74: [Ask Halelly] What if I ask if I can give feedback and they say no? on the TalentGrow Show with Halelly Azulay

74: [Ask Halelly] What if I ask if I can give feedback and they say no? on the TalentGrow Show with Halelly Azulay

“Should I ask first if it’s okay to give feedback, and what if they say ‘No’?” That’s the question I’m answering on this second-ever Ask Halelly episode of the TalentGrow Show podcast, and this time, it’s a voice-recorded question! Listen to my answer and the follow-up discussion that ensued via voicemail and email, and chime in via the comments in the shownotes – what do you think? Have you ever experienced this? And of course, don’t be shy and submit your own question that might be featured on a future episode of Ask Halelly on the TalentGrow Show!

Read More

73: How to become a better leader by using Polarity Thinking with Laura Mendelow

73: How to become a better leader by using Polarity Thinking with Laura Mendelow

As leaders we are sometimes stumped by seemingly opposing pulls and blind to the downsides of our actions and intentions. Leadership coach Laura Mendelow explains how the concept of Polarity Thinking along with a helpful Polarity Map can help us manage the conflicting goals we often feel tugging on us in opposite directions as leaders. Plus, polarity thinking gives us a positive and constructive way to boost our strengths and manage our weaknesses. On this fun and interesting episode of the TalentGrow Show, Laura shares some great examples and actionable advice for creating balance and increasing your effectiveness as a leader. Learn how to use polarity thinking to discover and overcome your greatest challenges, such as balancing the need to connect with your team and avoiding feeling burned out. Listen now and share with others who could benefit from this shift in thinking about leadership!

Read More

72: Why culture starts with YOU and this Creativity Doctor's prescription for out-innovating startups with Yoram Solomon

72: Why culture starts with YOU and this Creativity Doctor's prescription for out-innovating startups with Yoram Solomon

Why don’t we typically find the fresh, exciting, and innovative culture of startups in larger corporations? “Creativity Doctor” Yoram Solomon has identified the major innovation- and productivity-killers in America’s corporate culture, and offers solutions that could make large corporations out-innovate even startups. In episode 72 of The TalentGrow Show, Halelly chats with Yoram about culture, what he thinks both employees and management can do to take control of it, and what practices (including his “trust formula”) can help promote creativity in the workplace. Plus, find out why Yoram thinks political correctness is actually killing innovation! Listen, enjoy, and please share!

Read More

71: [Ask Halelly] How to develop and cultivate new managers and leaders with Halelly Azulay

71: [Ask Halelly] How to develop and cultivate new managers and leaders with Halelly Azulay

We’re experimenting with a new format – Ask Halelly – where Halelly responds to questions she is asked by audience members, workshop participants, members of the media and more. In this inaugural episode of the Ask Halelly format, Halelly answers a three-part question about developing and cultivating new managers and leaders, especially young ones. She suggests three specific non-training methods to support their skill development on the cheap, what to look for when deciding whom to promote, and what company leaders should know about developing new managers (and the worst thing they can do – which is, unfortunately, extremely common). Take a listen now and please share your feedback, submit a question for a future Ask Halelly episode, or make a suggestion for what or whom you want to hear more about or from!

Read More

70: Creating White Space in the Workplace: Building Your Team’s Productivity with Juliet Funt

70: Creating White Space in the Workplace: Building Your Team’s Productivity with Juliet Funt

As a leader, you should always be looking for ways to boost the productivity of your team. On this episode of the TalentGrow Show, Halelly Azulay interviews consultant and speaker Juliet Funt about productivity-enhancing ideas and techniques, especially the concept of “white space.” Did you know that the financial costs of not having white space are about a million dollars of annual waste per 50 people in a team? That’s right, which means you should be thinking about finding ways to create white space in your workplace today! Listen now to learn some great practices for creating and using white space, get advice for overcoming what Juliet calls the “thieves of productivity,” and actionable steps that you can take today to boost the productivity of your team!

Read More

Ep069: Why all leaders should be speakers and how to find your "secret sauce" topic with Alexia Vernon

Ep069: Why all leaders should be speakers and how to find your "secret sauce" topic with Alexia Vernon

Today’s episode of the TalentGrow Show features thought-leader, speaker, coach and trainer, Alexia Vernon, with a ton of fresh and valuable insights for you to take with you into the new year! Alexia has been on the show once before, but this time around she shares some great tips for discovering your “secret sauce” as a speaker. Find out why improving your speaking can benefit you even if you’re not a speaker by trade, discover the best questions you can ask yourself to improve your speaking, and the big mistake Alexia made (and you should definitely avoid) when she published her first book! Alexia also talks about being honest and vulnerable as a speaker, which is something that might seem simple but is actually really hard to do. Give this a listen and take your speaking to the next level!

Read More

Ep068: Understanding emotional intelligence and the “cocktail of behaviors” with Hile Rutledge

Ep068: Understanding emotional intelligence and the “cocktail of behaviors” with Hile Rutledge

Did you know that EQ (emotional intelligence quotient) is actually a better predictor of workplace success than IQ? It’s true, and in today’s episode of the TalentGrow Show with Halelly Azulay, the fascinating subject of emotional intelligence is brightly illuminated by one of the world’s foremost trainers in EQ assessment tools and models: Hile Rutledge. Our discussion centers around one of the best EQ models out there—The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i)—and how you can understand it to improve your own EQ. Take a listen to find out what the “cocktail of behaviors” is, which EQ-i element is most associated with leadership, what improves self-regard more positively than anything else, as well as an actionable tip aimed at getting you out of your “bubble”. In fact, Hile urges you to do it as soon as you can and we both agree it might actually change the world if more of us did it!

Read More

Ep067: Unstoppable you – the 7 practices of lifelong learning with Pat McLagan

Ep067: Unstoppable you – the 7 practices of lifelong learning with Pat McLagan

In today’s stimulating episode of The TalentGrow Show, award-winning learning expert and author of Unstoppable You: Adopt The New 4.0 Mindset And Change Your Life Pat McLagan explains what the “learning 4.0” framework is all about and how you can use it to become a much better lifelong learner and leader. Listen to find out how learning 4.0 compares to “1.0”, “2.0”, and “3.0” learning techniques, what’s something that managers and supervisors can no longer afford to do, and most importantly what are the 7 powerful practices of lifelong learning (which she says “apply whether you’re learning by yourself, learning in a team, helping someone learn, or being helped by someone to learn”). This episode is chock-full of insights and wisdom so take a listen now! Please remember to subscribe and share!

Read More

Ep066: Successful culture and leadership advice from startup mentor and investor Carter Laren

Ep066: Successful culture and leadership advice from startup mentor and investor Carter Laren

In order to be a good leader and discover and develop your company’s or team’s culture you really need to start with a good “why”. On this episode of The TalentGrow Show with Halelly Azulay, Carter Laren, co-founder of the Gateway startup accelerator, a director and mentor for the Founder Institute, serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and former cryptologist and engineer, shares some of his best wisdom about company culture, startups, and successful leadership that yields top performance in your team. Listen now to learn the one thing most people discount when thinking about starting a company, why he hires people more based culture fit rather than experience or skillset, the most common mistakes he sees startup founders and leaders make, and much more! This episode will help you get some of the best thinking from the world of startups and unicorns that you can apply 100% in your leadership practice, regardless of how big or established your organization is. Enjoy and please share with others!

Read More

Ep065: Networking for quiet people with Lori Saitz

Ep065: Networking for quiet people with Lori Saitz

A lot of people think that the best leaders and the best networkers are extroverts. But according to networking strategy coach and professional speaker Lori Saitz, that’s not true at all. A networking maverick who describes herself as naturally quiet, Lori is firm about her central message that you don’t have to be different than you are to be good at networking. Rather than telling people that success at networking requires becoming more outgoing or gregarious, she prefers to share simple strategies and suggestions that anyone can use to improve their networking game. On today’s episode of the TalentGrow show with Halelly Azulay, Lori shares a tip for how to make connecting with people at networking events less intimidating and warns against a common mistake she sees people make when it comes to thinking about networking. Plus, she explains how to get the most out of the networking you do (and therefore, not have to do as much of it!) and gives specific advice for leaders on how to understand (and nurture) their quiet people. Listen now and please share with others!

Read More

Ep064: Adapting to disruptive innovation and exponential change with Frode Odegard

Ep064: Adapting to disruptive innovation and exponential change with Frode Odegard

Success in our ever-changing, turbulent times not only hinges on successfully adapting to things as they are, but correctly anticipating change. This is the understanding that drives my guest Frode Odegard, thought leader in disruptive innovation and author of Post-Lean Thinking: A New Vision for Corporate Innovation, to help leaders and organizations stay on the cutting edge of history. In this truly eye-opening episode of the TalentGrow Show with Halelly Azulay, Frode shares his vision of human economic change from the Stone Age to the Industrial Age and explains what he believes are some of the most important factors defining our current transition into what he calls a Post-Industrial Civilization. Listen now to learn what he means by the “cycle of disruption”, what are the two trends he was able to reduce 12,000 years of human economic history down to, how the relationship between corporations and employees is changing, why leaders need to focus on recruiting “makers”, and so much more!

Read More

Ep062: The 6 ways of rethinking career mobility—why up is not the only way with Beverly Kaye

Ep062: The 6 ways of rethinking career mobility—why up is not the only way with Beverly Kaye

In this episode of the TalentGrow Show with Halelly Azulay, career development and employee engagement expert and co-author of Up Is Not The Only Way: Rethinking Career Mobility Dr. Beverly Kaye helps us think about career mobility in a much broader and more advantageous way. She explains what the “6 categories of experience” are that can help us rethink mobility, what she thinks are two important ways that organizations can prepare individuals for upward moves, why organizations need to start finding more ways to sell “lateral moves”, and much more! Beverly’s wisdom comes from four decades of research and experience. Listen now!

Read More

Ep061: No Ego—Reality-based leadership with Cy Wakeman

Ep061: No Ego—Reality-based leadership with Cy Wakeman

Leaders need to focus less on employee happiness and more on employee accountability. But wait, shouldn’t that sentence be reversed? After all, much of the popular leadership wisdom of the day says the complete opposite. In fact, this is just one of the many contrarian conclusions drama researcher and international leadership consultant Cy Wakeman has come to through her 25 years of research and experience. In today’s riveting episode of the TalentGrow Show with Halelly Azulay, Cy takes a wrecking ball to some of the most cherished yet harmful leadership myths, offering her own reality-based leadership philosophy over top of the rubble. She also shares some of her most effective actionable tools and techniques that you can use to transform and improve YOUR workplace culture. This episode could give you a whole new perspective on leadership itself. Don’t miss out!

Read More

Ep060: The ingredients of great leadership with Chef Charles Carroll

Ep060: The ingredients of great leadership with Chef Charles Carroll

What does cooking and food have to do with leadership and life? For executive chef, Culinary Olympics gold medalist, and author of The Recipe: A Story of Love, Loss and the Ingredients of Greatness Charles Carroll, the answer is: everything. In today’s episode of the TalentGrow Show with Halelly Azulay, Charles shares his seven rules of the kitchen (and specifically how they apply to life and leadership), the three things you need to do as a leader to make your team succeed, as well as a deceptively simple tip that he says is actually the biggest secret of his success! Listen to be enlightened, entertained, and inspired (and don’t forget to subscribe and share!)

Read More

Ep059: Rich Habits for Success with Randall Bell

Ep059: Rich Habits for Success with Randall Bell

In this fascinating and fun-filled episode of the TalentGrow Show, economist, sociologist, and disaster expert Randall Bell, PhD, shares some of his most fascinating statistics and insights relating to success and happiness from his book, Me-We-Do-Be: The Four Cornerstones of Success. He shares how to define success and become more successful by using his ‘Me-We-Do-Be’ framework, what is the biggest mistake leaders make (he says it’s the lowest form of leadership), the one habit that can help you DOMINATE in every aspect of life, and why making your bed in the morning will make you 206% more likely to become a millionaire! Randall distills his extensive research into bite-size ‘rich habits’ that can support your success. Listen to find out what they are!

Read More

Ep058: The 6 Roots of Healthy Leadership with Global CEO Advisor Bob Rosen

Ep058: The 6 Roots of Healthy Leadership with Global CEO Advisor Bob Rosen

At the foundation of being a transformational leader is first and foremost being a healthy human being. This is the conclusion Bob Rosen, a Global CEO Advisor and author of Grounded: How Leaders Stay Rooted in an Uncertain World, came to after working with thousands of leaders around the world. According to Bob, every leader—regardless of whether they’re an entrepreneur, a leader in the middle of an organization, or a top executive—has to be personally rooted in 6 areas in order to be successful in our disruptive and constantly-changing world. In today’s episode of the TalentGrow Show with Halelly Azulay, Bob thoroughly explains what these 6 roots are, what the 6 corresponding disruptors every leader has to grapple with are, and provides not one but three actionable leadership tips (with specific examples, too)! This is a great episode for getting a global, 20,000-foot view of what great leadership looks like. We hope you give it a listen—and remember to subscribe and share!

Read More

Ep057: How to be better at receiving feedback with Sheila Heen

Ep057: How to be better at receiving feedback with Sheila Heen

In this episode of the TalentGrow show with Halelly Azulay, Sheila Heen, CEO of Triad Consulting and best-selling author of Thanks for the Feedback and Difficult Conversations, shares some of her best insights on the art and science of receiving feedback. She explains what the three different kinds of feedback are (including why we need all three, but different amounts of each at different times), what the three kinds of triggered reactions we can have from feedback are, and the best way to receive vague or negative criticism. She also gives a fantastic (and highly actionable!) tip on how to ask for feedback: she warns of a common pitfall and offers a smarter way of asking that not only makes the other person more comfortable but helps to ensure that the ensuing feedback will be relevant and useful. This is an excellent episode for improving your communications skills as well as your inner-processing and emotional clarity. Don’t miss out and please share with others!

Read More

Ep056: How to build high trust workplace cultures with neuroscientist Paul Zak

Ep056: How to build high trust workplace cultures with neuroscientist Paul Zak

You could say that Dr. Paul Zak is uber-qualified to talk about trust. A PhD professor, neuroeconomist, and neuroscientist who was part of the team that first made the connection between oxytocin and trust, he recently authored the 2017 book Trust Factor: The Science of Creating High-Performance Companies. He’s also the developer of Ofactor, a methodology that quantifies organizational culture within a company and identifies what it needs to change in order to increase leadership, team and organizational trust. In this episode of the TalentGrow Show with Halelly Azulay, Paul shares some of his best insights on how to increase your company’s trust and productivity (all of them backed by scientific research!) In this fascinating discussion that Halelly wished could “go on for so much longer”, you’ll learn about his eight ways to build trust within an organization and build a workplace culture in which people “want to work their butt off”! Whether you’re a leader who’s seeking to improve the culture and performance of your employees or just fascinated by the science of trust, this is definitely an episode you don’t want to miss!

Read More

Ep055: How to solve problems faster, make better decisions, and get projects finished with targeted thinking tactics from Jean Moroney

Ep055: How to solve problems faster, make better decisions, and get projects finished with targeted thinking tactics from Jean Moroney

In this episode of the TalentGrow Show, Jean Moroney, president of Thinking Directions, shares some of her best insights on the psychology of thinking—and explains how you can apply them to your own success. She provides an in-depth answer to the question, “what’s the best way to think on your feet?”, offers advice on how to become more authentic, and shares a powerful exercise for better problem solving. Jean’s insights and techniques are easily actionable but extremely effective. I hope you give them a try and share this episode with others who could also benefit from them!

Read More

Ep054: Science-based advice on achieving career success and happiness with Eric Barker

Ep054: Science-based advice on achieving career success and happiness with Eric Barker

Many of the answers we look for, that we think are big puzzles, actually already have solutions but have been tied up in the long, dark corridors of academia. This is what Eric Barker, the blogger behind “Barking up the Wrong Tree”, sought to change with his blog that brings science-based advice for everyone on how to achieve success and happiness. In this episode, we discuss Eric’s brand new book, Barking Up the Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong and some of his most interesting research-backed insights for leaders. Eric shares a powerful exercise to determine whether a goal is realistic or not, explains the science of why daydreaming saps our motivation, dishes about how to be a Giver without being a doormat, and shares an actionable tip for starting each day on the right foot. This is definitely a must-hear episode so check it out, subscribe, and share!

Read More