Powerful with Jeff Couillard

Join host Jeff Couillard and guest Farzin Farzad for a rich conversation about diversity, equity, inclusion and justice in our organizations and communities.

Join host Jeff Couillard and Guy Felicella as we explore his journey through addiction, gangs, homelessness and harm reduction.

In this episode of Powerful, Jeff Couillard chats all things "focus" with Evan Weselake. Evan is a certified executive coach, a member of Forbes' "coaches council" and has more than 14,000 hours of group training and facilitation experience.Enjoy!

In this episode of Powerful, Jeff Couillard chats with Chris Jones about his journey of entrepreneurship, coaching others and finding purpose.

In this short solo show, Jeff Couillard breaks down his "4A's" of getting unstuck, a simple and effective framework for understanding how to cultivate awareness, alignment, action and accountability in your life.

In this episode of Powerful, Jeff Couillard and Regina Smith discuss status power, privilege and identity, digging into her work of helping to transform organizations and foster justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.

In this episode, Jeff and special guest, author, mountain guide and educator Ken Wylie chat about the learning and growth that transpired after Ken was involved in a skiing tragedy in the mountains. They chat about human development, adventure, risk, nature and connection to self.

In this episode of Powerful, Jeff Couillard & Ernest Barbaric discuss navigating uncertainty, leading into the future and the power of mindfulness and meditation.

On this episode of Powerful, Jeff Couillard chats with author, speaker and climber Margo Talbot on her journey through addiction and depression and the power of adventure to help people overcome their struggles.

In this episode of Powerful, Jeff Couillard talks with Pablo Romero on his journey to human centred design, crafting exceptional employee experiences and harnessing productive tension. 

In this conversation with Kelly Waters-Radcliffe, Jeff explores the ins and outs of "therapy", including some meaningful solutions to some of the challenges facing psychotherapy.

In this episode of Powerful, Jeff chats all things "people centred leadership" with Tanya Koshowski.

In this episode of Powerful, Jeff Couillard & his dad, Dana, chat about his new book "The Three Legged Stool". They cover the 4 primary psychological drivers of employee engagement and some practical strategies to improve engagement with your team.

In this episode of Powerful, Jeff Couillard & Vince Fowler discuss the idea of "embracing the suck", what it is and what it isn't, and dig into Vince's history with the military, rugby and business.

Kimberley McAdams, business and leadership coach, joins Jeff for a conversation about "artificial harmony", and offers a bunch of practical strategies to address it in your life.

In this episode of Powerful, Jeff Couillard discusses restorative practice, inviting growth and being present with Brendan Trinca.

What's the difference between "objective" and "subjective" reality? Turns out, quite a bit. And it's in our subjective realities, and the differences in how we experience, interpret, make sense of and communicate those realities that contribute to a lot of the conflict and problems in the world. In this episode of Powerful, Jeff Couillard discusses the most dangerous of the "subjective constructs", the idea of individualism in western society.

In this episode of Powerful, Jeff Couillard discusses the problem with the "all lives matter" movement, and some sobering statistics about the quality of life for Black Americans and Indigenous Canadians. 

In this episode of Powerful we discuss the "problem with privilege", and how referring to 'whiteness' or 'maleness' as privilege doesn't reflect the depth of the benefits or the inequities in the power dynamic that is generated.  Jeff plays a clip from Trevor Noah, where he asks some tough questions about what, exactly, is a society? And how can the people in power ensure that it's living up to everyone's expectations?

In today's episode of Powerful, Jeff Couillard discusses the power of collaboration with Patricia Jones and Carlene Donnelly, the executive directors of Catholic Family Services and CUPS respectively. They cover a wide range of topics, from outcome and evaluation to client-centred practice and some advice for new leaders.

In today's short episode of Powerful, Jeff Couillard talks about "locus of control", using examples from raising kids and the idea of having "buttons" or "triggers" that other people can push or pull to cause your emotional or behavioural response.

In today's episode of Powerful, Jeff Couillard connects with Liam Law, a former youth worker, shift-supervisor and outcomes & evaluation lead at Enviros Base Camp. They discuss the power of "feedback informed practice", and offer practical tools and suggestions for building a culture of feedback in your program, and how to use feedback to both prove and improve the quality of your services.

In today's episode of Powerful, Jeff Couillard and Scott Schmidt have a wide ranging conversation, centred around the role of media in speaking truth to power and holding government to account for their actions. Scott is the layout editor at the Medicine Hat News, and his Saturday column "Laying It Out" has drawn a great deal of attention lately as he takes aim at government misinformation, propoganda and decisions that are being made in the interest of corporations over citizens. Scott offers some advice on how and where to consume your news, and some hard-hitting questions about what we truly value, and whether or not our governments are actually delivering on improving the quality of life for the people they're supposed to be in power for.

In this episode of Powerful, Jeff Couillard continues the conversation about all things leadership with Stephen de Groot, author and human behaviour expert.  They explore the hardest task of leadership, closing the "intention - impact" gap, getting meaningful feedback and accurately assessing their own performance. Steve introduces the listener to the "Leaderscore", a strengths-based development instrument designed after a decade of thought and research, and available now for leaders everywhere.

In today's short episode, Jeff introduces you to the other four of the "7 Essential Strategies" for better self-care. Don't forget to jump on the free webinar, where you get all the strategies in one place, complete with slides and watching Jeff talk through them. Self-care isn't optional, particularly if you're a parent, helping professional or leader. We're at our greatest risk of accidentally and unintentionally misusing our power when we're burnt out, stressed out and generally not at our best. In this episode, Jeff will continue to help you see beyond "yoga and green tea", to the deeper underlying priorities, strategies and foundations of excellent self-care.

In today's episode of Powerful, Jeff Couillard invites Stephen de Groot, a leadership and human behaviour expert to the show to discuss the epidemic of burnout in our helping service organizations, and what leaders can do about it!  Steve and Jeff talk about practical and proven strategies for increasing the "meaning" that employees find in the work, and how it's disconnection from that meaning that makes the work so much harder and leads to burnout.  

In today's short episode, Jeff introduces you to the first three of his "7 Essential Strategies" for better self-care. Self-care isn't optional, particularly if you're a parent, helping professional or leader. We're at our greatest risk of accidentally and unintentionally misusing our power when we're burnt out, stressed out and generally not at our best. In this episode, Jeff will help you see beyond "yoga and green tea", to the deeper underlying priorities, strategies and foundations of excellent self-care.

In this episode of Powerful, Jeff Couillard invites his friend and highly respected colleague Lisa Arsenault to the show to discuss the power of values in a high functioning community. Lisa and Jeff worked at Enviros Base Camp for a dozen years alongside one another. The program lived and breathed it’s values primarily thanks to Lisa’s intentional character and gift for creating meaning within community. Lisa and Jeff offer tips and examples for leaders hoping to operationalize their mission and vision and the duo discuss the importance of congruence and getting them into practice, not just with their clients, but also with the staff team. Enjoy this heartfelt conversation as Jeff continues to dissect the essential ingredients of what makes an intentional community function, and be sure to tune in for the third and final ingredient of building powerful communities, coming soon!  

In today’s episode of Powerful, Jeff and his colleague & friend Jessica Mills tackle the first ingredient of building an intentional community, which is that there has to be a problem/challenge for the community to rally behind. Jess is a social worker by trade and a lover of all things outdoors and fitness related. Throughout the show Jess and Jeff discuss the problem/challenge that Base Camp sought to solve and how it was clear that the problem the community was attempting to solve was much bigger than the addiction itself. Enjoy this episode as these two friends explore the need for connection on a human level and how the wilderness treatment centre Enviros Base Camp created a community for youth, families and staff alike to feel a shared sense of purpose and meaningful connection.

Like your favourite recipe, powerful communities require a list of distinct and special ingredients. Over the next few episodes Jeff will unpack what the essential ingredients are in building high functioning and intentional communities. Enjoy this episode as he kicks off this journey of unpacking these ideas and uses his own experience of working and creating an intentional community at Enviros Base Camp, a wilderness addictions treatment centre. It wasn’t an accident that this community functioned the way it did, and in today’s short episode Jeff highlights the three essential ingredients this community possessed and other powerful communities alike. Please check back in the coming weeks to follow the inspiring story of Base Camp as Jeff interviews past alumni from this community, digging into what makes powerful communities tick, and how you can build one too.

In today's episode Jeff interviews business and community leader and liaison, Bob McInnis, on the power of community. Listeners will hear stories about how our sense of community is being threatened, what the essential ingredients of building community are and some practical strategies for how to go about connecting within your own community. They discuss Bob’s journey to deconstruct his world view, and how he continues to reconstruct it as he asks difficult and awkward questions and continues to grow. Give this fascinating conversation on the "power of community" a listen and share!

In today's short episode, Jeff reflects on one of his favourite speeches by Carl Sagan...the famous "Pale Blue Dot" speech prompted by a photograph taken by the Voyager spacecraft. Jeff also discusses the idea of "ownership", specifically the importance of owning our values, behaviours and feelings and how they're connected to living our best lives.

Today on Powerful Jeff sits down with Dr. Cathryn Van Kessel and together they conceptualize good and evil and societal ideas surrounding death and the impacts on one's life. Cathryn is a professor at the University of Alberta where she teaches and researches all things evil. In this episode Cathryn discusses how as humans we have a natural biological response to death and that we want to feel stable and permanent and don’t want to die. Cathryn introduces listeners to the fascinating concepts that make up Terror Management Theory and how it illustrates how a direct reminder of death makes humans do weird and quirky things. Give this episode a listen and click on the resources if you want to find out more about this week's topic. Resources Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrEvilAcademic Cathryn Van Kessel profile at U of A: https://www.ualberta.ca/education/about-us/professor-profiles/cathryn-van-kessel The Grim Educator Website: https://pressbooks.library.ualberta.ca/grimeducator/ The Worm at the Core by Sheldon Solomon: https://www.amazon.ca/Worm-Core-Role-Death-Life/dp/1400067472/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=CjwKCAiAyeTxBRBvEiwAuM8dnW60T7qRWs_aHT9CSRfKvxrUoNzsabE1IGphNxrqAYjt2_Sj2Us8ixoCAboQAvD_BwE&hvadid=208264203762&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9001343&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=8482690808591347758&hvtargid=aud-854586742982%3Akwd-300604677728&hydadcr=22430_9261609&keywords=worm+at+the+core&qid=1580874806&sr=8-1 Wecroak App Cathryn talked about in Episode: https://www.wecroak.com/

Show notes: In this episode of Powerful, Jeff invites professor and activist Dr. Muna Saleh onto the show to discuss racism, the danger of a single story, her experience as a hijab wearing professor and some stories of hope moving forward. Dr. Saleh is a Canadian woman, professor, researcher, author, and mother. Her doctoral research captures the experiences of Canadian Muslim girls and their mothers and her advocacy work is centred around helping refugees across Canada gain support and resources to thrive. Resources & Links:   Dr. Muna Saleh - https://concordia.ab.ca/education/faculty/dr-muna-saleh/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrMunaSaleh?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Dr. Saleh’s book: http://demeterpress.org/books/stories-we-live-and-grow-by-retelling-our-experiences-as-muslim-mothers-and-daughters/ Chimananda Ngozi Adichie: the Danger of a Single Story https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en Dr. Tim Loreman - Concordia University https://concordia.ab.ca/education/faculty/dr-tim-loreman/ Podcast with Paul Gorski: https://www.jeffcouillard.com/2019/11/26/006-dr-paul-gorski-and-equity-literacy/ Thomas King: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/the-2003-cbc-massey-lectures-the-truth-about-stories-a-native-narrative-1.2946870

You won’t want to miss this episode of Powerful! Jeff invites guest Colleen Henderson onto the show to discuss the power of story and how it relates to everything from business, marketing and politics to video games and freedom of expression. Colleen Henderson talks about her own experience with becoming a storyteller and how it changed her career direction and led to her becoming President and Creative Director of the Calgary based company Perfect Pitch Consulting Group. Listen to this episode to discover what Jeff and Colleen feel the biggest problem in business is today, and how we need to move towards understanding the problem first (having empathy), before offering up solutions. Listeners will not be disappointed in how this episode captures the true essence of how powerful a good story can be, while giving practical strategies to becoming a captivating story teller yourself. And don't forget to grab a copy of the Ultimate Guide to Gratitude and kickstart your gratitude practice today!

Gratitude is one of the most important mindsets & practices that we can cultivate in our lives. People who regularly practice gratitude have been shown to enjoy; More positive emotions Better physical and psychological health Feeling more alive and present in the moment. Improved self-esteem Building new relationships and deepened existing relationships Better sleep Stronger immune systems Increased mental strength Grab a copy of the Ultimate Guide to Gratitude and kickstart your gratitude practice today!

Today Jeff sits down and chats with registered social worker/counselor Shelly Qualtieri. Shelly has 30 years of experience working in government, and not for profit in North America, and Australia. Her work spans the spectrum of helping services from mental health, to Suicide Prevention Awareness and intervention and private practice. Jeff and Shelly talk about the power of relationship and how to know when you are aligned within a therapeutic alliance. Listeners will enjoy really tangible, practical advice for things like anxiety, depression and what to do if you or someone you know are having thoughts of suicide. Jeff and Shelley discuss how in the right use power framework that self-care isn't optional, it's ethical.

Are some conversations more important than others? Jeff thinks so. In this short episode, he'll introduce you to the Most Important Conversation you'll ever have...the one we often shy away from and don't realize we haven't had. The one we ignore to our peril, until it becomes unavoidable.

In this short tongue-in-cheek episode, Jeff gives you three practical strategies for suffering more in the coming year. Obviously, you could just do the opposite and suffer less...but the choice is yours.

The opioid crisis has killed 13,000 people in Canada in the last 3 years. In 2018, someone died of an overdose every two hours, every day, for 365 days. That’s just shy of 4,600 deaths.  And the reality is that we’re lagging our feet, at the system level through our healthcare, education and governance institutions, and as a society in the continued stigma and the rather arbitrary criminalization of drug users in this country. Which brings us to today’s guest, who’s been at ground zero of the drug war in this country, living and working in the downtown eastside of Vancouver...Canada’s hotspot for the heroin overdose epidemic of the mid 1990’s, and the fentanyl crisis of today. He’s an award winning documentarian, longtime community organizer, writer, activisit and musician. He’s the host and executive producer of Crackdown, a new monthly podcast about drugs, drug policy and the drug war led by drug user activists and supported by research. Each episode of Crackdown tells the story of a community fighting for their lives. It’s also about solutions, justice for those who’ve been lost, and is ultimately about saving lives.

In today’s episode Jeff interviews Pastor Kevin Powell from the First Lutheran Church here in Calgary, Alberta. In this wide ranging conversation Jeff and Kevin discuss; how the pastor found the Church through music, they dissect Canadian politics and misuse of power, the Pastor describes the concept of “non anxious presence” when it comes to leadership, and finally the importance of community. Pastor Kevin describes how the church underwent huge transformational changes when they began inviting the LGBTQ2S+ community into their congregation. If you would like to learn more about Pastor Kevin Powell you can visit www.makingfaithmatter.ca. Twitter: https://twitter.com/powe2550?lang=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevin.powell1 Podcast: http://firstlutheran.podbean.com/

About this episode In today’s episode of Powerful, Jeff and his guest Josh Clarke explore how to design your life through design thinking. Josh is an engineer, a designer, an experiential educator, and now works in the nonprofit sector. Listeners will enjoy this conversation as Josh breaks this fascinating concept down into bite size pieces. Josh explains how the process of engaging your personal power through self expression creates a more useful and meaningful experience. Josh and Jeff discuss how the most meaningful work happens when you move the needle from design thinking to design doing. Their conversation weaves through personal stories of life journey's and transitions and they discuss the therapeutic process that is involved with making and designing.  Josh’s parting words of wisdom about design thinking are for listeners to get past the "thinking" and get "doing"! Show Notes Grab a copy of The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. Where to find Josh: Instagram: Clarke_studio Make Good project: https://www.makegoodintheneighbourhood.org For a wide range of design-thinking strategies and tools, check out ideo.com 

If you find yourself in an advocacy role, and trying to help with diversity and inclusion in society you are going to love this episode. Dr. Glynnis Lieb has spent 20 years in the helping profession. She began her career as a residential youth worker, she has her PhD in personality psychology, and is currently the executive director at the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies & Services (ISMSS) at the University of Alberta. Jeff and Glynnis’ wide ranging conversation touches on how our systems need to change and how we can manifest this change work through tough love and becoming effective allies without misusing our power and influence. In this very insightful conversation Glynnis shares with listeners that collective action, questioning what we know and sharing our power is the way forward.    Institute for Sexual Minority Studies & Services (ISMSS) https://www.ualberta.ca/ismss ISMSS on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ismss_ualberta?lang=en Youtube on connecting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWkQnw9M8Ok

Our guest today has spent more than 20 years helping educators in 48 states and a dozen countries  strengthen their equity efforts in classrooms, schools, and districts. He’s the founder of the Equity Literacy Institute and  EdChange. He’s published more than 70 articles and has written, co-written, or co-edited  twelve books on various aspects of educational equity including  Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for Erasing the Opportunity Gap and  Case Studies on Diversity and Social Justice Education He is the author of the  Multicultural Pavilion, an online compendium of free resources for educators.  He earned a PhD in Educational Evaluation at the University of Virginia. And was a teacher educator at several universities for 15 years.  Please welcome, Dr. Paul Gorski.

In this episode Jeff talks with Marilyn and Kaitlin at the Calgary not-for-profit “The Doorway” about their organization and their unique approach to getting young people off the street. The Doorway talks about culture as a driving force to getting young people off the street. They talk about their human process which was at times considered controversial, and why incentives (CASH), and a business plan approach to getting young people off the street is so effective.  To learn more about the great work the Doorways is doing or to donate to this wonderful cause visit: www.thedoorway.ca or watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6NkGLTkY4M&feature=youtu.be Wade Davis - https://daviswade.com/ The Making of a Blind Man: Robert A. Scott

Our guest today spent 23 years in the public education system as a teacher, literacy coach, guidance dean, and assistant principal, witnessing first-hand how the system helped white students thrive while continuing to marginalize Black students.  In 2016 she left the education system and started Being Black at School, where she serves as the founder and executive director. Being Black at School helps teachers, school boards, and students navigate tough conversations in the classroom, helps to build grassroots movements around the country to stand together and speak up for Black students and works with elected officials and decision makers to develop policies that promote equity and safety.  Best known as MochaMomma on the internet for her blog chronicling her life as a former teen parent and single mother, who took her then 3-yr old to college with her, she’s been a tireless advocate for anti-racism and dismantling systemic oppression and structures of power that contribute to many of the polarizing issues our society faces. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Kelly Wickham-Hurst as much as I did, and please share, subscribe, rate and review the show if you do!

In this shorter episode, Jeff breaks down some of the core components of his 2016 TEDx talk titled “The Power of Human Nature”.  He asks questions like “why does addiction make sense?” and “why do we numb our feelings?” and is addiction a “choice or disease or neither?” Learn more about the spectrum of addiction, and how it helps to explain a lot of our ‘human nature’.

Welcome to Episode #2, where we’re going to dig into the topic of personal power and explore it from a few different angles, including a bit of a dissection of the idea of "grit". In the first portion of this show Jeff deconstructs a TED talk by Angela Duckworth that has over 18 000 000 views. Jeff uses examples of how utilizing the argument that “you’re 100% responsible for what happens in your life” is both dangerously wrong and unhelpful. Jeff also speaks to his own experiences working with street involved youth and how they are some of the most grittiest individuals he will ever meet.  In the second part of the show (16:30) Vince Fowler and Jeff have a wide ranging conversation about Vince's personal experiences with grit and how his personal and professional journey has led him to be a coach for entrepreneurs. Vince speaks about how his experience serving with the Canadian Military in Somalia was his MBA, his experiences as a competitive rugby player taught him about adversity and power, and how parenting continues to teach him about reflection. 

In this episode we’re going to be breaking down power and having a conversation with author and Right Use of Power founder, Dr. Cedar Barstow. Trying to talk about individual issues like motivation, mental health, addiction, anxiety, depression or systemic issues like oppression, racism, misogyny, marginalization…the common thread that connects everything is power. And yet, power is poorly misunderstood, or at least, not commonly understood. Everyone has a unique power history, and perspective on what constitutes power.  Today we’re going to dig into the concept of power and explore the 4 different types of power, the up and down power dynamic and the important domains of the right use of power.

In this show we’ll be exploring issues big and small, from addiction, anxiety and depression at the individual level to anti-racism, structural oppression and polarization at the level of society. Not to throw blame or drive a narrow agenda, but to develop a deeper awareness that can foster a desire to improve not only your own use of power, but the right use of power more broadly in the world. We’ll be asking big questions like: What does it mean to be powerful? How do we understand power and how it shows up in ourselves, in our relationships with others and within our society? What are the mechanisms of power and how can we use them to intentionally and proactively shape ourselves and our community? How can we cultivate awareness of our own power, so that we can use it to live our best life? A life where we don’t throw our hands up in frustration, don’t retreat into what’s comfortable, or numbing, or mindless. A life where we dig in and pursue what’s most important and meaningful…for ourselves and the people we care most about.