Let Go & Lead with Maril MacDonald

The human brain is wired to focus far more on dangers than on positive information. This is a reality business leaders navigate every day, as they work to be intentional, clear and engaging in their communications. It's also where Scott Halford can help. Scott sees effective storytelling as a key part of leadership, and he believes that with deeper knowledge of neuroscience, we can get a lot better at both.    

Scott is an internationally renowned keynote speaker, educator and advisor. He works worldwide to educate audiences about emotional intelligence, the neuroscience of achievement, effective performance and the success we create when we understand the intricacies of human interaction. He's the author of the bestselling books Be a Shortcut and Activate Your Brain.

Scott has been telling stories throughout his career — first as an Emmy Award-winning writer and producer and then as a professional speaker. He's recognized as a Certified Speaking Professional by the National Speakers Association, and in 2014, the group inducted him into the NSA Speaker Hall of Fame.

Scott holds an executive master's degree from the NeuroLeadership Institute and is the president of SG Halford, Inc.

Learn about:  

4:19 - How storytelling triggers positive brain chemicals to induce certain feelings

6:10 - The neurochemicals to focus on when delivering a story or speech

8:55 - Applying a storytelling lens to business contexts

11:56 - How inspiration moves us better than motivation alone

20:29 - Leading and communicating with teams through downturns and uncertainty

22:50 - Dealing with lack of control through a neuroscience lens                            

30:53 - The personal goal Scott believes should be every leader's holy grail

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Let Go & Lead is a leadership community created by Maril MacDonald, CEO and founder of Gagen MacDonald, more than a decade ago. It explores how leaders inspire change and transformation in an environment in which they possess diminishing control.

The Let Go & Lead conversation series has existed in several iterations, from video interviews to its current form as a podcast, now in season 4. Over the years, Maril has conducted more than 70 interviews with business leaders, academics and creative thinkers, including former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, best-selling authors Mitch Albom and Dan Pink, Hyatt CHRO Malaika Myers and American Medical Association CEO James Madara. At its core, Let Go & Lead remains a place where people can access a diversity of perspectives on interdisciplinary approaches to leadership

Full episodes also available on: 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/let-go-lead-with-maril-macdonald/id1454869525 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Gaf7JXOckZMtkpsMtnjAj?si=WZjZkvfLTX2T4eaeB1PO2A   

Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZXRnb2xlYWQubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/let-go-lead 

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Gagen MacDonald is a strategy execution consulting firm that specializes in employee engagement, culture change and leadership development. Learn more at http://www.gagenmacdonald.com.

A workplace with four to five different generations of employees can be a challenge. Dr. Candace Steele Flippin knows it is also an opportunity.

Candace is an expert on the multigenerational workforce, as well as a Senior Vice President and the Chief Communications Officer at Acuity Brands, a leading industrial technology company based in Atlanta, Georgia. She is an accomplished communications executive widely recognized for her transformational leadership in the industrial, financial services, medical device, biotech and pharmaceutical industries.

Since 2016, Candace has been a Research Fellow at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, an appointed role. She uses her unique background as a communications executive, researcher and author to provide practical career insights on the future of the multigenerational workplace. She has been featured on Forbes, CNBC, CBS, and Today.com and named as one of the Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America by Savoy Magazine.

Candace earned her Doctor of Management at Case Western Reserve University, her MBA from Johns Hopkins University, and her BA from the University of Michigan. She also holds an Accreditation in Public Relations.  

Learn about:  

7:54 — How younger generations are changing the workplace

10:04 — What Millennials value more than work-life balance

14:45 — Generational differences in interpersonal communication

16:21 — Attitudes toward remote work and the different priorities around returning to offices

21:31 — The keys to retaining top talent from younger generations

22:40 — Shifting expectations around rewards, recognition and demonstrated mastery

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Let Go & Lead is a leadership community created by Maril MacDonald, CEO and founder of Gagen MacDonald, more than a decade ago. It explores how leaders inspire change and transformation in an environment in which they possess diminishing control.

The Let Go & Lead conversation series has existed in several iterations, from video interviews to its current form as a podcast, now in season 4. Over the years, Maril has conducted more than 70 interviews with business leaders, academics and creative thinkers, including former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, best-selling authors Mitch Albom and Dan Pink, Hyatt CHRO Malaika Myers and American Medical Association CEO James Madara. At its core, Let Go & Lead remains a place where people can access a diversity of perspectives on interdisciplinary approaches to leadership.

Full episodes also available on: 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/let-go-lead-with-maril-macdonald/id1454869525 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Gaf7JXOckZMtkpsMtnjAj?si=WZjZkvfLTX2T4eaeB1PO2A 

Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZXRnb2xlYWQubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M 

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/let-go-lead 

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Gagen MacDonald is a strategy execution consulting firm that specializes in employee engagement, culture change and leadership development. Learn more at http://www.gagenmacdonald.com.

For Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, President and Chief Executive Officer of SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management, now is the time to go beyond new policies and procedures at companies. It's the time where, as a leader, you must re-assess and re-articulate your organization's unique culture, vision and employee value proposition to attract and keep the best talent.

As a global leader on the future of employment, culture and leadership, Johnny is a sought-after voice on an array of matters regarding work, workers and the workplace. He is frequently asked to testify before Congress on critical workforce issues and authors the weekly USA Today column, "Ask HR."

Johnny is a member of the White House American Workforce Policy Advisory Board and chairs the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Among his many accolades is being named Professional Society CEO of the Year by CEO Update in 2021.  

In this episode of Let Go & Lead, Johnny speaks with Maril about the dynamics that are reshaping the employer-employee relationship, and the new levels of transparency required to build trust between the two. He and Maril explore the trends he sees shaping the workplace, the different facets of diversity, equity and inclusion that businesses need to consider, the rise of employee activism and even his experiences in law and with the Trump White House.

Learn about:  

6:30 — Driving return-to-workplace decisions through your employee value proposition (EVP)

17:26 — The core trends reshaping our workplaces

21:36 — Approaching DE&I policies for your organization through the lens of justice and fairness

32:10 — Developing a winning mindset, no matter your background, that can help you and your organization thrive    

— 

Let Go & Lead is a leadership community created by Maril MacDonald, CEO and founder of Gagen MacDonald, more than a decade ago. It explores how leaders inspire change and transformation in an environment in which they possess diminishing control.

The Let Go & Lead conversation series has existed in several iterations, from video interviews to its current form as a podcast, now in season 4. Over the years, Maril has conducted more than 70 interviews with business leaders, academics and creative thinkers, including former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, best-selling authors Mitch Albom and Dan Pink, Hyatt CHRO Malaika Myers and American Medical Association CEO James Madara. At its core, Let Go & Lead remains a place where people can access a diversity of perspectives on interdisciplinary approaches to leadership.

Full episodes also available on: 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/let-go-lead-with-maril-macdonald/id1454869525 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Gaf7JXOckZMtkpsMtnjAj?si=WZjZkvfLTX2T4eaeB1PO2A 

Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZXRnb2xlYWQubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M 

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/let-go-lead 

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Gagen MacDonald is a strategy execution consulting firm that specializes in employee engagement, culture change and leadership development. Learn more at http://www.gagenmacdonald.com.

Bill Novelli, the founder of Business for Impact at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, is always asking, "What's next?"

A master of reinvention, Bill's career has taken him in a number of directions — from helping to create the concept of social marketing to co-founding his own public relations firm, Porter Novelli, to serving as CEO of the AARP. Bill's latest book, Good Business: The Talk, Fight, Win Way to Change the World, challenges all of us to change the world for the better and is a blueprint for tackling today's critical issues. 

In this episode of Let Go & Lead, Bill talks with Maril about doing well while doing good. He and Maril explore the courage and curiosity required to lean into reinvention, how to balance making a meaningful change versus taking an unwarranted risk, the key characteristics of successful transformations and even the state of our political climate. 

Learn about:

6:41 — Inspiring reinvention within your work and life 

8:48  — Finding the balance between embracing change and avoiding unwarranted risk 

12:14  — The characteristics of successful transformations and how to build coalitions  

18:09  — Making "enlightened self-interest" work for you and your communities   

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Let Go & Lead is a leadership community founded by Maril MacDonald, CEO and founder of Gagen MacDonald, more than a decade ago. It explores how leaders inspire change and transformation in an environment in which they possess diminishing control.

The Let Go & Lead conversation series has existed in several iterations, from video interviews to its current form as a podcast, now in season 4. Over the years, Maril has conducted more than 70 interviews with business leaders, academics and creative thinkers, including former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, best-selling authors Mitch Albom and Dan Pink, Hyatt CHRO Malaika Myers and American Medical Association CEO James Madara. At its core, Let Go & Lead remains a place where people can access a diversity of perspectives on interdisciplinary approaches to leadership

Full episodes also available on: 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/let-go-lead-with-maril-macdonald/id1454869525 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Gaf7JXOckZMtkpsMtnjAj?si=WZjZkvfLTX2T4eaeB1PO2A 

Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZXRnb2xlYWQubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M 

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/let-go-lead 

— 

Gagen MacDonald is a strategy execution consulting firm that specializes in employee engagement, culture change and leadership development. Learn more at http://www.gagenmacdonald.com.

Danielle Merfeld, Chief Technology Officer for GE Renewable Energy, is a true convener who models shared power and confidently elevates others within her organization. Known for leading teams of experts who possess very different technical expertise than she does, Danielle understands where she adds value to get things done. In this episode of Let Go & Lead, Danielle shares techniques for breaking down organizational silos, leading through change, releasing control and igniting debate when leading remotely.

When Blake Jones co-founded Namasté Solar, he set out to transform both the energy industry and business itself. Determined to build a company that practices conscientious business, Blake and his co-founders wanted to positively impact each stakeholder group, from employees and customers to community, investors, the environment and partners. In this episode of Let Go & Lead, Blake shares the key leadership and cultural tenets that have sustained Namasté Solar over the years, as well as what's changed and evolved as the company has grown and scaled.

Michele Skerl, a renowned horsemanship teacher, horse trainer and breeder, and MaryCay Durrant, a skilled facilitator and sought after executive business transformation coach, share a passion for bringing out the best in leaders through horses. In this episode of Let Go & Lead, MaryCay and Michele reveal how horses can help leaders live into their authenticity, ignite energy and build trust.

Commander Rorke Denver has led Navy SEAL special-forces missions around the world and run every phase of Navy SEAL training. Today, as Founder of Ever Onward, Rorke uses SEAL principles to call leaders to take action and be bold so they can perform at their highest levels. In this episode of Let Go & Lead, Rorke shares stories that underscore the importance of clear decision making, calm and composed leadership, training for extreme scenarios and building mental fortitude to strengthen personal resilience.

Francesca Gino, award winning-expert on the psychology of organizations, professor at Harvard Business School and author of "Rebel Talent: Why it Pays to Break the Rules in Work and Life," shares that not only do rebels have a bad reputation, but they are arguably the best suited to lead business forward in a world of continual disruption. In this episode of Let Go & Lead, Francesca shares stories from rebel leaders, tips on how to hire effectively for rebel characteristics and how to spark constructive rebelliousness within an organization.

Richard Sheridan, CEO, Co-founder & Chief Storyteller, Menlo Innovations, launched the software firm in 2001 with the intention of creating a joyful work environment that people loved. He knew things could be better and that work could be filled with camaraderie, energy, creativity and productivity. In this episode of Let Go & Lead, Rich and Maril discuss how to create and sustain human energy in the workplace, share how leading with joy increases fulfillment and builds trust and offer how anyone can begin making cultural changes within his or her organization.