Founder's Story - Phyllis Davis is Redefining Business Ethics and Tackling the Workplace of Tomorrow | S2 Ep. 74

Episode Date: October 18, 2024

Phyllis Davis, Author of Navigating Virtue, Ethics and Etiquette in the American Business Landscape, a renowned expert in business ethics, joins us to discuss the challenges and changes in the American business landscape, particularly in leadership and communication. She shares insights from her new book, which focuses on how businesses can foster ethical practices, better communication, and trust between leadership and employees. Phyllis also highlights the rise of AI in business, the impact of distractions in the workplace, and the importance of literacy in America.Topics Discussed:Business ethics and the importance of communicationThe role of AI in the future of businessAddressing distractions and stress in the workplacePromoting literacy and critical thinkingPhyllis offers profound insights on how companies can thrive by prioritizing ethics and fostering a culture of open communication.Website: Navigating VirtueOur Sponsors:* Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: www.rosettastone.com* Check out Vanta: https://vanta.com/FOUNDERSAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Hey everyone, welcome back to Founders Story. We have another incredible, amazing author that has flown many millions of miles around the world in the past, done some incredible things which we're going to dive in. And I love this book. It's Phyllis Davis, by the way. So thank you for joining us. But your book is Navigating Virtue, Ethics and Etiquette in the American Business Landscape. And I'm going to dive in here and I want to understand about the changes and things that you've seen over the years. So let's just kick it off with what inspired you to write this book? Well, I tried to retire and And the world was so troubled.

And I thought, is there anything that I can do to help this troubled world? And I've been doing what I do for 40 years. I'm an American business ethics and etiquette expert. And I speak and train all over the world. And so I had some spinal surgery 14 months ago and I had the time to write the outline. And I started it and I caught on fire. And I just wrote with a fervor for about a year. And the book I think is 478 pages now. And it just came out and I'm really proud of it.

It really answers a lot of questions for people, personally and professionally. No, an amazing story and I'm happy that you were able to put all of that into this book. So what are some of the issues or things that you're seeing right now in American business? Our company's profit engines, that's one of the problems people are saying.

I don't know if they trust leadership. And that's a serious question because it's gotta be about safe, open communication in a company. So companies are spending more time to train their employees to have better communication skills. I'm considered a diplomat in the field of communications.

After 40 years of doing the same thing, I've elevated my communication skills so everybody gets their outcome. That's the difference. Communicating is telling people what you want and diplomacy is finding an answer in the middle. And companies are learning to find ways to make it work for both employees and leadership and the C-suite,

the top level in companies. And so it's a battle to try and make everybody agree. Decision-making is elevated in companies as they try and reach a decision that employees will agree with and they want to do for their leaders. So oftentimes I've brought in to help bridge that gap to try and find ways that everyone gets what they want for an outcome. That's sort of the punchline of all coaching and coordination and skills. What do you want for an outcome? And you

can ask yourself that a million times a day. What do I want for an outcome? And if you can figure that out, then you have a chance at winning at the game. We've interviewed some incredible people like yourself in leadership and communication. Always seem to be those things that really drive an organization. So what do you see for the future of business in America? And how do you see it evolving? Well, certainly technology and AI have a place in American business.

And we're still finding our way with the AI. It's still sort of a cloudy area. People are still wondering what's gonna happen and the changes every day. But big companies like Microsoft and Google, they all have ethics policies that are based on what they plan to do with AI. So they're serious about finding a road that's safe for everybody. But I think children need a chance to discover themselves. And I say children, I mean kids are as young as two are playing with computers now, and they need a chance to play with blocks and tinker toys and go outdoors and play in mud.

They need to get away from those computers and go out and experiment with life. I think it's a mistake to over computer children and young adults. And this is a big problem right now. Kids are living in their computers and their phones, of course, everybody plays with their phone. But for children, I think it's a dangerous path. I think we need to educate an entire generation about how to do critical thinking and commit to what they want to

do. And ADD is a big problem with technology and it's created a lot of problems with technology and a lot of people need to consider taking their computers away for a certain number of hours a day for their children. So it gives them a chance to play and to explore themselves and to read, which is a whole other topic that I'm very, I'm dedicated to literacy in America. Did you know that 54% of Americans have a reading level of a fifth grader. It's an amazing statistic. 54% they don't want to read, they don't want to read alone. They get their information from television, from games, from sports, from music, but they don't

want to read a book. And they don't want to read silently. I think this is a real important key point. People that are literate, it's called functional literacy. They don't want to read a book to themselves alone in a chair. Isn't that interesting? And so they just don't read. And go ahead, You were gonna, what were you gonna say? Wow. Yeah. I mean, I'm glad you brought up AI cause we already know that it's transforming things right now, but I haven't even thought about the fact that you're right.

I haven't read that many books and I'd say the last decade compared to the previous decade. And I don't see so many people reading physical books in silence. You're right. Like I see people reading books while they're also listening to music and doing something else. We're very distracted. Like you had said with technology, it's just creating massive distractions for us in very short attention spans. So I'm curious on how do you see distractions and stress

in the workplace and how does that make people less productive? Well, good question. First of all, distractions cause the economy $1.2 trillion a year because people aren't as productive as they were. Is that interesting? And distractions are a choice.

It's a little like heroin. I mean, it's fun to get all that input. And if you're in a job that you're just going all the time, it's real easy to get addicted to being of service to people. I think of the restaurant industry. What an exciting industry that is, and you're moving and you're serving and you're bringing food to people. It's an enormous job, but any kind of hospitality is a high speed, high energy job, but you can't stay in it forever. There comes a point where you're physically not capable, or mentally, and you need 8

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Now back to the show. So distractions are real important. Companies now are setting up distraction free zones where you can't have your phone and you're welcome to read. You're welcome to be quiet and you can come in and just relax and do what you need to do, meditate, have some tea, whatever it is you need to do to calm your mind down so that you can be at peace with yourself. And then it's very renewing to get up and then go back to work.

So companies are getting it that burnout is a big problem today in business. And distractions is a big part of the reason that people are burning out because they don't have anywhere to go to refuel during the day or they don't think they do. Yeah, I remember going to the Google headquarters a few years ago and seeing a lot of these distraction-free zones, mindful areas where it was about meditation there. And I found that very interesting. Even places where you can take a nap and sleep during the day. And I was like, wow, this is pretty revolutionary. I think we're seeing a lot more now. Like you said, companies realize how big of a problem this is. Something that I used to do a lot of in my corporate job at least was text communication.

But how do you see that in terms of business? Because I was always really one for picking up the phone, but a lot of the employees I worked with were like 20 years old, and they didn't really want to talk on the phone. So they wanted to text and I never really was like completely sold on it. So how do you feel about it? Well, it's the new darling at the dance. You know, it's the newest technology in terms of communication and people have adapted to it very quickly. And, but you have to remember that texting it's exactly like emails.

Um, it, it can be considered legal documents. And if you're texting something you shouldn't be texting on a corporate phone, you know, the seizure can be involved and you have to be very careful because there's intellectual property that needs to be protected. And there's harassment that goes in the workplace with texting that's a problem.

Or you fall in love with somebody in the workplace and you're having a relationship with somebody over texting. That's serious business because you can, first of all it's counterproductive. And you really put the company in a bad position that they can't recover from. So I have a fear, and that fear is that I will get as many texts as I do emails. I mean that is a frightening thought because I'm bombarded with emails and I don't want that many texts in a day. They're very disruptive to me because I feel like something's really going on and I should respond and it's true.

I only use a text when I really need to reach someone and I should respond. And it's true, you know, I only use a text when I really need to reach someone. And you know, I would rather get a phone call, but I'm old school and it's me that has to change, not someone else. I'd rather spend two minutes on the phone discussing something to find a solution or make an agreement than texting back and forth and back and forth because it's disruptive to me. They have to get back in that zone and try and solve a problem that I wouldn't have to over the phone. That is so true. I could think of many times where that happened to me. So I know we talk a lot about communication and many times the importance is on how somebody communicates

or speaks to someone else. Now I know you've spent over 40 years as a communications expert in business, but how do you look at the importance of listening? And I know you touch on this in your book. I do. Thank you. Yes, I do. Listening has steps to it. And the first one is to just not interrupt someone. Just to listen. Relationships can be repaired by just listening to the other person in business or at home. You know, the second thing is you need to lean in when someone's speaking. So if someone's speaking, if you can just lean a little closer to listen and nod three times. If you'll nod three times when someone's speaking, they'll be encouraged

to continue speaking. And that's always nice to do, to try to let them have an agreement. Also don't finish someone's sentences. That's, that's really rude, but the cardinal sin for me is interruption. You interrupt someone while they're speaking. You're not listening. And you don't learn anything by listening to yourself. You know, you might get some satisfaction out of having someone listen to you, but you

really need to listen to people and let them finish their sentences. It takes years to learn how to speak. I'm a master NLP practitioner. I learn within about 15 seconds the channel someone's speaking. There are four levels of communication. And most people are visual. Some people are auditory but not as many as visual. If you're visual you say let's go to that restaurant that's got the blue and red awning down on Elm. You see things

visually. If you're auditory you say I hear there it's a good restaurant on Elm. You'll listen to the voice people speak. They'll tell you what preference they If you're auditory, you say, I hear there's a good restaurant on Elm. You'll listen to the voice people speak. They'll tell you what preference they have. Or someone's kinesthetic. I want to go to that restaurant that has the candles. That, you know, it's romantic. And the last one is auditory digital. And that's what engineers do.

You know, they all by the numbers. They like to come to their own consensus. So you just need to continue to communicate on the channel you speak on and then hopefully people will pick up and you can communicate with them in a way that they can hear you, see you, visualize you, and it makes a difference to them. Phyllis, yeah, Thank you for breaking down that. I mean, I like the, you know, some people are visual auditory. I've heard it before, but I hadn't heard it really broken down as to those things.

But you are right about like putting people off and you know, not really listening to somebody and how important it is when people feel like they are heard and they feel like they're listening, especially if you're their boss or leader. It's so important, at least from my experiences as well. So thank you for sharing. But if people want to find your book, because it sounds like it's something that we all need to read, how can they do so? Well, my book, Navigating Virtue, Ethics and Etiquette in the American Business Landscape is available on Amazon, and it'll soon be available on Barnes and Noble.

So you'll be able to find it in both places. And I hope you do buy my book. It's got thousands of tips, quick tips, micro learning. The whole book is micro learning. Little philosophy, a lot of micro learning. So it's enjoyable reading. It's funny because I'm funny. So there's a lot of micro-learning. So it's enjoyable reading, it's funny, because I'm funny. So there's a lot of humor in it, and stories and anecdotes.

Well, I can tell you have an amazing personality, tons of experience, stories, humor, all the things that we need in order to read a book, and a book that's over 400 pages, packed with so many learnings. But Phyllis, thank you so much for joining us today and I hope everybody likes out your book. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you so much for having me.