Liz Guthridge is a Charleston, South Carolina-based coach, consultant and trainer who specializes in employee engagement and creating high performing teams. She runs the award-winning management consulting group Connect Consulting, where she uses Neuroscientific insights to help organizations unlock their true performance potential.

Liz regaled us with some amazing stories - including the lessons she learned hawking peanuts at minor league baseball games that she carries with her to this day. She also gave us a fabulous strategy for improving communication and holding better meetings, an acronym called A.G.E.S. But mostly, she was a delight to interview, and she brought a ton of value to the show.

Takeaways

Liz tells us about her days as a peanut vendor for the Tulsa Oilers, a minor league baseball team, where she worked alongside baseball legend Satchel Paige.
Liz describes where she thinks the world of work will be in ten years, and why we’re just hitting the tip of the iceberg in terms of workplace flexibility.
Liz explains why schedule and location flexibility have to be a give and take, and why the face-to-face experience will never diminish in importance.
Liz talks us through the meaning of “brain-friendly work habits."
Liz explains why we often get our best ideas in the shower.
Liz breaks down A.G.E.S., a strategy for running better meetings and becoming a better presenter.
Liz walks us through what it takes to effectively create new habits.
Finally, Liz helps us understand what it takes to maintain our “cognitive edge” as automation takes its hold in the workplace.

Recommended Reading

Humans Are Underrated by Geoff Colvin
Could You Pass the "CGC" (Corporate Good Citizen) Test? by Liz Guthridge
Links

Connect Consulting Group
@lizguthridge
BJ Fogg

Earn a $100 Amazon Gift Card, Courtesy of SnackNation

Our sponsor SnackNation wants to give you a $100 Amazon Gift Card for hooking your office up with snacks. Yes you heard me right - they want to PAY YOU to bring insanely tasty snacks into your office.

It's simple. Help get your office started with SnackNation's monthly snack delivery and they'll send you a $100 Amazon Gift Card. That's a gift card for you (not your office) to spend on whatever you like. You'll get high fives from coworkers because you brought the tastiest and best variety of healthy snacks into your office... all without lifting a finger.

Go to SnackNation.com/ao, to claim your $100 Amazon Gift Card now!

Similar to Entreleadership and HBR Ideacast.

Awesome Officers, I hope you are having another fantastic week filled with presence, productivity, and rejuvenation.

We’ve done fifty episodes - that’s fifty great guests, fifty insightful conversations, and fifty interviews packed with actionable tips and insights to help your company create the culture it needs to thrive, and for you to excel as a leader and someone who just wants to get better.

It’s been fascinating to see the through lines in these episodes. A number of themes have certainly come up, some of them repeatedly.

That’s why we put together this “15 for 50” … that is, the top 15 takeaways from the first 50 episodes of the Awesome Office show thus far.

These are the things that surprised us, fascinated us...the things that really made us say “huh, thats awesome, I should change my thinking” or those things that just plain made us laugh.

We also have one bonus clip for you - one of the funniest answers we’ve heard on the minute of magic.

Key Takeaways

• Jason Nazar sums up the changing nature of the employer-employee relationship. 3:25
• Tom Bilyeu tells us why he sees all of life as disciplined practice.  7:40
• Hank Fortener shares the secret to impactful communication. 9:57
• Jane Buckingham explains why you should collaborate with - not fear - Millennial employees. 13:37
• Vinnie Fisher tells us how to find the heartbeat of your business, and why it's so important. 18:51
• Christopher Gavigan tells us why he still personally takes 30-50 customer service calls per week. 22:36
• David Hassell describes what he calls "good discomfort," and why it's so important to high growth businesses. 24:58
• Jason Weiss explains the "fail of the week" at Scopely. 27:16
• Richard Sheridan explains why low attrition isn't necessarily the sign of a good company culture, and names a better KPI. 29:45
• Marc Merrill tells us why Riot Games only hires gamers, and why they've stuck to this policy even as they've scaled. 33:13
• Rob Bell explains why leaders are always leading, even when they think they're not. 38:18
• Jaspar Weir explains why culture is TaksUs' #1 competitive advantage. 43:00
• Marcus Buckingham shares a simple exercise for finding your strengths. 44:46
• Mark Rampolla describes his darkest moment in the early days of ZICO, and the lesson that helped him get through it. 49:18
• Bert Jacobs makes a business case for culture and engagement. 54:20
• Bonus Clip - Sara Mailloux shares one of the funniest answers during the Minute of Magic.

We are all drug addicts.

It might sound strange, but it’s true. We’re all addicted to the drug of distraction.

Our biology predisposes us to be addicted to the feel-good chemicals released by non-productive things like mindlessly surfing the web, living in our inbox, or worst of all, constantly looking at our phones.

The biggest downside of these euphoria-inducing habits is that they prevent us from being fully present in the moment. And what’s more important than this?

Being present empowers us to perform better, to be less anxious, and to be happier and more fulfilled.

In this episode, I’m bringing you directly into the SnackNation and Awesome Office headquarters to hear a recent talk (we call them Sensei Sessions) that I gave to our team. My goal here is to encourage a life of greater presence, tranquility, fulfillment and productivity with our team and all of you.  

I share with my team how we can remove the #1 greatest distraction in our life with ease, and how the key to living a fulfilled life lies in just doing three simple things on a continual basis.

Key Takeaways

• The difference between presence and focus, and why it’s important to be present in our daily interactions. 5:18
• How the combination of being present, insightful, and helpful can have a powerful impact. 6:45
• How presence leads to deeper and richer relationships. 7:35
• Our biggest distractor, and strategies for eliminating it from our lives. 11:39
• The evolutionary science behind distraction, and why addiction to certain brain chemicals is at the heart of it. 13:15
• Why your phone is the #1 drug in your life. 19:31
• Sean breaks down the strategy and tactics for breaking our phone addiction. 20:38
• Why active rejuvenation is so important, and the flipside of presence. 25:04
• Examples of bad rejuvenation, and why a positive mindset is so important. 26:16
• Examples of good rejuvenation. 29:50

Earn a $100 Amazon Gift Card, Courtesy of SnackNation

Our sponsor SnackNation wants to give you a $100 Amazon Gift Card for hooking your office up with snacks. Yes you heard me right - they want to PAY YOU to bring insanely tasty snacks into your office.

It's simple. Help get your office started with SnackNation's monthly snack delivery and they'll send you a $100 Amazon Gift Card. That's a gift card for you (not your office) to spend on whatever you like. You'll get high fives from coworkers because you brought the tastiest and best variety of healthy snacks into your office... all without lifting a finger.

Go to SnackNation.com/ao, to claim your $100 Amazon Gift Card now! 

According to Ryan Holiday, there is an enemy within us.

This enemy has derailed the careers of promising young geniuses, decimated great fortunes, and run companies into the ground. It's made adversity unbearable and turned struggle into shame.

It's name? Ego.

Ryan Holiday is a media strategist, best selling author, and the former marketing director of American Apparel. He has been in the trenches building brands and designing media strategies, and today is one of the most highly regarded thinkers and marketers of his generation. But by his own admission, he hasn't been immune to the dangers posed by Ego.

In his new book, Ego is the Enemy, Ryan lays out a strategy for defeating the enemy Ego, and he was gracious enough to share some of this insight - and some incredible stories - with the Awesome Office audience.

In this interview, Ryan shares how luck played a role in his success, and why the stories we tell ourselves about our successes (and failures) are so important; how the schism that formed between Ryan and his parents after he dropped out of college at the age of 19 played an important role in his career development; and why we must embrace uncomfortable moments in order to become the best version of ourselves.

This episode also marks the first time we've recorded with a live audience, as we set up the mics in front of 70+ Awesome Officers at SnackNation HQ.

We captured the whole thing on video too. (We'll have that up here shortly.)

Key Takeaways

• Ryan explains why the things you're most excited about are often the things that cause the most anxiety. 3:33 
• Ryan tells us about his childhood in Northern California, and how everything from his parents' professions to their decision to live in Sacramento affected his life's journey. 6:18
• Ryan describes the moment he realized that education and schooling aren't necessarily synonymous. 8:02
• Ryan talks about his decision to drop out of college at 19, and the fallout it caused with his parents. 9:49
• Ryan relays how he became author Robert Greene's research assistant, and how it almost fell it apart before it began. 11:38
• Ryan dives into the premise of his new book, explaining what he means by the phrase "Ego is the Enemy." 14:59
• Ryan helps us distinguish the difference between confidence and ego, and why one serves us while the other hinders us. 18:35
• Ryan shares a strategy for removing your ego when you receive constructive criticism. 20:38
• Ryan tells us about the many times luck played a part in his success, and explains why the story we tell ourselves matters so much. 20:55
• Ryan uses a story about Bo Jackson to illustrate why you need an "internal scorecard." 27:26
• Ryan and Sean talk about the pitfalls of comparing yourself to others, and why it's ultimately a fool's errand. 30:30
• Ryan breaks down the misconception that you need to "find yourself" before you can identify work that's meaningful to you. 31:40
• Ryan shares a tactic for training people to derive satisfaction from the internal things you can control rather than the external things you can't. 37:15
• Ryan makes a case for life as "continuous training." 42:40
• Ryan explains why we need to embrace life's uncomfortable moments and not always try to "fill them up with stuff." 43:44
• Ryan explains what we can do to minimize ego in the workplace. 46:18

Links

• RyanHoliday.net
• @RyanHoliday on Twitter
• Ryan on Facebook 
• Buy Ryan's books 

Recommended Reading

• Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
• The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday
• Trust Me, I’m Lying by Ryan Holiday
• Growth Hacker Marketing by Ryan Holiday
• Sherman: Soldier, Realist, American by B.H. Liddell Hart
• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Earn a $100 Amazon Gift Card, Courtesy of SnackNation

Our sponsor SnackNation wants to give you a $100 Amazon Gift Card for hooking your office up with snacks. Yes you heard me right - they want to PAY YOU to bring insanely tasty snacks into your office.

It's simple. Help get your office started with SnackNation's monthly snack delivery and they'll send you a $100 Amazon Gift Card. That's a gift card for you (not your office) to spend on whatever you like. You'll get high fives from coworkers because you brought the tastiest and best variety of healthy snacks into your office... all without lifting a finger.

Go to SnackNation.com/ao, to claim your $100 Amazon Gift Card now! 

Similar to Entreleadership and HBR Ideacast.

In 2004, Mark Rampolla was sick of settling for low-hanging fruit.

Sure, he had a comfortable life, a six-figure income, and was poised to reach the top of a Fortune 100 company. But he knew there was more to life than making money.

Most of all, he was concerned about the example he was setting for his young daughters. Did he want their dad to be a corporate conformist, someone who settles for the status quo, or someone who could strike out on his own and change the world for the better?

That’s when he decided to reach for the high-hanging fruit.

A few months later he launched ZICO coconut water, a company that sought to transform the billion dollar global beverage industry by offering a healthier alternative to the sugar and chemical laden sodas that dominated the market.

And he never looked back.

After a successful exit from ZICO, Mark is now the co-founder and managing partner of Powerplant Ventures, a venture capital firm specializing in plant-centric businesses. Together with his partners and portfolio companies, Mark’s goal is to revolutionize the global food system by offering the nutrition people need in sustainable and ethical ways.

Oh, and he’s also the author of the new book High Hanging Fruit.

Mark captivated us with his ideas and stories from his journey from Peace Corps volunteer, to entrepreneur and CEO, to venture capitalist.

Perhaps most fascinating is the fact that Mark has maintained his trademark optimism and grit throughout his long career, and is always challenging himself to learn and grow.

Buy Mark’s Book and Donate to Homeboy Industries

Mark’s new book is called High-Hanging Fruit: Build Something Great by Going Where No One Else Will.  Use this link to purchase the book and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Homeboy Industries, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that provides hope, training, and support to formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated men and women.

Key Takeaways

• Mark explains why he made the leap from entrepreneur to venture capitalist, and how he investing unexpectedly became a labor of love.
• Mark tells us how he evaluates companies, and why the single most important factor is always the quality of the person (or team) leading the business.
• Mark breaks down the difference between “experience” on paper and the story that an entrepreneur brings with her to a business.
• Mark weighs in on the question of whether or not our culture has “entrepreneurial fever,” and explains why he usually discourages people from people leaving their job to start a business.
• Mark describes the perils of becoming an entrepreneur in a left-leaning family, and tells us the amazing story of his entrepreneurial journey, which started off in the Peace Corps.
• Mark explains how his days in Latin America with the Peace Corps working with local cooperatives and women owned businesses shaped his perspective on entrepreneurship, and helped lead to both ZICO and the high-hanging fruit concept.
• Mark tells us why took on the challenge of managing International Paper’s (a Fortune 100 company at the time) business in El Salvador, straight out of business school.
• Mark tells us how he discovered that the IP’s local CFO was cooking the books, and how that ultimately led to an acute familiarity with finance and balance sheets - something that serves him to this day.
• Mark talks about the genesis of ZICO, which actually began as a side hustle while he was still with IP.
• Mark explains why half of strategy is deciding what NOT to do, and explains some of the worst business ideas he came up with during the ideation phase prior to launching ZICO.
• Mark describes how he evaluated these ideas not just with the typical business filters, but with personal and social filters as well.
• Mark talks about the greatest challenge working with a giant company like Coca Cola back when they were a mere minority investor in ZICO.
• Mark tells us the single most important lesson that he wished he knew back when he started ZICO in 2004, as well as the darkest moment throughout the entire ZICO journey.
• Mark explains why the belief that “you’ve already won” actually enables you to do your best work.
• Mark explains why he’s so bad at hiring.
• Finally, Mark tells us what inspired him to write the book High-Hanging Fruit.

Books

• High Hanging Fruit by Mark Rampolla (promo link: http://bit.ly/1TGJBsQ)
• The Divine Right of Capital by Marjorie Kelly

Links

• Purchase Mark’s book and a portion of the proceeds will benefit Homeboy Industries
• Contact Mark: Mark@highhangingfruit.com
• ZICO coconut water
• Powerplant Ventures
• Mark on LinkedIn

Earn a $100 Amazon Gift Card, Courtesy of SnackNation

Our sponsor SnackNation wants to give you a $100 Amazon Gift Card for hooking your office up with snacks. Yes you heard me right - they want to PAY YOU to bring insanely tasty snacks into your office.

It's simple. Help get your office started with SnackNation's monthly snack delivery and they'll send you a $100 Amazon Gift Card. That's a gift card for you (not your office) to spend on whatever you like. You'll get high fives from coworkers because you brought the tastiest and best variety of healthy snacks into your office... all without lifting a finger.

Go to SnackNation.com/ao, to claim your $100 Amazon Gift Card now!