Doing (good) Business

Kelly and Lara are coming to you during what’s now being referred to as the Great Pause, AKA the global Coronavirus pandemic. Sustainability is a hot topic, and it’s the D(g)B topic for the month of May. Join us to learn about energetic sustainability, how the personal impacts the global, and how sustainable business is (obviously) good business, but why it’s so critical in the midst of a changing world. 

Sustainable takeaways:

• What is energetic sustainability & why is it important as a leader
• Return On Energy (hat tip Jen Pavich) 
• Sustainable energy is the practice of using energy in a way that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Wikipedia
• Effects of a lack of biodiversity 
• This HBR article talks about how the traditional food business is thinking about regenerative agriculture
• UN Sustainable Development Goals

Episodes mentioned:

Back to Earth Compost Crew

Disruption

Values

Humor might seem like the furthest thing from your mind right now, but the truth is, it’s times like this that we need it most - especially when we’re trying so hard to maintain connection!

What’s the point of humor in the workplace? Mary Fran Bontempo to the rescue! She takes the points Kelly & Lara made in episode 51 and expands beautifully. Yes, there are downsides of not having/allowing in the workplace! Humor humanizes and relaxes us and it’s a great tool in business. 

• What happens when there’s resistance to humor and how do you incorporate it into even the most serious of roles and situations? 
• Where do you even start? Hint: you may have noticed a trend in that everything starts with you!
• What are some best practices for humor in the workplace? 
• Kelly’s nervous giggle is explained ...and we learn how her father (our unofficial 3rd host) used humor as a helicopter pilot trainer! 

Learn more about Mary Fran

Check out Brilliantly Resilient

Need a laugh? April’s episodes were recorded before all of our lives changed dramatically, and we wanted to offer them as a break from all-things-difficult. Tune in to hear Kelly & Lara’s funniest workplace stories, Kelly’s Scottish brogue (because April 6th, when this episode was released, is Tartan Day in the US!), and why it really is good business to use (appropriate) humor at work. 

Check out:

• Forbes on Why humor is a key to success at work
• HBR on Leading with humor 
• D(g)B’s Fear episode 

We’re talking about humor as an active ingredient in making work enjoyable, a break from the intellectual and emotional challenges we face at work.

Be aware of what the experts call “divergent conceptualizations of humor.” It can bring people together or push them apart depending on what you think is funny.

We’re talking about humor that brings us together. Why?

-          The research indicates that “people who express positive emotions at work, including humor, are more likely to receive assistance and support.” Humor gets people in a good mood, which is why even comedians have warm-up acts.

-          When people are feeling good and laughing, they are actually filling their own coffers with the social resources that are essential for cooperation because feeling good means we’re not feeling fear. When we’re not feeling fear, we’re more primed, as humans, to be part of a tribe.

Other ways reasons to integrate humor into your business – to improve cooperation which aids negotiations and customer relations.

Our key take-away? Intentionally integrating humor helps people connect, and when they connect, they're better able to collaborate and create solutions.

It’s our 50th episode and we’re taking you behind the scenes of Doing (good) Business!

• Get the scoop on the weird things Lara & Kelly have in common 
• What’s new with Kelly and Lara and why we do the podcast together 
• HOW YOU CAN HELP US grow (hint - spread the word, follow and share on LinkedIn or Instagram, rate and review us on iTunes or wherever you listen!)

Did you know that over 77% of the economy are service-based businesses, which makes finding ways to help teams flourish a necessary aspect of achieving success.

Kelly and Lara share favorite quotes:

• From Kelly “Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play.  It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials.  It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.” -Robert F. Kennedy
• From Lara “Compassion for others begins with kindness to ourselves” -Pema Chodron

Fun new things are coming starting in April, and we’re already lining up AMAZING guests for season 3, which will launch in Fall 2020. What would you like to see more of? Message us on LinkedIn or Instagram or fill out our form at www.DoingGoodBusiness.com

Ever made a great connection in line for the restroom? Well, that’s how Lara met today’s guest, Lisa Sordilla, VP of HR for Energage, a company that exists to help organizations have great energy! 

Lisa drops some seriously good energy including:

• Why you need to align purpose + performance 
• How to make culture a priority (and what happens if you don’t)
• As a leader, how she walks her talk so that she can create positive organizational energy for her team.

Did you know:

• Lara listens to other podcasts?  LOL! Specifically, the example of the impressive culture shift that happened at WD40 (oh, and it’s majorly positive bottom line impact) came from this episode of the Culture First podcast 
• If you see you company in resigned or corrosive, you can tune in to learn how to turn that around

Learn more about Energage and Lisa!

Sure, you probably understand that your energy impacts the people around you, but have you ever thought about the energy of your organization? Kelly and Lara explain what organizational energy even is, and lead you through an exercise showing you how to impact 6 toxic workplace energies! Join us for a little bit of geeking out and some real time expertise. While we hope you’re not experiencing all of these, our bet is that at least 1 or 2 of these scenarios will resonate. 

Most important? Lara believes that Self leadership has to come first - managing your own energy as a leader is the most impactful thing you can do to manage or shift your organization’s energy.

Get an organizational energy boost with:

• Kelly recommends the book: Fully Charged: How Great Leaders Boost Their Organization's Energy and Ignite High Performance (2011) by by Heike Bruch and Bernd Vogel - In the book the authors have provided a diagnostic questionnaire you can use to assess the current level of energy. (You can you can get a glimpse of it here.)
• Ideas for Leaders article on Organizational Energy (including the 4 types of Organizational Energy mentioned at the start of the episode)

Companies mentioned in this episode: Workzone, Push10

Check out our next episode featuring our March guest is Lisa Sordilla, VP HR at Energage - a company that exists to measure and impact organization energy! 

Empathy - in action! Kelly & Lara welcome HoneyBee President and CEO Ennie Lim to the podcast, because when the first word in a company’s About page is Empathy, you know they’re doing good business. 

Join us to hear how empathy not only is the reason Ennie started HoneyBee, but how she applies it to being a leader and operationalizes empathy (and audacity!) as a value in her organization. Started when Ennie realized the awful industry that is payday loans, this company gives organizations a chance to help their employees break the cycle of paycheck to paycheck living. 

We had no idea that:

• 52% Americans are tapping into retirement early and tapping into savings to make ends meet
• 78% Americans live paycheck to paycheck and have less than $500 in reserves for an emergency 

HoneyBee provides financial wellness tools and makes them accessible to the whole workforce, not only those who would traditionally fit into a 401K program. 

Ennie believes in the Transformational power of economic empathy and shares how she starts with empathy in her hiring process. 

Check out:

The 2 books Ennie gives to every new hire: Emotional Intelligence 2.0 & What To Do With an Idea 

Trends inspiring Ennie: the shift from tuition reimbursement to student loan repayment as benefit offering from companies 

Connect with HoneyBee: LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Website

Why the heck are Kelly and Lara talking about examples of empathy on a business podcast? Well, for starters, empathy has been called an essential leadership skill. It’s even been called the most important leadership skill and the newest CEO status symbol. More of what CEOs think can be found in the State of Workplace Empathy study and this whitepaper on Empathy in the Workplace from the Center for Creative Leadership.

There are 4 types of empathy (cognitive, affective, compassionate, and somatic), and they all fall under the umbrella of Emotional Intelligence, which is critical in the age of Artificial Intelligence. 

Why would organizations want to cultivate empathy as a strength?

• To build a better culture:  Making Empathy Central to Your Company Culture 
• To create new services or products: Check out the first phase of Design Thinking

And yes, you can become more strategically empathetic, and we wouldn’t be Doing (good) Business if we didn’t give you tools to help you start!

• Tips from relationship builder expert Andrew Sobel
• Three questions to ask from: Behavioral Essentials
• Even more questions from MindTools

In our next episode, you’ll hear empathy in action from Ennie Lim, CEO of HoneyBee, who created an entire service based on empathy.

When you look up the word disruptor in the dictionary, you should see Mary Alice’s picture! Continuing our January theme of disruption, we are SO excited to introduce you to Mary Alice Duff.  Mary Alice is the founder of Alice Alexander Co., an international size inclusive brand that is ethically sourced, created, and manufactured, in Philadelphia, PA.

We talk about everything from pricing strategy to leadership style, to why knowing your mission is so important - especially when you’re a disruptor and hear no a lot!

Learn:

How the quest for a wool pencil skirt started her international, direct to consumer, fashion company 

Her list of disruptions is seemingly endless...and that list is also what has made her company a success 

How disrupting manufacturing by giving her employees flex schedules, even for shift work and manual labor yields 100% retention

When employees ask her why she’s not yelling at them...you know you’re talking to a leader who is disrupting in a positive way

“If you’re not kind to your team members...when sh1t gets hard, they’re not going to show up”

Hashtag #ethicalfashion on instagram - inspires her to disrupt that sameness with size, ethnicity, and body diversity in marketing and branding  - and why Mary Alice still feels like there’s more she needs to do 

Check out the beautiful video on her site and connect with Alice Alexander on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest.

As promised last week, we’re kicking off 2020 with a bang! Disruption is our January theme, and wowie do we have a lot to say on this! As Kelly and Lara reflected on past D(g)B episodes, they realized that most of their guests are disruptors for good. D(g)B has featured: Nolan Painting, Back to Earth Compost Crew, Dr. Kristen Donnelly  as well as consultants helping business leaders transform: LaKita Williams, Katie Wright, Jennifer Brown, Jamila Medley, Mory Fontanez 

This episode notes some other disruptors you may have heard of: Interface Carpet, Cascade Engineering, Seventh Generation as Kelly & Lara realize more and more, that companies not doing good business are being left behind.

Other worthy disruptions:

Kindness as a disruptor 

Responding versus reacting as a leader  - power of the Pause, Tara Brach Radical Acceptance

 Inc. article on innovation with quotes from Jerry Seinfeld (“What am I sick of?”) 

Maddock Douglas (“Embrace the hate to innovate)

Defining a New Leadership Model – Leith Sharp