Engaging Leader: Leadership communication principles with Jesse Lahey

You can’t achieve your potential as a leader or an organization without practicing effective communication. Organizations that communicate effectively with their workforce deliver better results. According to a study by Willis Towers Watson, companies with high effectiveness in communication and change management are 3.5 times more likely to significantly outperform their less effective peers. They: Attract top people Engage employees fully Achieve a superior bottom line It’s NOT about transmitting information.  Workforce communication is listening to people and using key principles to grab attention, inspire trust, and nudge behaviors of people to deliver results that matter … all within the crazy complexities of a human organization. Learning and practicing the principles of effective communication can help you become a better leader, a more successful businessperson, and maybe even a better person overall. Workforce communication is a specialized focus within corporate communication. Corporate communication, according to Wikipedia, involves managing and orchestrating all internal and external communications aimed at creating a favorable point of view among stakeholders on which the company depends. Workforce communication, according to us, involves mostly internal stakeholders (such as employees, front-line managers, leaders, executives, board members, and their families and communities) and is aimed at engaging people, inspiring trust, and driving action to support well-being and business performance. Workforce communication includes all human resources topics as well as other areas related to organizational talent and performance. The areas of expertise include: Employer branding, recruiting, and onboarding Employee engagement Culture shaping (mission, vision, values, purpose, diversity, inclusion, etc.) Talent management Well-being Compensation and benefits Organizational merger, acquisition, and business transformation Leadership development Manager-employee communication (day-to-day coaching, etc.) Our company, Workforce Communication, is a team of consultants and creatives using the power of communication to help organizations make a difference in the well-being and performance of their people. We’re all about engaging people, inspiring trust, and driving action. We’re fun people, we do cool work, and we deliver real results. Our services include: Consulting Development and implementation Workshops and presentations Coaching Along with Jesse, Laurie Barnes is a co-founder of Workforce Communication. With more than 30 years in the biz, Laurie is a successful communication executive who is known for out-of-the-box thinking. She has held leadership positions at three large, global consultancies — Willis Towers Watson, Deloitte, and Mercer. In 2010, Laurie formed Maple Tree Lab, a communication boutique. At Workforce Communication, she serves as a talent leader inside the firm and a creative strategist for clients. Resources Mentioned in This Episode Models and frameworks: workforcecommunication.com/tag/model-framework LinkedIn: /laurieannbarnes Subscription Links

Boom! That’s the sound of performance appraisal processes being blown up across the country. There’s been a collective lightning flash of realization that the old way of doing it just isn’t doing it. But what’s really happening? In a new piece of research, The Truth & Lies of Performance Management, Michael Bungay Stanier and his […]

Boom! That’s the sound of performance appraisal processes being blown up across the country. There’s been a collective lightning flash of realization that the old way of doing it just isn’t doing it. But what’s really happening? In a new piece of research, The Truth & Lies of Performance Management, Michael Bungay Stanier and his colleagues David Creelman and Anna Tavis surveyed senior executives across more than 120 organizations, asking them to share what they’re doing (and not doing) in their organizations. The research was supplemented with qualitative interviews, adding stories from the front line to the statistics. Among other findings, the research showed there is no “silver bullet” that will make performance appraisals easy, pleasant, and useful for everyone. However, performance can be improved by teaching managers how they can be more coach-like — and have everyday performance conversations — in a way that isn’t an added burden to them. Michael Bungay Stanier has trained more than 10,000 busy managers from around the globe in practical, everyday coaching skills. He is the founder and senior partner of Box of Crayons, a company that helps organizations all over the world do less Good Work and more Great Work. Box of Crayons is best known for their coaching programs that help time-crunched managers coach in 10 minutes or less. Michael has written a number of books including The Coaching Habit and Do More Great Work. Resources Mentioned in This Episode Website: www.boxofcrayons.biz Research Report: The Truth & Lies of Performance Management Twitter: @boxofcrayons Facebook: /boxofcrayons.biz LinkedIn: /MichaelBungayStanier Podcast episode 132: The Coaching Habit – Say Less, Ask More Podcast: The Great Work Podcast Book: The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever Subscription Links iTunes Stitcher RSS Your Feedback If you like our show, please rate us on iTunes. That makes a huge difference in helping more people discover it. We love to know your thoughts about this episode. Please submit your comments below! You can also email comments to Jesse at jesse@engagingleader.com, subscribe to him on 

You have the opportunity to lead: to show up with confidence, connected to others, and committed to a purpose in a way that inspires others to follow. But great leadership — leadership that aligns teams, inspires action, and achieves results — is hard. And what makes it hard isn’t theoretical, it’s practical. It’s not about […]

You have the opportunity to lead: to show up with confidence, connected to others, and committed to a purpose in a way that inspires others to follow. But great leadership — leadership that aligns teams, inspires action, and achieves results — is hard. And what makes it hard isn’t theoretical, it’s practical. It’s not about knowing what to say or do. It’s about whether you’re willing to experience the discomfort, risk, and uncertainty of saying or doing it. In other words, the most critical challenge of leadership is emotional courage. If you are willing to feel everything, you can do anything. In this episode, Jesse talks with Peter Bregman about his newest book, Leading with Emotional Courage: How to Have Hard Conversations, Create Accountability, and Inspire Action on Your Most Important Work. Their discussion includes: * Why most of us avoid feeling — and why this avoidance creates a huge drain on productivity. * How emotional courage creates trust and inspires action among the people you lead. * The answer to whether people should be “emotional” at work? (That sounds too messy!) * Small steps leaders can take to be emotional at work in a productive and helpful way. * How to finally have that hard conversation you’ve been putting off. * How to skillfully tell people hard truths in a way they can hear them. For over 30 years, Peter Bregman has worked with CEOs and senior leaders to help them create accountability and inspire collective action on their most important work. He is a sought-after speaker and thought leader in the areas of leadership development, organizational change, productivity, and emotional courage. He is also a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review, and his articles and commentary appear frequently in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Fast Company, Psychology Today, Forbes, The Financial Times, PBS, ABC, CNN, NPR, and FOX Business News. Peter’s book 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done, was a Wall Street Journal bestseller, winner of the Gold medal from the Axiom Business Book awards, named the best business book of the year by NPR, and selected by Publisher’s Weekly and the New York Post as a top-ten business book. He was previously featured on Engaging Leader to discuss is prior book, Four Seconds: All the Time You Need to Replace Counter-Productive Habits with Ones That Really Work. Resources Mentioned in This Episode * Website:  www.bregmanpartners.com * Book: Leading with Emotional Courage * LinkedIn: /PeterBregman * Twitter: @peterbregman * Facebook: /PeterBregmanAdvisor/ * Podcast episode 107: Four Seconds: Quick & Counter-Intuitive Ways to Get the Results You Want * Podcast: Bregman Leadership Podcast Subscription Links

Imagine life is a game where you are juggling five balls. Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls — family, health, friends, integrity — are made of glass. ~ James Patterson The first secret to work/life balance is recognizing that it’s not about balance. It […]

Imagine life is a game where you are juggling five balls. Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls — family, health, friends, integrity — are made of glass. ~ James Patterson The first secret to work/life balance is recognizing that it’s not about balance. It is about balancing work and life. What appears to be a state of balance is something entirely different — an act of prioritizing and counterbalancing. (For example, a ballerina appears to be perfectly balanced on her toes, but a closer look reveals her toe shoes vibrating rapidly, making minute adjustments for balance.) The second secret of work/life balance is recognizing there are two types of balancing: the balancing between work and personal life and the balancing within each. Think about two balancing buckets. Separate your work life and personal life into two distinct buckets — not to compartmentalize them, just for counterbalancing. Your work life is divided into two distinct areas — what matters most and everything else. You will have to take what matters to the extremes and be okay with what happens to the rest. Professional success requires it. Your personal life has multiple areas, and each requires a minimum of attention. Drop any one and you will feel the effects. This requires constant awareness. An extraordinary life is a counterbalancing act. Let the right things take precedence when they should. Get to the rest when you can. In this episode, Jesse shares what he’s learned from chapter 8 of the book The ONE Thing and provides examples of applying the lessons. Resources Mentioned in This Episode Book: The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller Podcast episode 164: The ONE Thing to Do This Week for Extraordinary Results Podcast episode 165: Using the Domino Effect for Extraordinary Results Podcast episode 168: Singleness of Purpose Podcast episode 169: Use a Success List (Instead of a To-do List) Podcast episode 171: Stop Trying to Multitask — It’s Making You Dumb and Ineffective Podcast episode 172: Build One Powerful Habit at a Time Podcast episode 174: Managing Willpower for What Matters Most Subscription Links iTunes Stitcher RSS Your Feedback If you like our show, please rate us on iTunes. That makes a huge difference in helping more people discover it. We love to know your thoughts about this episode. Please submit your comments below! You can also email comments to Jesse at

This episode is about a true story that is interesting and well told — a story that is important for all leaders and entrepreneurs … especially those of us who aspire to use business not only to make a living for ourselves but to help make the world a better place. Everyone wants to be […]

This episode is about a true story that is interesting and well told — a story that is important for all leaders and entrepreneurs … especially those of us who aspire to use business not only to make a living for ourselves but to help make the world a better place. Everyone wants to be fulfilled by their work. We want to feel like we’re doing something valuable and making the world a better place. And if we can live out our passion too, well, that’s the dream. We want to work with a team that’s engaged, in a place where we can come alive, and contribute to something bigger than ourselves. In Meaningful Work: A Quest To Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, And Feed Your Soul, Shawn Askinosie shares that not only is all of this possible, it’s imperative for the success of our economy, our businesses, and ourselves. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, executive, or team leader, it’s possible to imbue your organization — and employees — with purpose. In 2005, Shawn Askinosie left a highly successful career as a criminal defense lawyer to start a bean-to-bar chocolate factory and never looked back. Askinosie Chocolate is a small-batch, award-winning chocolate factory, sourcing 100% of their beans directly from farmers. Recently named by Forbes “One of the 25 Best Small Companies in America,” Askinosie’s business model has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and numerous other media. Shawn was named by O, The Oprah Magazine, “One of 15 Guys Who Are Saving the World.” For his efforts in “Advancing food standards… by creating social, economic, and environmental impact”, Shawn was awarded Top Business Leader of the Year in 2013 by the Specialty Food Association. Shawn has been awarded honorary doctorates from University of Missouri-Columbia and Missouri State University. In 2015, Askinosie Chocolate was awarded a complimentary membership to the Clinton Global Initiative for the company’s social efforts around the world. Resources Mentioned in This Episode Website: askinosie.com Website: shawnaskinosie.com Book: Meaningful Work: A Quest to Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, and Feed Your Soul LinkedIn: /shawnaskinosie Facebook: /askinosie.chocolate Twitter: @askinosie Podcast: EL149: The Power of Beliefs in Business | with Ari Weinzweig, Zingerman’s Co-Founding Partner Resources: ZingTrain Open-Book Management (OBM) Resources: The Great Game of Business Open Book Management (OBM) Example: Askinosie Chocolate Transparency Report Subscription Links

This is a conversation about a book that’s not like any networking book you have read (or ignored) before. In fact, it’s not about networking; it’s about how networks actually work. Networking seems to many of us to be an insincere way to manipulate relationships for personal gain. And yet there is a significant body […]

This is a conversation about a book that’s not like any networking book you have read (or ignored) before. In fact, it’s not about networking; it’s about how networks actually work. Networking seems to many of us to be an insincere way to manipulate relationships for personal gain. And yet there is a significant body of research that demonstrates that making and strengthening connections to others is vitally important for professional success. Being connected to a strong network provides major advantages — shots at key career opportunities, access to diverse skills and perspectives, the ability to learn private information, and the type of expertise and influence that makes it easier to attain power. What if the advice we’ve all heard about networking was wrong? What if it ISN’T about introducing yourself to strangers at cocktail parties, handing out business cards, or signing up for the latest online tool, but by getting the full picture of the existing network that’s already around you? David Burkus returns to Engaging Leader to talk to Jesse about tips from his latest book, Friend of a Friend: Understanding the Hidden Networks That Can Transform Your Life and Your Career. Based upon entertaining case studies and scientific research, this practical and revelatory guide shares what leads to true success. (Hint: It looks a lot less like collecting business cards and making random introductions … and a lot more like fostering authentic connections and seeking out diverse new voices.) David is a best-selling author, a sought after speaker, and an associate professor of leadership and innovation at Oral Roberts University. He’s delivered keynotes to the leaders of Fortune 500 companies and the future leaders of the United States Naval Academy. His TED talk has been viewed over 1.8 million times, and he is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review. Resources Mentioned in This Episode Website: davidburkus.com Book: Friend of a Friend: Understanding the Hidden Networks That Can Transform Your Life and Your Career Free Audio Course: How to Connect Other Tools: Resources LinkedIn: /davidburkus Twitter: @davidburkus Podcast: Radio Free Leader Podcast: EL151: Work Smarter, Not Harder – Productivity Hacks to Get More & Better Work Done in Less Time | with David Burkus Podcast: EL 134: Under New Management: Upending Business As Usual | with David Burkus Podcast: EL 061: The Myths of Creativity: The Truth About How Innovative Leaders Generate Great Ideas | with David Burkus Subscription Links

In the next two decades, nearly 50% of white-collar jobs are at risk, either to automation or artificial intelligence (AI), according to analysis by Oxford University. Every leader and every worker need to ask: What will be left for people to do that machines can’t do better or cheaper? If you don’t figure this out, […]

In the next two decades, nearly 50% of white-collar jobs are at risk, either to automation or artificial intelligence (AI), according to analysis by Oxford University. Every leader and every worker need to ask: What will be left for people to do that machines can’t do better or cheaper? If you don’t figure this out, you (and maybe your entire organization) will probably be unemployed or underemployed. Survival requires focusing on the human attributes that will likely remain beyond the realm of this “tech tide.” The latest book by Tom Peters, The Excellence Dividend, provides simple, actionable guidelines for success that any business leader can immediately implement — and a road map for your organization and for you as an individual to thrive amid the tech tsunami. And the really good news is that the “dividend” of doing so is not only survival, but also fun and meaning in your work and leadership. Tom shows that an unabashed commitment to excellence is the best defense — and offense — in the face of overwhelming change. Nothing beats a high-quality product or service, designed and delivered by people who are as dedicated to one another as they are to their shared goal. Tom Peters is co-author of In Search of Excellence — the book that changed the way the world does business, and often tagged as the best business book ever. He wrote 17 more books over the next 35 years, and his newest book is The Excellence Dividend. Resources Mentioned in This Episode Website: tompeters.com Book: The Excellence Dividend: Meeting the Tech Tide with Work That Wows and Jobs That Last LinkedIn: /TomPeters Twitter: @Tom_Peters * Article: Robots will take your job. Yes you with the university degree. For real. It’s going to happen Subscription Links iTunes Stitcher RSS Your Feedback If you like our show, please rate us on iTunes. That makes a huge difference in helping more people discover it. We love to know your thoughts about this episode. Please submit your comments below! You can also email comments to Jesse at jesse@engagingleader.com, subscribe to him on F...

Grokker is an on-demand wellness solution that engages employees with better health through video, experts, and community. Loved by users in 172 countries around the world and used by top employers like eBay, Aetna, and Pinterest, Grokker was named to the 2017 CNBC Upstart 25 list for successful startups. With over 4,000 exercise, mindfulness, nutrition and sleep videos from 5 to 50 minutes, more than 130 master experts to choose from, and a supportive community to connect employees across locations, Grokker takes the work out of workplace wellness with an easy-to-implement, holistic, and cost-effective program. As the founder and CEO of Grokker, Lorna Borenstein is on a mission to redefine global business culture and champion employee well-being. Lorna is an internet veteran who began her career launching eBay Canada out of her guest room with a newborn in tow. After over 20 stressful years in high-profile roles at eBay, HP, Yahoo!, and Move, it was time for a change. With a holistic approach and a commitment to put herself first, Lorna transformed her own physical, spiritual, and emotional health. Then she founded Grokker to help others do the same. A sought-after speaker, contributing author, and C-suite adviser on wellness, leadership, corporate culture, and women’s issues, Lorna is also a frequent contributor to business publications including Fortune, Huffington Post, and Entrepreneur. Resources Mentioned in This Episode Website: grokker.com Twitter: @Lborenstein Twitter: @GrokkerInc Facebook: /grokkerinc Instagram: /grokkerinc/ YouTube: Grokker Articles: What Is It About Working At eBay That Makes Women Start Businesses? How eBay makes its wellness program work Subscription Links iTunes Stitcher RSS Your Feedback If you like our show, please rate us on iTunes. That makes a huge difference in helping more people discover it. We love to know your thoughts about this episode. Please submit your comments below! You can also email comments to Jesse atjesse@engagingleader.com, subscribe to him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter.

Willpower is the ability to control yourself to determine your actions. It allows you (and your team) to accomplish what matters most to you — solving a business problem, losing weight, cornering the market, getting out of debt, etc. To control many of your actions, you can use selected disciplines to build a powerful habit. […]