Inevitable: The Future of Work

Melissa Henderson, Executive Agent and hiring expert, rejoins us to splash some cold water on the faces of those trying to hire in our extremely tight and competitve talentmarket. She issues a blunt piece - and highly accessible - piece of advice to would-be employers: get off you backsides and do the work. Take a listen to find our ore about exactly what work will serve your interests best.

Jorge Quezada, Chief Inclusionist for Granite Construction, has built a career on being a practitioner able to guide multiple organizations in establishing a "method to the madness" of their diversity, equity, and inclusion aspirations. He counsels that no one has cornered the market on diversity, and that - without inclusion - the value of diversity remains untapped.

Leaders often think of - and are told to think of - themselves as a parent and their people as children. This is inappropriate, wrong-headed, and unproductive. Leaders should think of their people as puppies. You heard me right. Check out why.

Melissa Henderson, President and CEO of Summit Executive Resources, has remade the executive search experience by becoming an "executive agent." Her dedication to the "supply side" of the talent equation is on full display in our conversation about how to reflect and ready yourself for your next, great professional experience...even helping employers recognize that - though they weren't looking for you, now that you've met, they can't live without you!

People have never been more interested in or in need of focusing on what's most important to them. This quest has revealed that we all have "gremlins" - things we imagine or place in our paths that derail us. Turns out, this is how we're wired - with a negative bias that attaches to our brains like Velcro. Certified Mental Fitness Coach, Wendy Swire (www.swiresolutions.com) joins the IFOW to help us learn to activate our "Sage" brains and make a difference - by creating islands of excellence and guiding others towards the "light"! In our conversation, Wendy explains the importance and impact of mindset, in part, because emotions are contagious. Here's a link to some of the research on Emotional Contagion she based her statement on: https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.elainehatfield.com%2Fuploads%2F3%2F4%2F5%2F2%2F34523593%2F116._hatfield__rapson_2010.pdf&data=04%7C01%7Cjlesher%40shiftthework.com%7C6ca3f2fb656245eb37b508d97465e7ca%7C673db8751f5141c1b4bc77dc49f92a95%7C0%7C0%7C637668804357973721%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=7b5nH8q5IgpG19X6Kbohq%2BgYVOJxBeYS%2Bnn0QIC8MqU%3D&reserved=0

Lessons from the World: What Afghanistan's rapid fall tells us about the critical need for people to feel connected to purpose.

Co-authors of the book, Love As A Business Strategy, Chris Pitre and Frank Danna (along with Mohammad Anwar and Jeffrey Ma), share their views on how we can battle the loss of engagement and the great resignation through actively promoting acts of true caring for one another in the workplace. Frank and Chris are clear and compelling in their counsel that love is a business strategy with substance and impact, not something tangential or - to some - down right "icky." Instead, they riff on the famous Peter Drucker quote about culture eating strategy for breakfast with their belief that "behaviours eat culture for lunch," which sounds like a plan to us!

IFOW Executive Producer and Co-host, Jeff Lesher, provides perspective, candor, and encouragement to leaders to make a definitive call when it comes to vaccinations in their workplace. It IS the purview of leaders to make this call, and the time for them to make it is NOW. Their criteria need to include facts, the interests of the many, and the responsibilities that fall to each member of their team based on what they CHOOSE to do. Actions and inaction have consequences. Leaders need to stop letting things happen TO them and put a stake in the ground about how things need to be in the organizations in their care.

Standing for diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion by showing everyone respect because they deserve it, being willing and able to walk the "tightrope" while staying true to you, and - among other things - expanding your horizons by asking why, and making the time to share with and create space for others

We tap into the experience-driven wisdom of D. John Jackson, a Fortune 50 corporate leader who's memoir, What About Me: Walking the Tightrope as a Black Man in America, shares a simple, powerful message: Your life matters. Your dreams matter. And you can achieve them, no matter who you are or where you're starting out. John's insights and convictions were collected specifically to support young black men and boys, but truly are universal in their value. When we are fully appreciated, when we all come together through stories of success and hope, this country will finally reach its fullest potential.

Developing our next generations of leaders - even/especially as we encounter Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA) requires that we: get out of your own way with your own development by giving yourself grace with and credit for the progress you're making and then share that sensibility and practice with others. We can and need to accelerate the acquisition of experience and perspective by actively passing on what we've learned and helping others adapt it for their use. And, we need to instil in all leaders the understanding that intention is not the destination of leadership, effect is. We have to constantly assess the effect our intentions are creating and adjust accordingly

The development of leaders and their leadership abilities is a team sport. Your ability to develop others in a VUCA world requires that you, first, get out of your own way with your own development by giving yourself grace with and credit for the progress you're making. Kayvan Kian, author of the best-selling guide for young leaders: What is Water?, guides us through his process for accelerating the acquisition of experience and the perspective that comes with it to help us all be more effective leaders.