The I in Team Podcast: Recent Episodes
Brian Smith and Mary Smith
Our show expands, in depth, the philosophies in our book series, The I in Team Series. We discuss finding one’s own influence, using that influence in their life with their various teams, and building teams around them that enhance and positively increase influence. We hope to show you that you are important to the teams you influence and that by understanding your unique influence you will be able to positively contribute to the world around you. Your influence is the single greatest responsibility you have. We cover looking at our foundations, understanding our shortcomings, being a team member, and leading with influence. We accomplish this goal by first laying a foundation for our philosophy and then building on that through interactions with guests that reinforce the lessons we wish to teach others.
This week, Mary has been busy editing the newest book in The I in Team Series, Individual Advantages: Be the I in Team. With Brian catching up from traveling, Mary discusses some of the topics covered in BE. Not all topics of the book will be revealed, but some will be touched on: Justification, being humble, balance, and happiness. The newest book is all about applying the knowledge of self-reflection learned in the first book (Individual Advantages: Find the I in Team) and BEING a positive influence on those around you. Are you ready to be a positive influence on your teams?
Sponsored by: The I in Team Series & IA Business Advisors
In this week's episode, Brian films at Procore's conference, Groundbreak, in Phoenix. Procore is the world's leading construction management software and Groundbreak is where they share their current and future technologies with the construction industry, as well as offering an opportunity to share questions, ideas, and suggestions to their current platform. We explore how this technology is leading our world towards better platforms for all consumers. Explore this week's influence with Brian and Mary at Groundbreak!
Sponsored by: The I in Team Series & IA Business Advisors
This week's podcast is brought to you from Logroño, Spain! While Brian was away on his business trip, he had the opportunity to interview Armando and Maria at Teinnova in Spain. Armando is their CEO and general manager, and Maria is the team's sales & marketing manager. Brian's work with Omni Containment Systems brought him over the ocean to work with Teinnova and discuss their influence across Spain and the United States. Teinnova works to develop cleaning systems that make cleaning hard-to-reach and difficult places much safer and more efficient. Teinnova innovates products in the technical cleaning sector, and 25% of the company’s personnel are employed in the research and development unit. A special thank you to Teinnova, Armando, and Maria for allowing Brian to interview them and give everyone at The I in Team Podcast a sneak peak at their influence in Spain.
We are changing up our podcast a bit to discuss: What is a business consultant? When should I hire one? What does a good one look like?
We are often asked what it is we do here at IA Business Advisors as business consultants. In this week's podcast, we discuss what our jobs look like, as well as what other business consultants' jobs might look like. If you're a business owner or manager, this podcast is for you! We talk about when you might need one, why you would want one, and when one might not be good for you.
Sponsored by: IA Business Advisors & The I in Team Series
This week, we are going to tackle how to determine the difference between criticism and constructive criticism, how to deliver criticism in a way that it is constructive and what that looks like, how to deal with getting constructive criticism, and how we may go about dissolving the stigmas surrounding giving and receiving constructive criticism. We are continuing our team series where we discuss what it's like to be a positive and negative team member. You may have heard us discuss criticism a few times in previous podcasts, so this week we are taking a dive into the topic.
Sponsored by: The I in Team Series & IA Business Advisors
What does being a good team member look like? What about being a bad team member? This week, Brian and Mary discuss the attributes of good and bad team members, starting from the top. Typically, people learn from their leaders how to act appropriately in a team setting. All team members are peers, but it is the leader that helps to show the team what behaviors are considered appropriate. However, not all leaders are good team members. Find out how to be a good team member, communicate with team members that can improve, and look out for negative team qualities that can spread and take down a business.
Sponsored by: The I in Team Series & IA Business Advisors
This week, Brian is back with Mary to discuss managing personal and professional relationships. We spend about a third of our time with our team, meaning we come to develop a professional, and sometimes a personal, relationship with each of our team members. Navigating the fine line between a personal and professional relationship with someone can often prove to be difficult; this week, Brian and Mary give you tips on how to manage your personal and professional relationships through care, thought, and planning.
Sponsored by: The I in Team Series & IA Business Advisors
We bring you another episode from The Vault this week as Brian finishes up some of his worldly travels we focus on the subconscious mode (commonly known as: auto-pilot). Subconscious mode can sneak up on us at any time: at work, in the car, while running errands, really at any time. This is a time when we allow our minds to wander while we carry out our tasks mindlessly. In our professional life, this can lead to us making mistakes, missing steps, forgetting certain tasks, and more. It can disrupt our workflow, as well as the workflow of our team.
This week, we bring you another episode from the vault. We focus on slowing down, in our personal and professional lives, which also happens to be the largest chapter of our first book, Individual Advantages: Find the I in Team. Slowing down is as important aspect of our lives, because when we don't slow ourselves down we can miss a lot of things in life. We can miss important details, cause unnecessary stress, make ourselves less efficient, and more. Mary shares a funny story where she learned a lesson in slowing down. Life has a way of making sure we stay focused and driven, and most of that is through slowing down.
Sponsored by: The I in Team Series and IA Business Advisors
This week, Brian is in Florida! In business, especially while you are travelling, you cannot successfully lead a company without balance. You must find balance in your personal life and balance in your organization. If you are struggling to determine what is throwing your business of balance, you might decide to take an approach to look at how your operations are balanced. In this week's podcast, Brian and Mary discuss creating and maintaining balance in your organization and in your life.
While Brian is on the road, Mary leads this weeks podcast to discuss personal growth. She covers how to have personal growth when faced with opportunity, crisis, differing opinions/perspectives, and difficult environments. When we can find a balance in life, we can explore ways to grow personally. Our personal growth allows us to positively influence our teams in a more meaningful way.
This week, we welcome special guest and friend, Leonard Rice, to join us for our episode on Consistency.
Is your life consistently inconsistent? Being consistent is about practice, will power, and an understanding of who you are as an individual. This week, we explore some signs of inconsistency and discuss ways to be consistent in your personal and professional life.
This week we explore the topic of first impressions, something we touched on briefly in last week's episode. Beginning the discussion with what comprises a first impression–image and attitude–we dive into what influences our perception of others. Perspective is key when dealing with any topic, as we all come from different walks of life. Touching on how to have empathy, be professional, and give second chances, this week's episode is one you won't want to miss.
This week's episode is a little shorter than past episodes as we introduce a newer segment to our show. This week we discuss first impressions and inconsistencies on a surface level. This is a topic we will expand upon and explore deeply in next week's episode. Don't miss our full episode on consistent first impressions and make sure to subscribe!
Sponsored by: The I in Team Series & IA Business Advisors
This week, Brian and Mary are revisiting some of the lessons from their earlier work and pilot episodes. This episode is going back to before The I in Team Podcast was live and public. In this episode, you will hear ideas on slowing down, staying focused, thinking forward, environmental urgency, and immediate gratification. Join us to hear some of our earliest work and ideas in this special vault episode! Don't forget to subscribe so you won't miss future episodes.
This week we visit Norm Hays, the founder and president of Elevated Construction. Elevated is a commercial general contractor with headquarters in Arlington Heights, Illinois. They have influence across the United States. Since their beginning in 2017, Elevated has quickly become an influential presence in the commercial building industry.
We discuss goals, starting a company, culture, and technological influence in an otherwise people-centric industry. We had a chance to talk to some Elevated employees about partnership, experience, lessons, and challenges, which has made Elevated a trusted business where people want to work.
This week is Mary's birthday week, as well as the 4th of July. Brian is going to tackle a common challenge for businesses: mid-week holidays. If you're like most small companies, holidays that fall on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays pose a much bigger challenge than those that fall on Mondays or Fridays. Three day weekends are easy to manage and are typically expected. However, when a holiday falls on or between Tuesday and Thursday, businesses see a huge increase in absenteeism. How can a company better prepare for this issue? We will also discuss the impacts holidays have on companies overall.
This week Brian and Mary discuss time as a tangible asset and liability that has tremendous influence on us all.
The episode will focus on being realistic about how time influences you, and how to deal with distractions that cause delays and influence your time.
The goal of this episode is to give everyone tools for time management that can be applied to your life now.
This weekend we visited Art on the Fox Fine Art Show, held annually in downtown Algonquin, Illinois. They were celebrating their twelfth year, and we had an opportunity to visit with some of the artists and vendors, as well as their event planner, on Father's Day.
Art on the Fox is produced by the Village of Algonquin and the Algonquin Public Arts Commission. It represents just one small segment of public art that is showcased in our community here in Algonquin.
Our visits with the artists helped us learn how community events, such as this one, influence our communities. We were able to view a new and exciting segment within our community and hope that this special podcast influences you to participate more in your community. A special thank you to Art on the Fox for allowing us to be a part of this artistic journey.
This week we are visiting David Avrin, author of five books, including his latest release, Why Customers Leave and How to Win Them Back.
We will discuss the customer experience and how it is different than customer service. We will also discuss the evolution of the customer from the business side and the consumer side. Today's customers, however you define them, have become a tremendous influence on our businesses.
Sponsored by IA Business Advisors, The I In Team Series, and Visibility International.
Our guest this week is Tammy Coakley, a local business owner and founder. She opened Spa Bleu, an Aveda Salon, in West Dundee, Illinois in 2004, later opening a branch in Barrington, Illinois. Spa Bleu has been recognized as a Top 200 Salon by Salon Today.
Tammy has a passion for people and business. In 2017, she founded Bleuroot, a farm-to-table restaurant, and Inspire Bleu Consulting, a meditation, relaxation, and massage spa. These businesses were built on the same tenacity and willpower as Spa Bleu but became overwhelming. In 2018, Tammy sold Bleuroot. She also shifted Inspire Bleu Consulting to Cryoeffect, this year, in 2019.
Tammy will share her successes, struggles, and more during our show. She will help us understand how personal care services, such as those provided by Spa Bleu, have tremendous influence over all of us. Tammy’s story is one of tremendous success, perseverance, and positive influence. Join us to learn more about Tammy’s and this industry’s influence!
This is the first episode of The I in Team Podcast. We will begin by sharing our philosophy of the definition of the word individual and prosperity and why we feel influence is the biggest responsibility each human has during their lifetime.
This episode will prepare our listeners to understand their influence and how they are influenced by others. We will also set the stage for our first guests, who are business owners, who have identified their individualism, influence, struggles, and success by finding their foundation.