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John Gerdy Continues the Debate of Football in Schools It was our pleasure to welcome Dr. John Gerdy back to intrepid Lifestyle!  In this conversation we continue our conversation with Dr. Gerdy about why educational institutions need to continue their debate of whether their investments in Football make sense. In our last conversation with Dr. Gerdy, he joined us to discuss his book, Ball or Bands: Football vs. Music as an Educational and Community Investment, which draws not only on relevant research and data but also John’s extensive experience in both Music and Sports. Discussion Topics (2:55) Last time that you believe that there are some significant trends and changes that will greatly impact the future of football in America. Will you update us on some of those trends? (7:14) What’s your perspective on the efforts to make the game of football safer? (10:36) The last time we talked you told us about how in Europe, sports are tied to clubs vs. schools. How might the club system work for sports in junior highs and high schools in the US? (13:06) What’s your take on the future of college football? How do you see the future unfolding for the 130 or so FBS schools? (16:23) We are hearing reports that ratings are slipping for NFL broadcasts. DO you think the NFL will start to lose popularity? (17:39) I am sure that you know you are putting a target on yourself by calling out America’s most popular sport, what is your end goal in writing and talking about the down sides of football? About John Gerdy Dr. John R. Gerdy serves as founder and executive director of Music For Everyone a non-profit dedicated to cultivating the power of music as an educational and community building tool in Lancaster County. Since 2006, MFE has invested almost $1 million in school and community arts organizations and initiatives to enhance music programs in Lancaster County, PA. He has authored five books, among them, Ball or Bands: Football vs. Music as an Educational and Community Investment (2014), Sports: The All-American Addiction (2002) and Air Ball: American Education’s Failed Experiment with Elite Athletics (2006). He has also been extensive published in journals and periodicals such as The Chronicle of Higher Education, Sporting News, Black Issues in Higher Education, NCAA News and College Board Review. Dr. John Gerdy’s Latest Book In Ball or Bands, author John R. Gerdy offers a thoughtful, thorough and clear-eyed comparative analysis of the educational value of football versus music programs in providing our children an education worthy of the 21st century. Drawing on relevant research and data, but also his extensive experience in both worlds, Dr. Gerdy poses a host of questions: * Should our educational institutions be sponsoring activities that deaden and destroy brain cells and impair brain function? * Should we continue to invest significant resources in football rather than, for example, music, which strengthens and develops neural connections and enhances brain function? * Which extracurricular activities garner the best educational return on investment? Be sure to get more information about Dr. John Gerdy and purchase his new book here:  http://www.johngerdy.com/    Click here to subscribe to intrepidHEALTHCARE on iTunes! The post John Gerdy Continues the Debate of Football in Schools appeared first on .

Leading with GRIT, Episode Eight, discussion guide: 1. We lead off with a discussion and overview on the importance of Leading with GRIT. 2. When you get your GRIT together, and follow this methodology, it will change you, and it will have a ripple effect on you. You have to be prepared for that! We discuss how… 3. When you have positive energy and your actions are aligned, you will also impact the people around you too! And if you are lucky, there will be a ripple effect that will begin to spread through your organization… 4. Remember, one of the reasons you work to get your GRIT together is to create this very ripple effect. Because honestly, you and your team can begin to see what’s possible in the future… 5. This ripple effect will only happen if you are living this authentically, which GRIT enables you to do… 6. How long will this ripple effect take? 7. You first have to focus on GRIT for yourself, before you can have and impact a ripple effect on the team and organization. 8. As we begin to wrap up this series, let’s assume that people listening get excited about the potential of what’s possible here. But the most important question: HOW DO YOU START? You now have the how, where do you start to take action? 9. You do need to focus on your high value activities! 10. For GRIT to work, you do have to have a vision for where both you and your team need (and want) to go… 11. CLICK HERE to download a sheet on to determine your High Value Activities! 12. CLICK HERE to download a worksheet on how to craft your vision statement! ### Find LEADING with GRIT on iTUNES! ### CLICK HERE to join Laurie’s mailing list to receive FREE weekly tips! ### Today’s episode is made possible by Unlimited Coaching Solutions! In today’s workplace, business leaders face significant pressure to recruit and retain the best employees, to effectively build a team, to create a culture that is healthy, productive, and dynamic, and to empower their staff in managing stress and finding balance. And behind all of those pressures is one goal: to strengthen and grow the business. And too many organizations struggle with this. Unlimited Coaching Solutions provides customized strategies and training to help you reach your goals and take your teams to the next level. Call them today at (585) 248-9322, or find them online at unlimitedcoaching.com. ### You can find Laurie’s book, Leading with GRIT, right here! About our co-host, Laurie Sudbrink: Laurie is president and founder of Unlimited Coaching Solutions, which specializes in improving workplace performance. She is a certified New York State trainer, an approved United States Navy trainer, and is certified in the Four Agreements. She has over twenty years of corporate experience in human relations, management, sales, marketing and training and is a magna cum laude graduate in Communications from SUNY Cortland. For more information, visit www.leadingwithgrit.com. ### The post Leading with GRIT 08: Bringing it all together – The Ripple Effect appeared first on .

Joined today by Jennifer Budinsky, a conversation curator with CSI International, and the co-author of The Seven Personalization Principles: Learn the Principles to Thrive in these Disruptive Times. Discussion guide from my conversation with Jennifer Budinsky: 1. The Seven Principles: Be authentic. Be hospitable. Be empathetic. Be committed. Be competent. Be friendly. And be fun! 2. What do you mean by personalization? 3. Why did you choose to reference companies such as Starbucks, Apple, and Netflix? 4. What surprised you most in your research? 5. Why is personalization important in a technology-driven world? 6. Why is personalization so pertinent for millennials? 7. Jennifer gives us 3 tips for employee recognition, a key solution offered by CSI International, for any size company to motivate their workforce? Find Jennifer Budinsky’s book here: About Jennifer Budinsky: Jennifer Budinsky is the co-author of The 7 Personalization Principles and Conversation Curator for CSI International whose mission is to help companies create engaging employee and customer experiences. Prior to joining CSI International Jennifer was the Communications and Marketing Manager at Green Living Enterprises, Canada’s leading cause marketing and event agency focused on social and environmental program development. She has a Master of Arts in Communication and Social Justice, and Bachelor of Arts Honours in Communication, Media and Film from the University of Windsor. Jennifer is an ambassador for encouraging people to create exceptional experiences in every aspect of their lives, from work to home to play! ### The post Jennifer Budinsky: The 7 business personalization principles appeared first on .

Leading with GRIT, Episode Seven, discussion guide: 1. We lead off with a discussion and overview on the importance of Leading with GRIT. 2. Some people hold people accountable by clubbing them over the head and cracking whips. But when operating from GRIT, accountability takes on a whole new meaning… 3. “Most people are held accountable when they’ve done something wrong…” This is the WRONG WAY to look at it. 4. Rather, it should be used in “helping people stay on track.” This is more like empowering people. 5. It’s all about high value activities! 6. This just isn’t about leadership/management accountability, it is also about peer-to-peer accountability. The team should hold each other accountable. 7. You are doing it with the intent of the person improving, almost like coaching. You can now see where TRUST is so important here, and why it is the foundation of the GRIT model. 8. How do we hold OURSELVES accountable? 9. Where are you on the accountability ladder? [download below] 10. You have to acknowledge reality. You also have to own it. And you have to be self-aware. 11. The Five Steps of Change is a great tool here too. 12. CLICK HERE to download the Accountability Ladder! ### Find LEADING with GRIT on iTUNES! ### CLICK HERE to join Laurie’s mailing list to receive FREE weekly tips! ### Today’s episode is made possible by Unlimited Coaching Solutions! In today’s workplace, business leaders face significant pressure to recruit and retain the best employees, to effectively build a team, to create a culture that is healthy, productive, and dynamic, and to empower their staff in managing stress and finding balance. And behind all of those pressures is one goal: to strengthen and grow the business. And too many organizations struggle with this. Unlimited Coaching Solutions provides customized strategies and training to help you reach your goals and take your teams to the next level. Call them today at (585) 248-9322, or find them online at unlimitedcoaching.com. ### You can find Laurie’s book, Leading with GRIT, right here! About our co-host, Laurie Sudbrink: Laurie is president and founder of Unlimited Coaching Solutions, which specializes in improving workplace performance. She is a certified New York State trainer, an approved United States Navy trainer, and is certified in the Four Agreements. She has over twenty years of corporate experience in human relations, management, sales, marketing and training and is a magna cum laude graduate in Communications from SUNY Cortland. For more information, visit www.leadingwithgrit.com. ### The post Leading with GRIT 07: How to be (and how to hold people) accountable appeared first on .

Joined on the show today by Shel Horowitz, the transformpreneur. Shel is a marketing strategist, longtime social activist, and author of many books, including Guerilla Marketing to Heal the World: Combining Principles + Profits to Create the World We Want. You can learn more about Shel and his work at transformpreneur.com. Discussion guide from my conversation with Shel Horowitz: 1. You talk about solving the world’s most important problems: hunger, poverty, war, climate catastrophe, that sort of thing. People have been trying to solve these for thousands of years. What makes you think you will succeed when so many have failed before? 2. Shel shares some examples, big and small, known and unknown, or organizations doing this the right way! 3. What kind of culture changes has to happen internally within an organization? 4. Do you have to be a life long social activist to do this? 5. What steps can ordinary business people take to start addressing global issues? And how do they turn those initiatives into profit? 6. People are so cynical, frustrated, untrusting — do people really believe this is possible, and that it is worth even trying? 7. Can you actually combine principles and profit? Find the latest from Shel Horowitz below: About Shel Horowitz: Braiding together more than 40 years each in business profitability/marketing and organizing for social change, Shel Horowitz—known as “The TransformpreneurSM”—is working to create a world that rewards business for human-focused, planet-focused values and actions. Beginning with a one-toddler action against smokers at his parents’ party at about age three, Shel has been involved in environmental and social change movements his whole life. In 1972, at age 15, he was involved in a community group that opposed a nuclear power plant proposed for two miles north of New York City (a proposal that the utility company quickly withdrew). A veteran of the 1977 Seabrook occupation, his first book, written when he was only 22, was about why nuclear power makes no sense. Shel is also the author of the e-book, Painless Green: 111 Tips to Help the Environment, Lower Your Carbon Footprint, Cut Your Budget, and Improve Your Quality of Life-With No Negative Impact on Your Lifestyle. He is directly responsible for the first nonsmokers’ rights regulations in Northampton, Massachusetts, and for the defeat of a large and inappropriate mountaintop development in his current home town of Hadley, Mass. His Down to Business webzine, founded in 1997, was one of the first business publications to have a regular section on sustainability. On the marketing side, Shel was still a teenager when he started doing publicity and marketing for grass-roots community organizations with zero promotional budget. There wasn’t even money available for stamps, so he used to hand-deliver press releases on a three-speed bicycle, Trained as a journalist, he first became aware of the power of the news media when a local paper refused to print meeting notices he wrote for a controversial group—but gave extensive news coverage to its refusal. Now, for over twenty years, he’s helped businesses, nonprofits, and community groups get their message out to the public affordably and effectively. After finishing Antioch College at age 19, Shel had to come to terms with his own work history: career paths not only in writing and marketing/PR, but also in radio, teaching, arts, food service, office systems, community organizing, and environmental issues. Putting together his own first résumés led to a new career direction: résumé writing and career services. Shel quickly realized he had the ability to discover a job candidate’s best strengths and highlight them while downplaying weaknesses. In short, he turned résumé writing into a marketing function. A native of New York City, he returned there to work at two literary agencies as a manuscript reader, and then worked for a year and a half as a VISTA Volunteer community organizer with the Gray Panthers. Pursuing poetry on the side, he became very active in the New York open poetry scene, and met Dina Friedman at an open reading in Greenwich Village. The two left New York in 1980, spending an academic year in Philadelphia before settling in Western Massachusetts in 1981—and founding Accurate Writing & More with an initial marketing cost of $12 and a total start-up under $200 (most of it for a 13-year-old IBM Selectric typewriter). They married two years later. Daughter Alana was born in 1987 and son Rafael followed in 1992. Drawing on the marketing he’d practiced in and after college, Shel began marketing his own business locally, and grew it to the largest of its kind in a three-county service area. Gradually, he expanded his practice to marketing for other businesses and nonprofits, and then to consulting on incorporating social and enviornmental change at a profit. He began using e-mail as a marketing tool in 1994, set up his first website in 1996, and quickly developed a reputation internationally as a skilled copywriter and marketing strategist who knows how to stretch a marketing dollar. His client list now includes accounts in Europe, Asia, Australia, and all across the U.S.; his books have sold to dozens of countries, and have been republished in South Korea, Japan, India, Mexico, Italy, and Turkey. And as an environmental and social justice activist since 1972, he has used these skills pro bono for a number of environmental and social change organizations—especially a group he founded called Save the Mountain, which mobilized thousands of people (in a rural county) and rapidly beat back an “unstoppable” poorly-planned development on a mountain abutting a state park; this was a campaign that combined everything Shel knew about marketing and community organizing, and drew on the skills of many others that he recruited into the organization. Following the success of this campaign, Shel looked at a bigger canvas:. In 1985, he published the first of eight books on low-cost, high-impact marketing (ten books total). Six of his books have won awards and/or been republished in other countries, including the long-running category bestseller Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green: Winning Strategies to Improve Your Profits and Your Planet (co-authored with Mr. Guerrilla Marketing himself, Jay Conrad Levinson). His 10th book, Guerrilla Marketing to Heal the World (also co-authored with Levinson), will be published in 2016 by Morgan James. This new book shows that a growing percentage of consumers are actually demanding environmental responsibility as a minimum requirement for doing businesses, and that businesses that go beyond just being green to turn hunger and poverty into sufficiency, war into peace, and catastrophic climate change into planetary balance are poised for success. Horowitz provides dozens of examples of companies large and small that have succeeded by putting people and planet first: from Fortune 100 like Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, Southwest Airlines, and General Electric down to small businesses and even solopreneurs. Shel is a Certified International Speaker and frequent media interviewee (including multiple appearances in the New York Times, Inc, Christian Science Monitor, Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, and many others) who loves to get the word out about this important new paradigm. ### The post Shel Horowitz: Combining principles and profits to grow your business AND heal the world appeared first on .

Joined on the show today by George Santino, the author of Get Back Up: From the Streets to Microsoft Suites. You can learn more about George Santino here. Discussion guide from my conversation with George Santino: 1. Just because you start with nothing, doesn’t mean you’ll end up with nothing. 2. It doesn’t matter where you start, just as long as you do start. What really matters is where you finish. 3. Even when faced with physical or emotional challenges, it’s important to not see yourself as the victim. 4. No matter how many times in life you get knocked down, you should always get back up. 5. Whatever you think you deserve, you can get it by putting in the effort and not letting the circumstance surrounding you hinder your ability to achieve your goal. 6. The importance of helping others, being a mentor and creating opportunities for those who seek your guidance. 7. One has to make a difference in life to add value. Otherwise what’s the point of being here? Find George Santino’s book here: About George Santino: George has been a fast food restaurant manager, life insurance salesman, Realtor, sports bar owner, liquor salesman, shoe repair owner, real estate investor, software tester, software engineering manager, and Microsoft partner. George’s life has been filled with many ups and downs. At one point he injured his back so badly it required three operations and led to an eventual diagnosis of Failed Back Syndrome and he was told he would never work again. This was one of the many times George was knocked down but he always got back up, eventually landing a job at Microsoft—after being turned down four times—as an entry level lab engineer and retiring twenty years later from his position as Partner Engineering Manager. Since his retirement George has embarked upon a new career as a professional speaker and author. When George isn’t writing or speaking he is singing or composing the lyrics to his next song. He has released three CDs, all of which spent some time at the top of the Amazon Hot New Releases list. His book, Get Back Up: From the Streets to Microsoft Suites will be released in June. ### The post George Santino: No matter what life throws at you, get back up appeared first on .

Joined today by Stu Heinecke, Wall Street Journal cartoonist, marketing professional, and author of How to Get a Meeting with Anyone. CLICK HERE to learn more about Stu and his work! Discussion guide from my conversation with Stu Heinecke: 1. We discuss “contact marketing.” What is it, and how is it used? 2. Stu and I discuss how he connected to presidents and prime ministers, and how I connected to my boyhood idol… 3. Many people still aren’t hosting a podcast, and MOST people cannot draw cartoons. Are there other examples of how people can leverage contact marketing to get a meeting with anyone? 4. And yes, you can leverage social media tools as an effective way to be a contact marketer. As long as you don’t “pitch…” 5. “Use social media to create connections where you didn’t have them before…” 6. Can you still use email as an effective contact marketing strategy? 7. Contact marketing is all about humanizing yourself to your target market. 8. We all know the concept that people do business with people they know, like, and trust. Well, contact marketing is simply HOW to get people to know, like, and trust you. To make them think “This is someone worth talking to…” 9. Stu talks about the “sword campaign.” You won’t want to miss this story about contact marketing… 10. Giving gifts can work, but especially when the gift is a visual metaphor! 11. The whole point to contact marketing is to take an action that gets your target marketing thinking and wanting to talk with you… 12. Contact marketing done right leads to referrals like you cannot imagine… 13. Hear Stu talk about a $10,000 [per contact] example of contact marketing! Check out Stu Heinecke’s book! About Stu Heinecke: If ever there were someone born to write a book like How To Get A Meeting with Anyone, Stu Heinecke would be that person. A Wall Street Journal cartoonist, Hall of Fame-nominated marketer and author, Heinecke discovered the magic of “Contact Marketing” early in his career, when he launched a Contact Campaign to just two dozen Vice Presidents and Directors of Circulation at the big Manhattan-based magazine publishers. That tiny $100 investment resulted in a 100% response rate, launched his enterprise and brought in millions of dollars worth of business. The cartoon Stu sent me when we first met…The ability to connect with the people most important to realizing one’s goals ultimately became an obsession. While Heinecke regularly employs his own cartoon-based contact methods, he became intensely interested in how others have solved this unique challenge. As a result, he has uncovered a highly unique form of marketing that until now has had no name, yet it produces response rates as high as 100% and ROI figures in the tens, even hundreds of thousands of percent. In How To Get A Meeting with Anyone, he not only gives Contact Marketing its name, but provides us with a definitive guide to what it is, how it works and has cataloged twenty categories of Contact Campaign types. Heinecke is the host and author of the How To Get A Meeting with Anyone podcast and blog, and Founder and President of “Contact,” a Contact Marketing agency, and co-Founder of Cartoonists.org, a coalition of famed cartoonists dedicated to raising funds for charity, while raising the profile of the cartooning art form. He lives on an island in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with his wife, Charlotte, and their dog, Bo. ### The post Stu Heinecke: How to get a meeting with anyone appeared first on .

Joined today by Bruce Newman, a professor of marketing at Depaul University, and the author of a new book called The Marketing Revolution in Politics. “Businesses need to pay attention to what’s happening in politics, if they too want to be on the cutting edge of the new marketing revolution.” Discussion guide for today’s chat with Bruce Newman: 1. Given that 24/7 news cycle, a candidate needs to be poised to react to unexpected events. Companies must better prepare themselves to turn on a dime and handle a crisis. 2. Just like candidates, companies must grow their relationship with customers. How is this done in the modern business world? 3. A candidate needs to look at more than polling numbers. A company needs to look at more than just sales figures. How do organizations take in the bigger picture? 4. Political campaigns have been able to leverage technology to effectively target voters. How can businesses do the same thing? 5. Like campaigns and voters, businesses need to be responsive to customer needs. What can we learn from campaigns about keeping the customer at the center of their marketing strategy? 6. We review the seven lessons Bruce presents in the book: Follow the marketing concept. Use Technology Strategically. Integrate research methods. Develop a unique brand identity. Create a winning advertising strategy. Build a relationship with your customers. Be prepared to engage in crisis management. 7. The importance of real-time decision making! 8. How to collect, understand, and leverage data, which campaigns are getting very good at, and most businesses still don’t take advantage of. About Bruce Newman: Bruce Newman, author of THE MARKETING REVOLUTION IN POLITICS, is a professor of marketing and a Wicklander Fellow in Business Ethics in the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University and founding editor of the Journal of Political Marketing. ### ### The post Bruce Newman: What presidential campaigns can teach us about marketing appeared first on .

Joined today by author, speaker, world traveler, and host of the World Domination Summit, Chris Guillebeau. Chris joins us to discuss his latest book, Born For This: How to Find the Work You Were Meant To Do. Learn more about the book here! Discussion guide from my conversation with Chris Guillebeau: 1. The lessons from finding work you were born to do apply to both the traditional business organization to owning your own business… 2. This isn’t about just following your passion, right? 3. People need to lose themselves in the flow of meaningful work. 4. Every day, you have to ask yourself: “Did today matter?” 5. “The intersection of joy, money, and flow.” 6. Can you hack the job of your dreams with your current job/organization? 7. Ideal work VERSES ideal working conditions… 8. Finally, we talk about all of Chris’ works, all four books, and how they are becoming the multi-volume set on how to live in the modern world… ### ABOUT CHRIS GUILLEBEAU: Chris is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The $100 Startup and The Happiness of Pursuit, as well as The Art of Non-Conformity, which was translated into more than 20 languages. Every summer he hosts the World Domination Summit, a gathering of thousands of cultural creatives and thought leaders. A modern-day explorer, Chris recently completed a ten-year personal quest to visit every country in the world. ### Find Chris Guillebeau’s latest book here: ### The post Chris Guillebeau: How to find the work you were born to do appeared first on .

Co-authors Derek Newberry, Mario Moussa, and Madeline Boyer join me to discuss their book Committed Teams: Three Steps to Inspiring Passion and Performance. Learn more about the book here! Discussion guide about Committed Teams: 1. Teams can achieve great results, but more often than not teams underperform with respect to their potential. 2. Good working relationships are the foundation of great teamwork. 3. The paradox of work becoming increasingly virtual is that it is also becoming increasingly dependent on high performing teams. 4. A simple framework – the 3×3 – can help your team achieve great results. The key to this is knowing how to reflect as a group and knowing how to have effective conversations. The process helps you do both. 5. Commit, Check, Close. 6. Goals, Roles, Norms. 7. The importance of making team “rules.” 8. Why do teams fail? About Derek Newberry: Derek Newberry is a Lecturer at the Wharton School of Business and teaches in its Executive Programs. As a business anthropologist, he advises corporate leaders on the human factors that drive organizational effectiveness. Derek has worked with organizations in a wide-range of industries, including energy, banking, management consulting, and healthcare.. He has published extensively and lectured internationally on cultural barriers to organizational change, including speaking engagements at the World Bank, Copenhagen Business School, Stanford University, and the University of São Paulo. He received his Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. About Mario Moussa: Mario Moussa is a successful author, entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and Fellow in the Executive Programs at the Wharton School of Business. He advises senior leaders about top team effectiveness, organizational culture, and large-scale change initiatives. He has delivered workshops on leadership, strategic persuasion and collaboration to thousands of executives in New York, San Francisco, Shanghai, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, London, Istanbul, and other major cities around the world. His work has been featured on National Public Radio as well as in Time Magazine, Business Week, U.S. News and World Report, HR Magazine, The Harvard Management Update, The Financial Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and leading industry publications. He is Co-Director of the Wharton Strategic Persuasion Workshop. He has also led the design of customized leadership development programs for organizations in a wide variety of sectors, including financial services, pharmaceuticals, energy, healthcare, higher education, and government. By connecting the classroom and the boardroom, he closes the gap between cutting-edge research and professional experience. His work is based on simple, repeatable techniques that deliver results in today’s turbulent business climate. In his latest book Committed Teams: Three Steps to Inspiring Passion and Performance, he and co-authors Madeline Boyer and Derek Newberry use vivid stories and extensive first-hand research from Wharton’s Executive Development Program (EDP) to describe a process for building great teams. Dr. Moussa’s first book The Art of Woo: Using Strategic Persuasion to Sell Your Ideas, co-written with G. Richard Shell, has been critically acclaimed for its clear and effective methodology. Dr. Moussa lives in Center City, Philadelphia with his wife and their three children. About Madeline Boyer: Madeline Boyer is a Senior Consultant with Percipient Partners, a Lecturer at the Wharton School and cultural business anthropologist whose work, research, and teaching focuses on new workplace phenomena: particularly shared and collaborative workspaces, and remote workforce management (leading ‘wide teams’). Madeline was born and raised in the Panama Canal Zone, is fluent in Spanish and English, and keenly aware of cross-cultural management issues–having grown up in a multi-cultural/lingual region. Madeline has worked with a wide range of clients, including leading health and research institutions, non-profits, Fortune 500 companies, and Wharton Executive Education on projects ranging from stakeholder research, change management and strategic planning, to executive development and teamwork coaching. She has lectured internationally on her work on coworking, the global shared workspace movement, and online community dynamics. ### Get the book Committed Teams here! ### The post Three steps to inspiring passion and performance from your teams appeared first on .

Joined today by Melissa Gonzalez, a Marketing and Retail Strategist, Founder of The Lionesque Group, and the author of The Pop Up Paradigm: How Brands Build Human Connections in a Digital Age. Discussion guide from my conversation with Melissa Gonzalez: 1. Cohesive experience / Consistent story. 2. Using temporary retail to generate loyalty. 3. All of this matters to both online retail and traditional bricks and mortar stores! 4. Open source commerce: brands/companies need to collaborate in order to make data work. 5. Hyper local communities for brands such as Athleta offering free yoga classes in certain store locations, Nike Community stores or the local bike shop whose storefront sells healthy food and coffee while you browse. 6. Customer empowered shopping with hyper-customization: 3D printing, where we are now and where it’s going.  7. Virtual and augmented shopping experiences – what brands are doing it and are they impacting the ROI. 8. Pop-up shops: how to start one and the value. About Melissa Gonzalez: A former Wall Street Executive, Gonzalez is the founder of The Lionesque Group, a firm of pop up shop experts who have produced more than 100 retail experiences in New York City, Los Angeles, and the Hamptons. Some of her clients include major brands such as COTY/Marc Jacobs, CAT Footwear, J. Hilburn, and Food52, and she reflects on her work in her book, The Pop-Up Paradigm: How Brands Can Build Human Connections in a Digital Age. In 2015 she was awarded Innovator of the Year for pop-up retail experiences by Retail Touchpoints. And, in 2014, her work was honored with the CLIO Image Award for experiential engagement, and was a finalist for the New York Design Award for marketing and branded experiences.  She has also been awarded the Wall Street Journal’s Donor of the Day, one of the top 20 Most Inspiring People in New York City, and one of the Top 100 Young CEO’s by Our Time’s White House Initiative. A true visionary, Gonzalez is also the co-founder of THE MARKET at the Roger Smith Hotel, and an advisor to start ups, TheStoreFront.com and Fotofwd. She is also a guest blogger on pop-up and immersive retail strategies for various outlets, and holds a degree from Pennsylvania State University. Get Melissa’s book here! ### The post Melissa Gonzalez: How Brands Build Human Connections in a Digital Age appeared first on .

Joined in studio today by Michael Perla. Michael is the co-author of 7 Steps to Sales Force Transformation and a principal at Symmetrics Group. Michael specializes in providing actionable insights to marketing and sales organizations to help them increase pipelines, win ratios, and productivity. He has sold and led projects with the Global 50 to Fortune 1000 companies including: Hewlett Packard, IBM, Avaya, Qwest, Express Scripts and IMS Health, among many others. Discussion Guide from today’s show with Michael Perla: 1. You draw a distinction between change and transformation. What’s the difference? How can a company tell whether it’s sales force needs to be transformed or just tweaked? 2. You say that salespeople are notoriously reluctant to change. Why is this? Why is it especially true of some of the most successful salespeople? What are the keys to overcoming salespeople’s natural resistance to change? 3. In your book, you say that change leaders must treat the sales force transformation as an internal sale. What do you mean? 4. You’ve seen sales transformations fail even when the sales force itself undergoes the necessary changes. The problem is that the rest of the organization doesn’t keep up. What other parts of a business need to be involved in sales transformations? 5. “Process measurement: how to do that?” 6. Creating a vision… 7. You also emphasize the importance of communication – but you warn against pulling salespeople from the field for lengthy updates. How do you recommend communicating the status and results of transformation efforts? 8. You say that success can be a barrier to success. What do you mean? What are some other common barriers to sales transformation success? Get Michael Perla’s book here: 7 Steps to Sales Force Transformation: Driving Sustainable Change in Your Organization ### The post Michael Perla: 7 Steps to sales transformation appeared first on .

Joined on the show today by Bill Wooditch, who joined us to discuss his latest book, Always Forward!: Discover the 7 Secrets of Sales Success. Bill is also the CEO and Founder of Think Next, Act Now! You can learn more about him by clicking here! Discussion guide from today’s chat with Bill Wooditch: 1. Why you have to be both responsible and accountable for YOUR life. And why most of us aren’t… 2. Why is it essential to think, plan, and act as the CEO of your life? 3. How do you develop the franchise of “you”? 4. Why you need to “play life forward!” For the record, Bill ends every email with “Always Forward!” 5. The importance of knowing yourself. And most of us don’t. 6. How can you lessen the impact of regret in your life? And so much more! Such as this from Bill: Purpose, passion and conviction are words without the activation, the vibrant vitality of actualization from people who immerse themselves in this process known as life. The message must be in alignment with the messenger, and the messenger must believe the message. People buy from emotion… people feel conviction, confidence, and they experience confidence. Intelligent risk, unwavering willpower, learned skill, adaptability and agility = forward motion. Life supports forward, Always Forward! About Bill Wooditch: Bill is a keynote speaker and high-performance business training coach. He is a mentor and advocate for those who actively seek and are determined to make a difference in their lives and the lives of others. He worked for two Fortune 500 companies and became the top salesperson in both. He is the founder, CEO, and president of The Wooditch Group, a privately held risk management and insurance services firm. The Wooditch Group provides client-centric solutions and comprehensive risk management programs for clients whose revenues range from $10 million to $1 billion throughout the United States. He is also the founder of Think Next, Act Now!, a company that trains and mentors tomorrow’s entrepreneur today. ### ### The post Bill Wooditch: How to Play Life (and Business) Forward! appeared first on .

Morag Barrett stops by HR Latte for this #KeyPointPodcast to highlight “Generations at Work”, a section from her book, Cultivate: The Power of Winning Relationships HR Latte, episode 80 Series: #WorkTODAY “We are hardwired to stereotype, otherwise we would be overwhelmed.” – Morag Barrett Morag Barrett, Author and CEO/Founder of SkyeTeam, shares a section of her book “Generations at Work” and talks about stereotyping and the 4-5 generations in the workplace today. “It’s less about the date of birth and more important to look at the date of entry into the workplace.” – Morag Barrett Morag talks about better and the best ways to work with the various generations in our workplace, building bridges – and so much more. “As adults, we hate being the beginner, the newbie…, ‘Therefore, I will remain the same.’ Fear is a huge driver. ” – Morag Barrett Discussion Points for : Why We Stereotype in the Workplace Identifying the Generations at Work What is a “Cusper”? Date of Entry into the workplace Remaining Curious You can get Ms. Barrett’s book, Cultivate: The Power of Winning Relationships here. On Twitter… @SkyeMorag @Ray_anne @HRLatte and @intrepid_NOW *Click here for past Episodes 1-66 HRLatte is made possible by: Dovetail Software delivers web-based solutions & help desk programs that enable organizations to reduce administrative & support costs, diagnose & resolve complex business problems, and increase efficiency, while improving support. Rayanne loves hosting talk radio and continues to hone this craft in every way possible by creating and hosting several educational and promotional radio shows, hosting & moderating webinars and podcasts, as well as a featured host on intrepidNOW’s Trade Show Radio. For more information about how you can use online radio or podcasting to educate your target audience or customer, compliment your marketing efforts, and grow your brand recognition, feel free to message Rayanne on Twitter, LinkedIn, or via email at rayanne@intrepidNOW.com. Additionally, if you’d like to have streaming radio to drive traffic to your booth at an exhibition, trade show, or conference – please connect with Rayanne! The post HR Latte: Author Morag Barrett on “Generations at Work” appeared first on .

I was honored to be a recent guest of Will Barron on his radio show to discuss the Zen of Sales: A whole new approach towards your thinking on sales… It was a real pleasure to join Will on his show, and I think it was a really impactful conversation. I hope you enjoy it… [Notes from SalesNation:] The show is kicked off with Todd explaining exactly what ‘zen’ has to do with sales (minds will be blown by this seemingly new and fresh way of looking at closing deals). “It’s about slowwwwinngg down and that is counter-intuitive to what most people in sales are thinking” – Todd Schnick The show is wrapped up with Todd explaining his path to learning about minimalism and forgoing the need to work harder, to buy more crap, that no one needs and live a more fulfilling live. “You shouldn’t have to sit there and convince them that you or your organisation are capable of delivering on the solution that you’re selling. If that’s how your spending your time, well then there’s something else that needs to be fixed.” – Todd Schnick Todd and Will also cover – The benefits of slowing down the sales process How to become more fulfilled in your sales role Why you don’t necessarily need more ‘stuff’ The importance of looking back at your career to see what you should have done differently to make sure you don’t do the same thing moving forwards This interview originally published here! ### ### The post Todd on the SalesNation podcast: The Zen of Sales appeared first on .

Joined in studio today by John Mattone, leadership authority + executive coach, speaker, and author of Cultural Transformations: Lessons of Leadership and Corporate Reinvention. He joins us to discuss his recent book! You can learn more about John Mattone here! Discussion guide from today’s conversation with John Mattone: 1. Why do 75% of all business transformations fail? 2. How can companies know when it’s time to implement a transformation program? 3. If leadership is key for driving transformation, then it’s essential that companies develop great leaders. How can they do this? 4. You write that “thinking different and thinking big” is imperative for great leadership. What do you mean? 5. Why are changing mindsets and changing behavior important? Can leaders really change the way people think and behave at work? 6. In CULTURAL TRANSFORMATIONS, you identify five types of organizational culture: “can do,” “will do,” “must do,” “individual performance,” and “team performance.” Why is it essential to define a company’s culture? Are certain types of cultures optimal? Should companies strive to create them? 7. “You have to measure your culture.” 8. “A comfort zone is a disease.” 9. What is the one thing that business leaders can do today to start the process for change? About John Mattone: Engaging and insightful, John is one of the world’s top authorities on leadership, talent, and culture. An acclaimed speaker and executive coach, he is available to share his insights with your audience. John Mattone is an authority on leadership, talent, and culture. An acclaimed speaker and executive coach, he advises Fortune 1000 senior leaders on how to create cultures that drive superior operating results. He is the author of seven books including CULTURAL TRANSFORMATIONS, Talent Leadership, and Intelligent Leadership. Mattone is the creator of numerous business assessments, including the Mattone Leadership Enneagram Inventory. Find John Mattone’s book here: ### The post John Mattone: Why culture and leadership are the keys to effective business transformation appeared first on .

Joined in studio today by Judy Robinett, funding expert, author, and speaker. Judy is the author of How to Be a Power Connector. You can learn more about Judy here! Discussion guide from today’s interview with Judy Robinett: 1. How to become a power connector. And why building a real network is the true force behind funding your company. 2. Ecosystems? What is that, and which ecosystems should we be targeting? Because most of us aren’t doing this, which is why we struggle to raise capital. 3. The power of “warm introductions.” It’s not what YOU think… 4. Developing a funding strategy. It is more than just asking people for money… 5. What is the 5+50+100 system and how will it streamline my power connecting strategy? 6. We also discuss Judy’s upcoming book, “Crack the Funding Code.” How to Be a Power Connector: The 5+50+100 Rule for Turning Your Business Network into Profits About Judy Robinett: In her career Judy has led both public and private companies as CEO, and served in management positions at Fortune 500 companies. She now works with companies developing their strategic plans and has an online system called, “Crack the Funding Code™” that helps early-stage companies develop their funding strategy and obtain funding. She is on the advisory boards of Illuminate VC, Pereg VC, and Springboard Enterprises. Judy previously served as a managing director of Golden Seeds Angel Network and as a member of the faculty of Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Business Program. Judy’s book, How to Be a Power Connector: the 5+50+150 Rule, was named the #1 business book of 2014 by Inc. She has been profiled in Fast Company, Forbes, CBS, Huffington Post, and Bloomberg Businessweek. Her second book, “Crack the Funding Code,” will be out later this year. ### The post Judy Robinett: Funding your company appeared first on .

Joined in studio today by Todd Putman, who stops by to discuss his latest book: Be More: Find Your Truth, Tell Your Story, And Get What You Want Out of Live! You can learn more about the book here! Discussion Guide with our chat with Todd Putman: 1. One of the key themes of your book is that few people can answer one, simple question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Why is that so tough to answer? If we don’t know by now, is it too late? 2. You argue that the common advice to “follow your passion” isn’t nearly as simple as it sounds. Why is that the case? 3. You argue that although people know they want “more” they don’t really know their goals. How do you help people identify their goals? 4. How can leaders inspire their teams to “be more” and, in turn, be inspired to be better at their own job or with their responsibilities? 5.The book takes a “gloves-off” approach to assessing your life, dreams, and desires. Why do many people have a hard time taking an honest look at themselves? About Todd Putman: A consumer strategist at heart and advocate for mission-driven organizations and individuals that create value while delivering societal benefit, Todd Putman serves as General Manager for the Garden Fresh strategic business unit within the new Campbell Fresh division of the Campbell Soup Company. Todd leads the retail fresh soup business and the recently-acquired Garden Fresh Gourmet. The #1 branded refrigerated salsa in the United States, the Garden Fresh Gourmet acquisition represents the reshaping of Campbell’s portfolio toward the fast-growing packaged fresh and organic food categories. Previously, Todd was the Chief Commercial Officer of Bolthouse Farms, where his duties included sales, consumer and customer marketing, innovation, and research & development. Todd earned a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University, and now chairs the College of Liberal Arts Dean’s Advisory Council. His other board affiliations include The Public Good Projects in New York. He was formerly on the board of Sahale Snacks, which was acquired by the J.M. Smucker’s Company. Todd is passionately committed to empowering people to accomplish their goals and realize their individual potential. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Rachel, and two children. ### You can find Todd Putman’s book here: Be More: Find your truth, tell your story, and get what you want out of life. ### The post Todd Putman: How to get what you want out of life appeared first on .

Honored to welcome Adele Revella, the CEO of Buyer Persona Institute, and the author of Buyer Peronas; How to Gain Insight into Your Customer’s Expectations, Align your Marketing Strategies, and Win More Business. Discussion Guide with Adele Revella: 1. What is the definition of a buyer persona? 2. What makes a buyer persona effective? What makes buyer personas ineffective? 3. How can marketing and sales teams use buyer personas to understand their buyers and the decisions they make? 4. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, can you share advice for how sales teams can better align with marketing to win sales and grow their business? 5. How do you create buyer personas for buyers at different stages of the sales process? 6. Is the approach different for helping sales people break through to the C-level buyer? 7. “Understand how, when, and why buyers make the decision…” 8. Understand the buyer’s journey. 9. “Tell me something useful…” About Adele Revella: Adele is CEO of Buyer Persona Institute and author of Buyer Personas: How to Gain Insight into Your Customer’s Expectations, Align your Marketing Strategies, and Win More Business (Wiley). Adele’s unique perspective derives from decades of experience as a sales and marketing executive, trainer, researcher and entrepreneur. In 2010, she founded Buyer Persona Institute. Check out Adele’s book here: ### The post Adele Revella: Understanding buyer personas appeared first on .

Joined on the show today by Tim Brown, Founder of Three Creative, and Dan Streeter, an award-winning educator. Together, they are the co-authors of Old School with New Tools. Learn more about the book here! Today’s discussion guide: Old school sales with new sales tools + technology: 1. Mastery of the small things. 2. How 5% more effort makes the difference between getting good results and great results. 3. Reasons why the sales profession is more challenging today than it has ever been. 4. The many digital tools available to sales professionals today; and how to use them effectively. 5. Ways sales professionals can work smarter – not harder. 6. How “content makes you an authority.” Some additional notes from Tim + Dan: Old school sales with new sales tools + technology: 1. Sales can be difficult. Understanding how to combine the “old school” consultative sales methodologies with the “new tools” of the 21st Century is game changing. In today’s world you need both. 2. In karate, the difference between going to the board or through the board (the difference between good to great) is only 5% more power. This book will help the sales professional with accessing that last 5% of power when you use all the tips/tools listed throughout the book. It is literally how we go from being ordinary to extraordinary – it’s about the practice and execution of the fundamentals, which leads to us optimizing the consistency with which we perform. 3. Old School with New Tools provides practical, dirt under the finder nails, real wisdoms, not high level platitudes that don’t change beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. The mastery of the “small things” provides that extra 5% to take you to the top of your sales game and keep you there. 4. The book and the sales training curriculum are designed to be easy to understand, learn, practice and ultimately adopt as your underlying operating system as a sales professional. 5. The book was written by people who love and have spent their careers in sales and learning. The ultimate goal is to allow sales leaders to empower everyone within an organization to sell (not just people with sales in their business title). About Tim Brown: As the founder of Three Creative Tim has set his sights on positively impacting the lives of millions of people across the world through his books and life changing leadership programs. Whether in book or seminar form, Three Creative learning opportunities combine the rich entrepreneurial experience of one of the most successful CEO’s on the planet with the best educational practices of today to create highly impactful learning experience. Tim has a passion for developing individuals responsible for sales and business development and creating momentum around powerful sales engines. He has led sales teams both as an “intreprenuer”—leading sales efforts for mid-size companies—and as an entrepreneur successfully starting and building profitable companies. About Dan Streeter: Dan Streeter is the Principal of IMPART Learning Solutions, which develops and delivers life-changing learning experiences for youth, teachers and the corporate world. As an expert in learning, instructional design and presentation delivery his company has designed learning experiences for several of the most innovative educational programs in the United States including ElevateUSA, the National Leadership Academy, Project Helping, Regis University, Meeting One and well known authors such as Tommy Spaulding, Tim Brown and Stephen McGhee. Dan’s extensive public speaking background includes presentations to thousands of business leaders and students across the country. This public speaking experience also helped Dan to successfully lead in a variety of roles in The Kent Group, where Dan served as VP of Sales and Marketing and then, as a divisional president successfully managing a staff of over 120 people. Find Tim + Dan’s book here! Old School with New Tools–The Extra 5% that Takes You to the Top of your Sales Game and Keeps You There. ### The post Old school sales with new sales tools + technology appeared first on .