Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity

Sarah Elkins is a keynote speaker, a Gallup certified Strengths coach, the creator of the annual and unique #NoLongerVirtual conference. She is also a communications coach, the host of the podcast, Your Stories Don't Define You. How You Tell Them Will, and the author of a forthcoming book by the same name. The river that runs through her work is communication – the stories we tell, how we tell the...

Gallup reports that some 70% of all U.S. workers are on the spectrum of disengagement at work. A number of factors converge here: ineffective leadership, a stifling culture, and unclear agreement on what impact the organization is trying have. So, too, does the fact that many workers are grinding away at jobs that reflect neither their passion nor their talents. in this interview, we'll hear from...

If you uttered "Ugh, resumes. . . ." when you saw the title of this episode, you're not alone. Writing resumes is one of those things we love to hate. To sort things out, we went to an acknowledged authority on the subject, Lynda Spiegel of RisingStarResumes. Lynda worked in an HR capacity for most of her career before going solo as a resume consultant. She's looked at countless resumes to know wh...

What it takes to market to anyone about anything is different today. The smart phone and access to unlimited information on the internet changed everything. It's no longer about a company's great products and or services – their "features and benefits." According to marketing veteran, Zach Messler, it's about the buyer – what they are thinking and feeling at any given moment. Listen in as Zach rev...

Innovations in technology are happening with ever-increasing speed. In this interview, we'll hear from Neil C. Hughes , a highly respected authority on technology, on how to develop a healthy relationship with it. Neil is a much sought after speaker and writer on technology trends. He hosts the incredibly popular daily podcast, "The Tech Blog Writer Podcast" with 50,000 listeners world wide. And s...

We all have a "river" that runs through our veins – a theme that punctuates our life. Sometimes that theme is muted, and some times it's loud. And sometimes it's there, but hidden. Listen in as millennial Jordan Gross talks about his path of self-discovery – how he tore away the obstacles that stood in his way of realizing what he is meant to do in work and life.

Have you ever caught yourself wondering if you weren't supposed to be doing something different? Maybe you thought, "I know I'm not cut out for doing 'this,'" but at the same time "I don't know what a different 'this' might look like." Coach Andrea Barry has heard that observation before – many times before. After a long and successful career as a military officer, Andrea decided to help business...

When we think of "project management," we probably think of plans, schedules, deliverables, resources, and dependencies among various functional departments. But in the following episode, senior project manager, Bob Prol explains how project management is a "people business." Projects succeed or fail based on the team members and their efforts. To help reinforce the human side of project managemen...

In this episode of "Getting Unstuck," we'll hear from social activist Orville Morales . Orville is a community outreach and change specialist. We'll learn how he marshals community support for the causes he's undertaking – support that has different perspectives on the desired change and on the kind of support need to enact a change. We'll learn about the critical importance of education and its u...

Why do some complex changes stick, while others fail miserably – up to 70% according to the Gallop organization. How much of change failure is the lack of attention paid to planning, resources, and other technicalities of change, and how much responsibility falls on the shoulders of people leading or implementing the change? Listen in as marketing communications expert, Mark O'Brien – who has witn...

How often as a leader do you find yourself worrying about what happened yesterday, or catastrophizing about all the things that could happen tomorrow? In this episode, the third in our series on mindfulness, we'll get insight into these questions and others with mindfulness teacher Oksana Esberard . Note: We'll also experience a bit of mindfulness by participating in a brief "whole brain" meditati...

What does it mean to be "mindful"? How can you work toward being more mindful? How does the mindful leader behave, and what impact does he or she have on those with whom they work? We'll get answers to these questions and more in this interview with Michael Bunting . Michael is the author of a number of books, most notably The Mindful Leader . And, as a mindful consultant and trainer, Michael work...

How often do you ask yourself "Who am I? Where am I going? How do I get there?" How do you gain personal awareness? How do you present yourself authentically to others? In this the first of three episodes on Mindfulness, we gain insight on those questions by exploring the concept of "contemplative practices" with educators Dr. Esmilda Abreu  and Rhonda Schaller . We learn how those practices can l...

How does your organization approach change? Where do ideas for change come from? How do you assess for change readiness? How do you develop and maintain a culture where change is seen as a vital part of the organization's focus? How do you hire the right talent for that culture? In this wide-ranging interview, we hear from Tom Parker how the highly respected not-for profit, Make-A-Wish America wre...

Cognitive distortions are self-limiting patterns of thinking that many of us demonstrate in life. These mental biases include "all or nothing thinking," "overgeneralizing," and "no control fallacy." Sound familiar? In this episode, we hear from Courtney Ackerman on how to identify and begin to manage these negative thought patterns. Courtney is the author of My Pocket Positivity, and a researcher...

When have you ever been asked – or been forced – to move out of your comfort zone – the arena in which you've historically operated? What did you discover about yourself and your strength repertoire in the process? What lessons did you learn about life? In this episode, we meet Tom Dietzler who suddenly found himself engaged in two roles that were very different from the one he had heretofore perf...

Who is the best leader with whom you have ever worked? What made them so? Was it their technical knowledge and the application of their experience? Was it how they worked with staff? A combination of these qualities? In this episode, we hear from Pat McHugh , a highly inspirational and successful leader who epitomizes the idea of the "servant leader" – the leader who leads from the "other," and no...

What do we mean by "soft" or "interpersonal" skills? Where do you see them – or the absence of them – in the workplace? Which ones do you consistently demonstrate? In this episode, we're joined by Mary Schaefer , an HR specialist who now works with organizations and leaders on how to bring humanity back to the workplace through interpersonal skills.

What are your experiences with performance appraisals? Useful? A waste of time? Somewhere in the middle? In this episode, Steve Paul , former owner of a construction service company and now a business consultant, offers a proven way to boost their usefulness: "acceleration meetings." Listen for how frequent, but time-limited conversations can bring you closer in tune with your staff's needs and id...

Do you find yourself living your life, or someone else's? Do you routinely invest in yourself to carve out your own identity and solidify your life? Or are you lost in someone else's flashlight beam, a light that is gradually dimming as the batteries fade? Today we meet Hannah Bratterud , now a fulfilled individual, and successful consultant and coach for small business owners. But it wasn't alway...

How can organizations best engage their employees to create real loyalty? What impact does leadership have on employee loyalty and engagement? What do we need to know about employee retention today? In this episode, we get some answers from Heather Younger , best-selling author of The 7 Intuitive Laws of Employee Loyalty . Heather is also a workshop facilitator, motivational speaker, and host of t...

Your life's clock is ticking. What's the trip you can't afford not to take? What's the activity you can't afford not to do? Who is the person you can't afford not to meet? In this episode, we meet septuagenarian Jane Trombley , who manages 3scoreandmore.com, a unique website, which was first intended to support women interested in solo travel. The site has since grown to include people of all ages...

What is the goal of U.S. education in an ever-changing world? What do we want for our students when they walk across the stage to receive their high school diplomas? How do we need to look at developing new and current teachers differently? To help answer these questions, we welcome educator Peter McWain . Here, Peter reviews the lack of agreement among key stakeholders on answers to these questio...

In this episode, we interview Joe Kwon who, as he says, "pulls back the curtain" on life in his entertaining and informative "Why it Works" podcast. There he interviews a diverse cohort of guests who speak to the universal principles behind what they do. Joe's other love is Aikido, the Japanese martial art. After gaining a basic understanding of some of the principles underlying it, we asked Joe t...

Our lives are rarely linear. Most of start out "here" and then make a series of twists and turns. In this "Transformation Story," we talk with Shelley Brown . Shelley's life took a dramatic turn due to a physical ailment, but that physical challenge soon pushed her into the emotional grip of deep anxiety and fear. She tried numerous ways to get back on a level emotional plain, but nothing seemed t...