Unleash Your Inner Goldilocks: How to Get It Just Right

The true wealth of a society is not measured in currency or material assets, but in how the women of that society are treated. Be it education, healthcare, career choices, or life choices, when women are not free to make their own choices, the underlying society is not free and it is not truly capable of realizing its collective potential. Supporting women, empowering women and celebrating women is not solely dependent on the men in a society. Good and strong men already do this because they know that they need a strong woman by their side to face their own challenges. Alongside these good men, we women should stand shoulder-to-shoulder and pull each other up. We can never forget that we hold our destinies in the palm of our own hands. This week, my guest will be Traci Campbell, the Founder of BIBO, an organization focused on recognizing empowered women, celebrating their positive social impact and laying the foundation for a collaborative effort to magnify the goodness.

Traditionally, public safety has been a male profession but overtime, women have entered the profession and brought about the much needed diversity of thought, solutions and culture. This is not the easiest profession for women to be in because females in the profession not only face the traditional risks of the sector but have the added exposure unique to women. These are our mothers, sisters, daughters and aunts who go out there and deal with the societal challenges as well as shape our world by bursting stereotypes. As we spend the month honoring our first responders and grappling with the public safety dilemmas of the day, we will be remiss if we do not explore the role and impact of women in the profession. Please join my strong role model female Public Safety Professionals to understand their journey, their contributions and their challenges. As we empower our girls and shape our communities, let's showcase the strength of nurturing public safety.

Public Safety is one of the fundamental needs of any society and providing the service is the duty of an elected government in a viable democracy. Just as a society should not let a fox guard the hen house, those who enter the professions of Public Safety need to be carefully selected and trained to be responsible stewards for those they serve. Personal biases and conflicts of interest when co-mingled with the delivery of public safety, the public trust will be eroded resulting in conflicts between those serving and those being served. The irony in such a situation is that the ones being served fund via the mechanism of tax the compensation for those who serve. At a time when the relationships between communities and public safety professionals are in peril, there is no better time to seek ways to turn the tide. It is imperative that we find a path forward rooted in ethical leadership for our collective safety and empowerment.

9/11 was a day that shocked America and the world. It was a day that commercial planes were weaponized to kill innocent civilians from different walks of life with the intent of causing terror. Regardless of our disagreements, there is no reason to terrorized or kill for a cause; as rational human beings we have the ability to find a compromised solution that we can all live with. Taking the approach of “An Eye for An Eye” will definitely establish a world of blind folks as once vengeance and cycle of terror begins it will be hard to break it. In dedicating this Episode to the victims and first responders of 9/11, I want to help us learn from our shared loss and find a way to build anew. This is the time we must all come together, never forget and live up to our true spirit of resilience and unity. Let's stop the cycle of causing fear, let's get to know our neighbors and let's build a community we want our children to grow-up safe in. Let's make our humanity count!

The life we sustain by our choices are our own. This is nowhere truer than in a capitalist democracy where our choices drive the market and our civil society through our vote and subsequent participation in the democratic process. A functional democracy that intends to be sustainable cannot be treated as a spectator sport by the citizens. It is very much a contact sport that requires educated and fact based active participation if it is to benefit the voting citizens. At the core of that participatory democracy is an empowered citizen population that understand their own self-interest. Each persona's self-interest is not one-dimensional because it needs to address the interest of a person in the four functional roles, namely •Worker •Consumer •Investor •Citizen If we want high pay as workers, we need to understand that we cannot have all our goods and services free or cheap. Let's spend an hour understanding and exploring Self-Interest to shape our choices just right!

Leaders are those who influence others and evokes the sense of purpose in others such that others willingly follow the mission of the leader. Influencing others is less of a science and more of an art. At the foundation of this art form is the skill called emotional intelligence. Emotional Quotient (EQ) is the measure of emotional intelligence and this is very different from IQ. While IQ helps the individual accomplish results on their own, EQ helps the individual accomplish results through others. Therefore, EQ becomes vital for leadership development. An authentic leader knows how to manage themselves and serve others to emerge as a servant leader. Emotional Intelligence is a Heart and Mind synthesis skill that enables quick decision making and effective judgment while not being judgmental. Join this conversation to get involved and sign-up for the 2-day conference at https://www.agacgfm.org/Chapters/GreaterChicago/Training-Events/Event-Calendar.aspx to continue the dialogue.

I have been asking listeners of this show to email me at drkashenry@hotmail.com or send me messages on my Show FB Page https://www.facebook.com/DrKasHenry/. As promised, this episode is dedicated to 3 very special listeners getting an opportunity to ask me questions and engage in a direct dialogue as they seek to chart their own course of life in an authentic way consistent with who they are. These three listeners make up a combination of young professionals and career changers who are finding their passion, shaping their paths and making their place in our world. Like Goldilocks, these 3 listeners work at getting things Just Right and I am honored and super excited to have them on. It is my hope that this open and honest conversation will help others in their own Leadership, Empowerment and Social Impact pursuits. I also hope that this influences others to reach out and join me on future episodes as we make this shared transformational journey.

We are living in an era where values, integrity and ethics are not thought of as important character traits as wealth, access and power. Human interactions are more transactional. From our smallest unit of society, family, through organizations we each work at, to our country and global society at large, we have daily demonstrations of lack of values, integrity and ethics resulting in breach of trust. Trust is such an elusive concept today and I want us to take a moment to explore it. This show is all about ‘Getting things just right” in all aspects of our life journey. Getting our human relationships just right is at the foundation of personal, professional, organizational economic, national, and societal success. Trust is at the heart of all of this. To help me explore “Trust” is Bob Whipple, The Trust Ambassador. Zig Ziegler said The most influential persuasion tool you have in your entire arsenal is your integrity” and we all know “Integrity Inspires Trust”. Let's talk!

Civil society relies on a functional social contract. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a seminal thinker from the European Renaissance Period believed that “The general WILL of the people should direct the state towards the Common Good. Hence the good of the community is more important than individual interests”. This used to be the way of life in most democracies and societies rooted in morality. However, somewhere along the way, self-interest and accumulation of individual wealth, power and access have become the calling. With this fundamental paradigm shift, civility and civil society have become casualties. Technology, social media and the breakdown of family structure have compounded the situation. Individual pursuit of happiness being the goal, the impact we have on one another is rarely an afterthought. If only, we could all see the red blooded human being, in spite of the differences in the outer trappings we will all start engaging with each other differently. Tune in. Let's talk!

We live in a high-tech world and technology permeates all aspects of our lives. With increased technology reliance, our society becomes more fragile. How are we as individuals and businesses preparing to not just survive but thrive in this high-tech world? Our lives are consumed with smart phones and apps for all financial transactions. Banking, transportation like Uber/Lyft, medical coordination, fitness, and so much more are all managed via apps. Do we even know that Android is responsible for 92% of all mobile app malware are? Do you know that 77% of all malware could be eliminated by all users updating to the latest Operating System but only 4% have the latest? We will explore ways to mitigate fraud risk in our life and our organizations. We will explore ways to mitigate fraud risk in our life and our organizations. Join us to learn from the insights of experts who work with professionals like Frank Abagnale whose life the Steven Spielberg movie Catch Me If You Can was based on.

“The first wealth is health” was the assertion made by Ralph Waldo Emerson and most of us will agree that is the case in life. In a material society, even when individuals chase monetary and material wealth at the cost of their health, there comes a time in their lives that they realize the error of their ways. If health is so important what are some of the things we need to be mindful of? Mindfulness starts with self. How can we develop the quality or state of being conscious and be aware of health and wellness related matters? How do we plan our eating habits? How do we plan our physical activity routines? How do we make time for mental alertness and calm relaxing time as part of our wellness? How do we plan for medical and healthcare emergencies and contingencies? These are all real life matters we must think about, discuss with our loved ones and put in play as a family. A real life experience is shared in this episode so you can take a page to shape your plan.

Learning is an active pursuit of continuing knowledge acquisition to remain relevant and impactful. Learning allows us to be current and agile thereby making innovation and growth possible. Such learning is much broader than course work and education since it prepares one for life. Learning happens in different ways in our modern world and technology continues to expand the ways of learning. Democratization of learning with the technology evaluation has made learning accessible for those who seek it. Just like cross-functional asynchronous work teams in the business world, learning too has evolved to become “at your phase”. How can you embrace the concept of life-long learning, how can you continue to get relevant certifications to demonstrate evolving skills, how can you continually re-invent yourself and remain marketable are some important questions most need to understand! So, tune in and engage in our conversation to learn alongside us.

In a modern-day career trajectory, 3-4 career transitions are expected purely resulting form technology driven workplace transformations. Staying agile, relevant and modern in skills are challenging enough for anyone in the emerging fast phased professional world. This becomes a harder task for women who are entrusted to carry babies to term, raise children, and remain the caregivers of their families. Increasing number of women are making the choice between work and family, some even delaying marriage or bypassing marriage. Another challenge women face is the lack of fellow female mentors. Juggling family and career, women also tend to self-select out of professional networking that their male counterparts naturally develop. How to best harmonize the various roles life thrusts upon us women, how can we lift each other up and how can we take this shared journey while pulling young women along is an important question of our times. Let's talk!

Race, religion, color, ethnicity, social class, education, sexual orientation and so much more are used to divide communities today, sometimes unwittingly and other times by design. In spite of the reason the divisiveness is causing untold trauma across our communities across the world. Therefore, now is the right time to talk about how we build the necessary bridges to make the divisiveness powerless and allow members of each community thrive because of their diversity. Food, music and dancing are basic elements that unite humanity. How can we use these joyful elements and create moments of human interaction to engage with one another instead of treating folks as “The Other”? Join me to discuss, understand and execute a call to action leveraging the ideas of a millennial leader who is determined to be the change in his local community.

Public speaking is the single largest fear of humans in general and yet it is the single most important factor that determines professional success. Knowing this, what can we do to first understand the fear and then how can we help each person develop the art of communicating effectively in public in a way to connect with their audience is the central theme of this episode. In a diverse multi-lingual global economy, professional success requires language skills as well as communication skills that are of personal and technological in nature. Tune in and pick up nuggets of valuable insights. Then apply them in your daily lives and focus on continually improving to reach your goal. Speaking your way to growth is both a personal and business strategy that has the potential to transform the journey. Why wait? Let's get started!

Learning is an active pursuit of continuing knowledge acquisition to remain relevant and impactful. Learning allows us to be current and agile thereby making innovation and growth possible. Such learning is much broader than course work and education since it prepares one for life. Learning happens in different ways in our modern world and technology continues to expand the ways of learning. Democratization of learning with the technology evaluation has made learning accessible for those who seek it. Just like cross-functional asynchronous work teams in the business world, learning too has evolved to become “at your phase”. How can you embrace the concept of life-long learning, how can you continue to get relevant certifications to demonstrate evolving skills, how can you continually re-invent yourself and remain marketable are some important questions most need to understand! So, tune in and engage in our conversation to learn alongside us.

We live in a high-tech world and technology permeates all aspects of our lives. With increased technology reliance, our society becomes more fragile. How are we as individuals and businesses preparing to not just survive but thrive in this high-tech world? Our lives are consumed with smart phones and apps for all financial transactions. Banking, transportation like Uber/Lyft, medical coordination, fitness, and so much more are all managed via apps. Do we even know that Android is responsible for 92% of all mobile app malware are? Do you know that 77% of all malware could be eliminated by all users updating to the latest Operating System but only 4% have the latest? We will explore ways to mitigate fraud risk in our life and our organizations. We will explore ways to mitigate fraud risk in our life and our organizations. Join us to learn from the insights of experts who work with professionals like Frank Abagnale whose life the Steven Spielberg movie Catch Me If You Can was based on.

Leaders are those who influence others and evokes the sense of purpose in others such that others willingly follow the mission of the leader. Influencing others is less of a science and more of an art. At the foundation of this art form is the skill called emotional intelligence. Emotional Quotient (EQ) is the measure of emotional intelligence and this is very different from IQ. While IQ helps the individual accomplish results on their own, EQ helps the individual accomplish results through others. Therefore, EQ becomes vital for leadership development. An authentic leader knows how to manage themselves and serve others to emerge as a servant leader. Emotional Intelligence is a Heart and Mind synthesis skill that enables quick decision making and effective judgment while not being judgmental. Join this conversation to get involved and sign-up for the 2-day conference at https://www.agacgfm.org/Chapters/GreaterChicago/Training-Events/Event-Calendar.aspx to continue the dialogue.

Trust, it is that special something that builds relationships and lasting bonds. Trust can never be bought. It has to be earned. In fact, it takes a life-time to build and just a split second to squander away. Chris Butler was right when he said “Trust is earned when actions meet words”. Who we are and how we act are instrumental in our authenticity. Without authenticity, there is no trust. Being open and honest with factual information no matter how hard the truth is to swallow is also important in building trust. There is no trust without transparency. We live in a time in the US where no one trust anyone or anything and this distrust is eroding our public trust, trust in institutions, trust in civil society and trust in fellow citizens. Join this conversation to get involved and sign-up for the 2-day conference in Chicago on June 4th & 5th at https://www.agacgfm.org/Chapters/GreaterChicago/Training-Events/Event-Calendar.aspx to be the change we need!

Health Care is a major issue for everyone regardless of what they do or how they access services. Quality of service and cost of service together reflect the quality of health care. If you offer health insurance to your employees, you run a healthcare business whether you realize it or not. How you set up and maintain your healthcare program has a direct impact on your organization, your employees, and your community. During this session, get an inside look at how public entities and private employers around the country are reducing their spending 20-40% while improving the quality of care by adopting practical, proven, non-partisan solutions. We will cover real life examples of organizations big and small, rural and urban, public and private along with a blueprint to replicate their successes. Join this conversation to get involved and sign-up for the 2-day conference at https://www.agacgfm.org/Chapters/GreaterChicago/Training-Events/Event-Calendar.aspx to continue the dialogue.

Safety and security are basic needs of humanity in general. Maslow's Hierarchy of needs places this as the foundational need of people. When safety and security is threatened, human psychological studies show that the “survival of the fittest” mode sets in. When this happens in a society consistently, Social Darwinism takes over and all other human development needs become forgotten. It is in every living creature's instinct to survive. Understanding this is critical in shaping a society that assures the safety and security of its citizens before any social progress could take place. Talking about social progress, education, healthy eating, housing, employment, and economic development will be an exercise in futility if we cannot provide for the basic need of mankind. One area this need rears its head is in the relationship between minority citizens and law enforcements. Join us to talk about how each person can overcome their biases and drive the change for our shared safety!

Open, respectful and impactful conversations are necessary as we continually seek to understand and be understood. Part of this difficult conversation is the dialogue we must have about words, symbols, actions and beliefs that can be thoughtless, divisive and promote biases. The first step to dealing with any issue is the acknowledgement that we indeed have an issue at hand. This requires courage as well as the desire to heal the wounds of the past. Identifying the root cause through conversations with the intent of solving the problem is a necessary part of the courageous dialogue. Talk alone cannot solve problems, therefore it is important to be mindful of social justice and shaping of public policy. Tune in to engage in this conversation on how overcoming our biases can help us build a more inclusive civil society that is safe for all its inhabitants and devoid of inequality.

Business strategy is a structured methodology of linking mission, vision and value proposition to a desired outcome in a measurable way while remaining relevant in the economic market place. Therefore, business strategy is an effective tool for business, non-profits, governmental agencies or professional athletes and singers as they all have to build their brand with purpose and use it strategically to drive their economic engine to be viable. In this episode, we will hear the professional journey of Alan Santana, a multi-talented professional boxer who learned his life lessons and translated all those lessons learned into writing the book “Unprotected”. Tune in and take a page from the chronicles of a Pro. Then, apply it to developing your own strategy and stop being unprotected. You do not have to be an athlete to benefit from this. Everyone can find their path to economic empowerment by using this as their blue print. Don't leave it to chance, take control of your destiny!

It is natural to have biases, but it's imperative to be aware of them and make choices to overcome them. A critical part of formal education is to learn the scientific method of research and evaluation to mitigate the risk of biases. The more society embraces fact free opinions and talking points of other “so called pundits”, the greater the prejudices in our civil society. These preconceptions divide us and fragment our fragile social contract resulting in conflict and unrest. Life is a prism and all situations could be viewed from various vantage points of that prism leading to varied judgments. Having an open mind coupled with the brevity to self-assess are foundational to identifying one's own predispositions. Having the courage to deal with those biases and let facts lead to informed choices while embracing empathy is what would make the difference. Listening with the intent to understand other points of view is the start. Start now. Tune in and listen to a Freedom Rider.

It is basic human nature to want to have our children outlive us. As parents we nurture and raise our children to lead happy, healthy lives. Interwoven with normal human nature is the young people's desire to be free and experiment with their newfound freedom. Testing the limits of one's freedom is healthy as long as it does not put at risk the lives of self and others. Driving is one of those “right of passage” events that can prove challenging. When we teach our teenagers to drive as part of giving them life skills, are we also teaching them a healthy respect for the responsibility that comes with being behind the wheel? Are we teaching them how lives can change in the blink of an eye? Are we teaching them how precious each one of them are to us and how much we value their wellbeing? Are we teaching them that fun cannot come at the expense of safety? James Dean famously said “Take it easy driving. The life you save may be mine”. Are we being safe?

In our modern global economy, capital ought to be understood in its totality if we are to successfully seek our individual and collective economic empowerment. Capital is not just money. Capital is assets that enable all economic activity. Manufactured capital, financial capital, social capital, human capital and natural capital are all to be understood and synchronized in mindful economic pursuit. Responsible capitalism gives the 4 Billion people at the bottom of the global economic pyramid dignity and choice by delivering high quality, low cost goods and services in small quantities accessible through local markets. This is a strategy formulated by Dr. C. K. Prahalad, taught in Business Schools and put into practice by global corporations like Unilever. Come join my guest Jonathan Gripe and I to explore how this same strategy can help each person pursue their own financial freedom.

The first wealth is health was the assertion of Ralph Waldo Emerson and he was right. Healthcare has become one of the most important modern day financial issues of our time. Wellness and prevention is not always at the forefront while health insurance systems, healthcare public policy and tech disruption of healthcare all part of our public discourse. How are we living our lives and how is that life style impacting our health? Who is making our wellness choices and what is flowing through our food supply chain? What is the right public health and healthcare policy that is right for us? How does the heal insurance market place work and are we supporting the healthcare options that are just right for us? If you are interested in these questions and are seeking answers to them, you must join this conversation!

Civil society relies on a functional social contract. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a seminal thinker from the European Renaissance Period believed that “The general WILL of the people should direct the state towards the Common Good. Hence the good of the community is more important than individual interests”. This used to be the way of life in most democracies and societies rooted in morality. However, somewhere along the way, self-interest and accumulation of individual wealth, power and access have become the calling. With this fundamental paradigm shift, civility and civil society have become casualties. Technology, social media and the breakdown of family structure have compounded the situation. Individual pursuit of happiness being the goal, the impact we have on one another is rarely an afterthought. If only, we could all see the red blooded human being, in spite of the differences in the outer trappings we will all start engaging with each other differently. Tune in. Let's talk!

I have been asking listeners of this show to email me at drkashenry@hotmail.com or send me messages on my Show FB Page https://www.facebook.com/DrKasHenry/. As promised, this episode is dedicated to 3 very special listeners getting an opportunity to ask me questions and engage in a direct dialogue as they seek to chart their own course of life in an authentic way consistent with who they are. These three listeners make up a combination of young professionals and career changers who are finding their passion, shaping their paths and making their place in our world. Like Goldilocks, these 3 listeners work at getting things Just Right and I am honored and super excited to have them on. It is my hope that this open and honest conversation will help others in their own Leadership, Empowerment and Social Impact pursuits. I also hope that this influences others to reach out and join me on future episodes as we make this shared transformational journey.

Maslow's Hierarchy of needs has at its foundation the need for “Safety and Security”. Home ownership and having a safe place to call home is fundamental to the psychological need of all humanity. Yet, in our modern global society it is not as easily accomplished. When basic safety and security is not present, that society gets reduced to is raw “survival of the fittest” instincts, putting at cross-roads the very social contract that binds a functioning community. Aspirational goals and fulfillment goals have no place until the basic need of safety and security are achieved. Home Ownership is at the very heart of the American Dream. There is a certain stability and profound comfort in having a home. It frees up the human spirit to go out there and explore other opportunities. This profound comfort anchors the self-empowerment journey and facilitates the economic empowerment pursuits. It is about time we get the conversation started! So, come join us.

Today, millennial generation is coming of age and baby boomers are retiring. The future leaders must ascend from this emerging generation and they have to evolve into leaders who understand the past, respect the road travelled and influence the journey head. It is a fact of life that we all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. Not respecting those who made our journey possible is not conducive for progress. Not allowing the future to evolve and hang on to the past is a non-starter too. It is time we put our differences aside, assess the path ahead, collaborate and develop a strategy to set sail in the right direction and adjust the sails for a safe passage. Rosalynn Carter eloquently said “A leader takes people where they want to go. A Great Leader takes people where they don't want to go but ought to be”. Are you ready to be that great millennial leader as the global economy and civil society are at crossroads with the generational divide and technology disruption?

We are living in an era where values, integrity and ethics are not thought of as important character traits as wealth, access and power. Human interactions are more transactional. From our smallest unit of society, family, through organizations we each work at, to our country and global society at large, we have daily demonstrations of lack of values, integrity and ethics resulting in breach of trust. Trust is such an elusive concept today and I want us to take a moment to explore it. This show is all about ‘Getting things just right” in all aspects of our life journey. Getting our human relationships just right is at the foundation of personal, professional, organizational economic, national, and societal success. Trust is at the heart of all of this. To help me explore “Trust” is Bob Whipple, The Trust Ambassador. Zig Ziegler said The most influential persuasion tool you have in your entire arsenal is your integrity” and we all know “Integrity Inspires Trust”. Let's talk!

Weather we like it or not, we are living in a global economy that continues to be shaped by rapidly emerging technology. Agility of organizational strategy and Adoptability of organizational culture are imperative for success in our present economy. Career success of any professional is predicated on their ability to embrace technology and cultural sensitivity because stakeholders of organizations are without a doubt diverse in their make-up. Being technically brilliant is good, but not sufficient for professional success. Being able to understand, relate to and work with a cross section of professional partners in a collaborative way to drive the organizational goals are quite important. This soft skill is no longer a nice-to-have; it is a must have! Trust, respect and understanding are fundamental to relationship building. How can we build strong relationships for collaborative success is the secret sauce every organization is looking for; are you ready to deliver on it?

In the modern data driven information economy information security is national security; financial information theft is criminal and when it is committed against a government it is treason. Every individual is accountable for safeguarding their own financial information as well as the information pertaining to their employer. When employees disregard their organizational cyber security protocols by co-mingling personal and professional devices or access points unexpected risks get introduced into the organization as well as the economy. This episode explores the importance of cyber security and shares some valuable tips for maintaining secure financial health. Cyber security is our shared accountability and individual responsibility towards our community!

As we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King the civil rights activism he led is a model we need to embrace today. Our civil discourse, racial tensions and emerging public policy all need to be examined in our collective process of moving forward in a just manner. Dr. King drew his inspiration form Mahatma Gandhi's non-violence peace movement that lead to the toppling of the British Crown in India. Gandhi believed that “The future depends on what we do in the present”. In this episode, we will explore what we ought to do so that we can shape the future we want to make our reality. Please join us in this dialogue and share your thoughts because this is not a journey any one person or episode could shape. This is something that requires all hands-on deck approach because we are shaping our future by our actions or rather inactions. Let's Act now!

I believe that continued learning is the underpinning of true accountability, and progress happens only with effective public-private partnership and university engagement. I continue to teach and learn because I fully embrace the notion that the “pen is indeed mightier than the sward” and concur with Nelson Mandela that “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. Education is not just to develop technical skills and IQ, but to develop EQ and emotional intelligence necessary for leading and shaping our world. By developing both IQ and EQ, we have the opportunity to build a cadre of leaders who understand accountability and stewardship; who take seriously the need for authenticity and integrity; who will help build an organization and society rooted in the culture of inclusivity, shared growth and mutual respect. Tune in and learn how this can help you and your community!

Accountability stems from Leadership and responsible stewardship. Organizations need to build leaders at every level of an organization so as to ensure stewardship and accountability at every level. There can be no accountability in the absence of transparency. These elements of accountability, stewardship, transparency and leadership at all levels need to be embedded in the DNA of an organizational culture for the organization to embody authenticity and integrity. Absence of integrity and authenticity will fail to breed trust across all stakeholder groups including the members of the community. Peter Drucker very aptly stated that “Organizational Culture eats strategy for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner” emphasizing the importance of building a culture of accountability and transparency for responsible stewardship. Please tune in to hear what a team of change Agents have to say on the subject as they shape their path in service to their community.

Technology and social media continue to democratize accessibility. This tech enabled information evolution is making communication between organizations and public more seamless. Building on what our environment enables, organizations in both the public and private sectors need to continually improve public engagement through transparency and open communication to drive accountability and responsible stewardship. Financial data and data visualization in a meaningful manner could be shared with the larger stakeholder community to win public trust and societal engagement. Taken a page from my public-private sector careers and integrating the university internship partnership explored in the last episode, this week we will explore how we are integrating Social Media and Internships to accomplish our shared goals. You do not want to miss this!

The best ideas for making a positive difference comes from being an astute observer with a keen understanding of what goes on around us. By being Self Aware, Socially in-tune. Serving both Public and Private Sectors while teaching both the Governmental Management Programs alongside a Business MBA presented me with an interesting observation over my 18-years of Educator-Practitioner Career. I observed that the Government Sector needed quite a bit of financial process and technology help to build a more robust organizations that embodies accountability and stewardship at a low cost while students in the MBA program needed work skills to apply the concepts learned in class. Tune in to learn about the strategic blue-print I developed to help my students over the years and volunteer my time as the Professor and Trusted Advisor managing the Project to help shape our shared accountability.

When Dr. Kas Henry became the President of the AGA Chicago Chapter for the 2016-2017 Program Year, she brought her vision of transforming the role of AGA in the Chicago market place. She felt that true accountability and progress happened only with effective public-private partnership and university engagement, accountability transcended official roles played by professionals, and the artificial divide that existed in the market place that divided the three sectors were hindering progress. She translated her vision into action by directly engaging with the National AGA as well as the Greater Chicago Community and gradually built the buy-in and support of committed professionals who saw the potential to build a movement and bring about the positive social change. Come join us and become part of a movement!

Food is such a basic human need. It nourishes us and sustains us but it is actually more than that. We are truly what we eat. The nutrients in our food literally shapes our health. At a time of ever increasing global “life style diseases” resulting from food and exercise habits now is a good time to embark on a conversation about food. Food, at its heart is culture. It is the very identity of a people. When we want to understand a culture, we start by sharing their food to learn their culture. Food, therefore becomes a bridge to overcome our cultural divides. In fact, if we all made the time to enjoy each-others' food and celebrate each-others' culture through their music and dancing we might begin to realize how similar we all are. Food truly can be what nourishes our body and nurtures our soul to build relationships. I am very blessed to have as my guest today, Chef Brian, who not only understands this love of food but has made it his mission to change the lives via food.

I have been asking listeners of this show to email me at drkashenry@hotmail.com or send me messages on my Show FB Page https://www.facebook.com/DrKasHenry/. As promised, this episode is dedicated to 2 exceptional women listeners who have overcome unimaginable circumstances to emerge as change agents for victims of domestic violence and abuse. Yolanda Carter and her daughter Tameka GillsRoyston have a shared experience that would make any person stop and start paying attention to what could be happening in our own communities. Like Goldilocks, these 2 listeners work at getting their lives and their mission of shared social change Just Right. It is with great respect and admiration for their journey, I bring them on this episode, to demonstrate women can help and empower each other. We can be each other's support system. It is my hope that this open and honest conversation will help others in their own live and Social Impact pursuits. Our shared transformational journey is on!

Positive social change is about making holistic incremental improvements in society to make opportunities accessible to all making the playing field level. It is about looking at individuals as “whole persons”, taking that awareness one step further to make an impact in their lives and thereby improve the social fabric. Those who drive positive social change see beyond the superficial differences and truly embrace the “whole person” in the spirit of community. There are various pathways for driving positive social change. Our focus this time will be work skills around Media Production. A functional society needs various professions and providing skills in those valuable and respected professions are equally important. Please tune in to listen to an Emmy Award winning Producer and Director, Bill Natale, to learn how media production skills can help shape economic empowerment. You do not want to miss this opportunity!

I have been asking listeners of this show to email me at drkashenry@hotmail.com or send me messages on my Show FB Page https://www.facebook.com/DrKasHenry/. As promised, this episode is dedicated to 3 very special listeners getting an opportunity to ask me questions and engage in a direct dialogue as they seek to chart their own course of life in an authentic way consistent with who they are. These three listeners make up a combination of young professionals and career changers who are finding their passion, shaping their paths and making their place in our world. Like Goldilocks, these 3 listeners work at getting things Just Right and I am honored and super excited to have them on. It is my hope that this open and honest conversation will help others in their own Leadership, Empowerment and Social Impact pursuits. I also hope that this influences others to reach out and join me on future episodes as we make this shared transformational journey.

Leadership starts with leading self and then evolves to leading others. From there, it progresses to leading organizations, nations and civil society. The wellspring of it all, is understanding self and empowering self to serve others and through that service empower others. Leading others is not a pursuit with ego or self-centeredness but a humble journey of helping others in by shaping consensus and leading from behind. Building on the previous weeks, we now seek to understand how best to prime the pump of ongoing learning and thinking to best lead others with the humility of one who embraces service. A servant leader is ethical, understands the greater good and shapes the path for the shared journey of many. Keen observers of humanity, leaders are deeply self-aware embodying high emotional quotient. Please join me to explore what ingredients are necessary for being a servant leader and what actions can be undertaken to empower others.

We live at a time when everyone is trying to find their place in the agile and ever changing information economy. Students planning for life, professionals stargazing to stay relevant, corporations pursuing innovation and nations looking to lead a global economy are all exploring how technology can be embraced and leveraged for success. Technology is no longer limited to the Tech Industry; it permeates all industries. Technology based programming, analytics, decision support, etc are part of the day-to-day workplace reality as AI, Robotics and Automation become mainstream. This is also the time when women need to step-up in their respective industries by pursuing higher education, integrating technology into their professional tool kit, helping girls and women learn coding and encourage STEM field pursuits. How can women empower each other and come together to empower their respective industries that have been male dominated is a fascinating conversation taking place. Let's Talk!

Strong cultures understand and respect the fact that women are the real architects of society because they shape and nurture every child from birth to adulthood. Being a mom is challenging enough in a modern society but being a single mom is even more challenging. A single mother is both the mom and dad; the nurturer and disciplinarian. Most modern households are single parent households and most of the single parents are mothers. Losing the spouse, divorce, unplanned pregnancies and planned motherhood by single professional women have all resulted in plenty of single mothers juggling work, life, family and much more. Finding flexible work schedules, finding personal kid-free time, striking harmony without trying to control everything, learning to take a deep breath, being always ready and on the go, and painting a healthy picture of men are some of the tasks of a single mom. If you are a single mom or want to understand or be prepared for the role, join our conversation.

The most meaningful relationship in a person's life is the relationship with themselves and the divine within them. We live in a society where girls grow-up wanting to be something others want them to be and masking the true sense of who they are. As women, they then have lost touch with their inner soul and struggle to find a sense of purpose because their lives have been about helping others find purpose and seek success. As Max Ehrmann so eloquently states in Desiderata, “You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.” Every woman needs to understand she can shine and be the north start to her family and children only if she has found her purpose and peace within herself. Please join us this week and engage in the discussion on how to break the cycle and help women and girls become empowered.

We live at a time where Public Safety and Homeland Security are top of mind across our communities while the trust between professionals serving and the communities served are at a low point. As the movie Crash clearly illustrates, we all bring our biases into situations that may color our judgment and impair our decision making. Technology enables us to move beyond our biases and analyze voice, video and data to build a more scientific and fact based decision support framework. When the right technology is appropriately integrated to complement the human efforts with the goal of building a more responsible public safety profession it is possible to start removing conflicts. This week, we will discuss specific situations and examples of how agile and intelligent technology when paired with public safety stewardship is helping communities become safer. We will also discuss how such technology is helping in the field of public safety training and development.

Traditionally, public safety has been a male profession but overtime, women have entered the profession and brought about the much needed diversity of thought, solutions and culture. This is not the easiest profession for women to be in because females in the profession not only face the traditional risks of the sector but have the added exposure unique to women. These are our mothers, sisters, daughters and aunts who go out there and deal with the societal challenges as well as shape our world by bursting stereotypes. As we spend the month honoring our first responders and grappling with the public safety dilemmas of the day, we will be remiss if we do not explore the role and impact of women in the profession. Please join my strong role model female Public Safety Professionals to understand their journey, their contributions and their challenges. As we empower our girls and shape our communities, let's showcase the strength of nurturing public safety.

Public Safety is one of the fundamental needs of any society and providing the service is the duty of an elected government in a viable democracy. Just as a society should not let a fox guard the hen house, those who enter the professions of Public Safety need to be carefully selected and trained to be responsible stewards for those they serve. Personal biases and conflicts of interest when co-mingled with the delivery of public safety, the public trust will be eroded resulting in conflicts between those serving and those being served. The irony in such a situation is that the ones being served fund via the mechanism of tax the compensation for those who serve. At a time when the relationships between communities and public safety professionals are in peril, there is no better time to seek ways to turn the tide. It is imperative that we find a path forward rooted in ethical leadership for our collective safety and empowerment.