“If you are leveraging collective intelligence, respecting diversity, and inviting dissenting ideas, you are going to uncover the unknown unknowns more quickly and likely come up with better results.” Rod Collins My guest today is Rod Collins. Rod is a leading expert on digital transformation and the future of business. He's the host of the Thinking Differently podcast on the C suite Radio Network, where he explores how technological innovations continue to transform the rules of how successful ...
Feb 14, 2022•28 min
“Everyone should be involved in developing solutions to customer problems.” Peter Margaritis The traditional hierarchy organizational structure has been around since the 1950s, and so have many of the strategies developed to make it work well. As time goes on though, some of these strategies are becoming less effective, while others are simply out of date. A flat organization is a company that does not operate on strict hierarchies like most traditional businesses. In these companies, decisions ...
Feb 07, 2022•9 min
“The type of person that we had to look for to be a virtual CFO is completely different than the type of person that we looked forward to being an accountant.” Jody Grunden My guest today is Jody Grunden. Jody is the CEO and co-founder of Summit CPA Group, a fully distributed virtual CFO firm. He has authored two books, Digital Dollars, Cents, and Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud. He won multiple awards, including recognition of Tony's Top Innovative Practitioner by cpa.com. In today’s...
Jan 31, 2022•30 min
Leaders need to remember that all eyes are on them at all times. They are being watched for how they manage pressure and conflict. Leadership in action is setting the fear, panic, negative and reactive emotions aside at the moment and responding with calm and confidence. When an organization hires you, you become part of that brand. In and out of the office, your actions, words, behavior, and attitude are seen, experienced, and judged by those who follow you. Also, note that your followers can m...
Jan 24, 2022•9 min
“Your clients will like you better if you just show that you know them, and you're listening to them more than telling them how much you are an expert.” Tom Wadelton My guest today is Tom Wadelton. He earned his bachelor's degree in computer technology from Purdue University and an MBA was a finance minor from Indiana University. He's a CPA who's licensed in the state of Indiana. Tom is a member of the association of international certified professional accountants AICPA as well as the Indiana C...
Jan 17, 2022•30 min
Sometimes we have a hard time defining what good or great leadership is, but we also know what bad leadership is. I believe in Improv leadership, which is more about the team and less about an individual. No matter what business we are in, people are our most important asset and we need to begin to treat them better. The firing of 900 employees by the CEO of better.com via a zoom call is a tragic example of how not to manage people. How do you inspire when you are leading a large number of peopl...
Jan 10, 2022•13 min
"When we have compassion and empathy for ourselves, we will radiate that to other people." Kathy Klotz Kathy Klotz-Guest is a speaker, author, comedian, and founder of Keeping It Human. Kathy started Keeping It Human after 15 years leading tech marketing and communications. Her mission is to help leaders, teams and companies use Improv and humor principles to be happier, healthier, and more creative all the while having more fun. Cathy has worked for global brands such as Amazon, Dow Jones and D...
Jan 03, 2022•29 min
For the first time since I launched Change Your Mindset in 2016, I’ve decided to take the month of December off to pause and reflect. This podcast is very near and dear to me, and I want to put the time and care necessary into making the next evolution of it with intentionality. From podcast length to formatting, I spend this episode rehashing the past and brainstorming what’s to come. This podcast has reached people all over the world in 136 countries and all 50 U.S. states. I am continually bl...
Nov 29, 2021•6 min•Ep. 48
“When you see a turtle on top of a fence post, chances are he did not get there on his own.” Joey Haven starts off a recent blog post with this old saying to illustrate how leaders only get to where they are because others helped them get there. Joey serves as the managing partner of strategic growth for the CPA firm HORNE, writes the beBetter blog, and is an active member of CPA Practice Advisor’s Top 30 Thought Leaders. He talks about the power of building a firm with a strong foundation of cu...
Nov 22, 2021•46 min•Season 4Ep. 47
Growing up, I worked in a family restaurant – I am Greek American, after all. My father took a different approach and purchased a liquor store. In both cases, providing excellent customer service was the standard because that is the formula to success in business. But if that’s true, what the hell happened to excellent customer service? You want to be the firm that everyone raves about because you offer the kind of excellent customer service that everyone deserves – especially as it becomes hard...
Nov 15, 2021•10 min•Season 4Ep. 46
Kon Apostolopoulos is the founder and CEO of Fresh Biz Solutions, a human capital management consulting group that provides performance improvement and training solutions to help organizations develop people, improve business results, and benefit from a comprehensive talent management strategy. He’s also the co-author of the timely book, 7 Keys to Navigating a Crisis, and a regular contributor to Thrive Global and Achievers Engagement Blog. We talk about how the global crisis of the pandemic has...
Nov 08, 2021•48 min•Season 4Ep. 45
Today’s guest is… Peter Margaritis! Huh? That’s right, we’re turning the mic around with a special guest host, Kate Colbert, President of Silver Tree Publishing, to celebrate the release of “Off Script: Mastering the Art of Business Improv.” I’ve documented much of the journey of writing this book directly through the podcast, and today we’re going to wrap things up to talk about the whole story: Why I wrote this book, what it means to go off script, and how you can use improv to sharpen your bu...
Nov 01, 2021•45 min•Season 4Ep. 44
Dr. Gleb Tsipursky is the CEO of Disaster Avoidance Experts and the author of several books, including Returning to the Office and Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams: A Manual on Benchmarking to Best Practices for Competitive Advantage. He joins the show to lay out just why we can’t rely on our guts to tell us how to approach bringing workforces back to the office. Through confirmation bias and the disconnect between higher management and their workforce, it can be very easy to make the wrong decis...
Oct 25, 2021•40 min•Season 4Ep. 43
One of the key features of improvisation is the ability to listen. When we listen, we park our ego and our agenda, and strive to understand what the other person is trying to say. It’s about listening with our eyes and our ears – but it’s also about the questions we ask. Even when we think we’ve reached the right answer to our questions, we need to pause and ask ourselves “What else could this be? What are the blind spots I’m not seeing?” We need to think through that and come to realize that ma...
Oct 18, 2021•10 min•Season 4Ep. 42
Brian Comerford is a digital leader and serial entrepreneur – notably co-founding RadioValve.com, one of the first generation of online radio stations. He served as an adjunct professor at The University of Denver – his alma mater – in the digital media studies department. He currently serves as the co-chair of the CIO Working Group for the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, and is a board member of the Adoption Exchange. On top of all of that (and more), he’s the host of the Lead.exe podc...
Oct 11, 2021•45 min•Season 4Ep. 41
I’ll be the first to tell you – improv isn’t all about comedy and making people laugh. However, improv can be a great tool for humor and is how most people are introduced to it. My own introduction to improv involved using it and comedy as coping mechanisms for the challenges life was throwing my way. Do you remember the song, “Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down?” Mary Poppins was onto something. To digest something undesirable, but necessary, combine it with something sweet. Yo...
Oct 04, 2021•8 min•Season 4Ep. 40
Eric M. Twiggs is the Chief Executive Officer and President of The What Now Movement, a group dedicated to building up high-performing entrepreneurs, authors, and career professionals to be ready for life’s unexpected challenges. He’s also the author of The Discipline of Now: 12 Practical Principles to Overcome Procrastination. As a certified life and business coach, Eric has conducted over 28 thousand coaching sessions, helping executive leaders and entrepreneurs transition from frustration to ...
Sep 27, 2021•41 min•Season 4Ep. 39
Has anyone ever asked you the question: “How do you eat an elephant?” This question – and its answer – provides a powerful metaphor for learning and development for all professionals. And that answer is: “One bite at a time.” Learning the new skills vital to your role as a leader is no small task, but if you take it one bite at a time and start investing in those skills you will get there. To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: petermargaritis.com Change Your Mindset is a product...
Sep 20, 2021•10 min•Season 4Ep. 38
Don’t be fooled by name, the hair color, or the crazy shoes – Michael Sherlock is serious about business. She’s dedicated to creating positive, productive, and profitable workplaces, and helping individuals and businesses unlock their ultimate potential. She shares ways you can rethink leadership, your relationship to sales, and how to shock the most out of your potential. To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: petermargaritis.com Resources: shockyourpotential.com kukuabiz.com Re...
Sep 13, 2021•47 min•Season 4Ep. 37
It was bizarre not traveling most of 2020 due to the pandemic. Going from an average of 130 days over the past ten years to only traveling five in all of 2020 was a shock to the system. At first I didn’t miss it – the hustle and bustle, crowded airports and planes, and the TSA – but after reflecting on it, I have some travel memories that I’d like to share, along with the lessons I picked up from them. To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: petermargaritis.com Change Your Mindset...
Sep 06, 2021•8 min•Season 4Ep. 36
Ron Karr has worked with leaders on six continents to help them eliminate risk, gain buy-in, and achieve more with what he calls “the velocity mindset.” Over the past 30 years, Ron’s presentations and advisory services have generated over a billion dollars in incremental revenue for his clients. He’s the author of five books, including his latest, The Velocity Mindset, and the best-seller Lead, Sell, or Get Out of the Way. We talk about developing a velocity mindset and the three components to i...
Aug 30, 2021•47 min•Season 4Ep. 35
At a keynote address welcoming the Masters of Science & Accounting students at Oklahoma State University to the Fall 2021 semester, the dean of the school shared five skills every accounting student will need to master to succeed: agility, creativity, service mindset, communication, and leadership. I’ve added a sixth skill for good measure. Learn how they apply to the accounting profession and how you can use them to become a well-versed and highly impactful leader within your organization. ...
Aug 23, 2021•6 min•Season 4Ep. 34
Leaving the corporate world 15 years ago, Bob Dusin started his own business focused on training, coaching, and facilitating leadership workshops for organizations nationwide. In addition to his work in organizational leadership development and coaching, Bob has spoken at numerous expos, seminars, and conventions. He’s also been a professional improviser for over 25 years and is a professional voiceover and video actor. We talk about how he’s married the corporate world with leadership through h...
Aug 16, 2021•45 min•Season 4Ep. 33
Whether you have the title of Project Manager or not, we all manage projects in our day-to-day lives. Until we recognize that, it’s hard to improve. Project management is not a one-size-fits-all profession. There’s so much diversity of thought and approach that you should learn from the best and apply whatever works for you. Ann Campea, host of The Everyday PM podcast, shares how she stumbled into a project management career and her passion for passing her skills on to a new generation. To learn...
Aug 09, 2021•38 min•Season 4Ep. 32
Since starting work on my new book, I’ve received a number of questions about the writing process. I don’t have a degree in English, literature, or journalism – yet here I am, about to publish my 3rd business book… with book number four already cooking in my head. I’m going to share 13 things I’ve learned during the writing process that I hope will help you, or at least give you some insight into what work goes into book writing. To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: petermargar...
Aug 02, 2021•8 min•Season 4Ep. 31
Do you think accounting can be fun? Is there a way to make it less boring and more engaging? Do you believe that learning accounting is easy and something everyone should do? Toby York wants to see if he can change your mindset around those questions. He’s not your typical accounting instructor. He’s the founder of Accounting Cafe, a community for anybody who believes that accounting education can be an engaging and enjoyable experience for teachers and learners alike. He’s a senior lecturer at ...
Jul 26, 2021•43 min•Season 4Ep. 30
Guess who turned 100 years old in 2021? White Castle, the famous hamburger restaurant. One thing is true: those who love White Castle will always have a story to tell. Jamie Richardson, VP of Marketing and Public Relations, and John Kelley, Chief People Officer, are going to share some of those stories. To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: petermargaritis.com Resources: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jamie-richardson-0b39184 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/john-kelley-798a631 Change Your ...
Jul 19, 2021•38 min•Season 4Ep. 29
Steve Morris started his career designing multi-million dollar racing yachts and building and coaching high-performing teams to help his clients win the most demanding races. He ran and grew a small business, then transitioned his career, becoming a certified project management professional in charge of million dollar budgets and even helping the US Navy launch ships. Six years ago, he started his own business, Catylator, with a mission and passion to help business owners build better lives thro...
Jul 12, 2021•49 min•Season 4Ep. 28
Attention, entrepreneurs: are you working in your business… or on your business? What could you outsource so you can focus just on growth? Do you think you’re the only one that can do your job? Rachel Luther was a virtual assistant before people knew what that was. After growing her business from a one woman show to a team of talented professionals, she began to share her secrets to success – covering topics like work life balance, outsourcing strategies, remote work, and everything in between. ...
Jul 05, 2021•48 min•Season 4Ep. 27
Have you ever challenged yourself to get out of your comfort zone and try something new – like working on your communication skills? If you could pick one thing to work on today, what would that be? Could you maintain the momentum to reach mastery? John Sanchez, the son of a 30-year army veteran, moved a dozen times before graduating high school. Those moves were the beginning of John’s lessons in resilience. A “recovering accountant,” John’s communication skills were in dire need of improvement...
Jun 28, 2021•45 min•Season 4Ep. 26
