Podcast appearances and mentions of Frances Hesselbein

This is a recap of the top 10 posts on Hacker News on June 1st, 2024.This podcast was generated by wondercraft.ai(00:39): Napster sparked a file-sharing revolution 25 years agoOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40545436&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(02:18): Loss of nearly a full decade of information from early days of Chinese internetOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40546920&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(03:54): Einstein went to his office just so he could walk home with GödelOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40544407&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(05:38): Space secrets leak disclosureOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40544875&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(07:23): LLMs aren't "trained on the internet" anymoreOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40549021&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(09:01): Lisp: Icing or Cake?Original post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40549250&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(10:25): Frances Hesselbein's leadership story (2022)Original post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40546415&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(11:58): 84–24Original post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40550556&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(13:28): How do our brains adapt to control an extra body part?Original post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40551070&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(15:12): Parable of the SofaOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40551725&utm_source=wondercraft_aiThis is a third-party project, independent from HN and YC. Text and audio generated using AI, by wondercraft.ai. Create your own studio quality podcast with text as the only input in seconds at app.wondercraft.ai. Issues or feedback? We'd love to hear from you: team@wondercraft.ai

Today's guest is on a mission to help leaders work together toward a bright future for all.  She is editor in chief of the Apex Award-winning Leader to Leader journal, founded by Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Frances Hesselbein, and partner and trusted advisor to former CEO of Boeing and Ford Alan Mulally, considered one of the greatest leaders of the 21st Century. Her fields of expertise are leadership, management, personal leadership development, and executive and business coaching. For over twenty years, as COO of Marshall Goldsmith Inc., she led many initiatives, projects, and programs, including The 100 Coaches Project. Her expertise supported the success of Marshall Goldsmith's New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling books, “Triggers” and “What Got You Here Won't Get You There.” She has authored and edited many books, including “Making Waves” with former CEO of Celebrity Cruises Lisa Lutoff-Perlo and “Work Is Love Made Visible” with Marshall Goldsmith and Frances Hesselbein. Please join me in welcoming Sarah McArthur.  Join us for an insightful conversation as Sarah McArthur shares her remarkable leadership journey, her invaluable experiences working with influential figures, and the profound impact of effective communication on shaping a brighter future. In this episode, we discuss:

"Are you a jack of all trades, feeling uncertain about not specializing? This episode of Daily FLOW

Say It Skillfully® is a show that helps you to benefit from Molly Tschang's expert guidance on the best possible ways to speak your mind at work in a positive and productive manner. In Episode 196, Molly is joined by one of the world's greatest leaders, Alan Mulally, who led Boeing to the global leader of commercial airplanes and Ford to the #1 automotive brand in the USA. Alan shares his leadership journey and his “Working Together” System, honed as he's led hundreds of thousands of people in creating value for all the stakeholders and the greater good. We dedicate this episode to the indomitable Frances Hesselbein, who taught us: “Work is love made visible.” “Who you are as a person is going to have more to do with your leadership, service and contribution than anything else.” The foundation of Alan's life of service started at home in Lawrence, Kansas. He reminisces about the daily words impressed upon him by his parents, not least of which included: “Remember Alan, to serve is to live.” “Seek to understand before you seek to be understood.” “It's nice to be important. But it's more important to be nice.” If you don't hear it for yourself, it may be hard to believe Alan's career path… He recounts an early epiphany as bag checker at the grocery store—from humble beginnings and struggling to fit in, to the very top echelons of business Alan was *always* guided by humility, love and service. He delves into how being grounded in your authentic self is the key to saying it skillfully (authenticity = alignment between your beliefs, values and behaviors). And Alan offers how being who you are and developing an integrated life (vs. balancing work and life) has made all the difference! Don't miss learning about Alan's Working Together Strategic, Operational and Stakeholder-center System, which has underpinned his and his organizations' success. Reference materials will be available on Molly's LinkedIn post https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollytschang/ for you to follow along and help you put the system into practice. Join Alan and Molly in being the change you want to see in our world! Be a “Working Together” Leader—I to we and me to service! Molly's thought for the week (Thank you Alan's Mom): The purpose of life: love and be loved—in that order! P.S. To help you in “Working Together”, amp up how you communicate as a leader! Take Molly's 1st LinkedIn Learning course, “Leadership Communication in the Flow of Work.” Here's the link for free 24-hr access bit.ly/3sETIgg

Say It Skillfully® is a show that helps you to benefit from Molly Tschang's expert guidance on the best possible ways to speak your mind at work in a positive and productive manner. In Episode 196, Molly is joined by one of the world's greatest leaders, Alan Mulally, who led Boeing to the global leader of commercial airplanes and Ford to the #1 automotive brand in the USA. Alan shares his leadership journey and his “Working Together” System, honed as he's led hundreds of thousands of people in creating value for all the stakeholders and the greater good. We dedicate this episode to the indomitable Frances Hesselbein, who taught us: “Work is love made visible.” “Who you are as a person is going to have more to do with your leadership, service and contribution than anything else.” The foundation of Alan's life of service started at home in Lawrence, Kansas. He reminisces about the daily words impressed upon him by his parents, not least of which included: “Remember Alan, to serve is to live.” “Seek to understand before you seek to be understood.” “It's nice to be important. But it's more important to be nice.” If you don't hear it for yourself, it may be hard to believe Alan's career path… He recounts an early epiphany as bag checker at the grocery store—from humble beginnings and struggling to fit in, to the very top echelons of business Alan was *always* guided by humility, love and service. He delves into how being grounded in your authentic self is the key to saying it skillfully (authenticity = alignment between your beliefs, values and behaviors). And Alan offers how being who you are and developing an integrated life (vs. balancing work and life) has made all the difference! Don't miss learning about Alan's Working Together Strategic, Operational and Stakeholder-center System, which has underpinned his and his organizations' success. Reference materials will be available on Molly's LinkedIn post https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollytschang/ for you to follow along and help you put the system into practice. Join Alan and Molly in being the change you want to see in our world! Be a “Working Together” Leader—I to we and me to service! Molly's thought for the week (Thank you Alan's Mom): The purpose of life: love and be loved—in that order! P.S. To help you in “Working Together”, amp up how you communicate as a leader! Take Molly's 1st LinkedIn Learning course, “Leadership Communication in the Flow of Work.” Here's the link for free 24-hr access bit.ly/3sETIgg

Episode Summary: In this episode of the L3 Leadership podcast, John Stahl-Wert returns to the podcast to talk about the role of pain in a leaders life, books he's written, and provides some valuable advice to leaders who may be struggling.                   About John Stahl-Wert: Dr. John Stahl-Wert is a best selling author, speaker, and acclaimed authority in the field of leadership development. His focus is helping individuals, organizations, and communities worldwide to embrace and implement the principles of Serving Leadership.As an entrepreneur who successfully launched multiple for- and non-profit organizations, John understands the challenges of life and leadership that enables him to quickly and authoritatively connect with the hearts and minds of his audience.John serves as the President of Newton Institute, which provides leadership development training and resources to aspiring, emerging and existing leaders around the world. John also serves as Adjunct Faculty for the Ray Bakke Centre for Urban Transformation in Hong Kong and for Geneva College's Master of Science in Organizational Leadership program.John's best-selling books have been translated into nine languages, sold more than 120,000 copies, and have garnered praise from top leadership experts Ken Blanchard, Henry Cloud, Max DePree, Frances Hesselbein, Laurie Beth Jones, and William Pollard. Dr. John Stahl-Wert is a best selling author, speaker, and acclaimed authority in the field of leadership development. His focus is helping individuals, organizations, and communities worldwide to embrace and implement the principles of Serving Leadership.4 Key Takeaways:1. John talks about how leaders must “grow up” in order to truly serve.2. He shares his views on admitting faults and posturing yourself for improvability.3. John talks about his organization, Center for Serving Leadership.4. He provides some insight into what he believes causes insecurity in leaders and how to overcome that.Quotes From the Episode:“I don't see problems when I have a strategy, I see solutions.”“It's impossible to make progress if we cannot admit we have a problem.”“One of the chief roots of our insecurity is comparison.”Resources Mentioned:Books by JohnCenter for Serving LeadershipConnect with John:Website | Linkedin | Facebook 

Alan Mulally is one of the world's most recognized CEOs for his contributions and industry leadership. Honors include being named No. 3 on Fortune's “World's Greatest Leaders” list, one of the 30 “World's Best CEOs” by Barron's magazine, “Industry Leader of the Year” by Automotive News magazine, one of “The World's Most Influential People” by TIME magazine, “Chief Executive of the Year” by Chief Executive magazine, “Man of the Year” in the automotive sector by El Mundo and “Person of the Year” by Aviation Week magazine. Alan Mulally served as president and chief executive officer of Ford Motor Company and was a member of the company's Board of Directors from September 2006 to June 2014.. Prior to Ford, Mulally was named Boeing's president of Commercial Airplanes in September 1998. The responsibility of chief executive officer for the business unit was added in March 2001. Alan has also been honored with the American Society for Quality's Joseph M. Juran Medal for excellence in executive leadership for Quality, the Automotive Executive of the Year Award, the Edison Achievement Award and induction into the Kansas Business Hall of Fame. Mulally served on the President's Export Council, which was formed in 2010 to advise U.S. President Barack Obama on export enhancement and ways to encourage companies to increase exports and enter new markets. He previously served as co-chairman of the Washington Competitiveness Council, and sat on the advisory boards of NASA, the University of Washington, the University of Kansas, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board. He is a member of the United States National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of England's Royal Academy of Engineering. For a selection of articles about Alan Mulally visit https://theengineunderthehood.substack.com/p/alan-mulallys-engine Alan Mulally Biography Work Is Love Made Visible: A Collection of Essays About the Power of Finding Your Purpose from the World's Greatest Thought Leaders, Frances Hesselbein, Marshall Goldsmith, Sarah McArthur, foreword Alan Mulally. “A Conversation with Alan Mulally about His “Working Together”© Strategic, Operational, and Stakeholder-Centered Management System,” Alan Mulally and Sarah McArthur, Leader to Leader, Volume 104. The Extraordinary Power of Leader Humility: Thriving Organizations - Great Results, foreword and chapter by Alan Mulally about how leader humility enables and nurtures effective working together by great teams, Marilyn Gist, PhD. Lessons from Leaders, Marshall Goldsmith, Sam Shriver, Kathy McDermott. “To Serve Is to Live” “Engineer of the Year Alan Mulally” Lawrence D. Maloney, Design News, March 4, 1996. Twenty-First Century Jet: The Making and Marketing of the Boeing 777, Book and Video, Karl Sabbagh. American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company, Bryce Hoffman. “American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company” Summary, Brady Pyle, Out of This World Leadership. Willow Creek-Working Together, Alan Mulally, September 8, 2016. “The Elevated Leader: Level Up Your Leadership Through Vertical Development,” an Gottfredson, Morgan James Publishing, October 2022. “Former CEO Alan Mulally Is Who CEOs Need to Be Today,” Article + Video, Dan Pontefract, Forbes, July 2022. Working Together: 12 Principles for Achieving Excellence in Managing Projects, Teams and Organizations, James Lewis. “How to Become a Game-Changing Leader,” Doug Ready, Alan Mulally, MIT Sloan Management Review, Fall 2017, Vol. 59 No. 1, pp. 63-71. “Working Together” Leadership and Management System to Create Value for All the Stakeholders and the Greater Good, The Forum Club Interview with Alan Mulally, January 24, 2023

What must our organizations do today to help our country maintain its greatness and to sustain the democracy? What does business owe the world? In this Accelerate Your Performance podcast episode, Dr. Janet Pilcher discusses these questions posed by Frances Hesselbein in order to understand the importance of creating healthy schools and communities. Listen as Janet reflects on how individuals, organizations, and society can create a sense of responsibility by keeping these questions in mind. Recommended Resources: Rethinking School Safety, Create a Positive School Culture, The Value of Kindness, & Corporate Social Responsibility

When I think about the icons of management and leadership theorists, not many names come to mind. But a few do. Peter Block, Peter Drucker, Frances Hesselbein. In this interview, I had the deep pleasure of speaking with Frances from her office at the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute. For those of you who are not familiar with Frances, she held the position of CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA from 1976 to 1990 and is the recipient of 21 honorary doctoral degrees, the author of three autobiographies, and the co-editor of 30 books, now published in 29 languages. Her most recent book is titled Peter Drucker's Five Most Important Questions: Enduring Wisdom for Today's Leaders. In this interview, Frances and I discuss: How she met Peter Drucker Lessons learned from building strong partnerships The secret to a relevant, living mission statement

Marshall Goldsmith: The Earned Life Marshall Goldsmith is one of the world's leading executive coaches and the New York Times bestselling author of many books, including What Got You Here Won't Get You There, Mojo, and Triggers. In his coaching practice, he has advised more than 150 major CEOs and their management teams, including clients like Alan Mulally, Frances Hesselbein, and Hubert Joly. His newest book is The Earned Life: Lose Regret, Choose Fulfillment*. We've all heard about the benefits of empathy and most of us assume that more empathy for the people we lead is always better. In this conversation, Marshall and I look at the different types of empathy and explore the downsides of leaning into empathy too much. Plus, we explore how singular empathy can help busy leaders stay present in the midst of their busy schedules. Key Points There are multiple types of empathy — and each of them bring challenges along with their positive attributes. We often hit the reset button successfully at work, but then neglect it in our personal relationships. Singular empathy helps us to stay present with people and to move between the multiple spaces and situations that most leaders find themselves in daily. A key question for us all to ask ourselves: am I being the person I want to be right now? Resources Mentioned The Earned Life: Lose Regret, Choose Fulfillment* by Marshall Goldsmith Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes The Way to Stop Rescuing People From Their Problems, with Michael Bungay Stanier (episode 284) Getting Better at Empathy, with Daniel Goleman (episode 391) The Way to Be More Self-Aware, with Tasha Eurich (episode 442) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Kris welcomes world-renowned coach and author Marshall Goldsmith for a fun conversation on learning to accept feedback, balancing achievement and aspirations, and the fact that we all need help. Marshall talks about his new book, The Earned Life: Lose Regret, Choose Fulfillment, and the reasons he sees people forgetting to be happy. Marshall gives a few practical and easy tips to get you out of the constant achievement mindset and into one of appreciation and joy. He and Kris also discuss how great leaders aren't afraid to do any of the jobs around them. Tune in for a super great chat, as we learn from the man coaching many of the top leaders and executives today.   Key Takeaways: [4:48] Most humans get stuck in a level of just living from day to day and being reactive instead of being intentional. [5:08] When we are solely focused on achievement, we can forget to enjoy the day-to-day process of living. Marshall talks about working with top executives and leaders who have the accomplishment part down but are learning to enjoy the present moment every day. [8:19] It's hard to not get addicted to achievement. While it's great to achieve for the sake of achieving, it's important not to confuse it with happiness. [11:29] One of the reasons people aren't happy is because they forget to be happy! [13:03] Everyone needs help, and that's okay. Marshall discusses how even the top athletes and top performers need a coach, including him. [15:21] Marshall reminds us to not worry so much, and not to get so fixated on the outcome of things that we enjoy the journey. [17:04] Don't wait and don't hesitate! [20:36] Marshall talks about adopting 15 people and teaching them all he knows, for zero cost. The expectation is that they move it forward and help someone else. [23:43] Great leaders walk the talk and are willing to do any job in their organization. Marshall shares a great story about Frances Hesselbein. [24:36] You have to have the courage to get the necessary feedback that will help you grow.   Quotes: “It's hard not to get addicted to achievement.” — Marshall [8:19] “One of the reasons people aren't happy is because they forget to be happy!” — Marshall [11:29] “We all need help. My clients are among the most distinguished people in the world.” — Marshall [13:03] “Don't wait and don't hesitate!” — Marshall [17:04] “Be willing to do the behaviors and do any job in your organization. There's nothing too low or too small.” — Kris [24:18]   Mentioned in This Episode: Kris Murray The Child Care Success Company The Child Care Success Academy The Child Care Success Summit Marshall Goldsmith Michael Phelps Albert Pfizer Moonshots: Creating a World of Abundance The Earned Life: Lose Regret, Choose Fulfillment

If I measure a book's quality by how much it changes my perspective and enables me to improve my life, Dr. Farrell's The Myth of Male Power (1993) is one of the best books I've read. He's written valuable book after valuable books since, up to and including The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It (2018).I grew up believing in equality between the sexes and believe so now more than ever. Dr. Farrell's insight helped illuminate and clarify ways I and society don't empathize with men or realize how men are trapped and suffer. I've written about the chip on my shoulder about how people respond to my sharing my suffering to say my suffering isn't suffering and that I'm actually causing others to suffer or that the best I can do is to shut up and listen. I knew something was missing. His work helped make things fall into place.If I measure someone's leadership by how much that person influences others through inspiration, not coercion or authoritarian means, Dr. Farrell is a great leader. My mentor, Frances Hesselbein, also says the role of a leader is to see what others don't, which he does too.Bringing things back our environment, his leadership in seeing and clearly describing what others don't resembles what I find mission in sustainability. I'll always welcome more science and reporting, but we lack leadership. We lack people who inspire by connecting with their intrinsic motivations. I believe we can learn from him and apply what he's achieved in sustainability.Warren Farrell's home page See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

My guest is a great example of how a non-linear career as well as experiences like being a contestant on Fear Factor led to transferable business skills and innovation. I can highly recommend David Epstein's book “Range” that talks more about that very topic. And he also includes in his book the example of Frances Hesselbein, a leadership visionary who started her professional career in her mid-fifties, becoming CEO of Girl Scouts USA by drawing on her many decades of volunteer and unpaid care work earlier. But now without further ado, let me introduce my guest to you. Eddie Lin started his career in New York at UBS Investment Bank and Goldman Sachs. After moving to California, he transitioned into marketing at Adobe and then Strategy and Business Development at Live Nation/Ticketmaster. Upon graduation from business school Eddie decided to become a contestant on the reality-TV show Fear Factor where he ate 20 live bees on the season finale. After realizing that traditional education did not actually prepare him for his jobs, he founded NexusEdge to democratize access to economic opportunity by bringing employer-specific training and hiring into the classroom. NexusEdge is an alumni of the Techstars Kansas City accelerator and has since partnered with Google, Citi Ventures, LinkedIn, Canvas, and Shopify on career pathways with a focus on community colleges. Eddie holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from the University of Southern California where he served as Student Body President.   How can you reach Eddie: Email: eddie@nexusedge.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddie-lin-3b20714/ LinkedIn NexusEdge: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nexusedge/ Website: https://www.nexusedge.com/   What we talked about: We spoke about how to make the hiring process more equitable and Eddie what made him decide to found NexusEdge, what it does and how it reduces bias in the hiring process. Eddie and I covered many aspects of skills:  Transferable business skills from being a student and professional returning to paid after a long period of absence Transferable skills from various aspects of one's professional life Skills from attending Fear Factor   How to connect with Karin Tischler, producer and podcast host of "Job Sharing and Beyond", and founder of Emily's Path Consulting (EPC): Website: https://emilyspath.ca/  LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/karin-tischler/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/jobsharingandbeyond/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/JobsharingByond Twitter: https://twitter.com/karin_tischler Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karintischlerbc/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/emilyspathca/?viewAsMember=true Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmilysPathConsulting  

In 1930, Rotary Founder Paul Harris said, "The world is a changing place, and Rotary MUST change with it." And it has. Maya Angelou said, “If you don't like something, change it. If you cannot change it, change your attitude.” And we have. Frances Hesselbein said, "Culture does not change because we desire to change it. Culture changes when the organization is transformed – the Culture reflects the realities of people working together every day.” And it has. Change is an external alteration. Transformation is an internal process. Both are necessary to sustain Rotary's mission, Service Above Self. To deal with both concepts simultaneously, an organization must have committed and empowering leadership. Meet Harry Henderson Jr. 2020-2021District Governor for Rotary District 7610, a perfect leader for such a time as this. During his term as President of his Club, Harry established a vibrant and innovative path for Club Membership growth. In total, Bailey's Crossroads Virginia Rotary Club grew by over 20 members during his term and received over 18 club and individual awards that year. In 2016 and 2017, he became the Membership Development Director for the district, presenting innovative ways for clubs to enhance their membership options. Since 2008 and the birth of his daughter, Harry has been an advocate for disability issues and individuals with disabilities. In 2014, Harry was appointed by the Governor to the Commonwealth of Virginia's State Independent Living Council (SILC). In 2017, Harry was appointed by Fairfax County School Board Member Sandy Evans to the Fairfax County Public School's Committee for Assistance for Students with Disabilities. The two proudest distinctions that Harry claims are that he is married to the love of his life, Catherin Henderson, and is a proud father to his daughter, Jackie. Harry has turned every personal and professional test into a testimony. Click below and feel Harry's leadership energy, commitment, and creativity.

Previously, we were joined by a world-renowned business educator and coach, Dr. Marshall Goldsmith. To keep the ball rolling, it is my utmost pleasure to welcome today’s guest, Sally Helgesen. Sally’s most recent book, How Women Rise, co-authored with legendary executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, examines the behaviors most likely to get in the way of successful women. It became the top-seller in its field within a week of publication, and rights have been sold in 15 languages.   Previous books include The Female Advantage: Women’s Ways of Leadership, hailed as the classic in its field and continuously in print since 1990, and The Female Vision: Women’s Real Power at Work, which explores how women’s strategic insights can strengthen their careers. The Web of Inclusion: A New Architecture for Building Great Organizations was cited in The Wall Street Journal as one of the best books on leadership of all time and is credited with bringing the language of inclusion into business.   Sally Helgesen has been cited in Forbes as the world’s premier expert on women’s leadership, is an internationally best-selling author, speaker, and leadership coach. She has been ranked number 6 among the world’s top 30 leadership thinkers by Global Gurus, honored by the coaching consortium MEECO for her transformational influence on organizational cultures, and chosen as the Thinkers 50/Marshall Goldsmith world’s top coach for women leaders.   Listen as we discuss the difference between the work experience of men and women. More importantly, we dived deep into Sally’s book and discussed some of the 12 habits that hold women back from their next-level promotion. As a dad of three girls, this episode is very special to me. I definitely learned something, so I hope you tune in and enjoy this episode as much as I do.   Episode Highlights:   ●       Sally’s Career Path [2:10] ●       How Women Rise Book[05:30] ●       ‘You’ on Autopilot [08:18] ●       Motivation: Men vs. Women [10:30] ●       HABIT #1: Reluctance to claim your achievements [14:15] ●       HABIT #3: Overvaluing Expertise[20:30] ●       HABIT #9: Too Much [25:50] ●       HABIT # 12: Letting your radar distract you [33:09] ●       Book Recommendations and More [36:58]   Resources Mentioned In This Episode: ●       I believe anyone can be a leader in today’s world; that’s why I’ve created a short, user-friendly book called Redefining the Top 1 Percent. Get your FREE copy by joining our Facebook Group here. Not only are you getting a free copy of my book, but you’ll also get lots of FREE training and resources on a weekly basis. ●       Get to know more about Sally and her works by visiting her website at sallyhelgesen.com. ●       Sally wrote a total of seven books. Grab your copy of Sally’s books here. ●       Aside from Sally’s books, one that is greatly mentioned in this episode is Marshall Goldsmith’s book, What Got You Here Won't Get You There. Grab your copy of the book here. ●       In Case You Missed It: I sat down with Marshall Goldsmith, Sally’s co-author in How Women Rise, in a previous episode. Check it out here. ●       Connect with Sally by sending her an email or through  the following: o   Twitter o   LinkedIn o   YouTube ●       Book Recommendations: o   Leading Change by John Kotter o   Post-Capitalist Society by Peter Drucker o   My Life in Leadership by Frances Hesselbein   Quotes: “Our habits are the result of our experience. This is why they can be often different for men and women because men and women tend to have somewhat different experiences in the workplace. This becomes more true as they move to a higher level.” “In my 30 years of working with women, I find them tending to put value on intrinsic satisfaction in their job and less on extrinsic satisfaction.” “They [women] will be less oriented to stick with a job that has very high position and high financial reward if they feel that the intrinsic factors are not there.”  “Millenials understand that work is much more consuming and demanding than it used to be.” “Give people a moment to get used to you, and don’t always try to swoop in.” “Every single great career is built on three legs: expertise, visibility, and connection.” “In the US, women use an average of 20,000 words a day and men use an average of 7 words a day.”     Ways to Subscribe to Redefining The Top One Percent:   Apple Podcast Castbox PlayerFM Spotify

Thought-filled pauses increase the influence of leaders Thoughtful pauses are a first line strategy with soft skill development In 2018 I had the opportunity to hear Juliet Funt speak on her ideas about White Space. Juliet is the CEO of a company called White Space at Work and she refers to white space as a strategic pause taken between activities - like taking little sips of water. Juliet shares about the thieves of productivity and how, when we take the things we do well and move them to the extreme, they become unproductive.  Four thieves were identified: drive, excellence, information and activity. DRIVE can become hyperdrive EXCELLENCE in the extreme becomes perfectionism Continual seeking for INFORMATION evolves into information overload And extreme ACTIVITY becomes frenzy How do you avoid the thieves? When you can't (external)or won't (internal) plan what you do at work, including the pace and pressure of your days, you will become increasingly less effective.   15 years ago Frances Hesselbein, former CEO of the girl scouts and now President and CEO of the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute wrote, the first challenge facing leaders “ is a matter of how to be leaders – not how to do leadership”. Frances is now 105 years old. Dr Eugene Haebaker, in his book, Essential Soft Skills That Transform Leaders and the People They Lead looks at building and maintaining a healthy spiritual, mental, and physical foundation. Rather than white space, he calls this time, Sacred Space. Again, focusing on the idea that leaders will likely fail when they are not grounded in a space that consistently offers planned thoughtfulness. White space and sacred space are parts of the same continuum. Perhaps they involve different levels of thinking but the bottom line of planning your space is that as leaders, you and I need to determine how we choose to engage in this protected time.  Pursuit of your own strategy to protect time that allows you to think for yourself prepares you to be ready to act on what you think, to clarify what your position is, to be able to articulate what your focus is and where you want your focus to make a difference.  Coming out of regularly recurring spaces of planned thoughtfulness, your voice can provide clarity and even calm in an overly busy world. What about Cyberspace and the profound effect on our use of time. Both good and not good.  Questions to Ask: How can a leader optimize their use of cyberspace to protect a space needed for strategic thinking for furthering the foundations of their leadership?  Can a leader pursue rhythms of work that allow for space to continually affirm who we are and not just what we do? Who am I being? What do I think? Where is my focus? How am I influencing and adding value to myself and those around me?   Pause and reflect. I promise you'll grow as a result of it. Are you looking to grow in this area. To be more strategic in your thinking. You can reach me at http://www.healthyleadership.online/ (www.healthyleadership.online). As a leadership coach, I'd love to connect and talk about how I can support your growth. Resources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TVcgqF08GY (Juliet Funt, CEO, White Space at Work) https://www.amazon.com/Softer-Side-Leadership-Essential-Transform/dp/1632694689 Frances Hesselbein quoted in Chief Executive, January/February, 1995, 38. PaAmJXo9WIf5qgJV0UKn

This episode is a conversation with Charles Ament. I found this to be a conversation filled with genuine reflection. Coach Ament wrestles with servant-leadership as continual growth and struggle, that it is something we are always in training to become, and probes for deeper understandings throughout our conversation. He also highlights that service to others is often an outgrowth of developing greater purpose, the power of humility and vulnerability in relationships, and the power of asking great questions, questions that provide an opportunity for others to learn more about themselves.Charles Ament is the Head Men's Basketball Coach at Langham Creek High School in Houston, TX. Coach Ament has been the Head Coach of the Lobos since 2007, and his tenure features 10 playoff appearances, and 6 20-win seasons. Beyond his record on the court, I believe Coach Ament is someone who truly embodies commitment to the growth of people, one of the Ten Characteristics of Servant-Leadership, a list developed by Larry Spears, President & CEO of the Spears Center for Servant-Leadership.Further Reading:Forgiveness and Power In the Age of Atrocity by Shann FerchWork Is Love Made Visible by Frances Hesselbein & Marshall GoldsmithEssentialism by Greg McKeownThe War of Art by Steven Pressfieldadamgcoaching.comLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-gierlach/Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamgierlachInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/adam.gierlach/

Kip Ward is a retired General who, among other things, was the first leader of the Africa Command. He shares his background so you can hear it from him. It's extensive, having served at every level of the army. I met him through previous guest Frances Hesselbein and watched a few videos in which he spoke of leadership, which I linked to below.He spoke of things I don't see in sustainability and environmental stewardship but work. I took away from those talksAddressing the conditions that led to a situationGood, effective governance through sustained efforts, which he contrasts with technology or authorityAuthority and force being the last option, despite it being what he was trained in to reach that levelUnderstanding the society and people you want to lead. Their interests and views drive all you do. You have to know your team and goals, but theirs drive strategy.Get to know people and what matters to them.Listen.Do yourself what you expect them to do.I particularly like his commitment for reasons you'll understand when you hear it. Kip is choosing deliberately. I believe action by leaders helps others to follow.Combating Terrorism at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, on C-SpanEffective Leadership and Team-building In Complex Technical Environments at the Black Engineer of the Year AwardsFootprints: The Legacy We Leave at TEDxPentagon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Elegant, powerful, gracious, beautiful, and generous are some of the words Dr. Karen uses to describe leadership icon, Frances Hesselbein. In this podcast, she reflects on the remarkable life and accomplishments of this great leader and reminisces about the times when they worked together.   Click here  https://engage.pitt.edu/hesselbein to make a charitable donation to the … The post Frances Hesselbein: Happy 105th Birthday! first appeared on TRANSLEADERSHIP, INC®.

Peter Economy is The Leadership Guy on Inc.com and has worked closely with some of the nation’s top business, leadership, and technology thinkers.  Peter is a best-selling business author, ghostwriter, developmental editor, and publishing consultant with more than 100 books to his credit (and more than 3 million copies sold). And for more than a decade served as Associate Editor for Leader to Leader magazine—published by the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Forum in New York City. Peter taught MGT 453: Creativity and Innovation as a lecturer at San Diego State University is on the National Advisory Council of The Art of Science Learning, and is a founding member of the board of SPORTS for Exceptional Athletes. A graduate of Stanford University (with majors in Economics and Human Biology), Peter has worked closely with some of the nation’s top business, leadership, and technology thinkers, including Jim Collins, Frances Hesselbein, Barry O’Reilly, Peter Senge, Kellie McElhaney, Jeff Patton, Marshall Goldsmith, Marty Cagan, Lolly Daskal, Guy Kawasaki, Emma Seppala, William Taylor, Jim Kilts, Jean Lipman-Blumen, Stephen Orban, Ken Blanchard, and many others. In our previous episode of Your Partner In Success, Peter talked about his book 'Wait, I'm the Boss?!?: The Essential Guide for New Managers to Succeed from Day One' and why he wrote it.  Website

Jennifer K. Hill speaks with best-selling author and consultant, Peter Economy. Peter shares tips from his latest book Wait, I'm the Boss?!? In the interview, Peter emphasizes the importance of compassion as a leader and offers suggestions on how to delegate and create thriving teams. inc.com/author/peter-economy Peter Economy is a best-selling business author, ghostwriter, developmental editor, and publishing consultant with more than 100 books to his credit (and more than 3 million copies sold). Peter’s latest book is Wait, I’m the Boss?!? – published by Career Press. He also helped create Unlearn: Let Go of Past Success to Achieve Extraordinary Results; Everything I Learned About Life I Learned in Dance Class; The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness; Managing For Dummies; Story Mapping: Discover the Whole Story, Build the Right Product; The Management Bible; Peter Isler’s Little Blue Book of Sailing Secrets; and many more. He’s the Leadership Guy on Inc.com and served for many years as Associate Editor for Leader to Leader magazine—published by the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Forum in New York City. Peter taught MGT 453: Creativity and Innovation as a lecturer at San Diego State University, is on the National Advisory Council of The Art of Science Learning, and is a founding member of the board of SPORTS for Exceptional Athletes. A graduate of Stanford University (with majors in Economics and Human Biology), Peter has worked closely with some of the nation’s top business, leadership, and technology thinkers, including Jim Collins, Frances Hesselbein, Barry O’Reilly, Peter Senge, Kellie McElhaney, Jeff Patton, Marshall Goldsmith, Marty Cagan, Lolly Daskal, Guy Kawasaki, Emma Seppala, William Taylor, Jim Kilts, Jean Lipman-Blumen, Stephen Orban, Ken Blanchard, and many others.

Peter Economy is The Leadership Guy on Inc.com and has worked closely with some of the nation’s top business, leadership, and technology thinkers.  Peter is a best-selling business author, ghostwriter, developmental editor, and publishing consultant with more than 100 books to his credit (and more than 3 million copies sold). And for more than a decade served as Associate Editor for Leader to Leader magazine—published by the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Forum in New York City. Peter taught MGT 453: Creativity and Innovation as a lecturer at San Diego State University, is on the National Advisory Council of The Art of Science Learning, and is a founding member of the board of SPORTS for Exceptional Athletes. A graduate of Stanford University (with majors in Economics and Human Biology), Peter has worked closely with some of the nation’s top business, leadership, and technology thinkers, including Jim Collins, Frances Hesselbein, Barry O’Reilly, Peter Senge, Kellie McElhaney, Jeff Patton, Marshall Goldsmith, Marty Cagan, Lolly Daskal, Guy Kawasaki, Emma Seppala, William Taylor, Jim Kilts, Jean Lipman-Blumen, Stephen Orban, Ken Blanchard, and many others. In this episode of Your Partner In Success Peter will talk about his book 'Wait, I'm the Boss?!?: The Essential Guide for New Managers to Succeed from Day One' and why he wrote it. He says " Unfortunately, few organizations devote much in the way of time or money in training their managers, yet they expect them to take on important responsibilities quickly.  Website

In this episode, David Epstein, best-selling author of Range and The Sports Gene, discusses the evidence around the most effective ways to improve long-term performance and learning in our specialties, our sports, our careers, and our lives. David makes a compelling case that a range of experiences and skills are more likely to lead to expert performance compared to early specialization, and offers an in-depth critique of the much-publicized 10,000-Hour Rule. David also provides insights into our role as parents in the process of encouraging exposure to many things, the concepts of when to push them, when to give them space, and when to allow them to quit. Furthermore, David goes into many other fascinating topics such as the role of talent, genetics, and practice in reaching expert status, what differentiates a kind vs. wicked learning environment, the importance of “informal training,” and many case studies that suggest strategies for short-term success may not be best for long-term development. We discuss: A shared interest in Ayrton Senna, and pondering the value in participating in sports [2:30]; Examining the 10,000-Hour Rule, and the importance of questioning existing dogma [15:00]; How the medical profession is affected by bad science, and the importance of understanding individual variation [28:00]; David’s most surprising findings when writing The Sports Gene [35:45]; Kind versus wicked learning environments [40:45]; How and why strategies for short-term success may not be best for long-term development [47:30]; Contrasting the success stories of Tiger Woods and Roger Federer—which path is more common, and an argument for diversified training and experiences [59:15]; Is there an age-range or “critical window” during which exposure is necessary to reach a certain level of proficiency or mastery of a skill or knowledge? [1:14:00]; How diversifying your interests and unraveling your identity from your speciality could lead to more enjoyment and actually improve performance in your speciality [1:22:15]; The undervalued importance of “informal training” [1:29:15]; Advice for increasing match quality in your work—where interests and abilities align—to optimize both job performance and fulfillment [1:41:15]; Would David want his own son to attend college given the current state of higher education? [1:51:15]; The role of a parent—how to encourage sampling, when to push them, when to allow them to quit, and insights from the childhoods of Tiger Woods and Wolfgang Mozart [1:55:45]; The need for varied perspectives and the ability to improvise—insights gained from the Space Shuttle Challenger tragedy [2:08:45]; How a diversified background and identity could be the difference in life or death—the Hotshot firefighters case study [2:22:15]; David’s takeaways from the inspiring story of Frances Hesselbein [2:29:00]; and More. Learn more: https://peterattiamd.com/ Show notes page for this episode: https://peterattiamd.com/davidepstein Subscribe to receive exclusive subscriber-only content: https://peterattiamd.com/subscribe/ Sign up to receive Peter's email newsletter: https://peterattiamd.com/newsletter/ Connect with Peter on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

Traits and Habits of Great Leaders: How the best leaders throughout history and across industries differ from the ordinary Interview with Scott S. Smith Scott Smith has had 1,800 articles and interviews published in 190 media, including Investor's Business Daily, Entrepreneur, Success, Chief Executive, American Airlines' American Way, United Airlines' Hemispheres, and Los Angeles Magazine. His focus has been on the practices that distinguish great leaders from the rest and he has interviewed dozens of top CEOs, including Bill Gates, Meg Whitman, Mark Cuban, Larry Ellison, Howard Schultz, Lee Iacocca, Marilyn Carlson Nelson of the Carlson Companies, Whole Foods founder John Mackey, and Richard Branson. He has also talked with a wide variety of other high-achievers, including Stan Lee, Kathy Ireland, Bob Newhart, Dean Koontz, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, civil rights pioneer James Meredith, Kirk Douglas, Shark Tank's Barbara Corcoran, former president of Mexico Vicente Fox, and leadership expert Frances Hesselbein. Based on his own experience as the manager of a dozen small companies and wide reading in history, he wrote Extraordinary People: Real Life Lessons on What It Takes to Achieve Success, which included in-depth analysis of the careers of people like Catherine the Great, Ray Charles Anne Rice, Jim Henson, and Simon Bolivar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Noah is an Extraordinary Military Kid who talks about lessons that he has learned about "leading from the front".  Listen in to hear his thoughts and  unique perspective about moving Senior year in high school, class rank, college, extracurricular activities, the Student2Student program and Frances Hesselbein leadership program.  Be sure to stay tuned to hear an amazing story about his dad at the end!   Student 2 Student® https://www.militarychild.org/audience/students Frances Hesselbein Student Leadership Program™ https://www.militarychild.org/programs/frances-hesselbein-student-leadership-program  

This podcast has featured some world-renowned guests, with more renown to come.Popular downloads include Dan Pink, multiple #1 bestseller, 40+ million TED talk views, Beth Comstock, former Vice Chair and CMO of General Electric, Marshall Goldsmith, #1 ranked leadership guru and author,Frances Hesselbein, Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree, Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Ken Blanchard, author, The One Minute Manager, over 13 million sold, Jonathan Haidt, #1 bestselling author, 8+ million TED talk views, Vincent Stanley, Director, Patagonia, David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, over 1 million sold, Dorie Clark, bestselling author, Jordan Harbinger, top 5 podcast, 4+ million monthly downloads, Doug Rushkoff, #1 bestselling author, producer, media theorist, Dave Asprey, founder Bulletproof, NY Times bestseller, Bryan Braman, Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagle, Marquis Flowers, Super Bowl highlight reel star New England Patriot, John Lee Dumas, top entrepreneurial podcaster, and more.Upcoming guests include an Olympic gold medalist, TED speakers with yet more views, and more. I'm speaking with a Victoria's Secret model and a Nobel laureate.I love meeting and talking to successful people who have overcome challenges, and I presume you do too, but I'm serving two goals:Materially measurable environmental resultsEmotional reward in doing so, meaning joy, discovery, meaning, purpose, and such as the leadership partI seek out renowned guests to achieve these goals. This episode explains the connection. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this special 2-part episode, Kalika is joined by Marshall Goldsmith and Sally Helgesen, the authors of the book, How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion, or Job. They talk about women's distinctive behaviors that provide them with many advantages, as well as the habits that can hold them back in their careers. Tune in now!   Timestamped show notes 00:45 Kalika is joined today by Marshall Goldsmith and Sally Helgesen, authors of How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise. 01:10 Marshall's friend pitched the idea to do a more female-focused version of his bestselling book, What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful, which in turn became the inspiration to publish How Women Rise. 02:30 Women are much more harder on themselves than men, which perpetuates the concept of The Perfection Trap. 03:46 Women can rise by identifying and acting on their greatest strengths, and which behaviors that have been previously effective but can now hinder you from becoming more successful. 04:20 One of the behaviors that could hinder women from having a more successful career is the concept of really letting your job get ahead of your career, sacrificing long-term success for having a stable job. 08:15 Based on Sally's observation among her speaking and coaching tours in the US, women usually expect others to spontaneously notice and value your contribution. 12:40 The book highlights that there are behaviors that are not necessarily bad that were good to have for now, but not good when you get promoted. 16:12 The book is dedicated to Frances Hesselbein, one of the best examples of a great woman leader.   Key Takeaways To bring attention to your work, you have to take responsibility, you have to step up, and you have to find a way that you are comfortable with of representing what your achievements and values are. Women in organizations tend to be valued for and promoted because of precision and correctness, where as men are valued for and promoted for boldness, big-vision, and risk-taking.   Resources Entrepreneurs' Organization How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion, or Job What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful EO 360° Podcast

Frances Hesselbein is the President and CEO of The Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute, founded as The Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management and renamed in 2012 to honor Hesselbein’s legacy and ongoing contributions. Mrs. Hesselbein was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States of America’s highest civilian honor, by President Clinton in 1998 for her leadership as CEO of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. from 1976–1990, as well as her service as “a pioneer for women, volunteerism, diversity and opportunity.” Her contributions were also recognized by the first President Bush, who appointed her to two Presidential Commissions on National and Community Service. At 103 years young, she is one of the most highly respected experts in the field of contemporary leadership development. From 2009–2011, Mrs. Hesselbein served as the Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point, in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership. She is the first woman, and the first non-graduate to serve in this chair. The Frances Hesselbein Leadership Forum at the University of Pittsburgh is a continuation of the legacy of Frances Hesselbein and reflects the vision of a university-based center for teaching, applied research, and public service where leaders and aspiring leaders from around the world can gather to advance the art and science of leadership and put these principles to practice in public service. Mrs. Hesselbein’s advice for leaders today is to totally be committed to a mission, b values based, and be demographic driven – the doors are open, we need to find ways to include all our people. What role do leaders play to support organizations? At every level, the CEO will bring on a team that respects its people. They must create a mission that is short, powerful and compellin One that “Can fit on a T-shirt” The leaders must live the values Some of the greatest changes that have occured over the course of Mrs. Hesselbein’s career are that there are doors opened that were never opened before, we are including women in every level, there is a respect for all people and that has become a battle cry for her organization. In many of Mrs. Hesselbein’s speeches she talks about 2 institutions that have sustained democracy. These are the 2 powerful forces that help us sustain our democracy and we don’t let anyone put them down. They are: The educational system – public education. The US military. Mrs. Hesselbein says, “Work is love made visible. There is something about working with people, for people, working to sustain something, to open doors. To work is to live. We find what we love to do and pour everything we have into it. And work is love made visible”. And she truly lives this statement out. She has given her all to serve her community, her organization, and the world. She is an advocate for women and minorities and she is passionate about everything that she does. What you will learn in this episode: How to create meaningful work The current state of work Why the future of work is so ‘bright’ Trends in leadership Where Frances grew up and how she got her start Changes Frances has seen over the course of her career Frances’ advice to leaders inside of organizations    

Having worked with many people and generations, Frances sees great hope in millennials. She points to research that they are like the so-called Greatest Generation, who fought World War II and then helped rebuild the world. Moreover, we see them as having done it because "it was the right thing to do," not fame or fortune.The environment could use such perspective and results. I hope she's right.I recommend listening to how she has made her life about taking on challenges, which bring her emotional reward. She takes them on deliberately. I believe she expects that work serving others will create emotional reward and meaning.I didn't hear her talk about pursuing comfort and convenience. I think she knows that taking easy, traditional routes don't create long-term reward.The result? I doubt you'll find a happier person, nor a more respectable and accomplished circle of friends and colleagues.I share her main environmental leadership message: that working for others improves your life. Serving others makes you feel good. This perspective contrasts with the predominant feelings I see of "I want to act but if others don't it won't matter" and guilt.She describes creating meaning through serving others, not hoping for it.I'm particularly taken by her characterization of how the men in her life served: "It was just what we did." I don't hear that voice today on the environment, but I'm working to create it.Something you don't hear in the recording that I happened to see in her notes after we finished. She wrote a fourth 'R' here:Reduce, reuse, recycle, responsibilityShe didn't refer to environmental challenges. She called them opportunities. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

One of the most highly respected experts in the field of leadership development, awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States of America’s highest civilian honor, for her leadership as CEO of Girl Scouts of the United States of America, she was also appointed to two Presidential Commissions on National and Community Service by President Bush. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frances Hesselbein is an eminent leadership development expert, former CEO of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., author of multiple books, and journal editor. Until recently she was President and CEO of the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute and is currently the Chairman of the Advisory Board of The Frances Hesselbein Leadership Forum, through the University of Pittsburgh. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998 for her leadership as CEO of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. from 1976–1990, as well as her service as “a pioneer for women, volunteerism, diversity and opportunity.” The first President Bush appointed her to two Presidential Commissions on National and Community Service. In 2009, the University of Pittsburgh introduced The Hesselbein Global Academy for Student Leadership and Civic Engagement. The Academy’s aim is to produce experienced and ethical leaders who will address critical national and international issues and advance positive social and economic initiatives. Also from 2009-2011, she accepted an appointment as the Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point. She was the first woman, and the first non-graduate to serve in this chair. Mrs Hesselbein has been the recipient of 23 honorary doctoral degrees and countless awards and recognitions including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Girl Scouts Council of New York, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellowship by Fulbright New Zealand and the Dwight D. Eisenhower National Security Award. She is editor-in-chief of the award-winning quarterly journal Leader to Leader and is the coeditor of twenty-seven books in twenty-nine languages.  She is the author of Hesselbein on Leadership, My Life in Leadership and most recently, More Hesselbein on Leadership.  

In it's third year of publication, Nonprofit Performance 360 Magazine set' records for quality and inspiration. Dr. Todd Greer, editor shares his vision for starting this great resource and his vision for the future. Todd Greer holds a Ph.D. in organizational leadership with a major in human resource development from Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia; a Master of Science in ministerial leadership from Amridge University in Montgomery, Alabama; completed graduate work in communications studies at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan; and a Bachelor of Arts in communication studies from Defiance College in Defiance, Ohio. He has numerous publications to his credit, including journal articles and book chapters, and has presented at national conferences. He has served as lead instructor and board member with the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce's Innovation PortAL and instructor for the Chamber's Young Entrepreneurs Academy for high school students. He is a board member for United Way of Southwest Alabama and Springboard to Success Inc. which, with the Downtown Mobile Alliance, operates the Urban Emporium retail incubator. He is an advisory board member with Veterans Recovery Resources. He was an instructor with University of South Alabama's Minority Business Accelerator and an adjunct instructor at Spring Hill College. Previously, Greer was executive director of the SynerVision Leadership Foundation in Blacksburg, Virginia; minister of administration for Glen Allen Church of Christ in Glen Allen, Virginia; and head boys' volleyball coach at Highlight Springs High School and assistant women's volleyball coach at Virginia Union University, both in Richmond, Virginia.   Interview Transcript   Hugh: Greetings, and welcome to today's session of The Nonprofit Exchange. Today, we have a very special guest. Russell, it's the first time you've met Todd Greer. Dr. Greer was the one who started The Nonprofit Exchange. He is the founding and current editor of Nonprofit Performance Magazine. Todd, welcome. Todd: Thank you so much, Hugh. Great to be with you. Russell, I've heard such wonderful things about you, and it is great to at least virtually connect with you here. Russell: This is great. I've done my best to bring out your inner English teacher. Todd: It's important. Gaps. Hugh mentioned I was the editor as we started out. Hugh is definitely the publisher. He is not the editor. It is good to have other folks around like you, Russell, to help keep him in check. Russell: It takes a village. That is why there is more than one of us there. Todd: There you go. Absolutely. Hugh: The vision for The Nonprofit Exchange is to interview experts in different fields and to bring really good leadership principles into charities and churches and synagogues, often from business leaders. Todd, in addition to having your Ph. D in organizational leadership, you are ordained as a pastor, and now you are a dean at the University of Mobile. Am I correct? Todd: That is correct. It has been an interesting transition. Hugh and I met in 2014. Hugh had this wonderful vision. SynerVision Leadership Foundation had the vision for a magazine and a community of nonprofit thought leaders that could help to build capacity and to help build and move things forward. I think it's been a beautiful vision to see it come to light, to be something that I've been a part of and that has touched me deeply. Over the past two and a half years, I have been able to move down to Mobile from Virginia where he and I met, start a business down here, see that grow, and see a community of entrepreneurship really raise up. Now I have the opportunity to get in and engage with university students and to work to encourage them for the world that we're inventing each day. Hugh: We're glad to have the academic connection. Even though you have gone on to do some other great stuff, you're still shaping editorial policy. What we have done with the magazine is separate the commercial part from the editorial part. What I do is I'm the champion, and I bring people into the funnel that we set up so brilliantly and around the editorial policy that you shaped so that we keep it really clean and really valid journalism for leadership. Thank you for that contribution to humankind and to SynerVision. You launched The Nonprofit Exchange, which we are doing at 2 pm on Tuesdays EST, and the podcast. We are hitting about 15,000 listeners on this particular podcast, and I have 10,000 on Orchestrating Success. We share some interviews in common, but they are helping people think through their skillset and organizational development and personal skills for developing their teams. Talk about three years ago in September that we launched that first John Maxwell edition. As you were shaping out the vision for this magazine, talk about your thought process. What was important about how you laid down the tracks, and what does that look like? Todd: One of the things that we consistently saw as we were looking at the nonprofit space is that there is good research, and then there is speakers. Then there are some books that are written. But there is a gap in the middle. What we wanted to do was come in and give nonprofit leaders, whether they are board members, staff, or executives, the opportunity to be able to engage with deeper thoughts around a holistic idea. What we started from that day forward is to create these themes within our magazine so that you could look at what we could consider an evergreen concept, something that is not based upon a specific time. It's something that whether you are looking at it three years ago or today, the points are still valid, the theme is still important, it is something that drives home a needed opportunity in that space. We really worked to say, This is not an infomercial. This is not a chance to sell your book. This is not a chance to get yourself engaged in a speaking environment. This is really about bringing the best thought leadership from all over. We have worked with the athletic director of Virginia Tech. We have worked with bestselling authors. We have worked with professors from a number of top-notch schools across the country. We have worked with nonprofit facilitators. We have worked with people that do some speaking across the space. We have tried to engage and bring together for our listeners, for our audience, for our readers as many different engaging and unique perspectives that can help them move it forward. And the reality is we wanted a place that would challenge you. It's one of those things that oftentimes it is very easy for us to become stagnant or to reach a plateau. If we are engaged with new people all the time, it helps. The cornerstone of each issue, there are a couple things we wanted to lay out. One is we wanted to have that big name at that cover that you can look at. John Maxwell was quite a name to be able to start with. You see others that have gone on to head the cover of the magazine. They have done an amazing job. We have wanted to make sure that each magazine touched on board relations. Each magazine touched on that sense of funds attraction. Each magazine talked about a couple things. The second cornerstone of the magazine to me was the Nonprofits that Work Section. It's great to be able to think about these huge nonprofits that have great budgets and are extremely well-known. But how do we seed this idea, this theme exemplified in the life of a nonprofit that is probably going to be one you have never heard of before? We have been able to show these organizations all across the country who are doing exciting things around that theme. It's been one of those pieces where I have learned so many new amazing nonprofits to be able to point to them later on. In fact, there was one that we worked with not that long ago, The Mission Continues. Hugh, I don't know if you remember them from the work that we did with them, but it's exciting right now because Aaron Scheinberg, who we worked with from there, he is running for Congress in West Virginia. He was somebody that we worked with not that long ago on that article. The Mission Continues was a veteran organization to work to continue to engage vets as they come back stateside to continue in that mission, working in the nonprofit community that surrounded them to engage in different missions. You get to see those kinds of things. It's a beautiful thing to be able to engage and think about how all of the good ideas in nonprofit spaces don't come from just nonprofits. They come from all over. Hugh: Good principles are good principles. Part of your inspiration was to have a different theme for each edition. One of the real fun editions I remember was one with Frances Hesselbein on the cover, who is in her late nineties and is expert on millennials. We did this whole issue on millennials. You had an interest in it, as did I. I'm a boomer, you're a millennial. My article was about how we have similarities in core values and principles. You had this really good interview with Frances. Those are the top downloaded interviews on the Nonprofit Exchange podcast. Todd: Hugh, it's a beautiful thing. Frances has now just turned 100 or 101. She is still kicking. I have seen a couple pieces from her recently. I was telling my daughter this last evening. My daughter is a Girl Scout. Frances was for about a decade and a half the CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA. I was telling her, You have to understand the legacy of those that have gone. My daughter is a third grader. I was explaining to her that what Frances has done, and I use Frances a lot when I am speaking to students, to be able to understand what it looks like that she is engaging, to never stop learning, to always open doors for others in the sense of when you find trustworthy people who are passionate, give them an opportunity. Open the door for them. They may be young or different from you. Whatever it is, understand that everybody needs a door opened for them. Hugh: Absolutely. You have crafted our submissions page. When you go to Nonprofitperofrmance.org, it will forward the URL to SynerVision's magazine page. Then there is a submissions page so people who want to contribute can go there and submit articles. There is very clear guidelines for submissions. The boardroom issue is being designed now, and it will be printed and distributed before the end of this year. Since people are listening to podcasts maybe at any time, it's important that the material on this podcast and in the magazine is timeless. Solid principle. I am going to let Russ insert some questions. Russ, you have been a contributor for the magazine. As you look at the guidelines Todd has crafted, and specifically the identification of the theme- Russ is a very gifted writer. Russ is one of our WayFinders. I don't know if you know that. He has gone through the certification. He is the first certified WayFinder, but we have some more in the chute. He is the guy forging the trail out there. Russ, how do the guidelines for writing and the description of the theme help you as a writer shape your contribution for that article? Russell: It's important to have a clear message that is direct, to the point, that has a lot of punch, and that forces you to really put your best thoughts on paper without any extraneous information. Also, it forces you to up your game because when you are looking at some of the people like Dr. Jeff Magee for example that are sending material into this magazine, you don't want to send a piece in there that is less than your best. People turn to this because they want to know what sort of things they can do to really enhance their performance. What are some of the best practices out there? What are some things that you can take away from this article and actually make it actionable? When I send a piece in, I ask myself what I want people to know, feel, and do. There should be one piece of actionable. If there is more than one, that's better. Sometimes people can get confused. I am trying to either put a sequence of actions or sequence of things to look for or some sort of actionable piece that somebody can take and implement today. It's important to be able to access, understand, and use that information. I was just surfing the Web today, and I came across a list from an organization called Giving Confidence, which points you toward nonprofit resources. It's five podcasts nonprofit people should listen to. I opened that in anticipation of seeing The Nonprofit Exchange. We're not there yet. We're going to make that list. They talk about why people should listen to that. We'll just keep doing what we're doing. At some point, we're going to end up on that list. I think that's a worthy goal for us to shoot for. Hugh: I'm glad to know about that. Russell, you weren't on the journey as we have gone forward. We are on our third year of the magazine, and it is hard to believe that we haven't talked about it on the podcast. We have three years of podcasts. Lots of episodes out there. From an outside perspective catching up, what kind of questions do you want to pose to Todd about the history of the vision or the future? Russell: One of the things I am interested in seeing, because you are in that university space, I was curious as to how many younger people like yourself are moving in to the space because they want to do work that matters and how many are looking at programs that focus on nonprofits and philanthropy. Are you seeing an uptick in that? Todd: That is a great question. If you go back to the work that we did on millennials, that's a huge issue. I don't have the stats in front of me, but the vast majority of millennials say they want to be part of a company and work that makes an impact, and they will do business with a brand that makes an impact. We see a greater sense of social responsibility in this generation than any other generation in quite some time. There is still that struggle of a gap between what I want and what I'm willing to do. So we know that that's not always something where that gap is closed. But we know that there is a desire. We do see it among our students. We happen to be at a university that is a private Christian institution. We have that faith basis in our students where they do want to go make impact. Across the community here in the Mobile area and across the state and the country, we are hearing more and more about programs like social entrepreneurship coming up. We are seeing people including the Beet Corp and other groups where they are saying they think there is a blurring of the line coming before us between the typical business and the typical nonprofit or charity. They do want to engage. They want to do something. The key right now that we are dealing with is how we make sure we are building the right capacity. I think that's to your point. Historically, one of the things we have consistently seen is that the people who come in to the nonprofit space are people who are passionate about a cause. Passion is extremely important. Books upon books upon books have been written of the last decade or so just on passion and why you should pursue your passion. One of the things we are very mindful of—this has been part of the lynchpin for us for the beginning—passion without guidelines, passion without the right framework or strategy or understanding, can be very dangerous. We are asking questions here about how we cross the line between our school of business and our school of ministry, between our school of business and education, between our school of business and music. We are asking those questions. It's already happening a lot in a lot of places, but you are going to see an increase in those. Folks like Businesses Mission is a concept that has really come up over the last handful of years. You have schools that are developing these centers. They are getting out there and serving. We have a great opportunity. I think it means a lot to our communities. I think going back to that millennial piece, and even touching into our current issue that will be coming out here in December about the boardroom. One thing that is important for our nonprofits is to make sure that they are engaging millennials and thinking about what it looks like to have diversity from an age perspective on their board as well. I think the younger generations are incredibly excited about the potential to make impact in the world. Russell: This is important. I have been engaged with my own church here in doing envisioning. We have been basing that on good to great for the social sectors. One of our local guys, Jim Collins, he is just up the road in Boulder. We started envisioning on that. One of the things that was said verbally was we really want to get young people involved. I dove into this process with him. I created a system to work with the faith-based community and created a coding system. What they say and what scores, there is a bit of a disconnect. This is something that is worth exploring further. We want younger people involved, but where are our actions leading us? There is an underlying- This wasn't done to scale to any scientific scale or with the thought of statistical validity in it. There is a lot of open-ended stuff that is my own interpretation of it. It's really interesting. I would love to share some of those codes with you, some of the coding idea with it. The other thing I wanted to say is we have a very strong Businesses Mission chapter. As a matter of fact, I am going tomorrow morning to the monthly meeting. Todd: That's great. What you said is spot-on. There are two pieces that have really stuck out to me. I don't know who said one, but I do know who said the other. Somebody said to me, “You will get what you celebrate.” Step back and think about it. In an organization, whether it's a nonprofit or for-profit, you will get what you celebrate. You say you want something. If you don't celebrate it when it happens, you're not going to get it. That is the reinforcement. When you celebrate something, you are reinforcing that this is the culture we are working to establish. Then the other piece is Chris Argyris. Chris was a theory guy. I want to say he was at Harvard Business School. One piece he brought to light is there is espoused values or theories, and there are values in action. There is often a discrepancy. You think about how many organizations you have come through. You see those values on the wall. You looked at those values and thought, I don't see those organizations. Hugh, you're laughing because you have seen it countless times both in a religious environment and in other nonprofit organizations. It's a hard thing. We set these ideals up, but we often don't create a concrete way to establish those throughout the organization. Going back to the celebration, we often don't celebrate when those things happen. Hugh: We forget that, don't we? I see Russell taking some notes. Russell grabs some sound bites in these that are very astute. Russell, when you were talking about how you construct an article, that was really good information. What do you want people to do? Todd, back to you. As we were putting this together back in the old days, was that part of our thinking? What do we want people to take away? You have a better recollection of some of this than I do. Your focus was on this more. What were some of the takeaways, the impacts, the results that we wanted people to have because they had the magazine? Todd: There are a couple things that really stuck out in the early days we were doing it. Russell, I think you said it great: know, feel, and do. I want people to know, to feel, to do what I want. One of the pieces we said is leading in a nonprofit organization can be lonely. One of the things we wanted to establish is you're not alone. You're not alone in this journey. The things that you're feeling are being felt all across the country by organizations big and small, by religious and those that are community-oriented in the nonprofit space. That was a big key for us because a lot of times when you are doing this on your own, who do you have to talk to? Can you share with your board these challenges? Can you share with your staff these challenges? Who can you talk to? A lot of times you are even afraid to share with other executives because you don't want to feel like you're the idiot in the room and you're the one who is falling short when other people, at least what they present, seem so strong. We want to be very real. These are issues that we're facing. That's one of the things that comes up in each one of these themes. The acknowledgement that we are all facing them. We have challenges we are facing. We need a variety of voices to encourage us moving forward. That was a big piece. Next to that is the big piece of we wanted to say this is more than just from the seat of our pants kind of framework. This is about how we work to establish real strategy in our organizations. I think that's one of the pieces that often gets lost. We do without thinking of the strategy. You go back to Stephen Covey's four quadrants. In the nonprofit space, because we are dealing with not an abundance of resources and staff, we are just going so fast through the things that become urgent or the things that flare up in front of us. We take care of those things. We don't step back to create that holistic strategy. The magazine and podcast were intended to encourage us to really step back and think about our strategy around these types of subjects. When we talk about leadership, what's your leadership strategy? How do you build a leaderful organization? I am going to go back to Joe Raelin; he was one of our guests about two years ago from Northeastern University. How do you create leadership throughout your organization? We have talked about succession planning. How do you make sure that when you're gone, the organization not only continues, but also thrives after you're gone? That was a big piece to this. We want you to think about that sense of strategy. What's going on? What's working? What doesn't work? When we talked with Frances and Joan, we looked at Peter Drucker's five most important questions. A lot of what they do is they want you to make sure you are periodically having that review process. For some time in our country, the after-action review was a pretty typical thing in certain types of organizations. In nonprofits, we don't do enough of that now. What worked, what didn't, how would we change it for the next time, and how do we continue to grow that to make sure that it's better fitting our mission and our customer moving forward? I think that's a really key issue that's often missing. Hugh, when you step back and think of all the organizations you've worked with, how many times do you see- In the for-profit world, we are talking about continuous improvement. Did you see a lot of that? Hugh: No. Todd: It's something that I think we do. When the thing is done, we go, Whooo. That was long and that was tiring and I'm so glad that we can put that in a box for a year. The next year, we'll pull that box out and regurgitate the same thing. We don't think about, Hey, this is something. Heaven forbid we ask, Is this thing necessary anymore? Do I need to do this anymore? Are we just doing it because it's what we've always done? Hugh: Absolutely. I was thinking about Caesar when he lost his wreath. He got off his throne and there it was. He said, “I have been resting on my laurels.” We want to get there and rest. We want to think we've made a plateau and we can stop. That's a dangerous place to be. I find that continuous improvement is the jargon in corporate America. What we work on in SynerVision is continuing improvement and personal development. The journey is never over. Part of crafting the whole process and the whole design of the magazine is there is different categories. I forget what you call them, different categories. There is Member Engagement, Strategy, Point/Counterpoint, Executive Office, Grants Corner, Academic Desk, Design Corner, Nonprofits That Work, Board Relations, and Systems Thinking. Talk about why those categories. We have had something in those categories every single issue. Todd: Those are big ones. We wanted to be able to really narrow in. One of the things that I think is way too easy when you are starting a magazine or any kind of medium is to say, “I'll accept this” and have it in this vague space. We wanted to give people a way to look forward to new things that were coming. Some of the pieces we referenced before that featured personality in the Nonprofit Works and the Board Relations—one of the things that we wanted to engage in this is Design Corner. One of the things in the Design Corner was always that idea that all too often, we tend to forget that things can look good and they can come together. In the church, for a long time, we lost our artists. We lost our designers and their input and their value. I think we are starting to see them come back again. The same thing is true in nonprofits. Just because you are a nonprofit doesn't mean that your website has to be ugly or that your engagement with your members or your engagement with your community has to be lacking thought. We wanted to make sure that happens. What this does is it gives us a framework that when we are going out to seek contributors or contributors are coming to us, they know that this is the target I am seeking. We want to make sure that the people we have are experts. They really are bringing their game to the table, and it's somebody that you can trust as you are hearing from them. I think that's a really important piece for us. Hugh, I want to touch on as well: We talked a little bit about this issue that is getting ready to go to print. I know some people will listen to this at some time in the future. One thing we have coming up is social media. Obviously, we don't live in a world where social media is a might. I might do social media. Whatever your organization is, social media is really important. Going back to strategy, you have to have a strategy for it. My wife and I were talking last night while watching an old episode of Madam Secretary. There is good and bad obviously about where we are in social media. Sometimes social media has created this perception of reality that is so far from it. It also has allowed people to get a platform that some people should never have. There are things that are going on where you think you never should have a platform. But nonprofits have a great opportunity to engage with their community, with their members, with their public through a very intentional strategy in social media. We want to make sure people are really conscious in thinking about it. Another tendency is that we look at whomever is the youngest person on our staff and we say, “You're in charge of social media,” just like we say, “You're in charge of graphic design,” just like we used to say, “You're in charge of web design.” We can't just throw it on the youngest person. They may be good, but you have to have a real consistent strategy for you organization. What does this social media strategy look like throughout? What are organizations that are doing it really well? We always want to find those people who are exemplars in our field. How does that impact the board? What's the board's role in that? Do you expect your board members to tweet out everything that is happening from your Twitter account? Do you expect them to engage? What does that look like? What are the expectations that you have? That one is coming up here soon. Following that is what Russell and I were hinting at: this future of the public/private partnership. We are going to continue to see growth in that area. The moniker “charity” is something that really has a bad connotation in our society now. What a charity does is it comes without strategy and without fiscal strategy and they come and say, “Please give to me so that I can give to others.” We love to give. But we are asking the ROI question. Just like we asked return on investment, we are asking what the return is on my impact, on my giving in the nonprofit sector. We really want to make sure that we are thinking strategically not only about where we are at right now, but also about what is coming down the pipeline. How do we make sure that we build the right partnerships with the corporate entities in our environment? If we care about this issue and you care about this issue, how can we collaborate to be able to make real impact in our community? Hugh: That's a word that most of our charities don't understand. Russell, we are rounding out to the final nine minutes of our interview. I am going to give you some more air time. You have some good questions. Is there one brewing for Todd? Russell: When it comes to social media, it was interesting. I was at the Socratic café at the University of Denver. Me and a few other guys get together on Saturday nights to do that. We had an ongoing discussion for eight weeks about isolation. Social media came up, and one of them pointed out, “You seem to be very comfortable. I haven't seen anybody your age that is that comfortable with social media.” I don't know everything, but we talked about being isolated even though people are on social media. There were a lot of things, pro or con, that were raised with social media. There is a balance to be struck, and it's not totally evil or good. We want to be able to have these face-to-face interactions. There is nothing like face-to-face interaction. Social media is a tool. I think a lot of people view it as some sort of mysterious scale of people. After you turn 25, your brain oozes out of your ears, and you have no clue what to do. You have to find your children and your grandchildren. That is not the case. What sort of things have you heard people talk about when you're talking with them about using social media to engage? Is there some resistance? Is there some people who think it's the Holy Grail? What are you hearing people talk about? I think it's a great thing to devote a whole issue to. Todd: Let me touch real quickly on something you said, and then I will come back to the questions themselves. You talked about isolation. That is a very big reality because it wasn't until social media really crept up that we had this acronym FOMO: Fear of Missing Out. I think what it does is it drives us deeper into that sense of isolation because we don't feel like we're part of something, so we withdraw even more. Social media is amoral. It's not moral or immoral. It's amoral. It's a tool. It's a medium. It's a channel. Yes. The question is how do we use this? That's really important. Yours, what kind of feedback are we hearing? In smaller, more traditional nonprofits that typically are led by older executives, there is a fear. How do I do it? How do I engage? What kinds of media do I put out there? Do I do it for my personal social media channels? I might have Facebook. Do I post about the organization on my personal page? Do I do it in the groups? How do I build a following? All of those are big questions. It's not an easy thing. There is not really a one-size-fits-all response to that. One thing that is important—and I know Hugh has done a masterful job in building that social media following. Hugh created a platform where he said I am going to focus on leadership. I am going to focus on how we empower people around leadership. When you see his messages, they are consistent. He is consistently posting about leadership and organizations, and he has built a following around a theme. In your nonprofit, that is a key thing for you. You have to own the space that you are in. You have to be mindful. It's quick and easy to go chase the shiny object. We have talked about chasing money in nonprofits before. That is something that gets a lot of nonprofits off track. They go and chase money. The same thing is true with social media about chasing the shiny object. Not everybody has to have a perspective on every issue that comes up. When LeBron went to Miami, your nonprofit didn't have to talk about LeBron going to Miami unless LeBron was the spokesperson for you in Cleveland. Then you might have something to say. It's being mindful about putting your blinders on when you need to and knowing what you are good at and what you should be talking about. That is a big thing. Your following will come out when you are consistent in what you are talking about, when you have a definitive framing to your social media messaging. We live in a world where the social media algorithms are consistently changing. It used to be photos, and now it is video. Video is the hot piece. Having opportunities. Here we are live on Facebook right? That is a really important thing. Whether it's video chats or small snippets, you want to be able to create bite-size visual media because it is attractive. It will engage more people. It is more likely to be seen by folks than I ate nachos for dinner last night. Nobody really cares, unless you have a great picture of your artisan nachos with your tofu on it or whatever. Then people might care. But I think that is to make sure that when you do post something, you're harnessing all that is available to you. That is another piece. We will talk about it in the social media issue of the magazine. Something a lot of people don't realize is there are very tangible ways for you and your nonprofit to be able to have good visuals. I know Hugh is an Apple guy. Apple made it very available for people to cut and edit simple but good, clean video. You have those more recently in a design perspective. I am blanking on the name here. Canva.com is an organization that came out. One of the pieces they wanted to promote was the idea that not everybody is a graphic designer and can afford a graphic designer, but everybody needs good design. They created a very simple free platform or premium platform where anybody can go in and create good design to be able to make sure that is consistent with their organization in the top-notch perspective. Hugh: That's great. We are doing the wrap here. We have had a really good session, Todd. Thank you for watching this with your vision that is continuing. I hope we continue to execute it faithfully. As you are sitting in this academic seat, you are still editor at this magazine and shaping the editorial policy in a really helpful way. Are there some points you want to leave people with before we end this information session? I want to encourage people to go to nonprofitperformance.org and at least click on the virtual edition. 15,000 people read it every month. It's a Flip file. Go in there and sign in. You can read the archive editions, and you can subscribe and buy issues. It's very reasonable. If a nonprofit executive or pastor were to get issues for themselves and their whole board, then some people are on the same page, and it gives you something tangible to talk about, especially the board issue. Todd, as we are exiting and wrapping up on this interview, what are some things you want to leave people with? Todd: Hugh, when you go back to the initial vision, it's the idea. How do we make impact in our communities? We really wanted to do that. When you talk about some of the download numbers for the magazine and the podcast and the video series, we started at zero. We started without subscribers. We started without followers. We started without any of that. If we can do it, you can, too. It's really important to make sure you have a good message, that you have something people want to listen to, to follow, to read. But you can do it. You can make great impact in your community. You can do great things. You can build it if you want a platform. The key is that you just have to continue. What ends up happening is we see people in our community who start something and they're not resilient enough when the challenges happen. Hugh, you know. Our core team that we started with, we have all gone through significant challenges, life changes, but the key is to continue through it and continue to work together. Truthfully, if you don't like the people you're working with, you probably won't continue. We have had a great group of people, both our core team and folks who have come around us and great new faces like Russell who are able to invigorate and continue to move things forward. I think that's really important for any organization. Make sure that you continue to invite new people in as you continue to hone what your message is. Have fun. Life is too short not to enjoy what you're doing. Hugh: Good, wise words. Russell, you can do it. We have fun. Todd, thanks to you. Thank you so much. Todd: Thank you so much. 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Highlighting the best ideas from the best sessions is our intention. Hugh Ballou and Russell Dennis point to interviews for more listening and more personal growth. Here's the Transcript   NPE Hugh & Russell Hugh Ballou: Greetings, it's an episode of the Nonprofit Exchange that is the Hugh and Russell show. Russell David Dennis and Hugh McPherson Ballou, we are going to chat today about some of the great things that we've heard in the past podcasts. We create a lot of content, and it's time to reflect on that. Russell, how are you doing today? Russell Dennis: It is a beautiful day here in Denver, Colorado. It did snow a little bit yesterday. Now it's gone back to Denver-type weather, at least for the front range here. There is a beautiful cap on the mountains that you can see miles and miles coming in. Life is good. Hugh: Your life is always good. You make it that way. When I lived in Colorado, they had a saying: If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes. Russell: It does change frequently. We are expecting some pretty mild weather for this time of year. But the skiers are happy. We got a natural cap. The snow machines are going. Let the skiing begin. It will continue through May. Hugh: Through May. Wow. So we are live on Facebook. We record our podcasts as a live video feed, so anybody who is listening to the Nonprofit Exchange podcast, feel free to join us on Facebook live on Tuesdays at 2:00 Eastern Time. You go to thenonprofitexchange.org, and it will lead you there. We post to the past sessions and create new sessions every Tuesday. Russell, I find that when we are doing it live that we have unexpected participants that join us on Facebook. I also find that there is an energy with creating that live event. What is your experience with this? Russell: I have had people come in and share their experience because it enhances the program. It always helps to have people ask questions that are burning in their minds. One of the things to consider because as nonprofit leaders, you're running an enterprise. It's a business like a lot of others. The big difference is the tax status. There are problems with people and business and just operating that can be solved and leadership issues. These are things that people want to talk about. I like to bring people things that they want to hear about. I love when people ask questions because it gives us points for discussion. We find out what sort of things are important to you out there, and that is what matters to us. Hugh: I was with both Burt Oliva and David Dunworth two weeks ago tomorrow down in Florida, and we managed to dodge the weather and do some meaningful things in between the storms. As I spend time with both of those gentlemen who are both watching right now, I really appreciate the level of skill they have and the level of expertise. David Dunworth has been on this podcast. I've talked to Burt, and he and his team are going to be part of this interview process next month. Their calendar is pretty full. I look forward to having them. The fact that you are connected to them is also great. We have been doing this Nonprofit Exchange. Our magazine editor, Todd Greer, Dr. Greer is an organizational psychologist. He has got a degree in organizational leadership… *audio interruption, clearly a network issue* Russell: Can you hear me, Hugh? Can you hear me okay? Hugh: Did I lose you and you're back? Russell: I lost you for a brief- Hugh: Did you go away? Did you hear what I just said? Russell: Very little of that. We had a little bit of a freeze there momentarily. Hugh: High tech is really great when it works. When high tech works, it's great. When it doesn't work, it really stinks. What I was talking about the history of this podcast, and it starts as a video and then goes into the audio on Nonprofit Exchange podcast, which you can find on iTunes and Stitcher and most every platform. The Nonprofit Exchange. Russ, you have showed up faithfully as unofficial co-host, but you are trying to get out of it now. You are part of this process. How long have we been doing this together? Has it been a year? *more technical difficulties* Russell: We started fairly early in the year on a consistent basis. I popped in and out on some broadcasts in late 2016, but I've been consistent since probably about February. We've been co-piloting during the week. One of the things that has been pointed out because we've had people that have come in and talked about the use of technology for nonprofits and using it well. Technology is something that can enhance what we're doing, but it's not primarily what we're doing. It's important to use it well as a nonprofit leader not to be afraid of it. Technology can do a lot of things for you particularly when it comes to getting your message out. *more technical difficulties* I have been talking about technology and how we can leverage it to make it work. It's not a magic bullet, but it's something that can afford nonprofits the opportunity to get their organizations out in front of other people, whether it's through Facebook or using Google. Google has put millions and millions of dollars into the nonprofit arena by offering grants to nonprofits to actually get their message out there. *more technical difficulties* You might be having a bandwidth thing going on there. Hang in there. I don't know if you have some apps open that you might be able to close. Hugh: I was going to blame it on you. I'm hoping that audio continued and I didn't hear anything, but it could have been my own frailty here. I did change devices so I am on a different router now. Russell: It seems to have cleared the problem up. I was talking about technology because that is so important for everything. One of the things that I was talking about getting messages out there, but it can be used to reach your audience. You can actually do a little bit more in terms of determining who the people are that are listening to you. You can get your message out in more cost-effective ways than you were ever able to do before. Like anything else, the thing that has been the overarching message that our guests have put out as far as using technology and social media and connecting with people is it's all about relationships and building strong relationships with people you serve and those that you serve with. Technology is not a substitute for that, but it's a way to factually extend that reach in a cost-effective manner. Hugh: Absolutely. Russ, let's talk about some impressions from- Tell me again when you and I started doing this together. Russell: I think we started moving consistently in February because I pop in and out in 2016. But I've started showing up consistently. We have been here. I have been on just about every broadcast. I have had the honor and privilege of standing in a few times for you when you had other things that you had to get done. It's been beautiful. It's been a great thing for me. I have done other broadcasting, too. I'd like this talk show hosting. I think it suits me. Hugh: You do it very well, and you've had me as a guest on your show. You know we have learned, in our association with our group called CEO Space, the power of cooperation, and we have taken it to the collaborative level. There is plenty of room for everybody to play because it's a big playing field, and we bring it to a new paradigm. Let's look over some of the past podcasts. We have had the pleasure of interviewing some really amazing people. I don't know about you, but I learn from every single one of them. As a matter of fact, every time we talk, I learn something from you. You have some incredible sound bites. You are very well-read. You continue working on self. I remember Jim Rohn would commonly say in his speeches, “Work on yourself harder than you work on your business.” That is my sense of Russell Dennis. You are always improving your own self. You have done many worthy things in your career. What you are doing is bringing all that value to people who need it. Thank you for being here, and thank you for sharing your wisdom. Let's collaborate on thinking about the wisdom we've gathered from some of these people we have interviewed recently. What are some of the messages that jump out to you from some of those great interviews we have had? Russell: Here's the panel discussion that we had that really sticks in my mind. Several weeks ago, we were talking about diversity. This is a discussion that I've been having with people all over the place. In fact, I had a discussion with one of my classmates from the Sponsorship Boot Camp around diversity. This lady is a naval officer. She was a pilot, so she experienced some interesting reactions from her fellow naval pilots. It's pretty much a boys' club. When we get into diversity, we can get stuck on race, but there's not just race. There is age, gender, and socioeconomic status, which is really critical. Some of the things that I've read in the nonprofit press show a lack of diversity in our nonprofit boardrooms. That has an impact when you don't have a diversity of leadership or a diversity of thinking styles. You're leaving a lot on the table, and that's been uppermost in my mind lately as far as some of our discussions go. Hugh: Well, that's Dr. Thyonne Gordon you're referring to. The more I talk to her, the more I appreciate the depth of her wisdom and character. The context behind both her and Mr. William Lewis, they are both doctors and very skilled people. I was the white guy on the call, but it wasn't, as you have carefully placed, about race. We think it's about race. That's a factor. But how about boomers and millennials? How do we get along? We don't, because we don't understand each other. The gender, you talked about. The sexual preference, what is your lifestyle? Did you grow up in the ghetto? There is so many dynamics. When I participated years ago in working with a company in Germany that holds a competitive event called the World Choir Games, there were 400 choirs that show up from 100 countries. That is diversity. That is amazing diversity. People come together around a common thread, which is music, excellence in music. There is community that happens, not because you force it to happen, but because we all celebrate our diversity and celebrate the commonality that is music. I think we forget to think about the things we have in common. We think about what we have that is different rather than what we have in common. Russ, even within a white church that has mostly people from one generation and one economic sector, there are diverse opinions, but they are trapped in this container, not being able to get outside their point of view. Somebody from outside to ask questions: What about this? It opens up the conversation. We do get closed in without thinking about possibilities. We just think about what we have always done. What I have gained out of that particular interview, which was the brilliance of two of our guests, is there are some things we can think about. Here are some other values that we could bring. Is it about diversity, or is it about inclusion? Is it about bringing creative energy into your organization? That call was not only about race; it was about a whole plethora of other really powerful things. Am I remembering some of the same things you are? Russell: Yes, that's true. That is what I took away. Here is where you have these things potentially show up in a bad way, if you don't have that diversity. It's understanding the populations that you serve. A lot of the populations look like everybody else, but some of them don't. If you're running a nonprofit and you're trying to serve a population that you don't have a solid connection with, it could reduce your effectiveness and your efficiency in doing that. There are all sorts of problems and other articles. I would love to bring those up. We discussed maybe doing another panel, and I have talked to a couple of people who would be good for that once we decide we want to do another one. Hugh: Let's spin on that a minute. If you're listening to this podcast and diversity, inclusion, and building creativity on your board and your culture generally, if that is a topic of interest for you, please go to the podcast and do some comments. It is on the SynerVision website, and there is a place for comments. We very much welcome comments. If you are really into growing the culture in a creative way, I don't think you can do without some diversity. What do you think, Russ? Russell: You've gotta have it. That has been recognized by a lot of the new research that is out there. I read in the Chronicle of Philanthropy some of their findings. Those ads are out there. It's really important. People are finding that this is critical. The Denver Foundation, right here where I work, they did an inclusion project and put quite a bit of money and research into it several years ago to actually tackle that problem. They have great material on their website, denverfoundation.org. They actually put some of the questions that they ask with limited information on some of the participants and some of the types of questions that they ask. They will be happy to talk with you about it if you want more information. Hugh: Thank you for bringing this up. This is a really important topic. I think there should be a series of group discussions on this topic because it is such a big topic. It is such an important topic. When we had that call and I did a debriefing for the two guests, they both said there is a lot more content and sub-themes. We introduced so many themes in that call. What I think you ought to do is challenge me, or challenge each other, to put a series of these conversations together. We might have to do it not at this time, but do it at this time and broadcast it to be able to accommodate the variety of schedules. I want Wornie Reed, the race professor at Virginia Tech, on the call, and Andy Morikawa, my original founding board member, who have really good wisdom on boards and diversity. There are some others that you and I have talked about. I think there are lots of subthemes for us to work through and develop. What do you think of us having a series of conversations about that topic? Russell: I'd love to do that. As a matter of fact, I have a preliminary agreement. I've got Andie Sue Phillips who will be appearing on the Nonprofit Culture Success show on November 1 at 4 pm EST. She and I are going to be talking about diversity. We are both veterans. She is very interested in coming on and doing the panel and talking. She has experienced this, and she has actually put together a very interesting program that a number of major businesses are looking at on diversity. They found her and approached her on the subject. I'm excited about that conversation that we'll have coming up where she can talk about some of those tools. And we have a number of things. I think you could spend an hour on gender on one program. You could spend an hour on age, particularly the disconnect between boomers like ourselves and millennials. It's really a communication thing. A good friend of mine, Brooke Chestnut, who I went through the Colorado Speakers Academy with, has put some programs together to help organizations that are looking to recruit millennials actually get that done. He put together an interesting concept that he called reverse mentoring. I think it's about time for me to give young Mr. Chestnut a call. Hugh: He could be one of those panelists, couldn't he? Russell: Very easily. That is a piece of his work. Another good friend in the area, Russ Manery, does a lot of work around making sure you hire the right people. He is masterful at that. He was on my show a few weeks back. You got the conversation around age. You got a conversation around gender. Her being a veteran and me being a veteran, that opens up all sorts of doors for this conversation, and I'm looking forward to that. Hugh: Me, too. Russell: There is a lot to unpack there. Then of course there is socioeconomic status. People who actually are in need of a lot of the services that nonprofits provide. A big mistake I've seen people make over the years is that they have got wonderful ideas and they want to help, but somewhere along the way, they neglected to talk to the people that they are actually putting the program together for. Lo and behold, they had everything to sign, they had it funded, they built it, and nobody came. It's really important to talk to these folks and find out how they want to be helped because if they're accessing different services, they don't know where to buy them so to speak. They are experiencing these gaps, and there is something that falls outside the purview of the guidelines. They are actually struggling to fill all the needs. This happens with everything, especially with school. Students can go out and get scholarships and not be able to take advantage of them because of the hidden costs like the fees, the flights, and the textbooks. There are just things that show up that nobody accounts for. Thandie Caraway was on the Nonprofit Culture Success show last week. I have to put that replay up. Hugh: People will be listening to this way after the dates you gave, so let's give a link so people can find that. Russell: I will. Hugh: What is that link? Russell: For the Nonprofit Culture Success show, it's on Facebook. I have that every week. It's a webinar similar to this broadcast. I deliver it the exact same way. If you look up NP Culture Success on Facebook, you will be connected there. Hugh: NP, meaning Nonprofit, Culture of Success. That is a really good program. You interviewed me a few weeks ago. I have been in a thread with some really fine folks. Russell, when you were talking about programs they hadn't checked out, it reminds me of a Robert Frost poem: “We sit in a circle and suppose/the secret sits in the center and knows.” Does that resonate at all? Russell: That's pretty good stuff. David weighed in and said there is a lot we could talk about where diversity is concerned. These types of discussions are what I really love to see. I would love to have more people weigh in. You want to know what people are interested in and struggling with because that is another way we can add value. Hugh: I'm going to ask David Dunworth what some of those topics are that come to his mind. He said there are lots of topics that would enhance the facets of the show. Russell, we've been looking at some of the past podcasts. Last week we had our friend Joe White who had an amazing presentation on goals. I teach goals. I said in that show that Joe did that module in my workshop. You have done your module twice. Everybody I've had present a module does a far better job than I do. Joe came in and presented goals, and it was resonant with what we have defined in SynerVision. He did a stunning job of that. He talked about his GPS system for setting goals, which I found to be very powerful. The Covey principle, sharpen the saw, comes to mind with people like that. We are always working on our tools, sharpening the saw so we can be better. You and I are no spring chickens. We have learned a lot of stuff; we have a lot of stuff. But we are not sitting on our laurels. We are growing our own skill and being able to share the wisdom and experience and skills we have learned over the years. Do you remember that conversation with Joe? Does anything come to mind from that for you? Russell: The thing I loved about his GPS system is that it is incredibly powerful. There is a lot of power in it. The power comes from the simplicity that he rolls it out there with. Almost everybody that drives can relate to a GPS. It makes me wonder how we ever got anywhere without them. They have become so widespread that we are used to them. The power is the focus that comes from using a simple system, is what comes through. I think that any good system is easy to access, easy to understand, and easy to use. That comes from our friend Brendan Bouchard; that is not one of my originals. But it makes perfect sense because a lot of people in the industry, and I have had that conversation with him and other people in the personal development industry: maybe two or three out of every hundred that actually pick up a system implement it. This is where I want to help people get beyond that. If there is something that people can use in simple steps, they are going to be more likely to apply it. It's not going to be overwhelming. That was Joe's GPS system. It is a textbook example of that principle. Hugh: He did a very good job of explaining it and laying it out. And he had a free gift. We don't number the episodes of Nonprofit Exchange. If you find the one on Joe White setting powerful goals, that is a good one. We are going to expand some other topics coming up. David Dunworth had filled in some. One was outsourcing and its challenges because of preconceived notions. I find a lot of charities and churches and synagogues say we don't have time to do all these things, yet they want to hire people. You could outsource some of these things if you had sufficient time to develop your plan and methodology so you could hand it off. One of the basic tenets of transformational leadership is being able to take things off your plate and empower some other people to do. You and I have talked about the burnout rate with nonprofit leaders, and it is unusually high. Part of it is we get stuck as leaders doing too much, and then we are not effective as we could be because we have too much on our plate. One of them is outsourcing. We think giving things to other people is a weakness in leadership when really it is just the opposite. Some other topics that he threw on the table were gender bias, the glass ceiling, young versus old, the color barrier, and the multi-culture world is here. Those are some of the topics. I think besides being the glass ceiling, and that is commonly used with women who are limited- I find there is a lot more opportunity for growth and taking charge for women in the nonprofit sector because they have a unique ability to engage people and bring in some fresh ideas. A lot of the old white guys like me get stale. There is a freshness in them, especially the woman leaders of any race or age. I think there is a great opportunity. The ceiling that John Maxwell talks about is the lid. The lid is our ability to lead the organization. That is the leadership issue, not a diversity issue. But it also could be a diversity issue if we had somebody that brought different skills. Are we going to put a lid on them? Many times, we have this scarcity thinking. It's not just the lid that Maxwell talks about. His framing is that the organization cannot develop any further than the leaders' ability to lead it, so there is the law of the lid. Sometimes, it's not the leader's fault; the organization and the culture puts a lid on that leader. “No, we don't do it that way here.” You and I have seen circumstances where that happens. We have been in groups where we have participated mutually. Talk about that a minute. The framing of leadership and the ability of the board to let the leader lead, if they show some competence. What are some things you have seen? Russell: I'm working with the group now that has actually got good intent. It's a new organization. They asked me to serve on their board. There have been some struggles with understanding what it is that they want. That speaks to the outsourcing that David was talking about. You have to understand what it is that you want in order to be a good customer. That takes some definition. A lot of social profit leaders are new to doing what they're doing from a social profit realm, or they are taking on a big challenge. There could actually be some fear around whether some things are going to work. They are trying new things. They are trying things outside of their comfort zone. Those are things that can hold folks back. It's really expanding the thinking outside of the old traditional limited realms. Good leaders build on the leaders around them. There is no better way to look good than to have a great team of leaders around you because they are actually doing the stuff on the ground. If you are the leader providing direction, these folks actually make you look good. It's really when you bring people onto a board or you are a board and you bring somebody to lead your organization, you are putting them in a position of trust. There is a lot that you are expecting them to do. If you don't give them the tools or the autonomy to actually get things done, to leverage that creativity, you are going to have a little bit of trouble. One of the things my good friend Doug Crude talks about is the brilliance of the team. You have a lot of brilliance under your roof, a lot of people that are dedicated and motivated. But if you suppress that talent and you don't let them shine the way they want to shine, they will walk away. I don't think that it's fully a pay issue; it's really an issue of am I making a difference here? This is really important for millennials. They want to do work that matters. They don't want to be micro-managed. Nobody wants to be micro-managed. It's having that trust for your team and not being afraid to make mistakes that will propel you forward. Those are several things that transformational leaders do. Hugh: Absolutely. I am looking over some of the recent podcasts. We do develop a transcript from the interviews and put it in the Nonprofit Exchange podcast. Going back a while, you and I did a podcast on the five top things that block a leader's success. That one had a lot of plays; it was in April. There was also an interview we did with Dr. David Gruder, our friend who is an organizational developmental psychologist. It was about the people who are controlling the board with their anger. There were some things he gave us that were really helpful. We have seen lots of boards where they say they can't do something because it will upset so-and-so. So we tiptoe around the topic, and they avoid dealing with it head-on. What I heard with that and some other of my studies is when you have conflict, you move toward it and remain calm and address the facts very directly. We tend to avoid in the effort to be nice. When we are trying to be nice to one person, like on a board, then we are devaluing every other person because we have let that person take us hostage. That was the interview with Dr. Gruder, which was before our discussion on those five things. That one spoke to me especially in a special way because I see that kind of thing happening an awful lot. That was back in February, believe it or not. Russell: I think I've got that- We did that in June, I believe. I believe the February discussion was the discussion on the relationship that we have with money. Hugh: The shadow- you're right. Russell: That particular program, he talked about the strong personalities on the board. If one person dominates a lot of the conversations, he talked about how they go about really getting their way and actually short-circuiting any conversation that people have. That is just not a good thing. As a matter of fact, what I'm going to do is drop that into the chat box. That's a good one to go back and listen to if you have a strong personality that you are concerned about. Dr. Gordon did a podcast that addressed boards, too. Hers was also in June or somewhere close by. That one was April 11. That was about empowering your board and structuring a good board. I was actually absent that week that you and Dr. Gordon talked about boards. What were some of the things that she brought up? Hugh: There were a number of things. But it was empowering the board by asking them to do things. Going back to David Gruder's piece, we let other people's emotions control us. We have our own scripts that sometimes are not true. There was some synergy in the two presentations with Dr. Gruder and Dr. Gordon. She encouraged us to step up and ask board members to contribute money, time, and talent, all three. We tend to overcompensate by saying, “I'll do it for them; they're busy,” when that's not what they want. What they want is meaningful contribution. They are on the board because they want to give their skillset. That doesn't mean they are going to work every day for you, but it does mean they want to do something that is meaningful and see an impact from the organization. Her presentation is very valuable, and it's one of the most listened-to episodes on the podcast over the last three years. Dr. Thyonne Gordon, you said it was in April. That is a very popular podcast. That is a very important podcast. It's on a topic that I think a lot of boards struggle with. David Gruder talked about the shadow in February, but he talked about the anger specifically, how people control boards with their anger. That is something that we tend to cave into but is not very helpful. We are talking about David Dunworth who is watching us on Facebook at the moment. He talked about the brand and connecting it to the board. The board has impact on the brand. The board represents our brand. Your employees represent the brand. You represent the brand. We tend to think, Oh I'm a nonprofit; I don't have a brand. It's important that you have a brand identity, a brand promise. It's important that you know what your brand is, and everybody supports that brand. David has lots of skills. His particular channel that day was talking about your brand and what I remember coming out of that is how people behave around that brand. Do you have some thoughts around David and what he shared? Russell: It addressed leadership. His key message was that leaders are actually the brand, and they present the brand they build that once they build that, they safeguard it. They provide the direction and make sure. The brand is really what you're all about. A lot of times, the word “brand” will bring up thoughts around some sort of packaging or snazzy jingle. We think about that sort of thing. We think about it in terms of marketing, but a brand is really a statement about who you are and everything that you do flows out of that. David was talking eloquently about the leader's responsibility to make sure you have all the integrity and the effectiveness around that brand. You build on that, and it guides what you do. Leaders actually reflect that brand that your nonprofit is out there. That is a very good podcast. I did put that in the chat, too. Those will be in the notes for folks that missed those particular ones. I drop those in the notes because they are great to go back to. I tend to make a list and go out and grab all of these links as they go up so that I could look at them because there is so much that we learn from those that you can't absorb it all. I have to go back and listen to them again and again. That is the beauty of the Internet. We archive these videos, and they are there for our review. The podcasts are even better because you can listen to those on the fly. I put them on my iPod, and I can plug my iPod in the car and get it to go. You don't even have to fight with CDs anymore. There is technology again, and it is beautiful when it works, which is most of the time. Hugh: It is. “The Seven Essential Skills for Nonprofit Leadership Success,” that is one that you and I did. We went around that number seven because you had found seven to be a powerful number. The podcast that Todd Greer did years ago was on community. That is by far the most listened-to episode. It was relaunched on August 11 as an archive replay. The other one is “Drucker Challenge: Managing Oneself in the Digital Age.” That was Frances Hesselbein and her leadership institute. She is an amazing person who is much older than you and I but shows up to work because she has a passion for creating value in people's lives. She is very clear on who she is and what she offers. The other one I wanted to lift up—We are coming close to our time. I like not to go over too much—is the due diligence one with Thomas Moviel. You interviewed Thomas. That was one of the times you got to do an interview and didn't have the burden of Hugh Ballou getting in your way. Before you launch an idea, can you do some due diligence? Does the world need your nonprofit? I thought that was relevant. I met him at a conference and invited him in because- You may have more relevant statistics than this, but my memory is that half of the nonprofits that are formed every year close. They are not able to fully achieve their mission at any level. That might partly be because the world didn't need your idea. You go to all the trouble of launching something before you did a check-up to see if it's really needed. Do you remember that interview you did with Thomas? Russell: Yes, it was quite a while ago. One of the things that David pointed out is that the brand philosophy and its tenets have to be present throughout the whole organization, not just with the leadership. Thomas and I talked about some of that identity, but what we were really talking about was making sure that you understand what it is that you do and what you do differently. The concept behind “Does the world need your nonprofit?” is understanding clearly what the problems that you solve are and focusing on things that you really do well. That was a big key takeaway that a lot of folks just don't do that as well as they could. So we talked a little bit about some tools for doing that, but most of the emphasis was on the importance of doing that, whether it's with a program or specific people that you go to attract to your organization. It's really having that focus on the people that you're serving. Hugh: Amen. That was a really good interview. I saw him on Saturday and thanked him for that. I just had a hunch that would be something valuable. It's been one of the most listened-to episodes. As we do a wrap here, Russell, I thought it would be good for us to pause in our pretty active schedule of interviewing thought leaders and for you and I to reflect on some of the lessons and help people think about what they need next. As I am looking over the list since you and I have been doing this, there are a number of very powerful interviews that have of course the transcription there, but they have things that could be implemented. The David Corbin interview about brand slaughter, which is the title of his book. The Penny Zenker interview about how to gain control over your life. It's about that time robber. George Fraser talked about building a legacy. He has the largest African-American network in the world and is very humble about it. Don Green talked about the Napoleon Hill Foundation. He is going to contribute for the magazine about boards. That board uses business principles to support that nonprofit. Our friend Shannon Gronich did getting unlimited publicity. There is a whole methodology under that, which she is so brilliant about. Russell, as we draw to a close, I customarily ask our guests to think about what they want to leave people with. Maybe you and I could take a turn doing that. What is your thought that from all the wisdom that we've ben able to partake in, what would you say to people listening to this podcast that you would wish they could do with some of this wisdom? Russell: I would say refer back to it regularly. Never stop looking for ways to do what you do better. Always work from your strengths as much as possible. Find partners and other people to collaborate with so that you can cover those areas that you don't necessarily do well because you are going to be much more effective just living it, working in your genius, and trusting that to make an impact than trying to create a new genius for yourself. Do what you do. Do your thing. That is really the most important thing: work from those strengths, and always be learning. Always keep learning. Always continue to look for opportunities to collaborate. Learning is a never-ending process. Don' be afraid to try new things. If you are feeling stuck, stop and think about some of the people that you already have in your payroll or who are volunteering or who are writing your checks. It won't hurt to ask your donors for ideas. Ask them what they'd like to see. It's about getting people more and more engaged with what you're doing and letting them know that what they're contributing, whether it's time, treasure, talent, or all three, how important that is. Let them know what's possible through that regularly. Hugh: Russ, that is really great. You took the words out of my mouth. I find people say, “I don't have time to listen to podcasts.” Do you ever drive in your car anywhere? I never have anything but public radio and my podcasts, and I learn every time I listen to my podcast. What I appreciate about Russell David Dennis is that you are always working on your skill. You have a book you're working on. What you pointed out is that just because you listened to it or read it doesn't mean you know it all. What I have learned from our friend Ken Courtright is he goes back and reads great books again with a different colored highlighter. He finds that when he goes back and highlights passages that stand out to him, they are different than the ones he highlighted the first time. Either you didn't see it or understand it, or you weren't ready to learn it yet. I applaud what you said. That is a very good reminder for me. Just because you read it, just because you listened to it doesn't mean you shouldn't listen to it again because you are ready to learn the next thing. Russell, I'm grateful for you. Thank you for being on this series of podcasts. I would like to encourage people to go back and listen to this library of wonderful resources that we have as a gift for you. Please share your comments and the podcast on social media or on your email because we want people to listen to them. They are free. This is our gift to you. Russell, thank you for today. I am grateful to you, sir. Russell: It's very good. If folks don't already, keep going back to the SynerVision page, the Nonprofit Culture Success page on Facebook, and the Nonprofit Exchange Channel. Make sure you subscribe to that on YouTube. Check back regularly. Go in the comment areas and let us know what you think and what you want to hear about because we are here to serve you and help you make more impact in your communities. Hugh: Good words, Russell. Thank you so much. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On June 8, 2015 the following interview was recorded: Peter Drucker, the father of Modern Management, long ago pioneered the idea of the knowledge worker. With the advent of the knowledge worker came the concept of managing oneself. Drucker stated “more and more people in the workforce…will have to manage themselves. They will have to place themselves where they can make the great contributions; they will have to learn to develop themselves” (Drucker, Management Challenges for the 21st Century, p. 163). Frances Hesselbein, CEO of The Hesselbein Leadership Institute, co-author of Drucker's Five Most Important Questions, and dear friend of the late-Peter Drucker. Joan Snyder Kuhl, founder of Why Millennials Matter, an international speaker, and co-author of Drucker's Five Most Important Questions. Paul Sohn, has a heart for equipping, connecting and transforming the next generation of leaders through his work as a Leadership Coach and Purpose Weaver. The Drucker Challenge will take place in Vienna, Austria on November 5th and 6th and asks the question, “what will it take to manage oneself in the digital age?” Tune in as we discuss this important challenge of “Managing Oneself in the Digital Age”, discuss the Drucker Challenge competition, and connect young professionals here in the United States to the international forum! Interview Transcript The Drucker Challenge, Managing Oneself in the Digital Age  Todd Greer: Hello, and welcome to a very special episode of The Nonprofit Exchange: Leadership Tools and Strategies. So thrilled to be able to welcome in the amazing, wonderful panelists for our roundtable on The Drucker Challenge. Today, we are joined by Frances Hesselbein, Joan Kuhl, and Paul Sohn. So thrilled to have you here. We are talking about some extremely important things, one being the primary legacy of Peter Drucker. I want to welcome you in and let you know who is with us today on the program. Our first guest with us today is Frances Hesselbein. She is an amazing woman. She is the president and CEO of the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute. She is its founding president. Prior to founding the institute, she served as the CEO for the Girl Scouts USA. Between 1965 and 1976, she rose from troop leader to CEO, holding the position of CEO for 14 years. During her time, she grew the organization into a monster of a wonderful organization, bringing girls in from all parts of our society. Whether you are talking rural, urban, or suburban, Frances led the effort to bring girls in, to give them programming, to help them grow their efficacy and understanding of what it takes to be successful. In 1998, she was honored by President Bill Clinton with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work with Girl Scouts USA. Today, she is the editor-in-chief of Leader to Leader Journal, she is the author of a zillion different books, including a half dozen seen behind my shoulders. She is a lead author on the recently released Peter Drucker's Five Most Important Questions. Frances, we are so absolutely thrilled to have you in with us. Frances Hesselbein: Well, I am so thrilled to be with you. Todd: Frances, right next to you is Joan Kuhl. Joan is the founder of Why Millennials Matter. She is an international speaker. She is a multi-time successful book author. She has dabbled in both business and health care, but she has found her niche in mentoring and developing millennials across the country and truly across the globe. She has been mentoring millennials for a decade now, which is a beautiful message because she is only 17 herself. She has an MBA. She is a certified instructor. She does so much to lead and let organizations understand what it looks like to work with millennials. Her advice has been in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Leader to Leader. Cosmopolitan Magazine has chosen her to be part of their inaugural Millennial Board of Advisors. She has been featured at amazing places like 92Y; just last week, she was speaking there. She has written The First Globals: Understanding, Managing, and Unleashing Millennial Generation with John Zobbie. She is a keynote and panelist all over the country. Joan, thrilled to have you in with us. Joan Kuhl: Thank you, Todd. I am so excited to be with all of you. Todd: Last but certainly not least, we have our young man on the panel, Paul Sohn. Paul is a leadership consultant, blogger, and author. He has worked with Fortune 100 companies and is now working with Giant Worldwide as a consultant. He has been ranked as one of the world's top 50 leadership bloggers to follow. Paul is listed as one of the top 33 under 33 Christian millennials by Christianity Today. He is pursuing a graduate degree at Pepperdine University, the world's premier organizational development master's program. Paul, wow, we are thrilled to have you on the program as well. Paul Sohn: It's an honor, Todd. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. Todd: Look, folks, I am just thrilled to be here with three amazing panelists, three amazing guests. We want to dig into some really important topics. I want to start with a really important question. I am going to ask you this, Frances. Frances, who is Peter Drucker? Frances: Peter Drucker is and was the founder of modern management and has had the greatest impact upon leaders in all three sectors, with hundreds of books and films and videos all bringing the Drucker philosophy alive to leaders at every level across the organization. He is skilled at the language of leadership with maxims such as “Think first, speak last.” Another one I love is, “Ask, don't tell.” That could be translated into any language and moves easily around the world. When Peter Drucker says that your mission should fit on a T-shirt, he began a not-so-quiet revolution that would continue to celebrate and share in today. Todd: It's an amazing thing. We look at the lasting legacy of Peter Drucker. Frances, you obviously had the wonderful experience of not just a partnership and working alongside him, but a friendship. What do we think of as Drucker's legacy? What do we still see today? Frances: When Peter Drucker instilled the language of leadership and when he moves his three questions across all three sectors, what is our mission, who is our customer, what does the customer value, and once we have published this, celebrated it, put it on posters, he said, “No, no, there are five questions.” What is our mission? Who is the customer? What does a customer value? Then what about results? What is our plan? He said, “If you don't end up with a plan, a good time was had by all, and that is all.” Todd: Absolutely. It's a beautiful thing. It's interesting because we have Paul who is a millennial; I am a cusper; Joan, I think you're right in that cusper level, but just barely on the X side if I'm right; but each of us have been profoundly implicated by the legacy of Peter Drucker. It's one of those things that you start to think about what has been passed down to us over the years. A quick snippet. I am currently reading Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter Drucker. It's a book that came out in 1984. I was three years old. Yet the things that Peter Drucker talks about in that book are the same key areas that are being talked about all across the world in all three sectors. Frances, you hit the nail on the head. Frances: Yes, and we continue; even after Peter passed, we changed the name. We began as the Peter Drucker Leadership Institute, but to us, it is still the Peter Drucker Institute. Our job is to move Peter across the country and around the world. Todd: Speaking of moving around the world, we've got something really important that we want to be talking about, which is the Drucker Forum. Joan, talk to us a little bit about what this Drucker forum is and the corresponding global Drucker Challenge. Joan: It is so exciting. The Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute is a huge fan and supporter of the Global Drucker Challenge, and the International Drucker Forum is actually one of the leading management congresses in Europe. It brings together extraordinary dynamic leaders of every sector, talking about Peter's philosophies. This is now going into the sixth year. This international forum takes place in Peter's birthplace, Vienna, Austria, in November of each year, and the dates are November 5-6. It's also live-streaming. Those of us who can't be there in person can experience it online, as Frances and I did this past year. It's an extraordinary forum of really innovative thinking. To our point, but also thinking about how Peter's wisdom is timeless. What we are excited to share today is this huge opportunity for millennials to grow as a community of followers of Drucker, but also compete for an opportunity to be at this forum in Austria. There is a cash prize as well. What is based on, this Global Peter Drucker Challenge, it shares the same mission that we have that Frances spoke to, which is really to expose new emerging leaders' work and have them make it relevant to themselves, what they are seeing, what their experiences are, what their goals are. It's an essay competition, and there are two categories. There is one for students and one for young professionals. This year, the topic is Managing Oneself in the Digital Age: The Human Side of Technology. Basically what you need to do is submit an essay, 1,500-3,000 words, outlining your perspective and your experiences on this topic. If you go to both the institute's website, Why Millennials Matter, or druckerchallenge.org, where you can find all the information, it's suggested that you download a copy of a chapter that Peter wrote about managing oneself. I know we will talk about that further, but that is a great starting point for all of you who want to enter the competition. Read Drucker's Managing Oneself, and start to think about how you'd apply that to that topic. Todd: Joan, I think somebody is calling in for a second because they were really intrigued by participating. They got right on the phone. Let me stop right for a second and let you know that if you are on the SynerVision webpage, you can chat and ask some questions there. That will be an opportunity, whether we can answer them live on air or answer them after the fact, for you to engage with Frances, Joan, Paul, or myself going forward. Joan: Great. I wanted to say that the deadline is July 15. We are very excited and anxious to spread the word about the challenge and get online today to answer any questions and talk a little bit about it. I think that one thing that we are going to find extraordinary is as Frances and I have been traveling and talking to college students, how much our recent book The Five Questions has been relevant and valuable and interesting to today's students and professionals. We can't wait to hear the type of thinking that will evolve out of this contest. Todd: I want to point out to anybody who is sitting watching from work or their home office or wherever they may be as they take this in archive form. The new edition of Peter Drucker's Five Most Important Questions has taken and distilled down these five great questions that Frances referred to earlier and broken them into really important pieces. We know some of the lasting legacy leaders like Marshall Goldsmith and Jim Collins and others of this nature, you see the legacy of Peter Drucker living in them. We have also seen in this edition millennials be engaged to deep dive into these important questions. I think that is something really important. Kudos to the two of you, Frances and Joan, for taking that next step to think about how we make these concepts accessible to each generation as they go forward. I know Paul and I have both really enjoyed the book and thinking about those questions. The questions are simple, but they certainly are not easy. I think you have done a wonderful job in making that accessible for us. I want to take that next step because Joan, you talked about the question that serves as the Drucker Challenge question, which is: What does it look like to manage oneself in the 21st century? I want to dig first into that concept of managing oneself. Frances, if you would, talk a little bit about what it means to manage oneself. Frances: Managing oneself is a millennial concept. It is the millennial's language that we have just grabbed. My generation, perhaps yours, too, does not think so much as managing oneself as unleashing or liberating oneself. Self-management is a contemporary term. Most managers are comfortable with it. They can trust the work within the concepts. Others prefer language that uses the concept of leadership rather than management. We understand what it really means to manage oneself. Todd: I think that is a really interesting thing. Obviously, you bring up that shift and how we think about it. Joan, would you touch on how the concept really has shifted into the 21st century? The challenge even talks about a digital age. What does that look like? Joan: What I love about our youngest generation in the workplace today, millennials, is they are hungry for and craving leadership resources. They aspire to be people who make a difference. Their definition of success is through personal fulfillment. They want that greater role. You think about the role of technology in all of this. What we talk to students and young professionals a lot about is how important it is to be conscientious of your personal brand. Your brand lives in three places. It's in person, how you present yourself and how you connect personally. It's on paper, still the traditional ways of resumes and portfolios. Third, it's online. Thinking about how you share your own thought leadership. When we talk to students today, we tell them that everybody has something to contribute and to share. To Frances's point about how millennials, this is the millennial language of managing oneself, Peter himself in the essay Managing Oneself talks about how you can look at your own strengths, how you can ask for feedback and why that is a really good thing to get others' perspectives, and how you can continue to shine by evolving those skills into greatness versus feeling overwhelmed by your weaknesses. He talks about how to figure out where you belong, what your contribution is. That deeper sense of who am I, what is my role in this world, is completely a complement to what we know students and young professionals are craving today. I think really using social media, technology, like we are doing today, to spread those messages around the world to their peers, to new audiences is what makes this time really exciting. Todd: I think that is such an important thing. We have seen a shift in this millennial generation. We have this massive boom. They are technology-savvy, not just technology-savvy, but it's intuitive to them. We have grown up with this. Paul, what do you see? You are a millennial here. We have kind of kept you quiet for a little while. Kudos to you because they say millennials can't keep quiet. Only teasing. What do you see? Paul: As Joan said, millennials are wrestling with the issue of managing yourself in this digital age. Honestly, I think we are living in a very noisy world. Our generation are plugged in 24/7. We are constantly bombarded with messages and images of what our friends are doing on social media. There is one interesting study that I found that seven out of ten millennials are experiencing FOMO, which is Fear of Missing Out. This is an anxiety that you see when you have friends on Facebook or Instagram that seem like they are having the time of their life. You think to yourself, What am I doing here? I want to be there. I want to be doing all this. Instead of leading your lives based on who you are, you are basing your lives on the expectations of the pressures of this world. One question I think that could be helpful to millennials to ask ourselves is what does it look like to be on the other side of you? I think that is a really important question for us to think about. Having the discipline to unplug ourselves from electronics and social media and start going back to the basics of journaling and thinking about who I am, what my tendencies are, what my strengths are. One thing that has helped me particularly is creating this personal board of directors. Being able to identify mentors and coaches around me and through these conversations, I discover who I am. I discover my strengths. With the concrete feedback that they give me, it helps me discover who I really am. Todd: That's a great point. Frances: When I speak to groups of millennials, I say, “Yes” every chance I have because it is so fascinating because it is circular. A study says that today 18-28's are more like the 1930s and 1940s than any cohort since. We call the ‘30s and ‘40s the greatest generation. They often ask, “Could you repeat that please?” Todd: Absolutely. I know that you have often talked about millennials, Frances, or at least we share in our magazine about the next great generation. There is some really exciting pieces for them. As we talk about these concepts, we are talking about how do we as millennials link to the legacy of wisdom that has come from those before us? One of the terms that Peter coined that really stands out is this right here: It's the knowledge worker. What does it mean to be a knowledge worker? If you don't mind talking about what it means to be a knowledge worker, Frances. Frances: It's very simple. Knowledge workers use brains. Knowledge workers use their brains, and they are very comfortable with all kinds of communication. More than any other group, they understand communication is not saying something, communication is being heard. A knowledge worker must first have the knowledge messages they wish to communicate. They are very good at distilling the language. We don't need eight paragraphs. A powerful one or two will do it. The divide between the manual workers and the knowledge worker is vast. There is a growing number of knowledge workers because of this vast number of millennials entering the workforce. Recent studies show that millennials today are more like the workforce of the ‘30s and ‘40s than any cohort since. May I add, we call them the greatest generation. Joan: I am going to add, too. The thing about millennials embodying the knowledge worker is that they absolutely feel like they can be multiple experts in a number of different subjects because they have access to so much information. The knowledge worker is someone who never stops in that quest of learning and evolving and contributing. Ironically, a lot of millennials, regardless of where they are employed, studies are showing that more often they want to start a business, are inspired to start a business, have a side hustle, or have some type of engagement, whether it be in a nonprofit serving as a volunteer or as a board member. That really embodies this sense of wanting to be a lifelong learner and contributor. Todd: That's a great point. As a millennial yourself, Paul, what are you seeing? It is almost to the point that we don't even use that knowledge worker framing anymore because everybody is expected to be that, right? Paul: It's part of our generation. I don't think that a lot of millennials actually think about knowledge work because it is part of who we are, it is part of our lives. I see that the jobs of tomorrow haven't even existed today. Many of these jobs of tomorrow will be knowledge work for sure. Todd: Great point. In Peter's essay on managing oneself, he talks about the importance of knowing one's strengths and weaknesses. I know that is a really important topic. I personally am a big fan of the work that stemmed from Dr. Clifton and his strengths approach. Tomorrow, on the program here, Al Weisman from the Gallup Institute is going to be joining us. Paul, what are you seeing? You briefly talked before about strengths and weaknesses. How imperative is it for me as a knowledge worker to know those things? Paul: I think it is huge in this generation. As I said, a lot of these jobs of tomorrow haven't even existed today. That means that we are living in a generation where we have so many options, so many different paths to pursue. Without gaining a greater clarity around who we are, knowing our strengths and our weaknesses will really help us to be able to identify a career which we feel will be at our vocational sweet spot. It is huge to distill within and identify those strengths and weaknesses and have an objective understanding of who you are. Todd: How do we learn them, Paul? Paul: As you said, Todd, Strengths Finder is great. I am a big fan. For millennials out there who haven't done a lot of assessments, I think it's a great starter. One caveat I would say is that a lot of these self-assessments focus on your limited understanding of yourself. A lot of us in our 20's are in a period of still discovering who we are. We can easily deceive ourselves when we are trying to fill out these surveys and look at these reports because we are still learning about ourselves. One thing I think would really help is to engage your inner circle of influence. People who are part of your work or church or personal life, asking them for specific stories about you and asking them to be objective and concrete about it, questions like “Tell me a time when I excelled,” or “Tell me a time when I was fully alive.” These are really important questions for us to ask. Once we receive that feedback, our job is then to identify if there is any common themes that come out of that. Through that, we will be able to get a better understanding of what those things are that I do really well and what are some of those weaknesses as a leader and how I mitigate those weaknesses and leverage my strengths. Todd: That's a great point. You summarized that so well. That very much fits what we see from Peter Drucker in his chapter on managing oneself, the importance of bringing in those advisors, those people that surround us and see us in action. I am going to move into a really interesting question. This is one that I think is a great challenge to all of us. I am going to open the discussion for each of the three of you with the question: How can I balance my individual reality with that of others? That is a big challenge in this 21st century. Joan: To pick up where Paul left off, which was fantastic advice, one thing that I have shared with students is to think about how others perceive you. How do others see you? You have that on one side. The other side is think about how you want them to see you, what you believe is within yourself, and match those up. Look to see if there is a gap. That is where the road map for your development comes from. More importantly, to Paul's point, you need to have some allies, some mentors, some people within your personal board of advisors—I have always advocated for that. I think that's great advice, Paul—that are willing to have those honest conversations with you. Another approach I tell students and even young professionals at work is to find a success buddy. Find someone, a peer, a colleague, a friend, who is around your same stage in life and in your career and talk through these concepts and give each other feedback. Think through questions that you can ask mentors. Remember, mentors are anywhere. They can be professors, administration, former colleagues, former managers. I think that Paul is right. When you are so overwhelmed with the grandiose lifestyles in your face on social media, I can be easy to get overwhelmed by what others are doing and underwhelmed by your own personal accomplishments. It is an important thing to center yourself around your mission and your personal values first. Frances: It is so important also to realize that leadership is not a destination. I often have young leaders say to me, “I know I want to be a real leader, but how will I know when I get there?” I can say, “Leadership is not a destination. Leadership is a journey.” We not only choose where and how we are going, but we choose our fellow travelers very carefully. I think you mentioned much the same. Todd: I think that's such a great point here. I love the idea of finding other people that are alongside you in the journey. One thing I think is important for us, and I am going to put my two cents in, and then Paul, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, is when we think about the finding of the individual reality with that of others, one thing we are learning more and more is the importance of empathy. Recognizing the need to find empathy in the other. We are recognizing whether it's organizations like IDO who are going out to seek to solve world problems through that idea of first finding empathy with the end user, or we are talking about even advertisers today. Marketers and advertisers are recognizing until I recognize and have empathy for the person using the product, I can't truly design something for them. I would encourage us to think through the need to find and hold onto that empathic perspective. Paul? Paul: I resonate with everything you guys have been saying. Empathy is huge in this generation. The fact is, a lot of millennials are so widely connected these days, but on a very surface level. We used to have these one on one relationships with people around us, but now we are having all these wider connections on social media for instance. One thing that I notice is people are always tied to their Smartphones. They are always typing away and connecting. Although there are great benefits that come with that, part of it is we lose that sense to understand and feel the other person. I think that is the foundation of emotional intelligent leaders, the new style of leadership. Todd: One thing we are seeing more and more is this conversation about lifelong learning. If you guys each would talk briefly about what role learning has played for you and also for the knowledge worker in the 21st century, what role does learning play? Frances: Critical role. If we do not learn every day, and if learning is not part of our journey, and all kinds of learning from all kinds of people, then we become part of the past. Learning across the sectors, not just one area, but as Peter Drucker used to say, I look out the window and see what is visible but not yet seen. That is one of our great challenges. It's all out there. We look out the window. Joan: Our work, and clearly yours as well, both of you, is all about opening doors and all about creating and developing and inspiring new resources for emerging leaders particularly but also tenured leaders to think about some of these big ideas. At the end of the day, self-development, if you are looking for your company or your management to be responsible for you, you have it all wrong. It's an ownership thing. You own your own self-development. To Frances's point, you have to continue to be on that journey to expose yourself to diverse thinking and ideas. That is the whole point of this Drucker Challenge. The beauty of Peter's wisdom is to push you to think about things like management and leadership and how you impact others and what is happening inside you, and then reflect on how that resonates with you. What clicks for you? Share that back with the world. Frances: Think first, speak last. Ask, don't tell. We have all had people in a room say, “I told him and told him and told him, and he still didn't get it.” No, no, no. Ask, don't tell. Todd: I'll say I cannot document that this is something that actually occurred, but somebody shared with me recently: Somebody came to Peter and asked him, “How did you get to be so smart? How did you get to be so wise?” His answer was, “I have CEOs of companies coming in to talk to me, and I listen.” I think that is a foundational part of learning: the willingness to listen. Paul? Paul: That is a great point. Another thing that I would like to add to that is just having the sense of inquisitiveness, a sense of curiosity is the source of true learning. We can talk about all the strategic reasons of why learning is important, but unless it is coming from your internal motivation, this intrinsic desire to learn more and be curious, that opens up so many doors for opportunities. Whenever you are with someone new or are reading a book, you are asking, “Why? How come? What is this for?” These questions will lead us to deeper inquiry and a deeper relationship with these things. It's huge. Todd: Joan, let me ask you this last question before we start to draw everything to a close. Can anybody actually manage themselves if they don't have an awareness of who they are? Joan: I love that question. The truth is that yes, this is an internal quest. I think I also want to point out, as we said earlier, that leadership can start at any age. We want to encourage as young as possible for them to think about and have that self-awareness. Quick story. I was on a community college campus in New York City, and I saw a young girl carrying around one of Marshall Goldsmith's books. I thought that was interesting. I grabbed her and said, “We have a new book coming out. Marshall is in it, and he has a new book.” She looked so surprised that I asked about this book. I asked her where she got it, and she said, “Well, I know I'm not a real leader myself, but I saw this book in the Sale section, and I thought maybe if I read this, I one day can be.” That hit me right here. That is the purpose of our work. I told her absolutely is she right now a leader. Absolutely. She is in control of that. We gave her our information. That is what we have to be on the lookout for. There is a lot of pressure and anxiety being young in a world that is visible online everywhere. We want to help them connect internally, to be a better manager and a leader of others first. Frances: We define leadership as a matter of how to be, not how to do. For young leaders that makes sense. Todd: Let's go ahead and dig back in. Joan, if you would, you guys have the Five Most Important Questions. It has done amazingly well. People are getting excited again about the questions you have shared with us enduring wisdom. I love that tagline. You can find it on druckerchallenge.org or whymillennialsmatter.com. Bring us back here to what you are talking about. Joan, give us that reminder of how we get involved in it and what it looks like for us to think about that question. Joan: Druckerchallenge.org is where you go to get the direct information. This is such an exciting opportunity. If I challenge everyone that is listening today to just download that free chapter that Peter wrote on managing oneself, it will hit home. It will help you be more reflective about your own path to leadership. We talked about our strengths, our contribution, who you surround yourself with, the communities that really work to help you flourish and excel in life and feel satisfied. Druckerchallenge.org. The deadline is July 15. You have to submit an essay between 1,500 and 3,000 words. I would encourage you to work with a mentor or friend. Have someone review your essay before you submit it. But don't hesitate. Don't second-guess yourself or your thoughts or your ideas. Everybody has something to add in this conversation. Again, the prizes are incredible. They are saving 20 seats for the top winners to attend the challenge itself in Vienna, Austria, and then you are connected to this unbelievable, dynamic, and thoughtful community of other Drucker fans and followers. Todd: Let me again reiterate this has been an amazing journey. The four of us are on this call today simply because we believe in it. We believe in the enduring wisdom of Peter Drucker. We believe in the enduring wisdom of not only Peter, but also in those who have taken to heart the things that Peter taught. We sit here. I know Paul, Joan, and myself sit here and learn consistently from Frances. Frances, you have really lived that legacy well. You're teaching each of us so many amazing things. I am so thankful to your work at the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute of what you have done. I am thankful to Joan of Why Millennials Matter and to Paul and his leadership legacy he is building in young leaders. Folks, we are so thrilled to be part of this journey. I want to say thank you to the Young Nonprofit Professional Network. They have been so helpful in helping to publicize this great work. They serve to help promote in this third sector what the good and perfect legacy of Peter Drucker is as we think about moving forward. Reminder: Check out what is happening. There is some amazing things that are occurring with the Drucker Challenge and the International Forum. A great opportunity to get involved with it, as Joan shared with us today. We have just barely touched the tip of the iceberg in this discussion. So many places to go. Paul, Frances, Joan, if you want to leave us here with one last word of wisdom and then we will close. Frances: I would leave Peter Drucker's wisdom with you. Think first, speak last. Ask, don't tell. When they walk around and you understand leadership is a matter of how to be, not how to do, then you are well along that journey to effective leadership. Joan: Todd, Frances and I both want to say thank you so much. You have been such a phenomenal partner. SynerVision, Nonprofit Performance Magazine, you inspire us with how hands-on and passionate you are about your work. That is what I would echo in my closing thoughts. Seeing someone like you and how you are a lifelong learner and you love to connect and ask people about their thoughts and questions, that is why we wanted to spread the word on the Drucker Challenge. I hope that everyone who listens or reads to this, I hope they know that they all have an important message to share and we want to hear it. This is an opportunity to do so. Paul: Thanks so much again, everyone for giving me the opportunity to be here. As a millennial myself, this is a very important message that I hope a lot of my fellow millennials would watch and be able to understand the impact of Peter Drucker's legacy on the next generations of leaders. Thanks again for giving me the opportunity to be here. Todd: Folks, we are so thrilled to have you in with us. Whether you are going to Vienna for the Drucker Forum or will be able to participate in the livestream of it, we really believe there is lasting wisdom for each of us to attain. No matter how old or young we are, we are all lifelong learners. So thrilled again to have the Hesselbein Leadership Institute, Why Millennials Matter, and Paul Sohn of PaulSohn.com. You can take a look at the work they are all doing. Each one of us stands here because we believe that we have an opportunity to engage and develop leaders as we go forward. Thanks for joining us. Appreciate having you in here with us. Frances, Joan, Paul: Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frances Hesselbein co-authored and published an enhanced edition of Peter Drucker’s iconic book: "The Five Most Important Questions: Enduring Wisdom for Today’s Leaders."

What are you seeing that's not yet visible? Russell Bishop, author, speaker, consultant and world-traveler sat with host Mark Sylvester to talk about his insights gathered over a lifetime of working with people and their potential. Russell's latest work, Workarounds that Work, is a fascinating read, especially for those trying to get things done in complicated and convoluted environments. One of the early pioneers in the field of large group personal development, he created Insight Seminars in 1978, followed by Insight Consulting Group. In the mid-1980's he co-founded Productivity Development Group along with David Allen. To date, well over one million people in 43 countries have participated in seminars designed by Russell. There was a lot of ground covered in this conversation, including: • A brief history of his work in the human potential movement, starting with Insight Seminars in the 60's • A recent conversation he had with Frances Hesselbein, famous for her work with the Girl Scouts. • How the GSA changed from an Ozzie and Harriet brand to one that focuses on inner city diversity, and why that made a difference • "How do you pay attention?" • Loved this quote: Never curse the rung of the ladder that got you where you are." • He explains the difference between Symbols and Experience with examples of how to make them work for you • We looked at the concept of Awakening - which is behind the title of this post, Becoming more of who you already are. • How to Ask Questions • Be genuinely curious • Have a desire to learn and explore • Care about the other person and their answer • An anecdote about Esalen • "A question is simply a demand with a hook on the end of it." • Loved this distinction on how to reframe a question - "Mark, what do you think?" - "Mark, tell me what you think." • The Art of Inquiry - I want to see this as a book • Favorite buzzword: Neurocardiology • "Most things in the universe are simple." • "There are 3 2's in the English language. To. Too. Two. • The story about Icebergs v. Snowflakes • And finally this one,"Human being v Human doing We've invited Russell back, as it's clear this is a conversation that needs a part 2. Russell is hosting a conference called Conscious Conversations in September - information here.

In this intimate conversation with one of our greatest leaders, Frances Hesselbein reveals how a childhood experience led to her conviction that leadership is "to be, not to do.” Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Frances Hesselbein has been recognized across the political spectrum. Now, as the USA is approaching an election and many are feeling uncertain about what lies ahead, Frances brings to us her inimitable wisdom. Music selections include “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow” and Dvorak’s “Going Home.” For more about Frances Hesselbein, visit hesselbeininstitute.org

Join Kelly Lovell for leadership insights from Frances Hesselbein, Presidential Medal of Freedom winner, Thought Leader and CEO of the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute. Hear Frances' advice for young professionals and leaders looking to meaningfully serve their communities.

Have you ever been ashamed of how much you have? Do you play it on the “down-low” how much more you want? A teacher I’ve learned a LOT from was Peter Drucker. Mind you, I never met him. But, I am mentored by his Protege Ms. Frances Hesselbein. Recently, I read this quote he wrote: “Those who perform love what they’re doing.” It’s my opinion that you weren’t put here on the planet to ever have time to “do nothing.” No, not for people like you and I. The whole reason you’d listen to a podcast called Your Best Just Got Better is, in fact, so you can figure out how to do MORE! In this episode, you'll learn… Do you know the BEST times to acknowledge someone for a job well done? What “Wanting more” has to do with “Being more." How to “extinguish” behavior you want someone to stop. (Especially if that person is you!) Finally, what to do about all the “More” you already have! Please do leave us a question, an idea, a prompt below, so we know what YOU think of this ‘cast. If it’s time to make new habits, you need this podcast. I promise!! Subscribe or Review the Your Best Just Got Better Podcast in iTunes! Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Your Best Just Got Better podcast. Sure, there are many other episodes. Scroll through them (below) and see if there is another one that “speaks” to you.  If this is the first episode you’ve ever listened to, welcome! You can listen to all previous 201 episodes and be one of the first to hear the new episode each week when we publish it. Click here to view the show notes online Click here to subscribe in iTunes Click here to subscribe in Stitcher Radio

Michael Lee Stallard will talk with me about his latest book, The Connection Culture.Here’s my review of Connection Culture. In a nutshell, I loved it.Michael is the co-founder and president of E Pluribus Partners, a leadership training, coaching and consulting firm.  He specializes in helping leaders create cultures that boost productivity and innovation to achieve sustainable superior performance.He is the primary author of the bestselling book Fired Up or Burned Out: How to Reignite Your Team’s Passion, Creativity and Productivity. It has been widely praised by well-respected leaders and thought leaders. Frances Hesselbein, Chairman of the Leader to Leader Institute, described the book as "the indispensable leadership guide for leaders everywhere." Russell Reynolds, Jr., founder and former CEO of Russell Reynolds Associates wrote, "An enthralling and impressive work. It shows how to empower people and create great societies, corporations and cultures. I'm giving it to everyone at my own firm."Michael spoke with me in 2010 about this book. You can listen here.  You can read it here  I remember our conversation as being one of my favorites for the topic and for the speaker. I’m looking forward to an

Michael Lee Stallard will talk with me about his latest book, The Connection Culture.Here’s my review of Connection Culture. In a nutshell, I loved it.Michael is the co-founder and president of E Pluribus Partners, a leadership training, coaching and consulting firm.  He specializes in helping leaders create cultures that boost productivity and innovation to achieve sustainable superior performance.He is the primary author of the bestselling book Fired Up or Burned Out: How to Reignite Your Team’s Passion, Creativity and Productivity. It has been widely praised by well-respected leaders and thought leaders. Frances Hesselbein, Chairman of the Leader to Leader Institute, described the book as "the indispensable leadership guide for leaders everywhere." Russell Reynolds, Jr., founder and former CEO of Russell Reynolds Associates wrote, "An enthralling and impressive work. It shows how to empower people and create great societies, corporations and cultures. I'm giving it to everyone at my own firm."Michael spoke with me in 2010 about this book. You can listen here.  You can read it here  I remember our conversation as being one of my favorites for the topic and for the speaker. I’m looking forward to an

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Frances Hesselbein is the President and CEO of the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute[ that was founded as the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management in which she was handpicked by Peter Drucker to run. She served as the CEO for the Girl Scouts of the USA. She rose from volunteer troop leader to CEO and held the position for fourteen years (1976–1990). She was the first chief executive to come from the within the field in 67 years. Watch Full Video>> http://www.inspiredinsider.com/frances-hesselbein-girlscoutsofamerica-interview/

This on demand audio series is a part of the Executive Girlfriends Group Vignette Series. Chicke Fitzgerald interviews American leadership icon, Frances Hesselbein. The original live interview was 3/2/12. Tracing her development as a leader, Frances Hesselbein reveals her remarkable personal story and the principles that have served and guided her well throughout her extraordinary life. Written in an intimate and compelling voice, this book delivers key leadership lessons applicable to leaders in every walk of life.        My Life in Leadership offers a look at what shaped Frances Hesselbein personally and as a leader, from her youth in the hills western Pennsylvania to her professional journey with the Girl Scouts of the USA where she went from troop leader to transformational CEO, to how Peter Drucker handpicked her to found and lead the Drucker Foundation, and how she later transitioned the Foundation to the Leader to Leader Institute. With excitement and humility, she relives the key moments that have shaped her life of leadership including the day she received the country's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Frances Hesselbein is editor-in-chief of Leader to Leader, founding president of the Drucker Foundation, is currently the president and CEO of the Leader to Leader Institute, and former chief executive of the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. To order the book click HERE Frances' website is http://www.hesselbeininstitute.org/about/fhbio.html For more information about the Executive Girlfriends' Group see: http://www.executivegirlfriendsgroup.com

Frances Hesselbein discusses teaching and acquiring leadership skills.

John Bachmann, senior partner at Edward Jones and executive fellow at the UMSL Executive Leadership Consortium, hosts a new edition of his book series. We hear from author Frances Hesselbein, My Life in Leadership the Journey and Lessons Learned Along the Way, as well as President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri, Becky James Hatter.

John Bachmann, senior partner at Edward Jones and executive fellow at the UMSL Executive Leadership Consortium, hosts a new edition of his book series. We hear from author Frances Hesselbein, My Life in Leadership the Journey and Lessons Learned Along the Way, as well as President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri, Becky James Hatter.

Host Phalana Tiller talks with Frances Hesselbein, president of the Leader to Leader Institute and former CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA. She also interviews Marcus Buckingham, bestselling author of Now, Discover Your Strengths and the new book and self-assessment tool, StandOut. This episode explores the unique strengths that individuals bring to organizations, and how to leverage those strengths for the good of the whole. And Bloomberg Businessweek online columnist Rick Wartzman delivers a piece on "managing to outcomes" in the social sector.