Expand Your Edge

Dr. Stephanie Lopez joins us to discuss everything SELF; self-improvement, self-awareness, self-accountability and most importantly, SELF-ACCEPTANCE. She shares her personal struggles with a never-ending desire for self-improvement - always trying to accomplish the next thing and never taking time to acknowledge and celebrate achievements along the way.  We hear about how she overcame insecurities surrounding the practice of self-acceptance and how it is the antidote to so many of life's challenges. Tune in to find out how to spot signs that you are struggling with accepting yourself exactly as you are, right now, and ways to practice self-acceptance to truly harness the power of it. Listen TODAY on your favorite podcast platform!

In part 2 of this series, we explore our Missing Link Culture Model through the lens of the Space Shuttle Columbia accident, so that you can take valuable lessons from NASA and apply them to your own organization. This episode features former NASA Deputy Chief Engineer, Chris Singer, former Director of Engineering at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Dr. Patrick Simpkins, and the former Kennedy Space Center Change Manager, and co-author of our new book, The Missing Links: Launching a High Performing Company Culture, Dr. Phillip Meade.

Join me for a special two-part series, to take a behind-the-scenes look at the Space Shuttle Columbia Accident and how it shaped our ideas about culture.  I speak with three people with key leadership roles within NASA, both leading up to and following the tragedy: Chris Singer, former NASA Deputy Chief Engineer, Dr. Patrick Simpkins, Director of Engineering at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, and Dr. Phillip Meade, who was asked to lead the culture change initiative at Kennedy following the accident. If improving your company culture and developing your team's communication and collaboration is important to you, then this series is for you!

In this episode, Jim Tamm joins me to discuss how his career as a senior administrative law judge for the state of California inspired him to co-create Radical Collaboration – a powerful program with incredible results, centered around building successful relationships, both professionally and personally. He shares his success with reducing the amount of measurable conflict in nearly 100 various organizations by 67% (in merely 3.5 years!) and how it resulted in the state of California creating a non-profit foundation to continue his work.  It's an episode you won't want to miss if you're looking to level up your leadership and create stronger, more collaborative relationships with the humans on your team! Listen and subscribe, today!

Serial entrepreneur, Jonathan Taylor, has started seven companies, acquired 18 and sold three, for an undisclosed amount surpassing a quarter of a billion dollars. And yet he still was open to learning more effective ways to run businesses when he did the work of The Human Element. In this episode, he joins me to discuss his surprise at how often he was misunderstood, how openness was the grand simplifier, and how quickly it accelerates trust between people. We also debate whether or not one “needs” to be an asshole in business to succeed. Listen and subscribe, today!

Dr. Stephanie Lopez joins us to discuss everything SELF; self-improvement, self-awareness, self-accountability and most importantly, SELF-ACCEPTANCE.   She shares her personal struggles with a never-ending desire for self-improvement - always trying to accomplish the next thing and never taking time to acknowledge and celebrate achievements along the way.  We hear about how she overcame insecurities surrounding the practice of self-acceptance and how it is the antidote to so many of life’s challenges.   Tune in to find out how to spot signs that you are struggling with accepting yourself exactly as you are, right now, and ways to practice self-acceptance to truly harness the power of it.   Listen TODAY on your favorite podcast platform!

Cultural translator, storyteller, and activist, Tayo Rockson, gets real with us about racism.  He discusses the importance of seeing it as a whole and not simply looking at it through our own individual lens.  Push outside your comfort zone as we talk about self-reflection, tone policing, and approaching differing opinions, the power of choice, and more!   Be a part of the change.  Listen and subscribe!

I interview Dr. Tasha Eurich, a fellow organizational psychologist, best-selling author, and multiple TEDx speaker.   Dr. Eurich’s research focuses on self-awareness, and what I love about her is how she takes her research and makes it pragmatic and accessible for those of you who want to understand yourselves better. We talk about some of the powerful take-aways from her book, Insight, which I highly recommend, how to introspect more effectively, what daily practices you can do to create real transformation, and we also talk about whether we really can make the unconscious conscious.   Tasha has been named one of the top 30 emerging management thinkers in the world by Thinkers50, her TEDx’s, that’s right – multiple TEDx talks, have been viewed by more than four and a half million times, and she was also just recently ranked as Global Gurus #1 in the category of organizational culture research. 

On this episode, I interview Dr. Benjamin Hardy about his book, Personality Isn’t Permanent. We talk about the importance of letting go of who you think you are, and focusing instead on who you want to be. We talk about how you can work through trauma and break through whatever barriers hold you back today.

On this episode, Kayla Wonisch and I talk about the history of the United States and how racism has become part of the subconscious of The United States. When we, as humans, can combine psychology, human behavior, and history we can better understand how systemic racism has come to be. Understanding why frees us up to have the conversations that matter. 

On this episode, I interview Dr. Radley Griffin, CEO of Griffin Concierge Medical in Tampa, FL. Originally, Dr. Griffin was looking for leadership training. But he discovered that to really create an amazing culture, it all starts from the Inside Out.

What if you never did another performance review in your life? Would that make you happy? It pleases most people, research has shown that just about everybody hates the performance review process – employees and leaders alike!  In this episode I speak with Barbara Stankowski, CEO of AMTIS, Inc, about how she refused to implement a performance review process, yet focuses and invests heavily in helping employees improve performance – listen now to learn not just about her approach but tangible examples of how she makes this work while AMTIS has nearly doubled revenue in two years, and has received so many awards I don’t have the space to list them here.

Don’t shoot for the stars. In this episode, I speak with Matt Johnson, Founder and CEO of Pursuing Results. We talk about what self-awareness means to him, and specifically, we get in to why it’s best to look at goals as minimums and not maximums. He explains a method for productivity, accountability, and self-awareness reflection that gave me pause, even though conceptually, I’ve heard it before. He also described how this method of setting goals creates more freedom in his life, while still driving productivity.

On this episode, I speak with William Hung, who you all probably know as the guy who sang “She Bangs” for his American Idol audition back in 2004. Today William is focused on helping others feel like and become champions by choice. He talks about his own attitude towards “failure” and looking at the bright side of life. Truly an inspiration and somebody who knows how to make lemons out of lemonade!

Matt Dunsmoor is an Igniter at Start with Why – Simon Sinek’s company. He was introduced to Simon’s work while working at Zappo’s, and today he is an Igniter. We talk about the importance of starting with why, Matt’s proudest moment at Zappos and why direction is more important than destination.

Say yes, and your life will improve. If you have seen Yes Man with Jim Carrey, you might have garnered this lesson already. But that is only one lesson of dozens that Bob Kodzis drops in this episode. He’s a performer, instructor, facilitator and consultant, or truly – whatever he wants to be.

Aaron LeClair values transparency, openness and relationships with people above all else. So what to do, when he finds himself in an organization asking him to go against those values? In this episode, we talk about his experience in this space, what he learned, and we even dive into an example of this misalignment that included yours truly.

In this episode, I welcome back Gabriela Buich to the show, and we give a peek “behind the curtain” and describe what it is like for the two of us – experts in self-awareness and communication – to work together. We share our own insecurities, and how our loving, trusting relationship enables incredible openness and self-accountability, and I finally share the story I alluded to in the episode with CEO Topcoder Mike Morris.

Gene McCulley’s company was growing without intention, and when the company culture began to fragment, he wanted to invest in making it as strong and positive as possible. When it seemed a harder challenge than he realized, he began to consider selling off part of the business to solve that and other challenges related to growth. Listen now to hear his story!

In this episode I speak with Jason Polstein about how he applied self-accountability as a concept inside his organization in the face of major loss. He also describes how growth mindset has changed his language and how staying open to possibilities preserves brainpower. We end with discussion of how Star Trek and Neil deGrasse Tyson changed how he thinks about how he communicates.

Kayla participated in our 5-day workshop focused on self-awareness and its impact on leadership, productivity and fulfillment at work. We talk about how being too nice is a defense mechanism that manifests the very fear that drives the behavior, as well as how behaviors are intergenerational and learned and how conscious choices can create meaningful change in how we walk through the world.

Colby Shytle was struggling with dark thoughts and anxiety like he’d never experienced before. He reached out for help, looking for tools to change the way he was walking through the world. And because he was open to it, his experience with The Human Element enabled him to transform in a moment. Just as a ship captain decides to change the course in a moment, a human can transform in a moment, so that every step forward after that moment is in a new direction.

We’ve rebranded the company which means we’re rebranding the show! Kayla and I chat about why we decided to rebrand our company and what the new name is all about. She also asks me about the origin of the business – why I started the company and why I chose to leave an exciting career at NASA (and Disney!) to do my own thing. We talk about the genesis of our core values, Progress over perfection, Uninhibited Teamwork, and Power of Choice, all of which came from the Human Element® and Radical CollaborationTM programs.

In this episode, originally recorded back in 2014 (release is early 2018), Laura describes one of her most emotional experiences from early adulthood that shaped her self-concept and was the catalyst for her to look deeper into true authenticity and taught the importance of self-acceptance.

In this episode, I speak with Mike Morris, CEO of Topcoder. Topcoder has grown and seen tremendous success, yet Mike knows the team is capable of even more. We talk about creating peer-to-peer accountability on the team, the importance of looking in the mirror, and how critical it is to let go of predispositions about people, and instead – believe in their ability to learn and grow.

In this episode, I talk with Kayla – my executive assistant, my marketing coordinator, and a good friend about our decision to travel around the world in 2018. We talk about where we are going, why we are going, and what we think will follow as a result…when things are uncertain, then anything is possible.

In this episode, I talk with Ben O’Connell, VP of Sales at National Carts. He talks about the very real culture change initiative, and how growing his own self-awareness has given him far greater personal power. We discuss self-talk and how much it can get in the way of communicating openly, honestly, and more effectively – not just at work, but everywhere in life. It’s why he calls it “The Lifestyle”

Tom Cannon was hired as the CEO of National Carts, a company that had been around for over 25 years, about 3 years ago. He talks about the process of creating a common vision when stepping into somebody else’s company, as well as the process of realizing that nothing about the culture was aligned with that future vision. He describes his investment in changing the culture, including taking everybody through Radical Collaboration®, which focuses on building collaborative skills like self-awareness and self-accountability, and elaborates on growing his own self-awareness.

In this episode, I speak with Terrence Donnelly and Joshua Imel, co-founders of Teeps, and we talk about how to NOT allow people issues to take down your business. Specifically, we discuss how to break out of “violent agreement” and reach true alignment, and how by changing their individual patterns they have managed to grow their business while employing sustainable balance (yes, even as a start-up!), and helping each other grow as leaders and business owners.

In this episode, I speak with Alexandria Agresta, the founder of My Loop and co-founder of Purpose Pioneers. We talk about pre-Human Element™ Alex (a less self-aware version of herself), and how changing her communication has completely transformed her relationships, how she thinks about herself, and how she walks through the world. We talk about specific language shifts and how it changes not only the meaning, but also the mindset one has.

On today’s episode, I talk to Suneera Madhani, the founder and CEO of Fattmerchant. I met Suneera when she was going through Starter Studio, a tech accelerator in Orlando, FL, and when her team was preparing for incredible growth, she asked for my help to align her team. My purpose in life is to help teams increase their cohesion and effectiveness, ultimately driving organizational performance, and a lot of that involves growing individual self-awareness to create more self-accountable team members who then communicate and collaborate more effectively. AND, there is also the critical element of aligning your team on the core elements of your organization. Why do you exist, what do you do (and what do you NOT do), what is your vision of the future, how do we align decisions to maximize the likelihood we get there (AKA strategy), and how do we treat each other along the way (AKA culture). I use the framework from Patrick Lencioni’s The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything to create a playbook for executive teams. In my interview with Suneera, we discuss everything from self-awareness to recover from defensiveness to finding your true purpose as an organization to how a viral article in Fast Company broke Fattmerchant, but ultimately prepared them to align strategically in preparation for scalability and 10x growth. If you are an entrepreneur who wants to grow a company, or a leader who wants to create a kick ass culture, you don’t want to miss this conversation. 

In this episode, I speak with Gabriela Buich, one of our talented executive coaches and consultants, and Licensed Human Element Practitioner. We speak about one of the most toxic elements in organizations: triangulation. Talking about somebody instead of directly to somebody, when you have a problem with them. She explains what it is, how it happens, what it costs the organization, and how you, as a leader, can turn it around to make your organization a triangulation-free zone.

In this episode, I speak with Danya Shea, who goes by “Shea” about her self-awareness journey. As a well-respected entrepreneur and avid supporter of forward thinking founders and leaders, Shea usually looks like she has it all together – because she’s a bad-ass. But she wants you to know that there’s a lot happening under the surface and that anybody you meet who seems to really have it all together has probably put years into both tearing down and building up their own self-concept. Shea tells us how listening to her body has enabled her to be more effective in difficult situations, and how becoming aware of subconscious narratives empowers us to tell a different story.

Do you have somebody on your team that is competent and capable, a “latent leader” who can rally the troops, but does so… in the wrong direction? That was Roy, a self-described “trouble maker” using Slack to do “the devil’s work,” but today he is an invaluable asset at UniKey Technologies – hear Roy and executive at UniKey, Lee, describe his journey and transformation. In episode 2, I talked with Lee Odess, VP at UniKey Technologies about their bold decision to invest heavily in their leadership development, culture, and team cohesion. Roy’s story is a specific example of the impact of such an investment.

In this episode, I talk with Lee Odess, VP at UniKey Technologies about their bold decision to invest heavily in their leadership development, culture, and team cohesion. Odess describes what drove their decision to overcome the fear associated with self-improvement and self-awareness, their commitment to defend the investment to their board, and the impact it has had on him personally as well as the team. In part 2 of this 2-part series, I talk with Odess about Roy Johnson, a talented engineer who went from being a self-described “troublemaker” to a reliable, effective “right hand” and somebody I describe as the poster child for self-accountability in the organization.

In this episode, we talk to Dr. Stephanie Lopez about the first time she experienced The Human Element. She shares stories and examples with us about her journey of self-awareness. She describes the process of discovering that it was her own insecurity that would sometimes trigger behaviors she wanted to change, like being unknowingly passive-aggressive or thinking critical thoughts about others. Her courage and vulnerability are admirable – listen now to hear for yourself!