Helping Leaders Succeed in Relationships, Work, Community, and Life With Mike Sipple, Jr.

When I think about people in my life who have truly had an impact on me, and have changed my life for the better, it’s a relatively small list. And my guest on Episode 56 of the Impact Makers Podcast – Mike Sipple, Jr. – is most definitely on that list, along with his father, Mike Sipple, Sr.

After leaving my last corporate job as an HR executive in late 2005, I knew I wanted to pursue a different path – and maybe even start my own business.

Thankfully, with the help of a great coach (who also happened to work in the firm owned by the Sipples), I was able to get some great advice by networking with a whole bunch of people who were much smarter than me.

Pretty much all of them didn’t feel that I was ready to start my own business, and many of them suggested that I find an organization where I could learn from someone who’d be willing to teach me how to develop the relationships necessary to grow my own business some day.

I’ll always believe that there was a bit of divine intervention in my situation at that time, and that it wasn’t an accident that I ended up connecting with the good folks at Centennial.

After speaking with Mike’s dad – Mike Sipple, Sr. – he was kind enough to offer me a chance to join their well-respected executive search firm. He was willing to show me how to build relationships, and to develop business, if I was willing to do the work.

So I joined Centennial in early 2006, with the goal of learning from Mike Sr. – which I most certainly did. But there was also an added bonus with joining the Centennial team. I got to know, and work with Mike Sipple, Jr. as well. Mike was about 20 years younger than me, but already a powerhouse relationship builder, and doing great work as an executive search consultant for a variety of clients in our region, and beyond.

If you’d like to hear more about that story, and the Sipple’s influence in my life, I shared about it on Episode 7 – titled How I Became a Speaker and Entrepreneur. I’ll link to that episode in the show notes if you’ve not had a chance to listen to that yet.

I think you’ll benefit from learning more about Mike today, and I’d highly encourage you to follow him, as well as the work that his teams are doing. So without further ado, let me introduce you to my friend and mentor Mike Sipple, Jr.

Mike is President of the third-generation boutique executive search firm Centennial, Inc. and Co-Founder and CEO of the global leadership platform and consultancy, Talent Magnet Institute®.

As an advisor, writer, and public speaker on holistic leadership, inclusive and equitable workplaces, and how organizations can become a “talent magnet,” Mike has supported leaders from all over the world for more than two decades in hiring the right talent, building inclusive and equitable teams, and developing holistic leaders who care about the impact of their leadership.

As the host of the Talent Magnet Institute podcast, Mike shares conversations each week with leaders from around the world, with a focus on equipping leaders to succeed in relationships, work, community, and life.

Mike is married to his high school sweetheart, has three children, 13, 11, and 9, and both a Goldendoodle and Shih-tzu, who were both COVID-19 puppies, added over the last year of a global pandemic. Most evenings and weekends, Mike and his wife Amber can be found cheering for their kids at a basketball court, or a baseball field, or creating conversations with the global community on social media.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

How and when Mike got his start working in the family executive search business.
What Mike’s Dad has taught him as a business leader, husband, and father.
How listening to Centennial, Inc.’s customers has helped to shape the company’s focus and future, which is leadership succession, and building high performance teams.
How executive search consultants begin the search for the right candidate for a position, and how leaders can position themselves to be found
The best career advice that I’ve learned from Mike.
How the Talent Magnet Institute came into existence, and what the purpose of the organization is.
How Mike manages the many requests and inquiries from people both in his network, and those who are interested in connecting with him.
What the future holds for Mike, his businesses, and his community of relationships.

IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 56

(Email subscribers – click HERE to listen to the podcast.)

Key Quotes From This Episode:

“Relationships are borderless.” ~ Mike Sipple, Jr.

“Stop trying to hope another leader swoops in to change the world. YOU are the leader. You are the one who can do it.” ~ Mike Sipple, Jr.

“If you layer value adds around you, there’s other beautiful bouquets of flowers people can pick up. They don’t need one from you directly.” ~ Mike Sipple, Jr.

“At the end of the day, we’re put on this earth, hopefully we have one life we can impact. You know, I use the quote often by Jackie Robinson – ‘A life is not important, except for the impact it has on others.’” ~ Mike Sipple, Jr.