Accelerate Your Performance

As you get ready to put 2019 to rest and welcome in 2020, Dr. Janet Pilcher reminds you to reflect on the moments of joy, and the moments of sorrow over the last year. It’s during those difficult times you can often learn the most about yourselves. This holiday season take a moment to appreciate and celebrate life and start the new year with great strength. If you don’t know where to start, you can’t go wrong with these 8 things dogs teach us! 

 This episode addresses questions, such as:

• How can we transfer the joys and sorrows we’ve experienced to become better people? 
• What can we learn from the most friendly and loyal species; the dog? 

 Recommended Learning: The Power of Perspective & Pause, Perspective, Process

Executive leaders are the role-models of an organization, responsible for establishing the culture and leading teams to be successful. During this episode, Dr. Natalie Harder, Chancellor of South Louisiana Community College joins Dr. Janet Pilcher to share her story and her secret for building kick-ass leadership teams. Dr. Harder has led her team through a historic merger with multiple campuses, successfully blended cultures, systems, processes, programs, and students all while maintaining a focus on making education available to everyone. 

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• What does it mean to build strong leadership teams? 
• How do you get executive leaders on board and aligned? 
• What advice does Dr. Natalie Harder have for other executive leaders? 

Recommended Learning: Trust: Consistency of Leadership & Creating the Best Executive Team & Ownership of Organizational Goals & Differentiating Staff Performance

As individuals strive for growth in their professional and personal lives, there is often a gap between where people are and where they want to be. While individuals are excited for growth and opportunities, this excitement can lead to anxiety and tension. These feelings can cause people to give up and ignore opportunities to grow, or instead for motivation to work through the personal discomfort to achieve their goals. In this episode, Janet discusses how to do this difficult improvement work by focusing on the 4 phases of individual change as we face creative tension. 

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• How can leaders manage their team members through the phases of individual change? 
• How can we turn emotional tension into creative tension?
• What is the critical learning point for individuals?  

Recommended Learning: Navigating Career Phases & Change Management V. Change Leadership & Looking in the Mirror: Could I Be the Problem?

When we establish recognition systems in our organizations or on our teams, we focus on employees by understanding what makes them shine and what keeps them engaged. Focusing on expressing appreciation for the contributions people make to our organizations motivates individuals to continue their hard work. Sincere appreciation changes the culture of the organization. It takes little time and has a tremendous impact on others. A culture of recognition is powerful and contagious. 

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• How do we set up a system for recognizing employees to build a positive culture of appreciation and gratitude?
• What can I do to incorporate recognition as a habit for our team? 
• How can I reward and recognize my team without blowing my budget? 

 
 Recommended Learning: Reward & Recognize & Ideas for Recognizing Your Employees & What Gets Recognized Gets Repeated &Thank You Notes Matter

Rewarding and recognizing the right behaviors and excellent performance isn’t just a nice thing to do. Lack of employee recognition is a top reason for employees leaving an organization. With recognition we are able to engage, retain, and motivate most employees to sustain high performance. Recognition is so important to an organization’s success, it’s our ninth principle and the glue that holds all of our principles together. Recognizing others takes little time and pays great dividends.  

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• How do we get recognition to stick in our organizations?
• What is the value of recognition to our employees and organizations? 
• How does recognition encourage high performance? 

Recommended Learning:  Reward & Recognize & Ideas for Recognizing Your Employees & What Gets Recognized Gets Repeated & What’s 1 Tip Reason for Employees Quitting Their Jobs?

Several years ago, the decision was made to transform TeacherReady, a Studer Education online self-paced teacher certification program, to meet students where they are today. Transforming TeacherReady wasn’t something the organization took lightly, Dr. Julie Kunselman was instrumental in helping to review significant data and research to revolutionize this program for the future. As with any organization, they had to work through barriers to change to realize this incredible opportunity to serve more of their customers. Dr. Kunselman joins the show today to uncover how TeacherReady meets people where they are, rather than where it’s most convenient for them. 

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• Why is it important to meet your customers where they are today? 
• What effects does transformational change have on an organization? 
• Why revolutionize a standard practice within your organization? 

 
Recommended Learning: How Leaders Can Solve the Dual Transformation Equation And Turn Disruption Into Growth & Innovator’s Challenge: Get Comfortable with Change

Organizations are facing more pressure than ever to transform their practices in order to improve their outcomes. Competition is fierce. The speed of information and higher demands from consumers forces leaders to shift the way change is approached. Commonly, there is much anxiety attached to change, people like to do things, “the way they’ve always done it,” but that’s not the attitude that will achieve success in today OR tomorrow’s world. Individuals, leaders, and organizations need to view change as a positive opportunity to take their mission to a higher level. Focus on the goal, not the barrier. 

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• What does change look and feel like?
• How do we shift the way we think about change?
• Why must organizations adapt to continuous change rather than episodic change?
• What are the 3 most common barriers to organizational change?  

Recommended Learning: Anticipating Change & Building the Case for Change & How Do We Get Better at Change?

At some time in your professional or personal life, you have probably experienced the let down of an empty promise. It’s also likely you’ve promised a friend or a colleague something you’ve let slip through the cracks at least once or twice. These empty promises, no matter how small, erode trust and jeopardize relationships with others. In this episode, Dr. Pilcher digs deep into what causes us to make these empty promises and how we can choose our words and commitments carefully in the future. 

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• Why don’t people live up to their promises and commitments? 
• Why do people make empty promises?
• How to empty promises from leaders affect team outcomes and trust? 

Recommended Learning:7 Reasons Why People Tend to Make Empty Promises by Jessica Grover & Trust: Consistency of Leadership

How do you turn passionate employees and leaders into people who have the ability to make a difference not only in their work, but in their communities? Janet is joined by Dr. Pat Greco today to talk about continuous improvement. Pat is an award-winning retired superintendent who served 38 years in public education and has been a champion of Evidence-Based Leadership℠. She shares her advice and experience on executing the process of improvement within organizations.

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• If leaders want to start building an improvement mindset in their organization, where should they start? 
• How do you actually make the difference, and how do you help people make the difference in the organization? 
• How do you make continuous improvement stick over time? 

Recommended Learning:Systems, Sea Otters, and Soil & Leading Change & PDSA Model & Phases of Organizational Change

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• How can you raise a valid concern without complaining?
• What do we do with people who think their job is to complain? 
• How can teams bring solutions forward proactively without depending on their leader?