Elevating employee engagement to have a more productive and committed workforce is part of every leadership or management agenda.

But some people excel at it while others fall flat. Wishful thinking doesn’t make it happen and in this episode we’ll explore what does.

* How elevating employee engagement can improve your bottom line

* The three types of employee engagement

* The role of empathy and self-awareness in elevating employee engagement

* And much more

Hanna Hasl-Kelchner is an advocate for fairness in the workplace. She helps organizations gain clarity to make more informed decisions by reducing complex concepts into sensible, bite size pieces. Hanna accomplishes this as a business strategist and through her writing, speaking, consulting, and popular syndicated podcast, Business Confidential Now.

Hanna brings a unique perspective to the table, growing up in an entrepreneurial family and running a business before age 30 and blending it with decades practicing business law. Those experiences enabled her to successfully bridge the gap between the two disciplines during her career as a trusted advisor to influential decision makers ranging from startups to the S&P 500, Big Tobacco, and the White House.

She has also been on the faculty at two top-ranked MBA programs: The Duke University Fuqua School of Management and the University of Virginia, Darden School of Business.

If you liked this interview, you might also enjoy our other Leadership and Management episodes, especially:

Part 1: Unveiling the Truth: Workplace Fairness Myths vs Reality

Part 2: The Key to Retaining Top Talent: A Fair Work Environment

Part 3: Why Low Employee Engagement is Not an Employee Problem

Part 4: 5 Toxic Leadership Trends that Kill High Employee Engagement

Part 5: How to Keep Positional Power From Being a Huge Achille’s Heel

Contact Hanna and connect with her on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Her new book Seeking Fairness at Work on Amazon, in print, ebook and audio editions.

The self-aware leadership sounds a bit like an oxymoron.

You know what your intentions are when you do what you do and say what you say. So of course you're self-aware of yourself.

BUT, are you really aware of all that you need to stay on top of to flawlessly execute your business strategy?

Ooh, maybe not, and you wouldn't be alone. As today's guest, Robert Courser, author of Line of Sight: The Five Keys for Strategic Execution in an Age of Uncertainty, explains.

* The missing piece of self-aware leadership

* How employee surveys contribute to self-aware leadership

* How self-aware leadership lets you work "on" your business, not just "in" your business

* Why self-aware leadership is essential for strategy alignment and execution

* And much more

Robert Courser is a CEO advisor who has been helping small and medium-sized enterprises scale up for the past twenty years.

In his book, “Line of Sight: The Five Keys for Strategic Execution In An Age of Uncertainty,” Robert draws on stories and anecdotes from his clients to share the simple tools and insights that help free up the growth potential of leaders and their companies.

Classically trained as a culinary chef, Robert knows about delivering excellence in a high-pressure environment.

In his inimitable, no-nonsense voice, Robert emphasizes the importance of internal alignment, of having resources in the right place at the right time, and of self-aware leadership to execute flawlessly.

If you liked this interview, you might also enjoy our other Risk Management episodes.

Contact Robert and connect with him on LinkedIn, Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

Also visit Line of Sight.

Rating and reviewing the show helps us grow our audience and allows us to bring you more of the rich information you need to succeed from our high powered guests. Leave a review at Lovethepodcast.com/BusinessConfidential.

Establishing a genuine culture of belonging takes more than signing new employees up for payroll and benefits.

What more could they possibly want? And how can executives, managers or entrepreneurs provide it?

Those are some of the things we're going to explore with the Jonathan Stutz, co-author of Daily Practices of Inclusive Leaders: A Guide to Building a Culture of Belonging.

* The role of leaders in supporting a culture of belonging in organizations

* How "dropping a pebble" contributes to building a culture of belonging

* Why building a culture of belonging is not the responsibility of the Human Resources Department

* Why one-on-one meetings are a massive opportunity to create connection with employees

* And much more!

Jonathan Stutz, M.A. (he/him/his) is the President of Global Diversity Partners, Inc.

He has over 25 years’ experience working in leadership roles at companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Zulily.

Jonathan earned his M.A. from City University of Seattle in Organizational Leadership and B.A. in Political Science from the University of Washington.

Jonathan serves on the Board of Trustees for the Bellevue, WA non-profit, Youth Eastside Services, and has served as Human Services Commissioner for the cities of Bellevue and Kirkland, WA.

If you liked this interview, you might also enjoy our other Leadership & Management episodes.

Contact Jonathan and connect with him on LinkedIn.

Also visit his book website and Global Partners Diversity website.

Rating and reviewing the show helps us grow our audience and allows us to bring you more of the rich information you need to succeed from our high powered guests. Leave a review at Lovethepodcast.com/BusinessConfidential.

Is it time to engage the services of a fractional CFO, a chief Financial officer?

How are you supposed to know? What can they bring to the party that's different from a CPA or a bookkeeper that you're currently working with?

Those are a few of the questions we'll explore with today's guest, finance expert John Hannum.

* How a fractional CFO differs from a bookkeeper and a CPA

* Whether a startup should consider consulting with a fractional CFO

* The value a fractional CFO can bring to a small business

* What factors to look for when hiring a fractional CFO

* And much more.

John is the founder and CEO of PPS Solutions PC, a firm that provides Fractional CFO services and full-service accounting and finance to growing businesses.

With a 25+ year background in corporate finance and as CFO of companies with phenomenal growth trajectories, he now focuses on bringing the Financial Firepower commonly employed by large successful companies to the smaller, growing businesses that need it most.

If you liked this interview, you might also enjoy our other Finance episodes.

Contact John and connect with him on LinkedIn, his company LinkedIn profile, and on YouTube.

Also visit his business website.

Rating and reviewing the show helps us grow our audience and allows us to bring you more of the rich information you need to succeed from our high powered guests. Leave a review at Lovethepodcast.com/BusinessConfidential.

Effective leadership is something every organization needs and we’ve known about the art and science of effective leadership and human team management for decades.

But yet there’s a gap between people in leadership positions knowing and doing. And it begs the question, why? Why is it so hard? What is standing in our way?

Those are a few of the things we’ll explore with Dr. Margie Oleson.

* How senior management often leaves effective leadership to chance

* The 3 tactical things needed for more effective leadership

* The perils of meeting overload

* How clarity around goals reflects effective leadership

* The 3 things you need to have clarity around goals

* And much more

Margie Oleson helps business leaders crush their goals by installing processes and habits for better clarity and alignment among the top team. She is a dynamic speaker and leadership expert who shares knowledge from her doctorate in organization development and decades of experience working with leaders and groups in many industries and companies.

She recognizes that companies aren’t set up to develop leaders or help them adopt the right leadership skills and behaviors. They are left to ‘make it up as they go – learning from past leaders… who were left on their own as well. Having leaders who know how to lead high-performing teams is the greatest strategic advantage for any organization – remembering Wickman (Traction): ‘As goes the leadership team, so goes the company.’

At the heart of her legacy is Top Team Accelerator™, a transformative force driving leadership development and cohesive, high-performing top teams… with changes that last in the future. She also helps leaders fix their meetings, use the Working Genius assessment to improve planning and execution, and right-size interactions across departments to break down silos and increase clarity and alignment.

Navigating diverse industries from aeronautics to fintech, Margie’s client roster reads like a global who’s who, helping redefine companies in Financial Services, Health Care, Manufacturing, Retail, Higher Education, and Nonprofits / Government.

If you liked this interview, you might also enjoy our other Leadership and Management episodes.

Contact Dr. Oleson and connect with her on LinkedIn and YouTube.

And be sure to check out her consulting website and her Top Team Accelerator.

Rating and reviewing the show helps us grow our audience and allows us to bring you more of the rich information you need to succeed from our high powered guests. Leave a review at Lovethepodcast.com/BusinessConfidential.

Being able to maximize human capital to optimize employee engagement is the unspoken goal of every business.

Yet not all talent is created equal, and too often entrepreneurs, especially those in startup mode, rely on their gut feel and past experience in assembling their teams.

But today's guest says a data driven approach to decision making helps sidestep predictable people problems and can actually accelerate your business success. Discover what data you need and how to use it.

* What you need to know before collecting data to maximize human capital

* 5 non-financial metrics that help maximize human capital

* How to create healthy work environments to help maximize human capital

* And much more.

DR. NIKKI BLACKSMITH is co-founder and CEO of Blackhawke Behavior Science and an adjunct faculty member at American University in Washington, D.C.

She has nearly 15 years of experience as a scientist-practitioner, focusing on psychometrics, selection, decision-making, and entrepreneurial performance.

She has also published over 80 conference papers, book chapters, and journal articles, and her scientific research has been featured in top-tier academic publications, including American Psychologist, the Journal of Business and Psychology, Personality and Individual Differences, and the Journal of Behavioral Decision-Making, and media outlets including New York Magazine, Real Simple Magazine, and BBC.

She’s the co-author of the new book: Data-Driven Decision Making in Entrepreneurship: Tools for Maximizing Human Capital (CRC Press; April 2, 2024).

If you liked this interview, you might also enjoy our other Human Resources episodes.

Contact Nikki and connect with her on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Also check out her website and her new book, Data Driven Decision Making in Entrepreneurship: Tools for Maximizing Human Capital.

Rating and reviewing the show helps us grow our audience and allows us to bring you more of the rich information you need to succeed from our high powered guests. Leave a review at Lovethepodcast.com/BusinessConfidential.

When it comes to the ethical use of AI in your business, you want to do the right thing and you assume you will.

But what if artificial intelligence is like an iceberg with hidden danger below the waterline?

No one wants their business to be the Titanic, and that’s why we’re going to explore how to start thinking about the ethical use of AI to successfully navigate those hazards.

* What to know about the bias used in training AI models

* 2 policies and assessment you need to examine to evaluate the ethical use of AI

* The number one red flag when evaluating the ethical use of AI

* How to avoid misinformation, copyright infringement and breaches of confidentiality

* And much more.

Frank Kyazze’s career is a blend of innovation, ethics, and humanism in technology. Over the last decade, he’s become a leader in digital trust, covering cybersecurity, governance, risk management, compliance, privacy, and AI ethics. From Pittsburgh to New Orleans, as the founder and CEO of GRC Knight, Frank champions strategies that protect national security and our society’s infrastructure. His work spans traditional sectors to startups and venture capital, advocating for cybersecurity as a growth engine.

With certifications like CISSP, CIA, CEH, CIPP/E, CIPM, and ISO Lead Auditor, Frank’s expertise is unmatched. However, it’s his passion for philosophy and improv theater that brings a creative and ethical lens to his work. He sees digital trust as essential to business integrity and innovation, aiming to make it accessible and integral to corporate culture. Frank is a thought leader who connects technology’s tangible aspects with its philosophical roots, offering insightful perspectives on technology, national security, and the digital economy.

Frank Kyazze is not just a name in the tech industry; he is a storyteller, a philosopher in the digital age, and an architect of trust in a world that increasingly depends on it. His journey and insights offer a unique blend of depth, pragmatism, and visionary thinking, making him a compelling voice in the ongoing conversation about our digital future.

If you liked this interview, you might also enjoy our other Corporate Governance and Culture episodes.

Contact Frank and connect with him on LinkedIn, and Instagram.

And visit his website.

Rating and reviewing the show helps us grow our audience and allows us to bring you more of the rich information you need to succeed from our high powered guests. Leave a review at Lovethepodcast.com/BusinessConfidential.

Employee talent development sounds scary to business owners and leaders, who fear that investing in an employee’s career encourages them to look for greener pastures elsewhere.

Managers will claim they don’t have time, that it’s really the employee’s responsibility, that they really can’t give employees what they want. So they’d rather ignore the situation because there’s no value in stirring the pot.

But today’s guest says that not helping employees develop and grow is a surefire way to make sure employees do leave. Does this mean you’re stuck in a no win situation? Listen to learn more.

* What employee development REALLY means

* How small conversations build engagement and inform employee development

* Why talent hording is not sustainable leadership

* How managers can start having employee development conversations if you haven’t done so before

* And much more

Julie Winkle Giulioni is a champion for workplace growth and development. She believes that everyone deserves the opportunity to reach their potential. And she supports organizations and leaders who want to make that happen with keynote speeches, consulting, and training.

Julie is the author of Promotions Are So Yesterday: Redefine Career Development. Help Employees Thrive and the co-author of the international bestseller, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Organizations Need and Employees Want, translated into seven languages.

She is a regular columnist for Training Industry Magazine and SmartBrief and contributes articles on leadership, career development, and workplace trends to numerous publications including The Economist.

Named by Inc. Magazine as a Top 100 Leadership Speaker, Julie’s in-person and virtual keynotes and presentations offer fresh, inspiring, yet actionable strategies for leaders who are interested in their own growth as well as supporting the growth of others.

Her firm, DesignArounds, creates and offers training products and experiences to organizations worldwide and has earned praise and awards from Human Resource Executive Magazine’s Top Ten Training Products, New York Film Festival, Brandon Hall, and Global HR Excellence Council.

If you liked this interview, you might also enjoy our other Human Resources episodes.

Contact Julie and connect with her on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

You might also enjoy Julie’s previous interview on the show: The Things Reliable Employees Need to Hear...