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 transformational power of gratitude and how to foster a sense of community in a virtual and in-person workplace....
Nov 30, 2021•27 min•Season 1Ep. 32
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.
Nov 23, 2021•11 min
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. They don’t have true control over their schedules because their time is ruled by the demands of their ...
Nov 16, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 31
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 their workplace environment and how a workforce feels about their day-to-day work. In this video Gaurav Bh...
Nov 09, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 30
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.
Nov 02, 2021•5 min
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, Brittany believes that super-fandom is a two-way street. Superfan employees are created when leaders become su...
Oct 27, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 29
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.
Oct 19, 2021•8 min
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 helps major corporations resolve these problems. Here are some of the questions he answers. Where do mos...
Oct 12, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 28
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 the Enneagram will help you grow as a leader. Why the Enneagram is so useful to improve performance....
Oct 05, 2021•9 min
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 issues and won’t abandon companies who sacrifice short-term profit to uphold those values. In fact, mos...
Sep 28, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 27
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 their concerns, leading to leaders thinking they don’t need to change which ultimately leads to problem...
Sep 22, 2021•7 min
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 education, spiritual growth, and the personal dimensions of leadership. The Hoffman Institute’s flags...
Sep 13, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Without knowing how the current health crisis will progress, leaders are scrambling to decide whether to reopen offices or to allow employees to continue to work from home. Many have landed somewhere in the middle with a hybrid model, neither 100% remote nor 100% in-person. According to Robert Glazer, the hybrid model is both the most common choice and the riskiest. The risk lies in the temptation to adopt a hybrid model without outlining clear details. As he puts it, “Hybrid needs to be a strat...
Sep 07, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Quick question for you: Do you think emotional intelligence is important in the workplace? In this Leadership Insight episode of the Enlightened Executive, we discuss how you can assess your emotional intelligence. To receive the most honest assessment of your emotional intelligence, we would recommend a professional 360 assessment, however, if you’re interested in testing the waters first, in this episode we offer 10 questions for a DIY 360 assessment. Emotional intelligence is important in the...
Sep 03, 2021•7 min
While teams made up with people with similar personalities and perspectives may enjoy smooth meetings, they may not be the most productive teams. It’s not good for your company (or your clients or margins) to be staffed exclusively by people who share the same worldview, the same personality type, or the same approach to business. In fact, every company would benefit from hiring for cognitive diversity — even if it creates conflict. Why? Because the conflict that arises from cognitive diversity ...
Aug 25, 2021•7 min
You might be familiar with the idea that the events of your past (particularly of your childhood) continue to impact you today. But did you know that the same is true for organizations? The events and attitudes that shaped your organization in its infancy are likely still permeating into your company culture, even though you may not be aware of it. Dr. Amir Kfir offers a three-phase process for resolving conflict in your organization: Understanding the other party with a sense of empathy Underst...
Aug 16, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 24
One secret to resiliency as a leader is self-compassion. The more readily you can forgive yourself for mistakes, the faster you can bounce back. Some leaders may believe that forgiving yourself for your mistakes leads to laziness and a lack of ambition. In other words, if you aren’t hard on yourself for errors, you won’t be motivated to improve. However, according to Sharon Salzberg, this type of punitive mindset only leads to exhaustion, as you drain your energy berating yourself. Self-compassi...
Aug 09, 2021•33 min•Season 1Ep. 23
You have a business plan. You have a marketing plan. But do you have a relationship plan? Most leaders would agree that success depends heavily on relationships — with team members, with suppliers, with partners, with clients and customers. Yet, many don’t prioritize relationship-building in a meaningful, memorable way. Instead, leaders may default to the “expected” ways of relationship building: giving standard gifts at birthdays, holidays or dinners out during the “wooing” period with a potent...
Aug 03, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 22
What’s your current process for making a complex, high-stakes decision as a leader? Do you conduct extensive research? Rely on your intuition? Ask for advice from trusted parties? Most decision-making models include some version of each of these components. But few actually guide you through a specific, logical research process — and fewer still include built-in cognitive bias challenges. That’s what makes the AREA Method different. In this week’s episode of The Enlightened Executive, we are joi...
Jul 26, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Want to know the secret to becoming a better negotiator? It starts from within. Pay attention to people who annoy you or whom you wish you could be more like. They are mirrors for the parts of yourself you may have rejected. This is the first step Erica Ariel Fox recommends leaders take to become better negotiators. Erica is the author of Winning From Within, which outlines a contemporary approach for getting more of what you want, improving relationships, and enjoying life’s deeper rewards. She...
Jul 19, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Would you rather deliver a message on video or over email? Many leaders would choose the latter. It’s natural to feel skittish about appearing on camera as a leader. Many people judge themselves about how they look in videos or feel a lack of confidence on screen. But according to Todd Hartley, the CEO of WireBuzz, this is missing the point. Video works because it’s the most human form of content. It replicates eye contact, shared emotions, and, yes, the imperfections of face-to-face interaction...
Jul 12, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Who would you be without your ambition to attain success? Is your ambition driven by the need to create financial stability or make your mark on the world? Many leaders would candidly cite those motivators as the reason for their success. Patrick McKenna was no different. He had built his incredibly successful career as an investor and entrepreneur — motivated by a desire to leave his small hometown and prove to others he could make something of himself. And yet, as he looked deeper, he saw that...
Jul 05, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 18
John Rampton shares his strategies for staying “overly relaxed” at work, how he overcame a life-changing injury, and how leaders can develop a relaxed mindset in the workplace. He is a successful serial entrepreneur (currently running Calendar.com), motivational speaker, and expert blogger at Entrepreneur, Forbes, Inc., and more. John has proven that leaders can lead from a place of certainty that everything will turn out okay. In this episode we also discuss… How riding a Jet Ski helps him stay...
Jun 28, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 17
If you’re being faced with overbearing amounts of stress or have been recently triggered by past trauma, this 10-minute Havening exercise will help you deal with your anxiety. We are led through this exercise by Stephen Travers. Stephen is the Director of U.K. and International Havening and is passionate about teaching others how to use Havening in their lives. “Havening helps us to be at our best, in terms of changing what’s actually happening in our brains and bodies,” Stephen explains. Be sur...
Jun 21, 2021•12 min
According to Bill Adams, CEO of the Leadership Circle, a “high-control” leadership style incurs a high energetic cost for everyone. Leaders inevitably cast a long shadow on their organization, affecting far more than their direct reports. This shadow can either be healthy or unhealthy, and leaders are generally unaware of the shadow. But there’s no denying that it exists. Listen to our interview to learn… Why high-controlling leaders sabotage their organization’s performance The story of a leade...
Jun 15, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Joey Klein, the founder and CEO of Inner Matrix Systems: a personal mastery training system for high achievers, shares: How to accurately assess your emotional state How to become more sensitive to the emotional needs of your team An exercise to get into a state of “centered neutrality” (relaxed, clear, and calm) Many leaders have wellness routines that include activities like going to a spin class, lifting weights, and eating well. And the truly gifted leaders are incorporating emotional and me...
Jun 08, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Launching a company without a clear mission statement is a recipe for disaster. Yet, so many of us walk around as individuals without a clear “mission statement” for our lives… and then wonder why we don’t feel fulfilled or motivated. This lack of life purpose is what Rabbi Jacobson views as one of the biggest problems leaders face today, with consequences for both their professional capabilities and personal happiness. Rabbi Jacobson, founder of The Meaningful Life Center (called a “Spiritual S...
May 31, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 14
This week’s guest Lisa Holmes, Chief Business Strategist for Strategic Performance of Los Angeles, discusses how leaders can improve their wellness. Many leaders are extremely organized and plan each aspect of their day, but don’t consider planning time to devote to their health. You have probably heard that “you are what you eat,” but many leaders do not prioritize their nutrition. Busy schedules don’t leave time to cook nutritious meals and sometimes you don’t have access to healthy foods whil...
May 25, 2021•21 min•Season 1Ep. 13
If you’re not embodying your authentic self, your team will sense that and begin to lose trust in you as a leader. The solution? Accessing your original thoughts and getting quiet through meditation. In this week’s episode of The Enlightened Executive, Dina Kaplan joins Susan to discuss how meditation helps you become a more authentic leader. Dina is founder/CEO of The Path and a certified meditation teacher who leads teacher training programs, retreats and meditations for brands, festivals, com...
May 18, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Often the best companies to do business with are also likely the best companies to work for. We discuss the link between employee experience (EX) and customer experience (CX) with Shep Hyken , customer service and experience expert, bestselling author and the Chief Amazement Officer of Shepard Presentations, who has helped hundreds of major companies create an inspiring and engaging team culture. “If you don’t give the people you work with the tools they need to get their job done most effective...
May 11, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 11
