Max Yoder is not your average CEO. He’s the co-founder and driving force behind Lessonly, an incredible online training software that helps teams learn and grow together. But Max is more than just a business leader – he’s a true believer in the power of work to make a positive impact on our lives.
With a contagious enthusiasm, Max is excited about the potential his industry holds to reshape the way we approach work. He envisions a world where work is more than just a daily grind, but a source of fulfillment and growth. It’s this belief in the potential for wholeness that drives him to create innovative solutions that empower teams to do better work.
Beyond his role at Lessonly, Max is also an author. His book, aptly named “Do Better Work,” offers practical advice and insights to help individuals and teams elevate their performance and achieve their goals. Through his writing and speaking engagements, he shares his wisdom on leadership, team building, and the ever-evolving field of online training.
In a world where work often feels disconnected from our personal lives, Max Yoder is a refreshing voice of change. With his genuine belief in the potential for work to be transformative, he’s leading the way towards a future where work truly matters.
Recent Shows with Max Yoder
EP 364: Cancel Culture in the Workplace with Max YoderpodcastThis week’s featured guest is Max Yoder, Co-Founder and CEO of Lessonly. Lessonly is an online training software that helps teams learn, practice, and Do Work Better. Max provides us his insights into his unique perspective on building good culture, values, and work ethics with employees in the workplace. If you are wanting to learn how to grow a strong culture, core values, and hard work ethics then this is the episode you need to tune into. Learn more from Max by checking out the EDGE of the Web episode 364.
Key topics discussed during the show:
Lessonly and online training
Team culture in a remote workplace
Building a company with principles first
Implementing core values in a workplace [...]
August 18, 2020- Digital Marketing News Roundup with Max YoderNewsKeeping up with the digital marketing news headlines is something you can do on your own, but if you want insight analysis and commentary from industry insiders, this is the place for you! Our latest news roundup featured host Erin Sparks and Creative Studio Producer Jacob Mann along with special guest Max Yoder, Co-Founder and CEO of Lessonly. Here’s the bonus news roundup from Episode 364 of the award-winning EDGE of the Web podcast:
00:01:25
Google CEO Says Company’s Continued Success is Not Guaranteed
From Matt Southern on Search Engine Journal we learn that Google CEO Says Company’s Continued Success is Not Guaranteed. Google CEO Sundar Pichai testified before US Congress as part of an inquiry into the company’s market dominance.
Erin Sparks: Sundar Pichai of Google, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook were all in the Congressional hot seat as the scrutiny of tech giants continues to ratchet up. He was right to say nothing is guaranteed, even for Google, but it sure feels that way sometimes.
Max Yoder: I’m no anti-trust expert by any means, but I know personally I’m using Google more than ever, as well as their other products like YouTube. Yes, Google dominates but I honestly can’t say it really bothers me. Google is certainly not going anywhere in my life in terms of how I use it.
Erin Sparks: And they’re providing a lot more tools and assistance and things to help people get things done during the pandemic. I guess one question is what does the Department of Justice (DOJ) really want to do with the companies? It appears they want to break them up so they’re not as powerful. It’s really hard to imagine that happening.
Max Yoder: It would take a ton of political will to make that happen, and political will on all fronts seems to be lacking in Washington DC. And it is important to try to maintain competition in the marketplace, but who can really compete against Google?
00:05:28
Google Comments on Idea It Uses GA for Ranking Purposes
According to Roger Montti on Search Engine Journal, Google Comments on Idea It Uses GA for Ranking Purposes. Google’s John Mueller clarified several points about the hypothesis that Google uses Google Analytics data for ranking purposes.
Erin Sparks: This is one of those SEO myths that has been popping up repeatedly for a good ten years or so. Google has always emphasized that while they use Google Analytics to understand websites, it’s anonymized data and is not linked to website rankings. They use it to understand user data in the aggregate.
Max Yoder: It’s nice that the response wasn’t opaque or legal-speak. I respect the clarity of the communication about this one.
00:09:22
Snapchat Publishes New Study into Evolving Video Consumption Behaviors
On Social Media Today, Andrew Hutchinson reports: Snapchat Publishes New Study into Evolving Video Consumption Behaviors. Snapchat has published a new study that looks at evolving video consumption behaviors, particularly among younger audiences, and provides recommendations on how businesses can align their content efforts with these shifts.
Erin Sparks: There’s a lot of data in this piece that’s worth digesting, so be sure to check out the article. Smartphone video consumption has gone from 2.5 hours a day in 2014 to more like 4.5 hours a day now, and this is mirrored by a similar decline in consuming video content via desktop computers. That’s an impressive statistic.
Max Yoder: More than four hours a day? That’s a lot. I certainly don’t watch that much, and when I do watch online videos, it tends to be on YouTube where I’ve found a curated group of thinkers and content creators I appreciate, and I value the personal ability I have to jump from one to the next as I see fit. If you remember the days of pixelated videos on smartphones, those days weren’t that long ago, so the technology has come a long way, and YouTube has a lot of quality content on it. But the average watch time is enormous, and it’s been such a sharp increase in recent years.
Erin Sparks: And of course the COVID-19 pandemic has increased not only on the number of people watching video content on smartphones but has also increased average watch time as well. All the stats about the topics of what people are watching is very interesting to study.
Connect with Max Yoder, Co-Founder and CEO of Lessonly
Twitter: @MaxYoder (https://twitter.com/maxyoder)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxyoder
Max’s posts on Lessonly: https://www.lessonly.com/blog/author/lessonly
Max’s book: Do Better Work: Finding clarity, camaraderie, and progress in work and life
Lessonly Twitter: @lessonly (https://twitter.com/lessonly)
Lessonly Facebook: @lessonlyapp (https://www.facebook.com/lessonlyapp)
Lessonly website: https://www.lessonly.com
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August 14, 2020
- How to Do Better Work with Max YoderInterviewMax Yoder, CEO and Co-Founder of Lessonly, has learned many great lessons on how to make work better, which have been collected together into his book that came out in February 2019 called Do Better Work. He spoke with Site Strategics CEO Erin Sparks in-person at the EDGE studios during episode 312 of the award-winning EDGE of the Web podcast. Here’s what we learned:
00:24:28
Want to Do Better Work? Be a Better Teammate!
One way to think of Max Yoder’s Do Better Work book is like a guidebook for how to be a better teammate. It outlines eight different behaviors that lead to more camaraderie and clarity, which are the surest pathways to making more progress on any team. And the eight behaviors apply to any kind of team setting. If you’re in a relationship with someone, you become a team. You and your spouse make up a team. The eight behaviors outlined in the book apply to any kind of team, whether it’s in the workplace or outside the workplace.
The processes involved in doing better work a being a better teammate are all two-way streets. If you don’t have clarity, you have to seek it out – not just sit back and claim a lack of clarity as your excuse for not doing better work. Camaraderie is the same way, you have to show trust and mutual respect get trust and mutual respect. You have to actively earn it. The responsibility is very much on the individual to look at themselves and identify how to be better and do better, not just point fingers at everyone else.
00:27:13
What About Those Who Don’t or Won’t Do Better Work?
What happens when you have a person or people who don’t want to do take that individual responsibility to do better work? Realize first that those people are in a small minority. You could think of it as the 80/20 rule. Focus your efforts on the 80% who want to do better work. For the 20% who don’t want to do better work, you need to let them go. But only after you’ve followed the step of “get more agreements.” You make agreements with the person, say in the form of performance goals, about what they need to do, mutually agreed upon. If they repeatedly don’t hold up their end of such agreements, then it becomes grounds for letting them go. The only time it’s not fair to do so is when there is a lack of clarity. You’ve got to get the clarity piece down so there’s no excuse for not doing better work. Expectations must not be unspoken! And remember that just because you know something doesn’t mean everyone else knows it to. Always actively seek clarity first.
00:32:39
Turning Conflict into Compassion and Progress
This one gets the most air-time in the book, and for good reason. If often feels like humans are hard-wired for conflict rather than the difficult task of finding solutions through collaboration. It’s always easier to blame and point fingers. The key is that you have to model the behaviors you want to see in others. You want someone to do something or behave a certain way? Show them by doing it yourself. You can’t expect anyone to do something you’re not doing yourself. And point out other people who are shining examples of what to do, because recognition is always a good thing for those are doing it right.
You must always be clear about what matters to you and why. The opposite of compassion is when you leave someone in the dark. You tell them they’re messing up but you don’t explain how or why, so they have no clarity and there’s no way for them to do better work if you haven’t shown it or explained it clearly. This happens all the time and it’s horribly hurtful. The compassion chapter is the longest in the book because it draws heavily on the nonviolent communication model created by Marshall Rosenberg, which is pure gold for the do better work movement.
Realize that conflict is inevitable, so the key is knowing how to use it for learning and growth rather than just trying to avoid it or win it at all cost. What’s crazy is how much material is included in educational curricula that students aren’t going to deal with on a daily basis, whereas they will have to deal with conflict every single day for the rest of their lives and we don’t teach anything about it in school!
00:47:09
The “Crushing It” Culture is a Huge Barrier
One of the things that bothers Max the most about the quest to Do Better Work is the pervasiveness of what he calls the “Crushing It” culture. When that’s the frame of mind, then you’re either “crushing it” or you’re not. This makes everyone defensive about where they’re at and what they’re doing. What’s really needed is a culture of vulnerability where people can openly and honestly talk about what’s going well and what needs improvement. No one is “crushing it” all the time.
The good news is that Max also sees how hungry most people are to Do Better Work, and they just need the tools to do it. Remember, most people want to Do Better Work. The guidance offered in Max’s book, Do Better Work, seems so obvious. He’s always careful to point out, however, that just because it’s obvious doesn’t mean it’s happening. Clearly it’s not happening in most workplaces. And remember, if you want to SEE it, BE it!
Connect with Max Yoder, CEO and Co-Founder of Lessonly
Twitter: @MaxYoder (https://twitter.com/maxyoder)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxyoder
Max’s posts on Lessonly: https://www.lessonly.com/blog/author/lessonly
Max’s book: Do Better Work: Finding clarity, camaraderie, and progress in work and life
Lessonly Twitter: @lessonly (https://twitter.com/lessonly)
Lessonly Facebook: @lessonlyapp (https://www.facebook.com/lessonlyapp)
Lessonly website: https://www.lessonly.com
Site Strategics and Your Digital Marketing ROI
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[...]
May 8, 2019
- EP 312: Do Better Work with Max YoderpodcastIt’s time to get your #DigitalMarketing news this week with special guest Max Yoder, CEO and founder of Lessonly. We’ll be covering stories like 72% of people have used voice search, FB expects largest-ever fine for data breach from FTC, and Byte, the follow-up to Vine, begins sending out beta invites. Then we learn about our guest, Max Yoder- and how he came to form Lessonly, and develop his methods to Do Better Work.
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May 1, 2019
