Cascading Leadership - The Show

The lack of representation and diversity in sales and marketing leadership positions was the focus of a recent conversation. Despite underrepresented groups accounting for almost 40% of the US population, they only held 20% of executive positions. Women held only 29% of C-suite positions.

Promoting diversity and creating an inclusive culture would benefit business outcomes and performance. 

Promoting diversity in ...

Peer-to-peer mentorship is an underutilized tool that can significantly accelerate career development, particularly for those from underrepresented communities in sales and marketing. 

Being both a mentor and a mentee can accelerate learning and provide new perspectives. However, there is a misconception that early career professionals may not have much to offer.

To make the most of peer-to-peer mentorship, make s...

Mentorship and having a board of directors are crucial for underrepresented individuals looking to advance their careers in sales and marketing.

Mentors can offer advice and guidance based on shared experiences and perspectives, provide networking opportunities, and help accelerate careers. They can also offer the benefit of their experience in making better decisions and overcoming challenges.

To identify potenti...

Topics covered: 

• Everyone is a free agent and to act accordingly. This means to take control of your career and act intentionally when presented with opportunities and offers from various companies. 
• This is important to do in order to make sure that you are making the most of the opportunities presented to you and to ensure your career is on the path that you have mapped out.
• Adopting an owner's mentality. It is important to...

Representation in sales and marketing is extremely important for early and mid-career professionals. It is difficult for members of underrepresented communities to get interviews and job opportunities, as they are often labeled as not fitting the right culture. This conversation aims to explore the role that representation plays in the success of sales and marketing professionals. 

It is necessary to have inclusionary prac...

Dr. Jim discussed the challenges faced by early to mid-career professionals from underrepresented communities. He noted that these professionals are often high-performing individual contributors but struggle to unlock their full career potential due to a lack of resources. 

With this in mind, Dr. Jim intends to explore the resources available to these professionals to help them gain a career edge. He believes that understanding...

Organizations face a variety of challenges when it comes to keeping their employees engaged. To address this, tech and organizational leaders have put forth strategies to ensure employees remain engaged. 

These strategies focus on bringing one's whole self to work, building a culture of balance and fairness, and creating a sense of belonging. This helps employees to stay motivated and connected to the mission of the organizatio...

The conversation focused on the importance of employee engagement and how to retain employees. 

Leaders in the tech and organization space shared their best practices for creating a culture of engagement.

 It was highlighted that employee engagement is a critical factor for an organization’s success, as research shows that when employees feel engaged, they are more likely to stay with the company.

 Five k...

 Dr. Jim discussed the importance of building equity for Black women in leadership and welcomed a panel of guests to the show. T

The three panelists discussed the role of leadership in advancing black women into leadership roles in sales. 

Sertrice Grice has a background in industrial organizational psychology, and is passionate about allyship and inclusive behaviors. She and her business partner recently wrote a ...

Navigating the Career Path - Staying True to Yourself & Unlocking Success

SUMMARY 

Dr. Jim and Natalie Coulson discuss the importance of staying true to oneself and why anonymity is not a virtue in the modern world. Natalie works with entrepreneurial thinkers to help them find their personal brand, no matter if they are still in a corporate environment or have made the transition into their own business. 
...

Dr. Jim discussed three key tips for career success. The first tip is to connect with purpose and mission in order to have success in one's career. The second tip is to have a limitless mindset in order to develop career success. The third tip is to embrace minimalism in order to achieve career success. 

This conversation was driven from a recent interview with Sonya Sepahban, CEO of OurOffice, who mentioned that a co...

Sonya Sepahban is -  a minority of minorities -  in today's startup world. She is one of the few women in executive boardrooms and startup CEOs that get funded. Despite the fact that she was often the only woman in the room, she was able to navigate these situations due to the help and mentors she received from the men in power. 

Sonya rejected limits and focused on what she could do to make her voice heard. She belie...

Dr. Jim discussed the topic of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) on his podcast . He noted that progress for the Black community has been slow and questioned whether this slow progress is a design feature or a bug. 

He has had conversations with members of the Black community about civil rights, representation and advancement, and how DEIB was brought forward to create a more equitable world of work and opp...

Dr. Jim and Lawrence welcome Stephanie Davis to Cascading Leadership to discuss navigating a career change as a mid-career professional. 

Stephanie speaks from her own experience on how to switch functional areas of expertise and what factors to consider when making a transition in a career.

Dr. Jim transitions to talking about the difficulty of transitioning from one career to another, especially when compounded ...

 Dr. Jim discussed  the importance of leveraging technology properly to ensure success and avoiding the mistake of viewing technology as a standalone solution. A combination of people, process, and technology is necessary to solve any transformation initiative. In order to properly leverage technology, there needs to be  a conversation between stakeholders, develop a comprehensive plan, and consider the long-term impact. He conclud...

SUMMARY 

Bryan  Bennett is the Chief Leadership Innovation Officer for the Elite Leadership Academy Company and an adjunct professor at Northwestern University. He is the author of the Path to Elite Level Leadership, a philosophy of leadership based on the way athletes train. 

 Lawrence Brown and Bryan discussed the similarities between leadership and team sports, and Bryan shared his own origin story as a nerd be...

This episode features key takeaways from the conversation with Jiquanda Nelson - 

• How to build an inclusion culture 
• How to set up a strong foundation for DEIB strategy 
• How DEIB benefits organizations 

Additionally, this episodes covers highlights form the conversation with John Graham Jr. 

• How to have constructive conversations about DEIB
• How to move beyond the talent attraction hamster wheel 
• How unconscious bias...

Summary/Abstract

John Graham Jr. joined Dr. Jim for a conversation about creating a talent attraction flywheel and how cultural intelligence for the C-suite to recruitment is critical for sustained success. They discussed the importance of the question who benefits and the need for everyone in the enterprise to own the A-word if they want to solve turnover.  The conversation provided insights into how to create an effective talent a...