Intro

Scott Raven: Welcome to The Corvus Effect, where we explore what it takes to succeed professionally and truly enhance all parts of your life. I'm Scott Raven, Fractional COO and your host. Each episode we go behind the scenes with leaders who've mastered the delicate harmony of growing their professional endeavors while protecting what matters most. Ready to transform from Chief Everything Officer to achieving integration in all facets of your life? Get ready to soar!

Guest Introduction: Lyndsay Dowd

Scott Raven: Hello everyone, welcome back to The Corvus Effect. I am Scott and this is the TL;DL - Too Long, Didn't Listen summary from my conversation with Lyndsay Dowd, founder of Heartbeat for Hire and leadership strategist who spent over 20 years at IBM building high-performing sales teams before transforming her corporate expertise into helping leaders build thriving cultures.

I invite you to listen to the full episode. She was a wonderful podcast guest to have, especially with her own globally ranked podcast and as author of the book Top Down Culture. She is a phenomenal wealth of wisdom, so let's break down the key takeaways from this episode. Again, I encourage you to go back and listen to the full episode.

The Island of Misfit Toys Transformation

Scott Raven: First, she had the profound discovery of the power of authentic connection through her "island of misfit toys" team transformation at IBM. When she inherited a team where nobody gave a crap about each other, she had a simple but revolutionary exercise. She wanted them to send a fact that nobody else on the team knew, and she turned it into an online quiz where people would guess which fact was associated with which person.

All of a sudden that started conversations like, "Oh, you play pickleball? That's so cool!" or "Oh, you've been to all these major league baseball stadiums? That's awesome!" It was that simple exercise that allowed the team to humanize each other and build the camaraderie and culture to do great things together.

Certainly for us here in Corvus Land, we can't be great without the greatness of others. We need other people around us to help elevate all of us to our aspirations. Having those deep personal connections are critically important.

Redefining Power Skills in an AI World

Scott Raven: Second, she had the game-changing insight in terms of redefining what power skills are in an AI-driven world. Too often they're called soft skills, and they're far too important to be called soft skills in her opinion, because they're anything but soft. These include communication, collaboration, delegation skills, and ultimately building trust, because trust is your currency.

Her most powerful example came when she had to execute a round of layoffs. She was very apologetic, but people were actually apologizing to her because of what she had to do. They were the ones being impacted, but she was the one receiving the apologies. That came down to her ability to use her power skills early and often to build true camaraderie with her team members.

That's certainly something that as we look at how to apply the Corvus methodology to our lives and get those dimensions of freedom, being able to use the power skills of communication and continuously refine them is critically important.

The Revolutionary Storytelling Framework

Scott Raven: Finally, her revolutionary storytelling framework transformed not just sales results, but entire organizational cultures. "Everybody on this team is going to be responsible for telling a story about what you sell," she gave this assignment to her people. But she said, "You can't use any of the standard business vernacular. You have to tell it like you were talking to my retired school teacher mother."

When they were forced to let go of the jargon and explain things in plain speak, people all of a sudden got an understanding of what all of the people were doing and selling, and how they could collaborate with each other and how they could more effectively communicate with their clients. Ultimately, it was about taking something that was very technical in nature and turning it into something that was very human in nature.

Particularly in this AI-driven world where a lot of things seem to be technologically driven, human connection is still incredibly powerful. That's something that from Lyndsay's point of view and what she brought to the podcast episode came through in spades.

Final Thoughts

Scott Raven: So I encourage you to check out Lyndsay's podcast, her books, all of her offerings. We'll put all of those links in the episode notes, and ultimately, remember this: Being human is part of the toolbox that will help you understand how to get what you want in life. That was one of the biggest lessons I took away from my conversation with Lyndsay. So profound.

Now let's go out and be great humans to each other while accomplishing great things. I'm Scott. See you next time on The Corvus Effect. Take care.

Outro

Scott Raven: Thank you for joining me on The Corvus Effect. To access today's show notes, resources, and our free assessment showing you exactly where you're trapped and how to architect your freedom, visit TheCorvusEffect.com. While you're there, check out the Corvus Learning Platform, where we turn insights into implementation. If this episode helped you see a new path forward, please subscribe and share it with others who are ready to pursue their definition of professional freedom. Join me next time as we continue exploring how to enhance your life through what you do professionally. Remember, it's time to soar towards your legacy.