Cy Wakeman is an international keynote speaker, business consultant, New York Times best-selling author, and psychologist. She helps people around the world ditch the drama and turn excuses into results. Naturally, Laurie is a total fangirl. Today, Cy and Laurie talk about how to get the best out of people, whether or not you really NEED leaders, and what the future of work looks like for all of us.
- Cy has a great strategy for getting clients in the door and to help them take all the negative energy at work and turn it around to positive results based on new actions: she gives her stuff away for free. The individuals who learn from her content then turn around and put the pressure on their leaders to bring her in to do work, and she gets great results.
- Cy has an interesting take on work NOT being broken. Work, she says, is our reality, and whether or not we succeed in it is up to us. Cy explains the parts of work that are lacking, from leadership to HR, and it all has to do with the people, not the construct.
- If you’re keen on learning about leadership, you’ve probably noticed there are a million different people speaking and teaching about it. But have you stopped to actually listen to their messages? Sounds a lot like pop psychology, feel-good stuff that, unfortunately, doesn’t really address the problems. Cy shares her take on the current trend of ‘best practices’ and why understanding the human condition is the most important thing you can do, leader or not.
- You’ve probably heard people talking about the ability to bring your ‘whole self’ to work. Cy disagrees; instead, she urges you to bring your ‘most evolved’ self to work. In fact, Cy doesn’t think you should bring your whole self anywhere, and she explains why you need to be fit for duty beyond the tasks you undertake.
- Leadership has evolved over the years. In modern times, we’re more concerned with purpose and engagement. Cy shares a surprising insight: engagement without accountability creates entitlement. And more importantly, happiness at work isn’t up to leaders. Cy’s years as a therapist come to bear when she says that a relationship like that is co-dependency and isn’t healthy, and you end up losing the best employees.
- You need to be willing to pick favorites when it comes to your employees: there are the high and low accountables. High and low performers, and according to Cy, too much attention has been given to low accountables to try to keep them engaged. Cy explains why this is the opposite of what it should be.
- Can low accountables become high accountables? Sometimes. But is it the responsibility of the organization to make it happen? No. It might seem like a tough choice to make, but Cy believes that a business should instead focus on making themselves a place where high accountables want to work. In fact, there isn’t a shortage of talent, and Cy explains why.
- You don’t have to harm people and harm the environment to make a profit. That’s a load of bologna according to Cy. Instead, we need to focus on ‘pure profit.’ It’s not what you think. Cy reveals exactly what that means and how businesses can be sustainable without hurting the world.
- Community has been a buzzword for a while now, whether you’re talking about regionality or groups online. How healthy are the communities in which you find yourself? As a psychologist, Cy has a great message about what makes a healthy community and what makes hers thrive, even with millennials.
- Cy has a vision for the future of work and what you need to remember is this: it’s not something that’s going to happen TO us. It’s something we need to do for ourselves. It’s where we go beyond ego, salary, title, and all the other things that seem so important to us now. How and why should we do it? Cy shares what drives her to do the work she does.
- With the future of work being AI and automation, we’re left wondering if the future holds any place for heart and for love. Laurie poses the question to Cy, and she’s got a very heart-centered answer for you. And it all comes back to people and the concept of ego.
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Cy Wakeman
Find her @cywakeman everywhere on the Internet!
Reality-Based Leadership: http://www.realitybasedleadership.com/
Life's Messy Live Happy Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/LifesMessyLiveHappy/
No Ego: How Leaders Can Cut the Cost of Workplace Drama, End Entitlement, and Drive Big Results https://amzn.to/2uqfPGc Reality-Based Leadership: Ditch the Drama, Restore Sanity to the Workplace, and Turn Excuses into Results https://amzn.to/2ul0tTgActivity