The BossBuilder Podcast

As The Boss, you're inundated with tasks that can sometimes take your focus off the big picture.  As you master the techniques of being a great Boss though, it's important to start thinking strategically, positioning yourself as a leaders in your organization.  Our guest today, Dr. Trish Holliday shares her perspectives on leadership.  Doc Holliday is a strategic leader here in Tennessee and she's got lots of practical tips and techniques for you, plus she shares her leadership journey and gives you suggestions on how to grow professionally as a leader.  This is a good one so please take notes!

Motivating employees seems like an impossible task doesn't it? You have a diverse group of individuals, all of whom have different needs and wants and yet you're having to figure out how to get them to get the job done. Fortunately, with the right perspective, you can make each individual feel motivated in a unique way.  Our guest Dawn Cacciotti gives you some straightforward advice on how to figure out what motivates your team and strategies to get them engaged at work.  Dawn is the President of EngageHRNow and is an expert in this field.  Check it out and be sure to take notes!

As The Boss, one of the most difficult tasks you'll face is correcting somebody's performance. It's uncomfortable, but as our guest Harry White contends, it's the most important thing you can do as The Boss.  Harry outlines the importance of giving feedback and shares four important rules you'll need to do to get it right.  He even helps you with a script to deal with RBF ("resting bitch face") or the dreaded "bad attitude."

As The Boss, you have a brand. Even if you don't think you do, you do!  Your brand is what people think and know about you and it you're not proactive about it, one will be assigned to you.  Our guest today, Sherry Poetsche gives you a step-by-step process on how to develop your brand and communicate that brand effectively.  Sherry works for a large corporation in Florida so she knows how important it is to manage that brand if you want to succeed in your role and your organization.  My dogs started barking about halfway through the interview so don't be alarmed!

As The Boss, you know you have three critical responsibilities:  Fix systems and processes, Protect the House, and Develop People.  Our guest today is Sharon Armstrong, a former HR executive, now HR consultant and the co-author of the book The Essential HR Handbook.  Sharon will give us tips on how to protect the house and develop people and do it while holding true to HR policies and legal requirements so you keep yourself and your company out of trouble.  More importantly, if you follow her suggestions, your people will show you more respect and perform like superstars.  Be sure to take good notes on this one!

On the Boss Builder Podcast we like to interview Boss Builders (those who help develop better Bosses) but when possible, we love to interview a Great Boss!  Our guest today is James Meadows.  He's an IT Director for a company in the MidAtlantic region and is very successful.  He's going to share his journey which mirrors that of most of our listeners.  Told one day he's now The Boss with little or no formal training.  James will talk about his journey, his own personal theory of leadership, what The Boss needs to know about developing others, and a host of other topics.  This is an important episode particularly if you're in the role of The Boss and struggling!

Communication is the life-blood of every organization.  As The Boss, you have to ensure communication flows and that YOU are communicating properly.  Our guest, author, trainer, coach, and speaker Shelley Baur argues that by using integrity-based communication, you can be more real and more assertive and get things done.  Your people will model this and improve the quality of communication.  

As The Boss, you deal with difficult people every day.  But could it be that the person isn't difficult, it's just that you don't fully understand their personality.  Our guest today, Margi Bush of Wisdom Tree Coaching argues that by getting a handle on a person's hard-wired personality, you can better leverage their strengths for theirs and the organization's success.  This is the third podcast in a series with Margi.  Go back and listen to episodes #15 and #16 to get the first three dichotomies first.

If you're The Boss, you have two major responsibilities:  1.  Be a Great Boss, and 2. Develop other Bosses!  Our guest today, Sam Senn, the Founder of Dancing Shepherd gives us some strategies on both.  You'll learn how to be a great mentor but also learn why and how you should be a mentor for others.  Sam will talk about the link between head, hands, and heart and how to consider all three in your development!

Hey did you know that YOU have a brand?  We know products, services, and celebrities have them but as The Boss, so do you.  The challenge of course is identifying what that brand is and figuring out if that brand is serving us and our team well.  Our guest today is Patrick Bosworth, the President of Leadership Choice.  Patrick will talk about what a brand is, how to identify what YOUR brand is, build a better, more effective brand if necessary, and, making sure your brand stays relevant.  Patrick is a great guy and you'll enjoy this conversation!