Jamy Bechler

Providing Insights on Leadership and Success. Coach Bechler is a John Maxwell Leadership Team Member.

Episode 091: Crisis Preparedness Expert Melissa Agnes

Author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World, Melissa Agnes is a leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection.  Agnes is a coveted speaker, commentator, and adviser to some of today’s leading organizations faced with the greatest risks.

In 2015, she gave a TEDx talk in Los Angeles where she discussed the secret to successful crisis management in the 21st century. Agnes is the editor of the Crisis Ready Blog, a contributor to Forbes, and a go-to source for the press, with recent coverage including the Wall Street Journal, VIBE Magazine, USA Today, and many others. As a university guest lecturer, Agnes teaches crisis management in university courses around the world, including at NYU and McGill.

In today’s episode, we discuss:
  • The difference between issues and crisis
  • How to prepare for the inevitable crises that will come your way
  • Building your brand on social media
  • What to do when an issue or a crisis occurs
  • How Southwest Airlines and United Airlines handled crises differently

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Culture Is A Choice

“Don’t tell them what you’re going to do – that’s vision.  Do what you’re going to do – that’s culture. Culture eats vision for lunch”.  (John C. Maxwell)

When I first heard this, I wrote it down and thought that it sounded good.  However, the more I thought about that statement the more I started to see the truth of it.

We need both a strong culture and a positive vision to reach our fullest potential.  If I have to choose, however, I will take a strong culture any day of the week over a clear vision.  Even the clearest vision may not be realized if the culture is poor and weighing you down.

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Contagious Enthusiasm

“In every day, there are 1,440 minutes. That means we have 1,440 daily opportunities to make a positive impact.”  (Les Brown)

In his book WINNING EVERY DAY, the former Notre Dame football coach, Lou Holtz, tells the story of the Trappist monk who was allowed to say only two words every three years.

After the first three years, he met with Brother Superior and said, “Bad bed!”

Three years later, he came back to say, “Bad food!”

After three more years of silence, the monk said, “No TV!”

Another three years passed. This time, when the monk met with Brother Superior, he handed him his robes and sandals and announced, “I quit!”

Brother Superior said, “Well don’t expect me to try to dissuade you. You’ve done nothing but complain since you got here!”

It was pretty obvious that the monk didn’t add value to his fellow monks or to the atmosphere.

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Southwest Airlines Puts Employees First

All of us have jobs that we have to wake up for each day.  Do you like this job?  Is it a good place to work with a fun environment?  For one company, a CHAMPIONSHIP CULTURE has been built upon doing things a little different than the norm.

 
Most of us have flown before and have had the unfortunate experience of shutting off our portable electronic devices and listen to an unhappy flight attendance go over passenger information for the millionth time.  But, if you’ve ever flown on a Southwest flight, you may have had a slightly different encounter with a – dare I say – happy employee . . .

4 Reasons Your Boss is an Idiot

“Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.”  (John C. Maxwell)

We all have a boss. Even the President of the U.S. has “We The People” that he has to answer to. Many of us complain about our boss. Unfortunately, not all bosses are top-shelf. If you happen to be a boss, you also might want to read this so that you can stop doing some of this stuff if you are guilty of it.

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Episode 062: Todd Gongwer, Author of “LEAD…for God’s Sake”

Todd Gongwer is the best-selling author of “LEAD…for God’s Sake. The book has been called a “game changer” by national championship football coach Urban Meyer. It has been credited with having a huge impact on Coach Meyer’s decision to come out of the broadcast booth and take over the reigns of the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Todd is first and foremost, a husband and father. His expertise in leadership and cultural dynamics comes from a broad range of experiences in the world of business and athletics, spanning over 25 years. He has held numerous executive positions in companies ranging from entrepreneurial start-up to public entity, while also serving as an assistant college basketball coach for over a decade.

Following the successful launch of the Need to LEAD program, a systematic approach to shaping team culture, Todd wrote LEAD…for God’s Sake, A parable for finding the heart of leadership. As the popularity of the book grew, stories of its powerful impact surfaced in such noted publications as ESPN Magazine, Yahoo Sports, ESPN.com and Forbes.com. Testimonies from high profile coaches, business leaders, and educators from around the country continued to stream in, affording Todd the opportunity to work directly with some of the most successful leaders, teams and organizations in America.

Today, when Todd isn’t coaching his own children, he travels throughout the country speaking, teaching, and coaching on the topics of leadership, purpose and cultural dynamics. He lives in Indiana with his wife Traci and their three children; Kaden, Kira, and their newest arrival from Haiti, Wadson.

In today’s episode, we discuss:

  • Writing a best-selling novel
  • Working with Urban Meyer and other famous coaches
  • Leadership and culture in organizations

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Episode 007: Culture of Good Co-Founder Ryan McCarty

Ryan McCarty is the former director of customer and employee relations at TCC, the largest Verizon Authorized Retailer in the nation. He was hired by the CEO, Scott Moorehead, who grew TCC from $135 million to $1 billion in sales. Together, Scott and Ryan created a culture that empowered employees through a powerful cultural movement.

Under Ryan’s guidance through TCC’s “Culture of Good,” which enables others to do good in their communities for the value of the investment rather than the return on investment, TCC donated $1 million to Riley Hospital for Children; provided 250,000 backpacks full of school supplies to children; gave away supply packs to 5,000 teachers; and contributed $100,000 in grants to organizations focused on improving the environment.

Ryan created Culture of Good, Inc. to inspire other businesses to create truly altruistic programs that make the world a better place. Ryan believes in order for a company’s Culture of Good to be successful and meaningful, giving back must be engrained in the foundation of its core values. Through Culture of Good, Inc. Ryan helps other organizations engage the hearts of their employees and empower them to make the changes they wish to see in their communities.

In today’s episode, we discuss:

  • How the partnership between Scott and Ryan occurred over chips & salsa
  • By decreasing their employee turnover, TCC saved more than $5 million per year
  • Why other companies don’t create a culture of good
  • That having a cool CEO and leader that is open-minded is key
  • How any company can do more good in their business and the community

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“My Pleasure”

Endless roads.  Hour after hour we drove.  A college women’s basketball team and myself.

“Are we there yet”?

“How much longer”?

The questions are endless.

Then the big-one . . . The question to end all questions . . . The grand-daddy of them all . . .

[Read more…]

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