Manage Smarter is the bi-weekly podcast
for sales managers, entrepreneurs and emerging leaders.
Each episode is a frank, fast-paced and sometimes humorous discussion of the challenges facing managers from the front lines to the C‑Suite. We address the strategic and psychological aspects of improving team performance, sales, marketing, customer experience, company culture and overall productivity. And we do it through entertaining interviews with innovative managers, startup leaders and executive coaches to help you become a better boss.
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SHOW NOTES
Gerald Leonard is CEO of the Leonard Productivity Intelligence Institute and an author. A professional bassist, Gerald J. Leonard offers a unique approach to accomplishing more in the workplace. In this episode, we discuss: tips for what order to approach tasks to boost productivity; time chunking methodology; analogies of a symphony and conductor to the performance of you and your team; productivity boosting processes; and the similarities between songwriting and presentations.
Beth Trejo is a trailblazing speaker, CEO, and founder of the global social-first digital agency, Chatterkick. In this episode, we discuss: The importance of empathy for managers and leaders; digital methods you can use to create empathy with coworkers and reports; how to use of AI to help you craft empathetic messaging in your communications; and social media methods to connect more authentically to those in your company.
Stephanie Nivinskus is the CEO of SizzleForce Marketing, an agency that helps scaling companies get noticed and attract more clients on a daily basis. In this episode, we discuss: 5 explanations as to why your products or services aren’t selling; how to appeal to buyers on an emotional level; attention-getting techniques to create FOMO; how company credibility and product credibility affect salesperson credibility; and when to pull the plug on a product that’s not doing well.
Mary Ann Pruitt is the CEO and President of Mosaic Media, a collection of media buying experts and creative strategists who negotiate, purchase, and monitor advertising space and airtime. In this episode, we discuss: Tapping into superpowers for women in business; the main challenge women leaders have vs. male leaders; five working generations in the workplace and how to manage them all; managing professional development to reduce turnover; and the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in media buying and sales/marketing.
Attorney Charles Price is the author of Rewiring the White Collar Mind and has 40 years of experience managing legal teams. In this episode, we discuss: how sales and other professionals can escape the “Tyranny of Numbers”; how do reframe KPIs and having a healthier relationship with goals tied to your job; how to make your employees feel included, valued and respected to reduce turnover; how to retrain your brain on reconciling the stress of handling payroll and budget numbers; and better ways to manage work/life balance.
Matt Blumberg is a technology entrepreneur, business builder, and CEO of Bolster, an on-demand executive talent marketplace that helps accelerate companies’ growth by connecting them with experienced, highly vetted executives for interim, fractional, advisory, project-based or board roles. In this episode, we discuss: how boards work and definitions of a good board vs. a bad board; why should a startup or company in growth stage create a board of directors and what are the benefits; how boards increase credibility; creating a board including size, composition, roles of VCs; and independent directors, what to look for in a director, and how to recruit directors; and celebrities on boards.
MUST HEAR EPISODES
Brian Tracy has consulted for more than 1,000 companies and is the top selling author of more than 80 books on business and personal success. As a popular keynote speaker and seminar leader, he has addressed more than five million people in 5,000 talks and seminars throughout the U.S., Canada and 82 other countries worldwide. In episode 05, we discuss: the most important quality that a manager should have, the three most common mistakes leaders make, how to set better goals and the importance of the work culture.
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The New York Times best seller The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude — which has just been published a new edition with many new tips to help you find, build and keep a winning attitude. In episode 13, we discuss: why attitude is critical to management and leadership; countering negative attitudes and how to change your attitude by changing what you think about.
Jeffrey Hayzlett is a primetime television host of C‑Suite with Jeffrey Hayzlett and Executive Perspectives on C‑Suite TV, and business podcast host of All Business with Jeffrey Hayzlett on C‑Suite Radio. Hayzlett is the author of three best-selling business books: Think Big, Act Bigger: The Rewards of Being Relentless, Running the Gauntlet and The Mirror Test. In episode 15, we discuss how the C‑Suite thinks, how to talk to them and how to become one of them.
Jennifer Gluckow is an author and founder of Sales in a New York Minute as well as host of a YouTube Channel of the same name. In episode 16, Jennifer discusses how age plays a role in the workplace and uses her professional experience to share her advice for young managers and first-time managers.
Tom Peters is a best-selling author and world renowned expert on business management practices. Peters is co-author of In Search of Excellence—the book that changed the way the world does business, and often tagged as the best business book ever. In episode 19, we discuss: Tom's new book — The Excellence Dividend, how to avoid being replaced by technology, the characteristics of a successful team and the critical need for soft skills mastery by managers at all levels.
Dr. Christine Porath is an Associate Professor and Researcher at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University and an expert in workplace incivility, its costs and remedies. She is author of Mastering Civility: A Manifesto for the Workplace and co-author of The Cost of Bad Behavior. In episode 28, we discuss her research on the decline of civility, how it affects productivity and what managers can do about it.
Cy Wakeman is a drama researcher, global thought-leader, and New York Times best-selling author who is recognized for cultivating a counter-intuitive, reality-based approach to leadership. In episode 32, we discuss: Cy's definition of drama, and the effects on the workplace, acceptable ways to react to drama that has been created and how to hire low drama employees.
Michael Houlihan is the co-founder of Barefoot Wine, now, the world’s largest wine brand. He, along with Bonnie Harvey, are consultants, international keynote speakers and New York Times Bestselling authors. In episode 50, we discuss: the definition of The Money Map and why every manager should show this to their employees; how to get employees to understand where their salaries come from; how to identify and hire a “hustle” mentality; and the unique concept of a Two-Division Company (Sales and Sales Support).
Kevin F. Davis is the founder and president of TopLine Leadership. Over the past 25 years, more than 20,000 sales managers from many of the world’s most successful companies have attended his 2‑day workshop on sales management leadership. Kevin is the author of The Sales Manager’s Guide to Greatness: 10 essential strategies for leading your team to the top. He is also the architect of SalesFuel's Sales Manager Training program and a facilitator as well. In this episode, we discuss: the #1 reason sales managers fail; the simple, common mistake sales managers make when working with AEs that blocks productivity; how to have difficult conversations with your team; and sales and marketing alignment strategies.
ean Kantambu Latting, DrPH, LMSW-IPR is President of Leading Consciously, LLC, and Professor Emerita at the Graduate College of Social Work (GCSW), University of Houston. In this episode, we discuss: the definition of the racial divide at work; how to open difficult conversations in the workplace; and best practices for initiating a diversity, equity and inclusion program in the workplace.
ABOUT THE HOSTS
Audrey Strong is a veteran public relations and communications expert. She is currently Director of Communications for SalesFuel. She previously ran her own PR firm for 10 years and was PR Director for The Ritz-Carlton in Denver. Prior to that, Audrey had a successful career as an award-winning anchor/reporter/producer in TV news, including Chicago and Denver.
C. Lee Smith has been leading and developing people for most of his adult life in sales departments, nonprofits and as CEO of SalesFuel. Lee is a nationally recognized consultant and speaker. He is also the international bestselling author of two books: SalesCred and Hire Smarter, Sell More!