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It’s no secret that the well-being of your workforce directly affects the well-being of your entire organization. Prior to the pandemic, most corporate wellness program focused on physical fitness. The stresses of COVID quarantining, though, showed that mental health is every bit as important. Integrative medicine ties both physical and mental health together, revealing many ways in which they influence each other. In this episode, Dr. Maryanna Klatt discusses the role of integrative medicine, how it affects our well-being, and why this is so important for leaders. Her own research focuses on mindfulness, but the center works with and researches acupuncture, Ayurvedic medicine, yoga, massage, and more. There’s a clear ROI for leaders: reducing stress and burnout is a mighty tool in keeping the Great Resignation away! For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on Twitter: @IL_Institute .

There’s more to grit than determination – a whole lot more. Knowing that can help you harness this incredible power of passion and perseverance. Building on the work of Angela Ducksworth and her seminal book, guest Jim Ritchie-Dunham shows how there are four levels of grit in an organization...an insight which dovetails neatly with his own work in ecosynomics. Leaders often unknowingly determine how it cascades through various parts of their business – but because they’re not aware of it, they may be reinforcing the wrong kind for a particular department, team, or employee. That results in inefficiencies, lower staff engagement, and the loss of talent. But all of that can be boosted when grit is recognized and deftly applied. Dig in to a deeper understanding of grit with Jim Ritchie-Dunham and host Maureen Metcalf! For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on Twitter: @IL_Institute .

All of us took history classes, but who’s taken future classes? Studying the future is a discipline that stretches back decades. Strategic foresight is the established and proven process of looking at future probabilities, yet many business and NPO leaders either don’t know about it, or don’t understand it. It’s used by Fortune 200 companies, the U.S. military, the World Bank, and others. As futurist Rebecca Ryan explains to host Maureen Metcalf, strategic foresight helps those organizations decrease risk and maximize opportunity. That, in turn, provides them with a competitive advantage. So much so that Disney requires learning it before candidates can enter the C-Suite. Listen to this episode – and get a glimpse of your future! For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on Twitter: @IL_Institute .

One look at the headlines on any given day makes it clear: the world is UNclear. How can an organization navigate through the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity to survive – much less succeed? By understanding VUCA, a concept developed by the Pentagon in 1987 to give our military an edge in chaos. Filmmaker Chris Nolan joins Maureen Metcalf to share how this military technique directly applies to businesses and non-profits – information drawn from his new documentary and book: It’s VUCA!. For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on Twitter: @IL_Institute .

There’s a fierce competition going on out there: competition for talent. While pundits debate how real the Great Resignation is, HR departments face it every day. Rod Lacey has seen it, but the Chief People Operations Officer of simPRO has a very simple and elegant method for recruiting and retaining top talent: listen to them. There’s no need to second guess: current staff and incoming candidates will tell you what they’re looking for from an employer beyond the paycheck. Listen in as he chats with host Maureen Metcalf, and start to stabilize your organization’s talent flow! For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on Twitter: @IL_Institute .

Many people fear the Artificial Intelligence revolution that’s underway. But like every other major societal revolution in history, you can play it to your favor. The key? Innovative thinking. In reality, these upheavals create newer, better jobs for people – though, from the sabot to the Luddite, people who don’t think differently, innovatively, even disruptively miss the opportunities these advancements create. IBM Master Inventor Neil Sahota joins host Maureen Metcalf to detail the key strategies for thriving through the AI revolution. For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on Twitter: @IL_Institute .

It takes a village to raise a city. That twists traditional wisdom, but it’s true: no one leader can improve an urban landscape alone. It takes a group of leaders in public and private partnership. When they’re united by one vision, their city can grow into a powerhouse. Kenny McDonald oversees that for Columbus, Ohio – a city that’s launched into a bold future…most recently, as the site for Intel’s newest, largest chip plant. As president of the Columbus Partnership, McDonald upholds and advances the shared vision of the city’s CEOs. He shares how that works so effectively – and what other urban leaders can learn from the Partnership’s example.

Having trouble filling positions? Brace yourself: the Great Resignation is morphing into the Job Hopper Economy. Evan Sohn, the CEO of Recruiter.com, is in a unique position to see beyond the simplistic explanations of TV pundits. He joins host Maureen Metcalf to share his big-picture view of the state of hiring today…and where it will be tomorrow. Lesson 1: “Money solves all problems” is a pre-pandemic thought that no longer applies. Employees are looking further; in addition to equitable pay, they’re looking for meaningful benefits and companies with conscience. They want their hard work to contribute to more than this quarter’s P&L statement. And they’re willing to hop to the jobs that provide it. Or they job hop to maintain personal freedom and engagement. Whatever the reasons, the talent pool is changing – and your hiring and work culture need to change with it. Evan explains how, as he provides the history of Recruiter.com .

Whether it’s official or not, the signs of a looming recession surround us. But that doesn’t necessarily mean doom-and-gloom. During the Great Recession of 2008, for example, while GM needed a huge government bailout to survive, Ford made it through without a Federal dime. Both are large automakers, both based in Detroit, so what made the difference? Planning! Ford started preparing for a downturn nearly two years before. Greg Moran – Ford’s Chief Strategy Officer at the time – shares both that history and what we can learn from it to ride our organizations through the current economic shifts.

A major myth in politics and business is that arrogant, over-confident people are better leaders. But reality reveals the opposite: humility combined with ambition drives the best leadership performance – and that, in turn, improves the entire organization. Author and Trinity University professor Amer Kaissi discusses the details with host Maureen Metcalf. His new book, Humbitious, digs deep into the reasons the humble-yet-ambitious leader delivers the best results…for everyone from front line staff to the board of directors. This isn’t academic theory; Kaissi studied real-world leaders from Napoleon Bonaparte to New Zealand’s acclaimed Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. While narcissists sometimes do make it to the top, they’re the exception, and their actual performance (as opposed to their PR) tends to be less than stellar. Fortune favors not simply the bold, but the humbitious!

Chris Resch of 66 Degrees and Joe DiDonato of Baker Communications (BCI) continue discussing the impacts of a recession on sales teams; the discussion started in Part 1. Too many organizations start trimming staff when revenues drop -- but downsizing isn't a one-size-fits-all answer. Hard data can help you make objective decisions...so you're RIGHTsizing your team to stay strong. That can mean the hard times won't be quite so hard after all!

Every business has its ups and downs. But when trauma hits, the worst thing to do is ignore it. The best: tend to your people! Rachael Kelly watched the effects of COVID quarantine rapidly cascade through the restaurant industry…including at her organization: Smokey Bones. As a restaurant chain, the quarantine hit Smokey Bones hard -- and almost instantly. That, in turn, created serious issues for servers and other restaurant staff. Rachael joins host Maureen Metcalf to reveal how they dealt with the cascading trauma…and, more importantly, how they turned it into an opportunity to improve their team environment and emerge even stronger. In fact, Smokey Bones holds multi-year certifications as a Great Place to Work.

“Character is what you do.” That’s a fundamental leadership principle for George Limbert, president of Red Roof. This is our second visit with George since he began his leadership journey as a first-time corporate president last summer. Red Roof has prospered under his guidance, proving the value of his philosophies. Character sits at their core. A focus on character led to many innovations at Red Roof, including their Women’s Center for Excellence and Women in Leadership programs to help level the gender playing field, particularly in the lodging industry. To keep character objectively defined, and his actions with character exemplary for his team, George looks at himself and his team through the lens of judicial temperament. It’s a non-biased way of looking at a situation from all sides to determine its core truth; it comes naturally to George, whose legal background goes beyond law school with deep roots in family: his father is a judge, and a brother and sister are also attorneys. George shares the many ways any good leader can display character, calmly analyze corporate storms, and deal with other real life ups and downs of leadership with host Maureen Metcalf. Join us for this episode filled with practical examples from Red Roof.

Recession is a very real possibility – if not probability – if the worldwide economy continues on its present path. How can you recession-proof your organization? With data…and people. The two may seem to be polar opposites, but mixing good data about your sales team along with employee-centric leadership forges a two-sided key to surviving – even thriving in – a recession. Chris Resch of tech firm 66 Degrees and Baker Communications’ Joe DiDonato join host Maureen Metcalf to reveal how these tools can be used. Downsizing is the C-suite’s knee-jerk reaction to slower sales in a recession; Joe talks about the downward spiral that creates…and Chris discusses how combining data with understanding people can lead your team to beneficial right-sizing.

Adulthood is kryptonite. We’re all born with superpowers. Curiosity is the most easily recognizable. As children, we’re flooded with it. But as adults, instead of being rewarded for having a million questions, we’re expected to have the answers. Leaders, in particular, believe they should have all the answers. Your superpowers are still there, and truly great leaders know how to unlock them. John Reid will help you rediscover yours, too! Author of The Five Lost Superpowers, Reid joins host Maureen Metcalf to identify the powers we’re all born with…and to provide some basic tools to reactivate them so you can achieve your full potential, personally and as a leader. And when you do that, you’ll help the people around you achieve their potential, too!

Raj Subrameyer knows about toxic leadership first-hand: HE was a toxic leader. Fortunately, Raj learned before it was too late that the toxins affect the leaders just as much as their teams. Anxiety, depression, anger, sleeplessness, illness...they all mount up. In this episode, Raj talks about his former leadership style, and his subsequent journey to a better work life. In the process, he reveals lessons on personal branding. It's not unrelated -- the more comfortable you are with yourself, the more comfortable your team becomes in working with you.

Google “leadership communication skills” sometime. You get 3.5 BILLION results. How does a leader know where to start improving their skills? Today, Jonathan Reitz, CoachNet's FLUXIFY's Director for Training/CEO, joins Maureen to discuss how to build a roadmap every leader can use to gather useful feedback, make a self-assessment and raise their own communication game.

Ruchira Chaudhary, leading executive coach and author of 'Coaching: The Secret Code to Uncommon Leadership' will share insights based on her award-winning book and discuss how coaching is the secret sauce of Uncommon or Extraordinary Leadership. She believes Coaching has never been as important than it is today. Our turbulent times require leaders that empower, elevate and enable. Leaders that build trust, resilience and admit mistakes. She argues that coaching is no longer a nice to have'' aspect of leadership - it is essential, and that you cannot be a good leader without being a good coach!

Peter Kozodoy joins Maureento discuss how to use strategic brutal honesty to improve your sales, marketing, recruiting and so much more. He will also share the simple 2-question technique that teaches us how to shake off the self-limiting talk that prevents us from success and how to use honestly like a Jedi mind-trick to spark creativity, resolve interpersonal conflicts and become a more effective and empowered leader.

We’ve all seen seismic changes in the brave new world of work; that’s doubly so for leaders and their coaches. Leadership coaches must become steeped in the Next Rules of Work – to help their clients navigate this post-pandemic workplace. Gary joins Maureen to discuss what those next rules of work are, why they’re so critical for leaders to learn, and the “sets” leaders need to do it: mindset, skillset, and toolset.