The Forward Thinking podcast, powered by FCCS is to inform and inspire in the areas of leadership, employee engagement, governance, risk management & insurance, training, and strategic talent management. We feature industry experts and thought leaders with forward-thinking interviews and discussions.
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Accountability without compassion creates negative cultures that can’t retain talent, while compassion without accountability creates avoidant cultures that can’t perform. The need for both compassion and accountability is greater than ever before. On this episode of The Forward Thinking Podcast, FCCS VP of Marketing and Communications Stephanie Barton is joined by Nathan Regier, CEO of Next Element and author of Compassionate Accountability. Together they consider the importance of combining human connection and accountability in performance in ways that benefit all involved parties.
Episode Insights Include:
Compassion and Accountability
Compassion is much more than sympathy – it means to literally suffer with another.
Many problems don’t need to be fixed, they simply need to be journeyed through together.
Compassion needs to be a co-creative process.
Accountability is the co-creative process of getting things done.
Accountability and compassion can’t exist in isolation, they have to work together.
Why does this concept matter?
Conflict can happen in a way that brings people closer together when compassion and accountability are present.
The compassion mindset allows people to approach conflict with a productive mindset.
People struggle with this concept until they realize that compassion and accountability can change our world.
Defining a compassion mindset
The compassion mindset understands the choices we make have a material impact on others and on outcomes.
It is a fundamental choice that we have the opportunity to make.
Value, capability, and responsibility are the three choices of the compassion mindset.
Bridging the divide with a compassionate mindset
Mindset is the first essential step.
Skill set is critical to ensure that the correct behaviors have been learned.
The bridge between compassion and accountability is conflict.
There is no other way to get to compassion and accountability than through conflict because the purpose of conflict is to create.
Navigating trust and conflict
Conflict provides opportunities to build or destroy trust.
ORPO can help navigate conflict - Openness, Resourcefulness, Persistence, and Openness to safety.
Every interaction is an opportunity to choose drama or no drama.
Ask yourself what would happen if you interacted with every conflict with respect.
Incorporating compassion and accountability into culture
Consider how your efforts support human value.
No matter your company’s brand, it is an indicator of your company’s culture.
Culture will always drive the brand.
There is no excuse for anyone to dismiss their lack of efforts for compassion - growth is always an option.
Consider the end result that you really want, then act accordingly.
“Compassion doesn’t mean to take away the suffering, it means to join with people and walk together through the suffering.” — Nathan Regier
“We can’t have compassion and accountability in isolation, they just have to work together.” — Nathan Regier
“If compassion and accountability can coexist, it can change our world.” — Nathan Regier
“There is no other way to get to compassion and accountability than through conflict.” — Nathan Regier
Developing Adaptable Employees and Teams
Wednesday, October 16, 2024 • Duration 31:28
Keeping up with the rapid pace of technology and process changes is a challenge for organizations worldwide. On this episode of The Forward Thinking Podcast, FCCS VP of Marketing and Communications Stephanie Barton welcomes Greg DeVore, co-founder and CEO of ScreenSteps for a discussion about creating smoother transitions and stronger team performance. They cover strategies for developing adaptable employees and teams, tools and training that can empower employees to confidently adapt to change, and what happens when employees are given the framework that enables them to effectively enhance their performance and improve their procedures.
Episode Insights Include:
Why do organizations struggle with change?
Change is often a people problem. No one likes change.
The lack of clarity around change creates additional ambiguity and stress.
Leaders need to be aware of the cognitive load they are putting on people when introducing changes.
How can change be made less scary?
A one-time lunch-and-learn does not provide enough time to retain new information.
Employees lose 90% of the information presented to them, so they must be empowered to perform their new jobs after they have forgotten almost everything new.
Creating a reference guide for change provides the framework that employees need to access new foundational knowledge.
Empower employees to find the information they need at the moment they need it.
Becoming a Find and Follow organization
The only way you can make onboarding easier is if you change the way you work.
Transferring information from one employee to the next is a critical component of organizational success.
Resources Get in touch
Unlocking Board Excellence: The Role of a Board Champion
Tuesday, April 16, 2024 • Duration 29:58
Boards are critical to the success of an organization. They hold the responsibility of ensuring the sustainability and shaping the future of the company beyond the tenure of any one employee. On this episode of The Forward Thinking Podcast, FCCS VP of Marketing and Communications Stephanie Barton welcomes FCCS VP of Governance and Board Development Leslie Hilton for a discussion about the key role of the board in successful business and how the board champion can help lead this charge. She details the role of a board champion, the effectiveness of their efforts, and who is the ideal candidate to become a board champion that can help enhance board trust and ensure future success.
Episode Insights Include:
The roles of the board in conjunction with the management team
The board’s role is to represent the stakeholders in ensuring the long-term sustainability of the business.
The board is responsible for the future of the business beyond the currently engaged management team.
The board should be engaging with management regularly and in constructive ways.
The board brings relevant insight from personal experience to help management and the board make better decisions.
The board provides guidance to management about the long-term direction of the organization.
The importance of the board champion
A board champion is a way to embody a concept for boards who are interested in and take responsibility for their own effectiveness.
A board champion believes that the board plays a key role in the success and sustainability of the business beyond compliance.
The board champion could be a director, CEO or other leader who understands why the board needs to take accountability for their performance and effectiveness.
A board champion doesn’t fall into the trap of complacency when things are going well.
Resources Get in touch
Your Presence as a Link to Success
Monday, March 25, 2024 • Duration 34:50
Leaders who want to inspire confidence and drive success know that presence is an essential part of their leadership. On this episode of The Forward Thinking Podcast, FCCS VP of Marketing and Communications Stephanie Barton is joined by Sally Williamson, CEO of Sally Williamson & Associates, speaker, and executive presence expert for a conversation about the missing link to your success as a leader or communicator – your presence. She highlights what presence is and what it isn’t, who your presence is really about, and what forward thinking leaders can do to improve their performance in today’s evolving workplace.
Episode Insights Include:
Defining presence and its importance to leaders
Presence is not something you assign to yourself, it’s the assumptions of others based on how they perceive you.
Presence has always been important, but it has become increasingly difficult in recent years as leaders are not always as visible as they have been in the past.
Leaders must increase their intentionality surrounding their presence in order to be effective at it.
Leaders need to identify when and why their presence matters and then act accordingly.
Executive brand vs. executive presence
Presence is more than just charisma, and it can be an integral part of an executive brand.
A personal brand is something that leaders need to consider and determine how they want to be seen by others and known for.
Coaching should not revolve around brands, it should focus on impressions.
Others will comment on your impression before they comment on your brand.
A leader’s brand is the sum total of their impressions over time.
Presence is everyone else’s impression of you, and is reflected in what others ask of you.
Resources Get in touch
Fostering a Healthier and Happier Workforce
Monday, March 4, 2024 • Duration 31:22
A healthy intersection of business success and employee wellbeing has reached an all-time critical high. More than ever before, businesses and managers need to support a workplace where employees feel that their health and well-being are prioritized so they can thrive. On this episode of The Forward Thinking Podcast, FCCS VP of Marketing and Communications Stephanie Barton is joined by Debi Yadegari, Founder & CEO of Villyge for a look at the latest trends, strategies and best practices for fostering a healthier and happier workforce and workplace.
Episode Insights Include:
The growing emphasis behind employee well-being
The pandemic provided valuable insights into who employees really are.
It also caused a cultural shift on DEI, allowing a greater place for it.
A shift in priorities has required employers to reconsider what they are offering their employees.
Work is no longer the number one priority for many employees, and employers need to meet their team where they are at in order to attract top talent.
Overcoming the challenges of implementing well-being initiatives
Identifying who well-being programs are most effectively going to serve is one of the greatest problems facing many employers.
Well-being initiatives need to offer programs that make financial sense as well.
Villyge aims to serve everybody by offering greater bandwidth from the foundation and add on additional layers from there.
Benefits to making employee well-being a priority
Employee longevity is positively affected – retention is up when employees feel supported through life transitions and challenges at work.
Managers who are able to better support employees have happier employees and keep their team in place longer.
Resources Get in touch
The Habit Advantage
Tuesday, February 13, 2024 • Duration 33:48
Carefully cultivated positive habits have the power to transform our personal and professional lives. On this episode of The Forward Thinking Podcast, FCCS VP of Marketing and Communications Stephanie Barton is joined by FCCS Senior Consultant and Director Jeannie Clinkenbeard. Jeannie is also the lead facilitator of the FCCS Leading Self and Leading Leaders Programs. Together Stephanie and Jeannie explore actionable strategies and expert advice to help positive transformation through the power of habits. They discuss the potential for continuous growth and achievement with the habit-building secrets that can elevate your career and enrich your professional and personal journey.
Episode Insights Include:
The significance of habits
Habits are rated as one of the top key indicators of professional and personal success.
Habits are rated as more important than luck or talent.
When you can change your habits, you can change your life.
Habits are the key to success, performance, and even team culture.
Cultivating team habits
Leaders can cultivate strong habits by asking their team what their desired future looks like.
Consider what habits need to be developed to create the future you are looking for.
Help team members identify the habits that will help them reach future goals.
If you want to change your life, you have to change your habits. The same applies to team habits.
Overcoming habit roadblocks
Consider the rewards for performing either good or bad habits.
Identify the emotions that are attached to the habit as well as ways to replace the bad for the good.
Resources Get in touch
Celebrating Successes – The 50th Episode!
Friday, November 10, 2023 • Duration 33:28
Welcome to the 50th episode of The Forward Thinking Podcast. Our guest today is THE original guest from episode one, Keynote Speaker Ryan Avery. Ryan has been partnering with FCCS for the Go From A Leader to THE Leader Online Strategic Communications Program and is THE Keynote Speaker at many of the FCCS conferences. Today we’re talking about celebrating! Celebrating success can happen in the face of adversity or failure, it can highlight appreciation for hard work, serve as a morale booster, and help foster an excellent team culture. Together Stephanie and Ryan discuss the value of celebrating, the power of storytelling, and the importance of expressing gratitude to your team for not only the work they accomplish but the effort they put into it along the way.
Episode Insights Include:
Being THE
There are key differences between being ‘a’ and being ‘the’.
Do you want to work for a company or THE company?
Do you want a job, or do you want THE job?
When you focus on being THE, your life changes forever. It becomes more fulfilling, more exciting, and more resilient.
The simplicity of THE creates a simple but powerful mind shift.
The definition of THE is going to be different for everyone.
The power of celebrating success
Celebrating is simply acknowledging something along the way.
Don’t wait until the end to recognize the work that has already happened.
Celebrating helps you acknowledge that you are actively participating, rather than sitting on the sidelines.
Celebrating through storytelling
The three F’s of storytelling can help you acknowledge your success in an effective way.
Resources Get in touch
How Change Disrupts Industry
Friday, October 27, 2023 • Duration 27:14
It can be hard to see change coming, but there are patterns in the way change disrupts an industry that, when identified, can help to empower an organization to prepare for what’s coming and be prepared to act. In this episode of The Forward Thinking podcast, host Stephanie Barton, VP of Marketing and Communications at FCCS sits down with Vance Crow, Organizational Strategist, and CEO of Articulate Ventures for a look at how your organization can better prepare for change and create a shared language to facilitate open, meaningful and necessary conversations. Vance will be speaking at the upcoming FCCS Director Leadership Conference in Nashville, and in this conversation, he offers a look inside his session “The Edge of Chaos: Where and How Society Changes”.
Episode Insights Include:
Defining the edge of chaos
The world can be viewed in a dualist way, like the yin and yang.
Order and chaos are an integral part of everything.
Order is what we know and understand while chaos represents the rest of the world and is often avoided.
Nothing new comes from order, it only comes from the chaos that is brought back to order.
The edge of chaos represents the border between what is unknown and what is known.
Innovation and advancements are found at the edge of chaos.
The challenge of preparing for change
Change is difficult to prepare for because we never know when it’s coming.
Change often comes quickly and all at once.
Change can be preceded by pain and suffering.
Change often requires that people move beyond the suffering to try something different, which is not always a pleasant experience.
Creative tactics for excelling in the face of change
Resources Get in touch
Social and Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace
Friday, October 13, 2023 • Duration 39:08
Emotional intelligence (EQ) has been identified by 85% of employers as even more valuable than IQ, but it is often seen as something that you either have or don’t have. New science shows that it is possible to increase emotional intelligence with training and practice, which can benefit relationships both in and outside of the workplace.
In this episode of The Forward Thinking podcast, host Stephanie Barton, VP of Marketing and Communications at FCCS is joined by Maureen Breeze, Certified Executive Coach from the Institute for Social and Emotional Intelligence. Maureen will be speaking at the upcoming FCCS 2023 Director Leadership Conference and has joined the podcast today to discuss the importance of emotional agility. She highlights the need for leaders to increase their social and emotional intelligence in the workplace and offers tactics to improve EQ skills in ways that drive results effectively.
Episode Insights Include:
The importance of emotional agility
Our ability to connect with others through emotional intelligence is not a stagnant skill, it can be refined and improved over time.
The ability to read emotions and manage our own emotions is more important than ever before.
Emotional agility requires understanding who you are working with and how you can show up as your best self on the team.
Emotional agility is reflected in the confidence level of each team player.
Emotional intelligence in leaders
Leaders set the tone for the team and need to set the emotional temperature in every room they are working in.
EQ leaders can either bring the temperature down if emotions are running hot or increase energy when more excitement is needed.
The level of control demonstrated by leaders will be mirrored in the team.
Resources Get in touch
The Agile Sales Leader Playbook
Friday, September 29, 2023 • Duration 38:29
In today’s fast-paced sales environment, sales leaders must possess the agility to adapt to a variety of situations. A rigid approach to leadership may have worked in the past, but it won’t work for companies that are going to succeed in the future. In this episode of The Forward Thinking podcast, host Stephanie Barton, VP of Marketing and Communications at FCCS welcomes Regional Vice President of Sales for Richardson Sales Performance Reuben Wilson for a conversation about sales challenges, capabilities, and more. Reuben will be speaking at the upcoming FCCS 2023 Sales Leaders Conference and has joined the podcast today to discuss the core capabilities that are required to lead winning sales teams. He offers advice about agility as it applies to sales leadership, tactics for embracing an agile mindset, and ideas for successfully engaging teams in powerful conversations.
Episode Insights Include:
The impact of agility on a sales team
Recent shifts have resulted in worldwide supply chain disruption, economic uncertainty, and pricing volatility.
The pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in organizations that have required a rethinking of operations.
The average B-to-B decision now includes up to 10 involved decision-makers.
A rigid approach to a constantly changing world simply does not work.
Agile sales leadership can be defined as a way to swiftly and effectively switch between various roles and responsibilities.
Sales leaders need to be able to guide their teams toward an objective and provide a plan during critical phases.
Overcoming the greatest challenges of a sales manager
Managers have to effectively determine which deals to prioritize and pursue.
An increase in salespeople requires more management, which means less coaching time per team member.
The volume of data requires an increase in processing and attention, which managers don’t readily have.
Resources Get in touch
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If you are truly seeking consistency and the ability to adapt to change, you don’t actually want employees to learn tasks. You want them to understand the foundational knowledge.
Effectively introducing change
A really good checklist will beat dozens of years of experience.
Memorization is not the ultimate goal, empowering employees to access knowledge is.
Start introducing change by identifying the needed change and the resources that will support it.
High complexity and high rates of change require a high level of training and resources.
The goal should be to transfer knowledge to employees in the moment that they need it.
Identifying what employees need to know in order to be successful
Include the person in charge of training, the person fixing the employees’ mistakes, and the person who answers their questions.
Consider the employee triggers- tasks that must be performed and questions that must be answered.
This approach can work for both large and small changes.
Employees who follow this approach will feel more confident in their responsibilities.
Effective, established frameworks can support AI in the future of work.
“The board’s role is to represent the stakeholders in ensuring the long-term sustainability of the business.” — Leslie Hilton
“A board champion is a way to embody a concept for boards who are interested in and take responsibility for their own effectiveness.” — Leslie Hilton
“Board effectiveness is a journey, not a destination.” — Leslie Hilton
“Board champions understand that investment in the board is as important as investment in a management team.” — Leslie Hilton
The 3 C’s of developing key components of presence
There are three elements of presence coaching – confidence, commitment, and connection.
Ask others for feedback about the impressions they perceive in your voice and body language.
Presence is about your intention more so than your techniques.
Authenticity is a huge part of effective presence, and has to be balanced with authoritative confidence.
High visibility roles can’t easily translate authenticity in a conversational and personal way.
The effective of presence on employee engagement
Consistency is the magic word with presence.
Within a thriving culture, people need to experience leaders and managers consistently.
When intentions are effectively communicated, trust will continually grow.
When people come to expect certain positive behaviors from leaders, they will continue to trust them.
Awareness is the first step to increasing and improving presence.
Consider the brand triangle- what do people say most often about you? What do you wish people would say about you? And what misconceptions do others have of you?
Common presence pitfalls and how to overcome them
People tend to plateau in their presence and stop focusing on it over time.
Expectations are constantly changing, and leaders need to transition from good to great quickly.
Working on presence will mean focusing on others even more than you focus on yourself.
Too often people don’t want to work to enhance their presence, but intentional action has to be a part of your efforts.
Don’t be afraid to ask for and then actually receive feedback.
Offer effective and helpful feedback when others ask for it.
Seek visibility opportunities where you can practice your presence.
“After the pandemic, work is no longer the number one priority for many employees.” — Debi Yadegari
“Trying to dissect who these programs are going to serve is one of the greatest problems we hear about.” — Debi Yadegari
“Employees can step in and make a difference during those moments of life shifts, and it will have a tremendous impact on the longevity of an employee’s career.” — Debi Yadegari
“When employees feel like part of a community, they are more confident to raise their hand and share their ideas and thoughts.” — Debi Yadegari
“What companies really need is support for the culture.” — Debi Yadegari
Imagine a circle that loops from the cue to the routine to the reward of a habit.
Set up your habit loop so that it continually works in your favor.
Identifying and implementing positive habits
Health, diet, and productivity are common areas where people want to improve habits.
Prioritize your top three must-do’s for each day and the associated reward for achieving them.
Maintain habit consistency by either increasing the reward or decreasing the effort.
Habit building as a leader
Leaders need to consider habits as not just what they do, but who they are as leaders.
Consider the mental reward of maintaining your habits – habits represent mental strength.
Leverage habits to drive team growth in positive ways.
Ask other leaders what habits have made the greatest impact on their leadership.
Solicit actionable feedback from your professional circle.
“If you want to change your life, you’ve got to change your habits.” — Jeannie Clinkenbeard
“A successful habit has to be specific and it has to be doable.” — Jeannie Clinkenbeard
“Consider if your reward is big enough and if your habit is small enough.” — Jeannie Clinkenbeard
“Good habits tend to create other good habits.” — Jeannie Clinkenbeard
“Don’t diminish small, consistent actions over time. They are what makes up your success.” — Jeannie Clinkenbeard
Fear, family, and failures can connect you with others on a more meaningful level.
People like to hear stories about people who are trying, whether or not they succeed.
Sharing personal experiences will encourage others to try as well.
Storytelling increases connections, especially when names are attached to the stories.
Creating a culture of acknowledgement and success
Don’t wait until something is finished to celebrate it.
Communication itself will never change, but methods of communication will continue to change.
Three R’s can help refine a celebration –reflect on what is working and what isn’t, reject anything that is clearly not working, and renew a commitment to continue what is working.
Evolve, grow, and learn together by opening another box instead of thinking outside the box.
Expressing gratitude for your team
Recognize all that you have to be grateful for and express that gratitude regularly.
Visit disappointment, but don’t live there. Live in gratitude.
Don’t let one thing ruin everything.
Consider living in an “and” world, not an “or” world. You and your team can be happy and sad at the same time.
Measuring and quantifying success
Success should be defined by each individual.
A clear definition of success makes it easy to set boundaries about what you are willing to do.
Your definition of success can help you make decisions.
Contentment is not the opposite of ambition, it is a state of being that everyone is trying to achieve.
There is an opportunity for people to make conscious choices about how they want to show up and the impact they want to have.
Leaders want to drive results but also need to consider who they want to be in the process.
Key factors and skills that affect emotional intelligence
Factors include personal emotional regulation, awareness of conflict, and psychological safety.
Skills that can help develop emotional awareness include reflection time, leaning into strong listening skills, and identifying and acknowledging what you are seeing.
Enhancing these factors and skills will help navigate healthy conflict.
The science behind emotional regulation
Humans are wired to be triggered in heightened or emotional situations.
A heightened physiological state can hijack our thinking, but we have the power to get our thinking back online.
Consider deep breathing, taking a pause, or stepping away to help create a distance that will allow the nervous system to realign.
When receiving critical feedback, employ key phrases that will create a pause such as “I need a minute to process this”.
The correlation between burnout and emotional intelligence
Burnout is caused by many factors including our relationship with technology.
