Peak Performance Leadership

Employees/people are the cornerstones of any organization regardless of the size and function. Without our people, we are simply not leaders. However, it seems that too many leaders do not simply care enough to worry about their employees' welfare nor care enough to build relations with them. Employee welfare and relation building must be at the forefront of any leaders mind.

That brings me to my guest in this episode, Adam Brown. Adam - or Brownie as I affectionally refer to him as - is one of my closest friends, former Canadian Army Armour Officer, Afghanistan veteran, and now an entrepreneur. Adam has his employees' welfare and relations with them always in his mind, and he's very passionate on the topic.

The Importance of Employee Welfare and Relations Topics

During the episode we discuss the following topics:

• His story and background
• The key leadership lessons he learned while in the military
• How leaders can know their people
• How leaders can promote their people’s welfare
• His key lessons learned 
• What businesses do to immediately improve how they take care of their people
• How leadership experience has shaped him as an entrepreneur

For the complete show notes, be sure to check out our website:

https://leaddontboss.com/38

Leadership comes in many forms for many different people and masculine leadership is no different. The Order of Man website and podcast is geared obviously towards building better men and Masculine Leadership. However, that is not to say there are no lessons to be learned for all. Ultimately, the core lessons which are presented by Order of Man are applicable to everyone when properly reflected upon.

As we move onto the next edition of the Military Veteran Entrepreneur month, my guest is Ryan Michler. He is the host and founder or Order of Man and the interview revolves around his journey in creating the order.

Developing Your Masculine Leadership Topics

During this episode we discuss the following topics:

• His background and story
• Explanation of the motto of Protect | Provide | Preside
• Challenges of launching Order of Man and how he overcame them
• What the future has in store for Order of Man
• His new book Sovereignty
• When he realized that became a leader of men
• Has there ever been a time when he has felt that it was too difficult
• How the Iron Council helps men better their lives

For the complete show notes, be sure to check out our website:

https://leaddontboss.com/37

Entrepreneurship is currently a hot topic. Wherever you look it seems like everyone is becoming an entrepreneur and starting their own business. An interesting niche of this booming trend is the rise of the military entrepreneur. In general terms, military members are not the best-paid members of society; however, they are some of the most resourceful people on the planet. With training to overcome the largest obstacles with little to no resources, it is no surprise that many serving members turn to entrepreneurship prior to and after leaving the service.

That all turns to my guest on the Moving Forward Leadership Podcast, Andrew O'Brien. A former US Army soldier turned CEO turn Military Entrepreneur. In fact, his belief that soldiers make the best entrepreneurs he decided to leave his company as CEO and create the Vetpreneur Tribe - an organization with the sole purpose of helping Military Entrepreneurs.

Birth of the Military Entrepreneur Tribe Topics

During our discussion we cover the following topics:

• His background and story
• Greatest leadership lessons as the CEO
• Greatest leadership challenge
• Why he moved from his role as CEO to create Vetpreneur Tribe
• Some of the greatest successes he has had with Vetpreneur Tribe
• How does he see himself as a leader within the Vetpreneur Tribe
• What is his vision for Vetpreneur Tribe down the future.

For the complete show notes, be sure to check out our website:

https://leaddontboss.com/36

In 2018, I celebrated my 35th birthday and of those 35 years, I have been exercising leadership for over 20 of them. During my time, I have learned a large number of leadership lessons and decided to do a podcast episode solely dedicated to these lessons.

The lessons have definitely not come easy though. I have made mistakes, I have stumbled, and I have even failed as a leader. But the main difference between being a leader and acting like one is learning from those mistakes. My father taught me that lessons and to this day it is the most important leadership lesson that I have learned. Frankly, it is even beyond this list which I complied. So below you will find them but listen to my explanation of them 

My 35 Leadership lessons from 35 years of life

1. Don’t judge by age
2. The top doesn’t have to be lonely
3. Accountability leads to increased morale
4. Make professional development a priority
5. Delegation is a super tool
6. Get away from your desk
7. Trust immediately
8. Dream big
9. The status quo is never an option
10. Embrace change
11. Love your people
12. Be the calming force
13. Communication is the end all be all
14. Get or keep fit
15. Take breaks
16. Build close relationships
17. Failures are your fault
18. Success is because of your people
19. Focus on what you can change
20. Make yourself a priority
21. Recognize the everyday
22. Be vulnerable
23. Question down
24. Answer up
25. Good leaders retain great people
26. Not everyone will be happy
27. Plan to quit
28. Read more
29. Explain decisions
30. Support your peers and boss
31. Recognize when to pick up tasks
32. Respect is guaranteed
33. Trust but verify
34. Know your strengths and weaknesses
35. Leadership is for everyone

For the complete show notes, be sure to check out our website:

https://leaddontboss.com/35

Employee termination can be a sensitive subject but as a leader, it is one which you need to be prepared for. Sometimes it just does not work out. Not all employees are meant to stay with your organization forever and that is ok. Just note that regardless of the reasons you need to treat the person with respect and dignity. These core principles will help guide you through this potentially emotionally-charged situation.

This is where my guest for this episode comes to play. Alison Gerlach is a strategic management consultant, podcaster, instructor with extensive experience with large organizations. She brings a skill set which is not easily found. Since she has a great understanding of employee termination and therefore, I had to have her on the show.

How to Lead an Employee Termination Topics

Here are the topics which we cover during this interview:

• Background
• What is the overall ideology behind addition through subtraction
• How can we recognize that there is a problem
• What can leaders do to try to salvage the employee
• How leaders can instill confidence in remaining employees after a termination
• What leaders need to consider when executing a termination
• Final advice for any leader dealing with having to terminate an employee

For the complete show notes, be sure to check out our website:

https://leaddontboss.com/34

Leadership is often referred to as an art and not a science. What that means that there are no specific processes or formulas to find the answer to a problem. Instead, leadership requires leaders to develop soft skills or interpersonal skills. Every leader requires a starting point in their leadership journey, much to the reason why I wrote my 9 Foundations of Leadership. My guest today, Steve Smith, likewise has developed his Leadership Axioms which we discussed during this episode. 

Leadership Axioms Topics

Here are the topics which we cover during this interview:

• Background
• How Steve got into the Executive Coaching Career
• How he developed his Leadership Axioms
• Discussions on the following leadership axioms:
• Accountability
• Mindset Time Zone
• Delegation
• Priority Setting
• Pursuing Excellence
• Servant Leadership
• Self Assessment

For the complete show notes, be sure to check out our website:

https://leaddontboss.com/33

People are the center and cornerstone of any organization. Without people organizations, business, and even families would not exist! Yet as leaders, we too often pay lip-service the complete hiring process of identifying who are needed, where they are needed and how they are hired. Today that changes for you as you will learn the whole process how to lead and hire your next employee.

My expert, Rebecca Barnes-Hogg comes with a lengthy background and has developed her system referred to as the YOLO. In the end, her goal is for you to find the purple unicorn - or your ideal employee.

Lead and Manage the Hiring Process Topics

Here are the topics which we cover during this interview:

• Her background and story
• Why YOLO?
• A bad hire impacts your company in many ways.
• Four Components of the YOLO Principle
• How to determine what tasks and responsibilities the person will have
• It’s better to be understaffed than to have a bad employee who will affect the performance and
• morale of the rest of your team.
• Ways to recruit people
• Some ways to interview properly
• How to evaluate and select the right person
• How to overcome obstacles

For the complete show notes, be sure to check out our website:

https://leaddontboss.com/32

In this episode, I have the great pleasure of interviewing Keisha A. Rivers. Keisha is the Chief Outcome Facilitator and Founder of The KARS Group LTD. As well, she has a background in education and education development. Finally, she has been an entrepreneur for over 12 years now. In this episode, we discuss how we can properly develop our people to be better at what they do.

How to Lead Professional Growth Topics

Here are the topics which we cover during this interview:

• Her background and story
• How our mistakes and failures lead our lives
• How we can learn from those mistakes and failures
• What is the KARS facilitated approach
• Least accepted aspect of the framework
• How can leaders best apply change management
• What are the best ways for leaders to communicate their vision
• What are some of the greatest success she’s helped organizations achieve

For the complete show notes, be sure to check out our website:

https://leaddontboss.com/31

Age is often related to leadership; however, just because someone is older does not mean that they are a better leader. Millennials today are slowly taking over the workforce for their creativity, drive, imagination. My guest in this episode, George Penyak, is just that. Despite being the youngest member of his sales team, he is the team lead.

In this episode, we discuss what it means to be a younger or millennial leader when dealing with a group of employees who are older and have more experience.

Lessons from a Younger Leader Topics

Here are the topics which we cover during this interview:

• His background and story
• How he came into a leadership role
• How did his subordinates take the news of his promotion to their supervisor
• What strategies has he employed in dealing with older subordinates
• What challenges have arisen from directing older subordinates and how he overcame them
• What advice he has for anyone who’s about to begin leading older subordinates

For the complete show notes, be sure to check out our website:

https://leaddontboss.com/30

Leadership and fitness are not generally thought of being held hand-in-hand. However, I am a huge supporter of regular physical activity. Having a high level of fitness has more benefits than simply being ripped. In fact, the mental benefits of physical fitness will greatly outweigh the physical benefits - I know that sounds wrong but it's completely true! 

In today’s episode, I have the great pleasure of interviewing Josiah Novak. Josiah is a fitness expert, trainer and online coach, not to mention a really great guy. He is truly passionate about fitness yet has an obvious education to back what he says and believes.

How to be a Fit Leader Topics

Here are the topics which we cover during this interview:

• How he got started in the business.
• Explanation of the stress-related benefits of regular exercise.
• Explanation of the focus related benefits of regular exercise.
• How can people keep in shape while at the office.
• Some tips and advice for people just starting out to exercise.

For the complete show notes, be sure to check out our website:

https://leaddontboss.com/29