Best Seller Podcast

Author Diane Hamilton, Ph.D., sits down with host Taryn Winter Brill to discuss her latest book, Cracking the Curiosity Code: The Key to Unlocking Human Potential.  With this book, Hamilton accomplished something that, she says, hasn’t been done before: conducting research about the things that hold people back from being curious. She argues that there’s plenty of research out there about curiosity as a whole, but not about what prevents people from being curious. The book uses extensive research to create a “curiosity code index,” an assessment to find out what is holding the individual back.

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Jeffrey Hayzlett, author of The Hero Factor: How Great Leaders Transform Organizations and Create Winning Cultures, looks to highlight all of the good things businesses are doing to create a culture that’s based on great mission and vision statements and deeply ingrained values while helping the world be a better place and still increasing their profit margins. He says this, his fourth book, is the most important book he’s written as he believes America, and the world, are at a crossroads – economically and with leadership. The book hopes to change the negative perception many people have of businesses and bring back the focus to company values rather than just operational excellence.

The book is for everyone in the organization, not just for CEOs. While CEOs need to be cognizant, as the company leaders, you want everyone to have the same values, know how the company is run and where they are going. Hayzlett adds, “If you’re leading your organization beyond where they want to go and leading them to greatness, then you’re without question a hero and, without question, a leader.”

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Julie Cottineau, author of Twist: How Fresh Perspectives Build Breakthrough
Brands, wrote the book with the purpose of teaching business owners and
executives how to give their brands a fresh look and sound, while standing out in
a crowded marketplace. Cottineau says she wanted the book to be about
branding advice anyone can use to build their business instead of branding
theories. She states that clients tell her their main problem involves marketing, but
she tells them marketing isn’t the problem – it’s not having the right brand story
and not standing out. As a result, Cottineau’s first question to clients is “what is
your story?” and adds the most important component of their story is who do
they want their brand to appeal to. Who is their target audience? Too broad a
message, she says, ends up diluting the brand and fails to connect entirely.
Cottineau also talks about “brand blinders,” which she defines as doing the
same thing every competitor is doing. She argues that many c-suite executives
spend a lot of time thinking about the categories they are in and the
competition and not enough time thinking about adding the ‘twist’ that will
make them stand out. What’s unique about this book, Cottineau says, is “we’re
not teaching you what you should know, we’re actually helping you do it.”

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Mike Pierce, or “Antarctic Mike” is the author of Leading at 90 Below Zero: Extreme Condition…Extraordinary Results, a book about running a marathon in the coldest continent in the world and applying the lessons learned to the business world. His trip to Antarctica was inspired by a book he read about the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition in 1914 – where the expedition ship got trapped in pack ice. The crew escaped and survived for years before returning home as a result of Ernest Shackleford’s ability to make difficult decisions to benefit all the crew members. Pierce’s running a marathon in Antarctica replicates what the world’s best companies do – they’re willing to do the things that no one in the industry is doing. Companies that excel are capable of solving problems that no one else is solving, add value when someone else isn’t capitalizing on that opportunity, and do the things the competition can’t or won’t do. The book alludes to the things leaders can do to help people on their team be more engaged. In order for this to happen, leaders need to get to know their employees’ mettle, make a connection with the role each employee plays within the company, the things they do every day, and what’s most important to them.

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Host Taryn Winter Brill sits down with author Leo Bottary to discuss his book, What Anyone Can Do: How Surrounding Yourself with the Right People Will Drive Change, Opportunity, and Personal Growth. In this book, Bottary looks at all the people we surround ourselves and how those people are instrumental in helping us along the way. Bottary says that, “The more positive people we can surround ourselves with and the more that we tap into that incredible power that’s all around us, the more effective we’re going to be as individuals.” But, success is more than just surrounding ourselves with the right people. He states, “You have to be clear about what it is that you want” and what needs to happen in order to make things possible. One thing that’s changing in the age of social media, Bottary argues, is that people aren’t paying attention to the number of followers or friends; instead, they’re looking to consciously engage people with deeper conversations, in smaller numbers.

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Chris Westfall, author of Leadership Language: Using Authentic Communication to Drive Results, wrote the book to help people achieve a better understanding of how leadership works. Westfall says that leadership is about being an original and understanding what it all means internally because he considers it an “inside job.” The book is about conversational strategies that can create a real impact for leaders. He states that, “What leaders do better than everyone else is share a perspective that’s compelling.” They take authenticity and passion and turn it into actionable results on how they connect with others. Westfall points out that leadership isn’t just about experience or age, it’s about the service you provide to others, as well as desire and resourcefulness.

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Mark Hunter, author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results, defines prospecting as “finding the right customer.” The book focuses on the top part of the sales pipeline by teaching readers to disqualify prospects quickly in order to spend quality time with fewer prospects that can actually lead to a successful closing. He says sales is a series of conversations that allow the salesperson to better understand their customers’ needs and how you can help them solve a problem. Hunter defines being a salesman as helping “others see and achieve what they did not think was possible” and adds there’s no one-size-fits-all way to begin the prospecting process. Everyone has a different set of customers, marketplace and items that makes the entire process unique. Hunter urges everyone to find a solution and strategy that works for them and that they feel comfortable with.

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David Parish, author of The Facts of the Matter: Looking Past Today’s Rhetoric on the Environment and Responsible Development refers to the void he feels currently exists in regards to climate change and responsible development. Parish says there is a disconnect which can be resolved by having a real conversation about the causes of climate change and what are we doing about it. He wants to avoid the “bumper sticker rhetoric” as the message can get hijacked by both activists and big businesses intent on influencing the issue with a rally cry rather than by actual data and concrete answers. Parish advises people to be critical thinkers, push back and ask questions because conversations should be starting points, not end points.

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Joshua Spodek, author of Leadership Step by Step: Becoming the Person Others Follow, talks about how people aren’t born leaders but instead develop leadership skills throughout life as a result of the obstacles life throws at them. He states that every great leader has learned leadership, but “no one’s born leading.”

Spodek also says he treats leadership as a performance-based field and that people have to practice being good, effective leaders — much like one has to practice playing the piano or sports in order to get better. As an adjunct professor at New York University, Spodek says that academia teaches people about leadership, but no one teaches you how to become a leader.

As a result, Spodek decided to tackle that niche and teach people how to become leaders. He does so by applying the ASEEP leaning method: Active, Social, Emotional, Expressive, Performance builder. He teaches “getting it” and how people can lead themselves into certain situations and be successful at being leaders.

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Sebastian Jespersen and Stan Rapp, authors of Release the Power of Entangled Marketing: Moving Beyond Engagement discuss the term ‘entangled marketing’ and how it can change the way brands interact with their customers. Entangled marketing is a new business model that leads to an enduring, mutually rewarding relationship with customers in the internet era. “Entanglement” is used as a metaphor for what is happening right now – the way one thing blends with another, making things tightly intertwined. Jespersen says that once brands start entangling with customers, trust becomes an essential part of the relationship; and like any other relationship, it can get messy if broken.

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