The Culture Mistakes That Drive Talent Away | Always Lifting Episode 15

Today's guest is Lisa Ryan, founder of Grategy, certified speaking professional, and author of Gear Up for Greatness and the upcoming The Smart Plant: Aligning AI, Automation & People. Lisa has spent 15 years helping manufacturing and industrial leaders build cultures where people actually want to stay.

⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction
00:57 – Lisa's career story: from executive recruiting to Grategy
04:03 – Why Grategy was born on October 12, 2010
05:12 – Why gratitude is NOT a soft skill
07:56 – The 6 Gears of Gratitude framework
11:09 – Why people are your most important (and most difficult) asset
12:16 – What leaders unintentionally do to disengage their teams
14:40 – The comment that cost a company their best employee
16:49 – The 3-5% problem: why you're punishing your best people
18:27 – How to be authentic without crossing the line
20:01 – Bob from Miller Textile: a real-world retention success story
23:43 – Lisa's new book: The Smart Plant
25:22 – What AI is quietly removing from your organization
28:02 – Why human judgment needs to be in your company's infrastructure
30:35 – The "two-column test" for automation decisions
36:06 – The one practice Lisa recommends above all else
37:19 – How gratitude saved Lisa's business during the pandemic
43:39 – What's lifting Lisa right now

🔗 Connect with Lisa:
📌 Website: https://lisaryanspeaks.com
📌 Speaking & Topics: https://lisaryanspeaks.com/speaking/topics/
📌 Book Manufacturing Engagement (free copy): https://lisaryanspeaks.com
📌 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asklisaryan/
📌 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mygrategy
📌 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LisaRyanSpeaker

📌 Connect with Karen & Always Lifting:
🌐 https://www.karennorheim.com/
📱   / karennorheim  

Subscribe for more episodes and remember to always lift.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Today's guest is the founder of Grategy, a philosophy that blends gratitude and strategy to help leaders build stronger cultures and more engaged teams. Lisa Ryan is a leadership engagement expert, certified speaking professional, and author of several books, including her upcoming book, The Smart Plan, aligning AI, automation, and people, which couldn't be more timely as leaders navigate technology change and the human side of work. Lisa, I am so glad you're here.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

Yeah, it is so nice to be with you and to see you again. It's been way too long.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

It has been way too long. I was trying to think back. I think we're in the several year range. So excited to hear how things are going and what you are up to these days. But let's get started. Let's get started with your story. I would love for you to share for everybody listening how you found your way to this idea of leadership engagement and to this company you've created called Grategy.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Okay. Well, I was born. No. I had a career in sales for the most part. I uh started my career as an executive recruiter. Um, one of the few people on the planet who can actually say they sold their mother. No. Yeah, mom actually hated the position. Yeah, she hated the job that I placed her in. But I'm like, mom, you got to stay there at least 90 days because I have a guarantee and I can't afford to give back the commission I made on you. So thankfully, mom didn't disown me. She was there for two and a half years. Um, for there, from there, I placed myself into industrial sales where I sold electrical cord and cable, a high performance line of electrical cord and cable, into the maintenance environment over the phone. I did that for about five years. And then there was one comment that one of the managers said during a meeting. I was uh the top rep there. I was just on my way to celebrating my five-year anniversary and getting vested. And when he told the group of inside sales reps that uh trained monkeys could do what we do, I decided to uh celebrate my five-year anniversary by sending out my resume. So I did that, and uh I ended up in the welding industry. That was in my first outside sales position, and I did that for seven years. Again, it was my my favorite job in sales. I loved being around manufacturing and construction and the trades and being around people who are passionate about making stuff and fixing stuff that most of the world takes for granted. And I again did really well in that industry. I love doing it, but then there was that whole boss not listening when he wanted to hire somebody in my territory. And I'm like, dude, don't do it. I got my territory where it's at. I don't need some rookie coming in and messing everything up, but he got a little greedy and I got a little bit mad. And I put together my resume to see how marketable I was. And I found out that with 17 years of sales experience and an MBA, I was pretty marketable. So for the last seven years in my career, I was in healthcare. And again, great job, cushy sales job, all the acront, you know, all the benefits that you think about in medical sales. But when that position was eliminated via group conference call with 12 of us getting canned at the same time, I said, no company, yeah, will ever do that to me again. And Grategy was founded on that day, which is why I know it was October 12, 2010. So why that huge background just leading up to Grategy? Because not only have I been in lots of workplace cultures, and I've worked with some great bosses, but I've also seen what it takes to create a type of culture where employees feel valued and appreciated. And especially when we're looking at manufacturing and the trades, where it's difficult enough to find good people, you know, we have to do what we can to be able to keep them. So I celebrated my 15-year anniversary of doing this on my own as an entrepreneur last October. And I can't imagine doing anything.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

Thanks. Congratulations to that. That's amazing. Thanks. So your your whole story and and getting to this grategy point and starting this conversation, I want to tease into grategy a little bit more around culture and how important it is. And I I thank you for the pain of some of your previous stories that you're able to translate into learning moments and understanding for the rest of us. You know, as you think about that, how how would you sum up this idea of gratity, um, this this um which I think is really unique how you have kind of captured the essence of great creating a great culture and keeping people, you know, the whole nine yards.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

Well, you know what, when it comes to gratitude, a lot of times we think that it is a soft skill or it's just something that maybe we have to coddle our people and make them all feel, you know, soft and mushy and stuff, and that's got nothing to do with it. It is a basic human connection. And it really became apparent to me very early in my speaking and consulting when I realized that I could do a program, I could do an hour program, and it was 55 minutes of workplace culture, um, employee engagement, employee retention, or employee recognition, you name that, and I'd spend five minutes on the power of gratitude in that and how it impacts us personally and how it rewires our brain and how it um trains us to find the good, no matter what is going on in our life. And just in those five minutes, and then you ask people, so what was your biggest takeaway? You know, I need to be more grateful. I need to start a gratitude journal. I need to thank my people more often. So it is this basic human connection that, you know, yes, money matters. We all measure ourselves on money, but money is not the be-all end all that we look at it to be. It's that feeling of connection, it's that feeling of what I'm doing matters and I'm making a difference that really led to, you know, what became gratity.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

It's great. I mean, and I remember meeting you early on, and I did my gratity, my gratitude journal. It was really a gratitude journal like that you recommended, and it was it was huge. Um I still practice uh gratitude every every morning and and um do writing a journal in the evening. Uh I think it's amazing to highlight that piece of it. You know, when you think about that, um what do you think people are missing when you know you're talking about how you're doing training and and the last five minutes is gratitude and it feels so soft? What what do you think is missing in the workplace and that, you know, how how do we not make it just the soft skill? How do you how do you do some techniques to actually integrate this into the strategies of running our business and creating great places for people to work?

SPEAKER_00 8:00

Well, one of the things with my newest model that I came out with, with my last book, A Gear Up for Greatness, um, it's my it's based on the six gears of grategy. So the first one being attitude, and that if you still have the attitude of, well, if you want to work for my company, you have to change to work for me. That is not working anymore. So, what is your attitude when it comes to bringing in people who see the world differently from you, who are more adverse, who have more experience with technology, that are really looking for how they can have it all a great job, good pay, and work-life balance so that they can spend time with their family. How do we incorporate those things into our workplace? Uh, the second one is appreciation, and that is the personal practice of gratitude. So, just like you found from just spending that couple minutes every day looking for the good, you start to, when you can find it in yourself at home, it makes it easier to find it in work. Then we go to access, which is access to leadership and access to the tools and resources that people need. You know, a lot of times there used to be this hierarchy that if I wanted to talk to you as president of the company, I would need to talk to my boss who talked to her boss, who talked to his boss, who talked to their boss, because we didn't want to jump the rungs of the ladder. And now you have brand new employees and they are gonna walk in your office uninvited, sit down, and say, you know, I don't know, I know I don't know anything about cranes, but I see some things and I'd like to share them with you. You know, so it's that access that is an expectation in the workplace. And again, the tools and resources that employees need. There's so many different ways to invest in employees. From there, we finally get to applause, which is the tangible recognition for a job well done. After that, and this is such a big one, is acts of service, which is really how am I giving back? How is my organization making that dent in the universe so that employees know that they are part of something bigger? Things like sustainability. How are we taking care of the planet? How are we giving back to our communities? How are we making a difference? That matters. And that's why when I'm speaking to these association audiences all over the country, it's the conversations in the hallways that people are having, that they get so excited about doing what they do. And it's like, you need to take that energy and share that with the people who are working for you and who you are bringing in to work for you because that's what they want to be a part of. And then we end it with accountability, just making sure that this really is a process for the long run and not just a program that we're going to do one time and okay, well, we did that done next.

SPEAKER_01 11:08

It's great. I love it. Such a great framework in there. And, you know, I think so many pieces from what we know about us as humans, right? Even part of uh the longevity discussions, we need purpose, right? We need um, you know, to feel a sense of belonging and trust. And in the workplace, you're outlining a way to actually, you know, create these things. And I think it's really important that we remember people are the most important part of our business. They're the most difficult and they're the most important. And we, you know, if you're having retention issues, if you're having um hiring issues, you have to lean in. Like you this is like a what's the word I'm looking for? This is no longer like a you can ignore this. You must be intentional about this. You need a strategy, you've got to work on this. And and I think it's great because in the end, we're making happier employees, which are more productive, which are actually better for our business. So it feels good. It helps people feel better where they're working and thrive. And yet at the same time, we're actually all more productive. So in the end, it's a win-win for everybody, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:12

Exactly. It's so funny because usually it doesn't happen very often, but every once in a while at one of my speaking engagements, I'll run into somebody and they they have that attitude. I can't find anybody, nobody wants to work, nobody wants to be loyal. It's all about the money, that's it, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And what I want to say is, oh, honey, they're leaving you. But that is my inside voice. You know, and it's like, I just encourage them, you know what? Just listen to some of the ideas that I'm going to share and just, you know, try them for yourself. Because the thing is that company culture didn't happen overnight, and it's not going to change overnight. So it's not me saying thank you one time to an employee. It's like, what do I need to change about myself as a leader? Because here's the other thing that people may not get is that managers will raise their people the way that they were raised. So if you're a manager and you've never been appreciated, you've never been valued, you've never been told that you're doing a good job, there's a really good chance you're going to treat your people the exact same way. And we need to break that pattern because it's not working.

SPEAKER_01 13:32

So interesting. Uh this idea. Okay, yeah. So however we were brought up, that's how we're treating treating our people. Really kind of powerful insight in there. And also your comments around that like this is a labor of love. It doesn't it doesn't stop, right? You have to continually uh be doing these practices and I think be as leaders, we need to be open to getting better and continuously improving and and working on this. It's not uh there's no final destination, right? We're sort of on a journey with this process.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 14:07

So if we start with maybe, maybe attitude in your gears or um I guess I guess actually I'm gonna go this direction. I know that this probably happens, and I know that you've seen a lot, you've worked with a lot of different companies and you've spoken at a lot of different events. You know, what are um some things that you've seen where leaders have unintentionally like disengaged a team? If we go to an example of what not to do in this situation of trying to build trust and great culture, great places to work.

SPEAKER_00 14:40

You know, I think that if we are really cognizant of um the comments that you make, you know, that one comment said at the wrong time can really destroy that company. I shared the trained monkeys comment with you, but I had another guy come out to me after a program, and he shared that he was, you know, working for a company, he was working for a big box store, and he uh took really great care of a customer, and she ended up writing like a really nice letter to the general manager as far as what a great job that he did. So during their meeting for the week, his manager got up and he read that letter, you know, and shared it with the team. And here's this guy, he's all proud and everything. And the next manager that came up said, Yeah, nice having your mom write that letter. Ha ha ha ha ha. So funny. But it completely popped the balloon of his enthusiasm and he was gone within six weeks. So I think that we can always, we want to create a culture where people can have fun. And I'm not saying to watch every single thing that you have to do and always be politically correct, but we don't want to have fun at the expense of somebody else. And I think that that's where, you know, I was just joking, I was just joking around. If you're saying something hurtful, the thing is you have no idea what happened to that employee five minutes before they work, walked in the plant that day. You don't know that they just got into a fight with their spouse, their kids in trouble, they're having, you know, problems at home, whatever it is. And the first thing that they come in and they're embarrassed in front of their colleagues, which is supposed to be their safe space. And it doesn't happen. So I think that again, it comes down to erring on the side of kindness. Um, and also about that, too. You know, this is something else out here. You know that there's a small percentage of your employees, let's say three to five percent of your employees, who are gonna jack the system, okay? No matter what you do, these people are gonna take advantage of you, they're gonna find workarounds, they are going to do everything possible to take advantage of you. We know they exist. However, we treat the 95 to 97% of our good, honest, hardworking people who are doing the best things that they can with the with what they have as part of that 3-5%. If instead we err on the fact that all of our no none of our employees come to work going, you know what, I'm gonna really suck today. No, they don't do that. They come in wanting to do a good job, and especially if they feel valued, appreciated, and known by the people that they report to.

SPEAKER_01 17:37

Really good stuff there to think about and and to lean into. You know, if if we think of this idea of, you know, the comments, you know, a lot of times I always I always hear um i insights on, hey, try to be your authentic self. And there's a bit of a uh uh well, hopefully it's one thing for us to learn maybe not to have jokes at the expense of others. But but if we want to be our authentic selves, we have to kind of find ways to be vulnerable and relate and maybe find humor. But there is a there is a balancing act in there as you're talking about to make sure that you're not saying something um that really can upset somebody. Is there any advice you have for for leaders on how to create that authenticity and kind of balance this line? But you know, any anything that you've seen that's worked to be able to build that trust and relatability?

SPEAKER_00 18:31

You know, I think that in the authenticity, there also needs to be transparency. Um and part of that is, you know, if a manager is a little rough around the edges, um, if they they're not always politically correct, you know, that may actually come with the apology approach of saying, you know, Karen, I know that sometimes when I give you feedback, you know, I'm trying to be myself and transparent. And I don't always come across in the way that makes sense, that that uh resonates with you. But I just want to let you know that, you know, I'm trying my best. I think that if you and I continue to have this conversation, uh, to know that when I'm giving you feedback, it is coming from a really good place in my heart. I just don't always express it. So we can be our authentic selves, but we can also be transparent and that level of vulnerability like you just mentioned to create those relationships.

SPEAKER_01 19:35

Is there any anybody you've seen over the years who's uh you know embraced these techniques like we were just talking about, or any any of your other great, you know, I really love all of the things that you've put out. I was listening to Geared Up for Greatness a little bit earlier this week. Um, any great stories where you've seen maybe a small thing or a little thing turn into some big impact? Do you have a favorite story, a success story?

SPEAKER_00 20:00

Um, you know, it's so funny because this was years ago that I worked with Miller Textile. They're in Wapacaneta, Ohio, uh, which I believe is the home of one of the astronauts. Maybe uh I'm blanking. But anyway, they're known for something down there. Um and I came in and I did a program for Bob, and there was just something about the way that he ran his team. I mean, he had hired a dream manager to come in, he had an employee experience committee. And um, as you know, from going to my program, you probably get Gratitude Thought of the Week that's been coming out, you know, every week since 2011. And um, Bob is on my list, and I regularly hear from him that he just shares with me the little things that he does, you know, an employee um knocks it out of the park, they, you know, where they'll take a picture of it, they'll take a picture of the employee like with that award or whatever. But then Bob will do little things like, you know, go to the dollar store and get a frame to put that in, to give that to the employee. So I think with him, it's this, it's this always being on the lookout of how can I serve, how can I be nice, how can I make someone's day a little better? And it was funny because just last week I was doing a six-hour workshop for a group in the textile industries. I will tell you what, I don't take a single tablecloth, napkin, or bed sheet in a hotel for granted anymore after working with these people. But um, Bob actually had two of his people come, including his son, and he was so excited to reconnect. So it's just you build those relationships over time. And the fact that, you know, I know that a client that I work with probably 10 years ago, you know, is still just as connected to me and letting me know the Little things that he's continues to do with his people just really warms my heart.

SPEAKER_01 22:06

I think it's fantastic. And I think of you often, I uh you know, I for sure love love that and and can uh um put myself in a camp of the impact that you've made for so many of us. And I actually I read that last uh thought of the week, and I thought, you know, your quote that went along with this textile conference of um it's one of my favorites, actually. The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. And that's uh uh Marshall Marshall Proust quote. And I just think that's such a cool thing to think about that we don't have to travel all over. We can literally have a new perspective and see things um things differently. Uh you know what what inspired you to pick that quote in the context of that particular com um uh piece that you wrote? Because it was so very inspiring.

SPEAKER_00 23:01

Yeah. You know what when I when I do that, I actually will do a search on quotes that match, and usually I'll get five or six of them. But yeah, there was just and it it's funny because I always know like the quote. I'll read five or six of them, I'm like, oh yeah, that one's it. You know. So it's uh you know, a little bit of magic, a little bit of Google.

SPEAKER_01 23:25

Hey, we all have to lean in and and embrace our technologies these days. You know, if we if we kind of move into the your new book that you were working on and this idea of new technology that's coming along, um, you know, do you and and honestly we have remote workforce and hybrid workforce, we have people all over the place. You know, what what can leader what do leaders need to be thinking about today, um, even if they're already embracing some of your ideas? What should we be thinking about and what should we be should be on our radar screen?

SPEAKER_00 24:00

Yeah, I mean the technology, we are not putting that genie in the bottle, uh, back in the bottle. You know, during the pandemic, like everybody was on camera, everybody did it. Now I do these, uh, you know, my side hustle is teaching HR law uh virtually, not a lawyer, don't play one on television. But, you know, I do these six-hour programs talking to black boxes with white names on them. And there's nothing I can do because it's a I'm a contractor for them, so I cannot demand them to come on camera. But when you're having meetings, you know, make people turn their camera on. Don't care about what the hair looks like, what the background looks like, um, you know, but because again, just like we can see in person, we can see what's going on with the people. You know, are they paying attention? Are they having a good day? Are they having a bad day? Um, and instead of just getting right into the meeting, you know, how can we figure out how to have those, you know, water cooler conversations? How can we have some fun on these? How can we just continue to build those relationships? So there's that technology. But when it comes to the workforce, and what this book really focuses on is that little by little, you know, with AI, we're learning to rely on the dashboards. We're learning because back in the day, if we automated something, you still had a human there that had to learn the messy process of how the robot worked and how the two of you could work together. Now you have AI come in and AI learns, man. I mean, it learns and it makes judgments, and every time it makes a judgment and gets approval, it gets a little bit better next time and better next time. So what we're doing little by little is we're removing the human judgment, not realizing that, you know, there are times that things happen and the dashboards aren't going to pick it up for whatever reason, you know, that because they haven't been trained that. It's a one-off, whatever happened. Where a person before, they have 40 years of experience and they're like, you know what, there's something that's gonna happen with this machine. Something's not right, but the dashboards are still green, and leadership is more likely to listen to the machine than to this person who's been on the floor for 40 years. So this book is really about putting judgment, human judgment into the infrastructure of the organization so that it's just as important as finance, it's just as important as maintenance. I mean, it's part of what we do. Is it going to slow things down a little bit? Maybe. But when you think about all the people that are starting to leave the workforce and taking all of that history with them, we're we're hiring a whole bunch of people that are trained in classrooms and learning to read dashboards and acknowledge the green lights instead of really building up that sensory library of feel and smell and sound and what things are supposed to look like. So that's my goal of just reminding us that yes, the robots are great. I remember there was a couple weeks ago or a couple months ago when ChatGPT went down for the afternoon. There was a meme that nobody was posting on LinkedIn that day. So it's like we all rely on the robots. And we have to figure out how we can still continue to build the human knowledge that we need in our organizations and to keep that judgment alive.

SPEAKER_01 27:48

I love that. Human judgment and, you know, people are still going to be the most important part of our business, even as we bring automation and AI and robots and all of that to the table. And, you know, I've heard a lot of interesting things about, you know, what it's going to be like on the other side of AI, meaning when it's just so commonplace, like the internet, that we we don't really think even about say talking about it. It's just integrated into what we do. And um I'd be interested interested to see your take on this. Some of what I've heard is that um we will find that we'll be really seeking more human relationships and and this idea of superpowering the human and this combination and sort of collaboration with the technology, and then really leaning in on um the the relationship and the human-to-human points, whether it's virtually with cameras on or literally human-to-human, and that's going to just become more and more and more important as time goes on. What are your thoughts around that? And I'm sure it ties into some of your topics here in this book you are getting ready to release.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

I think that I think that you're absolutely right. I mean, what AI does in our normal everyday life is it gives us the opportunity to get a lot of work done more quickly, leaving us more time to do things that we enjoy, to connect with our loved ones, to um, you know, to have those face-to-face interactions, because there's only so much that you can do on a screen. Um, there's only so much that we can do without some type of uh friendship, connection, whatever it is. I mean, like I said, we both go to conferences and uh after the pandemic, I mean, people came back in full force. Why? Because we want to be in the same room with other people who are as passionate as we are about it. And we have some level of feeling that passion online, but it's so much better when we can be in person. So yeah, I I do believe that those human relationships are going to become uh even more and more uh more and more important.

SPEAKER_01 30:07

Absolutely. Um so interesting. So many other questions for you. Uh you know, as you're you're thinking about, you know, there's so much good stuff in all of the things that you're that you are putting together and have done. And if we turn back again, maybe to some tips and tricks, like is there something from the smart plant that you really want leaders to kind of um, if they lean in, they'll be able to take it, take away something from there?

SPEAKER_00 30:36

With every piece of automation that you're bringing in or AI that you're bringing in, sitting down and and saying, um, you know, what is the judgment that we're removing as a result of that? Um, having two columns. This is where human judgment is absolutely necessary. Here is where AI can do the job. Um, you know, and and just really thinking about that. There's a, you know, the book starts off kind of in a fable form, but one of the examples used in there is that, you know, they were noticing that they were, they had eight supervisors and they were like, well, are we a little overstaffed? Because, you know, the supervisors with all this AI and automation, they're really not doing as much as they used to do. So let's bring it down to five supervisors. But what they noticed is they, you know, it saved them money, it saved them all of that, but the the conversations on the floor weren't happening.

SPEAKER_01 31:45

I I think I'd actually have an interesting question for you. Something that I noticed as I I've read several of your books, and also when I um started listening to the audible version of Gear Up for Greatness, and I think you're doing this as well from what you're saying about your new book. I love the fable that you use in the beginning, this idea of storytelling in your teaching process. And I'm a huge believer in storytelling. I don't know if for those that um know me well, I always talk about, you know, to lead in life and in business, you need to be a Viking, which is be a gardener for yourself and others, which is all this stuff that we're talking about here and the cycle of that, um, being a a a Viking, which is the warrior piece, and you're going and you're doing the thing and you're learning your techniques and you're under pressure. But even more importantly is the storytelling piece and this idea that just like the Vikings, they shared their sagas um as an oral tradition, they did this because they learned. They learned through these great stories. I love that you're incorporating this into your storytelling, and I'm I imagine there's intentionality behind that. And I don't know if you have any other just general thoughts on this concept of storytelling.

SPEAKER_00 32:58

Well, the interesting thing is that with Gear Up for Greatness, I always, I mean, I've always loved the business fable, you know, the go-giver and who moved my cheese and greatest salesman in the world, and all of those books. But I was always really afraid of fiction. But I had this, you know, it was just this thought that, you know, let me just see if I can do this. So Gear Up for Greatness was my, it was so fun to write. And as you know, the first, you know, three-quarters of the book is fable. And then of course I have to have my nonfiction implementation guide at the end. Right. With uh Smart Plant, I didn't want the whole thing to be um fictional, to be fiction, but I thought that starting with a story in the spring of 2030, when there was a massive bearing failure that led to the plant being down for six days. And what we did is we kind of work that backwards to see what happened in in 2029 that they changed, what did they change in 2028? What did they change in 2027? So gradually we saw um those that judgment being taken out. Um, and so most of the book, it's it's only like maybe two or the first two or three chapters that have um Oak Ridge, and then we go into the content. But I couldn't think of, you know, I actually based it on my more than 200 podcast interviews, uh, people that I've been talking to for the last five years and incorporating that into it. So it was just, it was really, it's been a really fun project because I get the story that I love, but then I also get the points to to make that can help people to really be reminded of you know, keeping that judgment in there.

SPEAKER_01 34:56

Well, it's very, I mean, just you telling me this little bit, right? I haven't, it hasn't come out. I guess I haven't chanced to read it, but 2030, there's a pairing. I mean, it like it does work. It kind of gets you in. I'm like, oh no.

SPEAKER_00 35:07

Yeah. And it was after 500 days of perfect uptime.

SPEAKER_01 35:12

I like it. Well, you know, many of us in the manufacturing space, there's a big boom going on. We're growing. I know us um at American Crane, we're growing. We have so like so many open positions and more hiring to do. And there's a fear as a leader, like as we grow and we definitely want to leverage new technology, how do we do it in a way so we're not, you know, the next fable that you have? So I appreciate that you are um, you know, teaching us this and putting it in a way that makes it really digestible and incredibly relatable for those of us who are reading. So thank you for that. You're very welcome. Um if we go now to um you know what any other sort of tips that you think, like if you have somebody who's listening today and they're like, okay, gratity, um, gratitude, you know, um, I get it. I hear these gears that you've talked about. You know, is there one or two steps that somebody could make if they're ready to kind of take the next step on their journey to, you know, become a workplace that can do this well?

SPEAKER_00 36:18

You know, I'm gonna go right back to the practice of gratitude. You know, that that daily practice of rewiring your brain to find the good. Um, you know, my practices started in 2009. Um, have I have I written every day in my journal since then? No. But I also know that when I get out of practice, my life doesn't work that well. But I also know that it works. I mean, I think about the fact on December 31st of 2019, I had more business going into 2020 than I had done in 2019. I mean, 2020 was going to be a record year by far. And then when the pandemic happened and everything went apot, and I never really sat down with myself and said, gee, I wonder what would happen if a worldwide pandemic killed my speaking business for two years? What would go? So one thing that's really important about manufacturers as we go into the future is what are the questions that you don't realize that you should be asking? For me, it was what's what would be my plan B for a manufacturer? Well, how do we incorporate flexible scheduling? How do we increate, uh give people time for more work-life balance and family time? You know, it's not something flexible scheduling and manufacturing, where these not in the same sentence, how do we figure that out? But looking back at it, that that practice, I mean, that led to, you know, my podcast. That led to my uh discovering that you know I have a little bit of a talent for acrylic art because painting saved my life uh during those days. I mean, it started with paint by numbers on Amazon, and then I had a whole bunch of paint left over, and I found out that I actually have skill. Not super good. I mean, I wouldn't be museum worthy, but again, from a mindset standpoint, it really saved me. And I think that if I did not have that gratitude practice, I mean, I could have gone. I saw a lot of my speaker friends really, really struggle when everything just disappeared. So um, even though it's a personal strategy, I don't think that there is a better practice on the planet because when we can find gratitude in ourselves and our lives, it makes us we feel better physically, our relationships at home get better, and then we can take that person to the workplace, and that's the one that can find the good and connect with employees.

SPEAKER_01 39:00

I think it's great. And it's such a simple, a simple thing that I think you're so right. It it really puts you in that great mindset to be uh, you know, looking for opportunity in those crises like you did, right? You have to be be be looking for where the positives can can show up. Um as we wrap it up today. So fun to talk with you. Uh, but I'd like to ask everybody on my show to tell me, you know, what is lifting you right now?

SPEAKER_00 39:29

What is lifting me right now? Well, I am very blessed that um on April 13th, I will be celebrating my 30th wedding anniversary. And my husband and I are planning a Mediterranean cruise to Italy, Greece, and uh Turkey. And when my husband, he's an accountant, so he's so he's just so darn cute with, you know, making up the Excel spreadsheets as far as getting everything plotted and planned. And um it's just I'm I'm very blessed for the life that I have with him and to be able to do something that we've never done before and really going and to parts of the world that we've never been to and seeing kind of where civilization began. I'm really looking forward to that.

SPEAKER_01 40:19

Sounds exciting. Congratulations. That's fantastic. Um and then, you know, we we talk about any rituals to reset, and I just want to mention I love your painting. Are you still painting today and bringing out those acrylics and you know, uh enjoying that process?

SPEAKER_00 40:37

Aaron Powell You know, not as much as I did during the pandemic, but it is funny how cathartic it was. I, you know, I I lost my dad during the pandemic. He um got COVID, and then for about the next year after that was the slow decline, and he died in 22. And um about a month ago, I was just having a I was really just missing my dad. So I decided that I was going to do art therapy. So I brought out the campus and brought out the canvas and the paints, and I went with no thought in mind. I just thought that I would just start putting the brushes to the board to see what happened. I put on some Neil Diamond because Neil Diamond's my dad's favorite. And what ended up coming was a painting that I call Songsung Blue Heart. And this beautiful blue heart uh manifested out of it. And it was just this, it was really cathartic. And um, you know, and the thing with painting that I love is that when you start painting, it's really ugly. I mean, it is fugly. It's flat, it's ugly, it's just, you know, and then you just keep on working and working and working, and then all of a sudden it starts to, you know, it starts to show up. And then at the end, you're standing, you're stepping back and you're saying, holy cow, I made that. And it's it's just something really beautiful about that. So yeah, I really I love painting. Um, and and it has, and it's one of the bless one of the many blessings that came as a result of the pandemic.

SPEAKER_01 42:24

I think it's great. And you know, you have to be present while you're doing that. You can't exactly be checking your phone and looking at other technology. It's a good moment to unplug. Um, I do enjoy a little bit of guided painting with my family occasionally.

SPEAKER_00 42:38

Well, YouTube videos, I will tell you, you can take lessons, full lessons on YouTube where you will go step by step. Um, and the nice thing about the YouTube videos is you can pause them, you can get caught up. But there's um Felix and Angela. And uh yeah, I mean, there's several. You just put acrylic art painting lessons, and you and your family can all gather around and do a full really beautiful professional-looking painting. That's a great idea.

SPEAKER_01 43:11

I feel like we'll do our own paint and sip at home with a little bit of YouTube on the TV. I think it's fantastic. Well, Lisa, thank you so much for you know the thoughtful conversation and just being so real and these real tips around um how to keep gratitude top of mind. Again, it is something that uh a practice I picked up from you and that I have kept, uh, and I am grateful for that to you. So thank you. And I love how you remind us that gratitude isn't soft, right? It can be strategic. And through grategy and through your ongoing work, you're really helping leaders and all of us navigate change without losing um our human core. And I think it's a great message for the future and where we're going.

SPEAKER_00 43:59

Well, thank you. It's been so nice to reconnect with you. I'm really glad to I'm honored to be on your show.

SPEAKER_01 44:06

Well, thank you for coming. And uh to be continued. We'll keep talking. We this is our chance to stay in touch. So thank you again for coming on. I so appreciate it. You're welcome. Lisa blends humanity and professionalism in perfect balance. And the result? Strategy, a mindset that brings the best out of employees and employers by showing what it means for companies to care. For more on Lisa and her work, see the show notes below. Give us a subscribe if you haven't already, and remember to always listen.