Making “Balance” and Entrepreneurship Harmoniously Co-Exist

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or comments should be directed to those
show hosts. Thank you for choosing W

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FORCY Radio. What's Working on Purpose? Anyway? Each week we ponder the

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answer to this question. People ache
for meaning and purpose at work, to

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contribute their talents passionately and know their
lives really matter. They crave being part

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of an organization that inspires them and
helps them grow into realizing their highest potential.

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Business can be such a force for
good in the world, elevating humanity.

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In our program, we provide guidance
and inspiration to help usher in this

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world we all want Working on Purpose. Now here's your host, Doctor Release

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Quartez, Welcome back to Working on
Purpose program. Thanks for tuning it again

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this week. Great to have you. I'm your host, Doctor Las Cortez

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and I've been hosting the show since
February of twenty fifteen. If we have

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not met yet and you don't know
me, I'm a management consultant, organizational

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logotherapists, speaker and author. My
team and I, at least Cortez and

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Associates help companies to enliven and fortify
their operations by articulating their purpose and building

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inspirational leaders and cultures activated by meaning
and purpose to turn those companies from a

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flatline EKG to a vibrant destination workplace. There people are intrinsically motivated to perform

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at their best, growner their floor
potential in our community, to stay and

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help deliver on the company's mission.
You can learn more about us and how

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when work together at Elis Cortez dot
com. Today's program we have with us

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Alex Bruckman. He is a strategy
facilitator, speaker, and author. He

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talks about the power of strategy and
identity, transformation, leadership, purpose,

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impact and legacy. He is the
author of Secrets of Next Level Entrepreneurs,

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eleven powerful lessons to thrive in business
and lead a balanced life, which will

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be discussing today. You join to
day from Vancouver, British Columbia and Alex.

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Welcome to Working on Purpose. Thank
you for having me at your show.

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Thank You're welcome. You're welcome.
This is a gorgeous book. I

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have to tell you. I thank
you very much for finding your way onto

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my show and letting and so that
I get to read this because I do

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read the books cover to cover of
my guests. I needed this book,

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Thank you, Alex. This a
little bit about right, this a little

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bit about balanced life as an entrepreneur. What's that? So here we are.

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We're releasing this show on the fourth
of July. Its supposed to be

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the Day of Freedom. So I
think it's very very timely that you and

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are here on area talking about your
book. So welcome. Thank you very

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much. That topic about balance in
life and in business, it's a funny

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one because he would typically not necessarily
find it in a business book. So

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there's a lot of people who actually
tell me that's the term I stumbled across

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when I're at the title, and
that made me actually interested in the book.

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I was just sharing it with the
man that I've been seeing who's also

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an entrepreneur, and I said,
hey, we need to read that.

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You need to read this book too. I just finished it now I'm going

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to give it to you. So
thank you for trying to inject some sanity

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into the world here. So so
as we get started here, Alex,

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first I have to ask where are
you originally? Fun with that fantastic accent,

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I'm German. I moved to Vancouver, Canada three not even three and

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a half years ago. Love brought
me there. As it is always is,

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either love or work. In my
case, it was the first.

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Oh I love it, absolutely love
it. While I'm from the Northwest originally,

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so I feel connected to Canada as
well. So all right, well

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let's get into the topic. One
of the things I also appreciated it is

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you helped me. Helped helped me
to recognize and remember why I'm an entrepreneur.

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So if we start by looking at
you, say, becoming an entrepreneur

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happens for many different reasons. For
some, it's a way to get out

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of the pitfalls of corporate America.
For others, it's to take control of

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their time and schedule. Supposedly,
the fulfillment that comes out of bringing something

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into the world through their zone or
spiral of genius that can be the thing

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that jazz is. Of course for
me, that is what's why I'm doing

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this. I'm doing this because I
have something specific that I want to bring

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to the world through my consulting in
the way that I see the world of

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work. And so it's wonderful to
be able to situate that this is what

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this show is about. This is
about entrepreneurship, and you have given us

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eleven powerful lessons to do it better
and with more sanity. So I want

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to start first by celebrating entrepreneurship.
If that's not a great cause to celebrate,

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what else it's, right, Yeah, you know it's not for everybody,

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right, So so you know some
of the things that you say,

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here's what I'm doing is I'm pulling
out some of the things in your book

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that really spoke to me and that
we've kind of curried the content that that

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we've already built already on the show. So you then provide us with three

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mission critical pillars that contribute to building
future proof businesses, which, of course

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you being the strategic I never want
is strategy, two is leadership, and

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then three is this amazing thing called
self care. So I just want to

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give you a chance to speak briefly
to those those three things, and then

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I'll I'll delve into the different themes. Yeah, the first theme is really

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around heart skills that every business leader
needs to master, whether you run your

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own business or whether you're a leader
climbing the letter in a larger organization at

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one point or another. If you
want to see that the next table,

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you will have to understand those three
heart skills in that first team strategy,

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strategic pricing of his services, and
what does that mega trend that will never

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leave us again of sustainability actually mean
for our business. The second theme is

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around leading self and leading teams through
challenging times. When you imagine that book,

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the idea behind the book the summit
that I ran, a three day

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business summit with more than forty speakers
that happened at the height of the COVID

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nineteen pandemic. So when we actually
then distilled the essence out of that event

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and poured it into the book,
we realized is that challenging times and the

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conflicts that arise through these challenging,
challenging times, that's where leadership is front

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and center and more necessary than ever. So when when you are able to

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lead a company and lead your people
through these times and get rid of the

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negativity that comes with the changes and
the conflicts that arise, and use that

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as a force to create something powerful
for the future. That is the essence

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of leadership to me. And the
third, the third theme that comes with

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that is you can only do that
if you take care of your own sanity,

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of your own mind. And that's
why this third piece is called This

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third theme is called self care.
And we talk about topics that are deeper

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than just the regular items that you
would find in a business book. It's

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really about understanding who you are,
why you want to lead, why you

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are an entrepreneur, and how can
you actually make sure that you live a

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life by design not by default.
M I really appreciate an applaud that that

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third theme. I don't know too
many business books or books on archpreneership that

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I've seen that really treat the importance
of self care. So and I got

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a lot out of that at that
section too. So it would be nice

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to be able to work not seven
days a week, It would be nice

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not to do that. So I'll
learn from you all, I promise I

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will. So let me say one
thing at least, Yes, if you

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if you take that last theme like
literally, you can actually work seven days

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a week by design because that's what
you love and that's what's happening now.

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That is what now. Yes,
if it energizes you, it's the right

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thing for you, at least for
that point in your life. Yes,

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thank you for that. And that
is where I'm at right now. I

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mean, I'm creating all kinds of
things, but I don't want to do

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that forever. Yeah. And when
I say forever, I mean not like

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that for the next I mean I'm
happy to just say the next six months

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and then after that, let's need
good of six and in five days.

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So one of the things too,
that you that you wrote, and I

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like, I'm going to read it
because it's just so compellingtly written. You

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say, there are there are exceptional
organizations that combine strategy and purpose into something

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impactful, providing meaning and direction to
employees, suppliers, customers, and shareholders.

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To avoid falling into the marketing trap
of purpose statements without anchoring purpose needs

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a strategy and vice versa. So
I appreciate very much how you really marry

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because this show is very much anchored
in meaning and purpose, but you bring

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the strategy piece to that, and
I like how you really distilled those two

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and how they work together. Let
me put it that way. Purpose without

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strategy is a good intent, yea, if you're lucky, you can do

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something with that. And on the
other hand, strategy without purpose is mainly

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about profit maximization, which does not
give anything to this world. Actually,

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But if you bring those two together, if you understand how they are connected,

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and then obviously this whole conversation around
culture comes into play. How do

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you create an organization that is purpose
driven and take that purpose, weave it

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into your business strategy so that it
can actually create tangible impact and use leadership

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to create a culture that is linked
to the strategy. So strategic leadership in

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this case, in this sense only
then does having a purpose actually matter.

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If you have a purpose and you
don't weave it into a business strategy,

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it's just it's something for the posters
on the walls. People become cynical about

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it very very quickly, and so
that's within the business and people outside of

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the business. If you don't combine
the two, they're like, yeah,

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well, you're not doing that why
do you even claim you're doing that.

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So I had a recent conversation where
the gist of it is, before you

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actually write down your purpose statement,
own it, earn your right to write

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it down. Then people can be
like, yeah, yeah, that's them,

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that makes sense, that's that's how
they show up. But if you

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do the other way around, these
purpose statements get weaponized. So if you

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weave it into your strategy, if
you're creating that visible, tangible impact for

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the world for your stakeholder groups,
I think this is the most powerful thing

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you can do with purpose. I
would agree absolutely. And the other thing,

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of course that and you just mentioned
it earlier, that I really think

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we have to talk about. And
this is so interesting because it's increasingly showing

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up, you know, as as
as an imperative. Is this notion on

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creating a sustainable impact through your business
and you talk about a three E model

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for impact. Want to talk about
each one of those those things you know

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at first, this whole notion here
you say, the model provides business as

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a structured approach to leverage and communicate
their good work and create transformational impact in

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growth, which is fantastic. And
what I've added my last book, The

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Great Revialization is you know today we
have to do that in today's business in

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order to be taken seriously. So
excuse me, would you take us through

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the three pieces of that model so
that model is actually not my model?

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Credit where credit is due. This
chapter was written and contributed by Shita Kular.

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Shita is a sustainability expert. She
lives in in Singapore and she has

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created that model and describes in that
chapter how we can actually educate and engage

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clients customers in different ways using our
sustainability efforts. So let me give you

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a specific example because I think it
needs to be tangible for people that listen

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to us right now. When you
are doing good with your business through how

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you do your business, you should
actually talk about it. Otherwise people first

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of all don't realize it, and
second of all, you leave a massive

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source of revenue untapped. A great
example which is really well known is Unilever.

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While Unilever does a lot of things
that I don't agree with and they

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could be done differently, they're also
on the forefront when it comes to creating

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more sustainable supply chains. For example, for their big well known product Clipton

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team that's a few years back where
they actually sat down and said, Okay,

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how can we reverse engineer a supply
chain that does less harm to the

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planet, that provides better working conditions
for the tea farmers, and less harmful

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ways of doing business overall. And
what they did was they basically didn't leave

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any stone turned and then they were
like, yeah, well, what do

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we do with what we've achieved right
now? And then they used their existing

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marketing budget and just shifted the messages
from this is the most delicious tea in

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the world too, Hey, if
you drink lipt and tea, that's what

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you actually support. And by doing
that, by using their existing marketing budgets,

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they made a business case out of
their sustainability efforts. They tapped into

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the potential of an entirely new target
group. Not only was this target group

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willing to pay a bit more for
their tea once they know that it is

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sustain sustainably sourced, but also the
wider public realized that wait a minute,

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sustainability is not necessarily cost factor.
You can actually make money with that,

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and that is something really really powerful, and that three emodal basically is about

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understanding how you can educate your customers
around the topic of sustainable, engage them

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in your sustainability efforts, and create
new touch points with them, new talking

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points, and help them see you
in a new light, in a different

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light. Beautiful. And so what
I also appreciate about that too is especially

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in the work that I do around
meaning and purpose is especially the younger generations,

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the wise and disease. Of course, they want to be part,

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they want to actually work conversation that
they feel like they can align around their

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purpose, the work is meaningful and
that they are supporting something that they value.

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So I really appreciate how tight that
that model is. And I think

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you also say this in the book
too, about how if sustainable doesn't have

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to cost money, you can actually
create money, make money for you as

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you as you were saying. And
then the circular piece of it as well.

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I like how you addressed and treated
the circular aspects of sustainability is really

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interesting, compelling stuff Alex you and
your team. I think what you bring

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up here with the generational question that
is something that we've we've heard a lot

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about. If we take a clue
also look at what the differences between let's

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say the Boomers, the gen Xers, the Wise and the Zets and whoever

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comes afterwards. I don't even think
that it's a generational thing. I believe

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they are just more outspoken. I'm
a gen Xer and I don't think that

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my values around sustainability are a generational
question. And also I know a lot

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of Boomers and other gen Xers that
think the same way. It's less a

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question of generation. It's more a
question of do I align what I value

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with how I operate and how I
lead a business. And I believe that

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these generations have more They are just
more outspoken about it, and that's why

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we often associate this trade with their
generations rather than with what we actually value

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as human beings. If that makes
m it does. I think maybe part

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of it, though, is that
the they have Maybe we just didn't question

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it the way that they do.
Right, So they are they Whereas the

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Boomers, and I'm also an X
or two um, you know, would

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be like, oh, I've got
to get a job, I've got to

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take care of things. I think
some of these other generations are like,

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well, I don't actually have to
work right now. I can be on

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my parents, so far, I
can do whatever and choose to opt out

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of something that rather than just go
along with it. So I think that

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aligns of what you're saying about being
more vocal about it. Very interesting.

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I love talking about things like this
though. All right, let's grab our

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first break. We've been on the
air with Alex Brookman. He is the

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author of Secrets of Next Level Entrepreneurs
eleven and Powerful Lessons to Thrive in business

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and lead a ballanced life. I'm
your host, doctoral at least Cortez.

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After the rake, we're going to
get into some of the aspects of his

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book around disruption and leadership. Stayed
with us, We'll be right back.

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Doctor Elise Cortez is a management consultant
specializing in meaning and purpose. An inspirational

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speaker and author. She helps companies
visioneer for greater purpose among stakeholders and develop

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purpose inspired leadership and meaning infused cultures
that elevate fulfillment, performance, and commitment

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within the workforce. To learn more
or to invite a lease to speak to

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your organization, please visit her at
Elise Cortez dot com. Let's talk about

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how to get your employees working on
purpose. This is working on purpose with

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00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:45.799
doctor Elise Cortez. To reach our
program today or to open a conversation with

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00:17:45.880 --> 00:17:51.960
Elise, send an email to Elise
al i se at Elise Cortez dot com.

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00:17:52.000 --> 00:18:00.240
Now back to working on Purpose.
Thanks for sting with us, and

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welcome back to working on Purpose.
Before we get back into the program,

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I do want to share with you
something that we're up to here at least

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Courtezan Associates, we are joining an
organization called joy Lee for a purpose and

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Joy Tour. This is a collaboration
between the two of us and they teach

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mindful prodnesses to build a happy,
healthy, resilient world. And of course

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we at at least Courtezan Associates are
out to be able to activate meaning and

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purpose in company culture and leadership to
increase fulfillment, performance and retention. What

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we're doing together is we're going to
various cities across the United States. We

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started in Dallas in March. We're
finishing Virginia Beach in October to find our

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tribe and build a community of people
who seek to elevate their lives and businesses

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by cultivating meaning, purpose and joy. The next stops are Seattle and Portland

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in July. You can find more
about the cities and on our agenda at

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Gusto dashdown dot com. If you're
just joining the program. My guest is

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Alex Brookman. He is a strategy
facilitator, speaker, and author. He

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needs the author of Secrets of Next
Level Entrepreneurs Eleven Powerful Lessons to Thrive in

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Business Lead to Bounce Life. I'm
your host, Doctoralis Cortez. Okay,

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So next thing I want to talk
about here, Alex, this is this

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little thing called disruption. And you
have this whole section about mastering disruption,

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and so I wanted to have you
speak a little bit about first, you

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know, this notion of what's the
opportunity when it comes to to change and

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disruption. Yeah. The chapter about
disruption in the book was contributed by New

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York Times bestselling author Sharlene Lee.
She is probably the most prominent name when

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it comes to how do I actually
use disruption for good in a business.

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Her book, The Disruption Mindset talks
talks of volumes about this and in her

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chapter what what she describes in this
book is that there is just no way

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around being honest when it comes to
disruption. So telling you people, hey,

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everything's going to be all right,
right is not cutting it right.

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So people don't believe that anyway anymore
after what we've been through in the past

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three years. So first of all, you cannot predict the future as a

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leader, So don't stand there and
pretend that you know the way. You

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don't. No one does. The
world has become way too complex, and

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there is disruption happening on a constant
basis right now that we've seen in the

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business world. Like if you go
twenty thirty years back, you would have

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seen this type of disruption maybe once
or twice in your lifetime. Now we've

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seen it like every year, big
events that disrupt how we operate, for

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example COVID nineteen business disruptions through supply
chain issues. Then we have the entire

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topic of tech just I mean the
conversations around chat GPT over the past six

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months, which is just that tiny
fraction of the AI landscape as such,

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I mean, just this little piece
has caused tremendous disruption in how people operate

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their businesses. I personally know an
entrepreneur who went out of business because they

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realize that what they are actually doing
their core value contribution, is actually easier

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and more cheaper done with a tool
like chat GPT, So they realize very

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early that there is little future if
you are in that particular space. So

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there is disruption happening all around us
every day, and the question is how

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do you actually use it as a
force for good in your business? How

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do you approach disruption in your business? And when we talk about how we

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are actually talking about how do you
lead through disruption? And how can you

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create that mindset of disruption in an
organization? And what I mean with that

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is not how do you deal with
disruption that's happening around you? But what

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I actually mean is how can you
create a culture that is driving disruption in

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a good way for you and your
business? What does disruption actually mean?

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How can you disrupt your own business
in ways that are in line with who

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we are as human beings. As
human beings, we hate disruption, We

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hate change. We just love to
stay where we are in our cost little

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bubble in our bed with the blankets
over our heads, and just you know,

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energy savers, that's just how we're
wired as human beings. We want

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to preserve as much energy as we
can and use it when we are chased

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by the saber tooth tigre. That's
just how it is. Right when we

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have to run away when they're danger
around us, that's when we need our

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energy. But we're not really good
at change and inflicting change or disruption upon

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ourselves. So the question is,
how can you create a culture that can

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deal with external disruption on the one
hand in a way where you're like,

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yeah, that's just the normal,
that's just how we operate. But also

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internally, how can you align your
people around a mindset of disruption that enables

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them to not be the victim of
disruption but the force behind the disruption within

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your own business. And if you're
able to do that, that's nothing that

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happens by itself. That is something
that needs strong leadership, and that takes

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time. But there is no better
time to start doing these things than now,

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because honestly speaking, I have almost
spent my entire adult life in one

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crisis or another. When you go
back, like twenty twenty five years ago,

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dot Com bubble burst first crisis,
then comes the economic crisis, then

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comes the refugee crisis, then comes
housing mark bubble, and that that bursts

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and we are into thousand and eight
two thousand and nine. There is just

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one thing after the next, and
disruption is happening all around us all the

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time. So it's the illusion of
working in a business where you are separate

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from what's happening around you or protected
from what's happening in the industry, and

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that's just something you need to get
rid of in your organization and understanding that

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is important for equipping your business for
survival. If you are the only one

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driving your business toward that desired state
in the future, you're fighting a losing

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battle. You need everyone on that
ship to understand what their role is in

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steering the company and being able to
understand when the tide shifts, when the

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wind shifts, that there are things
that need to be done differently. But

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if you have people rowing against the
tide all the time because that's what they've

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always done, they've rowed in that
direction, then yeah, I'm not a

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sailor, but I think you get
the gist of it. It's very,

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very dangerous for an organization to be
to have a culture that is not clear

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on how to interact with the topic
of disruption, how to drive it.

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I think that's really powerful, Alex, really really powerful. Another is not

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just normalizing disruption, but embracing it
and activating the organization to run with it.

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I think that's really powerful. So
thank you for being able to really

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speaking to that so deeply. So
then the next thing we have to talk

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about, because this is definitely an
area of mind that I'm really fascinated with,

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and as a social scientist, I'm
very interested in what the pandemic has

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done to the world and joined the
workplace and to the people that are actually

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powering at the employees. So you
say in your book, there is no

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doubt that business and the workplace have
shifted forever due to the pandemic. But

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change doesn't have to have a negative
connotation, even if it's uncomfortable. It's

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important to be adaptable. It means
you need to change how you think about

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work and employees. Instead of counting
how many hours or people are in the

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office and equating that to their work
ethic or efficiency, you need to start

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measuring results. Yes, sir,
yesterday, please. And you say that

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may sound out ludicrous, but perhaps
that's how it always should have been.

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I'm very fascinated with this, Alex
because I see that there is a there's

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been a very strong focus on presenteeism. If I see you, then I

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think you're working. If I can't
see you, I'm not sure you're working.

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It's the wrong measurement. It's the
wrong way to look at the whole

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thing. And I'm very interested in
being part of the conversation that stewards the

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workplace of the future. Would you
speak a little bit to this notion here

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of how the world is and workplace
is changed. I have from my business

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partly remotely for the past decade,
and the reason is just in the nature

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of what I do for a living. I am with my clients a lot,

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but my team works in the office. So wherever that team sits,

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I had to do my job as
a leader as well, not only as

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someone who helps his clients. So
for me, this has become normal to

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see the results that my team produces, rather than seeing them while they are

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producing those results. Yes, and
I actually don't care where my people sit

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and work. That it's I mean, that's totally up to them. Why

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would I want them to sit in
an office when I'm not even there.

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I mean, there are obviously reasons
why it could make sense to come together

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from time to time, but there
should be a specific purpose behind that.

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If I bring people together just to
sit in an office and everyone goes about

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their own stuff, they can do
that from anywhere. But if I bring

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them together to collaborate on a specific
topic, there is a purpose behind that,

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and then it makes sense. So
when I see all these C level

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executives from I don't know, you
know, I don't want to name any

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particular companies, but you've you've listened
to these C suite executives, especially in

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the tech world, that are now
demanding their people to come back to the

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offices. Yes, I'm just stunned
by how stupid this is. This is

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just they they they're missing out on
a unique opportunity to shape the future of

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work. Here, I completely agree. And what they're actually doing is they're

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driving away talent who is not willing
to go back to these outdated old principles

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of command and control. If you
are not able to produce results and achieve

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results through your team leading them remotely, that is not the problem of these

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people. That's a problem of your
leadership. But it's really difficult to change

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the way you lead once you've have
a certain way of leadership ingrained in your

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system. For a decade or maybe
even longer. It's very easy to command

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and control and ask people to go
back to the office and threaten them to

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get fired if they don't. I
mean, it's twenty twenty three. That's

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just so ninety nineties. It's ridiculous
how outdated it is, and still it's

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happening. I bet that we will
anyway see a shift. There are so

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many companies that embrace it. Big
companies that I'm working with that are like,

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we have a hybrid work model now, and it is a privilege to

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work with us, for example,
because we do celebrate a results driven remote

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work culture where everyone knows how they
contribute to the greater good and to the

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bigger success. So they are not
demanding their people to shift the way they

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operate. They are demanding their leaders
to shift the way they lead. Yes,

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so there is an opportunity in it, and some people will take it.

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Other organizations will just fail to embrace
that opportunity. They're fighting against that.

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And I just finished reading this book
here. It's it's by Heather McGowan

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and Chris Shipley. It's called The
Empathy Advantage Leading the Empowered Workforce, and

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they very much This is a great
book. I can't wait to have them

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on. Really, it's very very
smart, very very well done, and

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they are very much saying that,
you know, this is the work is

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in the hands of workers today and
that they are becoming really the most important

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stakeholder. And then of course last
week we had on Tiffany Bova, who

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wrote the Experience Mindset, and she's
putting forth that now today you must actually

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satisfy and fulfill at the same time
equally the employees and the customers. So

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you were definitely seeing a trend and
towards this here. So I'm looking at

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these companies that are going wanting to
go back to like, you know,

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prior to twenty nineteen sort of sort
of policies, and they're fighting this,

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and I'm thinking, you're gonna lose. You're gonna lose on this deal.

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So I like what you said in
your book too, you say, try

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to find ways to give your employees
goals and base your performance measurements on how

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well they deliver on those goals.
And then you also talked in the book

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too about just these old, dated, you know, job descriptions that are

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that are actually they're really based more
on the past performance, et cetera.

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And anyway, the point is,
I, like you very much, am

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out to help create and steward the
workplace of the future, and that is

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not the future now. But you
know, not everyone is able to see

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the future and shape the future.
And I don't want to judge. I

407
00:31:48.559 --> 00:31:51.720
mean, I say they are stupid. Yeah, they are stupid in this

408
00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:55.000
way, but they are very smart
in other ways. And we only we

409
00:31:55.160 --> 00:31:57.480
only look at them from the outside, and there must be very very good

410
00:31:57.519 --> 00:32:01.960
reasons to do that, to order
people back to the offices. But honestly

411
00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:10.400
speaking, if I take a look
at the leadership culture in North America,

412
00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:14.799
and I can say it because I'm
not North American. I just came here

413
00:32:14.839 --> 00:32:20.440
three years ago, it is so
different how the companies are being led in

414
00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:25.039
the US versus how they are being
led in Europe. The mindset around command

415
00:32:25.079 --> 00:32:31.680
and control and the whole corporate culture
is so different that it's that it just

416
00:32:31.799 --> 00:32:37.079
it has its own pace. And
I believe, as you said, in

417
00:32:37.119 --> 00:32:40.480
the end, we will see who
wins this race. But I guess we

418
00:32:40.559 --> 00:32:45.079
all know who will win this race. It's just a question when leaders will

419
00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:52.680
embrace what's coming their way. But
if you just stick your head into the

420
00:32:52.759 --> 00:32:57.480
sand and hope that the storm will
pass, that's just not going to happen.

421
00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:00.640
There are enough examples out there,
companies in North America that that work

422
00:33:00.720 --> 00:33:07.119
with companies in Europe that have successfully
shifted within a very short time frame from

423
00:33:07.279 --> 00:33:16.079
a presence to a results led organization
and they are delivering results like crazy.

424
00:33:16.359 --> 00:33:22.559
It's really about making that leap from
command and control to enabling and empowering your

425
00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:28.359
employees to help them understand how do
they contribute to the bigger picture, what

426
00:33:28.519 --> 00:33:31.480
is their role in bringing the strategy
of an organization to life and to create

427
00:33:31.559 --> 00:33:37.319
tangible impact. And I don't have
to sit in a darned cubicle next to

428
00:33:37.400 --> 00:33:40.640
a fifty other people to do that. Like, I'm not a hen in

429
00:33:40.680 --> 00:33:45.720
a cage that lays eggs. Why
should I work like that? Beautifully said

430
00:33:45.720 --> 00:33:50.160
Alex, And I'm completely aligned on
that note. Let's take our next break.

431
00:33:50.200 --> 00:33:52.880
I'm your host, doctor Elis Cortez. We've been on earth. Alex

432
00:33:52.920 --> 00:33:57.279
Brookman, who is the author of
Secrets of Next Low Entrepreneurs eleven powerful lessons

433
00:33:57.319 --> 00:34:00.880
to thrive in business and lead a
balance life. This will be right back,

434
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:20.440
doctor Elise Cortez is a management consultant
specializing in meaning and purpose. An

435
00:34:20.440 --> 00:34:24.960
inspirational speaker and author. She helps
companies visioneer for greater purpose among stakeholders and

436
00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:30.320
develop purpose inspired leadership and meaning infused
cultures that elevate fulfillment, performance, and

437
00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:35.400
commitment within the workforce. To learn
more or to invite a lease to speak

438
00:34:35.400 --> 00:34:38.920
to your organization, please visit her
at Elise Cortez dot com. Let's talk

439
00:34:38.920 --> 00:34:49.519
about how to get your employees working
on purpose. This is working on Purpose

440
00:34:49.639 --> 00:34:53.039
with doctor Elise Cortez. To reach
our program today or to open a conversation

441
00:34:53.079 --> 00:34:59.360
with Elise, send an email to
elease a l I se at Elise Cortez

442
00:34:59.480 --> 00:35:08.199
dot com. Now back to working
on Purpose. Thank you for staying with

443
00:35:08.239 --> 00:35:12.159
us, and welcome back to working
on Purpose. I mentioned in the first

444
00:35:12.159 --> 00:35:15.320
break about the Purpose Enjoy Tour.
I want to share with you that the

445
00:35:15.320 --> 00:35:16.960
two of my latest books that are
part of that tour. They book came

446
00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:21.280
out in March of twenty twenty three. One is called The Great Revitalization.

447
00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:24.480
How activating meeting and purpose can radically
enliven your business. This is for leaders

448
00:35:24.480 --> 00:35:29.599
to help them understand and build elevating
at high performing leadership and cultures. The

449
00:35:29.679 --> 00:35:32.320
other book that just came out is
called Coloring Life, How Loss Advices to

450
00:35:32.360 --> 00:35:37.920
Live More Vibrant Life, which helps
people navigating loss transformed to growth and Vitality.

451
00:35:37.920 --> 00:35:39.840
You can find them both on Amazon
as well. If you're just joining

452
00:35:39.880 --> 00:35:43.559
the guests Just joining the program now. My guest is Alex Bruckman. He

453
00:35:43.679 --> 00:35:46.400
is he is a strategy facilitator,
speaker, and author. He's the author

454
00:35:46.440 --> 00:35:51.639
of Secrets of Next Level Entrepreneurs Eleve
Them powerful lessons to thriving business and leading

455
00:35:51.679 --> 00:35:54.639
balanced life. I'm your host,
doctor Leis Cortez. So for this next

456
00:35:54.719 --> 00:35:59.280
last session here or section here,
Alex, I wanted to cover a few

457
00:35:59.280 --> 00:36:00.719
things that again, and there's so
much I could pull out of you,

458
00:36:01.440 --> 00:36:05.079
but I do want to have you
speak a little bit about the notion of

459
00:36:05.119 --> 00:36:09.440
creating an impact culture. Doing good
within and with your culture includes things,

460
00:36:09.519 --> 00:36:14.079
like you say, contributing to your
employees and customers well being. You have

461
00:36:14.320 --> 00:36:16.480
a few things there that are part
of this impact culture. Can you speak

462
00:36:16.519 --> 00:36:22.480
a little bit to that. It
goes back to the conversation we head around

463
00:36:22.559 --> 00:36:27.880
how do you align your purpose and
your business strategy? To create tangible impact

464
00:36:28.800 --> 00:36:37.719
and with that obviously comes the need
for leadership that can drive such processes.

465
00:36:37.960 --> 00:36:44.559
And the reason you need leadership is
because it just won't happen by itself.

466
00:36:44.960 --> 00:36:49.840
And when I say that, even
if you have the best leaders in a

467
00:36:49.880 --> 00:36:54.559
sense that they have all the subject
matter expertise that's needed to achieve results,

468
00:36:55.440 --> 00:37:00.719
it's not their subject matter expertise that
will create the culture that you need in

469
00:37:00.840 --> 00:37:07.719
order to create an impact. So
knowledge and capabilities, hard skills will only

470
00:37:07.760 --> 00:37:15.199
get you to a certain point.
Beyond that, it needs understanding of what

471
00:37:15.440 --> 00:37:19.960
is it that this business wants to
build it we're talking about legacy in the

472
00:37:20.079 --> 00:37:30.119
end, and as leaders work their
way into strategy, into creating culture,

473
00:37:30.679 --> 00:37:37.840
building something bigger than themselves. And
this is true for entrepreneurs solopreneurs, and

474
00:37:37.880 --> 00:37:43.159
this is also true if you lead
a larger organization. There is something that

475
00:37:43.280 --> 00:37:47.719
drives you towards leading. There are
a lot of people that realize at one

476
00:37:47.719 --> 00:37:51.920
point or another in their life that
they're not meant to lead, that they

477
00:37:51.960 --> 00:37:54.360
don't find any joy and fulfillment in
it, and they step away from it.

478
00:37:54.960 --> 00:38:00.599
And then there are people who stay
with it because what they personally get

479
00:38:00.599 --> 00:38:06.639
out of leading is way way bigger
than just the paycheck that comes with it.

480
00:38:06.599 --> 00:38:08.880
It's fulfillment, it's joy, its
pride, and when you dig into

481
00:38:08.880 --> 00:38:15.559
these feelings for them, it's around
helping the people around them thrive, helping

482
00:38:15.599 --> 00:38:20.960
them lead more fulfilling lives, helping
them see how they attribute to something that

483
00:38:21.079 --> 00:38:29.079
is worth contributing to. So creating
that impact culture basically means is to lead

484
00:38:29.119 --> 00:38:36.199
conversations around what the purpose and desired
impact of an organization is. That's the

485
00:38:36.239 --> 00:38:39.679
bigger picture when you bring it closer
to the people, it is about how

486
00:38:39.719 --> 00:38:46.920
they contribute, how every individual contributes
to achieving those results, and it is

487
00:38:46.960 --> 00:38:52.599
about helping them grow into the best
version of themselves that they can possibly be.

488
00:38:54.239 --> 00:39:00.039
And that requires a individual approach for
everyone because everyone a different starting point,

489
00:39:00.440 --> 00:39:05.519
everyone has a different history, everyone
has different goals for their own lives.

490
00:39:06.320 --> 00:39:08.800
So when we talk about legacy,
we're basically talking about three levels of

491
00:39:08.880 --> 00:39:15.079
legacy. The legacy you work toward
as a leader individually. So when you

492
00:39:15.159 --> 00:39:19.000
move on or when you leave a
business, what do people actually say about

493
00:39:19.039 --> 00:39:23.280
you? Do they look at you
and be like, created amazing results,

494
00:39:23.599 --> 00:39:30.199
but was a terrible people leader?
Or is it might not have been the

495
00:39:30.239 --> 00:39:36.440
best strategist in the world, but
man that person developed talent in our organization

496
00:39:36.519 --> 00:39:42.639
like no one else. Then we
have a second layer of legacy that you

497
00:39:42.679 --> 00:39:46.280
work toward. That's the legacy basically
for the team that you lead. Does

498
00:39:46.599 --> 00:39:53.519
the way you lead create a ripple
effect through the organization because other people see

499
00:39:53.559 --> 00:39:58.599
how you lead, see the results
to you achieve, and therefore start to

500
00:39:58.639 --> 00:40:06.800
emulate the way you and thereby leading
by example, create more than just a

501
00:40:06.840 --> 00:40:12.679
handful of potential future leaders, but
actually start shaping the leadership culture in your

502
00:40:12.719 --> 00:40:16.360
business. And then the third layer
of legacy is the legacy that you create

503
00:40:16.480 --> 00:40:23.000
for the organization that you lead.
Is your business seen in society as a

504
00:40:23.039 --> 00:40:31.199
contributor to the greater good? Or
is your company just seen as a business

505
00:40:31.239 --> 00:40:37.920
that destroys nature to extract precious metals
from Mother Earth, for example. So

506
00:40:38.239 --> 00:40:43.360
there are conscious choices that you can
make as a leader on those three levels.

507
00:40:43.800 --> 00:40:49.159
You can pick an organization whose values
and business resonates with the legacy you

508
00:40:49.199 --> 00:40:53.519
want to create as an individual as
a leader, or you can just continue

509
00:40:53.519 --> 00:40:59.719
working as you've always done without thinking
about these things. It's your choice.

510
00:41:00.039 --> 00:41:02.239
Well, and that speaks so beautiful
and now it's so beautiful articulated at because

511
00:41:02.239 --> 00:41:05.760
I could listen to you, We'll
talk about that forever, and in many

512
00:41:05.760 --> 00:41:08.199
ways I could probably chime in and
say almost exactly the same things, because

513
00:41:08.239 --> 00:41:12.079
I very much aligned with your message. But it really also speaks to one

514
00:41:12.079 --> 00:41:15.199
of the things you pointed out in
the book is what it comes to pivotal

515
00:41:15.280 --> 00:41:19.840
changes, is this notion of conscious
business and social responsibility and conscious business.

516
00:41:19.920 --> 00:41:22.280
I see this everywhere, and not
just because I serve on the board of

517
00:41:22.559 --> 00:41:27.000
Conscious Capitalism here in Dallas, and
two of my books are very much threaded

518
00:41:27.119 --> 00:41:30.880
with the notion of conscious business and
conscious capitalism. But I run in so

519
00:41:30.920 --> 00:41:35.639
many different circles where that is.
That is so that surround sound is just

520
00:41:35.920 --> 00:41:40.039
everywhere where it seems today, which
is good, which is good. I

521
00:41:40.039 --> 00:41:43.920
think it's great. I think I
feel like, yes, we have so

522
00:41:44.599 --> 00:41:46.159
what I'm going to call the episode
when next when I talk with Heather and

523
00:41:46.239 --> 00:41:51.679
Chris about the empathy advantages. Leaders
have been kicked upstairs and they maybe they

524
00:41:51.679 --> 00:41:53.960
don't like it, but they have
been kicked upstairs, and they are being

525
00:41:54.000 --> 00:42:00.119
asked to write, being asked to
perform on a whole other level. And

526
00:42:00.159 --> 00:42:02.119
I know what's uncomfortable, ladies and
gentlemen. That's why we're here with you

527
00:42:02.239 --> 00:42:06.800
or here to help you. But
it's you know, we are being asked,

528
00:42:07.239 --> 00:42:09.559
all of us as business people,
to do more than just make a

529
00:42:09.679 --> 00:42:14.360
nice profit. We are being asked
to be more gentle to the planet,

530
00:42:14.639 --> 00:42:17.679
to do things from through a purpose
lens. We are asked now to be

531
00:42:17.840 --> 00:42:22.440
able to lead our teams in a
more enlightened, evolved way than we did

532
00:42:22.800 --> 00:42:25.440
last year, the year before,
etc. And that's just part of It's

533
00:42:25.480 --> 00:42:29.960
back to that whole disruption thing you
were talking about before. And I find

534
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:37.079
it extremely exciting, occasionally very exhausting, and really really enervating to get to

535
00:42:37.079 --> 00:42:39.480
help other organizations to come along with
this, with this stride. And so

536
00:42:39.519 --> 00:42:43.599
that's why I keep posting the show, Alex is because I get to meet

537
00:42:43.599 --> 00:42:49.960
people like you who continue to elevate
my thinking expand the way that I look

538
00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:52.639
at how it is that I consult, how it is that i'm speaking so

539
00:42:52.920 --> 00:42:54.800
and I love being part of this
world, so that I get to speak

540
00:42:54.840 --> 00:42:59.119
with a strategist like you two on
this topic is really exciting for me.

541
00:42:59.159 --> 00:43:05.960
So and for sharing all these these
perspectives my pleasure. You also spoke one

542
00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:08.000
thing two that that was interesting about
just the notion of how the workplace is

543
00:43:08.039 --> 00:43:12.559
changing. We already we talked about
the Great Resignation. I talk about that.

544
00:43:12.559 --> 00:43:15.239
That's why my book is called the
Great Revitalization because it speaks to the

545
00:43:15.280 --> 00:43:19.280
resignation. You wrote about that in
your book as part of this the effort

546
00:43:19.400 --> 00:43:22.880
here, But you also talked about
the aging and emerging workforce. A large

547
00:43:22.880 --> 00:43:27.400
population of baby runers are preparing for
retirement, and we've got this new generation

548
00:43:27.480 --> 00:43:30.480
coming in and that's causing some changes
in some mix in the workplace. Can

549
00:43:30.480 --> 00:43:37.639
you speak a bit to that that
change? The change comes with people that

550
00:43:38.920 --> 00:43:45.039
are more conscious about what they value. They are more outspoken about what they

551
00:43:45.159 --> 00:43:50.440
value, yes, and they are
less willing to compromise on what they value.

552
00:43:50.760 --> 00:43:59.519
Then let's say previous generations might have
been and they have the example of

553
00:43:59.679 --> 00:44:06.280
how life can look like which is
dominated by work, and they don't want

554
00:44:06.320 --> 00:44:13.960
that. Very clear example, my
father passed away when he reached his legal

555
00:44:14.039 --> 00:44:19.280
retirement age and he has worked his
bomb off his entire life. A typical

556
00:44:19.320 --> 00:44:28.880
boomer that has just driven himself into
supporting his family the best way he could,

557
00:44:29.679 --> 00:44:35.039
and in that whole process probably has
left a few of the things that

558
00:44:35.119 --> 00:44:39.840
he truly cared about or valued.
He just traded them in. And there

559
00:44:39.840 --> 00:44:47.960
are I don't want to in any
shape or form judge about generations here.

560
00:44:49.079 --> 00:44:53.719
It's just that we've seen what this
can lead to if we do not bring

561
00:44:53.800 --> 00:44:59.400
our values to work, if we
leave them at the front door, we're

562
00:44:59.480 --> 00:45:02.400
not showing up as the human beings
that we are, and that can lead

563
00:45:02.480 --> 00:45:09.719
to taking decisions as part of a
business that are not necessarily sustainable, decisions

564
00:45:09.760 --> 00:45:15.519
that are not humane decisions. And
therefore we need to bring our values to

565
00:45:15.599 --> 00:45:22.079
work and not lead them at the
front door. The generational impact that we're

566
00:45:22.119 --> 00:45:28.400
seeing is that more and more people
are more outspoken about what they value,

567
00:45:28.719 --> 00:45:36.480
and I believe in that is a
tremendous opportunity for businesses, for society to

568
00:45:37.599 --> 00:45:45.320
build businesses that are more than just
profit generators or more than just a provider

569
00:45:45.360 --> 00:45:52.159
of let's say, a stable work
environment, and the whole illusion of stability

570
00:45:52.480 --> 00:45:57.119
or security. We need to get
rid of that anyway, because I mean,

571
00:45:58.679 --> 00:46:01.840
you can lose your job tomorrow for
whichever reason. So there is no

572
00:46:01.920 --> 00:46:08.119
job security, there is no stability, So why not if that's not there

573
00:46:08.199 --> 00:46:15.079
anyway, why act in ways that
aren't in line with who you are to

574
00:46:15.840 --> 00:46:22.440
keep that illusion alive? And I
believe the more we see younger generations come

575
00:46:22.440 --> 00:46:28.599
into work, the more prominent that
topic just becomes in our conversations. And

576
00:46:29.840 --> 00:46:34.000
I have a three and a half
year old child. If I remember,

577
00:46:34.039 --> 00:46:39.480
if I imagine him in let's say
the work environment we're in today, I'm

578
00:46:39.559 --> 00:46:43.239
just like, yeah, no,
I don't want that for him. So

579
00:46:43.320 --> 00:46:50.159
when once he will be in a
working age that's probably somewhere in around fifteen

580
00:46:50.239 --> 00:46:54.920
years, I'm so curious to see
what we can do within those fifteen years

581
00:46:54.920 --> 00:47:01.320
to create workspaces and value work spaces
that are aligned with who we are as

582
00:47:01.400 --> 00:47:07.960
human beings, with values that are
deeply humane and how fulfilling that might be

583
00:47:07.280 --> 00:47:15.920
and feel when that generation then joins
the workforce, that's incredibly compelling and inspiring.

584
00:47:15.960 --> 00:47:20.079
And yes, it should continue to
evolves. That's the whole notion of

585
00:47:20.079 --> 00:47:22.880
my life continued to evolve. So
as to me, when I see those

586
00:47:22.880 --> 00:47:27.239
younger generations coming up, I get
really inspired and excited because they're elevating us

587
00:47:27.679 --> 00:47:31.000
it's expanding our humanity. It is
allowing us to be able to pull more

588
00:47:31.079 --> 00:47:37.760
deeply and richly across our humanity,
to be able to contribute and work and

589
00:47:37.840 --> 00:47:43.519
create through business. And I find
that really compelling. So we've done it,

590
00:47:43.559 --> 00:47:45.440
Alex, We've gotten the end of
the show already. It goes by

591
00:47:45.480 --> 00:47:50.639
so very fast, I know it
goes So this shows listened to why people

592
00:47:50.639 --> 00:47:53.480
around the world who really care about
creating workplaces where they can thrite just the

593
00:47:53.559 --> 00:47:58.000
things you're saying. They're led by
inspiration leaders that bring them to their greatness,

594
00:47:58.199 --> 00:48:00.760
and we do business that betters the
world. What would like to leave

595
00:48:00.800 --> 00:48:09.519
them with today? The deeply human
desire to be part of something that is

596
00:48:09.679 --> 00:48:15.880
worth to be part of is something
that I feel should drive us as entrepreneurs

597
00:48:15.920 --> 00:48:22.320
and as corporate leaders to build these
workplaces. And I mean, even if

598
00:48:22.360 --> 00:48:25.760
you've been around for a while and
you've learned a certain way to lead and

599
00:48:25.760 --> 00:48:30.639
to create results, if you're not
happy with it, change it. Dare

600
00:48:30.679 --> 00:48:34.360
to make that first little step and
you might be surprised of what's on the

601
00:48:34.360 --> 00:48:37.039
other side of the line for you. What a beautiful way to finish,

602
00:48:37.079 --> 00:48:40.039
Alex, very very grateful that we
cross pass and I got to read your

603
00:48:40.039 --> 00:48:43.559
book and learn from you and now
share with my listeners and viewers around the

604
00:48:43.599 --> 00:48:46.039
world. Thank you for being on
working on purpose. Thanks so much at

605
00:48:46.119 --> 00:48:50.559
least for having me. Welcome,
listeners, viewers. If you'll learn more

606
00:48:50.559 --> 00:48:53.920
about Alex Brookman, his work or
his book, Secrets of Next Level Entrepreneurs,

607
00:48:53.920 --> 00:48:59.840
you can start by visiting Alex the
Strategist dot com. Last weeks the

608
00:48:59.880 --> 00:49:01.519
Line Show, you can always catch
it if your recorded podcast. We were

609
00:49:01.519 --> 00:49:06.280
on the er with Tiffany Bova talking
about her new book, The Experienced Mindset,

610
00:49:06.480 --> 00:49:09.440
which puts forth the central idea for
companies to succeed in today's economy that

611
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they must equally nurture the customer and
the employee experience. What makes her point

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so compelling, though, is that
she's not an organizational psychologist and local therapists

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like me. She's a business growth
strategist and innovation extort, a numbers person,

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and she's talking about this stuff,
so pay attention to that. She's

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got some really amazing numbers in the
book to go along with it. Next

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week we'll be on the Aero.
Doctor Pelee a delightful man. I've known

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00:49:31.079 --> 00:49:36.079
him for several years talking about his
new book called Profitable Happiness, the Five

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Key Habits of a High Performance Organization. See you there, and remember that

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work as an integral and important part
of our lives, and it can be

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one of the best adventures and means
of realizing our potential and making the impact

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we crave. So let's work on
Purpose. We hope you've enjoyed this week's

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00:49:51.559 --> 00:49:54.599
program. Be sure to tune into
Working on Purpose featuring your host, doctor

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Elise Cortez, each week on W
four CY. Together we'll create a world

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where business operates conscientiously, Leadership inspires
and passion performance, and employees are fulfilled

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00:50:06.039 --> 00:50:08.639
in work that provides the meaning and
purpose they crave. See you there,

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00:50:08.880 --> 00:50:10.320
Let's work on Purpose.