Key Conversations for Leaders

Kate Eberle Walker is the CEO of PresenceLearning, the leading provider of online special education services for K-12 schools. In this role, she leads a majority female employee population, whose mission is not only to provide students with learning needs, but to provide a flexible career path for nearly 1,000 special education clinicians, many of whom are working mothers. Kate became the CEO of The Princeton Review at age 39. Prior to that, she navigated the male-dominated investment world at Goldman Sachs working her way up through management roles. She shares tell-it-like-it is advice with her fellow managers and in her book The Good Boss: 9 Ways Every Manager Can Support Women at Work.

Inside this Episode:

• Should Women Adapt to the Culture Or Should the Culture Adapt to Women?
• Hidden Realities of Being a Woman in the Corporate World
• Identifying Inclusive and Exclusive Behaviors on Teams
• Unconscious Micro-Aggressions And What To Do About Them
• What an Organization Filled with “Good Bosses” Looks Like
• How To Get Started on Becoming a Good Boss
• What It's Really Like For New Moms Returning to Work
• How to Immediately Engage Parents as They Return to Work
• Being Proactive and Asking For What You Want

Links:

Website

LinkedIn

Twitter

The Good Boss

Heather R. Younger is an experienced keynote speaker and two-time author. She is the CEO and Founder of Employee Fanatix, a leading employee engagement, leadership development, and DEI consulting firm, where she is on a mission to help leaders understand the power they possess to ensure people feel valued at work. 

Known as The Employee Whisperer™, Heather harnesses humor, warmth, and an instant relatability to engage and uplift audiences and inspire them into action. 

Inside This Episode

• Turning Adversity Into Opportunity
• What It Takes to be an Employee Whisperer™
• Why Real Change Takes Commitment and Consistency
• The Secret to Develop Undivided Attention
• The Difference Between Empathy and Compassion
• How to Know if You Are Truly a Caring Leader
• The Numbers Behind Becoming People-First
• Leading With Feelings
• The Main Ingredient to Helping People Find Their Voice
• Developing Trust In a Group Setting

Links:

Website

LinkedIn

Tedx Talk

Twitter

Books

Paul Robinson is the founder of Ensunet Technology Group, a San Diego based company specializing in M&A post-merger integration and IT enterprise architecture solutions, a company which is featured on Inc Magazine’s 2018 and 2019 list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in America.

To-date, Ensunet has supported more than $11 billion in pre- and post-merger IT planning, due diligence, and integration, including staffing projects throughout the United States, Central America, and the Asia-Pacific region.

Paul likes to “pay it forward” on the streets of his hometown: San Diego. There, he mentors at-risk youth; he’s also certified as an elder-care volunteer. Always rising to new heights, he also makes time to go off-roading at dizzying elevations in the High Sierras, as the organizer of a group that’s now nearly 500 members strong.

Inside This Episode

• When to Start Planning M&A
• The Evolution of Corporate Growth
• The Danger of Focusing Exclusively on the Numbers
• The Key Factors for Technological Integration
• Giving the IT Department A Seat at the Table
• The Need for Developing a Cybersecurity Plan
• The Biggest Risk When Growing Through Acquisition
• Developing Your Employer Value Proposition
• Why You Need to Train Like a World-Class Athlete
• Finding Your Strategic Parking Space

Links:

Website 

LinkedIn 

Email: [email protected]

Emma Mills-Sheffield is a consultant, coach, speaker, and facilitator.  She has over 15 years of industry experience.  She’s worked with public sector organizations, FTSE100 and Fortune500 companies, charities and start-ups.  In January 2020 Emma was named as one of 100 female entrepreneurs in the UK as part of the small business campaign f:Entrepreneur.

Inside This Episode

• Where Leadership Really Begins
• The Basic Ingredients in Creating High Performing Teams
• How Slowing Down Can Increase Our Productivity
• The Power of Vulnerability
• The Importance of Authentic Leadership
• How to Know if You Have an Underperforming Team
• How to Create Empathy in a Corporate Culture
• Why Leadership is a Privilege, Not a Right
• Holding Space for Yourself and Advocating for Others
• Dealing with Insecurities as a Leader
• Scaling Up Through Leadership
• Why Leaders Don’t Want Clones
• Managing Engagement and Retention Through Change

Links:

Website 

LinkedIn 

Twitter

Facebook 

Kerry Wekelo is the Chief Operating Officer at Actualize Consulting, a financial services consulting firm. Her latest book is, “Gratitude Infusion: Workplace Strategies for a Thriving Organizational Culture” and her book and program, “Culture Infusion: 9 Principles for Creating and Maintaining a Thriving Organizational Culture,” is the impetus behind Actualize Consulting being named Top Company Culture by Entrepreneur Magazine, a Top Workplace by The Washington Post, and Great Place to Work-Certified. In her leadership, Kerry blends her experiences as a consultant, executive coach, award-winning author, mindfulness expert, and entrepreneur. Kerry has been featured on ABC, NBC, NPR, The New York Times, Thrive Global, SHRM, Inc., and Forbes.

Inside this Episode:

• Identifying Cultural Red Flags
• Building Thriving Cultures at a Distance
• The Importance of Commitment and Consistency in Culture
• Building Connections with Remote Teams
• Creating a Gratitude-Focused Organization
• Why Gratitude Starts at the Top
• A No-Cost Approach to Creating Energy and Enthusiasm
• The Power of Questions in Creating Organizational Self-Awareness
• To Grow Your Company, Grow Your People
• Bringing Mindfulness Into Your Organization

Links:

LinkedIn

Twitter

Website

Books

Alain Hunkins helps high achieving people become high achieving leaders.  Over his twenty-year career, Alain has worked with over 2,000 groups of leaders in 25 countries. Clients include Wal-Mart, Pfizer, Citigroup, General Electric, Microsoft, among many others. In addition to being a leadership speaker, consultant, trainer, and coach, Alain is the author of CRACKING THE LEADERSHIP CODE: Three Secrets to Building Strong Leaders, which was endorsed by leadership luminaries Jim Kouzes, Barry Posner, and Marshall Goldsmith. A faculty member of Duke Corporate Education, Alain’s writing has been featured in Fast Company, Inc., Forbes, Chief Executive, Chief Learning Officer, and Business Insider. 

Inside This Episode

• Can you really “Fake it ‘til you make it?”
• The Importance of Performing as a Leader
• Why only 23% of employees think their leaders lead well
• How We Inherit Our Leadership Style
• The Need to Get Out of Industrial Age Leadership Practices
• The First Step to Cracking the Leadership Code
• The Future of Leadership
• Why Organizations Need to Become More Human-Centered
• The 3 Secrets of Effective Leaders
• Why We Need to Start with Connection
• The Difference Between Knowing and Doing in Regard to Empathy
• Embracing Emotions in the Workplace
• Overcoming the Bias of Self-Affirming
• Why Leaders Need to Actively Manage Perceptions
• The Real Business of Leadership
• A Powerful Question to Ask to Transform Your Culture

Links:

Website 

LinkedIn

TEDx Talk

Books 

Jennifer Brown is an award-winning entrepreneur, speaker, diversity and inclusion consultant, and author. Jennifer is the founder, president, and CEO of Jennifer Brown Consulting, headquartered in New York City and has been featured in media such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, AdWeek, Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, and many others.

Jennifer is the host of the popular weekly podcast, The Will to Change, which uncovers true stories of diversity and inclusion.  She is also the bestselling author of two books; Inclusion, and How to Be An Inclusive Leader.

Inside this Episode • What A Culture of Belonging Looks Like • Waking Up to Diversity & Inclusion • Recognizing Our Own Biases • The Problems Of A Self-Perpetuating Meritocracy • The Challenges of Becoming An Inclusive Leader • Staying Relevant in a Changing World • Starting to Look Through an Equity Lens • The Importance of Recognizing Identity • The Relationship Between Inclusiveness and Performance • Corporate Culture Transparency and Accountability • The Power of Empathy in Culture • The Inclusive Leader Continuum

Links:

Website

LinkedIn 

Twitter

Books

Pollyanna is one of Australia’s leading professionals in creating high performance cultures that transform results. For the past 20 years she has supported clients across Govt, Blue chip Corporate, NFPs and Mid tier professional services organizations.

She achieves this by helping her clients to develop consistent high-performing teams, elevating leadership  capability, lifting employee engagement and maturing the potential of all.

Among her accomplishments are building a multi million pound business from the ground up, author of the book Women & Success, she was a regular contributor to Australia's best business blog, SmartCompany for 13 years writing as their expert on teams. Pollyanna is a regular contributor to Arianna Huffington’s Thrive. 

As part of the leadership team of Homeward Bound Projects, a global initiative to elevate the influence and leadership of women in STEMM globally. She was the onboard Leadership facilitator for HB3 which took to Antarctica supporting 80 women from 26 countries.

A core focus of hers is working towards building a gender balanced workforce. Her Women & Success programs support women to navigate specific challenges that women face in the workplace.

Inside This Episode

• Using Public Commitments to Create Accountability and Action
• The Power of Creating a New Identity
• The One Thing You Need When Your Chute Doesn’t Open (Literally)
• Micro Steps to Long-Term Success
• The True Power of Muscle Memory
• Prepared Spontaneity
• It’s Not About Confidence, It’s About Courage
• How The Success of Others Can Limit You
• The Unbelievably Long Timeline for Gender Pay Equality

Links:

Website: https://www.pollyannalenkic.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pollyannalenkic/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PollyannaLenkicConsulting

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pollyannalenkic/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PollyannaLenkic

Rick Lite and his wife, Lori, ventured into publishing in 2003 with a line of books and CD’s through their company, Stress Free Kids.  They even negotiated a deal on ABC’s Shark Tank in Season 1, Ep. 3.  After achieving international success, they decided to form a new company in 2010 called Stress Free Book Marketing to share their knowledge and strategies to help other authors do the same.

Inside This Episode

• How to Know If You Should Write a Book
• Why You Should Start In Reverse
• Using Your Book As A Part of Your Platform
• Finding the Right Marketing Mix for Your Message
• The Key to Avoiding Getting Stuck in a Writing Project
• The Ideal Scenario for Writing and Marketing Your Book
• The Main Ingredients for A Successful Book Launch
• The Reality of Independent and Traditional Publishing

Links:

Website

LinkedIn 

Twitter

Karen Walker is an executive coach and consultant who advises CEOs and senior leaders on thriving in hyper-growth. She has worked with clients including Aetna, AWS, Pfizer, JPMorganChase, and BMC Software, as well as Inc. 5000 startups. Karen is also a board advisor, keynote speaker, and the author of No Dumbing Down: A Guide for CEOs on Organization Growth. As employee 104 at Compaq, Karen helped lead the then-fastest growing company in American history, growing it from $0 to $15 billion in revenue.

Inside This Episode

• The Foundation for Hypergrowth
• The Power of “Up and To The Right”
• A Simple Question to Drive Performance
• No Dumbing Down: Optimizing Your Team
• The Key to Keeping Top Talent
• The Two Key Skills for Visionary Leaders
• Building a Collaborative Team
• Dealing with a Toxic Team
• Zen and the Art of Thinking Bigger

Links:

Website

LinkedIn

Twitter

Book: No Dumbing Down