Executives Uncut

Sarah and Sarah met through a mutual friend, David Serafine, who was on our podcast a few weeks prior to this episode. David and Sarah S. have been collaborating on a film “Before the Ashes Fall” and Sarah has written the screenplay with David and will be directing the film. She talks about her process of raising capital from investors and how her relationship based approach is the only one she can get behind. Sales pitches and automated networking is lame and the best way to network, especially within LinkedIn, is to be genuine and care for other people. She mentions the example of a particular investor who she got to know beyond the surface, she learned that he had a passion for creating music and ended up asking him to compose the soundtrack for her film. 

Sarah S. emphasizes to not beat around the bush, but don’t make it a money grab. She really believes the approach has to be direct and genuine, while presenting your product as an opportunity rather than an ask. Overall you have to believe in your product and be excited because people are looking for something to be excited about. 

A good start to the show as Sarah goes 20 minutes into the conversation without pressing the record button. An instant classic. Rory Rowland is a speaker, author, consultant, corporate coach, and podcaster. Early on Sarah and Rory establish the difference between executive coaches, like Sarah, and corporate coaches, like Rory. Rory shares a success story about a girl who was ready to quit her job but the manager, who Rory was coaching at the time, said “I’ll grant you five wishes” which allowed the employee to communicate why she wanted to leave and what she was missing from her current job. Sarah goes on to talk about the importance of open-ended questions in coaching and in management. 

Rory gets into his three quick tips. Master the art of asking “what do you think?” He also poses the questions of “Who is on your ‘board of directors’?” and “Who’s ‘board of directors’ do YOU want to be on?” Rory shares another example about genuinely caring about one of his clients and asking the right questions which allows the conversation to be honest and solve problems quicker. 

Sarah gives a shout out to John and Sarah podcast episode on John’s podcast ‘HR Hardball”. John is the Executive Vice President and CHRO with National Partners in Healthcare. The topic of the day is Status Obsession, something that most people who are human can relate to. John talks briefly about his experience with status obsession and symbols of status that you get fixated on, like pagers. Sarah and John both agree that these symbols of status can compromise your value. One thing that the pandemic has taught us is that all of the essentials in life are within arms reach. John’s “mic drop” quote comes out early and says “If you’re so wrapped up in what your title is at work then you’re focused on the wrong things and you have it better than 90% of the world.” 

John brings up a difficult pill to swallow in that you might come to realize you’re not in the right place whether that’s your role or your company. A quote from a guest on his podcast says “Happiness comes first and then success, most people think it’s the other way around.” John provides an example from his own experience on how doing something you love is the way to go and the money part will eventually catch up, that's just the way it works. John provides his HR perspective on how status compromises your values. If you’ve made it this far, please stick around till the end to see a group rant about running over animals on the streets. 

Dan and Sarah met on Twitter. Yes, you read that correctly, Dan and Sarah met on Twitter. They don’t get into details how or why but they can assure the audience that it was a safe encounter. Dr. Dan Ratner refers to himself as a Therapist, the line between physical and mental therapist gets a bit blurry when Dan describes the work that he does. He treats chronic physical pain by shifting people's emotions and mindset. Sounds crazy right? Dan goes on to explain his research and work that argues that someone's emotional status has a huge impact on physical pain. Tying into the episode’s topic of “uncovering truth” Dan encourages people to rethink our emotional lives and how we prioritize them. 

Dan’s podcast is called “Crushing Doubt” and can be found on YouTube. The podcast, and much of this episode’s theme, is based around one mindset going into any situation, not just chronic back pain. This is something that needs to be consciously practiced, and Dan provides the audience with practical steps to take in order to implement his work. The episode is kept somewhat broad for lack of time to get into specifics. Towards the end Sarah provides the audience with a coaching challenge and Dan adds some wisdom to it, so stick around. 

Keith Meyerson is the Senior Director of Talent & OD at American First Finance. Keith and Sarah try to tackle a newly familiar topic, working remotely. Sarah met Keith over LinkedIn and Keith spends a few minutes bragging about his record year during covid-19 and his “secret sauce” to working well online. He admits right off the bat that there is no “secret sauce”. He says that he has had a great culture before the pandemic which led to a stable remote working environment. Culture has always been in his company’s core values and it shows. 

Keith continuously demonstrates his compassion and empathy towards his co-workers and employees. He says “I’m an employee as much as I am a manager, and I want to treat people the way they want to be treated.” He expects his employees to have their own life and emphasizes that managers make it okay for them to have a life. Especially during the pandemic, coming in with that mindset is critical to maintaining a psychologically safe, and productive culture. 

Sarah and Fergus talk about uncertainty, thriving in times of uncertainty, and the opportunity that can come from it. They also address the current state of uncertainty given the global pandemic. Listen until the end for the week's coaching challenge!

Sarah is joined by Jose Perez, CEO of Creative Image. Together they talk about employee autonomy and how to get the most out of your employees. 

Today we’re talking about Getting Buy-In from employees. Sarah is joined by Ben Winfield, Director of Channel Partnerships and Strategy at Rover Analytics and host of The BENefits Show.

Sarah is accompanied by Dr. Dale Nesbary, President of Muskegon Community College. They are discussing how to use data effectively to make decisions, how to navigate through this pandemic and what's to come in the future.

Sarah and Fergus talk about change, resistance to change, and how change can lead to growth. They will touch on the uncertainty of these times with Covid-19 affecting every aspect of our lives now. They will provide quick tips and a coaching challenge for you to take home so stay tuned until the end!