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Leadership Fad or Lasting Transformation? Only Time Will Tell

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What makes the difference between leadership fads and transformational leadership that lasts and creates long-term growth? In this “Quick Take” episode, we share our insights on this issue, and how it can challenge even the savviest leadership teams.

We discuss how the challenges of transformational leadership for long-term growth can show up together, like a knot that’s hard to untangle. We briefly introduce the principles of what we call “The Three Growth Igniters® Paradoxes” that can naturally emerge when you’re leading a bold vision in the face of ambiguity.  We also provide tips on what you can do to anticipate and begin to untangle any paradoxical knots along your company’s growth journey.

The bolder your vision, the more you need to embrace paradoxical leadership
for lasting transformation. – Pam Harper

This week on Growth Igniters® Radio:
  • Why it takes time to distinguish between a leadership fad and transformational leadership for lasting growth
  • How leading a bold vision in the face of ambiguity can look like a tangle of leadership issues
  • How applying the principles of what we call “The Three Growth Igniters® Paradoxes can help untangle the knot
  • How anticipating and embracing the “Three Growth Igniters® Paradoxes can lead to long-term transformational outcomes
Resources Mentioned:

 

Accelerate to YOUR Next Level of Success

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A Quick Take on Being “The Disruptor and Not The Disrupted”

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As innovative competitors keep emerging, you and your leadership team may be wondering what it will take to be “the disruptor and not the disrupted.”

We’ve seen that the most successful CEOs and top leadership teams are not just disruptors in their businesses; they’re disruptors in their own careers as well. They’ve internalized that integrating professional growth with business growth is foundational for creating lasting legacies of value.

We discuss how The innovators Dilemma and Disrupt Yourself can guide us in being the disruptor and not the disruptedThat’s why in this “Quick Take” book pairing episode, we are featuring our views on two very different classic best-selling business books: The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen and Disrupt Yourself by Whitney Johnson. We share how, taken together, these two books can complement each other in guiding you and your company to be “the disruptor and not the disrupted.”

We need to recognize opportunities as they are emerging, and be be willing to stay with them to grow the company. – Pam Harper

This week on Growth Igniters® Radio:
  • What impacted us about Clayton Christensen’s finding that companies can be upended when they become overly attached to their success.
  • Our take on applying principles from The Innovator’s Dilemma as you lead in your own business
  • What impacted us about Whitney Johnson’s research on applying concepts of disruptive innovation to personal and career growth
Resources Mentioned:

 

Accelerate to YOUR Next Level of Success

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Growth Igniters Radio. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

     

Join us on Facebook and LinkedIn. For more exclusive content and information, visit our website

Creating Value Through Pod-lationships – Toby Goodman Interviews Pam & Scott

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Pam Harper & Scott Harper discuss building relationships with Toby GoodmanScott and I take another turn showing up as podcast guests rather than as hosts. Toby Goodman, host of the podcast Moving Conversations, interviews us on an episode he titled “Creating Value Through  “Pod-lationships.”  This is great conversation about building relationships that will help you get to know us better.

Our conversation includes the story of  how Pam’s book, Preventing Strategic Gridlock, led to us become business partners as well as life partners. We also share highlights of our Growth Igniters® Radio podcast journey (now in our eighth year of episodes), and the importance of building relationships of value with listeners and guests (Toby calls these “Pod-lationships”)

Toby Goodman is a Podcast Strategist and Producer, and best selling author of the book Narrow Podcasting: Make Profitable Connections and Grow Your Business Without Paid Ads, Sponsors, or Thousands of Listeners. In full disclosure, Toby is also our podcast strategist and producer. One of the unique things about him is his belief that podcasting should be about building relationships that help grow your business. Something that we see influencing Toby’s unconventional philosophy is his 20 years spent in the music industry as a full-time professional drummer and percussionist. As he puts it, he helped ‘the talent’ perform at the exact moment it matters.” He uses the same skill to help podcasters in building relationships.

This week on Growth Igniters® Radio:

  • Our very different backgrounds and styles, and how this increases our value to clients

  • Our mission to help CEOs, C-Suite executives and boards achieve game-changing growth

  • Why we launched Growth Igniters® Radio in 2015 and our journey over eight years

  • Using “pod-lationships” to create relationships of value

  • Memorable stories of  “pod-lationships” from Growth Igniters® Radio

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Accelerate to YOUR Next Level of Success

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Change the Pattern to Create New Value

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Pam Harper & Scott Harper discuss game-changing leadershipWhat does it mean to ‘change the game?” Game-changing growth involves leading in a dramatically different direction to create new value – whether it’s creating value in new markets or improving your value in existing markets. The challenge of leading a bold vision in the face of ambiguity is becoming aware of how established patterns need to change to create new outcomes.

This week, we discuss what it means to ‘change the game,’ and how disrupting established patterns in your company and market can open the doors for creating new value. We discuss the importance of helping yourself and  others in your organization become mindful of patterns that are no longer relevant. Pam shares the story of how she used different kinds of games in an advisory engagement to help change patterns of thinking and behavior in a company whose leaders needed to increase commitment and collaboration after a merger. We also share three immediately useful ideas you can use to change established patterns and create new value for your markets.

Changing patterns of feeling, thinking, and action can lead to creating game-changing value for everyone
– Pam Harper

This week on Growth Igniters Radio:

  • What we mean by “game-changing” business growth
  • How changing established patterns can create new value for your markets
  • The power of using games to inspire new feelings and create new thinking
  • A story of how changing established patterns enabled a company to change their game
  • Three immediately useful ideas for changing established patterns to create new value

Resources Mentioned:

Accelerate to YOUR Next Level of Success

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Growth Igniters Radio. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

Join us on Facebook and LinkedIn. For more exclusive content and information, visit our website

Growth Igniters Leadership – and All That Jazz

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Pam Harper and Scott Harper discuss Jazz and Business LeadershipWe love jazz, which is one reason why we chose it for our podcast theme music. And it’s not just us! Some of our audience members also share the same taste and fondness for jazz. But, we think jazz is more than just music. We believe jazz is a great metaphor for business leadership, especially when it comes to pushing boundaries for innovation and transformation.

In this episode, we share more about how the balance of structure and improvisation in jazz applies to effective business leadership. We share our experience at a jazz concert and explain how it made us think of how allowing for dissonance can be a critical part of creating value. We also explain the importance of flexible business leadership, encouraging improvisation, and going beyond conventional strategies when the market makes abrupt changes.

As the world is changing faster than ever before, the spirit of jazz can help us stay relevant.
– Pam Harper

This week on Growth Igniters Radio:

  • How Jazz can be a metaphor for business leadership
  • What’s exciting and unique about Jazz music?
  • What we learned about leadership during a Herbie Hancock jazz concert
  • What it means to go beyond the established “score”
  • How can you incorporate the spirit of jazz into your business?

Resources Mentioned:

Accelerate to YOUR Next Level of Success

If you enjoyed this episode of Growth Igniters® Radio, please spread the word. Subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

Join us on Facebook and LinkedIn. For more exclusive content, join the Growth Igniters® Community.

Don’t miss the boat: Staying Relevant in a Changing Marketplace – with Linda Popky

“What kept Sears from becoming Amazon or Kmart from becoming Walmart?”

Read Growth Igniters Radio Episode 2011 TranscriptListen to episode 212. Scott and I speak with Linda Popky, Founder and President of Leverage2Market Associates, about what distinguishes established companies that evolve and thrive over time from once dominant players that have faded into irrelevance.

Linda helps organizations and individuals get heard above the noise by creating compelling content that matters. Her clients include startups, small businesses, mid-sized companies, and large Fortune 500 enterprises. She is the author of the books Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters, and Top of Mind: 101 Insights to Transform Your Business. (read Linda’s full below).

You’ll gain insights on:
  • What Linda sees as the biggest challenge of  leading a successful company through metamorphosis
  • The one thing Linda says established companies must do to “not miss the boat” and stay relevant in the changing marketplace
  • Immediately useful ideas for leading to stay responsive to current and emerging needs in the world

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How Peripheral Thinking™ Can Fuel Innovation – with Paul Daniels Jr.

“You can find sparks of innovation by looking beyond your frame of reference”

Read Growth Igniters Radio Episode 208 TranscriptListen to episode 209. Scott and I speak with Paul Daniels Jr. about how insights from outside your focus can propel innovative thinking. Paul is a keynote speaker, entrepreneur, board advisor, and author. He is also the  Founder and CEO of Peripheral Thinkers™,  a collaborative think-tank of leaders who want to propel their companies beyond obstacles and change the trajectory of industries worldwide.

Paul’s unique perspectives on challenging conventions and creating unlimited paths to success in any market condition have influenced companies of all sizes, including General Electric, UnitedHealthcare, Budweiser, WebMD, and AT&T. (read more about Paul below).

You’ll gain insights on:
  • How looking at unrelated ideas and putting them together in new ways can uniquely fuel innovation
  • How interacting with people from other walks of life can turbocharge innovative thinking
  • Immediately useful ideas for for applying peripheral thinking to propel innovation in your organization

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The CEO’s Key Role in Increasing Innovation ROI — with guest Tendayi Viki

“It’s time to start a movement that transforms how innovation is managed”

Read Growth Igniters Radio Episode 191 Transcript

At a time when it’s more important than ever to get the greatest possible value from innovation, listen again to our Fan Favorite episode 191. Scott and I speak with Tendayi Viki, an award-winning thought leader, author and corporate innovation expert. We discuss insights from his third book, “Pirates In The Navy: How Innovators Drive Transformation,” and how they apply to increasing innovation ROI.

As Associate Partner at Strategyzer, Tendayi works with companies to develop their internal ecosystems so they can innovate for the future while managing their core business. He was shortlisted for the 2021 Thinkers50 Innovation Award and was named on the Thinkers50 2018 Radar List for emerging management thinkers to watch. He is also a regular contributor at Forbes. (read more about Tendayi Viki below)

You’ll gain insights on:

  • Why continuous innovation in an established company (beyond start-up) can be so challenging
  • The myths of leading innovation and how they can decrease value
  • Three immediately useful ideas for CEOs and top leadership to create a greater ROI for innovation

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Navigating the Challenges of Visionary Leadership in the Post-Pandemic World

In a changing world, what is critical as you respond to stakeholder pushback on your vision?

Read Growth Igniters Radio Episode 174 TranscriptFind out by listening again to our Fan-Favorite Episode 174. If you are re-envisioning your company’s future direction to better respond to changing needs and emerging opportunities triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and economic volatility, this episode will provide insights about what it takes to go from big ideas to big results.

You’ll gain insights on

  • The most critical principle to remember as your leadership team re-envisions the future
  • One of the top reasons for mysterious stakeholder pushback
  • Three immediately actionable ideas to increase stakeholder commitment to a new direction

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What It Takes To Successfully Do Business In Africa — with guest Dr. Deanne De Vries

Our guest shares insights from her new book, Africa: Open for Business

Read Growth Igniters Radio Episode 204 TranscriptAs more CEOs, C-Suites and Corporate Directors are looking for sustainable opportunities for business growth, be sure to download and listen to episode 204. Scott and I speak with Dr. Deanne De Vries: speaker, author, and Africa Advocate, about why she believes Africa is not only desirable but essential to companies looking for growth opportunities. 

Deanne has spent much of the past thirty years living across Africa and working for startups (including her own), global non-profits, international organizations, venture capital firms as well as one of the world’s Top Ten logistics firms. Her articles and ideas have been featured in a variety of venues including: World Economic Forum Africa,  the Economist, the Financial Times, and CNBC Africa. (read more about Dr. Deanne Devries below).

You’ll gain insights on:
  • Why Deanne believes that now is the time for businesses to consider growth in Africa
  • Determining if you have what she calls the “ABCs” (Appetite, Bandwidth, and Capital) for successfully doing business in Africa
  • Immediately useful ideas for implementing the ABCs of growing business in Africa

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