50:22
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
people, pivot, leaders, business, peer groups, book, clarity, acquisitions, helped, person, year, momentum, Lori, write, coaching, word, pandemic, change, clear, financial analyst
SPEAKERS
Lori Michele Leavitt, Damon Pistulka
Damon Pistulka 00:04
All right, everyone, welcome once again to the faces of business. I’m your host, Damon Pistulka. And I’m excited for our guests today, because I’ve got Lori Michelle Leavitt here today from a bridge Corp. And we are talking to the pivot catalyst herself. Welcome, Lori. Glad to be here. Well, this is interesting, because you’ve been the pivot catalyst a bit before we’ve heard this word as much as we did the last two years.
Lori Michele Leavitt 00:38
Yeah, you know, it’s been in the startup space for a long time. And actually, it was the use of that term in the startups world that caused me to look at it and go, this is where I fit because in organizations that have more than one or two people, it’s not quick, it is just pivots are not sustainable pivots are not quick. They are orchestrated many people many shifts over time. And so it just was nagging at me. So I was doing this for a while. And then I wrote a book on that same topic.
Damon Pistulka 01:21
All right. So in you said something, we’ll, we’ll get back to this because I want to I want to talk about the pivots, obviously. So tell us a little bit about your background. So we can kind of understand how you’ve gotten where you are today. And being the pivot catalyst.
Lori Michele Leavitt 01:39
Okay, so I color my gray hair. So how far back do you want to go? Well, well just start with the career. You mentioned before we got on air about my financial background. And yes, I have all those letters after my name. I was a financial analyst, internal to business. So some people call it management accountants, some people call it financial analysts. Basically, I was the person that was looked to for decision support.
I put together all the budgets, I helped with strategy. I did all the variance analysis, I’m the one that said this is the information that will help them make the best decisions. And now, of course, I do that for myself. And I do that for my clients. So that’s, I was in corporate for about 17 years, I started my business in late 2000. And typical journey of an expert, I started as a consultant. And then almost immediately, I saw a need for a software solution in the HIPAA space, healthcare, privacy security.
So my first software helped most many large and all of all sizes, healthcare organizations move through this privacy and security regulations more quickly. And, and with better performance on the outset, not just compliance. And so that got me interested in wow, you know, I really, truly can serve by creating software for the world. So now I wear all of those hats. I still do consulting, I do coaching. I have a software company, all of it. catalyze was momentum for leaders and teams, everything I do the books, my speaking, everything is about catalyzing momentum,
Damon Pistulka 03:40
catalyzing momentum. I gotta write that down. So we can talk about that in a moment. So when you look at the, the path you’ve taken, now, it’s okay, she started out as, as a financial analyst, you had your own company software company. This is not a typical path for people that are doing the coaching. And like you’re doing now, I would think that very well, you know, I’ll
Lori Michele Leavitt 04:13
tell you what I’ve been trying to think of when my eyes open to why this was a fit one. When you’re doing when you’re really good at financial analysts and analysis inside of companies, you get to know people. Because how on earth can you help others make decisions if you’re not getting the truth from people?
And if you’re not getting input, like before, you have to go ask? So I was the person in accounting that would go out and walk around and talk to people and meet with all the different departments and divisions. So that was the start of it. I did a lot of mergers and acquisitions. And when I did that, in the early days, I actually so I knew that They’re almost all acquisitions. So I’ll just sit use that word. I knew that almost all acquisitions involved some issues with cultural fit. And it wasn’t just the due diligence. Okay, is this person hiding unpaid checks in their drawer?
Yes, we did check for that. But we also, you know, we also wanted to check the people. Well, I had to hide that early on in my days, because my bosses just wanted to know that I was they just wanted my great financial models. They just wanted the financial expertise, they didn’t really want to know about the people, which is, as we know, today, ridiculous. And spill, it’s an area where many companies fall down. So all of this, you know, becoming just like anything. It’s not that I all of a sudden went, Oh, well, now I want to be the pivot catalyst. It’s just that I found the right words for what I do.
Damon Pistulka 06:03
Okay. Very good. And you’re right. In acquisitions, the understanding the culture is, is sorely lacking. And most people that are in investment buyers and a across the board, and I don’t think hopefully, the larger transactions, they’re doing a lot more of it because it’s significant. When you look at something like that put in two different cultures that clash together.
Lori Michele Leavitt 06:31
You know, I’m, I’m seeing some learning out there. Absolutely. In my books, I write about Microsoft, and I think Satya Nadella is doing just some wonderful things. And it’s not that the leaders before him were bad. And we like to pick on Ballmer, because he’s so different to how Nadella is, but that seemed right for the time, it might have gone a little exactly yond. It’s time, but it was all about competition. And yet during those times, there’s also some of that, no at all. adness if that’s even a term, and that’s when you miss those culture clashes.
So that’s I don’t know if it was during his time or gates time when say the Avenue A acquisition happened. And then it was written off. I mean, Nokia wasn’t a culture thing. It was just a different reason why it didn’t work. But Avenue A, they didn’t want to work at Microsoft. So it was written off. And this is in the 2000s. So it’s taking us a lot of time, a long time. To really get and with acquisitions. It’s also difficult because so much is hush-hush, you’re not going to go into each organization and start assessing people,
Damon Pistulka 07:46
specifically, openly and
Lori Michele Leavitt 07:50
this acquisition, so I get it, I get that it’s difficult. But I will tell you, there are ways to do it.
Damon Pistulka 07:56
Yeah, yeah, that’s for sure. So you just Finish, finish the book, pivot to clarity. It talks about it says right on and just get clear for yourself and be so you can be clear for others. What really inspired you to write this latest book?
Lori Michele Leavitt 08:18
Well, two things. One is in the first book, I identify, identify a state that I see organizations are in when they are kicking on all cylinders. So as we say that they really are in the position to even have breakthrough performance, what they didn’t even expect. Yeah. And it’s a state that I call aligned momentum. And because I’m a financial person, this is where it shows up, you got to measure it, you don’t get what you don’t measure, right.
So how How on earth am I going to measure this? This is also one of the difficulties organizations have because the qualitative stuff is harder to measure. And so I wasn’t going to write a book or even state that I’m looking for the state of align momentum without telling people, what on earth does it look like?
How do we know we’re there? So I talk about six align momentum key indicators. And the first one is clarity, getting clear for yourself and how you’re being clear with others. So I knew I was going to write six more books and clarity. Also, somewhat brought on because of the pandemic, someone because it’s the first just really felt like the right one to write today. I mean, we are, if there’s any time when our minds were muddy, it was during the pandemic. I mean, I’ll tell you it was hard to write the book. It was hard for me to be clear about getting clear.
Damon Pistulka 09:56
Yes. Well, and it’s I think it’s a nap trouble starting point two, as you figure your six, the six things you need to consider. Because if you don’t have clarity in where you’re going where you, you know, roadmap, whatever you want to call it, or destination, anything like that it’s like taking off and going on vacation but saying, I don’t know where we’re going, we’re gonna get in the car and go.
Lori Michele Leavitt 10:22
Yeah, well, here’s the tricky thing. So I don’t know how tricky it is. But I find it’s tricky for many leaders getting clear with you as a leader, and you’re there to set direction. What I find is that, so that level of getting clearer is more of a it’s less you know exactly how to get there. And most, most I find, and you know, we’re all we all want to do this, we want to know. So mostly, we walk into those strategic planning sessions, and we jump directly to year one.
And doing your five, three, whatever is just an exercise, it’s not even, no one’s really thinking outside of the box, letting themselves go, letting them think about this, or even talk about something that’s really far in the distance that’s fuzzy. But that could create that magnetic pole. That is what inspires everyone. So what happens is that go into and into the strategic planning session, come up with their one year strategic plan, create a budget from it, skip the budget to people, and somehow think that that’s inspiring. And I’ll tell you, I’ve created a lot of budgets, and I’m pretty good at it, but none of them are inspiring.
Damon Pistulka 11:51
You make great points there because that is you’ve described the annual budgeting process for most companies, and that the one year, you write it that says this is what we’re going to do this year, but it doesn’t lay out something that’s transformational, that’s really, you know, a true goal for the company that to aspire to, or whatever you want to say, it usually is within the confines of what we know now, this is where we’re gonna go, how we’re going to perform, unlike a three or five or even 10 year, where you can really lay out some of those broader goals that can really change your industry or, or your, you know, the lives of everyone that’s associated with your business.
Lori Michele Leavitt 12:43
Right. And that’s what I do with the software that I have today, which is a different software, which is, which is really working on that I call it a leadership operating system really working on that issue. Because the other thing that happens, even those that do take some time to think through at least a say a three year plan. And I say at least because yes, I know you can execute that today is moving too fast, you’re going to execute your one. All I’m saying is when I say get clear, I mean, go ahead and go to that. Where are you going towards, but just come up with the details. And it what happens is then there’s so many things that no one can measure.
And so that’s what I try to support with this. How do you measure that qualitative stuff, so that you don’t just have the strategic plan that goes on a shelf or in an online folder these days? And a budget? That looks like maybe a fourth of the strategic plan? Because it has, it can measure sales, and it can measure headcount. And there’s just not a lot much. Yeah, a lot else there. Yeah, it helps them really, really look at it in a more holistic way. Ah,
Damon Pistulka 14:07
yeah. Well, that’s, that’s interesting, because you really did capture in a nutshell, the difference between when you go beyond the first year budgeting, or you look out into the long term of trying to see where your company has gone. It’s not really there’s some numbers, but it’s, it’s really more of, we’re going to go in this direction, because we think it’s the biggest growth and then yes, it’s some estimated numbers. But those numbers aren’t even going to become close to materializing. The other parts of moving towards those industries or segments or opportunities is what you really need to be moving and that’s a lot more qualitative than quantitative.
Lori Michele Leavitt 14:53
Right? You do enough so that you know what steps you have to take. You do in Enough so that, you know, hey, if we want to do this, we need these kinds of people, I don’t think we, you know, let’s assess to see if we have them right now. Maybe we don’t, or we need to be more visible in this area or whatever fits your business. So that you have, you look out that far so that you can think of these, these key steps these milestones these more about how you how you will be than what you will do. As an organization.
Damon Pistulka 15:35
I’m thinking as you’re saying that, as you’re saying that, because I’m thinking of the leaders, that you’re helping do this, this is a crucial step for them to really think in multi year terms, because there’s a lot of organizations that you can’t make it multi year work, right? If you want to go into just whatever you want to go into a different industry, you want to branch you’re into a different market, or even just going from I only selling United States, and now I sell globally, it could be a multi year process.
And you’re absolutely right. It’s like, what kind of foundational things do I need to do today to be able to step on that build on that foundation tomorrow to go to the next step to finally get to that? Or a multi year timeframe? Hmm. Very cool. So as you’re writing this book, what were some of the things that you discovered? That you said, Hmm, this, this helped me a little bit with some clarity.
Lori Michele Leavitt 16:41
Yeah, well, I mentioned where it helped me with clarity. Well, one is anytime I write a book, I get better at being clear. Still, I do talks like I’m doing with you. And sometimes the host will ask a question, and then I listen back to the tape. And I realize I didn’t answer that question until way after I went into some stories, because something else was on my mind. And so when I’m writing a book, I have to force myself to Who am I talking to?
And how would I explain this? How would I express this to them? And how do I want them to feel when I do it? And bringing that back from that authoring process to real life is a continuous learning process. I mean, I’m still I’m not perfect at it. I’m, what’s one of my mentors, David Meltzer says, wonderfully imperfect. So I’m wonderfully imperfect today and probably tomorrow.
Damon Pistulka 17:47
There you go. That’s awesome. And it’s funny you say that because I interviewed Steve, human a few weeks ago, he’s the science fiction author. And he said, a very similar thing about when you write you have to think about how you want to make those people feel in your writing. And yeah, hmm.
Lori Michele Leavitt 18:11
The first book, not that it doesn’t have any heart. But the first book is much more what you would expect of a business book. They’re both very well researched. But the second one for me was harder. You know, I mentioned how so I was the expert, and I had to unlearn a lot to be this person that’s more of a coach. And it is more in living in curiosity, and being interested than being interesting and late lert living in, I’m the solutions person. And so, my first book, which is a fantastic book, it walks through, you know, what, why you want to do this orchestrating pivots and getting to align momentum.
And really how stepping from if you’re here, then you go here, and if you’re here, then you go here, with pivot to clarity. I really wanted a certain I want readers to feel a certain way I want it to mean no one chooses to change unless they feel inspired. Some words they read or hear, causes them to cause a something to click. And you’re not going to get that from instructional materials. That’s why so much training doesn’t work. It’s like, people need to get that information in a certain way and at a certain time, in order to choose. Choose to try something new. Choose to be vulnerable and look stupid for a while. In order to change.
Choose to start asking questions anytime they’re getting ready to give a solution. Choose to be the person who pushes through whatever is tough. I call it so nasty. You know, Tim will push through resistance and nose as a leader that other people are going to feel that resistance, and that they have what it takes to help others move through it. And getting someone to feel that way about themselves if they’re not there yet, is well, it’s something I’m working on doing. And I started with this second book.
Damon Pistulka 20:33
All right, that’s Yeah. So you mentioned you mentioned, this is something that I often wondered in in I see it happening in business. It seems like we talked about pivots in the sense of the last couple of years as those kind of things but we talk about, talk about business change over time.
And you’ve talked about pivoting and really what businesses need to do over time. Why is it? Do you think that it is so hard, it is so hard, even when it’s right in front of someone’s face, in these businesses, for leaders to take a hold of the fact that they need to make a change, and then actually follow through and get the changes made? It just seems like so many businesses just die, because they cannot make a pivot? Even when it’s so evident, right? It’s so evident that they will die if they don’t do it, but they can’t do it.
21:39
Yeah. Well,
Lori Michele Leavitt 21:43
I’m laughing because there’s so many different components of the answer for that. Yeah. And I also don’t want to say I have the answer, no, no, I would be the No at all. But here are my thoughts on that topic. One, we need to let go and not have to know, we do not always have to be the expert. If we have to know we’ve automatically created resistance for ourselves, and probably everyone else around us, so that they’re not going to step up and help. Another is that we, you, you really need to have a purpose for why you’re doing what you do. When I say look into the future. I’m also saying it’s a North Star. That’s why I said it’s a magnetic pole. It’s that purpose.
I go through really tough stuff. But that purpose, knowing that I have a reason for going through it, that worthy goal, that purpose I have pulls me through those tough times. When you don’t have it, when you’re just solving one problem after another, and one looks too difficult, you’re just gonna let it go. Because there’s no reason to push through. Now, there are some times that, that if it’s really hard, you should say no. And I had to work on that because I was on never give her upper. And sometimes you’re if you look into the future, you’ll see that you can keep pushing and trying and maybe you’re feeling pulled by a purpose.
But let’s say it has no economic engine at the end. May you find some facts change like you think it did, but then you realize, maybe you’re heading into a new market and someone gets there first. No, that’s a simple answer to that. But then maybe you do change your mind right? Maybe you don’t keep going. But that’s a conscious choice. That’s a alright the facts have changed. So now I’m going to change this destination I’m going to but if you don’t look far enough out you’re just solving one thing at a time resistance will slap you down every time it happens yeah,
Damon Pistulka 24:19
yeah. I it comes the word ego comes back into my mind, do you think that leaders their ego just hit some as they don’t know. They don’t know. They’re eager won’t allow them to appear to others. Like we don’t know how we’re gonna go there. But we need to go here. And since they can’t say that, that holds them back from even doing anything.
Lori Michele Leavitt 24:47
We you know, ego is just that we’re human. And I think you’re talking about that. Their belief system makes them feel like they need to know it all. Yeah, yeah, that is a block. Absolutely. That is a hindrance. And I talk about that a lot in my book too. And I have someone read it and they went, can you talk about No at all is a lot?
And I think in part is because I was one. I mean, it is a challenge for many of us achievers. Because people look to us to know. And it’s so it’s not always coming from a place of Well, I don’t think I was ever arrogance. It’s not coming from a place of arrogance. It’s coming a place from where defined by it, if that makes sense. Oh, it does. One thing I’ll say is that it’s not your fault. It’s your default. You’ve been doing it that way for so many years. So one of the chapters, I devote an entire chapter to the book and pivot a pivot to clarity on hope, and fear.
And I actually include that in this in the part on being clear on how you can be clear with others, because you need to understand fears, in order for your message to land. If you’re just spewing out your words, then you’re in the wrong place. Wrong time. wrong set of people, your words are causing defenses to raise up, you’re starting with story instead of the point when you’re in business. People are their fears are going to be coming to the surface. But the first thing to understand are your own fears. What are those things? Are you afraid to be vulnerable? Are you afraid to look stupid?
Damon Pistulka 26:42
Yeah. Because you see that holding people back every day? Are anybody anyway? And I don’t think anyone, as you said, is immune to it. That’s for sure. And even though we know, everybody’s afraid, we all have we all are human in and we need to be able to share that appropriately. And move forward. I just Yeah.
Lori Michele Leavitt 27:15
But it’s really hard to understand, are there blind, many times their blind spots, their blind spots, if we’re doing something, and we don’t know where you are, for example, it’s possible that when I was showing up, but I’m sure I was as a No at all, that I felt that I was helping the person by being that, that they needed that from me. And so that would have been a blind spot. So one of the reasons I started leadership peer groups, was because I hadn’t had people to identify my blind spots.
Now, that wasn’t the one that was the hardest on me, the hardest on me was that I was this expert in decision support. And yet, I failed in making decisions about executive level people when I started my business. And I had millions flow out to them, unfortunately, and, and, you know, huge lesson, and I had to, on my own, figure out that I was the theme in this story, and what on earth was I doing? Or you know, who I was attracting or who I was allowing to be in that circle? And I just switched up that circle. But it would have been so much easier if I’d had a peer group around me that could have helped me identify those blind spots.
Damon Pistulka 28:41
Yeah, that, you know, if there is one thing I see that has really, to me anyway changed a lot in the last few years anyway, the last five or so is the rise of the mastermind or peer groups where you truly do have more people working together that can help each other from a peer level like that. And you’ve done a lot of that the pure peer group coaching, what are some of the things and you brought it up? So I’m gonna ask a couple of questions. What are some of the things that you really see when you get these good peer groups going? What are some of the benefits that these executives see?
Lori Michele Leavitt 29:22
Oh, my word. I mean, one of the reasons I still do it is it’s so rewarding to see the transformations and it’s not me, I just create the space for it. And, you know, as a good facilitator, you recognize when a conversation is going a certain way or when people are really needing to ask a question or something like that. So I have seen, I’ve seen businesses go from hugely in debt to multi million dollar businesses, and the leader just Feeling so relieved. And you know, this huge burden. And he did it. You know him himself? He did. I mean, we didn’t do it for him.
I have seen marriages improve. I mean, go figure that’s, that’s, you know, I’m not a life coach. That’s about me. Yeah, I have seen people just understanding their business better. For example, if they’re not seeing financials, timely. And I might say, you need to see the financials, timing yet, you know your business better than anyone, what would you measure? Like, if they’re in construction? What does it mean? If you have pipe on the job site a month before you need to place it? What does that mean to your business? They’re things that they know.
And no one’s ever just called it out. I’ve had people, many of them have finally fired someone who was toxic. They were afraid to do it before then. And because they’re all good people right in there. Yes. Always thinking, you know, we need them other people like them? Did we fail them? Did we not train them enough? And now they’re just toxic? Get rid of them? Yeah, knowing that they had done, you know, everything that they could and the person just didn’t choose to change? So I’ve seen wonderful things like that.
Damon Pistulka 31:28
Yeah. Yeah. Those toxic people where they just can’t get over, it can’t get away from it. Okay. Yeah, it’s ever been in I think, at almost any organization, there’s a level of that, and it’s how much of it? Will the leaders choose to accept? And, and to? How much do they how much behavior they display obviously sets the groundwork for a lot of it. But yeah, so what do you enjoy the most about peer group coaching?
Lori Michele Leavitt 32:05
Well, that the transformations? I mean, absolutely, the fact that I, so again, you know, as a, as a consultant, whether it was inside the business or outside of the business, I will give the advice and the guidance, and, you know, they’ll end up taking it, it’ll sustain or not, but when you’re working with these peer groups in a coaching fashion, and they’re working with each other when they become better leaders themselves, because they learn this method of questioning. And to see people choosing to change, you know, it’s going to stick because they’ve chosen to
Damon Pistulka 32:48
that is that is very cool. Because you get to see them when they make that choice to change, and then start doing it. Yes. Yeah.
Lori Michele Leavitt 33:01
And that was that I work with? I don’t, I mean, everyone that I bring into the group is very selective. They have courage, curiosity and tenacity. It’s not like I’m bringing know-it-alls into the group. And now they’re not being a No at all. So I never know what the transformation is going to be. But I’ve seen one in almost every person that has been through my groups.
33:29
Very cool.
Damon Pistulka 33:32
I’ve always wondered about this, how hard is it to pair put the right people in the group together very hard. I always thought that would be the hardest thing to do is like,
Lori Michele Leavitt 33:42
especially in a small community. So I’m, I’m starting global remote groups. Yeah. And I love seeing people face to face. So there’ll be adventures involved where everybody can get together because like, I just love that idea. But it’s easier to feel safe. When you don’t live in the same community. With everyone else.
Damon Pistulka 34:10
Yeah. Yeah. Imagine
Lori Michele Leavitt 34:13
otherwise, you could put together a group and it just wouldn’t be transformational. It would be what many masterminds are, which are tips and tricks. Yeah. It’s not so hard to fill a group for tips and tricks. It’s just not what I choose to do.
Damon Pistulka 34:29
Yeah. Yeah. Describe in your words, what transformational means.
Lori Michele Leavitt 34:38
So when the terms choosing to change, so transformational is, is something where you, you have become different in a way that you wouldn’t have even thought of when you started.
Damon Pistulka 34:59
Very cool. Yeah, because I wanted to hear it from you to sell the we I understood and everyone else listened understood because I think that’s when you see those kinds of things happen. And you really see that one plus one equals three or four or five. You it’s a special thing. And yeah. Awesome. Awesome. So this is one of six that you’re going to be writing. So the one of seven Oh, you want everyone on mute again? Sorry or something came out showing that you’re on mute from here not hearing it. I’m trying to unmute it. It says the mic is not connected
36:20
there we go. No,
Damon Pistulka 36:22
I got you again. There we go. Yeah, it was weird
Lori Michele Leavitt 36:26
range. Oh, I was just waiting. Your questions. No,
Damon Pistulka 36:29
there you go. That’s cool. So you got so how many more books? It’s not five. No, it’s not
Lori Michele Leavitt 36:36
the pin three more history. The pivot orchestrating extraordinary momentum was the first book and it identify six align momentum key indicators. And so there are six smaller, I call them airplane reads on each of those indicators. So there’s a total of seven. All right, and there’s a total of five out now. I mean, there’s total of two out now excuse me, there’s five remaining.
Damon Pistulka 37:03
I read.
Lori Michele Leavitt 37:06
There’s my financial prowess.
Damon Pistulka 37:08
Yeah. That’s, well, I went to school for engineering. And you’re supposed to be good at math when you go to school for engineering, but it’s not really that way. In some cases, the. So do you have a schedule that you’re going to release these you’re planning on doing them every year, because
Lori Michele Leavitt 37:28
you’re running on a year and a half for each? Okay, if I could do one in a year, that would be great. I don’t know how people do them faster. I think they have teams that are doing the writing or something, I have no idea or they’re completely prescriptive, prescriptive. Instructional, when they’re, these books just don’t come out this one.
The next one I’m doing is on talent, adaptability. It’s actually the fifth line momentum key indicator, but I think it is the next one that’s most needed in our world today. And it requires interviews. So I’ll just shout that out. Because I am starting to interview academics that are in this space. I am interviewing CEOs, futurists, those that are strategic and human resources that have some input on talent, adaptability. There’s a lot to it.
Damon Pistulka 38:34
Yeah. Well, wow.
Lori Michele Leavitt 38:39
That’s all my books are in three sections, and this one, so on pivot to clarity, the three sections are first getting clear for you this next section Part, Part Two is on how you’re being clear communicating with others. And then the last part is more of if you’re here, then go here, but in pivot to clarity, it’s more about asking questions. So I provide questions that they could ask that is helping to everyone for everyone to get more.
Damon Pistulka 39:14
Oh, it’s muted again.
Lori Michele Leavitt 39:15
I’m sorry. It’s doing it on its own. Yeah.
Damon Pistulka 39:19
We’ll get around it.
Lori Michele Leavitt 39:21
And so, this one, the first section is going to be on how do we as leaders actually have some idea of how talents to adapt for the future? How do we know and then the next part will be on if once we have an idea, how on earth are we going to motivate, inspire for the changes and others?
Yes, it is not certainly being in a state of align momentum will help but This is not the pandemic. I mean, you mentioned that at the beginning, everybody pivoted quickly. But it is not sustainable. They are overwhelmed. The cultural changes needed for line momentum were not set. And so going to people now and saying we’ll just adapt, and they’re gonna say, why. Yeah, you don’t have that. Well, there’s a pandemic note. Well, yeah, there’s still have one, but it’s just not the same urgency.
Damon Pistulka 40:27
Yeah, well, and the, I said, here, I think about it is so key to be able to hire people that have adaptability, that the people are able to adapt to the different changing situations, because it is another thing that’s killed so many businesses, they don’t, they don’t adapt. And it starts with the leaders you talked about before. But identifying people that have the traits that will really allow them to be more adaptive than others, is such a gift if you can do it,
Lori Michele Leavitt 41:01
right. And it’s more than just skills, for example. So my development team is mostly in India, and India has a huge political uprisings right now. And they keep shutting off the internet, and sometimes even shutting off power. Uh, well, that’s, that’s not good for business. No. I know.
Not only do I know that the person has the skills, those skills are helping me right now during this, but I know that whenever he has the chance, it doesn’t matter what hour of the day it is, if it comes back on, he’s on and finding out what help we need. Yeah, that’s, that’s a values thing. That’s that is what helps me make the choice will Why would I get rid of them during this temporary time to find someone new if I have this person who is kind of be there whenever he can? And he just can’t right now?
Damon Pistulka 42:06
Yeah. Yeah, that’s a great example. That’s a great example. Because we, as leaders, if you can identify the people that are going to be able to be like that it’s in these unless, let’s just be honest, if I think anyway, I want to hear your opinion, if leaders aren’t adapting to the fact that they should constantly be in a state of pivoting ever so slightly, but continuously. In the old days, we call it continuous improvement. But that was around process and things I’m talking around business. I just don’t think that they’re, they’re ever going to be able to really keep up. Because there’s so many things happening.
Lori Michele Leavitt 42:56
And I will add that it includes them. Oh, yes. Yeah, just about everybody else. Yeah,
Damon Pistulka 43:03
yes. Well, I, I posted about this yesterday on LinkedIn, I said, what, what most people don’t realize is the changes outside of us, and especially at leaders to start within us. If it doesn’t start within you, it’s never gonna get outside. And it doesn’t matter if it’s you with one person, or if you with 1000 people, it’s got to start inside. And if you’re ready to do it, you got to do it and make those changes.
And because it’s, yeah, it’s not just on the outside. But this is the thing that we see. We talked about a while ago, people won’t businesses won’t make the change, leaders won’t make the change and businesses will die. And coming out of this. There, there’s a whole subset of businesses that don’t want to face the reality that our ecosphere. Again, this is just my opinion, has changed forever, or at least for the foreseeable future. And the fact that a lot of business went digital that won’t come back to in person. And people changed the way that they had to do business. But they found some things they liked about remote work is an example.
You know, it’s some people think, well, we’re all going back the office. I don’t know, there’s some that should and need to, but is everyone I don’t I don’t think that’s going to be acceptable that for everyone to do that anymore. And the people that think that this is going to go back and we’re going to be I just think that they’re going to follow the wayside and this this continual evolution of change. Yeah, we had a sidetrack here, but it’s always been there. I think it just got accelerated and you’re one QA, pivot to clarity, getting people clear on the fact that they need to be ready for this. And they need to be clear where they’re going, and why they’re going there. I think it’s so helpful.
Lori Michele Leavitt 45:12
So, yep, yeah, we just had a talk about this, this remote work in our group the other day. And it is, it is a challenge. And I just loved the leader who was expressing her angst with people not wanting to come back in, because she’d let them be out. But them but that’s just you know, and they didn’t, they didn’t want to require people to come back in, they wanted to have people to choose to come back in.
But she’s bringing interns into our business, and the interns have no middle management. It’s like an intern and top management and middle management all wants to stay remote. And so the people that are coming into the office don’t have the experience they would need. And so of course, the leader sees a challenge with labor in the future. And so, you know, what do you do? And I appreciated one of the things she said, she said, Do I need to change my view on this? And we talked about words, because one of the reasons, many leaders say they want people back in the office is collaboration.
And I love the word collaboration, do not get me wrong. I’m just saying that it is if you have a word, that’s a hot word, where people are saying, Wait, we’re just as collaborative. Would we’re not in the office, then you got to rethink the word. You either have to It’s similar to a value. I have had one, one member who they hadn’t defined what respect meant, and someone else and someone toxic in their workplace said, Well, I’m being respectful, like, and finally they just said, Well, that’s not respect means here. Like that’s what they had to resort to. But you got to define what you mean by that. Because it’s so easy to, for people to say, oh, yeah, we’re just as collaborative.
So she, we used the word connection, I said, Well, what about that word? Don’t use that one. And why and know why is connection important to that organization? And why isn’t connection important to them? Why would they want connection? And I’m not saying that’s the answer. I’m just saying we really, we need to think that’s part about being clear to getting your message across is, and it helps you get clear when you’re being clear. Yes, yes. To think about the words you’re using. And if you’re hitting a wall, think about using different words.
Damon Pistulka 47:49
Yes. Yes. No, I think I love it. And that’s why I brought it up. Because I think that it really the you’re talking about the need to get in this continual pivot, but not like 90 degrees, these to keep things moving. So everybody’s used to the pivot, comfortable with the pivot and just keeps going. But yeah, the remote work thing, I think is, is that that’s, that’s a multi year conversation. And, you know, the only thing that I’ve seen from it is that people need to be more intentional about the way they lead in a remote setting. And you and you don’t have that, like you said, the middle management may not have as much interaction with an intern, or a new person.
If it’s not intentional. And cuz I’ve seen I’ve seen while my son, he works remote, and I’ve seen how they were very, very intentional about how they did it. And it turned out pretty well. But, you know, that’s, that’s for another day. But, Lori, I want to thank you, I am so happy we got the chance to talk because you know, your book, pivot to clarity. Good stuff, can’t wait for the other ones to come out. Because I think, Wow, is it going to be good? They’re going to be good. Any final thoughts for people that are listening?
Lori Michele Leavitt 49:17
Oh, no. I’m happy to answer any questions people have.
Damon Pistulka 49:21
Yeah, good, good. Well, we didn’t get any questions today. We had Teesha said, Hey, she liked your definition. We were talking earlier about transformational and then Mike is just the guy. No, he’s going insane. Hello. So that’s what we got today. But thanks so much for being here. Where can they find your book? You can find it on Amazon. I know I’ve seen the push
Lori Michele Leavitt 49:43
it up a landing page for pivot to clarity so that I could offer a few videos and some other things if people wanted to get the book and then come back and give me their name and that’s just pivot to clarity.com.
Damon Pistulka 49:57
Very good, very good. Then go to 50 clarity they can also To connect with Lori Michelle love it on LinkedIn, my
Lori Michele Leavitt 50:03
website, they can go to the pivot catalyst.com. All right,
Damon Pistulka 50:08
very good. Well, we’ll have those in the show notes as well. Thank you so much Lori, for being here. Thanks, everyone for listening. Hold on just a second Lori and we’ll talk after we get off the air. Okay. Thanks, everyone.
