Do you know a gender diverse person in the construction industry? You may have seen my earlier LinkedIn post about the amazing Evelyn Lai, Site Engineer for Nacap, A Quanta Services Company. Evelyn participated in a recent leadership panel I facilitated at the Australian Pipelines and Gas Association annual conference and shared their experiences o…

Everyone needs to listen to this Greatness podcast with Vanessa Bennett, neuroscience expert, coach, and speaker. Why? We have learned more about the brain in the last five years than in the history of humankind and that knowledge is invaluable to us all. Vanessa shares concrete tips about how to "optimize your cognitive energy" in a way that allow…

Delegation is a challenge for many leaders at all levels. I believe delegation is a critical skill because those who do not delegate drown in low-priority tasks. Author and consultant Shanna Hocking joined the Greatness Podcast to share tips on what to delegate and how to delegate from her insightful HBR article on the topic. She explains practical…

Do you sometimes feel like you are failing at everything? Not juggling fast enough? Not prioritizing your health? Danielle Dobson, author of Breaking the Gender Code, joined the Greatness Podcast to share the insights she gained through dozens of interviews and research on why many women have these feelings. Danielle shares that women often work "t…

Concrete examples of how artificial intelligence (AI) is helping organizations accelerate performance are quite helpful to me. I was completely blown away by a CURT presentation by TD Industries Vice President Jamie Dabbs and Barry Nelson, Founder and CEO of FactorLab, describing how they used an app to collect 500,000 daily planning conversation v…

How do we attract more women into construction, and specifically into the trades? And keep them? Jennifer Wilkerson, Vice President of Innovations and Advancements for the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) joined the Greatness Podcast to share the results of a recent research, In Her Own Words: Improving Project Outcom…

Is your organization developing an AI strategy? If not, you should be. Dr. Sarah Buchner, Founder and CEO of Trunk Tools, started out working in the trades in construction, and now is driving artificial intelligence (AI) innovation and practical implementation. It's mind bending for me to think about how millions of pages of construction documents …

I admire people who consider themselves to be "servant leaders", and John Foong, Chief Commercial Officer of Domain and former Google executive, exemplifies this concept. John recently joined the Greatness Podcast to share his leadership experiences including his passion for unleashing the best in others and leading the change necessary to enable l…

Long-time friend and amazing author/speaker Gabrielle Dolan, "Ral", and her amazing podcast partner, executive coach and Director Jac Phillips, started their podcast, "Keeping it Real with Jac and Ral', to share their incredible insights out into the world. They describe it as a "live free coaching session" and I agree, fabulous insights into topic…

Do you dread "networking" but believe you should be spending more time doing it? Speaker, coach, and author Deborah Grayson Riegel joined the Greatness podcast to discuss her thinking on going both "broad and deep" on relationships; and how to think strategically about the types of people you might need to connect with for both your short and long-…

Wendy Swire, global leader, coach, author, and speaker, joined the Greatness Podcast (and created a unique page of resources for you listeners - https://swiresolutions.com/greatness/) to share her incredible insights on Brain Science and how to get the most out of your brain. This includes sleeping more which lets your brain "clean itself"; focusin…

I firmly believe that we have a duty as leaders to provide the people we lead with regular feedback. When I read Kim Scott's Radical Candor, her framework immediately resonated with me - the care and courage that feedback requires. Kim's associate Amy Sandler joined the Greatness Podcast to discuss the framework. Giving feedback takes time and thou…

I work with hundreds of women leaders in engineering, construction, energy, and mining, and the topic of how to be confident without being arrogant comes up repeatedly. I'm so grateful to Dr. Tracy Brower for taking the time to join the Greatness Podcast to talk about the difference between confidence and arrogance, and how to own and share your su…

Lisa Hinz, Founder of The Confidence Track, shares her very personal journey with imposter syndrome and how she shifted from constantly reacting to focusing upon living an intentional life. Lisa shares concrete techniques for building confidence - finding safe environments to talk about self-doubt, identifying the triggers of self-doubt, and intent…

What are the primary differences between high-performing and low-performing teams? After decades of studying thousands of people on over 800 teams, Robert Marshall knows the answer to this question, and joined the Greatness Podcast to share his incredible insights. Top of the list - level of trust - may seem obvious, but Robert also discusses the i…

Are you viewed as a "doer" or a "strategic thinker"? Being a "doer", someone that is capable of executing with excellence, is important. Adding the ability to think strategically, being viewed as a strategic thinker by those around you, is also critical in most contexts. I loved having Brenda Steinberg, leadership consultant and executive coach, on…

Have you ever felt betrayed? Maybe something happens with a colleague at work? Or in a personal relationship? I feel so fortunate to have met Dr. Beth Hedva, author of Betrayal, Trust, and Forgiveness, who joined the Greatness Podcast to share her wisdom on the topic. Beth talks about how we shift from "why did this happen to me?" to "how can I gro…

My good friend Suzanne Arkel is a remarkable woman who has devoted her 25 year career to driving inclusivity in large construction programs. I asked Suzanne, who identifies as African American, to rate the inclusivity of the construction industry on a scale of 1 (low) to 4 (high), and I appreciate her answer - "It's a two-and-a-half . . . if there …

I have a deep appreciation for people who immigrate from one country to another. I've learned, it's hard! I can't imagine doing it as a 17-year-old who doesn't speak the language. Laura Miranda joined the Greatness Podcast to share her journey from Columbia to Australia and how that led her to a two-year technical degree and to co-founding the podc…

Women lifting up other women in the construction industry is critical to our efforts to be a more inclusive industry. As part of my journey of making new construction industry friends in Kansas City I met the amazing Erica Jones, Vice President of MMC Corporation and Founder of On The Rise. This incredible program elevates women in the construction…

I strongly encourage those of you in the construction industry (all genders) to join myself and five other amazing construction industry podcasters for the free inaugural Women in Construction Week Audio Summit 2024! Join creator Barb Allen and myself for a preview of the Audio Summit on the Greatness podcast and sign up here - https://construction…

Bill Proudman co-founded White Men as Full Diversity Partners (WMFDP) 30 years ago to work with leaders at the intersection of equity and inclusion - helping leaders be the stewards of an inclusive culture with courage, consciousness, and competency. Bill is a white man who had the courage to "follow his heart" three decades ago when he realized th…

Have you ever experienced a man apologizing for an all-male panel at a conference? Five years ago while attending my first Australian Pipelines and Gas (APGA) Conference in Darwin I saw APGA CEO Steve Davies do just that. Steve was so proud of the fact that he had convinced many of the industry's top leaders to come to Darwin for a senior leader pa…

Have you ever had someone who saw more in you than you did in yourself? Or been told you're not thinking big enough, aiming high enough with your aspirations? Many people experience these feelings, including many of the women I speak with in various industries. Lisa Mednick Takami joined the Greatness Podcast to share her amazing research and assoc…

My good friend Denise Burgess, a tremendous leader in the construction industry and recent inductee into the National Academy of Construction, joined the Greatness Podcast to talk about her 30-year journey as an African American woman in the industry. Denise candidly shares her experience of frequently being the only woman of color in the room. "Oh…

What distinguishes a great coach from a good coach, either as a professional or as a leader coaching your team? David Goldsmith, Co-founder of the International Coaching Federation and iconic pillar of the executive coaching profession, joined the Greatness podcast to share his invaluable insights on this topic. Key nuggets - how are you, as a coac…

What keeps us in the game - be it life or work? We all know leaders that continue to be curious and "in the game" throughout their lives, but what is it that drives that ongoing curiosity? Dr. Pamela Meyer's latest book, Staying in the Game: Leading and Learning with Agility for a Dynamic Future explores "embodied agile leadership".. According to P…

Do you know what the number one micro-aggression against women is in the workplace? Being talked over. Believe me, I have experienced and witnessed it all too often. So what can we all do about this? How do we actively advocate for underrepresented people at work and make them feel included? Many of us understand that inclusion is important, but ho…

We spend a great deal of time helping leaders understand how to help employees trust them. But what happens when we as leaders lose trust in an employee? How do we understand the source of the breakdown of trust and the steps to repair it? As Dina Denham Smith describes in her HBR article and as a guest on the Greatness podcast, this breakdown in t…

It's so fun to find amazing women who share my passion for the construction industry. As I "co-locate" back to my home town of Kansas City after 40 years it's been fun to meet leaders there in the construction industry. Brandy McCombs, the first female Chair of The Builders, a chapter of AGC in Kansas City, joined the Greatness podcast to share her…

What are your superpowers? Rebecca Saunders joined the greatness podcast to discuss her work in creating a global network of women business owners to feel connected and supported. Rebecca's personal experience as someone with alopecia who spent years covering this up versus owning herself inspires her work. She is bald and beautiful! As she says, "…

I have so much admiration for my good friend Bobbi Mahlab for starting not-for-profit Mentor Walks, a brilliant model that connects mentors and mentees once a month for an hour-long "walk and talk'' in many cities throughout the world. I have participated for years here in Australia and love it because the program is curated to match me as a mentor…

Systems thinking and sustainability are big topics today, and Shaun Deverson, founder of Lighthouse Futures, brought his brilliant thinking on these topics to the Greatness Podcast. Nature-base solutions and "balance" - how are we continuing to evolve our thinking, as global leaders, to focus upon our stewardship of the planet? Leveraging ancient t…

"Any business plan created before 2020 is obsolete." This is the post by my friend Ted Souder, former Google Executive and Global Digital Transformation Expert, that prompted me to invite him onto the Greatness podcast to discuss the future of digital transformation. Ted recommends having a "digital mindset", thinking as a company about how to have…

Are you intimidated by ChatGPT? I am! So I invited Donna McGeorge, author of The ChatGPT Revolution, to the Greatness podcast to help me, and you, understand what Chat GPT can do for us. "Charlie", as Donna calls her ChatGPT, can do many wonderful things, like putting together a meal plan for the week including recipes and an ingredient list, or wr…

Want to know what great questions to ask yourself and your Board/organization to help navigate the volatile, uncertain, and complex world we live in today? Dr. Richard David Hames, philosopher, activist, and strategic foresight practitioner, joined the Greatness Podcast to share his global insights on this. One great question - how can you reassure…

Are you passionate about your work? Do you feel fulfilled in life? For many people I know the answer to this is "no" but they may not know what to do about it, feeling either trapped in a job or unaware of their passions. Christelle Pillot, Owner of Freedom Catcher Academy, joined the Greatness podcast to share her expertise in helping people find …

Howard Ross, author, activist, "builder of innovations in the field of diversity and inclusion", and expert on bias, joins the Greatness Podcast to discuss unconscious bias and inclusion. If you are a student of inclusion and unconscious bias, as am I, this is an important podcast for you. One key point - what would it look like if a construction c…

Do you know how to make an effective point in a meeting or presentation? Have you ever sat in a meeting thinking "is this person ever going to get to the point?"? Joel Schwarzberg, leading public speaking coach, joined the Greatness Podcast to help us understand how to be effective in sharing the "so what" of our idea. The original HBR article I re…

Edgar Schein, one of the most brilliant consultants, researchers, authors, and academics, sadly passed away in January 2023. I was so fortunate to be the recipient of his coaching in the year leading up to that, and I had the bright idea of honouring Ed for the 100th episode of the Greatness podcast. I'm deeply grateful to my good friend and former…

"Life is messy"! Brilliant author and CEO coach Sabina Nawaz joined the Greatness podcast to share her insights on leadership after my LinkedIn post mentioning her HBR article on failure months ago received a record response. "If you're not failing enough, you're not experimenting enough, you're too much in your comfort zone". As leaders, our failu…

Would you like to cut your training costs in half and achieve higher levels of training competency? I work hard to lift up global examples of break-through thinking that lift the entire construction industry, and that also apply to other industries. Adaptive learning applies AI to reduce training time by customizing each person's training to skip w…

If you only listen to one of my podcasts, please pick this one. Why? Because guest Sam Clark, CEO of Clark Construction in Lansing Michigan, candidly shares his organization's six year diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and results in an authentic and meaningful way. Would you like for your organization to have a 99% engagement score? Or to g…

Are you ashamed of something you've done? Most of us are. Few of my guests on the Greatness podcast have so candidly and rawly shared their personal challenges and how their shame and guilt turned into a life passion for helping others. Luke Sniewski, author of Somawise: Get Out of Your Head. Get Into Your Body, shares his research about self care …

Feeling stressed? Donna McGeorge, author of The 25-minute Meeting, The First Two Hours, and The One Day Refund, joined the Greatness podcast to share her great tips for reducing our "addiction to activity" and our stress. One great point - we as leaders need to ensure we are carving time out to "think and breath" in order to show up as the best ver…

I loved studying "agility" during my PhD - how to help organizations be nimble in the face of ever evolving business contexts. In particular, I loved finding people like Mario Moreira who dedicate their lives to helping teams and organizations be more agile. Mario's book, The Agile Enterprise, captures his work in achieving "agile transformations" …

As a member of the National Academy of Construction (NAC) I am so proud of all the ways we strive to share the expertise of our 400+ members as the "virtual mentors of the industry". NAC member Jerry Eyink joined the Greatness Podcast to talk about the wonderful podcast put forth by the NAC - Get the kNACk. The diverse perspectives and areas of exp…

We are all absolutely perfect, brilliant, and capable today just the way we are. It's our perception that we are imperfect that keeps us from realizing this, a simple yet profound message that Rhiannon Heins, author of The Keepers of the Light Codes, shared with me during her visit to the Greatness podcast. One point that really landed for me - we …

Capitalism doesn't work for the masses. Whether you agree or disagree with this statement, listening to Dr. Richard David Hames thoughts on the topic is worth your time. Richard is one of the leading futurists in the world and mentors significant global leaders. Richard argues that the systems designed for two billion people are not working in a wo…

Tuti Scott is an amazing change agent and joined the Greatness podcast to share the source of her inspiration (a resilient single mom raising five kids) and her advocacy for people who are "under-resourced in the world". From supporting women athletes to her current work around gender lens investing, Tuti is making a huge difference. A shocking 1.6…