- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been provided by NJM Insurance Group.

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- This is One-On-One.

- I'm an equal American just like you are.

- The way we change Presidents in this country is by voting.

- A quartet is already a jawn, it’s just The New Jawn.

- January 6th was not some sort of violent, crazy outlier.

- I don't care how good you are or how good you think you are, there is always something to learn.

- I mean what other country sends comedians over to embedded military to make them feel better.

- People call me 'cause they feel nobody's paying attention.

_ It’s not all about memorizing and getting information, it’s what you do with that information.

- (slowly) Start talking right now.

- That's a good question, high five.

(upbeat music) - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato.

We kick off the program with my longtime friend and colleague in the media, Joe, the Joe Piscopo, "Joe Piscopo Show", "AM 970 The Answer" weekday six...

This dude gets up at like three or four, 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM and also on 77 WABC, I do not miss a Sunday night.

"Sundays with Sinatra", hosted by Joe Piscopo.

Sundays from six to eight, a legend from "Saturday Night Live" and a whole bunch of other great things.

Hey, how are you, Paisan?

- Stephen, you look great.

So every hit I do on TV, I put a suit and tie on 'cause you and I are from the Bloomfield Avenue School of Style.

And you gotta do the Frankie Vincent, Joey Pesci, dress it up a little bit.

So I'm on with my buddy, Steve, I've known you 100 years- - Well, what happened, Joe?

What happened?

- I'm home.

I'm in Hunterdon County and I said, "Let me just kick back at my house, we're Zooming..." And look at me but look, this is be... You know, the comedian, the great comedian Jeff Norris gave me this shirt, how cool is that shirt?

It's Jersey, baby, look at that.

And it's got all the counties, the 21 counties on my sweatshirt, so and then... And the hat's Tunnel to Tower so I'm locked and loaded, but I don't look near as good as you, my friend.

- And Tunnel to Tower is Mary Gamba our Executive Producer, Mary, connect with our folks.

'cause I just saw a Tunnels to Towers 30 second spot.

We need to do a feature on that organization because they are incredible, the work that they're doing, we'll do that.

Hey Joe, let's do this.

- Yeah.

Where the heck are we in 2024 when it comes to those of us in the media, all different mediums and our responsibility to report and talk about things factually, but always respectfully even when we disagree, please, Joe.

- Yeah, it's a great question, my friend.

You know, and you... You know, you actually started even before I did.

I got into the radio so you know, if you keep it... What I try to do, is to keep it, everybody calm.

Everybody's scared and you gotta calm everybody down, no matter what you believe.

You and I are old school Essex County Democrats, you know?

It's like, I'm not anymore but I always was and that- - I'm not anymore, Joe, whoa, whoa, whoa.

- What, what, what?

- I'm a journalist.

- What?

Yeah, oh yes, you're a journalist.

- I thought, wait- - A democratic journalist.

- No, no Joe... Joe, hold on, just because you used to be a Democrat and then you've transformed into, we'll talk about that in a minute.

But I'm gonna say this, those of us... Those who watch our programming know, I don't care if someone's a Democrat or Republican.

- No, you're right, you're right.

You're right, you're always like that.

- But don't you try to do the same thing, Joe?

- Oh man, I'm... After the four hours on the radio, six to 10 on "AM 970 The Answer" you've come on, you've hosted, you know what it's like.

It's like...

It's like a wild runaway train and then I see all the news coming in, and then you don't know if it's real or not.

And I could read everything offline but I don't, I gotta check with Joe Sibilia, I gotta check with Al Gattullo.

- Your producers, yep.

- With Debbie DuHaime.

And we got our team there, thank God.

Steve, I'm exhausted.

I say, do everything under the radar 'cause the thing you gotta do, and what I preach every single morning, is I put aside the hate.

You can't hate and everybody hates that.

Stop with the hate.

We're all in it together, it'll all work out.

You know, if you believe in something.

I have friends that are way far right, way far left, and I love them and I don't hate 'em, you know?

And I think it's...

I'll tell you the truth between you and I, Steve, 'cause we know each other so long, be perfectly honest with you on your show.

It's like if I...

If I wasn't like kind of in the middle or, you know, I'm right of center, but my friends are either way left, left of center or right.

If I wasn't...

If I was hardcore, I would probably have a million followers, you know what I mean?

Sometimes if you're hardcore either...

The extremes seem to get all the followers.

I'd rather keep it under the radar, keep it quiet, try to be nice, amicable.

Pragmatic is my favorite word.

I get upset sometimes, you know?

And I'll rail sometimes but for the most part, it's nice to stay as calm as we can, you know?

- But I'm gonna follow up on that, Joe, you and I have a mutual friend.

Let's just call him Nicky G, okay?

And Nicky G- - Nicky!

- No, no.

(Joe laughs) Listen, it's not some wise guy name, it's Nicky G, that's who it is, okay?

- Doesn't sound like a wise guy name, you're right.

- No, no, seriously, hold on.

So in all serious- - I'm sorry, go ahead.

- Our friend Nicky G, who is my- - Great guy.

- One of my closest friends of all time, we disagree just about everything.

But here's the thing that Nick and I talk about all the time, that some of my friends who are let's say very far left, will know of his politics, Nick's politics, and they'll say, "How could you be best friends with that guy?"

And my response is... And Nick and I laugh about that because we have different views and we'll say, "Hold on, you think because somebody voted differently in election or someone has different views, you can't..." How about loyalty, history, respect, real friendship, family, la familia.

- That's it.

- And I'm not gonna turn this into an Italian-American thing.

I'm stunned by people who think you can't or shouldn't be friends with people who see the world differently.

Go ahead, Joe Piscopo.

- I know it's true 'cause on the show, you know, they say, "Oh, Joe's a conservative."

I said, "I am."

I said, "I'm just a guy who loves the country."

Like I'm a mouthpiece for my parents, rest of their souls, you know?

I'm a mouthpiece... We know where we were brought up, Stephen.

And your family comes from Newark, you know, and we went to Newark to Bloomfield and up to the- - Let call it old school, just call it old school.

- Yeah and it's about America, my father fought the Second World War.

My mom was a diehard and guilt ridden, church going, God fearin' Italian Catholic, you know?

I still, I dropped to my knees, I go... St. Thomas, I went to St. Thomas in Bloomfield.

We got married at the Basilica in Newark, the Sacred Heart Basilica, that's all me.

So when I talk about it, and I talk about that, there are a lot of people that feel like we do.

Just, you know, we believe in the country, but I don't hate anybody.

No matter what your color is, what your sex is, what you think you are, I don't... You know what, Steve?

I don't have time to hate.

I'm exhausted, you know what I mean?

I don't have time- - And so many in the media, Joe, so many in our business...

Sorry for interrupted my friend.

So many- - Yeah.

- In our business, say this, "Pick sides, who are you with?

Are you with us?"

- No, they can't.

- "Or them?"

- You can't.

They like to divide, they want to divide and conquer.

They want to divide and conquer.

It's like one of my favorite guests, if I may, and my friends who are conservative give me this, is Josh Gottheimer from the 5th in Bergen County.

Great guy- - United States Congressman, Josh Gottheimer, yep.

- Yeah, he's a great guy.

"Oh, he's a democrat."

Yeah, and?

You know, he's an old school kind of Democrat, then I talked to Nicole Malliotakis in Staten Island.

And Josh and Nicole are together, trying to get, you know, that Gateway Project going.

- They don't agree on a lot of things.

- Exactly right.

- They don't agree on the 2020 election.

They don't agree on ideological issues.

- That's right.

- But like, they can't ever come together and work together?

That's ridiculous.

- Did you have work done?

You look good, man, I gotta tell you something.

You look really... You look really handsome.

- Why you hurtin' me like this?

- Because, you look so good.

Can I, you got... Can I have his number?

Can I have the guy's number?

Cause I'm ready.

- Now you're gonna... What are you sayin', Joe?

- I think I need plugs, I need a little of this.

Come on baby, I'm ready.

- Joe, listen, we're gonna use this interview on public television, will you get serious?

- Oh, sorry, sorry.

- Hold on.

- Okay.

- Do this because you and I, go around in our house, Sinatra's everywhere.

Not just playing on Sundays and waiting for Joe to come on.

But there are pictures everywhere of Sinatra and he is a big part of the way I grew up.

Your healthy obsession with Frank Sinatra, give me a minute on or less, go.

- No, Mr. S, you mean?

If he wasn't from New Jersey, if Mr. Sinatra was not a north Jersey Italian-American, and he wasn't born a year apart from my dad- - Hoboken, April our Makeup Artist, Hoboken.

Oh, go ahead, pick it up, Joe.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah but it's so true, because if it wasn't that, it's my dad.

It's all about my dad.

It's about...

They were so identical and then my father went on, as you know, went to Rutgers, went and became a lawyer in Passaic, you know, Pop?

And our fathers, you know, rest their souls, man.

And now that's what it's about and the old man, Mr. Sinatra, we affectionately refer to him as the old man, as an admiral or a captain, or someone in charge, you know, the ultimate guy.

And he was like so like my dad, I will watch Mr. S, I was at resorts and Mr. Sinatra was there performing and we're watching.

And then I'd watch the moves he'd make, you know?

And he would do the shoulders and he'd do the hand, or he'd say a certain something, "Ah, you know, you make me feel so good, your bone..." Some... That's my father, it is my dad and I grasp onto that legacy because then when I do Sundays with Sinatra, and thank you Steve Adubato, for letting me plug WABC, and now we're streaming worldwide, it's syndicated.

And a matter of fact, this weekend if I can plug, we're out in Nashville, we're down doing a celebration of the Sinatra Barn Lounge, and I'm gonna be down there with Tina Sinatra, that's...

They're royalty, the Sinatra name is royalty, and I treat it with such respect.

But then when I study him, Steve, and I study how he started, that's our neighborhood, man.

The Rustic Cabin.

He was in Englewood Cliffs.

- New Jersey, right?

- He outta Hoboken, this guy?

And he went on to become an international superstar, never forgot his roots like you and I do.

That's the obsession right there.

- And do this, check out our sister series, "Remember Them" with my colleague Jacqui Tricarico, one of our first "Remember Them" series we do in cooperation with the New Jersey Hall of Fame that Joe knows well is...

The number one show, first show we ever did, was on the life and legacy of the great Frank Sinatra.

P.S, Joe, go ahead give me...

I got 30 seconds left, go.

- You did a great job at the Hall of Fame inducting your father.

Wait a minute, this is what...

This was given- - What do you got?

- Michael...

This is from Michael Adubato Junior, you remember this?

A hundred years ago when I first started helping out, leading the way of Ray Chambers and your dear dad, who really blazed the path to help others in the great city of Newark, New Jersey.

I was presented with this by the Adubato family, and I wanted to show it to everybody to say thank you.

- My late cousin, Michael.

- Hey, Joe- - Thank you.

- Before I let you go, when my father passed, what was the song... What was the Sinatra song that they played that was about my father's life and he did it whose way?

- "My Way", baby, "My Way".

- Just checking.

- That was the one.

- What... Hey, when I come, what's the song?

What's the song you guys play when I'm coming on?

Not when you're doing Springsteen, when you're doing Sinatra.

When we're in the summer, when I come on your show, what's the Sinatra song?

- Oh, that's probably Mr. Sinatra's greatest vocal performance.

Steve has it in his contract when he comes on AM 970, we have to play "The Summer Wind".

- "The Summer Wind".

- "Comes blowin' in from across the sea."

- He's...

Listen to Joe on Sunday nights, on WABC Sundays, for Sinatra... (Joe singing) He's still singing, he's still doing it.

What am I, what am I, Tommy... Joey, Tommy Culets over here?

Check him out on AM 970, 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM on AM 970.

Hey Joe, thank you my friend.

- I love you, Stephen.

Love to the family, please, my friend?

Thank you, keep up a great work.

- Same to you, do me a favor, next time when you're on dress up.

Okay, you see right after this, folks, be right back.

(Joe laughing) - [Narrator] To see more One on One with Steve Adubato programs, visit us online at stateofaffairsnj.org.

If you would like to express an opinion, email us at info@caucusnj.org.

Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/steveadubatophd and follow us on Twitter @steveadubato.

- Steve Adubato with my colleague, Mary Gamba.

We're now joined by Kathryn Badger.

That name sounds familiar.

Kathryn Badger is director Total Rewards at CentraState Healthcare System.

Kathryn, good to see you.

- Good to see you too, Steve.

- Now, Kathryn, on our broadcast we disclose all kinds of things that are potentially perceived as a conflict or an issue.

Do you, in fact, I mean I feel like a prosecutor right now.

Do you have a relationship with a very high level executive on our production team?

- I do.

I do.

- Would that be Elvin Badger, our director?

- It would.

It would, Your Honor.

- Oh, hold on.

Before we talk about serious leadership issues, what makes Elvin not just a great leader, but a great husband and father?

- Oh, he sees things.

I wanna say he sees like the big picture of everything.

He's always like 10 steps ahead of all of us and he really keeps us, I don't wanna say in check, but yes, he helps keep me grounded, keep us all kind of in check.

He's amazing.

- Wow.

- Aww.

- Can you get my wife here and ask her the same question?

- It depends on what day it is, right, Steve?

- No, what hour it is.

Kathryn, tell us about the work you do and how it's connected to leadership.

- Sure.

So, I am the director of Total Rewards and I am the lead for strategic or strategy communications and compliance for benefits, compensation, and also retirement plans, things like that for our employees.

So, in that respect, I have to lead that function and our team to really be able to bring the best-in-class things, and benefits, and comp, and you know, everything for our employees.

- Kathryn, before, Mary's gonna jump in a second, but Mary, this is interesting.

Mary and our 9, 10 person team and our production team, the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Mary is not only the executive director, but she's the de facto head of HR, meaning we don't have an official HR Department.

I'm curious about this.

HR has evolved dramatically in the last 5, 10 years.

It's a very different function.

How so?

- I think we've really brought a more, I would like to say humanity to it, again.

I think they put the human back in human resources, especially after the pandemic.

We really had to take a step back and realize that these are not just worker bees, these are people with home lives and parents and children or even, you know, loneliness issues at home.

So, I think everyone had to take a step back and bring wellness to the forefront, which has been a huge factor since the pandemic.

Really bringing everyone's mental health, emotional, physical, full body health to the forefront and in the workplace as well.

- So important, Mary, please.

- Kathryn, how have you found you needed to adapt post-pandemic, but just even in general over, as Steve said, the past decade when it comes to the needs, the wants?

I've read a lot of studies, especially tied to the work that we're doing, that what employers may think that the employees want may not necessarily be in direct correlation with what those employees are looking for.

So, have you found a top 1, 2, 3?

I'm a new employee coming in, I'm sitting in front of you, I'm looking for a job.

Tell us what is most important to employees in 2024?

- I think while we think, or we know compensation's important, but also I think feeling valued is huge these days.

Adding value and making sure that what I do as a person, as an employee here, is adding value to the company, that it's recognized.

And I think also we sometimes, as employers, as bosses, forget that employees wanna know that there is a future for them.

That there's growth happening here and that I can be whoever I wanna be, or there's pathways, some kind of succession, something that I can do in the future.

- Mary, follow up on that, because there's an expression, I stole it and I always forget to cite where it comes from.

It's a quote from Jim Collins' book, "Good To Great".

Mary, you ever hear me say it's hire slow fire what?

- Oh, hire slow fire fast.

Yes, we've had every, Steve and I have worked together now going on 24 years and I like to bring that up mainly, because, again, Kathryn, as you were just talking about, Steve has been very flexible, very giving, when it comes to requests for what each of our team members needs.

But even despite of that, sometimes people leave, sometimes you bring somebody on board and they're not the right fit.

So, that is something that Steve and I have talked about a long time is we have to be much more intentional, much more very, very thoughtful as we're hiring new people.

As you are hiring new people, what are, if for somebody watching this who's out there looking for a job, they've got their resume out there, what do you look for in that candidate that's saying, you know, yeah, they are definitely CentraState material?

- Or someone hiring both ways, right, Mary?

- Exactly.

- When we're hiring, I think we need to always focus on the full person and say, "Is this person our material?

Is this person going to really add value?

Are they going to be flexible?"

The people who say, "Well, that's not my job, that's not my function," that's not who you kind of wanna hire.

- We've been there before, Kathryn, and that does not, I love, one time, years and years ago, I'll withhold names.

I had said to one of our team members, I said, "Oh, you know, would you, I really need some help with X, Y, Z project."

And I remember he said at the time, he was like, "Well, how much more am I gonna get in order to be doing that?"

Now, that was just the wrong answer.

- And a lot of people are thinking that way.

And I think, and I always say, I go back to when I first started in HR, I got a, well back then they didn't call it this, but stretch assignment.

It had nothing to do with my job.

It came, but it came from the head of HR and I had to figure out how to solve this problem and I figured it out.

And I think that's what really boosted me in my career in HR, is always saying yes, always would be willing to learn, always wanting to grow.

And I think that's the best kind of candidate to hire in any field, in any company, any industry.

- Lemme make this really tough on you, okay?

- Okay.

- So, there's a chapter, I'm very uncomfortable promoting my book, but in this book "Lessons in Leadership 2.0: The Tough Stuff", there's a chapter and it asks a question, but in the question, in the chapter, I try to answer the question and the question is, "Is everyone a leader?"

And I make the argument that everyone on a great team, not a mediocre or average team, on a great team, everyone has to be a leader of some sort, regardless of their title, regardless of their position, or their place in an org chart.

Do you believe that, that everyone needs to be a leader of some sort?

Or can we be the best as an organization with people who do and wait to be told what to do?

I know it's complicated, but I think about that all the time.

- Oh, I love that.

I think, I never thought of it that way, but now that you mention it, I think we all can be leaders, even, you know, on great teams, I'll even say mediocre teams.

Because even if you're not leading people, you can lead a project, you can lead your job.

- You can lead yourself.

- Right, you can lead yourself.

Very good point.

You are taking, you being proactive and doing your job.

You don't have to wait for me to tell you what to do.

So yeah, that's a great point.

Anyone can be a leader.

We all have it in us to do it.

We just have to bring it out each day and be intentional to do the work.

- Mary, you think we can get Kathryn to work with.

No, I'm sorry.

- That was all part of our master plan.

Don't, you know, tip your cards.

- But Mary, how many times have we had people say, I'm not, I'm not.

See, Kathryn said it's in someone you have, but it's our job as leaders that whatever the means at the top of an organization, to bring it out in people, how many times we have people either say or imply, I'm not, I'm not, don't try to make me a leader.

- Exactly, it happens all the time.

- Wow, that's unfortunate.

You know, to your point, we all have it in us.

We can do it.

We just have to want to.

- Yeah, a quick follow up on that, Kathryn.

When it comes to leadership, and again, I feel like, sorry, this is another somewhat loaded, tough question.

But do you believe that men and women lead differently or that we need, 'cause you're a woman leader in healthcare, I'm a woman leader on our team.

Do you feel like we have to lead differently?

Is there a difference between the way that men and women have to approach their leadership style?

- Ooh, good question.

- What program do you think you came on to, Kathryn?

- I know, I should have known better.

I hear you all the time and I hear you guys.

- Kathryn, we have nothing but hard questions.

I just don't have any answers.

Go ahead, men and women in leadership.

- I don't think they do lead differently.

I'm trying to think over time how my leaders have led me and helped me to become a leader and to be able to do my best.

And no, I think everyone kind of comes from, again, a place of humanity.

As long as we can remember that we're all human and we're trying to do our best and we want to learn, men and women can do the same type of leadership or have the same type of leadership style, in my experience.

- Well said, let's do this.

Kathryn, stay right there.

I wanna thank you officially for joining us, but is it possible to bring in someone behind the scenes who is directing the show as we speak right now, Elvin Badger, our director?

Elvin, can you come in right now?

Elvin?

I asked.

- I'm still doing the show.

Yes, sir, yes.

- Oh, sorry.

What?

Multitasking is not in your job description?

So, Elvin, I asked Kathryn about you.

What makes your great husband and father, leader.

A great wife, mother, person, leader, or your wife, or Kathryn?

- So, I'm very lucky to have married Kathryn and to have met her.

I don't think we work, I think we work side by side.

I push her, she pushes me, she's pushed me in my career, I've pushed her in her career.

We raise the kids together.

We're always on the same page, most of the time, when it comes to the kids, most of the times I'm the easier parent.

She's the one that's a little more stricter than I am, but I think that we make a great team.

- And dare I ask, in our home there's one CEO and I know it's not me.

And you?

- It's not me.

It's not me.

- You're not co-, hold on.

Mary and I have worked with organizations where there are co-CEOs and I never am convinced that co-quarterbacking or CEO's work.

Are you co, Kathryn, co-CEOs of the home?

- He's COO, I'm the CEO, and he's the COO.

- That's perfect, I love that analogy.

- He chairs our operations 100% and I just kind of help lead that, you know?

ensure that we're going to the gold.

- You're the strategic.

- Sorry, Steve.

- Go ahead, please.

- With one of my sons this weekend and I was looking to go buy a new iPhone and I said, "You know what, I think it's time to buy a new phone."

And then my son was like, "You better call mom."

(people laughing) And I was like, "What do you mean I have a job, I make my own money."

He was like, "You better call Mom.

Before you come home, you better call Mom."

- I love that.

- He knows who the CEO is?

- Yeah, the COO has to check with the CEO.

- Yes.

- And in our company, Mary, I've gone from being the CEO to working for you somehow.

I don't even know how that happened.

- Oh, only on certain days, Steve.

Most days you're the leader.

Sometimes I just need to nudge you a little bit.

- Yes.

Well, listen, Kathryn, I wanna thank you so much for joining us.

I'm sure this was not what you expected when we asked you to join us.

- It was great.

- We learned from you, we enjoyed having you, and you're welcome back on our series anytime.

Thanks so much.

- Thank you so much everyone.

- And thank you for Elvin.

We'll be back, I dunno if that makes any sense, but we'll be back.

- It doesn't make any sense.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Celebrating 30 years in public broadcasting.

Funding has been provided by NJM Insurance Group.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

Rutgers University Newark.

Newark Board of Education.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Citizens Philanthropic Foundation.

The Adler Aphasia Center.

Veolia, And by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Promotional support provided by Northjersey.com and Local IQ.

And by ROI-NJ.

NJM Insurance Group has been serving New Jersey businesses for over a century.

As part of the Garden State, we help companies keep their vehicles on the road, employees on the job and projects on track, working to protect employees from illness and injury, to keep goods and services moving across the state.

We're proud to be part of New Jersey.

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