Brain Chatter

How can our organization retain our most valuable team members? The costs of turnover are startling and the benefits of key person retention are exponential. In this 23-minute episode, Ryan McShane explores what you or I can do to retain our best team members, through meaningful and practical engagement.  Ryan goes through some of the characteristics which are most foundational and important in an...

Getting promoted at work is not always straightforward. In this 28-minute episode,  Alisa Patel, a VP of HR, talks candidly about what you need to do in order to be promotable, to learn about opportunities inside your company, and to effectively communicate your interest in the right way to the right people.  ----- About Alisa:  Alisa Patel is a strategic, people-focused HR executive with more tha...

The Effective Workplace Feedback episode of Brain Chatter explores the role of effective feedback in building strong workplace cultures and improving leadership. Organizational psychologist Dr. Ken Chapman, founder of Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc. and author of The Leader’s Code discusses why traditional annual performance reviews often fail and what leaders should do instead. Drawing on deca...

Having challenges and lack of understanding or lack trust between different generations inside your company? This 22-minute episode explores why that may be and what can be done to close the potential gap of trust. Organizational development and HR expert Ryan McShane offers practical insights and strategies for accomplishing this, for the benefit of all concerned.  EPISODE RESOURCES: > Connect...

What advice do most people wish someone would have offered when they were first promoted to supervisor? What are common missteps and mistakes newly promoted supervisors often make that are avoidable? What are strategies for navigating a promotion when your peers, yesterday, are your direct reports, today? This episode offers the insights of Beth Lanier (Savannah, Georgia), from her 30-year career...

What impacts do effective onboarding and career pathing have on the health of a company culture? And what does such onboarding and career pathing look like? Patrick Frazier, Director of Organizational Development at ME Global (Tempe, Arizona) discusses the culture inside their foundries in Arizona and Minnesota. Working in metal foundries is hard, hot work. How do you continue to find, keep, and p...

KC&A's David Stanfield explores the life and career of one of the NBA all-time greats, Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs). The focus in this episode is on the 'walking the talk' examples Tim Duncan provided throughout his basketball career, by focusing on wins for the whole team and other teammates, cool-headed calmness, sharing credit, being coachable, accepting accountability and...

Whitney Tate and Delcia Petersen explore the practical side of Emotional Intelligence as it is most often encountered in the workplace. What is the cost of being  'A Bull in the China Shop' as it relates to EIQ?  How do we each avoid being that bull in the china shop in our own workplace, dismissive of competence about it at our own immense personal cost? If Emotional Intelligence is arg...

Stephanie Stuckey recently released her book " UnStuck: Rebirth of An American Icon ". In this interview she discusses reviving and rebuilding one of the most iconic American roadside brands, "Stuckeys."  This 25 minute episode explores grit and how it can be contagious in organizational leadership. We look at the history of the brand, the various pivots that allowed it to surv...

Michael Mendola is leading the effort at a 75,000+ employee consulting firm to implement Generative AI strategies for the benefit of their employees and clients. In this episode, Michael shares his insights on the impact Generative Artificial Intelligence is having and will continue to have on workplace cultures. He also shares a wide array of information about Generative AI, as well as some of th...

Randy Sparkman delves into what an organizational leader needs to know about Artificial Intelligence (AI) right away. Randy is the author of LANGUAGE AI: A Guide for Humans .  It is an "amplifier of opportunity," as Randy puts it and he makes the case for why a leader needs competence on this transformative topic in order to make wise strategy decisions. Randy also makes the case on why...

Tom McNany walks us through the role of organizational culture in adoption outcome (success or failure) of new technologies that transform an organization. Rolling out a new technology that changes how business is done is stressful and difficult for all involved. Whether it is an ERP system, manufacturing execution systems, warehouse and inventory software systems, or otherwise. Very rarely on the...

Nisha Patel explores what it takes to populate an organization with problem solvers and how to be one. Problems at work are most often negatively associated with stress.  Repeatedly, however, problems prove to be gates of opportunities for career catapults, entrepreneurial ventures, and other rewards for those who can leverage creativity, calculated risk, and resilience to solve them. And yet, tha...

Many company leaders are asked to serve on boards of directors, whether with nonprofits or for-profits of various sizes. There are many questions and issues to consider before saying yes and after saying yes. It is always an honor to be elected to boards, and it allows someone to have far-reaching positive impact beyond their normal job or company. Board service comes with fiduciary responsibiliti...

The Agent of Your Own Life episode contrasts the long-reaching negative impacts of perennial victimhood mentality,  with the never-ending positive impact of being an individual who is 'the agent of their own life.'  As agentic, this individual recognizes that they can take actions and make decisions today that will make their tomorrow better. This contrasts with the perennial victim who...

How are current high school students being prepared for the US workforce at a time when employers are desperate for qualified workers? What are the students' pathways and options? Are schools getting the input from local industry about what those companies need most in foundational skills as well as developed skillsets? Do schools want involvement from local employers? This episode takes an i...

At the same time as historic unemployment, there has never been a greater number of well-qualified disabled people who want to work. These prospective employees are sitting on the sidelines. John D. Kemp, CEO of the Lakeshore Foundation and author of a new book entitled “Disability Friendly, How to Move from Clueless to Inclusive” talks practical strategy in this episode. How can an employer find,...

What does it take to last 100 years? Nancy Meadows, CEO of BridgeWays, shares her insights on how and why her organization has lasted almost a century. She discusses necessary organizational pivots of mission, programs, branding, and more that BridgeWays has made over the decades. So, how do you know what or which pivots to make (or not make)? What's the appropriate timeline for successful pi...

How does absenteeism and presentism impact a company's effectiveness and sustainability? Does my company need a wellness program? What are the goals of company wellness programs? How do corporate wellness programs work? How do you create a workplace wellness program? What are the organizational leaders' responsibility to workforce wellness programs when it comes to program success? What...

Tony Orlowski provides an overview of the new book on workplace safety, Safety Beyond The Numbers, co-authored by he and Dr. Ken Chapman. The two of them wrote the book based on their 80+ years of leading change in workplaces in the US, Canada, and in locations across the globe. What can be achieved beyond basic workplace safety compliance and why does it matter? What is the responsibility of a fr...

Shannon Allen walks through how mentorship works, sharing her experiences of both having mentors and serving as a mentor herself.  What makes successful mentorships mutually beneficial to both participants? Who should seek out mentorships? What are the expectations of mentors and mentees? Should both participants be from the same industry? Should you choose a mentor much older than you? What shoul...

Keith Richards explores the importance of a strong company culture and purpose in building a strong restaurant and franchise business with unusually high team member retention. He and his wife Amy founded fresh-casual restaurant Taziki's in 1998, which now has 90 locations in 15 US states. More recently, they have started a second restaurant business, Greek Street. Keith served as President f...

Tommie Goggans III, husband, father of eight, president of The Goggans Group, Financial Advisor, active community volunteer, and dedicated physical fitness devotee, delves into the ever-challenging topic of "Balance & Planning in Leadership and Life." On a day-to-day basis, Tommie helps his clients with planning. With a large family of his own, his own company, and multiple leadershi...

In this episode of Brain Chatter, Derek reads Chapter 4 (Trust), a chapter from the book The Leader's Code (2023 version) authored by Dr. Ken Chapman. The chapter identifies why trust it is critical to high functioning teams and organizations, provides examples, and outlines strategies for developing and growing trust within in an organization.    Brain Chatter, a podcast where we listen past...

Deborah Boswell, communication consultant, coach, and author, examines the practical side of effective communication in the workplace. Ask your peers and direct reports, 'do we do a good job with communication here?' How do they respond? Are you surprised? Ineffective communication costs organizations big money while it also costs trust in leadership. What's the fix? How many moving...