Story Time with Mack!

The Pandemic altered not only the way in which we work, but also the relationships we have with coworkers.  Now more than ever, both leaders and teams crave deeper connection and more authentic relationships.  But how can organizations accomplish this lofty goal, particularly knowing that it will require a reset of how leaders and teams interact?  Fortunately, our guests today, consultants and professors Seth Silver and Timothy Franz addressed this in their book Meaningful Partnerships at Work:  How the Workplace Covenant Ensures Mutual Accountability and Success between Leaders and Teams.  We talk about the partnership and the covenant and Tim and Seth give us practical tips to put the principles into action.

From time to time we like to chat with some of our listeners and customers here at Boss Builders.  Today, our special guests are Vickie Shaw of Georgia Southern University and Stephanie Wagoner of Castro & Company.  Vickie and Stephanie are currently enrolled in our Art of Being a Great Boss Masterclass. I asked them to share their background with us and give us an update on how the program is affecting their managers.  I really enjoyed speaking with them and I know you'll really enjoy meeting them as well!

Bench strength is one of your keys to success in business.  When it comes to replacing your superstars, you'd better have some capable folks in your pipeline.  Sylke Chesterfield is a business consultant and coach who gives us some great tips on building a succession plan that will give you a seamless transition when opportunities arise.  Why look outside for help when you can grow your own talent internally?  Sylke will show you how.

Employee engagement is a key metric of organizational success.  It's hard to define and even harder to achieve.  Fortunately, we have an expert on this episode that will help us with this issue.  Pamela Hackett is a consultant and author that specializes in engagement.  She just published the book Manage to Engage:  How Great Managers Create Remarkable Results. In this episode, we define engagement, talk about how to achieve it, and discuss how to measure it.  Lots of great info and worth circulating to your management teams as well.

Work and fun have typically been considered polar opposites, but according to Dr. Bob Nelson and Mario Tamayo, they can be combined in ways that produce happier, more motivated workers, that produce exceptional results.  Bob and Mario are the authors of Work Made Fun Gets Done:  Easy Ways to Boost Energy, Morale, and Results.  This was a great interview with lots of great data and examples of how companies and organizations have successfully integrated fun into the workplace.

As of this date, COVID-19 is still impacting our professional and personal lives. Return-to-work initiatives are back on hold and we're all still trying to figure out the best way to find normal.  Our guest today, speaker, consultant and coach Liz Kislik offers up her insights on the most important considerations as we navigate this challenge and even suggests a better way to deal with silos.  This was a fun and very enlightening conversation which I know you'll enjoy!

Leadership has for too long been treated as a function and not as a relationship. Our guest today, Dr. Patrick Malone, co-author of Leading with Love and Laughter (co-authored with Zina Sutch) argues that successful leadership must be based on love (altruism and empathy) and laughter (positive emotions and joy).  This was a great talk and is full of practical tips for transforming the workplace into one that has higher engagement and employee retention.

Workplace wellness has probably been one of those "Back-Burner" projects up until now, but organizations today need to focus on it.  Our guest today, workplace well-being consultant and HR expert Jill Kane makes the case that NOW is the best time to address your workplace wellness needs.  We talk about how to be intentional about workplace wellness as well as identify ways HR leaders can prevent employee burnout.  Jill has an incredible offer for you if you want to get started in addressing workplace wellness that can be found HERE!

Do you ever wish you could leave your office or cubicle and do your job in some exciting locations?  If so, then meet Michelle Griffin.  Michelle is an HR executive whose company provides HR support to companies everywhere.  She does all of this while working from exotic locations around the world.  This is a great episode for those of you who dream of that lifestyle. Michelle has done it and explains how.

Corporate training is often referred to as "death by PowerPoint," the experience of having a trainer walking around with a clicker, reading slides to a sleeping audience.  We've all suffered through this and yet, very few learning and development professionals, speakers, teachers, and trainers still do it.  How to stop the madness?  Our guest today, Tina Clements offers us suggestions, based on research, for creating a great learning experience.