Tag Archive for: business podcast

Establishing Honest Communication Within your Organization

/0 Comments/in , /by

Hi, and a warm welcome to The Human Side of Business Podcast. I’m your host Ange MacCabe. I’m pleased to introduce you to Steven Gaffney, President and CEO at Steven Gaffney Company.

For 20+ years, Steven has been helping top leaders, teams, and organizations create Consistent, High-Achieving Teams across all organizations. Steven is a consultant, public speaker and author with a passion for unlocking and teaching people how to communicate at high-achieving and consistent levels.

In this episode, Steven and I examine what it takes to establish honest communication within the workplace and why it’s essential for an organization’s ROI.

Emotionally Intelligent Communication

Steven Gaffney: When I talk about honest communication, I’m talking about a certain element of that, and that’s about what people don’t say to each other. In fact, if people forget everything out of what we’re going to talk about, the most important message right up front is the biggest problem in life is not what people say; it’s actually what they don’t say to each other. It’s, you know, withholding, although people don’t like that. Oh, I’m not lying. Well, if you let somebody not say something to you and you feel like they lied to you, that is a breakdown of trust, so the key is to get the unsaid items said.

Whole Person Performance

Ange MacCabe: I think that it’s safe to speak, and so I speak, and then it’s like I’m taken aback based on others’ reactions. And I’m kind of like, well, wait. I thought we were supposed to talk this way, and then I’m feeling kind of like I have this vulnerability hangover. And to your point, I’m on the blacklist, and I still believe that there’s a lot more work that needs to be done because what you’re speaking to, Steven, is having kind of that emotional Whole Person Performance approach is kind of what we dub here at Intuity Performance. Whole Person Performance, meaning that our hearts and feelings aren’t left at home; they come with us. We’re a whole package, and so separating our work self from our personal self is no longer a thing. But then, how do you help employers feel comfortable? Because from a societal perspective, it’s been so uncomfortable to talk about feelings in the workplace or to get deep in the workplace or even personal in the workplace.

Creating Emotional Safety

Steven Gaffney: In my experiences, and I’ve been at this for over 25 years is, people can think it’s safe, but they need to feel that it’s safe. It’s about creating that emotional safety, and that is the most important trait in a leader. Because if you create that emotional safety, people will share stuff, and you don’t have to make all the right decisions because if something goes the wrong direction, people will tell you if they fear the outcome of speaking up, they’ll shut down. So creating that emotional safety is the key.

Redefining Comfort

Ange MacCabe: How do you move people from a place of discomfort to comfort? Because that’s a learned behaviour, for sure.

Steven Gaffney: Well, first of all, is to reframe comfort. When we’re uncomfortable, that’s a sign of growth. It’s not a sign to stop. Now, there are certain exceptions to that, but overall, somebody will say, well, I’m just not comfortable with that, and I’m like, okay, so what’s your point? But actually, when we grow in life – I can think of many, many teachers and mentors of mine from whom I’ve learned so much and who pushed me to do something. Sometimes I was like, I don’t even agree. But I did it, and I’m so thankful.

If you’re interested in learning more from our Spotlight Leaders check out Gabriel Cowan’s Leadership Spotlight on: Creating a Healthy and Consistent Company Culture

Make sure to follow/subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! New episodes of The Human Side of Business Podcast air bi-weekly on Mondays at 1 pm ET.

Creating a Healthy and Consistent Company Culture

/0 Comments/in /by

Hi, and a warm welcome to The Human Side of Business Podcast. I’m your host Ange MacCabe. I have the pleasure of introducing you to Gabriel Cowan, Chief Executive Officer at Audio Design Desk.

Audio Design Desk, won 2022 NAB Product of the Year, CES Innovator and Fast Company’s “Next Big Thing In Tech” with its AI-assisted software suite that reinvents the process of creating audio for video. Used on Netflix, HBOMax, Amazon Prime, and others, ADD gives creatives the ability to perform sound design, sound effects, and music in real-time, turning hours of tedious work into minutes of immersive fun.

In this episode Gabriel and I dive into workplace culture and discuss the strategies behind maintaining a consistent and healthy work environment.

Developing Workplace Culture

Gabriel Cowan: So I think in terms of creating a positive culture, there will always be conflict, there will always be issues. If you can remove the assumptions, remove the gossip, the minute that you start hearing people chattering and go and step into whatever the issue is and leader through curiosity – my experience is that there’s a real reason for whatever the issue is, and the person on the other side of that issue is struggling with it, and they need resources. These are the three resources we have. We have time, money and creativity. And we don’t have any more time or any more money. So we have to get creative about solving this problem. And that’s where this trust can really help.

Open Communication in Leadership

Gabriel Cowan: I think what has been positive about our culture, even though it’s on Zoom, is just keeping really open with everybody. So in these morning meetings, I really share exactly what’s going on with a fundraising thing or with a business thing, or with our business, the good and the bad. But to have people share in the challenges as well as the opportunity really does create that environment where we’ve all experienced challenges. And somebody like, literally, sometimes an intern will have a voice in one of the challenges that I’m presenting in the morning, and that’ll be the spark of an idea that solves that challenge. Not to mention that just having a community to commiserate with makes you feel better.

Utilizing Employee Skill Sets

Gabriel Cowan: You’re always going to get 200% out of somebody when they’re doing something that they like. And so as much as I possibly, I find out where people are, what they like to do, and then try to lead them towards that. My partner in this business is a guy named Ryan Francesconi, he said a job is three things: It’s how much you learn, how much you make, and how much shit you take. That’s it. Ryan is a programmer, he could be making, like, ridiculous money. He’s like, I’m not making as much, but I take zero shit and I’m learning a ton. And it is true that not taking crap, that’s a huge pressure valve that can be released. So we try to lead with empathy and we try to make sure that they’re all learning.

Defining Expectations

Ange MacCabe: Right, so my definition of good performance from a consulting perspective is that people are industrious, they can have high levels of autonomy. There’s candor and transparency, and they’re huge problem solvers. And in the consulting world, problem solving is not as commonsensical as one would think it would be. So one of my jobs in creating Intuity Performance was to really kind of check my own expectations at the door, and I guess figure out what’s my 75%, versus me having the expectation that a consultant is going to be able to step in and meet my expectations out of the gate without me saying anything? So I guess my question has multiple parts in the sense of how are people showing up in your organization if they’re not meeting your expectations?

If you’re interested in learning more from our Spotlight Leaders check out Laura Meyer’s Leadership Spotlight on: Leading with Intention.

Make sure to follow/subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! New episodes of The Human Side of Business Podcast air bi-weekly on Mondays at 1 pm ET.

Leadership Spotlight: Leading with Intention

/0 Comments/in , /by

Hi, and a warm welcome to The Human Side of Business Podcast. I’m your host Ange MacCabe. I have the pleasure of introducing you to Laura Meyer, the founder of Envision Horizons.

Laura has helped over 150 brands build successful Amazon businesses through her agency and consultancy work. In addition to working with consumer product companies, Laura has a passion for supporting female-founded and mission-driven companies.

In this episode Laura and I dive into intentional leadership and discuss the strategies behind leading with intention.

Communication Is a Two-way Street

Laura Meyer: There absolutely needs to be a two way street of communication. And there’s no question that my company has grown and improved in what we call, leveling up because of the feedback coming from the team. And I always tell new team members on their first day or their first week, don’t be intimidated by me, raise your hand. This is not an organization where we’re going to get upset or yell or do anything. If you have an idea, like, I want to hear the ideas because the reality is I don’t want to have to come up with all the ideas. It’s a lot of work to try and think everything, so perspectives from all levels of an organization are so important to have.

The Big Thing About Intentional Leadership

Laura Meyer: The big thing with intentional leadership and also just growing a business overall, it has to be a part of your company’s goals or initiatives to be good leaders and to put an emphasis on your team. If it’s not a primary focus, then you’re not going to be good at it, plain and simple. It doesn’t just come second nature to all of the leaders within your team. So you also need to think through, okay, how can I give the directors and managers within my organization autonomy in the kind of the subcultures that they want to produce while also having a consistency across the organization? And like everything, it takes work.

The strategies behind Intentional Leadership

Ange MacCabe: When it comes to intentional leadership, it’s really getting strategic about how you’re approaching things, both from the tactical side of things, so creating consistency, but also the human side of things to create continued momentum and create engagement as well.

Leadership EI-Q

Laura Meyer: I also think being a leader, you need to be self aware, knowing what you’re good at, what you’re not good at, and what you don’t like doing. I will be very honest, I love people, I’m an extrovert, but I don’t necessarily love managing people and training people. Like, I’m a salesperson at heart. I love driving new business. I love developing new programs. That is what I’m good at and that is what I love to do. So, looking forward to next year, that’s really where I’m designing our org chart and our accountability chart to accommodate. Because I do have a team member who’s wonderful at onboarding and training and making team members feel comfortable.

If you’re interested in learning more from our Spotlight Leaders check out Dustin DeVries’s Leadership Spotlight on: Facilitating Empowered Teams.

Make sure to follow/subscribe so you don’t miss and episode! New episodes of The Human Side of Business Podcast air bi-weekly on Mondays at 1 pm ET.