Voltcast: Illuminating Leadership

Which comes first, employee retention strategy or recognition? What do employees want and why do they leave? What are the drivers of employee retention and engagement? Does the employee or new hire” Fit” with the Team? How frequently are they given meaningful coaching and feedback? How often are the recognized for their contributions to organizational success and how are they recognized? Are “problems” known to the staff and largely unknown to managers and executives? Is the culture in “denial” of the realities being faced by the people that make the organization go? It is the wise organization indeed that knows the answers to these questions. Please join us on the next Voltcast as Voltage CEO Jeff Smith and Principal Consultant Lee Hubert as they discuss retention and recognition strategies that all organizations can benefit for immediately.

Have you ever felt frustration at work and thought to yourself, how do I do better and make an impact? Jon Hagmaier certainly felt troubled as an educator who was trying to academically inspire “at-risk” students. However, what Hagmaier has always been passionate about is recognizing life’s Aha moments and going All-In to achieve a goal. From the newly released book ‘Aha! To All-In’, please join co-author, Jeff Smith, and author, Jon Hagmaier, as they discuss their experiences developing Interactive Achievement from a three-person startup into a multi-million dollar company. Tune in to hear tips, tools, and stories from their journey.

Diversity and Inclusion, what does that mean? How is it defined – is it Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexual orientation, Religious affiliation, Generation, Disability, Personality type, Thinking style? What does it mean for leaders? How is diversity turned into organizational strength? What are the economic and demographic implications? How is embracing diversity and inclusion a powerful catalyst for success? If you have ever asked these questions, you won’t want to miss our next Voltcast – Illuminating Leadership, as hosted by Voltage Principal Consultant Lee Hubert. Our guest will be Gloria Witt, Founder and CEO of Define Success Coaching and Facilitation Services, LLC

We sometimes encounter challenging or difficult personalities in our professional or personal lives. Our 16th President was no exception. Abraham Lincoln had lots on his plate and was masterful at working through all kinds on people to meet the challenges of his day. How do we tap into and apply an individual’s strengths while navigating their weaknesses? What are the best ways to handle an emotionally upset person? How best to offer constructive criticism without it being perceived as persecution? When should we be willing to apologize? How to address poor judgment and maintain a solid leadership reputation? What to do with the “loose cannon” type personality? If your organization or team is looking for sound, practical management tips and tools that can be applied immediately, you won’t want to miss this VoltCast Letters from Lincoln - (George Meade & Joe Hooker) hosted by Voltage Principal Consultant Lee Hubert with Special Guest Steve K. Rogstad.

Remember when you were kids and anticipated summer vacation? The feeling of sheer joy, being “free” to do whatever and having the time to do! That kid is still very much alive and well, although with years of work – life conditioning, may need a refresher on how to really unplug. This means managing what we will not do on our summer family vacations and planning well to hold to that. Easier said than done? Should I take calls? Should I beavailable by email or Text? The challenge is to “Manage Out!” This means planning what we will NOT do on our summer vacation. Please join us on our next VoltCast as Voltage CEO Jeff Smith and Principal Consultant Lee Hubert will share some tips and practical guidance on how to make this summer’s vacation the best and most memorable for everybody.

Change is both a constant and a challenging part of our professional lives. Leading change and managing change are different skills, and learning to navigate both processes successfully is essential to long term leadership success. Tune in to hear Jeff and Jennifer’s Top 5 Lessons Learned. With both Success Stories and Pitfalls to Avoid, these lessons in change are gleaned from Voltage Leadership’s most successful and challenging client engagements.

“Alla Breve” is Italian musical term for “cut the playing time” or play faster. There is some wisdom here to share as we are often faced the reality of “doing less”, ie cutting the time or “doing more” aka playing faster. How to apply Alla Breve in our professional and personal lives goes a long way to determining if the sounds we fill the air with are melodic and harmonious vs off pitch and in the wrong key. Are we habitually “out of time” running from one meeting to another? Is there an on-going sense of frustration that that the task doesn’t fit the time? How can we shorten the time needed to do what we need to do? When orchestrating plans, are we being realistic? When was the last time we intentionally gave back time to somebody else? When was the last time we actually had time “given back”? Don’t miss our next VoltCast if you’d like to learn the answers to these questions. Voltage CEO Jeff Smith and Principal Consultant Lee Hubert will share tips and tools on giving back time!

Congratulations! You have just been promoted and you will now be leading the people that were just your friends and peers! Or, maybe you are a 1st time manager in a new culture, company or department. This type of transition is one of the most challenging you will face in your career. Please join Jeff Smith and Maged Khalef as we discuss our experiences both as leaders that have gone through this transition and as coaches that support clients through this challenge. We will offer tips, tools, case studies and resources to help you grow your leadership.

Who had the greatest influence in your life? What leader saw something in you that you may not have seen in yourself? What would you team say about your influence skills? Are you trying to leading change in your organization that requires influence skills? Please join Jeff Smith and Jennifer Owen-O’Quill in a conversation about influence and the impact of your leadership. We will offer tools and tips to grow your influence and help you become a better leader and achieve more success.

What separates our best days at work from the most challenging ones? What do they have in common? What might we have done differently? How can we improve next time? How do we make every day at work the best it can possibly be for everybody, including the end users of our work product? If you have ever asked yourself these questions, you won’t want to miss our next VoltCast: Illuminating Leadership, Time, Energy, People & Communication. We will explore practical tips, tools and lesson learned with Ms Kari Lightner, Director – Regional Health Clinics at Bath Community Hospital, Hot Springs, Virginia.

What type of experience do you want people to have? How you show up and perform matters. Your entrance, tone of voice, and even choice of words design an experience for others. As a leader, your presence carries the weight of cultivating a certain experience for employees and clients. How do you facilitate the type of experience you intend for them? Join Jennifer Owen-O'Quill today on Voltcast as she talks about designing an executive presence that will maximize results in challenging environments. Jennifer, along with her colleague, Jeff Smith, coaches CEOs and leaders on their executive presence.

We sometimes think we have things so rough. Our 16th President was probably one of the most revered and the most hated figures by his contemporaries. Abraham Lincoln was elected by what was then the lowest plurality in an American election to date. The country was disintegrating, military leaders and cabinet members questioned his leadership, and there were numerous threats on his life. In spite of it all, Lincoln’s approach to managing people and circumstances fostered innovation and engagement. Lincoln developed and used his amazing talent for Coaching and public Speaking. He kept people in his organization engaged while delivering at the most challenging news at often the most challenging of times. His methods for providing feedback to wayward subordinates would be the envy of any leader anywhere. We would do well to learn from his experiences the next time we are frustrated because something that was supposed to happen didn’t or a colleague let us down.

It seems like we are surrounded by the need for speed. We want it and we want it now. Speed seems to be reinforced at every turn. We want that red traffic light to turn green, now, (What are they waiting for?) We want business results to come fast, (especially in Q1) and without much hassle. We want everything from our computers to our toasters to run fast, fast, fast. As we look at the world around us, we see people moving at a frantic pace. With smart phones and email everywhere, it seems as if all of us are addicted to instant gratification and find it hard to slow down or wait for anything. Maybe it's time to slow down a little. We tend to see more details when we slow down and really look at our surroundings, including relationships. If you can identify with “living at the speed of life” you won’t want to miss the next Voltcast when Voltage CEO, Jeff Smith and Principal Consultant Lee Hubert how to WIN the human race by focusing on “What’s Important Now” practical tips.

The attitude indicator on an airplane is very important. It informs the pilot of the orientation of the aircraft relative to the horizon, so it must be correct at all times regardless of the plane's movements. This means that the attitude indicator needs to be continually monitored to ensure a smooth flight and level glide path. It is likewise with us. As Chuck Swindoll points out, “Attitude can make or break a company, an organization a church or even a family.” Are we aware of what our attitude indicators really are? Have we checked our attitude indicator recently? Are we monitoring our attitude indicator periodically? How are our attitude indicators kept from drifting? Are we continuously on Auto-Pilot? The answers to these questions above go a long way to determining our personal and profession flight path. We have heard it said that Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we respond to it. This means turning off our personal auto-pilot about what we thought we knew.

We all have assignments that are better off shared. They may be too large for us to successfully accomplish alone, or they may carry the opportunity to develop our team. Perhaps we have a project or task perfectly suited for the talents of someone else. Delegation is the dance of prioritization, productivity, pressure, and people development: the art of developing both others and ourselves. Join Jeff Smith and his co-host and colleague Jennifer Owen-O’Quill, Leadership and Strategy Consultant at Voltage Leadership Consulting, as they explore the art of Deliberate Delegation. What assignments will you share today? Listen in for some fresh insights and discover how to find the sweet spot where time and talents intersect.

Many leaders were brought up to believe they had to have all the answers and rescue their employees when they were stuck. We often call this “heroic” leadership and it sets up the leader as the rescuer. This scenario can create resentment for both the leader and the followers. It can also lead to burn-out for leaders and disengagement for followers. Please join Jeff Smith and Petra Platzer as we the journey from expert leader to strategic facilitator. We will outline the new mindset for leadership in today’s organizations, highlight case studies from our clients and close with tools and tips for implementation. We hope to talk to you at 1pm EDT on Voltcast: Illuminating Leadership on VoiceAmerica Variety Channel.

Studies have found that people who live, lead and work with purpose live up to 7 years longer, are 42% more likely to experience contentment in life and at work, and are four times more likely to be engaged in their jobs (Gallup, 2013; National Institutes of Health, 1998; New York University, 2015). In addition, organizations who have a strong sense of purpose are more profitable and outperform the market 6:1 (Deloitte, 2014). But what is purpose and how do we awaken it in both life and work? Please join Jeff Smith and Zach Mercurio at 1pm EDT on 3/21 as they discuss defining your purpose, creating meaningful work experiences and creating a leadership style that allows others to find purpose and meaning in your organization.

As a leader, you set a vision and develop strategies to achieve goals, drive change, and create a successful organization. But what happens when those well-developed plans fail to come to life due to employee indifference or inaction. Dynamic leaders paint the picture of where the organization is heading, share why it matters, and then allow its members to write themselves into the organization’s success story. During Voltcast: Illuminating Leadership, Joanne M. Loce, Managing Partner of Fortify Leadership Group, will share storytelling techniques that will enable leaders convey strategy in a compelling, memorable way. We will discuss how leaders can tell stories and draw images to drive change, inspire action, and deliver business results. Please join us for this entertaining and thought provoking show.

When tensions run high because of high workloads, looming deadlines, or un-addressed conflict, people’s relationships suffer. And when relationships suffer, your productivity takes a hit. Join us for this week’s VoltCast Illuminating Leadership as Jennifer Owen-O’Quill, a certified Conversational Intelligence™ Coach, joins us to address the intersection between anxiety, civility and performance capacity. You can anticipate a lively conversation as Jeff and Jennifer share strategies for alleviating anxiety, and tips and tactics that build trust, resilience, and creativity on your teams. Candor, civility and creativity are linked. Tune in to learn how those three elements drive the capacity of your team.

Who are your Trusted Advisors? What do you intend them to do for your organization? Do you need a Coach, Trainer, Facilitator, Speaker, Onboarder, Mentor, Board Interfacer or some other type of resource? What are the best ways to use them? We know and understand the challenges in finding the role for the right fit” for your organization. Clarity about roles, goals and expectations are a large part of the process. If you have ever been tasked with engaging with outside resources, you won’t want to miss our next VoltCast. Voltage CEO Jeff Smith and Principal Consultant Lee Hubert will share practical tip and best practices to get clarity on “How to Use Outside Resources.”