Category: Top Articles

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Motivational speaker Agapi Stassinopoulos knows what it is like to try and fail; then try again. First, she tried as an actress. Despite graduating from the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London she did not find success in acting. Then she tried to find success in love but was always choosing the wrong man.

It wasn’t until Agapi became an author that she found her true calling—as a motivational keynote speaker. After writing two books on Greek archetypes, Agapi was doing a one-woman-show called The Goddesses. While performing her show, she found the audience responding in a positive way every time she spoke. “I realized my message was resonating with people and it was helping them. That became my inspiration to keep going and spreading my message,” said Agapi.

Since then, Agapi has written two motivational books (Unbinding the Heart and Wake Up To The Joy Of You), inspired audiences around the world, and been a frequent contributor to the Huffington Post.

Agapi credits her strength and confidence to her mother, who instilled a real trust in life in her.  “She taught me that even if things don’t go your way, you realize that there is wisdom to be learned, awareness to be gained, and that things work out.”

Now Agapi spends her time inspiring men and women to unlock their gifts to fully express themselves. Agapi says there are three things every person should know to unlock their gifts: 1) learn to ask for support and help when you need it; 2) express yourself authentically; 3) share how you feel so you don’t get stressed. But most importantly, “You have to make taking care of yourself a priority, so that you can be more effective, productive, creative and ultimately more fulfilled,” said Agapi.

Her most recent book, Wake Up To The Joy Of You, Agapi goes into depth on how you can be more fulfilled. The book includes 52 subjects that all people deal with, while providing practical solutions, advice, and help so people can learn to manage them and become winners in their own life.

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Kyle Crocco is the Content Marketing Coordinator at BigSpeak Speakers Bureau, a graduate of UC Santa Barbara, and the lead singer of Duh Professors. He regularly publishes business book reviews and thought articles on Medium, Business 2 Community, and Born 2 Invest.

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Cold calls suck. There’s no way around that. But for many companies, they are a big part of the outbound sales strategy and someone has to do it. So I decided to test out keynote speaker Jia Jiang’s Rejection Therapy tactics to see if his advice could reduce the number of rejections I received… and when I did got a hard dial tone, to lessen the blow.

Jiang’s book Rejection Therapy focuses on how to handle rejection while preventing it from running your life and scaring you out of taking the big leaps. He bases his lessons for the reader on discoveries he made during his own 100 Days of Rejection Challenge where he sought out definite rejections every day for 100 days.

His main takeaways were:

• Rejection is almost never about you; it’s about the rejecter.
• By asking why you can adapt and compromise to win.
• Rejection has a number.

The fear of rejection

When Jiang started his rejection therapy, his first challenge was to ask a stranger for 100 dollars. He was afraid, his heart was beating fast, and he ran away once the man said no.

The first day I started cold calling for my company, I felt the same fear. My heart was beating fast. I kept checking my notes nervously. Intellectually, I knew I was just calling a bored person, but the fear of being rejected was strong.

When I ran into the first difficulty—an online menu or a phone that rang too long—I hung up quickly.

But just like Jiang did in his experiment, I tried again. Because that’s how you get better at dealing with rejection. By desensitizing yourself to it.

After a few more calls, I felt more confident. Even before I was successful.

It’s not me; it’s you.

After I kept calling, I realized every subsequent dial tone, awkward silence, or rushed goodbye was not personal. It spoke more about the person on the other end of the phone than it did about me. This took a while to sink in. Originally, I felt personally attacked, like their rejection was my failure.

However, when I remembered Jiang’s rejection theory that the call recipients most likely just did not need what I was offering…and that’s all, I didn’t feel so bad. It wasn’t the pitch or cadence of my voice. It wasn’t because I liked ranch instead of blue cheese with my wings. It wasn’t personal at all. And it really couldn’t be since they didn’t know me.

This seems obvious and is something most people already know. The trick is to keep it in the forefront of your mind as you continuously throw yourself at rejection.

And may I ask why?

No’s hurt, but they hurt the most when you don’t know why you were rejected and let your mind come up with every cringy scenario you can imagine. The first time I followed up a no with a why I felt very unsure, like asking would be too prying and I had to take a deep breath, settle myself, then spit it out. After the first response proved Jiang’s first observation to be true I regained my confidence and asked each time.

I learned A LOT by asking why. It wasn’t in the budget, I had the wrong person, they had tried it before without success and didn’t want to again. Learning why opened up their side of things in ways I never would’ve imagined and I felt as if I could see the industry as whole better. I even changed up my script to adapt to some frequently met responses.

It’s a numbers game.

Eventually, you’ll get to a Yes. I heard No too many times to count before I got the coveted Yes. And when the few Yeses did come, it was never the original answer. I only received my Yes after I had asked why about 50 times to other recipients, learned to anticipate their concerns and adapted to accommodate their needs.

 

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Motivational keynote speaker Robyn Benincasa is the best! We may be biased, but we’re not alone in our complete adoration for her leadership and teambuilding expertise. In the past three years Robyn has spoken at over 285 events and 55 events this year alone. She’s won over companies across the country and continues to blaze trails around the world.

“Robyn is our human dynamo. She’s on track to do 120 events this year and knowing Robyn, she’ll probably see that as a starting goal!” says BigSpeak EVP Ken Sterling.

With a unique message that is tailored to each business, she has made a name for herself as an adaptable speaker and is often asked to return for multiple speaking events. As she continues to make new connections with some of the biggest names across all industries, her reputation as an incredible keynote speaker precedes her.

Here are a few rave reviews from notable companies that have worked with Robyn Benincasa.

“Your message of total teamwork—synergy, commitment, empathy and mutual respect is powerful… “ -Tom W, Chairman and CEO, Allstate

“Thanks Robyn! You were a rock star! Your powerful presentation and message aligned perfectly with what I wanted to accomplish, and you knocked it out of the ballpark!” -Greg G, President, Allstate Benefits

“Your presentation, style and message really energized the attendees.  We heard nothing but great feedback.” -Trent C, Americas Software Marketing Team, Hewlett Packard

“Words really can’t describe how amazing your presentation was today.  The positive feedback was overwhelming. I received tons of emails thanking me for having you speak.” -Tony G, Regional Sales Manager, Wells Fargo

“Our morale has improved 100%!” -Steve K, State Sales Coordinator, Aflac

“The event was an overwhelming success. We are still talking about the key takeaways and the fun and excitement of working together as a team.” –John A, Zone VP, Starbucks

“I’ve learned a lot of things listening to people speak, but I heard things from you I have never heard before.  Thank you for touching my life.” -Rebecca B, Sales Agent, CBRE

“Robyn Benincasa gave one of the most inspiring and meaningful teamwork speeches I’ve heard in a long time.” -Tammy W, Regional Marketing Coordinator, Allstate Benefits

“We had so much fun with you.  I literally received so many compliments on your message and comments about how your talk touched people. Several said you were the best speaker they have ever heard (my opinion too, BTW!)” -Lisbeth A, Director of Communications and Promotions, Nestle Nutrition

“The audience felt you were authentic, passionate and that you really understood Jamba. We were thrilled!” -Renée K, Jamba Juice, Director of Retail Marketing

“Your presentation resonated with our HDR attendees and our team was still talking about how they were personally inspired and the lessons learned.” -Charles O, President, HDR Transportation

“Robyn was amazing and really second to none in my book. It was also highly noted and appreciated that Robyn had done her homework on our department and Davita.  Great Job!” –Keith C, Director of Corporate Compliance, Davita

“Your message about teamwork and what it takes to be a high performing team aligned perfectly to where I want to take the Finance Organization.  There was a lot of positive energy in the room and I’m looking forward to harnessing that momentum as we move into the new year.” -John F, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, New York Life

“…Not enough words to express how dynamic, inspirational, and incredible our speaker Robyn Benincasa was today at Hilton’s All Suites Conference!” -Carlena L, Director of Sales, Home2Suites by Hilton

“Folks are still buzzing about your talk! Many comments about your customization to link in Boston Scientific too.” –David P, Senior VP and President, Urology and Pelvic Health, Boston Scientific

“The feedback we received on your presentation was nothing short of stellar. People shared that they felt inspired.  Many of your messages were repeated throughout the next few days, coming from our President and CEO to my colleagues in the field alike.” -Felice G, VP Training and Development, Allos Therapeutics

“She kept the audience of some 7000 people spellbound…” -Arnie P, Million Dollar Round Table

“I can’t remember a speaker having such an impact on me…” -Tom T, Regional Director, Verint

“I just wanted to tell you how impressed I was with the way you were able to command a large audience consisting of people notorious for being stubborn and eccentric…” -Evan C, Director of Critical Care, The Intensivist Group

“Your presentation was excellent and very inspiring.  Many have said you were the best keynote speaker that we have had over the 18 years we’ve been in existence.” -Tony C, CEO and President, Resources Global Professionals

“You do a great job of using language we can all relate to regardless of the organization or occupation, and then you serve it up with a platter of unforgettable stories…” -Rachelle J, Head of Business Operations, Baxalta

“More than perfect…Amazing. Message on target for us and fun.  So many of our attendees told me she was the best keynote we’ve ever had!” -Mitchell B, Senior Director, Partner Education and Strategic Programs, Medidata Solutions Worldwide

“You were amazing! People felt that hearing from someone with your background brought a refreshing perspective that you connected perfectly to relevant experiences in corporate culture. You are an inspiration to me and to everyone at Veritas!” -Patti C, Senior Director, Global Sales Enablement, Veritas

“She was amazing! People are still raving about her!” -Danielle G, Kimpton Group Hotels

“Thank you for sharing your story and making it so compelling that we decided to take action.  That doesn’t always happen!” –Terese I, Director of Events, Express Employment Professionals

“It’s been just over a year since our meeting with you, and people are still talking about the best teambuilding meeting we’ve ever had.” -Irwin G, Northrop Grumman, IT Solutions Team

“We’ve used (among others) Joe Theismann and Ben Carson.  Each has been very good. Robyn is better.” -Chris M, Senior Manager, Siemens Medical Solutions

“AWESOME!! No other way to describe you or the presentation that you gave at our Summit Meeting. Your were inspiring for me personally, and certainly for my team.” -Anthonie G, VP Human Resources, Siemens Medical Solutions

“Robyn’s words make us reflect on what great leadership qualities are and reminds us of the importance of leading with our head and our heart.” -Craig M, VP, Kraft Canada

“Thanks again for the awesome presentation! It was by far the most inspiring talk I have ever heard. Your really make a difference.” -Edward H, Human Resources, Siemens Medical Solutions

“The buzz around the agency is fantastic, and many people have stopped by my office or sent emails to tell me how much they liked your presentation and how much you amazed them.” -Annette, Chief of Staff, Euro RSCG Worldwide

“We are still hearing rave reviews about Robyn’s presentation.  Many have commented that it was the most entertaining and introspective of the presentations we have had. Kudos!” -Loretta C, Product Manager, Schering-Plough Corporation

“It’s said that people won’t necessarily remember what you said, but how you made them feel. You sure made us feel that anything is possible with teamwork! Even a year after you spoke at Langan, your message still resonates with me.” -Caryn B, Senior Associate, Langan Engineering

“Many are still raving about your presentation. In fact, our AV guy and our National Association Rep who hear many speakers each month said that you were the best speaker they’ve ever heard.” -Jenny P, Director of Meetings and Conference Services, Aging Services of MN

“I will keep you at the top of my list to call for other divisions within Hormel!” -Melissa T, Meetings and Events, Hormel Foods

“I have attended SNUG for 9 years, and there are always great motivational speakers…You were the best!” -Lisa Lott M, SCC Software Network Users Group

 

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Guatemala is in such terrible shape & such a poverty stricken country to begin with. I am headed there to personally distribute cash cards from your very generous donations. #bstrong #thisisacrisis Visit: www.bethenny.com/bstrong to donate. (Link in profile) Thank you. Xo We are also delivering supplies FYI.

A post shared by Bethenny Frankel (@bethennyfrankel) on Jun 11, 2018 at 12:40pm PDT

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The season premiere of Million Dollar Listing New York City premiered June 12 and did not disappoint. After embracing his new role as a father to two beautiful twins, Fredrik Eklund is back in the real estate game without missing a beat.

The episode shows tender moments of Fredrik and his husband Derek meeting their twins for the first time, changing diapers, and playing in their nursery. This soft side of Fredrik is quickly replaced with the hard-hitting, house-slinging broker we remember from seasons past.

His first client of the season is Rebel Wilson and she’s looking for a luxurious New York City apartment. Rebel’s humor mixed with Fredrik’s drive makes for an entertaining debut house hunt. While Fredrik pushes Rebel to upsize and re-envision her next home, Rebel seems set on a two-bedroom pied-à-terre.

In the end, Rebel whispers to Fredrik she’d rather ditch the camera crew and throw on some sweats for their next viewing. What will happen? Tune in next week on Bravo to find out if Fredrik and Rebel locate the perfect place for Rebel to lounge in sweats.

 

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CNBC’s new series The Brave Ones highlights entrepreneurs who have overcome obstacles to become successful. Tan Le is a brave one in every sense of her work.

As CEO of Emotiv brainwear she has brought life-changing, mind-control technology to various applications around the world. Emotiv is a tech platform to help you connect deeper with the brain. Through a non-invasive headset, Emotiv brainwear reads the neuro pathways and can physically move objects through the wearer’s thoughts. Her company’s technology has been used to control bionic arms and allowed a quadriplegic to drive a formula one car.

But before she was changing the world with her brainwear, the world changed her. At age 4, she fled Vietnam, taking a five day-and-night voyage on the China Sea with her mother, sister, and 160 other Vietnamese refugees. After running out of food and water, her boat was rescued by an oil liner and she ended up in Australia.

When they first touched Australian land, Le’s mother told them to reach down and feel the ground—it was special ground. Le and her sister didn’t feel anything special, just dirt. Her mother told them, “Then you have to make it special.”

She grew up smart, with drive, but always an outsider. It was this peripheral perspective that she credits her ingenuity to. When you see things differently from the masses, you learn to embrace oddities, explore the unknown, and get used to living outside of your comfort zone.

Le’s family appreciate the sacrifices made to allow them to grow in Australia. With this mindset of making the most of the life you’re given and a tendency to think outside the box, Le’s entrepreneurial spirit kicked in and she created the magic of mind-control.

To hear more about Tan Le’s story, watch the full video below.

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Inspiring stories are more memorable and persuasive than facts alone.

Imagine you’ve arrived at your big presentation. You’ve been preparing for weeks. All those countless spreadsheets have now been successfully turned into brightly colored PowerPoint slides. You grab the clicker and launch into your first point. Your colleagues lean forward, eager to hear what you have to say. As you click on the last slide, you arrive at one startling conclusion. You have put your colleagues into a coma. Not only have you failed to convince them, not one person can remember what you just presented.

What did you do wrong? You didn’t use a story to sell your ideas. If you want to sell your ideas, tell your ideas as a story.

Why use story?

According to former Pixar story artist and animator Matthew Luhn in his talk “The Art of Storytelling,” inspiring stories can sell your ideas in three important ways:

1. Retain important information: According to Luhn, after 10 minutes your audience will only remember 5% of what was said if you don’t use a story. Put that information in a story form and the amount of information retained by the audience increases 13 fold to 65%.

2. Create personal connections: Stories make a real connection between you and your audience. “Whoever tells that impactful memorable story, we become personally connected with them and we believe them,” says Luhn.

3. Change how people feel: The emotion expressed in stories can change hearts and minds. Great leaders do this all the time. For example, Steve Jobs did this with the iPhone. Luhn explains, when Steve Jobs “came out he said, I have something revolutionary. It’s going to change the world. It’s a smart phone. We’re like, Yay!”

Use key elements to make stories inspiring

To translate your information into a great story, you’ll need to give your audience three things:

1. A hook: Before you can convince your audience, you need to get their attention. This is done with a hook. According to Luhn, a hook creates something unusual or unexpected, or has some sort of action or conflict at the beginning. For example, in Toy Story, we have the “favorite toy in the room” problem—a conflict between Buzz Lightyear and Woody—that emotionally interests the audience right away.

2. A promise: After you have their attention, you must promise your audience a transformation. According to Luhn, people hate to change personally but “we like to go through a transformation, through a hero on a journey.” This transformation can be about you or someone else who was changed through an experience. In Toy Story, Buzz and Woody have to work together to get back to their owner. By the end, Woody has become less selfish and Buzz has learned that even though he isn’t a real astronaut, he is still an important toy.

3. A payoff: Your promise has to have a payoff. You want to explain to your audience “what’s in it for them.” How will your story or idea make them “richer, happier, faster,” says Luhn. For Toy Story, the payoff is that these two characters are happier because now they have learned something about themselves and get along better.

Avoid these pitfalls

Finally, avoid these three pitfalls to ensure your story is a success.

1. Wrong audience: For your story to be effective, you have to connect with the right people. You can have a great hook, great transformation, but it will be for nothing if you connect with the wrong audience. For example, if your audience is investors, you won’t speak to them like they are teenagers and vice versa.

2. Wrong inspiration: Moving stories are based on something real. Luhn says, “One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was don’t be clever. Don’t try to create a story thinking that this is what people want to hear. Speak from your heart.” Your story should come from a personal experience. In Finding Nemo, for example, the helicopter father and son relationship in the movie came from the fact that many of the filmmakers were first-time parents and were worried about their children.

3. Wrong organization: Many presentations fail because people do not follow the basic story organization that humanity has used for thousands of years. Luhn says, “We love Act 1, Act 2, and Act 3, the hero’s journey.” Your story should have a clear beginning, middle and end.

And by the end, Luhn says, a great story should have made you feel something. If you incorporate all these techniques into your presentation, you should have ideas that people will not only remember, but will also change their hearts and minds.

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Kyle Crocco is an East Coast native and content creator for Big Speak. His career has taken him from authoring the Heroes, Inc. series, to living and teaching abroad in France and China, to completing his Ph.D. in Education at the University of California-Santa Barbara. He is also the lead singer for Duh Professors, a local Santa Barbara band.

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The Golden State Warriors won their third championship in four years last night, defeating their old rivals, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

While their third championship seemed like a foregone conclusion, it wasn’t always that way. When Joe Lacob and Peter Guber purchased the Warriors in 2010 the Warriors were more likely to miss the playoffs completely than ever win a championship.

After purchasing the team, Lacob and Guber both used their respective skills to overhaul the franchise. Lacob used his analytic experience to construct an elite team and front office, while Guber used his entertainment background to improve the fan experience and rewrite the team’s story to be a successful one.

The Warriors were one of the first adopters of SportVU and Synergy Sports, two data analytic services. By using data analysis, the Warriors were able to improve players on offense, defense, and better understand when starters should be rested. This has resulted in a well-energized team that can dominate during the regular season and the playoffs.

Today, Guber’s “golden touch” has continued as co-owner of the L.A. Dodgers and the LA Football Club. The Dodgers reached their first World Series in 2017.

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The content writers at BigSpeak Speakers Bureau are Experts on the Experts. They hold doctoral, masters, and bachelors’ degrees in business, writing, literature, and education. Their business thought pieces are published regularly in leading business publications. Working in close association with the top business, entrepreneur, and motivational speakers, BigSpeak content writers are at the forefront of industry trends and research.

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Ian Siegel is an entrepreneur speaker, CEO and co-founder of ZipRecruiter, who speaks on the future of work. When Siegel founded ZipRecruiter in 2010, he had a mission to make hiring easier by creating an online platform that would enable companies to post to multiple free job boards with a single submission.

Now over 120 million people have used ZipRecruiter and 80% of recruiters who post through the site get a quality candidate in just one day. While the company is still pre-IPO, it has been valued up to 1 billion dollars.

Working on ZipRecruiter has helped make Siegel a thought leader on the future of work and hiring. Using data from ZipRecruiter, Siegel has a pretty good idea of what’s trending in the work world—not only what jobs are available but also how people are looking for jobs.

How we search

When Siegel started ZipRecruiter, only 20 percent of people searched for work by mobile phone. Now 65 percent of people search for jobs on phones or tablets. This has changed job searching in two ways.

First, people search for jobs on their phone like they do dating apps, such as Tinder. Instead of a list of jobs, it’s more convenient for people to look at jobs one at a time; then swipe left or right to accept or reject a job application.

Second, the much-hated cover letter is on the decline. Since documents are difficult to send on a mobile phone or tablet, Siegel has seen a decline in the use of cover letters and an increase in organic interaction between employee and recruiter. More people now write a paragraph to inquire about the job and start a conversation.

How we match

The online hiring process has moved from a searching paradigm to a matching paradigm. In the past, Siegel said the process used to be more about serendipity. A person needing a job just happened to be on a job search board and just happened to find a job that was of interest.

Now Siegel says matching algorithms have sped up the process. Today when a company posts a job, the computer system immediately parses the descriptions, matches it with resumes on file, sends job seekers an alert, and within seconds, people are applying for jobs.

What’s trending

The job market is changing much faster than our education system. It’s difficult to prepare young people for specific jobs that will be available in the future.

While there’s still a need for traditional jobs, such as construction and data science, jobs such as ethical self-driving car hacker, 3D-printed footwear designer, and robotic medicine are completely new to the marketplace.

It’s not just these sci-fi jobs that are new and different. Siegel noted there has been a 445 percent growth in the marijuana industry jobs in 2017 due to the legalization of cannabis. Compare this to the growth of technology jobs at 245 percent and the healthcare industry at 74 percent, and you can see how in some job sectors you can’t always plan for growth.

Therefore, Siegel suggests we should stop trying to change education curriculums based on what we think future job openings will be because you can’t always predict them. Rather, we need to teach people to be lifelong learners so they can change and adapt to different industries. And, moreover, we need to teach people to be entrepreneurs so they can create businesses and work for themselves.

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Kyle Crocco is the Content Marketing Coordinator at BigSpeak Speakers Bureau, a graduate of UC Santa Barbara, and the lead singer of Duh Professors. He regularly publishes business book reviews and thought articles on Medium, Business 2 Community, and Born 2 Inv

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In case you missed the Omar Johnson Show at the 2018 Pitney Bowes Retail (R)Evolution, here are the highlights and tokens of wisdom he imparted on all your competitors who made it to the conference:

Product is king

Instead of convoluted ad campaigns and roundabout wordplay, Johnson made Beats’ product the center of their marketing strategy. Beats headphones were the focal point of every campaign and you could see them plastered on anything Beats put out.

It’s all about the people

He integrated people into the marketing strategy in two ways: by creating meaningful connections and keeping it young. In the video below, you’ll hear a story about how he created an intimate “hand-to-hand, eye-to-eye”  connection with Kobe Bryant that made Beats, and the attention that came with the product, the most sought-after headphone on the market.

He also kept it young. In a brilliant tactical move, Johnson targeted the 18-24 age demographic, simply because everyone wants to be that age: younger kids can’t wait to be 18 and older folks wish they still were in their 20s.

Move culture with storytelling

Johnson believes you need to be authentic while creating the story you see for your company. He defines being authentic as “saying everything you’re afraid to say.” Beats listened to athletes and employees, heard their fears or hopes, and turned them into a story their consumers could relate to.

He also used storytelling to shape the public image of the company. Beats ran ads calling them the best and number one, even when they were somewhere closer to 10. But because people believed they were the top headphone company, they soon rose to be number one in 25 countries.

To hear more about storytelling, why data isn’t the key to successful marketing, and how to use fear to your advantage, listen to Omar Johnson’s keynote address.

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“My real job is to make rebuilding sexier than destruction. I do that through perfume.”

-Barb Stegemann

Peace through perfume. That’s Barb Stegemann’s mission. But it’s less about the perfume and more about the peace. In fact, the perfume fell into her lap while she was exploring solutions to end the opioid crisis in Afghanistan after her friend—a soldier—was wounded in the war.

She found the farmers in Afghanistan had little to no choice in growing poppy crops to sell to drug lords. There wasn’t a comparable market for any other crop and to sustain a family they had to partake in opioid production.

Stegemann’s company, The 7 Virtues, was founded to create an alternative source of income for farmers in war-torn countries. By purchasing various crops from farmers to make scents for her fragrance brand, Stegemann provided farmers from Afghanistan, Haiti, Israel, Iran, Rwanda, India, and Madagascar with an alternative to joining the drug world.

“Today, The 7 Virtues works with farmers around the world to secure natural, organic, and fair trade essential oils that create long-lasting fragrances and provide jobs, dignity, and security to the farmers and their families,” said Stegemann.

As a socially conscious and environmentally friendly brand, every scent is vegan, cruelty-free, organic, all-natural, and fair trade. The new Peace Eau du Parfum (EDP) collection has been selected for Sephora’s new Clean Beauty Initiative.

The new Peace EDP collection includes seven scents:

• Orange Blossom (Afghanistan)
• Rose Amber (Afghanistan)
• Vetiver Elemi (Haiti)
• Grapefruit Lime (Israel & Iran)
• Patchouli Citrus (Rwanda)
• Jasmine Neroli (India)
• Vanilla Woods (Madagascar)

In 2017, Stegemann created a documentary following the plight of these farmers, the drug crisis and her role in aiding the situation. Perfume Wars won Best Humanitarian Film in the 2017 Sedona Film Festival and Audience Choice at the Sonoma Film Festival. The documentary can be found on iTunes and Netflix. She is also the author of the bestselling book The 7 Virtues of a Philosopher Queen. 

To learn more about Barb Stegemann, her story and The 7 Virtues new line check out Sephora’s online store.

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Original article by Glenn Llopis can be found on Forbes. 

Corporate playbooks are loaded with buzzwords and politically twisted terms that create more confusion than clarity.  Having studied them for years, I am convinced that was the intention. The more confused people are, the more they are willing to assimilate to what the business wants them to be.  In fact, per my organization’s research 85% of people go to work conflicted between what their organization and supervisors want them to be rather than what they seek to be themselves as they pursue fulfillment in accomplishing their career goals. Unfortunately, the corporate playbook created this conflict and today we are experiencing more uncertainty about what leadership truly means and whether or not the right people are in leadership roles. No wonder we are in hyper change and transformation mode. No wonder 40% of leaders are ill-prepared to lead during these times of uncertainty.

As organizations search for new ways to drive growth, they are realizing that the corporate playbook has grown outdated . To compete in today’s new workplace and marketplace it requires a renewed focus on serving the unique needs of the individual employee and consumer whom are more multi-generational, multi-cultural, multi-gender, multi-mindset and multi-tenured than ever before. For leaders to remain relevant they must shift their thinking from command and control to serving inclusion and individuality. Why? Because the business no longer defines the individual. The balance of power has shifted to the individual defining the business. The abundance of differences has created a unique set of obstacles in the workplace that has made it much more difficult to drive growth in the marketplace.  A dynamic that the corporate playbook was not originally designed to serve.

For organizations to grow and evolve, they must solve for individuality. To do this, they must move the individual employee and consumer (and all their combined differences) to the center of their corporate growth and transformation strategy. Yes, this will create disruption because organizations were not designed to solve for the unique needs of the individual. They were taught and designed to control the individual. Organizations must now listen more intentionally, learn to embrace and be more mindful about how differences create opportunities previously unseen and renew their own mindset through the perspectives of those same individuals that are now in control.

Organizations and their leaders must be more open-minded than ever to transform themselves through the lens of the individual. They no longer have a choice. This begins by leaders taking the time to reacquaint themselves with their employees, colleagues and teams: who they are as individuals, what they stand for and what’s unique about the ways they think. Learning more intimately about what gives them distinction in how they can best contribute to the organization’s goals and objectives.

To do this, organizations must create inclusive workplace environments that allow for their employees’ individuality to influence strategies, decision making, new ways of doing things (methods), outcomes and opportunities – the corporate playbook didn’t account for enough.

But this requires a growth mindset. A mindset that demands leaders to be authentic in how they think, act and influence. Authenticity is crucial for leaders to create safe inclusive environments where vulnerability and ones’ ideals are not judged and where leaders can create a culture that best serves the unique needs of the individual.

Leaders that are in search of how to bring their most authentic selves to work should consider the following three variables that reveal their true leadership identity:

1. Yourself

For the past 10 years, my organization has researched behavioral tendencies of Fortune 500 workplace cultures, teams, and leaders. We’ve concluded that the terms: “bringing your whole self”; your “most authentic self” – are overused terms that create more conflict then resolution. Especially when a leader who is supposed to be respected, is not.  Because they themselves are battling the gulf between assimilation and authenticity. So what does authenticity mean? After 10 years, here is my organization’s definition: The ability to influence through consistent behavior that reveals your individual capabilities, experiences and values without limitations regardless of the audience before you. So when do you know that you have been successful at being your most authentic self? Success lies within the alignment between what people expect from you and what you want them to expect from you.

Questions for reflection: Do you play it safe as a leader and assimilate to what others want you to be? Or do you have the courage to be your most authentic self in everything you do and how you do it?

2. Your Workplace

As a leader, you co-exist amongst multiple conflicting mindsets.  In addition to your workplace that is more multi-generational, multi-cultural, and multi-gender, – it is more multi-mindset and multi-tenured than ever before. For example, you have people that have worked in your organization for 25-plus years. Though most of them are unwilling to adopt new ways of thinking, they are still convinced that the old ways still work. Then you have people who have been with the company for 10-12 years. They are the most conflicted because they are trying to bridge old and new school ways of doing things.  And finally, you have an employee population that has been with the organization less than 5 years and are hopeful that their fresh perspectives and forward thinking approaches that disrupt the status quo can be adopted.

Questions for reflection:  In today’s highly conflicted workplace, do people know who you are and what you represent as a leader? Or are you perceived as another inauthentic leader that is playing the part to be accepted across the enterprise.

3. Those You Associate With The Most

Do you gravitate toward like-mindedness or differences? More than 85% of leaders gravitate toward those who are like-minded because they feel safe enough to share their ideas or ideals without being judged. In today’s world of work that is fueled by differences, leaders must have the wisdom to see like-mindedness within differences. But this demands authenticity. Being aware of your own authenticity gives you the self-trust to know and appreciate your own differences and how others tend to accept them or not. Perhaps this explains why it is easier for leaders who bring their most authentic selves to work – to appreciate the differences in others and know how to activate the unique ways one’s differences can influence (beyond their job title and job description).

Questions for reflection: Do you know what gives you distinction? Does your professional network represent and strengthen what makes you distinct? Do you associate yourself with leaders, lifters, loafers or leeches? Are those that you associate yourself with self-aware enough to know how to bring their most authentic selves to work? Do they hold you accountable to do the same?

The need to maximize the utilization of human capital is at an all-time-high. But this is impossible when leaders and employees are unable to bring their most authentic selves to work. This is how organizations can most effectively create teams of individuals that have a true sense of belonging that function together as part of a healthy whole. It’s how organizations can best grow and evolve by developing leaders and employees who are encouraged to use their individuality in ways that play to their strengths – so they can impact and influence the future.