Leadership Beyond Borders

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.

When foot traffic stopped in March 2020, Small and Medium Businesses had to become digital. Even though before March 2020, most local businesses had a presence on the web, and they knew that presence was necessary, they recognized that having a poor presence was almost like having no presence at all. But then the pandemic came, and SMBs finally understood their web presence was critical and that they needed to focus on the customer experience and engagement online. With the lockdown in place, it was the only way they could engage with their customers during the lockdown. But what happened to SMB's online presence after the pandemic propelled them into the future? How do they look now? Are they and continuing to improve as things return to normal? SIINDA, The Search and Information Industry Association of Europe, along with Duda, one of the top leading professional website builders and Insites, a top web intelligence company, decided to conduct a study. They took a look at thousands of SMB's across Europe to see how their web presence has changed since the pandemic. In this episode, they talk about what they found.

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.

Rohit Talwar opens his new book with a statement that says it all: "An Incomplete Past and an Uncertain Future" Rohit says that "The world has run out of adjectives to describe the shockwaves caused by the pandemic and the damage it has done to lives, societies, businesses, economies, and entire nations" Somewhere along the way we not only ran out of adjectives but we stopped predicting when things would go back to normal. If you think about it, in May 2020, we all hoped normal would be by September 2020,,then we convinced ourselves all would be OK by February 2021. , Finally in May 2021we realized we are living the new normal. But not all is bad. Rohit Talwar says that" during this continuing global pandemic, we are also witnessing a level of innovation and positive change that most have never experienced in our lifetimes." Good things are happening, and in this episode we are look at what is happening and what it means for our future and the future of the next generation.

There are a lot of leadership lessons you can learn from military actions. However, in 2021, one military action proved things could go completely wrong and were highly unlikely to end positively. This was the withdraw of troops from Afghanistan. In World War II, they used the slang a total "Goat-Fuck" to describe a situation similar to this. But instead blame and criticism, let's look at what we can learn from the mistakes made. What leadership lessons we can learn from the situation so we do not make the same mistakes again. Let's also look at how those leadership lessons transition into the business world. In this episode, we use Afghanistan as an example for examining the critical leadership steps that need to be taken to forge success instead of failure.

Fiction gives us the chance to provide power to or destroy cultural values, sensitivities, current or past issues and much more. We can learn from what characters do, where they are, how they behave and much more. Fiction is not just about a good story but also what we take away from the story. In this episode, we have a chance to talk with Suzanne Brockmann, the New York Times bestselling romance author. We talk about how she came about writing fiction that focused on Navy Seal Hero's before they became popular in all kinds of fiction. Suzanne not only was writing about Navy Seals before it was popular, but her books are also informative. Weaved into her stories are history lessons, cultural values, diversity, family relations and social-economic issues that make us think. In this episode,Suzanne talks about her writing, characters, and her new movie coming out on Netflix just in time for Halloween 2021..

The line between fiction and reality is blurrier today than ever before. Sometimes a book or a movie filled with fictional characters can remind us of reality and often we tend to forget those are made-up stories may have no connection with reality. Very often real-life experiences can shape fiction and fictional experiences can shape the way we think. As we go through life we participate in the lives of others. We observe, we learn, and we think. Writers use their experiences to help readers imagine, broaden their perspectives, and very often convey important messages. Readers very often can relate to the experiences of the characters they read in a book, which can stir up memories of their own experiences. In this episode talk with a writer who has used his vast experiences in business, as part of the team that founded Xbox, to provided us sound business advice. He has also weaved his experience into fiction. Fiction that is thrilling, stirs up memories, and gets you so caught up in his characters that you cannot put the book down.

When Covid-19 struck, it forced societal changes around the world. Overnight, governments issued orders that limited large gatherings of people, restricted in-person business operations, and encouraged people to work from home as much as possible. The result was that businesses began to look for ways to continue their operations remotely, as consumers fast-forwarded into an almost entirely digital world. So what happened? Consumers shopped more online, and businesses had to adapt. But we are in the new normal, which is blended. So what are consumers looking for? Have we become new brand loyalists, and where are SMB's in the mix. Are they online, and who is helping them? This episode looks at the new " Digital World on Steroids" and what consumers are doing, and how SMB's and enterprises are reacting.

Earlier this year there was the announcement of a massive computer breach that allowed hackers to exploit numerous US government agencies left the US government and the world in shock. The hackers attached malware to a software update which gave them access to government networks and private company systems, putting infrastructures, data, operations and priority information at risk. But this is not the only attack we have seen since the beginning of the pandemic. Chris Versace estimates that in the first 100 days of the pandemic Covid-themed spam messages increased by 26%, and impersonation attacks jumped by 40%. This is worrying news as the world transitions into a virtual workforce, AI advances and healthcare systems and data are a priority. In this episode, we explore how and why we have become so vulnerable and how we can better protect ourselves.

Financial security, what is it? For many, it is having the peace of mind to ensure that you can live and not live hand to mouth. For some, it means being prepared for whatever life sends your way is an essential part of being financially responsible. For others, it is having a steady income. One thing is for sure in 2020 and 2021, many people had financial difficulties as the economy went into a stand-still, businesses closed, people lost jobs, and many were struggling. But some people were prepared, so how do you prepare yourself for unseen roadblocks and the future? In this episode, we speak with an expert on how almost anyone can become financially secure.