SmikleSpeaks

I’ve had a couple of conversations with my nephew about self-promotion. He didn’t get a promotion in spite of outstanding performance evaluations for lots of years. He debriefed the interview with his boss. As he and I talked about it a few things kept coming to my mind. The reason he didn’t get the promotioSo how do you highlight victories without seeming like an ego maniac? Getting promoted begi...

I get this question a lot: Joanne how do we change our culture? When I ask how do you want to change it the answers range from we need something different to we want it to be healthier to we want more employee satisfaction. Those are all pretty noble aims but they’re not clear, specific or purposeful. In this podcast we are going to focus on clear, specific, purposeful ways to reimagine and recrea...

Linda Roszak Burton is back with us on the SmikleSpeaks Podcast Channel. She’s my go-to person for all things related to gratitude. In this episode she is going to help us understand the power of journaling. Interestingly, she doesn't suggest journaling everyday. Her approach is different. I think you'll find this enlightening!

As leaders, as people, we are all promoting something. We may not be fully aware of what we’re promoting but we’re advancing something. This podcast is my effort at helping raise your awareness of what you’re promoting in your leadership role, in your life.

Can we develop cultural competence? Of course we can! It just takes some work. This podcast gives the basics, a starting point for beginning the work. It’s not intended to be a long roadmap, rather a concise approach to starting your personal development process to raise your level of awareness and competence.

Do people really trust you? Do they trust your company? Questions worth considering, especially if you want to advance as a leader. Trust is one of those trite words that gets thrown around with very little thought as to what it really means and how it’s demonstrated in day-to-day interactions. In this podcast we will get clear about what trust is and how it's manifested.

Of all the approaches to leadership, I find Transformational Leadership to be the most powerful. It has the potential to impact every element of the enterprise…from recruitment and retention to research and design to quality to performance and productivity. It can make or break commitment and engagement, both of which are required to fulfill the organization’s mission and increase shareholder valu...

Linda Roszak Burton is back on the SmikleSpeaks Podcast Channel. She is going to share more of her insights on gratitude. Yes, gratitude is contagious! She is going to explain why and how we can spread more of it.

This one is all about life, about living on a deeper level. People talk a lot about living your best life. I’m kind of tired of that phrase. My question for you is this: are you leading a peaceful, passionate, purposeful life.

I started golf lessons last year…it was a good foray into the sport. After last year’s group lessons, I decided that I needed more individualized attention. I’m so glad I made that decision because I now work with Scott Locastro. He is not a golf instructor. He’s a golf coach. His coaching continues to inspire me to excellence on and off the greens. He’s the reason for this podcast... “look good,...

Networking is vital for career success…I think it’s vital for success in life. You’ve got to know how to use yourself to advance your leadership brand. One of the most important ways to do that is by thinking about how you network. Getting connected is an important element of learning to lead more effectively. It’s how you get information, resources and, of course, access to other people. Remember...

So many organizations are trying to figure out how to create higher levels of employee engagement and commitment. Some try quick fixes like employee recognition days or on-the-spot awards. Those things are OK. But they’re most useful when integrated into a comprehensive, strategic effort to create commitment and engagement. In this short podcast we’re going to talk about the foundations of commitm...

Linda Roszak Burton provides practical strategies for developing a grateful heart, no matter the situation. She’s the author of Gratitude Heals, my favorite journal! It’s part book, part journal and all inspiration! Linda is the founding partner of DRW, a firm that supports the development of positive cultures, positive leaders, and engaged employees. Linda is credentialed through the Internationa...

There’s a classic Harvard Business Review article that’s a must-read for all leaders. The title, “The Work of Leadership,” sums up the theme of the article. It’s authors, Ronald Heifetz and Donald Laurie do a great job presenting five critical leadership responsibilities. Those five critical responsibilities still have utility. They’re grounded in adaptive leadership. I'll review them, provide my...

I use Emotional Intelligence in almost of my leadership development work. One of the questions that I often hear is “How do I know if I’m really Emotionally Intelligent?” My first response is that you absolutely have at least some degree of Emotional Intelligence because you’re asking the question. That shows that you have or want to have insight into the self. But people are typically looking for...

Just about anybody can spot a problem. It doesn’t often take a whole lot of skill. The real skill comes in creating a solution focus. And that’s what this podcast is about…creating a solution focus and solution generation.

Diane Huey will help us understand what it means to detox and the reasons for making that decision. She’s a wellness expert, acupuncture practitioner and health coach. She founded Huey Health to help people like you and I get a grip on our wellbeing.

I want to quickly focus your attention on listening. It is, in my opinion, one of the most essential competencies of skillful leadership. It’s certainly an integral component of communication. It’s also often the most overlooked. My question for you is this: Do you most often listen as an Ally or as an Adversary?

Most of us use deficit-based approaches to change. Another way to describe what we’re most accustomed to is problem-centered change. This approach is so deeply engrained that we don’t even know that there are other ways to approach change. Appreciative Inquiry gives us a totally different way of dealing with our issues, dilemmas and situations. It offers what’s called a constructionist-based appro...

Strategic planning helps the organization move towards its most powerful, positive potential. Of course, the process is entwined with mission, vision, and core values. However, there’s something obvious that I need to say: Any plan that’s developed should be one that can actually be implemented. It shouldn’t just be a document that sits on the share drive. Develop a plan with methods for on-going...

This is the first podcast that I was initially reluctant about recording. Let me tell you the backstory and then I’ll tell you about my reluctance. In the Fall Rev. Virgil Hammett, pastor of Saint Andrew’s AME Church in St. Andrews, South Carolina asked me to be their Women’s Day speaker. I was sure that he’d bumped his head! While I am a woman of faith, I am not a scripture quoter. In Bible study...

Most of us need a quick refresher on how we can stay on track on our personal improvement path. And that’s what we’re going to do in this short podcast. Years ago I was introduced to something called LUTIE. I can’t tell you who created it, but it wasn’t me. I love LUTIE because it’s easy to remember. It’s also a practical framework for focusing on our never-ending development. It’s a way to handle...

This podcast focuses on communication checkpoints that can help you develop acceptable, effective tools for dealing with conflict. We all face big and small battles in our lives. The struggles may be at home with a thoughtless spouse, at work with a divisive colleague, in church with a know-it-all deacon, with an incompetent internet provider or with the hairdresser who messed up a dye job…skirmis...

Diane Huey will move us beyond the fad-of-the-week to guidance that will help us focus on core principles of wellness. She’s a wellness expert, acupuncture practitioner and health coach. She founded Huey Health to help people like you and I get a grip on our wellbeing.

Most leaders don’t want things to stay the same. They want to see momentum and progress. Most leaders recognize the need to lead with a forward focus. This is all about developing a simple, clear innovation action plan that you can actually implement…no point in having a grandiose plan that you can never use. Lots of innovators just need a framework for moving forward. That’s what I’m here for…to...