The Enlightened Executive

Having trouble sourcing new talent? Here's a surprising solution for expanding your talent pool.   Consider offering an apprenticeship at your company. But, what about training and experience?   Most executives and entrepreneurs look to hire employees who have a college degree, or that already have a certain amount of experience. Instead, challenge the notion that talent must complete a bachelor's...

When it comes to sales, most executives and entrepreneurs want instant gratification. You don't want the needle to move five or ten years from now, you want that ROI today.   But what if slow progress leads to more growth in the long run? What if being selfless, not ruthless, is the key to long-term success?    If you want to build trust with clients and create a community of advocates for your bu...

Are entrepreneurs the main drivers of innovation?    Conventionally, the most groundbreaking ideas are thought to come from entrepreneurs and executives. But innovative ideas can come from passionate and driven employees as well, if you know how to unleash the power of their creativity.    Without psychological safety, employees won't feel comfortable brainstorming or sharing their ideas out loud...

For most executives and entrepreneurs, the four-day workweek feels like a pipe dream. When you're working 50-60 hours a week, it's hard to picture eliminating an entire workday.    There's not enough time in the day to get everything done as it is. What about revenue? Employee productivity?   With less time at work, how will your company stay competitive?    Yet, more and more companies are shifti...

What if finding joy outside of work is one secret to finding joy at work? Think of the last time you felt true joy. Maybe it was going for a walk at the beach. Painting. Playing tennis. What lights you up?    So often, your career, family, and responsibilities prevent you from feeling connected to your dreams for your life.  But dreams aren't meant to be forgotten.    What if you could reignite yo...

How often do you find yourself interrupting someone? Wishing they'd get to the point? Willing them to just stop talking!   The reasons why people ramble are many: they're nervous; they haven't structured their thoughts in advance; they're thinking things through "out loud;" they're lost in the detail and can't see the big picture, etc.   Sometimes it's hard not to finish people's sentences to move...

Mental health and emotional well being aren't just buzzwords anymore. Today, mental health is an essential component of the enlightened workplace and it is crucial for leaders to promote mental health across their organizations. The first step conscious leaders can take to help others is to find balance and to understand their own mental, emotional, and physical health. Then they can go beyond pro...

Happy 2022! This time of year always makes me excited to learn new things and grow as a person. A 'growth mindset' is one of the biggest indicators of success — in business and in life.    So, what exactly is a growth mindset?    Dr. Carol Dweck, who coined the term, describes it this way: "In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and...

If business is a game, how do you play to win? As a leader, it's natural to put pressure on yourself to avoid losing at all costs. The stakes are high. Your business is your livelihood. You have investors and employees counting on you. But the most effective leaders are like football coaches. They don't quit after one single loss: they're resilient to setbacks and comfortable testing new strategie...

Have you ever wondered how you could develop greater executive presence for yourself? Clarity, authority, and confidence are the three most important aspects of having strong, effective, executive presence. Developing these three things will showcase your public speaking skills in conferences, meetings, and presentation situations.   Speaking to an audience of your peers is a confidence-shaking ex...

There's a simple yet powerful tactic for driving the sort of diversity that bolsters the performance and health of your business. In a word: sponsorship . To do well in a system that favors the "in" group, those outside need a champion or a sponsor. Women, it turns out, have plenty of mentors, but not nearly as many sponsors as men do.   Sponsorship occurs whenever one person of influence promotes...

Without mutual trust, how can your team members be open to receiving important feedback?   Building a strong and collaborative team for your company takes being a conscious leader. So how can executives and entrepreneurs build deep trust within their teams?   In the latest episode of The Enlightened Executive podcast, Christopher Michel shares how encouraging open communication and giving direct f...

Why is emotional intelligence so important in the workplace? EQ is one of the key ingredients in better business relationships, smoother meetings, and higher morale. Soon, emotional intelligence will decide who has a job and who doesn't. Companies will always need employees who communicate well, think critically, and can adapt to changes with ease.

Can a Gratitude Process Improve Employee Retention?   Every single company wants to work with the best employees, because talented people are the reason what helps make a company successful. But what if despite offering the best working opportunities, your employee retention rates are very poor?   In the latest episode of The Enlightened Executive podcast, Chris Schembra shares the transformationa...

How do you run virtual meetings that are impactful and keep your employees feeling connected? With so many people working remotely nowadays, it's more important than ever for leaders to know how to do this. Here are 10 leadership insights that will help you plan and run incredibly effective virtual meetings with your team.

What does having true wealth mean? For most executives and entrepreneurs, wealth means having more money. But true wealth is so much more than a number. It is a combination of your time, relationships, purpose, physical and emotional wealth. After all, you can have all the money in the world, but how can you enjoy it when you have no time? Yet, it is very common for leaders to lack time wealth. Th...

Want to improve employee well-being in your workplace? Leaders can sense the anxiety rippling through their teams as the impact of the pandemic lingers into 2022 (and they may feel it themselves!).  How can leaders respond in a way that diffuses that anxiety and promotes employee well-being, engagement, and performance?  Employee well-being refers to all aspects of working life. This includes thei...

Want to know how to keep your employees motivated? If you think money is the main reason for motivation, you would be wrong. People are motivated by development opportunities and are more likely to leave a job if they feel their unique strengths aren't being recognized.

Brittany Hodak, superfan expert, shares ways to inspire employee loyalty. Showing employees how their work matters is the first step to creating superfans and improving employee retention.   Motivating employees to become "superfans" requires going beyond the expected and superficial tokens of appreciation, like sending birthday cards or putting a foosball table in the breakroom.   Instead, Britta...

Workplace emotions are inevitable. Rather than trying to control them, effective leaders learn to recognize their emotions and work with them productively.s.    A great leader identifies and understands varying employee emotions and their own. They harness the positive aspects and reduce the negative impacts they can have in the workplace environment.

Cameron Herold, the CEO Whisperer, shares his business executive insight with Enlightened Executive Susan Drumm. He shares the problems he sees many corporations make and how they can be resolved with his techniques.   What are the TWO MAIN ISSUES most companies face? They are a lack of communication between executives and getting the most out of your employees.   Cameron shares with Susan how he...

The Enneagram is a typology system that describes the 9 human personalities as a number of interconnected personality types. The Enneagram is used for executive coaching and it is considered the best tool for leadership development.   Susan Drumm explains: What is the Enneagram? What makes it the best tool for leadership development? The 9 personality types and the leadership characteristics. How...

As leaders, it can be tough to make corporate decisions that align with big issues because the shift in operations would create a disruption to business as usual. And then, shareholders might jump ship after the potential short-term loss of that disruption — or would they?   Andrew Behar has data that proves the opposite is usually true: Shareholders care deeply about corporate commitment to big i...

Do you think you can get your team to give you honest feedback? Like no-holds-barred honest?   Many of my clients tell me they struggle to get real feedback from their direct reports and I'm not surprised.   In this Leadership Insight episode of The Enlightened Executive, we discuss four keys you can implement to get honest feedback from your team. Often, team members are afraid to be honest about...

What would happen if you stepped away from your routine for a full week… to focus on crafting your future?   In today's episode of The Enlightened Executive, we are joined by Matt Brannagan, the Director of Faculty at the Hoffman Institute to discuss hitting the "reset" button on your life and creating change. The Hoffman Institute is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to transformative adult...