On The Brink With Andi Simon

Hear how to create a workplace where people love to work I first had the pleasure of interviewing Konstantinos (Kon) Apostolopoulos for this podcast in July 2020 as the pandemic was raging around the world. He and Dr. Elia Gourgouris had just co-authored the book, 7 Keys to Navigating a Crisis: A Practical Guide to Emotionally Dealing with Pandemics & Other Disasters. Now Kon has written another book due out next year, called Engagement Blueprint: Building a Culture of Commitment and Performance. And what is so fascinating about his new book is that it focuses on business culture change and employee engagement as the keys to business success. Kon and I are both culture change experts and so as you can imagine, I’m excited to learn what he has to tell us today, as I think you will be too.  Watch and listen to our conversation here People seek out environments where they feel valued and their needs are being met. Some keypoints from today’s discussion: An engaged workforce looks for things that need to ge

Learn how to let go of worry and fear by learning new habits Today I bring you Joanna Hardis, a beautiful woman whom you’re going to love listening to. Joanna is focused on helping people with anxiety-related issues and obsessive compulsive disorders, so this is a person you really might like to know more about if that’s something that is in your life. She can give you strategies to help you break through the barriers that are holding you back and learn to let feelings be, which is what she talks about in her new book, Just Do Nothing: A Paradoxical Guide to Getting Out of Your Way. Like me, Joanna preaches that change is hard but we can do it, we really can change and have a happier, more fulfilling life. Listen in and enjoy. Watch and listen to our conversation here Change your thinking, change your behavior Joanna teaches us that when your brain wants to go to the “worry story,” that state of mind that’s causing you to be anxious, that is when you can learn specific skills to say, “Nope, I’m going to let

Hear how to keep your seat at your own table that you build for yourself What I love about my guest today, Nori Jabba, is that when she hit a brick wall—in her case, a series of job rejections—she pivoted and wrote a book about the whole job-search process and dealing with mulltiple rejections, called Keeping Your Seat at the Table. Now she’s writing a second book but actually she’s not writing it, everybody else is writing it. It will be a compilation of other people’s stories about their journeys and their seats at the table. Want to contribute? Contact Nori on her website keepingyourseat.com. Listen and learn how to build your own table. Watch and listen to our conversation here Nori’s three things you need to build your own table 1. Forget about getting that seat or keeping that seat. It’s really about keeping your own seat at your own table that you build for yourself. 2. You can’t do it alone. You’ve got to lean on others. Think about who’s at that table with you. Who’s at your table? 3. Believe in you

Learn how you can fight gender bias so women leaders can succeed  As you know, I do a lot of work around women leadership. The title of my second book is Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business, and I have recently co-written with Edie Fraser and Robyn Freedman Spizman a third book, Women Mean Business: Over 500 Insights from Extraordinary Leaders to Spark Your Success, due out September 26th. So I’m all about helping women in business succeed. My guest today, Jennifer McCollum, is the same, having dedicated the last 20 years of her career to helping leaders and teams and organizations fulfill their potential, particularly women leaders. She helps women find their passion and their purpose, and I’m thrilled to have her on today’s podcast. Her mission is to change the face of leadership by accelerating the advancement of women leaders. Mine too. Listen in, learn, and please share. Watch and listen to our conversation here Nine key takeaways from our discussion today 1. Clarity is much more challengin

Hear how pure contentment is available to all of us, right now Believe it or not, we’re approaching our 400th podcast. Along the way, I’ve talked with some amazing people: business leaders, entrepreneurs, futurists, anthropologists (like myself), Blue Ocean Strategists® (again, like myself), and on and on. They’ve all been extraordinary, but sometimes I’ve interviewed someone who really made me think and feel in a new, deeper way. One such person is my guest today, Smita Joshi. Born in India and raised in the UK, Smita will challenge you to think about your life’s purpose and what you want to accomplish. She talks about pure awareness, which the ancient Indians called Ātman, and how to experience contentment no matter where you are in life. I dare you to listen to this podcast and not come away unchanged. Watch and listen to our conversation here What is your life purpose? Throughout our conversation, Smita talks about someting that is crucial to each one of us: what do we want to accomplish in this life? An

Hear why robust, targeted marketing is the wisest investment you can make Want to get energized about how to effectively market your business and present it to the world in the best possible light? Listen to my interview with Melea McRae, a “fractional chief marketing officer.” What’s that, you ask? According to Melea, it’s when companies like hers (Crux) “joins with an in-house team to execute on a strategy and provide additional bench strength for marketing departments.” As you’ll hear, Melea is on the cutting edge of what it takes to stand out amidst the clutter today and persuade potential buyers to want to connect with you. Listen, learn and share! Watch and listen to our conversation here Some important points for you to consider from our conversation today Do you really feel the marketing people you’re working with understand your business? It’s all about how to differentiate your message so that you’re standing out of that sea of sameness. There’s so much competition in every industry today. It’s ea

Hear how you have a huge say over how and when you work. I just love the fascinating people I have the pleasure of bringing to you. One of them is Marcey Rader. She first appeared on our podcast in March of 2020 as pandemic lockdowns were just beginning (doesn’t that seem a long time ago?) and I found her insights on wellness and selfcare so important that I had to have her back. What struck me during today’s conversation was how companies need to reexamine the overwhelming workloads and abundance of tasks they’re giving their workers without the resources to do them. Yes, it’s great to have wellness apps, fitness benefits, meditation rooms, and all of that, but in truth, what’s better for employees is not to need them in the first place because they’re not all stressed out. For all who work, listen in! Watch and listen to our conversation here For more on rethinking wellness and work, we recommend these 3 podcasts: Podcast: Diana Wu David—Are You Truly Happy With How You Work, Not Just Where? Podcast: Maur

Learn how what we're really doing as we go through life is work on ourselves. What makes an inspiring leader? According to my guest today, Dr. Srikumar Rao, it is to be personally inspired by a vision which brings a greater good to a greater community. As a leader, you are in the business of helping everyone you run across improve their position in life and raise their level of consciousness, because this is your path in life. Isn’t that a great message to live by? My dear friend Pat Shea, with whom I did a podcast back in 2020, told me that I just had to have Dr. Rao on our podcast and boy was she right! Listen in, this could very well change your life. Watch and listen to our conversation here Dr. Rao’s pearls of wisdom that you can take and apply to your own life The only thing you ever do in life is work on yourself. Everything you’re given by the universe—your partner, your children, your job, your career, your business—they’re tools. You use those tools as skillfully as you can. But in the process of

Hear why a big part of life is having a life worth living, even at work. Today I spoke with Lori Pine, a 25-year corporate VP turned certified executive leadership coach. What Lori teaches us is something we maybe all innately know but often don’t recognize: that a big part of life is having a life worth living. To many executives on that hamster wheel, this is a big statement. Yes, moving up the ladder and advancing your career are certainly worth pursuing, but we shouldn’t overlook the importance of self-care. As Lori tells us, creating a community, finding soul connections, doing simple acts of kindness, and just simply getting enough rest are all part of the path to a happy life. Listen in, learn and share! Watch and listen to our conversation here The answer is within, not without In our conversation today, Lori touched on several key insights we can all learn from: Corporations have a responsibility to enable their employees, men and women, to have a life worth living. Part of that is having community

Are you on LinkedIn? These days it seems everybody is. Even if they’re not using it correctly, they’re on it, so much so that it’s now become a platform of constant self-promotion. But that’s not how it started in 2003 when it was launched as a networking platform for professionals. So how can we use LinkedIn more correctly, and productively, and not fall into the trap of just using it to sell ourselves? My guest today, JD Gershbein, a true LinkedIn expert and thought leader (although he objects to that term), will tell us. And, he’s an anthropologist, like myself! Do listen in. Watch and listen to our conversation here Key takeaways from our conversation today: JD helps people anticipate and prepare for change, increase their change competency with LinkedIn, and keep an eye toward the future. “Content” could be the most overused word on LinkedIn right now. We’re at a point now where so much of what we do on LinkedIn is geared towards selling. People are being sold. They’re pre-conditioned for a pitch. And

Hear how anthropology helps you see your business through a fresh lens It was truly a privilege and a pleasure to interview Dr. John Curran on our podcast. We met by way of LinkedIn, and I knew I had to share his story. Dr. Curran is one of the pioneers of organizational anthropology. Now remember, I branded myself when I launched my business as a corporate anthropologist who helps companies change. At the time, I didn’t realize there weren’t any corporate anthropologists. I also quickly learned that people engaged me because they really needed to change, but they didn’t know what I did, or why anthropology could be of value to their organization’s strategy or business model or culture. Along the way, they learned, and then they began to see their business through fresh eyes. You will too. There is so much to learn from this brilliant anthropologist and thought leader. Enjoy, and please share. Watch and listen to our conversation here What is organizational anthropology? And how does it apply to organization

Hear why strategy without accountability doesn't work! I met Aviva Ajmera when she invited me to speak to her groups of CEOs in Kansas City. We hit it right off and had an exceptional time learning about each other and the type of work we love to do to help companies grow. Working with teams, CIOs, CEOs and C-suite level executives, Aviva knows how to bring out the best in them, their collective wisdom and perspective. She loves to build strategic plans but she also knows that unless you create action plans to go with those strategies, they don’t go anywhere, no matter how great they are. They have to be a product of the organization. Our conversation is full of ideas about how you can build a great strategic plan for your organization, and actually convert it into a business plan that works. Listen and learn! Watch and listen to our conversation here Three themes we discuss that are very relevant to our listeners Engage the entire organization in the planning process. They have great ideas. Don’t shut them

Learn how to discover who you ARE, not just what you do There are moments when I meet someone on our podcast who truly takes my own breath away—and I hope it does yours as well. Elizabeth Rosenberg is one such woman. We talk about her journey filled with trauma and burnout that led her to rethink her life. Rather than keep pushing herself within large corporations, she shifted her focus and launched a new career, helping others discover their inner worth and "secret sauce.” She's intuitive, she's compassionate, and I really believe she's what the world needs right now. As you listen, you may rethink your own life. Watch and listen to our conversation here Do you know how great you really are? Being a branding guru, Elizabeth knows that people often hide their best selves from others, and even from themselves. She helps clients look inside and see what greatness is already there, and then free it so they can “soar.” Listen in and ask yourself, “Aren’t I a great 'brand' ready to be free of the anchors holding