Entelechy Leadership Stories

John Saunders spent many years as a Wall Street Senior Vice President, sales team leader, and award-winning sales executive. He followed his passion for helping others grow and founded a coaching and consulting company, Forward Advisory Solutions. He holds a BS from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA from Georgetown University. Additionally, Saunders is a member of Georgetown McDonough’s MBA Alumni Advisory Council, an active angel investor, and is a formal Executive MBA mentor. 

As a lifelong learner, Saunders asserts that change is necessary in today’s business world and believes in empowering those he works with. In addition to writing, mentoring, and coaching, Saunders enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, and exploring the outdoors.

"I wrote this book because I’ve found so many talented people in my life that never fulfilled their gifts because they see change and innovation as enormous with a high probability of failure. There is a better way. If you can build trust with your team and a safe road map for their growth, I believe everyone can be a contributor to driving incremental change in your organization. Not every idea will be an immediate game-changer. However, you can develop a process to consistently draw out your teams' creativity, manage the emotional hurdles of change, and generate customer value while delivering results."

Audiobook just released:

https://www.audible.com/pd/B09QCBMBQG/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-293143&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_293143_rh_us

book: https://www.amazon.com/Optimizer-Building-Leading-Serial-Innovators/dp/1636765734

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcs-optimizer

IG: https://www.instagram.com/jcs_optimizer/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/jcsoptimizer

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1Y7SL7pZYvgfCCg2_GabPg

We are back for another great interview in our Entelechy Series  Today we travel to British Colombia Canada where. we chat with Joel Solomon, a venture capitalist, fund manager, author, public speaker, board member, and honoree of a myriad of achievements across Canada and the world.

Joel is the Co-Founding Partner at Renewal Funds- a $240 million mission venture capital firm that  invests in Organics and EnviroTech in Canada and the USA, and is an authority in the current social movement towards revolutionizing capitalism into something different and powerful, towards a clean money revolution., and as a result, he has co-authored of the book: the clean money revolution: Reinventing power, purpose, and capitalism 

A lot of Joel's influences stem from having an artistic mother, an entrepreneurial father, and a family involved in politics that engaged him as he was growing up in the sixties to talk about issues affecting the politics at that time including issues such as the civil rights act, the police riots, the student riots of 1968, the war in Vietnam, Kent State shootings, among others, influenced him to know that what he chose to do with his life in regards to capitalism and interaction with the society around him, would matter how his contribution made a difference.

We spoke to Joel about the impact of having a $250 million venture fund can make in this journey of revolutionizing capitalism and how he has been able to bring the creativity, ingenuity found in entrepreneurship into modern society.

• Renewal Fund works with entrepreneurs who are aligned with the kinds of values that we shared here. These are people who can see the deeper picture of where resources come from, how labor is found, and treated, how waste products are created and disposed of.
• The good news is that the consumer/ the investor, those of us who invest our retirement funds, who do business with banks in order to get a home mortgage, are starting to think and ask more questions, make new demands on going all the way back to the sources, how people are treated, how the planet is treated, how our waste is treated, and caring about future generations. 
• The way we can bring this change is by more of us making choices at an everyday consumer level. Decisions such as  Where we work, what kind of companies we associate ourselves with, those that pay attention to the political systems that we really understand and are much more connected
• Joel says the world is at an inflection point. There is urgency, there is ingenuity there's capacity. We have more skills to do things better with less harm. That is going steadily to increase as a moral and ethical responsibility of most of us as humans and in the systems that we create in order to make life better.
• There's a massive effort underway to clean up our act. Companies are now occupied by people who care about the underlying topics that we're talking about. Not simply making money at the unknown, but large costs to all kinds of other parts of the natural world. And to other humans, this conversation will keep happening.

In summary, Joel wants us, consumers, to ‘read the label at the level of buying something off the supermarket shelf, read the label of your politicians, your elected officials, those who set the regulations and the rules effectively what that means is to find out the history and the sourcing and the practices, You can to make conscious choices between the worst actors and the better actors.  

Other resources mentioned in this episode: 

Joel's Website:  Joel Solomon

LinkedIn: 

In today’s episode, we talk about how companies and individuals are trying to be more competitive not only  in a changing business climate but also a changing social climate,

Welcome Dean Sonderegger to the Entelechy Leadership Stories podcast.

Dean is Senior Vice President at Wolters Kluwer (public company) – an information services company that provides legal, software, and business solutions.

They have 19,200 employees, and in 2020, the company brought in over €4.6 billion in annual revenue and has thousands of clients – including 93% of the Fortune 500 companies.

Dean says, "After spending 7 wonderful years at Wolters Kluwer in the legal markets, I've transitioned back to the tax world and am happy to share that I’m starting a new position as SVP & General Manager Canada and R&L at Wolters Kluwer!"

Dean is also a highly-desired speaker in business leadership with a focus on the rapid development of advanced digital products and services to enhance efficiencies and workflow in any organization.

Some things Dean speaks about on the podcast:

• How smaller businesses and organizations can compete with giants like Wolters Kluwer.
• Innovative business practices for staying ahead of the competition.
• Scaling the company, coming up with a clear strategy and the future of business.
• Business transformation, building up remote teams, and the future of work.

Dean's passion is cemented by the fact that he is an engineer. Engineers have a problem-solving mentality. For him, his purpose is to be able to solve the problem elegantly and then to bring, be able to bring a group of people along with him to do it.

Some 20 years ago, the company focused on legal professionals and provided books and loose periodicals around the law.  A lot of our patterns and what the company does has changed in addition how they measure value in our lives has also changed. 

With technology, the market is now more focused on how do you get the job done effectively, and especially for businesses and leaders, businesses have to help their organization shift to meet that new definition of value for both customers and staff. 

The solution is to put the customer at the focus of things, an overlay of that, along with the strong set of respect for the folks that are working the business gives you to a point from a team standpoint, where there is the ability to achieve substantial and significant things. In the absence of that, you don't get that loyalty, you don't get that drive inside the company. It's unbalanced.

How does a company like Wolters Kluwer, adapt to the digital technology-driven markets today. And how do they stay relevant being a  historically larger company? For Wolters Kluwer, a few methods they have used to remedy this is having people that are out actively in the marketplace to understand what's going on by talking to customers, talking to partners, looking at some  innovative startups, and therefore getting people visibility into the market, starting to reset the conversation with input directly from the market

When it comes to providing value to teams, as a leader you're focusing on the development of employees. That should be a two-way conversation. They should be talking to you about what they want, and then you should be able to give them some feedback on the same.

While for purpose-driven companies, what should new leaders focus on? Leaders to make sure that they are...

INTUITIVE: Kirstin & Mark discuss this practical, modern trait of an Entelechy Leader

Brett Cooper and his partner, Evans Kerrigan, help professionals like you build work relationships that really work. Over the last twenty years, they’ve influenced thousands of people in government, non-profits, and corporate America to work together in more productive, more effective, and more human ways.

Through Integris Performance Advisors—the firm they co-founded—Brett and Evans have helped clients increase employee engagement, improve efficiency, and generate hundreds of millions in financial benefit.

Brett and Evans are widely recognized thought leaders and popular speakers on team dynamics, leadership, and operational excellence. Their keynotes always leave audiences inspired and ready to make a real impact.

Find Brett on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettmcooper/

Over the last 20 years, I’ve had the honor of influencing thousands of people in government, non-profits, and corporate America to work together in more productive, more effective, and more human ways. My book—Solving the People Problem—shares these ideas through personal stories and research-based insights.

Through Integris Performance Advisors—a firm I founded with Evans Kerrigan—I provide organizations with the assessments, services and guidance they need to develop exemplary leaders, build cohesive teams, increase employee engagement, and improve financial performance.

➤HOW I CAN BE OF SERVICE

★ Are you an HR/L&D/OD professional?

I support the self-sufficiency of people like you. I can give you access to proven leadership development assessments and products, and provide you with the “train-the-trainer” tools and Certifications you need to serve your own team or clients. Need hands-on support for live or virtual workshops? My team includes some of the most accomplished facilitators you’ll find anywhere. We specialize in DISC-EQ, Everything DiSC, The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team, The Leadership Challenge, Lean Six Sigma.

★ Are you a CEO or other senior leader in a small or mid-market organization?

I can help you build a healthy and high performing culture. The ideas in my book—Solving the People Problem—and the services provided by my company—Integris—have helped hundreds of companies improve leadership behaviors, team cohesion, employee engagement and overall organizational performance.

★ Are you planning a live or virtual event? Are you a podcast host?

I love to share what I’ve learned about human interaction in fun and engaging ways. I’d be thrilled to be a keynote or guest on your podcast.

★ Are you an individual leader?

Please read my book—Solving the People Problem.

➤ON A PERSONAL NOTE

I coordinate “Stand Down” events that serve homeless Veterans in the San Francisco area. I'm on the board of Partners in Sustainable Learning, a nonprofit bringing childhood education to marginalized communities in the developing world. I’m married to the love of my life Maxine, and I have two fantastic daughters, Sophia & Olivia.

- DiSC Style: iD

- MBTI type: ENFP

- Top Values: Family—Freedom—Service

➤CONTACT | LEARN MORE

- [email protected]

- SolvingThePeopleProblem.com

- IntegrisPA.com

Meet Lauren Winans, the Chief Executive Officer and Principal HR Consultant for Next Level Benefits, an HR consulting practice offering clients access to HR professionals for both short-term and long-term projects.

"With 20 years of human resources and employee benefits experience, I possess a deep expertise of HR best practices and what resonates with employees. I founded Next Level Benefits in 2019, offering HR teams access to former corporate HR professionals on-demand when they need them most," Lauren says.

We discuss what it takes to be a great company (and leader) to work for.

"My experiences at various global, multi-generational, geographically dispersed organizations have prepared me well for assisting clients of all sizes and from any industry. Prior to becoming CEO of Next Level Benefits, I served as a senior HR leader and responsibly managed all aspects of health, welfare, absence management, and retirement at General Nutrition Centers, American Eagle Outfitters, and CONSOL Energy. While working for Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, I acquired an extensive knowledge of the health insurance industry," she shares.

Lauren says, "Throughout my career, I have been focused on improving culture and enhancing the total rewards offered at the companies I have worked for and provided guidance to. I am strategically focused yet tactically proficient, and bring a holistic perspective to each client project. " 

Lauren is a member of the Business Journals Leadership Trust, a non-profit board member, and an active volunteer for patient advocacy. She is a graduate of Penn State University with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Management and Robert Morris University with a Master’s in Business Administration. 

Links:

http://www.nlbenefits.com

http://linkedin.com/in/laurencwinans

https://www.linkedin.com/company/nlbenefits

MYSTIC: Kirstin & Mark discuss this practical, modern trait of an Entelechy Leader

Zoe Routh, author of People Stuff - Beyond Personality Problems: An advanced handbook for leadership.

It won "Book of the Year" at the Australian Business Book Awards 2020.

Zoë Routh is a leadership expert specializing in the people stuff. She shows leaders and teams struggling with office politics and silos how to work better together. 

She has worked with individuals and teams internationally and in Australia since 1987. From the wild rivers of northern Ontario to the remote regions of Australia, Zoë has spent the last thirty years showing teams how to navigate the wilderness of people stuff. 

Zoë is the author of four books.

Her past leadership roles include Training Director at Outward Bound Australia, Chair of the Outdoor Council of Australia, President of the Chamber of Women in Business, and Program Manager at the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation. 

Zoë is also the producer of the Zoë Routh Leadership Podcast, a show about all things people stuff in leadership.

Zoë is an outdoor adventurist and enjoys telemark skiing, has run 6 marathons, is a one-time belly-dancer, has survived cancer, and loves hiking in the high country. She is married to a gorgeous Aussie and is a self-confessed dark chocolate addict.

LinkedIn

https://au.linkedin.com/in/zoerouth

Website

https://www.zoerouth.com

Oliver Esman, Managing Partner at Strawn Arnold & Associates, leaders in executive recruitment and organizational development. Oliver's background also includes senior HR leadership roles at major companies in the pharmaceutical industry and the life sciences including Sandoz & Schein.

Oliver has spent more than a decade recruiting senior executives, building management teams, and cultivating lasting relationships. As a former HR executive in the Life Sciences industry, Oliver has been intimately involved in corporate strategy and growth—not to mention fixing an array of business problems that crop up.

Among the things we talk about:

Which kinds of executives make the best leaders in responding to the wave of change in the workplace?

What are the unique strategy challenges for life science companies?

Why do some C-Suites and Boards "get it" about DEI more than others?

What do transparency and authenticity actually mean and look like when practiced?

Oliver says, "In the world now companies are trying to figure that out loyalty and how people stay in touch and stay valued, and it's not about money and compensation and benefit. It's about how you feel about the company."

He describes, "For HR leaders, understanding that remote is okay, but you can go anywhere now and be remote, but valuing the work you do, and the products you create, and the environment that you create are very important now, and companies are trying to figure that out."

Oliver shares, "While many  C-Suite in the life science industry people have had to learn to communicate in a different way, it's not because their industry is dying or people can't come to work, or everybody has COVID it's because we still have a mission. So that the industry, pharmaceutical has a mission to create life-changing or life-saving products for the public or for the patient."

Oliver says that communication leaders have focused on sharing the message, sharing the mission, staying on target while also protecting your health and protecting your family, and trying to balance everything. So the actual communication statements have been different.

In Oliver's HR practice, "About 40% of our practices are with private equity, hedge funds, and those kinds of investor people. It turns out that whether it's a byproduct or whether it's just why we do this for a living, but there is still really, really interesting cutting edge kind of work being done, whether it's in cell therapy or certain kinds of rare diseases or biologics that investors at various levels are funding. Their mission hasn't changed but they're very focused on their return. So they do what they need to do to keep people engaged. And, there is a great deal of money still flowing into life sciences, whether it's diagnostics because of COVID and other kinds of vaccine issues."

In summary, Oliver thinks that it's a generational thing as more women and minorities move up. Some of that will become a little easier, but I think that it's a hard slog for the next 10 years in lots of different industries.

Email. [email protected] 

LinkedIn: Oliver Esman

Sherri McManus and Lou Everett, Leadership and DEI Consulting

Sherri and Lou are known for their highly effective coaching, teaching, and speaking on the importance of personal growth and how it impacts our Influence as a Leader. With more than four decades of combined experience in training, coaching, and leadership, they also have received training and mentoring from well-known and successful coaches and teachers from the likes of Tony Robbins, Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, John Maxwell, Jack Canfield, Paul Martinelli, and are Certified Leadership Coaches and Corporate Trainers.

Topics We Discuss include:

- Sherri’s experience working to break a "glass ceiling" and Lou's diverse family experience

- Leadership and influence

- 6 Things a Leader Should Do to make DEI personal

- 5 factors of Connecting

- Importance of Leadership and Investing in true DEI initiatives

- Gaining clarity for personal and professional growth of teams during "The Great Disengagement"

https://www.loueverettgroup.com

https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-lou-everett-group