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[00:00:02.20] – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

[00:00:29.69] – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh again from the I am CEO podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today, Danny Hadas of the EmoVation Project. Danny, it's awesome to have you on the show.

[00:00:38.00] – Danny Hadas

It's awesome to be on the show, Gress. Thanks for having me.

[00:00:40.79] – Gresham Harkless

No problem. Super excited to have you on. And before we jump in, I want to read a little bit more about Danny so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. Danny is a number one best-selling author, entrepreneur, and advisor to the world's most iconic brands. His work has impacted millions of people across five hundred-plus companies worldwide, including Disney, BMW, and AT and T. As the founder of the Innovation Project, Danny teaches business leaders how to power their profits by empowering their people. When Danny's not sharing innovation, he's with his incredible girlfriend. Together, they participate in and lead growth and development programs aimed to cause tremendous breakthroughs in people's lives. Their partnership serves to redefine what's possible in the world. Danny, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

[restrict paid=”true”]

[00:01:24.50] – Danny Hadas

I am ready. You saw it. I had to turn my head when you were saying my bio. It's always so embarrassing to hear, but I love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Let's speak. There you go.

[00:01:31.00] – Gresham Harkless

Let's make it happen. Yes. You're doing so many phenomenal things. It's like deja vu. Right? So I wanted to, rewind the clock a little bit, hear a little bit more on, like, what actually started. Could you take us through your CEO story? We'll let you get started with all the awesome things you're working on.

[00:01:44.00] – Danny Hadas

Absolutely. Well, I've been a CEO since really January first twenty nineteen. Okay? So that's that's where we are in in that in my history. I got into big-time consulting ever since I graduated from Penn State in two thousand eight. I got my start with Accenture, working with some of the, again, biggest brands in the world, Disney AstraZeneca, and, Mattel. And I just went along on my consulting journey, and I eventually became really enamored with customer experience transformation. Mhmm. Helping businesses create inspiring experiences so they can win loyal you know, loyal customers and just be profitable. And my last stint at a consulting firm, I got to lead a fifteen million-dollar customer experience transformation program.

And there we are with this prestigious automotive manufacturer based out of Germany. We're cocreating these inspiring experiences in a beautiful facility, and someone turns around and says, yeah. I'm not gonna do this. And I said, And he said, yeah. I'm not doing this. I said, well, what's that about? I said, well, you see, I don't get treated half as well as what you're asking me to put out there to the customers. So I'm not gonna do this, and I suspect a lot of my peers aren't gonna do it either. And a light bulb went off, Gresh. And I realized, you know, here we are getting paid by this manufacturer to do this incredible transformation for their customer experience. But the people who are there to deliver that experience aren't getting taken care of, so they're not gonna wanna bring that performance so that transformation will be available.

And at that point, I was like, okay. Something has to be done about this. Something's gotta be done for the people that power the company's performance, a people that power the company's profit. And that's how the EmoVation project was born. EmoVation is an innovation powered by emotions. What I saw in that moment is if your people don't feel like performing, they won't. If they don't feel valued, acknowledged, appreciated, loved, cared for, empowered, inspired, or connected, they won't perform. So what does it take to have people feel that way? And that's what EmoVation stands for, innovating powered by emotions. And there there's my CEO story.

[00:03:38.69] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That makes so much, sense, and it's so funny. It kinda reminded me of this quote that I had. I wanna say a year ago. Every year, I had this thing where I say, the first thing you wanna do is make sure you have your oxygen mask on first. And I think so many times, especially as leaders, there are people that are really, you know, divide providing, you know, are seeking to provide, phenomenal experiences. You wanna make sure that, first of all, that you're taken care of so that you're able to kinda serve to the best of, anybody's ability. So that's why I love everything you stand for and everything you've been able to build.

[00:04:05.19] – Danny Hadas

Oh, thank you. And I really agree with you there, and I think so often we forget that TEP, we gotta take care of our people. That's the oxygen mask. We miss that. So we take care of ourselves. Mhmm. And then everyone in the company is out to take care of themselves, and then nobody's taking care of anybody else. Right. It's it's when when when when when some inward focus, we don't we don't thrive. But anyway, that's that's what I have to say about that.

[00:04:24.39] – Gresham Harkless

Yes. Absolutely. Well, I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper. Could you take us through that process of exactly how you work with your clients and how you serve them? Can tell us a lot more about the renovation project?

[00:04:34.00] – Danny Hadas

Yeah. So when I first got started, it was really kind of a traditional management consulting company, and I was getting hired by big brands to build training and development programs for their people. So really enhancing the leadership capability of a company's employees. And that was me spending, you know, a month or three months designing a program then going on-site and delivering training programs twice a day for months on end. But we don't do that anymore, especially with what's been going on in the world. So really the dream and what's being created and what's what's in process, what exists right now is an online completely digitally native consulting business.

All the effectiveness of any other consulting firm at a fraction of the cost of ever having to meet in person if you don't want to. So at the top level, it's one-on-one coaching with the company's, executives, their directors, managers, and what have you. Below that top-level product is a first of its kind online consulting program, where in six weeks, I take people from where they are today, and six weeks later, they are a different version of themselves as leaders, managers, directors, as people who lead other people using eMovation.

And so those are really the two ways that I interact with businesses right now, and the result always is the leadership the leadership capability at that company has been increased. And as a result, the company's performance increases. And as a result of that, their profits increase. Now, again, the the main thing that we do is we acknowledge that people power a company's performance. Performance is the only thing that leads to profit, so we focus on the people. People power profit, and so we focus on the people so that companies can get their profits. And that's how we that's how we address the business need for leadership and performance and, and profit.

[00:06:12.19] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. No. It's a it's an incredibly huge thing. I say so often, you know, on the show. I think, you know, when we look at business, you wanna know the, the numbers, the analytics, the data, and all that stuff. But so many times we gloss over what is probably the most important part of every business, which is the people, the human aspect. And I think when we start to redirect our focus and our energies to empowering the people and to making them better in terms of, so many different aspects, then we start to see that growth and opportunity. It kinda sounds like that's exactly what you're saying as well.

[00:06:43.50] – Danny Hadas

Yeah. And the thing is, you know, Gres, you probably heard the phrase people process technology. That's as old as I've ever known about business, except for the last decade, I don't see anyone focusing on people. It's all about process technology. Right. So I'm putting I'm really bringing the focus back on people, and so many leaders don't know how to care for their people. And eMovation is a four-step methodology to do exactly that. How to properly care for their people. One of my favorite questions to ask is how much your employee engagement strategy be. How much money should it cost? And people have all sorts of answers. My answer is zero dollars. Zero dollars. And that and that's what renovation allows for a zero dollar employee engagement, employee experience strategy, and that, lot of things worth looking into.

[00:07:20.89] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. It's a huge thing. And let me ask you this. Do you find that, I guess, when you talk with the clients that you work with, do you find that it's maybe harder to, kinda get a handle on what exactly that growth is or how exactly to do that, which is why you were able to kinda create that that step four-step methodology so that people are able to get more of a handle on how to, I guess, empower the people that empower the products and services they provide.

[00:07:45.80] – Danny Hadas

Yeah. So you nailed it. Exactly. So today, a lot of people, you know, they'll survey their employees, they'll ask them questions, and then they won't take action on the survey results. You know? So people know how to ask the questions. What they don't know how to do is either ask the right questions or take appropriate action on those questions. And so my methodology really unlocks where the experience is lacking today, how people are feeling, and why today so that you can build a new foundation based on how you want your people to feel and then generate the ideas. They'll have them feel that way and take actions consistent with that.

Again, when you know that your mission as a manager or leader is to have your people feel, let's say, inspired, empowered, and supported, when all of your actions exist inside of that context and then your people are feeling that way, their performance goes to the roof. And so what I do is provide people a pathway to, a, determine how people are feeling today, b, figure out how they want them to actually feel when they show up every single day, and then, c, take action on that foundation. That's what that's what I do.

And, yes, what I find is that people just don't know how to lead. You know, the answers the common answers today, Gresh, what? Like, ping pong tables, unlimited PTO, and different kinds of perks. Those aren't those aren't the things that actually inspire performance. Those are things that sweeten the deal, but they're not the core of what drives someone to perform. And I focus on the core of what drives people to perform. It's a people methodology driven to drive people's performance.

[00:09:01.50] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. When you have that foundational, focus, and you are, aligned with that and then the action shows that you're aligned with that. Of course, as you said, the pizza the ping pong, and the beer taps are all good and nice to have, but they're more or less icing on the cake if you don't have that foundation.

[00:09:16.29] – Danny Hadas

That's right.

[00:09:17.20] – Gresham Harkless

I appreciate you, for focusing on that. So would you say that is what I call your secret sauce? Is that the thing that kinda sets you apart is that ability to kinda bring those things together to provide those kinda actual steps for people to be successful?

[00:09:29.39] – Danny Hadas

I'd say the secret sauce is emotions, and that's in the name of the company, the eMovation project, eMovation, innovation powered by emotions. Most leaders don't realize that the key to unlocking their employees' performance is how their employees feel. And as humans, we're feeling every second of every day. Some people think we turn it off at work. Oh, there's no I've heard it so many times, Gretchen. There's no why are we talking about feelings. We're at work. It's like, okay. You're human, man. Or woman, you're human. You are human. You're you're feeling every second of every day. Every time you fire off an email, give someone a look, wave hello, send an I'm whatever it is. Send a message on Slack.

You're leaving someone with an emotion. The opportunity that we miss all the time is to intentionally craft our behavior to lead the emotions that we intend. And when we can do that and when we can actually craft those emotions in a positive manner, again, like inspire, connected, empowered, valued, appreciated, supported, recognized, our people's performance begins to lift, and the company's performance begins to thrive. But so often, we just live life through happenstance.

We let things just happen. We don't think about how our behavior will leave others, and we just go about our day like it's just the way it was. So that's why I'd say that the USP there, Gresh, is really focusing on people's emotions and giving you a very simple straightforward methodology to get there. The other thing I'd say is I come from a Big Four consulting background. Very rarely do you get access to some of my kind of experience in this format where I'm getting straight from all my experiences over ten years working with the, you know, biggest brands in the world? You get it straight from me, and you don't need some crazy program. It's not gonna be some wild ride. It's gonna be very straightforward. Step one, step two, step three, step four, results. Really simple. That's that's the USP.

[00:11:08.60] – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I absolutely love that. And and, like, you can't, really kinda replicate that experience. So I'm glad that you touched on that, but you're absolutely right about, again, that emotions piece where so so many times we gloss over the humanistic part, that aspect part, that that we even sometimes lock the emotions that we have within us, and we try to shut them off, and they don't exist, so on and so forth. But in reality, as you said, I think when we, first of all, acknowledge that and then second, start taking those steps towards, you know, seeing that that vision and goal and the hearts and minds of the people that you work with and the people that you have around you, that's when you start to go to an entirely different level.

[00:11:41.10] – Danny Hadas

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[00:11:42.70] – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an Apple book or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

[00:11:53.20] – Danny Hadas

I'm gonna give two. Is that alright?

[00:11:54.39] – Gresham Harkless

I can absolutely. Go for it.

[00:11:55.79] – Danny Hadas

Alright. So the first thing that happened very early in my career was the book How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Mhmm. I have a whole story behind that, but, really, the bottom line is to read that book. If you haven't read the book, for anyone listening, you gotta read that book. That's one. Second is the Landmark Forum. Hundred percent. I don't know if you heard of those, Gresh, but

[00:12:12.20] – Gresham Harkless

I have heard of them. They're like, kind of, like, programs that you can go through. Right?

[00:12:16.20] – Danny Hadas

Well, the Landmark Forum is a particular program offered by Landmark Worldwide, and that program was absolutely a game-changer for me. Transformational. Couldn't imagine life without it.

[00:12:26.39] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. No. I appreciate those hacks. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So that could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something you would tell a client, or if you were to hop into a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

[00:12:37.20] – Danny Hadas

Well, I think what I'd really say for all the listeners out there, especially if you're leading people, anytime your team's not performing at the level that you'd want, you gotta look to see how they feel. How are they feeling about the workplace? How are they feeling about you? How are they feeling about their colleagues? How are they feeling about their home life? How do they feel? Find that out. That is the key to driving performance. Once you know how they feel, you can start looking at how you want them to feel, and then all of your actions can live inside of that foundation. How do you want their people to feel? And when you actually achieve those emotions, that's when your performance will go through the roof.

Always be in tune with how your people are feeling and why, and always be moving towards how you want them to feel. And if you don't know how they feel, there's only one thing to do, and that's ask. You've got to ask. You've gotta have that conversation with your people. There is a place for emotions everywhere in life, especially at work. So the nugget is, you if you don't already know how people are feeling because if you're guessing, you don't know. If you don't know, ask. Ask today. Please do that right away. That's the nugget. Ask and find out how your people are feeling about their work and their life today.

[00:13:44.39] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That makes so much sense. And let me ask you a little bit of follow-up on that, do you find that, or do you hear that I think so many times people don't seem to care what people are thinking, especially in the workplace that sometimes you can't just ask how you feel. Sometimes it's an actual dialogue and a back and forth, right, that helps you to kind of peel back the layers so you get to what a person feels. So it's not necessarily just one question. Well, I did send out an email asking how everybody's doing and nobody replied back so they don't have or care about their feelings. It's really a lot more to that, it sounds like. Definitely appreciate that nugget. And so now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO, and we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So, Danny, what does being a CEO mean to you?

[00:14:24.70] – Danny Hadas

Well, to me, being a CEO is, you know, in my company, we call it the chief innovation officer. So my responsibility is to ensure that the emotions experienced when working with me when dealing with me, and when interacting with me are exactly as I intend. The three emotions I want everyone to feel when they work with me are inspired, connected, and empowered. Inspired by what we're up to, connected to me and the other people we're working with, and empowered to get their job done the best way they know how with all the tools, resources, and support they would need. And so that's what that's what it means to be a CEO, is to create that environment where people are always feeling inspired, connected, empowered. And when they're not, I'm the first person they feel comfortable telling so that I can do something about it.

[00:14:59.29] – Gresham Harkless

Truly appreciate that definition, Danny. Appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is pass the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know, and, of course, how best they can get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things you're doing.

[00:15:12.50] – Danny Hadas

I appreciate that opportunity, Gresham. I'd say that really, you know if you take anything away, it's to start. Really start getting in tune with how your people are feeling in the workplace. You'd be surprised what they share with you, and you all open up the conversation authentically and transparently. If you don't know how to get that started, then the best way to do that is to go to renovation project dot com forward slash brilliant, where you can download a free resource called the situation launch guide, which launches you into getting the situation in your workplace. It's the first step of the methodology. What's the situation? It walks you through all the different ways in which you can do that, and we give you the exact survey we created for one of our clients that, achieved a hundred percent response rate and spun off ninety-two new employee experience innovation initiatives. You can have the same list of questions, and it'll really give you insight into how the people in your workplace are feeling. That's what I'd say to do. Emovation project dot com forward slash brilliant.

[00:16:06.89] – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. We will have the links and information in the show notes. So I definitely appreciate you for leading in charge and helping all those people put their oxygen masks on so that they serve to the best ability that they have and the best ability that they can show. So truly appreciate your day, my friend, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

[00:16:23.70] – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.