Working On Purpose

In today’s bustling times, we face personal, business, and cultural challenges that are volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, also known as VUCA. These challenges require situationally aware, adaptive, and strong leadership. Enter flow: When time seems to stand still, the right decisions come easily, we experience a sense of heightened awareness, and optimal experience emerges. In this episode, Dr. Judy shares her research into the flow experiences of firefighters and how training impacts flow-based decision making. This research shows how we can consciously choose to maximize our personal flow experiences, while putting in place the conditions to help others maximize their flow experiences. Incorporating flow-based leadership practices facilitates and enables employees to better align talents to organizational mission, intensify innovation, improve productivity, and increase the bottom line. Ultimately, this extends to personal, organizational, and community well-being.

The business of higher education is a challenging yet rewarding place to make a career and have tremendous impact on thousands of lives. Preparing young minds to successfully enter the workforce and connect them with opportunities requires a relentless laser focus and collaborative team effort, which is the strategic directive adopted by this episode’s guest. In this conversation, we talk about Dr. McMillen’s choice to pursue a career in education, the work he and his team are doing to serve its annual study body of 4,500 and get them productively into the workforce, discuss five trends that affect higher education and how it operates to affect student outcomes.

You are never perceived in a neutral way. You are always making an impression to yourself or to others on your ability to influence others. When meeting someone for the first time your appearance and demeanor have said it all. The questions to ask yourself are – do I have an accurate understanding of these impressions and are they really what I want to convey? And if I don’t like what I learn about how others perceive me, what can I do to change it and manage it to get the results I want? In this episode, we talk with an impressment management guru about what to focus on and how to improve the way you are perceived at work, as well as the link between impressions, business relationships, and performance at work.

Companies across the Western world are finding competitive advantage in embracing a culture of “giving for growth.” Whether of the millennial generation, or among the increasing number of adults experiencing “purpose starvation,” increasing numbers of employees welcome the opportunity to expand their own sense of mission and purpose through volunteerism at work and thus gravitate to companies offering such access. Companies are wise to leverage this cooperative esprit de corps to both have the reach and impact on a community it desires, while also fully engaging the talents and passions of their employees to their own corporate missions. Furthermore, many corporate leaders have learned that that to see desired change in their community, they must get physically involved - one way to do so is to mobilize their own army of do-gooders and inspire them to get involved in their own communities. Net result: increased employee engagement, bottom-line results, and healthier communities.

Brian Williams may be an unlikely success – or perhaps a graceful illustration of responding to life’s early challenges with grit and resilience. He had a hard start in life, having growing up without a father and labeled mentally retarded by teachers. Later, he would go on to receive a full academic scholarship to Texas A and M and receive his Computer Science degree. He later built a career that allowed him to eventually take leadership positions in several Fortune 500 technology companies. After leaving corporate America, Brian and his wife Tasha joined forces to start their own consulting company, Perspectivity International. In this episode, we explore the early life experiences that shaped who Brian is today, his career and other experiences that contributed to the person he is, and the work he does today to alter the way his clients communicate to increase the impact they so ardently aspire.

Recent surveys of global CEOs and board chairmen conclude that human capital is the top challenge they face. Managing change, and finding and keeping staff with the right skills are among the most important business challenges facing business leaders. The human population is getting older. Fertility is falling, and the world’s population is graying dramatically. A smaller workforce will place a greater onus on productivity for driving growth and may cause us to rethink the economy’s potential. With ongoing digitization of the workforce, the stage is set for major change as artificial intelligence brings workplace automation to physically intensive roles and repetitive routines but also to a wide range of other tasks. This coming digitization of the workforce and the powerful economics of automation will require a sweeping change in organizational structures, influence and control. In this episode, we discuss these workforce trends and what organizations must do to keep pace.

When access to education and work opportunity are abundant, it can be easy to take them for granted. Yet, much of the world is still working to improve access to education and economic development. In Peru, a country of 31 million people, males outnumber females in education rates and illiteracy in the rural areas can be as high as 34 percent. Domestic abuse has registered as high as 49 percent among females in certain rural areas where access to education and work opportunities are limited. Thousands of Peruvian girls stay in dysfunctional and violent homes because they have no means to support themselves. In this episode, we feature a Peruvian native turned American citizen who’s on a mission to eliminate what has been seen by many as an unfortunate inevitability and leaving behind the submissive woman while setting free the true Peruvian girl.

Everyone wants to know they matter, and there is so much need in the world and thus opportunity to make a difference. The question is how to connect willing and able volunteers hungry to make a difference with those across the world who need a hand. HELPS International has been in the business of serving Central America for more than 30 years and offers healthcare via medical missions, economic development via fortified agricultural methods, ONIL plancha stoves and water filters, and educational expertise to develop teachers and provide 21st century education to students. In this episode, a lead medical doctor, a HELPS International executive, and the host as a volunteer share their recent experience serving on a medical mission team in Guatemala on the Huehuetenango military base and how the experience informs their own sense of personal and professional purpose.

In today’s ultra-competitive, hyper-connected business environment, many companies are finding their leaders must stay informed of and on top of workforce trends that shape how human capital is acquired, developed, and performs in order to remain viable and innovative. They must find a way to individually activate an authentic work experience for their workforce, which may in part be accomplished by intentionally crafting a purpose-driven culture. Leaders need to continue to develop their skills to elicit employee commitment, elevate productivity and performance, and drive business growth. At the same time, employees are looking for fulfillment from their work and are determined to achieve their full potential. As individuals they need to embrace change to achieve more meaning, mastery, and momentum in their work life, which can in part be accessed by tapping the superhero within to embrace their own potential. In this episode, we explore all these topics and more.

It’s not for everyone but many people will at some point ask themselves, shouldn’t I just be off working for myself? The feeling of self-sufficiency and charting one’s own course in life seems to be a draw for many people across the globe. Being an entrepreneur offers the opportunity to build a legacy organization and perhaps impact a great number of people. But is it truly for you? In this episode, we feature a long-time serial entrepreneur who shares his perspective on what he sees as four kinds of entrepreneurs, the basic business types one can entertain, and some key considerations about oneself to take into account in evaluating whether entrepreneurship is a viable track for you.

Most everyone wants to lead a happy and abundant life and feel they’ve had an impact that made a difference to others. They want to feel productive and meaningfully engaged in their lives. But not everyone finds a ready path to creating such a life for themselves. Or something goes awry along the road of life, and they need help getting back on a fitting and productive path. In this episode, we talk with motivational and productivity expert who helps people find their passion and purpose. Even if you feel you’re on your right path, this episode promises inspiration and guidance to help you pursue an even more productive and fulfilled life.

Our connected lives have made us more aware of the problems facing humanity than ever before, and yet few people feel empowered to be a part of an authentic solution. Dissatisfaction with old models of solving problems combined with the increased awareness of local, national, and global challenges have created a readiness for the emergence of new approaches. In this episode, you will hear of a unique business model of empowerment designed to involve more average people in creating sustainable and rewarding change. We will hear from the founder and visionary behind MPACT Project, a start-up platform combining the popularity of crowdfunding, holistic poverty solutions, and enlightened self-interest to grow a movement of people who care

Outer space - does it allure and call out to you? Does it fascinate you to ponder how the universe and galaxies come into being? How do galaxies grow over time and change dramatically across different regions of outer space? How do they grow their stars, black holes, and dark matter? These are some of the questions that drive the research of this episode's guest, Dr. Shardha Jogee. She will share her early deep fascination with science, how she dared to dream big, and how it all culminated against all odds in her career as an astronomer, professor, and chair of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin. She will discuss some of her exciting research using NASA's Hubble, Spitzer, and Herschel Space Telescopes, McDonald Observatory, and the future Giant Magellan Telescope, and invite young minds to join the journey of scientific exploration. She will also share the excitement of advancing Texas Astronomy in her role as department chair.

Governed by a continuous curiosity for commerce since the age of 10, Mark Phillips has made a life of finding ways to spot opportunities in the marketplace that position him for success. His is a unique perspective that propels him to capitalize on business opportunities that are simply not obvious to most of us. Though he was able to retire at age 32 from the sale of a successful venture, he’s begun and run one venture after another ever since – reveling in the joy of playful and productive creativity in enterprise. Boundlessly energetic, he delights in ongoing enterprise and encouraging others to find ways to be happy at work, so they can lead an enjoyable life – and just have fun!

If we’re fortunate in life, we find and develop strong and lasting connections with important people who really matter to us. They add a beautiful zest that touches us and brings an impossible to describe joy. So, when they leave us and pass on, the grief can be incredibly overwhelming. It was this journey that Marla Lackey unexpectedly embarked upon as she navigated her beloved mother’s passing. A registered nurse working in Labor and Delivery, she reveled in bringing souls into the world – now, she’d have to help usher out the one who’d been incredibly precious to her. In this episode, Marla recollects her fond experiences growing up, what her mother taught her as she died of cancer, and her experience of at first resonating with a quote she’d seen that her “mother had taught her everything she needed to know except how to live without her.” Marla’s new chapter in life and work is to help others through her writing to find hope and gratitude while navigating the grieving process.

Do you know how you are perceived as a leader? What exactly is your leadership image? There are at least 10 key elements of leadership we can develop in ourselves, according to Sharon Burstein, and in this episode we’ll discuss some of them to help you improve your leadership image. We’ll also talk about the importance of being able to motivate the people we lead to inspire them to perform at their best. In fact, Sharon gives 50 of them in one of her books, some of which will be discussed in this episode as well as how they apply in the work setting. Finally, our ability to communicate and connect with others has a profound impact on our success as leaders, and Sharon describes the 95-5 percent rule.

Money, and the way we make good use of it, can mean all the difference to whether we get to live the life we most ardently desire for ourselves and our loved ones. Good financial planning depends on a sound understanding of investments, insurance, retirement, estate, and tax planning. Equally important is a solid grasp of just how all these areas are connected to the people they are intended to serve and the lives they want to lead. In this episode, Ryan McDonald describes why he chose the financial planning profession over medicine and why he loves the work and his connection to his clients. He also helps listeners understand how investments can make money, why considering liquidity is crucial, and the relationship to risk in investments.

Imagine your job is to make beautiful music and move and inspire people across the world with the beauty of your song. And consider you discovered this talent and have been cultivating it from the toddler years, thanks to the gift of a beloved grandfather who imparted his inspiration and recognized talent when he saw it. In this episode, we learn how international singer and composer Stephanie Zelaya found her passion at age 3 and continued her quest to develop it into a beautiful expression of who she is today in her early 20s as she tours the Americas. Singing in Spanish and English, she shares her early influences, key milestones, and educational opportunities and what she hopes most to give her listeners. Many people ache to discover the work they were meant to do and often lack the courage to pursue it once they do. Tune into this episode and listen to Stephanie share her story and you just might find your own inspiration to reach for the stars and follow your own life’s dreams.

Considering retirement after a long career in corporate America, but just aren’t sure if you have saved enough money? Or maybe you one of the “working worried,” sure you’ll be the next one at work asked to leave, and you’re not ready to hang it up yet? Once entering the job search, many seasoned workers find themselves applying for countless jobs, only to hear the constant refrain, “thanks but you’re overqualified.” Others consider starting a new business but just don’t know if they’re on the right track or have what it takes to successfully operate it. The future seems increasingly uncertain especially for the Boomer generation in relation to how they experience work and earn money. In this episode, John Tarnoff shares his insights on unique issues facing Boomers and what they can do to radically alter their future by considering the possibilities to reimagine and reinvent themselves in surprisingly new ways to literally thrive in the new economy.

Being a leader in today’s generationally diverse workplace is more complicated than ever before. Managers and leaders are being required to increase greater employee engagement using new tools to connect and collaborate to bridge the generational gap. Factors such as rapidly changing technology, an uncertain economy, mergers, closings, and layoffs have made today’s workplace even more challenging to lead. The attitudes of the generations vary from how they value loyalty, want to be rewarded, to staying on the cutting edge of technology. While some organizations are trying to figure out which generation’s way of leading is best, when in reality there is no cookie cutter solution - no generation is better or worse, they’re just different. This episode features the Generational Guru who helps organizations identify the obstacles and opportunities for leadership within each generation and understand the potential impact everyone can make as a leader.