Gut + Science

Truth You Can Act On:  Soft Skills Are Essential Skills. These skills are what make engagement and learning stick, and having relationships with coworkers is crucial when it comes to retention.  Make Onboarding a Journey, Not an Event. Everyone has different learning styles. Onboarding is not a check-the-box thing, so it can't be done in a few days.  Be Intentional About Building Psychological Saf...

Truth You Can Act On:  Focus on Filling Your Cup First. You can't give if you're empty. Remember, if you aren't leading yourself well, you most likely won't be leading others well either.  Make Reflection a Habit. Take time to pause and debrief your experiences to learn from them. This is a great way for us to work to get better. Proactively Seek Diverse Perspectives. Get involved with things you'...

It's a saying that comes up often: 'If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.' We have spent the course of Season 3 of #Insights talking about our managers. How to help them get the most out of their employees, how to focus on their professional development, and how to build trust throughout an organization. But it's one thing to know what to do and another thing to actually figure out how to do...

We ask a lot of our managers. But when we flip things around, are we delivering on our end of the deal?  This week on #Insights, Emplify CEO and Co-Founder Santiago Jaramillo ( @santiagojara ) is digging into feedback. As he says, we often ask the wrong questions of our managers. So, how can we start asking the right ones? You'll also hear from Haley Aust , Vice President of Human Resources, and C...

"People don't leave companies, they leave managers. And trust is a big part of this equation." In this episode of Insights, we're taking a closer look at trust. What does it mean to develop trust with our managers? What does it look like in practice?  Listen in as Emplify CEO and Co-Founder Santiago Jaramillo ( @santiagojara ) dives into how you can make building trust a priority when coaching and...

In this first episode of Season 3 of Insights, we're diving into managers and how we can invest in them.  Managers have a hard job. They often don't know where to go to get answers to hard questions. So, how can we empower our managers to grow and lead in a way that both captures the mission from the executive level while meeting the needs of our employees on the frontlines? That's what this seaso...

Truth You Can Act On:  Purpose unlocks engagement. On your spiritual growth journey, understanding your purpose is key. As leaders, make sure you know your team members' individual purpose. Help them help you understand their purpose. The mental game is huge. We choose our attitude, and you can't be negative and in gratitude at the same time. Try shifting your attitude with the 'cancel-cancel' app...

Truth You Can Act On:  Tune in to Part 2 of Tommy's interview next week for Nikki's full Truth You Can Act On, but in the meantime, share your takeaways and tag us on social media.  Full Show Notes: https://gutplusscience.com/tommy-richardson Book Recommendation:  Bringing Out the Best in Others by Thomas Connellan Sponsors: Emplify – Are you still using pulse surveys? How about annual questionnai...

"You should never stop mentoring and you should never stop being mentored." Alison Martin is the Chief Mentoring Officer at Diverse Talent Strategies , a training and development firm with a unique mentoring process aimed at talent development, promoting inclusion, employee engagement, and social responsibility.  As Alison points out, you would be hard-pressed to find a successful leader who doesn...

Truth You Can Act On:  Understand Your Biology. As leaders, when you start to understand the biology behind your brain, you can demystify it in a way that you don't have to feel like you're being controlled by it. Neal recommends meditation as a tool to combat that stressed or overwhelmed feeling.  Emotion. Releasing and using your emotions is a core principle of mindfulness. As a leader, having e...

  Truth You Can Act On:  Get Permission to Lead. Don't assume people are ready. Building trust and building relationships with people take time - this doesn't happen overnight.  Serve Your People. What can you do for your people? Take time to listen to your employees and follow up on what you heard. People want to follow selfless servant leaders.  Small Deposits Make an Impact. Know your people's...

  Truth You Can Act On:  Take Time Out to Team Build. Spend time getting to know the people you work with.    Purpose is the Core of a Business. Reiterate the purpose of the company regularly and pour into the purpose of your people. What is their personal purpose? How does your business help that come alive? Leaders Are Doers. Jump in more often!  Full Show Notes: https://gutplusscience.com/don-b...

Truth You Can Act On:  Partner with K-12 to Attack the Talent Shortage Problem. We have to start educating children on career options earlier on and keep in mind the opportunities to skill up aside from the traditional college path. Who's Your Team? Have a group of people that you can collaborate with and support each other to overcome problems. Be sure to email Nikki at nikki@emplify.com if you n...

Truth You Can Act On:  We Can Shift Our Attitude in Minutes. Get cut off in traffic? Did an incident at work or at home get you down? Take a few minutes to list out the things you're grateful for in life. Gratitude is the foundation to shifting your attitude.  Attitude Times Behavior Equals Consequence. Reflect on this in your current life scenario. Enhance your life by working on your attitude an...

Truth You Can Act On:  Focus on the Result. Lead with the end in mind and help your people see their goals clearly. Paint that picture of what success looks like. Leverage Technology with Video. Encourage both audio and visual aspects for remote meetings to bridge that distance. Treat Your Remote Workforce like Insiders. Take a look at how you interact with both 1099 and remote employees. How can...

Truth You Can Act On:  Healthy Teams . You may have superstars sitting next to each other, but they don't work well together. Sound familiar? As a leader, don't be a referee. A healthy team consists of  people helping each other be bigger than themselves. Get Uncomfortable. Yes, you heard that right. As Chris says, getting uncomfortable is vital to your organization. Talk about how you're feeling,...

Truth You Can Act On:  Know Why Your People Work. It's a great exercise to do as a team or at your next one-on-one. You should also know why YOU work. Understand the 17 Components of Employee Engagement. There are 17 different things that bring people to work. Email Nikki at nikki@emplify.com if you want to learn the definitions of all 17 components.  Gain Data Quarterly. It's important to be agil...

Throughout this season of #Insights, we've made an effort to go beyond the buzzwords, digging deep to understand how to truly build a winning employee engagement strategy. Along the way, we talked with industry experts about how to deconstruct these buzzwords and get to the root of the issues. Now, it's time to break down the buzzwords. What do we do once we've identified them? How do new understa...

Let's be honest: Some of us love getting feedback. While others hear this phrase and have nightmares. The same goes for the giver. It always feels good to give someone feedback for a job well done, but when it comes to delivering critical feedback, it can riddle even the strongest leaders with anxiety. In this episode, you'll hear from Chris Bittinger ( @c_bittinger ), President of Open Pivot, Inc...

This week on #Insights, we're tackling the buzzword "employee wellness." You know, things like ping pong tables, relaxed dress codes, kombucha on tap! Wait, are those things actually wellness related? According to Liesel Mertes ( @lieselmertes ), Founder of Handle with Care HR Solutions, wellness is about what an employee experiences during disruptive life events. It seems simple, but why are orga...

This week on #Insights, we're digging into that set of buzzwords 'talent war' and understanding what it means to have employees who are connecting their work with their head, heart, and hands. As leaders, our goal isn't to provide satisfaction for our employees. It's to help them unlock their own potential. One-on-ones are a small step in that direction, according to Bobbie Shreiner , President of...

In this first episode of Series 2 of Insights, we're diving into how to actually build a winning employee engagement strategy [while killing the buzzwords]. Spoiler alert: It's much bigger than a paycheck.  So, what are we missing? What is it that people - the talent - are craving?  In this episode, Carla Taylor, a leadership and development coach, discusses Ikigai, the reason for being. You'll al...

As leaders, it's important for us to model behavior that is healthy for our people.  Listen in as Gut+Science host Nikki Lewallen ( @nikkilewallen ) and Nicole MacLean ( @nicolemmaclean ), Director of Marketing Relationships at Emplify , discuss the importance of rest - and how it directly impacts employee engagement.  If you haven't scheduled that vacation yet, maybe this episode will give you so...

Truth You Can Act On:  70/30 . 70 percent of our time should be spent on what fires us up, and 30 percent of our time can be spent on 'the other stuff.' Review your calendar and make it a practice.  People want to follow relational, trusting CEOs . It's all about our ability to communicate and build relationships with our people. If you truly get to know your people, this will ultimately drive tru...

Truth You Can Act On: We're all human. We have to model the behaviors we want to see, but we also have to realize that we aren't going to be perfect models. We are going to fall down; we are going to make mistakes. Share before you're ready. Iterate early and often. Instead of doing something and perfecting it in a vacuum, draft up a bulleted outline or a rough idea of where you want to go with a...