On the Brink with Andi Simon

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Gillian Tett—Hear How Anthropology Can Send Your Business Zooming To The Top Oct 30, 2023

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Learn about another AI: Anthropology Intelligence As a corporate anthropologist, some of my favorite conversations have been with fellow anthropologists. That's why I wanted to share with you again the podcast I did in April 2022 with Gillian Tett, an anthropologist who became a journalist, a bit by chance and then by design. Her book, Anthro-Vision: A New Way to See in Business and Life is about the power of observation. Whether in Tajikistan as an aspiring anthropologist studying marriage rituals or reporting before the financial crisis of 2008, she mastered the art of listening to the stories being told, the resistance to change that people demonstrate, and the wisdom an anthropologist can offer. Could your business benefit from a little anthropology? Listen in for answers. Watch and listen to our conversation here We're all creatures of our own environment. As Gillian tells us, one of the problems with trying to use the methods of anthropology in a corporate setting is that the corporate world likes to see things in shades of black and white and on PowerPoints. For anthropologists say, life is grey and subtle and often contradictory. Anthropologists love to observe, and by capturing the real lives of people, we offer insights that other data capture methods might simply ignore. We know that people don't really know what they are doing and will often tell you what they think you want to hear. It's their stories that offer opportunities to better ascertain the meaning of their culture, if it needs changing, and how to change it. You can connect with Gillian on LinkedIn. Want to learn more about how anthropology could help your business grow? Here's a start: Podcast: John Curran—How Can Anthropology Help Your Business Soar? Podcast: Chris Diming—Isn't It Time For A Little Anthropology in Your Business? Blog: Three Ways Corporate Anthropology Can Help Your Company Change Additional resources for you My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business and On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights My third book, Women Mean Business: Over 500 Insights from Extraordinary Leaders to Spark Your Success, co-written with Edie Fraser and Robyn Freedman Spizman Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Hi and welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. I'm your host and your guide and my job is to get you off the brink. So I try to find people who are going to give you a fresh perspective, see things through a clear lens. Let's just step back and take a moment to be a little anthropological and begin to understand that you really don't know what's happening until you pause and think about it differently. And as you know, in my books, I help you see things through the eyes of my clients who all got stuck or stalled because their stories were so great that they couldn't see all the things that were going on around them. And that's why a little anthropology can help you change, grow and your companies get unstuck. As you know, I myself am a corporate anthropologist, which is why I'm so excited to bring to you today's guest. Today, Gillian Tett is with me. Let me tell you about why she's so special, and why you're going to enjoy watching her or listening to her. Listen carefully to the stories she has to tell. Gillian serves as the Chair of the Editorial Board and Editor at Large in the US of the Financial Times. Forgive me for reading this, but it's very important that you hear it. She writes weekly columns covering a range of economic, financial, political and social issues. She's also the co-founder of Financial Times Moral Money, a twice weekly newsletter that tracks the ESG revolution in business and finance, which has since grown to be a staple FT product. In 2020, Moral Money was the SABEW best newsletter. I'll tell you, it's a great newsletter. Previously, Gillian was a Financial Times US managing editor. And she's also served as assistant editor for the Financial Times markets coverage, and a lot of other things of great importance. I love to read theFinancial Times and I bet you do as well. She's the author of The Silo Effect, which looks at the global economy and financial system through the lens of cultural anthropology. She's also authored Fool's Gold: How Unrestrained Greed Corrupted a Dream, Shattered Global Markets and Unleashed Catastrophe, a 2009 New York Times bestseller and Financial Book of the Year at the inaugural Spirits Book Awards. I must tell you she has written really good books. I brought her here today because she has a new book out called Anthro-Vision. And as you might imagine, it touched me and my heart. And I read right through it. I couldn't stop because it was all about how, what she's calling AI, not artificial intelligence, but anthropological intelligence, more intelligence and a whole new perspective. And what I would like you to understand is how a little anthropology can, in fact, help you and your business see things through a fresh lens and why it's so important. Gillian, thank you for joining me today. Gillian Tett: Well, thank you for interviewing me. And it sounds like we not only have a lot in common, but a lot to learn from each other. I'm interested in your own career and your own story because it sounds fascinating. Andi Simon: Well, I have enjoyed reading about yours. But I'd like you to tell the listeners or the audience about who Gillian is because you've had a great journey that's taken you to many places. And as an anthropologist, I smiled. Just a little aside, I took my daughters when they were four and five to Greece to study Greek women. And I know you'd appreciate this, I learned a whole lot about the Greek woman through my children. I'm not sure what my children learned, but they still love me. And so that's all that matters. Tell us about yourself. Gillian Tett: Anyone who reads my biography would think that I'm thoroughly weird. That has been the reaction of many business leaders, political leaders, economists, grown-ups who pretend to run the world, when they hear about my background because most people who work in high finance or business assume that if you're going to be a journalist writing about them, you should have a PhD in economics or an MBA, or some kind of training in quantitative intellectual pursuits. And my background is actually in cultural anthropology. And I did a BA and then a PhD at Cambridge University in the UK. And what anthropology really is about is looking at human cultures and systems, and what makes people and societies tick, not just in terms of the obvious things that we recognize, but most importantly, the things that we tend to ignore around us all the time. Just like psychologists look at our hidden biases in our brains, anthropologists look at our hidden biases and patterns and assumptions in society. So in my case, I went into anthropology because I was fascinated by the rest of the world. I've always loved to explore and travel. And as a child, I dreamed of going to wacky weird places or places that seem weird to me. But like Indiana Jones, if you like the intellectual world, and cultural anthropology pretty much came out of that impetus in Victorian England, the idea that people would go off to other cultures to find the essence of what it meant to be human. And a lot of what anthropologists did in that way mid-century was indeed to go and travel. That's changed a lot in the 21st century. I'll come on to that in a moment. But I went off in my case to a place called Soviet Tajikistan in 1989. And I spent about a year and a half of my life up in the high mountains in Tajikistan living with a group of wonderful villages. I imagine most people listening are saying, I've got no idea where Tajikistan is on the map, or what it's like there. But basically, if you imagine the scenes you might have seen of Afghanistan on the news, and take out the black veils and put on very brightly colored clothes, then you roughly have the idea of what my village was like. It was in the high, high mountains of the Hindu Kush. And I was studying Tajik wedding rituals there. But I wasn't just studying wedding rituals, I was looking at these rituals and symbols and ceremonies, and all the economic exchanges associated with weddings as a key to try and understand how the Soviet Tajiks reconciled their identities of being Islamic and communist at the same time. Now, after I did my PhD, I then left Tajikistan. I actually became a journalist, originally a war reporter. And then I joined the FT and became an economics correspondent. And for the first few years, it felt as if all my training in cultural studies was completely irrelevant. But it's funny how life works. Because a few years after I started writing about finance, I suddenly realized that actually human beings are humans wherever they are. And in just the same way that I went studying Tajikistan wedding rituals in the Hindu Kush, and looked at how they use symbols and ceremonies to express ideas about their world. To give you an example, two investment bankers get together for gigantic ritualistic ceremonies called investment banking conferences, where they have all kinds of rituals like PowerPoints, and bar meetings, and golf tours. And those rituals and ceremonies and symbols also create social networks, and express all kinds of assumptions which could and should be studied through an anthropologist lens. So the latter part of my career has been all about trying to use this anthropological vision, and apply it to the world of business and finance and economics. And frankly, I think it's something that anybody could benefit from, particularly now, given that COVID has ripped up our normal lives and has thrown us all into culture shock. And we can all benefit by thinking about what makes us really tick. Andi Simon: When you think about that, you in your book play out some of the stories in there. You've provided us with a broad range of fascinating illustrations of the application of anthropology to different situations. Whether it was to a childcare center that wasn't doing well, or getting into pet care, or to the economic crisis of 2008 or what happened with Cambridge analytics, give us some illustrations, some case studies that are some of your favorites. The reason I ask is that, as you were describing, I could imagine being in the highlands of Russia. I took my kids to see what it was like to be a woman in Greece, and I studied the Greek immigrants and they returned to migration. But if you haven't done that, there's no way you know what it's like. And when you do it in modern society, in our businesses, people say, Well, what do you really do? I say, Well, I hang out a lot. And I listen a lot. And I'm looking for all the gaps that are on the sides of what people assume to be true. The only truth is, there's no truth, I tell people, and then they get really frustrated because it's all an illusion that we're living. So some illustrations, some great stories that you enjoy sharing about the ones that really make a difference. Gillian Tett: Well, one of the problems with anthropology and trying to communicate it in a corporate setting is that the corporate world likes to see things in shades of black and white, and things on PowerPoints. And anthropologists say, well life is grey and subtle and often contradictory. And in reality it is, that's really the only way to understand situations. But it's not always easy to boil down into a single chart. But for me, one of the most important moments in my own career was when I realized that actually the same tools I looked at Tajikistan weddings with in terms of analyzing and symbols could and should be applied to investment banking conferences. I went down to the Mediterranean in 2005 to an event called the European Securitization Board and looked at those rituals as if I was seeing them like an anthropologist. It showed me that the bankers that were engaged in that securitization business back in 2005 had all kinds of assumptions that they were barely aware of themselves which were distorting their vision of finance quite significantly and laying the seeds for the subsequent 2008 financial crisis. So when I looked at the bankers at play in their conference, I can see that they were a tribe set apart with a strong sense of their own identity. And like any social group that has a tight network, that was birthed and being reflected and reproduced in the banking conference. And they had a creation mythology. You know, every group has a creation mythology. Their creation mythology was that perfectly liquid markets, so called liquefaction of financial markets, was the ultimate perfect gold, the Holy Grail. And they were so addicted to this idea of a perfect free market. So they kind of failed to see all the contradictions in their creation mythology, like the fact that, although they were creating these innovations supposedly to make markets more innovative and more safe and more prone to perfect trading, most of these new products were so complex, they weren't being traded at all. And they weren't even able to value them with free market prices. Because it wasn't at the market prices, they had these models, the tools they were using to disburse risk were actually introducing new risks in the system because they were too complex for people to know where the risks were. And they said that these tools were done entirely to help people. But there were no faces in their PowerPoints. It was all Greek letters that indicated it wasn't just an accident that there were no faces. And their PowerPoints reflected a mentality that the end user had been kind of screened out of the way they saw finance. And you can say, well, that's kind of a pity. But actually, it had a really practical implication because what it meant was that the people creating new financial products were so caught up with the creation process, they couldn't actually see how the products were being used on the ground at the end of the financial chain. There's a wonderful scene in the movie, The Big Short, where a hedge fund trader goes and meets a pole dancer in Florida. Great scene. The financier, the hedge fund guy, goes, Holy crap, these people are doing this with subprime mortgages. And it was a real shock. And the thing that was shocking was not the fact that subprime mortgages were being used and abused on the ground, it was the fact that so few financiers could see what the end result was because they were so detached. So I came back from my conference, having spotted all this in terms of how the bankers were conducting their rituals, and it's one thing that led me to later warn that there was going to be a financial crisis. And I kept issuing those warnings over and over again. So that's one example where you can use anthropology tools to look at how a social group is blinkered and has blind spots that don't see, which can be dangerous. But in my book, I talk about ways that consumer industry groups can use anthropology to try and understand consumers, to try and understand what really drives fashions and trends to try. And also I've talked about how businesses can use anthropologists to see what's going wrong in their companies. General Motors did that very effectively several times. And you can also use anthropology to understand how other offices really work, or how they don't work. So almost any sphere of life where people are operating can benefit from some anthropology. Andi Simon: Often, I'll take a client with me out to t…

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Kon Apostolopoulos—Time To Build Your Engagement BluePrint To Build A Better Team Oct 23, 2023

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Hear how to create a workplace where people love to work I first had the pleasure of interviewing Konstantinos (Kon) Apostolopoulos for this podcast in July 2020 as the pandemic was raging around the world. He and Dr. Elia Gourgouris had just co-authored the book, 7 Keys to Navigating a Crisis: A Practical Guide to Emotionally Dealing with Pandemics & Other Disasters. Now Kon has written another book due out next year, called Engagement Blueprint: Building a Culture of Commitment and Performance. And what is so fascinating about his new book is that it focuses on business culture change and employee engagement as the keys to business success. Kon and I are both culture change experts and so as you can imagine, I'm excited to learn what he has to tell us today, as I think you will be too. Watch and listen to our conversation here People seek out environments where they feel valued and their needs are being met. Some keypoints from today's discussion: An engaged workforce looks for things that need to get done because they feel appreciated and value helping the company move forward. They're connected and understand clearly what the goals are, and they're looking for opportunities to support their teammates in meaningful ways and make contributions that will make a difference for the organization and for themselves. They look at their daily activities as opportunities to learn, to grow, to capitalize on that, to invest in themselves. When that happens, work becomes learning, work becomes play, work becomes exciting. That's the kind of place where engagement really thrives. People want something more than just financial success. They want, and need, to be valued and appreciated in what they do. We all do. How to reach Kon You can connect with Kon on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and his website Fresh Biz Solutions, or email him at kon@freshbizsolutions.com. Also, take the online version of Kon's self-assessment questionnaire to learn what your organization can do differently to really soar. Want to learn more about Podcast: Richard Sheridan—Joy in the Workplace Podcast: Maria Colacurcio—Stop The Revolving Door. Help Your Employees Embrace A Diverse And Equitable Workplace. Blog: Change Is All Around Us But It's Terrifying. So How Do I Make Change My Friend? Additional resources for you My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business and On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights My third book, Women Mean Business: Over 500 Insights from Extraordinary Leaders to Spark Your Success, co-written with Edie Fraser and Robyn Freedman Spizman Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Hi and welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. Hi I'm Andi Simon. And as you know, my job is to get you off the brink. And I love to do it by bringing you interesting people who are going to help you do something important. You're going to see things through a fresh lens. You're going to feel things differently. And remember, we decide with how we feel and then you're going to think about it. Because if you can see it and feel it, then your brain says, Oh, that's what we're talking about. And today, this is really a great opportunity, particularly coming out of the pandemic, still not being sure or certain about work and life and hybrid and all kinds of things. It's time for us to think about that organization we want to build. So today, somebody whom I interviewed earlier for this podcast, in July 2020, is coming back because he's writing a new book, a solo book: Kon Apostolopoulos, who is a really wonderful gentleman who works with organizations to help them, like I do, change. Let me read you a little bit about his background. He's founder and CEO of Fresh Biz Solutions, Fresh Like That, and Human Capital Management Consultancy, which provides performance improvement and training solutions to help organizations develop their people, improve business results, and reap the benefits of a comprehensive talent management strategy. During the pandemic, he and Dr. Elia Gourgouris published a book called 7 Keys to Navigating a Crisis: A Practical Guide to Emotionally Dealing with Pandemics & Other Disasters. That was terrific and very timely. He's a regular contributor to Thrive Global and Achievers Engagement. I think what you're going to love today is that he has had time to develop a new book on employee engagement. He calls it Engagement Blueprint: Building a Culture of Contribution and Performance. Is that the title? Did I get it almost right? Kon Apostolopoulos: Almost right. Almost right. Commitment and Performance. Both of those are things we're going to talk about today. And hopefully I put down a half a word and then I had a figure. The other half was on. So good thing we can laugh together. Andi Simon: What I think for our listeners and our viewers is so important is that Kon brings both research and experience and expertise to this engagement question. And I love when he talks about it because you're going to begin to think about that blueprint that you need, which lays out a pathway to change what's maybe a little chaotic today into something where employees believe in the place and really want to participate and belong. Kon, thank you so much for joining us. Kon Apostolopoulos: It's such a pleasure to be with you again, Andi. Thank you for having me. Andi Simon: Our problem is going to be to only stay within a half hour or so because we love to talk. There's nothing better than getting together with people who share your passion and your purpose. I want you to talk a little bit about your background so they understand who's Kon. And then we'll talk about the origin myth of this new book, which is so important. Please share with them. Who is Kon? Kon Apostolopoulos: Thank you. It's a pleasure. Kon is right now a 30 year veteran of the Adult Learning Performance Improvement Change Leadership space. I essentially work with people. The company I founded about a dozen years ago, Fresh Biz Solutions, is focused on helping organizations, the kind of organizations that you and I know, Andi, that spend a lot of time and money building, developing very intricate business plans. Where I come in and help is that I ensure that they have the right people in the right place, ready and willing to execute those plans because without them, the organization really has a plan that's not worth the paper it's written on because it needs its people at their best to be able to execute those plans. And a lot of times that comes through workshops and development. A lot of times that comes through one-on-one or group coaching efforts to enhance the commitment that people have as well as their competence. Sometimes it comes with tailored events that need to be facilitated to bring people together and aligned with the goals that we're striving for, and ultimately working with my clients on their systems to make sure that every dollar that they invest in their people is a dollar well spent and it aligns to something that they target that is very purposeful rather than a "nice to have." So I've been doing that for a long time now and I've had the pleasure of working in a number of industries across the spectrum with a number of different types of organizations: public, private, smaller and now much more of that mid- to large-space organizations that have enough people where we can make a difference and truly create the kind of workplace that people can find themselves, they can really align themselves, see themselves achieving their goals, and, oh, by the way, helping the organization be successful as well, because we all deserve that kind of a workplace. Andi Simon: Engagement, though, is always a strange word. People talk about it wishfully. I'm not quite sure they would know it if they saw it. And then I couldn't be sure how they would feel it if it was there. So let's start off with, you know, you've moved through the 30 years into working with organizations large and small, and now you're beginning to really find ways to make a difference. Why? Why should we even think about this thing called employee engagement? Why does it matter? Kon Apostolopoulos: Well, let's approach that from a number of different angles. Let's look at our protagonists in the story. Let's talk about, first and foremost, the employees themselves. People seek out environments where they can feel like their needs are being met. And when we talk about engagement needs, we talk about the need all of us have, first and foremost, to be valued and appreciated in what we do. Second of all, to feel like they belong in that environment, that they're part of a team, part of a tribe. These are basic needs, fundamental needs that we all have. In addition to that, in our workplaces, in our careers, we all seek to feel like we are making a meaningful contribution, that we are able to be productive in what we're doing. So at the end of the day, we feel like we've accomplished something. And ultimately most of us want to know that we are operating in an environment that invests in us, supports us so we can continue to learn and grow so we're not remaining stagnant. So from that perspective, from an employee standpoint, these are basic needs that employees are looking for in their organizations. Now, the book that I'm writing is actually written from the perspective of the employer, the leader, the leader in all of us that now has to try to win the hearts and minds of their people and try to address those needs that people have. And from that perspective, employers are looking at it and saying, "You know what, I put out a lot of things. I spend a lot of my money, my resources, my capital towards my employees. I want to know that that investment is being reciprocated and that there is value for me investing in that." Otherwise, most employers will just settle for what they can get. They'll settle for a situation where they'll think, okay, I'll just pay the basic minimum because I'm not going to get much more than that. Whereas the companies that are truly performing at the highest levels, the brands that we have come to know and appreciate, they do things a little bit differently. They truly capture that engaged spirit of their people. They capture that discretionary effort, that commitment that people can bring to their work that want to see the organization succeed. That's the magic that we're trying to capture and that's the environment that we all deserve to operate in. Andi Simon: Assuming that one who's listening or viewing is beginning to visualize an engaged organization with high levels of employee engagement. And I do this with my own clients, visualize. You can see it. You can become it. So what will a highly engaged workforce feel like or look like? Because while we say the words that they want value and they really want to be connected and productive, how will I see that? Will I know it? What will it feel like? And, what are the actions of the behaviors, not just the spirit that's going to be demonstrated here for an organization to know I'm moving them into an engagement. Tell me, how do I see it? What will it feel like? Kon Apostolopoulos: Well, first and foremost, the feeling is a different level of energy. There's a certain heightened level of energy. There is an excitement, an urgency about the place. There is an environment where you notice that there are leaders at all levels of the organization, people taking personal accountability and ownership of activities. They're not sitting around waiting for people to tell them what to do or not. They aren't just taking advantage of the fact that, Well, guess what, my boss hasn't really contacted me, I'm just going to sit here and play solitaire. Engaged workforce looks for things that need to get done. Why? Because they feel appreciated and value moving forward. They're connected and understand clearly what the goals are, and they're looking for opportunities to support their teammates in meaningful ways and make contributions that they understand and know will make a difference for the organization and for themselves. And ultimately, they look at each one of their daily activities as opportunities to learn to grow, to capitalize on that, to invest in themselves. Because truly, work becomes learning, work becomes play, work becomes exciting. That's the kind of place where engagement really thrives. So as I work with one of my clients and we talk about how to build engagement, I'd probably say something like, Today, people wait to be told what to do. And in an engaged organization, they individually take the autonomy and accountability to try and solve a problem before they have to be told what to do rather than wait to have an idea come from someplace else. They bring the ideas elsewhere so they can see it manifesting into new ways of doing things rather than coming in and punching a clock. They want to see what else. They wake up in the morning, put their feet on the ground and say, How can I do something better today? Is that the kind of thing you're looking at? Andi Simon: Yes, absolutely. Because what you're describing manifests itself with a very different attitude towards work. People are excited to be there. People are looking forward to the opportunity to engage, to see their partners out there because they truly see them as partners. There is a level of ownership, again, that thrives in this environment where people will step forward and say, How can I support you? It's very easy to put your ego aside because you don't feel threatened when you feel like part of the team, like you belong, like you are allowed to be there when you are valued for what you bring, small or large to this to the table. Kon Apostolopoulos: Different people will contribute in different ways. But if you can see that connection between your job, your work, your output and how this moves the organization forward, that's an important part. I mean, we all want to know where we belong and how we fit into this. It's no different than I explain it to a lot of the leaders that I work with. I say, If you have a group photo, Andi, what's the first thing you're going to do when you get it in your hands? You're going to look for…where am I in this picture and how do I fit in. That's right. That's exactly the picture that we need to paint for every single one of our people. So they know clearly in no uncertain terms what they do, where they belong and how they contribute to this and that. That contribution is truly valued and appreciated. Andi Simon: You said something very important because there are times when that picture is of a toxic team and the need to belong overwhelms the need to do well. And consequently, we've all had clients where every department is toxic to the others. You know, finance won't talk to marketing and marketing can't talk to sales. And they all are on a different agenda. And somehow the organization's supposed to thrive. They're all engaged, but not in what you should be. So is there some wisdom you can bring to us today about how you take apart that kind of silos? I'm thinking of a client I had in Mexico where everything was so siloed that nobody wanted to work there. Kon Apostolopoulos: Right. Well, think about what drives a lot of that when we have a scarcity mentality, when the people that are incentivizing the work, that are driving the work, that are directing the work, say, Okay, there'…

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Rohini Anand—Yes, Businesses Can Create Cultures Based On Diversity, Equity and Inclusion But It Requires A Commitment To Change Oct 16, 2023

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Hear how to really live diversity, equity, and inclusion, not just talk it I just love women who are changing the world, and Dr. Rohini Anand is one of them. A pioneer in DEI, Rohini is a global strategic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion leader, a highly revered board member and speaker, and a published author. In her book, Leading Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Guide for Systemic Change in Multinational Organizations, she provides businesses with a blueprint for changing their culture into one where everyone is welcomed, respected, and listened to. Does your organization need to change? Listen in as Rohini tells us how to do it. Watch and listen to our conversation here Rohini's 5 principles for bringing about DEI change: The first principle: Make it local. Global change has to be anchored in an understanding of the local context. Change has to be rooted in the local particulars informed by the history, the culture, the language, and mores of each place. The second: Leaders must change to lead change. Commitment from senior leadership is absolutely fundamental to ensuring that DEI is sustained. The third: It's good business to institute DEI. Frustratingly, 70% of change efforts fail. That's why a change narrative has to be congruent with the organization's purpose and how business is done. The fourth: Go deep, wide, and inside out. Organizations are interconnected systems that work in concert with each other. DEI needs to be infused in the internal processes and systems, as well as externally. There must be a systems approach. And the fifth principle: Know what matters, and counter. Metrics clearly provide a global framework, a cohesive narrative to spotlight problem areas and solutions. To be instruments for change, leaders have to have the right metrics, and they have to hold their teams accountable. How to connect with Rohini You can find her on LinkedIn, Twitter, and her website www.rohinianand.com, or email her at rohinianand1121@gmail.com. Want to know more about DEI and culture change? Start here Blog: How's Your Culture? Doing Fine Or In Drastic Need Of An Overhaul? Blog: How Storytelling Can Transform Your Culture And Energize Your Team Podcast: Kim Graham Lee—How To Build A Culture Where Men And Women Truly Support Each Other Additional resources for you My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business and On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights My third book, Women Mean Business: Over 500 Insights from Extraordinary Leaders to Spark Your Success, co-written with Edie Fraser and Robyn Freedman Spizman Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Hi and welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. I'm Andi Simon, and as you know, I'm your host and your guide. And I've started to tell people on our podcast a little bit more about me, because they keep asking, Who are you? So I'm a corporate anthropologist, and I've specialized for most of my career helping organizations and the people inside them change. And you must recognize that people hate change, your brains would just as soon I go away. But the podcast came about after my book, On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights, was published and won an award. And my second book just won an award as well, Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business. I'm honored to be able to share with you my insights into how people can change, and particularly how corporate cultures must change. So today's guest is a very special woman. I can't wait to share her with you: Rohini Anand. I met Rohini through the Women Business Collaborative, where I'm a member, and she is as well. I read her new book, Leading Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Guide for Systemic Change in Multinational Organizations. Rohini has a wonderful perspective. I'm going to tell you a little bit about her and then let her tell you about her own journey. But remember, our job is to help you see, feel and think in some new ways so you can do something. And the questions around diversity, equity and inclusion are profound. I cannot tell you how many CEOs have said to me, it took me three months to hire some people to diversify my culture. They only lasted three months. And I said, Okay, we have a bigger question here about what is your culture? And why should people belong to it? And humans want to belong. So here's Rohini's background. She is a strategic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion expert, highly sought-after board member, a published author and speaker. She is recognized as a pioneer in DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) and has been on the forefront of leading businesses through lasting change for corporations, not for nonprofit organizations and government agencies worldwide. She was previously senior vice president of corporate responsibility and Global Chief Diversity Officer for Sodexo. And under her leadership, the Sodexo brand became synonymous with leadership in diversity, corporate responsibility and wellness. And I have a hunch she's going to tell you a little bit about her journey. But I'm excited because both in her book and in her work, she's actually making things happen. And for all of you who are wondering, How do you make DEI happen?, you need to listen carefully because this is what's happening. And now the question is, how can we share it so you can do it as well? Rohini, thank you for joining me today. Rohini Anand: Thank you. I'm delighted to be with you, Andi. And looking forward to the conversation. Andi Simon: Let's begin, who is Rohini? What's been your journey? Share it with the listeners, they love the stories. Rohini Anand: Yeah, as you know, anyone involved in diversity, equity and inclusion work, this book is very personal for them. And my story is integral to who I am. I actually grew up in Mumbai, India, and growing up in India, almost everyone sort of looked like me. It is a country with a lot of diversity, many socio-economic classes, religions, ethnicities, languages, etc. I belong to the majority religion, Hinduism, and surrounded by others like me. I had the privilege of not having to think about my identity. So I moved to the United States as a teenager, and went to graduate school. And that really was my inflection point in my both literal and metaphorical journey. And I have to say that my identity shifted from being a person who saw herself as the center of her world to being a foreigner to being an immigrant to being a minority, and I was totally unprepared for that. So it was only when I was identified as a minority did I realize the privileges that came with being part of a majority. I was part of the majority growing up in India, but I had not recognized my privilege in that way. And honestly, I was unable to until I was perceived as a minority and I experienced things differently. So the realization that identity is situational is fluid and informs the research that I did for my PhD and still informs my work. So I would say that this vocation is very personal to me, understanding what it means to be perceived as a minority, as an outsider, is very much at the heart of diversity, equity and inclusion work. And I am fortunate that my vocation and my avocation are perfectly aligned. So it's a little bit about my journey to the work that I do today. I continue to do this work. You're right, I worked for Sodexo for 18 years. And we were hired from Sodexo in 2020, just before COVID hit, was the time to write my book. And since then I've been doing booktalks, strategic coaching and advising, and I'm on several boards, but I continue to do this work that's so meaningful to me. It is part of who I am. Andi Simon: Well, being who you are, when you were at Sodexo, I have a hunch you explored and learned a great deal about the challenges of building a diverse culture, particularly a global one. Now is that a good place for us to start to talk about the learnings that went on there because it was very profound. You went from India, I've been to India, it's quite a complicated place. And coming here, discovering a culture that had a different attitude, different values, everything about you being here was different. And somehow you had to find a way of belonging, and humans want to belong. Some of the insights that came from the Sodexo experience would be really helpful, I think, to our listeners. Rohini Anand: So Andi, when I joined Sodexo, there was a fairly serious lawsuit. And I didn't quite understand or really recognize the seriousness of that lawsuit until about six months after I was hired, when it was certified as a class action lawsuit that was settled for over $80 million. It was a discrimination lawsuit filed by African Americans in the company. And I share that because you know what I say in the book, and the journey really was from class action to best in class. So that was the sort of situation that I stepped into. But with the support of leadership, we were able to change the culture around and became known for leadership and diversity, equity and inclusion in the United States. And then it was a question of scaling this work globally. So what I found was that doing this global DEI work is very complex. It's very dynamic. There's no checklist, there's no playbook, I don't even think any best practices are adequate. But there were these five principles that showed up each time when I did the work that are absolutely critical. And they provide a true line. Each of the principles is simple. It's a simple statement. It's based on my experiences, but also experiences of my colleagues who've done the heavy lifting in their organizations. They're simple, but they're disruptive. And they don't provide any sort of standards, the plug and play templates based on what's worked in the US, because that's been a foundational mistake—to replicate what works in one part of the world, in other parts of the world. So these principles can be applied with sensitivity to any culture, and really empower global leaders to develop their own solutions, not to mimic any one experience, but really develop their own solutions. So the principles are, and this is what I think is absolutely foundational in doing this culture change work, because it is about transformation, it's about culture change. The first step is make it local. And global change has to be anchored in an understanding of the local context. It has to be rooted in the local particulars informed by the history, the culture, the language and mores of each place. We have to consider the power dynamics, identify those that are the subordinate and not subordinate in dominant groups, identify how identity is defined, how it's expressed. But understanding doesn't mean accepting the status quo. Because outside influence can be cancerous for change. They can raise issues that those within a culture may not be able to see. Like, I was not able to see my own privilege, because of power dynamics. But this works best when local change agents are empowered to partner with outside influencers. So it's about pushing the status quo, disrupting and pushing for change, but doing it with an understanding of the local context. The second is what I call leaders change to lead change. And we know very well that commitment from senior leadership is absolutely fundamental to ensuring that the DEI is sustained. And when leaders embrace the DEI with authentic purpose and passion, the organization goes from performative action to sustainable progress. So leaders really need to internalize the benefit of doing it to themselves personally, and to the organization, that often requires the destruction of their worldview, and the painful work of introspection. And this happens often through stories, not necessarily data. But I think it's important as leaders do seek out these disruptive experiences as they take ownership of their own learning, and be mindful of the toll that it takes for people with those lived experiences to share the experiences again and again and again. And so it takes leaders who intentionally prioritize the DEI as they would any other business imperative. So that's the second principle: leaders change lead change. The third is: it's good business to, and without a compelling reason for change. We all know 70% of change efforts fail. But there's reasons this sort of change narrative has to be congruent with the organization's purpose and how business is done. The fourth principle is: go deep, wide, and inside out. And that really speaks to the fact that organizations are interconnected systems that work in concert with each other. And DEI needs to be infused in the internal processes and systems and externally, so you have to take a systems approach. And then the last one, the fifth principle is: know what matters and counter. And metrics clearly provide a global framework, a cohesive narrative to spotlight problem areas and solutions. And to be instruments for change, they've got to have the right metrics, and you've got to hold your teams accountable. So make local leaders change to lead change. And it's good business to go deep, wide and inside out and know what matters. These five principles I think are absolutely critical to any change. Andi Simon: Well, I love your principles. They are very much congruent with the culture change work that we do. But there are some things I'd like to dig a little deeper into, because the leader changing the way they see diversity, and equity and inclusion are essential. They're the leader. The question is, how do you get them to change? Remember, we live the story in our minds. If we don't collaborate with our mind, our mind does exactly what it thinks we want it to do. And so the research on the mind is so compelling. Now, the question is, how do we get leaders to change that story, so that it isn't the outsider who you're bringing in sort of gratuitously, the outsider is essential to the growth of the organization, and how we now build a culture where we value that diversity as opposed to want to eliminate it, or control it or put it into a certain box. The thing that always worries me, having been an executive in two banks, you said you tend to bring in the diversity and put them into buckets where they belong. And they were sort of a stereotype of what kind of jobs they should hold, and where those people should be. And that by itself wasn't diversity, or equity or inclusion. It was a different way of building mosaics, which wasn't particularly good. Share with us. And I'm particularly interested in, How do I start with the leader? Because I think that's where we have to start. Rohini Anand: You're absolutely right, we do have to start there. Let me share two quick stories. So you know, one story is about a particular leader who mentored a woman who is part of the organization, and she managed high security facilities. And after mentoring her, he came to me and he said, "If you had presented me with two candidates, a male and a female, and asked me to hire the best qualified candidate for a high security facility, I would have chosen the man because you need an aggressive, assertive leadership style. So it's a dangerous environment, I would never have chosen the woman." But he says, after having mentored this woman, who's extremely effective, "She has a different leadership style. And she is very effective. She gets the assignment. I will never let an unconscious bias impact my talent decisions again." So I think that's the story of basically prov…

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Joanna Hardis—"Just Do Nothing: A Paradoxical Guide To Getting Out Of Your Way" Oct 09, 2023

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Learn how to let go of worry and fear by learning new habits Today I bring you Joanna Hardis, a beautiful woman whom you're going to love listening to. Joanna is focused on helping people with anxiety-related issues and obsessive compulsive disorders, so this is a person you really might like to know more about if that's something that is in your life. She can give you strategies to help you break through the barriers that are holding you back and learn to let feelings be, which is what she talks about in her new book, Just Do Nothing: A Paradoxical Guide to Getting Out of Your Way. Like me, Joanna preaches that change is hard but we can do it, we really can change and have a happier, more fulfilling life. Listen in and enjoy. Watch and listen to our conversation here Change your thinking, change your behavior Joanna teaches us that when your brain wants to go to the "worry story," that state of mind that's causing you to be anxious, that is when you can learn specific skills to say, "Nope, I'm going to let that story be." It's really about doing nothing with those thoughts, letting the thoughts be, letting the feelings be there. She says that you may feel worried, but you're not going to engage in those feelings, you're going to let them be, instead of trying to get rid of them which actually makes the worry and the fear stronger. This really is quite fascinating and as she says, paradoxical. How to reach Joanna You can connect with Joanna on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and her website. Her email is joanna@joannahardis.com. Want to learn more about how to find more joy? Try these: Podcast: Paula Guilfoyle—How Do You Manage Your Emotions To Build Better Conversations For Exceptional Results? Podcast: Meg Nocero—Can You Feel Joy As You Rethink Your Life? Blog: You Can Find Joy And Happiness In Turbulent Times! Additional resources for you My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business and On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Hi and welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. I'm Andi Simon, and as you know, I'm your host and your guide. And I love to find people to bring to you who can help you see, feel and think in new ways so that you can get off the brink. I want you to soar. But sometimes we don't really know how to do that. We want to. We may even visualize what life could be like if it wasn't so…and fill in that blank. But how do I do that? So today, Sarah Wilson, who I love, brought me Joanna Hardis, who is a beautiful woman who you're going to love listening to. Let me tell you about her and then she'll tell you about her own journey because she has a new book. And we'll talk a little bit about the book today. It's called Just Do Nothing: A Paradoxical Guide to Getting Out of Your Way. So here's Joanna's background. She's a licensed independent social worker, a therapist and an executive coach in Ohio, and that's her main business. She's committed to helping people overcome complex challenges. And I know some people who watching this podcast are going to say, That's me, I got it and it's okay. So they can lead high quality lives. Her expertise lies in cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT, which you may know about, an exposure and response prevention for adults, children and adolescents. You can find her on LinkedIn and learn a lot more about her. A couple of things I just want to highlight. She really is focused on helping people in the face of anxiety-related issues and obsessive compulsive disorders. So this is a person you really might like to know more about if that's something that is disturbing you and she can identify what's holding you back and give you strategies to help move you forward. And today, the things that I think we're going to talk about as we talk about doing nothing, it's called empower you to understand, break through the barriers that are holding you back, create your own sliding scale of distress, and learn to let feelings be instead of letting them go. We'll come back to these, and I'm sure Joanna is going to tell you a whole lot more about them. Please, thank you for joining us. Joanna Hardis: Thank you for that lovely introduction, Andi. Appreciate that. Andi Simon: Well, I appreciate having you. Our audience will as well. I'm curious about both your background, your journey, the origin of this great book, and then what our listeners will learn from our podcast today about this complex world that we're in and the anxiety that often arises. And life is too short. We have to find better ways to live it. Your story. Joanna Hardis: Yes. So how I got here. I imagine, well, I never intended to be a therapist. I sort of just happened to get here. I went to college, pre-med, not really even wanting to be pre-med. I wanted a fellowship in high school to do independent study and had a real interest in working with people with HIV. So I was in high school in the 80s when HIV was really emerging on the scene. I don't know how it emerged, but I had an interest in working with people with HIV and AIDS. So a friend and I got a fellowship to do independent study and worked with physicians at a local hospital working with people with HIV and AIDS. So I went to college, went to Cornell and had this real interest in having a career in HIV and AIDS, and was told at Cornell like, Oh, then you're pre-med. And I was not a very savvy student, despite being at Cornell. So I was in a pre-med track and realized quickly that it was not for me. And went to my advisor who said, What do you like? And I said, I really like people. And so the advisor said, Okay, well, maybe you're a social worker and not someone who at that time was very savvy. Again, I said, Okay, well let me give this a shot. Let me give this social work thing a shot. And I got to do an internship. So I went to Costa Rica and lived and worked. And I thought that was incredibly cool. So I kind of found my way into social work, never thinking about other career paths like psychology or counseling, but really found my way into social work by happenstance. I started my career in HIV. I spent about a decade in HIV, still hold it very near and dear to my heart, but really fell in love with working with people and have a real interest in what makes people click and the brain and helping people move forward. So my career started in HIV and AIDS and I got trained in cognitive behavioral therapy and have really always had this interest in helping people who are in very complicated situations, working collaboratively to move them forward. And so I have been able to partner with people throughout my career, and I'm in my 27th year as a cognitive behavioral therapist. I do that and really work with people in different areas of life. So I've been with people with HIV and AIDS. I've worked in an eating disorder treatment center, which is unbelievably challenging. I've worked with young entrepreneurs. I have volunteered during the pandemic with therapy aides, just giving, volunteering with frontline workers to now having my own private practice where I have really committed to working with people with anxiety disorders because it just makes so much sense to me. Anxiety disorders and obsessive compulsive disorder. Andi Simon: And there is an abundance. There's an epidemic of this. Joanna Hardis: Yes. Andi Simon: And so it's not as if you're looking at a needle in a haystack. It is the haystack. Joanna Hardis: It is. It is. And, you know, we know from data that parents who struggle, it has an impact on children. So I find it incredibly rewarding. I stopped seeing kids and adolescents during Covid because I had to move virtually. And so now my practice is adult. But I do work a lot with parents to change their behavior because we know that that can help children. We need a different way in which to help people that are struggling. Andi Simon: And before we get into the book, which I'd like to know more about as to why you wrote it and what the listener can benefit from. But give us some context here for the audience, around where does anxiety come from? And the context, because what you're talking about is that it becomes contagious. What's going on with the parents? It gets picked up as normal by the children, who then spread it among other children who think we should all be anxious instead of we should all be happy. But I'm making that up. You help me help you, What is it like and how can we better identify it? Joanna Hardis: Sure. And there is a difference between an anxiety disorder and anxiety, which is just a normal state and a normal reaction, for instance, to fear. So it exists on a continuum. So let's walk it back a little bit to the difference between fear and worry, because oftentimes we confuse fear and worry. Fear is a response to a threat. So someone cuts you off on the highway and you get that fear. You get that flood of adrenaline in your whole body, you get the whoosh, the flood of adrenaline. That's fear. It is a response to a biological threat, an external threat. Well, what if that happens again? What if someone cuts me off again? And what if that car is too close and oh my gosh, what if I need to go really slowly? That cognitive process to fear is what we call worry. Andi Simon: Good. Great distinction. Joanna Hardis: Right. And if you're still feeling the physical sensations, we would say, I am feeling anxious. Andi Simon: Gotcha. This is perfect, I know exactly who's listening today. And that is exactly what they have gone through. And an initial fear of something that is now turned into anticipatory worry about it. Right. And it makes them anxious and unable to make good decisions. Joanna Hardis: Yes. Now, and we may say that anxiety, perhaps that ride, you may feel anxious. But if that worry or that anxiety persists and the person every single time they get in the car or they think about getting in the car, they are worrying and they're feeling anxious and it is starting to impair and it could impair their life because every time they're thinking about it, they are worrying. Then we are starting to cross the line. And we may say that it could be crossing over if it happens for long enough. Yeah, it could cross over into an anxiety disorder. Or we may say it's excessive worrying. Andi Simon: Yeah. Those are great words because it's difficult to know whether the situation requires a suitable amount of fear reaction or anticipating it. You're worrying about something that may never, ever happen again and impairs your life. You're smiling at me, but I really understand that for some situations, people are so anxious that they can't take a step forward, they get locked in their own fear. Joanna Hardis: Exactly. And then you know what? You have nailed it, Andi. And what people don't recognize, they wouldn't because they don't know this stuff, is that the more time someone spends worrying about it, it is training their brain that this is important and that this is dangerous and that this fear that they have is actually relevant in the absence of any data that says it's relevant. So the brain gets trained and then the brain is going to say, oh my gosh, we need to be extra vigilant. Andi Simon: Yep. And they can't articulate what the crisis will be because it has nothing to do with the facts of what's going on. It has to do with their worry factor. Joanna Hardis: Yes. Yes, exactly. Exactly. And so learning how to stay out of the story, the worry story, because there's nothing in their direct experience that speaks to that. This is what is happening right now. Andi Simon: It is. But it's also very interesting about the connection between something that might have happened as opposed to not knowing why I'm here. And I have a hunch that sort of leads to our discussion about what you do and what this book is intended to do. Because once you see that progress and the dead end and the only way you can revert people back to seeing the world in a positive way is to back it up somehow and rethink it somehow or restructure it somehow. Help me help them. Joanna Hardis: Unfortunately, the brain can't unlearn. Andi Simon: Yes. Joanna Hardis: So the brain cannot unlearn that. You had that frightening experience. But what we can do is we can create new learning. Andi Simon: Yes. Joanna Hardis: And so that's what the person needs to focus on, is that in this direct moment, in this present moment when their brain wants to go to the worry story, that is when they need to learn the skills to say, Nope, whatever it is that I want to go into the worry story, I need to learn how to let that story be. It's really doing nothing with those thoughts, letting the thoughts be, letting my feelings be there. I may feel worried, but I'm not going to engage in them, letting that stuff be. And the focus is on the action that's important. So getting in the car and driving and not paying attention to, oh my gosh, well, what if this happens? What if I get cut off? What if someone drives too close? It's doing what we know in the moment is in the behavior. And letting the other stuff be. Andi Simon: So I am curious about the book because I love this idea of when these things arrive, you've got to learn new thinking processes and new behaviors, so you become consciously competent about how to change what I'm thinking and feeling. So I begin to do it and practice it so I can become good at it. Right? It's like a game. We don't think of it as a game, but it is, to learn new habits. Joanna Hardis: Correct. And it's paradoxical. So the title, you know, the catchy title is Just Do Nothing. But then the subtitle, which is The Paradoxical Guide for Getting Out of Your Way. The paradox is that, and I suspect people that listen to you can relate. People are used to doing more. Yeah. And when people are feeling a lot and feeling more, they're used to doing more to get rid of it. So they think more. They ruminate more, they worry more. Andi Simon: And they write long, long, long, long, long things about it that you can't figure out what it's all about. Right? Joanna Hardis: Yes. Well, exactly. And so it's doing more to try to get rid of it that makes the worry and the fear stronger. So what we want to do is to learn how to get the skills, to do less with how we're feeling and the thoughts that are so troublesome. And so that's what the book helps people learn: the skills to practice in very small ways that build on each other to do that. And then they do it in gradually more stressful situations. Andi Simon: So Joanna, talk to us about where this book came from, this is your first book. Joanna Hardis: This is my first. Andi Simon: My first book took me four years, my second book, only two, my last one, a year. I mean, we begin to figure out how to write a book and why it's important, but this is an important book. Where did the idea come from and how did it develop? Joanna Hardis: It was interesting. People have always suggested I write a book and I always said I'd never had anything to write a book about. So I didn't really have an intention. And then I had been doing workshops with a colleague that I met who also is interested in anxiety work, and we had been doing them on helping people change their relationship with distress and discomfort. So I had been working professionally in this space in addition to my practice. And then a year ago I had a curveball in my own life. I was dat…

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Jessica Yarborough—How To Take Your Business From Stalled To Unbelievably Successful Sep 25, 2023

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How can you achieve all that you are worth? Listen in and find out. Are you a business or organization that wants to significantly accelerate your growth? Don't miss my conversation with Jessica Yarborough. It's one of my favorites over our six years of doing this podcast (has it really been six years??) and I wanted to re-share it with you so you too can learn from her wisdom in case you missed her the first time in 2022. We talk about the challenges people face who are not reaching their income goals and how this leads to some soul-searching. I love how Jessica says, "If you need to make a decision, go somewhere alone and be with yourself and your inner thoughts. The answer that you're seeking will reveal itself." Let's all practice this. Watch and listen to our conversation here How build your sales, create long-term clients and hit your income goals, according to Jessica Research your clients Work with people with proven track records to bring you results Stay focused on the process. You can connect with Jessica on LinkedIn, Facebook, her website, her blog or her YouTube channel. To learn more about scaling up your own business, here are some recommendations: Blog: The 5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Scale Your Business Podcast: Bruce Eckfeldt—How Can You Really Scale Your Business to Succeed? Podcast: Allison Maslan—Scale or Fail: Hiring the Right Folks for the Right Fit Additional resources for you My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business and On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink with Andi Simon. Hi, I'm Andi Simon and as you know, my job is to help you get off the brink. I do that by looking for really wonderful people to come and speak to you about new ways to see things, feel differently, think about them, and actually do them. So today I have Jessica Yarborough with us. What's really interesting is that we found each other on LinkedIn. And LinkedIn is one of those remarkable places to help people see, feel and think in new ways. I think you're going to love her story because she's going to help you think about where you're going and how she has some great tools and ideas about how to help you get there. So let me tell you a little bit about Jessica and then she'll tell you her story. Jessica has quickly developed a reputation of being one of the best business strategists and marketing and sales consultants for entrepreneurs like myself, and sales consultants who want to sell high value products and services. Her background is in international businesses and she's built multiple companies. You are going to love today's journey with her because it's interesting. This is a wonderful story by a brilliant woman. Jessica is a genius at showing entrepreneurs how to build an expert platform, rapidly raise their value, and build their credibility online to attract high-paying clients. She travels the world teaching and inspiring entrepreneurs and helping them grow their influence and income so they can have the impact that they want. This is such fun. I'm anxious to hear your story, as well as to share it with my audience. So who are you? And how did you get here? Tell us about yourself. It will be fun to share it, please. Jessica Yarborough: Andi, thanks so much. Well, as you mentioned, and to your audience, I am a business strategist. And today I'm focused on helping scale up coaching and consulting businesses, but I didn't start here. You know, many, many, many years ago I managed multiple companies. I actually built a startup here in San Diego but the work was intense and the hours were grueling. And I remember I actually, even though I built a company, literally, we didn't even have desk computers on day one which was so phenomenal to build. I actually was on vacation, and I had a spiritual awakening. And I had a moment where I realized that even though I had built something that I was really proud of, it wasn't in alignment with where I wanted to go with my life. And now in that moment, I made one of the most empowering decisions in my life, which was to make a decision all on my own, and to follow that inner guidance. So essentially, I flew back to the United States, I walked away from my company, bought a one way ticket, and I spent four years traveling the world, going deep into personal development, spirituality, and really finding out who I was at the core of myself. I had great adventure stories around that but I did come back to the US. After about four years, I got pregnant with my daughter and became a single mom. Okay, time to build again. And I started my consulting business literally, and raised a child on my own to build it to seven figures, and have helped many, many clients reach high six and seven figures in their own businesses. Andi Simon: In my book, Rethink: Smashing the Myths of Women in Business, there are several women who went on their own journeys. One went through Africa. One went through Europe and Israel on $5 a day. As an anthropologist, the journey isn't inconsequential. So I don't want to jump immediately into who you are today. Can you share a little bit about some of the discoveries during that journey that prepared you for who you became. If you can, that would be really interesting to share. Jessica Yarborough: I mean, I will say it was probably the most magical time in my life. There's so many insights that you can garner from looking at other cultures. One of them being how similar we really are. It doesn't really matter how you were raised. At the core, we all have the same basic needs. Being able to learn from other cultures, their food, their spirituality. From spending time in silent meditation at retreat centers in Thailand to literally, practicing yoga in ashrams in Bali, to living in the jungles of Costa Rica. There are so many different experiences that really colored my world, about nature, about spirituality or God, connection to the earth, about human beings and our desire for love and appreciation and connection. And all of those shaped who I am today. I don't think that I would be the business woman I am today without them. I would have been successful had I continued on my trajectory when I was younger, but I would not be who I am nor have the same depth in terms of level of fulfillment and purpose. Andi Simon: Well, with that in mind, my hunch is you've brought that to your clients. So there are some things that I know you would like to share about how you approach a client and their own trajectory to begin to infuse their growth. Whether it's a consultant or an entrepreneur, or someone inside a company trying to grow their own capabilities, how do you approach a client? And how do you bring this wisdom to them, to inspire them to maybe rethink where they're going? Jessica Yarborough: Absolutely, we all need someone outside of us to help us see our own greatness. You know, hold up the mirror to what we cannot see. We are typically blind to our innate gifts. Even the most successful people I know, and I work with CEOs who have built 14 companies, and it's hard sometimes for even them to own their brilliance, their gifts. Part of the first thing I do is hold up that mirror for them and help them not only to recognize the incredible achievements that they've made in their life, but to actually see the pattern of really where their strengths lie because we all can do a lot of different things. And part of growing and excelling at anything is to become an expert at anything. We have to choose what are the core things that really are our greatest gifts. What is our unique genius and then we need to codify them in a way that we can teach, we can inspire, we can transfer knowledge to others. And so that's one of the first things I do with my clients is really help them codify, What is their genius? Andi Simon: And do you do that in a particular process? Or is it done through conversational coaching? Or do you have a methodology that you can share? Jessica Yarborough: Yeah, it's phase one of my methodology. So I have five systems that I teach to scale up companies. And the first one is the foundation of everything. It's your offer, your impact system, it's how you're going to make an impact in the world with your gifts. And this is the WHO understanding. Who do you want to serve at the deepest level? And that may not be who you served in the past. We might completely reposition you. That's the HOW. How you're going to take your clients who are in the pain of their existing reality, they're struggling, they're frustrated, and you are going to essentially build a bridge to their ultimate vision. You are going to save them years of time and frustration, divorce, whatever it may be, and take them to their ultimate reality. So codifying that, HOW, and then tying it into that WHAT. What it is you actually sell, and then bringing the WHY behind why it is what you do. All of that is absolutely necessary to the foundation of a business. What you do, who you are, who you serve, and how you do it. Andi Simon: You know, as an anthropologist, I often work with my clients on their stories. Whether it is a corporate culture story, or it's an individual one, we help them change. Usually, we're helping the individuals change as well as the institution. But what you just described are the elements of a good story. And the story that we usually carry around may not be the one that's going to take us to the next stage. If I hear you correctly, we have to take apart the current story and begin to build that new one in such a way as we can visualize, and I use that word very intentionally. Because if you can't see it, you can't be it. Consequently, that story and the telling of that story becomes an important part of how we begin to see where we're going. And then the question is, how do you get there? Because what we often find is that I get them to figure out that story, about what it is they want to be either as a person or as a company, and then how do you backward plan it. They all get stymied on the action steps, the small wins, the actual change. Sometimes I tell them it's like theater. Life is like theater, and you know the script for Macbeth. But tomorrow, you're gonna play Hamlet and you don't have a script and you don't have any time on stage. So how are we going to do this? So as you've developed this, is my model similar to yours? And how do you help them actually implement these things? Jessica Yarborough: I definitely think there are similar parallels, because we do have to have the WHAT identified and there is a story behind that. One of the first things we do after we develop that is I teach them to teach their system to tell their story. And as you know, as a storyteller, you have to be able to bring in emotion. You have to be able to also back it up with logic for those that want to justify sales. And so having that beautiful story is actually the very center of everything that we do together next: which is their messaging, their positioning, literally it is the foundation, everything that we do in my program. Beyond that comes from that original story. Andi Simon: Yes. So once you get that in your head, then we now need to tell it and the messaging becomes really critical. Jessica Yarborough: Absolutely. So phase two of my system is marketing, which is your influence system. It's how you're going to generate widespread awareness, eager excitement and demand for your services. And there's really three phases to that. One is an audience. You have to have the right people who are listening to you, who are going to lean in and ultimately take action and buy from you, or download something or whatever the action may be. And I think a lot of people get caught on having a massive audience,not about quality, it's really about quantity. It's about having the right people in there who are your dream people, and the name of the game is then relevancy. We can do that with your messaging. Messaging allows you to really cut through the noise and to create a depth of trust and rapport without them even having gotten on the phone call with you. And so that, if you can get that piece right, which we help you with, it makes a huge difference in terms of your ability to grow your business. And then the third one is positioning. So a lot of online entrepreneurs have what I call weak positioning. So they may know that they're the expert, or feel that they're the expert, but the world around them still sees them on a peer to peer level. So we have to shift the perception because someone is not going to pay you to solve their problem if they believe you are a peer. They are looking for someone who is elevated, who is a mentor, who is ahead of them in some way, who can fill that gap for them. So it's very important that we address the audience, the messaging, and the positioning in order to elevate them as an expert. Andi Simon: This is really brilliant. I am curious, is there a case study or something you can share with our listeners that illustrates this in some way? Sometimes we have to concretize the story. And the steps sound really very big and important. A case study might bring it all together. Jessica Yarborough: So I have many case studies. One I'll share is about my client, Michelle. She's a business coach, and in the interior design industry, and she was stagnant at about $250 to $300,000 a year. She had a lot of different products, you know, too many offers. And we always help you hone in into just two, maybe three max. And she wanted to change her positioning in the marketplace and go after a high caliber market. So we really walked her through this process and helped her finally take all these theories that she had kind of spun off and put it into one really beautiful system. And she was able to take that system and scale her company to a million dollars in 12 months. And then we were able to repeat that and exceed that number just nine months later. Andi Simon: That's very exciting. It sounds like all the stuff was there. It just needed a new package. Jessica Yarborough: So many people tell me when they come to me that they've tried a lot of different things. They've piecemealed it together, they've cobbled it together. It's not totally reinventing the wheel, it's taking what's already inside you and pulling it together into a beautiful system that is sophisticated, that can elevate you and you can ultimately scale your business with. Andi Simon: Now, are you working just with entrepreneurs or just with consultants? Are you working with a broad spectrum of people? As the audience that is listening, are you relevant for all of them? Because I think you are but I'm just curious whether you apply it in more context than just, perhaps, a consultant. Jessica Yarborough: So my focus is mostly on coaches, consultants, trainers, speakers. I also have an agency for our clients as well. Typically, if you're outside of the coaching and consulting world, you are working with me on a one to one level. So I do help companies in that regard. But in the past, I've certainly worked with all kinds of companies and all different levels from health care to nonprofit to spiritual conscious businesses. But my focus is really how can I apply the system and if you have a service based business, and if your goal is to sell high end because I don't do courses or membership models, or any of that. I am a digital marketing expert, I c…

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Shellye Archambeau Is Unapologetically Ambitious And Shows Us How We Can Be Too Sep 18, 2023

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Learn how to become the trailblazing leader you were meant to be! Shellye Archambeau is an amazing woman. I was honored to interview her back in 2020 and was so impressed with what she had to say that I wanted to share her wisdom with you again. An experienced CEO and Board Director with a formidable track record of building brands and high performance teams, Shellye has dynamically led technology-focused organizations for over 30 years. Her secret? "You just need a lot of personal belief in your own skills and a vision of yourself as a leader." As I always say, if you can see it, you can be it! And Shellye helps us all see it. Enjoy. Watch and listen to our conversation here A highly accomplished leader with an unassailable belief in herself Yes, Shellye has had an illustrious career with a lot of firsts. But as she will tell you, being the first African American woman to achieve what she has was never easy. She broke through, forged ahead, and now inspires others to do the same. Her book, Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers, and Create Success on Your Own Terms, powerfully tackles how you too can break through your own hurdles, road blocks and glass ceilings that might be holding you back. Want to surge ahead but not sure how? Listen in as Shellye tells us! Meet Shellye Archambeau The former CEO of MetricStream, a GRC company based in Palo Alto, CA, Shellye Archambeau has held executive positions at numerous major companies, including a 15-year career at IBM where she became the first African American woman to gain an international assignment. As well as being a guest lecturer at her alma mater, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Shellye is an author and a regular contributor for Xconomy. She currently serves on the boards of Verizon, Nordstrom, Roper Technologies and Okta, and is also a strategic advisor to the Royal Bank of Canada, Capital Markets Group and Forbes Ignite. You can contact Shellye on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and her website. You can also email her at shellye@shellye.com. To learn more about how to be a better, more accomplished leader, check out these 3 podcasts: Sara Canaday—Can You See The Gaps That Are Holding You Back From Being A Great Leader? Dr. Srikumar Rao—Why You Must Undergo Personal Transformation Before You Can Become An Effective Leader Jennifer Kluge—Meet The Leader To Build Your Business Into One Of The Best And Brightest Additional resources for you My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business and On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. Hi, I'm Andi Simon, your host, and it's always such a pleasure and a privilege to have you join us for our podcast. Remember, my job is to help you get off the brink. And today, it's a very important time for us to step back and rethink who we are, where we're going, and really to begin to plan the next phase in our own lives, our careers. It's a time of change. And so I have with us today a wonderful woman that I want to share with you. Shellye Archambeau is a marvelous woman. I'll tell you about her in a moment. But she's got a message that I think is important for us to understand and begin to figure out how to apply to our own careers and our own lives. It's a time to rethink what matters, and it's a good time to hear from Shellye. So a little bit about Shellye and why I have her here. She's a businesswoman and former CEO of Metrics Stream. She was an executive at IBM and she had a 15 year career there. She was the first African American woman at the company to be sent on assignment internationally. She's a guest lecturer for the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, her alma mater. She's a writer, a co-author of the book Marketing That Works, and she has been rated one of the top 25 brick and mortar executives by Internet World. She's received numerous awards throughout her career. In 2014, she was named one of the 46 most important African Americans in technology. The year before, she was number two on the list of the 25 most influential American African Americans in technology. This is just a long list of accolades and accomplishments, and that's why it's so exciting to have Shellye with us today. Shellye has a new book called Unapologetically Ambitious. And she's going to tell you more about its title, but also about what she hopes for you to learn from her own journey. Shellye, thanks for joining me today. Shellye Archambeau: Oh, thanks so much for having me, Andi. I've been so excited and looking forward to this. Andi Simon: Can I share with everybody that it's your birthday? Shellye Archambeau: Sure. I'm spending it with all of you. Andi SImon: All your best friends. You didn't know you had so many new best friends. Shellye Archambeau: That's right. Andi Simon: But it is a special day for me because I was honored to meet you and I'm so excited to share with you. Please tell the audience about your own journey, because I think it's an important one for them to understand how we get to unapologetically ambitious. Please. Shellye Archambeau: Well, thank you very much. I really do appreciate it. So my journey, I actually have to start pretty young to really share the foundation that represents who I ultimately became. So I grew up the oldest in a family of four. My father moved around a lot as he built his own career and job, and we found ourselves moving from Philadelphia, which was an extremely diverse place, to California, a suburb way outside of LA, where I was the only black girl in my class, but I think it was actually in the whole school. And given that it was the 60s, you know, everything was just charged. You had the civil rights movement, you had everything going on during the Vietnam War. You had feminism rising. I mean it was just a very charged-up environment. And here I am, a little girl going into first grade. We actually moved over Christmas. So here I am going into first grade, had to walk to school every day and people treated me terribly. I don't know any other way to describe it. I walked along a busy thoroughfare every day and people would yell awful things at me out their windows. You know, kids would physically bully me. I got beat up by classmates. Meaning it was not a good situation. So it taught me very early in my life that the odds were just not in my favor. So it caused me, first, to actually really close in as a kid. Fortunately, I had good parents and had a couple of teachers that really made a difference. And it became incumbent for me to really become intentional about what I did, really as protecting myself. So I learned early that if I wanted to do something, I needed to actually figure out how I could make it happen because it wasn't just going to happen for me. And that same approach I actually have taken all through my career. So I started early. I said, All right, what do I want, what do I need to do? And I was fortunate; in high school, I had a guidance counselor who asked me, Shellye, what do you want to do? And I said, I want to go to college so I can get a good job. And she said, Okay, well, what do you want to do in your job? And I said, I'm not sure. And she said, What do you like to do? And I loved running clubs. I was president of American Field Service and National Honor Society, and I ran the French club. All these things. I love running clubs. And she said, Well, running a business is just like running a club. Get people together, right? What did I know? I said, Okay, great. That's what I'm going to do. So I decided, no problem. So literally, I decided. I was like a junior in high school. I decided that I'm going to go run a business. Andi Simon: I love your story. Keep telling me. Shellye Archambeau: So anyway. But again, back to, I know the odds are not in my favor. And so when I did the research, and back then it wasn't easy, research. Now you just click a few keys. Back then, it was going to the library looking at magazines. Well, I didn't see anybody who looked like me running a business anywhere. So I said, All right, fine. How do I improve my odds to get this? How do I make this happen? So I said, All right, I need to go to the top business school. And so I picked Wharton because Wharton had an undergraduate program. And I figured if I do Wharton undergrad, then I won't have to go to grad school. So I can save a couple of years and a couple hundred thousand dollars. This is great. So the only school I applied to, I said, please, literally at the bottom of my application, said, Please take me. I don't want to go anywhere else. I'm not applying anywhere else. Now I'm not completely stupid. I applied early so that if they said no, I could do a backup, but I literally didn't apply anywhere else. That's the only place I wanted to go. And I had good grades. But anyway, I went to Wharton and then, you know, I pay attention, I listen, I do homework. And I was told, If you join industries that are growing and companies that are growing, there are more opportunities for personal growth. Great. So I looked around at technology, which was the growing industry. Good news? It still is. Yeah. And I picked IBM. So I said, I'm going to go off and be CEO of IBM. That was it. Andi Simon: Your humility and kindness? Your aspirations were fabulous. Shellye Archambeau: Exactly. It was just too funny. So anyway, so I did. And I'll be candid. I actually spent 14 years at IBM. I got to the point where there wasn't anyone who looked like me hiring me in the company. My boss, John Joyce, reported to Lou Gerstner, the CEO, who was running a multibillion dollar division, actually over in Asia Pacific. So I did well. But it wasn't clear to me, due to a bunch of things that went on, that I was actually going to ultimately become CEO of IBM and that was still my goal. So I said, You know what? Let me take what I've learned and let me go build something. Silicon Valley was hot. This is the late 90s. I said, All right, but I did my homework, which, by the way, doesn't stop when you're not in school. I did my homework because again, if you're going to put a plan in place and you want to increase your odds, you have to figure out what you're going up against. And a lot of people that have left big companies to go run small companies or growing companies stumble a time or two because it's so different. Well, as a woman of color, I don't have that. I don't have that luxury. I don't know that I'll get multiple strikes at the bat. So as a result, I said, All right, let me go get a seat at the table. Understand what's so different and then go get my job. And in essence, that's what I did, Andrea, and ultimately became CEO of the company that's now Metrix Dream. I ran it for over 14 years, became a global industry leader in governance, risk and compliance. There were 1200 employees. And now I serve on corporate boards like Verizon and Nordstrom and Roper and Okta and advise companies like the Royal Bank of Canada and some small startups and poach some CEOs and try to make a difference in the world. Andi Simon: Wow. It sounds like making a difference in the world and making a difference in your own life. They are closely connected. Shellye Archambeau: They are. They are. Andi Simon: My second book is called Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business. And for those of you who are listening, in it I offer 11 business women's stories, including my own. But Shellye's story is exactly the kind of hurdles women have to hurdle over and the way in which you can, in fact, prepare yourself for the hurdles. And this is not glass ceiling stuff. It's not about smashing that. Forget the ceiling.This is about finding ways to really make a difference globally, locally, but in yourself at the same time. While it's exciting, you've written a couple of books, but this new one is extremely important to you, both as a way of sharing what you've learned with others, but also how it came together. Would you share it with our listeners, please? Shellye Archambeau: Absolutely. So I've always tried to be accessible, and what that means is, I actually respond. You send me an email, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, whatever, I respond. Now it takes a lot of time, but the reason I do it is, I want people to see that I'm a real person. If you can touch me, then you can be me. And that's why I've always put the time in to do it. But what was happening was, I was moving forward in my career. I could respond, but I couldn't meet with all the people that wanted to meet or talk one on one with all the people that wanted to talk to me. So I said, You know, one day I'm going to write this down. I'm going to share the "what made Shellye, Shellye," the strategies, the lessons, all those things, as soon as I get into phase two. So sure enough, when I passed the baton, I said, Now's the time. And I wrote the book because the book is full of strategies and approaches and tools to help people achieve their aspirations, both professionally and personally. I talk about being intentional. I talk about, honestly, everything, personal and professional. There is a lot of stuff in there. What worked? What didn't work? Because what I've learned is, ambition and hard work alone are not enough. And we're not told that. What we're told is, work hard and it'll happen. And no. I hate to burst bubbles. It's not how it works. Andi Simon: Oh, well, tell us, how does it work? And I'll tell you why in a moment, because it may not even work with what works. But, you know, let's finish that hard work and ambition aren't enough. What else do we need? Shellye Archambeau: That's right. So we need to understand the power of being intentional. So talk about really how to be intentional, how to set the goal, the objectives, whatever it is. And then first, you set it. Some people set goals and some people put plans in place to achieve the goals. But very few people make decisions every day. Yes. Be consistent with those plans. And so every day comes along but the goal is never achieved. And they wake up and, you know, they're in their late 30s, they're in their 40s, and they're like, Gosh, I'm just not where I thought I would be. And so the book is trying to help them get back on track, or if they're just starting out in their career, help them get on track and stay on track, versus, you know, not because so much of the everyday decisions drives what happens. So being intentional, deciding what do I want, how do I make it true? Because that's how I've looked at things.You know, when I set out to be a CEO of IBM I said, All right, I want to be CEO of IBM. So what has to be true? And then you do the work to say, Well, what did CEOs do? So when I started out my career with IBM coming out of Wharton, I started out in sales. Now, think about this, Andrea. My peers are going off to be investment bankers and Procter & Gamble project managers and going to international finance and, because it's Wharton and you come out and that's what you do. And they're looking at me like, You're going to go be a sales person? I mean, what exactly? The reason is, every single person at IBM started out in sales. So that was the path. You know, believe me, you go and you look for where the path is, where's the current. Because if you can get on the current and then pad…

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Nori Jabba—Are You Ready To Redefine Success? Can You Overcome Career Frustrations Yor Women? Aug 21, 2023

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Hear how to keep your seat at your own table that you build for yourself What I love about my guest today, Nori Jabba, is that when she hit a brick wall—in her case, a series of job rejections—she pivoted and wrote a book about the whole job-search process and dealing with mulltiple rejections, called Keeping Your Seat at the Table. Now she's writing a second book but actually she's not writing it, everybody else is writing it. It will be a compilation of other people's stories about their journeys and their seats at the table. Want to contribute? Contact Nori on her website keepingyourseat.com. Listen and learn how to build your own table. Watch and listen to our conversation here Nori's three things you need to build your own table 1. Forget about getting that seat or keeping that seat. It's really about keeping your own seat at your own table that you build for yourself. 2. You can't do it alone. You've got to lean on others. Think about who's at that table with you. Who's at your table? 3. Believe in yourself. It's really about believing in yourself and loving your voice, loving what you bring to the table and knowing that you add value How to connect with Nori You can find Nori on LinkedIn and her website, and you can send her an email at norijabba@gmail.com norijabba@gmail.com. To learn more about finding your purpose at work and in life, check these out: Podcast: Smita Joshi—We Are All Works In Progress! Think Of It Like Karma And Diamonds Podcast: Lisa McLeod—If You Want To Succeed, You Must Find Your Noble Purpose Podcast: Richard Sheridan—How To Lead With Joy And Purpose! Additional resources for you My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business and On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Hi, welcome to On the Brink with Andi Simon. I'm Andi Simon, I'm your host and your guide. And my job is to get you off the brink. What I like to do is bring you interesting people who are going to help you see, feel and think in new ways. Why is that important? Because your brain hates me, it doesn't really want to see new things. It's got a story stuck in there that only sees what conforms to it. So today we have to take you exploring, becoming an anthropologist, begin to step outside yourself and look in a new way. So today I have Nori Jabba. Nori is a wonderful woman who's coming with a new book to talk about. The name of the book is Keeping Your Seat at the Table. She'll show you a copy of it in a moment. But Nori came to me through Kathryn Hall, who's a wonderful publicist, and I just enjoy the guests she brings to my podcast because they're all interesting people, men and women who are doing things exactly like we like to, in different ways. Nori, thank you for joining me today. Nori Jabba: Thank you, Andi. It's a pleasure to be here. Andi Simon: Nori, I have a desire to hear about your story. You told me about it and I stopped reading bios because I think they're helpful, but not necessarily capture the essence of who you are. But today is your story. So tell the listener or the viewer, who is Nori, what's your journey been like, and how does it set up the tale that has gotten us to keeping your seat at the table? Please tell us your story. Nori Jabba: So thank you, Andi, and it's wonderful to be here today. So my story really began when I took six years off to have children, and I'd had a very successful career before that at a utility company as a senior real estate portfolio manager. And I took six years off and had three kids, and I was lucky enough to get a job after six years and went back to work. And then in 2012, that project went on hold. So I decided to become a consultant and consulting was great. It gave me flexibility that I needed. And then after several years of consulting successfully in real estate development, I wanted to go back to work. I wanted to be on a team. I wanted the benefits and the structure that comes with being employed. And I'd had almost 30 years of experience. I'd won awards. I had a wonderfully professional resume and no one would hire me, no one. And so I decided after so many rejections or non-responses that I was going to stop job hunting and start my own company. I'm from Silicon Valley and we start companies. That's what we do. So I thought, no one will hire me, I'll do my own thing and write a book about it. And so that was the birth of the book. And I have a liberal arts background. I love that you're an anthropologist. I took a couple of anthropology courses in college and went to Grinnell College in Iowa and majored in English. So writing comes naturally to me. And so I started writing the book. I joined an incubator program here in Silicon Valley to help me boost the company and hopefully get some seed funding for it. And during that process, we spent a whole lot of time focusing on purpose and drive and making sure we had what it takes to start a company because it is not an easy endeavor. And through that process, I realized I don't really want to start a company, nor do I need to start a company. I want to be a writer. So that's when I stopped with the company, tabled the concept, if you will, and wrote the book, and it was through the journey of writing the book that I actually did get the job that I was looking for. But I like to say that I got my seat back at the table as well, because what I learned through the process is that the table and your seat at the table is much, much more than just a job and success. Andi Simon:Now, when you got the job back, was it in the same career or a different career? Nori Jabba: It was a slight pivot, so it was within the umbrella of community development, but it was in affordable housing, strictly. My background is in real estate development for commercial and residential, but not property management, not affordable housing. Specifically, I had worked on multiple affordable housing projects, but this was just affordable housing. So yeah, it was a pivot. And during the pandemic. Andi Simon: Well, the reason I asked is that in some ways we need a context for your own exploration in your own journey, and I love the fact that it was in urban and community development. You spend time abroad doing this. You're a very successful woman who also found a wall and jumped over the wall. You know, we can talk about glass ceilings, but sometimes brick walls, and we don't quite know what you do to do what? But in many ways, it's them who are trying to build their talent and begin to do something intentional. But why am I not a great fit for that talent? So as you finally moved along, we'll talk about the book in a moment. You got that job and share with us a little bit about the journey to get it, because I have a hunch you stopped selling it the way you used to and you found other ways of getting inside. What was the trick? Nori Jabba: So I wasn't looking anymore. I had resigned myself to just continuing consulting, to give myself time to write the book and research the book. So the book was really the driver. And by not needing the job, by not being desperate is not the right word. I wasn't as hungry. I had that self confidence that I was content and happy with what I was doing and I didn't need the job in order to be fulfilled, and I think that confidence comes through. You know, I was standing taller. I was feeling good about myself. I knew that I was adding value as a consultant, and it was one of my clients that hired me full time. And how I presented myself with that confidence I think is so important. So in my journey, I reached out to one of the managers of a company that rejected me. I came in second. I came in second so many times I can't even tell you. And I asked her, would you have coffee with me? I'm writing a book and I'd love to talk to you about this. And I couldn't believe she said yes, but she said yes. And I drove 60 miles to have coffee with this woman. And, you know, things happen for a reason, because if I had had to drive 60 miles every day to go to a job, it would have done me in any way. So in retrospect, I'm really glad I didn't get that job, but had a wonderful discussion with this woman who had never been asked, Why is it so hard for middle-aged women to get hired? And she fortunately was a middle-aged woman because otherwise I wouldn't have wanted to listen to her had she been in her 20s. But, one of the things she told me was so important and it is that women, older women and older men, too, sometimes stop listening. And when you talk about being a good fit in a company, a good fit means you're going to listen, and what was coming across in my job interviews was that I had lots of value to add, but that I wasn't going to receive. I wasn't going to listen. Maybe it did and it wasn't lost on me. The irony of the moment was because when she told me that I didn't want to listen to her, I slumped back in my chair and thought, I'm doing exactly what she says women my age do. So I sat up straight and leaned in and decided, I'm going to hear what she has to say. I'm really going to listen. And from then on, I became a better listener. And the other thing she told me that was so valuable was that older workers, and men and women are dismissive of younger workers, and the workplace is filled with young people and they have so much value to add. But if you go in there, "I have 30 years of experience, you got to listen to me, that's a stupid idea," or whatever we say. We can be dismissive of these young people and the value that they add. So I have three daughters. I have from the time they were in preschool, I tried to listen and learn from them every day, something new and taught them to teach and listen to others. And I really feel like this woman told me to listen to young people. My kids teach me new things every day. But what's ironic now and such a wonderful part of this story is that I now have a new job. It's a better fit for me than the one that I got while writing the book. And my boss is decades younger than me. She could in fact be my daughter and I'm not sure I would have been able to accept that had I not done this, the journey and listen to this woman and others in the process of writing the book. So I embrace young people. I value them. My boss is so smart and I learn from her every day and it's a give and take. She learns from me, and I learn from her. But those two things that woman taught me really changed me. And I think it's a big part of why I got my seat back at the table, is being able to listen at work and embrace other young adults. Andi Simon: The listening part is very interesting because as you know, we have a story in our mind that guides what we hear. And the problem that you're articulating is that you crafted this story about who you were and what the skills were you brought and why you would be a good fit in that company as part of their talent acquisition. The problem was, you couldn't hear what they were saying because it was out of sync with what you were thinking, but they also couldn't hear what you were saying because the story you were telling about your accomplishments didn't fit exactly with their expectations or desires for what they were looking for in somebody who would be a comfortable fit in that team in some way. And I emphasize that because it wasn't what you did. It was how the story came across. Am I right? Nori Jabba: That's exactly right. Andi Simon: And listening and hearing are separate because you can try and listen. There's a quote by some admiral that goes something like this: What you think you heard me say, was it what I meant? And it wasn't what I said. I mean, because we just take the pieces apart, so it fits. But your book is a very interesting effort to talk about what you've learned to share with others and in the process to help amplify the message so they don't have as big a struggle to get a table as well as a seat at the table and to really begin to see what you went through in order to be transformed into a different woman. And I don't think your journey is going to end because I think the message is, it will change again and it will change again. So your insights and your wisdom are very important. Tell us how the book came together and what are some of the key themes so that the listener understands why they should buy it and read it, but also what they can learn from it, because I think it's really powerful. Nori Jabba: And so the book really came together as part of the journey. You know, one of the big messages of the book is that we think of success as this line going up. We get a degree or a diploma and there's a straight arrow up to your seat at the table and then you retire and have a pension or whatever. And what the book taught me, what I learned in the journey in writing it, is that it's the journey that's important. It's not the seat at the table. And so it's all about creating your own table of support, and your seat is just one seat at the table. But you need to create your own table with people that you invite to support you. And the idea is that you have one for each chapter in the book, and there are eight chapters, so eight, at least eight seats at the table. You can have the biggest table on the planet and continue to invite people. And these people are your mentors, your coaches. They don't even need to know that they have a seat. They just need to be important to you, people that influence you to get there. But the themes in the book are a play on words. I'm an English major. I love words. I love writing poetry, and I love playing with words. So at the beginning of each chapter, I summarize each chapter in exactly 100 words. And this is a method that I learned from a friend of mine, Grant Faulkner, who runs NaNoWriMo, which is National Novel Writing Month, but he also publishes a book called The 100 Word Story. And so everybody who contributes to the book each year does exactly 100 word stories. So it's a really fun process of thinking and summarizing. So in addition to the 100 word summary at the beginning of each chapter, each chapter is a play on words with the table. So chapter one is flipping the table, and that's identifying your purpose and distinguishing between purpose and legacy and what the difference is and why they're both important. Chapter two is clearing the table, and that's getting rid of everything that's holding you back. Clearing the clutter. Real clutter. In my case, it's real clutter because I can't get started when I'm surrounded by clutter. I've got to clean the house before I start writing or accomplishing whatever it is I want to do. But also what's holding you back, not believing in yourself. And that is a really, really important takeaway is, you have to believe in yourself and have that self confidence. The next chapter is reinforcing the table, and that's about building strength in body, mind and spirit. And you can't have a seat at the table if the table is going to tip over or isn't strong enough. So it's about strength. And the next one is sitting at the head of the table, and that's about feeling empowered and feeling just really confident and how to get that back and looking at how you show up and getting rid of that anxiety about, Did I say the right thing? Did I do the right thing? And I look, do I look right? It's all about how you show up…

Full show notes at the publisher

Jennifer McCollum—How Will You Change The Face Of Women's Leadership In Your Organization? Aug 14, 2023

Show notes

Learn how you can fight gender bias so women leaders can succeed As you know, I do a lot of work around women leadership. The title of my second book is Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business, and I have recently co-written with Edie Fraser and Robyn Freedman Spizman a third book, Women Mean Business: Over 500 Insights from Extraordinary Leaders to Spark Your Success, due out September 26th. So I'm all about helping women in business succeed. My guest today, Jennifer McCollum, is the same, having dedicated the last 20 years of her career to helping leaders and teams and organizations fulfill their potential, particularly women leaders. She helps women find their passion and their purpose, and I'm thrilled to have her on today's podcast. Her mission is to change the face of leadership by accelerating the advancement of women leaders. Mine too. Listen in, learn, and please share. Watch and listen to our conversation here Nine key takeaways from our discussion today 1. Clarity is much more challenging for women than it is for men. It's one of the biggest hurdles that women face. And by clarity, I mean, if I were to ask you, Look ahead one year, three years, five years…what does success look like for you in your life, in your role, in your environment? 2. Women tend to define success through the lens of others: my team's success, my company's success, my family's success. As a woman, you need to develop the skill of creating clarity for you, your own future. 3. Jennifer's new book, In Her Own Voice: A Woman's Rise to CEO: Overcoming Hurdles to Change the Face of Leadership, takes 25 years of Linkage data and research and calculates what it will take to accelerate the advancement of women in terms of the unique challenges that women face on their path to leadership and how we can all support approaching gender equity in the workforce. 4. Gender bias has been internalized, so much so that we women may be preventing our own advancement, consciously or unconsciously. 5. We know that women and men ask for things equally. It could be money or title, but it also could be resources or flexibility or staff. But women tend to retreat when they're told no. And we can learn a lot from our male counterparts who tend to go back in. So how do you make the ask, when do you make the ask? 6. All leaders need to be developed, but women need to understand the unique hurdles they face. We don't need to fix the women. They're fabulous leaders. We need to help them in overcoming the obstacles that exist to their advancement. 7. At the CEO level, we've just crossed the 10% barrier in terms of the number of CEOs who are women. But of those, only 1% are women of color. 8. The numbers still aren't changing quickly enough. We have about 28% women in the executive leadership ranks and 26% in the leadership ranks, the VP level. But as you go down, director all the way to the manager level, we're just not making enough progress at all. 9. All of us can do something. All of us may not be in positions of power and influence to be executive sponsors but all of us are in a position to be allies. How to connect with Jennifer You can reach out to Jennifer on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or the Linkage website, or send her an email at jenniferscherermccollum@gmail.com. For a deeper dive into women and leadership, check out these 3 blogs: Blog: What Can Women Do To Challenge Gender Stereotypes In The C-Suite? Blog: How Can Women Overcome The Roadblocks To Building Their Businesses? Blog: Best Tips And Tricks For Women To Work In Male-Dominated Industries Additional resources for you My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business and On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Hi, welcome to On the Brink with Andi Simon. I'm Andi Simon, I'm your host and your guide. And as you know, my favorite listeners, our job is to help you get off the brink. How do we do that? We want you to see, feel and think in new ways and understand that change is painful. On the other hand, if you begin to get the kinds of tips and tricks to begin to see things in a new way, you go, Oh, that's how it's done. That's how someone else did it. And I can as well. So I have a wonderful guest with us today, Jennifer McCollum. Jennifer and I met through the Women Business Collaborative, and it's a wonderful organization for women of all kinds and all companies to come and participate as we collaborate to propel women forward. But Jennifer is here today because I just love what she's doing to help train and develop women so that they can become the best that they can be. So, Jennifer, thank you for being here today. I appreciate it. Now, let me tell you about Jennifer and then she's going to tell you about herself. And as you know, in our format, she does a much better job than I can. But here's Jennifer. Jennifer grew up in an entrepreneurial home in Germany. And there's a story there, I'm sure. And her unique childhood not only instilled in her grit and resourcefulness and an ironclad work ethic, but she describes herself as a hustler by 15 and a desire to help others, which I think is the important part here, to excel like she has to her full potential. You know, someone in our past offers us an opportunity to do something in our future, and sometimes we're not aware of it, but all of a sudden we go, Oh, I did that. Someone else can do a little bit more. She's on a mission to help talented women rise higher and higher in positions of leadership. And on the other side of that, to help organizations understand how to enable them to do just that, to create the cultures where women can excel, thrive and together, men and women can really do better. The winding road she's traveled led to her current position as CEO of Linkage. Linkage is now part of the SHRM organization (Society for Human Resource Management) and together they have visions for how to take Linkage, quite frankly, to a new place. It's really going to be exciting. She oversees the strategic direction and global operations of the leadership development firm. The mission is to change the face of leadership. It's dedicated more than 35 years to advancing women and accelerating inclusion in leaders and organizations. Jennifer is an acclaimed speaker, a consultant and author, and I love the fact that her book is coming out in November. So we're going to time this so that you can see it. She's going to show you a picture of it in her own voice. It's got a really interesting story to it. And it's a very important time for her to share where she is. And that's what this whole podcast today is about. My last little thought, because I sometimes forget this myself, she's a wonderful mother of three children, all guys. And I say guys because they're sort of grown up children and I have a happy husband and they love to travel. She loves to ski. And Jennifer and I have a lot in common. So today's talk is going to be very collaborative. Jennifer, thank you for coming today. Jennifer McCollum: It's always very humbling to have someone else talk about you and introduce you. So I appreciate you. Andi Simon: Well, you know, sometimes you say, Who is that she's talking about and laugh sometimes because we haven't heard of ourselves. It's hard to get a mirror that looks at you and says, Oh, that's who I am. Jennifer, it's important for the audience to know more about you. That bio is lovely, but at the end of the day, who is Jennifer? Tell us about your journey and then how do we get to the next stage where you're helping women? All kinds of different ways. Please, who's Jennifer? Jennifer McCollum: That's such a big question. I have dedicated the last 20 years of my career to helping leaders and teams and organizations fulfill their potential. And there's been a really special place in my purpose and my passion around helping women leaders. So even back, you know, 30 years ago, I was creating pro bono visioning webinars to help women leaders find their passion and find their purpose and as luck would have it, I ended up five years ago as the CEO of Linkage. And as you said, our mission is to change the face of leadership. A big chunk of our work is focused on accelerating the advancement of women leaders, but also helping all leaders become more inclusive and purposeful. I can take you back a little bit further. I have 20, 22, 23 years in the leadership space. I run leadership businesses at publicly traded companies. Now, at Linkage, which was just sold to a wonderful organization called SHRM. Before that, I grew up at the Coca-Cola Company and traveled around the world working on the Olympics and the World Cups and sports marketing. And then I evolved my career into leadership at the Coca-Cola Company and beyond. Andi Simon: People often ask about our own journeys. You know, I'm an anthropologist, but I'm also an entrepreneur, and I was a corporate executive. How do you know where you're going? Early in those years, are we sampling? Have I found myself? People talk about imposter syndrome. As I said, I've always been an imposter. I was never quite sure I was competent or capable. Others saw me that way and I said, Oh, that's interesting. How about yourself? Was there a plan to your journey or did you just sort of make it happen? Jennifer McCollum: I love your use of the word sampling. I would even expand that into dabbling. So, you know, this was advice that was given to me early on in my career and if it's helpful to others, this was a senior executive at Coca-Cola who said, "In your 20s, try a lot of things. Don't worry about money, don't worry about titles. Try and get a sense of what you're good at and what you're passionate about." So through my 20s, yes, I started in public relations and sports marketing and evolved into public affairs, but I knew in my 20s, somewhere around 26 or 28, that I was good at it, but it wasn't fueling my passion or my purpose. So then the executive said, "Okay, in your 30s, really double down and take a lot of risks and figure out where you can apply your skills and your passion." And it was in my 30s that I jumped ship from Coca-Cola to the world of the internet. And it was part of the first internet kind of boom and bust. And that gave me the confidence to then create my own consulting firm. And so I became a consultant in the leadership space. Coca-Cola had trained me to do that, and that's where I really started to find what drove me. And so I was working with leaders and teams all around the world, but really buoyed by Coca-Cola's belief in me, and that was my launchpad to becoming a consultant in the leadership space. And then the executive said, "In your 40s, put your head down and work really hard. Make a lot of money so you can retire in your 50s." What that meant to me was actually doubling down on what my passion was. So throughout my 40s, I went back to the publicly traded world. I worked for multiple companies, running businesses and the leadership development space, and really then found that it actually wasn't the designing and the delivering of the consulting as much as the management and the growing of the businesses designed to make the world's leaders a better place. And I have to say, now in my 50s, it's a beautiful decade to be. I feel so aligned to that purpose. Andi Simon: Well, and part of what you're sharing is that we can plan, but part of it is knowing ourselves. And I don't think that's inconsequential. It's not the job. It's really getting to know what makes us. You know, the good news is, you were very successful regardless of which of those jobs you were in. But now the question is, what's my purpose? You know, what have I mastered? And how do I have the autonomy to go and do that in a way that gives me great pleasure. And I smile when I wake up every day. It's pretty cool. Jennifer McCollum: And you're hitting something really important, and I'll call that clarity. And sometimes that's the discovery of purpose, discovery of strength, discovery of passion. Some of us are lucky enough to grow up knowing exactly what we want to do, exactly the contribution we want to make in the world. That actually isn't the case for most of us. And there's this process and this is actually much more challenging for women than it is for men. It's one of the biggest hurdles that women face. And by clarity, we mean, if I were to ask you, Look ahead one year, three years, five years…what does success look like for you in your life, in your role, in your environment? Women tend to define that through the lens of others: my team's success, my company's success, my family's success. And so that we call it the kind of the skill, the muscle of creating clarity for you, for your own future is something that I've worked really hard at from my 20s, which gave me the confidence to leave Coca-Cola all the way now into my 50s. And I do it very regularly. Andi Simon: That point of clarity is so interesting because I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I spent 20 years in corporate in a very entrepreneurial fashion, and nobody quite knew what an anthropologist in business was supposed to do so I could play that one out all the time. And you found that people weren't quite sure if I should have a PhD or not. But I began to think that I knew I wanted to be in my own business and after 9/11, I said, good timing. So that's 22 years ago. But like you, I knew who I was. I'm a creator, I'm an entrepreneur now. How do I do that in a way that can be very successful? And I always thought of it for our clients being the beneficiaries of who we are and what we can do. So that's what we do, then what they need. So it's a really interesting story. You share now that you're at a point that your book is very much of a cataclysmic moment. You know, it's important. Books are important. You know, my third book is coming out in September. And every time I write a book, it's less about the book than about what it can do to help others. And I have a hunch this new book is very full of wisdom that you want to share. And I would just love you to tell the story to our listeners about it because they will walk away saying, Oh, I gotta get that book. Tell me what's in the book. Jennifer McCollum: Well, and thank you for asking, and going back to the clarity. If you look back on the vision documents that I created all the way back into the early 2000s, it always says, I am an author, I am a speaker, I am on stages impacting thousands. And it is now finally the result of a lot of hard work and you've done multiple of these. This is my first book. This is the executive summary, In Her Own Voice: A Woman's Rise to CEO: Overcoming Hurdles to Change the Face of Leadership. It's actually coming out in November, so anyone can pre-order it. But what I am so excited about for this book is, it takes 25 years of Linkage data and research and frameworks and experience on what it will take to accelerate the advancement of women. It puts it together with very personal stories, not only my stories, but other CEO and C-suite women, to help all of us, women and men, understand what are the unique challenges that women face on their path to leadership and how we can all support approaching gender equity in the workforce far faster than the World Economic Fo…

Full show notes at the publisher

Smita Joshi—We Are All Works In Progress! Think Of It Like Karma And Diamonds Aug 07, 2023

Show notes

Hear how pure contentment is available to all of us, right now Believe it or not, we're approaching our 400th podcast. Along the way, I've talked with some amazing people: business leaders, entrepreneurs, futurists, anthropologists (like myself), Blue Ocean Strategists® (again, like myself), and on and on. They've all been extraordinary, but sometimes I've interviewed someone who really made me think and feel in a new, deeper way. One such person is my guest today, Smita Joshi. Born in India and raised in the UK, Smita will challenge you to think about your life's purpose and what you want to accomplish. She talks about pure awareness, which the ancient Indians called Ātman, and how to experience contentment no matter where you are in life. I dare you to listen to this podcast and not come away unchanged. Watch and listen to our conversation here What is your life purpose? Throughout our conversation, Smita talks about someting that is crucial to each one of us: what do we want to accomplish in this life? And what is the deeper purpose of all of us as human beings? She addresses these questions in her book trilogy, Karma and Diamonds, and also in her work as a yoga teacher and executive coach. Her goal is connect people to pure awareness, or total consciousness, called Ātman, and she has created useful tools—her 6-step Flow Formula—to help us reach this state, which you can find on her YouTube channel. Let go to find who you really are On the subject of resistance to change, Smita and I closely agree. She talks about letting go of what we think we know and how this is scary for people (sound familiar?). They don't know how to do it. We hear an inner voice, that epiphany, but often we're not paying attention. In the end it comes down to a choice where we have to say, will I or will I not listen, see what is in front of me, and take steps to change and grow? The Indian teaching is Vedas, that sense of contentment with wherever you are As Smita tells us, we need to embrace everything we have as being an absolute gift, whatever that might be: our health, our successes in life, our failures, the lessons we've learned, the opportunity to be on this journey. We need to be willing to let go and to trust that the answers are there, but often we block them by not being receptive. Much to learn here! How to connect with Smita You can reach out to Smita on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or on her website. Want more on getting in touch with your purpose? Start here: Podcast: Meg Nocero—Can You Feel Joy As You Rethink Your Life? Podcast: Maria Lizza Bowen—Do You Feel Stuck? Time To "See, Feel And Think In New Ways" Podcast: Dr. Mandeep Rai—Do You Need A New Compass To Direct Your Values Additional resources for you My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business and On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Hi, welcome to On the Brink with Andi Simon. I'm Andi Simon, and as you know, I'm your host and your guide, and you, our audience and listeners, have made us among the top 5% of global podcasts. I can't thank you enough. My gratitude is extensive. It's wonderful to share. This is almost our 400th podcast hosting. Pretty impressive. I am always intrigued because my job is to get you off the brink, not to stick and get stuck, but to find ways to help you see, feel, and think in new ways so you can change, and you know that you hate to change. So we're going to help you do that today. I have a wonderful woman here from the UK. Now remember, I've had people from South Africa and from Africa and from Europe, but this is a very special woman because she's going to talk to you about something that's very important to us. Smita, you'll see, is focused on entertaining interviews and conversations that help people see, feel, and think in new ways like I do. She's an award-winning author, an avid yogi and teacher, mentor and high performance transformation coach. And she's written a bestseller called Karma and Diamonds. It's a trilogy, it's a journey of self-discovery across continents and lifetimes. We have a wonderful multifaceted woman with us today. She had a business career spanning 25 years, working with technology giants as well as startups. So she blends that wonderful business side with the personal side. But I think we're going to focus more on you as a person today, less on the business. And she has a YouTube channel called The Self-Discovery Channel, which is her own YouTube channel for you too. Self-discovery. Thank you so much for joining me. Smita Joshi: Andi, I'm so happy to be on this podcast. I know you interviewed some amazing people. I'm really, really happy to be on your show. Andi Simon: Well, I'm happy we're here too, since we had a few little technical stuff as we started. This is going to be fun. Tell the listener about your own journey, because you haven't just popped out and arrived here. You've gone through some of your own changes and I think every time people tell their personal story, the audience begins to see themselves there and can begin to share their own story. Who are you and how are we together? Smita Joshi: Who am I? That's a very good question. If I were to put it in one word, I'd probably say seeker, truly looking to integrate all the various facets of what makes us human. But, at the same time, I like that we are a spark of some sort of divinity consciousness. Rather, I'd like to put it as awareness in a human body. So how do we bring those two things together? And I think that for me, the journey, there's nothing which I feel is a coincidence in life. I was born in India and we moved to the UK when I was 10. And ever since, I have found myself looking for ways to integrate the amazing cultures that I've had the privilege of being a part of. And both of those offer something really exquisite. If I were to take the Indian culture, the roots of the Indian culture go so far deep and back to perhaps the ancient stages of India. I like to think of them as philosopher scientists or scientist philosophers, because they were the early scientists. Today, we might look at them as philosophers. We may look at them as spiritual adepts or however you may term it today. But what they brought was incredible, and I believe so far my studies have given me an unrivaled understanding of being human on this planet at this time. But having the majority of who we are, perhaps 90% of our existence is in pure awareness, which is incapable of being housed in a tiny little human body and even a tiny little mind. So to comprehend the vastness of who we are. And so that's what Indian culture has led me to be intrigued by and explore very deeply in the Western culture, gives opportunities to explore in the material external one. Now, don't get me wrong, of course India's both of those things. And I wouldn't want somebody who's listening who's an Indian to say, Oh yeah, well, we have more than that. Of course we do. But I think the two bring unique things, they bring them in a different way. And so the West calls you into being in the external world. The East calls you into being in the internal world. And for me, it's not a coincidence that I was born there. And then I came here when I was 10, and then a whole bunch of synchronicities and life experiences took place that brought about more opportunities to explore and become more curious and say, Well, who am I then actually? And what is this about? And fundamentally, then we kind of come back to that higher essence of who we are. And then, you know, when we look at life purpose, of course you can have life purposes in so many different layers. Life purpose in terms of, what does my material being that the human humanity that I am, what does that want to accomplish? And then what about the deeper essence? And what is the deeper purpose of all of us as human beings being on the planet? And, you know, I really think we're works in progress and we are like what I call my book, Karma and Diamonds. The diamond element has multiple meanings in the book. And one of them is that we are indeed that inner essence, that awareness is so multifaceted that it to me occurs like a treasure that is a pure diamond, absolutely pure untainted, untainted experience by anything external. And so for me, that is, you asked me who am I, I think for me that's a more interesting exploration or an explanation of how I see myself, is somebody who's constantly looking to one express various facets of my being, both in the material world externally, and to discover more and more facets of who I am internally, so that I can bring expression to those in the external world. Andi Simon: This is so interesting. As I mentioned to you, I've been doing podcasts and I didn't realize until yours that the whole series of them are around similar themes. It's almost, you talked about synchronous as well as serendipity. You know, there is no intentionality here for my listeners to bring you different perspectives on this inner voice and the outer experience. But Smita has had a very different presentation of her journey, which is less about things she's done and more about discovering who she is. And I don't know much about her book, but I think I'm going to read it. It is probably a little bit about that self-discovery as well. And as we were talking, what would be the best thing to talk about that trilogy, you tell the gripping story of how to overcome adversity against all odds. Tell us about the book, which is one expression because you have one expression in the book, one in YouTube. And I want to make sure that we allow the listener to really understand the wisdom that you're bringing them because it's a beautiful intersection here. So what is the book about? Smita Joshi: So it's really a book which is very much rooted in the external world. A young woman who is absolutely enthralled by life. I mean the passion for life kind of led me to join corporate work very early on. In fact, I started working when I was 14 years old on Saturdays. In the UK, we were allowed to do it in those days. It was absolutely fascinating for me to realize that I had skills which I couldn't otherwise have discovered so easily. So one of them was selling and in another way, just engaging people and having them see a possibility of something that they previously hadn't done and become so excited by that they were happy to invest in that thing. So I started out in clothes shops and then moved into shoe shops and so on, and then managed them on my holidays and so on. But very quickly I realized that I wasn't patient enough to hang around to get a degree. I really wanted to hop in now. So I gave it a go while I was waiting on my year off between what we call a level in this country. That's advanced levels and we need that in order to qualify to get into university. So I took a year break and while I was figuring out if I should go the way of my grandfather and my mother and my aunt who were all lawyers, and my grandfather was very well recognized in Gujarat and so on. You know, he became quite a figure untill the day he died at 92. I don't think he stopped practicing. And my mom and my aunt also in their day, they were well ahead of their time to have done that. So that was one obvious option for me. But I was really deeply interested in psychology and so many things. Bottom line was, I got hooked into management and then I never looked back since. Then joined my first sort of corporate group, which happened to be in sales. And everything that kind of came to me was really about expressing talents that I actually didn't know that I had. And it was just so much fun to do along the way that I realized that actually that whole world and other things happen in my life. I don't want to go into that on this podcast in particular because they're all in the books. Very intense traumatic events in my life that involve, that put in it a nutshell, were around clashes of culture, Eastern and western. And I was very, very clear about what I had to do in order for me to grow and to learn more about myself. So I chose to follow my path, that inner voice that was so strong and that had me go into work and so on, and I did very well with all of that. You know, I bought my first property very early on, I think I was 21, just before I was 22, and so on. I realized that the more I got rooted into work, the more I had to find some, there was something else. It wasn't enough for me just to do that. So that's when I started to explore like, what else is it? And I happened to come from a background where I saw my dad, since I was a little girl, standing on his head in Sukhasana, doing yoga almost every day and then sitting in meditation for what seemed to me a very, very long time, every single day. So that was kind of in the back of my mind, it was in my imagery. That was where I turned to when I started to explore like, what is missing? What is missing? And that was really just after I turned 25, 26. So it was very early on and I realized that when I did that, incredible things happened. Something was trying to talk to me when I wasn't talking to myself or being fascinated by my own thoughts. Thinking this is, what this is all real. And then I realized, what is that? It's so different. And I've had experience up to that point at other times in my life, but always in moments of deep, deep trauma. And this all came out from the yoga and the meditation, but mostly the openness that you had to begin to feel it. I think openness, definitely, but I wonder whether it was more a young woman who was really looking for answers. I didn't have anywhere I could go to get those answers for myself immediately in my surroundings because I'd left home and that was already a really major leap and sort of upset a lot of people along the way. So, I had to find my answers for myself. Something said to me to turn within and I was very fortunate to come across the odd individuals who said, Read this book, read that book, go here, go do this. And so I just was like a sponge, and I was a sponge. So that all those little stepping stones led me to going within. I'm very, very grateful for that because that's why I wrote the books because I realized that if it hadn't been for, of course today we have social media, we have a lot more content. But back in the day we didn't have that. Books were lifelines. Andi Simon: Now you had a journey that has led you to question. You said you're a seeker. You know, I've been told I'm an explorer. So we share this same curiosity about what we don't know. And we're not quite sure where it's going to take us because the future isn't terribly predictable. But I do like to explore options and see things. I do love to travel. I love to venture beyond my comfort zone. Most people don't. It sounds like you have had to push yourself through all of that. Now you are doing this today to begin to help other people do the same on their journey. How are you doing this? You're coaching them, you're teaching them yoga. What kind of tools do you bring to their lives to help them see and feel with a new freshness? Smita Joshi: Coaching is a really powerful tool. I think sharing content, online writing, all of these are really, they're sort of different elements. So I don't have one thing that I do, of course. I will eventually bring out courses. I've got so much…

Full show notes at the publisher

Melea McRae—You Know Content Is King. Here's How To Make It Work For You Jul 31, 2023

Show notes

Hear why robust, targeted marketing is the wisest investment you can make Want to get energized about how to effectively market your business and present it to the world in the best possible light? Listen to my interview with Melea McRae, a "fractional chief marketing officer." What's that, you ask? According to Melea, it's when companies like hers (Crux) "joins with an in-house team to execute on a strategy and provide additional bench strength for marketing departments." As you'll hear, Melea is on the cutting edge of what it takes to stand out amidst the clutter today and persuade potential buyers to want to connect with you. Listen, learn and share! Watch and listen to our conversation here Some important points for you to consider from our conversation today Do you really feel the marketing people you're working with understand your business? It's all about how to differentiate your message so that you're standing out of that sea of sameness. There's so much competition in every industry today. It's easy to start a business, but really hard to grow it to that next level and scale it if you're not making a wise marketing investment. What happens when marketing and sales can align is magic: rowing in the same direction, singing the same song, sharing information back and forth. "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink." Melea's company teaches the sales team how to make the horse drink. Leadership is the most important thing. CEOs must align their brand with the company's brand. Key takeaway: You better believe that younger purchasers and new potential buyers are going to research your company The people you want to reach are going to do their research. How? Online. They're going to look at your website. They're going to read your blogs. They'll look at what recent PR you've garnered. They want to know how you describe your services. Does that align with the perception they have of you? Is there consistency throughout your website? Then they're going to follow you on your social channels. Remember, they care as much about your culture, how you treat your employees, and your social responsibility as how profitable you are. How are you giving back to the communities that have helped you be successful? Therefore, you need to use social media to reflect your brand through your culture, your philanthropic efforts, how you care about DEI, and how you incorporate all of that into your brand. How to find Melea There are multiple ways you can connect with Melea: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and her website Crux. For more on why marketing is key to a sound business strategy, check these out: Podcast: Mark Schaefer—Are You Ready For The Marketing Rebellion? Podcast: Patrick Van Gorder—Ready For The Right Data-Driven Digital Marketing Strategy To Expand Your Business? Podcast: Dave Summers—How Can You Build Your Digital Brand Effectively? Additional resources for you My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business and On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Hi, welcome to On the Brink with Andi Simon. I'm Andi Simon, your host and your guide. And as you know, my job is to get you off the brink. And I love to do that by bringing you people who are going to help you see, feel, and think in new ways. People often ask me, why do I say that? We decide with the eyes and the heart, and then the head gets involved. And unless you realize that, then you really don't understand how we make decisions. And sometimes we overanalyze the data and we think we know we're making wise decisions. Melea is laughing and she's smiling at me. So I brought you a wonderful woman today who's going to help you understand the new age of marketing. It's a time of fast change, but the old issues about how do I tell my story and how do I create a brand and how do I get to the customers who need me, whether it's through inbound marketing or online search, or is it the website or is it social media? And how do I know that the dollars I'm spending are being used wisely by this collaboration I have with my agency? That's her story. Let me tell you who she is and why it's important to listen to her. Melea McRae is founder and CEO of Crux KC and co-founder and CEO of Crux-Accelerator. Now she's going to tell you where KC is as well. She's a marketing strategist, 25 years of B2B and B2C experience in leading client-facing marketing departments where she earned the reputation of an insightful brand strategist. She's formerly the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at the Greater KC Chamber. I'm assuming that's Kansas City. Yes, it's Kansas City, one of my favorite places to work, and she's led the organization's marketing and business development offices. In 2016, she made the entrepreneurial leap and launched her own marketing firm, Crux KC, a certified women-owned business providing in-house marketing for small to midsize clients, combining the leadership of a fractional CMO with a marketing department as a service model to provide simple, smart and affordable full funnel marketing solutions. She builds marketing, communications and business development strategies for clients and positions them for sustainable growth. She also, in 2019, co-founded its sister company, Crux Accelerator, with an emphasis on sales, coaching and leadership development paired with marketing to positively impact revenue growth. I don't think I have to tell you much more about why I've selected her to come on today, other than the times they are changing and it's time to think about very important subject marketing and sales. And Melea, thank you for coming today. I appreciate you being here. Melea McRae: Andi, thank you so much for having me. Lovely to be a part of this. Andi Simon: Would you tell the audience about your own journey? I can read the facts, but you know, this is about the feelings and I have a hunch you can give it a personality all of its own. Who are you and how'd you get here? Melea McRae: Great question. Great setup. So I made that entrepreneurial leap in 2016 with a belief that there had to be a better way to service small to mid-market companies. Since then, we have really evolved in terms of working with larger companies as well. I'm a firm believer that all the marketing roles apply, as long as you really understand the audience that you're trying to reach, right? So we do consider ourselves to be industry agnostic here at Crux. We work with all shapes and sizes, from startups to global companies. We are fractional. I would say a fractional chief marketing officer meets an in-house team to execute on that strategy and provide additional bench strength, if you will, for marketing departments that are pretty well staffed or if they have certain gaps in their abilities, knowledge gaps, we will come in and fill those holes. But in many cases, Andi, we are the marketing team outsourced, where these clients simply hand us the keys and we drive. I was doing my executive project during my executive MBA at Rockhurst University here in Kansas City and I really wanted to research the trends that were happening in the advertising, the traditional advertising industry. When I left the Greater KC Chamber as our chief marketing officer, I did a brief stint with a local, what I call traditional ad agency. And I've always been on the client side. So I saw red flag after red flag on how I would do it differently if it were my own, how I would lead with transparency, about transparency and billing. For example, transparency and communication. Wait, wait, how much would you say that was gonna cost? We actually like our clients, we cheer for our clients. Nothing brings me greater joy than when a client fills out their org chart and they write their client's CMO is the Crux fractional CMO that's working on their account. So we really have this mentality because I've been that client. Like I said, I think like the client, I don't think like the agency. I think what I've noticed is what happens with a lot of agencies, Andi, is great people, great creatives, right? And I know several of them that have built really amazing agencies and businesses, but they are creatives and they lead with creative. So part of what we say at Crux is, there's no fluff. Our tagline is "Everything you need, nothing you don't." We jump in, we understand that client's business. We understand their business goals. We build a marketing strategy to align with those goals, and then we hit the go button and we're off and running. And so there isn't that creative fluff with us. We just get to the point, that's the name: Crux. Andi Simon: A client can have a lot of hope. Hope is a lousy strategy. I've been there. Melea McRae: Hope is a lousy strategy. I have worked with so many CEOs. I belong to CEO peer groups through my background with the Chamber. I'm pretty highly networked in Kansas City with a lot of various civic organizations and CEO peer groups and things like that, and I find myself doling out a lot of free advice and I'm happy to do so because I'm very pro business, I'm really pro small business. I feel like we have to stick together. Small businesses make up 99% of all businesses in the US. I think it represents about 44% of the total economy. So they're the backbones of our communities. And I can't tell you the number of times I've had phone calls from friends that are business owners and they've made maybe not a wise marketing investment. They found themselves without a lot of money and with very little traction towards their business goals. So I do a lot of free education with those individuals. I simply tell them, If it sounds too good to be true, first of all, it probably is. Do you really feel like the people that you're working with understand your business? There's no such thing as a one hit wonder. We know that the key is consistency. Content is still king, as you and I know in terms of fueling your digital presence and storytelling. It's all about how do you differentiate your message so that you're standing out of that sea of sameness. And let's face it, there's so much competition in every industry. It's really easy to start a business, but it's really hard to grow it to that next level and to start to scale that business if you're not making a wise marketing investment. I actually launched Crux-Accelerate for that very reason. I was working with a lot of startups. I'm really embedded in the startup community here in Kansas City. And I would watch if they would be funded. They get that first round of angel investment funding and they were out of money by month six or seven because nobody was building the pipeline from a sales perspective. We were building the marketing machine behind the scenes. But if you've got nobody following up with those leads, and nobody that can really even tell that story of how their brand is differentiated, it's really hard to close up sales. So that was really the genesis of the sister company to Crux called Crux-Accelerate. Andi Simon: Well, you know, I'm laughing because many, many years ago I was an executive at a hospital and we did marketing. I had marketing under me among other things. And we did a big campaign for some new doctors only to discover, because we created a separate telephone number so we could measure the calls coming through, if there weren't any appointments being made. So I went to the office manager and she said, Well, we don't answer that phone because we don't have any time for a new company. And I said, Oh, the 450 calls came through so he's going to wonder what marketing has done. And actually you have to pick up the phone and answer it. Now, those were the days where the phones were still phones, and we could still measure what it was. But, you know, without measures, without data, you can't evaluate anything. And it is a big empty hole that you're putting money into for what now. I'll also be honest and transparent that we were HubSpot partners for many years; now we're Inbound Marketing folks. We understand that Google has changed the way people search and buy things. So we're content mavens, like you said. And while I love social media, I love my website, I love the content, and I love picking up new clients who find me, download my white papers, do my YouTube stuff, and come and say, I need you. So marketing, yes. Is it the world that we're in? Yes. But you also have skills and services that take a young company that needs to build its story and help you get there. Talk to us about a typical kind of client, either an early stage or a maturing one. Melea McRae: Yeah, I would say, typically we're working with entrepreneurs. So they're at some sort of a growth stage, an inflection point within that company's journey. And so, yes, sometimes it's a newer company that they're ready to push the gas in terms of a marketing investment to really start to fuel sales leads. Sometimes it's more of a legacy brand that has maybe been stagnant for a while. And again, they're ready to pour some gasoline on the fire and increase their marketing efforts as well. So really any age and stage of the client is the right fit for us, as long as they're open-minded to understanding what a smart marketing investment can do for them. So we bring that chief sales or chief marketing officer to the equation that's going to build a strategy based on what does the competitive landscape look like? How is their website currently performing for them? How is digital performing? Are they getting any PR hits? PR is that kind of secret sticky factor sauce for us and clients. We do really well internally at just mining for what are those newsworthy stories that we can pitch on their behalf and that fuels social, that fuels the website. That's with content. If those are little golden nuggets when we can nail those, even case studies. Sharing those success stories through email marketing, you know. So yeah, things like that just really work to fuel business growth for clients. And that's our vision statement honestly: fueling business growth for clients and opportunities for our team. And we live that motto every day here at Crux. Andi Simon: Thank you. Tell me a little bit more about has the intersection or the adversarial relationship between marketing and sales changed? Melea McRae: Yeah. So it needs to change. I would say in many organizations, they're still on two different paths. The sales team tends to go rogue, and the marketing team tends to abide by the brand guidelines and all the rules that apply and try to reel them in. What happens when marketing and sales can align however, is magic. If you can get them rowing in the same direction, singing the same song, they're sharing information back and forth, the salesperson is saying, Hey, this is what we're hearing out in the field, and it's really this message point is really resonating with my audience. Then the marketing can fuel that internally with social campaigns or email campaigns or do a blog, a thought leadership piece on why this particular company does this thing really well. And again, just hit those points with an explanation point, quite frankly, and put it out there in terms of content. So if they can work hand in hand, it really is magical in terms of w…

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