In this engaging episode of the Sweet on Leadership podcast, Tim Sweet interviews Tracy Borreson, an entrepreneur and advocate for authentic leaders. Tracy shares her insights into what it means to be authentic, how to avoid taking servant leadership too far, and how to build team dynamics. She highlights the importance of self-awareness and balancing leadership responsibilities to avoid burnout. If you're an entrepreneur who feels like you're juggling all the things alone, this episode is for you!

The conversation explores the concept of authenticity as being true to oneself and fostering honest communication. The episode emphasizes the need for leaders to prioritize self-care, create a high-performance culture, and encourage team members' involvement in solving problems. Tracy also introduces her upcoming conversation series, "Crazy, Stupid Marketing," where she tackles marketing misconceptions with a panel of experts. Listeners gain valuable insights into authentic leadership, team engagement, and effective marketing strategies.

About Tracy Borreson

Tracy Borreson is an entrepreneur and authenticity advocate known for her commitment to creating awareness around true authenticity. As a mompreneur, Tracy's journey has been driven by her passion for aligning experiences with personal values and unique contributions. Her work focuses on challenging conventional notions of authenticity and encouraging individuals to be honest with themselves and others. Tracy's insights are grounded in her experiences in corporate marketing and leadership roles.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

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Contact Tim Sweet | Team Work Excellence: 

• Website
• LinkedIn: Tim Sweet
• Instagram
• Linkedin: Team Work Excellence
   

Contact Tracy Borreson | TLB Coaching & Events: 

• Website: tlbcoaching.com
• Twitter: TBorreson11
• Linkedin: Tracy Borreson

Tim chats with his cousin Dave Sweet, homicide detective, author, and consultant, on the overlapping themes between leadership in business and in the world of policing. You’ll hear fascinating insights into how our minds manifest and manage fear and align with strategies to help your teams open up, give feedback, and share ideas. Whether it’s eliciting opinions during a board meeting or encouraging a witness to give a statement, when leaders empathize and give speakers the freedom to be honest, the more valuable the information given will be. 

Dave talks to Tim about the idea behind his book, why he pivoted to the world of consulting, and what is next on his horizon. Dave’s desire to show up as a leader, see people as they are, and serve the community is what drives him in his profession as a detective and as a writer. Tim confirms that his cousin is perfectly matched for his job and that as leaders when our work aligns with our passion, it no longer becomes work but a calling. This episode will have you assessing your leadership skills, inspired to improve your communication, and learning to overcome your irrational fears. Stay tuned for part two of this conversation coming soon. 

About Dave Sweet

David Sweet is an active-duty Homicide Detective with twenty years on the job. He has worked in the Drug Unit and the Organized Crime Section, and he teaches new recruits and presents at law enforcement conferences and various community groups. In addition to a Distinguished Service Award in 2010, Detective Sweet received the Chief’s Award for Investigative Excellence in 2017. He’s also the author of Skeletons in My Closet: Life Lessons from a Homicide Detective and has another book in the works.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Skeletons in My Closet: Life Lessons from a Homicide Detective by Dave Sweet
• Amy Edmondson
• Margie Warrell
• The Six Thinking Hats

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Contact Tim Sweet | Team Work Excellence: 

• Website
• LinkedIn: Tim Sweet
• Instagram
• Linkedin: Team Work Excellence

Contact Dave Sweet: 

• Amazon: Author Page

In this episode, host Tim Sweet invites Melanie Potro, a Business Stylist, to discuss the importance of personal style and its impact on leadership. Melanie helps leaders communicate effectively and develop a signature style that reflects their personal brand. They explore the significance of first impressions, the emergence of personal style in the post-pandemic era, and the differences in pursuing style for men, women and non-binary individuals. Melanie emphasizes the connection between authentic style and boosting confidence in leadership roles.

Melanie highlights how a signature style can enhance a leader's communication and impact, making them more memorable and effective. The conversation explores the psychological aspects of first impressions and how authentic style can inspire confidence in others. Melanie explains that men and women approach personal style differently, with women often being more self-critical and aware of their perceived flaws. She stresses the importance of feeling at ease in one's clothes and using personal style as a tool for self-expression and authenticity.

A key point discussed in the episode is the role of contrast in personal style. Melanie explains how understanding contrast can help individuals create a cohesive and empowering wardrobe that aligns with their personal values and goals. Tim and Melanie plan to have future episodes on two specific topics: how to save money when building a wardrobe with intent and the significance of contrast in personal branding and style. Don't miss out on the valuable insights and practical tips that Melanie Potro has to offer in future episodes. Whether you're a leader looking to enhance your personal brand or simply seeking to improve your style and confidence, Melanie's expertise will undoubtedly inspire and empower you. So mark your calendar and join us for the next episodes of "Sweet on Leadership."

About Melanie Potro 

Melanie Potro is a Business Stylist who helps leaders develop a signature style that aligns with their personal brand and goals. With over 30 years of experience, she has worked with influential individuals in the UK and abroad, helping them improve their appearance and confidence as leaders.

Contact Tim Sweet | Team Work Excellence: 

• Website
• LinkedIn: Tim Sweet
• Instagram
• Linkedin: Team Work Excellence

Contact Melanie Potro | MP Business Styling: 

• Instagram: mpbusinessstyling
• Linkedin: Melanie Potro
• Facebook: MPBusinessStyling
• Pinterest: melaniepotro

Tim chats with resume specialist, career consultant, and speaker Claire Davis about her work at Traction Resume. She shares general tips on creating a resume or personal brand that reflects your authentic self and why you want to focus on your uniqueness rather than the overused buzzwords. Claire also describes the common mistakes people make when putting together their job applications and how to avoid them. Both Tim and Claire weigh in on the importance of finding your true self to advance your career. Whether you’ve been laid off, are looking for a promotion, or want to consider switching to consulting, you don’t want to miss this episode!

Further into the episode, Tim and Claire share their own moments of discovery when they realize they possess skills that put them in demand, regardless of what their name tag read. Claire explains how it often takes your colleagues, friends, or strangers to help you know your true value, skills, and uniqueness. Once you know those elements of yourself, you’ll be in a better position for career success. You’ll also want to listen for the surprisingly accurate casserole metaphor!

About Claire Davis

Claire Davis is an award-winning Medical Sales Resume Specialist, Career Consultant, and Speaker with 15+ years of experience. Claire help clients land great roles with dream companies by leveraging the sales techniques they already know to fuel their career advancement.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Louis Saulnier - Le Répertoire de la Cuisine
• August Escoffier

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Contact Tim Sweet | Team Work Excellence: 

• Website
• LinkedIn: Tim Sweet
• Instagram
• Linkedin: Team Work Excellence

Contact Claire Davis | Traction Resume: 

• Website
• Twitter
• Linkedin

Tim Sweet is again joined by Paul Farmer, Business Mentor and Founder of Mentoris Group, to discuss how leaders are addressing the new needs of both employees and clients in how their businesses bring value to the world. Are leaders still clinging to old thoughts about growth, and how can they change?  

Paul shares how business leaders he works with are presenting arbitrary ideas for growth that don’t necessarily answer the right questions for today’s market. What do leaders really want from their businesses? What do they personally want to achieve? Can that be accomplished by increasing value instead of simply bodies or labor? Paul gives several examples of old versus new thinking patterns. 

Tim Sweet and guest Paul Farmer address three key areas where leaders can benefit from re-assessing their business needs to fit today’s worker and client demands. Paul singles out client and workflow as the first area, the employee team as the second area, and roles as business owner or leader as the third area to assess. Tim and Paul dissect each of these ideas in detail, explaining how thinking has shifted and how the new questions to ask benefit business growth in different ways.

About Paul Farmer

Paul Farmer, Business Mentor and Founder of Mentoris Group, completed his Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Southern Queensland before he moved to Brisbane to pursue an accounting career. He worked for both Bentleys MRI and Snelleman Tom, being admitted as a Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA) in 2002. Playing Premier Rugby Union for Norths (1996), GPS (1997 – 2002, Club captain 2001), Australian Combined States U21 and Australian Barbarians in 1996 enabled Paul to develop a strong network of professional contacts.

In 2002 Paul took a sabbatical to the UK, gaining invaluable exposure to different cultures, work practices, travel opportunities and sporting pursuits.  After 20 years working for large organizations both in Australia and the UK, it was time to give something back. Leaving a strategic leadership role, Paul saw coaching as a way of guiding others through the ever increasing uncertainty and pressures life presents, similar to those he encountered. Paul is a registered CPA, Associate Member of the International Coach Guild, Member of the Coaching Institute, working towards being an International Accredited Professional Master Coach and currently holds a Blue card for working with children and youths.

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Resources discussed in this episode:

• Paul Ferneyhough

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Contact Tim Sweet | Team Work Excellence:

• Website
• LinkedIn: Tim Sweet
• Instagram
• Linkedin: Team Work Excellence

Contact Paul Farmer | Business Mentor, Founder of Mentoris Group:

• Website
• Twitter
• Linkedin

Tim Sweet is joined by Julie Freedman-Smith once more to continue the conversation they started in the last episode. They delve deeper into how we can break ourselves out of inaction or malaise to start changing our lives. Every journey starts with a step, so what will push us into action? What will our first step be?

Julie speaks from the perspective of families, of parents acknowledging their childrens’ feelings and finding ways to set examples within their own lives. Tim speaks from the perspective of businesses and workplace teams, of taking action towards goals and not being so blindly adherent to a single vision that we can’t see what’s happening around us. 

Tim Sweet and guest Julie Freedman-Smith explore what it means to create safety where people can imagine a different identity and take the first steps to get there. They share the questions ‘Where do I want to go?’ and ‘What if I could?’ as valuable stepping-off points towards making change. How do we shake ourselves out of malaise? Tim and Julie talk about what motivates us, how to give ourselves space to examine our internal needs, and the practical steps that can shake us up to start making the changes we desire. Both are coaches from different perspectives and offer insightful examination of the human condition and ways to contact them to continue the conversation started here.

About Julie Freedman-Smith

Julie Freedman-Smith is the creator/founder of Parent–Break, an online community providing time and space for parents to connect with themselves and each other, to offer guidance, and to acknowledge the parenting challenges while celebrating the successes. 

Author, Blogger, Podcast Host and Parenting Expert, Julie Freedman Smith has been guiding parents across North America for 20+ years. Julie also enjoys practising and teaching Tai Chi and working as a professional choral singer and clinician.

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Contact Tim Sweet | Team Work Excellence:

• Website
• LinkedIn: Tim Sweet
• Instagram
• Linkedin: Team Work Excellence

Contact Julie Freedman-Smith | Author, Blogger, Podcast Host and Parenting Expert:

• Website - Parent-Break
• Linkedin
• Instagram
• Linktr.ee

Tim Sweet welcomes Julie Freedman Smith back to the show. Julie, the creator and founder of Parent-Break online community, and Tim have a discussion about the feeling pervading people’s lives and work-lives today. They break down why there is a sense of malaise and where the fear stems from.

Julie has a perspective on how work and life have shifted in very recent years for children and young adults. She shares from the sense of what Covid concerns and access to world news in real time have done to satisfaction and a sense of meaning in their lives. Julie sees the changes as essentially optimistic in that the challenges presented are opportunities for growth, which is an opinion not everyone shares. 

Tim Sweet and guest Julie Freedman Smith dissect the current inertia dragging at both the business world and individual lives. They talk about how low-level anxiety and depression have helped shift the feeling, why individual dissatisfaction and sense of meaning travels up into holding business back, and just why we are collectively holding our cards closer to our chest in terms of what we’re willing to give in these uncertain times. It’s an illuminating conversation about the dramatic shift we are all enduring.

About Julie Freedman Smith

Julie Freedman Smith is the creator/founder of Parent–Break, an online community providing time and space for parents to connect with themselves and each other, to offer guidance, and to acknowledge the parenting challenges while celebrating the successes. 

Author, Blogger, Podcast Host and Parenting Expert, Julie Freedman Smith has been guiding parents across North America for 20+ years. Julie also enjoys practising and teaching Tai Chi and working as a professional choral singer and clinician.

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Contact Tim Sweet | Team Work Excellence:

• Website
• LinkedIn: Tim Sweet
• Instagram
• Linkedin: Team Work Excellence

Contact Julie Freedman-Smith | Author, Blogger, Podcast Host and Parenting Expert:

• Website - Parent-Break
• Linkedin
• Instagram
• Linktr.ee

Tim Sweet is joined by Richard Young, performance clarity expert and author of Simplify, to talk about Richard’s three systemic keys that set repeated medalists apart from the rest. Richard’s insight on sustained performance isn’t solely applicable to sport, but to every aspect of life in which we want to excel.

Richard is no stranger to great achievement in sport, having won international gold medals, coached world champions, and participated and coached in several Olympics. He created programs that have contributed to this success around the globe, and it’s that performance insight that he draws on when he explains his three keys to high-performance sport success. 

Tim Sweet and guest Richard Young break down the three keys of strategic simplicity, language alignment, and performance wellbeing. Richard defines wellbeing as performing well in every moment and he explains how sustained performance is the main goal, the necessity of alignment to success, and what simplicity looks like. Richard’s words resonate with clear insight and striking analogy, and are directly applicable to leadership in any capacity and performance in any job.

About Richard Young

Richard Young has been involved with preparation for 10 Olympics across most roles (athlete, coach, leader, researcher). He has won international gold medals, coached world champions, and created programmes in innovation and learning that have contributed to Olympic medals for three countries.

Richard has a PhD and later targeted his research to the differences between medallists and non-medallists, their coaches, technical staff, leaders and the system they are in. He is driven by helping others convert high potential into sustained high performance. He works internationally helping leaders and experts simplify, align and accelerate.

​He was married 24 years to a beautiful person, Donna, who passed away in October 2021 from illness.  Born in the UK, raised in Canada, Richard currently lives in Dunedin, New Zealand with his four children.

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Contact Tim Sweet | Team Work Excellence:

• Website
• LinkedIn: Tim Sweet
• Instagram
• Linkedin: Team Work Excellence

Contact Richard Young | Performance Clarity Expert, Author, Breakthrough specialist:

• Website
• Linkedin
• Book: Simplify by Richard Young, PhD

Tim Sweet welcomes Rita Ernst, Positivity Influencer and Consultant, back to the show to discuss the differences between generational education and how school focus has shifted from individualism to teamwork. How does that shift translate into business preparedness? In talking about this, Tim and Rita address the fundamental occupational processes they both respect and the order in which necessary change must be addressed.

Rita explains how she experienced a shift from her own education to the education of her children, where schools her children went through very much encouraged collaboration and community. She and Tim examine conformity versus individuality and how systems function both through the more team-based approaches of the modern day versus the more solo-focussed approaches from earlier decades.

Tim Sweet and guest Rita Ernst look at what makes individuals unique and how that translates to business strength, and how individual skills are still highlighted and valued in the current collaborative operational style. Rita explains organizational development using the analogy of Kentucky Derby horse racing and breaks down, with Tim, why a right answer might not be correct for your business if it’s not answering the question at hand. Both host and guest are dedicated consultants who share their unique insights into business in a very open and meaningful conversation.

About Rita Ernst

In 2005 Rita Ernst left corporate life and established her independent consulting and coaching practice. She has an extensive catalogue of satisfied clients in organizations that range from construction to pharmaceuticals to non-profits.

Rita leverages her expertise in organizational psychology to craft solutions for business owners and staff members that break through the hostility while restoring pride, teamwork, and profits. Through her ground-breaking training and lessons, she reveals how to intentionally cultivate positive thoughts and behaviors instead of automatically reacting from the trappings of a depleting cycle of frustration and discontent.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Daniel Pink
• Japanese Kaizen process
• “Horse” by Geraldine Brooks
• Maya Angelou quote
• Deming
• Six Sigma
• Lean
• Hammer
• McKinsey & Company
• Simon Sinek: Start With Why

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Contact Tim Sweet | Team Work Excellence:

• Website
• LinkedIn: Tim Sweet
• Instagram
• Linkedin: Team Work Excellence

Contact Rita Ernst | Positivity Influencer, Authour, Consultant:

• Website
• Linkedin
• Instagram
• Book: Show Up Positive by Rita Ernst

Rita Ernst, Positivity Influencer and Consultant, joins Tim Sweet on the show to talk about big changes in business. When exactly does a business go from thriving to struggling, and why? Rita’s hint is that it happens far before the impact is seen in the financial bottom line. She and Tim unpack the signs.

Rita identifies how a change in work habits is the first sign of a business in the midst of change. She illustrates this with examples from COVID, where organizations all buckled down and gave their all during the first years but now are experiencing a push back, a difference in how people are interacting with customers, work that was always on time before now being unfinished. This is where righting the business should start, but businesses wait until they see it in the bottom line to call in a consultant like Rita or Tim.

Tim Sweet and guest Rita Ernst dissect how an individual can right the course of a business going through big change. If everyone is afraid to say the hard truths to the boss, how will change begin? It’s not about being toxic, it’s about showing up with an honest desire to help. Positivity is the key ingredient in Rita’s book Show Up Positive and she discusses specific lessons from her book with Tim. It’s a conversation every level of employee in a business needs to hear.

About Rita Ernst

In 2005 Rita Ernst left corporate life and established her independent consulting and coaching practice. She has an extensive catalogue of satisfied clients in organizations that range from construction to pharmaceuticals to non-profits.

Rita leverages her expertise in organizational psychology to craft solutions for business owners and staff members that break through the hostility while restoring pride, teamwork, and profits. Through her ground-breaking training and lessons, she reveals how to intentionally cultivate positive thoughts and behaviors instead of automatically reacting from the trappings of a depleting cycle of frustration and discontent.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Peter Block

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Contact Tim Sweet | Team Work Excellence:

• Website
• LinkedIn: Tim Sweet
• Instagram
• Linkedin: Team Work Excellence

Contact Rita Ernst | Positivity Influencer, Authour, Consultant:

• Website
• Linkedin
• Instagram
• Book: Show Up Positive by Rita Ernst