Middle management gets a bad rap. It brings to mind terrible bosses from the Dilbert cartoons or Michael Scott from The Office, or a career graveyard for mediocre leaders unable to reach the upper echelons of management. And that’s too bad. Because the truth is, most of us are in middle management and always will be. So, rather than languishing in it — which only bolsters the lousy reputation — lean into it. With the right tools, you can be wildly successful as a middle manager. And this week, I spoke this week with someone who literally wrote the book on those tools. Scott Mautz spent 20 ve ..read more

“My experience as a leader is that all the conversations that really mattered happened in corridors when I was in transition from one meeting to the next. And it would be really easy — because of the time constraint — to just say, ‘This is what I think you should do…’. And yet, one of the most effective things you can do as a leader is say, ‘What do you think?'” Jenny Robinson Phil Renshaw and Jenny Robinson joined me this week with some simple techniques for how to be a better coach to your people in only a few minutes a day. All ideas they’ve captured in their new book, Coaching on the Go ..read more

Imagine you’re driving home from work one night around 8 pm. It’s cold. It’s raining. And there’s a dirty, slushy, melting snow on the ground. You glance out the car window and you see a young girl huddled up on the side of the road. She looks cold, scared, alone, and injured. You pull over and invite her into your warm car, and take her to a diner for a meal. She doesn’t speak to you the entire time. She just sits there, staring down into her plate while eating, dripping gray water all over the seat. Your mind races though all of the unthinkable possibilities for what might have lead her to ..read more

“Hi, my name’s John. I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m the new CFO here at the airline.” “So f–ing what?” That’s the beginning of how a senior airline executive learned to put employees first in their leadership communication. My guest this week who shares that story is Gary Ross, who started his career as an Emmy-nominated TV news reporter. He then led the communications departments at Hyatt Hotels, CDW, and Fortune Brands. Today he’s a trainer, coach, and consultant for CEOs to help them tell their stories better and inspire their people. We work through several of Gary’s most imp ..read more

How Michael Brody-Waite went from a drug addict on the street to CEO and what you can learn about leadership from his journey. read more The post What Drug Addiction Taught Me About Being a Better Leader appeared first on Paul Smith | Business Storytelling Coach ..read more

Humor Engineer, Drew Tarvin, recently partnered with the Procter & Gamble alumni organization to start a new podcast with former P&G executives called Learning from Leaders, and it’s open to the public. Join me on this episode with Drew for a brief discussion about the podcast, some of its early guests, and some of the early insights from his interviews with these industry leaders. You can find Drew’s new podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, and most of the podcast servers. Or, find it here: https://www.pgalums.com/podcast  To learn more about Drew, visit: humorthatworks.com. Click these ..read more

“Hey Paul, I’m thinking about writing a book. Can we talk? I’d love to get some advice.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten that email since my first book came out eight years ago. I usually end up spending an hour explaining everything I’ve learned about the subject. And I’m always happy to do so. But on my podcast this week, I had someone on who knows far more about it than I do — publisher and global credibility expert Mitchell Levy. And his method turns everything I thought I knew about getting books published on its head. Click the play button above and listen to our convers ..read more

Jason Hartman has been earned a small fortune in real estate across 11 states and 17 cities. His office boasts pictures of him with Richard Branson, Jerry Seinfeld, Steve Forbes, Tony Robbins, and Brittany Spears, among others. But he didn’t start his most profitable business until he sold his real estate company and created a business that had never existed before. And that’s where this week’s lesson comes in. Click play above to listen to my conversation with Jason where he’ll share what lead up to all that. We get to the first big lesson around the 14-minute mark, and number two starting a ..read more

IMAGINE CONDUCTING this experiment. Put five monkeys in a cage with a bunch of bananas hanging from the ceiling. Underneath the bananas, place a ladder just tall enough to reach them. read more The post Monkeying around with corporate policy 2 appeared first on Paul Smith | Business Storytelling Coach ..read more

Confession: I was a little disappointed when I started reading this book and realized it was fiction. I thought I was reading a serious, non-fiction business book. But then I couldn’t put it down. And by the time I was done, it was my favorite business book I’ve read in the last year.  That was just one of six true confessions I admitted to author Skip Prichard while interviewing him about The Book of Mistakes: 9 Secrets to Creating a Successful Future. Like an experienced novelist, Prichard weaves a magical tale of mystery and intrigue so captivating you won’t even realize you’re learni ..read more