Leadership Beyond Borders

When we talk about leadership, most of the time, the focus is on the results, like share prices and profit, rather than on the elements that create them, and this distracts us from the aspects of good leadership. Today's challenge in this profit-focused world is encouraging good leadership practices and recognizing talent when we see it. Leadership expert Chris Pearse used an analogy in his Forbes article 2018 on Leadership in Crisis, he said if you want to grow a pumpkin, you need four elements, earth, water, sun, and a seed. During the process of growing that pumpkin, your focus is on those four elements, not the pumpkin, and if done correctly, the result is a great pumpkin, and is this not true when it comes to growing leaders? This episode will examine leadership dynamics and explore ways to improve leadership in today's challenging economy.

A Forbes Leadership article encourages leaders to pick up a novel that will engage and stretch the right side of their brain—the creative, reflective, empathetic side—because the left side of your brain is busy so many hours a day while you work. They say by doing this it can help you be a better leader. But does this work with all fiction or just with certain novels? How can fiction be better than learning from Business Leadership books? The consensus seems to be that a balance between reading fiction and other leadership development can help create stronger leaders. In this episode, we speak with a leadership expert and uncover the secrets behind why reading fiction can help you become a better leader.

In the face of changing customer demands and hybrid buying behaviors, the SMBs that are pivoting quickly and welcoming new technology are demonstrating higher adaptability and resilience than those SMBs who are slow to embrace change. In layman's words, the SMBs embracing change are maintaining and growing their customer base, while others need to catch up. The SMBs taking the digitalize to survive' mantra to heart are ahead of their colleagues and competitors. But what are these SMB digital leaders doing differently than the SMB digital followers? This episode discusses what SMBs need to do to maintain competitiveness and win new customers and market share.

When it comes to technology, the key for any organization is uptime. Every company has employees, whether a small business with one or two employees or a large enterprise with thousands. However, they all use technology, so it must be reliable and ensure the company has a strong network. But this is not easy to do. Technology is constantly changing, the needs of the business change, and customer expectations change. And this means companies, regardless of size, must keep their networks up to date. Having a dynamic digital strategy can help a company remain up-to-date. However, the plan must go beyond the fundamentals. It must leverage synergies and create efficiencies while always keeping the customer in mind. This episode discusses how large and small businesses can do this.

Negotiating is critical for women, and we know it leads to better outcomes: for example, when it comes to wages, women who ask for a raise are more than twice as likely to get one as women who don't. But the truth is that women face unique challenges when negotiating, beginning with the fact that they are often viewed as "unlikeable" or "aggressive" when negotiating. When it comes to family and children, women negotiate almost daily, but they tend to underestimate their value and abilities in the work environment. It is like women have been socialized to avoid situations that call for complex negotiations making negotiating more difficult. Still, it is no less important —a skill everyone woman should practice. This episode explores how women can overcome their aversion to negotiating and become top negotiators.

Many people have ideas and want to start their own businesses, but how many of these ideas become successful businesses? Pursuing an idea and trying to start and run a business can be scary because you must give up a lot. You may need to give up a well-paying job, your home, your nest egg, and your security, And this is even before you know if you will succeed. Unfortunately, the statistics say that only two out of ten startups succeed. In this episode, we explore ways to pursue your dreams without giving up your house, nest egg, or future. We explore a five-step system that helps entrepreneurs be successful.

As a consumer, if a product or service does not meet our expectations, we usually consider whether we should complain or not. Half the time, we do not because complaining can be exhausting as a customer, and sometimes you do not get any results. But on the other hand, if something is wrong, we should inform the company. Companies can only improve if they hear from their customers, right?

But many companies do not want to hear complaints. Many companies do not understand that complaints may help them improve. Our guest in this episode is an expert on customer service and complaints, allowing companies to see complaints as gifts.

Mergers and acquisitions happen constantly, but being acquired can sometimes be tough for many companies because it comes with many challenges. Still, it can also be an excellent opportunity for many companies. It can be an opportunity to rethink strategies, consolidate markets and customers, set new goals and KPIs, and build a new culture. In this episode, we will look at a company in the Ad Tech industry that found opportunities in being acquired and used them to implement new systems to ensure growth and success.

When you google or ask an individual what the future office will look like, you usually get an answer like "hybrid, greener, home office, open spaces, modern, but these are things already happening today. They are also very "material oriented or space oriented". It is very seldom that someone will think outside the box and change the questions of what the future office will look like to how I, as an individual, or how I want my organization to work. In this episode, we step out of the box we live in today and imagine what the future of work, or where we will work, will look like. We speak with Joseph Press, the author of Office Shock- Creating Better Futures for Working and Living.

Why do most businesses make their organizations so complex? According to a new study by The Economist Intelligence Unit, 55 percent of all surveyed organizations would call their operational structure very or extremely complicated. Only 1 percent – around three of the 331 executive respondents – believed their business was not complex at all. So why do we do this to ourselves, and is there an easier way to do business? In this episode, we speak with an expert on organizational structures and try to dissect why they are like they are and how we can simplify them.