Love as a Healthcare Strategy

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Frank Danna
Hello, and welcome to love as a business strategy, a podcast that brings humanity to the workplace. We're here to talk about business, but we want to tackle topics that most business leaders shy away from. We believe that humanity and love should be at the center of every successful business. I'm your host, Jeff Ma. Okay, I'm just kidding. I'm Frank Danna. I'm a director at Softway, a company that helps businesses connect with their people to build resilience through culture-building products, leadership development, and technology. Each episode of love as a business strategy, we're diving into one element of business or strategy and testing our theory of love against it. Today, we're talking about love as a healthcare strategy. Over the past several months, we've seen a resurgence in the need for patient care and well being with this COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the globe. Does love have a place in this rapidly changing environment? Here to help us answer that question, is Dr. Rod Brace. Dr. Brace, can I call you Rod?

Dr. Rod Brace
Sure, absolutely.

Frank Danna
Okay, thank you, Dr. Brace. I'm sorry, it's gonna it's gonna take some time to get that right. But I do want to introduce you, Rod, because I think it's important that that folks know who you are and where you're coming from. So, Dr. Rod brace is a founding partner at Relia Advisors LLC here in Houston, which provides expertise and high reliability organizational models, organizational model and culture assessments and design, leadership development and governance board assessments and strategies including governance and management interventions. Dr. Brace most recently retired as regional president and chief learning officer for the Memorial Hermann health system in Houston. He served 30 years in operational positions including chief regional operations officer and hospital CEO and COO and nonprofit and investor owned health systems. Rod is an executive coach, national speaker, author and faculty member at both the University of Alabama at Birmingham and ACHE. He also holds an MBA and PhD in management with a research emphasis in employee engagement, organizational cultures and leadership. Rod, it's an honor to have you here.

Dr. Rod Brace
My pleasure. Glad to be here. Thanks, Frank.

Frank Danna
Also joining us some familiar faces and voices we have Mohammad Anwar, President and CEO of Softway.

Mohammad Anwar
Hi, Frank.

Frank Danna
And Chris Pitre, VP at Softway.

Dr. Rod Brace
Cheerio.

Frank Danna
Welcome, gentlemen. Okay, so, Rod, one of the things that we like to do at love as a business strategy is start off with some icebreakers. And I've just received the icebreakers from our executive producer, Maggie. So I'd like to start with Chris. Chris, would you rather mentally or physically never age?

Chris Pitre
Hmm.

Frank Danna
So the option is physically or mentally? Nevers a strong word?

Dr. Rod Brace
Yeah, that is such a hard one. Just like, I guess, physically age that way, you're alive longer, and you know, mentally aging. What does that mean? Really? Right. Like, you know, I feel like your brain is constantly hopefully developing and growing. So it's not aging if it's developing, right. So yeah, I would never I would never physically age so that my brain can continue to grow. And, you know, wisdom can be acquired.

Frank Danna
Man. That's good. I think you. You answered that question very well. Okay. Rod, I'll go to you. Would you rather have a rewind button or a pause button on your life?

Dr. Rod Brace
Huh, that's good. A rewind. I think I think pause would leave you second guessing all the time. And, you know, start and stop many times a day, but to rewind. Obviously, there's things that we say from time to time or moves and decisions that we make that we'd like to redo, so I'll go with the rewind.

Frank Danna
Okay, excellent. Mohammed.

Mohammad Anwar
Yes, sir.

Frank Danna
Would you rather, would you rather work more hours per day, but fewer days? Or work fewer hours per day and more days?

Mohammad Anwar
I'd work more hours and fewer days, so I have full days to myself. not do any work.

Frank Danna
I like that. I second that Chris thirds that

Chris Pitre
Friday's off right.

Frank Danna
So okay, thank you guys for starting us out and having conversation, it was all it was all themed around time. I like that. That's actually pretty an interesting thing. Thanks, Maggie for those. So I want to get us started, Rod, I want to start off with you and and really kick things into high gear here. I want to talk from your perspective. What are some of those unique challenges that you're seeing in healthcare right now?

Dr. Rod Brace
Yeah, so obviously the pandemic has caused healthcare organizations to rethink how they do things. As you can imagine, healthcare organizations are very dependent on protocols and policies and procedures. But then in the midst of that pandemic, a lot of those had to be thrown out. And obviously, need to for speed, the capacity, surge capacity and uncertainty when all this began of how the how the virus was communicate between people caused everybody to rethink. And one of the interesting things, at least on the teams that I've worked with, I work with some teams in New York City who got hit with with this the hardest was, one of the things that they had to do is sort of redefine their roles very quickly. And so the HR person was no longer just about HR, they had other things to do with setting up testing tents, and bringing in additional workers from all over the United States. And the CFO is not just about the finances, now they are in charge of working to provide medical staff. And so it caused sort of a reset or re-shifting of those roles and responsibilities of those organizations. And as you can imagine, when you're having to do that, and that's all this uncertainty, it really causes a lot of mental stress, a lot of mental pain, and many were dealing with issues at home, but they had to be at work. We, we saw nurses who just couldn't go back home, because they weren't sure at the time if they were taking the virus back to their family. So it was a lot of burnout and in areas that people were already sort of working up against the edge of human capacity. And then we saw some issues of the term which has been called by some a moral injury, whereby physicians, nurses and others were having to make decisions regarding who gets this care who gets this bed, or who goes in the emergency room. And so as you can imagine, those are very difficult decisions to make when it involves another human life. And so it creates this moral injury when you know, you should be doing something or you see something being done that, you know, should be done differently. But it just is not possible during all this. So it's very chaotic times.

Frank Danna
So I know that I know that one of the massive and important factors in healthcare is safety. And safety is a massive priority. But I'm interested to know because we've talked about psychological safety on this podcast before, in those moments when you're having to make choices that you've never had to make before. When doctors and nurses are essentially, in completely different capacities or roles. executives are in different capacities or roles. How have you seen psychological safety and the importance of psychological safety change or adjust as it relates to what's happening right now in the healthcare environment?

Dr. Rod Brace
Yeah, so if we back up, of course, psychological safety is just this essence, that you can be yourself that I can come to the workplace, I have people that I trust, I can say things, I can do things. And if if they're an error, then somebody will provide that information to me in a diplomatic and respectful way. And so in the, in the midst of a pandemic, when this uncertainty is in place, and just the speed of life of lots of patients showing up lots of people, not sure what they have, there were times and there are times where when we're in these new roles that you have to sort of rewire trust, that can I trust this person to do something that's not been done before? Can I trust this person to do something that's outside of their usual job, and we know that if someone is asked to do something that's beyond their competence level, then we know that that's, that can have a detrimental effect to psychological safety, because they're just unsure of themselves. And so the flip side of that, though, is, once you're in the midst of that battle, once you're in the midst of that firefight, trust builds very quickly, when when you have a team that comes together and they know the odds are against them, and they know that they have to depend upon each other and that trust can develop very swiftly and sort of that urgent and unforeseen atmosphere.

Mohammad Anwar
So I guess, Frank, that this relates to vulnerability-based trust in times of uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure.

Frank Danna
I would say yes, I think that that that that clearly articulates, you know, when you're in the midst of a crisis, you're you're able your capacity for forming bonds is increased. If you're open to building that trust. That's something that we talk about a lot here is the idea that trust is vulnerability-based trust is a collaboration of all three of those things. And it sounds like a lot of that has had to happen rapidly in the healthcare environment.

Dr. Rod Brace
Yeah, I mean, the old adage of never waste a crisis is always true, regardless of what industry you're in. And so this crisis has had good things come out of it. For one, they were sort of archaic organizational models in place that were able to be streamlined very quickly. And people saw that we didn't need all those levels of decision making it just give somebody the authority, and then let them go. And, and so even at the organization level, there's benefit, but also at the individual level, where I learned something about myself. And I learned that the extent of which I can operate under pressure is greater than perhaps what I thought it was, and or I more clearly see, from an empathetic point of view what somebody else is going through, and I can help them in that. And so a crisis is always a great incubator for some improvement. That, you know, obviously, the key is that you can implode there, there are many healthcare organizations who didn't do so well, through this. They, they tried to stay within traditional lines of thinking they tried to, perhaps ignore some things that they should have seen early on. I think, not just healthcare, but there are a lot of organizations who didn't really respond with a long term view of the pandemic, they thought, well, perhaps it'll be a month or two, and therefore, I'm going to put stopgap measures in place, but I'll go back to the way life was in two months, and you know, many months later, they've not been able to return to that. And now they're sort of behind on the curveball on getting their organization up to pandemic and post-pandemic speed.

Mohammad Anwar
I was gonna ask. So you just mentioned that there are some health systems that did well, compared to the others. Besides the long term view, or anticipation, what other factors do you think, lead, or have led these hospital systems to be more successful than others? What are the characteristics of some healthcare system versus the others that led them to be successful during this crisis?

Dr. Rod Brace
Yeah, so I think in any organization, but particularly in healthcare, it's going to come down to leadership and how leadership responds to that crisis. And so healthcare is no different than other organizations, if you have a leader at the head of the organization, that high on ego high on control command and control models, their bandwidth isn't big enough to really take on the change necessary in a crisis. And so the narrowing of decisions happen that we try to stay in a traditional mode, and it just can't respond. And so those systems that did very well had leaders at the top, that gave that power to others, that they empowered people to say, here's the end result, here's the, here's the outcome that we want, go do it, because frankly, each of us have so many things to do that we can't micromanage that situation. And my belief, micromanagement really comes from two things. One is you've either hired the wrong person, and so you have to, or you haven't trained them appropriately, you have to just really give them detailed step to detail step or the second thing and the one that applies to this situation is that your ego so big, that you won't let other people do the work. And so I think the health systems that sort of stalled throughout this had leadership in place that was not willing to give up the control, give the power to others, to innovate. And because it was uncharted territory, and I think one of the things that I see a lot in my coaching with my clients is that these leaders are held to higher levels of accountability. In other words, here's the annual plan, here's what we want to achieve, and here's all the things you've got to do. But they're not given the authority to do that. And so anytime there's a disconnect between accountability and authority, it's going to be a disaster. And so I think those health systems that didn't fare so well during the pandemic and some continued to this day, are those that have not been willing to push that authority down to the people that have that we're providing the assignment to the accountability team.

Chris Pitre
Interesting.

Mohammad Anwar
Awesome. Thank you.

Dr. Rod Brace
So we've been talking about the pandemic a lot. And to me, that's been, you know, a huge component in the current or the modern healthcare conversation. But prior to the pandemic, there was a term that was being circulated that I came across, which was high, high reliability. And, you know, I think that that's still relevant today, and even the pandemic plays into high reliability. But I would love to hear your sort of explanation of what that is, and and, you know, sort of describe, you know, what, what conditions or what's true of a high reliable culture, high reliability culture.

Dr. Rod Brace
Yeah, so high reliability, and that phraseology and approach really started many years ago with people that were responsible for nuclear reactors, or aircraft carriers and things that if there is something that goes wrong, it can be disastrous. So you could imagine any little thing that would go wrong in a nuclear reactor could have tremendous impact on that. And so it's been adopted in healthcare, or probably for the last 15 or 20 years. And it just means that it's an industry or an organization that has a very high risk of severe severe effects if errors occur. And so as you can imagine, in healthcare, those errors could be a medication error could cause a death, or misreading of an order that a physician gave to a nurse could cause the wrong treatment around injury. And so high reliability means that you just structure your organization with this sort of preoccupation with failure, that we know that all humans can fail. And therefore, we must do everything we can to create a situation where at least the processes and the procedures help prevent that failure. It's a reluctance to simplify. So for example, oftentimes, when something happens in our work, and somebody makes an error, we say, well, it's because they weren't paying attention. And so they made an error. Well, that's really not the root cause of that, though, you know, what, what caused them to not pay attention? What, what other distractions were out there, what resource didn't they have, they could protect their attention. And so it becomes this model of really an operating model that prevents error, at every possible place, and just studies the science of errors and, and really pushes that deference of expertise down in the organization. So that it's not the CEOs being asked how to fix this, because the people closest to the problem, fix it. Now, everyone, can, I think every organization can adopt principles of high reliability, it's just those that in essence, could cause a fatality, or sort of more apt to do it these days. And not all healthcare systems have adopted these. I mean, there, there's still hundreds of thousands of medical errors that happen every year in the United States. And so a lot of my work, a lot of work of my colleagues at Relia is really helping organizations understand those and then trying to create an organization, a culture, really, that is all about high reliability.

Dr. Rod Brace
That's great. Can you share just some of the principles that you think could be relevant to healthcare as well as non healthcare organizations out there?

Dr. Rod Brace
Yeah, sure. Well, just, for example, that principle of a preoccupation with failure, if you would look at an organization such as yours, what what are the mistakes that have happened in the past? Where are those errors, most costly? Why did they occur? And then taking an approach where you just continually ask why? And I'll delve into areas I know nothing about to try to give you an example in your world.

Dr. Rod Brace
An example would be, we haven't had Friday's off, right, we still haven't gotten that, you know, benefit from Mohammad yet. So I can imagine that creating, a lot of oversights, a lot of missteps, a lot of stress, you know, individuals creating work for clients and products that we're creating. And you know, you can start with that example. I'm just kidding.

Dr. Rod Brace
So I guess there was some meaningfulness behind Frank's question of Mohammad awhile ago.

Frank Danna
Maggie's trying to do Inception over here.

Mohammad Anwar
Just for clarity, they've been trying to get a four day workweek, instead of a five day workweek. And they want me to give Friday's off. So that's, that's the whole story, Dr. Brace.

Dr. Rod Brace
Let's solve that for them today

Frank Danna
Let's do it.

Dr. Rod Brace
The first, the first question is, why can't we get Friday's off? And the initial answer might be, well, we have too much work to do that we've got to extend it to five days. Well, the next question, then might be, is all the work that we have to do relevant? In other words, do we really need to do that work? Are there things that we're doing today that could be streamlined such that we don't need to do those and free up that capacity? And then if their answer to that is yes, then we would go to what is it about our normal day or normal five day work week, that could be eliminated, that could be streamlined that could be consolidated. And so it just becomes sort of this thread where you work backwards and backwards. And so the principle in high reliability is that you don't want to overly simplify. So we would overly simplify, but just saying, we have to work Fridays, because we got too much work. And most conversations would stop there. And so we always encourage people to ask why, why why, you know, five times you go through this, why? Well, why is it that we feel like we have too much work? Well, why? Well, because we've got a, you know, these clients are behind Well, why are that worked for that client behind? And so it's just why why why that would, that would be one. Another principle of high reliability is commitment to resiliency, that a lot of organizations lack resiliency, they give up, they get distracted, they sort of disengage from their work. And so as we teach people how to be resilient as we teach them how the organization is resilient, then that helps them become more focused in their work, become more engaged in their work, and you know, tell you in your organization, any organization, if everyone is fully engaged in their work, you're you're likely to increase your productivity by, you know, 40 to 70%, depending on the engagement level of your employees. I think another one, for another principle is this deference to expertise. Mohammad shouldn't be making all the decisions, I don't get the feeling that he does, I think he demonstrates sort of deference to expertise. But how can we do that more. And so in other words, you look through your organization, and you look for those disconnects between who am I holding accountable for what and have I really given them the authority to get that done? And that's really where expertise gets lessened in its capacity, because they don't have that ability to do that. Another principle is this idea of sensitivity to operations. And that just means that we don't work in silos. If something happens in this department, it's entered this interdependence, it will have some effect on other people. And so through trusting and honest and open communication, we have the ability to be very sensitive to any little flap of the butterfly wing, and Frank's department and how that might affect to Chris's department. And we have we have, because if you if Chris improves his outcomes, his safety, his quality in his area, but it's if the expense of Frank's area, then we've not really increased the overall level of quality and safety.

Mohammad Anwar
So I have a question regarding this high reliability systems. I know that you can Institute technology, process, and the people side the three components of building a full system. Where would you put the most weight on people, process, or technology in terms of building in a high reliability environment?

Dr. Rod Brace
Yeah, so a great question. But it's, it's sort of a trick question. I think the answer is you can't. And here's the reason. So one of the principles of high reliability is that zero harm is a core value of the organization. And so, zero harm would mean, zero harm to the patient, zero harm to the employee, zero harm to the community, zero harm to the leaders. And so if any of those three people process or technology is causing some harm, in other words, you say, I'm going to put more emphasis here at the detriment of the other two, then there is an element of harm there. Now, naturally, if you're in an organization where we've got sort of technology is going well, it's hardwired and policies and procedures are going well, and they're hardwired. And the only thing that's not up to its optimal level is employee engagement, then obviously, we'd put our attention there. And generally speaking, that that's how it works in most organizations, not just healthcare. It's the employee engagement, that is really sub optimized most of the time, and largely, it's because people don't necessarily understand, they they sort of understand what engagement is, I know it if I see it. But I don't understand what drives it. There are many years ago, there was an interesting, I think, McKinsey study that asked that very question. Do you know what, you know? Can you describe a highly engaged employee? And most were able to describe it. And then it asked, well, what are the causes of that engagement? And, and I think it was over 70% of the leaders, these are senior executives of the company, couldn't name the drivers of engagement, at least those drivers that have been found through science and research, it couldn't name them. They really thought it was things like, well, you got to give them stretch goals, and you got to show some tough love, and you got to throw a bunch of money at them. All of those actually, for somebody that's intrinsically motivated, are they disengage them from the work. And so I think we have this culture of leadership that just sort of steps aside and lets people be the way they are, they don't understand how to engage people. And so you know, the Gallup folks have done a survey for the last, I think, almost 15 years, every year to look internationally employee engagement, generally, about 70% of people across all organizations, all industries are not optimally engaged in their work. And so for in healthcare, at least the world I live in, that can be dangerous. If somebody's giving a dose of medicine, and they're not engaged in what they're doing. They're not sort of focusing on that, that can create serious harm to death. And so I think, to your question, Mohammad, and it's whatever needs the most attention, as long as by doing so we don't create a detrimental effect that causes harm in the other areas.

Mohammad Anwar
Got it. That makes sense. I do think though, that process and technology, you have a little bit more control, because you know, you can design technology to work a certain way. And you know, it's going to operate that way, 99.9% of the time. And, and, you know, processes can be defined the same way and have technology work around the process or work within the confines of it. But people on the other hand, it's the largest variation, like the variable, right, like, one day, the same person might be fully engaged the next day because of something that may have happened in their home or their personal life impacts their engagement level as at work as well. So yeah, I agree with you. I think you definitely don't want to harm any one of those. But the one that I think has the most chances of having fluctuations and, you know, the engagement level versus, you know, optimizing that part of the system. That's the hardest one. That's the trickiest one.

Dr. Rod Brace
Yeah, you're absolutely right. I mean, I think one of the mistakes that we make in terms of implementation of a strategy or project, whatever it might be, is that we assume that all implementers are the same, and operate at the same level every day. And and they don't they they obviously don't and, and so we have to at least create an environment in which they can flourish in that we were not able to make people be engaged, they have to choose to be engaged, but we can create a culture and environment in which it's easier to be engaged.

Mohammad Anwar
Sure.

Frank Danna
I actually wanted to ask a little bit about that the idea that, you know, a high reliability organization is operating. And we've talked about a lot of the principles that you mentioned. But I want to know a little bit more about like how that actually manifests in the doctors and the nurses in the patient care as a result of building these high reliability organizations. What have you seen in your experience when organizations and healthcare organizations are able to start implementing this type of approach? And how has that trickled down to the doctors, the nurses in the patients?

Dr. Rod Brace
Yeah, so it... the concept of philosophy can I guess you could say trickle down but the implementation of it has to really start from the nurses and physicians and people doing the work and i and i think the in the broadest concept is we know that healthcare is very complex and there are lots of moving parts to it. Therefore, we must assume that there are going to be failures. And we make that assumption and how do we put in place mechanisms for us to identify those, and then fix what the true source is that why, why, why, why. And the best way to do that is create a culture where people feel safe in bringing forward what we call near misses, I almost made a mistake or almost made an error, or safety issues. And they raised their hand and they say, this happened. Let's talk about how it happened and how we can prevent it. Now, easier said than done, because you have people who are fearful of being judged that I'm a bad nurse, I'm a bad physician, if I'm bringing up that I made a mistake, you have sort of the politics of relationships that well, you know, somebody, somebody else is going to get upset if I tell them their policy or procedure is not working. And so once all the human messiness gets in that, it tends to not happen, very busy, people don't necessarily want to take the timeout to sort of record what happened or almost happened. And so it's the job of a high reliability culture to make sure that you create an environment in which that happens as because the starting point, and it usually occurs in what in high reliability we call a just culture. and a just culture just means that there's trust, and honest communication such that people will bring those forward. And there's, there's not going to be a punitive reaction. When the nurse makes an error in in an injectable, there's not going to be a punitive reaction that says, well, you're a bad nurse, you're fired. And frankly, that happens a lot. For a lot of cultures, but the high reliability cultures would say, well, let's stop, let's talk about why that happened. While the nurse is distracted, or why they were distracted, well, they were short, a couple of nurses on the floor today. And so they were working short handed, or the the injectable for the drug that she was supposed or he was she or he was supposed to put inject into the patient looks very much like another drug that they actually chose by error. And so it's in the in the place that we store those drugs. And nowadays, we use technology so that they're sort of the barcodes where you barcode the patient and then barcode the medicine, it'll tell you if that but but still things happen. I had an instance where a pediatric nurse was giving a pretty routine injection to a newborn. And she happened to pick up the vial. And it just looked different to her. And even though as we went back, and we investigated it, what we found was it even though it had the right label on it, it was mislabeled at the manufacturer.

Mohammad Anwar
Oh, wow.

Dr. Rod Brace
It was actually something that would have been probably fatal to this child. But all the processes are in place, all the things are there. But it was that intuition. It was that high, highly engaged eye of that very seasoned nurse who said, yes, this doesn't look right. Let me let me just stop, just stop and try to figure out what's going on. And so the high reliability organizations are very good at creating those cultures, where every day we're solving new problems every day, we're finding ways that matter of safety could have could have been sub optimized. Every day they're trying to talk to the people at the bedside and say, well, what what created distractions for you today? What created barriers, what created a sense of urgency that was perhaps beyond your capacity, what areas of training do you need? Where are you not feeling competent in that? And so it's it's really more so of a culture, obviously, there are lots of ways that you can organize around committees to do the research and then in the investigation, training protocols, but it really comes down to having a just culture where there's nothing punitive about saying I made a mistake, unless that person willfully disregarded the rules, willfully went against the protocols that we have. And so a just culture is not necessarily a blameless culture. It just means that that somebody had to really break every rule to try to do it their own way, which caused harm to somebody.

Mohammad Anwar
So how do you how do you get people, and even in that scenario, I could see asking questions like, so why did this happen? And why do you think this could have been, you know, the reason and so forth? I'm just trying to empathize with maybe the nurses being asked those questions. Would that be intimidating and cause fear? Why would a nurse be open to responding to those questions with honesty? And like, what what have you experienced? And what what are some of the strategies or tactics that are used to still get to the bottom of those questions without causing fear?

Dr. Rod Brace
Yeah, that the, I think one of the biggest challenges for a healthcare organization that's moving from what we might call a fear based culture, a punitive culture, to a culture of just culture or high reliability culture is just that, where people have been taught that it's not okay to speak up and, as we all know, history is a great teacher. And so whatever happened to me, historically, I would expect going forward, until I build a trust that it's not going to happen anymore. And it's that bridge of trust, it's very hard to cross. And so in our experience, it basically, is, you just do it, you know, you you just find opportunities to demonstrate that we're not going to be punitive in our review these. And generally, what happens is, you'll have a group of employees who are perhaps a little more confident in their ability to kind of advocate for themselves or navigate these meetings, and we try not to make these meetings, you know, 10 people in a room firing questions at people, they're small, and they, they start with a handful of people that have an appreciation and empathy for it. And so you generally will have the people that will come forward and test the new the new structure. And once the other colleagues see that it went well for them, and they can encourage other people, then it's kind of snowballs. But it's, it's very hard, particularly when a mistake was made by a person. And particularly if it's a professional, such as a nurse or physician, that licenses are involved or staff privileges are involved, it's difficult for them to do that. And so once they do it, then we celebrate that. And so we've had instances where we'll, and many organizations to do this, you'll bring those employees to the board meeting, and let the board recognize them for their heroics of what they did coming forward. Thank them for making this information available to us. Thank them for having that commitment to zero harm, and in demonstrating, you know, through pictures in the newsletter of them, there or other ways people know that our our concern is for zero harm, and that that would include no harm to the employee, if punitive measures were not to be used.

Mohammad Anwar
Well, I definitely see that it's it does require quite a bit of courage and vulnerability from the employee standpoint, to be able to say, hey, you know, I made a mistake, or I was about to make a mistake that that definitely takes a lot of courage. How do you see the leadership playing a role in setting up this culture of just culture or high reliability environments?

Dr. Rod Brace
Yeah, so it's tough. It's tough. I mean, one of one of the things that we often experience is the CEO of the organization saw a presentation, saw one of our presentations, read some articles where, okay, now we want to be a highly, highly reliable organization. Let's show everybody a PowerPoint. I'll talk about how it's important. And then voila, we're there. And, and what has to happen is you really have to deconstruct how things have gotten accomplished in that organization for many years, because it's going to take the same path for this, quote, project and high reliability is not a project at all. It's a it's a philosophy, it's a, it's a way of being. And so what is oftentimes detrimental is sort of that second or third tier of leaders who said, okay, the boss said we got to be highly reliable, highly reliable now. Their employees know that they haven't bought into this non-punitive behavior, particularly when they still have a fear-based culture. And unfortunately, even through the pandemic, at least in my experience with my coaching clients and our the work that organizations that we work with, fear-based culture has sort of been increasing, not decreasing during the pandemic, because nurses were seeing colleagues being laid off, cutbacks, hospitals taking great financial burdens through this and, and so as you all know that the human mind is really constructed to try to make sense of everything. And so I can't make sense of why people are being fired. And I might be next. And obviously, if I make a mistake and admit to it during these trying times then I'm going to be gone, or the last time I admitted to my boss that I madea mistake here, she just went crazy on me, and you know, was very punitive. You just can't have that. And so a lot of our work is also assessing the leadership generally, when we go into organization we'll say, think about the top 20 leaders, either formal or informal, that it's going to require to move this forward, then we use some leadership assessment tools that do it's a 360, that not only looks at their self evaluation, but also the traditional stuff of peers and colleagues and so on. But it has a third piece to it, that's pretty unique in that it then ranks them on percentile against all other leaders are about over 100,000 leaders in this database that that we use. And so we're able to see through that, that this leader uses fear-based tactics with their direct report, or this leader and the opposite scale has a very high characteristic of care and connections or empathy or a selfless leader. And so it's those leaders that we know are going to have a better chance of really creating this just culture where, where they're not perfectionists where they don't have to be they're not, you know, overly disrespectful to people, they're, they're not accusatory, it's those type of leaders that are really going to have a tough time. All of a sudden, convincing people Oh, yep. slept on it last night. And today, I'm not gonna be punitive anymore.

Dr. Rod Brace
Yeah. You know, as I've been listening to you talk, it sounds like there's a, I guess, a high correlation between high reliability and inclusion, and the need for leaders to really think about how they make space for, you know, their direct reports, or folks that are maybe on different teams who might be closer to the, you know, frontlines and making sure that they have a voice, but not just a voice but a platform to speak from, or they don't have a voice it's given to them, or, you know, the leader sort of gives the microphone over and sort of steps back. But it sounds like there's that high correlation.

Dr. Rod Brace
Yeah. So even in the one most extreme, Chris, if we really have bought into the concept of zero harm, then anything that excluded people or was divisive in that would create harm, and therefore, you know, we should not be about that. But then on the other, the other more positive scale of that, I have a broad set of backgrounds and thoughts and abilities to manage innovation. Those are very beneficial to a culture of high reliability. Because every day in healthcare, there's some introduction of a new disease or a new technology or a new government policy. And so the more minds that we can bring around that, that have different perspectives to do that, the better, we're going to be prepared to crack the code on those complexities. And so absolutely, a just culture is built on justice. And justice really has to be equally applied.

Frank Danna
Wow.

Chris Pitre
That's awesome.

Frank Danna
I want to ask, this has been a phenomenal conversation, by the way. It has not felt like 44 minutes and 12 seconds, I promise.

Chris Pitre
I've been like taking notes if you can see me write that like writing, I've been taking notes as you've been talking.

Dr. Rod Brace
Thank you.

Frank Danna
And I wanted to I wanted to ask quickly before, before we let you go, I wanted to learn a little bit more about how you got started down this style of management and leadership. What inspired you to move in this direction and what continues to inspire you today to continue to move this forward for organizations interested in moving into high reliability?

Dr. Rod Brace
Yeah, so, um, you know, there, there have been a lot of things but probably the most impactful to me is when I was early on many years ago as a hospital CEO. First hospital I'd ever had, I'd been on the job a couple weeks. And one afternoon, our Chief Nurse Officer came to me and she said, Rod, I need to share with you that we've had a medical error. And a nurse gave the wrong medication. And unfortunately, it led to the death of this gentleman in his early 40s. And it's our practice here at the hospital, that we would meet with the family. That nurse that created the error is welcome to join us if she wants. It's not an obligation on her part. And so I've set that meeting up for this afternoon, and we're going to meet with this gentleman's wife. And I said, Oh, yeah, okay. I'll, you know, I'll be there. She said, I'll sort of lead the conversation. And so we get to that, in this obviously, this bereaved wife, she's a mother of two teenage twin girls. The nurse chose to come to the meeting. And she obviously was in tears and explained how she had been in a hurry. And she, this was before barcoding, and all that had picked up the wrong medication and gave it to this gentleman. And so we, the nurse apologized, we all apologized. The wife was very well composed, moreso than I would be. And so at the end of the meeting, I just said, Ma'am, we're so sorry. And if there's anything we can ever do, please, please let us know. And to her credit, she said, Rod, I appreciate that. I don't think there's anything you can do today. We just we just need to sort of come together as a family. But maybe in weeks to come if we could just talk about what happened, and maybe there's some things that we could do that I could give you some pointers on that this would prevent this for somebody else. I said, super absolutely. Frankly, I was ready for the meeting to be over. It was just one of the hardest meetings I've ever had, as a new CEO. Many weeks went by, and I frankly had forgotten about it. My Secretary came to my door one day, and she said, it's Mrs. So and so wanted to take you up on your offer to chat. And I did the name didn't quite click with me. And she said you recall, it's the the wife of the gentleman that passed from a medical error, mother of two twin teenage girls. Yes. Oh, yes, absolutely. Just, you know, ask her what time is best, have her come on by, I'll clear my schedule. And she's she said, well, I talked to her and she said, as you can imagine, she really didn't want to come back to the hospital, sort of bad memories there. And she asked would would you be willing to meet her for lunch? I said, absolutely. Forgot about it again. Two weeks later, I'm looking at my calendar that morning, see what I have. And I see I have lunch with this lady. And frankly, a little apprehension came into play that we're you know, we're going to be out at a restaurant and she's, you know, gonna lose it, is she gonna yell at me? You know, but I committed to doing and so I went. So I showed up to lunch and sit down at the table with her she was already there. And we exchanged some pleasantries. And, and she said, I really appreciate you meeting with me. I think there's some things that I saw during our stay that can help with, you know, reducing the load on the nurses of confusion. But before I do that, I just like to show you something. And so she reached down beside her at the table and a little tote bag. And she pulls out and sits on the table a photo album. And she starts to flip through those photos. So here's here's me and my husband as we met in college, and here's where we are at our wedding. Here's the birth of our twins. Here's them at their high school volleyball games, and she was flipping through this photo album. And after a few pages, the pages were blank. And she said, here's where I'd hoped to have pictures of my husband walking my daughters down the aisle and here's where I'd hoped to have family vacations and here's where I'd hoped to have pictures of him with our grandkids and she said, frankly, Rod, your hospital took that from me. And I'd used the phrase, you know my hospital, but I'd never heard it in that sense of your hospital, you Rod, your obligation to the patient. And so that was the one that sort of set for me sort of my obligation to my employees. And obviously the nurse that created this error wanted to quit, wanted to leave nursing, we talked her out of it, we made sure that we doubled down on nursing competence, strength training, we brought in a quality director. And so, that really personalized it for me. I think, over the years, I've worked with many professionals, my partner in Relia on Dr. Michael Shabbot, who you all know, Chuck Stokes, system CEO, nurse by background and have have really taught a lot to me about these principles we work together over over a decade. And so there's lots of other things. But I would say it goes back to that point in time where it was personal for me that I have to have a personal obligation to the people I serve, as well as the people that I lead. And so it's really a moral obligation for me.

Mohammad Anwar
Wow. Dr. Brace, that was a very, very touching story, but also very strong, you know, personal case for change that you shared with us that I think is gonna leave us thinking about this for a while. Really, really appreciate you sharing that. Thank you.

Dr. Rod Brace
Happy to be here, I appreciate the opportunity to chat with y'all.

Frank Danna
And and I wanted to say I think this is maybe a good place to close it. But I wanted to say thank you again, because your story is, is is extremely helpful on multiple fronts. Number one, I think there's plenty that any person in business can take away from the the approach that you're taking, and really the the passionate commitment you have to helping organizations change and become begin to thrive. Right? in this space where you have your you're moving from fear based to just. You're talking about care and connections and selflessness, people being non-accusatory, creating teams that are willing to share when they're making mistakes, you know, all of those elements, at Softway, we translate those to love. And, and I see I see such a deep rooted connection, in the way that you approach helping leaders recognize the opportunity and what it can mean for them helping, you know, nurses and and all these different individuals all across the spectrum, see how care for one another actually translates to better performance and more reliability. And I think there's plenty of lessons people can take from this conversation as to how they approach their own business.

Dr. Rod Brace
Yeah, totally agree that you use the term love, I use the term endearment. I think the goal of a leader is to have their employees endeared to their leadership, this deep affection. And I really summarize that, that all people want to be cared for, and they want to make a difference. And so it's up to that leader to really figure out how do you care for them? How do you make sure that they make a difference in life and when you do, people will be endeared to you and you'll naturally be endeared to them.

Frank Danna
That's amazing. Yeah. Awesome. I thank you again, so much for taking the time to speak with us, this has been a phenomenal conversation. And I just from everyone here, thank you for your time. I do want to talk about Love as a Business Strategy. We are posting new episodes every Tuesday. Is there a business topic that you would like us to cover, you the listener? Let us know. You can let us know by going to our website softway.com/LAABS. And if you like what you heard today, please, it does help to leave us a five star review. And subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Anchor, it would mean a lot to us. So again, Dr. Rod, thank you so much for the time. We really appreciate it. It was it was a wonderful conversation. And for our listeners. We'll see you next week.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

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EPISODE 146

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EPISODE 145

24 Aug 2023

Love as a Faith-focused Strategy with Precious Azuree

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EPISODE 144

16 Aug 2023

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EPISODE 143

10 Aug 2023

Love as an Equal Opportunity Strategy with Marina Guerra

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EPISODE 142

02 Aug 2023

Love as a Success Strategy with Bessi Graham

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EPISODE 141

27 Jul 2023

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EPISODE 140

19 Jul 2023

Love as a Non-Negotiable Strategy with Paul ter Wal

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EPISODE 139

14 Jul 2023

Love as an Authentic Leader Strategy with Candice Hung

What does it take to become an “Authentic Leader”? Why does it matter? Candice Hung helps us explore this concept, and really dives deep into the elements that make up true self-awareness. If you’re looking to start really owning your own story, you won’t want to miss this conversation!

EPISODE 138

05 Jul 2023

Love as a DEI Strategy with Maria Morukian

DEI continues to be an important topic, but it’s reached a point where so much of it is assumed, overlooked, or performative. This refreshing conversation with Maria Morukian takes a closer look at why DEI should still be focused on - and thought about differently.

EPISODE 137

28 Jun 2023

Love as a Sustainability Strategy with Dieter Schultz

In this episode, Dieter Schultz helps connect the dots between sustainability, leadership, behaviors, and love. He not only helps define what sustainability means, but really paints the picture of what it should look like.

EPISODE 136

21 Jun 2023

Love as a Psychological Safety Strategy with Janine Hamner Holman

Janine Hamner Holman’s mission is simple: to create the world of work where everyone can thrive. Well that sounds a lot like bringing humanity back to the workplace - so we had to get her on the show to find out more! This episode is full of incredible perspective and wisdom - you won’t want to miss it.

EPISODE 135

07 Jun 2023

Love as a Time Management Strategy with Miriam Meima

This episode finds the intersection between business and psychology, where we explore the workplace from a culture and psychological angle. Miriam Meima is a passionate and energetic executive coach, who shares with us some valuable perspective and advice around how to manage our mindsets and approaches in the workplace.

EPISODE 134

25 May 2023

Love as an Ego Management Strategy with Christie Garcia

Christie Garcia works with leaders every day on building authentic confidence. Many of us may have some preconceived notions about “ego”, and in this episode, Christie breaks down what our egos really are and how we can begin to understand and address them better.

EPISODE 133

10 May 2023

Love as a Generational Strategy with Lata Hamilton

While the generation you were born into doesn’t completely define you as a person, today’s workplace has shown some undeniable trends in how different people from different generations interact. Lata Hamilton is a Change Leadership and Confidence expert, and her experience in working with teams across global transformations has taught her a thing or two about the trends and gaps in workplace generations.

EPISODE 132

29 Apr 2023

Love as a Possibility Strategy with Darrin Tulley

Darrin Tulley’s perspective completely changed at one point in his career, when he discovered a new world of possibilities for himself. Since then, he’s been hard at work, sharing his message of “Live Your Possible” with the world, and in this episode, he tells his tale and talks about how we can all find possibilities in ourselves.

EPISODE 131

19 Apr 2023

Love as a Generosity Strategy with Sarah Fontenot

Sarah Fontenot is a CFP (Certified Financial Planner), but what she does is unique: Sarah helps people manage their wealth with generosity in mind. Her focus is not just on building and maintaining wealth, but also on how to maximize the amount of good that wealth can impact on the world. In this episode, she shares her story and the role that love plays in her business.

EPISODE 130

12 Apr 2023

Love as a Purposeful Growth Strategy with Mark Mears

Best-selling author Mark Mears is no stranger to building and growing people and teams in business. After a whole career helping major brands and companies build innovation and value, he now channels his experience and knowledge into helping people fulfill their true growth potential while making a positive, lasting difference in the world. Listen in as he explains how you can find and fulfill your purpose.

EPISODE 129

05 Apr 2023

Love as a Local Government Strategy with Paulina Valero

Love as a Business Strategy is important across all kinds of workplaces - especially in government. Paulina Valero is the Community Engagement Manager for the City of Sugar Land, and she shares her story and perspective about what workplace culture looks like for public servants in local government.

EPISODE 128

29 Mar 2023

Love as a Leadership Strategy with Diane Maben

Diane Maben is the Chief Operating Officer at Amegy Bank. As a self-made leader, she’s learned and developed her style as a leader through her years of experience. In this episode, she shares her story, her journey, and her philosophy, and gives insights on how she leads her team to success.

EPISODE 127

23 Mar 2023

Love as a Financial Industry Strategy with Kasia Siwosz

As a former professional tennis player turned investment banker and entrepreneur. Her experience in professional sports has actually played a huge role in her understanding of how the financial industry needs to evolve today. She shares her unique story and perspective in this episode.

EPISODE 126

15 Mar 2023

Love as an Honesty Strategy with Steven Gaffney

You might think that “honesty” is a pretty simple and straightforward concept, but in practice, true and genuine honesty might look a little different from what you’d expect. Steven Gaffney has been helping leaders and teams build high-achieving teams for over 25 years, and in this episode, he shares his powerful approach and philosophy with us.

EPISODE 125

08 Mar 2023

Love as a Belonging Strategy with Paul Haury

What is the difference between “feeling a sense” of belonging, and actual belonging? This is a must-listen episode with Paul Haury, who is an executive coach that specializes in belonging. Paul shares an incredible mind-expanding perspective on what belonging is, and what it looks like when it’s truly practiced.

EPISODE 124

01 Mar 2023

Love as a Safety Strategy with Nat Beuse (Aurora Tech)

Nat Beuse is the Vice President of Safety at Aurora, a self-driving vehicle technology company. Most people understand the importance and priority of safety, but not everyone goes about it the same way. In this episode, Nat shares his mindset and approach towards safety, and helps illuminate the role that culture plays in being successful.

EPISODE 123

22 Feb 2023

Love as a Profit Strategy with Samantha Varner

Somehow, when we talk about love in business, it’s always placed directly opposite of profit. And yet, profit is why we get into business to begin with - without profit, why do business at all? Sam Varner helps us connect the dots, and understand how love and profit go hand-in-hand.

EPISODE 122

15 Feb 2023

Love as a Breakthrough Leadership Team Strategy with Mike Goldman

How do you build a great company, or develop a great team? How do you build a resilient culture? Mike Goldman says it starts with what he calls a “Breakthrough Leadership Team”. He coaches leadership teams to become stronger, leading to great things for the company. In this episode, he shares incredible insights on how to start thinking and building towards a Breakthrough Leadership Team. Spoiler alert: Love has something to do with it. Find his free course here.

EPISODE 121

01 Feb 2023

Love as a Human Connection Strategy with Nanci Appleman Vassil

Nanci Appleman-Vassil joins the show to share from her 25+ years of experience in training, consulting, coaching, and developing high-performing teams. This episode is filled to the brim with her take on our favorite topics: From self-awareness and mindsets, to vulnerability, trust, and feedback. There are a lot of insights and takeaways here, as she helps break down what human connection really looks like in the workplace.

EPISODE 120

25 Jan 2023

Love as a Lovescaping Strategy

Irene and Debbie are on a mission. As much as we talk about Love on the podcast, we rarely get a chance to discuss exactly how and where we learn to love. With Lovescaping, Irene and Debbie have set out to bring learning and practicing love to the education system. With an educational framework that’s been successfully incorporated into schools, they walk us through exactly how we can put love into action.

EPISODE 119

18 Jan 2023

Love as a Business Strategy with Room 3

This week, we sit down with Ed Cuervo and AJ Ferrer, who followed their heart and passion to create their own creative production company, Room 3. Their story gives a great example of how Love as a Business Strategy can be grown naturally when people come together with purpose.

EPISODE 118

11 Jan 2023

Defining Love with Marty Levine

We’re back in the new year, and it’s a great time for us to reset, reflect, and redefine. It’s the perfect time to speak with Marty Levine, who shares some truly interesting ways to define (and redefine) LOVE.

EPISODE 117

21 Dec 2022

Love as a Performance Review Strategy with Noah Pusey

Noah Pusey wants to do away with something that plagues almost all of us: The annual review. Nobody likes to give them, nobody likes to receive them, and it doesn’t actually make anyone better. He started Ripple Analytics to fix this problem. What makes the annual review such a bane to workplace culture? Is there a better way to go about it? Noah thinks so. In this episode he shares his approach to a more timely and effective way to do reviews at w

EPISODE 116

14 Dec 2022

Love as a Law Enforcement Strategy with Chief Jack Cauley

Chief Jack Cauley is a pioneer in the Law Enforcement industry - with his One-By-One Policing philosophy, which promotes building a safe and secure environment for officers and staff so they are better equipped to serve each person they encounter individually. His police department in Castle Rock puts a focus on compassion and treating others like family, and he’s hoping to spread this culture to more and more departments across the nation. He joins us on the podcast to share his story, and why he believes Love should be a Law Enforcement Strategy.

EPISODE 115

07 Dec 2022

Love as a Partnership Strategy with Anthony Marinos

Chris is back on the podcast, and he gets a chance to catch up with his old friend, Anthony Marinos. Anthony leads business development and creator relationships at charity: water and knows a thing or two about forming strong partnerships in business. While the banter here is lighthearted, the lesson is very serious: You can’t build partnerships without forming real relationships.

Be sure to check out all the amazing ways they’re changing the world at: https://www.charitywater.org/

EPISODE 114

30 Nov 2022

Love as a Wall Street Strategy with Wais Achikzad

We sit with Wais Achikzad to discuss leadership, actual experiences and how our world today more than ever needs humanity in the workplace and in general.

EPISODE 113

23 Nov 2022

Love as a Mentorship Strategy with Debbie Richards

By any measure, Debbie Richards has achieved amazing growth throughout her successful career. But what sets her apart from others is her fierce passion for coaching, mentoring, and talent development. She’s someone who puts so much of her own time and energy into others, and has done so for a very long time - we get to sit down with her and find out why she does it, how she does it, and where love comes into the equation.

EPISODE 112

16 Nov 2022

Love as a Business Strategy with Austin Habitat for Humanity

As the CEO of Austin Habitat for Humanity, Phyllis Snodgrass has been been putting her heart into her work for her entire career. She sits down with us today to talk about what Love looks like in her leadership, in Austin Habitat for Humanity, and for non-profit businesses in general. She talks about the importance of relationships and how it connects to success and business results.

EPISODE 111

02 Nov 2022

Love as a Digital Era Strategy with Isabella Wang

In this episode, we sit down with the author of “The Digital Mind of Tomorrow”, Isabella Wang. As we all continue to push forward through digital transformation, what does it look like to incorporate love and business? Isabella shares her insights and more.

Find your copy of her book on Amazon.

EPISODE 110

19 Oct 2022

Love as a 5-star recruiting strategy with Danielle Mulvey

Danielle Mulvey is the pioneer of unique way of recruiting in business - something she calls the 5-star employee rating system. Her method is tried and true, and she’s got proven results - but of course we invite her on the show to ask: What role does LOVE play in finding a 5-star employee?

EPISODE 109

12 Oct 2022

Love as a Business Strategy with Ripple

While still in school, Joe Knopp decided to start a business that would make a real difference in the world. In this episode, he joins us to share his amazing journey, what drives him, and how he sees LOVE play out in his business. Find out more about his incredible business here.

EPISODE 108

05 Oct 2022

Love as an Entrepreneur Strategy with Paul Baron

Paul Baron has done it all. Having started numerous successful businesses throughout his career, from software to retail to restaurants, he joins us for a deep dive into what he’s learned as a serial entrepreneur. So we have to ask: What role does LOVE play in entrepreneurship?

EPISODE 107

28 Sep 2022

Love as a Business Strategy with Maura Barclay

Maura Barclay has spent over a decade consulting and training on business cultures. She is passionate about helping people find their fit, and where they belong. In this episode, we share a profound conversation around what love as a business strategy really looks like.

EPISODE 106

21 Sep 2022

Love as a Recruitment Strategy with Michael Yinger

Michael Yinger has been in the business of talent acquisition for over 20 years, so it’s safe to say he knows a thing or two about humans in the workplace. So we ask the million-dollar question: “What role does LOVE play in recruitment and talent acquisition?” Michael fills this entire episode with great nuggets of wisdom that will change the way you see things.

EPISODE 105

14 Sep 2022

Love as an ESG Strategy with Ighosime Oyofo

What is ESG? Why is it important? How is it practiced? How is it measured? Ighosime Oyofo works to bring sustainable capital market solutions to less-utilized markets in Africa, and he shares his expertise in investment banking, finance, and all things ESG in this episode.

EPISODE 104

07 Sep 2022

Love as a Well-Being Strategy with Jessica Grossmeier

What is "well-being" and how do we ensure that our workplaces are accounting for it? Jessica Grossmeier has done the research, and in this episode, she shares what works and what doesn't.

EPISODE 103

29 Aug 2022

Love as a Trust Strategy with Dr. Mike Armour

Throughout his storied career, Dr. Mike Armour gained a lot of wisdom and insight about what it takes to be successful in business. In this episode, he shares some of his stories and lessons - dropping gems of wisdom centered around what trust looks like in the workplace.

EPISODE 102

28 Jul 2022

Love as a Forgiveness Strategy with Vani Rao

In this episode, we are joined by Vani Rao, Executive Coach to talk about heart-centred forgiveness.

Vani shares real stories from a place of vulnerability you can relate to at the workplace and in life and practical tips on how forgiveness can become a regular practice towards empowerment when it's done with love.

EPISODE 101

21 Jul 2022

Love as a Digital Empathy Strategy with McKenna Sweazey

In this episode, we are joined by McKenna Sweazey, Author & Marketer to talk about an interesting topic — Digital Empathy!

McKenna dives into some quick tips that allow for a balanced consideration of feelings in conversations and decisions that create positive outcomes. Listen in!

EPISODE 100

13 Jul 2022

Love as a Disability Inclusion Strategy with Hugh Breland

In this episode, we are joined by Hugh Breland, CEO of U&I to talk about Disability Inclusion in the corporate world. We look at how LOVE can be a game-changer in bridging gaps that lead to better outcomes across humanity—including business. Listen in to learn how you can be a catalyst of change.

EPISODE 99

09 Jul 2022

Love as a Sustainability Strategy with Manuel Vexler

In this episode, we are joined by Manuel Vexler, Executive Director of the Actionable Knowledge Foundational Institute on a discussion about including the human factor, sustainability and resilience into the profitability equation.

EPISODE 98

30 Jun 2022

Love as a Leadership Strategy with Janine Bensouda

In this episode, we are joined by Janine Bensouda, the Founder and Managing Director of Bensouda Consulting. She talks with us about her framework of how to Lead with Love and we hold it against our framework here at Love as a Business Strategy. We love encountering people out there doing things similar to us, so you won't want to miss this discussion!

EPISODE 97

22 Jun 2022

Love as a Connection Strategy with Matthew Woodward

Can love be a strategy in the world of teaching? Find out on this interesting episode with Matthew Woodward, Choir Director at MacArthur HS as he shows us how connection, love, and respect create a solid foundation for their success as a choir.

EPISODE 96

08 Jun 2022

Love as a Business Strategy with Evolv Consulting

In this episode we talk to Eric Neef, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Evolv Consulting Consulting on some of the ways to practice and adopt and apply the culture within a company.

EPISODE 95

01 Jun 2022

Love as a Leadership Strategy with Brittany Heflin

In this episode we talk to Leadership Coach, Consultant and Enthusiast at Boston Consulting Group, Brittany Heflin on the heart of leadership. We dig deep into how empathy helps strike the right balance between intent and impact . Join us!

EPISODE 94

25 May 2022

Love as an Inclusion Strategy with Kristin Ekkens

A lot of companies find that their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts fail. Kristin Ekkens, the CEO of Exponential Inclusion, is an expert that helps leaders figure out how to create more inclusive cultures that will last. She focuses not on the task-oriented aspects, but the impact that efforts will make. Check this one out for some really helpful tips!

EPISODE 93

18 May 2022

Love as an Asynchronous Strategy with Liam Martin

Whether we like it or not, the workplace is shifting. Remote work environments are becoming more and more common creating a need for asynchronous management. Liam Martin is the author of _Running Remote_ and an expert at managing teams without actually being with them. Check it out!

EPISODE 92

11 May 2022

Love as a Sales Strategy with Jason Marc Campbell

To some, Sales is a nasty word with a bad reputation. But our guest this week, Jason Marc Campbell, is determined to bring humanity back to the selling process. He talks with us about how caring for your buyer will lead to a more fulfilling career and better business outcomes.

EPISODE 91

04 May 2022

Love as a Faith Strategy with Mushfique Shams Billah

Surprisingly, there are still topics that feel taboo in the workplace. Religion is one of them. Mushfique Shams Billah is an attorney that specializes in Islamic finance and a practicing Muslim. He opens up to us about how he is able to bring his full self to work and the importance of inclusion. You won't want to miss this episode where we explore ESG, ethical finance, the workplace and boardrooms.

EPISODE 90

27 Apr 2022

Love as a Business Strategy with Charity Water

We often get asked about what Love as a Business Strategy means and people will mistake it for businesses that are not-for-profit. Today, we actually get to sit down with Ben Greene, Chief Development Officer at Charity: Water to talk about not only bringing humanity back to the workplace, but bringing humanity back to the world.

We have set up a unique donation link in partnership with Charity: Water for this episode. If you would like to donate to their cause, you can do so here: charitywater.org/LAABS

EPISODE 89

20 Apr 2022

Love as an Inspiration Strategy with Tony Martignetti

This week we are joined by Tony Martignetti, Chief Inspiration Officer of Inspired Purpose Coaching to talk about (you guessed it) inspiration! How do we stay inspired in our careers and how do we inspire others? Check it out now!

EPISODE 88

13 Apr 2022

Love as a Recruiting Strategy with Casey Hasten

Like it or not, we are living in a candidate's market when it comes to hiring and recruiting. Casey Hasten is a seasoned recruiter and talks to us about how she seeks first to love her candidates so that they can find their dream job.

EPISODE 87

06 Apr 2022

Love as a Networking Strategy with Frank Agin

To expert networker, Frank Agin, networking and leadership are closely related. We have a fun conversation this week about how success as a leader and success as a networker both come down to one thing: serving others. Check it out!

EPISODE 86

30 Mar 2022

Love as a Spiritual Strategy with Mark Silver

This week we turn our philosophy of 'Love as a Business Strategy' on its head and discuss what 'Business as a Love Strategy' would look like. Business healer, Mark Silver, gets vulnerable with us about how having a spiritual practice has not only benefited him, but many other business leaders.

EPISODE 85

23 Mar 2022

Love as a Resilience Strategy with Dr. Trish Berg

This week we are joined by Dr. Trish Berg, a professor at Heidelberg University and author with a rich career in business. We dive into the topic of resilience and try to understand what makes a company and an individual truly resilient. You won't want to miss this one.

EPISODE 84

18 Mar 2022

Love as a Gig Worker Strategy with Trevor Theunissen

We're always talking about love as a business strategy in terms of the "standard workplace", but this week's guest brings a totally different perspective. Trevor Theunissen discusses with us the impact that love can have on the countless people in the gig economy based on his experience at Shipt and Uber.

EPISODE 83

10 Mar 2022

LAABS Bookclub: Chapter One

This week, we take you behind the scenes of Chapter One from our Wall Street Journal bestselling book, Love as a Business Strategy. Maggie and Chris go over their little episode on vulnerability. Tune in!

EPISODE 82

03 Mar 2022

Love as a STEM Strategy with Suna Lumeh

This week we are joined by Suna Lumeh, the co-founder and scientist at Aja Labs. We discuss how love is incorporated, or not, in the world of research and development. You won't want to miss this one.

EPISODE 81

23 Feb 2022

Love as a Dramatic Strategy with Katie McLaughlin

This week, we are joined by Katie McLaughlin, the creator of the McLaughlin Method, to talk to us about her unique approach to executive coaching. Katie uses her background in theatre and acting to build empathy and emotional intelligence within organizations. We think you're going to enjoy this one.

EPISODE 80

16 Feb 2022

Love as a Great Strategy with Audrey Lloyd

This week we are joined by Audrey D. Lloyd, a transformation expert and author. We get to talk about her upcoming book and dissect the question 'what are you great at?' in order to increase engagement in the workplace. We hope you enjoy!

EPISODE 79

10 Feb 2022

LAABS Bookclub The Foreword

Join us for a new series that we're kicking off called LAABS Bookclub where we deep dive into every chapter of our Wall Street Journal bestselling book, Love as a Business Strategy. We go behind the scenes into what inspired each chapter and offer never-before-heard insights and stories that you won't want to miss.

EPISODE 78

02 Feb 2022

Love as a Middle Management Strategy

This week we are joined by our own Maggie McClurkin and Chelsie Atkinson. They join us in a conversation around what culture looks like from the perspective of middle management and what unique challenges that come with these types of roles. It's a conversation that gets deep real fast, so you won't want to miss it.

EPISODE 77

27 Jan 2022

Love as a Compassion Strategy with Gissele and David Taraba

We always love getting to talk with people who are working alongside us to bring humanity back to the workplace. Gissele and David Taraba are co-owners of the Maitri Centre for Love and Compassion. They bring the concept of compassion to the equation along with some insights that you won't want to miss.

EPISODE 76

19 Jan 2022

Love as an Inclusion Strategy with Gena Cox

This week's guest is Gena Cox, an organizational psychologist and executive coach. She brings her wisdom to a very insightful conversation we had around leadership, inclusion, and organizational culture in today's workplace. Her stories are extremely applicable and her expertise is undeniable.

EPISODE 75

12 Jan 2022

Love as a Psychological Safety Strategy with Mehmet Baha

If you've been looking for a deep dive on psychological safety, then look no further. We were joined by Mehmet Baha who has trained hundreds of leaders across the globe on the importance of psychological safety. Take a listen in order to gain some practical tips that you can apply to yourself and your teams

EPISODE 74

05 Jan 2022

Love as an Emotional Intelligence Strategy with Stephen Barth

This week we are joined by Stephen Barth, a professor, lawyer, and founder of HospitalityLawyer.com who shares some incredible insights with us from his over 30 years of teaching leadership. He breaks down with us why emotional intelligence in the workplace is so important, and we promise you, you'll want to take notes.

EPISODE 73

29 Dec 2021

Love as an Empowerment Strategy with Adette C. Contreras

Today's episode is a conversation with Adette C. Contreras, a CEO and entrepreneur who runs two companies at once. We dig into the conversation of culture in her roles and, specifically, what genuine empowerment looks like within both of her organizations. This is a particularly great listen if you work in a service-based industry. We hope you enjoy!

EPISODE 72

22 Dec 2021

Love as a Women in Leadership Strategy with Johanna Pagonis

Johanna Pagonis is the Founder and CEO of Sinogap Solutions. She is a podcaster, author, and entrepreneur and she joins us today to discuss an important topic: women in the workplace and women in leadership. Johanna is passionate about helping people understand the number of challenges that women face every day in the corporate world. We hope you enjoy this important discussion as much as we did.

EPISODE 71

15 Dec 2021

Love as a Reliability Strategy with James Kovacevic

When we say that we believe in bringing humanity back to the workplace, we mean to any and all workplaces. Today's guest, James Kovacevic, is an expert in maintenance and reliability in the world of manufacturing. In this week's episode, we have a conversation about what love in the workplace looks like from his lens.

EPISODE 70

08 Dec 2021

Love as a Change Strategy with Loubna Noureddin

Today's episode is focused on change and how to create sustainable change that sticks. We invited Loubna Noureddin, an expert in change, to share her wisdom from living through two civil wars and working within healthcare systems.

EPISODE 69

01 Dec 2021

Love as an Unstuck Strategy with Jon Dwoskin

If you've ever felt stuck in your business or leadership, today's episode is for you. Jon Dwoskin is a business coach who helps leaders get unstuck and grow their business. We ask him what role love plays into that equation.

EPISODE 68

17 Nov 2021

Love as an Adversity Strategy with Dustin DeVries

Dustin DeVries is a business owner who went through a life-changing event that put his business and its people to the test. In this episode, Dustin shares his personal struggle through that adversity and how it shaped the way he leads his business.

EPISODE 67

10 Nov 2021

Love as an Authentic Strategy with Michael Seaver

This week we are joined by Michael Seaver, an award-winning executive coach, leadership consultant, speaker, and author. Just like us, he is working tirelessly to bring humanity back to the workplace through his own data-backed methodology. Check out this episode and find out why we felt like a match made in heaven.

EPISODE 66

03 Nov 2021

Love as a Business Strategy with SHR

In this unique episode, Chris has a reunion with one of his old bosses, Rod Jiminez, who is the CEO of SHR. Rod showed Chris early on in his career what love as a business strategy could look like. Join us as we go on this walk down memory lane.

EPISODE 65

27 Oct 2021

Love as an Authentic Leadership Strategy

This week, we are joined by Roxanne Derhodge, a registered psychotherapist and corporate consultant that specializes in helping senior leaders develop authentic leadership. We get the opportunity to dig into our own personal questions and Roxanne shares her wisdom with us. You won't want to miss this one.

EPISODE 64

13 Oct 2021

How to Be Inclusive in the Hiring Process

We get to sit down with our very own, Chris Pitre, this week to grill him on a question that is plaguing many of us today: how can we be more inclusive in the hiring process? Chris shares with us his insights on how the recruitment process is where to start.

EPISODE 63

06 Oct 2021

Love as a Business Strategy with Jet Dental

This week we are joined by CEO and Co-Founder of Jet Dental, Jordan Smith. Jet Dental is an incredibly unique business that does pop-up dental offices for workplaces. Even more interesting is the values and culture that drive the business forward.

EPISODE 62

29 Sep 2021

It Doesn't Have to Be Lonely at the Top

We've all heard the truth that the higher up you go in a company, the lonelier it gets; but it doesn't have to be that way. We discuss how to avoid finding yourself lonely at the top in this week's episode.

EPISODE 61

22 Sep 2021

Love as a Remarkable Strategy

Denise Cooper specializes in executive coaching and leadership training. In this week's episode she shares some relatable stories with us around the realities of trust in the workplace, what it means to be human, how to look at your own values, and the topic of redemption. Buckle up and enjoy the show.

EPISODE 60

08 Sep 2021

Love as a Work-Life Balance Strategy

If you've ever used the term "work-life balance", this episode is for you. At Softway, we believe in something a little different. In this episode we break down the concept of work-life integration and why it is necessary to building a healthy workplace culture.

EPISODE 59

01 Sep 2021

Love as a Recruitment Strategy

Today we get a chance to sit down with Alka who works with us in our Bangalore office. We have a raw and honest conversation with her about the realities of HR and recruitment not only in our own company, but for all businesses alike.

EPISODE 58

25 Aug 2021

Love as a Tough Strategy

In today's episode we sit down with founder of WGNinHR Consulting, Joanne Rencher where she shares her experience with coaching executive leaders. We dig into what works and what doesn't work and, as always, test our hypothesis of love against what she's seen.

EPISODE 57

18 Aug 2021

Love as a Change Management Strategy

In today's episode, we get to pick the brain of an organizational change management expert, Harlan Hammack. We discuss what it really takes to have a successful culture change initiative inside of your organization. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

EPISODE 56

04 Aug 2021

Love as a DEI Strategy

It's been over a year since businesses all over the world shifted their attention to address diversity, equity, and inclusion issues more seriously than ever before. But the question is, have things really changed? We discuss this and the reality of DEI in the workplace today in this week's episode.

EPISODE 55

28 Jul 2021

Love as a Remote Work Strategy

In today's episode, we come together to take an honest look at the state of the workplace in a somewhat post-pandemic world. With job resignations at an all-time high, we wanted to break it down and share our different perspectives on how businesses and business leaders should be adapting. You won't want to miss it.

EPISODE 54

21 Jul 2021

Love as an Advocacy Strategy

This week we are joined by Katharine English, a leader at Google Cloud. We have some insightful and important conversations around women in tech, inclusion in the workplace, and how DEI should be addressed today. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

EPISODE 53

14 Jul 2021

Love as a Travel Strategy

This week we are joined by Olga and Ivan, founders of the travel company YouTravel.me. They share their story of how a really bad travel experience led to the realization that travel requires empathy and how the love of exploration can bring people together. Check it out now.

EPISODE 52

07 Jul 2021

Love as an Empathetic Healthcare Strategy

This week we sit down with Soojin Jun. She shares a powerful story of personal loss and her deep desire to bring empathy back to every component of healthcare.

EPISODE 51

30 Jun 2021

Love as a Legacy Strategy

This is an episode we have been excited about releasing for a long time. We are joined by Dr. Esmaeil Porsa, the CEO of Harris Health System in Harris County, Texas. He vulnerably discusses with us the legacy of love that he hopes to leave behind in his organization and how he tries to practice love every day.

EPISODE 50

23 Jun 2021

LAABS: Remember the Seneca Pilot?

This week we're joined by two of Softway's Associate Directors who were a part of the inception of our leadership transformation experience, Seneca Leaders. We dig deep into some of our biggest learnings from that time and discuss what real empowerment looks like.

EPISODE 49

16 Jun 2021

LAABS: Remember When Frank Missed That Meeting?

This week we take a trip down Softway's memory lane to discuss an incident that played out, have some fun with it, talk about how that what that meant to us in terms of, of culture, our learnings and our personal growth.

EPISODE 48

09 Jun 2021

Love as a Diversity and Inclusion Strategy with JeVon McCormick

We’re back again this week with a crowd favorite: CEO of Scribe Media, JeVon McCormick. This week, we really dive into diversity and inclusion in the corporate workplace. We talk about what it is and what it isn’t as well as what it helpful and hurtful in business. You won’t want to miss this one.

EPISODE 47

02 Jun 2021

Love as a Business Strategy with Southwest Airlines

In this week’s episode, we sit down with Former Managing Director of Culture at Southwest Airlines, Cheryl Hughey. We had an incredible conversation about how love permeates every facet of business at Southwest and how it has become their competitive advantage.

EPISODE 46

26 May 2021

Love as a Happy Teams Strategy

Owner and Lead Teams Coach of Happy Teams, Catrina Ballard, joined us this week to talk about all things culture. Catrina has vast experience in coaching leaders and entrepreneurs on how to build effective teams. This episode felt like a bunch of old friends gathering around for a chat. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

EPISODE 45

19 May 2021

Love as a Left-Brained Strategy

This week Dr. Andrew Kim, upcoming author and CEO of Culture 'n Strategy, joins us to share his journey on improving culture from a left brain. He turned his journey into a strategy for other leaders who understand and value logic, especially in a landscape that centers on emotion, behavior, and non-linear processes. "Love as a Left-Brained Strategy" gives a good look into how to change culture for those who lean on logic first to solve business problems.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 44

12 May 2021

Love as a Teaching Strategy

Ever heard the phrase "love is the best motivator"? Our guest this week, Mike Yates, has found this to be true first-hand with his experience in education. His philosophy is to get kids to love school and then the rest will take care of itself. 'Love as a Teaching Strategy' may be about school, but we'll guarantee you will find insights for your business. Take a listen now!

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 43

04 May 2021

Love as a Culture Building Strategy

This week we had the privilege of sitting down with James Walker, SVP, Digital Innovation Practice Lead in Weber Shandwick’s Washington, D.C. office and have a conversation about culture and the internal side of things. We were able to dig deep on topics of how a leadership team thinks of their employees, in terms of goals, platforms and outcomes. We hope that you enjoy this episode!

EPISODE 42

27 Apr 2021

Love as a Business Strategy: The Book

Writing a book has been a dream of ours for many years, and we can't believe that we can finally say it has come to fruition. Join us as we discuss and celebrate our new book Love as a Business Strategy: Resilience, Belonging & Success on the day of its launch and make sure to snag your copy today.

For more information and to purchase the book, visit LoveAsABusinessStrategy.com.

EPISODE 41

20 Apr 2021

Love as a Health Informatics Strategy

This week, we're joined by Siraj Anwar, Sr. Vice President and Chief Health Informatics Officer at Harris Health System as well as Dr. Rod Brace and Dr. Michael Shabot of Relia Healthcare Advisors to discuss the role of informatics in driving leadership behaviors for high reliability. And as always, we dive into what love has to do with all of this.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 40

13 Apr 2021

LAABS: Remember Softway's Darkest Day?

It was 2015 and it was a day we would rather never remember. But in true LAABS form, we are going to talk about it publicly. Journey back with us to the day that could have been the end of our business and culture as we now it.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 39

08 Apr 2021

Love as a Business Strategy with Scribe Media

What do the son of a pimp, a publishing company, and love have to do with each other? Find out in this week's episode where we are joined by President and CEO of Scribe Media, JeVon "JT" McCormick. He gets real with us as we discuss why people always come first in his organization. This episode will leave you wanting more.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 38

30 Mar 2021

LAABS: Remember when Jeff was a bad boss?

Continuing our trip down memory lane, we invited two project managers, Ashley and Erin, onto the show this week to revisit their experience with Jeff as their boss before he started his behavior transformation journey. It’s awkward but it’s good. Take a listen!

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 37

26 Mar 2021

LAABS: Remember When That One Email Destroyed Our Culture?

This week, we're kicking off a new series where we all take a trip down memory lane and think back on some of the stories that defined our old culture. Before our transformation, we have moments that we look back on and cringe, and we want to re-live those moments with our listeners. We don't want to give too much away, but this one is about a particular strongly-worded email that Mohammad sent in 2015 (and apparently his CAPS LOCK WAS BROKEN). Take a listen to find out what got him so fired up.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 36

02 Mar 2021

Love as a Behavior Transformation Strategy

The reality is that 70% of culture transformations fail. But why? In this week's episode, we unpack our experiences with leaders and organizations that contribute to failed culture initiatives, and discuss how Softway's products and services bridge the gap and pave the way for real change in your organization.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 35

23 Feb 2021

Love as a Commitment Strategy

While there are a million reasons to invest in your company's people and culture, there are always going to be reasons not to. This week, we dig into some of the common excuses we commonly hear about why business leaders choose not to take on a culture transformation in their organization. This may just be our saltiest episode yet.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 34

16 Feb 2021

Love as an Uncomfortable Strategy

This week we had the privilege of sitting down with Victor Scotti, Chief Inspiration Officer of Moving Mountains LLC and former Google team member, to have a raw conversation about equity and diversity in the workplace. We were able to dig deep on topics of introspection, self efficacy, and opportunity when it comes to race and non-dominant groups. This episode is meant to spark conversation and make you look inward on some of these topics. We hope that you enjoy this episode with an open heart and an open mind.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 33

09 Feb 2021

Love as a System Strategy

Joining us this week is author and consultant, Dan Edds. Dan discusses his research with us on how building a system centered around love, respect, and purpose could be the key to improving a high impact organization's culture and even how it can save lives. From healthcare to the military, Dan has seen how love is the answer to a lot of organization's leadership problems.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 32

02 Feb 2021

Love as a B2E Strategy

You've heard of B2B and B2C, but you've probably never heard of B2E or Business to Employee. At Softway, we create solutions that are employee-first in order to build more resilient workforces and higher performing organizations. In this week's episode, we outline why a B2E solution may just be what your company needs in order to succeed.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 31

26 Jan 2021

Love as a Business Strategy with JMMB Group

This week, we have the Chief Marketing Officer of the JMMB Group, Kerry-Ann Stimpson, joining us to explain how love can be evident in the most unlikely of places: the banking industry. JMMB Group was founded on love and is still practiced daily with their employees, clients, and shareholders. Listen now to this deep dive on the JMMB Group and all that they're doing to spread the love.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 30

12 Jan 2021

Love as an Empathy Strategy

Empathy is at the center of everything we talk about at Love as a Business Strategy. If you don’t have empathy for the person sitting next to you at work, you are potentially missing out on untapped potential and innovation. In this episode, we explore what true empathy looks like in the workplace and why you should start practicing it now.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 29

05 Jan 2021

Love as a Forgiveness Strategy

Why is it important to learn about forgiveness in the workplace? Because it is one of the most important things about our humanity. Unforgiveness in business can lead to inefficiencies, lack of innovation, and profit loss. In this week's episode, we unpack why unforgiveness is the silent killer in an organization's culture.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 28

22 Dec 2020

Love as a Humanizing Initiative Part 3

This week, we are joined again by the Humanizing Initiative to continue our conversation around humanistic leadership. We discuss the process of unlearning and relearning together as we examine how we can bring humanity back to the workplace.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 27

15 Dec 2020

Love as a Humanizing Initiative Part 2

This week, we are joined again by the Humanizing Initiative to continue our conversation around humanistic leadership. We use this episode to examine the problem statement that many businesses are facing: why is what we're learning wrong?

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 26

08 Dec 2020

Love as a Public Health Strategy

Communities are what build up our society, and a strong community is built by looking out for the person next to you. In this week's episode, we talk with Alisa Howard, a public health servant leader, to discuss trust and love within a community. Think this doesn't apply to business? Think again.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 25

01 Dec 2020

Love as a Nice Strategy

This week, we were joined by Marc Effron, best-selling author and founder of the Talent Strategy Group to talk about why "nice" cultures are not good for your business. Sometimes love means saying the tough things to your teammates, and that is often the nicest thing you can do for someone.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 24

24 Nov 2020

Love as an Internship Strategy

In this week's episode, we are joined by Katherine Taylor, Executive Director of Genesys Works Houston, to talk about what love and inclusion have to do with corporate internships. We discuss equity of opportunity, the power of a network, and how major corporations are actually benefitting more from their interns than the interns are from them.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 23

17 Nov 2020

Love as a Growth Strategy

This week, we are joined by best-selling author of "Banking on Digital Growth" James Robert Lay to talk about what successful growth looks like within an organization. Why do processes and technologies often fail and why might being purpose-driven be the answer? Find out the answers to these questions now.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 22

10 Nov 2020

Love as a Humanizing Initiative

This week, we're kicking off an exciting collaborative series with The Humanizing Initiative. Their goal is to humanize leaders and organizations in order to cultivate humanistic leadership. In our first episode of this series, we meet the four co-founders and really dive into why The Humanizing Initiative exists.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 21

03 Nov 2020

Love as a Trust Strategy

In this week's episode, we're talking about the elephant in the room: trust. Without it, you will never be able to have a high-performing team, but how do you build trust amongst your co-workers? We answer this question and discuss our experiences with vulnerability-based trust in 'Love as a Trust Strategy'.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 20

27 Oct 2020

Love as a Vulnerability Strategy

Vulnerability is scary, but in the workplace, it's often unheard of. In this episode, we unpack how being vulnerable with your teams will unlock potential and also foster humanity within your organization.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 19

20 Oct 2020

Over the past several months, we've seen a resurgence in the need for patient care and well-being with the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the globe. Dr. Rod Brace, former hospital CEO and founding partner of Relia Healthcare Advisors, joins us to talk about what it takes to create a high-reliability culture.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 18

13 Oct 2020

Love as an Empowerment Strategy

Are you constantly wishing that you had more time in your day? Do you feel like the leaders bear the majority of the workload in your organization? This may not be an issue of time management, but a lack of empowerment. How can you lovingly empower your teams so that you are no longer working late nights and weekend - find out in this episode of Love as a Business Strategy.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 17

06 Oct 2020

Love as a Mentorship Strategy

In this episode, we try to get you to think differently about a simple concept. What makes a good mentor? What role should mentorship play in our lives? What’s the right way to mentor someone, or to be mentored? We dive into all of these things, and share about the role that LOVE plays in all of it.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 16

28 Sep 2020

Love as a Platinum Strategy

Have you heard of the “Platinum Rule”? Our guest in this episode, Kandace Cooks, introduced us to this concept. She has devoted her life and career to following the Platinum Rule, and we have an amazing time diving into this concept - and how we might apply it to our lives. And of course, what’s love got to do with it?

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 15

22 Sep 2020

Love as a Team Strategy

What makes a team effective? How do you build a winning team? We’ve all heard of “High-performing teams”, but what’s the secret-sauce? In this episode, we talk about how we approach building teams, and we also try something different and get into an awkward debate. In the end, of course, we try to uncover the role that LOVE plays in every great team.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 14

15 Sep 2020

Love as a Sales Strategy

How can we have a business podcast without talking about sales? As it turns out, we used to do sales all wrong - so we take this opportunity to really understand the drastic difference between how we used to approach sales vs. how we now apply a little LOVE to the process.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 13

08 Sep 2020

Love as an Equity Strategy

We hear a lot of buzz around diversity and inclusion nowadays, but equity is not talked about as often. How is equity different? Why is it important? In this episode, we have an amazing conversation with the co-hosts of the Dear White Women Podcast, Sara and Misasha. Their expertise, experience, and perspective really shine a light on the topic of equity.

Check out Sara & Misasha's podcast, Dear White Women, at https://www.dearwhitewomen.com/ and everywhere podcasts can be found.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 12

01 Sep 2020

Love as a Feedback Strategy

Let’s talk about the F word. That’s right… Feedback. Something that everybody needs, but not everybody always wants to hear. Why is giving and receiving feedback so hard sometimes? How do we unlock the true potential and benefit of feedback in our life? Through stories and discussion, we try to figure it out together in today’s episode.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 11

25 Aug 2020

Love as a Survival Strategy

In these unprecedented times, many businesses are just looking to survive. But how does a company survive in today’s climate? What’s it going to take? Is just surviving enough? Does love have any role to play in it? We invite an expert in this field, Jeff Brown, to help us answer these questions. With nearly 30 years of experience in building resilient companies, he walks us through his perspective on what surviving as a business really looks like.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 10

18 Aug 2020

Love as a Coaching Strategy

In this very special episode, we get a chance to chat with Jane Figueiredo—World Champion and Olympic medal-winning diving coach and Yulia Pakhalina—European Champion, World Champion, and 5-time Olympic medal-winning diver. We talk about love as a coaching strategy, and draw parallels between performing at the highest level of athletic competition and succeeding in business.

Check out the other episodes, see show notes, transcripts, and more at our website: https://www.softway.com/laabs

EPISODE 9

11 Aug 2020

Love as an Agile Transformation Strategy

Whether you’ve been going Agile for years, or you’re just now starting the transformation - an organization’s journey into Agile is not an easy one. In this episode, we talk about what makes an Agile transformation so difficult and what every business should be focusing on to really make Agile work. Spoiler alert: love might have something to do with it.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 8

31 Jul 2020

Love as a Delicious Strategy

Food is a universal connector of people. Food is at the center of every occasion. Sharing food is akin to sharing a piece of our identity, culture, and affection. When you sit and eat together, and when you eat the same food as others - you grow closer. So how is food connected to business? And what role does Love play in it all? Let's discuss.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 7

24 Jul 2020

Love as an Empathetic Leadership Strategy

How can leaders hold their teams accountable while still maintaining a culture of love? In this episode, we explore what it means to be an Empathetic Leader, and how there’s a very big difference between empathy and sympathy when it comes to the workplace.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 6

17 Jul 2020

Love as an Inclusion Strategy

In this episode, we zoom in on the topic of Inclusion. Specifically, how businesses should be tackling it. D&I is obviously still a hot topic, and many companies are scrambling for actionable results. What’s the right approach to address diversity and inclusion issues in your organization? And of course, where does LOVE fit into the equation? Let’s dive in.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 5

10 Jul 2020

Love as a Technology Strategy

Technology is a part of every modern business, and often an aspect that is approached logically and tactically. So often, it’s made up of zeroes and ones and nothing more. Is there any room for LOVE in something so mechanical? We take on that question and more in this episode!

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 4

03 Jul 2020

Love as a Diversity & Inclusion Strategy

Diversity and Inclusion is at the forefront of many business conversation right now. Not everyone is approaching it the same way. We want to explore the different ways to look at and address D&I in a business - and how LOVE changes the equation.

Addressing D&I in your business might look different from what you'd expect!

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 3

26 Jun 2020

Love as a Digital Transformation Strategy

In this episode, we talk about digital transformation and what it really looks like for companies to go through. And of course, we ask: What role does LOVE play in a business’s digital transformation strategy?

While many companies are focusing on digital strategy, it’s more than just changing your process and tools. The real transformation centers around how your teams work with each other, and how people behave.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 2

12 Jun 2020

How Business Leaders Can Actually Help Black Employees

In this episode, we speak with Chris Pitre, and ask him to share in-depth about 9 questions that businesses leaders can ask themselves to start identifying constructs, biases, and policies that contribute to the mistreatment and mischaracterization of Black employees in their organization.

The article we are referencing (How Business Leaders Can Actually Help Black Employees) can be found here.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.

EPISODE 1

12 Jun 2020

Love as a...business strategy?

In our very first episode, we get together and talk about what "Love" means in a business context.

We introduce the concept, and share what our experience has been in making this applicable to our business.

See the video version here.

Find out more about about our show and check out other episodes, transcripts, newsletters, and more at https://www.softway.com/laabs.