Petra Velzeboer is an international keynote speaker, psychotherapist, mental health consultant, executive coach, and podcast host who is dedicated to helping others through developing empathy in the workplace to create stronger connections with our teammates and improve the productivity of our organizations.
Petra’s own remarkable story is one of triumph in spite of the odds being stacked against her. Having been raised in a cult, Petra experienced a level of abuse and control that led her to develop addiction problems and ultimately consider suicide as her only way out. However, Petra was able to overcome these incredible challenges, conquer her addiction issues, and attain an education that was denied to her as a child growing up within a religious cult.
Petra shares her powerful and inspiring story in an effort to help lift others up and promote kindness and compassion. She believes greatly that empathy, authenticity and connection are the keys to making the world a better place and to allow us, both individually and as a society, to achieve our full potential.
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Inspiration, motivation and empathy can come from many sources. These sources can be uplifting stories of human love and compassion, or they can come from a darker place of overcoming the most difficult of life’s challenges. But, no matter the source, we can draw on these stories to lift ourselves up, inspire ourselves, and better understand ourselves and the world around us.
I want to introduce you to Petra Velzeboer. Petra is a psychotherapist and mental health consultant, and she also works as an internationally respected keynote speaker and executive coach, as well as hosting her own podcast, Adversity to Advantage. Petra’s story is a remarkable tale of falling all the way to rock bottom and then climbing back up again through perseverance, willpower and hope.
In this episode of the Absolute Advantage podcast, Petra shares her emotional story of growing up in a religious cult, being subjected to brainwashing and intense punishment, turning to substance abuse to deal with the internal hurt and turmoil, and eventually overcoming all of these obstacles to find true success and happiness. Petra’s story is deeply personal, powerful, and inspiring. Petra also discusses her role as a mental health professional and the vital importance of mental health and self-care as a leader.
Ways to contact Petra Velzeboer:
Dr. Daphne Scott is a leadership coach and corporate development expert with more than two decades of experience working with organizations. In addition to her own extensive coaching and leadership training and her degrees in Applied Positive Psychology and Physical Therapy, Daphne leans on her background in theater with the Second City Improvisational Conservatory Program to strengthen and diversify her coaching.
Daphne is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach, certified Hendricks Coach, a founding member of the Conscious Leadership Group, as well as a member of the International Coaching Federation. She has also studied with top-level executive coaches, consciousness experts and organizational psychologists.
Daphne believes that one of our key roles as leaders is to equip and enable the people around us to succeed. This involves spending the time and effort necessary to help them identify their natural abilities, and it also involves putting them in positions that best leverage those abilities. It requires us to recognize and appropriately respond to the thoughts, feelings, fears and questions our team may experience.
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A goal we all have in common is our ongoing work to become better, stronger leaders. It’s why I created the Absolute Advantage podcast, to help you obtain the skills and wisdom of other great leaders so that you can achieve your maximum potential.
That’s why I want to introduce you to Dr. Daphne Scott. Daphne is a leadership coach and corporate development expert par excellence. Daphne believes that we have the ability to equip our teams with the skills and motivation needed to truly excel in their roles… but only if we ourselves step into our own potential as leaders.
In this episode, Daphne discusses the importance of understanding the thoughts and feelings our team members experience, and she shares her five key relationships that we as leaders should develop: our relationship to time, to money, to ourselves, to our friendships, and to the unknown. By strengthening those relationships and by taking proper care of ourselves, we can then create that all-important Ripple Effect in our team.
I hope you will listen to the episode and embrace the remarkable insights Daphne Scott shares during our conversation. Daphne’s wisdom is an amazing road map you can follow in your quest to become an unstoppable leader of an incredible team!
Laura Gassner Otting is a professional keynote speaker, respected author, and successful entrepreneur. She helps innovators, idealists, and iconoclasts get “unstuck” by providing the extra push they need to achieve extraordinary results.
Laura is the founder of Limitless Possibility and a founding board member of the Boston-based philanthropic group SheGives. Prior to her current work, she served as the founder and president of the Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group for more than thirteen years. She also served as a Presidential Appointee in the Clinton White House, helping guide and shape AmeriCorps. Laura is the author of several successful books including Mission Driven and Transitioning to the Nonprofit Sector, and her latest book is called Limitless: How to Ignore Everybody, Carve Your Own Path, and Live Your Best Life.
Laura is a strong believer in not letting others put you in a box and hold you back. She believes that we all have limitless potential within ourselves to set our own definition of success and then achieve that success by breaking through walls and finding our own path through life. Limiting thoughts, whether from ourselves or others, have no place in Laura’s philosophy. She truly believes that self-empowerment is the key to unlocking our true potential and becoming limitless.
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All of us have certain limits and expectations placed upon us from the time we come into this world. Whether it’s the parent that pushes us to go to medical school, or the teacher who tells us we aren’t capable, or the well-intentioned family member who warns us against pursuing our dreams, outside pressures are a constant anchor that too often weighs us down.
Laura Gassner Otting wants to free us from that weight. Laura is a professional keynote speaker, author and entrepreneur who believes in the hidden potential present in every person. Laura believes in helping people achieve consonance, the state of aligning what they do with who they are. Through her four C’s (calling, connection, contribution, control), Laura helps people break through their limits and achieve success, no matter how they define it for themselves.
In this episode, Laura discusses her career journey and shares how she “accidentally” became a keynote speaker. She shares strategies and insights from her new book, Limitless, with the goal of helping her readers get “unstuck” from the roadblocks they face and break through to a new level of success, prosperity and empowerment. She teaches people that success is not a list of boxes someone else creates for you to check off, success is however you define it.
As business leaders, from time to time we can all use a reminder that our limitations are illusions and that our goals are within our reach. I hope you’ll listen to the episode and share in Laura Gassner Otting’s remarkable wisdom.
Tristan White is the founder and CEO of The Physio Co., a unique healthcare business focused on delivering exceptional physical therapy for seniors that ranked number one on BRW’s list of Australia’s 50 Best Places to Work in 2014, and has consistently been placed on the list for ten consecutive years. He is also the author of the book Culture is Everything: The Story, Secrets & Systems of a Startup That Became Australia’s Best Place to Work.
Tristan is a qualified physical therapist who began his career working in a nursing home. He had originally hoped to work in athletic physical therapy, but after his experience at the nursing home he recognized an immediate and urgent need for a service that could help senior citizens stay mobile, safe and happy.
Tristan built his business from the ground up on a foundation of strong culture, and his own experiences have evolved into his “Culture is Everything” system that helps other business leaders develop a world-class culture in their organizations. The four pillars of Tristan’s system can help any business become a great place to work, and that can lead to increased team efficiency, motivation and morale.
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One of the primary things that can elevate your business into a great business is its culture. A strong culture and clear values provide many different benefits to an organization, and it is often the starting point for the Ripple Effect that you’ve heard me speak about so many times. But a great culture is more than a plaque on the wall. It’s something that is found deep within the DNA of the business and its leadership.
Tristan White knows the importance of culture. Tristan is the founder and CEO of The Physio Co., an Australian business that helps bring effective physical therapy to elders and helps them maintain their mobility, safety and independence. The Physio Co. has been rated among the best places to work in Australia for ten consecutive years and even topped the list in 2014, and the main reason is its powerful culture and values.
In this episode, Tristan shares why he founded The Physio Co. and why he realized early on that the best way to grow his organization was through culture-focused and values-focused leadership. Through this commitment to culture, Tristan was able to grow his business from a one-person operation to a large and thriving team that is able to deliver over 200,000 consultations every hear.
I hope that you can derive great wisdom from the story Tristan shares during our conversation. His dedication to culture is something that can benefit every business in every industry. By making your culture an inextricable part of your business, you can begin a powerful Ripple Effect of your own. Please enjoy the episode.
Ways to contact Tristan White:
Terry A. Smith is the Lead Pastor of The Life Christian Church (TLCC) in West Orange, New Jersey. TLCC has grown from a small 54-member congregation to nearly 3,000 members over the course of 27 years. TLCC is widely recognized for the diversity of its membership as well as its powerful leadership culture.
Terry is also the co-founder of the New York City Leadership Center and has served as a board member or leader for many organizations. He is also a respected national and international speaker and the bestselling author of “Live 10: Jumpstart the Best Version of Your Life” and “The Hospitable Leader”.
Terry believes in the idea of hospitable leadership, defined as creating an environment of welcome that embraces diversity and inclusivity. In Terry’s opinion, hospitable leadership is the foundation of every other leadership style and structure. After all, if you don’t invite people in, you can’t hope to lead them.
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There are many different styles of leadership, and there are countless leadership methodologies, courses, books, and seminars that each promise to teach you the secrets of becoming an effective leader. But you can’t be a leader if you have no one to lead, and that’s where hospitable leadership comes in.
Terry Smith understands this. Terry serves as the Lead Pastor of The Life Christian Church in New Jersey, and he is an expert in leadership. Terry practices hospitable leadership, which is the idea of creating a diverse and welcoming space for people, allowing them to be open and receptive to your message. Hospitable leadership is closely related to servant leadership, but it also serves as the necessary first step to fostering communication and building trust.
In this episode, Terry shares his thoughts on hospitable leadership and the profound effect it can have on your organization and your team. Hospitable leadership creates an empowering and safe environment that allows the Ripple Effect to flourish and work its magic.
I hope that you will listen to my conversation with Pastor Terry Smith and are able to absorb the incredibly valuable information and strategies he shares. Terry’s thoughts on hospitable leadership will allow you to lay the foundation of openness and trust that is critical for any business leader to be able to more effectively guide their teams. Please enjoy the episode.
Ways to contact Terry A. Smith:
Lila Stewart is the co-founder of Hari Mari, a high-end flip flop brand sold in stores like Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Zappos, and by hundreds of other retailers as well as through the company’s own website. These flip flops are made with high-quality materials and feature bold, bright colors and extreme comfort. They have been featured in Forbes Magazine, Vogue Paris and Business Insider among other global media outlets. Hari Mari believes in the Ripple Effect, donating 1% of their sales to the fight against pediatric cancer.
Lila’s journey began in Jakarta, Indonesia, where she and her husband lived for three years. During her time there, Lila volunteered for human rights organization American Women’s Organization of Jakarta. Upon returning to the United States, Lila and her husband realized how stale and low-quality the flip flops available here were, so they set about revitalizing the market with their own high-quality brand. Lila’s philanthropic roots continue today with Hari Mari’s donations to pediatric cancer research.
Lila believes that great leadership stems from lifting up the people around her, treating everyone with fairness, and tackling every challenge with a positive outlook. Lila Stewart is a phenomenal example of how the Ripple Effect can bring lasting, positive changes that go far beyond the profitability of a business and extend outward to the community at large.
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What makes a strong business leader? Certainly, guiding the organization toward success is a factor, but an exceptional leader is also a champion for positive company culture, employee engagement and satisfaction, and a sense of family and community. An exceptional leader uses the Ripple Effect to not just run a business but to make lasting positive changes to everyone around them.
Lila Stewart understands that the role a leader plays goes far beyond the bottom line of the business. Lila and her husband co-founded Hari Mari in an effort to bring a quality product to a stagnant and uninspired market. In doing so, they have built a strong organization that offers great value to its customers, takes care of its employees, and gives back to its community through giving a portion of its sales to the fight against pediatric cancer.
In this episode, Lila shares how the idea for Hari Mari came about, and how her philanthropic spirit became interwoven in the company’s culture from its beginning. Lila discusses how her gratitude, mindfulness and passion have all contributed to her success as a leader and to the success of Hari Mari itself.
As you know, I deeply believe in the tremendous power of the Ripple Effect. It is one of the guiding principles of my own work and one of the main themes of the Absolute Advantage podcast. Lila’s story is an excellent example of why the Ripple Effect is such an incredible force and how it can enrich our organizations and our lives. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Lila and are inspired to allow the Ripple Effect to work its magic for you.
Steven Griffith is a respected author and speaker, researcher, performance expert, and a leading authority on the connection between time, productivity and performance. In his work, he recognizes that our use of time is a major indicator (and driver) of our success as business leaders.
Steven is also the author of the new book The Time Cleanse: A Proven System to Eliminate Wasted Time, Realize Your Full Potential, and Reinvest In What Matters Most. In the book, Steven teaches valuable time management skills and helps readers reframe their relationship with time, maximizing the potential of the time they spend. For more than 20 years, Steven has worked with CEOs, entrepreneurs, athletes, business executives, celebrities and other high-profile clientele across the globe.
Steven believes that we are wasting tremendous, reclaimable amounts of time without even realizing it. His own work with his clients has shown that the average person can reclaim ten, twenty, even up to forty hours a week from pointless activities, distractions, unnecessary conversations and other insidious “time toxins” that don’t reward us for the time we spend on them. We can save those wasted moments and channel them into things that matter, making us happier and more productive.
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How many times in your week do you find yourself wishing you had more time in your day to be more productive? How often do you say “I don’t have time for that right now”? How often do you catch yourself wishing you had more leisure time or more time to focus on the things you enjoy?
Steven Griffith has the solution that will allow you to reclaim more precious time in your week. Steven is an expert in time management, and he has helped high-profile clients all over the world recover time that would otherwise be wasted. Steven has identified “time toxins,” distractions and other unproductive wastes of time that we can easily sacrifice hours of our week too, without even realizing that we’re doing it.
In this episode, Steven shares valuable strategies for identifying your unnecessary time sinks and then reclaiming your time from them. You are going to be shocked when you realize exactly how much of your valuable time is being wasted on time toxins throughout your life. Learn from Steven’s wisdom and, instead of asking yourself where the time has gone, start asking yourself what you’re going to do with all those reclaimed hours!
Ways to contact Steven Griffith:
Elise Keith is the self-described “Meeting Maven” and the author of Where the Action Is: The Meetings That Make or Break Your Organization. She is the co-founder of Lucid Meetings, a consultancy that helps organizations develop and scale effective meeting habits.
Elise is also the “Ask the Meeting Maven” columnist for Inc. Magazine, where she has written numerous articles on holding more effective and productive meetings. Prior to co-founding her company, Elise worked in the software industry for more than a decade.
Elise believes that it is possible to conduct business meetings that are engaging, enjoyable and productive. She has dedicated herself to helping other organizations turn their meetings from boring-but-mandatory workday intrusions into dynamic, energetic and useful tools to help simplify communications and get things done.
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Meetings. We all know them as a “necessary evil” that we are forced to endure during our work week. The broadly-held consensus is that they are disruptive, pointless, tedious and only serve to interrupt us. No one is ever excited about a meeting… right?
Elise Keith loves meetings. Elise is the “Meeting Maven” and co-founder of Lucid Meetings, where she helps her clients conduct better, more engaging, and more useful meetings. Elise believes that well-structured and well-conducted meetings can be a valuable communication tool for businesses of all kinds.
In this episode, Elise discusses some of the common complaints about business meetings and offers solutions that can transform meetings into powerful opportunities for engagement. Elise is also an advocate for the Ripple Effect, and she believes that with appropriate time-management skills and proper direction from leadership, meetings can become strong cornerstones of company cultures and values. Listen to the episode and learn from Elise’s remarkable insights into what business meetings too often are and what they can become through effective leadership.
Andie Kramer is a partner at international legal firm McDermott Will & Emery LLP, where she serves as the head of the Financial Products, Trading and Derivatives Group. She is also the founding chair and current co-chair of the firm’s Gender Diversity Committee. She has previously served on the Management Committee and Compensation Committee at McDermott Will & Emery. Outside of her practice, Andie is a nationally recognized advocate for the advancement of women, having helped countless women navigate obvious and subtle gender biases in their careers.
Al Harris was a founding partner of the law firm Ungaretti & Harris, which later merged into the national law firm of Nixon Peabody LLP. All served as managing partner and as a member of the firm’s Executive and Compensation Committees. Al recognizes the barriers that women often are forced to navigate in male-dominated settings. Together with Andie, Al co-authored “Taking Control: Women, Gender Stereotypes, and Impression Management”.
Together, Andie and Al feel strongly that the visible and invisible gender biases in today’s workplace culture can be overcome, and they believe that education and mentorship are the key to doing so. Especially in today’s #MeToo environment, it is more important than ever that organizations be prepared to reflect on their company cultures and bring gender equity to their workplaces.
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It is a fact that our modern society is more aware of the prevalence of gender bias and workplace discrimination than ever before. But are we, as leaders, doing all we can to tear down gender barriers and recognize our own biases, whether external or internalized?
Andie Kramer and Al Harris are subject-matter experts with two very different perspectives on gender bias, but they share the same conclusions and beliefs on how to make workplaces be more fair, open, and equitable. Both are legal professionals, but while Andie has had to personally experience gender bias in her career journey, Al has recognized the problem as an outsider looking in. Despite their different viewpoints, they are both dedicated to raising awareness and educating organizations on how to handle these challenging issues.
In this episode, Andie and Al share their own points of view on gender bias and its detrimental effects on workplace health, culture and morale. From obvious and blatant discriminatory statements to more subtle microaggressions, from pay inequities to gender differences in mentorship opportunities, our “enlightened” modern society still struggles with the specter of workplace discrimination.
The ripple effect of leadership is a powerful tool, and Andie and Al believe it can be used to bridge the gender gap in the workplace. But gender bias is a systemic habit that has a way of embedding itself deeply into organizations, and the true challenge comes from doing the necessary self-reflection to break out of the cycle of bias. Listen to the episode, and learn how to recognize and respond to gender bias in the most effective way possible.
Ways to contact Andie Kramer and Al Harris:
Elise Auxier is an expert in leadership development. Elise helps her clients transform their limiting beliefs, reduce stress and gain clarity, and channel their passion and energy into their work in powerful new ways.
Elise is the owner of Gulfcoast Coaching and an International Coach Federation-certified professional executive and life coach. Elise is a certified master practitioner of the “Energy Leadership Index”, which she uses to help her clients better understand themselves and how their perceptions, attitudes, behaviors and beliefs either enhance or detract from their leadership abilities.
Elise believes that when we are under stress, we feel powerless and lethargic or angry and trapped in conflict. These emotions can follow us into our roles as leaders… if we allow these thoughts to dominate our behavior. Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be the case. If we take the time to understand ourselves and where we are in the “seven levels of energy”, we can reframe our stress into a more positive thought process that can aid us in our roles as leaders rather than limit us.
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We all have stressful periods of our lives. Stress, in addition to its many well-documented effects on our health and wellbeing, can also reduce our energy levels. As business leaders, the last thing we need is a reduction in energy. But when we are feeling overwhelmed, what can we really do about it?
Elise Auxier has the solution. Elise is a life coach and expert in executive development, and she believes that we can learn to control our energy levels by deliberate internal awareness and action. We can reframe those stressors into positive motivators instead of anchors weighing us down. And as leaders, we can do the same for our team… if we know how to empower and support them.
In this episode, Elise shares the seven levels of energy that we move between throughout our day, and she explains how we can learn to control our thoughts to keep ourselves in the more productive higher levels, rather than being mired in powerlessness or anger over our frustrations. The energy we bring to our roles as leaders is critically important to our effectiveness, and another cup of coffee isn’t the solution when our energy levels begin waning.
You know how powerful the ripple effect can be, so it is incredibly important to break out of your old patterns and thought processes and bring high-energy focus to your interactions with your team. Listen to the episode and learn how to energize yourself and everyone around you!
Karen Brown is an executive-level business and leadership coach, motivational speaker, author, and CEO. Her company, Velocity Leadership Consulting, brings exceptional leadership training to the C-suite with their high performance results-driven methods.
Karen knows a lot about performance. For almost thirty years, she dreamed of competing in the Ironman World Championships triathlon. Her internal voice kept telling her she couldn’t hope to compete, and so she continually set her dream aside… until the day she overcame her own limiting beliefs and challenged herself. She hired a coach and began training in earnest, and through passion and tenacity she crossed the finish line two years after she started her training.
In her journey from recreational athlete to world-class competitor, Karen was able to transform her limiting beliefs into “unlimiting beliefs” and unleash her potential by tapping into her subconscious mind. This became the foundation of Karen’s book, Unlimiting Your Beliefs: 7 Keys to Greater Success in Your Personal and Professional Life; Told Through My Journey to the Toughest Race in the World.
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What are you capable of? Do you know your own limitations, or do you believe you can break through them and achieve the seemingly impossible? How much does your internal monologue hold you back? Is that little internal voice helping you, or hindering you?
Karen Brown allowed her little voice in her head to hold her back, through limiting beliefs about herself and her capabilities. Karen’s business career was on a great trajectory but she kept finding herself wondering if she was capable of more. Watching the Ironman triathlon was profound for Karen, and she had a burning desire to become a competitor herself. But, as her little voice reminded her, surely she couldn’t hope to race against world-class athletes…
After 28 years of listening to her internal voice tell her she couldn’t, Karen had enough. She stepped out of her comfort zone, hired a coach to help her go from recreational athlete to true competitor, began tapping into her subconscious mind to change her internal voice, and turned her limiting beliefs into “unlimiting beliefs”. And two years later, she was crossing the finish line of the Ironman triathlon.
In this episode, Karen gives us a firsthand account of how she conquered her limiting beliefs and ultimately did the thing she had once thought impossible. She explains the control our subconscious minds have over us, and she outlines how she reprogrammed her little internal voice to support instead of hinder. I hope you’ll listen to Karen’s awe-inspiring journey of physical and emotional self-awareness and allow it to help you conquer your own “I could never do that” limiting beliefs!
Paresh Shah is a remarkable person. He is the CEO and co-founder of Lifters, an organization promoting a new model of business leadership that seeks to strength leaders and their teams, promote employee engagement, value diversity, and develop purpose and social responsibility. He is the co-founder and Chief Strategist of the Non-Obvious company, an organization specializing in innovation and out-of-the-box thinking.
Paresh is a global thought leader, having conducted business in 30 countries across the world. He is a keynote speaker, and has spoken at TedX Hong Kong, SXSW and an extensive list of other impressive venues. His work has been published in Inc. Magazine and Forbes, and he has been recognized by both the United Nations and His Holiness the Dalai Lama as a true force for international peace and compassion. Additionally, Paresh is a trained and respected mindfulness yogi.
A cornerstone of Paresh’s work lies in the belief that business leaders are uniquely positioned to make a lasting, positive impact on their organizations, teams, customers, and communities. Through compassion, mindfulness, and purpose, we can become stronger in every aspect of our lives.
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“Lifter Leadership” is a fascinating business leadership model developed by Paresh Shah, that seeks to bring an enlightened attitude of mindfulness, purpose and happiness to organizations, strengthening them from the inside out. Lifter Leadership can apply to everyone in an organization whether they are a part of the C-suite or not. From the CEO to the receptionist, everyone can benefit.
Paresh Shah developed his Lifter Leadership model after integrating his business and engineering background with his meditative philosophies as an experienced yogi. This multifaceted leadership program addresses many of the most common problems found in the existing force-driven and control-oriented model of today.
In this episode, Paresh shares his unique and personal journey and how he came to integrate his engineering background and love of business with his mindfulness training and spiritual philosophies. Paresh discusses how his Lifter Leadership can be a positive force for change in any business.
The ripple effect is a powerful catalyst for touching the lives of those around you, and Paresh Shah’s Lifter Leadership is a fantastic example of the ripple effect at work. Listen to the episode and see how you can invoke the transformative powers of the ripple effect to strengthen your own leadership!
Adam Hergenrother is a widely respected speaker and business coach, as well as the founder and CEO of Hergenrother Realty Group and co-owner and CEO of BlackRock Construction, both companies he turned into thriving enterprises within just 10 years. Adam is an expert in helping business leaders chart a path to success. Success for Adam means more than just wealth, it means going beyond mediocrity in all aspects of his life.
At the age of 15, Adam decided that he didn’t want to live a life of mediocrity. He turned his life around and made the conscious decision to excel. Adam made half a million dollars at age 26, but he decided the corporate grind wasn’t for him, so he changed his lifestyle yet again. Adam is a living example of the transformative power of dedication, passion and drive, and his strong focus on his family life serves as the cornerstone for everything he does.
Through daily activities like meditation, exercise and journaling, Adam works to maintain a healthy lifestyle and a clear mind. These important rituals help him build momentum and maintain the energy he needs to tackle every challenge… with the goal of exceeding his own high expectations.
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Are you satisfied with the status quo, or do you hunger for more? More success in your career, more quality time with your family, more balance in your life, a more healthy lifestyle, and more energy and focus? In short, are you satisfied with mediocrity or do you want to break out and excel in every aspect of your life?
Adam Hergenrother learned very early on that he wasn’t meant for a mediocre life. At fifteen, Adam was struggling with poor grades, was taking recreational drugs, and was hanging out with the wrong kinds of friends. But Adam realized the path he was on would lead to a life he didn’t want, and so he hit the reset button. He got rid of the bad influences, straightened out his grades, dumped the drugs, and turned to athletics as an outlet (dropping over a hundred pounds in the process).
This dedication to personal excellence is the same energy and focus Adam brings to his real estate business. Adam realized he wanted more from his life, and he took the steps needed to achieve his goals. He practices daily rituals like meditation and journaling, so that by the time he starts his workday at 8 a.m., he is energized and ready to conquer.
In this episode, Adam shares his personal journey out of mediocrity, as well as key tips, strategies and philosophies that can help other business leaders rise to their potential. Listen and be inspired by Adam’s infectious optimism and drive!
Rey Ybarra is a mediapreneur and the author and producer of the multimedia digital book Conversations With Shark Tank Winners, featuring written, audio and video interviews with 14 carefully selected entrepreneurs from the hit television series Shark Tank. He has toured the nation with some of the former contestants with his Sharks & Stripes Conference and Expo, engaging audiences from the main stage of the Small Business Expo, Network After Work, the University of Phoenix School of Business, Broward College School of Business, and the Santa Monica College Entrepreneur Program.
In 2005, Rey was diagnosed with severe and incurable rheumatoid arthritis. As a result of the diagnosis, this year he is launching a program to help other entrepreneurs suffering from the debilitating disease combat the stigma and prejudices associated with rheumatoid arthritis.
Rey is passionate about the power and inspirational stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Through his work with entrepreneurs and business owners, Rey has had the opportunity to share incredible journeys of perseverance, tenacity and passion; all qualities that can be found in every successful business leader.
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Each entrepreneur’s journey is unique, but the passion we feel and the goals we set for ourselves are universal. Every great business started with an idea and a spark of inspiration and spirit, and though the stories may be unique, they’re all connected by the same thread of hard work, passion and a desire to create something incredible.
Rey Ybarra is fascinated by those stories. For the last seven years, he’s been working on an engaging multimedia book project titled Conversations with Shark Tank Winners, in which he interviews contestants from TV’s Shark Tank. In his book, Rey explores the unique and fascinating journey each entrepreneur took that ultimately led to their appearance on the show.
In this episode, Rey shares valuable lessons he learned through those inspirational stories of overcoming hardships and challenges. Rey also tells his own deeply personal and powerful story of transformation, acceptance and motivation after being diagnosed with severe and incurable rheumatoid arthritis, and how that diagnosis led him to develop a program for other entrepreneurs suffering from the painful disease, helping them overcome the associated stigma of their autoimmune disease and its visible effects on their bodies.
These stories of adversity, persistence, dedication and passion will hopefully help you become even more motivated and energized in your own work!
John Murphy is an expert in leadership development, a podcast host, bestselling author, and renowned mentor and coach. His global clients include giants like Pfizer, Airbus, Great West Life Co., State Street Bank, Vodafone and Johnson & Johnson. He is also the founder and CEO of John Murphy International, a global consulting agency.
John started his career as a door-to-door life insurance salesman, and he rose through the ranks to CEO. At the pinnacle of his executive career, John ultimately decided to make a major life change and left the C-suite, choosing instead to channel his talents into helping other executives reach the top of their potential.
John is the author of the bestselling book 10 Key Traits Of Top Business Leaders, where he walks readers through the most important skills and qualities that all successful business owners use to develop and grow their businesses. He is an expert in teaching the skills needed to lead corporate teams to greatness. He takes pride in sharing his wisdom, strategies and experience with today’s top executives across the globe.
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Do you know what really makes a leader? Having an executive title doesn’t necessarily grant you the qualities of a great leader. It’s about the skills, qualities, traits and guidance you bring to your team. It’s about having the passion to lead and the wisdom to recognize and confront new opportunities and challenges. Leadership isn’t a title, it’s a mindset.
John Murphy knows leadership. John has worked with global brands like Pfizer, Airbus, Johnson & Johnson and others, teaching corporate leaders the key traits they need to excel. Rising from door-to-door insurance salesman to CEO, John learned firsthand what it takes to guide a team to greatness. Now he works to coach others on their own journeys to leadership.
In this episode, John shares the qualities he feels are absolutely necessary for anyone who wants to embrace effective leadership. John believes that leadership is a personal journey of self-awareness and learning, and he is passionate about sharing his knowledge and helping organizations further their excellence.
John is here to share with you his wisdom, insights, and philosophy of leadership. I hope you’ll find his guidance useful in your own growth and development, so please enjoy our conversation!
Dr. Rachel MK Headley is a Mensa PhD scientist and expert in project management. Her impressive resume includes a decade spent in the scientific field of satellite imaging, and another decade as a geologist and the operational science officer at the Landsat satellite mission for the U.S. Geological Survey.
Meg Manke is an expert in the field of human resources, and she has worked extensively in talent management, safety, organizational psychology, and communications. Meg has an extensive background in strategic leadership within the business world.
Together, these incredible women are the co-founders of Rose Group International (RGI). They have also co-authored an insightful and important book titled iX Leadership: Create High-Five Cultures and Guide Transformations. Through their guidance, organizations can create a lasting vision and culture and develop the behaviors necessary to achieve greatness.
Dr. Rachel Headley’s Bio:
High Intellect CEOs, Leaders, Entrepreneurs, Investors – ensure critical new IP, strategies, and tech gets implemented quickly & effectively by leveraging the energy of your team’s creativity and passion.
Developing big, complicated culture and process opportunities is her passion – from across the org chart to internal teams to executive one-on-one coaching. Dr. Rachel Headley applies her experience and lessons from a decade of satellite science research and a decade of satellite operational management.
She is a professional keynote speaker, with a TEDx and TED-esque talk in front of a 10,000-plus live audiences.
She is also an author, having written on topics ranging from technical complexities of satellite systems, to satellite data use in conservation, to change strategy.
She is a global citizen, and she has been known to blog about the more ridiculous travel situations in which she occasionally find herself.
Dr. Meg Manke’s Bio:
Meg has years of experience in leading through transition. From major changes in highly-regulated industries to managing through $100M acquisition, Meg has refined skills in understanding people through change. Her studies in organizational psychology and mastery in leadership concepts ensure that your people are taken care of. Period.
Meg has a passion for helping other realize their full potential – breaking down social and personal barriers – changing their story. Her innate ability to recognize opportunity in weakness and present a strategic solution is unprecedented in today’s business world.
Meg is a ranch kid from western South Dakota, where she still puts in a hard day’s work on the family place. Ranch life gave her sticktoittiveness, passion for family and outdoors, and maybe a touch of stubbornness. Meg is an avid runner, an advocate of the well-rounded education of youth, and a major supporter of finding humor in all things.
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Whether you know it or not, the members of your team fall under four distinct types, based on the ways they interact with each other. Your fixers are very team-focused and thrive in chaos, while your organizers are independent and prefer order. Stabilizers prefer teamwork and the clarity of organization, while independents prefer to work alone on the big, difficult problems.
Meg Manke and Dr. Rachel Headley’s work focuses on helping organizations better understand and accommodate these four distinct types of team members. They believe that the keys to effective leadership and communication lie in understanding how your team interacts and integrating that knowledge into your culture… and the results can be profound.
In this episode, Rachel and Meg share the eye-opening principles that serve as the foundation of their work, and they give practical advice for how to apply this knowledge to your own teams. Unlike systems like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Color Code Personality Profile, Rachel and Meg’s iX system isn’t based on an individual’s personality, but rather how that person prefers to work with others as part of a team.
This visionary perspective will give you some incredible insights into your own team, and I’m confident you’ll find a lot of fascinating information to take away from this episode!
Think and Grow Rich explains the "science of success". It changed John Mitchell's life. It allowed him to alter a 20 year history of earning low six figures a year, as an entrepreneur, to earning over $5 million a year. John's 12-minute-a-day technique is recognized as the top practical application in the world of this legendary book. Think and Grow Rich worldwide has sold over 100 million copies, whereas the next best selling book on success has sold under 10 million copies. So clearly, it is the top book ever written on success and achievement. Listen in as John talks about applying this book to your life using a simple and practical technique called Think It Be It, which only takes 12 minutes a day.
John’s technique doubles your control of yourself, triples your daily personal growth, and helps you to focus on and advance your career. The science behind the technique was profiled in a TIME Magazine cover story.
Today, John serves as a faculty member of the nationally top-rated McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches his “Think It Be It” technique. John previously appeared in episode 121 of my podcast a year ago, and I encourage you to go back and listen to that episode as well. Implementing John’s 12-minute-a-day methodology has honestly changed my life. It’s an honor to have John back on Absolute Advantage.
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Did you know that there’s an actual science that determines what makes someone successful? By far the biggest driver of your own personal success lies in your daily thoughts and actions. Luckily, John Mitchell returns to Absolute Advantage to explain how 12 minutes a day and the application of brain science can completely change the course of your life. John is living proof of the power of his methods; in his 50s he realized he wasn’t where he wanted to be, but after applying his methods to his own life he’s now making more than $5 million a year.
John has appeared on Absolute Advantage before to discuss his “Think It Be It” strategy, and after a year of practicing his methods I can’t even begin to tell you how much of a difference it has made in my own life. I’m so convinced of the science behind John’s methods that I actually became a partner in his business.
In this episode, John returns to further discuss “Think It Be It” and how it can benefit you in all aspects of your life. John shares some eye-opening statistics as well as the brain science that serves as the foundation of his methodology. We’ve also got a free five-day email introduction to our course so that you can try out John’s principles firsthand.
Your brain is the most powerful tool you have at your disposal to turn your hopes and dreams into real action that can benefit your entire life. I really hope you’ll get some amazing, life-changing information from this episode!
My name is Kelly Hatfield, and I’ve been a business leader and part of the recruiting industry for more than 25 years. If this is your first time listening to the Absolute Advantage podcast, welcome! My goal with Absolute Advantage is to bring you valuable wisdom from some of the world’s most successful business leaders and entrepreneurs. Each episode is all about sharing fresh visions and new perspectives from many top voices in the business world, helping you to shorten your path to success.
I’d like to share a little more of my background with you. I’m a successful entrepreneur several times over, as well as a certified speaker, certified coach and trainer for the John Maxwell Team, and certified High-Performance Coach. I have dedicated myself to helping others succeed, and I believe strongly in making a positive impact on the people around me.
It’s this goal of having a positive ripple effect that brought about the Absolute Advantage podcast in the first place. This podcast is for business leaders who want to level-up your skills and further your own personal growth so that you can maximize your potential… and become your best self. Thank you so much for joining me.
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Long-time listeners have heard me mention my profound belief in the ripple effect in many previous episodes of Absolute Advantage. So, today I wanted to really take a deep dive into the transformative power of the ripple effect and how it has touched my own life. This is an incredibly important topic for me, and so I’ve decided that for this episode I’ll be speaking with you about my own experiences and thoughts rather than inviting a guest to join me.
I can’t stress enough how closely I hold this topic to my heart; it truly is the catalyst behind so much of what I do. The ripple effect is a guiding light that has been present throughout my life, informing my choices and helping to keep me grounded. From my personal life to my professional work, the ripple effect has helped me maintain focus on the things that matter.
In this episode of Absolute Advantage, I want to share with you how the ripple effect can be a force for positivity in your own life. I believe that the more good we put into the world, the more we get back in return. This has proven to be true time and time again in my life, as you’ll hear in the episode. As always, thank you for spending time with me today. I truly hope the ripple effect from this episode will help bring wonderful things into your own life and the lives of those around you.