Lessons from a Bully Boss: Leadership Behavior and the Bottom Line with Jay Guilford

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jay Guilford has a very interesting background. He once worked with a bunch of clowns — literally. A few years ago, he ran away with Cirque du Soleil where he created their corporate training program called Spark. With Spark, Jay challenged corporate leaders to collaborate, communicate, and tap into their creative potential by working with Cirque performers on Cirque du Soleil stages!</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jay considers himself a cultural refugee, having migrated from the inner city to the ivy league. After sparking (pun-intended) the creative insights of many corporate teams at Cirque, Jay ran away once again to found CoWorks Leadership Strategists, a consulting firm specializing in leadership training, team building, and talent optimization.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As a former and reformed ‘bully boss,’ Jay personally understands how a leader can slide down the slippery slope of workplace toxicity — which is the focus of today’s episode! Jay shares how to begin addressing and remedying a toxic workplace as a leader, personal experiences and lessons learned from both sides of the coin of workplace bullying, and the importance of taking swift action when it comes to a hostile workplace environment.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Key Takeaways:</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[:50] Welcoming Jay Guilford to the podcast!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[1:07] About Jay Guilford.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[2:38] Jay shares what got him started on the path that has led him to where he is today.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[4:58] How did Jay earn the title ‘the Boss whisperer?’</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[7:57] How did Jay make the connection between a contemporary circus and corporate training events? How did he come up with the idea for Spark?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[11:11] Jay defines workplace toxicity and ou