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It’s been months in the works…a reboot of the Grow Great podcast. 

1. Let me introduce you to Lisa Norris. Lisa is currently the Director of Human Resources / Civil Services for the City of Grand Prairie, Texas. She’s going to be my co-host. 
2. Leadership continues to be the focus of this podcast. Now, we’re going to take a more narrow approach to leadership – city government leadership! Many of the insights, experiences, and wisdom we share will be transferable to any type of leadership, but we’re going to focus on city government leadership.
3. The show will continue to be an audio podcast available on every major podcasting platform. If you’re already a subscriber, do nothing. You’ll continue to get every episode of the podcast. If you’re brand new, subscribe using any platform you choose. Use our subscription page to make it easy. 
4. The show will now also be available on video here on our website – and on YouTube. The YouTube channel is brand new so pardon the appearance as we begin construction (and as we begin to populate the channel with new videos). 
5. Each episode title will now be preceded with a number to help you more easily find an episode. Sometimes we’ll mention things that you may want to make note of – but it’ll be difficult if not impossible (like when you’re listening and driving). Now you’ll just have to remember the 4-digit episode number, then you can visit our website to find links or other details. The first two numbers are the year. We’ll see how well our numbering system holds up. Mostly, we’re trying to make our content more helpful and more easily accessed. 
6. The archives of previous episodes of Grow Great will remain live online. I realize this new iteration of the podcast may not be for everybody interested in leadership. As a person who never worked a single day in city government though, I can tell you there’s a lot to learn about leadership from any sector. People are people. We lead people. We manage the work. Even if you’re not involved in city government you may find some useful leadership insights. If you are involved or interested in city government leadership, there’s going to be a lot of valuable information for you. 

Thank you for giving us your time and attention. We hope you’ll subscribe and tell your friends.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:51 — 36.5MB)

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Camille Neyhouser is the Owner and Founder of Repassionate Your Organization (RYO). Camille helps organizations revolutionize their vision, employee motivation & engagement, productivity, and income. She helps leaders build/rebuild their organizations with passion, purpose & inner power.

Prior to founding her own company, Camille had a 14-year career with the most reputable international development not-for-profit organizations. She has a double Master’s Degree in International Development and a Professional Doctorate in Public Health / Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management. She did her doctoral thesis on, Building A Learning Organization By Design, Not By Accident.

She’s French by origin, but a citizen of the world having lived and traveled extensively. Today she joins us from her home in Florence, Italy.

We had a lovely conversation about her work, why she got started in this work, and some insights from her work that can propel us forward in our own journey. You’ll find value because Camille is a high-value person. Enjoy.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:28 — 41.6MB)

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Tommy Gonzalez is an impressively high performing leader with a vast and varied experience that includes a 22-year career in military service where he was a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army. In 2014 he was appointed the City Manager of El Paso, Texas, the 21st largest city in America with an annual budget of about $1B, a roster of over 6,000 with about 500 leaders. Tommy has helped the city achieve award-winning performance by caring about his teammates and relentlessly pursuing the best outcomes possible.

You’ll enjoy this conversation, recorded last Thursday afternoon – January 28, 2021.

Tommy had one book recommendation, Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success by Andy Andrews.

Enjoy the conversation. And take the advice Tommy’s dad gave to him – and fitting for each of us – “Don’t say it, do it!”

Here are some additional links you may want to check out. These demonstrate Tommy’s high-performing leadership results.

What It Takes to Improve City Government: A Leadership Perspective (from the official Baldrige blog)

Tommy received the Baldrige Foundation Leadership Award in 2019

Communities of Excellence: What It Is and Why It Matters by Tommy Gonzalez

The National Civic League’s post for making El Paso an All-American City finalist

In 2019 Texas Governor Abbott reappointed Tommy to the Risk Management Board

Tommy is also the chairman of the board of Quality Texas Foundation

City of El Paso Receives Texas Award for Performance Excellence

El Paso Independent School District earns Quality Texas Foundation awards

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:46 — 13.9MB)

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“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.”   – Mark Twain

No Fear is a company founded in 1971 producing t-shirts and other apparel aimed at extreme sports. The “No Fear” slogan was popular back in the 90’s. Back in 2011, they filed chapter 11 bankruptcy. They’re still around, but I don’t see their products much anymore. Maybe they fell into some trouble because we’re no longer afraid of anything. 😉 Hardly.

In 1901 Mark Twain wrote an essay where he penned this sentence:

“Each man is afraid of his neighbor’s disapproval–a thing which, to the general run of the human race, is more dreaded than wolves and death.” 

Here we are bearing down on the summer of 2018. By the way, Twain penned that line in the summer of 1901. A mere 117 years ago. Time doesn’t change everything.

Some fears are more universal than others. Fact is, we’re all afraid. More than we may admit. But today, I’m not here to coach you up about having no fear. Rather, I’m sort of a fan of fear. It can be a terrific catalyst for taking action. Or, it can paralyze us. I’m in favor of the former. Not so much a fan of the latter. 😉 

Business owners are people, too. People with fears. 

For the last number of years, our economy has rebounded nicely from the Great Recession of 2008. Many people have enjoyed solid prosperity and growth. 

Good times or bad, you’ll find companies succeeding wildly while others are going broke. Toys R Us, Gibson (guitars), Remington (guns), Winn-Dixie and others have endured some defeat during this prosperity. Plenty to be afraid of. 

Among small business owners (people owning and operating companies that generate $5 to $200 million or so), prosperity isn’t always a remedy for fear. Success can foster its own kind of fear. Fear that we can’t sustain our current success. Worry that our growth will stall, then what will we do? 

Are small business owners just a neurotic breed? To some, it can look like it. But like I said, I’m a fan of fear. We just have to leverage it as the resource it can be. That’s the topic in today’s episode as we end May 2018.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

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