The Teamwork Advantage a Gregg Gregory Podcast

Very few organizations give you the opportunity to get your foundational education, travel the world, and come back to oversee the institution that provided that education. This week's guest is Vice Admiral Sean Buck, the 63rd Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. He shares his testimonial on what it takes to become a successful Naval officer. 

This foundational education begins with lessons in teamwork during Plebe Summer. Over this 8-week period, these young men and women quickly realize how important teamwork is, and that they will not be able to successfully navigate the Naval Academy’s rigorous demands unless they work together as a cohesive unit. 

As they continue their journey through the Academy, the challenges do not get easier, and the opportunity to learn successful leadership skills and take on more leadership responsibility appears.

Vice Admiral Buck was in the 4th class to graduate from the Naval Academy with women and shares the powerful role his upper-class midshipmen played in his life at the Academy. With his candid and open approach, Vice Admiral Buck addresses critical issues affecting leaders today, from the unique challenges posed by multiple generations, including midshipmen and employees at the Naval Academy, to creating a culture of success that extends beyond organizational boundaries through effective communication and civility. During our interview, he tackles current issues head-on.  

Vice Admiral Buck’s experience and stories resonate regardless of your industry, or the position you are currently in. Prior to reporting to the Superintendent post, Admiral Buck held 5 commands during his Naval career. Admiral Buck is retiring from the Academy after the class of 2023 graduates. He will have 44 years of service in the US Navy. Thank you for your service.

As the title of this episode suggests – these are lessons from the leadership laboratory. To learn more about the US Naval Academy, visit its website: www.USNA.edu

Are you stuck? Do you feel like you’re spinning your wheels and kicking up a lot of dust and going nowhere? In this compelling episode of The Teamwork Advantage, Juli Shulem has got you covered as she shows us how to design better systems that will help you and your team get more done by being better organized, reducing stress, and increasing productivity.

Juli shares her expertise in creating a single list of action items that includes team members. By following her advice, you can create a system that works and avoid setting yourself up for failure. This episode is packed with actionable insights that will help you and your team reach new heights.

You'll discover how to improve your organizational skills, manage stress, and boost productivity. By tuning in, you'll gain powerful insights and practical tips that will help you achieve more and work smarter. Whether you're a team member, leader, or senior manager, this episode is overflowing with valuable information to help you and your team succeed. Don't miss out on the opportunity to enhance your personal and professional growth – Listen Now - Listen Often!

In this episode of The Teamwork Advantage, Patti DeNucci shares the benefits of, and her secrets for, having meaningful conversations.

Explore Patti DeNucci’s 4 P's of Communication and take communication to the next level with your team. 

Discover how to identify and avoid "Drainers & Downers," those individuals who drain the energy out of us.

Join us as we discuss the power of meaningful conversations and how to use them to build stronger teams. With practical ideas that you can start using tomorrow, this episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to improve their communication skills. Don't miss out on this valuable information!

Patti offers a number of resources on her website that can help you be a better networker, listener, and conversationalist: https://intentionalnetworker.com/resources/ 

Are you curious about how your team's and organization's wellness affect productivity? In this episode of The Teamwork Advantage, Dr. Richard Safeer discusses the link between individual wellness and team productivity. By examining how our wellness actions impact those around us, even in seemingly insignificant ways, we can make small changes that contribute to a positive shift in team behavior. Dr. Safeer outlines his 6 Building Blocks for a culture of wellness, sharing tips on creating a supportive and wellness-focused environment. Join us to discover how your subculture can either positively or negatively impact your team, and learn how to make small changes that can have a significant impact on the productivity of your team. Tune in now to gain valuable insights on building a culture of wellness in your organization!

You can learn more about Richard’s work at RichardSafeer.com or follow him on LinkedIn.

If you’re looking for training on how to create a culture of well-being on your team or organization, then go to CreatingAWellbeingCulture.com

Are you curious how yoga and meditation can enhance your leadership skills and help you influence others? Join us in this insightful episode of the Teamwork Advantage, as we speak with Dr. Eric Holsapple, a successful former businessman turned Mindful Leadership expert.

Dr. Holsapple shares his personal journey of finding happiness and meaning beyond material success through yoga and meditation. He has since developed a program called "Living in the Gap" that teaches the art of Mindful Leadership to individuals and organizations.

In this episode, you'll discover powerful yet simple techniques that will help you become more mindful, and ultimately, a more decisive leader. Dr. Holsapple emphasizes the importance of cultivating mindfulness to navigate life's unpredictability and shares a relatable analogy of waking up each day not knowing what pitch you're going to get. With proper mindfulness, you can hit any of those 
pitches.

Whether you're a business leader, an entrepreneur, or someone interested in personal growth, this 
episode will provide you with practical insights and valuable takeaways. 

Unlock the secrets to success with Jeff Engle in this powerful episode of The Teamwork Advantage! Listen as Jeff takes you through stories of his time in the US Army, why he broke some rules, and why you can, too – if you do it right. Jeff, after joining the US Army at just 17 years old, rose through the ranks to become an expert leader in a special missions team. Learn from Jeff’s experiences in the US Army, including how breaking rules the right way can benefit you. Discover the three types of accountability and why cultural accountability is key to leading high-performing teams. Don't miss this must-hear episode of The Teamwork Advantage!

At Win Big Media, maintaining close communication with the team is of utmost importance. To ensure this, Brandon makes frequent check-in calls to his team members, either via phone or Zoom. Despite their brevity, these informal calls have proven to provide more impactful feedback than structured meetings.

Join us as we learn from Brandon's experience and expertise on how to create a successful
remote work culture and enhance team engagement. Whether you're a team leader
or a team member, this episode has something for everyone.

V-A-L-U-E - we have heard the word for years. The term is often focused on Sales and how a salesperson should add more value. In this energetic episode of The Teamwork Advantage, Ken Wendle focuses on his definition of the word "Value".
 
 Ken takes the time to review each of his five components of VALUE:

• Vision
• Alignment
• Leverage
• Uniqueness
• Execution 

Growth is one thing. Keeping employees engaged and motivated is another. In this episode of The Teamwork Advantage, Darrin Jahnel shares his secrets for taking a software development company from three employees (two of them being Darrin and his brother) to a powerful team of 150 in just 10 years.

Darrin shares the story of his 3rd employee and the fact that she is still with them a decade later. His hiring funnel is impressive. His techniques to keep his teams engaged are awe-inspiring, yet surprisingly simple for anyone to duplicate. 
 
So often the idea of a development team collaborating with the operations team is “wishful thinking.” Darrin shares how he gets his team to partner with clients as well as other teams within the Jahnel Group to accomplish extraordinary success.

Our 6th season of The Teamwork Advantage kicks off with a true superstar from the extreme athletics world, Robyn Benincasa. Robyn is the author of “How Winning Works” in which she talks about how she paralleled professions; being a firefighter for San Diego County and competing in the world of extreme athletics.

Robyn talks about how, as a true competitor, her team was dropped in outlandish places like the jungles of Borneo.  Her team then had to traverse over 600 miles, using no motorized transportation, with only a paper map and a compass for navigation. 
  
Listen as she tells stories of what she, and her competitors, encountered.  If you think you have it tough, imagine that, if just one of your team members gets sick or decides the challenge is too tough, the whole team is disqualified.
 
Compare that with the difficulty of being a firefighter and understanding when someone else on the team has a stronger proficiency of a task or can relate to a patient better and you have to step back. Robyn’s ability to articulate these events will make this one of your favorite episodes of all time!
 
Robyn is also the founder of “Project Athena,” a foundation that helps survivors of tragedy regain control of their lives. Whether it is surviving cancer, or the loss of a limb, she helps build powerful teams of individuals that then turn their setbacks into comebacks. 
 
 What a way to kick off our 6th season of The Teamwork Advantage!
 
 For more information on Robyn and her work, visit her websites at:
 www.WorldClassTeams.com 
 www.ProjectAthena.org 
 
 FREE DOWNLOAD - available on World Class Teams - Robyn's acronym for Teamwork.