RedRock Leadership Podcast

Recently, I was interview on Cathleen Merkels's Legendary Podcast.Do you believe that emotions influence your business decisions? Do you need to show people your vulnerability so they can show you theirs? I spent most of my younger years being selfish but had an eye-opening conversation with my wife that changed my life completely.I believe that you have to be emotionally connected with people for them to feel free to open up and collaborate with you. Listen in to learn the impact you can make with your team by exercising leadership rather than being a boss.Key Takeaways:How to stop being selfish and learn to give back to the world.How to be sold out to people while still being yourself.The skills of leveraging the power of emotions.The process of successfully identifying and transforming your company culture.If you enjoyed this episode, check out the video show notes and SUBSCRIBE TO THIS PODCAST on Apple Podcasts.About Cathleen:  At cathleenmerkel.comOn Instagram: @CathleenMerkelOn Facebook: @CathleenMerkelCoachingAbout Cathleen:  As a Thought Leader in the Mindset & (Self-) Leadership space, Cathleen supports high achieving, but worn-out women create a more content & balanced life without sacrificing their hard-earned success. Following a simple 6 step framework, she helps you not only reconnect with your inner feminine side; Cathleen also supports you to rediscover your REAL YOU!Cathleen focuses on women who lost their sense of purpose, who feel they are running in a hamster wheel, trying to please everyone but themselves. She helps you to turn your careers, your social connections and personal life around so that you will start feeling fulfilled and excited again about the days to come.  At the end of the process, Cathleen's clients will feel healthier, happier, energised and clear about their future.  With over 15 years of leadership experience in Retail, Media & Broadcasting, Engineering and Property Investment, Cathleen has not only experienced the challenges and opportunities of a female leader herself, she has also been leading and supporting various leadership development initiatives within large, complex, multinational matrix organizations.Only by deeply experiencing her very personal life challenges – ‘hitting a wall experiences’ –Cathleen was able to redefine her own purpose, deciding to bring ease and content to as many women as possible on the planet!Connect with Cathleen:At cathleenmerkel.comOn Instagram: @CathleenMerkelOn Facebook: @CathleenMerkelCoachingTune in here: https://apple.co/2CaSQ5K https://spoti.fi/2XzM4QJ 

Are you ready to have more meaningful and differentiated conversations with your prospects, customers and teams? Join me on this episode of the RedRock Leadership Podcast as I interview Jeff Bloomfield, CEO of Braintrust and the author of NeuroSelling. Jeff has taken the latest in neuroscience to the next level, and turned it into a communication system that enables leaders, salespeople, marketers and coaches to do just that.It’s no secret that trust and credibility are two traits customers look for and value the most when it comes to making a purchase decision as well as loyalty. A study conducted by the Corporate Executive Board found that 53% of all buying were dictated by the interactions and conversations buyers had with the field sales organization. It also shows that field interaction had more impact than product (19%), brand loyalty (19%), and price (9%) combined. A similar study conducted by Forrester Research, however, found that most (89%) of all sales calls FAIL to create any commercial impact whatsoever.This shows that the way your sales people convey or present your company’s story impacts the success of your initiatives, product launches and corporate strategy. The greatest skill that separates the best salespeople from the rest is their ability to create trust and deliver a compelling narrative that drives urgency to change.Join us as we explore insights-based selling techniques that will help you create trust, differentiation, an urgency to change, and a clear buying vision for your customers and clients.

John Polumbo, President and Founder of Winning Edge Selling, Inc., has over 20 years experience in the development of winning sales organizations at all levels. Taking a 3 pronged approach of defining sales strategy, implementing effective sales management and integrating long term sales training his track record for client growth and success is unmatched in the New England marketplace. Winning Edge Selling is one of New England’s largest and most recognized Sales Training companies serving over 200 client companies in more than 20 industries.  Their record is unmatched in the area of sales and sales management in New England offering small business sales training,  Active Sales Mgt and a CEO Peer Advisory makes Winning Edge Selling services complete and unique for the development of top performing sales people, sales teams and sales leaders.John is a close personal friend and has been a business colleague of mine for over 20 years. I think you'll enjoy this episode of the RedRock Leadership Podcast as we discuss how to develop a winning sales organization.

The 2017 Gallup State of the Global Workplace Report found that eighty-five percent of employees are not engaged or actively disengaged at work. The economic consequences of this global "norm" are approximately $7 trillion in lost productivity.  When your employees are demotivated, they are disengaged.  Not only are they less productive than they should be, but their motivational funk has a negative impact on their co-workers as well as the customers, which can result in loss of future business. Much has been written over the years about how to actively motivate people to achieve performance goals.  This assumes that employees start out with an empty "basket" and the leader fills that up with motivation.  The Leadership Doctors believe that this starting premise is false.  In fact, most people start with a full "basket" of motivation that they bring with them to work, but things happen along the way that pokes holes in their motivation "baskets." The Leadership Doctors' is to goal is to help leaders stop creating these holes and repair the ones that are there.In their book, Dr. Cathy Bush and Dr. Tara Peters address the common belief among managers and leaders that the employee is to blame when they lose motivation.  They break down what might be the personal factors that contributes to their demotivation, and what a leader can do to help turn that around.  There are also many things going on in the environment around employees, including stressful events, difficult co-workers, and challenging rules and processes in the organizational culture.  Any of these can turn a motivated employee into a "slacker."  Perhaps the single biggest influence on employee demotivation is the leader.  This includes the way that they communicate, support, provide direction, and build trust with the people on their teams.  If an employee feels that his leader is failing to meet their needs for high performance, they will lose motivation very quickly.  As the saying goes, "People leave managers, not companies." What do you see when you look at your leadership behaviors in the mirror? Are you a part of the problem?The Demotivated Employee is a book is filled with examples that come from our various experiences working with leaders as well as family and friends who are experiencing demotivation at work.  This book is designed to help leaders understand the different sources of demotivation, but also to provide lots of ideas about out how you can prevent demotivation from sneaking up on employees, as well as ideas about how you can repair demotivation once it happens to your valued employees.  The goal of The Leadership Doctors is to help leaders understand employee motivation and the challenges of demotivated employees, and consider the various ways that they can impact a change so that employees are engaged, productive and successful.  Tune into this episode of The RedRock Leadership Podcast with The Leadership Doctors to learn how to develop skills and approaches that will create a highly motivated, productive and positive place for people to work!

I had a great time being interviewed by Aaron Bolton. He hosts the Leadership Lockdown Podcast. With his permission, I am posting this in my podcast feed.Aaron is the owner of UpSkill Learning Solutions and he is waging a war against learning and development mediocrity. He believes if L&D professionals and educators are going to create, develop, or deliver anything, they should improve upon what’s existing, or surpass the status quo. He applies this mindset to accomplish his primary professional goal; helping others attain their maximum professional potential - developing leaders. He has previously achieved this goal by creating and delivering professional skills enhancement courses, and custom leadership development programs for several domestic and international corporations.You can connect with him here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronbolt1/

You’re going to love this interview with Nicole De Falco, Co-Founder and CEO of Upsurge Advisors. She is high-energy, fast paced, engaging and incredibly talented. For the last 29 years, Nicole has transformed leaders’ lives through learning. Nicole has a knack for combining brain science, purposeful practice, and gameful engagement to ignite a change in behavior. By aligning development strategies with company objectives, the solutions she designs, and often facilitates, improves performance to propel businesses forward.She also loves the art and science of learning. She enjoys creating fun, challenging, effective facilitated, self-paced, and blended learning. Nicole’s secret sauce is a mix of neuroscience, narratives, and playfulness that produces rich learning journeys. Learners enjoy, engage, and get equipped through discovery, play, practice, reflection, feedback, and immediate application. She believes serious learning happens when we don’t take ourselves so seriously!Nicole has been involved in all aspects of performance improvement consulting including training development, sales, marketing, and delivery. Having led an instructional design department and served as a Vice President on the executive team of an international sales training firm, she understands and can speak to executive level priorities and expectations.Nicole graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Science in Speech, and received her MBA from the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.You can connect with Nicole on LinkedIn at: linkedin.com/in/nicoledefalco.Go to upsurgeadvisors.com to learn more about Nicole and her firm.

This is a short 4-minute podcast!What separates good salespeople from great salespeople?It’s their ability to show up as a solution provider and leave as a trusted advisor.For over the past 20+ years of building sales teams and growing salespeople I’ve concluded that prospects see salespeople three different ways. They see them as:Solution ProvidersConsultantsTrusted Advisors Becoming a great salesperson is a process and it requires a process. It is a process of learning how to trust and persevere. Great salespeople are trusted because they trust first. They have learned how to go from being dependent on others to get their needs met, to learning how to be interdependent to meet the needs of others.Your ongoing commitment to becoming a great salesperson will net you bigtime results. Not just monetary results either. Results that will help you help people. There are few things in this life that are more rewarding than helping people. And that’s what trusted advisors do; they help people.When you take the time to improve your emotional intelligence, you’ll increase your ability to trust and persevere. And when you take the time to learn a sales process, your prospects will realize that you are more than a solution provider. They’ll realize that you are a trusted advisor.

Red Rock leadership -Transform Your Company Culture and Unleash the Potential for Exponential Growth was released this week. Thank you to my listeners! It's the number one selling leadership book on Amazon. That's why I am dedicating this episode of the RedRock Leadership Podcast to its launch.  Here is what I focus on in this podcast... It's possible to occupy a position in leadership and not be a leader. Conversely, it's possible to be a leader and not be considered part of leadership. So how do you define leadership? That question stumped me for a long time. Back in 2009, one year before I started RedRock Leadership, someone said to me, leadership is defined by who's behind you. If no one is following you, then you aren't a leader. Someone else said, to understand leadership, you need to understand if it's caught or if it's taught. It became clear to me that much of what people defined as leadership was actually management, and the two are very different actually. Management is tactical and leadership is conceptual.Open up your book to chapter to and take a listen!

If you were 30 or 50 feet down in a mine that was collapsed, what would you do? Would you just sit and hope that somebody knew you were underground, or would you do all you could do to fight your way out? To say what's going on out there is nothing short of crazy is not an exaggeration. And I'm not saying that this is crazy good or it's crazy bad. It just is what it is. And as much as I hate that statement, it is what it is. If you are someone who is working from home now, running a business, then this podcast is for you. If you are living with someone who runs a business, or goes to work every day and they leave the house or they go to their home office or the kitchen table with question marks in their eyes, then this podcast is for you too.I want to introduce you to a few strategies and tactics that will help you get into the right state of mind as you are working through what's going on today.Make today a great one!

In this podcast, I interview Doug Bishop, Chief Executive Officer of MMA-Bouchard Region. Doug is a level-5 leader with an intentional approach to developing people, raising up leaders and building a culture.No matter what your company does, if you’re going to get people to buy in and identify with what you provide, your team must learn to communicate from the inside out. This will prove that your intentions match your actions, and it’s how your clients and potential customers will ultimately learn to trust you. Through our conversation, you'll learn how important it is for a leader to develop a loyal following. When you do this successfully, you'll create a personal connection between what you do and how you deliver your product or service.Due to the furious pace of change, leaders today have less time to gain their followers’ trust. Tune into this podcast to learn what you can do to keep their attention, motivate them and continuously point them to a more positive future. What we are really talking about here is having the utmost integrity. Without it, you won’t build trust. And without trust, your culture will not be clearly defined.

In this podcast I discuss the emotional intelligence skill of internal motivation. I also, discuss how every skill of emotional intelligence is connected to another. A high-level of personal awareness allows us to recognize the impact we have on others in any given situation. The more aware we are, the less likely we are to have a breach of integrity. In order to maintain that integrity during difficult to manage situations, we must have strong internal motivation. This is also known as intrinsic motivation, or a deep drive or desire to do the right things for the right reasons. This is the opposite of extrinsic motivation, which is nothing more than a desire to avoid punishment or a yearning to gain a reward such as recognition, success, influence, or money. Internal motivation is a critical aspect of mental toughness and a high EQ. It’s what keeps you going when external issues and problems arise so you can move past them. It makes it easier to stay the course when you’re passionate about and believe in what you’re doing. To better understand the intricacies of internal motivation, let’s consider a 1975 study conducted by psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan at the University of Rochester,[1] which found people have three innate psychological needs. Everyone needs to feel:•       Competent•       Heard•       AutonomousInternal motivation intensifies as these needs are fulfilled. Deci and Ryan explain that when people feel competent, heard, and autonomous, they freely seek what interests them. It’s under these conditions that a person makes the conscious decision to engage and commit to helping your organization succeed. When internal motivation is well-developed, people learn to persevere and trust their ability to conquer day-to-day challenges. In this podcast I discuss a real-life example concerning a saleswoman named She was doing very well, hitting her numbers month after month. Then all of the sudden, she went into a sales slump. At the same time, her husband lost his job, and they found themselves in a tough financial situation. Even though she received a salary, her commissions had dropped and the couple could barely cover their monthly household bills. Soon she became obsessed with the idea that she would lose her job, too. Tune in to hear what happens.[1] https://msu.edu/~dwong/StudentWorkArchive/CEP900F01-RIP/Webber-IntrinsicMotivation.htm

I want to encourage you to get out of the gate quick this year! 2019 is behind us, it's done, finished, gone! Whether you knocked the ball out of the park, or it was one of those "throw away" years, we have a fresh and clean slate in front of us.New year's resolutions get a bad rap, but personally I love them! I love the idea of starting new. Every year at this time, we have the opportunity to clear our mental filters and commit to a new set of 12 months.How is this year going to be different for you? How are you going to commit to being better? To be better, our attitudes must improve. For our attitudes to improve, we must learn to be grateful in all circumstances. The bottom line is this - never finish a moment without getting all you can out of it! Life's entirely too short to leave anything on the field at the end of the day.In this podcast, I talk about creating S.M.A.R.T. goals. The way goals are defined and stated provides the make-or-break difference. I want this episode of the RedRock Leadership Podcast to help you establish focus. While dreams are important, they won’t become reality unless they are stated as measurable goals. Once measurable, they become a vital part of your strategic foundation for your continued successYou've rested, you've recharged. Now, get up and get out and go get it!Every year, at RedRock Leadership we host a goal setting workshop. This year, it's on 1/8/2020 at RedRock Tampa 8:30 - 11:30 a.m. - you can attend online or in-person.Here's to a great 2020!

If you know anything about me, then you know that I’m always talking about EQ (emotional quotient) it’s importance for leaders. Well, I thought it’s about time I say a little something about IQ and the significance it has in leadership. To many, I am sure the term IQ conjures up images of super-genius child prodigies, or heroic movie stars who save the planet with the power of their brain, but what exactly is it really? And is it something we should even care about?  Your intelligence quotient (IQ) is a measure of your cognitive abilities needed to solve problems, or to put it another way, IQ is in large part a measure of your ability to recognize patterns. Ray Kurzweil, an American inventor, said “Pattern recognition is the essence of all human thought.” So, if we take him at his word, IQ is pretty important to a leader.  I know being a leader requires you to have a good head on your shoulders, to be able to make sense of large amounts of data, and to make difficult decisions based on that data. It is my firm belief that “book smarts” are made even stronger in a person who doesn’t solely rely on intelligence. If you’re going to succeed in life, I recommend cultivating prudence, willpower, goal-orientation, confidence, and perseverance.Keep that in mind as we look at how to improve your IQ.Become a Student of LifeAdd Aerobic Exercise to Your DayJournalBecoming a better leader will help you improve in your career and your personal life. Contact me today to learn more about RedRock Leadership and how we can help you unleash your potential for exponential growth!

In this podcast I work through the second stage of The RedRock Strategic Sales Path: Discovery. I discuss how to integrate age-old knowledge with modern sales techniques that will help your prospects make quick, non-analytical decisions using their own built-in short cuts.As a salesperson it's important to understand that not every prospect is qualified to be a client. For this reason, it's important that they discover this before you make a proposal. It is important to uncover problems. However, proposals for solutions based solely on problems uncovered are incomplete. Until there is an emotional connection, a sale will not happen.A few things to remember during the Discovery stage of The RedRock Strategic Sales Path:Be interesting by being interested.Gather information from prospects while making an emotional connection.Ask questions that will uncover the prospect’s budget and decision making process.Arrive as a solution provider, ask questions as a consultant and finish as a trusted advisor.There is a ton of information about RedRock Sales Training on our website. Also, if you want to view the card trick that I mention in this podcast, click here. If I can be of any help to you or your organization, please don’t hesitate to contact us!

Up until now, most of my podcasts have been focused on leadership. Starting with this one, I will return to my roots and highlight the traits and skills of effective sales people. I trust that this series will be helpful to you and your organization as you look to grow and expand your business.The mark of a RedRock trained sales professional is their skillful ability to persuade, negotiate, collaborate and quickly build trust along the RedRock Strategic Sales Path.™ While many believe sales skills are innate, those who possess a high-level of perseverance in order to continuously improve know otherwise. In fact, these skills are developed over hours of planning, training, reinforcement and experience. In this podcast I discuss why 30-second commercials and elevator speeches are the old way of introducing yourself. Even though they are effective in branding, they don’t inspire and engage others. Inspiration and engagement are built on the foundation of an emotional connection.There is a new way of creating an emotional connection. Once you learn it, you'll are ultra effective in instantly engaging your prospects. Either before or after you listen to the podcast, I suggest downloading the FOMO Statement Maker.

Whether you have kids or not, you're going to want to tune into this interview with Amber Johansen, Executive Director of First Priority Tampa Bay. Our discussion is centered around our experience working with tomorrow's leaders, today's teens.There is something unique about those who make up this culture, Generation Z. Generally speaking, Gen Z is composed of those born between 1996 and 2010 and are true digital natives. They have been exposed to the internet, to social networks, and to smart phones their entire lives. Gen Z is a hypercognitive generation and extremely comfortable with researching and collecting data from many sources all at the same time. To them, the integration of virtual and offline experiences is the norm.A recent study reveals [RL1] four core Gen Z behaviors, all anchored in one element: this generation’s search for truth. In contrast, the previous generation—the millennials, got its start in an era of economic prosperity and focuses on themselves. While Millennials will tend to be more idealistic, confrontational, and less willing to accept diverse points of view, Gen Zers value individual expression and want to avoid being labeled and labeling others.GEN Z INFLUENCE: The Great RecessionISISSandy HookObamaRise of PopulismGEN Z TRAITS: They’re in Search of TruthThey value freedom of ExpressionThey are Open to Understanding Differences in People GEN Z VIEWS: Money: Live Life Pragmatically.Education: Necessary Investment.Management: We’re Good There is a Lot of Dialogue, With no Confrontation [RL1]The study is mentioned here:  https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/true-gen-generation-z-and-its-implications-for-companies …influenced all of the Gen Z area Also, refenced these: http://www.millennialmarketing.com/2018/03/the-birth-years-of-millennials-and-generation-z/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/deeppatel/2017/09/21/8-ways-generation-z-will-differ-from-millennials-in-the-workplace/#435f25a376e5 https://www.pewresearch.org/topics/generations-and-age/ 

Did you know that 80% of all online content is now video?It is no secret that videos are everywhere. They’re on your phone, your computer, your TV, and on and on. The question today is, “why produce them?”The first reason is: videos increase traffic to your website, both from SEO value and social media. YouTube and Google are owned by the same people, which is extremely powerful because Google incorporates YouTube videos in searches. When organizations put videos on their social media platforms and link back to their website, that drives traffic to their site as well.The second reason is: videos put you on the right track for faster revenue. Did you know that businesses with professionally produced videos grow revenue 49% faster than companies without professional videos?And the third reason is: videos build an engaging, organic, and loyal audience. Videos break down barriers, make you human, and offer your services in a personable light. In this podcast, I interview Jordan Lung, CEO and Director of JL Video. For more information about how you can spice up your sales process with videos, reach out to the experts at JL Video. 

Time is every human being’s single greatest non-replenishable resource. Even though it’s often stated otherwise, it’s not possible to save it, invest it or borrow it. However, it is possible for you to leverage it.During this podcast, I will address questions that my audience has about time. I am a firm believer that you can be efficient or effective if you manage time. However, if you learn to leverage it, you will be both efficient and effective. This will happen when you learn how to treat time with the level of respect it deserves.Tune in and gain valuable insight on how to:Eliminate time wastersFocus more than 85% of your time on what’s important Delegate anything that you aren’t uniquely capable of handlingEstablish expectations, up front, to make the most out of time and establish yourself as a leaderKeep in mind that when you learn to have a good relationship with time, every area of your life will improve. To help you cultivate that relationship, let me introduce you to the RedRock Priority StabilizerTMand the RedRock Leveraging Time BattlecardTM. These are tools that are used by those who attend RedRock’s Personal Leadership Training, and I unveil them to you during this podcast.I want you to be a successful leader. I also want you to know that so much of your success as a leader is contingent on you setting goals and allocating quality time against highly leveraged activities to accomplish those goals. I trust that this episode of the RedRock Leadership Podcast will help you to do just that!

During RedRock Leadership sales training we outline a four-step sales process which consists of Introduction, Discovery, Presentation of Possibilities and Alignment. The first three steps are considered the selling steps, while the fourth and final step is focused on negotiation. Being a skilled negotiator means you know how to effectively handle objections and come out a winner, both financially and relationally.While selling and negotiating are related, they involve two completely different skillsets. Negotiating is conferring with another so as to arrive at the settlement of some matter. Selling is any transaction in which money is exchanged for a good or service. During a sales call, the seller attempts to convince or “sell” the buyer on the benefits of their offer. If the buyer wishes to strike a deal, they will give the seller an agreed upon amount of money in exchange for the seller’s product/serviceIf and when objections arise during a sales call, you must use your negotiation skills and determine the right time to either close file and walk away or close the deal. Put simply, selling is the act of persuading and absolutely necessary to be effective in sales. Negotiation, which requires a higher level of emotional intelligence, is focused on working together to accomplish a common goal. That’s what makes negotiation one of the most valuable life skills you’ll ever develop.During this podcast, I discuss several techniques and the mindset necessary to be an effective negotiator. You’ll gain an understanding about how to be personally and socially aware. You’ll also learn about the four-C’s of negotiation: collaboration, compromising, conquering and conceding. We’ll also discuss the implications of time and how to use a three-part goal approach called an I.R.A.

What do leaders have that sets them apart from everyone else? I would argue that it’s their mindset. A real leader has an approach state of mind.  What do I mean by that? Well, think about it. There are two states of mind, the Approach State and Avoid State. Take a look at how you react or respond to what’s going on around you when you are in either state. When in the Approach State, you are inspired by the success of others, you are an encourager, you see the big picture and seek solutions and you are a coach not a criticizer. When in the Avoid State, you are threatened by the success of others, you’re a discourager, demotivated by obstacles and criticize instead of coach.We place a big-time focus on developing a leadership state of mind in Lead with Emotional Intelligence and Take the Lead! If you haven’t done so, I would highly recommend you check out the many options we have for leadership training. What’s more important than your state of mind?Being a leader from the Avoid State is simply not going to happen. When you are in this state, you avoid difficult to manage tasks and relationships, and in turn people avoid you. Conversely, when you are in the Approach State, you approach difficult to manage tasks and relationships, and in turn people approach you. If you aren’t in the Approach State, you can get there!  When you get into the Approach State, you help those around you get to higher ground.Check out this episode of the RedRock Leadership podcast, “How to Develop a Leader’s State of Mind,” and I will help you develop a leader’s state of mind and stay there!