Lead the People Matt Poepsel, PhD

Erica is an author, speaker, gender equality crusader, and a C-level leader. With over 15 years of experience in Human Resources, Erica's mission is to bring more women into positions of power and KEEP them there. She is a wife, a mom to two small kids, and a fitness fanatic! She’s also the host of the Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors podcast and author of a forthcoming book with the same amazing name.

Top 3 Takeaways


Embrace the stuck. We all find ourselves mired in a less-than-ideal state from time to time. The first step to break free is recognizing when we’re stuck.
Start small. You don’t have to completely overhaul your life in order to make a change. Even small improvements will add up over time.
Create the culture. Organizational and individual values are more important than ever. Make it a point to design these intentionally to help clarify the collective win.

From Our Sponsor

The Predictive Index (PI) is an award-winning talent optimization platform that aligns business strategy with people strategy for optimal business results. More than 60 years of proven science, software, and a curriculum of insightful management workshops make PI the solution for any company looking to design great teams and culture, make objective hiring decisions, foster engagement, and inspire greatness in their people anywhere in the world. More than 10,000 clients and 480+ partners use PI—including Nissan, Citizens Bank, Subway, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Omni Hotels—across 90+ countries. Learn more at predictiveindex.com. 

From the Source

“Staying in toxic relationships, maybe drinking too much wine on a Wednesday, maybe scrolling endlessly through TikTok … all of those things, seemingly innocent sometimes, can really keep you stuck.”

“I choose to face my sticky floors, to clean up my sticky floors, so that I can bust through the glass ceilings.”

“It's all about taking that sticky floor, recognizing it for what it is, digging deep into that unconscious mind to figure out why do we do the things we do and then pivot that thought.”

“The reason I struggled with perfectionism was because I cared so much about what people thought. Why did I care so much about what those people thought? It was because I worried that if they didn't like me, I wasn't worthy.”

“We don't have to go from being in this negative space to all rainbows and butterflies and unicorns. You can take a baby step.”

"We get caught up in this Instagramable worthy life that everybody who's a leader knows exactly how to be a leader and they make no mistakes.”

“We have to get outside of these zones of comfort that we are so used to to truly create those pockets in those environments where people feel comfortable, they feel safe, but they also feel like it's an even playing field.”

“What I love about today's workforce being as diverse and complex as it is, is that it is challenging us to really get creative, because we are having to satisfy the boomers and the Gen Zers and the Gen Xers and everyone else in between. It's causing us to really kind of come together as that melting pot that we really are.”

“You need to pull all of the leaders together—like the executive team, the senior leadership team, whatever it is—and you need to get them in a room and you need for them to settle in on some core values.”

“It's important if you are at the top of the ladder that you lead by example. You don't try to put up a little green screen and be fancy to hide it. Show your real authentic self so that people across the company can do the same.’’

Connect with Erica

Website: http://www.ericaandersonrooney.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericarooney

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ericaandersonrooney

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/glass-ceilings-and-sticky-floors-shatter-limiting/id1619692554

 

Kelly Mackin is the author of Work Life Well-Lived: The Motives Met Pathway to No-B.S. Well-Being at Work and cofounder and CEO of the Motives Met Platform and Human Needs Assessment which empowers people to create their best work life and workplace. Kellys journey from ill-being to well-being at work ignited her passion and dedication for helping people create health and happiness in their lives through a unique blend of skills. Kelly’s mission is to create a work world where we are human first and well-being is a right, not a privilege. She built Motives Met to achieve the attainable dream of a work life well-lived for all.

Top 3 Takeaways


Motives matter. Each of us experiences a variety of workplace needs to different degrees and at different times over the course of our careers. Understanding these at an individual level is critical.
Get real. Wishing alone won’t create more human and effective workplaces. We need to give managers the tools, training, and resources they need to drive the business and people outcomes we most want.
Team up. When we’re transparent about our motives and our collective need to help one another satisfy them, we’re all a part of the co-creation process. Heightened compassion, understanding, and accountability are the inevitable result.

From Our Sponsor

The Predictive Index (PI) is an award-winning talent optimization platform that aligns business strategy with people strategy for optimal business results. More than 60 years of proven science, software, and a curriculum of insightful management workshops make PI the solution for any company looking to design great teams and culture, make objective hiring decisions, foster engagement, and inspire greatness in their people anywhere in the world. More than 10,000 clients and 480+ partners use PI—including Nissan, Citizens Bank, Subway, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Omni Hotels—across 90+ countries. Learn more at predictiveindex.com.

From the Source

“A human work world is one in which our human needs are healthy and ideally thriving at work.”

“I grew up really being taught that professionalism equals dehumanization, that we have to shut off those emotions, shut down our needs, put on that workplace armor, as Brené Brown loves to call it, and try to hit the off button on our humanity. When we go to work, that's just not possible. We cannot do that.”

“What research has found is that people actually want to show up and be human at work and treat others as human and have those values and virtues that we seem to hold so dear outside of work. That they actually want to bring those to work, but that we feel we can't do that.”

“We tend to take a more passive and reactive approach to well-being at work than a proactive or preventative one.”

“It is tough because leaders aren't given the time, tools, and resources, as I put it to, to do this well. So you can't expect well-being at work. You can't expect, ‘Oh, go have a people first culture, but we're not going to put any time, resources, dollars, or tools to do it.’ That's just completely unrealistic for everybody.”

“These 28 needs really give us a great framework and a picture to understand the building blocks of thriving at work, but we're going to have to focus if we want to optimize our work life and our teams.”

“Well-being is messy. It's hard. It's personal. It's multifaceted. It's evolving. We call it the ugly truth because it is. It's not as simple as wrapping it in a little bow and, ‘Oh, you just get to this destination and then you're well at work and then your team is well and performs well at work.’ It's constantly something that's going to evolve.” “Well-being is personal. So you cannot take this one size fits all approach.”

“Needs do hold friction with one another like we just talked about. So it's really learning to live in the tension of these needs.”

“A really beneficial thing that happens when you do that—when you start

Jackie Insinger is a Bestselling Author, Keynote Speaker, and a sought-after Leadership and Team Dynamics Consultant.

Jackie combines the science of positive psychology and neuroscience with current global data to simplify the messiness of leadership in today’s complex climate. Always results-focused, Jackie’s programs are designed to measurably impact the leader, their teams, and the company – leveraging soft skills for hard results.

Jackie’s signature Spark Brilliance Leadership Accelerator has created a powerful movement in the corporate world, leading to measurable increases in productivity, positivity, performance, belonging, psychological safety, and engagement within an overall enhanced culture. And in turn, a positive ROI to the Company’s bottom line.

Top 3 Takeaways


Get current. Everything in our world of work has changed…except the way we lead. Invest in next-level leadership development in order to develop the core capabilities now needed for holistic success.
Beware of burnout. We’re in a challenging time when our level-down leaders are experiencing unprecedented burnout. Before we ask leaders and teams to take on more, we have to ensure they have the capacity to do so.
Stay evergreen. Leaders are accountable for learning and growth. This pertains to our followers, but also to ourselves. Ask yourself, “What am I actively learning and intentionally practicing?”

From Our Sponsor

Get your copy of the report, “5 critical actions to enable your people leaders to succeed” at http://trypi.com/report.

The Predictive Index (PI) is an award-winning talent optimization platform that aligns business strategy with people strategy for optimal business results. More than 60 years of proven science, software, and a curriculum of insightful management workshops make PI the solution for any company looking to design great teams and culture, make objective hiring decisions, foster engagement, and inspire greatness in their people anywhere in the world. More than 10,000 clients and 480+ partners use PI—including Nissan, Citizens Bank, Subway, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Omni Hotels—across 90+ countries. Learn more at predictiveindex.com.

From the Source

“What I always noticed was what are the gaps, right? What are the things that they don't even realize that are missing because they're too busy to figure it out. Most leaders don't even realize what's missing. They're just trying to get through the day.”

“If leaders are not trained on how to lead today—if a company has not done a leadership development kind of Up level, upgrade, up skill, iteration, something in the past three years—it's really putting their company at a disadvantage.”

“People leaders are the most disengaged of any employee population. And so they're incredibly burned out and the most disengaged and their energy and outlook is contagious.”

“All results come through your people. Everything comes through your people, so if you don't effectively and meaningfully lead your people today, it's going to be really hard to get through this time.”

“I always say ‘Clarity is kind. Context is key.’ We have to make sure people understand what success looks like here because the only thing that matters is the leader's version of success.”

“When leaders develop a trusting, authentically connected relationship with their employees, they see so much better positive, positive influence. They see better outcomes. They see more follow through because of that influence and relationship.”

“Leaders also need to up level, upgrade, feel more fulfilled, feel less burned out, feel more committed and energized, and continue to grow. Not just to grow their team, but to grow themselves.”

Connect with Jackie

Website: https://www.sparkbrilliance.com/

Spark Memos (Newsletter): https://academy.sparkbrilliance.com/spark-memos

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackieinsinger/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jack

Jim currently leads the revenue team for The Predictive Index (PI), a firm focused on the Talent Optimization discipline. Before joining PI, Jim built and ran the velocity sales team at Black Duck Software, an application security company. Jim has been in software sales for longer than he cares to talk about. In his spare time he is raising three children and a cat. When he is allowed out of the house, Jim likes to hike, snowboard and pursue his passion for the Onewheel.

Top 3 Takeaways


Choose wisely. After experiencing an excruciating level of voluntary turnover, Jim examined and redefined his philosophy. Now, he’s able to tap into a larger talent pool and boost retention in the process.
Mind your mindset. When sellers and any other workers feel too tied to the outcomes they produce, they’re walking along a slippery slope. Raise attention to the wholeness of being a successful human and watch the results follow.
Leaders listen. The active listening skills Jim teaches his sellers are the same that make for effective leaders. Rather than push ideas and solutions onto others, quiet down and ask insightful questions that lead you both to the right outcome.

From Our Sponsor

The Predictive Index (PI) is an award-winning talent optimization platform that aligns business strategy with people strategy for optimal business results. More than 60 years of proven science, software, and a curriculum of insightful management workshops make PI the solution for any company looking to design great teams and culture, make objective hiring decisions, foster engagement, and inspire greatness in their people anywhere in the world. More than 10,000 clients and 480+ partners use PI—including Nissan, Citizens Bank, Subway, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Omni Hotels—across 90+ countries. Learn more at predictiveindex.com. 

From the Source

“In sales, you often tend to hire extroverts. And there's nothing wrong with being extroverted, but extroversion does tend to lead to a behavior that looks like talking a lot. And at least in my view, sales is better if there's a mix between listening and talking.”

“A lot of salespeople actually come to the table with the exact wrong mindset and belief system. And while they may still get results, they're not as optimal as they could be if they would shift gears.”

“It's much like the difference between going to see a therapist and feeling like that therapist is pushing their ideas on you and going to a therapist and feeling like ‘This therapist is listening to me. They're hearing about my concerns. They're letting me do the talking. And together we come up with a plan of attack for whatever problem or challenge I face.’ And so the mindset is becoming ‘I'm not a salesperson, I'm a business therapist.’”

“Leaders need to focus on developing mastery, allowing autonomy, and the sense of purpose that comes with being a part of your organization and being on your team or representing your product line. What is that sense of purpose and how do you connect your people to it?”

“The 1-to-1 is sacred time for the person being led, the employee. It's their sacred time to be heard, to be listened to, for you to understand what their pain is, for them to communicate up to you what is making their job harder. And then your job is to listen.”

“We weren't experiencing anywhere near the level of people quitting because they weren't the right fit for what we were trying to do. Instead we were able to grow a team of nine inside sellers to about 150 inside sellers going from mostly a lead gen team to a team that was generating half of the net new ACV or annual contract value that the company was building.”

Connect with Jim

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/speredelozzi/

Website: http://www.predictiveindex.com

Deb Smolensky is a #1 best-selling author, speaker, and award-winning thought leader in the area of human performance at work. She serves as NFP’s Global Well-being and Engagement Practice Leader, and for the past 25 years has worked with hundreds of employers, including Fortune 500 companies, developing strategies, programs and practices that empower employees and leaders to lead healthy, productive lives at work through innovative, meaningful, and highly engaging solutions.

Top 3 Takeaways


Mind your brain. We don’t often stop to think about how our brain works, but it’s impossible to realize our full potential without doing so. Commit to learning about brain basics.
Beware of the default. We spend a great percentage of our day on autopilot, but we don’t appreciate how our default patterns of thought may actually be inhibiting our success. Make the switch to Brain On! early and often.
Take responsibility. You’re not managing robots, you’re managing others’ brains. We must accept that our behaviors and decisions take root in the brain chemistry and functioning of the collective brain around us.

From Our Sponsor

The Predictive Index (PI) is an award-winning talent optimization platform that aligns business strategy with people strategy for optimal business results. More than 60 years of proven science, software, and a curriculum of insightful management workshops make PI the solution for any company looking to design great teams and culture, make objective hiring decisions, foster engagement, and inspire greatness in their people anywhere in the world. More than 10,000 clients and 480+ partners use PI—including Nissan, Citizens Bank, Subway, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Omni Hotels—across 90+ countries. Learn more at predictiveindex.com. 

From the Source

“I decided to present to the executive committee on the stress response system. While others in my field at the time I was an accountant started presenting on the general ledgers, the financial journals, and all the leaders really took to it as, ‘Wow, we had no idea.’ I became kind of a stress management expert as I was navigating my career path.”

“I like to think of our brain as the computer. I've always looked at what's going on through the lens of ‘I can control my thoughts and my experiences through my brain.’”

“Over the years—especially through the pandemic—I've come to really believe that everything hinges on our thoughts and emotions.”

“Put whatever you have hardest at the beginning then insert those menial tasks as we go, preserving brain power, which is a finite resource every day.”

“Our brain always approaches things as a threat that's going to kill us until proven innocent. So we always show up Brain Off, and the goal is to quickly show up Brain On as as much as we can.”

“Companies won't survive if they're not mentally strong now, since most of the work is now human work. Soft skills, power skills, whatever you want to call it. That's what's going to start making and driving whether you're successful or not as a business, as a collective brain.”

Connect with Deb

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Brain-Fitness-Strategies-Sharpening-Boosting/dp/1637556640/

Website: https://debsmolensky.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbiesmolensky/

 

Joshua Berry is a world-class facilitator of change. As an author, speaker, entrepreneur, and director of Econic, Joshua has spent the last two decades evolving the what, who, and why of Fortune 500 companies and venture-backed startups.

Along with his team, Joshua has sparked change in organizations like US Bank, John Deere, Procter & Gamble, Nelnet, Ameritas, Omaha Public Power District, Farm Credit Services of America, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska, among others. 

Top 3 Takeaways


Get quiet. Sometimes the thoughts and voices in your head can drown out the deeper wisdom and inspiration that lies within. Take the opportunity to get still and listen.
Ease up. Too often, we’re tempted to label our intuition as naive or impractical. In fact, some of the biggest breakthroughs have come from those who had a willingness to eschew conventional lines of thinking.
People for the win. It’s a lot easier to say people come first than to actually operate this way. Always ensure alignment with business priorities, but after that, keep the conditionals to a minimum and give priority to people-related decisions and investments.

From Our Sponsor

The Predictive Index (PI) is an award-winning talent optimization platform that aligns business strategy with people strategy for optimal business results. More than 60 years of proven science, software, and a curriculum of insightful management workshops make PI the solution for any company looking to design great teams and culture, make objective hiring decisions, foster engagement, and inspire greatness in their people anywhere in the world. More than 10,000 clients and 480+ partners use PI—including Nissan, Citizens Bank, Subway, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Omni Hotels—across 90+ countries. Learn more at predictiveindex.com.

From the Source

“It wasn't until some of the time stubbing my toes in those ways that I started to learn that this intentional desire to maybe not quiet those voices that sometimes came up in my head that others might deem as naive but actually might be coming from a deeper spot within me. Those were the things that actually made me unique and were some of the best ideas that were brought out into the world.”

“There was a common pattern that a lot of those leaders told me in the interviews, ‘Uh, this might sound naive, but…”, and then they started to share an interesting idea or business philosophy or whatnot.”

“Beliefs are merely a mental model. There are best guesses at how the world works, and until you can understand that, I don't think you can truly appreciate the diversity of another person's view or beliefs and that there's some validity that's coming from that too.”

“Most decent organizations will say ‘we put our people first’. Or ‘people are important.’ But it almost always ends up as ‘as long as the business is successful.’ And what I challenge in that chapter, and provide some research and stories around this, is what happens when some organizations actually put the growth of their people even ahead of business growth and those goals.”

“When you start to have people that you trust and they start to see, ‘Oh, if I make this decision, that actually hurts what we could do over here and that hurts this other person over here,’  you just create greater alignment in that and eventually you sometimes get business growth that comes out of that too.”

Connect with Joshua

Book: http://www.daretobenaive.com

Website: https://www.econic.co/joshua

Website: http://www.joshuaberry.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshberrygphr/