The Simplifiers Podcast

Mary Baird, PHR
  • 5.0 (97)
  • Management
  • Updated Semiweekly

Mary Baird, CSEP - Creative Entrepreneur, Business Coach and Undercover Superhero has one goal in mind...to simplify your life. Each episode breaks down topics in business + life and SIMPLIFIES them! Interviewing smart people from all over the world, we will discover new insights, simple action items and spark fresh ideas to help you DO. THE. THING! in an educational, informational and entertaining way. Cash flow, simplified. Productivity, simplified. Becoming a vegan, simplified. Sort my life out, simplified. Whether you're just starting a small business or seeking simplicity and clarity in a NOISY world, tune in for advice and inspiration on creativity, marketing, mindset, branding, fear, motivation, sales, wellness and deep contentment. Episodes are released every Tuesday and Friday, for simplicity sake.

Episodes

  1. 2d ago

    How to better understand your team - with Scott Wood

    If you lead a team, work on a team, or are trying to build a better one, you've probably noticed this: People do not all think, communicate, or make decisions the same way. And that can either create friction… or it can become one of your team's greatest strengths. The problem is, many leaders say they want diverse teams, but then unintentionally hire, promote, or reward people who operate exactly like they do. Same communication style. Same decision-making style. Same way of solving problems. Same way of showing up at work. And over time, that can create blind spots, groupthink, and missed opportunities. My special guest today is Scott Wood and he's simplifying how to better understand your team. Scott is the author of Jungle Motives, a book and framework that uses animal personality types to help people better understand themselves and the people around them. We tackle and simplify all aspects of it, including: The core idea behind Jungle Motives, and how animal personality types can help us better understand the people we work with. Four primary types include: Bear - balanced, event planners, intellectual, inventors Monkey - spontaneous and make everything fun Horse - Herd animal, focused on building community and connections  Jungle cat - Alpha personality, natural leader, top-of-the-food-chain, and at times, focused on control Why he believes many organizations are using talent assessments the wrong way. Where leaders go wrong when they use personality data to decide who "fits" a role. How to separate personality from capability, especially when someone has the potential to be great but needs stronger skills, training, or support. Why teams get weaker when leaders surround themselves with people who think, communicate, and operate just like them. Better to have diversity in: Personality Character Perspective And what to do after your team takes an assessment so the insights actually improve communication, trust, culture, and performance. The goal is not to put people in boxes. It's to better understand how to lead them well. That's how diverse teams build stronger culture, better ideas, and healthier growth. Q: Are you wanting to better understand your team? If yes, this one is for you. It's time to #DoTheThing! ---- Show notes available with all links mentioned here: https://www.thesimplifiers.com/posts/427-how-to-better-understand-your-team---with-scott-wood

  2. Jul 7 ·  Bonus

    How to stop carrying it all (guided visualization)

    Time for a guided visualization exercise: How to stop carrying it all. Because maybe right now, you're carrying more than people can see. The decisions. The details. The emotional labor. The deadlines. The expectations. The invisible mental list that seems to follow you from room to room. Maybe you're the one everyone comes to. The steady one. The capable one. The one who knows where everything is, what needs to happen next, who needs what, and what might fall apart if you stop paying attention. And maybe lately, it's been feeling like too much. Not because you're weak. Not because you're bad at this. Not because you should be able to handle more. But because no human being was designed to carry everything at once. So this episode is an invitation to pause. To stop gripping so tightly. To come back to yourself. To remember that responsibility does not require self-abandonment. You do not have to hold the whole world together today. You get to breathe. You get to notice what is yours. You get to release what is not. And you get to take the next right step with a little more steadiness. And so… to kick off the month, today is another guided visualization episode, which we release on the first Tuesday of every month this season. So, how does it work? Simple! Let my voice be a guide for you as you focus inward to help you tap into your inner wisdom and Intuition for answers. Listen and participate in this guided visualization exercise: How to stop carrying it all. You can do this, I believe in you. It's time to SIMPLIFY. Show notes available with all links mentioned here: https://www.thesimplifiers.com/posts/b171-how-to-stop-carrying-it-all-guided-visualization

  3. Jun 30

    How to listen like a (real) leader - with Dr. Adam Hickman

    We say we want leaders who listen. But if we're being honest, a lot of what we call "listening" is really just waiting for our turn to respond. Or scanning the engagement survey results and then, do nothing. Or hosting an overly scripted town hall. Or asking employees for feedback once a year, checking the box, and moving on. But real listening? That requires better questions. Simpler questions. Braver questions. Questions like: What's not working? Where are you stuck? What are we pretending not to see? And maybe the most important one for senior leaders to ask themselves: How did we get these results in the first place? My special guest today is Dr. Adam Hickman, VP of Employee Development, Talent Management, and HRIS with Partners / The Walt Disney Company, and he's simplifying how to listen like a (real) leader. We tackle and simplify all aspects of it, including: Why he believes we don't actually have a listening problem, we have a question problem. Why leaders often avoid asking the most basic questions, even when those questions could reveal what's really broken at work. What to do after your engagement survey results come in, so feedback turns into action instead of another forgotten report. The art of asking great questions, and why leaders should not always start with the end in mind. And how to reframe engagement as a real performance driver, while also letting go of the myth that people need to show up as all-star workers every single day. Q: Are you wanting to listen like a (real) leader? If yes, this one is for you. It's time to #DoTheThing! ---- Show notes available with all links mentioned here: https://www.thesimplifiers.com/posts/426-how-to-listen-like-a-real-leader---with-dr-adam-hickman

  4. Jun 23

    How to create a people-first leadership strategy - with Christy Honeycutt

    Leadership is easy to talk about when everything is calm. But what about when the system feels stretched? When the team is tired. When the pressure is high. When the old ways of leading are no longer working… but the new way forward still feels unclear. That's where people-first leadership becomes more than a nice idea. It becomes a strategy. Because if leaders want to build strong teams, close skill gaps, make better decisions, and create cultures where people can actually do their best work, they have to start with the humans in the room. Including themselves. My special guest today is Christy Honeycutt and she's simplifying how to create a people-first leadership strategy. We tackle and simplify all aspects of it, including: Where leaders should begin when they are assessing where their team is now, identifying skill gaps, and clarifying where they want the team to go next. What it means to "hold space" for C-suite leaders and founders as they elevate, especially in high-pressure seasons of transition. How self-awareness, CliftonStrengths, and meditation can help leaders understand their strengths, regulate their emotions, and make better decisions under pressure. A sneak peek inside her upcoming book, The Inner Work of Leading in a Broken System, and the core ideas leaders need right now to reclaim agency, alignment, and purpose. And there's a moment where we totally geek out about a reality TV show on Netflix called "Outlast: the Jungle" that teaches you a lot about good (and bad!) leadership styles that (totally) translate to Corporate America. Q: Are you wanting to create a people-first leadership strategy? If yes, this one is for you. It's time to #DoTheThing! ---- Show notes available with all links mentioned here: https://www.thesimplifiers.com/posts/425-how-to-create-a-people-first-leadership-strategy---with-christy-honeycutt

  • 4 Episodes

5
out of 5
97 Ratings

About

Mary Baird, CSEP - Creative Entrepreneur, Business Coach and Undercover Superhero has one goal in mind...to simplify your life. Each episode breaks down topics in business + life and SIMPLIFIES them! Interviewing smart people from all over the world, we will discover new insights, simple action items and spark fresh ideas to help you DO. THE. THING! in an educational, informational and entertaining way. Cash flow, simplified. Productivity, simplified. Becoming a vegan, simplified. Sort my life out, simplified. Whether you're just starting a small business or seeking simplicity and clarity in a NOISY world, tune in for advice and inspiration on creativity, marketing, mindset, branding, fear, motivation, sales, wellness and deep contentment. Episodes are released every Tuesday and Friday, for simplicity sake.

Information

  • Creator
    Mary Baird, PHR
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    4
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Simplifiers Worldwide (UK) Ltd + The Simplifiers LLC (US)
  • Show Website
    The Simplifiers Podcast