Closing The Gap With Denise Cooper

Are you afraid to give your team your best?In this episode, we interview Kyle Mcdowell, author of Begin With WE: 10 Principles for Building and Sustaining a Culture of Excellence, on what it really takes to create a culture that is focused on collective success vs. individual wins. This week, we discuss how picking each other up, taking action, making mistakes, and leading by example all works together to create a strong team dynamic. Kyle share strategies on how to establish healthy boundaries and rely on your teammates, even when it feels vulnerable. This episode is perfect for any leader who is ready to build a team that prioritizes the collective over the individual. THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOWWhat does being an authentic leader really mean? [07:20]How might you approach a team member who overcommitted and wasn't able to deliver on what they said they would? [19:20]What is the "Leadership Gap"?[20:30]Everyone has experienced leading when you have a resistor on your team. Can you tell us a story about h

What would you do if you found yourself being slowly bullied out of your organization?Psychometrics is what we call the science of measuring someone's personality in a specific context. What does this mean for you? Personalities and values are all unique to each individual, and when you bring people together for a shared goal, you start to experience the culture of an organization. Psychometric research is focused on assessing people's personalities in a corporation and using that research to draw conclusions about their culture. Even for CEOs and Founders, it can be quite difficult to assess the workplace culture that they are building. This research can also be helpful in identifying organizations that may be prone to "mobbing" behaviors. Mobbing refers to the targetted act of trying to push someone out of an organization. Most often, this happens because a person thinks differently, they represent a change in the status quo, or they're being targetted for being part of a historically marginalized

94% of respondents in a recent study by Bamboo HR think that culture is the most important thing in an organization. Many executives think that if their organization has a good culture, it will result in higher productivity. But when it comes down to it, do we know what "good culture" really is? Can we put our finger on it? "When you start diving into what workplace culture really is, you're going to hear things like, well, it's the way that assignments are rolled out. Are they fair or not fair to everybody? What are the opportunities for advancement, and how do we go about that process? How do employees collaborate?" This week's episode is part of a series where Denise Cooper interviews Pamela Brooks Richards for her take on what it takes to really steer culture change at an organization. If you've been wondering how to THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOWIf you're an executive or an entrepreneur and you're dealing with both people who are working for you, or vendors, etc - how do you make dec

How does the healthcare industry address issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion? Healthcare systems are run on data. This data can include anything from number of falls, number of infections, to how long it takes patients to enter and leave healthcare locations. This data also shows us that the number of wrong site surgeries go up when people don't feel psychologically safe to speak up. There is a direct correlation between the level of trust and safety that people feel at work, and the lived experience of patient outcomes. In this week's episode, EDI expert, Joann Wortham tells us about her experiences in helping healthcare executives address discrimination and inequity in their field. If you've been wondering how you can move the needle and influence patient outcomes for the better, this is the episode for you.THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOWHow did you decide to step out of a lucrative career into the field of EDI (equity, diversity, and inclusion)? [02:26]How can an administration better understan

Allyship produces fair-weather commoraderie. Allegience is about supporting historically marginalized groups, even when it doesn't serve you. In today's episode DEI Strategist, Dethra Giles, talks us through how allyship is not enough when it comes to progressing the DEI movement. Allyship is only present when it's beneficial for the person holding the most privilege to be supporting others. The moment it stops being beneficial, that allyship goes away. The idea of allegiance proclaims something much more holistic. What would unwavering support do for historically marginalized communities in workspaces? What would the impact be on issues like age discrimination? bias based on a person's accent? If you've been wondering how to move DEI efforts from frantic reactions brought on by world events, to a sustained effort that can be maintained over time, this is the episode for you. THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOWDethra Giles talks about her superpower of seeing things in people that they cannot see in themselves [

You know how to prioritize hiring, but do you know how to build a successful talent strategy? How do we want to hire? Who do we want to hire? Who will work successfully? What areas of the organization need the biggest impact in order to grow the company? This week, we Deborah Snow-Walsh will be answering these questions and more. Snow-Walsh's expertise includes consulting for corporations regarding their internal policies, executive search processes, and coaching for leaders. She has been involved with HRPS, and was co-chair of its annual conference and various planning committees. This week's episode is part of a 12-month long series, where Deborah Snow-Walsh will be a repeat guest on the show. Have a question you want her to answer? Drop us a line at denise.cooper@rllessons.com and we'll be sure to answer it later this year. If you're wondering how to positively impact the talent strategy at your organization, this is the episode for you. THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOWWhat is a talent strategy (04:29) How

80% of people prioritize their personal privacy over their organizational security. The average person is overloaded with passwords to remember. What if instead of giving the same old online security training, we started making it about personal privacy? When you think about it, your company has your salary information, your social security details, and your home address, and they have an obligation to make sure it never gets leaked. By talking about data security in terms of personal privacy, you can not only get the ear of the people in your organization - but you can also make your company more secure. We know that people are sick and tired of passwords, each person has upwards of 97 passwords as of 2022. The answer is not to write your password in a book, it's not writing them in an app, or having a browser remember all your passwords. What would it look like to go password-less? With the technology we have available today we can rely on biometrics, multi-factor authentication, and single sign on. In t

How did my Family get into my Office?!What role does your upbringing play in how you address conflict at work? Emotional landmines, abrasive leaders, and lack of emotional intelligence can spell a recipe for disaster in the workplace when left unchecked. This week's guest, Bonnie Artman Fox, shares her experiences as a coach helping leaders develop healthy interpersonal skills to stop dysfunctional workplace relationships. Whether we like it or not, our family dynamics can often come out to play in our work life. However, we can choose to what degree we allow this energy to dictate our actions. If you're wondering how to resolve differences sooner and make work relationships stronger - this is the episode for you. Abrasive leaders exist everywhere, listen in for productive conflict strategies, tips, and inspiration from Bonnie. THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOWWhat do healthy coping skills look like in the workplace? How do I know if I'm in fight/flight/freeze? (8:27) What does H.E.R.O.I.C. leadership look lik

Is your self-talk helping you or hurting you? The way we think about ourselves plays a huge role in the outcomes of our lives. Our behaviors, actions, and non-actions are all influenced by the thoughts we hold about ourselves. The human mind on average thinks of 6,000 individual thoughts in 24 hours. How many of these thoughts are serving you? Our self-awareness and our ability to make decisions is more like a muscle than it is anything else. Willpower is a muscle. Decision-making is a muscle.  Like with any muscle, if you overwork it'll become fatigued. And when it becomes fatigued, it tends not to be able to give you what you need to help you make better decisions or lift the weight of what is happening in front of you. In this week's episode, we have Resilience and Mindset Expert, Chazz Scott on to share his advice on how we can become more self-aware and empowered to change our thoughts, which will change our behavior, which will change our lives. THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOWGive

55% of communication is body language, 38% is tone, only 7% is the words you use.Are you leading deliberately in the workplace? The term deliberate means on purpose, it's an intentional action. And that usually also means that we have considered how we want to show up as a leader in the workplace and we're actively making choices to be aligned with that vision of who we want to be in the workplace, whether that's based on our values, what behaviors we want to be doing.  In this week's episode, Katie McLaughlin, Founder of the McLaughlin Method, talks us through how leaders can use tools like body language, tone, and dialogue to positively impact business results. Katie describes most leaders as people who are "kind of leading by accident and aren't aware first and foremost that they have choice and that they have the ability to affect behavior and affect change. And then secondly, that once they know that they can do that, how do they want to show up? If they've never thought about what

How do you assess your self-awareness as a leader? In this episode we cover, the five fundamental skills all great managers and leaders master, from motivating people to developing self-awareness. We cover three distinct tools at your disposal as a boss—and when to use each. Thrasher also covers proven approaches to the key manager responsibilities, from setting clear goals with employees to keeping people accountable (without becoming the dreading micromanager) to attracting superstars to the team. If you're wondering how to positively influence employee engagement in your organization, this is the episode for you. THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOWWhat should we be training individual contributors for vs. a manager? (12:30) How do you succession plan for an individual contributor moving into a managerial role? (13:46) How can leaders better understand their team's motivations? (21:00) KEEP UP WITH GUESTCheck out Alicia Thrasher's Book, https://www.amazon.com/Managers-Playbook-Exceptional-Management-Competitiv

Do you know your own process for decision-making? ? Do you know how judgment shows up in your thought process? Judgment is human, we don't (yet) live in an AI world, where all decisions are powered by data and statistics. Instead, we're synthesizing information ourselves, often through the lenses of emotion, bias, and past experiences. When you're coming up with solutions to a challenge - do you go with the first solution you come up with? Or do you tend to brainstorm and weigh multiple options? This is an example of practical decision-making strategies. If you're wondering how to positively understand and leverage the judgments you make in strategic decision-making, this is the episode for you. THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOWWhat role does judgment play in our decision-making at work? [3:30] System bias, people bias, and processing bias all play a role in our decision-making. What does that mean? [9:50] When you're a leader, every suggestion you make is going to be picked up by someone in the room as an ac

What does a strong talent strategy look like in 2022 and 2023? It's easy to check skills boxes - it's harder to tell how well someone will adapt, collaborate, and evolve. Will they be able to play well with others in the sandbox of your organization? Some people are great with complex matrix organizations, while others thrive in small businesses. How do you know what your organization needs in terms of game-changing talent? When looking to source new talent, we can start by looking at senior leaders and what they anticipate will be upcoming in terms of people leaving the organization, aging out of the organization, or wanting to grow in the organization. In any business, there are areas of "evergreen" talent. These refer to any areas of the business where we are always looking for talent to drive business and move the needle in a meaningful way. We are always hiring for the next impact player, aka someone who will bring change to the organization. This can mean Heads of Sales, Marketing Leaders, Production M

How do you know if your organization is ready to give peer-to-peer feedback? How does feedback delivery need to be adjusted for remote vs. in person environments? Often times, organizations will launch a new peer-to-peer feedback initiative, without first training employees on what good feedback looks like and feels like. Toxic feedback is much more damaging to workplace morale than a culture where no feedback is given at all. However, we know that once we nail giving and receiving healthy feedback - organizations thrive. If you're wondering how to assess where your organization is at in terms of maturity around peer-to-peer feedback, this is the episode for you. Our host, Denise Cooper is interviewed by Alexa Greer on the ins and outs of feedback best practices to bring feedback conversations from "Ouch" to "Oh my". THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOWHow do you assess if your organization is ready for peer-to-peer feedback? What is your maturity around feedback? [3:55] Skilled feedback vs unskilled feedbac

How would you rate your collaboration skills? Do you have what it takes to "have a vision" and grow into a leader in your line of work? The good news is - we can teach you how to be a leader. In a lot of ways, it's harder to teach someone to be an individual contributor. As an individual contributor, you're hired for the technical skills you bring to the table. Hiring managers look at your resume, and can typically see whether or not you have the skills needed to succeed in the job or not. However, just because someone is an amazing individual contributor does not mean they'll succeed in a leadership role. Great sales people don't always make great managers. In 90% of organizations, the only way you can move up within an organization is by becoming a manager. While you can make a lot of money as an individual contributor, you won't be able to move up without the leadership skills. This week, we interview Deborah Snow-Walsh for her expert take on the future of work. Snow-Walsh's expertise includes consultin

What role does anxiety, hypervigilance, and chronic stress play in the healthcare industry? We are two years away from the beginning of the pandemic, and still no closer to treating healthcare workers in a dignified way. What does work-life balance look like for nurses who are supporting more patients than ever before? How can nurses set boundaries to be able to show up for patients in critical-care scenarios, without burning themselves out? If you're interested in learning how to balance boundaries, find work-life integration, and find sustainability within the healthcare industry, this is the episode for you. In this week's episode Sabrina Runbeck, MPH, MHS, PA-C, Cardiothoracic Surgery Physician Associate discusses what healthy boundaries can look like within the healthcare field. After overcoming burnout working in surgery, she became an International Peak Performance Keynote Speaker and Advisor. Now she empowers ambitious and overwhelmed health practice owners and their team gain back a day per week. He

How do we integrate work-life balance when the workplace is becoming more agile than ever?It's unrealistic to expect others to give us a step-by-step guide onto how to be more productive. Instead, we can look to others for a starting point, a framework, a mindset shift that we can begin applying to our own life. How we do one thing is how we do everything. This isn't another podcast telling you to wake up at 4AM, take a cold shower, and meditate to become a stronger performer. While those things may work, it's more important to identify what resources motivate you to build better habits, what de-motivates you, and so on. If you've been wondering how to approach productivity and performance in a sustainable way, this is the episode for you. In this week's episode, we are joined by our guest guest, Wiley McGraw, the founder of Radical Performance Acceleration. For well over a decade now he’s been behind-the-scenes doing life-altering work with powerful CEOs, Entrepreneurs, Leaders, and Public Figures acceler

How do we have a productive relationship with a colleague once trust has been broken? How do we transition back into a hybrid or in-person environment when virtual work has given us a buffer from a toxic coworker? We always do our best to be nice - but what does "being nice" really mean? Being nice in a toxic situation can have negative effects, all of a sudden we find ourselves rolling our eyes, venting to our friends after work, and giving contemptuous looks to our colleagues When your words and your actions do not align, it can trigger critical or defensive reactions in other people. This causes internal strife that can make it difficult to focus on the work that needs to be done. People pleasing is a sign of a lack of boundaries, and boundaries are what keeps us safe. Doesn't it make sense that when we have weak boundaries, we find ourselves getting upset more often? If you're wondering how to set affirming and manageable boundaries with a toxic colleague or boss, this is the episode for you. THE FINER

As a CEO or Founder - how do you own your professional development?We hear often that as a CEO, it can be challenging to ask for what you want and envision what's possible for the future of your company when your energy is being pulled in multiple directions. In this week's episode we bring on leading-edge Business Strategists to 7-figure Entrepreneurs & CEOs, Neeta Solanki, to share her perspective on how CEOs can elevate their performance and reignite the fire and passion back into their business and life. In this episode, Neeta offers a refreshingly practical blueprint for thinking and acting in environments that are fast-paced, rapidly changing, and highly uncertain. It provides both a guide to energizing the organization to find tomorrow's opportunities and a set of entrepreneurial principles you can use personally to transform the arenas in which you compete. THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOWWhat is the biggest challenge for CEOs and Founders this year? What gets in the way of Strategic planning (c

What role does peer-to-peer learning play in your career development?We recognize that we need a plan to reach out career goals. Our career plans should be ambitious and flexible. However, when we don't plan on becoming leaders, and we find ourselves in our first management role - it can be one of the biggest challenges we take on in our career. Being a leader means it's no longer about solving an individual problem, it becomes about how to lead a highly effective team. Leadership and project management skills benefit all of us, regardless of where we are in our careers. It's never too soon to start learning. In college, we learn formulas, content, and how to create reports. However, leadership has no formulas or cheat-sheets. In this week's episode, learn why peer-to-peer learning is KEY in developing strong leadership skills that can be applied in any number of professional settings. If you're interested in building a peer-to-peer learning group, here is what Mark Herschberg recommends: Build a group of 6