Winning Teams

Today's guest on A Life and a Living Podcast is Steve Orrin, the Federal CTO at Intel. Steve is a recognized expert and frequent lecturer on enterprise security and has a background as a serial entrepreneur. During a time where cybersecurity is constantly changing and new risks are developed on a daily basis, Steve and others in similar positions are working hard on cybersecurity innovation.

Steve's vast amount of knowledge is evident in this interview as he helps businesses navigate a better understanding of what cybersecurity is and the challenges we face with working remotely. Not only that, but we also discuss the role of AI. What is AI and how can even small AI innovations benefit your business? There are always challenges to pay attention to, so listen on as our guest explains what to focus your efforts on and the role of technology and cybersecurity in your business decisions.

What We Talked About in This Episode:

• Steve's Role at Intel: Federal CTO
• What Companies Need to Pay Attention To and Be Concerned About
• Risk Calculation: It's Not All or Nothing
• Continuous Monitoring and Control
• How to Determine and Look at the Weakest Link
• The Challenges in Cybersecurity in Working Remotely
• Understanding and Focusing on the Data
• What Exactly Goes Into Security
• Services That Are Available Now in Cloud Security
• Business Preparation for AI
• How Can AI Benefit Your Business?
• The Role of Technology Innovation in New Work Models
• Steve's Book Recommendation and Daily Rituals

About Our Guest:

Steve Orrin is the Federal CTO at Intel where he leads Solution Architecture, Strategy, and Technology Engagements. He is an experienced CTO and entrepreneur with a concentration on security and security related topics and technologies as well as federal and enterprise business challenges. Steve is also a regular speaker on Security, Privacy, Data Science and application, and technology innovation topics.

Connect with Steve Orrin:

• Intel Homepage
• Steve Orrin on LinkedIn
• Intel Corporation on LinkedIn

Connect with John Murphy:

• YouTube
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

If you liked this episode, please don't forget to subscribe, tune in, and share this podcast. Thanks for tuning in!

Today's guest is no stranger to A Life and a Living Podcast. We've heard from him before and I'm thrilled to have him back to continue learning his business strategies. Miha Matlievski has an amazing story, coming from a series of failures and working hard to keep going.

What I like most about Miha is his great sense of simplicity. He makes it all sound easy, although he never underestimates the amount of work involved in being a successful entrepreneur. In this episode, we discuss Miha's focus on building systems for profitability, the key pillars to have in place to align a scalable business, and what he means by the "soft skills." According to Miha, those soft skills are what can change things drastically for a business. Founder of Fail Coach, Miha uses his failures and comebacks to help others in their journey to scale their business and in their entrepreneurial endeavors.

What We Talked About in This Episode:

• What it Means to Miha to be "The Fail Coach"
• Miha's Focus on 6 and 7 Figure Entrepreneurs
• Systems in Place to Become a 4 Hour CEO
• Benefits of Systems on Profitability
• Key Pillars to Have in Place to Align a Business to Scale
• Foundational Pieces, Values, and Soft Skills That Make Growth Easier
• Preparing an Exit Strategy and Implementing Properly
• Common Big Mistakes Made by Entrepreneurs
• Pivoting and Adopting Change When Needed
• Routines That Prepare You For Whatever Comes Your Way
• Learning and Growing As an Entrepreneur: It is Always Possible to Learn
• Business is Not Complex
• Going One Step Deeper to Grow From Each Lesson
• Mindfulness to Boost Energy
• "Miha in Your Pocket"
• Miha's Book Recommendation and Daily Routines

About Our Guest:

One business coach has forged his approach to helping entrepreneurs and business executives by using a monumental personal failure and eventual redemption to help get others where they need to go to find their personal success and fulfillment. As he himself experienced, dealing with the psychological and emotional aspects of success and failure is crucial, according to Miha. While he admits that entrepreneurs want growth, scalability, more sales, etc. he says what they really need is the right mindset, a healthy relationship with failure, emotional intelligence ("EQ"), mindfulness and other "soft skills." Fail Coach Miha Matlievski has been featured in numerous publications, both online and in print, and is full of stories about his own personal background, his approach to working with clients and what they have achieved with his help. Offering a more holistic approach to business coaching than what is typically available to entrepreneurs and business executives across the globe, the story of The Fail Coach will no doubt appeal to many.

Connect with Miha Matlievski:

• https://www.fail.coach/

Links and Resources:

• Fail Coach Miha Matlievski Home Page
• LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

Connect with John Murphy:

• YouTube
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

If you liked this episode, please don't forget to subscribe, tune in, and share this podcast. Thanks for tuning in!

Normally on A Life and a Living Podcast, I have a guest that I am interviewing. This episode, however, we are doing something slightly different. Yes, I have a guest. But it is less of an interview and more of a conversation with my friend and colleague, John O'Gorman.John and I work closely with many teams around the world and today we are sharing some observations from working with these teams. We use the metaphor of a PitStop as you will know from Formula 1. What happens in a PitStop can determine a win or a loss in the race. As in a Pitstop in F1 you have to slow down coming into the Pitstop and then accelerate with care coming out of it.. So what does that mean for the team? What does a pitstop actually look like? John and I discuss the purpose and the means for taking these steps back to address role clarity and priorities and how to avoid burnout and team fatigue. Especially after the last year and a half, many teams are experiencing burnout and struggling with prioritizing the right work. What We Talked About in This Episode:

• The Pitstop Metaphor That We Use to Improve Progress and Potential
• Slow Down to Speed Up: Important Conversations During a Pitstop
• How to Decide What Takes Priority - You Can't Do it All at Once
• The Reality of Burnout
• Role Clarity or Lack Thereof
• Moving Dialogue to Confidence and Performance Gain
• Dealing with Ambiguity
• Key Priorities for the Immediate Return
• The Right Way of Working
• Zoom Fatigue and the Negative Impact
• Opening Meetings with the Overall Purpose to Determine Relevance
• Understanding the Impact of Engagement on Positive Progress and Momentum
• The Power of Thank You

About Our Guest:

John is an accredited executive coach and managing partner of Growth PitStop®. His passion is performance psychology, unlocking human potential and aligning models of growth and performance thinking. John is also an Associate of John Murphy International

To reach John, go to his website: https://growthpitstop.com/pitstop-team/

Links and Resources:

• Growth Pitstop Home Page
• Pitstop Research Series Books

Connect with John Murphy:

• YouTube
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

If you liked this episode, please don't forget to subscribe, tune in, and share this podcast. Thanks for tuning in!

Hailing from Virginia, today's guest is an expert on managing and leading a team through change. We're no stranger to change especially in the last year, but how can leaders engage their teams and work together to embrace inevitable change towards high-performance and success?Today's guest is Rick Maurer. Rick is the president of Maurer & Associates, a consulting firm that provides expertise in implementing strategic and tactical change within the workplace. He is also the author of numerous books, but today we hone in on his most recent publication Seizing Moments of Possibility: Ways to Trigger Energy and Forward Momentum on Your Ideas and Plans which is currently available as a free eBook. It is a thoughtful and reflective book and in our discussion today, Rick explains how we lead people through change and promote curiosity. Listen on to find out how change is crucial and having everyone in the loop on the process is key to success.

What We Talked About in This Episode:

• Rick's Newest Book Seizing Moments of Possibility
• The Speed and Amount of Change in Recent Years
• False Illusion That We Are Making Progress
• The Type of Energy Needed to Manage
• Real Life Examples of Understanding Change
• Simple Tweaks That Allow For Something New
• Why Change is Frightening to Some
• When Life Takes Over and Puts Great Ideas Aside
• People Problems and Leadership Headaches
• The Human Tendency to Resist Change
• Building Trust and Communication From the Start
• The Power of Influence
• Constant Gauging of Impact
• Feeling the Sense of Urgency
• The Common Phases of Major Change and Possibilities
• Understanding and Truly Seeing the Trajectory
• Rick's Book Recommendation and Daily Rituals

About Our Guest:

Rick Maurer and his associates work with leaders who want to lead Change without Migraines™. We provide the expertise to help you identify even deeply hidden resistance and turn that opposition into support. Using the Change without Migraines™ approach, clients often find that even the most difficult strategic and tactical changes go more smoothly, and achieve their intended results. Their approach to leading change is unique. Knowing how to work with resistance is key to turning skepticism and opposition into support for major new initiatives. If leaders understand resistance they can often avoid it before it occurs – or get things back on track when a change is about to derail.

Connect with Rick Maurer:

https://www.rickmaurer.com/home/

Links and Resources:

• Rick Maurer Home Page
• Seizing Moments of Possibility by Rick Maurer
• Free eBook Version Of Seizing Moments of Possibility
• Rick Maurer on LinkedIn
• Rick Maurer on Facebook

Connect with John Murphy:

• YouTube
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

If you liked this episode, please don't forget to subscribe, tune in, and share this podcast. Thanks for tuning in!

Why do some companies fail while others succeed? What makes Amazon such a big winner while other, longer-established companies have now gone out of business or struggle to stay afloat? And how can we build our own business to the point where we can successfully sell it off for vast sums of money down the line?

My guest today is an utterly fascinating lady who shares insights that answer all of the above questions. As a seller of over 500 companies, Michelle Seiler Tucker is an expert at buying, selling, and fixing companies, and getting them on the buyer's market. In fact, she has a reputation for selling businesses for way more than they're worth (and has even written the book on it).

During our interview, she has so much great information to offer about every consideration for making a business attractive to potential buyers, and thus, sellable. She especially emphasizes being clear on when you want to sell your company, even when you're just getting started as an entrepreneur. Listen as Michelle walks through her GPS Exit Model and 6P Method, pinpointing all the things that'll make a difference in the growth and evaluation of your business.

What We Talked About in This Episode:

• How Michelle Got Started and Her #1 Pet Peeve
• The #1 Reason Why 80% of Businesses in the U.S. Don't Sell
• The Worse Time to Sell Your Business
• Michelle's GPS Exit Model and How to Decide Your Business's Destination
• Five Types of Business Buyers in the U.S. and Which Type Is Likely to Buy Yours
• Driving Up the Value of Your Business Using Michelle's 6P Method
• Why the Business Landscape in the U.S. Has Flip Flopped
• Three Questions to Ask Yourself When Preparing for a Pivot
• Three Questions Amazon Asked Their Customers to Prosper and Win
• How Business Owners Wrongly Design Their Processes
• The Highest Value Driver of Business and Its Six Pillars
• Protecting Your Business Property and the Mistake Entrepreneurs Make With Contracts
• Why You Need to Have Your Own Database
• Why Lack of Profits Is Never the Real Problem
• How Michelle Sells Businesses for More Than They're Worth
• When It's the Right Time to Sell Your Business
• The Importance of Being Crystal Clear on Your Potential Buyer(s)
• The Book That Has Impacted Michelle the Most

About Our Guest:

Michelle Seiler Tucker is the founder and CEO of Seiler Tucker Incorporated. She's a Merger & Acquisition Master Intermediary, Certified Senior Business Analyst, and best-selling author and speaker. For more than 20 years, she's helped hundreds of entrepreneurs build scalable, sellable businesses and been a leading authority on buying, selling, and improving businesses. She currently owns and operates several successful businesses and continues to assist buyers in being their own boss, creating financial freedom, and increasing their quality of life. In her book Exit Rich, she's packaged her extensive knowledge, experience, and proven formulas into a step-by-step process for buying, selling, fixing, and growing your business.

Connect with Michelle Seiler Tucker:

https://seilertucker.com

Links and Resources:

Michelle Seiler Tucker Home Page

Exit Rich Book by Michelle Seiler Tucker & Sharon Lechter

Sell Your Business for More Than It's Worth by Michelle Seiler Tucker

Michelle Seiler Tucker on Twitter

Michelle Seiler Tucker on Instagram

Michelle Seiler Tucker on Facebook

Michelle Seiler Tucker on LinkedIn

Connect with John Murphy:

• YouTube
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

If you liked this episode, please don't forget to subscribe, tune in, and share this podcast. Thanks for tuning in!

Today's guest brings a fascinating topic to our usual business and leadership conversations. Zulma Reyo has an incredibly interesting background as a medium and the purpose of her work is to help people stop doing and start being.

Zulma Reyo is the founder of the Zulma Reyo School of Consciousness and author of Inner Alchemy: The Path Of Mastery, which is available as a free ebook. Today we discuss energy and how to understand its use and relevance in leadership and business. She beautifully explains the importance of changing the way you think and perceive reality and the effect of this shift on your life.

She says it best with her mission and promise: "The purpose of our school is to transform a human being and give them the tools of self-transformation so that they can connect with greater wisdom and change this world."

What We Talked About in This Episode:

• The Zulma Reyo School of Consciousness
• Zulma's Family and Educational Background
• The Definition of Energy and How to Understand Its Use
• Zulma's Book Published in 1989 and the Reason She Updated it in 2020
• The Relevance of Energy in Leadership and Business
• Change the Way You Think and Perceive Reality
• Building a More Humane Society Through Inner Alchemy Doing vs. Being
• Experiencing Without Judgement
• The Effect of Gathering Your Momentum
• Sustain This Type of Living: Zulma's Second "Ah-ha"
• Zulma's Hope For the Future
• Quieting the Negative Inner Voice
• Zulma's Views on Spirituality and What It Means to Reality
• The Greatest Power as a Human Being
• Zulma's Daily Rituals

About Our Guest:

Zulma Reyo is the founder of the Zulma Reyo School of Consciousness and author of Inner Alchemy: The Path Of Mastery. She studied Humanities at Puerto Rico University and completed a BA in Romance Languages and Literature at New York University, where the beginnings of her formal search to understand the complexity of the human condition began to unfold. She went on to complete an MA in Education at NYU, which was followed by post-graduate studies in psychology and counselling at San Fernando Valley State College in California. After working in a private practice and then founding the Zulma Reyo School of Consciousness, she followed her dream of reaching more people by expanding her activities to Europe, and settled in Spain in the mid-90s. There, she consolidated her line of work and continued to develop methods of meditation and self-knowledge. Zulma now spent almost four decades of her life dedicated to teaching, writing, training, workshops, and conferences.

Connect with Zulma Reyo:

https://www.zulmareyo.com/en/home

Links and Resources:

Zulma Reyo Home Page Inner Alchemy: The Path Of Mastery by Zulma Reyo Zulma Reyo on YouTube Inner Alchemy Zulma Reyo on Facebook Zulma Reyo on LinkedIn

Connect with John Murphy:

• YouTube
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

If you liked this episode, please don't forget to subscribe, tune in, and share this podcast. Thanks for tuning in!

How does mindfulness practice impact us in a business setting? We hear a lot about mindfulness, but how can it be used to better our leadership and management? Today's very impressive and knowledgeable guest, author Latha Poonamallee, shares just that.

Latha has an incredible combination of interests and expertise as an academic, author, and tech entrepreneur. She is passionate about radical change towards building a more just, equitable, sustainable, compassionate and prosperous world and her work is certainly reflective of that. Latha's recently published book Expansive Leadership: Cultivating Mindfulness to Lead Self and Others in a Changing World - A 28-Day Program is a structured journey to help aspiring and current leaders to clarify their identities, to identify and reflect on their mental models to become more expansive leaders.

In this episode, Latha helps us understand the need for a shift in mental models from being focused on the right behaviors to a self-reflection practice. This shift can lead to impactful change in developing one's emotional intelligence and can give us space to respond rather than react. She emphasizes the importance of moving from individual practice of mindfulness to interpersonal and community practice to come together for the benefit of the community and world at large.

I am thrilled to have Latha on A Life and a Living Podcast and hope to ask her back again as this conversation is enthralling.

What We Talked About in This Episode:

• Latha's Interesting Combination of Expertise
• How Latha's Work Around Brain Health Connects to Leadership
• Latha's Inspiration for Writing Expansive Leadership
• Practicing Mindfulness with Technology
• Self-Reflection in Current World Climate
• Shifting Mental Model to be More Expansive Rather Than Looking at Behaviors Alone
• Finding Your Core Identity and Forgiving Yourself For Not Living It
• Intentionally Developing Your Emotional Intelligence
• Shifting From Reaction to Reponse
• Mindfulness as a Collective Practice: From Individual, to Interpersonal, to Community
• The Importance of Diligent Practice in What Works For You Individually
• The Power of Breathing and Noticing Your Breath and Patterns
• Management and Social Justice Conversation Series
• Latha's Cynicism Around Organizations But Optimism and Support of Individuals
• Latha's Book Recommendation and Daily Rituals

About Our Guest:

Latha Poonamallee is an Associate Professor, Chair of Faculty of Management, and University Fellow at the New School in New York City. Her scholarship, teaching, and practice centers generative organizing for radical change towards building a more just, equitable, sustainable, compassionate and prosperous world. Latha is also a tech entrepreneur and co-founded In-Med Prognostics, a neuroscience AI venture that brings affordable and accessible brain health tools to underserved markets. As Fulbright Fellow, she worked with the Botswana Civil Society, Botswana Government, US Embassy in Botswana, USAID, and the private sector to develop a social entrepreneurship ecosystem in the country. Her recent book, Expansive Leadership, is a structured 28-day mindfulness and contemplative journey that helps aspiring and current leaders to clarify their identities and reflect on their mental models to become more expansive leaders.

To reach Latha, go to her website: https://lathapoonamallee.com/

Connect with Latha Poonamallee:

• Latha Poonamallee Home Page
• Latha Poonamallee on LinkedIn
• Expansive Leadership: Cultivating Mindfulness to Lead Self and Others in a Changing World - A 28-Day Program by Latha Poonamallee
• Management and Social Justice Conversation Series

Connect with John Murphy:

• YouTube
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

If you liked this episode, please don't forget to subscribe, tune in, and share this podcast. Thanks for tuning in!

With over 30 years experience in both government and business, today's guest has helped a myriad of clients navigate the murky waters of federal sales. Gene Moran is a fascinating individual having served in the US Navy in a commanding role of very large ships. While in the Navy, Gene became involved in administration, the political scene, and learned how the whole world of companies selling to government bodies worked. This eventually led to him leaving the Navy and becoming a lobbyist. This transition is an interesting one and his background offers a very unique perspective as he then shifted into setting up his own business helping organizations sell to the government.

Gene is also the author of the book Pitching the Big Top: How to Master the 3-Ring Circus of Federal Sales which we discuss in today's episode. Gene explains the process of understanding, starting, connecting, making and strengthening your case, and the step by step how-to of becoming a vendor to the federal government. What are the 3 rings to this and why does it feel so much like jumping through hoops? Gene's background plays a heavy role in his solid understanding of this process and in the end you'll find that it all comes down to the relationship management that we come back to time and time again.

What We Talked About in This Episode:

• Gene's Background in the US Navy and in Legislation
• What Surprised and Stood Out to Gene in Congress
• Gene's Shift to Being a Lobbyist
• How Lobbyists Are Like Salespeople
• The Process of Becoming a Vendor for the Government
• Gene's Experience and Unique Perspective
• Knowing Your Customer Well
• The Three Rings: Congress, Industry, and Agency
• Taking a Holistic Approach to This Complex Process
• Finding Allies to Avoid Working Alone
• Understanding Why Something is Important
• Getting the Timing Right
• The Changes in Intelligence and Defense
• Credibility, Integrity, and Ability to Communicate
• Gene's Book Recommendation

About Our Guest:

With over 30 years experience in both government and business, Gene Moran has helped many clients navigate federal sales. As the Founder and President of Capitol Integration and an active duty Navy Captain, Gene has established himself as an expert that consistently brings agility, creativity and results to companies of all sizes: small startup firms, prime and subprime contractors, and large multi-billion dollar public enterprises. He is a proven Navy Financial Manager, designated Joint Specialty Officer, and a certified lobbyist. Gene shares his wealth of combined knowledge in his first book, Pitching the Big Top: How to Master the 3-Ring Circus of Federal Sales.

To reach Gene, go to his website: https://capitolintegration.com/about/

Connect with Gene Moran:

• Capital Integration
• Gene Moran on LinkedIn
• Pitching the Big Top: How to Master the 3-Ring Circus of Federal Sales by Gene MoranLinkedIn

Connect with John Murphy:

• YouTube
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

If you liked this episode, please don't forget to subscribe, tune in, and share this podcast. Thanks for tuning in!

Brandy McCarley, today's guest, is passionate and energetic about what she does and in this episode, we discuss how hiring the right person can make all the difference. Brandy works with organizations to help them find the right people for the right jobs and overall making sure they have the right fit. But how does she do that? Her promise for organizations is a big one but through the use of a non-biased assessment of a person's traits, she is able to eliminate bias and truly focus on finding the right people for a team.

With a background in direct sales, Brandy has the resilience and urgency needed to guide organizations with hiring. She has managed many teams and her data-based approach has proved to be very successful. Listen on to find out how Brandy helps business leaders with the challenge of attracting and retaining top talent and how committed she is to develop high-performing teams and better employee experiences.

What We Talked About in This Episode:

• Brandy's Promise for Organizations and the Non-Biased Assessment
• Eliminating Unconscious Bias in the Hiring Process
• Counteracting Different Views of "Fit"
• Brandy's Resilience and Urgency
• Fitting the Role Vs. Fitting the Team
• The Challenge of Retention
• The Surprising Growth Through Covid
• Drive to Succeed During Times of Turmoil
• Considering Individual Goals When Hiring
• Brandy's Drive and Passion For Her Consultant Business
• Brandy's Book Recommendation and Daily Rituals

About Our Guest:

Brandy McCarley is a business consultant who is passionate about helping organizations hire the right people for the right roles. One of the biggest challenges that business leaders face today is how to attract and retain top talent. Brandy provides CEOs the data to clarify their team culture dynamics and align team members in the right role. Employee alignment arms the leadership with the tools and resources to better manage, motivate, and communicate with each team member. Employee alignment builds diverse, high performing teams and creates a better employee experience. Organizations scale by reducing turnover and increasing productivity while driving top and bottom-line numbers.

To reach Brandy, go to her website: https://brandymccarley.com/

Connect with Brandy McCarley:

• Brandy McCarley Website
• Facebook
• Instagram
• LinkedIn

Connect with John Murphy:

• YouTube
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

If you liked this episode, please don't forget to subscribe, tune in, and share this podcast. Thanks for tuning in!

When it comes to happiness at work, today's guest believes it is a science more than an art and it is certainly more important than we sometimes think. As the founder of Happiness at Work, Aoife O'Brien uses data and research to help organizations attract, hire, and retain top quality staff. It's all about finding the "right fit," but how?

In today's episode, Aoife discusses what determines fit, specifically clear values and how we demonstrate those values as individuals and as a part of an organization. Covid has of course brought new challenges to workplace happiness, but with Aoife's guidance, businesses and corporations can shift and maintain their focus on their people through education and meeting their needs. This not only boosts happiness but productivity, too. As Aoife says, "If you want to be happy at work, you've come to the right place."

What We Talked About in This Episode:

• Happiness in the Workplace Through Covid
• Focusing on Understanding Your Own Value in the Workplace
• What "Fit" Means to an Organization
• Observable Values and How Employees Tie Into Them
• Clarity in Company Values to Attract the Right Fit Team
• Confidence in Articulating Your Own Values as an Individual
• The Importance of the First Three Years For an Employee Autonomy, Relatedness, and Competence
• Facilitating Conversations Around Employee Needs
• Educating Leaders, Managers, and Team Members About Needs
• Aoife's Strategy in Using Data to Implement Programs
• Having Something in Place That is Tailored to Organizations
• Resilience Through Covid and Avoiding Burnout
• Retaining the Right People
• Aoife's Book Recommendation and Daily Rituals

About Our Guest:

Aoife O'Brien is the founder of Happier at Work and works with HR and business leaders using a combination of internal people data and surveys to clearly identify the root cause of people's issues. They provide a clear framework for how to solve issues, including practical recommendations, implementation of workshops, and embedding new learning through coaching. Aoife has 20+ years experience in identifying business problems for global organizations such as Unilever, Mars, Coca-Cola, and Kraft-Heinz.

To reach Aoife, go to her website: https://happieratwork.ie/

Connect with Aoife O'Brien:

• Happier at Work Website
• Happier at Work Podcast
• Aoife O'Brien on LinkedIn
• Aoife O'Brien Happer at Work on Twitter

Connect with John Murphy:

• YouTube
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

If you liked this episode, please don't forget to subscribe, tune in, and share this podcast. Thanks for tuning in!