Leadership Beyond Borders

Can you combine a good employee experience with endpoint security? In 2020 most of us were forced into a virtual working environment. Unfortunately, companies and employees were not really aligned on how this would work because it happened so quickly. Cyber-attacks increased 500% as employees used personal devices, security policies did not cover remote work, and leadership did not know how to manage the transition of old employees, never mind the new employees they had never met in person. It is now two years later, and although we have become accustomed to virtual work models, the question is, are we good at it? What is the employee experience, and how is endpoint security? In this episode, our guest is an expert in helping remote and mobile workforces navigate the balance between staying motivated, feeling connected to the company, and ensuring that the technology they are using is secure.

In May 2020, just as SMBs worldwide struggled to get their businesses online because of the pandemic, Google introduced core web vitals. In addition, Google informed businesses that these vitals would soon be ranking signals worldwide. In other words, if a business did not get this right, their ranking would be affected. Finally, in August 2021, Google fully rolled out Core Web Vitals as a Google ranking factor. So we are now in April 2022, 6 months later, and what are we experiencing? Do businesses understand core web vitals and which vital is the most critical for ranking? Our expert in this episode comes to form one of the world's leading website builders for SMBs and Enterprises. He talks to us about what he believes is the most critical core web vital companies need to pay attention to and how they can do that. In addition, he talks to us about how focusing on this web core vitals can improve ranking and conversions.

Women are underrepresented in most global companies, particularly among senior leadership teams—and companies are missing out on opportunities as a result. The pandemic also hit women employees more than men, with women having to return to the roles of educators and traditional family roles as work moved from the office to the home. The pandemic also put a new level of focus on how a sudden change disproportionately impacts certain underrepresented groups. Now companies are trying to fix this problem but very often try to fix it incorrectly. The center of their efforts usually lay solely on women, but this is not enough to bring about material change. Such a narrow focus labels gender diversity as a women-only issue instead of positioning it as a broader topic that significantly affects overall company performance. It very often excludes the focus on men. Our guest today helps companies and men focus on how they can get engaged in supporting gender diversity and help men define healthy masculinity.

Suppose you ask people what they're most excited about as life begins to normalize after Covid. You're likely to get a range of answers: a trip, a family reunion, a dance party, a favourite restaurant. But, of course, most people want to be "in-person" again. But ss people start to get out and about, the question we pose is what will happen to the virtual life we have become accustomed to over the last two years. Will digital services drop across most industries? We, as consumers, have picked up a lot of new habits in the last 24 months; will they stick? What will happen to industries like restaurants and food delivery? Have they forever changed, or will consumer behaviour return to a "pre-pandemic" norm? As the world opens up and consumers have more choices, are we moving to a hybrid model, combining pre-pandemic preferences for physical channels with digital channels? In this episode, we talk with a company at the forefront of digital change in a country that has long been the head of the digital transformation, France.

In this episode, we bring back a distinguished guest, not for a reportage of what is happening in Ukraine; we see the horrendous destruction every evening when we turn on the television. Instead, our interview talks about the motives behind the Russian attack and how history plays a role in today's conflict. We talked with an expert who is a retired Colonel from the US Army and an author, leadership expert, and a historian. This interview brings to light some things the average person may not have thought of or maybe has forgotten. This episode is insightful and informative.

On 21 of February, started aggression that all of us thought may happen but never really believed would happen. Russia attacked Ukraine, an independent democratic country. In the week following, the world changed, and so did the lives of millions of people. In this episode, we talk with a family that fled Ukraine. They talk about the long, trying 1800-kilometer journey. They talk about the happiness they felt reaching safe ground and the disappointment that they are still not united with their family in the USA. Finally, they speak to us about what we can do to help families like them. We will also hear about a great hero that unselfishly helped them along the journey.

In business and life, we sometimes have the inability to fully understand and tackle human emotions, impacting our behavior, especially in business. As leaders, we should exemplify the kind of behavior we want in our organizations, and without both emotional & social intelligence, we cannot do that. We need both emotional and social intelligence to make decisions, manage stress and set examples for others. We need to know and understand our own emotional state to impactfully lead others. In this episode, we speak with an expert who helps us understand what emotional and social intelligence is and its impact on leadership.

In the wake of significant social and political incidents, the emergence of a world economy, a changing workforce, and the focuses on “inclusivity: many companies are taking steps to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) through corporate programs. Yet, progress in most sectors remains slow because many of them do not change systems.

Many times, HR staff often leads programs that do not really understand what DEI is or measure it by numbers thinking that numbers alone will change systems. Other times, leaders initiate programs they believe are fashionable or legally correct, but they delegate them downward and remain unengaged.

Leaders and organizations find it challenging to focus on DEI solutions, and there is no silver bullet, no single solution. Yet, pushing ourselves to think outside the box and draw on the best empirical evidence that exists helps. We also must focus on systems. Our guest in this episode talks about what we have to do to get DEI right.

Many people do not like the term “Feminism”, but Feminism was the backbone of the women’s suffrage movement. In August 1920, because of Feminism, women won the right to political equality. But what has happened since 1920? Sure we have made some progress, but we have not moved the needle very far.

Social, economic, employment and other types of equality have only made baby steps since 1920, and the question is why?

We have equal employment laws that try to protect us once we are in a position, but doors are still closed on many opportunities. This is why we need to focus on changing systems and opening more opportunities to everyone.

It is about opening markets, industries and companies to women and allowing women the opportunity to move ahead.

Our guest in this episode has given a lot of thought to how we can change systems. She has looked at where we are today, why we are here and what we can do to move the needle in the right direction.

The stock market attracts millions of people from all over the world. It is a great way to earn money sitting at home by just investing a few hours of the day. The stock market is not just all about profit, but there is a risk where you might suffer losses. But to be successful in any field, it is imperative to have a good knowledge of that domain. Knowledge, in this case, can be observation, learning and practice. Our guest today understands the markets and help others understand them also. She not only helps people understand trading, but she supports trading, inspiring young women to enter the field.