Working On Purpose

In this episode, we hear from one of the most approachable yet talented business strategists, with a long tenure in teaching business people to be more effective at their practice. Ed Kless shares his perspective on creating vision and strategy within organizations and how doing so sets the stage for performance and engagement across the enterprise. He stresses the need to develop and execute through what he calls healing leadership. Drawing from his own years of content development and delivery, he also distinguishes effective consulting as an art and practice.

Ready for the twist in this episode? We’ll be talking in depth about the importance of finding meaning at work through engagement, even on an existential level. And we’ll dive into how sport, art, and pure play can help create engagement in the work we do…. And we’ll do this by engaging in conversation through the unique lens of a man who lives large with a profession in accounting and comedy, thinks deeply, and laughs often.

The food we eat is often chosen by what is nearby and affordable. But for an increasing number of city dwellers, this availability-affordability measure means buying processed foods from a nearby convenience store and not fresh fruits and vegetables from a grocer. Food deserts, as they’re called, rob its community dwellers of nutritious foods and often contribute to obesity and other health problems. To begin to address food deserts in South Dallas, the Seedling Farm was born and opened in November 2017 and offers free produce to the community. This is a collaborative effort has been brought to life by Dr. Owen Lynch of Southern Methodist University Meadows School of the Arts and senior research fellow at SMU’s Hunt Institute for Humanity and Engineering, and numerous local Dallas urban farm organizations.

The purpose and why of our work must also be carried over to our customers and how we interact with them, specifically how we charge them. Charging by the hour for our work is actually a conflict of interest that cannot be reconciled – and it also limits our own income potential as servants. In this episode, we explore an alternative way to serve and charge and serve customers that brings work well into the 21st century.

By manifesting, we mean to bring into existence that which we clearly intend for ourselves. Though it can sound overly simplistic and perhaps unrealistic to the untrained ear, manifesting that which we desire for our lives and work takes some real work. In this episode, we talk with manifesting expert Tanja Waring who shares her six secrets to create, manifest, and get what you want.

The Thanksgiving holiday is a great time to remind ourselves of the importance of practicing gratitude across our lives including in business and leadership. Living and working from a place of gratitude allows us to appreciate our colleagues, team, and clients – and also recognize and acknowledge who they are and what they do. Expressing how people enrich our lives and contribute their efforts to power an organization forward is an essential life skill that improves greatly with practice. Employee engagement research tell us that most people crave being valued and appreciated in the workplace – in fact, it’s often the number one driving factor to engagement and performance. So, looking for ways to incorporate a gratitude approach to living, working, and leading is what this show is all about.

Almost half of mothers would prefer part-time work, yet only 25 percent of them do. Though there are many benefits to working professionally in a part-time capacity for both the woman and her employer, it can be difficult for women to determine whether going part-time is the right choice for them and then comes the step of actually make it happen. And once the decision is made to move to a part-time capacity, new ways of effectively networking, developing support networks, and managing time become critical centerpieces around which to build and fortify this career-family balance choice.

Founder Isaac Alfton came up with the TriggerGive idea while attending the IE Business School in Madrid, Spain for his MBA. After one too many annoying political posts showing up on his social media feeds, he decided to do something about it. After being frustrated at non-stop political cheap shots on his social media feed, instead of replying with a witty comment, he just made a donation to the opposing side. That idea turned into the startup he now heads, which lets users donate directly to non-profits by simply using hashtags on social media.

IIOT, or the internet of things, is all over our news space. But what does it really mean? And what does it mean for various industries? In this episode, we’ll talk with one of the two founders from IIoT World, a new organization that covers the economic and technological implications of the transformation taking place as IIoT proliferates throughout the enterprise. Their team combines journalistic coverage with data analysis to expose the stories, players, trends and innovations that shape the IIoT.

As human beings, we’re wired to connect socially. It’s how we’ve survived through the ages. And it’s no different when we’re in business, as we need others to teach, inspire, help us grow, and gain access to new customers. Enter The VERO way, whose founder knows in his being that you will become who you surround yourself with. And if you want to grow your competency and business, it is critical to be around others who have achieved more than you and can share their perspective. This is where structured socialization networking can be a powerful leg up.

Born in Scotland into a family with very little means, and having lost his parents in his teens, Tahar could have made every excuse in the book to avoid achieving his dreams. His road to success was paved with numerous failures, and now these lessons provide real value to everyone who hears his message. You’ll discover how this success was earned with hard work, determination and the drive to find and seize opportunities while learning from his setbacks. Tahar will share his secrets, strategies and stories of facing economic downturns, loss of market share, slumping sales and low morale from his employees with a whole variety of other challenges.

Brittany Merrill Underwood has made an extraordinary impact through her dedication over the past 14 years to transform the lives of impoverished women and families through Akola, a non-profit social business designed to empower women in disadvantaged communities through training, employment and holistic care. Currently, Akola provides work opportunities to over 500 women in Uganda and Dallas so they can transform the lives of over 4,000 children in their communities. The non-profit has developed holistic programs in 12 development categories, drilled 23 clean water wells, and has built three training centers throughout Uganda. Akola Jewelry is the first full-impact brand to be sold in the luxury space through their national, every store launch in Neiman Marcus. As a non-profit, Akola reinvests 100 percent of its profits to help women in poverty.

There’s much talk about the importance of leadership to set a clear vision, engage the hearts and minds of individuals within an organization, and drive critical business results. And we hear about different types of leaders, as researcher and author Goleman differentiate – situational, commanding, visionary, democratic, affiliative, pacesetting, coaching. Which one of those should we be? Do we change our position as leaders, depending on the environment and task at hand? Maybe it’s more about the way we lead and the person we show up to be as a leader. Maybe it’s more about pushing ourselves to be brave, courageous, authentic, and just plain bold – even when we don’t think we can be.

Are you living your best life? Of course, none of us aspire to live a mediocre life, but still, why do so many end up working at jobs they hate or choose relationships that are unedifying and unsupportive? Why do so many settle for living lives less than what they truly want to live? This week's special episode explores the question, How do we live our best life? You'll want to be sure to listen to this one as Shawn and I explore the secrets to what turns a mediocre life into a good one...and a good life into a great one. Ready to go for great?

Out to intentionally create and live a company culture that customer satisfaction and business results, driversselect executives are passionate about their mission. Their governing mindset is that they’re not in the “car business,” but rather the “care business.” Big difference. In this episode, we talk up close and personal with driversselect leaders about their determination to enact a virtuous cycle in caring for their customers, how they cascade their culture through their tribe of employees, and the business results these initiatives have yielded.

Many people accidentally find themselves in careers they did not intend for themselves. But not all of them find their joy in having landed there. This guest is an exception, which should delight anyone who has children of their own or who is betting on the next generation who enter the workforce. Having graduated with a degree in Biology, Ms. Wainwright was surprised to get recruited to teach Biology classes at a private high school, accepted, and has never looked back. This episode kicks off the school year and showcases passion in teaching that sparks life-long learning and inquiry that makes learning just plain fun.

We eat every day. But what we put in our bodies makes all the difference in the world to our health. Starting off early in life by learning to choose a nutritional diet is the foundation of a vibrant population. And yet, diabetes is at an epidemic level among Texan children, largely due to uninformed nutritional choices by caregivers. Having access to fresh and healthy food sources is critical to put health back into Texan diets. Growing healthy communities and participating in growing food in school gardens help young people learn how to nurture and harvest nutritious food from the source.

As the state of the workplace dynamically changes to meet technological disruptions and competitive demands, a segment of the working population begins to consider striking out on their own. Doing so requires having a vision that aligns with our own values and a well-considered strategy for growth. Proactively managing cash flow and careful consideration toward scaling the business are often overlooked or ill-considered, yet can be the Achilles heel of the business. Similarly, managing productivity to ensure key priorities get accomplished each day while weeding through the pile of other tasks that can be delegated elsewhere are key areas that must be developed into strengths for founding entrepreneurs to achieve their greatest success. In this episode, the guest shares openly, crisply, and candidly what it really takes to craft a successful business that embodies our desired business lifestyle.

Men and women approach work and sales differently. And both genders can learn something from the other. This episode with a gender expert focuses on how to empower and enlighten women in sales and business.

Every morning we wake up to the news that some seismic shift has occurred in the world of work or international marketplace, like when Amazon announced its intended purchase of Whole Foods. Or, we learn on the headline news that our company will be liquidated which might just mean we’re out of work, a phenomenon that occurred for a Teavana employee recently. What do these changes mean to the ongoing evolution of the workforce and the economic development policies that may undergird and support them? The sheer disruption with which we work today introduces a terrific array of “knotty economic and social issues,” and this week’s guest shares the work he and his institute are doing to investigate them and provide solutions and his thoughts on the immediate direction the world of labor is heading. We’ll talk about how the upcoming conference he is chairing aims to reframe the futures of work conversation including the massive disruptions technology brings.