Sheer Clarity

Toby LaVigne is the CEO of CleanMark Labels, a multinational label manufacturer headquartered in the pacific northwest. He and his team strive to live the word of God in everything they do in order to succeed not just as a business but to make prosperity possible for everyone involved. Toby feels a deep responsibility to help everyone he can in their hunt for purpose.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

• [1:51] Kevin introduces his guest, Toby LaVigne
• [3:41] Toby talks about pursuing his passion and being a CEO
• [4:40] What it was like for Toby growing up and finding purpose
• [7:35] Leadership: What’s the notion of push and pull?
• [13:22] Toby talks about when he learned there is a better leadership approach than the push system
• [16:38] Why the push leadership approach fails in the long run
• [17:55] The importance of pull leadership to your business
• [22:30] How to begin your transition from pull to push leadership
• [24:37] Why business leaders resist the transition to pull
• [26:39] Toby shares insight about the identity crisis stopping leaders from changing their old beliefs and behaviors. 
• [31:09] How to reprogram yourself to get over your identity fear
• [36:51] Moments of sheer clarity
• [40:21] Toby’s growth advice for young adults

We’ve all been conditioned from when we were kids to learn that the world is about a push to be goal getters and get rewarded. But what we fail to realize early on is that people who have that go ‘get’em’ attitude often exude a repelling force or energy. And for Toby LaVigne, that force stagnates growth and makes it hard for people to be attracted to you at some point. So you have to shift from a push to a pull approach. 

Toby is the CEO of CleanMark Labels, a multinational label manufacturer headquartered in the pacific northwest. His vision for his role is a deep responsibility to help everyone he can on their hunt for purpose so that together they can make the next American dream possible. 

In this episode, Toby talks to Kevin McHugh about how making the transition from push to pull requires some serious rewiring of your underlying belief system about what the game is, shifting your old beliefs to new beliefs and eventually changing old behaviors to new ones. Stay tuned.

Resources Mentioned in this episode

• Hunting for Purpose
• Toby LaVigne LinkedIn 
• Sheer Clarity 
• J. Kevin McHugh

Dave Maney is a national economic and financial writer and commentator. He's also the executive chair and co-founder of Deke Digital, a digital media company that combines their deep knowledge of industry segments and their understanding of the ever-changing media landscape. Deke Digital uses knowledge and experience of the complex world of digital marketing to create innovative and highly effective marketing programs and solutions.

Dave has written a number of publications and columns for national publications, and he’s frequently seen on and is a commentator on Fox Business, as well as on CNBC, Fox News, and CNN.

• 02:20] Kevin introduces his guest, Dave Maney
• [03:40] Dave Maney talks about Deke Digital
• [05:54] Dave talks about his early entrepreneurial experiences that culminated into the beginnings of Deke Digital
• [11:05] What is the real essence of the mission statement of Dave’s company
• [15:57] The truth about the value of sharing your knowledge
• [21:14] Why you need to zero in on the role that you are going to play in your business
• [23:56] Dave talks about how we all learn best through painful failure 
• [28:41] Dave shares why you cannot fail if you’re doing something that you truly love
• [32:31] Dave talks about the bridging moment or the risk you take in letting somebody else do a job that you usually do
• [35:58] Identifying what risk means to you and what you can get from it
• [40:27] Why knowing yourself can give you the confidence to take the risks that your business needs you to do
• [46:34] What advice would Dave give to his younger self?

Are you somebody who already owns a business but feel like it’s time to bring things up a notch? Do you have any idea on where to start? Do you have the guts to do what it takes to take that risk for your business? For Dave Maney, these are the things you need to think of the moment you decide that you’re ready to step up your business A-game and bring things to a whole new level. And this, he says, is where his team can help you best.

Dave Maney is the executive chair and co-founder of Deke Digital, a digital marketing company. Their company thrives on the success stories that they have made for their clients who are primarily dynamic financial services and healthcare organizations through their expert media marketing services.

In this episode, Kevin talks to Dave about identifying the best role you can play in your own business, recognizing the necessary risks you need to make, and the importance of knowing yourself in order to have the confidence to do what needs to be done. Stay tuned.

Resources Mentioned in this episode

• Deke Digital
• Dave Maney on LinkedIn
• Dave Maney on Twitter
• Sheer Clarity
• J. Kevin McHugh
• J. Kevin McHugh on LinkedIn

JKM Management Development was developed by J. Kevin McHugh himself in 1990. They provide executive life and leadership coaching and the development of leadership teams that operate with extreme trust and honesty-based on the Sheer Clarity principles.

They work with founding entrepreneurs, Fortune 500 executives, and closely-held family businesses of every size and shape. They have helped these entities develop and integrate trust, honesty, and a certain sense of vulnerability into their organizations.

The Sheer Clarity podcast is getting ready to evolve.  Moving forward, episodes of Sheer Clarity are going to feature interviews with business leaders from companies of every shape and size, sharing how they are putting their leadership skills and practices to use in the world.  We'll talk about what they have learned as leaders by attraction, what mistakes they have made, and what lessons they want to sheer with you as you strive to become a leader by attraction.

Look out for the first new interview episode featuring Dave Maney, CEO of Deke Digital.  

If I aspire to be in a leadership role, how can I get there? What should I do to get myself to be identified and placed in such a role? How do I communicate my ambitions and experiences when I’ve taken on leadership responsibilities but don’t have the title to show for it? If you find yourself asking these questions, this is the episode for you.

As an ambitious high achiever, you have probably taken on more than your share of responsibilities at work. At first glance, the terms management and leadership may seem synonymous but in fact, each one requires a very different skillset. As we continue on the journey to sheer clarity, it’s important to not only be able to distinguish between the two but to ensure that you are embodying the key traits of a leader and creating value for your organization.

In this episode, Mathew and I investigate what it means to be a leader versus a manager. Mathew shares his experiences in his previous corporate career, and we talk about why a title is not as important as you might think, how to demonstrate and communicate your leadership abilities, key characteristics of a leader, what it means to create value, and so much more!

Once you’ve learned the differences between managing and leading you might be wondering whether you’re wired for leadership. We’re going deeper into this topic and looking back at your personality assessments as we explore that aspect next week. Until then, let us know: what has your experience been with communicating your leadership ambitions? Do you feel better able to demonstrate them? We look forward to hearing from you!

Key Topics:

• Mathew’s frustrating experience with having an unofficial leadership role in his corporate career (2:09)
• The catch-22 situation you can end up in when you are applying for your first official leadership role (3:05)
• One key differentiator between a leader and a task-doer (5:26)
• Why it’s so hard to get your first job in a leadership role (7:29)
• How Mathew ended up with unofficial supervisory responsibilities (8:15)
• The questions you might ask yourself about communicating your leadership abilities (9:06)
• The difference between counting value and creating value (10:06)
• What you should ask your boss right now to improve your leadership opportunities (11:24)
• The essential connection between leadership and influence (12:19)
• Distinguishing between a leader and a good manager (12:40)
• How to demonstrate your leadership (14:30)
• Why you should use the language of leadership (15:07)
• An example of how you should talk about your leadership ambition and experience (15:44)
• How to go from a task-doer to a leader (17:04)
• Being good at your job doesn’t automatically make you a good leader (20:26)
• Using coaching as a leadership tool (22:01)
• Why initiative is an integral leadership trait (23:00)
• And much more!

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.  And feel free to drop us a line at [email protected]. 

Follow Sheer Clarity on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook! 

If someone who works for you is having serious challenges at home, do you believe that they would confide in you? Being compassionate towards your team is one thing but how do you handle a situation where you are the one who is going through personal issues? In becoming the consummate leader by attraction, compassion in crisis is one of the toughest lessons we have to learn.

In previous episodes, we’ve spoken about the importance of creating a culture of caring and in difficult situations like these, the tone from the top becomes even more important. As leaders, we have to be able to not only navigate these situations but also to prepare ourselves to walk the fine line between having compassion and the need for productivity.

In this episode, Mathew and I talk about what it means to be compassionate as a leader in times of personal crisis. We dive into the importance of compassion for leaders, the significance of good relationships within a team, how you should set the tone at the top, finding the balance between compassion and the need for productivity, and do much more!

As always, thank you for listening! To hear more great stories lessons on leadership, life, and compassion for yourself and others in the workplace, join us on next week’s episode. What has your experience been with compassion in the workplace? Are you open with your team? Have you had to handle a situation with a team member whose productivity suffered? Let us know - we love hearing from you.

Key Topics:

• How you can benefit from learning about compassion in a crisis (2:32)
• The significance of good relationships during a crisis (3:44)
• Why a culture of caring starts at the top (4:41)
• The questions leaders ask themselves as leaders during a personal crisis (6:52)
• Mathew’s dilemma as a business owner (8:29)
• How to be honest with yourself about your crisis readiness (9:39)
• What the military can teach us about leadership at all levels (11:37)
• Figuring out whether you have open and honest relationships in the workplace (12:56)
• Walking the fine line between compassion and the need for productivity (14:46)
• The real cost of compassion (16:27)
• Why high performers find it difficult to be vulnerable (18:09)
• The incredible compassion I experienced during a significant personal crisis (19:22)
• And much more!

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotifwithy, or wherever you get your podcasts.  And feel free to drop us a line at [email protected]. 

Follow Sheer Clarity on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook! 

Picture this: You know how valuable it is for people to care about each other, so you organized a team-building retreat. The retreat is a success but within a few weeks of returning to work it all fades away and it’s back to the status quo. What happened?

Most work environments are completely counter to this idea of peace, patience, and kindness. The incredibly fast-paced nature of the corporate world has us focused on productivity and performance metrics and in all likelihood, there is no time being carved out for reconnection. So how can you make the shift towards compassion and support?

In this episode, Mathew and I explore why you should create a culture of caring. We discuss how most corporate environments inherently displace kindness and caring, our biases about spending time connecting, why leaders should care about their teams, how you can start to walk the talk and lead your team into openness, and so much more!

Thanks for listening! Check out the YouTube page for full episodes and our new Moments of Sheer Clarity directly from me to give you that extra boost of sheer clarity between our weekly episodes. Remember to share your experiences, feedback, and questions with us - we love hearing from you.

Key Topics:

• Why being in touch with yourself is critical for leaders (3:15)
• How your workplace culture counteracts the progress you make on retreats (6:31)
• The effect of the super-fast corporate pace on kindness and sensitivity (8:38)
• The problem with our approach to time-wasting (9:33)
• How you can implement reconnection time in your organization (11:34)
• Why should you make time to care? (13:12)
• Mathew’s experience with developing personal relationships with his team (14:45)
• What happens to leaders who fundamentally do not care (17:21)
• The steps you can take to foster a culture of caring (18:25)
• Your role as a leader in normalizing vulnerability (20:21)
• Why you need to nurture relationships of caring (21:00)
• And much more!

Mentioned in this Episode:

• Young Presidents' Organization

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.  And feel free to drop us a line at [email protected]. 

Follow Sheer Clarity on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook! 

If you’re using retreats as a catch-all for everything you want to get done in your company, then this episode is for you. As leaders, we have to have a long-term focus but that same focus can cause us to skip over the essentials which need to be in place before strategic planning can happen.

Without connection, your team is just a workgroup that is not equipped to adapt and succeed when plans go awry. To build that connection, team building should be your priority. To help with that I’m sharing the critical elements you need to incorporate into your retreats – and no, we’re not talking about trust falls.

In this episode, Mathew and I talk about the right way to plan a retreat. We discuss where most retreats go wrong, what it means to be a team, why you should prioritize relationships, how to structure your retreats, why you can’t tackle several issues in one retreat, the importance of a leader’s vision, and so much more!

If you’re tuning in for the first time, I highly recommend going back and listening to our early episodes about trust, honesty and appropriate vulnerability. These elements are the foundation for becoming a leader by attraction and play a key role on the path to sheer clarity. As always, thank you for listening and please continue to share your feedback, questions, and experiences - we love hearing from you!

Key Topics:

• Why we’re talking about retreats today (0:44)
• Where a lot of companies go wrong with their retreats (3:45)
• The importance of the meeting before the meeting (4:34)
• Why team building should be your primary focus (5:46)
• Building trust within a team (6:22)
• What every seasoned executive does in their first six months (8:17)
• The elements that make a team more than a workgroup (10:38)
• How a team responds to unexpected challenges (14:46)
• Why I hate trust falls (15:56)
• Planning a retreat that encourages honesty, vulnerability, and disclosure (17:14)
• Questions you can ask to help team members get to know each other (19:54)
• The significance of the leader’s vision in closely-held businesses (23:42)
• Figuring out the long-term vision for your company (24:19)
• How you should approach planning your retreat (26:36)
• The benefits from a recent retreat focused on building a connection (27:53)
• And much more!

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.  And feel free to drop us a line at [email protected]. 

Follow Sheer Clarity on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook! 

Happy New Year! Around this time of year you’re bound to be getting a lot of countdowns and “Best of” lists so we thought, let's join the party. Following the conventions, we’re giving you the top five themes of Sheer Clarity in 2019. As a bonus, we’re also sharing a sneak peek at how the show is going to evolve in 2020 and the exciting changes we have in store for you.

In this episode, Mathew and I share the most popular themes from the show in 2019 and discuss our takeaways. We talk about how to go beyond a simple apology, using the 24-hour rule for handling tension, the connection between self-honesty and self-reflection, the importance of quiet time, how vulnerability can help you in the battle with imposter syndrome, the New Year’s resolutions you need to make, and so much more!

Thank you so much to everybody who is taking part in this adventure with us of Sheer Clarity. We would love your feedback on what we've been doing and what you'd like to hear from us in 2020. All of your support and feedback so far has been phenomenal and we know we can't do without you.

Key Topics:

• Exciting changes in store for the podcast in 2020 (1:28)
• A sneak peek at the first guest who will be interviewed on the show (1:45)
• Top Theme #5: Appropriate vulnerability (4:01)
• Hitting the ceiling as an entrepreneur (6:01)
• The signature moment from a vulnerability session I recently led (6:18)
• How to go beyond simply saying you’re sorry (7:07)
• Using the 24-hour rule for handling tension in an important relationship (7:45)
• How Mathew benefitted from using the 24-hour rule (9:16)
• The additional step you can use to gain clarity before talking to the other party (9:48)
• Top Theme #4: Honesty (11:44)
• The connection between self-honesty and self-reflection (12:12)
• How a lack of self-honesty can contribute to conflicts with your team (14:28)
• The significance of sitting in silence (15:33)
• Top Theme #3: How Will You Measure Your Life? (17:23)
• Finding a work-life balance (18:41)
• Why I have people deliver their eulogy from three perspectives (21:15)
• Top Theme #2: Battling Imposter Syndrome (22:33)
• Why CEOs of closely-held businesses are so susceptible to imposter syndrome (23:30)
• Embracing the doubt with humility (24:41)
• How vulnerability can help you in the battle with imposter syndrome (25:06)
• Mathew’s experience with overcoming his imposter syndrome (27:01)
• My experience with imposter syndrome as a board member (28:17)
• Top Theme #1: Trust (30:35)
• The difference between a workgroup and a team (31:45)
• The hard truth about how to resolve the issue of team members who can’t trust each other (33:40)
• The New Year’s resolutions that will help you start strong in 2020 (36:51)
• And much more!

Mentioned in this Episode:

• Our series on appropriate vulnerability:
• Sheer Clarity Episode 7 | Appropriate Vulnerability Part 1: What is It?
• Sheer Clarity Episode 8 | Appropriate Vulnerability Part 2: How to be Appropriately Vulnerable as a Leader
• Sheer Clarity Episode 9 | Appropriate Vulnerability Part 3: Encouraging it in Others
• The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)
• Gino Wickman’s Book | Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
• Our series on honesty:
• Sheer Clarity Episode 4 | Honesty Part 1: Deep Self-Reflection
• Sheer Clarity Episode 5 | Honesty Part 2: Being Honest with Other People
• Sheer Clarity Episode 6 | Honesty Part 3: Knowing When Others Are Honest With You
• Sheer Clarity Episode 11 | How Will You Measure Your Life?
• Clayton M. Christensen’s Harvard Business Review Article | How Will You Measure Your Life?
• Sheer Clarity Episode 10 | Battling Imposter Syndrome
• Our series on trust:
• Sheer Clarity Episode 2 | Trust Part 1: Characteristics of a Trusting Relationship
• Sheer Clarity Episode 3 | Trust Part 2: The Character to Command Trust
• My Trust Chart
• My LinkedIn Article | How To Become a Better Leader By Building and Gaining Trust
• New Year’s Resolutions Checklist
• I will be more vulnerable
• I will be more open
• I will be more honest with myself
• I will actually look at my work-life balance and do a better job with it
• I will battle any imposter syndrome symptoms
• I will not try to fake it, I will at least be honest
• I will work on trust and if I’ve got a trust problem, I will go and make every effort to address it.
• Our series on feedback:
• Sheer Clarity Episode 17 | The Philosophy of Feedback
• Sheer Clarity Episode 18 | The Positive Side of Feedback
• Sheer Clarity Episode 19 | Navigating Negative Feedback
• My LinkedIn Article | How To Deliver Effective Feedback

Happy Holidays! Whatever it is that you celebrate at this time of year, as long as you do it with love and kindness, we hope that you are having a great celebration. In this season of gift-giving, we want to highlight the gifts we’ve received from you, our listeners and give you some things to think about as you're getting ready to start 2020 with a bang.

In this episode, Mathew and I review your feedback and answer questions from our listener mailbag. We talk about being thankful for the gifts we received this year, what some listeners have shared about how the show has impacted them and their team, how to have an honest conversation with a defensive boss, the what and why of introducing vulnerability into the workplace, and so much more!

Thank you to everybody who has provided feedback, support, and encouragement so far. If you haven't reached out yet, we still want to hear from you! Share the experiences you’ve had on your journey to becoming the consummate leader by attraction and let us know how we can help you even more. Again, thank you for allowing us to be a part of your journey.

Key Topics:

• Why we’re thankful for the gifts we’ve been given (0:56)
• A look at some of the feedback we’ve received for the show (3:20)
• Why your light is important as a leader by attraction (4:33)
• The impact of considering your motive on the feedback process (7:56)
• How to be honest with a defensive boss (11:06)
• Why you should prioritize your team members (12:30)
• My step-by-step approach for communicating your concerns about your relationship with your boss (13:19)
• When to avoid having an honest conversation with your boss (17:35)
• The right way to introduce vulnerability into the workplace (20:00)
• The deeper meaning of vulnerability (21:10)
• What to do when you find yourself in a position beyond your experience (21:30)
• Why should you care about vulnerability in the workplace (23:36)
• The power of storytelling and connection (24:09)
• My four power questions about storytelling (25:10)
• And much more!

Mentioned in this Episode:

• Our series on feedback:
• Sheer Clarity Episode 17 | The Philosophy of Feedback
• Sheer Clarity Episode 18 | The Positive Side of Feedback
• Sheer Clarity Episode 19 | Navigating Negative Feedback
• Our series on appropriate vulnerability:
• Sheer Clarity Episode 7 | Appropriate Vulnerability Part 1: What is It?
• Sheer Clarity Episode 8 | Appropriate Vulnerability Part 2: How to be Appropriately Vulnerable as a Leader
• Sheer Clarity Episode 9 | Appropriate Vulnerability Part 3: Encouraging it in Others
• Sheer Clarity Episode 10 | Battling Imposter Syndrome
• The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)
• My four power questions about storytelling:
• Share a memory of a happy time or a happy event that you have in your life as a child.
• Tell a story about one of your life's most challenging times or situations.
• Tell a lesson that you have learned from the challenges you faced because those are the ones that tend to teach us and how it has affected the way you treat other people.
• Tell us one thing going on in your life that gives you joy and one thing that makes you sad.

[AS1]Kevin mentioned putting these up on the site, not sure if he has a PDF/link instead but wrote them out in case he just wanted them to be outlined here

In our last episode, we started to explore how our brains talk to us through our inner voices. 

Now we’re shifting gears and looking at the practical side of things and what you can do to manage your headspace as a leader.

To be a super leader by attraction, you have to exhibit a level of calm and control that causes people to have confidence in you. And that outward expression of being present and engaged only comes from emotional intelligence developed through reflection and self-awareness. By doing the inner work to understand yourself, you can work on your weaknesses and ultimately become a stronger leader overall.

In this episode, Mathew and I discuss how to develop your awareness of your primary and disowned selves. We talk about why managing your headspace is a necessary leadership skill, how our fast-paced lives conflict with the need for quiet reflection, the consequences of not exploring your inner voices, how our sub-personalities are developed, and so much more!

If these discussions have triggered something inside of you, we want to know. We'd love for you to share your experiences with us and let us know how you manage your head space. Did you try the exercises we shared in this episode? Have you discovered anything about yourself that you weren’t aware of? We look forward to hearing from you.

Key Topics:

• Why leaders need a high level of self-awareness (1:01)
• Mathew’s key takeaways from our first episode about the inner voices (5:21)
• How the fast pace of our lives makes it hard to be reflective (6:37)
• The surprising impact of 5 minutes of quiet time (9:16)
• Why you should make an appointment with yourself this week (10:00)
• The consequences of not exploring your inner voices (11:52)
• Giving yourself and others the gift of quiet time (13:13)
• The fundamental function of our primary selves (14:19)
• How your childhood impacted the development of your primary self system (14:56)
• Where disowned selves arise from (16:43)
• What you can learn from being aware of your disowned energy (18:03)
• How to identify your disowned self (19:34)
• The exercise you should do to connect with your inner voices (20:55)
• And much more

Mentioned in this Episode:

• Voice Dialogue