00;00;00;01 - 00;00;31;14
Jennifer
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of the CEO and Executive Thought Leadership Program. I am your host, Jennifer Klug, and today we have a very special guest. Lisa is founder, CEO and owner of Innovative Learning Group. Innovative learning Group is a Michigan based learning and performance consulting firm. Lisa herself has over 40 years of experience in learning and training industry.
00;00;31;15 - 00;00;49;08
Jennifer
Throughout her career, she has remained passionate about helping people grow, learn and develop their skills, bringing that passion into the world of corporate training. Lisa, it's a pleasure to have you on the program. Thank you for joining us today.
00;00;49;12 - 00;00;52;29
Lisa
Well, thank you. Thank you very much.
00;00;53;01 - 00;01;01;27
Jennifer
Let's just start with a little refresher for everyone. For those that don't know, can you please give a brief overview of your company?
00;01;01;29 - 00;01;26;10
Lisa
Sure. Yeah. We're here in Troy and we're a 22 year old performance first learning company. So in simple language, we create custom training and tools to help employees of corporations do their jobs better. So mid and large size corporations all over the country and many of them take us globally.
00;01;26;12 - 00;01;45;12
Jennifer
Oh that's great. You know, we're hearing a lot about skill gaps and learning needs lately. So it's it's very important to have companies like yours out there helping those that need it now. What trends are you seeing? Are you seeing similar trends. What are you seeing out there?
00;01;45;15 - 00;02;12;03
Lisa
You know, there's always trends. I think people people love to gravitate to trends. You know, sometimes they're really just something that's very old bringing it back again. But certainly things like AI, virtual reality where you wear the headset, augmented reality, maybe glasses, where you get like a layer of information. We think those are both here to stay, not trends.
00;02;12;03 - 00;02;33;15
Lisa
But certainly everybody wants learning to be shorter. A fair amount of people want learning to be gamified. People want learning to be personalized. Everybody wants to know the data. So looking at data analytics to make sure you know that we're getting impact from learning.
00;02;33;17 - 00;02;54;13
Jennifer
Yeah, I would imagine that it's very hard right now. Everyone's time span is so short. You have to give it in a minute or 30s and they want it entertaining. Tell me a little bit more about the the glasses. So as as people are learning that it's on their glasses. Tell me more about that.
00;02;54;16 - 00;03;20;23
Lisa
Right. So while you're working so kind of in the flow of work, you know, it's like adding another layer of information. So you're you're here, you're present in the real world, but perhaps on the glasses there's some information. Sometimes in manufacturing you can have a tray or a piece of glass. And so your hands are below the glass.
00;03;20;25 - 00;03;27;18
Lisa
But the the information on the glass is telling you the step by step what to do. It's crazy.
00;03;27;24 - 00;03;55;07
Jennifer
Yeah. Very interesting. And it just goes to show you tech is everywhere now, just everywhere. Modern tech, I should say. Yes. Well, based on your experience and what you're hearing from from clients looking ahead, you know, 12 to 24 months out, what decision or capability will most separate companies that grow from those that merely endure?
00;03;55;10 - 00;04;31;04
Lisa
Yeah, that's a good question. I think I think one important thing is give employees time to learn. You know, we're humans physiologically. We can't learn faster, you know, so people need time to learn. And I think you mentioned skills. Make sure we're identifying the skills people need to do their job and then teach them those skills and let them practice, practice, practice, practice those skills and make sure they're getting constant feedback on how they're doing.
00;04;31;11 - 00;04;38;20
Lisa
Tests them, observe them to make sure. So really focus on the skills for a given job.
00;04;38;23 - 00;05;03;08
Jennifer
Yeah, that's it's common sense. But you know, in today's rush rush world and the pressures that everyone are facing right now, it seems like everyone is just swamped and they want to hurry, hurry, hurry. And what you're saying is in order for an employee to be successful, they need to be able to learn and take time to learn and practice learning.
00;05;03;11 - 00;05;19;01
Lisa
Because if you think about it, you don't want people learning. You don't want people learning with your customers, right? You know better, better. They take the time away from the job to learn and get tooled up and then are successful when they're with the client.
00;05;19;03 - 00;05;34;05
Jennifer
Great wisdom there. So so, you know, you've been a leader for, for a bit a well-respected, successful leader, a business owner. What is one assumption of leadership that you had to unlearn?
00;05;34;11 - 00;05;54;07
Lisa
You know, I think as a leader, you think you should you should have all the answers and you should be, like in every area of the business, you should be the best at it. But there's no way that's possible. So I think it's more about, you know, asking good questions. I know my staff tells me I probably ask too many questions.
00;05;54;08 - 00;06;01;20
Lisa
I ask the good questions, get really clear on what you want people to do, and then, you know, let them do it.
00;06;01;22 - 00;06;13;02
Jennifer
Yeah, I have a very good friend that that gave me similar advice, who's also an executive. And his go to is tell me more. Tell me what.
00;06;13;08 - 00;06;14;09
Lisa
That's a great one.
00;06;14;10 - 00;06;40;13
Jennifer
Yeah, it's a great one. You learn so much about what the issue is or the problem is from expert handling the problem where you as a leader aren't necessarily jumping in or having the answers to your point. So that that's that's great. That's great. You know, there's a lot of I think the key word that everyone's throwing around is uncertainty.
00;06;40;16 - 00;07;04;22
Jennifer
You know, companies aren't making decisions or they're holding off or they're being more conservative than normal because of the uncertainty. What advice would you give to anyone or any leader or business founder about navigating today's uncertainty? And what would you want them to act on?
00;07;04;24 - 00;07;29;16
Lisa
Yeah, I mean, I think you're never certain, right? So I think you always, at a given point in time, you have to take the information that you have and just make the best decision that you can, and then certainly be agile. And at some point it's not making sense. But get going, get going down that path and execute, you know, execute, execute, execute.
00;07;29;19 - 00;07;50;04
Lisa
I guess the other piece is don't try to do too many things at once. I see companies, you know, they're they're trying. It's just like at home you try to do 100 things at once. You try to remodel and have your kids in 900 activities and plan a vacation, and it's too much. Pick a few things and do them really well.
00;07;50;06 - 00;08;12;18
Jennifer
That's really good wisdom. It's just kind of in the DNA as a woman leader to is to be able to have that skill set to juggle all of it. So that's really, really wise to say, hey, you don't have to to do too much. But in in uncertain times, it is important to just move forward with something versus holding on.
00;08;12;21 - 00;08;31;03
Jennifer
And I guess that depends on the size of the company too. But it's important to take action instead of waiting no matter what. And those companies usually succeed a little bit better through whatever uncertainty there is. And I don't think uncertainty is going anywhere for a while. What do you think?
00;08;31;06 - 00;08;38;01
Lisa
I don't think so. I keep the amount of change just keeps increasing exponentially.
00;08;38;07 - 00;09;02;14
Jennifer
Yeah. You know, we've all had monumental moments and some are good, some are not as good. But then you look back on, I mean, you reflect on and say, hey, I'm glad I went through that because we went to the next level or I learned this about myself or what have you. Could you share a monumental moment or two where you had an moment or learning experience from that?
00;09;02;14 - 00;09;19;18
Jennifer
You're in the learning industry, so you know that sometimes going through the process is the learning. So. So share a monumental moment or two with us about your career or your leadership or your company that others can learn from.
00;09;19;21 - 00;09;42;11
Lisa
You know, I think for me, certainly every time I made a career change was, you know, when I look back on it, it was monumental, certainly scary. At the time. I left school teaching and went to corporate America. I left corporate America and went to the vendor side. I left a vendor and started a company, which was really very, very scary.
00;09;42;11 - 00;10;06;07
Lisa
But I think, you know, each time you do that, it reminds you. Yes, that was good. You kind of paid attention to to that gut feeling that it was time or a good thing to make a change. And it gives you that kind of confidence booster that, you know, it was scary, but you did it. You, you know, you took a deep breath and you got through it.
00;10;06;08 - 00;10;06;28
Lisa
Yeah.
00;10;07;02 - 00;10;31;29
Jennifer
So just taking the lead. So what what was the motivating factor to start your own company and what what monumental moments did you have through your career of starting the company? And I'm sure everyone goes to the pandemic. Right. But but tell us a little bit more about some of those details of some of those challenges or opportunities you faced.
00;10;32;02 - 00;10;56;10
Lisa
You know, I think when when I started the company, it was because another company was going out of business. So it was a very quick decision. It was, you know, it was on the spot. You know, we were we understood that the current company we were working for would be closing its doors. And I within a sentence or two, you know, said to the owners, you know, do you mind if I start a new company?
00;10;56;10 - 00;11;20;25
Lisa
I don't know what I was thinking other than I knew I, I needed a job on one day. So I think I quickly thought, is it easier to update my resume or start a company? And starting seem seemed like the better option, but it's very, you know, on one hand that's also very scary. I was mostly the sole breadwinner at the time, but we started with five other employees.
00;11;20;25 - 00;11;42;23
Lisa
Of course, they were anxious to be on payroll and already know they had consistent pay and benefits. So I remember in a client parking lot on the phone selling stocks to pay. So, you know, it takes. Yeah, it took us 5 or 6 months to get positive cash flow. So it's kind of a wrap. Excellent.
00;11;42;26 - 00;12;02;09
Jennifer
You're six months. You make it sound like, oh, it was just another day. But, I mean, that was a huge accomplishment. You literally started a company in an improv. This is okay. This situation is happening. How am I going to handle it? You quickly analyzed it, jumped in and became very successful in six months. That's huge.
00;12;02;12 - 00;12;05;22
Lisa
Thanks. Congratulations. It's a good story.
00;12;05;24 - 00;12;39;02
Jennifer
Good for you. Good for you. Let's go back to learning cultures. You know, when budgets are tight or when priorities shift or change, the the learning cultures in organizations are immediately to suffer. People don't have time or they're don't have the budget for it or what? What happens in typical businesses when there's a lot going on, and there has been a lot going on for many.
00;12;39;04 - 00;12;47;18
Jennifer
What mistakes are companies making as it relates to employee training and creating a culture of learning?
00;12;47;24 - 00;13;10;24
Lisa
You know, I think I'm glad you asked about culture of learning because it's super, super important and it really has to be throughout the organization. I just wrote quite a long article for for one of the training journals about this, but it really does need to start at the top. The top leaders in a company really do need to be champions of training.
00;13;10;27 - 00;13;35;20
Lisa
They need to make sure it's called out pretty intentionally in the business plan. You're right. They need to provide, you know, budget and time for for learning. And it's so important that they model that they're learning as well, that they're taking time and energy away from the day to day to to learn. I mean, and that's the leaders.
00;13;35;20 - 00;14;00;12
Lisa
Then if you think about the managers, they need to be having those conversations with employees. They need to not, you know, in the heat of a battle, in an emergency, pull people out of training to go, you know, do some fire fighting and that individuals have a role to honestly, I mean, you can't expect other people to learn for you.
00;14;00;12 - 00;14;18;12
Lisa
You need to to take that ownership. You need to manage your own time so that you, you know, ensure that you have some time left and make your own learning a priority. So it really works around around the organization. Yeah.
00;14;18;14 - 00;14;44;12
Jennifer
In back to so when you were talking about the business, it's not people in a classroom all the time. You have some digital tools. You help with guides, you help with the whole experience. Can you talk a little bit more about what you're doing for clients in that respect of creating that experience? Everyone has to be a cruise ship concierge lately.
00;14;44;18 - 00;14;47;23
Jennifer
Tell us a little bit more about that or some success there.
00;14;47;25 - 00;15;14;14
Lisa
I'm going to remember that word. Well, I think, you know, you asked about what mistakes companies make. And it's almost like when we get a a request to create training, it's almost you want to have happen. Just like what happens when you go to the doctor. You want the doctor to ask a lot of questions. You want the doctor to do a really thorough kind of diagnosis before they prescribe.
00;15;14;15 - 00;15;45;13
Lisa
Do you need exercise? Do you need vitamins? Do you need surgery? So it's the same with learning. So we want to really make sure that upfront we can ask the right questions to understand, you know what's not happening now with your your people, your humans, your performers and workers that you need to have happen. Because doing that analysis, just like at the doctor, is super important to figure out, is training even the answer?
00;15;45;17 - 00;16;15;13
Lisa
And if it is training, what is it you really want them to be able to do differently, more of less of differently? Because we might recommend classroom training for a very different reason than we recommend, you know, e-learning, what you take on the computer next, next, next versus there's also a lot of things you can learn kind of in the flow of your work, you know, or a field help that pops up.
00;16;15;13 - 00;16;26;21
Lisa
And often it might be we call it a blended solution where you need some classroom and you need a webinar. And like you said, a reference guide or a video. Yeah.
00;16;26;22 - 00;16;53;19
Jennifer
It's usually multifaceted. And again, getting people's attention is so much harder than ten years ago. You know, everyone's you see people that are they can handle five minutes to themselves and their scrolling or getting people's attention is really tough. So good for you for finding the way to to make it stick.
00;16;53;21 - 00;17;17;05
Lisa
You know, we often say that relevance equals engagement. So if you can make sure that the learning looks and feels like the job they're doing today and tomorrow, they're more likely to engage in it, that if it seems like some foreign world or pie in the sky situation, great, great.
00;17;17;06 - 00;17;34;04
Jennifer
Well, I know you've received many aids and honors and you're very humble in our conversation here, but one of the things that you're well known for is mentoring young people. What are you telling them when you meet with them?
00;17;34;10 - 00;18;10;13
Lisa
Oh, I think it's a lot of things. But, you know, I think first is be patient. You know, to become an expert just takes going through many, many different experiences. And you can't have experiences faster. You know, you just meet patients, have those experiences and you'll learn and grow. You know, I think it's important in this day and age to get out of your house, take a shower, get dressed, go out the front door, go into the world, engage in the world with other people.
00;18;10;21 - 00;18;35;08
Lisa
You know, networking certainly is the word we call it, but it's just being engaged in the people in your organization you work with. And I'm a really big fan of getting involved with professional associations. So your professional world is larger than just the company you work at. So just just be painting and certainly work hard.
00;18;35;10 - 00;18;51;21
Jennifer
Yeah. And if I could add to that advice, be present. Be present in the moment. Don't be thinking over here forward or thinking backwards. Just be present in the moment so that you can be patient. Right.
00;18;51;23 - 00;19;05;22
Lisa
Well. And think what is the organization need from me? Not just all about what I want, but what is the organization need from me? Because if the organization wins, it's more likely I'm going to win right there.
00;19;05;22 - 00;19;40;12
Jennifer
Success is our success, and our success is their success. Very nice, very nice. So let's let's shift gears here a little bit. Lisa, you know, I think there's some mystery at the leadership level. At the CEO level, you've started your company, you're a founder of your own company. And we just learned it was improv moment where your your client or vendor was was closing and you had to make a quick, impromptu decision of what your next move was.
00;19;40;13 - 00;20;07;20
Jennifer
And you've done an amazing job. A lot of team members or or folks that report in sometimes especially younger people, are sometimes intimidated by the title. We like to demystify the title and say, hey, that's just people, just people here. So let's talk a little bit about you as a human to demystify the role of leadership here a little bit.
00;20;07;22 - 00;20;15;26
Jennifer
I can't help but bring this up. You have a very strong music background. Can you tell us about that?
00;20;15;28 - 00;20;39;12
Lisa
Yeah, when I was a little kid, I always wanted to be a teacher, and as soon as I started playing instruments, piano, and I was in first grade and, you know, recorder and then saxophone in fifth grade, then I wanted to be a band director. So I was a music education major at Michigan State University, was in the marching band, met my husband there and was a band director.
00;20;39;12 - 00;20;49;06
Lisa
And then, well, yeah, it's a great hobby. I'm not sure if I want to do this my whole career. So after a couple years is when I switched into corporate America.
00;20;49;08 - 00;20;53;02
Jennifer
You just never know where your path may go, right.
00;20;53;05 - 00;20;53;19
Lisa
As well.
00;20;53;19 - 00;21;02;05
Jennifer
So just never know. Are there any daily rituals that help you stay focused in your job? Yeah.
00;21;02;05 - 00;21;28;15
Lisa
I think I have a lot of them, and that sometimes trips me up on vacation because I sort of, if I can't simulate them at all. But I like to get up pretty early before 530. I drink a big glass of water, I get the coffee ready, I sit on the couch for a good 3045 minutes and, you know, read the news or read training journals or practice a speech.
00;21;28;17 - 00;21;43;11
Lisa
And then I probably nearly every day of my life, I exercise either cardio or strength and then go about my day, certainly vitamins and water and eating. Right. Yeah. You know.
00;21;43;13 - 00;21;50;06
Jennifer
Yeah. What I'm hearing is, is the first moments of the day, the first hour or so is just for you.
00;21;50;07 - 00;21;53;18
Lisa
Just get get your head on straight.
00;21;53;20 - 00;22;02;16
Jennifer
That's great. That's great. Is there a book or speaker that motivates you as a human? Is there any?
00;22;02;23 - 00;22;28;27
Lisa
Yeah, I, I recently read Ted ten x is easier than two x. And the premise is it's easier to grow your company tenfold than twofold. And it's, it's I think it's pretty ambitious, but it's the, it's the idea that, you know, really stay targeted and, and focused on the things that, that you're best at doing. But I also pay a lot of attention.
00;22;28;27 - 00;22;44;21
Lisa
There's many gurus in our field, and the ones I pay attention to are the ones that are very researched based. It's not like pop psychology or learning myths. It's very grounded, research based learning.
00;22;44;23 - 00;23;01;16
Jennifer
I know we've we've learned from you success in business advice to others related to business and leadership. But what about in life? What advice would you give to others? I say a family member about being successful in life.
00;23;01;19 - 00;23;31;26
Lisa
You know, I think keep it easy. Don't don't overcomplicate it. You know, I the word practical is, is a word that I use a lot. So, you know, I try not to be on a roller coaster your whole life. I like me personally. I try to stay clear, clear of the drama and just, you know, almost be content, you know, have a job you like to do, have people you like to work with, have friends you like to hang out with, enjoy your family.
00;23;31;27 - 00;23;34;26
Lisa
Don't. Don't overcomplicate it.
00;23;34;28 - 00;23;44;19
Jennifer
That's wonderful. That's wonderful. Everyone can learn from that. What? How do you define. What do you do for fun?
00;23;44;21 - 00;23;48;20
Lisa
While some of my staff would say running a business is fun for me.
00;23;48;26 - 00;24;05;01
Jennifer
I'm sensing that because your first part of the morning is what you're you're giving your time to is learning, which is your industry and practicing for presentations and what have you. But, so I don't know, nothing.
00;24;05;03 - 00;24;33;10
Lisa
You know, for me, anything that's acting. I love to waterski. I love to work out. I love to snow ski. I recently had a birthday, so I told my husband, let's take a surf lesson. So where you get those boats that may make the big wake? So we we found a person and a great instructor and he he got us both up in an hour and we were actually had the Beach Boys music playing and were, you know, surfing for about 30s.
00;24;33;14 - 00;24;44;19
Jennifer
Wow. Water skiing, snow skiing and surfing that it's all balanced. It's all balanced sports. Good night. Were you in sports when you were younger?
00;24;44;25 - 00;24;50;22
Lisa
Yeah, yeah I always I played basketball and softball and volleyball and. Yeah.
00;24;50;25 - 00;25;19;08
Jennifer
Yeah, most, most seasoned executives had some sort of sports element or exercise element that's in their routine often. So good for you. Good for you. That's fun. That's fun. Well, thank you so much for being on the program today. Your insights on leadership, your insights and life. Congratulations on your impressive journey and achievements and just keep shining brightly.
00;25;19;08 - 00;25;21;05
Jennifer
So thank you for being on the program.
00;25;21;05 - 00;25;23;17
Lisa
Thank you very much. Enjoyed it.
00;25;23;22 - 00;25;28;21
Jennifer
All right everyone, let's all just keep shining bright out there and we'll see you next time.
Jennifer
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of the CEO and Executive Thought Leadership Program. I am your host, Jennifer Klug, and today we have a very special guest. Lisa is founder, CEO and owner of Innovative Learning Group. Innovative learning Group is a Michigan based learning and performance consulting firm. Lisa herself has over 40 years of experience in learning and training industry.
00;00;31;15 - 00;00;49;08
Jennifer
Throughout her career, she has remained passionate about helping people grow, learn and develop their skills, bringing that passion into the world of corporate training. Lisa, it's a pleasure to have you on the program. Thank you for joining us today.
00;00;49;12 - 00;00;52;29
Lisa
Well, thank you. Thank you very much.
00;00;53;01 - 00;01;01;27
Jennifer
Let's just start with a little refresher for everyone. For those that don't know, can you please give a brief overview of your company?
00;01;01;29 - 00;01;26;10
Lisa
Sure. Yeah. We're here in Troy and we're a 22 year old performance first learning company. So in simple language, we create custom training and tools to help employees of corporations do their jobs better. So mid and large size corporations all over the country and many of them take us globally.
00;01;26;12 - 00;01;45;12
Jennifer
Oh that's great. You know, we're hearing a lot about skill gaps and learning needs lately. So it's it's very important to have companies like yours out there helping those that need it now. What trends are you seeing? Are you seeing similar trends. What are you seeing out there?
00;01;45;15 - 00;02;12;03
Lisa
You know, there's always trends. I think people people love to gravitate to trends. You know, sometimes they're really just something that's very old bringing it back again. But certainly things like AI, virtual reality where you wear the headset, augmented reality, maybe glasses, where you get like a layer of information. We think those are both here to stay, not trends.
00;02;12;03 - 00;02;33;15
Lisa
But certainly everybody wants learning to be shorter. A fair amount of people want learning to be gamified. People want learning to be personalized. Everybody wants to know the data. So looking at data analytics to make sure you know that we're getting impact from learning.
00;02;33;17 - 00;02;54;13
Jennifer
Yeah, I would imagine that it's very hard right now. Everyone's time span is so short. You have to give it in a minute or 30s and they want it entertaining. Tell me a little bit more about the the glasses. So as as people are learning that it's on their glasses. Tell me more about that.
00;02;54;16 - 00;03;20;23
Lisa
Right. So while you're working so kind of in the flow of work, you know, it's like adding another layer of information. So you're you're here, you're present in the real world, but perhaps on the glasses there's some information. Sometimes in manufacturing you can have a tray or a piece of glass. And so your hands are below the glass.
00;03;20;25 - 00;03;27;18
Lisa
But the the information on the glass is telling you the step by step what to do. It's crazy.
00;03;27;24 - 00;03;55;07
Jennifer
Yeah. Very interesting. And it just goes to show you tech is everywhere now, just everywhere. Modern tech, I should say. Yes. Well, based on your experience and what you're hearing from from clients looking ahead, you know, 12 to 24 months out, what decision or capability will most separate companies that grow from those that merely endure?
00;03;55;10 - 00;04;31;04
Lisa
Yeah, that's a good question. I think I think one important thing is give employees time to learn. You know, we're humans physiologically. We can't learn faster, you know, so people need time to learn. And I think you mentioned skills. Make sure we're identifying the skills people need to do their job and then teach them those skills and let them practice, practice, practice, practice those skills and make sure they're getting constant feedback on how they're doing.
00;04;31;11 - 00;04;38;20
Lisa
Tests them, observe them to make sure. So really focus on the skills for a given job.
00;04;38;23 - 00;05;03;08
Jennifer
Yeah, that's it's common sense. But you know, in today's rush rush world and the pressures that everyone are facing right now, it seems like everyone is just swamped and they want to hurry, hurry, hurry. And what you're saying is in order for an employee to be successful, they need to be able to learn and take time to learn and practice learning.
00;05;03;11 - 00;05;19;01
Lisa
Because if you think about it, you don't want people learning. You don't want people learning with your customers, right? You know better, better. They take the time away from the job to learn and get tooled up and then are successful when they're with the client.
00;05;19;03 - 00;05;34;05
Jennifer
Great wisdom there. So so, you know, you've been a leader for, for a bit a well-respected, successful leader, a business owner. What is one assumption of leadership that you had to unlearn?
00;05;34;11 - 00;05;54;07
Lisa
You know, I think as a leader, you think you should you should have all the answers and you should be, like in every area of the business, you should be the best at it. But there's no way that's possible. So I think it's more about, you know, asking good questions. I know my staff tells me I probably ask too many questions.
00;05;54;08 - 00;06;01;20
Lisa
I ask the good questions, get really clear on what you want people to do, and then, you know, let them do it.
00;06;01;22 - 00;06;13;02
Jennifer
Yeah, I have a very good friend that that gave me similar advice, who's also an executive. And his go to is tell me more. Tell me what.
00;06;13;08 - 00;06;14;09
Lisa
That's a great one.
00;06;14;10 - 00;06;40;13
Jennifer
Yeah, it's a great one. You learn so much about what the issue is or the problem is from expert handling the problem where you as a leader aren't necessarily jumping in or having the answers to your point. So that that's that's great. That's great. You know, there's a lot of I think the key word that everyone's throwing around is uncertainty.
00;06;40;16 - 00;07;04;22
Jennifer
You know, companies aren't making decisions or they're holding off or they're being more conservative than normal because of the uncertainty. What advice would you give to anyone or any leader or business founder about navigating today's uncertainty? And what would you want them to act on?
00;07;04;24 - 00;07;29;16
Lisa
Yeah, I mean, I think you're never certain, right? So I think you always, at a given point in time, you have to take the information that you have and just make the best decision that you can, and then certainly be agile. And at some point it's not making sense. But get going, get going down that path and execute, you know, execute, execute, execute.
00;07;29;19 - 00;07;50;04
Lisa
I guess the other piece is don't try to do too many things at once. I see companies, you know, they're they're trying. It's just like at home you try to do 100 things at once. You try to remodel and have your kids in 900 activities and plan a vacation, and it's too much. Pick a few things and do them really well.
00;07;50;06 - 00;08;12;18
Jennifer
That's really good wisdom. It's just kind of in the DNA as a woman leader to is to be able to have that skill set to juggle all of it. So that's really, really wise to say, hey, you don't have to to do too much. But in in uncertain times, it is important to just move forward with something versus holding on.
00;08;12;21 - 00;08;31;03
Jennifer
And I guess that depends on the size of the company too. But it's important to take action instead of waiting no matter what. And those companies usually succeed a little bit better through whatever uncertainty there is. And I don't think uncertainty is going anywhere for a while. What do you think?
00;08;31;06 - 00;08;38;01
Lisa
I don't think so. I keep the amount of change just keeps increasing exponentially.
00;08;38;07 - 00;09;02;14
Jennifer
Yeah. You know, we've all had monumental moments and some are good, some are not as good. But then you look back on, I mean, you reflect on and say, hey, I'm glad I went through that because we went to the next level or I learned this about myself or what have you. Could you share a monumental moment or two where you had an moment or learning experience from that?
00;09;02;14 - 00;09;19;18
Jennifer
You're in the learning industry, so you know that sometimes going through the process is the learning. So. So share a monumental moment or two with us about your career or your leadership or your company that others can learn from.
00;09;19;21 - 00;09;42;11
Lisa
You know, I think for me, certainly every time I made a career change was, you know, when I look back on it, it was monumental, certainly scary. At the time. I left school teaching and went to corporate America. I left corporate America and went to the vendor side. I left a vendor and started a company, which was really very, very scary.
00;09;42;11 - 00;10;06;07
Lisa
But I think, you know, each time you do that, it reminds you. Yes, that was good. You kind of paid attention to to that gut feeling that it was time or a good thing to make a change. And it gives you that kind of confidence booster that, you know, it was scary, but you did it. You, you know, you took a deep breath and you got through it.
00;10;06;08 - 00;10;06;28
Lisa
Yeah.
00;10;07;02 - 00;10;31;29
Jennifer
So just taking the lead. So what what was the motivating factor to start your own company and what what monumental moments did you have through your career of starting the company? And I'm sure everyone goes to the pandemic. Right. But but tell us a little bit more about some of those details of some of those challenges or opportunities you faced.
00;10;32;02 - 00;10;56;10
Lisa
You know, I think when when I started the company, it was because another company was going out of business. So it was a very quick decision. It was, you know, it was on the spot. You know, we were we understood that the current company we were working for would be closing its doors. And I within a sentence or two, you know, said to the owners, you know, do you mind if I start a new company?
00;10;56;10 - 00;11;20;25
Lisa
I don't know what I was thinking other than I knew I, I needed a job on one day. So I think I quickly thought, is it easier to update my resume or start a company? And starting seem seemed like the better option, but it's very, you know, on one hand that's also very scary. I was mostly the sole breadwinner at the time, but we started with five other employees.
00;11;20;25 - 00;11;42;23
Lisa
Of course, they were anxious to be on payroll and already know they had consistent pay and benefits. So I remember in a client parking lot on the phone selling stocks to pay. So, you know, it takes. Yeah, it took us 5 or 6 months to get positive cash flow. So it's kind of a wrap. Excellent.
00;11;42;26 - 00;12;02;09
Jennifer
You're six months. You make it sound like, oh, it was just another day. But, I mean, that was a huge accomplishment. You literally started a company in an improv. This is okay. This situation is happening. How am I going to handle it? You quickly analyzed it, jumped in and became very successful in six months. That's huge.
00;12;02;12 - 00;12;05;22
Lisa
Thanks. Congratulations. It's a good story.
00;12;05;24 - 00;12;39;02
Jennifer
Good for you. Good for you. Let's go back to learning cultures. You know, when budgets are tight or when priorities shift or change, the the learning cultures in organizations are immediately to suffer. People don't have time or they're don't have the budget for it or what? What happens in typical businesses when there's a lot going on, and there has been a lot going on for many.
00;12;39;04 - 00;12;47;18
Jennifer
What mistakes are companies making as it relates to employee training and creating a culture of learning?
00;12;47;24 - 00;13;10;24
Lisa
You know, I think I'm glad you asked about culture of learning because it's super, super important and it really has to be throughout the organization. I just wrote quite a long article for for one of the training journals about this, but it really does need to start at the top. The top leaders in a company really do need to be champions of training.
00;13;10;27 - 00;13;35;20
Lisa
They need to make sure it's called out pretty intentionally in the business plan. You're right. They need to provide, you know, budget and time for for learning. And it's so important that they model that they're learning as well, that they're taking time and energy away from the day to day to to learn. I mean, and that's the leaders.
00;13;35;20 - 00;14;00;12
Lisa
Then if you think about the managers, they need to be having those conversations with employees. They need to not, you know, in the heat of a battle, in an emergency, pull people out of training to go, you know, do some fire fighting and that individuals have a role to honestly, I mean, you can't expect other people to learn for you.
00;14;00;12 - 00;14;18;12
Lisa
You need to to take that ownership. You need to manage your own time so that you, you know, ensure that you have some time left and make your own learning a priority. So it really works around around the organization. Yeah.
00;14;18;14 - 00;14;44;12
Jennifer
In back to so when you were talking about the business, it's not people in a classroom all the time. You have some digital tools. You help with guides, you help with the whole experience. Can you talk a little bit more about what you're doing for clients in that respect of creating that experience? Everyone has to be a cruise ship concierge lately.
00;14;44;18 - 00;14;47;23
Jennifer
Tell us a little bit more about that or some success there.
00;14;47;25 - 00;15;14;14
Lisa
I'm going to remember that word. Well, I think, you know, you asked about what mistakes companies make. And it's almost like when we get a a request to create training, it's almost you want to have happen. Just like what happens when you go to the doctor. You want the doctor to ask a lot of questions. You want the doctor to do a really thorough kind of diagnosis before they prescribe.
00;15;14;15 - 00;15;45;13
Lisa
Do you need exercise? Do you need vitamins? Do you need surgery? So it's the same with learning. So we want to really make sure that upfront we can ask the right questions to understand, you know what's not happening now with your your people, your humans, your performers and workers that you need to have happen. Because doing that analysis, just like at the doctor, is super important to figure out, is training even the answer?
00;15;45;17 - 00;16;15;13
Lisa
And if it is training, what is it you really want them to be able to do differently, more of less of differently? Because we might recommend classroom training for a very different reason than we recommend, you know, e-learning, what you take on the computer next, next, next versus there's also a lot of things you can learn kind of in the flow of your work, you know, or a field help that pops up.
00;16;15;13 - 00;16;26;21
Lisa
And often it might be we call it a blended solution where you need some classroom and you need a webinar. And like you said, a reference guide or a video. Yeah.
00;16;26;22 - 00;16;53;19
Jennifer
It's usually multifaceted. And again, getting people's attention is so much harder than ten years ago. You know, everyone's you see people that are they can handle five minutes to themselves and their scrolling or getting people's attention is really tough. So good for you for finding the way to to make it stick.
00;16;53;21 - 00;17;17;05
Lisa
You know, we often say that relevance equals engagement. So if you can make sure that the learning looks and feels like the job they're doing today and tomorrow, they're more likely to engage in it, that if it seems like some foreign world or pie in the sky situation, great, great.
00;17;17;06 - 00;17;34;04
Jennifer
Well, I know you've received many aids and honors and you're very humble in our conversation here, but one of the things that you're well known for is mentoring young people. What are you telling them when you meet with them?
00;17;34;10 - 00;18;10;13
Lisa
Oh, I think it's a lot of things. But, you know, I think first is be patient. You know, to become an expert just takes going through many, many different experiences. And you can't have experiences faster. You know, you just meet patients, have those experiences and you'll learn and grow. You know, I think it's important in this day and age to get out of your house, take a shower, get dressed, go out the front door, go into the world, engage in the world with other people.
00;18;10;21 - 00;18;35;08
Lisa
You know, networking certainly is the word we call it, but it's just being engaged in the people in your organization you work with. And I'm a really big fan of getting involved with professional associations. So your professional world is larger than just the company you work at. So just just be painting and certainly work hard.
00;18;35;10 - 00;18;51;21
Jennifer
Yeah. And if I could add to that advice, be present. Be present in the moment. Don't be thinking over here forward or thinking backwards. Just be present in the moment so that you can be patient. Right.
00;18;51;23 - 00;19;05;22
Lisa
Well. And think what is the organization need from me? Not just all about what I want, but what is the organization need from me? Because if the organization wins, it's more likely I'm going to win right there.
00;19;05;22 - 00;19;40;12
Jennifer
Success is our success, and our success is their success. Very nice, very nice. So let's let's shift gears here a little bit. Lisa, you know, I think there's some mystery at the leadership level. At the CEO level, you've started your company, you're a founder of your own company. And we just learned it was improv moment where your your client or vendor was was closing and you had to make a quick, impromptu decision of what your next move was.
00;19;40;13 - 00;20;07;20
Jennifer
And you've done an amazing job. A lot of team members or or folks that report in sometimes especially younger people, are sometimes intimidated by the title. We like to demystify the title and say, hey, that's just people, just people here. So let's talk a little bit about you as a human to demystify the role of leadership here a little bit.
00;20;07;22 - 00;20;15;26
Jennifer
I can't help but bring this up. You have a very strong music background. Can you tell us about that?
00;20;15;28 - 00;20;39;12
Lisa
Yeah, when I was a little kid, I always wanted to be a teacher, and as soon as I started playing instruments, piano, and I was in first grade and, you know, recorder and then saxophone in fifth grade, then I wanted to be a band director. So I was a music education major at Michigan State University, was in the marching band, met my husband there and was a band director.
00;20;39;12 - 00;20;49;06
Lisa
And then, well, yeah, it's a great hobby. I'm not sure if I want to do this my whole career. So after a couple years is when I switched into corporate America.
00;20;49;08 - 00;20;53;02
Jennifer
You just never know where your path may go, right.
00;20;53;05 - 00;20;53;19
Lisa
As well.
00;20;53;19 - 00;21;02;05
Jennifer
So just never know. Are there any daily rituals that help you stay focused in your job? Yeah.
00;21;02;05 - 00;21;28;15
Lisa
I think I have a lot of them, and that sometimes trips me up on vacation because I sort of, if I can't simulate them at all. But I like to get up pretty early before 530. I drink a big glass of water, I get the coffee ready, I sit on the couch for a good 3045 minutes and, you know, read the news or read training journals or practice a speech.
00;21;28;17 - 00;21;43;11
Lisa
And then I probably nearly every day of my life, I exercise either cardio or strength and then go about my day, certainly vitamins and water and eating. Right. Yeah. You know.
00;21;43;13 - 00;21;50;06
Jennifer
Yeah. What I'm hearing is, is the first moments of the day, the first hour or so is just for you.
00;21;50;07 - 00;21;53;18
Lisa
Just get get your head on straight.
00;21;53;20 - 00;22;02;16
Jennifer
That's great. That's great. Is there a book or speaker that motivates you as a human? Is there any?
00;22;02;23 - 00;22;28;27
Lisa
Yeah, I, I recently read Ted ten x is easier than two x. And the premise is it's easier to grow your company tenfold than twofold. And it's, it's I think it's pretty ambitious, but it's the, it's the idea that, you know, really stay targeted and, and focused on the things that, that you're best at doing. But I also pay a lot of attention.
00;22;28;27 - 00;22;44;21
Lisa
There's many gurus in our field, and the ones I pay attention to are the ones that are very researched based. It's not like pop psychology or learning myths. It's very grounded, research based learning.
00;22;44;23 - 00;23;01;16
Jennifer
I know we've we've learned from you success in business advice to others related to business and leadership. But what about in life? What advice would you give to others? I say a family member about being successful in life.
00;23;01;19 - 00;23;31;26
Lisa
You know, I think keep it easy. Don't don't overcomplicate it. You know, I the word practical is, is a word that I use a lot. So, you know, I try not to be on a roller coaster your whole life. I like me personally. I try to stay clear, clear of the drama and just, you know, almost be content, you know, have a job you like to do, have people you like to work with, have friends you like to hang out with, enjoy your family.
00;23;31;27 - 00;23;34;26
Lisa
Don't. Don't overcomplicate it.
00;23;34;28 - 00;23;44;19
Jennifer
That's wonderful. That's wonderful. Everyone can learn from that. What? How do you define. What do you do for fun?
00;23;44;21 - 00;23;48;20
Lisa
While some of my staff would say running a business is fun for me.
00;23;48;26 - 00;24;05;01
Jennifer
I'm sensing that because your first part of the morning is what you're you're giving your time to is learning, which is your industry and practicing for presentations and what have you. But, so I don't know, nothing.
00;24;05;03 - 00;24;33;10
Lisa
You know, for me, anything that's acting. I love to waterski. I love to work out. I love to snow ski. I recently had a birthday, so I told my husband, let's take a surf lesson. So where you get those boats that may make the big wake? So we we found a person and a great instructor and he he got us both up in an hour and we were actually had the Beach Boys music playing and were, you know, surfing for about 30s.
00;24;33;14 - 00;24;44;19
Jennifer
Wow. Water skiing, snow skiing and surfing that it's all balanced. It's all balanced sports. Good night. Were you in sports when you were younger?
00;24;44;25 - 00;24;50;22
Lisa
Yeah, yeah I always I played basketball and softball and volleyball and. Yeah.
00;24;50;25 - 00;25;19;08
Jennifer
Yeah, most, most seasoned executives had some sort of sports element or exercise element that's in their routine often. So good for you. Good for you. That's fun. That's fun. Well, thank you so much for being on the program today. Your insights on leadership, your insights and life. Congratulations on your impressive journey and achievements and just keep shining brightly.
00;25;19;08 - 00;25;21;05
Jennifer
So thank you for being on the program.
00;25;21;05 - 00;25;23;17
Lisa
Thank you very much. Enjoyed it.
00;25;23;22 - 00;25;28;21
Jennifer
All right everyone, let's all just keep shining bright out there and we'll see you next time.
