Always Creating Value® Podcast with Lon Safko

Let me share something that completely changed how I think about business transformation. I recently sat down with Lon Safko, a true pioneer who's been working with AI since 1987—yes, you read that right, 1987! What he told me will revolutionize how you approach your business.

Here's the shocking truth: While 78% of organizations are now using AI according to McKinsey's latest research, only 26% are actually generating real value from it (Boston Consulting Group, 2024). That means three out of four companies are investing in AI without seeing tangible results. However, after my conversation with Lon, I know exactly why this is happening—and more importantly, how we can help you achieve that successful 26%.

What sets Stowe Management apart in this AI revolution? We've cracked the code that others are missing: the seamless merger of Artificial Intelligence with Human Intelligence. While competitors chase the latest AI tools, we understand that technology without human wisdom is like a Ferrari without a driver—impressive but going nowhere. Our approach offers a beacon of hope, showing that with the right integration, AI can lead to unprecedented success.

Our 'Always Creating Value®' philosophy isn't just a tagline—it's our operating system. Every AI implementation, every strategic decision, every client interaction is filtered through this lens: How do we merge AI's computational power with human intuition to create exponential value? This approach has transformed how we re-engineer businesses, turning AI from a buzzword into a bottom-line booster.

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Unlocking Success: A Dynamic Partnership That's Driving Business Transformation

In this podcast episode, Tom Drucker and Mark Fowler discuss the importance of psychology, leadership development, and always creating value as consultants for businesses. Tom shares his journey from clinical psychology to business consulting where he deftly navigated multiple projects at the iconic Xerox. Tom's involvement in corporate social responsibility and climate-related initiatives adds another layer to his impressive resume.

Read more: https://estowemanagement.com/mark-fowler-and-tom-drucker/

Tom then expresses his excitement about partnering with Mark to help companies facing distress or seeking to add value. Their partnership blends their respective talents. Mark first focuses on improving finances, operational flow and proactive cash management. Tom first addresses building trust, collaboration, and creativity. Working together, they can more quickly impact their clients’ success. 

Tom Drucker: "Relationships are the foundation through which everything of importance is accomplished."

Next, Tom reveals the cultural aspect of Xerox, a company that places a premium on serving not just customers and shareholders but also their dedicated employees and communities. He underscores the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Tom then shares a client example where his clinical skills have paved the way for astounding progress in his clients' leadership and business endeavors, proving that psychology truly holds the key to unlocking success and creating value.

Mark raises the issue of toxic confrontation in the workplace, while Tom is emphasizing trust as the cornerstone of any successful business relationship. He expertly dissects the root causes of destructive conflicts, highlighting misunderstood motives and fear-driven reactions that often disrupt organizations. Both impart invaluable lessons on switching from fear-driven responses to logical and emotionally intelligent behaviors when resolving conflicts. 

The partners reveal their shared focus on psychology and communication in leadership development, showcasing their unique approaches. Mark tends to ascend from the operational level, while Tom gracefully descends from the board level, creating a synergy that drives growth and value.

Tom discusses working with VCA veterinary clinics, where community engagement and employee well-being are paramount. Together, Tom and Mark explore how leadership development and prioritizing people have made VCA a stronger company. They emphasize that a thriving business requires engaged employees, and a distinctive culture built on values, trust, collaboration, customer service, and unwavering employee support. The importance of culture to a business is backed by their wealth of experience and rigorous research.

Mark and Tom then explore the importance of leaders, "walking the talk," and the transformative power of seeking counsel for an expanded perspective. Their collaborative consulting provides a safe space where listening, understanding, and learning are the driving force behind meaningful individual growth and corporate success.

Next, Mark and Tom discuss how their team can salvage distressed companies. Tom breaks down the challenges troubled organizations face—ignorance of root causes, rapidly eroding value creation, and the struggle to secure credit. Along with the client, they tackle these challenges head-on, offering both insights and hands on assistance that can resurrect businesses in dire circumstances.

In concluding remarks, Mark and Tom remind the listeners that successful businesses today require their leaders and all associates to be inquisitive, interested, agile, resilient, and able to sustain a positive mindset. 

Mark Fowler President of Stowe Management Corporation, and CEO of revolutionary conversations Interviews Lon Safko on the use and value of Chat Bots.

Mark Fowler has been working with CPAs, and other financial professional professionals helping their clients and their customers and been doing it for a long time. About a year or so ago, we decided that we wanted to talk about the kinds of things that have helped us help companies grow, turnaround, expand and become much better at what they're doing. And we and we figured out that the probably the most important thing was the consistent focus on value creation throughout the business. And that motivated us to decide to have some interviews with people who along the way or people introduced to us who we believed, held that same mission every day.  We can always be thinking about something better that we can do both for ourselves, our career, the people around us, our business, our customers, our clients.  And today we have Lon Safko.  Lon has been on our podcasts before and has a wealth of information of value to share. Lon is a kingpin is a cornerstone in it having many, many patents and probably his most important invention of a computer to save the first human's life, Lon welcome.

Lon has been in the IT field and marketing for quite a while and invented the first computer to save human life.  He did some of the first work on environmental control and artificial intelligence for United States Department of Energy. He has a strong background in what we're going to talk about today. And that's artificial intelligence in the form of chatbots. And how it brings value to your customers. And how shocked Lon was when he implemented it for the first time because he was not a real strong believer in it. Now he is a very strong believer and he talks in this podcast about some of those points and how AI chatbots can help you.

What is a Chatbot?
A chatbot is just a computer program, an app and it just simulates conversation. That's really all it does. When the app starts to run, you ask it a question. It tries to find an answer. And then based on what that answer is, you ask it another question, and then it just continues this conversation.  We've all experienced chatbots for customer service, whether it's Amazon or Netflix or any of the big companies. They're all using chat bots and have for or quite a while.

Quote from Lon Safko:
“I had more sales from the moment I implemented the Chatbot. On one website, called Papermodelsonline.com. It provides school projects, downloadable school projects or kids. Here's the bottom line, I saw a 30% increase in revenue. Yeah, I'm going to say that again. 30% increase in revenue. It's maintained that ever since a chatbot was installed. And the reason is, customers come to a website, they'll have a question about your product, however they’re not going to use the contact form. They won't use the contact form. And when I had the Chatbot ask them why? they said it was fear of the harvesting of our emails and more spam. That said, they're comfortable having a conversation with a chatbot. And they would ask questions that I never anticipated. I would put those in the frequently asked questions page immediately and within 24 hours this particular chatbot would reread the entire website for the following morning.

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https://estowemanagement.com/always-creating-value-podcast/

Mark Fowler, president of Stowe Management Corporation, which is a business reengineering firm helping companies both in crisis and growth and Chief Executive Officer of Revolutionary Conversations, a training organization based on the book revolutionary conversations, the tools you need for the success you want. We love the melding and the blending of communication conversation as it relates to both business, family, career, any day and anything. These two businesses go hand in hand. I just spoke at a California Society of CPAs annual forensic conference.  I was asked to talk about crisis and crisis management and dealing with the various areas of crisis because crisis comes in some really, really different forms. Sometimes we don't even know we're in crisis. And today, I'd like to give you a little note that will help you begin to think about how crisis does exist all the time. I know when we go home from business, we think we've done really well and tomorrow is going to continue to be and then all of a sudden, there's a hurricane or tornado or all of a sudden, one of your vendors, no longer is in business.  it's an amazing thing that we think that things are stable. The traditional way to look at crisis is to look at it from an event perspective. In other words, that hurricane, that tornado,  that a customer that is more than 30% of your business suddenly decides not to do business with you anymore.  Over the years,  working with companies both in crisis, as well as in growth, we noticed that it doesn't always just come in an event; we'd like to think about it in a way that and we've been able to identify over the years, the fact that somewhere down the line on a fairly consistent basis, companies, businesses, individuals, no longer are creating value consistently.  We are, instead, over time, eroding the things that made us stable.

See article

One situation I talked about at the conference was an entertainment company that had been growing rapidly for about 12 years. And about a year and a half, before it started to lose its momentum, it started not to be able to pull itself together. It wasn't getting the artists that they wanted it was slowing down and they needed to figure because there was a lot of vigorous energy in there. And one of the things that we did was pulled everybody together, including seven departments. And it turned out that they weren't talking to each other. We did a great retreat, and we helped them bring themselves together. And then over about a year, we ended up doubling the business. And we could have looked at that and say, Oh, that was just a, you know, a great thing that happened. And then, a year or so later, we were back for a party.  One of the executives mentioned that they were doing so well because everybody was so happy. It's just like when the owner's wife was alive, and I said really? Well, it turned out that she was the glue. She was the one thing They kept everybody going as they grew and people had problems, everything from cupcakes, to cakes, to taking people on trips, spending time in the cafeteria, and talking to them one on one to help them get through the day. And when she passed away, nobody was there to do that. 

So a crisis can happen and be brewing at any point in time in your business and in your career as well. You can break crises up into several things.  This Podcast outlines them.

This podcast focuses on how 3 very talented and smart women began their careers decades ago and managed to break through the so-called “Glass Ceiling.”

Read Article https://estowemanagement.com/breaking-glass-ceiling/

Last year, we initiated and launched a podcast called Always Creating Value. One of our main focus points has always been the company and the people creating value.
And how can we create more value on a fairly consistent basis so that we can continue on and be better every day? In these podcasts, we’ve been able to tap into some very special people and talk to them about the kinds of things that they’ve done over their life that not only affected their business but also their personal life. And I’ve brought back three of the people who have been podcast participants, who are all within the business and corporate world in different ways. We want to reach back to the days of the late 70s and 80s when women were only beginning to really have a major impact on the business world. Before you found women in senior positions. Women were becoming increasingly involved and began to change the culture. And we would like to tap into the risks and the challenges that they’ve had. Let us learn from some of these really good experiences that can be applied to the challenges that we have today, the DEI issues, the more people coming into the workplace, wanting to grow and be part of it.

I’d like to introduce them: Ann Hofferberth, who comes from the public and corporate world. Lynn Kitchen comes from wealth management. And now she’s in the business of producing television episodes. She’s now started nationally, and now she’s going across the world. Devon Blaine is a public relations person focused on the area of business and politics. She also focuses on the business perspective from a crisis management platform where she’s been able to help companies with their PR as they go through some very dangerous times.

Ann Hofferberth:” What was very interesting in my time was there were ads on TV about women bringing home the bacon and frying it in the pan. That was the big commercial. And it said, we were supposed to be Wonder Woman, we’re supposed to do it all. And as I looked around in my corporate environment, I saw that that’s not what the men were doing. The men were finding people who were better equipped to do a job than they or better at doing a job they didn’t want to do and hiring them. And I quickly noticed that that might be what was holding some of my female counterparts back because when you try to do it all, you get exhausted and unproductive. So I took that learning and adapted the idea of delegation, finding the right people to do the right jobs, and then staying on top of them and overseeing that performance. And it also translated back into my home life because for me to be able to do what I was doing now that I had a husband and two children meant that I needed to delegate some of the home duties to my terrific husband. And I was smart enough to let him do it the way he wanted to do it, not impose my way of doing it, And that is what I learned. I learned to delegate”

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Read Article https://estowemanagement.com/breaking-glass-ceiling/

We have been doing this podcast for 1 year and we learned so much of value from each episode.

https://estowemanagement.com/adding-value/

In this podcast, Mark would like to share some highlights from our podcast guests and how you can apply them to your environment and continue to create more value.
We formed the podcast because we wanted to help businesses transform to new platforms and find new and better ways to communicate with each other to be more effective. In the past year we have discovered a consistent appreciation for and implementation of always creating value, always being aware of what you know and what's the next thing around the corner that we can learn and apply.

We have learned from innovators and leaders in the IT and AI business, Public relations leader, a publisher, managing partner of a major CPA firm in Los Angeles, leader in the Diversity and Equity and Inclusion world and many more. In doing the research for this episode, we realized the impressive amount of information available in these podcasts., We also awakened our guests to the realization that they are not paying as much attention to what and how they're creating value as well. We have highlighted some snippets from just a few of the podcasts to highlight the learning that can be applied to your business, life and family.

Some of the Learning’s we highlight in this Podcast

1.Learn how to learn:
Damien B.M. English: managing editor with CalCPA for more than 14 years ago Marty Cooper: Author of CUTTING THE CORD: The Cell Phone Has Transformed HUMANITY, an Amazon #1 bestseller

2.Mentors: Marilyn Tam  Speaker and Leader on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

3.Anticipating: 
Devon Blain:  On the business of assisting companies in their communications with customers and investors
David Cieslak: Chief Cloud Officer and EVP with RKL eSolutions, a leading business process automation consulting firm

4.Know your Future Value: Lynn Kitchen: Bringing People, Capital and Ideas Together to Add Value:

There was so much to share from our guests, we will have to do this again.
The word we would use to describe our guests is generous.  They were so generous with their time, with their knowledge, and so generous in sharing what they knew with our audience.  We look forward to bringing more ways for you to always be creating value with our podcast series

https://estowemanagement.com/always-creating-value-podcast/

Ep-11 Always Creating Value™ Podcast for Successful Businesses –Panel on AI including Marty Cooper, David Cieslak, and Lon Safko

Join us July 13th! Digital Experts in IT and AI Discuss: Connecting the Digital to Human Needs Not the Other Way Around.

Recently I have interviewed 3 prominent individuals In the Computer, IT, AI worlds.  David Cieslak, Lon Safko and Marty Cooper.  Each were amazing to talk with and each told a story of their pioneering journeys of where they were to where they wanted to be and where they arrived.  It was fascinating. Please see our Always Creating Value™ Podcast page to watch full episodes, excerpts, and find out more about past and upcoming guests, etc.

The one thing that came home for me was that with all the success technology has had and all the changes and benefits that we have had, there seemed to be the need for a bit more humanity in the equation.  We all know about the questions regarding our IT magnets and the to-be explored challenges they and the public are experiencing.  But I would think that this is the tip of iceberg and humans might have a say in it—hopefully.

For our July 2022 podcast, I have asked David, Marty and Lon to explore with me how we might all tap into a creating value mode to see what we might, together, explore as to what we can do to help maximize, for all. the promise of technology.  Let’s let a little creativity and humanity lead as opposed to just doing it the way we have always done and that is to Debate. Maybe:

Look not so much for what is wrong but what can and should be!

Join us for this free-flowing experience.  We will all learn something.

For a little more introduction to our panelists, please see a snippet from each of their previous podcasts. Hope you join us.

More info: https://estowemanagement.com/always-creating-value-podcast/

Join us for Always Creating Value™ Podcast for Successful Businesses

In business, for whatever we are doing, our intent is to be creating value in many ways.  To be successful, a business needs to bring something important to customers/clients, team members and the community.  In fact, the most successful businesses have a clear value proposition for their stakeholders and their markets.

I have been building and rebuilding business for over 35 years.  These projects could be growth oriented on their own, crisis management or turnaround situations or businesses needing to lay foundations for the next stages of their growth.

Join us the 2nd Wednesday every month  @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm (PDT)

Join our podcast live!

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81241247456?pwd=YVJ5c3JQblhzMW1Gb0ZHcUUxRDVJUT09

Meeting ID: 812 4124 7456
Passcode: Value

Guests

Martin Cooper is an engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, and futurist. He is known as the “father of the cell phone.”

Lon Safko is a serial innovator, inventor, bestselling author, speaker, trainer, consultant. He has been on the ground floor and cutting edge of the IT and Computer Industries for over 25 years.

David Cieslak is Chief Cloud Officer and EVP with RKL eSolutions, a leading business process automation consulting firm with offices across the US.

June 8, 2022, Always Creating Value™ Podcast with Marty Cooper

SEASON 1, EPISODE 10, Author of CUTTING THE CORD: The Cell Phone Has Transformed HUMANITY, an Amazon #1 bestseller: Marty Cooper
Martin Cooper is an engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, and futurist. He is known as the “father of the cell phone.”

https://estowemanagement.com/marty-cooper-cutting-the-cord/

Marty led the creation of the world’s first cell phone at Motorola—and made the first public call on it. Over nearly three decades at Motorola, Cooper contributed to the development of pagers, two-way radio dispatch systems, quartz crystal manufacture, and more.

A serial entrepreneur, he and his wife, Arlene Harris, have cofounded numerous wireless technology companies. This includes Cellular Business Systems, SOS Wireless Communications, GreatCall, and ArrayComm. Cooper is currently chairman of Dyna LLC and a member of the FCC’s Technological Advisory Council. He was the first to observe the Law of Spectrum Capacity, which became known as Cooper’s Law.

In 2013, Cooper became a member of the National Academy of Engineering from whom he received the Charles Stark Draper Prize for Engineering. He was awarded the Marconi Prize “for being a wireless visionary who reshaped the concept of mobile communication.” He has been inducted into the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame and Wireless History Foundation’s Wireless Hall of Fame. The Radio Club of America awarded him a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. He is a lifetime member of the IEEE, was president of its Vehicular Technology Society and received its Centennial Medal. In 2007, Time magazine named him one of the “100 Best Inventors in History.” He is a Prince of Asturias Laureate.

Marty Cooper grew up in Chicago, the son of Ukrainian immigrants. He attended Crane Technical High School and the Illinois Institute of Technology, where he is a Life Trustee. He served in the US Navy as a submarine officer during the Korean Conflict.

We Initiated the Always Creating Value™ Podcast Program in September 2021.

We are delighted our Podcast guests have been eager to share how they are adding value in whatever they are doing in the world… you have an opportunity to hear about a new way to look at things by tapping into their successes and challenges.

Look for us on the 2nd Wednesday each month at 11:00 am Pacific Time
or visit our website anytime – Podcasts are always available.
Upcoming Podcast Episodes:

Full Episodes:
https://estowemanagement.com/always-creating-value-podcast/

Zoom Address

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81241247456?pwd=YVJ5c3JQblhzMW1Gb0ZHcUUxRDVJUT09

Meeting ID: 812 4124 7456
Passcode: Value

Airdate: May 11, 2022 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm (PDT) Always Creating Value™ Podcast: Bringing People, Capital and Ideas Together to Add Value: Lynn Kitchen

https://estowemanagement.com/bringing-people-capital-and-ideas-together-with-lynn-kitchen/

Lynn Kitchen is passionate about Power of Mentorship and Can-Do Spirit.

I first saw Lynn when she was interviewed for our Revolutionary Conversations, LLC’s Power of Peace® Podcasts.  Being one of our first interviewees, she was also one of our most enthusiastic.  She did something that no one since has done—she came prepared to talk about our book.  She had read it, studied it, practiced the instructions then successfully took the book’s conversational technology out into the world to support her to be more successful in 3 separate situations: business, personal and family interactions — all before the interview with us.

She had mentored herself and put her Can-Do Spirit into play and wowed us in so many ways.  She was able to help us better understand our book’s potential, clearly demonstrating how our information could be used in even more powerful circumstances than we had before—and our success with the material had already been impressive for many decades.  In essence, she was able to mentor us by demonstrating how she learned, engaged and utilized the material so the results were exceptional.  The whole time, mentoring in action, she was adding value to herself, us, the audience; by creating a new platform for those interviews, she gave us another, newer way to frame these podcast interviews.

We can’t wait to see how she wows us again on our Always Creating Value™ Podcast.
To introduce her in more depth, please see below:

• Lynn’s production company, Kitchen-Hamilton Productions, is currently producing a 13-Episode TV Series, “World’s Greatest Motivators”, featuring top motivational speakers on the Power of Positivity and the Can-Do Spirit.
• Previous productions include the Bob Proctor at Carnegie Hall event and the Master Mentor Series with Lynn as she interviewed notable thought leaders and master mentors on the Power of Mentorship.
• As a publisher, Lynn is CEO of DreamSculpt Books & Media, an imprint of Waterside Productions (an Ingram Publishing Imprint) bringing book incubation services, publishing and strategic planning to authors whose messages make a positive difference in the world.
• As one of four businesswomen, Lynn is a partner of The Four Dames, LLC, a women empowerment company.  Their book “Wealth Mastery for Women” is an international bestseller.
• Formerly, Lynn enjoyed a 35-year career as a financial advisory executive and now provides seasoned perspective as a financial consultant.  

Mentorship and philanthropy have long been Lynn’s priorities, serving 22 years as Board Member of the Spirit Awakening Foundation that mentors incarcerated and at-risk youth in Los Angeles.  Lynn holds a Bachelor of Science, Business Marketing, from California State University, Long Beach; she has held many advanced financial certifications including Licensed Financial Principal and 2 years of study toward Certified Financial Analyst (CFA).

Lynn currently lives in Longboat Key, Florida, with her husband and enjoys tennis and biking.

We Initiated the Always Creating Value™ Podcast Program in September 2021.
We are delighted our Podcast guests have been eager to share how they are adding value in whatever they are doing in the world… you have an opportunity to hear about a new way to look at things by tapping into their successes and challenges.

https://estowemanagement.com/always-creating-value-podcast/

People can find me if they wish,

(Airdate: April 13, 2022) on Always Creating Value™ Podcast: Serial Entrepreneur, Executive, Author, Radio Host, Futurist: Rinaldo S. Brutoco
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Rinaldo is a Renaissance Person who is involved in all types of projects for the betterment of all. In our interview, we will learn more about some of his key successes. It will be amazing — we will learn how he is consistently creating value with projects in safe energy, social responsibility, climate change, businesses taking the high road with their duties to all stakeholders and more.

Rinaldo S. Brutoco is Founder, CEO and Chairman of H2 Clipper, Inc., an innovative hydrogen infrastructure technology platform. He is also the Founding President and CEO of the Santa Barbara-based World Business Academy, as well as co-Founder of JUST Capital. He’s a serial entrepreneur, executive, author, radio host and futurist who’s published on the role of business in relation to pressing moral, environmental and social concerns for over 35 years.
https://justcapital.com/

As an attorney, he practices law from its higher focus. He fights for justice and creates ways people, particularly in business, can find a better, more peaceful/productive place to create value.

With his partner Willis Harmon, they founded the World Business Academy in 1987.
The World Business Academy is a Santa Barbara-based non-profit devoted to elevating the consciousness of people in the business community and encouraging business leaders to use their power and influence to take greater responsibility for the communities and the environment their work touches, in addition to growing profit. In recent years, the Academy has advocated for projects based on this perspective that address critical issues such as climate change, where the group has been an outspoken advocate for sustainable energy use and production methods. Its Mission is to inspire business to assume responsibility for the whole of society and assist those in business who share our values. They will accomplish this mission by changing business leaders’ consciousness from self-service to servant leadership; by changing the consciousness of young people entering business so they see themselves as entering a noble profession, rather than a jungle; by changing the consciousness of the public at large so it spends its money where its values are.

“Now, more than ever, we believe the business community MUST provide social leadership as a steward for a healthy planet and a healthy human civilization. We research, publish and implement innovative practical solutions for the world’s most pressing challenges, and seek to define business as a positive social partner.”

Social responsibility for business. What a concept! In many, many ways, the World Business Academy has done that. One of the Academy’s successes is a non-profit called JUST Capital, which is designed to hold business to their commitment to create a better world as they serve all their stakeholders – workers, customers, communities, the environment and shareholders:

“We believe that business can and must be a greater force for good and that markets must be part of the solution. At over $18 trillion, the U.S. private sector is about 4½ times the size of government and 40 times the size of private philanthropy. Building a more just economy that better serves the needs of all stakeholders is an essential step in pursuing true prosperity for all and for addressing our systemic problems at scale.”

We Initiated the Always Creating Value™ Podcast Program in September 2021.