Tag: improvisation

S6E12: The Spirit of Emotional Intelligence with Ruben Minor (previously released on 5/9/2022)

From the desk of Peter Margaritis

“The beauty of good leadership is that you can have an excellent platform to impact someone that you may never know how so.” Ruben Minor

Our guest today is Ruben Minor, president of RAM Consulting Group. This organization focuses on speaking, training, and coaching individuals and groups regarding leadership, team dynamics, relationship building, diversity, equity and inclusion, fundamental business philosophies, and business and personal branding. Ruben has a rich and resourceful network of professionals across the business spectrum, ranging from influential political figures to educational leaders and entrepreneurs. 

Ruben leverages his network to make more meaningful connections for his clients and business partners, evolving into lasting, mutually beneficial relationships. Ruben also served this country for 15 years in the US Navy as a supply Corp officer, is a John Maxwell certified professional speaker, trainer, and coach, and is intimately engaged in the community, serving as president of the Council for the village of Galena. Reuben enjoys spending time with family, history movies, and hiking and, as a side note, is a professional speaker. 

Corporations have learned a lot post-COVID, as employees have realized that they do not have to face toxic work environments. Unfriendly cultures have existed for decades and are therefore not expected to change overnight. It will be a constant, intentional effort by those in leadership, and making sure that they’re keeping in step with the culture in the corporate community. 

The beauty of good leadership is that it can have an excellent platform to impact someone you may never know how to. 

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S6E9: Green Light Improv with Nathan Minns

From the desk of Peter Margaritis

“I realized after failing 6 times that Improv is something that is teachable,” Nathan Minns

Our Guest for today’s episode is Nathan Minns, who uses Improv comedy as a tool to develop confidence in innovation and communication. He is the founder of Green Light Improv.

Nathan takes us on a journey of Improv as it is used in a business setting. The lessons he has garnered throughout the years and his stories make improv seem not so scary. And it isn’t scary at all.

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S6E5: Business Travel Stories with Jennifer Elder

From the desk of Peter Margaritis

“No matter what happens during your travel, do not lose it at the people you need help from.” Jennifer Elder

Our guest for today is Jennifer Elder, CSP, CPA, who works with proactive leaders and organizations that want to survive, thrive, and adapt to rapid change, risk, and disasters by developing aggressive and positive strategies to stay ahead of the competition, make intelligent decisions, stay ethical, and continually add value.

In her effort to make a difference, Jennifer has traveled a lot for work and gives insight into some of the experiences that she has gone through. What makes a difference in driving one own travel smoothly and more accessible are some of the dos and don’ts of travel.

One of the take always from this conversation would be doing your best to be as humane as possible whether you are traveling or handlings clients who are traveling.

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S6E3: Dealing with Disruption by Using Improv with Jay Sukow

From the desk of Peter Margaritis

“Your mind sometimes hijacks your emotions to think the worst-case scenario in order to protect yourself. You need to reclaim your mind in order to be in control.” Jay Sukow

Jay began teaching for Second City in 2010 and teaches in both the Improv and Conservatory programs. He is also a facilitator with Second City Works, teaching improv to business professionals to drive behavior change. Previously, he was on faculty at The Second City Chicago, iO Chicago, and ComedySportz Chicago. He is the co-host of “Improvcast with Jay and Landon” and currently performs around town with the group Zer0 H0ur with Bill Chott and Jay Sukow, as well as the monthly show Improv Famous. He has over 25 years of experience as a leader.

As an Improv leader and coach, Jay speaks about the dynamics of living the future and having a standard that we can never live up to instead of living in the moment and the “now.” A difference in how we look at the world shifts our focus from our failures into the zone of learning and growing.

We will always have stressors in our lives, and instead of avoiding them, we need to learn how to deal with them because we all have seasons and ups and downs; just because it happens now doesn’t mean that it will be the same forever. However, always having a positive mindset in all situations will lead you to a happy and more content life, both personally and professionally.

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S6E1: Milk Carton Musings and Leadership with Nick Lozano

From the desk of Peter Margaritis

“As much as we need technical skills in the business world, soft skills are even more important.” Nick Lozano

Today’s guest is Nick Lozano who is a technology professional who has a love for digital media. He co-hosts a podcast called >Lead.exe, which is for anyone who wants to level up their leadership skills and enhance their careers. ​ As someone in Tech, you need soft skills because you will have to sell yourself and the business to your clients and potential prospects. So much as we need technical skills in the business world, softer skills are even more critical.

During the initial talks about Tech, Nick brings about the analogy of building a house; you can make it as high as you need to go, as big as you want, or it can be a simple one-room house and still be great. The complex sides of technology can be a headache, especially for someone outside the industry. Nick’s soft skills make it easier to understand the technical side of technology in a fun way.

The audience you present to will determine how you will do your presentation for your message to go through. This is even more so when you have a paid sponsorship and must make the audience get the news across. Sometimes being simple and precise works better than using jargon.

Making mistakes is part of the process, and I know there is room for failure, but the lowest point is if you fail once, learn from it; this is how you gain experience. The downside is that if you are making mistakes and you aren’t learning from them, you are wasting your time and energy. Be prepared for how you will receive feedback, which will broaden your perspective on issues. All feedback is there to build you; the good and the bad appreciate everyone who will give it to you.

Nick humorously shares his story and experiences making this a unique and fantastic interview to begin the year.

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