Change Your Mindset

"Every single day in our role as leaders, we encounter situations where empathy would serve us and others well." Peter Margaritis There are dozens of remarkable leaders and scholars singing the praises of empathy in the workplace. For example, in his book, Geoff Colvin, the Fortune Magazine Senior Editor, argues that as workplaces evolve and leadership models change, the most important skill that leaders must possess is empathy. Similarly, an article published in the Harvard Business Review after a survey of 6000 leaders, Jack Singer and Joseph Folkman, revealed that women leaders were more decisive as compared to their male counterparts when it came to empathy. People use the terms sympathy and empathy in overlapping and interchangeable ways, but there's a distinct difference. Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes and feel what they feel, not what you think they feel. It involves grief and pain when and because someone else is feeling it. Every single day in our role as leaders, we e

‘It's not the people that quit and leave your organization that you have to worry about, it is the people that quit and stay.’ Dr. Hope Zoeller My guests today are Dr. Hope Zoeller and Dr. Joe DeSensei. Dr. Hope is the founder and president of Hope LLC. Hope stands for Helping Other People Excel, and it is a firm that specializes in facilitating leaders’ success at every level of an organization. For 14 years of her professional career. Dr. Zeller worked at UPS in a variety of roles including customer service training and development and employee relations. For16 years she has been consulting with organizations on leadership development. Dr. Joe DeSensi is the president of Educational Directions LLC, an educational consulting firm helping schools around the southeast for over 20 years. He developed custom and enterprise software to help districts track data and target students’ needs. Joe holds patents in school data management software and database integration. Hope and Joe have co-authored two books, Hope f

"Leaders of organizations tend to be controlling, but the ability to let things go and see where the journey takes us can be more powerful." Peter Margaritis This is an excerpt from the book, Off Script: Mastering the Art of Business Improvisation. Leadership is not about self-promotion, being the center of attention, talking as much as you can, speaking in the third person, always being right, even when you're wrong, disrespecting others, or being a narcissist. However, in some organizations, these traits are viewed as effective leadership skills, which is the slippery slope to the leaders and potentially the organization's demise." The one skill that helps to save people's careers and organizations is the art of listening. Leadership is all about becoming a better listener. Leadership is all about listening to understand versus listening to respond. Listening to understand means you genuinely want to understand what is being said to you directly, in the room as you participate in a meeting, or while attendi

"To get what you want as a sales professional, you have to connect with the person who has it, and that person is your client." Lon Graham My guest is Lon Graham, who's a speaker coaching advocate. Lon speaks to sales teams, coaches, and sales leaders and is an advocate for sales professionals. He is also an award-winning sales and leadership professional. His message of getting the sales you want comes from over 25 years of experience in healthcare, corporate programs, events, and the airline industry. Lon is an active member of the National Speakers Association. Sales are complex, and two statistics prove that. The first statistic is that sales have the highest turnover; a third of the sales force leaves yearly, which is 10 points higher than any other profession. The second statistic is that the average tenure of a sales professional is a year and a half. There is transformational power in being nice to people. If you start by being nice to people, talking to them, and spending a little bit of time getting

"Any gathering of individuals, no matter how large or small, is an opportunity to meet someone." Peter Margaritis If the thought of networking makes you sweat, it's time to rethink what networking is. Anytime you are at an event or even in a meeting where you don't know someone, you have the opportunity to network. It's about introducing yourself and getting to know someone. This involves having the right attitude, believing in yourself, having a plan, and remembering to smile. By taking just a little time to get in the right mindset, you'll have a lot more confidence walking into any event, and simply smiling can make anyone more approachable. Any gathering of individuals, no matter how large or small, is an opportunity to meet someone. Preparation is vital in making connections, and this means doing your homework. Engage people by being curious about them. It is a great way to break the ice and create a rapport with someone. The key to effective implementation is to be a good listener with your eyes and ear

"We have to do a better job of providing kids with the foundation of financial literacy so we can set them up for success in the future." Rory Henry My guest was Rory Henry has 15 plus years of experience working in tax and, most recently, financial advisory professions. He's built a program AFO Wealth Management Forward, that works with accounting firms to implement holistic Wealth Management Services. Rory is a technology enthusiast at heart and adept at finding ways to improve the client experience using technology to streamline tax, accounting, and wealth management services. Rory is the co-host of a leading accounting and financial podcast, AFO Wealth Management forward. His interviews include the Wall Street Journal, Forbes Fortune Magazine, accounting today, Channing Webb and venture-backed FinTech companies, and nationally recognized thought leaders. In addition, Rory has launched Arrowroot Family Office and Goal Setter Financial Literacy Initiative to help 1 million kids gain a pathway to financial f

"By injecting humor and levity into our work lives, we give ourselves an opportunity for human connection." Peter Margaritis According to some recent research, adding more laughter to the workplace helps improve the organization's culture. Humor allows people to cope with stress and build relationships and is associated with intelligence and creativity. Workplace humor is about a positive, light-hearted, open attitude and a playful mindset. One of the best ways to create a competitive advantage is to create a culture that embraces laughter. By injecting humor and levity into our work lives, we give ourselves an opportunity for human connection —something so easily lost in today's pandemic weary and technology-driven world. Humor has not been seen as a top leadership characteristic but rather a secondary leadership behavior. However, there is more research evidence that humor should be one of the top leadership behaviors. Incorporating humor into your company culture isn't that easy, but well worth it. It is e

“The idea of burning the ladder is a shifting mindset, and building bridges is the action that creates opportunities to build relationships.’ Dr. Alan Patterson My guests today are Dr. Alan Patterson and Jenny Knuth. Alan has more than three decades of international business experience. In 2006, he formed Mentore, a consulting practice specializing in leadership and organizational development. Many global and national businesses and organizations have tapped his expertise, including Anheuser Busch, Biogen, Federal Reserve Bank, Johnson and Johnson, Hewlett Packard, Major League Baseball, and the United States Navy. He's the author of 'Leader evolution: From Technical Expertise to Strategic Leadership.' In addition, Alan has been a college lecturer and frequent presenter at several state and national conferences. He released his new book 'Burn ladders, Build Bridges: Pursuing Work with Meaning and Purpose,' on May 6 of this year, and can be found on Amazon. Jenny, Dr. Alan's marketing person, also joins us in

“People's perceptions of you are their reality, so pay attention to what you want their reality to be.” Peter Margaritis The way we show up does make a big difference, whether in person or virtually. Perception is reality, and the perceptions we create with others, especially with decision-making executives, really matter. People want to interact with humans they can see, hear and experience in person, whether remotely or in person. When we can see and hear each other, we see and feel the energy, engagement, body language, and attitude.  According to the Vytopia press release dated April 12, 2022, executives view the lack of employee engagement as a subpar performance. 92% of the executives say employees who turn their cameras off are generally less engaged in the work overall. Having your camera turned off during any virtual event is disengaging, disrespectful, and simply impolite. The world has changed in so many ways since the pandemic began. One of those ways is the increase in hybrid work as a preferred

“The beauty of good leadership is having the ability of having a wonderful platform to impact someone that you may never know how so.“ Ruben Minor Our guest today is Ruben Minor, who is the president of RAM Consulting Group, an organization that focuses on speaking training and coaching individuals and groups regarding leadership, team dynamics, relationship building, diversity, equity and inclusion, fundamental business philosophies, and business and personal branding. Reuben is a leader with a rich and resourceful network of professionals across the business spectrum, ranging from influential political figures to educational leaders and entrepreneurs.  Ruben leverages his network to make more meaningful connections for his clients and business partners that evolved into lasting mutual beneficial relationships. Ruben also served this country for 15 years in the US Navy as a supply Corp officer, is a John Maxwell certified professional speaker, trainer and coach and intimately engaged in the community, servin

“Emotional Intelligence helps you connect with your feelings, turning that into action, and making informed decisions about what matters most to you.” Peter Margaritis To succeed in the highly competitive world of financial consulting, accounting professionals must possess the right mix of technical experience and soft skills, or think of them as power skills, or better yet, emotional intelligence — EI. EI plays an increasingly significant role in today's business environment. Therefore, you must optimize your EI to improve your bottom line and increase your organization's job satisfaction, engagement, and retention rates. EI is the ability to understand, use and manage your own emotion in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict. EI helps build stronger relationships, succeed at work, and achieve your career and personal goals. It can also help you connect with your feelings, turn that into action, and make informed decisions abo

“In rapidly changing times, dexterity to speed is your key to adaptability.” Rod Collins In today’s episode, we are joined by Rod Collins, a returning guest. Rod’s initial episode was released on February 14th, 2022. The topic of conversation was ‘The Benefits of Flat Organizational Structures.’ Today, our discussion focuses on the strengths of running a collective intelligence workshop when you're trying to solve problems or coming up with new ideas. If you have not listened to the earlier recording, I highly suggest giving it a listen and then following up with this episode. Rod is a leading expert on digital transformation in the future of business. He is the host of The Thinking Differently podcast on the C-suite Radio Network, where he explores how technological innovations continue to transform the rules of how successful businesses. Rod is a regular blog contributor on Substack and the author of Wiki Management, a revolutionary new model for a rapidly changing and collaborative world, highlighting the

“Go write those stories, prepare and practice. And then if the occasion calls, go off script.” Peter Margaritis This excerpt from the book “Off Script: Mastering The Art of Business Improv.“ The Silent Killer of business is ultimately a lack of financial acumen. The death knell of a company comes from having leaders who are empowered to make important decisions and who don’t understand the fundamentals of Accounting and Finance. Leaders need this understanding and knowledge to make more informed, smarter, and more profitable decisions. Further, without the key elements of Improv in place, we won’t have the courage or safety to talk about the money. We need to teach accounting and finance to non-financial leaders to remove the complexity of accounting and financial jargon and teach them the fundamentals in plain English. When you switch the accounting and finance light bulb on and include it as part of the Improv leadership development, your leaders will make better business decisions because their business ac

“There is a real direct application to being human with what you learn in theatre and Improve.” Robert Bendetti Today, our guest is Robert Bendetti, Jr., CPA, who is the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Life Cycle Engineering. As CFO, he is responsible for all financial operations of the company and accounting contracts, purchasing, Process automation, and IT. Before Life Cycle Engineering, Robert served as VP of Finance at Galey and Lord and CFO of the Coastal Logistics Group and a financial management position within Lockheed Martin, Hormel Foods, and Hilton Hotels. Robert is also president and founder of the Global CFO Council. The purpose of the global CFO counselors is to provide an educational and networking forum for senior financial executives to share the best practices, discuss current financial issues, and learn about current topics related to their job performance. There are 1500 members in 32 countries. Robert has a great sense of humor and embraces Improv due to his backgroun

We are in the people business and we need to treat our people and customers with the respect that they deserve.” Peter Margaritis Saving a few pennies is not worth losing a customer. In this era of social media, bad reviews, pictures of disappointing meals, and word of mouth can significantly impact your business. While we must always watch our costs in order to make a profit, it is important to realize that it is the revenues that drive that profit. If we don't get a return business, we lose revenue, and the business loses sustainability and growth period. As a professional speaker, I customize my presentation to each audience and never do the exact same presentation twice. It takes a lot of work, and has been a key driver in the success is my business for 12 years. I will never serve leftovers to my audience or client. It's simply not a good business plan or practice. We all need to remember that we are in the people business. We have no business when we don't treat our people and customers with the respect

Leadership has many attributes associated with it, such as perseverance, vision, inspiration, motivation, and service, to name a few. A leader is there to serve, and my uncle Dean was a great leader who served his country. Retired Colonel Dean Danos passed away on January 27, 2022, after a valiant and brave battle with pancreatic cancer. He served in the Vietnam war, where he flew over 300 combat missions in the AC-47 Gunship, known as Spooky. After serving in Vietnam, he was stationed in the Panama Canal Zone. He flew A-37s to support the Peruvian Earthquake Relief Effort and assumed command of Joint Command Post personnel. After that assignment, he was stationed at Craig Air Force Base in Selma, AL as a T-38 instructor pilot and flight commander. His next assignment was in Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, where he was assigned to the Aggressors, a squadron that flew McDonnell F-15 Eagle fighter jets. His next assignment was in Vicenza, Italy, where he brought Penny and his four children – Stephanie, John, Athena, a

“When it comes to cybersecurity, the effort level on the part of the bad guy is not any different, regardless of whether it is a large entity or small entity.” Chris Barber My guest today is Chris Barber. Chris is the Chief Nerd at Cheaper Than A Geek IT service provider. They have demonstrated a history of providing award-winning support in the IT service industry. Cheaper Than A Geek helps small businesses save money with a smart managed IT service. As an industry leader Cheaper Than A Geek has pioneered providing cutting-edge information technology services for even the smallest companies. They have perfected the art of even one-person companies getting enterprise-grade IP support, like next-generation computer and network security, encrypted disaster recovery, and ensuring maximum uptime and efficiency. They are incredibly proud of the many customer service awards earned due to their commitment to client successes. When it comes to cybersecurity, the effort level on the part of the bad guy is not any diff

“It's really about understanding what is your way that you uniquely contribute to your business, and most of the time, it's not going to be where you're spending most of your time.” Courtney DeRonde Today, my guest is Courtney DeRonde, a CPA and managing partner of TDT CPAs and Advisors— the boutique advisory and accounting firm for small businesses and nonprofit organizations. The company helps overwhelmed, successful leaders, understand and maximize financial information to achieve better results and move the organizations to the next level. As the owner of a firm and managing partner, she also has first-hand experience running and scaling a small business. Courtney understands the need to help and teach clients the importance of being more financially literate. When TDT takes on clients, they learn more about their business to become a better partner, not just for a transaction. The first question that successful business owners ask is, “how does my business make money?” As businesses grow and scale, you g

“Higher education needs to change how accounting is taught and align it with the critical power skills required to succeed in today's business climate.” Peter Margaritis As an accountant, understanding how to sell yourself, both in an educational setting and in the workplace can help you succeed professionally. Technical accounting skills are the foundation of accounting education. However, in today's accounting profession, technical skills are not enough to grow your career by themselves. You need to develop your power skills. Power skills, aka soft skills, are helpful in just about any career and essential to communicate accounting complexities to those non-accounting business leaders. They include aspects like curiosity, self-awareness, empathy, and more. According to the Josh Burson company blog, titled, ‘Let's Stop Talking About Soft Skills, They’re Power Skills’, states that the skills of the future are not technical, they're behavioral. The article goes on to state that IBM's latest research lists the

“I truly believe that every person you meet has the power to change your life, and you have the power to change theirs.” Jen Nash My guest today is Jen Nash, The Connector in Chief. Jen helps people add more meaning to their lives through connection. She's a master facilitator, passionate about masterful storytelling, corporate training, and an author and sought-after executive coach. With over 20 years working as an entrepreneur building a multimillion-dollar real estate portfolio, and offering consulting services to Fortune 100 former tech, health, and finance giants, Jen Nash now regularly inspires and supports leaders to deepen their connections of all the good things in life.  Born in Canada and raised around the world, Jen is an IFC certified executive coach and a graduate of the coach of the Life program. She studied communication design at Parsons and the New York School of Social Research in New York City. When not traveling the globe learning new ways to say thank you in finding bright souls with wh