In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the President and Founder of Wiefling Consulting, Kimberly Wiefling.

Kimberly works to make the world better by helping Japanese companies globalize. Business being done across borders helps strengthen international business relationships. Silicon Valley Alliances made its first connections through doing workshops with individuals from Japan in Silicon Valley. This connection allowed Kimberly to be introduced to a multitude of Japanese agencies. A typical engagement involves workshops for mid-level businesses to help with leadership, team effectiveness, and organizational culture.

Kimberly explains that qualities of good leadership are honesty, inspiration, and forward-looking which are all behavioral qualities. There is a disconnect when the values are placed on the wall rather than actually done. Kimberly explains that transparency needs to be worked on through conversation among individuals. Kimberly’s advice for companies struggling with leadership is to understand employees need purpose over profit or to feel a sense of belonging.

Key Points from the Episode:

The impact Kimberly has in the world
How Silicon Valley Alliances makes connections
Engagement with clients
Global Leadership
Transparency
Kimberly’s advice for companies struggling with leadership

About Kimberly Wiefling:

Kimberly is known for her authentically scrappy style. At Hewlett Packard, she felt like a hired assassin where she prioritized projects over people. After 10 years of working in technology, she realized that technology fails far less frequently than people do. She uses her experience as a scientist and technologist to navigate and transform the messy world of organizational culture. Her superpower is helping companies achieve what seems impossible by converting common sense into common practice and bringing people with diverse backgrounds together to achieve what couldn't be done alone. Kimberly has worked with over a hundred major corporations including Yamaha Motors, Suntory, Mitsubishi, NASA, and Indeed. She has produced 6 books in her "Scrappy" brand series, including the international bestseller 'Scrappy Project Management, which continues to sell well 14 years after the original publication, was translated into Japanese, and is used as a textbook in project management courses. Kimberly is a highly sought-after speaker, and has presented in more than a dozen countries and worked with people from over 50 countries ( Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Germany, USA, China, Thailand, Zambia, UK, France, Armenia, etc.) Her personal mentor is the Lifetime Achievement Award-winning thought leader of organizational development, Dr. Edgar Schein. Her mission is to wipe out the pandemic of soul-sucking, toxic organizations so that people can be fully engaged, and contribute the highest and best versions of themselves to their work.

Tweetable Moments:

02:04 - "You don't read a book about exercise. You go to the gym and you work out. That's how you build strong muscles."

06:42 - "The leadership challenge gives us five areas of leadership that are crucial if you want to be perceived as a great leader. And they're all behavioral. You model the way, do what you say people should do, and you inspire shared vision."

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Links Mentioned in this Episode:

Want to learn more? Check out the Wiefling Consulting website at

1330 – Missions that Matter with Silicone Valley Alliances and Wiefling Consulting’s Kimberly Wiefling

The Thoughtful Entrepreneur

1330 – Missions that Matter with Silicone Valley Alliances and Wiefling Consulting’s Kimberly Wiefling