Excuse our typos, this transcript was transcribed by our friends at https://otter.ai
Mitch Simon 0:10
Welcome to another episode of team anywhere where CEOs, leaders and experts are building teams, companies, organizations, and amazing cultures
Ginnie Bianca-Mathis 0:22
share how to lead from anywhere in the world. I’m your co host on the East Coast chicken Bianca Mathis,
Mitch Simon 0:27
and I’m your co host on the West Coast. Mitch Simon. And we invite you to join us team anywhere.
On today’s podcast, we speak with Gary magenta for time author, customer experience guru and Senior Vice President at route Incorporated. Gary shares how allowing greater flexibility being transparent and giving more trust to your employees is contributing to higher engagement scores. Leaders of successful companies over the last eight months have demonstrated more empathy, more curiosity and more humanity by getting face to face with their employees. Gary offers four questions that move management from yellow Intel, to being a partner who walks alongside his or her direct reports. Finally, Gary offers his hope that we will all use this time to treat each other with more humanity for generations to come. Hello, and welcome to another episode of team anywhere with myself, Mitch Simon on the west coast and Jimmy Mathis, on the east coast. And we are so excited to bring you today. A special guest and a great friend of mine. It’s Gary magenta. Gary magenta is a four time author, customer experience guru and Senior Vice President at root ache. Gary is a highly sought after Media Resource and keynote speaker for client events, industry conferences and business strategy and human resource seminars. So Hey, welcome, Gary. And Gosh, tell us what you’re up to these days.
Unknown Speaker 2:17
Well, I think the most important thing, Mitch is I’m on central time. So we have East Coast, Central Time and West Coast all represented.
Ginnie Bianca-Mathis 2:26
Oh, totally. And we’re all
Mitch Simon 2:28
male of Middle America. Yes. We’re all the way. Yeah. So
Unknown Speaker 2:31
Jenny and Mitch, thanks so much for hanging out with me today. And the question is, what am I up to these days? Well, like many of us, I am reinventing myself my work and really expanding my point of view in customer experience, because the customer experience revolution is here. And it’s here with a vengeance. Everything that was changing about customer experience has been accelerated by COVID-19. So we are in the thick of change when it comes to customer experience.
Mitch Simon 3:06
Wow, you know, one of the things the reason why we we created this show, Gary is to really look at what it means to run businesses from out of the office. And it looks like we’ve been out we’ve been out of the office for eight months. Looks like we’re going to be out of the office for another at least eight months. And I’m just wondering, especially their customer experience, what what is on your mind, on on how leaders and managers and frontline workers can better handle this situation.
Unknown Speaker 3:39
Yeah. So, Mitch, you know, you and I know each other for a long time, and you know that I like to be silly. It’s sort of my number one superpower is to be a wise guy. And I have to tell you in this answer, I have no wiseguy. This is serious business. what’s on my mind is how to help leaders, managers, and frontline workers to move through this change, run and move through it quickly. And what what we’ve discovered is that everyone and I mean, everyone needs to understand the why change what is changing and how do you want me specifically to change during these times. And in order to move fast we know this you need to have trust and that’s where some leaders and managers may need to change the actual way they engage their teams. And so if you think about it, we are now in a position where we don’t see each other in a lot of cases every day so we have to build trust to move fast and we need to do it in a distance or remote setting and that’s new to almost everybody okay, what’s on my mind is helping those leaders managers and frontline move quickly because if they don’t, they can lose their businesses.
Mitch Simon 4:54
Pace Gary, I’m gonna go back to what you just said on the why change and a lot of us think A lot of us have thought that the wide changes because I just got to change because of this pandemic. I’m just wondering, is there a bigger? Why a different why that, that you have have kind of internalized as to why we’re going what we’re going through right now?
Unknown Speaker 5:20
Yeah, I think you make an excellent point, or you allude to something that’s really important, we’re not changing because of the pandemic, we’re changing, because the needs wants and behaviors of our customers are changing. Now, the needs wants, the needs, wants and behaviors of our customers are always changing right now, the does your reason why they’re changing is because of the pandemic, but almost doesn’t matter. And that’s not to make light of the pandemic, we have to be agile enough to respond or even get ahead of the changing trends of our customers and those changing trends, our demographics, technology, competition, regulation, socio economics, political environment, all of those things are involved, not just pandemic.
Ginnie Bianca-Mathis 6:12
Right. And if I may ask one question, you said something about the building of trust, as being so important. And I’m finding that folks, especially our customers, are wanting the things they’ve always wanted. Cuz if you look at what needs trust, or three things, usually, you’re consistent, you tell the truth, and you do what you say you’re going to do. Now those can be do done down the hall. And they can be done on zoom. And they can be done with your customer. And they could be done with the folks that report to you. So when you say trust, and we’re responding to the customer, if you can talk a little more about that. Sure.
Unknown Speaker 7:06
So there is a very strong connection, Jenny, between building trust with your employee, and the employees ability to build trust with the customer, it almost takes us back to this sort of service profit chain from the 1970s. And, and Mitch is the only one old enough on this call to remember the 70s. But for everybody else, the 70s brought us something called the service profit chain. And basically what it says is that if you want to have a great customer experience, you’ve got to create a great employee experience. So when I when I think about our managers, our people, leaders today, our bosses to use a word that I hate, we’ve got to think about creating an environment of trust with them through the three things you said and today, lots of communication in order for them to treat their customer the same way. Right. So simple terms, you want to build trust with your customer by being consistent. For example, telling them the truth, those sort of things, we’ve got to create that type of transparency with our people. Totally. And that’s that looks different today than it did eight months ago. In fact, if you’re engaging your team and your customers the same way you did just eight months ago, you’re doing it wrong. And
Ginnie Bianca-Mathis 8:29
exactly.
Mitch Simon 8:33
So tell us, Gary, I’m just curious about my age, I just wanted to share with our listeners, that Gary does have a nice set of hair for radio. So I’m just gonna move on. transparency, so what what type of transparency is needed today? That is different than it was a month ago.
Unknown Speaker 8:58
Okay, so you know, I think eight months ago, you looked at the ability to be in many cases in the same physical space. And there is a you’re able to use your spidey senses in a very different way on both sides. Am I communicating? Well, as a manager or a leader, are you picking up what I’m putting down? And from a frontline perspective, do I believe what you’re saying? Do I get a sense of transparency from you? We have new barricades up. So we’ve got our leaders must become face to face, even though they’re not face to face. And transparency is not just the words you say it’s the actions you take the way you deliver it, etc. So think about this. Transparency today means we have to tell people the truth as Jenny said, and that is at the risk of creating some fear and anxiety. People are wondering do I have My job long term, we have to let people know what we really think, based on what we know today. Is our product and service going to be relevant moving forward? Well, if the answer is no, we have to say it, no, unless we change it, we have to engage people in those honest conversations. And to tie those two disparate thoughts together, we’re talking about giving people more information, when we’re not sitting in front of them. And that information can cause tension and anxiety. So for people, leaders, you’ve got to be face to face even when you’re not face to face. And, and I hope we get to talk about that a little bit more, because there’s some keys to doing that and doing it well.
Mitch Simon 10:45
You know, I want to I want to get to those keys, Gary, um, you know, I’d like to, to discuss with you is to actually be more transparent at this time, requires, obviously, as a as a, as a boss taking more risk. And a lot of them a lot of the managers, bosses, leaders were talking to out there seemed to think that Whoa, you know, my people are really overburdened right now. And are in a sense of maybe in scarcity or sense of, you know, fear for the jobs for fear of like, how are they going to take care of their kids, you know, being transparent right them as being transparent is probably the worst thing I could do. Because I’m just going to, you know, scare them. And I just don’t trust that they can, you know, handle the realities of what’s going on today. What would you say to that, Gary?
Unknown Speaker 11:41
I’d say words that aren’t right for family our day. So what I call straight down yes on that, but I understand it, right. There’s an evolution going on of managers, it’s been happening for quite some time, yesterday’s managers would yell Intel, here’s what I want you to do differently, do it now. And managers today are really more of coaches, their partners of their team. So let’s think about this. From the physicality standpoint, what that looks like, a boss is going to stand sort of above you, in front of you looking down telling you what to do. A great people leader today stands next to you as a partner, and a collaborator to work through our plan on how to get from point A to point B, well, if we’re truly collaborative, if that manage today’s people leader is acting like a coach, you need to be able to really articulate that story. Here’s where we’re at today. And that may not be all that attractive. Here’s where we want to go tomorrow. And by the way, there may not be any guarantees. But together, we have to figure out what that roadmap looks like, from Big Picture all the way down to the new actions and behaviors that you’re going to need to adopt. So transparency means telling the story, in real terms, with honesty, but giving people the security of a coach partner who’s in it with you, you know, you’re much more likely to take that first step on what may seem a dangerous or uncertain path if you’ve got a trusted partner next to you. And that’s the role of the manager. Hey, I don’t know if how we’re going to come out on this, but we’re gonna figure it out together. Amen. Hey, go Naked and Afraid on your own? Not so much. Yeah.
Mitch Simon 13:44
Yeah. Well, you know, I’m great. And you’d be basically summed up your book, The bossy boss, which is fantastic. And, and I just wanted to ask you, what, what I’m hearing you say is that it’s more of a partnership. And it’s, it’s, it’s more about transparency. But even more Gary are saying that this is really about trust. So and I’m bossy boss would just immediately go into like, I can trust you with the good stuff. And I can trust you with with the let’s say negative stuff or the fearful stuff, or I’m not so sure you can handle it. What What would you say if you had written the bossy boss during this pandemic? Would it be any different or would you say you got a rush to trust even faster?
Unknown Speaker 14:33
So, it’s really interesting. I’m not the guy behind the speed to trust that somebody’s very different, and booked his book sell a lot more than mine. But I’m actually thumbing through the unbe bossy boss right now to look for it specifically, but what I say in there is coaching is your primary role is today’s leader. And you can enter trusting without can’t enter coaching without building trust. And so trust is a must for the coaching relationship. So speed of trust, absolutely the right concept. How do you do that? Well, it’s interesting, because everybody’s different. There are people with a philosophy that says, I will trust you automatically until you prove me wrong. And there are others who say, I will not trust you until you prove yourself, as a people leader, you’ve got to take everybody as an individual, you’ve got to really sort of discover what they are passionate about what their individual strengths are. In other words, you’ve got to invest in them, and lean into them as an individual human being first, not just a a employee. When you do that, I think you build trust quickly, hey, I’m interested in you your point of view, your passions, the experience you bring in from previous work from your life, etc. So it’s great managers, great people, leaders, great coaches build trust by asking questions first, before giving directive by asking those questions, learning more about the person, their passions, their contributions, their point of view, you build trust, because they feel heard. They’re a great coach, people leader today are active listeners. And great questioners.
Ginnie Bianca-Mathis 16:25
Yeah, questions are at the heart of it, you then are inviting them to be part of the process that that participation, you’re not going to allow them to stand there and stare at you to wait for the trust.
Unknown Speaker 16:45
Right? It doesn’t happen through osmosis.
Ginnie Bianca-Mathis 16:47
Right? So you must engage them, we’re having discussions, we’re having dialogue, then it becomes there’s two. And going back to what you already said, safety.
Unknown Speaker 16:59
So there’s two that I love the way you just said it, it becomes there’s two Also, we’re in it together, we have mutual trust. And by the way, trust doesn’t mean we always agree with each other.
Mitch Simon 17:15
Could you? Um, you know, it was interesting, Gary, no, be yesterday, we’re talking about this going back to a podcast, I think our two podcasts ago, the and it was in Maltese Who Who said that? engagement rates have skyrocketed, because managers are asking their employees this very difficult, intricate, complicated question, which is, how are you doing? I’m just wondering, I’m just wondering, are there other questions that you think would be very powerful for managers to be asking these days to really, to really build that trust between themselves and their teams?
Unknown Speaker 18:01
I have three answers happening simultaneously in my brain at the same time, so I’m going to take them in the order that I’d like if that’s okay, because I’m the guest. Is that all right? Yeah. First, let’s go to these this question of engagement. No question, that engagement is rising. The Gallup polls on engagement in North America have been flat to down for the last 30 years. Oh, my goodness, with all the money we’re spending on surveys and understanding what our people want. We haven’t changed that damn score in 30 years in North America. It’s disgraceful. So why is it going up now? Hmm, maybe because we’re giving people the flexibility that they need to live their lives and be a contributor, the idea of child care and elder care and personal care are not new, right? We all have to deal with that. And all of a sudden, now that people have the ability to say, I could take a phone call, feed the baby and fold laundry at the same time. That’s why engagement is going up, I need to get shit done in my life. And I can still contribute while I’m doing that. So if you ask me in an informal setting, why engagements got up is I have the flexibility to do that. And by the way, I can do it in gym shorts, without an hour commute each way. So I think engagement has gone up is because we’ve trusted people to get their personal obligations fulfilled, and their work obligations fulfilled in a way that’s meaningful and convenient and flexible to them. That’s my answer to the engagement question you didn’t ask me. Then. Let’s move on to Well, what is important to find out Well, let’s start with this because there are some good questions. But let’s think about these four things. One is we need to demonstrate humanity and you started Mitch the question by saying engagement score. Maybe up because manager eyes are asking how are you? I think we always ask each other, how are you, but it’s sort of flip. Now it has meaning how are you take care, those things have a totally different meaning. So we have to dump demonstrate through individual inquiry, humanity, how are you what’s going on in your life, we have to demonstrate empathy. We have to offer flexibility, which I just talked about passionately. And we have to get face to face virtual style. And what that means is, there’s many things that are said, with our eyes, with a lilt of our head, with a shrug of the shoulders, that you can’t necessarily pick up on the phone. Get on your list, and we’re all sick of these face to face meetings. You know, we don’t want to be on zoom all day, and we love zoom, no offense to zoom. But when you’re talking about getting with your people, let’s get face to face, FaceTime them, look at the physicality. That is oftentimes the output of the emotion that they’re really going through. Because then you can say, oh, my goodness match. You look tense. Oh, my goodness match. I haven’t seen you looking this healthy. It looks like you’re outside walking while you look fit. You know, it’s those sort of things that pick up on where people are. So humanity, for sure. How are you? empathy. I know you have problems like the rest of us, I want to make sure that we’re giving you the balance to achieve everything you need to achieve through flexibility and get face to face. And I’m gonna give you one example. I’m not on FaceTime. I’m sorry, I’m not on Facebook. And except for a sort of a business page. And I don’t follow it. But I got a call the other day where someone said to me, Oh, you got a great shout out from a younger coworker of mine. I said, Oh, I didn’t see the shout out What did it say? They said kudos to Gary magenta showing up as a great leader. When my baby was screaming in my lap during a business call. He said I never and I apologized. He said you never need to apologize for trying to get your work done with a two year old in your lap. And that to me was just, you know, how else would you treat a employee he was trying to work alone with a young child. And for me, though, I think what she called out, which I’m appreciative of is that there’s humanity, empathy, flexibility, and face to face happening on that call that for her as a 20 something mother with a mortgage and a full time job. And a husband working outside of the house allowed her to show up at her best when it wasn’t the best circumstances. And as a people leader, and believe me, I am highly flawed as a people leader. It was just a good day.
Unknown Speaker 23:01
And you know, old enough to be a grandpa and sort of using that type of empathy. As our people leader today, when the dog barks when the doorbell rings when your kids are fighting in the background. These are not important matters. What’s important is that that person is still showing up trying to give their best. And we have to embrace that and appreciate that. So here’s some questions you can ask Mitch, which was your initial question to me?
Mitch Simon 23:27
Yes, it’s about time, Derek.
Unknown Speaker 23:28
Yeah. I’m used to being on stage by myself this whole interactive I
Mitch Simon 23:33
know, right? Yeah, usually married usually Gary show. It’s the gallery
Unknown Speaker 23:38
show. But you’re welcome to join me today. Michonne. And Jenny, here, here’s, here’s the questions you got to do when you’re demonstrating those that humanity, empathy, flexibility, and you’re doing it face to face, some of the questions you need to ask before you get to your agenda as a leader is, hey, Mitch, what’s most important for you to talk about today? Because oftentimes, the barriers to the work, have nothing to do with the work. What’s most important to talk to me about today’s I think that my kid came home with COVID. And I’m nervous because I’ve got a 70 year old mom who lives with us. If you’re preoccupied with that, Virginia, you can’t get to the real stuff. So it’s more important to talk about that than the new initiative today. Help your person get past that right. Then the next thing is, as they’re talking, they’ll get to a point where they’ve vented or they’ve shared, and instead of immediately responding with solution, the magic question always is, what else? And those two words with that question mark at the end of it which happens in your voice, what else is often where the pause happens, the person is required to think more in the real heart or meat of it. Matter comes out. So, at the risk of being repetitive, what’s most important for you to talk about today, or for us to talk about today? And what else? To me, I think are the top two questions out of the 12 questions that I offer in the on bossy boss. And in real time, my doorbell just rang. My Deaf dog didn’t bark. But this is what happens if you heard that we’re just saying, This is our life. Now. We got to be flexible.
Ginnie Bianca-Mathis 25:28
Right. Right. And and one little additional point, we heard from another speaker. And if you don’t ask those two questions, people will start bringing up the topics they really want to talk about on the chat. So there’s this meeting within a meeting going God.
Unknown Speaker 25:52
So I could I’m gonna one up you on that, Jenny. I totally agree. First of all, you’re my new best friend. And I totally agree. So here’s where we go. We have a new sales leader in our organization at root and she’s lovely. And I, I think that she’s the best because I also found her in the marketplace and broader and so of course, she’s the best, right? If she’s your pick, she’s the best. Well, she’s evolved her career in the last couple years. She’s now our sales leader, and I’m just thrilled for her. She had her first call where she brought all the contributors together for a conversation the other day, and we’re all chatting in the zoom, or WebEx, whatever it was, Wow, she’s doing a great job. Kudos, Aubrey. Kudos, Aubrey. But then there was also a phone text conversation happening at the same time using we’ve been more direct conversation. So at the end of the call, I said to her, Aubrey, I just want to let you know that the chat is exploding with how great you’re doing. But even more importantly, the phone text, which is the subtext of the chat, which is the subtext of your meeting says that you’re just kicking ass and taking names.
Ginnie Bianca-Mathis 27:07
Right? And then the funny thing is, no one is saying that to her directly and Nobody.
Unknown Speaker 27:13
Nobody, right, I look at this. And I say she’s juggling a new house, a new kid, a new position, her husband’s in grad school. I mean, I know the story. And this professional shows up and knocks it out of the park. And nobody pipes up on the call and says you’re 100% right, Jenny?
Unknown Speaker 27:31
Yeah.
Mitch Simon 27:32
So Well, what do you think that’s about carry on? Because they know that you’re, I know you as a human and you as a boss are just open book? What does it say about just in general people’s ability to speak freely, even on the appreciation side, when it’s most needed right now.
Unknown Speaker 27:53
So here’s it’s so interesting, it does go back to humanity. But I wanted to share another concept with you. And that’s the one of the masks that we wear in the workplace. We wear masks of professionalism, we wear masks of status, we wear masks of hierarchy, we have all of these masks that prevent us from saying, culture prevents us from saying what we really want to say. Now, at root, we have I think one of the best cultures I’ve ever experienced. That’s why I’m there for 20 years. But still, I’m not sure if people are comfortable always just interrupting a conversation as you would at dinner to say, dude, you’re crushing it, right. And so I like to think about business in two ways. One, organizations, businesses are just one big, dysfunctional family. And every single one of us comes from a dysfunctional family. And if you say yours isn’t hang up from this podcast is you’re a liar. Right? Every single one of us comes from a dysfunctional family. And in those dysfunctional families, we do two things at the dinner table. We talk with our mouthful, and we interrupt we talk over each other. We interrupt, we chime in, we say what’s on our mind, and a lot of cases Well, let’s put those two things together. These meetings are just dinner with family, businesses or dysfunctional families, treat those conversations at center conversations where you’re going to be in the moment and speak honestly. And let’s get rid of the pretense. We spend more time with our co workers than we do with our families. Let’s have that transparency of thought and conversation at the dinner table. And that’s the way I try to show up now. I’m also an HR more than you know, most people but it is the way that I show up. Let’s say what’s on our mind, here’s the feedback that you should be getting. As a people leader. I don’t always agree with him or her but I always know where they stand and what’s on their mind.
Mitch Simon 29:57
Great. I love that. I love that. I think Every, you know, it’s interesting, Gary, as you say that many people are actually having having their business meetings while they’re actually having dinner with their families. So it’s, it’s, it’s all kind of connecting. So your idea, I think it’s time has really come. So the next question Gary is, is just point out that it’s a new time. So managers and leaders in this pandemic, should be asking questions that they should have asked before, you know, how are you doing? You said, what’s on your mind, what else? And so that’s something that should have been spoken, but definitely needs to be spoken out. Now, on the other hand, employees or team members have most likely in the in the past, let’s say these, you know, these engagement surveys which have been flat. They’ve, I think they’ve been flat because team members and employees haven’t been asking questions or making requests that they should have or could have, or, you know, which would be more real and transparent. So my question is, is, you know, what types of questions our team members, you know, they have it on their minds, but they’re not asking, but, you know, you as Gary magenta would say, you know, get your team members to ask these questions. So we can really enhance the the connectivity, and the and the realness of what it means to be on a on a dispersed team.
Unknown Speaker 31:25
So the first big one, again, I’ll answer what I feel like answering machine, okay. The real one is, why aren’t they asking the questions, right, and it goes back to trust and transparency. So I just want to for our audience, what we’ve got to handle first is why aren’t they asking the questions? So everything we’ve talked about up until now should be there so that people feel comfortable asking questions, then let’s go to the next. How do you and then
Mitch Simon 31:57
Gary, how do you create that?
Unknown Speaker 31:59
Well, I think it’s everything we talked about humanity, empathy, flexibility, getting face to face, asking what’s important for them, what else, all of those things that we taught, being a coach who stands next to you as a partner in discovery, versus yell and tell all of those lead to that trust, that will then open up the questions, Trustee trust and and Jenny said it is about safety, creating safety. And within safety, the walls come down, and I feel free to ask questions that I’m not sure are right, or not sure if it’s my place, you know, we it, it breaks down the barriers. So everything we’ve talked about here, it’s actually great ordering on your questions, Metro wise. When we’re here, now we get to say, with that trust and those walls down, we want our people to or I encourage the frontline to ask questions like, what are the skills and capabilities that I need in order to be successful in this highly changing world? Great, right. Tell me what I instead of waiting for you to tell me what I need to do differently? Because by the way, as leaders, we don’t always know yet. Let me be comfortable as a frontline person to ask what is it that I need to do differently? And then I really would would encourage our frontline to feel comfortable enough to say, Do you believe that I can get there and be brutally honest with me? Because if not, I want to find a new way to contribute here or somewhere else? Do you have the belief and faith in me that I can get there? There is some I live in a high rise in Chicago and evidently somebody is coming to my condo that is now testing the fire system while we’re doing this. And my wife is in the next room talking to them. And I have a headset on and I have no idea what’s going on. But that’s what’s happening. And then things two questions. One may be a little bit redundant, but they go together. So what do you expect from me now that I understand your belief or not belief in my skill and capability? Now that I understand the capabilities? What do you expect from me? Right, what are your expectations of me? And what can I expect from you as my leader? There you go. So I can get it down to really three? What are the skills and capabilities that I’ll need moving forward? Do you believe I can get there and what can I expect from you on this journey?
Mitch Simon 34:31
That is, you know, that that question is fantastic. And in my my thoughts behind that is we we are in such a point of uncertainty that for a for a leader to actually answer that question. So you know, if you were my frontline and you asked me today, you know, what can I expect from you? And I immediately answered the question. I’m probably not telling you the truth right? Greg,
Unknown Speaker 35:00
why don’t you just mentioned? I’m sorry, I’m gonna interrupt you again. It’s my show. Welcome to it. Mitch, you just said something so important. I don’t want to skate over it. leaders today must have the ability to say I don’t know. Yeah, right. I don’t know. But I’m going to find out. I don’t know. But I need your help. And finding out
Ginnie Bianca-Mathis 35:20
there you go. That’s the one I love. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 35:23
I go through this and the bossy boss, leaders today have to be able to say I don’t know, the sign of a weak leader is that they have an answer to every question. And boy, if you had an answer to every question, you shouldn’t be the leader of this Fortune company or this mom and pop shop. You should be a world leader. Okay.
Mitch Simon 35:45
A lot of that right. Now, yeah. If you have the answer to every question, you should be a world leader. Now, a world leader who has the answers to every question,
Unknown Speaker 35:59
they don’t either.
Ginnie Bianca-Mathis 36:00
They don’t. Right, right. Right, right.
Mitch Simon 36:08
We’d like to take this brief interruption to thank our sponsors, they get back to our program. We’d like to thank Marymount University, Arlington, Virginia School of Business and Technology, innovative solutions upskilling for what’s next economy@mariemont.edu oyster organizational development dedicated to higher performance, business success and leveraging teams at oyster od.com and we jungo a strategic people process consulting firm at we genuine gigo.com. Alright, so Gary, we’re, I think we’re gonna wind it down here. And I wanted to ask you some final questions. And my, you know, my question really, based on this conversation is, you know, given the pandemic and given the fact that managers and leaders really need to start doing a better job of being more transparent and be more connected. What What is the greatest hope that you have? for managers and leaders and humans? You know, given this new, this new era, this new time, which will most likely be in for, you know, another maybe eight months or a year? What do you what do you, what is your greatest hope?
Unknown Speaker 37:20
For any Damn you, Mitch, Simon, you’re gonna make me go out on a serious note, before I do that, okay. Now, so the serious note is, my greatest hope is that even though we are coworkers, we’re colleagues or employees and managers, whoever you want to turn that we are indeed human beings. First, my greatest hope is that we continue to treat each other with that extra bit of care, empathy, humanity flexibility, that we’ve been demonstrating during this pandemic, that has led to a rise in engagement that has allowed us to get to know people at their kitchen table. And that we’re able to extend that we will have a vaccine, we will move past this, this virus and to make it worthwhile, let me change that that’s not what I meant to say, to make sure that those people who have financially suffered who have lost loved ones, have lost their livelihoods and lives for this pandemic, to make sure that that didn’t happen in vain, we must continue with that sense of humanity for generations to come. Otherwise, it’s just going to have been enduring a really bad time, as opposed to changing the way we work. And that’s my greatest hope that we extend this for generations to come. Many of our businesses have failed. We all I’ve had personal loss from the pandemic, challenging Business Times, as many of us have, and I want to come out the other end of it, knowing that we are providing better experiences for all as a result.
Mitch Simon 38:59
Wow, that was great. That was great carry around on that. Yeah,
Ginnie Bianca-Mathis 39:05
that was good.
Mitch Simon 39:07
So thank you. Thank you, Gary, I know that you are super busy. And I really do appreciate your friendship. And I appreciate your time on the podcast and the thought you put into this podcasts. Thanks. And I look forward to reconnecting really soon. Thank you both. I left being here. And for those those people who made it through the entire podcast, you’ll remember that Mitch said that I was follically challenged. What you can’t see is that while Mitch is not follically challenged, all of his follicles are gray. So when
Unknown Speaker 39:39
I will say Mitch Simon, I love you, Virginia. It’s been great to meet you. I will talk to you again. Both, hopefully very soon. Thank you.
Mitch Simon 39:47
Bye bye. Thank you, Gary. And thank you all are great listeners. for another episode of team anywhere
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
