Cohesion

This episode features an interview with Stephen M.R. Covey, author of The Speed of Trust and Co-founder of FranklinCovey’s Global Trust Practice. He is a sought-after international speaker, who has taught trust and leadership to business, government, military, education, healthcare, and NGO entities. As the former President and CEO of the Covey Leadership Center, Stephen increased shareholder value by 67 times and grew the company to become the largest leadership development firm in the world. 

In this episode, Shawn sits down with Stephen to discuss the foundational concepts of trust and leadership, practical strategies for enabling authenticity, and the importance of having a growth mindset.

Hear more from Stephen when he participates in the World Business Forum this October!

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“The style of leadership that maybe has taken us to where we are today in a different world, is not going to be where we need to go tomorrow in a new world of remote work and hybrid work and intentionally flexible work with younger generations. Gen Z have a completely different expectation of how they want to be engaged and led. With work becoming far more collaborative and interdependent and with technology changing, disrupting everything with AI, with all these things happening, we need a new way to lead in a new world of work. Maybe command and control got us to where we are today, but trust and inspire is what's going to take us to where we need to go tomorrow.” – Stephen M.R. Covey

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Episode Timestamps:

*(03:32): Getting to know Stephen

*(13:14): The reciprocity of trust 

*(26:37): Building stewardship agreements 

*(31:22): Trust and inspire vs. command and control 

*(41:49): Authenticity and vulnerability in leadership

*(54:06): The need for a growth mindset

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Links:

Learn more about FranklinCovey’s Global Trust Practice

Connect with Stephen on LinkedIn

Follow Stephen on X

Follow Stephen on Instagram

Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn

Cohesion Podcast

This episode features an interview with Rachel Happe, Founder and Digital Workplace, Organization, and Community Strategist at Engaged Organizations. She started Engaged Organizations to focus on helping organizations adapt to new technologies and accelerate knowledge supply chains while improving trust, transparency, and agility. She is a sought after speaker and expert on the impact of technology on engagement, relationships, and culture and has keynoted at several digital workplace conferences.

In this episode, Shawn and Rachel discuss treating employees as assets rather than machines, rewarding human contributions, and valuing emotional and social aspects in the workplace.

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“We still have this mechanistic system and the human system, and we're still treating humans like machines. I wrote a post a while back, because I was getting really annoyed reading about how AI could help employees. It was all like, ‘It can do these 10 tasks for you.’ And I'm like, ‘If that's all we are, we should go home.’ It's the mindset of what we think employees or people's  value is. The example I use in presentations is diamonds. Why are diamonds valuable? They're rocks. De Beers made them mean something. You know who can't make something mean something to somebody else? AI. The value of people is activating other people. And value is meaning.” – Rachel Happe

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Episode Timestamps:

*(02:20): Getting to know Rachel

*(10:27): Rachel’s career background

*(15:42): Employees are not machines

*(21:50): How to calculate the value of community

*(32:21): The role of AI in community 

*(42:39): The current and future state of valuing humans

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Links:

Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn

Learn more about Engaged Organizations

Email Rachel

Read Ed Zitron’s They’re Looting The Internet

Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn

Cohesion Podcast

This episode features an interview with Sandy Gould, Chief People Officer at Pinwheel. Sandy has nearly three decades of experience in human resources and talent acquisition. He has worked for companies like Disney and Yahoo where he led recruitment and diversity efforts. Sandy’s mission in life is to help people unleash their super powers and lead with authenticity. 

In this episode, Shawn sits down with Sandy to discuss strategies for building company culture, insights into building trust and fostering psychological safety, and injecting humanity into HR.

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“There is one mission for HR, and I can state it in three words. Amplify everything human. That's our job. If it's helping the CEO understand and have empathy with their employees, if it's helping the employees decode the CEO and executives, yes, we should do that. Helping to amplify and enhance your relationship skills, your communication skills, your connection, your problem solving, anything. How you think, training, learning, resources, strategy, you name it, we should be amplifying every part of it that's human. But, we are not there to be a substitute. There is no substitute for direct relationships and direct communication and direct feedback.” – Sandy Gould

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Episode Timestamps:

*(02:32): Getting to know Sandy

*(09:02): Building company culture 

*(14:41): Sandy’s take on superpowers

*(26:55): Creating trust and authenticity

*(34:10): The challenges of authenticity 

*(47:23): How to scale authenticity in an organization

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Links:

Connect with Sandy on LinkedIn

Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn

Cohesion Podcast

This episode features an interview with Kosheno Moore, Vice President and Digital Community Leader for Regional Center Satellite at Fidelity Investments. Prior to joining Fidelity, she served as the Manager of CX Communications at Workday, Head of Communities at Aurea Software, Principal of Employee Communications at Jive Software, and spent 7 years at Agilent Technologies in various roles.

In this episode, Shawn and Kosheno discuss strategies for creating meaningful digital connections, the future of D&I within corporate culture, and how to foster a sense of belonging among employees.

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“In order to create a sense of community in a digital environment, you have to not just think about the technology itself, like anyone can deploy any technology. It's almost moot point what technology you use, but it's about the strategy piece of it. It's about the bringing people together piece of it. Which means like, what's going to motivate people to come together? Can we organize people around certain themes? In order to do that, you need to be able to create communication messaging, and you need to do that in so many different forms of media, and you need to tap into different audience source. Community management, I think, really forces you to be omnichannel. And yes, communication is a big component of it, but it really challenges us to think cross-disciplinary, like you want to be strategic, you also want to be tactical, you also want to be multimedia savvy, and a great communicator, too. I think that's the beauty of it. I think when it's done well, community management strategy and technology, a robust technology platform, I think those could be win-win.” – Kosheno Moore

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Episode Timestamps:

*(02:26): Getting to know Kosheno

*(07:37): Kosheno’s career journey 

*(19:39): The challenges of building digital communities

*(31:35): The impact of community size

*(41:58): Kosheno’s thoughts on D&I strategies

*(46:22): The future of human connections at work

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Links:

Connect with Kosheno on LinkedIn

Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn

Cohesion Podcast

This episode features an interview with Elizabeth Baskin, CEO of Tribe, Inc., an internal communications boutique working with global brands. Before launching Tribe, she was the CEO of consumer branding agency MATCH, and held management and creative positions at several other ad agencies.

In this episode, Shawn sits down with Elizabeth to discuss the effectiveness of editorial boards and content training for global communications, strategies for maintaining employee engagement and motivation, and the need for honest communications during times of change and uncertainty.

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“The very most important best practice for internal comms is to recognize that employees do not have to read, watch, listen to anything you do. They don't have to. There's this expectation that they will read it because they're an employee and you're talking for corporate. No. You're competing with Instagram and Hulu and whatever else. You can't write a 700 word wall of text and email it and think everybody's going to find that call to action somewhere in the 17th paragraph. You have to realize that you are not talking to employees in a vacuum. You're talking to them in this world of distractions and media onslaught.” – Elizabeth Baskin

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Episode Timestamps:

*(02:39): Rapid fire questions

*(06:42): Elizabeth dives into Tribe, Inc. 

*(16:04): The challenges of communicating with a deskless workforce 

*(27:44): How comms can affect culture 

*(32:07): The importance of honest communications 

*(41:44): Future internal communications trends

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Links:

Connect with Elizabeth on LinkedIn

Learn more about Tribe, Inc.

Visit Elizabeth’s blog

Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn

Cohesion Podcast

This episode features an interview with Steven T. Hunt Ph.D., Work Techno-Psychologist & Author of Talent Tectonics. Steve is an industry expert who has had a pivotal role in developing systems that have improved productivity and engagement of millions of employees around the globe. He is a well-known speaker, author, and thought leader on strategic human resources.

In this episode, Shawn and Steve discuss how the nature of work is evolving, the cause of burnout, and how we should be using AI to make work better.

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“You cannot provide excellent customer service, you cannot be creative, collaborative, all the things companies want people to do if you feel exploited, burned out, or exhausted. Yet, the pace of change people are facing is making them feel exhausted and burned out. This is why I wrote this book, Talent Tectonics. It talks about how do we need to manage work differently? Where we need to provide people an experience where they view change as, ‘Yeah, this growth opportunity.’ As opposed to just burned out and exhausted.” – Steven T. Hunt Ph.D.

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Episode Timestamps:

*(02:16): Rapid fire questions

*(08:31): Talent Tectonics and how the nature of work is changing

*(20:03): Steve’s take on burnout

*(28:32): How external factors play into burnout

*(42:40): How we should be using technology to make work better

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Links:

Connect with Steve on LinkedIn

Read Talent Tectonics

Visit Steve’s website

Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn

Cohesion Podcast

This episode features an interview with Aniisu K. Verghese, Founder of Intraskope, a boutique internal communications and personal branding consultancy serving global markets. Aniisu is an award-winning internal communications expert with over two decades of experience in change and transformation initiatives. He started India's first blog on internal communications in 2006 and is now the author of three books.

In this episode, Shawn and Aniisu discuss inclusive internal communications, strategies for building organizational trust, and how AI is streamlining employee experience.

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“I think the traditional model of doing these surveys six months, one year, doesn't really work. You need to get into more real-time sentiment analysis and managers need to be empowered because the data is available if you're doing it through such platforms where you can access the information in real-time. Then, you make the managers accountable saying, ‘Your team's sentiment is negative and what are you doing about it? When did you have your last conversation and what are some of the issues that are coming up?’ Then, match it with what they're saying to see whether that's the right way to go. I think going forward, it has to be only that, because you can't really wait for a six month window to start changing things.” – Aniisu K. Verghese

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Episode Timestamps:

*(03:00): Rapid fire questions

*(08:14): Aniisu discusses Intraskope

*(17:46): Inclusive internal communications and employee experience

*(23:33): How to build trust in an organization

*(34:18): What AI looks like in employee experience

*(45:55): What the future of internal communications looks like

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Links:

Connect with Aniisu on LinkedIn

Follow Aniisu on Twitter

Aniisu’s Linktree

Aniisu’s blog

Instraskope Consulting

Global Commtrepreneurs Network

International Communication Professionals

Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn

Cohesion Podcast

This episode features an interview with Mike Robbins, motivational speaker and author. As an expert in teamwork, leadership, and emotional intelligence, Mike delivers keynotes and seminars that empower people, leaders, and teams to engage in their work, collaborate, and perform at their best. He teaches important techniques that allow individuals and organizations to be more appreciative, authentic, and effective.

In this episode, Shawn and Mike discuss the limits of authenticity, how AI is affecting teams, and the difference between recognition and appreciation.

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“We seek and fear change at the same time. That's part of what makes change exciting and challenging. I feel both excited and scared about AI, personally. Is it going to eliminate certain jobs and certain things and certain people? It most likely will, just like any kind of new technology and automation. Think of what the internet did. It got rid of a lot of industries and jobs. At the same time, it created way more than it got rid of. At the end of the day, we still have to believe in ourselves and the importance of humanity and human connection. That's never going away and I think it's just going to be that much more of a premium.” – Mike Robbins

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Episode Timestamps:

*(02:24): Rapid fire questions

*(07:27): Mike reflects on his 2015 TED talk and how it’s relevant today

*(21:41): How organizations create psychological safety 

*(28:38): The difference between recognition and appreciation

*(38:12): How AI will affect teams in the workplace

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Links:

Connect with Mike on LinkedIn

Visit Mike’s website

Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn

Cohesion Podcast

This episode features an interview with Monique Zytnik. Monique is an award-winning, global internal communication leader who presents on best-practice communication at world conferences and guest lectures at universities. Her campaigns have been recognized by Gartner and the Digital Communication Awards. 

In this episode, Shawn sits down with Monique to discuss the misconception of authenticity, the challenge of creating culture, and why AI will never replace human creativity and connection.

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“I don't have a car anymore, but when I did, that little blind spot that you have when you're trying to go around the corner and you've always got to make sure you check it. It's the same in an organization. There's always these little spots that you can't really see very well what's going on. You need to take care that your employees in that area are also reflecting your values and that there isn't little fiefdoms happening with particular leaders who don't wish to communicate, and putting employees off or people are leaving because of unsavorable working conditions.” – Monique Zytnik

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Episode Timestamps:

*(02:07): Rapid fire questions

*(06:37): Monique dives into her book 

*(10:51): AI’s influence on communication

*(35:09): The role of leaders during difficult times

*(46:34): How AI, leadership, and active listening come together

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Links:

Connect with Monique on LinkedIn

Read Internal Communication in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn

Cohesion Podcast

This episode features an interview with Christina Kucek, Executive Director of Intelligent Automation at CAI. She has over 15 years of consulting experience in delivering cutting-edge implementations in Conversational AI, natural language processing, and robotics process automation. At CAI, Christina guides clients through their automation journeys while delivering innovative solutions.

In this episode, Shawn and Christina discuss the impact of AI on employee experience: from onboarding to accelerating workflows to building in ethics.

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“Employee retention a lot of times can be impacted by their first week or two of employment. They get their machine, their access to all the systems that they need. They get their email, it's already set up. They show up on day one and they're ready to go. That impression that you make as a company on their new employee will help us retain our best talent. That reduces our cost overall for trying to recruit people and train people. That retention piece is really valuable.” – Christina Kucek

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Episode Timestamps:

*(02:44): Rapid fire questions

*(07:13): Christina breaks down CAI and her role

*(15:57): How AI impacts employee experience

*(28:22): How AI will affect the amount of work for employees

*(36:43): The future of augmented intelligence

*(45:23): What’s next for Christina and CAI

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Links:

Connect with Christina on LinkedIn

Learn more about CAI

Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn

Cohesion Podcast