There's a world of difference between "team members" and "employees."

Team members produce excellent work, and drive success. Employees produce subpar work, and watch the clock all day so they can drive... home... right at 5 o'clock.

How can you better lead so that employees transform into team members?

Learn how to inspire loyalty, buy-in, and productivity in your team this week >> http://bit.ly/2RucZtW

What are the things that keep you from being phenomenal?

What keeps you from being great?

If you think about it like a car, you’ve got a brake pedal and a gas pedal – is your foot on the gas or the brake?
Most people have an idea of what holds them back but for some reason they don’t think of it actually slowing down their life.

These “brake pedals” could be keeping you from doing great things.

So… here’s what I want you to do:
Get our a pen and paper. (I want this to be visual.)

Using the Wheel of Life as a guide, I want you to ask yourself, “What’s slamming on the breaks?”. Do this in each area.

What are the things in the financial area that is holding you back?
What’s slamming on your breaks in the spiritual area of your life?
…Physical
Are you exercising?
Do you feel great?
…Intellectual
Do you not feel smart enough?
Do you not feel good enough?
…Family
Are they telling you you can
Are they controlling?
Are they abusive?
…Social
Do you have good people in your life?
Are you surrounded by negative people?
…Career
Are you following your dreams?
Do you even know what your dreams are?
Is it a bad leader?
Are you giving 100%?
Are you afraid to fail?
Then rate them from zero to 100.
For example: How much is a fear of failure holding me back in my career? ( 70%)

Be sure to run through each area, write down your answers, and then process through them.
Why are they holding you back? Why are they brake pedals?
And, most importantly, how am I going to get my foot off the brake and on the gas?

This should begin to identify those major road blocks in your life and how to manage them better. Once you know what’s stopping you from reaching the next level then you can begin to create a plan on how to get there.
This is a lot of work but you can do it!

If you are having trouble or just want this at a deeper level, (like 100x!!!) then look into Next-Level Life.
This is one of the many things that we cover in order to make sure your foot is on the gas pedal for your life.

Question: Is your foot on the brake or the gas?

The last day of the year!
Can you believe it? Are you ready for 2015? I know you are!

Today I wanted to get the team on the show to share their top podcast moments from 2014.
The good, the bad, and the awkward. #essentialoils #walgreens

The team and I talk about the highlights and touching moments that created a legendary 2014 for us.

It's a long one and we cover a lot of ground - so let's dive in/
AND a shout out to everyone who has left us a review on iTunes - YOU ROCK!

Today is the last day to leave a review for a free DISC Personality Profile.

So go to iTunes, leave a review, send an email to info@chrislocurto.com, reference your review with your name and we'll make sure you get your FREE Test.

We've got a fun topic for today's show: How do you handle employees who keep calling in sick?

This listener question came to us from Bill who is a manager of about 15 folks.
Here's his situation: "...about every 2 weeks an employee is consistently calling out sick, at what point do I say "that's it, I've had enough"?

GOOD QUESTION BILL!
(fyi…we're sending you a free DISC personality test for sending in your question)

Now you should know that with employees calling in sick I'm more concerned about the person than I am the business. I want to discover how I can help that person. What's going on in their life? What's really causing all the absence?

But…if I sense that an employee is abusing their sick day then I must act to protect my companies culture.

Today's show is sure to be a doozy!

View the full post here: http://bit.ly/10XSr0Z

Daily personal growth is tough when you own a business or you're a leader. How to determine where to spend your time in personal growth, what I always recommend: http://chrislocurto.com/how-high-performing-leaders-manage-their-time/

http://chrislocurto.com/downloads

Today, on the podcast, we are answering a question that came in from one of our listeners.

Justin writes, "I have to start with the obvious. Thanks for all that you guys are doing and keep killing it. I know you're always open to suggestions for podcast topics, and yes we are, so I wanted to throw out the idea of doing something high level on communication, and maybe topic in with your top 10 recommended books on communication.

I loved your list on the poverty mindset. I know how important you think communication is, and I think most of your listeners could benefit from what you have to say on the topic and from the books you recommend. Thanks again, and keep up the good work."

Thank you Justin, we appreciate all of that. I'm going to answer Justin's question but before I do I have created a tool for you to use to help you better communicate.

There are some do's and some don'ts of body language when you're communicating effectively. So make sure that you get today's download if you want to know these things, and you want the power of understanding body language, and the things to do and not to do for effective communication.

Here are the points we discuss:

Verbal Communication
Non-verbal Communication
Listening
Patience
Asking Questions
Respect
Problem Solving
Being Socially Aware
Self-Management
Responsibility and Accountability
Assertiveness

On today’s show Joel Fortner talks about the importance of mindset when it comes to growing your business.

If you are justing starting out on your entrepreneurial journey or you are a seasoned CEO this episode will inspire you to take a look in the mirror and recommit to staying on a growth trajectory.

On today’s show you will learn:

How to figure out how much to charge for your services
The importance of mindset in success
Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset
Will your customers leave if you raise your prices
Why mindset is the key to achieving your goals
The crippling power of limiting beliefs
That you can not stay isolated on your journey
Also, be sure to download Joel’s marketing framework for growing your business the right way.
It’s all about Get – Serve – Keep!

Get Results: Stop Settling For Task Completion

It's NOT the task that wins, it's the result of the task that wins.

Do you have a task result gap? It may look like this...
* Tasks are getting completed, but KPIs aren't being hit
* You don't see the results from the vendors that you were promised
* Team members come to you seeking your solution to every issue instead of taking steps to solve it

Close the Task-Result gap and start seeing more ROI in your role, on your team, and in the business: https://chrislocurto.com/get-results-stop-settling-for-task-completion/

http://chrislocurto.com/downloads

Do you have any bad habits? Do you wonder why so many successful Entrepreneurs are able to create habits that contribute to their success while others can't seem to get them to stick? Well then you are in for a treat on today's podcast. The crazy, incredibly talented Gretchen Rubin in on to talk about that very thing! One of the things with happiness and habits, is to manage your own mind, to really think about the mood that you're in or the way that you're feeling and think about, "What can I do to fix this? That is the biggest myth is that there's a right habit that everyone should follow and it will work for everyone. There's all different factors that could influence whether someone found it easier or harder to keep their habit of exercise. An important clue is, when have you succeeded and when have you failed? How do you measure people against each other? How do you create a framework for understanding the patterns that we see? This thing almost melted my brain, it was so hard to grasp. I realized that when it comes to habits, people fell into four very striking patterns. I divided all of humanity into four. There are upholders, questioners, obligers, and rebels. So, the challenge for each of us is to take advantage of the strengths and counterbalance the weaknesses so we can get ourselves to the place we would want to be.

Today’s episode is part viticulture and part life lesson. I think you’re going to enjoy it…especially if you like wine!

http://chrislocurto.com/encore-episode-what-you-have-in-common-with-wine/

In this Encore podcast I’ll explain:

- How farming and the process of wine making relates to you and your business
- How wine grapes are grown and how this relates to you and your business
- Your Root System
- What makes a great farmer and how that farmer harvests a perfect grape
- The process of destroying perfect grapes to make great wine

Nearly every year 100 Jewish people are included in the Forbes 400 Wealthiest Americans. By demographic proportion, there shouldn’t be more than 8 or 9. How are they consistently wealthier than the rest of the population? Rabbi Lapin shares how on today’s episode of The Chris LoCurto Show!

We all seem to be running around our life like crazy and instead of living our life, we start to survive it. Today, I will be giving you signs that may allow you to see if you are just trying to survive and not living.

How to deal with holiday setbacks, and thrive during this potentially stress-filled-frenzied-in-law-overwhelmed-people-drama-filled-glorious Christmas season.

If your self-perception is wrong or distorted, your efforts and decisions will be misguided...

Here are 5 steps to leading yourself better starting this week: https://chrislocurto.com/5-critical-steps-to-lead-yourself-better/

See the full post here:

Are you afraid of other peoples opinions of you? Do you always seem to attract folks who need rescuing?
Well…you just might be a people pleaser.

Quite a few people who come through Next-Level Life struggle with being a people pleaser and finding their worth in the acceptance of other people. It can control them.

When your life always revolves around being a people pleaser you actually end up losing life. It robs you of your authentic self
and it all comes from a persons root system. It's the stuff that's deeply ingrained in you.

In today's show I look at 10 signs you may be a people pleaser.

Here's they are:

1. You end up doing things for others in hopes that they will do things for you.
2. You become frustrated when people don't love you back.
3. You're guarded and you don't let people in so that you don't get hurt.
4. You're always afraid of other peoples opinions of you.
5. You feel you are worth less than other people.
6. You attract takers and people who always need to be rescued.
7. You always apologize for things that you do. You blame yourself.
8. You become a victim of constructive criticism.
9. You neglect you.
10. You let opportunities and life pass you by.

If that list sounds a lot like you and you found yourself saying, "That's me!", you need to start the conversation about Next-Level Life.
Your worth is not dependent on someone else's opinion of you. It's dependent on God and what God thinks is really all that's important. Find your significance in Him - He's crazy about you!

Question: Without naming names, do you know someone who is a people pleaser? (Maybe yourself) Which sign would you say is most prominent for them?

Today’s episode is strategic and tactical, AND you get a sneak peek into our operations...it's about getting solid execution at every level of your business.

In our interview, you’re going to learn how to…

*Have more effective internal communication
*Give accountability at the task level without getting bogged down
*Improve execution on projects.

Show notes and resources here >> https://chrislocurto.com/my-favorite-tool-for-communication-and-execution/

This week we have a special guest on the show to talk to us about what it was like to grow up in the social media age!

We have our very own team member, Steph Hansen on the show this week to discuss her life as she grew up discovering social media! She and I dive into what she experienced as a young teenager, how her parents handled the new generation and where she stands now at 21 years old looking back on her teen years in social media!

This week's podcast I dive into the reality of what our children are experiencing in social media, today.

We need to wake up, parents. These issues are incredibly chilling and our children need our help- they need us to protect them from love! This is not the easiest podcast to listen to but believe me when I say, it is one of the most important and crucial podcast I have done.

Do any of these sound familiar to you?
-Competing ideologies that battle for dominance
-Islands in your team
-Prioritizing self and approval over the company
-Lack of respect for leadership or each other

If they do, then you might be struggling with the Culture War in your workplace. Last week, we talked about how to win that war at home, and today, I'll talk about what it looks like to win it in the workplace!

It's tough to be a parent in this culture. In one of our staff meetings, we were discussing how important leading our families well is during this time. There seems to be a cultural war with how we should lead our family, and it’s a vital conversation that we should be having.

This week on the Chris LoCurto show, Joel Fortner (VP of Leadership Development) and I discuss what it is like to raise a family during this time.

All of the world has been affected in some way by the pandemic; it's an event we have all gone through. We're trying to find the rhythm again for both success and peace.

I had the honor of interviewing Rabbi Daniel Lapin on these exact issues. He has incredible wisdom and advice for us as we learn together where we need to place ourselves in these times.

Last week we dove into the negative sides each personality style of the DISC test goes to in moments of stress.

Today, we will be diving into the healthy ways the DISC personality styles can react to stressful times and how to gain a better understanding of yourself!

What happens when we become stressed?
There are countless ways that stress affects us and in times like these, it's an important conversation.
Brian Alex and I sit down to talk about the ways stress has been affecting us, while touching on the DISC personality styles to talk about how each personality deals with a stressful situation!

How many times have you told yourself you want to make changes in your life? How many times have you read a self-help book, had the energy to change your mindset? Then found yourself setting back into your normal routine of an unhealthy pattern of mindsets, attitudes, and perspectives? 

Charlotte Miller had her Next Level Life a few months ago, and like you- she was feeling all those feelings. Her life was not the life she wanted but found it hard to make changes. After her event, she has gained the perspective she needed, changed her mindset and her attitude is completely focused on being her authentic self  Our team has been doing Next Level Life's for years and it's always so encouraging to interview our clients to see where they were and where they are today! 

Don't wait to make changes, make changes today! Contact Holly at Holly@chrislocurto.com to find out more information about how Next Level Life can change your life.

Through COVID19, it's guaranteed your business had to either adapt to the changes or reinvent how you were doing things.

In this podcast, I walk you through 7 steps that will train you up in preparation for any consequences that could set you up for failure. I want to help you lead your team to success even during these times!

Have you been struggling with this economic downturn and you've been asking yourself some tough questions as a leader? Questions are CRUCIAL, and I’m here to help you navigate those questions, and hopefully give you some answers to them as well!

Your team needs to understand each other and understand what communication looks like- especially for a time like this. In our latest Facebook Live, Joel Fortner and I dive into the DISC personality styles and how it can contribute to your team's success in communication. 

While understanding perosnalities is crucial, it has to come with your accountability to each team member. There will always be a high success rate in your team if you understand their personality styles and lead them with accountability!

Are you currently navigating how to lead your team well during this time? There might be fears, questions and uncertainty flooding your head as you lead.

Today, my Vice President of Leadership Development, Joel Fortner, and I cover the questions you may be asking yourself during your leadership in this pandemic.

We have to lead ourselves better during this time. Now is a time when we either fall into the fear cycle of the pandemic or press into truth, values and a better mindset. 

During our Facebook Live, Vice President of Leadership Development, Joel Fortner and I sit down to discuss ways to bring these goals to fruition. In order for us to lead others well, we have to start by leading ourselves best.

This past couple of weeks we've been all dealing with the same crisis and our team has worked on helping you all fight this virus and come out of this stronger and better. 

Chris and Joel sit down again to talk about how we can handle fear and prepare for the future in our business as well as giving ourselves self-care. We will see the light of this tunnel soon! In the meantime, we are here to give you encouragement and our wisdom to provide peace.

During a Crisis, it can be hard to make sure you're making the right money decisions.

Today, I will be walking you through how to make smart decisions with money during this crisis our world is facing.

Are you confident that you have set your team up for success? I will be answering a question on how to set your team up for success. I am confident if you find the right direction to go for quality communication, continual encouragement and a better outcome of their area your team will improve immensely!

Are there moments in your life when you wished you had a better memory? Maybe you forget what you went to the store for, or you forgot someone's name just five minutes after you met them. Today, I have Elle Sompres on the show and she is talking through her steps of memory training and how we can better this area in our life that so many of us seem to struggle with!

We all do it, we fidget, cross our arms, cross our eyebrows and it is all a silent sign of how we are feeling. Let's dive in today to being more aware of the signs that seem silent, but can actually speak volumes to yourself and your team.

We all seem to be running around our life like crazy and instead of living our life, we start to survive it. Today, I will be giving you signs that may allow you to see if you are just trying to survive and not living.

There is a big chance during this Holiday Season you have been hurt by someone- and that someone is most likely going through a bunch of hurt themselves. This podcast, I get into the understanding that hurt people hurt people and how we can enable correct boundaries when we see this happening around us and in our own lives.