Revolutionary Conversations: Real-World Success Stories with the S.H.A.R.E.® Tools

In this episode, Mark Fowler continues his series on Revolutionary Conversations and dives into practical, real-world examples of how the S.H.A.R.E.® Tools transform communication, relationships, and business outcomes. Building on the previous episodes—Tapping into What We Don't Know and the breakdown of the S.H.A.R.E.® model—Mark shows how a simple five-step conversational framework can:

Resolve conflicts, unlock stalled business deals and rebuild family relationships
Create safer, more collaborative environments where people feel heard and empowered
He walks through each element of the S.H.A.R.E.® Tools (Stop, Help, Ask, Risk, Explore), explains how they function as engagement tools, and shares powerful stories from both personal and business contexts that illustrate their impact.

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Buy Revolutionary Conversations: https://vxrworks.click/REVBook

Revolutionary Conversations: Real-World Success Stories with the S.H.A.R.E.® Tools

In this episode, Mark Fowler continues his series on Revolutionary Conversations and dives into practical, real-world examples of how the S.H.A.R.E.® Tools transform communication, relationships, and business outcomes. Building on the previous episodes—Tapping into What We Don't Know and the breakdown of the S.H.A.R.E.® model—Mark shows how a simple five-step conversational framework can:

Resolve conflicts, unlock stalled business deals and rebuild family relationships
Create safer, more collaborative environments where people feel heard and empowered
He walks through each element of the S.H.A.R.E.® Tools (Stop, Help, Ask, Risk, Explore), explains how they function as engagement tools, and shares powerful stories from both personal and business contexts that illustrate their impact.

Read More: https://vxrworks.click/SHARE1
Buy Revolutionary Conversations: https://vxrworks.click/REVBook

Mark Fowler, President of Stone Management Corporation and CEO of Revolutionary Conversations, explores how effective communication and soft skills can transform organizations, relationships, and even our collective response to rapid technological change like AI.

Mark shares how his background in business re-engineering and crisis management led him to recognize a crucial gap: highly skilled professionals often struggle to collaborate because they lack practical communication tools. This realization inspired the development of Revolutionary Conversations and the S.H.A.R.E.® Tools—Stop, Help, Ask, Risk, Explore—a simple yet powerful framework designed to help people "get on the same page," reduce tension, and work together more effectively.

He reflects on the growing tension in our world—at home, in business, in government—and argues that better conversations are not optional anymore; they're essential. Mark also discusses why AI needs human wisdom and heart as much as we need AI's capabilities, and how communication skills can help us adapt, protect jobs where possible, and build better families, communities, and institutions.

The episode closes with an invitation: invest in your soft skills, whether through Revolutionary Conversations, evening classes, or other learning paths, so you can reach out more confidently, collaborate more effectively, and move into the future with others instead of feeling isolated or threatened.

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Buy Revolutionary Conversations: https://vxrworks.click/REVBook

Always Creating Value® Podcast with Lon Safko

Let me share something that completely changed how I think about business transformation. I recently sat down with Lon Safko, a true pioneer who's been working with AI since 1987—yes, you read that right, 1987! What he told me will revolutionize how you approach your business.

Here's the shocking truth: While 78% of organizations are now using AI according to McKinsey's latest research, only 26% are actually generating real value from it (Boston Consulting Group, 2024). That means three out of four companies are investing in AI without seeing tangible results. However, after my conversation with Lon, I know exactly why this is happening—and more importantly, how we can help you achieve that successful 26%.

What sets Stowe Management apart in this AI revolution? We've cracked the code that others are missing: the seamless merger of Artificial Intelligence with Human Intelligence. While competitors chase the latest AI tools, we understand that technology without human wisdom is like a Ferrari without a driver—impressive but going nowhere. Our approach offers a beacon of hope, showing that with the right integration, AI can lead to unprecedented success.

Our 'Always Creating Value®' philosophy isn't just a tagline—it's our operating system. Every AI implementation, every strategic decision, every client interaction is filtered through this lens: How do we merge AI's computational power with human intuition to create exponential value? This approach has transformed how we re-engineer businesses, turning AI from a buzzword into a bottom-line booster.

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Unlocking Success: A Dynamic Partnership That's Driving Business Transformation

In this podcast episode, Tom Drucker and Mark Fowler discuss the importance of psychology, leadership development, and always creating value as consultants for businesses. Tom shares his journey from clinical psychology to business consulting where he deftly navigated multiple projects at the iconic Xerox. Tom's involvement in corporate social responsibility and climate-related initiatives adds another layer to his impressive resume.

Read more: https://estowemanagement.com/mark-fowler-and-tom-drucker/

Tom then expresses his excitement about partnering with Mark to help companies facing distress or seeking to add value. Their partnership blends their respective talents. Mark first focuses on improving finances, operational flow and proactive cash management. Tom first addresses building trust, collaboration, and creativity. Working together, they can more quickly impact their clients’ success.

Tom Drucker: "Relationships are the foundation through which everything of importance is accomplished."

Next, Tom reveals the cultural aspect of Xerox, a company that places a premium on serving not just customers and shareholders but also their dedicated employees and communities. He underscores the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Tom then shares a client example where his clinical skills have paved the way for astounding progress in his clients' leadership and business endeavors, proving that psychology truly holds the key to unlocking success and creating value.

Mark raises the issue of toxic confrontation in the workplace, while Tom is emphasizing trust as the cornerstone of any successful business relationship. He expertly dissects the root causes of destructive conflicts, highlighting misunderstood motives and fear-driven reactions that often disrupt organizations. Both impart invaluable lessons on switching from fear-driven responses to logical and emotionally intelligent behaviors when resolving conflicts.

The partners reveal their shared focus on psychology and communication in leadership development, showcasing their unique approaches. Mark tends to ascend from the operational level, while Tom gracefully descends from the board level, creating a synergy that drives growth and value.

Tom discusses working with VCA veterinary clinics, where community engagement and employee well-being are paramount. Together, Tom and Mark explore how leadership development and prioritizing people have made VCA a stronger company. They emphasize that a thriving business requires engaged employees, and a distinctive culture built on values, trust, collaboration, customer service, and unwavering employee support. The importance of culture to a business is backed by their wealth of experience and rigorous research.

Mark and Tom then explore the importance of leaders, "walking the talk," and the transformative power of seeking counsel for an expanded perspective. Their collaborative consulting provides a safe space where listening, understanding, and learning are the driving force behind meaningful individual growth and corporate success.

Next, Mark and Tom discuss how their team can salvage distressed companies. Tom breaks down the challenges troubled organizations face—ignorance of root causes, rapidly eroding value creation, and the struggle to secure credit. Along with the client, they tackle these challenges head-on, offering both insights and hands on assistance that can resurrect businesses in dire circumstances.

In concluding remarks, Mark and Tom remind the listeners that successful businesses today require their leaders and all associates to be inquisitive, interested, agile, resilient, and able to sustain a positive mindset.

Mark Fowler President of Stowe Management Corporation, and CEO of revolutionary conversations Interviews Lon Safko on the use and value of Chat Bots.

Mark Fowler has been working with CPAs, and other financial professional professionals helping their clients and their customers and been doing it for a long time. About a year or so ago, we decided that we wanted to talk about the kinds of things that have helped us help companies grow, turnaround, expand and become much better at what they're doing. And we and we figured out that the probably the most important thing was the consistent focus on value creation throughout the business. And that motivated us to decide to have some interviews with people who along the way or people introduced to us who we believed, held that same mission every day. We can always be thinking about something better that we can do both for ourselves, our career, the people around us, our business, our customers, our clients. And today we have Lon Safko. Lon has been on our podcasts before and has a wealth of information of value to share. Lon is a kingpin is a cornerstone in it having many, many patents and probably his most important invention of a computer to save the first human's life, Lon welcome.

Lon has been in the IT field and marketing for quite a while and invented the first computer to save human life. He did some of the first work on environmental control and artificial intelligence for United States Department of Energy. He has a strong background in what we're going to talk about today. And that's artificial intelligence in the form of chatbots. And how it brings value to your customers. And how shocked Lon was when he implemented it for the first time because he was not a real strong believer in it. Now he is a very strong believer and he talks in this podcast about some of those points and how AI chatbots can help you.

What is a Chatbot?
A chatbot is just a computer program, an app and it just simulates conversation. That's really all it does. When the app starts to run, you ask it a question. It tries to find an answer. And then based on what that answer is, you ask it another question, and then it just continues this conversation. We've all experienced chatbots for customer service, whether it's Amazon or Netflix or any of the big companies. They're all using chat bots and have for or quite a while.

Quote from Lon Safko:
“I had more sales from the moment I implemented the Chatbot. On one website, called Papermodelsonline.com. It provides school projects, downloadable school projects or kids. Here's the bottom line, I saw a 30% increase in revenue. Yeah, I'm going to say that again. 30% increase in revenue. It's maintained that ever since a chatbot was installed. And the reason is, customers come to a website, they'll have a question about your product, however they’re not going to use the contact form. They won't use the contact form. And when I had the Chatbot ask them why? they said it was fear of the harvesting of our emails and more spam. That said, they're comfortable having a conversation with a chatbot. And they would ask questions that I never anticipated. I would put those in the frequently asked questions page immediately and within 24 hours this particular chatbot would reread the entire website for the following morning.

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https://estowemanagement.com/always-creating-value-podcast/

Mark Fowler, president of Stowe Management Corporation, which is a business reengineering firm helping companies both in crisis and growth and Chief Executive Officer of Revolutionary Conversations, a training organization based on the book revolutionary conversations, the tools you need for the success you want. We love the melding and the blending of communication conversation as it relates to both business, family, career, any day and anything. These two businesses go hand in hand. I just spoke at a California Society of CPAs annual forensic conference. I was asked to talk about crisis and crisis management and dealing with the various areas of crisis because crisis comes in some really, really different forms. Sometimes we don't even know we're in crisis. And today, I'd like to give you a little note that will help you begin to think about how crisis does exist all the time. I know when we go home from business, we think we've done really well and tomorrow is going to continue to be and then all of a sudden, there's a hurricane or tornado or all of a sudden, one of your vendors, no longer is in business. it's an amazing thing that we think that things are stable. The traditional way to look at crisis is to look at it from an event perspective. In other words, that hurricane, that tornado, that a customer that is more than 30% of your business suddenly decides not to do business with you anymore. Over the years, working with companies both in crisis, as well as in growth, we noticed that it doesn't always just come in an event; we'd like to think about it in a way that and we've been able to identify over the years, the fact that somewhere down the line on a fairly consistent basis, companies, businesses, individuals, no longer are creating value consistently. We are, instead, over time, eroding the things that made us stable.

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One situation I talked about at the conference was an entertainment company that had been growing rapidly for about 12 years. And about a year and a half, before it started to lose its momentum, it started not to be able to pull itself together. It wasn't getting the artists that they wanted it was slowing down and they needed to figure because there was a lot of vigorous energy in there. And one of the things that we did was pulled everybody together, including seven departments. And it turned out that they weren't talking to each other. We did a great retreat, and we helped them bring themselves together. And then over about a year, we ended up doubling the business. And we could have looked at that and say, Oh, that was just a, you know, a great thing that happened. And then, a year or so later, we were back for a party. One of the executives mentioned that they were doing so well because everybody was so happy. It's just like when the owner's wife was alive, and I said really? Well, it turned out that she was the glue. She was the one thing They kept everybody going as they grew and people had problems, everything from cupcakes, to cakes, to taking people on trips, spending time in the cafeteria, and talking to them one on one to help them get through the day. And when she passed away, nobody was there to do that.

So a crisis can happen and be brewing at any point in time in your business and in your career as well. You can break crises up into several things. This Podcast outlines them.

This podcast focuses on how 3 very talented and smart women began their careers decades ago and managed to break through the so-called “Glass Ceiling.”

Read Article https://estowemanagement.com/breaking-glass-ceiling/

Last year, we initiated and launched a podcast called Always Creating Value. One of our main focus points has always been the company and the people creating value.
And how can we create more value on a fairly consistent basis so that we can continue on and be better every day? In these podcasts, we’ve been able to tap into some very special people and talk to them about the kinds of things that they’ve done over their life that not only affected their business but also their personal life. And I’ve brought back three of the people who have been podcast participants, who are all within the business and corporate world in different ways. We want to reach back to the days of the late 70s and 80s when women were only beginning to really have a major impact on the business world. Before you found women in senior positions. Women were becoming increasingly involved and began to change the culture. And we would like to tap into the risks and the challenges that they’ve had. Let us learn from some of these really good experiences that can be applied to the challenges that we have today, the DEI issues, the more people coming into the workplace, wanting to grow and be part of it.

I’d like to introduce them: Ann Hofferberth, who comes from the public and corporate world. Lynn Kitchen comes from wealth management. And now she’s in the business of producing television episodes. She’s now started nationally, and now she’s going across the world. Devon Blaine is a public relations person focused on the area of business and politics. She also focuses on the business perspective from a crisis management platform where she’s been able to help companies with their PR as they go through some very dangerous times.

Ann Hofferberth:” What was very interesting in my time was there were ads on TV about women bringing home the bacon and frying it in the pan. That was the big commercial. And it said, we were supposed to be Wonder Woman, we’re supposed to do it all. And as I looked around in my corporate environment, I saw that that’s not what the men were doing. The men were finding people who were better equipped to do a job than they or better at doing a job they didn’t want to do and hiring them. And I quickly noticed that that might be what was holding some of my female counterparts back because when you try to do it all, you get exhausted and unproductive. So I took that learning and adapted the idea of delegation, finding the right people to do the right jobs, and then staying on top of them and overseeing that performance. And it also translated back into my home life because for me to be able to do what I was doing now that I had a husband and two children meant that I needed to delegate some of the home duties to my terrific husband. And I was smart enough to let him do it the way he wanted to do it, not impose my way of doing it, And that is what I learned. I learned to delegate”

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Read Article https://estowemanagement.com/breaking-glass-ceiling/