Working on Purpose

College students and their families often spend a small fortune investing in education, with the intention of giving the loved one a good start and base on which to launch a successful career. Yet, having a clear career path and strategic approach to building a college curriculum and career plan is lacking for many college-bound students. Worse, many soon-to-graduate seniors still have no idea what kind of work they might ideally pursue, despite graduating with a major. Employing the advice and counsel from a youth career coach is a direction more and more families are using to give their youth the best start to their lives they can. In this episode, we talk with a business and leadership professional who focuses on helping youth and college students make informed choices and intentionally set the direction of their careers, right from the start.

College students and their families often spend a small fortune investing in education, with the intention of giving the loved one a good start and base on which to launch a successful career. Yet, having a clear career path and strategic approach to building a college curriculum and career plan is lacking for many college-bound students. Worse, many soon-to-graduate seniors still have no idea what kind of work they might ideally pursue, despite graduating with a major. Employing the advice and counsel from a youth career coach is a direction more and more families are using to give their youth the best start to their lives they can. In this episode, we talk with a business and leadership professional who focuses on helping youth and college students make informed choices and intentionally set the direction of their careers, right from the start.

Many young and more seasoned pepole seek a field of work that has a convenient path to entry. That is, they had limited exposure to options, or a family member or friend were employed in a particular field and soon enough find themselves just following suit. Today, many people reinvent themselves and pursue entirely different fields later in life. And then there are the seemingly few and precious minority who discover early on in their lives exactly what they wanted to do for a living in elementary school or earlier. As it were, the host crossed paths with an extraordinary young man, extremely articulate, and something of “an old soul.” In speaking with him about his plans for the future, he boldly indicated he planned to pursue an acting career and had been firm in this plan since at least age 11. Exhilarating to hear! Perhaps both my youth and adult listening audiences can learn a thing or two from this young man about how to identify what we really want to be when we grow up?

Many young and more seasoned pepole seek a field of work that has a convenient path to entry. That is, they had limited exposure to options, or a family member or friend were employed in a particular field and soon enough find themselves just following suit. Today, many people reinvent themselves and pursue entirely different fields later in life. And then there are the seemingly few and precious minority who discover early on in their lives exactly what they wanted to do for a living in elementary school or earlier. As it were, the host crossed paths with an extraordinary young man, extremely articulate, and something of “an old soul.” In speaking with him about his plans for the future, he boldly indicated he planned to pursue an acting career and had been firm in this plan since at least age 11. Exhilarating to hear! Perhaps both my youth and adult listening audiences can learn a thing or two from this young man about how to identify what we really want to be when we grow up?

Today’s commerce takes place in an international marketplace, and many executives leading the largest Fortune 500 companies have lived and worked across the globe. Their business acumen is informed by a multi-cultural, multi-lingual set of experiences that contributes to their problem solving, operational effectiveness, and innovation initiatives. Recently, after leadership roles in several other Brazilian companies, Mr. Guimaraes invested in a steel structure manufacturing company in Minhas Gerais, Brazil, and then contributed his talents to grow and improve quality, productivity and the leadership of the staff. Some 30 years ago, he turned his career focus on technology, came to the United States, began a career in Information Technology and founded and ran a technology company from Dallas, Texas. We’ll hear about his dual-country adventures in business, what he’s learned about how and why culture matters, and the differences in how he led between countries and across his career.

Today’s commerce takes place in an international marketplace, and many executives leading the largest Fortune 500 companies have lived and worked across the globe. Their business acumen is informed by a multi-cultural, multi-lingual set of experiences that contributes to their problem solving, operational effectiveness, and innovation initiatives. Recently, after leadership roles in several other Brazilian companies, Mr. Guimaraes invested in a steel structure manufacturing company in Minhas Gerais, Brazil, and then contributed his talents to grow and improve quality, productivity and the leadership of the staff. Some 30 years ago, he turned his career focus on technology, came to the United States, began a career in Information Technology and founded and ran a technology company from Dallas, Texas. We’ll hear about his dual-country adventures in business, what he’s learned about how and why culture matters, and the differences in how he led between countries and across his career.

We live in an “app-driven” world, fueled by brimming creativity and innovation. Technology is everywhere, the world continues its march toward increased digitization, and as a global society we are ever more dependent on our gadgets to get us through our day and keep us productive at work. But are we really making the best use of technology that we could? Are the companies we work in and run making the most prudent use of technology to fuel innovation, reduce monotonous tasks, and empower employees to contribute their highest talents? In this episode, we talk with Rackspace’s Chief Digital Officer to learn his own personal secrets for using technology productively, how he supports his customers to achieve their ideal customer experience, and his thoughts about where the future of technology is headed.

We live in an “app-driven” world, fueled by brimming creativity and innovation. Technology is everywhere, the world continues its march toward increased digitization, and as a global society we are ever more dependent on our gadgets to get us through our day and keep us productive at work. But are we really making the best use of technology that we could? Are the companies we work in and run making the most prudent use of technology to fuel innovation, reduce monotonous tasks, and empower employees to contribute their highest talents? In this episode, we talk with Rackspace’s Chief Digital Officer to learn his own personal secrets for using technology productively, how he supports his customers to achieve their ideal customer experience, and his thoughts about where the future of technology is headed.

In today’s bustling times, we face personal, business, and cultural challenges that are volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, also known as VUCA. These challenges require situationally aware, adaptive, and strong leadership. Enter flow: When time seems to stand still, the right decisions come easily, we experience a sense of heightened awareness, and optimal experience emerges. In this episode, Dr. Judy shares her research into the flow experiences of firefighters and how training impacts flow-based decision making. This research shows how we can consciously choose to maximize our personal flow experiences, while putting in place the conditions to help others maximize their flow experiences. Incorporating flow-based leadership practices facilitates and enables employees to better align talents to organizational mission, intensify innovation, improve productivity, and increase the bottom line. Ultimately, this extends to personal, organizational, and community well-being.

In today’s bustling times, we face personal, business, and cultural challenges that are volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, also known as VUCA. These challenges require situationally aware, adaptive, and strong leadership. Enter flow: When time seems to stand still, the right decisions come easily, we experience a sense of heightened awareness, and optimal experience emerges. In this episode, Dr. Judy shares her research into the flow experiences of firefighters and how training impacts flow-based decision making. This research shows how we can consciously choose to maximize our personal flow experiences, while putting in place the conditions to help others maximize their flow experiences. Incorporating flow-based leadership practices facilitates and enables employees to better align talents to organizational mission, intensify innovation, improve productivity, and increase the bottom line. Ultimately, this extends to personal, organizational, and community well-being.

The business of higher education is a challenging yet rewarding place to make a career and have tremendous impact on thousands of lives. Preparing young minds to successfully enter the workforce and connect them with opportunities requires a relentless laser focus and collaborative team effort, which is the strategic directive adopted by this episode’s guest. In this conversation, we talk about Dr. McMillen’s choice to pursue a career in education, the work he and his team are doing to serve its annual study body of 4,500 and get them productively into the workforce, discuss five trends that affect higher education and how it operates to affect student outcomes.

The business of higher education is a challenging yet rewarding place to make a career and have tremendous impact on thousands of lives. Preparing young minds to successfully enter the workforce and connect them with opportunities requires a relentless laser focus and collaborative team effort, which is the strategic directive adopted by this episode’s guest. In this conversation, we talk about Dr. McMillen’s choice to pursue a career in education, the work he and his team are doing to serve its annual study body of 4,500 and get them productively into the workforce, discuss five trends that affect higher education and how it operates to affect student outcomes.

You are never perceived in a neutral way. You are always making an impression to yourself or to others on your ability to influence others. When meeting someone for the first time your appearance and demeanor have said it all. The questions to ask yourself are – do I have an accurate understanding of these impressions and are they really what I want to convey? And if I don’t like what I learn about how others perceive me, what can I do to change it and manage it to get the results I want? In this episode, we talk with an impressment management guru about what to focus on and how to improve the way you are perceived at work, as well as the link between impressions, business relationships, and performance at work.

You are never perceived in a neutral way. You are always making an impression to yourself or to others on your ability to influence others. When meeting someone for the first time your appearance and demeanor have said it all. The questions to ask yourself are – do I have an accurate understanding of these impressions and are they really what I want to convey? And if I don’t like what I learn about how others perceive me, what can I do to change it and manage it to get the results I want? In this episode, we talk with an impressment management guru about what to focus on and how to improve the way you are perceived at work, as well as the link between impressions, business relationships, and performance at work.

Companies across the Western world are finding competitive advantage in embracing a culture of “giving for growth.” Whether of the millennial generation, or among the increasing number of adults experiencing “purpose starvation,” increasing numbers of employees welcome the opportunity to expand their own sense of mission and purpose through volunteerism at work and thus gravitate to companies offering such access. Companies are wise to leverage this cooperative esprit de corps to both have the reach and impact on a community it desires, while also fully engaging the talents and passions of their employees to their own corporate missions. Furthermore, many corporate leaders have learned that that to see desired change in their community, they must get physically involved - one way to do so is to mobilize their own army of do-gooders and inspire them to get involved in their own communities. Net result: increased employee engagement, bottom-line results, and healthier communities.