Commander-In-Chief Podcast

Just as important as the technical and procedural aspects in creating organizational change is the people side. They are the core of how organizations can move forward. After all, an organization is just as resilient as its people. In this episode, Paul Thallner, Principal at Daggerwing Group, joins Yuri Kruman to discuss his long-time work on the People side of change management. He shares his remarkable story of going from an English major to non-profits, education policy, change management consulting, and, now, writing books. They also dive deep into the excellent lessons from Paul’s latest, Reinventing Resilience, and how he has implemented them as a consultant for some of the best organizations in the world.

Our conversation touched upon many interesting topics, including:

• Why the people side of organizations is important for change
• The value Paul got from being an English major
• How Paul pivoted to organizational change work
• What is resilience
• The difference between resilience and resourcefulness
• How to create a resilient organization
• Self-belief as a way forward

Mark Mears and I cover "Starting with WHO Not WHY,". From his remarkable story of going from an English Major to Organizational Development Masters. To a long and storied career as a marketing exec in Fortune 500 hospitality companies to now running "LEAF Growth Ventures." We go deep into his people management philosophy, how he trains teams to embrace purpose as organizing principles, among other subjects. Enjoy! 

Our conversation touched upon many interesting topics, including:  

• The purposeful growth revolution 
• How to engage people with their head, heart, hands, and habits  
• Mark Mears' mantra leadership  
• Understanding not just WHO, but WHO you serve 
• How to motivate your team and make them feel involved  
• How to refocus on ourselves on who we are, who we serve, what our purpose is, and why 

Connect with Mark Mears: Website | LinkedIn  

Get a copy of his book here: The Purposeful Growth Revolution: 4 Ways to Grow from Leader to Legacy Builder 

Health is wealth, so healthcare should be a priority for companies wanting to give benefits to their employees. But what kind of healthcare benefits actually work? Today, OM Experts CEO Anca Griffiths gives a case for personalized medicine as a company health benefit.

Today’s conversation touches on these topics:

·        The benefits of pooling the knowledge of different health experts

·        Why research about women’s health is not being done properly

·        Why typical company health perks do not make employees healthier

·        How the masterclass format can improve health communication

·        Dispelling the hype of many online health, wellness, and fitness programs

·        Why prioritizing your health is important

·        The value of personalized health plans

Everyone has the right to health. No matter what race, color, gender, or status, everyone deserves to be treated with high quality care and dignity. This is what Errol Pierre is in pursuit of. Despite the headway the health industry has come when it comes to providing access, it is still undeniably far from fully reaching those who need the care the most. The same thing happens in opening opportunities for people of color, women, and those in the LGBTQ+ community in the corporate world. In this episode, Errol joins Yuri Kruman to share with us his journey of making sure health equity and diversity in the corporate environment are achieved. Errol is a healthcare executive, health equity expert, and the author of The Way Up. Follow along to this great conversation to gain insights on what the different industries still need to do so it helps everybody without discrimination.

Our conversation touched upon many interesting topics, including:

·     What inspired Errol to write The Way Up

·     The challenges of climbing the corporate mountain as a professional of color

·     The cost of code-switching

·     What is performative allyship and how to avoid it

·     Why hiring is not just the HR’s job but the whole company as well

·     The importance of choosing your passion

·     The value of mentorship and coaching

Not everybody likes to read long legal contracts. For people who aren't lawyers, these aren't the easiest to read. The same can be said about resumes. Not everyone has the time to read 100 resumes a day. This is where the power of technology comes in. Klarity is a tool that has an AI that reads and automates all your documents. It can check read your contracts or choose the top ten most promising resumes. Join Yuri Kruman as he talks to the founder of Klarity, Andrew Antos about what Klarity offers in legal tech. Learn how Klarity works. And discover how he manages his people and his hiring process.

Bullets:

● How did Andrew get into law and the tech industry?

● What is Klarity and what does it do?

○ Klarity is a tool that can automate and read your legal contracts for you. It helps you index all of those and find the ones that you actually want.

● What Andrew looks for in his staff and how he manages his people.

○ He is looking for people with drive, empathetic towards customers, and good collaborators.

● What are the things that Andrew finds most important in his life and how does he manage to focus on those?

When it comes to the insurance industry, InsureTech is the newest buzzword. Just like any other industry, insurance has to evolve, and they are doing that with technology. You have to use technology as a growth accelerant, but at the same time not be shackled by it. You have companies like RightSure, who are infusing InsureTech with humans so they can make the right decisions on the spot. Join Yuri Kruman as he talks to the Founder of RightSure, Jeffery Arnold, about harnessing the power of technology into the insurance industry. Discover how you can continue to innovate in your industry.

In this conversation, we explored the following topics:

•   What led Jeffery to hop into the insurance industry?
•   What technology can do to any industry if it is used as a growth accelerant
•   What does RightSure do differently?
•   RightSure is a tech-forward Insurance platform that helps people with all things insurance in 42 States. With their special Discount Discovery Technology, they can help people make the right choices.
•   What is that one question you keep forgetting to ask your insurance agent? Forget about the insurance; you get what you paid for.
•   What social inflation is and how supply chain interruptions can negatively affect a whole industry.

Joining Yuri Kruman today is Rob Krecak of Humans First, a consultancy that helps other companies transition to a four-day work week with no loss in productivity or profitability and the same pay for employees. Rob enumerates the upsides to working fewer hours and shares insights on the value of interconnectedness in the face of technology. From lesser burnout to being an attractive perk to applicants, learn about the many gains of this emerging people management philosophy.

Our conversation explored these golden nuggets of wisdom:

• How Rob started with three different college degrees and ended with him becoming a sell-side equity analyst
• How he opened an Anytime Fitness health club while working a 60-hour a week day job, which eventually grew to three clubs across three different states
• How he founded his consultancy business Humans First, a combination of his career that started from finance, transitioned to health and fitness, and now focuses on technology
• How a childhood memory of having extremely bad acne inspired him to work in the health and fitness industry
• What is the story behind Shop Mom and Pop, his company’s Google Chrome extension
• What is the role of Entrepreneurs’ Organization in his journey as an entrepreneur
• How managing a uBreakiFix cellphone repair store gave him the a-ha moment to start Humans First
• What are the lasting (and possibly) alarming effects of extended phone use on kids and teenagers in this digital age (with relevant statistics and research data from Rob)
• How Humans First guide their clients in honing better technology mindfulness habits and how exactly they run their experimental methods
• What are the potential benefits of adopting a 40-work week
• Why he makes a huge effort to develop good relationships with his employees
• What is Rob’s biggest life goal

In this episode, Yuri Kruman talks with Lauren Mintz, founder of Elevate My Brand. Inspired by the innovative consulting work she executed early in her career with prestigious brands like Le Bec Fin, Public House Restaurant Group, Bassett Furniture, and Julie Hewett Cosmetics, Laurel knew she wanted to play bigger. A decade later, Laurel created an agency family serving startups and blue-chip global brands like Facebook, Verizon Digital Media Group, PAW Patrol, and Zendesk. Laurel's favorite saying is FIOGID – Figure it out, get it done. And that's what brought the agency top talent and accolades since 2009. Today, Lauren talks about the power of a brand and why businesses need one.

Our conversation touched upon these interesting points:

• How did Lauren work as a reformed lawyer
• What are the lessons she learned as a professional who became a CEO in her late twenties
• What are the most shocking things she encountered in the MBA program and her real-life job
• How did she handle the transition from Bassett Furniture to Le Bec-Fin and other leading restaurant brands
• How did she navigate between vastly different industries
• How Girls In Tech connects with the biggest brands in the world and brings people together
• What solopreneurs and emerging brands need to do in building their business framework and efficient allocation of resources
• What is the Creative Mind Map Session
• How she founded WBENC and strengthened her network
• What are her essential principles when managing people and empowering a team
• What to expect when working alongside prominent brands such as GEICO and Facebook
• Why being responsive is better than simply being reactive

Phil Blows

, CEO of

Aqru.io

spoke with us on the Commander-in-Chief Podcast and gave us some incredible background on how professionals manage their crypto portfolios, plus how how company is making this wisdom available to everyone.

Our conversation touched upon many interesting subjects, including

:

What Aqru.io actually does:

AQRU is a simple app that helps you to buy, invest and earn interest on your Crypto assets. Your annual interest is paid daily and tracked to the second.

What led him to write a personal finance book,

The Money Triangle

.

What drives his mission of “Bridging the gap between Traditional Finance and Decentralized Finance”

How blockchain decentralization moves value more efficiently around the world — and not just through Crypto.

How AQRU can guarantee a 12% yearly rate of return!

How AQRU is connecting the under-banked with high-level investment management usually reserved for the elites

What led Phil to enter financial services — and how a big part of his mission is increasing access to the under-privileged, including through financial education

Phil’s sobering perspective on

side-hustles

— and career advice on managing yours effectively (

amazing story

!)

Why every business owner needs to be a great generalist

How his unusual career path (managing people early on and doing something out of his depth) really pushed him to go both deeper and wider professionally

How learning geology and playing rugby in university prepared Phil incredibly well for both building a successful business

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Executive Coaching Office Hours (EXCLUSIVE FOR READERS)

Ask me ANYTHING career- or business-related for free, 1-on-1

 (REALLY)

Click the link to schedule a time.

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I love hearing from you guys :)

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If you enjoyed this newsletter, please forward to a friend (or 5 :) or someone you feel would benefit from reading it!

Yuri Kruman

+1 (347) 415-0265 (Whatsapp)

Get full access to Commander-In-Chief Briefs at

commanderinchief.substack.com/subscribe

LIKE WHAT YOU HEARD ON COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF PODCAST?

Leave a Tip :) [

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$1

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DO YOU (OR YOUR BUSINESS) WANT TO BE FEATURED IN THIS NEWSLETTER OR AN ARTICLE?

Reply directly to this message and let me know some of the cool stuff you’re working on! If it’s a fit for what I write and care about, happy to feature you :)

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Let’s Get the Formalities Out of the Way…

Why you’re getting this

: I'm Yuri Kruman and this is my “Commander-In-Chief” Newsletter, based on my book,

“Be Your Own Commander-in-Chief.”

I send this to people in my LinkedIN and FB networks, people I’ve met recently, and friends I want to keep in touch with. You can unsubscribe (

SEE THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE EMAIL

) and I won’t be offended.

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Jennifer Dulski

, CEO of Rising Team spoke with us on the Commander-in-Chief Podcast and gave us such incredible golden nuggets for business and career growth (she’s a Silicon Valley LEGEND).

Our conversation touched upon many interesting subjects, including

:

A few truly invaluable lessons she learned from leadership roles at

Facebook, Google and Yahoo

How she came to be the COO and President of Change.org, growing it 10x to 180 million (!) users

How — and why - she decided to build her newest Learning and Development company,

Rising Team

A few of the golden nuggets from her most recent book,

Purposeful: Are You a Manager… Or a Movement Starter?

Jennifer’s thoughtful People Management philosophy and how it aligns neatly with her own

A couple simple strategies she has for living a healthy and meaningful life

To learn more about Jennifer's work, visit

RisingTeam.com

.

I greatly enjoyed our conversation with Jennifer and I know you will, as well!

—

Executive Coaching Office Hours (EXCLUSIVE FOR READERS)

Ask me ANYTHING career- or business-related for free, 1-on-1

 (REALLY)

Click the link to schedule a time.

—

Are there any other subjects you want me to cover? 

Hit “Reply” and tell me!

I love hearing from you guys :)

—

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please forward to a friend (or 5 :) or someone you feel would benefit from reading it!

Yuri Kruman

+1 (347) 415-0265 (Whatsapp)

Get full access to Commander-In-Chief Briefs at

commanderinchief.substack.com/subscribe