We may hide it well, but the truth is most of us business leaders and executives suffer from the same fears that plagued us in middle school — appearing incompetent, vulnerable, and foolish. These fears get in the way of our goals and mess up our relationships. But not this year. As we move into 2018, we’re going to start with how to face your underlying fears in a healthy way. This week, Miles Adcox joins Donald Miller for this week’s episode of Building a StoryBrand podcast. As the CEO of the therapeutic retreat center Onsite, he’s been helping leaders like you and me understand how we need to embrace our fears rather than give in to the typical fight, flight or freeze responses.   This is an inspiring conversation, and the wisdom Miles shares has the potential to launch our new year in a way that will forever change the way we lead. Don’t miss it! http://buildingastorybrand.com/77

Since it’s Christmas, we decided to wrap up all the practical advice from 2017 and give it to you in a single episode. Tune in to Blake Mycoskie, Chief Shoe-Giver and founder of TOMS, for the first three hires you should make as you scale up your business. Charles Duhigg, author of Smarter Faster Better reveals how to build mental models to help you avoid wasting time on unimportant tasks. Professional storyteller Tricia Rose Burt gives you the story structure that will help you resonate with your audience. And Robert Sutton, author of The A-hole Survival Guide, will tell you how to avoid jerks at the office. We’ll finish with advice on how to close deals from Molly Fletcher, author of A Winner’s Guide to Negotiating. Whether you’re traveling today or just waiting around for Christmas dinner to come out of the oven, listen to these episodes you may have missed or review the key points of 2017. We hope you’ve learned as much as we have from our guests this year. And we wish you a happy, healthy business that will bless you and your loved ones as it grows. http://buildingastorybrand.com/76

Get our most helpful advice from some of our favorite interviews in a single episode! As we close out the year, we’ve selected five big ideas from our conversations that zero in on building your business. You get to hear from Seth Godin, marketing genius, about speed versus perfection when it comes to launching your product. You’ll learn how to reverse engineer your goals from Fizzle director, Chase Reeves, and how to get your team to focus on and execute your most important goal from 4DX co-author Chris McChesney. Nancy Duarte will teach you how to structure your upcoming presentation. Finally, copywriting extraordinaire Ray Edwards will reveal the magic words you need to use with your customers to make you money. If you’re traveling over the holidays, this is a great way to find helpful episodes you may have missed or revisit your favorites for fresh insight. We hope that we’ve helped to grow your business this year by gleaning the best wisdom from our guests and bringing it to you when you most need it. http://buildingastorybrand.com/75

You don’t get to meet an astronaut everyday. They’re really special people who beat terrific odds (less than 1%) to get where they are. So what an honor it is to have Astronaut Jerry Linenger on the podcast. He was sent on some of the most dangerous and historical space missions of all time. Jerry has faced mechanical malfunctions, fires and system failures all while in space. While you might not have to put out a space fire this week, we all have faced extreme pressures before. The principles Jerry used to accomplish his missions won’t only work for him. They’ll help you bring a stronger sense of purpose to your business, too — no matter what the odds are. http://buildingastorybrand.com/74

As consumers, we admire disruptors like Netflix, Uber, and Apple. But as a business leader, disruption can cause you to lose sleep at night. You’ve got to stay ahead of the competition or you might get left behind. In this episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast, Donald Miller sits down with Whitney Johnson to talk about how to prepare your team to manage change in an age of disruption. She’s an expert on this topic and gives you some strategies to help you feel competent and confident in the dynamic business realm you work in. http://buildingastorybrand.com/73

How much can poor customer service cost you? The answer is more than you think. Donald Miller sits down with Todd Duncan, author of The $6,000 Egg. A best-selling author and thought-leader in the sales industry, Todd outlines five scenarios that illustrate the five rules of spectacular customer service. When you apply them, you’ll bring in loyal customers and create trust in your company.   Customer service is the bedrock of your brand. If your team takes ownership of your company’s values and delivers wonderful service to your customers, you’ll see exponential growth in your business. You’ll also discover that almost every aspect of your company runs smoother. http://buildingastorybrand.com/72

How can a professional storyteller help you grow your business? Simple. Business is about persuading people to buy your products or services. And, psychologists tell us that storytelling is the most effective method of persuasion. So, you’re going to need effective storytelling to grow your business.   In this episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast, Donald Miller sits down with professional storyteller Tricia Rose Burt to talk about 3 super powerful principles you need to tell a great story. You can apply these to almost any communication you use in your business. When you understand these principles of story, your marketing will become much more persuasive and your sales will grow. http://buildingastorybrand.com/71

If you’ve ever seriously thought about starting a business of your own, you’ve probably discovered how difficult it is to get good advice on how to do it. What you need is a map, a blueprint, of how to get from your cubicle to doing what you love. And you need to know how to make money at it. Because, let’s face it, making a good living is an important part of your security and happiness. This week, Donald Miller sits down with Dorie Clark, author of Entrepreneurial You, on the Building a StoryBrand podcast. Dorie’s interviewed over 50 highly successful entrepreneurs about how they’ve monetized doing something they care about, and she’s going to share with us all their secrets. You’re going to learn the 3 key phases to develop your startup. By the time you’ve moved through these phases, you’ll be making good money and doing what you love. http://buildingastorybrand.com/70

You’re going to retire someday. And we’re not talking about just a few years of your life. People are living longer. More people will live to 100 than ever. So you might be in financial stress for a good 20 to 25 years of your life if you don’t make some changes. Worse, you could end up becoming a burden to the people you love the most. That’s not a pretty picture, but there’s some good news. Donald Miller sits down with Chris Hogan, the author of Retire Inspired, on the Building a StoryBrand podcast. He calls his book “America’s wake-up call” and his goal is to motivate you to think about retirement now and think about it differently. http://buildingastorybrand.com/69

Do you feel like no matter how hard you work, you’re always behind? The worst part is you know of highly productive people who have time for everything important — family, health, friends and business. Nothing has to be sacrificed upon the altar of success. So, what are their secrets? Today’s podcast guest will reveal them. Charles Duhigg, the author of Smarter Faster Better, used to be sitting in the same place you are now. He had achieved an incredibly successful career, but was still miserable. His daily life whizzed by in frantic activity that left him feeling empty. Charles began investigating these highly productive people who go on vacation, spend time with family, and pursue a fulfilling work life. What he came up with will help you increase your productivity and reclaim your life. http://buildingastorybrand.com/68

Does running your business feel like you’re caught in a whirlwind? That ringing phone, the unexpected appointment, the stuff piling up from last week? Urgent matters keep popping up. All the while, more important things like growing your company gets pushed aside. You know the answer lies in getting help from your team, but trying to get your team to do something new in the midst of the whirlwind is extremely difficult. Today, you’ll discover the solution to that problem. Donald Miller sits down with Chris McChesney, co-author of The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX). Trying to change the behaviors of the people around you is one of the biggest challenges you’ll ever face. With the 4 Disciplines of Execution, you can rest assured you’re implementing a system that is tested and proven. Once everyone is moving together in one direction, you and your team will no longer be tending to urgent matters only. Instead, you’ll be achieving goals and moving the company forward in exciting ways. http://buildingastorybrand.com/67

If you have an important, high-stakes presentation that needs to move people en masse in a given direction, Nancy Duarte is the person you’d call. She’s written, visualized, and helped people deliver some of the world’s greatest talks. Her Guide to Persuasive Presentations is the best-selling Harvard Business Review guide ever. And if you haven’t seen Nancy’s TED talk — where she lays Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech over Steve Jobs’ Apple iPhone release and shows you how they’re essentially the same talk — then I don’t know where you’ve been in the last six years. So I can’t tell you enough how honored I am to have Nancy as our guest on this week’s episode of Building a StoryBrand podcast. Nancy gives you the tools you need to make your presentation resonate. She’s going to show you how to carefully examine and craft seven different sections of your presentation before stepping up on stage. http://buildingastorybrand.com/66

This week my new book Building a StoryBrand is out! If you’ve been wanting to clarify your message pick it up today at Amazon or Barnes and Noble! That said, if you don’t want to order it because reading hurts your brain, there’s a distant, distant second option I recommend. And that’s to listen to this week’s podcast because this week, J.J. and I shamelessly plug the book by going through it point by point. It’s like the audiobook but with a laugh track! The main reason I wrote the book is because I wanted to make marketing easy and I believe it accomplishes that task. To get the best points, though, you’ll have to buy the book to get. I’m no dummy. Anyway, I hope you read these ideas, apply them and make loads of money. And I hope they make you want to buy the book to make even more. http://buildingastorybrand.com/65

Being successful isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. I mean, look at the headlines. We can all name a few celebrities who crumbled under the pressure of fame and fortune. While well-known artists may deal with the problems of success on an amplified level, most successful leaders have similar struggles and are in danger of the same downfalls. That’s why I’m so excited about this week’s episode on the Building a StoryBrand podcast. I sit down with Al Andrews, the founder and executive director of Porter’s Call, a service that counsels and supports recording artists. Al has a client list with names you’d certainly recognize so he’s very familiar with the problems fortune brings. As he shares his wisdom about how he helps his clients stay healthy and grounded, you’ll find help as a leader too. After listening to this episode, you’ll learn 10 paradigm shifts you need to make as a leader on the road to success. http://buildingastorybrand.com/64

If you’ve ever tried to write sales copy for your product, then you’ve probably felt the intimidation of the blank page. Worse, when you’ve finally beat the blank page blues, your copy doesn’t deliver the results you wanted. Your words fail to persuade your customers. That’s why I’m thrilled to sit down with Ray Edwards on the Building a StoryBrand podcast. As the author of How to Write Copy That Sells, Ray’s going to reveal some magic phrases that will help you write great copy. After listening to this podcast, you’ll no longer be intimidated by the blank page and you’ll find your sales copy is finally doing its job — reaching the people who need your product and making you money. http://buildingastorybrand.com/63

Ever thought about quitting your job to start a business of your own? Not everyone is ready to risk a secure job to launch a new enterprise. Some people really like their day job. And for many, a regular paycheck is a blessing. That’s why I’m honored to have Chris Guillebeau joining us on the Building a StoryBrand podcast. He’s the author of Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days and he’s going to show us how to quickly and easily create an additional stream of income without giving up the security of a full-time job. Whatever your reason for starting a side hustle, listen to this podcast to learn the simple process it takes to make it happen. Chris blazes a clear path to help you earn extra income fast.

If you had a chance to sit down with a world-renowned businessman, what would you ask? As an entrepreneur, you’d likely want him to go back to the point where you are and find out what crucial decisions he made to help his business go big. Blake Mycoskie, Founder and Chief Shoe Giver of TOMS, is one of the top young businessmen in the world and perhaps the most visionary entrepreneur in forming social-minded businesses and consumers. On the podcast this week, I sit down with Blake to talk about his entrepreneurial journey. Blake shares a fascinating story of how he became a fashion mogul by giving shoes away through his One for One model, and he gives some powerful advice regarding you as an entrepreneur. During the interview, I hone in on the three critical hires he made to scale up his business during the embryonic stage of TOMS. http://buildingastorybrand.com/61

Do you feel like your job isn’t what you should be doing? Perhaps you have a side hustle that you wish could be your main hustle? Or you have an entrepreneurial itch that just won’t go away? If so, you’d probably like some help in making your business dreams a reality. Someone who can guide your through the journey from beginning to end. That’s why I’m happy to have Chase Reeves joining us on the Building a StoryBrand podcast. He’s a co-founder of Fizzle and their mission is to help you earn a living independently doing something you care about. In this episode, he outlines four steps to start you down the right path. Follow these simple steps and you’ll discover there’s wonderful wisdom in them. They will spark your business dreams to life and make your entrepreneurial journey a success. http://buildingastorybrand.com/60

Many of our favorite movies and TV shows portray jerks at work. From droning Lumbergh in Office Space, clueless Michael in The Office, to sleazy Mr. Hart in 9 to 5, we find these characters so funny because they’re true. It isn’t funny, however, actually working with these jerks. According to a recent study, 75% of workers deal with bullies in the workplace. This has a huge effect on the economy, your workplace, and your health. So, what can you do? Robert Sutton sets out to answer that question in his new book, The A--hole Survival Guide (his book just says the word). His strategies will provide relief to anyone who feels pushed around by a jerk. You can avoid them, outwit them, disarm them, send them packing, and develop protective psychological armor. Finally, at the end of this post, you can see if you might be adding to the jerk population. Nobody wants to lose life hours to a bully. Listen to this episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast. You’ll preserve your sanity and have a plan of action to deal with that jerk at the office. http://buildingastorybrand.com/59

Do you and your team members suffer from DSD — Distracted, Stressed, and Disconnected?  Sure, you believe in what your team is doing. And you believe in the people on your team. But it feels like no matter how hard you all work, the results keep eluding you. Worse, you go home exhausted and give your family the only thing you’ve got … leftovers. You’d love to find a way to turn your team around, but how? On the podcast this week, Donald Miller interviews Craig Ross, one of the authors of Do Big Things: The Simple Steps Teams Can Take to Mobilize Hearts and Minds, and Make an Epic Impact.   Craig is wanting teams to get big results without losing their souls. He’ll take you through 7 essential steps teams must execute to do extraordinary things while making DSD a thing of the past. When your team has heart, you’ll not only get the job done, you’ll become legendary within your company and your family. http://buildingastorybrand.com/58

Are you in a sales slump? What if I told you the reason for your lagging sales isn’t the fluctuating market. Neither is it your product or company. It’s not even the competition. Top sellers across various industries and companies prove that sales performance isn’t situational. The key to sales success is you. This is good news because you can start making money right away with some key adjustments to how you sell. By learning the behaviors, attitudes and a few vital skills of the aces in the industry, your revenue stream will skyrocket. Sales expert Anthony Iannarino joins Donald Miller this week on the Building a StoryBrand podcast. As author of The Only Sales Guide You’ll Ever Need, Anthony is going to reveal the secrets of star salespeople who consistently outperform their peers. If you’re tired of wasting time at the office and are ready to become a true sales pro, listen to this episode and take your sales abilities to the next level. http://buildingastorybrand.com/57

Running a company can sometimes feel like a treacherous journey. A bad financial decision will cost you a ton of money. If you don’t give enough attention to your relationships, you might lose your family. And a lack of focus sucks away precious time. It’d be so much simpler if you had a map to guide you through it. Some sort of blueprint to show you where you might fall so you can avoid the hassle of trying to dig your way out. That’s why I’m thrilled about this episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast with David Covey and Stephan Mardyks, co-authors of Trap Tales: Outsmarting the 7 Hidden Obstacles to Success. In this episode, they highlight the major traps business leaders slip into and show you how to steer clear of them. Listen now so you can avoid these common pitfalls and save time, money and your relationships. http://buildingastorybrand.com/56

This week, we’re honored to welcome Seth Godin to the Building a StoryBrand podcast. Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the last fifteen years, you recognize Seth Godin as a preeminent influencer in the marketing world. And in an industry that can be so noisy, cheesy, and in-your-face, Seth’s thinking stands out. It’s deep and it’s well-reasoned. And it’s humanistic, affirming at its core that marketing is ultimately about people and the relationships we build with them. In this conversation, Donald Miller and Seth Godin cover a lot of ground, including: *How to ship your projects quickly without sacrificing quality *Why the old models of marketing are failing and what it takes to succeed today *The psychology behind why people buy (most of us miss it) *The perils of not understanding the world we’re marketing in *Why now is an ideal time to be a creative person At every point in the conversation, Seth challenges us to think differently about marketing. And when we do, we’ll find a massive opportunity to set our businesses apart and make more meaningful connections with our customers. Listen now! http://buildingastorybrand.com/55

If you want to grow your business, of course you’ve got to get the everyday stuff right: product quality, customer satisfaction, marketing, personnel, logistics, etc. But there’s more to success than those elements. To see the right kind of growth in our business, we also need to focus on our personal growth. That’s why this week’s episode is designed to give you a moment of reflection this summer. In our second of two podcasts featuring The Best of 2017 (So Far), we’ve compiled the most powerful advice from our podcast guests for staying balanced and healthy while your business grows. This week, listen to Part 2 of The Best of 2017 (So Far) as we highlight 5 key ways you can move forward professionally while staying balanced personally. http://buildingastorybrand.com/54

For these next two episodes, we’ve selected several excellent clips for you to revisit or catch up on what you may have missed. Summer is a time for recreation, rest and reflection. Because we’ve covered so much great content, we wanted to take some time to think back on what we’ve learned. Whether you’re on a vacation or staycation, mull over the highlights of what we’ve covered in 2017 and evaluate whether you’ve incorporated them into your business and your life. Some principles are so essential, they need repetition and time to sink in. This is our way of making space for that to happen. Listen to this week’s episode as we recap the most important ideas from 5 of our most popular interviews. http://buildingastorybrand.com/53

Why does trust matter so much in business? In this episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast, we’re going to show you how to build trust in your company. Donald Miller interviews David Horsager, leadership speaker and author of The Trust Edge. David tells us that loss of trust costs us a lot, bringing skepticism, frustration, low productivity, lost sales, and turnover into our business. Trust affects a leader’s impact and the company’s bottom line more than any other single thing. The good news is you can earn trust over time by building and maintaining these eight key pillars. Listen to this episode, learn how to form a trusting relationship with your team and your customers, and watch your bottom line increase. http://buildingastorybrand.com/52

What do elite athletes have that business leaders need? A fearless mindset. In this episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast, Donald Miller sits down with Molly Fletcher, a former sports agent who has taken what she’s learned from leaders in the world of sports to leaders in the workplace. Representing elite athletes during their sports careers has given Molly an insider view of what drives them to surpass the rest. She reveals that the best-of-the-best athletes have a fearless mindset. Listen to this episode and put some of these same fundamental habits to work for you in your business so you can achieve your maximum potential. http://buildingastorybrand.com

How did you get to where you are now in your business? I’m sure you could list a lot of factors. But every successful business leader will always point to specific people in their lives who mentored them along the way. Books and classes are powerful, but nothing can replace actual people stepping into your life to guide you. In this episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast, Ken Blanchard and Claire Diaz-Ortiz join Donald Miller to talk about mentorship. They share a process for mentoring that will help you begin a strong mentoring relationship, whether you need a mentor or want to become one. The six elements they outline in their process (forming the acronym MENTOR) will show you how to begin a mentoring relationship that could make all the difference in another person’s life -- and in your own. http://buildingastorybrand.com/50  

If you haven’t gotten serious about email marketing, it’s time. In this episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast, we’re going to take away the confusion behind getting started with email marketing. Donald Miller sits down with Francis Jones of Infusionsoft. Francis shares eight common email mistakes he sees beginners make when they start email marketing -- plus what to do instead. Listen to this episode and schedule an hour of time to implement even one of these ideas, and you’ll make a dramatic impact on your business. http://buildingastorybrand.com/49

Imagine you see a homeless couple on the side of the road holding a sign that says “Ugly, Broke, and Hungry.” You stop to hear their story and take them out to dinner. And before the last course is served, you’ve invited them to be your business partners. That’s the story of Caitlin Crosby, the founder and creative visionary behind the company The Giving Keys and this week’s guest on the Building a StoryBrand podcast. The Giving Keys employs people who are trying to transition out of homelessness to engrave keys with different inspiring words. You buy a key and wear it for awhile, and then you look for a chance to pass it on and pay it forward to somebody you feel needs the message on that key more than you do. Caitlin’s story is remarkable for so many reasons, not the least of which is that she never set out to be a social entrepreneur. If you’re a creative person running a business or believe in the power of entrepreneurship to make a difference in the causes we care about, don’t miss this inspiring interview.

Go on, admit it. If you’re a business leader, you’ve stayed up late binge-watching -- no, not Game of Thrones -- but TED talks. And it’s totally understandable. TED talks take complex topics and present them in a way that everybody understands. There’s something about making things clear, regardless of what you're talking about, that the human mind engages. That’s the magic of TED. This week on the Building a StoryBrand podcast, Donald Miller sits down with Chris Anderson, the CEO of TED. Chris shares six principles that make a TED talk successful. If you need to communicate any big idea to a large group of people, whether it’s in a speech or a board meeting or a lecture, you’re going to find his advice invaluable.

Can you be both a disciplined, focused business leader and a deeply creative person? For us here at StoryBrand, the answer is a resounding yes. In fact, the worlds of creatives and business leaders overlap more than we might assume. If you’re leading a business, you need to embrace your creativity. When you do, you’ll unlock levels of innovation and inspiration in your work that will give you a competitive advantage. And anyone who does creative work needs to focus and master their industry so their work gets the attention it deserves. To help us as business leaders understand the creative process better, Donald Miller invited Luke Laird to join this episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast. He’s a Grammy-award-winning producer and songwriter who’s penned 23 number-one hits for major country artists like Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Eric Church, and Tim McGraw. Whether you’re a business leader trying to embrace your creativity or an aspiring artist trying to make it, here are three takeaways from Luke Laird about the creative process. He also brought his guitar along to showcase some of his work, so make sure you give this episode a listen! http://buildingastorybrand.com/46

If you’ve ever smelled that warm and buttery smell in the mall, and minutes later, had an Auntie Anne’s pretzel in your hand, you’re not alone. Auntie Anne’s has 2,000 locations in 26 countries. They’ve made 1.8 billion pretzels -- enough to go around the Earth 50 times. And their success is about a lot more than just that amazing smell. Auntie Anne’s founder, Anne Beiler, is an incredible leader with a unique backstory. She joins Donald Miller on this episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast to share the lessons she’s learned growing this company. Her story will inspire you in so many ways, especially if you’re passionate about personal growth and building a company with a greater purpose. For a blog post summary of the episode with practical takeaways, visit http://buildingastorybrand.com/45

Is it possible to live a life of service and sacrifice even while pursuing a career that matters deeply? When you look at the life of sportscasting legend Ernie Johnson, Jr., you can’t help but say yes. On this episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast, Donald Miller sits down with Ernie Johnson. They share a heartfelt conversation about leading a life of significance and making room to help others, even while we pursue our careers. Don’t miss this inspiring episode. The life lessons here are rich and hard and absolutely worth your time. Get the worksheet that goes along with this episode at http://buildingastorybrand.com/44 to help you apply what you learned in the interview to your life and business.

What if there were a roadmap that showed you all the major milestones your business was going to hit as it grows? Wouldn’t it be great to know what’s coming next and how to navigate well? That framework exists, and we’re going to explore it in depth on this week’s episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast. Donald Miller sits down with David McKeown of PredictableSuccess.com. He and his father Les have developed this framework over decades, and they’ve seen it prove out in countless companies, regardless of their size or industry. When you understand these seven stages, you’ll understand how to strike a perfect balance between innovation and processes. And when that happens, the success of your business becomes a lot more predictable. Listen now and take the guesswork out of growing your small business. Get the worksheet that goes along with this episode at http://buildingastorybrand.com/43 to help you apply what you learned in the interview to your business.

The better we understand people, the better leaders we’ll be. And one of the best tools for understanding yourself and those around you is the Enneagram. If you haven’t encountered it before, the Enneagram is simply an ancient personality framework. There are nine core types, and we tend to gravitate toward one of them in our youth as a way of coping with the world. This week on the Building a StoryBrand podcast, Donald Miller talks with Enneagram expert Ian Cron about how to use this powerful framework to make both yourself and your business healthier. They unpack each of nine personality types and then discuss how understanding the Enneagram can help you become a stronger, more empathetic leader. Get the worksheet that goes along with this episode at http://buildingastorybrand.com/42 to help you apply what you learned in the interview to your business.

What’s the most powerful tool in the world for captivating the human brain? It’s storytelling. As business leaders, sometimes we struggle to keep our audience’s attention for a few seconds. But storytellers have figured out how to keep an audience’s attention for hours. If we want to captivate our customers, we need to understand the art of storytelling. So today on the Building a StoryBrand podcast, Donald Miller talks with Allan Heinberg, one of the world’s most accomplished storytellers. He’s written for Grey’s Anatomy and Sex and the City and is currently the showrunner for Shonda Rhimes’ show The Catch. In this episode, you’ll find a wealth of wisdom for how to captivate your audience of prospective customers. (There’s also a fair amount of geeking out about character development and the creative process!) PLUS! Don’t miss the BONUS SEGMENT with musician Drew Holcomb. Drew stopped by our office to talk about the business of music and to play a couple of songs for us. Listen now! Get the worksheet that goes along with this episode at http://buildingastorybrand.com/41 to help you apply what you learned in the interview to your business.

Most of us business leaders are glued to our phones. Work can feel all-consuming. We end each day fatigued and overloaded, and everything suffers as a result. But life isn't supposed to look like this. We need what Juliet Funt calls “white space” -- strategic rests and pauses between our busy-ness. This week, Juliet joins Donald Miller on the Building a Story Brand podcast, and she helps us understand the importance of these pauses for our work, the four big reasons we struggle with it, and what we can do to reclaim our rest and thoughtfulness. This is an inspiring conversation, and the wisdom Juliet shares has the potential to give us better quality of work at the office and better presence with our loved ones at home. Don’t miss it! Get the worksheet that goes along with this episode at http://buildingastorybrand.com/40 to help you apply what you learned in the interview to your business.

Why do some companies stay young, agile, and competitive, while others get bogged down and decline? That’s the big question that this week's guest, Chris Zook, set out to answer. After years of research, he and his team at Bain Insights found three key elements that showed up in successful companies, and they called them “The Founder’s Mentality.” On this episode, Donald Miller sits down with Chris to understand how these three elements make a company healthy on the inside and create more profit and more impact on the world. Listen now! Get the worksheet that goes along with this episode at http://buildingastorybrand.com/39 to help you apply what you learned in the interview to your business.

Why do leaders fail? It’s not because they don’t know what they’re doing. It’s usually because they’ve failed to listen to and develop their staff. They’ve failed to respect and communicate well with them. Basically, they’ve failed at people skills. To help us master the fine art of people skills, Lee Cockerell, the former Executive VP of Operations for Disney, joins Donald Miller on this episode of the Building a Story Brand podcast. Lee built his sterling career by focusing on people, and in this conversation, he shares five major takeaways we can all use to help our teams grow -- and see our businesses grow as a result. ***PLUS! A BONUS SEGMENT*** Just in time for the Masters tournament this week, Donald talks with professional golfer Ryan Moore about what it’s like to play the Masters and what makes its unique brand of tradition and excellence so special. Don’t miss it! Get the worksheet that goes along with this episode at http://buildingastorybrand.com/38 to help you apply what you learned in the interview to your business.

Motivation is overrated. If you want to accomplish the things that will grow your life and your business, you can’t rely on it. And today’s guest on the Building a Story Brand podcast, Mel Robbins, is with me on this notion that motivation isn’t the key to success. More than that, she’s discovered a simple mental strategy we can use to bypass motivation in order to make wise decisions that grow our businesses, make healthful decisions, and strengthen our relationships. It’s incredibly simple and intuitive, as you’ll see, and it has the power to dramatically impact your life. Get the worksheet that goes along with this episode at http://buildingastorybrand.com/37

Why are most meetings so awful? A lot of us leave every meeting feeling like we’ve wasted our time and gotten nowhere on a problem -- only to get back to our desks farther behind on our “real jobs.” But with a little intention, we can make meetings not just productive, but also energizing and fun. On this episode of the Building a Story Brand podcast, Donald Miller sits down with Daniel Tardy the SVP of EntreLeadership, Dave Ramsey’s business coaching division. They walk through nine strategies we can use that will make our meetings more productive and more fun. With this advice, you can lead dynamic meetings that bring out the best in your team and actually move the needle for your business. Get the worksheet that goes along with this episode at http://buildingastorybrand.com/36

There’s nobody like Elon Musk. As the founder and CEO of both SpaceX and Tesla (among other ventures), he is arguably the world’s most visionary entrepreneur. And on the podcast this week, Donald Miller interviews Ashlee Vance, the man who wrote Musk’s definitive (and bestselling) biography. As entrepreneurs ourselves, what can we learn from a pioneering leader like Elon Musk? Listen to this interview for an inside look at Musk’s life and discover the big takeaways we can use to build our businesses, even if we’re NOT building rockets. Get the worksheet that goes along with this episode at http://buildingastorybrand.com/35

Why do leaders crash and burn, taking their companies and families down with them? Is it the inevitable result of pressure or a character flaw? Or can it all be prevented? In this episode of the Building a Story Brand podcast, Donald Miller sits down with leadership expert Stephen Mansfield to talk about the 10 warning signs of a leadership crash -- and how to fix them. The list will surprise you. Listen today and discover how to protect yourself from a leadership crash. Get the worksheet that goes along with this episode at http://buildingastorybrand.com/34

If you’re trying to start and grow a business, you know it’s not an easy road. Rewarding, yes. Eventful, yes. But easy? Not at all. But like any journey, you’re better off if you’ve equipped yourself properly for it. And that’s why I am so honored to have Carrie Green joining us on the Building a Story Brand podcast. She’s the founder of the wildly successful Female Entrepreneur Association, and in this episode she shares six steps entrepreneurs can follow to grow their businesses. Wherever you are in your entrepreneurial journey, listen now so you can take the next right step for your company. Get the worksheet that goes along with this episode at http://buildingastorybrand.com/33

According to Greg McKeown, the author of Essentialism, most of us have been living under the assumption that we can have it all -- we just have to cram it all into our lives. As a result, we end up busy (not necessarily productive) and stretched too thin at work and at home. We’re chained to our smartphones, hopping from disjointed task to disjointed task, not really focused on (or even clear about) what we want. Essentialism changes all that. It helps us tune out all the unimportant things vying for our attention so we can discover and pursue a very small number of things of lasting value. Nobody wants to fritter away their lives on their smart phones. Listen to this episode of the Building a Story Brand podcast with Donald Miller and special guest Greg McKeown, and you’ll be inspired to live a life rich with clarity and meaning. Get the worksheet that goes along with this episode at http://buildingastorybrand.com/32

For business leaders, public speaking skills are critical. Whether you’re delivering a major keynote or simply leading a staff meeting, you’ve got to be able to engage your audience and communicate powerfully. That’s why public speaking expert Mike Pacchione is joining Donald Miller this week on the Building a Story Brand podcast. As a part of the communications consulting firm Duarte, Mike gives 70 speeches a year -- all on the topic of public speaking. He is the talker about talking. And he’s going to teach us to talk. Mike shares the expert tactics that separate casual public speakers who just get by from pros who stand out. Whether you’re a dread-filled newbie or a seasoned pro, give this a listen and take your public speaking skills to the next level. Get the worksheet that goes along with this episode at http://buildingastorybrand.com/31

As business leaders, we often get so focused on the details of our company that we forget to step back and understand things from our customers’ perspective. As a result, we talk over our potential customers’ heads in our communication and marketing. Feeling confused, they take their business to another company -- not necessarily a better one, but one they understand. But when we learn how to communicate clearly, we stop confusing our customers and start connecting with them. On this episode of the Building a Story Brand podcast, Donald Miller sits down with Lee LeFever, the master of the explainer video, to share four practical strategies we can use to speak clearly, engage our customers, and grow our businesses. Get the worksheet that goes along with this episode at http://buildingastorybrand.com/30