415: The world of work improves when we include and support women’s voices and leadership with guest expert Beate Chelette
Oct 21, 2024
Beate Chelette, author of Happy Woman Happy World
Bill Ringle and Beatte Chelette discuss insider perspectives on how to create a work culture that is genuinely collaborative and inclusive for female and male small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Position yourself to succeed with your peers instead of wanting only you, and you alone, to succeed.
Know your price and the number needs to be the number where you don’t have to work anymore; that way, you’d know when it’s time to sell.
When somebody tries to throw you off your game through their words or actions, you have the option not to let that land.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Beate proudly recalls her father who taught her that every person in the company, from the janitor to the top executives is vital to making a culture work. This is a lesson she carried throughout her life. [01:27]
With $135,000 debt, a teenager she raised alone, and a lawsuit with a former employee, Beate’s resiliency was the fuel that kept her running. [03:32]
How do we know when it’s time to sell? Beate highlights the importance of knowing your price and advises us to make sure it’s a figure enough that we don’t have to work anymore. [05:01]
Knowing her numbers, Beate found a perfect buyer in Bill Gates. [07:16]
A common problem in the US and many parts of the world is the gender pay gap. Beate gives her insights as for why many women are paid less and how they could address this. [10:39]
Mary was a client of Beate’s who, despite being a top 1% in the fabric world, was not taken seriously as a business leader. After working with Beate, Mary became more confident in positioning herself as the leader that she is. [12:24]
Why insecurity is ugly and a cavemen mentality that women need to shed. [16:58]
“You’re too emotional” is only a checkmate move if we allow it. Beate advises women getting these comments to laugh it off and carry on with business as usual. [20:24]
Beate recalls a former colleague and teammate Sandy who despite having a healthy and friendly relationship with her when Beate first joined the company, became embittered and resentful of her promotion. [23:12]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [30:00]
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My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Beate Chelette is the Growth Architect and Founder of The Women’s Code and provides visionaries and leaders with strategies that grow your authority so they can scale their impact.
414: Use the power of narrative to take your business to the next level with guest expert Gregory Diehl
Oct 14, 2024
Gregory Diehl, author of Brand Identity Breakthrough: How to Craft Your Company’s Unique Story to Make Your Products Irresistible
Bill Ringle and Gregory Diehl discuss the importance and use of story narrative to give your business the attention it deserves for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Invest in your clients as much as you can but do not be afraid to step back if they are unwilling to invest in their self-improvement as well.
Creating your identity is important because customers buy into the story as much as they buy into what we’re selling.
There are three ways to get money. Beg, steal, and earn. But only through earning do we give someone of great value worthy of their money.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Gregory passionately shares how Goerge Lucas and his vision that ultimately changed the film industry greatly inspired him growing up. [01:02]
How Goerge Lucas relates to his book Brand Identity Breakthrough. [04:32]
As teenagers, Gregory and his friends first came to truly appreciate the importance of the story in a brand when they were busking in California. [06:23]
Olivier Wagner is a client of Gregor’s whose job is to help American ex-pats with their taxes whom he helped create his personality brand. [14:34]
How Olivier’s business changed for the best after working with Gregory: He became more active in reaching out to people who are asking questions in platforms like Quora and Facebook. [18:28]
Beg, steal, or earn- Gregory elaborates on the three ways he thinks entrepreneurs earn money. [21:22]
Exploring the concept of Street Cat Marketing. [24:28]
Why emotional bond is a perfect hook for selling. [27:43]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [29:00]
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My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Gregory V. Diehl is an educator and personal development mentor whose ideals include self-inquiry, challenge, and analysis. He writes and teaches to assist others in undoing faulty narratives about their identities and how life works so that they may begin to make more meaningful choices and resolve their deepest burdens. Diehl spent many years studying cultures around the world and now lives a quiet life in a rural village in Armenia with his cats, books, and music.
Gregory’s latest business book is Everyone Is an Entrepreneur: Selling Economic Self-Determination in a Post-Soviet World. In it, he examines why entrepreneurship has been so slow to spread in post-Soviet cultures like Armenia, how it hinders individuals’ ability to improve their own lives, and how to fix it.
Olivier Wagner – If you are an American living abroad and need help with your taxes, click this link.
Published by Gregory Diehl
When you aim for EPIC, the cream always rises to the top with guest expert Justin Breen
Sep 23, 2024
Justin Breen, author of Epic Life
Bill Ringle and Justin Breen discuss how directness weeds out distractions and magnetizes greatness to you and your company for small business leaders and entrepreneurs.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
You want to work with people who see things as investments, not costs.
Adapt the right mindset to attract the right people.
There are few people who will ride the plane without a parachute. In business, these are the people you want to keep.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Justin’s father was a war hero who made him appreciate people who get in a plane without a parachute. [01:14]
While not everyone is a risk taker like Justin’s father, some are brave enough to do the same feat, metaphorically in business. Justin shares how he identifies this special breed of people. [03:05]
Justin talks about investing thousands of dollars and gives an idea of how to know it’s worth it. [07:09]
How Justin makes so many valuable business connections. [10:16]
The different stages of filtering people. [13:13]
How his career as a journalist for 20 years helped him be a more successful entrepreneur. [14:50]
The importance of naming your years. Plus the year that became his book title. [17:26]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [21:53]
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My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Justin Breen is the Founder/CEO of the global PR firm BrEpic and exclusive connectivity platform BrEpic Network. His newest book, Epic Life, features a foreword from Dr. Peter Diamandis. It has been the No. 1 overall book for sales on Amazon Kindle, and it recently made the Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestseller lists.
Building your content marketing muscles with guest expert Pamela Wilson
Jul 01, 2024
Pamela Wilson, author of Master Content Marketing
Bill Ringle and Pamela Wilson discuss how content marketing differs from social media marketing and what steps to take to attract leads that become profitable customers for small business marketers.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
People should stop asking whether to put high-quality content or not. Our content should always be high-quality.
Focus on building your content on your primary website. While posting on sites such as LinkedIn is great, there is a chance you may be taken off at any moment.
It is not content marketing without a call to action.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
The power couple of Eleonor and Franklin Roosevelt are Pamela’s biggest inspirations. [01:17]
Pamela talks about how she got into content marketing. [03:44]
Why call to action are necessary. [05:26]
Pamela gives tips to address the concern of where we should put our content and why it is better to do it on your OWN website. [11:14]
Why do we have to put our best stuff and post consistently? [15:56]
Pamela talks about Roberta, a client she used to work with who manages a sales team, and how practicing consistency on high-quality posting got them a lot of traffic. [18:20]
To lessen the pressure, Pamela reminds us that everyone just starting content marketing should not feel like they should immediately be able to post the best pieces. [24:59]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [27:22]
Subscribe With Your Favorite Podcast App
My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Pamela Wilson is a 30+ year business owner, executive coach, and corporate consultant. She’s published three books and has created and marketed dozens of online courses for herself and others.
Pamela is a keynote speaker and frequent podcast guest. Pamela created the Offer Accelerator Program and serves as the program’s head coach and business advisor.
In her role as a digital marketing consultant Pamela has worked with local, national, and international clients.
The best leaders value profits and people with guest expert Andrew Bryant
Jun 03, 2024
Andrew Bryant, author of The New Leadership Playbook: Being human whilst successfully delivering accelerated results
Bill Ringle and Andrew Bryant discuss details of decisiveness, inclusiveness, and accountability as leadership plays that leaders of small and mid-size companies can use now.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 400 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Responsibility is personal. I am responsible for my thoughts and my actions. Accountability is an agreement. It’s something that people use to forge a contract.
A single universal type of leader is a myth. Different leaders excel under different circumstances.
Talent is rare, but strength is something each of us can acquire. It may be by strengthening ourselves or hiring someone whose strong suit complements our weak areas.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Andrew’s first work experience was at his father’s hardware store when he was 10. By observing his father’s interactions with clients and employees, he learned how to have an executive presence. [01:14]
His father’s teaching of honesty, authenticity, and being true to oneself played a major role in Andrew’s career in landing him his first CEO client. [02:46]
Why is leadership a process? [05:21]
Explain more about how no perfect leadership style fits all businesses at all times under all circumstances. [06:16]
What are responsibility and accountability, and how they differ from each other? [09:44]
Why decisiveness is critical to good leadership.
CASE: Gustav responded to a crisis of his company’s baby formula possibly being contaminated. [13:28]
What can wel learn from the insight that people and profits are not an either-or consideration, but that both can be served? [17:55]
My Quest for the Best lighting round begins. [22:41]
Subscribe With Your Favorite Podcast App
My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Andrew Bryant is the founder of Self Leadership International and the world’s leading expert on self-leadership. He has written two books on the topic, Self-Leadership: How to Become a More Successful, Efficient, and Effective Leader from the Inside Out (Bryant & Kazan, 2012) and Self Leadership: 12 Powerful Mindsets & Methods to Win in Life & Business (Bryant, 2016), and The New Leadership Playbook – Being Human whilst delivering Accelerated Results (Bryant, 2022). He has also contributed to many blogs, books, and articles on self-leadership and leadership.
Andrew has coached hundreds of leaders and leadership teams to become the best version of themselves and to scale their companies. He has international experience with clients from Asia, Australasia, the United States of America (USA), Europe, The Middle East, and Africa. Not only has Andrew worked across geographical locations and cultures, but he has also transformed and developed leaders across industries, including the airline industry, software and hardware companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, professional services, banking, finance, manufacturing, hospitality, and travel.
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.
Brian Tracy
Nelson Mandela
Published by Andrew Bryant
Retaining top talent demands that you create a culture of growth, respect, and opportunity with guest expert Merrylue Martin
May 07, 2024
Merrylue Martin, author of The Big Quit Survival Guide: Tools and Tactics to Attract the Best, Retain Top Performers & Nail the Talent War
Merrylue Martin and Bill Ringle discuss the dangers of a dull work culture or toxic interactions that go unchecked and what you can do to attract and retain top talent for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 400 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
The pandemic ushered in an era in which ‘respect’ is the currency that makes people stay in their job.
Leaders who make an extra effort to keep their top performers usually do. No matter how high the pay, if employees feel that they are undervalued, disregarded, and disrespected, they move on. At least those with the most potential and ambition move on.
Know your employees. Take a quick survey of what they like and dislike, or ask any questions that will give you a better understanding of who they are. This way, you’ll know how to give them respect in a way that matters most. Each person defines respect differently.
Show Notes from this Episode
Merrylue shared about her friend Joanna who, during one of the darkest moments, reminded her that our quest is not to be perfect but only to be our best. [01:44]
The pandemic accelerated changes that were already been building up tensions. Merrylue explains why today’s work environment is no longer “your grandfather’s workplace.” [07:26]
Why is it important to avoid overloading top performers? [11:16]
What is one of the dangers of top performers quitting? It tends to be a domino effect. After all, these are people their peers look up to. [13:40]
What are stay interviews? What are some of the advantages stay interviews have over exit interviews? [17:20]
Respect is defined differently by different people. Sally and Leroy’s answer to the question, “What is it that would be most respectful to you,” could not be further from each other. [20:15]
What are the 3Rs that can be used to retain talent? Requirements, Rewards, and Respect. [24:16]
CASE: Sandy works in the film industry in LA. She feels like she doesn’t get enough respect at work, so despite the excellent pay, she dreads her working hours. [27:52]
CASE: Jim works for a start-up company. Unlike Sandy, Jim isn’t paid that much, but Jim loves his work. He is always looking forward to going to work, and that is because he feels like he is being treated like gold. [29:34]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [34:56]
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My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Merrylue Martin is a celebrated leadership strategist with decades of successfully working with global leaders and business owners of all types and sizes to make their employees feel uniquely respected, appreciated, fulfilled, and engaged. The recent release of her new book, The Big Quit Survival Guide, has received rave reviews and best-seller status in Amazon’s Office Management category.
As a Fortune 50 senior executive, educational administrator, management consultant, and business owner, she has comprehensive experience in creating and delivering strategies that engage and retain top performers.
Dr. Martin is an honored graduate of the Women’s Leadership program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Her doctorate in organizational leadership and published dissertation from Pepperdine University uncovered the research that resulted in business and leadership practices that directly drive an employee’s decision to stay or leave an organization.
She has leveraged that work along with her learning and development background to put valuable information into practical ideas and tools that all leaders can immediately begin implementing to win the battle of attracting and keeping top-performing employees. She is Her primary message to all leaders and the organizations that support them is that people will always be people first and employees second.
When not working with people leaders, Merrylue enjoys interior design, dreaming up concoctions in her art studio, and writing puppet scripts for the preschool church crowd, who remain her toughest critics to date. She and her husband, James, enjoy being Gram and Gramps to twin girls and a new baby boy.
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources we discussed, so you can explore further.
Merrylue’s special thank you to My Quest for the Best listeners! Click on the link below and use the password: survival to access this amazing free content!
The invaluable lessons contained in feedback with guest expert Chuck Mollor.
Apr 01, 2024
Chuck Mollor, author of The Rise of the Agile Leader: Can You Make the Shift?
Chuck Mollor and Bill Ringle discuss insights about how you can benefit from messages contained in feedback from 1:1s to 360s for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
When our business grows, so do our responsibilities. As leaders, we need to learn how to change where we spend our time, delegate obligations, and know when to hire external help.
Receiving 360 feedback will give us words that can hurt us. But feedback is critical because we might be 100% assured that we are competent enough with a job that sometimes we need our people to point out when and where we’re falling short.
When our own people are hesitant to share their honest feedback even when asked, that is a sign of lack of trust and an urgent matter we need to fix.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Chuck talks about his greatest influence growing up, his best friend’s father Frank, who is also a father figure to him. [01:44]
Understanding how the size of our organization affects how we communicate and how we care about our people. [04:28]
How does a manager’s time shift as an organization grows? [07:31]
The five drivers of growth: growth, direction, integrity, innovation, engagement, and urgency. [09:33]
Recognizing when we’re not doing our job and when to seek external help. [11:42]
What can you learn from receiving 360 feedback that can make you a better leader?.[14:26]
CASE: Mike and why lack of trust alarm bells sound if our people don’t talk to us even when asked. [18:37]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [26:22]
Subscribe With Your Favorite Podcast App
My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Chuck Mollor is the founder, CEO, advisor, and executive coach at MCG Partners, an organization that helps develop leaders and teams, optimizing both businesses and individual talent. His new book and best-selling book, The Rise of the Agile Leader: Can You Make the Shift?, is a guide for the aspiring, mid, and seasoned c-leader and executive that introduces a new leadership paradigm, a roadmap of what makes a great leader, and what organizations must do to develop great leaders.
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.
Item
Published by Chuck Mollor
A published book changes lives for the author and their readers with guest expert Chandler Bolt
Mar 04, 2024
Chandler Bolt, author of Published: The Proven Path From Blank Page To 10,000 Copies Sold
Bill Ringle and Chandler Bolt discuss the top obstacles and paths to becoming a published author based on 6,000 success stories at Self Publishing School for ambitious SMB leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 400 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Push hard for your dreams, and even harder when people tell you that you can’t make it.
Do not wait for the perfect time to write a book. Write now or you might write never.
Push yourself and test whether something is possible or not.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
His brother Seth, who plays bass in Grammy-nominated rock band NEEDTOBREATHE, inspired Chandler to reach hard for his dreams even when people tell him it’s impossible. [01:13]
A New York Times article quoted a survey that found that 81% of people want to write a book, but only 1% actually do. Chandler details why for some people, someday becomes never. [03:07]
How can you help aspiring authors overcome internal conflicts that prevent them from getting through their first drafts? [04:42]
What are the four most common reasons why people write books? Passion, shared experience, becoming a full-time author, and growing your business. [06:38]
What would you say to debunk the myth that if we share our experience and knowledge in writing, people won’t need us anymore and why generosity is the key to business growth and longevity? [07:59]
When your first self-published book didn’t exactly rake in the success and the money you expected, how did meeting SAM through your book manager help? Every self-published author needs to know what SAM represents.[10:38]
Why was copy writing pivotal for you when you released your first book and had $15,000 in credit card debt? [12:43]
Why do expert authors need to approach marketing like a Toyota Camry, not like a Lamborghini? [14:51]
How does the Amazon algorithm and a series of steps to use “Amazon juice” to get your book more readers and recommendations? [21:06]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [24:44]
Subscribe With Your Favorite Podcast App
My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
As a seven-time bestselling author and CEO of Self-Publishing School and selfpublishing.com, Chandler knows exactly how instrumental writing books can be in sharing your message and even growing and scaling your business. His message is that you can’t wait for the “perfect time” in life to get writing, the perfect time to get writing is now.
Find your greater potential with guest expert Jim Wetrich
Feb 05, 2024
Jim Wetrich, author of Stifled: Where Good Leaders Go Wrong
Bill Ringle and Jim Wetrich discuss the traps and solutions to the causes of working in isolation, ignorance, and unawareness to gain greater clarity and effectiveness for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 400 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Managers should have a classification system for who should be back at the office, continue working remotely, or work hybrid, and must be very clear-cut as to why because of the nature of these employees’ or this department’s job, they can be more efficient in this kind of work environment.
Always be explicit about what you say. Any misinformation or misrepresentation of a process or path can capsize our credibility and demotivate our people.
Fairness is not treating your people the same but based on their needs because some people need more assistance than others, while some need to be held more accountable. Remember that your employees are at different levels of the growth curve.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Jim got his first job as a grocery bagger for State Brothers and his first boss, David Gamon, made him realize that with the right leadership, work can be fun no matter what position you hold. [01:03]
His former manager’s influence seeped through his next, proving that in some cases, it is not enough to explain; it would be more efficient to demonstrate. [04:08]
A big problem in today’s work is that some people want things to go back to how they were before the pandemic lockdown while others fully embrace remote work. Each have their reasons. How can leaders handle this issue to benefit both the company and the employees? [07:15]
A big problem for most remote managers is trusting that their employees are working. What are some of the best tips on how managers can better work with employees despite the physical distance. [11:25]
CASE: Mike is a manager who failed to be explicit when discussing his promotion paths to his employees. As a result, expectations were crushed, and his credibility tanked. [16:10]
The dangers of being a ‘know-it-all’ manager. Jim gives excellent points on why leaders should say, ‘I don’t know’ more often. [18:51]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [25:50]
Subscribe With Your Favorite Podcast App
My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
James G. Wetrich, LFACHE is the CEO of The Wetrich Group of Companies and the author of Stifled: Where Good Leaders Go Wrong. His writing has also appeared in the 2021 anthology series Quitless: The Power of Persistence in Business and Life, a USA Today and WSJ best seller. Having led teams on three continents for more than 40 years and consulted with over 100 companies, Jim has seen great leaders who have thrived and ones that have failed. A noted expert in leadership, Jim’s leadership lessons are as highly sought after by today’s business students as they are among Baby Boomers. From 2006 to 2014, Jim built a team at Molnlycke Health Care that grew the revenue over 7 times and the EBITDA over 20 times creating over $1BN growth in enterprise value and taking the US business from number 5 to number 1 in the served market with an employee satisfaction index of over 95%. Jim is passionate about diversity and inclusion and hosted a two-day meeting for all women in the organization (not just high potentials) to discuss their unique challenges.
As the founder and CEO of The Wetrich Group of Companies, Jim focuses now on coaching and mentorship and spreading his leadership lessons to help individuals become better leaders and organizations create great leaders and managers.
Bring out the gold nuggets to share with media to get the most exposure with guest expert Liz Kelly
Jan 08, 2024
Liz Kelly, author of 8-Second PR – New Public Relations Crash Course (2nd Edition, 2022)
Bill Ringle and Liz Kelly discuss how to refine your story and your message to the elements that will get the greatest response from the media to promote your book, product, or cause for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
To be successful in your message, remember to not make it all about you.
For anyone who wants to be a guest on TV shows and podcasts, start with smaller shows first to gain more experience, growing your qualification and reputation as a guest people want to have in their shows.
Impart to your audience the richness you have inside and allow them to relate to you.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Liz talks about what it’s like growing up with a really great mother, who happens to be her biggest influence. [01:38]
From writing her dating book to being the go-to person for PR, Liz talks about why she decided to serve others. [03:48]
A great tip to people who want to write a book or start a business: It’s not all about you. [06:04]
To find your media gold, Liz gives strong emphasis on not holding back when working with a publicist. [10:00]
Josh is a CEO who runs an addiction center for veterans. Josh’s media gold is his own humbling experience his clients and a lot of people who are struggling with addiction can relate to and he shares it in a funny, humbling, and very inspiring way. [11:13]
Bing on a big TV show like Oprah or a podcast like Tim Ferris is not the first step. [14:33]
Michelle is a client of Liz’s who is a natural spokesperson. Liz talks about what makes someone an ideal guest. [16:35]
Rick is another great client of Liz who knows how to draw people in. Because of this, he is always invited back to be a guest. [21:33]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [24:45]
Subscribe With Your Favorite Podcast App
My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Liz H. Kelly (Santa Monica, CA) is Goody PR Founder, Award-Winning Author of “8-Second PR”, Podcast Host (8-Second Branding) and Goody Business Book Awards Founder. Based on 15+ years of public relations and marketing experience, Kelly is passionate about magnifying brands and experts through timely marketing and public relations campaigns. After working as an executive at Paramount Pictures, MySpace, Sprint PCS, and LA startups, Kelly decided to start Goody PR. While booking 500+ TV, print, radio and podcast media interviews for her first book (“Smart Man Hunting”) over 5 years, Kelly fell in love with the art of brand storytelling and creating timely media hooks. Her work has been featured on CNN, ABC News, FOX News, USA TODAY, The Chicago Tribune, Thrive Global, Buzzfeed, KTLA, KCBS, BBC Radio, NPR and many more. She has booked clients on the TODAY Show, PBS, CNN, FOX Business, BBC World News, NPR, and in TIME, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and thousands of media outlets. As fun facts, Kelly is a Johns Hopkins University Carey School of Business alumni from Baltimore, Maryland, loves photography, has been a red carpet reporter at Oscar events, Sundance, Comic-Con, and more with several videos with 1+ million views, and is an autism advocate.
Personal growth accelerates business growth with guest expert Byron Morrison
Dec 04, 2023
Byron Morrison, author of The Effective CEO: How to hone your focus, prioritize your time and take control of your CEO role
Bill Ringle and Byron Morrison discuss how you as a business leader can avoid becoming the bottleneck in your own business by working on your mindset, emotional control, and performance routines.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
While as leaders, our goal is to lead our organizations to success, we should not neglect essential areas in our personal lives, like our relationships and our health, to keep up our high energy. Our energy directly impacts our performance which directly affects the people we lead.
Not prioritizing our personal development tanks our ability to lead.
Instead of committing to following a to-do list, we should instead figure out what works best by aligning our energy and our schedule to what's most important.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
A unique source of inspiration for Byron when he was growing up is Tome Delonge from Blink 182. [05:52]
Byron shares how the artist he looked up to and his band, through their music, influenced his career as a businessman. [02:38]
The impact Byron wants to achieve when he wrote The Effective CEO. [04:29]
Byron recalls the day he decided to change as a person, which led to him writing his first bestselling book, Become a Better You, and starting his business. [05:33]
CASE: Matthew was a client of Byron's who runs a small advertising agency. He was struggling with his team not getting on board and him not knowing how to effectively delegate. [07:33]
Why our personal lives should not be brushed off to purely focus on our role as leaders. [09:05]
A key principle is figuring out your energy and how to structure your schedule to align with that. [11:20]
CASE: Jason who runs a tech startup in Silicon Valley. Jason loves his to-do lists, not realizing that this practice of checking the boxes is a terrible approach for CEOs. [13:06]
How to effectively implement and commit to time blocking and make it a part of your work style. [15:40]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [24:36]
Expert Bio
Byron Morrison is the author of the books "The Effective CEO" and "CEO In Control", as well as being a speaker and coach. He helps CEOs take control and become more effective in their role so that they can maximize their time, lead with confidence and grow a business without losing their sanity.
Contact Info and Social Media for byron Morrison
Primary website
Travels from: Warwick, Warwickshire
Connect on: LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.
CEO In Control: Stop reacting, get out of your own head, and master the mental game needed to be a highly effective CEO by Byron Morrison
Become a Better You: Stop dieting, start living by Byron Morrison
Awaken the Giant Within- How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny! by Tony Robbins
High-Performance Habits- How Extraordinary People Become That Way by Brendon Burchard
Published by byron Morrison
Your Message Matters with guest expert Johnathan Milligan
Nov 06, 2023
Jonathan Milligan, author of Your Message Matters: How to Rise Above the Noise and Get Paid for What You Know
Bill Ringle and Johnathan Milligan discuss what it means to share a message, be a messenger, and find your voice so that you can be paid for your knowledge and expertise for entrepreneurs, experts, and small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
There is power in being specific, so create a specific message that is worth sharing and that you can monetize.
It is better to narrow it down to a specific audience and provide a specific solution to target a particular problem. It lets our niche know that we are the experts in this subject matter, and the solution we offer is worth more than their money.
Find out what kind of messenger you are, if you're a writer, a teacher, a speaker, or a coach. If you know your strength, you can build a business that you love, and that will make you better at serving others.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
As a kid, Jonathan got his first glimpse of how to run a business by observing his grandfather and witnessing how both his customers and employees trust him. [01:05]
When the need to handle a delicate matter arose during his teaching career, Jonathan remembered how his grandfather acted when challenges arose and handled the situation in the same calm and caring manner as his grandpa did. [03:02]
Know your message, how to be an effective messenger, and create a message that is not only worth sharing but also something you can monetize.[05:21]
Bryan was a student of Jonathan's who had a good message, but it was not specific enough for his target audience. Jonathan helps him learn how the more specific a message is, the more powerful it is. [06:57]
Jonathan shares his own story of how he succeeded by narrowing down his message to a specific audience. [09:00]
His Influencer Voice Assessment breaks down the kinds of messenger roles into four: Writer, teacher, speaker, and coach. [11:46]
Martha was a student of his who wanted to start a business that would enable her to use her experience and knowledge as a consultant to help others. However, she does not want to be a coach and fears this is the only way to move forward if she wants to make something of herself. After she took Influencer Voice Assessment, Jonathan was able to help her move forward with a career that not only suits her better but she actually loves. [13:43]
Jonathan talks about four keystone habits that make effective messengers: Creating free value, capturing habits, compiling habits, and connecting habits. [17:08]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [24:34]
Expert Bio
Jonathan Milligan is an author, blogger, speaker, and online business coach. He has spent the last decade guiding and directing creative professionals on how to pursue meaningful work. Since 2009, Jonathan has run his own portable lifestyle business online. Today he teaches others how to build a business with their passion, story, or message. He lives in Jacksonville, Florida, with his wife, Charity, and their two kids.
Contact Info and Social Media for Jonathan Milligan
Primary website
Travels from: Jacksonville, FL - Florida
Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed,
400: From Management Mess to Leadership Success with guest expert Scott Jeffrey Miller
Oct 04, 2023
Scott Jeffrey Miller, author of Management Mess to Leadership Success
Bill Ringle and Scott Jeffrey Miller discuss the importance of being clear and explicit with your intent in all communications for small business leaders because in the absence of details, people make up stories and those stories can become a(nother) mess.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Declare your intention on why you called this meeting or are taking this course of action. This provides clarity and lessens the probability of misinterpretations. Most importantly, remember to keep your actions aligned with your stated intentions.
Manage expectations by setting boundaries on what you cannot do. It is better to say 'no' and let people down early on rather than make a commitment you wouldn't be able to fulfill. That will break trust, harm your relationship, and damage your reputation.
Do not stretch your people more than their abilities or temporary limits. It is better to give your employees wins by setting attainable goals. Let your people know and feel that you care about them as people, not just their work roles.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
How radio host Bruce Williams left a profound mark on Scott's passion for business and how the world really works. [01:12]
Who would benefit from reading your book, Management Mess To Leadership Success? [04:15]
Steve Jobs' behavior from 30 years ago is one of the most discussed examples when discussing leadership behavior. What was a humbling moment when what you thought one of your best leadership moments turned out to be one of your weakest? What did you do to bounce back from that terrible meeting with the team? [08:11]
What would you say is the significance of declaring our intent and the consequences if our actions do not align with it? [13:30]
Blaine Lee wrote, "Nearly all if not all, conflict arises from mismatched or unfulfilled expectations." Can you elaborate on this problem with unfulfilled expectations and how to avoid them? [18:12]
CASE: Canadian manager proved that you can still follow through with your commitment even after being released from it. This story is a showcase of dedication and true commitment. [20:45]
Can you explain the analogy of jockeys and their prized horses and how it relates to leaders and their prized people? [24:04]
What is the lesson from the goose and the golden egg metaphor that explains why good leaders know not to force productivity from their employees? [26:44]
CASE: Pete reported to Scott and was afraid to make specific requests because of a reading dyslexia. [29:30]
Just because employees are free to declare their intent, how can those intentions be still be grounded to what is within reasonable limits? [33:33]
My Quest for the Best Lightning round begins. [41:01]
Expert Bio
Recruited by Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s team, Scott built a 26-year career in the world’s most respected and influential leadership development firm, serving nearly every role imaginable.
From a front-line salesperson to project manager, sales leader, general manager, vice president, chief marketing officer to executive vice president of thought leadership. Scott’s professional roles evolved as he became a multi-bestselling author, radio and podcast host, leadership coach, columnist, and global keynote speaker. He continues to consult with FranklinCovey and is proud to continue their collaboration...
The Core Skills Needed to Become a Leader Regardless of Your Work Title with Tania Luna
Mar 13, 2023
Tania Luna, author of The Leader Lab - Core Skills to Become a Great Manager, Faster
Tania Luna and Bill Ringle discuss insights into becoming a great manager and overcoming the obstacles to implementation for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 400 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top Takeaways
Create a culture of innovation by fostering a safe environment where employees feel comfortable taking risks and learning from failures.
Build trust by encouraging vulnerability and practicing empathy with employees.
Overcome resistance to change by embracing diversity and promoting curiosity in the workplace.
Encourage experimentation and learning by providing resources and opportunities for employees to explore new ideas and approaches.
Foster a culture of continuous improvement by celebrating successes, learning from failures, and adapting to change.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
[2:36] How did you become interested in the topic of surprise and creating a culture of continuous improvement? Tania Luna shares her personal story of growing up in post-Soviet Ukraine and how her experience of constant change and uncertainty sparked her interest in human performance.
[8:30] What are some of the key elements that contribute to building a healthy culture? Psychological safety, trust, and diversity in creating an environment where people feel free to take risks and experiment.
[11:47] How can leaders encourage experimentation and taking risks while still maintaining a sense of control and order in the workplace? Leaders can create clear guidelines and expectations, while also giving employees space to experiment within those boundaries.
[15:32] How can managers balance the need for innovation with the need for stability and consistency in their business? Create pockets of innovation within your organization, while also maintaining certain core values and practices that provide stability and consistency.
[20:20] How can leaders encourage employees to be more curious and open-minded in the workplace? You can model curiosity and vulnerability, and also create opportunities for employees to learn from each other and explore new ideas.
[20:20] How can leaders encourage employees to be more curious and open-minded in the workplace? You can model curiosity and vulnerability, and also create opportunities for employees to learn from each other and explore new ideas.
[25:36] My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins
[28:00] How can leaders build trust with their employees, particularly in times of change or uncertainty? Everyone can build trust at work by being transparent, communicating clearly, and demonstrating empathy and vulnerability.
[32:55] How can leaders create a culture where failure is seen as a learning opportunity rather than a source of shame or blame? Shift the culture at work by modeling vulnerability and openness, celebrating experimentation and learning, and creating an environment where employees feel safe to take risks.
[36:55] How can leaders foster creativity and innovation in virtual or remote work environments? You can create opportunities for connection and collaboration, encourage experimentation and learning, and use technology to facilitate communication and idea-sharing.
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best
Expert Bio
Tania Luna (Brooklyn, New York) is the co-founder of LifeLabs Learning, author of “The Leader Lab: Core Skills to Become a Great Man...
Using Data Visualization to Extract the Hidden Insights and Stories in Your Business with guest expert Steve Wexler
Feb 27, 2023
Steve Wexler, author of The Big Picture: How to Use Data Visualization to Make Better Decisions – Faster
Bill Ringle and Steve Wexler discuss the approaches and benefits of presenting data as charts, images, and infographics to make better decisions, build consensus, and tell a better story about the results you are producing for small business managers and leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 350 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
If you are data literate, you can read data faster, interpret them better, and be quicker in making decisions and providing solutions.
The goal of data visualization is to provide the most significant degree of understanding in the least amount of effort. It spares us from cognitive overload because it is easier to understand what we can quickly see.
Collaboration is about creating something far more significant than what you can make independently.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Steve talks about his fourth-grade teacher, Mario Messi, who developed his love of reading. He is part of Steve's pursuit of data literacy. [01:45]
How do the best leaders create the best conditions that allow their people to be their best and perform at their best? [04:29]
How can you recognize the good work of your colleagues with a genuine understanding of your people's contributions? [05:18]
The Big Picture and The Big Book of Dashboards are geared toward data visualization practitioners. Steve talks about his fear in writing about this topic of serving some things that experts may already know about. [06:07]
Why do people tend to cling to their old tools, like spreadsheets, even if they are not as effectively reporting data as data visualization. Does this relate to data literacy? [08:19]
How do know if you are data literate? [10:16]
Why do we see so many bar charts? Are they ever appropriate to use? [11:43]
What are a few differences between data visualization versus storytelling? How to go from being just data literate to be able to use data to tell a story or make a decision. [14:27]
What are the four components of setting the stage for effective data visualization? [16:00]
What was it like to work with Seth Godin on his book collaboration, The Carbon Almanac, using your expertise in data visualization? [21:15]
What is the significance of Charlie Menard's chart (chapter 8)? Why is it considered the Mona Lisa of data visualization? Are there improvements you found? [23:25]
Talk about some of the distinctions you've learned in collaboration versus compromise. [25:34]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [29:32]
Expert Bio
Steve Wexler is the founder of Data Revelations, author of The Big Picture: How to Use Data Visualization to Make Better Decisions—Faster (winner of Data Literacy’s Most Insightful Data Book), and co-author of The Big Book of Dashboards: Visualizing Your Data Using Real-World Business Scenarios.
Steve has worked with ADP, Gallup, Johnson & Johnson, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, Convergys, Consumer Reports, The Economist, SurveyMonkey, Con Edison, D&B, Marist, Cornell University, Stanford University, Tradeweb, Tiffany, McKinsey & Company, and many other organizations to help them understand and visualize their data. A Tableau Zen Master (Hall of Fame) and Iron Viz winner, Steve also serves on the advisory board to the Data Visualization Society and is co-host of the popular webinar series Chart Chat (winner of Data Literacy’s mo...
Write a book to serve as a lighthouse that guides and serves your prospects, customers, and clients with guest expert Anne Janzer
Feb 20, 2023
Anne Janzer, author of Get the Word Out: Write a Book That Makes a Difference
Bill Ringle and Anne Janzer discuss the beneficial reasons for writing a book, overcoming common obstacles, and how to maximize a book as part of your business growth strategy for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 350 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today's top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Thought leaders do not put out their ideas to the world for glorification but to serve their clients, students, customers, and colleagues.
By modeling the tone and style of their writing, thought leaders give their audiences the information and insights that they need.
Writing for your readers makes you a part of a community. In fact, you create and expand your community.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Denise Brosseau's quote on "Thought leaders speak on behalf of others" highly influenced Anne's book. [01:11]
What does 'service authorship' mean? [02:22]
How come writing isn't a solitary activity as many expect? How writing for others else helps authors focus and produce. [03:22]
CASE: Sarah changed her book structure based on who she wanted to serve. Twice! [04:43]
What is the 'pond metaphor' and what can it teach us about reaching a bigger audience by starting small? [05:56]
What does it mean to a writer to 'prime the pump in writing'? [08:16]
CASE: Kathy Capino exemplifies how a book does not always end up as the author expects when starting. Her research and interactions changed the texture and nature of her book. [09:20]
CASE: Steve transitioned from writing his memoir to writing a business book. [10:18]
What are the six steps of the sprint framework? Start with the easy, prime, relax, incubate, notice, and trust your future self. [11:55]
How does it help authors to be more collaborative and less competitive? [21:42]
Expert Bio
Anne Janzer is an award-winning author, nonfiction writing coach, and unabashed writing geek committed to helping people make a positive impact with their writing. She supports and encourages writers and authors through her books, blog posts, webinars, and teaching.Her writing-related books explore the science and practice of effective writing.
Before she started writing books, Anne was a freelance marketing consultant, working with more than a hundred technology businesses to articulate positioning and messaging in crowded markets.
She's been writing business emails longer than she cares to admit—and has made all of the mistakes in her latest book, and more, over the years. She wants to save others from the same problems.
Contact Info and Social Media for Anne Janzer
Primary website
Travels from: San Luis Obispo, CA
Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.
My Quest for the Best interviews:
192: Understanding Subscription Marketing with guest expert Anne Janzer
378: Always review before you click Send with guest expert Anne Janzer
Denise Brosseau
Books by Kathy Caprino:
Breakdown Breakthrough
The Most Powerful You
Radical Candor
Dilbert Cartoon
Published by Anne Janzer
How to gain the unfair advantage in growing your small business with expert Stu Henecke
Feb 13, 2023
Stu Heinecke, author of How to Grow Your Business Like a Weed: A Complete Strategy for Unstoppable Growth
Bill Ringle and Stu Heinecke discuss growing like a WEED model to grow, conquer, and protect your turf for small business owners.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
In a world of stiff competition, you have got to cultivate unfair advantages or you will perish.
If you are optimistic, you do your work with more excitement, effort, determination, and conviction. Feeling depressed only diminishes your performance.
Scaling is an excellent example of an unfair advantage because it goes beyond just you. It involves meaningful relationships with people that can help you advance your business.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
'Deal with what is' is a message that Stu extracted from delving into the weeds.[00:37]
What are the admirable traits of weeds that we can emulate to gain an unfair advantage to grow our business? [03:21]
How can weeds be seen as conquerors? Is there a formula to follow to grow your business like a weed? [04:46]
Can optimism be defined as the absence of depression? What can we learn about boundless optimism from the dandelion? [06:25]
What are the six attributes that define the "grow your business like a weed" mindset? [07:06]
What is the difference between growing your business and scaling your business? [08:23]
What can you tell me abou the power of operating on a collective scale? Stu shares how he and his Author's Leverage group scale collectively. [09:57]
What is the Chief Weed Officer (CWO)? Why is having a recorded process important? [13:10]
Weeds are often treated as pests but how they grow and thrive has inspired us to use them as metaphors for complimenting growth. [15:21]
Why are founders not supposed to be part of the deliverables? [16:50]
Expert Bio
Dubbed by the American Marketing Association the “Father of Contact Marketing,” STU HEINECKE is a Wall Street Journal cartoonist, hall of fame-nominated marketer and the bestselling author of How to Get a Meeting with Anyone and Get the Meeting!
Stu is also the founder of Cartoonists.org, a group of WSJ and New Yorker cartoonists who donate their art to help charities raise funds. Heinecke is author of How to Grow Your Business Like a Weed: A Complete Strategy for Unstoppable Growth.
Contact Info for Stu Heinecke
Primary Website
Travels from: Freeland, WA
Connect on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Books Authored by Stu Heinecke
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
My Quest for the Best interview: Using creativity and humor to make contact and build your business with guest expert Stu Heinecke
Authors Leverage
David Petraeus
Barry McCaffrey
The 6 Elements of a GROWTH mindset from the Chief Weed Officer
Irrepressible Optimism
Ruthless Persistence
Brutal Urgency
Fearsome Aggression
Nimble Adaptability
Alien Resilience
https://youtu.be/EKgKobG8WFU
Removing the friction from your customer journey with guest expert Melina Palmer
Feb 06, 2023
Melina Palmer, author of What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You: Unlocking Consumer Decisions with the Science of Behavioral Economics
Bill Ringle and Melina Palmer discuss how to identify and apply the science underlying the decisions your customers are making each day for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Execute a successful strategy by leveraging language patterns to influence people to choose you and feel good about choosing you.
Make it easy for your buyers to do business with you and support them in the process.
Know your worth and use the tools and insights of behavioral economics to be confident in naming your price.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Paul McCartney became a legend even though he couldn't read sheet music. This surprising fact about the legendary ex-Beatle inspired Melina when she realized that you don't have to have the skill already present when you want to pursue something. [01:28]
Behavioral economics decodes what makes us buy things. [03:49]
Language is a very powerful determinant of what we buy or if our products get sold or not. [06:04]
Melina discusses the five wording mistakes we need to avoid.[08:08]
Why we should not be afraid to say our price. Melina shared a story of one of her clients who were hesitant to name her price but was both shocked and rewarded that the client wanted her most expensive package. [11:56]
How do you use insights from behavioral economics to make prices attractive to your buyers? [13:57]
What is the hot-cold empathy gap? [17:10]
CASE: Steve asked for help with his company's messaging. With Melina's help, they took a complicated company statement into a simple question that is easy to understand and gets the customer thinking they need what is offered.[18:08]
What does the elevator experiment show about nudges, or incorporating a bit of friction into an existing process, and how it can change buying outcomes? [23:58]
What are some examples of reframes that help nudge people into changing behavior? When vs. if, anyone vs. everyone, and question vs. statement. [25:44]
What about understanding the brain's rules makes it easier for people to choose you? [27:34]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [28:23]
Expert Bio
Melina Palmer is the founder and CEO of The Brainy Business, which provides behavioral economics consulting to businesses of all sizes from around the world. Her podcast, The Brainy Business: Understanding the Psychology of Why People Buy, has downloads in over 170 countries and is used as a resource for teaching applied behavioral economics for many universities and businesses. Melina obtained her bachelor’s degree in business administration: and marketing and worked in corporate marketing and brand strategy for over a decade before earning her master’s in behavioral economics.
A proud member of the Global Association of Applied Behavioral Scientists, Melina has contributed research to the Association for Consumer Research, Filene Research Institute, and writes the Behavioral Economics & Business column for Inc Magazine. She teaches applied behavioral economics through the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab.
Her first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, was a finalist in two categories of the International Book Awards. Her second book, What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You,
Your customers want their problems solved and sales is the first step with guest expert Nikki Rausch
Jan 30, 2023
Nikki Rausch, author of The Selling Staircase: Mastering the Art of Relationship Selling
Bill Ringle and Nikki Rausch discuss relationship selling as working with your prospect to solve a problem and not at them to make a sale for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Selling is not about you; it is about the clients.
Offer what the client needs, not what they can afford. Remember, we are not just selling to them; we are providing a solution for their problem.
Selling is a process of building trust, creating curiosity, and discovering through conversations.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Nikki recalls working at her grandfather's tool store and how this experience honed her skills in selling. [01:00]
Armed with experience and her grandfather's wisdom, Nikki was impressed at her first job, being so natural at selling she got promoted at eighteen. [02:35]
Working for Hitachi America, Nikki observed Patrick, a more tenured employee who was not only killing it with sales but was creating customer loyalty. He taught her what it means to 'make it about the customers.' [06:52]
Nikki talks about selling as a process: Building trust, creating curiosity, and discovery. [10:03]
Selling, according to Nikki, starts at the discovery process because it is in this step where the conversation, virtually or in person, happens. [13:18]
Lisa was a client of Nikki's who has her clients ready to take the next step with her. But Lisa was confused with the steps and was taking two steps back. [16:14]
How to prospect a client. Nikki likens this to the difference between calling versus calling a dog. [23:34]
Nikki talks about The Sales Maven Society and how this group didn't only become a place of learning but a community of people helping each other. [26:32]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [31:25]
Expert Bio
CEO of Sales Maven, Nikki Rausch has the unique ability to transform the misunderstood process of “selling”.
With 25+ years of selling experience, entrepreneurs and small business owners now hire Nikki to show them how to sell successfully and authentically.
Nikki has written 3 books, all available on Amazon and she has a podcast called Sales Maven which you can find on your favorite podcast platform.
Contact Info and Social Media for Nikki Rausch
Primary website
Travels from: Boise, ID
Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.
The Sales Maven Podcast
The Sales Maven Society
Hitachi
Published by Nikki Rausch
What it really takes to unleash the power of your second in command with guest expert Cameron Herold
Jan 23, 2023
Cameron Herold, author of The Second in Command: Unleashing the Power of Your COO
Bill Ringle and Cameron Herold discuss the role of the COO, the importance of matching the stage of the company and the relationship chemistry with the CEO, and when it is time for a COO to move on to another role or company for ambitious small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Your second in command must be the yin to your yang, complementing your skills, interests, and responsibilities.
A talented CMO could work in almost any company and contribute to its success. A talented COO knows that they would need to find the right combination of company stage, industry, business model, and chemistry with the CEO to make significant contributions.
An effective COO is essential to scaling your business. If strategic growth is stuck, check with your COO for their perspective before reviewing the sales performance metrics.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Cameron cites Thomas Edison's observation that "Vision without execution is hallucination."
CASE: The story of how Brian Scudamore, founder and CEO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK hired Cameron as its first COO, employee 14.
What can someone who reports to the CEO, as a COO, say, do to improve their relationship? Think of it like a good marriage.
CASE: What was the story behind the conflict you resolved at 1-800-JUNK between the head of product and head of IT?
How did you grow the COO Alliance during the pandemic lock down?
How do you use the Kolbe assessment to make your COO Alliance members better leaders?
How did you come to broaden your understanding of the many types of roles that COOs can play? Lessons from Clayton Mask, the founder of Infusionsoft and a Harvard Business Review article.
Where did the double-double rule of thumb come from, where the management team that takes you through a revenue doubling twice probably needs to be updated or replaced?
What's your approach to and experience with using ChatGPT and Open AI in your work?
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round Begins
When do you know it is time to move on as COO? Two parts -- one from the COO perspective and one from the CEO perspective.
Expert Bio
Cameron Herold has built a dynamic consultancy and his current clients include a 'Big 4' wireless carrier and a monarchy. He earned his reputation as the business growth guru by guiding his clients to double their profit and double their revenue in just three years or less.
Cameron was an entrepreneur from day one. At age 21, he had 14 employees. By 35, he'd help build his first TWO $100 MILLION DOLLAR companies. By the age of 42, Cameron engineered 1-800-GOT-JUNK's spectacular growth from $2 Million to $106 Million in revenue and 3100 employees - and he did that in just six years. His companies landed over 5,200 media placements in that same six years, including coverage on Oprah.
Not only does Cameron know how to grow businesses, but his delivery from the stage is second to none. Rich Karlgaard, publisher of Forbes magazine, stated: "Cameron Herold is THE BEST SPEAKER I've ever heard...he hits grand slams".
When Cameron steps off the stage, he doesn't stop teaching. He is the author of the global best-selling business book DOUBLE DOUBLE, which is in its 8th printing and in multiple translations around the world.
Performance conversations that can transform your business with expert Christopher D. Lee
Jan 16, 2023
Christopher Lee, author of Performance Conversations: How to Use Questions to Coach Employees, Improve Productivity, and Boost Confidence (Without Appraisals)
Bill Ringle and Chris Lee discuss how your managers can adopt a coaching methodology to improve your business conversations and performance for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Waiting until the very end to give a performance review is doing your direct reports a disservice because it is a delay for improvement. You allowed your team to continue a substandard performance for a long time only to give them a bad review. Coach as soon as you can.
Performance conversation, like any fruitful conversation, must be two-way. It is not just the leaders giving feedback and what their direct reports can change to improve performance, but also the employee can open up to their leaders and ask for help.
Never let your personal biases affect your performance evaluation.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
A.G Garson was a black millionaire business owner for Birmingham, Alabama, whose presence in their community was heavily felt by Chris and served as his most significant influence growing up. [01:04]
Be 'forward-looking' in your performance conversations. Chris weighs in on why looking forward is fairer to employees. CASE 1: Sally, an A-tier employee, who performed great most of the year but didn't have the best start, was worried her early performance would shade her most recent performance. [02:34]
Christopher explains the biases when leaders try to manage past performance, i.e., waiting until the end to give the bad news instead of correcting through coaching ASAP. [05:22]
Christopher highlights the difference between a judge and a coach. [07:06]
The mutually beneficial of coaches/leaders and their clients/direct reports. [09:08]
Christopher reminds us that a conversation is two-way. For example, in a performance conversation, it is not just the manager who talks but also the employee who can ask for help. [12:15]
CASE 2: Karen is an HR in the Pittsburgh area who had an issue with 'the tail wagging the dog.' How do we catch ourselves when we are being unfair with our judgments? [13:44]
A performance conversation, as defined by Christopher, is structured and tailored. [16:07]
A tip on how to create a positive performance conversation. [19:18]
Expert Bio
Chris is the chief human resources officer for William & Mary, the nation’s second-oldest university. Before this role, he was Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources for the Virginia Community College System, a network of 23 colleges serving over 200,000 students in the commonwealth. He has over 25 years of experience as a chief human resources officer in higher education, having worked at public and private institutions.
He is a consummate human resource professional with experience as an author, consultant, lecturer, and accomplished practitioner. He is a former question writer for the PHR and SPHR examinations administered by the Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI). He is the author of numerous human resources-related articles and four books, including Performance Conversations: How to Use Questions to Coach Employees, Improve Productivity, and Boost Confidence (Without Appraisals).
He has presented at conferences and consulted with clients in the US, Canada, Australia,
Business success is easier when you stop doing the things that make it hard, confusing, and unclear with guest expert Michael Neill
Jan 09, 2023
Michael Neill, author of The Inside-Out Revolution: The Only Thing You Need to Know to Change Your Life Forever
Bill Ringle and Michael Neill discuss ways to have and communicate a clear vision as a small business leader so that you and your people know how to contribute to success.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
We do better when we live in what we’re thinking instead of living in our circumstances. Therefore, let’s control the content of our thinking so that we’re not exaggerating situations. Making mountains out of molehills creates fear, anxiety, and other negative emotions that if they grip us will cause us to make bad decisions.
Work effortlessly, and that means without the tightness, the struggle, and the constant pressure. We can do more when we are in the flow state and aligning ourselves at the speed of life.
Never re-establish or rebuild your business with discouragement as a foundation. Defeat this negative emotion before making business decisions.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
"If we love what we do, it's going to improve. If we don't, that's probably not what we should be doing"- Michael shared this valuable lesson he learned from his father. [01:25]
The message of the book Inside Out Revolution and the power of perceiving our reality. [03:18]
How we get from the point of understanding, we can create our own story to owning our capacity to change it. [06:24]
CASE 1: Alice is the wife of one of Michael's clients who turned her husband's behaviors into the source of her negative emotions. After a conversation with Michael, she could traverse from the point of creating reality to changing it. [07:30]
CASE 2: Bob was a very burnt-out CEO whose emotional turmoil almost made him go through a very bad business decision. After venting his frustration to Michael, Bob could calm down, take a step back, and remember how he could run his business successfully for many years. Now Bob is 6 million dollars richer and running a business he loves. [10:35]
Dr. George Pransky, Michael's former mentor, likened how our mind works to that of a race car. But instead of revolution per minute, the mind is measured per TPM- Thought Per Minute. [13:48]
Moving towards the flow state. Michael talks about the 'seemingly effortless' way of doing things. [17:46]
Introducing the new normal has not been a pleasant ride for many people. Michael shares his observations on why some thrived when many failed and the qualities these people possess. [18:32]
CASE 3: Fred was a CEO who had all stacks against him when the lockdowns were implemented. Owning bars, music venues, and restaurants, he belongs to the industry that was hit the most by this. But Fred did not re-establish his business with discouragement as a baseline. While the lockdown was not the best for him, he managed a sustainable burn rate. [20:47]
The Las Vegas gambling metaphor and how people can tap into their sense of power and ease with their business. [24:31]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [26:42]
Expert Bio
Michael Neill is an internationally renowned transformative teacher, author, broadcaster, and speaker, described as having the unique ability to “blend the sacred with the profane.” The inside-out understanding at the heart of his work challenges the cultural mythology that stress, pressure, and other symptoms of “seriousness” are necessary for adaptation and growth ...
Embrace the paradoxes of leadership to rise to new heights with guest expert Tim Elmore
Jan 02, 2023
Tim Elmore, author of The Eight Paradoxes of Great Leadership: Embracing the Conflicting Demands of Today's Workplace
Tim Elmore and Bill Ringle discuss how leaders today need a stronger cognitive to deal with the wide range of education, expectations, exposure, and emotions that employees bring to their work.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today's top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Leadership is not a feature but an identity.
The fastest way to influence people is through serving and problem-solving.
Do not attempt to control the outcome. Instead, influence it when you can.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Tim fondly recalls the first time he spoke in front of an audience and shared his appreciation for Sean Mitchell, the man who gave him the opportunity.[01:13]
The negatives and the positives of having talent. [03:53]
John Maxwell mentored Tim over 20 years. What was the most valuable skill that John Maxwell taught Tim Elmore? How to have a difficult conversation. [05:04]
What is true leadership and what makes it a challenge to execute consistently? [08:16]
Introducing the three buckets of Habitudes: What is in your control, what isn't, and what you can influence. [09:11]
Why are most managers guilty of confusing the influence bucket with the control bucket? Mixing up what you can control with what you can only influence. [10:28]
CASE: Terry was a leader who is a poster boy of why it is dangerous to lead with too much confidence and no humility. [13:32]:
What is the Dunning-Kruger effect? What happens when people lead with ignorance and confidence. [15:30]
CASE: Dennis was a Chick-fil-A manager with a drinking problem that affected his workplace. After discovering this, Truett Cathy showed the door to Dennis. What door did Truett Cathy show his manager? The door to improvement. [16:23]
How do you hand over the reins of leadership like a boss? Examples from Martin Luther King and Truett Cathy. [19:06]
Tim created a new Habitude called clean the windows: Giving your team the freedom to work things their way but making the result you want to be achieved explicit. [24:22]
Isaac Newton is a perfect example of achieving exemplary results without supervision. [25:41]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [26:50]
Expert Bio
Dr. Tim Elmore is the founder and CEO of Growing Leaders, an Atlanta-based non‐profit organization that was created to develop emerging leaders. His work grew out of 20 years of serving alongside Dr. John C. Maxwell. Elmore has appeared in The Wall StreetJournal, The Washington Post, USA Today, Psychology Today, and he’s been featured on CNN’sHeadline News and Fox and Friends to talk about leading multiple generations in themarketplace. He has written over 35 books, including Habitudes: Images That Form LeadershipHabits and Attitudes.
Contact Info and Social Media for Tim Elmore
Primary website
Travels from: Peachtree Corners, GA
Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.
Truett Cathy
John Maxwell
Martin Luther King
Dunning-Kruger effect
Steve Robinson
Isaac Newton
What are The 8 Paradoxes of Great Leadership?
Paradox One: Uncommon Leaders Balance Both Confidence and Humility
The constellation model of leadership with guest expert Matthew Barzun
Dec 12, 2022
Matthew Barzun, author of The Power of Giving Away Power: How the Best Leaders Learn to Let Go
Bill Ringle and Matthew Barzun discuss leadership insights for small business leaders from Matthew's perspective as a United States ambassador to Sweden and the United Kingdom.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today's top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Co-creation is a valuable meeting outcome. It occurs when you create something — a product, a plan, a concept — thorugh your interactions.
A team operates better as a constellation: Everyone is their own star, but together they form a higher level context and purpose.
Our obsession with "solutionism" blinds us to the fact that not everything is a problem that needs to be solved. Sometimes we're having difficulties and can just go around them.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Jacques Barzun, a Provost at Columbia University, author of 40 books, and a man with a great understanding of life was Matthew's grandfather and his biggest inspiration growing up. [01:22]
What business leaders can learn about meetings from Peter Drucker's guru, Mary Parker Follett. [03:51]
The Mary Parker Follet Test: What are the four possible outcomes in a meeting? Are you focused on the only one that is worthwhile. [05:30]
We should expect three things after a meeting: To be needed, to need others, and to be changed. [07:05]
How did PowerPoint change the power structure in meetings. [07:41]
What is Amazon's 6-page brief model of collaborative? [09:03]
Explaining the difference between the pyramid and the constellation. Do you have a one dollar bill to examine? [10:38]
The Internet itself is a constellation. The world's most impactful innovations and successful businesses are organized this way.[13:38]
"What is the opposite of winning and losing?" [16:03]
Why the West is obsessed with "solutionism," the idea that everything needs to be solved. [17:48]
After a conversation with stand-up comedian Jimmy Carr, Matthew concluded that leadership is a joke. Seriously. [20:09]
My Quest for the Best lighting round begins. [34:12]
What was former President Barack Obama's advice for his then-first-time diplomat? [37:00]
Expert Bio
Matthew Barzun has always been fascinated by how we can stand out and fit in simultaneously. He helped countries do both when he served as US Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Sweden. He helped citizens do both as National Finance Chair for Barack Obama by pioneering new ways for people to have a stronger voice in politics. And he helped tech consumers do both as an entrepreneur when he helped start CNET Networks in the early 90s. Barzun was raised on the East Coast, started his career on the West Coast, and settled in the middle in Louisville, Kentucky, with his wife, Brooke, and their three children.
Contact Info and Social Media for Matthew Barzun
Primary website
Travels from: Louisville, KY
Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.
Mary Parker Follett
Free download sample of The Power of Giving Away Power by Matthew Barzun
Peter Drucker
PowerPoint
VISA
Stephen Covey- The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
Good to Great by Jim Collins
The West Wing
Barack Obama
Published by Matthew Barzun
Habits different from what you read on social media with guest expert Wendy Wood
Dec 05, 2022
Wendy Wood, author of Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick
Bill Ringle and Wendy Wood dive into the distinctions of what habits are so that with accurate detains and understandings, you can select and upgrade your habits for success as a small business leader.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 350 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Our habit-memory comes from actions we repeat because they reward us with the desired result.
People in decision-making positions should lead less from the gut and more from conscious thinking.
Avoid overexerting yourself through willpower and form better habits faster.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Wendy was inspired by her father, who had high standards in everything he did with his children. [01:44]
The value of setting up high standards resonated throughout her work. Wendy explains how our standards influence the repeated behaviors we create. [04:16]
What role do habits play in running a successful business? [07:07]
While the job may be different and the context may vary, there are reasons why we always go back to what's familiar. [09:25]
How are habits and rituals related but not identical? [13:23]
Why asking questions is a great habit. [14:55]
How do our habits make up for our limited decision-making ability? [17:10]
Is wearing Michael Jordan's go-to brand every day a habit or a superstition? [18:19]
The research found that firefighters, especially experienced ones, don't really have a plan and instead rely on habits. [21:31]
While habits are important, decision makers must dedicate the energy and the time to make better decisions. [22:52]
What are the details of the relationship between habits and willpower? [25:09]
What is your best advice on forming habits? [28:01]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins.[44:54]
Expert Bio
Wendy Wood is a research psychologist who devoted the last 30 years to understanding how habits work. She is Provost Professor of Psychology and Business at the University of Southern California, where she also served as Vice Dean of Social Sciences.A 2008 Radcliffe Institute Fellow, and 2018 Distinguished Chair of Behavioral Science at the Sorbonne/INSEAD in Paris, Wendy has advised the World Bank, the Centers for Disease Control, and industries such as Proctor & Gamble and Lever Bros.
Wendy completed her graduate degree in psychology at the University of Massachusetts. She went on to be the James B Duke Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. Having published over 100 scientific articles, she received numerous awards for her research and teaching. For the past 30 years, her research has been continuously funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Health, and the Templeton Foundation.
Contact Info and Social Media for Wendy Wood
Primary Website
Travels from: Washington, DC
Connect on LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Mike Zuckerman
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Nike
Fila
Michael Jordan
Books Authored by Wendy Wood
Smashing through the 'Overlooked Expert Problem' with guest expert Michelle Mazur
Nov 14, 2022
Michelle Mazur, author of 3 Word Rebellion: Create a One-of-a-Kind Message that Grows Your Business into a Movement
Bill Ringle and Michelle Mazur discuss creating a pithy statement that brings prospects to do business with you for small business leaders, marketers, and entrepreneurs.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Architect a clear and concise message that sticks into people's minds to carve themselves a unique space in today's overcrowded market.
Word of mouth is great, but the downside is that we don't control what people say about us and when they talk about us.
If our message is purely focused on providing a solution, we might miss the group of people unaware they even have a problem.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Unlike most children, Michelle had unique inspiration growing up in the form of John F. Kennedy. She admitted to being pretty interested, albeit for naive reasons. in politics as a child. [01:00]
Whether it is JFK, Martin Luther King, or any other politician, an apparent common ground they share that Michelle observed was that they master in delivering their message.[03:27]
The downfall now that everyone has the means to market online is that the marketplace has become oversaturated. Michelle emphasizes the importance of messaging in carving your place in an overcrowded market.[06:22]
Michelle, creating a message that captures attention creates a conversation that allows you to cultivate connection.[10:23]
What makes the three-word rebellion works is that it encapsulates the message you want to convey and because it is short, it easily sticks to people's mind. Michelle shares more examples of three-word rebellions that worked so well.[14:18]
Michelle recalls when she first crystallized Three Word Rebellion and how she turned it into her brand.[16:34]
The 'Jesse Phenomenon' and why marketing is not enough.[19:53]
Why solution-focused messages are not as effective as we think and how we may miss potential clients if we simply rely on them. [22:57]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [27:50]
Expert Bio
Michelle Mazur is a messaging expert who works with brilliant business owners who are shaking things up but having trouble talking about it. She combines the tools of successful social movements with the qualitative research skills she earned in her Communications Ph.D. to help them craft their powerful, captivating message. Get started finding your 3 Word Rebellion for free.
Contact Info and Social Media for Michelle Mazur
Primary website
Travels from: Seattle, WA
Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.
John F. Kennedy
Martin Luther King
StoryBrand by Donald Miller
Find Your Red Thread by Tamsen Webster
Five-second Rule by Mel Robbins
Start With Why by Simon Sinek
Fortune 500
Eugene Schwartz's customer awareness spectrum
Published by Michelle Mazur
Navigate from Crucible Pressure to Satisfying Significance with author Warwick Fairfax
Nov 07, 2022
Warwick Fairfax, author of Crucible Leadership: Embrace Your Trials to Lead a Life of Significance
Bill Ringle and Warwick Fairfax discuss finding your bearings after a hugely public muck-up for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Find yourself and what you want to do. You won't have a fulfilling career if your primary focus is not disappointing others despite not sharing their vision.
Listen to people who can help you instead of allying to yes-men and yes-women. It is better to hear honest advice that contradicts what you want to do rather than just being what you want to hear.
Take accountability for failures and build yourself up from what you've learned.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Defining the crucible and how this moment can shape a leader. [01:31]
Warwick shares the pressure of growing up in a 150-year-old family business and how that pressure further increased after his father's passing. [03:47]
After taking over the family business, Warwick realized that he and his family don't share the same vision on running the company, so he sought advice from people who council corporate raiders. [07:02]
The advice that Warwick would tell his younger self. Somehow, he doubts that he can even convince his past self to do otherwise. [10:25]
Warwicks weighs in the pressure of being the one to correct mistakes by the past generations and aligning the vision of the company with that of the founder. [13:50]
After the company declared Bankruptcy, Warwick shares how he dealt with the fallout; how he felt about the media, public perception, and most importantly, himself. [16:07]
Some newspapers rub elbows with politicians, but Warwick proudly shares the no-bias way his father ran The Sydney Morning Herald. [20:13]
Warwick talks about balancing a story by looking at both sides creating a company where people want to work. [23:33]
A discussion about how people get trapped in their echo chambers in modern times.[26:04]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [30:57]
Expert Bio
Warwick Fairfax is the founder of Crucible Leadership, a philosophical and practical breakthrough in turning business and personal failures into the fuel for igniting a life of significance. He has been hailed by Forbes as offering “compelling insights for anyone who would like to wake up feeling inspired by their work but doesn’t” … insights rooted not in a checklist of glib to-do’s but in his own experience at the epicenter of one of the most spectacular business failures in the history of his home nation of Australia. Fairfax was only 26 when, as the fifth-generation heir to a media empire bearing his family name, he led — and lost — a multibillion-dollar public takeover bid. The result? The company founded by his great-great-grandfather slipped from family control after 150 years, leaving him to examine not only his own shortcomings and losses but also his life’s principles and the lessons he learned from family members who came before him and some of history’s greatest leaders. It has been by shaping these insights as a leadership adviser that Fairfax has enabled others to learn from what he describes as their own “crucible experiences” and emerge to lead a life rooted in who they are. His journey has opened a door for men and women from all walks of life to not only bounce back from failure but to become the leaders they were born to be.
You must ascend any mountain of challenges yourself, but you succeed when you bring others along with guest expert Whitney Johnson
Oct 31, 2022
Whitney Johnson, author of Build an A-Team: Play to Their Strengths and Lead Them Up the Learning Curve
Bill Ringle and Whitney Johnson discuss the power behind thinking of your team as a collection of S-curves for small business leaders, managers, and rising stars.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
We need to be explicit with our communication when working in a hybrid or remote workplace because people cannot see what we are doing or any form of non-verbal communication.
You want people who not only pull themselves up the mountain but pull other people up with them on the journey, as well.
Anxiety is a performance killer. As leaders, we need to create an emotionally healthy and mentally safe environment.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Whitney shares her favorite quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson- "Rings and other jewels are but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of myself," and why this is relevant to her as a coach. [01:52]
The characteristics of an A-Team, do they appear spontaneously, and what you can learn from Apple. [02:35]
"Communicate, communicate, communicate." The advantages and disadvantages of remote and hybrid work to communication within a team. [06:31]
Defining the S-curve and its levels: Launch point, sweet spot, mastery. [09:03]
Why you would want a team that is a collection of different levels of the S-curve. Whitney advises on why you would like your team to have 20% of your members in the launch point, 60% on the sweet spot, and another 20% on mastery. [11:50]
How managers can open a conversation on bridging the gap while de-risking resentment. Whitney gives seven pieces of very valuable advice on how we leaders can do this. [15:12]
7 tools to optimize your journey up the S-curve. [20:31]
The DOs and DON'Ts of giving an excellent initial experience, such as onboarding. [21:41]
CASE: Marco Trecroce, the CIO of Four Seasons Canada to highlight the importance of the onboarding process despite already having someone with skills and experience. [23:20]
CASE: Samantha, an exemplary leader whose employees' trust keeps them safe emotionally and mentally at work. [25:06]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [27:21]
Expert Bio
Whitney Johnson is the CEO of Disruption Advisors, a tech-enabled talent development company, and an expert on smart growth leadership: growing your people to grow your company.
Thinkers50 ranked her among the top ten management thinkers in the world in 2021, and in 2020 she was a Top Voice on LinkedIn, where she has 1.8 million followers.
Johnson is an award-winning author, world-class keynote speaker, frequent lecturer for Harvard Business Publishing's Corporate Learning division, and an award-winning executive coach and adviser to CEOs.
She is the author of several bestselling books, including Disrupt Yourself and Build an A-Team, and hosts the weekly Disrupt Yourself podcast.
Contact Info and Social Media for Whitney Johnson
Primary website
Travels from: Lexington, VA
Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.
My Quest for the Best interview: 371: The Growth of Your People will determine the growth of your company with guest expert Whitney Johnson.
The ability to change your perspective allows your leadership to shine with guest expert Amer Kaissi
Oct 24, 2022
Amer Kaissi, author of Humbitious: The Power of Low-Ego, High-Drive Leadership
Bill Ringle and Amer Kaissi discuss the benefits and disasters resulting from business leaders who lacked (sufficient) humility, the essential component to combine with ambition for small business leaders and founders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will lock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
While ambition and humility shouldn’t necessarily be balanced, each should always be present. If leaders are humble enough to acknowledge their mistakes, it allows their team members to admit when one of them makes a mistake.Leaders who promote psychological safety create highly efficient and productive teams.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
His mother, whose passion for leadership and serving others has been Amer’s most significant influence. [01:20]The similarities and differences between being an organizational leader versus being a leader at home. [06:04]CASE: Travis Kalanick, Uber’s founder, is about self-awareness and humility. [08:13]CASE: In contrast to Travis, Jared was someone Amer worked with, whose promotion as COO almost did not happen because of his lack of self-awareness. He acknowledged his mistake, worked to better himself, and eventually proved he deserved the COO position. [12:21]CASE: Steve Jobs (v2.0) is probably one of the best examples of being humbitious. After being booted from Apple, the company he co-founded with Steve Wozniak, Jobs returned a better version of himself and became a more effective and innovative leader. [15:32]Why humility and ambition don't have to be in perfect balance all the time. [18:26]CASE: Rachel is a leader who proved that ambition and humility can still be conveyed while working online. [21:02]What can be learned about leadership from the Marshmallow Challenge? The Marshmallow Challenge is where participants (CEOs, lawyers, MBA graduates, and kindergartners) are challenged to build the tallest structure using spaghetti sticks, yarns, and a marshmallow. [23:44]My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [28:07]
Expert Bio
Dr. Amer Kaissi (“Ah-mur Ky-See”) is an award winning Professor of Healthcare Administration at Trinity University, a Top-15 program. He is the author of the book “Intangibles: The Unexpected Traits of High-Performing Healthcare Leaders,” which has won the 2019 American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Book of the Year award. At Trinity, Dr. Kaissi teaches courses in Leadership, Professional Development and Public Speaking and is the Director of the Executive Program. His research focuses on leadership, coaching, and strategy. Dr. Kaissi is a national speaker with Huron/Studer Group and a faculty member with ACHE. He is a certified Executive & Physician Coach and works with top leaders from all over the country to maximize their leadership potential. His most recent book “Humbitious: the power of low-ego, high-drive leadership” was published in January of 2022. Dr. Kaissi, an avid soccer fan, lives in San Antonio, Texas with his wife and two teenagers.
Contact Info and Social Media for Amer Kaissi
Primary Website
Travels from: San Antonio, TX
Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.
Travis Kalanick- Founder and former CEO of Uber
Steve Jobs- Founder of Apple
Published by Amer Kaissi
Start by cultivating a change culture with guest expert Barry Moltz
Oct 17, 2022
Barry Moltz, author of Change Masters: How to Actually Make The Changes You Already Know You Need to Make
Bill Ringle and Barry Moltz discuss how our brain chemistry helps us survive but not thrive as business leaders and how to become a change master.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
As romantic as the 'overnight success story' sounds, the reality is that change mostly happens in small steps with some mistakes along the way. Create psychological safety in the workplace by assuring employees that they won't be shamed whenever they make a mistake. Shaming people can only lead to them playing it safe, which in turn holds them back in their performance.There is no bulletproof plan on how to run a business without running into any challenges because there are things that are not within your control. To be a ChangeMaster, focus on the outcomes you agreed to create, stay alert to changes, build strong connections, and adapt as needed.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
As a 12-year-old boy scout, Barry appreciated having a sense of responsibility whenever his scoutmaster Chuck Brower addressed the group as 'men.' [00:01]Most changes in the industry do not come from the leaders. Industry leaders are most of the time behind in the game of change. [04:10]Debunk the romanticization of 'change' happening in great leaps. Instead, changes happen in small steps. [06:54]The truth about financial incentives and why it is more often than a bandage solution to performance problems. CASE: Max was able to complete his job within schedule because of the tempting cash incentive. However, despite the incentive still being available in the following months, he could no longer complete the same task on schedule, proving that cash incentives only provide short-term results. [08:35]It is important to hire someone who has the right skills and is also culturally fit with the company. CASE: Mark, CEO of a midwest manufacturing company, could not keep employees working for him for more than a week, saw what was lacking and from there changed his processes and now his people stay long-term. [11:20]The 'Double Helix Trap' is the feast and famine of marketing; why do businesses exert great efforts to market when business is needed and then pull back when things are busy, and why does this keep you stuck? [13:34]Why 'the challenge of the week' strategy is distracting? [16:16]Shaming and blaming your employees for their mistakes only dampen their performance. [17:21]'Yes, We Deliver,' was Barry's first and unsuccessful company, taught him the importance of investing in the best talent. Lesson: Business success is about executing, not ideas. [21:00]My Quest for the Best lighting round begins. [23:33]
Expert Bio
Barry Moltz helps small business owners get unstuck.
As a small business expert, he is the author of seven award-winning books.
Barry hosts "The Small Business Radio Show" in Chicago on AM820.
Contact Info and Social Media for Barry Moltz
Primary website
Travels from: Chicago, IL and Scottsdale, AZ
Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.
My Quest for the Best interview: 36: Small Town Rules – Interview with guest expert Barry Moltz
Atomic Habit by James Clear
Influence accelerates the quality of your business relationships with guest expert Brian Ahearn
Oct 03, 2022
Brian Ahearn, author of Influence PEOPLE: Powerful Everyday Opportunities to Persuade that are Lasting and Ethical
Bill Ringle and Brian Ahern discuss improving your ability to influence others ethically as a small business leader.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Our mission statement defines our goals and creates a clearer view of our desired results in business and life.
When we help others, building authentic relationships is not about us; it is about them. It is about knowing them, and connecting with them as people, not just prospects.
Influencing others would be impossible if you can't even persuade yourself.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
“Luck was where preparation met opportunity,” a piece of advice by Brian's high school football coach, resonated with him. [01:44]
Brian shares his career in the insurance agency and his transition to leading his speaking and training company, and landing his first client, Al. [03:07]
The benefits of creating and using a personal mission statement. [06:09]
How our mission statement correlates with our effectiveness in serving others in a way that serves both them and us? [08:26]
How ‘the liking principle is often the first step of ethical persuasion. [13:28]
The second principle of ethical persuasion: is unity and how it has even more impact than liking. [18:18]
In the book, Influence People, learning from the protagonist, John, shows how reaching out to someone we are deeply connected to is not just helping them; it also feels like we are helping ourselves. [20:17]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [24:05]
The principle of authority is the third principle of ethical persuasion. Brian elaborates on the importance of building our reputation in our field. [28:30]
Expert Bio
Brian Ahearn is a dynamic international keynote speaker, author, coach, and consultant. He specializes in applying the science of influence in everyday situations.
He is one of only a dozen individuals in the world who currently holds the Cialdini Method Certified Trainer® (CMCT) designation and one of just a handful to have earned the Cialdini Persuasion Trainer (CPT) designation.
These specializations in the psychology of persuasion were earned directly from Robert Cialdini, Ph.D., the most cited living social psychologist in the world on the science of ethical influence. Brian is also a Competent Toastmaster and a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter.
A cum laude graduate of Miami University, Brian has been in the business arena for more than 30 years and training people for over two decades.
Named one of the Top 100 Influencers of 2016 by the Science of Digital Marketing, Brian’s blog has readers in 200 countries and was one of the Top 30 Psychology Blogs of 2012 according to the Online Psychology Degree Guide.
Brian’s first book – Influence PEOPLE: Powerful Everyday Opportunities to Persuade that are Lasting and Ethical – came out in August 2019 and quickly reached Amazon's best-seller status in several categories. It was also named one of the Top 100 Influence Books of All Time by BookAuthority. His second book, Persuasive Selling for Relationship Driven Insurance Agents, was an Amazon new release bestseller in several categories.
Contact Info and Social Media for Brian Ahearn
Primary website
Travels from: Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Area
416: You are stuck without being open to workplace experiments with guest expert Gustavo Razzetti
Sep 30, 2022
Gustavo Razzetti, author of Remote Not Distant: Design a Company Culture That Will Help You Thrive in a Hybrid Workplace
Bill Ringle and Gustavo Razzetti discuss how leaders and those who say nothing to hurtful behavior are jointly responsible for toxic work cultures and what to do instead to be effective leading from anywhere for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Productivity theater is when employees are very active, doing 'busy work,' like escalating zoom calls or posting questions to show they are making an effort even if they are not working. Managers should focus more on the output or the outcome rather than the effort on hand.
If a culture becomes toxic, there are two parties to blame: The leader who is behaving badly and the subordinates who enables the bad behaviour.
Identify the values that strengthen your tribe and the behaviours that make them weak should be eliminated during the reset process.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
His grandfather from his mother's side who was a doctor was his inspiration growing up. Through him, Gustavo learned the power of observation. [01:41]
Gustavo discusses the two things that make up a toxic culture: One is the leader, and the other is the people who do nothing. [03:30]
The definition of resetting your business culture and when and why you should do it. [07:07]
Gustavo discusses how what gets attention gets rewarded and the two things that get us rewarded at work. [10:23]
No matter the size of the business, we should come up with a purpose and an answer to who they serve.[13:28]
Gustavo highlights the importance of being a part of a tribe. [17:42]
The Netflix culture memo; how the streaming giant gave their employees the sense of being respected and valued. [19:48]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [25:47]
Expert Bio
Gustavo Razzetti is the CEO & Founder of Fearless Culture.
Gustavo is passionate about helping teams do the best work of their lives. He is a sought-after speaker, culture consultant, and author of three books.
After 25 years of helping organizations build purpose-driven brands and teams, Gustavo realized that most companies don't lack ideas, resources, or talent but a conducive culture.
He created Fearless Culture to help organizations become purpose-driven, agile, and innovative. Razzetti is also the creator of the Culture Design Canvas, a culture mapping tool used by consultants, coaches, and organizations worldwide.
Gustavo's work has been featured in Psychology Today, The New York Times, Forbes, BBC, and many other publications. Throughout his career, he has advised companies in multiple business sectors, including GM, Continental, Coca-Cola, Mars, and Comcast.
He is the author of four books, including the recent Remote, Not Distant – a roadmap to build a strong culture for remote and hybrid teams.
Razzetti has built a career at the intersection of marketing, innovation, and leadership. He participated in the by-invitation-only Change Leadership Program at Stanford University.
An avid road cyclist and cook, Gustavo lives in Chicago with his wife Moira and sons Tristan and Fausto.
Contact Info and Social Media for Gustavo Razzetti
Primary website
Travels from: Highland Park, IL
Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube |
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Fear drives out the best ideas and people
Sep 02, 2022
Marcus Warner, author of Rare Leadership in the Workplace
Bill Ringle and Marcus Warner discuss what mature leaders do to endure and thrive when times are difficult for leaders of small and mid-sized businesses.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Mature leaders can handle their emotions, remain themselves, and still be relational even when they are having a hard time.
Appreciation cannot be followed by a BUT because then it will lose its meaning.
Our brain is fueled by joy and fear. Always return to joy, work your way to feel it, and share this feeling with your team.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Marcus recalls his 5th-grade football choice, who was a veteran of the Korean war, and how he is the embodiment of discipline, determination, and care. [00:55]
Coach Choopy's example of care helps Marcus deal with difficult conversations. Case in point, Marcus had to make one of his resistant staff understand the importance of making his reports. [02:28]
Marcus elaborates on the importance of returning to joy, how we can feel it, and how we can make others feel it. [06:01]
Tips on how people can feel and share joy with each other in a virtual workplace. [09:53]
Why emotional check-ins are important, when to do them, and how to do them without losing time for business. [11:54]
Marcus on how appreciation done right can transform a workplace. [14:50]
What it means to 'envelope appreciation.' Marcus gives a tip on how to properly and effectively appreciate a colleague. [17:35]
The three key things to being a rare leader and what it means to be a cash cow. [19:33]
Marcus encourages us never to dismiss the importance of working on our skills and habits. [22:09]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [28:55]
Expert Bio
Author and president of the non-profit Deeper Walk International, Dr. Marcus Warner has written or co-authored the books Rare Leadership in the Workplace, The 4 Habits of Joy-Filled Marriages, and the 4 Habits of Raising Joy-Filled Kids. Dr. Warner’s specialty is combining the latest neuroscience research with practical solutions for improving relationships. Rare Leadership in the Workplace identifies four core characteristics of the mature leaders we love to follow and the habits that create a joy-based workplace environment.
Contact Info and Social Media for Marcus Warner
Primary website
Travels from: Carmel, IN
Connect on: LinkedIn |
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.
Korean War
Published by Marcus Warner
Resolving conflict is a critical skill for workplace relationships with guest expert Dr. Paul White
May 09, 2022
Dr. Paul White, author of Making Things Right at Work- successfully managing conflict at work
Bill Ringle and Dr. Paul White discuss insights around expectations, indirect communications, burnout, and rebuilding trust for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Conflict does not happen instantaneously. There are minor signs of tension rising, like how some of our co-workers behave differently towards us than they usually do. Recognize the signs and acknowledge the issue before it escalates.When we deprive ourselves of the things that replenish us, such as sleep, rest, or a break in between tasks to keep up with the unrealistic expectations we set in our heads, we are leading ourselves to the path of burnout.Practice direct communication as it does not only gives clarity with what you need and what you mean, it is only a sign of respect, that you trust this person to listen, and you are not bypassing them.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Paul shares his insights on avoiding or minimizing conflict in the workplace.[01:05]Workplace conflict is the result of conflicting goals. Paul shares the telling signs that conflict is brewing and why these happen. [02:29]In his research with Dr. Chapman, when they were writing The Five Language of Appreciation In The Workplace, they discovered that the same language that gives people affirmation could be the same language that could hurt them. [03:27]If we unintentionally offend someone we work with, Paul advises us to use the 'I' statement to resolve the conflict before it escalates further. [04:48]Paul shares his own story with Steve, a guy he worked with. Despite being good and hardworking, their personality and working style do not match his, making them uncomfortable working together. [06:22]Psychology says that empathy is not inborn; instead, it's a form of perspective-taking we develop during the progression of our life. Paul elaborates on why our current culture struggles in developing empathy. [09:15]Managers can teach and develop empathy to avoid conflict, see things granular, observe, and put themselves in the role. [11:40]The expectation we create for ourselves when in conflict with reality can lead to burnout. [15:29]When we deny things that replenish us to satisfy our expectations, bad only worsens. [17:07]Paul explains why indirect communication is a sign your workplace is toxic. [19:27]Paul gives some reasons why direct communication is still avoided in most workplaces despite being the best way to be clear with what we mean. [20:45]Being critical is different from being condescending. [22:34]My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [27:20]
Expert Bio
Dr. Paul White is an author, speaker, and psychologist, who helps “make work relationships work.”
He is the co-author of The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace with Dr. Gary Chapman and his book, The Vibrant Workplace, had been released in April 2017.
He created and developed The Motivating By Appreciation Inventory, Appreciation at Work Implementation Kit, and The Toxic Workplace Prevention & Repair Kit which helped many workplaces to become an environment full of positivism and grow towards health.
He also co-authored various titles such as Rising Above a Toxic Workplace and "Sync or Swim" with Dr. Chapman & Harold Myra.Dr. White is called upon as an expert resource by U.S. News & World Report (online),
Brands fail when they do not listen to the customer enough with guest expert Steve Robinson
May 02, 2022
Steve Robinson, author of Covert Cows and Chick-fil-A: How Faith, Cows, and Chicken Built an Iconic Brand
Bill Ringle and Steve Robinson discuss the pivotal decisions and marketing campaigns that built Chic-fil-A into a national brand with lessons for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Customer experience is the best marketing. When customers are happy, they not only come back, but they recommend you to others!Advertise your product in a way that gets people talking.Never be an absentee owner. Instead, be involved and active in your business.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
The massive difference between passive responses like 'OK' and the generic 'you're welcome' and the words 'my pleasure' delivered with eye contact and a smile creates a measurable difference in customer service. This is a tip learned from studying operations at the Ritz Carlton hotel, Apple stores, and other places where top service is experienced. [01:25]Ritz Carlton is as far from the chicken industry as you can imagine, but hospitality applies to every business. Truett Cathy gave his team the hospitality edge no matter the source. [03:55]Chick-fil-A's hospitality earned them regular customers and free publicity, almost doubling their sales, as customers shared their experience with Chick-fil-A. [06:28]Steve shares his perspective on a nearly 6-month hiring process to be hired by Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, as the company's first dedicated marketing professional. [07:54]Confused at first with what his boss wanted from him as a marketing manager, Steve quickly learned his role through the support and encouragement of Truett Cathy. [10:05]How a cow ended up as the best salesman for chicken sandwiches. Steve shares the origin of the popular Chick-fil-A mascot. [13:23]When people buy not just your primary product (food), but cow merchandise like t-shirts, toys, and even calendars, you know you have succeeded in creating an iconic brand. [18:26]Stan Richards said, "if people love your advertising, they'll love your brand." [20:01]Chick-fil-A's brand strategy: We said we want to be known as the premium fast-food brand that truly cares for its guests but also has fun. [20:03]Avoid doing things that make you look like everybody else in your industry. [21:03]What it means to be the 'mayor of the mall.' [26:07]My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [29:09]
Expert Bio
Steven A. Robinson is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Chick-fil-A, Inc., 1981-2015.
Prior to joining the company, Steve was the director of marketing for Six Flags Over Georgia theme park in Atlanta, Georgia. This role was preceded by marketing positions at two other Six Flags properties and as a communications manager at Texas Instruments.
After beginning his career at Chick-fil-A as director of marketing, Steve went on to serve as vice president of the department before becoming chief marketing officer. In his most recent role, he was responsible for overseeing marketing, advertising, brand development, menu development, and hospitality strategies.
In addition to serving on Chick-fil-A’s board of directors (2016-2018), Steve serves on several boards for organizations and ministries, including FamilyLife, Fellowship of Christian Athletes of Atlanta, Links Players International, Atlanta Hall Management & College Football Hall of Fame,
Better learning is today's competitive advantage with guest expert Barbara Oakley
Apr 25, 2022
Barbara Oakley, author of Learn Like A Pro, Science-Based Tools to become Better at Anything
Bill Ringle and Barbara Oakley discuss the advantages that improved learning abilities give you and your people to add capacity to your business.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
MQ4B Booster 23.1 — High Performers set up their environment for success
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
We are fortunate to live in a time when excellent online courses are available for learning and a teaching platform. Use the Pomodoro method to eliminate procrastination. Minimize distractions and focus on the task at hand for 25 minutes, then reward yourself for 5 minutes of relaxation. When you return to your next task, your brain will thank you with better focus, recall, and productivity.The assimilation of new ideas and new skills takes time to marinate. We just don't scoop them up, dump them in our brains, and expect the best results despite how frequently people attempt to do just that.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Barbara's Dad inspired her at key junctures in her career path. [01:07]How Barbara, someone who hated mathematics growing up, became a prominent engineering professor and online instructor with over two million students worldwide. [03:23]Business owners today don't have to pause their careers to go back to university due to the abundance of online courses online. [07:38]Why do we need to be cautious of people telling us that we don't need analytic skills? [09:23]Where and how to choose the best online courses. [10:38]What makes online courses successful and effective? [13:04]Barbara talks about bringing online courses to a higher level. [15:44]An introduction to the Pomodoro technique. [17:35]Developing work and productivity habits that allow us to be our best. [20:04]How to stop procrastinating? [23:18]My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [25:36]
Expert Bio
Dr. Barbara Oakley is a professor of engineering at Oakland University and McMaster University. Her online courses on learning are some of the most popular MOOC classes in the world and her research interests range from STEM education to learning practices.
With more than 2 million participants in the Coursera course thus far, Barb’s work proves that learners appreciate practical methods and materials grounded in research about how the brain learns.
She is based in Rochester MI and is here to talk about her book, A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra).
Contact Info and Social Media for Barbara Oakley
Primary website
Travels from: Rapid City, SD
Connect on: LinkedIn | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.
Coursera Courses by Barbara Oakley – with top ratings by over 3 million students
Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjectsMindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden PotentialLearning How To Learn for YouthUncommon Sense TeachingUncommon Sense Teaching Specialization
Additional Resources
classcentral.com
Scott Young - MQ4B Ep 314: Prepare to shatter your limits of what you thought could be learned quickly
Andrew Ng - co-founder and head of Google Brain and was the former chief scientist at Baidu, building the company's Artificial Intelligence Group into a team of s...
Marketing analytics lower your risk with guest expert Phillip Stutts
Apr 18, 2022
Phillip Stutts, author of The Undefeated Marketing System: How to Grow Your Business and Build Your Audience Using the Secret Formula That Elects Presidents
Bill Ringle and Phillip Stutts discuss how to use analytics to reduce uncertainty and gain insights that make it easier and less expensive to do more business.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today's top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Know your customers deeply — what they buy, the deciding factors of their purchase, if they buy based on price or quality, and what media they follow, so you'll know who, when, and where to market.
Map your customers' actions instead of making speculations.
When you are interested, you only do things when situations are agreeable. When you are committed, doing your best is nonnegotiable even when things are inconvenient.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
At age 28, Phillip met Kurt, a political consultant who was the first person to put him under his wings. [01:55]
Phillip shares the downsides of being a one-man operation. [02:51]
How he transitioned from being a one-man stop working for the government to leading his ad agency. [04:28]
Marketing for political clients vs. business clients: Same principle, different execution. [06:13]
CASE: Tom owned 3 Burger King stores in Philadelphia and had been spending $5K a month without the data. He was spending blindly. [10:09]
Business owners realize too late that they have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in online spending because they didn't stay on top of the rule changes.[11:43]
CASE: Dino, the owner of an organic grain-free granola company, gained big sales after this Black Friday insight. [14:05]
CASE: Kyle made the common yet unwise move of arbitrarily picking a return on ad spend without experience. [20:56]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [25:13]
Expert Bio
Phillip is the founder and CEO of Win BIG Media (a corporate marketing agency) and Founder/Executive Chairman of Go BIG Media (a political marketing ad firm).
Phillip has spoken in front of 50 million+ people in his career across all television, radio, podcast, print media, and live appearances. VaynerSpeakers and Keppler Speakers represent him for speaking engagements. Phillip has made more than 350 national media appearances including ESPN, CBS, FOX BUSINESS, FOX NEWS, MSNBC, and CNN. Phillip has been interviewed by renowned business, entertainment and health leaders including: Anderson Cooper, Gary Vaynerchuk, Peter Diamandis, James Altucher, Michael Hyatt, Adam Carolla, Dr. Drew Pinsky, and Dr. Steven Gundry.
Phillip has written multiple best-sellers, including his latest book titled “The Undefeated Marketing System: How To Grow Your Business and Build Your Audience Using The Secret Formula That Elects Presidents” (which hit the top #65 out of 6 million titles on Amazon).
FOX BUSINESS has lauded Phillip for creating “a marketing system that has generated record sales” for his clients and also described him as a “marketing genius.”
Contact Info and Social Media for Phillip Stutts
Primary website
Travels from: Santa Rosa Beach, FL
Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.
Tim Ferris
Tony Robbins
Mark Cuban
Peter Diamandis
Expand your possibilities for employee professional development with guest expert Julie Winkle Giulioni
Apr 15, 2022
Julie Winkle Giulioni, author of Promotions Are So Yesterday: Redefine Career Development. Help Employees Thrive
Bill Ringle and Julie Winkle Giulioni discuss constructing new professional development paths using a new prism for small and mid-sized business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
MQ4B Booster 22.9 — Embrace Multidimensional Thinking to Develop Your People at Work
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
There is no growth without discomfort.
Growth is not only through promotion. Leaders often forget that people can grow in place and it retains talent.
It is freeing when you know your capacity and limitations and then work them to your advantage.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
"We teach the life we live" is a quote that guides Julie both in her personal and professional life. [01:25]
The pandemic gave us a different level of relationship with the people we work with, showing that distance does not prevent us from developing relationships. [02:18]
Remote work allowed people at the back who were shy to step forward and be more vocal in meetings. [04:54]
Julie clarifies what a career can mean.[09:49]
The seven Cs: contribution, confidence, connection, confidence, challenge, contentment, and choice. [10:52]
Julie explains how not wanting to be promoted does not mean not wanting to grow. [14:34]
Why admitting our limits is liberating. [16:37]
CASE: Antoinne, an employee who wanted more exposure, and how her manager did what most managers are reluctant to do.[26:45]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [30:04]
Expert Bio
Julie Winkle Giulioni is a champion for workplace growth and development. She believes that everyone deserves the opportunity to reach their potential. And she supports organizations and leaders who want to make that happen with keynote speeches, consulting and training.
Julie is the co-author of the international bestseller, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Organizations Need and Employees Want, translated into seven languages. Her latest book, Promotions Are So Yesterday: Redefine Career Development Help Employees Thrive, will be released by ATD Press in March 2022.
She is a regular columnist for Training Industry Magazine and SmartBrief and contributes articles on leadership, career development, and workplace trends to numerous publications, including The Economist.
Named by Inc. Magazine as a Top 100 Leadership Speaker, Julie’s in-person and virtual keynotes and presentations offer fresh, inspiring, yet actionable strategies for leaders who are interested in their own growth as well as supporting the growth of others.
Her firm, DesignArounds, creates and offers training to organizations worldwide and has earned praise and awards from Human Resource Executive Magazine’s Top Ten Training Products, New York Film Festival, Brandon Hall, and Global HR Excellence Council.
Julie lives in her 100+ year-old house in South Pasadena, California, with her husband, daughter, and rescue pooch, Pixel.
Contact Info and Social Media for Julie Winkle Giulioni
Primary website
Travels from: South Pasadena, CA
Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube | Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.
244: Julie Winkle Giulioni discusses career conversations organizatio...
Always review before you click Send with guest expert Anne Janzer
Apr 06, 2022
Anne Janzer, author of 33 Ways Not to Screw Up Your Business Emails
Bill Ringle and Anne Janzer discuss common and uncommon mistakes to avoid when sending email for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
MQ4B Booster 22.8 — Use Email Triage to Cut Down on Junk Email at Work
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Too many details are as bad as too few details. One dilutes the message, the other creates more work to get the necessary details.When you write an email, think about what the recipient needs to give you the decision or support you need.Be clear with your intention and the details on your email, starting with the subject, and if it’s a task, better add not only what needs to be accomplished but the date on when it should be done. We all want our emails to be acted upon.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Anne recalls her late father, whose sincere and careful writing letters inspired her work. [01:22]How to achieve the goal of effective communication through emails. [03:01]Anne introduces us to the 'Goldilocks Zone,' what we learned from the fairy tale can help improve our emails. [06:09]Why the address should come after the content? [08:21]Helpful tip: You can set a time frame in Gmail when you can recall a sent email. [09:04]What we all can learn from marketing emails. [10:43]Anne explains the importance of intonation and how we can apply it in written or typed form. [11:27]People often forget that emails are not private. [13:50]As spammers become smarter, we should be more cautious with the emails we receive. [14:50]Anne advises on how to communicate effectively via email. [16:58]My Quest for the best lightning round begins. [19:32]
Expert Bio
Anne Janzer is an award-winning author, nonfiction writing coach and unabashed writing geek committed to helping people positively impact their writing. She supports and encourages writers and authors through her books, blog posts, webinars, and teaching.Her writing-related books explore the science and practice of effective writing.
Before she started writing books, Anne was a freelance marketing consultant, working with more than a hundred technology businesses to articulate positioning and messaging in crowded markets.
She's been writing business emails longer than she cares to admit—and has made all of the mistakes in her latest book, and more, over the years. She wants to save others from the same problems.
Contact Info and Social Media for Anne Janzer
Primary website
Travels from: San Luis Obispo, CA
Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Mary Roach, author of Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law
My Quest for the Best Episode 192: Understanding Subscription Marketing with guest expert Anne Janzer
Published by Anne Janzer
Shifting perspectives makes all the difference with guest expert Lance Loya
Apr 04, 2022
Lance Loya, author of The WE Gear: How Good Teammates Shift from Me to We
Bill Ringle and Lance Loya discuss improvements you can make to allow the team you have to do their very best for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today's top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
MQ4B Booster 22.7 — Use confrontation effectively
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Being the manager or the leader does not guarantee loyalty. Loyalty is created by being proactive, invested, empathetic, and loyal yourself.While the leader is the head of the pack, she or he is still a team member and not above others.Intentional listening is thoroughly absorbing what the other person is saying instead of thinking about what you have to say next while the other person is talking.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Lance talks about his high school chorus teacher Vicky Smith and how she sets a great example of being a good teammate. [01:02]Ms. Smith's influence on him helped him handle problems within the team and recognize leadership skills, like when one of his teammates, AJ forgot the team uniform. [05:09]Lance talks about what builds a great team. [07:10]Why your title as team leader does not entitle you to loyalty. [08:18]The familiar misconception people often have with loyalty, explaining his acronym ALIVE: active, loyal, invested, viral, and empathetic. [13:20]CASE: Jimmy and how he became more proactive in delivering his best when he committed to being fully part invested after understanding more purpose of his job. [14:32]This activity allows Lance to help others have a clear understanding of each team member's values. [16:55]CASE: George exemplifies how casual conversation can strengthen the relationship with your team members. [19:31]My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [24:01]
Expert Bio
Lance Loya is the founder and CEO of The Good Teammate Factory. A former sports coach turned bestselling author, blogger, and professional speaker, he specializes in getting organizations to improve teamwork and create better teammates. Lance has authored eight books on the art of being a good teammate, including the adult nonfiction title "The WE Gear," which made Forbes’ list of “20 Books to Make You a Better Coach or Mentor.” His books, keynotes, and seminars have inspired readers and audiences around the globe. Other experts concentrate on improving teamwork, but Lance concentrates on improving the teammate. Lance’s method works!
Contact Info and Social Media for Lance Loya
Primary website
Travels from: WINDERMERE, Florida
Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
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Publix Grocery Stores.
T. Harv Eker
Published by Lance Loya
Terry Begue, author of Attract & Keep Customers for Life - 4 Abilities to Build Trust, Communicate Your Value and Charge What You're Worth
Mar 30, 2022
Terry Begue, author of Attract & Keep Customers for Life - 4 Abilities to Build Trust, Communicate Your Value and Charge What You're Worth
Bill Ringle and Terry Begue discuss how any entrepreneur can attract and retain customers by going the extra mile consistently.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
MQ4B Booster 22.6 — How you do anything is how you do everything
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
People don't always remember what we did, but they will never forget how we made them feel.
If you are believable, if people trust in you, if your clients like you, and most of all if you wow them with your abilities, you can turn prospects into customers.
Our clients will trust us if we provide quality work even when no one is looking.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Despite not being spoken in words, his father’s actions that clearly define his work ethic made a lasting impact on Terry. [01:21]A glimpse of Terry’s career as a painter, starting at a very young age at 18, and how his first client meeting pitch went. [03:24]Terry recounts the minute his life changed when he decided to pursue more in his career. [05:54]A synopsis of how Terry manages his pipeline and how he benefits from scheduling. [08:51]The four-step abilities: Likability, believability, trustability, and WOWability. [10:10]How Terry differentiated his company from the other painting companies.[12:39]Author T. Harv Eker quoted, “How you do anything is how you do everything.” This quote reflects how Terry runs his business. [14:35]How to deliver the ‘wow’ experience. [15:46]My Quest for the Best lightning round begins.[18:03]
Expert Bio
Terry Begue is living proof that every single one of us has the ability to overcome our challenges and create the most extraordinary life we can imagine. Terry started his painting business fresh out of high school with no money, no experience, no connections, and no skills. Armed with nothing more than a pick-up truck and a dream, he spent years refining his painting skills only to discover no matter how good he became he was just another painter in an overcrowded market. Refusing to settle, he stopped working on his painting skills and began perfecting his people skills. Learning what motivates people to buy, and taking away the reasons why they wouldn’t buy, his business blew up! He more than doubled his income in just six months and over the next year, doubled it again!Since then, Terry has fine-tuned his process for business and personal growth, into an easy-to-follow, four-step system. His proven system has allowed his company to grow year after year, even though he hasn’t advertised since 2012!Today, Terry is an international speaker and author of, “Attract & Keep Customers for Life: Four Abilities to Build Trust, Communicate Your Value and Charge What You’re Worth” He recently launched his brand-new course, “Unnoticed to Unforgettable” designed to give even greater access and insight to his proven strategies in an effort to help as many people as he can fulfill the unlimited potential that lies within them.
Contact Info and Social Media for Terry Begue
Primary website
Travels from: Hartville, OH
Connect on: LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
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T. Harv Eker, author of Secrets of a Millionaire MindJeff Olson...
Misalignment is the main cause of interpersonal friction and diminished productivity in your business with guest expert Patty Beach
Mar 28, 2022
Patty Beach, author of The Art of Alignment - A Practical Guide to Inclusive Leadership
Bill Ringle and Patty Beach discuss how to empower your managers to include everyone's voice so that you produce the best work and attract the best people to join your company for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
MQ4B Booster 22.5 — Avoid confusing consensus with concordance
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
A truth-telling environment where everyone's voice is respected creates genuine alignment.
Never shut down another person's voice even if what they have to say doesn't agree with your opinions or expectations.
As leaders, we should strive to get all the ideas on the table from every participant to be inclusive.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Patty's father, an engineer who became a preacher, taught her to look for the good in people. His example influenced how she treats people and how she conducts her business. [01:21]
After fifteen years as a geological engineer, Patty shifted her career focus to organizational development. [03:58]
Understanding the meaning of alignment, its purpose, and its importance. [06:18]
The SHUVA principle: Seen, Heard, Understood, Valued, and Appreciated. [09:41]
When facilitating, mean what you say, but don't say it mean. [13:57]
Case: Alison works in an engineering organization that is struggling with a supply chain shortage. [17:23]
Patty explains iterative co-creation. [18:45]
Understanding different degrees of alignment and how to reach those points. [19:47]
While everyone should have a voice, not everyone always gets a vote. [22:23]
The importance of setting a parameter of who gets to engage. [24:37]
The 3 Ps of alignment: the Purpose, the Past for context, and the Point served. [25:04]
CASE: Jill, the leader of a non-profit, and how she iteratively worked between her staff and her board to create an aligned strategic plan. [26:04]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [26:56]
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Expert Bio
Patty Beach founded LeadershipSmarts to further a more conscious form of leadership that balances business acumen with socio-emotional intelligence, what Patty calls Versatile Leadership.
Patty is an inclusive Leadership Evolutionist, author, CEO, and coach who combines leadership best practices and adult learning principles to make the hard work of inclusive leadership easy to master.
Patty is the author of The Art of Alignment: A Practical Guide for Inclusive Leadership and the Versatility Factor Profile, an assessment to support gender intelligent and inclusive leadership.
For over 25 years, Patty has designed and delivered leadership programs for the public and private sector that transform managers into the best boss ever and executives into inspirational role models that can scale and grow the company.
Patty is also an ICF Master Certified Coach with two master’s degrees, one in Organizational Development from Pepperd...
Free the shackles of perfectionism with guest expert Stephen Guise
Mar 23, 2022
Stephen Guise, author of How to Be an Imperfectionist: The New Way to Self-Acceptance, Fearless Living, and Freedom from Perfectionism
Bill Ringle and Stephen Guise discuss how to liberate yourself and others from the logjam to external productivity and higher self-esteem called perfectionism for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
MQ4B Booster — 22.4 Use the 80-80-Go Principle to Break Free from Perfectionism
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Choose to chase excellence and not perfection. If we set ourselves to the standard of perfection, we will never be enough, we will never succeed.
When we pursue perfection, we are not setting ourselves for success, rather we are staging our own failure.
Care more about doing the work even if problems and mistakes are made rather than always doing things the perfect way.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
The psychologist couple Mark and Sissy, who is also his family, were inspirations for Stephen when he was growing up. [01:01]
Stephen talks about the struggles of perfectionism and gives a brief discussion of its five subsets as written in his book ’How to Be an Imperfectionist.’ [04:12]
A lot of people confuse perfection with excellence. Stephen gives clarity on what distinguishes one from the other. [MM:SS]
The problem with pursuing perfection.[07:06]
Don Hamacheck’s research suggests that people are not perfectionists, even those who claim that they are. [09:13]
Stephen talks about the binary mindset and why the 0-10 scale of failure to success isn’t healthy. [10::48]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins [19:24]
Expert Bio
Stephen Guise is an international bestselling author, blogger, and entrepreneur. His books are read in 21 languages. He loves psychology, cats, and basketball, which completely defines him as a person.
Contact Info and Social Media for Stephen Guise
Primary website
Travels from: Orlando, FL
Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
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Don Hamacheck
Published by Stephen Guise
Self-discipline is a form of Self-Respect with guest expert Giovanni Dienstmann
Mar 21, 2022
Giovanni Dienstmann, author of Mindful Self-Discipline: Living with Purpose and Achieving Your Goals in a World of Distractions
Bill Ringle and Giovanni Dienstmann discuss the importance of relying on your commitments rather than your motivation for accomplishing more as a small business leader.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
MQ4B Booster 22.3 — Put Distractions on a Diet
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Commitment should be the foundation on which we build change, not motivation, because, unlike motivation, commitment does not fluctuate. Commitment is not about how we feel today. Regardless of our mood, commitment is non-negotiable.Meditation can be helpful in boosting our ability to focus, which could be very advantageous when it comes to pursuing our goals.Respect the commitment you made for yourself by channeling those thoughts into energy and action.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Giovanni was inspired by the teachings of Buddha, which he read about growing up, which led him to embrace mindfulness practices. [01:13]When he first discovered the happiness and contentment in meditating. [04:24]Mediation gave him the power of focus, which is advantageous in his different careers. [03:53]Defining self-discipline and clearing the misconceptions surrounding it.[04:49]CASE: Adam, whose serious YouTube addiction made it hard to focus on his work, finds his way past the distractions. [06:52]The difference between awareness and willpower. [09:07]The ‘never zero commitment.’ [12:46]Giovanni shares his strategy for achieving aspirations. [MM:SS]From working for the Brazilian government’s labor court to being an entrepreneur, Giovanni talks about his career transition. [MM:SS]Giovanni shares how he reoriented himself after his career shit. [MM:SS]My Quest for the Best lightning round begins [MM:SS]
Expert Bio
As a self-discipline coach, Giovanni Dienstmann has helped hedge fund managers, CEOs, entrepreneurs, ambitious professionals, artists and pro athletes to live a more focused and disciplined life. Since 2014 he has been successfully coaching people to overcome distractions, procrastination, self-doubt, fear, and other forms of self-sabotage.
Whatever self-discipline challenges you face, and whatever excuse you are telling yourself—Giovanni has seen it, and has developed a tool to deal with it.
Whether you need help building a consistent morning routine, breaking bad habits, finding your life purpose, increasing motivation and willpower, achieving your goals, or simply being more effective with your time and energy, Mindful Self-Discipline can help.
As a meditation teacher, Giovanni runs LiveAndDare.com, which is one of the top five most visited meditation blogs on the web. His first book, Practical Meditation, is available in eight different languages and has popularly been called “the meditation Bible”. Giovanni has over 10,000 hours of personal meditation practice and is a sought-after consultant to award-winning meditation apps. His meditation programs have helped over 20,000 people start a daily meditation practice, improve their psychological well-being, and master their minds.
Contact Info and Social Media for Giovanni Dienstmann
Primary websiteTravels from: Cheero Point, NSW AustraliaConnect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook
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Making a Difference as a Masterful Observer with guest expert Jeffrey Shaw
Mar 16, 2022
Jeffrey Shaw, author of The Self-Employed Life: Business and Personal Development Strategies That Create Sustainable Success
Bill Ringle and Jeffrey Shaw discuss the importance of having a skilled external observer in your business life to help you "see the label when you are inside the bottle" for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
MQ4B Booster 22.2 — Gathering insights from Blindspots
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Self-employed people are invested in their businesses at a closer level than employees and find again and again that to grow your business, you must grow yourself.Being self-employed does not give you total control over your business. Some circumstances will be liable to change whether we like it or not.Taking an impartial view of ourselves is not easy. Sometimes we shy away from acknowledging how good we are and how better we can be because we are taught to stay humble. This is why it is good to have other people in our lives to give us an objective view of our potential.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
While he did not realize it at first, Jeffrey's mother was his biggest inspiration growing up. [01:25]Paralyzing shyness was a struggle for Jeffrey as a child, but the path to overcoming this weakness led him to a very successful career in photography. [02:44]How other people can see more in us than we do ourselves? [05:07]CASE: Deb, a corporate executive turned self-employed who leaned to give her business the air to breathe to get positive results. [06:12]An introduction to the self-employed ecosystem and the reality of being self-employed. [09:54]The realizations that led Jeffrey to start his coaching business. [11:28]The value of having a solid clientele. [MM:SS]Due to being self-employed his entire career, Jeffrey truly has an edge in coaching his self-employed clients. [14:55]Applying the ’ From-To' format to articulating the change you want in your business or life.[17:52]Motivation comes second to momentum. [21:24]Jeffrey shared what led him to start his podcast, The Self-Employed Life. [24:15]Jeffrey describes the audience avatar for The Self-Employed Life. [28:16]My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [29:06]
Expert Bio
How many people can say they’ve never worked for anyone else? Selling eggs door-to-door at 14 years old began a lifetime of self-employment. As a speaker and small business coach, Jeffrey Shaw helps self-employed and small business owners gain control of their business in what seems like otherwise uncontrollable circumstances.
Drawing on his experience as a renowned portrait photographer, Jeffrey shows business owners how to see business through a different lens and strategies to compose the often-chaotic pieces of life and business into sustainable success.
Jeffrey’s TEDx Lincoln Square talk is featured on TED.com, he’s the host of the top-rated podcast, The Self-Employed Life, author of The Self-Employed Life and LINGO, an in-demand keynote speaker at conferences, events and universities, a LinkedIn Learning instructor and contributing writer to Entrepreneur magazine.
Contact Info and Social Media for JEFFREY SHAW
Primary website
Travels from: MIAMI, FL
Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
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The Growth of Your People will determine the growth of your company with guest expert Whitney Johnson.
Mar 14, 2022
Whitney Johnson, author of Smart Growth: How to Grow Your People to Grow Your Company
Bill Ringle and Whitney Johnson discuss how to apply the S-curve to the growth of your career, your team, and your company for business leaders, managers, and rising stars.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
MQ4B Booster 22.1 — Using the S-Curve to Hire and Develop Top Talent
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Ask yourself, and ask your people about where you are in your growth.
If employees feel like they can learn, grow, and develop, they will stay as long as possible. Making your people feel that they have purpose and are valued has a higher probability of retention than a salary increase or incentives.
When you grow yourself, you grow your business. Having personal development gives us control over emotion, allowing us to think clearer and therefore control our career better.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Whitney found the lead character Samantha from the hit TV series Bewitched to be a source of inspiration growing up. [01:51]Just like the main character in the show, Whitney does not shy away from solving problems, no matter how challenging. [01:54]Whitney shared her experience working on Wall Street and meeting one of the people she admired, author Clayton Christiansen.[03:33]The book Innovator’s Dilemma, authored by Clayton Christiansen, sparked Whitney to think differently when she felt stuck on a career plateau. The ideas in the book clarified and solidified her decision to disrupt herself to advance her career. [06:50].Some managers are so good and effective with their leadership that their employees follow them wherever they go. Sumeet Shetty is an example of such a leader, and Whitney shares some of his best traits and practices. [08:41]The three stages of the tall S to maintain your people: The launch point, the sweet spot, and mastery. [11:24]CASE: Patrick Pichette and Eric Schmidt at Google. How to keep a talented employee from getting bored or burned out. [13:25]Egon Zehnder's 2018 study about personal growth and how the pandemic drastically changed the result. [17:46]Who is the peak performer? What defines a high-performing individual? What defines a high-performing team?[19:27]Whitney shares tangible recommendations to keep your growth trajectory moving positively. [23:24]My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [27:30]
Expert Bio
Whitney Johnson is the CEO of Disruption Advisors, a tech-enabled talent development company, and an expert on smart growth leadership: growing your people to grow your company.
Thinkers50 ranked her among the top ten management thinkers in the world in 2021, and in 2020 she was a Top Voice on LinkedIn, where she has 1.8 million followers.
Johnson is an award-winning author, world-class keynote speaker, frequent lecturer for Harvard Business Publishing's Corporate Learning division, and an award-winning executive coach and adviser to CEOs.
She is the author of several bestselling books, including Disrupt Yourself and Build an A-Team, and hosts the weekly Disrupt Yourself podcast.
Contact Info and Social Media for Whitney Johnson
Primary website
Travels from: Lexington, VA
Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram
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My Quest for the Best Interview: 387: You must ascend...
Avoid Making Your Bias the Norm in Your Team or Business with guest expert Rachel Pacheco, PhD
Mar 09, 2022
Rachel Pacheco author of Bringing Up The Boss: Practical Lessons for New Managers
Bill Ringle and Rachel Pacheco discuss research-backed, counterintuitive insights to help you become a better manager, team leader, and rising star in your business.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
MQ4B Booster 22.0 — Experienced managers cultivate 1+1=2 relationships
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways
Observation is a potent way to know what motivates your people, which lets you figure out how to best reward them.
An actual team is not a collective of self-serving individuals who are just there to contribute their skills. Instead, it functions as a whole, driven to achieve a common goal, and thinks about what’s best for the entire organization and benefits everyone in the group.
Highly efficient teams have explicit, agreed-upon norms like how they operate and behave. When members know what is expected of them, there is accountability and trust.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Rachel's mom inspired her through her example as Rachel was growing up.[01:23]How does her mother’s work ethic applies to her professional career? [02:50]Attributes of a highly effective manager. [04:47]The false notions of putting an effort and managing towards the wrong direction. [07:48]Obstacles are caused when managers and team members do see eye-to-eye about what motivated them. [10:26]Why being an observant leader can make all the difference. [12:17]CASE: Mark's interview where he shared what motivates him. [13:56]A fine distinction between an actual team vs. what Rachel calls a ’TINO’ or team in name only. [16:37]What makes an incredible team? Contributions from Patrick Lencioni and Google's Re: Work project define a great team. [18:00]Psychological safety is also a critical common ingredient present shared by top-performing teams. Psychological safety musts: conversational turn-taking and empathy. [21:56]The Abilene Paradox — why it is not always ideal for a team to decide as a collective. [23:41]My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [26:23
Expert Bio
Rachel Pacheco, PhD is a management author, lecturer and researcher at The Wharton School. She is passionate about teaching people what it takes to be great managers and coaching executives and leaders on how to build thriving teams and organizations.
At Wharton, Rachel conducts research on management—specifically on power and conflict—and is a member of the teaching faculty. She is also a founding faculty member of the Entrepreneurship in Education Program at the University of Pennsylvania, where she teaches multiple courses for budding entrepreneurs that focus on the practical side of working in a small organization.
Rachel serves on the board of advisors for numerous start-ups, primarily in the digital health and wellness space. A former chief people officer, she was on the executive teams of start-ups in the healthcare and big data space. Rachel has also lived and worked in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Indonesia, and Kazakhstan, and thus has experienced the joy (and pain!) of leading and managing organizations across many distinct cultures.
She holds a PhD and MBA from The Wharton School and a BS from Georgetown University.
Contact Info and Social Media for Rachel Pacheco Pacheco
Primary website
Travels from: Washington, DC
Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books,
You shape the container of your business culture through every conversation with guest expert Thomas Zweifel
Mar 07, 2022
Thomas D. Zweifel, author of Leadership in 100 Days: Your Systematic Self-Coaching Roadmap to Power and Impact—and Your Future
Bill Ringle and Thomas Zweifel discuss every individual can take more responsibility for their own achievement as well as the overall success of the business without a title change.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Nothing chases money away in your business growth trajectory, a large deal, or your net worth like a grumpy, stingy attitude with guest expert Ken Honda
Mar 02, 2022
Ken Honda, author of “Happy Money: The Japanese Art of Making Peace With Your Money” (June 4, 2019, Simon & Schuster)
Bill Ringle and Ken Honda discuss how to improve your attitude toward money for the sake of your business, your staff, and your personal wealth for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Chaos Claims Projects that are Poorly Planned with expert Ray Frohnhoefer
Feb 28, 2022
Ray Frohnhoefer, author of Accidental Project Manager: Zero to Hero in 7 Days
Bill Ringle and Ray Frohnhoefer discuss how to avoid the delays and cost overruns in projects by understanding the 7 phases of project management.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Don't just do something interesting, do something important with guest expert Ruth Gotian, PhD.
Feb 23, 2022
Ruth Gotian, author of The Success Factor: Developing the mindset and skill set for peak performance
Bill Ringle and Ruth Gotian discuss the four pillars of the success formula (intrinsic motivation, perseverance, a strong foundation, and ongoing learning) and how to apply them for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Success depends on everyone doing their part with guest expert Jon Rennie
Feb 21, 2022
Jon Rennie, author of All in the Same Boat: Lead Your Organization Like a Nuclear Submariner
Bill Ringle and Jon Rennie discuss how to build a company culture where each person cares about the client's success for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Luck Can be Cultivated – with guest expert Mark LaChance
Feb 16, 2022
Mark LaChance, author of The Lucky Formula: How to Stack the Odds in Your Favor and Cash In on Success
Bill Ringle and Mark LaChance discuss how taking responsibility for your own luck changes the trajectory of your success in every area of your life and business.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Finding the hill after the next with guest expert Darren Reinke
Feb 14, 2022
Darren Reinke author of The Savage Leader: 13 Principles to Become a Better Leader from the Inside Out
Bill Ringle and Darren Reinke discuss finding the courage to become a leader who has done the inner work no matter what your job title.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these
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The better your business relationships, the stronger your business with guest expert MaryBeth Hyland
Feb 09, 2022
MaryBeth Hyland, author of Permission to Be Human: The Conscious Leader’s Guide to Creating a Values-Driven Culture
Bill Ringle and MaryBeth Hyland discuss how workplace culture is really a product of values and behavior while working from anywhere and especially in small and mid-sized businesses.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Lift as you climb – a metaphor for developing the bench strength of your team with guest expert Scott Mautz
Feb 07, 2022
Scott Mautz, author of Leading from the Middle: A Playbook for Managers to Influence Up, Down, and Across the Organization
Bill Ringle and Scott Mautz discuss the pressures and opportunities to make a difference as middle managers in a small business.
Scott Mautz and Bill Ringle discuss Leading from the Middle: A Playbook for Managers to Influence Up, Down, and Across the Organization for small business leaders
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Focus on what matters most with guest expert Erik Qualman
Feb 02, 2022
Erik Qualman, author of The Focus Project: The Not So Simple Art of Doing Less, Better
Bill Ringle and Erik Qualman discuss strategies, stories, and practical tips for directing your attention and effort where they will have the biggest payoff for you in your personal and business life.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these
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When a buyer agrees, it marks the start of benefits that accrue with guest expert Rob Cornilles
Jan 26, 2022
Rob Cornilles, author of The Sales Game Changer: How to Become the Salesperson People Love
Bill Ringle and Rob Cornilles discuss how when guided by the correct principles, selling becomes a vehicle for mutual benefit based on trust, not tricks and gimmicks that cause remorse.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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When you lose your narrative, you lose your way with guest expert Kurian Tharakan
Jan 24, 2022
Kurian Tharakan, author of The 7 Essential Stories Charismatic Leaders Tell
Bill Ringle and Kurian Tharakan discuss the rudderless leader and how to avoid becoming one by telling a better story to yourself, your team, and other stakeholders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Mastering Earned Media to promote your business with guest expert with Michelle Tennant
Jan 19, 2022
Michelle Tennant, author of 21 Day PR Action Guide: The Who, What, When, and Where to Launch a Successful PR Campaign
Bill Ringle and Michelle Tennant discuss how PR can catapult your expertise and business to the readers and listeners of major business media like CNN and the WSJ to attract new clients and customers.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Articulating the change you want to be in the world with guest expert Doug Conant
Jan 17, 2022
Listen to this interview to learn: How getting fired can lead to new and better opportunities What it means to "turn the coin over" when presented with a problem The two top qualities of mind that set exceptional leaders apart from well-intentioned leaders How you can use the criteria to win in the marketplace in your own business What resulted from combining the social agenda with the value agenda at Cambell's Soup for employees and other stakeholders Doug Conant talks with Bill Ringle about proven leadership principles that apply across the board, from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups.
Jennifer Wisdom, author of Millennials' Guide to Management & Leadership: What No One Ever Told you About How to Excel as a Leader
Jan 12, 2022
Jennifer Wisdom, author of Millennials' Guide to Management & Leadership: What No One Ever Told you About How to Excel as a Leader
Bill Ringle and Jennifer Wisdom discuss how to build bridges to greater satisfaction and personal happiness for small business leaders of all ages and levels.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Easily finding the stepping stones to change once you are curious with guest expert Erika Andersen
Jan 10, 2022
Erika Andersen, author of Change from the Inside Out: Making You, Your Team, and Your Organization Change-Capable
Bill Ringle and Erika Andersen discuss what it really takes to change at the personal, team, and organizational levels for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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The special sauce that enables rapid growth in restaurants can be used in your small business with guest expert Peter LeSar
Jan 05, 2022
Peter LeSar, author of Restaurant Strong: The First Principles of Restaurant Outperformance
Peter LeSar and Bill Ringle discuss the idea of business first principles, which allow you to focus on the few key factors that make your business stand out as distinctive, rather than trying to be all things to all customers.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Get Matrix-like insights into the patterns that support high achieving business and personal success with guest expert Ron Friedman.
Jan 03, 2022
Ron Friedman, author of Decoding Greatness: How the Best in the World Reverse Engineer Success
Bill Ringle and Ron Friedman discuss the strategies and stories behind reverse engineering success stories for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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The Key Factors that Determine What a CEO Achieves with guest expert Bill Miller
Dec 27, 2021
Bill Miller, author of The Rookie CEO, You Can't Make This Stuff Up! Learn How 9 Rookie CEOs Got There, Executed, Created Their Stories and Led!
Bill Ringle and Bill Miller discuss how the career path, life philosophy, and communications style of a leader relates to the strengths and weaknesses he or she brings to the role of CEO in small and mid-sized businesses in technology as well as other industries.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Whether you climb a mountain of rocks or ideas, you need Hookpoints to advance with guest expert Brendan Kane
Dec 27, 2021
Bill Ringle and Brendan Kane discuss how to use social media as a way to express and execute on big ideas for your own business or for your clients as small business leaders.
Brendan Kane, author of Hook Point: How to Stand Out in a 3-Second World
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
A hookpoint is successful if we are able to convert attention into revenue.
Your authority as a brand can be established if you are able to influence the people you are connected with to buy what you are selling or endorsing. This gives you real influence.
Monetization increases the value of data.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
His father’s words “think before you speak” is still a lesson Brendan remembers and values today. [01:18]
Brendan shares a snippet his experience moving to LA for the first time to chase his dream of becoming a film producer. [02:02]
The lesson his father taught him allowed him to be able to step back and really analyze a situation. [02:41]
The first pillar to a successful hookpoint is knowing how to grab attention the shortest tim possible. [04:19]
The second pillar to a successful hookpoint is holding attention. [05:22]
The third pillar to a successful hoopoint is monetizing attention. [05:44]
A blessing and curse in the entertainment industry is thinking big is mandatory. Brendan share how this played to his advantage. [07:08]
A hook is successful if attention bring in reveue. [10:01]
The importance of analytics in data and why it is a must to track every aspect of our business. [13:08]
The problem for organic social media growth is people don't plan for monetization. [14:28]
Why Mr.Beast is a great example of a successful hookpoint. [15:15]
Hot Wings is another great example of turning attention into income by putting a unique, and attention grabbing element to their interviews. [17:32]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [24:23]
Expert Bio
Brendan Kane is an outside of the box thinker, speaker and author who empowers brands to scale by helping them stand out and beat competition in crowded and oversaturated markets. He is the author of the international best-selling book One Million Followers and the newly released Hook Point: How To Stand Out In A 3 Second World, as well as the founder and CEO of the Hook Point agency. Brendan has worked with hundreds of individuals and brands providing business and digital strategy for more than 15 years, including MTV, Taylor Swift, Rhianna and many others.
Contact Info and Social Media for Brendan Kane
Primary Website
Travels from: Austin, TX
Connect on Linkedin|Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Rihanna
Taylor Swift
Mr.Beast
Kevin Hart
Kevin Kelly's original 1,000 True fans blog post
The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future
Published by Brendan Kane
Without clarity you are carrying unnecessary baggage with guest expert Ann Latham
Dec 20, 2021
Ann Latham, author of The Power of Clarity: Unleash the True Potential of Workplace Productivity, Confidence, and Empowerment
Bill Ringle and Ann Latham discuss how clarity streamlines effort and improves productivity for managers and leaders in small business.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Clues and clarifications to the meteoric growth that Amazon experienced with guest expert Steve Andersen
Dec 20, 2021
Steve Anderson, author of The Bezos Letters - 14 Principles to Grow Your Business Like Amazon
Bill Ringle and Steve Anderson discuss new insights that small business leaders and managers can use based on Amazon's stunning growth.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Gain a cumulative sales advantage in 10 minutes a day with proactive phone calls with guest expert Alex Goldfayn
Dec 13, 2021
Alex Goldfayn, author of Pick Up The Phone and Sell: How Proactive Calls to Customers and Prospects Can Double Your Sales.
Alex Goldfayn and Bill Ringle discuss how using this simple system help improve impact and sales for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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You create a vibrant workplace one high-quality appreciative interaction at a time with guest expert Dr. Paul White
Dec 13, 2021
Paul White, author of The Vibrant Workplace: Overcoming the Obstacles to Building a Culture of Appreciation
Bill Ringle and Paul White discuss how to identify and cultivate a vibrant workplace, one where employees are challenged to grow, appreciated for the specific contributions they make, and valued for who they are by their colleagues and other stakeholders for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Pay attention to the small moves to reclaim your time and make a bigger impact with guest expert Rob Cross
Dec 06, 2021
Rob Cross, author of Beyond Collaboration Overload: How to Work Smarter, Get Ahead and Restore Your Well-Being
Bill Ringle and Rob Cross discuss how everyone can avoid the obvious ways that overwhelm creeps into our work life, but high performers recognize and embrace the small moves to avoid them at every level of small business leadership.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Taking care of our wellbeing is taking care of our performance.
We need to identify and limit interactions that are not adding value to our work.
Often we blame outside forces for overload, like tight schedules, demanding clients, or overbearing bosses. It is important to ask ourselves about how we contribute to the problem.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Rob Cross proudly talks about his grandfather, a pioneer of aviation, who was a huge influence to him growing up. [00:55]
The problem that causes collaboration to be unmemorable. [02:33]
Technology allows us to be always active online however, being always active can be counter-productive. [03:53]
Always staying connected, like checking and replying to emails anytime, can cause diruption which is often a component of collaborative overload. [05:06]
Effecient collaborations are more likely to focus in on how they shift demands around themselves and in very targeted ways. [07:09]
Rob shares about Scott, a life sciences executive from the mid-west, who despite always doing what looks right on the outside and jumping in to help whenever he can, was in danger of being terminated. [08:28]
Scott was able to turn his career around with the help of Rob, and by being honest as to what contributed to this overwhelm and overload that are making his performance falter. [10:39]
When it comes to overload, 50% of the problem is us. [11:36]
Rob defines collaboration as the pattern of people that you're interacting with to get work done. He further explains when effective collaboration becomes overload. [15:40]
While it gives a sense of accomplishment to be able to check everything on the checklist and being able to respond to people whenever they have inqueries, managers should know how to set their priorities because sometimes these small thing distracts us from doing something meaningful professionaly.[17:37]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [19:34]
Expert Bio
Rob Cross, the Edward A. Madden Professor of Global Leadership at Babson College, and author of Beyond Collaboration Overload: How to Work Smarter, Get Ahead, and Restore Your Well-Being. He is a renowned thinker, writer, and speaker whose category-defying ideas have influenced fields as diverse as organizational design, change, collaboration, teams, agility, innovation, and talent optimization. He is the co-founder and Research Director of the Connected Commons business consortium.Cross has authored six Harvard Business Review articles on practical approaches to enhancing collaboration. He is the co-author of five books, including The Hidden Power of Social Networks.
Contact Info and Social Media for Rob Cross
Primary Website
Travels from: Babson Park, MA
Connect on LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube
Resources Mentioned
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Rick Springfield
Books Authored by Rob Cross
Gain Confidence from Proven Processes to Achieve more faster with guest expert Trevor G. Blake
Dec 06, 2021
Trevor Blake, author of Secrets to a Successful Startup: A Recession-Proof Guide to Starting, Surviving & Thriving in Your Own Venture
Trevor G. Blake and Bill Ringle discuss the importance of following proven business processes, what you can learn from your network, and how a community can accelerate your success for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
To be above sustainable, you need to have a great product and the ability to reinvest proceeds.
Hiring outside help is excellent to gain a fresh, unbiased perspective that can be helpful if we want to see all the avenues that we can choose to solve a crisis or better the business.
Reaching out to people for feedback allows for continued learning.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
“You don’t know what business you’re in until you get into the business.” - A quote from Trevor’s late mentor Goerge Rothman, the founder of Amgen. [01:37]
Trevor elaborates on the power of customer feedback. [03:46]
The components of mentality and approach make a crucial difference in a business. [06:01]
Confidence make a winning business. Trevor shared how this trait helped him create a successful company. [06:30]
The importance of reaching out to people. [08:31]
Trevor shares about his 6th successful company which he launched at the end of 2019. [09:52]
Through his digital platform Trevor G Blake, Trevor helps business owners reach that above sustainable level. [11:06]
The abilities that constitute a successful business. [11:20]
The importance of having the ability to reinvest. [12:21]
Trevor shares how different he approaches his book launch now compared to when he wrote his first book in 2012. [13:26]
Asking open-ended questions is a great way to make people open up. [15:39]
Expert Bio
Hear from Trevor Blake, a perpetual student of life. Author of NY Times Bestseller, Three Simple Steps, and his newest book, Secrets to a Successful Startup: A Recession-Proof Guide to Starting, Surviving & Thriving in Your Own Venture.
Trevor was the founder and CEO of QOL Medical LLC, which he started with just a few hundred dollars, and sold in 2010 for more than $100 million. He has since sold two more companies (over $300 million) and is currently at work on his 4th, 5th, and 6th.
He’s never hired a single employee or worked more than 5 hours a day. He has worked in the UK, Europe, and the USA with companies such as Lipha, 3M, and Biogen and has won many industry awards, including Pharmaceutical Manager of the Year 1990, 1991 & 1992, and UK marketing professional of the year. Trevor’s passion is physics and how we can use an understanding of the relationship between energy and matter to achieve success in any aspect of business and life.
Contact Info and Social Media for Trevor Blake
Primary Website
Travels from: Newport Beach, CA
Connect on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube
Resources Mentioned
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
My Quest for the Best interview: 333: Overcoming the Distractions on the Road to Success with guest expert Trevor Blake
George Rathman - Founder of Amgen
Listen to Trevor's previous interview Episode 333-Overcoming the Distractions on the Road to Success, where he discussed his book, Three Simple Steps.
Books Authored by Trevor Blake
Your colleagues, clients, and even strangers in line for coffee are more open to your influence than you might think with guest expert Vanessa Bohns, PhD
Nov 29, 2021
Vanessa Bohns, author of You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate our Power of Persuasion, and Why it Matters
Vanessa Bohns and Bill Ringle discuss the scientific principles of how to maximize your influence at work for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
We need to be responsible with what we say because whether it is intentional or unintentional, our words can influence others. Make every opportunity a chance to contribute positivity.
The good thing about getting rejected many times over is that we build better resiliency towards rejection. We can think with a clearer head on what to do whenever we are in this situation.
We need to make ourselves stronger and better at hearing no and saying no.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Vanessa's grandfather made a strong impact in her life growing up. [01:04]
One of her biggest dreams was to get into Brown and recalled how proud her grandfather was of her when she got in. [02:08]
Vanessa talks about guiding students with their own ideas in regard to their future plans. [03:27]
A discussion on how we influence others with our words. [05:30]
Here she talks about Ruth and the thrill of being remembered. [07:58]
Jia Jiang talks about rejection therapy, why people force themselves to get rejected every day, and how it impacts them. [14:01]
A conversation about putting yourself out there and asking a little bit more than you are used to. [17:13]
Vanessa talks about Jason Comely who is the founder of rejection therapy. [20:36]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [24:03]
Expert Bio
Vanessa Bohns is a social psychologist and professor of organizational behavior at Cornell University holds a Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia University and an AB from Brown University.
She is the author of You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate our Power of Persuasion, and Why it Matters.
Her writing has appeared in the New York Times and Harvard Business Review, and her research has been featured by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and NPR’s Hidden Brain.
Contact Info and Social Media for Vanessa Bohns
Primary Website
Travels from: Ithaca, NY
Connect on LinkedIn | Twitter
Resources Mentioned
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Brown University - Brown University is a private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island.
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society - is the largest voluntary health organization dedicated to fighting blood cancer in the world.
Jia Jiang TEDx What I Learned from 100 Days of Rejection
Costco - Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational corporation that operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores.
Jason Comely - Founder of rejection therapy
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
Books Authored by Vanessa Bohns
The power of gratitude to transform your work relationships and culture with guest expert Chester Elton
Nov 29, 2021
Chester Elton, author of Leading with Gratitude: Eight Leadership Practices for Extraordinary Business Result
Bill Ringle and Chester Elton discuss the underlying principles and detailed examples of how small business managers can lead with gratitude each day.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
One of our most powerful gifts is having the ability to choose how to respond. Reactions are visceral but response is pensive, and thus, it is something we have full control of.
Showing gratitude to each member of your team, even if what they accomplished are menial tasks, shows you acknowledge their contributions and it makes them aware you know they exist. Even a simple ‘thank you’ could induce positivity to you and your team. It is great to make leading with gratitude our default way of leading.
Mistakes are opportunities, not a sign of failure or lack of potential. They are not encouraged but when they happen, take them as an opportunity to learn, and be better the next time you try.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
A quote from Russell M. Nelson about counting blessings being far better than recounting problems inspires Chester. [01:51]
Our brain isn’t wired to keep us happy, but to keep us safe, and what this means for us. [02:35]
Chester shares a snippet from his interview with former Pepsi CEO, Indra Nooyi about assuming positive intent. [04:02]
An interview with former American Express CEO, debunking the myth that grateful leaders are weak. [06:12]
Chester stresses the importance of being grateful for the things we have instead of dwelling about the things that we don’t. [09:11]
WD40’s CEO Gary Ridge’s philosophy in life of ‘it’ll all work out.’ [11:29]
Gary is a great example of the power of gratitude and putting your people first. [12:01]
Co-Author Adrian Gosticks’ son gave him and Chester a fresh perspective about failure, saying as a scientist who had done a lot of lab works. “science is just failure with notes.” [13:39]
WD learned and built from their mistakes. [13:56]
Building a habit takes time, patience, and repetition. [20:50]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [36:18]
Expert Bio
Chester Elton has spent two decades helping some of the world’s most successful businesses engage their employees to execute on strategy, vision, and values.
He has been called the “apostle of appreciation” by Canada’s Globe and Mail, “creative and refreshing‚” by the New York Times, and a “must-read for modern managers” by CNN. Elton is co-author of multiple award-winning New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling leadership books including All In, The Carrot Principle, The Best Team Wins, and Anxiety at Work. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages and have sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide.
Elton is often quoted in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Fast Company, and the New York Times. He has appeared on NBC’s Today, CNN, ABC, MSNBC, National Public Radio, and CBS’s 60 Minutes.
Contact Info and Social Media for Chester Elton
Primary Website
Travels from: Summit, NJ
Connect on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
My Quest for the Best interview: 315: Identify and Address Anxiety at Work Before it Takes Hold with guest expert Chester Elton
Adrian Gostick - Organizational Culture expert and co-Author of Leading With Gratitude.
Russell M.
Your business culture either catalyzes growth or burns energy with guest expert Robert Richman
Nov 22, 2021
Robert Richman, author of The Culture Blueprint: A Guide to Building the High-Performance Workplace
Bill Ringle and Robert Richman discuss the importance of having an aligned and productive business culture for small business leaders, based on the lessons from Zappos.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
External factors can be used as an advantage to not only better employee performance but also to deliver a better customer experience.
Managers should also factor in core values when it comes to what gets rewarded and what gets punished, not just performance.
Mastering your culture is mastering how you run your business.
#culture #insights #culturestrategist #Zappos
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Understanding how a company leader defines culture. [01:38]
When talking about a company that has a great culture, one that comes to Robert's mind is Zappos. He tells us how Zappos defined and practice their culture. [03:92]
Robert explains how Zappos used shame not only as means to implement better performance but also better values. [06:23]
A story on how Zappos utilized external factors to better serve customers. [07:59]
What gets rewarded and what gets you kicked out? Robert puts weight on why managers should be clear on what needs to be discouraged or practiced. [10:39]
Find out his Robert's secret program. [13:14]
How culture plays a vital role in the rise and fall of businesses. [17:57]
A discussion on why self-hiring is a mistake. [20:34]
Roberts shares how Culture MBA was designed. [21:54]
Special My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [28:23]
Expert Bio
Robert Richman is a culture strategist and was the co-creator of Zappos Insights, an innovative program focused on educating companies on the secrets behind Zappos’ amazing employee culture. Robert built Zappos Insights from a small website to a thriving multi-million dollar business teaching over 25,000 students per year. Through his work, Robert has been helpful in improving the employee culture at hundreds of companies.
As an authority on employee culture, Robert is a sought-after keynote speaker at conferences around the world and has been hired to teach culture in person at companies like Google, Toyota, and Eli Lilly. He has pioneered a number of innovative techniques to build culture, such as bringing improv comedy to the workplace.
Robert graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in film, as well as from Georgetown University’s Leadership Coaching Program. He is a member of the Transformational Leadership Council and is based out of San Diego.
Contact Info and Social Media for Robert Richman
Primary Website
Travels from: San Diego, CA
Connect on Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
My Quest for the Best interview: 318: Your Company Culture is Your Highest Leverage Point with guest expert Robert Richman
Zappos - an American online shoe and clothing retailer based in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.
Salesforce - an American cloud-based software company that provides customer relationship management service.
Verizon - an American wireless network operator. The mobile network previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name of Verizon Wireless.
The long-range view that demands shifts in our behavior today, not someday with guest expert Bill Jensen
Nov 22, 2021
Bill Jensen, author of THE DAY TOMORROW SAID NO: The Discovery That Forever Changed The Future And How We Work
Bill Ringle and Bill Jensen discuss how significant and sometimes subtle signals that our employees, customers, and suppliers are sending can be disastrous when overlooked, ignored, or dismissed by small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Listening is absorbing what our clients and employees tell us, even if these are things that we do not want to hear.
We have little control over fate, but we can control how we react and how we respond to it.
Companies have believers, builders, and breakers, each with different traits and different ways of doing things, but with a common language and goal which is to drive the business to success.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
An important person growing up is Tom Forbes, Bill's high school football coach who taught him the value of teamwork. [01:06]
Adding a new team member does not always complicate things. Bill talks about the essence of simplicity. [04:42]
Bill talks about his experience helping out a company based in the Netherlands which is having a hard time boosting employee morale. [06:54]
Here he emphasizes the importance of really listening. [08:51]
He shares the inspiration for his book, THE DAY TOMORROW SAID NO. [10:27]
People who are committed seriously take into consideration what kind of legacy they want to leave behind. [14:04]
Bill talks about redefining roles and reshaping the new normal and talks about believers, builders, and breakers. [17:04]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins at [24:45]
Expert Bio
Bill Jensen , author of THE DAY TOMORROW SAID NO: The Discovery That Forever Changed The Future And How We Work
Bill Jensen is founder of The Jensen Group and a leading speaker and consultant around the Future of Work. He is globally ranked as a Top 5 Thought Leader in the Future of Work, Transformational Leadership, and Digital Transformation. He brings over 35 years of experience and research in solving leaders’ toughest challenges to this book, and creates a new path to hope, redemption, and more amazing futures for all. For more information, please visit www.tomorrowsaidy.es or www.simplerwork.com.
Contact Info and Social Media for Bill Jensen
Primary Website
Travels from: Morristown, New Jersey
Connect on LinkedIn | Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Steve Jobs - Former CEO of Apple
Elon Musk - CEO of Tesla Motors
Books Published by Bill Jensen
How Sensitive Strivers Can Release Worries and Fulfill Your Greatest Contributions with guest expert Melody Wilding
Nov 15, 2021
Melody Wilding, author of TRUST YOURSELF: Stop Overthinking and Channel Your Emotions for Success at Work
Bill Ringle and Melody Wilding discuss the duality and depths of people who have both high-ambition and high-sensitivity in their personality, woking and leading in small and mid-sized businesses.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
It is essential for leaders to check the emotional and mental state of their teams. This can create psychological safety and better engagement that can help the team adjust to and navigate the new challenges that come with a new working environment.
Leaders should believe in their judgments, and that this confidence in trusting their own abilities and what they can contribute is something they need to pass down to their teams.
Resentment is an urgent issue that can be avoided by having an open conversation. Leaders must promote a culture where employees are not afraid to air their concerns.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Melody describes how her parents – entrepreneurs and music lovers alike – inspired her with their examples of hard work and caring for their customers. [01:04]
Where Melody began her personal empowerment approach to coaching business leaders while attending Columbia University, which lead her to meet and work with highly-driven people. [03:37]
The importance of being observant, perceptive and empathetic. [05:45]
What makes the biggest difference for sensitive strivers is having the tools and skills to maximize your strengths. [6:06]
Sensitive strivers may be your greatest untapped advantage during the pandemic lockdown (or anytime you're bringing a remote team together). [7:55]
Asking the right question helps to know the team, their abilities, and the best way to lead and delegate. [09:53]
How remote leaders can best keep engaged with their remote teams. [13:53]
Case study with Travis: the unfortunate dynamic of being consumed with 'I should be' when deciding. [16:49]
Melody's personal wake up call took place when she chose work over a dear friend's wedding early on in her career. [20:05]
The My Quest for the Best Round begins [22:25]
Expert Bio
Melody Wilding, LSW, is an executive coach for Sensitive Strivers and the author of TRUST YOURSELF: Stop Overthinking and Channel Your Emotions for Success at Work.
Named one of Business Insider's "Most Innovative Coaches," her clients include CEOs, leaders, and managers at top Fortune 500 companies such as Google, HP, Facebook, Twitter, IBM, and others.
Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Oprah Magazine, NBC News, and dozens of other high-profile publications.
Contact Info and Social Media for Melody Wilding
Primary Website
Travels from: New York, NY
Social media: LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Medium
TedX Talk: Trying to Change? How Self-Doubt Can Actually Help | Melody Wilding | TEDxBergenCommunityCollege
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Columbia University School of Social Work
FOMO - fear of missing out
About 1 in 5 people may be sensitive strivers with measurable brain differences that lead them to be more attuned to others.
Favorite song as a teen: Dashboard Confessional Hands Down
Published by Melody Wilding
Deconstructing the causes of stress and strain at work is everyone's job with guest expert Adrian Gostick
Nov 15, 2021
Adrian Gostick, co-author of Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done
Bill Ringle and Adrian Gostick discuss the importance of taking responsibility for day-to-day morale for yourself and your colleagues is what creates a desirable and healthy work culture for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Anxiety is not exclusive to larger companies. Small and mid-sized business leaders should also take time to make check their employee's mental health and talk discuss anxiety in the workplace.
Stress unattended can lead to anxiety. Leaders must address its cause at the manifestations of early signs such as burnout, and these signs are observable when interacting to them. Leaders should make every meeting meaningful and an opportunity to show support to their teams.
Employees' silence is the loudest alarm that something needs to be adressed, and leaders must attend to this because culture of silence can damage a company.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
An important person growing up for Adrian was his father, whose work ethic and passion for his work inspired him. [01:36]
After working from one big company to another, Adrian and his co-author Chester Elton decided to take a big leap, left a secured job, and took a risk to pursue a path of ownership and creativity. [04:48]
Here he gives us a better understanding of what anxiety is. [09:22]
Managers should make meeting more meaningful. [10:42]
Anxiety has a lot of ways to manifest. It is important to identify its early signs. [14:05]
Partnering up is a great way to make employees not feel isolated because they would have someone to check each other with. [17:00]
Adrian talks about David, and the example he set on how to coach younger team members. [19:24]
Cultures do not start with the CEO, it comes down to the individual. Adrian uses Disney and Texas Roadhouse as examples. [22:15]
Adrian talks about Amy Edmondson and the dangers of silence in the workplace. [26:52]
Taking a mental health day is can help relieve anxiety. [30:16]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [33:17]
Expert Bio
#1 bestselling author Adrian Gostick provides advice to some of the world’s largest organizations on managing change, driving innovation, and leading high-performance teams.
Gostick is a global thought leader in the fields of corporate culture, leadership, and engagement. He is the founder of the workplace assessment company FindMojo.com and author of the #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestsellers All In, The Carrot Principle, Leading with Gratitude, and Anxiety at Work. His award-winning books have been translated into 30 languages and have sold more than 1.5 million copies around the world. Gostick writes weekly on leadership strategy for Forbes, and his work has been called “fascinating,” by Fortune magazine and “creative and refreshing” by the New York Times. He has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, CNN, and CNBC, and is often quoted in The Economist, Financial Times, Newsweek, and Wall Street Journal. In 2021, Adrian was ranked as a top 10 Global Guru in Leadership and Organizational Culture.
As an executive coach, he is a member of Marshall Goldsmith’s MG100 ‘Pay it Forward’ Coaching Cohort. His consulting clients include Danaher, Bank of America, Cisco, Rolls Royce,
Understanding the rules of succeeding at the long game of success with guest expert Dorie Clark
Nov 08, 2021
Dorie Clark, author of The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World
Bill Ringle and Dorie Clark discuss how adopting longer range thinking leads to making more strategic and meaningful decisions, habits, and relationships than opportunistic, short-range thinking for small business managers, thought leaders, and entrepreneurs.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Powerful decision-making is key to growing a company. Leaders should not shy away from tough decisions.
Anyone can manufacture a 'crazy busy' schedule — stop viewing it as a point of pride and stop using it as an excuse for not pursuing more long-range, meaningful goals.
You can put a schedule on your calendar dedicated to pursuing your dreams.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Dorie describes optimizing projects and career trajectories. [01:43]
CASE: Marian Stoddard, an 80-year-old housewife, who was the heroine of Dorie's documentary, shared a piece of advice that really stuck to her, 'whenever you have a choice of what to do, choose what's more interesting.' [02:51]
Always an advocate of networks and relationships, Dorie talks about landing a friendship with Susan Stoddard, a volunteer supporter of a candidate she was also supporting, which lead her to meet Marian. [04:22]
CASE: Francis Fry and how many companies are afraid to make hard decisions. [09:09]
CASE: Derek Sivers, a musician turned successful entrepreneur. [12:32]
The downsides of having an overly busy schedule and how to choose instead to add space to pursue long-term goals. [15:13]
The pandemic comes with uncomfortable things that businesses need to deal with preventing business leaders from pursuing more meaningful goals. [17:10]
CASE: Dorie's friend Petra Patrick and her initial fear of pursuing a dream due to lack of experience but how through dedication and motivation, she made her dream of deejaying achievable. [21:37]
Dorie talks about working with Forbes. [28:30]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins.[34:33]
Expert Bio
Dorie Clark helps individuals and companies get their best ideas heard in a crowded, noisy world. She has been named one of the Top 50 business thinkers in the world by Thinkers50 and was honored as the #1 Communication Coach in the world at the Marshall Goldsmith Coaching Awards. She is a keynote speaker and teaches for Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and Columbia Business School. She is the author of Entrepreneurial You, which was named one of Forbes’ Top 5 Business Books of the Year, as well as Reinventing You and Stand Out, which was named the #1 Leadership Book of the Year by Inc. magazine.
A former presidential campaign spokeswoman, Clark has been described by the New York Times as an “expert at self-reinvention and helping others make changes in their lives.” She is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, and consults and speaks for clients such as Google, Yale University, and the World Bank. She is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, a producer of multiple Grammy-winning jazz albums, and a Broadway investor. You can download her free Entrepreneurial You self-assessment workbook at dorieclark.com/entrepreneur.
Contact Info and Social Media for Dorie Clark
Primary Website
Travels from: New York, NY
Connect on Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
To get better productivity you must create a better work culture with guest expert Randy Grieser
Nov 01, 2021
Randy Grieser, author of The Culture Question: How to Create a Workplace Where People Like to Work
Bill Ringle and Randy Grieser discuss common trouble spots in workplace culture that need to be addressed and how to approach them for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
A strong culture is only possible if the whole of the organization works on establishing it.
We can get better through recognizing our weaknesses. We have to acknowledge that they exist so that we will know the best way to deal with them.
It our job as leaders to ensure that there is no disconnect between our employees and the company.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Randy recalls his high school basketball coach and why he became a huge influence to him. [01:00]
Why it is helpful to seek people who are more experienced than us. [02:39]
The purpose of leadership in increasing engagement in an organization.[05:21]
CASE: Larry, a VP of a large healthcare company in Toronto, wants to resolve an issue regarding the people in his company not liking where they work. [06:27]
Maintaining engagement on larger companies is more complex but not impossible. [08:39]
Organizations didn’t always have a healthy work culture. Lessons on how they turned things around. [11:30]
CASE: Mary is a director in an insurance company who wants to change the culture of her company. [14:47]
Culture is rarely static. [17:11]
Randy explains why in cultural change, we should make small changes quickly. [21:56]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [24:20]
Expert Bio
Randy is the founder and Chief Vision Officer of ACHIEVE Centre for Leadership. He is the author of The Ordinary Leader, and co-author of The Culture Question and A Little Book About Trauma-Informed Workplaces. Randy is passionate about sharing the importance of creating healthy workplace cultures and believes that leadership requires us to always be intentional about what we do and how we do it.
He gives presentations on leadership and workplace culture to a wide range of audiences.
Contact Info and Social Media for Randy Grieser
Primary Website
Travels from:Canada
Connect on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Books Authored by Randy Grieser
Overcoming the Distractions on the Road to Success with guest expert Trevor Blake
Oct 25, 2021
Trevor Blake, author of Three Simple Steps: A Map to Success in Business and Life
Bill Ringle and Trevor Blake discuss some of the important distractions and obstacles that can delay, distract, or even destroy your chances of attaining the success of which you are capable – life is short and focusing on what matters is essential for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
It is not what we think that we should control, but how we react to them.
One major holdback is the lack of self-confidence that we can execute the ideas in our heads.
We don't have to do everything and complicate our lives. We can pursue a few things we are passionate about.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
An important person growing up for Trevor was his mother and he shares how she will always be an inspiration to him. [01:22]
A candid conversation about Trevor's experience as a victim of bullying and the misplaced shame he felt about it. [04:34]
When the bullying got worse, reading became a means of relief to him as he started immersing himself in biographies finding great inspiration in them. [06:27]
Madam CJ Walker, one of the first African-American women entrepreneurs to attain national success, and how knowing her through her biography changed his perspectives. [07:20]
Moving to the countryside thrust Trevor to Narnia and it felt amazing for him. Here he learns to find appreciation in being close to nature. [10:53]
Trevor talks about Steve Jobs and we can learn and apply some of the Apple co-founder's values and work ethics. [15:34]
Advice to managers and business leaders who are looking for better opportunities for their business and their teams. [18:01]
He encourages small business leaders to always find a way to innovate and reinvent. [25:33]
A discussion about neuroplasticity and why he finds it a magical tool. [22:54]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round Begins [27:54]
Expert Bio
Trevor Blake is a perpetual student of life. He is the NY TImes bestselling author of Three Simple Steps and Secrets to a Successful Startup.
Trevor was the founder and CEO of QOL Medical LLC, which he started with just a few hundred dollars, and sold it in 2010 for more than $100 million. He has since sold two more companies (over $300 million) and is currently at work on his 4th, 5th, and 6th ventures.
He’s done this all and never hired a single employee or worked more than 5 hours a day. He has worked in the UK, Europe, and the USA with companies such as 3M, LiphaTech, and Biogen and has won many industry awards.
Trevor’s passion is physics and studying how we can use an understanding of the relationship between energy and matter to achieve success in any aspect of business and life.
Contact Info and Social Media for Trevor Blake
Primary Website
Travels from: Woodinville, WA
Social media: Facebook | LinkedIn | YouTube
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
My Quest for the Best interview: 344: Gain Confidence from Proven Processes to Achieve more faster with guest expert Trevor G. Blake
Chronicles of Narnia - a fantasy novel written by C.S Lewis
CJ Walker - an African American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and political and social activist
Steve Jobs - an American business magnate and philanthropist who was one of the founders and former CEO of Apple
Royal Navy Academy
Neuroplasticity - also known as neural plasticity,
Zeroing in on what matters with guest expert John Strelecky
Oct 18, 2021
John Strelecky, author of The Cafe on the Edge of the World: A Story About the Meaning of Life
Bill Ringle and John Strelecky discuss how finding and articulating our PFE, or purpose for existing serves as a way of both focusing on what matters as well as opening doors to new adventures and opportunities for small business leaders, especially.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Instead of opportunity hopping, find something that will give you a sense of fulfillment. Nothing is better than having a job that makes you look forward to starting every day.
Don't put all your energy into trying to smash through an obstacle that won't break. Instead, use that energy to go around it because there is no one correct way of solving a problem.
In the 28,900 days on average that each of us live, we make choices. Always pick those that add value to your life.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
John talks about his father's friend, Jack, whose sense of humor and thought-provoking questions inspired him. [01:35]
Jack's influence made John very effective not only in his career as an author but in his previous management consulting job. [03:44]
The essentials of asking questions. [05:21]
John's purpose is to travel, where he can meet different people, and experience different cultures, and learning from those experiences. [07:31]
Qualities and traits that make a great, successful company. [13:02]
Discussion on the importance of purpose. [14:46]
Developing new skills, relationships, and approaches to take your game to the next level. [16:55]
Finding your PFE, or purpose for existing. [20:22]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [24:22]
Expert Bio
John Strelecky is the #1 best selling inspirational author of The Cafe on the Edge of the World and The Big Five for Life series of books. His works have been translated into forty-two languages and sold more than 6 million copies worldwide.
Following a life-changing event when he was thirty-three years old, John was inspired to sit down and tell the story of The Cafe on the Edge of the World, his first book.
Within a year after its release, word of mouth support from readers had spread the book across the globe--inspiring people on every continent, including Antarctica. It went on to win bestseller of the year for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 in Europe and became a #1 bestseller in North America.
Through his writings and appearances on television and radio, John's messages have inspired millions of people to live life on their terms. He has been honored alongside Oprah Winfrey, Tony Robbins, and Deepak Chopra as one of the one hundred most inspirational thought leaders in the field of leadership and personal development.
When he isn't writing or speaking, John spends extensive time backpacking around the world. He has taken extended trips to Africa, the Amazon Basin, Yucatan Peninsula, South America, SE Asia, Europe, and China.
Contact Info and Social Media for John Strelecky
Primary Website
Travels from: Windermere, FL
Social Media links: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok
Resource Materials
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Southwest Airlines, founded by Herb Kelleher
Illusions by Jonathan Bach
Books Authored by John Strelecky
Proven sales insights that help a small or mid-sized business grow with guest expert Lee Salz
Oct 11, 2021
Lee Salz, author of Sales Differentiation: 19 Powerful Strategies to Win More Deals at the Prices You Want
Bill Ringle and Lee Salz discuss the perspectives and tactics that can be used to better understand and enjoy sales success for leaders of small and mid-sized businesses.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Identifying your market is crucial to your business so that you can strategize effectively and build an identity for your business that makes you stand unique from the competition.
Know yourself and understand your niche so you will best know how to insert yourself into that market.
Meaningful differentiators lose their purpose if salespeople are ineffective in position them.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Walt Disney and the story of how he built his empire that brought joy to many families was a huge inspiration to Lee. [01:10]
The vital concept of differentiation space. [04:30]
Knowing yourself and understanding your market to focus on and develop specialty to your niche. [05:51]
CASE: Mike, who has differentiators that the competition lacks, but his employees don't know how to use them. [09:04]
Knowing how to position your statement makes you more effective in sales. [12:53]
The best approach and timing to introduce a solution, whether asked or not. [16:31]
A lesson from the TV series Law and Order that is as practical as it is applicable in sales. [18:26]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins at [27:42]
Expert Bio
Founder and CEO, Lee B. Salz is a leading sales management strategist specializing in building sales processes in companies. He has helped hundreds of companies, in various industries and sizes, create marketplace disruption – leading to explosive, profitable growth. Lee challenges executives to blast through the artificial barriers that impede their success. He is an entrepreneur, results-driven consultant, and dynamic keynote speaker.
In addition to Sales Architects, he launched The Revenue Accelerator which is his sales onboarding and enablement technology firm. This system structures and automates the onboarding experience. The methodology embedded in the system comes from his book “Hire Right, Higher Profits." His entrepreneurial experience gives him unique insight into the challenges executives face during growth phases.
He’s also a bestselling, award-winning author of several books. His latest book “Sales Differentiation – 19 Powerful Strategies to Win More Deals at the Prices You Want" is the hottest sales book on Amazon! His prior book, “Hire Right, Higher Profits,” is also an Amazon bestseller and was the #1-rated sales management book on Amazon for 2014.
Contact Info and Social Media for Lee Salz
Primary Website
Travels from: Maple Grove, MN
Connect on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Walt Disney - an American entrepreneur, animator, writer, voice actor, and film producer. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons.
Law and Order - drama showcases the sometimes complex process of determining guilt or innocence, while lives hang in the balance.
Boolean - a data type that has one of two possible values which is intended to represent the two truth values of logi...
Before you can make a change, you need to create the environment for change with guest expert Courtney Kenney
Oct 04, 2021
Courtney Kenney, author of Creating Space to Thrive: Get Unstuck, Reboot Your Creativity and Change Your Life
Bill Ringle and Courtney Kenney discuss ways to make pursuing those relationships and activities at work and beyond that lead to the greatest satisfaction and fulfillment in life, with a focus on small business leaders and managers.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
We have a culture of being busy but we must give ourselves space to pursue creativity or other things we value.
Leaders should help employees save their time by working on what is really important and what is really adding value.
We cannot avoid sacrifices, big or small, in the process of making our dreams come true. However, we should still give ourselves the incentive of having quality time doing what we want, with the people that matter, and taking care of our wellbeing.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Courtney's mother Linda inspired Courtney in her early years (and still today). [01:12]
Her experience working for Motorola and how while working for them was a pleasant experience, she eventually felt burnt out. [04:16]
How burnout made her think of a different career path. [05:33]
What she learned as she immersed herself in the world of writing and self-publishing. [06:35]
While sacrifices are unavoidable to succeed, Courtney explains why we still need to create space for our well-being. [08:36]
Courtney's stepfather Mike was involved in a big wake-up call to her to start working on something that will give her fulfillment. [10:58]
CASE: Ken, dreams of becoming a writer but is held back because he thought he was already too old. [14:18]
Discard limiting beliefs and pursue growth. [15:40]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [20:44]
Expert Bio
Courtney Kenney is the author of Creating Space to Thrive about using the habit of creativity to harness powerful change in your life.
As a Book Launch Strategist, she helps authors launch bestselling non-fiction books. She holds Project Management Professional (PMP) accreditation from the Project Management Institute and worked as a Project Manager at global companies, Workday and Motorola.
She has managed New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling book launches. Clients call her their “secret weapon” and a “ninja Project Manager.”
Courtney has written books on creativity, publishing & book marketing, and has been featured in Cosmopolitan. Her love of space and all things tech has inspired her to write 11 science fiction novels under a pen name.
Contact Info and Social Media for Courtney Kenney
Primary Website
Travels from: Chicago, Illinois
Connect on Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Bronnie Ware – An Australian author, songwriter, and motivational speaker best known for her writings about the top deathbed regrets she heard during her time as a palliative carer described in her book The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.
Motorola – was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States.
NASA – The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civilian space pr...
Customer care matters only for business leaders who want more and better customer relationships, with guest expert Shep Hyken
Sep 27, 2021
Shep Hyken, author of The Cult of the Customer: Create an Amazing Customer Experience that Turns Satisfied Customers into Customer Evangelists
Bill Ringle and Shep Hyken discuss the important implications of assessing and improving your customer service standards to avoid business erosion.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
We can have all the resources we can get our hands on but, if we do not have the passion and the goal to make sure we deliver excellent customer service, customers will just come and go.
We need to stop giving an 'okay' customer service. Instead, we need to make sure that we give amazing customer service. Mediocrity cannot entice customers back to us.
Leaders should revolutionize customer care in the company. We need to consistently practice providing top-notch customer service and that it should be ingrained in the company culture.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Shep talks about being influenced by his grandfather growing up, and how he learned the value of building trust with customers. [01:35]
A discussion on why in an era of self-service, customer service is highly relevant. [06:25]
The story of a genie and three entrepreneurs, and how what each wishes for determines the vibrance of your business. [08:42]
How the Luggage Project came about. [12:31]
A deep conversation about the danger of mediocrity. [17:48]
Consistency of effort should be ingrained into the company culture. [19:25]
Case study:Wegmans and how they overcome weaker training than their competition. [20:50]
"Cult" has a negative ring to it, yet Shep explains why it is the perfect word for his book title. [26:34]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [28:30]
Expert Bio
Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert and the Chief Amazement Officer of Shepard Presentations. He is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and has been inducted into the National Speakers Association Hall of Fame for lifetime achievement in the speaking profession.
Shep works with companies and organizations that want to build loyal relationships with their customers and employees. His articles have been read in hundreds of publications, and he is the author of Moments of Magic®, The Loyal Customer, The Cult of the Customer, The Amazement Revolution, Amaze Every Customer Every Time, and The Convenience Revolution.
He is also the creator of The Customer Focus™, a customer service training program that helps clients develop a customer service culture and loyalty mindset.
Contact Info and Social Media for Shep Hyken
Primary Website
Travels from: Saint Louis, MO
Connect on Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken/
Jeff Bezos - the founder and CEO of Amazon.
Sears - an American chain of department stores.
Steve Blank at Stanford Business School
Ritz Carlton premier hotel chain
Jim Bush - Former SVP of American Express
Published by Shep Hyken
,
The secret to having your habits propel you to success with guest expert Marc Reklau
Sep 20, 2021
Marc Reklau, author of 30 Days - Change your habits, change your life
Bill Ringle and Marc Reklau discuss the specific habits that have made Marc's books Amazon best sellers month after month, the process used to devise success habits, and overcoming the biggest obstacles to allowing habits to pave the way to your personal and business success.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
In order for us to achieve any desired outcome, we need to try multiple approaches. As Edison said, success is always trying one more time.
Identify the thing that brings you the most satisfaction, and delegate proportional and resources.
Habits impact success. Track your habits and identify which you need to keep, which to improve on, and which you need to discard.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Marc shares about his mother's influence on him growing up. [01:08]
Good training is a foundation to building a company culture and he explains why. [03:18]
Marc on applying Edison's principle that success comes after trying and trying again. [07:28]
A discussion about the 80/20 rule and how this pattern can be helpful in deciding which to spend our time the most when it comes to business. [09:58]
When he left his job, Marc started doing 10x better, and even so during the pandemic when his book sales exploded. [12:48]
He gives an example of how he was able to apply the 30 Days to Change habit in coaching. [14:29]
Here he talks about the importance of tracking our habits. [17:24]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [20:11]
Expert Bio
Marc Reklau is the author of 10 books including the international bestseller, 30 Days - Change your habits, change your life, which since April 2015 has over half a million readers and has been translated into 15+ languages including Spanish, German, Japanese, Thai, Indonesian, Chinese, Russian, Portuguese and Korean.
He wrote the book in 2014 after being fired from his job and literally went from jobless to bestselling author.
Marc's mission is to empower people to create the life they want and to give them the resources and tools to make it happen.
He writes about habits, productivity, and happiness. His message is simple: Many people want to change things in their lives, but few are willing to do a simple set of exercises constantly over a period of time. You can plan and create success and happiness in your life by installing habits that support you on the way to your goals.
Contact Info and Social Media for Marc Reklau
Primary Website
Travels from: Swieqi, Central Malta
Connect on Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Paulo Coelho - award-winning and best-selling author.
Thomas Edison - an American inventor and businessman who has been described as America's greatest inventor.
Tim Ferriss
Pareto principle - states that for many outcomes, roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes.
Mark Dawson
Published by Marc Reklau
Accelerating your entrepreneurial journey to the top ranks with guest expert Dorie Clark
Sep 13, 2021
Dorie Clark, author of Entrepreneurial You: Entrepreneurial You: Monetize Your Expertise, Create Multiple Income Streams, and Thrive
Bill Ringle and Dorie Clark discuss how to avoid making decisions that limit your potential as you endeavor to rise beyond surviving to thrive as an entrepreneur with a focus on overlooked opportunities for established small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Limiting our relationships with people we know also limits opportunities to build connections with other interesting, insightful, and quality individuals.
Take advantage of the opportunity that people right now are consuming more content to get your message across.
It is better to go slow than to rush our way to success.
Read Show Notes from this Episode
As a teenager, Dorie read a book by Tony Robbins and was inspired to craft a bold vision for her life. [01:21]
A friend of Dorie's mom had a copy of Tony's book, Unlimited Power, and this was her first introduction to him and his works. [1:37]
She shared how William Gibson's quote 'the future is here; it's just not evenly distributed' is relevant today when people are obsessed with forecasting. [05:26]
COVID's lasting and still heavily felt impact made Dorie obsessed with the idea of forecasting and risk prediction. [06:47]
Jason Kleinert's ambitious, impulsive big bet that didn't pay off and how we can learn from his mistakes through testing and market validation. [11:47]
How Jayson Gaignard leveraged access to Tim Ferriss to build a profitable conference that participants enjoyed. [16:33]
Content creation is one of the key pillars required for being recognized in your field. [23:26]
How to leverage content creation on a regular basis. [24:49]
Dorie shared some insider tips from her online course, Recognized Expert. [26:47]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round Begins [30:59
Expert Bio
Dorie Clark helps individuals and companies get their best ideas heard in a crowded, noisy world. She has been named one of the Top 50 business thinkers in the world by Thinkers50 and was honored as the #1 Communication Coach in the world at the Marshall Goldsmith Coaching Awards. She is a keynote speaker and teaches for Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and Columbia Business School. She is the author of Entrepreneurial You, which was named one of Forbes’ Top 5 Business Books of the Year, as well as Reinventing You and Stand Out, which was named the #1 Leadership Book of the Year by Inc. magazine.
A former presidential campaign spokeswoman, Clark has been described by the New York Times as an “expert at self-reinvention and helping others make changes in their lives.” She is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, and consults and speaks for clients such as Google, Yale University, and the World Bank. She is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, a producer of multiple Grammy-winning jazz albums, and a Broadway investor. You can download her free Entrepreneurial You self-assessment workbook at dorieclark.com/entrepreneur.
Contact Info and Social Media for Dorie Clark
Primary Website
Her top courses: Recognized Expert, Writing for High Profile Publications, and Rapid Content Creation Masterclass.
Travels from: New York, NY
Connect on Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books,
Rejecting the common wisdom that business meetings have to be an unpleasant and unproductive with guest expert Cameron Herold
Sep 06, 2021
Cameron Herold, author of Meetings Suck: Turning One of The Most Loathed Elements of Business into One of the Most Valuable
Bill Ringle and Cameron Herold discuss the traps of poor meetings and how to avoid them so that your meetings yield productive results and beneficial bonding experiences for small business leaders and rising stars.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Leaders help employees rise by teaching them new skills to give them more confidence that they can climb the ladder of success.
When we are unclear on where to go, we need to consider all available options as good options and then narrow our focus to have a vivid vision on which path will be the best direction for our business.
If we have a clear vision of what we want to achieve, we are happier and more passionate about doing our job compared to just doing for the sake of finishing. We want to see that vision come to life, and this is a great driver for us to give all we can to make sure we complete our tasks every single day.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Cameron shares how his father, who is hyper-aware of everything, has been a great inspiration. [01:44]
Alice's conversation with the Cheshire cat (from Alice in Wonderland), illustrates how many good options are presented before we can have a vivid vision on which to choose and focus. [03:55]
CASE: Tristan, who runs a company in Australia, and how his vivid vision magnetized the right people and catapulted his company to success. [05:27]
How different people doing the same tasks can have worked very differently when there is a clear vision involved. [08:18]
Cameron shares how he discovered the importance of vision and clarity while at 1-800-GOT-JUNK [10:15]
The fundamentals of running an effective meeting. [15:01]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round Begins [23:01]
Expert Bio
Cameron Herold has built a dynamic consultancy and his current clients include a 'Big 4' wireless carrier and a monarchy. He earned his reputation as the business growth guru by guiding his clients to double their profit and double their revenue in just three years or less.
Cameron was an entrepreneur from day one. At age 21, he had 14 employees. By 35, he'd help build his first TWO $100 MILLION DOLLAR companies. By the age of 42, Cameron engineered 1-800-GOT-JUNK's spectacular growth from $2 Million to $106 Million in revenue and 3100 employees - and he did that in just six years. His companies landed over 5,200 media placements in that same six years, including coverage on Oprah.
Not only does Cameron know how to grow businesses, but his delivery from the stage is second to none. Rich Karlgaard, publisher of Forbes magazine, stated: "Cameron Herold is THE BEST SPEAKER I've ever heard...he hits grand slams".
When Cameron steps off the stage, he doesn't stop teaching. He is the author of the global best-selling business book DOUBLE DOUBLE, which is in its 8th printing and in multiple translations around the world. He's also the author of the top-selling books MEETINGS SUCK, VIVID VISION, MIRACLE MORNING FOR ENTREPRENEURS, and FREE PR.
Cameron is a top-rated international speaker and has been paid to speak in 26 countries. He is also the top-rated lecturer at EO/MIT's Entrepreneurial Masters Program and a powerful and effective speaker at Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer leadership events around the world....
Finding the power of accountability to yourself and others with guest expert Sam Silverstein
Aug 30, 2021
Sam Silverstein, author of I Am Accountable: Ten Choices that Create Deeper Meaning in Your Life, Your Organization, and Your World
Bill Ringle and Sam Silverstein discuss the importance of being fully, not just superficially, accountable for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
In relational leadership, there is always accountability.
The purpose of accountability is to bring forth the best of everyone.
When leaders empower their people to share speak out their minds and give them confidence that their ideas will be respected, it creates a more innovative work culture, and these help build strong relationships both internally and externally.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Sam proudly talks about how his maternal grandfather's values and wisdom inspired him growing up. [01:20]
Here he shares an experience when he was invited to speak at a hotel and he remembered and applied his grandfather's wisdom. [06:15]
The joys of leadership. [10:05]
The definition and importance of accountability. [11:50]
The client story of John and how he asked Sam for help to bring value in his company. [13:14]
The different commitments and accountability principles. [15:25]
Two quotes that good leadership inspires. [17:13]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round Begins [20:08]
Expert Bio
Accountability & Leadership Keynote Speaker Sam Silverstein’s mission is to empower people to live accountable lives, transform the way they do business, and thrive at extraordinary levels. By challenging leaders to shift priorities, cultivate an organizational culture, and inspire both individuals and teams to take ownership in fresh and results-producing ways – he is helping companies dramatically increase productivity, profitability, and growth. Global Gurus has named Sam Silverstein as one of the World's Top Organizational Culture Professionals.
Sam is the creator of Pivot!, the preeminent course designed to help individuals discover their purpose, mission, and Non-Negotiable core values. He is the author of ten books including I Am Accountable, Non-Negotiable, No More Excuses, Making Accountable Decisions, No Matter What, and The Success Model.
As a former executive and owner, Sam successfully sold one of his businesses to a Fortune 500 company. Today, Sam writes, speaks, and consults with organizations around the globe to think differently, work with renewed purpose, and achieve record-breaking results. He works with entrepreneurs, multi-national companies, corporations, and government agencies to drive increased accountability, engagement, and productivity.
Contact Info for Sam Silverstein
Primary Website
Travels from: St Louis, MO
Connect on Facebook l Twitter l LinkedIn l Instagram l YouTube
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Don Wainwright - former CEO of Wainwright Industries
Published by Sam Silverstein
Having goals that really matter clarifies your priorities with guest expert Charlie Gilkey
Aug 23, 2021
Charlie Gilkey, author of Start Finishing: How to Go from Idea to Done
Bill Ringle and Charlie discuss the powerful forces of clarity and commitment in advancing your critical priorities at work and in other areas of your life for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
The highest level of success cannot be attained alone. We must bring in people that share our values and drive to reach that level.
Set your own time on when you can make success happen instead of basing your time on how long it took others to achieve theirs.
Often it is our mindset that misaligns our values from our goals and prevents us from taking action It is important to remember that there many ways to reconcile both as long as we are fully committed to doing what we can to align both.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Charlie talks about the three people who inspired him growing up. His dad, for one, and two military men, Bill Hendricks and James Abernathy. [01:10]
Lessons learned from the military applicable in small business. [03:52]
What motivated Charlie to write Start Finishing. [07:51]
Defining head trash and why it is more important to take our needs and dreams seriously, instead of just fully concerning ourselves on servicing others' priorities. [15:42]
Charlie talks about the conflicts between values and goals. [16:37]
Debunking the myths of success ruining relationships, success versus integrity, and the 'what if I can do it again' trap. [18:51]
More about head trash and misaligned mindset. [23:05]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [29:20]
Expert Bio
Charlie Gilkey helps people start finishing what matters most.
In addition to his books, The Small Business Lifecycle, and Start Finishing, Charlie is the co-host of the Productive Flourishing podcast, and the founder of Productive Flourishing, a top website for planning, prioritization, and productivity for creative people.
His work is regularly featured in places like Inc.com, Forbes, Lifehacker, and Huff Post.
Prior to starting Productive Flourishing, he served as an Army Joint Force Military Coordinator and was pursuing a Ph.D. in Philosophy.
Contact Info for Charlie Gilkey
Primary Website
Travels from: Portland, OR
Connect on Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
Published by Charlie Gilkey
The skills set required to build a great company with guest expert Louis Carter
Aug 16, 2021
Louis Carter, author of In Great Company: How to Spark Peak Performance By Creating an Emotionally Connected Workplace
Louis Carter and Bill Ringle discuss the results of the research with great companies and the steps to take to build your skills as a small business leader.
>>>Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Where you lead, whether it would be at the office, or remotely, it is important to give people equal airtime, and the respect that they need in every meeting and in every conversation.
The company's personal values are its greatest brand.
60% of CEOs get fired often due to relationship issues, so it is essential to identify the cause of this relationship strain, and how best to resolve it.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Lou proudly shares how his father's work ethic inspired him growing up. [01:12]
The indispensability of forming and maintaining positive relationships with clients and with the organization. [06:11]
Differentiating a standard analysis from a 360-view analysis. [09:37]
Case study of Laura: a biotech company CEO, and her journey to becoming functionally fit for the job. [11:25]
Case study with Duncan: who was at that time the CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, and how he perceived his position. [15:52]
What it means to have value alignment. [18:31]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [30:37]
Expert Bio
Louis Carter is the founder and CEO of the Best Practice Institute, Most Loved Workplace, and CEO Executive coach.
He is the author of 11 books in leadership and management and the recipient of numerous accolades, including the top 10 Global Guru award in Organizational Culture, top products award by HRTech, top leadership executive by Leadership Excellence Magazine, ELearning! Magazine’s Trailblazer Award.
Contact Info and Social Media for Louis Carter
Primary Website
Travels from: Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Connect on Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Ernst & Young - a multinational professional services network with headquarters in London, England
Howard Schultz - served as the chairman and chief executive officer of the Starbucks Coffee Company
Duncan L. Niederauer - former CEO of New York Stock Exchange
Published by Louis Carter
The most valuable changes are found just outside your comfort zone with guest expert Adam Markel
Aug 09, 2021
Adam Markel, author of Pivot, The Art and Science of Reinventing Your Career and Life
Bill Ringle and Adam Markel discuss the questions that lead to life- and business-changing pivots for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Making hasty decisions can sometimes slow down progress, so it is essential to pause and think about the best things to do in a given situation.
We should not let feelings of insecurity prevent us from asking because we are afraid to be judged or seen as weak. Answers only arrive when there are questions.
To choose the right path, we need to see things through a clear, neutral lens.
Read Show Notes from this Episode
Adam shares how his grandmother, who was such a great listener, is a huge inspiration to him growing up. [01:05]
How a trip to the emergency room changed his life for the better. [05:59]
Here he shares how being the seeker of knowledge that he is, he enjoys being immersed in books. Adam's father is also a fiction and creative writer. [09:49]
Adam talks about his book, which he initially wrote for his children. [12:17]
Having clarity is like cleaning the windshield. [13:46]
One of the best techniques Adam uses is the three-part process: pause, ask, and choose. [14:53]
Why asking questions is very important. [18:42]
Asking questions is a vital part of the acquisition of important knowledge. Adam strongly encourages leaders to ask. [20:29]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [27:34]
Expert Bio
As a keynote speaker, transformational leader, and business mentor, Adam guides individuals and businesses to capitalize on change and magnify their impact.
After building a multi-million dollar law firm, Adam became CEO of one of the largest business and personal development training companies in the world, overseeing more than $100 million in sales.
Contact Info for Adam Markel
Primary Website
Travels from: Encinitas, CA
Connect on Twitter | LinkedIn
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Adam Markel Ted Talk
Books Authored by Adam Markel
Overcoming obstacles and internal limitations to having your best life with guest expert Sanjay Jain
Aug 08, 2021
Sanjay Jain, MD, author of Optimal Living 360: Smart Decision Making for a Balanced Life
Bill Ringle and Dr. Sanjay Jain discuss being truly accountable for the results you produce in your work life and personal life.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Keeping an open mind allows us to truly listen.
As humans, we want to be heard, and in return, we should also learn how to listen because listening is not just for gaining information, acquiring knowledge, or mentally jotting down details, it is, above all, a sign of respect.
In order to focus on what truly matters, we need to reduce the noise in our environment.
Read show notes for this interview
Sanjay's grandmother who is a teacher in India, was a great mentor and inspiration to him growing up. [01:17]
Here he shares about the first major venture he had and the stress that came along with it. [06:40]
During a rough patch in his career, Sanjay's finances weren't the only one that suffered. His health and his personal life were also badly affected. [07:06]
When he became physically fit again, he no only was feeling healthy again, but he also earned back his confidence in himself and his ability to achieve his goals if works on them. [10:30]
Sanjay talks about religion and the importance of keeping an open mind. [13:21]
With so many people talking, many people forget to listen. Sanjay delves deep into the importance of listening. [16:20]
He talks about Tim from Ohio and how to deal with and maintain a level of respect with someone that has a different point of view. [18:40]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [22:20]
Expert Bio
Sanjay Jain, M.D. is an accomplished medical doctor, keynote speaker, author, and innovator. Sanjay's thought leadership and expertise were developed not only from his medical education but also from his life experiences.
Sanjay Jain is a US-trained, board-certified physician with over 15 years of clinical experience. He holds certifications in Diagnostic Radiology, Integrative Medicine, and Healthcare Quality and Management. He is a graduate of the accelerated BS/MD program at The Northeast Ohio Medical University. He has diversified experience in private practice, academic, and HMO settings.
He was a former assistant professor at The Ohio State University where he also obtained his MBA at the Fisher School of Business. The combination of which has given him a unique voice and understanding of the many issues we face today in a real and practical sense.
He has served on numerous committees at every level of his professional career. He is a member of the American Roentgen Ray Society, American College of Sports Medicine, and American College of Forensic Medicine, American Association of Integrative Medicine, and American Institute for Healthcare Quality.
Dr. Jain currently resides in Potomac, Maryland where he balances his time with his work and his family of two sons and wife.
Contact Info and Social Media for Sanjay Jain
Web address: https://sanjayjainmd.com
Travels from: Potomac, MD
Connect on Twitter | LinkedIn
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Barnes and Nobles
Published by Sanjay Jain
Avoid Squandering Your Energy and Attention on Things that Don't Matter with guest expert Eileen McDargh
Jul 26, 2021
Eileen McDargh, author of Burnout to Breakthrough: Building Resilience to Refuel, Recharge and Reclaim What Matters.
Bill Ringle and Eileen McDargh discuss the insidious nature of burnout and how to avoid it for staff, managers, and small business leaders who are working remotely or in a shared office.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Burnout is physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion that can kill our momentum. When you notice that you are starting to be cynical, or instead of being excited, dragging yourself to work, or feeling empty despite your achievements, it is high time to evaluate yourself and honestly think about how your life is.
We cannot control what life throws at us but we can control what to throw back at it.
Being resilient is a forever process: it is a state we improve and fight to keep every day.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Eileen shares how her mom, who always pushes the envelope, was such a huge inspiration to her growing up. [01:34]
Shed things/activities/people are time-consuming but don't add much value. [09:50]
The myth of "balance" in life. [11:24]
When helping out a team, Eileen always starts by asking the 'why' of each individual. [18:00]
Eileen discusses intelligent optimism. [20:26]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [27:39]
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe to your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Since 1980, Eileen McDargh has helped organizations and individuals transform the life of their business and the business of their life through conversations that matter and connections that count. She has become known as a master facilitator, an award-winning author, and an internationally recognized keynoter and executive coach.
She draws upon practical business know-how, life experiences, and years of consulting to major national and international organizations that have ranged from global pharmaceuticals to the US Armed Forces, from health care associations to religious institutions. Her programs are content-rich, interactive, provocative, and playful—even downright hilarious.
In 2020, Global Gurus International, a British-based provider of resources for leadership, communication, and sales training, also ranked her third as one of the World’s Top 30 Communication Professionals following a global survey of 22,000 business professionals.
In her book, Burnout to Breakthrough: Building Resilience to Refuel, Recharge and Reclaim What Matters, she
Contact Info and Social Media for Eileen McDargh
Primary Website
Travels from: Dana Point, CA
Connect on Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Jacqueline Cochran
Colonel H. Arnold
Herbert Freudenberger
Books Authored by Eileen McDargh
Insights into AI for Small Business Leaders with Guest Expert Tom Davenport
Jul 19, 2021
Tom Davenport, author of The AI Advantage How to Put the Artificial Intelligence Revolution to Work
Bill Ringle and Tom Davenport discuss behind-the-scenes principles of how small business leaders can take advantage of artificial intelligence technologies to gain advantages similar to enterprises like Amazon and FICO enjoy.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Using AI can give small businesses a competitive advantage and through data gathering, a better customer experience.
Hiring AI experts costs a lot. It would be wise to hire them to do complex tasks. Simple tasks such as automation can be done with basic skills and this is something we can learn.
While it is important to know more about our customers to tailor-fit their needs and address their concerns faster, it is more important to make sure that there would be no violation of their privacy so that they will not lose trust in the company.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Tom shares how Daniel Bell was a huge influence on him growing up. [01:58]
Another great figure in Tom's life is professor Jim Davis, who got him interested in statistical computing. [02:21]
One of the earliest companies to adopt AI is Amazon. [05:40]
Advice for small business leaders who want to take advantage of artificial intelligence. [08:35]
CASE: Radius Finance, and how using AI helped the company reduce processing costs. [10:35]
The benefits of AI when it comes to data gathering and customer service. [13:51]
The importance of still making customers feel assured that their privacy is not being invaded. [15:49]
CASE: FICO (Fair, Isaac, and Company) is one of the earliest companies to use machine learning to total credit scores. [18:58]
AI is not perfect yet so human investigation is still needed. [22:06]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [26:01]
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe to your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Tom Davenport is the President’s Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College, a Visiting Professor at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, a Fellow of the MIT Center for Digital Business, and a Senior Advisor to Deloitte’s AI practice. He teaches analytics and big data in executive programs at Babson, Harvard Business School, Harvard School of Public Health, and the MIT Sloan School. He pioneered the concept of “competing on analytics” with his best-selling 2006 Harvard Business Review article (and his 2007 book by the same name). His most recent book is The AI Advantage from MIT Press. He has written or edited twenty books in total and over 300 articles for Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, The Financial Times, and many other publications. He writes columns for Forbes, MIT Sloan Management Review, and The Wall Street Journal. He has been named one of the world’s “Top 25 Consultants” by Consulting magazine, one of the top 3 business/technology analysts in the world by Optimize Magazine, one of the 100 most influential people in the IT industry ...
Your Company Culture is Your Highest Leverage Point with guest expert Robert Richman
Jul 12, 2021
Robert Richman, author of The Culture Blueprint: A Guide to Building the High-Performance Workplace
Bill Ringle and Robert Richman discuss the critical insights revealed by launching Zappos Insights, and how small business leaders can apply those leverage points in their business to excel.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Organizational culture is fundamental for the strategy, effectiveness, growth, and transformation of a business.
A happy workplace makes happy customers.
Culture is the pinnacle of an organization. It is important to keep those who share the same values, drive, and goals because changing those is not easy.
#culture #insights #culturestrategist #Zappos #TonyHseih
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
His uncle Steve, an electrician, taught Robert how to build things and these experiences inspired him in his life and in his work. [01:18]
Robert recalls first meeting Zappos owner Tony Hsieh. [03:24]
The secret that the customers who paid $5,000 each told Robert's team about what they valued from the Zappos Insights experience. [7:14]
Why culture is a feeling. [10:45]
Tony Hsieh would ask, "Do you want to be right or happy?"
Donovan Robertson, Robert's partner at Zappos Insights, suggested letting the Insight participants learn from the customer service calls. [9:15]
Case study with the amusement park company that went through the values process. [15:36]
How to use the NPS (net promoter score) responses to diagnose your culture. [18:12]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [21:31]
Tony Hsieh would remind the team, "Most businesses don't die of starvation. They die of indigestion from trying to do too much." [23:22]
The importance of gamifying culture. [26:10]
Expert Bio
Robert Richman is a culture strategist and was the co-creator of Zappos Insights, an innovative program focused on educating companies on the secrets behind Zappos’ amazing employee culture. Robert built Zappos Insights from a small website to a thriving multi-million dollar business teaching over 25,000 students per year. Through his work, Robert has been helpful in improving the employee culture at hundreds of companies.
As an authority on employee culture, Robert is a sought-after keynote speaker at conferences around the world and has been hired to teach culture in person at companies like Google, Toyota, and Eli Lilly. He has pioneered a number of innovative techniques to build culture, such as bringing improv comedy to the workplace.
Robert graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in film, as well as from Georgetown University’s Leadership Coaching Program. He is a member of the Transformational Leadership Council and is based out of San Diego.
Contact Info and Social Media for Robert Richman
Primary Website
Travels from: San Diego, CA
Connect on Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Tony Hsieh - former CEO of the online shoe and clothing company Zappos.
Dave Logan - author of Tribal Leadership and guest on My Quest for the Best, Episode 111
Eben Pagan, also known as David DeAngelo - author and dating coach expert
The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth by Fred Reichheld
Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the Wo...
Shortcuts along the remarkable journey to claiming your greatness in business and in life with guest expert Romi Neustadt
Jul 05, 2021
Romi Neustadt, author of You Can Have It All, Just Not at the Same Damn Time
Bill Ringle and Romi Neustadt discuss the heartbreaking and triumphant lessons learned in building a series of successful businesses for other small business owners.
>>>Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
We need to take time to recalibrate ourselves, by proactively thinking if our priorities align with our goals, then decide what is the next best step to do.
If our goals and priorities align, that adds value to our life and everything we do.
Crushing ourselves under the pressure of being perfect to serve the satisfaction of others can lead to unfulfillment.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Romi proudly talks about her dad, whose strength and resilience made him a pillar not only to their family but to their community, and how he is the biggest inspiration to her. [01:10]
Whenever she needs to make an important decision in her life, Romi hears her father saying "saying you have got to be true to you." [03:37]
A deeper discussion on listening to 'our heart voice.' [05:11]
She talks about how the pandemic added an extra load of pressure to most women; increasing their already many responsibilities and forcing some to halt their careers to fulfill obligations. [10:57]
Romi explains what makes priorities different from goals. [13:25]
Knowing and setting our priorities. [13:38]
Being at the helm of thousands of women, Romi witnessed many women being stressed, and unfulfilled with their jobs. Romi stresses out the importance of aligning priorities with goals. [19:19]
Romis shares a story about Sarah, a sales business owner from Washington, and how she works on balancing her personal and professional life. [22:28]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [28:37]
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe to your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio:
Romi Neustadt is a former corporate chick (first a lawyer, then a PR executive) who traded in the billable hour to become an entrepreneur, a business coach, and a speaker. She’s figured out how to juggle being a wife, a mom, a professional success, and a healthy human without losing her mind. And she’s on a mission to help other women do it too. Romi’s first book, Get Over Your Damn Self: The No-BS Blueprint to Building a Life-Changing Business, received a GOLD AWARD from the Nonfiction Authors Association. Her latest book, You Can Have It All, Just Not at the Same Damn Time, was published by Portfolio | Penguin Random House last year. Romi has been featured in Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, and Success and has appeared on Fox Business News and morning shows around the country. Romi lives in San Diego with her husband John and their two kids, Nate and Bebe.
Contact Info and Social Media for Romi Neustadt
Primary Website
Travels from San Diego, California
Social Media Links: LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest
Authored by Romi Neustadt
Having a strong mindset is different from having a closed mind with guest expert Marcia Reynolds
Jun 28, 2021
Marcia Reynolds, author of Coach the Person, Not the Problem: A Guide to Using Reflective Inquiry
Bill Ringle and Marcia Reynolds discuss the many facets of what makes for an effective and successful coaching relationship to managers and leaders of small businesses on My Quest for the Best.
>>>Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Do not approach a problem assuming a bad ending. Practice having positive expectancy, especially for things that are within your control.
Trust is a solid base in a coaching relationship. Employees and clients should feel that they can have an open conversation with their coaches, without fear that they will be judged or called out.
Your confidence shows in your body: when leaders are confident, employees will feel confident too knowing they can trust the head of the team.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Marcia admired her strong-willed grandmother growing up. [01:52]
How she first started coaching relatives, friends, and acquaintances and her first time coaching a complete stranger. [05:38]
Coaching was still at its infancy stage, but after having been interviewed by the local newspaper about this new role that helps business managers and leaders, Marcia got her first real client outside friends and family. [05:46]
Building connections and having trust between you and your client that you will take care of them goes a long way toward building trust in a business relationship. [06:32]
Why coaching is the best learning technology. [08:42]
Drawing a clear distinction between transactional and transformational coaching. [11:07]
The case of John and his fear that a much-needed conversation with an employee he promoted could go south. [14:45]
Marcia talks about the discomfort zone. [18:03]
My Quest for the Best Lightning round begins [23:51]
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe to your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Dr. Marcia Reynolds, president of Covisioning LLC, is fascinated by the brain, especially what triggers feelings of connection, commitment, and possibility. She has coached leaders and taught programs in emotional intelligence, coaching skills, and leadership effectiveness in 43 countries and has presented at the Harvard Kennedy School and Cornell University. She was the first to teach emotional intelligence classes in Russia, Kenya, and for US Health and Human Services agencies.
Dr. Reynolds is a pioneer in the coaching profession. She was one of the first members and the 5th global president of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and recently inducted as one of only 10 coaches in the world in their Circle of Distinction. She is on faculty for coaching schools in the US, Russia, China, and the Philippines. She is recognized by the Global Gurus as the #5 coach in the world.She has significant experience with teaching and coaching in the healthcare industry. She is the Training Director for the Healthcare Coaching Institute and has trained and coached many leaders for hospitals, clinics, laboratories, medical devices,
Identify and Address Anxiety at Work Before it Takes Hold with guest expert Chester Elton
Jun 21, 2021
Chester Elton, co-author of Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done
Chester Elton and Bill Ringle discuss the obvious and subtle impacts of stress and anxiety that disrupt effective communications and collaborations in the workplace for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today's top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle's mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Anxiety is a looming dark cloud above our heads, but it doesn't need to stay that way forever.
The difference between stress and anxiety is that stress tends to be much more momentary.
Perfectionism is counter-productive. It is important to remember that whenever we try to give our best, things won't always go our way, but instead of seeing them as just mistakes, take them as learning opportunities.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Chester shares about his father, John, whose big presence in his life inspired him growing up. [01:28]
Mending their friendship after an argument, CEO Kent Murdoch and Chester highly values mutual respect. [03:03]
A survey conducted by Cisco tallied that 80% of workers, 40% of which are millenials, suffer from anxiety. [06:15]
He talks about Chris, a CEO in a big company based in London, and how anxiety shouldn't be an impairment to managers. [08:49]
Derek, the CEO of Life Guides, shares to Chester a heartbreaking story about his employee and why asking for our employee's welfare is essential. [14:07]
Chester explains why our quest to be perfect is actually doing us more harm than good. [18:30]
Chester tells us about his favorite CEO, Garry, and how mistakes are really learning opportunities. [20:00]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [26:48]
Contact Info and Social Media for Chester Elton
Primary Website
Travels from: Summit, NJ
Connect on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram
Resources Mentioned
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
My Quest for the Best interview: 342: The power of gratitude to transform your work relationships and culture with guest expert Chester Elton
Garry O. Ridge - Chief Executive Officer of WD-40 Company
Pepsi's former CEO Indra Nooyi said that when you assume positive intent about people, everything gets better.
Adrian Gostick - co-author of Anxiety at Work
Derek Lundsten - a proven growth-stage entrepreneur and technology maven with a specialization in e/m-learning. He is the current CEO of Life Guides.
Gratitude and Pasta: The Secret Sauce for Human Connection by Chris Schembra
Books Authored by Chester Elton
Prepare to shatter your limits of what you thought could be learned quickly with guest expert Scott Young
Jun 14, 2021
Scott Young, author of Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition and Accelerate Your Career
Scott Young and Bill Ringle discuss how to rethink the importance of learning as a competitive advantage for small business leaders.
> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
If something is not working the way you want it to even after you follow all the steps, step back to see all the angles and see if there are other ways to approach it.
Things should be approached with an analytical mind. While following steps is important, keep in mind that there is a diversity of doing things.
Genius can be built by acquired learning, so we need to immerse ourselves in an environment where we learn.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Scott talks about how his grandfather's gusto to learn inspired his curiosity for life and learning. [00:54]
A bad learning experience can be a barrier to being better at something. [03:46]
How his MIT project and how announcing it publicly gave him positive reinforcement to deliver. [09:55]
A discussion about David Autor's skill polarization in the United States economy. [13:09]
The application of language learning to ultra learning. [17:03]
Tyler Cowen imparts to us the value of learning things. [14:04]
Scott Young describes details of his language learning experiment. [14:42]
A nod to Richard Feynman, who taught us how genius could be cultivated through acquired knowledge. [23:01]
The My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [25:00]
Expert Bio
Scott Young is a writer who undertakes interesting self-education projects, such as attempting to learn MIT's four-year computer science curriculum in twelve months and learning four languages in one year. He lives in Vancouver Canada.
Contact Info for Scott Young
Primary Website
Travels from: Vancouver, BC
Connect on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
The Polarization of U.S Labor, by David Autor
Tyler Cowen - American Economist
Richard Feynman - a Nobel Prize-winning American theoretical physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics
Published by Scott Young
https://www.amazon.com/Ultralearning-Master-Outsmart-Competition-Accelerate/dp/006285268X?&linkCode=li2&tag=billringle&linkId=9594898b110a2b1612e7e2b5c2ab775b&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_il
Thinking clearly and proactively about cybersecurity with guest expert Jessica Barker
Jun 07, 2021
Jessica Barker, author of Confident Cyber Security: How to Get Started in Cyber Security and Futureproof Your Career
Jessica Barker and Bill Ringle discuss how the risks for data hacking, ransomware, and identity theft are greater than ever for small business leaders, and how to stay vigilant and protected.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Cybercrime can cause emotional damage. If you are a victim of cybercrime, do not be ashamed to ask for help.
Be proactive in protecting your information. This means, as much as possible, avoiding putting private information online.
Educating ourselves about cybersecurity is a must if we want to ensure that our businesses are safe and that we will have peace of mind.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Jessica shares how her family made her aware that people's lives can be challenging and her brother, who first introduced her to technology, inspired her growing up. [00:42]
A vital part of Jessica's job is to empower people to feel safe online through cybersecurity. [04:27]
Jessica shares how cybercrime can take a toll on someone's mental health. [06:42]
Jessica had led an awareness-raising session in Canada where she talked about malware on emails. [07:19]
With the covid pandemic lockdown making people work from home, there is an increase in people needing cyber protection. [11:13]
Jessica talks about how cybercrime is evolving and the trends to watch as a small business manager or leader. [13:56]
Cybercriminals don't need to target you to victimize you. [16:49]
Shipping giant MAERSK fell victim to cybercrime when its computers and networks were hacked, causing the business to shut down and lose tons of money. [17:16]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [26:47]
Expert Bio
Jessica Barker has been named one of the top 20 most influential women in cybersecurity in the UK and in 2017 was awarded one of the UK's Tech Women 50. Co-Founder and co-CEO of Cygenta, she is a popular keynote speaker internationally and a frequent contributor to print and broadcast media.
Contact Info and Social Media for Jessica Barker
Primary Website
Travels from: Sheffield, UK
Social Media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Sir John Sawyers, former chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, now working for BP.
Taylor Swift, a songwriter and performer, pays attention to IP theft of her material.
MAERSK - A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S, also known simply as Maersk, is a Danish integrated shipping company active in ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation.
Ed Sheeran - an English singer, songwriter, record producer, musician, actor, and businessman.
Published by Jessica Barker
Proven approaches to advancing your career from the outside or inside with guest expert Fawn Germer
May 31, 2021
Fawn Germer, author of Coming Back! How to Win the Job You Want When You've Lost the Job You Need
Fawn Germer and Bill Ringle discuss advanced resilience and networking skills for small business leaders and those who want to work for you.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Sell what you can contribute in present and sell harder on what you can bring in the future.
A crisis is not a time to bow heads and just get by, but a time to step up, be visible and upskill.
Take charge of your career and continue with upskilling to stay relevant in the future.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Fawn proudly shares how her mother was a huge influence on her growing up and how she helped shaped her values and how she got her fearlessness from her mother. [01:16]
A controversial piece she wrote on her school paper resulted in her principal threatening to send her to a different school. [02:22]
The necessity of constantly upskilling. [05:47]
She shares about her client, Janine, who took in a bad situation and turned it into a win. [07:53]
Advice on how to sell yourself to millennials. [09:18]
What's your view on it? And what have you heard from people who are succeeding in this way? [12:44]
Fawn shares a story about Laura who is a VP in a marketing company and how she helped her in her quest to career advancement. [14:08]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [16:47]
Expert Bio
Fawn Germer is a renowned keynote speaker and the best-selling author of nine books, including the Oprah book, Hard-Won Wisdom. Her latest book, Coming Back! How to Win the Job You Want When You’ve Lost the Job You Need shows how to wage a breakthrough career comeback if you feel you are being pushed aside or cast out at work. Fawn, a 4-time Pulitzer nominee, interviewed more than 300 CEOs, senior executives, workplace consultants, academics, and professionals for this project.
Contact Info for Fawn Germer
Primary Website
Travels from: Dunedin, FL
Social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram
Published by Fawn Germer
Making Transformational Changes with guest expert Jen Groover
May 31, 2021
Jennifer Groover, author of The MORE Method: The Simple Formula to Get More of Everything You Desire in Life
Jen Groover and Bill Ringle discuss ways to think bigger and achieve more in your work life and personal life for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Transformation comes after awareness, so we must take it upon ourselves to reflect on what behaviors we want to encourage and what we need to purge. Follow through willingly on the things you pledge to uphold, complete, or cherish.Leaders can maximize employee potential through positive reinforcement, and this can be done by knowing what motivates each person in the team.Every transaction is an opportunity to know a person, understand what drives them, and know which button to push to motivate them, which will bring in better results.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Jennifer Groover shares how Bob Proctor's speech about the principles of success and laws of the universe left a huge impact on her making him a huge inspiration for her growing up. [01:26]Jen shares her insights on how to maximize one's potential. [05:41]The difference between change versus transformation. [07:53]How to achieve transformation based on self-development and coaching other entrepreneurs and small business leaders. [12:48]Why knowledge is power in our professional and personal development. [14:10]Jen shares lessons from coach Pete Carroll, Bill Belichick, and Russell Wilson. [17:49]My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [21:43]
Expert Bio
Jen Groover has been tagged by SUCCESS MAGAZINE as a “One-Woman Brand,” a “Creativity and Innovation Guru” and a leading “Serial Entrepreneur” by Entrepreneur Magazine and ranked #8 by SAP in the Top 51 Influencers of Human Potential. Jen Groover’s name has become synonymous with innovation, entrepreneurship, and transformation. She was recently nominated for “Motivational Speaker of the Year for 2019” from Speakercon. She is a UN delegate to the first-ever Global Accelerator for the Global Entrepreneurs Council. She also made history at the NYSE, as a member of the first all-female group to ring the opening bell, made Forbes’ list of “50 Founders You Need to Follow on Twitter,” and was nominated “TV Personality of The Year Award” in 2015 by Savor the Success.
As a successful serial entrepreneur, performance coach, and retired National Level Fitness Competitor, Jen Groover has been a highly sought-after speaker and trainer for over 20 years.
Jen has been a top business and lifestyle contributor and content creator for major television networks such as ABC, CBS, CNBC, NBC, MSNBC, Fox News, Fox Business News, and The CW. Jen also contributes editorial pieces to several prominent business magazines and online resources, including The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, Inc Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Positively Positive. Her products, brand, and work have been featured in hundreds of media outlets, including O! The Oprah Magazine, Redbook, People, US Weekly, SUCCESS, and Forbes.
She is currently launching her latest book, “The MORE Method: The Simple Formula to Get More of Everything You Desire in Life.” This is a proprietary, results-driven behavioral modification program created by Jen, as a culmination of her unique interdisciplinary teachings of human potential, spanning over two decades.
Reaching and connecting with colleagues in meaningful ways when you are working remotely with guest expert Kevin Eikenberry
May 24, 2021
Kevin Eikenberry, author of The Long-Distance Teammate: Stay Engaged and Connected While Working Anywhere.
Kevin Eikenberry and Bill Ringle discuss practical examples of establishing meaningful connections with your colleagues and direct reports working remotely for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Connecting, engaging, and collaborating with your work team with Wayne Turmel
May 10, 2021
Wayne Turmel, author of The Long-Distance Teammate: Stay Engaged and Connected While Working Anywhere
Wayne Turmel and Bill Ringle discuss practical and effective ways to work together in different physical locations for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Remote work poses a challenge to employee engagement. When managing a remote team, managers should make an extra effort to converse in order to check not only the progress of the team as a whole, but that of its individual members.
Using the correct language when conversing with employees not only strengthens your relationship but also gives them confidence that they can do their jobs.
A team is responsible for each other's well-being, thus, it is important for leaders to stress out the importance of mutual responsibility, and make sure that each and every member is fully committed to being in the team.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Wayne talks about how he was impressed by families running small businesses in British Columbia. [1:14]
Wayne's first management job experience and how did not do things without fully understanding the reason behind it. [03:07]
Wayne puts deep emphasis on the usage of the right terminology when addressing people in a company. [05:11]
The pandemic lockdown and remote work made people feel out of sight, out of mind. Wayne stresses out the importance of ensuring that there is no disconnect between the employees and the leadership and why this will allow employees to contribute more. [06:43]
Wayne talks about Sandra and Sam and discusses why managers should know how to communicate with their teams especially now that people are working at home. [12:12]
Wayne talks about Gary and why managers need to start a conversation with employees for them to be fully willing to speak. [15:18]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [23:29]
Expert Bio
Wayne Turmel is the co-founder of the Remote Leadership Institute.
Turmel is the author or co-author of seven nonfiction books, including The Long-Distance Teammate, The Long-Distance Leader and Meet Like You Mean It. See links below.
Contact Info and Social Media for Wayne Turmel
Primary Website
Travels from: Las Vegas, NV
Connect on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
Resources Mentioned
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Slack- a business communication platform to manage teams.
Books Authored by Wayne Turmel
Aligning your organizational style with your personality traits with guest expert Kelly McMenamin
Apr 26, 2021
Kelly McMenamin, author of Organize Your Way: Simple Strategies for Every Personality
Bill Ringle and Kelly McMenamin discuss using the power of your inherent personality traits to help select and customize the systems by which you organize your workflow at the office and at home for sustainable effectiveness for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
When you organize based on your personality type, the systems, routines, and methods you use are more sustainable and automatic.
Find a system that works for you. It is important to remember that there is no single right way; the way that works best for you is the best system to use.
Different people have different perspectives and that is important to take into account when managing at work and at home.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Kelly describes how British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was a great inspiration to her growing up. [01:11]
How the habit of being prepared enabled her to add more value to a very important hedge fund meeting that was a memorable early work experience. [02:49]
Kelly shares how she first started working with her sister, Katie, and the event that precipitated their partnership. [04:08]
Personality assessment is a great way to know yourself, to assess your strengths and weakness, and how to best develop yourself. [10:08]
Kelly talks about when she first realized that every personality type organizes in a different way.
What she saw Sir Richard Branson do in a CNBC interview that sparked a huge realization. [12:49]
Kelly explains her approach when implementing the filing system to different people. [16:32]
The My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [19:35]
Expert Bio
Kelly is an author, organizing coach & speaker, and co-founder of PixiesDidIt!, a company dedicated to helping clients organize according to personality type. Their motto is that while life isn’t always easy, organizing it should be. Kelly is co-author of “Organize Your Way: Simple Strategies for Every Personality,” Sterling Publishing. Prior to PixiesDidIt!, Kelly worked as a hedge fund analyst and at the Federal Reserve Bank of NY. She holds a B.A. from Barnard College and an M.B.A from The Tuck School at Dartmouth. She is the proud mother of three amazing sons and wife to a usually perfect husband.
Contact Info and Social Media for Kelly McMenamin
Primary Website
Travels from: New York, NY
Connect on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Sir Richard Branson's CNBC interview.
Myers-Briggs type indicator.
Authored by Kelly McMenamin
The remarkable difference once you clean out your head trash with guest expert Noah St. John
Apr 19, 2021
Noah St. John, author of Power Habits: The New Science for Making Success Automatic®
Bill Ringle and Noah St. John discuss the different dimensions of the habitual thoughts that mess up our business, relationships, and personal lives through the metaphor of head trash for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
We need to stop giving reasons why 'we cannot do' and instead think about 'how we can do.'
Habits play a huge role in how long it will take us to achieve our goals.
When people stop giving reasons and start trying, that is when they get results.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Noah St. John talks about how Dale Carnegie inspired him when he was young. [1:33]
What is head trash? Advice on how to stop preventing ourselves from succeeding. [03:38]
Signs that we may be succumbing to head trash. [07:31]
CASE: Adam, a CEO of a fast-growing company who fell victim to head trash. [09:55]
Discussion about the hidden connection between habits and wealth. [16:14]
An analogy on how we might be unconsciously responsible for not being able to reach our goals. [20:32]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [23:23]
Noah shares the best advice he never got. [24:53]
Expert Bio
NOAH ST. JOHN is known as “The Power Habits® Mentor” and is famous for helping people have better mental health and more business wealth. Since 1997, his coaching clients have added more than $2.7 BILLION dollars using his methods.
The #1 bestselling author of 15 books published in 18 languages, Noah is the ONLY author in history to have works published by HarperCollins, Hay House, Simon & Schuster, Mindvalley, Nightingale-Conant, and the Chicken Soup for the Soul publisher.
Noah St. John coined the term AFFORMATIONS® - a new technology of the mind that helps busy people enjoy more wealth, health, and happiness with less stress.
Noah has delivered over 1,000 presentations for corporations, associations, business groups, universities, and youth organizations worldwide, and can speak for groups ranging from 25 to 25,000+!
One of the world’s most sought-after experts on peak performance, Noah also appears frequently in the news worldwide, including ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, The Hallmark Channel, NPR, SUCCESS Magazine, SiriusXM Radio, Parade Magazine, Woman’s Day, Los Angeles Business Journal, The Washington Post, Costco Connection, Chicago Sun-Times, Entrepreneur.com, Selling Power and The Huffington Post.
Fun fact: Noah once won an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii on the game show Concentration, where he missed winning a new car by three seconds. (Note: He had not yet discovered his Power Habits® System.)
Contact Info and Social Media for Noah St. John
Primary Website
Travels from: Uniontown, OH
Connect on Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
How to Win Friends & Influence People. Dale Carnegie
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey
Success Magazine featured Noah St. John
Noah’s AFFORMATIONS® Method
Authored by Noah St. John
Making the implicit explicit for greater collaboration with guest expert Susan Basterfield
Apr 12, 2021
Susan Basterfield, co-author of Lead Together: The Bold, Brave, Intentional Path to Scaling Your Business
Susan Basterfield and Bill Ringle discuss ways to involve your team to a greater degree to create a more productive and satisfying work environment for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
It is not just the leaders, but the team as a collective whole that makes success possible.
In order for a system to transform, everyone in the hierarchy must be willing to participate.
Meetings should be about setting proper expectations, implementing good behavior and best practices, holding accountability, and making commitments.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Susan's 11th-grade history teacher, Mr. Lee encouraged her to have original ideas. [1:52]
A recollection of the report she wrote about the tragic Kent State University School Shooting during a Vietnam war protest. [02:07]
New Zealand was able to manage COVID because its citizens decided to be a fully cooperative team, with the goal of making their situation better. [06:55]
Susan talks about working with Culture Amp, an organization dedicated to providing remote facilitation training. [07:40]
Susan shares about the wise agenda, and the four reasons to hold a meeting. [09:05]
Here she tells about Jan, who was CEO of a disability services organization called Toto who does not want another bog-standard CEO to replace her. [13:11]
Defining what being a CEO means. [16:20]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [18:57]
Expert Bio
Susan is a catalyst and convener who believes that awareness and discernment can unblock drains and move mountains. From 35-plus years in business—spanning global multinationals, startups, and schools—arose experiences that drive her work as a systems transformation partner. Her work includes standing shoulder to shoulder with leaders and organizations on their transformational journeys, often over many years, and convening virtual development programs, including the Practical Self-Management Intensive. She is an educator, coach, facilitator, writer, and collective entrepreneur. Obsessed with building the capacity to build capacity, Susan seeks out that which is life-giving, dances with complexity, and weeds-out constraints to potential. She practices with Greaterthan, and Enspiral.
Contact Info and Social Media for Susan Basterfield
Primary Website
Travels from: Wellington, Te Aro
Connect on Twitter | LinkedIn
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Culture Amp Organization
Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand
Authored by Susan Basterfield
The core of effective leadership starts with self-awareness with guest expert John Knights
Apr 05, 2021
John Knights, author of Leading Beyond the Ego: How to Become a Transpersonal Leader
John Knights and Bill Ringle discuss the importance of understanding who you are the effect you have on others as a foundation of effective leadership for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Listening to and asking insightful questions far exceeds telling people what to do.
An effective leader is not self-centered but someone who takes into account his staff and his community as a whole.
Being a transpersonal leader is a lifelong commitment.
Read the Show Note from this Episode
John Knights talk about how his sailing club teacher Mr. Green, allowed him to experience winning. [01:17]
He shares his experience working for a giant company in Sweden and the life-changing transition that lead him to where he is now. [4:35]
According to John, the traits of the best leaders are the same throughout generations. [9:49]
John Knights shares about Gregor, a COO in a bank, and how he helped transform their workplace from just a workplace to a place where people feel fulfilled. [12:15]
Bhutan and their unique measurement of success- happiness. [16:48]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [22:23]
Expert Bio
John Knights, a co-founder and chairman of LeaderShape is an experienced coach, mentor, and facilitator of senior executives, teams, and peer groups. He is the lead author of the acclaimed book “Leading Beyond the Ego” and many other publications. John is an expert in Emotional Intelligence and a thought leader in 'Transpersonal Leadership' and the relationship between neuroscience and leadership. John developed LEIPA and 8ICOL, some of the most sophisticated 360-degree leadership assessments ever developed.
For the ever-faster-changing world of the 21st century, we need a new kind of leader for the human race and the planet to prosper. John has developed the Transpersonal Leadership Development Journey with colleagues to produce leaders who operate beyond their ego to create performance-enhancing and sustainable cultures. They are radical, ethical, and authentic while emotionally intelligent and caring, as well as believing in life-long personal learning and development.
Before becoming an expert on developing leaders suitable for leading in the 21st century, John had a distinguished career as a senior international corporate executive and entrepreneur. Before the age of 40, he had attained the position of a corporate VP of a Fortune 100 company and the main board director of one of the largest companies in the UK.
As an entrepreneur, he started up several companies, including several in environmental technology. His life changed when he got the opportunity to learn to coach and was then invited to work with groups of CEOs to help them become better leaders. In 2003, John and his colleagues established LeaderShape Global, where they developed a codified, replicable, and configurable process, using advanced learning methodologies to develop the leaders up to Masters's degree level.
Contact Information
Primary Website
Travels from Greater Oxford Area
Social Media Links: LinkedIn | Twitter
Published by John Knights
Finding the best fit organizational structures through conversational depth with guest expert Brent Lowe
Mar 29, 2021
Brent Lowe, co-author of Lead Together: The Bold, Brave, Intentional Path to Scaling Your Business
Brent Lowe and Bill Ringle discuss the hidden value unearthed through deeper conversations for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Everyone is capable of leading and following at some level.The three stages of transitioning into a lead together organization are intellectual work, emotional work, and habitual work.People think that a lead together organization is chaotic until they try it and realize that it is actually slick.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Brent talks about Roberta and how she introduced him to the concept of deeper learning about oneself. [00:57]He talks about when he first ran a business at a young age and what he got from that experience. [04:04]Traditional Management versus Organizational Structure. [09:43]Defining what a lead together organization is, and how to set it up. [12:13]Brent shares about ET group and how he helped them bring organizational structure and harmony to their company. [16:24]My Quest for the Best lightning round begins [24:14]
Expert Bio
Brent Lowe is a performance coach helping leaders show up as their best selves within thriving, purpose-driven teams. As the Scale Coach for Founder CEOs, Brent works with entrepreneurs and leaders who are growing the size and impact of their businesses to tackle local and global challenges. Many of his clients are motivated by the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, and a desire to lead in ways that feel authentic, inspiring, and personally fulfilling.
Contact Info and Social Media for Brent Lowe
Primary Website
Travels from: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Connect on Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
EET Group, Toronto Canada
Published by Brent Lowe
Trust your mentor, stay situationally aware, and always do the right thing with guest expert Mark Brouker
Mar 22, 2021
Mark Brouker, author of Lessons from the Navy: How to Earn Trust, Lead Teams, and Achieve Organizational Excellence
Mark Brouker and Bill Ringle discuss leadership lessons from a macro perspective along with a breakdown to apply those lessons day-to-day in small business teams and company leadership.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
We need to treat our people with respect, take care of them, and keep them good if we want to be competitive.Take every opportunity to build trust, not fear, because a culture of fear can lead to underperformance.The sequence of interactions between managers and employees creates the workplace culture.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Mark Brouker talks about the two people who inspired him growing up- his father who taught him the honor of serving your country, and his little league coach, Bill Marlowe who taught him respect. [01:41]He talks about why leadership behavior matters a lot. [04:24]What is leadership and what makes a good leader? [07:15]A discusion about why caring is elusive and gives his advice on how to work on it. [12:13]Mark share his own experience working in a culture of fear. [15:23]Breeding a culture of fear is strongly discouraged. [17:16]My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [24:26]
Expert Bio
Captain Mark Brouker is a United States Navy retired officer who has more than 25 years of leadership experience. 15 of which were in C-suite level positions. He served as a thought-leader, keynote speaker, professor, coach consultant, facilitator, and pharmacist.
During his career. He served as commanding officer at one of the largest Naval hospitals worldwide. As chief of staff for Navy Medicine West, he was responsible for 10 hospitals spanning the West coast of the United States to the Indian ocean and healthcare for 800,000 patients. Or so after transitioning from the military captain broker founded Brouker Leadership Solutions, a company dedicated to helping leaders succeed on their leadership journeys.
He has presented to thousands of professionals in 21 countries as clients include Fortune 500 companies. Mark who lives in San Diego, California, is here to talk about his book "Lessons from the Navy, How to Earn Trust, Lead Teams, and Achieve Organizational Excellence."
Contact Info and Social Media for Mark Brouker
Primary WebsiteTravels from: San Diego, California Connect on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
Resources Mentioned
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO, and his employee's suggestion.Patients Come Second, by Paul Spiegelman.Dr. Paul Zak's study about the secrets of high-performing teams.Havard Business Review's article on Leadership Behaviour
Published by Mark Brouker
Using Christmas Spirit to Revive Morale and Strengthen your People with guest expert Renae Baker
Mar 15, 2021
Renae Baker, author of Defeating Scrooge - How to Harness the Power of Christmas Carols to Revive Your Spirit Any Time of Year
Renae Baker and Bill Ringle discuss how Renae has built a business around a very seasonal service and how songs and stories of Christmas can provide a boost to morale throughout the year for small business leaders and their teams.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
People can lead through music through thick and thin.The Christmas spirit is available to each of us all year round.Taking care of ourselves and others is taking care of our frontline responders.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Sharm Charmaine, a spiritual ed teacher that Renae met when she was in high school, just appreciated people and made them feel better through her smiles and enthusiasm left a lifelong positive impression on Renae. [01:22]Making music together in a group actually creates coordination, cooperation, and empathy among the group members. [10:12]Music is a gift when it actually helps you release sadness. [10:39]My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [18:42]I have stopped caring what people think of my choices when I've made a choice that I feel is right for me. [19:57]Renae shares a heart breaking story about Dr. Frank, who sadly passed away due to COVID while taking care of people who were afflicted with the deadly virus. He was one of the first doctors in the United States to die of COVID.[21:39]She strongle encourages us to take care of our frontlines by taking care of ourelves. [25:17]
Expert Bio
Renae Baker is a specialist in Christmas and holiday spirit.
Since 1997, she has been the founder and director of I S.M.I.L.E. in New York Productions, a company of Broadway holiday carolers who perform at some of NYC’s most iconic establishments.
Renae and her carolers have been featured on the Ginger New York Show, Fox’s Street Talk with Antwon Lewis, and in many radio and podcast interviews, including NPR, CBS and FOX, and in various newspapers.
Renae is also the author of "Defeating Scrooge – How to Harness the Power of Christmas Carols to Revive Your Spirit Any Time of Year" which is also available as an audiobook. She conducts Defeating Scrooge Spirit Saver Workshops and is a public speaker on holiday topics ranging from the holiday greeting controversy to the power of music to build bridges of harmony between people.
Contact Info for Renae Baker
Primary Website
Travels from: New York City
Connect on Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
TEDx Talk: Can Caroling Bring World Peace?
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day by Henry Wadsworth
Published by Renae Baker
Find better control over your business growth through focus with Carl Reader
Mar 08, 2021
Carl Reader, author of Boss It: Control Your Time, Your Income and Your Life
Bill Ringle and Carl Reader discussed the mistakes and course corrections needed for small business leaders to succeed as their business evolves from one major stage to the next, such as start-up to growth stage, or growth to hypergrowth.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
It is the human-to-human interaction that matters the most in business relations.
In order to scale your business higher, shift your mindset from operator to leader.
It is important to reconcile your business ambitions with your personal goals.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Carl talks about how his father and how he lived his life inspired Carl growing up. [00:57]
An example of how to convey the importance of keeping a network. [02:48]
The importance of staying connected and adapting to the many changes in our work and even personal life during the pandemic. [06:04]
Carl shares his reason and purpose for why he started his business. [09:48]
How to structure a business to get more value from it. [12:43]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [17:21]
Expert Bio
Carl Reader is a regular small business commentator among UK national newspapers, TV channels and radio stations.
He has sat on all sides of the table – as a founder, an advisor, an entrepreneur, and an investor; and retains his position of Joint Chairman at d&t.
He currently serves as an ambassador to IPSE, the trade body for the self-employed in the UK and US, and as the Chair of the Practitioners Panel of the ACCA.
Previously, he has served as board director of the British Franchise Association, amongst other not-for-profit and charitable efforts. He speaks widely to small business audiences, helping them understand that business isn’t difficult. It’s hard work, but it isn’t difficult.
Contact Info and Social Media for Carl Reader
Primary Website
Travels from: London, England
Connect on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Michael Lee Gerber's principle of entrepreneurial manager technician.
Published by Carl Reader
Sam Horn, author of SOMEDAY is Not a Day in the Week: 10 Hacks to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life
Mar 01, 2021
Sam Horn, author of SOMEDAY is Not a Day in the Week: 10 Hacks to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life
Sam Horn and Bill Ringle discuss the strategies and shortcuts to living a full life absent of limiting beliefs and habits that hold you back rather than propel you into the rich experiences available to each of us in our business or personal lives.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
#creativity, #entrepreneurship, #successhabits, #bestsellingauthor, #procrastination, #success, #womenleader, #featuredinterview, #MQ4B
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Our legacy is not something we leave at the end of our life, but something we create and leave every day of our life.
Ideas, books, and businesses in our head help no one, so we need to create, not to compete or compare, but to get it out in the world.
We make our living from our mind and if we don't write it down, the muse gets ticked and goes away.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Sam Horn shares a piece of sage advice given to her by Mr. Bowers, her high school librarian that played a huge role on her philosophy in life. [01:35]
How a book can leave a legacy. [05:27]
When people can quote you, that means you left an impact. [09:30]
CASE: Sandra Joseph, who played Christine in the play The Phantom of the Opera, still suffered from stage fright even after 10 years of performing, but overcame it to share her message through a book and a TEDx talk. [14:28]
Why writers have an obligation to write. [16:33]
A discussion about impostor syndrome. [16:11]
CASE: Cathy Worley, a top real estate agent in Maui, demonstrates how we can integrate our work and recreation successfully. [21:39]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [29:05]
Expert Bio
Sam Horn, author of SOMEDAY is Not a Day in the Week: 10 Hacks to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life
Sam Horn is the Founder/CEO of the Intrigue Agency and the Tongue Fu! Training Institute.
Her 9 books – including Tongue Fu!, POP! Washington Post bestseller Got Your Attention? and SOMEDAY is Not a Day in the Week - have been featured in New York Times, Fast Company, endorsed by Seth Godin, Tony Robbins, and Dan Pink, and presented to hundreds of organizations worldwide including Intel, Cisco, Capital One, Accenture, Nationwide, Boeing, YPO and EO.
In addition to being Executive Director of the world-renowned Maui Writers Conference for 17 years, she was the Pitch Coach for Springboard Enterprises which has helped women entrepreneurs generate more than $10 billion in funding.
Sam’s three TEDx talks have been viewed more than a half-million times and her LinkedIn communication series is used by organizations like Walmart and Wells Fargo to train their employees how to communicate more clearly and confidently.
As the Intrigue Expert, she has helped hundreds of clients - including Terry Jones, founder of Travelocity, Nell Merlin, co-founder of Take Your Daughter to Work Day, Charlie Pellerin, Project Manager of the Hubble Telescope, Sandra Joseph, 10 year Broadway star as Christine in Phantom of the Opera, creates one-of-a-kind brands, books, TEDx talks that catapulted their careers.
Sheri Salata, former Executive Producer of the Oprah Winfrey Show says, “Sam is one of the bright lights and most accessible wisdom sharers in our culture today.”
Contact Info and Social Media for Sam Horn
Primary Website
Travels from: Austin, Texas
Cultivate authentic relationships to encourage greater talent, time, and treasure with Lisa Greer
Feb 22, 2021
Lisa Greer, author of Philanthropy Revolution: How to Inspire Donors, Build Relationships and Make a Difference
Lisa Greer and Bill Ringle discuss creative ways to build meaningful and rewarding professional relationships for non-profit organization executives and small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Have the courage to be successful and beat the odds.
Non-profit organizations not only save lives but also changes that of the givers for the better.
Rating financials, while good, does not reflect the impact a non-profit organization has on a community.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Lisa Greer shares how a conversation with her father and a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt served as inspirations to her. [01:21]
Lisa talks about the first time she was introduced to philanthropy and how that was life-altering for her. [04:32]
Crohn's disease and how it affected her parent. [08:47]
Lisa shares an example of how non-profits pitch to people who want to make contributions. [20:05]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round. [25:39]
Expert Bio
Lisa Greer is an entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist who has managed her family’s giving for the last decade. She has served on dozens of boards and commissions, including the Beverly Hills Cultural Heritage Commission, the international board of the New Israel Fund, the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and the Los Angeles District Attorney Crime Prevention Foundation.
Greer also founded two healthcare-related companies and a strategic advisory firm specializing in digital media and entertainment. As a Hollywood studio executive, she managed the online businesses at NBC and Universal Studios, while also launching pioneering ventures into music webcasting. Greer is a mother of five and lives with her husband Joshua and their two youngest children in Los Angeles.
Contact Info and Social Media for Lisa Greer
Primary Website
Travels from: Babylon, NY
Connect on Twitter
Connect on LinkedIn
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent", a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt.
The Fox Hunt, by Mohammed Al Samawi
Cedars-Sinai, A Non-Profit Hospital
10x10 Philanthropy, Empowering the Next Generation of Giving
Published by Lisa Greer
Encouraging leadership at all levels of a small business with Travis Marsh
Feb 15, 2021
Travis Marsh, co-author of Lead Together: The Bold, Brave, Intentional Path to Scaling Your Business
Travis Marsh and Bill Ringle discuss how to build a more collaborative workplace, where your people have the awareness and flexibility to make their best contributions in a small to mid-sized business.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Design your leadership in ways that help people build their confidence in their ability to lead others in any situation.
Building a solid and close relationship with non-managerial people creates loyalty and a deeper connection.
The ripple effect created when you believe that people are innately good, trustworthy, and capable.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Travis shares why his father serves as a great inspiration for him growing up. [01:06]
Travis gives an example of how a company can implement its values and mission. [06:17]
Are people fundamentally good? [10:13]
Travis explains the essential of pychological safety. [16:09]
Travis talks about how to give effective feedback without creating fear of failure. [19:44]
My Quest for the Best lightning round. [22:13]
Expert Bio
Travis Marsh is a facilitator, coach, and trainer who works with companies and nonprofits by introducing mindsets and tools that help dynamic leadership grow.
He started his career in engineering and has worked in sales, marketing, operations, software development, and people operations, and has led teams in several of those areas.
He has worked in multinational organizations as well as startups growing 10-fold per year, seeing the interconnection and big impact of small changes in leadership and followership.
He also works at the Stanford Graduate School of Business facilitating a class on interpersonal communication. He coaches purpose-driven companies, both VC-funded and bootstrapped.
Contact Info and Social Media for Travis Marsh
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Primary Website
Travels from: San Francisco, CA
Connect on LinkedIn
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Dacher Keltner, author of Cookie Monster
Liberating Structures
Published by Travis Marsh
Taking your leadership beyond personal gains to a larger vision and purpose with guest expert Danielle Grant
Feb 08, 2021
Danielle Grant, author of LEADING BEYOND THE EGO: How To Become A Transpersonal Leader
Danielle Grant and Bill Ringle discuss the remarkable difference in retention, recruitment, and profitability that occurs when your senior managers are on the journey toward transpersonal leadership for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Top 3 Take Aways from this Interview
Leadership is a journey of self-discovery, starting with raising self-awareness.
Peter's example of leading his quasi-governmental team to higher levels of customer service.
The right climate cultivates the conditions for the kind of leadership we all want within our organizations.
Interview Insights
People learn when you generate the conditions for them to have insights.
Our vision is where we want to go on the horizon, but our purpose is to change the world.
Emotional intelligence can be manipulative. To avoid that you have to be entirely aligned with one's values and one's higher purpose.
We know that the fish rots from the head, and that culture and climate are very often a corollary of the behavior of the leadership.
The transpersonal leader leads beyond their ego, not just in their self interest for their own glorification or power. They do it for the greater good. They do it in service of a purpose of their organization.
Empower those in the organization, give them the awareness of how to cascade the behaviors so that they have an impact on those underneath them.
Leadership is about creating a new direction. It is about inspiring. It's about vision.
If you're trying to influence and inspire, you want to be at the visionary end of the spectrum, you want to be a leader at that point.
Very often a leader will have to flip between being a manager and a leader. It's about the awareness of where they are on the spectrum and being at the right place on the spectrum at any given moment.
One normally starts with a journey of self discovery in becoming a leader.
Expert Bio
Danielle Grant is a Director of LeaderShape Global with many years of experience coaching and facilitating programs at CEO and Director level. A former businesswoman, she is a thought leader in blended learning methodologies.
Danielle holds an MA with Distinction in Leadership Development and has been a Hon. Lecturer of the University of Chester, delivering LeaderShape's suite of Post-Graduate qualifications. She also undertakes speaking engagements on key Leadership topics.
Danielle is a co-author of “Leading Beyond the Ego - how to become a transpersonal leader” and of “Leadership Assessment for Talent Development” and also had numerous articles published on topics around diversity and inclusion and women's leadership.
She specializes in the Delivery of Business Excellence through Developmental & transformational team and 1-2-1 business coaching; Leadership development, competency evaluation. Master's level Coach-Mentor-Facilitator and Leadership Development courses. Design & Development of blended embedded learning programs, based on Work-Based Learning and brain-friendly principles.
Contact Info for Danielle Grant
Primary Website
Travels from: Bury, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
Connect on LinkedIn | Twitter
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
McKinsey insights on sustainability
Great business culture is observable in the interactions of its people with guest expert Kevin Oakes
Feb 01, 2021
Kevin Oakes, author of Culture Renovation: 18 Leadership Actions to Build an Unshakeable Company
Kevin Oakes and Bill Ringle discuss how business culture can be approached similar to a home renovation – perfecting one area at a time – for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Only 15% of attempted culture change efforts are highly successful.
Progressive organizations view change not only as normal and expected but as an opportunity.
Senior management often bypasses the all-important planning phase and begins without garnering any insight from the workforce.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Kevin shared how his father influenced him to have a good work ethic and getting out of this comfort zone. [1:14]
The importance of agility as a key trait in a company. [9:30]
Highlights culture change or transformation and company renovation. [10:09]
He identifies some companies that he discussed in his book as companies who rested on their laurels. [10:38]
The kill the company community that will help your company stay competitive. [11:58]
How successful companies are companies that view change as an opportunity. [13:28]
The top management should lead to culture change and discusses co-creation mentality. [14:18]
Kevin underlines the importance of checkin' into the workforce regarding their organizational culture before checkin' on your customers. [15:35]
He discussed that a successful CEO is not afraid to embrace change and they are transparent. [19:17]
Kevin points out that culture dictates performance. [19:54]
Calling attention to culture change laggards as a challenge and how to deal with them. [21:33]
Kevin discuss organizational technique analysis. [22:50]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [26:11]
Expert Bio
Kevin Oakes is the author of CULTURE RENOVATION: 18 Leadership Actions to Build an Unshakeable Company (McGraw-Hill; Dec. 15, 2020). He is also the CEO and co-founder of the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), the leading authority on next practices in human capital. i4cp produces more research than any other human capital research firm on the planet. Supported by a powerful community of human capital practitioners, i4cp provides insights that help organizations better anticipate, adapt, and act in a constantly changing business environment.
Kevin is currently on the board of Performitiv, a performance improvement technology company. Kevin is also on the advisory boards of EdCast, a knowledge network firm, and Sanctuary, a health and wellness startup. Kevin was previously on the board of directors of KnowledgeAdvisors, a provider of human capital analytics software, which was purchased by the Corporate Executive Board in March of 2014. Kevin was also the Chairman of Jambok, a social learning start-up company that was founded at Sun Microsystems and was purchased by SuccessFactors in March 2011. He also served on the boards of Workforce Insight and Koru prior to their sales.
Kevin is on the board of Best Buddies Washington and helped establish the first office for Best Buddies in the state in 2019. Best Buddies is a nonprofit organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, leadership development, and inclusive living for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
How clear goals, belief, and discipline propel you to success with Michelle Cederberg
Jan 25, 2021
Michelle Cederberg, author of The Success-Energy Equation: How to Regain your Focus, Recharge your Life and Really Get Sh!t Done
Michelle Cederberg and Bill Ringle discuss The Success-Energy Equation for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
When we are stressed, our minds are so overloaded that we are unable to logically and calmly process situations and information.
The boundary between work and home life blurs for people who work in the same place they sleep.
Detachment refers to the act of mentally switching off from work during time off, by removing all work-related thoughts and activities.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Michelle's kayaking coach, Hugh, helped her work on her mental fortitude. [1:14]
Distractions in a relationship negatively affect the energy you experience. [4:15]
The Success Energy Equation explained, in brief. [5:15]
The importance of self-care to reach success. [6:18]
A experience that Michelle helped her client manage work-life balance during the pandemic. [9:04]
The importance of a brain reset to still be efficient during the work-from-home transition. [11:28]
Strategies or habits needed to be productive and successful at work. [12:50]
How to be aware of your personal energy and and direct it purposefully. [14:15]
Michelle shares an experience with a client who struggles to be productive during the pandemic. [16:10]
How recognition and appreciation affect professional excellence. [17:54]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [20:40]
Expert Bio
Michelle Cederberg is a Certified Speaking Professional who has spoken to audiences across the United States and Canada about how to set worthwhile goals and get energized for success—in business and in life.
She believes that personal and professional success are directly influenced by how well we harness the physical, mental, and emotional capacity we each have within us. She has previously been featured on major Canadian media outlets like Best Health, the National Post, Global News, and others.
In addition to The Success-Energy Equation, she is the author of Energy Now! Small Steps to an Energetic Life.
Contact Info and Social Media for Michelle Cederberg
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Web address: michellecederberg.com
Travels from: Calgary, Alberta
Connect Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Michelle's home page
Michelle Cederberg on Human Capacity and Success
Published by Michelle Cederberg
Sales coaching can be the shortest path to solving the performance problems of your sales team with guest expert Peri Shawn
Jan 18, 2021
Peri Shawn, author of Sell More With Sales Coaching: Practical Solutions for Your Everyday Sales Challenges
Peri Shawn and Bill Ringle discuss common challenges and straightforward solutions to sales performance problems for small business leaders and sales managers in particular.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
The salesperson is most likely to listen and change their behaviors if they feel they have been part of the process, not just told what to do.
Determining your effectiveness as a coach shows how well your sales team's skills improve as a result of your coaching.
Coaching sales performance is most effective when it is based on specific, behavioral and observable performance.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Peri shares that her father taught her to engage in other people what's important to them and being economical. [1:38]
Peri mentions the impact of having a sense of responsibility that she learned from her father. [5:12]
Peri emphasizes that the book is specifically written for sales managers and teams. [7:18]
Peri draws attention to the process of how she evaluated a BPO client and helped them improve their sales margins. [10:23]
Peri identifies that once you get beyond four sentences you can lose the clients. [11:57]
Peri reveals the importance of the neuroscience of buying. [12:18]
Peri underlines effective communication to develop emotional engagement for sales. [16:13]
Peri emphasizes poor communication skills can destroy trust for a sales prospect. [18:20]
Peri denotes sales managers should coach reality not theory. [24:15]
My Quest for the best lightning round [25:09]
Expert Bio
Peri Shawn is the award-winning author of the book Sell More with Sales Coaching.
You may have read some of her articles in SellingPower, Salesforce.com, Entrepreneur, Sales and Marketing Management Magazine, Inc., National Post, and Forbes.
Peri teaches and coaches sales VPs and their teams how to coach, increase sales and improve the client experience. She leverages the neuroscience of leadership and buying to help businesses grow.
Her company, the Coaching and Sales Institute, has worked with such teams as KPMG, GE, Hallmark, AT&T, Direct Energy, Bell, the Royal Bank of Canada and Rogers.
Contact Info and Social Media for Peri Shawn
Primary Website
Travels from: Woodbridge, Ontario
Connect on Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Peri's homepage
Authored by Peri Shawn
If your process for setting goals sucks and your business goals are half-baked, what makes you think your accomplishments are going to be great? Interview with guest expert Kevin Shulman.
Jan 11, 2021
Goal-Setting Boot Camp: Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Kevin Shulman
Kevin Shulman and Bill Ringle discuss the subtle differences in goal setting that can make a huge difference in goal attainment for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Smart companies have effective goal setting at all levels and in all areas of the given enterprise, and, that it "starts in the personal realm" and moves outward from there.
Identify selling behaviors in salespeople is critical as it is the only way to determine what modifications will enable them to meet and exceed goals.
Effective goal setting is all about accountability and responsibility. Whatever your life looks like now, you must understand it and own it.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Kevin shares how Dr. McKraken taught him to give up guilt for the better and changed his life. [1:01]
The importance of setting personal goals before establishing a set of company goals or sales goals. [04:38]
Differentiating between short-term, long-term goals, and retirement goals. [5:18]
Salespeople really need to write their goals to reach their full potential. [8:05]
Keys to effectively set a personal goal. [10:14]
Kevin explains the impact of the doubler process on a client who runs a manufacturing firm. [13:04]
Insights from Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich for goal setting. [16:58]
My Quest for the best lightning round [25:04]
Expert Bio
As a certified Sandler trainer, Kevin Shulman has helped individuals, companies, and professional organizations across the country to set and attain important goals for almost 30 years. He has delivered training in locations as diverse as Las Vegas and Madison Square Garden, yet spends most of the time with his local clients. He is also frequently asked to assist in training other sales trainers.
Shulman completed his undergraduate work at the University of Southern California, where he obtained a degree in psychology, followed by graduate studies in industrial psychology at Wayne State University. He specializes in helping business owners, sales leaders, and salespeople grow their base of business and reach their full potential.
Contact Info and Social Media for Kevin Shulman
Primary Website
Travels from: Greater New York City Area
Connect on Twitter | LinkedIn
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Kevin's home page
Books Authored by Kevin Shulman
Embracing the Personal Qualities that Lead to a (Work) Life you Love with guest expert Terri Jacke
Jan 04, 2021
Terri Jacke, author of Is This a Lousy Job or Is It Me?
Terri Jacke and Bill Ringle discuss issues and examples that every manager or small business leader who hires employees should understand to maximize retention and job satisfaction.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Your growth and your pursuit of fulfillment are possible at any job.
Follow through willingly on the things you pledge to uphold, complete, or cherish.
Be intentional about developing the mental qualities that grow your character.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Terri's grandmother gave her a feeling of love and being cared for growing up. [1:17]
Having a purpose in your endeavor motivates you and your people to achieve important goals. [7:20]
The BY FABLE model of career development: Beginning, Yuckiness, Fear, Authenticity, Boundaries, Love, and Exit. [11:01]
Terri emphasizes mental and moral qualities that are at the core of who you are. [12:38
Her goal in writing the book: to empower others through awareness and education to allow each of us to take better care of our career journey. [18:46]
My Quest for the best lightning round [2:19]
Expert Bio
Terri Jacke is the author of IS THIS A LOUSY JOB OR IS IT ME? A Real-Life Guide For Achieving Success At Work, a seasoned organizational development consultant, and founder of Inspired Training Institute, Inc. Terri began the work that led to this book as a way to better understand how to help people who struggle with difficult coworkers, meaningless work, and lousy work situations. She holds an MS in Applied Leadership For Teaching and Learning from The University of Wisconsin. As a seasoned executive coach, Terri offers a unique blend of business savvy, perceptiveness, and momentum to the development of executives, business leaders, and leadership teams.
She is certified by Gallup as a Strengths Coach, and she is extensively experienced as an MBTI® practitioner having been awarded the official designation of MBTI Master Practitioner. Terri has also served as an adjunct instructor for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Applied Leadership in Teaching and Learning Graduate Program. She stays engaged with her community through a variety of Boards and Advisory Councils.
Contact Info and Social Media for Terri Jacke
Web address: https://inspiredtraining.net/
Travels from: Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States
Connect on Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Terri's homepage
Terri's company page
Books Authored by Terri Jacke
Unblocking beliefs clears the way to accomplishment with Mary Sise
Dec 28, 2020
Mary T. Sise, author of The Energy of Belief: Psychology's Power Tools to Focus Intention and Release Blocking Beliefs
Mary Sise and Bill Ringle discuss how releasing blocked beliefs clears the way for accomplishment for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Most of our beliefs are in the subconscious mind, we may not be aware of them and how they affect our daily lives.
Every belief, including those about yourself, is learned and conditioned through experience.
The powerful component that we need to consider when changing a belief is that we will need to change the corresponding emotion.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Mary shared how her mother empowered her to be the best that she could be. [1:13]
Mary points out that she uses a metaphor to explain a belief system to people. [4:35]
Mary explains human consciousness. [6:58]
Mary shows us her experience with John who faced difficulties because of his belief or mindset. [9:30]
Mary calls attention to mental triggers and fight-flight or freezes action. [13:43]
Mary reveals mental narratives that result in self-sabotaging behaviors. [15:07]
Mary shares the experience of her client Clara who has a panic attack and how they processed it. [15:35]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [18:44]
Expert Bio
Mary Sise is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has used methods that go beyond talk therapy to calm down the survival system.
In 2007, Mary co-authored the book, The Energy of Belief: Psychology’s Power Tools to Focus Intention & Release Blocking Beliefs. This is a self-help book for the general public to learn how to use energy psychology. In 2020 to serve during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mary created a program called “Tapping the Panic Out of Pandemic”.
Mary teaches and works with clients using these methods, and maintains a private practice in Albany, NY.
Contact Info and Social Media for Mary Sise
Primary Website
Travels from: Albany, New York
Connect on Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | YouTube | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Mary's homepage
Tapping the Panic Out of Pandemic
Books Authored by Mary Sise
Don't Lose the Quality of Your Love Life Just Because of a Worldwide Pandemic with guest expert Diana Wiley
Dec 21, 2020
Diana Wiley, author of Love in the Time of Corona: Advice from a Sex Therapist for Couples in Quarantine
Diana Wiley and Bill Ringle discuss examples of ways that even in a quarantine, we can deepen our affection, love, and closeness, even for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
The enforced closeness that comes with quarantining together has often increased the friction between couples.
Participating in the sex-menu exercise, couples will get more comfortable with sexual terminology, an essential element for good communication.
Dopamine begets the desire for more dopamine, and just might lead to new adventures in the bedroom.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Diana's father created a warm loving family environment. [1:17]
Diana states reaching out for professional support is very beneficial; couples wait 7 years on average to do so. [4:49]
You should say 4-5 things that are positive about your employees' work after giving critical or corrective feedback. [6:58]
Praise first and criticize later. [7:33]
How to communicate with your employees when giving feedback on their work. [7:40]
Diana describes how she listens deeply, which means not focusing on what you will say back, and allowing time to acknowledge the other person's feelings. [12:48]
Here is an example of a couple's therapy issue. [14:18]
Details of physical and emotional foreplay in this case. [16:01]
Sweet nothings are an important ingredient to a healthy marital relationship. [19:46]
Break the habit of saving up resentment about your partner. [22:10]
Diana describes the sex menu. [26:01]
Diana reveals the best sex tip, one that is applicable even to business: active listening. [28:27]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins [29:48]
Expert Bio
Dr. Diana Wiley, Ph.D., has practiced for more than thirty years as a licensed marriage and family therapist, a board-certified sex therapist, and a gerontologist. Since 2010 she has hosted the online radio show “Love, Lust, and Laughter” on Progressive Radio Network. Dr. Diana has published two studies in medical journals on aging and sexuality and was appointed as a Clinton Presidential Delegate to the 1995 White House Conference on Aging, where she was the only delegate to speak about love and sexuality.
Dr. Diana has given lectures and presentations on Aging and Sexuality in Amsterdam, Paris, Spain, Japan, and India at the World Congress(es) of Sexology, and at many US conferences, mainly at meetings of The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality. Before going to graduate school in 1979, Dr. Diana worked as an English teacher in Hawaii, Italy, and Mexico City. She also worked as a fashion model and performed on stage and in film productions in New York, Los Angeles, Miami Beach, and Honolulu.
Contact Info and Social Media for Diana Wiley
Primary Website
Travels from: Seattle, WA
Connect on Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Diana's homepage
Diana's sex menu exercise
Books Authored by Diana Wiley
Think of therapy as a shortcut to freedom from past hurts, with Robert Grigore
Dec 14, 2020
Robert Grigore, author of You NEED Therapy. EMDR: Real People, With Real Problems, Getting Real Help
Robert Grigore and Bill Ringle discuss the process and possibilities that the Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) modality can offer relief from anxiety, addictions, eating disorders, and more in days instead of years for small business owners, celebrities, and others in demanding career roles who don't have a lot of time to invest before experiencing results.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Most people think that therapy needs to be a long, drawn-out process lasting several years, and even decades. EMDR success stories prove that results can come in days.
The way your brain encoded these experiences, leaving you with a negative belief about yourself (usually starts very early in childhood). Memories contain distressing elements of your experiences that were unprocessed at the time, and your brain thinks you need to hang on to it for survival purposes.
EMDR is NOT talk therapy. EMDR is about eliminating your problems – completely.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Robert shares that his father constantly inspired him to pursue his dreams and passions. [2:02]
Robert reveals how he shifted his career from being a music artist to be a psychologist. [4:50]
He mentions what lead him to a decision to be a therapist. [8:45]
What EMDR is. [11:13]
How to deal with problems with EMDR and finding clarity and peace. [13:45]
How the brain is always trying to heal itself. [15:02]
Robert explains talk therapy vs EMDR. [19:01]
Robert shares an experience with his clients' trauma of being abused. [23:01]
Robert shares another experience with his client who deems that therapies can take too much time or investment. [27:28]
Another experience with his client who deals with aggression with her team member. [33:17]
Robert states that addiction has an element of shame attached to it. [33:47]
Why people wear masks: how they think the world is seeing them vs how they are really feeling. [34:10]
Robert points out that it's our own interpretation of a situation, our past is keeping us a prisoner of our present [38:20]
My Quest for the best lightning round [38:58]
Expert Bio
Robert A. Grigore MCP, RCC is a registered Clinical Counsellor, Certified EMDR Therapist, EMDR consultant, published EMDR author, and the Owner of Grigore Counseling.
Robert has dedicated his practice to helping creative professionals like you to radically let go of unhealthy behavior patterns and unwanted feelings and belief systems in as little as a single weekend. He knows that when you are living in your highest state, you not only create through a higher vibration, but your message strikes a "deeper chord" with your following.
Contact Info for Robert Grigore
Primary Website
Travels from: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Connect on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
EMDR.org International Organization website
EMDR research website
Books Authored by Robert Grigore
Create your destiny through clear vision and skillful asking with guest expert Crystal Hansen
Dec 07, 2020
Crystal Hansen, author of ASK! The Bridge from Your Dreams to Your Destiny
Crystal Hansen and Bill Ringle discuss the obstacles Crystal overcame to create the life and business of her dreams as well as practical applications of the Ask method, especially for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
The research shows that people are more than willing to step up and help you, but they don’t help unless you ask.
Each channel for asking we discovered is equally important: ask yourself, ask God, and ask others.
The first part of the asking journey is spending time with yourself, clarifying your desires and outcomes.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Crystal's mother taught her early on the importance of natural remedies. [1:20]
Her mother showed her that excellence is fed by perseverance and persistent activity. [02:52]
In her transformational coaching practice, clients learn the importance of taking a reflective journey. [8:57]
Preston ran a small energy company and wanted to expand his company. Through coaching, he gained access to a getting meeting with a huge mining company and made a winning presentation. [10:08]
Crystal explains how and what to "ask." [14:20]
Crystal discloses that people do business with the people they like. [19:08]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [20:10]
Expert Bio
Crystal Dwyer Hansen is an international speaker, researcher, corporate consultant, author, and entrepreneur. Her expertise is in the field of human potential. Through her years spent as a Transformational Life Coach, and Wellness/Nutrition Expert, she has seen people experience profound and lasting transformation in relationships, career, health & wellness, by tapping into their own inner resources.
Crystal’s personal coaching, speaking, CD and video programs, books, and articles have helped people all over the world. She is a Member of the International Coaching Federation, a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, the founder of Crystal Vision Life, and Skinny Life™ a wellness company, and author of Skinny Life- The Secret to Being Physically, Emotionally, and Spiritually Fit.
She travels the world with her husband, best-selling author and entrepreneur Mark Victor Hansen, speaking, inspiring, and teaching leadership. Crystal and Mark are co-authors of ASK! The Bridge from Your Dreams to Your Destiny. Together they are owners of Natural Power Concepts, a Hawaii-based company focused on cleaning up the planet through natural energy devices. They live happily in beautiful Scottsdale, Arizona.
Contact Info and Social Media for Crystal Hansen
Primary Website
Travels from: Scottsdale, AZ
Connect on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
IMPORTANT: Join the Ask The Book Club site to stay in touch with Crystal and Mark's Ask methods and successes.
Crystal's free visualization audio from her homepage
Books Authored by Crystal Hansen
Becoming the best version of yourself and helping each person on your team do the same with guest expert Mitzi Perdue
Nov 30, 2020
Mitzi Perdue, author of How to Be Up in Down Times
Mitzi Perdue and Bill Ringle discuss committing to service as a means to overcome any obstacles life throws in your way for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
It’s a great story of learning not just to develop and build yourself and become a better person, but to understand other people.
The more friends you will have, the more effective you become. It helps you in every aspect and dimension of life.
It takes one kind of personality to start a very large company, and a very different kind of personality to keep it going successfully.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Ernest Henderson, Mitzi's father and founder of the Sheraton hotel chain, nurtured her curiosity. [1:58]
How her father managed Sheraton Hotel Chain employees with respect, especially during the height of the Great Depression in the 1930s. [3:01]
What Mitzi did to overcome her shyness. [9:54]
Her mission in life is to increase happiness and decrease misery. [18:28]
Satisfying truth, beauty, and goodness are far better as a standard of success, happiness, and satisfaction. [19:58]
The dinner table discussion strategy. [24:58]
Caring enough to take the time to ask, listen, remember, and use the details to make a world of difference to another, as Frank Perdue demonstrated over and over as he built Perdue Farms. [27:44]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [32:14]
Expert Bio
Author, speaker, and businesswoman, Mitzi Perdue holds a BA with an honors degree from Harvard University and an MPA from George Washington University. She is a past president of the 40,000-member American Agri-Women, a former syndicated columnist for Scripps Howard, and her television series, Country Magazine, was syndicated to 76 stations. She’s the founder of CERES Farms, the family-owned company that owns commercial and residential real estate, and plus agricultural land including vineyards that sell wine grapes to wineries such as Mondavi, Bogle, Folie a Deux, and Toasted Head.
Mitzi Perdue’s book, HOW TO MAKE YOUR FAMILY BUSINESS LAST, gives practical advice on how family businesses can develop a culture that supports keeping the family business in the family. Her advice can be useful to any multi-generational family.
Her I’ve-lived-it experience comes from membership in two long-lasting family enterprises. Her family of origin began in 1840 with the Henderson Estate Company, the forerunner of the Sheraton Hotels which her father co-founded. Perdue Farms (she’s Frank Perdue’s widow) began in 1920.
Most recently, she has authored How to Be Up in Down Times. Her co-author is Mark Victor Hansen, co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series.
Contact Info and Social Media for Mitzi Perdue
Primary Website
Travels from: Salisbury, Maryland
Connect on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Mitzi's Homepage
Mitzi's articles on WealthMagament.com
Global Anti-Trafficking Auction
Books Authored by Mitzi Perdue
Building a successful business (and a successful life) based on honesty and authenticity with guest expert Laura DiBenedetto
Nov 23, 2020
Laura DiBenedetto, author of The Six Habits: Practical Tools for Bringing Your Dreams to Life
Laura DiBenedetto and Bill Ringle discuss stories and perspectives that dispel illusions to build a stronger business and healthier life for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
For the people that achieved a certain level of success in their lives, but when they did, they discovered it was not what it was supposed to be.
We are all misled about what the real definition of success and happiness is.
Through awareness, we can give ourselves the tools that will set us free.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Laura shares that her father constantly inspired her not to have a victim mentality and high tolerance for pain even though he's disabled. [1:17]
The origin of the six habit lists and how long it had percolated in her mind. [5:56]
What happiness means after pursuing the six habits. [8:02]
The driving force for her is her desire to influence or impact many lives. [10:48]
The importance of business leaders developing guiding principles and policies at work. [14:24]
What helps Laura navigate her mindset whenever a pressure situation comes up. [18:23]
Laura emphasizes the importance of treating yourself kindly and the 90-days program and its result. [24:11]
My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [29:48]
Expert Bio
TEDx Speaker, #1 Bestselling author of The Six Habits and Life Mastery Coach, Laura teaches how to create the life of our dreams without sacrificing what we love.
As Founder and CEO of Vision Advertising, a company that she built at 19 years old, she has worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs to build and grow profitable enterprises.
Contact Info for Laura DiBenedetto
Primary Website
Travels from: Kihei, Hawaii
Connect on Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | LinkedIn | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Laura's homepage
Laura's 90-Day Course
TEDx Speaker - TEDxMcphs - Laura DiBenedetto
Books Authored by Laura DiBenedetto
Using index cards to stay on track and accomplish your most important goals with Brian Margolis
Nov 16, 2020
Brian Margolis, author of The Index Card Business Plan For Sales Pros and Entrepreneurs: How to Use the Pillar System to Simplify Your Strategy and Magnify Your Results
Brian Margolis and Bill Ringle discuss the keys to identifying your most important goals and organizing them into simple, easy-to-take action steps for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
The Pillar System uses the concept of focus management to help you develop a simple business strategy to achieve your goals, one that can fit on an index card.
Being good at something doesn’t guarantee success. You must have a strategy.
Channel your existing skills into an actual strategy, and help you synthesize your existing knowledge.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
TV adventurer Jacques Cousteau inspired Brian to be marine science and have a growth mindset. [1:10]
His goal is to teach people that there's a better way to operate. [3:55]
The basic premise that a pillar system can simplify your business processes. [5:20]
Brian figured out the pillar system by reverse engineering processes. [7:01]
A common mistake in the pillar system. [8:29]
The 6 pillars of the system. [11:20]
90% or more of people are naturally reactive and with a mindset of reacting to working more hours. [16:55]
The Pillar system can be a useful and customizable framework. [21:33]
Tim Ferriss says 'being busy is a form of laziness.' [23:58]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [25:40]
Expert Bio
Brian Margolis is a former environmental scientist turned entrepreneur. He graduated as a Marine Biologist from Stockton University and was a Research Scientist for the State of New Jersey for four years. After this, he established his business, KX Enterprises LLC, which is the business side of Productivity Giant and invests and partners in businesses and projects in the for-profit and non-profit sectors. His clients range from individual sales reps to Shark Tank entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies. He shares the strategies he’s used for years to turn multiple wholesalers into top earners. He does this with training on running an intentional wholesaling business, turning value-add resources into sales, and writing emails that advisors respond to.
He is the author of the book “The Index Card Business Plan for Sales Pros and Entrepreneurs: How to Use the Pillar System to Simplify Your Strategy and Magnify Your Results.” His system to help entrepreneurs, sales pros and other results-based professionals run a simple, the more lucrative business has helped create 7 figure earners and is licensed by some of the largest companies in the world to train their sales teams. You can often hear Brian interviewed in some of the top sales and business podcasts in the world.
He currently resides in South Jersey with his wife, twin daughters, and an assortment of large and small pets.
Contact Info for Brian Margolis
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Web address: http://www.productivitygiant.com/
Travels from: Voorhees, New Jersey
Connect on Twitter
Connect on LinkedIn
Connect on Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Brian's home page
Brian's LinkedIn Profile
Tim Ferriss' blog
Books Authored by Brian Margolis
Lessons from the Tech Titans that Small Business Leaders Can Steal, Adopt, and Use to their Advantage with Alex Kantrowitz
Nov 09, 2020
Alex Kantrowitz, author of Always Day One: How the Tech Titans Plan to Stay on Top Forever
Alex Kantrowitz and Bill Ringle discuss the secrets of how the culture of Amazon and Facebook spur innovation and AI to free up human creativity and can be adopted by small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
If we split work up into two categories, the idea work, and the execution work, we spent too much time working on execution on actually like supporting our preexisting products and not enough energy on dreaming up new things and bringing them to life.
Optimizing process and finding ways where can bring in technology to help you cut down on execution work is really a big deal.
If a company does execution right and then finds a way to make use of the ideas, that’s when they can find themselves going ahead of the market instead of playing from behind.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Stephen Kinzer, the NY Times bureau chief and foreign correspondent, mentored Alex and opened his rolodex to him based on a cold email. [1:26]
Never be shy about asking, allowing someone to do you a favor can be a great gift. [3:35].
Examples of how tech companies reinvent themselves. [7:15]
The innovation cycle and the mindset of big tech companies like Amazon. [8:35]
Big tech company employees welcome change, reinvention, and transformation. [12:20]
Having an engineer's mindset is important to a company's success. [13:30]
Divide work into two buckets: execution work and idea work. It's what the tech giants are very good at doing. [15:59]
How tech giants build stuff that people need and tend to love. [22:25]
The flip side of how Amazon benefits disproportionately from making these technologies available and gathering data from people. [23:16]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [27:24]
Expert Bio
Alex Kantrowitz is the founder of Big Technology, a newsletter, and podcast about Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft. His first book ALWAYS DAY ONE: How The Tech Titans Plan To Stay On Top Forever debuted in April 2020.
His work has been referenced by dozens of major publications, from The New Yorker to The Wall Street Journal to Sports Illustrated.
Kantrowitz is a graduate of Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
Contact Info and Social Media for Alex Kantrowitz
Web address: https://alexkantrowitz.com/
Travels from: San Francisco, CA
Social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram
Big Technology articles | podcast
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Alex's home page
Alex Kantrowitz: Inside The Tech Titans
Authored by Alex Kantrowitz
Ask the Right Questions, But Take No Shortcuts on the Road to Success with guest expert Jeff Haden
Nov 02, 2020
Jeff Haden, author of The Motivation Myth: How High Achievers Really Set Themselves Up to Win
Jeff Haden and Bill Ringle discuss the practical implications of The Motivation Myth for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Success is repeatable and predictable. It’s about doing the right things diligently, the right way, over and over.
When you consistently do the right things, success is predictable, even inevitable.
There are no shortcuts, but there are many ways to make the process fun.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Jeff's grandfather inspired him to do the hard work. Going the extra mile leads to success. [1:15]
You can find some shortcuts to success on the preparation side, which also involves hard work. [5:22]
Bill Gates asks two questions insights: "who's dealt with this problem well?" and "what can we learn from them?" [8:06]
Model someone who has done what you want to do because they are more aware of the fundamentals that matter. [11:50]
Opportunities for people who work from home to shine even through the pandemic. [16:49]
Feedback versus advice – and a better way to ask for constructive advice. [19:20]
Ask a clarifying question that allows the other person to realize that you really listened. [21:31]
Jeff shares his experience with Inc Magazine and his writing best practices. [25:46]
Jeff says that less is more when it comes to willpower. [29:35]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [34:01]
Expert Bio
Jeff Haden is a speaker, a ghostwriter, a LinkedIn Influencer, a contributing editor for Inc. Magazine, and the author of The Motivation Myth. He is one of the most-read Inc. columnists with approximately 2.5 million readers per month.
He had also ghostwritten over sixty non-fiction books, including seven Amazon category #1s. Along with thousands of columns, articles, presentations, speeches, eulogies. Otherwise, he's an over-the-hill motorcycle racer and fitness enthusiast of minimal repute.
Contact Info and Social Media for Jeff Haden
Primary Website
Travels from: Virginia Beach, VA
Connect on LinkedIn | Twitter
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Inc.com
Selected Books Authored by Jeff Haden
How to Break Through to New Levels of Achievement through Asking with Mark Victor Hansen
Oct 26, 2020
Mark Victor Hansen, author of Ask!: The Bridge from Your Dreams to Your Destiny
Mark Victor Hansen and Bill Ringle discuss ways to identify and overcome the obstacles to achieving remarkable outcomes in business and in your life. Hint: It's about asking.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
The key difference between those who succeed a little and those who succeed a great deal comes down to one thing only: those who succeed at a higher level have mastered the great ability to ask.
We need to build our lives from the inside out and that takes work.
Once we become "master askers" and use this skill set every day, life can change dramatically.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
John Reinhart influenced Mark as a high school student. [1:48]
Dr. Buckminster Fuller stretched Mark to think in much bigger ways when Mark was an undergraduate. [3:52]
Learning how to ask in a masterful way. [5:35]
The traits of a masterful asker. [6:51]
Overcoming impediments to asking. [10:10]
What happened when a client choose to be a disruptor in the business. [12:10]
Mark explains that there are hidden riches in your mind. [15:43]
Mark talks about what he learned from hanging out with Peter Gruber about becoming a more effective asker. [18:36]
We are not just a human being, but a human becoming. [22:35]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [23:05]
Expert Bio
Mark Victor Hansen is probably best known as the co-author for the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series and brand, setting world records in book sales, with over 500 millions books sold.
Mark also worked his way into a worldwide spotlight as a sought-after keynote speaker, and entrepreneurial marketing maven, creating a stream of successful people who have created massive success for themselves through Mark’s unique teachings and wisdom.
Mark has shared his message and methods television (Oprah, CNN and The Today Show), print (TIME, US News & World Report, USA Today, The New York Times and Entrepreneur), and through radio and newspaper interviews, as he assures people everywhere that “with the right principles and mentors, you can easily create the life of your dreams.”
Mark serves as of the Chairman of a suite of companies called the Hansen Family Companies, co-chairman of Metamorphosis Energy, and is the co-owner and co-founder of Natural Power Concepts.
Contact Info for Mark Victor Hansen
Web address: http://markvictorhansen.com/
Travels from: Newport Beach, CA
Social Media Links
Books Authored by the Mark Victor Hansen
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Buckminster Fuller
Facebook Fan Page
Chicken Soup For the Soul
How to Lead an Epic Life and Unleash the High-Performance Hero Within You with Rob Hartnett
Oct 19, 2020
Rob Hartnett, author of It's All Possible: How to lead an epic life and unleash the high-performance hero within you
Rob Hartnett and Bill Ringle discuss some of the amazing stories Rob has created and/or supported in his epic life, from the making of the Mad Max movies to yachting escapades.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
If you want to become a true Possibility Leader, you must always take active responsibility for your actions – whatever the result.
Once you have a goal or dream and are committed to it, part of your strategy should be to find out who does it best in the world and study them.
Optimism allows us to understand that we see the world not as it is, but as we are with our current level of thinking.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Bill Currie, a local businessman with an impressive record of accomplishment, inspired Rob to be an authentic leader. [1:35]
Rob talks about what motivated him to start writing his book, It's All Possible. [3:55]
The Rob Hartnett system for success: vision, strategy, and action. [5:06]
How to help people change their mindset. [6:44]
What lies within the "possibility zone." [8:28]
What's the difference between acknowledging the struggle, having a bad attitude about the struggle, and what's the impact of realizing that you have a choice about that? [9:37]
The application of desire, discipline, and determination to reach success. [11:27]
How Rob teaches leaders to experiment, enable, and empower their people. [14:15]
Accountability, metrics, and data play a central role. [16:18]
The making of the Mad Max movie – a journey that illustrates the It's All Possible philosophy. [18:16]
Case study of a client who had co-created a strategy and execution plan with his team. [23:58]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [23:05]
Expert Bio
Starting his career at KPMG, Rob Hartnett has worked in senior management roles at global organizations such as Apple Computer, Publicis Mojo, and Hewlett-Packard, where he won the coveted Asia Pacific High Achiever Award. At Miller Heiman Group where he was an advisory partner, he was nine times consecutive Global Presidents Club Winner.
A champion sailor, Hartnett holds a Bachelor of Business and a Postgraduate in Applied Finance & Investment and is an independent Executive Director in Leadership with the John Maxwell Team, a Certified DISC Facilitator & Advisor, and newly named Vice President of Sales Performance at Sandler Training Australia and New Zealand.
Clients he had worked with include NAB Group, EY, Telstra, MLC, Prospa, Australia Post, Vanguard, Netwealth, Prime Super, Samsung, Toll Group, Linfox, CBA Private, Draeger, KPMG, Pactera, Quest Apartments, and Mercedes Benz.
His passion for high performance extends to a sport where I am a former world and state champion yachtsman and now a passionate cyclist. He had written four books with his latest “It’s All Possible” on High-Performance Personal Leadership.
Contact Info for Rob Hartnett
Web address: www.robhartnett.com
Travels from: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Social Media Links
Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Rob's home page
Why I wrote It's All Possible
Why Mindset Maintenance Matters - Live on Ticker TV
Books Authored by Rob Hartnett
Organic marketing works when done right with guest expert Joe Manausa
Oct 12, 2020
Joe Manausa, author of The Business of Getting Business: The Digital Marketing Guide for Small Businesses
Joe Manausa and Bill Ringle discuss fundamentals of digital marketing are hugely effective when properly executed for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Interview Insights
Companies who try to continue their old methods of marketing and add digital marketing exhaust funds, resources, and time.The internet is changing the relationship between a business and its customer by morphing the sales process.The actions of consumers are predictable and trackable, which can help you generate all the business that you need by having the correct presence on the internet
When a company spends money on bought leads rather than generating leads, it neglects to build power in its own brand. Digital marketing organizations can come to your community, provide you with customers at a small cost and then slowly over time destroy your business. We have to continuously remind ourselves that we always have blinders on and future solutions might not be found in a linear pattern for our current process.Too often we let our existing situation dictate the environment for our future solutions.Service-oriented tactics are of higher importance in today’s digital era.Gains in productivity must come from digital marketing.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Joe shares that his parents influenced him - his mom is a fierce competitor and his dad a hard worker. [1:14]Joe recounts what led him into using blogging for his real estate business. [3:14]Joe talks about how he recognized getting a following. [4:40]Joe discusses that content marketing is a get-rich program but it does work. [7:13]Joe names Guy Kawasaki among others whom he had followed and learned how to reach out to customers through email marketing. [8:56]Joe shares how he helps his team understand the value of using digital marketing for his business. [10:53]Joe speaks about his experience in launching a Youtube video on how to make an offer for a home in the seller's market. [12:00]Joe talks about what allowed him to put out his best ideas, build an audience, and continue to grow his business. [13:50] Joe added that having a listing coordinator helped his business in producing more relevant content. [18:01]My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [19:15]
Expert Bio
Joe Manausa is CEO of Joe Manausa Real Estate in Tallahassee, Florida, and had helped Tallahasseans sell homes and buy homes for nearly 30 years. He had written and produced a training program for homebuyers called Home Buying For Smart People, designed to prepare future homeowners for the traps and hidden costs that many ill-prepared buyers encounter.
He is the author of The Business of Getting Business: The Digital Marketing Guide for Small Businesses. After observing industry giants move to a digital-first marketing approach, Manausa made the transition within his own company, which resulted in over $10 million of revenue from the business’s website.
Contact Info for Joe Manausa
Web address: https://www.manausa.com/
Travels from: Tallahassee, Florida
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Joe's home page
Joe Manausa Real Estate Youtube Channel
Tallahassee Real Estate home page
Social Media Links
LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Books Authored by Joe Manausa
Breakthrough innovation can be cultivated once you learn the recipes with Roger Firestien, PhD
Oct 05, 2020
Roger Firestien, author of Create in a Flash: A Leader's Recipe for Breakthrough Innovation
Roger Firestien and Bill Ringle discuss field-tested approaches to innovation for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Leaders must develop their creative ability before leading their organizations to create breakthroughs.
The first 10-12 ideas tend to be the usual ideas, the ideas you’ve thought of before.
Most people believe that creativity is coming up with a great idea. Not so. The key to creativity is solving the right problem.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Roger shares that when it comes to creativity, his parents and music teacher are his inspirations. [1:10]
Key misconceptions about creativity. [6:22]
The importance of deferring judgment while generating ideas. [8:40]
Striving for quantity, not quality, is another strategy to generate ideas. [10:10:21]
Different types of ideas need to be understood to be fully appreciated. [12:08]
Exposing yourself to new ideas, environments, or stimuli to spark creativity is valuable. [13:20]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [16:19]
Expert Bio
Roger Firestien, Ph.D., is the author and co-author of five books. His expert views on creativity have been reported in “Fast Company," “The New York Times,” and "Forbes." His latest book, CREATE IN A FLASH: A Leader’s Recipe For Breakthrough Innovation, has taught more people to lead the creative process than anyone else in the world.
He is the president of Innovation Resources, Inc., an innovation consulting firm. Called “The Gold Standard” of creativity training by his clients, he has presented programs in creativity to over 600 organizations nationally and internationally, ranging from major fortune 500 corporations, government agencies, universities, associations, and churches.
In 1978, Roger moved from his home on his parents’ farm near Greeley, Colorado, to study the science of creativity at the International Center for Studies in Creativity. Roger graduated with his Master of Science degree in Creative Studies in 1979. He was the seventh person to earn a Master of Science degree in the discipline.
In 1984 Roger joined the faculty of the International Center for Studies in Creativity, and in 1987 he earned his doctorate in Organizational Communication from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
When Roger is not traveling, he lives in Buffalo, New York, and regularly works cattle on the SK Hereford Ranch near Medina, New York.
Contact Information
Primary Website
Travels from Buffalo-Niagara Falls Area
Social Media Links: LinkedIn | Twitter
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Roger's Learn to be Creative Youtube channel
Books by Roger Firestien
How to make sure your sales team is not only performing but improving in a Zoom business environment with Antonio Garrido
Sep 28, 2020
Antonio Garrido and Bill Ringle discuss ways to better understand and to overcome the common mistakes of sales team coaching and management for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Antonio Garrido, author of THE 21st CENTURY RIDE-ALONG: How Sales Leaders Can Develop Their Teams In Real-Time Sales Calls
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
The best sales leaders recognize that spending time ‘in the field’ visiting customers with their team is a critical part of their job.
Ride-alongs allow the sales manager to coach for immediate improvement, rather than rely on quarterly performance reviews and calendar-driven coaching sessions.
Implement the practice of role-playing with your sales team. This tactic can help prepare them for potential objections and teach them how to drive prospects and take the proper next steps.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Antonio speaks about how his father inspired him with his work ethic under poor circumstances. [1:26]
When he was growing up, his father's particular wisdom influenced him though sayings such as "If you can't afford it, buy the very best." [5:09]
Sales strategies working during the pandemic. [9:23]
Have a formalized game plan for a sales ride-along. [16:30]
The importance of a pre-call plan and how to implement it properly. [18:30]
Never overlook the ride-along debrief and its opportunity for growth and development. [22:56]
How leading indicators should be treated in your business. [26:16]
The 3 golden ride-along habits that everyone should adopt. [29:18]
Very few managers have actual experience on how to be a coach – guidelines on how to do so. [32:58]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [35:01]
Expert Bio
Antonio Garrido is a charismatic and experienced trainer, speaker, and consultant. He runs a Sandler Training Center in Miami, Florida. The author of THE 21ST CENTURY RIDE-ALONG: How Sales Leaders Can Develop Their Teams In Real-Time Sales Calls, Garrido works with highly-motivated entrepreneurs, business leaders, and companies who are ready to work smarter and commit their time, money, and energy to attract new clients, sell more, and generate more profits.
Contact Info for Antonio Garrido
Web address: www.absolute.sandler.com
Travels from: Miami/Fort Lauderdale Area
Social Media Links
LinkedIn
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Miami Sandler Center
Miami Sandler Center on LinkedIn
Books Authored by Antonio
Serving with noble purpose unleashes growth potential in companies and individuals with Lisa McLeod
Sep 21, 2020
Lisa McLeod, author of Selling with Noble Purpose: How to Drive Revenue and Do Work That Makes You Proud
Lisa McLeod and Bill Ringle discuss how finding and sharing your purpose allows your people to tap additional energy, creativity, and determination to succeed.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
The real purpose of an organization is to improve life for customers.
The current crisis is revealing the stark difference between true customer intimacy and purely transactional intimacy.
When you understand who your customer is beyond their buying habits, when you have a deep understanding of their root challenges, and your team reflects that reality, you can innovate more quickly and create more compelling offerings.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Lisa shares how her dad, who loved his job at the FDIC, taught Lisa to connect the dots between the work we do and the impact it makes in the world. [01:19]
The false dichotomy of making a living and making a difference. [03:46]
A research project was the origin of selling with noble purpose. [06:02]
What fuels Lisa's drive to serve while considering solving other people's problems. [09:12]
Doug Williams, CEO of Atlantic Capitol, embraced a noble purpose and rose to national recognition. [18:11]
Lisa shares that strategies on how to drive revenue and customer satisfaction. [21:09]
Lisa talks about her an example of a company manager who used the pandemic conditions to embrace a larger purpose. [26:14]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [33:12]
Expert Bio
Lisa's firm, McLeod & More, provides training and consulting, live and virtually, for organizations worldwide. Their Noble Purpose is to help leaders drive revenue and do work that makes them proud. Their team has been featured in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and NPR.
Leaders at organizations like LinkedIn, Kaiser Permanente, PACCAR, Roche, and Salesforce work with Lisa and her team to increase competitive differentiation and emotional engagement. She is an Executive Advisor and powerful speaker who has keynoted in 25 countries and authored 5 books.
Lisa Earle McLeod is a global expert in bringing purpose to life for sales-driven organizations. She introduced Noble Purpose® to the world in her best-selling book, Selling with Noble Purpose.
Lisa’s newest book, Leading with Noble Purpose: How to Create a Tribe of True Believers, has been called "a breakthrough message to help leaders how to win the hearts and minds of their teams and customers."
Contact Info for Lisa McLeod
Web address: https://www.mcleodandmore.com/
Travels from: Greensboro, Georgia
Follow on Social Media
LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Books authored by Lisa
Insider secrets from a top sales trainer on how to negotiate for success with Clint Babcock
Sep 14, 2020
Clint Babcock, author of NEGOTIATING FROM THE INSIDE OUT: A Playbook For Business Success
Clint Babcock and Bill Ringle discuss raising your game as a negotiator for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insight
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Deciding that you want to step up to the next level to do more business or go in a different direction is the starting point.
Business leaders and sales negotiators take responsibility for hitting their numbers and all other aspects of their business.
Consider how both you and the opposing party view the reason you’re negotiating and what each of you seek from it.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Clint talks about his football coach, Chuck Ballman, who taught his players about work ethic. [1:24]
What led him to the sales side of the business. [3:23]
Clint discusses his experience in negotiating with a bank that was in arrears with his training company at the time. [5:46]
The characteristics of the amateur, tactical, and strategic negotiator. [8:39]
Anyone can be a better negotiator. [12:42]
The drama triangle is explained and illustrated with examples. [14:30]
How to become a strategic negotiator. [19:01]
Clint shares his experience with giving concessions to the other party. [23:58]
How to plan for competitive negotiations and cooperative negotiations. [27:48]
Building trust and relationships in business. [29:30]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [32:18]
Expert Bio
With over 25 years of sales, leadership, and negotiation experience, Clint Babcock has worked with senior executives at companies in a wide range of industries to help them strategically build their sales forces. He has a degree in finance from the University of Central Florida and takes pride in keeping himself, his clients, and his student's numbers focused. He works with business owners and sales teams in various industries such as technology, manufacturing, professional services, financial, medical, and non-profit. Because of his involvement with sales teams and companies that were always struggling to find good salespeople, in 2006 he started ImproveU sales and management recruiting services. He's been involved in sales at various levels as he served as Vice President of National Sales, General Manager, and Sales Manager in the Eastern United States for a technology training and soft skills education organization.
A Sandler-certified trainer, he has helped hundreds of sales teams and thousands of salespeople to improve performance and retain margin. Babcock’s career background includes top performances in sales, negotiating, business development, operations, and training and development. Clint Babcock has directed, hired, and trained inside and outside sales teams for small, medium, and Fortune 500 companies.
Contact Info for Clint Babcock
Web address: Clint's home page
Travels from: New Port Richey, Florida
Social Media Links
LinkedIn | Twitter
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Books Authored by Clint
The Unmistakable Power of Influencer Marketing with Neal Schaffer
Sep 07, 2020
Neal Schaffer, author of The Age of Influence
Neal Schaffer and Bill Ringle discuss advanced strategies and tactics for social media and influencer marketing techniques for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Many marketers and their clients are still catching up with the importance and benefits of influencer marketing.
Influencers provide great content for your brand with little effort on your part – their content is created in the influencer’s unique style, allowing their audience to see your brand in a fresh light.
People tend to engage heavily with influencer content because the influencer is often someone just like them or someone they aspire to be.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Neal shared how he was influenced by his father who's an educator. [1:35]
Neal walks us through his experience when he applies his fathers' teachings on entrepreneurialism, taking initiative, content creation. [2:45]
Neal talks about influencer marketing, its benefits, and how it works. [6:06]
Neal discusses how a B2B company developed content through influencer marketing. [12:01]
Neal explains how to make use of a webinar as a content solution. [14:34]
Neal talks about the mindset "Social media is first and foremost a platform for people and not brands." [18:59]
Neal discusses a case study of a company named Intuit-QuickBooks. [23:28]
Neal answers the question of what are the risks and opportunities of influencer marketing. [25:08]
Neal converse about employee advocacy. [25:14]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [32:37]
Expert Bio
Neal Schaffer is a leading authority on helping businesses through their digital transformation of sales and marketing through consulting, training, and development and execution of social media marketing strategy, influencer marketing, and social selling initiatives.
Chief Fractional CMO of the digital marketing agency PDCA Social, Neal also teaches digital media to executives at Rutgers University, the Irish Management Institute in Ireland, and the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland. Fluent in Japanese and Mandarin Chinese, Neal is a popular keynote speaker and has been invited to speak about digital media on four continents in more than a dozen countries.
He is also the author of 4 books on social media, including Maximize Your Social (Wiley) and the recently published The Age of Influence (HarperCollins Leadership), the definitive data-driven playbook for influencer marketing that marketers have been waiting for.
Check out his Maximize Your Social Influence podcast for weekly marketing inspiration.
Contact Info for Neal Schaffer
Web address:https://nealschaffer.com/
Travels from: Irvine, CA
Social Media Links
LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Free Preview of the Age of Influence
Neal's Podcast
Books Authored by Neal Schaffer
Sarah Elkins illustrates the power of stories to align efforts, inspire action, and foster a great working environment
Aug 31, 2020
Sarah Elkins, author of Your Stories Don't Define You, How You Tell Them Will
Sarah Elkins and Bill Ringle discuss the structure and application of storytelling (through stories, of course!) for small business leaders and managers.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
When you share the right personal story at the right time and with the right audience, you connect more authentically and open the door for a real positive impact.
Whether you’re sharing personal stories or business stories, the stories you share and how you share them to shape your identity and have the power to bring out the stories of others.
Your stories are the way you experience everyday moments, your thoughts, your emotions, the actions you take.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Sarah shares how her grandmother, a multilingual teacher, inspired her to make a positive impact. [1:19]
Sarah found confidence through her grandmother's example. [02:14]
Sarah talks about the benefit of looking back at your 'Rock Star' moments. [05:49]
Sarah discusses her view on how to identify with qualities we identify ourselves or aspire to. [09:58]
How to answer the interview question: "Tell me about yourself." [13:54]
Sarah speaks about a story portfolio of one of your seminar attendees. [15:14]
Sarah talks about "The 10-Year Video" frame. [19:12]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [26:50]
Expert Bio
Sarah is a communication coach, Gallup certified StrengthsFinder coach, keynote speaker, author, and professional musician. Her podcast and book, Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will, help listeners and readers understand that the stories they choose to tell, and how they choose to tell them, impact their internal messages and the perceptions of the people around them.
Sarah loves to work with remote teams and leaders to ensure their relationships are based on knowing & valuing each other’s strengths. She knows that the key to satisfaction and happiness in life is healthy relationships, and the keys to healthy relationships are self-reflection and communication.
Her ultimate goal is to help bring self-reflection and positive intention to the workforce in her work as a communication and public speaking coach, and as a keynote speaker.
Contact Info for Sarah Elkins
Web address: http://elkinsconsulting.com/
Travels from: Helena, Montana
Social Media Links
LinkedIn | Facebook
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Sarah's home page
Sarah's LinkedIn account
Books Authored by Sarah
What it takes to build a profitable content publishing business with guest expert Tina Hay
Aug 24, 2020
Tina Hay, author of Napkin Finance: Build Your Wealth in 30 Seconds or Less
Tina Hay and Bill Ringle discuss ways to leverage important knowledge in attractive formats that can be widely consumed.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Most successful entrepreneurs don’t hit it out of the park on their first try.
Entrepreneurs take on both the risks and rewards of their businesses.
Anyone can be an entrepreneur, regardless of education or finances.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Tina shares how her father inspired her and supported her with growing her business and encouraging her in all areas of her life. [1:53]
Avoid the seduction of shortcuts. There is no substitute for hard work. [2:35]
Tina started businesses in high school, including inventing a way to staple and bind documents to save time. [03:51]
How Napkin Finance was born. [06:55]
The goal and content of this creative, humorous, and very informative financial content. [10:33]
Tina talks about her social and business mission apropos financial topics. [13:15]
It is especially important that other women effectively manage their finances. [16:01]
The challenges she met while she was writing the book. [19:22]
Tina walks us through the positive effect of the content to other people that she saw through their reviews. [20:48]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [22:42]
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
My Quest for the Best with Bill Ringle is the podcast for ambitious small business leaders.
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Tina Hay is the Founder and CEO of Napkin Finance, a visual guide to money. A strong believer in financial literacy, Tina created the platform for users of all ages to learn finance in a simple and engaging way. She is also the author of the bestselling book, Napkin Finance: Build Your Wealth in 30 Seconds or Less from HarperCollins. The book is a Wall Street Journal bestseller and the NY Times has reviewed it as "the best personal finance primer" in years.
Napkin Finance reaches over 80 million people in the US and abroad by working with banks and financial institutions including JP Morgan Chase, UBS, and U.S. Bank, among others. The company is also international through its work with the largest bank in Mexico. As a social venture with a focus on financial empowerment, the company also provides content to non-profits, schools, universities and has worked with The White House and Michelle Obama’s Better Make Room initiative as well as The U.S. Olympic Committee.
A seasoned entrepreneur, Tina comes from a diverse background encompassing film, technology, and finance. She started her career at Miramax Films and then Paramount Pictures. She was Co-Founder and President of CityTripping.com, Editor of CityTripping Los Angeles: Your Guide to Restaurants, Nightlife, Shopping, Culture, Fitness and Hotels, and Founder of Platinum Test Group. Tina also started and runs the environmental conservation group, All You Need is One.
Tina holds a BA from UCLA and an MBA from Harvard University.
Contact Info for Tina Hay
Web address: www.napkinfinance.com
Travels from: Beverly Hills,
Human Capital is one of the 3 essential aspects of a Triple Bottom Line with Warren Valdmanis
Aug 17, 2020
Warren Valdmanis, co-author of Accountable: The Rise of Citizen Capitalism.
Warren Valdmanis and Bill Ringle discuss aspects of socially responsible policies and practices with regard to triple-bottom-line businesses for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Listen to this interview with Michael O'Leary, co-author of Accountable: The Rise of Citizen Capitalism.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
With half of the American workers feeling no sense of meaning in their jobs, organizing a company around purpose is a great way to recruit, retain, and motivate a winning workforce.
Three in four Americans distrust corporate executives; the purpose is a great way to show consumers that a company is built around more than value extraction.
Business leaders say they agree: nine of 10 think that serving stakeholders is important.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Warren's high school debate teacher, Doug Peters, made a lasting impression. [1:23]
Warren describes lessons that Mr. Peters taught him about the power of doing things the right way. [2:15]
Citizen capitalism is explained. [3:29]
The high rates of return in the world of citizen capitalism. [4:26]
The historical perspective in relation to investing and human labor. [6:09]
The importance of establishing an employee-oriented mission charter. [9:20]
Policies or companies who have policies that aim to make their businesses a better place to work. [10:47]
Investors with a long-term perspective share an example of a socially responsible company. [13:25]
Answers to some of the key questions that all investors need to be asking. [15:22]
Warren discusses social impact funds and socially-oriented investing. [18:45]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [23:10]
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Warren Valdmanis leads a social impact fund that invests in the American workforce. He is currently a partner with Two Sigma Impact.
He was previously a managing director with Bain Capital's social impact fund and invested with Bain Capital's private equity team for over a decade.
He grew up in Canada and has lived and worked in Australia, Chile, France, Hong Kong, Japan, South Africa, and the United States. Warren studied economics at Dartmouth College and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School.
He lives with his wife Kristin and four children in Portland, Maine.
Contact Info for Warren Valdmanis
Web address: http://www.accountablethebook.com/
Travels from: Greater Boston Area
Social Media Links: LinkedIn | Twitter | TEDx
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Accountable Book
Books Authored by Warren Valdmanis
Social impact investing matters for small business leaders with Michael O’Leary
Aug 10, 2020
Michael O'Leary, co-author of Accountable: The Rise of Citizen Capitalism
Michael O'Leary and Bill Ringle discuss the details and examples of companies that choose to make social and environmental goals central to their profit and purpose as B-corporations.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Effective evangelization requires more robust conversation between impact investors and our largest public companies, and active participation in helping them to set common standards for ESG measurement and impact best practices.
Half of professionals feel no connection to their company’s mission or sense of meaning in their work.
Today, two-thirds of Americans do not believe the financial system is benefiting the economy.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Michael shared how he was influenced by former governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick on accountable capitalism. [1:35]
Major arguments or position that supports capitalism's continuation. [3:49]
Examples of companies that looked at bringing together, integrating, and reunifying some of those separations and gaps. [7:06]
How to perceive capitalism and environmental and social responsibility. [10:55]
Example of a company that had changed into a B-Corporation. [14:54]
Business decision-makers who have become consciously aware of social issues. [19:16]
Warren Buffet and his pursuing more than just financial returns. [26:45]
Michael discusses impact investing. [28:34]
Warren Buffet's The Giving Pledge. [30:35]
Other metrics for responsible capitalism. [41:02]
Michael shares useful resources in the ESG space. [47:02]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [48:44]
Listen to this interview with Warren Valdmanis, co-author of Accountable: The Rise of Citizen Capitalism.
Expert Bio
Michael O'Leary was on the founding team of Bain Capital’s social impact fund. Previously, he invested in consumer, industrial, and technology companies through Bain Capital’s private equity fund. He has served as an economic policy advisor in the United States Senate and on two presidential campaigns. Michael studied philosophy at Harvard College and earned his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He lives in New York, New York.
Contact Info for Michael O'Leary
Web address: http://www.accountablethebook.com/
Travels from: New York, New York
Social Media Links
Books Authored by Michael O’Leary
Sales growth secrets revealed with guest expert Alex Goldfayn
Aug 03, 2020
Alex Goldfayn is the author of 5 Minute Selling: The Proven, Simple System That Can Double Your Sales ... Even When You Don't Have Time.
Alex Goldfayn and Bill Ringle discuss the four pillars of effective sales and some of the key reasons that business development and sales people overcomplicate and add inefficiencies into the process, and what you can do about it to improve your sales quickly.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Selling more, and doing so quickly, is a function of thinking the right way – confidently, boldly, optimistically – and then communicating your optimism systematically to your customers and prospects.
Fast sales growth is a function of mindset change and a system of simple behaviors.
Call customers and prospects proactively to see what they are working on and what you can help with when you don't need anything urgently.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Alex shared how his father, who trained as an electrical engineer and immigrated to the United States and to work as a janitor and restaurant dishwasher while learning English before advancing, taught him two key lessons: the value of perseverance and how education unlocks opportunities. [1:30]
Alex discusses the distinctions between marketing and sales. [4:10]
What activities occur in marketing vs. sales, so you know when to change your response. [5:15]
One of the keys to effective selling it to make contact with your prospects and buyers regularly, and Alex explains how giving speeches and talks plays this role in his business. [9:20]
Alex shares his sales strategies. [10:09]
The 4 pillars of effective sales: brief but vital routines, a positive, proactive mindset, tactical scripting, and tracking that leads to accountability and momentum. [11:41]
One of the biggest objections (source of resistance) to learning a new sales system comes from the mesh of experience and expectations of having experienced sales people put what they are doing in writing and visible to others. [12:28]
A success story in implementing the 5-Minute Sales processes and how quickly momentum changes with confidence, good energy, and simple, an effective system. Opportunities must be recorded to be effectively tracked. [12:40]
Alex discusses his consulting sales projects. [15:38]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [19:01]
Expert Bio
Alex is the CEO of the Evangelist Marketing Institute and works with leaders of small and midsized businesses to improve sales measurably, even if you are in a "mature" industry such as distribution and manufacturing.
Client revenues range between $20 million and $2 billion and are almost always multi-generational family businesses. His client list includes companies such as Cisco, Logitech, Lenovo, T-Mobile, Activar, Milwaukee Valve, Columbia Pipe and WinSupply.
Alex is the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Selling Boldly as well as The Revenue Growth Habit (selected as the sales book of the year by 800-CEO-Read) and Evangelist Marketing. He lives in the Chicago area with his wife and 10-year-old twins.
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
My Quest for the Best with Bill Ringle is the podcast for ambitious small business leaders.
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Contact Info and Social Media for Alex Goldfayn
Primary Website
Travels from: Lake Forest, Illinois
Connect on Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed so you can explore...
The art of asking others to assist in advancing your business and personal goals with guest expert Wayne Baker, PhD
Jul 27, 2020
Wayne Baker, Ph.D., author of All You Have to Do Is Ask: How to Master the Most Important Skill for Success.
Wayne Baker and Bill Ringle discuss the art of asking others for assistance and overcoming the most common obstacles for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Key 3 Takeaways from this Episode
Research shows that when we can ask for help, we are less frustrated at work or home.
Sometimes we don’t ask because we think no one is willing or able to help. Research shows the opposite: people are willing and able to help if you ask them.
Getting the support, we need to achieve our goals at work and for all the rest of life is too often inhibited by difficulties we face in asking for it.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Wayne describes how his father encouraged him, particularly how it helped Wayne ask for help from a middle school French teacher who he found intimidating. [1:35]
How Wayne became the Director of the Center for Positive Organizations. [4:06]
Ways that positive psychology publications influenced his work. [6:22]
Wayne talks about positive deviance and reflective best self. [7:10]
Most people will help you when you ask, his research and experience have shown. [12:50]
Wayne describes a model for making an effective request. [15:13]
Wayne shared an example of a person who applied this practice [16:46]
The reciprocity ring is explained. [24:50]
Wayne tells about the "rapid-fire session" and how it can be used. [29:50]
Wayne describes the glow of giving. [32:30]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [33:17]
Expert Bio
Dr. Wayne Baker is the Robert P. Thome (“toe-may”) Professor of Business Administration at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and Faculty Director of the Center for Positive Organizations. His teaching and research focus on positive organizational scholarship, values, and social networks. Dr. Baker is the author of All You Have to Do Is Ask (published January 2020) as well as five other books and many scholarly articles. His other books include Achieving Success Through Social Capital, United America, America's Crisis of Values, and Networking Smart.
He has contributed to Harvard Business Review, Chief Executive Magazine, and Sloan Management Review, focusing on social capital, social networks, generosity, and positive organizations. A frequent guest speaker and management consultant, Baker is a co-founder and board member of Give and Take Inc., developers of the collaboration technologies based on principles in All You Have to Do Is Ask.
Prior to joining the Michigan faculty, he was on the faculty at the University of Chicago business school. He earned his Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University and was a post-doctoral research fellow at Harvard University.
Contact Info for Wayne Baker
Web address: www.waynebaker.org
Book website: www.AllYouHaveToDoIsAsk.com
Travels from: Ann Arbor, MI
Social Media Links: LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
All You Have to Do is Ask the book site
Wayne's home page
Give & Take, Inc.
CENTER FOR POSITIVE ORGANIZATIONS at the University of Michigan
Books Authored by Wayne Baker
Understanding the principle behind the practice unlocks your growth potential with Karin Hurt
Jul 27, 2020
Karin Hurt, author of Courageous Cultures: How to Build Teams of Micro-Innovators, Problem Solvers and Customer Advocates.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Karin Hurt and Bill Ringle discuss applications of building courageous cultures where practical steps and insightful questions can be followed by small business leaders.
Guiding top performers to release core fears to live with greater fulfillment with Todd Pressman
Jul 13, 2020
Dr. Todd Pressman, author of "Deconstructing Anxiety: The Journey from Fear to Fulfillment."
Todd Pressman and Bill Ringle discuss the 5 core fears at the base of anxieties and the relief that comes from releasing them for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
A single core fear exists at the root of ANY problem or obstacle to success.
We must thoroughly deconstruct our anxiety down to the core fear and chief defense that created the trouble in the first place.
The vast majority of our fears and anxieties are completely imagined projections built on ideas learned long ago that have no bearing on our circumstances today.
Show Notes for this Episode
Todd shares how his father, also a psychoanalyst (who studied with students of Dr. Freud as well as many Eastern masters) sparked great conversations that accelerated Todd's own curiosity and journey of understanding of human nature. [1:38]
Todd talks about a time when his father's principles had helped him in his life. [3:14]
He explains the perception of fear, anxiety, and the present. [6:10]
Todd talks about mental distortions and manipulations of fear. [9:01]
Todd conveys how to deconstruct fear/anxiety when it sets in. [11:14]
He describes the concept of Core Fear in the Deconstructing Anxiety model. [13:54]
Todd shares an example wherein he helps a client deconstruct anxiety. [16:24]
Todd informs us about visualization and moving forward past the fear and anxiety. [22:31]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [23:46]
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Todd Pressman, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist, award-winning speaker, and internationally recognized expert on anxiety. He graduated with degrees in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and Saybrook University and has created three businesses: Pressman and Associates Life Counseling Center, Logos Wellness, and The Center for Management Excellence (helping businesses achieve their full potential).
Through his many published articles and three books – "Deconstructing Anxiety: The Journey from Fear to Fulfillment", "Radical Joy: Awakening Your Potential For True Fulfillment" and "The Bicycle Repair Shop: A True Story Of Recovery From Multiple Personality Disorder" – he seeks to serve mental health professionals and business leaders.
In 1982, he traveled the world to study the great wisdom and healing traditions, including a Zen master in Kyoto, Balinese fakirs, a Zoroastrian high priest, and a Sri Lankan fire walker. His education also includes an internship under Stanislav Grof, M.D. at the Esalen Institute.
With a background deeply rooted in tradition (he was groomed by a father whose teachers were taught by Sigmund Freud), he has integrated this wide-ranging experience into a new program of personal development called the "Deconstructing Anxiety."
He shares, teaches, and demonstrates the principles of Deconstructing Anxiety with participants...
How to use your mindset to unlock your abilities and success with Maki Moussavi
Jul 06, 2020
Maki Moussavi is the author of The High Achiever's Guide: Transform Your Success Mindset and Begin the Quest to Fulfillment
Maki Moussavi and Bill Ringle discuss how failure, loss, and control generate fear that prevents us from taking the actions that lead to our most desired business and living conditions for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Clarify your limiting beliefs and the outdated mindset that has been holding you back.
Identify the external or internal factors that drive you.
Show you how to take inspired action and commit to the vision you have created for your life.
Read Show Notes for This Episode
Maki shares that Eleonor Roosevelt is her influencer and has greatly impacted her life. [1:00]
Maki shares with us a time when she applied Mrs. Roosevelt's principles in her life. [1:41]
Maki talks about advice she would give to her younger self now that she has more experience. [3:26]
Maki answers, "are you responsible for who triggered you?" [05:59]
Maki discusses some metaphors on mindsets when it comes to genetic/genetic counseling. [08:28]
Maki explains, "Don't just pray and row the damn boat." [11:33]
Maki shares an example of a company that had an issue with mindsets. [14:01]
Maki talks about mental muscles and how to develop it. [18:25]
Maki shares what transformational coaching can be and her personal experience on it through her boss. [20:40]
Maki comments on the expectations on the life coach. [25:13]
Maki comments 2-3 questions as a success checklist. [26:24]
Maki shares her personal experience in applying the success checklist she shared. [28:38]
Maki elaborated on 3 ways that fear makes you its bitch. [32:01]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [27:01]
Expert Bio
Maki Moussavi is a transformational and executive coach, speaker, and author who helps professionals who are unhappy despite their career success. As a transformational empowerment coach she focused on helping others live according to their own desires and definitions of success and happiness, in reducing mental overwhelm and noise in order to provide clarity on what a fulfilling life looks like for the individual, and focuses on emotional freedom.
Maki provides high achievers with the tools to reprogram their mindset and transform their lives and supports executive teams and organizations to empower meaningful change during times of transition or cultural challenges.
Contact Info for Maki Moussavi
Web address: https://www.makimoussavi.com/
Travels from: Shawnee, Kansas
Social Media Link
LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Maki's home page
The High Achiever’s Guide
5-Day Toxicity Challenge
Books Authored by Maki
How to use your mindset to unlock your abilities and success with Maki Moussavi
Jun 29, 2020
David Dye, author of Courageous Cultures: How to Build Teams of Micro-Innovators, Problem Solvers, and Customer Advocates
David Dye and Bill Ringle discuss the strategies and tactics for designing a work culture for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Leaders who want their team to solve more problems or to bring more ideas need to provide clarity about where they’re headed and what matters most.
Over time, solutions-focused leadership behaviors will shift the culture from safe silence to consistent contribution and give organizations a distinct competitive advantage over others who allow employees’ best ideas to remain hidden.
Building a culture of consistent contribution takes time, but with a deliberate focus on your leadership development and systems, you can help managers feel confident to ask and reluctant employees feel more comfortable to share.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
David talks about Gary Pratt, one of his first scout masters, and how Gary supported and challenged David. [1:40]
David shares how Gary made it cool to make and keep commitments. [3:02]
David discusses what is courage from the workplace from your perspective. [6:26]
How courage in the organization can help and be implemented during the pandemic lockdown. [8:59]
How do we start the conversation and help leaders to adjust into the "new normal." [13:46]
David explains how to navigate the narrative. [15:26]
He discusses how to cultivate a communicative culture of solution-focused problem solvers. [19:04]
Micro innovations explained. [26:01]
How candor matters in creating a strong work relationship and culture. [28:05]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [32:10]
Expert Bio
Author and international keynote speaker David Dye gives leaders the roadmap they need to transform results.
David works with leaders around the world who want to achieve breakthrough results without losing their soul (or mind) in the process.
He gets it because he's been there: a former executive and elected official, David has over two decades of experience leading teams, building organizations, and working with Boards of Directors to transform their effectiveness. He is the award-winning author of 2 books: Winning Well: A Manager's Guide to Getting Results Without Losing Your Soul and The Seven Things Your Team Needs to Hear You Say.
David has a BA in Political Science from the University of Colorado and a Masters Degree in Management from Regis University.
He and his wife, Karin Hurt, are dedicated to their philanthropic initiative, Winning Wells, which provides clean water wells to communities struggling with access to safe water throughout Southeast Asia.
David lives outside of Washington, DC. He loves the meditation of a hiking trail, the reward of high mountain peaks, and is proud of the impact his children are having around the world.
Contact Info for David Dye
Web address: http://LetsGrowLeaders.com
Travels from: Laurel, Maryland
Social Media Links
Books Authored by David Dye
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
David's home page
Sandra Estok, taking a new look at the cyber risks while working online
Jun 22, 2020
Sandra Estok, author of Happily Ever Cyber: Protect Yourself Against Hackers, Scammers, and Cybermonsters
Sandra Estok and Bill Ringle discuss Happily Ever Cyber! for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
When you are not mindful of your cyber safety on your computer, your cyber world can be at risk and even endanger your family, causing undue loss of peace and stress buildup.
Hackers, scammers, and Cybermonsters lurk around every corner of the cyber world, trying to get your most precious information.
Cyber Criminal monsters are well organized and can be very powerful.
When you are present, you will protect yourself from cyber attacks, you will have a better online experience, and you will enjoy the mental health benefits of mindfulness.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Sandra shares with us who's her inspiration is? [1:03]
Sandra shares her inspiration and how Mrs. Merlin inspired her. [1:05]
She answers what are some of the trends that you're seeing related to cybersecurity during the pandemic lockdown as a result. [2:55]
Sandra tells how to detect fake news. [6:25]
Sandra suggests tips on how to screen information sent through ads and email. [8:24]
Sandra recommends how to protect yourself against cyber security and identity theft. [11:35]
Sandra talks about her experience about identity theft. [22:01]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [27:10]
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Sandra Estok is a keynote speaker, international bestselling author of the Happily Ever Cyber! series and Cybersecurity corporate trainer.
She brings over twenty years of multicultural and cross-functional experience in the US, Latin America, and Europe in the areas of cybersecurity, IT, and Data Privacy. Throughout her career, Sandra has held numerous positions in Fortune 500 companies, private and public organizations.
Sandra has developed and deployed capability, training, and awareness programs, focusing on the why, the what and the how of cyber threats, its dangers, and solutions, while making cybersecurity simple. She holds an MBA and industry certifications in IT, cybersecurity, and Data Privacy.
Contact Info for Sandra Estok
Web address:/https://sandraestok.com/
Travels from: Greater Milwaukee Area, U.S.
Social Media Links
Books Authored by Sandra Estok
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Sandra's home page
Understanding the personality types of your team to influence better outcomes with guest expert Merrick Rosenberg
Jun 15, 2020
Merrick Rosenberg, author of The Chameleon: Life-Changing Wisdom for Anyone Who Has a Personality or Knows Someone Who Does
Merrick Rosenberg and Bill Ringle discuss making personality characteristics relatable, memorable, and useful day-to-day for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Knowledge of personality styles allows you to have greater understanding, empathy, and insight into dealing with your team, your customers, and other stakeholders.How you think, react, solve problems, and approach the world defines your creative expression.If managers are aware of the different behavioral traits, then difficult issues can be resolved before they turn into problems.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Merrick shares what he learned from the example of his father and grandfather. He absorbed the lessons of being in control of one's own destiny and also how each dealt with the struggles of being a business owner. [1:03]
Merrick recalls realizing the importance of being in charge of your business in order to create a positive, productive culture while he was in a job where the morale was horrible. [1:33]
Merrick discuss what sparked the idea for The Chameleon. [3:45]
Merrick says that it is based on DISC and model allows for a combination of different personalities in one individual. [8:50]
Merrick describes a dominant and secondary persona and how we relate to others based on the situation and our role. [9:46]
Merrick shares the effects of working out of your style or role. [10:50]
Merrick speaks about self-awareness and personal development. [12:42]
Merrick talks about the case study of pharmaceutical sales reps (parrots) and account managers (owls) who used to be in constant conflicts until they were able to understand and appreciate each other's differences and contributions. [14:14]
Merrick holds that "Observing others without judgement is the highest form of human intelligence." – Jiddu Krishnamurti. [18:45]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [22:51]
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Merrick Rosenberg is a keynote speaker and thought leader on personality styles and team development. He co-founded Team Builders Plus in 1991 and Take Flight Learning in 2012. He is the author The Chameleon and co-author of Taking Flight!.Merrick has taught more than 100,000 people how to incorporate the personality styles in their work and lives. The DISC training program that Merrick designed, Taking Flight with DISC was recognized as the Best Personality Styles Training Program in the United States by Corporate Vision Magazine.As CEO of Take Flight Learning, he led his organization to be selected by the Philadelphia Business Journ...
How to avoid and recover from the distractions that can derail your progress with Scott Belsky
May 11, 2020
Scott Belsky, author of The Messy Middle The Messy Middle: Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture
Scott Belsky and Bill Ringle discuss the pitfalls to avoid and the practical tips for getting back on track for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Self-awareness is the only sustainable competitive advantage in business.
Hardship brings your teams together and equips you to endure for the long haul.
Nobody wants to inflict pain on their team, but quick and controlled pain is better than a drawn-out infection.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Scott shares how he learned about his work ethic and personal empathy from his father, an orthopedic surgeon. [01:39]
He shares how his father's lessons had helped him when he was tired and unfocused as a young man. [2:49]
Shares his experience as he wrote The Messy Middle. [3:29]
He talks about the "relative joy of creating." [5:04]
How you define when you're in a Messy Middle and how you orient others that this is part of the project. [7:59]
What are some effective ways to harness that conviction when leading your teams? [10:13]
Scott imparts advice about dealing with the long game. [13:39]
How to effectively develop teams. [15:56]
The consequences of fake wins at the expense of hard truth, and how to move forward from it. [21:15]
How to deal with your team truthfully in the context of Elizabeth Holmes' very public, disastrous experience. [22:53]
How Scott leads organizational change. [26:27]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [28:50]
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Scott Belsky is an entrepreneur, author, early-stage seed investor, and now serves as Adobe’s Chief Product Officer. Scott's passion is to make the creative world more productive, connected, and adaptive to new technologies. He founded Behance, the leading online platform for millions of professionals in the creative industry to showcase and discover creative work, and served as CEO until Adobe acquired Behance in 2012.
Scott actively advises and invests in businesses that cross the intersection of technology and design, and help empower people. He is an early advisor and investor in Pinterest, Uber, Carta, sweetgreen, and Periscope as well as several others in the early stages.
Through his work as a founder and investor, Scott has become an advocate for technology and community initiatives that empower creative people and help businesses leverage the creative potential of their people. He is the author of two national bestselling books, Making Ideas Happen and The Messy Middle, and Scott founded 99U, a publication and annual conference devoted to productivity in the creative world.
Contact Info for Scott Belsky
Web address: http://www.scottbelsky.com/
Travels from: New York, NY
Social Media Links:
Books Authored by Scott Belsky
Using authority, warmth, and energy to get exceptional results with guest expert Steve Herz
Apr 27, 2020
Steve Herz, author of DON'T TAKE YES FOR AN ANSWER: Using Authority, Warmth, and Energy to Get Exceptional Results
Steve Herz and Bill Ringle discuss the importance of honest, constructive feedback to improve the performance of small business leaders and their teams.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
If you're looking to change the trajectory of your career, know that it's often a small tweak or adjustment that's needed.
Embracing hard truths and critical feedback is the path to achieving your fullest professional and personal potential.
Uncertainty is deeply unsettling, and more than ever before, people need their leaders to communicate about what is happening with authority, warmth, and energy.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Steve shares how his Dad started a law firm and inspired him to higher levels of success. [01:28]
Steve discusses the qualities that it took to be successful in your own firm. [02:35]
Steve talks about role models and visualization. [05:11]
Steve states what he hoped the title of the book would convey. [05:44]
Steve commends 3 elements that help people stand apart. [07:34]
Steve talks about his purpose for his book. [10:28]
Steve shares Joe Tory's success story as he served as the NY Yankees manager under owner George Steinbrenner for 12 seasons. [12:34]
Steve talks about what people have to realize in order to elevate the importance of warmth in their careers. [17:40]
Steve articulates the importance of clarity in recommendations. [20:38]
Steve talks about how to get constructive feedback to help you improve. [22:59]
Coach Tom Coughlin's success story at the NY Giants. [26:48]
Steve shares a lesson from deep listening that comes from being able to watch a very well-written TV dialogue. [33:24]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [34:42]
Expert Bio
The President and Founding Partner of IF Management, Steve Herz believes that anything is possible.
Just a few years ago, Steve was a portly fellow, about thirty pounds overweight, who could not swim. Undaunted by a lack of physical gifts, he set about to compete in the treacherous Gulf Coast Triathlon in Panama City, Florida. Shedding his extra girth while learning to swim, he met the six-foot waves, the 90-degree temperatures, and completed the prestigious Ironman qualifier in just under seven hours; all the while raising nearly $12,000 for the Leukemia Society and being voted Most Inspirational member of the Team in Training.
That spirit has propelled Steve his whole life. As an undergraduate at the University of Michigan in the mid-80’s Steve took on the entrenched student government and its powerful SAID party with an insurgent campaign forming his own ACTION party and littered the campus with the slogan, “Enough SAID, It’s time for ACTION.” Despite suffering a landslide loss, he continued his political career at Vanderbilt Law School. In Nashville, Steve began a crusade for the underdog, representing indigent criminals while working for the Nashville Public Defender.
After law school, Steve joined the Athletes & Artists division of the Marquee Group, then joined forces with Geller Media Management before starting If Enterprises in 1996. In the summer of 2000, If Enterprises was re-named If Management to reflect the broad range of goals of the company and its clients. As President of If Management, Steve has been a frequent contributor on CNBC, CNN, and Court TV, on a myriad of major issues, including those involving Marv Albert, Latrell Sprewell, and Jayson Williams. Additionally, he has served as a guest lecturer at NYU’s School of Continuing Education.
Contact Info for Steve Herz
Web address: https://stevenherz.com/
Travels from: New York, NY
Mike Robbins on the power of authentic appreciation of team members
Apr 27, 2020
Mike Robbins and Bill Ringle discuss principles and examples of authentic appreciation, strong leadership, even when operating remotely, and the mindset qualities that allow and inspire high performance.
Lessons from the trenches in perseverance and reinvention with Matt Sweetwood
Apr 20, 2020
Matt Sweetwood, author of Leader of the Pack: How a single dad of five led his kids, his business and himself from disaster to success
Matt Sweetwood and Bill Ringle discuss the qualities of purposeful perseverance and personal reinvention for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
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Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
The absolute best way to ensure long term survival and success is to continuously work on reinventing your business. The time you need to reinvent your business is when you have the most market share, momentum, resources and infrastructure to be a leader in a new business.The mistake that I think a lot of people make is that they wait until it’s too late in order to reinvent their business.We can win our kids, raise them to be happy and healthy people and manage to have a big, fun, and exciting life while we are doing so.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Matt shares what reinvention means to him. [2:05]Matt discusses what are the characteristics of reinvention. [3:38]Matt talks about how he reinvented Unique Photo to avoid its demise as digital cameras became commonplace. [07:41]Matt speaks about how to pivot from B2B to B2C business. [11:02]Matt shares his personal challenges while facing reinvention with companies he's run. [14:58]Matt talks about manning up for his kids. [18:40]Matt speaks how he found strength to overcome personal and business challenges. [19:49]Matt talks about how he added million users on the Bebe platform. [24:52]Matt shares how to consistency matters especially for brand. [28:01]
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Matt Sweetwood is the CEO of Lux Now, a website that brings luxury goods into the sharing economy. Before Matt went to Unique Photo, a brick and mortar camera store in New Jersey. In his 29 years as CEO, Matt took Unique Photo from $1M in ARR to over $100M.
Matt is also the author of Leader of The Pack, a memoir that was a number one best seller in the self help category. Leader of the Pack tells the story of how suddenly becoming a single father to five children made him a better person, leader, executive, and as you would hope, person.
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Contact Info for Matt Sweetwood
Web address: https://luxnow.com/
Travels from: Miami Beach, FL
Social Media Links
Books Authored by Matt Sweetwood
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Matt's home page
Leader of the Pack Youtube channel
How mindset dynamics unlock your performance and growth potential with guest expert Ryan Gottfredson
Apr 20, 2020
Ryan Gottfredson, author of Success Mindsets: Your Keys to Unlocking Greater Success in Your Life, Work, & Leadership
Ryan Gottfredson and Bill Ringle discuss insights into success mindsets so you can be the best version of yourself and bring out the best version of your people for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Leaders need to create a habit that activates and exercises their positive mindset neural connections on a repeated basis.The more likely reality is that they are unaware of their mindsets that are causing them to process and behave in ways that they think are “best,” but are really suboptimal.Researchers have found that 90% of our thinking, feeling, judging, and acting are driven by our non-conscious automatic processes.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Ryan shares the importance of Michael Jordan, who appeared on a poster on his bedroom wall, in spite of the Chicago Bulls dominating the Utah Jazz during this time. [01:30]Michael Jordan represented that you can accomplish almost anything in life throug,h hard work and that greatness is within reach. [03:54]Brian talks about key principles of a mindset and how it differs from attitude, thinking, nature, or disposition. [06:56]Discussing the mindsets you need to be successful. [08:38]Ryan speaks about four pairs of mindsets critical for success. [10:32]He states what mindsets leaders need to have. [13:09]Ryan shares Pixar and Ed Catmull's leadership style. [18:57]My Quest for the Best Lightning Round [21:22]
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Ryan Gottfredson, Ph.D. is a mental success coach and leadership consultant, trainer, and researcher. He works with organizations to improve organizations, leaders, teams, and employees by improving their mindsets.
Ryan is currently a leadership and management professor at the Mihaylo College of Business and Economics at California State University-Fullerton (CSUF). He holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Human Resources from Indiana University.
He has helped dozens of organizations (including CVSHealth, Deutsche Telekom, and Mondelez) enhance the mindsets of their leaders, managers, and employees to make sure they more fully capture their potential.
Contact Info for Ryan Gottfredson
Web address: https://ryangottfredson.com/
Travels from: Anaheim, Ca
Social Media Links
Books Authored by Ryan Gottfredson
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Mindset Assessment Tool
Success Mindsets book
Gaining the competitive advantage to dominate your markets with guest expert Amanda Setili
Apr 13, 2020
Amanda Setili, author of Fearless Growth: The New Rules to Stay Competitive, Foster Innovation, and Dominate Your Markets
Amanda Setili and Bill Ringle discuss Fearless Growth: The New Rules to Stay Competitive, Foster Innovation, and Dominate Your Markets for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Fearlesss growth is about how you can give up control to your employees, customers, to others in your organization but as a result actually have more eyes and ears looking out for you, helping you to be successful.Companies that can get comfortable in uncertainty can actually create a huge competitive advantage for themselves.Uncertainty creates opportunities to pull ahead of the competition and stay ahead.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Amanda shares her insight into the choice of title phrasing. Why did she pick the word "fearless" to use your book's title? [01:43]Amanda discusses how giving up a degree of control to gain a degree of control works in practice. [02:50]Amanda converse about how people can thrive in reaching their growth goals in the face of fear and uncertainty. [05:09]Amanda what practical people can do in order to increase their comfort in amid uncertainty. [06:02]Amanda shares what you want executives to have in mind to understand their customers in order to prepare for fearless growth. [09:43]Amanda provides an example of a company who's leadership that embraces this notion of finding out what the demanding customer wants. [12:33]Amanda discusses The "Feedback Loop." [14:50]Amanda talks about trust and its importance to how fast a company can move when pursuing fearless growth. [19:49]Amanda speaks about how everyone in a meeting might be willing to voice their ideas without fear [psychological safety]. [21:52]Amanda commends what kinds of behaviors that executives can review and see if they are present in their interactions with other leaders in the company. [24:12]Amanda shares ways to build more trust with customers. [26:43]
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Amanda Setili is president of strategy consulting firm Setili & Associates. An internationally acclaimed expert on strategic agility®, she gives her clients—including Cardinal Health, Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, The Home Depot, UPS and Walmart—unbiased and laser-clear advice on how to respond quickly and intelligently to a changing marketplace.
Setili has advised organizations in industries as diverse as consumer and industrial products, financial services, technology, non-profit, and retail. Her work has taken her throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
Before starting Setili & Associates, she served as director of marketing for Global Food Exchange, consulted for McKinsey & Company (where she planted seeds that became the firm’s Kuala Lumpur office), served as chief operating officer of Malaysia’s leading Internet services company, and developed products and optimized manufacturing operations for Kimberly-Clark.
Setili is author of Fearless Growth: The New Rules to Stay Competitive, Foster Innovation, and Dominate Your Markets (Career Press, 2017) and The Agility Advantage, How to Identify and Act On Opportunities in a Fast-Changing World (Jossey-Bass, 2014).
Setili served as an adjunct professor at Emory’s Goizueta Business School.
Megan McNealy, shares her story of rising up to systematically challenge serious health and career obstacles to come out stronger, wiser, healthier, and happier
Apr 06, 2020
Megan McNealy and Bill Ringle discuss concrete, unexpected and inspiring ways to leverage body, mind and spirit well-being to achieve personal and small business success- especially in challenging and even crisis-level environments.
Robbie Baxter, transforming business relationships into recurring revenue streams for mutual benefit
Apr 06, 2020
Robbie Kellman Baxter, author of The Forever Transaction: How to Build a Subscription Model So Compelling, Your Customers Will Never Want to Leave
Robbie Kellman Baxter and Bill Ringle break down a case study of how to transform a business relationship into a membership model for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Robbie shares that the essence of the Forever Transaction inside the context of the membership business model. [1:40]Robbie discusses how Apple builds key components to the membership economy. [3:50]Robbie talks about membership for start-ups and small companies. [6:30]Robbie shares how to create a type of membership offering for your customers. [9:00]Robbie cites actual companies that embrace the membership economy. [10:18] Robbie shares how cannibalization can affect your business model. [12:42]Robbie discusses how important it is to find out what people are willing to pay for. [18:20]Robbie explains another benefit of memberships is eliminating the middleman so you can own the relationship. [18:57]
Expert Bio
Robbie Kellman Baxter brings over twenty years of strategy consulting and marketing expertise to Peninsula Strategies, her strategy consulting firm focused on helping companies leverage subscription pricing, digital community and freemium to build deeper relationships with customers. Her clients have included start-ups and mid-sized venture-backed companies as well as industry leaders such as Netflix, Oracle, Electronic Arts and eBay. Over the past 18 years, Peninsula Strategies has advised over 100 organizations in over 20 industries on growth strategy.
A sought-after writer and keynote speaker, Robbie has presented to alumni organizations at Stanford, Harvard and Haas, associations including the AICPA, the American Society of Association Executives, and the National Restaurant Association and organizations including the Wall Street Journal, and Coursera. She has been quoted on business issues in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Consumer Reports, and has had pieces published in HBR.org, CNN.com, Associations Now and the Journal for Quality & Participation. Robbie has created and starred in eight video courses in collaboration with LinkedIn Learning on business topics ranging from innovation to customer success and membership. Robbie is also on the board of Amava, an organization dedicated to helping people stay active and engaged post-career.
As the author of The Membership Economy: Find Your Superusers, Master the Forever Transaction & Build Recurring Revenue, a book that has been named a top 10 marketing book of all time by BookAuthority, Robbie coined the popular business term “Membership Economy”, which is now being used by organizations and journalists around the country and beyond. Robbie’s expertise with companies in the emerging Membership Economy extends to include SaaS, media, consumer products and community organizations. Her new book, The Forever Transaction: How to Build a Subscription Model So Compelling, Your Customers Will Never Want to Leave, releases in March, 2020.
Atta Tarki – Using Data-Driven Decisions to Make your Next Key Hire
Apr 06, 2020
Atta Tarki, author of Evidence-Based Recruiting: How to Build a Company of Star Performers Through Systematic and Repeatable Hiring Practices
Atta Tarki and Bill Ringle discuss evidence-based recruiting methods and practices for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
It's not about having the right strategy or the right operating model alone – you have to have the best talent onboard.Employing a fresh approach to hiring can enable an organization to do things both better and differently to beat the competition.You will find better candidates by recruiting individuals who derive satisfaction from other aspects of the work than the compensation alone.
Show Notes from this Episode
Atta describes how reading George Orwell's perspectives on how an ideology (Communist Russia) intent on doing so much good, go so wrong. [1:32]He described how extraordinary impact matters. [4:32]Atta's perspectives on recruiting high-stakes top executives [6:05]What high-level poker players and well-hired executives have in common. [7:21]Thoughts on forming an effective hiring committee, following the "money ball" approach to recruiting [8:49]How to determine if a potential employee has a high ethical standard. [12:17]Contrasting antiquated hiring methods vs. evidence-based hiring methods. [15:01]Atta discussed traits of extraordinary candidates. [19:50]He advises to hire missionaries not mercenaries. [20:54]My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [30:04]
Expert Bio
Atta Tarki is the author of Evidence-Based Recruiting: How to Build a Company of Star Performers Through Systematic and Repeatable Hiring Practices (McGraw-Hill; February 7, 2020).
He is also CEO and Managing Director of ECA, a 120-person specialized executive search firm. He leads ECA’s Private Equity and Venture Capital practice, where he supports PE-owned, VC-owned and other high growth companies with filling C-level positions.
Prior to founding ECA, Atta spent six years as a management consultant at L.E.K. Consulting.
Contact Info for Atta Tarki
Web address:https://www.eca-partners.com/
Travels from: Santa Monica, CA
Social Media Links
Books Authored by Atta Tarki
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Atta's home page
Atta's book Evidence-Based Recruiting
Imprisoned, yet never a victim with guest expert Michael Huggins
Apr 06, 2020
Michael Huggins, author of Going Om: A CEO's Self-Discovery Behind Bars
Michael Huggins and Bill Ringle discuss the decisions and habits developed to build a stronger character and a bigger future under adverse circumstances.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
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Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
With the right perspective, adversity evolves into wisdom.Determine what's the overall culture of the company when it comes to adversity: fight or flight.As a business leader, we really don't take the time to understand what other obligations are imposed upon us.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Michael describes how his father's dedication to his family was a source of strength and security growing up. [1:18]As a WWII veteran, Michael's father had a strong sense of duty, a value which guided him to create an environment for his family to have a happy and enjoyable life. [2:15]What's your perspective on the role of being a responsible corporate officer and how people should view it? [4:24]He talks about what people should look for and investigate their culture in supporting a proper level of responsibility in their business [7:34]What is your lowest point during this part of your life? [13:50]Shares how he navigates through the experience of being imprisoned and his positive mindset [15:44]My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [18:38]
Expert Bio
Mike Huggins is a Wharton MBA graduate, CPA and former COO who ran a $2 billion business but ended up going to prison for as Responsible Corporate Officer misdemeanor for illegal activities that occurred under his watch but which he didn’t’ know about. He’s the author of Going Om – A CEO’s Self-Discovery Behind Bars (released on January 15, 2020)
Coming out of prison he turned down lucrative job offers and started the Transformation Yoga Project, a non-profit organization, and goes back into prisons working with incarcerated men to provide practical tools for them to help navigate life’s challenges both inside prison and when they are released back into the community.
Contact Info for Michael Huggins
Web address: goingombook.com
Travels from: Avondale, PA
Social Media Links
Books Authored by Michael Huggins
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Michael's home page
Michael's Going Om book
Harvey Mackay shares insights into how he creates business success, one relationship at a time
Mar 30, 2020
Harvey Mackay, author of You Haven't Hit Your Peak Yet! Uncommon Wisdom for Unleashing Your Full Potential
Harvey Mackay and Bill Ringle discuss "You Haven't Hit Your Peak Yet!" Harvey's perspectives and advice for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
The single greatest mistake a manager can make is to hire the wrong person. You cannot build a business with a revolving door.Taking care of customers is taking care of business, which is why you need to create a service culture.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Harvey shared how his Dad, the head of the Associated Press for 35 years, demonstrated how to be a "hungry fighter" through his actions more than his words. [02:02]
Key milestones that really changed the trajectory of Harvey's business. [07:43]
What it is like to interview for a job at the Mackay Mitchell Envelope Co. [15:32]
Harvey's philosophy on networking. [19:44]
What do you say about people who wonder about 'how can you trust others'? [30:58]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [35:57]
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Harvey Mackay has written seven New York Times bestselling books, three reached #1, and two were named by the New York Times among the top 15 inspirational business books of all time – Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive and Beware The Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt.
His latest book, You Haven’t Hit Your Peak Yet!, came out Jan. 29, 2020.
His books have sold 10 million copies in 80 countries and have been translated in more than 50 languages.
Harvey is a nationally syndicated columnist whose weekly business advice appears in 100 newspapers and magazines around the country.
He was named one of the top five speakers in the world by Toastmasters International and speaks to corporate audiences around the world.
Harvey is chairman of the $100 million MackayMitchell Envelope Company in Minneapolis, which he founded in 1960.
Contact Info for Harvey Mackay
Web address: https://harveymackay.com/
Travels from: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Social Media Links
Top Books Authored by Harvey Mackay
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Harvey’s home page
Harvey Mackay‘s Academy
David Benjamin, deconstructs complex problem solving
Mar 23, 2020
David Benjamin, co-author of Cracking Complexity: The Breakthrough Formula for Solving Just About Anything Fast
David Benjamin and Bill Ringle discuss the ideas and applications of the Cracking Complexity method for solving complex problem solving for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Complex issues can be solved in a matter of days, not months, not years, a time frame supported by the authors' research and practice over three decades.Conventional approaches to problem-solving typically rely on small groups of smart people cloistered away tasked with deciding the best way forward.We need a new approach to complex problems that allow us to co-create in large groups.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Benjamin shares' who's someone who influenced or inspired him. [01:52]Can you remember a time early in your career where you drew strength and inspiration and made a decision based on these influences. [04:09]How do you define a problem with this approach? [05:01]How do you get interested in complex problem-solving? [06:38]Can you describe some key differences that stand out. [07:56]Is there an example of an organization or a leader that you worked with that has an issue where they came to the realization that they need to crack their own complexity? [15:33]What is it that leads him to realize that he had identified a larger problem and in order to solve it, it wasn't going to take a revolutionary approach? [17:20]My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [22:01]
Expert Bio
David Benjamin is the co-founder of Syntegrity and the Chief Architect behind its implementation of the Complexity Formula as laid out in Cracking Complexity.
David regularly guides leaders and their teams through their application of the formula, helping them get to decisions and action in days, no matter the industry, type of challenge, or nature of the organization. In this capacity, David has become a trusted advisor to Fortune 500 companies and government leaders on how to organize for complexity and find traction in the face of the intractable.
He frequently speaks on a wide range of topics related to complexity, effective and efficient problem-solving, and human dynamics in systems.
David spends most of the rest of his time and energy on writing, family, long-distance running and cracking cryptic crosswords.
David and his wife, Angie, live near Toronto and have three incredibly talented daughters whom he loves equally.
Contact Info for David Benjamin
Web address: www.syntegritygroup.com
Travels from: Austin, TX
Social Media Links:
Books Authored by David Benjamin
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
www.syntegritygroup.com
Stu Heinecke – using creativity and humor to make contact and build your business
Mar 16, 2020
Stu Heinecke, author of Get the Meeting!: An Illustrative Contact Marketing Playbook
Stu Heinecke and Bill Ringle discuss ideas and examples from "Get the Meeting!" for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Contact marketing is a way of connecting that gets attention, stands out by expressing care and interest in the prospect.Cartoons double email open rates and “keep them opening.We won’t go anywhere if we don’t believe we are worthy of going somewhere.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Stu learned from his mentors Gahan Allen Wilson and Eldon Dedini, cartoonists at Playboy. [01:16]
When Stu reached out to them and made contact. [02:27]
How can a cartoonist create funds? Cite examples. [05:03]
A memorable auction that hje participated in. [06:06]
Stu expands on the utility of single panel cartoons for contact marketing. [08:05]
A takeaway for readers to apply in their business. [09:30]
The mindset requirements in order to do business with Gannett/USA Today. [10:20]
Elevating the refrigerator door clipping to a highly effective business process. [11:35]
Using digital technology to research and support contact marketing will succeed in attracting the attention of the VIP because we are all people at the end of the day. [26:29]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [29:10]
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Dubbed by the American Marketing Association the “Father of Contact Marketing,”
STU HEINECKE is a Wall Street Journal cartoonist, hall of fame-nominated marketer and the bestselling author of How to Get a Meeting with Anyone and Get the Meeting!
Stu is also the founder of Cartoonists.org, a group of WSJ and New Yorker cartoonists who donate their art to help charities raise funds.
Contact Info for Stu Heinecke
Web address: http://www.stuheinecke.com/
Travels from: Freeland, WA
Social Media Links:
Books Authored by Stu Heinecke
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
http://www.stuheinecke.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuheinecke/
https://animationguild.org/about-the-guild/scg/
Amanda Setili – how to take advantage of marketplace opportunities
Mar 09, 2020
Amanda Setili, author of The Agility Advantage
Amanda Setili and Bill Ringle discuss The Agility Advantage: How to Identify and Act on Opportunities in a Fast-Changing World for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Agility as the ability to see what's going on in the marketplace, anticipate what might happen next and capitalize on finding a way to create something good on whatever changes that's coming at you.
The faster and more surprising the change, the greater the advantage for companies that respond quickly.
Marketplace changes create new opportunities for us to surge ahead of competitors.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
She shares how Mrs. Tidwell, her fourth-grade teacher, sparked Amanda's curiosity in science through designing and conducting chicken egg experiments. [1:20]
Amanda recalls a time when that boldness and curiosity that her mentor taught her had influenced her life. [2:22]
Defining what agility is in the context of business change. [4:42]
Amanda explains capitalizing on change [5:15]
Identifying an opportunity that's worth pursuing. [7:18]
How she helps companies find ways to take advantage of the opportunities and to not sit in the decision making process too long. [9:15]
Examples of how she set some metrics for learning and the value of achieving that learning goal. [11:19]
Subtle ways that the roles of creativity and agility are closely intertwined. [12:43]
Using data to analyze the market. [16:01]
Examples of symptoms that a corporate leader might be experiencing that would indicate a need for greater agility. [19:07]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [22:11]
Expert Bio
Amanda Setili is president of strategy consulting firm Setili & Associates. An internationally acclaimed expert on strategic agility®, she gives her clients—including Cardinal Health, Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, The Home Depot, UPS and Walmart—unbiased and laser-clear advice on how to respond quickly and intelligently to a changing marketplace.
Setili has advised organizations in industries as diverse as consumer and industrial products, financial services, technology, non-profit, and retail. Her work has taken her throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
Before starting Setili & Associates, she served as director of marketing for Global Food Exchange, consulted for McKinsey & Company (where she planted seeds that became the firm’s Kuala Lumpur office), served as chief operating officer of Malaysia’s leading Internet services company, and developed products and optimized manufacturing operations for Kimberly-Clark.
Setili is author of Fearless Growth: The New Rules to Stay Competitive, Foster Innovation, and Dominate Your Markets (Career Press, 2017) and The Agility Advantage, How to Identify and Act On Opportunities in a Fast-Changing World (Jossey-Bass, 2014).
Setili served as an adjunct professor at Emory’s Goizueta Business School. She earned her degree in chemical engineering from Vanderbilt, and her MBA, with distinction, from the Harvard Business School. She is past president and board chair of the Harvard Business School Club of Atlanta.
Contact Info for Amanda Setili
Web address: https://setili.com/
Travels from: Atlanta, Georgia
Social Media Links:
Books Authored by Amada Setili
David Komlos, author of CRACKING COMPLEXITY: The Breakthrough Formula for Solving Just About Anything Fast
Mar 02, 2020
David Komlos, co-author of CRACKING COMPLEXITY: The Breakthrough Formula for Solving Just About Anything Fast
David Komlos and Bill Ringle discuss the approach to solving complexity that generates new solutions, new revenue streams, and new ways to impact your market for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Complexity is the defining challenge, whether it manifests as a growth challenge, a talent challenge, taking out costs challenge, or innovation challenge.If you can engage people in deep dialogue and if you can immerse them in something that matters to them, they bring their full power to bear.Just as form follows function and structure follows strategy, the approach you take to solving a problem has to follow the kind of problem it is.
Interview Insights
Show Notes from this Episode
David shared that his grandmother was a positive influence in his life and was the "embodiment of how life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% what you do about it." [01:20]
What initially drew your interest to becoming expert on this topic? [02:58]
Where you consulting or was tis something you pushed? [03:54]
How Syntegrity was formed. [04:18]
Syntegrity's focus today. [05:09]
Can you give an example of a company that's shifted its course as a result of your work? [06:23]
The three levels of problems defined – simple, complicated, and complex. [08:25]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [33:45]
Expert Bio
David Komlos, CEO of Syntegrity, is an entrepreneur, early-stage investor and speaker who has helped change the way many global leaders approach their top challenges.
From Fortune 100 transformation to international aid, content creation in sports and entertainment to improving access to life-saving products, David advises top leaders and enterprises on how to dramatically accelerate solutions and execution on their defining challenges.
He frequently speaks on topics related to complexity, fast problem-solving and mobilization, and scaling talent.
He lives with his family in Toronto.
Contact Info for David Komlos
Web address: https://www.syntegritygroup.com/
Travels from: Austin, Texas
Social Media Links:
Books Authored by David Komlos
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
http:syntegritygroup.com
Marcela Magda Popa, what an MD found investigating ‘inactive’ ingredients in household soaps, salad dressings, and medications
Feb 24, 2020
Marcela Magda Popa, author of Keep Away from GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe)
Why “Safe” Everyday Products Are Making You Sick and Simple
Strategies to Recover Your Health
Marcela Magda Popa and Bill Ringle discuss the principles behind the supposedly inactive and inert ingredients that can interfere with your health and well-being for small business leaders to make more informed choices for yourself, your staff, and your family.
>>> Visit https://MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Donna Marks, deconstructs addictions and their negative consequences
Feb 17, 2020
Donna Marks, author of Exit the Maze - One Addiction, One Cause, One Cure
Donna Marks and Bill Ringle discuss the common symptoms and issues relating to addictive behaviors that all small business leaders need to know.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top Take-Aways from this Interview
Addiction is something you are doing in spite of negative consequences: suffering, financial loss, destroyed relationships, physical impairment, etc.All addictions are merely a substitute for love. A person who is full of love will have no desire to substitute addiction for love.Business owner addictions are commonly related to gambling, drinking, or pornography.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Donna Marks shares how her grandmother's support of her family's welding business was an early positive role model. [01:19]
She defines addiction based on her work and research. [03:44]
What are some of the causes that you think are common for business owners and the harm they're doing? [04:40]
What is the threshold that crosses from something that you do occasionally or is already an addiction? [05:15]
Shares what are some of the addictions for women? [08:35]
What's the one cure that you advocate in the book? [09:01]
What are the common misconceptions about Freud relating to this area? [11:20]
Why is it important for us to be aware of the addiction is in our lives and what should we do about it? [12:21]
She shares some books and resources about addiction [16:15]
What should someone consider and do once you feel like you need to get some help? [16:35]
Expert Bio
Dr. Donna Marks, is a psychoanalyst, licensed addictions counselor, author, consultant, public speaker, and an instructor of A Course in Miracles, in Palm Beach, Florida.
For over 30 years, she has helped thousands of people break patterns of addiction.
Her second book Exit the Maze - One Addiction, One Cause, One Cure, explains why the current treatment models have failed and how addiction can be healed and even prevented. It is her mission to save 1 million lives by 2030.
Contact Info for Dr. Donna Marks
Web address: www.drdonnamarks.com
Travels from: West Palm Beach, FL
Social Media Links:
Books Authored by Dr. Donna Marks
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
www.drdonnamarks.com
How Customer Service REALLY is the New Marketing with Micah Solomon
Feb 10, 2020
Micah Solomon, author of Ignore Your Customers (and They'll Go Away)
Micah Solomon and Bill Ringle discuss how to mine the valuable insights your customers share without letting them hurt you or your people for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Customer service is the new marketing. Positive or negative, it’s what determines the public’s impression of your company more than ever before.If you neglect your customers, it’s probably going to hurt you more than it hurts them.Make it clear from the first days of an employee’s tenure that the way things are done around here is with customer-focused flexibility.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Micah shared who inspired him [1:27]What does top customer service looked like and why is it rare today? [2:35]Micah talks about participatory customer service [03:40]Can you give an example of a company that provides participatory customer service? [04:18]Micah discusses if it's expensive to provide excellent customer service [09:48]What are some other things that business leaders can do to differentiate themselves from their competitors? [12:13]Talks about timeliness apropos excellent customer service experience [17:01]How does successful companies deal with the cliff of satisfaction? [17:40]What's some insight or advise you can offer to ask better questions or events to have an opportunity to ask customers if something went well [24:45]How can you use social media to extend your customer service? [26:01]
Expert Bio
Micah Solomon delivers his expertise on customer service, the customer experience, consumer trends, hospitality, and company culture to major companies.
He is a consultant, keynote speaker, trainer, and training designer on these subjects, and the author of several books including Ignore Your Customers (And They’ll Go Away): The Simple Playbook for Delivering the Ultimate Customer Service Experience.
Company leaders call on Micah to mystery shop and transform their company’s customer service and bottom-line results — and he is known as “the customer service turnaround expert.”
Solomon is a senior contributor to Forbes.com and his expertise has been featured in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Inc., Bloomberg Businessweek, ABC, CBS, and NBC.
Contact Info for Micah Solomon
Web address: www.micahsolomon.com
Travels from: Seattle, WA
Social Media Links:
Books Authored by the Micah Solomon
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
www.micahsolomon.com
How Customer Service REALLY is the New Marketing with Micah Solomon
Feb 03, 2020
Julie Winkle Giulioni, author of Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Organizations Need and Employees Want
Julie Winkle Giulioni and Bill Ringle discuss Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Organizations Need and Employees Want for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
By working topdown, from the leaders changing their mindset to create the structures and the culture that allow conversation and expanding one's current roles to start to replace some of the old pictures of what career development and career success look like.The time pressure and the need to get up to speed isn't the pressure felt by the managers alone but also felt by the employees across the board.Developing talent is one of the most significant drivers of employee engagement.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Julie shares her inspiration and how he inspired her. [1:20]Why people overlook professional development in business. [04:02]The time pressure on both managers and employees [09:28]"Different titles" to different responsibilities [12:23]An example of a leader who stood up and said we want some guidance on development. [19:05]Some of the outstanding changes that occurred, [24:33]My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [26:20]
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Julie Winkle Giulioni is the co-author of the Amazon bestseller, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Organizations Need and Employees Want. She’s been identified by Inc. Magazine as one the Top 100 Leadership Speakers. She writes monthly columns for Training Industry Magazine and Saba’s Talent Space and regularly contributes her thought leadership to The Economist, SmartBrief, Saba’s TalentSpace, the Conference Board’s Human Capital Exchange and other publications.
Julie works with clients domestically and internationally to design, develop, facilitate, and evaluate performance improvement strategies in support of business needs. Specializing in commercial product development and custom training, Julie and her firm provide ‘learning that works’.
Previously, Julie led the product development effort at AchieveGlobal, the world’s largest training provider at the time. In that role, she conceived and developed leadership development products used. by organizations worldwide. She has also held multiple learning leader roles and was a department chair and professor at a Southern California university.
Industry awards and recognition include Human Resource Executive Magazine’s Top Ten Training Products, Training Industry Editor’s Readership Award, Global HR Excellence Award for Strategic Leadership, New Media Invision, ITVA, New York Film Festival, Lguide recognition for developing “e-learning at its best.”
Contact Info for Julie Winkle Giulioni
Web address: http://www.juliewinkleigulioni.com/
Travels from: South Pasadena, CA
Social Media Links:
Books Authored by Julie Winkle Giulioni
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
http://www.juliewinkleigulioni.com/
Janet McKee, author of Stressless Success
Jan 27, 2020
Janet McKee, author of Stressless Success: How to Become the Next Stress-Free Millionaire
Janet McKee and Bill Ringle discuss surprising insights relating to accomplishing more in your business and personal life without additional stress and struggle for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
There is a big difference between being busy and productive vs. being stressed.By shifting one's beliefs, energy, and process around some issue, opportunities can land in one’s lap with very little effort.Although a constant state of stress has become the new norm for many working adults, the physical and mental toll is crippling their chances at success and happiness.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Janet shares how her father, Joe, influenced and inspired her [1:01]
She shares her definition of "A truly rich life" [02:25]
What are some examples of experiences, teachings or books that you change how to view things and opened new possibilities for you in particular [05:31]
What is a particular moment when you suddenly realize that you might not have to work as hard as you believe in order to achieve success. [06:57]
How did you put your blinders off? [11:07]
She described a method of reassessing the situation with greater potential for positive outcome [22:45]
My Quest for the Best lightning round [28:00]
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Janet McKee, Speaker, Best-Selling Author, High Performance™ Success Coach, Wellness Expert and CEO of SanaView, is on a mission to inspire and teach how to embrace a better life.
She earned her MBA from the University of Pittsburgh and a Wellness Degree from Columbia University. She held positions in several Fortune 500 companies.
Through her program called Stressless Success Shift and presentations as a speaker, she aims to inspire others to break negative patterns and achieve greater success.
Contact Info for Janet McKee
Web address: www.sanaview.com
Travels from: Pittsburgh, PA
Social Media Links
Books Authored by Janet McKee
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Stressless Success book
Understanding the power of habit to align and optimize your decision making with guest expert Tamsin Astor
Jan 20, 2020
Tamsin Astor, PhD, author of Force of Habit: Unleash Your Power by Developing Great Habits
Tamsin Astor and Bill Ringle discuss Force of Habit: Unleash Your Power by Developing Great Habits for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
We make 35,000 decisions per day.Having the right habits in place it will serve us rather than detract from our progress.Going to yoga once a week, starting a meditation practice, or journaling about how we feel every morning are simple ways to tune in to our body’s language.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Tamsin tells about her inspiration and how these events influenced her to connect to her potential. [01:21]
What's an example of advice she shared with you? [03:05]
Can you think of a moment in your twenties when that advice served you? [04:37]
What else can you offer as an insight into whet we need to be thinking about in terms of using our mindset? [05:31]
Tamsin shares her experience transitioning from Great Britaian to the United States. [08:40]
Do you recognize what Yoga gave you at that point in your life? [11:20]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round [23:20]
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Tamsin Astor, PhD is the founder and Chief Habit Scientist of Yoga Brained Coaching. She is known for giving her clients the tools to shift their mindset, organize their vision, and improve their habits to create an efficient, productive business. We make 35,000 decisions every day, which leads to decision fatigue. Dr. Astor helps her clients reduce the amount of overwhelming decision-making they do by harnessing their goal-achieving machine, aka, their brains.
Prior to coaching, Tamsin was an academic and then a consultant, using yoga and meditation to support children and therapists, and teachers and students, on the ADHD and autism spectrum and in struggling inner-city schools.
In addition to her coaching and consulting practice, Dr. Astor is an avid traveler and foodie taking her three kids to Brazil, France, England, Amsterdam, Japan, Costa Rica and beyond.
Tamsin Astor holds a PhD in neuroscience and psychology and a post-doctorate in education. She also has certifications in yoga (RYT500, Yoga Ed.), mindset & Ayurveda (Living Ayurveda, Yoga Health Coach).
She is an executive coach and author of the book Force of Habit: Unleash Your Power by Developing Great Habits.
Contact Info for Tamsin Astor, Phd.
Web address: TamsinAstor.com
Travels from: Cleveland, OH
Social Media Links:
Books Authored by the Tamsin Astor
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
www.TamsinAstor.com
The practices and pitfalls of downsizing your life to gain more time, money, and freedom with guest expert Rita Wilkins
Jan 13, 2020
Rita Wilkins, author of Downsize Your Life, Upgrade Your Lifestyle: Secrets to More Time, Money and Freedom
Rita Wilkins and Bill Ringle discuss the principles and applications of downsizing for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Getting a clarity and a vision for what do you want is important in decluttering.Find ways to upgrade your life without having to buy stuff.To live a simpler less cluttered life, you first need to stop buying more and then also take a moment to look around to see how much you already own.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Did you studied design in school? Is that what you grew up wanting to do? [03:03]
What are the challenges that you faced externally while you make this transition? [06:53]
What is an example of someone who asked you how to begin decluttering? [10:43]
What are the biggest obstacles you helped her with? [12:21]
What are the couple of answers that she found out for herself? [13:14]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round [16:25]
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Rita Wilkins, also known as The Downsizing Designer, is a nationally recognized interior design and lifestyle design expert, TEDx speaker and author of Downsize Your Life, Upgrade Your Lifestyle: Secrets to More Time, Money and Freedom. For the past 35 years, she has designed thousands of interiors throughout the US. She speaks to Baby Boomers on the impact of living abundantly with less and live a life they love…by design!
She speaks to audiences on the impact of living abundantly with less and challenges her audiences to disrupt their status quo thinking so they can have more time, money and freedom to pursue what matters most to them. Rita’s dynamic, transformational speeches inspire, impact and influence people to live the life they love by design!
Contact Info for Rita Wilkins
Web address: https://www.designservicesltd.com/media/
Travels from: Greenville, Delaware
Social Media Links:
Books Authored by Rita Wilkins
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
www.designservicesltd.com
Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic teaches us how to coax stories from data to present and persuade.
Dec 30, 2019
Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic, author of Storytelling with Data: Let’s Practice!
Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic and Bill Ringle discuss how data can be an integral part of storytelling for small business leaders to better insights and better business decisions.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Start by considering your audience, be very clear on what the point is that you are trying to make.Consider what flow will work best for your audience and your situation and how can you make that data really tell a story that is going to engage your audience.Figure out what does the audience need to know to be in the right frame of mind for the information that's going to provide them with.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Cole tells about her inspiration and how they influenced her to connect to her potential. [01:25]People use stories to amplify the effectiveness of using the data to be persuasive. [03:15]It is necessary to change the way your organization communicates with data. [04:18]Cole shares that we are responsible for bringing our audience on a journey, understanding and structuring our story to their needs. [05:16]She recommends that thinking about our data in this way it really forces us to consider our audience and their needs and framing for them. [06:44]How you use this method to help people build effective teams [08:35]Figure out what does my audience need to know to be in the right frame of mind for the information I’m going to provide them with. [12:42]Isn't this what a dashboard supposed to do? [24:10]My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [28:20]
Expert Bio
Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic tells stories with data.
She is founder & CEO of Storytelling with data (SWD) and author of #1 new release storytelling with data: let’s practice! and the best-selling book, Storytelling with Data: a data visualization guide for business professionals, which has been translated into a dozen languages, is used as a textbook by more than 100 universities, and serves as the course book for tens of thousands of SWD workshop participants.
Prior to SWD, Cole’s experience and perpectives were honed through analytical roles in banking, private equity, and as a manager on the Google People Analytics team. At Google, she used a data-driven approach to inform innovative people programs and management practices and traveled to Google offices throughout the US and Europe to teach the course she developed on data visualization. Cole has acted as an adjunct faculty member at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), where she taught Introduction to Information Visualization, and regularly guest lectures at prominent universities in the US and beyond.
Cole has a BS in Applied Mathematics and an MBA from the University of Washington. When she isn’t ridding the world of ineffective graphs, Cole is undertaking the adventures of parenting three young children with her husband at home in the Midwest and on travels abroad.
Contact Info for Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
Web address: storytellingwithdata.com
Travels from: River Hills, Wisconsin
Social Media Links:
Books Authored by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
www.storytellingwithdata.com
Sai Huda, author of Next Level Cybersecurity: Detect the Signals, Stop the Hack
Dec 23, 2019
Sai Huda, author of Next Level Cybersecurity: Detect the Signals, Stop the Hack
Sai Huda and Bill Ringle discuss cybersecurity risks that businesses of all sizes and in all industries must mitigate.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
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Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Cybersecurity systems and principles are designed to safeguard websites and web applications from attackers seeking to disrupt, delay, alter or redirect the flow of data.With cyber hackers coming up with new and determined methods of threat that are increasingly difficult to detect, making attacks more dangerous than ever before.The key to success is to know all about your crown jewels, what are they, where they are, what are the signals of the hacker trying to steal them, and what are the top three risks to mitigate in order to properly protect the crown jewels.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Sai tells about his inspiration and how they influenced his to connect to his potential. [01:19]What's his influencers' example that influenced your life and career [02:15]What are the mistakes that people have that overlooks cyberthreat? [03:27]Sai shares his personal example on data theft which had driven him to create cyber security solutions and write the book [05:45]There are so many threats out there that so many small business owners feel overwhelmed, can you break it down in like 2 or 3 big areas that they need to be aware of [07:18]Do you recommend that businesses do some sort of regular periodic audit to make sure that it is tightly configured as much as possible? [11:05]Who are the ethical hackers? Sai shares guidelines on how to search for legitimate ethical hackers. [13:30]He shares about supply chain management and cyber security [17:58] Sai talks about finding your network openings or your crown jewels [21:16]He shares sources on cyber security [22:45]My Quest for the Best Lightning Round [24:02]
Expert Bio
Sai Huda is experienced as a risk and cybersecurity expert and business leader with over 20 years of hands-on experience. He served seven years as the GM, Risk, Information Security, and Compliance Solutions at Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (FIS), a FORTUNE 500 company serving over 20,000 clients globally.
Previously, he was founder and CEO of Compliance Coach, Inc., an innovative risk management software and consulting company serving over 1,500 clients in financial services, healthcare, and government sectors, helping manage information security, operational and compliance risks. FIS acquired Compliance Coach.
He provides consulting to the board of directors and senior management on risk and cybersecurity best practices.
He serves as Advisory Board Member at Cyber Center of Excellence (CCOE). Sai is also a keynote speaker at industry conferences.
Contact Info for Sai Huda
Web address: wwwsaihuda.com
Travels from: San Diego, CA
Social Media Links:
Books Authored by Sai Huda
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
https://www.saihuda.com/
Teach your managers to ask questions that lead to better morale and better outcomes with Cheri Torres
Dec 10, 2019
Cheri Torres, co-author of Conversations Worth Having: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement
Cheri Torres and Bill Ringle discuss the finer points of using questions to direct focus for better relationships and better outcomes using appreciative inquiry for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
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Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
When you focus on the problem or ask people what they did wrong, it shifts more energy into protective-defensive mechanisms and people lose (temporarily) their ability to be creative and productive.It is important to learn positive framing and asking generative questions in dealing with a difficult situation.The appreciative inquiry had been equated with the 5D methodology: Define, Discover, Dream, Design and Destiny/Deploy. It has so many more applications.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Cheri shares her inspirations and how it inspired her. [01:20]
What led you to a field of study that lead you to appreciative inquiry? [4:30]
Why do we want to want people to think about what they did well rather than correcting mistakes they made? [7:32]
What do you look for to tell the conversation is negative, neutral or a positive conversation? [10:06]
Cheri gives small business owners recommendation on how they can implement appreciative inquiry [12:08]
Can you give an example of an actual company...[21:30]
Why do think people automatically think about their shortcomings? [27:36]
Do you have an example wherein you use AI in a different way? [29:03]
Can you talk to us through the differences between low and high performance teams? [36:09]Recap [41:02]
Expert Bio
Cheri Torres, Ph.D. is CEO at Collaborative by Design (cheritorres.com).
Her mission is to give people simple communication practices that empower them to design organizations and communities that flourish. She partners with people to catalyze positive change in workplaces and communities. The practices she introduces give leaders and teams the power to strengthen relationships, expand possibilities, and increase productivity and engagement through everyday conversation. These practices are grounded in neuroscience, positive psychology, and Appreciative Inquiry..
She’s written numerous books and articles; her most recent book is a Berrett Koehler bestseller, Conversations Worth Having: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement.
She’s been featured in leading media sources including Fast Company, Forbes, HR Magazine, SmartBrief, Training Industry, and Training Magazine. She’s accumulated a Ph.D. in Collaborative Learning, an MBA, Masters in Transpersonal Psychology, and Level II certification in Spiral Dynamics Integral.
Contact Info for Cheri Torres
Web address: https://conversationsworthhaving.today/
Travels from: Asheville, NC
Social Media Links:
Books Authored by Cheri Torres
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Conversations Worth Having: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement
Applying Appreciative Inquiry for organizational improvement with guest expert Jackie Stavros
Dec 09, 2019
Jackie Stavros, co-author of Conversations Worth Having: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement
Jackie Stavros and Bill Ringle discuss using Appreciative Inquiry for leading small business teams and for discovering valuable strengths and solutions.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
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Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Appreciative Inquiry is a collaborative approach to organizational change which focuses on strengths rather than on weaknesses.Conversations worth having generate shared understanding, new information, and possibilities for action to move forward.Appreciative inquiry-based questions are generative in that they demonstrate a genuine curiosity in a person, team, or situation.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Jackie shares her inspirations and how it inspired her. [01:16]When we think of the energy that your father brought to you, how does that impact your life today? [2:53]What is appreciative inquiry? [3:31]Jackie shares an experience when she implemented an appreciative inquiry [4:48]What surfaced in taking a different approach? [7:26]Can you give us a little more insight into some of the direction that their decisions took or what is the revitalization plan? [8:23]How do you get started with appreciative inquiry? [10:47]Where would someone who's a manager of a business start by saying to people 'let's start asking questions'? [14:43] What are some attributes of people who succeed more often if they have this kind of quality or commitment when beginning to introduce AI into the organization? [16:20]My Quest for the Best Lightning Round [18:02]
Expert Bio
Jacqueline (Jackie) Stavros’ passion is working with others to create meaningful results for positive change.
She is a professor in the College of Business and Information Technology at Lawrence Technological University and Advisor for David L. Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry. She co-authored many articles and books with two recent: books, Conversations Worth Having: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement and The Thin Book of SOAR: Creating Strategy that Inspires Innovation and Engagement (soar-strategy.com).
She has worked across for-profit, nonprofit, government, and a wide spectrum of industries. She has worked in 25 countries using Appreciative Inquiry (AI) to affect the lives of thousands or people and hundreds of organizations improve capacity to thrive and increase performance.
Her work has been featured in Forbes, SmartBrief, Detroit’s Live in the D, dbusiness Magazine, and leadership and training blogs and podcasts. She is a keynote speaker on positive approaches to leadership, strategy, and change. She earned a Doctorate of Management in Capacity Building Using an Appreciative Approach: A Relational Process of Building Your Organization’s Future.
Contact Info for Jackie Stavros
Web address: https://conversationsworthhaving.today/
Travels from: Asheville, NC
Social Media Links:
Books Authored by Jackie Stavros
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Conversations Worth Having: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement
Dr. Paul White discusses the causes of and cures for a toxic workplace.
Dec 02, 2019
Paul White, author of Rising Above a Toxic Workplace
Paul White and Bill Ringle discuss the causes of and cures for a toxic workplace for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
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Paul White, author of Rising Above a Toxic WorkplaceShow Podcast Information
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Look out for 3 key signals of a toxic workplace: 1) a sick system characterized by disorganization and chaos, lack of communication,
John Kotter – planning ahead to align with trends and avoid business hazards
Nov 25, 2019
John Kotter, author of Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
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Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Any company that isn’t rethinking its direction at least every few years and then quickly making significant operational changes is putting itself at risk.What they do not do well is identify the most important hazards and opportunities early enough, formulate creative strategic initiatives nimbly enough, and implement them fast enough.Communication across silos does not happen with sufficient speed or effectiveness.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
John tells about his inspiration and how they influenced him to connect to his potential. [01:30]
Can you think of a way that their influence your decision that you made at some point in your career [02:30]
The greatest leaders have a surprising thirst and capacity for and tendency to making themselves vulnerable when it serves them some purpose. [09:39]
What are some of the things that they should pay more and then less attention to to have an impact and a capacity for leading in a turbulent environment [21:18]
One of the characteristics of a leader is that they have a sense of opportunities and the critical ones, the bigger ones that exists around them. [22:23]
They are dedicated to finding ways to help others work with them. [22:40]
John talks about Dual operating system [31:18]
Expert Bio
John P. Kotter is a best-selling author, award winning business and management thought leader, business entrepreneur and Harvard Professor. His ideas, books, and company help mobilize people around the world to better lead organizations in an era of increasingly rapid change.
Professor Kotter’s MIT and Harvard education laid the foundation for his lifelong passion for educating, motivating, and helping people. His award-winning articles in The Harvard Business Review have sold more reprints than any other author’s, and his 2012 article, “Accelerate!” won the McKinsey award for the world’s most practical and groundbreaking thinking in the business/management arena.
His books have reached millions, and have been printed in over 150 foreign language editions. His 1996 book, Leading Change, was selected by Time magazine in 2011 as one of the 25 most influential business management books ever written. To supplement his books and expand on his ideas, Kotter has released several videos on his teachings, many of which are accessible to anyone interested in his work via YouTube.
Kotter’s research and pursuits in education, business and writing have earned the respect of his peers, helped transform organizations around the world, touched countless lives, and still inspires others to adopt his methods and spread the word. He continues to work to achieve his vision of “millions leading, billions benefiting.”
Professor Kotter is a proud father of two and resides in Boston, MA with his wife.
Contact Info for John Kotter
Web address: https://www.kotterinc.com/
Travels from: Cambridge, MA
Social Media Links:
Books Authored by the John Kotter
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
www.kotterinc.com
How to inspire people and improve performance with guest expert Sylvia Melena
Nov 18, 2019
>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Sylvia Melena and Bill Ringle discuss how small business leaders can use accountability to drive performance and results.
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Sylvia Melena, author of Supportive Accountability: How to Inspire People and Improve Performance
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
The purpose of accountability is really to support your team and to set them up for success.Accountability is really a way of driving performance and results.Progression is about helping them meet performance expectations if they aren’t already.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Sylvia explains how her parents influenced her to connect to her potential. [00:47]Can you share with me an example of how excellence influenced a particular decision you made or the action you took? [03:01]When you put your effort and energy and someone recognizes you, it validates and it says that it was appreciated. [04:35]Was there a turning point that crystallizes that you want to teach appreciation? [05:06]Sylvia talks about her career as a consultant and a writer [07:30]Regarding the Model of Supportive Accountability, what else would you say to help someone get the gist about how to think about supportive accountability? [09:27]The bottom line of the model is about balancing supportive leadership and accountability. [09:33]What is it that can bring to a situation and allow managers to see themselves and allow them to do to rectify that situation? [10:34]What are the things that you teach about expectations that will help deepen the ability of the manager [12:27]She talks about congruence between her work and values [15:57]Sylvia talk about collaborative communication and explains it [17:51]My Quest for the Best Lightning Round [19:55]
Expert Bio
SYLVIA MELENA is the Founder and CEO of Melena Consulting Group, a leadership and management consulting and training company. She is also the architect of the Supportive Accountability Leadership Model, a simple but powerful framework that helps leaders engage employees, promote accountability, and boost performance.
Sylvia is the author of Supportive Accountability: How to Inspire People and Improve Performance. The book won an International Latino Book Award and a San Diego Book Award.
With a Master of Arts in Leadership and Organizational Studies and nearly 20 years in the trenches of management, Sylvia has led individuals, small teams, and entire workforces into notable performance improvement.
Contact Info for Sylvia Melena
Web address: https://leadershipstrength.com/
Travels from: La Mesa, CA
Social Media Links:
Books Authored by the Sylvia Melena
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
https://leadershipstrength.com/
Research-backed insights from Gallup for small business leaders with Jim Harter
Nov 11, 2019
Jim Harter, author of It's the Manager
Jim Harter and Bill Ringle discuss the valuable, time-saving research available to small business leaders who are open to learning and improving.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
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Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
It's so important that organizations think beyond their own workplace; they think about setting people up for success down the road so they can know their strengths and pursue something that gives them energy.Leaders everywhere in the world have a tendency to name the wrong person manager and then train them on administrative things -- not how to maximize human potential.Change your management and leadership culture from being bosses to being coaches.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Jim tells about his inspiration and how they influenced him to connect to his potential. [01:45]Can you think of a way that this understanding has affected your life? [02:39]When people have meaningful work to do they gotta pursue that which could make a difference in their self-importance. [03:02]It's so important that organizations think beyond their own workplace; they think about setting people up for success down the road...so they can know their strengths and pursue something that gives them energy. [04:33]What are some ways that small businesses can help bring about the people from your people? [05:47]An organization should have a clearly articulated mission & purpose [06:25]It's about what managers do with their employees when they discuss how their work connects with their work. [09:10]The elements of conversations that you find really help managers connect with everyone on the team. [10:25]Jim answers the question: What do you mean by the phrase "getting people done"? [16:18]Smaller organizations are in a position where they can affect the culture more easily. [22:45]We have to recognize that the role of the manager has to be a coach. [23:43]We have to reward individual achievers and they get the highest recognition in the organization. [23:50]My Quest for the Best Lightning Round [28:08]
Expert Bio
Dr. Jim Harter is the Chief Scientist for Gallup's Workplace Management and Well-being Practice.
Jim is the primary researcher and author of the first large-scale, multi-organization study to investigate the relationship between work-unit employee engagement and business results, including profitability, productivity, turnover, customer engagement, safety and health. Updated periodically, this study currently covers more than 82,000 business units and includes 1.8 million employees in 230 organizations across 49 industries and in 73 countries.
He is the coauthor of the No. 1 Wall Street Journal and Washington Post bestseller, It's the Manager, released in 2019. Jim's work has appeared in the Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company and Time magazine.
Jim is also the co-author of the New York Times bestseller 12: The Elements of Great Managing and the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller "Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements."
His research is also featured in the bestselling management classic First, Break All the Rules.
Jim has authored or coauthored more than 1,000 research studies on employee engagement and talent and on topics in applied psychology and well-being. His specialties include psychological measurement and estimating the economic impact of management initiatives.
Contact Info for Jim Harter
Web address: https://www.gallup.com/
Travels from: Omaha, NE
Social Media Links:
Revealing the power of positive leadership with Jon Gordon
Nov 04, 2019
Jon Gordon, author of The Power of Positive Leadership: How and Why Positive Leaders Transform Teams and Organizations and Change the World
Jon Gordon and Bill Ringle discuss the Power of Positive Leadership as applied in small business and professional sports teams.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
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Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Positivity within the team starts at a cultural level where you say this is the kind of culture that we're going to build, this our value, this is the importance of positivity to be a great team.As a small business owner, you're going to face rejection, adversity, challenges, and setbacks, and you have to have a vision of what you have to build knowing that adversity is gonna be part of the process.Leadership is a transferred belief and passion and energy.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Jon shares about his inspiration - Ken Blanchard and how he influenced him to connect to his potential. [00:42]How did you break in with your first book and what was the result of that for your career? [4:05]What is it that you learn about overcoming rejection through that process that you might be able to pass on to small business leaders? [6:45]Jon talks about Michael Phelps attribute on how he manages his team [10:07]What are some tips and guidelines on how to manage "energy vampires?" [13:45]MQ4B lightning round. [19:24]
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Expert Bio
Jon Gordon's best-selling books and talks have inspired readers and audiences around the world. His principles have been put to the test by numerous Fortune 500 companies, professional and college sports teams, school districts, hospitals, and non-profits.
He is the author of 18 books including multiple best-sellers including, The Energy Bus, The Carpenter, Training Camp, You Win in the Locker Room First, The Power of Positive Leadership and The Power of a Positive Team. His latest book is The Coffee Bean: A Simple Lesson to Create Positive Change.
Jon and his tips have been featured on The Today Show, CNN, CNBC, The Golf Channel, Fox and Friends and in numerous magazines and newspapers. His clients include The Los Angeles Dodgers, The Atlanta Falcons, Campbell Soup, Dell, Publix, Southwest Airlines, LA Clippers, Miami Heat, Pittsburgh Pirates, BB&T Bank, Clemson Football, Northwestern Mutual, West Point Academy and more.
Jon is a graduate of Cornell University and holds a Masters in Teaching from Emory University. He and his training/consulting company are passionate about developing positive leaders, organizations and teams.
Contact Info for Jon Gordon
Web address: http://jongordon.com/
Travels from: Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
Social Media Links:
Selected Books Authored by Jon Gordon
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
http://jongordon.com/
Lean in to learn from your problems and advance your business with guest expert Lee Cockerell
Oct 21, 2019
Lee Cockerell, author of Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney
Bill Ringle and Lee Cockerell discuss how the Disney exec team relied on adaptability to customer feedback.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
The highest customer satisfaction levels come from positive employee interactions.Leaders, as well as all employees, must question everything. This does not mean being contrary or argumentative.Be open to relishing and welcoming problems; they are opportunities to improve policies, procedures, and processes.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Lee tells about his inspiration and how she influenced him to connect to his potential. [1:17]He shares his professional journey [03:38]How did he get the adjective for the title "The Commonsense Challenge"? [4:59]Sometimes we got educated people that don't have much commonsense so they make a lot of mistakes, and their critical thinking skills and they don't think things through..Education is one part of being successful [6:01]Can you remember an example when you were in a meeting, Lee, and you heard people heading down a path toward a decision and you just knew you had to speak up because what they were proposing didn't make sense [7:04]Why is it important to convey that "Everyone is Important"? [10:20]Lee shares how he gets someone from a culture of noticing and experiencing a culture where they are constantly told what wrong they were doing and getting them to think about how to do it right? [13:32]How do you help someone overcome that deep feeling of inadequacy or not being empowered to do something? [17:03]How to eliminate a hassle? [19:58]Take focus on what's important. Look at people. They're not healthy. They took better of their car than they do themselves because they don't plan it. [28:13]How do you deal with that resistance to change? [29:26]Lee shares the book he read in the last year that had a positive impact on him [36:17]
Expert Bio
Lee Cockerell retired as the Executive Vice President of Operations for the WALT DISNEY WORLD® Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, a position he held for ten years. His responsibilities encompassed a diverse mix of operations, which included 20 resort hotels with over 24,000 Guest rooms, four theme parks, two water parks, five golf courses, a shopping village & nighttime entertainment complex, the ESPN Sports Complex, and the ancillary operations support functions.
Lee joined the Disney organization in July 1990 as Director of Food and Beverage and Quality Assurance for the Disneyland Paris hotels. Prior to joining the Walt Disney World Co., he spent seventeen years in various executive positions with the Marriott Corporation and eight years with Hilton Hotels.
Lee is the best-selling author of four books on leadership, management, and world-class customer service; Creating Magic…10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney is now available in 18 languages; The Customer Rules...The 39 Essential Rules for Delivering Sensational Service is currently available in 13 languages; Time Management Magic…How to Get More Done Every Day Career Magic; and How to Stay on Track to Achieve a Stellar Career.
Lee and his wife Priscilla reside in Orlando, Florida. Lee enjoys teaching leadership, management, and service excellence seminars, traveling, dining out and most of all spending time with his three grandchildren, Jullian, Margot, and Tristan.
Contact Info for Lee Cockerell
Web address: https://www.leecockerell.com/
Travels from: Orlando, Florida
Social Media Links:
Books Authored by Lee Cockerell
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
www.leecockerell.com
229: Michal Stawicki, author of Driven by Purpose
Oct 14, 2019
Michal Stawicki, author of Directed by Purpose
Michal Stawicki and Bill Ringle discuss Directed by Purpose
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
A personal mission statement is a compass to guide your life. Though the terrain of your life can change rapidly, using this compass will ensure you always find happiness and success.Creating a personal mission statement seems to be a good starting point to avoid common regrets at the end of your life.Always have the end goal in your mind. You are looking for your destiny. That's your ultimate focus.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Q: So when you were growing up, who's someone who influenced and/or inspired you?A: The person who really inspired me was my father, and it wasn't by preaching, it was by example. [01:18]Q: How do you discover your purpose? What is purpose?A: It was reading "The Slight Edge" written by Jeff Olson in 2012. I was in vacation in Ireland, visiting my parents. And my sister read this book, and I borrowed it, I read it in one day, and I couldn't get rid of its message. And the message is "Success is simple discipline repeated over time." [04:48]I listened to Covey's advice to create a personal statement...And how did I define my statement? It wasn't really a statement, it was a document of about one thousand words, but it states everything I want to achieve in my life [06:42]Q: Can you talk about what mission statements in terms of either before and after you have mission statements in your life?...Also about others...A: Well, the absolutely stunning was observing is that my personal statement and what happened to my own life...my life statement was like shattering my self-limiting beliefs...For example I don't really feel that I am a writer after...and until February of 2015 I'm repeating this sentence, I am a writer.... [08:41]Q: What did you do about how to uncover your own strengths?A: One of my core values is self-discovery and it's part of my personal statement...I spent 15 minutes every morning writing one question about myself, and then trying to answer it...which was processed by my conscious mind mostly not just emotions and whatever comes from subconscious...and this is the way i discover myself. [13:41] Journaling force me to consciously process what's in me...those emotions, those plans, those ambitions...[15:46] Q: What's your approach with the question that you use as an example?A: Example, I ask myself "well, is it really true that God is omnipotent and loves me or not? And then just processing consciously this question. [17:00] Q: How did you use your journal to help prepare for that type of trip that you took with your wife?A: I wrote something like "what should I finish before the publication?" So I've got some things to finish. And I got it from my head into the paper. [17:55] Q: What examples of questions that you repeated that's lead to more clarity?A: Well it happened like the whole idea of writing idea for a book. [19:00] Q: Is journalling something you use to help you understand and analyze what topics you want to write about in order to develop your book series?A: Yes, in fact I think my way of writing a book is brainstorming, what I want to write about, what are the angles I can use...[20:49]My Quest for the Best Lightning Round [24:01]
Expert Bio
Michal Stawicki is on a mission to support individuals who feel helpless to expand beyond their limits so that they can regain the control over their lives.
In 2012, Michal read the book titled “The Slight Edge” by Jeff Olson, and he started to turn his life around.In the next seven years, he lost weight, broke over 200 personal fitness records, developed dozens of daily habits, doubled his income, started a book advertising business, liberated his wife from a day job and published sixteen b...
228: John Brandt, author of Nincompoopery: Why Your Customers Hate You and How to Fix It
Oct 07, 2019
John Brandt, author of Nincompoopery: Why Your Customers Hate You – and How to Fix It
John Brandt and Bill Ringle discuss Nincompoopery: Why Your Customers Hate You--and How to Fix It.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Quality through essential to value is not longer a differentiating component of value – customers want more.One of the biggest gifts you can receive is a customer complaint. This is direct feedback from the customer about something that isn’t working in your organization.Any time we lead change in an organization we have to manage not only those technical components, but the accompanying social aspects as well.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
John Brandt tells his inspiration and how she influenced him to connect to her potential [00:47]Q: Can you remember how exciting how it was as well as scary to take that job?A: I can!...But what was important in that part of my life was to make that change. Not only that I have to be pushed by somebody else and certainly be mentored, I had to make a decision, I just decided, "I'm not really going to be ever, ever work for anyone. [03:34]
The decision I have to make for at that time, "Do I wanna do this?" Then I finally gave myself a gift: "Never again do work that I didn't want to do. I would never again spend time just wasting time for a paycheck. I would always try to work I love. And that made a huge difference in my life. People will tell you do this, and do that. [4:58]
Once you give yourself that freedom, once you do things you only love...you of course work harder, you of course work better....everything gets better once you do that. [05:30]
We live in a world where you're advised to get an education for a job, you should do that job, and you have to do that for your entire life. And, this is not true. You can do multiple things and you should do things that will make you happy. [06:15]
Well, exactly, and all those energies go into that. You're also not spending your energy worrying what other people think. Or why they're disappointed in you. [7:03]Q: What is your definition of Nincompoopery?A: It is not the person itself, not the nincompoop, it's the nincompooper...because there's a larger process that has not been examined by managers there. [8:57]Q: Can you tell me about an example of a company or leaders of the company...A: We also have to train...not just technical skills but also on collaboration, communication...if you're going to ask employees to make decisions that affect your margins they better understand how you make money. [17:36]
We don't do a better job in this country of teaching people about economics, and in most companies people who work for them don't know the difference, and don't know how to read an income statement. They don't know the difference between a profit and loss, not because they're dumb, but because nobody taught them. [18:02]Q: What are the different types of nincompooping?A: Anybody who has tried to change in any of the organizations knows that nobody is up for change....The first group of people is "Woe-is-all-of-us"..."woe-is-you"..."woe-is-change"... [19:24]. My Quest for the Best Lightning Round [31:18]I would say the easiest ... is using Bullet Journaling...is a way to bring everything in your personal life and business life into one analog notebook so that nothing gets forgotten, or at least not forgotten for very long. [32:30
Expert Bio
John R. Brandt is the author of Nincompoopery: Why Your Customers Hate You—and How to Fix It (HarperCollins Leadership; hardcover; July 16, 2019).
He is also CEO and founder of The MPI Group, and has devoted more than two decades to studying leadership in effective, purpose-driven organizations. An expert on how companies can adapt themselves to the realities of new marke...
Relationships drive the economy in small business with John DiJulius
Sep 30, 2019
John DiJulius, author of The Relationship Economy
John DiJulius and Bill Ringle discuss The Relationship Economy.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes with more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Use technology to form basic tasks, enabling employees to focus on what's more important.Build a culture internally that creates an emotional connection with your employees with each other.Create a relationship built-in training for new and existing employees because they don't just have it, and it can be taught, and if you don't teach it, it can be translated into actions, and it's gonna be cold transactions instead of warm interactions that build loyalty.The art of building relationships has five keys: authenticity, insatiable curiosity, incredible empathy, one must love people, and must be a great listener.We create certain nevers that we would never do or always do if the opportunity presents itself.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Q: When you are growing up who's someone who you think of who inspired you?
A: I have a long list, but let me start with my mom; and it may sound stereotypical, but she raised six kids, all under the age of 20...she had this unbelievable energy...she never made excuses nor complained, and just had this unbelievable faith and belief in all her kids...[1:29] Q: And as a result of your mom's strong faith and belief in all of you and you, in particular, John, how do you draw on that lesson that encouragement, that role model, that she shared with you back then? How does come through today in a decision today, or the way you treat people?
A: I think it's believing in people even when it's not easy to...you know when someone failing...one of my kids...one of my employees...[02:40] Q: What makes it possible for you to continue to believe when people are in a tough situation?
A: Drawin' in my experience growin' up, it wasn't easy to believe in. I was ADD LD, requested to repeat a lot of grades...and my mom always stuck it up for me and told me I was to do a great thing. And whenever we're faced with that situation, I always say and ask my leaders to do the same thing; when someone's failing, "let's look in the mirror first," no one came here to fail. No one wants to be making mistakes; we give them all the support, encouragement, and confidence we can. And it's usually something we could've done better, you know when we do that most of the time we get rewarded, it's kind of the same thing, and no ones ever gonna give them second or third chances...as I told you, I like words, and another favorite word of mine now is 'Encourage'...look at the word, split it up, 'In-courage,' and the new meaning is to put courage in someone else... [03:15] Q: This isn't your first book, Relationship Economy, what is it that inspired you to say all of these things that I've learned, all of this list that I've put together, all of these processes need to be shared and put it into book form? What was the point when you realized that Relationship Economy needs to be a book, John?
A: We're in the midst of the digital age, the digital revolution, and I love technology...and technology is not the enemy; we weren't using it to eliminate customer experience, the human interaction face to face, and just seeing how the pendulum is swinging so far over that high tech note touch and seeing the ramifications in the digital age is having on us personally and professionally...you know, today's illiterate are those who cannot make a deep connection with others truly and you know when you think about that we can all point the finger in us older people like to think that these are the millennial...we are the one who raised them, and we're judging them. And number two, make no mistake about it, the lack of people skills that is happening in our society is the responsibility of the business lea...
226: Steve Cochran, author of Outsizing: Strategies to Grow Your Business, Profits, and Potential
Sep 23, 2019
Steve Coughran, author of Outsizing: Strategies to Grow Your Business, Profits, and Potential
Steve Coughran and Bill Ringle discuss Outsizing: Strategies to Grow Your Business, Profits, and Potential for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
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Steve Coughran, author of Outsizing: Strategies to Grow Your Business, Profits, and PotentialShow Podcast Information
Top 3 Value Bombs from this Interview
225: John Lee Dumas, author of The Freedom Journal
Sep 16, 2019
John Lee Dumas, author of The Freedom Journal
John Lee Dumas and Bill Ringle discuss the success journey of Entrepreneurs on Fire as well as key principles from The Freedom Journal for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Define your niche clearly and accurately so that you know you're speaking to who represents the market you serve.Measure the daily downloads, episode downloads, and month-over-month growth, and measure the engagement with your listeners.When you keep metrics that matter, your business will succeed as a result.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Can you describe your podcast and a couple of its attributes that make Entrepreneurs on Fire a unique podcast? [01:23]JLD shares a couple of the metrics he used to measure the success of his podcast. [03:45]He answered: What are some struggles you faced when you were starting on your podcast adventure? [05:34]Gratitude is one attribute that keeps JLD encouraged even when the chips are down. [07:48]What's the mistake you've noticed and encountered in people that really helped you be grateful? [09:48]JLD talks about the turning point wherein he realized the podcast would going to take off [11:19]. What are one or two of the key criteria you have knowing that you've been successful or pursuing the path of success as you defined it? [13:40]
Expert Bio
John Lee Dumas is the founder and host of Entrepreneurs on Fire, a business podcast where he interviews successful entrepreneurs and releases new episodes daily. He is arguably one of the most successful podcasters in the business.
Entrepreneurs On Fire launched on September 22, 2012. As of 2018, his podcasts have received 70 million downloads with 1 million monthly listens. Through EOFire, he has grossed over 16 million dollars since its launch, and his popularity and platform continue to grow with a core team of himself and Kate Erickson, supplemented by a handful of VAs.
John is the author of The Freedom Journal - The Best Daily Planner to Accomplish Your #1 Goal in 100 Days , The Mastery Journal - The Best Daily Planner for mastering productivity, discipline, and focus in 100 days! and The Podcast Journal - from idea to Podcast Launch in 50 Days!
He graduated from Providence College on an Army ROTC scholarship.
John was born and raised in Maine and now lives in Puerto Rico with Kate.
Contact Info for John Lee Dumas
Web address: https://www.eofire.com/
Travels from: Humacao, PR
Social Media Links: LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
The Freedom Journal - The Best Daily Planner to Accomplish Your #1 Goal in 100 Days - Increase Productivity & Time Management
The Mastery Journal - The Best Daily Planner for mastering productivity, discipline, and focus in 100 days! Entrepreneurs on Fire - subscribe and listen on iTunes
Published by John Lee Dumas
Operating with Higher Levels of Integrity, interview with Katie Hendricks, PhD
Sep 09, 2019
Katie and Gay's article on Operational Integrity
Katie Hendricks and Bill Ringle discuss integrity, operating agreements, and the underlying dynamics of strong relationships in small businesses and beyond.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
How appreciation can be used effectively as a management tool.How staying connected to your body through deliberate breaths helps you make better decisions.The importance of cultivating creativity in business relationships.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Katie shares her inspirations and how they inspired her. [1:07]
Katie gives the definition of Integrity from her perspective. [5:06]
Bill Ringle highlights some of the key elements Katie shares about the principles of operational integrity. [6:08]
Katie discusses how integrity skills are doable and how one can practice the same. [7:04]
Katie tells what is it the people can do to strengthen their ability to listen and speak up before they are brought in an agreement they don't want to be part of. [8:47]
How three simple breaths can reset your physical and mental position. [9:57]
Katie tells us why we are addicted to adrenaline and fear. [12:38]
Why is it important to listen to our body when it is stressed out? [13:47]
How does doing things always in hurry hinders the creativity? [15:33]
Why is adrenaline a nonrenewable resource? [17:00]
How you can renew your fuel source?[17:50]
Katie speaks about the online resources where you can find her work on shifting fear. [22:51]
Expert Bio
Kathlyn Hendricks, Ph.D., BC-DMT, has been an evolutionary catalyst, successful entrepreneur and body intelligence pioneer since the 1970s. Passionate about the power of embodied integrity and emergence, her work explores the how of consciousness, the structures and practices that befriend and transform fear into presence, connection and creative solutions.
She is the co-author (with her partner Gay Hendricks) of twelve books, including the best-selling a, At The Speed of Life and the new Conscious Loving Ever After: How to Create Thriving Relationship at Midlife and Beyond. Katie has developed a unique coaching and leadership program that has trained hundreds of coaches in the U.S. and Europe.
She co-founded the Spiritual Cinema Circle and the Virtual Body Intelligence Summit. She has appeared on over 500 radio and television programs and traveled well over one million air miles as the ambassador for the work that she and her husband Gay Hendricks have developed.
Katie earned a Ph.D. in Transpersonal Psychology and has been a Board Certified-Dance/Movement Therapist of the American Dance Therapy Association since 1975.
Contact Info for Katie Hendricks
Web address: www.hendricks.com
Travels from: Ojai, CA, United States
Social Media Links: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Books Authored by the Kathlyn Hendricks, PhD
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
hendricks.comFoundation for Conscious LivingFear Melters
Adopt a Modern Seller Paradigm to Excel with Amy Franko
Aug 26, 2019
Amy Franko - author of The Modern Seller: Sell More and Increase Your Impact in the New Sales Economy
Amy Franko and Bill Ringle discuss the ideas of the five modern selling skill sets that help small business leaders and others responsible for top-line growth rise above the competition.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Five roles to adopt for success in today's competitive marketplace: Entrepreneurial, Holistic, Social, Ambassador, and Agile.How to find the right prospects for clients, when buyer titles and responsibilities are often opaque.What it means to serve ambassador responsibilities in business growth positions.
5 Roles of the Modern Seller by Amy Franko
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Amy tells about her inspiration and how she influenced her to connect to her potential. [1:09]She tells how being the oldest among her four siblings, she had the leadership quality in her DNA. [3:08]Why in today's business climate having a new fresh idea or definition to follow critical? [4:00]She shares how a question from her client suddenly made her realize what she was missing and how she learned a huge lesson. [5:30]How to handle a list of priorities in a single go. [9:15]She elaborates from her book "The Modern Seller", the real concept of being a modern seller [11:44]Rather than price and product, what are the other three things you should look for? [13:40]The five roles required to be a modern seller: Agile, Entrepreneur, Holistic, Social and Ambassador. [16:56]Amy shares what an ambassador’s role is in greater detail. [21:00]My Quest for the Best Lighting Round begins [22:21]
Expert Bio
Amy Franko is a strategic sales expert working with professional services, insurance, and technology organizations to accelerate sales results. She’s a keynote speaker, sales strategist, and author specializing in B2B sales and sales leadership development. With over 20 years of client-facing sales experience, Amy began her career with global companies IBM and Lenovo before pivoting into entrepreneurship. Her book of business includes some of the world’s most recognizable brands. Amy’s book, Amazon, is an Amazon bestseller and was also named a 2018 top sales book by Top Sales World. Learn more and download a free chapter at www.amyfranko.com.
Contact Info
Web address: amyfranko.com
Travels from: Delaware, Ohio
Social Media Links: LinkedIn | Twitter
Books Authored by the Guest
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
amyfranko.com
Organizing your thinking in a Bullet Journal for Rapid Results with Ryder Carroll
Aug 19, 2019
Ryder Carroll, author of The Bullet Journal Method
Ryder Carroll and Bill Ringle discuss the Bullet Journal Method – a technique used by millions worldwide – for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Transform your vague ideations into meaningful goals, and then break those goals into manageable action steps.Track the past, organize the present, and prepare for the future.Spend time with things that are important, and be mindful of how you spend your time.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Q: When you are growing up, who's someone who inspired or influenced you that you think of today?
[0:56] A: His parents influenced him to do the best that he can do, and he has learning disabilities that he has overcome because he is challenged to prove other people wrong when put down.
Q: So was Professor Peterson's belief in you also that allowed you to tap into finding ways to learn the material and apply it...is that true?
[6:08] A: "You can solve your challenges more so than you think you do."
Q: Do you remember the exact or even roughly the day or hour or what you are doing or who you are talking to, and suddenly it hit you, "this isn't it!," and I may have wasted two years...what was it like for you?
[18:18] A: "If you don't know what you want, you won't get it. It's that simple."
Q: And then obviously, once you had the right question, the idea to build a company around this time management system just becomes apparent, right?
[19:40] A: "People strive for what? what is the goal behind all the goals?"
[19:41] "It is a major distraction to focus on happiness because happiness is just emotion, it comes and goes, it is an unrealistic goal. [20:10] "What happens next is trying to figure out ways that I could invest my time and energy in the things that would feel meaningful.
[23:34] "It helps people invest in time and energy that matter to them based on...their limited experience, making time to be meaningful."
Q: A task list has much more depth to it when it is connected to your reasons or why for doing the tasks you're doing. That's such great insight.
[24:40] "In general, people are most frustrated when they don't feel like they're contributing when their work is meaningless."
[24:48] "I feel like a lot of times it is our responsibility to find a meaning to what we're doing, and we can do that if we just take the time to do so."
[25: 46] "Like for me, bullet journaling allows me also to book the exercise I call the 5 Whys?"
Q: What gap does the bullet journal method fill, or what does it do uniquely in this crowded space of helping people understand how to structure their time to be more effective and perhaps more meaningful?
[28:56] A: "Its purpose should be defined by each user. What's important to me is not important to you."
Expert Bio
Ryder Carroll is a digital product designer and author living in Brooklyn, NY. He was diagnosed with learning disabilities early in life and was forced to figure out alternate ways to be focused and productive. Through years of trial and error, he developed a methodology that went far beyond the simple organization. Now he focuses on helping others learn what the Bullet Journal method is truly about: the art of intentional living.
Contact Info for Ryder Carroll
Web address: https://bulletjournal.com/
Travels from: Brooklyn, NY
Social Media Links: LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Books Authored by the Guest
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
https://bulletjournal.com/ The Bullet Journal Method - Book https://bulletjournal.com/pages/book
Use Amazon’s Playbook to Accelerate Your Company’s Rise with Jon Rossman
Aug 12, 2019
John Rossman, author of Think Like Amazon: 50 1/2 Ideas to Become a Digital Leader
John Rossman and Bill Ringle discuss Think Like Amazon: 50 1/2 Ideas to Become a Digital Leader for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Create customer obsession—and grant your customers superpowers. Use metrics to create a culture of accountability and innovation.Master the magic of small autonomous teams.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Q: When you are growing up, who is someone who influenced you or inspired you?
[1:55] A: How John attained confidence that he can tackle a rigorous academic domain like engineering.
Q: What does it mean to compete differently?
[2:49] A: "Not only do we need to be as an organization and as a leader great in our operational domains, but you have to actually become great at creating change, envisioning change and making it happen, and delivering business value to it."
Q: What's been your experience with some of the consultant clients that you worked with that they used the book to learn about creating change and developing things, and some of the skills they lacked when they first started in their work?
[4:18] A: "First of all, it starts with being honest, we need to...we can't rest on our laurels. And we need to invest more and innovate more in our future. And so idea number three, called Move forward to get back to Day 1, change the status quo culture" is sometimes the starting point for that."
[5:22] "We have to think as leaders, we have changed our habit...You need to ask yourself, what are you willing to do differently."
Q: Am sure you would agree to the fact that some leaders are embracing the tools and have gotten some results with them first before they roll them out or expect others to do; they come about it from a much more credible place. Isn't that your experience?
[6:58] A: "You must set the tone from the top. You have to not just go along with it but be the biggest advocate, the biggest adopt the idea that in order to make true, lasting full-blown change."
Q: When you are in Amazon, what did they do with the culture to break into the DNA so that this idea of being a digital leader was part of everyone's thinking?
[8:25] A: "We are hammering out these concepts of what being a platform company is about. We were hammering out our leadership principles."
[8:54] "We took the time to not only like "okay, what's the problem and how do we resolve it, "how we think about this situation?"
[9:05] "We would always be testing ourselves, "why are we approaching that way," "how would that technique for that leadership principle work in other circumstances and taking the time to think about why you're thinking about something...that was the habit that we put into place."
[9:47] "Probably my number one customer base for "Think like Amazon" is current Amazon employees who use this as a manual for how they go about their business.
[12:35] "You have to know when to slow down and write out ideas...always write out my thoughts...to help me think things through better."
Q: And again, that's so clear how that comes back to truly understanding your customer's experience because none of those things are probably measured before, nor the people think to track it, and once you have metrics to track, then you have the process that you can refine, improve and optimize...
[22:46] A: "The truth is in the numbers typically."
[22:53] My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins
Expert Bio
John is the author of Think Like Amazon: 50 ½ Ideas to Become a Digital Leader.
He was an executive at Amazon, where he launched and scaled the Marketplace business, which now accounts for more than 50 percent of all units sold at Amazon.com.
Gay Hendricks teaches Small Business Leaders How to Make The Big Leap to Achievement and Impact
Jul 22, 2019
Gay Hendricks, author of The Big Leap
Gay Hendricks and Bill Ringle discuss making the big leap into your zone of genius for small business leaders.
> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
The challenge as you commit to the journey of bringing it forth, though, is that you have a lifetime of beliefs, fears, and habits that have held you back – often subconsciously and in subtle ways.Improve your relationships by eliminating unproductive arguing and removing the Upper Limit Problems that lead to fights.When we realize how much power we have in our consciousness, we start to realize that we are, after all, focusing on the wrong kinds of questions in life.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Q: So when you were growing up, who's someone who influenced and/or inspired you?
[2:07] A: My mom really inspired me, Norma Hendricks, she was a writer, she was a journalist and wrote a daily column for the newspaper, a local newspaper...she helped me in my early days cause I always knew I wanted to be a writer and so she would help me a lot when I was in high school learning how to compose themes that kind of thing. So she was my big inspiration. My granddad and grandmother...who lived next door and they were incredibly important to me growing up...then when I was about fifteen or sixteen I went to a Youth Day in Florida Southern University in Central Florida...and they had a guest minister that gave this incredible speech...and it was a key turning point in my life and his name was Jay Wallace Hamilton...he gave us this message that was so radically different from anything I've every heard within a church setting, he said "don't be afraid to be yourself...people are always gonna want to try to sell you on safety in life but go take some risks, find out who you are and let yourself be forged for the fire of life,"...and it kind of like rearranged my brain cells...it was very life-changing for me... Q: Gay, let me ask you, can you recall thinking about and I've had, I can relate to some experience when somebody makes a single statement and suddenly re-calibrates and refocus your life because the word are so profound and applicable. Do you remember making a decision sometime and after that, those words came to the fore and that sense of being able to have those limits removed or that encouragement to go beyond that to really be yourself and not be afraid to be yourself, really played a role in some decision or action you took?
[5:16] A: Ah yes as a matter of fact not long after that I went to the Leesburg Public Library and it set off this kind of questioning in me that Reverend Jay Wallace Hamilton set off this wondering me about who am I really, what do I really wanna do because...you know I haven't really put that much thought into that, and so I went tot the library and I was looking through books and I came across a book called "The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini," and it was a book about a man, it was an autobiography...and I realized I didn't want to do just anything in my life, I want to kind of open it up broadly so that I could go in lots of different directions, and lo and behold, it's exactly what happened, and I didn't realized that my dream had come true until many years later...doing what I most love to do, and so that's led me into entrepreneuring businesses which I then later sold to a public companies, and investments, and led into writing lots of books and so where does the spirit seems to pull me? It seems to just take me around in different directions where I feel like I can make some kind of a difference. Q: Can you describe what the upper limit is?
[7:13] A: Yes, the upper limit problem is our programmed tendency to limit ourselves or sabotage ourselves when things start going better than we have a framework before...like my client...
Get Your Marketing organized so you can attract more business with guest expert Allan Dib.
Jul 16, 2019
Allan Dib, author of The 1-Page Marketing Plan
Bill Ringle and Allan Dib discuss the fine points of creating and using a one-page marketing plan to grow your small business quickly and cost-effectively.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
The difference between a good offer and a bad offer is critical to understand because if you make bad offers, your business is in trouble.Always be thinking of your endgame. It will help you make better decisions.The difference between being seen by your prospects as a pest vs. a welcome guest depends on whether you are focused on their needs or your needs.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Allan shares with us who's his inspiration is? [1:03]
Allan share how he found his way from being a small business owner to a knowledge sharing entrepreneur and a leader. [2:50]
Allan tells how us how though he had a potential product and customers how he wasn't able to manage the sales and marketing. [5:08]
Importance of offer. How do you define an offer? What are the mistakes that people make while creating an offer? [8:53]
Allan gives an example of "Dollar Shave Club" how it proved everybody wrong by being a subscription business. [12:08]
When crafting an offer a one of all products and services you offer which do you have the most confidence in delivering? And of all products and services you offer which do you enjoy delivering the most? Allen shares with us how he came up with these questions for his book. [16:22]
Allen shares why he engineered his work around his lifestyle. [18:08]
Allan elaborates his tips from his book as, how to convert the sense of being a pest to a welcome guest. [21:34]
Allan gives his example as how he helped other people (client) personally with specific examples. [25:07]
Lightning Round [28:05]
Expert Bio
Allan Dib has started, grown multiple business in various industries including IT, telecommunications and marketing. One of his previous businesses was in the telecommunications industry where he faced heated competition from multibillion dollar, multinational competitors.
Allan grew his business from startup to four years later being named by Business Review Weekly (BRW) as one of Australia’s fastest growing companies – earning a spot in the coveted BRW Fast 100 list.
Allan is passionate about helping businesses find new and innovative ways to leverage technology and marketing to facilitate rapid business growth. As a business coach, consultant and public speaker, he frequently shares his best strategies and cutting edge tactics with people all over the world.
Contact Info for Allan Dib
Web address: www.successwise.com
Travels from: VIC Mount Martha, Australia
Social Media Links: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest
Books Authored by the Guest
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
www.successwise.com
https://successwise.com/what-is-a-marketing-plan/
What Empaths Need to Do to Survive in Small Business, an interview with Dr. Judith Orloff
Jul 08, 2019
Judith Orloff, author of The Empath's Survival Guide
Judith Orloff and Bill Ringle discuss what empaths need to do to survive in a small business.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
The difference between empathy and being an empath.How to create a healthy barriers with people at work. How to stay in one’s own work environment and not get brought down by someone who is negative.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Judith Orloff tells who her inspiration is and why? [1:00]Judith shares how she followed her intuition and how she found her true destiny. [3:06]What is an empath? Does she also share why she wrote a book on empath bible guide? [4:57]The difference between Empathy and Being Empath. [07:15]Judith tells how we can help ourselves with these Empath skills in this era of news and social media onslaught. [8:18]"Downer" is the biggest concern that every person has and how to handle it. [14:24]Why it is important to educate people on how to communicate with others? [17:44]Sometimes things can be said in the simplest way with the most positive attitude that can be most productive at work. [18:25] Judith shares how to build a boundary with a smile as an empath when people just can't leave you alone. [22:31]Lightning Round [23:55]
Expert Bio
Judith Orloff, MD is the NY Times bestselling author of The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People. Dr. Orloff is a psychiatrist, an empath, and an intuitive healer and is in the UCLA Psychiatric Clinical Faculty.
She synthesizes the pearls of traditional medicine with cutting-edge knowledge of intuition, energy, and spirituality. Dr. Orloff also specializes in treating empaths (highly sensitive people) in her private practice. Dr. Orloff’s work has been featured on The Today Show, CNN, Oprah Magazine, and USA Today. Dr. Orloff has spoken at Google-LA and has a popular TEDx talk.
She is a New York Times best-selling author of Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life, Positive Energy: 10 Extraordinary Prescriptions for Transforming Fatigue, Stress, and Fear into Vibrance, Strength & Love, Dr. Judith Orloff's Guide to Intuitive Healing: 5 Steps to Physical, Emotional, and Sexual Wellness, Dr. Judith Orloff's Guide to Intuitive Healing: 5 Steps to Physical, Emotional, and Sexual Wellness.
Contact Info for Judith Orloff
Web address: www.drjudithorloff.com
Travels from: Venice, California
Social Media Links: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
Books Authored by the Guest
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
DrJudithOrloff.Com
Helping your staff create extra special experiences for your customers with guest expert Cameron Mitchell
Jul 01, 2019
Cameron Mitchell, author of YES IS THE ANSWER. WHAT IS THE QUESTION
Cameron Mitchell and Bill Ringle discuss YES IS THE ANSWER. WHAT IS THE QUESTION: How Faith In People and a Culture Of Hospitality Built A Modern American Restaurant Company
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
How a chocolate milkshake is served to each employee at his/her first day and is told the story of how it symbolizes the "yes" attitude of service at the company.Why our attitude is a crucial aspect of how we approach a business or leadership position... and a barometer of how we are viewed.The "Must Have" five pillars of every business describes your vision for your team and your identity to your customers and the outside world.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Cameron shares who his inspiration was and how he met him. [1:03]Cameron enlightens us on the enigma behind his book "Yes is the question. What is the question?" [2:55]How to be more proactive and positive in helping the customers? [5:02]Cameron tells his "The Chocolate Milkshake Story." [6:14]Cameron shares his views on the hiring process of an organization and how the employee should be dealt with. [10:46]How important is it to have an environment of trust a culture that lets people bring their whole selves to them to work? What are the Do's and Don't? [13:00]Cameron shares his journey and how he managed to grow it. [14:13]Cameron tells the five pillars of Cameron's restaurant business. Where we want to be? Who are we? What is our mission? What is your role? What is our goal? [14:56]Why it is important to have a triangular relationship with the people [19:25]Lightning Round [21:44]
Expert Bio
Cameron Mitchell, a lifelong entrepreneur and accomplished businessman, graduated from the Culinary Institute of America when he was 22 years old and has developed 18 different restaurant concepts, including Mitchell’s Fish Market and Mitchell’s Steakhouse, a total of 22 restaurants, that were sold to Ruth’s Hospitality Group for $92 million in 2008.
To this day, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants remains independent and privately held recognizing over $300 million in combined annual revenue from its food service operations consisting of 60 restaurants, Cameron Mitchell Premier Events, The Budd Dairy Food Hall and its sister company, The Rusty Bucket Restaurant and Tavern.
Mitchell has built CMR around the philosophy, “The answer is yes. What is the question?” and by making a Raving Fan out of every person touched by the business, from associates, to guests to delivery drivers at the back door.
It’s a simple statement that serves as the backbone of how the company identifies itself as “great people delivering genuine hospitality.”
Contact Info for Cameron Mitchell
Web address: www.cameronmitchell.com
Travels from: Austin, TX
Social Media Links: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Books Authored by the Guest
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
www.cameronmitchell.com
Develop Your Emotional Fitness as a Leader with Susan Packard
Jun 24, 2019
Susan Packard, author of FULLY HUMAN
Susan Packard and Bill Ringle discuss how to grow your emotional fitness in work, leadership. and life.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
The essence of good leadership is to take care of yourself and others, and to do so requires emotional fitness.Being fully human at work and in your life means committing to a wider range of standards than just output or productivity.Trust is the lifeblood of any organization, from a start-up to an enterprise like HGTV.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Susan shares the inspiration figure of her life. [1:25]
Susan tells us how her dad used to stay calm though he was the eye of the storm and how it created a positive effect on her life. [3:33]
Susan shares her story about taking an opportunity while she was peace and quiet in St Monica Beach from her book. [4:23]
Susan describes what Emotional Fitness is [7:22]
What makes you a great leader? [11:33]
Susan gives example of her boss and how he was never too busy for his employee. [14:11]
Biggest surprise that Susan found out while writing her book Fully Human. [16:05]
Why do middle managers have higher eq than the leaders of organisation in the c suite? [17:17]
Susan shares how she uses her social skill to engage herself with others in building trust and respect. [22:05]
Lightning Round [25:03]
Expert Bio
Author and entrepreneur Susan Packard was one of a small number of women leaders who were a part of the newly created cable industry, helping in the launch of HBO and CNBC. She went on to be a co-founder of HGTV and Scripps Network.
An in-demand speaker at summits, TEDX, and corporate events, as well as a guest expert on television and radio, and op-ed contributor, Packard is a pioneer in both the industry she helped to shape and the workplace she works to redefine.
She is the author of New Rules of the Game and the just released Fully Human: 3 Steps to Grow your Emotional Fitness in Work, Leadership and Life.
Contact Info for Susan Packard
Web address: www.susanpackard.com
Travels from: Lakeville, CT
Social Media Links: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
Books Authored by the Guest
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
SusanPackard.Com
How an Emotional Detox Improves Your Leadership -Interview with Sherianna Boyle
Jun 17, 2019
Sherianna Boyle, author of Emotional Detox
Sherianna Boyle and Bill Ringle discuss the 7 steps to release toxicity and energize joy as a small business leader.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
An unconventional way to handle discomfort that allows you to process the emotion rather than have it gum up inside you.The important difference between reacting and feeling.Surrender does not mean giving up when it comes to emotion detox.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Sherianna Boyle shares who influence her. [2:18]Don't pay attention to what anybody else is doing, just keep your eyes focused on what you are doing. [2:48]Sherianna shares with us how her mother's advice comes in handy in her business. [3:22]She shares how she takes her mother's message in her day-to-day life as a reminder. [4:00]Sherianna shares the biggest "Ahha Moment"of her life. [7:00]The limits of the emotional detox process and their characteristic. [9:35]Sherianna gives example why "the emotion is not toxic it's how we react to our emotion that creates toxicity". [10:40]She tells how she helped Jenne, who was stuck in reactivity? [13:30]The process that Sherianna uses to encourage her patients to go through feelings and skip and bypass coping mechanisms. [16:28]The three pre-cleansing questions. How is my breathing? How distracted am I? What is the quality of my thought? [19:59]What happens when you resist your emotion? [33:08]How does a salt bath help a person who is facing negativity? [35:20]Sherianna tells us how the principle of energy cleansing helps us to understand patterns and how to change them when they are not serving us. [37:00]Lightning Round [41:00]
Expert Bio
Sherianna Boyle is an Emotional Detox educator, therapeutic coach, and founder of the C.L.E.A.N.S.E Method.®
Sherianna teaches as an adjunct Psychology Professor and leads workshops at Kripalu Yoga & Health.
She is here to talk about her book, Emotional Detox: 7 Steps to Release Toxicity and Energize Joy.
Contact Info for Sherianna Boyle
Web address: www.sheriannaboyle.com
Travels from: West Barnstable, MA
Social Media Links: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
Books Authored by the Guest
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
SheriannaBoyle.Com
Kripalu Yoga & Health
Apply Recovery Strategies in Your Leadership – interview with Christie Aschwanden
Jun 10, 2019
Christie Aschwanden, author of Good to Go
Christie Aschwanden and Bill Ringle discuss what the athlete in all of us can learn from the strange science of recovery.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
How overworking can reduce your effectiveness as an athlete or a business leader.The similarities between overtraining and overworking.The importance of scheduling time to decompress and recover between work activities.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Christie Aschwanden tells who her inspirations are. [0:48]Christie shares how her one decision in high school helped foster her interest in science and medicine. [2:23]"How do we define recovery? What do we mean by this, and how do we measure it?" [4:53]Christie shares in her experience how business leaders who compete as athletes, cyclists, etc. outside of the work area struggle in the areas of recovery. [7:14]What do Christie do as a writer to build cyclical recovery and keep yourself performing well? [10:26]Unfamiliar food can be risky for athletes, but sometimes it can be really helpful in the last-minute preparations; for reference Usain Bolt in the 2008 Olympics. [12:30]Christie recommends finding some sort of daily ritual or things you can do to manage and handle your stress instead of eliminating them. [17:21]4:1 carb to protein ratio for effective recovery. What are its implications, and how do we choose to eat things after exercise? [18:00]Christie shares the story behind the fight to ban peanut butter and jelly from the garden state warriors locker room. [20:46]Lightning Round. [21:28]
Expert Bio
Christie Aschwanden is the author of GOOD TO GO: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn From the Strange Science of Recovery and co-host of EMERGING FORM, a podcast about the creative process.
She’s the former lead science writer at FiveThirtyEight and was previously a health columnist for The Washington Post. Christie is a frequent contributor to The New York Times. She’s also been a contributing editor for Runner’s World and a contributing writer for Bicycling.
Her work appears in dozens of publications, including Discover, Slate, Consumer Reports, New Scientist, More, Men’s Journal, Mother Jones, NPR.org, Smithsonian, and The Oprah Magazine.
Contact Info for Christie Aschwanden
Web address: www.christieaschwanden.com
Travels from: Cedaredge, CO
Social Media Links: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Books Authored by the Guest
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
ChristieAschwanden.com
Asking Better Questions Improves Business: an interview with Warren Berger
Jun 03, 2019
Warren Berger, author of The Book of Beautiful Questions
Warren Berger and Bill Ringle discuss the power of asking proper questions and how these powerful questions will help you decide, create, connect, and lead better.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Curiosity is a business leader's most important quality.What are the limits of a question?The idea is that every business leader should audit the quality of the questions she or he asks.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Who inspired Warren? [1:10]
Warren shares how he found himself studying journalism in college. [1:49]
Warren tells the experience of getting his first bio line published. [2:40]
“Get outside and write your own story." [3:22]
Warren tells how he wrote stories for free because he found passion in them. [3:36]
Warren tells how he transitioned from a journalist to a "questionologist". [4:45]
Not only is questioning a good tool for a journalist, but it's also an amazing tool for innovation. [5:44]
Questions that Warren always asks himself to grow and learn. [9:04]
A favorite question to ask: “What is one thing that I can do that will make everything easier?" [9:26]
The best ways to adopt questioning techniques. [10:37]
Why a mission question is more important than a mission statement. [12:00]
It's good to hang out with a 4-year-old rather than study history to learn "how to question." [14:23]
What are the limits of a question? [16:09]“Process tells you what to do when you don't know what to do." [20:30]
What should the business leader do to audit the quality of the questions you ask regularly. [21:50]
The best way to convey curiosity is to say, " I am curious about something." [27:27]
My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [28:22]
Expert Bio
WARREN BERGER developed his inquiry skills as a journalist for The New York Times but first declared himself a “questionologist” with the 2014 publication of his best-selling book, A MORE BEAUTIFUL QUESTION. The book shows that questioning has been the starting point of everything from the cell phone, to Netflix, to the International Red Cross.
In the book, Warren introduces an original framework (the “Why/What If/How” cycle of inquiry) that can be applied to challenges and problems. A More Beautiful Question has been embraced by the NASA space program, the National Science Foundation, companies such as Starbucks, Chanel, Oracle, and Pepsi, as well as by major universities around the country.
Warren has keynoted at the DesignThinkers Conference in Toronto and the International Women’s Conference in Rome. He also regularly visits elementary and high schools around the country, urging teachers to try to encourage more questioning in the classroom.
In the fall of 2018, Warren released a follow-up book on questioning, THE BOOK OF BEAUTIFUL QUESTIONS: The Powerful Questions That Will Help You Decide, Create, Connect, and Lead.
In addition to authoring eight books (including the acclaimed GLIMMER, one of the first books on “design thinking”), Warren has appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered, CNN, and NBC’s Today Show. He regularly contributes to Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Psychology Today, where he writes the “Questionologist” column.
Contact Info for Warren Berger
Web address: www.amorebeautifulquestion.com
Travels from: Mount Kisco, New York
Social Media Links: LinkedIn | Twitter
Books Authored by the Guest
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Here is the special offer that Warren referenced during the interview just for our listeners – a special list of:
Ten questions to help you be a more effective leader
Thanks so much, Warren!
Why Winning is Not a Strategy: an interview with Zac Logsdon
Apr 15, 2019
Zac Logsdon, author of Winning, is Not a Strategy
Zac Logsdon and Bill Ringle discuss methods and advice for sports and any industry looking to increase traffic at their events and venues.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Engagement through athletic events is one of the biggest problems that college athletic directors and administrators struggle to solve.Unsurprisingly, social media and the proliferation of college sports broadcasts have lowered in-person fan attendance at college sporting events – but through smart moves, some programs are bucking this trend.Treating your product (“college sports events” in this case) the right way leads to greater levels of success.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Zac tells us how his parents inspired him to build his own business. [1:54]"My favorite thing is to build things, fix things." [3:54 ]Aspects of the sports industry are declining. Zac tells us why and how. [5:03]"You don't think about what you are losing [by not attending events live]." [7:30]Why does watching a sport in person a "type of emotion" rather than watching it on TV. Zac explains this phenomenon. [8:54] Zack explains how family members are siloed even though they live under the same roof. [10:33]"We should not wait for our product to improve and sell itself. " [13:48 ]Zac tells us what we should do to introduce people to new ways of thinking to help people change perspectives about our product. [17:16]"If you want to sell more season tickets, that’s where you hit them – stop trying to create mini packs." [22:27]"Look at your data because data doesn't lie." [23:06]The My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [31:44]
Expert Bio
Zac Logsdon is CEO and founder of Old Hat, a strategic marketing company specializing in the sports and entertainment industry. Over the past two decades, he has worked with more than 150 sports and entertainment organizations to help drive attendance to their events and venues and improve the experience for fans and attendees.
Zac has successfully run Old Hat Creative for more than 15 years, having grown from one employee with one client to employing nearly a hundred people (combined) over that period and partnering with nearly every major collegiate athletic program in the nation with multiple professional organizations.
Additionally, Zac has written two books on the topic of sports and/or entertainment marketing. The first, If Not for Athletics, is a collection of inspirational stories from athletics administrators around the nation about times when they witnessed the true power and impact athletics can provide.
Recently, Zac published his second book; Winning is Not a Strategy: A Game-Changing Approach to Driving Attendance, which is a guide for those charged with reversing the trend of declining attendance at sporting events. While focused on athletics, his second book contains methods and advice that apply to any industry looking to increase traffic at their events and venues.
Zac also hosts two podcasts based on his books. The first, Stop the Clock, retells inspirational sports stories in the words of those who lived them. And the Winning is Not a Strategy podcast poses a weekly question that is addressed by experts in the athletics industry.
Contact Info for Zac Logsdon
Primary Website
Travels from: Norman, OK
Social Links: LinkedIn | Twitter
Social Media Links: LinkedIn | Twitter |
Books Authored by Zac Logsdon
Real Estate On Your Terms: Create Continuous Cash Flow Now, Without Using Your Cash Or Credit – Interview with Chris Prefontaine
Apr 13, 2019
Chris Prefontaine, author of Real Estate on Your Terms
Chris Prefontaine and Bill Ringle discuss options business owners have to invest in real estate without using cash or credit to create win-win-win outcomes.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Interview Insights
The power of a daily chat helps you manage teams to stay on track.Start your business with a baby step so success builds right from the start of the day.How your tribe can help you to scale your business through their feedback and support.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
3:24 "Look guys, it is easy to have a great year – we just need to have a great day every day."4:45 How a student of Chris’s started creating business though he comes from an engineering background, which is an entirely different field.5:40 “We make sure that everybody applies the six values of the company.”7:26 “We together learn how to scale, create value, create culture and everything around that small business mindset.”8:44 Why there is a need for clear communication in businesses.10:34 How organically Chris’ business started to take shape.13:19 “We are not dealing with banks.” Chris gives a few insights into alternative financing.14:47 How Chris and his son sold a house in just two days.16:05 “33% of the properties in United States are debt free.”17:46 Lightning Round begins
Expert Bio
Chris Prefontaine has been in the trenches of the real estate industry for over 25 years. His company has done over $80 million in real estate transactions. He is a practitioner at heart — which is why his company still buys between 4 to 10 properties each month where Chris and his family practices what he preaches. He is the author of the best selling book, "Real Estate on Your Terms."Chris is an expert at addressing the fundamental problem most business owners struggle with: how to get their wealth out of their business and into other assets just in case they don't have an opportunity to sell the business (or even if they do sell the business). The diversification of assets can provide a very balanced portfolio and real estate may be one of those investment strategies to consider while building out a balanced financial plan.Chris is also the host of the annual event, "QLS Live" where real estate investors across the country come together for 2-1/2 days to mastermind, share experiences, and learn from experts teaching strategies for building and scaling their real estate businesses.
Contact Info for Chris Prefontaine
Web address: Smart Real Estate Coach
Travels from: Middletown, Rhode Island
Social Media Links: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
Books Authored by the Guest
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
SmartRealEstateCoach.Com
How To Coach Yourself And Others To Get Business Results – Interview with Elizabeth Dickinson
Apr 08, 2019
Elizabeth Dickinson - Author and Coach
Elizabeth and Bill Ringle discuss how to coach yourself and others to get business results.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top Takeaways from this Interview
Active listening creates the space for managers and staff to work better.Accountability has been used too often to shift blame rather than create positive business results and it is time that we reclaimed that tool and message in our businesses.If you don't expect resistance to change, such as in a feedback 1:1, you are less likely to create that resistance in your interaction. Too often, we create what we are hoping to avoid by putting attention on an undesirable aspect of our communications.
Expert Bio
Elizabeth Dickinson is a life coach, speaker/presenter, and writer who has coached/presented in over 40 for-profit and nonprofit organizations, including Land O’Lakes and Performance Excellence Network. She is the author of “The Concise Coaching Handbook: How To Coach Yourself and Others To Get Business Results.” She earned her B.Ed. Honors degree from Cambridge University and her M.A. in Psychology from Lesley University. Her life coaching certification is from the Adler Graduate School. As a former board member of the Minnesota Chapter of the International Coach Federation, she initiated the Prism award recognizing organizational coaching excellence at Barr Engineering, Cargill, Pepsi, and nonprofits, including Better Futures Minnesota and Pregnancy Choices. She lives in St. Paul with her husband in a 1911 home with solar panels. Visit her website to find out more.
Contact Info
Web address: www.pursueyourpath.com
Travels from: Saint Paul, MN
Social Media Links: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Books Authored by the Guest
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
PursueYourPath.com
Finding the Flow State with Dashama
Mar 18, 2019
Dashama - Speaker, Author, and Yoga Teacher
Dashama and Bill Ringle discuss how she was able to create a global following by making well crafted videos to build a worldwide community.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top Takeaways from this Interview
How Dashama’s humanitarian nature and difficult upbringing led her to create a worldwide community.Dashama was one of the early YouTube channels and used good timing and content to build a wide viewership of over a million followers.The benefits of using yoga to improve the mind, body, and soul.How using video can be such a critical tool for your brand because of how it can add value to your client’s lives.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:03 How Dashama’s running coach taught her about where success really comes from and the importance of meditation and visualization.
4:09 On the significance of books and reading about people through books - “I always thought ‘These people are my friends!’”
4:36 “It took a lot of courage to go the route that I went, to create communities.”
6:20 The courage of Anne Frank and how that inspired Dashama
7:17 “Even as a young person, I always knew that I came here to help humanity.”
8:46 “I can look back now and see how everything was preparing me for who I am today, but there was no person who was shaping that or helping me along at all.”
10:20 How Dashama came to start creating yoga videos and develop a worldwide community.
10:50 “He uploaded the first video and I didn’t do anything for about a year, I didn’t know anything about Youtube.”
12:25 The movement of 30 day challenges
13:10 “The 30 day yoga challenge was to build community, but the first video was really to add value to their lives.”
14:01 “How do I get people to have results? Well, a lot of people are motivated by incentives.”
15:15 “I’m a cheerleader. I’m going to cheer you on even if you’re trying.”
16:30 Yoga tips for humans who spend a lot of time sitting at desks.
18:33 How yoga is capable of transcending religious and national boundaries. - “Yoga is just phenomenally good for your health, beneficial, and positive and it can be done in a context that has no religious affiliation.”
20:42 “If you keep a light heart, anything can be enjoyable if you breathe and relax.”
24:07 “Everyone’s life goal is to be happy.”
24:20 “The happiness comes from inside, it has nothing to do with an external attainment.”
26:45 My Quest for the Best Lighting Round
Expert Bio
Dashama is an award winning international happiness expert, author, speaker, life and business strategist with a thriving global community of over 300,000 health conscious spiritual entrepreneurs, change makers and seekers on the path.
She has spoken at the United Nations, Sony Motion Picture Studios, University of Virginia, Warwick Business School in UK and collaborated with Harvard Medical Professor Dr Sat Bir Khalsa.
An international media favorite, she has been featured in such diverse places as the Wall Street Journal, Times of India, Vogue Arabia, Cosmopolitan Germany, Teen Vogue, Men's Journal, Oprah Winfrey Network, ABC news, and the Discovery Channel Seeker Stories. She has worked with and/or been sponsored by Fortune 500 brands such as Nike, GoPro, Cadillac and Banyan Tree Resorts.
Dashama written 5 books and has starred in and produced 32 yoga, mediation and health related instructional DVDs, numerous online and offline training courses, certification programs.
Dashama travels the world spreading the message that anyone can transform their life and create the life of their dreams. In her free webinar she reveals her personal business success blueprint including how she built her international brands to over $2 million in revenues and she shows you how you can too.
Charming Cheaters – Interview with Nicole Kelly, M.D
Mar 11, 2019
Nicole Kelly M.D., Physician and Author
Nicole Kelly M.D. and Bill Ringle discuss how common and dangerous it is to work with sociopaths, and yet how seldom we think it could happen to one of us.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top Takeaways from this Interview
Not everyone thinks like you do, to think otherwise is dangerous.The differences between a psychopath, a sociopath, and a sexopath.Just because someone is a jerk, it doesn’t mean that they’re a psychopath or a sociopath. Only a licensed medical professional can make that kind of diagnosis.How recognition of certain dangerous characteristics can help in the hiring process, and why it’s so important to document questionable behaviors in new employees.What the empathetic majority can do to better interact with those on the sociopathic spectrum.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
1:51 How Nicole’s high school drama teacher taught her to have confidence and find her voice.2:59 “My favorite part of a medical practice is talking to the patience and talking to the families, and the business side never really interested me.4:08 “It was actually after discovering her betrayal that I thought back on all the lies, all the misrepresentations she had given through the years that I started to realize that her brain does not function like everybody else’s.”5:19 “So this nurse, who had embezzled all this money, was a sociopath.”5:56 Some of the signs that Nicole picked up on over time, and what she did as a response. - “The numbers were the numbers.”7:13 “Sociopaths believe that they are superior to everyone else.”9:39 “One in 25 people are on the sociopath spectrum, which means that we run into them everyday, it means that they are in our companies working for us.”10:21 “People who are on the sociopath spectrum which goes from sociopath to psychopath, manipulator to monster, these people are born with the genes to have no empathy, no conscience.”11:00 “Although not universal, sociopaths have higher IQ’s and impulse control, or are better able to blend into society wearing a different mask for every group of people they interact with.”11:11 “Sexopaths are my term for a sociopath or a psychopath with a sex addiction.”12:16 “Just because someone is a jerk doesn’t mean that they’re a psychopath or a sociopath.”13:53 “I’m hoping for the empathetic majority to understand there are people unlike us, all around us, and how we interact with them has to be different in order to change our world.”16:06 People should show their best qualities, not tell about them.17:02 Why character recommendations are so important in the hiring process.18:34 “Sociopaths are attracted to positions of power.”19:15 “In the effort to be polite we’re letting the sociopath take advantage of us.”21:29 My Quest for the Best Lightning Round
Expert Bio
Nicole Kelly, M.D. is a board-certified physician in Nashville, TN, who was victimized by a sociopath – who also turned out to be a sociopathic sex addict or sexopath – who embezzled over $700,000 from her medical practice. Using her ability to explain complicated medical concepts, Dr. Kelly clarifies one of the most important truths of our time: Not everyone thinks as you do—and to assume otherwise is dangerous.
For more about Nicole Kelly M.D., visit her website.
Contact Info for Nicole Kelly, M.D.
Web address: https://www.nicolekellymd.com/
Social Links: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
Travels from: Nashville, TN
Published by Nicole Kelly, M.D.
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Hare psychopathy checklist
Data Visualization Made Simple – Interview with Dr. Kristen Sosulski
Mar 04, 2019
Dr. Kristen Sosulski, Associate Professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business
Dr. Kristen Sosulski and Bill Ringle discuss data visualization: what it is and what businesses can use it.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top Takeaways from this Interview
What is deep data and how it's created from the internal processes within an organization?Telling stories is a key application of data visualization.Data visualization transforms data into an interface where customers can interact with the facts in a useful way.Things to consider when presenting visual data, and why it's a bad idea to make your audience work too hard.How data visualization can be used to make arguments to persuade decision-makers.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:26 Why Kristen was inspired by the work of Marshall McLuhan as a young undergrad.3:06 “The medium is the message.”4:16 “I define data visualization as a process for creating data graphics.”5:04 “The process of becoming visual is something that takes time, and begins with what you really want to understand and communicate out to others with regard to your data.”6:47 “Visualization is, in fact, an exploratory tool in addition to a presentation tool.”7:22 “It’s been necessary for me to make data-driven arguments.”8:31 “It becomes clear what we we should do by looking at the data, and knowing where things are successful and where things went awry.”8:58 Examples of how data visualization is used to show change over time.10:52 The story of Samantha Feldman at Gray Scalable.11:30 “We want to think about what the key message is. We want to think about where we are within the industry range and where we’re exceeding it.”14:25 Things to consider when presenting information visually.15:26 “What the presenter is saying should match what’s on the screen.”16:32 Progressive Disclosure: how to walk your audience through what the data means.17:52 “Whatever your metric of success is is what you want to look at.”19:51 “A lot of things are interesting to look at it when you have data, but to make them persuasive, we need to be talking the same language as the stakeholders.20:45 The significance of dashboards and how they interact with an audience24:11 Scooter usage case studyType to enter text27:09 Lightning RoundSubscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Expert Bio
Dr. Kristen Sosulski is an Associate Professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, where she teaches MBA students and executives data visualization, programming and business analytics. She is the Director of the Learning Science Lab for NYU Stern, where she develops immersive online learning environments for business school education.
Kristen is the co-author of the Essentials of Online Course Design: A Standards-Based Guide (Routledge, 2011, second edition, Routledge, 2015) and The Savvy Student’s Guide to Online Learning (Routledge, 2013). Her third book, Data Visualization Made Simple: Insights Into Becoming Visual was just published.
As a leading expert on data visualization, Kristen regularly consults, delivers seminars, and leads workshops on data visualization techniques and best practices. You can find her speaking on the subject at events like Social Media Week NYC, plot.ly’s PlotCon conference, and Tableau’s events and to organizations like the National Association of Public Opinion and the National Economic Research Association.
For more about Dr. Kristen Sosulski, visit her website.
Contact Info for Dr. Kristen Sosulski
Web address: www.kristensosulski.com
Travels from: New York
Social Links: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Published by Dr. Kristen Sosulski
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Marshall McLuhan
Workplace Poker – Featured Interview with Dan Rust
Feb 25, 2019
Dan Rust, author of Workplace Poker: Are You Playing the Game, Or Just Getting Played?
Dan Rust and Bill Ringle discuss the game beneath the game – understanding the culture and maximizing your chances for success – known as workplace poker.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top Takeaways from this Interview
Leadership is not just about having power. The higher your level of authority becomes, the thicker and more giant your bubble, which often distorts your relationship with others.Despite our best intentions, we sometimes do things that are illogical and frustrating to us.Likability is important in leadership. Share the parts of yourself that make you more relatable to your people.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Dan’s father was his inspiration growing up. [01:05]What is a ‘workplace poker?’ Dan explains the concept of this phrase. [03:26]The plus of thinking before speaking. [05:35]People are surprised by layoffs. Dan shares about Tony, one of mid-level managers who got a lay-off notice from them, his reaction, and what happened next. [08:50]Dan talks about his experience being emotionally disengaged from his work. [12:09]How anger and frustration tends to blind you to the deeper reality of what's going on. [13:38]How the ‘workplace poker’ approach differ from just a Machiavellian ruthlessness. [15:09]Everyone with degree of authority understands that not all situations are win-win. [16:52]Why the worst thing that can happen for a leader is for someone to be working him and he does not realize that he’s being worked.[18:40]Dan shares his experience as a stock broker, working in a Darwinian environment. [19:47]Why likability is important in leadership. [24:43]My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [35:28]
Expert Bio
Dan Rust is the founder of Frontline Learning, an international publisher of corporate training resources. His delivers keynote speeches and workshops that focus on employee engagement, productivity, and career management for corporate clients including GE, Apple, Starbucks, Saudi Aramco, and Disney Interactive.
He’s here to talk about his book, Workplace Poker: Are you Playing the Game or Just Getting Played?, published by Harper Business.
Contact Info for Dan Rust
Web address: http://www.workplacepoker.com
Travels from, Minneapolis, MN.
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Dustin Hoffman
Social Media Links
Books authored by Dan Rust
Allowing your best customers to help you expand your business with guest expert Stacey Brown Randall
Feb 18, 2019
Stacey Brown Randall, author of Generating Business Referrals Without Asking
Stacey Brown Randall and Bill Ringle discuss how to solve the paradox of generating business referrals without asking.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Stacey solves the referral paradox that we are taught: you won't get referrals unless you ask and asking directly hardly ever works.The best way to refer someone is actually via email for a very important reasonReferrals differ from introductions and lead in 2 critical ways.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:16 How Stacey’s parents insistence on reading encouraged her to love books and to eventually pursue a career in communications, teaching, and writing.
3:21 How a TV restriction allowed her to explore new avenues of life including books, play, and adventure.
4:48 “There were some big lessons I was having to learn behind the scenes about a well-run, functioning business.”
5:13 “Most people don’t create our own company because we want to create a job for ourselves, but we usually want more. We want the freedom and the responsibility to make decisions.”
5:58 “I started paying attention to how I developed business.”
6:25 “I know referrals are like a great way to bring in business, they’re like the holy grail, because everything about them is real.”
7:05 “The idea is that if you want a referral, you have to ask.”
8:34 “When you go asking for someone to give you a referral, they actually can’t, because that’s not how a referral happens. They can give you a lead, and they may or may not enjoy giving you that lead – and most of us don’t, we find it awkward.”
10:18 “Why do we listen to advice that tells us to do something that we are fundamentally not doing, and why are we keeping it going?”
10:50 “You absolutely deserve referrals. The truth is, you’re just not owed them, and there is some work you have to do.”
12:18 “The term ‘referrals’ is so overused that it’s diluted what it actual stands for and what it actually means.”
12:52 “When you think about a referral, it has two things that the other types of referrals don’t have.”
13:45 Referrals require both a personal connection and a need identify.
15:18 How referrals can make the hiring process easier.
16:52 Strategies for successful referrals: a case study, and why language used is so significant in this context.
19:35 “The myth about referrals is that our referral sources are sitting around thinking about us, and they’re not.”
20:58 “We have to recognize that typically when a referral is going to happen, it’s because there has been a triggering event, which means that a conversation has happened, and there is somebody who knows you can solve somebody’s problem.”
22:46 “I think, in general, we just go looking for the easy button in business.”
23:05 “We have to be careful about the outreach we’re going to do to our referral sources.”
25:17 “It’s so much more fun going through a referral process rather than going out and doing all that prospecting and networking and cold calling, but it’s still work.”
27:06 How to build referral touchpoints on a shoestring budget.
28:33 Lightning Round
Expert Bio
Stacey Brown Randall a three-time entrepreneur, author of Generating Business Referrals…Without Asking, and host of the Roadmap to Grow your Business podcast. Through her programs, like Growth By Referrals and Sticky Client Experiences, she provides a roadmap to take control of your business growth.
Stacey’s quest to crack the code on how to generate referrals without asking began after her first business failed. When she started her second business – a business and productivity coaching practice – she knew keeping her pipeline full of new clients would be one of the biggest diff...
The Unexpected, yet Scientific, Secrets of Perfect Timing with Dan Pink
Feb 11, 2019
Dan Pink, Bestselling Author
Dan Pink and Bill Ringle discuss how entrepreneurs can organize their days to be the most productive and efficient. When it comes to success, the important question to ask is when.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top Takeaways from this Interview
Why writing a book proposal can help you decide whether or not you want to write the book that you thought you were going to write.The best time to do something depends on what it is you’re doing. For example, going to the doctor’s office in the afternoon is more dangerous than going during the morning.How beginnings, midpoints, and endings affect us, and how to recognize temporal landmarks to use them for our benefit.How to recognize the Larks, Owls. and Middles when coming up with time-based directives for your team.Breaks make us better, certain kinds of breaks make us so much better.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
1:48 The writer who inspired Dan the most when he was growing up.2:30 “As a kid, I spent a lot of time in libraries, and being in libraries gave me the sense that the world was far bigger than the town I grew up in.”2:43 “The institution of a public library shaped me more than anything else?”3:13 “I want to do something that I’m curious about.”4:29 “There have been times when I’ve written a book proposal only to discover that I don’t want to write the book.”5:16 How Dan came to write the book When.6:14 “There were all these things that I had in my work and life that I was approaching in a very sloppy guesswork, patchwork way, and I found that frustrating.”7:49 Why going to the doctor’s office in the afternoon is more dangerous than going in the morning.”8:31 “Our brain power does not stay static over the day.”8:46 “The best time to do something depends on what you are doing.”9:15 The best times of day to exercise according to the exerciser's goals.11:12 The Fresh Start Effect: “There are certain dates of the year that researchers call temporal landmarks; they stand out in time the way landmarks stand out in space.”12:01 “We relegate our imperfect selves to the past, and open up a fresh ledger on our new and better selves.” 13:18 “Time of day accounts for 20% of the variance regarding how people perform on brain-oriented workplace tasks.”14:53 “Most of us move through the day in three stages: a peak, a trough, a recovery.”15:24 The best time of day for analytic work is during our peak; insight work is during our recovery period, and the trough time is better for the administrative stuff.16:27 The perfect way to plan and implement a hiring process according to the time of day.19:03 How to take morning people and night owls into account when it comes to the time-based directives.20:54 Why structured interview processes are far better than unstructured processes.23:01 “Diurnal processes are pretty ferocious opponents.”23:44 “We’ve gotten breaks largely wrong in America.”24:36 “We need to think of breaks as part of our performance and not a deviation from our performance. Professionals take breaks; amateurs don’t take breaks.”25:39 “The highest performers take more breaks.”27:15 “The most effective naps are very short: 10-15 minutes tops.”28:58 The Lightning Round
Expert Bio
Daniel H. Pink is the author of six books — including his newest, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, which has spent four months on the New York Times bestseller list. His other books include the long-running New York Times bestseller A Whole New Mind and the #1 New York Times bestsellers Drive and To Sell is Human. His books have won multiple awards and have been translated into 39 languages. He lives in Washington, DC, with his wife and their three children.
For more about Dan Pink, visit his website.
Contact Info for Dan Pink
Web address: www.danpink.com
The Magic of 80/20 Sales and Marketing with Perry Marshall
Feb 04, 2019
Perry Marshall, Founder of Perry S. Marshall & Associates
Bill Ringle and Perry Marshall discuss the Pareto Principle – commonly known as the 80/20 Principle – and how small business leaders can use it to fill in the gaps for greater growth.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top Takeaways from this Interview
How the 80/20 principle can help companies weed out financial gaps in their business.Using the Pareto principle as an Invisible Money FinderWhy it is that everyone pays attention to averages, even though they are ultimately irrelevant statistics.When 20% of your salespeople are outselling the other 80%, it’s time to get rid of the 80% and focus time and resources on the top sellers.What it means to rack the shotgun.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:59 How Thomas Edison inspired Perry Marshall to be curious about his environment when he was young, much to the dismay of his parents.4:29 Perry’s epiphany about the 80/20 principle - “It’s a universal law of cause and effect.”5:29 “People are using this every single day to figure out what gaps exist in their business.”6:56 The Invisible Money Finder - “If Starbucks has a thousand people a week who buy a five dollar latte, it’s pretty much guaranteed that one of those people will buy a $2700 espresso machine.”7:34 “People in large numbers are extremely predictable. If they’re not doing what the formula predicts it means they’re doing something wrong.”8:49 “The Pareto principle has only often been used as a rearview mirror.”10:14 How to use the 80/20 principle as a metric to determine what is working fine versus what just isn’t.11:30 “Everyone’s accustomed to averages.”12:00 “The most interesting thing is, who are the most capable people in the science class, and how much science can they do.”12:15 The 80/20 curve12:59 “Average conceals the extremities.”14:21 “If I’m selling a million dollars a month, one of my salespeople is going to sell half, one of them is going to sell 2 or 300 thousand, and the other 8 are going to sell the rest.”15:02 When 20% of your sales people are outselling the other 80%, it’s time to get rid of the 80% and focus time and resources on the top sellers.16:22 “It’s possible to defy the laws of nature, but look how much effort it takes you to do it.”16:49 “Everything in business is all about outliers.”17:02 “The first rule of 80/20 is deciding what you’re not going to do.”18:21 Racking the shotgun, the story of John the gambler, - “The way you win more poker games is you need to find people who are going to lose.”21:35 “Sales and marketing is not a convincing people process, it’s an elimination process.”22:50 “A buyer is a buyer is a buyer.”23:42 “Selling is harnessing natural processes to enable what already wants to happen, to already happen.”25:45 80/20’s are everywhere, it’s just about knowing how to look for them.28:04 “It’s probable that 3/5/10% of your customers are just bleeding money out of your bank account.”28:16 “Most people just haven’t been given permission to just get rid of the customers.”29:43 Why most people don’t actually know how to make a business better.30:30 “There’s no rule that says you have to take these people’s money.”32:25 How to fire someone gracefully.34:37 “Maybe the reason that you’re struggling is that you’re carrying too heavy of a burden.”34:52 “It is possible to get 70% of the work done with 30% of the people, it requires surgery to that, but it is possible.”35:50 “Having the wrong person in a position is catastrophic.”36:06 Lighting Round
Expert Bio
Endorsed by Forbes and INC Magazine, Perry Marshall helps his clients by integrating technology, sales, art and psychology. He founded the $5 million Evolution 2.0 Prize, which aims to solve the biggest mystery in biology.
His reinvention of the Pareto Principle is published in Harvard Business Review.
Unleashing Your Superpower – Featured Interview with Jeff Tippett
Jan 28, 2019
Jeff Tippett, Speaker, Author, Entrepreneur
Bill Ringle and Jeff Tippett discuss using influence as a superpower in small business leadership.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top Takeaways from this Interview
The difference between persuasion and manipulationWhy asking clarifying questions is the key to being more persuasiveHow to find alignment between your goals and your customers’ and clients’ needsHow developing a message can help appeal to people’s thumbs as well as their brainsWhat role does emotion plays in listener’s buying into what you have to say
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:01 How Jeff’s youth piano teacher instilled a sense of discipline and determination in him.
4:19 “Manipulation is to control or influence a person or situation, to do it cleverly, to do it unfairly. So like persuasion, we are moving people, but we’re moving people out of our own self-interest or our own best interest.”
4:38 “Persuasion is the same, we are causing people to do something, but we’re doing it through reasoning or through argument.”
5:26 The two words that identify whether someone has been manipulated or persuaded.
5:40 On Persuasion “They have adopted my truth, my reasoning for themselves, and they see it in their own self-interest.”
6:53 “When other people are asking and we’re expressing, that’s when we begin to have these good conversations.”
8:41 Why sales aren’t about the product but about solving problems for your customers.
9:19 “Persuasion is leadership.”
9:45 Paraphrasing Zig Ziglar - “If we help enough other people get what they want in life, then we’ll get what we want in life.”
11:39 On social media - “We’ve got seconds here to capture their attention and we have to capture their attention early.”
13:11 “The big part of this is not throwing everything out there at once, but we’re trying to just whet people’s appetite.”
13:51 Have conversations, don’t give monologues.
14:22 “I want them to be so curious that they’re asking me questions.”
15:15 “Use the words 'you' or 'you are' extremely early in the conversation.”
17:37 #freethemimosa - “I had to attach that emotion of being told ‘no,’ to a solution of being told ‘yes.”
19:02 Loss aversion vs. prospect theory - “People will respond to what you want them to do more readily if you take $1000 out of their checking account versus promising them that they’ll get a thousand dollars.”
19:50 How to use humor to connect with your audience
22:10 Why Billy Graham was such a phenomenon
23:24 “We believe that we do bring a solution to people.”
24:00 The Lightning Round
Expert Bio
Jeff Tippett is a speaker, author, and entrepreneur.
Jeff has worked with renowned clients like Airbnb, The National Restaurant Association, The League of Conservation Voters, The League of Women Voters, as well as others.
Jeff's second book, slated for late Fall 2018, is tentatively titled: Unleashing Your Superpower: Why Persuasive Communication Is The Only Force You Will Ever Need. His bold statement is that we all live or die based on our ability to persuade.
In 2014, Jeff founded Targeted Persuasion, an award-winning public affair and communications firm, and has worked with renowned brands like Airbnb, The National Restaurant Association, The League of Women Voters, The League of Conservation Voters, plus others.
The heart and soul of Jeff’s presentations is the emotional story he tells of adopting his youngest daughter from Haiti while the country’s government was collapsing. Through this near-death experience of navigating civil unrest and institutional bureaucracy in a third world nation, Jeff learned valuable lessons on how to persuade others without ever manipulating. Jeff unpacks these secrets of the superpower of persuasion in every presentation.
Use Your Hyperfocus to Accomplish More in Astonishingly Little Time with guest expert Chris Bailey
Jan 21, 2019
Chris Bailey, New York Times Bestselling Author
Chris Bailey and Bill Ringle discuss how hyperfocus can help you stay on track, grow your business faster, and get more done in a shorter workday.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top Takeaways from this Interview
Multitasking isn't always undesirable or ineffective once you hack the myth.Being less stimulated allows time to rest, wonder, and think strategically about what you want to create.Your ability to control your attention is directly related to the quality of your life (and accomplishments...)When you expect your colleagues to be focused 100% of the time, you can expect new ideas 0% of the time.Email isn't evil in itself, you just have to regain control of it. #emailsprints
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:10 About looking up to Steve Jobs. “He inspired me most with how he speaks.”
3:05 The specialness of the tinkering mindset
3:49 “It was the way that [Jobs] communicated things that I loved so much.”
4:10 “You can’t doubt vision.”
5:20 “Our minds are so complex, we have to understand them because they’re the mechanism by which we run companies, by which we run our lives and make decisions.”
6:06 “It’s very easy to come into this subject of focus with a lot of preconceptions.”
6:37 Common misconceptions about focus and thought processes.
6:42 “Research shows that being interrupted is one of the best things that can happen for us and for our team.”
7:35 Case study of a team of engineers - “Interruption is the process by which collaboration happens.”
9:04 “I think the most important context in regard to focus on a team level is the breakdown of how much of the work that the team does is a) collaborative or b) focused-work.”
10:07 Analysis of news and how it drives focus
12:15 “If you’re doing work that’s focused, find an office where you can focus on that work.”
14:10 “50-60% of my work is focused and 40-50% of it is collaborative.”
14:56 Why it’s important to schedule in focus time for yourself. “It’s how the important stuff gets done.”
15:24 Chris’s focus rituals.
16:39 “You ask a lot of people where they are the most productive and few people say the office.”
17:18 “In any one moment of the day either you’re focused on something or your mind is wandering, you can’t be focused and wandering at the same time.”
17:45 “Most of the time we’re unfocused, we’re unfocused against our will.”
18:45 Why a wandering mind provides the perfect chance for brilliant ideas to form.”
19:13 “When we’re focused, we’re moving our work forward.”
19:44 “Managing our attention is something that we should do because we’re able to achieve a nicer and more deliberate balance of these two modes, once that’s productive, one that’s creative, one that’s about focusing, one that’s about wandering.”
21:47 The peril of focusing all day long.
22:17 “If someone’s connected 100% of the time, they’re going to be focused 100% of the time and no ideas will ever come to them.
23:12 “We’re more focused than we have to be.”
23:44 “We think about our goals 14 times as much when our mind is wandering.”
24:52 “We need to see email differently.”
25:32 “The average office worker checks their email 88 times over the course of a day.”
26:03 Strategies for dealing with email management
27:57 Lightning Round
Expert Bio
Chris Bailey is a productivity expert, and the internationally bestselling author of The Productivity Project, which has been published in eleven languages. His second book, Hyperfocus: How to Be More Productive in a World of Distraction, was published in seven languages. Chris writes about productivity at Alifeofproductivity.com, and speaks to organizations around the globe on how they can become more productive, without hating the process.
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Highly Sensitive Entrepreneurs – Featured Interview with Heather Dominick
Jan 14, 2019
Founder of A Course In Business Miracles®
Bill Ringle and Heather Dominick discuss the nuances of being a highly sensitive entrepreneur and how to use your abilities to thrive in business as other relationships.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top Takeaways from this Interview
How to identify highly sensitive entrepreneurs
What to do when struggling with emotional overwhelm as a highly sensitive person
The roles of Royal Advisors and what they do for the world
The 3 HSE Coping Mechanisms
How a Highly Sensitive Dentist was able to overcome her tendency towards combo plattering and unify the office.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:00 Heather recalls how her teachers in school influenced her when she was young, particularly Mrs. Rugg, who inspired Heather’s love of theater.
3:51 How Heather transitioned from being a high school drama teacher to starting her own, and how the experience of 9/11 gave her the courage she needed to strike out on her own.
4:43 “I always had a passion for nutrition and overall wellness.”
6:19 “I believe so deeply in the power of teaching, right alongside coaching.”
8:12 About her journey into entrepreneurship: “I started sharing and that was really the first transition into supporting others in their business.”
8:53 How a “dark night of the soul” led to Heather coming into contact with Dr. Elaine Aron and her research on what it means to be a highly sensitive person.
9:18 “It didn’t surprise me that I was highly sensitive, but it did surprise me how highly sensitive I was.”
9:35 “A person who is highly sensitive is someone who is born into the world with a nervous system that is wired differently than someone who is not highly sensitive, and through that different wiring, you interpret stimulation at a much higher level or degree than someone who is not highly sensitive.”
10:09 “One of the aspects of being highly sensitive is that you can become overwhelmed quite easily.”
10:53 About assessing a group of woman with Dr. Aron’s study “Not one woman in that room wanted to be highly sensitive.”
11:32 “We have to learn how to embrace this and how to really use it to our benefit and our advantage than having it work against us.”
11:12 The Royal Advisors: “We are here, we are brought here to this planet to do well, to be able to create balance to those who are not highly sensitive.”
14:01 “There are 20% of us who are born into the world highly sensitive.”
14:12 The HSE Coping Mechanism - “I’m a recovering pusher.”
15:01 “The coping mechanisms are really about how those of use who are highly sensitive respond to anxiety.”
16:13 HSE coping mechanisms: pushing vs. hiding.
17:40 How a HSE dentist overcome her tendency towards combo plattering, and what Heather did to help her.
20:51 My Quest for the Best Lightning “Flash” Round
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Expert Bio
Can you be highly successful in business and highly spiritual at the same time. Let’s take this question a step further. Is there a direct relationship between your spirituality and great success?
Heather Dominick is a woman who is impressively successful, and highly spiritual. A former high school drama teacher who collaborated with none other than Bette Midler. A graduate of NYU where she received her first coach training. Heather is the winner of the 2015 Best of Manha...
Creating Your Best Life – Featured Interview with Caroline Miller, MAPP
Jan 07, 2019
Author, Speaker, and Owner of Caroline Miller Coaching
Caroline Adams Miller and Bill Ringle discuss goal setting and achievement in depth for the benefit of small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Interview Insights
Top Takeaways from this Interview
What it means to be a goal setter.
The importance of environment when it comes to unlocking abilities.
The formula for developing grit, and why some people never do.
How to train Millennial employees in the workplace to learn course correction.
Understanding the Losada line and why teams benefit from psychological safety.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
3:10 Readers of Caroline’s newest book are entitled to new worksheets for the rest of their lives.
3:41 “I believe I am born competitive, my top Gallup strength is a competitor.”
5:40 “Half of your happiness is hard-wired, and the other half is completely up to you.”
6:13 “The environment unlocks and refines certain qualities that you can turn into the best possible strengths you have.”
7:22 How Angela Duckworth first stumbled across the idea of grit.
7:49 “You can have too soft a life where you don’t discover what you’re made of because you’re constantly being rescued from your own misdeeds.”
8:23 “We all need to have 3-7 major setbacks that cause us to challenge our belief system and ask ourselves ‘Is this really the direction I want to go in?”
9:49 “Instead of seeking excellence we have a lot of mediocrity.”
10:28 The relationship between student-athletes and grit
10:54 “If you don’t show up the boat doesn’t go out on the water.”
11:16 “In order to get to the fruit at the end of the vine at the end of the growing season to find out what your made of and what your best possible outcome is, you’ll have to eat bitter first.”
13:02 The psychology of the near miss - “For many people, it wasn’t their appetite to go back and do more.”
13:33 “If you don’t grow up with that kind of experience in your life, woe to you.”
13:57 “How do we hire people who’ve never held themselves to high standards?”
16:08 On Millennials - “A lot of them are chasing likes and not seeking respect.”
18:12 “I bring research and evidence-based tools to people so that they can understand that smart goals are just the tip of the iceberg.”
19:20 The two aspects of goal-setting theory
20:00 “If I know people’s top 5-7 strengths, I can help people use those strengths in the proper context so they can maximize their chances of achieving their goals.”
21:55 “I’ve made it my mission to always turn around and pull people with me.”
24:33 Why smart goals just don’t take it far enough - “The best performance doesn’t come from only setting realistic goals.”
26:00 Case study of how Caroline helped a team use their measurable goals to determine new learning and performance goals.
30:03 “Optimal relationships where there’s flourishing, where work teams are doing better and better, they have a ration of about 5 positive interactions or facial expressions or pats on the back or 5 positive to 1 negative tend to predict work teams and organizations and marriages where you have optimal amounts of flourishing.”
33:45 Why it’s important for a leader to have a sense of humor.
35:10 “People who have humor, or have the ability to lighten the mood or make other people laugh are basically saying ‘it’s not all about me.’”
38:43 The problem with stupid grit.
39:04 “People who don’t give up on old goals that live past their usefulness have what I call stupid grit.”
42:19 The research surrounding lost possible selves
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategie...
Creating Your Best Life – Featured Interview with Caroline Miller, MAPP
Dec 31, 2018
Greg McKeown, New York Times Bestseller, Speaker
Greg McKeown and Bill Ringle discuss the philosophy and practice of essentialism as it applies to leadership and life outside the office.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
How Gandhi’s essentialist mindset allowed him to be so present with his grandson despite massive pressure and social responsibilities.
The essentialist approach in three stages: 1) Explore and Evaluate. 2) Eliminate. 3) Execute.
Why the reality of entrepreneurship is often different from the goal of it, and what entrepreneurs can do to avoid being stretched too thin by applying these principles.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:42 How Greg was inspired by Gandhi’s life and approach when Greg was young. - “He had the discipline to be present for an hour a day to listen, to be there, and just be all there for his grandson.”
4:04 “It’s about discernment, and to follow through on that discernment.”
6:04 “He was operating as an essentialist.”
6:52 “He was removing from his life all sorts of clutter, and then he’s using the space that remains to keep designing a system of life to help him achieve what he sees as being most important.”
7:07 “Explore, eliminate, and execute.”
7:53 “The basis of entrepreneurship is essentially this: the freedom to do the things you want to do, and therefore have the money that you need to have to be financially independent, and to be able to pursue the things that are important to you.”
9:25 “Entrepreneurs end up feeling stretched too thin at work.”
10:49 “There’s a great big con that’s been given to entrepreneurs; it’s well-intended, I’m sure, but it’s still there.”
10:54 “The undisciplined pursuit of more does not produce the freedom, the joy, the results that people are promised.”
11:41 “The highest priority is creating space to think, plan, to design.
12:38 How to prioritize your to-do list.
13:11 “If you’ve got three important things done in your business today, would you feel good about the day?”
14:50 “Why don’t people focus on the things that are really essential?”
16:45 Bill Ringle goes through the three steps of Essentialism.
20:30 How to use your phone settings to monitor your time spent on different apps and time wasters.
22:49 “If you ask these questions, it reveals to you what your values are based on what you’re trying to achieve.”
23:48 How to approach execution - “When I feel highly motivated to do a thing, I do that thing.”
25:36 “What we need to do is create a new system, create a system that works in your favor.”
25:51 “The system will help you make the trade-offs you need to make on the days you don’t want to make them.”
29:19 “Use the discipline to make the system rather than using the discipline to make the thing happen.”
31:28 The 90% rule
32:19 “The essential intent is identifying the highest priority intent over a multi-year period.”
34:37 Why writing books back to back isn’t always a great idea.
37:49 How a change of intent led Greg to meet and work with Steve Harvey
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
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Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Originally from London, England, Greg McKeown is the author of the New York bestseller, “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less” and the founder of McKeown, Inc, a company with a mission to teach Essentialism to people around the world...
The Prosperous Leader – Interview with Jacob M Engel
Dec 17, 2018
Jacob Engel, author of The Prosperous Leader: How Smart People Achieve Success
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top Takeaways from this Interview
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Jacob started Yeda LLC, a leadership and training firm that delivers seminars and courses to business owners in 2010.
Jacob is passionate about helping entrepreneurs and business owners succeed in their businesses. His mission is to empower leaders and managers through giving them the knowledge to change (Yeda” in Hebrew is knowledge) and helping them implement the changes in their organizations.He is here to talk about his book, “The Prosperous Leader: How Smart People Achieve Success.”
Contact Info for Jacob Engel
Web address: https://www.theprosperousleader.com
Travels from: New York City Metropolitan Area
Phone: 845-357-5000
Social Media Links
Books Authored by the Guest
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
The Fabulous F Words of Business Ownership – Interview with Fabi Preslar
Dec 03, 2018
Fabi Preslar, author of The Fabulous F Words of Business Ownership
Bill Ringle and Fabi Preslar discuss goal setting and achievement in depth for the benefit of small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top Takeaways from this Interview
What it means to be a goal setter.
The importance of environment when it comes to unlocking abilities.
The formula for developing grit, and why some people never do.
How to train Millennial employees in the workplace to learn course correction.
Understanding the Losada line and why teams benefit from psychological safety.
Interview Insights
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Fabi Preslar is president of SPARK Publications, a independent publishing firm specializing in niche magazines for associations and independently published books by business owners serving a national audience.
In 2017, Preslar was named 2017 Woman Business Owner of the Year by the National Association of Women Business Owners, Charlotte Chapter, and the firm was honored as the 2018 First-Generation Family Business of the Year by the Charlotte Business Journal.
She is here to talk about her book,
The Fabulous F Words of Business Ownership: Redefining Choice Words to Fuel Your Small Busin
Contact Info for Fabi Preslar
Web address: https://fabipreslar.com
Travels from: Charlotte, North Carolina
Phone: 704-844-6080
Social Media Links
Books Authored by the Guest
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Consulting Success- Featured Interview with Michael Zipursky
Nov 26, 2018
Michael Zipursky, author of Consulting Success
Caroline Adams Miller and Bill Ringle discuss goal setting and achievement in depth for the benefit of small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top Takeaways from this Interview
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Michael is the founder and CEO of Consulting Success. He's advised organizations like Financial Times, Dow Jones, RBC, Omron, Sumitomo and helped Panasonic launch new products into global markets, but more importantly, he's helped over 300 consultants from around the world in over 50 industries add six and seven figures to their annual revenues.
His work has been featured in MarketingProfs, Institute of Management Consultants, Fox Business, Chartered Management Institute, Duct Tape Marketing, and Conscious Millionaire. He is the author of 5 books on consulting and business growth.
He is here to talk about his book The Proven Guide to Start, Run, and Grow a Successful Consulting Business.
Contact Info for Mark Zapursky
Web address: https://www.consultingsuccess.com/
Travels from: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Social Media Links
Books Authored by the Guest
Gain World Class Insights into the Go-Giver Mindset and Experience with Bob Burg
Nov 12, 2018
Bob Burg, Speaker, Bestselling Author
Bill Ringle and Bob Burg discuss what it means to be a Go-Giver Influencer.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top Takeaways from this Interview
What it means to be a Go-Giver.
The difference between the intrinsic and extrinsic value
Why it’s so essential for salespeople to be in control of their emotions
The five elements of value
The right way to develop a mentor-protege relationship
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:54 “I was very fortunate to have great parents who lived their lives like what I would refer to as a go-giver, people who always look to give value to others.”
3:35 “People always show up at just the right times. I always took it upon myself to give value to them in whatever way I could and really try to make it worth their while. I think when you do that you attract people into your life.”
4:51 Why asking someone to mentor you out of the blue doesn’t exactly work.
5:14 “You can reach out to anyone you like, regardless of the medium, and just let them know you’re an admirer of theirs.”
6:53 Why a handwritten note to thank someone for their help, especially if they’re in a position of authority or thought leadership, is so important.
7:35 “Value is always in the eyes of the beholder.”
8:06 “A mentor-protegé relationship is just that; it takes time to build.
8:43 “This is the key: shifting your focus from getting to giving.”
9:31 “Nobody will buy from you because you have a quota to meet.”
9:48 “They’re going to buy from you only because they believe they will be better off by doing so than by not doing so.”
11:12 “Value is the relative worth or desirability of something.”
12:17 “Selling is discovering what the other person wants, needs, or desires and helping them to get it.”
14:03 Case study of two terrible salespeople incapable of giving the other what they wanted or needed.
14:23 “The first thing we need to do in any business or situation is to master our emotions.”
19:18 “That’s how we live our lives, come from different belief systems, we see the world from different points of view.”
19:53 “Let go of having to be right.”
20:58 “Bias means that when you come across some new information that confirms your already held beliefs or biases, you accept them. But if they differ from your accepted beliefs, you ignore them.”
22:58 “Great influencers don’t push; they pull.”
23:42 Why it’s better to seek commitment than compliance.
24:14 “What we also want to do is understand our strengths.”
25:06 Why it’s common for so many salespeople and entrepreneurs to undercharge.
25:33 “When you sell on price, you’re a commodity, when you sell on value, you're a resource.”
26:46 Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Value - “They tend to come down to 5 Elements of value. Those 5 are excellence, consistency, attention, appreciation, and empathy.”
28:29 Lightning Round
30:37 “The biggest misconception about influence is that you get it by pushing your will onto others, and you don’t. It goes back to the attraction.”
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Expert Bio
Bob Burg is a sought-after speaker at company leadership and sales conferences on topics at the core of the Go-Giver books. A former television personality and top-producing salesperson, Bob has shared the platform with some of today’s top business leaders, broadcast personalities,
Subscription Marketing – Featured Interview with Anne Janzer
Oct 29, 2018
Anne Janzer, Author, Consultant
Bill Ringle and Anne Janzer discuss subscription marketing strategies for nurturing customers in a world of churn.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top Takeaways from this Interview
Subscription models fundamentally shape the way customers see companies and brands.
Why subscription models are more than just transactions, they’re relationships.
The phenomenon of Super-Users and why every company should seek them out and cultivate them.
How Adobe changed the game by being among the first to adopt a successful subscription model, despite financial media criticism.
What companies with a subscription model can do to sustain a customer’s trust long term.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
1:55 How Anne’s parents, and her early life experiences with the opera, were able to show her the importance of subscribers at a young age.
3:32 “There was a real difference for me between the people who were buying a ticket for one show and the people who were subscribing to the series.”
4:09 “It wasn’t just the revenue part, but also what that meant when somebody showed up and said I’m going to subscribe to your season, even though I haven’t seen a season yet.”
5:17 “The fundamental shift that I think we need to make when we think about selling things one off versus selling a subscription to something is this: a subscription sale isn’t a one time transaction, it’s actually the beginning of a relationship.”
5:41 “How do I create a relationship with this person that will deliver value to them, and deliver value to the business.”
6:45 “Every single business model you can find someone who has a subscription play on it.”
7:35 The Adobe model for subscriptions and how it changed the game.
9:27 “If you spend the time and the money acquiring these subscription customers at $30 or $60, and they don’t renew for a year, or they quit after a year, if you have not continued to make them happy, you are losing money on that new customer.”
10:48 On the media response - “Financial people weren't accustomed to this, they don’t know how to look at those metrics at first.”
11:32 On adopting the subscription model: “It takes a little patience and persistence and tinkering to figure out.”
13:33 How a recruiter successfully shifted the services of his company to a subscription model.
16:50 “We picture a funnel and we know how they work, they’re one way.”
17:18 “If your business is based on a subscription model, then you’re really just getting started at the moment someone becomes a subscriber.”
18:35 “A subscription is a vehicle for an ongoing relationship with your customers, and everything you do with your customer from that point forward is part of their experience.”
19:36 How CDBaby modeled exemplary customer engagement in a small way.
21:21 “Another thing we need to think about is trust.”
22:01 An example of a bad customer engagement experience Anne dealt with during a stolen credit card situation.
24:04 “If you’re not finding value within 90 days, the chances that you’re going to renew are really really small.”
24:26 “The best time to reach out and help people start using things is as early as possible.”
25:21 Why companies should find ways to celebrate their customers’ success with the product.
26:54 “Businesses are so quick to send out emails announcing their own successes.”
27:20 Lightning Round
30:12 How to find and define superusers - "A superuser is that person who finds so much value in your business that they find it important to share it with others."
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
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How Exceptional Executives Rise to Power, an interview with Ron Carucci
Oct 22, 2018
Ron Carucci, Co-Founder of Navalent
Bill Ringle and Ron Carucci discuss how to recognize the dangers and reap the rewards of rising to power in a business.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top Takeaways from this Interview
Why it is that most leaders fail within their first 18 months of being appointed to leadership
What hiring teams need to do to set up new leaders for success
The significance of Leading out Loud, and becoming an intentional leader
Overview of the Rise to Power Diagram and what it can do for leaders
Some of the factors that isolate leaders.
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:06 How Alvin Toffler inspired Ron when he was a boy. “He was always an intellectual hero of mine.”
3:06 “There’s a limit to the absorption rate people can adapt.”
3:40 “More than half of [leaders] fail within their first 18 months.”
5:03 “The organizational obstacles put in people’s way on their way towards broader leadership are pervasive, it’s a wonder any of them succeed.”
6:46 “What leader or HR department isn’t saying we aren’t getting enough talent in?”
7:30 On the importance of interviews and resumes: “You have a recipe, you have a formula, we’d like you to repeat your success here…without understanding the context.”
9:07 “You can’t be such an outsider or such an abrasive force that the organization doesn’t trust you.”
9:14 “Nobody knows how bad things are more than the people who are already there.”
10:23 “Most leaders don’t want to do diagnostics.”
13:06 Case study of a problem client, who suddenly had a change of heart and decided to go in a more cohesive direction. - “They co-authored their future together in a way that built trust.”
16:13 Why it’s crucial for top leaders to be vulnerable and make changes.
16:46 On leaders in the spotlight - “They need to behave as if everything they’re doing and saying has a megaphone strapped to their mouth 24/7.”
18:02 On Leading Out Loud - “Never assume people are clairvoyant and reading your mind.”
18:41 The essentials of the Rise to Power diagram - “As you plan and navigate your ascent, there are predictable phases.”
22:16 “We all come readily wired to want our individuality noticed.”
24:19 “Any leader who wants to do it well will suffer.”
25:06 “Every executive I’ve ever consulted with has a moment of buyer’s remorse.”
26:33 The value of honest feedback and calibration
27:55 Lightning Round
36:20 "We all have sources of power we don't realize."
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
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Expert Bio
Ron is co-founder and managing partner at Navalent, working with CEOs and executives pursuing transformational change for their organizations, leaders, and industries. He has a thirty year track record helping executives tackle challenges of strategy, organization and leadership. From start-ups to Fortune 10’s, non-profits to heads-of-state, turn-arounds to new markets and strategies, overhauling leadership and culture to re-designing for growth. He has helped organizations articulate strategies that lead to accelerated growth, and design organizations that can execute those strategies. He has worked with He has worked in more than 25 countries on 4 continents. He is the best-selling author of 8 books, including the recent Amazon #1 Rising to Power. He is a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review,
The Membership Economy – Interview with Robbie Kellman Baxter
Oct 15, 2018
Robbie Kellman Baxter, Author, Founder of Peninsula Strategies
Robbie Kellman Baxter and Bill Ringle discuss how small business leaders can take advantage of the membership economy to find their superusers, master the forever transaction, and build recurring revenue.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Top Takeaways from this Interview
How a college networking connection led to being hired to consult at Netflix
The key question to ask when designing a membership offer
How to position your membership offer to take advantage of the low-hanging fruit, modeled after how Tony Robbins built his thought leadership empire
Interview Insights
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
1:57 How Robbie’s dad inspired her when she was growing up. “After about 25 years at being at the law firm, he retired from the law firm and started a venture capital firm.”
5:01 How Robbie took the risk to start her own consulting company - “I said I’m going to just give this a try.”
6:46 Robbie recounts her experiences working with the Netflix acquisitions team.
7:39 “It was a very big driver in the direction of my business because I fell in love with [Netflix’s] business model and I fell in love with the very rigorous, analytical approach to what I call a membership economy.”
8:41 “I loved the way [Netflix] focused on solving one problem for their audience.”
9:00 “It’s so easy for business people to get distracted by shiny pennies.”
10:33 On the Membership Economy “If you depend on having relationships with your customers to be successful, then this is important to you.”
11:06 “If you care about the relationships you’re building with your customers, then the membership economy is something worth considering because it’s all about taking a long term focus on your members’ needs as a guide to building your business.”
12:13 “If you grab 3 people who all love LinkedIn, they probably all use it in very different ways, but all of us use it to advance our careers.”
14:09 Robbie describes the “palette for painting a new business model.”
16:42 The importance of going from transactional to relational, and how a subscription/membership model can help make that a possibility.
18:55 “What if the person I cared about most in the world were my customer, how would I structure the work for that person to give them the best value?”
22:16 “If you focus on knowing who your customers really are and serving them for the long term, your customers tell you what they want next.”
22:48 Weeding out bad prospects becomes easier when you know your customer base.
23:59 “You have to know who your best customer is, and be able to measure customer goodness.”
26:49 “Why are you successful when so many people fail?”
28:51 “Starting to create content and experiences for the people who want to know what you know is a really great way to extend your impact and also, in many cases, create passive income.”
30:15 Tips for gaining credibility as an expert in your niche. - “You want to start with the lowest hanging fruit.”
31:59 Steps toward making a contribution in the world and positioning yourself as a thought leader.
32:56 The Lightning Round
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Robbie Kellman Baxter brings over twenty years of strategy consulting and marketing expertise to Peninsula Strategies, a strategy consulting firm focused on helping compa...
Set Your Standards Higher with guest expert JJ Ramberg
Oct 12, 2018
Listen to this interview to learn: Tactics she uses to thrive as both a journalist and an entrepreneur The importance of having clear criteria for building your team The one question you can ask a new hire to send the message that you care about high standards How to prepare a response to the question, "How can I help?" so that the result is win-win Keys to building good business relationships Book marketing secrets to share your message widely JJ Ramberg, host of MSNBC's "Your Business," talks with Bill Ringle about transforming and marketing your small business.
Shift Ahead - Interview with Allen Adamson
Sep 17, 2018
Co-Founder of Metaforce.co
Allen Adamson talks with Bill Ringle about how small business owners can shift ahead and outsmart the problems that might limit, restrict, or confine the growth of your business.
Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.
Key Insights from this Interview
The 7 Red Flags that mean a company is becoming less relevant
Why it's so essential to transform your brand into an experience
The story of Central Park and how they divided tasks to assign accountability to the conservancy rangers.
The importance of zooming out when it comes to increasing social media engagement.
What Jerry Seinfeld can teach us about being more observant
Read the Show Notes
1:44 Allen recounts his experience interviewing with an ad agency immediately following graduation.
3:19 “Marketing is about making your products or service relevant in a rapidly changing world, and if you have no clue what’s going on in the world, you’re not going to be very good at marketing.”
4:11 What Allen reads and listens to in order to stay relevant. “Part of staying current is staying out of your desk.”
4:46 “I always look for clients that are facing challenges that don’t have any easy answer.”
6:39 “If you just really try to watch your customer and observe what’s going on, you’ll be a step ahead.”
7:10 Why you should be more like Jerry Seinfeld.
9:05 “If you just do what you did yesterday, [you’re] going to become less relevant.”
9:50 Why being myopic is the biggest red flag for your business.
10:58 The importance of paying attention to alternatives.
12:09 “A big problem for a business that has become irrelevant is pointing at the other guy.”
14:19 The story of Katz’s Deli and what they did to stay relevant.
15:32 “Sometimes luck matters.”
18:17 The story of the National Geographic Boats. “Instead of just taking a cruise to Alaska, you could take a cruise on National Geographic Boats…you’re living a National Geographic Experience.”
19:14 Why you should make your brand an experience.
20:22 “Everyone can provide a little extra to make their customers’ experience really unexpected. If it’s unexpected people will share it.”
21:11 The importance of zooming out when it comes to increasing social media engagement.
22:26 The story of Central Park and how they divided tasks to assign accountability to the conservancy rangers.
23:37 “If you can get your employees to own the problem or own the business totally with you…you’ll be far better off.”
23:59 “No one ever washes a rental car.”
24:21 The Lightning Round
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Expert Bio
Allen Adamson is a noted industry expert in all disciplines of branding. He is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Metaforce.co and the author of BrandSimple, BrandDigital, The Edge: 50 Tips from Brands That Lead, and Shift Ahead: How the Best Companies Stay Relevant in a Fast Changing World. Prior to Metaforce, Allen was Chairman, North America of Landor Associates, a global branding firm.
More information can be found on the Shift Ahead website: www.shiftaheadbook.com
For more information, visit Allen Adamson's website.
Contact Info for Allen Adamson
Web address: https://www.metaforce.co/
Travels from: Scarsdale, NY
Phone: (914) 806-6647
Contact:
Resources Mentioned by Allen Adamson:
How Women Rise with guest expert Sally Helgesen
Sep 04, 2018
Listen to this interview to learn: How senior leaders are looking to use women's leadership more strategically. How technology allows customers and prospective employees to evaluate the opportunities for doing business with your organization. What a leading Scandinavian law firm changed in their business to allow people to make a greater contribution. The connection between diversity, openness to change, extraordinary customer experience, and the future of business. Sally Helgesen talks with Bill Ringle about how companies are responding to the demands of their clients for more diverse and responsive leadership.
Rebel Talent - Featured Interview with guest expert Francesca Gino
Aug 20, 2018
Francesca Gino, author of Rebel Talent: Why it Pays to Break the Rules at Work and in Life
Francesca Gino and Bill Ringle discuss Rebel Talent – what it is and how to cultivate it to achieve greater success in your small business.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
Those with Rebel Talent aren't just the troublemakers and show-offs. Rebelliousness has real advantages in business.
The 5 talents that comprise Rebel Talent: curiosity, perspective, diversity, authenticity, and engagement.
How Rebel Talents build on their strengths to create a stronger business
Show Notes
2:10 How Francesca’s dad inspired her to work hard, made sure that she engaged deeply with whatever she was studying, and taught her the importance of travel.
3:08 “I’ve always been fascinated by our human nature.”
3:35 “I began to look at breaking rules in a way that was constructive rather than destructive.”
4:26 How a non-traditional recipe book inspired her to create a non-conventional book of her own. She would later use the chef as a case study.
7:01 “Whenever we do case studies, we usually visit the business and have interviews right there in the city where the business is, but instead of just an interview, they put me to work.”
8:53 “For many people, despite the fact that they spend a lot of time at work, work is not a source of inspiration.”
9:50 “Rebelliousness has a lot of advantages for businesses.”
9:56 “We tend to think about rebels the wrong way.”
10:50 The story of a family who ate at the Michelin starred restaurant and what the chef did to appease the two smallest boys seated at the table.
12:41 “Rebels are those who break rules, whether for the constructiveness or destructiveness of the business.”
13:08 The 8 qualities of a rebel.
14:10 “Being a rebel means really being committed to adopting certain behaviors and talents.”
15:18 Why it’s remarkable for a chef to put on his coat and go out to clean the streets.
15:47 “Leaders who really are rebellious are those who also tend to be contagious because they’re modeling the behaviors for others.”
16:57 What a Tennessee/West Virginia fast food restaurant does to make their employees experts at their stations.
17:15 Why it was important for Francesca’s study to be multi-industry.
18:32 “Revealing yourself and reflecting is all about is focusing on strengths instead, and really finding opportunities to be authentic, and that sometimes means making ourselves vulnerable.”
21:24 “By being rebellious, or by being a curious leader you are showing the right behaviors for others.”
Subscribe to My Quest for the Best on Your Favorite App
Click to listen and subscribe on your favorite place to enjoy podcasts below so you are the first to know when a new episode is released. My Quest for the Best is the podcast where ambitious small business leaders discover strategies and tactics to unlock their growth potential.
Give us a 5-star rating and positive review to make it easier for other small business owners to find and benefit from our work!
Expert Bio
Francesca Gino is an award-winning researcher and teacher, and a tenured professor at Harvard Business School. Her consulting and speaking clients include Bacardi, Akamai, Disney, Goldman Sachs, Honeywell, Novartis, P&G, and the U.S. Air Force, Army, and Navy. She has been honored as one of the world’s Top 40 Business Professors under 40 and one of the...
Getting Grit - Interview with guest expert Caroline Miller
Aug 13, 2018
Caroline Miller, author of Getting Grit: The Evidence-Based Approach to Cultivating Passion, Perseverance, and Purpose
Bill Ringle and Caroline Adams Miller discuss the different types of grit that business owners can adopt – good grit, faux grit, poor grit, and stupid grit. Getting the right grit makes all the difference!
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
The main components of grit
Why a handshake is integral in making a solid first impression
How Caroline became the first person to overcome bulimia and live to tell the story
Caroline’s habits that pertain to excellence
How your environment affects your behavior
How humility helped a business owner learn grit and become great in his role as a leader
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:28 How both Caroline’s Grandmother and the founding principal of the Norwood school in Maryland had an impact on her young professional life.
3:45 Good handshakes show that you’re not afraid of being seen and heard.
5:08 Caroline recounts how Uncle Platt set the world record for the high jump.
6:02 [On overcoming bulimia and telling the story - “I had to begin unpacking how not just for myself, but for other people.”
7:04 “You have to learn to integrate recovery into a life which is part and parcel of how people connect with other people.”
8:49 “There’s no danger of relapse for me. I’m fully recovered.”
9:33 “When we don’t talk about things that are part of our backstory, we connote shame.”
10:07 “I created habits that pertain to excellence.”
11:24 “The fastest way to change your behavior is to change your environment and the quality of the people around you.”
13:58 How humility plays a role in grit.
16:32 The main components of grit as espoused by Angela Duckworth
17:42 “I don’t think grit is a good quality unless it’s used in the process of pursuing good goals for the right reasons. “
18:45 “There’s a kind of grit that’s really dangerous in the wrong person for the wrong reasons.”
20:05 The story of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos as an example of bad grit.
22:03 “Bad grit repels people.”
24:39 “We have a generation I feel that was brought up to dumb down standards of excellence.”
25:58 How to hire for grit in companies.
27:06 “It’s really important to ask people not just what they have overcome but who else have they helped to overcome.”
28:16 My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins.
Expert Bio
Caroline is one of the world’s leading positive psychology experts on Goals & Grit ™. She’s spent more than 30 years helping individuals, leaders, and companies to cultivate grit, one of the top indicators of success. Caroline is the author of six books including Getting Grit (Sounds True 2017), Creating Your Best Life (Sterling 2009), Positively Caroline (Cogent 2013), and My Name is Caroline (Doubleday 1988). Live Happy Magazine named Creating Your Best Life one of the top 10 goal-setting books ever published and Getting Grit one of the 10 books that would change your life in 2017. Caroline’s work has been featured in media around the world including BBC News World, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC, NPR, and CNN.
Angela Duckworth, the winner of the 2013 MacArthur Genius grant for her research on grit, said of Caroline: “I don't know anybody who has thought more than [Caroline] about how to apply the scientific research on grit and achievement t...
Soul Health - Interview with guest expert Dr. Katherine T Kelly
Jul 30, 2018
Pioneer of Soul Health
Bill Ringle and Katherine T Kelly discuss the "Soul Health Model" of gaining insight and strength to apply in our business and personal life.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
Expert Bio
Dr. Katherine T. Kelly, Ph.D., M.S.P.H. has gone from the convent to Krispy Kreme in her career as a holistic health psychologist. She was named “the Pioneer of Soul Health” in 2013 after the publication of her book, Soul Health: Aligning with Spirit for Radiant Living, which has been featured on over 130 national and international radio shows and podcasts. She is a licensed health psychologist, consultant, author, speaker, and transformational travel leader.
She completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Southern Colorado (1992), and both her Master’s (1995) and a Doctorate in Counseling Psychology (1999) from Indiana State University. She also earned a Master of Science in Public Health degree (2000) from the University of Missouri-Columbia where she completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the university’s Department of Family and Community Medicine, a top-rated residency training center for physicians. She has received specialized training from the Mind-Body Medical Institute of Harvard University, as well has been trained in various holistic, natural health, and spiritual methods of healing. Dr. Kelly has authored several academic publications and is an ongoing contributor to local health and wellness magazines. She provides classes, workshops, and retreats throughout the United States and offers “Soul Health Journeys”—transformational travel excursions—throughout the world. The revised second edition of her book, Soul Health: Aligning with Spirit for Radiant Living will be available May 12, 2018.
Her career has taken her from being recruited to work for a Catholic convent, to a professor at a well-known medical school, to a psychologist, author, and speaker.
Contact Info for Dr. Katherine T Kelly
Primary Website
Travels from: Winston-Salem, NC
Phone: (336) 406-8431
Connect on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Published by Dr. Katherine T Kelly:
The Road to Excellence: Featured Interview with guest expert David Mattson
Jul 16, 2018
David Mattson, President and CEO of the Sandler Organization and author of The Road to Excellence: 6 Leadership Strategies to Build a Bulletproof Business
Bill Ringle and Dave Mattson discuss some of the crucial blind spots to building a successful business, as well as the 6 phases of the Excellence Process: Planning, Positions, People, Processes, Performetrics, and Passion.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
Growth is continuous, so training to succeed should also be continuous
You have to become comfortable talking about money to reach higher levels of success as a small business owner
Surprising how many companies fail to take advantage of creating an onboarding playbook for success and the many forms it can take
How a sales manager can successfully link an employee’s personal and corporate goals
The 6 P’s in the Excellence Process
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:14 How his grandfather inspired Dave to have a strong work ethic.
3:55 “I came from a family of non-sales people.”
5:26 The importance of putting your own personality into sales.
5:39 How Dave started working with David Sandler.
7:09 Characteristics of entrepreneurs who need outside help
8:04 Why it’s essential for a team of sales people to use the same sales language.
9:54 How to recognize when you have a blind spot and what to do about it.
10:30 “Being an entrepreneur, it’s a lonely business.”
11:10 “People will work harder for themselves than they will for you.”
12:06 “In order to link the corporate goal to the personal goal, you should sit down and have a conversation that would look something like this.”
14:09 “Do you know the top 2 or 3 goals for the people who work for you? If not, you have a blind spot.”
15:21 “If you’re working on the business it’s really tough to work on the business.”
15:45 How having best practices allows your employees to mimic success.
17:06 “If someone’s stepping into that role, i want them to produce at the same level as the person who’s leaving that role.”
17:17 The 6 “P’s” in the excellence process.
18:19 “Where I want to then affect where the company will be.”
22:12 How to set up your company’s practices so that if the leader or a pivotal employee leaves, the company isn’t paralyzed.
24:31 The Lightning Round
Expert Bio
David Mattson is the CEO and President of Sandler Training, an international training and consulting organization headquartered in North America. Since 1986, he has been a trainer and business consultant for management, sales, interpersonal communication, corporate team building, and strategic planning throughout the United States and Europe. A Wall Street Journal bestselling author, his new book is The Road To Excellence: 6 Leadership Strategies To Build a Bulletproof Business.
Contact Info and Social Media for David Mattson
Primary Website
Travels from: Owning Mills, MD (Baltimore area)
Phone: 410-653-1993
Connect on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Resources Mentioned by David Mattson:
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
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Total Health Mastery - Interview with guest expert Arnoux Goran
Jul 02, 2018
Arnoux Goran, founder of Total Health Mastery USA and author of Why You Don't Lose Weight and How You Can
Bill Ringle and Arnoux Goran discuss the high costs of emotional baggage that we and our staff carry and the freedom and better performance that await once we release those burdens.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top Takeaways from this Interview
How to tell if you’ve actually gotten rid of negative emotional programming
Why you should learn to see your business as a mirror
The 7 Steps to Reprogramming Yourself
The difference between beliefs and thoughts/emotions
How to figure out what emotions stand in your way of being successful
What it means to be present in your body
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
1:49 How Arnoux’s grandfather’s tendency towards helping inspired him as a youth, and his difficult upbringing gave him the life experience he needed to write his new book, The Answer.
3:51 How to test if you’ve rid yourself of negative programming.
5:16 “You don’t have to remember anything that happened to you to use the 7 steps to delete old programs, all you have to do is feel the emotion that you’re dealing with now.”
6:01 “You’re not the old anger, old fear, old sadness, old guilt, old shame.”
7:01 “We have to come from a different position to truly take the power and change our business.”
9:13 “If we could release our anger, we would then see reality as it is.”
9:44 “The seven steps is the basic manual for how to access programs on the computer and delete ones you don’t want.”
9:50 The 7 Steps to Reprogramming Yourself
11:03 Why it’s more difficult to eradicate a negative emotion that’s been around for decades.
11:35 “The human mind is most susceptible to unconscious programming up until ages 8-13.”
12:55 “Conscious beliefs are what you choose to believe, it’s what you choose to think about as reality or about life.”
13:15 [Paraphrasing Dr. Judd] - “It’s not that you have too many thoughts, it’s that you think the same thoughts every day.”
14:32 #upgradeyourpersonalplaylist
16:36 How Arnoux helped unblock a client who just couldn’t finish writing a book.
17:24 “Some of the unconscious programs we remove actually relate to many areas.”
18:39 Why it’s impossible to simply ignore your unconscious thoughts.
19:53 Questions to figure out what’s in your way of being successful.
22:18 3 ways to evaluate what emotions you’re experiencing.
24:05 The importance of quieting the mind.
25:36 My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins.
Expert Bio
Goran is the founder of Total Health Mastery USA and the inventor of The 5 Step Emotional Eraser: How to Cleanse the Body Without Cleansing Reactions and How to Overcome Addictions Without Willpower.
Arnoux's difficult upbringing and an unforgettably traumatic experience led him to seek out ways to heal himself and to stop replaying the patterns of poverty, starvation, and depression from his childhood. After years of research, hard work, resilience, and prayers he finally “cracked the code” of the human mind and invented The 7 Steps to Reprogramming Yourself, designed to unlock the unconscious mind and remove old repeating negative thoughts and emotions.
He also designed the seminar series, Total Health Mastery which boasts over 20 courses. A few live events are offered each year. Arnoux has written over 20 books or mini-books which are only available in THMU.
Guide to Winning Clients - Interview with guest expert David A. Fields
Jun 16, 2018
David A. Fields, author of The Irresistible Consultant's Guide to Winning Clients: 6 Steps to Unlimited Clients & Financial Freedom
David Fields and Bill Ringle discuss proven methods to winning clients for consultants.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
Tried and tested ways of getting more prospects
What it means to have “learning conversations”
The number one attribute of a right prospect
How to know it’s time to upgrade your network
The 5 marketing musts in consulting.
How to set a basic dashboard to measure outreach
A better way to ask for referrals
The significance of putting your client first
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
1:52 What David is excited about in his life and business right now.
2:10 “One of the benefits of running a small business is that the practice serves you if you do it right.”
3:28 How having a book in accessible spaces leads to an influx of inquiries.
4:15 What it means to have a learning conversation
5:21 “In order for me to remain a thought leader in consulting I have to talk to people and understand what they’re doing.”
5:58 Why David is interested in how people have failed.
6:51”You have to be willing to admit you don’t know, and you need to have a genuine desire to learn.”
7:44 “The obstacles are all internal.”
8:54 Why if you’re targeting smaller company prospects, you need to make sure they have big issues.
11:14 “The place to start is not by defining your target.”
11:20 “The number one attribute of a right prospect is that you can reach them.”
12:32 Why you need to reach the influencer and the decision maker and make A1 relationships.
13:47 Trade associations and the 5 marketing musts in consulting.
14:40 How David helped a small firm explode their business through trade associations.
16:14 Why trade media is still relevant.
17:18 Ways to measure the success of your outreach.”
18:08 “There’s a difference between goals and behaviors.”
20:10 “Most people absolutely suck at asking for referrals.”
21:53 “People who are interesting are people who are doing things.”
22:53 “Consulting is not about you.”
24:29 How you interact with people everyday, how you respond, affects your business.
25:49 “We are wired to think about ourselves.”
25:59 My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins.
Expert Bio
David A. Fields works with boutique consulting firms and individual consultants across the globe that are eager to accelerate growth, increase profit and create lucrative lifestyle-friendly practices. He has guided consultancies ranging from one-person startups to the consulting divisions of some of the world’s largest companies.
David still advises corporate clients too. After climbing the ranks to become a partner at a prestigious consulting firm in Connecticut, David co-founded Ascendant Consulting, where he has attracted clients such as Abbott Laboratories, Church & Dwight, FMC, Warner Home Video, and many others.
David’s books include Amazon’s highest-rated book on the business of consulting released in the past 20 years: The Irresistible Consultant’s Guide to Winning Clients.
He also leads the Ascendant Consortium, a unique, “general contractor” model in which David acts as both a client and consultant on the same project. The consortium now includes more than 150 consultants whose clients are a Who’s Who of the glob...
Cadence - Featured Interview with guest expert Pete Williams
Jun 04, 2018
Pete Williams, Entrepreneur Advisor, Marketer, and author of Cadence
Pete Williams talks with Bill Ringle about how to add repeatable, understandable 10% wins in your business growth based on Cadence: A Tale of Fast Business Growth
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
Pete Williams’ "7 Levers" approach to business growth
How telling a story can make a dry business topic become infinitely more interesting.
Why it’s important to step back and ask “What really drives profit in a business?”
The reason why focusing on achieving 10% wins is more sustainable long term.
Pete’s trusted tools for split testing
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
1:53 Pete describes the impact business greats Richard Branson and Bill Gates had on his young entrepreneurial mind.
3:55 What Pete’s early retail jobs taught him about running a business.
5:36 “I’m a really big believer in stories.”
7:30 Summary of the relationship of JJ the bike store owner and Charlie the mentor featured in Pete’s book Cadence.
8:43 Why so many business owners deal with the “little feeling of overwhelm.”
9:02 “Most people don’t realize they need that skill set before it’s too late.”
10:23 “What really drives profit in a business?”
11:15 “You don’t have to double your leads or double your traffic to get a 2x profit. You can [instead] increase 7 areas by 10%”
13:53 The impact of small wins.
14:57 The 7 Levers approach to business growth.
16:30 “All you need to do is increase each of those [levers] by 10%.”
17:49 “There are only 7 things that grow profit, and only 7 things you have to manage, and measure.”
18:51 Tools you can buy to help manage and measure these levers.
20:14 Why you shouldn’t overcomplicate managing these levers.
20:37 “One of the reasons people think it’s scary is because they don’t want to look at the numbers in two months' time and see minimal growth.”
21:31 “Small wins are what you need.”
25:25 Why you should engage your whole team to work on increasing the levers together.
26:41 Pete’s trusted split testing tools.
29.51 You shouldn’t change tools that are working just because you’re bored with them.
30:45 My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins.
Expert Bio
Pete Williams is an entrepreneur, advisor, and marketer who Forbes recently called, “one entrepreneur today that every marketer should be modeling,” while Inc. describes him as, “a savvy marketing strategist.”
A Southern Region Finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Program, a Small Business ICON (Best-in-Class) Recipient, and an Australian Business Award Winner for Marketing Excellence, he is the co-founder of numerous businesses across varying industries—from telecommunications services to e-commerce.
Having been referred to as “Australia’s Richard Branson” in media publications, Pete first made a name for himself when, at age twenty-one, he sold Australia’s version of Yankee Stadium, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, for under $500—which you can read about in his first book, How to Turn Your Million-Dollar Idea Into a Reality (2007).
Pete’s companies include Infiniti Telecommunications, SimplyHeadsets.com.au, SpringCom Telecommunications, and Preneur Group, an advisory consulting firm that guides business owners through the process of increasing profits, margins, and other key indicators by using the 7 Levers approach to b...
Back in Control - Interview with guest expert Dr. David Hanscom
May 21, 2018
Orthopedic Spine Surgeon at Swedish Medical Center, Co-director of the Swedish Neuroscience Specialists Prehab Program
Bill Ringle and David Hanscom discuss how to overcome the true underlying causes of workplace anxiety to get back in control.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
Some of the challenges physicians face when dealing with the stress of the industry.
How Dr. David Hanscom overcame the symptoms of stress suppression by creating "play pathways"
Why it’s important to see challenges as opportunities rather than burdens to be avoided.
The "Ring of Fire" strategy for overcoming anxiety
The significance of the mirror neuron effect
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:30 David recounts how his father, who was also a doctor, inspired him to grow up to become a physician.
3:15 “Spine surgery has changed dramatically over the last 30 years.”
4:03 Some of the challenges physicians face when dealing with the stress of the industry.
5:00 “What happens when you suppress stress, your body chemistry is still adverse, and people get sick.”
5:54 How David’s tendency to suppress stress led him from having no anxiety to having severe migraine headaches and panic attacks.
7:09 David recounts the symptoms of stress repression.
8:43 “Thoughts have the same effect on the brain as these physical threats do.”
11:19 How to redirect your inner stressful thoughts to a more positive outlook.
12:55 “There’s a positive link between sustained stress and auto-immune disorders.”
14:00 “Anxiety is the pain. Whether it’s a physical threat or a mental threat, anxiety is the pain.”
16:01 The Ring of Fire metaphor for dealing with stress and anxiety.
16:55 How David learned to enjoy every aspect of his job - “Pain pathways are permanent, but so are play pathways.”
19:15 “The bigger the adversity, the bigger the chance to practice the tools.”
19:47 Why it’s important to see challenges as an opportunity rather than a burden.
20:45 “If you’re not sleeping, this entire project is out the door, nothing works.”
23:03 Why David insists his patients don’t complain about their pain.
25:15 The mirror neuron effect.
26:35 David describes his morning mindfulness routine.
Expert Bio
Dr. David Hanscom is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon specializing in the surgical correction of complex spine problems in the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine. He has expertise in adult and pediatric spinal deformities such as scoliosis and kyphosis. A significant part of his practice is devoted to performing surgery on patients who have had multiple prior spine surgeries.
He earned his medical degree from Loma Linda University in 1979. His residency training began with internal medicine in Spokane, WA from 1979-1981. He has been performing complex spinal surgery since 1986. Around 2001 he began to share his own stress management tools with his patients that were in pain but had no indications for surgery. He also had spent most of his career with rehabilitation physicians learning non-operative care. By 2006 a structured spine treatment protocol evolved called the DOC project (Direct your Own Care). His book, Back in Control: A Surgeon’s Roadmap Out of Chronic Pain is the basis of the structured spine care program.
He is the founder of the Puget Sound Spine Society, which was formed in 1987.
The Efficiency Paradox - Interview with guest expert Edward Tenner
May 07, 2018
Edward Tenner, author of The Efficiency Paradox: What Big Data Can't Do
Bill Ringle and Edward Tenner discuss the "Efficiency Paradox" and how it impacts business owners in practical ways.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
The danger of relying too much on automated resume scans.
What to watch out for with the "tyranny of metrics" and how to counter it.
What false positives distort in medical tests and procedures.
How to recognize when efficiency has been pushed too far and what to do to protect your interests.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:18 How Edwards elementary school librarians socialized him into the love of books and the love of reading.
2:53 “I’m really an opinion writer and an interpreter.”
3:28 “Once people understand the historical background they have more confidence in dealing with the present.”
5:09 “You can think of this as a continuous R&D Laboratory.”
5:49 “The point of the book is that too much focus on short-term efficiency can make us less efficient in the long run.”
6:20 The art of inspired inefficiency
8:21 “I think too much reliance on Amazon means it’s very easy for someone to get into a groove, to have lots of things recommended that are sort of like what they had before.”
11:07 The importance of having a diversity of skills and mentalities in the workplace.
11:37 The concept of peripheral vision, and the importance of creating opportunities for resourceful people.
13:13 “Sometimes if you’re focusing too much on the algorithm, you’re overlooking the opportunities for creative change.”
16:23 How to be intentional when using search engines.
17:12 “Find a well-established site and form a relationship with it.”
19:19 “When you’re evaluating anything based on metrics, it really pays to see what kinds of compromise might have been taken.”
20:49 “There are a lot of problems in the feedback of medical efficiency.”
23:49 “The most important thing for me in medicine is to be sure that the style of the doctor that you’re working with is a style you are comfortable with.”
Expert Bio
Edward Tenner is a distinguished scholar of the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation and a visiting scholar in the Rutgers University Department of History. He was a visiting lecturer in the Humanities Council at Princeton and has held visiting research positions at the Institute for Advanced Study and the University of Pennsylvania. His essays and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Wilson Quarterly, and Forbes. He has given talks for many organizations, including Microsoft, AT&T, the National Summit on White Collar Crime, the Smithsonian Associates, and TED. His book, Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences, written in part with a Guggenheim Fellowship, has been translated into German, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Portuguese, and Czech.
Contact Info and Social Media for Edward Tenner
Primary Website
contact Edward Tenner regarding a speaking engagement via Leigh Speakers.
Travels from: Plainsboro, NJ
Phone: (609) 273-0051
Connect on LinkedIn | Twitter
Resources Mentioned by Edward Tenner:
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
Meltdown: Interview with guest expert Chris Clearfield
Apr 23, 2018
Chris Clearfield, founder of System Logic and Co-Author of Meltdown
Bill Ringle and Chris Clearfield discuss the remarkable simplicity that can avert catastrophic business disasters, applicable to organizations of all sizes.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
Complexity is unavoidable, so here is how to think about it in order to manage it successfully.
Why it is important to consider how many things have to go RIGHT for your project to succeed.
The importance of developing a test and feedback cadence in your work.
The myth of the open door policy.
How a Toronto hospital cut down unnecessary (and costly) x-rays by changing its protocol
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:41 Chris tells about the time when a physics professor took the time to explain a difficult subject to him, and eventually took him under his wing, and the impact that had on his young mind.
3:56 “When you’re doing science, you don’t always have the answer, and sometimes you get an answer that you don’t expect…the world is not a straightforward and linear place.”
4:46 Chris describes his role working for James Street and using computers to recognize how much things were worth.
6:58 “Once I understood the trading and I understood the infrastructure and the regulatory stuff and the way everything came together, I switched to a role where I was looking at these bigger questions of risk.”
9:00 How reading about aviation infrastructure, or lack thereof, in Asia allowed Chris to see the complexity inherent in the system.
9:24 “Why do some organizations do a great job of making decisions in really complex environments and managing risk and others do not?”
9:58 “Aviation has figured out how to manage some of these risks prospectively.”
11:00 The genesis of starting his own firm.
11:57 Chris recounts his interest in the BP oil spill. “I was really interested in understanding what happened, and as I dug in more and more…I became fascinated with how the accident happened.”
12:37 “The greatest environmentalist in the last 50 years, might’ve been someone at BP who said, ‘No, this isn’t the right way to do this.’”
13:53 The reason to buy down risk. “There are things happening in the world that [people] don’t quite understand that will affect their business.”
15:18 The importance of preparing for the “knock-on” consequences.
15:58 “It’s not about figuring out what hatch to close, it’s about developing a different perspective and saying: ‘Oh, these things might interact in a way that causes a big problem.’”
16:24 “We wear a seatbelt not because we know the exact kind of accident we’re going to get into, we wear a seatbelt because we want to protect ourselves regardless of the accident.”
17:34 On the post-disaster case study. “I think what that training did was give them the confidence they needed so that they were able to, the next time these things came up, not only deal with it in real-time but see the precursors.”
19:12 “In this day and age, there is so much more interconnectedness and complexity.”
20:02 How the Meltdown Quiz can you help you think better about your existing systems. “How many things in this project have to go right for this project to succeed?”
22:28 “We need to add structure to our thinking…we do a lot of work with leaders to help them develop a process to add that structure to their thinking.”
A Life Worth Living - Interview with guest expert Carla Feagan
Apr 09, 2018
Carla Feagan, author of A Life Worth Living: The Journey of an Authentic Soul
Bill Ringle and Carla Feagan discuss going beyond your comfort zone to create a life worth living and a business worth leading.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
Carla's best advice: open yourself up to opportunities
Contrasting the conditions in Cambodia and Vietnam with day-to-day troubles in US-based businesses
What one client did who was not feeling worthy of financial success
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
3:14 “I knew nothing about the business or the industry, I just jumped in and did it.”
4:03 How Carla’s decision to eliminate her need to constantly save money freed her self up to have more adventures and new experiences.
6:04 How Carla’s close friend encouraged her to write the book. - “You need to allow people to see that they’re not the only ones who have gone through traumatic circumstances in their life.”
7:20 On Writing the Book - “It was a truly cathartic experience because it allowed me to piece my life together.”
8:45 Why Carla would change nothing about her tumultuous past in light of her brilliant present.
9:40 “When I came back [from my trip] I didn’t want to jump back into the old world of making money just to be making money, I wanted to do something that I was passionate about. And I realized that would be something that would give back to people.”
11:31 How Carla’s traumatic childhood gave her a negative sense about herself that she had to overcome as an adult, especially concerning her relationships.”
13:05 Carla’s tips for overcoming subconscious self-sabotage.
15:10 How Carla was able to help a client see a 20% increase in his business after a 2.5-month coaching investment with her.
17:10 The question business owners should ask - “Is there something from the past stopping me from getting to my next step?”
17:48 How Carla’s experiences in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Eastern Africa reshaped her worldview.
20:56 “It was the internal strength of the people that really resonated with me.”
22:06 “By being able to take yourself out and actually visiting and seeing those places and feeling the energies around there, it really does make a difference.”
23:45 “Most people find passion by being able to help others.”
25:23 “Look for ways you can give back, even to the community you’re in.”
26:13 Carla’s tips for staying on track and productive. - “I decide what my day is going to be like.”
Expert Bio
Carla Feagan was born in Changi, Singapore on a British RAF Base. After Singapore, her family moved to England and then to Canada when she was 7. Carla has lived all over Western and Central Canada including ten years in the North West Territories. She holds an honors degree in Computer Systems Technology and has been a speaker at Microsoft World Wide Partner Conferences. She has been acting CFO of a hospital and an airline and owned her own businesses. Carla also has over 20 years of research in order to set herself free from her past. In 2015, she left her job to experience her own EAT, PRAY, LOVE journey to 21 countries for a year. Carla currently lives and works remotely from Playa del Carmen, MX, understanding the true value of creating the life you want.
Contact Info for Carla Feagan
Primary Website
Travels from: Carmen, Mexico
Phone:(707) 969-7972
Life's One Law - Interview with guest expert Dr. Philip Agrios
Mar 26, 2018
Philip Agrios, author of Life's One Law: Nature's Blueprint for Repeatable Success in Life and Business
Dr. Phillip Agrios and Bill Ringle discuss a novel 6-step problem-solving blueprint that guides business owners away from past troublesome decisions and tendencies and towards better closing rates, healthier management communications, and stronger business relationships.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
A turning point from being at a low with great physical distress (carpal tunnel syndrome for a chiropractor), financially, maritally, and discovering a method to understanding and reversing those conditions.
How this method helped a lawyer who was unaware of his need for systems before he could grow his practice further
How the first draft of this book was written in 2 weeks
How it is a curable symptom to stay stuck in a particular "season" without guidance to transcend it.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
4:20 What it is to have a sabotaging trait, and to find its antidote. - “It’s there to really help us to get to the next level.”
6:49 The steps which led Dr. Phillip to discover the 6 step blueprint.
8:30 “The steps are cyclical, you can start anywhere.”
9:00 Dr. Phillip explains the six seasons and what each of them means - Summer, Harvest, Autumn, Winter, Relinquish, and Spring.
11:14 How Dr. Phillip helped a salesman who had a tendency to give too much information away.
14:10 Dr. Phillip recounts the case of a scatterbrained client - “Once he started going through a system, he became less overwhelmed.”
14:38 [The reason why some people don’t become successful] - “It’s more painful for them to become successful than to stay where they’re at.”
17:17 Dr. Philip describes the process of writing the book, and how the first draft only took two weeks.
18:47 [A case study of a single mom-trepreneur] “What she was doing in her personal life, she should be doing in her business, and what she was doing in her business, she should be doing in her personal life.”
20:18 “You don’t have to wait for the world Autumn to do Autumn things, it’s within yourself that these things are happening.”
21:53 How Dr. Phillip wrote a book in two weeks, and how he implemented his antidote to make it work - “I made sure that I had planned out that this is what I’m going to do per so many hours.”
23:54 "Don't get upset with yourself, the sabotaging trait is there to help you."
Expert Bio
Dr. Philip Agrios has transformed the trials and hardships of his own life experiences into a positive vision and an important roadmap for the rest of us. After over two decades and thousands of patients, his discovery of Nature’s Blueprint contained within Life’s One Law uncovers our sabotaging trait and the antidote to switch it off for more productivity in business and more freedom in our life.
He now works with business owners, executives, and sales professionals worldwide to help them to get out of their way and achieve their dreams.
Contact Info and Social Media for Dr. Phillip Agrios
Primary Website
Travels from: Jackson, NJ
Phone: (732) 598-9917
Connect on LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
Resources Mentioned by Dr. Phillip Agrios:
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
99 Wows of Creativity - Featured Interview with guest expert Randi Brill
Mar 12, 2018
Randi Brill, Chief Creative Officer for QuaraCORE and author of 99 Creative WOWs Words of Wisdom for Business
Randi Brill and Bill Ringle discuss the practical aspects of creative design for small business owners.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
How Randi's mother nurtured a creative, empowered mindset for her children
The question that every manager should ask to gain more clarity: "What problem are we really trying to solve?"
A behind the scenes peek at what happens at a "creativity lab" for businesses
What makes creativity intimidating and what you can do about it so that you're tapping your people's creativity
How trade show managers benefit from JIT design that builds upon their work
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:17 The two mantras that Randi’s mom held when Randi was young.
2:44 “What gets positive reinforcement is what you pursue.”
4:30 Randi describes all the early creative jobs she held that fostered her young entrepreneurial spirit.
6:03 “Creativity for business and entrepreneurs is different than art for art’s sake and fine artistry, and it’s very much driven to solve business strategy and problems.”
7:05 “Design, when it’s done well, enhances whatever the content and message need to be. When the design is not done well, it’s decorating.”
8:20 “I’m a mapmaker, I draw pictures.”
10:15 “It’s so hard when you are in your business to look at your business.”
11:07 Why a designer or design team is uniquely positioned to assist a company in solving its content strategy issues.
15:11 Why everyone at Randi’s creative lab wears a coat and goggles.
16:54 Randi’s design team’s first step when working with new clients is determining their underlying set of priorities.
18:40 “A lot of people look for answers. The best way to get to the answers is to have the right questions.”
21:08 Randi explains why each of her company’s “labs” lasts for two days.
21:40 “People always make a better decision when they’re given viable choices from which to make that decision.”
22:15 “Creativity isn’t something that a lot of people are comfortable with.
23:46 The importance of complete client confidentiality.
25:06 Randi tells about an unconventional creativity lab that led somewhere different than the client was expecting.
27:43 “I’m not coming in as the outside bad cop, I’m coming in with very clear glasses to look at what’s been done, to understand why suddenly no one’s happy.”
29:09 “No one should be reading a PowerPoint.”
30:56 “There are lots of ways to be right.”
36:09 “It’s about trusting that you’re hiring people who are there to complement your strengths.”
39:05 “I’m up until 2AM most days making my own luck.”
Expert Bio
Randi Brill announced she was going to be in charge of something—and she has been in charge of many creative “somethings” ever since.
In 1982, armed with only her recent BFA in Graphic Design from Carnegie Mellon University, $57, and a fierce drive to succeed, Randi launched her first company, Quarasan—and she’s launched many successful companies since. Randi grew this design sole proprietorship into a multi-million dollar educational design and development firm, serving the nation’s largest educational publishers.
In 2014, Randi transitioned Quarasan into QuaraCORE, her thriving design agency in Chicago. QuaraCORE focuses on the CORE creative offering...
How to Hire A Players: Featured Interview with guest expert Eric Herrenkohl
Feb 26, 2018
President of Herrenkohl Consulting
Eric Herrenkohl talks with Bill Ringle about how to hire A-Players for Small Business Leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
The fatal flaw of treating hiring as a transactional process
Understanding that outstanding performers often need to be managed and supported differently than others
Recruiting is a critical leadership skill
The magic of involvement leading to buy-in
The precaution that C-players may be able to sell themselves better than A-players
The best questions to ask to discover the real responsibilities that a candidate undertook
How to coach your team to find the best fit for the role without worrying about offending candidates (you're actually doing them a service, too!)
Even very good businesspeople have blind spots that can limit their effectiveness (in hiring as well as in performing)
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
3:04 Eric discusses what it was like meeting Bob Perkins at YoungLife.
3:19 “Great leaders lead other leaders.”
4:01 “If you want to hire and keep great people then you’re going to have to be prepared to invest in a few and have that team be the core that impacts the many.”
6:08 Why “A Players” can sometimes be difficult.
7:48 “I think there’s a difference between disagreeable [people] and people who are behaving poorly because they’re not getting the attention, and not getting treated the way that they need.”
9:25 Why leaders should always have a Plan B when it comes to dealing with toxic A Players.
12:02 “You’ve got to get your whole team involved in recruiting.”
14:25 What it means to have an A Player scorecard, and what the process means for team buy-in of new recruits.
14:51 How asking questions can create a whole new level of employee engagement.
16:23 “We get better at things that we practice.”
18:03 Tested tips and tricks for putting interviewees at ease before and during an interview.
18:08 “The most important interview question is the follow-up question.”
20:54 “What you’re doing as an interviewer is working to ensure a good mutual fit: good for the company, and good for the person.”
22:45 “There are not that many great leaders out there, so if you invest in your own ability as a leader, if you get better as a leader, then you’ll attract other leaders.”
23:25 “I’m committed to finding and hiring the best people that I can.”
23:57 What inspired Eric to write the book How to Hire A-Players.
26:54 “Over the last 6 months the talent markets have gotten hotter, making it harder to find and hire the best.”
27:35 What Eric does to stay productive and on track.
Expert Bio
Eric Herrenkohl is the President of Herrenkohl Consulting, a consulting and retained executive search firm that he founded in 2002. He works as an advisor to CEOs on building superior leadership teams.
Eric is the author of the upcoming book Crowbar: Pry away top talent, surround yourself with the right leaders, and create the team your customers demand.
His previous book How to Hire A-Players is an Amazon bestseller published by Wiley that is described as one of the top 10 recruiting books of all time by Recruiter.com.
Business Week, Fox News, NBC News, the Toronto Globe and Mail, the Philadelphia Business Journal, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Inc.com, Careerbuilder.com, MSNBC.com, Monster.com,
Social Media for Business - Featured Interview with guest expert Linda Coles
Feb 12, 2018
Linda Coles, Author, Keynote Speaker, Owner of Blue Banana
Linda Coles talks with Bill Ringle on My Quest for the Best about the use of social media for business growth, emphasizing that when you connect with social media to remember that you're connecting with other people who prefer authenticity and candor.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insightshts
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
The truly hard part about building a website.
Why you should consider giving out bite sized teasers of your knowledge.
How to determine the size of your audience, and how to go about building it.
The social media tactics that people may know about, but don't use enough.
Insider tips for getting more likes, shares, and comments.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
1:55 Linda tells about her goats, fig farm, and her business Blue Banana.
3:45 How gluten intolerance became the impetus for Linda to build her first website, and eventually allowed her to expand her business to help build website traffic for others.
4:03 “People that build websites know that that’s the easy part, getting traffic to it is the hard part.”
6:12 [On Malcolm Gladwell’s search for stories] - “He doesn’t wait for them to happen, he looks for them to happen.”
7:06 “I like to give freely, I like to give my information away. There’s no point in just keeping that to me.”
8:36 Linda discusses the process of writing her first book and getting it published.
9:43 “You don’t have to give all the tools in your toolbox away, but if you can give them some taster of the sort of information [with which] you can help them.”
12:08 “The one thing you need is distribution because without a distribution channel it’s not going to go anywhere.”
13:18 Why audience size matters to publishers.
15:33 How one of the women Linda follows is optimizing LinkedIn for her business.
16:37 Why you should do audio recordings of your work.
18:22 “As an individual trying to get your name and your brand moving, think about audio.”
19:10 “People listen to the person.”
22:21 How to generate buzz around your podcast.
23:14 “You do have to have some budget in the early days to get something moving.”
24:04 “All companies need to have a [LinkedIn] company page, but growing your company page is hard work.”
26:00 “Have a great image, and steer away from stock images.”
26:54 “Tell the people what the article is about, for sure, but don’t try to be clever, just be clear.”
28:23 “Try and write something that’s evergreen.”
28:59 How Linda helped a client in the healthcare sector improve their business on Social Media.
32:52 [The importance of conversation on Social Media] - “Don’t forget that [with social media] you’re talking to other humans.”
Expert Bio
Linda Coles has been in the digital space for many years. She moved to New Zealand 10 years ago, where she first started out on the road as a Regional Manager for an optics chain. She soon realized that freelancing was the better life for her, and gave up working for other people altogether to spend time writing and consulting. Since then, she's worked with a number of clients, published four books on marketing, and another six books in the suspense genre.
LinkedIn made her an “Influencer” when the program was launched back in 2012, along with Branson and 148 other thought leaders at the time. Last year, she flew out to New York to be a part of Thrillerfest ...
H3 Leadership - Featured Interview with guest expert Brad Lomenick
Jan 29, 2018
Brad Lomenick, author of H3 Leadership: Be Humble. Stay Hungry. Always Hustle.: Be Humble. Stay Hungry. Always Hustle., and President of Catalyst
Brad Lomenick talks with Bill Ringle on My Quest for the Best about H3 Leadership's implications for small business leaders and their teams becoming more effective.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
The benefits of H3 leadership
Why introversion and leadership potential aren’t mutually exclusive.
How leadership brings out hidden talents, and weaknesses, in people.
The importance of having a company culture that encourages two way feedback.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:45 Brad discusses his connection to John C. Maxwell.
4:30 How leadership ability was natural to Brad even in his youth.
6:56 [On why leaders can be introverts] - “Just because you’re naturally quiet…doesn’t mean you still can’t lead.”
7:52 Leadership doesn’t mean hogging the spotlight, it means stewardship.
8:26 “If you want to lead, you’re going to have to be responsible for people.”
10:59 The importance of not being a “Darb” leader, and letting the stress of leadership bring out toxic aspects of your personality.
14:43 “Everyone wants to work in an environment where self-awareness is at the forefront of the culture.”
16:31 “When you’re in charge, no one wants to tell you the truth.”
18:43 “You lead like you were led.”
19:40 “People are looking for a culture that is healthy and customized for them.”
22:39 Why you should invest time in onboarding new team members.
23:27 [How to be proactive during the hiring process] - “The story behind the story matters.”
25:00 “Hire slow, fire fast.”
26:38 [H3 Leadership] - “Be humble, stay hungry, always hustle.”
27:40 - “In writing any book the challenge always comes: ‘How personal are you going to be?’”
29:43 Why it’s so essential to be curious.
30:40 “The best way for you to gain instant credibility is ask a good question.”
35:09 “We bypass ‘why,’ because why is hard.”
38:00 The most surprising thing for Brad about writing the book.
39:37 Brad’s tips for staying on track and productive.
Expert Bio
Brad Lomenick is a producer, entrepreneur, speaker, sought-after leadership advisor, author, and longtime president of Catalyst, largely credited with growing the organization into one of the largest and most recognized leadership brands and gatherings in the world. For over 10 years, Brad led the Catalyst Conference and garnered the reputation as a convener of America’s most respected leaders including John Maxwell, Jim Collins, Malcolm Gladwell, Seth Godin, Mark Burnett, Tony Dungy, Marcus Buckingham, and Rick Warren, among many others.
In 2013, he published his first book, The Catalyst Leader, and his second book, H3 Leadership: Be Humble. Stay Hungry. Always Hustle., released in September of 2015. A prolific content creator, for eight years Brad hosted the Catalyst Podcast, interviewing change-makers from across the globe and attracting hundreds of thousands of listeners per month. Additionally, he frequently blogs about leadership, the next generation, creativity, innovation, social media, teamwork, personal growth, and more on his website, as well as speaking at conferences around the world. He has been featured in TIME, Washington Post, Fast Company, Business Insider, CNN, INC, Fox News, Relevant,
Getting out of our own way with guest expert Dr. Ron Stotts
Jan 15, 2018
Ron Stotts, PhD, Author of Overscheduled by Success
Dr. Ron Stotts talks with Bill Ringle on My Quest for the Best about how very successful leaders recognize the Hero's Journey and make internal adjustments to create outstanding external results.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
How Ron started his inner journey after leaving the Marines and seeking to make sense of the dozens of basic training buddies who never returned from Vietnam
An explanation of why it is so important to leave your comfort zone in order to grow as a person, and how staying stuck in your comfort zone limits your ability to make effective decisions for your business and your team
What your "big mind" is and how to find it.
Overcoming old limitations
Ron's morning routine that helps him stay present with his celebrity clients
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:32 How Ron went from being a Marine to following his inward journey. “I found I had to let go of all my training to be an all-American boy was taking me.”
4:47 Details of Joseph Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey,” on leaving the comfort zone.
5:37 “I realized that comfort zone wasn’t comfortable for me any longer.”
6:08 “The hero’s journey is about taking your life up to the next level.”
6:59 How childhood experience affects the way humans act like adults, especially in regards to their choices and relationships.
7:36 Why people should “quit chasing the symptoms.” Symptoms are indicators of an opportunity to grow.
9:58 How Ron helped a client overcome his communication problems, specifically those surrounding how he communicated anger.
14:35 “Change begins to happen almost immediately.”
17:05 “We are nothing but energy. That’s physics, not metaphysics.”
18:07 Why do lobsters, and humans, need to take the time to “shed their shell.”
19:24 Ron describes the Big Mind. - “The quieter my mind got, the more depth I had in my life.”
22:34 How Ron used Big Mind to create a $1M Japanese Garden.
24:01 “Most people think in terms of working harder. I think in terms of accessing different parts of who we are.”
26:30 “Money is not the answer.”
27:19 The source of why people so often sabotage their life, and why when you come up against roadblocks, it’s not necessarily a bad thing.
30:08 Some changes needed aren’t big changes, but small changes, that will make all the difference.
31:11 Ron’s morning routine for staying centered throughout his day.
Expert Bio
Dr. Ron Stotts was trained by some of the best in his field, with early mentors like Joseph Campbell, Buckminster Fuller, and other leaders of spiritual and personal growth. His service has evolved into working with those committed to their path and the influential leaders who have guided them along their way. While many can help treat the symptoms of humanity's deepest challenges, Ron's unique work not only takes his clients to the deepest source of their challenges but guides them into transforming those challenges into great opportunities.
Contact Info and Social Media for Dr. Ron Stotts
Primary Website
Travels from: Santa Barbara, CA
Phone:(805) 845-3881
Connect on LinkedIn | Facebook
Published by Dr. Ron Stotts
The One Percent Edge - Interview with guest expert Susan Solovic
Jan 01, 2018
Entrepreneur and New York Times Bestselling Author of The One Percent Edge
Susan Solovic and Bill Ringle discussed how business leaders can find and exploit the one percent edge to stay relevant to their markets and outpace the competition on My Quest for the Best.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
How early jobs in the family funeral home and waitressing motivated her to seek new opportunities and environments.
Secrets to effective business networking that you can use to stand out, get noticed, and gain business.
A way to gauge progress in building your brand online.
An example of the importance in cutting the dead weight in your organization.
The importance of a "no sacred cows" principle in your leadership.
Why the National Court Reporters Association is one of Susan's favorite examples of re-envisioning your organization's mission in the face of technology trends.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:10 How a negative experience working at a steakhouse encouraged Susan to think about making money differently.
3:51 Susan recounts how her mom’s entrepreneurial drive inspired her to become one too.
4:37 “If you have the guts to go out and do it on your own, go out and do it on your own.”
5:15 [On having the courage to leave the corporate world] - “You take the step and say I’m going to give this a try, and if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.”
5:55 The benefits of knowing your core competencies.
7:15 The steps Susan took to deal with the challenge of an assumed learning disability in middle school.
8:04 “Believe in yourself, know what you can do. No one should label you.”
9:06 How a lack of knowledge about how to run an internet company didn’t stop Susan from buying SBTV.com. The company would become one of the Hot Tech 100 companies of the year.
10:28 “The biggest thing that we did to build the business was getting collaboration.”
11:28 [On Networking] - “It’s not about selling, it’s about building that trust and rapport.”
13:29 Marketing used to be the message going out to consumers, and now it’s a two way street.
15:05 “We have so much access to data.”
16:40 Susan explains the significance of being authentic and connecting with your followers online.
17:22 How collaboration with other websites can bring more traffic to your website.
19:08 [The One Percent Edge] - “It’s about looking at your business on a regular basis…and about continuing to evolve on a regular basis.”
20:30 “You can”t be on the status quo, you’ve got to be on the status grow.”
20:49 The dangers of being married to our business operations.
22:40 “If you’re not willing to open up, I can’t help you.”
24:05 Susan describes the process of writing the book.
25:56 The trend of people wanting to talk about what’s happening, and being more accessible to having new conversations.
Expert Bio
Susan Solovic is an award-winning entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling author, media personality, keynote speaker, and attorney. Her new book is The One Percent Edge: Small Changes That Guarantee Relevance and Build Sustainable Success. Solovic is also the host of The One Percent Edge podcast.
Contact Info and Social Media for Susan Solovic
Primary Website
Travels from: Jupiter, FL
Phone: (631) 539-4558
Connect on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Published by Susan Solovic
The Map Will Appear When the Car is in Motion - Featured Interview with Clay Scroggins
Dec 18, 2017
Clay Scroggin, Author, Pastor of North Point Community Church
Clay Scroggins talks with Bill Ringle on My Quest for the Best about the principles and pitfalls of how to lead when you're not in charge.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
The risk of leading by authority or title, even when you're the CEO, manager, coach, or parent
How Clay defines influence and its relationship to leadership
The 4 behaviors that allow anyone to lead without authority.
The one characteristic to develop to help others see you as a leader.
How to become less defensive and more open to feedback.
The importance of uncovering someone's true motivation because we're not all motivated by the same incentives
The relevance of the GPS message that "the map will appear when the car is in motion."
When you can have time to pursue your most important objectives, without interruptions from the phone, staff, or outsiders.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
2:28 Clay explains why leadership and authority don’t always go hand in hand.
3:32 How an internship at the Georgia State House crafted Clay’s young understanding of leadership and decision making.
4:43 “When you believe that you have to be in charge in order to lead, that even when you are in charge and you try to leverage that authority to try to get people to move, it will work in the short term, but it does not work long term.”
5:09 The essence of leadership is influence. - “[Leadership is the ability to inspire people to move in order to accomplish something that they may not even realize that they want to accomplish.”
5:52 “Because leadership is influence, some people are born with more instinctual traits that give them influence.”
6:30 “What are my behaviors today that is gaining my influence? And what am I doing that’s costing influence?”
8:15 First of the four big behaviors to cultivate more influence.
8:41 “The easiest way to lead yourself is to ask others exactly where you are…You can’t get to where you wanna be unless you know exactly where you are.”
12:21 “There are things about yourself that everyone else knows, and that you probably know, but you have no clue that they are as aware as they actually are.”
14:20 Why influence is a commodity.
15:03 “Solicited feedback is always easier than unsolicited feedback.”
19:02 “What we have to [ask] as leaders, as managers, whether we’re in charge or not…is what is the incentive that’s causing them to work, what is motivating them?”
20:44 How to motivate people who are happy in their current position.
22:52 The big behaviors that cultivate influence.
23:52 “Every one of us has to bring value to what we’re working on.”
24:26 “The most dangerous enemy to not being in charge is passivity.”
26:48 How Clay rewards leadership behavior.
28:15 Why our greatest fear of taking leadership actions is fear of doing it wrong. - “The map will appear when the car is in motion.”
29:32 “A part of our role when we’re not in charge is to manage the anxiety of our boss.”
31:12 “Nothing so conclusively proves your ability to lead others as what you do on a day to day basis to lead yourself.”
32:13 Clay describes the steps he took in order to not only start, but finish the book.
33:11 Clay’s tips and tricks for staying productive and on task.
Expert Bio
Clay Scroggins is the lead pastor of North Point Community Churc...
How Creativity Remakes the World - Featured Interview with guest expert Anthony Brandt
Dec 04, 2017
Anthony Brandt ,Author, Director Professor of Composition and Theory at Rice University
Anthony Brandt talks with Bill Ringle on My Quest for the Best about how creativity is an untapped wellspring of ideas to enrich your life and business
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
How making cards and gifts in his family growing up nurtured his belief in everyday creativity, which is why he still carries on this tradition in his family today.
How business leaders can harness the dynamic tension between what's familiar and what's new to improve products and services.
Examples of how to encourage creativity in the workplace, and when to recognize that you've gone too far and are making your people uncomfortable.
The importance of creativity in your company's culture, and whether to concentrate on a dedicated team or to imbue creativity throughout the culture.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
1:08 Anthony describes one of the ways he and David co-author Eagleman initially connected.
1:41 How Anthony’s parents' practice of restricting TV, and introducing construction materials, in the home encouraged his early creativity.
3:13 “From the moment I did something like playing the violin, I also wanted to make the music myself.”
4:15 Why hearing their piece rehearsed is such a joy for composers.
4:45 “David’s an amazing scientist. Not only does he do cutting-edge research, but he’s also a best-selling novelist.”
5:53 Bill tells off the collaborative efforts between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison
7:39 Why did Beethoven move to Vienna? - “He needed to be embedded in a culture in order to thrive as an individual creator.”
8:17 “There’s this virtuous loop between social engagement and the actions of our own imagination.”
10:06 Anthony describes the process of writing the book with David Eagleman.
10:38 “The only reason animals have memories is in order to better predict the future.”
11:01 [Exploration vs. Exploitation] - “Every animal. even if they're in the most bountiful environment, they’ve got all the food they could ever want, will dedicate a certain amount of their life to exploring new environments.”
11:40 [The roots of creativity] - “Being able to think beyond the present moment and detach from reality and imagine alternative futures, that was where, evolutionarily, the seed of creativity was born.”
13:54 “It’s true that some examples of creativity exist in the wild, but they’re very anecdotal and they’re very limited.”
15:31 “[Creativity] is something that is absolutely normal. It is awe-inspiringly ordinary. “
16:55 Anthony’s steps for people who want to reconnect with their creativity. - “Whatever you can find that you can make yourself, do it yourself.”
18:29 “Creativity is too often presented as being all about novelty…human minds like to have one foot in the familiar and one foot in the unexpected.”
22:44 “One of the most dangerous concepts is that of the finish line.”
24:20 “How do you know when you’ve come up with a great idea?”
26:05 What companies can do to foster creativity in the workplace.
28:10 “There’s no doubt that creativity is risky.”
31:00 The importance of play is not just for children, but for adults too.
33:13 Why composers are so deadline-driven, and why it’s essential to create “intermediate deadlines” for yourself in the midst of a large project.
The Everyday Joy of 'I Get To' - Featured Interview with guest expert Ted Larkins
Nov 20, 2017
Ted Larkins, author of Get To Be Happy and owner of The Get To Principle, LLC
Ted Larkins talks with Bill Ringle on My Quest for the Best about adopting a "get to" mindset and becoming more peaceful, productive, and satisfied in your everyday life.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
The significance of the Dalai Lama's advice that the purpose of life is to find happiness.
What happens when you start thinking in terms of "I get to" instead of "I have to."
What an Indian man who lived in a 10 x 10 home with his wife and four children taught Ted about happiness.
What happened when a successful Tampa real estate agent started applying the "Get To" principles.
What matters to celebrities like Jon Bon Jovi when it comes to happiness.
Ted's 15 minute daily morning practice that strengthens his mindset and creates a blueprint for success.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
1:49 How Ted’s parents passed onto him the ethic of “getting out and doing things.”
2:58 [Paraphrasing the Dalai Lama] - “The purpose of life, I believe, is to find happiness.”
3:28 “When you choose to be happy, it’s really powerful.”
4:25 The benefits of smiling more often.
5:30 The “30-second rule” of changing your mindset.
5:49 [The Get To Mantra] - “You say, ‘I get to do this,’ you smile, and then you do what you’re going to do.’”
7:08 The essential difference in mindset between “I have to” and “I get to.”
10:15 Why the kind of happiness Ted refers to isn’t a “Polyanna” kind of happiness.
13:08 How Ted’s experiences traveling through India helped him shape his worldview.
14:59 “When I deliberate about saying ‘I get to do this,’ the more in control I am of my life.”
15:49 “We all have our level of frustration and things like that, but we do have the choice.”
17:28 Ted recounts his work with Bon Jovi and how it was like to get through the trust barrier.
18:49 “We’re born and then we die, and in between, we get to do this thing called life.”
20:09 The point of the mindful movement.
21:43 [Ted describes his 3-month executive coaching process.] - “It helps take people from this mundane [mindset] or just going through the motions and brings them up to really experiencing life.”
22:30 Case study of a Florida businessman who just wasn’t getting the most out of life.
23:45 [On writing Get To Be Happy] - “I had the best time.”
25:24 “I learned that just being focused and dedicated to something for 30 minutes a day, you can get a lot done.”
28:15 Ted’s daily exercise for staying happy and productive.
Expert Bio
Ted Larkins is an author, speaker, accomplished business executive, and coach on happiness. Through his book and keynote talks, he shares the powerful Get To Principle, the ability to say "I Get To" as opposed to "I have to". Ted also co-developed a leading entertainment licensing company in Tokyo, representing major movie studios that included Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, and 20th Century Fox. He’s worked on projects with Jon Bon Jovi, Jack Nicklaus, Mariah Carey, and many other artists. He is the former Senior Vice President of the North American division of CPLG, one of the world’s leading entertainment, sport, and brand licensing agencies. He is on the Licensing Industry Merchandise Association (LIMA), co-chairing the charity committee and sitting on the executive committee.
Lessons Learned after hosting over 410 TEDx Talk Speakers - Featured Interview with guest expert Ajit George
Nov 06, 2017
TEDx Wilmington organizer and Certified Dream Builder
Ajit Mathew George talks with Bill Ringle on My Quest for the Best about his experience with running TEDx Wilmington and how the 410+ TEDx presentations have shaped and improved his life.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
How his family of engineers and doctors served as "reverse inspiration" on his entrepreneurial career path
The story behind becoming the TEDx Wilmington founder in 2011, which now has showcased over 627 speakers and received over 6 million YouTube views.
Keys to delivering a great talk in 12-18 minutes (hint: requires 50 hours of rehearsal!)
Background stories on two standout TEDx presentations: Actor Yvonne Orjii on why she has decided to stay a virgin, a direct contradiction to her choice in screen roles; and Yolanda Schlabach, whose 2016 talk raised the awareness of sexual trafficking along Route 95 between Washington DC and New York to the attention of the Governor of Delaware for legislative action.
How Ajit's experience as a TEDx host has made him a better listener for his life coaching clients.
The legacy project of creating a hydroponic garden center run by former prison inmates to provide organic produce to restaurants within 200 miles of Wilmington.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
1:51 Ajit tells about growing up in a family where all his cousins were either engineers or doctors and how it made him want to do the opposite. “I wanted to not take a safe route.”
2:50 Ajit recounts the four years he spent in India as a youth working in a children’s league, and how a key leader in the league helped develop his organizational skills.
4:08 “It’s ok to fail…and recovering from failure is almost as important as failing.”
5:33 How Ajit became involved with TED and TEDx
7:00 Ajit gives tips on how to put together a TEDx talk.
7:07 “People feel the need to put everything they know into a talk, which is a huge mistake.”
7:31 “What is that one idea worth spreading?”
9:15 [How to resist the urge to condense multiple ideas] - “Write down every idea [you] want to share in a TEDx talk, it doesn’t matter whether it’s one talk or multiple talks. Once [you] write it down on a sheet of paper, I then say, ‘What is the one idea of all those ideas on the sheet of paper you want to share with the world if you never got an opportunity to do a second TEDx talk?’”
10:09 “[TEDx Wilmington] no longer let anyone come without a lot of rehearsal…It’s a very conscious, determined process that we have.”
11:14 [Ajit explains why TEDx talks don’t allow notes] - “A good TEDx talk takes at least 50 hours of rehearsal.”
13:26 Ajit describes the organizational challenges of running TEDx.
15:02 What makes a fascinating TED talk.
17:12 “Often what we try to do is give a global platform to people who have great messages, but who are not getting them across.”
19:05 What it means to be a good life coach.
19:15 “You can only show them how to walk and give them the directions.”
20:33 “It’s much harder to get people to gracefully surrender something that they passionately believe in.”
21:00 Ajit tells about his upcoming project Second Chances Farm, an organic farm where individuals recently released from prison will have a place to get back on their feet, and the goals he has for its development.
24:43 How Ajit became involved with doing work with Wi...
Discovering Your Signature Brand for Iconic Advantage with guest expert Soon Yu
Oct 23, 2017
Soon Yu, Author, Consultant, Speaker, Professor
Soon Yu talks with Bill Ringle on My Quest for the Best about his new book, Iconic Advantage, and what it means to develop a signature brand.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
Why the ability to collaborate is such an essential skill for entrepreneurs.
How Yu helped a small company simplify their strategy so they could break into a competitive American market.
The benefits of looking for the highest point of entry in marketing.
The question he asks Fortune 500 companies to help them focus.
The special approach that longstanding successful companies have.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
1:25 Yu tells about his early experience starting an Asian Funk Band.
2:08 “Even when met with odds that seem insurmountable, it didn’t stop us, we went out and created an Asian Funk Band.”
2:30 “I leaned on a lot of other folks and some of their skills and some of their ideas were basically how to figure out and make a shared vision work.”
3:25 [On his mother as his role model] - My mom decided to do everything she could to contribute to our ability to move to a new country and to acclimate.”
4:16 Yu tells about his move from Taiwan at 3 years old to Berkley, California.
4:39 [On his ideal client] - “Folks who are very interested in learning and have a high degree of curiosity, who know they have a lot of unique skills, capabilities, and experiences, but also are sort of seeking leveraged guidance.”
5:50 Yu tells about his recent work with a company who had a very interesting product and an even more interesting challenge - “Their key challenge was that they had a very distinctive product proposition, and a wonderful story because the products were all made based on empathy…their challenge was how do they come into a mature market and be the eighth competitor in that market?”
8:09 Yu explains the ins and outs of breaking into a complicated market by not going for the lowest hanging fruit.
8:39 “We help them focus on this idea of instead of going really broad, going really narrow.”
10:06 “Do you know which of your brands or your product franchises are delivering most of your profit? And of those, do you know which of them are truly iconic?”
11:47 “Take your cash cow, milk them, and butter them up.”
12:37 [On his inspiration for writing Iconic Advantage] - “I always veer towards wanting to do new things – new product lines, new initiatives, new technology…but what I learned over those 30 years was that I had a hard time commercializing new ideas.”
13:58 [On the approach that longstanding successful companies have] - “They took a lot of their shiny new ideas and applied it to franchises that had momentum.”
14:46 Yu explains that most companies don't know what makes them iconic.
15:19 [Why it’s critical to keep people in love with your brand] - “Just like consumers fall in love with people, they also fall in love with brands. And just like people, when you fall in love with somebody, you don’t want to fall out of love with them. And if somebody’s in love with you, you’re not going to do things to hurt that relationship.”
15:35 “It’s critical for those of us who are caretakers of brands to take care of that relationship as a love relationship.”
15:59 Basics of the Iconic Brand Pyramid
17:18 “That’s where it starts off - What do you care about?”
Use Your Book as a Business Builder - Interview with guest expert Suzy Prudden
Oct 09, 2017
Suzy Prudden, author of Change Yout Mind, Change Your Body and co-founder of Itty Bitty Publishing
Suzy Prudden talks with Bill Ringle on My Quest for the Best about Itty Bitty Books, entrepreneurship, and why you shouldn't be afraid to just pick up the phone.
>>>Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
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Interview Insights
Key points that you’ll learn from this interview:
How an Itty Bitty Author went from making $100,000 a year to $750,000 a yearWhy it’s so important to pick up the phone and follow-upWhy you shouldn’t give your book away as a business cardHow the internet has changed the publishing industryWhat’s it like to write an Itty Bitty Book
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
00:52 “I was a fitness expert. I had a fitness school in New York City.”1:05 Prudden describes all the rapid changes that occurred after she sold her business at 40.1:33 “I couldn’t pay my franchise fees, so I lost the franchise, thank goodness, so I started to work with entrepreneurs.”1:52 “Working with entrepreneurs is very exciting because entrepreneurs, they have to be self-starters.”2:21 “The most challenging thing for most entrepreneurs, literally, is picking up the phone.”3:03 “People don’t like to hear the word no.”3:55 Why it’s so important to follow up right away.4:49 Prudden discusses the origins of Itty Bitty Publishing.5:10 [On writing the first book with her sister] - “We didn’t know what we were doing, we had no idea what we were doing.”5:25 “We had 2,000 to sell, we have 1,800 left. It just didn’t work.”5:50 “I asked my sister to change the cover of the Itty Bitty Book, and to cut it, make it shorter.”6:40 [On the Amazing Itty Bitty Weight Loss Book] - “My ego had a blip…I looked at my sister and said, ‘Are you sure you don’t want my name on the book?’ And then I looked at the book and said, ‘Actually, that’s a million dollar business.”7:05 “2 weeks later we had our first author, 6 weeks later we had our first published book.”7:19 “Because of the internet, the publishing industry has totally changed.”8:00 “The world is being inundated with information.”8:33 “So when we look at Itty Bitty, we thought: ‘All we want to do is we want information that’s going to make a difference for the reader that they don’t have to weed through.”8:55 [On sorting through larger books for salient info] - “Itty Bitty Books are the yellow highlights.”9:38 [On the type of person who should write a book] - “Any person who has a sort of expertise that they are using in their business.”10:40 How having a book you’ve written in your area of expertise will increase your credibility and open doors for you.11:00 Examples of writers who have written for Itty Bitty Books.11:15 “A lot of our authors sell their books, a lot of our authors give them away, which I don’t like them to do that.”11:30 “People don’t value what they don’t pay for.”11:58 [On why she dislikes people handing out books at conferences] - “If I buy the book because I’m interested in reading [it], that’s a whole different thing.”12:25 “You should not give your book away as a business card, you should sell your book.”13:18 “If you give your book away as a business card, that book usually ends up in a pile that either ends up in the garba...
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