How to Be Awesome at Your Job

Molly Fletcher, the sports agent known as “the female Jerry Maguire,” shares key ingredients to stardom gleaned from her experience working with superstar athletes and business folk.

You’ll Learn:

1. Two key practices Molly sees in all her star athletes that make them great
2. The critical trait needed to maintaining strong workplace relationships
3. A simple trick to use in negotiations to make them less nerve-wracking and more successful

About Molly

Dubbed by CNN “the female Jerry Maguire,” Fletcher rose to the top of a male-dominated field to become a leading ($500 million lifetime contracts) sports agent with unique access to hundreds of successful athletes, coaches, and broadcasters across the sports of baseball, basketball, football, and more. Whether at the contract negotiation table with a team’s top brass or behind the scenes with her players, Fletcher is keenly positioned to spot patterns in peak performers. She’s the author of three books, founder of the Betterment institute, and a sought-after speaker.

Items Mentioned in this Show:

• Website: MollyFletcher.com
• Book: The Business of Being the Best by Molly Fletcher
• Book: A Winner’s Guide to Negotiating by Molly Fletcher
• Coach: Tom Izzo
• Coach: Doc Rivers
• Golf teacher: Butch Harmon
• Baseball pitcher: John Smoltz
• Journalist: Jim Lehrer
• Institute: Human Performance Institute
• Author/speaker: Jon Gordon
• Author/speaker: Patrick Lencioni
• Author/speaker: Tim Ferriss
• Author/speaker: Brené Brown
• Book: On Target Living by Chris Johnson
• Author: Shawn Achor

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep68

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Blogger Joanna Jast shares best practices for boosting your brain’s performance.

You’ll Learn:

1. The optimal surroundings for optimal productivity
2. Quick hacks for improving your focus 
3. How our brains are wired to absorb information

About Joanna

Joanna Jast is the author of Laser-Sharp Focus and a top mental performance seeker. She uses her medical background and low-tolerance for fluff to find proven ways of accelerating learning and personal growth. Her mission is to help people achieve professional and educational success faster.

Items Mentioned in this Show:

• Website: Shape Shifters Club by Joanna Jast
• Joanna on Quora
• Book: Laser Sharp Focus by Joanna Jast
• Book: Brain Rules by John Medina
• Book: Getting Things Done by David Allen 
• Book: Smart Cuts by Shane Snow

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep67

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

“Chief Galvanizer” Patrick Galvin offers philosophies and pro-tips for building a powerful network.

You’ll Learn:

1. Approaches to asking great questions for relationship building
2. An overlooked social media tool that can epicly enrich your network
3. The benefits of developing a “methodology of gratitude”

About Patrick

Patrick Galvin, chief galvanizer of The Galvanizing Group, is a dynamic speaker and business coach who galvanizes audiences and inspires people to achieve big goals. He has received accolades for his speaking presentations to companies and associations in the United States, Canada, Latin America and Europe covering a variety of marketing-related topics.

He’s the author of The Connector’s Way: A Story About Building Business One Relationship at a Time. Patrick teaches business professionals how to succeed using simple yet effective ways to cultivate relationships in the real world and online.

Items Mentioned in this Show:

• Website: patrickgalvin.com
• Podcast: The Art of Likability by Arel Moodie
• Book: Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi
• Online greeting system: SendOutCards
• Book: The Go-Giver by Bob Burg & John David Mann
• Book: The Face-to-Face Book by Brad Fay & Ed Keller
• Book: Go for No by Andrea Waltz & Richard Fenton
• App: Insight Timer
• Software: Zoho CRM

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep66

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Executive coach MJ Ryan shows how to use mantras to retrain the brain to establish better habits and responses.

You’ll Learn:

1. How to identify unconscious behaviors and what to do to overcome them
2. The worst mental habit in the workplace to break right away
3. An approach to developing your own game-changing personal mantras

About MJ

MJ is an executive coach to senior executives and entrepreneurs around the world. She combines a practical approach with methodologies from neuroscience, positive psychology and asset-focused learnings to help clients and readers more easily meet their goals.

She is a partner with the Levo League career network and the lead venture coach at SheEO, an organization offering a new funding and support model for female entrepreneurs. She’s the founder of Conari Press, creator of the New York Times bestselling Random Acts of Kindnessseries, and author of many books including her latest Habit Changers: 81 Game-Changing Mantras to Mindfully Realize Your Goals. 

Items Mentioned in this Show:

• Book: Habit Changers by MJ Ryan
• Professor: Barbara Fredrickson
• Therapist: Dr. John Gottman
• Book: Random Acts of Kindness by The Editors of Conari Press
• Book: Traction by Gino Wickman
• App: Just Reminder
• Website: MJ-Ryan.com

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep64

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dr. Michelle Reina discusses how to build trust among team members and why it’s so important that we do so. 

You’ll Learn:

1. The three key components that define trust
2. What trusting and untrusting behaviors look like in practice
3. What you can do to identify trusting relationships and develop ones lacking in trust

About Michelle

Dr. Michelle Reina and Dr. Dennis Reina, cofounders of The Reina Trust Building Institute, are leading authorities on helping leaders build, rebuild and sustain trust to produce business results. Over the last 17 years, their research and consulting practice has supported such organizations as American Express, Boeing, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Toyota, Walt Disney World, US Army Chaplaincy, US Dept of Education, Johns Hopkins Medical Center, Harvard & Yale Universities, and many others. Their bestselling work, Trust & Betrayal in the Workplace won the 2007 Nautilus Book Award and the 2008 Axiom Book Award. Rebuilding Trust in the Workplace was awarded the 2011 Axiom Book Award.

Items Mentioned in this Show:

• Website: reinatrustbuilding.com
• Book: Trust & Betrayal in the Workplace: Building Effective Relationships in Your Organization by Dennis Reina and Michelle Reina
• Book: Rebuilding Trust in the Workplace: Seven Steps to Renew Confidence, Commitment, and Energy by Dennis Reina and Michelle Reina

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep62

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coach Craig Ballantyne shares how you can plan the perfect day that will enhance your productivity at work without letting your job take over your daily life.

You’ll Learn:

1. How to plan “the perfect day”
2. A simple time management trick to skyrocket your productivity
3. Approaches to cultivating self-discipline now by creating a vision of your future

About Craig

Craig Ballantyne is a Productivity & Success Transformation Coach from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the author of The Perfect Day Formula: How to Own the Day and Control Your Life. He has been contributing to Men’s Health magazine since 2000, and in 2001, Craig created the popular home workout program, Turbulence Training.

On his journey to success, Craig had to overcome crippling anxiety attacks, and he beat them with his 5 Pillars of Transformation. Today Craig shows men and women how to use the 5 Pillars to lose weight, make more money, and achieve other goals.

You can read his daily essays on success, productivity, and fitness at EarlyToRise.com.

Items Mentioned in this Show:

• Book: The Perfect Day Formula by Craig Ballantyne
• Website: perfectdayformula.com
• Book: The Great Cardio Myth by Craig Ballantyne
• Tool Kit: craigballantyne.com/freegift
• Twitter: craigballantyne
• Book: The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho
• Book: The Art of Living by Sharon Lebell
• App: Freedom

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep61

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Director of Landscape Services at Ole Miss (and author), Jeff McManus offers fresh insights on “growing people.”

You’ll Learn

1. A powerful storytelling approach to connect your team to a larger purpose
2. How to massively stretch the impact of your learning & development dollar
3. Why you might not want to fire that underperformer just yet

About Jeff

Jeff McManus grows things. As the Director of Landscape Services at the University of Mississippi, he grows plants….he grows people….he grows ideas. Taking his grounds staff, affectionately known as “weeders”, and developing them into “leaders” has been a joyous challenge that reaped acres of rewards in the form of national recognition by the Princeton Review, PGMS, Newsweek and every faculty, staff, student and visitor who has walked onto the Ole Miss Campus. Building on that momentum, Jeff has designed a professional development plan for his Weeders called Landscape University – a replicable training program that promotes the individual’s innate ability to GROW.

Jeff has spoken at Caterpillar Inc, the Biltmore Estates, Leadercast, SRAPPA, Trent Lott Leadership Institute as well as the SEC Ole Miss Athletics. He has also worked with Memphis University, the University of Tennessee, the University of Georgia and private firms in developing their own training programs.

Items Mentioned in This Episode

• Authors and Motivational Speakers: John Maxwell, Zig Ziglar, Les Brown, Stephen Covey, Napoleon Hill
• Program: Landscape University
• Book: Pruning Like A Pro by Jeff McManus
• App: Slack
• Website: jeffmcmanusspeaking.com
• Twitter: @JeffMcManus
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jeff-mcmanus-073b108

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep59

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Meeting enthusiast and Engineering Program Manager John Poelstra shares how to give your meetings a needed boost.

You’ll learn:

1. When you do vs. don’t need a meeting
2. How to “blame the agenda” to advance your agenda
3. The CAT and WOOT frameworks for developing excellent meeting agendas

About John

John Poelstra is a Manager on the Engineering Program team at Red Hat, Inc., the world’s most successful open source software company. John is passionate about facilitating the best project meetings and he wants to help you do the same. He gets great satisfaction from bringing order to chaos and clarity to confusion so that owners can thrive. John achieves this using tools from a variety of disciplines including a current favorite, Trello.

Items mentioned in the show:

• Website: johnpoelstra.com
• Open source platform: Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Open source online editor: Etherpad
• Collaborative text editor: Gobby
• Business meeting platform: Lucid Meetings
• Cloud-based video conferencing: BlueJeans
• Book: Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep58

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Recovering procrastinator and professional speaker Rita Emmett lays out a handy framework for overcoming procrastination in the heat of the moment.

You’ll learn:

1. How to tackle the fears that breed procrastination
2. Approaches to turn procrastination into prioritization
3. The 5-step STING method to overcoming procrastination

About Rita

Rita Emmett was once The World’s Greatest Procrastinator. Then she converted and is now a “Recovering Procrastinator”.

She is also a professional speaker, and author of: The Procrastinator’s Handbook, The Clutter-Busting Handbook, and Manage Your Time To Reduce Your Stress. The books have sold over 300K copies in 42 countries, garnering Rita hundreds of media appearances, including Katie Couric.

Rita’s customized presentations cover Procrastination, Clutter, Customer Loyalty, Burn-out, and Communication Skills have helped hundreds of organizations improve their performance, productivity and profitability, and head off burnout before it starts. Her clients include AT&T, Kraft Food, Mercedes Benz, Met Life, and The National Kidney Foundation.

She emails a free monthly “ANTICRASTINATION Tip Sheet” available at www.RitaEmmett.comwith tips and ideas to help people blast away the procrastination habit.

Items Mentioned in this Podcast

• Podcast: Episode 32 with Chris Bailey
• Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
• Book: Farkle Shark You Are Not Stupid by Rita Emmett
• Book: The Procrastinator’s Handbook by Rita Emmett
• Book: The Procrastinating Child by Rita Emmett
• Book: The Clutter-Busting Handbook by Rita Emmett
• Book: Manage Your Time To Reduce Your Stress by Rita Emmett
• Website: http://www.ritaemmett.com/
• Email: REmmett412@aol.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ritaemmett.author/

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep56

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Amanda Mitchell, the founder of OurCorporateLife.com, shares hidden sources of workplace politics that may hinder productivity — and how you can prevent it.

You’ll learn:

1. Approaches to identify and eliminate unnecessary suffering at work
2. How to deal with “pot-stirrers” at your job
3. The importance of focusing on your agenda before anyone else’s

About Amanda

Amanda is an executive coach and strategist specializing in helping senior executives deal with disruptive drama within their teams.

An advertising agency veteran, she experienced first-hand the business implications of corporate drama both with her Fortune 500 clients and within the Manhattan ad agency she led.

A practical problem solver, she founded Our Corporate Life (www.ourcorporatelife.com) to help executives solve the problems no one wants to deal with.

She has been published in Bloomberg Businessweek and quoted in Fast Company, CNBC.com, and Monster.com. She lives in New Jersey (aka the Land of Enchantment!) with her family.

Items Mentioned

• Website: OurCorporateLife.com
• Author: Jim Rohn
• Book: Conscious Business by Fred Kofman
• App: Hemingwayapp.com

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep51

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

James E. Lukaszewski, the man known as America’s Crisis Guru, shares how to handle and resolve crises within organizations from a strategic perspective. 

You’ll learn:

1. The power of being a strategist and thinking differently than everyone else

2. The 7 disciplines of being a trusted advisor

3. The 3 steps to giving impactful 3-minute advice

About James

James (Jim) E. Lukaszewski is one of America’s most visible corporate go-to people for senior executives when there is trouble in the room or on the horizon. As America’s Crisis Guru®, He has been recognized for lifetime achievement in his profession by most of the major public relations organizations in the United States. He served for 22 years on the Public Relations Society of America’s Board of Ethics and Professional Standards (BEPS) and is now its first Emeritus member. He has written twelve books, including Why Should The Boss Listen to You,and hundreds of articles.

Items mentioned in the show:

• Book: Why Should the Boss Listen to You? by James E. Lukaszewski
• Jim’s website: www.e911.com
• Jim on LinkedIn

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep50

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Executive development consultant Brook Manville shares how creatively collaborate with others to solve problems that keep evolving.

You’ll learn:

1. How to deal with “wicked problems”

2. How to channel your imagination for extra creativity

3. What the “trap of advocacy” is — and why you should avoid it

About Brook

Brook Manville is Principal of Brook Manville LLC, providing consulting and executive development on strategy and organization. He publishes on leadership, networks, and learning communities at Forbes and elsewhere. He coaches leaders on their organizational effectiveness, in the context of a hyperconnected world. He’s a former Partner in McKinsey & Company’s Organization Practice (and the firm’s first Director of Knowledge Management). He’s held senior positions at Saba Software and United Way of America. His first job was as an assistant professor of history at Northwestern University, teaching and publishing on classical Greek democracy. He’s a graduate of Yale and Oxford. Brook and his family live in metro Washington, D.C.

View transcript, show notes, and links at http://AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep48

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Architect and author Leigh Stringer shares how to adjust your workspace to enhance your performance.

You’ll learn:

1. The powerful connection between relaxation and creativity

2. What “biophilia” means and how it can improve your performance

3. The difference between good workers and great workers we learned from athletes

About Leigh

Leigh Stringer, LEED AP, is a workplace strategy expert and researcher whose work has been covered by national media, including CNN, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and Good Morning America. She works for EYP, an architecture, engineering and building technology firm. She is the author of the book The Healthy Workplace: How to Improve the Well-Being of Your Employees—and Boost Your Company’s Bottom Line and lives with her husband and two daughters in Washington, DC.

View transcript, show notes, and links at http://AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep47

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Inventor extraordinaire Afif Ghannoum shares tactics for conceiving, testing, and selling great ideas.

You’ll learn:

1. The conditions necessary for creativity to flourish

2. How to successfully borrow, tweak, and validate ideas from giants

3. The three credibilities you need for a compelling story

About Afif

Afif Ghannoum is the founder of NapkinToShelf.com. He is a formerly frustrated lawyer, who has launched over ten products that have sold in over 27,000 stores and online. Afif also has two patents, licensed technology to a large pharma company for a product sold in tens of thousands of stores in multiple countries, and has raised nearly $9 Million (and counting) in venture funding.

View transcript, show notes, and links at http://AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep46

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Leadership thinker/author/speaker/consultant Emmanuel Gobillot lays out how people really work best together.

You’ll learn:

1. What charisma actually is and how to project it

2. When collaboration is ideal vs. inappropriate

3. The four steps to collaborative success

About Emmanuel

Emmanuel Gobillot is one of Europe’s most sought-after leadership speakers and has been described as ‘the first leadership guru for the digital generation’ and ‘the freshest voice in leadership today’, He is the author of Kogan Page’s UK and US bestsellers The Connected Leader, Leadershift, and Follow The Leader. His new book Disciplined Collaborationprovides further insight into new leadership and organizational models. He is the founder of leadership development consultancy Emmanuel Gobillot Limited and co-founder of Collaboration Partners, a boutique consultancy specializing in helping organizations release the value of collaboration.

View transcript, show notes, and links at http://AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep45

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Legendary vocal coach Renee Grant-Williams offers powerful tactics for making your voice make a bigger impression.

You will learn:

1. The most powerful and underutilized speaking tools

2. Why Renee is “obsessed with consonants”

3. Benefits of incorporating silence into speeches and negotiations

About Renee

Renee Grant-Williams is a vocal coach to hundreds of successful singers including legends like Keith Urban, Miley Cyrus, Tim McGraw, Christina Aguilera, and Garth Brooks. She’s the author of Voice Power: Using Your Voice to Captivate, Persuade, and Command Attention. She lives in Nashville, TN and I’ve personally found her quite helpful in our voice lessons.

Items mentioned in the show:

• Stanford University Artificial Intelligence Research Center
• “We Built This City” by Starship
• Renee’s website

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep43

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Popular productivity blogger Ben Elijah of inkandben.com fame teaches how to form effective habits and provides pro-tips on determining optimal contexts to rock your to-do list.

You’ll learn:

1) The importance of context in your day-to-day to-do list, and how you can use it most effectively

2) How Ben jots down ideas while in the shower (and now I do too)

3) How to ingrain new habits by using the habit loop

About Ben

Author of The Productivity Habits, Ben studies how our relationship with information affects the way we live and work. As a writer who straddles science and the arts, Ben has a uniquely analytical approach to problems such as information overload, life goals, and well-being.

Items Mentioned in the Show

• Ben Elijah’s book, The Productivity Habits
• Getting Things Done by David Allen
• AquaNotes
• The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
• John Cleese’s speech on creativity
• Ben Elijah’s website
• The discovery of the Higgs Boson particle
• 1984 by George Orwell
• Politics and the English Language by George Orwell
• Ben Elijah’s twitter

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep42

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Business communication guru Casey Hawley shares tips and tricks for delicate conversations around the office.

You’ll learn:

1. How to deal with your ‘dragons’

2. Key words and phrases for dealing with a bad boss.

3. How to enroll others in mentoring you and championing your ideas

About Casey

Casey Hawley teaches at Georgia State University and has consulted clients such as the NFL, Department of the Interior, and over a dozen Fortune 500 corporations on communication. She conducts workshops on writing and speaking for professionals.

Items mentioned in the show:

• Casey’s book, 100 Plus Tactics for Office Politics
• The Greatest Management Principle in the World by Michael Leboeuf
• Casey’s email

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep40

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Author William Poundstone discusses the importance of knowledge in your head the modern era.

You’ll learn:

1. Why it’s important to still have general knowledge in the era of Google

2. Why those who listen to podcasts tend to be the most informed people of all 😉

3. It’s nearly impossible for humans to be unpredictable.

About William

William Poundstone is the author of 15 books, including Fortune’s Formula, which was named Amazon Editors’ pick for #1 Nonfiction Book of the year. He has written for The New York Times Book Review, Village Voice, Esquire, Harpers, The Believer, The Economist, and Harvard Business Review. Poundstone lives in Los Angeles.

Items mentioned in the show:

• William’s latest book Head in the Cloud and Rock Breaks Scissors
• Dunning Kruger Effect
• The Confidence Man by Herman Melville
• Wizard For Statistics
• William’s Website

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep39

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Professor Michael Marquardt explains how great questions make for great leadership.

You’ll learn:

1. How to use questions to solve problems and build relationships
2. What makes a question great
3. How to avoid disempowering questions

About Mike

Dr. Michael Marquardt is a senior consultant with Aspire Consulting, Professor of Human Resource Development and International Affairs, and Program Director of Overseas Programs at George Washington University. Mike also serves as President of the World Institute for Action Learning.

He has held a number of senior management, training, and marketing positions in major organizations. Dr. Marquardt has trained more than 100,000 managers in nearly 150 countries. He’s consulted many major organizations such as Microsoft, United Nations Development Program, Samsung, Singapore Airlines, and the governments of Indonesia, Zambia, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Honduras, Swaziland, and many others.

Mike is the author of 24 books and over 100 professional articles in the fields of leadership, learning, globalization, and organizational change. He has received the International Practitioner of the Year Award from the American Society for Training and Development.

Items Mentioned in the Show:

• Center for Creative Leadership Study
• Mike’s book, Leading With Questions
• The World Institute For Action Learning

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Old friend and Team Clock originator Steve Ritter shares his experiences on the key differentiators of toxic vs. healthy teams… and key steps for making the leap.

You’ll learn:

1. Why strategic planning is often a monumental failure

2. The pillars of Ritter’s Team Clock model for successful teaming

3. Common behaviors that cause dysfunction in teams –and how to correct them

About Steve

Steve Ritter has served as a human resources leader, teacher, author, and consultant. He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the Founder and CEO of the Team Clock Institute, the Managing Director of the Midwest Institute & Center for Workplace Innovation, and the author of Team Clock: A Guide to Breakthrough Teams and Useful Pain: Why Your Relationships Need Struggle. Steve is on the faculty of the Center for Professional Excellence at Elmhurst. He is the former Senior Vice President and Director of Human Resources at Leaders Bank, which won the #1 Best Place to Work in Illinois in 2006 the APA’s Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award in 2010. Steve consults organizations including Kraft Foods, Kellogg’s, Advocate Health Care, the Chicago White Sox, Northwestern Mutual, the Illinois Hospital Association, and Starcom Worldwide.

Items Mentioned

• Team Clock Website
• Team Clock Manual
• Steve’s book, Team Clock
• Steve’s book, Useful Pain
• What to Do When it’s Your Turn by Seth Godin

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep36

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Lee Caraher separates fact from fiction when it comes to millennials, and discusses how to work through intergenerational conflict.

You’ll learn:

1) Just what defines a millennial, exactly? And why do 72% of us reject the label?

2) What’s actually different about millennials vs. traditional generational bashing?

3) How to coordinate well cross-generationally.

About Lee

Lee Caraher started Double Forte in 2002 to work with good people, doing great work for good companies. Her friends and colleagues call her “The Millennial Whisperer.”

After struggling with how to work well with Millennial clients and now staffers (more than half of Lee’s staff is under 35) and then working to figure out how to make that work, Lee has written a positive and practical book about the topic, “Millennials & Management: The Essential Guide to Making it Work at Work.”

She served as the Vice President of Corporate and Consumer Communications at the $1.6 Billion SEGA of America—their youngest US VP. She then served as Executive Vice President of The Weber Group and Founder and President of Red Whistle Communications, both Interpublic companies. Lee is active in the community and currently serves on numerous boards.

A graduate of Carleton College, with a degree in Medieval History, which she finds useful every day, Lee lives on the Peninsula with her husband, two sons, and their blind cat Al.

Items Mentioned in the Show

• Educational Resource, Khan Academy
• Primal Leadership by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee
• Lee Caraher’s book, Millennials & Management
• Lee Caraher’s Website
• Lee Caraher’s Twitter feed

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep35

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Globetrotting trainer Kevan Hall shares how to minimize waste and frustration in work environments complicated by multiple bosses, countries, and priorities.

You’ll learn:

1) The “star vs spaghetti” perspective to minimize unnecessary meeting attendance

2) Approaches to getting needed clarity at work 

3) Frameworks for quickly sizing up and adapting to cultures

About Kevan

Kevan is CEO of Global Integration and author of the books “Making the Matrix Work: How Matrix Managers Engage People and Cut Through Complexity” and “Speed Lead: Faster, Simpler Ways to Manage People, Projects and Teams in Complex Companies.” He is the author of the “Life in a Matrix” blog, videos and podcasts. 

As an experienced corporate line manager he spent 14 years leading teams in manufacturing operations, HR, and strategic & market planning in the Telecoms & FMCG sectors. He has lived in the UK and France and worked around the world. 

As an entrepreneur, he has founded, built and runs Global Integration, a group of companies based in Europe, USA and Asia and operating worldwide.

The companies have consulted with more than 300 of the world’s leading companies (including PepsiCo, GE, Walmart, Johnson & Johnson, Morgan Stanley, W. L Gore, Abbott, Samsung and Vodafone) around the world and delivered over 100,000 participant days of training in the skills of working in matrix, virtual and global organizations.

Items Mentioned in the Show

• Kevin’s book, Making the Matrix Work
• Kevin’s book, Speed Lead
• Riding the Waves of Culture by Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampton-Turner
• Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
• Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting out of the Box by The Arbinger Institute
• Kevan’s website, Global Integration
• Kevan’s Twitter feed

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep34

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

User Experience designer and recovering alcoholic Victor Yocco speaks about habit formation–good and bad. 

You’ll Learn:

1. Victor’s personal story and implications for forming effective habits and breaking ineffective ones

2. The power of teaming up with others to achieve your ambitions

3. How to use a design approach to construct and reach your career goals

About Victor

Victor is a Philadelphia-based research director, author, and speaker. He received his PhD from The Ohio State University, where he studied communication and psychology. Victor regularly writes and speaks on the application of psychology to design and addressing the design and tech culture of promoting alcohol use. He has written for A List Apart, Smashing Magazine, UX Booth, User Experience Magazine (UXPA) and many more. He is the author of Design for the Mind, a book from Manning Publications on the application of principles of psychology to design.

Items mentioned in the show:

• Victor’s book, Design for the Mind – enter the discount code yoccopcycp for 39% off. Thanks Victor!
• Online publication A List Apart
• Smashing magazine
• Online publication UX Booth
• User Experience magazine
• Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky’s study on Prospect Theory
• Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
• The Slack messaging app
• Victor’s Twitter feed
• Victor’s LinkedIn page
• Victor’s email

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep33

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Executive coach Julia Atkinson shares her experiences coaching teams across three different continents, and provides insight into how to thrive when cultures collide. 

You’ll learn:

1. The differences between Eastern and Western styles of communication

2. A quick rundown of the four different Myers-Briggs preferences, from ENFJ to ISTP

3. What is “Guanxi”? A Chinese word that worldview implications worldwide

About Julia

Julia Atkinson is an Executive Coach with more than 8 years experience of living and working in China before taking her business to the US, Chicago. 10 years of leading teams in Multinationals in IT and Telecommunication give her first hand corporate know-how. Julia uses an interactive coaching process to help clients attain awareness of deeply rooted beliefs and values and related behaviors. From that awareness, she helps them identify and implement shifts that will effect lasting change where they want it.

Items mentioned in the show:

• The Diamond Cutter by Geshe Michael Roach and Lama Christie McNally
• Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying: An Exploration of Consciousness by the Dalai Lama
• The Biology of Belief by Dr. Bruce H. Lipton
• Myers-Briggs Workshop
• Myers-Briggs preferences cheatsheet
• Ideapod
• Julia’s LinkedIn page
• Julia’s website
• More reflection on guanxi

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep31

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Human Resources uber-guru Rita Trehan shares anecdotes from her years of experience helping HR professionals grow and succeed, and talks about how we can maximize our full potential at work.

You’ll learn

1) The positive benefits of acknowledging the ‘elephant in the room’

2) Tips for giving effective and constructive feedback to others

3) The truth about what goes on in the HR department at the office

About Rita

Ranked among the Top 100 Human Resources Officers, Rita has helped improve performance at organizations such as Honeywell, AES Corporation, Coca-Cola and the World Bank. She’s a regular contributor to the Washington Post and numerous journals including Forbes magazine. She recently authored the book Unleashing Capacity: The Hidden Human Resources.

View transcript, show notes, links, and more at http://AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep28.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Author and consultant James Sudakow takes a sledgehammer of silliness to corporate jargon to help boost your credibility and relatability in corporate communications.

You’ll learn:

1) Why do we do this jargon in the first place?

2) How the use of such jargon can actually damage our credibility and make people take us less seriously

3) Some key phrases to avoid right away–and what to use in their place

About James

James Sudakow is the author of Picking the Low-Hanging Fruit… and Other Stupid Stuff We Say in the Corporate World (Purple Squirrel Media, February 2016). He serves as the principal of CH Consulting, Inc., a boutique management and organizational effectiveness consulting practice he founded in 2010. Sudakow specializes in helping companies manage organizational transformation, create talent management strategies and programs that maximize employee capabilities and improve business performance. Before starting his own consultancy, James held leadership roles in several global multibillion-dollar organizations across the technology and health care industries.

Items mentioned in the show:

• James’s hilarious book Picking the Low-Hanging Fruit
• James’s website: jamessudakow.com
• Research on The God Particle
• Book: “F in Exams“

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep27

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Master facilitator Tim Hurson shares some of his favorite insights and approaches for creativity and problem-solving.

You’ll learn:

1) The know-wonder and GPS tools for sparking additional creative ideas

2) The mighty benefits of the “third third” when coming up with creative ideas

3) A wonderfully obvious secret of productivity

Tim Hurson is a founding partner of thinkx intellectual capital (www.thinkxic.com), a firm that provides global corporations with training, facilitation, and consultation in productive thinking and innovation. He’s both a faculty member and Trustee of the Creative Education Foundation, and a founding director of Facilitators Without Borders.

Tim thinks the phrase “out of the box thinking” should be put back in the box and buried in a deep hole.

Items mentioned in the show: 

• Facilitators Without Borders
• Think Better by Tim Hurson
• Never Be Closing by Tim Hurson
• Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono
• Goran Ekvall’s work on organizational creativity
• The City & The City by China Mieville
• TimHurson.com
• Mindcamp.org creativity retreat

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep26

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

“Competition” within an organization is often frowned upon, but “workplace provocateur” Dan Rust discusses the benefits and tactics associated with competition, politics and more.

You’ll learn:

1) When internal competitiveness can be positive for an organization

2) A secret tip for crushing your next yearly performance review

3) The massive benefits of bringing just a little bit more energy to each work day

About Dan

Dan Rust is the founder of Frontline Learning, an international publisher of corporate training resources. His award-winning keynote speeches and workshops focus on employee engagement, productivity, and career management. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He’s the author of Workplace Poker: Are You Playing the Game, or Just Getting Played?

Items mentioned in the show: 

• Workplace Poker: Are You Playing the Game, or Just Getting Played? by Dan Rust
• Workplacepoker.com
• Workplace Poker blog
• Frontline Learning
• Mastery by George Leonard
• Evernote app

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep25

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Entrepreneur and app developer Anshul Bhagi introduces Ummo, a powerful app for public speakers, and the lessons learned along the process of making it.

You’ll learn:

1) How the new speech-coaching app Ummo can enhance your speaking

2) When the use of filler words is helpful

3) What is “upspeak” and its implications on how you’re perceived

About Anshul

Anshul Bhagi is a 2017 Harvard MBA with an undergrad and Masters in Computer Science from MIT. Previously, Anshul did PM and development at Microsoft / Apple / Google, spent two years at McKinsey & Company, and founded education startup CampK12 to teach kids in India to code. Together with his Harvard / MIT classmates Yasmin, Andrea, Sam, Damola, and Sinchan, he is building Ummo, a personalized speech coaching app (available for download here).

Items mentioned in the show:

• Camp K12
• Ummo app – they want your feedback! hello@ummoapp.com
• The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
• Ummo app’s Facebook page

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep24

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Michael Kerr shows us how to see the humor in our daily work frustrations, and the benefits it brings for long-term success.

You’ll learn:

1) The critical link between humor and creativity

2) How to turn a stressful situation into something humorous with the three R’s (reframe, reward, relax)

3) Approaches to building a humor“first-aid” kit

About Michael

Michael is listed as one of Canada’s most in-demand speakers. He is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), best-selling author, and one of only 22 speakers to be inducted into the Canadian Speakers’ Hall of Fame. Building on his experience as a “recovering senior manager,” Michael travels the world researching, writing, and speaking about what makes a great workplace,well…great! He is known as one of North America’s leading authorities on how to create a more positive and inspiring workplace: the kind of workplace that drives phenomenal success.

Items mentioned in the show: 

• Michael’s website, mikekerr.com
• The Humor Advantage by Michael Kerr
• Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep23

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Former marketing VP and current speaker/author Catherine Kaputa discusses strategies for developing and communicating your personal brand at the workplace.

You’ll learn:

1) How smart elevator conversations can catapult your career

2) Approaches to take the ‘work’ out of networking

3) Techniques to subtly communicate your value

About Catherine

Catherine Kaputa is a personal brand strategist, speaker and author of the newly released “Graduate to a Great Career: How Smart Students, New Graduates and Young Professionals Can Launch Brand You” (graduatetoagreatcareer.com). She is also the author of the best-selling” You Are a Brand,” now out in ten languages. She is the founder of SelfBrand (selfbrand.com). Previously, she served as a Senior Vice President and Director of global branding/advertising on Wall Street.

Items mentioned in the show: 

• selfbrand.com 
• Graduate to a Great Career by Catherine Kaputa
• You Are a Brand! by Catherine Kaputa
• Entourage clip – Vincent Chase is a brand video clip
• George Costanza – call me T-bone video clip
• Catherine’s Twitter page
• The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
• The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu
• Beauty effect research

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep22

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How do you make an email stand out amid overflowing inboxes? Chief Marketing Sumo and email expert Alex Berman teaches how to craft effective emails that get responses.

You’ll learn:

1) How to send cold emails, without being a spammer

2) How to zero in on a recipient’s email address

3) Best practices in customization, subject lines, and openers to ensure your email gets read

About Alex

Alex Berman is the Chief Marketing Sumo for InspireBeats and is responsible for generating over $20 million dollars in B2B leads this year. He and the team at InspireBeats have sent over 1 million cold emails to funded startups and software as a service companies in the last two years.

Items mentioned in the show: 

• Streak (CRM for gmail)
• Yesware
• Quickmail.io
• Sidekick chrome extension
• The Pratfall Effect 
• Rapportive
• Pete Holmes “You Make it Weird” featuring Zach Galifianakis
• Call Me Ted by Ted Turner
• Grant Cardone’s YouTube channel
• Gary Vaynerchuk’s YouTube channel
• Kevin Smith’s SModcast
• TextEdit
• Rocketship.fm
• Inspirebeats.com
• Alex’s YouTube channel

View transcript, show notes, and links at https://awesomeatyourjob.com/ep21

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Living for a century will soon become the norm. Psychologist Lynda Gratton explains how this new found longevity will alter the stages of life, and what this means for your career.

You’ll learn:

1) The massive implications a 100-year life has on your career strategy

2) The importance of spending time with people at different ages

3) An easy tool that allows you to step back and ‘audit’ your own intangible assets, at any point in your career

About Lynda

Lynda Gratton is a Professor of Management Practice at London Business School where she directs the world’s leading program on human resources. Her eight books cover topics related to the impact of a changing world on employment and work. In 2012, her book The Shift received the business book of the year award in Japan and has been translated into more than 15 languages. Lynda has been named one of the top 50 management thinkers in the world.

Items mentioned in the show: 

• The 100 Year Life: Navigating Our Future Work Life by Lynda Gratton & Andrew Scott
• The Shift: The Future of Work is Already Here by Lynda Gratton
• Diagnostic self-audit of assets
• 100yearlife.com
• Must Success Cost So Much? by Paul Evans
• Stewart Friedman, author
• Carl Jung, author & psychologist
• Lynda Gratton on Twitter

View transcript, show notes, and links at http://AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep20

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaker/author and fellow career podcast host Arel Moodie teaches us the do’s and don’t’s for how to be well liked in all areas of life.

— YOU'LL LEARN —

1) A quick way to craft texts or emails into more likable, powerful messages

2) The power of a smile, and the impact it can have on people remembering you

3) Easy ways to make people around you feel special every day

Subscribe or visit AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep19 for clickable versions of the links below. 

— ABOUT AREL —

Arel Moodie has given the TEDx talk on Likability and wrote the Forbes article on the subject. Arel has been quoted in The New York Times, Businessweek and USA Today. He’s given presentations to over 255,000 people in 48 states and 5 countries. Arel Moodie was named to Inc. Magazine’s prestigious “30 Under 30” list. Arel Moodie was personally acknowledged by President Obama two years in a row for his work as a leader in America and has been a featured speaker at the White House. He’s was selected as one of the 100 world “Leaders of Tomorrow” by the St. Gallen Symposium, an international organization in Switzerland.

• Arel’s website: arelmoodie.com

• Arel's website: artoflikability.com

• Arel’s Facebook page 

— RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW — 

• Show: The Ellen DeGeneres Show

• Book: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini

• Book: Leadership and Self Deception: Getting Out of the Box by The Arbinger Institute

• Video: Key & Peele “Text Message Confusion” (NSFW, numerous f-bombs)

• Article: Gallup poll about workplace satisfaction

• Study: Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman feedback study

• Book: The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz

• Website: truespeakingsuccess.com

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.