Today’s guest believes that the best leaders develop strengths instead of highlighting weaknesses.

He is a corporate trainer, keynote speaker, and leadership strategist for Fortune 500 companies. He is the only Canadian recipient of a TED Education - Huffington Post International Education Award for Creating Innovative Learning Environments.

He is a certified grapho-therapist whose TEDx talk: “How to Spot a Leader in Their Handwriting” has been viewed over 2 million times. His unique and unusual ability to analyze people’s handwriting in less than 60 seconds has been called “impressive and a bit frightening” by Forbes. His gift allows him to help spot a person’s strengths and weaknesses in ways they may not be aware of themselves.

He has worked behind-the-scenes for Saturday Night Live and has appeared on CNN, CTV’s The Morning Show, and Forbes as a featured commentator on topics ranging from leadership, personality assessment through handwriting, parenting, and value-based goal setting.

Please join me in welcoming Jamie Mason Cohen.

In this episode we discuss:

• his thoughts on leadership: “Leadership is using your strengths in service of those you serve.”
• how he learned to lead as a teacher in economically challenged areas of Toronto and Malaysia.
• how his mother analyzing his handwriting helped him shift from being affected by a stutter to knowing he could grow and realize his own potential.
• his early dream to be a filmmaker/creative and how that desire led him to call Lorne Michaels of Saturday Night Live 25 (twenty-five!) times before getting a 1-on-1 meeting with him.
• how books and movies provide the inspiration to persevere.
  how he almost got kicked out of teacher’s college for being too creative.

Listen, subscribe and read show notes at www.OnTheSchmooze.com - episode 197

Today’s guest is a technology strategist and certified futurist.

She is known for her ability to take complex technology topics and make them accessible to everyday professionals, across multiple generations.

She works with organizations that want to leverage social media, apps, smartphones, and the web to increase profits and productivity. She has entertained and educated audiences around the globe, including at Google, Microsoft, and GE.

She is the author of two books, “One Tech Action” and “The Social Media Why” and has appeared in numerous publications including Entrepreneur, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Forbes.

In this episode we discuss:

• her thoughts on leadership “someone able to gather people as a team and accomplish the goals.”
• her building her first business in a recession.
• overcoming her addiction about being nice and being seen as nice.
• her closing her marketing business to become a full time speaker.
• how making genuine connections can help nurture your network.

Listen, subscribe and read show notes at www.OnTheSchmooze.com - episode 196

As an Olympic and World Championship rower, today’s guest learned firsthand what makes a championship team versus simply a team of champions.

She's spent 20 years helping individuals, leaders, and teams resolve difficult conflicts and create strong, thriving relationships that create great results. Over the years, she’s worn many hats, including Boeing flight test engineer, a manager at Arthur Andersen, and a Principal Consultant at Patrick Lencioni’s The Tablegroup.

In 2002, she co-founded Thrive! to share her unique perspective about making relationships matter as much as business results. She did a TEDx talk with her co-founder, “Conflict Use It, Don't Defuse It!”

She has given presentations on conflict resolution, communication, teamwork, and creative problem-solving at Fortune 100 companies like Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, and AT&T. She is the author of two books, “The Beauty of Conflict” (for business teams), and “The Beauty of Conflict for Couples”, and co-host of the podcast The Beauty of Conflict.

Please join me in welcoming CrisMarie Campbell.

In this episode we discuss:

• her thoughts on leadership “Leadership is about standing for something and inviting other people to come along.”
• how being on a college rowing team helped her develop her leadership skills.
• how growing up as an army brat helped her nurture her empathy for those who feel like they don’t fit in.
• how watching a made for TV movie opened her eyes and passion to rowing.
• how an Olympic loss brought her to her lowest point and propelled her to where she is now.
• when attending graduate school she made herself referable to big names after graduating by networking and building relationships.
• that building a tolerance for your own discomfort and being messy can be the best tool to help you hang in during conflict.
• how zooming out and seeing the big picture can be self-motivating and inspiring.

Listen, subscribe and read show notes at www.OnTheSchmooze.com - episode 195

Today’s guest is an educator, author, and entrepreneur who is on a mission to reimagine business and transform education.

As the founder and CEO of Mirasee, a business education company, he has developed innovative training programs that have raised the bar for online education. Some of his most popular training programs include the Course Builder’s Laboratory, the Business Ignition Bootcamp, and the ACES Club. Over 5,000 value-driven entrepreneurs have enrolled in these programs.

His own entrepreneurial journey has had many twists and turns. He built Mirasee after his previous startup imploded in 2008, leaving him quarter million dollars in debt. But he’s fond of saying that “failure is only failure if it happens in the last chapter; otherwise, it’s a plot twist.”

Today, Mirasee is a seven-figure business with 20 employees distributed all over the world. It’s no wonder that many top leaders in his industry reach out when they need help with their business or strategy.

He is the author of 10 books including “Teach and Grow Rich” and “Leveraged Learning.” His latest book, “Teach Your Gift” was just released.

Please join me in welcoming Danny Iny.

In this episode we discuss:

• his thoughts on leadership “A leader’s job is to direct the focus for other people in terms of what they should be thinking about and what they should be focusing on feeling. It’s not a role, but an action or responsibility.”
• his humble beginnings as a middle school entrepreneur/rebel and how his boredom as a student has led him down a path to run a seven-figure business.
• how a company imploding is like a really bad breakup.
• the transformation from a blog to Mirasee which is NOT a family business even though his entire family bought into his dream and works there.
• his innovative approach to hiring.
• how building and nurturing relationships can lead to success.
• using systems that play to your uniqueness.

Listen, subscribe and read show notes at www.OnTheSchmooze.com - episode 194