I was an English Major and have a Master of Divinity (the MBA of the ministry world). That means I was trained to read, write, and hang out with people.
Since I’m now in property and casualty insurance sales, I’ve had to develop my business acumen. I’ve had to develop productivity and time management skills. When I was wearing flip-flops in the quad reading Victorian literature, time meant nothing… neither did understanding client needs. I just wanted to sound smart.
Now, while sounding smart is helpful, it’s more important that I know how to efficiently handle my business, understand what my clients need, and how to deliver consistent value.
I’ve had to take matters in my own hands and search out resources to help out.
I only wish I’d discovered these ideas earlier. Leadership, business and sales skills, and productivity would have been huge in helping me focus when I was in the ministry and when I studied literature.
While my last list featured podcasts that help me focus on what’s important, this list offers ideas and tools for work. I don’t care if you’re a homemaker, salesperson, or IT consultant, these podcasts are chock full of applicable ideas:
- The Accidental Creative Podcast with Todd Henry: I found this podcast after reading Henry’s book The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice
. He writes about how to think creatively and be able to produce creative solutions in a sustainable way. If that doesn’t make sense to you, read the book or listen to the podcast.
- Dave Ramsey’s EntreLeadership Podcast: This podcast is more Chris Locurto, less Dave Ramsey. There’s always a short excerpt from one of Dave’s talks, but the meat of the podcast is the interview. Great guests and great small business basics.
- Andy Stanley’s Leadership Podcast: Stanley on leadership is amazing. He’s a church leader, but he makes me want to hang a shingle on my office door and start implementing his suggestions.
- Great Work Interviews Podcast with Michael Bungay Stanier: This is a new addition to my list. He also features interviews from creative business thinkers, with the focus of helping people do less Good Work, and more Great Work.
- Inspiring Words of Encouragement (w/ Zig Ziglar): This is the only podcast to make both lists. Zig’s that good. His stuff is just plain good.
- Internet Marketing for Smart People by Copyblogger: This podcast is all about content marketing on the internet. Whether you blog or run a small business, this one is full of ideas that will help you develop a site that becomes an informational asset to your clients or readers.
- The Sales Playbook with Paul Castain: This irreverent sales trainer dispenses wisdom in 3 minute to 30 minute segments. He likes guitar riffs. He is pure nuts and bolts and covers everything from starting your day with a little gratitude to building rapport.
- The Smart Passive Income Podcast by Pat Flynn: This guy has made an art of developing streams of passive income through his online efforts. His gross revenues exceeded $400,000 last year. While you definitely get some tips if you want to give the old interweb a shot, I’ve learned more from his overall approach to his business. Passive by no means lazy. I practically fill a mini-notebook every time I listen to an episode.
- This is Your Life by Michael Hyatt: I almost didn’t include this one since it’s so new, but it is a quality extension of his blog on intentional leadership. His focus is on leadership, productivity, social media best practices, among other related topics.
