Sparks: Think Beyond Borders: How to Cultivate a Global Citizen Mindset With Solvay CEO Ilham Kadri

My guest for this week’s Future of Work podcast is Maynard Webb, the former Chief Operating Officer at eBay; and currently Chairman of the Board at Yahoo!, and board member at Salesforce and Visa. Maynard is also the author of the recently released book, Rebooting Work: Transform How You Work in the Age of Entrepreneurship. This is a really fascinating discussion because Maynard is one of the most influential people in the worlds of business and technology, and is involved in so many amazing projects. We talk about the concepts from his book including the framework of employees, the employee experience, the role that Millennials play in the future of work, and the impact of technology. Maynard is really big on freelancing and I get his take on the future of this economy. Maynard also shares why people need to take professional and personal development into their own hands. We look at all sorts of fascinating topics. We also discuss where Maynard sees the future of work in the next five to ten years, and he shares his advice to management and employees. Maynard is definitely someone that you want to pay attention to. Enjoy this episode with Maynard Webb and let me know what you think!   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

5 Aug 20151h 8min

This episode of the Future of Work podcast I have the pleasure of speaking with Adam Warby, CEO of Avanade. Avanade is a global technology solutions/cloud management service with over 20,000 employees worldwide. Our focus is exploring why the future of work is all about digital transformation. While there is a lot of discussion happening around digital transformation, there is still not that much clarity around what it actually is, how to do it, what it is going to look like, etc. Adam and I go in-depth around digital transformation, and he shares Avanade’s recent report that identifies four trends that they see as driving digital transformation going forward. We also look at how the workplace is evolving, trends that are shaping the future of work, Millennials, wearables and more. Adam also shares valuable insights for organizations and employees interested in embarking on this digital transformation journey. So, tune in to hear Adam Warby on digital transformation! (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

29 Juli 201556min

This episode of the Future of Work podcast is with Dorie Clark is the author of a new book called Stand Out: How To Find Your Breakthrough Idea And Build a Following Around It. Dorie is also a marketing strategist, professional speaker and adjunct professor at Duke University. For anyone interested in personal branding, this is going to be a very, very interesting podcast. We look at everything ¾  why personal branding is for everyone, how to develop your own niche, how to deal with online trolls, how to grow your network, and more. Both Dorie and I share advice on consistency, frequency and visibility towards building your personal brand. For those of you interested, Dorie also has a great column on Forbes that you can also check out. This was a great conversation and lots of fun. Tune in and listen to Dorie Clark on personal branding!   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

22 Juli 20151h 13min

This episode of the Future of Work podcast I speak with Nancy Duarte, Principal, and Patti Sanchez, Senior Vice President of Strategic Services, at Duarte. Duarte is known as “persuasive presentation experts,” and those of you who are interested in learning and improving your presentation and speaking skills may be familiar with them. In this podcast, we look at why storytelling is a big part of the future of work. Nancy and Patti have a new book being released early next year about leaders as strong, transformative communicators titled, “The Torchbearer Leader.” I had an opportunity to preview their book and found it very fascinating. We talk about some of the concepts in their book that they refer to as “the torchbearer’s toolkit” as well technology and globalization, technology in storytelling, and storytelling as personal branding. This is a very thought-provoking podcast that will resonate with everyone. So tune in and listen to Nancy Duarte and Patti Sanchez on why storytelling is crucial to the future of work!   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

16 Juli 201558min

On this week’s episode of the Future of Work podcast I’m speaking with Dana Bottenfield, VP of Human Resources at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. St. Jude is among one of the most famous research facilities known for the amazing work they do with kids. But, did you know St. Jude was voted as the No. 1 company to work for by Millennials? On Glassdoor, St. Jude received 4.5 stars, 100 percent of their employees recommend their CEO, and 93 percent state they would recommend the company to a friend. These are among the highest numbers I have ever seen for any company. In addition, for the past several years they have also been on Fortune’s Top 100 Companies to Work For. Earlier this year I had the honor of speaking at St. Jude at an internal conference on leadership and management. While there I found out they are an amazing place to work, and I wanted to find out what Dana and her team at St. Jude are doing to create such a desirable work environment. In this podcast, Dana and I explore topics such as driving employee engagement, low-cost initiatives, work-life balance, scaling HR, open and closed offices, and scaling HR. Dana shares her perspective on how the role of HR is evolving, how the workplace is changing, freelancers, and what challenges she faces. I always like to interview interesting organizations and the people running them from a people perspective. And, I think you’ll find this episode with Dana Bottenfield to be both inspirational and educational. Enjoy and let me know what you think!   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

8 Juli 201555min

My guest this week on the Future of Work podcast is Xavier Unkovic, Global President at Mars Drinks. Mars Drinks is a segment of the global Mars brand, which focuses specifically on drinks such as coffees, teas and the like. You may wonder why a beverage company is so interested in the future of work, but Mars Drinks is 100% focused on the workplace. Their products and solutions are for the workplace. Internally, Mars Drinks has been doing some very interesting things lately including the design of a brand new office space in Westchester, Pennsylvania. The focus of this podcast with Xavier is how to create a culture of innovation, and we take a closer look at what Mars Drinks is doing including the creation of “coffee shop culture.” Xavier also shares his insights on a host of topics such as how the workplace is changing, and management and leadership. We even cover the impact that food and drink might have on how we collaborate and get one’s job done. Xavier gives us his perspective on how innovation has changed over the years and shares some of the cool things he is doing at Mars Drinks. Xavier is clearly passionate about his work. Don’t miss this really great and interesting conversation with Xavier Unkovic on fostering innovation.   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

1 Juli 20151h 4min

For anyone interested in getting a first-hand perspective on how an organization is actually transforming and thinking about the future of work, this is an especially exciting and fascinating episode of the Future of Work podcast. My guest is Ben Bratt, VP of HR, talent and Organizational Capabilities at T-Mobile. T-Mobile is undergoing a radical transformation. They are all over the news with their Uncarrier strategy, and their new CEO, John Legere, has a dynamic and unconventional personality in the media. The company is virtually unrecognizable from where it was five to ten years ago. Now, a lot of what consumers are seeing is the front-end transformation, but what most people don’t realize is there is actually quite a lot that T-Mobile is doing internally. In fact, T-Mobile has completely re-invented HR from the ground up. What it means to work at T-Mobile has been completely re-engineered and put together in a new way that is able to support this new Uncarrier strategy. I had the pleasure of talking with Ben and getting details of what that transformation looks like. We talk about how the role of HR is evolving and what T-Mobile is doing lately. We talk about some of the transformative principles that they have been applying, and how the workplace is changing. We talk about everything from diversity and inclusion to their performance and reward structure to what a T-Mobile office actually looks like. We also cover how they think of managers and organizational structure. It is rare to talk to such a large organization that has literally re-invented the HR function and what it means to work there. So take a moment to listen to this exciting podcast with Ben Bratt at T-Mobile.   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

24 Juni 20151h 30min

I’m really excited about this episode of the Future of Work podcast. My guest is Brian J. Robertson who actually created Holacracy, a new management and organizational structure; and is the author of Holacracy: The New Management System for a Rapidly Changing World. Holacracy has been in the news quite a bit as it pertains to Zappos’ radical shift to this new organizational structure. There has been quite a bit of confusion and discussion around Holacracy, so I thought this would be an ideal time to speak to its creator to find out what is Holacracy, how it works and why it should be considered. Brian dispels a lot of the myths and, overall, it is a very thought-provoking discussion. Brian is very passionate about the work he is doing and sheds light on exactly what Holacracy is. So tune in and enjoy this very fascinating discussion on Holacracy!   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

17 Juni 20151h 19min