The Remarkable Leadership Podcast The Kevin Eikenberry Group

Do you feel productive? How do you measure productivity? Maura Thomas joins Kevin to discuss the pitfalls of constant busyness versus true productivity and the need for leaders to prioritize thinking. She shares that leaders and organizational culture can unintentionally hinder productivity. Leaders often underestimate their influence not only on employees' work lives but also on their personal lives, attitudes, and mental well-being.

Listen for...
00:00 Introduction 00:07 Importance of creating a desirable workplace 02:15 Discussion about Maura's journey into productivity 06:50 Focus on knowledge work and defining it 08:13 Challenges of measuring productivity in knowledge work 09:01 Impact of leaders' behaviors on organizational culture 10:31 People view leaders differently than they view themselves 12:19 Four quadrants of attention management: reactive, focused, daydreaming, flow 17:20 Task switching has a cost and disrupts productivity 18:45 The difference between being busy and being productive 22:07 It's not just about the tools, but how we use them 24:41 The volume of communication in organizations is too high 26:13 Agreements are needed for communication expectations 27:10 Resetting the culture of urgency is important 28:27 Importance of efficient remote communication 29:15 Tips for effective one-on-one meetings 33:11 Impact of after-hours communication on employee stress 37:23 Closing
Meet Maura Name: Maura Nevel Thomas Maura's Story: Maura Nevel Thomas is the author of 6 books, including her latest, Everyone Wants to Work Here: Attract the Best Talent, Energize Your Team, and Be The Leader in Your Market. She is an award-winning international speaker and trainer on individual and corporate productivity and work-life balance, and the most widely-cited authority on attention management. Her proprietary Empowered Productivity™ System has been embraced by the likes of NASA, Google, and Dyson. She is a TEDx Speaker, founder of Regain Your Time, author of six books, and was named a Top Leadership Speaker in Inc. Magazine. Maura is frequently featured in major business outlets including Business Insider, Fast Company, and Washington Post, and she’s also a regular contributor to both Forbes and the Harvard Business Review, with articles there viewed over a million times. https://maurathomas.com/ This episode is brought to you by...
The Long-Distance Team. Remote leadership experts, Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmel, help leaders navigate the new world of remote and hybrid teams to design the culture they desire for their teams and organizations in their new book!
Book Recommendations
Everyone Wants to Work Here: Attract the Best Talent, Energize Your Team, and Be the Leader in Your Market by Maura Thomas  Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity by Gloria Mark
Related Episodes
Leadership Productivity Principles with Maura Thomas Turning Culture into Competitive Advantage with Jeff Grimshaw Join Our Community If you want to view our live podcast episodes, hear about new releases, or chat with others who enjoy this podcast join one of our communities below.
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Today, we're tackling a ubiquitous but often misunderstood character in any team dynamic: The Devil's Advocate.
Kevin Eikenberry breaks down where this term actually comes from and how the role was historically important yet carefully limited in scope. He explains the pitfalls of playing Devil's Advocate too early in brainstorming sessions and how it can squelch creative thinking. Learn practical tips on how to better facilitate such conversations for fruitful outcomes.
Join us for Virtual Leader Con 2023 on September 20th and 21st for a deep dive into leadership development.
If you miss it, no worries. Check out the link below to access all the rich content.
🔗 Virtual Leader Con 2023: https://virtualleadercon.com/
📆 Save the date: September 20th and 21st, 2023
My name is Kevin Eikenberry and I’m here to help you reach your goal as a leader and a human being with Remarkable TV and the Remarkable Leadership Podcast.
I am also the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. We provide speaking, training, consulting, and coaching services to organizations who believe in investing in their most valuable assets – their people. Whether we are leading a training workshop, speaking to a group, facilitating a planning meeting, consulting with a leadership team, helping with team building, writing or developing products, our vision will be clear in everything we do – We want to be Your Leadership Help Button.
Learn more about our offerings:
➡️ FREE NEWSLETTERs: Sign up for any of our newsletters: https://kevineikenberry.com/newsletters
➡️ BOOK: Check out my latest book, The Long-Distance Teammate: https://longdistanceteammate.com/
➡️ LEADERSHIP WORKSHOPS: Sign up for any of our online workshops to help you become a better leader: https://kevineikenberry.com/store/?product_type=Workshops
➡️ SPEAKING: Learn more about our Speaking opportunities for your next event: https://kevineikenberry.com/how-we-can-help-speaking/ 
Connect with Kevin Eikenberry on Social Media: 
https://kevineikenberry.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevineikenberry
https://twitter.com/KevinEikenberry
https://instagram.com/kevineikenberry
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About Kevin Eikenberry: Kevin Eikenberry is the Chief Potential Officer of the Kevin Eikenberry Group, a world expert on leadership development, best-selling author, sought-after speaker, popular blogger, husband and dad, a fan of Purdue athletics and antique tractors (especially John Deere’s).
About The Remarkable Leadership Podcast: The Remarkable Leadership Podcast with Kevin Eikenberry is dedicated to all things leadership. Twice a week Kevin shares his thoughts about leadership development and ideas to help you lead more confidently and make a bigger difference for those you lead. He also has weekly conversations with leadership experts discussing a wide range of topics including teamwork, organizational culture, facilitating change, personal and organizational development, human potential and more.
 
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Work-life balance. Employee engagement. Bring your best, most authentic selves to work. Dan Pontefract believes these are myths. He joins Kevin to redefine the relationship between work and life. Employees possess one of four work-life personas (blooming, budding, stunted, or renewal) and it’s a leader’s responsibility to understand which persona their team members possess. He also highlights the six work factors and six life factors that leaders should consider creating a supportive environment for their team members.
Listen for...
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:21 Introduction to the guest, Dan Pontefract
00:05:28:22The myth of work-life balance and the need to demarcate work and life
00:06:58 Defining demarcate and the importance of separating work and life
00:08:03 The connection between work-life bloom and leadership
00:09:00 Employee engagement as a flawed concept
00:09:53 The impact of work on our lives and the importance of seasons
00:10:36 How our lives shape our work and vice versa
00:11:19 Impact of personal situations on work performance
00:12:27 Importance of acknowledging and supporting employees' personal situations
00:13:13 Negative effects of ignoring employees' personal situations
00:13:47 Blooming as a metaphor for work-life integration
00:15:01 Blooming as a positive persona when work and life are going well
00:16:06 Other personas: budding, stunted, and renewal
00:19:20 Introduction to the book "Work Life Bloom"
00:19:42 Six work factors: trust, belonging, value, purpose, strategy, norms
00:21:07 Belonging as a key work factor
00:21:55 Belonging leads to engagement
00:23:02 Three elements of belonging: understanding, representation, and safety
00:23:57 Six life factors: meaning, relationships, well-being, skills, agency, respect
00:25:09 Difference between meaning (work) and purpose (life)
00:26:02 Integrating work purpose and life meaning
00:27:05 Open dialogue between leader and team member
00:28:51 Importance of acknowledging and addressing individual differences
00:29:13 Leaders hesitant to ask questions without answers
00:30:11 Importance of vulnerability and continuous learning for leaders
00:31:17 Shifting focus from engagement to how people feel at work and in life
00:32:14 Having honest conversations about work and life
00:33:05 Importance of empathy and being human as leaders
00:34:24 Dan's hobbies: cycling and spending time with family
00:34:59 Book recommendation: "10X Easier Than 2X" by Dan Sullivan
00:38:42 Closing remarks and gratitude from Kevin.
Meet Dan Name: Dan Ponefract  Dan's Story: Dan Pontefract is the author of four books: LEAD. CARE. WIN., OPEN TO THINK, THE PURPOSE EFFECT, and FLAT ARMY. His latest book is WORK-LIFE BLOOM. He is a renowned leadership strategist, author, and keynote speaker with over two decades of experience in senior executive roles at companies such as SAP, TELUS, and Business Objects. Since then, he has worked with organizations worldwide, including Salesforce, Amgen, the State of Tennessee, Nestlé, Canada Post, Autodesk, BMO, the Government of Canada, Manulife, Nutrien, and the City of Toronto, among others. Dan is a renowned keynote speaker who has presented at four TED events and has delivered over 600 keynotes. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria's Gustavson School of Business. https://www.worklifebloom.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/danpontefract/ This episode is brought to you by...
The Long-Distance Team. Remote leadership experts, Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmel, help leaders navigate the new world of remote and hybrid teams to design the culture they desire for their teams and organizations in their new book!
Book Recommendations
Work-Life Bloom: How to Nurture a Team that Flourishes by Dan Pontefract  10x Is Easier Than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing Less by Dan Sullivan, Dr. Benjamin Hardy
Related Episodes
Culture and

Learn 5 ways to get more from every webinar and virtual event you attend! **** Virtual LeaderCon: https://virtualleadercon.com/
My name is Kevin Eikenberry and I’m here to help you reach your goal as a leader and a human being with Remarkable TV and the Remarkable Leadership Podcast.
I am also the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. We provide speaking, training, consulting, and coaching services to organizations who believe in investing in their most valuable assets – their people. Whether we are leading a training workshop, speaking to a group, facilitating a planning meeting, consulting with a leadership team, helping with team building, writing or developing products, our vision will be clear in everything we do – We want to be Your Leadership Help Button.
Learn more about our offerings:
➡️ FREE NEWSLETTERs: Sign up for any of our newsletters: https://kevineikenberry.com/newsletters
➡️ BOOK: Check out my latest book, The Long-Distance Teammate: https://longdistanceteammate.com/
➡️ LEADERSHIP WORKSHOPS: Sign up for any of our online workshops to help you become a better leader: https://kevineikenberry.com/store/?product_type=Workshops
➡️ SPEAKING: Learn more about our Speaking opportunities for your next event: https://kevineikenberry.com/how-we-can-help-speaking/ 
Connect with Kevin Eikenberry on Social Media: 
https://kevineikenberry.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevineikenberry
https://twitter.com/KevinEikenberry
https://instagram.com/kevineikenberry
https://www.facebook.com/KevinEikenberryFanPage/
About Kevin Eikenberry: Kevin Eikenberry is the Chief Potential Officer of the Kevin Eikenberry Group, a world expert on leadership development, best-selling author, sought-after speaker, popular blogger, husband and dad, a fan of Purdue athletics and antique tractors (especially John Deere’s).
About The Remarkable Leadership Podcast: The Remarkable Leadership Podcast with Kevin Eikenberry is dedicated to all things leadership. Twice a week Kevin shares his thoughts about leadership development and ideas to help you lead more confidently and make a bigger difference for those you lead. He also has weekly conversations with leadership experts discussing a wide range of topics including teamwork, organizational culture, facilitating change, personal and organizational development, human potential and more.
 
Leave a Review
If you liked this conversation, we’d be thrilled if you’d let others know by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Here’s a quick guide for posting a review.

Review on Apple: https://remarkablepodcast.com/itunes 

 
Join Our Community If you want to view our live podcast episodes, hear about new releases, or chat with others who enjoy this podcast join one of our communities below.
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A good leader isn’t afraid of questions. Bob Tiede joins Kevin to discuss the art of questioning, this includes the importance of asking open-ended questions, not putting people in a corner, giving them the time to respond, and the opportunity to say yes. He believes that leaders often hesitate to ask questions because they feel the need to project an image of having all the answers. However, he emphasizes that asking questions not only helps leaders gain valuable insights but also empowers their team members to contribute their ideas and perspectives.
Key Takeaways:
Leaders often hesitate to ask questions because they feel the need to have all the answers. Asking open-ended questions can lead to more meaningful conversations and better insights. Good questions give information, but better questions lead to deeper understanding. The art of questioning involves asking the question and then giving the person time to answer. Creating a question culture involves practices like question storming and asking for multiple perspectives.
Listen For...
00:00:00 Introduction to the podcast and guest, Bob Tiede
00:09:39 What keeps leaders from asking questions
00:11:32 Giving answers denies space for others to contribute.
00:13:06 Leaders who project having all the answers come across as unsure.
00:13:47 Asking questions as a leader is more important now.
00:22:09 The art of questioning includes giving people time to answer.
00:25:18 The mindset of a learner is important when questioning.
00:27:32 Creating a question culture through question storming.
00:28:53 Culture and generating questions to solve issues.
00:29:25 Bob's favorite question: "What do you think?"
00:30:04 The power of asking "What else?" multiple times.
00:37:34 Conclusion and invitation to join next week's episode.

Meet Bob Name: Bob Tiede  Bob's Story: Bob Tiede (pronounced “Tee-Dee”) has been on the staff of Cru (formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ) for 52 years – serving 8 years in Cru Campus and then 24 years as the CEO of Josh McDowell Ministry – a Division of Cru. And Now 20 years on the U.S. Leadership Development Team – developing the next generation of leaders for Cru. Bob’s blog LeadingWithQuestions.com is now in its 11th year and followed by leaders in over 200 countries. Bob has written 6 very popular books, including “Great Leaders Ask Question – a Fortune 100 List” and “Now That’s a Great Question” and his newest book is the 3rd Edition of “LEADING WITH QUESTIONS” which has been Amazon’s #1 Best Seller in the category of Business communication! Bob’s mission is to help leaders everywhere multiply their leadership effectiveness X10 by moving from “Let Me Tell You!” to “Let Me Ask You!” Bob has been married to Sherry for 53 years and is the proud Dad of 4 adult children – all married and 8 incredible Grandchildren – all who love to ask their “Papa Bob” questions! http://leadingwithquestions.com/books http://leadingwithquestions.com/ https://www.facebook.com/LeadingWithQuestions/  https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobtiede/ https://twitter.com/bobtiede This episode is brought to you by...
The Long-Distance Team. Remote leadership experts, Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmel, help leaders navigate the new world of remote and hybrid teams to design the culture they desire for their teams and organizations in their new book!
Book Recommendations
Leading with Questions: How Leaders Discover Powerful Answers by Knowing How and What to Ask 3rd Edition by Michael J. Marquardt, Bob Tiede  Change-friendly Leadership: How to Transform Good Intentions into Great Performance by Rodger Dean Duncan
Related Episodes
Leading with Questions with Bob Tiede Beautiful Questions with Warren Berger

Are you an "intermittent learner," only engaging in growth when there's a class to take or a seminar to attend? In this episode, Kevin Eikenberry challenges this mindset and shows you how to become a "continual learner," a key trait for effective leaders.
What You'll Learn: 
Why traditional learning methods may not give you the results you want. Four daily habits for continual learning: Read, Watch, Reflect, and Ask. How investing just minutes a day can compound into remarkable growth.  Join us for Virtual Leader Con! Before Sept 20, 2023, grab your spot for this must-attend event. Even if you miss it, check out how we can aid in your ongoing learning journey. https://virtualleadercon.com/ 
My name is Kevin Eikenberry and I’m here to help you reach your goal as a leader and a human being with Remarkable TV and the Remarkable Leadership Podcast.
I am also the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. We provide speaking, training, consulting, and coaching services to organizations who believe in investing in their most valuable assets – their people. Whether we are leading a training workshop, speaking to a group, facilitating a planning meeting, consulting with a leadership team, helping with team building, writing or developing products, our vision will be clear in everything we do – We want to be Your Leadership Help Button.
Learn more about our offerings:
➡️ FREE NEWSLETTERs: Sign up for any of our newsletters: https://kevineikenberry.com/newsletters
➡️ BOOK: Check out my latest book, The Long-Distance Teammate: https://longdistanceteammate.com/
➡️ LEADERSHIP WORKSHOPS: Sign up for any of our online workshops to help you become a better leader: https://kevineikenberry.com/store/?product_type=Workshops
➡️ SPEAKING: Learn more about our Speaking opportunities for your next event: https://kevineikenberry.com/how-we-can-help-speaking/ 
Connect with Kevin Eikenberry on Social Media: 
https://kevineikenberry.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevineikenberry
https://twitter.com/KevinEikenberry
https://instagram.com/kevineikenberry
https://www.facebook.com/KevinEikenberryFanPage/
About Kevin Eikenberry: Kevin Eikenberry is the Chief Potential Officer of the Kevin Eikenberry Group, a world expert on leadership development, best-selling author, sought-after speaker, popular blogger, husband and dad, a fan of Purdue athletics and antique tractors (especially John Deere’s).
About The Remarkable Leadership Podcast: The Remarkable Leadership Podcast with Kevin Eikenberry is dedicated to all things leadership. Twice a week Kevin shares his thoughts about leadership development and ideas to help you lead more confidently and make a bigger difference for those you lead. He also has weekly conversations with leadership experts discussing a wide range of topics including teamwork, organizational culture, facilitating change, personal and organizational development, human potential and more.
Join Our Community If you want to view our live podcast episodes, hear about new releases, or chat with others who enjoy this podcast join one of our communities below.
Join the Facebook Group
Join the LinkedIn Group
Leave a Review
If you liked this conversation, we’d be thrilled if you’d let others know by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Here’s a quick guide for posting a review.

Review on Apple: https://remarkablepodcast.com/itunes 

Podcast Better! Sign up with Libsyn and get up to 2 months free! Use promo code: RLP