Labrador Leadership: Recent Episodes
Bob Nolley
Step into the world of Bob, a man whose life took an unexpected turn after a swift shove from an invisible force. His journey, filled with challenges and hurdles, led him to sell his beloved golf clubs and face the bleak diagnosis of cancer. But amidst the darkness, there was a glimmer of hope. Through love, prayers, and encouragement from listeners like you, Bob emerged victorious, cancer-free. Now, he stands before you, filled with gratitude, ready to share his story and relearn his skills. Join us as we delve into Bob's tale of resilience, and discover how planning backward from the future can lead to a meaningful career and legacy. But be warned, the twist in Bob's story will leave you wanting more...
Dan Rockwell is The Leadership Freak. A fanatic, not a basket case. Dan started in the non-profit world. Leadership has been a part of his life since youth. Are leaders be born or made? Dan refers to John Maxwell saying that leaders can be made. The born part may not be genetic but rather from the development support that you receive in those wonder years. Teachers, neighbors, youth leaders, sports coaches are all important.
Best selling Amazon Author Dr. Gail Summerskill talks about her new book on writing titled Writing with Sofie. The professor and creative professional talks convincingly about the need to support those that are trying to improve their writing in the classroom or at the start of their first personal writing project.
Bob talks about research that shows the Corona Virus shutdown may have months remaining rather than weeks. He also shares a story of a pharmacist who is committed to do his duty
Bob updates a directive from the CDC for protecting infrastructure workers who may not have been able to avoid contact. He also reports on ATI Decorative Laminates President Tara Burgio moving production to serve hospitals and law enforcement.
Bob updates the state of the Eastern U.S and talks about opportunities when using power during COVID-19.
Molly Snider of the Coolest Women in the RVA chats about the expansion and hip factor of Scotts Addition. She talks about what it takes to manage one of the premier properties in midtown.
A recap of the comments from the Surgeon General and thoughts about people who cannot work from home.
This episode marks the start of a daily series on the role of leadership in the new normal.
Bob kicks off the Coolest Women in the RVA series with a special visit from Suzanne Rosenhammer. They talk leadership and career in the tech world of the RVA.
Matthew Shapiro of 6Wheels Consulting is a leader in the disability community. In this episode he and Bob talk abut his work lobbying from the state legislature to the streets on behalf os the disabled.
Bob talks about the place and importance of critical thinking in the leadership toolbox.
Bob talks about strategies we can take to improve eliminating biases in building and leading our teams.
Bob welcomes Megan Morris to the show! They discuss the concept of humble leadership and how it can trigger behaviors that will improve results for your team.
Bob talks about how leaders of a startup may have a different perspective on what leadership actions are most important.
Bob and Alex talk about a list of the top five companies that are know for leadership development. GE, no surprise, is at the top of that list. But there are also important points to consider if you are not in one of these larger corporations, not the least of which is whether or not there are leadership development activities going on there. Bob contends that one of the most important activities is that of assessment, a data driven review of wheat one's strengths and weaknesses are. Self awareness is at the top of the list, and that characteristic is at the core of emotional intelligence.
Bob kicks of the second season of the podcast with a welcome and a tribute to the leadership of Lady Vols basketball coach Pat Summitt who passed away this summer. Summit was the winningest coach man or woman at the division one level. She took over the team in 1976 at the age of 22. She went on to win eight national titles, appear in 18 Final Fours, and 1,098 games.
The impact that stress can have on leaders, entrepreneurs, and their teams can be so great that it can let all the air out of the balloon. A recent survey showed that 40% of all workers say that their job is very stressful, 26% say they are very burned out. A quarter of people see their job as the number one stressor in their lives. Has life gotten more stressful? What can this mean for you in all the critical roles of your life?
Bob and Alex talk about the proposition that being late shouldn't be seen as a fault, but rather as a sign of innate optimism.
Bob talks to Mark Smith of Midas of Richmond. Here is an entrepreneur that gives back to the RVA in the biggest way through blood drives and food banks. He will give you a free oil change for a blood donation, a state inspection for a food bank donation, and still have his stores as the top performers nationwide (listen to find out just how much revenue this generates). His staff have the kind of customer service skills that make you want to just hang out there.
Bob and Alex celebrate the Fourth of July by talking about the courage it takes to get your team out of the mire and inspire them. Times that are characterized by businesses sacrificing customer service for the sake of reducing costs call for leaders to transform their teams.
Bob welcomes Michael O'Neal of The Solopreneur Hour to talk about his journey to the levels of success in the online world that we find is much broader than podcasting! Michael talks about the best boss he worked for before becoming "proudly unemployable" and about why entrepreneurs, particular those in affiliate marketing, need to consider their leadership skills very carefully.
Hosts Bob Nolley and Alex Mossa rollout the introductory episode of the Labrador Leadership Podcast. They discuss the goal of the show is to delivery informative discussions and interviews on simple leadership topics that will help people be the best leader they can be for their businesses, their teams, and for themselves.
In today's episode, they discuss the critical skill of managing expectations. This includes how to commit to doing something, the importance of committing to when it will be done, and how you will let your customer know that it is done.
Bob takes a timeout to talk about how we as leaders can frame our thoughts as they relate to the church shootings in Charleston, SC last week.
Bob and Alex are both snowed in and take the time to chat about assessments. Bob suggests that in the past we probably had a switch on the sides of out heads since we so freely create feedback. Getting better at this can be learned. There are good habits that should be reinforced, the most basic of which is not giving feedback only once a year. There should no surprises in annual performance reviews. As much as some leaders have to learn how to give feedback, a much broader segment including those leaders have to learn how to receive feedback. The use of assessment circles is an opportunity to practice recognizing how you feel and to observe how others react.
Bob takes the opportunity today to answer questions he has received about the show! And, for the first time, the actual recording of the Labrador Leadership Podcast is being broadcast live on Periscope!
Bob is pleased to welcome his son Robert to the program! Bob and Robert talk a bit about what it's like for a Millennial to emerge from college and hit the job market today.
Bob sits down with his Dad, Bob Nolley Jr., live from Surf City to talk about the path of his career through the corporate world path and what he learned that he wants to share with those walking the path today.
Alex takes the opportunity to introduce us to her Dad Sylvio Mossa to celebrate Fathers Day! For listeners who want to get to know our cohost a little bit better, listen to Alex and her Dad talk reminisce about life in Greensboro, NC, and what it took to successfully start and build Mossa Construction.
Bob discusses the results of a new study from McKinsey & Company on the behaviors that different the big companies that are successful in the major transformations and those that are not. The details can be over whelming, but they boil down to a few general strategies that we have talked about before.
A big event in the form of a simulcast with Thom Singer of The Conference Catalyst and Cool Thing Entrepreneurs Do. Bob and Thom met through working in a couple of mastermind groups. Labrador Leadership and Cool Thing Entrepreneurs Do are both broadcasting this episode today.
Kate Erickson of Entrepreneur on Fire talks with Bob about her leadership journey from college life to retail banking to running one of the most successful online communities with the Future Nation and Entrepreneur On Fire.
Bob and Alex review an off-beat list of executives', entrepreneurs', and business leaders' offerings of their most important habits.
Bob welcomes Charlie Poznek of The Boomer Business Owner. Charlie stresses the point that folks in the Boomer age range are Digital Immigrants rather than Generation Y and Millennials that are Digital Natives. Younger folks understand the technology because they have always been in it. The immigration is not rocket science, but it often seems that way due to things like the lingo.
Bob and Alex talk about the ways that managers use to motivate their teams. Sometimes money is used, but is that always the right answer? Another common mistake is leaders who don;t realize that the opposite of satisfaction is NOT dissatisfaction! The answers here will make you think about ways you can motivate your key employees...today
Bob shares a list of fourteen steps to follow in life and work that will help leaders keep their bearings on true north.
Bob and Alex finish up the First Fifty by focusing on the important of mood. They recall the dumps they put themselves in when talking about stress and realize that the start of the day has a lot to do with the mood you take forward.
Dr. Bob Nolley welcomes Richard Rierson from the Dose of Leadership Podcast. Richard looks at leadership from the perspectives of his careers in the corporate world and as a commercial airline pilot and a Marine. The two talk passionately about the "Four C's of Leadership" and how they permeate every aspect of our lives.
Joel Boggess and his wife Dr. Pei Kang host The Relaunch Show, so named because it is a phase that people go through, after they have gone through different challenges. The story of their businesses, relationships, and their early failures is resonating with the listeners. Bob makes the point that people today are craving such real relationships. To relaunch you have to have resources (surround yourself with the best books and podcasts), relationships (the people that know you, like you, and are willing to help you), and routines (the rituals that make you sharpen your skills and be successful).
Attention spans have gotten much shorter since the Baby Boomers appeared on the scene. Because of this, we need to pay special attention to channel richness and the model of communication that we use. This includes the sender forward encoding the message, choosing the channel, sending into the medium, to be unencoded by the listener. The channel that gets used can vary in richness from the very un-rich data report up to a memo then an email then a phone call then a face to face conversations. Four different generations are in the work place together, collaborating, working, communicating with one another.
Bob welcomes Todd Uterstaedt of the From Founder to CEO podcast to talk about executive coaching. Leadership is not a one flavor concept and shift from being the founder of a business to becoming that business's CEO is a matter of degrees. Todd sees this as a matter of degrees and a journey for that person.
Bob chats with Talmar Anderson, host of the Business Side of Business podcast, about the leadership challenges folks face in getting their new initiatives launched.
Bob and Alex talk about the wildly popular photoblog Humans of New York and the leadership lessons to be learned from Brandon Stanton. His Facebook page has well over 15 million likes, but there are leadership lessons to be learned from his art and his approach.
Bob talks today about the leadership and the concept of plausible deniability. This is in light of the recent news out of the University of Louisville that recruits and players attended parties at which girls were available for sex that had been paid for by a team graduate assistance coach.
Bob and Alex review a list of the ten worst leadership lies. It is important to be aware of them and sensitive to them showing up in interactions on your team.
Bob wraps up the discussion of project management and leadership be reviewing symptoms that may indicate you really don't want to work in this role.
Bob continues the leadership discussion in the context of project management with a look at the qualities of communication that are needed.
Bob talks about the comparison of core leadership skills and those that are needed in the realm of project management.
Bob reconnects with high school and college friend Marc Halpert to catch up on life, his multipreneurship and the possibilities of LinkedIn.
Having spent time discussing getting yourself through finding yourself on the street and working through a job search, Bob talks today about the things you as a leader absolutely don't want to do your first few days on the job.
Many folks that want to move up to the next level in the leadership game continue doing a great job but never get the call. Bob talks to day about actions you can take to get noticed.
Bob talks with an entrepreneur who has realized that the key is hard work, networking, and taking action. Samuel Anderson joins Labrador Leadership to talk about his journey from sleeping in an insurance office to running three successful businesses, including his own consulting firm.
Recovering from acts of dishonesty from the previous administration and leadership team calls for special tactics and communication. Bob and Alex talk about these and the challenges that you face.
In the aftermath of the New York Times article on the work culture at retailing giant Amazon, Bob talks about the details of the article, Amazon's Fourteen Leadership Points, and CEO Jeff Bezos' response to the article. There is also a rebuttal post to the NYT article from a current employee.
In episode 59 Bob and Alex talked about how leaders could serve their teams well by giving a long hard look at liberal arts majors. The source of that discussion was an article written by Dell intern Audrey Lecker. Today she and Bob talk about this, China, and The Hustle.
Those of us with senior leadership responsibilities have our heads down every day executing tactics to pursue a strategy. Michael Wieser reminds us that sometimes we need the advice of counsel.
Leadership is in part all about being productive with a high level of efficiency. Doing the important things early in the day is generally a key. This is a big part of getting off to a good start. "Eating the frog first" is the addressing of the most urgent or the most difficult item you have to face.
The fact that leadership skills are needed not just on the job but in every part of our lives is evident this time of year as children and adults alike head back to school. Bob talks about what it takes to be successful both for the high school student heading to college and the working adult heading to school, perhaps for the first time.
Bob welcomes Thomas O'Grady, Host of the Life Unsettled podcast, a self professed entrepreneur at heart, tells his story from being a child chewing gum tycoon to understanding just why there is so much individual struggle in the current economy.
Effective leadership can be undermined by the presence of toxic people within their organization and on their team. Leaders have to be able to recognize these folks and keep them away. Bob and Alex talk about what these people look like.
Bob and Alex discuss an article from Travis Bradberry on office policies that can kill the momentum of a team if not the organization.
Bob and Alex talk about the worst type of leadership, the type that is so bad that people actually quit them, rather than quitting the job itself.
Co host Alex Mossa gives a frank interview on her thoughts on making the decision to leave her current full time job and free-lance in her passion.
Bob and Alex talk about what a liberal arts degree brings to your team and how leaders should expect them to be key contributors.
Bob talks about the circumstances surrounding folks that have just lost their jobs and are out on the street. They will hopefully have support from may areas, but their are some key things they need to be doing as well.
Alex and Bob review the traits that make the difference between a good manager and a great leader.
Bob and Alex talk about the traditional aspects of listening and how that is critical for leadership communication skills. Leaders consider this a Top Three competency. Following up on listening in the digital age of the 21st century, they discuss a post from John Keyser on a framework for this skill.