Howard H. Prager With Advance Learning Group

Intro: [00:00:00] Public broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for association leadership radio. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:16] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Association Leadership Radio, and this is going to be a good one today on the show, we have Howard Prager with Advanced Learning Group and the author of the new book Make Someone’s Day Becoming a Memorable Leader in Work and Life. Welcome, Howard.

Howard H. Prager: [00:00:33] Thank you. It’s so good to be here, Leigh.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:36] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to, but before we get too far into things, tell us about Advance Learning Group. How are you serving, folks?

Howard H. Prager: [00:00:43] Yeah, thank you. So I’m a speaker. I’m an executive coach, I’m a leadership consultant and I’m a teacher. So I do all four of those things in advance. Learning Group helps organizations identify what do they need to grow themselves, their people and the organization, and I work to help them achieve that.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:06] Now what was the genesis of the idea of the new book?

Howard H. Prager: [00:01:11] The idea of the book is really the fact two things first of all, how important it is in whatever job on every part of life that we’re in to make someone’s day that that’s the best thing you can do for others, and that when they say you made my day, you’re getting the strongest affirmative compliment you can ever ask for. The second thing is how we all need memorable leaders. So the subtitle is becoming a memorable leader in work in life. And you know, there’s lots of leadership books out there, and they’re great books, great programs. But none of them talk about the fact of needing to be a memorable leader. And if you think back, lead to your most favorite leaders, I’ll bet you’ve got some that gave you some memorable moments that you cherish.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:06] Sure. And what what helped you connect the dots between those memorable moments and good leadership?

Howard H. Prager: [00:02:16] It’s a great question. You know, as I thought about it, I could tell. Let me just tell you the story where the where the idea came from, because that will then I can go back and tell you about how I thought that this took place so many areas of my life. I was commuting downtown, actually to an association job. I was working for the American Library Association at the time and was at the train for the early train commuting downtown Chicago. And a young woman came up to me with a clipboard and she said, Would you mind signing this petition? I said, Sure, what’s it for? And she said, we will need to get someone on the ballot for election. I said, OK, what’s the name of the person? And she told me I recognized the name. I said, I’m happy to sign and signed it and gave it back to her. Didn’t think anything of it. And when she took that clipboard back, she looked at me with the biggest of eyes and said, Oh my gosh, you made my day. Well, Leigh, I signed a petition. This is like one of the easiest things you could do. How did that make your day? And I thought about that the whole ride down and my day, and I’m normally a positive, optimistic person. I felt like I was on cloud nine just because she said, You made my day to me and it dawned on me that there’s something powerful here. And so as I look back through my life, through the jobs that I had through the bosses that I had, and I realize it’s the memorable ones that really made my day and made me a better, better worker, better employee, a better person.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:59] So then is the premise that if you just are mindful and intentional about making someone’s day, that activity is going to help you achieve your goals and not only make their day and make them, you know, exhibit this moment of kindness, but it’s also going to help further your cause, no matter what that is.

Howard H. Prager: [00:04:21] Absolutely. I’ve dubbed it the boomerang effect. Because what happens is when you’ve made someone’s day in that way and they say, you made my day your mirror neurons, I’ve got a chapter in the book on the neuroscience of Make Someone’s Day, your mirror neurons light up and you get, if not the same feeling, certainly very close to it of the person whose day you made. And so it benefits. It’s a real win win. It benefits both of you.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:53] So now in what ways do you see this being transferable to folks in that run associations where there are opportunities for an association leader to make someone’s day?

Howard H. Prager: [00:05:06] Oh my gosh. Every single moment association leaders focuses on serving their members and and they love serving their members and doing finding ways to do that. And so by being able to make someone’s day and making their members day, they will have more committed, supportive, enthusiastic and lifelong members. And that’s what are all associations, what we want to maintain and grow our membership. We don’t want to shrink it.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:42] Now do you find that the folks that run associations that they’re I don’t want to say take for granted, but they have a continued group that are maybe their volunteers, the people that they’re asking for them to do something out of, you know, from a place of generosity where if they can exhibit this kind of mentality of making someone’s day, that that’s something they can latch on to and really take their work to a new level,

Howard H. Prager: [00:06:09] You have that so right? Absolutely. And they love that. And I’m one of those people. I’ve been a part of a couple of nonprofit associations my whole career. And you know, they’ll ask me to do something and I’ll just drop and do it right. Like, I don’t know if I have time to review these awards, but I’ll take some time if you need the help right now. So I try to do that all the time when when my association comes calling now.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:41] But is it possible to take the kind of the methodology behind this book and really take that element of volunteering and and serving to a new level when you reframe it to? This isn’t just you volunteering because we need this task to be done, but if you do this in this way, you’ll be making someone’s day, you’ll be getting all of that kind of all of that neuroscience working in your favor.

Howard H. Prager: [00:07:07] Absolutely. So true. I’ve and I’ve written articles about this because as association, we are. So what’s the word we’re we’re so appreciative of our volunteers, of our members who volunteer time and time again in so many ways. And so in writing an article on the value of volunteering for your career, I talk all about how associations are great. Place to get started.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:39] Now, as part of the mission of this show, is to inspire and educate young people to the importance of leaning into associations and getting involved, and whether that’s like you to your point of volunteering and or just kind of earning your way up the ladder and becoming a leader yourself in these organizations, can you talk about maybe something that happened in your career where you saw the benefits and you decided, Hey, this is an area that I’m going to really lean into because I think it not only helps me personally, but it also helps the ecosystem that I’m trying to serve as a whole.

Howard H. Prager: [00:08:17] Yeah, absolutely. I can go story after story about this, but let me suffice it to say that when I was president or or chair of a group on the board, I focused on what I call our BMI return on board member involvement. What can I do? How can I thank people were serving on the board or the committee in a way that’s meaningful for them? And in doing that, I make their day, whether it’s meeting a speaker, getting to go to a location, being able to represent us elsewhere, or just simply to host people at the meetings that we’d have or conferences. People love that opportunity to be asked to be involved, to be part of things. So that’s a great way for that to be able to happen

Lee Kantor: [00:09:15] Now for the associations out there that maybe I don’t want to say they’re in a rut, but maybe they’re just do the same old, same old, you know, they’ve done it last year, so they’ll do it again this year. There are some places or ideas that you’ve had that are innovative and maybe outside the box thinking when it comes to demonstrating this type of kindness, like what are some creative ways you can make someone’s day that maybe doesn’t cost a lot of money, but it’s very appreciative.

Howard H. Prager: [00:09:43] Yeah. Well, let me share share a couple of brief examples with you because there are lots of ways this can happen. And you’re right, it doesn’t necessarily have to cost much money people love. Does it say the key is two things. Number one is to find out what, what the person, what inspires and motivates people you’re working with. Because whether they’re volunteers or staff, if you find out what they like, what gets them off, what they’re excited about and you can do things to help give them those types of opportunities, you will have someone who is loyal for life. And that’s that’s so true. And every time I moved up to a higher level that would require more time and effort on my part, I found that the relationships I made, the opportunities I had and the people that I met brought me in my career to a whole different level.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:49] Now, when it comes

Howard H. Prager: [00:10:50] To ways that this can happen,

Lee Kantor: [00:10:53] So if you were the leader of an association right now and you wanted to implement, this is the first thing you would do is just simply ask your people, what is the thing that they would like more of? Or is there some way to just kind of make educated guesses just by paying attention to what’s happening in their lives?

Howard H. Prager: [00:11:13] Yeah. So I came up with this model called the VIP model and who doesn’t want to be treated like a VIP right in an association world? We really know what that’s like and what that means. So the VIP model for Make Someone’s Day is first to view and observe what’s going on. What does the person need at this time? What might help them? What might help get them unstuck? What might help them get the work done? What might help them create a successful event? So that’s number one. Look at the view and observe what you see happening. And if you know the people, you’ve got a better instinct on for when they might be in trouble or need that help. The second is you want to identify and consider options for them. What might you want to do? What might you have the power to do? What might you need some support to do? So it’s something that probably has some capital expense to it. You probably need some support to be able to do that. If it’s something with giving people some time or resources or help, maybe that might be within your own empowerment to be able to do that. So that’s a second piece. So you view an observe, you identify and consider and then what’s left, you have to plan and act. And sometimes we need to plan and act quickly. In a sudden it’s an emergency or something needs to happen fast. The planning might be minuscule, might just be a few seconds of thought, but just something to take that breath in and ensure that what you’re doing is the right thing to do and then act on it. Other times it might be planning. You’re planning a future conference, an event at a future conference that I’ve done that, you know, you need more time to do the planning before the action actually takes place. So VIP view and observe, identify and consider and plan and act. That’s the simple model to use.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:25] Good stuff. Now, Howard, if there’s someone listening out there that might be interested in learning more about your work at Advanced Learning Group, is there a typical first engagement? Is there a typical pain that they’re having where advanced learning group is the solution?

Howard H. Prager: [00:13:44] Oh, thanks for asking that. There are a lot of lot of things if you’re trying to if you’ve got a project, if you’ve got, where do we get our next leaders from? And I don’t care if you’re a volunteer leader or a paid leader, you’re always trying to find where our next board members coming from. How do we increase our bench strength? How do we develop leaders so that that they’re able to lead in a way and a caring, proactive, positive way? Then someone who’s so task oriented that they totally missed the boat? The last thing we want to do is we don’t want to turn off members, and we certainly don’t want to turn off our staff. So being able to do that would be a huge win in a huge way that they’d want to contact me. The other thing is, if they want to create a culture, I’ve been having more and more people ask me about creating a culture of kindness. And you know, there’s so many challenges in life today that we need to go and be with people and places that support us and who we are. And so creating that culture of kindness where make someone’s day isn’t just a theme or slogan, but it’s how we live our culture and lives. That’s another thing that people might come and say, Hey, how can you help us create an organizational culture that’s so much more proactive and responsive?

Lee Kantor: [00:15:11] Well, Howard, congratulations on all the success, and thank you so much for sharing your story today. If somebody wants to learn more about Advance Learning Group and or get a hold of your new book, Make Someone’s Day, what is the best way to do that? Do you have a website?

Howard H. Prager: [00:15:27] I do. The best thing to do is go to Howard H Prager. That’s P R a g. When you do that and you just sign up for the mailing list, you’ll get a free chapter of the book, as well as a free worksheets that you can use to review and reflect. That’s the. Fourth part of the VIP model review and reflect on what you did, what the results were and how it felt and what you might want to do next time so you can get those worksheets for free and you can get that chapter for free just by signing up on my website. Howard Prager

Lee Kantor: [00:16:07] Good step. Well, thank you again for sharing your story. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Howard H. Prager: [00:16:12] Thank you, Lee. Good to be here. Best of the association executives out there today.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:18] All right, this is Lee Kantor. We’ll sail next time on association leadership radio.