Joe Schmit is an award-winning broadcaster, journalist, public speaker, and author. I have found him to be authentic and genuine, and ready to share stories of impact. The Silent Impact kind of stories he outlines in his book.

As I am preparing today’s episode, I get an e-mail from my husband, Matthew. April 5, we participated in the launching of the Veterans Yoga Project in Minnesota. We knew this yoga class was being videotaped. We didn’t know we would make the local news!

Here we are: Matthew Foli & I on KSTP, Joe Follows Segment

In his book, Making A Silent Impact: stories of influence through purpose, persistence, and passion, Joe describes a concept I would encourage you to think about and do. Scroll down to the Mentoring Tips. Fill out your Mount Rushmore of Influence after you listen to Joe’s examples. Who have been influencers and mentors in Joe’s life?

To have a mentor(s), you need to be what coaches look for, “students who are teachable.” As innovative leaders, we are in positions of leading and mentoring others. In peer mentoring, like in my group LABs, you need to be both teacher and learner. You need to know when to ask for help and a new perspective. You need to be a ‘curious learner,’ instead of a, ‘know it all.’ And, when a teachable moment surfaces, you need to be able to teach to that moment. Joe is the kind of leader who can lead and ask for help when he needs it. He shares some personal examples of this.

What about unengaged workers? Joe has some implementable ideas to bridge the unengaged worker gap that Gallup.com regards as a worldwide crisis in today’s workplace. See Mentoring Resources below.

Joe has a way of telling stories that will help me to become a better story teller and expand my influence. When you listen, you will also pull some of your own gems from his storytelling abilities that can be applied to your own life. For example, determining which stories to share with others, and in what situations. Or, maybe organizing some of your experiences around purpose driven stories reflecting your persistence and passion. What stories from our lives can we use to strengthen our connections with others? Joe is a master storyteller. Learn how to create an intentional impact from him.

Mentoring Tips

Answer the following questions as you listen to Joe:

Do the Mount Rushmore of Influence exercise. Identify four people in your life that have made a big impact in your life. Write them down below. If the person is still alive, tell them how they have made an impact in your life.
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Try this Mount Rushmore of Influence exercise with family or staff or students or colleagues. If you are doing this exercise with one of the groups listed, tailor the exercise to pick four people within that group. Tell them how they influence your daily life with them.
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Answer these questions to see if a LAB is a right fit for you. Click HERE for WeMentor E.L.M. LABs 

Do you need new skills and strategies to grow your business? Do you want to participate more fully in this economy? Are you snuffing out creativity and opportunities for innovation because of how you are leading? Is your business running you? Are you tired of your business? Is there a disconnect between you and those you employ? Are you recovering from a major setback and need more skills to recover and rise from the experience with greater clarity, resilience, and a new perspective? Do you want to increase your business acumen and bump up your emotional intelligence while you generate more income? Are you ready to have fun and make more money with how you are leading and mentoring others? Any ‘yes’ answers? Get started, a new LAB is forming! Call me at 612-804-8920.

“In reality, when companies focus exclusively on measuring engagement rather than on improving engagement, they often fail to make necessary changes that will engage employees or meet employees’ workplace needs. These shortcomings include:

• viewing engagement as a survey or program instead of as an ongoing, disciplined method to achieve higher performance.
• focusing more heavily on survey data or reports than on developing managers and employees.
• defining engagement as a percentage of employees who are not dissatisfied or are merely content with their employer instead of a state of strong employee involvement, commitment and enthusiasm.
• relying on measures that tell leaders and managers what they want to hear — “We’re doing great!” — rather than research-based metrics that set a high bar and uncover organizational or management problems that are hindering engagement and performance. And,
• “feeding the bears,” or measuring workers’ satisfaction or happiness levels and catering to their wants, instead of treating employees as stakeholders of their future and their company’s future.

Though most approaches are well-intended, with an ultimate goal of improving the workplace and performance, too many contribute to a status quo that is not helping the business.”

Creating an Intentional Impact Episode 118  Joe Schmit’s Website    KSTP SPORTS NEWS