Why People Work, with Ercell Charles and Merle Heckman, Co-Authors of Why People Work (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 771)
Ercell Charles and Merle Heckman, co-authors of Why People Work, join host John Ray on this episode of North Fulton Business Radio. Why People Work is highlighted as a profound exploration into the motivational factors behind employees’ dedication to their work, offering a fresh perspective against the backdrop of numerous leadership books. The co-authors draw from their extensive corporate experience to address employee motivation from an individual’s perspective, focusing on intrinsic values and the importance of understanding an employee’s personal “why.” The discussion covers key themes of the book, including the significance of respect, responsibility, recognition, and reverence in the workplace, aiming to guide leaders and employees alike in fostering a fulfilling and productive work environment.
John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is recorded and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.
Why People Work
There are most likely thousands of leadership books written to equip leaders to develop the skills and behaviors necessary to encourage their teams to achieve goals and purposes. However, the primary focus of Why People Work is to assist leaders in looking deeper into the expectations and motivations of the people they serve. So as the organization is achieving its strategic plans and objectives, it is also meeting the critical needs and ambitions of its most important essential resources, better known as its human resources.
In businesses and organizations today, everything begins and ends with leadership. Leaders who go beyond the obvious to uncover these critical hidden expectations of their employees are able to create a culture of engagement and retention where employees not only give you their hands but, most importantly, their hearts. The return on investment for this effort is that the leader will earn their employees’ best effort. Therefore, when you know your employees “why” game, they will bring their “A-game.”
Ercell Charles
As the Vice President of Customer Transformation for Dale Carnegie & Associates, Ercell Charles oversees the entire customer experience by creating quality products that facilitate personal and professional breakthroughs for clients and developing a rigorous trainer certification system rooted in their unique delivery methodology. He ensures that both product quality and training will drive profitability for their franchise network while serving clients’ human capital training needs.
His responsibilities include overseeing the development of new product offerings and training quality for over 1700 global trainers. Previous to joining Dale Carnegie, Ercell worked with Cap Gemini America (now Capgemini) as Manager of Professional Staff, where he directed consulting activities for his staff of IT consultants providing information systems and programming services for top Fortune 500 companies like Coca-Cola, AT&T, Alcan, and UPS.
Ercell is regarded as a rapport builder—someone who can break down barriers and build bridges with messages and insights that transcend cultural and organizational differences. As a Carnegie Master, he is dedicated to coaching, evaluating, and directing the skills and abilities of future Dale Carnegie trainers on a global scale.
Ercell currently lives in Atlanta. He is married to his wife, Kynley Hayward Charles and they have three children, Cydnei, Blair, and Nola, and one granddaughter, Madison.
Merle Heckman
Dr. Merle Heckman is presently the Chief Culture Officer, Master Trainer and Consultant for Dale Carnegie of the Heartland.
Merle’s work experience is quite diverse. He grew up on a grain farm in Missouri. Merle’s work experience is very diverse, interacting with organizations like M&M Mars, Wrigley, Tootsie Roll, the World Bank, Kaiser Permanente, UPS, and others. His work experience in the areas of a non-profit organization, a privately held transportation business, a government agency, and a large publicly held global manufacturing company allows him to relate to employees at many different levels.
Merle served as Manager of Organizational Development for Emerson Electric, which was a Fortune 125 company. He is the designer and master trainer of “Safety Leadership Skills,” an Emerson course, and trained over 500 internal trainers, who in turn presented the course to over 27,000 employees worldwide. He was also the designer and master trainer of sales training for Regal Beloit, a global manufacturing company.
With a MA in counseling, an MBA with concentrations in Human Resources, Finance, and Marketing, a MPA and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership, he has taught at various universities over the last 19 years, both in-person and online. Heckman has the SPHR-SCP certification (Senior Professional in Human Resources) from the Society of Human Resource Management. He was awarded the certification of Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) through the National Speakers Association.
He and his wife, Cindy, have seven children and twelve grandchildren.
Topics Discussed in this Episode
00:00 Welcome to North Fulton Business Radio
01:28 Introducing Why People Work: A New Perspective on Leadership
02:01 Exploring the Essence of Work: Employee Perspectives
05:39 Beyond Compensation: Understanding Reward in the Workplace
10:23 Building Relationships and Respect at Work
18:33 The Significance of Responsibility and Reverence in Work
24:49 The Book’s Broader Impact Beyond Leaders
27:57 Final Thoughts and How to Get the Book
Renasant Bank and Casa Nuova Italian Restaurant support North Fulton Business Radio
Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.
Casa Nuova is a proud family-owned and operated restaurant, serving classic, authentic and traditional Italian cuisine and top tier hospitality since 1998.
Casa Nuova is a cook-to-order kitchen, serving traditional fare including pasta, chicken, seafood, veal, vegetarian and gluten-free options, plus daily specials. They are a farm-to-table establishment, meaning that in the summertime, they cultivate their own vegetables in their garden, steps away from the restaurant, including tomatoes, corn, peppers, zucchini, sunflowers and more!
Celebrating more than 25 years, Casa Nuova has become a true staple in the Alpharetta area, serving more than three generations of families, including friends old and new, visiting near and far from all over the metro Atlanta area and beyond.
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About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray
With over 760 shows and having featured over 1,200 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in our community like no one else. We are the undisputed “Voice of Business” in North Fulton!
The show welcomes a wide variety of business, non-profit, and community leaders to get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, their community, and their profession. There’s no discrimination based on company size, and there’s never any “pay to play.” North Fulton Business Radio supports and celebrates business by sharing positive business stories that traditional media ignore. Some media leans left. Some media leans right. We lean business.
John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is recorded and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.
The studio address is 275 South Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.
John Ray also operates his own business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.
John is the national bestselling author of The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices.
Steve Zylstra serves as president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, a role he assumed in 2007. He is responsible for strategy, operations, finance and policy development. Zylstra is a vocal spokesman for the value technology can provide in raising social and economic standards in Arizona.
Karen Nowicki is a successful author, speaker and the creator of Deep Impact Leadership™ and SoulMarks Coaching™. She is a two-time recipient of the prestigious national Choice Award® for her book and personal development retreat. Karen was crowned the first-ever “Mompreneur of the Year” Award in 2010 for the southwestern states. She was recognized for her leadership, business acumen, and work-life balance.
Leslie Cooper Marquez is a dynamic marketing professional with over 17 years of broad-based marketing, public relations and advertising experience in both in-house and agency environments.
