Being nimble: What Navy SEAL training can teach us about building better business minds
Posted On July 22, 2022
The Navy SEALs are an elite fighting force, and it’s not by accident. They are trained to deal with anything, particularly the unexpected. Perhaps that’s why I’ve found that many of them have gone on to succeed in business. Whether it’s that the SEALs draw tough-minded people or it makes them tough-minded, former SEALs tend to be adept and thinking through complex problems in the business world as civilians. So it is with Marty Strong, our guest in a recent “What’s Working with Cam Marston” replay. Strong spent 20 years as a SEAL and then went on to make a… Read More
Categories: Blog, Podcast, What's Working with Cam Marston, Workplace
Small Dream Comes True – Book Signing at Page & Palette
Posted On July 19, 2022
A small dream came true this past Saturday when I had a book signing at Fairhope’s Page & Palette book store for my new book, What Works. Sales were brisk for only brief moments of time but the event itself was what I was after. Behind me on the table are books by authors I’ve always admired (Rick Bragg, Watt Key, Winston Groome, are but a few) and to be sitting next to them with a book of my own was very special for me. Friends and family came by to check on me, buy a book, and visit for a… Read More
Categories: Advertising, What's Working with Cam Marston
What can a former CIA counterintelligence officer teach us about hiring?
Posted On July 18, 2022
When your job is to recruit informants for the CIA, you learn to ask the right questions. Blake Mobley did just that while working as a counterintelligence officer under two presidents. It was an experience that taught him how to look for the structural weaknesses in organizations, how to find what motivates people, and the sorts of questions one needs to ask to really learn what they need to know about a person. Those are valuable tools in the hiring process, too. And in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” Mobley shares how some of the lessons… Read More
Categories: Blog, Podcast, Recruiting, What's Working with Cam Marston
How Dr. David Bronner rebuilt Alabama’s retirement system, and its image
Posted On July 14, 2022
Dr. David Bronner wasn’t the first choice to lead the Retirement Systems of Alabama when the job was last open back in 1973. He wasn’t the second or third choice. He wasn’t even the 100th choice. But he was the right choice. Bronner, who grew up in Minnesota before coming to Alabama for law school, ended up running the state’s retirement system because neither of the two most powerful men in the state at that time – Gov. George Wallace and Paul Hubbert, then head of the Alabama Education Association – knew who he was. And therefore, after about 160… Read More
Categories: Advertising, Blog, Financial Services, Podcast, Real Estate, Succession Planning, What's Working with Cam Marston
Bello Nock walks the tightrope of show business
Posted On July 4, 2022
They call the entertainment industry “show business” for a very good reason. As one great showman I met recently told me: “If you have no show, you have no business. If you have no business, you have no show.” That showman is Bello Nock, a seventh-generation entertainer, circus performer and daredevil who performs around the country. You might have seen him on America’s Got Talent a few years ago, You might remember him from his years with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. You might have seen him in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest unsupported… Read More
Categories: Blog, Entrepreneurship, What's Working with Cam Marston
Scott Hunsaker Leads Executives on their Business Exit Strategy
Posted On June 24, 2022
Successful succession planning isn’t just a plan. It’s a process. That’s what Scot Hunsaker has been preaching to his clients for nearly a decade as the Managing Partner of Ardent Group, an organization that mentors business leaders. And he hasn’t just preached it, he’s done it. In 1999, Hunsaker bought the firm his father built – Counsilman Hunsaker, an engineering firm that designs aquatics facilities. He grew the company from one office to five, from 10 employees to 50, and took the business global. Among its projects are recreation centers at the University of Alabama and UAB and Olympic facilities… Read More
Categories: Succession Planning, What's Working with Cam Marston
Keepin’ It Real Video Series Launches This Week
Posted On September 20, 2021
This week launches of the Keepin’ It Real video series. They’re short 3 1/2 minute motivational and inspirational videos that originated with my radio commentary series. The companies who have quickly spotted a need for the videos have several things in common: They are deeply interested in the well-being of their people at work and at home. They recognize that these videos will influence their company culture and their culture is a significant driver of employee retention. They recognize that the video’s messages will positively influence their customer facing team’s interactions with customers. They recognize that giving away positive, goodwill… Read More
Categories: Keeping It RealInspiration for You and Your Team. A Gift to be Given. Something very different. Take a look…
Posted On August 23, 2021
It’s tough out there today. It’s always been tough but today just seems…tougher. Trying to find things to be happy about, to feel good about, seems harder. But we soldier on. In January, I asked myself, “How can I influence the way people feel each day? What are my tools to do so? What are my resources?” Suddenly, my Keepnin’ It Real commentaries leapt forward in my mind. Long a staple on Alabama Public Radio, I’m redesigning the Keepin’ It Real commentaries for corporate use and in the process I’ve seen an opportunity to bring something very non-traditional to my… Read More
Categories: Blog, Keeping It Real, PodcastThe Post-Covid Workplace: The 4 Most Important Changes You Need To Make Now – Mark Sanborn
Posted On July 6, 2020
On Wednesday, July 15th at Noon Central, the What’s Working with Cam Marston radio show will feature customer service and leadership expert Mark Sanborn as our first webinar guest. Mark will discuss his research into the post-Covid work environment and what leaders and teams need to know about team formation, productivity, and sustainability and what customers will need that will be different going forward. Mark’s unique qualifications as a nationally recognized authority on leadership and customer service offer the What’s Working audience the unique opportunity hear the content directly from the expert himself. Covid has introduced permanent changes to the… Read More
Categories: Blog, Training Industry, What's Working with Cam MarstonCrisis cracks our veneer. Cracks allow light in. The light shines on something long dormant. Time for Re-Order.
Posted On March 30, 2020
My Alabama Public Radio commentary last week inspired by our world-wide Covid-19 fears. We can’t come away from this unchanged… Subscribe to Keeping It Real podcasts on Apple Podcasts.
Categories: Keeping It Real