In this episode, Heather speaks to Ron Alvesteffer, President and CEO of Service Express, about his leadership style, his very engaging way of meeting his team members where they are, some pearls of wisdom he leaves with listeners and also the one unique thing he does with his direct reports weekly that sets him apart and brings him closer to those he leads. Key takeaways: Spend time with your people Self reflect on who are you are as a leader. Do you inspire? Go to work for your people not the ...
Dec 03, 2019•31 min•Ep. 92
In this episode, Heather speakers with Jo-Ann Robertson, CEO of Ketchum, in the UK. Jo-Ann shares with Heather the thing that drives her to lead, you unabashed desire to lead from the front, but with a team, a time when she was not the best version of herself as a leader and the one thing she thinks leaders need Key takeaways: All feedback is good. Take it. Challenge yourself to grow Leaders can change their styles to meet the needs of their people Leaders must demonstrate what they want before ...
Nov 26, 2019•40 min•Ep. 91
In this podcast, Heather spoke with Lon Southerland, Managing Director of Ion Biome at Saraphic Group, Inc., about his long history of leading for organizations like Marriott, Starbucks and 7-Eleven and how all of that informed his current leadership filter. Heather and Lon discuss some great leadership learnings on his part, and one piece of advice his coworker gave him early on his career. Key takeaways: 1. Leaders must be effective in working with and through others to get more done 2. Don’t ...
Nov 19, 2019•32 min•Ep. 90
In this episode, Heather speaks with Joe O’ Neill, CEO of G & D Integrated about his unique approach to providing psychological safety in the workplace. How he engages with his front line and uses orientation to do it. He discussed a time when he was a detached leader who stepped away from the active role of CEO and what he discovered in the process. Key takeaways: Have a “I work for them” attitude and not the other way around Ask your people to judge you and hold you accountable Have honest...
Nov 12, 2019•47 min•Ep. 89
In this episode, Heather speaks to you about milestones, recognition, and moving past barriers that can make it difficult to be the best leader you can be. Heather shares a couple personal stories focused on recognition of the milestones her children has experiences this past week. She talks about how she responded to the milestones and a fumble of the past. Key takeaways: Pay attention to the greatness inside the people you lead or they will go somewhere with people who will Don’t see obstacles...
Nov 05, 2019•10 min•Ep. 88
In this episode, Heather updates listeners on the book that will come out based upon the podcast. She also talks about the importance of leaders building resilience in the face of adversity. Key take-aways: Leaders must first build resilience in the face of obstacles before they can help their people do the same. People all around us are in a struggle. How quickly they can rebound or bounce back from those struggles will make all the difference with efficiencies, productivity improved emotional ...
Oct 29, 2019•9 min•Ep. 87
In this episode, Heather speaks with Alex Smith, Chief Human Resource Officer for the City of Memphis in Tennessee about her leadership style, all of the ways that leading with heart has driven amazing business results for the City and it citizens and employees, structuring the employee experience to maximize momentum and a time when she was not the best leader she could be. Key takeaways: Just because you are a leader with heart doesn’t mean results aren’t important The collective thought is be...
Oct 22, 2019•35 min•Ep. 86
In this episode, Heather speaks with Cynthia Grant, Chief Clinical Officer at AllHealth Network, about her surprising and traumatic background, the lens that he sees the world and thus engages with her people and a time when she was not the best leader she could be. Cynthia shares tremendous tips for leaders, but just listening to her is inspirational. Key takeaways: Caring for your team as a leader is a responsibility not a nice to have Our past cluttered with adversity can be the biggest gift ...
Oct 15, 2019•38 min•Ep. 85
In this episode, Heather speaks with Shawnte Cox Holland on her leadership style, her unique view of why she leads the way she does, a time when she was not the best version of her and what she did to become more enlightened and some insightful pearls of wisdom. Key takeaways: Be the leader who pursues the art of what is possible and ask what is missing Recognize your employees for a job well done Take a step back & figure out the value of being a leader Focus on leadership excellence all ar...
Oct 08, 2019•26 min•Ep. 84
In this episode, Heather speaks with Sarah Pierre Louis, Sr. Manager Marketing Team Development for Tableau Software (recently acquired by Salesforce) about her leadership style, her fascinating approach to helping her team come up with their “why” and their own solutions. She talks about a couple times when she got in her own way when leading a team and how she made her way out of it. Key takeaways: Ask our people what they want or what they are trying to accomplish to help them answer their ow...
Oct 01, 2019•19 min•Ep. 83
In this episode, Heather speaks with Howard Behar, former president of Starbucks and author of The Magic Cup and It’s Not About the Coffee . Howard talks about his perspective no servant leadership, shares some Starbucks insights, accountability as a leader, introduces the idea of a board of directors in the context of our different mindsets. He also shares a time when he was not the best version of himself. Key takeaways: Read about people who are your role models and don’t be afraid to emulate...
Sep 24, 2019•30 min•Ep. 82
In this episode, Heather speaks with Phil Burgess, Chief People Officer of CSpace about his leadership philosophy, the messiness that happens in the workplace, a time when he was not a shining example of leadership with heart and what he did to move out of it and some amazing pearls of wisdom. Key takeaways: It’s up to leaders to embrace the mess that is all of us at work Leaders must model the change they are seeking Leaders are more effective when they invite feedback from direct reports and a...
Sep 17, 2019•30 min•Ep. 81
In this episode, Heather speaks with Rhoda Banks, Head of Talent for Rabo Agrifinance about her unique and caring leadership style, a time when she was not the best version of herself an what she learned from it and some jewels for pearls of wisdom we can all learn from. Key takeaways: The ultimate reason for a leader is to help their people reach their fullest potential. If you care about your people give them honest feedback Employees mimic what they see in their leaders It is the leaders resp...
Sep 10, 2019•26 min•Ep. 80
In this episode, Heather speaks directly to listeners about a deeply personal story that reminded her of the importance of loving the people on your team. She outlines the benefits of doing so and she inspires leaders from all walks to care deeply for the people who look to them for leadership. Key takeaways: *Don’t be afraid to lead with love *Leaders who care deeply create deeply caring employees *Sit with your people And meet them where they are *Leadership is not a cookie-cutter experience *...
Sep 03, 2019•8 min•Ep. 79
In this episode, Heather speaks with Ethan Mann, is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Sharklet Technologies, Inc., an innovative surface technology company. Heather speaks with Ethan about his leadership style, his unique action-focused leadership focus, the role he thinks emotional intelligence plays in how he leads and a good pearl of wisdom for any leader looking to expand their world view. Key Takeaways: Make sure you have a core value that guides you Take in the experiences of th...
Aug 27, 2019•35 min•Ep. 78
In this episode, Heather speaks with Chuck Runyon, Co-Founder and CEO of Self Esteem Brands, which most notably owns Anytime Fitness. Heather speaks with Chuck about his conversion to the Leader with Heart and his refreshing perspective on his role at the Founder and CEO of a highly successful brand. Key Takeaways *A leader’s job is to harvest the team’s ideas *Founders must give up control to scale *People want to know that they have impact * Sometimes the leader’s job to help their people to d...
Aug 20, 2019•27 min•Ep. 77
In this episode, Heather speaks to Sheryl Simmons, CHRO at Maestro Health about her leadership style, some bumps in the road, creating psychologically safe workplaces and what makes her leadership really stand out. Key takeaways: Remember that we all have a hot mic The importance of always do the right thing Set your ego aside and get out of your own head Keep it real and own up when you screw up Emotional intelligence When we don't believe that we make mistakes anymore, we cease to become leade...
Aug 13, 2019•31 min•Ep. 76
In this episode, Heather speaks with Chris Chancey, Founder of Amplio Recruiting about his leadership journey, the heart behind the company he founded, our opportunities to step into our best selves through reflection and faith and much more! Key takeaways: Listen well Be intentional about knowing the strengths and weaknesses of our people Care about your people’s hearts Come at things humbly and openly with a child’s view Allow you, people, to solve their own problems and stay our of the way Wr...
Aug 06, 2019•30 min•Ep. 75
In this episode, Heather talks directly with listeners about the importance of protecting and controlling their mindset. Recently, Heather delivered her first ever TEDx talk on Transforming Adversity into Opportunity. In it, she shares a personal story of adversity and what she did to overcome it. You might want to check her talk about before listening to this episode at https://youtu.be/-bp4-IHyf50 Key takeaways: 1. Adversity starts in the mind 2. We can choose to be stopped my the adversities ...
Jul 30, 2019•8 min•Ep. 74
In this episode, Heather speaks with Garry Ridge, CEO of WD-40 about his leadership journey, a time when he was not the nest leader he could be and what he did to come out of it, how he transformed a company from good to great by focusing on people first and maintaining a learning culture. Garry co-authored a book with Ken Blanchard and moved his organization from $200 million in revenues to $2.2 billion all with focusing on growing people and helping them step into their best selves. Key takeaw...
Jul 23, 2019•31 min•Ep. 73
In this short episode, Heather speaks directly with listeners about the power and importance of team collaboration as an effective leader. She shares some personal stories to illustrate that leaders are always looking for ways to include more people in their ventures. These leaders praise those without being threatened, inspire others to row in the same direction and nurture people along the way. Key Takeaways: *Don’t be afraid to include others in your journey *Leadership doesn’t begin unless y...
Jul 16, 2019•8 min•Ep. 72
In this episode, Heather speaks to Steve Browne, Vice President of Human Resources for LaRosa's, Inc. - a regional Pizzeria restaurant chain in Southwest Ohio with 13 locations and over 1,100 Team Members. Steve shares some insights from his new book HR on Purpose. They also talk a lot about being open to feedback, affirming our employees for their efforts, and making relationships the focus. Key takeaways: Affirm your people enough and tell them that what they do matters Don’t use a report card...
Jul 09, 2019•35 min•Ep. 71
In this episode, Heather speaks with Larry Sutton, President of RNR Tire Express. Larry enlightens listeners with his anything-but-straight leadership journey, highlights the importance of transparency and empowerment. His voice is mesmerizing! So, don’t miss this one. Key takeaways: 1. Don’t miss the learning that takes place in the journey 2. Hire people smarter than you 3. Show you care for your people by demonstrating it in your actions 4. When not transparent nothing else works. Whatever el...
Jul 02, 2019•46 min•Ep. 70
In this episode, Heather speaks with Phil Cohen about his leadership style, his compelling and jaw-dropping background and his rags to riches story that leads him to hire people of any background whether ex-con or formally abused. His main focus is to create a family atmosphere that is psychologically safe. Key takeaways: Leaders can lead more from a quiet strength. Leaders need to be aligned with what they say they are or they will be viewed as a fraud If you know the leaders heart and their wh...
Jun 25, 2019•34 min•Ep. 69
In this episode, Heather speaks with Gustavo Tavares of Top Employers Institute Latin America. Gustavo recently facilitated a keynote speech Heather delivered for Harvard Business Review Brasil. He shared more about his leadership style, his refreshing philosophy on empowering his people to chart their own coarse and his mission to burst the leadership isolation bubble. Key takeaways: Leaders show receptivity to change so that their people will emulate what they see There is no need to isolate t...
Jun 18, 2019•38 min•Ep. 68
In this episode, Heather speaks with Greg Wathen, President and CEO of Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana about a recent post on Linkedin from one of his employees that sparked so much attention that that over 3.5 million people view it and many of those responded with admiration. That link is in the show notes at customerfanatix.com/podcast. Heather speaks with Greg about his unique leadership perspective, and he delivers some great advice about how to strengthen our leadership...
Jun 11, 2019•36 min•Ep. 67
In this episode, Heather speaks with Dr. Jandell Allen Davis, President and CEO of Craig Hospital in Colorado about her refreshing perspective on connection and bringing her whole self to the workplace, Her leadership fumbles and the unlikely, but likely journey she is on in her leadership. Key takeaways: Our journey whether smooth or bumpy puts us where we are supposed to be Your people want to see you and be seen Touching customers and employees as a CEO deepens purpose and refreshes you in th...
Jun 04, 2019•43 min•Ep. 66
In this episode, Heather speaks with Ian Sohn, President of the Chicago office of of Wunderman, a creative tech company. Heather discovered Ian through an article written about him in the New York Post where they highlight a recent open He wrote to employees about his expectations for employees checking in after work hours. You’ll want to listen in on his perspective after you read the article. Ian talks about his leadership style, his philosophy of growing talent and even about a rough spot he ...
May 28, 2019•38 min•Ep. 65
In this episode, Heather Younger, speaks with Giridhar Akkineni, CEO of AkkenCloud about his leadership style. His anything but smooth journey to leadership, his hyper focus on all things customers and the ways that he helps his people find meaning in their work. Key takeaways: Make it your focus to give your people something to be excited about every Monday morning Be open and personally connected to your people Customer success can be a driver for a bonded culture Set clear goals so that every...
May 21, 2019•34 min•Ep. 64
In this episode, Heather speaks with Steve McIntosh about his leadership style, a very engaging story of his early leadership challenges and some powerful tips for all leaders. Key takeaway: *Always seek feedback from all around *Leaders don’t realize that in order to lead you must have followers *People want the leader to take them somewhere they want to go *Provide a setting that allows your team to see the good and bad of leadership by giving them more responsibility *It can be lonely as a so...
May 14, 2019•30 min•Ep. 63
