Hear why strategy without accountability doesn&#39;t work! I met Aviva Ajmera when she invited me to speak to her groups of CEOs in Kansas City. We hit it right off and had an exceptional time learning about each other and the type of work we love to do to help companies grow. Working with teams, CIOs, CEOs and C-suite level executives, Aviva knows how to bring out the best in them, their collective wisdom and perspective. She loves to build strategic plans but she also knows that unless you create action plans to go with those strategies, they don’t go anywhere, no matter how great they are. They have to be a product of the organization. Our conversation is full of ideas about how you can build a great strategic plan for your organization, and actually convert it into a business plan that works. Listen and learn! Watch and listen to our conversation here  Three themes we discuss that are very relevant to our listeners  Engage the entire organization in the planning process. They have great ideas. Don’t shut them out. And the plan will be much easier to implement if your teammates are all involved in building it.  Execution must be part of the discussion. As Blue Ocean Strategists, we know how challenging it is to move an organization forward. Don’t make it more difficult. Think carefully about the plan and its implementation at the same time.  Put a planning process in place so you can see progress, celebrate small wins and redirect if necessary. No battleship is ever turned with just an oar.  Connect with Aviva on LinkedIn, her website SoLVE, or via email: viva.ajmera2@gmail.com. Want a strategic plan that will actually stick? Try these suggestions for ideas:  Blog: Everything Is Changing. Is This A Great Time For A Blue Ocean Strategy? Blog: Will You Adapt Or Die? How Cultural Anthropology Can Transform Your Business Strategy Podcast: Mari Ryan—Time For A Big Strategy For Your Company&#39;s Well-Being   Additional resources for you   My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businessand On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants      Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. I&#39;m Andi Simon, your host and your guide. You know, we&#39;ve done almost 400 On the Brink podcasts, and divide that by 52 weeks, that&#39;s a whole lot of years sharing with you ways that you can get off the brink, and soar. My hope, my purpose, my joy is helping you see, feel and think in new ways so that you can have that aha moment when all of a sudden your brain goes, Oh, that&#39;s what I can do. So I find people who can help you do just that. And I&#39;m looking at a beautiful woman today who I met in all kinds of ways. Let me introduce her first, and then I&#39;ll tell you a little bit about how we got connected and what she&#39;s going to talk about today. Aviva Ajemra is a beautiful w

Aviva Ajmera—First Get That Great Strategy. Then Tackle How To Get It Done!

Learn how to discover who you ARE, not just what you do There are moments when I meet someone on our podcast who truly takes my own breath away—and I hope it does yours as well. Elizabeth Rosenberg is one such woman. We talk about her journey filled with trauma and burnout that led her to rethink her life. Rather than keep pushing herself within large corporations, she shifted her focus and launched a new career, helping others discover their inner worth and &quot;secret sauce.” She&#39;s intuitive, she&#39;s compassionate, and I really believe she&#39;s what the world needs right now. As you listen, you may rethink your own life. Watch and listen to our conversation here  Do you know how great you really are? Being a branding guru, Elizabeth knows that people often hide their best selves from others, and even from themselves. She helps clients look inside and see what greatness is already there, and then free it so they can “soar.” Listen in and ask yourself, “Aren’t I a great &#39;brand&#39; ready to be free of the anchors holding me back?” About Elizabeth Elizabeth Rosenberg is the founder of The Good Advice Company, a marketing and communications consultancy that works with C-suite leaders and corporate executives to create their personal brands, while discovering their purpose along the way. You can connect with Elizabeth on LinkedIn, Twitter and her website The Good Advice Company. You can also email her at Info@thegoodadvicecompany.com.  Ready to rethink who you are and where you&#39;re going? For starters, dig into these:  Blog: You Can Find Joy And Happiness In Turbulent Times! Podcast: Diana Wu David—Are You Truly Happy With How You Work, Not Just Where? Podcast: Rebecca Morrison—Women, Are You Ready To Find Your Happiness? Is It All Around You? Podcast: Roshni Pandey—To Find Your Happiness, Assemble The Kind Of Life You Want   Additional resources for you   My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businessand On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants      Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. I&#39;m Andi Simon, your host and your guide. And as you know, my job is to help you get off the brink and soar again. I go looking for people who are going to help you see, feel and think in new ways so that you can step back like an anthropologist, observe what&#39;s going on and really begin to think about who am I, where am I going, what&#39;s my company all about and how do I fit. There are really deep questions that give you some awareness, reflection, resilience, but unless you can be a little anthropological and look at it through a fresh lens, you get so caught up in it, you&#39;re not quite sure what&#39;s going on. So today, I have a wonderful woman with me. Her name is Elizabeth Rosenberg. Now, Elizabeth is going to tell you her own life&#39;

Elizabeth Rosenberg—Can An Extraordinary Coach Bring Out The Unseen Beauty In Your Strengths?

Hear how planning for the future means loving change I worked with Jennifer Kluge several years ago on a Blue Ocean Strategy workshop. Her organization, the National Association for Business Resources, was focused wholly on businesses in Michigan, offering important services from insurance products to support with accounts receivables. As CEO, Jennifer has catapulted NABR into a national initiative that supports businesses with best practices, training and development, insights, leadership, and a range of programs reflecting the needs of industry today—such as rebuilding talent, focusing on wellness and burnout, and helping businesses rebuild their cultures in a new hybrid workplace, among other things. I love her message: Don&#39;t be afraid to fail. Something we all need to hear. Watch and listen to our conversation here  What is the right strategy for an uncertain future? This is what I worked on with Jennifer and her leadership teams. I remember at the time that my Michigan clients were struggling with talent flight. Students were leaving the state after graduation, and industries were trying to figure out their own futures. Fast forward to the pandemic and now the post-pandemic years, and Detroit, where Jennifer is located, is on the rebound, as is Michigan. Between the automotive industry, Rocket mortgages and loans, and IT incubators, lots of new businesses have successfully made it through the pandemic and are now rebuilding the economy of the state. But Jennifer learned something very important during the pandemic, namely that the challenges of the past had changed, forcing companies to rethink how they were going to survive into the future. In this podcast, you will hear the journey that she has been on as she has built her association into a major resource for companies across the U.S. You can connect with Jennifer on LinkedIn or her company&#39;s website, the National Association for Business Resources. Is your business struggling with change? Give these blogs and podcasts a try:   Blog: Okay, Okay, I&#39;m Ready To Change. How Do I Do It? Blog: Hate Change? Anthropology Can Make You and Your People Love It! Podcast: Valerio Pascotto and Amit Raikar—Yes Change Is Painful But It&#39;s Necessary! Podcast: Rita McGrath—Don&#39;t Run From Change, Embrace It!   Additional resources for you   My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businessand On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants      Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. I&#39;m Andi Simon, your host and your guide. And remember, my job is to help you see, feel and think in new ways so you can change. That&#39;s not easy because your brain often hates me. I can&#39;t tell you how many clients who hire me immediately hate me, because I&#39;m doing something that the brain says, Oh, please stop, stop trying

Jennifer Kluge—Meet The Leader To Build Your Business Into One Of The Best And Brightest

Learn how to really and truly end gender bias at work Despite extensive and costly diversity initiatives, little progress has been made in recent years in ending workplace gender inequality. I reviewed Andie Kramer’s new book, Beyond Bias: The Path To End Gender Inequality At Work, and was so excited to read about a process for change that might actually work. Remember, we are corporate anthropologists specializing in helping organizations change. And we know how hard it is for people and groups of people to shift their ways of doing things to improve their workplaces. Beyond Bias, as Andie will tell you in our podcast, presents a compelling explanation of the reasons for the failure of change initiatives to bring a more diverse and equitable workplace into reality, and what we can do to change that. Watch and listen to our conversation here  Current diversity initiatives focus primarily on “teaching” people to be less biased and more inclusive, which doesn&#39;t work.  Teaching is fine. But, as Andie tells us, this is the wrong focus. As Beyond Bias makes clear, workplace gender inequality is a systemic problem caused largely by the (unintended) discriminatory operation of personnel systems, policies and practices. And these ingrained biases have been caused by all the structures that have evolved over many years as organizations have developed. As a solution, Andie offers the four-prong PATH program for directly attacking this structural discrimination — and with it, individuals’ discriminatory conduct. In brief, PATH is designed to help you:  Prioritize Elimination of Exclusionary Behavior Adopt Bias-free Methods of Decision-Making Treat Inequality in the Home as a Workplace Problem Halt Unequal Performance Evaluations and Leadership Development Opportunities  This progam is a comprehensive set of actions that organizations can take to ensure that women no longer encounter gendered obstacles to their career advancement and instead, find their workplaces to be engaging, supportive places where they — and everyone — can thrive. And wouldn&#39;t that be fantastic, finally. You can read more about Andie Kramer, Founding Member of ASKramer Law, in my book, Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business. You can also contact her on LinkedIn, Twitter and her two websites: ASKramer Law and Andie and Al: Breaking Through Bias. Want more strategies for fighting bias at work? Start with these:   Blog: Businesses Must Sustain Diversity And Inclusion For Women Podcast: Andrea Kramer and Alton Harris—Tackling Gender Bias In The Workplace Podcast: Maureen Berkner Boyt—Diversity and Inclusion: Let’s Go Beyond Hoping and Make Inclusion Really Happen Podcast: Rohini Anand—Can Businesses Create Cultures Based On True Diversity, Equity and Inclusion?   Additional resources for you   My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businessand On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to Ne

Andie Kramer—Can “Beyond Bias” Take Your Organization To Great Heights?

Hear an incredible story of courage, kindness and resistance Mimica Tsezana-Hyman is our guest on this podcast today. It is difficult to tell you about all that we discussed in a short paragraph. I encourage you to read the transcript and listen to the entire podcast, or watch it, which is even better. Mimica has a great story to tell which will move you deeply. The question is, how does an entire Jewish community escape the atrocities of Hitler’s 1943 occupation of Zakynthos, a small island in Greece? Because of courage, and kindness, they all survived, which is why Mimica is alive today. She will tell you about her own personal discoveries and what she is doing to keep our understanding of that horrific period alive so we don&#39;t find ourselves doing that again. It&#39;s an amazing story. I urge you to listen and be changed. Watch and listen to our conversation here  Mimica is doing something quite remarkable Mimica was introduced to me by a good friend of mine, ML Ball, who said, “You must talk to Mimica. She&#39;s Greek and has an amazing story to tell.” I was absolutely intrigued because I did my Ph.D. research in Athens. I took my daughters with me to the Greek island of Antiparos when they were four and five to spend three months learning about Greek women. I really loved the Greek culture, and am so glad that I had a chance to live in it, learn about it, and share it with my family. But I had never heard about this story before, and I am so glad I know it now. Mimica grew up in Athens, graduated high school, then studied linguistics at Tel Aviv University. She emigrated to the United States in 1987 and now lives in Newburgh, New York, with her husband, Barry Hyman. Her family is very engaged in her story and the tragedy that was avoided in Greece so many years ago. She discovered this story a little bit by chance, and it has taken her on a journey you&#39;ll enjoy listening to.  Sharing the past to educate and safeguard the future For the past fifteen years, Mimica has been retelling the story of the Zakynthos Jewish community&#39;s miraculous survival through the presentation of the documentary “Song of Life” by Tony Lykouressis and the personal recollections of her father, uncle and grandparents. Her presentations summarize Jewish life on Zakynthos in the days before World War II, and describe how when Hitler&#39;s Nazis came to the island in 1943, the Jews were protected by the Metropolitan, the mayor, and the island’s residents. All 275 Jews, the entire Jewish population on Zakynthos, were saved. Their survival came through the courage of the non-Jews living in the villages and the powerful actions of Mayor Loukas Karrer and Metropolitan Chrysostomos Dimitriou.  I am not going to give away the rest of the story. Listen in, watch, and read the transcript. Just remember that courageous people can rise against tyranny and save the lives of others if they choose to. What would each of us have done? A big questi

Mimica Tsezana-Hyman—How Does An Entire Jewish Community Escape The Holocaust Due To Kindness?

Hear how to rethink your life to find what really makes you happy Today&#39;s guest is Julia Wolfendale, executive coach and director at On The Up Consulting. Julia is from the UK and has developed an exciting and valuable approach to helping people find happiness, success and fulfillment. Her book is entitled Five Ways to Focus and we discuss it as a starting point to help people better understand themselves. Julia has a master&#39;s in leadership and has trained and coached hundreds of leaders on understanding themselves and improving their daily lives. You are going to find our discussion itself very interesting. Do please tune in! Watch and listen to our conversation here  The five ways to focus These are significant to understand, and they follow other research which we use at SAMC to help our clients understand why focus is essential to their success. The five forces are freedom, money, recognition, fellowship and fulfillment. As you listen to Julia, you&#39;re going to ask yourself, Am I the person I would like to be? Or do I need to take stock of where I am and consider where I&#39;m going?  At Simon Associates, we have developed a program that&#39;s entirely complementary to Julia&#39;s approach. Take a look at it at www.rethinkwithandisimon.com. It&#39;s all about trying to discover how can we change our story to find the kind of person that we want to be? And so much of this has to do with how the mind works to keep you comfortable and confident that where you are now is the best place for you.  To connect with Julia, you&#39;ll find her on LinkedIn, Twitter and her website On The Up Consulting, or email her: julia@ontheupconsulting.com.  Ready to examine what really motivates you and makes you happy? Start here:  Blog: You Can Find Joy And Happiness In Turbulent Times! Podcast: Meg Nocero—Can You Feel Joy As You Rethink Your Life? Podcast: Richard Sheridan—How To Lead With Joy And Purpose!   Additional resources for you   My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businessand On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants      Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. Hi, I&#39;m Andi Simon. I&#39;m your host and your guide. My job is to help you see, feel and think in new ways so you can get off the brink. And I&#39;m always delighted to find people who are going to help you do just that. You know, I&#39;m a corporate anthropologist. I&#39;m a business owner and entrepreneur. I coach lots of folks. But I&#39;ve learned over the years that new ideas come to you from different places in different ways. And somehow you&#39;ll hear something, and you&#39;ll go, oh, that&#39;s what Andi&#39;s been saying. But here&#39;s somebody else who said it and all of a sudden it clicked, and it helps me do something I&#39;ve been trying to do. So I have with me today a wond

Julia Wolfendale—How Many Ways Should You Focus To Find Your Path Forward?

Hear what good leaders should really be thinking about  Richard Medcalf describes himself as &quot;what you get if you were to put a McKinsey consultant, a slightly unorthodox pastor and an entrepreneur into a blender.” In this podcast, you&#39;ll hear from an amazing thinker who has tackled strategic challenges in companies all over the world. In his new book, Making Time for Strategy, Richard speaks about the difficulties he has encountered working with high-powered leaders. Far too often, they find themselves focused on the wrong things---from how to respond to emails to how to get tasks completed on time. Instead, Richard preaches that a leader’s mindset should be focused on the future, where the organization is going, and how everyone in that organization needs to be aligned around a core strategy to get it there. Listen and learn! Watch and listen to our conversation here  Richard outlines four important ways you can refocus your time and energy to get where you want to go and find pleasure in the journey of getting there (TIME):  Tactics Influence Mindset Environment   About Richard Medcalf Richard founded xquadrant in 2017 with the mission of helping elite leaders reinvent their success formula and multiply their impact on their purpose, their people and their profit. He is bi-national (English and French), lives near Paris, and is also a licensed lay minister in the Anglican Church. You can connect with him on LinkedIn, Twitter and the xquadrant website. Ready to be a better leader? We recommend these for great learning:  Blog: How To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times: The Five Things You Need To Know Podcast: Sara Canaday—Can You See The Gaps That Are Holding You Back From Being A Great Leader? Podcast: Kris Baird—Yes, You Can Teach A Leader How To Lead   Additional resources for you   My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businessand On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants      Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. Hi, I&#39;m Andi Simon. I&#39;m your host and your guide. And my job is to help you get off the brink. I want you to see, feel and think in new ways, so that you can change. And if you come here and listen, you know that each time I bring you somebody new, it&#39;s because they&#39;ve done something that really is transformative in some fashion. They&#39;re tackling a problem that my listeners, my audiences, my viewers are all tackling as well. And I&#39;m so really honored today to have Richard Medcalf here from Paris. And it&#39;s a wonderful opportunity for us to share his new book, Making Time for Strategy, but also to share Richard. Let me give you a little bit of Richard&#39;s personality. He sends me an email, and he wants to be on my podcast. Why? &quot;The first thing is because I&#39;m a fan,&quot; he said.

Richard Medcalf—Why Is Strategy So Challenging When Running Your Business? Shouldn't It Be The Best Part?

Hear how to really hear what people are saying in meetings Imogene Drummond is a woman whose story I love to share. She is bold and courageous about things she wants to do or learn more about. Today&#39;s topic is how her new program, ACQUITS, grew out of her interest in helping people communicate better, especially in the virtual environments so many of us find ourselves in these days. Imogene&#39;s professional life evolved from her training in psychology to her very successful career as an artist, to filmmaking, and now to working with people to develop their online communication skills. This is so timely. Do enjoy. Watch and listen to our conversation here   ACQUITS stands for the 10 essential principles for successful meetings  This process is based on how we must:  listen before we speak hear what others are saying adapt our thinking to understand what the speaker intended, not what we think we heard do all this without the body and facial cues we use during in-person conversations  Meet Imogene Drummond Imogene Drummond is an artist, filmmaker and educator. She has an MSW from Catholic University, was a family therapist in the late 1970s, is the founder and principal of Divine Sparks Media, and is currently Director of Social Media at the Deeptime Network. She studied at MICA&#39;s Mt. Royal School of Art and her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions from New York to Australia. Her paintings are in private, corporate and hotel collections, as well as the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. Her new program, ACQUITS, came from observing how people behave while engaged in zoom calls, and focuses on teaching people how to change their communication strategies to engage better and benefit more fully from online conversations. You can connect with Imogene on LinkedIn, her website, or by email: imogene@imogenedrummond.com. Want to communicate better? Here&#39;s a great place to start:  Podcast: Monique Russell—To Lead With Clarity, You First Must Communicate Confidently Podcast: Lisa Perrine—Clever, Creative Ways To Enhance And Amplify Workplace Communications Podcast: Nadia Bilchik—How To Master Communication In A Virtual World   Additional resources for you   My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businessand On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants      Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. Hi, I&#39;m Andi Simon. I&#39;m your host and your guide. And my job is to get you off the brink. So I go looking for people who can help you see, feel and think in new ways, opening your minds to solutions to problems you may be working with or dealing with, but aren&#39;t quite sure how to solve now, particularly as we emerge from these years of pandemic. You never want to waste a crisis, and it&#39;s a great time for you to learn some new tech

Imogene Drummond—How Can A Brilliant Artist Show You How To Communicate Effectively—Online?

Hear how understanding someone&#39;s culture can improve lives I was so excited to have the opportunity to speak with Britt Titus on our podcast. As you will learn, Britt found her calling when she discovered how behavioral sciences and humanitarian concerns could transform the world, one step at a time. The two of us are crazy about behavioral sciences, so it was such a joy to share our fascination with the difficulties people have understanding others who differ from them. Whether addressing Ebola in Liberia and West Africa or helping mothers in Mali avoid malnourishment in their children, Britt is constantly humbled by the challenges of helping people do things that seem so logical to those of us from the Global North. As she says, nothing is as simple as it might appear. And humility can often be the best way to bring about changes that can have a huge impact on health. Don&#39;t miss this one! Watch and listen to our conversation here  It isn’t that people cannot understand what you are saying They just have different stories in their own minds about what those words mean and how or why to change their behaviors. Solving problems with others requires us to understand what matters to them, what they believe to be truth. Remember, as I like to say, the only truth is there is no truth. Listen in to Britt Titus and enjoy our journey as part of your own. About Britt Britt’s background lies at the intersection of behavioral insights and humanitarian action. She previously worked at Nudge Lebanon where she managed projects that applied behavioral insights to issues related to conflict and violence, ranging from gender-based violence to social cohesion and refugee integration. Beforehand, she spent most of her career working for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in humanitarian response and preparedness across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, including emergency deployments to Liberia for the Ebola outbreak and the Middle East for the regional Syria response.  Britt has a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from the University of Oxford where she focused on applied behavioral science and completed research at the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) in London. You can connect with Britt on LinkedIn or her page on the Airbel Impact Lab website. For more stories about living with a purpose, we recommend these:  Podcast: Lisa McLeod—If You Want To Succeed, You Must Find Your Noble Purpose Podcast: Pat Shea—Use Your Passions To Become Who You Want To Be Podcast: Theresa Carrington—Transforming Impoverished Artisans Into Entrepreneurs   Additional resources for you   My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businessand On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants      Read the transcript of our podcast here   Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. Hi, I&#39;m Andi Simon. I&#39;m your host and your guide. As you know,

Britt Titus—Let's Use Behavioral Science To Help People Live Better Lives

Learn what motivates you and others so you can collaborate better While I have used the Enneagram personality framework with clients, I have never had as great a discussion about it as I had with Karl Hebenstreit. Karl is a certified executive coach, organization development consultant, international speaker and author of two books: The How and Why: Taking Care of Business with the Enneagram and Nina and the Really, Really Tough Decision (for younger readers). So what is the Enneagram, you may ask? More than just another personality test or behavior identification technique, this human psychology-based theory opens your mind to how you see yourself, the teams you work with, and the world at large regarding motivation and behavior. Which of the nine personality types are you? Listen to Karl to find out! Watch and listen to our conversation here:  Ready to learn what makes you tick?  Whether it is the Enneagram or Myers-Briggs or the Culture Index or Hogan Assessments, there is an abundance of tools available to help us see, feel and think in new ways about ourselves and others. You will enjoy this podcast conversation as Karl takes us through his own journey of discovery and how he is using his tools to help people build diverse organizations. The Enneagram is a really unique, really effective tool It does not focus on the typical racial, ethnic, gender or sexual orientation conversations about diversity. Or even about neuro- or cognitive diversity. Rather, as you study the nine types of Enneagrams that are all partially inside ourselves, you realize that creating strong organizations requires us to learn more about each other and build better together. Are you an Active Controller? A Considerate Helper? An Enthusiastic Visionary? You might just be surprised. About Karl Hebenstreit With 25+ years&#39; experience in the biotechnology, healthcare, telecommunications, high-tech, pharmaceutical and real estate services industries, Karl is an expert at building relationships at all levels, fostering and integrating collaborative environments, and leading and motivating others to realize their full potential by adopting new mindsets to achieve extraordinary results. To contact Karl, find him on LinkedIn, his website www.performandfunction.com or by email: rkarlh@gmail.com. To learn more about how personality types affect collaboration, start here:  Blog: Achieving Business Change Using The Enneagram Personality System Podcast: Maureen Berkner Boyt—Yes, Diversity And Inclusion Can Happen But Only If You Work At It Podcast: Johanna Zeilstra—Let&#39;s All Build Companies That Make Gender Fair   Additional resources for you   My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businessand On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants      Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. Hi, I&#39;m

R. Karl Hebenstreit—Who Am I? Try The Enneagram And Take A Better Look!

Hear how games can make your employees&#39; effectiveness soar! Several years ago, Andy (my husband and business partner) and I went to Brussels to train in Innovation Games. IG is a wonderful set of creative tools to help people see things in new ways by playing games. In fact, IG downloads are the most frequent downloads from our website, www.simonassociates.net. Here at SAMC, we integrate IG into many of our workshops and leadership programs. Take a look at some of our IG white papers and PowerPoints which might open up your mind to what gamification can offer you, your team members and your customers as you rethink your organization to face the challenges of these fast-changing times. Today&#39;s podcast is with gamification strategist Naomi Redel I was thrilled to recently meet Naomi Redel to discuss how she has become a gamification strategist with her own methods for increasing the effectiveness of organizations through what she calls “Collaborative Emotional Intelligence.”  Our podcast was global. Naomi was in Israel, and I was in New York. We had a wonderful discussion about people, the power of games, and the type of work she does with organizations that need to boost their people power.  Watch and listen to our conversation here  Some background on Naomi and what she has created After years of working as an innovation and marketing consultant with leading Israeli companies, Naomi felt firsthand the frustration of watching brilliant strategies flounder in C-suite silos, unable to trickle down and make an impact, because of lack of time, motivation, and the right tools to institutionalize them. So what did she do? Create a multilayered system that uses collaborative emotional experiences with cutting-edge technologies and gamification to push the boundaries of implementation and embed those strategies into people&#39;s hearts and minds. She then followed this with the creation of the first-ever board game in positive psychology, Positive Turn, which is recommended by the VIA Institute of Character Strengths and used as an innovation for companies in France.   She also co-founded HappierMe and led the design and development of the HappierMe platform, a system of minigames and exercises designed to make the practice of happiness easy and accessible anywhere and anytime.  Naomi earned her Master&#39;s in Business Administration and Economics (with distinction) and graduated Cum Laude BA in Economics (with distinction) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. You can contact Naomi on LinkedIn or by email at naomi.redel@gmail.com. Special offer from Naomi for you, our audience Available only to On the Brink listeners: a free presentation about collaborative emotional intelligence at work. To receive this game-changing power point, simply DM Naomi (or email her at naomi.redel@gmail.com) and say “I am an On the Brink Listener.” Enjoy. Want to know more about what Innovation Games can do for your company?  Blog: I

Naomi Redel—Energize Your Business With Games That Tap Creative Teamwork

Hear how to build workplaces where everyone is valued  This podcast interview is exceptional. Just listen to Maria Colacurcio tell you about her journey and think about your own. Her career has spanned many different industries, propelling her to leadership positions in innovative companies. Our conversation took us through those profound experiences and unexpected moments that can transform our lives in new ways. Others often accelerated her career, seeing her talent and advocating for her. She speaks about learning on the job and being excited when new career opportunities opened up for her. She also provides wisdom to other women and men trying to build more diverse, equitable and inclusive organizations, and how women are changing our society, a step and then a leap at a time. Enjoy. Watch and listen to our conversation here  Maria&#39;s mantra: &quot;When preparation meets opportunity&quot; Today, Maria is CEO of Syndio, a SAS startup helping companies worldwide create an equitable workplace for all employees, regardless of gender, race or ethnicity. Before Syndio, she co-founded Smartsheet.com, which went public in 2018. She then spent three years at Starbucks, one of the first Fortune 50 companies to go public with pay equity results. As a CEO, she is walking the walk on eradicating workplace inequities, serving on the board of the nonprofit Fair Pay Workplace and having been named one of the 100 most exceptional entrepreneurs by Goldman Sachs Builders + Innovators Summit for two consecutive years. While her professional career has been exceptional, I was particularly impressed with how Maria wove into our conversation that she is the mother of seven children, gets up before 5am, works for an hour, and then works out. After listening to our interview, let us know how you are growing in your own personal and professional life and who is helping you along the way: Info@simonassociates.net. To connect with Maria, you can find her on LinkedIn and Twitter. Is DEI really possible in today&#39;s woprkplaces? Yes! Check out these 3 podcasts  Maureen Berkner Boyt—Diversity and Inclusion: Let’s Go Beyond Hoping and Make Inclusion Really Happen Rohini Anand—Can Businesses Create Cultures Based On True Diversity, Equity and Inclusion? Kim Graham Lee—How To Build A Culture Where Men And Women Truly Support Each Other   Additional resources for you   My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businessand On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants      Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. Hi, I&#39;m Andi Simon. I&#39;m your host and your guide. And as we come together for all of our podcasts, I want to celebrate my audience because we&#39;re in the top 5% of global podcasts. And I thank you for your support for sharing and collaborating with us on great ideas. My job is to he

Maria Colacurcio—Stop The Revolving Door. Help Your Employees Embrace A Diverse And Equitable Workplace.

Hear how to refuse to be held back, especially as a woman  I listened to Kerry Flynn Barrett give a marvelous talk recently about burnout for the Westchester Business Council and couldn’t wait to share her ideas and insights with our fans. Careers like hers are common among many women I know who have started in a corporate job, moved up the ladder to higher positions in leadership, and then took off to form their own business. Kerry has done just that, and now she is building an exceptional business serving as a fractional CHRO officer and also a business partner and solutions provider. Do you wish to do this too? Listen in! Watch and listen to our conversation here  Faced with a wall? Like Kerry, leap over it! In some ways, Kerry Barrett reflects the tensions women in business and corporations are feeling today. Perhaps exaggerated by the pandemic, women are abandoning the corporate ladder to find their own purpose and passion, much like she has done. Kerry spent her entire career in healthcare as a Human Resources executive. She, like so many women, has found that the wave of consolidations taking place these days strips employees, particularly women, of their roles and responsibilities, as centralization moves the decision-making process into other departments. So what do smart women like Kerry do? They craft another pathway and make it work for them. Women today are fleeing dead-end workplaces and starting their own businesses. As you listen to our conversation, think about your own path. Where are you on that corporate ladder? Give serious consideration to what you want to do with your life. As was clearly apparent in the McKinsey “Women in the Workplace 2022” report that came out in October 2022, women are finding the corporate world neither open to their expertise nor accommodating to their talent and ambition. Rather than trying to find a niche, they are leaving rigid workplaces to find others that see them as talented contributors, not women looking for a job. In some ways, many women I know, including myself, have had to confront the limits which corporations offer and discover other avenues where we can contribute, have a personal and professional purpose, and earn an excellent income. Perhaps it is time for business and corporate leaders to see what they are missing and rethink the place of women in their organizations. The women aren’t waiting. In fact, they are very smart ladies on their own missions to build better businesses. To connect with Kerry, you can find her on LinkedIn, Twitter, or her website, or email her at kfb@flynnbarrett.com. Want to find a better workplace environment or strike out on your own? Start here:  Blog: Businesses Must Sustain Diversity And Inclusion For Women Podcast: Christina Sistrunk—Is There Magic To Excel As A Strong Woman In A Man&#39;s Industry? Podcast: Jodi Flynn—How To Go From Dreaming To Doing, At Work And In Life   Additional resources for you   My two award-winning books

342: Kerry Flynn Barrett—Learn Why So Many Brilliant Women Have Ditched The Corporate Ladder To Start Their Own Business

Hear how to make the most of your choices, at work and in life Meet Christina Sistrunk, former President and CEO at Aera Energy. You are going to love listening to her wisdom for thriving in the male-dominated energy industry. As Christina will share with you, she found that the hardest problems to solve usually were the ones around how well people work together, or don&#39;t, that made the problems more complicated. She explains how figuring out how to bring people together and enable them to be as successful as they had the potential to be was the most challenging part of being a leader, especially a woman leader. A lot to learn! Watch and listen to our conversation here  Your ability to think independently actually creates opportunities One of Christina&#39;s main joys at this stage in her career is helping people understand how they can be more effective, not only in their career, but even in their personal life, about seeing the opportunity to make different choices. Better choices create better outcomes, whether at work, or at home. You can connect with Christina on LinkedIn or by email, sistrunk1984@gmail.com. For more guidance about career choices and following your passion, start with these:  Blog: How Can You Thrive As A Woman In A Male-Dominated Industry? 5 Steps To Follow Podcast: Vicki Baker—Isn&#39;t It Time For You To Power Through To Your Next Career Stop? Podcast: Claire Harbour-Lyell—Disrupt Your Career To Reach Even Greater Heights    Additional resources for you   My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businessand On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants      Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. Hi, I&#39;m Andi Simon. I&#39;m your host and your guide. And as such, my job is to help you get off the brink. I want you to soar again. And sometimes you need some new ideas, a fresh approach, interesting ways to see, feel and think in new ways. Remember, we decide with our eyes and our heart. And all of a sudden you say, &quot;I don&#39;t know where I&#39;m going.&quot; I keep hearing over and over among my clients, even my colleagues, my friends, &quot;What&#39;s next?&quot; So it&#39;s important for you to begin to see what is next, regardless of where you are on your life&#39;s journey. It&#39;s good to have a vision for yourself, a personal one of what you would like to see happen as you go through life. It&#39;s better than figuring it out on the fly, and it&#39;s better than trying to make decisions without any direction. But it&#39;s always interesting to listen to wonderful people who have had great journeys. And they want to share them with you so that you too can see how life can move along and take you to great places. So today, Evelyn Medvin is a wonderful woman who has a chapter in my book, Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businesss.

341: Christina Sistrunk—Is There Magic To Excel As A Strong Woman In A Man's Industry?

Hear how to identify your values and live them every day Today you will meet Shayna Bergman, a terrific executive leadership coach with big ideas to help you find your way during these challenging times of change. Her goal is to empower you to unlock your personal potential. Shayna specializes in helping people achieve deeper meaning and fulfillment in their personal and professional lives through authentic leadership and clarity of purpose. She believes, as do I, that you have to have a purpose-driven life. There has to be something that really motivates and drives you, a North Star. Need help finding yours? Listen in! Watch and listen to our conversation here  What is the purpose that you&#39;re living toward? With a focus on parents in executive and leadership positions, Shayna challenges her clients to look deeply at themselves by reflecting on their values, dreams, limiting beliefs and inner critics. She then helps them create an action plan that inspires breakthroughs and leads to sustainable change. Shayna’s most successful clients are those who are dedicated to evolving their best selves and fostering that growth in others. You can connect with Shayna on LinkedIn or her website.  For more guidance on living a purpose-driven life, try these:  Podcast: Lisa McLeod—If You Want To Succeed, You Must Find Your Noble Purpose Podcast: Rebecca Morrison—Women, Are You Ready To Find Your Happiness? Is It All Around You? Podcast: Linda Vettrus-Nichols—Challenged? Stuck? What If You Are In Control Of Yourself?   Additional resources for you   My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businessand On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants      Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. Hi, I&#39;m Andi Simon. And as you know, I&#39;m your host and your guide. I&#39;m also an author of two award winning books, and you might want to read them to learn more about how I help people change. My podcast, though, is dedicated to bringing you very interesting people, people who are going to help you do what I want you to do: see, feel and think in new ways because that&#39;s the only way you change. You decide with your eyes and your heart, so how do they make you feel? And if they make you feel really cool, you&#39;re going to listen carefully and begin to think about how this person can help me change. Change is something your brain hates, trust me. So today I have Shayna Bergman with us. And Shayna is an absolutely wonderful woman who&#39;s here to help you understand how to balance life. I&#39;m not going to talk about work-life balance. The pandemic has told us there is no thing called work-life balance. That&#39;s just life. And we work in it and we take care of family with it and we take care of parents with it. Let me read her resume a little bit and then she&#39;ll tell you about h

340: Shayna Bergman—What Could A Great Personal Coach Help You Discover About Your Inner Self?

Hear why it&#39;s so crucial for success to build effective teams My guest today is a remarkable individual, Mark Samuel, who&#39;s now written seven business books. I interviewed Mark back in June of 2019 and thought he had such a powerful message about how to get people to change, even when they really don&#39;t want to, that I had him back. Today&#39;s podcast is about his most recent book, Reimagine Teams: The Missing Piece in Team Building to Achieve Breakthrough Results. Our discussion focuses on the vital role of accountability, which makes teams work or fail. With over 30 years&#39; experience in the business world, Mark is a transformative leader, having helped hundreds of companies overcome stagnation, transform their businesses, and eliminate toxic work cultures to increase profits, morale and customer experience. Does your culture need an overhaul? Be sure to listen in! Watch and listen to our conversation here  How do you rebuild your company culture as we come out of the pandemic? In our podcast, Mark and I had a wonderful time discussing our shared interest in the success of companies working together in what we all call &quot;teams.&quot; But teams, teaming and team development are being rethought today as our workplaces and work styles change. These are very fast-changing times. I used to tell my clients, if they wanted to change, have a crisis or create one, and I never wanted to see a crisis like we&#39;re coming out of, but we&#39;re coming out of it. The problem is that people are unsettled as we come out of the post-pandemic period; the old habits are gone. They don&#39;t quite know what&#39;s going on. They were attached to what they knew before the pandemic. Now they have become adjusted to the post-pandemic workplace. And looking ahead, they don&#39;t know what&#39;s coming. They want to go back, but you can&#39;t go back. So how do we go forward? Often a business leader&#39;s solution is to assemble the team. But what type of team? And how should it perform as business leaders rebuild the culture for the post-pandemic phase? Bringing about real changes that last through team-building As an internationally sought-after speaker and consultant for his B STATE methodology (Bold Leadership, Brave Culture, Breakthrough Results), Mark trains leaders on implementing sustainable changes. As he shares in our podcast, &quot;For decades, corporate team building has consisted of style inventories, communication skill building, and teamwork games like ropes courses, trust falls, and escape rooms. While these activities might bring a team closer together as friends and are certainly fun, they have little to do with building job-related teamwork.&quot; His message for us: Accountability. Organizations have become accountable just for activity, getting things done, doing things, rather than the outcome of what we are trying to accomplish by the doing of it. You must have teams and they must be accountable. And building effective te

339: Mark Samuel—Are Your Teams Trying To Find The Winning Game?

Hear how memories impact you now and guide your future What are your memories of growing up? Your friends? Neighborhood? Life-changing moments in our society? In today&#39;s podcast, Helen Newman, a friend from my elementary school (Davis Elementary School in New Rochelle, NY) and I discuss the power of memories. Although we had different experiences in high school (she was in a sorority, I was president of the Salmagundi Club), we both experienced the good times and not-so-good times of the 1960s. The funny thing about memories is that they&#39;re selective. We pick and choose the ones that fit our own story, often one where we are the heroes and we forget what others were struggling with or enjoying all around us. I guarantee that after listening to Helen, you will be amazed at her wisdom and joy. Helen writes about something every month. Sometimes it is about why that month means something to her. Other times, she writes about old friends and new ones. But in today&#39;s conversation, we go deeply into the anguish we all felt during high school. If you were alive then, you like us will forever ask: &quot;Where was I when John F. Kennedy was shot?&quot; We even remember what we were wearing. We also talk about how we felt when our biology teacher, Mrs. Schwerner, lost her son during the civil rights unrest in the South. And the conflicting passions surrounding the Vietnam War. To state the obvious, we grew up in very challenging times. This month (November), she wrote about our autograph books. It was hysterical to remember what people wrote about. Her book was filled with poignant, loving, sincere and sentimental sayings, like: &quot;Helen and whomever, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.&quot; You remember those. Her favorite, and mine as well: “When you get old and out of shape, remember girdles are $2.98.” Sadly, they don’t make autograph books anymore, and I would have to dig into my attic to find mine. But you get the point! Helen never expected to be a writer. A while ago, she started to write and then it became a wonderful hobby. I love the blog posts that seem to touch everyone&#39;s heart. She remembers stuff that we might also, but she puts it into a story (usually her own) and brings us back to the days when...you can finish my sentence. My message to you, our listeners, is to find your own Helen Newman. Or become one for others. Remembering is so important as time flies, and the moment brings back the time and place you were growing up in. We might still be growing up, never growing old, but we continue to live each day, forgetting how our past framed our present and set the stage for the future. I cannot thank Helen enough for joining us today and sharing her own story. Think about writing yours. You can contact Helen at hnewman@tsjesq.com. My quote for us today: “The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.”   ― Lois Lowry, The Giver  For more abo

338: Helen Newman—What Are Your Memories Of Growing Up, And Why Are They So Important To You Now?

Hear how to boldly take control of your own career path Dr. Vicki Baker&#39;s sixth book in five years solidifies her standing as a nationally recognized expert in the unique issues faced by mid-career faculty in higher education. As she coaches numerous professionals, she has discovered a recurring theme: academicians get their degrees and often their tenure, but then get stuck or stalled in their career advancement. Is it that they need better mentors? Or do institutions need to identify and sponsor their high-performing stars earlier, and coach them along their pathways to career advancement? And this is happening not just in the world of academia. Industry is struggling with the same dilemma. Are you stuck or stalled in an academic position or a corporate career trajectory? Make a point to listen in for Vicki&#39;s solutions. Watch and listen to our conversation here  Why women academics often get stalled, and what to do about it On an annual basis, I have conducted workshops for Vicki&#39;s students involved in business development with their French counterparts. We talk about Blue Ocean Strategy, and together with Vicki&#39;s guidance, the students begin to frame approaches to their concepts that can open new markets, not just compete in current ones. The students are mighty impressive, as is Vicki. In this podcast, however, we focus on Vicki&#39;s particular passion: women&#39;s careers in academia. About Vicki Vicki L. Baker, Ph.D. is the E. Maynard Aris Endowed Professor in Economics and Management at Albion College, Faculty Director of the Albion College Community Collaborative (AC3), and Co-Chair of Albion&#39;s Economics and Management Department. She is also an instructor for Penn State University&#39;s World Campus. Recognized as a &quot;Top 100 Visionary&quot; in Education by the Global Forum for Education and Learning, Vicki is at the forefront of innovation and strategy in faculty and leadership development. As a faculty member and Fulbright Specialist Alumna (Utrecht Netherlands), her goal is to help faculty members, colleges and universities thrive. She has authored 90 peer-reviewed articles, chapters, invited works and books, and be contacted at vbaker@albion.edu. For more on finding your path, here are some suggestions:  Blog: 5 Ways You Can Find Happiness And Joy In These Turbulent Times Blog: How To Thrive In Today&#39;s Crazy World? Make Change Your Friend Podcast: Rebecca Morrison—Women, Are You Ready To Find Your Happiness? Is It All Around You?   Additional resources for you   My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businessand On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants      Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. Hi, I&#39;m Andi Simon, your host and your guide, and my job is to get you off the brink. I love to do podcasts to bring you interesting a

337: Vicki Baker—Isn't It Time For You To Power Through To Your Next Career Stop?

Hear how telling each other stories helped us evolve My audience knows how much I like to learn about early human evolution and how we continue to adapt to changing times. Thanks to my former PR guru, Sarah Wilson, I was introduced to Byron Reese, who is a futurist, an author and an entrepreneur. He tends to see things through that fresh lens I always talk about. Byron’s new book (his fourth) is called, Stories, Dice, and Rocks that Think: How Humans Learned to See the Future—and Shape It. This is a fascinating book that provides a new look at the history and destiny of humanity. Storytelling allows us to envision the future. Dice teach us about probability, which enables us to try to predict the future. And rocks that think—a reference to a computer’s CPU—enable us to build the future. Listen in! Watch and listen to our conversation here  From our very beginnings, we&#39;ve been a very different type of being. I wasn’t quite sure what Byron&#39;s book is about until I opened the first pages and began to wander with him through the still unanswered questions about how humans became these amazing creatures with story-making minds, the ability to think and then converse about their ideas, and the wherewithall to develop cultures that we can share, change and believe to be our best realities. As humans, the one thing we must do is see the future. All other animals live in the moment. Perhaps some have evolved genetic capabilities that enable them to survive in different environments—like the 40,000 ant species that populate the world. But humans are one species, and we know we have a past and a future. That future is important. We know we are not immortal. Do other animals plan for the afterlife? Develop religions? Think big philosophical thoughts? From our thinking came our language, and conversations that are essential to our being and our survival. I invite you to listen in or read the transcript of our conversation because it&#39;s fascinatin. Just remember, you have a unique place on this earth. Treat it, and yourself, kindly. If you&#39;d like to connect with Byron, you can find him on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and his website, and you can email him at byronreese@gmail.com. For more about storytelling and how the future shapes us, start here Blog: What Is Futurism And Do You Need It? Blog: How Storytelling Can Transform Your Culture And Energize Your Team Podcast: Now Is No Time To Be Afraid Of This Blurry Future  Additional resources for you   My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businessand On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants      Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. Hi, I&#39;m Andi Simon. As you know, I&#39;m your host and your guide, and my job is to get you off the brink. I want you to soar. But the only way you can do that is if you

332: Byron Reese—How Humans Learned to See the Future, and You Can Too!

Hear how to make your business better, remotely It should be no surprise to you that as an anthropologist specializing in helping companies change, I loved my interview with Liam Martin. As we&#39;ve all experienced, the pandemic has dramatically changed what we think of as “normal.” In particular, the meaning of work has changed and continues to, as each generation moves into the workforce with different values, beliefs and behaviors. Businesses, both small and large, are trying to recruit, retain and develop their talent pool, only to find that today&#39;s workers have very different ideas about what matters to them, reflecting fundamental societal questions about what “really matters” to each of us. Enjoy. Watch and listen to our conversation here   Today’s podcast contains very valuable data, information and insights about how to manage a remote or hybrid workforce Think of it as today’s future way of working. But, as so many of our clients are asking, how do you manage a remote workforce, particularly since women really have embraced remote work? My guest Liam Martin, co-founder of a remote-first company which grew eight figures with people in 43 different countries and no office, says, &quot;Remote work has been our way of working for more than 10 years. We observed that almost 99% of new remote companies during the pandemic could not figure out one thing common to all successful remote-first companies: asynchronous communication, the bedrock of every successful remote business. Here are a few of the new counterintuitive principles Liam and I discuss:   Introverts climb to the top faster in remote-first companies because their thoughtfulness is seen as an asset, not a liability. In remote-first organizations, charismatic leaders are not required; in fact, charisma is one of the biggest barriers to business growth, regardless of whether the company is remotely located or not.  Remote teams operate on autonomy, and contrary to popular belief, the more automated measurements you have within your organization, the more freedom you have.  Remote-first companies have, on average, half as many managers as on-premises companies. Management in remote first-organizations is redundant.  Contact Liam via LinkedIn or his two websites: Time Doctor and Running Remote.  Enjoy our conversation. Rethink your own organization. It may be time to change. Perhaps we can help you visualize a new business model for the future—which is really today! Please contact us here.  Want to know more about successfully taking your company remote? Start here.  Blog: How Are You Changing How You Work? Is It Working? Blog: The Future Of Work: 5 Most Important Trends To Watch Blog: Virtual Organizations, Hybrid Organizations, And The Most Amazing Workplaces For Tomorrow? Podcast: Teresa Douglas—Unleashing Those Secrets To Working Remotely   Additional resources for you   My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business and On t

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