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Our Perspective on Life, Leadership, and Engagement

Get the scoop from our consultants and creatives, as well as our clients and other thought-leading guests. In addition to our blog and video posts, don’t miss our popular podcasts — they’ve been heard regularly by thousands of leaders since 2012!
  • On the Engaging Leader podcast, we share communication and leadership principles, and tell stories that illustrate putting those principles into practice.
  • The Workforce Health Engagement podcast explores strategies to improve your employees’ health and productivity — and to protect your bottom line.

Jenny Kolenda – A Loved Team Member of WFC

Jenny Kolenda

Jenny Kolenda

The Workforce team is deeply saddened by the loss of our dear colleague Jenny Kolenda, who passed away on Nov. 26 after a long battle with breast cancer. Jenny was one of our very talented graphic designers, making a difference with her creativity and positivity on both client projects as well as team initiatives. Our thoughts and prayers are with her husband of 26 years as well as her two daughters and son.

In expressing our grief and gratitude, here are some of the sentiments shared by her WFC teammates:

She will always be a champion of kindness, pristine dedication, and love for others and family. I will personally miss her laughter tremendously.

She was a delight and brightened my workdays.

Jenny was such a beautiful soul and will be deeply missed.

All of us who had the pleasure of working with Jenny will miss the positive perspective she brought.

Her smile was absolutely beautiful. She was easy to connect with and super-duper likable.

I will miss Jenny’s positive energy, trustworthiness, and curiosity, among many other qualities.

221: Simple Visual Story (SVS) Model for Effective Communication | with Matthew Pierce

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This is a special episode of Engaging Leader, featuring part 2 of an excerpt of Jesse’s live interview on TechSmith’s Visual Lounge with Matt Pierce.

While part 1 focused on the 5M framework as a comprehensive planning tool for communication, Simple Visual Story (SVS) is a great model for executing the components of the strategy more effectively, especially for remote communication. 

SVS increases the effectiveness of videos, graphics, and other types of communication and education tactics to inspire trust and drive action. The SVS model has three components:

Simple:

  • Short. Make it as long as it needs to be, but no longer.
  • Purposeful. Be clear about the target audiences and the outcomes you are seeking. What ACTIONS do you want people to take? What FEELINGS and BELIEFS do you want to stimulate?
  • Well crafted. Words matter – the right words and messages trigger worldviews and provoke reactions. Design also matters – the right graphical construction invites the brain to pay attention and digest the information.

 

Visual:

  • Metaphors. Metaphors stimulate paradigms and set expectations. Use an image, analogy, or a “word picture” to associate with something already familiar to the audience. 
  • Images. The average person reads between 200 – 300 words per minute, but less than a second to process an image. Eye-tracking studies also show that people gravitate immediately to images. Keep in mind that you are constantly competing with social media and mobile notifications for attention. 
  • Characters. According to MIT neuroscience research, images with people in them are the most memorable. Will your spokespeople or other characters resonate appropriately with the real-life people in your audience?

 

Story:

  • Connection. A story makes it real … an issue affecting real-life people, not just a concept from management. A powerful story creates an emotional bond, so people are more likely to be open, willing, or even motivated to change.
  • Entertainment. If they have enough to keep people mentally interested, stories guide the imagination and frame the future. 30% of people say a movie has changed their mind about an issue.
  • Action. An effective story depicts specific people doing specific things and having specific feelings. This simulates the behaviors you’re asking people to practice. They equip people by showing, not merely telling. 

 

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

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220: Engaging a Remote Workforce | with Matthew Pierce

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This is a special episode of Engaging Leader, featuring part 1 of an excerpt of Jesse’s live interview on TechSmith’s Visual Lounge with Matt Pierce to share tips for engaging a remote workforce.

How effectively are you communicating with your remote workforce?

Remote communication is more widespread than it’s ever been. Many people now have to communicate almost entirely online, using virtual tools such as email, and audio and visual communication like video calls.

But remote communication can bring new challenges. Ideas can get lost in virtual translation, or people can be indifferent to taking action. So, how can you ensure that your communication is clear, motivates your audience to act, and helps you reach your desired outcome?

 

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

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219: How Women Leaders Can Master a Remote Work Environment | with Charlene Walters, MBA, PhD

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We’ve entered a new era with more people than ever working remotely, especially from home. This past year, according to author Charlene Walters, women have made up 80% of the people who left the on-site workforce during the pandemic.  

In this second of a two-part interview, Jesse is joined again by Charlene to discuss tips from her new book LAUNCH YOUR INNER ENTREPRENEUR: 10 Mindset Shifts for Women to Take Action, Unleash Creativity, and Achieve Financial Success. This conversation includes:

  • The challenges female leaders and “fempreneurs” face about working from home
  • How to master a remote work environment and balance it with your leadership
  • Tips for leading a remote team
  • Fostering engagement and loyalty in a virtual environment

Charlene Walters, MBA, Ph.D. is an entrepreneurship coach, business and branding mentor, author, and trainer. She developed a digital entrepreneurship MBA program, has taught hundreds of business and marketing courses at a number of universities, and has led workshops for Entrepreneur Magazine’s Insider Platform and other corporations.

 

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app:

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218: Overcoming the Challenges Faced By Women Entrepreneurs and Leaders | with Charlene Walters, MBA, PhD

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Many people say that entrepreneurship is often still a man’s world ― despite the fact that 42 percent of all small business or franchise owners are women, and there are 13 million female-owned businesses contributing to $1.9 trillion in revenue in the US. According to author Charlene Walters, a multitude of research has shown that many women entrepreneurs and leaders struggle more than men with certain issues that may thwart their success.

In this interview with Charlene, we discuss tips from her new book LAUNCH YOUR INNER ENTREPRENEUR: 10 Mindset Shifts for Women to Take Action, Unleash Creativity, and Achieve Financial Success. Our conversation includes:

  • The challenges female leaders and “fempreneurs” face in the world of work and business … and how to reframe them as opportunities
  • How to overcome imposter syndrome
  • How to deal with haters
  • How to fight self-sabotage

Charlene Walters, MBA, Ph.D. is an entrepreneurship coach, business and branding mentor, author, and trainer. She developed a digital entrepreneurship MBA program, has taught hundreds of business and marketing courses at a number of universities, and has led workshops for Entrepreneur Magazine’s Insider Platform and other corporations.

 

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app:

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217: The Business of WE – Closing the Gap Between Us vs Them part 2 | with Laura Kriska

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Us versus Them gaps have always affected the American workplace – Sales versus Marketing, Manufacturing versus Engineering, Human Resources versus Legal. But today there is an urgent need to address a wide range of culture gaps, especially due to the impact of the pandemic, racism and protests in support of Black Lives Matter, and an intensely divisive U.S. presidential election.

No matter what your politics, one thing is clear — the old tools just don’t work; a new approach to diversity, cultural difference, and inclusion is urgently needed. What can business leaders do to create true synergy among the diverse and often fiercely divided members of their workforce?

In this interview with Laura Kriska, author of the new book The Business of WE, we discuss a practical roadmap for building cohesive, high-performing teams, regardless of personal differences. Drawing on her decades of international experience as a cross-cultural consultant, Kriska shares her proven three-step method for closing the gap between Us and Them in your workplace.

Our conversation includes:

  • Simple examples of “We-Building” behaviors or gestures
  • Overview of the 3-step process for closing Us versus Them gaps in your workplace
  • Actions that will contribute toward building a WE culture
  • Tips for we-building while working from home, especially during this pandemic?
  • How can people use the WE-building tools in their daily lives,  both the workplace and beyond

Laura Kriska is an internationally recognized expert and leading consultant on cross-cultural relations with more than 30 years of experience bridging gaps in diverse workplaces. She has worked with Fortune 500 companies on four continents, helping thousands of business leaders and professionals build trust across Us versus Them differences based on nationality, ethnicity, race, religion, age, or any factor of identity. Her first book, The Accidental Office Lady, was based on her experience as the first American woman to work in Honda Motor Company’s Tokyo headquarters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app:

Apple Podcast | Google Play | Spotify |  Stitcher  | Other Ways to Listen

216: The Business of WE – Closing the Gap Between Us vs Them part 1 | with Laura Kriska

,

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

 

Us versus Them gaps have always affected the American workplace – Sales versus Marketing, Manufacturing versus Engineering, Human Resources versus Legal. But today there is an urgent need to address a wide range of culture gaps, especially due to the impact of the pandemic, racism and protests in support of Black Lives Matter, and an intensely divisive U.S. presidential election.

No matter what your politics, one thing is clear — the old tools just don’t work; a new approach to diversity, cultural difference, and inclusion is urgently needed. What can business leaders do to create true synergy among the diverse and often fiercely divided members of their workforce?

In this interview with Laura Kriska, author of the new book The Business of WE, we discuss a practical roadmap for building cohesive, high-performing teams, regardless of personal differences. Drawing on her decades of international experience as a cross-cultural consultant, Kriska shares her proven three-step method for closing the gap between Us and Them in your workplace.

Our conversation includes:

  • Simple examples of “We-Building” behaviors or gestures
  • Overview of the 3-step process for closing Us versus Them gaps in your workplace
  • Actions that will contribute toward building a WE culture
  • Tips for we-building while working from home, especially during this pandemic?
  • How can people use the WE-building tools in their daily lives,  both the workplace and beyond

Laura Kriska is an internationally recognized expert and leading consultant on cross-cultural relations with more than 30 years of experience bridging gaps in diverse workplaces. She has worked with Fortune 500 companies on four continents, helping thousands of business leaders and professionals build trust across Us versus Them differences based on nationality, ethnicity, race, religion, age, or any factor of identity. Her first book, The Accidental Office Lady, was based on her experience as the first American woman to work in Honda Motor Company’s Tokyo headquarters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app:

Apple Podcast | Google Play | Spotify |  Stitcher  | Other Ways to Listen

215: The Long-Distance Teammate | with Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmel

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Working remotely isn’t just a new normal that we must learn to live with. It’s an opportunity to work and lead in ways that provide great operational and productivity results for the organization, as well as to be a part of a great team while finding individual meaning and purpose too. 

But there is a big difference between working from home … and feeling like and being an effective member of a remote team. How can you be a great teammate and leader while working at a distance from the people you collaborate with?

In this interview with the authors of the new book The Long-Distance Teammate, we discuss tips for being an effective member of a remote team, leading well as a remote leader, and how to combat the very real potential of isolation and loneliness when working from home.

Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmel are cofounders of the Remote Leadership Institute. Kevin has twice been named one of Inc.’s Top 100 Leadership and Management Experts in the World. They have written dozens of books separately and together, including their previous book The Long-Distance Leader.

 

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app:

Apple Podcast | Google Play | Spotify |  Stitcher  | Other Ways to Listen

 

214: 4 Great Interview Questions to Ask Before You Hire | with Paul Falcone

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Interviewing job candidates can feel like wading through a foggy swamp. You’re attempting to discern whether candidates would be successful on your team, while struggling to prevent the massive headache and wasted resources of a poor decision. 

 

Asking the right questions during interviews can bring clarity to the process by giving you a more accurate, complete picture of the person sitting across from you. In this episode, employment expert Paul Falcone shares four interview questions that can help cut through the uncertainty by drawing out honest, helpful answers from job candidates.

 

A bestselling author and top-rated presenter, Paul is currently the Chief Human Resources Officer for The Motion Picture and Television Fund, primarily serving retirees from the entertainment industry. Previously, Paul served as head of HR for Nickelodeon, head of international HR for Paramount Pictures, and head of HR for the TV production unit of NBCUniversal, where he oversaw HR operations for NBC’s late night and prime time programming lineup, including The Tonight Show, Saturday Night Live, and The Office.

 

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app:

Apple Podcast | Google Play | Spotify |  Stitcher  | Other Ways to Listen

 

Seven Practices to Ensure Creative Brainstorming in a Virtual World

 

Many of us are used to generating our best ideas by tapping the creativity of a group of colleagues…in the same room with a whiteboard, flipchart, or sticky notes. The interpersonal dynamics and these tactile tools help make something magical happen in the brainstorming process.

How do we get the same result with a virtual team? Our Workforce Communication team needed to generate a bunch of ideas for our business this summer. Here’s how we did it:

1. Set up the question in advance. We emailed everyone a simple description of the topic.

2. Gathered via video conference so we could see each others’ faces…the next best thing to being there these days.

3. Followed ground rules such as no judging ideas, one person speaks at a time, build on others’ ideas, be positive, etc.

4. Gave ourselves one hour max. Spend too much time and you often end up criticizing or repeating ideas.

5. Took verbatim notes so we didn’t need to discuss ideas in-depth.

6. Facilitated a round-robin and gave everyone the option to pass.

7. Prioritized the ideas…everyone “voted” on their top three via the chat function in Google Meets.

In the end, everyone’s voice was heard, and we had three pages of prioritized ideas. The session was deemed successful! Easy peasy! Want more? Here’s a 10-minute read on the topic from Harvard Business Review.

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