From My Heart To Yours

Alex Panayotou: “We are born to share. Community is something we yearn for, yet some communities might not be very nurturing. Whatever we are living, everything becomes more precious when we share. It enriches our lives, amplifies our joy, and lightens our load. When we are tired we need our quiet time with a few people or no people. We need a quiet setting to recover. Sharing doesn't have to be with everybody all the time. There can be intimate sharing as well. It's important to share with the right people. Even though I had a solo long distance running career, the most impactful moments of my life were the hugs and tears of ‘we've done it', rather than ‘I've done it!'.  We all want to be brought into the fold. Everyone wants to be seen and heard, even the most difficult among us, especially the most difficult among us.” * Have a listen as I interview my special guest Alex Panayotou.  Find out how to grab life and “live it” no matter what's going on around you.

Alex Panayotou: “Trust is vital professionally and personally. It's absolutely fundamental in interpersonal issues and trusting in ourselves. Trusting our inner voice is vital to our safety and wellbeing. Some people confuse that voice with fear mongering, which is a saboteur. Most humans have been trained out of the ability of listening to their inner voice–listening to their gut. We can bring it back into our lives.  We can re-learn how to dream, laugh, let down our hair, and dance in the rain. We get to evaluate and navigate our own lives and be in touch with our navigation system. We get to choose a path, find our own direction, and choose the people who are right for us.”  * Have a listen as I interview my special guest Alex Panayotou.  Find out how to grab life and “live it” no matter what's going on around you.

Alex Panayotou: “Fear is natural for all of us. We've given it far too much power by allowing it to make decisions for us. It drives us in directions that aren't right for us and holds us back from doing the things that would allow us to thrive. So when we learn to use fear properly, it helps us with risk assessment, puts us in touch with our innate inner voice, and warns us about certain things. If we want to thrive in our lives, if we want success, whatever success means for us, we get to let go of the power fear currently has over us.  We can't avoid fear by sticking our heads in the sand like an ostrich. We can feel it, analyze it, and assess it.  Rather than avoiding fear, we can learn how to overcome it.  If your goals are meaningful enough for you, it doesn't matter if they're meaningful for other people. This is what gives us the inner commitment and motivation that we need to go ahead despite the fears that might try to hold us back. If we give into fear, we will never move forward in any way.  We can never feel as happy and fulfilled as we would otherwise.”  * Have a listen as I interview my special guest Alex Panayotou.  Find out how to grab life and “live it” no matter what's going on around you.

Alex Panayotou: "When you're speaking from the soul, and you're speaking about life, about things that you know, you can't make mistakes–because this is living. Life is not picture perfect. Life is not a cookie cutter. What I have to say about living is do it. I don't mean breathing and having your heart go boom, boom, boom. We get to grab life and live, regardless of what's going on around us. Life is too wonderful not to be living it fully.  I've been through the struggling spectrums through my earlier years, less living and more surviving. I started living when I discovered I had a gift for running, which is when I started to listen to my inner voice.  It's important to listen and not necessarily to our logic.  When I started to run very long distances solo, I initially thought I was doing it for charity. In reality, I was doing it to let go of my demons and all the things holding me back in my life.  As I began to truly live, my thoughts started to change.  My life started to simplify. I started to gain clarity. I started to leave behind the things that were holding me back. Not just the inner things–the outer things as well. I gained the ability to live my emotions and appreciate life like I hadn't before.”   * Have a listen as I interview my special guest Alex Panayotou.  Find out how to grab life and “live it” no matter what's going on around you.

Henry K. H. Wang emphasizes the importance of individual lifestyle changes for sustainable practices and environmental protection. He discusses his role in training teachers and students in Hong Kong to develop projects for environmental conservation, highlighting the success of the Ocean Park's coral restoration program. Henry points out the need for increased recycling, noting that Hong Kong's rate is only 32-34%, compared to 70% in China, and 80% in San Francisco. He also mentions the concept of sponge cities in Thailand to combat flooding and the role of mangrove trees in preventing erosion. Additionally, Henry addresses the issue of plastic pollution in our oceans and how they are affecting marine life. He suggests practical steps that everyone can do to save our planet. Henry K. H. Wang: “Every one of us can change our lifestyle, so we can do more in creating a sustainable way to take care of the planet. Some cities around the world, particularly those near rivers, suffer from flooding every year. For example, Thailand has many cities, including Bangkok, which suffer from these floods. They have successfully introduced, as part of new smart city development, the concept of a sponge city. Thailand is restoring the green lands, gardens, and parks that they had created in the past.  There's a type of tree that can be placed along the edge of water and the roots are not in the ground, they're curled at the edge of the water. These trees, mangrove trees, help with erosion.  So, nature can be used to strengthen a city to become more resistant to flooding.” * Have a listen as I interview my special guest Henry K. H. Wang. Find out what climate change really means.

Henry K. H. Wang discusses his journey from starting at the bottom of corporate life to becoming a corporate leader and board member, emphasizing the importance of giving back by sharing his knowledge with younger generations and international organizations like the G20 and B20. He highlights his involvement in climate change and sustainability initiatives, contributing to policy recommendations that influence global government policies.  Henry values donating knowledge over wealth, aiming to leave a lasting impact through his books, lectures, and speeches. We both agree on the significance of giving back and the various forms it can take. Henry K. H. Wang: “There are different ways of donating. I enjoy sharing my knowledge. Many billionaires pledge to give away their wealth before they die. I want to give away all my knowledge before I die. When I die and am cremated, all my knowledge will become carbon molecules, so that's not going to be much use to anybody. But things I've written, lectures I've given, the six books I've written and hopefully the seventh, together with the 100 papers and speeches I've written will benefit students.” * Have a listen as I interview my special guest Henry K. H. Wang. Find out what climate change really means.

Henry K. H. Wang, a climate change expert based in Hong Kong, discusses his extensive career and contributions to climate action. Henry has worked with major corporations and been appointed by the Prime Ministers of the UK and China to bilateral climate working groups. He has also advised G20 leaders and B20 CEOs on climate, energy, and sustainability.  Henry has authored six books, three on successful business negotiations and management and three on energy, climate change, and sustainability–with a seventh on carbon neutrality in the works. In this episode, Henry emphasizes the urgent need to address climate change, citing extreme weather events like wildfires, typhoons, and flooding as evidence of its impact. He highlighted the complexity and global nature of climate challenges, stressing the importance of international cooperation and preparedness. Henry K. H. Wang: “I was born in Hong Kong, did my university education in the UK, and then had the fortune of joining one of the biggest companies in the world, working in different locations in Europe and Asia. I've also worked in the Middle East.  In my 40 years of corporate life, I was very fortunate to be the director for strategy, guiding these major enterprises towards their successful development.  I was lucky to be involved with climate change for the past 20 years.  I found this to be a great area for me to devote a lot of my time and energy.”  * Have a listen as I interview my special guest Henry K. H. Wang. Find out what climate change really means.

Theofanis Varvoglis: “Hugging is a physical expression of warmth and safety, involving total vulnerability. Hugging is like a handshake, which historically served as a non-aggression signal. You couldn't draw your sword if you were shaking someone's hand. With hugging you are extra vulnerable and not only signally non-aggression, you are intimately sharing yourself with another.  Hugging is a step beyond smiling, eye contact, and a handshake because it builds deeper trust and initiates intimacy.  Intimacy is difficult without trust.  Physical interactions create a sense of completeness and happiness. Engagement with others is essential for emotional well-being and trust. Emotional fuel is necessary to run through life effectively. We can build trust and connection through various forms of engagement.  As humans, we desperately want to connect and understand one another.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest Theofanis Varvoglis. Find out how learning to enjoy life can enhance your life.

Theofanis Varvoglis: “I believe that smiling is a signal of openness and positivity, and the first step to trust. Smiling creates bridges between people, fostering feelings of safety and warmth. As humans we have a need for social interaction and love.  Love guides our decisions and makes life meaningful.  Life is a mystery and love is its purpose.  I also believe that love has a significant impact on business success, as it often leads to quality and value.  It's important to stay authentic and loving in all aspects of one's life.”  Have a listen as I interview my special guest Theofanis Varvoglis. Find out how learning to enjoy life can enhance your life.

Theofanis Varvoglis: “Greece is pretty open about religion. It has a strong cultural aspect to it and identifies us culturally, not as much religiously. In my younger years, I said, "If Christ said all these things, why don't we keep them? Why don't we do the things he says? I tried to do the things he said.  As a child I believed.  As humans we are very strict about death. I'm not talking about killing in general. We are very strict about it as a society, this makes sense to me. But nature is not that way. Nature feels death is a necessary thing. If I were dying and saying goodbye to everybody, I'd want them to know that if I had treated them wrongly, it wasn't because I intended to. ‘I tried. I did my best. I didn't mean to harm you.' People in general try. They don't set out to attack you or harm you. It's their limitations that get in the way and have this impact. So when you see someone failing, they aren't being lazy. Don't think they are mal-intended. Think that they are trying and doing the best they can.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest Theofanis Varvoglis. Find out how learning to enjoy life can enhance your life.

Theofanis Varvoglis: “Why am I here? What am I doing here? What is my purpose? I always had the feeling that my job here was to improve myself. I had this thing about learning through life. The mystery of life to me is like a school. I've always felt transitional, I'm coming to go, and that must be why I felt it was so important to learn about myself. The more I learn, the more certain I become that I cannot interpret anything.  Like the old adage, the more I learn ‘the less I know'.  I was very opinionated as a child and as a young man. I had clear opinions. I used to believe that there's no life after death, which my father also believed. Now I can't even understand how I thought that. I can't understand how someone can even imagine there is no life after death. I was a rational person and used logic. I wasn't much into believing in religion as described by society.”   Have a listen as I interview my special guest Theofanis Varvoglis. Find out how learning to enjoy life can enhance your life.

Simon Haigh: “We are what we think and who we associate with. Everything starts with our thoughts. Then it goes to our feelings and eventually our behaviors, which can result in physical symptoms. So why not have a positive outlook? When I went through therapy, a number of years back, I was guided to imagine meeting the child version of myself. The boy Simon, who was confused, scared, and full of fear. The boy with a good brain, who had all of those things dragging him down. I was told to go up to him, put my arms around him, and give him a big hug.  Then stand back and visualize his face.  See the look of relief on his face. The look of 'oh, I'm not by myself anymore'. So, give yourself a hug. Sometimes we need to give ourselves a break.  It's so important to have at least one person in your life who you can share your thoughts, worries, and concerns with. It can be somebody different from your spouse. Somebody you really trust; somebody who's not going to judge you. I have a good mentor, he's a sponsor to me like in the program in relation to addiction. I talked to him once a week, I talk to him every Thursday night. We tell each other how we're feeling, what's happened for us this week. Particularly our specific challenges. If you don't tell somebody you really trust, about the things that are worrying you, the chances are they are going to build inside you and create fear. Just let it out. just let it out.  By doing that, the other person might be benefiting from it as well.”  Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Simon Haigh. Find out how learning to enjoy life can enhance your life.

Simon Haigh: “Coming from a very dark place in my life, I realized that I didn't love myself. I treated myself like a vehicle. As I came out of that, I started to love and respect myself. If you can't be honest with yourself, you're not your own best friend. It's important to support yourself, as well as listen to yourself. Listen to your body and listen to your heart. It's not easy because our ego gets in the way. The mind starts whispering, ‘Simon, this is a load of rubbish! You don't need to be doing this stuff'. It's important to push that voice away, and be pure of thought.  We can wash away resentment by focusing on the things we are grateful for. There are many reasons why people fall into addiction. Typically, fear, anger, and resentment. For me it was resentment. Carrying resentment, that negative feeling about other people, is a complete and utter waste of time. It's feeding cancer in your body. We can wash away resentment by focusing on the things we are grateful for. Find a common ground with people and build rapport. See the good in people. When you meet someone, do your best to make them feel better for having met you.  Really put forth the effort and tell people you love them. And make sure you are doing the same for yourself.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Simon Haigh. Find out how learning to enjoy life can enhance your life.

Simon Haigh: “The day after my last drink I went for a swim in an open air swimming pool in Perth, Western Australia. I went under the water and heard a voice. I didn't see flashing lights or anything. There was no other human being under the water. So there was no other voice. And I definitely didn't say anything. But I heard a distinct voice, a very calm voice. The words were very clearly audible. 'Simon, you never need to worry again'. Something shifted in me and I'm convinced that was the day I got in touch with my higher power.  Now, if I make mistakes, I learn from those mistakes.  I do my best; I don't live in the past and I don't get hung up on the future.  I live in the moment; a bit like what Eckhart Tolle says in his book, "The Power of Now". Basically, live your best life and wake up to the fact that this is your best life. The future is the future, the past is the past. That's why today is our present. It's a present to be present.  Life is precious. Enjoy every moment, even the difficult moments.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Simon Haigh. Find out how learning to enjoy life can enhance your life.

Simon Haigh: "I had a successful career as a lawyer and as an executive. I've also dealt with Imposter Syndrome and ended up drinking too much. About 15 years ago, I decided I needed to look at myself. I was in a really bad place personally. There was a grayness over my life. It felt like I was dragging a ball and chain behind me. I knew that if I didn't get alcohol out of my life, the things that were more important to me would be gone.  So I started working on myself over a period of about 5 years. As a direct result, I finally connected with what I describe as my higher power. I was educated as a Catholic in England and I went through all that sort of stuff, but I always pushed against it. I never wanted to believe in a God.  Today as I look out the window and see the branches swaying in the wind, I know I'm not making them sway. Acknowledging a greater power than me has been a gift because it has allowed me to connect with amazing people around the world. If you are willing, open minded, and self honest, which are three key traits of recovery, amazing things do unfold. That's been my experience. So I would encourage everybody to look at themselves.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Simon Haigh. Find out how learning to enjoy life can enhance your life.

Natalia Proops: “The French have a word for lightness, légèreté. They use the expression la légèreté in so many ways. Living here in France for over 20 years, I'm quite used to hearing it and of course using it myself. When they compliment a dessert for example, they say, “Oh, c'est léger” (oh, it's light). Originally in French cuisine, they preferred herbs to spices. Now international spices are being used. I do have a manual from my Ayurvedic training, which has just about every spice for every type of food and what kind of properties each one has. Ayurvedic cooking for me is any cuisine of the world, which is balanced by different ingredients, according to a person's requirements. Surprisingly, this can be passed on very easily.  Freedom to me means discovering the world and having new experiences. Meeting new people, discovering their beauty, and hearing their stories inspires me. Being in new places, seeing the colors, and smelling the fragrances brings a certain sparkle to my life. Taking it all in makes me feel alive. I enjoy making even the mundane things of life beautiful and perfect, without stepping into perfectionism. Creating beauty for me is about creating uninterrupted flow.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Natalia Proops. Find out how creating beauty can enhance your life.

Natalia Proops: “When I did a class with my clients, they had to close their eyes and listen to different sounds. Bird sounds (calls and songs) are very primal sounds. How a human being perceives those sounds, depends on what memories they have.  Pastel iridescent colors are my favorite. Designer Giorgio Armani does it very well using those colors in his runway shows. We have an artist and concert pianist, who has a castle close by, and the cultural circle I belong to took a trip to see her. As I am aging, it was wonderful to see a woman who is over ninety wearing those colors. Iridescent colors change color as the angle of view changes. For quite a few years, I've been looking for a perfume with the perfect fragrance of a rose. In my search, I have smelled a lot of perfumes. Many of them had things added. I just wanted the scent of a pure rose, and nothing that smelled synthetic. It was quite the challenge. I recently discovered it and got it as a Valentine's present. Like the Lily of the Valley, it is impossible to extract the essence of a rose. It must be created. My husband created a solar powered candelabra outside the entrance of our castle. When we arrive home in the evening, it sparkles.  What I wish for everyone is that their life would be easier. When I meet a person who is very inspired and passionate about something, I am moved to do anything I can to make it easier for them. Sometimes it's just listening and other times it might be cooking a meal and letting them know I care about them and their passion or health condition. I believe it is important to seek moments of ease and comfort. This is what I enjoy giving to people from my heart, so they can recharge and keep marching throughout their journey.”   Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Natalia Proops. Find out how creating beauty can enhance your life.

Natalia Proops: “I love beautiful buildings and when our daughter was a year old, my husband, who is English, and I were thinking of moving to the UK. I came across a link to a castle for sale in France.  Everything I learned and dreamt off when I was a child and adolescent in Russia suddenly came flooding back to me: studying French, looking at the streets of Paris in magazines, etc. Even though it was a huge challenge and we both spoke French at the level of a 3-year old, we bought Chateau Landifer and moved to the Loire Valley. It wasn't the chateau/castle I had initially seen online. It was, however, in the same valley. This area of France is known for its vineyards, wineries, and castles. As you look up at Chateau Landifer, you see some sculptured faces on the corner of the towers. These are faces of neighbors at the time it was built, which was before Versailles. In France, Lily of the Valley is the flower of happiness. “Diorissimo, the perfume of Christian Dior, is an imitation of Lily of the Valley. It's impossible to extract the essence of certain flowers, so they need to be recreated. I absolutely love fragrances. When I moved to France, I began to study them.  In France, the first of May is Happiness Day as well as International Workers Day. People give one another small bouquets of Lily of the Valley on that day. I have attended various cooking schools and I prefer to cook meals from the countries I have visited. Through my studies, I became an Ayurvedic Lifestyle Consultant (Chopra Global). I can analyze a person's mind and body constitution and determine what kind of imbalance they have, that might be different from their original constitution. Then, I can adjust their meals based on the cuisine they like and of course what allergies or sensitivities they have.”    Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Natalia Proops. Find out how creating beauty can enhance your life.

Natalia Proops: “When I was eight, I went with my parents to the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow to watch the Nutcracker, by Tchaikovsky. It was staged at the time by Marius Petipa, and it was pure magic. Imaginal exposure for children that I still find absolutely beautiful. Walking around in a beautiful dress looking at Buckingham Palace in London, when I was twenty-one, I felt the connection of beauty within the world. The thought that ran through my mind was, “I can now see the world”.  The first time I did an ikebana, a Japanese flower arrangement, I was in my thirties, and a student in New Zealand. Ikebana is the centuries-old Japanese art of arranging flowers, which translates to “making flowers come alive”. In ikebana, the key consideration is to use as few stems and leaves as possible in composing elegant contours that highlight the flowers' beauty. Three to five years are required to acquire the technical and expressive skills. Sogetsu is a modern school of the Japanese art of flower arranging, which was part of the school I attended. My first arrangement, which was the simplest one, amazed me that it really was ikebana. I could not believe I had actually done it.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Natalia Proops. Find out how creating beauty can enhance your life.

Maria N. Papacosta: "It's easier to embrace our fears when we realize that everyone is afraid. We are interconnected and we need each other's support. We can't go far alone. And by being kind, by helping other people, we're basically doing ourselves a favor because it makes us feel good. And of course, what goes around comes around.  As a society in this modern era, we forget to be kind to each other. We forget that everybody has their own problems and concerns. The words we choose to say to ourselves and others are powerful. They can do harm or they can do good.  COVID was a good example of waking up and realizing that what happens in China does not stay in China anymore. What we do or don't do in our families ripples out into future generations. What we do in our neighborhood, city, state or country ripples out into the world. When it comes to the saying: ‘What's good for me is good for the planet' is slowly changing back to the indigenous understanding that ‘what's good for the planet is good for me'.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Maria Papacosta. Find out how to let go and trust the process.

Maria N. Papacosta: “I believe that the key to everything is to be kind; and I love the saying, ‘In a world where you can be anything, be kind'. The number one person to be kind to is ourselves. As humans, we are typically the last on the list. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, ‘You cannot do kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late'.  I have identified who I want to be.  Looking at my values and the behaviors I would like to exhibit - I ask myself questions like, ‘What is holding me back? What am I afraid of?' And that is how I define my fears.  Fear is something natural. It's our innate defense mechanism.  It's important to thank the inner voice that is trying to protect us. Our brains are wired for negativity and protection. Switching to positive outcomes changes our perspective. It's actually a way for us to trick our brains. High level athletes do that and even practice perfect outcomes in their minds. Studies have shown that practicing in the mind improves accuracy, when we do take action.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Maria Papacosta. Find out how to let go and trust the process.

Maria N. Papacosta: “In the transformational Disney movie Frozen, Elsa is observing the snow flurries on a mountain top. In other words, she is at that higher range of perspective where everything doesn't seem so big anymore. She sings the song, ‘Let it Go' when she decides to stop the ‘conceal, don't feel' and the ‘keeping others from getting in and knowing who she really is and how she really feels'. It's a song about letting go of what we can't control, like what others think or are going to say. The song goes beyond transparency and into vulnerability.  Elsa sings, ‘It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small. And the fears that once controlled me, can't get to me at all. It's time to see what I can do to test the limits and break through. No right, no wrong, no rules for me. I'm free!' That's how I felt going from an extremely shy kid to standing on a stage as a speaker in the spotlight. It's been a long journey of ‘letting go'.  I am obsessed with presence. The ability to 'let go' of what isn't in our control - is what differentiates high presence individuals from the rest. They worry about the things they can control and they let go of the things they cannot.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Maria Papacosta. Find out how to let go and trust the process.

Maria N. Papacosta: “I was born in Greece and when I was six months old my dad got a job with a German company in Jordan. So, he moved our family there and we traveled with him between Greece, Germany, Jordan, and a little bit of Switzerland. It's hard for any kid to make friends and learn how to socialize in new environments, especially one that is extremely shy. That was me. I had to meet new kids as well as learn how to read and write in multiple languages. It was quite a struggle for me at the beginning.  Up until I was fourteen years old, there were periods of time when we were separated from my dad. That was emotionally draining for all of us. The end result was a kid who was extremely shy and not very social. Once I analyzed that as an adult, I completely transformed.  My transformation seemed to define my purpose in life. Having a business that helps people to stand out and not be afraid to follow their dreams, has been wonderful. I really enjoy teaching my clients how to communicate with impact and influence. I've become a speaker who stands on stage, and in doing so, I have overcome my fear of standing out.  While growing up, we start monitoring the different personalities around us. We start to wish we were like this person or that person. This type of thinking keeps us from discovering ourselves.  I went into the speaking industry at a relatively young age. I had to collaborate with other speakers as an event organizer. Initially I would look at all the speakers and think, ‘Oh my God, they don't even appear to be afraid, they stand in the spotlight and communicate with huge audiences. I wish I could do that, and I know I can't. Why?' It was reflecting on the why that gave me the resources to transform myself into who I am today.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Maria Papacosta. Find out how to let go and trust the process.

David Ross: “Without a sense of community, there is a sense of loneliness. The world would be a very boring place if we were all clones of one another. We'd be seeing everything in the same way. We'd be approaching everything in the same way. And our blind spots would be gigantic. Relationships are the building blocks of community and a small step towards an individual being able to be part of a bigger structure. One that can deal with anything and everything and help us reach our full potential.  Community moves us away from the ego, where it's ‘all about me' to a place of serving others: serving an individual, serving the community, serving society, and serving the natural environment.  Thinking beyond ourselves is how we can achieve meaning in our own lives and live a truly fulfilling life.” * Have a listen as I interview my special guest, David Ross. Find out the true meaning of community.

David Ross: “Some of the gigs I get are on behalf of layers of government. I talk to various communities, some of these communities are the size of European nations. In order to connect with their hopes and dreams about the future, whether that be social, environmental, economic technology, etc. I start off by asking this question, “What do you love about your town?  I was fascinated the day I was in a group of First Nations people. Their responses were quite enlightening and the word environment holds a very different meaning for me now.  One person's response, ‘We don't see the town. What we love is the connection we have with the natural environment, with inanimate things and with each other.' This is indigenous thinking and I love it. The main focus is connection and how ‘my' actions impact others, including animals, plants, and ecosystems. We are far more connected than we have ever been, yet, in the case of organizations, I don't think they appreciate that.  Their stakeholders are more connected, educated, and sophisticated than they've ever been before and they are becoming more demanding with respect to their expectations of a particular organization.  Beginning with the Industrial Revolution, we started seeing the environment as something that we have mastery over–'humanity has mastery over the environment. We can do anything we like to it. We're so smart, we'll put it all back together again someday or die, and it will be somebody else's problem'. * Have a listen as I interview my special guest, David Ross. Find out the real meaning of connection.

David Ross: “For me, dignity comes at the intersection of corporate strategy, government policy, the natural environment, and community. So it's quite an interesting place to play. I get to fully appreciate CEOs reflecting on how things seem harder because the skills they used to employ are no longer relevant in this new, complex, and rapidly changing world.  People are demanding dignity. People are feeling that their sense of worth is being questioned or isn't even considered to begin with. Hierarchies are still being played out. And people are questioning that. As leaders, we need to get in touch with ourselves in order for others to come with us. When leaders have changed something about themselves or had the self-awareness to realize how disconnected they were or how their behavior was negatively impacting others–they say how much they wished they had figured things out years ago. It's an epiphany that's rather euphoric.  By letting go, we create ripples of significant benefits.”  * Have a listen as I interview my special guest, David Ross. Find out what happens when we let go and focus on dignity.

David Ross: “Love in the business world might seem like an incredibly strange thing to share with people. But I think it's an interesting way of looking beneath or beyond the challenges we face. The relationships between communities and organizations or stakeholders and organizations or staff and organizations are fragmenting. There is a crisis in the area of trust.  I think what we've lost is the appreciation of each other as being human.  For me, love is more than just a simple word–it's kind of a mindset. If we stop, take a deep breath, and appreciate the value that each of us can bring to challenges–we can turn wicked problems into wicked opportunities. There's so much available to us when we start honoring one another.  I was born and bred in Sydney, Australia. My mates and I would spend everyday playing out in the bush. Spending so much time in nature informed my life and my values going forward. I am the youngest of three boys and there is quite an age gap between myself and my older brothers.  Our Mum was wonderful and had a wonderful sense of humor. She passed away 15 years ago from Alzheimer's. The lessons I learned from her were about making people feel welcomed and valued. My dad, on the other hand, was narcissistic in focus which to say the least, presented some challenges. He had no interest in his children, totally detached. I just didn't exist.  Transforming from that challenge required me to value myself. I developed an ability to listen to people and be there for people. My “spidey sense” is the ability to realize when somebody's feeling marginalized or uncomfortable.  I now help leaders and organizations deal with their most complex and often controversial issues, hence I am a strategist, leadership coach, and peacemaker.  Through love and peacemaking, I bring very disparate groups together to find commonality and a way to move forward.” * Have a listen as I interview my special guest, David Ross. Find out how love and peacemaking bring us together.

Discernment reveals things that you don't already know and directs you in your decision-making process. It also gives you clarity and wisdom, as well as an advantage in many situations. Logical-Mathematical  Linguistic Spatial Body-Kinesthetic Musical Naturalistic Interpersonal Intrapersonal Emotional (Interpersonal & Intrapersonal) Existential Creative Collaborative Practical * If you would like to know more about discernment then you won't want to miss this conversation with my special guest Eva Hoffman. Find out how you can easily tap into your own discernment internally as well as externally through your strengths and passions.

Todd Cherches: “In order to appreciate each day, we get to practice focused attention. We can live in the present moment or always be elsewhere. It's like when you go to a party, having the attitude that there's always someone better to talk to keeps us in the fear of missing out. If you just focus on the person right in front of you, you may have an amazing conversation. Jerry Seinfeld has a joke about watching TV. You can either stay focused on the show you are watching or you can always be thinking, 'I wonder what else is on TV?' My father's occupation was ‘relaxing'. Anytime we were going to do something as a family and one of us would say, ‘Can we leave now?' my father's response was, ‘Give me 15 minutes to just relax'. So relaxing became like a mantra. It was his area of specialty and a great way to live, slow things down, and be in the here and now. One of the biggest challenges these days is burnout. Sometimes it's okay to not do anything and veg out or stare into space. It's important to give yourself a chance to recharge, regroup, and refresh. Whatever it is for you, find your own way to disconnect.” * Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Todd Cherches.

Todd Cherches: “ABC - Always Be Curious. When I was a kid, I would ask my mother things like, ‘Why is the sky blue?' Some parents say, ‘I don't know' or ‘I have no idea'. My mother would say, ‘Oh, that's a great question. Let's go look it up together'. And that's now part of my teaching philosophy. While some instructors tell their students to put their phones away – when my students ask me a question that I may not have the answer to I say, ‘Take out your phones and let's look it up. Let's see who can find the answer the fastest' and I make it into a knowledge scavenger hunt.  When corporate clients come to me saying, ‘We need leadership training' – I'll ask, ‘Who is it for? What do you want covered? When? Where are you? Why are you doing this? What's the purpose? What's the intent?' Then we figure out the How and I can figure out How much. That's my linear process. What's funny is some potential clients say, ‘I don't have the time for that. Just tell me how much. How much is your leadership training?' And I'll say, ‘How much is a vacation?' Always ask Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.  QBQ, what's the Question Behind the Question? Why are they asking that question? There's a reason behind people's questions. So that's part of the philosophy of always being curious and digging deeper. When you visualize an iceberg in the water, all you see is the tip. There's way more beneath the surface and it's up to us to explore deeper.  So be curious and wonder why.” * Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Todd Cherches.

Todd Cherches: “No one has all the answers – we're all just trying to figure it out. That's actually very freeing. I tend to quote Socrates, which always annoys my wife, ‘All I know is that I know nothing'. The more we realize what there is to know the more we realize the less we know, especially with things changing faster than ever these days.  There's also the classic joke that ‘teenagers think they know everything'. Then they go away to college and come back four years later only to realize how smart their parents are.  ‘It's amazing how much my parents learned while I was gone!' My father used to say, ‘People are so consumed with possessions, the nicest car or whatever. The only thing that really matters in the overall scheme of things is people'.  I'm working as an executive coach and I teach leadership at NYU and Columbia universities. It's all about people. So even in my work, I don't focus on strategy or finance or anything related to the business side of things. I focus solely on communication: giving feedback, how to lead, inspire, and motivate people. So that mantra of 'people are the only thing that matters' is also ingrained in the work I do. The title of my book, ‘VisuaLeadership' is spelled with only one L. Most people don't even notice the L in leadership is missing. The idea behind that is, 'who you are and how you lead is inseparable from the lens through which you see the world'.  It's important to see the world through the lens of other people in the spirit of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. When we envision a world, not just as we see it, as other people see it, we can help others to make their visions come true as well. The rainbow colored eye on the cover of my book represents how each of us see things differently.”  * Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Todd Cherches.

Todd Cherches: “My wife had wanted dogs for many years. I put it off for a variety of reasons and finally caved during the pandemic. That was the best decision we ever made. Our dogs reduce stress. They also cause some stress, but the stress reduction outweighs the stress they cause. I grew up in Queens, New York. I have one brother and he is five years younger than me. Our family lived in a small apartment until I was twelve. We moved into a house on Long Island and lived in the suburbs. I went to college in Albany, New York and then moved out to LA where I worked for ten years in the TV industry. I started playing Little League at age eight. Even though I learned to play baseball very young, I wasn't very good that first year. I was so scared of swinging and missing that I didn't swing at all. There's a classic quote by Babe Ruth who said, ‘Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game'. That's a great stress reducer right there. That's a great philosophy. You can 'not do anything' and 'fail automatically' or you can 'try' and maybe you'll actually hit the ball.  I became a good hitter over time and I'm still playing softball on a couple of teams, although I missed this season due to a back injury. My father was very laid back. His priorities were: don't get hurt, have fun, just try your best.” * Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Todd Cherches. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message

Eva Hoffman: “For many years of my life, I was not interested in spirituality or religion. In recent years, I have become more open to spirituality. I teach my little great grandchildren about energy, energy healing, and reconnecting their hemispheres with Brain Gym exercises. I teach them to breathe slowly, because that is the first important thing for meditation. I think it's extremely important to teach children about things beyond our senses. We're not really teaching them, we are confirming what they somehow already know.  The new generation is living in a very different world from the world that I lived in as a child. It's so interesting to watch each generation becoming more open. We learn so much from children. Somebody wisely said that ‘we learn more from them than they do from us'.  Until quite recently, I did not like saying I love myself. I would say, "I accept myself". I can do it now, but I can still feel a bit of a block.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Eva Hoffman. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message

Eva Hoffman: “Growing is about expanding, becoming multicolored and multi shaped like a beautiful garden of flowers. I love watching young people because they are so beautiful. I don't teach secondary school children anymore. It's the age when they are really blossoming. They are just so incredibly beautiful, like a flower. I think, 'how wonderful it would be for me to find out who you are, and what kind of flower you are in this moment'. That's the feeling I get when I see them. It is interesting that when a plant grows higher, the roots grow deeper. As human beings, we need this balance between growing up and having deep roots. When I think about roots, I also think about people. We come from different countries and we start growing our roots when we are born.  I am Polish and I have lived in England for 40 years now, which is a long time. My father was half Jewish and is Polish. My mother was born in Poland as well. For some people, it's a very big issue when they are uprooted because their roots never grew deep enough. This can happen with plants as well. I think my roots have gone quite deep. I don't have problems changing places. I do get attached to people, rather than places.  Understanding your roots is important.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Eva Hoffman. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message

Eva Hoffman: “We have wonderful experiences when we connect with others. I take all of my students, regardless of age, through what I call a self-discovery learning adventure. What we discover is that, although we may seem the same, we are all beautifully different. Because we are beautifully different, we are all special. I am special and you are special. We are all special and it's extremely important that we all realize that fact. A lot of young people, even small children already at school, don't feel that they are special.  Not all children feel that they are special in their own homes. That is something to be remembered. I enjoy teaching my great grandchild positive self-talk. For example saying, “I am special” about themselves. Initially, I had trouble saying that myself.  Some school children are labeled Special Needs. I can sympathize with that and yet I believe that every child is a special needs child. When we believe that, we treat them as individuals.  I also believe that we need to teach children about unity, the fact that ‘we are all one'.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Eva Hoffman. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message

Eva Hoffman: “I have been a lifelong learner and yet I never liked school. I didn't like it when I was little and I didn't like it as a teenager. The moment I left school, things changed. When I became a teacher, I promised myself that if I saw my students not loving to learn, I would change my profession. I believe that it's a crime if there's no heart in the teaching or the learning. I am from a loving family of lifelong learners. My parents were musicians and professionals at a music academy. When my father was eighty-seven years old, this is what I heard as I walked into the house, "Look what I have just learned!" A typical greeting of his. I was not a bad student. It's interesting, because my friends remember me as a very good student. I don't think I was. I mean, I got the right grades. I managed everything that I needed to manage. I passed all the exams, there was no problem of that kind. There also was no heart in the teaching. I had only one teacher who really taught me something that I carry on until today. In my mind that was not good enough. I promised myself that as a teacher, I'd be remembered in a different way. I've been extremely interested in people and when you get to know them, when you are interested in them, the next step is loving them.  I have always loved teaching and when I have a chance to teach, I feel the connection. I feel love.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Eva Hoffman. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message

Carol Banens: “I am grateful for the gratitude journaling I have done for years. I am also grateful that I continued writing in that journal after my husband died. I did it every night, no matter what. I can remember sitting upstairs with my diary open thinking, 'what am I grateful for?' And I made sure I found something, whether it was my warm bed in the winter or the air conditioning in the summer.  Grief is about looking back and looking at loss. People tend not to live in the present moment. We're either worried and thinking about what went wrong, what we should have done or we are busy getting anxious about the future.  The wonderful thing about gratitude is that we can keep adding it into our day. This is when the joy of life returns.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Carol Banens. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message

Carol Banens: “Once you're in grief, and you've lost someone, you realize there's so much more that perhaps you could have done for them, listened to them, or asked of them. I'm a piano player. My dad was a surgeon and quite a good jazz pianist. He'd say, practice hymns and play chords, it will give you chord sequences. And of course, I never listened because he was my dad. After he'd gone, I ended up marrying a jazz pianist. That's when I realized, oh, my dad was right. If only I had done that. Did I learn from that? Not enough.  I relished my husband, but not as much as I could. I think we can always do more.  I didn't ask him to teach me a really groovy Happy Birthday. When you're at a birthday party and there's a piano and people find out you can play piano they often say, "Can you play Happy Birthday?" And it's like, “No”. That's such a silly little thing. But it's one of those things I wonder about. That was Brian's skill. He was a musician. Why didn't I tap into that? Was it because I was always too busy?  I was too busy to smell the roses. I was working and looking after my mom. We don't know how long others will be with us or we with them. So, taking the time to appreciate who you have with you and why they're with you is important. If only we could hear that lesson before they are gone so that we can do it in advance.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Carol Banens. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message

Carol Banens: “Being kind can mean so many different things. When it comes to grief, it doesn't mean trying to fix grief. Let's get that out there. Because you don't fix grief, you live through it. You get to work through it. In grief, being kind to yourself can be calling on a friend for a chat, monitoring the intensity of your grief, or journaling about your grief (what you've lost and what you still have). Being kind to others in grief is about remembering that they are on decision overload. They might not even know what they want or what they need. When my husband died, and before I could even think about mowing the lawn, my realtor sent over a lawn crew. This continued all summer. What a gift and a blessing. Talk about instilling gratitude! It took away a burden I didn't even know I had. It was one less thing for me to think about. So when I think about being kind, sometimes it's the practical things that make all the difference in the world.”  Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Carol Banens. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message

Carol Banens: “It doesn't matter how someone dies, grief is immense. We get to remember that fact. When my husband died, I pushed everything down so I could go back to work, so I could manage things, and it came back to bite me for not dealing with it. It's exhausting to put on a facade of 'I'm fine', if you're not. As soon as we start to have these conversations, as soon as we're with compassionate people who will sit with us and listen, let us put our head on their shoulder or go for a walk with us, it softens our grief. Community coming together is such a beautiful way of dealing with any sort of trouble because it allows us to see the connection between people.          It's so important to talk when you are ready to talk. Grief has to be witnessed, it has to be heard. And the more we talk about it, the more we stop resisting it and pushing it down.”  Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Carol Banens. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message

Iana J. Daniels: “Every day is an opportunity for plenty of things, especially change. We are not perfect beings, we are not infallible, we are human. The world is not perfect. The game is rigged. You are going to make mistakes. Anyone who has decided they know how you should live your life, has no idea how to live their own. I was guilty of that as well.  One of my coaches called me out. She said, ‘You need to get rid of your instruction manual, the one for other people's lives'. I'm the eldest. In my mind, I had an instruction manual for how my youngest sister should live her life, because she was my responsibility. A day later, I was having a conversation with my mom and she said, ‘I know you feel like your babysitter is like your kid, but as your mother, I say, Let that go. She is an adult'. That was the day I realized that I had to allow my younger sisters to live their own lives.”  Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Iana J. Daniels. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message

Iana J. Daniels: “When we realize that everything is temporary we begin to develop the fear of missing out (FOMO). Growing up in Guyana, there are two phrases that older people say all the time. As a young girl, I didn't quite understand it. I understood it more as I grew older. The first one is, ‘You know that you're getting older, when you have fewer friends'. And the other one I recall hearing was, ‘I'm tired. I'm ready'. My maternal grandmother lived until she was 104 so you can imagine how many times she used that phrase. As I got older, I realized what they meant. ‘I've lived a life. I feel complete, and I am fine. I am at peace with the world no matter what happens.'  In every situation and every experience, you learn something about you and you learn something about the world. So you still come out of a difficult time in your life with a lesson and a blessing.  We get to create and recreate our stories from our lessons and our blessings. We do that from our intuition. Like, something's just not feeling right and that's okay, I can make a different decision.”  Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Iana J. Daniels. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message

Iana J. Daniels: “One of my supervisors said, ‘Iana, you take yourself so seriously, you don't have to. Smile a little bit. Everything does not have to be a problem to solve. With some things, you can just let them go'. I've always had laughter in my life. For a while, it was a coping mechanism, instead of crying. When I learned about belly laughing, I realized that's the type of laugh I do when I am truly happy or find something really, really funny. It's not the laugh I do when I'm trying to make myself enjoy something.  When it comes to suicide, we see things on social media how the person who had just ended their life by suicide was seen just the night before laughing at a party, seeming to be having a wonderful time.  There was a time in my life where if I wasn't doing something, I didn't feel productive or I felt something was wrong. Nowadays, some days are what I call a pajama day. I do nothing and I even stay in my PJs all day. I now watch the sunrise and the sunset. I often wonder how many more sunrises and sunsets I have left in my lifetime and how many of them will I miss? How many of those have I missed because I was too busy doing other things? So, sunrises and sunsets happen whether or not we pay attention to them. Watching them is a great way to slow down literally and metaphorically. I also remember to dance in the rain.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Iana J. Daniels. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message

Iana J. Daniels: “If you told me as a teenager sitting in Guyana, South America that I would be here talking to you on this platform, sharing parts of my journey, I would have said you're on some very good stuff.  There's a quote, I read one time, it said, 'Life is like a roller coaster, just hold on tight and enjoy the ride'. It was and I did hold on tight.  I also feel sure about the enjoyment part, even though there was a lot of trauma and shame early on in my life.  And like a roller coaster, it's been intense.  I even ended up in military service, in the US Army. That was one of those things that I did not have planned for me. I wanted nothing to do with military service. I was presented with an opportunity to have my student loans paid off, in addition to being able to have my graduate degree, as many of them as I wanted, subsidized, while at the same time making a living. Those three things for me came down to one word: independence. I gave them 21 years of my life when I only intended to give them the three that they needed. I wouldn't recommend anyone going to college to pay for college the way I did, because you introduce unnecessary suffering into your life.  I got through with a combination of student loans, credit cards, and a partial track scholarship.  Be prudent about any type of student loan.  Credit cards, definitely not as a student. During the first month of a new semester there's nothing but credit card companies at the student union. It's easy to get into credit card debt, especially when you don't have a job.”  Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Iana J. Daniels. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message

Mike Stevenson: “I believe that young people should have special sittings with local and national governments. It might add more voices to the cacophony of politicians and yet we need to hear those voices. We need to give young people a sense that they are part of the solution, and we need to listen to them now. Reforming democracy sounds complicated. It's not. They've done it in places like Norway, where the young people were leaving because all the industry was gone. They brought young people in as part of the political solution. That's the thing to do. It's also about asking the right questions. For example, "What's going to encourage you to stay in this town?" Every human being has enormous capacity. When you see it in children, you realize just how great that capacity is. We tend to keep young people compliant. Listen to us, we know best, rather than hearing their ideas. When we start exploring the creativity and the imagination of all parts of the community, we find richness. I have been able to do this. I have worked with people and communities. I have held big idea sessions and shown groups of people how extraordinary ideas have taken root around the world.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest Mike Stevenson. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message

Mike Stevenson: “A child will say, "I want a city that is designed for all of us". And in response, an adult will say, "Where is the budget coming from? Can we do it? There's too much opposition.” They will take a position that's going to be immediately adversarial.  Changemakers in the world draw people in because they don't complicate things with policies and facts. They just say, "We want a city designed for people and all those plants and creatures that inhabit the world".  I do believe in young people and I'm at the age where so many of my contemporaries are dissing them and referring to them as snowflakes.  This is a political weapon to attack young people and people who are more liberal minded. This really is an attack tactic.  We have problems in the world that must be addressed now. There must be some leverage of the money that has been amassed in tax havens. We get to stop that and the world needs to agree on that now. It's part of the process for repairing the world. We get to start considering and noticing the planet. There's actually a great deal of enthusiasm to do that. The only stoppers are those who have a vested interest in retaining the status quo. That's why I believe in giving leadership to young people, because they get it. Their future is at stake.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest Mike Stevenson. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message

Mike Stevenson: “It's time to rebalance our understanding of what money is about. When it comes to greed, we can pin it down to three things these days: business, money, and politics. We've allowed business to kind of morph into unfettered greed and we've allowed greed to grow. Business is a force for good and business should be a force for good. The market can solve problems and yet we've allowed it to get out of control.  We now have a situation where the sixty-four richest people in the world, multi-billionaires, own more than the entire bottom half of the global population.  They see themselves as successful. Yes. Okay. They've had great business ideas and implemented them. At this point they are people who are making money simply by having money and investing it. I don't think they're earning it. I think it's spurious to claim that people are earning it and it's so much money, they can't even spend it within their lifetime. The worst part is that they keep charging the rest of us higher and higher prices. That's what I mean by greed. Politicians are elected with money and are mainly made by money. That means that power and control are held by the people who have exercised the greatest greed.  We get to separate money from politics. We are living in really difficult times. The voices that will be heard come from people asking audacious questions and we need answers to those questions.  The best leaders are people who live in some of our most impoverished communities, because leadership becomes a necessity to survive. People seem to think there is some kind of leadership gene. There isn't. We've allowed bad leadership in politics. Now we get to reroute politics to communities where we live. That's where the power should be, because the people are sovereign. It's the whole foundation of democracy. We've gone beyond that.”  Have a listen as I interview my special guest Mike Stevenson. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message

Mike Stevenson: “I was born to a Scottish-Irish father, and a Lebanese mother who had grown up in Egypt. So it was quite a mix to be born into as a cultural being. I spent three years in Pakistan between the ages of three and six-and-a-half. On the way back to Scotland, we got caught in Egypt. It was at the time of the Suez Crisis with the British government. I remember the troops on the shore of Port Said; we got out just before the Suez Canal was closed.  I came back to Scotland, which I barely knew because I had traveled to Pakistan at age three. I found it cold and gray.  Settling into school was extraordinarily difficult for me because I had started kindergarten in Lahore, Pakistan. Evidently I spoke pretty decent Urdu. I can only remember a few words of it now. It's so incredible how children just absorb information in extraordinary ways because they are so adaptable.  I ended up attending a total of three different primary schools and I hated it. I hated the whole school experience.  When I went to high school, it wasn't any better. I just could not settle myself. I was fidgety, distracted, disinterested, and bored. I was constantly thinking of the Beatles and The Rolling Stones, and being a rock star. I wanted to stand on stage, and at the age of thirteen that's exactly what I did. I started a band. At school, none of that counted for anything, because you are judged entirely on academic grounds. So it was no surprise that by the age of fifteen, I was asked to leave school on no uncertain terms.  My parents were going through a divorce and it was horrible. It was nasty. I escaped to London to get away from it all. I got a job in a shop selling furniture and it was all going well until it wasn't. Apparently, none of the customers could understand a word I said because of my Scottish accent.  So I was sacked three days into my first job.  I ended up sleeping out for about a year, which was quite formative in negative as well as positive ways. It was a challenging and threatening experience where I learned that I could survive and found out who I was as an individual. After that, I went through an extraordinary journey.”   Have a listen as I interview my special guest Mike Stevenson. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message

Lisa Gable: “Managing relationships is twofold. One of the first things is ‘do what's right for you'. Determine how you want to interact with the world. Make sure you are willing to interact from a positive point of engagement, take the time to understand someone, and let them understand you. At the same time you are learning how to set boundaries, especially at the beginning of your career, and of course throughout your entire life.  When it comes to mentorship, I see the mentee and mentor as a process where they are investing in each other's success. This includes friendships, special relationships with relatives, and in the business world as well. It's important to take time to invest in our relationships. There's a benefit to the giver and the receiver of anything. In our professional careers, we can't just focus on climbing the ladder. It's important to make sure others are climbing with us. By doing so we become so much stronger.  I've always wanted to be Jimmy Stewart in the movie “It's a Wonderful Life”. That's what I aspire to! Hearing people talking about what you did for them and how it built an opportunity that they might not have had, feels really good.  There's great satisfaction in helping other people and not just focusing on yourself.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Former US Ambassador, Lisa Gable. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message

Lisa Gable: “We see people on their good days and we see them on their bad days. We make assumptions about who they are as a result of how they exhibit their personality at a moment in time. The reality is–we don't know what's going on in that person's life, we really don't.  So if you start with the assumption that the person with whom you are dealing is a good person and perhaps the way in which they are reacting to a situation isn't what you would want, there is hope that you could come to know them better.  This gives us the opportunity to appreciate who they truly are as a whole person.  We have a tendency to be very judgmental, especially today in social media and politics when we've only seen a tiny aspect of someone's life. In managing people for over forty years, I am always stunned at how someone would immediately assume their colleague was out to get them. It's been even more noticeable in the last five years. My father was so amazing at finding something uniquely special about everyone he met. Even if they were the most annoying person on the face of the earth, he could find a specialness in them. So look for that unique special kernel of an individual and help bring it out of them, so together you can explore it.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Former US Ambassador, Lisa Gable. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message

Lisa Gable: “Sometimes we doubt ourselves and sometimes we doubt our ability to analyze what's going on around us. It may be how we are working with another individual or it might be how we're perceiving shifts that are going on in our communities.  The reality is we actually know the answers to our questions, we can trust our instincts, and our decisions.  I use decision trees. There is a starting point and a path to follow. As long as you have a clear vision, then you will have clarity in making decisions. Each decision leads to another question. If the answer is ‘Yes' then you follow that path. If the answer is ‘No', then that leads to another set of questions. Your gut will tell you the right direction to go. Type A people have a plan for their lives. That doesn't mean we have to follow someone else's plan for how they see us fitting into their lives. The world is changing so rapidly today. It helps to have a vision as to what you want your life to be, the impact that you want to have, and where you see your greatest opportunity. At the same time you get to zig and zag, which means to pivot. We saw that over and over again through COVID. As leaders, we would make decisions and yet something would happen within the supply chain or employees would get sick or money would be short. We were constantly having to pivot, while keeping our eye on what we ultimately wanted to achieve. I believe that applies to life as well.” Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Former US Ambassador, Lisa Gable. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/linda-vettrus-nichols/message