 About This Episode In this episode, I interview Dr. Paul Napper, author of The Power of Agency. We have an amazing conversation about how this one important element of the way we process experience can better our life trajectory.   About Our Guest  From Paul’s Website: Dr. Paul Napper helps business leaders increase their effectiveness through focusing and strengthening their agency as leaders. His professional background includes extensive experience in assessment and the application of psychological principles to improve the performance of people and organizations. His client list includes Fortune 500 companies, financial firms, non-profit organizations, universities, as well as start-ups.​Dr. Napper launched his career as a Wall Street analyst, first with J.P. Morgan Investment Management in New York and, following that, with Crowell, Weedon and Company in Los Angeles. During his tenure as a securities analyst, he was responsible for research and investment strategy for several major industries. He subsequently launched Performance Psychology, a management psychology consultancy to a wide range of organizations and industries. Dr. Napper earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania in International Relations and pursued his master’s degree in the same field at the University of Chicago. He received his doctorate in psychology from William James College in Boston, one of the country’s premier schools of professional psychology. As part of his training he was selected for an advanced fellowship in psychological testing and assessment during a three-year academic appointment at Harvard Medical School. 

Lead Without Losing It

Episode 18 - The Power of Agency - With Guest, Dr. Paul Napper

 About This Episode In this episode, I interview Drew Dyck, author of the book “Your Future Self Will Thank You.” Drew is highly respected in the Christian publishing industry, not only for his literary skills, but also for his ability to make complex ideas easy to understand.   About Our Guest Taken from Drew’s Online Bio: I am an acquisitions editor at Moody Publishers and a contributing editor at CTPastors.com, a Christianity Today publication for church leaders. While I’m not wrestling other people’s words into submission, I’m busy doing battle with my own. I’m the author of Your Future Self Will Thank You: Secrets to Self-Control from the Bible and Brain Science (Moody, 2019), Yawning at Tigers: You Can’t Tame God, So Stop Trying (Thomas Nelson, 2014), and Generation Ex-Christian: Why Young Adults Are Leaving the Church…and how to Bring Them Back (Moody, 2010) My work has appeared in numerous publications, including USA Today, CNN.com, The Huffington Post, Christianity Today, Books & Culture, and Relevant Magazine. 

Episode 17 - Your Future Self Will Thank You - With Guest, Drew Dyck

 About This Episode In this episode, I interview former FBI agent and respected psychologist, Dr. Jack Schafer. We talk about the signals of friendship that encourage others to see you as approachable, and other non-verbal cues every leader should know about.   About Our Guest From Jack’s online bio: Jack Schafer,Ph.D. is a retired FBI Special Agent who is currently employed as an Assistant Professor at Western Illinois University. Dr. Schafer served as behavioral analyst assigned to FBI’s National Security Behavioral Analysis Program. Author, with Marvin Karlins, of the newly released, The Like Switch. Dr. Schafer has also authored a book titled, Psychological Narrative Analysis: A Professional Method to Detect Deception in Written and Oral Communications.He co-authored a book titled, Advanced Interviewing Techniques: Proven strategies for Law Enforcement, Military, and security Personnel. He has published numerous articles on a wide range of topics including the psychopathology of hate, ethics in law enforcement, detecting deception, and the universal principles of criminal behavior. Dr. Schafer earned a Ph.D. in psychology from Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara, California. Dr. Schafer owns his own consulting company and lectures and consults in the United States and abroad. 

Episode 16 - The Like Switch - With Guest, Dr. Jack Schafer

About this Episode In this episode, I talk with Dr. Bob Lee, whose amazing research shows the importance of being trustworthy as a leader.  Bob shares some of the most profound (and sometimes surprising) findings about how trust is a crucial factor in keeping workplaces happy and healthy. About Our Guest (from Bob’s website) My area of expertise is in how and why the world’s best employers use great workplace cultures to drive competitive advantage. I’ve held various senior leadership positions with Great Place to Work Institute including four years as chairman of its Global Advisory Board, and I continue to support global multinational clients in my role as a senior consultant with Great Place to Work USA. I hold an MBA from the University College Dublin Smurfit Business School, and I live in Dublin, Ireland with my wife and family. Trust Rules is my first book, and I’ve recently started working on ‘the difficult second album’. Considering that it took me six years to research and write Trust Rules, the second book should hit the shelves sometime in 2023! As a professional public speaker, I deliver customized presentations for business leaders and their teams on topics related to how and why to create great workplaces. I’ve developed a number of talks that focus on the practical ways that managers build trust, with the scope to focus in on particular rules when that’s helpful. If you’re interested in exploring how I can help your organization to improve its performance by cultivating a high-trust workplace culture, let’s chat. Please get in touch. 

Episode 15 - Trust Rules - With Guest, Bob Lee

 About This Episode In this episode, I interview the world’s leading expert on the topic of building brands, Marty Neumeier. Marty has written multiple books on this topic, and his talent and skill in this area has distinguished him as a top consultant for leading companies. Marty talks with me about the top five mistakes people make when building a brand, and shares powerful insights about how companies can avoid these pitfalls.   About Our Guest (Taken From Marty’s Website) I started as a graphic designer and copywriter in the 1970s. In 1984, when the Macintosh launched, I moved to Silicon Valley to help companies like Apple, Netscape, HP, Adobe, and Google build their brands. In 1996 I started Critique, the first magazine about design thinking. After five years it failed. I then launched Neutron, a design think tank focused on brand-building processes that drive organizational change. It succeeded. I later merged Neutron with Liquid Agency, and here I am. As Director of CEO Branding at Liquid, I consult with leaders and execs of some of the world’s most exciting companies, while writing and speaking on the topics of business strategy, design, and innovation. When I’m not traveling for business, I spend my time in California and France. My wife and I have a 400-year-old stone cottage in the Dordogne, where we go in hopes of someday speaking French. You can read about our misadventures in Beginning French, written under the pen name les Américains. I won’t be quitting my day job anytime soon.      

Episode 14 - Avoiding Common Mistakes When Building a Brand - With Guest, Marty Neumeier

 About This Episode In this episode, Mark Green discusses the concept of activators, and shares ways that we can conquer the challenges that stand between us and actually doing the things we know we need to do.   About Our Guest Mark E. Green is a strategic advisor and coach to CEOs and executive teams worldwide. He has addressed, coached and advised thousands of business leaders, helping them unlock more of their potential and teaching them how to do the same for their teams. His integrity, direct style and powerful intuition accelerate team performance, distribution of decision-making, productivity, revenue and profitability. Mark’s clients report significantly lower stress, reduced time consumed by the business and vastly improved quality of life. He is a Core Advisor to Gravitas Impact Premium Coaches (formerly Gazelles International), a mentor to coaches worldwide, and an active contributor to programs and content for their global ecosystem.(Bio taken from Mark’s website) 

Episode 13 - Activators - With Guest, Mark Green

 About This Episode In this episode, I interview Scott Wintrip, one of the most skilled and sought-after hiring coaches in the U.S. Scott shares some profound insights about how to make the hiring process take less time, be more effective, and involve less hassle.   About Our Guest From Scott’s Website: I’ve been honored to help more than 23,000 organizations across the globe eliminate the stress and overwhelm of recruiting and hiring. I’ve shown them a method for creating an instantaneous job filling system that eliminates hiring delays. My career began as a recruiter, back when I still had a full head of hair. That wasn’t my original plan. In college, I was a music major who wanted to become a high school band director. I learned about recruiting when I went to an employment agency, looking to earn extra money. During the interview, the office manager asked if I’d ever considered a job in the staffing industry. I didn’t know there was such an industry. While I didn’t accept her offer, it did plant a seed. That I could earn a living matching people and jobs seemed like a meaningful career. Within a few months, I sought out and landed my first recruiting job. I discovered a common pattern as I began my career in hiring. At the employers I contacted, jobs had frequently been open for weeks, months, and sometimes years. Often, these jobs weren’t open because of a lack of candidates. The companies had already interviewed dozens of people, some of whom were well qualified. However, they weren’t hired, even though that empty seat was delaying projects, creating missed opportunities, and costing lots of overtime. These companies allowed the process to drag on and on. 

Episode 12 - High Velocity Hiring - With Guest, Scott Wintrip

 About This Episode  In this episode, I interview Dr. Jeff Barnes, the only college professor in the country to teach an accredited course on the topic of Disneyland.  As an expert on the life and legacy of Walt Disney, Dr. Barnes discusses how leaders can learn from Walt’s unique life and leadership style.   About Our Guest   Jeff Barnes is the best-selling author of The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth and Beyond the Wisdom of Walt: Life Lessons from the Most Magical Place on Earth. Known as Dr. Disneyland, he teaches the only accredited college course on the History of Disneyland. He is an international Disney motivational speaker, higher education administrator, university professor, and leadership/success coach. He has more than thirty-five years of professional speaking experience and nearly twenty years’ experience leading teams in higher education and teaching more than twenty different college courses. He attributes his passion for Disney parks to his love of history, story, and success. He believes the parks teach us some of life’s greatest lessons—as long as you know their history, know what to look for, and you are willing to connect it all to your own story. Jeff lives in Riverside, California with his family. When he is not speaking, teaching or writing, Jeff enjoys spending as much time as possible in “The Happiest Place on Earth.” (bio taken from Dr. Barnes’ website) 

Episode 11 - The Wisdom of Walt - With Guest, Dr. Jeff Barnes

 About This Episode In this episode, I interview Dr. Paul White, co-author of The Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, one of the finest books you’ll ever read on the power of authentic appreciation at work.   About Our Guest   Dr. Paul White is a psychologist, author, speaker, and consultant who “makes work relationships work”. For the past 20 years, he’s improved numerous businesses, schools, government agencies and non-profit organizations by helping them: Create positive workplace relationships and improve staff morale. Eliminate the cynicism, sarcasm and lack of trust that often is associated with traditional employee recognition programs. Overcome the obstacles to help staff communicate authentic appreciation to one another. A frequently sought after keynote speaker and leadership trainer, his speaking style has been described as “world-class expertise grounded in Midwestern practicality, with the right touch of warmth and humor”.  Dr. White has given lectures around the world, including North America, Europe, South America, Asia, and the Caribbean.  He has spoken to Microsoft managers, SHRM and association conferences across North America, at international conferences, and to numerous national organizations. Dr. White is coauthor of three books, including The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, written with Dr. Gary Chapman (author of the #1 NY Times bestseller, The 5 Love Languages) which is in 15 languages and has sold over 225,000 copies worldwide.  Based on their extensive research and expertise, Dr. White and Dr. Chapman have developed a unique way for organizations to improve staff morale, increase employee engagement, and create enhanced levels of trust.  His other two books co-authored with Dr. Chapman and Harold Myra, Rising Above a Toxic Workplace and Sync or Swim, continue to be well-received by employees, HR professionals, and organizational leaders. His most recent book, The Vibrant Workplace: Overcoming the Obstacles to Building a Culture of Appreciation, has been cited as the #1 new HR book released in 2017. Dr. White  graduated Magna Cum Laude from Wheaton College with a major in Christian Education, earned his Masters of Counseling from Arizona State University, and received his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Georgia State University. He has been married for over 30 years and is the father of four adult children. (Bio Taken From Dr. White’s Website) 

Episode 10 - The Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace - With Guest, Dr. Paul White

 About This Episode In this episode, I interview one of the world’s most sought-after experts on the topic of leadership and creativity.  Todd Henry is the author of many books on creativity, but in this episode we focus on the topic of his recent book, Herding Tigers.  Leading creatives brings unique opportunities and challenges.  Todd shares some amazing insight on how to help creatives be at their best.   About Our Guest  Todd Henry is an author, international speaker, consultant, and advisor. He is the author of four books, which have been translated into more than a dozen languages.  Todd is one of the world’s most sought-after experts on the topic of creativity in the workplace, and is known for his practical and ready-to-implement solutions.  Todd’s amazing podcast, The Accidental Creative, has generated world-wide excitement for his work, and is one of Jonathan’s favorite podcasts. 

Episode 9 - Herding Tigers - With Guest, Todd Henry

I’m writing a small book right now called Refuse – don’t let ‘business as usual’ cripple your great idea. I’m working on my favorite chapter–“refuse to let fear drive compromise.” This is what I’m learning… fear can easily gut a brilliant idea of its excellent points.  Afterward, usually, compromise sweeps in and creates something weird in its stead.   Sadly, some businesses and organizations are so accustomed to compromising, they’re nose-deaf to their own weirdness.  As always, I’m looking for great stories and illustrations, so I’ve started to inventory some of the weird things businesses do out of fear. Once I started looking… I can’t stop finding them. For instance, consider the case of a nationwide coffee-and-donut franchise that now has a sign on their drive-through windows instructing their customers to contact management if an employee asks them for more money than the total of their purchase.   This is craziness.   First, is this a nationwide problem?  Are there employees running donut-price-hike scams across the U.S.?  Does this reasonably require an organization-wide crack-down?  Is there no better way to deal with this challenge than to announce the problem to customers and ask them to participate in the solution? The mind boggles. Believe me, I understand the fear this organization must be feeling.  They want their customers to have a great experience, and they don’t want a rogue employee skimming money off the top and giving their business a bad name.  But in the process of trying to avoid that outcome, they’ve done something worse.   Now, every time a customer drives up to the donut window, they’re reminded that this business doesn’t appear to trust their employees.  And worse, they’re expected to police this donut shop’s staff for them (as in, “tell management if this happens to you”). On the way to building trust with the public, they’re reducing trust in their staff.   That’s what I like to call Purpose-Defeating Implementation. The goal is good, but the execution negates the whole point. Here’s another example: the gym where I work out offers a “towel service.” For a few bucks a month, they’ll give you a “bath towel” when you show up to the gym. That way, you don’t have to bring a towel from home every time you want to shower after a workout. That’s a good idea, and a great goal. But for some reason, the gym doesn’t provide real bath towels, but rather oversized hand towels. Because they don’t come close to actually fulfilling the normal functions of bath towels, they normally give you two. I’m not sure why the tiny bath towels were selected over large ones–but I have a theory. I tend to think that somewhere there was concern that if they had big fluffy hotel-style bath towels, they’d have the same problem hotels have—towels would start disappearing. That’s a reasonable fear. Perhaps they shouldn’t offer a towel service then. Or, maybe they should offer towels but put an anti-theft device on them. What I know for sure is this–giving customers oversized hand towels and calling them bath towels is weird. That’s definitely not the solution. And, as a consumer, every time you try to dry yourself with two little towels, instead of one appropriately big one, it accentuates the weirdness. One of my favorite stories about purpose-defeating implementation is one I heard from my dad years ago. When he was a young adult in the 1970’s, he sold men’s clothing for National Shirt Shop. NSS was a New York chain that sold nice men’s clothes, and dad worked in their Fort Worth, Texas store. While National did a great business, they did have a weird obsession with bouncing checks. For the time, their initial policy was relatively strict, requiring customers to produce an ID and a major credit card if they wanted to write a check. This was in a day and age when a lot of check-writing customers didn’t carry credit cards. Reluctantly, customers complied. But then NSS went a step too far. In their zeal to avoid bouncing checks, they rolled out a new policy requiring employees like my dad to fingerprint customers. When a customer wrote a check, the employee was expected to roll the customers finger in pink powder and stamp the fingerprint impression on the check. Perhaps that went over okay in New York. In Fort Worth, Texas, it was a bridge too far. Many customers believed fingerprinting was for criminals, not paying customers.  They had a point. From my dad’s perspective, it torpedoed NSS’s business in Ft Worth, even after the ill-fated policy was revoked. It was a purpose-defeating implementation. The goal was to protect the business’ income stream. In the end it probably crippled sales. And, it weirded out customers. Here’s the moral of the stories: while it is true that we should exercise wisdom to shape great ideas to make them better, there will always be a huge danger of letting fear gut great ideas, and compromise away our initial purpose. When that happens, businesses look weird, and customers take a justifiable step back. Zero risk business propositions are usually low-yield (if and when they exist). Brilliant ideas are always risky. But when they get implemented, they look and feel right. And they attract the right kind of attention. Not the kind of attention you get from being weird. by Jonathan Hoover

Audioblog: The slow death of otherwise great ideas: Purpose-Defeating Implementation

 About This Episode In this episode, I interview Dr. Dale Thompson about the concept of Worthy Leadership.  Dr. Thompson talks about the fact that even leaders who appear to be at the top of their game can experience catastrophic failure without one very important personal quality.   About Our Guest Dale Thompson is a seasoned business executive and consultant, a licensed psychologist, and Founder and CEO of Leadership Worth Following, LLC (LWF). Established in January 2004, LWF helps organizations identify and develop talent with the capacity, commitment, and character to become top-performing leaders worthy of followership. Dale’s more than thirty years of business, consulting, and leadership experience have focused heavily on helping individual leaders, groups, teams, and organizations address critical talent-related issues including top leadership selection, development, and succession; Board and CEO-team effectiveness; and creating sustainable leadership systems and processes. His most recognizable clients have included prominent global firms such as 7-Eleven, AIG, BNSF, Boeing, Federal-Mogul, Freescale, Rackspace, Texas Instruments, and Walmart, as well as dynamic domestic companies such as Advance Auto Parts, H-E-B, Neiman-Marcus, NuStar Energy, PetSmart, SCAN Healthplan, USAA, and Valero Energy, to name a few. His varied business experiences include co-founding a truckload transportation company in 1986 that served as a test bed for then cutting edge Global Positioning technology and operations-research driven business models; directly leading and supporting a leadership consulting-firm’s aggressive global expansion to more than 30 markets in 14 countries and ultimately leading all of its North American operations throughout the 1990’s; and in 2001 co-founding a significant competitor to IBM’s Global Services consulting business. He founded LWF in 2004. Beyond consulting, Dale has made a number of recognized contributions to the fields of business and psychology. In 1986, he published what has been acknowledged as the first formal study of executive coaching. His pioneering research focused on evaluating the emerging practice of executive coaching and its effectiveness, and identifying “who changes, how much, and why” among coaching participants. In 2008, he was first author of the landmark article, “The Search for Worthy Leadership;” one of the most downloaded articles in the leadership literature since it was published. And in 2010, he was co-author of “The Character to Lead: A Closer Look at Character in Leadership;” a critically acclaimed study showing that character in leadership can be reliably defined and measured – and that character in leadership is directly related to important leadership and business outcomes. Dale’s professional contributions were acknowledged in 2004 when The Society of Consulting Psychology presented him with the prestigious RHR International Award for Excellence in Consultation. His contributions to leadership theory and practice were acknowledged by the Society of Psychologists in Management when he was named The 2011 Distinguished Psychologist in Management; and by The Goolsby Leadership Academy at The University of Texas at Arlington when he was named its 2011 Distinguished Visiting Leader. Dale received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He is a Member and Past-President of The Society of Psychologists in Management, and was a founding member of the Advisory Board of the Goolsby Leadership Academy at the University of Texas-Arlington. He has been affiliated with the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University, and the Industrial/Organizational Psychology Programs at the University of North Texas and at The University of Texas at Arlington. He is a Licensed Psychologist in the State of Texas, and a member of the American Psychological Association, The Society of Consulting Psychology, The Society of Psychologists in Management, and Dallas Executive Connection.(Taken from Dale's bio on the Leadership Worth Following Site) 

Episode 8 - Worthy Leadership - With Guest, Dr. Dale Thompson

 About This Episode In this episode, I interview Dr. Ron Riggio, one of the world’s top experts on the theory of transformational leadership.  Ron talks about the key elements of transformational leadership, and how leaders can put them into action.   About Our Guest Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D., is the Henry R. Kravis Professor of Leadership and Organizational Psychology and former director of the Kravis Leadership Institute at Claremont McKenna College. Professor Riggio is the author of more than a dozen books and more than 100 research articles and book chapters in the areas of leadership (e.g., leadership development, charismatic and transformational leadership), assessment centers, organizational psychology and social psychology. His research work has included studies on the role of social skills and emotions in leadership potential and success, empathy, social intelligence, emotional skill and charisma. Professor Riggio is on the editorial boards of The Leadership Quarterly, Leadership, Group Dynamics, and Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. His books include Multiple Intelligences and Leadership and The Future of Leadership Development (co-edited with Susan Murphy; Erlbaum, 2002, 2003), Improving Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations (co-edited with Sarah Smith Orr; Jossey-Bass, 2004), Applications of Nonverbal Behavior (co-edited with Robert S. Feldman; Erlbaum, 2005), Transformational Leadership (2nd ed., coauthored with Bernard M. Bass, 2006), and co-edited volumes, The Practice of Leadership, The Art of Followership (2007, 2008), and Leadership and the Liberal Arts (2009), Leader Interpersonal and Influence Skills (2014, with Sherylle Tan, Routledge), & Exploring Distance in Leader-Follower Relationships (w/ Michelle Bligh; Routledge, 2012).(Taken from riggio.socialpsychology.org) 

Episode 7 - Transformational Leadership - With Guest, Dr. Ron Riggio

 About This Episode In this episode, I interview industrial and organizational psychology expert, Dr. Paul Spector.  Dr. Spector is an internationally recognized leader in this area of science, having written dozens of academic articles and one of the finest textbooks on the subject.  Together, we talk about the elements that make leaders most successful. About Our Guest Dr. Spector is a professor who has spent a career teaching and doing research about the human side of organizations. He has taught both industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology and business at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels.Born in New York City, he has spent most of his life in Florida. His initial education in business came from his parents who were entrepreneurs with several small businesses. He received his BA in psychology, and a MA and Ph.D. in I-O psychology. After graduation he spent seven years in various academic and nonacademic positions. He returned to the USF Psychology Department in 1982 where today he is a Distinguished University Professor and director of the school's interdisciplinary occupational health psychology (OHP) program. The OHP program bridges the Psychology Department with the NIOSH-funded USF Sunshine Education and Training Center (ERC), housed in our College of Public Health. He also has a courtesy appointment in the Information Systems and Decision Sciences Department in the Muma College of Business at USF, where he teaches in the executive Doctor of Business Administration ( executive DBA) program. From 2000 until summer 2015 he was director of the USF News and World Report 2nd ranked USF IO Psychology Doctoral Program.(Text taken from Dr. Spector's website) 

Episode 6 - The Science of Successful Leadership - With Guest, Dr. Paul Spector

About This Episode In this episode, I talk with Dr. Amy Hakim, an internationally respected organizational psychologist, on the topic of dealing with difficult people at work.  I think you'll find her practical insights immediately useful in your work.   About Our Guest Amy is an internationally respected scholar in the field of industrial and organizational psychology, and is a highly sought after consultant. She is the founder of the Cooper Strategic Group a management consulting firm that specializes in training and development, targeted hiring, and survey design and analysis.You can learn more about Amy's consulting at here website www.cooperstrategicgroup.com.

Episode 5 - Working with Difficult People - With Guest, Dr. Amy Hakim

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Lead Without Losing It

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