Fulfill Human Potential Through Super Performance | George Pesansky

Fulfill Human Potential Through Super Performance | George Pesansky

How do you close the gap between knowing something and actually doing it as you drown in knowledge but lack the ability to translate it into consistent repeatable action? How do you create a culture so Work Positive that an ordinary person put in the right environment with the right tools suddenly becomes extraordinary? How do you transform from a leader who points out issues to one who helps people reach their full potential? Transform your approach to building super performing cultures on this episode of the Work Positive Podcast with Dr. Joey Faucette and George Pesansky. George is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt, army veteran, inventor, and the author of "Super Performance" published by Fast Company Press. He has trained over 10,000 professionals, worked with some of the world's largest manufacturers, and built a flourishing consulting practice. Listen as George explores: ☀️ His unexpected leadership opportunity as a tank platoon leader with zero training or experience, completely surprising everyone and reaching top evaluations ☀️ Why the essence of Super Performance is helping people reach their full potential, realizing it's not about me but about we and how we all come together ☀️ The golden hour philosophy that we can all have nearly perfect or even perfect levels of performance, like how factories have hours where they work completely safe ☀️ How to go beyond talking about servant leadership and actually demonstrate you'll do things to help people be better tomorrow than they were today, even at an expense to you personally ☀️ Why you have to hang on loosely as a leader, letting people take ownership and be engaged so it doesn't matter if you show up because the systems exist George transforms how leaders think about performance by proving that as you build a culture where people take autonomy and control, you work less rather than harder because you let people take ownership. 🔑 Key Insight: "What I'm gonna call those eight strategies we outline in the book, when you can approach problems that way, there's really nothing you can't solve if you have a group of committed resources that are going to be there with you. It's not about working too hard. Super Performance is actually working less because you're letting people take ownership and letting them be engaged. If you didn't show up today, if you didn't show up this week, it wouldn't matter because the systems exist, the people have ownership, they're engaged. You were a clock builder versus a time teller. The time tellers are the folks that I refer to as capes, the clock builders are who I always want to hire." 💡 Your DOT (Do One Thing): Understand something that went well and be able to answer the question why. It can be any activity, any discussion, could even be the workout, the peloton that you're on listening to the podcast. Ask yourself why did it feel so good today? Why could I have gone a few extra steps, a few extra miles? Why did the performance in the factory do well? The question of why when we do well never gets asked but the question of why when we fail is asked much too often. Just have some balance. Don't say never look at why we fail, but ask the other question once in a while. Connect with George Pesansky: * Get "Super Performance [https://amzn.to/4uqmLyx]" on Amazon (paperback, Kindle, audiobook narrated by George himself) * Visit GeorgePesansky.com [https://georgepesansky.com/] for articles, podcast appearances, and resources that add value * Visit MyBlendedLearning.com [http://myblendedlearning.com/] for George's company and consulting services * Connect with George on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/deliberateimprovement/] * Read George's articles [https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbescoachescouncil/people/georgepesansky/] in Forbes and Fast Company where he is a contributor * Discover how to help people and organizations reach their full potential #SuperPerformance #ClockBuilder #GoldenHour #HangOnLoosely #AskWhyItWentWell #WorkLessNotHarder #CultureEatsStrategyForBreakfast #WorkPositive   🎙️ Love the Work Positive Podcast? Please leave a review on iTunes to help others discover how to grow people and profits with a positive work culture! 🔗 Stay connected with Dr. Joey Faucette: * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@workpositive7529 [https://www.youtube.com/@workpositive7529] * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjoeyfaucette/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjoeyfaucette/] * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorkPositiveToday/ [https://www.facebook.com/WorkPositiveToday/] * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workpositive.today/ [https://www.instagram.com/workpositive.today/]  * Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.joeyfaucette 📧 Know someone who'd make a great guest on the show? Email analiza@getpositive.today with your recommendation!

T.H.R.I.V.E. @ Work: Mental Health Culture Framework | Dr. Joey Faucette

EP 188 | T.H.R.I.V.E. @ Work: Mental Health Culture Framework | Dr. Joey Faucette How do you transform your work culture as one in five adults deals with a mental health condition and one in three faces an anxiety disorder? What creates mentally healthy cultures as 54% of all lost work time in the United Kingdom traces back to work-related stress, anxiety, and depression? How do you lead people through chaos as they look to you for clarity, purpose in the predicaments, and meaning in the mayhem?  Discover the proven framework to help your people thrive on this special LinkedIn Live episode of the Work Positive Podcast recorded during Mental Health Awareness Month. Dr. Joey Faucette [https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjoeyfaucette/] unveils his groundbreaking T.H.R.I.V.E. framework from his latest best-seller "T.H.R.I.V.E. @ Work: Mental Health, Culture, and the People You Lead," drawing from insights of eight extraordinary mental health experts who have transformed cultures and helped countless leaders do the same. Listen as Dr. Joey explores: ☀️ Why organizations that grow people and profits today do so in that order, starting with people as the profits pour in ☀️ The difference between Nick who spiraled after his manager said no to flexible arrangements and Sally who stayed nine years after her manager simply said "You're not right, let's have tea" ☀️ How Velcro comments hook people by head and heart rather than soap bubble comments that disappear in three seconds ☀️ The NAP Framework for strategic rest: Nurture communities and learning, Assess which of seven rest types you need, Prioritize what restores you ☀️ Why feathers ignored morph into bricks, and bricks ignored become trucks as people burn out incrementally rather than suddenly Dr. Joey transforms how leaders think about mental health by proving that as you apply the T.H.R.I.V.E. framework, you create cultures where the people you lead feel seen, valued, rested, equipped, heard, and genuinely engaged. 🔑 Key Insight: "If you ran a factory and someone told you 54% of your machine downtime traced back to a single source, you'd stop the machines. You'd do a root cause analysis. You'd fix it before you switched them back on. Your people deserve that same urgent attention. The organizations that grow people and profits today start with people, and the profits pour in. Psychological safety isn't a cultural nicety. It's basic biology. As the brain perceives threat, the prefrontal cortex goes offline. Creativity disappears. Problem-solving suffers. Burnout accelerates. Trust is the antidote. You make it safe to not be okay, because at any given time, a significant portion of your team is not okay. The question is: Does your culture help them carry the weight or add to it?" 💡 Your DOT (Do One Thing): Choose ONE element of the T.H.R.I.V.E. framework to implement this week based on where your culture can learn and do better. Answer this question first: What about T.H.R.I.V.E. is our culture doing well right now? Give yourself some Joe High-Fives (a five-year-old who high-fived himself as he ran out of people). Celebrating rewires your brain to do more of what you do well. Then answer: Which T.H.R.I.V.E. part can our culture learn from and do better? Helping your people thrive happens in the steady accumulation of moments where people feel seen, valued, rested, equipped, heard, and genuinely engaged. Trust grows one honest conversation at a time. Honor lands one specific acknowledgment at a time. Rest renews one ten-minute margin at a time. Investment compounds one granular challenge solved at a time. Value gets communicated one clear expectation at a time. Engagement sparks one genuine TaDa at a time. The T.H.R.I.V.E. Framework: * Trust: Psychological Safety is Your Foundation (Ask one person "How are you really doing?" and truly listen) * Honor: Recognition that Lands Best (Give Velcro comments rather than soap bubbles, start meetings with Tip of the Hat) * Rest: Your Leadership Superpower (Protect ten minutes today for yourself, shorten recurring meetings by ten minutes) * Invest: Implement Your Resilience Plan (Ask team members what specific part creates most pressure, put resilience on meeting agenda) * Value: Clarity, Boundaries, and the End of Burnout (Look for five things you like daily, notice feathers before they become bricks) * Engage: A Culture where Monday is as Good as Friday (Ask yourself: How do I help people around me be successful? Then do it) Featured Work Positive Podcast Guests: * Tom Oxley (Bamboo Mental Health founder, Nick vs Sally story, 54% lost work time statistic) * Anne Grady (resilience expert, bestselling author, two-time TEDx speaker, five-minute gratitude meetings drop cortisol 23%) * Dr. Erin Wilson (Strategic Rest Summit co-founder, NAP Framework creator, leadership exhaustion expert) * Dr. Bob Nelson (world's leading authority on employee recognition, "1,501 Ways to Reward Employees," see something do something) * Joel Zeff (TaDa Moments creator, Tip of the Hat practice, Yes-and principle from improv comedy) * Dr. Marie-Helene Pelletier ("hope is not a strategy," four behavioral pillars, go granular on stressors) * Lora Cheadle (corporate attorney turned burnout recovery coach, TEDx speaker, "It's Not Burnout, It's Betrayal" author) * Mel Kettle ("Fully Connected" author, feathers/bricks/trucks framework, leadership communication strategist) Connect with Dr. Joey Faucette: * Get your FREE copy of "T.H.R.I.V.E. @ Work: Mental Health, Culture, and the People You Lead" on Kindle or by messaging Dr. Joey on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjoeyfaucette/] * Take the FREE Work Positive Culture Assessment at workpositive.today [https://workpositive.today/] * Message Dr. Joey on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjoeyfaucette/] for personalized mental health culture strategies #THRIVEatWork #MentalHealthCulture #PsychologicalSafety #VelcroComments #StrategicRest #FeathersBricksTrucks #CultureEatsStrategyForBreakfast #WorkPositive----more---- 🎙️ Love the Work Positive Podcast? Please leave a review on iTunes to help others discover how to grow people and profits with a positive work culture! 🔗 Stay connected with Dr. Joey Faucette: * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@workpositive7529 [https://www.youtube.com/@workpositive7529] * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjoeyfaucette/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjoeyfaucette/] * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorkPositiveToday/ [https://www.facebook.com/WorkPositiveToday/] * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workpositive.today/ [https://www.instagram.com/workpositive.today/]  * Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.joeyfaucette [https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.joeyfaucette] 📧 Know someone who'd make a great guest on the show? Email analiza@getpositive.today with your recommendation!

Give Before You Take: AI as Force for Equity | Bala Muthiah

Episode 187 | Give Before You Take: AI as Force for Equity | Bala Muthiah How do you create people-first technology that scales for high-performance teams? How do you lead engineering groups under pressure as you develop resilience and innovate sustainably? How do you champion AI as a force for equity rather than replacement, democratizing mentorship and surfacing areas for growth?  Transform your approach to empathy, psychological safety, and long-term growth on this episode of the Work Positive Podcast with Dr. Joey Faucette and Bala Muthiah [https://www.linkedin.com/in/balaarjunan/]. Bala is Director of Engineering at Lyft, leading the engineering groups responsible for real-time decision systems that support millions of riders and drivers. His work centers on creating environments where teams thrive under pressure. He prioritizes empathy, psychological safety, and long-term growth as he champions AI as a force for equity and leadership.  Listen as Bala explores: ☀️ How community shaped him from home to neighbors to extended family, teaching him he stands on the shoulders of giants ☀️ Why women leaders played a huge role in his development, with his first mentor being female and continuing through his career ☀️ The power of coffee walks and why real meetings happen after the meeting, rather than clicking the red button on Zoom ☀️ How starting meetings five minutes late and ending five minutes early gives you time to breathe, reflect, and avoid jumping from meeting to meeting ☀️ Why work is no longer the number one priority for people, which is completely the right thing as individuals develop their community Bala transforms how leaders think about technology by proving that as you bring together analytical skills and people skills, you unlock potential and become a better engineer and a better person. 🔑 Key Insight: "I am standing on the shoulders of giants. I'm taller and able to do things because I am built on top of somebody else's hard work. Someone gave me the opportunity, the learning, and knowledge. Every single opportunity I see, a friend of mine recently shared this: respect the opportunity. Anything you get, respect it. That teaching and that culture helped me stay grounded. Engineers are heads down solving problems, usually not very known for people skills. But as these two come together, you really unlock potential. You become a better engineer and a better person. It's a collective gain. Both benefit from each other. That's the formula I kept and it got me where I am." 💡 Your DOT (Do One Thing): Do two things. First, regardless of where you work or who you work with, as you ask someone "How are you?" and they tell you "I'm good," don't stop there. Ask "Tell me more." That opens up insights and creates better relationships. Many times we ask people how they are, they say good, and we walk away. Some of us ask the question and walk away rather than even listening. Be curious about them. Second, give before you take. Imagine the world as we all give before we take. The world transforms into a much better place. Whether you're talking or creating relationships, always give first before you take anything from that relationship. That makes the whole thing better. People come to you. You are one person who gives before you take, but there are ten people who come to you and give. Mathematically, you actually get more than you give. Note: The views expressed in this episode are those of Bala Muthiah and do not represent the views of his employer. ----more---- Connect with Bala Muthiah: * Visit BalaMuthiah.com [https://balamuthiah.com/] to read blog posts and discover podcast appearances * Connect with Bala on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/balaarjunan/] * Reach out via email on his website [https://balamuthiah.com/] (Bala loves connecting with people to learn) * Discover how a 30-minute conversation triggers more insights than reading any amount of books * Learn how to create environments where teams thrive under pressure #GiveBeforeTake #PeopleFirstTechnology #AIForEquity #CoffeeWalks #TellMeMore #StandingOnShoulders #CultureEatsStrategyForBreakfast #WorkPositive ----more---- 🎙️ Love the Work Positive Podcast? Please leave a review on iTunes to help others discover how to grow people and profits with a positive work culture! 🔗 Stay connected with Dr. Joey Faucette: * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@workpositive7529 [https://www.youtube.com/@workpositive7529] * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjoeyfaucette/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjoeyfaucette/] * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorkPositiveToday/ [https://www.facebook.com/WorkPositiveToday/] * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workpositive.today/ [https://www.instagram.com/workpositive.today/]  * Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.joeyfaucette [https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.joeyfaucette] 📧 Know someone who'd make a great guest on the show? Email analiza@getpositive.today with your recommendation!

Make Well-being Visible in Your Culture | Dr. Jamie Hardy

Episode 186 | Make Well-being Visible in Your Culture | Dr. Jamie Hardy How well do you understand the direct connection between performance and health in your work culture? What creates teams who are energized, engaged, and endure rather than quietly dimming or walking out the door? How do you embed executive well-being into the very culture of work rather than treating it as an afterthought? Transform your approach to retention and performance on this episode of the Work Positive Podcast with Dr. Joey Faucette and Dr. Jamie Hardy [https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjamiehardy/]. Dr. Jamie is a clinical pharmacist, executive well-being consultant, speaker, and founder of Innovative Wellness. With over 20 years in healthcare, she partners with corporations to optimize talent engagement, retention, and productivity by delivering science-backed consulting and energizing keynotes. Known as "the lifestyle pharmacist," she brings both clinical authority and cultural insight to today's most urgent well-being conversations. Listen as Dr. Jamie explores: ☀️ Her origin story of being escorted from her office to the emergency room as she felt symptoms of a heart attack ☀️ The three transformations she made: prioritize fueling brain and body, reset nervous system in real time, embrace strategic rest as performance multiplier ☀️ Why well-being culture compounds retention results rather than just annual surveys that miss the building dumpster fire ☀️ How the Leadership Retention Index reveals patterns contributing to depletion in your organization sooner than annual surveys ☀️ The 70% gap between what people leaders think they're doing and how people receive it Dr. Jamie transforms how leaders think about well-being by proving that as you make well-being visible in one place, you create cultures where top talent thrives rather than dims. 🔑 Key Insight: "I was so focused on the job, the output, the productivity, how I was being perceived, how I was showing up. I wasn't taking care of the person who was helping to lead the strategy: myself. I was not leading myself well at that point in my career. It shook me to my core and forced me to level up how I was leading myself. I had to prioritize how I was fueling my brain and my body even on my busiest days, even as the calendar was stacked. I had to invent a system to reset my nervous system in real time. I had to lean into this concept that strategic rest is important. It's a performance multiplier rather than a weakness. That ordeal showed me something else: I wasn't the only one. The curtain had been lifted. I was not the only one who had experienced physiological transformations and mental transformations because the work was all consuming." 💡 Your DOT (Do One Thing): Find one place inside your organization where well-being is invisible and make it visible. You can start with the morning huddle, the monthly team meeting, or the quarterly business meeting with senior executives. Pick one space where well-being is practically nonexistent and start that conversation. Share something you discovered listening to this episode that you can do in your life as a leader. Model it. People love to hear you say "try this because I tried it" rather than "do as I say." You can initiate these conversations, processes, and forward momentum in your organization. It all starts with one conversation and a person courageous enough to initiate it. Connect with Dr. Jamie Hardy: * Visit LeadershipRetentionIndex.com [https://drjamiehardy.kartra.com/page/s1m124] for your FREE Leadership Retention Index (complete in 5 minutes, reveals patterns contributing to depletion) * Visit DrJamieHardy.com [https://drjamiehardy.com/] for actionable tools, strategies, and blog designed with executive performance and leadership in mind * Connect with Dr. Jamie on LinkedIn at Dr. Jamie Hardy [https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjamiehardy/] * Follow on Instagram at @DrJamieHardy [https://www.instagram.com/drjamiehardy/] * Discover how to integrate well-being strategies and solutions into your leadership culture * Learn how to close the 70% gap between what leaders think they're doing and how people receive it #Executivewell-being #StrategicRest #PerformanceMultiplier #well-beingCulture #LeadershipRetentionIndex #TheLifestylePharmacist #CultureEatsStrategyForBreakfast #WorkPositive 🎙️ Love the Work Positive Podcast? Please leave a review on iTunes to help others discover how to grow people and profits with a positive work culture! 🔗 Stay connected with Dr. Joey Faucette: * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@workpositive7529 [https://www.youtube.com/@workpositive7529] * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjoeyfaucette/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjoeyfaucette/] * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorkPositiveToday/ [https://www.facebook.com/WorkPositiveToday/] * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workpositive.today/ [https://www.instagram.com/workpositive.today/]  * Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.joeyfaucette [https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.joeyfaucette] 📧 Know someone who'd make a great guest on the show? Email analiza@getpositive.today with your recommendation!

Augmented Leadership in a BANI World | Bob Johansen

How do you navigate the chaos as work transforms faster than ever before? How do you lead people through a world that feels brittle, anxious, non-linear, and incomprehensible? How do you want to be augmented as generative AI reshapes every aspect of work? Transform your approach to strategic thinking and future-focused leadership on this episode of the Work Positive Podcast with Dr. Joey Faucette and Dr. Bob Johansen. Bob is a distinguished fellow at the Institute for the Future, the longest-running futures research group in the world. He's a former university basketball player who scored 20 points against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a strategic thinker who has shaped how leaders navigate uncertainty, and the author of multiple groundbreaking books including "Navigating the Age of Chaos [https://amzn.to/49oXaxU]" and "Leaders Make the Future [https://amzn.to/3QZ3WEk]" (Third Edition). This is Bob's fourth appearance on the Work Positive Podcast.  Listen as Bob explores: ☀️ Why VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) is no longer VUCA enough for what we're about to experience ☀️ How the BANI world (brittle, anxious, non-linear, incomprehensible) requires leaders who choose how to be augmented rather than replaced ☀️ Why the big story is humans and computers doing things together that have never been done before rather than computers replacing people ☀️ How Bob uses his customized ChatGPT nicknamed "Stretch" at the beginning of his writing process to stretch his thinking rather than at the end ☀️ The power of keeping a daily gratitude journal to stay grounded as you navigate chaos and create positive work cultures Bob transforms how leaders think about the future by proving that humanizing generative AI means you create cultures where people choose how to be augmented, discovering comprehensibility through optimism rather than fear. 🔑 Key Insight: "VUCA was coined at the Army War College in the late 1980s, post-Cold War period, and it was US-centric. BANI is much more global. Brittle means systems break suddenly. Anxious means we're all in emotional states where we're kind of overwhelmed. Non-linear means cause and effect are disproportionate. Incomprehensible means our brains can't process what's happening. The question becomes: how do you want to be augmented? We're all going to be augmented. We just don't know how. If you're a leader now or if you're even curious, you gotta be experimenting with this stuff. The real question boils down to what can humans do best and what do we want to keep for ourselves, what can computers do best, and what do we want to do together. That's where I get really optimistic about creating work cultures today." 💡 Your DOT (Do One Thing): Keep a daily gratitude journal. Get a small journal and write down one to three things you're grateful for every day. This one practice has a profound positive impact on your ability to navigate chaos and lead with hope. Also consider starting meetings with a moment of gratitude. Ask team members to share one thing they're grateful for today. It can be about work or something personal. Watch how this simple practice transforms your culture and grounds your team in optimism rather than anxiety as you navigate the BANI world together. Books by Bob Johansen: * "Navigating the Age of Chaos [https://amzn.to/49oXaxU]" (co-authored with Jamais Cascio and Angela Williams) * "Leaders Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World [https://amzn.to/3QZ3WEk]" (Third Edition: 10 New Skills to Humanize Leadership with Generative AI) * "The New Leadership Literacies [https://amzn.to/3P3J4et]" Connect with Bob Johansen: * Visit iftf.org [https://www.iftf.org/] for the Institute for the Future resources and research * Connect with Bob on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-johansen/] * Discover how to humanize generative AI and choose your augmentation path * Learn the 10 new leadership skills for uncertain times #BANIWorld #AugmentedLeadership #HumanizeAI #NavigatingChaos #FutureOfWork #GratitudeJournal #CultureEatsStrategyForBreakfast #WorkPositive ----more---- 🎙️ Love the Work Positive Podcast? Please leave a review on iTunes to help others discover how to grow people and profits with a positive work culture! 🔗 Stay connected with Dr. Joey Faucette: * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@workpositive7529 [https://www.youtube.com/@workpositive7529] * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjoeyfaucette/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjoeyfaucette/] * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorkPositiveToday/ [https://www.facebook.com/WorkPositiveToday/] * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workpositive.today/ [https://www.instagram.com/workpositive.today/]  * Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.joeyfaucette 📧 Know someone who'd make a great guest on the show? Email analiza@getpositive.today with your recommendation!