Jennifer McClure`

Equipping people leaders to navigate change — and design the future — with boldness and purpose.

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Discovering Your Why: How Clarifying Your Vision Can Transform Your Organization and Create a Bigger Impact

Impact Makers Podcast Episode 077

Do you ever wonder what it takes to be a great leader? To create an impact both at work and in life?

Sonya Shelton, Founder of Executive Leadership Consulting, joins me to explore this and discuss the power of discovering your WHY.

Sonya is passionate about partnering with leaders and high achievers to create a clear vision, enabling them to build work environments where employees are fulfilled and really committed to the organization’s success.

Her WHY? To contribute to the success of leaders to create a bigger impact.

Sonya’s advice is backed by her own experience as an executive, international speaker and consultant, as well as her bestselling book “You’re an Executive, But Are You a Leader?” She shares her wealth of knowledge, as well as actionable steps to help leaders craft a compelling vision and develop their leadership skills.

Tune in to this episode to be inspired and learn how to successfully lead your teams and organization into the future.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

  • What makes the difference between an executive and a leader
  • Defining success at your company: The importance of clarifying your vision
  • How organizations can create a strong vision in an ever-changing world, where the future is unknown
  • Practical steps you can take to discover your true WHY
  • How discovering your WHY contributes to effective leadership
  • How strategy and culture work together to create success for a company
  • What are the reasons for the increase in employees experiencing stress and burnout at work
  • Red Thread Leadership: The “5 P” formula to grow as fast as your ambition
  • What leaders can do to create the biggest impact right now

IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 77

People & Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

Key Quotes From This Episode:

“Organizations make the mistake of thinking that culture is just the values or the benefits the employees get or how they treat each other. And those are all very important things. But if your processes and your structure, and how you make decisions, and who gets hired, and who gets promoted and why, aren’t all tied into that – then there’s a disconnect in the culture.” ~ @Sonya Shelton

“Things are changing so fast, there’s so much uncertainty right now with what’s happening…I think that’s leading into a lot of stress at work. And so that’s why we talk about purpose as being so important. When you know why you’re doing what you’re doing, and you have clarity about the strategy and where you’re going and that vision, then it’s easier to navigate those rough waters.” ~ @Sonya Shelton

Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress; working hard for something we love is called passion. ~ @ Simon Sinek

Connect with Jennifer:

Send her a message [https://jennifermcclure.net/contact/]

On LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermcclure

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferMcClure

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_mcclure/

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JenniferMcClureSpeaker

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Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile to Build Your Personal Brand and Grow Your Career

Impact Makers Podcast Episode 076

How valuable is your LinkedIn profile? Hint: The answer is very!

If you don’t believe me, grab your phone, Google your name in quotes (“Jennifer McClure” for example), and hit enter.

Unless you’ve got an extremely common name, you’ll likely notice that the first page of search results for your name returns a number of social media profiles – which may include yours, as well as others that share your same name. And included in those top 10 results is likely a link to your public LinkedIn profile, or at least one created by one of your namesakes.

Whether you’re searching for your next job, open to career growth opportunities, or looking to grow your personal brand, or your business, your best opportunity to get noticed online is to have a robust, fully complete, and active LinkedIn profile.

While LinkedIn is straightforward – create a profile, connect with people, post and share your content, etc. – you may not be getting the most out of it as you would if you were to create an intentional strategy for using LinkedIn.

There are multiple ways that you can optimize your LinkedIn profile to build your personal brand and grow your career. By doing so, you can use LinkedIn to build your credibility as a thought leader and your reputation as a business leader that others want to work with or do business with.

You can also readily access a vast network of people and resources that you can utilize (for free) for your personal and professional development.

In this episode, I’m going to share some of my favorite tips and strategies for creating a LinkedIn profile that stands out, works for you, and increases your opportunities!

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

  • Why a LinkedIn profile is valuable
  • What makes a great LinkedIn profile?
  • 8 profile photo best practices
  • How to maximize your background photo
  • Tips for an effective LinkedIn profile headline
  • Tips in writing your About section
  • 10 profile summary tips

IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 76

Key Quotes From This Episode:

“People ARE searching for you online – or they should be – and you have a simple and free way available to you to deliver exactly the credibility, image, and authority that you prefer, by being intentional about how you use LinkedIn.” ~ @Jennifer McClure

Connect with Jennifer:

Send her a message [https://jennifermcclure.net/contact/]

On LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermcclure

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferMcClure

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_mcclure/

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JenniferMcClureSpeaker

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10 Activities Leaders Must Embrace to Lead With Impact in the Future of Work

Impact Makers Podcast Episode 073

As we close out 2022, I’m focusing this month on how I can best prepare myself – and you – for a successful 2023.

In my world, this time of year is typically filled with prediction posts and podcasts, where thought leaders share what they believe will be the challenges and opportunities ahead in the new year, related to the world of work.

Since my focus is on preparing leaders – like you – to embrace the future of work, and to develop the skills necessary to lead with impact, instead of making predictions that may or may not come true, I’m sharing 10 areas and activities that are critical for leaders to focus on, in order to lead with impact in the future of work.

1. Fight for Flexibility for Your Team Members

People want to effortlessly work how, where, when, and for whom they want.

2. Prioritize Career Growth and Development Opportunities for Your People

  • According to Gloat Research Group’s Great Resignation 2.0 Report, the number one reason given by employees who took a new job as to why they would leave again was the lack of career development opportunities.
  • The same survey revealed that 54% of the employees surveyed reported that their employers either don’t take their future interests and aspirations into consideration enough or not at all.

3. Help Your People to Connect with Meaning and Purpose in Their Work

Connect people to something bigger than themselves and help them contribute.

According to Gallup research, a 10% improvement in employees’ connection with the Mission or Purpose of their organization leads to an 8.1% decrease in turnover and a 4.4% increase in profitability.

I love this quote from Laszlo Bock, the current CEO & Co-founder of Humu and former Google SVP of People Operations: “The single biggest thing you can do [as a leader] is make the work feel meaningful.”

What is an organization’s Purpose? It’s what we do for our customers. Some good examples:

  • Nourishing families so they can flourish and thrive – Kellogg
  • We fulfill dreams of personal freedom – Harley Davidson
  • We help people get jobs – Indeed.com

4. Commit to Real Change and Action with Your Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Efforts

  • Set meaningful goals
  • Track progress
  • Hold leaders accountable
  • Incentivize leaders

To learn more about how to do this, check out Impact Makers Episode #51 – The Value of Taking a Strategic Approach to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion with Jennifer Ingram.

5. Invest in Your Leaders – Specifically Front-Line Supervisors

The biggest gains businesses will witness in the future will come from hiring and training the right managers, who care for, develop, and maximize the strengths of every single employee.

Why is this so important?

Gallup found that 70% of the variance between the highest engaged teams and persistently disengaged teams is just the manager (based on meta-analytics of 100 million employee interviews).

6. Focus On Skills Identification and Development

I think this quote from Jonas Prising, Chairman & CEO of ManpowerGroup, sums it up:

“Helping people to pre-skill, upskill and reskill for in-demand roles in this Skills Revolution remains the defining challenge of this decade. It was important before the pandemic and is even more critical now – to create a better workplace where everyone is able to unleash their full human potential and have a more equitable share of the prosperity.”

Listen to Impact Makers Episode #64: Creating Career Pathways to Unlock Opportunity for the Workforce of the Future with Matthew Daniel to learn more.

7. SEE Your People

  • Show Appreciation.
  • Give Recognition.
  • Value Differences.

According to the results of a SurveyMonkey/Bonusly Survey, 63% of employees who are regularly recognized were “very unlikely” to look for a job in the next 6 months, and 89% of employees who are rarely recognized are open to accepting a new job.

Similarly, McKinsey’s Great Attrition Great Attraction Survey found the number one reason why people left a job without another one in hand was uncaring leaders.

8. Grow Yourself

  • Own your Personal Development.
  • Set goals, track your progress, and hold yourself accountable.
  • Challenge yourself to learn aspects of business and leadership that are not within your current responsibilities.

9. Develop Your Influence

  • Invest in relationships.
  • Build trust.
  • Share your ideas.

“You don’t get influence through control. You get influence through other people’s positive experience of you. You get influence through people wanting you involved – not by telling them you have to be.”
— Neil Morrison, Former Group HR Director, Penguin Random House now Group HR Director at Severn Trent Water

10. Embrace (and Lead) Disruption

  • Change is a constant.
  • Stay curious and seek out ways to lead change efforts.

Did you know that leaders are much more likely to engage in quiet quitting than their actual workers? Listen to Impact Makers Episode #63: Defining Return on Workforce Investment in the Future of Work with Dr. Alexander Alonso and learn what you can do to mitigate this.

IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 73

People & Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

Workplace from Meta

Show Sponsor:

This episode of the Impact Makers Podcast is sponsored by Workplace from Meta.

Everybody’s talking about the metaverse these days, but Workplace from Meta is different – I mean, the clue’s in the name, right?

Workplace is a business communication tool that uses features like instant messaging and video calls to help people share information. Think Facebook, but for your company.

It’s part of Meta’s vision for the future of work – a future in which your job isn’t just something you do, but something you EXPERIENCE. A future in which we’ll all feel more present, connected, and productive.

Start your journey into the future of work at workplace.com/future.

Connect with Jennifer:

Send her a message [https://jennifermcclure.net/contact/]

On LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermcclure

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferMcClure

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_mcclure/

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JenniferMcClureSpeaker

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5 Things I Plan to Start, Stop, and Continue Doing in 2023

Impact Makers Podcast Episode 072

Start? Stop? Continue?

When I was in human resources, as part of review processes, I learned to look at things to start, stop, and continue rather than just talking about traditional goal setting.

With 2023 right around the corner, I thought I’d share five things I plan to start doing, five things I plan to stop doing, and five things I plan to continue doing next year.

Hopefully, this will encourage you to do the same as part of your goal-setting process as well.

Start

  1. Goal setting and tracking
  2. Daily planning/time blocking/using Trello
  3. Prioritizing learning/professional development
  4. Investing in my relationships
  5. Scheduling time for content creation

Stop

  1. Starting my morning with my phone
  2. Allowing busy work to fill my day vs activities focused on achieving my goals
  3. Not prioritizing my email list community
  4. Putting off writing a book
  5. Taking my friends and family for granted

Continue

  1. Using Profit First in both of my businesses
  2. Participating on the Defense Business Board
  3. Listening to podcasts for professional development
  4. Outsourcing what I’m not best at/working with a team
  5. Podcasting ?

IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 72

People & Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

Workplace from Meta

Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals by Michael Hyatt

Full Focus Planner

Trello

Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine by Mike Michalowicz

Defense Business Board

Impact Makers Podcast Episode #70: My Favorite Podcasts Related to the Future of Work, Speaking, and Entrepreneurship

Emerald City Productions – Making Your Podcast Sound Great

Show Sponsor:

This episode of the Impact Makers Podcast is sponsored by Workplace from Meta.

Everybody’s talking about the metaverse these days, but Workplace from Meta is different – I mean, the clue’s in the name, right?

Workplace is a business communication tool that uses features like instant messaging and video calls to help people share information. Think Facebook, but for your company.

It’s part of Meta’s vision for the future of work – a future in which your job isn’t just something you do, but something you EXPERIENCE. A future in which we’ll all feel more present, connected, and productive.

Start your journey into the future of work at workplace.com/future.

Connect with Jennifer:

Send her a message [https://jennifermcclure.net/contact/]

On LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermcclure

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferMcClure

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_mcclure/

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JenniferMcClureSpeaker

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10 Questions You Should Be Asking to Prevent Your Best Employees from Leaving

Impact Makers Podcast Episode 071

In general, employees leave their jobs because they want more career growth, flexibility, and/or appreciation and recognition.

You’ve probably also heard that people leave managers, not companies.

So, how do you prevent your best employees from leaving?

By taking the time to have conversations with your direct reports and team members to understand what’s working, what’s not working, and how you can help to set them up for success.

Whether you’re doing performance evaluations, having end of year discussions, or talking about goal setting and goal planning for next year, I’m sharing 10 questions you should ask.

To Discover Skills to Focus on or Develop / Areas to Eliminate or Support

1. What are 3 aspects of your job that you feel you’re best at, or enjoy the most?

2. What are 2 areas in your job where you could use more support or resources, or would prefer not to do?

3. Outside of work, what do you really enjoy doing? Do you have a hobby, or a passion project that you work on that gives you joy?

Learning and Development / Career Growth

4. Is there something that you would like to have an opportunity to learn or explore, that either isn’t a part of your current job, or is something you’d like to try?

5. Are there skills that you would like to learn, or career opportunities that you would like to explore that you don’t fee are available to you in your current role, or at this company?

Flexibility / Work Hours

6. Does the current schedule or work situation allow you to do your best work, while also enjoying your life away from work?

Understand How Someone Likes to Be Managed

7. How do you like to be recognized and appreciated? What is meaningful to you?

8. How often would you prefer to meet to discuss and share progress against your goals?

Support Their Progress and Ensure Success

9. What is one thing that I can do to set you up for success in 2023, that I’m not doing currently?

The Magic Question

10.If I gave you a magic wand, and you could change one thing about your current job, or about the company – what would you change?

IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 71

Key Quotes From This Episode:

“More and more people are really focused on making sure that work serves their needs and their life.” ~ @Jennifer McClure

“Flexibility, and how that matches with what your employees are searching for or what they feel best meets their needs, is a big driver of the Great Resignation.” ~ @Jennifer McClure

People & Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

Workplace from Meta

Show Sponsor:

This episode of the Impact Makers Podcast is sponsored by Workplace from Meta.

Everybody’s talking about the metaverse these days, but Workplace from Meta is different – I mean, the clue’s in the name, right?

Workplace is a business communication tool that uses features like instant messaging and video calls to help people share information. Think Facebook, but for your company.

It’s part of Meta’s vision for the future of work – a future in which your job isn’t just something you do, but something you EXPERIENCE. A future in which we’ll all feel more present, connected, and productive.

Start your journey into the future of work at workplace.com/future.

Connect with Jennifer:

Send her a message [https://jennifermcclure.net/contact/]

On LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermcclure

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferMcClure

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_mcclure/

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JenniferMcClureSpeaker

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