Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:36 — 36.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

The Experience Shaper Part 2: One Performance Expert is Transforming HOW We Work

“I was across the country in probably 12 different cities—about 500 people—and I would ask the question: How many of you have had a transformativeperformance evaluation in your career? And only THREE PEOPLE out of 500 said that they had had a transformative conversation.”

– Adrienne Shoch, Corporate Performance Expert and Founder of 5 to 1 Consulting

Performance reviews are a stable of the workforce.

It is how companies measure a worker’s job skill, set salary levels, and establish future goals. But they are also often ill-timed and poorly conceived, set out to accomplish too much, and leave both parties—the hired talent and the hiring manager—reeling.

In the Experience Shaper Part 2, corporate performance expert and “experience shaper” Adrienne Shoch shows us how we can radically transform the performance review process so that it helps the hiring company dramatically improve performance, mitigate on-the-job problems, and, provide people with better communication as well as a sense of partnership that renders the work done more meaningful and fun.

In this podcast episode, she

• Describes how most hiring managers conduct their performance reviews improperly[starts at 2:01]
• Explains the “5 to 1” process of holistic performance-focused practices [starts at 11:06]
• Defines “experience shaping” [starts at 17:46]
• Offers examples of how transformative performance reviews helped a major building products client boost sales and customer satisfaction [starts at 21:47]
• Shares her insight on how listeners can make the work that they do more meaningful and fun [starts at 26:53]

About our guest: Adrienne Shoch is the founder of 5 to 1 Consulting. By employing holistic, performance-focused practices, Shoch helps clients to understand how the brain, body, and language influence workforce behavior and decision-making. What is more, she empowers company leaders to effectively apply “generated from within us”skills and behaviors to build trust, inspire, and lead team members to overcome highly stressful situations and complex business contexts.

Adrienne Shoch received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Towson University. She studied French at the Sorbonne (La Chancellerie des Universités de Paris) and Neuroleadership at the Neuroleadership Institute. She lives and works in Washington, D.C.

EPISODE DATE: September 28, 2018

Social media:

5 to 1 Consulting Website

Adrienne Shoch LinkedIn Page

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:36 — 40.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

The Experience Shaper Part 1: One Performance Expert is Transforming HOW We Work

“As a child, I did have a moment when my mom said, ‘you know, you are going to have to work for yourself. You are going to find your way outside of what everyone else is doing.’ And I’ve never forgotten that.”

– Adrienne Shoch, Corporate Performance Expert and Founder of 5 to 1 Consulting

Early in life, she knew that her mind worked differently than the other kids. She knew she was dyslexic. But she also knew that she was very smart. And her parents fully supported her dreams and life journey, with mom telling her, “just have fun, just go out and enjoy your day.”

In The Experience Shaper Part 1, corporate performance expert and “experience shaper” Adrienne Shoch describes how she turned difficult early life challenges into an extraordinary ability “to see things outside of the norm,” to understand how our mind/body connections work, and apply her unusual insight towards creating better work engagements and outcomes for her clients.

In this podcast episode, she

• Describes early challenges with dyslexia and how conventional educational approaches offered her little utility or enjoyment [start point at 5:33]
• Recalls the important life lesson she learned when everyone on her youth swim team “had a job” and how that model shaped the inclusive business practices that she employs today [start point at 11:43]
• Relives the exhilarating college experience of moving to Paris when she spoke very little French [start point at 17:07

• Explains the important concept of Systems Thinking and how she has applied it in her career [start point at 22:38]

About our guest: Adrienne Shoch is the founder of 5 to 1 Consulting. By employing holistic, performance-focused practices, Shoch helps clients to understand how the brain, body, and language influence workforce behavior and decision-making. What is more, she empowers company leaders to effectively apply “generated from within us”skills and behaviors to build trust, inspire, and lead team members to overcome highly stressful situations and complex business contexts.

Adrienne Shoch received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Towson University. She studied French at University of Paris – Sorbonne and Neuroleadership at the Neuroleadership Institute. She lives and works in Washington, D.C.

EPISODE DATE: September 21, 2018

Social media:

5 to 1 Consulting Website

Adrienne Shoch LinkedIn Page

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:30 — 39.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Transportation Equity: Reengineering the Quality of Urban Life

“When someone is deprived of transportation options [it affects] their ability to get an education, it affects their ability to have access to healthy food, it affects their ability to access employment centers.”

– Richard Ezike, Ph.D., Noted Subject-Matter Expert on Transportation Equity

Transportation access remains one of the most important issues affecting American urban life. And yet, many commuters—especially those who live in affluent suburbs and exurbs—remain woefully unaware that many of their urban counterparts are deprived access to the full array of mobility choices. Such transportation inequity means that a resident in the inner city would require a painstakingly long commute to work at a job, acquire healthcare, shop, or attend school.

In this episode, Richard Ezike, Ph.D. discusses his nationally recognized thought leadership regarding the inequities inherent in the American transportation system. His career is inspired by his early childhood dreams of becoming an architect building beautiful cities, advanced scientific study, and fellowships at some of the nation’s leading policy organizations.

During these key interview segments, Dr. Ezike builds a story on reengineering the quality of urban life:

• Relives his childhood dream of doing meaningful work as an architect building cities [starts at 4:42]
• Defines Transportation Equity and the benefits that it can provide access-deprived residents of urban communities [starts at 13:48]
• Explains the importance of promoting science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) in education [starts at 22:15]

• Offers first-hand the benefits of mentoring young people from underserved groups [starts at 26:01]

About our guest: As a child growing up in Kingsport, Tennessee, Richard Ezike was “fascinated by the design of buildings.” On family trips, young Richard brought along his Kodak camera to capture images of the buildings that he admired most. He recalls: “I really wanted to be someone that was able to design the next major city in the country.”

In high school, Richard discovered a passion for scientific study; he thrived in AP Chemistry, and soon after, earned bachelors and doctoral degrees in Chemical Engineering. But it was years later, at a prized fellowship with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, that he understood the importance of an equitable transportation system to a functioning system. That was when his childhood dream of creating great places to live merged with his passion for promoting science and economic, environment, and social parity.

Today, he is nationally recognized thought-leader in Transportation Equity.

Richard Ezike received a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan. Currently, he is a New Mobility and Equity Fellow for the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, D.C. Dr. Ezike is a frequent events speaker and podcast guest in the areas of transportation equity, resource sustainability, social responsibility, STEAM learning, careerism, and the environment.

EPISODE DATE: September 14, 2018

Published work:

Transportation, Sustainability, and Equity and the Effect on the African-American Community, Published October 20, 2016

Transportation, Environment and Health: Inexorably Linked for Black People, Washington Informer, Published September 7, 2016

Can Transportation be a Bridge to Wealth for African Americans?, Published May 10, 2016

Social media:

Richard Ezike, Ph.D. Website

LinkedIn Page

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:30 — 45.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Discovering Yourself: Knowing Your Myers-Briggs Type Opens Gateways to Meaningful Work

“Myers-Briggs is all about preferences. We all have our preferences in life. Like our preference for chocolate or vanilla, we may eat both from time to time, but we prefer one over the other. So, with Myers-Briggs, the first step is to understand who we are, most naturally and comfortably. And when we are in a good place, Myers-Briggs helps us feel more empowered to make better decisions for our lives and careers.”

– Edythe Richards, Certified Myers-Briggs Master Practitioner

How might your life have been different if you had deliberately chosen work and career opportunities that aligned expressly with your personality type preferences? Would you have been happier and more satisfied with the work you chose to do, the life you led, and the people you sought out in your everyday experiences? If you could go back in time to do work that was more meaningful than you are accustomed, would you?

In this episode, veteran career coach Edythe Richards takes us through the notable benefits and unique insights available to people who take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment.

In these key interview segments, she:

• Summarizes the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and its components [starts at 3:30]
• Reviews in detail the results of an actual Myers-Briggs assessment [starts at 4:22]
• Differentiates between Extroverted and Introverted personality types [starts at 7:54]
• Contrasts Sensing and Intuitive personality types [starts at 10:01]
• Compares Thinking and Feeling personality types [starts at 13:52]
• Describes Judging and Perceiving personality types [starts at 16:14]
• Explains the WHY behind Myers-Briggs assessments [starts at 30:36]

About our podcast guest: When she was a child, growing up on a farm in Delaware, Edythe Richards dreamed about being a singer. “It wasn’t just the music, or the pitch, or whatever was playing on the radio,” she recalls. “More than anything, for me being a singer was about performing in front of an audience. I loved making others feel good and bringing them joy.”

Richards never rode her childhood dreams of singing into a performing arts career. But, she leveraged her love of public speaking and passion for empowering others as a professional career counselor, a Master Practitioner in Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment, and, a subject-matter expert in the field of Emotional Intelligence.

Edythe Richards received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Delaware and a Masters of Arts degree in Counseling from Seton Hall University. Her nationally recognized career counseling consultancy, A Top Career, is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.

EPISODE DATE: September 7, 2018

Published work:

Myers-Briggs Myths and Misuse

Social media:

A Top Career Website

A Top Career Facebook Page

LinkedIn Page

Photo credits: Myers-Briggs Type Badge Illustration, Marsha D. Weiss; Photographic Portrait, Edythe Richards.