37:44 Yeah, well, when we talk about leadership, and we've talked about teamwork and so on, in a sense, they're, they're equate, they're not equivalent, but they're, they're related, but they're also different. So the whole issue of building an effective team is a real challenge, and I've been involved in a lot of team building exercises and so on over the years. But how do you go about really growing a good, effective human team? And I put it that way, because I can sit here and talk about what I do with with dogs and and how we develop a very close bonding relationship. And what is really scary is it is very easy to destroy that or, or at least injure the relationship with the dog. If you don't respect the dog, and you look down on the dog, and you don't really realize recognizing the dog is doing its job, and they sense that, and they won't always necessarily communicate it back to you directly. But you know, in the case of humans, how do we develop good human teams?   Jessper Maquindang ** 38:58 That's right, the first part, I would say, is really getting a pulse on the morale. You want to make sure everyone is being heard and not being ignored or shut out as a leader. You want to ensure that the team member is really part of the team. And the second part is active listening, where the leader needs to intentionally and deliberately provide that space for other people to share their voice. Because if a leader is just taking everything up and doing all the talking and just doing all of the things himself or herself. It's really going to cut off the opportunities where an employee could have shared a great idea, but then you're just leaving it to one person to implement their idea of what needs to happen. So for an effective team to develop, one is. All about that morale and giving other people the space to feel like they are part of a team. And the second part is listening to the other team members and giving them that space to share what's on their mind and maybe even provide great ideas.   Michael Hingson ** 40:17 And you know, the issue is that, once again, in developing the relationships, you're going to have some ideas that are stronger and more productive than others. I'm not going to use the word bad, but still, everyone does have to have the opportunity to say what they think and to contribute, and when they have the opportunity to do that, they're going to be much more productive, and they're going to be much more willing to be part of the team.   Jessper Maquindang ** 40:50 That's right when you're giving another person the floor, metaphorically, but when you're giving them that space to share what's on their mind, you're really giving them those opportunities to share what the team can do to really grow together again, when there's no such thing as a bad idea, you want to give that space for everyone to share, because, As we've learned earlier, maybe an idea that's unique today will be useful and valuable maybe a few months down the line, or maybe a year down the line. But when you dig deeper into an idea, again, no bad ideas. When you dig deeper, you'll get more insights into what that team member was sharing.   Michael Hingson ** 41:38 One of the best books. One of my favorite books that I've read through the years is a book called The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. Have you read that I have? Yeah, I really like the ways that he discusses teams and teamwork and one of the most important things that he talks about in sometimes subtle but still very, very strong ways, is developing trust and allowing the team to be a group of people that learn to work together. But it is, it's about accountability, which really is all about developing trust. And I mentioned that earlier, that dogs are open to trust, we have learned so much about not trusting on how not to trust because we think everyone has a hidden agenda. And how can we trust this person? How do we break out of that pattern?   Jessper Maquindang ** 42:33 Yes, so especially when it comes to the Five Dysfunctions of a Team in that book, Patrick Lencioni does start with trust, and to really build in that trust, you want to have open conversations with your team to really express themselves and give them that voice, because if you're cutting other people off, they're not going to feel safe, they're not going to feel secure in their role. On the other hand, when you open up that space, you're giving other people to you're giving other people that opportunity to really understand each other. So that's where it really starts from, that sense of understanding and building that time for that understanding in there, because if you cut off that understanding again, you're going to make other people feel unsafe. And when people feel unsafe, that's where trust starts to break down. But on the other hand, when you're building a psychologically safe environment, people are more likely likely to speak up and really trust each other in how they want to work with each other.   Michael Hingson ** 43:40 So tell me, what do you do when you have a person who doesn't earn trust, because trust is something that has to be earned, or some person who just really, I don't want to use the term rubs people the wrong way, but maybe that's a good term to use in some senses. But what do you do when you have a person that doesn't seem to have any interest in really developing a two way trusting relationship? That's   Jessper Maquindang ** 44:11 right? In this case, maybe the leader or not, I wouldn't say the leader, but this member. Perhaps, maybe it's ego. Perhaps it's selfishness you want to really figure out what's going on. Perhaps there are maybe problems at home or just outside the workplace, or maybe inside the workplace, what I would do is take this member and have a one on one conversation to really discover, is there anything that's going on that's really hindering their ability to connect with others are they just disengaged in general? That's something you want to figure out, because when you really dig deep and discover what's really happening, you can start to find ways to alleviate that situation and. Help the member find ways to cope and really work better together. So if a team member is disengaged, why are they disengaged? Is it the work that they're doing? Are they not excited about it? Have that conversation. See, Employee Mr. Mrs. Employee, you're not really engaged by the work you do. Can you tell me more about what energizes you? And then, from those types of conversations, you can discover ways to really find tasks that have more meaning and significance for that person. And then another way, another reason that an employee might not be open is maybe there's some problems at home again to have those conversations say Mr. Mrs. Employee, just curious. You haven't been very open to other team members. Want to know what's going on is, is it something personal? Just want to make sure you're okay. And then when you open these conversations again, you can discover what this person is going through, and then over time, find ways to alleviate that search situation, and then you might have an opportunity to really get that team member back on track and have them interact better with other team members in a more healthier and productive way. So it's really about discovering what's going on so you can look into that and find ways to help that team member. You   Michael Hingson ** 46:27 ever find that there are people that just don't respond to any of that, though, and just won't work to develop trust? It's   Jessper Maquindang ** 46:33 possible, absolutely it's possible. There are team members who are just completely not open, and again, it's still very valuable to have a one on one conversation, sure, just to see what's going on, and then if the team member is just completely shut out, that might be an opportunity to have a conversation with that employee and say, Jasper, I know times have been Tough in working with this team. Is, it perhaps, maybe, is there another role you'd like to consider? You know, it's really about the giving the the member an opportunity to discover what's going to work well for them. Because if they're just not going to open up at all, it might be that. It might be a situation where that member wants to find something else, and again, have that conversation to see what's on that mind of that employee. But   Michael Hingson ** 47:27 I think that no matter what you do, it's important not to judge or be judgmental, because whatever is going on with that person is going on, and you as the leader, have to worry about the team, and if that person can't be part of it, then you help that person. Again, it goes back to you're adding value by helping that person find something else that makes sense to do, even if it's somewhere else. And I believe that that level of being supportive is extremely important.   Jessper Maquindang ** 47:58 That's right, it's very important to be supportive. If that team member is just not open again, you don't want to call out that team member for being unsupportive. You really want to be that open leader who really lends in a hand to see what you can do to help that team member move forward and find a productive way out, or maybe integrate, reintegrate back with that team. But again, it's all about giving that employee space to discover what's really going on, how they can move forward in a more productive and healthy way, right?   Michael Hingson ** 48:37 It's it, but you have to take ego out of it. That's right. So switching gears a little bit, you haven't talked about yet, the fact that you grew up having asthma and then you ended up starting to run marathons. Tell me more about that. That's   Jessper Maquindang ** 48:54 right. I believe it was at the age of eight. I was in second grade, and I was diagnosed with asthma, and I just remember that my parents, I know they were trying to be supportive, but they were really protective, and I just remember that for my safety, they would want me away from pets so I don't have a reaction to fur. They would keep me indoors just so I don't get a reaction to pollen or dust or any other pollutants outside, and I would just get stuck indoors for a while. And over time, I fell into that trap of placing those limits on myself as well. And I realized over time, I don't want my life to be defined by those limits, and I wanted to do something significant where I can overcome that type of obstacle. And the first thing that came up to my mind was something physical. And I just remember, for marathon runners having that big, major goal, I decided to add that to my bucket list. But I. Knew something like that would not be an overnight magic formula. I knew I had to take it one step at a time. So what I what I did is I started with a 5k of course, there were challenges along the way. Moved up to a 10k and then when I felt more comfortable a half marathon, and then when I finally reached the finish line of my first full marathon, that sense of joy and relief and really knowing that I could achieve something like that despite growing up with what I had as a young just throughout my life, it was a really meaningful goal that I had accomplished. So really, when it comes to having that marathon goal, for me, it was really a sense of not letting past limits define my life and really moving forward to accomplishing something more meaningful and significant for myself.   Michael Hingson ** 50:54 So clearly, there are symptoms that you experience that that indicated asthma. Did a lot of that dissipate or go away as you began to run more and more marathons and became more physical,   Jessper Maquindang ** 51:07 so as I became more physical, I learned to manage it, and when I came to training, I didn't want to overextend myself. And again, I knew I wasn't going to run 26.2 miles in one night. I worked my way up to make sure my body understood what I was doing again. No rushing, no intense, no over and, no over extending myself, not going too intense, but reaching a more comfortable space, comfortable space pace that I can take throughout my training. That way, I didn't put too much pressure on my body, but my body understood over time and managed itself to really reach that level once I got to that marathon and just completed it.   Michael Hingson ** 51:58 What's the fastest you've ever run a marathon.   Jessper Maquindang ** 52:01 So I believe it was either Las Vegas rock and roll or Santa Clarita, and it was about four hours and five minutes. Okay, so today not it's not the same. I was a lot younger and more speedy back then, but it's still a hobby I still enjoy well,   Michael Hingson ** 52:24 but still, that's still over six miles an hour. That's, it's not too bad, but it's, it's, it's fun to do, but you've done marathons in all states, I believe, have you not? Oh, no, uh, just 15. Oh, just 15. Okay, but I have traveled to all 50 states. You've traveled to all 50 states. So what caused you to do that just happened? Or what?   Jessper Maquindang ** 52:54 So for me, when I was younger, I had actually not imagined traveling to all 50 states, but when I landed my first job, it happened to be at a travel company, and the department I was working for, we created custom guidebooks for our clients who were traveling across the United States. And just throughout my time there, as I would flip through those guidebooks, I was just inspired by the landmarks and attractions that were featured on those pages, and I decided, one day, you know what, I will do some traveling and see where it goes. I had booked a trip with another company that provided bus tours, and I took one that took me through the southern states and the eastern states, and that was from Louisiana all the way to Florida, and from Florida all the way up to New York. And after that trip, well, actually, when I reached New York, the timing, unusually, I find my I found myself in the midst of Hurricane Sandy, so I did not get to do a lot of that full exploration and get that full New York experience. But when the storm was over, I still had the opportunity to walk around and take a look at what was available and what was safely opened. So again, I didn't get that full experience at the time because of the hurricane, but I would return a year later with my siblings to get the full tourist experience. So just after that group, after that bus tour, I was really inspired to finally put 50 states on my bucket list.   Michael Hingson ** 54:36 I have fond memories of living in New Jersey, and my wife and I going into New York and touring a lot of people around Midtown Manhattan. We'd walk over to Saint Patrick's Cathedral and walk up Fifth Avenue and just have a lot of fun touring around and and visiting some of the restaurants, which was was really enjoyable. What are some of the the. Memories and life lessons you think you've learned from traveling to all 50 states.   Jessper Maquindang ** 55:03 So the memories, I would say, starting with the memories is that first trip that I did with that bus tour, saw, well, I believe at least 12 states. So I really did get a great understanding of what's outside of my home state of California, because prior to 2012 I had only been to two states, which was my home state of California and Nevada. Because my family used to enjoy going to Las Vegas, but after that, I really got to see more of what our country had to offer. Another memory, I would say, is the state of Rhode Island. It's a small state, but I realized once I stepped foot there, there was a lot to explore. I remember seeing the Gilded Age mansions. Remember taking a walk on the Cliff Walk and just getting the view of the Atlantic Ocean from Eastern beach. So you can get a full day of Rhode Island when you plan accordingly. And then I would say another memory that I had with traveling was just really historic landmarks and attractions, the Alamo in Texas, freedom walk in Boston, well, the Freedom Trail in Boston, Freedom Trail, right? And the government buildings in Washington, DC. I'm not necessarily a history buff myself, but surrounding yourself with just artifacts that have been around for over 100 or 200 years. It's just a really neat feeling. So I would say it's just the history has been a great memory for me, and the lessons I've learned from traveling is, the first lesson is it's important to be adaptable. Plans change, especially when it comes to traveling. And for me, I've been in a handful of either delayed flights or canceled flights. In that situation, you want to really give yourself that space to discover what you can do with your time to be more productive. So if there's a delay, you have a choice. You can sit back and worry, or you can you can figure out ways to find another flight that works for your schedule, or you can find other productive ways to fill your schedule, maybe catch up on work. Maybe you can discover the airport, or if you have a lot of time, you can leave the airport and discover the city that you're in. So in any case, very important to be adaptable. The second part about the lessons I've learned is to be curious. There's a lot the world has to offer. If you're at a restaurant and you're ordering the same kinds of foods that you would normally eat at home, that's not really giving you the opportunity to explore what's out there. No, when you're in a new restaurant, maybe try ordering something that you've never tried before, and then that really gives you that opportunity to see what's out there. So be curious, and especially when you're going to new cities, instead of going to the typical tourist spots, maybe take some time to figure out, maybe in the moment, that there's an area that's less discovered, and you might want to see and check those out to see what's available there. So really be curious and explore the world out there. And then the last one, I would say, as a lesson that I've learned in traveling to all 50 states, is be present, be in the moment. I've seen many people where they're on vacation in a new city, and they're looking head down, staring at their phone, and they're really missing out in the opportunity of really being in another destination, because when you're in a different state and different city, you're not really going to get that opportunity as frequently as you would. So when you're at home, you know it's it's so easy to just stare at our phone and get distracted, but when you're in a different destination, you really want to take the opportunity to really understand that you're in a new situation. Be present. Be mindful. Be aware of the new things to discover around you, because when you are present, you're really giving yourself that space to enjoy where you are in the world,   Michael Hingson ** 59:36 right? Tell me about your company, yes.   Jessper Maquindang ** 59:40 So with the family management consulting, we help leaders and managers build stronger teams through team building activities, leadership development assessments and executive coaching. So for leadership development assessments, I find those really important, because it gives people that first. Experience of really understanding where they're coming from, what their strengths are, how they can improve. Because when you're getting that opportunity to learn more about yourself, you can find ways to be more effective. And when it comes to my approach, I believe in the power of teams, because when you're focused on your team, you're getting more work done than what an individual person can do by themselves. So I see value in promoting teamwork than having one person do all the work.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:36 It's interesting the so your company, the name of the company is family, F, A, M, I, L, E, A, D, interesting name.   Jessper Maquindang ** 1:00:44 Yes, absolutely. So it is a playoff of the word family, because when it comes to a team, not necessarily believing that a team is the family, but when it comes to building a team, it's about that sense of community, that sense of belonging, that sense of togetherness, which is the values of being part of a family. And then the lead part, it's emphasized because leadership is an important aspect of bringing that sense of belonging, bringing that sense of togetherness, bringing that sense of community,   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:28 so people engage with you to come and help them develop better leadership styles or improve how they interact With the people in their own companies, or what correct   Jessper Maquindang ** 1:01:43 so it is having the leaders find more ways to be more effective, because when you have buy in from the leaders, and they're working on becoming more productive, again, when it when you look at Leadership, it all starts at the top, and when you're getting that productiveness from the leaders, that spills over to having a more effective team. And then once you have your team together, really finding ways to build them into just a stronger unit, and the ability to really open up that space to be more productive and working together and finding that strength as a team. Well, if people   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:24 want to reach out and and talk with you more, learn what you do, maybe engage you in your services. How do they do that? Absolutely.   Jessper Maquindang ** 1:02:32 So there are two ways. The first way is to visit my website, familead consulting.com, and if you'd like to contact me there. There is a contact form, F,   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:42 F A, M, I, L, E, A, D, consulting,   Jessper Maquindang ** 1:02:45 correct.com. Okay. And then the other way to reach me is through LinkedIn, search for Jesper mukundang, I absolutely enjoy conversations about leadership, personal growth, professional development. If you just want to have a conversation about those topics, I'm absolutely happy to have them. So feel free to reach out search on LinkedIn for Jessper Maquindang. Spell that, if you would your first last name, please. First Name Jasper, J, E, S, S, P, E, R, last name mccunding, M, A, Q, U, I N, D, A N, G, Jassper Maquindang, dang well,   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:20 great. Well, Jessper, this has been fun. We need to do it again. I mean, it's kind of hard to really cover everything that we want to cover or can cover in an hour. So we should, we should have more discussions about this. I'd love to do that, but I really appreciate you taking the time to spend with us, and I hope all of you out there listening, enjoyed listening to Jessper and his many insights and his observations on leadership. I think there's a lot to be said for all the things that Jessper had to bring to us. I'd love to hear from you about your thoughts concerning our podcast. Please feel free to email me. Michael. H, i, m, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, I, B, e.com, or go to our podcast page. There's a contact form there as well. It's w, w, w, dot Michael hingson.com/podcast, Michael hingson is m, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I N, G, s, o, n.com/podcast, wherever you're listening, we sure would appreciate it if you'd give us a five star rating. We value very much your ratings and your thoughts. Love to really get any insights that you have, and Jessper for you and for all of you listening, if you know of anyone that you think ought to be a good guest on unstoppable mindset, please introduce us. We'd love to meet more people to bring on to the podcast, because we want to help everyone see we all can be and are more unstoppable than we think we are. So again, I hope that you'll do that. I really hope that you'll reach out to Jessper and that he can help you with any leadership. Training and challenges that you need. So once again. Jessper, I want to thank you for being here. This has been absolutely wonderful. Michael   Jessper Maquindang ** 1:05:07 leadership, is just a beautiful topic. I enjoyed today's conversation. Thank you again for having me.   Michael Hingson ** 1:05:17 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Welcome to The Private Equity Podcast, by Raw Selection. Today's guest is Jeff Wigle, Managing Director at Banyan Capital Partners, a lower-to-middle market private equity firm based in Canada. Jeff shares insights on transitioning portfolio companies from founder-led to data-driven decision-making, leveraging technology, and managing cultural change during these shifts.Breakdown:[00:00] Jeff Wigle discusses his background, Banyan Capital Partners, and his experience transitioning portfolio companies to data-driven decision-making[00:29] Jeff's background from accountant at Ernst & Young to private equity leader, including serving as CEO of a portfolio company at age 31[02:26] Building an evergreen private equity model with the importance of long-term holds and avoiding rushed investment theses[04:22] Common private equity mistakes including rushing transformations, breaking culture, and short-sighted strategies[05:48] Banyan's approach focusing on long-term value creation, rebuilding foundations, and avoiding premature integrations or expansions[07:31] Lessons from being a CEO with the critical importance of having the right people in the right roles[08:52] Characteristics of top performers including clarity, consistency, transparency, and alignment with investor and business goals[10:16] Transitioning to data-driven decision-making by addressing founder-led systems and building scalable processes for growth[11:43] Challenges of upgrading systems with balancing inward focus during upgrades with market opportunities[12:42] Investing in systems and data by upgrading technology to generate actionable insights and improve decision-making[14:09] Starting with manual processes by using limited data to identify profit drivers and inefficiencies before implementing systems[16:05] Managing resistance to change by evolving culture carefully with executive buy-in to avoid breaking businesses[17:41] Leveraging IT consultants and internal resources with strategies for implementing and managing technology upgrades[20:59] Early steps with artificial intelligence including using AI for coding fixes, dynamic pricing, and operational efficiencies[23:22] AI and dynamic pricing with AI to manage large customer bases and product catalogs efficiently[24:50] Staying competitive with AI and how larger businesses lead adoption, but smaller firms must act to avoid falling behind[27:44] AI at the private equity level with AI for research and data compilation, but still validating results manually[29:10] Recommended reading Scaling Up by Vern Harnish, Grit, Good to Great, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, and Switch[31:00] Podcast recommendations Business Breakdowns, In Good Company, and Michael Lewis's podcast[32:26] Connect with Jeff via the Banyan Capital Partners website for contact details[32:55] Closing thoughts with Alex Rawlings thanking Jeff for sharing his insights on data-driven decision-making and cultural change in private equityTo be added to the book waitlist, you can email alex.offer@raw-selection.comThank you for tuning in! Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn here.  To get the newest Private Equity episodes, you can subscribe on iTunes or Spotify here.Lastly, if you have any feedback on the podcast or want to reach out to Alex with any questions, send an email to alex.rawlings@raw-selection.com

When was the last time your trust was broken by a leader, and how did it impact your performance and commitment to the organization?In this powerful episode of Shedding the Corporate Bitch Podcast, Bernadette Boas explores the critical importance of trust in corporate leadership and its impact on organizational success. Drawing from recent research and real-world examples, she delivers actionable insights for leaders looking to build stronger, more effective teams.Key Highlights:The trust gap revealedHow remote work has exposed leadership trust issues and management challengesThe significant financial impact of trust:Three key strategies for building a trust-based cultureResources Mentioned:coachmebernadette.com/discoverycallPatrick Lencioni's "Five Dysfunctions of a Team"Google's Project Aristotle findingsPerfect for corporate leaders seeking to:Improve team productivity and engagementReduce turnover and increase retentionBuild stronger cross-cultural teamsNavigate remote/hybrid work environments effectivelyTune in now and FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to the show so you don't miss a single guest or episode on Apple, Spotify and our YouTube channel.Support the show

When was the last time your trust was broken by a leader, and how did it impact your performance and commitment to the organization?In this powerful episode of Shedding the Corporate Bitch Podcast, Bernadette Boas explores the critical importance of trust in corporate leadership and its impact on organizational success. Drawing from recent research and real-world examples, she delivers actionable insights for leaders looking to build stronger, more effective teams.Key Highlights:The trust gap revealedHow remote work has exposed leadership trust issues and management challengesThe significant financial impact of trust:Three key strategies for building a trust-based cultureResources Mentioned:coachmebernadette.com/discoverycallPatrick Lencioni's "Five Dysfunctions of a Team"Google's Project Aristotle findingsPerfect for corporate leaders seeking to:Improve team productivity and engagementReduce turnover and increase retentionBuild stronger cross-cultural teamsNavigate remote/hybrid work environments effectivelyTune in now and FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to the show so you don't miss a single guest or episode on Apple, Spotify and our YouTube channel.Support the show

In this episode, Molly takes listeners inside The Law Firm Admin Bootcamp + Academy™. She unravels the intricacies of creating robust 'House Rules of Engagement' within a law firm, a set of guidelines ensuring respectful, efficient workflow and collaboration. Molly also shares essential strategies for law firm success, such as embracing discomfort, having courageous conversations, and cultivating a team-centric approach.   Key Takeaways:   Embrace discomfort and have courageous, timely conversations to facilitate effective team functioning. Establish clear 'House Rules of Engagement' that foster respect, shared objectives, and accountability. Adopting a progress-not-perfection mindset helps maintain focus on small, impactful improvements. Encourage empowerment within a firm by promoting team leadership and reducing micromanagement. Promoting gratitude and transparency within the team cultivates a supportive and high-performing work environment.   Quote for the Show: "Every day, every week, we have a mindset of progress, not perfection. We adopt one small step at a time, intentionally." - Molly McGrath   Links: Website: https://hiringandempowering.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hiringandempowering Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hiringandempowering LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hiring&empoweringsolutions/ Law Firm Admin Bootcamp: https://www.lawfirmadminbootcamp.com/ Get Fix My Boss Book: https://amzn.to/3PCeEhk First Among Equals: How to Manage a Group of Professionals: https://www.amazon.com/First-Among-Equals-Manage-Professionals/dp/0743267583 The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756 Crucial Conversations: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Crucial+Conversations&i=stripbooks-intl-ship&ref=nb_sb_noss   Ways to Tune In: Amazon Music - https://www.amazon.com/Hiring-and-Empowering-Solutions/dp/B08JJSLJ7N Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hiring-and-empowering-solutions/id1460184599 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/3oIfsDDnEDDkcumTCygHDH Google Podcast - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vMTc4MTM2L3Jzcw Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/hiring-and-empowering-solutions YouTube - https://youtu.be/wrbonsbrWko  

LaVal Brewer is the President & CEO of South County Outreach in Irvine, CA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing hunger and homelessness by helping people help themselves. With over 30 years of experience in nonprofit management and more than a decade in executive leadership, LaVal is a seasoned expert in board development, strategic planning facilitation, and fostering high-functioning teams. LaVal's journey in the nonprofit sector began at age 16 when he took a part-time summer job with Culver City Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department, igniting his passion for community service. Growing up in South Los Angeles, his middle-class upbringing instilled in him an appreciation for stability and the importance of giving back. For 21 years, LaVal held leadership roles in Southern California YMCAs, including nearly a decade as Executive Director of three large branch facilities. His innovative leadership and commitment to community development propelled his success in those roles. Later, as Executive Director of Playworks Southern California, LaVal championed the transformative power of play in schools. At OneOC, he drove organizational growth through corporate partnerships and employee engagement as Director of Business Development and Partnerships. Since joining South County Outreach, LaVal has spearheaded transformative initiatives, such as reimagining the Food Pantry into a welcoming, grocery store-like environment. His vision includes creating partnerships with cities, funders, and corporations to provide rent and utility assistance while empowering families to break free from the cycle of hunger and homelessness. In addition to his professional achievements, LaVal is a trusted facilitator of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, helping boards and leadership teams strengthen trust, communication, and effectiveness. His skills in strategic planning and executive coaching are sought after by organizations looking to align their vision with impactful outcomes. LaVal holds a bachelor's degree in Human Services from Springfield College and is deeply involved in his community. He has served as an Elder at the Presbyterian Church of the Master in Mission Viejo and contributes his leadership as a member of the Board of the Orange County Continuum of Care (CoC) and the Public Law Center. He also serves as a Commissioner for the City of Mission Viejo Planning Commission. LaVal resides in Mission Viejo with his wife and three daughters, whose love and inspiration fuel his passion for building stronger communities. -- Critical Mass Business Talk Show is Orange County, CA's longest-running business talk show, focused on offering value and insight to middle-market business leaders in the OC and beyond. Hosted by Ric Franzi, business partner at REF Orange County.

CTO Series: Navigating Growth, A Playbook for Scaling Engineering Teams With Toni Ala-Piirto   In this BONUS episode, we dive into the journey of Toni Ala-Piirto, a seasoned software leader with 15 years of experience designing and implementing distributed systems. Toni opens up about pivotal lessons from his leadership career, balancing tech strategy with business goals, and the nuances of scaling engineering teams during rapid growth. Whether you're a CTO, a team lead, or a tech enthusiast, this conversation is packed with practical insights.   The Evolution of a Leader: A Journey, Not a Single Moment   “Leadership isn't built in a single defining moment but shaped by many experiences.”   Toni recounts a key challenge early in his career involving a major performance issue for a customer. This experience taught him the importance of viewing systems holistically rather than focusing solely on individual contributions. His “boring” leadership style—marked by forward-thinking and crisis prevention—emphasizes preparation and identifying risks without over-engineering solutions.   Aligning Tech and Business: The Power of Collaboration   “Technology vision and business strategy should speak the same language.”   Toni highlights the importance of close collaboration with product managers, sales, and finance to ensure tech strategy aligns with broader business goals. Regular cross-department discussions foster trust and ensure that the product roadmap is both innovative and achievable.   Key Practice: Build relationships with key stakeholders through daily touchpoints to create alignment.   The Roadmap to Success: Vision vs. Execution   “Short-term details drive long-term visions.”   Toni explains their approach to roadmapping, with detailed 6-month plans that address “how” to achieve goals and a broader vision for the longer term. This allows the team to stay agile while keeping future innovations in view.   Pro Tip: Avoid spending excessive time on estimations; use past experience to guide epic-level planning.   “The first six months are about execution—the rest is about imagining what's possible.”   Scaling Teams During Rapid Growth   “The true challenge of scaling is transferring knowledge while preserving team culture.”   Toni reflects on the growth journey from a small team to a larger organization. As the team grew, onboarding and knowledge transfer became crucial. His solution? Pair testing and collaborative learning to help developers understand the product deeply, not just the code.   Tactical Tips: Implement a “test buddy” system for collaborative testing and learning. Encourage developers to test the product to build domain knowledge and foster cross-functional understanding.   “Your people need to understand the product—not just the code—to scale effectively.”   Maintaining Culture Amid Growth   “Growth changes culture—how you hire and lead defines the next chapter.”   Toni shares how adding new team members can shift team dynamics. The key to sustaining a positive culture is hiring individuals who take ownership and serve as role models. Leaders should seek out those who aim to improve the team, not just perform their tasks.   “The best hires don't just do their job—they make the whole team better.”   Cross-Functional Insights and Learning the CTO Role   “CTOs operate at the intersection of tech and business—a shift from pure development.”   Toni admits that stepping into the CTO role required him to expand his understanding of business operations, strategic planning, and cross-functional collaboration. He emphasizes that this broadened perspective is essential for impactful decision-making.   “The biggest shift for me was seeing the business as a whole—not just the tech stack.”   Key Influences: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team   “Understanding team dynamics is as crucial as technical expertise.”   Toni cites Patrick Lencioni's The Five Dysfunctions of a Team as a pivotal read. The book shaped his approach to fostering accountability and ensuring team commitment. Toni underscores that accountability isn't about blame—it's about ownership and follow-through.   Scaling with a Talent Strategy in Mind   “Growth requires not just more people but the right investments.”   Toni discusses integrating talent strategy into roadmaps by aligning with business goals, including company size and revenue targets. Strategic hiring and investment in growth ensure that the team remains equipped to deliver on future plans.   About Toni Ala-Piirto   Toni Ala-Piirto is a seasoned software professional with 15 years of experience leading architecture and design for projects of all sizes. He excels in creating practical, fit-for-purpose distributed systems and is known for his hands-on approach and commitment to continuous improvement. Toni consistently delivers solutions that meet specific project needs while aligning with broader business objectives. You can link with Toni Ala-Piirto on LinkedIn.a

Bobby revisits one of the most popular topics: Being a Dynamic Team Leader. Reflecting on hers and Bridge's original conversation, she dives into; How leaders can recalibrate team dynamics and tackle those "elephants in the room," the importance of healthy conflict and why leaning into discomfort matters, insights from Patrick Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team and how to build trust from the ground up. As well as some practical tips for more effective meetings and onboarding processes.  If you're looking for actionable insights and a fresh perspective on team leadership, this mini episode is for you alongside the original.  Links 8 Alternatives to Having a Meeting (lianedavey.com) The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: Patrick Lencioni (Amazon.co.uk) A summary of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team : Executive Agenda Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning Tuckman Model | PM Study Circle

Patrick Lencioni is the co-founder and President of The Table Group and is the pioneer of the organizational health movement. He is the author of 13 books, including The Five Dysfunctions of A Team, The Five Temptations of a CEO and The Motive. His books have sold over 8 million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages. As President of the Table Group, Pat spends his time speaking and writing about leadership, teamwork, and organizational health and consulting with executives and their teams. Prior to founding the firm in 1997, Pat worked at Bain & Company, Oracle Corporation and Sybase.  On this classic episode, Pat joined host Robert Glazer on the Elevate Podcast to talk about his leadership journey, how he developed the organizational health movement, keys to effective and ineffective leadership and cultures, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today With LuAnn Nigara: Welcome to Window Treatments for Profit! Today, I'm diving into the vital elements of building a high-performing team, drawing insights from Patrick Lencioni's The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. We'll explore the importance of trust, the role of healthy conflict, accountability, and focusing on collective results. If you've ever felt like your team just isn't “gelling,” this episode is for you! Plus, I'll share details about my upcoming workshop that will help you kick off the new year with a clear, strategic plan. Let's transform your team dynamics together! A Big THANK YOU to Today's Podcast Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by Exciting Windows! What's new with LuAnn Nigara The Power Talk Friday Tour Watch the Docuseries! http://www.luannnigara.com/cob Get The Goodies! For checklists, resources, and extra goodies from A Well-Designed Business sign up for free here. To Get on LuAnn's Email List, text the word designbiz to 444999! Purchase LuAnn's Books Here: Book 1: The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action Audiobook: The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action Book 2: A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts Pre-Order Book 3: A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts Volume 2 Connect with LuAnn Nigara LuAnn's Website LuAnn's Blog Power Talk Friday Like Us: Facebook | Tweet Us: Twitter | Follow Us: Instagram | Listen Here: Podcast Other Resources: This podcast supports the Savvy Giving Design Coalition. Learn more about it here! AWDB #717 Susan Wintersteen: Interior design firm standards in a nonprofit passion project AWDB #164: Susan Wintersteen- Savvy Giving by Design LuAnn Nigara's Books! The Making of A Well-Designed Business: The Workshop

We are super excited to bring you an extra special Get Amplified festive present!​​Mark Templeton rejoins us to share his wisdom and learnings in this episode, Foundations of Leadership.​We catch up with Mark, who continues to give back through board service and CEO mentoring. ​As former CEO of Citrix, Mark offers invaluable insights into personal growth, emphasising the importance of gratitude and self-reflection as essential components for enhancing one's role in fast-paced industries.Mark enlightens us on the concept of strategic renewal, stressing the importance of self-disruption to stay ahead in rapidly changing industries. By sharing stories of Apple's reinvention and Intel's struggles, Mark highlights the challenges of maintaining relevance and navigating innovation.  Mark cites "The Innovator's Dilemma" revealing the crucial balance between stability and innovation.Referring to Patrick Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Mark tell us, "It's probably the one reading that changed the course of my career more than any other single thing"​The books Mark covers are:The Innovators Dilemma by Clayton ChristensenLeaders Make the Future by Bob JohansenThe Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick LencioniThe Growth Mindset by Dr Carol DweckThe Velveteen Rabbit by Margery WilliamsFinally, with inspiration from "The Velveteen Rabbit," we celebrate authenticity as a path to personal freedom and success, advocating for vulnerability and self-awareness as keys to growth.We would love you to follow us on LinkedIn! https://www.linkedin.com/company/amplified-group/

To inspire the most effective team for your practice, Kiera shares three key attributes that need to exist among staff members: Trust and vulnerability Healthy debate Peer-to-peer accountability Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Join Dental A-Team Consulting Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:01.05) Hello, Dental A Team Listeners. This is Kiera and I am so excited for today's podcast. This is something that I've been working on with tons of teams and within our organization and just a lot of different fun things for you. So I hope you guys are having an incredible day. I hope you're ready for just some magic here. I hope you're ready for some podcast magic. I hope you're ready for some life magic. And I hope you just remember we are truly so blessed because we get to work in the incredible profession of dentistry. So I hope you just remember that. And as always, thank you all for being podcast listeners.   Don't forget to download, like, subscribe, share this, leave the reviews to keep this dental podcast serving all of you practices for free. That's how you guys can help us out is to go and share this with someone to give us those reviews, to share it in those Facebook groups because my goal is to have this podcast in the hands of every single Dental A team listener, every single dental, we need an edit. 52.   My goal is to have this in the hands of every single dental practice out there and so you can help make that dream a reality. So please share it, love it, like it, leave the reviews and just know I'm giving you a high five, a hug as appreciation and thank you. So let's get going today. Today I wanted to go through, I've talked about it a couple of times before, but there is a book by Patrick Lencioni called The Five Dysfunctions of Teams and I've talked about it before. It's one of my absolute favorite books.   on the podcast. have not booked Club This and I honestly should book Club This, but it's a really great one. And I was introduced to this book and I was told to literally use this book in like partnerships and different things. And if we don't have the core five layers of this, we actually have dysfunctional teams. And so me and some of my offices, we've been working on it and we realized that we don't want to have dysfunctional teams. We want to have functional teams. And what's another word for functional?   It's a winning team. And so if you're not familiar with it, I'll give you a quick rendition. I coach this with lots of offices and I think being an outsider, that's honestly why I love being a consultant. We are having the same thing within our company because sometimes just that outsider perspective can really, really help you and your team get on board and get into those levels that you need to have it. And so with Teams, I'll just introduce you to the five dysfunctions of a team or as we call it, we flipped it around of how to have the five elements of a winning team.   Kiera Dent (02:20.186) So it's in a triangle and at the bottom, it is actually with the bottom portion of the foundation of this triangle is called trust and vulnerability. And so if we have trust and vulnerability and it's not trust of like, if I delegate something to you, I know you're actually going to do it. Like that's one element of trust, but there's the other element of trust where I trust that I can say whatever needs to be said to you and know that there's not going to be backlash. There's a really great example think about in sports.   The quarterback is getting sacked and they go to the blocker and they say, hey, you've got a block for me. I need you to block. And the blocker is not like, the quarterback's so mad at me or the quarterback's feeling this or that because they have the conversation. But we have permission to give feedback and receive feedback. And I think really setting up your office to have those permission to play, permission to give the feedback, permission to have the conversations, permission to say what needs to be said so we can ultimately make our practice grow.   Now, of course, within trust and vulnerability, the way we say things and the way we present things will oftentimes make it so much better versus just saying what needs to be said. So I do believe that trust and vulnerability is an art more than it is a science. But if you can get your teams really having that trust and being able to call the shot, if you will, like in sports, because in sports, they're able to do that because they know how to win and they're willing to call each other out. They're willing to say what needs to be said because they want to win. And in Patrick Lanzione's book,   it really does give the formula of how we're able to win as a team. And so if we know how to quote unquote, put points on the scoreboard, and that doesn't necessarily mean revenue, it can, but if we know what winning looks like within a practice, then it's easier to have the trust and vulnerability, have the conversations. And I think the more you give your practice the permission to play, the permission to have the conversations, the easier it is. But this is a conversation that needs to be had. I go around to offices and I actually coach offices on how to do this, on how to have these   conversations on how to say the things because the reality is this is tricky. And in a lot of offices, this isn't real. If you speak up and you say your mind, you get fired. And so society has kind of taught us not to have this trust and vulnerability, not to say what needs to be said. And I'm here to say, why don't you have your practice be a different experience? Why don't you have your employment be a different experience? There's this whole buzzword of vulnerability and being authentic. And I think this is how we actually can create that as a real true piece within our organizations.   Kiera Dent (04:44.27) So once we go up the rung of the ladder, we've got trust and vulnerability. The next layer is healthy debate. So if we have this true trust and vulnerability with each other, we're actually going to have the healthy debate. We're gonna say what needs to be said and we don't come, I really help offices and teams realize we're not coming from our own selfish vantage point. Yes, we bring our vantage point there, but we're always working towards what's in the best interest of the business. And if the business and the practice is the root of what we're doing, then guess what? The healthy debate should be not if you're right or if I'm right.   but it's literally what's in the best interest of the business. And I think when offices do this and have the healthy debate and we have the conversations, hygienists bring their opinions, dental assistants bring their opinions, front office brings their opinions. And again, not to be right, but to figure out what's the best for the business and the practice and the patients instantly we're able to flourish, which then leads to the third rung on this ladder of our winning success pyramid. And that is commitment.   So whatever we healthy debate, whatever we decided meetings, we as a team actually commit and we're not having these side conversations. I always say, what needs to be said in a meeting needs to be said in the meeting. We're not having it go outside because once it goes outside, we've lost all of our trust and vulnerability. We've lost all of our ability to communicate with each other. All of that's gone. And so say it in the meeting. And if you don't say it in the meeting, that's on you. And you need to take the ownership of that and say, I didn't have trust and I didn't speak up and I didn't healthy debate it.   And that's on me because whatever's committed in that meeting, we commit and we move forward, which then leads to the fourth tier, which is peer to peer accountability. And I think what's really lovely in peer to peer accountability is let's go back to that sports analogy. They're having peer to peer, that quarterback's not running over to coach and saying, hey coach, could you tell the blocker to block for me? They're like, hey office manager, could you tell that assistant to have that route slip handed better to me? No, we've given permission to play.   We're calling the play, if you will, like block for me. I can't get sacked. We're not going to win. If you don't bring up a route that fully filled in that's, that's hurting me and the patient, the patient didn't get the best experience and nobody wins. And on peer to peer accountability, if we don't have that, we don't have the permission to play within our team. And we don't have the trust where teammates can call each other out so we can win again in a way that's with love and empathy and curiosity and also making it to where the patient wins, the team member wins and the practice wins.   Kiera Dent (07:03.234) That's what we're looking for. We want our patients to the best experience. And if we can't call each other out when a route slip is not handed off perfectly, or we don't have a perfect handoff, the patient didn't get the best experience because now they've left and we didn't get the correct information there. The treatment coordinator didn't get the best experience. They didn't win from that. The dental assistant or whomever dropped it off or the hygienist whomever dropped the patient off, they're not getting the best experience because they didn't even know it was a wrong handoff. And this is where we have that peer to peer accountability. And when you can get your practices to have peer to peer accountability,   your practice will flourish. And that's at the top of the triangle is winning. And in Patrick Lanziani's, it's the opposite and it's like inattention to results. And so this is the flip of how to have a winning model. And I just want to come on of like, if you can help your team realize trust and vulnerabilities where we should be spending 90 % of our time. So how can we build more trust within our teams? We can do trust exercises. We can be vulnerable. Trust exercises are not like I remember as a kid, my brother.   Remember the trust falls where it's like you have to trust that someone's behind you they're going to catch you? Like, yes, you could probably do that. But we're talking more trust of, can we say things? Maybe it's about being vulnerable with our lives of what we've gone through in our childhood. Like, hey, this is where I was born. This is the number of siblings I have in my family. And this is something I really struggled with in childhood. This is something that I really struggled with that made a big impact and a profound impact on me. And just thinking about, are there ways that we can actually get this to where   We're sharing and we're more open and the more vulnerable owners are here and the more they have trust in the more we actually call the things out of like, Hey, dental assistants, what's your perspective? I know that there's something there. The more we have permission to play, the more we have these trust conversations, the more we build trust amongst each other, the more we share things, the more we call each other out and say like, great job. was a great, that was a great blocker. That was a great handoff or Hey, I need this information from you. And we're not having the nitpicky, the   drama, the eye roll of like, my gosh, Keira just always wants a perfect handoff. Well, yeah, of course I do. That's our standard of winning. If I don't have a perfect handoff, how am supposed to have a perfect treatment plan for these patients and not to blame you? This is just the system that we have. So let's all work together. My job is to make sure I'm presenting perfect treatment plans. And I can't do that if I'm not getting perfect handoffs of the information that was said in the room. So all these little places are how you're able to build a winning team.   Kiera Dent (09:25.016) And this is what I obsess about. And this is what I love helping offices have because we focus so much on the skills. So many people are like, here, I want the systems. And yes, I've got the systems. Come, we have it, whether it's on our virtual or in-person. Come, I've got the systems for you. I have operations manuals. I've got the systems of morning huddle and route slips and handoffs and case acceptance and trackers and phone call trackers. And like literally any system you probably have ever wanted, I have a system for it. But that's 20%. It's just like in football, they can have all the plays.   But if they don't run the plays, they don't execute, they're not watching each other and they're helping because once you put the plays in action, AKA when you put the systems in action, customers come in, patients come in, people are coming different ways, other people are working, we've got lots of hands in the pot. The way you have the systems operate perfectly is being able to, have a great system, that's 20 % of this equation, but the other 80 % is being able to have this trust and vulnerability, the healthy debate, the commitment, the peer-to-peer accountability, and then we ultimately win as a team.   So if this resonates with you, try it out. Have the trust conversations with your practice. Have the trust conversations with your team. Have these conversations. And the more you have it, to me, it's how can we build more trust and vulnerability? So ways to do it, like I said, where are you from? How many siblings? And then tell something that you struggled with. Now, this is where you've got to be vulnerable. This is where you've got to set the stage as leaders.   of what's the level of vulnerability that we're going to have within our practice. What's the level of vulnerability? If it's like, you know, I really struggled being popular. That's something I struggled with. Well, your team can't relate with that, but maybe you struggled with weight loss when you were a child. Maybe you struggled being bullied as a child. Maybe you struggled like for me, I cheated in first grade because my brother was so freaking smart and I actually wasn't that smart. And my family was so insistent that we go to college and here I am not passing spelling tests. And so I literally cheated in school.   to get my mom to put my paper up on the wall because I wanted to be as good as my brother was. I really struggled in school and people look at me like, how is that even possible? You graduated from Valedictoria. Like, no, I freaking struggled and I had to work really hard at it I would throw my books across the room because I was so frustrated that like all of my other siblings got it and I just didn't. And yet I knew I had to get good grades because my parents couldn't afford to put me through college. And the expectation to my family was that I went to college.   Kiera Dent (11:42.244) Like that was something I really struggled with. And so I literally in first grade moved my books away. I put the test words right there. And I literally cheated on my test in first grade to make sure that I could have good grades. And I got called out on it I was super embarrassed. And I had to go home and tell my parents and I straight up lied to my parents that I was just looking at the floor. But it taught me a really good lesson that I'm not naturally smart. I actually have to work for this and I have to figure it out.   And that was something that I really struggled with as a child. And if you can come to the table where you actually can share and empathize, now it's like, all right, this is Kiera as a human. I'm not coming here because I'm better than you or I'm less than you. I'm coming here because I ultimately want to make our practice great. And if we can share those things with our team and we can expect that level of trust and vulnerability and you as the leader and the owner and the doctor and the office manager coming together and telling our team, like, we want to hear this.   Yes, there's navigation. can't tell you how many times I call it out in offices of like, Hey, like we could definitely say this with like a little more finesse, but you're right. Like this is spot on. This is what needed to be said. Let's practice our delivery and our approach for future. Those are the small things, but this is how I make practices exponentially grow. And if you don't have the trust and use you as the owner aren't doing this. That's where I love consulting offices. This is where I love. I help hundreds of offices do this. This is where I love teaching each other to how do we call each other out in the play?   How do we help each other realize when we're presenting treatment plans, we're planting weeds in our flower garden, aka we're saying words that's actually deterring patients from saying yes to us. And if I can't hear that internally, I need to trust my team to call me out on it and receive that with grace and humility and say, thank you. That's the way we're all able to win together. So this is an epitome of how you build a winning team. It's a great formula for you. Like I said, the book is incredible. Also something where we help with this, but I think...   For me even having an outsider that can help my team realize like, say the things and watching that consultant within our company navigate our team and help them have the trustable conversations, say what needs to be said, really commit. There's no side conversations. And when there are side conversations, how do we have grace and humility and help each other out is really what I'm passionate about. So if you realize like, my gosh, my team needs help with this, reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com.   Kiera Dent (14:04.846) I'm here for you. can do a strategy call. can help you because so many people want the systems and don't realize the trust and vulnerability, the hard conversations that you don't even have to call them hard conversations. Let's just call them growth conversations. This is how you're ultimately going to flourish and win. And so I just encourage you to set up the winning model, encourage this model with your teams. It works. I've watched teams literally morph in a quarter, in a half a year, in a year into these thriving teams. when teams are disjointed or they're not hitting goals with ease,   Usually that that indicates to me that there's not a lot of trust of true trust and there's actually artificial harmony within that team And so just bringing that for you if I can help in any way I'm here for it and also just bringing it to light for you. So try it out Let me know and as always thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

Reaching 100 episodes is no small feat, and The Accountant's Flight Plan Podcast has officially hit that milestone! To mark the occasion, Ian Brennan (Creative Director at Poe Group Advisors)  takes on the role of guest host to turn the microphone on Brannon Poe, CPA, the mastermind behind the podcast.This 100th episode isn't just a celebration; it's a heartfelt reflection on the mission and purpose that have driven Brannon to serve the accounting industry for over 20 years. Whether you're a long-time listener or tuning in for the first time, this episode is a testament to the power of guidance, growth, and the pursuit of building a practice you truly love.In this special episode, Brannon reflects on his journey of serving the accounting industry and helping CPAs build firms they love. He shares the story of how he began selling accounting firms, a pivotal career shift that laid the foundation for everything that followed. Over two decades later, Brannon has gained incredible insights from his work in mergers, acquisitions, and firm development, all of which he discusses with Ian.Listeners get a behind-the-scenes look at the inspiration behind Accounting Practice Academy [https://poegroupadvisors.com/accounting-practice-academy/ ], a program designed to guide accountants toward firm growth and success. Brannon and Ian also delve into the growing interest of private equity in the accounting profession and its implications for CPA firm owners.The episode uncovers the origin story of The Accountant's Flight Plan Podcast, exploring how Brannon turned his vision into a platform that delivers actionable insights to CPAs worldwide. He shares the lessons he's learned about growing a business, likening it to “a series of letting go,” and offers thoughtful advice to the accounting profession about navigating change and seizing opportunities.To wrap things up, Ian fires off rapid-fire questions, prompting Brannon to share his favorite books, including The Five Dysfunctions of a Team [https://a.co/d/9Runb7T ] and Walter Isaacson's inspiring biographies [https://www.amazon.com/stores/Walter-Isaacson/author/B000APFLB8?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true# ].Thank you for being part of this journey—here's to the next 100 episodes and beyond!Time stamps: 0:55 - How Brannon started selling accounting firms9:22 - What Brannon has learned from his time in the mergers and acquisitions business21:09 - The inspiration for Accounting Practice Academy26:08 - The reasons behind private equity's interest in the accounting profession33:47 - The origin story of the Accountant Flight Plan podcast40:31 - Growing a business and letting go45:08 - Advice to the accounting profession47:10 - Rapid-fire questions and wrap-up

Jonathan Lowenhar is the co-founder of Enjoy The Work, an executive coaching firm that helps founders become great CEOs. Over the past decade, Enjoy The Work has supported over 165 founders on their journey to becoming better leaders. In our conversation, we discuss:• The difference between being a founder and being a CEO• Common failure modes for startup CEOs and how to avoid them• The four key elements of an effective go-to-market strategy• A framework for evaluating potential acquisitions: the magic box paradigm• How to find and hire the best people• How to build a repeatable GTM machine• Why founders need to trust their intuition• Much more—Brought to you by:• Pendo—The only all-in-one product experience platform for any type of application• OneSchema—Import CSV data 10x faster• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-a-great-founder-becomes-a-great-ceo-jonathan-lowenhar—Where to find Jonathan Lowenhar:• X: https://x.com/jlowenhar• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlowenhar/• Enjoy the Work: https://etw.live/lenny—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Jonathan's background(02:56) Understanding the rhythm of well-run companies(09:20) The founder mode vs. manager mode debate(12:05) Common company failure modes(13:36) Common CEO failure modes(25:25) The magic box paradigm for selling your startup(43:07) Advice for founders on building relationships(49:28) Hiring and building an amazing team(57:11) Types of executives: architect, optimizer, scaler(59:45) Working backward in hiring(01:02:54) Four key components of a go-to-market strategy(01:15:01) Trusting founder intuition(01:19:12) Founder vs. CEO: different roles, different skills(01:20:52) Closing thoughts and lightning round—Referenced:• Founder mode memes: https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/04/those-founder-mode-memes-keep-coming/• Founder mode: https://paulgraham.com/foundermode.html• “Founder Mode” Is a Dangerous Red Herring: https://enjoythework.com/founder-mode-is-a-dangerous-red-herring/• Magic Box Paradigm: A Framework for Startup Acquisitions: https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Box-Paradigm-Framework-Acquisitions/dp/0692778047• Facebook Buys Instagram for $1 Billion: https://archive.nytimes.com/dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/04/09/facebook-buys-instagram-for-1-billion/• Chris Voss on X: https://x.com/fbinegotiator• Who: https://www.amazon.com/Who-Geoff-Smart/dp/0345504194• Brian Chesky on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianchesky/• Joe Gebbia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jgebbia/• Nathan Blecharczyk on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blecharczyk/• 4 questions Shreyas Doshi wishes he'd asked himself sooner | Former PM leader at Stripe, Twitter, Google: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/shreyas-doshi-live• Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth: https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Startup-Achieve-Explosive-Customer/dp/1591848369• Adam Grant on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adammgrant/• This will make you a better decision maker | Annie Duke (author of “Thinking in Bets” and “Quit,” former pro poker player): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/making-better-decisions-annie-duke• How to identify your ideal customer profile (ICP): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-identify-your-ideal-customer• How to get your marketing team to drive more impact: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-get-your-marketing-team-to• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756• The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself: https://www.amazon.com/Untethered-Soul-Journey-Beyond-Yourself/dp/1572245379• Will & Harper on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81760197• Slow Horses on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/slow-horses/umc.cmc.2szz3fdt71tl1ulnbp8utgq5o• Aura frames: https://auraframes.com/• Augie studio: https://augie.studio/• Harrah's Entertainment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrah%27s_Entertainment—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Kul Mahay has over 3 decades experience in the leadership space.  He works with organisations and leaders to develop powerful cultures of high value, and performance which is built all around their people. In this episode, Kul explores the challenges executive teams face during transformation. Using Patrick Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team framework, he provides practical strategies for fostering trust, embracing healthy conflict, building commitment, ensuring accountability, and prioritising collective success. With real-world examples and actionable insights. _____________________________ ABOUT THE PODCAST SERIES During these shows, you‘ll hear Kul chatting with fellow leaders from around the world, who are recognised as being at the top of their game.  Together they‘ll explore what emotional intelligence in practice actually looks like, and the benefits it could bring to your teams. It‘s a movement to transform the way we see leadership, and to create powerful cultures where people feel seen, heard, valued and appreciated. Please join the movement and FOLLOW/SUBSCRIBE to this Podcast. FOLLOW ► https://www.linkedin.com/in/kulmahay-leadership/

“Mosaic world”? Meet Susan Popoola from the UK. Susan will tell you that she supports leaders in optimising and bringing out the best in people and organisations. As we learn, Susan was born in Great Britain to Nigerian parents. During part of her younger life she was, what she calls, “private fostered” and did not live directly with her parents.   Susan attended college in Nigeria where she received her Bachelor's or “First Degree” in Social Sciences. Later in England she obtained her Master's Degree in HR Strategy and Change.   After working for other organizations Susan decided to leap out on her own and put her entrepreneurial spirit to work and formed her own company to work with leaders who work with established and emerging purpose driven people to create Harmony, Impact and Legacy within their organizations.   Susan is the author of three books and has begun working on a fourth.   Our conversation is far ranging going from a discussion about stress to talking about Inclusion. She will tell us about how she created the concept of a “mosaic world” as a model to incorporate all persons by embracing each individual's gifts and skills.       About the Guest:   With a first degree in Social Sciences, Diploma in Systems Thinking & Masters in HR Strategy & Change, Susan works with established and emerging purpose driven leaders to create Harmony, Impact and Legacy, for a Mosaic World in which everyone is valued for who they are and what they have to offer.   Her deep rooted belief in human value, and her ability to understand and connect with people from a rich diversity of backgrounds enables her to support leaders in optimising and bringing out the best in people and organisations. Her belief in human value is reflected in her podcast, “Leading in a Mosaic World, and her books: Touching the Heart of Milton Keynes: A Social Perspective, Consequences: Diverse to Mosaic Britain, and Male Perspectives on The Value of Women at Work. She is also the creator of the Legacy Alignment Programme that enables senior professionals to design a legacy plan that ensures their work is extremely fulfilling and makes a positive impact now and into the future.     She has extensive cross-sector and international experience working withorganisations and delegates from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, China and the US. She is also a South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership Ambassador, Royal Society of Arts fellow, Good Work Guild member, and former Fellow of Windsor Castle's Society of Leaders. She was recently designated a Black Female Pioneer by Milton Keynes City Council. When she's not working with organisations, you are likely to find her on the Golf course, working to support young people who have been in the care system, or working on her latest book on multiculturalism.   Ways to connect with Susan:   Website: www.MosaicWorld.live LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/SusanPopoola/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susanpopoola/ Publications: https://www.mosaicgold.org/publications       About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/   https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Well, hi and welcome to another edition of unstoppable mindset. Today. We get to chat, from my perspective, at least all the way across the pond, to Susan Popoola, who is not in the US, but with the speed of light, you'll never know it. How's that for an introduction? Susan, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're really glad you're here.   Susan Popoola ** 01:46 Thank you very much for having me. Michael, well,   Michael Hingson ** 01:49 one of the things I know we're going to talk about a little bit later is the whole concept of it. I'm really excited to get to it, a mosaic world, as you describe it, and I know you've written about in some but we'll get there. But let's start. I love to always start this way. Tell me about the early season, growing up and all that sort of stuff.   Susan Popoola ** 02:08 Gosh, that takes me back a few years. Oh, that's okay, yeah, possibly a few more years than you might have imagined from my voice, which actually people say, sounds quite young. So I was born in England, born in England to Nigerian parents, and I spent my foundation years here in England and and then I worked then, and I in my those years, I spent my time very much in what I would describe as a very much white working class environment. And I say that because it has relevance to how I think can see the world. Because from there, I moved, we moved to, let's take to Nigeria, and then went to secondary school in Nigeria, my first degree Nigeria. And contrary to my earlier those foundation years, I was then in what you could call a rather middle class, more affluent area environment with people well,   Michael Hingson ** 03:20 and you said that you and you do sound like you're fairly young, but you opened the door. So how long ago was that? Or how old are you now? Or do you ever want to tell   Susan Popoola ** 03:31 I know they do say you shouldn't ask a lady, but I so I just about made it into the 1960s 19 November, 1969 Okay, so 1969 Yes, I just about made it to   Michael Hingson ** 03:50 the 70s. Okay, well, that's, that's fine. That is, I am, I am older than that from a time standpoint, although I don't feel it, and I think that we all can choose how well we want to deal with how we mature and grow older, and all that we can decide it's a good thing or not, doesn't bother me a bit either way.   Susan Popoola ** 04:14 Exactly, they do say it's you're they say you're as old as you feel. And that's an interesting one, because you can look at that from the perspective of how you feel on the basis of how you behave, but you could also think about that from how healthy and fit you are as well.   Michael Hingson ** 04:34 So you mentioned you got your first degree in Nigeria, and what was that in? And I said, that's sort of equivalent to what we would call over here, a bachelor's degree.   Susan Popoola ** 04:43 It is, indeed and it to be, it was a bachelor's Social Science degree in political science. Ah,   Michael Hingson ** 04:51 now, why? Why that specifically? What prompted you to go there?   Susan Popoola ** 04:56 It was, it's an interesting one, because when I. Small if you'd asked me what I wanted, what do you want to do for a living? I'd have told you I wanted to write, and that's all I knew that I wanted to do. But I was told you don't write for a living. You do it as a hobby. So a Nigerian family, you go to university. It's not a matter of whether you go or not. It's a matter of what you're going to study. And I had leaning towards the arts, the social sciences, and so that's where I what I ended up doing. Okay,   Michael Hingson ** 05:41 so you got your bachelor's or first degree in social science and political science, and then did you go straight on to graduate school from there?   Susan Popoola ** 05:52 No, I, I've worked. I worked for a number of years and and I guess a few years coming back to England. That was a few years later. That's when I did my first my I did a post graduate in human resources management, and then at a later stage, both while I was working, I did a master's in HR strategy and change, and I've done a few other little qualifications here and there along the way as well. But   Michael Hingson ** 06:27 clearly you were people oriented, since you seem to go off and look in the HR direction,   Susan Popoola ** 06:36 yes, though it's an interesting thing HR because people do often go into HR because of people, but HR and HR, as I have experienced in my involvement, has been very much on the strategic side. Whenever I've worked with an organization, the first thing I do is say, what's the business plan? What are you trying to achieve, and where do the people what's the people strategy? Where do the people fit into that? How do they align? And so, yes, there is definitely a care for people. And I talk about myself, I title myself a human value optimization specialist, and that's because I believe in human value and how we make the most of it, both for the benefit of individuals and for people around them as well, whether we're talking about the workplace, education or wider society. What   Michael Hingson ** 07:42 kind of reactions do you get when, essentially, you ask those questions, and what, what I'm hearing you say is that you get down to the questions of, really, how are people valued within the organizational structure, within the leadership environment and so on. What kinds of reactions do you get? Because I'm sure that you get all sides or all sorts of different reactions and comments about that. Well,   Susan Popoola ** 08:11 I think the two core reactions, there's a reaction which pertains to what people say, and I will say, 95% of the time for organizations I've worked with people, leaders that I speak to, it's always that, yes, we agree. We value people. They're important. Sometimes, on the other occasion, there's the response that talks about the importance of profit and how that is almost more important. So there's the response that is what people say, but then there is what I would say, the more pertinent response is what people do and what their people say. So I always love it when I have a conversation with a leader about the values of their organization, and I bump into someone that works for them, or speak to a team member and ask them what they think. I love it when there's an alignment between what the two say, but I'm also mindful that sometimes there is not that alignment, and that's the bit that is more important than what people actually say, and have to fight, sorry, that's when you have to find a way of holding them to account to what they actually say. Do   Michael Hingson ** 09:42 you find overall that there is more of an alignment between people who are in leadership positions and those who work for them, or less of an alignment? Because I can imagine, and I've heard in talking with other people, that oftentimes we. Leaders think they're aligned and they're not.   Susan Popoola ** 10:03 Yeah, and it will it really does vary. Of course, I think the larger the organization it is, larger the organization is, the more difficult it is to find consistent alignment throughout, because even if the very senior leadership is aligned, then the challenge is making sure that all the managers and the leaders throughout have that same alignment to bring things together and that there's that consistency with smaller organizations. It's easier, but then the challenge is how to maintain that alignment the ethos and the values as the organization develops and grows.   Michael Hingson ** 10:57 Yeah, and I guess I would say that's certainly not a surprise either. We have in larger organizations, there's probably a little bit less attention paid as quickly as there should be to communications, and so there tends to be more of a lack of alignment and a lack of of understanding, unless a leader truly understands the value of communicating and really getting people to buy into the process.   Susan Popoola ** 11:34 There's that, and it's also the bit about who you recruit into your leadership team a number of years back, I worked with an organization from the startup stage to to it growing over the years, and we were very specific as a board in Rec in defining what the ethos and the values of the organization were to be, what it was going to be like, and we initially recruited the senior leadership team in alignment with that. But where, I will be honest and say where we made the mistake is not ensuring that the values came first when it came to recruiting leaders and team members further down the line. Yeah, so the communication is key, but communication specifically about what the organization is about, what it stands for.   Michael Hingson ** 12:40 So I assume that you worked for various companies in the in their HR world, in some way.   Susan Popoola ** 12:48 I in the HR world and beyond. I mean, I even, I'm pleased to say that there was a time so I've worked in organizations, cross sector, from private sector organizations to public bodies, to charities NGOs. So I've worked across cross board to larger organizations and smaller organizations, but I'm pleased to say that in between, I have taken on other roles. So for instance, I worked in investor relations for a year and some other operational positions. And investor relations specifically was great for me, because that meant that I had so investigations is a communications role, you can say a PR role, but PR communications to investors, both current and potential investors. So I learned to be able to understand an organization at all levels, to be able to understand the story of what's going on, and be able to position that story.   Michael Hingson ** 14:04 Yeah, Investor Relations is a as an interesting challenge, because then you've got also on the other side, the brokers, and having to communicate with them can can also be a challenge, because they've got their own mindsets and they're very profit oriented, but sometimes, I'm sure that you have to deal with getting them to understand there's more to it than just creating a profit. You've got to create understanding, and you've got to be able to communicate with those you want to have trust you.   Susan Popoola ** 14:40 You have and, and, and I think, increasingly, especially with younger generations, they want to be paid. Well, why not? But there are other things that are important to them as well. And it's, I think it's always been the case for generations. But the thing. Is information is more readily available to them and to us as a whole than it used to be. So it's easier for us to see the bigger picture of things and question things and say, Yes, money, profit is important, but not just that. So I recently came, I was at an event where they were sharing, okay, these are the top 50 companies, and when I look closer, it was purely on the basis of finance. So I challenge that, that that doesn't make them the top countries, top companies just because they are making a lot of money?   Michael Hingson ** 15:45 Yeah, it all comes down to what do you define as a top company? Is it money? Is it teamwork? Is it how employees rank you? I mean, there's so many options. Well, I'm   Susan Popoola ** 15:59 very big um, as my work has evolved, I very much have a focus on working with leaders to create harmony impact and at a more personal level for them, legacy. And so for me, if I'm thinking of a top company, I'd be thinking about the harmony that exists within and that's how the relationships and how people work with each other, whether you're talking about Gender, race, multiculturalism, what have you, social economics, or any features, or just just how people work together. So that harmonious environment, for me, helps to make you a top company together with the impact that you're having, profit is important as well, because if you're a business, that is still part of what you're about, but what's the impact that you're having, and how do people feel and interact within   Michael Hingson ** 17:11 now today, you own your own business. Is that correct?   Susan Popoola ** 17:15 That is correct? Yeah. So   Michael Hingson ** 17:18 now, more than working for other companies as an employee, you you own your own business, and they bring you on board to to deal with with various issues in terms of HR and leadership and communications and so on. I presume that is correct. Yes. So what is human value optimization? That's something you've referred to. So   Susan Popoola ** 17:42 human value optimization. So I came to human value optimization with recognition that there's the work that I do, HR within organizations, there's work I do with wider community and other things. And I just thought, with all the things that I do, what is it really about and what is most important to me? We spoke about what's important to organizations, what is most important to me that informs everything that I do. It's people, it's the value that they have and how we recognize and realize that. And that goes back to when I was small, where my mom always told me that everyone is of importance. It doesn't matter who they are, the person cleaning the office or the person managing the office, everyone's adding something to whatever environment they're in. And so for me, in all that I'm doing, it's really how do we optimize that? And that is the two parts to it. It's one that as individuals, people recognize the value that they have to offer, but also that the people around them in in the workspace, in community, in education, also recognize the value that people bring. And when you have an individual that recognizes their value, but they're not appreciated, they don't fully realize their value. On the other hand, if people think a person is great, but that person doesn't see the value in themselves. Again, they're limited, but when both come together, then you get the optimal result, and I will say also the most profitable result for both the individual, the organization they are working for, or whatever environment they're in, and   Michael Hingson ** 19:43 I think that's an extremely important and valuable point, is that it really does require both people to come to the same realization of the value of of people and of of an individual. What do. You do when you find that there is a misalignment, either the the employee doesn't feel they're valued, or the employer just plain isn't valuing the skills and the the knowledge that somebody brings. How do you deal with that?   Susan Popoola ** 20:17 So, so that, I mean that. So I guess the two, the two parts to that with the individual, it's it's really working with them, working through them, to help them to see what they do, what they bring. So what is the work that they actually do? Because many of us are very good at seeing what we do in the just, I just do this. I only do this so it's actually been able working with them to see these are all the different things you do, almost list those things out with those people, and getting them to see the impact that those things have, the value that those bring, and critically, how it fits into the wider organization. So I said mentioned earlier on, it doesn't matter every other person cleaning the office or managing the office. It's important it all fits into the business objectives. The administrator, who is just just, I've used the word just photocopying documents, typing or doing whatever the case may be, that's an important part. If those things are not done, then the organization doesn't function fully. So it's enabling that individual to see it. But on the other side, it's also reminding making the organization leadership aware of the importance of the roles that individuals play and how it all adds together to enable them to be successful.   Michael Hingson ** 22:09 And your success is based on how well you're able to bring both sides of that into alignment.   Susan Popoola ** 22:16 To some extent, yes, and the reason why I say, to some extent, is there's something about doing your best. You You I gravitate towards leaders who say that they really do want to have an impact. They really do value people, but then you can only go as far as they want and are willing to go. And so I don't hold myself responsible for their actions. I hold myself so I'm responsible for guiding them and giving them as much support as I can,   Michael Hingson ** 23:03 but yeah, and the hope is that they, they recognize the value of that, and will finish the job of aligning   Susan Popoola ** 23:12 Yes, and I mean, and I always start off with as honest a possible conversation as as I can, which is very much about, what is it that you want? I mean, what do you really want? What are you trying to achieve? And what do you believe? What do you believe is standing in the way? What do you believe needs to be done, holding, then being able to hold a mirror, and it's could be over time, to create awareness of what the challenges may be, trust checking is this really what you want to do? And if they'd say they do, then it's working through. And I will do my uttermost to support them, but I will also hold them to account, and I have done that on occasion with leaders, whereby I've really stood firm to say, this is what you said, and what you're doing doesn't align, and therefore You have to behave differently. You have to do differently. And on occasion, I've actually thought I would be chopped out of the door, but that's that's never happened.   Michael Hingson ** 24:32 One of my favorite books is a little short book called The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni, and it talks a lot about, of course, the whole concept of teamwork and trust, but it really does say that in well functioning teams, everyone can hold each other to account when commitments are made and it. The team is functioning well, they understand that what is happening is not that someone has a grudge or someone is trying to best someone else, but rather they're just doing what the team should do, which is holding people to account, which is a very important thing to do. Yeah,   Susan Popoola ** 25:19 and in a way that goes back to when I talk about harmony, specifically with what you're saying workplace harmony, I think it's a journey to get there, because for people to someone to try to hold you to account, you have to have an understanding, a joint understanding, of what you're all working towards in the first as a so that's a starting point. You have to have that joint understanding. You have to have some knowledge of each other, so that there is a trust, um, you and that that comes with building a relationship. So there's a trust that when you're given that feedback, you know where, where it's coming from, and you know the why of it. And then I think the third component of that, for me is how, how and when you do that. So you still, even though they're the best of intentions and all, I think I'm still one that believes in giving feedback, giving constructive feedback, but giving it, making it constructive and being sensitive in the process.   Michael Hingson ** 26:43 Well, it is, it is an important thing to deal with, no doubt about it. Tell me about this whole concept of a mosaic world that that you talk about, what is it and what, what do we need to do to help, maybe create more of it. And what are you doing to create more of a mosaic world?   Susan Popoola ** 27:04 Okay,   Michael Hingson ** 27:07 lot of questions there.   Susan Popoola ** 27:09 There are a lot of questions. And so I'm pausing for a second to say, where do I start? And I think to contextualize it. I started thinking of a mosaic world at the time that I wrote my second book, which is consequences diverse to mosaic written. And the reason why I wrote the book was because this was, this was, I'm about 1212, years back, and there were people concerned about, there were people that, I guess, that you would describe as that was seen as nationalist, who were concerned and complaining about Immigration and people coming in, people taking jobs, and everything else along those lines. And there was the label of them being racist. And I said to myself, are they all racist? Some definitely were. But are they all racist? Well, were there deeper issues at play, and this scenario I'm setting out could apply to parts in America, anywhere across the world. So are they all racist against other people, or are there deeper issues? And when I looked you recognized how there are people that felt left behind, and I'm sure you can identify with that from the States, that there are people that have, over time, felt that they've been left behind, and they see or saw the immigrant as The cause of their problem. But my analysis was, yes, these people are faced with real issues that aren't being addressed, but at the same time, it's not the immigrant that is causing the problem, and immigrant is here as a consequence of history, and the key is how we live and work together. Because from that perspective, from me, Britain has is almost anywhere in the world, diverse by nature. And the key is, how do we come together to be something more effective, something cohesive? And that's when I started thinking of the mosaic, mosaic Britain, and I'd say, therefore, and thereafter, a mosaic world. And for me, a mosaic world is, if you think of an a piece of artwork, mosaic piece of artwork, you see it's got all the different colors. And I'm using the word see. See. Hope you don't mind me using the word C, absolutely not. But it has all the different colors and all the different shapes and sizes, and all of those pieces come together to create something beautiful, but they only stick together if there's something that binds them together. And for me, thinking of that as a workplace, a school, a community, a country, the world at large, those pieces that the thing that binds us together like glue, are the things we have in common. At a very basic level. You could score, you could speak of our common humanity. But even if that is not enough, then you've been to think of the com the things we have in common, the values that we share, the fact that we all typically love our children and the things that we do, we all want to work hard and get have good outcomes, but not just the things, but it's not just the things we have in common, our purpose, our vision, but it's also the things that are made that we make us curious about each other, that draw us towards each other. So all of those things come create a mosaic. And so then the third question, I guess, is, what am I doing? I think, in my work, whereby my work and my interactions, generally, where I see people, I'm curious about them. I want to know who they are, what they have to offer. How can what is the how do we value them? How do we include and engage with them and bring out the best in them and learn from them and drawing them all in and getting different people. So I do work within organizations and schools, which is what I where I talk about drawing up mosaic maps and drawing up relationships, and getting people to see the value that each brings and how they all come together. And just from a simple exercise, you find that people go away with a better awareness of people that they may have worked with for years. And so in very broad terms, that's part of how I do it and how I encourage other people to do so. And   Michael Hingson ** 32:45 you describe it in a in a visual sense, which is fine, but I would also say that the mosaic is just as important when you're dealing with with auditory and other kinds of things that are non visual. It's all part of the same thing. And it gets back to the whole subject of diversity. We we talk a lot about diversity, but we see in the world so many times, when it really comes down to it, people don't tend to want to tolerate those who are different than they are. How do we deal with that   Susan Popoola ** 33:21 we need to get, I mean, starting with like you and I, and I guess to some extent, that's what we're doing, because in some ways, we are different. As I said, we have commonalities but differences. But we need to start take the time to get to know other people. People are typically othered. We need to take the time to understand who they are, what motivates them, what so it's what I did in the book that I just described. So the people that were seen as racist, instead of just saying, Yep, that's what they are and condemning them, it's taking the time to understand them. Who are they, what motivates them? What do they want from life? And then, if you've engaged people at the level of their humanity, even if outwardly, you might see them as hateful. When you engage with them and you start a conversation and you see them, there's not always the case, but there's a probability, or at least a possibility, that they'll begin to see you, but again,   Michael Hingson ** 34:42 that you know that I'm just trying to puzzle through this that takes time, and everyone says that we just never have enough time to do a lot of things that we should do. So how do we recondition society to recognize the value? To and looking at people for who they are, not what they look like, or what they sound like, or anything like that, but really who they are.   Susan Popoola ** 35:09 I mean, the first thing I say is, when you say we don't have time, I would say we don't have time not to because for a lot of societies, things have become so divisive. Yeah, it's, it's ugly, it's not progressive. And I'm, I'm not sure that anyone, whatever side they may see themselves on, I'm not sure that anyone is really happy with that, and it's only going to get worse if we continue with the same trajectory of just looking at people that are different or say things we dislike, and at times, things that are outrightly wrong. So I'm not denying that, but if we continue on the path that we're in we we self destruct. I mean, so for me, that's the first thing. It we don't have time not to. And there's a saying, and I'm paraphrasing, that a friendship, a new friend, is just a smile away. It is true conversations and stories that you get to know each other people, whether that's reading a book, listening to a podcast, sometimes there's a message in a song, sometimes it's the person that you meet at a bus stop and you talk to. So there's something about being curious about people, rather than automatically condemning people for what is wrong and sometimes unquestionably wrong, but taking the time to understand their why and get under the skin of things, yeah, and so and I, if you do it once or twice with one or two people, then If you're anything like me, then it becomes habit.   Michael Hingson ** 37:22 And that's the point, right? It's it's really changing our mindset and changing our habits when, when we do, when we start to recognize maybe we're cutting people out, and hopefully we see maybe there's more to that person than meets the eye. It is changing a habit. It is changing a mindset. It is also about wanting to change, or deciding I'm open to exploring something different,   Susan Popoola ** 37:55 yeah, and for me as well, I mean, because it's it'll be easy for people to think I'm being soft. I'm far from it. Anyone that knows me and knows me well knows that I am actually very firm. But for me, even if so, that person might be wrong. But if you stand across a room and you shout at a person and tell them you're wrong, you're an idiot, or what have you. That person is not going to engage. The person's going to tune out. Um, possibly my person might freeze. The person might respond by shouting back their own abuse, or what have you, or just they're so frozen, so even if there's truth in what's being said, they can't hear so the key therefore is, what do you do to engage Such a person? You take the time to ask questions, I will use the word gently asked questions to understand, and that's understanding things that might not even be right. And it's not saying that that makes them right. But then, if you can understand the person's standpoint, you've engaged with them, they feel seen, they're more likely to listen. You're better able to correct or increase a person's awareness of where they might be wrong, and they're more likely to engage with it   Michael Hingson ** 39:37 well. And of course, that's always something that is important. If you alienate someone, and if you just decide they're useless, then they will be to you, even though they may not be useless at all, and it's you, you each side has to take part in engaging. To have a discussion, and conversation is so important, we're losing that art, I think, to a degree today. Yeah,   Susan Popoola ** 40:07 and it goes back to when you asked me about human value optimization, that that's another example of it. It's it's getting to it's seeing that person, it's humanizing that person, so that person can be human towards us, right?   Michael Hingson ** 40:27 You've written three books, if you would tell us a little bit about each of those books. Okay,   Susan Popoola ** 40:34 so I've already spoken a bit about the second one, that's consequences, diverse to mosaic Britain, and as I said, in many ways, that could just as well be consequences, diverse to mosaic America, or so many other places in the world. But then my first book is touching the heart of Milton King's a social perspective, and that is based on, I live in Milton kings, and it's seen as very, should I say, middle England, where everyone's doing okay, it's a new town, but it's got its challenges and all. And as a new town, people often focus very much on the structures, but I wanted to talk about the people and what it's like for all different people. And again, it's how we all seen different people and how we ultimately live work more effectively together for the benefit of all. And so that's touching the heart of Milton Keynes, a social perspective. And then my third, most recent book is male perspectives on the value of women at work. And while the first two are social perspectives, and the third one is more relate, work related, you can still see there's a theme of being able to see others. So male perspectives on the value of women at work is very much the example that of being able to look at p or someone differently, or other people. And that came about because I was mindful through the years that the workplace designed around men women have been trying to make progress within that environment for years. They're great programs. They're great initiatives. They're a lot that women have said about what needs to be done, what they need and what have you. But women's progress doesn't align. Women are very capable, just as capable as men. I wouldn't say more capable. I wouldn't say less capable. And so I thought, what is missing in the dialog or the interactions, is the voice of men. And so for for that third book, I decided to speak to a number of different men to understand from their perspective, what unique value do they believe women bring into the workspace. How do men and women typically navigate differently that has a negative impact on women, and what do they believe needs to be done to enable better progression and dare I say again, better gender harmony at work.   Michael Hingson ** 43:50 What was the biggest surprise for you about speaking to men concerning the value of women at work? Very few   Susan Popoola ** 43:59 of them felt that there's ever been asked, and it's not just asked about the value of women, but asked about women. They've they felt that their opinion has never been sought. They've typically been told, this is this is what you do wrong, and this is what needs to be done. This is what I need, and this is what needs to be done. But their opinions hadn't been sought, and they were so pleased, typically pleased to share. They were sensitive at giving advice, but they were very happy to be able to input into the conversation. And you asked, What was the most standout thing, but I'll add something else. The other thing that stood me out is that actually. Actually, a lot of them have very limited understanding of the challenges that women are actually faced with. Okay,   Michael Hingson ** 45:09 can you, can you tell me a little bit more about that? I'll   Susan Popoola ** 45:13 give you an example. So, I mean, so I'll give to to one of the men. One of the things he said is, well, as men, men are very simple, and this is his perspective, but men are simple, easy to understand, very straightforward, but women are much more complex. And you've probably have heard jokes about you can describe a man on one page. And woman, you need a whole book. But put that aside, the key is from his perspective, and from some of the things that was said, you can tell that there's a limited understanding of men and that goes and there is that reality. If you here in the UK, we've in recent years started talking quite a bit about menopause, something that wasn't spoken about before. It's something that directly impacts a significant number of women, to varying degrees, but it doesn't affect men directly, but until we started having those conversations. Men had no most men had no understanding of the impact or why women so they might even have a partner who might start acting differently at a certain time. So that's so, that's, that's an example, and that impacts women at a personal level, and it also affects them in the workplace as well.   Michael Hingson ** 46:49 Did you find and do you find that there are some men who would say, well, but the very fact that they have to go through all that really means that they're not going to be as helpful at work, because they've got too many challenges to go through,   Susan Popoola ** 47:06 not the men that I spoke to, because I took more of an appreciative inquiry approach. So speaking to people I could learn more from, rather than not. And so rather than there being the men that spoke of, okay, the challenges that women are faced with that might mean that they shouldn't be in the workplace, there were the men that spoke of the fact that actually they've worked with women or employed women who, in the early years of their career may have taken time off to on maternity on from maternity leave, had children taken time a fair amount of time out, but come back to the workplace and that they're loyal. That is one of the things that came up a few times the loyalty of women, and we're generalizing, yeah, they're more likely to stay with what same workplace longer term, while men are more likely to move across, move from different, one organization to another. So they spoke of the value that if you support a woman through that, through that stage, then you're likely to have an employee that is going to be with you and supporting your organization long term.   Michael Hingson ** 48:37 Yeah, and I think, and the reason I asked the question is all about, I can see, and I've heard men say those kinds of things, and it really usually indicates to me a significant lack of understanding about the reality that we all have needs and differences. I think more men are starting to recognize a little bit the value of taking time when a new child is born, to take some leave and help dealing with that child as well. But I face it a lot as a person who is blind, when I when I hear people talking about persons with disabilities, well, they've got too many problems, it'll be too expensive to bring them in. Insurance will will go up, or we have to buy this equipment, and we don't have to buy that equipment for other people. And so many excuses. And they are excuses, because the reality is, the reality is insurance won't go up. The reality is that when you talk about buying equipment to give somebody the ability to do a job or the opportunity to do a job, we're already buying other equipment for people to do the job. I mean, we provide electric lights so that you can walk down a hall. Which isn't something that I need to worry about. But the bottom line is that we provide electricity to provide electric lights, or we provide computer monitors, and we hiccup about maybe spending a couple $100 for a screen reader so a blind person can have a job, even though we have no problem spending money providing a computer monitor. A lot of it really is excuses, rather than thinking it through.   Susan Popoola ** 50:26 Yeah, and I know I would agree, I mean, and I would add, typically, and you can correct me if you've been cover wise, if a person has a disability in one area, they often have heightened abilities in other areas,   Michael Hingson ** 50:48 only, only if they train them. It's not an automatic process, which a lot of people think it is. It's not so hearing. I'm not speaking   Susan Popoola ** 50:59 so I'm not speaking from the workplace. I'm speaking no more generally. No, I   Michael Hingson ** 51:03 am too. It's not heightened just because, in other words, a blind person doesn't hear better simply because they don't see. You still have to train the hearing. You still have to train yourself to be able to do that. So that's what I'm saying, is that it's, it's not really heightened. It's if it appears so it's because we've learned to use our hearing more than a lot of people do.   Susan Popoola ** 51:32 So I think we're more or less saying the same way. I um, I'm not saying it's, I might not have been clear, but I'm not saying it's by nature, but it's, it's you, it's developed. So that's correct. So take that on board, so that it's developed so, so that's this what might not be there. There's something else there that others might not have. But there's also the thing that where you make adjustments or you bring something new in for the sake of one person, that often benefits the wider team. I there's an example that I use in relation to deaf people. Um, people often. I remember going to a restaurant with a group of young deaf people, and I specifically was talking to a young guy who who could read very well and engage. But what struck me is, though, while I'd had a full conversation with him. When a waiter came across, the waiter didn't look at any of the young people. They automatically looked at the other people to say, what what do they want? What   Michael Hingson ** 52:54 do they want, right? What   Susan Popoola ** 52:55 do they want? But the reality is, if they had looked at the young people from for the most part, maybe not all of them, but for most of them, if they, which goes back to your earlier point, if they had looked at them and spoken to them, they could have had a conversation with them. And I've always said that I would actually like to to to use, to to engage with deaf people in a program, to help people to improve their communication, because the bit that the waiters weren't doing was they weren't looking at the people, and that's the bit you should do with everyone. So I think we can learn to better engage with people through deaf people.   Michael Hingson ** 53:48 We, unfortunately, all too often, learn to fear people who are different than we, or we learn to fear difference, and I think that starts at an early age. I oftentimes will be somewhere and a child will want to come up and pet my dog. And I don't want a child to come up and pet my dog. I do want them to ask, and then they can pet the dog. But I hear the mother go, that dog might bite or that you don't want to go talk to that man. Don't embarrass that man. And so many different things we we teach it so collectively in society, which is unfortunate too, we teach the sphere of difference. Yeah.   Susan Popoola ** 54:31 I mean, I talk about being a white child, because if you think of that child that is told not to the child might probably say, why not? Why? Why? Why? And I don't know why, but for four year old, the question that they're most inclined to ask is, why, yeah, but in line with what you said, we tend to knock that out of them, yeah. But. And I think we shouldn't. We should let them ask the why and let them explore. Teach them how, if anything, teach them how to ask why with sensitivity. So the child that wants to come and pet your dog, rather than the parents saying, don't tell the child, okay, you want to pet the dog. Go ask, Can I pet your dog? Please? Sure.   Michael Hingson ** 55:27 And that's, that's the point, right? But we, we don't encourage curiosity nearly as much as we should. That's, that's unfortunate. What do you think is the biggest barrier to inclusion?   Susan Popoola ** 55:41 We've just been talking about it, yeah, it's, it's the other in people. It's the lack of it's the fear to engage. So it's not seeing P other people, it's of it's that basically othering of people and the ability to be and so if we could just take the time to see other people, and if we could all be that more gracious as well knowing that sometimes people will get it wrong. So allow for people to get it wrong, correct them, but correct them with a degree of gentleness, rather than in a harsh way, which makes them run away as if they were bitten by the dog and never come back.   Michael Hingson ** 56:27 Yeah, rather than correcting understanding is what we all ought to provide. A lot more than we do, and I hope over time, people will see that, and maybe this podcast will help, which is why we're having it, of course, I   Susan Popoola ** 56:45 hope so. I mean, because I use the I am a visual thinker. So when I talk about a mosaic world, I do think of it in very visual terms, but that's what you're used to, yeah, but with whatever senses apply to people, if you can imagine a world in which everyone's valued, in a world with richness, whereby you talk to people and there's always something new to learn from them, and there's something positive, and they're adding to us and we're adding to them, I might say, as if it's a dream. But it's not something insurmountable. Can start in small communities. We can start in teams, within organizations, to all organizations, to towns, to schools, to what have you. It's not an insurmountable thing for us to all work towards.   Michael Hingson ** 57:48 You grew up in a in a family, and you value, clearly, the whole concept of what family brings to each of us. Why are you so interested in foster children?   Susan Popoola ** 58:00 Oh, well, you said I grew up in a family that I mean, so there are two parts to it. So if you remember when I we started talking, I mentioned that I grew up my foundation. Years were in a white working class area. I was actually what they call private fostered when I was small. So that's an arrangement made with my parents. I guess if my parents were in Nigeria, they would have had the extended family support. But being in England, as many Nigerians were the 50s, 60s, 70s, studying, they didn't have that support network around them while they were trying to study and work, and sometimes they always have the accommodation and other factors come to play. So I spent my foundation years with implied, what they call private fostering, an arrangement made with my my parents and so that, to some extent, informs me, especially as through the years, as an adult, I came across other people that were either private, fostered, fostered One or two very good friends with that experience, became into having the conversations, became aware of the challenges. Now, I was quite fortunate. I was in relatively state. I was in a loving, caring environment. As a small child, I had a family in my old years, so I always had that, but becoming aware of the challenges, the displacement, that the trauma that comes for number of young people who have been foster cared, and the fact that and there's what they call the cliff, whereby. Even if you sometimes, you will have been in foster care, and you will be fought with foster parents that say that they are parents for life. And so to the outside world, they wouldn't know that you're not with your birth parents. But for others, you get to that age of an average 18, whereby a lot of the support that you had, and you might not have had a lot of support in the first instance, but a lot of that support is withdrawn, and you therefore find yourself in a place as an 18 year old, whereby, yes, you can drink and you can drive, but you're making crucial decisions about life, and you're largely on your own. And I don't think it should be that way. And so the work I do in that space is very much either directly or through others, supporting such young people to better understand who they are, what they want, and take steps towards achieving it, and with that, the ultimate vision is every foster child should know that they're loved, valued and have the support that they Need to be the best that they want to be,   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:25 and it doesn't get any better than that. No,   Susan Popoola ** 1:01:28 and it's not asking for too much. No, not at all.   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:33 And I think it is something that we all are obligated to help and should be obligated to help children,   Susan Popoola ** 1:01:40 and that's one of the reasons why. So they're the programs that we've run over time. Then there's what we've started develop. What we've developed, it has a UK focus at the moment, but building out what I call the care experience village, because while in the States, use the broad term, or first of let me use the term fostering. We use foster care in some circumstances, but we also used a wider term of care a young person being in care. So a young person is a care leave or care experienced. So we've got what I call the care experience village, which has some information to help people better understand what the care experience is, and so they have a better empathy, some resources as well. So they if they meet someone who's been in foster care, that they're better able to support, to both engage with and support them.   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:46 So in your business, do you work with people just in the UK or because we have a virtual world, you can work with people elsewhere as well. Yeah,   Susan Popoola ** 1:02:55 I work with people globally. I've worked a lot of you in the UK, with Europe, the states, parts of Africa and the Middle East as well. So I work wherever there are good organizations and leaders who really want to have a positive impact, if   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:19 people want to reach out to you and maybe make contact and see how you can work with them and assist them in what they do. How do they do that, and what's the name of your business, and how would they reach out so   Susan Popoola ** 1:03:32 they could simply Google, go to LinkedIn and find Susan Popoola. Popoola spell P, O, P, double, O, L, A. Alternatively, they could go to mosaic world or one word dot Live, which is L, i, v, e.   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:52 And there are ways to contact you through mosaic world. Then when they go to that site, indeed,   Susan Popoola ** 1:03:58 what mosaic world will do is it will give you a showcase into the different areas, from the publications to the consultancy work to talks and to the work with young people.   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:17 Well, great. Well, I want to thank you for spending all of this time with us and describing what you do and describing your thoughts, I think that the insights are extremely valuable and helpful, and I hope people will take it to heart and that they will reach out and engage with you, and clearly you're helping to enhance understanding. And I and I trust that that people will recognize that and will work better to understand, I guess, is the best way to put it. Yeah,   Susan Popoola ** 1:04:48 thank you, and it's a pleasure. And yes, I'd love for people to get in touch. It will be great. The more people are engaged, the more we can do. For the benefit of all   Michael Hingson ** 1:05:02 well, I want to thank you again for being here, and I want to thank you all for listening to us today. Susan's been a wonderful conversationalist, and I've enjoyed it, and I've learned a lot, and I hope all of you have as well. I'd love to hear from you. You are welcome to email me at Michael H, i@accessibe.com so that's m, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, I b, e.com, or go to visit our podcast page, w, w, w, dot Michael hinkson.com/podcast, and Michael Hinkson is spelled M, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I N, G, s, o, n, so wherever you're listening, I do hope, and really would appreciate it if you would give us a five star rating on our podcast, and that you will tell others about us, and for you, Susan, and for everyone, including speaking of and telling others about us, if you know of anyone who ought to be a guest, we'd love to hear from you. We'd love to have an introduction to anyone who wants to be a guest on unstoppable mindset. You can you can tell that we have a nice, easy, flowing conversation, and that's what it's all about. So we'd love to have anyone on who wants to come because I believe everyone has stories to tell. So please give us a rating. We value that very highly. And Susan, once more, I want to thank you for being here with us.   Susan Popoola ** 1:06:27 Thank you very much for having me, and thank you for all that you do, because I've had an amazing conversation with you, and I've listened to some of the other conversations you have, and you're doing some great work. Thank you.   Michael Hingson ** 1:06:40 Well, thank you. It's a pleasure. And again, thank you for being here. And I think we had a lot of fun, don't you?   1:06:46 I do indeed.   **Michael Hingson ** 1:06:52 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Aaron reads from Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. This book highlights how and how not to communicate with your team to become the most effective leader you can be.  Questions or feedback? Email us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com! Stay Dirty! **UPDATE** Dirt Talk is STOKED to announce Ariat as our first official sponsor for the year! They make world-class footwear and workwear that we see on every job site we visit, and their folks are just as great as their products. Dirt Talk listeners can receive 10% off their first order with Ariat by clicking here or visiting Ariat.com/dirttalk.

In today's episode, we uncover the secrets of leadership and team dynamics with Patrick Lencioni, a renowned expert in organizational health and teamwork. As the founder and president of The Table Group, Patrick has spent decades helping leaders build stronger organizations through practical tools and strategies. He's the author of numerous bestselling books, including The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and his latest, The Six Types of Working Genius: A Better Way to Understand Your Gifts, Your Frustrations, and Your Team.  Get ready for an eye-opening conversation with Patrick Lencioni as he unpacks the powerful framework behind The Six Types of Working Genius. What if the key to unlocking your true potential—and that of your team—lies in understanding the types of work that energize and frustrate you? Patrick shares his groundbreaking model for identifying your natural talents, improving collaboration, and reducing burnout in every aspect of life, from your career to your relationships. We'll explore how these six types of genius impact team dynamics, decision-making, and personal growth, and how embracing your strengths can lead to greater productivity and fulfillment. Whether you're a leader or simply looking to work smarter, this episode is packed with practical insights to help you thrive. What to Listen For Introduction – 00:00:34 What inspired Patrick Lencioni to develop The Six Types of Working Genius framework? How did personal struggles at work lead Patrick to uncover the six types of genius? Why understanding your working genius is crucial for building a fulfilling career and personal life. The Six Types of Working Genius Explained – 00:04:41 What are the six types of working genius, and how do they relate to the phases of any project? How can identifying your working frustrations help prevent burnout and dissatisfaction? Why does every successful team need a balance of all six geniuses? Applying Working Genius to Team Dynamics – 00:10:13 How can leaders use this framework to optimize team collaboration and performance? What steps can you take to identify and leverage each team member's genius? How did a real-world software company transform its innovation process using this model? Overcoming Miscommunication and Conflict – 00:19:33 How can understanding your working genius improve communication in personal relationships? What are the common misconceptions about other people's work styles, and how can this framework resolve them? Why do working frustrations often lead to conflict, and how can teams overcome this? Practical Applications Beyond the Workplace – 00:27:02 How can The Six Types of Working Genius help with tasks like planning a vacation or running a household? Why understanding your genius is the next evolution beyond love languages in personal relationships. How can couples use this framework to reduce stress and improve collaboration at home? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"A Leadership Fable"

SEASON 10 The Learning Leader Daily Leadership Tips and Discussions Today I want to talk a little bit about another self-awareness tool that I am reading about now. It comes from the book by Patrick Lencioni called “The 6 Types of Working Genius.” In this book, Lencioni tells a fable about a guy who just can't seem to excel to the point where he is simply loving his job for a long period of time; he seems to get bored and eventually grows tired of the job. As the story plays out, he comes to realize that he just isn't working in his genius area. Out of the 6 types of working genius, I clearly identified with 2 and a third one also resonated with me. See if you can pick out which type you think you are. To check out the book, and other Patrick Lencioni books, here are a few links: The 6 Types of Working Genius: https://amzn.to/4h7hBlr One of my all-time favorites, “The FIVE Dysfunctions of a Team” https://amzn.to/4dPjwrV “The Motive” https://amzn.to/4eLXKqt “The Advantage” https://amzn.to/4hoGE3J   A Great Book on Self Talk: “What to Say When You Talk to Yourself'” by Shad Helmstetter, https://amzn.to/47rO3uu   “High Road Leadership: Bringing people together in a world that divides.” By John C, Maxwell, https://amzn.to/4cWxury **To learn more about how Paul can walk you and your team through a 12-week High Road Leadership Mastermind, contact him at Paul@CLCTeam.com and put “High Road Leadership” in the subject block.   Thank you for listening. I'm Paul Grau Jr., the host of this show, and I'm excited about Season 10. This season will focus on “The Learning Leader” and/or as we refer to it here at The CLC Team, “The Expanding Leader. Every episode will primarily focus on the lifelong journey of expanding your knowledge of leadership, and I will try to give you a daily takeaway to put what you learn into action. My goal is that you learn something that you can take immediate action on, and see how powerful expanding your leadership can be.    Have you ever wondered why it's so difficult for a group of leaders to norm or be consistent? Well, it's because every leader is unique and has their own style and way of leading their team. By coming together and forming a bond in your organizations leadership team, you can begin norming better than ever before. I use the DISC assessment with every client and team I work with and have found it to be a real game-changer for the entire team. This is certainly no different when you have a group of leaders together. In order for them to work together in unison, they have to begin by knowing each other very well. That's where the DISC comes in, so I will mix the DISC behavioral styles in throughout this series. I am a DISC Certified Trainer and Consultant and have worked with behavioral styles for over 20 years. I am certified through the John Maxwell Leadership Team and have worked with hundreds of teams. If you are interested in having me work with your team leaders or if you want to purchase a DISC assessments for yourself and your team, please contact me via email at Paul@CLCTeam.com If you want to dive in deeper, here are some great books to read and study about the behavioral styles: “Surrounded by Idiots” by Thomas Erikson https://amzn.to/4gphp0D “Full Spectrum Success: Living and Leading in True Color” by Jacob Adamo https://amzn.to/3zglV0A “The Four Tendencies” by Gretchen Rubin https://amzn.to/4dVCMVB “Wired That Way” by Marita Littauer. https://amzn.to/4dZHXUj “Personality PLUS” by Florence Littauer. https://amzn.to/4d1jQmT   Please listen daily (Mon – Friday) as Paul focuses on not only giving tips about how to be a great leader, but also a leader who is respected, a leader who people want to follow, a leader who can confidently navigate their way through both personal and professional challenges, a leader who is not afraid to share their faith while living it out, a leader who knows his/her purpose and lives to fulfill that purpose every day, and a leader who has no regrets! As always, I value your feedback and comments, especially your perspectives and opinions. Please share them with me by emailing them to Paul@CLCTeam.com  Lots of new stuff to come... please consider subscribing, sharing with a friend, and giving me a review on whatever platform you listen on.  Have a great day and Lead Well! “Run To Your Challenges!”

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing: Bookish Moments: bookish crafting and annotation gift sets Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately Deep Dive: diving into research about why reading makes us better humans The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site) .  .  .  .  1:24 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week 2:11 - Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt 5:47 - The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown 5:51 - I Guess I Haven't Learned That Yet by Shauna Niequist 5:55 - Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist 6:28 - Annotation gift set by Mr. Pen and Selah 8:43 - Annotation Set option 2 9:38 - Our Current Reads 9:48 - Between Flowers and Bones by Carolyn Leiloglou (Kaytee) 9:53 - CR Season 6: Episode 4 10:41 - Beneath the Swirling Sky by Carolyn Leiloglou 14:09 - Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman (Meredith) 15:06 - Bird Box by Josh Malerman 15:10 - Daphne by Josh Malerman 15:34 - Coraline by Neil Gaiman 20:59 - Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak 21:01 - Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage 21:05 - We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer 21:54 - Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne (Kaytee) 26:45 - The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive by Patrick Lencioni (Meredith) 28:05 - The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni 29:54 - The Five Temptations of a CEO by Patrick Lencioni 29:56 - The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni 32:47 - Search by Michelle Huneven 34:13 - Unraveling by Peggy Orenstein (Kaytee) 37:38 - A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (Meredith) 40:16 - Twilight by Stephanie Meyer 41:15 - Blackwell's UK 43:09 - Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 46:02 - CR Season 1: Episode 37 47:33 - How Reading Changes Us For The Better Some Stats: 49:26 - The average reading American reads 12 books per year.  49:50 - The average American spends just $35 on books per year. 50:17 - Reading can reduce our stress levels by 68% in just six minutes. 51:04 - Reading can reduce memory decline by 30% because it activates neural pathways and can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease. 52:18 - Transportative fiction helps produce the most empathy in readers, but that empathy boost only lasts around 48 hours, so keep reading! 53:10 - Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes 54:31 - Audiobooks are reading! Studies have shown that audiobooks activate the same neural pathways and cognitive benefits as print reading. 54:50 - Research shows we are less impatient with audiobooks than print. 56:02 - A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas 57:13 - Meet Us At The Fountain 57:19 - I wish people would celebrate their reading in new ways. (Kaytee) 57:36 - Canon Ivy 2 Mini Photo Printer 57:44 - Storygraph 58:01 - Favorite Books of the Year print - Etsy Shop 58:31 - I wish you would give annotating books a try. (Meredith) Support Us: Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon Bookish Friends Receive: The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. September's IPL comes to us from Bright Side Bookshop in Flagstaff, Arizona! Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business.  All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts Connect With Us: The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of the Marketing Secrets podcast, I had the honor of interviewing someone whose work has shaped how I lead my team and build my business—Patrick Lencioni. Patrick is the author of "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" and a pioneer in leadership and organizational health. For nearly two decades, I've been following his insights on creating functional, high-performing teams. So, when he released his new assessment tool called "The Six Types of Working Genius," I knew I had to dive in and see how it could help our community. In this conversation, we delve deep into the Working Genius framework and how it revolutionizes the way you build and manage teams. Patrick explains how understanding your team's individual strengths and weaknesses can optimize productivity, increase job satisfaction, and ultimately drive your business forward. He shares how this new assessment is different from other personality tools—like Myers-Briggs and DISC—by focusing on productivity rather than just personality, making it ideal for entrepreneurs and leaders who want to get the most out of their teams. Key Highlights: The Six Types of Working Genius: Learn about the six areas where people excel—Wonder, Invention, Discernment, Galvanizing, Enablement, and Tenacity—and how these can help you place the right people in the right roles. Team Dynamics and Productivity: Discover how to build balanced teams by identifying gaps in your team's working genius and leveraging complementary skills. Practical Application: Patrick shares real-world examples of businesses transforming their productivity by using the Working Genius model, emphasizing the power of aligning tasks with people's innate strengths. Whether you're just starting to build your team or looking to refine how your current team works together, this episode provides actionable strategies for creating a happier, more productive work environment. Tune in and find out how to put the right people in the right seats on your company's bus! Don't forget to check out this awesome deal from Mint Mobile! https://mintmobile.com/funnels And if you want to enjoy the Marketing Secrets Show ad-free, check out https://marketingsecrets.com/adfree Get 70% off on Welch Equities' retail price at wealthyconsultant.com/secrets Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You've got your daily team, the folks you work with every day, but then there's the executive squad. Patrick Lencioni's "Five Dysfunctions of a Team" says that should be your true loyalty, but how does that translate into practice? Nolan and Kelli talk about navigating those tricky waters and avoiding toxic team vibes when the big boss throws down some tough choices.Explore how HR pros can keep things from blowing up when the executive team calls the shots. *Email us your questions or topics for Kelli & Nolan: hrheretics@turpentine.coHR Heretics is a podcast from Turpentine.Support HR Heretics Sponsors:Planful empowers teams just like yours to unlock the secrets of successful workforce planning. Use data-driven insights to develop accurate forecasts, close hiring gaps, and adjust talent acquisition plans collaboratively based on costs today and into the future. ✍️ Go to https://planful.com/heretics to see how you can transform your HR strategy.Metaview is the AI assistant for interviewing. Metaview completely removes the need for recruiters and hiring managers to take notes during interviews—because their AI is designed to take world-class interview notes for you. Team builders at companies like Brex, Hellofresh, and Quora say Metaview has changed the game—see the magic for yourself: https://www.metaview.ai/heretics—KEEP UP WITH NOLAN, + KELLI ON LINKEDINNolan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolan-church/Kelli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellidragovich/—RELATED BOOK:The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick M. Lencionihttps://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756—TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Intro(00:13) The "First Team" Concept (01:09) Balancing Executive and Functional Teams (03:07) Importance of Organizational Alignment (05:58) Handling Team Disagreements with Executive Decisions (07:58) Sponsors: Planful | Metaview(10:02) Avoiding Toxic Leadership Behaviors (11:44) Explaining Decisions to Teams (13:52) Value of Transparency in Leadership (15:11) Addressing Team Members' Concerns (17:01) Managing Team Turnover and Succession Planning (18:06) Preventing and Addressing Team Toxicity(18:36) Wrap This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hrheretics.substack.com

Welcome back to Season 12 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning and emotional intelligence training for improved well-being, achievement, productivity, and results using practical neuroscience. In Episode 344, we continue with our 18-week self-leadership series, diving into Chapter 14 of Grant Bosnick's book to explore the neuroscience of resiliency. We revisit past episodes with Horacio Sanchez to understand the factors that contribute to resilience and discuss the intriguing analogies presented by Bosnick, including the donkey in the well and the carrot, egg, and coffee bean story. Learn how to build resilience within yourself and your teams by focusing on Patrick Lencioni's five functions of a high-performing team. Discover how developing willpower, a crucial faculty of the mind, can enhance your ability to overcome adversity. We also delve into new research on the anterior mid-cingulate cortex, a brain region associated with willpower and resilience. Join us as we uncover strategies to harness resilience, strengthen our brains, and emerge stronger from life's challenges. Don't miss this insightful episode that equips you with the tools to face adversity head-on and lead with resilience. On today's EPISODE #344 “The Neuroscience of Resilience: Building Stronger Minds and Teams” we will cover: ✔ A review of past EP 74 and EP 286 on “Building Resiliency, Grit and Mental Toughness” ✔ A review of Horacio Sanchez's work on resiliency: protective vs risk factors. ✔ Ch. 14 from Grant Bosnick's Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership book with 2 intriguing analogies presented by Bosnick, including the donkey in the well and the carrot, egg, and coffee bean story. ✔ Learn how to build resilience within yourself and your teams by focusing on Patrick Lencioni's five functions of a high-performing team. Discover how developing willpower, a crucial faculty of the mind, can enhance your ability to overcome adversity. ✔ Discover how developing willpower, a crucial faculty of the mind, can enhance your ability to overcome adversity. ✔ We also delve into new research on the anterior mid-cingulate cortex, a brain region associated with willpower and resilience. For Today, EPISODE #344, we are moving on to Chapter 14, reviewing “The Neuroscience of Resiliency,” a topic we have covered a few times on this podcast, way back with Horacio Sanchez, who named his Educational Consulting Business Resiliency Inc. back on EP #74[i] and then we did a deep dive Brain Fact Friday on EP #286 “Building Resiliency, Grit and Mental Toughness.”[ii] On this episode we reviewed Horacio Sanchez's definition of resiliency as “a collection of protective risk factors that you have in your life” and that there are some factors we are born with, and others come in through childhood, family, school, life events and social experiences. Horacio reminds us that “if you have little risk, it takes less to be resilient. But—if you have a lot of risk, it takes a lot more protective factors to offset the scale.”  This is why two people can possibly respond in two completely different ways after a traumatic experience. One person walks away, dusts themselves off, and recovers quickly, (they had more reservoirs of resilience to tap into) while the other has a completely different outcome, and needs more assistance to get back on track. With resiliency, we can overcome adversity or difficulty and have good outcomes in our life, but you can see why not everyone is born with exactly the same protective factors needed, so we don't all have the same levels of resiliency. Horacio mentioned that “25% of the population are naturally resilient” and his work focuses on instilling this trait in those who are not naturally resilient due to the number of risk factors associated to them. To this day, he continues with his mission, flying around the country, helping our next generation of students to become more resilient. Resiliency came out as a low priority for me with the with 0% (Pathway 5) along with Change and Agility, and it makes more sense to me now that I understand the protective and risk factors that I faced growing up as a child, from my family, from school, life and social events. When I review the list, I can see that I was fortunate to have more protective factors, than risk.   IMAGE FROM EP 74 with Horacio Sanchez. If you've taken the leadership self-assessment[iii], look to see if Resilience (in Pathway 5) along with change and agility, is of a low, medium or high priority for you to focus on this year. If you haven't listened to EP 74, or 286, where we dove deeper into the building resiliency, grit and mental toughness, I highly encourage that you listen to both of these episodes, in addition to what we will uncover today on resiliency.   So what does Grant Bosnick have to say about building resilience in ourselves, and our teams in chapter 14 of his book? He opens up the chapter with a situation with a farmer and his donkey, who had fallen into a hole in the ground, (a well) and couldn't get out. Finally, after trying to get the donkey out, he gave up, and decided to shovel dirt into the well, since the donkey was old, and not worth saving. At first Grant writes that the donkey cried with the dirt being shoveled onto him, until he eventually stopped and was quiet. When the farmer looked into the hole he was amazed at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt, the donkey would shake it off his back, and use the dirt to climb up higher, until he was able to easily step out of the hole and trot off happily. What Grant is showing us at the start of this chapter is that we all will have dirt shoveled on our backs in our life, and “that we can either get buried in the dirt or shake it off and take a step up. Each adversity we face is a stepping stone, and we can get out of the deepest wells by shaking off the dirt and taking a step up.” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 160). There was another analogy in Grant's book that I liked, about a carrot, an egg and a cup of coffee.  The story went like this. There was a young woman who went to her mother one day, complaining the things were difficult for her with her life. Her mother took her into the kitchen and filled three pots with water, and placed them on the elements, bringing each one to a boil. One pot she placed carrots in, the second, an egg and the third one, coffee beans. After 20 minutes, she asked her daughter what she saw. Her mother's explanation was eye-opening. She explained to her daughter that “each of these objects faced the same adversity—boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it was softer and became weak. The egg was fragile…but after being in the boiling water, it's inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. (Bosnick writes that) after being in the boiling water, they changed the water…(and the mother asked her daughter) when adversity faces you, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 161). Grant asks the reader of his book to think about this question. Which one would you pick? “Are you the carrot that seems strong but with pain and adversity (wilted) and became soft, losing its strength? Are you the egg that starts with a soft heart, but hardens with the heat? Or are you like the coffee bean that actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that (brought) the pain?” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 161). I'm hoping that we all desire to experience change with the adversity we face. Bosnick gives two real-life examples of famous people who took their pain, and changed for the better, because of it. Terry Fox, a distance runner from British Columbia, Canada was his first example and Kawhi (Ka-why) Leonard, a professional basketball player from the NBA. You can look up these stories, if you don't know them already. Growing up in Canada, I remember Terry Fox's story well. Terry Fox took the pain of a cancer diagnosis that led to one of his legs being amputated and replaced with an artificial leg, and rather than giving up, or becoming hard or soft, he changed the situation with his Marathon of Hope.  It was “first held in 1981, and has now grown to involve millions of participants in over 60 countries and is now the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research, with over $750 million Canadian dollars raised in his name.” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 162). Bosnick reminds us that “resilience is not only about bouncing back from adversity, but rather it is about surviving and thriving through the stress caused by the adversity, and changing our situation to make it better.” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 162). Building Resilience in Ourselves and Then with Our Teams After Bosnick focused on building resilience in ourselves, he went on to show how to build resilience in our teams, and he mentioned a book, that we have recently talked about with mediation expert John Ford, from EP 340.[iv]   I love making connections with past episodes, and when I read Bosnick mention The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni[v], I went straight back to that episode with John Ford. In chapter 14, Bosnick outlines “the five dysfunctions of teams: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results. (Next he outlines) the five functions of a high performing team: trust, absence of fear of conflict, commitment, accountability and attention to results.” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 170). Bosnick writes that “when we feel accountable and have attention to results, we adopt a mindset or attitude of control, which enables us to take direct, hands-on action to transform changes, adversities and the problems that they may cause…If we believe that we can influence the outcome of an adverse situation, we are more apt to push ourselves to deal with it. If the opposite is true, we may question our ability to turn adversity around and stop trying.” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 171). When I think of a recent time that I faced adversity, and had to be resilient in the process, if I didn't think it would be possible for me to be successful, there is no way I would have persevered. Each individual on a team must have this mindset, as they go through change and adversity. The focus must be on Lencioni's work: “building a high functioning team—with trust, absence of fear of conflict, commitment, accountability and attention to results—(that) will lead to proactive behaviors and increase our own (personal) resilience and the resilience in our team.” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 171). Bosnick offers a reflection activity in Chapter 14 where he asks the reader to: Think of an adverse situation that you are facing at the moment (could be in your work or personal life). Consider how this situation is making you feel. I'm going to add that if you feel like the situation is in control of you, then you are not going to win. You' ve got to be confident that YOU are in control of whatever it is that you are going through. How can you adopt a more prosocial mindset to see the adversity as opportunity to make things better for yourself and others? Thinking of the carrots, the egg and the coffee bean. What will it take to get you to become the coffee bean? How can you help yourself and your team to be more high functioning? Thinking of Lencioni's 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, how will you help your team to move towards trust, absence of fear of conflict, commitment, accountability and attention to results? Developing Our Will to Overcome Adversity:  What will it REALLY take for you to become more resilient and overcome adversity? It will take a highly developed Will Power. We have talked about how to develop this faculty of our mind on EP #294[vi] where we dove deep into the 6 Faculties of our Mind, with our Will Power being one of them. I do highly recommend listening to this episode if you want to review these important faculties. Since I can always use a refresher myself, I'll highlight what we covered on this important faculty that we will need to develop, to overcome adversity. YOUR WILL: This is one of my favorite faculties. (out of the 6: along with our ability to reason, use our intuition, perception, memory and imagination). This one (The use of the Will) gives you the ability to concentrate. While sitting down to write this episode, I've gotten up from my desk a few times, but I'm determined to finish writing this, so I can record and release this today. That's the will at work. You can also use the will to hold a thought on the screen of your mind, or choose thoughts of success, over thoughts of failure. OR-use the power of your Will to overcome the adversity you face, like Terry Fox, or Kawhi (Ka-why) Leonard. If you have a highly evolved will, you'll lock into doing something, block out all distractions, and accomplish what you set out to do. HOW TO DEVELOP THIS FACULTY TO OVERCOME CHALLENGE OR ADVERSITY? Developing the will takes practice. Meditation can strengthen your will, but so can staring at a candle flame until you and the flame become one. I tried this activity in my late 20s, and remember it was a few hours of staring at this candle flame, before I was able to block out the distractions of the outside world, and the flame extended towards me.  This faculty, like the others, takes time and practice, but once you've developed this faculty, you'll know you have the ability to sit, focus, and do anything. An extension of this activity would be that once you and the flame have become one, try to change the color of the flame. In your head say “blue, blue, blue” and watch the color of the flame turn to blue. Pick a different color and see if you can quickly change the color of the flame from blue, to red, to orange, to whatever color you think of.” This activity will strengthen your will. BRINGING IN THE NEUROSCIENCE: It was here that I wondered what neuroscience has to say about this topic. We have covered The Neuroscience of Resiliency on past episodes, but we have not yet covered some new research that Dr. Andrew Huberman discovered this past year about what happens to our brain when we have a highly developed Will Power, that we will need to overcome adversity and challenge. This new research actually made famous scientist jump out of his chair. DID YOU KNOW that there is a part of the brain called “the Anterior mid cingulate cortex. This area is not just one of the seats of willpower but scientists think it holds the secret in “the will to live?”[vii] When I first heard about this part of the brain, I knew it was important for overcoming adversity, and helping us to become more resilient. Scientists discovered that this part in the brain increases in size when we do something we don't want do, like exercising when we would rather not, or diet or resist eating something we know is bad for us, when we would rather eat the old way. Dr. Huberman shared on this eye-opening episode with his guest, David Goggins that “when people do anything that they don't want to do, it's not about adding more work, it's about adding more work that you don't want to do, this brain area gets bigger.” This part of the brain is larger in athletes, larger in people who overcome challenge, and as long as people continue to “do difficult things” this area of the brain keeps its size. To me, this shows that building resilience in ourselves and our teams is not just good for whatever challenge we are looking to overcome, but we are building stronger, more resilient brains: specifically, stronger anterior mid cingulate cortexes. REVIEW AND CONCLUSION To review and conclude this week's episode #344 on “The Neuroscience Behind Building Resilience in Yourself and Your Teams” we covered: A review of EP 74 and 286 where we covered the Neuroscience of Resilience with Horacio Sanchez's work reminding us that our protective or risk factors in our lifetime, will determine how resilient we will be in our life. While 25% of the population are naturally resilient, Horacio asserts that “if you have little risk, it takes less to be resilient. But—if you have a lot of risk, it takes a lot more protective factors to offset the scale.” Horacio has dedicated his life to helping our next generation become more resilient. Next we looked at Grant Bosnick's book, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership (Chapter 14) where he gave us the analogy of the donkey who fell into the well, and demonstrated resiliency when he used the dirt shoveled on him, to climb out. This example taught us that we all will have dirt shoveled on our backs in our life, and “that we can either get buried in the dirt or shake it off and take a step up. Each adversity we face is a stepping stone, and we can get out of the deepest wells by shaking off the dirt and taking a step up.” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 160). Another analogy we learned was through the mother and daughter story, and that when adversity faces you, Bosnick asks us to reflect. “Are you the carrot that seems strong but with pain and adversity (wilted) and became soft, losing its strength? Are you the egg that starts with a soft heart, but hardens with the heat? Or are you like the coffee bean that actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that (brought) the pain?” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 161). I'm hoping that we all desire to experience change with the adversity we face, like the coffee bean. After learning about building resiliency in ourselves, we learned about building resiliency within our teams, and looked at Patrick Lencioni's The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. The absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results. Then we learned to turn this around, using the five functions of a high performing team: trust, absence of fear of conflict, commitment, accountability and attention to results.” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 170). Then we looked at how we develop resiliency, using our Will Power from EP 294 where I shared an activity to strengthen this faculty of our mind either through meditation, or with an activity of staring at a candle flame, and with time, effort and sheer will power, blocking out everything else around you, until you and the candle flame become one. Finally, we looked at the fascinating new neuroscience behind the part of our brain (the anterior mid cingulate cortex) that becomes bigger when we use our will power to do those things we don't want to do. Scientists believe this ability to use our will power to do difficult things, which builds our resiliency, is what's really behind the will to live. I hope you've found this episode on building resilience in yourself and your teams as valuable as I have, and that when challenge comes our way in the future, that we continue to lean into it, using every ounce of our will power, and become a coffee bean, emerging stronger than the challenge we faced, and knowing that this process is building a part of our brain (our anterior mid cingulate cortex) to be bigger, helping us to continue to do difficult things in our future. With that thought, I'll close out this episode and see you next time, with two interviews coming, to help us to continue to build stronger versions of ourselves this year. I'll see you next week. REFERENCES:   [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #74 with Horacio Sanchez on “How to Apply Brain Science to Improve Instruction and School Climate” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/leading-brain-science-and-resiliency-expert-horatio-sanchez-on-how-to-apply-brain-science-to-improve-instruction-and-school-climate/   [ii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #286 on “Building Resiliency, Grit and Mental Toughness”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-on-building-resiliency-grit-and-mental-toughness/   [iii] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick's book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/   [iv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #340 “Navigating Workplace Conflicts: Insights from a Mediation Expert, John Ford”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/navigating-workplace-conflicts-insights-from-a-mediation-expert/   [v] The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni Published April 11, 2002 https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756   [vi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #294 “Beyond Our 5 Senses: Using the 6 Faculties of our Mind” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/beyond-our-5-senses-understanding-and-using-the-six-higher-faculties-of-our-mind/   [vii] How to Build Will Power Dr. Andrew Huberman with David Goggins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84dYijIpWjQ        

Even the best teams can struggle sometimes. In this episode, author and speaker Pat Lencioni outlines some of the dysfunctions that can hinder a team and teaches how to overcome these to build an effective and cohesive unit. YOU WILL LEARN:· Why trust is so important. · Why conflict is necessary.· How to ensure commitment.· Why accountability is vital.· Why inattention to results is so harmful.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:https://www.tablegroup.com/pat/“The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” by Pat Lencioni “Death by Meeting,” by Pat LencioniTeam Leader Conference NOTEWORTHY QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE: “What we assume is what's important.” – Pat Lencioni “We need one another. God didn't design any of us to have everything we need.” – Pat Lencioni “When you have a diversity of skill sets and gifts on a team, and you appreciate those, it changes everything.” – Pat Lencioni “Conflict, when there is trust, is nothing but the pursuit of truth.” – Pat Lencioni “Commitment requires conflict. If you're trying to make a decision as a team, the people on the team are not going to buy in if they didn't weigh in.” – Pat Lencioniitsagoodlife.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

CTO Series: The Red-Pen Apology, Tricia Broderick on Transformative Tech Leadership In this BONUS episode, we sit down with Tricia Broderick, a seasoned tech leader and co-author of Lead Without Blame. With over 25 years in software development leadership, Tricia shares her journey from an individual contributor to a transformative leader. The conversation touches on the challenges of giving up control, the importance of psychological safety, and how to foster resilient and empowered teams. The Red-Pen Apology: A Leadership Awakening "Leadership isn't about doing everything yourself; it's about empowering others to excel." Tricia reflects on a pivotal moment early in her career when she realized that her meticulous attention to detail was sending the wrong message to her team. She shares how this realization led to her "red-pen apology," where she acknowledged her need to step up as a leader rather than continuing to act as an individual contributor. This was the beginning of her journey toward understanding the importance of giving up control to create a healthier, more scalable work environment. Overcoming the Challenge of Letting Go "If you want to lead effectively, you must be willing to let go of control and trust your team." One of the biggest challenges Tricia faced was learning to give up control—a common struggle for leaders who transition from individual contributor roles. She discusses the lack of leadership role models and patterns available during her early career and how this shaped her understanding of effective leadership. Tricia emphasizes the importance of creating the right environment for collective decision-making and shares her insights on how to help other leaders learn these critical skills. Cultivating Psychological Safety in Leadership "Psychological safety isn't a luxury; it's a necessity for team success." Tricia highlights the importance of psychological safety in leadership, particularly in environments where power dynamics are at play. She shares practical tips for helping leaders recognize when their current methods aren't working and how to guide them toward learning new, sometimes uncomfortable skills. Tricia also discusses the need for transparency in leadership, recounting a moment when she realized the mixed messages she was sending about failure within her team. Resilience Factors: Building Blame-Free Teams "To avoid blame and shame, we must focus on resilience factors that empower teams to handle conflict healthily." Tricia introduces the concept of resilience factors—patterns and motivators that help teams avoid blame and shame while working together effectively. She discusses the importance of fostering healthy conversations about conflict and enabling teams to manage these situations independently. By paying attention to these resilience factors, leaders can create environments where teams are empowered and equipped to thrive. Measuring Success: Beyond the Numbers "Metrics should guide us, not define us. Focus on trends and the bigger picture." When it comes to KPIs, Tricia is cautious about relying too heavily on metrics, as they can sometimes negatively impact team morale. She emphasizes the importance of using a set of metrics to understand trends rather than focusing on individual numbers. Tricia also shares her approach to evaluating organizational health, customer impact, and individual contributions, stressing that metrics should align with key initiatives but not become the sole focus. Staying Ahead: Continuous Learning in Tech Leadership "To lead in tech, you must be committed to continuous learning and staying connected with industry trends." Tricia shares how she stays up-to-date with industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in software engineering. She relies on a combination of conferences, networking, and books to inform her decision-making. Tricia also discusses how certain books, like The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni, have influenced her leadership approach, particularly in creating environments that foster trust and collaboration. [IMAGE HERE] Retrospectives, planning sessions, vision workshops, we are continuously helping teams learn about how to collaborate in practice! In this Actionable Agile Tools book, Jeff Campbell shares some of the tools he's learned over a decade of coaching Agile Teams. The pragmatic coaching book you need, right now! Buy Actionable Agile Tools on Amazon, or directly from the author, and supercharge your facilitation toolbox!  About Tricia Broderick Tricia Broderick, co-author of Lead without Blame, is a seasoned leadership and organizational advisor with over twenty-five years of experience in software development leadership. She specializes in transforming leaders and teams to achieve quality outcomes through authentic, inclusive, and engaging collaboration. You can link with Tricia Broderick on LinkedIn and connect with Tricia Broderick on Twitter.

Despite leading a talented team, Patrick Lencioni realized they struggled with innovation because he was the only one with the “invention” working genius. This pushed him to rethink his team's roles and align them with their strengths. The result? A surge in collaboration and creativity, proving the power of the Working Genius framework. In this episode, Patrick shares how to apply the Working Genius model to unlock your team's full potential and foster a culture of innovation and effectiveness. Patrick Lencioni is one of the founders of The Table Group and the pioneer of the organizational health movement. He is the author of 13 books, which have sold over 9 million copies and have been translated into more than 30 languages. In this episode, Hala and Patrick will discuss: - How to identify and leverage your team's natural strengths - The three phases of work for seamless execution - Strategies for filling “genius gaps” in your team - Why innovation often stalls and how to reignite it - The role of team maps in optimizing collaboration - Matching tasks to talents to prevent burnout - Balancing creativity with execution - The key to sustaining long-term innovation - How to make meetings more effective - And other topics…  Patrick Lencioni is one of the founders of The Table Group and the pioneer of the organizational health movement. He is the author of 13 books, which have sold over 9 million copies and have been translated into more than 30 languages. As President of The Table Group, Patrick dedicates his time to speaking and writing about leadership, teamwork, and organizational health. He also consults with executives and their teams. His classic book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, remains a national bestseller over twenty years after its release. His most recent book, The Six Types of Working Genius, was published in September 2022. Connect with Patrick: Patrick's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-lencioni-orghealth/ Patrick's Twitter: https://x.com/patricklencioni  Patrick's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patricklencioni_  Resources Mentioned: Take the Working Genius Assessment: youngandprofiting.co/work  The Table Group: https://www.tablegroup.com/   Patrick's Books:  The Six Types of Working Genius: A Better Way to Understand Your Gifts, Your Frustrations, and Your Team: https://www.amazon.com/Types-Working-Genius-Understand-Frustrations/dp/1637743297  The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756  Patrick's Podcasts:  At The Table: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/at-the-table-with-patrick-lencioni/id1474171732  The Working Genius Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-working-genius-podcast-with-patrick-lencioni/id1553105854   The 3-Minute Reset: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/3-minute-reset-pat-lencioni-chris-stefanick/id1717490448  LinkedIn Secrets Masterclass, Have Job Security For Life: Use code ‘podcast' for 30% off at yapmedia.io/course.   Sponsored By: Shopify - Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at youngandprofiting.co/shopify  Mint Mobile - To get a new 3-month premium wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to mintmobile.com/profiting.  Indeed - Get a $75 job credit at indeed.com/profiting  Found - Try Found for FREE at found.com/profiting Connecteam - Enjoy a 14-day free trial with no credit card needed. Open an account today at Connecteam.com   More About Young and Profiting Download Transcripts - youngandprofiting.com Get Sponsorship Deals - youngandprofiting.com/sponsorships Leave a Review - ratethispodcast.com/yap Watch Videos - youtube.com/c/YoungandProfiting   Follow Hala Taha LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/htaha/ Instagram - instagram.com/yapwithhala/ TikTok - tiktok.com/@yapwithhala Twitter - twitter.com/yapwithhala   Learn more about YAP Media's Services - yapmedia.io/

Pooja Gupta: The Role of Business Knowledge in Effective Product Ownership Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: Empowering Teams with a Clear Product Vision Pooja shares an inspiring story of a Product Owner who turned a struggling team around by focusing on the product vision and applying models like SCARF and the Five Dysfunctions model. This Product Owner's approach not only clarified the team's goals but also empowered the team to take ownership of the product's short and long-term success.    The Bad Product Owner: Escaping the JIRA Secretary Syndrome Pooja discusses a common anti-pattern where Product Owners become "JIRA secretaries," focusing on backlog management rather than being involved in business decisions. She explains how this lack of business knowledge can turn Product Owners into bottlenecks, hindering team progress. Pooja emphasizes the need for Product Owners to have a deep understanding of the business and to bring a clear vision for the product. What are the dangers of having a Product Owner who isn't aligned with the business, and how can you avoid this anti-pattern? Listen in to find out!    [IMAGE HERE] Are you having trouble helping the team work well with their Product Owner? We've put together a course to help you work on the collaboration team-product owner. You can find it at bit.ly/coachyourpo. 18 modules, 8+ hours of modules with tools and techniques that you can use to help teams and PO's collaborate.   About Pooja Gupta Pooja is an Agile Coach at Visma Solutions and Agile Community Lead for Visma Group. With a passion for "limitless learning" and "selfless teaching," she brings empathy and a people-centric approach to her work and everyday life. Based in Helsinki for 9 years, she finds balance through yoga, meditation, and family life. You can link with Pooja Gupta on LinkedIn.

For two decades, Patrick Lencioni bounced between excitement and frustration at work. Driven to understand the root of his frustration, he discovered that while there are six types of work, he only truly enjoyed two. This insight led to the creation of the Working Genius model. Recognizing its universal value, Patrick and his team developed an assessment to help individuals and teams identify their natural strengths and focus on the work that energizes them. In this episode, Patrick reveals how understanding your Working Genius can transform your approach to work, prevent burnout, and boost productivity.  Patrick Lencioni is one of the founders of The Table Group and the pioneer of the organizational health movement. He is the author of 13 books, which have sold over 9 million copies and have been translated into more than 30 languages. In this episode, Hala and Patrick will discuss: - Patrick's journey to discovering the Working Genius model - How to identify your natural talents and avoid burnout - The six types of work that determine job satisfaction - How understanding your team's genius can boost productivity - Why people get stuck in the wrong roles - The most entrepreneurial Working Geniuses - Why some tasks drain your energy - Aligning your job with your genius - Why diverse teams succeed - And other topics…  Patrick Lencioni is one of the founders of The Table Group and the pioneer of the organizational health movement. He is the author of 13 books, which have sold over 9 million copies and have been translated into more than 30 languages. As President of The Table Group, Patrick dedicates his time to speaking and writing about leadership, teamwork, and organizational health. He also consults with executives and their teams. His classic book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, remains a national bestseller over twenty years after its release. Connect with Patrick: Patrick's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-lencioni-orghealth/ Patrick's Twitter: https://x.com/patricklencioni  Patrick's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patricklencioni_  Resources Mentioned: Take the Working Genius Assessment: youngandprofiting.co/work  The Table Group: https://www.tablegroup.com/   Patrick's Books:  The Six Types of Working Genius: A Better Way to Understand Your Gifts, Your Frustrations, and Your Team: https://www.amazon.com/Types-Working-Genius-Understand-Frustrations/dp/1637743297  The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756  Patrick's Podcasts:  At The Table: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/at-the-table-with-patrick-lencioni/id1474171732  The Working Genius Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-working-genius-podcast-with-patrick-lencioni/id1553105854   The 3-Minute Reset: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/3-minute-reset-pat-lencioni-chris-stefanick/id1717490448  LinkedIn Secrets Masterclass, Have Job Security For Life: Use code ‘podcast' for 30% off at yapmedia.io/course.   Sponsored By: Shopify - Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at youngandprofiting.co/shopify  Mint Mobile - To get a new 3-month premium wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to mintmobile.com/profiting.  Indeed - Get a $75 job credit at indeed.com/profiting  Found - Try Found for FREE at found.com/profiting Connecteam - Enjoy a 14-day free trial with no credit card needed. Open an account today at Connecteam.com   More About Young and Profiting Download Transcripts - youngandprofiting.com Get Sponsorship Deals - youngandprofiting.com/sponsorships Leave a Review - ratethispodcast.com/yap Watch Videos - youtube.com/c/YoungandProfiting   Follow Hala Taha LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/htaha/ Instagram - instagram.com/yapwithhala/ TikTok - tiktok.com/@yapwithhala Twitter - twitter.com/yapwithhala   Learn more about YAP Media's Services - yapmedia.io/

We look at how our values fuel our drive and how they often come into friction with today's sociopolitical issues that I feel we are pressured to all have a solid stance on. I see and have felt the tension it can cause. What we grapple with as individuals affects our work and where we work and the corporations that influence and employ much of the population. Patrick Lencioni is someone corporations look to as a guide. He is a highly in demand speaker and the author of thirteen best-selling books with over nine million copies sold. After more than twenty years in print, his classic book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, remains a fixture on national best-seller lists and with most businesses. His most recent book is The Six Types of Working Genius: A Better Way to Understand Your Gifts and I have widely evangelized his personal profiling tool at workinggenius.com where you can find out what your working genius is. I've had all my kids take it. Patrick recently wrote a blog titled, “How To Sew Unity In A Time Of Division.” The article was aimed at CEOs and the issues they and employees are facing. But I took it as an opportunity to talk with someone whose insight I respect, about values overall and the struggle in our current culture to live them out. Patrick says, “The world changed with frightening speed in the past five years. That change wasn't so much a shift as it was a divide. The emergence of a host of sociopolitical issues has created a massive rift in culture, one that is unprecedented in the past 50 years.” We don't get into politics. We don't get into any specific cultural issue. We do have a conversation about values that Pat said was unlike any podcast conversation he's ever had. My hope is this conversation helps you consider your values and your stance, or not…which I'll discuss more in the next episode, on today's cultural issues. Find Patrick at thetablegroup.com Got a comment or question about an episode? Want to ask a question about your drive? Email me. I don't want to just talk to you here, I want to talk with you. kmiller@kevinmiller.co Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to sign up for your FREE 60-day trial. Sign up for AromaTru's Insider Club and today you'll receive a FREE Waterless Oil Diffuser and a FREE lemon eucalyptus oil - that's over $200 in savings. Head to aromatruorganics.com/kevin to take advantage of this exclusive offer.   Kajabi is offering a free 30-day trial to start your business if you go to Kajabi.com/kevin Get 20% off any AquaTru purifier today! Visit AquaTru.com and enter code "KEVIN" at checkout. Go to Quince.com/drives for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns Go to cozyearth.com/driven and use code DRIVEN for an exclusive 40% discount Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Reed and Jake delve into the crucial role of accountability in achieving consistent success. While it's widely recognized as a necessary character trait, we often fall short in embodying it. As the "CEO" of your business, are you holding yourself accountable to your "board"?

Episode #309 // We rarely do interviews on No Bullsh!t Leadership. But when Patrick Lencioni's team reached out to us earlier this year, we jumped at the opportunity to have him join us on the podcast. Patrick Lencioni is a global thought leader, who has established himself as one of the preeminent thinkers of our generation in the field of leadership and organizational behavior. Pat has written more than a dozen books, which are incredibly easy to absorb and apply – some of the most practical content you'll find. His seminal work, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, has sold over 3 million copies, making it one of the highest-selling business books ever written. With such an impressive body of work, which he adds to every week with his two podcasts, At the Table and Working Genius, it was hard to know where to start. I decided to have an open conversation with Pat about some of the key issues that are facing leaders in 2024 and beyond.Our conversation went for well over an hour, so this episode is the first part of the interview, where we discuss hybrid work and courage in leadership.————————FREE QUIZ: I've developed a 3-question quiz that'll give you a free personalized podcast playlist tailored to where you are right now in your leadership career!Click here to take the 30-second quiz now to get your on-the-go playlist————————You can connect with me at:Website: https://www.yourceomentor.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourceomentorInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourceomentorLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-moore-075b001/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@YourCEOMentor————————Our mission here at Your CEO Mentor is to improve the quality of leaders, globally. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My leadership style focuses on being open and creating a work environment where team members feel like family, helping brandiD employees thrive both personally and professionally. The biggest leadership lessons come from the positive and negative examples of leaders in your own life. For me, my father's approach to running a family business emphasized kindness and treating team members with respect. Other leaders taught me the significance of autonomy and empowering employees to take ownership of their work, fostering innovation and confidence within the team. If you're developing your own leadership style, be sure to take time for self-reflection, learn from past experiences, and continually seek knowledge through books and podcasts like "The Business of You." Quotes “One of the reasons I think people start businesses, entrepreneurs launch things, besides the fact that there's a problem they're trying to solve. You know, we also get to create our work environment.” “Certainly one thing that's always been important to me, and I don't even think I was conscious of it at the beginning, actually, it's like just a friendliness, helpful nature. I think our whole team has that.” “I'm a very big proponent of being around positivity. I think life is short. I've said that in other episodes, and I don't have time for drama, I don't have time for negativity, I just want there to be as much positivity in my day to day life as possible.” “I would say my leadership style is I'm open, I want to know more than just what's going on in people's lives. Besides their work day and their crafts. I want people to work in their strengths, I want them to feel happy about being in the work environment that they're in, I don't want them to feel stressed. I think life carries enough stress around, it brings enough stress to all of us. So I want it to be just kind of a pleasant environment, but that is very innovative and cutting edge and where people can learn. And I want to foster people's ability to learn and, and grow personally and professionally. Those are all things that are very important to me. So I think my style is just very kind of open. And trusting.” “Good leaders welcome people on their team that are smarter than them and better than them and certain skill sets, I think that's a huge part of success.” “My ability to grow as a leader is so deeply tied into my personal growth that I've learned in more recent years, particularly around mindset, but knowing that my company isn't going to grow unless I personally grow to that level has been very eye opening.” “Take stock of people you've worked for, what did you like, what didn't you like, do the things you liked and don't do the things you don't like, you know, it's really that simple. “Read books about great leaders, it doesn't matter what industry they're from, or if they're political, or what it might be. But just reading their history and reading about their characteristics and their traits, also is very eye opening.” Links mentioned in this episode: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick M. Lencioni: https://a.co/d/fZIQdiP  

In this episode, Dr. Laura Sicola interviews Patrick Lencioni, author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and The Six Types of Working Genius. They discuss the importance of trust, vulnerability, and conflict in teams, as well as the six types of working genius. Patrick shares personal experiences and insights, providing valuable advice for effective communication and leadership. The conversation explores the five dysfunctions of a team, emphasizing the importance of trust, healthy conflict, commitment, accountability, and attention to results. It also delves into the significance of effective communication, vulnerability, and understanding individual working genius. Pat also shares insights on team dynamics, leadership, and the impact of dysfunctional behaviors on organizational success. In this episode you will learn: Trust and vulnerability are essential for effective team communication and collaboration. Conflict avoidance can hinder team progress and innovation. Constructive conflict is necessary for growth and improvement. Understanding the six types of working genius can help individuals and teams leverage their strengths and work together more effectively. Trust is the foundation of effective teamwork, and without it, healthy conflict and commitment cannot thrive. Healthy conflict is necessary for teams to address issues openly and make decisions that everyone can commit to. Lack of commitment leads to passive agreement, which results in a lack of accountability and inattention to results. Avoidance of accountability hinders team performance and requires peers to hold each other accountable for behaviors and commitments. Inattention to results occurs when individuals prioritize their department's success over the collective success of the organization, leading to dysfunctional team dynamics.   About Patrick: Pat is one of the founders of The Table Group and is the pioneer of the organizational health movement. He is the author of 13 books, which have sold over 9 million copies and have been translated into more than 30 languages. As President of The Table Group, Pat spends his time speaking and writing about leadership, teamwork, and organizational health, and consulting with executives and their teams. After more than twenty years in print, his classic book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, remains a fixture on national best-seller lists. His most recent book, The Six Types of Working Genius, was released in September 2022. He is also the host of the popular business podcast, "At The Table with Patrick Lencioni".   You can connect with Patrick Lencioni in the following ways: Websites: https://workinggenius.com/ https://www.tablegroup.com/ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/working_genius LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-lencioni-orghealth/ Read The 6 Types of Working Genius: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637743297 Read The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756   You can connect with Dr. Laura Sicola in the following ways: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlaurasicola LinkedIn Business Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/laurasicola-inc YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/VocalImpactProductions Facebook: Dr. Laura Sicola Twitter: @LauraSicola Instagram: @drlaurasicola Website: https://laurasicola.com Laura's Online Course: virtualinfluence.today See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.