Steve Curtin, ranked as one of the top 30 customer service experts in the world — with clients that include Carnival Cruise Line, NAPA Auto Parts, and TJ Maxx — believes that every owner and manager needs to have “The Revelation Conversation” with each of their employees.

The conversation, which is the focus of Steve’s latest book, is designed to address the question of why their job and their company matter.

As Steve tells host and award-winning author Dean Rotbart, “we’ve all heard the story of the NASA janitor who wasn’t mopping floors; he was helping to send a man to the moon.” Imagine what would happen to each worker’s productivity and job satisfaction, Curtin asks, if your employees felt the same way about the greater purpose of the work they do.

After a 20-year career with Marriott International working in hotel operations, sales and marketing, and training and development, Steve now devotes his time to speaking, consulting, and writing on the topic of extraordinary customer service.

Photo: Steve Curtin, The Revelation Conversation
Posted: October 3, 2022
Monday Morning Run Time: 41:47

You may have never heard of Jonathan Dahl. But six times a year, he produces a glossy magazine that reaches 1.8 million high-powered global executives and owners, in addition to a weekly online newsletter that has surpassed 3.5 million annual page views.

What’s special about Jonathan is that he doesn’t work for a mainstream news organization. Rather, he generates what he calls “dazzling corporate content” for Korn Ferry, the highly respected privately held global consulting firm.

Whether you own or operate a company with 50 or 50,000 employees, Jonathan tells host and award-winning author Dean Rotbart that you need to be generating regular articles and blog posts that showcase how you operate, your values, and how today’s broader news and trends relate to your business and your customers.

Photo: Jonathan Dahl, Korn Ferry
Posted: September 26, 2022
Monday Morning Run Time: 43:02

Among the robber barons of the late 19th century, none was more ruthless and unscrupulous than Jay Gould, who amassed a fortune greater than that of the Rockefellers. During Gould’s life, he controlled the country’s largest railroad empire, Western Union, and even the New York World newspaper (which he sold to Joseph Pulitzer in 1883).

Today, Gould is all but forgotten outside of academia. But his influence and the regulations put in place to try and prevent future stock manipulators such as he from succeeding continue to have a significant influence over American businesses and financial markets.

Greg Steinmetz, a partner at a New York money management firm, has just published an authoritative biography of the clever and quirky Gould, American Rascal: How Jay Gould Built Wall Street’s Biggest Fortune.

Hate Gould or outright despise him, Steinmetz tells host and award-winning author Dean Rotbart that it’s not possible to deny that Gould played a domineering role in America’s transformative economic expansion of the 19th century.

Photos: Author Greg Steinmetz and Jay Gould
Posted: September 12, 2022
Monday Morning Run Time: 38:19

July 4th is the perfect time for fireworks, barbecues, and according to Lynette M. Smith, writing personal, heartfelt letters to colleagues, friends, family members, and others who enrich your life.

Lynette is a letter-writing evangelist who has authored multiple books on the art and impact of crafting the type of communications that will be saved and savored for years, even decades to come. [Get your personal copy of How to Write Heartfelt Letters to Treasure.]

Spoken words, texts, and emails are fleeting. If you want to demonstrate genuine appreciation, Lynette tells host and award-winning author Dean Rotbart, only a gratitude letter will do.

Photo: Lynette M. Smith, Good Ways to Write
Posted: July 4, 2022
Monday Morning Run Time: 40:03

Most people don’t think of Hollywood celebrities as entrepreneurs. But Craig Archibald, founder of The Archibald Studio, is not most people.

A well-established acting coach, Craig has mentored talents including Eric Roberts, Dan Futterman, John Slattery, and Constance Wu. One of the first lessons he drills into his clients’ minds is that acting is a highly competitive business, and if they are going to succeed, they need to excel as entrepreneurs.

But get this, Craig also recommends that business owners study acting to improve their financial performance.

Craig is the author of the new book, The Actor’s Mindset: Acting as a Craft, Discipline and Business. He joins host and award-winning author Dean Rotbart to explain the fascinating Hollywood-Business connection.

And be sure to keep your ears open for cameos by Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, George Clooney, and the Greek philosopher, Aristotle.

Photo: Craig Archibald, The Archibald Studio
Posted: June 6, 2022
Monday Morning Run Time: 46:59

As an active U.S. Army Colonel, Christopher Kolenda — a West Point graduate — led 800 paratroopers stationed in Afghanistan. Six of his soldiers were killed under his command.

The loss of his troops and the lessons he learned about effective leadership during his storied military career are front and center in Col. Kolenda’s mind this Memorial Day.

Col. Kolenda is the author of Leadership: The Warrior’s Art and Zero-Sum Victory: What We’re Getting Wrong About War. He is also the founder of Strategic Leaders Academy, which works with leaders who want to apply insights from history and military operations to transform their businesses.

Whether on the battlefields of Afghanistan or in the trenches of American businesses, Col. Kolenda says that victory depends on a three-legged foundation: Leadership, Culture, and Strategy.

If your business lacks any one of these, he tells host and award-winning author Dean Rotbart, you are forfeiting the competitive advantage.

Photo: Colonel Christopher Kolenda, Strategic Leaders Academy
Posted: May 30, 2022
Monday Morning Run Time: 52:48

One of the most popular characters in Charles M. Schultz’s Peanuts comic strip is Linus Van Pelt, Charlie Brown’s best friend. Linus displays great wisdom even as he clings to his always-present blue security blanket.

Dr. Victoria Grady, an organization expert with decades of experience working with Fortune 500 companies, sees similarities between Linus and the type of “attachment behavior” that often stalls the progress of companies trying to successfully transform in the digital age.

Do you or your colleagues have a mental “blankie” that is holding you back? 

Dr. Grady, co-author of Stuck: How to Win at Work By Understanding Loss, joins host and award-winning author Dean Rotbart to explain  how to identify your attachment behaviors and offers insights on how to get people to “un-stick” and embrace and adopt change.

Photo: Dr. Victoria M. Grady, PIvotPoint
Posted: May 16, 2022
Monday Morning Run Time:  45:20

Tim Redmond, CEO of Redmond Growth Consulting, has spent more than 35 years mentoring plumbers, electricians, landscapers, remodelers, and other small bricks-and-mortar business owners on ways to dramatically improve their performance. Tim relies on an unusual framework for his growth principles: The Bible.

While Tim’s clients come from all religions and denominations, he looks to teachings in the New Testament, in particular, to steer his innovative coaching process.

The Divine inspiration, Tim tells host and award-winning author Dean Rotbart, has led many of his clients to report heavenly improvements in their performance and profits.

Photo: Tim Redmond, Redmond Growth Consulting
Posted: May 2, 2022
Monday Morning Run Time: 42:11

Ken Lindner is a professional development maestro, having helped choreograph the careers of thousands of individuals from all walks of life. Among the many professionals he’s helped guide are leading broadcast personalities, including Lester Holt, Deborah Norville, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Leeza Gibbons, and Matt Lauer.

Ken’s approach to careers — and life in general - is simple: Make better choices, and achieve better results.

The founder of Positive Life Choice Psychology, Ken is the author of six books, including Aspire Higher: How to Find the Love, Positivity, and Purpose to Elevate Your Life and The World! and Career Choreography: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Finding the Right Job and Achieving Huge Success and Happiness. 

This week, Ken shares with host and award-winning author Dean Rotbart the concrete steps anyone can take to make more intelligent decisions — in life and career — and reap the bountiful benefits.

Photo: Ken Lindner, Positive Life Choice Psychology
Posted: April 25, 2022
Monday Morning Run Time: 50:16

Two of the country’s top experts on leadership — men who write bestselling books and get paid the big bucks to mentor top executives — confess that managing others doesn’t have to be complicated.

In fact, Ken Blanchard — who has sold more than 23 million copies of his books worldwide — and his colleague Randy Conley contend that outstanding leadership boils down to two common-sense ingredients: build trust with your employees and strive to serve others ahead of yourself.

Of course, even managers who are prepared to take simple steps to boost employee satisfaction and productivity can benefit from a “leadership manual.” This week, Blanchard and Conley join host Dean Rotbart to share practical ideas from their latest book, Simple Truths of Leadership: 52 Ways to Be a Servant Leader and Build Trust.

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Photos: Ken Blanchard (l) and Randy Conley, Simple Trusts of Leadership
Posted: April 11, 2022
Monday Morning Run Time: 44:20