Podcast | Jennifer McClure`

Leading with Vulnerability: The Key to Future-Ready Leadership with Jacob Morgan

What happens when a leader unveils their vulnerability? Does it weaken their status or lead to a more profound connection with their team?

These intriguing questions are the foundation of my conversation with Jacob Morgan, a trained futurist and renowned authority on the future of work, leadership, and employee experience. We navigate through the complexities of leading with vulnerability, drawing from Jacob’s extensive research, real-world examples, and insights from his latest book, Lead with Vulnerability.

Think about the CEO who bares his soul about the struggles of the business, only to be fired, or the one who acknowledges the struggles but couples them with a clear vision leading to success. Stories like these help us to dissect the nuanced difference between vulnerability and leading with vulnerability, especially in a workplace setting. Jacob shares insights and practical advice on how leaders can incorporate vulnerability into their leadership style without undermining their competence.

What is the transformative power of vulnerability on employees? What happens when a CEO and COO embrace vulnerability amidst a company tragedy?

We dive deep into these questions, underscoring the significance of acknowledging one’s shortcomings and striving for improvement. Learn more about Jacob’s book, Lead with Vulnerability, and join us in this thought-provoking episode as we explore the future of work and elevate your understanding of leadership.

Topics Discussed In Today’s Episode:

The differences between being vulnerable at work and in your personal life.
Do leaders need to be more or less vulnerable than their employees?
Taking accountability and demonstrating growth
The important difference between leading with vulnerability, and being vulnerable.
The Vulnerable Leader Equation: leadership + vulnerability = leading with vulnerability.
The important characteristic that must be present in order for leading with vulnerability to be effective.
The Vulnerability Wheel – a framework that helps leaders assess when, what, and how to be vulnerable based on intention, timing, and other factors.
The eight attributes of vulnerable leaders.
Practical advice for leaders to start demonstrating vulnerability.

LISTEN TO IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 97

Listen on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts or Spotify

People & Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

Jacob Morgan – Website, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram

Book: Leading with Vulnerability: Unlock Your Greatest Superpower to Transform Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization by Jacob Morgan

Substack: Great Leadership With Jacob Morgan

Written by Jennifer McClure

Future Fluidity and the Evolving Role of Leadership in the Age of Disruption With Dr. Tanvi Gautam

On episode 96 of the Impact Makers podcast, I welcome Dr. Tanvi Gautam, a world-renowned leadership development expert.

Dr. Gautam is a multi-award-winning keynote speaker, executive coach, author, and senior faculty and program director at Singapore Management University. She uses a combination of head and heart-based tools for upgrading leaders and to create culture transformation in organizations.

As we navigate a world rocked by global disruption, Dr. Gautam highlights how leadership is evolving and why it’s critical to adopt new tools and resources. She also shares her insights on the essence of true leadership, the essential leadership skills required in the age of disruption, and the intriguing concept of ‘future fluidity’.

Dr. Gautam shares how to cultivate flexibility and resilience — essential tools for navigating an uncertain future, and we explore the role technology plays in enhancing visibility and influence.

Whether you’re an emerging leader or an established executive, I think you’ll learn quite a bit from this episode, and will leave with practical steps you can take to evolve your own leadership skills.

Topics Discussed In Today’s Episode:

The focus of Dr. Gautam’s work – creating unstoppable leaders who can help their companies upgrade in the new age of disruption.
4 skills that all leaders must develop to succeed in the future of work.
Why the tools, resources, and mindsets that made leaders successful in the past, are not what will be needed in the emerging world.
How viewing disruption and being disrupted as an invitation to reimagine and reinvent can create possibilities versus getting stuck or falling behind.
But how has leadership changed in a post-pandemic world?
Why developing the skills of rest and recovery will be a competitive advantage for both leaders and organizations.
The concept of “future fluidity”, and how developing this skill can help leaders to successfully navigate change and uncertainty.
Dr. Gautam’s forthcoming book – Deep Collaboration – will explore the five crucial conversations leaders must have to enable collaboration across organizational silos and boundaries.

LISTEN TO IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 96

Listen on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts or Spotify

People & Resources Mentioned In This episode:

Dr. Tanvi Gautam – Website, LinkedIn, Twitter

Book — The Spark Lies Within: And other secrets of women leading inspired and authentic lives by Dr. Tanvi Gautam

WorkLife with Adam Grant Podcast: The Science of Recharging on Weekends and Vacations

Written by Jennifer McClure

The Power of Human Connection: Lessons Learned on a Mission to Meet 10,000 New Friends With Rob Lawless

On episode 94 of the Impact Makers podcast, I’m sharing a fascinating conversation that I had with my new friend – Rob Lawless.

Rob is on a mission to spend one hour, one-on-one with 10,000 different people, and over the last 8 years, he’s met almost 6,000 people across 90+ countries on the journey to complete that goal.

Rob shares their stories on his Instagram account – @robs10kfriends, and his humble project has gotten the attention of many in the media over the last few years, where he’s been invited to share about it on the Kelly Clarkson Show, the TODAY Show, On Air with Ryan Seacrest – and of course, on the Impact Makers podcast.

I was incredibly honored recently to become Rob’s five thousand eight hundred and twentieth new friend, after being introduced to him by 5,795, my friend Thom Monahan. It was so fun to just have a conversation to get to know someone new without any pressure to ask great questions, or to take notes like I would during an interview.

I truly admire Rob for his creativity and diligence to complete his goal – which will likely take him another 8 – 10 years to accomplish.

What started as a response to a harsh rejection email turned into a goal to meet new people for one hour to have a conversation with absolutely no agenda, and has turned into a career where in addition to meeting up to 4 new people each day, Rob is speaking on conference stages and at corporate events around the world. He’s also preparing to write his first book about the lessons he’s learned about the power of human connection.

I think after listening to this conversation, you’ll be inspired by Rob to be more intentional about connecting with others, and treating your interactions as experiences rather than transactions.

And, like me, you’ll probably have a greater appreciation for what applying yourself to something for 10,000 hours actually means, and the commitment that is required to achieve big goals.

Topics Discussed In Today’s Episode:

How Rob’s unique idea in 2015 to spend one hour one-on-one with 10,000 different people started as a project, and turned into a career.
Why Rob doesn’t call meetings with new friends “interviews”, and what his goal is for each conversation.
How COVID-19 affected Rob’s Meet 10,000 New Friends project, and how the changes that were required have opened up the opportunity to meet more new people.
How a suggestion from one of Rob’s new friends regarding public speaking has turned into a profitable revenue stream, and also a future book.
Rob’s FRIEND framework that he teaches to help people engage in meaningful conversations, and unpack other people’s stories.
What the project has taught Rob about gratitude and the value of human connection.
Who is the ideal person that Rob would like to meet, and will they be number 10k?
How long will it take for Rob to complete his mission of making 10,000 new friends?

LISTEN TO IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 94

Listen on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts or Spotify

People & Resources Mentioned In This episode:

Rob Lawless – LinkedIn, Instagram, Rob’s 10k Friends website, Rob Lawless speaking website

Jennifer / Rob 10k Friends Conversation Recap on Instagram

Thom Monahan

Michelle Poler – Keynote Speaker

Humans of New York

Written by Jennifer McClure

How AI Is Changing the Game for Thought Leaders and Content Creators With Laurie Ruettimann and Jennifer McClure

On episode 93 of the Impact Makers podcast, author, speaker and coach Laurie Ruettimann joins me to discuss the topic of how generative AI tools can aid in content creation.

I asked Laurie to join me to chat about how we’re using generative AI tools as content creators, and just humans in general, and what’s working or not working for us as we try to make peace with our future overlords.

We share our personal experiences with using these tools and how they’re saving us precious time, as well as adding immense value to our work, and we unpack the different user types of AI: creators who leverage it for automation and editors who utilize AI to refine existing work.

Laurie and I also explore the potential of AI in personal and professional communication, and the use of generative AI tools for writing emails, newsletters, and even crafting professional messages. Communicating effectively with AI is critical to getting satisfactory results, and the secret lies in writing the right prompts that will yield better results. Don’t miss out on the tips and insights we offer on how to get the best results from any AI platform that you choose to work with.

In the latter part of our conversation, we focus on the power of AI in enhancing our creativity and decision-making processes. Laurie and I both talk about how these tools suggest ideas we may not have thought of, and how they can be used without interfering with the creative process. Finally, we share our vision for the future of generative AI tools and how they will continue to shape our lives.

As usual with Laurie, it’s a fun and insightful conversation, and I think you’ll find it interesting how we’re both using AI tools in our content creation processes, including how we use them to save time, and add value to our work.

Topics Discussed In Today’s Episode:

Jennifer’s experience in expanding ideas and editing content using ChatGPT.
Laurie’s use of ChatGPT in content editing and refining — particularly with emails.
Laurie’s thoughts on the two types of users of generative AI tools.
The advantages of using AI as an editor or copywriter.
Using AI tools for brainstorming and generating ideas.
Understanding how ChatGPT “learns” and retains information, and whether or not it can be trained to truly mimic a writer’s unique voice.
Our thoughts on which generative AI tool is better – ChatGPT or Google Bard?
Why it’s important to not over engineer your prompts when using AI tools.
Our thoughts on the balance between human creativity and AI assistance.

LISTEN TO IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 93

Listen on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts or Spotify

People & Resources Mentioned In This episode:

Laurie Ruettimann – website, LinkedIn, Instagram

Punk Rock HR / Corporate Drinker podcast

ChatGPT

Google Bard

Vadim Liberman

Impact Makers podcast episode 036: The Random Show — Conversations with My BFF Laurie Ruettimann

Betting on You: How to Put Yourself First and (Finally) Take Control of Your Career by Laurie Ruettimann

Written by Jennifer McClure

My Best Career Advice to Position Yourself for the Job You Want [Replay]

A career change is a huge thing that many of people are dealing with right now, whether they feel stuck in their current job or they just want to do something different that they enjoy.

But how do you position yourself for the job that you want?

As an employee, you’ve got to figure out how to get noticed to move your career ahead and make sure that you’re getting the interactions and developing the relationships that you need. That being said, networking and relationship-building is a two-way street. Leaders also need to figure out how to provide a safe space and environment for their people to connect, even in remote and hybrid environments.

In episode 92 of the Impact Makers podcast, I’m sharing a conversation that I had with Chris Villanueva when he invited me to be a guest on the Career Warrior podcast to chat about networking, relationship building, and how the changing world of work impacts both job seekers and human resources leaders.

Chris is the CEO & Co-Founder of Let’s Eat, Grandma, an online resume service that helps professionals rebrand themselves to land interviews for their dream jobs. Recently ranked by The Balance as the best resume service of 2022, Let’s Eat Grandma helps people during one of the most stressful areas of life – the job hunt. They’ve assisted over 7,000+ paying clients with their resumes, and hundreds of thousands more through their blog and the Career Warrior Podcast.

Topics Discussed In Today’s Episode:

The future of work, and what both job seekers and HR leaders should be paying attention to.
The skills that will be most in demand in the workplace of the future.
Will working virtually affect your career negatively, versus being present in an office?
Should job seekers try to negotiate remote work, if it’s not part of the job offer?
How to properly build relationships and networks when many people are working remotely and networking less.
How to position yourself for new opportunities when you’re interested in making a career change.
The worst things job seekers do with their resumes that annoy HR and hiring managers.