Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here another episode of High Velocity Radio and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have the founder and senior director of IT programs with Kimia Q Productions and author of the book Power on Purpose, Kimia Penton, welcome.

Kimia Penton: Hi, Lee. Thank you so much. Wonderful to be with you today.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am so excited to learn what your what you got going on. Tell us about Kimia Q Productions. How are you serving folks?

Kimia Penton: So this started out as a production company about 20 years ago, when I realized that writing music intersected with my work in psychology for personal growth, development, empowerment, and I was finding that there were a lot of courses, events and conferences that gave people coaching. But in order to really make people relax, get comfortable, process their emotions, and, and really work on their personal growth. I wanted to bring music into it. So I founded the production company with the Dallas Coalition for Live Music to make sure we keep live music going and give people a place to gather. So overall, my work intersects organizational psychology and original music to really encourage folks to design their most fulfilling, intentional life and reach their utmost potential.

Lee Kantor: So has your career been primarily music or were you in corporate work?

Kimia Penton: Yeah, I have always done both together. So I am a senior director and IT programs right now working on a lot of AI for a fortune ten. I’ve been in the corporate scene for many, many years. And in parallel, I’ve been running my music label and production company. In addition to that, it sounds like two different worlds, but for me, it’s just communicating transformation and authenticity, either individually through my music or in major corporations at work. So I do both.

Lee Kantor: So how did you begin integrating the music into your corporate work?

Kimia Penton: So I use the music anytime I have the pleasure of being invited to do a workshop or a keynote or a teaching session, or if I’m heading up a transformation project where change management has to come in, or if I’m speaking for an organization where I’m on the board, for example, Project Management Institute, we talk a lot about executive leadership and presence, team building, building a culture. And I incorporate music by saying, hey, if we think like musicians with the adaptability, the innovation, the creativity and the community feeling that musicians and creative creatives want. I actually think that that takes corporate leadership to a very human centered, next level approach that actually helps build the kind of cultures people want to be in and thrive in.

Lee Kantor: Now, is that a message that is welcome in the organizations you work for, or is that something that sounds like that sounds a little woo woo here in the accounting firm?

Kimia Penton: Yeah, I think that’s a great question. I think that, um, usually I would say I met with curiosity and usually if I’m bringing in music, people have already seen me in the work setting and how I execute. And they’re familiar with my brand, which is mostly people focused, uh, putting people at ease, creating psychological safety, helping motivate high performing, dedicated teams, making sure people are welcome and belong in the team, so they usually know me. Very rarely have I gone into a corporate setting and just busted out with my guitar or electric violin, taking the amps and pedals and said, here we go, guys. So it’s usually I’ve had an introduction through a project that’s been successful, and then when I bring in the music element to it, I have been met with a lot of curiosity and I would say positive support because people are looking for ways to stay more connected to their workforce and be more in tune and enhance their emotional intelligence.

Lee Kantor: Now we’re living through a time right now with this advent of AI that’s really impacting businesses and, and the people that work there at all levels. How are you using this kind of communication to maybe help organizations transform properly or effectively, and also to have their people feel safe in this kind of chaotic environment that we’re going through right now.

Kimia Penton: Yeah, you hit on safety. That’s the key part, because I think a key mistake or challenge that organizations deal with is focusing only on the technology and thinking that AI is this broad brush that will just make them efficient and make them profitable, and will solve any challenges and process that they have, and they neglect the people part and the team building part and the safety part, and actually the change management part of making sure we have buy in from people and that they know what the future of this change also means for them, and not leaving people behind in the transformation. So again, bringing in those psychological elements where it’s not always only through music, it’s often the organizational psychology elements and the people management and just the psychology of change that really helps, emphasizing those in my leadership platforms and then also advocating for people who might not have the right words or vocabulary, or know how to bring up the support they need. Bringing advocacy in a way that’s approachable and non-threatening, and also guiding executives in how to better take care of their teams while thinking like a creative has been a big focus of mine, especially over the last year as we see more AI in organizations.

Lee Kantor: So what are your recommendations to those leaders that are about to deploy or further deploy AI into the organization? Like what are kind of the baby steps they can be taking to have an effective transformation?

Kimia Penton: So the first step is why are you bringing in this tool and is it the right tool? What is your problem that you are trying to solve? Did you hear it on a podcast or hear a success story from someone else and think, this is it? Or is this really solving a business need? Right? Is it just a different automation you need, or do you really need this tool? So be very clear on what you’re doing. And then step two, include your people and those that touch the processes in the design of this transformation. And make sure they understand what this is bringing and bring them along from the get go. The biggest challenge that I’m seeing happen across the board is people feeling the pressure to implement AI at an executive level without really doing the work and the background work with the people that are closest to operations in the process to see, is this tool the best fit and will it actually make things better, or is it just going to be something clunky that makes their everyday jobs worse and actually leaves the workforce in worse shape? So I always recommend people take more time up front, understanding the why, understanding is it the right tool, understanding, getting buy in from their teams before they begin on on any roadmap or any planning for requirements.

Lee Kantor: Now, isn’t that kind of the challenge with AI? Because AI is such a broad term, and the AI for your accounting department is going to be different than the AI from your marketing department. And it’s going to be different from the AI, from the C-suite. Um, each one of those teams are going to be using it differently. And as a leader, it’s hard to kind of understand, you know, to know what you don’t know. Um, and how it’s going to actually be deployed by the boots on the ground.

Kimia Penton: Yeah. That’s a, you know, it is a very broad area and that’s a great point because people will use it for best fit or what their comfort level is on their team. But if you’re looking at an enterprise level, because these functions shouldn’t be working in silo on their own tool, where we really need to pay attention is the dependencies in these functions and how they work. So what is the input and what is the output that comes out of these groups and their tools? That then becomes the input for the next tool. So if they want to implement things, maybe somebody just wants to do a basic automation and someone else is, is full on building an authentic marketplace or someone else is building a custom automation tool. Um, that’s, that’s a lengthy process where they have to pay attention to is the interrelatedness. What is the output from these tools and how is it integrated, interrelated to the other team and make sure that their output can be ingested by the additional tool. And that’s why you need architects across the board. And these things should be done at the enterprise level where possible and not in silo.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, I mean, that’s the challenge, I think, because each at each at the team level, there’s so many unintended consequences that can happen and that they think that individually that they’re on the right track, but holistically, they may not be on the right track at all, and it may not kind of work well culturally, like there’s so many landmines in this and it’s so difficult to manage because AI is so big. And, um, and it just, it, it, it’s so smart. It’s data is what its superpower is data management. And each one of those teams are going to have a different way of knowing or thinking. They know what the true north is of the objective.

Kimia Penton: Yeah, totally. Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: So when you’re working with the these teams, how do you kind of like you mentioned, an architect, how does an architect function inside of an organization to it’s like you were talking about music. Like there has to be a conductor, right? There has to be somebody who understands the totality of the piece and not just let the violinists go and do its thing because they think it’s cool.

Kimia Penton: Ex exactly right. And, the conductor is a great comparison for that, because there needs to be someone who has their eyes on everything. And in large scale organizations, often it’s a team of architects, right? And then you have the Enterprise Architect review board, and there are governance bodies that where there have to be checks and balances. Because even if you have an architect within one function or one business unit, if you’re looking at major corporations, you also have to look at how is that messing with systems in a different business unit. So there needs to be this governing board. And that’s why the governance and the steering committees and the that architect role is so key in in any software transformation, in any IT transformation.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. This is it’s going to be interesting. So it’s probably good for you. It’s probably good for you from a job security standpoint, but it’s going to be interesting.

Kimia Penton: It is I think no transformation is without its challenges. And I think just for all of us in any kind of leadership, to be able to ask the right questions and look at it big picture and holistically with those key questions. One, is this the right thing? Is this the best fit for my enterprise right now? And are we asking questions and have the right checks and balances in place to move forward? And are we okay with failing fast if we have some quick lessons learned and it’s not what we thought? So you have to bring in even more humility and psychological safety and even tighter controls and communication and almost like increase your humanity as you’re dealing with more powerful technology for any of these transformations to have a chance.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, you have to definitely be given a lot of people grace, and you have to have kind of that beginner’s mind of experimentation. And we’re all in training here and we’re all kind of figuring this out. So mistakes will be made. And it’s just we just got a course correct as quickly as possible.

Kimia Penton: That’s it. And people not to not be afraid if something goes wrong and not be afraid of failure with doing innovative things. We’re doing things for the first time and it’s not going to be perfect on the first try. So, um, that perfectionism has to go. And also blame culture has to go and there has to be a sense of we’re all in it together.

Lee Kantor: Right? And we’re all learning together.

Kimia Penton: Um, yes, yes.

Lee Kantor: Now I know that authenticity is an important, um, kind of through line in your work. Can you talk about why that’s so important when it comes to kind of leadership?

Kimia Penton: Yeah, I think it it’s, it is essential. And I think we all get there at in different points in life, but it has twofold benefits. If you are not being authentic in your day job, you’re at a high risk personally of falling into people pleasing performance or doing a role that’s not the right fit for you and lacking fulfillment. So you’re going to get to burn out much quicker than someone who’s found opportunities by being their authentic self and is comfortable in their skin. So number one, it’s good for us individually to give ourselves the permission to be our whole self and do it with authenticity. And I say within professional limits, right? That doesn’t mean be and say everything that you think it’s within professional limits if we’re talking about organizations. But secondly, it’s essential for your employees and your teams, because if you’re not the same person in every room, and if your team can’t trust that you’re being authentic and that you have integrity and that they know where they stand with you, and you’re not bringing your whole self to the table, then it’s very hard for your team to be at ease and trust you and look up to you as a leader, and feel safe and want to partner with you and want to work alongside you. So I think there’s personal benefits for your own wellbeing, for your career, longevity, for your mental wellness. But it’s also a leadership superpower when you can come in with authenticity and you’re the same person in every room, your communication might change slightly based on if you’re speaking to an executive versus a developer, you need to be in the weeds, but you should be the same person in every setting, inside and outside of work.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. And I think that goes to what you said earlier about trust. I mean, people as human beings, you know, kind of sense, incongruity. And if you’re being incongruent, it’s around a certain thing and your behavior isn’t matching your words. They clock that like there, that doesn’t go unnoticed.

Kimia Penton: Hundred percent and you lose credibility. So why should I be day in, day out working my butt off to make sure this project is a success for a leader that I don’t trust, respect, and admire and aspire to be like.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, you see that so often when, um, you, there’s a lot of people who work in big corporations and they’re everybody’s mission statement is something about how the people are their most important asset. And then, you know, every 18 months they’ll get rid of, you know, ten, 15% of their people that were so important, you know, like it doesn’t match their words aren’t matching their behavior and people pay attention. And that’s why there’s a lot less kind of loyalty amongst the employees. And the employees are looking to kind of, you know, job, uh, jump to the next opportunity, you know, for a dollar more an hour.

Kimia Penton: Yeah, exactly. And it’s, it’s exactly as you said, Lee. It’s not congruent, right? If the words and the actions are not consistently matching your employees know that and actually you’ll get attrition and it will be your top performers that leave, not the folks that don’t have other options. You’re losing your best people because they’re the ones with options, and they have a choice often in where they’re working, and they want to be somewhere where they feel valued and there’s trust and there’s loyalty and, um, there’s congruence.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. And that’s the thing, just like you said earlier, I think about, you know, they read a blog post about something and now it’s being deployed across the company and they don’t really believe it. It sounded good. Um, but in reality, they know this person is going to, you know, next week there’ll be a new initiative that’ll sound good.

Kimia Penton: Yeah, exactly.

Lee Kantor: So now is there a story you can share that maybe illustrates how when you’re working with a company or a project, that you’re able to help them get to a new level, maybe share the challenge they came to you with and how you were able to help them kind of get to that new level.

Kimia Penton: Yeah, I think usually a common thread across. Every project or program I’m supporting is that the leadership team have a lot of competing priorities, and the teams are stretched thin and they have a lot to deliver and the environment becomes quite chaotic. So first and foremost, it’s really putting them at ease, making sure that they know that in a leadership role or in a program role or transformation lead role, you’re there to advocate for them and the success and being able to establish yourself as a trusted advisor first and foremost. So the relationship and the ability to demonstrate your credibility put people at ease first and foremost, I think is always first. So when people are in a work call with you or workshop or setting, you should be the person that puts them at ease. They should feel relieved because the more at ease they are than the more they can flow. And you can learn more and they can share more. And you can pay attention to see where you might need to help facilitate or where potential risks might be. So it’s always people first and then following good methodology, around rigor, around requirements, around skillfully asking the right questions to help the leadership that you’re supporting. Um, really go back through and make sure they’ve done their diligence and then that role modeling and helping them with the disciplined execution. So bringing that strategy to light to make sure that it’s, it’s done. And I mean, I know it’s a little bit hard to explain kind of in words, but it’s a process of people first, then the strategy, then guiding them in how to execute and championing them along the way and rolling up your sleeves and doing the work with them to make sure that their success.

Lee Kantor: Well, the people first part is, uh, I guess at the core of this, can you share some advice maybe to get the people part right? Um, is there some baby steps that a leader could be doing to ensure that the people part of this equation is done well.

Kimia Penton: And be available to your people. Be available to people. Have humility about feedback. Ask questions, but also set a high standard because people want to be part of of high performing, successful teams. Be very clear on what roles, responsibilities and expectations for each function and every employee are right. So people have a lot of confusion often on how am I doing and what are the expectations for me. So communication is key and this is the role you’re in. These are the expectations. This is what your performance is measured on. This is how I’m going to advocate for you and support your success in your development. This is how frequently I’m going to give you feedback. And I’m asking that this be a two way street, and you also provide me feedback, and I’m here to take care of any roadblocks for you and also demanding and expecting, um, a straightforwardness and an integrity and an openness and truth telling and reporting. Instead of hiding things or feeling like you need to sugarcoat stuff, I think is, is really important in establishing good relationships with your employees.

Lee Kantor: So let’s change gears a little bit and talk about your book Power on Purpose. Um, how did that come about and who should be reading it?

Kimia Penton: So power on purpose is, is I would say primarily for me, it came to mind for maybe mid-level mid-career professionals or folks like me who had been very defined by cultural or the expectations of others and had slipped into these subconscious behaviors of always putting others first and not being authentic. Without fully realizing it. Right. It wasn’t until I hit my 30s where I realized, oh my goodness, um, I was doing so many things to honor my parents, my teachers, my professors, my my early leaders in being people pleasing and wanting to be that good person and wanting to make everyone else happy that I had not really explored who really is chemia? What are my unique giftings? What’s my comparative advantage? What am I here to do and how am I here to serve? So it’s about allowing yourself to be fully yourself and empowered to do the work that you’re here to do that’s uniquely you, not because someone else defined it for you, not because someone else asked it. Because that’s that burning passion and desire inside you that shouldn’t be silenced and fulfills you and therefore gives other people permission and inspiration and a role model to do the same. So it tells a lot of my story with practical tools coming from an org psych background and a simple framework to follow of how can anybody who is in a career they’re thinking about changing or wanting to elevate. In what steps can they start taking today to apply to their lives to try to improve their own situation?

Lee Kantor: So what do you need more of? How can we help? Who would you like to add to your network?

Kimia Penton: Well, that’s a great question. I mean, I’m always interested in speaking to people who are interested in doing the work to, to grow and develop themselves and transform. And my favorite kinds of people are the people who love to give back, like you guys. Um, I’m always interested in learning more about nonprofits that need support and could use advocacy. And anybody who’s really interested in a human centered approach to doing good work by being good to people.

Lee Kantor: Is your ideal client in the nonprofit world, or you mentioned working for a super large enterprise organizations?

Kimia Penton: Yeah. So probably if I’m speaking or doing an event, it would be a corporate workshop or a nonprofit workshop or an organization. I typically do group events, um, instead of the 1 to 1 at this stage just because of bandwidth. Um, so yeah, I would say midsize organizations are great for me to share at, um, as well as large organizations going through transformation who want to try things a little bit differently than the standard textbook leadership to get results.

Lee Kantor: And there may or may not be a musical instrument included.

Kimia Penton: There’s always several musical instruments with me. There’s always, I mean, if it’s up to me with start and end with music, because it just helps folks relax and, and get in that creative mindset. And it’s just a way of, of looking at things a little bit differently. So even if folks in the room aren’t necessarily musical, I always have a massive box of percussion instruments that I ensure they participate with. So we incorporate music somehow.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, What’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?

Kimia Penton: You can go to www.kimiapenton.com. It’s just my full name. I’m also very active on LinkedIn under the same name and under the same name again on Instagram. So I try to be as responsive as possible. And as a people person, I love to connect. So I encourage folks to, to reach out. I’d love to learn more about them and, and also share more about me.

Lee Kantor: And that’s kimiapenton.com.

Kimia Penton: That’s it. Thank you. Lee.

Lee Kantor: Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Kimia Penton: Thank you Lee. Appreciate you so much.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on High Velocity Radio.