Aim Higher: The podcast with purpose

There is no success without courage

In this episode, Skip and his panel discuss the ways in which courage is necessary for successful leaders and successful organizations. Tammi Spayde (Expert in Human Resources and Marketing), Drew Bordas, (Operations Expert and Customer Service Leader) and Elyse Wampler (Leadership Trainer) discuss the ways that leaders can inspire courage in others and find it within themselves. They share some tips on how seemingly mundane activities—like feedback and reviews—can hinge on how courage is supported or punished within your organization. You may, personally, be quite brave—but are you willing to take the risks necessary to motivate courage across your whole organization? 

BONUS: Questions from the Aim Higher mailbag

In this episode, Skip responds to comments and questions from as far away as Dublin, Ireland. The episode on self-awareness resonated strongly with several listeners on a couple levels. For one, it was a question about how to help someone else be more self-aware. To which Skip replies... focus on your best-self, first. Other listeners commented on the power of the question “what brings you joy?” and asked... how many questions are too many in a self-assessment? Skip covers a lot of ground quickly... so buckle up! 

Maureen Metcalf: Authenticity is key to productivity

In this interview with Maureen Metcalf, CEO of the Innovative Leadership Institute, Skip Prichard discusses her company’s approach to succeeding in a world where the workplace is changing very rapidly. In her “Innovative Leadership Handbook,” Maureen says that when you look at the stresses that businesses are facing, ideals of leadership really have to change. What’s the answer? She and Skip discuss how authenticity and openness are the key to leadership success in today’s new workplace. 

BONUS: A leadership lesson from JFK's moonshot

July 24th marks the anniversary of Apollo 11 astronauts returning safely to earth after successfully landing and walking on the moon.  In today's quick-hit bonus episode of Aim Higher, Skip discusses how President John F. Kennedy's famous "moonshot" speech that lead to that historical moment uses attributes of classic goal setting by a leader.

“I believe that this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.”

It was specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based.  Skip explains why the seven most important  words that President Kennedy uses in his famed speech are often overlooked.

What it takes to destroy trust

What one thing can you do to guarantee failure? Destroy the trust of the people who rely on you. Sometimes the key to getting better at something is first understanding how people fail at it. Skip and his guests—Tammi Spayde (Expert in Human Resources and Marketing), Drew Bordas, (Operations Expert and Customer Service Leader) and Bruce Rhoades, CEO and Strategic Business Adviser—talk through an insightful list of ways in which leaders destroy trust among their teams. Listen carefully… are you making any of these major mistakes? The panel also discusses how we can rebuild trust after a bad situation. 

Cameron Mitchell: A culture of hospitality

Cameron Mitchell sits down with Skip to discuss his “people first” model for leadership. A highly-successful, serial restaurant entrepreneur, Mitchell goes into detail about how acknowledging and learning from mistakes is an important ingredient to creating and leading an exceptional enterprise. It’s a values-based leadership success story with some important lessons for anyone seeking to rise above their competition. His “milkshake story” is also a great model for how to quickly encapsulate your personal leadership vision into a compelling, easily relatable story. 

BONUS: The practice of self assessment

In the last episode, Skip and his panel talked about how important it is for leaders to ask great questions. In this quick-hit bonus episode, Skip points out that asking great questions of *yourself* is important across all fields of endeavor. Do you have a list of questions that you ask yourself regularly? Not just about work, but about your health, home life, spiritual journey and creative outlets? If you don’t… you should! Take five minutes and get some quick, practical tips for great questions you can ask yourself that will help you aim higher and achieve more.  

 

Why great leaders ask great questions.

Across several dimensions, all of today’s panelists agree that asking questions is a key skill needed by great leaders. Tammi Spayde (Expert in Human Resources and Marketing), Drew Bordas (Operations Expert and Customer Service Leader) and Bruce Rhoades, CEO and Strategic Business Adviser join Skip to talk about both the practical and personal benefits of asking questions. They touch on using questions to clarify strategy, to identify areas of expertise, to strengthen ties within a group and to build confidence.

Richard Sheridan: How to lead with joy

Richard Sheridan is CEO & Chief Storyteller of the award-winning software development company, Menlo Innovations. He is also author of “Chief Joy Officer,” a book about human-centered values. In this interview, Skip and Richard discuss how authenticity is the key to developing connections between leaders and teams. They also discuss the need to pass along leadership skills, and how teaching became a key part of Richard’s leadership vision.

Accountability: The importance of doing what you say you’re going to do

Doing what you say you’ll do is critical to leadership and success. In this episode, Skip is joined by Tammi Spayde (Expert in Human Resources and Marketing), Drew Bordas, (Operations Expert and Customer Service Leader) and Elyse Wampler (Leadership Trainer). They all agree that if you can’t be trusted to follow-through on even the small things, why would anyone believe you’ll be dependable on larger issues? With some specific techniques on how you can improve your own performance in this area, their discussion is a great reminder of why personal accountability—while often overlooked—is a critical capacity for leaders.