Paul met a teenage boy of 17 at an orphanage in Niurobe, Kenya. As he was leaving John Maina said, "Never forget me." Paul Higdon never did forget and went back to the slum where he had met John. John was found in short order and their reunion was the beginning of a new and true family relationship for John and Paul.  Paul is now John's father, his wife Linda is now John's mother. Paul's book is dedicated to telling John's life story from being orphaned at the age of 5 and living his life on the streets of Africa's fifth largest slum, until today.     In this BookCast Paul Higdon and Doug Fine talk about the book and just after that they have a conversation with John Maina all the way from Africa. There are points of inspiration, points of HOPE, points of RENEWAL. Join them in learning about John's life journey and how he is doing today!  We also have the privilege of speaking to a friend of Paul's, Tom Gikunda. Tom tells his amazing story about how he began saving street boys from the slums and giving them everything they need for a successful life.     Find the book Hope and a Future here: https://tinyurl.com/mdnvvpv6  All the proceeds for Hope and a Future go to Little Boost Children's Fund, a charity that Paul founded to help the neediest . You will learn a lot at Little Boost's website and learn more about Tom's place, Hope House Street Boys Home. There are ways to donate to help Tom directly. Go to: https://www.littleboostchildrensfund....

D.FINED ENGAGEMENT: The Podcast with Doug J. Fine

D.FINED Engagement BookCast with Paul Higdon, Author of Hope and a Future: Life, Survival, and Renewal on the Streets of an African Slum

This is a conversation that I  would have never dreamed possible. I got to spend some time with the great Tom Peters, one-on-one speaking about things and ideas and experiences that he and I are passionate about when it comes to leadership, workplace culture and environment, and other stuff too.  He was gracious and kind and generous with his time.  That’s who he is. In the beginning of this BookCast I introduce Tom Peters and I share the influence his books and thinking have had on my own work and how I attempted to make a positive humanistic difference at every place that I worked and everything I did. When I read Tom Peters he would inspire me to, in some ways, throw caution to the wind and try new things to make things happen in perhaps unconventional ways.  Speaking with a true business hero of mine was such a treat. I hope that you will enjoy our chat and, most important, begin to learn from Tom Peters via his books, his training, and the amazing resources that he  provides on his website. Thank you Mr. Peters for this once-in-a-lifetime privilege.      Find all of his books on Amazon.  Find more at www.tompeters.com

D.FINED Engagement BookCast with Tom Peters discussing his book "Extreme Humanism."

In this BookCast Tracy and Doug Fine talk in depth about his two books.  Discussing Engagement MAGIC, Tracy disputes the myth of awful employee  engagement in today's workplaces. It's not as dire as you might hear  about. Actually, Tracy's data show engagement to be stratified in to 4  levels. But common understanding claims that a mere 25-30 are fully  engaged in their jobs and the rest are disengaged. Tracy explains how a  simple look at work groups will dispel any notion that 70% of the  country are disengaged at their work. We also discuss other important  aspects of engagement: That it is a 50-50 proposition, that there is a  data-driven model that, when understood, can help leaders and their  teams better understand and participate in working towards their own  engagement - it's the MAGIC model and you will come to understand the  role it plays in organizations that want to amp up engagement.    Speaking about Tracy's 2nd Book, The Employee Experience, he shares that  most organizations are looking in the wrong place to improve their  customers' experience. The main thing that brings about a great customer  experience, is designing the best employee experiences across the board  in everything that occurs. Delighted customers come from delighted and  nurtured employees. There is a connection with the MAGIC Model here too.  Highly engaged employees will have the best Employee Experience.    We unpack a lot in this BookCast and we think it can help in meeting  your employee engagement, employee experience, and customer experience   goals and objectives.     Tracy is the CEO of DecisionWise and has over 25 years of consulting  experience and organizational measurement and improvement activities  world-wide.     You can find out more about Tracy and his company and work here:    LinkedIn Profile    decision-wise.com  (Company Website)  Employee-X.com  (Company Website)  engagementmagic.com  (Company Website)  Twitter: @TracyMaylett

D.FINED Engagement BookCast with Tracy Maylett, Author of Engagement MAGIC and The Employee Experience

This is Shane Metcalf's and my follow-up conversation about 18 months after our first chat in 2019. We focus on the ups and downs and the challenges he and his company experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, the aftermath of the George Floyd murder and what they did to keep their noteworthy company culture strong while meeting their business objectives. Shane speaks of the influences he had that molded his thinking about organizational culture and leading people in a way that honors their individual traits and talents while encouraging them to become their best and highest selves both at work and in life. Some of those influences will surprise you, by their unconventionality. They might literally blow your mind as some might say.      Here are some ways that Shane can be found:    His LinkedIn Profile   Company website  Twitter: @shane_metcalf  Email: shanermetcalf@gmail.com  HR Superstars Podcast: https://www.15five.com/podcast/ Best Self Management Podcast:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 

The D.FINED Engagement BookCast with Shane Metcalf, Co-Founder and Chief Culture Officer at 15Five

Safari Jema translates to "Good Journey," and Teresa provides the background and specifics of a very good journey that she made with her husband in Africa. Her book's subtitle is "A Journey of Love and Adventure from Casa Blanca to Cape Town." We cover a lot of territory in this BookCast: why her and Scott chose the unconventional life of travel adventuring, individual stories about their over- land experiences in Africa in a span of 10 months, and the feelings and emotions that Teresa shares in thinking back on this time of her life. I hope you enjoy this BookCast. It's the first one that I've done with the author of a book that is not related to concrete subjects in the business or personal finance realm. Engagement with life is what we have here and that falls very much in line with the mission of these D.FINED Engagement BookCasts. Enjoy! Find Teresa's Book Here: https://tinyurl.com/3fa3vfk4 And here is Teresa's Blog: http://teresaokane.blogspot.com/ She keeps her blog updated regularly about her life with Scott and their amazing adventures.

The latest D.FINED Engagement BookCast Interview with Teresa O'Kane, Author of Safari Jema

Laurie Ruettimann authored "Betting on You: How To Put Yourself First And (Finally) Take Control Of Your Career."   Doug Fine and she had a wide-ranging discussion about her book and the things in her life and career that let up to it. This is a book that Laurie wished something like it had existed in her early career as an HR professional. The workplace can be pretty awful at times and even toxic to people, doing real harm with their health, well-being, and family life. But Laurie advocates, even while admitting that reality, that people can improve their work lives by improving their overall outlook towards themselves which includes wellness, personal and career growth, self-leadership and taking better risks.  Their discussion includes ideas about setting healthy boundaries with work and having a rich and almost unrelated personal life as opposed to the 100% Productive All-The-Time ethos that can exist for some in these times. Laurie calls that "hustleporn." It can also coincide with working people thinking about themselves too much and some needing to be 'on" 24/7. "Always thinking about myself is a terrible place to live," she shares.    The fundamental premise of "Betting On You" is fixing yourself before you can do anything effective about fixing your work life or work in general. Hers is an action-oriented book which requires doing things rather than merely thinking about things. I know you will enjoy this bookcast and I strongly encourage you to buy the book and give it as a gift to friends and especially to those who are new entrants to the ever-changing world of modern work and workplaces.    Find "Betting on You"  Find Laurie Here:  https://laurieruettimann.com/ Laurie's LinkedIn Profile

D.FINED Engagement BookCast with "Betting On You" author Laurie Ruettimann

In our final episode Laura and I talk about the overarching theme of her book, It's Not Them, It's You: Why Employees "Breakup" With Their Managers and What To Do About It. Good positive relationships between managers and employees are the key to any organization's success in meeting their goals, serving their customers, and making sustainable profits. An important foundation to those relationships are regular 1:1 meetings between individual employees and their manager. These meeting are not merely a "check-in" to see how things are going with specific tasks, goals, or projects. Of course those are important to discuss. But effective 1:1s go much deeper than that. These meeting should be seen as almost "sacred" time between people and distractions and interruptions should be minimized. Managers will need to practice supportive attending skills which includes active listening, proper sitting arrangements, and enough time to build better trusting relationships. Laura's book offers many great questions that a manager can use to help them in having rich, effective, and meaningful 1:1s. 1:1s are NOT meeting for meetings sake. Rather they are the means to build strong partnerships and mutual satisfaction and engagement between a manager and a team member. We discuss the overarching theme of the book, R-E-S-P-E-C-T, which coincide with the seven leadership traits that Laura's book emphasizes - Relationships, Empathy, Support, Promotion, Empowerment, Consideration, and Trust. Laura explains that the first trait, respect, is woven through all the others traits.    Many thanks to Laura Sukorokoff for giving of her time and leadership expertise to me and the listeners of the D.FINED Engagement BookCast. Here's a link to Laura's book. It will greatly benefit a manager / leader at any stage of their career. We think it would be a great addition to a management library. https://tinyurl.com/y3fe2k2c Laura can help you personally or bring her expertise to your workplace.   Her Website: https://www.cchangelearning.com/ Her LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/laurasukorokoff  Her email: laura@cchangelearning.com

It's Not Them It's YOU - Final Episode (8!) with Laura Sukorokoff - Wrap Up

Doug Fine and Laura Sukorocoff talk about the final Leadership trait  covered in her book, "It's Not Them, It's You: Why Employees "Break Up"  With Their Managers and What To Do About It." That trait is "trust."  She  tells the true story of Tom who, like most people, began his new job  with high enthusiasm. It was a good fit and he believed that he could  learn and grow a lot working from the owner of a small training company.  However it was not long before there were signs that Tom joined a  company that might not have been financially strong enough to support  him as an employee. Tom's trust in the company and his manager was being  eroded by a series a things that happened to him.  Although Tom enjoyed  the work, promises made to him were not fulfilled and his manager was  becoming unreliable and untrustworthy. Tom had to look for another job  as a result.    Laura emphasizes that you cannot have a effectively operating  organization without sufficient trust between the people and especially  between a manager and her team. There are significant business costs  associated with a low trust work environment. Especially now, in a  global pandemic, foundational physical and safety needs are being  threatened by companies towards their people. Things are particularly  uncertain now and it is extremely important to maintain mutual trust to  weather the storm together.    Another aspect touched upon in this conversation are actions to take when a manager does or says something to damage trust with their people.  Laura lays out the steps that must occur for there is to be a chance  that trust can be reestablished.      Here's a link to Laura's book. It will greatly benefit a manager /  leader at any stage of their career. We think it would be a great  addition to a management library. https://tinyurl.com/y3fe2k2c    Laura Sukorocoff can help you personally or bring her expertise to your workplace. She helps everyone she encounters to grow!    Her Website  Her LinkedIn Profile  Her email: laura@cchangelearning.com

BookCast w/ Author Laura Sukorocoff - It's Not Them, It's You - Ep. 7 - Tom and Trust

I continue my fun and informative conversations with Laura Sukorokoff about her recent book, "It's Not Them, It's YOU: Why Employees "Break-Up" With Their Managers and What To Do About It."  Leaders of people, most often called managers, need important so-called "Soft-Skills" to move a business forward. Laura is an expert in leadership training and she brings the wealth of her experience to this book. Caitlin took pride in her work. She had an "ownership" mentality in her part-time retail setting. She was an expert in the products sold, the customers loved her and they kept coming back for more - to see Caitlin and to spend money!   But something happened that popped Caitlin's balloon. It was her leader's treatment of her. She soon ended up saying she was going on an extended vacation and never came back, even though she was wanted back. Caitlin's manager showed little consideration for her and you will learn the details in our discussion. Laura uses real-life people and stories to make her leadership lessons speak to all levels that can use the help that her book provides.    First, here's a link to Laura's book. It will greatly benefit a manager / leader at any stage of their career. https://tinyurl.com/y3fe2k2c   Second, contact Laura, she can help you personally or bring her expertise to your workplace. She helps everyone she encounters grow!   Her Website: https://www.cchangelearning.com/ Her LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/laurasukorokoff  Her email: laura@cchangelearning.com

Episode 6 With Author Laura Sukorokoff - It's Not Them, It's You - We meet Caitlin and Talk About Consideration

The subtitle of Laura's book is "Why Employees "Break Up" with Their Managers and What To Do About It."    This episode we talk about Elton and his situation. He gets a new manager who disregards any work and any accomplishments of Elton's team the minute he arrives. So off to a bad start. On top of that, new manager is a classic micro-manager. Laura and I talk about what the natural consequences are when a manager micromanages. Eventually people shut down, and in frustration, stop exercising any individual initiative. They only wait for the next order to be told what to do, and how to do it by the boss. The complete opposite of micromanaging is to empower people to unleash their ideas, innovations, problem-solving abilities, and engagement. We briefly discuss the legendary culture at Zappos and how empowered people make dedicated and long-term employees, even in their call centers. Call centers are notorious for high turnover, miserable management, and awful work environments. Laura and I think the Episode with Elton just might be our favorite of our time together so we hope you enjoy!    Here's a link to Laura's book. It will greatly benefit a manager / leader at any stage of their career. https://tinyurl.com/y3fe2k2c   Here are ways to get in touch with Laura:   Her Website: https://www.cchangelearning.com/ Her LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/laurasukorokoff  Her email: laura@cchangelearning.com

Episode 6 With Author Laura Sukorokoff - It's Not Them, It's You - We meet Elton and Talk About Empowerment

In this BookCast we talk again with Laura Sukorokoff, author of "It's  Not Them, It's You: Why Employees "Break-Up" With Their Managers and  What To Do About It."   We discuss the story about Percy who hired on to a company and a manager  that had a plan to advance him up in the company and Percy was excited  and eager for more responsibility. It did not turn out that way for Percy for a number of reasons. Percy was primed for promotions that never came, actually through no fault of his own.    Laura shares the Leadership Trait of "Promotion," what it means and why it is very important to some people. Laura Sukorokoff is a champion of  1:1 regular conversations between managers and employees and advocates that they become a required KPI (Key Performance Indicator) that a  manager is accountable for. Regular conversations that build relationship would have benefited both Percy and his manager. They are  crucial in getting things done and for a manager to know what's really happening on their team.    Engaged employees that have good relationships with managers help  companies 1) Keep good performers, 2) raise productivity, 3) boost  customers service and loyalty, 4) increase revenue, and 5) build better  work cultures.   Get Laura's book from Amazon here:  Here are ways to get in touch with Laura:  https://tinyurl.com/y28w5lq6   Her Website: https://www.cchangelearning.com/  Her LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/laurasukorokoff  Her email: laura@cchangelearning.com

D.FINED Engagement BookCast - IT'S NOT THEM, IT'S YOU with Author Laura Sukorokoff - Ep. 4 - Meet Percy and Learn About Promotion

In this episode we continue our BookCast series with Laura Sukorokoff, Author of It's Not Them, It's You: Why Employees "Break-Up" With Their Bosses and What To Do About It.  Simone was a highly sought after recruit to an important role. The company quickly shuffled Simone to begin reporting to a manager that told her at their very first meeting, "I don't want you on my team. I never asked for you."   That manager was a bully boss. He lacked basic respect for people. He was completely lacking in support for Simone and she left that company at the one-year mark. In this discussion Laura Sukorokoff advocates for managers to get along with their people even though they may not even like them. The expectation of every manager towards their team members is to pay them basic respect. Unfortunately some organizations view their people as just resources similar to things like office furniture. Simone's story includes how "HR" added to Simone's lack of support with the advice they gave her.    We also touch briefly on the importance of self-awareness in managers.  Here's a link to Laura's book. It will greatly benefit a manager / leader at any stage of their career. Find the book here:  https://tinyurl.com/y3fe2k2c Here are ways to get in touch with Laura: Her Website: https://www.cchangelearning.com/ Her LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/laurasukorokoff Her email: laura@cchangelearning.com

D.FINED Engagement BookCast - "It's Not Them, It's You"- Ep. 3 with Author Laura Sukorokoff - Simone and Support

Doug Fine meets again with Laura Sukorokoff, Author of "It's Not Them, It's You: Why Employees "Break-Up' with Their Managers and What To Do About It."    After a few minutes talking about the woeful state of good training and preparation for a management roles, Laura and Doug get to the crux of the episode discussing a very good employee named Emily. She suffered an unfortunate injury and she could not work at 100% for a period of time. Her manager displayed a clear lack of empathy, and Emily began to feel lost and alone on her work team. Laura shares why empathy is a key trait that managers need to have if they want to get the best work from people. But in workplaces where human-centered leadership is not practiced often a manager's response to a vexing issue for an employee is "Suck It Up and Deal." Empathy from a manager towards their people is important because they need to be interested in what is happening in their peoples' lives. Again, regular relationship-building 1:1 meetings with people is the surest way that relationships can grow and empathy for people can be discovered by knowing them better.  Here's how to get to know Laura:   First, here's her book: https://tinyurl.com/yydgmxxg  Laura’s Website: https://www.cchangelearning.com/ Laura’s LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/laurasukorokoff  Laura’s email: laura@cchangelearning.com

D.FINED Engagement BookCast - IT'S NOT THEM, IT'S YOU With Author Laura Sukorokoff - Episode 2 - Emily and Empathy

The mission of this podcast is to share the latest and best thinking of practitioners, leaders, and inﬂuencers in the leadership, employee experience, and engagement space. Our audience is comprised of professionals in the leadership development, employee experience and engagement, and organization culture renewal space.

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D.FINED ENGAGEMENT: The Podcast with Doug J. Fine

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