Chatting About Change with Dr. Jim Maddox Jim Maddox

My guest this week is Dr. Kimberley Barker, who is on the faculty of Eastern Michigan University, is the author of the book, “You Can Create Positive Change at Work!”  Kim shares her experience and passion for helping each individual find their purpose in their work and helping guide positive culture change.  We discuss her extensive role in the International Society of Organization Development and Change (ISODC) and she shares strategies which everyone can employ in creating positive change. In addition to her recent book, you can find lots of great content on Dr. Barker’s YouTube Channel, where she hosts some great guests and insightful and meaning content.

My guest this week is Tony Martin, a People Analytics Consultant for a large multinational company.  Tony shares how he moved into the field by combining his psychology and social work background with his organization development training to bring a human-centered approach to change management and organizational performance.  Tony and I discuss how he has combined his unique skill set to go beyond the numbers, by asking meaningful questions, and engaging in conversations to uncover what data really matters.  He discusses how he is passionate about helping develop organizations and crafting stories that engage others.

My guest this episode is Greg Collier, who is from New South Wales, in Australia.  Greg is an experienced senior executive who is motivated by the potential of people, specializing in organization development, and is highly skilled at driving people-focused solutions that achieve positive cultural change.  Greg shares some fascinating cultural aspects of Australia in terms of leadership and organizational life, as well as some of his consulting experiences from around the globe. He highlights some of the unique cultural nuances that influence how leaders function and how culture is shaped and changed.  Greg shares some fascinating research from Dr. John Evans and understanding leadership in an Australian context, particularly around the important role volunteering plays in Australian culture.  Greg closes our podcast with a powerful and simple job description for leaders; to care for your people and support them in doing what they need to do.  Nothing else.  When a leader cares and supports their people, they play the role of a teacher, a security giver, an encourager, and a nurturer.  If an organization does those things, great things will happen, and you’ll get great culture.  

My guest this episode is Eric Lynn, a consultant, facilitator, and coach, focused on cultivating healthy organizations and generating meaningful conversations about life, culture, and change.  Eric is the creator of cultureQs, a Change and Integration Accelerator that that uses powerful questions to inspire participants to reflect on the foundations of their beliefs, attitudes and behaviors.  Eric is also the author of the book, Dancing with Change:  Cultivating Healthy Organizations.  Eric and I discuss his passion and unique approach to doing meaningful organizational work, and he shares his unique international perspective, having lived and consulted on four different continents.  Our discussion really high lights the unique aspect of doing organization development work and how it is difficult to define and does not fit neatly into any boxes or match any easy labels, and this is the richness and value of what we do.
You can find more information about Eric Lynn and his resources he offers at https://cultureqs.com/

My guest this episode is Peter Kalmar, Founding and Managing Partner of Flow International, and former President of IODA, the International OD Association.  Peter shares his story of his consulting firm, and how it evolved from the work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who wrote the book, Finding Flow.  Peter describes how his consulting firm uses the concept of Flow in developing leaders and in guiding organizational change, particularly around culture change.  We discuss the role of balance between challenges and skills to create optimum conditions for achieving flow.  

My guest this episode is Angie Keister, Ph.D., from Colorado.  Dr. Keister shares her professional journey from her beginnings as an internal Organization Development consultant to her transition as an external consultant.  She offers some great insights about what she has learned from both perspectives and how it has helped in her consulting practice. We discuss some of her current projects and she shares useful approaches to getting employees engaged in change efforts.