The Bizgnus Podcast

•  Want to improve your leadership skills? Row across the Atlantic Ocean* • “I do crazy adventures basically, seemingly impossible things” • *Or you could listen to this podcast Jason Caldwell has done something it is safe to say very few other humans have ever done in the history of humankind: He’s has rowed a small boat some 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean.  Not once, but twice....

•  The overlooked authenticity factor to success • “The most effective thing you can do is be yourself” A lot of people want to be effective public speakers, whether to advance a business or profession or to actually make it a career. But a veteran speakers coach says too many overlook a key to success – being authentic. “My passion is authenticity,” Norma Hollis says. “I spent 30 years study...

• Four steps to overcoming stress • “You have to really confront those negative thoughts” Stressed-out by the job? Or just life in general?  There’s a four-step method to calm down and be productive again. And it starts with a simple question: “Says who?” says meditation and life coach Ora Nadrich. “You have to really confront those negative thoughts that want to bring you down, that want to...

• Jatco Incorporated finds warm welcome in Modesto • Uses robots and human workers for precision molding For anyone who might have thought high-tech manufacturing cannot be found in the Central Valley, there’s a now-former San Francisco Bay Area company that might change one’s mind. It’s Jatco Incorporated, a plastic injection molding company that has packed up and moved its headquarters and main...

•  Mr. Gold advocates rewriting your internal code •  "It’s about 10 beliefs that you hold" Are your beliefs hijacking your life? Can we erase and replace our internal programming—and thus master our own code? Our guest on this CVBT Audio Interview Podcast is Darren Gold, author of the new book, “Master Your Code: The Art, Wisdom, and Science of Leading an Extraordinary Life.” Darren, th...

• Tips for real-time conflict resolutions • Plus something for free If you’re not King Louie , then it’s likely that when you want to chop someone’s head off, few will help. So how can you and other managers resolve disputes quickly and for the better? Management and personal development coach Loretta Love Huff says she has some answers, including those she put into a recent book, “6 Keys for Diss...

• Joseph Michelli explains the success of Airbnb • “How does a company … grow that meteorically in ten years?” What started with renting out a spare bedroom furnished with a couple of air mattresses has exploded seemingly overnight into the multi-billion dollar company known as Airbnb. Your company may not have any air mattresses to rent or even give away, but Airbnb’s growth offers lessons on how...

• Why relying on digital connections with customers is not enough • Consistently raising the bar on customer service In politics, it’s the economy, stupid. But in business in the 21st Century, it’s the relationship. So says our guest in this CVBT Audio Interview Podcast, John DiJulius, chief executive officer of the DiJulius Group of Cleveland. He’s written many books and spoken to thousands in hi...

• Tapping “intuitive intelligence” to make the big decisions • “Intuitive knowing is generally that first gut feeling” If you make important business decisions based on a flash of intuition, is that a bad thing? Probably not says our guest for this CVBT Audio Interview Podcast. Judi Glova teaches how to tap intuition for better decisions. She calls it “intuitive intelligence.” Click here to listen...

• Author of the new book “Start Finishing” tells how to control distractions and interruptions • We spend about half of our time thinking about something other than what we’re supposed to be doing So when were you going to finish that project? Yesterday? Well, surely today. That is if you’re not interrupted or distracted. And that’s the problem says our guest on this CVBT Audio Interview Podcast…...

• Veteran coach identifies the major problems -- and offers solutions • Don’t show up to throw up There are the seven deadly sins talked about in religion. And then there are the seven deadly sins that will sabotage your career, says speaker, career coach and author Aimee Cohen. By not correcting these “sins,” women can find their careers hitting a dead end, she says. Too nice, trying to do too mu...

For the tens of thousands who crawl along I-205 through Tracy just to get to I-580 to continue the bumper-to-bumper crawl to Silicon Valley, dreams of starting their own business might founder on where to do it. While many sit on a couch at home or grab a table at a Starbucks, there’s an oasis in Tracy, just off the freeway, for entrepreneurs and even established businesses. It’s a co-working spac...

• Clearing up the mysteries of marketing • “Marketing and technology overwhelm a lot of people” Small business startups often have great expertise in a product or service, but that pool of talent drains swiftly as more tasks are demanded of the entrepreneur. One of those is marketing. While some who know little about marketing think they wrote the book, the smart business owner either gets trainin...

Ask a manager what’s the hardest part of the job and many these days are likely to say it’s dealing with fearful employees who play it safe at all costs. Fear of being labeled, fear of their managers, fear of retaliation, and fear of losing their jobs all topped a recent study as to why workers don’t speak up. But for businesses looking to grow and stay ahead of competition, this silence can come...

•   Why managers need to remember what Einstein said • “There is absolutely no, zero, nada, zilch, reason why we … subscribe to Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity” Fifteen years in management with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company helped shape how management consultant Douglas Brooks looks at problems – and solutions. He has developed a 52-week plan for managers to develop greater cus...

• Sherre' DeMao says it’s the secret sauce of success • “That can add to the bottom line when a company is sold” Business owners looking to move their businesses to a second generation often realize it will take more than a good balance sheet to ensure success when others are at the helm. For many this means building a business of sustainable value, says Sherre' DeMao, an author, speaker and busin...

• How techniques used by improv actors can be applied to business • “That audience is often drunk and yelling at them” The laughter of an audience at a comedy improv keeps comedians going. But those warriors of the standup wars are also using techniques that can help business leaders be more effective. So says Norm Laviolette, who has been performing, directing or producing live comedy for more th...

Despite millions of young people headed to college, there’s one educator and entrepreneur who thinks that could be the wrong path for a lot of young people. He’s our guest on this CVBT Audio Interview Podcast… Mark Perna… who says it’s critical to prioritize career exploration as part of the K-12 system and not wait until one is packing for college.

• The real threat may lie in its use by governments • “I’m very worried that the same kinds of abuses that are occurring in China could trickle into our system” Back in 1957, the journalist Vance Packard published his book called “The Hidden Persuaders,” revealing how advertisers used consumer motivational research and other psychological techniques, including subliminal tactics, to manipulate exp...

•  Former musician Michael Maher is now helping small business increase sales using Amazon •  “They’re very, very intent on customer satisfaction” Michael Maher has gone from musician to corporate ladder-climber to selling used guitars on eBay to starting his own e-commerce business to what he’s currently doing, advising small businesses on how to sell their products through the nation’s...

The CVBT PODCAST:  Coping with burned-out bosses •  Expert says this can be a unique opportunity for those who work for such a boss •  “Burnout is very pervasive now. It’s out there. It’s everywhere” Burnout at work is so prevalent that the World Health Organization recently classified “workplace burnout” as a disease. But career guru Vicky Oliver says when the boss is burned out, i...

   • What companies should be doing now for a digital future • “We should certainly be prepared in terms of essentially having a plan on how to retrain ourselves” Remember the industrial revolution? No, not the one with steam locomotives and such. The fourth one, that’s happening right now. The fourth industrial revolution is one of digital transformation. Just like companies that contin...

  • Beth McRae offers tips from experience • ““We’ve kept our company very diversified over the years” As entrepreneurs will say, owning a business provides harsh lessons. Beth McRae, who oversees the McRae Agency in the Phoenix area, has had a few of those tough lessons but has survived and prospered. Her company has more than 20 years in the public relations, social media and marketing...

   What’s stopping women from getting to the top jobs in corporations?  Backstabbing sabotage might not even make a list a manager might make. But two veteran educators who are studying the problem say women are often undermining other women in the workplace.  In this CVBT Audio Interview podcast, we talk with the researchers… Joy Wiggins, who is founder and executive director...

Podcast:  Adapting yourself and your company to change •   Sharon Bowes shares secrets of mastering the swiftly changing landscape •   “Survival, even of a large well-established business, is not mandatory”