I'm happy to host George Saiz as the next guest in my author interview series, and to talk about his new book We Started with Respect, which was released in mid-July 2023. I’ve had the privilege to help support George through the writing and publishing process by providing input from my own experience writing and publishing Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn, and reviewing an early version of the manuscript.

George and I initially met when he was the President of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) in 2017 when I was initially launching the AME San Francisco Bay Area Consortium.

In We Started with Respect, George demonstrates through stories how leaders can navigate and balance achieving business results with people-centric principles as a comprehensive blueprint for success. In this “business novel”, readers follow the story of a newly appointed President, who inherits a disconnected company that’s struggling from a lack of leadership, alignment, and direction, and by starting with respect, is able to foster a new culture and better outcomes.

Here are some of the highlights from the interview:

(2:00) What inspired you to write a book and this book in particular?

(7:00) What's one thing that you've learned personally about leadership in a different way through the process of writing this story or this book?

(9:00) What is the significance of the title? And what are some of the key lessons or stories that come out of that?

(11:00) What are some ways that leaders can demonstrate respect and how does that play through some elements of your book?

(12:30) What are some challenges you've experienced in your own career or observed in others that have been barriers to creating cultures founded on respect?

(18:00) How can people best learn from your book?

(19:30) Is there a workbook available?

(20:00) When you were writing the book, who did you consider your target audience?

(24:30) What's one lesson that stood out that you didn't expect to learn, or that's changed your perspective?

(29:00) What's a question that I have not asked you about the book that you would like to answer? What is that question and what's your answer?

You can read the full article at: https://kbjanderson.com/author-interview-with-george-saiz

And if you are tuning in while the giveaway is live (before July 24th at 11:45pm), be sure to register for your chance to win: https://kbjanderson.com/giveaways/we-started-with-respect/