Alain Hunkins | How to Become the Leader That A Player Employees Need and Cracking the Leadership Code: Three Secrets to Building Strong Leaders

Show Notes

The consultant of choice for 2,000 groups in 25 countries including Wal-Mart, Pfizer, Citigroup, General Electric, State Farm Insurance, IBM, General Motors, and Microsoft joins us to share about how to become the leader that “A-Player” employees need.

AlainHunkins.com/cracking-the-leadership-code 

1. Yes, yes, yes and yes! Thrivetime Nation on today’s show we are interviewing Alain Hunkins who is a sought-after speaker, consultant, trainer, and coach. Over his twenty-year career, he has led over 2,000 groups in 25 countries. Alain’s clients include Wal-Mart, Pfizer, Citigroup, General Electric, State Farm Insurance, IBM, General Motors, and Microsoft…Alain, welcome onto the Thrivetime Show…how are you sir!?
2. Alain Hunkins I know that you’ve had a ton of success at this point in your career, but I would love to start off at the bottom and the very beginning of your career. What was your life like growing up and where did you grow up?
   1. Ever since I can remember, I’ve been fascinated with questions like “Why do people do what people do?”
   2. It had a lot to do with my upbringing. My maternal grandmother took care of me while my mother worked for a food service provider.
   3. My mother and grandmother both survived the Holocaust.
   4. Their experience taught me a lot. I always wondered why people did what they did. I went on to study psychology in college. This led me into teaching and later into leadership training.
   5. If you look at organizational psychology you can see just how easily things move. People always want to point the finger.
3. When did you first figure out what you wanted to do professionally?
4. What mentor has made the biggest impact on your career thus far?
5. When did you first feel like you were truly beginning to gain traction with your career?
6. Alain Hunkins …I have read where you report that “Only 23% of people think their leaders lead well. Today’s workforce seeks a new type of leader, better equipped to navigate the speed and complexity of our digital workplace.” I would love for you to explain what you mean by this?
   1. The old playbook of leadership has really gone by the wayside.
   2. We typically lead how our leaders lead us. This isn’t always the best thing. In the 1800’s the average leader was interrupted 1,000 times per year. Now, it has exploded to 18,000 per year.
   3. Leaders must understand how their people are wired. You must have the wisdom to know when to go fast and when to go slow.
7. When you write that the “new type of leader is not born, but made by the choices that we make and the habits we create”…what do you mean by this?
8. Alain Hunkins, to help business people, you have recently written the new book, Cracking the Leadership Code: Three Secrets to Building Strong Leaders…what inspired you to write this book?
   1. Connection
      1. This is the heart of the relationship. A human to human connection is empathy. Showing people that you understand them and that you care. You have to let people know that you do in fact care about them.
      2. Credibility
         1. Show up on time
            1. You may have the best intentions but others don’t measure you on your intentions. Others measure you on your actions.
            2. If you are late, you are telling others that something was more important than they are. 
            3. Your reputation is what you sell. You should be accurate. You should ask yourself, “What is my impact having?”
         2. Being present
         3. You have to write things down
            1. I use a paper planner. Writing it down cements it into my brain.
            2. When you put it onto a piece of paper it frees up your brain. 
   2. Communication 
      1. No one communicates for communication’s sake.
         1. We must create a baseline to communicate on and to get action done based on.
         2. You have to clarify what the call to action is in every meeting. You can not leave with veague action items.
         3. When you have great understanding, you can create the best 
   3. Collaboration
9. What was your process like for writing this book?
   1. I started writing by writing a blog
10. Alain Hunkins In your book you explain why people today are so hungry for a new type of a leader…what do you mean by this?
11. In your book you discuss the three major obstacles to communicating well…I would love if you would walk us through these three major obstacles?
12. In your book, you write about how to create a great employee experience…walk us through this?
13. You come across as a very proactive person…so how do you typically organize the first four hours of your and what time do you typically wake up?
    1. I get my stuff done in the morning when there are fewer distractions. I try to get up at the same time every day but there is a lot of traveling.
14. What are a few of the daily habits that you believe have allowed you to achieve success?
15. Alain Hunkins What has been the biggest adversity that you’ve had to fight through during your career?
16. What advice would you give the younger version of yourself?
17. We find that most successful entrepreneurs tend to have idiosyncrasies that are actually their superpowers…what idiosyncrasy do you have?
18. What message or principle that you wish you could teach everyone?
19. You’ve got the mic, what is one thing that you want to share with the Thrive Nation before you drop the mic?
    1. It’s all about connection. Whether it is with your boss, your employee, your family, or anyone, you have to be able to connect with them.
20. Alain Hunkins What is the one action item all small business owners can make
    1. Make your implicit expectations explicit.
    2. Make sure you communicate with your team.