“Traditionally consultants focused on repairing what was broken, that was then. Now it’s more about increasing the standard and raising the bar, we don’t repair, we improve the clients’ condition.”

Brian Braudis is the founder and president of The Braudis Group a boutique consultancy that collaborates with organizations, businesses, and individuals to create tangible results for clients in areas such as leadership development, change and talent management.

Brian is a human performance expert. As a consultant and executive coach, he is known for increasing the value people bring to an organization and dramatically increasing productivity.

Brian regularly collaborates with leaders, organizations and businesses developing cooperative insight that leads to workplace transformation such as connecting silos and transforming separation into solidarity, risk into reward and transforming merely satisfied employees into engaged employees.

BusinessInterviews.com: What are some ways that managers can help shift their employees from being satisfied to engaged?

Brian: Managers are linchpins in the company; they are embedded with the workforce. Everything managers do matters for employee engagement. If a manager is an ambassador for the company, an “evangelist employee,” associates will pick up on this and follow their lead. This daily influence over time will develop employees in the likeness of the manager.

BusinessInterviews.com: Do you think that in order to be a good leader, they have to be willing to step outside their comfort zone?

Brian: Yes and it can get pretty uncomfortable. Leaders, managers and supervisors must be comfortable, confident and secure in themselves. Leadership is an exciting challenge. It’s the one thing that can change everything. But it takes more than a workshop to develop the kind of leader that can transform a complaint into a customer. We need leaders who can do more than motivate. Motivation is temporary and transformation is permanent. We need transformation that’s raising the bar!

BusinessInterviews.com: Can you talk about the importance of moving beyond the status quo?

Brian: The status quo is what we did yesterday. It’s a plateau but not for resting. Rather it’s a good platform for launching into the future. The best companies are moving toward a higher standard. We don’t want what’s already there we want what’s next!

BusinessInterviews.com: What are some of the most common barriers you see companies face when it comes to organizational effectiveness?

Brian: Leadership is the one thing that changes everything. One barrier is integration. Is leadership development integrated with the companies’ business strategy and joined with performance and succession? This is building capacity for leadership and it’s crucial because the capacity for leadership is the structure that leadership development will fit into. Too often executives attend leadership training and they return to the same office where nothing has changed so the new training falls to the wayside.

BusinessInterviews.com: What advice would you give to a first time mentor who wants to make the most out of the experience?

Brian: For first-time mentees (being mentored) I recommend harnessing action to the mentor process. Your mentor will create a larger space for you to step into. Don’t just take notes, take action and bring results back to the conversation. Use this little formula: action, challenge, results, take action, keep moving through challenges, analyze results (with your mentor), makes course corrections, move forward with new learning…. and repeat! Experience is still the best teacher.
For a first time mentor (doing the mentoring): You must listen at level 3. This is when the mentor picks up on subtle inflections and emotions that reveal mood and perspective. If you listen at level 3, you will pick up on where extra support is necessary. The relationship is a challenge/support arrangement you challenge the mentee beyond perceived limitations and provide support while they step into the space you created for them.

BusinessInterviews.com: What’s the best question that you’ve ever been asked (and what was your answer)?

Brian: My mentor Alan Weiss asked, “So Brian…. Transformation through Leadership, nice you are in the improvement profession. Just what do you transform?” I replied, “ I turn organizations into places where people want to come to work.”