Podcasts about Sly James

This episode of the Amazing Cities and Towns Podcast sponsored by Bearing Advisors, Jim Hunt interviews Bob Bennett, a Senior Fellow at the Center for Digital Government and the founder of B2 Civic Solutions, an international smart cities consultancy firm based in Parkville, Mo.   ·       A candid conversation about how technology is changing the shape of local government. ·       And, much more   7 Steps to an Amazing City:   Attitude Motivation Attention to Detail Zing Inclusiveness Neighborhood Empowerment Green Awareness   Thanks for listening and look forward to having you join us for the next episode.   Links Mentions During Show:  https://www.beesmart.city/en/ ·       www.AmazingCities.org ·       www.AmazingCities.org/podcast to be a guest on the podcast   About Bob Bennett: Bob Bennett is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Digital Government and the founder of B2 Civic Solutions, an international smart cities consultancy firm based in Parkville, Mo. From 2016 to 2019 he served in Mayor Sly James' administration as the Chief Innovation Officer for the City of Kansas City, Mo. During his tenure, he oversaw the city's smart city initiatives including a 54-block total digitalization pilot, strategy development for the city and P3-based expansion plans. Kansas City's initiatives earned the city an Edison Award (Gold) for “Collective Disruption” and civic innovation in 2017, and Bob was named one of GovTech's Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers in 2018. Before his role with the city, Bob completed a 25-year career in the U.S. Army which included service as a Strategist, a Battalion Commander and multiple combat tours.  He is also the founder of Bee Smart City. About Your Host, Jim Hunt: Welcome to the “Building Amazing Cities and Towns Podcast” … The podcast for Mayors, Council Members, Managers, Staff and anyone who is interested in building an Amazing City.   Your host is Jim Hunt, the author of “Bottom Line Green, How American Cities are Saving the Planet and Money Too” and his latest book, “The Amazing City - 7 Steps to Creating an Amazing City”   Jim is also the former President of the National League of Cities, 27 year Mayor, Council Member and 2006 Municipal Leader of the Year by American City and County Magazine.   Today, Jim speaks to 1000's of local government officials each year in the US and abroad.   Jim also consults with businesses that are bringing technology and innovation to local government.   Amazing City Resources:   Buy Jim's Popular Books: ·       The Entrepreneurial City: Building Smarter Governments through Entrepreneurial Thinking:   https://www.amazingcities.org/copy-of-the-amazing-city   ·       The Amazing City: 7 Steps to Creating an Amazing City:   https://www.amazingcities.org/product-page/the-amazing-city-7-steps-to-creating-an-amazing-city   ·       Bottom Line Green: How America's Cities and Saving the Planet (And Money Too)  https://www.amazingcities.org/product-page/bottom-line-green-how-america-s-cities-are-saving-the-planet-and-money-too   FREE White Paper: ·       “10 Steps to Revitalize Your Downtown”  www.AmazingCities.org/10-Steps   Hire Jim to Speak at Your Next Event: ·       Tell us about your event and see if dates are available at www.AmazingCities.org/Speaking   Hire Jim to Consult with Your City or Town: ·       Discover more details at https://www.amazingcities.org/consulting   Discuss Your Business Opportunity/Product to Help Amazing Cities: ·       Complete the form at https://www.amazingcities.org/business-development   A Special Thanks to Bearing Advisors for the support of this podcast:  www.BearingAdvisors.Net

Sterling & Kyle begin the night with early vote count updates, and continue to update the results throughout the show until the Final tally is revealed. Sterling is joined by Todd Leabo, Former Mayor Sly James, Todd Leabo again, and Chad Boeger to discuss the election!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sterling & Kyle begin the night with early vote count updates, and continue to update the results throughout the show until the Final tally is revealed. Sterling is joined by Todd Leabo, Former Mayor Sly James, Todd Leabo again, and Chad Boeger to discuss the election!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sly James, Former Kansas City Mayor and YES vote on Stadium Tax | 3-20-24See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sly James joins Pete Mundo to discuss why he wants people to vote yes on Question 1 on April 2nd in Jackson County. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sly James, the former Mayor of Kansas City, joined The Drive to explain why people should vote yes on the future of the stadiums in Jackson County.

In this episode, we're continuing our pattern of inquiry with active members of the HSD community but this time Glenda Eoyang, Founder and Executive Director of Human Systems Dynamics Institute, is taking over the conversational reins to ask the questions that have her curious. Our next special guest is Tamela Handie, the host of Patterns & Possibilities - Curious Conversations with Miss Handie. Tamela's passion is helping others fulfill the highest expression of themselves. She is a Corporate Trainer, Organizational Development and Leadership Strategist, Certified Facilitator and Human Systems Dynamics Practitioner. Tamela uses her skills and experience to disrupt status quo workplace culture and transform lackluster engagement, communication, and leadership into impactful, energetic and creative breakthroughs.  In addition to hosting and producing the Patterns & Possibilities podcast, Tamela serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Human Systems Dynamics Institute. Tamela's first love is writing. She is a published author and poet and has written numerous blogs and poems about a wide variety of interesting topics, from racism to heartbreak, on the popular Medium platform.  Tamela comes from a family of seasoned educators and orators. Fueled by deep pride in her family surname, she truly believes that “Courage Comes in Handie.” In her spare time, she lends her talents as a voiceover artist, on-air personality, and inspirational speaker. Tamela's celebrates life with long walks, solo vacations, dancing, hula hooping and a good lemon drop martini.  Her voice can be heard delivering travel announcements at Kansas City International (KCI) Airport in Kansas City, Missouri, and on her podcast, “Gumbo Nights with Miss Handie.” Tamela earned a bachelor's degree in marketing and an MBA in Management from Avila University, where she's served as a guest lecturer on personal branding for many years.    She previously served in the Office of former Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, Sly James, as Senior Advisor for Operations. She's also served on numerous boards and commissions including the Kansas City Credit Union's Supervisory Committee, the Kansas City AIDS Foundation, and the Avila University Alumni Board. You can connect with Tamela on LinkedIn and follow her courageous blend of extroverted introversion on Instagram and TikTok. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hsdpatterns-possibilities/message

Learn the ropes and brush up on your facts for this new episode of Go Fact Yourself!Cenk Uygur is the creator of the progressive news network The Young Turks. Before that, he was an on-camera personality for MSNBC. He'll tell us how his old gig helped him understand why he needed to make a space for news and information. Plus we'll learn why it took so long for him to finish his first book, and why he's convinced that the United States is a progressive country. Niccole Thurman is known for her roles in comedy. Her latest work includes voicing several characters on the HBO series “Jellystone” and appearing on many episodes of “The Opposition with Jordan Klepper” – but she actually didn't intentionally pursue comedy. She'll explain that, plus tell us the odd circumstances that led her dog Izzy to join us on stage.Our guests will answer trivia about cows and snakes in the oddest of places.Areas of expertiseNiccole: The musician Hosier, facts about the Kansas City metro area, and predicting the outcome of true crime segments on “Dateline.”Cenk: 1980s WWF, fantasy football, and happiness.What's the difference: Electric ToothbrushWhat's the difference between something that is electric and something that is electrical?What's the difference between plaque and tartar?Appearing in this episode:J. Keith van StraatenHelen HongCenk UygurNiccole ThurmanWith guests expertsSly James: Former mayor of Kansas City.David Cook: Winner of the seventh season of “American Idol.”Jake “The Snake” Roberts: Former wrestler for the WWF throughout the 1980s, who currently appears on All Elite Wrestling. Theme Song by Jonathan Green.Maximum Fun's Senior Producer is Laura Swisher.Associate Producer and Editor is Julian Burrell.Seeing our upcoming live shows in LA by YOU!

Nick Haines moderates a conversation with the last four former mayors of Kansas City on the stage of the Truman Auditorium of the Plaza Library. Emanuel Cleaver (1991-1999), Kay Barnes (1999-2007), Mark Funkhouser (2007-2011) and Sly James (2011-2019) discuss their roles in Kansas City's progress and expectations for the future.

As we do from time to time — as this podcast was designed — we are featuring an interview that was done in front of our C-10 students and mentors. This interview was done just a few hours ago…on Wednesday night, September 14th, in the Crown Club at Kauffman Stadium.It features a conversation with former Kansas City, Missouri, mayor Sly James. Sly James has worn many hats over the years – lead singer in a band, military police officer, trial attorney, mayor who oversaw Kansas City, Missouri's renaissance, and award-winning author. And we touch on most of those hats.Sly's uncanny ability to bring a bold vision to life are evident through results like the construction and expansion of a transformative modern streetcar line, overwhelming passage of an $800 million infrastructure package, collaborating with our C You In The Major Leagues founder Dayton Moore and the Royals to build the Urban Youth Academy, and closing the gap between the city's third grade reading proficiency and the state average by a third.Sly graduated from Rockhurst University with a degree in English, and then earned his law degree from the University of Minnesota. Shortly after leaving the public sector, Sly became half of Wickham James Strategies & Solutions, which helps clients with strategic communications, crisis communications, government relations, public policy, political strategy and mediations.We start off this chat with Sly James with our Pregame batting practice…LINKS:For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.To make a financial gift to give students life-changing one-on-one mentoring, visit our secure donation page.For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.If you'd like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

Douglas Ferguson is an entrepreneur and human-centered technologist. He is the founder and president of Voltage Control, an Austin-based change agency that helps enterprises spark, accelerate, and sustain innovation. He specializes in helping teams work better together through participatory decision making and design inspired facilitation techniques. He has helped transform teams from Nike, U.S. SOCOM, Google, the Air Force, Apple, Adobe, Dropbox, Fidelity, Vrbo, Liberty Mutual, Humana, and SAIC. Douglas is a thought leader and master facilitator of Design Sprints, Innovation Acceleration, Team Alignment, Meeting Systems, Culture Transitions, and Change Transformations. He is also the author of four books: Magical Meetings, Beyond the Prototype, How to Remix Anything, and Start Within. He has been published in Forbes, Fast Company, Innovation Leader, and is a regular contributor to The Future Shapers. He publishes a weekly podcast called Control the Room. Motivated by a mission to rid the world of horrible meetings and offer meaningful magical meeings in their place, Voltage Control is calling upon fellow facilitators to transform meeting and innovation culture. From free weekly community meetups to Control the Room–the annual facilitator summit, Voltage Control is building a community of facilitators to change the world. Douglas is active in the Austin startup community where he serves on the board of several non-profits, mentors startups, and advises early-stage ventures. Prior to founding Voltage Control, Douglas held CTO positions at numerous Austin startups where he led product and engineering teams.When not facilitating or coaching facilitators you might find Douglas patching up his Modular Synth, boxing, or doing pilates.  Timestamp 2:12 Doug's early years, and getting into the startup space 2:36 From getting fascinated about collaboration, to an interest in facilitation 3:41 How his first experience as a speaker started his thought leader journey 5:26 What makes a meeting Magical 6:37 Small changes, big results 8:32 Personal experience in dealing with career change 13:17 Making clients acknowledge the human problem 16:33 How to face fear and identity issues in the change process 18:08 Dealing with organizational change as a result of the pandemic 19:43 How the tragic loss of a co-worker inspired creation of the Safe Pledge 23:39 Building a community of facilitators 26:19 Designing a memorable, accessible meeting experience for all 28:36 Doug's typical work day 31:44 Curiosity, creativity and self-challenge: taking small steps to start change 33:27 Upcoming activities and plans  Social Media LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglasferguson/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/voltagectrl SAFE Alliance: https://www.safeaustin.org/ Follow Patti Dobrowolski - Instagram https://www.instagram.com/upyourcreativegenius/ Follow Patti Dobrowolski - Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/patti-dobrowolski-532368/ Up Your Creative Genius - https://www.upyourcreativegenius.com/  Patti Dobrowolski 00:03 Hello, Superstars! Welcome to the Up Your Creative Genius Podcast, where you will gain insight and tips to stomp on the accelerator and blast off to transform your business and your life. I'm your host, Patti Dobrowolski. And if this is your first time tuning in, then strap in - because this is serious rocket fuel. Each week, I interview fellow creative geniuses to help you learn how easy it is to Up Your Creative Genius in any part of your life. Patti Dobrowolski 00:39 Hey, everybody. Oh my gosh, I have Douglas Ferguson here. This guy is an author, a speaker, master facilitator, and he's the president of Voltage Control - and he's going to tell us what Voltage Control is all about - but let me just say that he helps companies to sustain and scale their innovation through design thinking and synthesis of visuals, and creating a Fast to Fail culture - and I love that Fast to Fail idea - so we're gonna get into that for sure. But he's also the author of "A Non Obvious Guide to Magical Meetings" - which if you don't know about the Non Obvious guide books, they're really incredible, and so you want to read his Magical Meetings, reinvent how your team works together. And he's got so much stuff happening that in the shownotes, you got to go right away to Voltage Control and see the events that he runs and the trainings that he has, and the coffee chats - he's just incredible. So, welcome to the show, Douglas. Douglas Ferguson 01:36 Wow, thanks for the warm welcome. And it's good to be here. So excited to talk to fellow facilitators. That's one of my favorite things to do. Patti Dobrowolski 01:45 Yeah, fantastic. I love that you're here. And it was so much fun to read about you and see what you'd been up to, kind of - you know, I love just going behind the scenes and like get any int- Is there any dirty laundry in here? I'm looking for, you know, like, is there anything fun in here? It's all fun in there - your sizzle reel on your website, it's really great and fun to watch, and I was thinking, wow, this is so cool to have you. So tell us a little bit about yourself, would you? Douglas Ferguson 02:12 Yeah, sure. Born in Virginia, it's uh, tobacco farmers and, you know, first generation to make it to college. I was really into computers from a young age, I was playing around on a Commodore 64 programming and even in high school, first program was to make a Frankenstein out of characters, so you know- Patti Dobrowolski 02:34 Yes, yes. (laughs) Douglas Ferguson 02:36 -that was a great use of time, I tell ya. So fast forward after school, I got bit by the startup bug pretty early. This is like in the 90s. I was like working for a startup that wanted to be Facebook before MySpace even existed, you know, it's like, it's like, needless to say, being early is just as bad as being wrong. So I got- I learned a lot, you know, through the years of writing code for tech startups, and then leading engineers and products, people and designers, what it took to build sustainable, highly collaborative teams. Patti Dobrowolski 03:14 Yeah. Douglas Ferguson 03:14 And I was always really fascinated about the mechanisms by which people bring forth collaboration. I didn't even know the word "facilitation" nor had I heard about it, but I kind of conflated it with like, moderation, or I was like, someone does negotiations, and I wasn't really quite sure. But I was always really fascinated with, you know, whether it was extreme programming, or agile or lean and experimenting with these different ways to have better meetings. Patti Dobrowolski 03:41 Yeah. Douglas Ferguson 03:42 And then fast forward to my last startup, which was - you know, I was kind of done with the startup world, and - but through that experience, I'd met the design team at Google Ventures. And on that team was Jake Knapp, who wrote the book "Design Sprints". So I got a lot of people asking me to come and speak on "Design Sprints", and so that led to a whole new world opening up around being a thought leader on this stuff. It was interesting, because I was able to tap all this other experience I had in this love I had for bringing people together - it was almost like a new lease on life, because I realized that, "Whoa, I can do this for a living". Like, I don't have to like a startup and do this with inside the startup, I can do this for a living. That was really, really pretty incredible. Patti Dobrowolski 04:26 Oh, that's so fantastic. What a great way to describe that. You know, on the podcast, about four episodes before you I interviewed Joni Wickham, who was the Chief of Staff for Mayor Sly James in Kansas City, and she grew up on a tobacco farm too. So just so you know, we got a theme going on here. So for those of you listening, anybody can come from anywhere and really become a game changer. And you really have, in this field of facilitation - I think that one of the things that I know to be true about you is that every experience in your meetings is so interactive, that people are just having a blast - though that you know, even though they're working on hard stuff, they're having so much fun. So tell the listeners, like if they get dropped into a meeting with you, or your team, what will be some of the differentiators between meetings they have been in before? Douglas Ferguson 05:26 Hmm. Well, I think one big one is that they'll know why they're there - before they show up. And while they're there, there'll be a very clear understanding of why they're there, and how they can contribute. And they're going to be invited to shape the outcome. Someone in our community once said that, you know, diversity is inviting everyone to the dance. Inclusion is inviting someone to dance. And so, something that happens in our meetings is that you will be invited to dance. Patti Dobrowolski 05:58 Yeah, that's fantastic. And in that dance, you'll tap into your own piece of the vision, because one of the things you talk about a lot - in some of the interviews with you, you talk about how important it is to make a commitment, adapting to the environment to make small incremental change, and know that those small changes add up to big wins when you want to step into your future. So say something about that for you as a person - how did you decide or learn that small things equal big results, eventually? Douglas Ferguson 06:37 It's interesting, I don't know if I can point to one particular moment where someone says "This is the equation to life", or "This is the way things work". But I think that it was just a culmination of a lot of lived experience, or lived experiences where I was always very curious. You know, I was the kind of kid that liked to take things apart and put them back together, and sometimes they didn't quite work the way they worked before. And so, I think one of the things, maybe, that was super pivotal for me: well, early in my career as a software developer, I got really fixated on what now some folks refer to as the "learning loop". And so, the time it took for me to discover that something was broken, or that I had introduced a bug or a defect was directly correlated to how expensive it was to fix it, or how much damage or pain it caused to my co-workers, or to how much money it made the company lose - the longer it took, the more you know, of an impact, negative impact that it would make - and so if I can reduce that time, it was better and better. And then I started to realize, like: Oh, wow, if I also can start to reduce the time to learnings, even when I'm trying things out in the code or experimenting with the way something works, the quicker I come up with solutions to almost the way it starts to become real time. You're almost intuitive, like you try something and you're instantly seeing the results. And so, I think that led me to this understanding of like, oh, wow, you don't have to have everything figured out at once. You can sort of probe the system and understand, and then probe the system and understand, which, like, years later, I came to understand from learning about complexity theory, that that is exactly how you need to operate in a complex environment or complex system, which is where we all find ourselves these days. Patti Dobrowolski 08:32 Yup. And so, that's something about getting yourself to test multiple tests, at the same time of something. I love this conversation we're having, because, you know, for me, I'm always coming up with these new ideas. And then, you know, I want to see: will this work? What, can this work? What about this? And then, I'll follow my intuition around some things, but the key that I think in design thinking is to get your customer involved in the process early enough. So you see if what the solution you're providing is something they can actually use. Because, you know, I love that book - it's about your mother or something? - I can't remember what the name of it is, but it's all about how we often create things that just our mother will like, because our mother likes anything that we do, right? Most of the time. And so, trying to get yourself to do that. Now, what did you see as challenges that you faced in your career trajectory? What did you and how did you learn to pivot and be able to shift from this software and design of the startup environment into this facilitator thing? What allowed you to feel like you had the confidence to do that? Douglas Ferguson 09:45 You know, I think surrounding myself with lots of mentors, and cheerleaders - yeah, like anyone who was willing to tell me that I could do it and help me see blind spots or gaps - you know, I think that really helped. Also, having someone anticipated the opportunity, you kind of, kind of prepare it a little bit. So I had a little bit saved, so I could, you know, could hunker down and go through a period of growth and building, you know? Patti Dobrowolski 10:16 Yeah. Douglas Ferguson 10:17 And then I was just kind of strategic around- it was down to basics, you know, I even created a little bit of budget, like, what do I need to bring in to even live by the most like, economic means necessary. And then, another thing I did is I'm a firm believer in being as economical and scrappy as possible in the beginning. And so, you know, I didn't - we didn't even have a website, we were using- At the time, Medium, let you use custom domains - on Medium. And so I used Medium as my website, because I did- I had a strong desire to blog and write because I felt like if I got my ideas out - Patti Dobrowolski 10:53 - then people would know who you were, and figure out what you were doing? Douglas Ferguson 10:57 Boom. That's the big thing, right? That writing helped me process, and then, meeting with my mentors and talking through those things, and then writing about it just helped me funnel the vision further. And so, those are critical points - are critical elements from the very beginning. Patti Dobrowolski 11:12 Well, now, are you a visualizer? Are you a illustrator, too, as well as being a facilitator? Or do you bring in somebody to do the part of drawing the pictures in that way. Douglas Ferguson 11:24 I'm not an illustrator myself. But I will say that I do like to draw and doodle, and I do express myself visually - but I'm not a finessed illustrator. And so, anytime that we're working with a client, or doing a project, where we want to bring that element in - whether that's because we're wanting to have a multi sensory experience, or you know, quite often we're having to create polished graphics for the website, or for, you know, some kind of like deliverable or whatnot, you know - we have folks on staff, and we have contractors that we work with. And you know, I've got this curse, right, that I have an eye for what I know looks good and is polished and is beautiful, but it takes me forever to get there. And so, that's why it's better for me to work with someone else. I know that deficiency on myself, but it's also somewhat of a curse, right? Because some people will happily be like, that looks fine. And I'm like, oh, no, no, no, no, that's not good. Patti Dobrowolski 12:24 I so know this. I mean, I have a studio artist that I'll use, if I feel like, oh, I need something that is just super dialed in for this client - so I'll send it to him, and I'll say, hey can you do this - and then, you know, it's one of those miraculous things when you get that product back, and then it turns into collateral, and you see it on the website, and all of that. You know, trained eyes can see the difference between what I would consider to be my hack - real time drawing, which sometimes is hacking - sometimes if I've really, you know, dialed it in, it's can be spectacular, but it takes a lot of time, right, which is what you're talking about. And sometimes you don't have the time, especially if you're in a meeting, and you've got a lot of things happening now, who do you- you know, like, what's your best ideal client that you've been working with that you love? What are the problems that they're having, and how do you help them? I'm curious. Douglas Ferguson 13:17 Yeah, you know, we work with all sorts of clients, because we're training folks that come to our website and sign up for a course or even certification. And so those students look vastly different, you know - some of them might be work for a nonprofit, so it might be the leader of a Fortune 100, so one might be a freelance facilitator. And so those cohorts are quite diverse, which is kind of fun, because they all learn from each other - and that's part of why the cohort approach is so powerful. But when we're talking about on the private side, where I'm facilitating, or we're doing, like bigger change efforts for clients, you know, I would say the the ones that are- had, were kind of stuck, and really struggling with the change, but they were receptive to change, and they're receptive to support and help. And so, they sought us out and they said, hey, we know we need help, and we're willing to have a guide here. You know, it's like- because oftentimes, people want to just go down the river rapids themselves, oh they think, "Oh, if I just rent their equipment, I'm good to go", but some folks realize, like, hey, it's gonna be helpful to have a guide to navigate these rapids with us. And, you know, it can be all sorts of different things that they're facing, you know, whether it's like we're trying to migrate all of our stuff to the cloud, or maybe our employee onboarding process is broken - or it has been broken forever, but now that we're all remote, it's very, very clear to how broken it is. Patti Dobrowolski 14:50 Yeah, exactly. Douglas Ferguson 14:50 You know, it can be so many different things, but I think the critical thing - just put the cherry on top - that makes it the best clients is when they really, really understand out of the gate that this is a human problem. And this isn't about like, coming in with some logistical, like, change management- Patti Dobrowolski 15:11 Org chart, org chart. Yup. Douglas Ferguson 15:12 Right. Network theory is really important, and that's one of the things we do - is we start to analyze the network. But the org chart is just one of the networks. Patti Dobrowolski 15:20 Yeah, I love that. I think, you know, for years, I would train people in change management. That's what I did, you know, but I always found that - and that's actually how I discovered Draw Your Future, because the meeting was so- They wanted me - the change management company that I worked for - they wanted me to go in with curriculum, and I knew that was never the entry point. So if I could get people to draw right at the beginning and talk about what the experience was like, everything changed right away. And they were open, and then we could figure out, okay, well, what's the solution? And should we try this, this, this - and I tried to give him like a smorgasbord of things, and let them choose. Which is really what I think, in your case, it's all about choice and accountability in the meeting itself, because you can come in with tons of solutions for people - but they're your solutions, and they're not your problems. You're not the one that's living their everyday experience. You might have a ton of people you've worked with like that in the past, but- So how do you handle the clients, or do you ever come across them that just want you to come in and fix it? Douglas Ferguson 16:25 Well, when they want us to come in and fix it, that we had to- We had to take them on that journey to a realization that it is about the people. Patti Dobrowolski 16:32 Yeah. Douglas Ferguson 16:33 -and they have to get on board with the sense of co-authorship, the stuff you talked about, you know, that we are going to be creating narratives about our future, you know, that storytelling is so important. Doing it through graphics, as well as through just oration as well can be powerful. But the point is, like, we had to do that explorative work together, and even look internally around what are the impacts, and how are people feeling, and what are the emotions about all of this? And one big one is understanding the impacts that it can have on identity, because a lot of times change can be very frightening from the sense of like, "I'm not going to be the same person I was". Patti Dobrowolski 17:15 Yeah. Douglas Ferguson 17:15 You know, that's very scary. And a lot of times people don't want to face that fear or don't want to admit it. Patti Dobrowolski 17:20 Yeah, I think this is so critical what you're talking about, because it's the scariest thing about knowing you need to shift personally when you're trying to make a change - is that yes, you will be afraid in that, and if you weren't afraid, I would be worried about you a little bit. You know what I mean? Like, then you'd be cliffdiving all the time - which some people can do it - but, if you can understand that to dive into your own psyche to see "who am I, if I'm not this", or "if I become this", then it's so helpful. Where have you had to do that in yourself? Like, did you have to do anything during COVID? Did it impact you? Did you find, you know- what happened to you in that experience? Douglas Ferguson 18:08 Yes, throughout the pandemic, we've had a few major shifts, and one of them was just the lockdown, and just a lot of the upheaval that happened when so many clients shifted to having to work from home, and just the uncertainty of all that. And from a capability standpoint, we saw this coming pretty early; and for us, the major shift was updating marketing language and just speaking to what we already knew, because at the end of the day, we were running remote workshops, because we couldn't fly into town to do a sales discovery. Patti Dobrowolski 18:48 Meetings, yeah, that's right. Douglas Ferguson 18:49 Right? And so we had programmed that stuff to be remote. And that was, you know- and so we just had to reprogram a few things, we had to like, you know, redo some assets, we had to change copy on our website - those are the main things. And then also, we had to spend time supporting our community who were all suffering, because a lot of the community didn't have experience with diverse distributed teams - they didn't have experience with technology. You know, me being a software developer, we were using neural- well, before the pandemic, we were like- I mean, I've been using Zoom since 2007, early 2007, or late 2006. And that's just how we operated, you know, and so, it wasn't that big of a jump for us, but we had to support the community through that. And so, you know, there was a lot to do. So we're busy, but it wasn't as frightening as some, you know, some people had to really, really reinvent themselves in a major, major way. I would say the thing that was the most, the biggest struggle for us to navigate was when we tragically lost our Head of Operations to domestic violence last fall - and many folks will know about this because we dedicated our conference to her this year, and we've been doing a lot of work with Safe Alliance, which is an amazing organization here in Austin, Texas. And we're about to launch - and by the time this comes out, it may already be launched or might be coming soon after - something called the Safe Pledge, that our work toward creating policies, our own internal HR policies around awareness of domestic violence, how to support discovery and conversations, what to do if we notice certain things that might be concerning, but like, should I do anything? Well, there's training for that sort of stuff. And so, socializing that and having policies around it., and then we're going to take that pledge public and try to get as many companies on board as possible- Patti Dobrowolski 20:43 Adopt it. Douglas Ferguson 20:44 - to raise these practices and adopt it. But yeah, that was- Patti Dobrowolski 20:47 Whoa, that's so intense. And so, you know, unfortunately, it's really common. Douglas Ferguson 20:54 Yes. Patti Dobrowolski 20:54 That's the thing. And sometimes you don't even know how common it is. But when it happens to someone near you, it really hits home - I will do everything I can to promote that. So you just know that - you send me that information, I'll send it to all my top clients and get them on board and get in touch with their HR, see if we can promote that. Because there are things you can do, but you need to know how to have the conversation, and how to- in such a way that the person doesn't feel shamed by it, because the shame will just drive them back. And yeah- Douglas Ferguson 20:56 You know, another thing that I learned from working with Safe so far - and I've got tons more to learn, but - the thing that really just, if we don't know anything else, the one thing we should know is, the time that people are most at risk, is when they're confronting it, just before, or just after they leave. Patti Dobrowolski 21:48 Yes. Douglas Ferguson 21:48 Because it's all about control. And so when they're about to leave, or when they've just left is when their controller is feeling the sense that they've lost control, or they're losing control - and that's when they go off the rails, and that's when really bad stuff can happen. And so, that's something to be very mindful of, and a time to bring in experts and make sure resources are available. Anyway, I think there's lots of ways we can support people that are in situations that, you know, are headed in that direction, or worse. And that's kind of where at this point, you know, having navigated this for a little while, where it's just like, how can we help others avoid similar situations. Patti Dobrowolski 22:27 Well, and so much grief around that - I can feel that, you know, just in you talking about it, and I appreciate so much that you're talking about it with the kind of care that you are, because it's really important. Especially during this time, and especially - we live in Texas, you know, you and I - so it's a bit of a different world, but honestly: if you look anywhere in the world, you'll see pieces of this everywhere, in all forms. And so, to be alert and awake to what people are experiencing, and then give a safe space for people to actually talk about what is happening and support them - I love that. I want to just circle back to what you said about the pivot during the change that you were supporting your community. So I'm assuming, you know, you do these facilitation trainings and certifications - so you send people out on their journey to become their own facilitation of design thinking and synthesis whiz, so that they can apply it to whatever they're doing, whether it's their small business they're building or whether they're internal HR or like this, correct? Douglas Ferguson 23:39 Mm hmm. Yeah. You know, in the community even goes beyond folks that have spent any money with us like, we have a free facilitation lab every Thursday. And in fact, I rarely get to facilitate anymore, the facilitation labs, because there's just so much going on with growing the business and stuff. And I'm actually going to facilitate one tomorrow, which just like will be in distant future by the time this comes out. But I'm super excited about it. And- but yeah, every week, we invite a guest facilitator to facilitate - and just hold that space and create something unique. So it's not a presentation, it's not a webinar - but it's a time to come together as facilitators, and watch a facilitator, model a facilitator and do a thing - experiment with something, have a conversation. So we do that every week, and then we have a Slack channel that we bring everyone together as well - and so there's open discussions around whatever is on people's minds, etc. We also kind of consider social media our community as well, because a lot of the people that follow us on social media - sure, there's clients, ex-clients and things and whatnot - but a lot of the folks that are going to tap in in our content and following us and in active dialogue are facilitators that are just there - kind of on that, on that journey, fellow travelers with us. Patti Dobrowolski 24:58 Yes, yes, like 17,000 of them on LinkedIn are following you. So I checked that out, I was like, yeah, way to go! And, you know, you have a beautiful- So, if anybody wants to just read anything that is been written about you and your company - you know, there's a Forbes 2020 article that came out, it's really great, you give some fantastic tips about how to do things online, most of us know some of them - but there's some things in there that I think you can always revisit and remember about creating an engagement, because an online experience, no matter what it is, should be engaging, right? From the beginning, it should be something where you feel like, "Oh, this is gonna be so cool!" right? And as we get further and further into doing more of hybrid work like this, the online experiences should be even better. That's what I, you know, want and strive for it, like, how can we make it even better that people are calling in, or people are, right there just showing up; that people are doing some theatrical presentation, and that they get a wig in a box that arrives, you know, the day before, and, you know, script that they can use or modify, right, to do some piece of it. Because I think we want to create an environment in which people are just exploding in their brain, in a good way, with new ideas. Douglas Ferguson 26:19 You know, I absolutely love that. And I always encourage people to think about, you know, can we think about how we make stuff tangible, physical, send something to someone? Or how are we designing in fun and play into these experiences? The thing I want to make sure we underscore though, is, that can be a bit frightening for folks. As far as like, if you're a designer of this thing, and you're unfamiliar with this stuff. And it's like, oh, how do I even start? What do I even do? And, I just want to say that if you're looking at it going - Well, that sounds great. But I don't even know where to begin? What do I do? This sounds like way over the top for what I'm capable of - just at least, if you do nothing else, think about the meeting equity. Patti Dobrowolski 27:03 Yeah. Douglas Ferguson 27:03 So think about everyone that's gonna show up. If you're doing a hybrid meeting, how are you making sure that the person that dials in, or the people that dial in, had the same or equal experience as someone else? You know, if someone is blind, do they have an equal experience as someone else? You know, there's an accessibility component to the invite and to the software, but there's also an accessibility component to your design, and the activities you're doing, and how you're asking people to dance. Patti Dobrowolski 27:34 Yes. And I think there's something about understanding the culture too, and really being respectful of that. So, you know, that you enter into play, I was thinking, when I was trained as a therapist, when you would do kid therapy, you knew that you hadn't firmly entered the play accurately, if the child stopped playing when you started to play with them - then you had not entered the field that way. And that is really how you think about it with clients, right? That if they stop playing, and they're frozen in fear or frozen in disbelief or whatever, then no, they're not in - and you're going to, then you have to really push the rock up the hill, Sisyphus, and hope it doesn't fall back down again. Right? So I love that. Now, when you just tell me like, what's just a day for you? What's it look like from start to finish? What do you do in the morning? How do you keep yourself centered and balanced? You know, you have a lot of people that you work with. So how do you stay in tune? Tell me, tell me those things. Douglas Ferguson 28:36 Yeah, you know, some days are different - you know, like different days have some different things scheduled on them. But everyday starts off with exercise. I kind of chuckled - I laughed as I started to say it just because I know some people like, aren't really into fad diets and things - but I've found that intermittent fasting really works well for me, so I don't eat breakfast. I exercise very hard in the mornings, either with Pilates or boxing. I'm into hitting hidden heavy bags. So sweat, and in the morning, and then I use- Patti Dobrowolski 29:07 Sweat and starvation, sweat and starvation. That's right. (laughs) Douglas Ferguson 29:12 And then you know, usually I'm starting off with some sort - I usually have some sort of something starting off the day meeting-wise - either, you know, diving in with my team or a workshop or what have you, and spend a lot of time in MURAL. I spend a lot of time in HubSpot if I'm doing sales-related stuff. So it's either kind of thinking about the operations or thinking about executing with the client. Patti Dobrowolski 29:36 And then when does your day stop, how do you end the day? Douglas Ferguson 29:40 You know, I typically work fairly late. I do take frequent breaks and my schedule's fairly fluid. I will kind of schedule around my needs or kind of take some serendipity along the way. But, generally, my evenings are filled with - you know, generally I'll break away and start like, just reading on Reddit or kind of spending a little time on TikTok - you know, my Netflix time got replaced with TikTok time - which like, I've managed to curate some really amazing creators that I think are pretty phenomenal, and they entertain me pretty well. So- Patti Dobrowolski 30:20 Oh, you should put those in your shownotes so we can- because I don't think people know how to curate on TikTok, I don't think they understand that there are some amazing people that you can follow. And to make sure that you are getting, I don't know - because it is so much fun to see what's happening now. And to watch Makers, I that's my favorite thing is to watch Makers in that space - see what they're up to, what are they creating - and then get to see the progression of something that they're building. To me it's exciting, people in a room full of people where it's chaotic, and then it becomes very expansive - you know, these things are fantastic. I'm about to go to Make48 in Wichita, so - I can't wait to go and be in that whole Maker experience. Douglas Ferguson 31:07 That's cool. I'm glad they're still doing those. Patti Dobrowolski 31:09 Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that guy. He's amazing. God, I just felt like when I met him - you know, he's from New Zealand, and he's got a big sheep farm, and outside of Kansas City, and oh, like anybody from New Zealand, I'm in - you know, it's just like the most beautiful country in the world. So,anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for coming and spend time with us. Now tell us, you know, if you have any tips to give people that are listening, who are thinking they want to pivot or make change, are there anything that you would tell them to think about or do to help them? Douglas Ferguson 31:44 Yeah, I think the main thing is just to get started, you know. Like, get started, start small, just start learning - start asking questions, get curious, be creative, challenge your assumptions - you know, I assume that you've got some stuff wrong. That's about the only assumption that's valuable, right? Is that something about your worldview? Or that how you think things are gonna unfold is incorrect, and just assume that it's wrong, you know, share your thoughts. And one of the things I see when I'm mentoring startups - one of the number one things I see really common across startups that fail - are the ones that are like, really protective of their idea, and aren't willing to share the idea, or should be vulnerable about their concerns of their pains and their struggles. If you're not being transparent about those things, you're not - no one's gonna be able to help you. And unless you're just super lucky, and somehow you just like, got it all figured out - which like, I don't know, if I've ever met anyone like that - Patti Dobrowolski 32:50 No, me neither. Douglas Ferguson 32:51 Um, so, just share it out, no one's gonna steal your idea, because there's too many ideas in the world. And then just, you know, just talk to a lot of people and just try things. Patti Dobrowolski 33:02 Yeah, and ask for help. I think that's key, what you said to- Oh, my gosh, I just have enjoyed - the time just flew by with yours, like, this is crazy. So I can't wait to till we are in a face to face experience together at some point, or I'd love to have you back on the show to talk about what else is happening. So tell us a little bit about what you have on an ongoing basis, how people can connect with you. Douglas Ferguson 33:27 You know, one thing that I was gonna share at some point - but then we're just having fun with the conversation. I didn't even think to bring it up, but - was that, you know, we created this Work Now Report, it's - you know, our vision was it would be an annual report, but as we got into it, I think we might make it biannual. So we might do a Summer and a Winter, but we just launched the Winter one back in February, so Work Now 2022. And, one of the things I think's was really fascinating, is out of all the leaders that we surveyed in this research, over 75% of these leaders reported that facilitation played a major role in conducting change within their organization. So, you know, I had a hunch that it's becoming more common in the perception of, you know, valuable skills and roles within organizations - but to be over 75% was pretty shocking. So that's for all your facilitators out there is - we're on the right path, and it's been getting more and more popular. Patti Dobrowolski 34:34 That's job security. That's job security right there, I love that. Douglas Ferguson 34:38 That's right. That's right. Patti Dobrowolski 34:38 That's fantastic. So that's coming out- Douglas Ferguson 34:40 -the Work Now Report, the first one came out in February - we're gonna be releasing more of them, so check that one out, and stay tuned for more. And then we have our weekly facilitation lab. We also have, you know, regular courses and workshops that are available, and we do an annual conference for facilitators every February, so we're going to do that again here in Austin, in February of 2023. Patti Dobrowolski 35:03 Oh, that's fantastic. I can't wait for that. I love that. And I just can't wait to see what you're up to next. I'll follow in your footsteps and get my Non Obvious Guide to Draw Your Future finished, so I get it out there to people - I love that yours is out there, and I would highly encourage people to connect with him at hello@voltagecontrol.com - it's a great way to just post a question or how can you get involved because this is a community you want to be a part of in some way, and just keep up with what they're doing because it's really exciting. I'm just so happy to have met you and connected finally, and thank you so much for your time today. It was really amazing. Douglas Ferguson 35:46 Hey, thank you for having me, and Patti, I really look forward to when we do get together in person. Patti Dobrowolski 35:51 Me too. All right, see you soon. And now, everybody, you know the drill - if you like it, please repost this to all of the friends that you have - and colleagues - so they can learn more about Voltage Control, and until next time, Up Your Creative Genius - we mean it, don't we? Patti Dobrowolski 36:11 Thanks so much for listening today. Be sure to DM me on Instagram your feedback or takeaways from today's episode on Up Your Creative Genius. Then, join me next week for more rocket fuel. Remember, you are the superstar of your universe and the world needs what you have to bring - so get busy, get out and Up Your Creative Genius! And no matter where you are in the universe, here's some big love from yours truly, Patti Dobrowolski, and the Up Your Creative Genius Podcast. That's a wrap!

Former Mayor of Kansas City Sly James sits down with us to discuss political leadership, local government, and how to restore faith in American politics. -Important References- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08F3LF29V/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 (The Opportunity Agenda) -Usual Links- https://www.spectacles.news/insight-normalcy-an-inadequate-solution-in-a-changing-world/#/portal/ (Subscribe to our newsletter!) https://www.spectacles.news/mayor-sly-james-focus-interviews/ (Read or comment on this article!) https://www.spectacles.news/young-writers-initiative/ (Write with us!) https://spectacles-birds-eye.captivate.fm/listen (Listen to Spectacles In Conversation!) https://twitter.com/SpectaclesMedia (Follow our Twitter!) // https://www.tiktok.com/@spectacles.news (Follow our TikTok!)

A native of Raleigh, North Carolina, Joni Wickham and her indisputable southern accent arrived in Kansas City almost 10 years ago after leading initiatives within state and federal government as well as advocacy organizations. In her eight years with the mayor's office—the majority of them spent as Chief of Staff—Joni has proven herself as an accomplished political strategist, communications expert, and organizational leader. She directed public policy initiatives, communications tactics, and administrative decision-making during her tenure, all while promoting women's leadership and empowerment issues. An artful negotiator, Joni helped steer Sly's major development projects in Kansas City while raising the city's profile at the national and international levels. Her front-row seat at city hall shed light on how local government is still very much a man's world, and this motivated her to create a first-of-its-kind women's empowerment initiative, which has been implemented in several major cities. Prior to her time at city hall, Joni worked with the American Federation of Teachers, the Missouri Department of Transportation, and in the office of Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan. While a student at Meredith College, where Joni received her Bachelor of Arts in political studies, she studied abroad in St. Petersburg, Russia. An accomplished alumnus of University of Missouri where she earned her Masters of Arts in political science, Joni was the recipient of the 2019 University of Missouri Truman School of Public Affairs Mel Carnahan Public Service Award. Joni is the author of the best-selling book titled, “The Thin Line Between Cupcake and Bitch: Taking Action, Driving Change and Getting Results.” Timestamp 2:12 How Joni started her life and her journey into education 7:26 Writing a speech, feeling like an imposter and receiving life changing advice 10:36 Working with Secretary Carnahan and mayor elect Sly James 12:16 Leadership styles and becoming Chief of Staff 14:28 Importance of emotional intelligence 17:38 Using his power and voice to let other know it was unacceptable behavior 20:31 Wickham James Strategies and Solutions 22:57 What inspires Joni 23:51 Joni's StrengthsFinder qualities 27:36 Being results oriented 39:15 Joni's fun and personal future Social Media Facebook https://www.facebook.com/wickhamjameskc/ Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/joniwickham/ Website https://wickhamjames.com/ Books - The Thin Line Between Cupcake and Bitch https://wickhamjames.com/what-we-do/books/ Follow Patti Dobrowolski - Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/upyourcreativegenius/ Follow Patti Dobrowolski - Linkedinhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/patti-dobrowolski-532368/ Up Your Creative Geniushttps://www.upyourcreativegenius.com/  Patti Dobrowolski 00:03 Hello superstars, welcome to the Up Your Creative Genius podcast, where you will gain insight and tips to stomp on the accelerator and blast off to transform your business and your life. I'm your host, Patti Dobrowolski. And if this is your first time tuning in, then strap in because this is serious rocket fuel. Each week, I interview fellow creative geniuses to help you learn how easy it is to Up Your Creative Genius in any part of your life. Patti Dobrowolski 00:39 I am so excited today because I have Joni Wickham here. She is originally a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, where she spent 10 years leading state and federal government initiatives. And then she moved to Kansas City where she spent eight years in the Kansas City Mayor's office with Sly James, who is amazing. She's a political strategist and organisational leader, a communications expert, and she's been a recipient of the 2019 University of Missouri Truman School of Public Affairs, Mel Carnahan, Public Service Award, that is incredible, but not just that one more thing. She's a best selling author of the book, The Thin Line Between Cupcake And Bitch. And let me just say this book is killer. You have to get it right away. Joni, welcome. I'm so happy you're here. Joni Wickham 01:33 Hey, Patty, I'm so happy to be with you today. Thanks a bunch for having me. Can't wait for the conversation. Patti Dobrowolski 01:38 Oh, me too. And so for those of you that are listening, you know, she's getting over strep throat, she didn't have COVID. So if she starts coughing, then just know that I'll do filler in there. But thank you for being here, especially on the tail end of that. So I hope we make it through. I know that we will. So first, okay, number one, you got to tell me your story. Tell the listeners who you are and how you got to Kansas City and into Sly James office doing that work with him, which I'm sure is a story unto itself. So tell us where you came from. Joni Wickham 02:12 Okay, happy to do that. So you may detect a little bit of southern accent. Yeah, yes, I am originally from North Carolina. And I grew up in rural eastern North Carolina, in the middle of a tobacco field as they do. Yes, yes. My mother found out that I was coming along when she was only 14 years old. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, for sure. And her parents who helped raise me, never learned to read and write? To this day, still struggled with literacy. And so when she brought me home to the hospital, she brought me home to this tiny trailer in the middle of a tobacco field. And that's where I lived with her little brother, and my grandparents. And I always open up kind of my journey by going way back there. I'm all the way back there. Patti Dobrowolski 03:03 I'm older than you are. So don't even start. Joni Wickham 03:07 But I go way back there. Because that origin story, if you will, really informed my professional life and all the reasons why I wrote the book. So grew up very poor, and was very much raised by my grandparents. Not because my mother was an absent mother. But because she made the decision not to drop out of high school when she became pregnant with me at 14 in high school. Yep, he worked two jobs, in addition to going to high school to make sure that I had access to things that she and honestly, a lot of people around us never had access to, including high quality pre K, which we'll get to in a minute. And so my grandparents had a lot to do with my formative years. Patti Dobrowolski 03:50 Raising you. Joni Wickham 03:51 Yeah, raising me. Yeah. And I include my biological father's parents in that too. I have never had much of a relationship with him. He's been in and out of my life quite a bit. But his parents were very front and centre in my life as well. And so you got this baby, being raised by grandparents. Yeah. And it really informed the way that I looked at the world. Neither of my grandparents, neither my mom's parents or my dad's parents had high literacy skills. And so I often found myself reading the newspaper to them or reading whatever. I mean, sometimes literally, the menu at a restaurant or something. Yeah. And definitely helped them navigate through life. For instance, I remember having to fill out a lot of paperwork when they went to the doctor's office because they couldn't do it. I remember helping them look through the paperwork when my grandparents finally had saved enough money for a down payment for the trailer that they still live in. And so having that relationship with them, and having that experience of helping these older grandparents navigate life as folks who were functionally illiterate, but very hardworking. My grandparents worked every day. My maternal grandma got up at four o'clock in the morning and went work the breakfast shift at Hardee's for like 35 years. So we're not talking about late oh, no, no. And I credit my work ethic a lot to them. Patti Dobrowolski 05:15 Yeah, I bet I bet me too. I do. I came from my grandmother was an immigrant from Poland, and so worked as a seamstress. So, you know, my father, he was really hard working. And that was instilled in all of us. And so I think that really, it is part of the DNA when you come from that background, no matter how educated they are, right? Yeah, Joni Wickham 05:36 There's no doubt. I mean, you don't have to have a PhD to have strong work ethic. Yeah. And so anyway, to make a long story a little bit shorter, at least, I was able to have access to a lot of things like a high quality education that the majority of my family never did, I was able to go to a teeny tiny all Women's College in Raleigh, North Carolina called Meredith College. Fantastic. Where Yeah, where I was largely for the first time surrounded by women who had professional aspirations. And I was surrounded by a network of strong women who wanted to do something with their life. The environment was perfect for me, because the professors and staff really wrap their arms around the women there to help make sure they had all the support that they needed to figure out how to lead the world. And so I was able to get an internship within US Senator John Edwards. Oh, wow. Very cool. Wow. Quite the fellow I learned a lot during those years, a lot. Patti Dobrowolski 06:37 I bet. Joni Wickham 06:37 And one of the most profound experiences when I was working in that office, was in the very early days, I was asked to write a speech, we were very, very busy, the staff didn't have time to write the speech on tobacco regulation, which was a big deal for where I came from. So they asked me to write this speech. And I really kind of leaned on my personal experience and my grandpa's experience as a tobacco farmer when I was writing it. And I submitted it, and I had so many feelings of imposter syndrome. One of the things I write a lot about the book and submitted it thinking, Oh, my gosh, this is going to be I'm gonna bomb this. Within a couple of hours, the senators chief of staff came out and said, hey, the senator wants to talk to you, you got a second I thought, Oh, no. Joni Wickham 07:23 I'm getting fired! Oh, yeah. Patti Dobrowolski 07:25 Oh, my gosh. Joni Wickham 07:26 So I go into his office, and he sits me down on the couch. And he looked at me and he goes, you and I don't know each other very well. But I need to give you a piece of advice. And I thought, okay, here we go. Get fired. Yeah. He said, this speech that you wrote is one of the best speeches that anyone in this office has ever produced for me. And he did it under a lot of stress with not a lot of time. And he said, I could tell that you didn't expect your product to be that good. The people around you didn't expect your product to be that good. And so I just want you to know that you're probably going to be underestimated a lot throughout your life, his words, because you are a petite, cute, female with a southern accent. And so you can either use that to your advantage, or you can, frankly, be bitter and pissed at the world. It's your choice. Figure out how you want to deal with this. Wow. And while that was a really uncomfortable conversation, I'm not kidding. It was life changing. Because throughout my career, those words have been so true. So true. I have underestimated my own abilities, which leads other people I think it gives them agency to underestimate. Patti Dobrowolski 08:35 Of course, of course it does, right. Yeah, you project that and then it shows up, right, for sure. Joni Wickham 08:41 And so fast forward a few years, I have gotten a master's degree at University of Missouri, Columbia and started working at the state capitol in Jefferson City for then Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, and really had a lot of sometimes frightening, but really impactful experiences with a lot of men in Missouri State Government. And I learned a lot watching Secretary Carnahan about what it means to be a strong woman who's committed to their leadership style and to getting things done. And I write a lot about those. Patti Dobrowolski 09:13 Yeah, you do. You talk a lot about leadership and how important it is for you to identify what your leadership style is. And why do you think that's so important to know your leadership style, you talk about it in the book, but I want you to say a little bit about it here, because it really informed who you've become. Joni Wickham 09:31 Right? Well, when we are really clear on our own leadership style, it helps us lead other people because you have to figure out how your leadership style impacts the outputs of others, how it either helps or hinders their own personal growth. Because organisations don't achieve things based on one people or one person. Organisations achieve things based on teamwork. And so you really have to know how you can best lead everybody in the team. And oftentimes that starts with understanding your leadership attributes. And frankly, sometimes your leadership deficits because we all have, right? We're all people. Patti Dobrowolski 10:09 Yeah, I can't imagine being in that environment because it can be scary. And you know, I know for myself in working at the C level, sometimes I'll be in situations while I think, ooh, this is not going well here. So what can I do to step up and make sure that I'm in integrity with what I believe in this room, and then help the conversation go further. So you work there. And then how did you come in contact with Mayor Sly James. Joni Wickham 10:36 So networking is everything in politics, it's everything in a lot of sectors, but it's particularly everything in politics. And so some of the folks who are working on Secretary Carnahan campaign were also connected with then mayor elect Sly James campaign. And so I got a phone call. And the individual asked me if I'd be interested in going to Kansas City, to interview with this guy named Sly James, who had just won the election for mayor. And my first question was, who is Sly James? I had never, I had no connection to him. I basically observed the, election only because I worked in state government. And so a lot of the State Representative state senators were talking about it. So I had only vaguely observe the election. So I had to do a little bit of research to figure out who this guy was and what he was now. Yeah. And I was blown away, you've met him. So you'll appreciate this. I was blown away at his leadership style, and his very bold visions for the city, and for his kind of no nonsense approach to getting things done. So here I was, I had worked in federal government and state government, both of which are often bogged down with partisan BS. Yeah, Patti Dobrowolski 11:47 I was gonna say, just as round around and round the mulberry bush, really in a way. You know, you just sometimes never get anywhere with that. Yeah, yeah. And Sly James is not that way at all. You know, let's get in there and get it done. Joni Wickham 12:01 Right. Yeah, yeah, I told him more than once. Like, if there's a brick wall in front of him getting something that he thinks is going to benefit the city, he will run through it multiple times. He is like all getting things done, which is in great alignment with my view. Patti Dobrowolski 12:16 Now. Yeah, I was gonna say, that's how you are to there's just no BS about you, you're gonna get something done. And that's what has, I think, created your reputation in Kansas City, which is really high. It's amazing. People really have a lot of great things to say about you. Joni Wickham 12:32 Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Yeah, so we really hit it off in our first meeting. And it ended up being the start of a very long partnership. I worked in his communications shop for a couple years before he appointed me as second Chief of Staff, and I was Chief of Staff for almost six years, which is way too long to have. Patti Dobrowolski 12:55 I'm sure I'm sure. When you think about that. And you think about there's a place that you start to write about this idea of banishing self doubt and overcoming fear. You know, how did you step into that role of Chief of Staff? You hadn't done that before? You'd been writing before? But what did that entail that you had to learn? Joni Wickham 13:14 Yeah, great question. I had not served in the role as Chief of Staff before, I had served under several different chiefs of staff in the different political organisations that I had worked for. And so I had observed different leadership styles and different ways to get the job done. Several different things I had to quickly learn, one of which was managing people who I previously had had a lateral relationship with people who were my colleagues, my friends, yeah, dynamic shift. When you become someone's boss, no matter how good friends you think you are. And I also was fairly young at the time and found myself having to manage folks who are older than me. Often men having to manage issues and projects with men who were older than me in they had to take direction from me, which was new for them. Patti Dobrowolski 14:06 Yeah, that's our dynamic right there. Joni Wickham 14:08 Yeah, right. Right. Right. Right. Yeah. Patti Dobrowolski 14:11 Yeah. So that was part of it. So you have to be pretty strong in yourself in order to do that, but what we're talking about really is understanding how to win other people over so that you can get your agenda through right. So you must have a high woo strength. Joni Wickham 14:28 I hope so. Yeah, it what you're talking about is emotional intelligence. Something that I wrote about in the book, and emotional intelligence is when you can manage your own emotions and the emotions of others to inform thinking and action. It's really important for strong leaders. Yeah. Patti Dobrowolski 14:45 And so when you took that role on you didn't expect to be there for six years, but what did you find to be the most challenging? So one of it is that you know, you've got these people that need to take direction from you, but what else did you find in dealing with the community and trying to move policy through what kinds of things were difficult. Joni Wickham 15:05 It is always difficult, I think, to be strategic. When everyone wants a piece of your time, everyone thinks their priority should be your priority. And when you have daily, I mean daily, multiple crises coming at you. And so I had to learn and had to help the folks around me make sure that we always kept our eye on the prize, that was something that we always said, to make sure that even though we were dealing with 30, hot potatoes at once, the mayor had a very specific agenda. And we needed to figure out how to get that agenda implemented, while dealing with all the noise around us. The other thing that I had to learn to navigate, frankly, was gender bias. There aren't a lot of female Chiefs of Staff for big city mayors across the country. And I happen to become Chief of Staff shortly after giving birth to my daughter. And I'll never forget, I was making calls to different stakeholder groups to let them know that I was going to be taking over as Chief of Staff and I was coming back from maternity leave. And one of the reporters that I worked with very often said to me, Well, how are you going to do your job as a young mom? And I thought, well, that is an interesting, wow. You know, it's not like my brain dies when I don't get a function, you know. And so that was something that I had to learn how to navigate, in a way with emotional intelligence. Because it's so hard to just as the senator said, be bitt er and mad at the world when we face Patti Dobrowolski 16:32 Yeah, bitter or better, right? You want to be bitter or better? Joni Wickham 16:36 Yeah, but that doesn't sit well with my personality. I don't like negativity, it takes a lot of energy out of me. And so I just decided not to deal with it in that way, and to use my role to try and effectively advocate for women in other leadership positions, and to show other women that it's possible. I also was very lucky to have a very strong ally, mentor and supporter in the mayor, who used his power and his voice, every opportunity, he had to make sure people knew that I deserved the role that I had. And that opinion matters. Patti Dobrowolski 17:14 Yeah. And you write about this story of you going into a meeting, and that there wasn't a chair for you say a little bit about that. What happened in that experience, because this is a typical experience that we hear about. I was just in a meeting last week with Dina Perot and she was describing a very similar thing when she came into working with the City Council in Oregon. So tell the story about what happened. Joni Wickham 17:38 Sure. So I waddled literally waddled about eight months pregnant into this economic development symposium that I had coordinated for the mayor, I have been working on this is extensive coordination. Patti Dobrowolski 17:50 This isn't just like, you know, week's worth of work. You've been working on this for a long time. Everybody knew who you were right? Joni Wickham 17:57 Oh, absolutely. Yeah, I had spent probably a couple months working on this symposium, making sure all the stakeholders were briefed on what the mayor wanted to get out of the symposium, making sure the mayor knew who the stakeholders were that were going to take part in this discussion, what their perspectives were, so he could properly navigate those dynamics. I had to work with the media, like I was pulling this thing together for like, two months, definitely. And so I walk into this symposium with the mayor. And there were probably if I remember correctly, 15 to 20, older white gentleman there who were participating in this, and not a single one of them thought to save me a seat at the table, literally, at this big conference table where the symposium magic was gonna happen. Exactly. And I just remember thinking, lots of words that I won't say on your podcast. But, but it was very clear that none of them had ever considered that I actually belonged at the table in that conversation. But the mayor did. And he noticed this very quickly when we walked into the room, and I write my book that he was known for making a strategic spectacle when he needed to in order to . Patti Dobrowolski 19:09 That's right, make a point. Joni Wickham 19:11 And he did, and he did and none of those older white gentleman who were part of that debacle treated me that way ever again. Yeah. And it's because the mayor was willing to use his power and his voice to let them know that was unacceptable behaviour, and that they were going to respect me. Patti Dobrowolski 19:31 Yeah, and I love this because you talk about the difference. In your book, you talk about a sponsor, right versus a mentor and sly being a sponsor and Gabriela Schuster talked about in an earlier podcast, she talked about being an ally, you know that men in the environment need to be an ally and they need to demonstrate in such a way that it's memorable so that everyone else in the room like it, they wake up, boom, it's like the water challenge, right? water bucket challenge. So that wakes them up. so that they know, you know what the next step is now for you. So this is what you did. And you did this with Sly, but then you went out on your own now and you wrote a book and and so I want to know what what's happening now what are you doing now? And what excites you now? Joni Wickham 20:16 Yeah, thanks for asking. So about a year before Mayor James was term limited, he was term limited in August 2019. So we got to miss all the crazy pandemic. Patti Dobrowolski 20:25 Thankfully, that would have been you managing all those details. You know, it's true. Oh, yeah. Joni Wickham 20:31 So about a year after he was term limited, we started thinking how we might be able to continue working together outside the mayor's office, as we've talked about, our values are very much aligned. Our personalities are very compatible. We kind of see the world, not in an identical way, because we were very different people, but in a very compatible way. And our skill sets our expertise are also very compatible. And we felt like as a team, we had already accomplished so much in the mayor's office, but that there may be something else that we can accomplish together. So we launched our consulting firm, Wickham James Strategies and Solutions. I'm the Wickham. Patti Dobrowolski 21:14 Real quick, meaning your you're gonna get everything going right at the start. Joni Wickham 21:18 It really kind of throws some people for a loop that my name is first because he has always been so front and centre for all of our efforts for so long. That was his idea, by the way, not mine. Yeah, credit where credit's due. Exactly. Yeah. And so we've launched our firm that does government relations, strategic communications, public policy, consulting, a little bit of political consulting. And then Sly is also a very accomplished mediator. So he gets called by clients to help mediate tricky circumstances. And we have some books out. Patti Dobrowolski 21:48 His book came out to right at the same. Yeah, because I have a copy of that as well. So yeah, Joni Wickham 21:53 Yeah, The Opportunity Agenda is one of his books that he wrote with our friend, Winston Fisher. And then the passion for purpose is also another one of his books. And so those books give us a platform for public speaking engagements as well. And so we've really found that we have been able to use our skill sets and collaborate on mission driven work. We love working with clients who have missions that are near and dear to our heart, and who have problems that we can help solve. Patti Dobrowolski 22:21 Yeah, so what would be one of those missions that's dear to your heart. Joni Wickham 22:26 So we do a lot of work in women's leadership, racial equity work, we have several clients in the climate change and sustainability space. We also do a lot of work in economic development, those sorts of issues. Patti Dobrowolski 22:39 Yeah. And so of those things, what are you excited about, like, what gets you up and you think, Oh, this is going to be amazing. I'm going to learn a bunch of things. This is, you know, going to launch whatever X, Y and Z in the community or beyond. So what do you see as something that's really inspiring you? Joni Wickham 22:57 That's a great question. I am really inspired by clients who want to take an innovative view at how to either do things differently or solve their problems. I love working with people who aren't afraid to try different approaches, and who are brave, and have you ever heard the expression that it's best to fail fast. Patti Dobrowolski 23:21 Of course. Joni Wickham 23:23 I love that. I love that mindset. And so that's kind of a glimpse into projects and client work that really excites me. Patti Dobrowolski 23:30 Yeah. And I think well, and it's a good place for you to be because your whole way of thinking is really innovative. In my opinion, you're looking at what's coming next. So you're strategically thinking about it. So what's your strengths finder profile? What are your buckingham you talk about the strengths finder in the book, so I want to know what are your top strengths? Joni Wickham 23:51 Yeah, I love Strengths Finder. Learner is one of mine. Okay, so she's been researching. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And pulling facts and figures together. Of course. Patti Dobrowolski 24:01 Perfect for a strategist, I might say yes. And people behind the scenes, you're gonna want to know everything about them. Joni Wickham 24:09 Yeah, that's, yep. So learner and then responsibility. Patti Dobrowolski 24:13 Okay, good. That means you got great follow through and you're gonna have a checklist. Joni Wickham 24:17 Yes. Achiever. Patti Dobrowolski 24:19 Achiever. Oh, my God. That's a double checklist, right? Their responsibility means you're always going to follow through achiever. Like if you're married to an achiever, you know what achiever the best thing you can ask them is, what did you do today? Then they feel like yes, I did this and this and this. Fantastic. Joni Wickham 24:39 Yeah, I gotta tell you, my husband probably hates the fact that those are my top two. achiever responsibility. He probably hates it. Learner, achiever, responsibility, communication. Patti Dobrowolski 24:51 Yes. Joni Wickham 24:52 Yep, and individualization. Patti Dobrowolski 24:54 Okay, that's fantastic. So if you don't know what individualization that's where you actually look And what's great about that is that in the realm of where you were, you could make everybody feel like that their issues were the most important. That's incredible. What a beautiful combination for you in the roles that you played so far. So I can imagine that your clients feel that way about working with you, that you really get them and you're trying to meet their specific needs with whatever the bigger picture is. Joni Wickham 25:29 Yeah, I certainly hope so. I think it's really important, whether you're doing client work, or whether you're pushing a public policy agenda, whether you're trying to talk to voters or customers, it's important to meet people where they are, which is sometimes easier said than done. So I try to keep that in the back of my mind through emotional intelligence when I'm interacting with folks for sure. Patti Dobrowolski 25:50 And where do you think that you're growing right now? Where is the spot? You know, yeah, I always consider everybody's like a piece of coal. They go out in the world, and then people rub on them to get them to the diamond to shine through. So, when you think about yourself, right, I'm sure that there are places where you were rubbed through and you shine beautifully. But where are the spots where you feel like, oh, this is a spot in me that I can grow more here that you're interested in changing and growing. Joni Wickham 26:20 Patience. I have no patience, but I am working on it. I am trying, I have no patience, which is very interesting. Back to my husband, he's one of the most patient human beings on earth. And so I'm very grateful that he is the Yin to my Yang, in that respect. And I can learn from him on how to have greater patience for people. Patti Dobrowolski 26:45 Yeah, I think patience is really, it's hard to come by when we live in a world where everything is instantaneous. That's what's true. But if you grew up that way, I don't know about you. But when I grew up, I was impatient to be older. That was one thing because I knew that once I was older, I would have more control of the environment. And then I was impatient that when I was an actor that I would get on stage, you know, in a big way. And even now, I feel myself being impatient, sometimes with people's opinions. And the fact that we're going backwards in time around some policy instead of forwards where we should go, especially for women, and gender equality. It's unbelievable. I live in Texas, so let's be clear of where I am. Right. So you know, some of the policy here is like, wow, okay, here we are one more time around. Yeah. Joni Wickham 27:36 No doubt. Yeah, Texas and Missouri, where I am. Yeah, they're kind of fighting each other for backwards policies, that's for sure. But back to your point about patience, it's particularly important, I think, for I think you're this way to Patti, I would consider us results oriented individuals. So typically I write about this in my book, typically, organisations are made up of results oriented individuals or process oriented individuals, one is not better than the other, and both are needed. But what I have found is because I am so results oriented and impatient, that can be a dangerous combo. So I'm working on that. Patti Dobrowolski 28:12 Yeah, I think, you know, sitting in meetings where people and this is the thing I've been learning, you know, listen more, talk less. That's where I say to myself, listen more, be curious about that person, and why they're talking about that, because they're telling you something about them. And the fact that the rest of the room has the capacity to listen, I can't move them too soon, I need to move them soon enough so that we don't lose the attention of everyone in the room. But I want to make sure that I really get the point. And so I've been looking at and I don't know if this is true for you. But I have some preconceived ideas going into a room sometimes about the people there. And if I take time to kind of calm myself down before I go in the room, I'm a better listener there. And then I put a card in front of me, which I learned from some CEO somewhere. It said they could be right. It says in front of me and I put it on the table in front of me so I can see that. And I go yep, they could be right. Joni Wickham 29:12 Yeah, I need to do that, too. That's a great point. Patti Dobrowolski 29:15 Yeah, I love that now. Okay. So when you envision the future now, I'm all about future casting, right? I draw pictures to the future for people. So because I want them to get the picture in their mind and then act on it and draw a literal picture. Because when you draw one, right, that increases your chance of success by 42%. So I want to know, when you future cast your future, what do you see, like five years from now, you know, what would be the ideal state for you? And I'll write a few things down if you want, but we're recording it so then you can go back and listen to it five years from now. Joni Wickham 29:52 Well, that would be a fun exercise. So if I look five years into the future, what I hope to see is control over my life and my schedule and how I spend my time. Patti Dobrowolski 30:03 Okay, so you can have, you know, complete control over your schedule. Joni Wickham 30:06 Yeah. When you're the mayor's Chief of Staff, your schedule is not your own. And often you're not the one dictating your life. So for the past two years, I have really appreciated having greater control over my life. Patti Dobrowolski 30:16 Yes. So you're still working with Sly. So I'm just there's still some, you know, he likes to get things done. So yeah. Patti Dobrowolski 30:26 Okay. Good. All right, so that you'll have complete control over your schedule and the type of work you're doing. Okay, good. Yeah. And what else? For fun, I like to throw some mysterious things out. And I do this every day, I'll throw out some things like, surprise me, or like, if you could organically see something happened that was like, that would be the most amazing thing. Is there anyone you'd like to meet? Or have a conversation with? I mean, you put Michelle Obama in the front of your book. Yeah. So you know, is that part of your agenda? Joni Wickham 30:26 For sure, for sure. So that would certainly be one thing. The other is to continue to grow our consulting firm in a manner where we have the ability to say no to projects that aren't in alignment with our worldview. Yeah. With your values. Yeah. Yeah. And to projects that are going to relinquish that control over my schedule. Joni Wickham 31:21 That is a great question, huh? Okay, I'm gonna go fun in personal. Patti Dobrowolski 31:26 Okay, I love it. I'm ready. Joni Wickham 31:27 Hey, we are currently building a pool in my backyard. And my theory behind building this pool I have an eight year old daughter is that when she is older, our house is going to be the place that all of her friends want to come to, so I can keep my eyeballs on them. But also, I have amazing step children who are a huge part of my life in my orbit, and I want to be able to like have them and their kids, my grandkids, I want my house and my backyard to be full of those people. Patti Dobrowolski 31:58 Alright, so we're gonna see that just filled with life, all kinds of experiences and life and adventure for you. Because that's what kids bring and grandkids bring. They bring adventure and change. That's fantastic. I love it. All right. So I'm just throwing that out there. And I would encourage you to draw a picture of that. I'm just saying, This is really good and helpful. Joni. So next time I see you in Kansas City, which I have never met you face to face, I can be really fun. It'll be really fun. And there, we're gonna draw a little picture. So we have that for you to put out. And, you know, so for anybody that's listening, like you've had this amazing career, really, and you know, you've had a huge amount of experiences, you've made a huge impact in the communities you've worked in. And with the people that you've served, I would just say that right off the bat. But what would you say, you know, for people that are listening, like how can they begin to step into this without fear? So they banish their self doubt and their fear to step in? What tips would you give them? Joni Wickham 33:02 I think it's important when we're thinking through all of that, to get really clear on your values, what is important to you? What are the things that make you tick, then you can get clear on the very first thing, we talked about your leadership style, what is your leadership style, what are ways that you can tweak it to make it more effective? And then the last part of that, I think, is to really think through the proper ways, according to your values, your expertise, in a way that feels authentic? Where are those entry points where you can become a leader in your community? You know, a lot of people initially think when you think about leadership, I think running for office, I will never well, I won't say that. Patti Dobrowolski 33:46 I was gonna say take that back. Yeah, right away. Right away. Time. Joni Wickham 33:51 Yeah. I think elected office is an absolute great step for a lot of people, but it's not for everybody. And it's also not the only outlet for leadership. Patti Dobrowolski 33:59 Yeah, it's not the only way to serve your community. Exactly. Yeah. And so find a way to serve right, understand your values, get your leadership style, and then find a place to serve. And to make your mark and impact which you certainly have done and continue to do in the community. I can't wait to see what happens for your next I love that you did this podcast without knowing me much about me and that you took the risk to be here because you're incredible. And everybody you should pick up a copy of her book, The Thin Line Between Cupcake And Bitch, taking action driving change and getting results because you are totally results driven. Thank you for taking the time today to speak with us. Joni Wickham 34:40 Well, Patti, I have admired you from afar for a while and it's just a real treasure to be able to spend this time with you. Thanks for having me. Patti Dobrowolski 34:47 It's been awesome. Okay, everybody, you know the drill. If you like this, be sure to share it with your friends. Get everybody to listen to the Up Your Creative Genius podcast and follow Joni Wickham, all of her social media stuff will be in the show notes. And I can't wait to see what you're up to next. Joni. Thanks again, and we'll see you all soon. Patti Dobrowolski 35:10 Thanks so much for listening today. Be sure to DM me on Instagram your feedback or takeaways from today's episode on Up Your Creative Genius. Then join me next week for more rocket fuel. Remember, you are the superstar of your universe and the world needs what you have to bring. So get busy. Get out and Up Your Creative Genius. And no matter where you are in the universe, here's some big love from yours truly Patti Dobrowolski and the Up Your Creative Genius Podcast. That's a wrap.

This week's episode is a little different than most. But in this season of giving, we think we're giving you a tremendous gift with this episode. Going into this school year we decided that we wanted our students in the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program to dive deeper into leadership. To be more intentional about how they think about leadership.With that in mind and feeling that the guests we have on this podcast offer great leadership lessons, throughout this school year we're having the students listen to an episode of the C-10 Podcast, and then discuss its leadership lessons with the group. And then, after they talk or are interviewed by their mentor, we open it up to questions from the other students and mentors.So, this week, three students from our C-10 program are going to be the stars — the experts, as we told them — for this episode.Keep this in mind: we typically have about 40-45 people at each session, and the three students you'll hear from in this episode all volunteered to be in this group. They volunteered to get up in front of the group and speak. Take charge of this. That alone speaks to their leadership now and in the future. This group includes two seniors and one new student, a sophomore. We'll introduce each student and mentor along the way, but here's who you'll hear:— Senior Jameson and his mentor Larry Hettinger after a clip from Royals Hall of Famer Mike Sweeney.— Sophomore John and his mentor Steve Perez after a clip from former KCMO mayor Sly James.— Finally, senior Naya and her mentor Eli Medina. Naya, who graduated from high school this month, selected a clip from actor, comedian and former Marine Rob Riggle's episode.It's a little different week, but we hope you enjoy hearing from some of our students.LINKS:To change a life and have some fun, here's the link to the 2021 CYITML Gift Catalog.For more information about the C-10 Mentoring & Leadership program for high school students, visit our website.To make a financial gift to give students life-changing one-on-one mentoring, visit our secure donation page.For all episodes of the C-10 podcast and ways you can listen, click here.If you'd like to make a comment, have a suggestion for a future guest, or your company would like to help underwrite this podcast, please visit our contact page.

How do co-workers react when you stand up for yourself to a harasser? That's one of the many things we touched on in this wide-ranging interview with Joni Wickham...She is all about grit, grace, and getting things done, and has proved herself to be an accomplished political strategist, communications expert, and organisational leader.Joni, an attractive woman who grew up in a trailer park in rural North Carolina, has been frequently underestimated throughout her 20-year political career—considered too nice by some and too aggressive by others. She most recently served as Chief of Staff to Mayor Sly James in Kansas City, and has authored a new book titled 'The Thin Line Between Cupcake and Bitch' – written to help women navigate their careers.Joni is now co-founder of public policy firm Wickham James, which she founded with Mayor James in 2019.Joni Wickham - Co-Founder, Wickam James Strategies & Solutions:https://wickhamjames.com/Joni also mentioned her involvement with the She Should Run Organisation: https://www.sheshouldrun.org/Resources:Get access to the Thrive Themes website tools: https://thrivethemes.com/affiliates/ref.php?id=1862Get in flow FREE training: https://www.creativeflow.tv/get-flow/Book a call with Una to discuss your business goals and challenges: creativeflow.tv/callwithuna

Today, Matt sits down with former Kansas City Mayor, Sly James, on his book "The Opportunity Agenda".

On this week's Radically Pragmatic Podcast, PPI President Will Marshall and Senior Policy Fellow Crystal Swann sit down with Rep. Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), a former Mayor of Tacoma, and Sly James, former Mayor of Kansas City. They discuss a new “metro-federalism” - the role of local leaders in effectively deploying the public resources provided by Congress in the American Rescue Plan Act, and how mayors will support the Biden Administration's COVID-19 relief and recovery goals - often as Republican-controlled state legislatures are hostile to the new Democratic administration. The leaders also discussed the American Jobs Plan, the Biden Administration's next phase of the Build Back Better agenda, which will invest billions in traditional and human infrastructure so we can get every American - including women - back to work and back on track. This episode is in partnership with New Urban Progress, who aim to spark a cross-fertilization of ideas for local initiative and problem-solving. The New Urban Progress project compares metropolitan regions that have emerged as hubs of public innovation and collaborative problem-solving, and uses the results as frameworks to build inclusive, innovative, digital, and diverse cities. Learn more about New Urban Progress here: www.new-urban-progress.org Learn more about the Progressive Policy Institute here: https://progressivepolicy.org/

Instagram Live con el exalcalde de Kansas City James Sly Sly fue mi coach de BHCityleaders y tuvimos la oportunidad de conversar un poco más acerca de una valiosa enseñanza que me dio en su momento; siempre tomar decisiones con base en hechos y datos y no en creencias personales.

Sly James, former mayor of Kansas City and current co-owner of Wickham James Strategies & Solutions, discusses building cities for children with education at the forefront. He points out that disruption presents opportunities for new thought. Hosts: Carol Massar and Paul Sweeney. Producer: Doni Holloway. 

Sly James, former mayor of Kansas City and current co-owner of Wickham James Strategies & Solutions, discusses building cities for children with education at the forefront. He points out that disruption presents opportunities for new thought. Hosts: Carol Massar and Paul Sweeney. Producer: Doni Holloway.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The new show on ESPN Kansas City, daily from 3-4pm on 1510am and 94.5fm, Homestrech w/ 'The Ship, is Sterling Holmes and Darren Smith talking all things Chiefs today as they are joined in the 2nd segment by former mayor Sly James.   See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

9-9: Sly James, Former KCMO Mayor by KCMO Talk Radio

With just over two months to go until the November election, Democrats have been working on getting Donald Trump out of office by focusing on his character. In a new book “The Opportunity Agenda,” former Kansas City Mayor Sly James and real estate executive Winston Fisher say the party needs to look past the election and work on revamping its policy platform to help struggling Americans – especially amid a pandemic and an economic crisis. James joined Errol to discuss the importance of helping the middle class by investing in small businesses, increasing access to child care and improving education. And he talked about his experience leading Kansas City, Missouri, and weighed in on the influence of money in politics.  Mentioned in This Episode: The Opportunity Agenda JOIN THE CONVERSATION Do you have any thoughts or questions for Errol? Weigh in on twitter with the hashtag #NY1YouDecide or give us a call at 212-379-3440 and leave a message.

Today on Streetwise from The Pitch we discuss the Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet, listen to the Brandon Phillips & the Condition track "Veronica", and chat with former Mayor Sly James about his new book. Streetwise is hosted by Brock Wilbur, editor in chief of The Pitch. Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify. Subscribe to the Streetwise newsletter, a weekly meditation on Kansas City news and events.  Thanks to Jason Beers for our theme song, "One Kicker". Our editor is Terence Wiggins, whomst you should hire.

An entrepreneurial mayor. Sly James, former Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, jointed the podcast to talk about the work of the Kauffman Mayors' Council and attracting talent and supporting entrepreneurs. He shared two programs led by the City of Kansas City, an innovation partnership program and a startup in residence program. He also discussed the racial gap in entrepreneurship and the need to incorporate equity in economic development. This interview is part of a four part series with the Kauffman Mayors' Council. The Mayors' Council harnesses the knowledge and experience of former mayors to support cities across the county in efforts to build equitable community wealth. Host: Alyssa Dinberg

I catch up with former Kansas City Mayor Sly James to hear his thoughts on race and social reform, what he's up to now, and what he's hopeful for in the future. And my friend and former colleague Kelly Stange joins as guest co-host as we talk about social media and more with Mayor James. #frosty

Sly James was sworn in as the 56th mayor in Kansas City, Missouri, history in 2011, and he served two terms, leaving in 2019. Sly's life has always led to service of others, an attitude instilled in him by his parents. Sly served in the Marines during the Vietnam War, came back to Kansas City to study law, and then was a successful attorney before becoming mayor. This episode was recorded on Zoom in early May for this podcast and our C-10 Mentoring & Leadership students. Even though it was well before the recent protests over racial injustice in the United States, Sly shares a lot of lessons that apply to what we're facing as a country.For more information about Sly James, visit: https://wickhamjames.com/who-we-are/sly-james/To learn more about "C" You In The Major Leagues: https://cyouinthemajorleagues.org/If you or your business would like to sponsor or help underwrite this podcast, please use this form: https://cyouinthemajorleagues.org/contact/.

What roadblocks, challenges or even excuses have you convinced yourself of that have inhibited your success? In this episode, Joni Wickham, author and co-founder of Wickham James Strategies & Solutions, discusses her professional career in politics and consulting. She was told at a young age that being a female in a male-dominated industry could present its own set of challenges. While there was a lot of truth to that sentiment, Joni worked tirelessly at building her own legacy while empowering others to define their own. Feeding someone else's narrative will always be a hinderance in achieving your desired outcomes. There's a very thin line between cupcake and bitch. Tune in to hear how Joni found her balance. Learn more about what Joni Wickham and her business partner, Former KC Mayor Sly James are up to at https://wickhamjames.com/

Anne Post is an experienced lawyer and entrepreneur, with a celebrated litigation career spanning more than 20 years. Anne received her BA in Political Science – International Relations at the University of California at Berkeley and her JD from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She began her career in a large Kansas City law firm before launching her own practice which she maintained for 17 years. During her legal career, Anne was repeatedly recognized by her peers as Best of the Bar. In 2017, Anne made the jump into legal tech joining Xakia Technologies as Senior Vice President, North America. Anne brings to Xakia her passion for organization and efficiency, which translates to her heightened understanding of the needs of clients to achieve greater visibility and control over their legal function. In 2018 Anne was appointed by then-Mayor Sly James to the board of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority and now serves as Board Secretary. In her “spare” time Anne is the co-owner and Director of an elite boys soccer club serving the Kansas City metro area. Anne lives in Kansas City Missouri with her husband and two sons ages 16 and 13. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/freeman-means-business/support

Kansas City’s Nonprofit Voice! Sharing the stories of local nonprofits and connecting them with the community! We talk with philanthropists, volunteers, community activists, executive directors, and non-profit lovers from the Kansas City nonprofit community. Be seen, be heard with KC Cares! Kansas City’s Nonprofit Voice! On episode 382 of KC Cares, we talk with Sly James, founder with Turn the Page! Our Topic: Childhood Literacy! Listen now!

In this episode, Fr. Justin Mathews talks with former Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Sly James, co-founder of Wickham James Strategies and Solutions. Mayor Sly talks about the importance of mental toughness and recognizing how a good leader responds when their back is against the wall.

On this week’s episode of the Northeast Newscast, we are speaking with Joni Wickham, former chief of staff for former Kansas City mayor, Sly James. Wickham discusses her time in City Hall, the changes she saw over eight years of service, the various projects she worked on, her advocacy for women’s empowerment, what female leadership looks like in Kansas City, and what she is doing now.

City Hall reporter Allison Kite and investigative reporter Steve Vockrodt join host Dave Helling to talk about Kansas City's new mayor, Quinton Lucas. Join them — and hear from Lucas himself — about his goals for City Hall, and what the city can expect from this change in leadership. For further reading: KC Mayor-elect Quinton Lucas pledges cooperation with Kansas during visit to Congress - https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article233309007.html The challenge for Lucas: melding ‘twelve mandates' into a majority for his agenda - https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/election/article231770338.html The hits, the misses and the swagger: summing up the Sly James era in Kansas City - https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article232800067.html Melinda Henneberger: KC Mayor Sly James' hand-off to Quinton Lucas has been more like a brush-off - https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/melinda-henneberger/article233192376.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

July 24, 2019 Guest host Todd Leabo is joined LIVE in studio by KCMO Mayor Sly James and writer/broadcaster Sean Wheelock. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nick Haines discusses Pete Buttiegieg's visit, Sly James' new book and police body cams.

Today on the pod: longtime Kansas City political journalist and Pitch contributor Barbara Shelly joins Pitch editor David Hudnall to talk about next Tuesday's election, which will determine whether Jolie Justus or Quinton Lucas will succeed Sly James as Kansas City's mayor. We also look back on Sly's eight-years as mayor.  Here's Barb's piece on Sly's legacy.  Here's Barb's piece on Sly and Quinton. Thanks to Snacky for the theme music.  Subscribe to City Rag on iTunes or Spotify.  And subscribe to the City Rag newsletter, which sends you tasty Kansas City content every Saturday.

Chris and Stacie argue about a handbag — but resolve it with a game of Jenga. The group debates a bill in Sacramento requiring priests to report child abuse overheard in confession. Jordin rallies for Sly James the Cat to be nominated for Best Instagram (People & Places) for #KCPitchAwards19. Voting at: www.thepitchkc.com/bestofkc19. Jordin makes a plea to get to 7,000 Instagram followers by Friday at 8a​. www.instagram.com/jordinsilver

I met Andrea at Sly James’ final Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony as Mayor. We go deep...talking about unexpected pregnancy, divorce, and finding your “light” again. Permalink

Kansas City Councilwoman Jolie Justus and Councilman Quinton Lucas emerged victorious Tuesday night from a pack of 11 candidates for mayor and will face each other in June for a general election. And current Mayor Sly James fought hard for a 3/8-cent sales tax to pay for pre-K expansion, but voters rejected the plan that would have capped his eight years in office. City Hall reporter Allison Kite and politics editor Bill Turque join the discussion this week to talk about Kansas City's primary results and the what we might see before the general election. Dave Helling and Leah Becerra co-host. For further reading: Council members Justus, Lucas win Kansas City mayoral primary, will face off in June - https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/election/article228683379.html ‘I'm tired of being taxed': Kansas City voters resoundingly reject mayor's pre-K plan - https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/election/article228608294.html Newcomers dominate KC school board as sole incumbent in contested race loses his seat - https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/election/article228481339.html Primary Day 2019: A partial list of the winners - https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/election/article228664149.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kansas City, Missouri, City Council colleagues Jolie Justus and Quinton Lucas outlasted a large field Tuesday night in the primary and will now square off against each other in June to become the city's next mayor. In this week's 41 Files, host Taylor Hemness is joined by reporters Steven Dial and Cat Reid to recap primary night and discuss what to look for in the coming two months. Produced by Sam Hartle. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kansas City voters will take steps to choose a new mayor and council members in the city's primary election on April 2. City Hall reporter Allison Kite and editorial board member Melinda Henneberger are here to talk about the candidates you'll see on the ballot. Dave Helling and Leah Becerra co-host. For further reading: The Star's election guide: Where to go, what to bring and what's on the ballot - https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/election/article228379529.html Justus leads Kansas City mayoral field, but poll shows race is still ‘wide open' - https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/election/article227983864.html 12 candidates vie for 7 seats on KC school board, but many won't be on the ballot - https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article227421729.html ‘It's about getting ready to learn': What to know about Sly James' pre-K proposal - https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article228304534.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following a quarter-century All Souls Forum tradition, the Mayor of Kansas City, Sylvester “Sly” James, Jr., will deliver an annual State of the City address. He will review the City's […] The post “The Forum's State of the City Address” with Mayor Sly James appeared first on KKFI.

Missouri GOP is demanding that the attorney leading the Secretary of State's probe into Attorney General Josh Hawley recuse herself because of donations to Democratic candidates. Reporter Steve Vockrodt shares the latest. And Kansas City Public Schools will not support Mayor Sly James' proposed 3/8-cent sales tax to support pre-kindergarten programs. Reporter Mará Rose Williams tells us what she's learned. Dave Helling and Leah Becerra co-host. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last Friday, Aug. 17, Mayor Sly James said he was pulling his plan to put a sales tax for early childhood education in Kansas City on the November ballot. Reporter Bill Turque joins co-hosts Dave Helling and Leah Becerra to look at what happened. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week's 41 Files podcast, 41 Action News anchors Lindsay Shively and Taylor Hemness are joined by reporter Jade DeGood. At the 01:45 mark, Lindsay, Taylor and Jade talk about a new report that says Missouri drivers are third-worst in the nation. At the 04:30 mark, Jade recaps metro construction projects: could work on the Kansas side of I-435 be almost done? At 07:00, we talk about why people can't properly execute a zipper merge. At the 12:50 mark, Taylor details a special report airing Friday about a new grant in the Overland Park Fire Department that could reduce the rate of cancer among firefighters. At the 25:00 mark, reporter Rae Daniel talks about delays in Mayor Sly James' effort to put a sales tax measure on the ballot to fund a pre-K program. Episode produced by Sam Hartle. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nick Haines discusses the candidates for KS governor, Sly James & JOCO schools/suicide.

In this week's episode of 41 Files, 41 Action News Today anchor Lindsay Shively is joined by anchor Kevin Holmes, reporter/anchor Dia Wall and reporter Steven Dial. At the 01:27 mark, the group talks about a new Missouri law that allows school districts to add minutes to school days to make up for snow days. At 05:30, we talk about Mayor Sly James' effort to fund Pre-K in Kansas City. Later, at 12:30, we briefly talk about school funding in Kansas. At 15:33, Kevin talks about a special project he's been working on called the Barbershop Forum, a conversation about crime, race and other issues in Kansas City. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Following a quarter century All Souls Forum tradition, Mayor of Kansas City, Sly James, will deliver an annual, state of the city address. He will review the City’s accomplishments and […] The post The Forum’s State of the City Address: Mayor Sly James appeared first on KKFI.

A conversation with the mayor of Kansas City. Sly James talks about the vote for a new airport, politics at the city level compared to nationally, his military background, kneeling in the NFL, baseball and more.

This week on the Northeast Newscast, we're shaking up our format with a first-hand account of the machinations inside City Hall on Thursday, December 21 - as the Council attempts to salvage the Memorandum of Understanding with Edgemoor for the construction of a new single terminal airport. On Thursday, December 14, a 9-4 super-majority of the City Council voted against approving the MOU, leaving the state of negotiations uncertain. But by the morning of Thursday, December 21, the tides had begun to turn with word that Mayor Sly James had drafted legislation designed to avoid the termination of negotiations with Edgemoor. With this edition of the podcast, we'll drop you right into the heart of the action, as the future of the single terminal airport project hangs in the balance.

Kansas City Mayor Sly James explains why city governments have become models for policy innovation and good governance while federal and state governments continue to be mired in partisan gridlock. He speaks to the value of data-driven decision making, as well as his experience enticing Google to pilot their high speed internet service in Kansas City, and the ongoing attempts to attract Amazon’s 2nd headquarters. James is a Fall 2017 Visiting Fellow at both the Institute of Politics and the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.

November 9, 2017 Steven and Nate talk to Kansas City Mayor Sly James about the recent vote passing for the new KCI Airport.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you want to know what it’s like to sit behind Mayor Sly James’ desk, best not ask him; he’d have to find about 20 minutes in his schedule to clear the space to sit there. There’s two-feet of work stacked on the chair and another couple feet stacked on the desk. Then there’s work strewn across the meeting desk in the middle of his office on the 29th floor of city hall. If you haven’t yet, listen to the previous two episodes of the podcast on the DIY skate park in Columbus Park called Harrison Street DIY download them and check them out. After that story aired, the Mayor’s office arranged some time for us to clear some space on his meeting table and talk about how the skate park can be a model for other civic engagement projects. We also talked about KC’s gut-wrenching homicide rate and the Mayor shared some of the things that frustrate city leaders most when they’re just trying to make a city safe place to live… _insert clip on ideological arguements_ We also talked about Turn the Page KC - a program charged with achieving reading proficiency among KC’s 3rd graders that earned KC All American City honors in June from the National Civic League. And we talked about KCNOVA, the KC No Violence Alliance — it’s a collaboration between law enforcement, data scientists and community aid groups aimed at reducing crime by re-directing offenders to social services or bear the legal consequences. Mayor James also clued me in on what he’s learned about how to solve real problems in our current political climate. So, here is my interview with Mayor Sly James of Kansas City, Missouri. Today’s thing is this mayor’s very crowded desk, and this episode is Time Waits for No One.

What a HUGE #TheShowKC Thanksgiving Special today! First, we checked in with listeners all over Kansas City as to where they are traveling for the weekend. We have friends of the show going to Orlando, Raleigh, Minneapolis, Illinois and even Licking, Missouri! Jen won The Show's Dancing With The Stars draft. Kanye has been hospitalized. What state has the fastest speed limits? Whatever it is, you don't want to speed through Iowa. Kansas City, MO Mayor Sly James joined us in studio for a full half hour to talk about the Mayor's Christmas Tree and the Fund to help our neighbors. We also chatted about football, the streetcar, becoming a nice society, what's ahead for KC and how never gets to go to the movies. Finally, Olympic gold medalist and Blue Valley North grad Jack Sock stopped by - along with his gold medals - to talk about flipping the switch to turn on the Plaza Lights. Jack also had a great year tennis-wise, performing well at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone, from all of us at The Show! We are thankful that you make us a part of your day every morning...see you next week!

This week on KC Greats we talk to Mark Rowlands to find out exactly what he does with the Downtown Community Improvement District. Check out some of the links below for more information on the CIDs and the people and organizations Mark mentions in the show. Mark on LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markprowlands CIDs: http://www.downtownkc.org/community-improvement-districts/ Downtown Council: http://www.downtownkc.org/ Crossroads Academy: http://crossroadsacademykc.org/ Mayor Sly James: http://kcmayor.org/ KCMO City Manager: http://kcmo.gov/citymanagersoffice/

AS #TheShowKC celebrates #ChristmasInJuly, so does Mayor Sly James of KCMO! The Mayor's Christmas Tree Fund has opened in July this year, to accommodate the many requests for help it receives from families and individuals across the metro. Donate now if you can at KCMayor.org/ChristmasTree or text the word "Christmas" to 72727.

Mayor Sly James leads the city of Kansas City, Missouri's largest city and the 36th largest city in the nation. A lawyer, Mayor James was re-elected in 2015 with 87% of the vote with a campaign strategy marked by a commitment by both candidates to not go negative in any way. Mayor James discusses his practice of working collaboratively to achieve "more results and better" and team approach in running his administration.   Mayor Sly James Podcast Transcript

The words politically passionate typically aren't used to describe an 8-year old, but that's Tina Vierling. Her parents recognized they had an 'awoke' child when Tina began commenting on different injustices she was seeing in the news. She would rather spend time at a Republican & Democratic debate watch party than home playing with Barbies. In the last year she has attended numerous political events including; the caucuses in Iowa, a lunch for Chelsea Clinton and Mayor Sly James as well as private fundraisers. Tina is making her mark on the world and shares advice we can all learn from. 

Kansas City, Missouri Mayor Sly James will speak on The State of the City at the U.U. Forum at All Souls. This continues a long-standing tradition of a Forum presentation […] The post “State of the City—Kansas City, Missouri” with Mayor Sly James appeared first on KKFI.

Following a quarter century tradition, Mayor of Kansas City Sly James will deliver his annual State of the City address.  He will review the City's accomplishments and challenges over the […] The post “State of the City Address” with Mayor Sly James appeared first on KKFI.

Tune in for a special edition of All Souls Forum this week, as Kansas City, Missouri Mayor Sylvester James continues our decades-long annual tradition with a mayoral presentation on the […] The post “State of the City” with Mayor Sly James appeared first on KKFI.

The guys wrapped up All Star Week with a star studded, action pack show! Mike, Troy, Chris and Jeff Herr were joined in studio by Curt Nelson, proprietor of the Royals Hall of Fame. (Jeff Logan was out on assignment.) The guys talked about the All Star experience with Curt but were quickly joined by Mayor Sly James. The Mayor discussed what it took for the city and the success that this All Star Week was. Then the guys were joined by NFL Hall OF Famer and future Royals Hall of Famer George Toma who helped prep Kauffman Stadium's field. He told his story of catching the 1st pitch from Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson with a little help from Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins. Finally the guys were joined by the Voice of Kauffman Stadium, Mike McCartney. Mike and Curt paired up to exchange stories of this week and weeks gone by. They told us how a ball hit violently by Mark Trumbo ended up on top of the Royals Hall of Fame and then inside the Royals Hall of Fame. Mike talked about how hectic the booth was and what it was like working with the networks. This and so much more await you inside this weeks Kansas City Baseball Vault! For more tune in Sundays 7-8pm at www.RoyalmanReport.com for the Royalman Report and Thursdays from 6-7pm on ESPN 1510 for the Kansas City Baseball Vault.