David Burkus

As the world is slowly reopening, companies are faced with a tough decision on how the workplace should look like. Should they bring their employees back to the offices, opt for hybrid models, or stick to remote work? Can they really manage to effectively lead teams from anywhere? In this episode, Billy Saleebey speaks with David Burkus, a 5x best-selling author and one of the best business thinkers on the globe. His forward-thinking ideas and books have not only helped leaders and teams to optimize their potential but have also earned him the ‘Bruce Wayne of Management Thinkers’ title. His works have been featured in multiple media streams, including Bloomberg, CNN, BBC, The Wallstreet Journal, USAToday, NPR, and BusinessWeek. Burkus’ Ted Talk has had over 2 million views. He was also ranked on the Thinkers50 list as one of the World’s top business thought leaders.David has never been afraid of challenging the status quo and all the conventional wisdom that exists out there in the business world.Today we talk about a lot of these concepts, especially the ones he outlines in his new book Leading From Anywhere: The Essential Guide To Managing Remote Teams. You will hear David sharing about the evolution of remote work, the future for in-person offices, handling distractions, and setting boundaries. You will also hear our guest sharing about the importance of having a shared identity in a company, building trust and communication in an organization, and some ideas to help remote workers feel included.David's Website:https://davidburkus.com/David's Social Media: https://twitter.com/davidburkus https://www.facebook.com/drdavidburkus https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidburkus/ https://www.instagram.com/davidburkus/ https://www.youtube.com/davidburkus David's Books: Leading from Anywhere: The Essential Guide to Managing Remote Teams Pick a Fight: How Great Teams Find a Purpose Worth Rallying Around Friend of a Friend: Understanding the Hidden Networks That Can Transform Your Life and Your Career  Under New Management: How Leading Organizations Are Upending Business as Usual  The Myths of Creativity: The Truth About How Innovative Companies and People Generate Great Ideas  Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=23010497) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A single keynote won't incite change, but it can start the ball rolling. Companies are starting to demand programs that take a keynote's lessons deeper, investing resources in building long term relationships with thought leadership. To discuss the way keynote speaking has changed since the onset of COVID-19, I’ve invited two of the best speakers in the business to share their insights and talk about how they've navigated this new era of thought leadership speaking.  David Burkus is a best-selling author of Lead From Anywhere: The Essential Guide to Managing Remote Teams and internationally renowned keynote speaker, using forward thinking ideas to help leaders and teams do their best work. Stephen Shapiro is the author of Invisible Solutions: 25 Lenses that Reframe and Help Solve Difficult Business Problems, and a Hall of Fame Speaker helping organizations keep up with the increasing pace of change. David and Stephen share how they’ve changed their keynote services to meet the needs of a remote clientele, and what it's like to have their business moving to more than 50% non-speaking generated revenue. They share how they are creating webinars, master classes, and certification programs, that take the ideas in their keynote and make them have a longer lasting effect. We discuss the benefits of virtual speaking, such as no longer being restricted by travel and time zones, as well as being able to offer bookended solutions that make a good keynote serve as an introduction to an ongoing engagement - instead of the end of one. In addition, we look at the drawbacks of being remote, such as difficulties networking and building community. Our guests offer great insight into how to create long lasting relationships through gamification, competition, and other online tools. This conversation offers incredible information on pushing your keynote beyond a single transaction, and into a long-lasting relationship! Three Key Takeaways: * Build your keynote as a bookended experience, using speaking as a lead-in to a multiple-week challenge, and adding a debrief at the end in order to create greater engagement. * Companies want more than an inspiring keynote. They want thought leadership that will take your insights and ideas and make them actionable for every employee. * You can create networking and community in virtual thought leadership events by providing tools that allow the audience to engage with the content, and each other both during and after the event.

Welcome back to the Mission First, People Always Podcast! We are back again with Dr. David Burkus for part two of our conversation about remote teams and remote leadership. Before you hit play, be sure to catch last week's episode for part one so you are caught up to speed. If you are a leader who has found yourself "working from anywhere," these two episodes are a game changer! We hope you enjoy these conversations and share the link with a leader who could benefit from it.  David is considered one of the top business thought-leaders in the world by Thinkers50, is a sought-after keynote speaker with a Ted Talk that’s been viewed over 2 million times, and is an active consultant who has a track record with some of the world’s top organizations. He’s the author of several highly acclaimed books, and today, we dig into this latest book, Leading from Anywhere: The Essential Guide to Managing Remote Teams.  In the book, David makes a persuasive case for remote teams being as effective–or even more effective–than traditional teams that mostly operate together, face-to-face, on a daily basis. However, getting the most out of these remote teams requires a certain leadership approach which fortunately can be learned. Join the conversation on how to bring out the best in people from afar.  Listen in as we discuss how to get started right with a remote team, how to find and leverage a common purpose for the team, how to engage your people, onboard new team members, how to let people go on Zoom, and much more. We even talk about Elon Musk’s recent declaration that everyone has to come back to the office. Every point has a practical application, so you'll find the entire conversation both relevant and immediately useful. For more resources or connect with us, check out the links below!  Learn more about David’s work : Website: davidburkus.com Connect with Dr. Mike:  Website: https://www.drmikepatterson.com/ Book: https://www.missionfirstpeoplealwaysbook.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmichaellpatterson/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealdrmikepatterson/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/drmikepatterson Buy The Book!: Mission First People Always Minute By Minute: 0:02 Welcome back for part two  0:55 Non-cheesy games to play with your team 3:48 Why traditional phone calls are needed 6:45 One tip to connect to your team on zoom  8:15 On-boarding new members in a digital world  10:50 The best way to fire a remote worker 16:00 Thoughts on Elon Musk’s remote work tweet 19:15 Dr. David Burkus’ favorite tip and how to connect 

Welcome back to the Mission First People Always Podcast! In today's episode, I'm offering my conversation with author, Dr. David Burkus, in two parts because it is so good I didn't want to try to stuff it all in one episode. In fact, I believe everything we talk about has practical implications for nearly every manager, so make sure to come back next week for part two of this conversation.  David is considered one of the top business thought-leaders in the world by Thinkers50, is a sought after keynote speaker with a Ted Talk that's been viewed over 2 million times, and is an active consultant who has a track record with some of the world's top organizations. He's the author of several highly acclaimed books, and today, we dig into this latest book, Leading from Anywhere: The Essential Guide to Managing Remote Teams.  In the book, David makes a persuasive case for remote teams being as effective–or even more effective–than traditional teams that mostly operate together, face-to-face, on a daily basis. However, getting the most out of these remote teams requires a certain leadership approach which fortunately can be learned. Join the conversation on how to bring out the best in people from afar.  Listen in as we discuss how to get started right with a remote team, how to find and leverage a common purpose for the team, how to engage your people, onboard new team members, how to let people go on Zoom, and much more. We even talk about Elon Musk's recent declaration that everyone has to come back to the office. Every point has a practical application, so you'll find the entire conversation both relevant and immediately useful. For more resources or connect with us, check out the links below!  Learn more about David's work : Website: davidburkus.com Connect with Dr. Mike:  Website: https://www.drmikepatterson.com/ Book: https://www.missionfirstpeoplealwaysbook.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmichaellpatterson/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealdrmikepatterson/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/drmikepatterson Buy The Book!: Mission First People Always Minute By Minute: 0:02 Welcome to part one 1:38 The solutions you'll hear in this episode  3:09 Get to know Dr. David Burkus 5:03 The basics of remote leadership 9:31 The path to earning trust with your people 13:00 Setting a culture of respect with your team 16:07 How to get your people to speak up during your call 21:37 What are you fighting for as a team?

David Burkus is a best-selling author, a sought-after keynote speaker, and an associate professor of leadership and innovation at Oral Roberts University. His newest book, Friend of a Friend, offers leaders a new perspective on how to grow their networks and build key connections – based on the science of human behavior, not just rote networking advice. This is a re-run of the classic episode where we discuss the lessons in this new book and how we can put them into practice after taking a break from our normal routine to share how I first came to learn about David: The Super Connector Summit. Resources:Learn more at davidburkus.comConnect with David: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedInListen to Radio Free Leader by David BurkusCheck out the Super Connector SummitWatch: “How To Hack Networking | David Burkus | TEDxUniversityofNevada” If you’ve enjoyed the podcast, please head to iTunes and leave a rating & review for the show! It only takes a moment, and really helps me to reach new listeners. You can also head to the website at TheLawEntrepreneur.com for more information on the podcast and my legal services. Thank you to our sponsors!Ruby Receptionist – Virtual receptionist & live call services that will help you grow your office (and save money), one call at a time – to learn more, go to callruby.com/lawentrepreneur or call 844.895.7829Daylite by Marketcircle – business productivity apps specifically for Apple products, with cloud syncing between your Macs, iPhones, & iPadsSpotlight Branding – Web presence and branding for law firms – Get a FREE web assessment at spotlightbranding.com/tleThe Law Entrepreneur is produced by Podcast Masters

David Burkus, one of the world’s most highly-regarded business thinkers, is a best selling author and contributing writer for many notable publications, such as The Financial Times, Forbes and Harvard Business Review. He shares captivating stories and practical takeaways to diverse audiences, giving them a compelling insight into how organizations and individuals can do their best work. David is also the author of ‘The Myths of Creativity’, which aims to demystify the processes that drive innovation, highlighting the mistaken ideas that hold us back.Together, David and Richard discuss the difference between creativity and innovation, explaining that an idea can be creative without being applied and becomes an innovation when the thought is used. David busts some notable creativity misconceptions like the “eureka myth”, which is the concept that ideas come to you; the “breed myth”, which preaches that creative people are a particular type of person and finally, the “mousetrap myth”, which refers to the ideology that people's first reaction to creative and novel ideas will be rejection. Finally, he argues why the idea that “no idea is a bad idea” is inaccurate and that pushing back on people’s suggestions can help strengthen them.

Why are some people and teams more motivated, more innovative, and more successful than others? Why do some teams of talented and seemingly compatible people fall short against lesser teams with less suitable members? Why do some leaders cast bold inspiring visions that fail to materialize, while other, seemingly inconsequential leaders rally their teams to victory? Join in as Matt chats to David Burkus author of 'pick a fight' to talk about vivid visions, rallying around something to fight for, and leadership.

From your work to your home and your head to your heart, How To Be a Better Human helps you become a better person from the comfort of your own headphones. Today's episode is all about work. It’s how we pay the bills, but it’s also how many of us derive purpose, meaning and structure from our days. Whether you're unemployed, salaried, or your own boss, the world of work is changing. David Burkus sees this as an opportunity to think consciously about what to change when it comes to how, where, and when we work. David is an author, podcaster and associate professor of management at Oral Roberts University. His latest book, Leading From Anywhere: The Essential Guide to Managing Remote Teams, tackles the key challenges of this new era of remote work. Burkus is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review and Inc. magazine. His work has been featured in Fast Company, the Financial Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek and "CBS This Morning." He's also the host of the award-winning podcast Radio Free Leader. David challenges the traditional and widely accepted principles of business management. David lives in Tulsa with his wife and their two boys.

David Burkus shares extremely timely strategies for deepening your relationships in a virtual world, whether that’s within your team that’s spread across the globe or with prospective clients that are just getting to know you. Learn how to create a system for communication that makes your remote team more effective, how to recreate the white space online where bonds and trust are built, and how to ask better questions to really get to know someone. Mo asks David Burkus: How do you develop relationships with your clients virtually? The future of work is working from anywhere. The truth is that we are not going back to the office. Even before the pandemic, studies were showing that people are more engaged when they are out of the office 40% to 60% of the time. We need greater flexibility, trust, and autonomy with the people that we collaborate with in a remote environment. Communication is actually more important now that it was before. We can’t take as many non-verbal cues as we could when we were working together, so we need to be more deliberate and empathetic in our communication. One of the first things we need to be doing with prospective clients is talking about how we are going to be working together. This is now part of the process of closing the deal. One major tip is that eye contact is not eye contact when you’re communicating online. You have to look into the camera lens to recreate the experience and connection of eye contact. The other thing to realize is that communication is more asynchronous than ever before. Make sure you have clear writing and thinking in your written communication. You also have to be clear about what each method of communication is meant for. To enroll clients, the easiest way is to have an established communications system within your team already. Create a team-working agreement and then use that to create the framework of client communication. Schedule a meeting to create your team-working agreement, and get answers to all of the questions written down into a shared document. Then get every team member to agree. Mo asks David Burkus: How can we create demand and get deals done virtually? The traditional method of closing a deal usually involved meeting clients in person but it wasn’t the activity itself that determined the failure or success of the deal. It was the whitespace around the meeting that built the bonds that led to trust. Most people don’t build that into their virtual meetings, which is something that we really need to do. You build trust and bonds in the unstructured, open space around the meeting time and you need to build that into remote environments. What are the white space moments that built relationships in person and how can you recreate those experiences in your remote working environment? To allow people to get to know each other, give them space to ask questions and get answers. Structure some questions to allow people to learn about each other and in a way where everyone has the opportunity to share a problem they are facing. One of the best questions you can ask is “If you and I are meeting again a year from now over a bottle of Champagne, what are we celebrating?” Mo asks David Burkus: How do we develop and deepen relationships when everything is virtual? A study showed that the average person’s network shrunk by 25% to 30% over the first half of 2020. That decrease was almost entirely driven by males because of the general tendency for men to bond over activities. We tried to recreate these activities virtually but it doesn’t work the same way. When you’re looking to use a tool like Zoom to deepen a relationship, it requires more structure. You have to show up with questions and a level of conversation designed to deepen the relationship. Work sprints are another option, which are scheduled times where you complete your work in a meeting environment to emulate the coworking space. In addition to these activities, you can also introduce rituals into your team communication to deepen the connection. Between structured conversations that explore non-work topics and physical things like rituals, we can go pretty far in deepening relationships in a remote working environment. The questions don’t matter as much as having a plan and being intentional. Asking questions that are open-ended and answered in a work or non-work context is a good start. One of David’s favorite questions is “Who is your favorite superhero?” No matter what the answer is, you will learn something interesting about the other person. The more you know about someone, the more reason you have to follow up with them and find you have something in common. Mo asks David Burkus: How can we keep focused on doing the right things when we are constantly distracted in this virtual world? The short answer is to not focus on it. Studies have shown that when timelines are too far away we tend to think that it’s going to be too difficult to accomplish. This applies to health and investing, as well as career goals. The key is to make the long game into your short-term goal. You will always default to the short term. Think about your long-term project and identify the milestones that will lead up to it, then focus in on those. This is especially important in a remote environment where no one is actively looking over your shoulder to make sure you’re getting things done. Milestones have to be co-created with the client. Your team also needs a regular check in process where you cover three key things for each person involved: “What did we just accomplish?”, “What are we focused on now?”, and “What is blocking our progress?” The real challenge in a client engagement is when nobody wants to admit they need help. If you take the time to record those regular check-ins and address the obstacles to progress, you can avoid that situation. Without a regular cadence of communication, you can end up with a client that is really angry with you and you may not know the reason why. Mo shares his insights from the habits of David Burkus. Figuring out how to work and thrive in a virtual world is only going to become more important going forward. We need to have an agreement with our internal teams and our clients regarding how we are going to work together and communicate with each other. You need to know which platforms are meant for what kinds of communication so that you can be more efficient and effective. Once you work it out internally, you can share it with your clients and give them an idea of how you can work together while also giving them a model to implement in their own businesses. White space built into your remote meetings is crucial. The white space around traditional in person meetings doesn’t happen anymore and that was where the informal chat occurred that allowed relationships to develop naturally. Add space to your calendar to have the meeting before the meeting to make this easier. Be more intentional with your questions. In a virtual world it’s even more important. Being general upfront and asking questions that can be answered either personally or professionally are great for opening up the possibility of getting to know the person. The Champagne Question is a great first step to helping a client craft a future that’s better for them. People need positivity and optimism in their life and  you can add that to their life by asking them the right questions and exploring the answers. Mentioned in this Episode: GrowBIGPlaybook.com davidburkus.com

David Burkus returns to talk about what’s covered in his three latest books  — "Leading From Anywhere," "Pick A Fight," and "Friend of a Friend" — including the science behind Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, picking what’s worth fighting for, and how to lead from anywhere. His writing is meticulously researched and cited, and there’s so much to learn for solo and small firm practitioners.Resources:Learn more at davidburkus.comRead: "Friend of a Friend" by David BurkusRead: "Leading From Anywhere" by David BurkusRead: "Pick A Fight" by David BurkusConnect with David: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedInListen to Radio Free Leader by David BurkusEp. 119 - The Science of Human Behavior: How to Grow Your Network & Be a Super Connector - with David BurkusIf you’ve enjoyed the podcast, please head to Apple Podcasts and leave a rating & review for the show! It only takes a moment, and really helps me to reach new listeners. You can also head to the website at TheLawEntrepreneur.com for more information on the podcast and my legal services.--Thank you to our sponsors!Spotlight Branding - A legal marketing company that works with solo and small law firms to increase referrals. Go to spotlightbranding.com/TLE for a better way to market your law practice.Ruby Receptionist - Virtual receptionist & live call services that will help you grow your office (and save money), one call at a time - to learn more, go to callruby.com/lawentrepreneur or call 844.895.7829Daylite - The all-in-one contact relationship manager. If you’re feeling like it’s time to upgrade from spreadsheets to a CRM, visit marketcircle.com and get your first month free when you mention Law Entrepreneur.The Law Entrepreneur is a production of Crate Media