Lead From the Heart

Time Magazine named Martin Lindstrom one of the “World’s 100 Most Influential People – and “Thinkers50” named him one of world’s top 20 business thinkers. He’s the author of 7 New York Times best-selling books including his newest, “The Ministry Of Common Sense.” Lindstrom runs one of the world’s leading brand & culture transformation companies – serving a “Who’s Who” list of organizations – & has from a rather young age, learned to see the world from the inside out, rather than the inverse. And as you’ll quickly notice, it’s made him extremely incisive in recognizing how often companies & their leaders take actions that literally make no sense. ***  In the COVID era, we schedule ZOOM calls to last exactly 60 minutes giving people zero time between meetings. ***  In the U.S., TSA allowed passengers to board planes with unlimited amounts of hand sanitizer while maintaining its 3.4-ounce limit on all other liquids. ***  Supermarkets ask customers for permission to have an employee bag up their groceries ignoring that the very same employees stacked those products on the store shelves earlier in the day. ***  Some companies require employees to go to the office twice a week even when it means people will sit alone in a conference room Zooming with colleagues working from home. Anyone reading this has been invited to unnecessary ZOOM calls, been cc’d on irrelevant e-mail chains & asked to complete reports & forms that no longer have meaning or value.  And according to Lindstrom, the more we become victims of old habits & procedures like these ourselves, we suppress our instinctual empathy and overlook all the things we know are wrong & needing a remedy. Lindstrom believes our constant use of technology has weakened our ability to step into another person’s shoes – or even to care about how other people experience the decisions we make. And this inclination is harming both customer happiness & employee happiness. Listen in to the remarkable stories Lindstrom shares about how he learned to see the world in ways most of us don’t. And listen in to hear his compelling guidance on we can restore both empathy and common sense in our organizations. His brilliance as a thought-leader shines through the entire discussion. The post Martin Lindstrom: Empathy Is The Cornerstone Of Common Sense appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Anyone who’s worked from home this past year knows the experience brought many joys & also many sorrows. The upsides included nonexistent commute times, the freedom to dress as we liked, the constant companionship of our pets – and more time spent with our family members (just as long as they lived in our same dwelling). But the downsides have been compelling too. Many of us felt lost, isolated, out of synch and missing our colleagues. We also had too many ZOOM calls and worked more hours than ever before. With respect to working from home throughout 2020, none of us really had a choice. The COVID pandemic forced it upon us – even though the experience now seems likely to permanently change how many of us work going forward. As organizations around the world are seeing the emergence of a COVID vaccine accelerate their ability to bring workers back to the office, workplace leaders are needing to decide their next course of action. Will they return to normal and act as if the work-from-home experiment never happen? Will they, as Twitter did, tell employees they can work from anywhere – forever? Or will they embrace what many believe will be a “happy medium,” a hybrid solution where we work in the office some days, and remotely the others? Harvard Business School professor Tsedal Neeley is one of the world’s leading experts on remote working having begun research on the subject two decades ago. And she joins us on the podcast at a remarkably well-timed moment.  Not only are we all wondering what the best outcome will be for ourselves as employees, many of us are also wondering which outcome will prove to be most manageable for us as leaders long-term. Tsedal is the author of the new bestseller, “Remote Work Revolution: Succeeding From Anywhere,” which is the focus of our discussion – and which provides compelling insight into all that’s been learned about remote working and remote leadership. Whatever decisions you or your organization go on to make about how and where people will work in the future, Tsedal’s advice will surely prove invaluable.  She’s both a delightful and brilliantly informed human being – a wonderful combination that will make your listening in hugely worthwhile.     The post Tsedal Neeley: Navigating The Remote Work Revolution appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Years ago, research by Harvard Business School professor, John Kotter found that when major companies sought to initiate any kind of major organizational change, most ended up failing. Kotter & his team of graduate students watched many leaders simply abandon their change initiatives after concluding there was no viable road to success – despite a lot of time spent trying. Anymore, it’s hard to imagine that a company – including its leaders – could last very long if they were routinely unable to turn their ship in a different direction or inspire employees to embrace new ways of being. So, knowing how change is successfully implemented has become essential knowledge. According to University of Pennsylvania Sociology & Engineering professor, Damon Centola, most of what we know about how change is effectively spread comes from bestselling authors who tell us “influencers” are king, “sticky” ideas “go viral,” & good behavior is “nudged” forward. The problem is that the world they describe is one where information spreads, but beliefs & behaviors stay the same. Centola is the author of the new bestseller, “Change: How To Make Big Things Happen,” a book Wharton professor Adam Grant says it is the most important on the science of social influence since Robert Cialdini’s “Influence.” “Change” presents groundbreaking & paradigm-shifting new science for understanding what drives change, & how we can change the world around us.” One of Damon’s big ideas is that change doesn’t really occur the way we’ve always believed – like a virus. We’ve long thought that once one person heard a new idea, they’d pass it on to others – who’d then pass it on themselves – until the new process, system or philosophy would become widely spread throughout a group or organization.  What this theory lacks, of course, is adoption. And more often than not, after new ideas are spread, they’re met with fear, resistance & negativity – change derailers! So, how can leaders shape new behavior within their teams, how do we successfully launch a new innovation before it gets squashed & killed – & how can we create cultural change within an organization that really sticks? Listen in – on this podcast, that’s what we asked Centola to explain. The post Damon Centola: How To Make Big Change Happen On Your Team Or In Your Organization appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Do you have a voice in your head that operates like an inner critic & saboteur – one that undermines your success by calling you a loser or a failure, one that insists you’ll never be any good at something (e.g. math, relationships, golf, et al), or one that asserts that you’re somehow unworthy as a human? According to award-winning psychologist & professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross Business School, Ethan Kross, you’re not alone. We all have an inner voice that, at times, strives to bring us down – one that, left unchecked, will provide a running negative commentary & spiral us downward into deep pain & distress. If you’re wondering why we even have a voice in our head, Kross says it actually evolved for a purpose, to help keep us safe. It helps us solve problems, reflect on past experiences, plan for the future & maintain a rich inner life. But when we’re facing a stressful task, & looking for an inner supporter to say, “You can do this,” the unsupportive critic often shows up instead & announces that we will miss the putt, blow the speech or lose the sale. In his new national bestseller, “Chatter: The Voice In Our Head, Why It Matters & How To Harness It, Kross explores the silent conversations we have with ourselves, &introduces  groundbreaking tools we can use to tame that inner critic of ours, & never again fold under pressure. These tools – all based on Kross’s remarkable research – are immediately available to us when we need them — in the words we use to think about ourselves, in the photos & trinkets we have on our desk, by imagining what we would say to a friend who has the same problem as us, by introducing mind-clearing rituals or just by spending time in nature. All of the myriad tools that Kross presents in “Chatter” give us the power to change the most important conversations we have every day: the ones we have with ourselves. And this podcast is devoted to explaining how you can mitigate all of the noise you hear in your head, & make your inner voice a friend – & no longer the harsh judge it often is today. The post Ethan Kross: How To Tame Your Inner Critic appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

While making coffee one morning, a man passed out in his kitchen and fell onto a travertine floor. After being taken to the hospital, doctors discovered broken ribs, a punctured lung – & a blood clot so close to the man’s heart that 16 different attending physicians wrote in their notebooks, “patient not expected to live. That patient was the host of the “Lead From The Heart” podcast, Mark C. Crowley – & once fully recovered, he scheduled an appointment with the hospital’s CEO just to thank him in person. During their meeting, Mark gratefully told the CEO that he fully believed it was the caring nature of his nurses & doctors that saved him. How his caregivers made him feel, he was certain, is what saved his life. Now, if you believe in science, a far more logical conclusion to this story is that medical know-how is what truly led to Mark’s full recovery. Even the CEO seemed to suggest as much. But now comes the stunning confirmation that what Mark experienced was indeed accurate. And while medical science will never be diminished in its impact on patient outcomes, caring & compassionate behavior prove to be a wonder-drug – knowledge that has profound implications not just for health care, but for workplace leadership as well. Noticing patient experience scores were declining, & many of his doctors were also suffering from burnout, the Chief Medical Officer at Cooper University Health Care, Dr. Anthony Mazzarelli, asked his institution’s top physician to see he could find any scientific data that might link greater human “connection” with better patient outcomes. The question he was really asking was, “Does treating patients with more compassion really matter?” That top physician was Stephen Trzeciak, who, as a highly trained scientist, was admittedly cynical about the premise that “caring” behaviors made any difference whatsoever. But after reviewing over 1,000 scientific abstracts & 250 research papers, he & Dr. Mazzarelli discovered that as brief as a 40-second display of compassion accelerated patient healing, lowered hospital costs, significantly reduced doctor burnout & influenced patients to have greater trust in their caregivers. Dr.’s Trzeciak & Mazzarelli are now the authors of the rather astonishing book, Compassionomics: The Revolutionary Scientific Evidence that Caring Makes a Difference.*  And their top conclusion is that compassion matters far more than even they could have imagined…& in not only meaningful but also measurable ways. Dr. Trzeciak joins us on this podcast to share greater details on his research, his findings – & how his discoveries fully reinforce the “Lead From The Heart” leadership philosophy.   Former podcast guest and leadership guru, Tom Peters says this is a book every leader in the world should read.  We heartily agree & are very excited about this episode. The post Dr. Stephen Trzeciak: Revolutionary Scientific Evidence That Caring Makes A Difference appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Do you have what it takes to excel in times of high stress & ambiguity – even during a crisis? Are you able to succeed no matter what conditions you face? While we might imagine that people who perform optimally under duress share a unique set of talents & skills, former U.S. Navy Seal team Commander, Rich Diviney discovered that what truly differentiates them are unique attributes. During his twenty years as a Navy officer, Diviney was intimately involved in a selection process that whittled down hundreds of extraordinary SEAL candidates into small groups of the most elite performers. And he was repeatedly surprised by which candidates washed out & which ones succeeded. Some had all the right skills & still failed, while others he initially dismissed often proved to be the top performers. Ultimately, Diviney realized that beneath the obvious abilities that all successful SEALs displayed, what truly differentiated them were hidden drivers of performance – special attributes like courage, open-mindedness, discipline, resilience & adaptability.  And when it came to high-performing SEAL leaders, they shared additional attributes including empathy, selflessness, authenticity, decisiveness & accountability. If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that things can go sideways at any moment; & Diviney’s new book, “The Attributes: 25 Hidden Drivers of Optimal Performance introduces us to the idea that cultivating specific attributes will ensure we perform optimally when things in life get very hard. And it’s invaluable insight because it can be applied to succeeding in all aspects of modern life – business, relationships, parenting, sports &, of course, leadership. In this podcast, we discuss both the personal and professional attributes that help people master any environment they face. And one essential take-away from this conversation is that mastering skills alone will no longer deliver success in the times we need it most. Understanding how to cultivate your personal attributes will be the key. The post Rich Diviney: The Attributes Of People Who Excel When Life Gets Hard appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

“In her excellent & very timely new book, “Uncharted,” Margaret Heffernan stresses that while the forecasting business has made its ‘experts’ very rich, it is also based on a fallacy: the idea that the future can be extrapolated from the past.” This is how the Financial Times announced it had chosen “Uncharted: How To Navigate The Future” as one of its 2020 best business books of the year. And in this podcast, Heffernan openly expresses gratitude for the award while very accurately asserting that her book fully transcends a “business” specific categorization. If 2020 – a year where a sudden COVID pandemic profoundly reshaped how we all work & live – taught us anything, it’s that life is highly uncertain. But while we may all intellectually accept this truth, Heffernan says most of us remain addicted to prediction, & routinely seek out a sense of certainty about how our futures will unfold. Heffernan’s book begins with the assertion that any belief that we can accurately predict the future – whether it be by relying on complex algorithms, so-called “expert” opinions or a belief that history often repeats itself – is a complete & utter illusion. She explains that no amount of data can ever make up for the complexity of life, & the predictions we all accept as gospel too often miss all the hidden forces at work that inevitably prove to influence outcomes. Heffernan’s cold-sober conclusion is that – like it or not – we’re all really swimming in “uncharted” waters. And,  in this podcast, she shares several highly innovative ways for us to successfully & creatively navigate them. If you’re not already familiar with Margaret Heffernan, she’s a rather brilliant person & thought leader. Her three previous books, “Beyond Measure,” “Willful Blindness” and “A Bigger Prize,” have all been critically acclaimed. She’s also given four speeches on the TED stage that have accumulated over 12 million views so far. While all of us may wish we could have a crystal ball to reliably tell us what tomorrow will bring, Margaret Heffernan gives us second best – truly informed guidance on how to face down a sometimes frightening future with courage & grace. The post Margaret Heffernan: How To Face The Future With Confidence & Courage appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

While none of us could have predicted that the arrival of a global pandemic would fundamentally reshape our lives in 2020, stunning research by Wharton Business School professor, Mauro Guillén, shows that a series of once-in-a-lifetime events is about to profoundly reshape our culture, economy and the world by the end of this decade.  And at least this time, we’re being given some advance notice and have a little time to prepare. The Financial Times recently named his new book, 2030: How Today’s Biggest Trends Will Collide and Reshape the Future of Everything, one of its 2020 Books-of-the-Year. And it’s already become a Wall Street Journal bestseller. By 2030, Guillén shows that we’ll be living in a society where there are more robots than human workers, where India and China become the biggest drivers of the global economy, where the middle-class in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa outnumber the US and Europe combined, where Baby Boomers and people over age sixty reshape the business landscape and where more global wealth will be owned by women than men. As discussed in this podcast, Guillén believes the only way to truly understand the coming global transformation – in addition to its myriad impacts – is to think laterally. That is, using “peripheral vision,” or approaching problems creatively – and from unorthodox points of view. Rather than focusing on a single trend, he encourages us to consider the dynamic interplay between a range of forces that will converge on a single tipping point – 2030 – that will be, for better or worse, the point of no return. Faced with cataclysmic changes coming our way, we now must revolutionize how we think and respond. The good news is that Mauro Guillén is remarkably skilled at synthesizing an understanding of both the trends and all of their likely consequences. And he shares highly informed guidance on how you can and should prepare for all the societal change that’s about to come. Since this podcast was recorded, Mauro was named the Director of Cambridge University’s Judge Business School. The post Mauro Guillén: The World As We Know It Is About To Profoundly Change appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

Dr. Jim Loehr is the co-founder of Johnson & Johnson’s Human Performance institute & the author of 16 books. He’s a performance coach to some of the world’s greatest athletes including professional tennis players Jim Courier & Monica Seles, pro golfers, Mark O’Meara & Justin Rose, Olympic gold medal speed skater, Dan Jansen, National Hockey league greats, Eric Lindros & Mike Richter, and pro boxer Ray Mancini. And as you’ll hear discussed, he’s also coached the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels. His new book, Leading With Character: 10 Minutes A Day To A Brilliant Legacy, is the focus of this podcast – work that took him nearly a decade to produce. Through his research, Loehr discovered that most people believe they are of strong moral character, but very few have done the work needed to prepare themselves to handle the highly stressful moments of life (& leadership) where their character is at the highest risk of buckling.  And without that character muscle-building behavior behind them, they remain at risk of potentially disastrous & even tragic consequences affecting their lives & careers. As just one point of illustration, over just the past 5 years, the number of American CEOs fired for ethical lapses jumped by 36%. The bad conduct included fraud, bribery, sexual indiscretion & insider trading, & came from people who’d already progressed to the highest levels of organizational leadership. According to Duke University researcher, Dan Ariely, every human alive has a built-in dark side. And while we are motivated to view ourselves as having good moral character, we’re also driven by a desire to benefit as much as possible by taking short-cuts – cheating. “Even the most holy among us are vulnerable to moral collapse,” says Loehr. While we might hope otherwise, character strengths such as integrity, trustworthiness, humility, compassion, and justice are not hard-wired into human beings at birth. Instead, they must be developed the same way any muscle is developed through dedicated and consistent focus and work.  And in this episode, Jim Loehr shares his most informed insights on what behaviors will shore up our character, prepare us to successfully handle leadership power – and always keep our dark side at bay. The post Jim Loehr: Why Character Is Destiny appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.

It’s part of the human condition to wonder if we can truly make a difference in the world, & whether our personal talents & experiences are unique or special in any meaningful way. In her book, The Power of Onlyness, Nilofer Merchant says yes, emphatically, & we couldn’t need that kind of encouragement any more. When Nilofer was 18 years old, her Indian mother arranged for her to be married off to a much older man with three children to raise. Bereft by the prospect of losing the opportunity to attend college & gain the education she’d long dreamed for, she walked away from the marriage – not to mention her mother & her home. At a crossroads & faced with a critical life choice, she decided against making someone else’s and instead made an especially original one of her own. In the years since, Nilofer has been an executive at Apple & Autodesk. She’s personally launched more than 100 products netting $18 billion in sales.  She’s been named to the venerable “Thinkers 50” list & her TED Talk ranks in the top 10% of its all-time most viewed speeches. As expressed in her book – & discussed at length in this podcast – Nilofer’s journey led her to a profound understanding that every person alive possesses a truly unique view of the world tied to their own life’s experiences, history, visions & hopes. And from that spot where only they stand, they can offer novel insights, make great contributions & maximize their full human potential. Too many people wish they had the ability to make a mark in the world, but feel they lack the credentials or aren’t high enough in their organization to have their ideas heard. But Nilofer’s own remarkable life story shaped her view that every single one of us possesses great power in our personal Onlyness. In this podcast, Nilofer Merchant encourages us to summon the very best in ourselves, & explains how to grow it, nurture it & bring it to the world. And when you’re done listening, you’ll be inspired to leave an even bigger dent in the universe while also knowing how to cultivate the “onlyness” in every unique human being you lead & manage. The post Nilofer Merchant: The Power Of Your “Onlyness” appeared first on Mark C. Crowley.