Podcasts about geeks geezers

Feel like the world's spinning faster than ever? You're not wrong—and “just go with the flow” won't cut it anymore. Join us for another Deep Dive in this provocative episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization. Guest hosts Casey and Eli dive deep into the Adaptability Deficit, a term coined by Ira S Wolfe, and why it might be the single greatest threat to your personal and professional survival. We unpack why flexibility is reactive, adaptability is proactive, and why your success now hinges more on your AQ (Adaptability Quotient) than your IQ or EQ. You'll learn: The crucial difference between being flexible and being adaptable Why adaptability is a skill, not a personality trait How to identify your adaptability blind spots The 5 essential steps to build your adaptability muscle—starting now In a world that's “never normal,” it's not the smartest or strongest who thrive—it's the most adaptable. So… are you ready to evolve? Hit play and future-proof your life.

As the year draws to a close, join us on a riveting journey through our most compelling and provocative moments of 2023" Hosts Ira S Wolfe and Jason Cochran, global thought leaders in the future of work, weave together a tapestry of conversations that is helping shape the narrative of work, leadership, and innovation. This special episode is a goldmine of knowledge, featuring an all-star lineup of thought leaders who have left an indelible mark on the year. Dive deep into the evolving landscapes of AI, the neuroscience of leadership, and the seismic shifts in workplace culture. Explore the delicate balance between wisdom and the vigor of youth, and understand how empathy and love are becoming cornerstones of organizational cultures. Tackle the intricate topics of mental well-being in the workplace and grasp the economic forecasts that are shaping our future. Why Tune In?  Here are Three Key Takeaways: Embracing Change with Wisdom: Learn how the blend of experience and innovation is creating a new paradigm in leadership and work ethics. Understand how the wisdom of the ages is being revitalized by the digital era. Empathy as a Cultural Keystone: Discover how cultures of empathy and love are not just idealistic visions but tangible strategies leading to more productive, fulfilling, and resilient workplaces. Forecasting the Future: Equip yourself with insights into economic and HR trends and forecasts that are critical for strategic planning and staying ahead in a rapidly evolving business landscape. Why Listen? "2023 Unwrapped" is more than just another podcast episode; it's a compass for navigating the complexities of the modern work environment. It's a blend of heart and mind, offering not just insights but a pathway to extraordinary leadership and innovative work cultures. As we step into the future, let's carry forward the lessons, laughter, and leaps of progress from 2023. Tune in, and be part of the conversation that's shaping tomorrow!  

Welcome to GGG Unleashed by Humanworks8! In this episode of Culture&, Sean Gulyas and Jason Cochran reveal the top 5 transformative trends that will impact and reshape the way we work in 2024. Part 1 of 2, we delve into the future of workplace culture with the dynamic duo,  from HumanWorks8. Whether you're a forward-thinking leader, a curious employee, or simply someone interested in the evolving landscape of work, this episode is for you.  Here's a sneak peek: Work autonomy Meaningful work Workplace mental health and wellbeing What's 4 and 5? Tune in now to hear more about all 5 trends so you can prepare for a successful 2024.  And make sure you subscribe to the Geeks Geezers and Googlization Show and podcast because Shawn and Jason aren't done.  In the next episode, they will share 5 more trends that will transform the world we knew into the one we'll need to get to know.

Stocks continued their recent upswing as investors absorbed a stream of quarterly earnings. The rally in part reflected a positive response to earnings reports from big banks like Bank of America (BAC) and Morgan Stanley (MS). A certain “euphoria” also gripped the markets as fears of recession and inflation eased. Is this positive momentum overblown? “You have to wonder if this euphoria is enough to carry the markets when the earnings are no longer there,” says veteran bank analyst, DICK BOVE. “Because the biggest problem for the banks is the fixed loans they own.” BOVE adds that pundits and some investors are missing the bigger picture on the economy and the banks. This includes the underlying reality of JP Morgan's reported record profit and its earnings per share (EPS) buoyed by its recent acquisition of First Republic Bank's assets in a government-sponsored deal. “We're not out of the banking crisis,” says BOVE, chief financial strategist at ODEON CAPITAL GROUP.  “The big banks have lost profits.” Despite Treasury Secretary, JANET YELLEN, tamping down worries of an imminent recession—and economists dialing back the risks of a slowdown—the US and global economy may have entered its most uncertain phase in months. MAT VAN ALSTYNE, ODEON co-founder and managing partner, says many are ignoring an important indicator. That's the government bond market, which is signaling recession, he says. Moreover, US tax receipts are down, 20 percent year-on-year, another negative recessionary indicator. Piling on the debt burden, JOHN AIDAN BYRNE, notes the US national debt has soared by $1 trillion since  the debt ceiling was lifted, much of that reflecting a catch up on stalled payments during the debt ceiling standoff. Still, total outstanding public debt has now reached $32.5 trillion. Elsewhere, the CONVERSATION examines the rise of “non-bank” lenders, a sector competing with traditional banks that includes  some pension funds, insurers, mutual funds, hedge funds and other institutions. According to the Financial Stability Board, these “non-banks” had $239 trillion on their books in 2021. “The risk of loan losses in this sector if staggering,” according to BOVE. Meanwhile, a surge in home equity lending is coming, says BOVE, as US homeowners tapped into the rising equity in their homes. Watch the ODEON CAPITAL CONVERSATIONS Live Webinar Thursday, July 27, 11:00AM ET, hosted by Geeks Geezers & Googlization on LinkedIn and YouTube. Questions & More Information: Podcast@OdeonCap.com     

In this episode of The Geeks Geezers and Googlization Show, our guest Tom Bradbury sheds light on how to get a company's leadership to prioritize improving company culture. Traditionally, company culture was something leaders dictated and employees were expected to fit into. However, with labor shortages and skill gaps increasing, it is crucial to understand and measure the actual value of culture. Tom Bradbury, an expert in this area, discusses how businesses can measure and understand the financial impact of turnover, human capital return on investment, and other practices that affect company culture. By using data, increasing efficiency, and limiting waste, businesses can make changes towards a better culture, which in turn impacts their company valuation. Tune in to learn how to get your company's leaders to pay attention to the financial impact of your company's culture.

It's time for a little economic update! The latest episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization dives into the uncertainty and chaos of the current economy and society. From the Silicon Valley Bank collapse to the rise of AI, Dick Bove, Mat Van Alstyne, and John Aidan Byrne from Odeon Capital Conversations share their expert insights on Wall Street and the economy. We learn about the consequences of the recent Federal Reserve actions, potential recession predictions, and how China and Russia's financial influence could impact the US. We discussed how the banking system and Federal Reserve are facing many issues, affecting the availability and cost of money. Consumers are likely to have less disposable income due to inflation, and businesses may have to sell products at higher prices to make a profit, further reducing consumer demand. We dug deep into the accelerating pace of change in the world due to artificial intelligence including highlights of a recent interview with Mark Seal, CEO of Sortium. Get ready to listen as we navigate through the Never Normal and the latest economic developments together.

John Sanei, a futures strategist, explains in this captivating podcast conversation that it is not artificial intelligence (AI) that causes people to panic and fear losing their jobs to a robot. Rather, it's our human inability to develop new skills fast enough using current approaches to education and training. Sanei describes our brains as “familiarity machines” and that makes adapting to change difficult, even when we know it's essential for our survival.  Regarding ChatGPT, hold onto your hats, folks! The incredible openAI platform is shaking things up and propelling us into a faster and better future. And we're not talking about just a tiny bit faster - futurist John Sanei predicts that the next 5 to 10 years are going to be "super weird" with this game-changing technology. And that's not all. Did you know that humans are addicted to certainty? Sanei and the hosts of Geeks Geezers and Googlization explore the fascinating field of neuroscience and discuss what it means to "unlearn."  Sanei also provides an insightful historical perspective, stating that our ancestors have faced similar challenges and adapted. In the agricultural era, physical quotient (PQ) was the most important skill, but with the industrial revolution, intelligence quotient (IQ) became crucial. Now, with AI, we need to focus on emotional quotient (EQ) and adaptability quotient (AQ). The conversation even touched on the decentralization of Web 3 and the creator economy. So, tune in, buckle up, and get ready for the wildest ride of your life! With ChatGPT and other AI technologies going mainstream, the future is looking bright, but it's going to be a wild ride. Get ready to embrace the weirdness and see what amazing things we can achieve.

The notorious midlife crisis is that time in our lives when many of us ask: “whose life am I living?” For many, it can be an emotional roller coaster generating confusion, challenge, and mystery. We start to question the meaning of our life and what we really want out of it. It can be overwhelming to confront these questions. The good news is that it doesn't need to be. It turns out that a healthy injection of wisdom is a big part of the solution. This is precisely why we're thrilled to welcome world renowned midlife and wisdom expert, Chip Conley, to this episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization.  Among Chip's many accomplishments, he's the CEO and Founder of Modern Elder Academy - the world's first "midlife wisdom school," where attendees learn how to repurpose a lifetime of experience for the modern workplace. He's also a NY Times best selling author including his most recent book, "Wisdom@Work: The Making of a Modern Elder." It's a testament to rethinking the value of having five generations in the workplace and why more companies are doing their best to encourage their older workers to stay in the workplace longer. Who should attend: Any one who wants midlife (at whatever age that is) to be fulfilling and filled with meaning instead of regret. Order your copy of Wisdom at Work: The Making of a Modern Elder here. Learn more about the Modern Elder Academy for navigating midlife and beyond here.

We've all heard the saying, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." But what if that wasn't true? What if there was an alternative approach to growing old? What if instead of succumbing to the limitations of aging, we could go through old age like an athlete?  In this final episode of 2022, we are honored to welcome the incomparable Steven Kotler to Geeks Geezers and Googlization. Many people believe that our physical abilities decline steadily with age. Steven says, forget that b***s***. It's all in your head. Yes, it is true that the older we get, our bodies betray us, from memory loss to stiff joints. Fortunately, there is a growing body of research in embodied cognition, flow science, and network neuroscience that reveals a much different pathway to aging, where we are actually able to retain up to 70% of our physical abilities well into later life. This means that with the proper training and lifestyle choices, we can stay fit and healthy and learn to do what was once thought impossible after 50. A New York Times bestselling author, award-winning journalist, 2X Pulitzer Prize nominee, Steven has been studying human performance for thirty years, and taught hundreds of thousands of people at all skill levels, age groups, and walks of life, how to achieve peak performance. Steven is the Executive Director of the Flow Research Collective. His impressive accomplishments in writing and research make him a very special guest for us today. His latest book, Gnar Country, is the chronicle of his experience pushing his own aging body past preconceived limits. It's a book about goals, grit, progression, growing old and staying rad. So whether it's hurtling down a mountain side, running your first 10K race, or taking your career to new heights, it's never too late for a new challenge. Tune in as Steven helps us defy our long-held assumptions about age and peak performance and explore the frontiers of human possibility. Who should attend: Any one who plans to get older and wants to live a more active, healthier lifestyle. Remember: Stretch but don't snap! Order your copy of Gnar Country here. Visit FlowBlocker.com to identify the 6 blockers of flow

With the clock ticking down toward 2023, millions of people feel they are living someone else's dream. Many are pondering a better future. But from the time we dreamed as kids without limits to the time we became responsible adults, some of us lost the ability to give ourselves permission to dream. Others simply don't make time or feel we don't deserve to dream. Why? Certified Dream Manager and Mental Fitness Coach Mark Cumicek blames it on what he calls a “dream deficit.” Here's the good news. Mark has developed a 21 days of dreaming program that is really a strategic plan for life, a plan to become a more fully alive version of yourself. If you're feeling stuck, stressed, disengaged, or burned out, you'll want to hit play and listen to this episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization with Mark Cumicek.

This episode was not just another podcast episode! Today, our guests are your hosts: Ira S Wolfe and Jason Cochran. For instance, learn how the wage gap between "job switchers" and "job stayers" is at an all time high. How some organizations are helping employees discover meaningful work with a simple 5 minute icebreaker! How Wolfe and Cochran plan to unleash the GGG podcast with future of work super-thought leaders in 2023. In the world of a gazillion podcasts, it's easy to get lost. Our goal is to set us apart, to engage in conversations that you want to hear and share. To make you think differently. To challenge the status quo. To make sense of this Never-Normal era and to help find better solutions for growing and thriving in a VUCA world. That's what got Geeks Geezers and Googlization into the top 1% of podcasts. You don't want to miss what we had in store for you today, including an opportunity to win a free copy of Ira's new co-authored book, Create Great Culture in a Remote World. Resources mentioned during the podcast: U.S. Labor Market Outlook, November 2022. Download. Create Great Culture in a Remote World. Buy Now. Unlock My WHY. Learn More. GGG Unleashed. Coming Soon on this channel. Perfect Labor Storm. Watch.  

People are overwhelmed, burned out, and just exhausted- not just at work, but at home. You might think that's old news and there's nothing new to see here, which is exactly the reason you want to watch and listen to this episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization. CEO and Head of Research Sarah White from the research and advisory firm aspect43 joined us to dig into the company's just released new report, Insights at Work 2022. The results of how post-pandemic life is impacting work, how work is impacting life, and how tech is impacting both, are troubling! Many employees are responding with their feet or quiet quitting. So what are employers and HR tech firms doing to take care of their most important asset? How are they responding? What can you do better and differently to attract new talent and keep the talent you want? Hint: you don't want to miss this episode.

What's next for jobs and the economy heading into 2023? Will we enter a recession? How long will it last? Will we see more layoffs and a reversal of remote work?  Will labor shortages ease? These are just a few of the top-of-mind business trending topics discussed on this special episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization. Guests included Wall Street veterans, Odeon Capital Group's Richard Bove and Mat Van Alstyne, along with Odeon Capital Conversations host and moderator John Aidan Byrne. You are not going to want to miss this very special episode, recorded live on September 7, 2022.  You'll hear about what's going on at Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan when it comes to remote work and technology, how employment is shifting, why the birth-death ratio isn't what you think it is,  how employers will need to fill open jobs, the future of college systems, the gig economy, how the future of fossil fuels will impact economic and jobs growth, the rising cost of Social Security and other programs, and most importantly: why these Wall Street veterans see the United States as a bed of opportunity and growth. Richard Bove is Odeon Capital's Financial Strategist. Mr. Bove has been an analyst, research director, financial strategist, and, for brief periods a portfolio manager, in the past 52 years in which he has been in the business. His advice has been sought by investors, government officials, the media, and on two occasions the White House. He has appeared on television over 1,500 times and interviews related to his comments have appeared in the print media over 10,000 times. Mathew Van Alstyne, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, heads the Research department and manages the operations of Odeon. John Aidan Byrne is an award-winning journalist and host of the popular podcasts Dig Life Deep and Odeon Capital Conversations.

A conversation with Ira Wolfe about the State of Employment in the 21st Century PART 1 Ira mentioned his TED Talk – you can find it here. Ira discussed the latest Generation – Alpha. In my typical searching, I found this great article in The Atlantic about Generation Alpha and the general issue of generational delineations. We had a lengthy conversation about Generation X, so back to googling and I found many interesting articles about that generation including this one. Ira mentioned his podcast, Geeks Geezers and Googlization. Ira taught me an acronym, DAO – Decentralized Autonomous Organization. We discussed the future of the workforce and how so much of it will be done remotely and how the workforce is being transformed and is evolving quickly. I mentioned Yuval Noah Harari and his predictions for the future of medicine. PART 2 Ira and I discussed the size of the population and the ever growing job market but why many people don't want certain jobs any longer. We went on to discuss Grit which reminded me of the great book by Angela Duckworth of the same word. . Ira can be found at successperformancesolutions.comor his personal website Irawolfe.com He is a frequent contributor on LinkedIn. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/corporatethought/support

A conversation with Ira Wolfe PART 1 Ira mentioned his TED Talk – you can find it here. Ira discussed the latest Generation – Alpha. In my typical searching, I found this great article in The Atlantic about Generation Alpha and the general issue of generational delineations. We had a lengthy conversation about Generation X, so back to googling and I found many interesting articles about that generation including this one. Ira mentioned his podcast, Geeks Geezers and Googlization. Ira taught me an acronym, DAO – Decentralized Autonomous Organization. We discussed the future of the workforce and how so much of it will be done remotely and how the workforce is being transformed and is evolving quickly. I mentioned Yuval Noah Harari and his predictions for the future of medicine. PART 2 Ira and I discussed the size of the population and the ever growing job market but why many people don't want certain jobs any longer. We went on to discuss Grit which reminded me of the great book by Angela Duckworth of the same word. . Ira can be found at successperformancesolutions.comor his personal website Irawolfe.com He is a frequent contributor on LinkedIn. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/corporatethought/support

Ira S Wolfe is a “Millennial trapped in a Baby Boomer body” and the world's first Chief Googlization Officer. He is president of Poised for the Future Company (DBA Success Performance Solutions.)     Fueled by his fierce passion for technology and its impact on people, Ira S. Wolfe has emerged as one of HR's most visionary thinkers and influencers on the future of work, jobs, and talent acquisition. Thinkers360 has recognized Ira as the #1 Thought Leader on Future of Work and #3 on Human Resources. Ira is an accomplished speaker/author. He has presented on the prestigious red carpet of TEDx and stages of DisruptHR.  Ira is a frequent presenter at events including SHRM's Talent and Annual Conference, HR Southwest, and many regional and state events.  He is the author of several books including his most recent, the 2nd edition of Recruiting in the Age of Googlization, which was selected by Book Authority as one of the all-time best HR and Recruiting books. Ira is the host of the popular weekly Geeks Geezers and Googlization Show, a contributor to CornerstoneOnDemand's ReWork, and frequent expert guest on podcasts, TV, and radio.   Contact Ira: Website LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

In Geeks, Geezers, Googlization, Ira Wolfe and Jason Cochran explore the new, challenge the old, and dare to push back on everybody who's said “When we're back to normal times…”. Join them weekly for fresh conversations around all topics pertaining to talent management.

The CandEs Shop Talk Podcast welcomes Ira Wolfe, President and Chief Googlization Officer at Success Performance Solutions and author of Recruiting in the Age of Googlization and Geeks Geezers and Googlization. Listen in on how improving candidate experience impacts recruiting and the business bottom line.

When it comes to filling open jobs these days, almost nothing should be off the table...and it's about time. The current labor shortage has finally forced companies to reimagine recruitment and think about HR in new and innovative ways. Elisa Garn, who calls herself a Human Experience Evangelist, came up with what she calls a crazy idea - Monetize HR. She says "the craziest thing, it worked" and she has the proof.  Elisa is this week's Geeks Geezers and Googlization Show guest and she shares how she earned the attention and respect of the senior executive team. Elisa also described the 3 primary HR personas - traffic cop, city planner, and mayor - and the importance of every HR department to create its own P&L. Elisa is currently Vice President of Thought Leadership & Brand Marketing at GBS Benefits.

Nine out of 10 companies will be embracing the hybrid workplace model according to a new McKinsey report. But 68 percent of them have no detailed plan. A recent Wall Street Journal described the emerging era of hybrid work “might be even more messy” than the work from home transition millions of workers experienced in 2020. What does the future of hybrid work mean for employees, talent acquisition, employee engagement, diversity & inclusion, and productivity?  What must managers and leaders do to become a remote-first or remote-friendly company? IBM Vice-President and North American Talent & Transformation Leader Victoria Pelletier joins me for this episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization.  My second guest will focus on how many organizations are recognizing and addressing misconduct (discrimination, sexual harassment, bullying) while employees work completely remotely or in a hybrid model. This segment's expert is Kia Roberts, the Founder, and Principal of Triangle Investigations. Kia is the former NFL Director of Investigations. We'll be exploring what misconduct reporting processes managers should be implementing to ensure employees feel safe whether working in a virtual, hybrid, or physical workspace.

Join Kyle as he speaks with Ira Wolfe about innovation, staying resilient and adaptable, and the future of work.  Ira S Wolfe is a “Millennial trapped in a Baby Boomer body” and the world’s first Chief Googlization Officer.  He ranks in the top 5 Global Thought Leader in Future of Work and HR on Thinkers 360. He is president of Poised for the Future Company and founder of Success Performance Solutions. Ira has presented on the prestigious red carpet of TEDx, stage of DisruptHR, and is the author of several books including Recruiting in the Age of Googlization, selected by Book Authority as one of the all-time best HR and Recruiting books.He hosts the weekly Geeks Geezers and Googlization Show, leads Googlization Nation, and is on a personal mission to unlock the secrets of human adaptability, ensuring no one is left behind living in the fastest period of change in history. He recently joined an elite group of global business consultants when he achieved AQ Certified Practitioner status. Ira is typically no further than a few clicks away as he is a frequent contributor (to HR and business blogs including CornerstoneonDemand’s ReWork, LinkedIn, and Medium) as well as podcast guest.https://www.irawolfe.com/https://www.successperformancesolutions.com/https://twitter.com/HireAuthorityhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/irawolfe/Rebel HR is a podcast for HR professionals and leaders of people who are ready to make some disruption in the world of work.Subscribe today on your favorite podcast player!  We'll be discussing topics that are disruptive to the world of work and talk about new and different ways to approach solving those problems.Follow Rebel HR Podcast at:www.rebelhumanresources.comhttps://twitter.com/rebelhrguyhttps://www.facebook.com/rebelhrpodcastwww.kyleroed.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-roed/We love to hear from our listeners!  Send us questions or comments at kyleroed@gmail.comRebel On, HR Rebels!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/rebelhumanresources)

In this HCI Podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanhwestover/) talks with Ira S. Wolfe about the biggest people management mistakes organizations are making and the impending "perfect labor storm." See the video here: https://youtu.be/WpjTBRlJpDM.  Ira S. Wolfe (https://linkedin.com/in/irawolfe) is a “Millennial trapped in a Baby Boomer body” and the world's first Chief Googlization Officer.  He ranks in the top 5 Global Thought Leader in Future of Work and HR on Thinkers 360. He is president of  Poised for the Future Company and founder of Success Performance Solutions. Ira has presented on the  prestigious red carpet of TEDx, stage of DisruptHR, and is the author of several books including Recruiting  in the Age of Googlization, selected by Book Authority as one of the all-time best HR and Recruiting books. He hosts the weekly Geeks Geezers and Googlization Show, leads Googlization Nation, and is on a  personal mission to unlock the secrets of human adaptability, ensuring no one is left behind living in the  fastest period of change in history. He recently joined an elite group of global business consultants when  he achieved AQ Certified Practitioner status. Ira is typically no further than a few clicks away as he is a  frequent contributor (to HR and business blogs including CornerstoneonDemand's ReWork, LinkedIn,  and Medium) as well as podcast guest.   Check out Dr. Westover's new book, The Alchemy of Truly Remarkable Leadership, here: https://www.innovativehumancapital.com/leadershipalchemy.  Check out the latest issue of the Human Capital Leadership magazine, here: https://www.innovativehumancapital.com/hci-magazine.  Ranked in the Top 10 Performance Management Podcasts: https://blog.feedspot.com/performance_management_podcasts/ ; Ranked in the Top 10 Workplace Podcasts: https://blog.feedspot.com/workplace_podcasts/ ; Ranked in the Top 15 HR Podcasts: https://blog.feedspot.com/hr_podcasts/ ; Ranked in the Top 15 Talent Management Podcasts: https://blog.feedspot.com/talent_management_podcasts/ ; Ranked in the Top 15 Personal Development and Self-Improvement Podcasts: https://blog.feedspot.com/personal_development_podcasts/ ; Ranked in the Top 30 Leadership Podcasts: https://blog.feedspot.com/leadership_podcasts/

On the brink of normalcy, many organizations are wrestling with what a return to work looks like. Conversations about the future of remote work and the evolution of hybrid workforces populate our news feeds daily. So what happened to the 4-Day work week? Did it die with the pandemic or is it still a viable option?  Who benefits the most - workers or employers?  Is now a good time to implement it? What are the best practices to follow and pitfalls to avoid? On this episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization, the Do-Be Associates - Tony Carnesi (Mr. Do) and Brian Gorman (Mr. Be) - join forces to discuss how a 4-Day work week might work for your business and your employees. Our second guest for the day was Kim Bettie, Greater Advantage LLC, exploring the convergence of emotional intelligence and diversity, in what Kim describes as diversity intelligence.

You're probably familiar with the glass ceiling? But have you ever heard about the glass cliff, glass escalator, and sticky floor? Dr. Kate Richmond doesn't believe that all men want to oppress women but masculine norms certainly present a strong argument that it's still a man's world. From birth, boys and men are socialized into a strict code that is difficult to break. The result is a workplace where gender inequity, motherhood wage penalties, sexual harassment, discrimination, and unpaid work persist despite a glaring spotlight shining down on them. Look no further than the impact of the pandemic. Women took a far bigger hit in job loss than men. Women bore the brunt of caregiving and childcare.  During this episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization, we talk about the future of work, gender diversity, women leadership, and what it will take to ensure equity for men, women, LGBTQ. Our 2nd guest for this episode is Thomas Michael Hogg, author of the new book Profitable Growth Strategy: 7 Proven Best Practices from German Companies.

The case for gender diversity has never been stronger. An overwhelming 98% of organizations in a recent FairyGodBoss survey say diversity hiring is a focus in 2021. That’s a great start but reaching diversity recruiting and hiring goals takes more than good intentions. A Bloomberg revealed how "White and Male Some U.S. Companies Are!" Only 1 company of 100 largest U.S. corporations exceeded the U.S.population in its percentage of Black and Hispanic female executives and managers. Romy Newman, co-founder of the largest online career community for women, is determined to ensure women get a fair shake in the workplace. In this episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization we’re going to be talking with Romy about how women search for jobs differently than men, why employer branding and messaging matters, and how to close the gender diversity data black hole. We continued the conversation with Brian Hershey, Head of Enterprise Strategy at Gloat. They too just released a survey that revealed that opportunity for growth is worth more to employees than money. Their data exposed that more than one-third of American workers feel undervalued at work and that number jumps to 46 percent for Black employees, 38 percent for Latinx, and 43 percent for women.  Only 24 percent of men feel underutilized. 

Whether they are hired or not, do your job candidates walk away feeling like they mattered?  Are candidates who are not hired motivated to apply again or become customers? Does your candidate experience create loyal enthusiasts or unhappy, resentful customers?  For the 3rd consecutive year, Geeks Geezers and Googlization welcomes back The Talent Board’s Kevin Grossman to discuss the key candidate experience takeaways from the just-released 2020 Candidate Experience Research Report, a survey from over 152,000 candidates across 133 North American companies. Don’t miss this episode to learn what you need to know to attract, engage, and convert job seekers into brand promoters and raving fans (even those applicants not selected!)

Employers have an opportunity to be heroes, not goats! Unfortunately, from pre-hire to departure in most organizations, the employee experience is all FCDD-up! The employee life cycle is filled with Frustration, Confusion, Disappointment, and Distraction. In a VUCA world, employee needs can shift in the blink of an eye. Employee engagement surveys are turning into the much-maligned annual performance review. Our guest Jason Cochran, CEO of iAspire urges employers to be practical, not surgical; to measure the rhythms and beats of employees, to measure what people will do, not what they say they will do. Through 20 years of research, he’s identified the “Four Principles of Connection.” Jason visits Geeks Geezers and Googlization Show to share how you can transform your company culture and make it your competitive advantage.

The last thing most people would associate with the year 2020 would be laughter. But not Nancy Watt, our guest this week on Geeks Geezers and Googlization. Faced with unprecedented pandemic uncertainty, billions of people worldwide almost overnight in 2020 were forced to improvise, doing things they never planned, using whatever resources they could muster. As a skill, adaptability skyrocketed to the top of the in-demand job and life skills charts, above EQ and IQ. Adaptability quotient (AQ) achieved global momentum and recognition. Unfortunately, the theoretical knowledge of one’s AQ doesn’t always translate into adaptive behavior unless it’s applied. Using the improv skills Nancy learned at Second City Conservatory in Toronto and Chicago, she is able to help people boost AQ and personal and organizational performance. Often called a ‘Pracademic’, Nancy Watt is the Founder & CEO of NANCY WATT COMMUNICATIONS, a creative agency in Toronto, Canada.

Described as a “Millennial trapped in a Baby Boomer body, a “hire authority,” and “certified prophet” of workforce trends. Ira Wolfe is the president of Success Performance Solutions. Ira is one of the world's top thought leaders and influencers, he's author of six books, including his bestselling book Recruiting In The Age Of Googlization. This show is pumped full of hacks including: The different value from working on the business vs. in the business How to embrace the new VUCA Antifragile: When we make a mistake, we learn from it and we become stronger. The importance of not letting other's opinions form your decisions Join our Tribe at https://leadership-hacker.com Music: " Upbeat Party " by Scott Holmes courtesy of the Free Music Archive FMA Transcript: Thanks to Jermaine Pinto at JRP Transcribing for being our Partner. Contact Jermaine via LinkedIn or via his site JRP Transcribing Services   Find out more about Ira Wolfe below: Ira Wolfe Website - https://www.irawolfe.com SPS Website - https://www.successperformancesolutions.com Ira on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/irawolfe/ Ira on Twitter – https://twitter.com/HireAuthority Full Transcript Below ----more---- Steve Rush: Some call me Steve, dad, husband or friend. Others might call me boss, coach or mentor. Today you can call me The Leadership Hacker.   Thanks for listening in. I really appreciate it. My job as the leadership hacker is to hack into the minds, experiences, habits and learning of great leaders, C-Suite executives, authors and development experts so that I can assist you developing your understanding and awareness of leadership. I am Steve Rush and I am your host today. I am the author of Leadership Cake. I am a transformation consultant and leadership coach. I cannot wait to start sharing all things leadership with you.   Our special guest on today's show is Ira Wolfe. He's an accomplished speaker, author, global thought leader and president of Success Performance Solutions. Before we get a chance to speak with Ira, it's The Leadership Hacker News.   The Leadership Hacker News   Steve Rush: Success from adversity is our focus for today. Thomas Edison was an American inventor and businessman who has been described as America's greatest inventor. He developed many devices in the field, such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording and motion pictures. Edison also demonstrated powers of leadership, which would rival any leader of any generation. I'm going to share a story today that just illustrates that. Even in the face of the most cruel adversity, Edison not only looked for the positive, but attempted to instil that attitude in his family and followers. And let's face it, we could all do with a little piece of that inspiration in us.   In December, 1914, Thomas Edison's factory in West Orange, New Jersey was virtually destroyed by fire. Although the damage exceeded $2 million dollars, the buildings are only insured for $238,000 dollars because they were made of concrete and thought to be fireproof and much of Edison life work went up in smoke and flames that December night. At the height of the fire Edison 24-year-old son, Charles was searching frantically for his father. And when he finally found him, he found him calmly watching the fire with his face, glowing in the reflection and his white hair blowing in the wind. When Charles finally found his father Edison, who was 67 at the time and no longer a young man, everything was going up in flames. Charles was quoted, “when he saw me, he shouted Charles, where's your mother”. And when Charles told him, he didn't know, he said, you must find him, bring hay with an excited voice. She'll never see anything like this, as long as she lives, Charles was confused by his enthusiasm at watching his entire fortune burn.   The next morning, Thomas Edison took his son Charles to the ruins of his empire and said, there is great value in this disaster my son, all our mistakes are now burned up. Thank God we can start anew. Just three weeks after the fire, Thomas Edison managed to deliver the first phonograph, which he called a phonograph record, which of course evolved into the gramophone, and the of course later the record player, Thomas Edison was able to see things definitely from most leaders in his day. He saw beyond the immediate disaster to find positives, and as leaders, the lesson here is that opportunity in adversity always is available, if we just look hard enough. So, thank you, Thomas Edison for a little bit of inspiration from over a hundred years ago. That's been The Leadership Hacker News, if you have any stories, just like this one or others that will help us understand leadership with a different lens. Please get in touch our all fees.   Start of Podcast   Steve Rush: Ira Wolfe is our special guest on today's show. He's the president of Success Performance Solutions. One of the world's top thought leaders and influencers, and also the author of six books, including his bestselling book Recruiting In The Age Of Googlization. Ira, welcome to The Leadership Hacker Podcast.   Ira Wolfe: Hey, thanks very much Steve. Really appreciate it and hope everybody's safe and well   Steve Rush: Delighted you could join us today, and what I really love about having guests like you on our show is that you come with this enormous amount of experience, but it's not one of the traditional troden leadership paths that some folk would experience. You started out your career as a dentist and then pivoted to what you're doing now. Tell us a little bit about how that came about?   Ira Wolfe: Steve, every time I hear somebody tell or frame that story, it sort of surprises me. Because I never looked at it in a way that I was making that dramatic change from dentistry to, the businesses evolve, business consultant or management consultant. Over time, I always looked at myself even as a dentist that I had a business and I just happened to be providing dental services. So, from early on when I set up the business it was about hiring the right team. It was about having a plan and a vision which certainly, you know, it changed over time. But having a plan and a vision, it was about marketing the practice. It was about messaging, it was about communication, was about customer service. So, every time I hear that and especially, someone abruptly left almost 25 years ago, I left dentistry, but after having a very successful practice, people said, well, what are you going to do? What do you know how to do? Are you going back to school? Is something wrong? And to me, it was just another chapter in my life. Certainly, we didn't have the internet when I started dentistry and, I don't have as many employees as I have now when I had a practice. But the reality is, my day-to-day operation of a business is exactly the same as it was when I ran my dental practice. And again, it was about leadership being part of a community. It was about helping other people, that's what I do.   Steve Rush: Yeah, I remember that when we spoke last, you know, you had a really successful dental practice by the way, and you were getting more excited by driving the business and developing people. And you actually were about the dentistry at the end, is that right?   Ira Wolfe: Oh, absolutely. We can go back. We were computerized in 1988 or 89. In fact we were one of the first 500 dental practices in the country, in the US at that time using the one software program that was dominate. So, there were multiple software programs, but it was pretty early on, but there weren't that many practices. There might've been a thousand practices in the country that actually were computerized, I had gone there. By early nineties we had those inter oral cameras where we were able to show people, you know, on a big screen, what was going on in their mouth. So, we didn't have to just describe it or try to look in a mirror, you know, a tiny little half inch mirror to be able to see that.  So, I was always trying to advance. I love doing that. For those that are familiar with the disc assessment, the ISC or behavioural assessment.   Steve Rush: Sure.   Ira Wolfe: Myers Briggs. I had been using that, again in the eighties because we had 15, 16 people on a team. I brought in an associate, who became my partner, who I eventually sold to, but he had a very, very different personality than I did. And it wasn't that his personality was wrong, mine was right. We had different personalities, but that meant the staff had to work with two different people, customers, patients. They came in and they had a different rapport with me. And I couldn't be insulted because somebody preferred to go to him or he couldn't be insulted because somebody chose me. So, we needed to understand how do we relate differently to different people. So, we use the disc model. That was one of the reasons that when I left practice, was how to teach people how to do that, how to get teams to collaborate and cooperate and understand that conflict isn't always bad. Differences of opinion can be good and rewarding. And there are different personalities. And it doesn't mean that somebody doesn't like you because they say something some way, that's just the way they say it. They have to learn to change that. And you have to learn how to listen differently.   Steve Rush: So, having built this successful dental practice, was there a moment that you realize that now is the time to leave? And if so, how did that come about?   Ira Wolfe: Yeah, that's an interesting question. And now that I've had 25 years to reflect on that, I should have done it a lot sooner. From very early on, even in the first year of my practice, although I loved getting up in the morning, I spent a lot of hours planning. I was always working on the business. If for any of your listeners, and I'm sure you're familiar with the E-Myth by Michael Gerber. It was certainly a huge book when it came out 20, some years ago, but the E-Myth was about leaders and business people shouldn't work in their business. They should work on their business. So, I was always working on the business and I love doing that. Even as early as my first and second year of practice, I realized at one point I would probably consult. My vision was to consult other dentists and help them grow a successful business.   I quickly realized at the end of my dental career, and when I started the business, I really didn't want to limit myself to that. And two is, it wasn't necessarily technologically and technically. It was a very progressive industry, but the people that are in the industry, weren't so progressive, they sort of liked the status quo. They loved working in the business, not on the business. So, it was very difficult to coach and mentor and train many of the dentists. And again, I'm going back 25 years differently because they didn't see the need to do that. As long as they had a shingle outside and they can turn the lights on and off, they were in business, a lot has changed, but it's still a very independent profession. Many dentists are still solo. Again, I'm speaking mostly from the US but you know, even worldwide. So again, I decided I didn't want to limit that, but I always had this vision of being in, you know, having another business or having my dental practice and being in business. But I pretty much burnt myself out. When I left the practice, I was actually working less than 20 hours a week and playing six rounds of golf. And I wasn't enjoying myself. I mean, financially, and from looking on the outside in, I had a great life. Got a nice home. I had a home near the ocean as well, had a second home there. I was playing lots of golf. I was a leader in the community. I just wasn't having a good time. I didn't enjoy it. I wrote in one of my books, how I dreaded Sunday, because it was only 24 hours from Monday, and that's not a good way to live.   Steve Rush: Definitely not. And it's also quite interesting when you start thinking of the whole enjoyment philosophy. It's incredibly important for our wellbeing, as well as our mental health to really enjoy the work that we do. Yet people still get stuck in just doing things and going through the monotony of work. What would you think causes that?   Ira Wolfe: We rationalized. When I look back is, I rationalize that this is just the way it is. We accepted that, I tended a ton of programs. Even before TED Talks, I was listening to the people, motivational speakers, and I'm going to botch this badly, but there's the saying that if you enjoy what you do, you never worked a day in your life. I can't remember who said that, but you get the gist of it.   Steve Rush: Definitely, yeah.   Ira Wolfe: I really enjoy what I do. And I did because I was always working on the business. What I didn't like doing was I didn't like to doing the dentistry, you know, in my TED Talks. I said I loved everything about dentistry, but dentistry. I finally realized that I wasn't very happy. And the less I did, the more diversions I had, the more distractions I had but I couldn't take it down to zero time. You know, I had to at least show up at least for a few hours, but the plan I put in place was a dream plan for someone else. I built a dental practice that was a dream, which was exemplary. It's the example that they had, that how do you make a high six figure income while working less than 20 hours a week? Again, I worked more than that, but I worked on the business for the rest of it. But the 20 hours were patient care. Not that I didn't like the patients, I just didn't like the procedures. I didn't like the repetition. I love trying new things, but I wanted to try them once. When I got good at that, I wanted to move on, but the patients still needed their teeth cleaned and filled and you know, whatever else that needed to be done, I just got bored with it. But I rationalized going back to your original question. People rationalize, they just accept things as they are. And they look around and find other people that go, you know, life can't always be grand and work is hard. And, you know, you get the stories that somebody, you know, your father, your grandfather, you know, went to the coal mines and you think it was easy for them. So, we start a rationalize that, hey, that's just the way life is.   Steve Rush: Sure.   Ira Wolfe: And you don't want to look at a failure. You don't want to be a quitter. You don't want to look weak. So, we got to get over that, and I did, I certainly did.   Steve Rush: You more than just got over it. You've completely made a whole new career for yourself. You're now one of the world's top thought leaders. You're a blogger, you've written six books. So where do you get your self-drive, yourself energy, the passion, where does that come from?   Ira Wolfe: Oh, wow. I will say some of it comes from, it's got to be hereditary or environmental, you know, it's the old nature nurture argument. My mother is 97 and she lives alone. She she's becoming less independent, but, you know, the pandemic certainly restricted her travel and her activities, but she's incredibly active. And, you know, she's always interested in learning. And I guess that's part of my DNA was always learning, always interested in what other people were doing, always interested in how things are changing. So, I think that's the drive. I, you know, I'm certainly an older baby boomer. Most people don't recognize that, you know, and now using just using audio, you can't see me, but when people hear me, they don't associate that with my age or my outlook with my age, because most of the people that know, you know, I don't even like hanging around with my peers because my peers are talking about retirement, talking about going back to the way it used to be. Especially now with the pandemic, we can't get back the way it was. Not very progressive, not very future looking or future seeking. And I act like I have another a hundred years to live. Some of the people that inspire me the most are people in their twenties and maybe thirties. And they've started multiple businesses, they have multiple businesses. They're looking to transform the world to be better people to leave the world a better place than it is now, which was the boomers, you know, in the seventies, when I grew up, that was the boomers. We're going to leave the place a better place than it was before. And we didn't it definitely did not. And so, again, I'm hoping that I can fix a little bit of that, but I'm only one person.   Steve Rush: In fact, you have been described, haven't you? As a millennial trapped in a baby boomers' body?   Ira Wolfe: Yeah, that's absolutely right. And, again, I got that because somebody coined that. I've walked into a meeting and I introduced myself and they looked stunned. It was like, oh did I say something wrong? And they said, no, we were just expecting, you know, we've never, you know, I saw your picture and you look younger. I just never expected somebody, you know, older to be walking in with the attitude and the mindset and the tone that you had. So, they said, you're like a millennial trapped in a baby boomer body. And I go, I like that. I'm going to keep that if you don't mind,   Steve Rush: But it's a perfect example right. Of how our mindsets are good. And I've studied for a number of years, the different ways that different generations have behave. And whilst there are certain similarities, the one thing that is common, where you see people break out of these generational labels is down to mindset, their thinking in their behaviours, and you're a perfect example of that. If there were people listening to this who feel more associated to their natural generalizations of this is my generation, I'm an X or Y a millennial or a baby boomer. Is there anything that you would say to them that would help them get out of that?   Ira Wolfe: One of my books before “Recruiting In The Age Of Googlization” which was supposed to be a sequel to “Geeks Geezers and Googlization”. So, I wrote Geek Geezers Googlization in about 2007, 2008, it was published I think in 2008. And it was about the four generations. At that time, it was the veterans, which was anybody older than 1945, baby boomers, gen X which was born between 1965 and 1980, and then millennials. And the millennials were really coming into the workforce and everybody was focused on the millennials. So, I wrote a book about the four generations, but also looking at technology that the technologies that existed in the backdrop also shaped our lives. And, you know, at the time, I mean, in you know, if we go back two decades now, but in around, let's say 2005, 2006 the economy was booming. Internet was starting to come into its own. And the millennials were entering the workforce. So, everybody blamed everything that went wrong on the millennials. They blame the recession, they blame the attitudes that millennials weren't hard workers, and they weren't educated. And so, I wrote the book and I found myself being a little bit like everybody else sort of condemning the millennials, but I put it in the context of Googlization. Googlization is just a term that I came up with. That meant the convergence of the wired, the tired in technology. Now I've refined that a little bit. Googlization is the convergence of business people and technology, and we can't do one well without the other. So, when we look at the generations, I think the wired and the tired is a better definition than talking about millennials and baby boomers like myself.   I mean, again, an older baby boomer, I am completely wired. You know, I could not function without technology. And I don't know if I want to, because you know, now, especially with the pandemic. Even my doctors have adapted to Telehealth, why do I have to travel an hour for an appointment? Sitting in the reception room. Take another hour out of my day to have a 10-minute appointment where they say, how are things going? Why can't I do that by Telehealth?   Steve Rush: Exactly.   Ira Wolfe: Look at the vaccine. Well, you're in the UK, the vaccines came out just recently. They're on their way in the US. It is remarkable how quickly we were able to do that. I don't know, I want to live in a world without technology. Yet there are people that just despise it. That it's bad, it's pushing people out of jobs. No, we're just evolving. So, I think, you know, I think that the label of generations, oh, you're a millennial. You must be good with technology. Oh, you're a baby boomer. You must be old and ready for retirement. I think the labels are bad. The mindsets are critical.   Steve Rush: Definitely, definitely so. Now folk who are going through change would recognize that back in the nineties, the US military came up with the philosophy of VUCA, which for those that are not familiar with it, that's the whole volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world, much of the work that you're involved with now, Ira is helping people through that change, but you've kind of reframed the VUCA to a different acronym. Tell us a little bit about what you've done.   Ira Wolfe: Yeah, I appreciate that. Yeah VUCA, which stands volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous again I did not come up with that, US military did. After the Berlin wall came down and they recognize that future Wars will not be with nation States, such as they were with world war one, world war two. And every war prior to that, that many of our enemies would be using cyber warfare. We would be terrorism which can't be cyber war, certainly cyber warfare as well, but other forms of terrorism. So, we wouldn't be fighting countries. We would be fighting these got a nine the scrip enemy, and they needed a different strategy and they recognized our world would be volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, which I can't think of a better acronym than VUCA to describe 2020, but it's certainly there.   The challenge is that it's not a one-time event. It is the environment which we live in, and it becomes more uncertain, more complex, more ambiguous with time, but people aren't comfortable with that. We used to live in a linear world.   Steve Rush: Yeah right.   Ira Wolfe: And now everybody's familiar with the term exponential, and they could look at a graph and they can say, oh, that's an exponential curve because that's the world we live in. We live in this world that we're always sort of on the uptick, on the hockey stick up swing, that the world is just moving very, very fast. So, the question is, is how do we help people? And this is what I've been, especially working on over the last year. I've been working on for the last many years, but this year it's sort of honed in, especially because of the pandemic. And it was, how do we help people gain the confidence and the courage? How do they have a more hopeful, positive attitude toward the future? And not just change itself, but changing for the better. Taking advantage, another way I phrased that, I read somewhere else that I don't remember where I read it, but I wanted to give them credit. Was how do you seize opportunity in the right way? And there's a lot of people that just don't recognize that there's a tremendous amount of opportunity that this pandemic has created. And again, it was a convergence of people, technology and business that has done that. So, the new VUCA that came up, we still need a vision. We still need a purpose, whatever that might be. It could be something as simple as wanting to take care of your family, or it could be saving the world. You know, making sure everybody has self-care or clean water or everybody, or we eliminate literacy, but everybody has a vision, a plan for their life. We then need to get a better appreciation, a better understanding for the environment we live in. And even this conversation of helping people understand what VUCA is and the world we live in. And it doesn't mean they're bad, but people need to change their behaviours. So, vision and understanding still is, you know, is the beginning of the VUCA, but the C is really having the courage, having the confidence to move forward. We need to help people become more comfortable with uncertainty and they have to have the courage. And in order to do that, you're probably familiar Steve with it, but some of the readers may not.   There's a concept called fixed and growth mindset. It was the developed by Carol Dweck, D-W-E-C-K. You can look it up. She's got some books, there's a million articles written on it, but what fixed mindset is something that I overcame and, you know, I was a good student, I did well. But then at some point you stop taking chances because you don't want to take a course that you get a B or a C in, because that may make you look stupid.   Steve Rush: Oh, sure.   Ira Wolfe: People think you get an A, so if you get a C it's because you didn't try hard enough, or, hey, maybe you're not that smart. So, we go through life. Our parents, our teachers, our businesses, program people you have to always be perfect. You always have to get that A and when you look around and what Carol Dweck study showed is that many valedictorians, many of the top of the class, weren't the most successful people in later years. Some other people were just average students who were willing to take chances, willing to make mistakes and then learn from those mistakes. So, the growth mindset is giving yourself permission to learn permission to make a mistake.   And that was something that, you know, I had a reputation to guard. I would always deem to be the smartest students. So, you know, what if I take a class or what if I try something and I fail at it, or it takes me two or three times to succeed. I don't want to do that. People need to overcome that, especially now. There is no other option. You have to have a growth mindset. You need to do become a little bit more adept at, you know, we talk about critical thinking. What does that mean? At least in the US I use the example of you turn on CNN or MSNBC and Fox News, you turn on two opposite points of view, and it's not your decision to decide which one is right. Find out why both might be right and find out why both might be wrong. You know, what is it? Is that they had in common? People often say this, we often have more similarities than differences. And if you listen intently to the news, coming from two different points of view, much of it is the same. It's just the interpretation that's different. And how do we make sense of two opposite points of view? So, you know, how do we develop the courage and the confidence to move forward? We need to give to permission to ourselves to make mistakes and learn from them. And then the final A, we need to become adaptable. That's what I've been working on over the year. Adaptability, I work another group. Tt wasn't me who developed it but through pretty extensive study and science using an adaptability quotient to find out where people, you know, what's their grit? What's their courage? How do you help people improve that courage to keep moving forward? We talk about resilience. It's the ability to bounce back, but we don't want to bounce back to the way we were. You know, some people may be thinking they want to go back to 2019 or go back to 2010 or I hear a lot of my peers, you know, talk about why don't we go back to the simpler days and the simpler days, weren't so good. Especially if you were people of colour. They weren't so good if you were in certain minorities. They weren't so good because we had two world Wars and we had Vietnam and things weren't always so good in the past. We only want to remember the positive thing. So, we need to learn grit and resilience and mental flexibility and growth mindset. And we need to unlearn. The other part of adaptability is unlearning. It's sort of like, defragging your hard drive. I just did that the other day because I was getting a warning. You were running out of space and I go, that can't be, I've got a terabyte. And the challenge is I keep downloading things. I've got videos, I produce a lot of videos. I have images, I've got articles I want to read. You got a terabyte of space which is our brain. And we just save everything, thinking that we're going to need it someday, and eventually you got to clean it out. And that's what unlearning is, unlearning is not forgetting, you know doing a brain dump and go boy, everything I learned in college and 30 years of experience is useless. It's reorganizing it, getting rid of what's obsolete or archiving what's obsolete and making room to learn something new. When we talk about the solution for VUCA, you know, the modern vision is vision, understanding, having courage and confidence and adaptability. But the way to get there is to develop our grit, resilience, mental flexibility, mindset, and unlearn, and the good thing about those are skills, those are abilities, and we can teach people how to do that.   Steve Rush: Straight out of the bat. I love that reframe by the way, the irony here of course, is a lot of what you've talked about around the learning and the unlearning. That's habitual, isn't it? So, for people, who've got these strong foundations, it's going to take practice and habit to unlearn some of that stuff too.   Ira Wolfe: I said this tenaciously. And I didn't even realize I said it. It might've been an accident, but I was listening to a podcast that I was on the other day. And I said, there is no four-year degree, for unlearning.   Steve Rush: That's true, yeah.   Ira Wolfe: And maybe there should be, maybe we need to teach people how to unlearn.   Steve Rush: I think you are right. I think it was Yoda who famously said, do you have to unlearn what you have learned? Right. And it's kind of made it kind of way into the forefront of our minds, but it is a skill to unlearn stuff, as much as it is to learn. It's breaking down those habits. Ira Wolfe: We need to learn what we need to unlearn first of all. So, you know, we need to learn to unlearn, but we also need to unlearn. So, the reality is that there are things that just don't make sense anymore. It was Einstein, if we keep doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result, that's the definition of insanity. Yet, we do that. We say, no, no, no, we're smart. We got room in our brain. We can learn one more thing. So, we learned something that a better way to do it, but it conflicts with the way we used to do it. And now we have this decision to make. Which choice? Do I do A or B? And the fact is, A should have just been archived, then go, good memory. Let's close the chapter on that. It worked for a while. We just need to stop doing that. It's sort of like the broken toaster that the one side works, but the other doesn't.   Steve Rush: I love that analogy.   Ira Wolfe: So yeah, it's still works, but it takes us twice as long to get it. And by the time we get the first piece of toast out, and the second one in, the first piece of toast is cold and it's hard. So, we need to learn how to become more efficient, to do things better. And that's really what my goal is. And that's why I'm excited because there are millions of people and the estimates, world economic forum, and a few other organizations, you know, they're talking about 375 million people being left behind.   Steve Rush: Wow.   Ira Wolfe: Because of the pace of change and some of that's due to economics, some of it's due to education, some of it's due to the job skills they have, oftentimes it's a combination of both. But there's 375 million people that are in danger of being left behind, in addition to all the people that are already in poverty or already out of jobs and they need re-skilling. There's a lot of work to do. And that's you know, that's what excitement, I mean, that's why, as I said, you know, in the late sixties, I'm acting like a millennial trapped in a baby boomer body. I'm thinking I can conquer the world. My body doesn't always want to cooperate on that, but my mind is still going pretty strong.   Steve Rush: And the good news is, we're not going to run out of things to do. There's always going to be a bunch of people who need help and assistance through that.   Ira Wolfe: Yeah, that's the great news. That's the opportunity that people miss. This was an interesting statistic and I just found this yesterday. In the US, now I can't speak beyond that, but in the US for 2020, this crazy pandemic year, there have been 12% more businesses opened than in the prior year than in 2019, which was a boom year. 2020 has seen 12% increase of new businesses classified under what they call high propensity businesses. Those aren't just people working at home, selling Etsy, or you know, making a living on social media is bad. But those are businesses that created a company and hired staff, 12% increase. We don't read that in the media.   Steve Rush: No.   Ira Wolfe: We read about all the people who are unemployed and all the business that went bankrupt.   Steve Rush: That's our unconscious mind also, isn't it? Looking for news stories that are more catastrophizing the situation than there is to look for things that are more positive. That's just the way that the news channels and media work, I guess.   Ira Wolfe: Absolutely, but regardless there is tremendous opportunity out there. And the good news about living on an exponential curve is there will always be new opportunity because we're always going to be learning and unlearning, and learning and unlearning. There is always going to be something new to be able to do. So, if people can become more comfortable living in an age of uncertainty, they have the courage and the confidence to go forward and give themselves permission to make mistakes. Again, the future looks bright   Steve Rush: And on the note of learning and unlearning, I'm now going to hack into your leadership mind. So, this part of the show is where we get to really get some instantaneous quick hints and hacks if you like from our guests. So, Ira if our listeners will be listening to this, what would be your top three leadership hacks that you would share with them?   Ira Wolfe: We've already mentioned probably all of them, but the first one would be growth mindset. Again, just read an article, just understand that. Just figure out, what haven't you tried? What have you resisted? Because you didn't think you were smart enough. You didn't have the money. It wasn't the right time. And yet the real reason was, I don't want to make a mistake. I don't want to be a failure. So, I think number one is having a growth mindset. Number two is learning to adapt and that's part of it. The growth mindset part of it. But the learning to adapt is bigger than that. We mentioned resilience, the ability to bounce back, you don't want to bounce back. You want to bounce forward. There is a concept out there. And again, I'll throw this term out there, relatively new in my vocabulary called antifragility. And it is by not allowing ourselves to make mistakes. By business this has become popular. Six Sigma lean manufacturing, total quality management, the zero defects. We need to be efficient and not make a single mistake. That has squeezed out, it has out grown, it has hurt people, it has hurt companies and people thinking about innovation. So again, learning to adapt, learning to become not just resilient, but antifragile. Antifragile means we get stronger. When we make a mistake, we learn from it and we become stronger. So, Antifragility is probably the second one. And the third is, and this is just the leadership. We always need to help other people. And again, my focus is helping other people adapt, but you may have a different one. But find out, we live in a big world. A lot of people need help, we could be a good citizen in the global community we live in. So, you know, find something you're passionate about and help others.   Steve Rush: Great lessons. Thank you for sharing those. The next part of this show, we call Hack to Attack. So, this is a situation or a time in your work or your life where it hasn't panned out. As you were planning, maybe it hasn't gone well at all, but as a result of the experience we've learned from it, and we now use it as a force of good, what would be your Hack to Attack?   Ira Wolfe: Sometimes you just need to give, again give yourself permission. I stuck way through long in my dental career, because I didn't want to look like it was giving up. I should have gotten out five or ten years earlier and giving my myself permission to be able to do that or plan it differently. What I did was I hung in there as long as I could, and then just got burnt out. And six months later I was gone and it took me a few years to recover because I thought I would be continuing to do that for so long. And overnight almost like the pandemic within six months, I just got out and started a new business, but it was without a plan. I didn't have a vision of what it was going to be. And fortunately, I had a unique position. Like people, some people in Corporate America do, they had a severance plan. I had a buyout, I mean, I had equity in my business, so I sold it. So, I think people have to plan ahead a little bit. What's the next chapter in your life? There are no more 30- or 40-year careers.   Steve Rush: Yeah.   Ira Wolfe: So just give your permission and think ahead what you want to do. Steve Rush: I liked the reframe of the next chapter. It almost gives you that unconscious permission to say, that's the natural thing to do.   Ira Wolfe: Yeah, my next chapter is not my, you know, I mean, they always say that my peers are looking at retirement. You know, why don't you retire and enjoy life? And I go because I'm having a ball. And I look around at people who have entered into their final chapter or the winter of their lives, and I'm not ready to do that. And there's a lot of people, there are some entrepreneurs in their eighties and nineties. They're amazing, amazing people. And hopefully that'll be me.   Steve Rush: Good for you too. The last thing that we want to do is do a bit of time travel now and give you the opportunity to bump back into Ira when he's 21, and you got a chance now to give him some advice, what do you think you'll say?   Ira Wolfe: Wow, at 21. I know what my wife would say. I shared with you earlier. We were high school sweethearts. And basically, we broke up in high school. It was always a regret that we had that we sort of lived separate adult lives. If there's something you want and you're passionate about, go for it. Don't let other people's opinions, make your decisions, listen to them. I'm not saying ignore people who have a difference of opinion, except them. But it's your life, and if I look back to, I was 21, I actually thought of changing my career to business. And I was persuaded out of that. I eventually got back into it obviously, and I can't say dentistry was a waste in all those 20 years between 21 and 45 were a waste. You know, again, I learned some things, but I probably could have had a different life and a different opportunity, who knows. I mean, you can't second guess that, but if I went back to 21, I would just say, if you have a vision, go for it.   Steve Rush: Awesome, so before we kind of close off today, if our listeners wanted to get to know a little bit more about the work that you're doing, Ira, you talked about the fact that you've developed this adaptability quotion and some assessments that come with that, where's the best place we can send them?   Ira Wolfe: The number one place to me would be if you're on LinkedIn, go to LinkedIn. I share a lot of information on there. Some of it's my own, some of its other people. I also contribute to a lot of other people's work as well. So, that's one place, but my website, my company website is successperformancesolutions.com. You can learn a lot about what I do in the business there. I have in a very active blog, several times a week. There's a new post. I also have my own podcast, Geeks Geezer And Googlization Podcast. Everything gets posted on there as well. So, successperformancesolutions.com is one place. You can also go to Ira Wolfe that's I-R-A W-O-L-F-E.com. And you can see some of my other personal work that's up there.   Steve Rush: We will make sure all of those links Ira are in our show notes and on our website. So, folks can literally just click in and follow you from there.   Ira Wolfe: Well, I appreciate that very much. And I I'm very open to connecting. I've also got an active YouTube channel, which is youtube.com, IraWolfe/IraWolfe. So many different ways. I really appreciate the opportunity to be here. They said the messages 2021 even by the economist's points of view, it's going to be a very positive year, a year of growth, a lot of opportunity out there. We need to bounce forward and hopefully some of the advice we gave today will help everyone. Thanks very much Steve, appreciate it   Steve Rush: Without a shadow of a doubt Ira. And thank you on behalf of our listeners, joining us on The Leadership Hacker Podcast today.   Closing   Steve Rush: I genuinely want to say heartfelt thanks for taking time out of your day to listen in too. We do this in the service of helping others, and spreading the word of leadership. Without you listening in, there would be no show. So please subscribe now if you have not done so already. Share this podcast with your communities, network, and help us develop a community and a tribe of leadership hackers.   Finally, if you would like me to work with your senior team, your leadership community, keynote an event, or you would like to sponsor an episode. Please connect with us, by our social media. And you can do that by following and liking our pages on Twitter and Facebook our handle there @leadershiphacker. Instagram you can find us there @the_leadership_hacker and at YouTube, we are just Leadership Hacker, so that is me signing off. I am Steve Rush and I have been the leadership hacker.

Geeks Geezers and Googlization was selected by Thinkers360 as one of the top 50 podcasts to listen to in 2021! For this 51st and final show of 2020, Ira S Wolfe and co-host Joyce Gioia were joined by 14 thought leader guests of the show to offer their business and/or HR forecast 2021. Guests included Dennis Hill (EXACTA), Kevin Grossman (The Talent Board), George Randle (The Talent War), Elizabeth Lotardo (McLeod & More), Bill Coletti (Kith), Claudia Reuter (Techstars), Gerry Crispin (The Talent Board), Declan Murphy (Allsorter.com), Keith Kitani (GuideSpark), Micole Garatti (FairyGodBoss), Phil Strazzula (Select Software Reviews), Rhamy Alejeal (People Processes), Tim Spiker (The Aperio), and Mike Raven (AQai). Joyce Gioia, Vice Chairman of the Association of Professional Futurists and CEO of The Herman Group, opens the show with her 3 predictions and HR Global Thought Leader Ira Wolfe concludes with his outlook and forecast for 2021.

Following a tragic pandemic, raucous election, devastating economic crisis, and massive social unrest, everyone seems ready to move on. So what can we expect in 2021? How long will it take until the economy and job markets recover? Which sectors will prosper, which businesses are already recovering, and which industries are still heading for a hard landing? Our favorite economist Alan Beaulieu (ITR Economics) joins Geeks Geezers and Googlization Show again to offer his highly anticipated and respected economic outlook for 2021 and 2022. With an astonishing forecast accuracy of 94.7% at one year out since 1985, you don't want to miss this episode.   Michael Spremulli joins us for a special episode of Ahead of the Curve.  Mike shares his top tech tips on how to look your on-screen best, on a budget.  The Geeks, Geezers & Googlization TV Show can be viewed live every Wednesday at 1 PM ET on Facebook, YouTube, Talk 4 TV, and broadcast on W4CY Radio, part of Talk 4 Radio, on the Talk 4 Media Network. Following the broadcast, the replay will be available at the same links for YouTube and Facebook, our podcast website Geeks Geezers Googlization website, and on most podcasts including Apple Podcast, iHeart, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher and more.

Michael Taylor is a successful motivational speaker, entrepreneur, author, and radio show host. Michael is also a black man who had to shatter all the negative stereotypes of black men that’s often held by the general public. Instead of succumbing to the life of a high school dropout, bankruptcy, depression, homelessness, and racism, Michael befriended adversity and turned it into his ally. He now helps people around the world achieve success, happiness, and personal well-being. Following the gruesome killing of George Floyd, Coach Michael Taylor believes now is a time for optimism and that lasting change can be made for the entire back community, He coaches black men (as well as people of all colors, races, genders, and ethnic groups) to overcome the stereotype mindset and empowers them to live extraordinary lives.  Michael is the author of several books including his bestselling book, Shattering Black Male Stereotypes and Adversity is Your Greatest Ally. Geeks Geezers and Googlization is also now available on YouTube Live and Facebook Live.

From HR to politics, Main Street to Wall Street, an impassioned plea for more empathy can be heard. It’s being hailed as the cure for conflict and the catalyst for inclusion. But like everything else these days, are we becoming numb? Will we become apathetic about empathy? Will empathy just become another business rallying cry destined for the buzzword graveyard? Join on this episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization when we welcome Lee Andrese, Principal & Managing Partner at akathame LLC to discuss empathy, apathy, and the future of business-as-unusual.

In this episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization, Gordon Zeilstra, Chief Revenue Officer at Tracesafe, joins us to talk about the power and pitfalls of Contact Tracing and Social Distancing. Getting back to business-as-usual is an understatement. Post-pandemic uncertainty and complexity have spun employee and customer anxiety into an all-time high. What must be done to manage the triple challenge of optimal productivity, employee safety, and customer trust? How can you encourage effective interaction, practice social distancing, and respect personal privacy?  Geeks, Geezers & Googlization Show is broadcast live each Wednesday at 1PM ET on W4CY.com, Facebook, and YouTube and is available for replay on most podcasts including Apple.  The Geeks, Geezers & Googlization Radio Show is broadcast on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com).

Delivering a positive customer service has always garnered a lot of attention. But then the SHIFT hit our plans. COVID-19 was the last straw. Every company, customer, employee, supplier, and vendor is now grieving over the death of Normal and re-prioritizing the future. “Experience Rules,” says our Geeks Geezers and Googlization guest Joyce Gioia. (“Experience Rules” just happens to be the title of her newest book too - available in the summer 2020 on Amazon!)  In the post-pandemic era, it’s no longer good enough to focus only on the customer. Employees demand a positive experience too. So do suppliers and vendors. Experiences Matter.  Listen as Joyce Gioia - futurist, author, and founder of Employer of Choice International - reveals why experience rules and your next CEO must be a Chief Experience Officer. BTW Joyce is the co-founder of The Herman Group and  Employer of Choice, Inc., author of 5 books, and has been a popular speaker at #SHRM, #HR, and #Business conferences for many years.  I first interviewed Joyce 19 years ago for my 1st radio show...and I have the cassette tape to prove it!

We’ve got another first on this week’s episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization. Our guest is the “World’s 1st Industrial Philosopher” - Cristina DiGiacomo - and her visit couldn’t have come at a better time. The future of work arrived ahead of time thanks to the COVID19 pandemic and death of George Floyd. These events exposed massive cracks and vulnerabilities in our society, traditions, laws, and norms. The future of work needs fixing. And if we want a better future, we need to create a better now! Relying on the wisdom of the greatest thinkers of all time (Socrates, Lao Tzu, Emerson, Plato, and the like), Cristina helps executives and entrepreneurs face the greatest challenges they confront at work. She shares those challenges and reveals how we all must begin to think and respond differently to the now so we have a better future that works for everyone. Cristina is also the author of Wise Up! At Work and founder of MorAlchemy.

Recruiting in a VUCA world? (BTW, VUCA represents Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous.) To get a sense about what’s going on and where talent acquisition is headed post-pandemic, we brought back a good friend of Geeks Geezers and Googlization and an amazing thought leader in recruitment and talent acquisition, Craig Fisher. Craig shared his own personal experience with job search and then peered inside his crystal ball for trends on the future of video interviewing, employment branding, company culture, employee assessment, and learning.

Our health and wellbeing are being severely tested. Personal stress levels are in overdrive, or as we like to say on Geeks Geezers and Googlization, the SHIFT is hitting a lot of plans. Just minutes before this episode, WHO declared Covid-19 a pandemic. The stock market fell into bear territory. More conferences and events were canceled and many schools announced they were closing. With everyone’s business and personal plans susceptible to disruption, it’s no wonder our stress levels are skyrocketing.  So we decided the best advice we could offer would be to stop and take a deep breath. The timing was perfect because today’s guest happened to be Joe Burton, CEO of Whil, a company founded in 2014 to fight the global stress epidemic. As a mindfulness advocate and author of Creating Mindful Leaders, Joe leaves you with practical skills you can use immediately to power down, even if for only 5 minutes. Most importantly, he offers hope that no matter what is happening in our lives, mindfulness can help each of us how to power forward to a future when everything’s alright.

There’s a lot of things your company can’t control and the coronavirus is just one of them. But how you respond should be at the tip of your tongue. According to our guest, crisis communication expert Bill Coletti, “Plan now like your company’s reputation depends on it because it does.” According to Coletti (via way of Seth Godin), your reputation is no more than what people expect you to do next. What you say and do (or don’t do ) to calm employee fears and ease customer concerns may have long-term implications, even when you have no control over the actual event. How can you prevent a moment of crisis from evolving into a media “shift” show? How do you balance messages of "the sky is falling" with caution and optimism? How do you take a crisis like the Covid-19 and shape and protect your reputation going forward? Reputation management is what we’re talking about on this week’s episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization.

Are you a working Mom on a career break (or an employer seeking more skilled workers?) Then don’t miss this episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization. Listen to serial entrepreneur and philanthropist Reena Gupta share her vision and platform that gives working Moms the means to gain financial independence and businesses a vibrant source of fresh talent. Her timing is perfect. Companies need qualified workers and aspire to build a diverse workforce. Moms, educated and talented workers, want to work. Unfortunately demand and supply lines don’t currently align so well...until now. Mom Relaunch brings Moms and Employers together.

After spending $250 Billion on HR technology for recruitment, interviewing, and assessments, the candidate experience should be spectacular. But it’s not. In fact, it sucks. More than ½ job candidates drop out during the application process. Nearly 60% of applicants never hear from the employer. Did HR technology cause the dissatisfaction? Can HR tech heal itself? Will AI-assisted technology cure what ails struggling talent acquisition efforts? HR and Recruiting "Nerd" Matt Charney visits Geeks Geezers and Googlization and shares why he feels nothing has changed in HR tech for over a decade … and explains why that might be about to change.

Finding a balance between your work and your personal life is more art than science. And the perfect balance might all be in the heart (or mindset) of the salesperson.  Our guest expert this week is Keith Campagna, host of the amazing podcast Geeks, Geezers and Googlization. Keith believes that your mindset plays a major role in the amount of stress that results from your life being out of balance. We'll discuss strategies to find YOUR personal work/life balance if you're in a cubicle or in a car most of the day.  PLUS! Is it really possible to be "in the zone" or "in the flow" in sales? Keith discusses the science and studies being done now to help people find that cold call zone and stay there.  As a Speaker, Podcast co-host and lifelong sales rep, Keith now brings his passion and authentic perspectives into companies with his Lifework Integration Program. Lifework Integration enables companies struggling to recruit effectively a way to build a company culture.  This episode is brought to you by, Cash Flow to CEO, Jen's new premium membership program that is helping entrepreneurs with big dreams learn how to sell them. Get access to Jen's free webinar with 3 Secrets to Consistent Cashflow TODAY! On today's show... 6:34 - Everybody's stressed. Why do some people thrive and some people sink into stress? 10:28 - 4 statements that can determine the status of your work life balance 15:59- The plight of the traveling salesperson 19:44 - The study of "flow" 22:28 - Geeks, Geezers and Googilization Join our Exclusive Sell or Die Facebook Group, where our members are already discussing the latest episode. Submit your sales question and we will answer it on the show! Need more sales help? Jeffrey's website: https://gitomer.com Jennifer's website: https://salesinanyminute.com Subscribe to the Gitomer Learning Academy: https://go.gitomer.com/gitomer-learning-academy   FREE EBOOK: Jeffrey's Little E-Book of How to Listen Listen up! We have a new free ebook offer for our Diehards. Blah, blah, blah...is that all your prospects seem to say when they're telling you why they ain't buying what you're selling? Then you've got a real problem on your hands: you SUCK at listening! Get better and get more deals with this free e-book.

Is our economy headed into a slowdown? How low can unemployment go and how long can we sustain it? Will automation kill or boost job growth? Will Millennials save our economy? Those topics and more were the focus of this episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization. Our guest is one of our country's most informed economists Dr. Alan Beaulieu, principal at ITR Economics. ITR is an emerging business trends superstar with an impressive near-95% accuracy rate since 1990 including the 2008 Recession. This show is broadcast live on Wednesday's at 1PM ET on W4CY Radio – (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (http://www.talk4radio.com/) on the Talk 4 Media Network (http://www.talk4media.com/).

Is your organization struggling with people problems? Then don't miss this episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization. For 25 years, Human Resources has been fighting for respect, for the proverbial seat at the table. But management still views HR as the compliance cops, payroll administrators, and the department to avoid. Why? HR Strategist Ed Krow joined us for this podcast to discuss why HR continues to be its own worst enemy and recommends steps it can take to be not only seen, but heard and respected in the C-Suite. Changing the “cringe” perception when it comes to the thought of HR departments The general perception of HR departments can be summed up by what a conference go-er said to Ed after a speaking session. He spoke about how frustrated he was with HR, as it “made his life more difficult by offering little assistance and roadblocks at every turn.” It’s this common and often all too accurate perception of HR that limits the reach of HR’s voice when it comes to their company’s C-Suite. If HR truly wants to make the changes that will turn the tide on this reality and gain a seat at the table, they’re going to have to wake up to the progressive HR movement that is happening. HR needs to be on the train of the current progressive HR movement, or they’re going to get left behind. It's time to be proactive and offer solutions to internal problems. As Ed states, “Business owners don’t want to hear about problems. They want to hear about solutions.” HR should be so much more than a hiring, firing, and “necessary evil” department to CEOs. For those ready to disrupt HR, arm yourself with the knowledge of today’s ever-changing technology, notice the problems within your organization, and come up with solutions that propel your company towards success. One of the most important things to remember is the position of the CFO and CEO and what they truly care about. What is it they want to hear? Once you walk outside the doors of HR, turnover rates and hiring processes are not the topics that turn the heads of CEOs and CFO’s. What’s going to make HR stand out is when they’re able to identify how turnover directly affects their company, create innovative solutions to reduce these ill effects, and then show the higher-ups the fiscal result from these actions and how their creative problem-solving benefited the company as a whole. These are the conversations that will allow the voice of Human Resource Departments to be heard and give them a seat at the table that’s noticed. Questions for Ed? Website: https://www.edkrow.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edkrow/ Twitter: @EdKrowHR  

Jeff Gothelf, author of "Sense and Respond," shared his favorite stat - Amazon releases new software updates every 11.6 seconds - during this episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization. Amazon and companies like Netflix set the new consumer standard for service. Human Resources (HR), however, responds with an industrial age approach, built for a completely different time and pace of operations. To win the race for talent, HR must embrace change and be agile to survive a world of unknown unknowns.This show is broadcast live on Wednesday's at 1PM ET on W4CY Radio – (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (http://www.talk4radio.com/) on the Talk 4 Media Network (http://www.talk4media.com/).

Jeff Gothelf, author of "Sense and Respond," shared his favorite stat - Amazon releases new software updates every 11.6 seconds - during this episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization. Amazon and companies like Netflix set the new consumer standard for service. Human Resources (HR), however, responds with an industrial age approach, built for a completely different time and pace of operations. To win the race for talent, HR must embrace change and be agile to survive a world of unknown unknowns.

People analytics is consistently one of the top 2 trends in HR today (the other being candidate experience), but despite the fact that more than 70% of CEOs identify human capital as a key source of competitive advantage (IBM), only 5% invest in big data (TATA). And while 70% of companies intend to increase automation, only one-third use People Analytics to determine the impact on performance outcomes! That's why we're grateful that Reed Shaffner, Cornerstone OnDemand's VP of Product Strategy, agreed to stop by the Geeks Geezers and Googlization Show to talk about the Future of People Analytics. In another fast paced show, Reed shared best practices for getting started, even if you're a small business, and how many organizations are using analytics to solve business problems associated with turnover, retention, pay equity, and skill gaps.  People Analytics - A new venture for most HR departments, it refers to the information that companies use to make decisions regarding their employees and workforce. When the right questions and strategies are in place, the information collected through people analytics can allow companies to prepare for the future, move the right employees to the right positions, and make overall better decisions for the company as a whole. On the hiring end, predictive analytics through people analytics helps recruiters see if applicants could be a good fit for the company. Internally, these analytics are a great way to show which pay structures are working for employee performance and if pay is equal and fair across the board. Reed gave us a great example on the show of analytics at work when it comes to salaries and pay structures. When Google came out with their pay equality announcement, they were able to do so because of the analytics used to detect areas where they were underpaying women or minorities. A similar case was Amazon, who realized that the algorithm in their system was causing inequality within pay scales. People analytics is not only showing where areas of improvement are within these giant tech companies, it’s also giving them a chance to accept responsibility and change things within their company for the better. So, when it comes to implementing people analytics in a way that works just as well as the above example, where should you start? Reed keeps it simple and to the point with this question, “Are you collecting the right data in the first place?” The answer is quite basic and gets to the root of why you would want to use analytics in the first place. “Pick one or two focused questions that you, as a company, really want answered.” Figuring out what these two questions are will obviously differ for every organization depending on the size and niche of the company. However, if you want to gather quality data that is actually useful, you have to start by answering this question first. Once you start asking the right questions, other benefits of people analytics start coming through the pipeline- analytics that answer questions such as,  “How do I invest in the right people, get them to stay with the company, and also predict roles that might open up in the future?” So, once you have the right questions in place, and the right data coming through, how should you go about analyzing it in a way that is useful for the company? There are a few things that need to be in place for “successful analytics” to happen. Make sure the right people have access to the data: Does everyone need access? No, but you bet that the HR, Recruitment, and Front End Management departments certainly should! Analytics is a partnership between groups such as these, and keeping communication between these departments open is a huge must when it comes to aggregating the right data. For some companies, hiring a data scientist can be a great investment. Reed warns companies to do their research and not hire just anyone who says they have a magical fix for deciphering data. You want someone tested, skilled, and able to go through the company’s data to decipher the right information. At the end of the day, people data is business data. If you want to set your business up for success, whether you’re a titan of industry or a small business with less than 200 employees, people analytics is certainly key when it comes to the future of work.

First of all, before I jump into this week's Geeks Geezers and Googlization podcast about the evolution of L&D (learning and development), who would ever think that content creation would be associated with Human Resources? For the record ...when I'm talking about content, I'm not talking traditional HR paperwork!  But just as a recruiter is now a marketer, human resources and microleanring go together like two peas in a pod. As the race for talent heats up, winning companies are focused on training employees. The emergence of microlearning is on. AI and video are fueling a revolution. But can it solve the shortage of skilled workers? Grab a drink, sit back, and get ready to learn about the future of learning at work. There is mounting pressure to train both new hires and current employees faster.  It's created a shift in the way companies source, build, curate and deliver the right content at the right time. With technologies like AI and video fueling a revolution, microlearning has evolved from a buzzword to workforce development solution.  And who better to help us understand what's happening in learning and development than Dr. Summer Salomonsen, head of Content Studios at Cornerstone OnDemand? What is microlearning? It's no longer the 8 hour classroom workshops of yesteryear nor the Powerpoint presentations of a decade ago. Organizations are longer confident that the information presented by trainers as they click through bullet points slide-by-slide is sinking in and making a difference. Instead microlearning is an approach to learning development that experts like Dr. Summer Salomonsen and the team at Cornerstone do incredibly well. While microlearning is not an entirely new idea in and of itself, it is, by definition, a way to describe how the average human brain learns. It’s this learning process that Dr. Salomonsen uses to stir up a new generation of workplace engagement in learning. As much as microlearning has advanced the cause, it’s also true that L&D in general is being told to step up their game. With the current workforce inundated by Millenials and Gen Z, the learning audience of today can “sniff out sub-par content in 7 seconds flat.” For strategic learning to take place and be effective, the content has to be top of the line, to the point, and seamless. As much as microlearning best practices have advanced, Dr. Salomonsen points out that learning is not a construct but a concept. We are always learning, day in and day out, task by task, micro-bit in time by micro-bit in time. Those all day workshops that we used to send employees off to are increasingly ineffective and mind-numbing. On Cornerstone’s end, the embodiment of microlearning comes in the form of mixed media, auditory snippets, and learner videos (just to name a few - think TED and TEDx Talks!). They focus what problems need to be solved right now within their learning programs so that employees have a sense of relief and a gratefulness for the information that is being delivered to them. Going a little deeper in our discussion with Dr. Summer and our focus on the future of work, it was inevitable that the subject of AR and VR would come up. While it’s currently getting a bit of use within response training, manufacturing as well as hospital type simulations, is it something we should expect to see on the horizon for HR? As we discuss in the show, it's not quite there yet.  One reason is the investment required for the technology and the cost of developing content for virtual reality. "It’s important to remember that it’s just tech but tech like this  continues to push our industry forward," said Salomonsen. Ways to contact Dr. Summer Salomonsen? LinkedIn Cornerstone OnDemand

Workplace violence is ravaging America. 15 people die each week and 38,500 others are attacked EACH WEEK. And yet 70% of U.S. businesses have no plan in place to protect employees or customers. Workplace violence experts Jeffrey M Miller and Robert Sollars stopped by Geeks Geezers and Googlization Show this week to discuss why workplace violence is on the rise and what companies must do to anticipate, prevent, and neutralize its risk to ensure everyone's safety and well-being.This show is broadcast live on Wednesday's at 1PM ET on W4CY Radio – (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (http://www.talk4radio.com/) on the Talk 4 Media Network (http://www.talk4media.com/).

David Searns, Haley Marketing CEO, stopped by Geeks Geezers and Googlization this week to discuss the staffing industry's post-Indeedageddon era. (For those of you who don't know, effective 1/7/19 Indeed no longer allows staffing firms and recruiters to post jobs for free.) Indeed is just the tip of a growing challenge staffing and businesses face when it comes to attracting job seekers and qualified workers. Misunderstanding how Google for Jobs works, delivering poor candidate experience, the lack of good recruitment marketing metrics, and low unemployment all contribute to forcing costs up & staffing ROI down. But the biggest culprit for most companies is a leaky company career site. Haley Marketing works with recruitment companies around the world, training them to recruit and engage talent by implementing effective marketing strategies. With “Indeedagedon” and the current low unemployment rate causing companies distress when it comes to receiving applicants for their positions, recruitment departments are looking for other strategies that will drive candidate traffic to their job posts. So now that Indeed has turned the tables when it comes to job posting, how can Google for jobs be utilized in its place? David says the most important thing when it comes to making use of Google’s job board is to make sure that your job is not only posted on your website, but that it’s also optimized for readability so that it can be indexed by Google Careers. Additionally, make sure that any career sites you’re using are also being indexed by Google. Aside from optimizing your job post for Google’s job boards, when it comes to recruitment marketing, David starts each case with what he calls “the four pillars” of recruitment marketing. Your Career Site: What are you doing to ensure that every job-seeker looking at your page applies? Job Advertising: What strategies do you have in place for advertising? Social Recruiting: Do you have a social platform plan in place that’s engaging passive job seekers and interesting them in your company? Your Employment Brand: What does Glassdoor, Indeed reviews, or Google say about you? How do you believe you’ll attract candidates to your company if your employment brand is unknown or poorly represented? In addition to these pillars, David points out that companies currently having the hardest time when it comes to finding and keeping great candidates are the ones who continue to ignore their candidates’ recruitment experience, the application process, mobile application availability, and pay disparity within their workforce. If you want your company to acquire top talent, it’s not only important to address the above issues, it’s absolutely vital. If your job posting isn’t available on mobile, or if your application questions are archaic and unnecessarily lengthy, you’re not going to engage or keep talent. Want to find out more about Haley Marketing? Contact them at – haleymarketing.com Or call: 888.696.2900

David Searns, Haley Marketing CEO, stopped by Geeks Geezers and Googlization this week to discuss the staffing industry's post-Indeedageddon era. (For those of you who don't know, effective 1/7/19 Indeed no longer allows staffing firms and recruiters to post jobs for free. Indeed is just the tip of a growing challenge. Misunderstanding how Google for Jobs works, delivering poor candidate experience, no recruitment marketing metrics, and low unemployment is forcing costs up & staffing ROI down.This show is broadcast live on Wednesday's at 1PM ET on W4CY Radio – (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (http://www.talk4radio.com/) on the Talk 4 Media Network (http://www.talk4media.com/).

Is working with a 3rd party recruiter worth it? If yes, when is the right time to hire a recruiter and what are reasonable expectations? As more and more companies turn to search firms, or "headhunters," executive recruiters during this historic period of low employment, we took the opportunity to ask those questions and many more to our show guest Hugh Gallagher from The Gallagher Group. We go behind the scenes with Hugh, exploring what employers should expect and how they can be better prepared. The Geeks Geezers and Googlization Show is broadcast live on Wednesday's at 1PM ET on W4CY Radio – (www.w4cy.com). You can view all episodes on Geeks, Geezers, and Googlization or on your favorite podcast platform.

This week's episode of The Geeks Geezers and Googlization will keep you speechless. Our guest Dr. Rich Pimentel shares his remarkable story from being pronounced dead at birth and "retarded" as a child to leading a movement that led to the passing of the American Disabilities Act. His life story, Music Within, was brought to the big screen in 2007. His most memorable quote is "government can bring back veterans, but employers are the only ones who can bring them home." Thank you Rich Pimentel.This show is broadcast live on Wednesday's at 1PM ET on W4CY Radio – (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (http://www.talk4radio.com/) on the Talk 4 Media Network (http://www.talk4media.com/).

This week on The Geeks Geezers and Googlization Show we’re talking about the #MeToo movement and its effects on the culture of HR as we know it. Rebecca Weaver and Nickolett Hocking from HR Uprise lead us in an eye-opening discussion regarding “disruptive HR”, the #MeToo movement, and how Human Resource departments wield so much more power than they realize.   In the wake of #MeToo and the conversations it has stirred up within the past year, Rebecca and Nickolett wondered why they were seeing so many powerful leaders in the entertainment industry being held accountable, but when it came to leaders in business, no one was being called out. It was these discussions that led the two to start HR Uprise.   Knowing that business leaders and HR departments are a huge proponent in driving the culture of the business workplace forward, Rebecca and Nickolett established HR Uprise as a channel through which sexism and racism in the workplace may be eradicated.   Curious, I asked Nickolett what, initially, the reception of this idea looked like. She responded, “When we first put out this idea of ‘disruptive HR’, it was encouraging to see other ‘black sheep’ HR workers step out in agreement and support of what we were doing.”   Additionally, both Rebecca and Nickolett thought it incredibly revealing to see the sparked interest of non-HR employees desperate for change, reaching out and asking them to come and speak to their own workplaces’ HR departments. I agreed with both of the ladies in saying that if the public response for help witnessed by them doesn’t show a problem within the current climate of our workplaces, then what does?   Nickolett also added, “We hear over and over NOT to go to HR for harassment issues, that HR exists to protect the company, not the employees.” But HR really does have more control and power than is being recognized... and it’s the power to change this perception of what HR is and does that needs to be realized.   Another highlight during my discussion with Rebecca and Nickolett was on the point that HR departments need to realize that they aren’t limited to only taking action on harassment when held to its legal definition alone.   A core principle of HR Uprise (and an important one), stands on the fact that if, as an HR team, all you’re focusing on is resolving legal level harassment issues, then you’re doing the bare minimum for your company and your employees.   All too often, perfectly legal but completely inappropriate conversations and actions happen between employees that can and should still be handled and resolved by HR. In fact, better than resolving these issues after the fact, HR Uprise seeks to provide employees and their respective HR departments with an entirely new workplace climate and culture so that these unnecessary moments don’t happen in the first place.   So, what does HR Uprise say is the first step toward propelling companies in the right direction when it comes to the topics that the #MeToo movement has surfaced?   Rebecca reflects on the time she’s spent with clients directing what she prefers to call “Allied Training”. Allied Training is a method where employees meet in a room together, and while HR Uprise is there to lead the discussion and answer questions, the majority of the time is spent with the employees having an open and honest discussion with each other. Initially, the conversation usually starts with plenty of “what if” questions.   What if something happens outside of work, on the weekend, between a supervisor and an employee, etc.?   Rebecca counters these types of questions with a question to the group, “What do you think should happen?” or “What behavior do you want from your fellow employees?”   The end result of these Allied Training discussions is a productive and thoughtful time where in the end, the employees leave the room in agreement and on the same page as to what is and what is not acceptable in their workplace. When employees know not just the legal standard for workplace behavior, but also their co-worker’s personal standards, the “culture” of the workplace changes and becomes an open, respectful, and comfortable one.   In short, it’s time to open up the dialogue between employees, their co-workers, and HR. Cultivating the right culture in a workplace starts with conversations that establish the right climate and alter archaic perceptions between employees, their peers, and HR.   Follow HR UP on Instagram: @hruprise Connect with Rebecca Weaver on Linkedin Connect with Nickolett Hocking on Linkedin

On this episode of The Geeks Geezers and Googlization Show, we’re talking with the Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine, Jason Feifer. Keith, Jason, and I dive deep into the resentment that each generation seems to have for the next. If you’re curious to hear Jason’s thoughts on this topic, you’ll love this episode. We get down to brass tacks quickly.   First, Jason invited us to take a look at the history of innovation and how each new thing introduced through the generations was met with resistance. He starts with the bicycle (Yes the bicycle was going to ruin civilization!), recorded music, the radio, and so much more. But eventually, the adoption of these inventions became so commonplace that the resistance dissipated and the disruptions went mainstream. Fast forward a generation or two down the line, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a single soul who can still recall or explain the resistance in the first place.   You’ve probably heard the saying that history repeats itself. Then it’s no surprise that each older generation tends to morph into similar attitudes and judgments toward their successors. If you disagree, just take a look at what Seneca was saying all the way back in First Century A.D.   “Our young men have grown slothful. Their talents are left idle, and there is not a single honorable occupation for which they will toil night and day.”   Sound familiar? If that’s not enough, how about the Life Magazine cover from 1968 that describes the up and coming generation as promiscuous, lazy, rebellious, and idealistic (aka the Baby Boomer Generation!)? This was repeated again in 1985 when Newsweek’s over displayed an image of 3 Generation X distracted by video games. Or the seemingly endless headlines and media covers covers bashing Millennials beginning in the 1990s. Case in point - Generations Gaps are nothing new and older generations have demeaned young people from the beginning of time.   So, why does the older generation seem to keep forgetting that at one time they were the change makers, the rebellious, and the idealists? This memory lapse would be a fair one if each generation was getting progressively worse, but they’re not. Instead, we’re finding them growing kinder, more empathetic, developed, and advanced. One could even argue that with the current state of technology, the younger are catching up to the older at a faster pace than any of the previous generations.   Jason brings up a great point as to the actual reason why the older generation is consistently bashing the younger… “The older generation is aware that the new generation is their replacement.” This may sound harsh, but it’s true. “And, by admitting this truth, you’re admitting your own mortality and replaceability.” Tough words, but is that not exactly why baby boomers look down on the Millenials? We, as the proven and established generation, don’t want to see them as equal or as a replacement because then, what does that make us?   Now, in case our conversation was starting to make you feel either vindicated as a Millenial or like a puff of dust as a Baby Boomer, Keith, Jason, and I also took the time to highlight the less morbid side of this discussion.   First of all, just because the older generation is preparing to either retire from the workplace or pass over the mantle of their experiences, doesn’t mean that they’re not needed. In actuality, they are still, and will continue to be, absolutely necessary- a fact, that most Millenials know and appreciate. The Millennial leaders of the next generation are intelligent enough to take advantage of the fact that their elders are carriers of wisdom. They do have more experience, and they can provide valuable advice from their life experiences, whether this advice is career, life-based, or both.   Listen to the full episode here.

Geeks, Geezers and Googlization really do matter. In the first live broadcast of The Geeks, Geezers and Googlization Show, host Ira S Wolfe is joined by his co-host Keith Campagna, regional sales manager for Jobvite. During the show, Ira and Keith discuss a range of topics - from events like SourceCon and CandD Awards to Millennials and Recruiting in the Age of Googlization. It's fast paced, entertaining, and informative. Perfect for executives, business owners, HR, and recruiters.This show is broadcast live on Wednesday's at 1PM ET on W4CY Radio – (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (http://www.talk4radio.com/) on the Talk 4 Media Network (http://www.talk4media.com/).

In these VUCA (Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous) times, what’s next seems to be top of everyone’s mind these days from the coffee shop to the board room.  So it seemed pretty obvious that when Dr. Liz Alexander and Geeks Geezers and Googlization host and TEDx Speaker Ira S Wolfe got together to discuss the future of work that what’s next in leadership would kick off the conversation. Here are 3 take-aways from this podcast. The Ambiguity of Leadership Did you ever wonder why most descriptions of leadership begin with an adjective – authentic, visionary, transformational, or spiritual? Dr. Liz shared a recent situation where someone on LinkedIn posted a question to describe leadership in one word…and over 20,000 responses were recorded! The diversity of answers amplified the ambiguity of leadership. Therefore any discussion of what’s next must start with a universal agreement about what leadership means to individuals and organization. She paraphrases Joel Barker’s definition of leadership as one example – someone that you might choose to follow to reach a desired future you may not reach by yourself. The Future Demands a Different Resume Too often people conflate a title of leadership with the role. Many people with the title of let’s say Vice-President may fill the box on an organizational chart but lack the ability to lead the business function. The problem with leadership today, says Dr. Liz, is that too many people are bound up by past notions of who is next in line rather than who is best qualified to lead. One example she offered was past leadership focused on the ability to solve problems. Today leadership requires the ability to decode dilemmas where there are no clear cut choices. Solving problems requires speed, analysis, and elimination of uncertainty. Dilemmas demand patience, sense-making, and an engagement with uncertainty. Leadership in the vision requires more than a mission to correct the wrongs of the past. It requires a vision of the future. 21st Century Critical Skills off Leadership Because a dilemma reached beyond the capability of any one individual or group, solutions require collaboration between co-workers, colleagues, and even the competition. That is just one of 6 leadership skills required to excel in a VUCA world. Jeff Hoffman, co-founder of Priceline, shared another which he calls info-sponging, a habit borne from curiosity. Other essential leadership skills for the 21st century include conscientiousness, creativity, critical thinking, and agility. What’s the single most important single “nugget” you will learn?  Listen now.