Working on Purpose

Almost 95 percent of new products fail. Too often, they are created for a new income stream or to meet an idealized market, without being intimately connected to the needs and wants of the intended customer. A better way forward in the emerging “human-to-human” era? Find people for whom you can solve problems and get to know them deeply. Only then, using design thinking principles, can you innovat...

The term “purpose” has been deployed superficially by companies in an attempt to appear virtuous without using it as a core operational principle. Instead, companies that treat purpose as an existential intention that informs every decision, practice, and process are thriving in today’s times where business can be a force for good in the world. This new breed of stakeholder capitalism adopts purpo...

How would your life change if every decision and action you take were predicated on the knowledge that they were all completely transparent and visible to anyone? Would you treat people differently, do business better, and make money with an alternate governing lens that you do today? Behavioral scientist David Penglase puts forth a fantastical idea: what if we could live and act in the full, brig...

Today’s world requires us all to be ongoing, voracious learners. And who better to learn from than the best leaders who get hired to produce super star results? William Vanderbloemen has an unusually good seat to observe and analyze the habits of such rock stars because his clients hire his search firm to find the best people for the job. He has discovered 12 data-driven habits that entirely separ...

The extent to which people feel they matter at work greatly impacts their motivation and well-being, critical components to engagement, performance, and retention. The question is how leaders can create an environment and interactions that recognize and show people they matter. It turns out there’s a lot to the business of mattering – why it’s important, how it is registered, what leaders need for...

When life hits you hard, and you feel overwhelmed and reduced by sensory overload and mental fatigue, you can find yourself in a state of “blur.” The deciding question is, what can you do to get back to clarity and forward movement? It turns out you are far more powerful than you know. By studying the habits of highly successful people, Susan Ford Collins offers 10 essential skills of her Technolo...

In today’s war for talent, companies are fighting for a smaller pool of qualified talent. While COVID-19 changed what current employees and job seekers need, expect, and want from their work experience and those that lead them, the barrier to entrepreneurship has been greatly reduced. Leaders need to create a compelling work experience in which people know they can grow their skills, feel the huma...

Life will become increasingly more hectic and more challenging for all of us in the age of smart technology. The ongoing accompanying radical change means you will need to excel at learning, unlearning, and relearning at the pace of this change. The new “killer app skill” will be learning to manage one’s own emotions, while generating positive emotions and managing negative emotions effectively, a...

We are each equipped to greatly contribute to the world through our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Yet, many of us are disconnected from this potential, unaware of our influence, and instead impacting the world without mindful attention. We can learn to engage with others through conscious connection and start to respond to life’s challenges, direct the course of our lives, and positively impact...

As consciousness across the world continues to elevate, men will further benefit from disentangling from the messages society sends them on what it means to be a man today. Their journey to heal their wounds, break free from the various limiting beliefs ingrained in them by societal standards, and learning to embrace their true, authentic and full selves beckons. Such is the promise of embracing w...

Today’s workforce, now largely comprised of Generation Y and Z, have a ravenous appetite for meaningful work, flexible work terms, and affiliation with a purposeful company whose mission aligns with their values. How can companies meet those discerning standards? One powerful way is to help employees become proud of their work and proud of their company. When people take pride in something, it can...

To live your best life, you need a playbook – just five “power principles” that when put into intentional practice will propel you to live the life to which you aspire within just one year. That’s the promise of this episode, in which you’ll learn the power of casting a bold vision for your life, choosing an empowering perspective of yourself, creating and executing a 90-Day Action Plan, using act...

Less heroics, armor, and intellect-driven. More vulnerability, authenticity, and inspiration. That’s what today’s workforce craves. A more “human” leader. No small task to realize for leaders who have thrived in their previous tried and true ways where they may have led chiefly from keen analytics, strategy, and emotional distance. To elevate consciousness, leaders benefit by identifying their min...

In a world with constant change and the need for upskilling, a curious mindset and appetite for learning are essential. Yet, many people and teams are hampered by their fixation to perform. This single-minded goal leaves little room for growth and innovation while supposedly delivering essential bottom-line results. There’s a better way to avoid this “performance paradox” – by shifting focus from...

The COVID-10 wakeup call is one we will soon dismiss unless we cement the lifestyle changes into our routines before the window of change closes. Because if people relapse into the old ways, with their old habits, that would be a great tragedy. The opportunity to create a renewing world will be lost. And our unpreparedness for another attack would remain unchanged. The opportunity to R-E-N-E-W to...

Are you fit for leading today’s discerning workforce? As fast as people’s taste for an increasingly quality experience in life and work have evolved, you as a leader have been kicked upstairs -- being asked to perform at a higher standard than ever before to meet these demands. You must continually “sharpen your saw” to continue elevating your leadership skills and prowess. In this episode, you wi...

Trust is an essential component to relationships and ultimately in producing great results inside organizations. But what is it, really? How is it developed? Nurtured? How does it work? What happens when it’s broken? And what does it take to repair it? In this fireside chat with Dr. Peter Kim, we learn through a truly human lens the answers to these questions and the promise of what trust and its...

Starting out in high school and deemed “average” through an intelligence test, Steve Farrell went on to found two high-growth technology companies in Silicon Valley. He learned that this kind of success rewarded “doing,” but the real prize in life lied in “being.” His ultimate expression of his own gifts? Co-founding Humanity’s Team, a non-profit focused on helping people around the world awaken t...

Most people grow up being encouraged to dedicate themselves to getting good grades in school, then pursuing a career that will deliver financial comfort and success. It is often only later in life after a few decades of this singular focus that they start to notice that something is missing. Beyond the money in their bank account and the notoriety or status they may have enjoyed, something just se...

You started your business to serve a specific group of customers and make a unique contribution. Smashing. Did you know you can actually take the game of business even higher for your own greater fulfillment and greater impact by embracing stakeholder capitalism? Also known as inclusive capitalism, this is an approach to business that emphasizes considering the interests of all stakeholders involv...

What if you could inspire your organization into finding more promising ideas and turning them into dynamic action? Imagine a team of turned on people who are equipped with the strategic approach and open playing field to wrestle with your toughest business problems to continuously chart innovation and achieve dynamic results. Doing so rests on the idea of upstream work, where unknowns are sourced...

Dr. Robert Lengel’s life and career have spanned the fields of engineering design, financial services, industrial sales, environmental research, consulting and academics. And frankly he’s concerned about the future of humanity. So much so that he has put forth a treatise on a necessary way forward that involves embracing both the outspoken aspects of intellect, information, rationality and the pra...

Welcome to the era of the “empowered workforce,” a discerning, mobile, non-compromising body of talent unmistakably and justly now enjoying a favorable balance of power in companies. Gone are the days when bad or toxic leaders could demand workers endure long hours, time-sucking commutes, or meaningless work. Today’s game of business requires an elevation in leadership acumen – one that embraces c...

Women are often the underdogs and expected to lose, whether that’s in career, relationships, or opportunities in general. Women are often silenced and discounted and are considered “rude” or brash when they speak up for themselves. It’s through the hard work, grit, and determination that women will take their rightful place at work, home, and in society. When they are inspired and lifted by each o...

Mental health and well-being have finally made it to the top of the priority list for individuals and the companies that employ them. Increasingly, people are paying attention to their own health and well-being, even choosing to prize them over a well-paying or otherwise great job. Life can throw some real zingers at us – the kind that bring us to our knees. It’s learning how to respond to these “...