The Game Changer

Meetings Matter: 8 Powerful Strategies for Remarkable Conversations by Paul Axtell

This on demand audio is a part of the Game Changer Series. Chicke Fitzgerald interviews Paul Axtell. The original live interview was 5/27/16.

Meetings have become a pain point for millions. Many see them as useless sessions that take time away from meaningful tasks. But one consultant with more than 30 years of experience has a different perspective: that meetings matter and they can be mastered.

In Meetings Matter, Paul Axtell emphasizes the importance of meetings, and he redesigns them using the vital foundation of conversation.

Paul Axtell provides consulting and personal effectiveness training to a wide variety of clients, from Fortune 500 companies and universities to nonprofit organizations and government agencies. A large focus of his work is how to run effective and productive meetings: to turn them from the calendar items that so many dread into useful, productive sessions with measurable results.

His website is http://paulaxtell.com/

To order the book click HERE

Paul Axtell has generously offered a copy of Meetings Matter as well as his other two books, to our listeners (while supplies last). To receive the book, contact him at [email protected]  or contact Margaret Kingsbury [email protected]

This on demand audio is a part of the Game Changer Series. Chicke Fitzgerald interviews Carey Lohrenz. The original live interview was 5/20/16.

The cockpit of an F-14 is one of the most demanding environments imaginable. The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is one of the most complex industrial work-sites there is. It’s here that Carey Lohrenz learned what fearless leadership means. Her teams had to perform at their peak, or lives were on the line.

Added to that intensity, she was breaking new ground for women in the military. Since leaving the Navy, Lohrenz has worked with thousands of business leaders, from Fortune 500 executives to middle managers, helping them and their teams flourish. She’s distilled her extraordinary career down to this hypothesis: high-performing teams require fearless leaders, which has been proven again and again.

In "Fearless Leadership: High Performance Lessons From the Flight Deck," she walks readers through the three fundamentals a leader must possess to exhibit real fearlessness: courage, tenacity, and integrity. Lohrenz then reveals what fearless leadership looks like in action, offering advice on how to set a bold vision, bring the team together (as wing-men, not Top Gun mavericks), execute effectively, and stay resilient through hard times. Whether they’re stepping into their first leadership role or looking to get out of a longstanding rut, readers will find this resource to act like an afterburner, rocketing them to ever-higher levels of performance.

To order her book click HERE

Her website is http://careylohrenz.com/

This on demand audio is a part of the Game Changer Series. Chicke Fitzgerald interviews Joan O. Wright. The original live interview was 5/6/16.

At its core, life is all about relationships. We all know the benefits of close and loving relationships between grandparents and their young grandchildren. What we often overlook, however, is the incredible richness and significance of these relationships for adult grandchildren and grandparents. And further, these relationships are not, and should not, be limited to those with only biological ties. These mentoring relationships can function just as well outside typical family boundaries.

This book brings together stories about real-life connections that will move you. These stories are followed by some simple ways and tools to help kick-start these relationships. It is the author's hope that this book will inspire and encourage people of all generations to pursue these kinds of relationships, termed "SOULinks."

Prior to founding O’Sullivan Wright in 2000, Joan was head of executive leadership development at Wachovia (Wells Fargo). Her broad understanding of individual leadership and organizational development comes from 21 years in Human Resources Management roles with Philip Morris, Citicorp, and GE Capital.

To purchase the book click HERE

Joan's website is www.osullivanwright.com

This on demand audio is a part of the Game Changer Series. Chicke Fitzgerald interviews Bryan Kramer. The original live interview was 4/29/16.

Technology continues to evolve and make our lives busier and more complicated, but it can never replace true human connection–our fundamental need to share information, stories, and emotions.

Sharelogy explores the history, art and science of sharing, and illustrates why sharing is what gives us a unique competitive advantage as individuals and brands. It is meant for entrepreneurs and marketers who want to make their content more valuable, shareable, and for individuals who want to understand the power of sharing to grow their personal brand.

Bryan Kramer is one of the world’s foremost leaders in the art and science of sharing, and has been credited with shaping the #H2H human business movement in marketing and social. He is the President and CEO of PureMatter a content, social and digital marketing agency in San Jose, CA.  With over 300,000 social fans and followers, and an intimate understanding of the intricacies and interworking of both social technologies and social behaviors, Bryan is both a practitioner and authority on the subject.

Bryan’s websites are  http://bryankramer.com/  and  www.purematter.com/

To purchase Bryan’s book click HERE

The average person consumes approximately 30 gigabytes of data every single day, but has no idea how to interpret it correctly. Everydata explains, through the eyes of an expert economist and statistician, how to correctly interpret all of the small bytes of data we consume in a day. Readers will become effective, skeptical consumers of everyday data.

Dr. Johnson reveals that while everyone is talking about “big data,” the truth is that understanding the “little data” (stock reports, newspaper headlines, weather forecasts, etc.) is what will help you make smarter decisions at work, at home, and in every aspect of your life.

Dr. John H. Johnson, IV is an expert witness who has testified and consulted in cases involving how one uses and interprets data in a wide range of settings. As CEO and co-founder of Edgeworth Economics – a leading consulting firm with offices in Washington, DC, San Francisco, and Pasadena – John heads a data-driven company that has been featured on NPR, the Washington Post, USA Today, and HuffPost Live.

Co-author Mike Gluck is president of Gluckworks and an award-winning writer and marketer who has written for leading organizations nationwide.

Dr. Johnson's website is http://www.johnhjohnsonphd.com/

The book website is http://www.everydatabook.com/

Mike Gluck's website is http://gluckworks.com/

To purchase his book click HERE

Charting Change: A Visual Toolkit for Making Change Stick by Braden Kelley

This on demand audio series is a part of the Executive Girlfriends Group Vignette Series. Chicke Fitzgerald interviews Branden Kelley. The original live interview was 4/08/16.

Research shows that up to seventy percent of all change initiatives fail. Let's face it, change is hard, as is getting an organization on board and working through the process. One thing that has been known to be effective is onboarding teams not only to understand this change, but to see the process and the progress of institutional change. Charting Change will help teams and companies visualize this complicated process.

 Kelley has developed the Change Planning Toolkit™ and the Change Planning Canvas™, which enable leadership and project teams to easily discuss the variables that will influence the change effort and organize them in a collaborative and visual way.  Braden Kelley is a dynamic, engaging innovation speaker with experience training and consulting with some of the world’s leading organizations. He speaks at conferences and corporate events around the globe about innovation, change management, organizational agility, and digital transformation.

His website is  http://bradenkelley.com/    

To order the book click HERE

For more information about the Executive Girlfriends' Group see: http://www.executivegirlfriendsgroup.com

MASTERING THE NEW MEDIA LANDSCAPE: Embrace the Micromedia Mindset by Barbara Cave Henricks and Rusty Shelton

This on demand audio series is a part of the Executive Girlfriends Group Vignette Series. Chicke Fitzgerald interviews Barbara Cave Henricks. The original live interview was 4/1/16.

The giant brands that once dominated the media landscape—Oprah, the New York Times, NPR, CNN—have seen their monopoly on public attention smashed by the Internet and now find themselves competing with individuals and brands in a sea of micromedia: websites, social media, blogs, podcasts, and more.

Ace publicists and marketers Barbara Cave Henricks and Rusty Shelton show that to navigate through this modern terrain, you need to think more like a media executive than a marketer.  The key lies in mastering three crucial categories of media—earned, owned, and rented—and knowing how to integrate each for maximum success. By using this proven strategy, you can create a positive feedback loop that will generate massive momentum and grow a large, loyal audience for your message.

Barbara is President & CEO of Cave Henricks Comunications. Rusty is Founder and CEO of Shelton Interactive.

The websites are  about/barbara-cave-henricks and https://sheltoninteractive.com/

To order the book click HERE

For more information about the Executive Girlfriends' Group see: http://www.executivegirlfriendsgroup.com

Be Bad First: Get Good at Things Fast to Stay Ready for the Future by Erika Andersen

This on demand audio series is a part of the Executive Girlfriends Group Vignette Series. Chicke Fitzgerald interviews Erika Andersen. The original live interview was 3/25/16.

We are operating in a world defined by constant connection, rapid change, and abundant choices. News that once took months, even years, to spread now reaches across the globe in seconds. Advances in medicine and science are pushing boundaries with gene therapy and stem cell transplants. And decisions about where and how to work and live are nearly endless.

As new knowledge—and the possibilities that arise from that knowledge—propels us forward, leadership readiness expert and renowned author Erika Andersen suggests that success in today’s world requires the ability to acquire new knowledge and skills quickly and continuously—in spite of our mixed feelings about being a novice.

Erika Andersen is the founding partner of Proteus, a coaching, consulting and training firm that focuses on leader readiness. Over the past 30 years, Erika has developed a reputation for creating approaches to learning and business-building that are custom tailored to her clients’ challenges, goals, and culture.

Her website is  http://erikaandersen.com/

To order the book click HERE

For more information about the Executive Girlfriends' Group see: http://www.executivegirlfriendsgroup.com

Take The Lead, the organization I founded as a result of No Excuses and Strong Female Lead/How our idea of strong women unintentionally hurts female leaders with Gloria Feldt

This on demand audio series is a part of the Executive Girlfriends Group Vignette Series. Chicke Fitzgerald interviews Gloria Feldt. The original live interview was 3/18/16.

Gloria Feldt is co-founder and president of Take The Lead, the new women’s leadership movement to prepare, develop, inspire and propel women to take their fair and equal share of leadership positions across all sectors by 2025. A world changer who helped pave the way for women today, she believes this is women’s moment to achieve parity.

Her passion is to remove the last remaining obstacle: women’s learned resistance to embracing their own power. It’s why women are stuck at 18% of top leadership positions and why the loss of high-performing female employees keeps organizations from optimal success. Once women “stand in their power and walk with intention,” they can lead unlimited lives and reach parity from the boardroom to the bedroom for good — their own, and society’s as well.

The site is http://www.taketheleadwomen.com/  

Gloria's site is http://gloriafeldt.com/

To order her book click HERE

Rookie Smarts: Why Learning Beats Knowing in the New Game of Work by Liz Wiseman

This on demand audio series is a part of the Executive Girlfriends Group Vignette Series. Chicke Fitzgerald interviews Liz Wiseman. The original live interview was 3/11/16.

In a time of constant change, success depends on seeing the world through rookie eyes, and in this essential guide, the bestselling author of Multipliers explains why we are often at our best when we are doing something for the first time—and how to reclaim and cultivate this curious, flexible, youthful mindset called Rookie Smarts.

Leadership expert Liz Wiseman argues that the most successful rookies are hunter-gatherers—alert and seeking, cautious but quick like firewalkers, and hungry and relentless like frontiersmen. Most importantly, she identifies a breed of leaders she refers to as “perpetual rookies.” Despite years of experience, they retain their rookie smarts, thinking and operating with the mindsets and practices of these high-performing rookies.

Her website is  http://rookiesmarts.com/

To order the book click HERE

For more information about the Executive Girlfriends' Group see: http://www.executivegirlfriendsgroup.com