Aim Higher: The podcast with purpose

Managing Stress at Work

We can’t really escape stress. Even positive life events – weddings, a new job, new kids, travel – often cause “good stress.” But 8-out-of-10 people say that they experience stress regularly at work. That’s not the good kind. How can you, as a manager, help your team recognize, analyze, and deal with stress? This week on Aim Higher, my panel of leadership experts provides some excellent advice. They’ve got some tips on how to deal with your own stress, and how to lower the stress level for the people you manage, too. 

Change How You Think About Change

Henry David Thoreau famously said, “Things do not change; we change.” Certainly, there are events and circumstances we can’t control. But as leaders, we must embrace the fact that change is not only inevitable—but often desirable. In fact, leadership is almost always about change: we don’t “lead” into areas we’re already familiar with. In this week’s podcast, my panel of experts reviews seven key change management skills I think are important for leaders to understand and master. If you want to do a better job leading and managing teams through tough—and exciting—changes, there’s some great ideas for you here.

Smart Leadership with Mark Miller of Chick-fil-A

What makes a smart leader? In this episode of “Aim Higher,” Skip sits down with Mark Miller, Chick-fil-A Vice President of High-Performance Leadership. Mark’s brand-new book, “Smart Leadership: Four Simple Choices to Scale Your Impact,” presents research-based “smart choices” that the best leaders make. In this fast-paced discussion, Skip and Mark talk about the “quicksand” that can encompass leaders unless they decide to make the decision to get out. Too many leaders flail around in the quicksand trying, impossibly, to swim in it. And many then fail. Find out what you can do as a leader to get smart, make better decisions, and transform your leadership.

How To Transform Negative Attitudes At Work

This week, my panel of experts and I discuss how a negative attitude can impact your career, your coworkers--and even your lifespan! It’s well known that a consistent, negative attitude can create health problems. That holds true for organizations as well as individuals. What can you do to help “heal” a negative attitude in others or yourself? My guests bring some really great, practical suggestions for why, how, and when you can best achieve the leadership benefits of a more positive outlook.

What Time Management Looks Like For Successful Leaders

As Peter Drucker said, “Until we can manage time, we can manage nothing else.” In this episode of “Aim Higher,” my panel of business experts asks some tough questions for leaders at all stages of their careers. Are you more intentional about budgeting time than money? What would your “credit score” be for how you spend your time? How do you assess whether a future activity (especially a meeting) is a good investment of your time? What tools do you use to evaluate how well you’ve spent your time in the past? As always, my guests have some great advice on this absolutely critical leadership topic.  

How Reading Improves Leadership Skills With Jeff Brown

One of my favorite podcasts is Jeff Brown’s, “Read to Lead.” He’s been doing it for around eight years, and I’m so pleased that he’s taken the time to write a book of his own, all about the power of reading and lifelong learning. “Read to Lead: The Simple Habit that Expands Your Influence and Boosts Your Career” is a wonderful guide to better and more effective reading as part of your leadership discipline. I was excited to ask Jeff about his journey as a reader and how it led to a lifelong passion he’s now passionate about sharing. There are some great tips here for all of us.

Leadership Challenges In The New Year

Along with his panel of business experts, Skip confronts the top challenges waiting for leaders over the next year. While we’ve all made monumental shifts because of the pandemic, those changes aren’t done and neither are the ways we’re all reacting to them. Be a better leader by anticipating these challenges and confronting them directly. Because your biggest challenge may be keeping up your enthusiasm for the long haul. 

What Work Looks like in a World Shaped by COVID

It's been nearly two years of living and working in a world shaped by COVID-19. And I think we’re all beginning to see that some of the ways we’ve adapted to this environment will linger after the pandemic is in our rearview mirror. But is it all bad? Throughout history, shifts brought on by seismic world events have driven some very important, positive changes. Join my expert panel this week as we consider the ways COVID-19 has shaped current workforce realities, and how leaders will need to adjust in the future.

Gratitude, connectedness and season 3 wrap-up

In this wrap-up panel episode of "Aim Higher," season three regulars Drew and Tammi join Skip to talk about some of their favorite moments from the past year. While they touch on a variety of high points, one theme becomes apparent: the importance of feedback and continuous communication. This, they agree, is vital for leaders to do themselves and emphasize with teams during the pandemic. They also hope you'll provide feedback on what you liked best about the podcast (and what can be improved!) so that when we come back next season, "Aim Higher" can provide even more value for you on your leadership journey.

How executive mothers navigate work and life (with Joann Lublin)

I'm a huge fan of this week's guest on "Aim Higher," Joann Lublin. Her first book about women business leaders, "Earning It," had insights from 52 women executives, and her latest, just out in 2021, is "Power Moms: How Executive Mothers Navigate Work and Life." I've been reading Joann in the Wall Street Journal for years, as she created its first career advice column, which she wrote until May of 2020. And she shared a Pulitzer Prize at the Journal in 2003 for their work on corporate scandals. I've learned so much from her writing and I know you'll enjoy hearing from her in this episode as much as I did in our conversation.