Bryan Yager has been an effective teacher, leader, meeting facilitator, executive coach, and energizing speaker for more than 40 years. Bryan’s professional passion is helping individuals, teams, and organizations expand their capacity for success. 

Bryan has focused most of his career on leadership and organizational development. He was formerly the Vice President of Management and Organizational Development for one of the largest retailers in the United States. He taught graduate-level courses at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management and George Fox University. His courses consistently received top scores from graduating students.

In this episode Wendi and Bryan discuss:

• The impact of emotional intelligence and overcoming confirmation bias through self-awareness
• Leadership challenges, workplace politics, and maintaining core values
• Paradigms and belief systems shaping perspectives, including the toilet paper roll dilemma
• Personality assessment tools and the importance of communication style flexibility
• Recognizing and overcoming confirmation bias to embrace diverse viewpoints

Key Takeaways:

• Emotional intelligence and self-awareness emerge as powerful tools, fostering open-mindedness, better decision-making, and stronger relationships by addressing biases and enhancing communication.
• The ability to embrace diverse viewpoints and navigate idea-based conflicts is highlighted as essential for collaborative problem-solving and creating healthy team dynamics.
• Personality assessments and style flexibility reveal the value of understanding different communication preferences, enabling leaders to improve team cohesion and effectiveness.
• Lifelong learning, mentoring, and curiosity about diverse perspectives are celebrated as pathways to leadership growth and intentional living, fostering wisdom and resilience.
• Leadership is reframed as a journey of continuous growth, where perceived imperfections are opportunities for development and every stage is embraced as part of the process.

“If we're aspiring to have influence with others and to be a leader in our personal lives or our professional lives, I would suggest to people that a green apple in early May is just as perfect for its stage of development as that red, ripe, gorgeous apple in the fall. They're just in two different spots on the journey, and all of those are valid. So, if you've got self-talk that says you're not as smart as you are, you're not a good leader, you're too fat, you're too stupid, or anything like that, I would just encourage you to think of the journey. You're a green apple that has some development to do, and it's perfect for where you are. ” - Bryan Yager

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/dxfD6AFt88I?si=WZEsLh7SM9hnojbO

Recommended Book: “Think Again”- Adam Grant : https://www.amazon.com/Think-Again-Power-Knowing-What/dp/B08HJQHNH9/ 

BYG Key Lessons: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-yr3yu6XCEh61vRQBFQYOZoeuWtvQNbnqtnsgtox4Yg/edit?usp=sharing 

MMM Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/monday-morning-minute-6974792906951827456/ 

Connect with Bryan Yager:

Website: https://bryanyager.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanyagergroupllc/ 

Connect with Wendi Swanson:

Website: etymongroup.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/wendiswanson

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557265653368 

Email: [email protected]

Show notes by Podcastologist: Angelo Paul Tagama

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.