The Leadership Vision Podcast
The Leadership Vision Podcast is about helping people better understand who they are as a leader. Our consulting firm has spent 25 years investing in teams so that people are mentally engaged and emotionally healthy. Our podcast provides information to help you develop as a leader, build a positive team culture, and grow your organization to match the demands of today’s business landscape. We leverage client experience, research-based leadership models, and reflective conversations to explore personal growth and leadership topics. With over 350,000 downloads from 180+ countries, our podcast shares our expertise in discovering, practicing, and implementing a Strengths-based approach to people, teams, and culture.
The Leadership Vision Podcast
Transforming Workplace Culture: Insights from Coach Kon
In this episode of The Leadership Vision Podcast, host Nathan Freeburg and Dr. Linda Schubring welcome Konstantinos Apostolopoulos, also known as Coach Kon. As the founder and CEO of Fresh Biz Solutions and author of The Engagement Blueprint: Building a Culture of Commitment and Performance, Coach Kon brings decades of experience to the conversation. Together, they discuss his immigrant background, unique approach to leadership, and his commitment to fostering human-centric workplaces.
Key Topics:
- Coach Kon’s Immigrant Background
- Coach Kon shares how his immigrant roots and Greek heritage shaped his leadership journey and resilience.
- He discusses how hardship taught him to view adversity as an opportunity for growth, fueling his passion for creating exceptional workplace cultures.
- Human-Centric Leadership as a Competitive Advantage
- Emphasizing the importance of human connection, Coach Kon challenges the notion that fostering employee engagement is “soft” work, advocating instead that it’s critical for outperforming competitors.
- The Importance of Valuing and Engaging Team Members
- Coach Kon breaks down the four drivers of engagement: feeling valued, connected, productive, and supported. He explains why these are universal human needs, applicable across generations and industries.
- Insights on Generational and Cultural Intelligence
- Reflecting on his work with diverse industries, Coach Kon highlights the need for generational and cultural intelligence to bridge gaps in the workplace, particularly between younger employees and those preparing for retirement.
- From Military Service to Corporate Leadership
- A former military instructor, Coach Kon shares how his diverse background—from construction to higher education—has informed his approach to leadership development and culture building.
- Practical Tips for Leaders to Foster Engagement
- Coach Kon provides actionable advice, including creating a psychologically safe environment, offering specific praise and feedback, and recognizing the strengths of each team member.
- Applying Human Skills Beyond the Workplace
- Coach Kon discusses how leadership principles he’s used with youth soccer teams are equally effective in professional settings, illustrating the value of positive reinforcement and setting clear expectations.
Key Quotes:
- “The grass isn’t greener on the other side. It’s greener where you water it.”
- “When leaders think that engagement is soft, I can tell you it is the difference between being average and being exceptional.”
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CONTACT US
- email: connect@leadershipvisionconsulting.com
- Leadership Vision Online
ABOUT
The Leadership Vision Podcast is a weekly show sharing our expertise in discovering, practicing, and implementing a Strengths-based approach to people, teams, and culture. Contact us to talk to us about helping your team understand the power of Strengths.
You can embrace the experiences that you have, even the hardest ones, and you can carry the trauma, or you can learn from it and make that a learning opportunity Right, and different people respond differently. Personally, I've chosen to take whatever hardship adversity life has brought to me and seen it as a learning experience, as an opportunity to get wiser, stronger, better and contribute more, give back more from that perspective. So when leaders think that this is soft, I can tell you it is not soft. It is the difference between being average and being exceptional. When you can engage your people and ignite the fire in your team without burning them out, and you can do it the right way, that becomes your competitive advantage in the marketplace, you are going to outperform. So to me, this transformation is about truly, truly benefiting employers and employees, because we all deserve a better place to show up and give our best our best.
Speaker 2:You are listening to the Leadership Vision Podcast, our show helping you build positive team culture. Our consulting firm has been doing this work for the past 25 years so that leaders are mentally engaged and emotionally healthy. To learn more about us, you can visit us on the web at leadershipvisionconsultingcom. Hello everyone, my name is Nathan Freeberg and today on the podcast, we have the pleasure to speak with Konstantinos Apostopoulos, better known as Coach Khan, founder and CEO of Fresh Business Solutions, and we're talking about the importance of transforming workplace culture by meaningfully engaging employees. Coach Khan is an international speaker and the author of the new book, the Engagement Blueprint building a culture of commitment and performance, and on the podcast today, he shares just a bit of his leadership journey with us and stresses the need for creating human-centric workplaces, and offers us practical strategies for all leaders to make employees feel valued, connected, productive and supported. By drawing on his extensive experience in consulting and coaching, coach Khan highlights how genuine appreciation and engagement can lead to extraordinary performance and loyalty within teams. This is a Leadership Vision Podcast, enjoy.
Speaker 3:So I really want to make sure that you, coach, can communicate the heart of what might be not just interesting to our listeners, but a message that you want to be put into the world, and so we would love to find a way to highlight your work in maybe ways that you haven't before.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you First of all. It's a pleasure to join you here.
Speaker 1:Even doing my own homework and listening to some of your previous episodes and everything else, I found it fascinating because there is such a natural flow to the conversation that you have that I think even just the three of you is such a joy to listen to. The three of you share your vision, share your ideas, share your experiences and what you listen to. The three of you share your vision, share your ideas, share your experiences and what you bring to the table. But I also think that that additional piece of bringing on guests allows us to kind of join and be part of the tribe and be part of this broader movement, if you will, because to me it is a movement. I see us all playing this key part in transforming workplaces everywhere. We have a responsibility. We see it. We need to do something about it. That's part of what leadership is at the end of the day.
Speaker 1:And so we see it, we need to fix it. We've experienced it as workers within environments and now as leaders, as consultants, as coaches, being able to kind of influence how workplaces are now being shaped. We need more human workplaces. In an age of artificial intelligence, in an age of polarization and animosity everywhere else, my God, we don't need any more toxicity.
Speaker 3:No we're full up, we're good on toxicity. Yeah, and I think that's what I like when you say tribe too, because sometimes people will say like, why are you asking people on the podcast that are in competition with you? And it's the it's to your point, Coach Khan, where we need more. We can't do this work alone, and I think we can sharpen each other one conversation at a time.
Speaker 1:I agree, I agree. Thank you for joining us, thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you for joining us. Thank you your story. I mean, we got into it a little bit already, but we would love to know, kind of, from being born in Australia as the son of immigrants to writing the engagement blueprint, building a culture of commitment and performance, just fill in a few of those gaps in there, like, how did we get from the land?
Speaker 3:down under to Boulderoulder, colorado and the engagement blueprint give us some defining moments.
Speaker 1:Yes, well, here's here's. Here's some big ones. And you know, anytime greeks there's probably more greeks abroad than there are actually in the country itself, in the country's boundaries people of greek descent, we, we tend to be travelers, we tend to be people that look outward a lot, so there's always looking for opportunities. Unfortunately, many of those opportunities professionally and otherwise are not always available back home in Greece. So we tend to seek out where can we find that better world, that better future? Where can we make our mark? Where can we make our fortunes? However you want to proceed, that approach that. So that's part of what's baked into who we are as people.
Speaker 1:My parents were no exceptions. They found themselves in a post-world, post-second World War environment and there were very few opportunities. They were young in their lives, they were seeking that. They probably were very ignorant about what was going on, had very little education, very little prospects outside of a bag full of dreams and, you know, a desire to contribute, to make a difference and to build a life. And so those were their greatest gifts their work ethic, their desire to contribute and make a difference and raise a family. And so they went on an adventure and started a family.
Speaker 1:We were myself and the first of my two sisters were born there and they went back and forth. They struggled with adapting and kind of making a life there and it's always that pull to come back to Greece was there for them. It was very strong and so ultimately they did. They decided to go back and that's where my formative years, most of my education at school, going through finishing up elementary, into high school, into college, my military service, which is mandatory for males in my country to attend, and at the time it was two years. So that's kind of where I first started realizing a lot of what makes me who I am the strong push to lead, the strong push to coach, to train, to teach, to contribute. Being the oldest child in the family, being the oldest male in the family, comes with a certain baggage, if you will, certain expectations.
Speaker 2:Expectation. Yeah, I hear you.
Speaker 1:But even in the military I gravitated towards being a military instructor so I was able to basic camp, be able to kind of contribute and learn from that perspective and understand some of the fundamentals of leadership and of teaching and of building teams. And so I carried that forward with me and I've worked in a variety of different industries, very, very diverse, everything from, you know, hospitality and entertainment, cruise industry, performing arts, all the way to more conservative and more traditional industries like construction and even in higher ed, nathan.
Speaker 1:I've spent a lot of time working with senior leadership teams in higher ed and helping them really create the kind of environments that they want to build the leadership skills in their very, very, very smart people that are part of those teams. So my biggest, I think, challenge and reward has always been working with kids, being a soccer coach and being able to shape the next generation of leaders and going through that. When I came to this country 30 years ago after meeting my wife, we were working together in the Caribbean on cruise ships and, you know, kind of in between our next evolution, if you will and we met, we fell in love, we got engaged and we decided to get married and since then we've been going through the process, the evolutions of our life starting a family, going through all of the challenges that go with that. But professionally I cut my teeth working for large corporations One of them got to be as big as 100,000 employees for over 100 countries and learning a lot of the ins and outs of what it means to be someone in the leadership development culture, development change, leadership space within the company. I've had many times where opportunities, where I've had large teams and direct reports, and I've had times where I've had to operate as an in-house consultant during those years, and what I found is either way, there's ways for us to be able to make a difference. Whether people are part of your team directly and they report to you, or whether you are a leader that is influencing others, you can help shape the environment. The amount of power an individual has to shape that environment, especially somebody in a leadership role, is key and critical, and is something that we need to take ownership of.
Speaker 1:The crisis of 2008, shaping a lot of the restaurant industry that I was in at the time, I found myself, through no fault of my own, being in a situation in around end of 2011, reorganized out of my job, the company had been sold, the new owners decided to move everything outside of Colorado and, all of a sudden, I found myself in a precarious spot. You know, for the first time in my life now, at this point, my gray hair was starting to show and I realized that. You know, I was starting to hear some very coded words along the lines of we love what you can do, we love your experience. We just don't think we can afford you, which, to me, is another way of saying hey, we might need somebody younger and less expensive that we can mold. So to me it put me in a very difficult time.
Speaker 1:Being the primary breadwinner for the family and taking care of a lot of those things. It's a tough spot to be. I spent all those years developing a lot of the difference that I wanted to make inside organizations, that I never spent nearly enough time building my own brand, something that was very unfamiliar for me. Putting my head down and doing the work being the best kept secret is basically how I kind of came out of that. The big thing that kind of pushed me over the edge, if you will, and moved me was yet another crisis. That summer I lost my mom.
Speaker 1:And coming back from Greece, I had plenty of time to think about my situation. No prospects immediately, no work. Just lost a loving parent that I really, really cared about and really looking forward and saying, okay, where do we go? I mean, the market here had not really caught up with the coasts, so it was still tough here in this marketplace to be able to find a job, but I realized that all it takes is one yes, Somebody that I'd interviewed with and I talked with.
Speaker 1:I had the you know, sometimes you get that inspiration and the idea I need to pick up the phone and call them. This person happened to be an executive director of HR within a community college. I spoke to him and I explained to him the situation. I said look, you told me that the reason you didn't hire me is because you felt that I was worth a lot more than what you could pay me at the community college and that you were concerned that a year from now, um, somebody would come along offer me the money and I would walk away and he'd be back looking for another person. Um, I said, you also told me that you had a lot of work on your plate and you needed help. How can I help? He said let's do lunch.
Speaker 1:So what started off as a lunch meeting and he says I have this particular project, can you do that? And he gave it to me. I turned it around, he loved it. Gave me another project. I turned it around, he loved it. He says I think we need to work together. And so that launched my what I call my accidental entrepreneurial journey of starting my own business.
Speaker 3:Yes, we all have those.
Speaker 1:yes, and basically I realized that I had the opportunity to make a difference now as a consultant, even if people weren't willing to bring me in and hire me as an employee. So I figured, why not create a company that's going to hire me and bring the best out of me? And so I started Fresh Biz Solutions, which was essentially founded on the principles of you know, there are brilliant ideas out there from so many different industries and fresh perspectives that we can bring that even some of those ideas, when they're repurposed and retooled, can apply in different environments, because the truth is fairly universal we are all people and we all have very, very consistent needs about our human nature, regardless of industry.
Speaker 3:Well, and I love that your whole experience leading up to that prepared you, for it sounds like it prepared you for the work. So at that, maybe crisis moment, going back to what you taught us about crisis, um of the test right, the, the opportunity to realize you can wring out all of the, not just the information but the wisdom that you've garnered through, you know, working internally and then giving that externally. Are there certain? Are there certain um certain clients, now that you have worked with that really capture your imagination and capture your best thinking?
Speaker 1:Well interesting that you say that and it's not the one that most people might think of, but yet it's like with both of your stories I've come full circle. With some of that I think I mentioned to you about the expectations of being a young male, the oldest male in the family.
Speaker 1:I was sent off at a very young age 12, 13, to go apprentice with an uncle who was a commercial painter on a construction site, and so I started working in construction as a laborer, helping there at a young age. Now I find myself guiding fortunes and a lot of the work that I do with my clients in the construction space.
Speaker 1:And these are companies that are 50 to 500 million or more in revenues a year and I feel that I've come through full circle and an understanding of what it feels like to be out in the field, what it feels like to be out there and make a difference.
Speaker 1:It's an industry that, in some ways, has not changed in centuries and yet it's one of the most vibrant, diverse and evolving industries that you can think of, because it is truly an amazing place where I watch the companies that I work with, especially one or two of my favorite clients, that I've spent a lot of time and I've had the opportunity to really apply all of the learnings that led to the Engagement Blueprint book seen the company achieve two times, three times the revenues since we've started together in the last eight or 10 years and seen their retention numbers, their profit numbers, all of the key markers that you would associate with business success off the charts, and not just compared to their competitors here but to other divisions within the same bigger company, and so you see the results of that and you see we're onto something here.
Speaker 1:We're onto something here. But yeah, to answer your question, I mean I love working with the construction industry right now because to me, there are brave people. There are bold people that are willing to take chances while at the same time, understand the power of connection and the power of building relationships as much as they do buildings and communities.
Speaker 2:I want to touch on that for a second because when I I had heard that you work with, you know the, the, the trades, if you will. You know construction and often at least my perspective is you know someone who's in construction. They clock in and clock out and that's it. They're maybe a little rough around the edges. I did a summer in high school working construction.
Speaker 2:There's not a lot of thinking about needs and teamwork and team building and some of that stuff and there's maybe a hardness to that and perhaps not an openness to some of the quote unquote softer skills of building a teamwork, an openness to some of the you know quote unquote softer skills of building a teamwork. So I'm curious in your work, how have you found so much success doing that? And is it just a unique group of kind of people towards the top that are like, no, we, we need this for these teams if we want to you know, literally and figuratively grow and build this, this large company, and and how does that work? Or is that just my perception of those? Folks are just totally off base.
Speaker 1:No, I mean, if you ask most people, I mean the impression that they have of construction folks. They typically first and foremost associated on the building side and you see the gruff rough around the edge people. I mean half the time you talk to them they think they're all knuckle draggers out there.
Speaker 2:And they're not. I mean, these are highly sophisticated, intelligent people.
Speaker 1:I mean, in many ways you look at it, most of the people now that are running some of these multi, multi hundred million plus project dollar projects I mean these are people with engineering mindsets. These are people that are very sophisticated in their thinking and their approach. They have to juggle so many different things. But the field is only one aspect of it. You think about the entire part of what goes into the design, build, development, execution of a project like that. You've got people in so many different areas in the offices, behind computers, digitizing everything. Everything is looked at in a virtual environment, is looked at in a virtual environment. You can now, when you decide that you're going to partner with some of my clients, for example, they have an entire presentation that's done in virtual and augmented reality that you can go in and see what they're going to build for you, walk through the corridors before they even do a thing.
Speaker 1:To me, that is an amazing place to be with a lot of these folks. But the people out in the field specifically are salt of the earth. When they say something, they mean it. When they they are, they are thrust together in an environment where the loss of a limb in a life is very possible at any moment. When you hear them say safety is our number one priority, it's not lip service, this is not an expression.
Speaker 1:This is serious, because going home at night to your family, making sure that everybody in your yard is going to go home at the end of the day, is critical. That is mission number one, no matter anything else. So to me, it creates deeper bonds with people, it creates loyalties, it creates commitment to people. And then all we've done is basically looked at that and said there is a better way for you to express that. The no news is good news. Or if you screw up, I will come tell you approach does not work with this younger generation. If we want to attract and retain younger workers now that are excited about this, I can tell you that they will not just expect, they will demand feedback. They demand open communication. They demand knowing what my career path is, because if you can't tell me, I'm going to go next door where they can Right, right, right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, are you noticing? Well, what we've noticed is that the different cultures, the most diverse in culture, is actually generations. So the culture of Gen Z to the culture of the boomers. Have you helped people understand the cultural intelligence needed to navigate? You're saying like they're demanding feedback. What else are you noticing with a cultural lens on the different generations?
Speaker 1:Well, part of that is really educating a lot of the people and helping them understand that. You know, every generation sees the next one as being softer, weirder, more demanding.
Speaker 2:They don't know how good, they have it, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 1:And ultimately, you know, we want to be able to deliver a better world for the next generation. I mean that's part of who we are. We want to be able to create that, we want to give them a better start than we had, but we can't chastise them for it. I mean so, at the end of the day, each one of these generations brings something different. I mean, in addition to working with unique companies, I work with associations a lot. So the association for general contract association for, you know, builders and constructors. I mean a lot of these associations.
Speaker 1:I have the opportunity to stand in front of their membership a lot of times and be able to communicate a lot of these ideas and concepts, which some of them go well.
Speaker 1:I guess that makes sense and it opens up eyes, awareness between that and it's not just being able to bring a lot of these old-time workers that are now leaving by droves, as we call it with the silver tsunami. They're retiring in droves and a lot of the industry knowledge is leaving with them. We need to be able to create shared partnerships between younger generation, younger workers coming in and those ready to retire and do mentoring and reverse mentoring, because in itself, a lot of these more senior, more experienced, mature workers can benefit from the technological, the native, the nativity that a lot of these younger workers feel towards technology. They were born with a mouse and an iPad and a tool in their hand, an electronic tool and so being able to teach a lot of the workers how to create more efficiencies with their work, and then the older workers teaching them a lot of the skills and why we do things the way we do, I think is such an amazing combination and it's such a powerful thing when you can harness that.
Speaker 2:But that's all about engagement.
Speaker 1:That's all about being able to engage people.
Speaker 2:One of the things I liked about your book was how you've identified these four drivers of engagement feeling valued, feeling connected, feeling productive and feeling supported. And I'm curious, going off what we were talking about, if you know of those four drivers, do you see, are some of them more challenging to implement than others, based on generation? And I'm curious how you know a leader might go about doing that to again ultimately create more engagement, more buy-in, get you know, having more satisfied workplace.
Speaker 1:Well, one of the things that I found and that's a great question, nathan To me I don't necessarily rank them in order like a Maslow pyramid, if you will like a hierarchy of needs, because to me they're not necessarily.
Speaker 1:Well, if you accomplish this level, then you're ready for the next one. To me, they are essentially a two-dimensional piece, if you will from that, in the sense that you lay them out on the floor and you could be strong, naturally, in some areas versus others. So what we're trying to do is balance that whole thing out, because without all four drivers, you're missing out on opportunities. So these are not I want to emphasize this these are not worker needs. These are not employee or employer needs. These are human needs and we can see this everywhere in our lives. I started applying and testing this theory when I wrote the book and I have it in the opening of the book with my soccer kids. When I can do this with preteens and we can continue to build champions, we can continue to build engaged team members. Kids that want to show up to be part of this will run through brick walls for each other and we can do that pretty consistently. Kids in Greece we say that from the young and the crazy you learn the truth because they have no filters, and so kids will tell you if something sucks, they'll tell you it sucks If it's not applicable, they will let you know, and so to me, the true test was there. And then, looking back on 30 years of doing this in different evolutions, if you will I realized this has always been at the heart of the success that we've had building strong, high-performing teams.
Speaker 1:Show people that you value them. We all have the need to feel valued. Why? Because people that feel valued will always do more than what's expected. When you are appreciated, you're going to give more. Engagement is about the discretionary effort that we all have. We look at that and we say, okay, I can give more, but I'm not going to give more if I'm not appreciated. If you're treating me as somebody, you say I'm giving you a paycheck, aren't you? And so I'm looking at that. And if you value my relationship with you, simply as a worker that gets paid for this particular job, that's it. I'm going to do what's in my job description, I'm going to meet the requirements of what you're paying me for, and that's it.
Speaker 3:What are some of your unique strategies or time-tested strategies? Unique strategies or time-tested strategies Like how did you help that soccer team feel valued and connected and productive and supported, like what were? And I think sometimes we learn from the work with children the lessons that we can teach to adults.
Speaker 1:Yeah, to me it's, it's, it's an, it's an amazing experimentation. I mean I have even in the book I've identified five areas, for example, that leaders can do immediately, starting, first and foremost, creating a safe environment. And safety like in the construction, as we talked about. The physical safety that's kind of paramount for the job, but it goes beyond that. In every environment, the psychological and emotional safety that we need to create is key. With the kids, it was create a place where kids want to show up. I mean, if I'm abusive, I see coaches out in the fields, I see people striving out in the fields and they get so mean to these kids because they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing and it's like did you forget it's a game? Did you forget you're dealing with kids here? I mean so create a safe place where kids can make mistakes Throughout the week.
Speaker 1:What we did is we pushed kids in practice to their limits, to the point of failure. Why? Because we wanted them to test their boundaries. That is the learning zone. When we are in the learning zone, we create that safe space where people can experiment, learn, push the boundaries, innovate, without negative consequences of failure. That's an amazing place to be and then we create an environment during game day, which is the performance zone where they can then be their best. And so, even in the situations that we have now in our workplace, create the kind of place where people can push the boundaries, they can speak up without consequences. When they speak up respectfully and bring something to your attention, they should not fear retribution. And so, even in environments you've been in them, I've been in them you walk around and you think everything is civil and nice, but people are walking on eggshells. That's not a safe place. So start with safety.
Speaker 1:Another thing that you can do again immediately be inclusive. Give people a sense of belonging. Allow them to bring their whole self to work so they can bring their best self to work, because that's inevitably what's going to happen. If you start saying no, no, no, I don't like that part of you. I want this part of you Inevitably you're going to leave out something that has tremendous value for you and your team.
Speaker 1:When people feel like they belong, they feel valued, that you are seeing them and you acknowledge them for who they are and what they bring to the table. When you are able now, in this kind of situation, to give people your attention. We all fight in the age of social media. Right now, we're all fighting for eyeballs, for attention, and so there are very few things that are as frustrating as sitting down with somebody and them being distracted on their phone, on their computer, by their surroundings whatever else, if you, as a leader, can only give your people five minutes a week, make them count. Be present for those five minutes. Show people that you are right there with them, and that will make them feel valued.
Speaker 1:Ultimately, it boils down to the simple thing that people want to be acknowledged. We'll say thank you, gratitude, a simple thank you, but not just hey, good job, linda. What if I was to say that to you over and over? That would lose its luster. The first time it might be nice, but then, after that you're going, what's the? What does that mean? Good job? So, even when you're giving gratitude, when you're saying thank you, let people know what specifically it is that you're thankful for, and what impact did it have on you and the team and others that that is a gift.
Speaker 3:And I love the specificity. There are oftentimes where we are encouraging leaders who might be frustrated with their teams to extrovert what they're thinking or extrovert their expectations. I said, or is it? It's as helpful as a coach, you know, screaming on the sidelines like get in there and do it, like what are we doing, and the specificity and the putting those thoughts out into the world is just so important.
Speaker 1:Correct. We need guide, kids need guidance, young workers need guidance. We all need guidance and input. I mean, look at, I've been married. Now we're coming up on, you know, 30 years of marriage, our anniversary soon, and we're looking at it. We've been together for 30 years. We have learned that the most powerful thing that we can do is be specific with each other, with our feedback. You know, let's not get upset with it. Just tell me what it is that you want me to do differently and I can tell you what I can offer, I can do. And now we're building the kind of relationships that will last the test of time, yeah, and that are deeper. So, yeah, I mean. So these are some of the simple things that you can do as a leader to create a perspective where people feel valued, an environment where people feel valued. Apply these things and you will be surprised at how people respond. I mean, that's just one of the four drivers I mean-.
Speaker 3:No. When you apply it then to the oldest leader, the older leaders that you're, the more mature leaders that you're working with and you're applying those lessons from being with children, how does that look different? I know some of it's probably the same, but how does it look different?
Speaker 1:But look at the contribution that the older worker is making.
Speaker 1:I mean the same thing with the kid the kid. I may reward the enthusiasm that they bring. Susie shows up at practice. She's ready to go, she's excited, she puts the ball down. She started to dribble around. She's got a big old smile on her face, making everybody else feel good.
Speaker 1:That's what I want to acknowledge With the older worker. I'm looking at it saying you know what I so appreciate the fact that you're willing to share your years of wisdom. You're opening up the eyes to a lot of these younger workers. You're taking them under your wing. You're willing to do that. That shows them that they have value. Remember that, as these, we all get to that point where we start questioning do we still have value? Do we still bring in that? Is this technology going to surpass us? Are we moving into realms that I no longer know that I can be successful? Show them how they can continue to be successful and they can continue to bring value and you'll get more of that. What you acknowledge you will get more of when you keep pointing out the flaws and the problems, you will get more of those.
Speaker 2:I mean, that's another parenting tip is you praise and acknowledge the behavior that you want, rather than harping on the behavior that you don't want. And I find I mean, be it relationships with my friends, with my spouse we're coming up or we're just past 20 years of marriage or the kids or the workers, like thank you. That specificity is so important because then it's also feedback in a way, too right. It's not just like you did a really great job on that thing, it's like I really appreciated how you, like just last night with my daughter, how you made this friend feel special when you saw them sitting in the bleachers alone. You walked up and talked to her and I think that you probably really made her day. And then it's like, oh, that's a good attribute to have. I'm going to try to do more of that. And so, as we again I said this in the intro like I use these lessons with my children, but it's so applicable to whatever generation of leaders, so I love that you brought that up.
Speaker 1:I had a very similar example. I mean years ago I was teaching a week-long leadership boot camp and we're offsite, we're at a hotel and I'm coming down in the morning ready to open up the class with my coffee in hand, dragging all my materials and everything else. So my little rolly cart and the whole nine yards you guys know what that looks like.
Speaker 3:It feels like, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:And so I have one of the attendees right outside the door and she's tapping her foot on the door, arms crossed, looking at me. I can, I'm like, oh, what did I do this time? I'm in trouble this time. And so I approached her. I said good morning, how are we doing? She's like why didn't you tell me? I'm like, what do you mean? I said, why didn't you tell me that this works with kids as well?
Speaker 1:And so we had gone through the process of goal setting, being clear with expectations, giving feedback, giving specific praise all of the things that we're talking about now as part of this performance management process and she had started applying it with. She was a single mom. She started applying this with her teen and preteen sons. She had two sons, and so she was amazed. She says I could never get them to clean up the room to do certain things. And I sat down and I gave them the why behind. I was asking them what I was expecting them to do, being clear with the thing, praising them when they started doing it. And this whole week has been such a transformation, right off the bat. And so to me again, that's why I say these are not worker skills, these are not supervisor skills, these are human skills.
Speaker 3:And rooted in positive psychology. So catch people doing it right and be specific about what you're seeing. Coach Han, it takes all of us. It takes all of us to contribute to helping people be more emotionally healthy and mentally engaged, and what I hear in your story and in your work is that you are part of this movement, and I would love to hear more of the perspective of how you have found yourself in the movement and how you can inspire others to join with us.
Speaker 1:Well, that's a great question and I'm honored to be included in that. I know that the work that you guys are doing with your organization, with Leadership Vision and I think we all subscribe to that. Those of us that have been around this long enough realize that we have tremendous power. We have the ability to mold, to shape and to influence environments, whether we go in as consultants or we work with people long-term. We have the ability to help shape cultures and workplaces, and that's a tremendous responsibility that I think most of us take very, very seriously. Now, when we can partner with willing leaders within organizations, we can truly transform those workplaces into something extremely special, and it's not just because it's a foo-foo-woo-woo kind of thing that we want to be able to do.
Speaker 1:To me, I've run the numbers. When you think about it, disengagement last year cost $8.9 trillion across the globe. That's almost 9% of world's GDP. Every disengaged employee that you have on your payroll, that you pay $10,000 to in annual salaries, costing you $3,400 in lost productivity. So I caution all of those people that say that we are kind of taking things very soft. From that perspective, I will tell you there is nothing harder than engaging people and winning their hearts and minds and winning their enthusiastic support to give you their discretionary effort. Because when you are able to really focus on the well-being of your environment, when you are able to engage people, earn their commitment, earn their trust, you are going to outperform.
Speaker 1:Your competition by a lot, competition by a lot. Studies have shown that what you want to take on revenue almost 20%, 19.2% in a study that was done a couple of years ago, increased operating revenues from companies that were engaged versus companies that were not in their competition. Three times the profitability. Almost 80%, actually, maybe more than that, I think it was 89% 87% said that we would not leave this place. We want to stay here. That's retention of your best and brightest people. So when leaders think that this is soft, I can tell you it is not soft. It is the difference between being average and being exceptional. When you can engage your people and ignite the fire in your team without burning them out, and you can do it the right way, that becomes your competitive advantage in the marketplace. You are going to outperform. So to me, this transformation is about truly, truly benefiting employers and employees, because we all deserve a better place to show up and give our best.
Speaker 2:That's amazing.
Speaker 3:Yes and yes, yeah, times 10.
Speaker 2:I always like to give listeners something very practical, something very tangible that if they've listened to this on their commute into the office, they can do something today. So what would you say to a listener who's like I love this podcast, I just ordered the book, but I want something quicker. What's maybe one practical, tangible, actionable whatever word you want to use that someone can right now, today, go to their team, and it'll just be one little something that will maybe move the bar just a little bit closer to that more engaged team that, you know, sense of feeling more valued, maybe in like a soundbite kind of way, Like what could someone do right now from Coach Khan that'll help again move that bar just a little bit closer.
Speaker 1:So here's something that I want to leave you with. Most people think that the grass is greener on the other side. It's not. The grass is greener where you water it. So if I was to leave you with one piece of advice next time you go in, sit down with your team and ask questions to understand what is it that they need to feel? Do they need to feel more valued? Do they need to feel? Do they need to feel more valued? Do they need to feel more connected with your team and your goals? Do they need to feel more productive, like they're making a difference, or do they need to feel supported to learn and grow? And for each one of the members of your team, when you start providing what they're missing, you will see them become such a more powerful part of your team and they will be able to give back to the rest of your team. Your team will exponentially start getting better. So start with the simple question to connect and understand.
Speaker 2:Another huge thank you to Coach Khan for taking the time to chat with Linda and I. We really enjoyed that conversation. It was fun to learn a little bit more of some of his backstory than even what I was able to find doing the research. I love that he has taken some of these principles from coaching kids and youth and applied them to grownups and to leaders at all levels, and I think sometimes we just need to be reminded of things that we learned that when we were younger and apply them, and I just really appreciate that straightforward approach. So thank you, coach Khan.
Speaker 2:If you want to check out his book, the Engagement Blueprint, we have a link in the show notes. You can find it on Amazon or wherever great books are sold. Thank you so much for listening to the Leadership Vision Podcast, our show helping you build positive team culture, for more resources about us, about developing your strengths, about developing your team, about developing your entire organization. You can visit us on the web at leadershipvisionconsultingcom. My name is Nathan Freeberg and, on behalf of our entire team, thanks for listening.