Winning at Business and Life

Are you humanistic, compassionate and authentic? 6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 310: Successful business leaders are humanistic, compassionate and authentic. Wise words from Jared Narlock, Talent Development Speaker, Author and Coach with Peaceful Powered Leadership LLC. Transcript of Question 3: Question Number Three. I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business. What chapter would you think most companies should read?  Being authentic and humanistic that is huge for me, remembering that we are all human beings, and remembering that people, for the most part are bringing their best day in and day out. And that looks different. Some days we look sometimes and say, oh, I know what that person's best looks like, and this isn't it, but we don't know the reality of what they endured, when they started their day, or their week, and what that is and so remembering to extend grace and keeping that focus on the people because the people ultimately will get those business results and those other pieces that are in that book. Please enjoy additional episodes at: https://petealexander.com/podcast/ Connect with Professor Pete on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petealexander

Did you know that one scheduling tweak can assure you are prepared for the future? 6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 309: This one scheduling tweak can assure you are prepared for the future. Wise words from Dorie Clark, Duke & Columbia Business Professor and Harvard Business Review Author. The strategic thinking assessment Dorie mentions is available here. Transcript of Question 4: Question number four - other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude and care for customers, what advice or insight would you give to other business leaders? One insight that's been on my mind a lot Pete, is something that I talk about in my new book The Long Game. And fundamentally, it's a book about how to apply the principles of strategic thinking to your life and your career, and there's a section where I talked about the importance of 20% time. Now, this is something that Google popularized, it's the idea that employees would take 20% of their time to spend on kind of speculative projects that are outside the scope of their regular work. And I think this is an incredibly useful strategy both at the enterprise level and at the individual level if your company is not giving you 20% time, use your own time for 20% time, because we need to constantly be developing ourselves and learning, and sometimes it can be through listening to great podcasts like this one, it could be taking online courses, it could be reading books or doing informational interviews or building your network, but we have to keep ourselves sharp COVID showed everybody that we can't really predict what's coming down the pike. And so you need to be ready for anything. And the way to do that is to build a Swiss Army knife of skills with that 20% of time. Please enjoy additional episodes at: https://petealexander.com/podcast/ Connect with Professor Pete on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petealexander

Do you cultivate leaders at all levels of your organization? 6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 308: Successful businesspeople cultivate leaders at all levels of their organization. Wise words from Michael Lane, Managing Director of Success Resources. Transcript of Question 3: Question number three. I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business. What chapter would you think most companies should read? Wow, great question. I would say, leadership. I think leadership is such an important factor in the success of a business. Everything rises and falls on leadership as per Dr. John C. Maxwell, it's everything from the leader who runs the business who you're creating the business yet on to the leaders who are at the bottom level, we're all leaders we all need to continue to develop the leaders within our team, we do that we tend to have successful businesses. Please enjoy additional episodes at: https://petealexander.com/podcast/ Connect with Professor Pete on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petealexander

Do you leverage togetherness to grow your business? 6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 307: Successful business leaders leverage togetherness to grow their business. Wise words from Alex Sanfilippo, Founder of PodMatch. TRANSCRIPT OF QUESTION 4: Question number four, other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude and care for customers, what advice would you give to other business leaders? So what I'd say is business advice that I give to other leaders is actually from a quote by Helen Keller, and she says alone we can do so little but together we can do so much. And the reason I find this to be so important is because when we're looking at this next generation that's coming up Gen Z, they're starting to become the primary customer like the consumer, there'll be everyone starting to market to when we find these when everyone starts marketing to this new demographic the rest of the world kind of follows suit with their personalities and we kind of adopt and adapt to what they're doing. And the reason I bring that up is because we're finding Gen Z is actually very very driven by purpose by collaboration by community by togetherness if that's a word at this point. But I say that because they're looking at the world in the sense of we want to be together. We want to be unified we want to like break barriers that have never been broken before, and a lot of companies are more so focused on supplying a solution to that one customer or just helping that one person which can be good but at the same time, it can really harm us, when we're not thinking about how we can drive things through community. And now a lot of businesses might say well I'm business to business but in the day, we're all human, human we're H2H not B2B And as long as you can find a way to bring people together around what you're doing you're to find this next generation will be much more interested in working with you, because I can see that you know what this is affecting my community what I care about it makes me part of something bigger than just myself, so I think it's really important we all start thinking again about this Helen Keller quote alone we can do so little together we can do so much if we want our businesses to grow in the future. I think we need to be focused more on how can we make this something together, and more collaborative. So my advice would that would just be set up an initiative within your company see how you can get involved in serving the community, even it has nothing to do with your business or find a way that you can bring people together and actually make sure that you're listening those clients and finding out ways that you can be involved in their lives and the lives of the people that they care about. Please enjoy additional episodes at: https://petealexander.com/podcast/ Connect with Professor Pete on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petealexander

Do you overlook the most important aspect in a new employee's transition? 6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 306: Don't overlook the most important aspect in a new employee's transition. Wise words from Dr. Keith McNally, Educator at Digital Vision LLC. Transcript of Question 3: Question number three. I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business. What chapter would you think most companies should read? I think they should read "What does it mean to follow up after the sale?" and so going back to what I just talked about is, as an instructor, I'm in education, of course, and so you always want to do that follow up, especially for those who are transitioning out just because they've made that transition, they're no longer in the military. That doesn't mean all of their problems and all of their frustrations are gone. They're still in transition so they have to acclimate themselves to the civilian culture, a civilian workforce, a new job. And so, being there continually to mentor, coach and guide. You know that, that's really where the power is so we just don't drop them and let them go. You have to continually be there and I still have contact with students have trained. Years and years ago, you know who have gotten their certifications, made it up the ladder in terms of IT and are now project or program managers so that's been really good. Please enjoy additional episodes at: https://petealexander.com/podcast/ Connect with Professor Pete on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petealexander

What is your mission to impact humanity? A mission far greater than yourself? 6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 305: Successful business leaders have a mission to impact humanity - a mission far greater than themselves. Wise words from Ahmad Imam, Presenter, Host, and Edutainer at Success Resources Australia. TRANSCRIPT OF QUESTION 4: Question number four. Other than that generic work harder, have a great attitude and caring for customers. What advice would you give to other business leaders? And that is very cliche advice, but look at this from advice that I would give is something that we're actually speaking about on one of my previous shows, and that is the idea of a mission - a personal mission that is greater than yourself. Okay, so having a mission that is much greater than you a mission that is in service to others, and making that actually impact humanity will help you make your decisions and help you take your plan to the absolute next level, you know, so if you're a business leader if you're a business owner, if you're an entrepreneur, ask yourself, what is my mission to impact humanity. And you'll find that it takes you to a whole another level of the game. It'll make you think far bigger it'll help you develop a 5, 10, 20 year plan, and that is a plan that is in service to others that will actually positively impact on humanity. So for me that was a very powerful one to learn. Please enjoy additional episodes at: https://petealexander.com/podcast/ Connect with Professor Pete on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petealexander

Did you know that leadership starts in kindergarten? 6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 304: Leadership starts in kindergarten. Wise words from Kevyn Rustici, HR Technology and Strategy Consultant. Transcript for Question 3: Question number three. I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business, which chapter which you think most companies should read? First I'm going to say when can I get my hands on that copy of that book. But I'm going to go back to, I would like to write the chapter on kindergarten values right. So and that opens the doors for empathy, compassion, trust, and really selflessness, I think at the end of the day and how we can share and work together and live by that golden rule. Please enjoy additional episodes at: https://petealexander.com/podcast/ Connect with Professor Pete on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petealexander

Did you know that the most important department in an organization might surprise you? 6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 303: The most important department in an organization might surprise you. Wise words from David Essel, Best Selling Author, Counselor, Speaker, Life Coach, and Radio/TV Host. TRANSCRIPT OF QUESTIONS 3-4: Question number three. I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business. What chapter would you think most companies should read Oh boy that's a great one. You know, I actually think it probably be human relations. I really do because that's what makes the world spin. That's what makes businesses successful when we have the right people in the right decisions, with the right attitude, and to me that's human relations and I think the AI in the HR department of most companies is underutilized beat we know with a mental health crisis, I mean I think the most brilliant companies in the world are focusing and making sure HR has an avenue for mental health health. So I really think HR is it. I think you're right there too, I mean it's with without the people, what are the company's going to do, they just not going to be able to function and I love the fact that you're talking about it's being underutilized in the HR function I truly believe that too because there's so much things that we can be doing for employees so great, great point. Thank you. Question number four, other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude and care for customers. What advice or insight, would you give to other business leaders. Number one is self care. Number one is sign you know a lot of entrepreneurs and business leaders have a horrendous self care practice that you know we we become workaholics, myself included, you know I am not someone who is above and beyond and has suffering with workaholism and and mental or physical exhaustion, so I think self care is number one, you know a number of years ago a buddy of mine, Dr James Rippy wrote a book called fit for success. He interviewed fortune 500 executives that work they went from 70 to 80 hours a week. And here's some really interesting information about the fortune 500 executives that were a part of this study is that 85% of them exercise four to five times a week. Now these are people putting in 70 to 80 hours a week. 85% are exercising four to five times a week now Pete Let's look at the general population in the general population only 15% exercise four to five times a week, so you'll have these high evolved business executives without rageous Responsibility and Work Hours, they're able to find time. Come on America around the world you know we got to wake up so I would say number one is self care and what we do is we teach a principle that says the first hour of every day, has no electronics at all, be that one electronic for the first 60 minutes, you know, no iPhone, no social media. No, I'm checking your stops, no television, no radio, Nothing, for the first hour, right. So, what do you do at that time, well the smart ones would exercise, of course, they may meditate, they may journal, they may read inspirational books, and I mean actually holding a book, you know, not back your your tablet because we're staying away from all electronic stuff right so you're going to actually buy a real book for God's sake, you know, and, and, and I think that that really the self care is what most executives need to focus on, and remember this everything is top down. So, you know if you have an executive at any level, who's making it a point not to brag and not to talk about how great they are an exercise or clean eating or anything but just being a role model, you set the stage for hopefully people underneath you doing the same thing and once we put self care, number one, then everything you mentioned, attitude, hard work, all that stuff just falls into place. Please enjoy additional episodes at: https://petealexander.com/podcast/

Do you park your ego at the door?  6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 302: Successful business leaders park their ego at the door. Wise words from Charles Read, CEO of GetPayroll. TRANSCRIPTION OF QUESTIONS 2-4: Question number two. What is something that makes you smile and or laugh about working in your industry. The Internal Revenue Service. Now that may sound funny, but I have a, I get a great kick out of dealing with them as my lawyer. Put it another situation is like playing high stakes poker with somebody else's money. What a great, great, great comment. I love that it's one of my favorites. Question number three. I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business. What chapter would you think most companies should read chapter one. Park your ego at the door. I like that you want to expand upon it a bit I have seen more businesses fail, because the owner, the boss, the, the starter or the kid, the start, the kids, the startup the kids think they're better, smarter than the people that work for him, and they're not 10 years, sadly, Sadly, I've worked for companies. Yeah, I had one word, but once a year you take us all outside and point out that that was his name on the wall. Actually it was his father's name, but it was his name as well. And we didn't like it, we didn't have to go back inside. Well that's saying something, wouldn't you say, motivation, absolutely. Great story. Question number four. Other than that, Jared, work harder, have a great attitude and care for customers. What advice or insight, would you give to other business leaders. There's two catchphrases that I use that I really believe in. The first one I don't know where I got it from, but it is there is no traffic jam on the extra mile, you go the extra mile for your clients, because your competitors won't. And that sets you apart immensely. The other one I stole from Bill Gates. And he said, people will overestimate what they can accomplish in a year, and underestimate what they can accomplish in a decade. It's a, it's not a sprint guys, it's a marathon. It's playing the long game, is that what I'm hearing. Absolutely, yeah we'll get it done this year, but you can get it done in this lifetime if you work at it. And really in the the impact that you can make over that decade or decades let's say could be immense. If you just, you know, really believe in yourself, am I right. Absolutely. I've been in business now for 30 years. I love it, and it's been successful. Your one was tough, let me tell ya. Yeah I can, I can tell you, I remember be going into business for myself many years ago too and yeah I used that first year you just question everything right and and when something doesn't go right, you think of what am I doing this for is that kind of got to what you have to experience as well. Absolutely and I think year seven was about as bad, but it got better and it's pretty good now. Excellent, excellent. Well that's, I'm glad to hear that and that's why you're on the show to be sharing that insight. Please enjoy additional episodes at: https://petealexander.com/podcast/ Connect with Professor Pete on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petealexander

Do you understand the value of emotional IQ?  6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 301: Successful business leaders understand the value of emotional IQ. Wise words from Donald Thompson, CEO of The Diversity Movement. TRANSCRIPTION OF QUESTIONS 3-4: Question number three. I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business, one chapter which you think most companies should read? Most business leaders should read the chapter on emotional IQ. So many leaders are tactically proficient. Many leaders are visionary and storytelling is something that they're gifted but at the end of the day we're dealing with people, and we have to learn to lead, where people are able to learn and grow, and that's usually pretty difficult for many leaders because we all have dominant styles, and we have to slow down and work in reference in the style of the person we're trying to lead. And I think that that's really insightful especially if you want to connect with the people that you're leading with because if you try and push a certain style that doesn't fit with what they're receptive to, I can only imagine what kind of stress that would create would you agree? I absolutely agree. And if we think about a generational for example, right, it's learning styles introvert extrovert all those different things, but then we have a lot of different generations working together, more so than any other time in our corporate history, and we all have different perspectives on life and work in balance and integration, and we have to really be careful not to mediate our point of view that discounts the point of view of others. That is so so insightful thank you so much. Question number four, other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude and care for customers. What advice would you give to other business leaders? One of the things that I try to continue to work on is how do you link the daily efforts of the folks on your team to the overall business strategy of the corporation, when people understand what they do every day and how it aligns with corporate vision how it helps their community, how it grows, the bottom line, how it creates more security for them and their co workers, we tend to put more engagement into something we fully understand the further away we are to that mission. The more we just kind of go through the motions, testing, meet the basic numbers. So my advice to business leaders, something I've learned is how do you link those daily activities those behaviors you want to encourage your employees to the overall mission of the organization. I love that because it's not just about having let's say the corporate values on a, you know, on a, on your, your card that you get into the facility but it's actually helping them understand what their contribution makes to the overall Corporation is that what I'm hearing from you? And I'll give a very very super quick example, when you're talking to somebody in finance, and I think they're just crushing the numbers, but their ability to accurately forecast. The measures in the business, help for planning and growth for executives to make better informed decisions. So now it was sudden getting it right, has a direct alignment to the organization growing and thriving, because the accuracy, allows us to be more visionary, take a little bit more smart risk and growing the company. So that's a quick example of somebody that could think that their daily tasks don't really mean a lot. When actuality the outcome of those tasks, means a lot for the business. Oh, it's a great example and we have a lot of people who are in finance that listen to the show so I think they will be able to relate to that, so thank you. Please enjoy additional episodes at: https://petealexander.com/podcast/ Connect with Professor Pete on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petealexander

Are you generous with your time? 6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 300: Successful business leaders are generous with their time. Wise words from Judy Hoberman, President of Selling In A Skirt. TRANSCRIPT OF QUESTION 4: Question number four, other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude and care for customers. What advice would you give to other business leaders, I would say that you need, need to be generous, and I don't talk about financially generous I'm talking about generous with their time, because most people are looking for that mentor that role model. And when you're too busy, then they don't have somebody to look up to, when you are generous with your time you're showing them that they are the most important person that's in front of them. And so I always make sure that no matter what, I'm not available 24 seven but when I'm with you, I am with you I am 100% present with you. There is nobody more important, and I believe that some of my experiences are going to help you, and some of your experiences are going to help me it's a two way street. So a lot of people will say to me well you know I don't have time to mentor somebody. It's not a matter of time it's a matter of desire. And when somebody says to me, would you mentor me. It's not a job application sometimes, you know, I would tell people just to say, You know what I really liked the way you do x, would you show me how to do it, there's the there's the question, if somebody says I don't have time, they're not your person, so again you go back to knowing your people but be generous with your time, you will see the magic happen. And I can't agree with you more with that and especially as you say be present with them. How many times have we had a conversation with someone who says, Oh yeah, I want to give you my full attention and then their phone buzzes, what are they doing they're looking at their phone and the Phone takes precedent that's not being present, would you agree? Absolutely you have to be 100% Present. Part of it is eye contact, you know, if you're not looking at somebody in the eye if they're constantly looking down. I remember the first time I ever saw an Apple Watch, the person I was with he kept looking at his wrist, I'm like, Am I that boring. That's all I kept thinking, I must be so boring because keeps looking at his watch, and he finally said to me, Oh, this is the new Apple watch, like, Okay, and what does it do and he told me I'm like okay so even worse. Now you're telling me what you're doing. So you have to be present with somebody, there's, you have to make sure that what they need from you, you have in those moments, you know, even if it's five minutes, it doesn't matter. We have a role in my home that you cannot have any kind of electronics at the table for a meal. I don't care. My children are grown, they know it. And so, You know, it's no more like Oh Come on mom really, no. Because even if it's only a few minutes, you learn so much from each other, you get to share your day get to share the good the bad the ugly so doesn't matter you just want to be present, there's nothing more that's it's a gift, it really is. That's why they call it the present app so it's a good way to put it I really like that I'm gonna remember that one too. Please enjoy additional episodes at: https://petealexander.com/podcast/ Connect with Professor Pete on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petealexander

Did you know that in order to lead well, you need to follow well? 6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 299: In order to lead well, you need to follow well. Wise words from Elzie Flenard, CEO and Founder of Podcast Town. Please enjoy additional episodes at: https://petealexander.com/podcast/ Connect with Professor Pete on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petealexander

Did you know that the key to connecting with others is self-awareness? 6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 298: Successful business leaders connect with others through self-awareness. Wise words from Benny Mathew, Founder of Orion3. Please enjoy additional episodes at: https://petealexander.com/podcast/ Connect with Professor Pete on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petealexander

Did you know that grit is the least sexy but the most important skill?  6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 297: Successful business leaders understand that grit is the least sexy but the most important skill. Wise words from Alan Lazaros, Host of Next Level University. Please enjoy additional episodes at: https://petealexander.com/podcast/ Connect with Professor Pete on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petealexander

Do you tap into your curiosity to increase sales? 6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 296: Successful business leaders tap into their curiosity to increase sales. Wise words from Gail Robertson, Chief Curiosity Officer at GailNow. Please enjoy additional episodes at: https://petealexander.com/podcast/ Connect with Professor Pete on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petealexander

Do you know which 5 should be closest to you?  6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 295: Successful business leaders know which 5 should be closest to them. Wise words from EA Csolkovits, Founder of Givers University.

Did you know you were born rich, and it begins in the boardroom of your mind? 6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 294: Successful business leaders realize that they were born rich, and it begins in the boardroom of their mind. Wise works from Tanya Pluckrose, Prosperity and Potentiality Coach.

Do you always ask yourself why you started your business? 6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 293: Successful business leaders always ask why they started their business. Wise words from Ori Dror, Sales Funnel and Processes Expert at Sales Charm for Businesses.

Do you develop your people to lead, grow and increase their influence? 6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 292: Successful business leaders develop their people to lead, grow and increase their influence. Wise words from Tom Lawrence, Author of "Manager To Leader" and Thought Leader at HighlyEffectiveLeader.com

Do you do this one thing to build trust in your organization? 6 questions. 7 minutes. Pure insights. Episode 291: Successful business leaders do this one thing to build trust in their organizations. Wise words from LoRen Greiff, Founder & President of Portforliorocket.