Change leadership expert, Brett Clay, author of 'Selling Change, 101+ Secrets for Growing Sales By Leading Change,' interviewed Mary Kelly, PhD, on The Actuation Zone? Radio Show on October 4th, 2011.
Mary Kelly is the author of 'Mastering Your World, 15 Dog-Inspired Leadership Lessons to Improve Productivity, Profits, and Communication,' recently named best leadership book of 2011 by Global eBook Awards. Kelly, who is a retired commander in the U.S. Navy, taught economics and management at the U.S. Naval Academy for 21 years. She also trains dogs and horses and is currently the coach and officer in charge of the equestrian team at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
In this interview, Kelly discusses the dog-inspired leadership lessons from her award-winning book and explains the similarities between training dogs, Naval cadets, and employees. She says one of the most important principles is to focus on and reward desired behaviors, rather than undesired behaviors. That means managers must have the self-discipline to set clear expectations and provide frequent feedback. Managers must also be highly disciplined in immediately putting a stop to negative behaviors on their team. She says allowing negative behavior to continue effectively endorses them and thereby disrupts the morale and effectiveness of the team.
Kelly also discusses her views on the current economic situation. She says, "we're going to stay in a bad place economically, I think, for quite a while. It's going to take some years to get us out of this hole we've gotten into." The danger, she says, is that company owners and managers can become consumed by a scarcity mindset and become fear-driven. Once a company's managers are fear-driven, the company loses its competitiveness and begins a downward spiral. To avoid the scarcity mindset, Kelly says managers must stop focusing on what is going wrong and start focusing on what is going right. Most importantly, companies should examine the way they interact with and serve their most valuable customers, she says.
One of the most important topics Kelly discusses is how to improve productivity. Worker productivity has been cited by economists as the the fundamental driver of economic growth in the U.S. over the last 150 years. In the interview, Kelly reveals two tips for improving a company's productivity that can be immediately implemented.
About the Actuation Zone? Radio Show
Change leadership author, Brett Clay, hosts The Actuation Zone, where he discusses business trends and today?s hot issues with thought-leaders?authors, analysts, scholars, journalists, and practitioners?who are not just adapting, but are creating and exploiting new opportunities, by leading change. The Actuation Zone is broadcast on Contact Talk Radio 106.9FM HD3 in Seattle, WA and is available on iTunes and RSS. http://actuationzone.com
About Mary Kelly
Mary Kelly, PhD is a leadership and productivity speaker, whose dynamic and unique keynotes have been helping organizations and individuals to become more productive and motivated in a fun and engaging way. http://productiveleaders.com
###
