Manage To Engage | Businesses Grow When People Do

This episode is part two of a three-part series from the live teaching of the course called CLEAR the Issue. What if Life itself was talking to you through your biggest challenges? Would you relate to your problems the same way? Would you still be frustrated, exhausted, and cranky?

This episode starts a three-part series pulled from the live version of the course called CLEAR the Issue. We talk today about an aspect of problem-solving seldom talked about: how you relate to problems on a spiritual level. What stops many people from solving their problems is not a lack of skill or knowledge, but rather an unwillingness to give themselves over to the process. What does that mean and how on earth do you use it to solve problems?

This episode is the final one of a three part series on the subject of work ethic and the dubious and elusive concept called “doing your best.” What is the antidote for mediocrity? There’s plenty of it in our world isn’t there? Would you like to know the counter-intuitive, simple solution?

This episode is part two of a three-part series discussing the idea of doing the best you can when working to achieve your goals. Specifically, we talk about having a solid work ethic and what to do when you have a job that you hate or may not see yourself doing forever.   Where is your work ethic and does it matter? The true test of a human being is how they relate to being inconvenienced when the work is something they don’t necessarily want to do. Believe it or not, how you relate to your work ethic and the job you are in now has an effect on performing at your dream job later.

This episode is the first of a three-part series discussing the idea of doing the best you can when working to achieve your goals. Specifically, we talk about the dynamics of growth and how taking an occasional look back at your former self is key to change.   What does your work ethic look like? Do you realize that you can always do more than what you’re doing now? The true attitude of excellence is to understand that—despite claiming you’re doing the best you can in the moment—you’re always trying to do better and can look back at the former version of your behavior in healthy embarrassment over what you once were.

We’ve already covered non-apologies and the emotional role of shame in the process. Now, we discuss the anatomy of apologies—specifically, the dynamics of a good apology.   This doesn’t include just apologies to others. We also discuss a personal lack of ownership for our own effort and the importance of taking responsibility for our actions when holding ourselves accountable.   The episode is the final one of a three-part series.

As we already know, people are terrible at apologies. Why? Remorse is a strong emotion. The key to a heartfelt apology is to work past the discomfort and remorsefully admit guilt while accepting the consequences. How do you get there? That’s where the CLEAR process becomes important. This is the second episode in a three-part series on how to apologize.

We don’t learn about the art of apologizing as children in school. In fact, the process still evades most grown adults—maybe even including your employees, business associates, or significant other, too. Here, we discuss specific examples of non-apologies in the media and across the political spectrum. This is the first episode in a three-part series.

This is the final episode in a two-part series on the power of organization and the epidemic of chronic overwhelm. We cover how getting organized might truly be the game changer you’re looking for; it doesn’t matter if you want to be more creative, intelligent, or attentive. Organization works to clear the space and make you more open to other things in your life.

This episode starts a two-part series on the power of organization and the epidemic of chronic overwhelm. We also discuss the being and doing aspects of being organized, it’s critical to work on both.   As you listen, remember that getting organized is a means to an end. There’s a ton of great reasons to clear off your desk or empty your inbox, but the most important one people rarely get. There’s far more to it than just moving stuff around.

This episode concludes a four-part series on the necessity of exposure and the factor of shame on the journey of change. It is a fascinating look at the emotional root issue of seemingly complex world problems, the power of exposure, and how understanding shame makes everything both simple and solvable.   We also talk about the endless supply of bad apologies in the media today, the metaphysics of Star Wars, the BP Oil Disaster,  and disgraced evangelical leaders. Shame and how it prevents real responsibility is everywhere.

How do you react when an employee does something wrong? The job of a skilled manager is to help others express remorse and encourage positive change—but there’s a fine line between ensuring someone feels appropriately bad and justifying abuse or harassment.   In this episode we discuss the power of using emotional discomfort as a positive tool for personal and professional growth. It is a hot topic that you won’t want to miss!

Beliefs are quite problematic in our world. Think about how many arguments, misunderstandings, and even wars start because of them. It’s often cited that more people have been killed in the name of God than anything else, but more specifically, it’s people’s belief in God that they kill for. Why? Direct experience doesn’t happen in the mind, any more than your picture of the beach is your vacation. The mind is powerful, and can be powerfully flawed. Our perception is easily distorted by what we think we know but haven’t actually experienced; in other words, what we believe.

Have you ever found yourself caught in a lie or made an excuse for dropping the ball? Or have you ever been in a position of leadership and confronted your employees for doing these things? The distinction between doing a bad thing and being a bad person is large, but being able to admit that you did wrong is an important part of being a mature, responsible human being. This podcast episode is the first in a new series returning to the topic of shame. It is a great conversation that really shows how we relate to each other and ourselves when something has gone wrong in nearly every relationship in our lives including those outside the workplace.

I’ll let you in on a little secret—nobody has to work. But, most of us if not all of us have an inner critic or the voice of our manager or supervisor in our head telling us we have to do the job that we do. How do you work through this and relate to your job as fully your choice? How do you get over thousands of years of conditioning in thinking self-interest is a negative thing? This is the second episode in a two-part series.

Is hard work really a virtue? When did humans start believing this and why? This episode is the first part of a two-part series on the history of work and the events throughout time that led us to where we are now. We also discuss the etymology of the word work and tie in things like the pyramids, religion, slavery, and even the Romans and Greeks for good measure.

How do you start the practice of using what we’ve discussed in your conversations and relationships? The answer to getting the other person to hear you is really rooted in your delivery and your knowledge of your communication strengths.   This episode is the final installment of a four-part series and is another lesson in how discomfort—be it a deep shame, heavy remorse, or just light guilt—plays a huge role in creating change.

No matter where you stand on politics, it is important to understand how our current leadership offers many teachable moments about what lack of personal accountability in a person of power looks like.   This episode is the third in a four-part series about the link between remorse and personal accountability. We tackle the presidential office, the importance of squats, and how that all ties into the emotional landscape of feeling bad for something that happened—a mishmash of topics that have a surprising link.

You’re only as good as your last choice, but that isn’t where the connection ends. There’s a huge distinction between being a so-called bad person and simply doing a bad thing. What managers and business owners need to know is how to understand this and be a responsible authority figure by implementing enforced regret appropriately.   This episode is the second in a four-part series about the link between remorse and personal accountability. Specifically, we will discuss the difference between shame versus guilt. It is a must-listen recording for anyone who is a manager, friend, spouse, parent, or just simply a human being that relates to others. You won’t want to miss it.

Being responsible means proactively looking at how you are being irresponsible. Remorse is the discomfort and regret you feel, which is crucial because produces learning. This episode kicks off a four-part series about the link between remorse and personal accountability.  Plus, I’ll explain how you can utilize this as a management tool that helps your employees see what they’ve done wrong through and ensure it doesn’t happen again.