My Favorite Mistake: Learning Without Blame in Business and Leadership

Starting a Business for the Wrong Reasons With the Wrong People: Eran Thomson

Game designer, entrepreneur, wordsmith, idea machine, and joy pusher
Show notes https://www.markgraban.com/mistake21
Joining me for Episode #21 is Eran Thomson, our first guest joining us from Australia. The is the creator of the game "Song Saga," which is now available for your holiday gift-giving needs. He's been the founder of many entrepreneurial ventures, and he describes himself as a "Wordsmith, Idea Machine, Joy Pusher" in addition to being a writer, podcaster, marketer, and speaker.
In the episode, Eran talks about his "favorite mistake" of starting businesses for the wrong reasons and/or with the wrong people. He also talks about the mistake of trying to do everything himself and what he's learned from that, as well. We also talk about his game and simulate a round of it between the two of us. Song Saga seems like it would be a lot of with a group and it could be played during a virtual gathering...
You can enter to win the game here.
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Trusting an Expert and Not Verifying with Michelle Seiler Tucker

Author, founder and CEO of Seiler Tucker
Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake20
Joining me for Episode #20 is Michelle Seiler Tucker, founder and CEO of the firm Seiler Tucker. Michelle has sold hundreds of businesses to date and currently owns and operates several successful businesses. Michelle is one of three American women to hold the Merger & Acquisition Master Intermediary (M&AMI) certification.
Michelle is the author of the book Sell Your Business For More Than It's Worth and her newest book, due out in January 2021, is Exit Rich: The 6 P Method to Sell Your Business for Huge Profit.
In our episode, Michelle shares one of her "favorite mistakes" involved in selling a business and we chat about some of the mistakes made (and lessons learned) by business owners who want to sell their business.
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Carrie Sechel on Making Partner and Leaving a ”Comfortable Hell”

Former Deloitte partner, coach, speaker, and trainer
Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake19
Joining me for Episode #19 is Carrie Sechel, a former Deloitte partner who now works as a coach, speaker, and trainer. As Carrie explains:
"After years of building my career as a partner at Deloitte, I found my family broken by guilt, shame, resentment, and addiction. My husband, Todd, and I committed to creating our own family model that celebrates the best of each of us. Now, we have a relationship and life that I couldn’t even imagine a few years ago."
She has over 20 years of coaching and consulting experience. Carrie is the author of the bestselling book, BASE Jump: Finding Yourself In An Unfulfilling Professional World and she is a co-author of the WarriHER Playbook.
In our conversation, Carrie shares a mistake from her time at Deloitte, where what might have been characterized as a "human error" and a "process error" was really, to her, a "management error" that she was responsible for. This situation and the "gap" she identified between "what I am and what I'm pressured to be" led to her departure and her increased focus on female breadwinners and the particular issues that can create in lives, families, and careers.
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Getting Fired for Solving the Problem: Audie Penn’s Favorite Mistake

Management consultant
Show notes: http://www.markgraban.com/mistake18
My guest for Episode #18 is Audie Penn, an operational performance consultant at Audie Penn Consulting.
In today's episode, Audie tells a story about a job that he got fired from early in his career. Audie got results, but got fired, he thinks, for making people look bad for solving what had been viewed as a long-unsolvable problem. We talk about the importance of relationships and organizational politics and his lessons learned from that episode. He's now become a successful consultant, proof positive that we can build upon mistakes to end up stronger and better off for them. We also talk about what Audie calls "the dignity of work," which I think is a very important concept.
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Melanie Parish on Responding to a Request for Proposal and ”The Experimental Leader”

Author, speaker, podcast host, coach, and entrepreneur
Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake17
My guest for Episode #17 is Melanie Parish. She is an author, speaker, podcast host, founder of Experimental Leader Academy, and Master Certified Coach. She is the author of The Experimental Leader book and an expert in problem solving, constraints management, operations, strategic hiring, and brand development, Melanie has consulted and coached organizations ranging from a Fortune 50 company to IT start-ups.
In today's episode, Melanie shares her “favorite mistake” about the contracting process with a client. Why was she “naive” about this process? We also discuss what it means to be an “experimental leader” and a “new kind of boss.” How can we cultivate a culture of innovators? What should we do when some experiments seem like “mistakes”?
You can get a free promo copy of her book by going to book.experimentalleader.com and using promo code podcast100.
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The Podcast Mistake That Almost Lost Four Episodes

The usual host of this podcast being interviewed this time...
Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake16
My guest for Episode #16 of "My Favorite Mistake" is Jamie V. Parker... she's the guest host. This gets complicated... she was my guest (as the guest) for Episode #8, where she shared her favorite mistake. Today, she's the guest host and she's interviewing me about a recent mistake that I made, a combination of errors and problems that almost led to me losing four episodes that had been recorded, but not released.
I also talk about something that might be a "favorite mistake" from my days working in manufacturing, a mistake that I wrote about in the book Practicing Lean (and Jamie also contributed a chapter to that book. Another thing Jamie and I have in common is podcasting, so please check out her podcast here.
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The Career Choice That Felt Like a Huge Mistake

Retired Air Force pilot and Southwest pilot, book author
Show notes https://www.markgraban.com/mistake15
My guest for Episode #15 of "My Favorite Mistake" is Rico Racosky, a retired 737 pilot for Southwest Airlines, who previously flew jets in the United States Air Force -- fighter jets ( (F-16 and A-7) and transports (C-141).
From his bio:
"Rico grew up in a small coal mining town full of self-doubt and lacked a clear direction in life. Along the way to living his dream of becoming a fighter jet and airline pilot, he developed a strategy for clear and effective decision-making that launched his entrepreneurial path, and he’s now determined to share his strategy and impact as many people as possible."
In today's episode, Rico shares his "favorite mistake" regarding a choice that he had to make during his Air Force career. We also talk about his "Just 2 Choices" framework that was developed through his time in the cockpit -- he's the author of the book Just 2 Choices... It's Your Life. In the episode, we also talk about his choice to not become an artist (and Mark's similar life choice to not become a musician). We also discuss the importance of good decisions as a pilot and how sometimes we need to prevent mistakes instead of just learning from them after the fact.
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Practicing What She Preached About Work/Life Balance with Michelle Bonahoom

Consultant, CEO of VisionOne High Performance Group
Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake14
Joining me for Episode #14 is Michelle Bonahoom, Founder and CEO of VisionOne High Performance Group and founder of the “We are Unstoppable” movement. She is also the author of the book Unstoppable: 7 Simple Steps to Get Unstuck, Make the Big Change, and Unlock Your Potential.
Today, we talk about some mistakes that Michelle made related to work/life balance, or the lack thereof. After her husband passed away suddenly, what did Michelle do to better practice what she preached when it came to work/life balance and other things that companies need to do in response to risk or bad events? We talk about that, being a "recovering perfectionist" and more in this episode.
Her website: http://visiononeperformance.com/
Her book: https://amzn.to/2HJq823
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Viewing Business Relationships as Transactions with Brian Bogert

Professional speaker, peak performance coach, entrepreneur
Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake13
Joining me for Episode #13 is Brian Bogert. He is the President/Owner of the Brian Bogert Companies, LLC.
Brian is a professional speaker and peak performance coach to executives, entrepreneurs, athletes and others looking to unlock what is inside. As his bio says, he lives his life by the “if and how I can help” principle, which impacts everything he touches. His ability to provide energy and encouragement to those he interacts with inspires them to make their best even better.
In this episode, Brian talks about the mistake of “viewing a relationship as a transaction.” He tells a story about some promotional gifts that he had sent out to some potential clients — and a mistake he made in going from an approach that worked to an approach that actually angered some people. He talks about important behaviors, such as being intentional, pausing before reacting, and embracing pain as a way to reduce suffering. Brian also shares lessons learned from the pain of living with and recovering from a childhood accident that detached his left arm… and how he has overcome this to adjust and thrive.
Click here to get a free workbook that Brian is giving away — “No Limits.“
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”Chasing Shiny Objects” as an Entrepreneur with Angel Cellucci

Nurse practitioner, entrepreneur, CEO of two companies
Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake12
Joining me for Episode #12 is Angel Cellucci, a nurse practitioner and an entrepreneur. She is owner and CEO of two firms related to fighting medical billing fraud and mistakes: Medical Fraud Fighters and Overbrook Consultants, Angel is a Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner. She has been a nurse for over 20 years and a Family Nurse Practitioner for almost 10.
In the episode, Angel shares her favorite mistake of "chasing shiny objects" as a new entrepreneur -- what she means by that and what she's learned from that. We also talk about her work and passion around medical billing mistakes and what patients can do to protect themselves from that. Is that problem with your bill (and 93% have an error) a mistake or is it intentional? Human error or blatant fraud?
She has a free eBook available on her website: "The 5 Things You Can Do To Protect Yourself From Medical Fraud & Abuse."
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