Workplace Perspective

In today’s episode, host Teresa McQueen talks with Alex Geesbreght about “Performance Reviews : A New Mindset.”

Alex Geesbreght is the Founder and Partner of PRAX Leadership, LLC, Geesbreght Capital, LP, and Geesbreght Group LLC. He is also a former Owner of Emergency Medicine Consultants, where he served in various roles including General Counsel, President, and Chief Strategy Officer for over sixteen years until the sale of the company in 2018.

Performance Reviews can be a risk management tool and a way to determine pay. Teresa and Alex reflect on how having different perspectives on performance reviews can be useful for organizations. If businesses treated their employees like family, it could change how performance reviews are approached. Conflict resolution can be avoided when performance reviews are held more than annually or twice a year. Regular feedback is important, though it can be uncomfortable, and can lead to growth and improvement. Open and honest communication is crucial and can have long-lasting positive impacts.

While technology provides many ways to communicate, it can create barriers to basic human interaction. Properly setting up organizational charts is important for creating a more natural and efficient work environment.

To connect with Alex, please visit: www.praxleadership.com

“If businesses did a better job of treating their people like they treat their families, I think you would have a different perspective on a performance review.”

Alex Geesbreght

00:06Introduction and Disclaimer

01:22New Perspective on Performance Reviews

16:15Break and Public Service Announcement

16:58Getting Practical with Performance Reviews

33:29Teresa’s Closing Remarks

In today’s episode, Teresa and guest Deborah Grayson Riegel discuss “The Value in Encouraging Honest Feedback.” Deborah Grayson Riegel is a keynote speaker and consultant who teaches leadership communication for Wharton Business School and Columbia Business School. She regularly contributes to Harvard Business Review, Inc., Psychology Today, Forbes, and Fast Company. The author of “Overcoming Overthinking: 36 Ways to Tame Anxiety for Work, School, and Life,” she consults and speaks for clients including Amazon, BlackRock, KraftHeinz, and The United States Army. Her work has been featured worldwide, including Bloomberg Businessweek, Oprah Magazine, and The New York Times.

Teresa and Deborah discuss how to encourage your employees to give honest feedback and that it can be helpful outside of the workplace as well. Deborah gives tips on how to get in the right mindset to receive feedback and talks about her ‘2% Rule.’ They also talk about common barriers faced when receiving feedback and how often it should take place. You want to “increase the frequency and decrease the intensity” as Deborah says.

If you are only asking for feedback once a year, you should expect that you’re gonna have a gripe session

Deborah Grayson Riegel

To read the article discussed in the show click here

To connect with Deborah Grayson Riegel here

00:06Introduction and Disclaimer

01:15Why is feedback important?

11:38Break and Public Service Announcement

12:29Common barriers to receiving feedback

21:33Teresa’s Closing Remarks

Today’s guest is Carol Kauffman, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, the founder of the Institute of Coaching, author of Real-Time Leadership: Find Your Winning Moves When the Stakes Are High, and co-author of The Power of Options. Teresa and Carol discuss “Adapt & Thrive: The Promise of Flexible Leadership.”

Teresa and Carol talk about why leaders need to stay agile in their decision-making process. Carol gives her tips on how to plan things out to get agile on your feet.

Connect with Carol : https://carolkauffman.com/

00:06Introduction and Disclaimer

01:22How Leaders Can Improve

12:08Break and Public Service Announcement

12:45How to Plan

15:35Teresa’s Closing Remarks

Today’s guest is Dr. Marie-Helene Pelletier, a bilingual practicing psychologist with over 20 years of experience in clinical psychology and advisory workplace psychology and holds a Ph.D. and an MBA from the University of British Columbia. Marie-Helene, is a Member of the Global Clinical Practice Network of the World Health Organization, and past Director on the boards of the Canadian Psychological Association and the International Association of Applied Psychology. In 2024, Dr. Pelletier published her book, The Resilience Plan: A Strategic Approach to Optimizing Your Work Performance and Mental Health. Teresa and Marie-Helene discuss “The Power of Relisiency.”

Teresa and Marie-Helene discuss what it means to be resilient and the importance of cultivating this skill. They talk about how creating a resiliency plan can improve work performance and mental health and how to build and nurture resiliency.

Connect with Marie-Helene:

00:06Introduction and Disclaimer

01:15The Importance in Cultivating Resiliency

09:11Break and Public Service Announcement

09:55Build and Nurture Resiliency

23:24Teresa’s Closing Remarks

Today’s guest is Sabina Nawaz, a global CEO coach, leadership keynote speaker, and writer working in over 26 countries. She’s the author of the upcoming book, You’re the Boss, Everything You Need to know (and Thought You Did) by Simon & Schuster. She advises C-level executives in Fortune 500 corporations, government agencies, non-profits, and academic institutions. Sabina also teaches faculty at Northeastern University and facilitates a faculty fellowship development program at Drexel University. Teresa and Sabina talk about “Getting Curious.”

Teresa and Sabina talk about how to bring curiosity into the workplace, and how it can make a better work environment. Sabina also gives her cautionary tales regarding curiosity.

To read Sabina’s article, How Curiosity Can Make Your Meetings — and Team — Better

To connect with Sabina, click here

00:06Introduction and Disclaimer

01:24Why Curiosity?

10:00Break and Public Service Announcement

10:45How to Bring Curiousity into the Workplace

20:42Teresa’s Closing Remarks

Today’s guest is Dr. Paul White, psychologist, speaker, and leadership expert who “makes work
relationships work.” He has been interviewed by the New York Times, BBC News, and other international publications. Dr. White is the coauthor of the best-selling book, The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, which has sold over 575,000 copies (with Dr. Gary Chapman, author of The 5 Love Languages.) Teresa and Dr. White discuss “Exploring the 5 Languages of Appreciation.”

Teresa and Dr. White discuss his book which talks about the ways leaders and employees can increase engagement and cultivate a more positive work environment and how he and Dr. Gary Chapman adapted this concept to the workplace.

They also talk about why it is important to show appreciation to your co-workers and how different approaches can work.

To find out more information on Dr. Paul White

00:06Introduction and Disclaimer

01:26Why Appreciation is so Important

08:48Break and Public Service Announcement

09:335 Languages of Appreciation

20:20Teresa’s Closing Remarks

Join us today for a Special Episode of Workplace Perspective “State of Women at Work” to celebrate International Women’s Day.

For more information on International Women’s Day and events near you, click here

To read McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace 2023, click here

In today’s episode, Teresa discusses “Legal Deadline Update and Cautionary Tales from the Courtroom.” Teresa reminds our California employers of a few important deadlines and reports on a significant change in the law that could have a lot of California companies on the wrong side of California’s privacy protection laws.

Legal Update Topics Discussed Today:

Cautionary Tales Discussed Today:

To Listen to Teresa’s last Legal Update click here

00:06Introduction and Disclaimer

01:31Legal Deadline Update

11:40Break and Public Service Announcement

12:26Cautionary Tales

22:16Teresa’s Closing Remarks

Today’s guest is Peter Stockburger, the office managing partner for the Firm’s San Diego office, a member of the Firm’s Venture Technology and Emerging Growth Companies group, and co-lead of the Firm’s Autonomous Vehicle practice. Teresa and Peter discuss ‘Cyber Security: Is Your Organization Ready?’

Most of today’s organizations work with digital files, long gone are the days of file rooms. So, are these employers ready to safeguard these files? Teresa and Peter discuss the laws for cyber security and what employers need to do to keep their files safe. Employers have lots of personal information in their files; benefits information, Human Resource files, Social Security, and Financial information. Most of the laws are at the state level. Peter helps to define what is ‘responsible’ when it comes to the protection of cybersecurity.

Teresa and Peter also discuss the unique cybersecurity challenges with so many employees working remotely and how employers can balance the need for cybersecurity with employees’ workplace privacy rights.

You are as stongest as your weakest link within your organization

Peter Stockburger

The resources Peter talked about can be found here:

https://www.nist.gov/

https://www.cisecurity.org/controls/cis-controls-list

Connect with Peter here

To listen to past episodes with Peter:

Episode #105- Are You Ready for the CPRA? – Peter Stockburger

Episode #71 – Demystifying the CA Privacy Rights Act – Part 2 : Peter Stockburger

Episode #70 – Demystifying the CA Privacy Rights Act – Part 1 : Peter Stockburger

00:06Introduction and Disclaimer

01:26Cybersecurity – A Critical Issue

11:32Break and Public Service Announcement

12:10What you can do for Cybersecurity

22:24Teresa’s Closing Remarks

Today’s guest is Dr. Natale M. Marr, Clinical Psychologist, and Life Transition Expert at Learn to Love Your Story. Teresa and Dr. Natale talk about “Selfish is the new Selfless.”

In this episode, Teresa and Dr. Natalie discuss what it means to be selfish and how sometimes the best thing that we can do for ourselves and those around us, is to put ourselves and our well-being first, in order to be the person everyone else needs us to be.

Dr. Natalie gives us her Tips for Getting on the Road; being aware, being compassionate, and making empowered choices.

For more information on Dr. Natalie or to connect with her, click here.

The idea that, honestly to be selfless, you have to be dialed into your self care”

Dr. Natalie M. Marr

00:06Introduction and Disclaimer

01:40Rethinking selfish

11:00Break and Public Service Announcement

11:35Tips for Getting on the Road

23:58Teresa’s Closing Remarks