Advertise on podcast: Level Up - A Leadership Podcast

What are the building blocks of consistency?  How disciplined are you at...discipline? Leaders have the double-duty of being disciplined and creating discipline in their organizations.  I looked to Chris Heinz from Westport One in this conversation to discuss consistency and discipline in some key areas of leadership.  Some key discussion points gave us opportunities to discuss:  The building blocks of disciplineWhere does passion really come from?Tying discipline to your motivations not your outcomesCreating processes and automation that help with consistencyNot letting "great" stand in the way of "good enough" (FOMO)I believe that in a lot of cases "lack of discipline" is actually a misalignment between a person's true motivations and their work.  It is nearly impossible to have discipline in the long run about things that don't deeply connect to your WHY. Thanks for listening!

Erin Thompson shares her leadership experiences, anecdotes and lessons learned about psychological safety in the work place.  Erin and I share a lot of similar experiences, and we dug into some examples of environments where safety was not the top priority.  We examined potential causes or reasons this is so prevalent in an industry that touts care, warmth and empathy - at least toward its customers. We also explored practical tips and approaches to create psychological safety and trust within teams. Thanks for listening to this episode of Level Up Leadership Podcast with James Lee and guest Erin Thompson.  Please also check out Erin's podcast "Aspire for More with Erin".

Nathan Jones is a former college football coach turned senior living advocate. Nathan was introduced to the world of senior living just out of college, and from the moment he first stepped foot into a senior living community, he was hooked. Since that day, Nathan's mission has been to change the negative perception surrounding aging & senior living through sharing authentic stories of older adults.  He does much of this work through his company, Dash Media. In a prep conversation together for a different episode topic, I learned that Nathan hadn't been returning my text because he was in the hospital. It led to an important conversation together about the nature of work, self-imposed hustle, and the need for purposeful pauses - especially as an entrepreneur in a passion-fueled industry like senior living. The pressures of keeping up with and responding to everyone, talking about how we're feeling, taking breaks, being a good leader... these and so many more factors of running a business can easily become a compounding snowball of depleting mental well-being. For content creators like Nathan and me, it is also challenging to experience impactful moments without our brains shifting in the moment to how this will translate to a good story.  Ironically, this pulls us out of the moment and fully experiencing it. This was an important conversation about entrepreneurship, content, mental health, and everything in between. 

Season 3 of the Level Up Leadership Podcast kicks off with a rather provocative episode: “Do People in Aging Services Perpetuate Ageism?”  [YouTube vide of episode.] It’s a long title, but I thought it deserved the full weight of the question. I was SO fortunate to interview Ashton Applewhite. In my readings and study on this topic, I couldn’t find a more compelling and articulate activist than she. Ashton’s Ted Talk, “Let’s End Ageism” is a masterful storytelling experience that gives audience an opportunity to examine “a prejudice that pits us against our future selves.” I read her book, “This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism” while on vacation. I’m grateful I had a moment in time without normal distractions to become engrossed in this book. Our episode delves into some really intriguing questions and possible self-examination for those of us in aging services. I hope you enjoy and will reflect on this conversation.

"Don't just think positive thoughts.  Feel positive feelings."  This is just one of many golden nuggets of wisdom I gained from my conversation with Dana Garnett, a conflict management strategist and professional mediator.   Dana is an insightful conflict expert who helps businesses and teams clear the deepest rifts to working in harmony fast. Founder of The Mindful Strategy she applies her vast business and life lessons learned to help improve business and social dynamics.  In this episode, we explore what causes conflict to exist - both in individuals and on teams.  She shares her insights on the elements of a successful team and how conflict arises when one or more of those elements is not in sync with the others. How does taking someone else's position actually help you?  What's the harm in leaders ending conflict with "let's agree to disagree"?  Can leaders actually get better at managing conflict or is it something you troubleshoot when it comes up?  Let's dig in.  Your conflict management strategist is dialed in.

Jack York is a successful leader who self-describes as a "mediocre CEO".  A co-founder of the senior living technology company, iN2L, Jack is the prototypical Head + Heart leader that we talk about.  In this episode, Jack shares some of his own story, insights into how to lead a startup business, and what's next for him.  The episode spans topics like:  Launching a technology product into a wary senior living industryThe tough early years of leading an organizationWhere he would focus between Product, Sales or Team when launching a businessHow cancer affected his perspective on lifePreparing your personal finances and expectations of profitabilityHis upcoming road show and reality TV show focused on storytellingThanks to Jack for joining me for this conversation and for his great advice to our starting organization, Bella Groves.  

Executive Directors lead the day to day work within a senior living community.  In my opinion, this is a cornerstone role for any leader in our industry.  Whether it is a career-long role or a pivotal experience along your career journey, the E.D. is the heart and soul of our profession.  In this episode, I share some practical tips on how to prepare for and find the right Executive Director role.  Despite better intentions, most companies merely set up E.D.'s to babysit the business - giving these leaders what amounts to daily checklists, weekly meetings, monthly quotas, quarterly assessments, and annual performance reviews.  For the aspiring leader who wants to make lasting change (or at least attempt it), I share my thoughts on the following concepts:  Build your relationship management skillsChoose your leader, not the company/jobSignal your commitmentGain an understanding of financial statements and key data

There are two critical components of having high emotional intelligence: inward facing (self management) and outward facing (social management).   In this episode, I share three practical tips on how you can build your self-awareness and self-management skills. Grow Your Emotions VocabularyOrient Yourself to Empathy as a Skill and Not a FeelingCreate and Write Down Specific (S.M.A.R.T.) Goals Related to Building Emotional IntelligenceI also explore the difference between sympathy and empathy. This distinction is a beginning step to building your skills in empathy, which leads to better social (relationship) management skills. 

Sean is a turnaround guru.  In his wide ranging professional experiences in helping distressed companies to restructure and turnaround, he has observed lots of organizational patterns that may have contributed to tough times. In this second part of our epic conversation together, Sean and I discuss:  A therapy metaphor for adopting a turnaround mindsetHow to develop a coalition on your team to get ideas heardAn argument for in-person work (vs. remote) to facilitate healthy friction on a teamWe also dig into Sean's questions about the senior living industry at 25 min. 31 sec. How has senior living been disrupted in the last 15-20 years (pre-COVID)? Making senior living a service and not just a place.An idea for a senior services marketplace.Summary of episodes 1 and 2 in one sentence: the best time to face disruption is as a healthy company when you have all the resources to address it.

Sean is a turnaround guru.  In his wide ranging professional experiences in helping distressed companies to restructure and turnaround, he has observed lots of organizational patterns that may have contributed to tough times. In the COVID era, just about every company experienced elements of turnaround.  In this first segment of a two-part episode, Sean shares some of his insights and advice to leaders to draw lessons from our collective experiences during the pandemic, how to avoid pitfalls and ways to watch for warning signs within their own organizations that things may be headed south.

“Purpose transcends ego.” This was one of the many quotable quotes that came from the discussion between James and Anna Hall, the Chief Purpose Officer for Connected Living and the inventor of the Purpose Equation.  In this episode, James delves into the topic of purpose and how it relates to greater leadership effectiveness. Anna also shares some of her techniques by walking James through his own purpose equation. This is sure to be an episode that you bookmark for you to return to more than once.  How do you define your purpose?  Do you lead in a way that invites the people on your team to live within their purpose?  Vulnerable insights ahead. Let’s dig in.

Why do people go to websites?  It's probably not to see an advertisement of your company. Advertisements are inherently disruptive.  They are designed to interrupt what you are doing (i.e. watching TV) to pay attention to your company or brand.  Content Marketing is a magnet that draws interested people to content that will actually help them.  In other words, advertisements are the "hype" and content marketing is the "help".  Whether you are a solo-entrepreneur or a large company, you will NOT generate trust or demand without a solid content marketing strategy.  A subset of content marketing, according to guest, Andy Crestodina, Co-Founder and CMO or Orbit Media, is thought leadership.   Thought leadership always makes strong assertions, and you can be certain that someone will disagree with you.  Andy believes that thought leadership takes courage and that it isn't for everybody.  But, if you feel comfortable enough to stand out on that branch - a little exposed - I hope this episode can help you to feel a little more strategic and confident.  Your industry needs your voice.  Make it count.