Curious Creature Podcast

Today we have a conversation with SQ's SVP of Sales, Scott McCown, to hear how he is preparing for his first AEP and what his expectations are as we dive head first into our busiest season. Scott has a diverse leadership background, beginning in small town New England & Oregon with his father, a lead-from-the-front businessman and Veteran of Korea. He continued his leadership journey by enlisting in the Air Force right out of high school, where he learned to be resilient and how to effectively work within a dynamic team through cultivating an environment of high trust and compassion. Post military service, he entered the corporate world where he effectively used his skills in leadership roles as a Director, VP and COO in the banking and insurance industries. Scott joined SelectQuote in June of this year and has worked diligently to prepare our teams for this year's AEP. His leadership has already made a huge impact in our organization as has his infectious positivity. Great interview with Scott! This episode we talk Top Gun Maverick, New England Life, Farm Work, Trial By Firehose, Leading with Empathy & Compassion and AEP Prep. 

Culture has been one of SelectQuote's defining features over the years, and in 2022, a new and brighter focus has been placed on restoring and amplifying that culture. Leadership and culture are intricately linked, and when aligned properly, they can strengthen and enhance an organization far beyond a great bottom line.

For today's show we welcome SQ's resident expert on all things culture, David Mergen. David has been an important fixture at this company for over ten years. He is a self described servant leader and possesses a deep passion for connecting and investing in people's lives. 

In this episode we talk Master of Merriment, Culture Defined, Same Message/Different Platform, Giving Others a Voice, Navigating a Mental Black Hole, Serving the Community, Riding the Paddy Wagon and Tattoos. Thanks for listening and enjoy!

As we usher in the new High School and say goodbye to the old, we wanted to celebrate both future and past with one of Ames High's more well known alums, Fred Hoiberg. Fred was a multi-sport athlete as a Little Cyclone and is of course most well known for leading the school to it’s sixth high school state basketball championship in 1991. He went on to star at Iowa State and then the NBA for 10 years where he became one of the league’s most prolific shooters. Fred has since returned to his birthplace of Lincoln Nebraska where he is serving his fourth season as head coach for the University of Nebraska Men’s Basketball team. 

In this episode Fred and I talk about the privilege of growing up in Ames, the advantages of playing multiple sports, academic expectations, Mistletoe Dance, recruitment dilemma, Johnny Orr, Forced Retirement, and Nebraska Legacy. Enjoy!

SelectQuote has experienced tremendous change over the last several months, and navigating that change successfully requires strong and competent leadership. We have two such leaders on today's show in Emily Thomas and Jason Westover. Emily and Jason talk us through what it takes to maneuver an organization such as ours through the complexities and nuances of change, and the decision making and leadership processes that go into making sure those changes effectively communicated and implemented.  In this episode we talk Trustpilot Reviews, KU vs. K-State, Humility, Leading Remotely, Culture, Lessons Learned, Making Lists and Prioritizing. Thank you for listening and enjoy!

On this episode, we had the pleasure of sitting down with the one of our top leaders, Tiffany Sterling. Tiffany came to SelectQuote just over a year ago from Sprint, where she started as a temp worker in a store in San Diego, and  diligently worked her way up to to a director position at the corporate level.  She is now the Vice President of Operations for the Senior division here at SQ and just completed her first AEP. On today's show we talk small town living, life lessons from sports, the value of education, California dreaming, climbing the corporate ladder, becoming an impact player, and surviving AEP. Thank you for listening and enjoy!

The enrollment department has a diverse range of ages in leadership, and today we focus on two of our youngest leaders, Audrey Phillips and Sam Salts.  On this episode we discuss living abroad, commanding the room, the social media effect, entitlement, implementing empathy, and keys to being a successful young leader . Thanks for listening and enjoy!

We kick off our new podcast with a series on leadership and two of our department's very important leaders, Jette Higgins and Devin Regan. On this episode we discuss being a bossy pants, problem solving, growth spurts, meshing leadership styles and keys to being a successful enoller. Thanks for listening and enjoy!

We are starting a new podcast series focused on different aspects of leadership and leadership development. Our first episode centers on Servant & Empathic Leadership, a leadership style I really resonate with and have found to be quite effective. My guest today is Spenser Villwock, an old high school mate of mine and CEO of IEC National, a trade association leading 2500 electrical and systems contractors.

Spenser is one of the most thoughtful and engaging people I’ve ever known and has dedicated himself to leading through humility, empathy and vulnerability. He and I explore what it means to be a servant leader, the importance of empathy in leadership, creating space for diverse voices and how to build and sustain a culture that supports every one of those pieces. Click the link below to listen or subscribe on iTunes.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

https://www.drucker.institute/

https://brenebrown.com/

https://simonsinek.com/

There is a particular group of people, often left out of race and equality conversations, whose history of racial injustice, mistreatment and exploitation dates further back than any other set of individuals in this country’s existence: Indigenous people. 

My guest on this episode is Rhonda LeValdo, an educator of her culture and faculty member at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence KS, where she teaches Media Communications. She is also an outspoken advocate against the use of Native American stereotypes and the misappropriations of Native American culture.    

In speaking with Rhonda, I hoped to really understand the indigenous mind set in this particular time and what I and others need to know about being an ally to the native community.