Mission First People Always's podcast

On this episode, you’ll meet Pete Baker, a senior leader in Human Resources for a variety of organizations, who has worked in nine countries of the course of his 30-year career. During that time, he has learned a great deal about what makes teams successful and the kind of interaction that ignites innovation and energized collaboration. He shares some of what he has learned from his journey in a fun, upbeat conversation.

We talk ab...

Have you ever wondered how learning leaders think about delivering leadership and employee development across a large enterprise? On this episode we climb inside the brain of the Head of Learning and Development for an iconic American company and the world’s largest beer company, Anheuser-Busch. Home to brands like Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob Ultra, Stella Artois, and too many others to name, Anheuser-Busch is committed to devel...

Coaching is an approach to learning and personal and professional growth that creates self--awareness, drives transformational change, and provides much needed support and an appropriate level of challenge. Some executives have the opportunity to engage professional coaches who are outside of their organization and chain-of-command, and have no loyalties beyond their professional commitment to their clients. Unfortunately, the serv...

The world is in dire need of better, more productive conversations. To support that assertion, all you have to do is turn on the news to witness people talking at each other, making accusations, and interacting in ways that, in some cases, are disrespectful and in no way honor the human dignity of the people involved. My guest today contends that we would all be better off if we had better dialogue–a statement with which most of us...

We all admire at the courage, commitment, and success of the US Navy SEAL Teams. These warriors are often thought of as supermen, but in reality, they are just highly trained professionals who work very effectively as a team--even in volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environments. This does not happen by accident. It is part of their training and their culture--and something other teams can learn from and aspire to...

According to the The World Economic Forum, Emotional Intelligence is one of the top-ten, must-have job skills of the twenty-first century. And that doesn’t surprise me in the least. Here’s why…because the difference between success and failure as a leader often comes down to one’s ability to relate to people. It’s all about relationships.

The lack of emotional intelligence is usually pretty easy to recognize. It’s the manager that ...

What’s it like for a native of Tennessee to build a successful in learning, leadership development, and organizational development in Europe and the Middle East? Today, we find out because we’re talking to Berry Lumpkins. Berry has followed a very non-traditional career path that took him from the home of country music to exotic, far away places in Europe and the Middle East.

Berry Lumpkins is currently the Global Director of Organ...

The transition from being a doer to a leader can be a difficult one for many people. Doers are outstanding individual contributors who, based on their performance in their current role, are promoted with the assumption that they will also be a good manager. In reality, some doers never become leaders. Instead, they become “super-doers” who micromanage the work of their team members with a running commentary on how they would perfor...

Many years ago, I had a professor in grad school who often said, “Your success will almost always be based on the people you know and the stories they tell about you.” I have found his assessment to be absolutely true as I progressed through my career and now serve clients as a speaker, consultant, and coach. In fact, virtually all of my recent client engagements have resulted from a previous student, colleague, or client who knew ...

According to Diversity Wins, the third in a series of reports from famed management consulting firm, McKinsey and Company, the business case for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) is stronger than ever. In their research, McKinsey followed the trajectories of 1,000 companies in 15 countries using a very sophisticated methodology called “social listening” to determine what actually drives success.

They’ve followed these com...

According to the 2020 census, there are 62.1 million Hispanics in the United States or 18.7 percent of the population. It’s also the fastest growing ethnic group in the country. Yet even with the strength in numbers these data may suggest, many young Hispanics are still struggling to find success in higher education and the workplace. This episode is dedicated to better understanding how one university professor and the non-profit ...

You’ve heard it a thousand times: “I hate all of the politics at work.” You may have even said it a few times or at least carried the sentiment. And since it’s such a ubiquitous topic of conversation, more than a few of us have likely commiserated with colleagues about office politics over drinks at a happy hour or a plate of food in the company cafeteria (just for clarification, that’s a place where people gathered to eat when we ...

You have likely been on some really good teams where everyone enjoyed working together and together, you accomplished some pretty exciting things. And…you had fun doing it. And on the rough days, you picked each other up and addressed the challenges together.

Like me, you’ve probably also been on some teams where everyone seemed to be pulling in opposite directions, where no one seemed to want to be there, and where results were me...

On today’s episode, we’re talking about what it takes to lead yourself well into retirement–and how to make that season of life filled with meaning and purpose. We’ve also included several great resources to consider here in the show notes, so take a look!

Guest Bio

My guest today is Sheryl Roy,  a Leadership and Transition Coach, an expert in Organizational Effectiveness and has a passion for Diversity & Inclusion.  She rece...

There is an ancient Chinese proverb that states: “When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.” On this episode, we’re going to build some windmills!

Innovation has been called the survival skill of our time. If we don’t innovate, we don’t survive. As a result, it seems that everyone is talking about innovation and how important it is, but relatively few people are actually giving us specific...

Everyone wants to be treated with dignity and feel safe. Unfortunately, some workplace paradigms--and individual leaders--do a poor job of promoting this kind of peace…

Welcome back to the Mission First People Always Podcast! On today’s episode, we talk to Dr. Robyn Short, an expert on “dignity intelligence,” who will explain what it takes to create organizational cultures where people can thrive and bring their best selves to work...

Grief is both a very individual experience as well as a universal reality. At some point in our lives, we will all lose something or someone that we hold dear to us. It will make a significant impact on who we are, how we understand the world, and how we do our work, but the thing to know about grief is that, while painful, it can ultimately lead to a deeper appreciation for life and living. In the end, this can only strengthen our...

Welcome back to the Mission First, People Always Podcast! We are back again with Dr. David Burkus for part two of our conversation about remote teams and remote leadership. Before you hit play, be sure to catch last week's episode for part one so you are caught up to speed. If you are a leader who has found yourself "working from anywhere," these two episodes are a game changer! We hope you enjoy these conversations and...

Welcome back to the Mission First People Always Podcast! In today's episode, I'm offering my conversation with author, Dr. David Burkus, in two parts because it is so good I didn't want to try to stuff it all in one episode. In fact, I believe everything we talk about has practical implications for nearly every manager, so make sure to come back next week for part two of this conversation. 

David is considered one of th...